《Carefree Path of Dreams》


 1 Fang Yuan

    Clear Spirit Mountain.


    These mountains went on for hundreds of kilometers, with its depths unknown, and its lands fertile. They were the lifeline of a mountain people.


    At this moment, two figures were walking deeper into the mountains together. Regardless whether it was jagged rocks or thick foliage, they walked on with ease as though they were passing through an empty plain.


    Before long, a valley appeared before them. The breath of the earth rose from the ground, mixing with wisps of mist, forming crystal-like dew on the green leaves. As sunlight struck the droplets, the colours of the rainbow shimmered in the air.


    "Hmm...the breath of the earth rises, and it looks like springtime is permanent here. This is a decent place. Where is that guy?"


    The man with a goatee, fierce eyebrows, and chicken claw-like hands asked.


    He was clad in a long green robe, with a piercing look in his eyes and a sort of careless aura about him. The other middle aged minister could only smile while wiping the cold sweat on his face.


    "Indeed¡­ There''s a separate sanctuary in this valley that was built by a good friend of mine. A virtuous young man lives there."


    "You''re still calling him virtuous at this point in time?"


    The old man with a goatee asked coldly.


    "Sigh¡­ His master and I had decades of friendship between us after all. Moreover, I''ll owe him one this time¡­ Sigh¡­"


    The minister''s brows were furrowed as he gave multiple sighs.


    While they spoke, the both of them had already entered the mountain valley.


    This valley was not particularly large, but still had a sort of homely feel to it. A river flowed gently through the area, and its surroundings were quiet. In the centre, there was an extremely detailed haven which had tall hedges encircling it. In it grew some Vermillion Jade Rice. Each grain of rice appeared full of vitality and was also easy on the eyes.


    "Oh¡­ This courtyard, this land, they''re all not bad¡­ That old friend of yours must be quite generous. It''s a pity that he''s dead¡­"


    The old man with the goatee shook his head.


    "Master Wenxin isolated himself from civilisation, and did not bother himself with worldly affairs, but he was extremely well versed in medicine and botany. I only got acquainted with him by chance. That virtuous young man I spoke of was an orphan he adopted¡­"


    The minister explained with a shrug.


    Both of them continued ahead, before finally leaping over a hedge and knocking on a door.


    *Bang bang*


    The crisp sound echoed throughout the valley but there was no response.


    "Hmm? No one is home?"


    The minister was surprised and was even more so when the old man with the goatee barged right in.


    "Hmph! Playing tricks with us?!"


    Within, they found a rustic and simple layout. Other than some daily necessities, there was a small room as well. At the back of the building, there was a small door that led to a large flower garden.


    A spring gurgled through the garden. The sound of flowing water merged with the beautiful, colourful flowers surrounding the spring to form a picturesque scene.


    From behind a bunch of flowers, a youth stuck his head out.


    "So it is Uncle Lin? Please wait for a moment! Let me finish planting this tea flower!"


    He looked like he was 17 or 18, with eyes full of energy. His looks were very plain and ordinary, and he wore clothes made of rough cloth. At this moment, his sleeves were rolled up, and the hem of his pants was stained with dirt, just like a professional farmer.


    "Oh, Fang Yuan, just tend to your chores first, I''m not in a hurry!"


    Perhaps Minister Lin felt a little guilty, which was why he laughed sheepishly while speaking.


    Planting tea plants was an art, especially for this tea flower which preferred a cool environment and did not grow well in hot areas. Thus Fang Yuan found a cool corner near the spring, and carefully placing it into the soil.


    First, one had to loosen the soil, immediately water it and add fertiliser. Watering had to be done with water from a mountain spring that had been left to sit still for two days. As he executed these steps, Fang Yuan did not move quickly, instead using 100% of his focus, making people feel like they were watching an art performance.


    Once everything was completed, Fang Yuan returned to the side of the spring, washing his hands and feet clean of dirt.


    The spring water originated from an underwater source, so it was cool but yet not chillingly cold. It was perfect.


    After cleaning up, Fang Yuan walked into the house, to face an old man with an unhappy look.


    "Uncle Lin, who is this?"


    He asked with a puzzled look on his face.


    "Ah¡­ Let me introduce you to him!"


    Minister Lin broke into a chuckle, "This is Spirit Returning Sect''s Outer Sect Deacon, Cold Iron Eagle Yu Qiuleng¡­Leiyue has just joined this sect¡­"


    "Greetings Mister Yu!"


    Fang Yuan broke into a big smile as he greeted his new acquaintance.


    "Hmph! You savage mountain men do not know your manners indeed. I''ve waited for half a day, yet there hasn''t been even a cup of tea!"


    Yu Qiuleng snorted. If it weren''t for Minister Lin holding him back from the side, he really wanted to teach this brat a lesson.


    "I''m sorry, my humble abode is rather run down, hence it held me back from serving you on time¡­"


    As for this, Fang Yuan raised his eyebrows and replied casually, before looking towards Minister Lin.


    "Uncle Lin, what''s the purpose of your visit?"


    "Well...this¡­."


    Minister Lin stammered a little, and only a long while later did he speak properly, face as red as a beetroot.


    "Lei Yue entered the Spirit Returning Sect, which is one of the top sects within a 100 mile radius, and also has a Wu Zong in it. The sect head tested Leiyue''s aptitude and liked what he saw, so he took her in as a direct disciple. Now she will only learn the sect head''s martial arts, and must be of pure yin, hence¡­ your marriage with Leiyue¡­"


    "Hmph!"


    At this moment, Yu Qiuleng spoke, "Miss Leiyue is a valued disciple of my sect head, with exceptional aptitude. She''ll possibly be able to advance to Wu Zong in the future¡­"


    He did not continue speaking, but the idea of a toad lusting after a swan''s flesh [1] still seemed to make its way across the room.


    "Oh! So that''s it!"


    Fang Yuan took in a deep breath, and slowly replied, "Both of you, please wait a moment."


    He then stood up and walked into the house.


    "Hmm?"


    This reaction caught Minister Lin completely off guard.


    He was sure that if he had met with such an incident when he was younger, he would definitely not have been able to keep his cool.


    "Could he be preparing to wage an all-out war on us?"


    Minister Lin was a little scared and looked at Yu Qiuleng at his side. Yu Qiuleng shot a glance over, making his intentions clear.


    Even if this youth wanted to pull a ''panicking dog jumping over a wall'' [3], he wouldn''t be a match for this cold-faced iron eagle.


    "Uncle Lin!"


    The door to the hut burst open, and Fang Yuan walked over, holding a wooden box in his hand.


    "This is the marriage certificate for Miss Leiyue and myself. Since we got engaged, I''ve thought about this a few times, and I realised that I can''t compare to Miss Leiyue. Since Uncle Lin could come today, you''re actually helping me to resolve an issue that has been on my mind for some time."


    "Huh?"


    Minister Lin received the box while in shock, and after he opened it he saw the marriage certificate. It was real.


    Never did he expect things to go so smoothly, and he froze there for a moment, confused.


    However, Yu Qiuleng stood up and walked off with a ''at least you know your place'' look in his eyes.


    "Sigh¡­ Fang Yuan, I won''t say much about anything else. You and Leiyue really are not fated to be together¡­ This is a small gift, please take it!"


    Minister Lin took out a small package while red-faced.


    "Since it is a gift from Uncle, then I''ll accept it graciously."


    Fang Yuan couldn''t see what was inside either, and just accepted the gift.


    "Good! Good!"


    The calmer Fang Yuan was, the more uneasy Minister Lin felt. He pulled Yu Qiuleng away and left swiftly.


    ...


    "Hmm, it''s the deed to the land for the entire secluded valley. So Minister Lin could actually pull strings to get this. He''s actually quite generous."


    After the both of them left, Fang Yuan opened up the package to see a title deed, a few pieces of gold and silver, and a jade bottle.


    He naturally knew that this Minister Lin set up the arranged marriage between Leiyue and himself because Master Wenxin had saved Minister Lin''s life before.


    But now that Fang Yuan''s backer had fallen, and the girl had climbed to a much higher position, being able to discuss the marriage annulment amicably instead of falling out was already a blessing.


    In reality, he didn''t have much of a choice.


    That was why he received their compensation gracefully. Otherwise, there would only be hate and anger, which could easily land him in more trouble.


    "Instead of agreeing, should I have shouted back and eventually get eliminated in an attempt to remove any future threats?"


    Fang Yuan chuckled as he mumbled to himself.


    Thankfully, he was an optimistic person and had only met with Leiyue only a few times, so there wasn''t any love between them.


    As for humiliation, reputation, etcetera¡­


    For a person that lived isolated in the woods, could those mountain chickens and rabbits laugh at him?


    As long as he didn''t care about it, his reputation in the outside world was but a strand in the wind. Nothing to worry about.


    Since he wasn''t afraid of losing face, not taking the compensation from the girl''s party would be simply a waste.


    "Eh? Vermillion Jade Seeds?"


    Upon closer inspection after opening the jade bottle, he exclaimed in surprise.


    Inside the jade bottle, there were little grains as shiny as jade, round and full, in a beautiful shade of vermillion. They had a fiery aura about them, potentially making people salivate while gazing upon them.


    This was a valuable spiritual plant that Fang Yuan had been searching for since a long time ago. He had requested for it from Minister Lin before, and he had finally gotten it.


    "Mhmm, this Vermillion Jade Rice is of the yang element, but has to be planted during a yin period [4]. I''ll plant them in that newly cleared patch of land tonight..."


    Fang Yuan gazed at the jade bottle one more, with a silly smile on his face.


    ¡­...


    Outside of the valley.


    "Sigh..."


    Minister Lin let out a long sigh. Although he had set his mind on this a long time ago, when he saw Fang Yuan''s classy and unyielding attitude today, he couldn''t help but feel a tinge of regret.


    "What is it? Minister Lin is troubled?"


    Yu Qiuleng laughed beside him.


    "The marriage has been annulled, and he has accepted the compensation. Even if he decides to cause trouble in the future, we will have the moral high ground... Of course, if you''re still worried, I can go back and eliminate this problem."


    "No No!"


    Waving both of his hands, Minister Lin protested, "I just feel that Fang Yuan is really a decent chap, it''s a pity that Leiyue..."


    "Hmph, if that daughter of yours becomes a Wu Zong in the future, she''ll be able to choose any young man she wants, so why should you keep thinking about a mere mountain boy?"


    Lei Qiuleng sarcastically remarked.


    "Of course, if you still find it a pity, you can get another one of your daughters to marry him! As long as it''s not Miss Leiyue, our sect head won''t care."


    "Sigh¡­.. Since this has already happened, how would I still have the face to bring it up..."


    Minister Lin sighed again and picked up his pace.


    The two of them walked on further into the distance until they vanished beyond the mountains.


    [1] This is a Chinese idiom, which refers to someone very undeserving or under qualified yearning for something that is beyond his reach.


    [2] It refers to a cornered person acting out of desperation


    [3] Yin and Yang, a Chinese philosophical concept. The yin element is negative/passive/female in nature while the yang element is positive/active/male in nature. Both complement each other in order to become whole.

 2 Stats

    It was midnight and there was a clear moon.


    At the back of the valley, there was a hidden pathway. After a short walk through a shrub, the view ahead was a vast grassland with much flora and fauna.


    When the sun rose, the view of the valley is clear. This surprised Minister Lin and Yu Qiuleng, but since they had already arrived, why not probe further?


    The rice grains here were large as a pearl and shone under the moonlight.


    There was also a fertile Jasper fruit tree. The deeper the colour, the stronger the medicinal effects of the Tuber Fleeceflower, and the ones here were purplish-black. There was also the Dragon Fruit Tree, Blue Star Grass, and many other common medicinal plants and food; it was as though the place had undergone a shocking transformation.


    Of course, if people found out about this place, they would definitely take advantage of it.


    Only in the legends would there be such a miraculous place!


    And this type of place belonged to the Spirit Returning Sect.


    If Fang Yuan had known about this place, he would scoff because only he knew that although this place was fertile, it was still not comparable to what was described in the legends.


    "Master¡­"


    Fang Yuan stood in front of an empty tombstone with sorrow upon him.


    He was an orphan and was adopted by Master Wenxin. Master Wenxin was a highly talented and easy-going individual, who was an expert in botany and medicine.


    Before his passing, he instructed Fang Yuan to cremate his body, scatter it across mountains, and if Fang Yuan ever wanted to pay his respects, erecting an empty tombstone would suffice.


    After instructing Fang Yuan, Master Wenxin closed his eyes for the final time, and Fang Yuan had no choice but to journey alone. He guessed that his Master had too many enemies and was afraid that they would look for him even after his death, which was why he decided to cremate his body and erect the empty tombstone, so there was no way others could track Master Wenxin.


    "I planted your favourite tea flowers¡­ and the Nine Purple Grains have started to germinate¡­"


    Fang Yuan continued to mumble to the empty tombstone, "Oh¡­ and Minister Lin came to annul the marriage, but he sent us many gifts, including the Vermillion Jade Rice you mentioned. I shall plant it tonight!"


    After his final prayers, Fang Yuan went to a specific empty plot of land.


    The moon rose to the top and the moonlight was bright, making it rather visible.


    With the aid of the moonlight, Fang Yuan used a hoe and carefully dug a hole and scattered the Vermillion Jade Rice in it.


    "This Vermillion Jade Rice needs to be planted at night, the water needs to be directly from the sky, the spring water within the valley can barely be adequate. When first sowed, the soil has to be loosened every six hours, and it must be complemented with Still Fire Liquid..."


    Fang Yuan mastered [Botany] under the guidance of Master Wenxin, but lacked hands-on practice.


    Though it seemed effortless, his sweat trickled into the soil.


    The spiritual plants were far more delicate than other types of plants, and therefore planting them requires more effort.


    When Fang Yuan planted the last of them, the sun''s brightness had already begun to shine through the horizon.


    "Phew¡­ Finally, it''s done¡­"


    Fang Yuan wiped his sweat and heaved a long sigh, "Since this is a spiritual plant, it should have advanced my [Botany]?"


    Deep down in his heart, there was a secret.


    From young, he would often enter a dream. In the dream, it was weird but felt real to the touch. Within the dream, he felt like he was experiencing another life.


    Living in the secluded valley and rarely taking a step out, it was surprising that his actions were rather matured for his age, and wiser than normal.


    Additionally, there was another bonus, or rather, a gift.


    Accompanying Fang Yuan''s thoughts, a sight only he can see appeared in front of him,


    "Full name: Fang Yuan


    Essence: 1


    Spirit: 1


    Magic: 1


    Age: 18


    Cultivation: None


    Technique: None


    Skills: [Medicine (Level 1)], [Botany (Level 2)]"


    This dream-like game vision was Fang Yuan''s biggest secret.


    It also has a special function.


    When he looked at ''Skill'', more information popped out,


    "[Medicine (Level 1)] - Can heal simple wounds, including mild wounds, and with the aid of medicinal plants can achieve even better results."


    "[Botany (Level 2)] - Skilled botanist, can grow any simple plants to its fullest potential!"


    So [Botany] was the reason behind the fertile mountains and valleys.


    "Essence, Spirit and Magic should be inborn within one, while techniques and cultivation should be one''s initiative, and lastly, skill is passive and requires assistance from others¡­"


    After many years of thought, Fang Yuan understood his characteristics even more.


    "The present-day me has similar physical qualities as a normal adult, but with skills¡­"


    He already realised that within skills, there should be an attribute like experience which limited growth. Only through intense training and improving one''s ability would the skill level be increased.


    Take [Medicine] for an example. Even though Master Wenxin had unparalleled Medical skills, and could give focused guidance to Fang Yuan, but unfortunately Fang Yuan had limited subjects to practise his medical skills on, and he couldn''t possibly use his Master as a subject. Due to the lack of hands-on practice, from the start till now he was still stuck at Level 1. Even so, he had earned Master Wenxin''s praise and thought that he had achieved three-tenth of Master Wenxin''s skill.


    On the contrary, his [Botany] improved tremendously after Master Wenxin''s passing as he had no more considerations. Through his intense training, he managed to attain Level 2 in [Botany], and the results were unparalleled.


    Based on Fang Yuan''s own guess, even Master Wenxin was not as skilful as himself in terms of botany.


    After reaching Level 2, it seemed that his progress in [Botany] came to a halt, even though he planted numerous plants it was seemingly difficult to level up. After countless of uneventful tries, Fang Yuan decided to try out on spiritual plants and deity plants.


    Since these plants were very rare, even Minister Lin himself had to wait for his daughter to be promoted in the Spirit Returning Sect before being able to acquire these plants as a form of a gift.


    "Vermillion Jade Rice¡­ even being the lowest grade of spiritual plants, but within the Spirit Returning Sect, I believe only a Wu Zong and his descendants can enjoy it¡­"


    Fang Yuan heaved a sigh.


    Minister Lin gave it to him as a present purely to make it up to him and had no thoughts of Fang Yuan having any achievements.


    In fact, this was true. Without his [Botany], Fang Yuan wouldn''t have wanted the spiritual plants.


    However, if Minister Lin could help him attain a Level 2 in [Botany] with the aid of the spiritual plants, that was enough!


    Now was the time to see the results!


    Fang Yuan stared at the soil covering the Vermillion Jade Rice.


    Accompanying the sunrise, a white light only visible to him appeared from the ground and slowly gathered around the ''Skill" segment of his information.


    Behind the ''Botany'', the ''Level 2'' wordings became blurred, jumped and became ''Level 3''!


    Level 3 [Botany]!


    Fang Yuan rubbed his eyes, made sure that what he saw was true, smiled to himself and exclaimed, "Haha...Haha... I''ve succeeded!!!"


    The reason behind is happiness was because the description for his [Botany] had changed,


    "Botany (Level 3) - You are undoubtedly the professional in this field, harnessing unlimited potential, through your plants. There is a slight chance that they might evolve to have special traits!"


    Slight chance or not doesn''t matter to Fang Yuan, but this meant that one''s own skill and ability could be improved through one''s intense training!


    Once this thought had been proven, it showed that Fang Yuan could achieve something in this world!


    Afterall, it was just a normal [Botany] skill level advancement, but what entailed was unbelievable. Imagine other skills or even martial arts, what are the possibilities?


    "Evolving into special traits?"


    After calming down, Fang Yuan immediately explored his newfound ability.


    "All those normal plants can grow to their fullest potential in my hands, maybe¡­ these normal plants can evolve into spiritual plants?"


    He mused for a little, and inside of him was excitement waiting to burst out. If his speculation was correct, then the news of his newfound skill must not go out.


    Otherwise, he might be captured by other forces and be forced to undergo experiments like a guinea pig or might be a gardener for life.


    "After confirming my new ability, should I be looking for a set of martial arts techniques¡­"


    After calming down, Fang Yuan looked at his breakfast, feeling vexed.


    Resources were plentiful within the valley, and the food he prepared for himself was exceptional.


    The main course was a freshly caught barbequed fish, smoked till the outside was crispy and the inside tender, with no fishy smell. It melted in his mouth and the texture was extremely smooth.


    His drink was pure mountain spring water, sweet to the taste and refreshing.


    Other than that, there were nutritious Solomon''s Seal [1], and a skewer of red berries.


    He first dug into a cooked Solomon''s Seal, then took a large bite from the barbequed fish, "Mmmm¡­ Delicious! Delicious! I''ve heard that Spirit Returning Sect is the largest Sect within a 100 miles, I wonder how the atmosphere would be like, or how a Wu Zong would be? Thinking about it, I don''t'' even know how the outside world looks like! What a pity¡­ Master did not leave behind any secret martial arts manual, isn''t he a low-profile revered individual? How is it possible that he doesn''t have any secret martial arts manual to pass down? This doesn''t add up!"


    After living in the secluded valley for eighteen years, Fang Yuan grew restless and wanted to see the outside world.


    "Now I should unlock my own potential first¡­ the outside world is interesting, but dangerous as well. Considering my small physique, I should quietly train first!"


    After eating, he returned to his room feeling satisfied and slept soundly. Not long after, he entered into his dream.


    [1] Solomon''s Seal is a real plant, try googling it!

 3 Spiritual Tea

    The fire from the burning charcoal was heating the bottom surface of the small red teapot constantly, boiling the tea inside the teapot. Water bubbles started forming, with hot steam rising into the surroundings.


    In front of Fang Yuan placed a tea set. He prepared the tea meticulously, firstly by letting the tea to be boiled. The first set of tea was not to be consumed as it was used to clean the tea set. After which, the teapot was sealed immediately with the next set of tea boiling, ready to be poured evenly to the teacups and served. Every motion in this process was so natural that one can even sense the peace and tranquility.


    Though Fang Yuan''s house was simple, he had tea leaves.


    Having that tea leaves was not the only thing that was special in his house as the tea leaves was one of the premium goods cultivated by him personally. Besides, he showed superior standards in the preparation of tea ceremonies, which was well commended by Master Wenxin.


    Of course, the previous visitor was wicked and so did not experience such great treatment.


    The surrounding of the teacups was filled with the fragrance of the tea. Fang Yuan gently lifted up his teacup in a calm motion and began tasting the tea slowly.


    To him, the tea ceremony was not just for self-cultivation, but also to remember Master Wenxin''s works.


    Although Master Wenxin did not teach Fang Yuan martial arts, he did teach Fang Yuan the techniques of the meditative tea ceremony.


    Making tea helped to cleanse the soul, which helped the state of the soul to have a greater sense of well-being.


    But why a great sense of well-being?


    A grandmaster once said, " Not thinking of one''s body, not fiddling one''s intelligence, being separated from the body, free from the shackles of wisdom and becoming as one with mother earth. This is the state which has the greatest sense of well-being."


    The main idea behind Master Wenxin''s tea ceremony was to have a unity of man and nature, so as to achieve the great sense of well-being.


    For Fang Yuan, he loved making tea. He even went to look for a tea set that was of high quality just to make tea.


    However, things were different now.


    From the tea aroma, Fang Yuan only felt warmth to his stomach, and then a thin layer of coldness, thus bringing a cooling effect, making him forget how cold or hot the surroundings had become.


    Living in the valley and not disturbed by the chaos from the world elsewhere, Fang Yuan drank and cultivated tea every day with a strong will and determination.


    To achieve his goals, he had to be determined and have the will to concentrate.


    After tea, it was the best time to reorganise his thoughts as his mind would be clearer.


    "Recently, I have gathered all the crops in the valley and re-cultivated with [Botany (Level 3)], and indeed the result is very different. The result shows that I have improved further as compared to his previous best results. The mutation probability is also extremely low since there is not even one case appearing in the whole valley. Of course, it is hard to say for now as the Vermillion Jade Rice is not harvested yet¡­"


    Shaking his head, Fang Yuan got up to get the hoe, bamboo baskets and other equipment before starting on his daily cultivation of crops on the farm.


    Watering the crops, adding fertiliser, loosening of soil and then treated in accordance to the needs of the different crops. The whole process was a smooth one.


    At high noon, Fang Yuan sat on the rocks and quickly drank a gourd of spring water. Looking at his farm, he felt as though a farmer had just harvested his crops, heart filled with joy.


    Fang Yuan then started consuming the rice balls that he had prepared in the morning and a flash appeared in his eyes again;


    "Name: Fang Yuan


    Essence: 1


    Spirit: 1


    Magic: 1


    Age: 18


    Cultivation: None


    Techniques: None


    Skills: [Medicine (Level 1)], [Botany (level 3)]"


    ...


    "Essence, spirit and magic refer to my physical fitness¡­.."


    Thanks to the care by Master Wenxin and his botany skills, Fang Yuan didn''t really suffer in his early days. He was well fed and taken care of, allowing his foundations to be strong at the age of 18 and similar when compared to other adults.


    "[Botany (Level 3)], with a very low chance of evolving into special traits¡­."


    Fang Yuan sighed and then continued eating his rice balls.


    The rice balls were made from the Pearl Jade Crystal Rice cultivated in the farm. Each rice grain was as small as a baby''s thumb size. The rice grain was as if an art piece as it was clear and bright. The fragrance of the cooked rice was excellent. One could feel the crisp of the cooked rice which was incomparable to glutinous rice. The rice even tasted great without any side dishes. The rice was best served with sour beans and sour plums.


    Jade Crystal Rice had a very high nutritional value. Jade Crystal Rice soup could be fed to babies in replacement of milk. Fang Yuan only ate one rice ball and he was recharged with energy. He then began to continue his work.


    "The Fragrance ball and Rutaceae are ready to be harvested. Old Tian from the Medicine Hall should be here soon to collect them in exchange for salt and oil¡­."


    Sometimes, Fang Yuan went around his farm to pluck a few fruits to eat and to ponder about future plans.


    A few moments later, a touch of green met his eyes, making Fang Yuan slow down his footsteps and whispered "Hey".


    Here laid a tea forest and the tea trees were specifically chosen to grow tea leaves which were straight flat. The tea leaves also had a fresh orchid fragrance to it, which make the tea leaves Fang Yuan''s favourite.


    However, at that moment, something was different.


    Among all the tea trees, there was one that had a jasper-like tea leaves growing out, giving a crystal colour. The tea leaves from that particular tree were so special that without going through the process of frying of tea leaves, these leaves were able to give out a very strong fragrance on its own. This fragrance helped to keep the mind awake, leaving a strong aftertaste.


    "Premium tea leaves! The premium of the premium!"


    Fang Yuan gathered near that tea tree. "So this is the mutated result of the level 3 Botany tea leaves? Has this Houkui [1] become a spiritual plant?"


    Unfortunately, he had only seen the grains of the Vermillion Jade Rice, making it impossible for him to compare.


    However, such leaves were definitely special!


    "It''s afternoon, time is just right!"


    Seeing this tea tree, Fang Yuan put aside all his worries at that moment and began plucking the special tea leaves to make tea happily.


    "No¡­ this is so tempting. I cannot endure anymore!"


    After plucking those jasper-like tea leaves, Fang Yuan immediately put a leaf into his mouth.


    "Ooohh¡­."


    At the start, there was just bitterness but after which, a very strong taste of orchid came.


    His tongue felt bitter with numbness as if it was electrocuted. A clean stream went straight into his mind, making Fang Yuan''s eyes glitter, "Spiritual leaf! Definitely a spiritual leaf!"


    "There is meaning in the bitterness. The original taste alone has such great flavour, I wonder what happens if such tea leaves are brewed into tea?"


    Fang Yuan''s eyes shone.


    Nighttime.


    Fixing, kneading, baking¡­.. Fang Yuan was familiar with the procedures. The effect was still the same even though this time, the tea leaves were different.


    Under the fire, he looked at the jasper-like tea leave. His face became sluggish, saying "Beautiful¡­.so beautiful! This newly made spiritual tea is like an art piece!"


    Fang Yuan then took out his tea set and went on with the brewing of tea.


    At the end, the fragrance of the spiritual tea filled the surroundings, making the place feel as if it was in the Temple of Heaven.


    "I can''t forget this excellent fragrance and taste. It is definitely a special tea!"


    At that moment, Fang Yuan became calm.


    The tea ceremony was a process which included the cleaning of tea leaves. The process also removed one''s distractions.


    Fang Yuan'' eyes glittered. His thoughts had become innocent as if they were like a pure child''s.


    A tea taster firstly smells the fragrance and then the colour of the tea. Just by the fragrance and the colour of the tea, looking a the cup filled with green clear liquid, Fang Yuan was moved as soon as his lip touched the teacup.


    Boom!


    It was as if a lightning bolt struck in his head.


    As if he became a lone tourist walking among the heavy thorns, his tongue and taste being imprisoned by the bitterness of the tea.


    While he was suffering, the thorns disappeared. He began to taste fragrance of the tea, as if the fragrance was like a flash flood, breaking the walls of bitterness, allowing the fragrance to take over the bitterness.


    Fang Yuan stared into blank space. His eyes glittered.


    Normally, after tasting something good, one will be moved with tears flowing down.


    Fang Yuan thought this would only happen in his dreams but did not expect a cup of tea could produce such effect as well.


    "Good!"


    Finishing a cup, he began making another. The fragrance of the tea gradually faded away, but the taste of the tea became even stronger.


    After 4 cups, the taste and the fragrance of the tea still lingered.


    "Hoooo¡­.."


    After finishing the whole pot of tea, Fang Yuan exhaled with a long breath. The taste of the tea still lingered in his mouth, leaving a lasting aftertaste.


    "This tea¡­. It is definitely special. It seems to be able to question the heart..."


    Fang Yuan wiped away his tears, "Just one such product can make me feel as if my soul has been cleansed¡­.. I wonder if this the effect of the spiritual object? Or is it just a fateful coincidence that a miracle happened with the combination of spiritual tea and meditative tea ceremony?"


    He began questioning this miracle and subconsciously, he started calling out for his stats before staring into a blank space.


    At that moment, his stats changed:


    "Name: Fang Yuan


    Essence: 1


    Spirit: 1


    Magic: 1.2


    Age: 18


    Cultivation: None


    Techniques: None


    Skills: [Medicine (Level 1)], [Botany (level 3)]"


    "Magic increased by 0.2?"


    Fang Yuan looked at his stats and mumbled.


    These 3 stats: essence, spirit and magic did not have any changes since they rose to a value of 1 after his 18th birthday,


    Now, however, his magic stats actually increased by 0.2!


    No wonder Fang Yuan suddenly felt full of energy and was quick-witted, as if he became a lot smarter.


    "According to theories, essence, spirit and magic are called the 3 treasures, which are the foundation of man"


    "And according to my observations and hypotheses, essence refers to the body, the physical strength, the bones and other tangible parts of the body. Spirit refers to the non-tangible part of the body, like the power of the blood. Finally, magic, which refers to the mind, will, perception etc."


    "Essence, spirit and magic; these 3 stats complement each other and have their own magical effect!"


    Fang Yuan looked at the leftover tea leaves with his eyes glittering. "This tea actually helps to cleanse one''s soul and increases the magical effect of it as well. I shall name this tea ''Questioning Heart Tea''."


    [1] Houkui is a type of tea leaf

 4 Questioning the Hear

    "This Questioning Heart Tea, when brewed and consumed directly, already work wonders. But when complemented with the Meditative Tea Ceremony, it will boost your magical abilities!"


    Fang Yuan sat up straight in front of the table, gazing at the tiny clump of tea leaves on it as he pondered.


    After he considered all that he had learnt, he experimented with the tea leaves as per what he did in his dreams.


    One ought to know that when brewed directly, without the sincerity and reservedness of the Tea Ceremony, the Questioning Heart Tea retains its taste and will still have a purifying effect on the soul, but its effect on boosting one''s magical capabilities is lost.


    This revelation further convinced Fang Yuan that Master Wenxin was a miracle worker.


    The second point to consider was an even greater source of regret for Fang Yuan.


    "This Questioning Heart Tea is most effective when consumed the first time, and its efficacy diminishes beyond that...there should be a limit. Could this be an issue with tolerance?"


    Out of habit, Fang Yuan recorded these thoughts on paper.


    Experimenting, standardising, recording, will create solid foundations that future experiments can be based on. This too, Fang Yuan learnt from one of the lives he led in his dreams.


    Even though he was only 18, he lived a whole life in that dream.


    It was a pity that ever since he entered adulthood, the dreams went away.


    "Acquiring this extraordinary item was a matter of great luck. I should be happy."


    Fang Yuan comforted himself and began his daily work on patrolling the valley grounds.


    "Hm, what should I do with the Questioning Tea Plant? Transplant it?"


    As he walked on, creases lined his brows.


    Although the botanic garden behind the Spirit Valley was hidden, it was not impregnable. Through his relations with Minister Lin, Fang Yuan obtained the title deed for Spirit Valley and ten miles of the surrounding land. The spiritual plants had their temptations, and Fang Yuan was not about to trust anyone to go near them.


    The mutated Questioning Heart tea plant was too conspicuous, and if it were to be discovered, it would be coveted by many. Transplanting it would be for the best.


    On the other hand, Fang Yuan had no need to worry about the Vermillion Jade Rice crops, for they were the least spiritual among the plants and had explainable origins.


    "I wonder what the spiritual rice tastes like."


    Fang Yuan rubbed his chin and felt a rising sense of excitement. He was pleasantly surprised when he arrived at the Vermilion Jade Rice field.


    In front of his eyes, fiery red shoots were springing out of the earth, and they reminded him of the lotus plant''s sharp corners. This was a place full of life.


    "It''s really budding?"


    Fang Yuan was elated.


    After all, Master Wenxin taught him that the spiritual plants relied very much on blessed soil to flourish.


    In other places, even the most fertile soil and idyllic landscapes would only support the growth of low-level spiritual crops.


    The Spiritual Red Corn crop might be unsightly, but they were spiritual after all!


    To think that Fang Yuan himself could grow these crops on normal land. If he could grow the Vermilion Jade Rice crops on more land, not even the Spirit Returning Sect would be as rich as he.


    "The Spirit Returning Sect thinks very highly of themselves, but can they eat Spiritual Rice every day? Well, I can!"


    Fang Yuan''s lips curled up into a slight smile. His eyes gleamed. Suddenly, he let out an exclamation and ran to the edge of the field.


    "This¡­"


    What he saw before his eyes made him slack-jawed.


    The blue-eyed grass patch on the borderlands of the blooming field was yellowing at the edges. Some of the greenery was clearly withering away. It was as if they had been robbed of their vitality.


    And the Yellow Fruit Tree, the Grapefruit Rattan...all the plants that were close to the Vermilion field shared the same fate.


    "No way...I grew these low maintenance plants to supplement the Red Corn crops. I thought they''d even make the soil more fertile¡­"


    Fang Yuan took in the sight before him and had a sudden realisation.


    "The spiritual plants are so overbearing. They actually sucked the essence out of the neighbouring plants. Well, this was bound to happen anyway. This piece of land is too common to sustain the spiritual crops with its own power."


    At this thought, Fang Yuan promptly sped towards the tea garden and carefully examined the immediate surroundings of the Questioning Heart tea plant.


    As expected, the Questioning Heart tea plant was blooming fervently, but at the expense of the tea plants around it, which displayed signs of lifelessness.


    "I guess the next time I grow the Spiritual crops, I have to grow them separately. Either that or I''ve got to make sure that the land is fertile enough to support their growth. Otherwise, they would exert a dire impact on their surroundings."


    Fang Yuan bit his lip.


    "There must be a way around this. Isn''t it just because the land is not high-yielding enough? I could dump more fertile soil on the crops, spray Fire liquid on them thrice a day, add some Fire fertiliser around them...I''m lacking in some of these materials though. Aha! Old Tian is the man to look for!"


    Old Tian was an employee of a medical hall in the outside world and was in charge of buying and collecting herbs. Sometimes, he would go to the mountains personally to pick these herbs.


    Once, he was bitten by a poisonous snake and was coincidentally rescued by Master Wenxin. Thus, a friendship was formed, and Old Tian regularly brought essential items to the master-disciple duo in exchange for herbs.


    According to Master Wenxin, Old Tian gave reasonable prices for his goods and was a down-to-earth fellow. Fang Yuan had listened and therefore kept up a regular correspondence with Old Tian.


    In any case, Fang Yuan had supplied premium herbs with very potent medicinal properties to Old Tian in their past few interactions. Old Tian must have made a tidy profit from them.


    "Young Master! Young Master!''''


    Old Tian''s voice broke into Fang Yuan''s stream of thought.


    "Ah, Old Tian, it''s you. Come in!"


    Fang Yuan greeted Old Tian at the valley entrance with a grin and invited him in.


    Old Tian was a funny-looking specimen of a man. He had long limbs, protruding lips and sunken cheeks. He reminded Fang Yuan very much of a big ape, and he had a sly gaze that was typical of the mountain folk. He was carrying a bamboo basket on his back and placed it down breathlessly. Old Tian rubbed his hands and smiled apologetically.


    "Look, Young Master. The items that you asked for the last time, I have them here."


    "Well done. It''s been hard on you, Old Tian!"


    The mountain roads went a long way, and any normal person would have found them difficult to navigate, much less travel on them with such a heavy load.


    "The Yellow Fruits have ripened. Wait here. I''ll go fetch them."


    Fang Yuan beamed.


    "Sigh¡­"


    What should have been elation on Old Tian''s features was instead a look of hesitation. Old Tian then began grinding his teeth.


    "Err...there is something you must know, Young Master. I don''t think we can trade anymore."


    "Oh?"


    Fang Yuan raised his eyebrows slightly.


    "But Old Tian, were you not pleased with the herbs you received the last time? Or did you find my prices too extortionate? These matters are all up for discussion."


    "No no no! The herbs and spices cultivated by Master Wenxin are undeniably top grade. As for you, Young Master, even the herbs on the highest mountains or in thickest forests cannot compare to the ones you gave me in terms of their richness in quality. It''s just that¡­"


    Old Tian flailed his arms.


    "In any case, it won''t work out anymore!"


    "Alright then!"


    Having tested Old Tian, Fang Yuan had gained a rough idea of what was going on.


    He let out a grin.


    "If that''s the case, then let us at least clear our inventory this time round. Have a seat Old Tian. It''s getting late. Why not stay for a meal and some tea before you leave?"


    "A meal?!"


    Old Tian gulped. He could almost smell the fragrance of the Crystal Rice he had dug into the last time he visited. The uncertainty he had felt previously was overcome by his inner glutton.


    "If Young Master would kindly spare two rice buns, this old man would be ever so grateful¡­"


    Old Tian showed no more signs of leaving. It was as if his legs were rooted into the ground. Fang Yuan suppressed a giggle.


    In the world beyond the valley, Crystal Rice was a superior grain that only affluent families could afford. The Crystal Rice crop cultivated by Fang Yuan was even better in quality. Old Tian only had one serving the last time and was already spellbound. He had even requested for some seeds, but it did not take a genius to figure out what happened to his crop.


    "You are too courteous, Old Tian. Your visits to the valley are rare occasions, and I like to think that I am a decent host."


    Fang Yuan smiled as he entered his hut, and before long, a rich aroma filled the air.


    Old Tian craned his name and sniffed with all his might. His look of intense eagerness made him look even more monkeyish. It was a hilarious sight.


    "Do put up with this simple meal!"


    Fang Yuan reappeared from the hut with a wooden tray laden with two bowls of Crystal Rice and two more food dishes.


    One of the dishes was a freshly picked cucumber, rinsed in spring water and served in slices. They looked like exquisitely carved pieces of jade.


    The other dish was pickled beans. The fragrance of the dish wafted into Old Tian''s nose and made his stomach grumble in response.


    "Excellent! Marvellous!"


    Of course, the star of the show was the pearl-like granules of Crystal Rice in the wooden bowls. Their aroma, mixed in with the fragrance of the pickled beans, had Old Tian enthralled.


    Old Tian decided to help himself and descended into the rice bowls with relish, letting out grunts of satisfaction at intervals.


    Like a raging storm, Old Tian had polished off three large bowls of Crystal Rice and the two dishes. He then seemed to realise that his behaviour was unseemly, and gave a rueful grin.


    "Young Master, your culinary skills are legendary. None of the dishes served at the most expensive banquets in the city can compare to the ones you cook!"


    "Come come, have some tea!"


    Fang Yuan calmly served Old Tian a cup of tea with a look of indifference.


    This was a cup of Questioning Heart Tea, but it was not prepared via the Meditative Tea Ceremony. Fang Yuan had long planned to use it on someone so that he could observe its effects for himself. It was just as well that Old Tian had turned up.


    "Smells good!"


    Although not brewed according to the proper procedures, but the tea was clear and had a pleasant scent. It was the perfect post-meal beverage. Old Tian''s hands were trembling as he fetched the cup over.


    "I''ve never seen a finer breed of tea in my life. Is this a new variety cultivated by Young Master?"


    Fang Yuan merely smiled in reply and said nothing. Old Tian dared not ask further and without further ado, emptied the cup in one fell swoop.


    Kaboom!


    As the tea flowed down his throat, Old Tian felt as though a great waterfall had descended into his body and purified his heart and soul. There was also a rush into his brain that triggered vivid images of his life thus far - his childhood poverty, the struggle of his youth, the hardships of his current days. Old Tian could not help but feel a wave of immense sadness, and tears flowed down his cheeks in steady streams.


    Fang Yuan observed the interesting changes of expression taking place on Old Tian''s face with glee.


    "Young Master, I am guilty!!"


    Old Tian suddenly began to bawl unrestrainedly and fell to his knees.


    "Master Wenxin saved my life, and yet I let myself be bribed into destroying your source of income. I deserve death!"


    "Ahh¡­"


    Fang Yuan was taken aback at the potency of the Questioning Heart Tea.


    He peered carefully at Old Tian and shook his head.


    "That''s right. Without the Meditative Tea Ceremony, the Tea cannot boost one''s magical ability...Otherwise, Old Tian would not be in this state!"

 5 Leaving the Mountain

    "Who let you do this?"


    Seeing an opportunity while Old Tian was crying, Fang Yuan questioned him.


    The Questioning Heart Tea had the ability to cleanse the soul, but could not turn an evil person into a kind one.


    Old Tian had a good heart and was able to feel guilty. Therefore, he could come to his senses under the effects of the tea. If he had an evil heart to begin with, he would have simply found that the tea tasted good, and would not have felt any guilt.


    "I am not human¡­ boohoo¡­"


    On the floor, Old Tian was crying, "I understand it now, I have lived as a coward my whole life. Now that I have aged, I have acquired some sort of status. But yet I let myself be pressured into hurting my benefactor''s disciple. I am not human... I have thought through it. The stupid Spirit Returning Sect, even if I don''t do anything, I will not let my benefactor down¡­"


    "Spirit Returning Sect?"


    Fang Yuan was shocked.


    ''Could it be that they are unwilling to let the matter rest? Wait a moment, this is wrong! If they weren''t willing to let the matter rest, they would have killed me straight away. Now the situation is neither here nor there, like kids playing a fool¡­''


    At this point, he enquired, "Did the Spirit Returning Sect instigate this? Who threatened you?"


    "One more thing. I''m not sure where I''d heard this from, but I do know that I have some relations with your people¡­ Young Master, why don''t we leave this place, since the Spirit Returning Sect dominates the surrounding 100 miles of land. Once we are beyond this 100 miles, we won''t have to give a hoot about them! I have some savings with me, as well as some experience in the outside world. The journey should not be a problem¡­"


    Old Tian had found his conscience, and he actively advised Fang Yuan to leave. He began to look for a route.


    Fang Yuan looked at Old Tian''s shabby appearance and remained speechless, "No rush! No rush! We can wait¡­"


    He then sat down and enjoyed the tea by himself.


    "Eh?"


    A moment passed, and Old Tian''s newfound conscience slowly faded. His sly personality resurfaced. He immediately regretted his words and thought, ''What have I done? Why did I offer to give up my savings to help this Young Master challenge the Spirit Returning Sect?''


    To be honest, it was entirely possible for him to warn Fang Yuan and allow him to leave quickly by himself.


    But to throw in his life savings and escape together with Fang Yuan? Old Tian scratched his own head and had never felt more foolish.


    Fang Yuan stared at him and Old Tian was afraid that he would regain his conscience and run away with Fang Yuan.


    Fang Yuan observed that Old Tian looked uneasy and awkward, and he found it amusing.


    ''Old Tian has a good heart, but he has too many worries in this world, which makes him indecisive¡­''


    Fang Yuan said, "Old Tian, don''t you worry. I have no intention to escape, and will not bother you for help!"


    "It is of no trouble."


    Old Tian responded weakly, but deep down, he heaved a huge sigh of relief.


    Old Tian was still baffled at how he had found his conscience today, but since he had already agreed to help, Old Tian reminded Fang Yuan, "Civilians who know what is good for them do not challenge officials. The Spirit Returning Sect might not be made up of officials, but they are in fact more powerful. In what way has Young Master offended them? You should quickly look for someone to help you. If not, then you should hurry and leave!"


    "Many thanks to your good intentions, but I will miss this place sorely¡­"


    Fang Yuan spoke the truth.


    This was where he had grown up and he had definitely developed feelings for the place, feelings that were hard to replace.


    Furthermore, he had the spiritual tea and spiritual rice. It was impossible to transfer these goods to somewhere far in such a short notice.


    Additionally, Fang Yuan had faith in his own judgement. Since he had annulled the marriage, and accepted the gifts, there was no reason for the other party to stoop this low and behave ruthlessly.


    Perhaps it was one of the lower ranking sect members who initiated this, hoping to curry favour with the upper echelons.


    ''Could it be Leiyue that caused this?''


    Fang Yuan flinched for a moment. In his memory, Leiyue was not that pretty, and the image of her face was blurred.


    On the contrary, in his dream world, this was a common plot development in the novels, in which love rivals could suddenly appear out of nowhere and cause trouble.


    "Also, an embargo of goods isn''t such a big deal!"


    He looked at Old Tian and smiled.


    "Next time you won''t have to suffer that much!"


    "Eh?"


    Old Tian glanced at Fang Yuan, feeling disturbed.


    "I am alone, with no attachments, and have nothing to my name. But you, Old Tian, if you follow their orders, they won''t cause trouble for you!"


    Fang Yuan calmly analysed it for Old Tian, and took out a platter of herbs, "Here is the medicine, our last deal is done."


    "Eh¡­ Young Master, take care!"


    Old Tian did not approve of Fang Yuan''s decision, but seeing his determination, had no choice but to leave.


    ...


    After sending off Old Tian, Fang Yuan flipped the bamboo basket on the floor.


    Old Tian had brought along enough goods this time, and inclusive of his current stash, the amount of stock should be enough to sustain him for the next few months.


    "One of the ingredients required to create Still Fire Liquid can only be acquired from the outside world. I had thought initially that I could use Old Tian''s assistance¡­ Looking at how things are now I guess I''ll have to go personally!"


    Fang Yuan sighed, "And as for me being a target of the Spirit Returning Sect, this is a matter to be investigated¡­"


    In truth, since Fang Yuan had always lived within the secluded valley and rarely stepped out, he was actually looking forward to seeing the outside world for himself.


    Having decided on leaving the valley, Fang Yuan had to prepare himself.


    Firstly, he selected some exquisite and aged herbs to fund his trip expenses and changed into a new set of clothing. The most important thing, of course, was to bring enough food.


    The normal rice from the outside world could never compare to his self-cultivated Pearl Jade Crystal Rice.


    Being used to consuming his own produce, food from the outside world might as well be pigs'' feed.


    After Fang Yuan was done with his preparations, he equipped himself with a machete for self-protection and proceeded with his journey.


    ...


    Clear Spirit Mountain was vast and stretched across several counties.


    Qinghe County was the nearest to the secluded valley.


    Fang Yuan rarely left the mountains, but he had accompanied Master Wenxin on his trips out a few times before, and therefore knew his way.


    There were a few villages along the way and Fang Yuan approached one of them. Fang Yuan was relieved, "If the Spirit Returning Sect really wanted to deal with me, with their vast capabilities, it would be difficult for me to move around¡­ It seems like my guess was correct, was it the initiative of one of the low ranking sect cronies?"


    The thought of being seen as a love rival and having to deal with this mystery opponent gave Fang Yuan the shudders.


    "This will not do. I should look for Minister Lin and find out if it really is the Spirit Returning Sect making trouble for me. After all, they were the ones who created the problems. I doubt that he''ll just stand by and watch the show."


    After paying the entrance fee to the town, Fang Yuan walked around aimlessly and did some deep thinking at the same time.


    To him, he was willing to forgo his reputation in exchange for less trouble.


    But to constantly trouble others was not a long-term solution. Furthermore, the meeting would definitely be an awkward one. It would be for the best if he could solve the problem by himself.


    "Cookies!"


    "Cosmetics and accessories!"


    "Superior gold jewellery¡­"


    ...


    Although it was a small town, there were many shops along the streets, and the noise created from all the shouting and bargaining made the town a lively one. It was a sight to behold for Fang Yuan, and there were people who looked at him like he was an alien, but all these did not bother him.


    "The creation of the Still Fire Liquid requires some Leaving Fire Wood, water that comes from the sky, and Realgar powder¡­ The first two ingredients can be found in the valley, but the Realgar Powder, I will need to buy it in bulk!"


    Fang Yuan considered this for a moment and went into a grocery store.


    "What would you like, Sir?"


    A middle-aged cashier was at the counter, with a very warm smile.


    "I want Realgar Powder of the best quality! By the way¡­ do you accept mountain herbs as payment?"


    Minister Lin had given some money to Fang Yuan, but he preferred to use his own medicine, and safekept the money for future use.


    After all, if the situation escalated and worsened, and if he needed to run, then bringing money along instead of the miscellaneous stuff would be much more practical.


    Fang Yuan was reluctant to leave the valley, but he was also not a fool and knew the obvious choice.


    "We do accept medicines!"


    The cashier smiled and said, "Whatever mountain herbs you have, bring it to me, young boy!"


    "Mmm!"


    Fang Yuan knew that even though the cashier seemed friendly, the moment he handed over expensive medicine, the cashier would likely develop an ulterior motive.


    Having the appearance of a poor boy, Fang Yuan looked like he did not have any backing.


    After much consideration, he took out a cloth bag, which caught the attention of the cashier. Layer by layer he opened it and when the cashier saw that it was just Red Ginseng, disappointment was written all over his face.


    "Red Ginseng, 20-year-old, of rather good quality! Let me take a closer look¡­"


    Fang Yuan took out an inexpensive good, but it was still above average. The cashier wanted to look out for flaws in the red ginseng so as to lower its price but to no avail.


    This Red Ginseng had no flaws in its appearance, preservation and colour¡­ so the only thing he could say was, "What a pity, its age is too young, I can only give¡­"


    "Wait a moment, I want this!"


    The cashier couldn''t complete his sentence, and a stretched arm snatched the red ginseng from him, "A pity¡­ it isn''t aged enough!"


    The voice was like an Oriolus bird, high-pitched and tender. Fang Yuan turned around and saw this young lady dressed in a yellow dress. With unhappiness in his voice, he said, "Lady, this is my Red Ginseng!"


    "How much do you want for it?"


    The lady was around 17 to 18 years old, around the same age as Fang Yuan.


    "This isn''t about money, instead I have been preparing to barter this with the cashier for something else. Your action is like extortion!"


    Fang Yuan shook his head, and this angered the young lady, "You!"


    "Young man, this sister of mine is worried about her father''s condition, which led to her being disrespectful, please do not hold it against her!"


    At this moment, behind the young lady appeared an apologetic young gentleman clad in a green gown.


    "It''s nothing to worry about, your sister''s filial piety will definitely touch the gods!"


    The young gentleman seemed to be influential, as the cashier rubbed his hands and forced a smile.

 6 A Trespasser

    "Who are they?"


    Fang Yuan asked that question while organising the top grade Realgar Powder as he looked at the 2 siblings taking their leave.


    "They are from the Zhou family. You are very lucky today to have met the second son of the Zhou family. Imagine if it was the unruly daughter of the Zhou family instead¡­."


    One of the shopkeepers, who seemed to know the Zhou Family, replied and started shaking his head.


    "What are you trying to cure with the Red Mountain Ginseng? Is Old Zhou sick?"


    "It isn''t that simple. The Zhou family is part of the Spirit Returning Sect. Old Zhou, who is a deacon, suffers internal injuries apparently. That is why he needs the medicine now in order to recover. Unfortunately, your Red Mountain Ginseng is not at least 50 years old. Otherwise, there is a chance for you to meet the criteria listed in the announcement!"


    "What announcement?"


    Fang Yuan showed interest and said to the shopkeeper, "Tell me more about it."


    "What announcement? Didn''t you see an announcement made by the Zhou family? They are looking for a doctor to cure Old Zhou''s illness! The Zhou family promised to give anything that the doctor wants if the doctor is able to cure Old Zhou''s illness¡­."


    The shopkeeper sighed, making it seemed like Old Zhou is unlikely to recover.


    Fang Yuan listened before viewing his stats subconsciously. His medicine level was recorded in his stats window.


    Being recognised by his stats system meant that his ability had attained a certain standard.


    Even though Fang Yuan had learnt a few techniques, only those techniques related to medicine and botany, which had been vetted by Master Wenxin were recognised.


    Hence, Fang Yuan considered himself as a much skilful doctor as compared to other normal doctors.


    The only thing was that Fang Yuan was lazy in nature and he was also not very fond of Miss Zhou''s temperament. Therefore, he wouldn''t volunteer himself to help her.


    ''Since the Zhou family is part of the Spirit Returning Sect, perhaps I can pick up martial arts from them¡­.However, this seems dangerous, maybe I should just forget about it¡­.''


    Even though the Zhou siblings were rude, they were very generous with the rewards in terms of money. The reward would definitely allow Fang Yuan to purchase the Realgar Powder in bulk with spare change left.


    After exiting the shop, Fang Yuan continued shopping happily.


    ''Thinking about it, someone from the Spirit Returning Sect must have made this decision without consulting anyone. This makes the announcement less reliable.''


    At noon, Fang Yuan squatted at a corner and kept thinking about the announcement while consuming the rice balls he brought.


    This was good news as it meant that he was not forced to leave his hometown.


    When the Zhou Family attempted to cut his supply through Old Tian, they didn''t force himself to leave, but it was hard to say what would happen next.


    ''Maybe¡­.Should I go and pick up martial arts from the Spirit Returning Sect and practice? Legend has it that the Spirit Returning Sect is led by a Wu Zong. What is a Wu Zong? Is it very powerful? But I''m not really sure if the system would recognise martial arts¡­."


    The rice balls were made from Pearl Jade Crystal Rice and sour plums were wrapped inside them which produced a great aroma.


    A few beggars gathered around Fang Yuan. Their eyes glittered and they were drooling, obviously attracted by the aroma of the rice balls.


    Luckily there were many people along the street. If not, the beggars that gathered would have started snatching the rice balls.


    "Haha¡­.so you are here, little beggar?"


    At that point when Fang Yuan was surrounded by those pitiful stares and wanted to give up some of his rice balls, a familiar voice was heard.


    He lifted up his head and saw Miss Zhou giving him a cocky look.


    "Me? I''m a beggar?"


    Fang Yuan was stunned as he pointed to himself.


    "You are gathering with the other beggars. If you are not a beggar then what are you?"


    Miss Zhou grinned and brought out a purse with gold and silver linings. "How about I give you beggars a few coins to go into a restaurant to have a good meal?"


    Fang Yuan looked at himself and turned speechless.


    Usually, villagers who entered a city were dressed in this manner, which left Fang Yuan no choice but to accept it.


    He rolled his eyes and ignored Miss Zhou. He then continued eating his rice balls.


    "Haha¡­..you villagers treat rice balls as if they are treasures. I just came from a restaurant¡­.what is that smell?"


    Miss Zhou smelled and found out the aroma was coming from Fang Yuan''s rice balls.


    Each grain of the Pearl Jade Crystal Rice grains are clear as crystal and they complement well with the sour plums. These rice balls did not seem like what villagers usually eat.


    Of course, the main attraction was the fragrance of the rice balls.


    She just had the same type of rice from a restaurant, but the aroma of the rice balls is just¡­.too tempting already¡­.


    Resentful, Miss Zhou started to realise that her stomach started growling even though she had just finished a meal.


    This was not because of her hungriness, but the fact that the delicious rice balls were tempting her!


    She started to feel as if the rice balls Fang Yuan were eating were like a black hole, constantly attracting her attention.


    If she continued staring, she would drool!


    Miss Zhou wisely decided to turn back and walked off.


    "Do you¡­.want that?"


    Fang Yuan met Miss Zhou'' eyes and felt that she was pitiful. Hence, he gave out the last rice ball, "I''m giving you the last one!"


    Miss Zhou swallowed and started blushing. Her fingers shook a little, which seemed to be reaching for the rice balls. At last, she blurted, "What a joke¡­.I''m Zhou Wenxin from the well known Zhou family. How could this be happening¡­."


    Her footsteps brought her closer to the rice balls as she blurted.


    "Oh, you don''t want the rice balls I see!"


    Fang Yuan understood her and gave the last rice ball to one of the beggars instead, "Take it!"


    "Thank you, sir! Thank you, sir!"


    That beggar was drooling right in front of Fang Yuan before. He became so grateful that he kept thanking while eating the rice ball.


    That beggar grabbed the rice ball with a good amount of force. Meanwhile, it seemed that Zhou Wenxin was about to explode anytime.


    "Ooohh¡­.this is delicious!"


    That beggar wolfed down the rice ball within seconds and started licking his fingers after finishing it.


    "You¡­."


    Zhou Wenxin''s face became sluggish and blushed. Suddenly, she started crying out loud, "You bullied me!"


    Not really sure why she felt that way, she turned and ran away.


    The people who knew Zhou Wenxin gathered around Fang Yuan and admired him for what he did.


    This guy was able to deal with the rude Miss Zhou by leaving her crying. This guy is capable of accomplishing anything in the future!


    "This¡­.''


    Fang Yuan scratched his head and thought that he was innocent. It wasn''t his fault that Miss Zhou cried. Sometimes, it was better to clear any misunderstandings that were made by others as IQ may not be equal to EQ.


    However, he knew his EQ was low and he knew that if he didn''t start running, he would be in big trouble when Miss Zhou''s bodyguards came for him.


    He started fleeing to a corner of another street.


    ....


    Fang Yuan''s prediction was correct.


    Miss Zhou''s bodyguards, looking angry, came running here not long after. Luckily they hadn''t started locking down the whole city.


    Fortunately, Fang Yuan was already outside the city, on his way back to the valley.


    There were a few in the city who recognised Fang Yuan''s looks, but no one knew where he lived.


    Zhou Wenxin was furious for not learning Fang Yuan''s name and could only give up on this matter. The news of Fang Yuan making Zhou Wenxin cry had spread everywhere in the city, causing Miss Zhou to be very embarrassed about the incident. Many had witnessed the incident happening, which made Zhou Wenxin even more furious. Unfortunately, she had nowhere to vent her anger.


    "Hmm¡­.So Wu Zong is a cultivation stage a martial artist can attain. A Wu Zong would be powerful to the extent that he would be able to defeat many. In the entire Spirit Returning Sect, there is only one such martial artist¡­."


    Fang Yuan bought a book from a stall nearby using a few copper coins and was enjoying the contents.


    This book appeared to be written by a scholar. The contents were based on a personal account and it seemed that the writer loved to travel. The content even mentioned something about Wu Zong, which attracted Fang Yuan.


    "And here lies the Clear Spirit Mountain. Here is the Qinghe County and that city just now was Qingye City¡­."


    What made Fang Yuan so interested in the book was that he was able to know where he was and the surrounding places from the book itself.


    "The mainland is so big. The county where I am right now is so small when compared to the mainland. However, some may think that this county is quite big already¡­.."


    From the book, Fang Yuan knew how big the world is, which made him excited.


    "Wu Zong is only well known in this area. There should be other structures other than martial arts¡­."


    Fang Yuan put the book back into his bamboo basket and began trekking.


    "Unfortunately, I was unable to get any martial arts manual. I should not think about other types of manuals then¡­."


    Once back into the secluded valley, Fang Yuan felt at ease.


    "It is still more comfortable back at home¡­."


    Although he was not away from home for long, Fang Yuan was homesick.


    He immediately went to the farm after putting his belongings down.


    "Eh?"


    Upon reaching the entrance, he was shocked by the presence of an animal''s footprint, "A pest?"


    Having a farm in the mountains would definitely attract all kinds of birds and animals. Luckily, Master Wenxin had a way to prevent any pest from entering the farm.


    Tigers, wolves and other mammals would use their pee to mark out their territories. Other animals would not dare to enter these territories upon smelling the pee. In actual fact, some kind of herb was made into liquid form and would be poured around the whole perimeter of an area, tricking the other animals into think that that area is someone''s territory and hence no one would enter.


    Even if this method is a failure, the traps would have solved the problem of any trespassing.


    However, the traps in the farm were damaged and the baits were missing as if the trespasser was laughing quietly at the back.

 7 Spiritual Beas

    "Hmmm¡­ from the footsteps this is an animal that is not too big not too small just like the size of a hunting dog¡­"


    Fang Yuan kneeled down and observed the distinct footprint, "It is not too deep into the ground so it shouldn¡¯t be too big in size. A wild wolf? Fox? Or a weasel or a badger?"


    "What a clever animal it managed to destroy our trap¡­"


    Since growing up from the mountains Fang Yuan was skillful in catching wild animals because he often had to catch wild chickens and rabbits for food.


    And for a trap this meticulously set up even a wild wolf or boar should not have been able to escape.


    But right now the trap was completely destroyed as though the animal had thoughts of provoking the one who set up the trap.


    "Master once said in the deep mountains there might be unusual beasts. Even if they started out as normal animals given the right circumstances and conditions they will evolve and become smarter could it be one of those smart animal¡¯s doing here?"


    By setting up the trap and attempting to ¡®steal¡¯ the animal Fang Yuan felt wiser as though he was not facing a normal animal but a human. This led him to have a heavy heart.


    "Hmmm¡­ our losses are not much¡­"


    He scanned around the surroundings and suddenly jumped up. He urgently made his way back to the tea garden, "This isn¡¯t good¡­ My spiritual plants!!!"


    Since the thief was not a normal animal normal crops would not be able to attract them therefore the only possibility was the Questioning Heart Tea Tree and Vermillion Jade Rice that attracted it!


    After sorting out his thoughts Fang Yuan felt very uneasy and could not calm himself down.


    A moment had passed and Fang Yuan felt very angry. He shouted within the secluded valley, "Go and die¡­ Don¡¯t let me catch you¡­"


    Fang Yuan stood in front of the Questioning Heart Tea Tree with sorrow on his face.


    What used to be emerald-green tea leaves was now empty branches with bite marks on where the branches were broken.


    The entire tree looked worn-out. Fortunately, its roots remained undamaged otherwise Fang Yuan would have lost it forever.


    "What is this?"


    After a close inspection, Fang Yuan discovered more clues around the Questioning Heart Tea Tree.


    He rubbed his right hand against the broken branches of the tree. A layer of fine crystal droplets covered his fingertips. He realized the fine crystal droplets were all over the tree not only at the surroundings of the broken branches but near the roots of the tree as well.


    "I did not put this here could it be the thief that brought it here?"


    Fang Yuan placed these droplets near his nose and immediately smelt a fragrance followed by a putrid smell.


    "Fertilizer?"


    He looked at the worn-out Questioning Heart Tea Tree made a conjecture and had mixed feelings about it.


    This spiritual plant thief dared to treat the Questioning Heart Tea Tree as its own and even defecated on it to make sure it would grow again so it could have another meal.


    "It surely must have left the place because if it saw me it would have approached me¡­"


    Fang Yuan shook his head and rushed to where the Vermillion Jade Rice was planted at.


    On the contrary, the Spirited Red Corn was left untouched and even grew a little taller than it was before. The surrounding plants around the Spirited Red Corn seemed like they had dried up.


    "The Spirited Red Corn couldn¡¯t even attract its attention the thief must have quite high standards¡­"


    Seeing that the entire garden was left untouched and that the thief only had the intention to damage the Questioning Heart Tea Tree Fang Yuan was left speechless, "I will immediately set up another trap and wait here day and night just to see who is the thief!"


    When his anger had subsided Fang Yuan thought that the whole incident was quite interesting as he could not wait to see who was the one who stole his tea leaves.


    ...


    After calculating all his losses he had to carry on with his normal life.


    Fang Yuan processed the Realgar Powder mixed it with the rest of the ingredients according to the correct ratio and placed it in the cellar for three days. He managed to produce a large amount of Still Fire Liquid.


    This recipe was passed down from Master Wenxin and was a great fertilizer for many fire-type plants.


    Since the Vermillion Jade Rice was a spiritual plant Fang Yuan had to water it thrice a day for it to grow and develop. It no longer had to compete and take the nutrients from surrounding plants to survive anymore and Fang Yuan felt relieved.


    Days passed but the mysterious thief had not appeared. On the other hand, the constant lookout day and night took a toll on Fang Yuan.


    Midnight with a clear moon.


    Fang Yuan placed his trap and observed silently at a hidden spot.


    Within the Tea Forest was silence and only occasional crickets which echoed within the secluded valley.


    "Could it be that the thief saw me and is unwilling to approach?"


    After keeping watch for a few hours Fang Yuan felt sleepy and a little disappointed, "I shall keep watch for another night and if the thief doesn¡¯t appear I will graft the Questioning Heart Tea Tree to somewhere safe¡­ as for the crystal droplets it¡¯s a pity¡­"


    Through the past few days of observation Fang Yuan became sure of his conjecture and true enough the crystal droplets was a fertilizer to spiritual plants.


    Not only did the condition of the Questioning Heart Tea Tree improved its branches had healed and on the Spirited Red Corn which he scattered some of the crystal droplets they too began to grow larger than usual.


    This unique fertilizer for the spiritual plants immediately aroused Fang Yuan¡¯s interest. He even considered letting the thief go if the thief was willing to share where it obtained the fertilizer from.


    "Ahhhchooo..."


    The next midnight had arrived and Fang Yuan¡¯s eyelids were heavier than before; he was ready to sleep anytime.


    "It seems that it will not come tonight and since I have to wake up tomorrow morning to loosen the soil for the Spirited Red Corn I shall go¡­ eh?"


    At the moment when Fang Yuan stood up, a white flash caught his eye.


    "It¡¯s coming!"


    Fang Yuan became more energetic and in a moment did not feel sleepy anymore.


    The white flash rushed towards the garden and saw the trap left by Fang Yuan. It appeared undisturbed as it gingerly made its way around the trap used its paws to grab the tree branch and pulled it out. This action triggered the trap but it couldn¡¯t catch anything as the beast was already out of its way.


    "Wow! What a big and clever White Ferret!"


    Fang Yuan heaved a huge sigh.


    There was no mistake that right in front of him was a large White Ferret. It had large eyes long fur and a pair of extremely agile paws. Its ears would twitch from time to time as though it was listening to the surroundings and its white fur was extremely reflective under the moonlight.


    A normal ferret would be about the size of a cat but this one grew a metre long like a small leopard.


    "Oh boy! What a large White Ferret¡­"


    Seeing how the ferret moved about freely within the tea garden Fang Yuan took another look at his inadequate equipment and thought, "Why not¡­ I let it do whatever it wants today and the next time it comes I shall get more backup!"


    He was not a professional hunter to begin with and even though he prepared a comprehensive list of equipment to catch it but looking at the ¡®demonic¡¯ White Ferret he did not dare to catch it.


    "Keke!"


    The moment the White Ferret entered the Tea Forest his jet-black eyes focused at Fang Yuan¡¯s hiding spot as though it had noticed him!


    "How dare you! You beast!"


    Fang Yuan had no choice but to reveal himself, "You destroyed my tea tree for the first time and now you¡¯re back for the second time do you really treat me as non-existent?


    Simultaneously while jumping out Fang Yuan lit a fire torch.


    Under the illumination of the torch, Fang Yuan could see the expression of the White Ferret as though Fang Yuan was a joke. It did not run but instead made eye contact with Fang Yuan.


    ¡®Oh no, shouldn¡¯t these wild animals be afraid of fire and humans? Why doesn¡¯t it seem so now?¡¯


    Deep down Fang Yuan was regretting his actions.


    Seeing that the White Ferret did not treat him seriously and continued to munch on the branches of the Questioning Heart Tea Tree. Fang Yuan flared up, "How dare you!"


    He grabbed his fire torch in one hand and his machete in another rushing towards the White Ferret, "Don¡¯t touch what is mine!"


    "Sssss!"


    In the next moment, he saw the White Ferret turned around its fur standing and it was making a hissing noise. Fang Yuan knew that this was bad but proceeded to lunge forward with his machete.


    ¡®Sou!¡¯


    The white shadow flashed by as Fang Yuan felt a strong force on his wrists forcing him to take a few steps back. His wrists weakened and he dropped both the machete and the fire torch, "This beast is too quick too strong!"


    "Keke!"


    Seeing how Fang Yuan was unable to withstand his first attack the White Ferret looked away and stroked his tummy as though he was mimicking a human laughing.


    He was a spiritual being. He waved his little paws at Fang Yuan and pointed to the Questioning Heart Tree as though he was saying, ¡®This spiritual plant from today onwards will be mine!¡¯


    "No¡­...I cannot take this!"


    Being mocked at by the beast Fang Yuan felt unjust. He did a flip from the ground and exclaimed, "Look out for my hidden weapon!"


    With a flick of his wrist, a few small paper packets flew out from his hand.


    ¡®Peng peng!¡¯


    Smoke and fog exploded in mid-air bringing with it a pungent smell.


    Fang Yuan appeared calm but without thought turned around and ran!


    Even though a fight might be lost one should naturally look for a way to escape and in the future come back to deal with the white ferret. There was no rush for a gentleman to take his revenge.


    "Sssss¡­"


    Within the smoke came a shrill from the white ferret. Fang Yuan stopped in his footsteps.


    He turned around and saw the white ferret pacing around the white smoke as though it was very afraid of it.


    "Eh?"


    Fang Yuan felt relieved.


    He only meant for the smoke to help him escape because within the paper packets were normal non-spiritual items.


    "I placed plenty of beast-repelling powder and if it is of use how can the beast enter? It seems like it also isn¡¯t about the pepper¡­ It must be¡­ the Realgar Powder! Haha¡­ Just wait and see!"


    Fang Yuan ran back to the valley and in no time brought along many bags of powder, "So you¡¯re scared of Realgar? Hahahaha¡­ let¡¯s see!"


    ¡®Peng peng!¡¯


    With the flick of his right wrist, large amounts of Realgar Powder scattered into smoke covering the entire place.


    Although the white ferret seemed determined it appeared that he was really afraid of Realgar and did not dare to move.


    When the Realgar smoke settled it was gone.

 8 The Exchange

    It was a quiet morning.


    A thick fog gathered around the emerald-green leaves, condensing into water droplets as large as a pearl.


    Fang Yuan paced around the garden, and carefully scattered the Realgar Powder on the soil, especially around the Questioning Heart Tea Tree and Vermillion Jade Rice plants, as these were the spiritual plants he wanted to protect.


    "I can''t imagine, such an agile and strong beast would have so much fear for a normal Realgar? Could it be true that one item would be the perfect counter to another?"


    After finishing up, he wiped his sweat, sat on a large rock and started to ponder.


    "Ferrets are afraid of Realgar? Wait a minute, this ferret is no ordinary ferret, it''s possible that its fears are different from the usual ferret. Ferrets like to eat snakes, could it be that it ate too many snakes and evolved certain special traits?... Luckily I still have quite a lot of Realgar Powder left over!"


    In order to make enough Still Fire Liquid, Fang Yuan bought not only the highest quality Realgar Powder, but also got a large quantity of it, and so did not need to worry about not having enough of it for the time being.


    "But I''ll still have to be careful, as the White Ferret may react differently once it becomes desperate."


    Fang Yuan plucked a few fresh fruits for breakfast, went to the river and collected some pure spring water. He then took out his tea set and some Questioning Heart Tea leaves.


    These leaves were roasted before they were sealed, which kept the essence of the Questioning Heart Tea leaves, and since they were stored away and well hidden, the White Ferret did not manage to get its paws on it.


    If the White Ferret took these last leaves, Fang Yuan would definitely be speechless and depressed.


    Boiling water, washing the pot, setting the tea leaves¡­


    Within the peace, every single movement seemed effortless and tranquil.


    Not long, the fragrance of the tea leaves rose.


    "Good!"


    Even though he had drank this tea countless times, the comfort this tea brought to Fang Yuan was still able to earn his praise.


    He noticed his qualities and saw a change at the top,


    "Name: Fang Yuan


    Essence: 1


    Spirit: 1


    Magic: 1.4


    Age: 18


    Cultivation: None


    Techniques: None


    Skills: [Medicine (Level 1)], [Botany (level 3)]"


    "A normal person should have an average magic value of 1, but I have already exceeded that by about half... Although the effects of Questioning Heart Tea has decreased, before it loses all its effectiveness, maybe it can increase my magic level by more than twice of the average?"


    More than twice of the average human, how would that feel like?


    What Fang Yuan didn''t know was that although he had only increased by 0.4 in magic, he would feel much wiser, and memorising books would take a much shorter time than usual, as though the gods were helping him.


    Take now for an example, At the corner of his eye, he quickly spotted a white flash.


    "Keke¡­ Have you not given up? Come out!"


    With the Realgar Powder in one hand, Fang Yuan waited patiently without fear and exclaimed loudly.


    From the previous encounter, he knew that the White Ferret was a spiritual being, and could not be dealt with using normal ways, and it seems that it could understand what Fang Yuan was saying.


    "Come out!"


    "Come!"


    "... ¡­"


    His voice echoed throughout the valley, but the white shadow was nowhere to be seen.


    "That''s true, it''s daytime now¡­"


    Fang Yuan looked at the sunrise, "Wasn''t it night time? Eh¡­ This fellow only appreciates spiritual plants, and the only thing more superior than the Questioning Heart Tea here is the¡­"


    He smiled to himself and brewed another pot of Questioning Heart Tea, the fragrance of the tea spreading far.


    "Keke!"


    As expected, a loud hissing followed by a white flash appeared. It circled the Realgar Powder but did not dare to approach it.


    "Seeing how the Questioning Heart Tea Tree was damaged, the essence of the brewed tea leaves would attract it even more right?"


    Fang Yuan took a teacup, walked a few steps forward and stopped one and a half metres from the White Ferret.


    "Hisss!"


    Behind the line marked out by the Realgar Powder, as White Ferret tried to approach, its fur stood and he made a sound of fear but dared not to approach.


    The fragrance of the tea made the White Ferret even more desperate as it scratched its head like a monkey.


    "Haha¡­ you are a ferret, not a monkey!"


    Fang Yuan became intrigued and the kid in him took over. After a round of fooling with the White Ferret, he exclaimed, "If you don''t ask and take, that makes you a thief! This tea tree and tea leaves have an owner, and only if I am willing to give it to you, then will it be yours. Understood?"


    Within the secluded valley, he was always living along and had already been used to himself mumbling to himself. He laughed at himself, "How would I expect for you to understand such complicated teachings..."


    At this moment, Fang Yuan''s eyes grew wide.


    The White Ferret clasped its paws together as though a human apologising, its jet-black eyes staring at the cup of tea, as though it was begging for the tea.


    "This White Ferret is magical!"


    Fang Yuan mumbled to himself, looked at the cup of tea in his hands, and suddenly he realised, "Yes¡­ this Questioning Heart Tea has magical properties and would be even more valuable to the wild animal. Could it be that the tea leaves made it smarter?"


    Fang Yuan told the White Ferret, "If you want to drink this cup of tea, you will have to understand¡­ It is hard to obtain this tea, and I do not have much of it left. If you really want this tea, you will have to exchange it with the fertilizer that you brought the other time!"


    Fang Yuan was still thinking about getting his hands on the crystal droplets, as they were spiritual fertilizer.


    This was because he noticed that by using the crystal droplets as fertilizer, the Vermillion Jade Rice grew very well, and even the broken branches of the Questioning Heart Tea Tree began to heal and shoots began sprouting.


    This led Fang Yuan to realise that the translucent crystal droplets that the White Ferret brought were a superior spiritual fertilizer, and it enhances the growth of all spiritual plants in ways no one could imagine.


    Because of his limited experience, Fang Yuan could not tell what were the crystal droplets.


    About 100 miles from Clear Spirit Mountain, much of it remained unexplored and only a spiritual beast like this White Ferret could have explored the uncharted territories and knew where to look for such a precious item.


    "Do you understand?"


    Fang Yuan noticed that the White Ferret was a little confused, so instead, he took out some of the spiritual fertilizer, "This is the one I''m looking for! I shall treat you to this cup of tea first, treating you as a guest. Next time if you want another cup of tea, bring me this spiritual fertilizer!"


    The White Ferret looked at the spiritual fertilizer in his hands and appeared to understand a little of what Fang Yuan said.


    "Alright, now take a step back, otherwise if I topple this cup of tea, don''t blame me!"


    Fang Yuan took two steps forward.


    The White Ferret could understand and immediately backed away.


    Fang Yuan approached the line made by the Realgar Powder, and placed the cup of tea beyond the line, "Enjoy!"


    "Keke!"


    The white flash appeared like lightning.


    As the White Ferret approached the boundary of Realgar Powder, it slowed down and circled the cup of tea, and sounded delighted.


    "Mmm, it seems that it is enjoying the cup of Questioning Heart Tea! After all, I used the Meditative Tea Ceremony to brew this cup of tea¡­"


    Fang Yuan observed it, nodded his head and opened his eyes wide.


    He thought that the White Ferret would lick the cup of tea. However, he never expected that it would stand up, sit down like a human, then used two paws to lift the cup up and took a sip.


    "Phew... Keke..."


    After taking a small sip, the White Ferret smiled, took another sip as though it appreciated the cup of tea.


    "What the! I must be seeing things! This isn''t a ferret¡­"


    The appearance of the White Ferret led Fang Yuan to think about Master Wenxin. Master Wenxin also had the same expression when drinking the tea Fang Yuan brewed.


    "Did the White Ferret learn these actions from a human?"


    Although he took small sips, a cup of tea was still a small amount of tea.


    After drinking, the White Ferret stared at Fang Yuan, as though he was an abandoned dog, and it appeared as if he wanted another cup of tea.


    "You are quite clever..."


    Fang Yuan scoffed, "Now you know how hard it is to obtain and brew these tea leaves?"


    Questioning Heart Tea had always been a spiritual object, and combined with the Meditative Tea Ceremony, the effects were remarkable. Other than Fang Yuan himself, even Old Tian could never have enjoyed such a tea previously.


    "If I gave him enough tea to drink, would it be possible for this White Ferret to become as smart as a human, and enable him to talk?"


    Fang Yuan looked at the seemingly smarter White Ferret, with an idea evolving in his head.


    "Alright, alright, looking at you, such a poor thing, how about another cup!"


    "Ah? Do you want more?"


    "No¡­ I can''t give you more, that''s all the tea leaves I have for today!"


    Within the secluded valley, divided by a line of Realgar Powder, sat a human and a ferret enjoying tea. It was an interesting sight to behold.


    At the end, the White Ferret sniffed the spiritual fertilizer that Fang Yuan threw, confirmed that the teapot had no more tea, before leaving in a white flash.


    "One should always hold his guard against other people¡­ animals!"


    Fang Yuan looked at the shadow of the White Ferret, and mumbled to himself, "Although wild animals have a purer mind than humans, I still have to guard against it, and only when it brings me the spiritual fertilizer, will I give him a few raw tea leaves, so that it knows that if it wants the real Questioning Heart Tea, he will have to obey me, then I can feel slightly relieved."


    Since the tea was finished, he stood up, satisfied, stretched a little and began the day''s work.


    "Spiritual fertilizer, oh spiritual fertilizer!"


    Within the Vermillion Jade Rice farm, Fang Yuan poured the last of Still Fire Liquid. From the corner of his eye, he noticed one of it growing exceptionally large and therefore felt resentment.


    Because based on his calculations, even if the Vermilion Jade Rice was able to grow smoothly, it would still take a few months before the first harvest.


    But if he was able to supply the spiritual fertilizer every day, then he probably would be able to taste the Spirited Red Corn in the following month.


    "Originally, the spiritual tea will only grow new tea leaves in the next season, but today new shoots are sprouting¡­ This spiritual fertilizer is amazing!"


    Fang Yuan thought of following the White Ferret, but the only problem was that it ran as quick as lightning, and so he gave up on that thought.


    Anyway, he just needed to have faith in his own Questioning Heart Tea.


    As long as the White Ferret want the Questioning Heart Tea, It would have to obediently bring the spiritual fertilizer.


    That night, Fang Yuan dreamt of something.


    In the dream, he took out large quantities of the spiritual fertilizer, and covered the Questioning Heart Tea Tree and Spirited Red Corns with it. The harvest he managed to get was so plentiful he was not able to store it in the storage, and even though it was in his dream, he smiled to himself.


    ...


    "Keke!"


    "Keke!"


    The next morning, Fang Yuan was woken up abruptly.


    "Ferret Brother! The sun has not risen yet!"


    Hearing this sound, Fang Yuan knew who had arrived. He sneezed, went to the garden and saw the White Ferret.


    The moon had set and the stars were dim, but its white fur still shone brilliantly. He waved his paw and pulled out a green bag from behind.


    "Eh?"


    Fang Yuan took the bag, smelt the fragrance and exclaimed, "Spiritual fertilizer! So much of it!!!"

 9 Gues

    "Sizzle!"


    In the middle of a clearing within Spirit Valley, a fire was lit. A whole chicken was being roasted on a spit, its golden brown skin crackling with oil. The aroma of chicken meat filled the air.


    "Keke!"


    By the fire, a large white ferret moved about impatiently.


    "Relax! It''s still early!"


    Fang Yuan rotated the spit gingerly, sprinkling salt and pepper on the meat at intervals.


    Ever since the deal, Fang Yuan had gradually grown accustomed to the presence of the white ferret.


    After drinking the Questioning Heart Tea brewed via the Meditative Tea Ceremony, and eating a few Questioning Heart Tea leaves, the white ferret immediately lost interest in the Questioning Heart Tea tree. But the ferret also required Fang Yuan to brew tea for it daily.


    In return, the ferret would bring spiritual fertiliser to Fang Yuan. Even better, the ferret would sometimes offer pheasants and rabbits that it had hunted down to Fang Yuan as tributes.


    Fang Yuan was not stingy with the ferret either. He had planned to share half of his meat with the ferret after it was done roasting on the spit.


    The ferret was used to ripping into its prey raw and had never eaten cooked food before. The taste of the cooked meat was complemented by the seasoning and Fang Yuan''s roasting technique. Before long, cooked food became the white ferret''s obsession.


    These days, Fang Yuan would open his door every morning to find that the ferret had lain wild game on his doorstep. He would never be in want for fresh meat again.


    "Come on! The meat is ready!"


    Fang Yuan tore the roasted chicken meat in half and threw it to the white ferret. The white ferret was ecstatic and in the blink of an eye, it had ripped into the meat and guzzled it down. It then licked its muzzle. It was apparent that it wanted more.


    "Wow, that was fast¡­"


    Fang Yuan was speechless. He bit into a chicken wing.


    "Ahh, this tastes wonderful!"


    The roasted chicken was not only aromatic, but the meat was tender and juicy. The chicken in question must have been living on pine nuts, hazelnuts and the like, for its meat had a herbal quality to it. It was no wonder that even Fang Yuan, a half-baked cook, was able to achieve such a great taste.


    "You want some more?"


    Fang Yuan took notice of the pleading gaze of the white ferret and threw him a piece of chicken thigh meat. The ferret received it excitedly and dug into it with great fervour.


    "Don''t just eat meat all the time. It''s not very nutritious¡­"


    Fang Yuan then took out the Crystal Rice and a few dishes. The white ferret could not withstand the sumptuous sight and beg for another bowl of rice. Fang Yuan was convinced that the white ferret''s stomach was a bottomless pit.


    Having eaten his fill, Fang Yuan crept up to the ferret, still preoccupied with its food, and traced his hand along its back.


    The white ferret had the softest fur, smoother than silk of the highest quality, and Fang Yuan could not help but run his hands over its fine, velvety hair over and over again. Also, he was secretly glad that the ferret had begun to see him as a friend.


    "Such a majestic and fearsome beast. If I manage to tame it, it would become a great protector of the Valley. No one would ever dare to trespass again!"


    Fang Yuan had not forgotten that he had an unexpected enemy in the outside world.


    "There is no other post-meal beverage better than tea¡­"


    After finishing the last of the roast chicken, Fang Yuan smiled and went back into his hut to fetch a teapot.


    The white ferret''s eyes lit up immediately when it saw the teapot.


    To the ferret, the roast chicken only satisfied its appetite, but the Questioning Heart Tea would heighten its senses and give it a new lease of life.


    "Sizzle"


    Tea, clear to the point of transparency, flowed into the teacup and gave off an amazing fragrance.


    Fang Yuan cleared his sight and mind, settling into a familiar set of processes. The white ferret seemed to understand the importance of this procedure and sat cross-legged solemnly.


    "Please help yourself!"


    Fang Yuan offered the white ferret a cup.


    Man and beast thus sat facing each other and had tea together. Both were enjoying it immensely.


    "Hmm, I can sense the ferret''s purity of heart. It seems as though it knows how to appreciate Master''s Meditative Tea Ceremony¡­"


    Fang Yuan was overjoyed.


    This was reflective of Master Wenxin''s joy at seeing Fang Yuan comprehend the teachings of the Tea Ceremony for the first time all those years ago.


    "So this is what it means to pass on the torch. No wonder they say that civilisation is inherited."


    Fang Yuan exhaled and unexpectedly came into mental contact with a consciousness that was not his own. He sensed ignorance and curiosity, and he turned his head only to meet the questioning eyes of the ferret.


    "Wow, I can actually feel the emotions of the white ferret?"


    Fang Yuan suddenly snapped out of his trance and found that he was unable to re-enter this mysterious state of mind.


    "If I could hold on longer to this mental state, perhaps I might be able to communicate with you directly one day!"


    Fang Yuan ruffled the white ferret''s crown and sighed.


    It was a pity that Fang Yuan was a long way off from mastering this supernatural skill.


    "Alright let''s go! We need to add some fertiliser to the tea tree!"


    Having sat down and contemplated for a while, Fang Yuan stood up and clapped his hands.


    "Luckily you fetched me the Spiritual fertiliser, or we would not be able to enjoy this much tea with the natural yield of the tea tree¡­"


    Fang Yuan walked to the tea tree and undid a pouch. He then reached into it and sprinkled bits of Spiritual fertiliser onto the base of the tea tree.


    The ferret did its part by loosening the soil with its claws. Man and beast had achieved a comfortable rapport with each other.


    To others, this was indeed a sight to behold.


    "Ferret, shall I name you?"


    "Keke?"


    "Yeah. I remember from my dreamscapes a legendary ferret that was very powerful. It was a magical beast from the epic Investiture of the Gods. It was said to resemble a white rat, was the size of an elephant and had wings, sharp teeth and claws. It was a ruthless beast and was a scourge to mankind. They called it the Flower Fox Ferret. Shall we call you that?"


    "Keke?!"


    "I''ll take this as a yes, Flower Fox Ferret! Haha!"


    Fang Yuan was extremely happy and he laughed heartily.


    ________________________


    Beyond the Valley.


    "Uncle Lin, does the Master that you speak of live here?"


    The Zhou Siblings that Fang Yuan had met before were trekking in the forest with their house servants and Minister Lini. It was a long and gruelling trek indeed.


    Zhou Wenxin, the spoilt young mistress of her noble household, was on the verge of tears. The mountain roads were winding and they seemed to never end.


    "Ah Sister, you should have stayed at home and waited for my updates. There was really no need for you to come along."


    Second Young Master Zhou (Zhou Erge) could not bear to see his sister suffer.


    "I only wanted to do my part for Papa¡­"


    "Hehe...my dears, we will arrive at the Valley shortly!"


    Minister Lin looked as though he was in the pink of health, not breathless in the slightest. He chuckled.


    "Master Wenxin was a true master. We regret that he has already passed on. However, he has left behind a disciple, who has at least inherited some of Master Wenxin''s healing skills. He might not be the best physician there is, but he is pretty good¡­"


    In truth, Minister Lin was not very confident of Fang Yuan''s competence either.


    However, he was aware that Master Wenxin and his disciple were both adept as botany, and given that they lived in the mountains, they must have gathered some valuable herbs and spices over the years.


    Minister Lin hoped to shamelessly acquire some of these medicinal resources for the Zhou Family so that they would owe him a favour.


    "Lei Yue was accepted into the Spirit Returning Sect recently. I must get into her good books!"


    Minster Lin had other things on his mind as well. Considering the state of his relations with Fang Yuan, it would be extremely awkward for them to meet.


    "What? Only one disciple?"


    Zhou Wenxin felt her anger rising, and was immediately held back by her brother.


    "Uncle Lin has our best interests at heart. Have faith in Uncle Lin. Don''t be rash!"


    Zhou Erge then turned to Minister Lin sheepishly.


    "I apologise on my sister''s behalf. Please don''t hold it against her!"


    "Haha...your sister is such a bright and lively young lady. You must be proud of her!"


    Minster Lin laughed outwardly in response, but he was secretly relieved that his few daughters were unlike Zhou Wenxin, or he would never enjoy peace in his household.


    As conversation wore on, the group finally found themselves at the entrance of the Valley.


    "My dear lad!"


    Minister Lin had been hardened by his life experiences and was thick-skinned as a result. His loud and clear voice was carried by the wind into the distance.


    "Oh? What is Minister Lin doing here?"


    Fang Yuan was clearing weeds in the Red Cornfield and was baffled when he heard the call.


    "I shall go take a look. Hide, Flower Fox Ferret! Remember, don''t eat any of the corn sprouts!"


    The Flower Fox Ferret was a magical creature. Fang Yuan saw it as his trump card and did not intend to alert anyone to its existence.


    "Keke!"


    The white ferret cocked its head to one side and glanced at the Valley entrance with disdain before disappearing into a nearby garden.


    Fang Yuan watched the white ferret go before tidying himself up. He then went over to the Valley entrance to greet his guests.


    "Ah, Uncle Lin. What brings you here again?"


    "My dear lad. Let Uncle Lin introduce you to my two companions. This is¡­"


    Minister Lin kept a wide smile plastered on his face as he spoke, but Zhou Wenxin''s voice pierced the air without warning.


    "You little thief!"


    "Thief?!"


    Minster Lin and Zhou Erge were stunned.


    "Second Brother, it''s him! He''s the fellow who took advantage of me!"


    Zhou Wenxin''s features were coloured in a violent shade of red. She was so mad that she became incoherent.


    "Young lady!"


    Fang Yuan frowned. He obviously recognised this difficult young woman.


    And her choice of words was misleading! How had he taken advantage of her if he had not even laid a finger on her?


    "What are you guys waiting for ...get him!"


    Zhou Wenxin exploded.


    "Yes, Missy!"


    The manservants moved forward aggressively.


    "Wait! This must be a misunderstanding!"


    Minister Lin rushed to position himself between the potential clash and calmly reasoned.


    "I watched this young man grow up. I can vouch for his character!"


    "You are...the kid who peddled the Red Mountain Ginseng the other day?"


    Zhou Erge had recognised Fang Yuan too.


    Second Young Master Zhou had sent men to get to the bottom of things that day and had been dumbfounded when he pieced together the whole picture.


    To be fair, Fang Yuan was indeed blameless.


    "Hehe...it must have been a mistake¡­"


    Seeing that Minister Lin was trying his best to defuse the tension, Zhou Erge chipped in.


    "Yes yes, let''s talk this over!"


    He was used to tolerating his sister''s obstinate behaviour, but he had to proceed with tact this time round because he needed Fang Yuan''s to do him a favour.

 10 The Trade

    " Let me get straight to the point, virtuous young man. I am here today to request a favour from you!"


    Minister Lin glanced towards a frustrated Zhou Wenxin, hesitated for a moment, then looked at Fang Yuan.


    "My father is sick, and I have long heard of Young Master''s impeccable medical skills. I have come to request for medicine!"


    The second son in the Zhou Family had a good upbringing and was humble in requesting for the favour, "I hope Young Master would help us out, and the entire Zhou Family will be grateful to you!"


    At his side, Zhou Wenxin wanted to say a few words of her own but thought twice after seeing her brother''s strict expression.


    ''Never would I have thought that the incident at the town would come back and hound me¡­''


    Fang Yuan remained silent.


    He noticed the expensive clothing donned by the Zhou siblings, and also their servant with a large build. If Minister Lin was not here today, these people would never be so polite.


    As for Minister Lin, the previous incident of annulling the marriage resulted in their friendship becoming weaker.


    Unless Fang Yuan recruited the help of Flower Fox Ferret to kill all of them and run away, he could not avoid this situation.


    ''Until now, they are still oppressing me¡­''


    Fang Yuan mulled silently, but instead said, "Brothers, you have arrived late. My Master, Master Wenxin is the true master of Medicine skills. And as for me? I only learnt a few basics from him, and before seeing your father, I cannot assess his condition¡­"


    "You little mucker¡­"


    He only thought of planning an escape route for himself, but unknowingly, Zhou Wenxin felt so unjust that she started to cry.


    To her, the bullying act by Fang Yuan back at the town was the biggest insult she had received.


    And now, even when they have approached him and humbly requested for his help, he still rejected them!


    This made Zhou Wenxin very angry and pushed her to the brink of crying.


    "Keke... You are too humble. Even though Master Wenxin is not around anymore, I could recall that you should have kept plenty of good quality herbs right? If only I could have one portion to aid my father in his recovery, that would be enough..."


    Minister Lin smiled and rubbed his hands together.


    On the other hand, Fang Yuan frowned and felt that he could not trust him.


    Minister Lin and Fang Yuan''s friendship was the strongest as if they understood each other perfectly well.


    Fang Yuan was thankful that he was not Master Wenxin himself, otherwise if Minister Lin knew about the Questioning Heart Tea Tree, Fang Yuan would get into trouble.


    "Eh? In our previous encounter, Young Master was selling Red Ginseng. Even though the Red Ginseng was not aged enough, the medicinal properties were shocking! After my father consumed it, his conditioned improved!"


    Zhou Erge nodded his head as though he thought of something, and looked happy.


    Fang Yuan rolled his eyes but did not want to sound untrustworthy in front of Minister Lin.


    Fang Yuan was put in a spot. Half a day later, he responded, "Minister Lin knows that Master Wenxin and I have lived in the secluded valley for less than 20 years, therefore the aged mountain herbs we have are all harvested by my Master from the deep mountains. There is a limited supply, and this is all we have now..."


    "I also understand..."


    Minister Lin felt embarrassed because he knew that Master Wenxin was a legend that could traverse the deep mountains and forest as though it was flat ground, but Fang Yuan? He could not have such abilities yet.


    And therefore to eye on Fang Yuan''s limited supply of mountain herbs was a little too much...


    For the sake of Leiyue''s future, he had no choice but to ask, "Virtuous young man, if you may have any request or anything that I can help you with, spill it out!"


    "That''s right, the Zhou Family announced that if Young Master is able to heal my father, whatever request you may have will be acceded to." Zhou Erge added.


    "Then I shall say..."


    Fang Yuan was delighted because this was what he really wanted. He was afraid that he would not get anything in return for the herbs that he would provide. A human favour was the most unreliable because one could forget about it any other day. Minister Lin was right to realize this and promised something in return.


    "As for the precious herbs, I have the last stash here with me. It is a 60-year old aged Red Ginseng and is definitely real. But I cannot confirm that it will improve Old Zhou''s condition, and therefore I will not request for anything. But because I am living in the deep mountains and forest, I would like to learn a few martial arts for self-defence. Therefore I hope that it would be possible to get a martial arts manual or something similar¡­"


    "You want to learn martial arts?!"


    Minister Lin appeared shocked, took a moment to observe the surrounding mountains and forest, and seemed to empathise a little.


    As for the Zhou siblings, their facial expressions turned sour.


    Seeing their reactions, Fang Yuan realised that they wrongly thought of him as the one who wants to secretly steal the Zhou Family''s set of martial arts. He immediately waved his hands, "Of course, I only request the basic types of martial arts, only for self-defence. I would never hope for the most profound martial arts. If only Minister Lin gave me the most widely circulated, easiest-to-learn set of martial arts manual, that would be enough!"


    "Oh, this¡­ This is simple..."


    Minister Lin stroked his beard, and deep down felt relieved.


    If Fang Yuan requested for the Spirit Returning Sect''s most profound set of martial arts, even if the Zhou Siblings agree, the Sect might not agree.


    Only the most basic martial arts, with no specified type?


    Considering how affluent the Zhou Family was, several skilled martial artists were recruited to protect their house. Putting together all their martial arts manual, they might have a few books.


    Furthermore, these are the widely circulated ones, and therefore would not be any trouble to obtain.


    "This request is simple, I shall agree to it on behalf of the Zhou Family! Just look for me whenever you want it!"


    Minister Lin smiled to himself.


    "Good, then that''s a promise. A 60-year-old Red Ginseng, for a martial arts manual, not including others¡­ Of course, this does not include Zhou Family''s reward! This is only between Minister Lin and me!"


    Seeing how much effort Minister Lin put in, Fang Yuan understood that giving a favour to others would establish their relationship very clearly.


    "Deal!"


    The Zhou Siblings looked at one another and realised that they were in no position to talk, and could only witness the both of them agreeing to the deal.


    For Zhou Wenxin, she unhappily mumbled a sentence, "Aren''t you a little old to be learning martial arts? Keke... You don''t even know about the 12 Golden Gates, and you still want to achieve something in martial arts?"


    Her tone was a condescending one.


    Fang Yuan remained calm as though he did not hear her. He secretly took a mental note of ''12 Golden Gates'' to find out about it in the future.


    "Please follow me, Minister Lin!"


    Fang Yuan open his the door of his storage and invited Minister Lin in. He did not attempt to stop the Zhou Siblings from following.


    As long as the Questioning Heart Tea and Vermillion Jade Rice remained a secret, it does not matter if his stored medicine was being seen by others.


    By letting them in, it would also dismiss any greedy thoughts that they might have.


    Otherwise, in the future, wouldn''t it be impractical if everyone who fell sick came over here to ask for herbs?


    "Hmm, you kept the storage neat and tidy."


    Within the storage room, a strong scent filled the air. Zhou Wenxin held her nose, but Minister Lin kept his hands at his back, "This Jade Crystal Rice is the most special, and cultivated with the best methods.The last time I ate this rice, I did not have to worry about food and even the smell of meat could not entice me..."


    "If Minister Lin likes it, then please help yourself to a few bags before leaving..."


    Fang Yuan replied without looking back.


    This scene reminded Zhou Wenxin of the first time she met Fang Yuan and made her feel embarrassed and angry at the same time.


    All the way at the end of the storage room were rows of wooden racks, with many empty boxes at the top.


    Fang Yuan walked to the right side of the room, took out a box and handed it over, "Minister Lin, please have it!"


    Minister Lin received the box and opened it. It was a large ginseng, of deep red jadeite colour. It was preserved to perfection and of top-notch quality, and the best part of the ginseng was that none of its roots was flawed.


    "Mmmm, very good! Very good!"


    His eyes darted around the floor, and shook his head in disappointment, ''Looks like Master Wenxin''s storage is indeed going to be empty soon¡­...''


    "Good! Good! Good!"


    Zhou Ergu took a quick look at the Red Ginseng and was ecstatic, "Its medicinal powers would be at least 60 years old since the medicinal value of a Red Ginseng goes up with its age. Red Ginsengs aged above 50 is a rarity! Father has hope now!"


    "Mmm, please keep it properly..."


    Seeing this Red Ginseng, Minister Lin felt reluctant, but still passed it to Zhou Erge for safekeeping, and told Fang Yuan, "Don''t you worry, the martial arts manual that you requested will be delivered to you."


    "Many thanks, Minister Lin!"


    Fang Yuan clutched his fist and paid his compliments.


    "Mmm, I shall take my leave!"


    Staying after the deal would make things more awkward. Minister Lin, together with the Zhou Family, walk out and disappeared outside the valley.


    "Keke?!"


    Fang Yuan let out a long sigh as he watched them walk away.


    At this moment, a white flash appeared and Flower Fox Ferret appeared again. It pointed its paws around and in its eyes, it seemed confused.


    "This time you don''t have to fight..."


    Fang Yuan stroked Flower Fox Ferret''s head, and mumbled to it, "Next time, without my presence, if anyone approaches the garden, go for the kill. Understood?"


    Flower Fox Ferret was able to understand Fang Yuan''s intentions, and like a human nodded his small head.


    "I''m not sure if one Red Ginseng is able to cure Old Zhou''s illness, and if it cannot be cured, then what happens afterwards would be a little troublesome..."


    Fang Yuan took a look at the column of his own qualities:


    "[Medicine (Level 1)] - Can heal simple wounds, including mild wounds, and with the aid of medicinal plants can achieve even better results."


    "[Botany (Level 3)] - You are undoubtedly the professional in this field, harnessing unlimited potential. Through your plants, there is a slight chance that they might evolve to have special traits!"


    "Mild wounds, I don''t even know if Old Zhou''s illness can be classified as mild¡­ but with the aid of medicinal plants to achieve better results, that is worth seeing if it will work..."


    Fang Yuan now wanted to attain a higher level for his [Medicine].


    Through experimenting in [Botany], it became clear to him that to attain a higher level, one needed to be proficient and undergo intense training.


    His own [Botany] levelled up to Level 2 through numerous cultivation of plants, but without the help of the spiritual plants, he could never have attained Level 3.


    To improve his [Medical], he would have to begin with a large number of patients.


    "Hmm¡­ the Zhou Family? Keke..."


    Fang Yuan shook his head and remained silent.

 11 The Secret Manual

    Minister Lin was a trustworthy person. Not long after, a small bag was delivered to the secluded mountains.


    Maybe because he felt guilty, or maybe he felt that the basic martial arts weren''t much trouble, so he delivered three manuals at one go, which surprised Fang Yuan.


    He sat on an emerald rock, and with Flower Fox Ferret by his side, carefully flipped the pages of one of the manuals.


    "Black Sand Palm?"


    Fang Yuan flipped the manual and scanned the manual quickly. He noticed that even though the book seemed old, the wordings were written with much force, and some of it was blurred. The corner of some pages was torn, which showed how many generations the book was passed down from. This manual was simply an antique.


    "I can''t believe he sent the original copy to me, looks like Minister Lin did not have any intention to cheat me..."


    Fang Yuan nodded his head.


    These type of martial arts manuals had to be as accurate as possible because even the slightest deviation from copying to another copy might result in an entirely different result altogether, so the original copy was still the best.


    Just by holding on to the manual, Fang Yuan was able to know the amount of effort the martial artist placed into compiling the manual.


    "Hmm... Even the most basic martial arts getting widely circulated goes to show that it has its own unique points!"


    The other two copies were in a similar condition to this manual, and this made Fang Yuan feel slightly ashamed. He only requested for the most widely circulated ones because they were the easiest to verify.


    Anyway, he was not allowed to practise martial arts if the manual was given by someone else. Afterall, learning martial arts was one of the easiest ways to lose control of one''s conscious mind.


    "It seems... I am guarding against others..."


    Fang Yuan heaved a long sigh: "After all, I still have my medical skills. Even if I only research and not practice, I should be able to spot any problems. Compared to internal techniques, external techniques are better as it''s quite difficult to go wrong with them, even if there are traps inside..."


    Although this was known from another subject, it could also be used to prove the same theory.


    He put down the manual and flipped the other two manuals.


    "Eagle Claw Technique? It seems that the representative from the Spirit Returning Sect, Cold Face Steel Eagle, knew this technique. He probably knew the secret manual version of this technique, and would likely overpower the other widely circulated versions¡­"


    Out of the three manuals, two of which taught external martial arts, and the last one taught a nameless technique. It focused on how to train one''s body, increase tolerance to punches, and some breathing techniques as well. According to the author, once practised fully, holding a single breath would be able to take a hit from a normal weapon.


    In the bag, there was also a small piece of paper, jotted on it the origins of these three books.


    "Presenting the Black Sand Palm, the most widely circulated version of martial arts within Qinghe County."


    "From villager Mengyuan, the Eagle Claw Technique. The most basic martial arts, but one will require a special set of Inner Power to be able to train to its highest level."


    "The last book is the simplest set of breathing techniques, no, it is just some breathing techniques and methods to take hits from opponents, and it doesn''t even have a name, so let''s call it "Rough Breathing Technique..."


    ...


    Fang Yuan realised that these three manuals were indeed the most widely circulated, and none of them was a treasure.


    However basic a set of martial arts might be, it was also passed down from generations to generations with much thought put into it. Any normal person who was able to practise any type of martial arts would be able to defend oneself, so it was still worth cherishing the martial arts manual.


    Using a 60-year-old Red Ginseng in exchange for these books was a fair trade.


    "Considering how good the conditions of these manuals are¡­ Minister Lin was still sincere."


    Fang Yuan sighed and started to study each manual in detail.


    Unknowingly, half a day went by and the sun began to set, with its rays scattering across the horizon.


    "Keke!?"


    "Keke?"


    The Flower Fox Ferret saw how focused Fang Yuan was in studying the manuals, and became curious. It could not understand a single word written in the manuals and so it gave up trying to read it. The Flower Fox Ferret ran out into the forest, and not long after, dragged a large wild rabbit back and placed it in front of Fang Yuan.


    "Haha... You only know about eating!"


    Fang Yuan closed the last manual on the Rough Breathing Technique, looked at the Flower Fox Ferret and laughed.


    The sky began to darken.


    Next to the fireplace, Fang Yuan skinned the rabbit, marinated it and roasted it. He yanked out the thigh of the roasted rabbit and threw the remaining to the impatient Flower Fox Ferret. His mind was filled with the contents that he read about in the manuals.


    ''The world of martial arts seems to be of a higher level than the normal world... Black Sand Palm and Eagle Claw Technique are purely the outer power that can be stimulated with medicine. On the other hand, cultivating the inner power requires proper breathing techniques and patterns, or even focusing the mind¡­ Regardless of the type of martial arts, there are always different levels of cultivation, and this is the 12 Golden Gates!''


    This term ''12 Golden Gates'' was constantly repeated in all three manuals. Fang Yuan thought about it hard, and finally knew what it meant.


    "Based on the theory of martial arts, the human body has unlimited potential. However, there are many mental barriers which restrict the use of maximum power. Therefore, the purpose of learning martial arts is to learn how to destroy these barriers to unleash one''s potential!"


    There were 12 of these barriers, as described in the manuals. This was why it was called the 12 Golden Gates.


    Every time a martial artist broke through one of these gates, his strength would increase. The more gates that were broken through, the scarier it became.


    After breaking all 12 Gates, one would attain the level of ''Wu Zong''!


    There was only one such person alive, even within the Spirit Returning Sect.


    "The 12 barriers within the human body... sounds similar to the 12 Meridians, 8 Veins in Medicine. Does that mean that the cultivation of martial arts is actually to strengthen the meridian of the human body?"


    "The 12 barriers represent 12 levels, and in order to attain Wu Zong, every single one must be broken! I can''t imagine how clever Leiyue is!"


    After understanding the difficulty in practising martial arts, Fang Yuan had some doubts.


    His impression of Leiyue''s martial arts was not of such a high level.


    "At that point of time I couldn''t understand martial arts, but Master should have noticed, that the marriage was a little too rushed¡­..."


    When he thought of Master Wenxin, Fang Yuan sighed.


    Master Wenxin treated him fairly, and everything was for his own good. The only regret was that he passed on early.


    If he was still alive and saw Minister Lin, how would he react?


    After his thoughts, the roasted rabbit in his mouth became tasteless.


    Fang Yuan stood up, tidied the place and prepared some tea in the moonlight.


    While performing the Meditative Tea Ceremony, Fang Yuan reminisced Master Wenxin, and this was his unique way of keeping his Master in his memory.


    "Hisss!?"


    The Flower Fox Ferret seemed to understand Fang Yuan, and at the same time seemed like it could feel the sorrow in Fang Yuan, and did not appear as joyful as the past few times.


    In the deep secluded valley, there was no sun and moon. Time passed quickly and it was dawn.


    Fang Yuan woke up early, and as usual, drank his morning tea and proceeded to farm.


    In the Vermillion Jade Rice farm, the shoots grew to his hip level, and fruits started to form at the top of the shoots, causing the shoots to bend.


    Fang Yuan dissolved the spiritual fertilizer in the spring water and watered the plants with the water. A light fragrance filled the air.


    "Keke!"


    "Keke!"


    The Flower Fox Ferret jumped around as though it was very excited.


    Although the small shoots of the Vermillion Jade Rice did not catch its attention, the ripened Vermillion Jade Rice did make it excited.


    "Remember, don''t steal it!"


    For this, Fang Yuan had to sternly remind it and brewed large amounts of tea for it to drink before being able to appease it.


    "Previously we did not plant much, so it would be good if we can harvest more than 10 pounds. But after this, we can plant even more, and should consider expanding the farm..."


    Fang Yuan was excited.


    The speed at which the Spirited Red Corn germinated and grew was faster than expected.


    It must have been due to the spiritual fertilizer that was brought by the Flower Fox Ferret, and also his [Botany], which resulted in the speedy growth.


    "Don''t worry, Flower Fox Ferret! Once we harvest it, I will let you have your fill! After all, credit goes to you for finding the spiritual fertilizer!"


    Fang Yuan caressed the head of the Flower Fox Ferret, and comforted it: "And also, as for the spiritual tea, it''s the second harvest already..."


    He smiled and felt happy from his bountiful harvest.


    Every day while patrolling the farm, Fang Yuan would stop by a hut and flip the martial arts manual on the table.


    "I have already memorised these three manuals, and already cross-referenced with my [Medicine], and nothing seems to be wrong with it... should I start practising?"


    Fang Yuan imagined himself trying out the moves, but adamantly shook his head: "No way! This is not safe! I am such a coward! The only plan is to go to the town, spend some money and get another one of these manuals to refer to, or pass it on to someone else to practice..."


    Martial arts was not a normal thing, and therefore Fang Yuan had no confidence to practise it.


    "The small thief is inside!"


    "Surround him, don''t let him run away!"


    "Faster!"


    ...


    Suddenly, a lot of noise came from outside, which confused Fang Yuan.


    "What is it?"


    He opened the door and saw a large group of men, furiously entering his home. Zhou Wenxin stood in front of the pack, looking proud.


    "You small thief!"


    Zhou Wenxin''s old and new hatred for Fang Yuan grew as she saw him. Her voice became sharper: "You insulted me, and now you used fake medicine on my father! I will not let you off today!"


    With a wave of her hand, a few men rushed towards Fang Yuan, surrounding him.

 12 Poisonous Dragon Grass

    Numerous hostile big-sized men surrounded Fang Yuan with wooden bats.


    Under normal circumstances, one would have been beaten badly.


    Fang Yuan hadn''t started practising martial arts and hence would likely be beaten badly. However, he looked at these hostile men with a smile.


    "You dare to smile still. Beat him till his bones break!"


    "Hit!"


    These men from the Zhou family were violent and rude.


    Whizz!


    A bright light appeared and flashed a few times in the area.


    "Aaah!"


    After which, a few screamings were heard.


    When Zhou Wenxin came back to her senses, she realised all her bodyguards were defeated. She held her bleeding right arm tightly.


    "What¡­.what kind of power is this?"


    Her face immediately turned white. When Fang Yuan started to approach her, she was so scared that she immediately retreated and said, "Don''t¡­.do not come near me!"


    "Miss Zhou, I made a deal with Uncle Lin. The medicine was approved by him, so who told you the medicine was fake?"


    Fang Yuan slowly approached her with a cold look. If he had a Flower Fox Ferret with him, the consequences for Miss Zhou would have been even worse.


    "Wuahhh!"


    Zhou Wenxin tripped and fell while retreating. She began crying, "Oooooo¡­.. you''re a bully!"


    "Bullshit!"


    Fang Yuan was left speechless.


    These men were obviously hostile in nature and why were they hired as bodyguards?


    "Speak now, or you will end up like them!"


    Fang Yuan intimidated her by kicking one the downed men.


    From the scream, Zhou Wenxin immediately stopped crying and said, "It¡­.It was Song Zhigao who said it!"


    "Who is Song Zhigao?"


    "A comprador of the Spirit Returning Sect!"


    ...¡­..


    Through Fang Yuan''s method of interrogation, the arrogant Zhou Wenxin was able to spit out the truth and reveal everything.


    According to her, after obtaining the Red Mountain Ginseng from the previous deal, the siblings happily gave it to Old Zhou.


    Old Zhou did recover from his illness and got better, but not for long. His condition deteriorated and until now, no medicine could help to cure his illness!


    Of course, Zhou Erge[1] and Lin Benchu understood that it was not that Fang Yuan''s Red Mountain Ginseng was not effective. However, due to her bad temper, how could Zhou Wenxin have understood?


    Plus, the Zhou family was close to Song Zhigao and Song Zhigao started questioning the effectiveness of the Red Mountain Ginseng.


    "Song Zhigao? The one that is in charge of external trade?"


    Fang Yuan touched his chin and recalled something vaguely.


    "I have not met or heard about this man before. No offence, but I''m guessing it is likely Leiyue''s marriage that is creating this mess¡­."


    Had one known that the marriage would create such a mess, one would not have accepted the marriage no matter what.


    "You have said what others had said. Now can you let me go¡­."


    At that moment, Zhou Wenxin was tearing and seemed pitiful instead of unruly.


    How did it look for a lady from a wealthy family to be defeated in the mountains?


    Anyway, Fang Yuan said his age is definitely bigger than hers.


    "You can leave now! Bring your men along with you as well!"


    Fang Yuan''s true colours had been seen by many. He couldn''t bear to kill one and destroy the traces of the murder. He then gave cold look.


    "Leave now!"


    Zhou Wenxin and her bodyguard retreated immediately as if there was a big flood that was charging towards them.


    In their minds, Fang Yuan, who could now defeat so many strong men is no different from a magician who practices dark magic in the mountains.


    ...¡­.


    "Keke?"


    Flower Fox Ferret appeared after they left. It went round and round around Fang Yuan as if it was asking for a treat.


    "You did well! The main point is that your speed¡­.became even faster!"


    Since then at the farm, Fang Yuan was able to see Flower Fox Ferret''s full power for the first time. The previous Flower Fox Ferret escaped and only its shadow could be seen.


    Till now, it seemed that it was because of the spiritual tea that improved the speed. The speed was so fast that those downed bodyguards didn''t even know what attacked them.


    Even though Fang Yuan has requested to go easy on them, those bodyguards were still attacked quite badly.


    "Luckily you were not too hard on them just now, if not¡­.."


    He touched the Flower Fox Ferret''s head, with his mind lingering with fear.


    The Flower Fox Ferret comfortably close its eyes and raise its paws, as if it was saying, "There is no one I cannot defeat!"


    Fang Yuan couldn''t help but laugh at the Flower Fox Ferret''s posture.


    ...¡­.


    "Even though the Flower Fox Ferret is very powerful, according to a manual, one may still be able to track the Flower Fox Ferret''s location even if the Flower Fox Ferret is able to defeat a very good martial artist with its skills that are way beyond a normal human being!"


    Inside the secluded valley, Fang Yuan was reading Black Sand Palm''s secret manual.


    At the moment, the Flower Fox Ferret could be considered one of the great martial artists.


    The men Zhou Wenxin brought last week were lowly-skilled in terms of martial arts. They were not considered the ones who really practice martial arts even if they had learnt a few moves.


    Based on the ability of the Zhou family, they should have the good ones.


    Fang Yuan then may not be confident enough to defeat the better ones when Zhou Wenxin returned next time with them.


    "My Red Mountain Ginseng should not be a problem. If Old Zhou had a problem with his vitality, his condition shouldn''t deteriorate after consuming the Red Mountain Ginseng!"


    Fang Yuan was naturally confident about his products.


    "Then¡­.his injuries is definitely linked to something else!"


    He admired Lin Benchu''s courage for dealing with such muddy water with just his bare arms.


    "The main point is that when you jump, you somehow got my whole body in mud as well!"


    Fang Yuan showed a slight resentment.


    In fact, this was a positive solution to the problem, but Fang Yuan was not willing to execute it.


    As to the reason why is because¡­..


    He had trekked out of the mountains once this year already and he didn''t want to do it again. Plus, it was too troublesome to find the culprit while curing the illness.


    Fang Yuan yawned a few times and decided to go for a nap.


    ...¡­..


    "Flower Fox Ferret, my life will depend on you if I was to be running away for my life next time!"


    Half a day had gone. Fang Yuan carried his bamboo basket and continued trekking in the mountains. He envied the Flower Rox Ferret when meeting one along the way.


    The secluded valley was linked to the mountains and there was no risk of an ambush especially when Master Wenxin built the houses. He left a few escape roads purposely and only Fang Yuan knew these roads.


    Fang Yuan strongly believed that Master Wenxin probably had made a grave mistake elsewhere and was cautious of his survival ever since, which resulted in Master Wenxin creating a few escape roads.


    However, due to Master Wenxin''s works, Fang Yuan was able to sleep peacefully every day without having to worry about any danger.


    Looking at how the Flower Fox Ferret was able to run freely in the forest, Fang Yuan joked about it but was also regretful.


    If the white ferret had been big enough to be ridden, Fang Yuan can travel and explore the whole Clear Spirit Mountain. That would have been a great thing to do.


    Trekking the mountains was physically demanding, especially when trekking deep in the mountains and the old forests, where there were no small rocky pathways but full of dangerous animals and poisonous insects.


    Fang Yuan used his knife to remove the thorns and tall plants that were in the way. He then continued on while panting.


    These few days he used all kinds of coercion to lure the Flower Fox Ferret to bring him deep into the mountains to find the Spiritual Fertilizer.


    He suspected that the Flower Fox Ferret had been tricking him. Ever since he entered deep into the mountains, he only encountered a few rare herbs and medicine but could not find the Spiritual Fertilizer.


    "Don''t quibble with me, Flower Fox Ferret. Judging from the amount you had brought, there should still be a good amount of Spiritual Fertilizer left!"


    Fang Yuan looked at the sky and stopped trekking. He found a big rock to sit down, passed one of his rice balls to the Flower Fox Ferret and then started eating.


    "Keke! Keke!"


    The Flower Fox Ferret carried the rice ball around and then bit the rice ball like a squirrel. It finished the rice ball quickly and then started gesturing using its paws.


    After a long time trying to figure out what its gesture meant, Fang Yuan managed to understand what the Flower Fox Ferret was trying to say, "So I cannot go there yet? I can only find the good stuff nearby?"


    He looked over his shoulders and eyed a number of rare herbs and medicine that he had collected today. He managed to agree with the idea, "Alright, we will go back home after going there for a while more! The rare herbs and medicine collected must be locked up somewhere safe or else it will be a waste to lose them!"


    After gulping down a mouthful of spring water, Fang Yuan was recharged and ready to trek with the Flower Fox Ferret. They then reach a depression where there was full of fog.


    "Well¡­. This place is full of miasma and poisonous fog!"


    Fang Yuan then saw some colour in the fog and frowned. He immediately applied some of Master Wenxin''s medicine onto his nose.


    Hunters and herb collectors who trekked this far into the mountains would have such medicine to apply, but the medicine made by Master Wenxin had the best remedy.


    "Keke!"


    The Flower Fox Ferret seemed quite anxious.


    "Haha¡­. What is the issue?"


    Fang Yuan happily followed it and breathed in, "Poisonous Dragon Grass?!"


    In front of him lay a small pool with white rocks around it. A purple herb was in sight.


    This expensive herb was mentioned by Master Wenxin before. Such herb grew in toxic places and was highly effective in dealing with other poisons when it was used as medicine. Many serious antidote prescription required such a herb.


    "Good herb!"


    Fang Yuan''s eyes glittered but did not move.


    Waiting for this herb was equivalent to getting half of it as there could be animals nearby guarding this herb!


    [1] Zhou Erge and Zhou Wenwu are the same person

 13 Fisherman

    "Hiss!"


    After the Poisonous Dragon Grass was found, the Flower Fox Ferret started making a hissing sound to indicate there was danger approaching. The Flower Fox Ferret¡¯s fur rose and its back became arched like a bow.


    "Hiss!"


    At that moment, Fang Yuan heard a sound from a pile of white rocks and a black long animal came crawling out with half of its body raised. It showed hostility while showing its purple-red coloured tongue.


    "Is this¡­.a snake?"


    He was shocked by the sudden presence of the snake.


    This snake was about 3 feet long and as wide as a thumb. The black scales on it was glittering. What caught his eye was its white tail which was like a pearl necklace. Its fangs were sharp and there was a big bulge on top of its head. The bulge was like a purple pearl showing a bit of glitter.


    "Pearl Tail Snake?"


    Fang Yuan recalled what Master Wenxin mentioned and linked the different types of the very poisonous living matter that existed in the Clear Spirit Mountain. "Definitely¡­.not a normal Pearl Tail Snake as this black one is way longer. Plus, the black one has an additional bulge on top of its head¡­.perhaps because of mutation?"


    He was very sure that this black snake was neither a spiritual animal nor just a normal Pearl Tail Snake.


    "Hiss!"


    At that moment, the Flower Fox Ferret showed its claws and started moving forward.


    Seeing a white furred Flower Fox Ferret, this mutated Peal Tail Snake seemed to be afraid of the Flower Fox Ferret. It then curled into a circle, with its head popping out.


    "Yes¡­.Flower Fox Ferrets are naturally enemies with snakes. Since this ferret is a Spiritual beast and has the effects of the spiritual tea, it should be able to defeat the snake¡­."


    Pearl Tail Snake was extremely poisonous and Fang Yuan was definitely no match for the snake with just his knife and the antidote. He immediately went to hide and anxiously oversaw the situation.


    Both beasts stared at each other for a while. Suddenly, the Flower Fox Ferret moved a few steps.


    "Hiss!"


    The Pearl Tail Snake started spitting out translucent liquid, like shooting an arrow, from its fangs.


    "Spitting poison?"


    Fang Yuan was watching frantically at the side, knowing that he was unlikely to dodge away from the poison if he was the one dueling.


    At that moment, the Flower Fox Ferret was in mid-air and dodged away from the poison quickly like the speed of lightning. The Flower Fox Ferret then moved to the pile of white rocks and then clenched onto the neck of the Pearl Tail Snake using its front claws. The tail of the Pearl Tail Snake was left wrapping around and the Flower Fox Ferret, showing its sharp teeth, took this chance to take a bite around the neck.


    Kacha!


    The head of the Pearl Tail Snake dropped with just one bite from the Flower Fox Ferret.


    "Well done!"


    Fang Yuan came over and celebrated.


    He went to look for the place where the poison landed from the Pearl Tail Snake. The place became burnt, with the rocks being disintegrated into pieces.


    "Not bad Flower Fox Ferret!"


    Fang Yuan complimented the Flower Fox Ferret and carefully kept the Poisonous Dragon Grass. "Combine this with the Three Star Grass, a leaf and this Pearl Tail Snake¡­.The ingredients for Master¡¯s ¡®Yama¡¯s Order¡¯ would be complete!"


    The name of this medicine sounded scary, but in fact is a detoxification medicine, which can detoxify many types of poison. This medicine can even save one¡¯s life who was almost dying from poison.


    "Hey! Stop eating so much, I still need the snake!"


    After the quarrel, Fang Yuan silently looked at the Flower Fox Ferret carrying the Pearl Tail Snake. The snake was bitten into half like a sugar cane. The Flower Fox Ferret dug out a purple green snake bile and swallowed it down.


    "Luckily, the poisonous capsules are still inside¡­."


    Fang Yuan went to check again and was relieved.


    Knowing that even though how divine the Flower Fox Ferret was, when facing such mutated Peal Tail Snake with extreme poison, the Flower Fox Ferret was cautious when eating the Pearl Tail Snake.


    ...¡­.


    "Even though this time when I enter the mountains, I cannot find the Spiritual Fertilizer but I manage to gather all the ingredients for Yama¡¯s Order. I can start to prepare this medicine when I get back¡­."


    On the way back home, Fang Yuan¡¯s mood was great.


    Even though the effect of Yama¡¯s Order is very strong, the process of making it is not really complicated. Only a few types of ingredients were needed in ratio. Mixing and tanning of these ingredients would then produce the medicine. The only difficult part was getting the ingredients as they were rare.


    "With this medicine, it will be much more convenient when I go travel next time¡­."


    Fang Yuan pondered his face changed suddenly.


    A broken tree appeared suddenly in front of him. The tree, which was as wide as one¡¯s waist, was truncated at the middle portion.


    This was nothing but what was strange was that a very clear palm print was on the truncated portion of the tree!


    "Definitely a person, but someone with such strength?!"


    Fang Yuan became alert and found some footprints of a wolf pack. "The wolves fought all the way till the Clear Spirit Mountain here?"


    "Hiss!"


    The white Flower Fox Ferret became tense up as well after seeing the wolves¡¯ tracks.


    "Let¡¯s go and have a look!"


    Fang Yuan was a young adult and out of curiousity, wanted to find out what happened.


    The Flower Fox Ferret sniffed the ground and then went off in a direction.


    Fang Yuan went after it closely but along the way, he saw even more footprints and traces of blood.


    "Judging from the scene, definitely one is chasing the other¡­."


    Fang Yuan was cautious and slowed down his footsteps even more when he heard noises coming from ahead.


    "Han Shou¡­.a traitor¡­.."


    Along with the wind blowing from the mountains, a series of human voice could be heard vaguely.


    Fang Yuan didn¡¯t dare to charge to the front. He observed his surroundings and then climbed up onto a big tree. He used the massive size of the canopy of the tree as a cover and observed from above.


    He was lucky as it was just a piece of grassland further up front. He saw 2 people fighting, one in white while the other in black. Both of them didn¡¯t seem to know that they were being watched.


    "Master¡­.I was wrong. Please spare me¡­."


    Fang Yuan came at the wrong time as the fight seemed to be ending. The one in black was punched at the middle of his chest. He began spitting out big pool of blood and then kneeled down to beg for forgiveness.


    After seeing what happened, Fang Yuan felt that his faith in great martial artists were destroyed.


    "Hey¡­.it seems that skilled martial artists need not have a good character¡­.. Previously they could fight with no regard for their lives. But the moment when he was losing he immediately knelt and beg for his life to be spared..."


    Being an observer, he only thought about himself and did not think from the perspectives of these martial artists.


    After the one in black kneeled down, the one in white seemed to hesitate while raising his right hand. His face turned red and started scolding loudly.


    Fang Yuan could only hear the 2 words ¡®traitor¡¯ and ¡®treasure¡¯ vaguely. He couldn¡¯t catch the rest of the sentence.


    Just when he was about to leave since he thought the show had ended, something happened!


    The man in black suddenly gave a strong punch to the chest of the man in white.


    Kacha!


    The sound of fractures was so deafening that Fang Yuan could hear it very clearly. The man in white then returned with another punch onto the man in black. The man in black was now injured badly, but was spitting out blood and laughing, making him looked arrogant.


    "That man is ruthless!"


    Fang Yuan was amazed by the comeback. "That comeback was a big turnover!"


    At that moment, the man in black stumbled forward to the dead man in white and seemed to be looking for something. However, the man in black went down as well.


    "What? Both parties are defeated? Looks like the man in white is more skilled than the other as he managed to injure the other one before he die!"


    Fang Yuan hurried down the tree and went to the edge of the fighting zone, but didn¡¯t dare to move any nearer.


    The fight between the two and the damage they had caused scared him a little, hence he didn¡¯t dare to move closer.


    The man in black who survived was especially cunning. What if he realised that he was being watched the whole time and decided to pretend to be dead, wouldn¡¯t it be Fang Yuan walking into his own grave if he decided to recover the bodies?


    Upon consideration, Fang Yuan picked up a rock and threw it on the man in black.


    Bang!


    There was no reaction.


    He picked and threw another again!


    Bang!


    There was no reaction still.


    Fang Yuan became suspicious and picked a very large rock. He used all his strength and manage to throw it on the man in black.


    The sound of a bone fracture was heard¡­..


    "Still no reaction? Or is it because he was seriously injured?"


    Fang Yuan saw a pool of blood flowing and was forming a small creek.


    "Flower Fox Ferret, go and bite his neck gently!"


    Fang Yuan gestured for a long time to the Flower Fox Ferret before it went forward to hold the man in black by the neck. Fang Yuan then slowly went nearer to check.


    The man in white had already became a corpse. He looked simple and honest, looked like he was in his 30s.


    However, the man in black, who looked okay, had a slightly sharp chin, making him look slight ruthless. At that point, his face was as white as paper. His chest had depression, along with fractured ribs and leg.


    "This man is ruthless¡­.however, he is still useful¡­."


    Fang Yuan began searching the 2 men. He found nothing from the man in black and then cursed him silently. Flintstones, a golden leaf and 2 bottles of good medicine were found in the pocket of the man in white. These things were probably what the man in black was looking for but unfortunately, he fainted due to his serious injuries.


    "This medicine should be good and well known elsewhere. Unfortunately, I don¡¯t know this medicine personally¡­."


    After an intensive search, Fang Yuan couldn¡¯t find any martial arts manual that he wanted badly. He then looked at the mess the man in black made and hesitated.


    He bit his teeth and decided to dig a grave to bury the man in white. He looked at the man in black again and had mixed feelings.


    ...¡­.


    "Don¡¯t¡­.Don¡¯t come any closer!"


    He dreamt of his senior brother being covered in blood, came pleading to survive.


    Han Shou screamed and then woke up from his dream.


    He was lying on a wooden bed, which had a slight soft curvature to it. There were many wooden furnitures around him and the place looked simple.


    To him, who had been so close to death, this place was like heaven.


    "What happen? Didn¡¯t I¡­."


    Han Shou quivered and struggled to get up. However, he was injured so badly that there was intense pain at his chest and his leg. He couldn¡¯t help but felt everything that happened was strange.


    He could remember vividly that he was punched in the chest with great force by his senior brother, but he just couldn¡¯t figure out why his leg was injured badly as well?


    Plus, how did he end up here? What was this place?


    "You are finally awake?"


    The creaking sound of the door opening revealed a normal looking young adult carrying a bowl of medicine into the room. Heaving a sigh of relief, he said "The other day I was collecting medicine and found you injured by chance. I was scared to death but luckily thank god¡­."


    He helped Han Shou to get up and wanted to feed him medicine.


    Han Shou managed to sit upright. He realised his clothes and his right boot were untouched, then heaved a sigh of relief.

 14 Mixed Poison

    "I came here to pluck herbs. There was so much blood and even a corpse! I was so scared..."


    The young man continued to rattle on, appearing a little silly.


    Han Shou was a martial artist and therefore could tell that there was no poison in the medicine prepared. He took a few sips and felt warmth in his stomach, but gazed at the young man with a sinister look.


    Although the young man saved his life, in order to keep his secret safe, Han Shou decided to kill him after recovering.


    He appeared thankful, "The few of us brothers encountered such a disaster, and I am so thankful to have been rescued by you young man, you mentioned a corpse... Could it be my elder brother... is he dead?"


    Han Shou face was filled with sorrow and started to tear up, as though he had real emotions. Fang Yuan felt rather impressed at his acting.


    "Hmm... There was no choice, I have already buried your elder brother. When you have recovered, I shall bring you to where I buried him for you collect his bones..." Fang Yuan comforted.


    "I couldn''t be more thankful, my benefactor! Even if both of us brothers reincarnate as animals in our next lives, we will also repay your kind favour!"


    Han Shou remained unaware and continued acting.


    "Keke¡­ No need, no need!"


    Fang Yuan scratched his head and smiled.


    Han Shou was no different from a vegetable. Every time he moved he would require Fang Yuan''s assistance, and therefore could not plot anything against Fang Yuan now.


    After observing the surroundings, Han Shou realised that there was nothing else around the place and felt relieved. He noticed Fang Yuan reading a manual and out of curiosity, asked, "What are you reading, my brother?"


    "This is a treasure passed down from my father!"


    Fang Yuan passed the book forward, "It''s just that I don''t recognise some of these words¡­"


    He looked at Han Shou, with embarrassment in his face, "Can you explain it to me?"


    "Mmm... tendons, bones, claws and joints, the tendons are the most important. In the same way as how an eagle uses its claws, quick and deadly¡­ Isn''t this the Eagle Claw Technique?"


    Han Shou read a few more lines, but inside he felt that this was a total waste of time.


    Seeing how excited Fang Yuan was, he smirked and said, "This is a secret manual, I don''t think it''s a good idea for me to read on!"


    "Since I cannot understand it, how about you teach me!"


    Fang Yuan forced a look of excitement.


    ''Mmm, you chose this path of no return, don''t blame me!''


    Han Shou thought to himself, but felt that he had to repay the favour, "Since you saved my life, reading a few words shouldn''t matter right?"


    "This is great, so how do I interpret these few words?"


    Fang Yuan acted as though he was interested.


    "Mmm, this is Guan Yuan, it represents an acupoint on the body!"


    "What about this?"


    "Gu Hai!"


    "Qi Yuan!"


    ...


    Han Shou explained casually, but in his mind, he was mocking him.


    If Fang Yuan followed the instructions of Han Shou, he would lose his self-control while practising this set of martial arts.


    ''This person... He is really evil!''


    Fang Yuan thought back, ''On the contrary, Minister Lin''s manuals were the ones with no problem.''


    His theory was simple. He was literate since he was able to attain his [Medicine]. If the manuals Minister Lin provided had problems, based on Han Shou''s experience he would be able to tell.


    But now, Han Shou was intentionally twisting the meaning within the manual, in the process showing that the manuals had no problem.


    "How do I read this word, Brother Han?"


    Fang Yuan played along.


    "Oh this, Nian Ming Men, a vital point on the body!" Han Shou replied casually.


    "Wait, how did you know that my surname is Han?"


    "Not only that, you interpreted the same thing differently from before!"


    Fang Yuan took a step back and smiled.


    Han Shou face reddened and knew that under such circumstances if he spoke and explained himself without much thought, he would expose himself.


    At the moment, his expression changes, "You tricked me?"


    "Han Shou, you scum, you are no better!"


    Fang Yuan took a few more steps back and shouted.


    "Go and die, you sneaky kid!"


    Han Shou recovered quickly and equipped himself with a copper button. If anyone approached him, he could use his final breath and kill Fang Yuan. Never would he have thought that Fang Yuan was so sneaky and disappeared in the blink of an eye.


    "Wait, it is all my fault. If would continue healing me, I would be willing to pass down my divine martial arts to you!"


    Now that Han Shou was weaker than Fang Yuan, even if he doesn''t burn down the place, Han Shou would die of hunger if Fang Yuan simply did not serve him food, therefore he had to back down.


    "It''s alright. You tried to trick me even with these basic martial arts! How would I dare to learn your ''divine martial arts''?"


    Fang Yuan sounded sarcastic, "Brother Han, with your amazing abilities, you should just walk into your grave."


    Han Shou was far more scheming and skilful than Fang Yuan.


    Therefore, Fang Yuan was afraid that Han Shou would recovered quickly even though his condition seemed bad. It was best to kill Han Shou straight away.


    He would rather practise the basic martial arts than try to learn from Han Shou and risk getting harmed.


    "You are good!"


    Han Shou rolled his eyes, plotting a scheme in the meantime.


    Fang Yuan''s voice was heard from afar, "Mister Han, you don''t have to think of anything already, because your life is now in my hands!"


    "In your hands?!"


    Han Shou snickered, "The medicinal soup had no problems, how would I..."


    He stopped halfway.


    He recalled that he was all under Fan Yuan''s control while he was unconscious. This meant that Fang Yuan could do anything he wanted to him, right?


    "You''re right. I placed some Qiluo Xiang in your bandage. This Qiluo Xiang can cleanse the wound and stop the bleeding. But if it comes in contact with Canhe Zi from the medicinal soup I gave you, you would experience some stiffness in your muscles, and in some parts, even rotting..."


    "Mixed poison?!"


    Han Shou looked solemn, took a deep breath, and indeed, felt stiffness in his limbs. He forced a smile.


    No matter how clever he was, he was still a normal person. How would he know the potential of a martial artist who had already broken through the 5 Golden Gates?


    Just a petty mixed poison would do no harm to his body and disappear after a few hours, considering his Inner Power.


    The most important thing to do now was to find a way to deal with Fang Yuan, or at least, buy some time for himself.


    "Oh? You seem to have a lot of confidence in yourself!"


    Fang Yuan''s voiced travelled in, and sounded surprised, "It seems that top martial artists have such confidence to deal with this type of poison?"


    Han Shou suddenly felt helpless.


    Fang Yuan did not sound fearful of scared.


    On the other hand for himself, he was temporarily keeping the poison under control. But now, the feeling of stiffness came back, and there were obvious signs of rotting on his skin.


    "I had forgotten to mention... My own concoction of poison, with some added ingredients, has an amplified effect!"


    Hearing screams from the room, Fang Yuan remained calm, and took a look at his stats:


    "Name: Fang Yuan


    Essence: 1


    Spirit: 1


    Magic: 1.4


    Age: 18


    Cultivation: None


    Techniques: None


    Skills: [Medicine (Level 1)], [Botany (Level 3)]"


    "[Medicine (Level 1)] - Can heal simple wounds, including mild wounds, and with the aid of medicinal plants can achieve even better results."


    "Apart from healing, on the other hand, I would be more skilled in making poison! However, the most crucial ingredient is still the poison of the Pearl Tail Snake right?"


    After a short while, the house was dead silent, apart from the sound of meat rotting.


    Fang Yuan covered his nose, entered and witnessed a rotten corpse with holes and maggots around, and a pool of bodily fluid on the ground.


    "How''s the effect?"


    Such a shocking effect even stunned Fang Yuan, " At least it solved the problem of dealing with the corpse..."


    He picked up his clothing and prepared to burn them all to remove all traces.


    Han Shou had an impressive origin, which meant trouble would come. Fang Yuan wanted to clean the mess up and cut all ties with Han Shou.


    "But¡­...What treasure are they fighting over?"


    He saw Han Shou''s boots and smiled.


    He kept it so well hidden that if not for him looking at his boots the moment he became conscious, Fang Yuan would not have know where to look for it.


    He immediately went up to the pair of boots, took out a dagger and cut it up into 8 pieces.


    In the sole of the right boot, a piece of black leather appeared.


    "This is the treasure which caused the brothers to fight each other with their lives?"


    Fang Yuan looked at the lines on the black leather and guessed, "A treasure map? It seems torn... Creepy..."


    This leather was hidden very well and was only discovered after cutting the boots up, which explained how valuable this object was to Han Shou.


    But it was just a torn map, what use could it have?


    Fang Yuan did not understand but still decided to keep it anyway. He burned Han Shou''s belongings and washed up the place.


    From then, Han Shou had disappeared from the face of the planet.


    "I had forgotten to ask him which Sect he belonged to, but I believe there is only one Sect nearby, the Spirit Returning Sect?"


    After burning his corpse, Fang Yuan let his mind run wild. "It was such a pity that I wasn''t able to obtain the divine martial arts manual, but seeing how things went, I guess it was still worth it."

 15 Making Amends

    Within the deep valley.


    In the early morning, Fang Yuan gathered an iron pot, boiled the spring water, added fine sand and herbs, and allowed the concoction to boil.


    "The Black Sand Palm requires the use of specific herbs, allowing those herbs to be absorbed into the body...together with style, technique, perfecting it would allow one to split rocks and be invincible¡­.."


    The 3 scrolls were checked by Fang Yuan, who confirmed that there was no problem. It was also checked by Han Shou. Now it was finally time to train.


    "Within the martial arts world, there are the 12 Golden Gates of cultivation, perfecting the Black Sand Palm would allow us to reach the level of the 5th gate at most..."


    That was the limit of the Black Sand Palm, which was also the difference between normal martial arts and magic.


    "The Eagle Claw Technique is even worse, only allowing us to reach the 3rd gate, after which it requires special mental cultivation. However, if it was attained, it would be sufficient to overcome the restraints, allowing one to reach the 8th gate. It is considered not bad within the sect..."


    Fang Yuan carefully arranged the information obtained from his own scrolls.


    "There is the Rough Breathing Technique still. While there is some vested interest, I am afraid not even the original creator knew what level the technique could reach. He failed to overcome 6th gate, the Pain Gate, resulting in his death..."


    Fang Yuan sighed.


    Every stage of the 12 Golden Locks was complicated with multiple obstacles.


    "Out of the 12 Golden Locks, I only know the first 8 gates: Initial, Rest, Life, Restriction, View, Pain, Shock, and Death! There are still subdivisions within these. The first 3 gates, Initial, Rest, Life, once overcome, would result in the growth of the person, Failing to overcome gates is not a problem. For the foundation of martial arts, the two gates, Restriction and View would cause trouble. However, failing to overcome these gates would not cause much harm to the body, for the last 3 gates, once the martial artist is unsuccessful in overcoming the gates, he would suffer backlashes or even death! This is especially true for the 8th gate, the Death Gate which must be overcome in one shot as failure will result in death!"


    It was never easy to practice and cultivate.


    "The first 8 gates are already so formidable, and the last 4 gates are rumoured to be of another level. No one knows the realm that the Wu Zong above the 4 gates is in either."


    Fang Yuan let out a faint sigh.


    "According to legend, there are more roads to cultivation, with more unimaginable, unbelievable masters that are more highly skilled than the martial artists..."


    Fang Yuan suddenly yearned for a new goal in his heart.


    While he did not have many ambitions, the thought of becoming a deity, never to grow old and die, being happy and carefree was not bad.


    "Furthermore, I do need some power to protect myself!"


    With the sand herbs done, the fine sand which was originally exquisite and white turned black in colour, emitting the scent of the herb. Fang Yuan found a rough cloth and delicately kept the sand.


    "The Eagle Claw Technique does not combine mental cultivation and internal energy, at most reaching the 3rd gate, which makes it very commonplace..."


    "The Rough Breath Technique was self-created, not many practices it. The original creator himself died when he was unsuccessful in overcoming the stage... It can only reach the 5th stage at most..."


    According to the scrolls and Fang Yuan''s own deduction, the first three gates were mainstream and the martial artists were good at overcoming the stages.


    Those who were able to overcome the 4th and the 5th gates were rare, well-off and commanded high positions in society.


    Those who were able to overcome the Pain Gate were considered to be highly skilled and geniuses within the sects.


    "The first 8 gates are already so formidable, what about the last 4 gates and the realm of Wu Zong above them...."


    Fang Yuan let out a long sigh, well-aware that the Spirit Returning Sect dominated the area and was not dependent on weaponry.


    One Wu Zong would be sufficient to suppress everything!


    "The world is so big, Clear Spirit Mountain is but one corner of the world, I must continuously cultivate and improve myself if I want to explore and understand the world..."


    While Fang Yuan might be indifferent and lazy, once he set his mind on something, he would focus all his effort in achieving his target.


    "The Black Sand Palm is the most suitable for me!"


    All he needed was a skill which would enable him to overcome the stage, where could he find the skill which would not corrupt him?


    "Sigh...."


    Looking at the previously-filled sandbag in front of him, Fang Yuan inhaled deeply: "Palm slam!"


    Bang!


    His palm strike left a print on the sandbag. He temporarily felt a burning pain in the back of his hand.


    "Training is hard, even though my master forced me to train in the past, I might still escape from it..."


    10 Strikes!


    50 Strikes!


    100 Strikes!


    500 strikes!!


    Fang Yuan finally drew back both hands after a thousand palm strikes, looking at the blisters on his palms, both palms stinging, yet feeling the cooling sensation of the herbs entering his hands.


    "Sigh..."


    Fang Yuan dared not neglect his hands and dipped his hands into the basin of water that he had previously prepared.


    "While training the Black Sand Palm, one must not interrupt the effects of the herbs, especially the last healing procedure. Without this, one would become useless."


    After half an hour, Fang Yuan discarded the water that turned black and placed a new basin of fresh water.


    "It''s lucky that the herbs are commonly found in large amount in my valley..."


    "Keke!"


    The Flower Fox Ferret, which had been observing and yawning for half the day, suddenly ran to the side and took a sniff at the discarded herbs solution. It gave a look of disdain and walked off.


    The actions of the Flower Fox Ferret reminded Fang Yuan of a human.


    "Okay, Flower Fox Ferret, stop messing around, I will prepare grilled meat for you!"


    Fang Yuan scolded while laughing before looking at both of his hands.


    After soaking his hands in the water, the burning pain subsided. His palms felt cool, the blisters healed and the dead skin peeled off.


    "According to the manuals, once the Black Sand Palm is perfected, one''s palms would be even smoother and paler than that of a young maiden. However, once the skill is activated, the palms would instantly become as tough as steel, enabling the user to split rocks and even increase the damage dealt by poison to the body..."


    "From today onwards, I will dedicate 6 hours to honing the Black Sand Palm. I am unsure if it would be enough to overcome the gate..."


    Fang Yuan felt somewhat helpless looking at his own stats.


    It was no easy feat to be selected and chosen in this system.


    "If I am able to master the Black Sand Palm technique, it would be acknowledged even if it just overcome the first stage? "


    Fang Yuan thought, immensely proud of himself.


    ...


    "Erge, why do we still need to come here?"


    Outside the mountain, Zhou Wenxin and Zhou Erge were slowly making their way together into the valley. Zhou Wenxin looked both reluctant and faintly scared.


    "There is finally someone who is able to control my younger sister..."


    Zhou Erge smiled and put on a front. "You previously denounced him without distinguishing the facts, it is only right that you apologize..."


    The Zhou family was rich and influential, how would something as important as herbs not go through various testing before reach Old Zhou''s mouth?


    Even Lin Yuanwai was no exception.


    After both parties ensured that there was no problem, Old Zhou refused to take the medicine, as if to make things difficult for others.


    "Then why are we still looking for him... he is obviously someone who does not know martial arts..."


    Zhou Wenxin was about to finish her sentence when the image of Fang Yuan appeared in her mind, scaring her and causing her limbs to tremble, making her unable to speak.


    "He might not know martial arts but he may be skilled in other areas... In this world, there are not just martial artists. It is rumoured that there are those who practised magic and necromancy where even those martial artists who are able to overcome the 8 gates need to respect..."


    Zhou Erge looked solemn. "I have looked at Ri Jiading''s wound. It is curious indeed. According to your description, you are only able to see a blinding white flash despite being sharp-eyed. This is the work of the spiritual knights ..."


    Thinking of the miracle that Fang Yuan pulled off that day, Zhou Wenxin was unable to speak.


    "Remember not to throw a tantrum today, understand?"


    Zhou Erge tone turned strict: "This is for our father''s sake!"


    No herbs and stones were effective in Old Zhou''s current condition. It was possible that only the spiritual masters of the legends were able to bring him back.


    "I.... I understand!"


    While Zhou Wenxin was pampered since young, she understood her priorities, lowered her head and spoke with a soft voice.


    Ever since the previous time when Fang Yuan taught her a lesson, a shadow was casted in Zhou Wenxin''s heart. Even without the advice of Zhou Erge, she would definitely not go looking for trouble.


    Not long after, the valley came into sight.


    Zhou Erge circled the valley one time before exclaiming: "Zhou family''s Zhou Wenwu, Zhou Wenxin would like to meet Young Master Fang!"


    His crisp voice echoed through the valley far and wide.


    "Hmmmm? "


    Within the valley, Fang Yuan, who was honing his skills lifted his head: "Zhou Family''s 2nd young master, this voice... It is hard to imagine that he is also one who practice martial arts, and at a higher level too. I am not sure which gate he has attained..."


    Fang Yuan currently still had 1 gate to overcome. However, he had sufficient energy to do so.


    Fang Yuan was unafraid. If attacked, he had the Flower Fox Ferret which was capable enough to fend off a highly trained martial artist. If he was unable to win the battle, given the valley''s location and secret tunnels, he would be able to make a swift escape.


    Upon reaching the opening of the valley and spotting Zhou Wenwu and Zhou Wenxin, Fang Yuan grimaced: "If it isn''t the two of you. Is this still about the previous incident?"


    "Master Fang, please do not misunderstand. My little sister was impetuous and clashed with you!"


    Zhou Wenwu was very sincere and turned his head. "Sister!"


    "I...I understand."


    Zhou Wenxin slowly moved in front and looked at Fang Yuan in the eyes, her limbs started trembling unconsciously.


    Under Zhou Wenwu''s glare, she stammered: "Master Fang, regarding the previous incident, I sincerely apologize and hope that you are magnanimous¡­.."

 16 Breaking Through Gates

    ''There''s more trouble!''


    Seeing how helpless Zhou Wenxin was, Fang Yuan was speechless.


    They must have a purpose other than apologising since they were so polite.


    "Young Master!"


    Indeed, Zhou Wenwu continued, "My father is sick, and I would like to trouble Young Master to take a trip and visit him. The entire Zhou Family will be so grateful!"


    Old Zhou was already at his dying breath, and Zhou Wenwu felt desperate.


    "Hmm, this is weird."


    Fang Yuan felt suspicious, "Seeing how the Zhou Family and the Spirit Returning Sect are on good terms, did the Sect not render any assistance?"


    "How is this possible?"


    Zhou Wenwu replied, " The Sect''s physicians have visited him, but were unable to find out the cause of the sickness. Based on what they said, if his sickness was so simple, then it wouldn''t have evolved to this stage... If the Sect Master did not go travelling with his new disciple¡­.... Sigh¡­.. Such is life..."


    "Now I understand!"


    Fang Yuan scoffed. "Even the Sect''s physicians couldn''t tell what''s wrong with him, how would I able to?"


    He glanced at the Zhou Siblings, "My apologies, I cannot help your father. The valley is cold, you two should take your leave!"


    Without waiting for their reply, Fang Yuan walked back in, leaving the Zhou Siblings at the entrance.


    "Brother... He..."


    Zhou Wenxin waited for Fang Yuan''s silhouette to disappear before acting up, "He''s too¡­... full of himself, right?"


    "Hmm, he''s giving me some really weird vibes..."


    Zhou Wenwu looked into the valley, eager to fight, but managed to control himself, "This valley feels dangerous... it seems perilous..."


    "Is he really a spiritual knight?"


    Zhou Wenxin shuddered in fear.


    "No! They''re different!"


    Zhou Wenwu shook his head, and his face was full of sorrow.


    Although the Zhou Family had a low position within the Spirit Returning Sect, it was still considered one of the best families within its vicinity.


    Everybody would panic when Old Zhou pass away. At that point, even the Lin Family, with only one disciple in the Sect, would be above the Zhou Family.


    "Zhou Family... Is this the end for our family?"


    The mountain breeze blew, and Zhou Wenwu shuddered.


    ...


    "Eh? We can''t leave?"


    Not long later, The Flower Fox Ferret came to report the news to Fang Yuan, who was busy practising his Black Sand Palm.


    This spiritual beast became more and more human-like. It was able to convey simple messages to Fang Yuan, with the help of body language.


    Fang Yuan estimated that its IQ was of a 10-year-old child.


    "The Zhou Family is in a mess. If Old Lin wants to go ahead, so be it..."


    Fang Yuan stopped thinking and started to dig in.


    Since practising martial arts, his appetite grew. Luckily for him, there were plentiful amounts of food within the secluded valley.


    The Pearl Jade Crystal Rice was a superior food and was able to sustain his enormous diet.


    The sky darkened and the moon rose within the stars.


    Within the valley came a continuous echoing of palm-striking.


    Fang Yuan was sweating profusely but he was unaware, as he focused on his Black Sand Palm training.


    He had only one thought, that he would master this skill today!


    "In order to learn martial arts, one must break through the first gate. Only by breaking through this gate will I be a true martial artist!"


    The feeling of the Pearl Jade Crystal Rice lingered in his mouth, as he felt a burst of energy within him. His limbs felt energetic.


    "Breathe in... Breathe out..."


    "Breathe in... Breathe out..."


    Accompanied by his deep breathing was a flow of energy in his body, as though it was about to break through a gate.


    "Black Sand Palm!"


    He shouted, and struck his right palm out.


    Peng!


    The sandbag broke, and its fillings poured out.


    Fang Yuan could feel that a long-awaited gate within him finally broke through!


    Kacha!


    A loud sound broke the silence, and large amounts of energy flowed within him, making him feel renewed.


    "That''s the first Golden Gate, I''ve succeeded!"


    Fang Yuan clenched his fists, looked up and let out a cry.


    The first three gates of the Golden Gates were Initial, Rest and Life. These three were the first level of cultivation within the world of martial arts. Failure to break through these gates would not hurt one.


    In truth, even a normal person practising a martial arts manual over a long time would be able to successfully break through three gates.


    But to Fang Yuan, it was a matter of days for him to break through his first gate. He had the potential.


    Not just potential, but a good foundation developed in 18 years!


    After all, the Pearl Jade Crystal Rice and other rare fruits did help in developing his foundation.


    "Is this... how a martial artist feels?"


    Fang Yuan stood on the ground and stared intensely at his hands.


    He felt that all of his abilities improved after breaking through the first gate, as though he removed a restrictive barrier.


    "To know in general, I will still have to refer to the stats board!"


    Fang Yuan looked around, and the stats board appeared:


    "Name: Fang Yuan


    Essence: 1.1


    Spirit: 1.1


    Magic: 1.5


    Age: 18


    Cultivation: [Martial Artist (1st Gate)]


    Techniques: [Black Sand Palm (Grade 1)]


    Skills: [Medicine (Level 1)], [Botany (Level 3)]"


    When he focused on his Techniques, the relevant information on Black Sand Palm flashed, "[Black Sand Palm (Grade 1)] - External technique, if mastered, one''s palm would be as strong as steel, and would be able to break metal. There are a total of 5 Grades. This technique might encompass a poisonous effect. Currently at Grade 1!"


    "Even Magic has increased by 0.1?"


    Fang Yuan sighed, "No... the effect on Magic must be due to the Questioning Heart Tea..."


    He cleared his thoughts. The stats represented his physical fitness, which meant it would be increasingly hard to improve.


    An increment of 0.1 had a different meaning between the different stats.


    "By breaking through the gates and becoming a martial artist, would it result in an improvement in one''s physical fitness?"


    After realisation, Fang Yuan felt satisfied.


    "Most importantly is that the Black Sand Palm is now an actual technique!"


    As long as the technique was recognised by the stats board, it meant that it could be further improved with intense training, in a more systematic way. It was a good deal.


    On the flipside, Fang Yuan was still a long way from being able to break through the first gate in every type of martial art technique, seeing how much effort was required just to break through the first gate.


    "Unfortunately... ¡­ I am unable to see my experience with the technique, otherwise, that would have been perfect..."


    Fang Yuan let out a sigh.


    Hidden at the back, Fang Yuan spotted an empty progress bar behind [Black Sand Palm].


    The progress bar seemed blurry and required one''s focus for it to appear. Once the focus was lost the progress bar would disappear.


    "Is this... An original feature? Or is it that this stats board would monitor my progress and add more features as I improve?"


    Fang Yuan knew that this progress bar would show his experience.


    As for now, since the [Black Sand Palm] had just been registered, the progress bar would appear to be 0%. He focused on his [Medical] and [Botany] and unknowingly realised that his [Medical] had about 70% and should not be far from attaining the next level. As for [Botany], the progress was more than half. It seemed that using the spiritual fertilizer did help him improve his [Botany].


    "With this experience bar, it would be much easier to track my progress in the future!"


    On the route to becoming a martial artist, Fang Yuan felt full of energy, and without hesitation, started a new session of training.


    "Black Sand Palm!"


    After another session of training, Fang Yuan took a wooden board to test out his strength.


    His palm struck the wooden board, but only a faint outline of his palm appeared. It seemed that his technique still had room for improvement.


    "Stats board!"


    In the progress bar, there was an improvement. Based on statistics, it seemed like there was almost no improvement.


    "Does this mean that one can foolishly practise up to a million times and still break through the gates and attain the next grade?"


    Fang Yuan could not hold his excitement in.


    He knew that this was probably due to the fact that Black Sand Palm was a normal and widely circulated martial arts technique.


    There must be certain criteria being met before one could really attain the next grade.


    Taking [Botany] for example, he needed the help of the spiritual fertilizer before attaining the next level.


    But compared to those who trained for years and were still stuck status quo, this was a huge improvement for Fang Yuan.


    "Stats and the progress bar are physical quantities, and with hard work, there must be some sort of improvement!"


    Fang Yuan sighed, "But who am I? Who am I to deserve good potential and luck?"


    With hard work come rewards!


    Many people could only wish for such progress.


    Additionally, he could access his own stats window and his dream experience.


    "I will unravel this mystery one day!"


    Fang Yuan stared into the mountains, determined.


    Even if he had the potential, he knew he needed to work hard and train hard.


    Even if he could enjoy the riches of the world, he knew he had to worry and be even more cautious.


    He wanted to improve himself, unlock his own potential and understand what was really happening to him.


    "The journey ahead is arduous, but I will walk on!"


    He let out a long sigh as Flower Fox Ferret witnessed everything that happened. It seemed to understand what was happening.

 17 Spying

    "Black Sand Palm!"


    In the secluded valley, a man swiftly stretched out his right palm and left a very clear palm print on a target board.


    "My power has improved again? Not bad!"


    Fang Yuan kept his palm and felt excited that his experience bar was more than half filled.


    He became more familiar as he trained. He was completely fascinated with the feeling of himself getting stronger after every training.


    "If the stats for martial arts isn''t as hard to improve as the one for botany, I would have attained [Black Sand Palm (Level 5)] easily!"


    "Of course, nutrition is also a priority¡­."


    It was noon. Fang Yuan had Pearl Jade Crystal Rice for lunch and sighed while eating.


    If it was other normal families, they wouldn''t have an abundant supply of Pearl Jade Crystal Rice like him.


    Also, how could one endure the repeated tough training for the Black Sand Palm? Unless one was talented enough to enter a Sect and be cultivated, it would be almost impossible for one to become a powerful martial artist.


    "Besides¡­.. practising martial arts is also beneficial for the body¡­."


    The physical body of a martial artist would be as strong as a rock. As one''s foundation of his techniques got stronger, he would be able to achieve greater things in future.


    Fang Yuan suspected that the reason why he was able to master Black Sand Palm so quickly was not because of his increase in magical energy.


    "Soon, Master Wenxin''s tea tree will have fully grown tea leaves and Vermillion Jade Rice can be harvested... Even though Wu Zong needs this Spiritual Rice, there should be enough left!"


    Fang Yuan felt hopeful.


    His martial arts improved a lot faster with the presence of the spiritual plants.


    The reason why Fang Yuan was in a rush to master his techniques was to be able to protect himself from any danger in future.


    "The comprador from Spirit Returning Sect, Song Zhigao?!"


    If it was Lin Benchu or the Zhou siblings, it would mean no harm. However, this comprador from Spirit Returning Sect showed hostility, causing Fang Yuan to be more cautious.


    Although he looked like he did not have any hard feelings against anyone, he did not seem like a fool. He wouldn''t allow someone to be spying on him easily.


    "An amount of effort is still needed to complete a tasking once and for all!"


    His future and skills in martial arts depended on this spiritual plant.


    ...¡­.


    It was night time.


    A few shadows appeared at the outskirts of the secluded valley.


    "Comprador Song said that this is the place?"


    A man in black observed his surroundings and then cursed softly, "The environment here is so harsh. Only the savage can live in such conditions!"


    "This is the place definitely. It shouldn''t be wrong!"


    A huntsman carrying a giant steel fork was beside him and said, "I have been here before to trade with Master Wenxin''s disciple for animal skin and herbs¡­."


    He sighed in between his words.


    "Why? Is reminiscing the past making you hesitate to do it?"


    The leader, who was the man in black, laughed.


    "How can that be? Ten golden leaves are equivalent to the lives of ten villagers. Dealing with this teenager is a piece of cake"


    The huntsman laughed and gave an evil look. "In my opinion, why even bother spying on him. We should just charge in and kill him straight away. We will then leave the body in the forest and let it rot till only left the bones!"


    "I agree with that but Comprador Song will not be happy about it. We are instructed to let him be ruined and condemned by the public. Then that is when we can take action!"


    The man in black said in a deep voice, "Who let that poor kid be in the way of Comprador Song''s magnate?!"


    "Magnate?!"


    The people around consist of a few villagers and huntsmen living nearby and pirates. Seeing that the leader was hiding something fiercely, no one dared to question further.


    "This is it. Our mission today is just to investigate the situation in the secluded valley and also to find out if the boy has any hidden agenda!"


    The leader said, "Most importantly, of course, is to not leave any of our traces behind!"


    "Understood!"


    A few of them laughed ferociously and gathered in the secluded valley.


    The surroundings were pitch dark. Even though there was light coming from the moon, the visibility was too low. Still, these people did not dare to reveal their positions to prevent any attacks.


    The resistance in the secluded valley was not that strong and plus, they were dealing with just one guy. Hence, these people were more relaxed.


    "Hmm¡­.This is the secluded valley? This place is actually pretty good to live in¡­.."


    "There is a flower garden and a spring. This looks normal. Let''s go take a look at the back¡­.."


    The group of them split up and found the farm at the back of the valley.


    "Looks like there is something behind the shrubs!"


    The ones who spotted something were experienced huntsmen and thieves.


    "Oh?"


    The leader then came forward and found a small pathway behind the shrubs. He was overjoyed when he found the pathway and said, "Let''s go take look quickly! Be careful. This guy is full of tricks, even the bodyguards from the Zhou family who came the other time were all defeated by him¡­."


    He spoke halfway and heard a loud biting sound suddenly.


    "What happen?"


    A few looked at the ground immediately and spotted a black beast. The black beast then went on to bite the leader''s leg.


    "A trap!"


    "Damn it!"


    The whole situation became chaotic.


    Previously these people sneaked in quietly. Now wouldn''t they be discovered if they started screaming in the middle of the night when their screams could be heard clearly in this secluded valley?


    "This is unacceptable¡­."


    A few of them looked at each other, their eyes filled with anger.


    Even though the mission objective was just to investigate, they would have to take action since they were under attack.


    They did not believe the rumours.


    How could a teenager be able to deal with the whole group of them?


    This teenager was cunning as he knew where to place the traps. The group had to be even more careful.


    "Hiss!"


    "Hiss!"


    However, they did not expect the white ferret to appear instead of the teenager!


    It was the guardian of the valley, the white Flower Fox Ferret, which pounced on them so quickly like a lightning strike.


    At that moment, the Flower Fox Ferret''s fur stood up and gave a hostile behaviour.


    After all, whatever that was on the farm was the Flower Fox Ferret''s lifeblood. How could the farm be spied on by others?


    "What is that?"


    "A ferret?"


    "It is so big!"


    The huntsman warned, "Careful everyone. This mutated ferret could belong to the teenager¡­."


    "Heh¡­ it''s nothing much. It is just a beast and is not any different from a wild dog."


    One of them who was laughing changed his complexion suddenly.


    A bright light flashed by in front of him.


    "What happened, Dacheng?"


    Seeing that Dacheng was motionless, one of them pushed him slightly and Dacheng''s body was split in half.


    No one knew when he was cut in half by the Flower Fox Ferret!


    "Ghost¡­.there is a ghost!"


    This bloody scene scared the hell out of everyone.


    "This ferret is definitely not a normal one. It is a Spiritual Beast and a weird one!"


    The huntsman''s scalp became numb. He suddenly recalled the legend of Spiritual Beasts.


    Judging from what happened, the ferret was able to understand what human said! Plus, with such body shape and skills, this ferret is definitely a Spiritual Beast.


    "Leave now!"


    A few of them looked at each other and then hurried away, leaving their leader behind.


    They had no choice as their employer, Song Zhigao, was just a mere comprador. How much power could he hold? The leader, who was the man in black was the only one under Song Zhigao that was out here. The rest were all hired.


    Such team was able to complete a tasking only when there were no troubles surfacing.


    "Keke!"


    The Flower Fox Ferret purposely slowed down and chased after the huntsman, as if it found a toy to play with.


    "Damn it!"


    The huntsman looked at the Flower Fox Ferret and tried to hit it with his giant steel fork.


    The huntsman missed and felt a sharp pain in his right hand. A row of sharp teeth appeared in front of his eyes.


    At that moment, blood splashed everywhere¡­.


    ...¡­.


    "This noise is killing me. It''s midnight. Can''t they just let me have a good sleep?"


    Fang Yuan couldn''t sleep through the series of screams.


    He grabbed his coat and yawned while exiting the house. "Thieves? It must have been difficult for them to come to such desolated place to steal from me¡­."


    Even though he said that, his biggest asset was still his farm and he was worried about it. He then quickened his footsteps and went to the back of the valley.


    "This¡­.."


    It was truly shocking to see a scene with blood everywhere. Fang Yuan was dumbfounded and also furious at the same time. "What have you done, Flower Fox Ferret?! When will I be able to finish cleaning up this mess you made?"


    "Keke!"


    Flower Fox Ferret''s claws were stained with blood. It was going round and round around the leader and showed an innocent look.


    "Don''t act innocent in front of me. You will have to help to clean up this mess tomorrow!"


    Fang Yuan went around a few corpses and reached for the leader who was still panting.


    This unlucky guy got his leg broken but his life spared by the Flower Fox Ferret. He was somewhat lucky.


    "Don''t¡­.don''t eat me!"


    Of course, this guy was completely scared. He started tearing when he saw Fang Yuan approaching as if he had met a saviour. "Please spare me, sir! I was instructed by Song Zhigao. I will reveal everything!"


    How pitiful!


    To be bitten by a beast and die without burial, such way to die was too mentally demanding for one.

 18 The Plo

    Dawn.


    The sun inched above the horizon, illuminating the morning fog. The Valley slowly came alive, and the vegetation thrived.


    "Song Zhigao, comprador of the Spirit Returning Sect."


    "Song Yujie, the Sect Elder''s beloved son."


    "Song Zhong, Elder of the Spirit Returning Sect."


    Fang Yuan was sweeping the floor casually, removing traces of the previous night''s happenings. He was deep in thought.


    The man in black from last night almost suffered a mental breakdown after being intimidated by the Flower Fox Ferret. Fang Yuan did not even have to interrogate him before he gave away everything.


    According to him, Young Master Song Yujie was gifted in both the classics and martial arts and was in every sense a suave and accomplished young man. The most important thing to note was that Song Yujie had developed a serious obsession with Fang Yuan''s ex-fiancee Lin Leiyue ever since he laid eyes on her.


    Elder Song Zhong observed these developments with interest. After all, Lin Leiyue was the Sect Leader''s right-hand disciple and had a bright future ahead of her.


    It was too bad that Lin Leiyue did not reciprocate Song Yujie''s feelings and rejected him outright.


    Song Yujie was enraged but naturally did not dare to pursue the matter further with Lin Leiyue, the Sect Leader''s favourite pupil. However, he had no reservations about taking out his anger on Fang Yuan.


    "Perhaps he thinks that Lin Leiyue and I are lovers? And because of this, Song Yujie''s henchman Song Zhigao, with the help of Old Tian, tried to get rid of me. A shame that I did not budge, hence the follow-up¡­"


    From the information that he gathered, Fang Yuan made a few guesses and had arrived at a reasonable conclusion. This rendered him quite speechless.


    "I have nothing to do with Lin Leiyue. Ahh, I''m just an innocent bystander, the most innocent party there is..."


    The weak often become prey in this world. Song Yujie had not even designed to make things hard for Fang Yuan and his men were already raring to take action.


    "Oh man, I feel like the coming times will be tough¡­"


    Fang Yuan threw his broom away and turned towards the sun. He closed his eyes and stretched.


    According to the man in black, there were so many people in Spirit Returning Sect who admired Lin Leiyue that they could form a clique of significant influence. After all, she was the apple of the Leader''s eye, one of the future leaders of the Wu Zong!


    Even if Song Yujie didn''t look him up, a Zhao Yujie or Zhang Yujie would turn up eventually.


    At that moment, Fang Yuan felt extremely helpless.


    Heaven have mercy on him! Fang Yuan was not interested in inviting trouble, but if people were hell-bent on making life difficult for him, hiding in a corner was not an option.


    "Song Zhigao must die!"


    Fang Yuan steeled his resolve.


    Fang Yuan could bear with anything as long as his interests were not threatened. Events such as the cancelled engagement and the row with the Zhou Siblings, he could tolerate.


    However, Song Zhigao had malevolent intentions and conspired to pry open the secrets of the Valley.


    To Fang Yuan, other than his own stats, the Spiritual plants of the Valley were things that he would protect with his life.


    If his bottom line was breached, he would respond with fire and blood!


    "Song Zhigao must be eliminated, but I cannot put myself at risk either...I have to think of a foolproof plan...Of course, the key is still to level up my skills!"


    The man in black from last night was Song Zhigao''s confidant and knew him very well indeed.


    The comprador of the Spirit Returning Sect was undoubtedly intelligent, but he was not well-versed in martial arts. His cultivation level was only around the Third Gate.


    He definitely stood no chance against the Flower Fox Ferret.


    But the man backing him, Elder Song Zhong, was a different story. That man had broken through the 3 Prosperous Gates, 2 Peaceful Gates, to the level of the 3 Perilous Gates. He was an extremely skilled pugilist and was a known figure in Qinghe County. Song Yujie had every sign of surpassing his master in the near future.


    There were the metaphorical 12 Golden Gates in martial arts. One could cruise through the Initial Gate, the Rest Gate and the Life Gate, and unlocking them would lead to a definite increase in powers. Thus they were known as the 3 Prosperous Gates. The following Restriction Gate and View Gate were not too difficult to break through either. They were the 2 Peaceful Gates. It was the Pain, Shock and Death Gates that one had to take caution with. Failure to navigate through these three gates would lead to serious injury and even death. Hence, they were known as the 3 Perilous Gates.


    The martial arts were indeed challenging, with so many obstacles to overcome.


    Not to mention that after the Death Gate, there were the 4 Heavenly Gates and the Wu Zong Level. It was truly depressing to see that it was such a long and arduous way up.


    "Fortunately, the only person we need to deal with right now is Song Zhigao. This should be a piece of cake."


    So what if the martial arts were challenging?


    With his stats and practice, Fang Yuan had not encountered any impossible problem before.


    "Just as well!"


    Fang Yuan glanced at his progress bar and saw that he had almost mastered the first level of the Black Sand Palm technique. All he needed was some more proficiency points, equivalent to tens of practice sessions.


    "Today, I shall unlock the second gate!"


    Fang Yuan had made up his mind.


    Fang Yuan could potentially break through the various stages at a phenomenal speed, a speed that could even attract a Wu Zong attention.


    After all, every stage of the 12 Golden Gates required meticulous study and intense effort, even the 3 Prosperous Gates.


    Fang Yuan, however, only needed to increase his Proficiency points and all would be fine.


    Sunrise was the best time of the day to train.


    "Huff"


    Fang Yuan achieved a state of Zen and displayed the different styles of the Black Sand Palm technique with familiarity. He further conditioned his hands with ointments and potions.


    After some time, the Black Palm Sand technique''s progress bar in the stats window was finally filled up.


    "Kachak!"


    Fang Yuan let out a roar as he suddenly felt barriers breaking down within his body. He felt as though streams of energy were exploding from every one of his pores.


    As Fang Yuan''s Proficiency points reached the maximum, the skill level of the Black Sand Palm technique increased by one.


    Black Sand Palm Level 2!


    In only a few days, Fang Yuan had accomplished a commendable feat.


    "Not only that, but I have broken through the Rest Gate!"


    Fang Yuan took a look at his stats window and noticed that there were some changes.


    "Name: Fang Yuan


    Essence: 1.3


    Spirit: 1.3


    Magic: 1.5


    Age: 18


    Cultivation: [Martial Artist (2nd Gate)]


    Technique: [Black Sand Palm (Grade 2)]


    Skills: [Medicine (Level 1)], [Botany (Level 3)]"


    "Having trained the Black Sand Palm technique to Grade 2, its power has been greatly boosted. Whenever I prepare to channel the technique, my palms change!"


    Every time Fang Yuan intended to use the skill, both his palms would darken in colour, signifying a tremendous increase in pain tolerance.


    "Of course, the most important thing was to have broken through the Rest Gate! My Essence and Spirit points have increased by 0.2?"


    Fang Yuan was shocked to see that his Magic Points remained at 1.5.


    "Was it because the previous upgrade was due to the Questioning Heart Tea, and a normal breakthrough in martial arts only increases Essence and Spirit points? Or is it because my Magic points are too high and thus, a small increase wouldn''t be obvious?


    Too bad his current experience in martial arts was not enough to help him decipher this problem.


    Nevertheless, Fang Yuan was satisfied to know that his Black Sand Palm technique could level up quickly through proficiency points and that the sky was the limit when it came to improving.


    "Song Zhigao¡­"


    Fang Yuan clenched his fists and felt a surge of energy.


    ...


    "Wang San hasn''t returned yet?"


    Currently, Song Zhigao was suffering from sleepless nights.


    As the Spirit Returning Sect''s comprador, he had a genial look on his face at all times, while his little eyes carried a hint of slyness. Every matter that he was put in charge off, he settled it reliably and appropriately.


    Until he tried to deal with that poor rascal from the mountains in a bid to gain favour with Elder Song Zhong and Song Yujie. Everything changed since then.


    "Damn it!"


    The more he thought about it, the more he felt like throwing his beloved rain flower porcelain teacup onto the floor.


    That darn kid had no idea of what was good for him.


    When he ordered Old Tian to cut off the supply of necessities to Fang Yuan and to give him a warning, Fang Yuan should have heeded it and fled. Why was he still hanging on?


    It was the late afternoon now, nearly dusk, and Wang San had not returned yet. Song Zhigao couldn''t sit still and paced up and down his hall.


    "That kid might be a mysterious character, but Wang San has always been careful, and had only gone on a scouting trip this time. Surely nothing could''ve gone wrong?"


    Song Zhigao clasped his hands together and waited till nighttime. At this point, he felt a chill in his heart, as well as a tinge of regret.


    If only he had known better, he would not have messed with the kid.


    A shame that there was an enmity between them now. He had no choice but to take action.


    Only when the matter was settled, he could answer to his masters. But what if everything screwed up?


    Song Zhigao only had to think about Elder Song Zhong''s methods before he became numb in the skull. He suddenly lifted his head and whispered to himself as he faced the city.


    "It has come to this. There is no other way."


    "Men!"


    He bellowed.


    "Yes, Master?"


    A manservant shuffled into the room and bowed.


    Song Zhigao might be a comprador, but he was influential enough to have a group of servants at his beck and call.


    "Find Old Tian from the medical hall and tell him that if he still wants to make a living in Qinghe County, get his ass over here!"


    Song Zhigao had a fearsome look on his face.


    "Roger!"


    The manservant was flummoxed, but he went about his business dutifully. In no time, he had Old Tian following him back into the hall. Old Tian greeted him with a sheepish smile.


    "I hope you have been well, Master Song!"


    "Old Tian! The herbs and spices in your medical hall are of rather good quality. The Sect has decided to purchase a larger quantity next year!"


    Song Zhigao mentioned the news casually as he sent the manservant away.


    "Ah? Thank you so much, Master!"


    Old Tian bowed multiple with his hands clasped, delighted beyond belief.


    "Of course¡­this is not without a price though. I need you to do something for me!"


    Song Zhigao glared at Old Tian. He was confident that Old Tian would give in. The Sect was the medical hall''s biggest client. Old Tian could not afford to refuse him.


    "Old Tian is at your service, Master. Old Tian will do anything for you even if it means going to Hell and back!"


    Old Tian was a worldly man and continued with his public display of loyalty even though he secretly dreaded what was to come.


    "Easy! That is¡­"


    Song Zhigao whispered a string of commands into Old Tian''s ear. Old Tian immediately turned pale.


    "What? This...this¡­"


    "Hehe, I know that Master Wenxin rescued you once. But you owe nothing to Fang Yuan¡­"


    Song Zhigao laughed coldly and issued a threat.


    "If you do not obey me, starting from next month, the Sect will no longer take any of your goods. You might as well crawl out onto the streets !"

 19 Spiritual Rice

    Fang Yuan was still unaware that the gears of a great conspiracy had started turning


    Quite the opposite, the current Fang Yuan''s heart was filled with ecstatic joy.


    "This is¡­"


    The moment he entered the paddy field, he was struck by a flash of red.


    The entire vermillion jade paddy went through a complete change. All of the grains were large and full, almost to the point of bursting out of their shells, and they gave off a slight spicy fragrance, as though as they were spices, enticing one''s appetites.


    "The Vermillion Jade Rice is fully grown!"


    Fang Yuan instantly burst out in happiness


    "Keke!"


    "Keke!"


    The Flower Fox Ferret was also elated and really wanted to leap forward to help itself to the rice.


    Thankfully after this period of training, it finally understood that this spiritual rice was the same as Jade Crystal Rice, and had to first have their shells removed, before being steamed, only then one would be able to taste an unparalleled taste. Otherwise, it would just be wasting a treasure.


    Thus, the ferret still maintained its self control, simply staring at Fang Yuan from afar.


    "Mhmm, let''s harvest it first!"


    After that, Fang Yuan returned to his house, retrieved a sickle and other tools, before starting to harvest the rice carefully.


    The good thing was that he had already broken through the Rest Gate, hence his stamina was great, surpassing that of an ordinary man, and his magical energy levels were high, thus there was confidence in every motion. With a few swings of the blade, the stalks of Vermillion Jade Rice fell in an organised manner.


    From one side, the Flower Fox Ferret saw the scene unfolding before him, licking his claws, but still not daring to go forward to help out.


    It was very aware that its future happiness depended on this paddy field. If anything it did scr*wed things up, wouldn''t it just cry itself to death?


    "Ok we''re done, help me move these seedlings back."


    Fang Yuan tied up the Vermillion Jade Rice seedlings into bundles, at the same time tossing over the Flower Fox Ferret''s share, "Careful!"


    After harvesting, the next step would be drying, threshing, deshelling...


    When the final step was completed, he gazed upon the shiny red Vermillion Jade Rice, and couldn''t help but break into a smile.


    The Vermillion Jade Rice in front of him was about the size of a fingernail, sparkled like jade, with a blazing red line that ran through the center, and brought about a spicy fragrance to one''s nose.


    "This harvest has yielded around 50 pounds, of which we have to keep half for planting¡­"


    On the other side, Fang Yuan piled up the grains with their shells intact in the storeroom. After keeping them properly, he let out a sigh of relief, and looked at the remaining Vermillion Jade Rice, rubbing his hands impatiently, "I''ll be the one to taste this spiritual rice¡­"


    From the side, the Flower Fox Ferret had been staring at the Vermillion Jade Rice until it started drooling, but it still did not dare to make a move. Instead, it turned around to munch on a good portion of the husks, rubbing its belly with a look of satisfaction on its face.


    "So obedient!"


    This series of actions by the ferret did not escape Fang Yuan, and he couldn''t help but comment.


    Although rice husks were usually used to feed livestock in villages, they could not compare to the husks of spiritual rice. These husks probably had many more times the nutrition and elemental energy of Crystal Jade Rice.


    "But¡­ if you''re eating so much now, do you still have the space for the cooked Vermillion Jade Rice later?"


    Fang Yuan said while rapping the Flower Fox Ferret''s little head.


    The white ferret rolled its eyes, bared its claws, and stared with a strong desire in its eyes, as though as it could eat everything regardless of the amount.


    "Really...I can''t deal with you!"


    After a long guffaw, Fang Yuan went to draw some water from the spring, and added a steamer basket, placing 1 pound of Vermillion Jade Rice inside.


    "This Vermillion Jade Rice is a spiritual plant, so I''d better take care when cooking it. Let''s start by steaming it¡­"


    Stuffing the rice straw underneath the furnace, Fang Yuan looked as blazing red light lit up the entire room, which made it seem like the entire kitchen was on fire. On top of that, the fragrance emanating from the steamer made the both of them salivate profusely.


    The rice straws were from a spiritual plant, but now it was being used as fuel for a fire. If this was seen by members of Spirit Returning Sect, they would lament about how wasteful Fang Yuan was.


    However, to Fang Yuan, wasn''t using rice straw to cook rice the proper thing to do?


    Moreover, combining these two things could possibly draw out some special benefits too.


    "Next time I''ll use the rice husks to raise a batch of chickens and duck, then I''ll have a complete spiritual feast. That would be really living the life!"


    In his heart, there was still that little idea.


    As the rice straw burnt easily, hence he had to keep adding more continuously. Once the last bundle turned into fire and vanished, a fragrance 10 times stronger than before filled the entire kitchen.


    "The Vermillion Jade Rice is ready!"


    Fang Yuan opened the steamer basket, which released a large amount of red gas into the air. The water vapour added onto the bright glow from the Vermillion Jade Rice, which had all turned completely red, like a cloud of fire.


    Inside the steamer basket, all of the rice had developed nicely, turning into the size of normal crystal rice. After they absorbed more water vapour, each grain appeared fuller than ever, with a slight hint of fire burning within.


    "Keke! Keke!"


    Leaping up, the Flower Fox Ferret seemed very impatient.


    "Haha...How could your share be any less! Here, eat!"


    Fang Yuan took out chopsticks and bowls, giving the Flower Fox Ferret a full bowl, and an identical serving for himself too.


    With rice fragrance swirling around him, he swallowed a mouthful of saliva before sending the Vermillion Jade Rice into his mouth.


    "Woo¡­"


    In that instant, his pupils dilated.


    The Vermillion Jade Rice melted upon contact with his mouth, stimulating his taste receptors like a stream of magma with a dense, fragrant spicy tinge.


    This sort of spicy feeling, coupled with the rice''s original texture, turned into the best meal. There was no need for any dishes to go with it.


    When he finally swallowed the rice, this stream flowed straight into his stomach, immediately turning into icy.


    Such spicy rice actually turned into an icy stream after reaching the stomach?


    This sensation made it seem like he was inside a dream world. It was as though as after getting steamed for a good half a day inside the kitchen, Fang Yuan went to take a refreshing cold water shower. His whole body felt extremely comfortable, and every inch of his skin felt they were renewed.


    The Flower Fox Ferret at the side cleaned out its bowl even faster and stared at Fang Yuan anxiously.


    "So greedy!"


    Looking down at the remaining amount of rice, he felt a little regretful, but even more fear.


    He was afraid that he could not stay disciplined enough, and eventually would take out the last tens of pounds of rice to polish off!


    As he saw the look of desire in the Flower Fox Ferret''s eyes, he knew that this was not impossible.


    "But¡­ Since it''s the first harvest, there''s no problem to eat a little more today."


    Fang Yuan mused while stroking his chin. The taste of Vermillion Jade Rice was simply too good!


    Upon hearing this the Flower Fox Ferret jumped up gleefully, almost using its claws to give a round of applause.


    ¡­..


    "Whew...I''m satisfied¡­"


    An unknown period of time later, Fang Yuan clutched his belly and lay down on the ground, not feeling like moving even a finger.


    At his side, there was the similarly full Flower Fox Ferret.


    This human and beast did not have any self-restraint, eating over 5 pounds rice. When thinking back about this, Fang Yuan''s heart ached.


    His original plan was to rely on this harvest to sustain him till the next one, but it seemed like this was no longer a possibility.


    "It looks like we still have to exercise some restraint. Otherwise, we''ll only be able to eat rice husks and drink porridge, living life counting every grain that we have¡­"


    Fang Yuan was very frustrated.


    Who didn''t know that even for the Spirit Returning Sect, Vermillion Jade Rice was only consumed by the sect head and his direct disciple? Moreover, it was not something that was eaten daily.


    The life that he and the Flower Fox Ferret led would definitely draw many jealous stares if anyone else knew.


    "But...The Vermillion Jade Rice seeds that Minister Lin gave me didn''t look like this¡­"


    After eating his fill, this afterthought appeared in Fang Yuan''s mind. "So this is the effect of Level 3 Botany? I think the spiritual rice of Spirit Returning Sect is probably not as high quality as mine. Moreover, this is still before any mutation has happened¡­"


    "It''s time to train!"


    When some of the food in his belly had been digested, Fang Yuan stood up, subconsciously turning to look at his stats window. What he saw shocked him, as there were new changes.


    "Name: Fang Yuan


    Essence: 1.4


    Spirit: 1.3


    Magic: 1.5


    Age: 18


    Cultivation: [Martial Artist (2nd Gate)]


    Techniques: [Black Sand Palm (Grade 2)]


    Skills: [Medicine (Level 1)], [Botany (Level 3)]"


    "Essence increased from 1.3 to 1.4?"


    It seemed like Essence meant the state of his body. A sum of all of his physical qualities and attributes.


    Before this, the only time it rose was when he broke through a gate.


    But now, just from a meal of Vermillion Jade Rice, his Essence actually rose by 0.1?


    "Even though it should have the greatest effect since this is the first time, but isn''t this a little too much?"


    Fang Yuan couldn''t believe his eyes.


    A body''s quality was the foundation of everything, and after a single meal of spiritual rice, there were such stunning changes. Then how impressive would those geniuses from families with an unlimited stream of spiritual rice be?


    "But¡­ Their spiritual rice might not be as good as mine. Moreover, they do not have these magical fingers!"


    With the help of the stats window, Fang Yuan was confident in climbing to the peak of the world, obviously not fearing any geniuses at all.


    "Since it is so, one can''t travel a thousand miles without accumulating a number of steps over time¡­ So I can''t slack for my daily training!"


    Very quickly, he immersed himself in Black Sand Palm training.


    But today, he felt that something was different.


    During the process of training, a stream of warmth spread out from his limbs and bones. It felt like warm water covered his entire body, giving him energy, and a slight numb feeling all over as though as there was an electric shock.


    "This is¡­"


    Since he knew something was different, Fang Yuan did a thorough check of his entire body and looking at the stats window, he made a discovery.


    "Black Sand Palm''s progress bar is filling up really fast. Is this the effect of Vermillion Jade Rice?"


    If his progress bar filled up by one part in 10,000 after one round of practicing the palm technique, now it filled up by one part in 1,000!


    An increase of 10 times, how scary was that!


    "Vermillion Jade Rice''s effect should not have anything to do with my progress, so could it be due to my physical state?"


    A thought popped into Fang Yuan''s mind.


    Since Essence was the foundation of everything, now that his base had grown, the difficulty of martial arts training naturally dropped.


    At least this was the case for his progress.


    "It seems like I must raise my body''s quality faster!"


    Clenching his fist, Fang Yuan''s eyes glittered with excitement.


    Vermillion Jade Rice, Questioning Heart Tea, together with the stats window. These were literally helping him cheat at life.

 20 The Approach

    "Whoooo..."


    Fang Yuan practised his breathing, while the sun rose.


    "With the help of the Vermillion Jade Rice, my improvements are tremendous!"


    Lately, he had become addicted to practising his martial arts. After all, the feeling of gaining experience and becoming stronger was an addictive one.


    "Maybe¡­...It would be much easier to master the Eagle Claw Technique and Rough Breathing Technique now!"


    He used to be afraid of not being able to handle many skills at once, but now, he had no more considerations.


    When one was at the highest level of a certain martial art, he would experience very fast improvements if he chose to practise other martial arts, like the speed of a rocket.


    "Maybe I should wait till I have broken the 5th Golden Gate before attempting it¡­"


    Fang Yuan took a look at his stats:


    "Name: Fang Yuan


    Essence: 1.8


    Spirit: 1.6


    Magic: 1.5


    Age: 18


    Cultivation: [Martial Artist (3rd Gate)]


    Techniques, [Black Sand Palm (Grade 3)]


    Skills, [Medicine (Level 1)], [Botany (Level 3)]"


    "The increment to my Essence and Spirit is 0.3 after breaking the 3rd Gate, the rest must be the credit of the Vermillion Jade Rice..."


    "But my Magic has not increased since consuming the Questioning Heart Tea, and still remained stagnant after breaking three through 3 gates..."


    Fang Yuan placed more importance on Magic as it was the hardest to increase.


    After all, having more Magic than the average person already made Fang Yuan feel different.


    If he could increase his Magic even further, what would the unimaginable effects be?


    Fang Yuan was excited to know.


    "The Questioning Heart Tea is about to germinate soon... and the Vermillion Jade Rice too, I have assigned a larger plot of land to sow the rice... The only thing lacking is the spiritual fertilizer!"


    The droplet-like fertilizer that the Flower Fox Ferret brought had extraordinary capabilities to boost the growth of spiritual plants.


    And now that Fang Yuan was undergoing martial arts training, he would require large amounts of Vermillion Jade Rice, which increased his dependence on the spiritual fertilizer.


    "I need the spiritual fertilizer! And lots of it! Otherwise, the Vermillion Jade Rice and the Questioning Heart Tea would be useless..."


    The Flower Fox Ferret had already described to Fang Yuan how dangerous it would be to obtain the fertilizer, and it was best not to attempt to obtain it based on his current skills.


    "I am already a martial artist who broke through 3 gates and can even know the whereabouts of the Flower Fox Ferret if I focus... It seems that the level of danger is equivalent to in between the 2nd and 3rd Gate!"


    No martial artist could escape the 12 Golden Gates.


    Fang Yuan had already broken through the 3 Prosperous Gates. If he could break through the Restriction Gate, he would enter a new realm.


    Based on the Rough Breathing Technique, if the martial artists within the first 3 gates were considered beginners, then those who managed to break through the Restriction Gate and View Gate would have just realised their potential.


    As for those who managed to break through Pain Gate, Shock Gate and Death Gate, the 3 Perilous Gates, they could lift their heads up high and would be the ones worthy to be elders in the Spirit Returning Sect.


    Song Zhigao''s backer, Song Zhong, was an example of a successful martial artist who cleared the 3 Perilous Gates.


    Furthermore, at his age, it seemed impossible to cross the 3 Perilous Gates and enter the 4 Heavenly Realms.


    "Keke!"


    "Keke!"


    The Flower Fox Ferret appeared, nibbled at Fang Yuan''s robe, and ran out of the valley.


    "Hmm? There''s someone!?"


    Fang Yuan started to feel annoyed but had no choice but to take a look.


    In front of him was a large group of people. Minister Lin stood in front of everybody, and even the Zhou Siblings were there.


    There were another 4 strong bodyguards behind, carrying a carriage, with what seemed to be a silhouette within the carriage.


    "Virtuous young man!"


    Minister Lin stood at the entrance and waved, "Do you really have the confidence?"


    "Confidence for?"


    Fang Yuan was confused.


    "Of course, about saving a life! The Zhou Family took a gamble and brought Old Zhou here!"


    Lin Benchu seemed serious, "Days ago you sent Old Tian to pass me a letter, saying that you had a plan to save his life, on the condition that he was brought to the secluded valley¡­ Ahh, you must have forgotten!"


    "Letter?"


    Fang Yuan''s heart sank and was left speechless. He took the letter and read it. The letter was exactly what Minister Lin described, and the main idea was that he had a plan to save Old Zhou''s life, but would need him to be physically here.


    The funny thing was that the handwriting on the letter was exactly the same as his own.


    "Old Tian..."


    Fang Yuan knew exactly where the problem was.


    As the only person who traded with Fang Yuan, he would have many of Fang Yuan''s letters for him to copy.


    Furthermore, Minister Lin met Old Tian before, knew of his background and therefore trusted him.


    He wasn''t even sure of himself, and knew nothing about Old Zhou''s condition!


    "That sly fox!!"


    Fang Yuan felt fear, "What a perfect scheme, I have nothing to defend myself now!"


    Old Zhou was at his dying breath and was tricked to travel a long way to the secluded valley. Old Zhou might just pass away within the valley, and he would be blamed for his passing!


    Even if he argued that the letter was not written by him, no one would believe.


    Seeing how helpless the Zhou Family was, Fang Yuan remained silent.


    He thought to himself, if he was the mastermind behind this plan, his final step would be to kill Old Tian to make it perfect!


    "It may even be plotted perfectly since Old Zhou was an old enemy of Song Zhong. But Song Zhigao would not have such guts to do this..."


    "Why, virtuous young man, don''t tell me..."


    Minister Lin was wise and seemed to be able to guess, as he became increasingly worried.


    It was likely that the Zhou Family were at their wits ends that they decided to listen to Minister Lin, do the unconventional and send Old Zhou into the secluded valley.


    In all of this, Minister Lin swore and gave assurance to the Zhou Family that this was the right choice.


    If he were to back out now, the consequences would be unimaginable!


    "Let me take a look at him first!"


    Fang Yuan took another glance at Minister Lin and knew that he could not blame him.


    After all, it was true that he did use Old Tian as a messenger a few times before, as it was very hard to communicate with the outside world within the valley.


    "This of course!"


    Minister Lin felt a little scared and brought Fang Yuan to the carriage.


    "Master Fang, he''s all yours now!"


    Around the carriage, Zhou Wenwu together with Zhou Wenxin and a few members of the Zhou Family greeted him. A few more highly skilled martial artist stood their ground.


    Fang Yuan observed and laughed to himself. It made no sense because if he was really that skilful and could save Old Zhou, that was the best. But if he failed¡­...The number of expectations on him would likely lead to his death.


    Was there a need for any more explanation?


    Would the Zhou Family members heed any advice now?


    "What a big graveyard, the mastermind must be Song Zhigao!"


    Now that everything was prepared, he had no choice but to go ahead.


    Fang Yuan took a step forward, opened the curtains, and a rotten stench filled the air.


    "What the heck! What''s the difference between Old Zhou and a dead man?"


    Fang Yuan felt a chill down his spine, as he forced himself to see.


    In the carriage laid an old man, as though he was in a deep sleep. He had a very weak breath, and it felt like he might go any moment.


    Any professional physician would conclude that there was no cure for him.


    The injury was at the chest of the old man, and it was no light injury. It seemed to be recovering under bandages.


    "Eh? This is weird!"


    Fang Yuan observed and unknowingly said.


    "Young master, how''s my father? Is there any cure?"


    Zhou Wenwu frantically asked, and the Zhou Family members were all staring at Fang Yuan.


    Fang Yuan set too high an expectation for himself!


    His arrogance made the entire family traverse within the forest and valley, many of which had already cursed and sworn at Fang Yuan. If he was a normal person, they would deal with him!


    "I already have some idea, but for the details, I''ll have to observer further!"


    Fang Yuan returned to the valley, and not long after returned with a box of silver needles. He casually took one of Old Zhou''s arms and inserted a needle in.


    Puff!


    After a short while, he removed the silver needle, and it looked unchanged. Fang Yuan focused on the needle tip, took out a torch and heated the silver needle. He sniffed the needle and could smell a refreshing fragrance.


    "Old Zhou was not hurt, but poisoned!"


    Fang Yuan looked at the weak old man, and thought, "Could it be¡­...the Drunk Lover Poison that Master mentioned before..."


    Master Wenxin was an expert in medicine, with plenty of experience in saving lives. He briefly mentioned to Fang Yuan before on a few medical cases, and the Drunk Lover Poison was one that was etched in his memory.


    This poison had no colour and taste, and even no symptoms at the beginning. It would only make the affected person feel skinnier, less focused, and end up with depression, like a heartbreak, making it extremely unusual.


    When affected by this type of poison, it would be hard to observe the poison, and only by heating a silver needle would the light fragrance give away the presence of this poison.


    Since Fang Yuan felt interested in the Drunk Lover Poison, he took down notes from his Master, and never would he have guessed that he would personally encounter a person affected by the Drunk Lover Poison.


    "How?"


    Fang Yuan appeared stressed for a moment, then relaxed, and the Zhou Family did not dare to disturb his thoughts.


    "I can heal Old Zhou!"


    Fang Yuan nodded to himself.


    If he encountered other serious illnesses, then he would not have been qualified enough to help, but this was different.


    The next moment, Fang Yuan shouted, "But, I have one condition!"

 21 Assassination

    "The Zhou Family will obey the instructions of the young master!"


    Zhou Wen Wu readily promised after hearing the Fang Yuan gave his words.


    "My method of treating the illness is more peculiar. When I am treating the illness, no one is to watch it. Furthermore, it will take quite a while and cannot be interrupted. If not, Old Zhou''s life would be in danger!"


    Fang Yuan said in a serious tone.


    "Why is that so... Can no one watch the procedure? Not even me? "


    Fang Yuan furrowed his eyebrows.


    "No! I have already prepared a room to treat Old Zhou. The rest of you can wait outside!"


    Fang Yuan grimaced.


    Zhou Wen Wu flushed as he realized that his opponent knew what he had in mind.


    They were afraid of the possibility that Fang Yuan would not keep his word and would disappear without a trace.


    "All of you will wait outside the room. If you dare destroy the grass and the trees in my valley..."


    Fang Yuan''s words were laced with menace.


    "I would not let off anyone who would destroy your house and foliage!"


    Zhou Wen Wu exclaimed while thumping his chest.


    "That''s good. Now come in!"


    Fang Yuan brought everyone to a stone room within the valley.


    The stone room was carved out from a large boulder, with not a single window. Even the door was made from a rock around the size of a millstone.


    Fang Yuan did not understand the reason when he saw his master building the stone room. Now, he knew that Master Wen Xin made use of the room to cultivate his inner power.


    The cultivation of inner power was not as simple as the cultivation of outer power. It was critical that the person was not disturbed by the outer world during the cultivation of inner power.


    The room was built in accordance with Master Wen Xin''s plan. Only the person inside could open the door once it was sealed. If anyone on the outside wanted to enter, they would have to expend a great amount of energy to open the door.


    "Your father will recover within a maximum of 3 days!"


    Before the stone door close, Fang Yuan gave his words to the Zhou siblings before looking at Lin Yuan Wai.


    "Virtuous nephew, rest assured that the servants will make their way out of the valley. Only the three of us will remain here!"


    Lin Yuan Wai gave his words even though he disagreed with Fang Yuan''s view.


    "Very well!"


    With a resounding crash, the stone door sealed shut.


    "I am really not sure if you are lucky or unlucky!"


    Fang Yuan lit the oil lamp in the dark. He looked at the half-dead Old Zhou, who was carried into the room and grimaced.


    The Drunk Lover Poison was extremely potent. Few antidotes would be able to cure it except for one.


    Fang Yuan once heard Master Wen Xin lamented that he would be able to save the person affected by Drunk Lover Poison if he had possessed Yama''s Order.


    The Poisonous Dragon Grass was extremely rare and difficult to find. However, Fang Yuan happened to have the antidote with him. It was obvious that he possessed more luck than Master Wen Xin.


    ''Who was the one that administered this poison? At this point in time, I do not have the energy or time to care...''


    Fang Yuan took out a pill that was as dark as ink and fed it to Old Zhou.


    "Pant pant..."


    After taking the pill, Old Zhou, who was previously grasping for air and appearing to be on the brink of death, started to breathe normally and entered a deep sleep.


    It would take more than a day to expel the poison from his body.


    ''Now, all we can do is to wait... Given the power of Yama''s Order, it would be sufficient to put him to sleep for 3 full days.''


    Fang Yuan exclaimed before making his way to a corner within the stone room. He dug out a layer of ground before finding a rope. He gave the rope a firm tug.


    Crack!


    A slab of stone was lifted from the ground, revealing an entrance of a tunnel.


    "Ah Master, your design sure is handy!"


    Fang Yuan muttered and entered the tunnel. Not long after, he exited from the back of the valley.


    Master Wen Xin had created many secret tunnels with the intention of using those tunnels to escape. One of those tunnels happened to be in the stone room where he trained!


    Master Wen Xin was considered lucky as he managed to live to a ripe old age before passing away. Now, Fang Yuan was able to benefit from the hard work of Master Wen Xin as he made use of the tunnel to escape.


    "Phew phew!"


    Fang Yuan looked into the valley and whistled.


    Whoosh!


    In that instance, a white streak appeared before him. It was the Flower Fox Ferret.


    "Listen up, Flower Fox Ferret, go and guard the spiritual tea. If you are discovered, kill the person regardless of who he is..."


    The Vermillion Jade Rice had been properly stowed away. Fang Yuan''s only concern was his Questioning Heart Tea Tree.


    "Remember!"


    He gently caressed the Flower Fox Ferret''s fur, his face grim: "If you are no match for the enemy, destroy the spiritual plant and save yourself!"


    That was the worst case scenario.


    The garden was very well-concealed. The Zhou Siblings were concerned with the life of their father and the possibility of a betrayal was very small.


    However, it was best to be prepared in any circumstances.


    After giving the instructions to the Flower Fox Ferret, Fang Yuan took a deep breath and started running.


    He painstakingly arranged all these to create evidence that he was not around in order to commit a murder!


    ''Song Zhigao!''


    Fang Yuan moved so quickly in the tall mountains and old trees that he appeared to be a shadow. He gave off a deadly aura.


    Since ancient times, a dog that bites would not bark. Fang Yuan had never met Song Zhigao. However, he had already formed an impression of him. After all, having an impression was the foundation of his pursuit!


    Fang Yuan''s benefits were threatened and he has had enough!


    However, Song Zhigao was a member of the Spirit Returning Sect. In order to kill him, Fang Yuan must not be cast as a suspect. If not, his position in Qinghe County would be threatened.


    As such, while Fang Yuan knew that it was a trap, he decided to play along and use the saving of Old Zhou to create a perfect alibi to prove that he was not present at the scene. By doing so, he would be able to target Song Zhigao without a problem!


    ...


    Qingye City.


    Fang Yuan wore a bamboo hat pulled low which left his face in the shade. He was here to kill someone and as such, should not be out in the open and expose his face or leave behind traces of evidence.


    ''Old Tian is just as vile, using his power to oppress and help out the villain...''


    Fang Yuan arrived in front of the medicine hall while pondering over the matter.


    Indistinct wailing could be heard from the backyard of the medicine hall. The wailing sent a shiver down Fang Yuan''s spine. He was certain that something was wrong.


    "What happened here?"


    Fang Yuan asked a random passerby which he pulled from the street.


    The passerby struggled for a while before realizing that his opponent''s grasp was firm like steel. His face turned pale: "The shopkeeper, Old Tian, passed away due to an illness yesterday..."


    ''That was fast!''


    Fang Yuan was speechless after hearing the news. He let go of the passerby who hurriedly scampered away.


    If Old Tian was alive, he would have to be punished regardless if he was forced or not to carry out the task.


    However, it appeared that Song Zhigao was faster and more vicious.


    He had murdered Old Tian after making use of him to remove an incriminating piece of clue.


    After all, Old Zhou was a deacon of the Spirit Returning Sect. Old Tian harmed a member of the sect. Once discovered, not even Elder Song would be able to save him.


    As such it was necessary for Old Tian to die, the faster the better.


    Fang Yuan was silent. In his mind, he saw the shrewd face of Old Tian.


    ''Old Tian was too smart for his own good. I wonder if he had any regrets before he passed away, whether he had walked away when he was forced to do so...''


    Fang Yuan let out a sigh. He turned and walked away into a street without entering the medicine hall.


    ...


    Song Manor.


    ''By this time, the Zhou Family should have already reached the valley, am I right?''


    Song Zhigao smiled. He occasionally took a sip of the clear tea while he pondered.


    ''Old Tian is dead, now no one would know the deal that I had with him!''


    ''Even if he did not die, he would be severely punished!''


    Song Zhigao looked around his manor, his grin widened unconsciously.


    He was extremely proud of his plan which managed to kill two birds with one stone. He was sure that the magnate would be pleased as well!


    Once he gained the favour of the magnate, his success would be imminent.


    "Spread the word to serve the magnate wholeheartedly. If he is neglected, all of you shall pay dearly!"


    Song Zhigao ordered his servant with a strict expression.


    "Don''t worry, Master!"


    The servant, who had been with him for many years, smiled: "We will make sure that everything is taken care of!"


    "That is good! That is good!"


    Just then, Song Zhigao felt a sudden and intense palpitation. He felt nervous as if a great danger was approaching.


    "Strange...why would I suddenly suffer from palpitations?"


    He was uneasy and paced around the garden. He thought, ''Could it be because of Old Tian? I have silenced all those involved. For the Zhou family side, given their strong headed temper, would they spare the charlatan if anything were to happen to Old Zhou?''


    "Why do I still feel so uneasy?"


    As Song Zhigao was muttering to himself, a shadow sprang from the garden and pounced on him like a cheetah.


    "Who is that?"


    Song Zhigao stumbled backwards and let out a shriek. He used the Five Elements Palm of the Spirit Returning Sect continuously to protect himself fully.


    He was a martial artist who had surpassed the 3rd Gate and could be considered to be proficient in it.


    "Assassin?"


    Song Zhigao thought to himself, ''If I am able to survive for a short while, I would be safe!''


    However, the man in the bamboo hat did not give him time to react. The man''s arms reached out, instantly turning black as steel. With a great force, he struck the arms of Song Zhigao!

 22 Kill

    "Black Sand Palm?"


    Song Zhigao naturally recognized this widely-known technique.


    Honestly speaking, the technique was a stupid one. It needed an extended period of training for the bones to be able to withstand the strength the technique produced. He was being cultivated by the Spirit Returning Sect and this technique was nothing to him.


    However, Song Zhigao could not believe how great the power was when the technique was executed by someone else.


    When both got into contact with each other, a deafening sound of bones fracturing was heard. Song Zhigao experienced immense pain on both of his arms and screamed. His body flew and his blood splashed everywhere when his body was in mid-air.


    "Your¡­.your power¡­.you are a freak!"


    He landed on the ground. He screamed as he looked at his broken arms. He looked at Fang Yuan as if Fang Yuan was a beast.


    ''My power now is nearly twice as much as a normal human being! This is not only record-breaking, this allows my foundations to be far greater than any normal martial artist with the help of the Vermillion Jade Rice!''


    Fang Yuan looked at this scene and understood why he was able to perform that well.


    When experts duelled, any small differences can affect the result. Song Zhigao was at [Martial Artist (3rd Gate)]. The quality of his body was not as great as Fang Yuan''s. Also, it had been a long time since he was in a battle as he was used to being a comprador. Plus, he was a coward. Hence, it was inevitable that he lost.


    "Who are you exactly?"


    Song Zhigao landed on the ground, rolled his eyes and was in shock. "Don''t kill me. I can give you lots of treasures and even the martial arts manual¡­."


    "You talk too much!"


    Deep inside, Fang Yuan knew never to argue too much with an enemy. He went straight up and broke Song Zhigao''s skull.


    "Bang!"


    Song Zhigao''s body laid down on the ground.


    "Aahh!"


    "Murder!"


    The duel happened so fast that when the servants started to react, Fang Yuan had already killed Song Zhigao.


    "I''m not a murderer!"


    With a hat and towel to conceal his identity, he wouldn''t have the thought of killing any witnesses, which involved hitting the ones that screamed the loudest till they fainted.


    This was one of the ideas that he got from the dream world.


    Everyone would want to claim some trophies after defeating the boss.


    Only this time, Fang Yuan had a miscalculation.


    "You thief! You still dare to be angry after killing someone!"


    "Crack!"


    The door frame broke into pieces and flew right at Fang Yuan like raindrops!


    Among the flying wooden pieces, a person zoomed past. He pointed out his fingers from his right hand and poked at Fang Yuan''s eyebrows.


    "Whoosh!"


    The sword essence gave a whooshing sound as it swept through the air


    "An expert!"


    Fang Yuan returned a hit with his palm and duelled with the person in mid-air. He fell backwards and stared at the person.


    "You''re at the 3rd Gate?"


    The person was wearing a jade-green coloured robe, with a golden waistband and a jade hanging by the side. He was young and had a chic outfit. He looked at Fang Yuan with disdain and said, "You have got the guts to kill my comprador from the Spirit Returning Sect, how dare you!"


    Fang Yuan looked at the red print on his palm and was stunned for a moment.


    From his training of the Black Sand Palm, he had nearly achieved the highest level in terms of his skill. He should be immune to normal fist attacks, but not sword attacks.


    However, his palm had an immense pain this time.


    "I didn''t expect Song Zhigao to have men around, and one who is at the 4th or 5th Gate!"


    Fang Yuan had underestimated the power of his opponent and his opponent was definitely a powerful one. It seemed that his opponent was well trained for a long time and had a very strong body quality. Previously, he could defeat the Old Master with random moves but would have lost if he duelled with his current opponent.


    "Afraid to say something?"


    At that moment, his opponent approached him calmly. "It is okay if you do not want to speak now. I will still take you down and torture you till you speak with the ten different levels of tortures of the Spirit Returning Sect. I''m not really sure which level you can endure ¡­.. Those who kill my men will have to pay the price!"


    "Your men?"


    Fang Yuan asked in a hoarse voice, "You are Song Yujie?"


    "Oh? You recognize me?"


    Song Yujie became curious.


    "Hoooo¡­.."


    Fang Yuan didn''t answer his question but let out a long breath.


    If he had met other experts, he would have ran away by now.


    But what about Song Yujie?


    To be honest, Song Zhigao was just a sidekick of Song Yujie. Song Yujie was really the man in charge!


    "Well, I am quite lucky today!"


    Fang Yuan laid both his palms flat. Previously, his palms were in good condition like a white jade. Now, his palms were bruised.


    "You should feel proud for being able to train the Black Sand Palm to such state, but your external power is too weak. How can you even match yourself with my divine power of the Spirit Returning Sect?"


    Song Yujie mocked him, lifted up his right fingers and aimed it right at him like a sword. "Have a taste of my Spirit Returning sword skills!"


    "Sword essence!"


    Fang Yuan''s eyes focused on his fingers.


    This was a power generated from a high-level inner power and superior sword skills. Song Yujie was definitely talented to be able to achieve this.


    At that point, there was no way of falling back. Fang Yuan did not expect himself to be able to escape from this expert at [Martial Artist (4th Gate)] or [Martial Artist (5th Gate)]. He gave a fierce look and suddenly pounced like a crazy man, "Boundless Black Sand!"


    "Bang!"


    The power from the palm was easily destroyed by the energy from the sword skills and Song Yujie could only feel a slight force from Fang Yuan.


    Song Yujie looked down and saw a small black print on his back of his hand. He then looked at Fang Yuan, who had an extra wound on his chest, and his expression changed. "You dare to hurt me?"


    "Not only¡­..haha¡­..I will not only hurt you but kill you as well!"


    Fang Yuan laughed even though he was coughing out blood.


    When duelling with a person that had twice as much as a normal person''s body quality, the healing power he brought about was shocking. At least he knew that his external injuries did not look too serious.


    "Why are you not admitting that you are in the wrong!"


    Song Yujie went forward with his trembling right hand. A spiritual snake-like light appeared and he was able to twist his fingers to become like a twisted sword!


    After being hurt a little by Fang Yuan, he decided to get serious.


    "Looks like you have not exerted your full power. I am lucky this time¡­.haha¡­."


    Fang Yuan felt very fortunate.


    He knew that even though he was benefiting a lot from the spiritual plants, he was still inferior as compared to the real talents from other sects.


    If Song Yujie had used his twisted fingers and attacked Fang Yuan just now, he would have been dead since he did not train his sword skills.


    "Lucky me¡­."


    Song Yujie frowned.


    No matter what, he felt that the mysterious Fang Yuan had no chance in making another comeback.


    However, just when he was about to prepare to attacked Fang Yuan''s limbs and interrogate him, he felt something strange.


    "My right hand¡­.is numb¡­."


    He focused on the black print which was on his back of his hand, and said, "You poisoned me?! How brutal!"


    "Now we are dealing with life and death. There is no such thing as one being too brutal to another!"


    Fang Yuan slowly moved forward and saw Song Yujie''s face turning blue-black in colour. Song Yujie quickly took some antidote. "You don''t need to do that. I have tested this poison and it is able to poison a martial arts expert at the 3rd Gate to death easily¡­."


    Song Yujie fell onto the ground as soon as Fang Yuan commented. He was horrified to see his palm starting to rot.


    He had been poisoned by the mutated Pearl Tail Snake''s poison.


    After attaining [Black Sand Palm (Grade 3)], poison could be added along with normal attacks. Fang Yuan was naturally impolite and decided to add the Pearl Tail Snake''s poison to his Black Sand Palm since he had Yama''s backing.


    The result was shocking and extraordinary as Song Yujie, who did not take any precautions, was defeated.


    "Black Sand Palm¡­.added with poison? Are you a disciple of Kou Feng?"


    Song Yujie screamed loudly, "Aahh¡­.you are dead. My father from the Spirit Returning Sect will find you!"


    "You are about to die and you still don''t want to admit defeat?"


    Fang Yuan then moved forward and eased his pain by killing Song Yujie''s skull with his palm.


    "The addition of poison to Black Sand Palm seems like a special technique. So only the creator Kou Feng and his disciples would know about this technique?"


    Song Yujie gave his last message and it surprised Fang Yuan a little.


    When he first practised the Black Sand Palm, the message hinted at the possibility of encapsulating poison within the palm, and after much progress, it became a skill of his own.


    "Is this the side effect of the system? Whenever I develop my skills to the limit, hidden abilities will always be discovered?


    There was little evidence to prove his hypothesis right now and so he could only guess.


    "But right now, I should really start leaving this place!"


    He observed his surroundings.


    Due to his murder of the two, the Song Manor was now in chaos. There was crying and screaming from the backyard and many of the servants escaped through the main door.


    ''There is too much movement and this will definitely attract others!''


    Fang Yuan abandoned the idea of going to the backyard to steal valuables. Instead, he searched the bodies of Song Zhigao and Song Yujie and found a few things of value. Without taking another look, he escaped by jumping over a wall.


    Before leaving, he burnt Song Zhigao''s manor and watched it being destroyed in the fire.


    This was not only to vent his anger but also to create more chaos. Hence, others would be distracted by the fire and Fang Yuan would then be able to escape.


    After all, how could the local authorities disregard the fire and let it spread to other parts of the city?


    Black smoke filled the lighted sky.


    He grew in the mountains since young and could traverse any forest easily.


    "This is so enjoyable!"


    He reached a creek after escaping for a period of time. Fang Yuan heartily drank the spring water and burnt his jacket and his hat.


    A poem from the dream world appeared in his mind at that moment.


    ''5,000 soldiers were sent in secretly, under the orders of a commander. They were instructed to engage in close quarter battles, and kill like there was no tomorrow.''


    "Unfortunately, even though the killing of the thieves become quite high profile, the process was still enjoyable!"

 23 Continuation

    The spring water gurgled gleefully.


    Fang Yuan sat by the stream and cleaned up his wounds. He reflected on the mission, checking if he had left behind any incriminating flaws.


    ''Killing Song Zhigao was akin to maiming the executive arms of the Song family. Who would''ve known that Song Yujie was at the scene too? He had to die too!''


    Fang Yuan did not regret killing Song Yujie one bit.


    In fact, given that he was skilled enough, Fang Yuan had no qualms about eliminating Elder Song Zhong if he was there as well.


    The enmity ran deep now. Fang Yuan had to uproot all his potential foes.


    ''Having terminated Song Zhigao, there isn''t anyone left who might trouble me for now...it''s just that¡­''


    Creases lined Fang Yuan''s forehead.


    He was aware that even though killing Song Zhigao was not a big issue, but Song Yujie had died as well. This would definitely incur the wrath of Song Zhong and even the whole Spirit Returning Sect.


    Once the sect found out, they would not rest until Fang Yuan was dead.


    After doing some careful thinking, Fang Yuan was sure that he had not left behind any loopholes.


    After all, he had so many potential alibis in the valley. Besides, no one in the outside world knew how he looked like.


    As for the Black Sand Palm technique being recognised as his speciality? Well, there were hundreds of the technique''s proponents in Qinghe County.


    Moreover, his acquisition of the martial arts manual was a very recent development. Not even Minister Lin himself would believe that Fang Yuan''s skills could improve by leaps and bounds in so short a time, such that he could overpower Song Yujie!


    ''As of now, as long as nothing goes wrong in the Valley, I''ll be safe¡­''


    Fang Yuan applied some ointment on his chest before putting his shirt back on. He moved about and was relieved to find out that although his wounds still hurt, they did not affect his range of motion.


    ''Of course, I haven''t seen enough of the world yet. I cannot be complacent¡­''


    Fang Yuan gave himself a silent warning.


    In this world, the pugilists were considered to be a special group of people by mortals. However, there were other fabled beings including spiritual knights, magical knights, pill masters, or even gods and monsters. These were tales, but there could be some truth to the stories.


    Maybe all he needed was just a few unimaginable scenarios to inspire him so that he could discover the secrets.


    "Of course...Song Zhong isn''t that influential, although he has a large following in the Spirit Returning Sect. There is time left! I have to level up as soon as possible."


    Currently, he was but a novice in the martial arts, all alone in the world. He could be picked on by anyone.


    But what if he was the Wu Zong or even an immortal spiritual knight foretold by the legends? If that was the case, Song Zhong wouldn''t dare to exact revenge for Song Yujie and Song Zhigao.


    In conclusion, everything boiled down to power!


    Fang Yuan was not powerful enough at this point in time though, which made a personal talisman all the more important.


    Fang Yuan peeked at the sun, then sped along the mountain roads towards the back end of the Valley.


    "Keke!"


    A white figure zipped past and simultaneously appeared as the Flower Fox Ferret. The ferret bowed its head to let Fang Yuan rub it, then frantically waved its paws in a bid to communicate with Fang Yuan.


    "Oh, they''ve taken no action at all?"


    Fang Yuan heaved a sigh of relief when he understood the ferret''s message.


    If the Zhou and Lin families decided to make mischief and pry open the secrets of the Valley, or gained forced entry into the Valley and discovered that Fang Yuan was missing, then he would have been on the run with the Flower Fox Ferret by now.


    It wasn''t like he couldn''t grow the spiritual plants elsewhere again. But he only had one life.


    Anyway, everything was going according to Fang Yuan''s plan.


    "Mm, It''s been hard on you!"


    After he sent the Flower Fox Ferret away, Fang Yuan delved into a secret passageway which led him into a stone chamber.


    Old Zhou was a very important person as well. If he did not make it, it would make life very difficult for Fang Yuan.


    With a sinking heart, Fang Yuan lit up the oil lamp, which illuminated a body lying on a stone platform. Its face was bluish-black and had toxic boils oozing with pus.


    On the first look, it seemed obvious that Old Zhou had died from acute poisoning.


    But Fang Yuan heaved a sigh of relief.


    "It is done!"


    He knew that although Old Zhou looked terrible, he had barely escaped with his life.


    If the Drunk Lover Poison had seeped into the bones, no symptoms would surface on the body. Then as time passed, the poison would be fully absorbed and become fatal.


    Old Zhou''s deformed appearance meant that the poison was being forced out from his body.


    "But from the look of this, Old Zhou was heavily poisoned. This amount of poison could only have been administered over a period of time!"


    Fang Yuan shook his head after making the observation and gave Old Zhou a dosage of Yama''s Order. He then made an incision on Old Zhou''s arm and performed acupuncture so as to drain out the infected blood.


    After around half an hour, Old Zhou''s breathing became less laboured and the boils on his face had been cleared. His complexion regained some pinkness in colour. The worst was over.


    "Whew¡­"


    Fang Yuan wiped the sweat from his brow and exhaled.


    If he did not need the Zhou family to become his alibi, he would not have spent so much energy at one go on reviving Old Zhou.


    Poisonous Dragon Grass was a key ingredient for the versatile antidote, Yama''s Order, and it was a rare find. Thus, Fang Yuan''s stocks of Yama''s Order were already low to begin with. Fang Yuan also needed to keep some of this medicine on standby because of his exposure to a variety of poisons while honing his Black Sand Palm Technique.


    "You lucky old man¡­"


    Fang Yuan grumbled under his breath as he pressed a switch mechanism, which activated a set of stone doors.


    "Click, Clack"


    The clanking movement of gears pulled the heavy stone doors open and rays of sunlight streamed into Fang Yuan''s eyes.


    "Young master! How is it going?!"


    Outside, the Zhou siblings and Minister Lin were pacing about anxiously.


    "It was a success!"


    Fang Yuan stepped aside to let Zhou Wenwu enter and carry out Old Zhou, whose recovery was nothing short of a miracle.


    "He has already pulled through the most crucial stage. As long as you feed him tonics regularly and allow him to rest well, Old Master Zhou will be able to recuperate fully."


    The Drunk Lover Poison worked the same way as bone-gnawing maggots and fed on the tonics that were brewed for Old Zhou.


    The Zhou family exhausted many resources in their quest to find rare and coveted herbs for the nourishment of Old Master Zhou. However, they had no idea that this, in fact, hastened his demise.


    Fang Yuan also knew that an enemy had infiltrated the Zhou family.


    But he did not reveal this to the Zhou family because after all, they were not well acquainted.


    "Would young master be compassionate and allow our Old Master to stay on here for a few days?"


    Zhou Wenwu was reassured by Old Zhou''s condition and gave a deep bow to Fang Yuan.


    "Alright, but he will have to stay outside the valley. I like peace and quiet and I do not want to be disturbed."


    Fang Yuan rubbed his chin and gave a curt nod of approval.


    Since had already done the Zhou family a favour, he might as well help them all the way. If they went back the Zhou manor in this state and were attacked, he would be greatly affected.


    "Haha, it seems like our young master''s healing skills are nearly on par with Master Wenxin''s!"


    Minister Lin seemed outwardly excited as he said this, but carried a tinge of regret in his heart.


    "Yeah, let''s call it a day. I''m tired and I will not be sending you all off!"


    Fang Yuan flapped his sleeves, showing every sign of impatience.


    Usually, such behaviour would be criticised as arrogance. But Fang Yuan had distinguished himself by reviving a man who was nearly dead and had won the respect of this crowd. They looked upon him with awe and immediately retreated from the valley.


    After all, only Fang Yuan could make sure that Old Zhou recovered properly. Also, there was no saying if Fang Yuan''s healing skills could come in handy in the future. Hence, they could not afford to offend him.


    Fang Yuan was relieved when this bunch of troublesome people left.


    With such a big number of alibis, Elder Song Zhong had no reason to suspect Fang Yuan of killing Song Yujie. Even if he previously did, these people would convince him otherwise.


    ¡­...


    Qingye City.


    In front of a pile of ruins.


    "Yujie?"


    Elder Song Zhong only begot Song Yujie when he was past fifty. All the more he cherished his only son.


    When he heard the news, he dropped all matters concerning the Spirit Returning Sect and rode to Qingye City in a hurry. He was stunned when he arrived at Song Zhigao''s ruined manor.


    "Elder Song, we have brought the workers of the manor before you. All of them are accounted for!"


    Sect disciples bowed to him and rounded up a group of frightened-looking servants.


    That fateful day, although Fang Yuan had killed the Songs and set fire to the manor, he had not massacred the innocent. Having been spared, many of the servants had looted the manor and planned to flee the city.


    However, Song Zhong had managed to recapture all of them, which clearly indicated the extent of his influence.


    "Tell me everything that transpired that day! Now!"


    Song Zhong maintained his composed demeanour, his eyelids half shut, tone mellow. But those who knew better could see that it was the calm before the storm.


    "Master Song, please spare us!"


    Some of the maids and manservants had begun to cry in fear.


    "A man with a bamboo hat charged in and killed Song Zhigao together with Young Master Song. We had nothing to do with it!"


    "Yujie¡­is dead?!"


    Song Zhong murmured under his breath. He could not believe his ears. He waved his hands and let a blast of energy radiate outwards.


    "Pfft, Pfft"


    The force ripped holes into the servant who was talking, and blood gushed out like waterfalls.


    "Since Yujie has passed away, why are you still alive?"


    Song Zhong muttered, then called over a disciple named Song San.


    "Song San, you have followed me since you were a young age. You know very well my way of doing things. I don''t care how you interrogate these servants. I want everything there is to know about the man with the bamboo hat!"


    "Yes Master!"


    Song San behaved most solemnly, but he was in fact overjoyed.


    Song Yujie was Song Zhong''s rightful heir and had always taken precedence over the other disciples. Until now. Now that Song Yujie was dead, it was Song San''s time to shine.


    If he could inherit Song Zhong''s mantle and estate, he would finally be able to fly high!


    ''Whoever the murderer is, wherever you are, I have to thank you¡­since you''ve already helped me once, help me out one more time. Let me cut off your head to guarantee my bright future!''


    Song San cackled with mirth in his heart and yet was able to keep up his sombre and mournful display. He clenched his fists to bring it up a notch.


    "We must take revenge for Yujie!"


    "Hmph!"


    Song Zhong sent Song San away with a wave of his hand, his eyes gleaming with disdain. Song Zhong had seen enough of the world to know the true intentions of these disciples, but he had to bear with them for now. He still needed to make use of them.


    The most pressing issue at hand was to exact revenge for Yujie!


    "I taught Yujie myself. He had already broken through the 4th Gate in his martial arts training. He was also well versed in the Spirit Returning Swordsplay and Heart Manual. Hardly anyone in the world of martial arts would have been a match for him. How could he have died? How?!"


    Song Zhong stared forlornly at the ruins.


    "Could it have been my nemeses? Did they deliberate draw Yujie into a trap?"


    He would never have expected that Song Yujie''s death would be a total coincidence. Song Zhong''s thoughts were already running further away from the truth, and he began to plot against his old enemies.

 24 Inner Power

    At night, it was quiet in the secluded valley.


    The Zhou Family was now extremely obedient to Fang Yuan. Even when Fang Yuan chased them out of the valley, they took it lightly and went on to build grass huts outside of the valley.


    Little did they know that Fang Yuan had planned all these to get himself out of trouble.


    Wouldn''t it be trouble if they found out that Fang Yuan ate Vermillion Jade Rice, and drank Questioning Heart Tea for every meal?


    After having his fill, Fang Yuan sat on a bamboo chair and examined his wound.


    "Good... You are beginning to heal..."


    He had an amazing physical quality to begin with. After a full meal of Vermillion Jade Rice, the healing accelerated.


    There was increased blood flow to his wound and it felt less painful.


    "A speedy recovery would be best, otherwise others might find out!"


    With his current level of [Medicine] together with his herbs, it would have already been a quick recovery, but it was another happy surprise realising the Vermillion Jade Rice''s hidden ability.


    Thinking about his accomplishments, Fang Yuan smiled to himself.


    Although he did not have time to loot the entire mansion, the rewards from Song Yujie and Song Zhigao were enough.


    Other than money, Fang Yuan looted a Spirit Returning Heart Manual from Song Yujie!


    This was obviously a high-level Spirit Returning Sect manual, which Fang Yuan took as his own. He memorised the entire manual, before destroying it completely.


    "Spirit Returning Sect has no morals!"


    He recited the Spirit Returning Heart Manual in his mind, his face looking stern.


    This was because in the manual, there were lapses in the crucial parts. Obviously, these lapses were meant to be covered and explained by the master in order for the disciple to be able to understand. It was a form of insurance for these higher-level martial arts.


    If Song Yujie had any doubts about the Heart Manual, he could look for Song Zhong.


    But for himself? Even if he managed to save Old Zhou, could he expect him to betray Spirit Returning Sect and share this big secret with him?


    ''Hu... It seems that if I don''t join them, even if I try hard enough, I won''t be able to learn the full thing...''


    Fang Yuan shook his head and took a look at his stats:


    "Name: Fang Yuan


    Essence: 1.8


    Spirit: 1.6


    Magic:1.5


    Age: 18


    Cultivation: [Martial Artist (3rd Gate)]


    Techniques: [Black Sand Palm (Grade 3)]


    Skills: [Medicine (Level 1)], [Botany (Level 3)]"


    At this point in time, behind [Medicine], the (Level 1) began jumping, and a short while later became (Level 2), with its description changing,


    "[Medicine (Level 2)] - You are already a skilled doctor and can treat the majority of illnesses. You could achieve a greater effect with the help of normal mountain herbs."


    "Normal mountain herbs, this means that spiritual medicine would not have any effect on my progress..."


    Fang Yuan shook his head and felt that he was a little too greedy.


    Of course, it was a pleasant surprise for him to attain a higher level in [Medicine].


    His real joy was being able to fill his experience bar in Black Sand Palm after killing Song Yujie, as though he was able to break through the next gate anytime.


    ''In the 12 Golden Gates, the first 8 are Initial, Rest, Life, Restriction, View, Pain, Shock and Death... it would be an accomplishment itself being able to break through from the 3 Prosperous Gates to the next 2 Peaceful Gates, and an eye-opener for those who practice the most basic martial arts.''


    Fang Yuan looked as this palm, enlightened.


    Martial artists who broke through the 3rd Gate were already uncommon, but those who broke through the 4th and 5th Gates were the elites, especially to younger martial artists.


    Even Song Yujie himself, who was like Song Zhong in his younger days, could only break through the 4th Gate.


    "From the 4th Gate onwards, even if the experience bar is full, something more has to be done to break through the next gate?"


    Fang Yuan looked at this fully-filled experience bar, and without hesitation, "Advance my Black Sand Palm to the next grade!"


    "Ding!"


    A loud sound followed, as he noticed the ''3'' behind [Black Sand Palm (Grade 3)] jump, and transformed to ''4''!


    [Black Sand Palm (Grade 4)]!


    "Mmm!"


    Fang Yuan clenched his teeth and noticed his palm turned pitch-black. Veins were distinct like worms, as though they were crawling up his arm.


    A gush of hot air originated from his palms and travelled up his arm, breaking through many barriers before settling down at his chest.


    This heat energy was different from anything he felt before, as his abdomen felt stronger and stronger.


    "Is this... inner power!?"


    Fang Yuan became really excited.


    "[Black Sand Palm (Grade 4)], the skill initially strengthened the external parts of my body, but it''s now starting to have an effect inside the body?!"


    Inner power was the essence of power for martial artists and was a foundation for high-level martial arts techniques. The sword essence that came from Song Yujie was an example of the use of inner power.


    Fang Yuan''s strength diminished when it encountered the sword essence. If not for the poisonous effect brought about by the Black Sand Palm, Fang Yuan would have died under Song Yujie''s hands.


    "Sadly, the inner power when cultivated through the Black Sand Palm is rudimentary and cannot compare with the Spirit Returning Sect''s Heart Manual... The highest I can go will be the 5th Gate...."


    Fang Yuan knew that he was just one step away from attaining the highest standard of Black Sand Palm as harnessed by its creator, Kou Feng.


    He looked at the description,


    "[Black Sand Palm (Grade 4)] - External martial arts, and if mastered, one''s palm would become as strong as steel, and able to break gold and jade. There are a total of 5 grades, and now currently at Grade 4. Comes with stronger poison abilities and strengthened inner power!"


    ''With more inner power, I can break through more gates!''


    Fang Yuan took a deep breath, controlled the energy within his abdomen, and prepared for the breakthrough of the 4th Gate, Restriction Gate.


    "Crack!"


    A sound was heard, and immediately he felt an even larger amount of energy within his abdomen. The inner power within him flowed freely.


    ''Breaking through gates is one thing, and crossing realms is another!''


    Fang Yuan thought to himself silently.


    He was truly a martial artist at the 4th Gate now. If he continued to practise the Rough Breathing Technique, he would be able to train that to Grade 4 too, just that he would be unable to break through another Restriction Gate and reap its benefits one more time.


    Furthermore, to break through the 5th Gate, he would have to see which technique of his would break through the 5th Gate first, and it did not depend on the how many techniques he had. Within the martial artists, there was an unspoken rule of how one should not try to master everything.


    ''A martial artist at the 4th Gate must train their inner power. Without any Heart Manual, the Eagle Claw Skill can only break through the first 3 gates... But if the Heart Manual compliments it, there would be tremendous improvements and even the potential to break through the 3 Perilous Gates!''


    Fang Yuan considered to himself seriously.


    The potential of the Black Sand Palm was the same as the Rough Breathing Technique and only had the potential to break through the 5th Gate.


    If he wished to break through the Pain Gate, he would need to find a higher-tier martial art to practice.


    ''I would never dare to practise this incomplete Spirit Returning Heart Manual. I wonder, in the end, would the stats window show me that the skill is completed, or would it try and predict the way ahead for the Black Sand Palm...''


    Fang Yuan touched his chin, smiled and realised he became greedy.


    He dismissed his inner power, and his palms appeared normal again, as though he was a normal young man. No one would able to associate him with being a murderer.


    "Did my stats increase?"


    After a while, as the heat energy from his inner power dissipated, Fang Yuan took a look at his stats board and realised the following changes:


    "Name: Fang Yuan


    Essence: 2.2


    Spirit: 2.0


    Magic: 1.5


    Age: 18


    Cultivation: [Martial Artist (4th Gate)]


    Techniques: [Black Sand Palm (Grade 3)]


    Skills: [Medicine (Level 2)], [Botany (Level 3)]"


    ''The bigger the danger, the better the chance to improve oneself. The higher the cultivation level, the harder it is to advance, especially when it comes to the 3 Perilous Gates. If one fails, he might lose control of himself and even lead to death, but the rewards are worth the risk!''


    Fang Yuan was extremely satisfied at seeing the increment for his Essence and Spirit.


    At this moment, the sun rose and the sun rays peered through his window.


    "Unknowingly, the night has passed!"


    Fang Yuan took a deep breath and stood up, shook his legs a little, but then realised that his legs were never numb to begin with, but rather, full of energy. As for the wound on his chest, it was almost healed and a scab was already forming.


    At this rate of healing, a complete recovery would be done in no time and there might not even be any scar.


    "This is indeed good news!"


    He laughed, walked out of the door and intended to boil some water and brew tea.


    When he reached the entrance of the valley, he saw Minister Lin and the Zhou siblings supporting another man, all waiting at the entrance.


    "Zhou Tong wishes to thank young master for saving my life!"


    Old Zhou did not seem too old and looked quite healthy. When he saw Fang Yuan, he shook off Zhou Wenxin''s hand and prepared to pay his respects to Fang Yuan.


    "You have only just recovered, you should spend more time resting!"


    Fang Yuan casually replied.


    "Mmm, I would like to have a word with young master, if you will!"


    Zhou Tong turned around, looked at the Zhou siblings with a serious look, and thanked Minister Lin, "I am eternally grateful for Brother Lin''s help!"


    "Haha, Brother Zhou, you''re too courteous!"


    Minister Lin was aware and could tell straight away that Old Zhou wanted to have a private talk with Fang Yuan, and said, "I have other things to see to, I''ll take my leave first!"


    With him, he brought along the Zhou Siblings and left the entrance of the valley.


    "Old Zhou, please speak your mind!"


    Fang Yuan brewed a pot of tea and sat down quietly.


    "This tea..."


    Old Zhou lifted his teacup, took a sip and his expression changed, "Not bad!"


    Since Old Zhou was an outsider, Fang Yuan did not brew the spiritual tea, but these tea leaves were still grown and hand-picked by him, and with the complement of the Meditative Tea Ceremony, it still managed to surprise Zhou Tong.


    ''He must be a talented person, to be able to brew tea of such standards. I should get straight to the point...''


    After one cup of tea, Old Zhou suddenly exclaimed, "Ah! There is misfortune within the family!"


    It seems that he was still unaware of his predicament.

 25 Gif

    "Sir, you must be joking ..."


    Fang Yuan shook his head: "There will always be people who are unsatisfied when it comes to dividing benefits in such a big family!"


    "The words of the master are indeed wise!"


    Zhou Tong was surprised that Fang Yuan was very experienced and could clearly see the ways of the world. He was wise beyond his age.


    "I am afraid that this is not the reason you find me for?"


    Fang Yuan blew the steam off the teacup. He looked at Zhou Tong and grimaced.


    "I would not hide the truth from you!"


    Zhou Tong appeared to have nothing to hide: "I am preparing to return to Qingye City today."


    "Oh? Why is that so?


    While Fang Yuan did have his suspicion, he did not let on what he thought.


    "I received the news this morning that something big happened in Qingye City... Elder Song''s beloved son, Song Yujie, as well as a servant, were murdered in the city. That vicious person even set the house on fire!"


    "Sss¡­."


    Fang Yuan pretended to be surprised: "Who would be so vicious?"


    "I am not sure as well. Elder Song is going crazy with the loss of his only son. The whole city is in a state of unrest..."


    Zhou Tong shook his head. Fang Yuan''s acting was too good and Zhou Tong did not have any reason to suspect him. Little did Zhou Tong know that the vicious murder was just sitting opposite him.


    Fang Yuan could tell that Zhou Tong was secretly rejoicing. Zhou Tong and Song Zhong were from different factions in the sect and Zhou Tong was happy over Song Zhong''s misfortune.


    "If that is the case, I will not disturb you any further!"


    Fang Yuan smiled as he lifted up the teacup.


    "It''s okay!"


    Zhou Tong was embarrassed. He had been dismissed but he continued to stay. It was indeed awkward.


    He had no choice as he had a favour to ask of Fang Yuan.


    Zhou Tong took a look around before he kneeled down and kowtowed: "I will always be grateful to you for saving my life. However, I have a favour to ask you and hope that you would not decline"


    "Since you are so bold to ask for a favour, there is no need to explain further!"


    Fang Yuan took a sip of tea, almost as if to aggravate Zhou Tong and drive him to his grave.


    Zhou Tong could see that while Fang Yuan was highly skilled and could work wonders, he was extremely apathetic.


    However, Zhou Tong had no choice but to ask for his help.


    Song Zhong had become totally crazy after the loss of his son!


    Zhou Tong was afraid that if he was alone, he might be hurt or even killed!


    Song Zhong and he were of the same sect, they belonged to conflicting factions. While they never had a fallout, he was afraid that Song Zhong would be irrational and hurt him.


    Fang Yuan''s reaction, while overboard, was within Zhou Tong''s expectation. After all, he was not related to Zhou Tong and even saved his life. There was no reason for him to continue helping Zhou Tong.


    Zhou Tong took a deep breath and revealed his trump card: "I heard that you are interested in martial arts? You previously traded Red Mountain Ginseng for 3 martial arts manuals? Would it not be better for me to be here to help you with the manuals?"


    "Hmmmmm?"


    Fang Yuan''s interest was piqued after hearing that from Zhou Tong. He helped Zhou Tong up with his left hand and said: "We can talk after you stand up!"


    "Oh?"


    Zhou Tong could not help but felt astonished as he felt a surge of power which caused him to stand in spite of himself.


    "This..."


    Zhou Tong was a highly-skilled martial artist who had surpassed the level of [Martial Artist (5th Gate)]. He was a deacon of the Spirit Returning Sect. In order to reach that position, he possessed a high level of martial arts skills. His skills were hardly affected despite him being unwell.


    In spite of this, Zhou Tong was unable to resist when Fang Yuan single-handedly forced him to stand. It was clear that Fang Yuan was highly skilled as well.


    "I am definitely interested in some high-level martial arts that are able to enhance and improve myself!"


    Fang Yuan answered without hesitation.


    Furthermore, in order to overcome the Pain Gate in the future, he must possess a higher level of martial arts.


    "However, I will have to politely decline if you want to give me the manuals of the Spirit returning Sect. Not everyone will dare to cross the Spirit Returning Sect and be hunted by them incessantly!"


    Fang Yuan smiled.


    "How is that possible? I will not do something that will hurt others and myself even if I have more courage!"


    Zhou Tong drew out a manual: "It was by chance that I come across Iron Skin when I was young and I never came to regret it. This technique can be combined with the Eagle Claw Technique to become the Eagle Claw Iron Skin Technique. Yu Qiuleng is very proficient in the Cold Iron Eagle and is famous within the inner circle..."


    "Oh, I see!"


    Fang Yuan nodded his head. He remembered the martial artist that accompanied Lin Yuanwai during the withdrawal of the marriage. He now realised that the martial artist surpassed Zhou Tong in every aspect, be it rank or skills.


    The Eagle Claw Technique was more well-known than the Black Sand Palm Technique with more divergence of practices.


    For example, using the Iron Skin''s defence as the focus in the Eagle Claw Iron Skin Technique or using the offensive ability of the skill, could greatly enhance the Eagle Claw Technique and even techniques such as the Fiery Claw, and the Icy Eagle Claw. Even the original creator would be confused with the countless variation of the practices.


    ''The Eagle Claw Iron Skin Technique was like the Rough Breathing Technique which focused on defence. With the offensive capabilities of the Eagle Claw, the technique was all-rounded.''


    Fang Yuan was satisfied.


    While the Eagle Claw Iron Skin Technique appeared to be commonplace, only those who had undergone many trials were qualified to train within the sects.


    Fang Yuan hesitated for a while. He made no attempt to take the manual and instead, glanced at Zhou Tong: "Those who present gifts have things to request, what is your request?"


    Zhou Tong was momentarily embarrassed. He said, "I owe you a big favour, and will willingly climb a mountain of blades or cross a sea of flames without batting an eyelid. The manual is nothing compared it. It is just that the world is cruel and deceitful and as such, I can only be shameless and make a request..."


    He asked heavily, "What do you think of my youngest daughter, Wenxin?"


    "Hmm..."


    Fang Yuan rolled his eyes as he thought that Zhou Tong was offering his daughter as a way to entice him.


    "Very energetic..."


    He was speechless for a while before he came to a revelation.


    "That''s good!"


    Zhou Tong relaxed his tone, "Truth to be told, my youngest daughter is very stubborn and I am unable to discipline her. Why not you accept my youngest daughter as a disciple?"


    "No way!"


    Fang Yuan immediately shook his head, "How is that possible? To be the master of your beloved daughter? It would be better to find someone else."


    He did not want to put up with a troublemaker. At the same time, he admired Zhou Tong''s cheek to make such a request. He was indeed unparalleled.


    Furthermore, Wenxin might just be older than him.


    "Will you not consider it?"


    Zhou Tong was slightly disappointed.


    Having Fang Yuan as the master of his child was his brainchild after a long night of thinking.


    This was a plan with many benefits. Firstly, he would be able to entice such a mysterious and "abled" person. Secondly, his daughter would be protected. Furthermore, regardless of Fang Yuan''s martial art ability or other skills, as long as he was able to learn medicine from Fang Yuan, he would be very much settled in his pursuit.


    No matter how much he planned and calculated, he was unable to calculate that his daughter and Fang Yuan had crossed path before.


    "I never had any thoughts of having a disciple before. I think it is better for you to take back the gift!"


    Fang Yuan pushed the manual away from him.


    Even though she would look pretty after dressing up and she had no choice but to follow his orders as she was the disciple, he did not want the lady to cause trouble by his side.


    "Sigh, my daughter is indeed unfortunate! However, please keep this manual. If not, I would really be shameless... ¡­"


    Zhou Tong let out a long sigh.


    "In any case, thank you very much..."


    Fang Yuan was interested in the manual. Furthermore, he had saved the life of Zhou Tong. It was only right that he received the gift. As such, under Zhou Tong''s insistence, he accepted the manual.


    However, never could he had imagined that Zhou Tong had little morals!


    Zhou Tong smiled and looked at the surroundings after Fang Yuan accepted the manual, "You live alone in the deep mountain with no one around. Let me present you a servant to take care of you!"


    "That will not be necessary?"


    Fang Yuan rejected. He had too many secrets which might be leaked out quickly should there be another person in the deep valley with him.


    He should protect the secrets that need to be kept while he still had the power to guard those secrets.


    "It is settled!"


    Zhou Tong waved his hand and said, "This is all according to your uncle''s wishes. Don''t worry, I have disciplined the servant. It is okay to scold or even hit her!"


    He immediately stood up and walked out of the valet as if he was afraid that Fang Yuan would reject his arrangement.


    Fang Yuan realised that there was a large group of people waiting outside. They appeared to be ready to move anytime.


    "I will now take my leave!"


    Zhou Tong saluted respectfully. Majority of the Zhou Family followed Zhou Tong and left.


    "Sigh¡­. Virtuous nephew..."


    Lin Benchu was the last to leave. He looked at Fang Yuan with regret and said, "Other than Leiyue, I have a few daughters¡­ what a shame¡­"


    "What happened?"


    Fang Yuan was confused. He soon realized that a delicate figure was left behind after most of the people had left.


    "Miss Zhou?"


    He looked over and saw Zhou Wenxin with red puffy eyes as if she had just cried. She appeared to be full of grievance.


    "What''s wrong?"


    Zhou Wenxin looked as if she was ready to cry. She curtsied, "I¡­. I have met you before!"


    "What!"


    Fang Yuan was shocked as he realized Zhou Tong''s plan. He understood the reason behind why Lin Yuanwai gave him such as look before leaving.


    Zhou Tong did not manage to entice Fang Yuan to make Wenxin his disciple. As such, he forced Wenxin onto Fang Yuan by giving her to Fang Yuan as a servant.


    "What the!"


    Looking at Wenxin who was full of grief, Fang Yuan struggled as he did not know what to do.

 26 The 4 Heavenly Gates

    "Father¡­.."


    Outside the valley, Zhou Wenwu looked back in the direction of the secluded valley and said, "Let my sister becomes a slave to someone else? If this piece of news spread, what will the Zhou family''s reputation become?"


    "You are over worried. If both of us don''t reveal anything, no one will know that it is Wenxin!"


    Zhou Tong shook his head and said, "Your sister is too stubborn. It is time for her to look for someone to improve her character. Since I''m still alive now, it is still okay. When I''m dead, she will likely bring trouble for the Zhou family!"


    "But¡­.."


    Zhou Wenwu disapproved. "I still feel that this is inappropriate. Sister''s reputation¡­.hold on a second. Father, you want to¡­."


    "Haha, the young Master is not that kind of person. Even if so, what is there to lose out on if I have a son-in-law?"


    Zhou Tong stroked his moustache and said, "Even though your sister is stubborn, her character is actually good in nature. We should let them get together first. Even if their relationship doesn''t work out in the end, at least your sister is able to benefit from learning a few techniques from the Master!"


    "Father, looks like you have much confidence in this Master!"


    Even though Zhou Wenwu stayed silent, he knew that Zhou Tong had already made a decision and would not change it no matter what.


    Also, the mindset here was different. Marrying off one''s daughter or sister to a capable man meant that others would not look down on you.


    "Not to mention¡­.."


    Zhou Tong heaved a long sigh, "Qingye City''s situation is unpredictable. I am finding an alternative path for the Zhou family. Wenwu, don''t follow me back to the city. Just head straight to Lieyang County and find your aunt. Stay there for a period of time and enjoy yourself!"


    "The situation is in such a bad state now?


    Zhou Wenwu was surprised and this would mean that Zhou Tong would be on his own and away from the family. Zhou Wenwu angrily said, "Father, when Song Yujie died, you still haven''t recovered from your injuries. The whole family was in the mountains. How will Song Zhong dare to accuse you?"


    "In the past, he would not dare to. However, it is hard to say now¡­."


    Zhou Tong shook his head.


    A desperate person was the scariest. Song Zhong lost his child when he was old and since then, he had lived alone. It was hard to say what his mind had become.


    Plus, he was also an elder. Zhou Tong, on the other hand, was just an Outer Sect Deacon and both of them were enemies of the same Sect.


    If the other party lost his loved one and felt like committing suicide, he would also bring others along and die together!


    Zhou Tong''s face was gloomy and suspected that the poison case was likely to have originated from the Song family.


    Of course, Zhou Wenwu wouldn''t need to know about this suspicion.


    "Alright, Father will with all of us. We have nothing to be afraid of since we did nothing wrong!"


    Zhou Wenwu shuddered as Song Zhong, who broke through two Gates, was a [Martial Artist (7th Gate)] expert!


    If Song Zhong became crazy and started killing everyone in Qingye City, no one could stop him as the city was not part of the Spirit Returning Sect.


    "Leave?"


    Zhou Tong listened and gave a sorrowful smile. "You should leave with your sister first. I, being the father, shouldn''t!"


    This was just a prediction of the worst case scenario. It was totally unnecessary for now.


    If the Zhou family migrated elsewhere, what would the rest of the Qingye City think?


    If the Zhou family retreated and escaped to elsewhere when there was trouble, they would not have to think about living in the Qingye City ever again.


    Nowadays, families here were like beasts as they had territories they controlled. Qingye City was the territory of the Zhou family. If this territory was abandoned, others would come and claim it.


    Hence, the worse the situation became, the more Zhou Tong couldn''t leave.


    "Don''t worry, Song Zhong and I are of the same Sect. With Lin family around, he will not dare to do anything funny!"


    Even though Zhou Tong was worried, he still comforted Zhou Wenwu.


    Even he himself also felt this way. If not, based on his cunning character, he would definitely not go back and die.


    ...¡­.


    "Your father sent you here to become my servant?"


    At that moment, Fang Yuan stared at Zhou Wenxin and remained silent.


    "Certainly¡­..certainly not¡­."


    Zhou Wenxin immediately teared after hearing what Fang Yuan said.


    Seeing that Fang Yuan stepped forward, she became even more terrified and retreated further with her hands clutching her shoulders. "What¡­.what do you want? Don''t come near me!"


    "Why do you make me look like the bad guy?"


    Fang Yuan stroked his chin and said, "I''m not interested in you. Even if I wanted to be mean, isn''t it normal for me to have a servant?"


    "Boohoo!"


    After what he said, Zhou Wenxin couldn''t endure any longer and cried out loud. "You are bullying me again¡­.you are a bad guy¡­."


    "Excuse me, you are being self-affectionate!"


    Fang Yuan frowned and said, "I am preparing to send you out of the mountains today actually!"


    "What?"


    Zhou Wenxin stopped crying and lifted her head. Her teary eyes were staring right at Fang Yuan''s.


    She thought that she would be suffering since she landed onto a thief''s hands. She didn''t expect that Fang Yuan was not interested in her and was preparing to send her off!


    At that moment, she felt humiliated instead of being fearful.


    Previously, she thought that being a servant was humiliating. She didn''t expect that being rejected to be someone''s servant was even more humiliating!


    "You are not willing to leave?"


    Fang Yuan became a little interested and said, "Or would you prefer me to torture you?"


    "I¡­..I¡­.."


    Zhou Wenxin bit her teeth tightly and couldn''t wait to bite that cocky lad.


    However, she recalled her father''s advice on the situation of Qingye City and his scolding. She took a breath and said, "I will not leave!"


    "What?"


    Fang Yuan felt something strange about her sudden change in attitude. "Is your father leaving you? Looks like your family is seriously affected by the death of Song Yujie!"


    "You can stay in this piece of wildland for as long as you want but I warn you first, do not enter the secluded valley or your life will be at risk!"


    Fang Yuan gave a warning and decided to go back and ponder further.


    Anyway, the Flower Fox Ferret would not be gentle towards anyone. If this lady indeed decided to explore the secluded valley, the Flower Fox Ferret will definitely not spare her life.


    By that time, she would have become a fertilizer for the plants.


    "No entry to the valley?"


    Miss Zhou looked at her surroundings and heard noises made by the beasts from far. She shuddered and said, "Fine, I will not enter the valley!"


    "Very well!"


    Fang Yuan then left, leaving Zhou Wenxin behind.


    With the camping resources her family gave, she definitely would survive out in the wild. Hence, Fang Yuan naturally wouldn''t show any concern about her.


    With regards to the news about her being a servant, which idiot would believe? Who would want to get into trouble?


    ...¡­.


    "She still hasn''t left?"


    Soon, the sun began to set and the sky gradually became dark.


    Fang Yuan was reading a manual about the Eagle Claw Iron Skin Technique and gesturing subconsciously. He met the Flower Fox Ferret and asked about Miss Zhou.


    The Flower Fox Ferret shook its head like a human.


    "Hmm¡­.looks like there is big trouble brewing in Qingye City¡­."


    Fang Yuan got up and exhaled out a long breath. He looked in the direction of Qingye City and murmured something.


    The reason why Zhou Tong was thick-skinned enough to make his daughter stay put was so that his daughter could be protected and he could pull connections with Fang Yuan.


    Fang Yuan made a decision after understanding the whole situation.


    If he was satisfied with the gift, he would accommodate the lady for a few days before sending her back to the city. If he was not satisfied, he would send her back right away. He followed his inclinations and what could Zhou Tong do about it?


    "This ''Eagle Claw Iron Skin Technique''.....".


    After some serious considerations, Fang Yuan started to think carefully about the techniques that he had.


    He was not only a young 4th Gate Martial Artist, he also had the Spirit Returning Heart Manual with him even though he was missing a few essential ones. After all, this manual was from the Spirit Returning Sect. The differentiation between the knowledge of martial arts and Gates mentioned in it should not be fake.


    With such confidence, he looked at the Eagle Claw Iron Skin Technique once more and concluded that it was impossible for Zhou Tong to trick him.


    "So far I have yet to attain [Black Sand Palm (Grade 5)] and [Rough Breathing Technique (Grade 5)]. I need to find other techniques to learn but the Eagle Claw Iron Skin Technique is different!"


    Fang Yuan''s eyes glittered. "It can combine with the Eagle Claw Technique to become the Eagle Claw Iron Skin Technique. This will enable me to train to the peak of the 12 Golden Gates!"


    With this benefit alone, Fang Yuan would gladly accept Zhou Tong''s request for his daughter to seek protection here.


    After all, this was very important with regards to strengthening himself.


    The gift was timely. Even though he had saved Zhou Tong''s life, it was still a huge gift that was not proportionate compared to what Fang Yuan had done for him.


    "The 12 Golden Gates. The 4 Heavenly Gates come after the first 8 Gates. The 4 Gates are namely Yin, Yang, Heaven and Earth. In the end, one will break through the Heaven Gate and become Wu Zong!"


    "The Spirit Returning Heart Manual mentions briefly about this while the Eagle Claw Iron Skin Technique doesn''t. It clearly shows that Eagle Claw Iron Skin Technique is inferior as it does not mention anything related to Wu Zong!"


    "But to me, having the Eagle Claw Iron Skin Technique is sufficient. Of course, I cannot give up Black Sand Palm. I should quickly train it to 5th Grade and then I will focus fully on attaining the Eagle Claw Iron Skin Technique!"


    Fang Yuan was determined to do that.


    If it was other martial artists who wanted to convert their techniques, they would have to take a long time.


    For Fang Yuan, he was very familiar with the conversion and was able to get it with just a few practices.


    After a night of training, he was satisfied by his improvement in the conversion. "If I am given another year to train, Song family, Spirit Returning Sect and others will have to step aside for me!"


    "Keke!"


    The Flower Fox Ferret suddenly came gesturing to Fang Yuan with its claws.


    "Oh? Did something bad happened to Miss Zhou?"


    Fang Yuan thought for a while and grabbed a handkerchief to wipe his sweat. He then reached the camping site, which was outside the valley.


    He saw Zhou Wenxin curled up at a corner with her hands holding two flintstones, trying to light up a fire.


    "Puff!"


    Seeing her current state, Fang Yuan couldn''t help but thought that Zhou Tong was funny.


    It was already whimsical for Zhou Tong to send his daughter here to become a servant and even more amazing that she could take care of herself on her own.

 27 Destroying the Sec

    Seeing the state of Zhou Wenxin, Fang Yuan frowned, turned around, returned to the valley and continued to drink his tea.


    With an unreasonable attitude like hers, she deserved to be put through hardship. The best would be for her to not be able to take it any longer and leave on her own accord.


    What was there to pity about?


    Fang Yuan would never feel sorry for her.


    Within the valley, Fang Yuan chopped wood, started a fire, cooked some porridge and made tea. The aroma filled the air and even to the entrance of the valley. Zhou Wenxin sniffed the aroma and her stomach was growling.


    She unknowingly walked to the entrance of the valley, but froze there, afraid to take another step.


    Zhou Wenxin was unreasonable but not stupid. She knew that if she did not heed Fang Yuan''s warning to not enter the valley, no one, even her father, would be able to save her.


    Furthermore, she could remember when her bodyguards were attacked by the white flash when she came to confront Fang Yuan the previous time. How would she dare to disobey?


    She could not ignore the aroma coming out from the valley and continued eating her dry rations.


    In the valley.


    Fang Yuan and the Flower Fox Ferret each held a small bowl and ate the Vermillion Jade Rice Porridge, and had no intention of helping Zhou Wenxin.


    The spiritual rice was so valuable to the extent that Fang Yuan made porridge with it. Regardless human or ferret, both value the spiritual rice a lot and have no intention of sharing it.


    "Even my Pearl Jade Crystal Rice is also no ordinary rice, and eating it would bring many benefits to the body..."


    Fang Yuan thought for a while, and sighed, "The spiritual tea is almost used up, and the Vermillion Jade Rice too... It has become painful for me to drink normal tea every morning, and if I run out of spiritual rice too, how can I survive?"


    "Keke!"


    The Flower Fox Ferret raised its little paws, as though it had the same sentiments.


    "At the end of the day, the solution lies with the spiritual fertilizer!"


    Fang Yuan looked at the Flower Fox Ferret, "When I asked you to bring me there previously, you were unwilling, and see what happened? I am now a martial artist of [Cultivation Level (Grade 4)], and I believe my abilities should be able to bring us there safely?"


    "Keke?!"


    The Flower Fox Ferret licked the last grain of porridge from its bowl before it was willing to put the bowl down, and went to an empty spot.


    "Oh? You want to spar with me?"


    Fang Yuan became energetic and knew that the Flower Fox Ferret was unsure of how good he had become. They needed to spar to confirm.


    "Come on!"


    Since killing Song Yujie, Fang Yuan realised that combat experience was far more valuable than the usual practice, and therefore was enthusiastic in taking on the Flower Fox Ferret.


    "Don''t take it easy on me!"


    Fang Yuan took a deep breath, and both his palms became pitch-black, with his veins protruding out like worms. Both of his forearms became far thicker than before.


    ''This is usually how my Inner Power circulates within me, and now it has even affected my physical form?''


    The parts that were strengthened by the Black Sand Palm were the palms, forearms, chest, abdomen. As for his back, legs and head, the changes were minor.


    He had no choice. The Black Sand Palm was a low-tier technique which did not focus on defence. Being able to strengthen his arms was good enough.


    "Ssss!"


    As for the Flower Fox Ferret, he felt a little scared, after seeing the transformation Fang Yuan went through.


    Whoosh!


    Using his paws, the Flower Fox Ferret pounced towards Fang Yuan in a white flash like a lightning.


    "Chi! Chi!"


    Its talons were sharp and quick, like a knife.


    "Good, don''t take it easy!"


    Fang Yuan struck his palm out.


    He only fought with the Flower Fox Ferret once, which was their first encounter under the moonlight. The Flower Fox Ferret was not as smart then, and Fang Yuan did not know martial arts back then.


    Now, both of them have their own improvements, which made Fang Yuan excited and eager to find out the Flower Fox Ferret''s true standard.


    "Boundless Black Sand!"


    His right palm became black and had a whiff of fragrance; it was mildly hypnotizing.


    "Hissss!"


    The Flower Fox Ferret did not dare to go head-on with Fang Yuan. It curled into a shape of a letter ''Z'' and ingeniously avoided Fang Yuan''s palm before curling behind Fang Yuan, attacking him from the back.


    "Reverse Palm!"


    Fang Yuan turned around and immediately struck out another palm, and the Flower Fox Ferret avoided it easily. However, there were fresh claw marks on Fang Yuan''s arm now.


    "Hmm? Aggressive in attack, but weak in defence!"


    Seeing the Flower Fox Ferret, Fang Yuan came to a conclusion.


    He focused on his arms and channelled energy to it. The small wound was nothing to him, as the muscles contracted and stopped the bleeding.


    "Good! One more time!"


    Fang Yuan became increasingly excited as the battle ensued. He heaved, with both palms striking out, bringing with it a strong gust of wind and poison, which led the Flower Fox Ferret to retreat, and it did not dare to advance a single step.


    ''Mmm... The Flower Fox Ferrer''s true ability is on par with a martial artist at the 7th Gate, and if not for me mastering my outer skills, I would lose... But my defence is too weak and any martial artist in the 4th Gate would be able to break through. I can only use speed to make up for my lack of defence¡­....''


    After a long fight, Fang Yuan was breathless, and raised his hand, "Let''s stop here!"


    He needed to use all his energy and force the Flower Fox Ferret to retreat, and that took a lot of his Inner Power.


    If he continued to use his Inner Power, he would have lost to the Flower Fox Ferret.


    ''If I was a martial artist of [Cultivation Level (Grade 5)], I would be able to hold on for a while more. Especially if I am able to break through Pain Gate, concentrate my Inner Power, then I would be able to last much longer, and from there should be able to win the Flower Fox Ferret...''


    Fang Yuan clenched his fist and felt happy for his progress.


    He was even happier when he realised that his experience bar was filled up by a large portion for ''Black Sand Palm'', and smiled. "Very good, Flower Fox Ferret, next time we shall do this a few times each day!"


    "Hissss..."


    On the other end, a tired Flower Fox Ferret stuck out his tongue, because it was extremely tired for it to remain focused and go against such a strong palm.


    "Keke!"


    Fang Yuan''s progress shocked the Flower Fox Ferret, as he made a sign with his paws.


    "Can we do it now?"


    Fang Yuan understood him and was ecstatic.


    Could he finally reveal where all the spiritual fertilizer was hidden?


    Once he had the endless supply of spiritual fertilizer, the production of spiritual tea and spiritual rice would not be a problem anymore, and his progress would be much faster!


    ...


    Qinghe County, Kou Village.


    The village was considered wealthy within the county, and the majority of the people here have the surname ''Kou'', and of course, was the origin of a Palm Technique Master, the creator of Black Sand Palm, Kou Feng!


    But right now, in the entire Kou Village, there were corpses everywhere.


    A large fire rose to a few feet high and burnt down the entire village garden. In the village, members of the Spirit Returning Sect gave no considerations and killed anyone on sight.


    As compared to the entire Qinghe county, the resistance within the Kou Village was small.


    "Elder Song''s orders are not to leave a single soul within the Kou Village!"


    "Kill!"


    ...


    Within the mess, from a random house, a black shadow lept out, with both palms pitch-black full of energy. Those members of the Spirit Returning Sect who came close to him held their throats, became pale and fell to the ground.


    "Song Zhong, you bully!"


    The black shadow was an old person with white hair, "The rules of the Martial World states that it is of no fault of the others, and even there is a reason, you only look for me, how dare you do this?"


    "Rules of the Martial World?"


    The cunning Song Zhong responded.


    He floated extremely quickly towards the old man, like a ghost.


    "Black Sand Palm!"


    The old man concentrated on his life''s training, struck out both palms, harnessing the most poisonous palms.


    People only know Black Sand Palm for its aggressiveness, and many did not know that the strongest form of Black Sand Palm is by combining it with poison. This move of his revealed that he trained directly under the Kou Family. The old man broke through the Pain Gate and was a martial artist of [Cultivation Level (Grade 6)]. He was naturally at the peak of Black Sand Palm.


    "Bank Sand Palm, release poison!"


    Song Zhong remained calm, did not take him seriously and drew a circle with his right hand.


    Kacha!


    The old man was shocked as his right palm met his left palm. The intense energy and poison broke both his arms, as he spat out blood and toppled.


    "For someone who is able to train the Black Sand Palm to break through the 6th Gate, you are already a talent. What a pity you won''t be able to find out the greatness of what comes after the Pain Gate!"


    Song Zhong continued, "When one encounters Pain Gate, he will feel pain! When one reaches Shock Gate, he will hurt his mental state! Death Gate is the worst, if one cannot break through it, he will die! The 3 Perilous Gates, are increasingly harder to break through, and I have already broken through the Shock Gate. My Inner Power, when focused, can be as hard as metal. How will your weak poison even stand any chance against me? Now that I''ve counter-attacked, your life is on the line!"


    "Elder Song¡­...I have indeed offended you in the past, but I don''t think I deserve this!"


    The old man imagined death and was filled with sorrow.


    "It doesn''t matter if you have offended me because I am willing to reason with you, but now that Yujie is dead, why should I care..."


    Song Zhong calmly told him, but the old man became increasingly afraid, "Are you suspecting that it''s me? No, that''s impossible!"


    "It doesn''t matter if it is you, all of you disciples of the Kou Family will all die!"


    Song Zhong pointed his finger at the old man''s forehead.


    Such a person who was able to break through 6 Gates, and train the Black Sand Palm to such a level, was all but a corpse lying on the floor.


    Song Zhong didn''t feel much happier after the death of the old man, but felt suspicious, "If what those servants said was true, and Yujie died under the poisonous Black Sand Palm, and yet not by this old man, then how would the other disciples be of any match against Yujie? Did I miss out anything?"

 28 5th Gate

    Time flowed like water and passed with the ease of a cloth on a weaving machine.


    In the blink of an eye, another 10 odd days passed.


    "This is the last bit of Vermillion Jade Rice!"


    Fang Yuan tilted his head backwards and poured the Vermillion Jade porridge into his open mouth. He immediately felt a warm surge of energy circulate his body.


    He looked at his stats window.


    "Mm¡­Black Sand Palm (Grade 4), Proficiency points at 99% already?"


    Although the Flower Fox Ferret had confirmed that he had the strength to advance towards lands with spiritual fertiliser, Fang Yuan wanted a more solid guarantee for himself.


    Several days of hard work had allowed Fang Yuan to hone his Black Sand Palm technique to a new peak. Even the Eagle Claw Cloth Technique had started to become easier for him. Fang Yuan had broken past [Martial Artist (4th Gate)], which gave him the strong foundations necessary to make his execution of the technique a force to reckon with.


    "The Eagle Claw Iron Skin Technique provides protection that is more balanced compared to the Black Sand Palm Technique. Danger lurks in the spiritual land. Being well-versed in one more defence technique wouldn''t hurt!"


    Fang Yuan mumbled to himself, then suddenly adopted a fighting stance.


    "Flower Fox Ferret!"


    "Hiss!"


    The Flower Fox Ferret appeared in a flash of white.


    In the face of Fang Yuan''s friendly invitation to battle, the ferret looked rather frightened.


    After all, from the past few days of training, Fang Yuan''s "madness" had intimidated it. Coming into contact with the toxic wind stirred up by the Black Sand Palm technique was not a pleasant experience.


    "Haha...when the next Spiritual Rice crop is ready for harvesting, I''ll let you eat to your heart''s content. How does this sound?"


    Fang Yuan knew that the ferret was extremely keen on spiritual rice.


    "Hiss!"


    At the mention of spiritual rice, the ferret was immediately convinced and jumped at Fang Yuan.


    "Excellent!"


    Fang Yuan stood his ground confidently without a hint of fear. His hands erupted into a flurry of fists. They looked like black windmills that gave off a dark and menacing wind.


    "Huff puff!"


    After a while, the Flower Fox Ferret jumped out of the fighting ring and looked alarmed at the figure inside.


    "So...it seems like Black Sand Palm (Grade 5) brings me back to the basics!"


    He noticed that his hands, which had bulging veins previously, were back to their original states. Even his arms, where the muscles were flexed before, had become lean again.


    Still, Fang Yuan could feel internal energy coursing powerfully through his vessels.


    Although it seemed like Fang Yuan was back to normal, the potential amount of damage he was capable of dealing had increased by a few times!


    He checked out his stats window and noticed that the description of his Black Sand Palm technique had been updated.


    Black Sand Palm(5th Grade)------It is an external technique that has already reached its peak. This causes the user''s hands to regain its original look and make them tougher than steel. It is able to shatter gold and break jade, enhanced with poison, and strengthens inner power.


    "Inner power?!"


    Fang Yuan could indeed feel a more intense inner power flushing his hands, spreading to his arms, chest and even his lower abdomen. It was as if he had become a small oven and was nurturing something within him.


    "Inner power woven into a rope-like form to become inner force! This is the essence of the 6th Gate, the Pain Gate¡­...if one failed to break through the Gate, his whole body would be gravely wounded and he might even die!"


    At this point, Fang Yuan had already reached the deep end of martial arts cultivation. If he lost focus for even a moment, the consequences would be extremely dire.


    "But now¡­"


    Fang Yuan closed his eyes and took a deep breath.


    "Kacha!"


    A literal feeling in his gut told him that he had broken through the Gate.


    "Martial Artist (5th Gate), successfully challenged!"


    Fang Yuan had only been training for two months, and he had already broken through 5 Gates. This was unprecedented. This was prodigious!


    "I have my proficiency points to thank, not to mention the Vermillion Jade Rice and Questioning Heart Tea!"


    Fang Yuan did not allow himself to become complacent and looked at his stats.


    "Name: Fang Yuan


    Essence: 2.7


    Spirit: 2.5


    Magic: 1.5


    Age: 18


    Cultivation: [Martial Arts (5th Gate)]


    Skills: [Black Sand Palm (Grade 5)], [Eagle Claw Iron Skin Technique (Grade 3)]


    Specialities: [Medicine (Level 2)], [Botany (Level 3)]


    "Eagle Claw Iron Skin technique ¡ª¡ª Internal and External martial art technique. Whole and without flaws. When trained to Grade 12, by then the body will be impenetrable and resistant to hurt. Complemented by the inner strength of the Eagle Claw! Currently at Grade 3!"


    "The later Gates of martial arts cultivation were becoming unnerving. The fifth Gate alone gave me an increase of 0.5 each in both Spirit and Essence. It''s a pity that my Magic didn''t increase¡­"


    Now, Fang Yuan also realised that Magic was the hardest to level up among the three stats.


    He could trigger a prodigious rate of improvement previously all because of the Questioning Heart Tea and the Meditative Tea Ceremony.


    The path of the martial arts becomes increasingly difficult as one progress. It is very easy to suffer a rebound while breaking through the Pain Gate. Breaking through the Shock Gate is taxing on both the heart and the mind, and tests a martial artist''s magical energy [1]!If the martial artist''s magical energy is too weak, he will suffer a rebound and might become mentally unstable..."


    With the Spirit Returning Heart Manual and the Eagle Claw Iron Skin Technique, Fang Yuan could approach the 12 Golden Gates with the utmost confidence.


    Of course, in terms of danger, the Pain and Shock Gates paled in comparison to the Death Gate.


    Failure to conquer the Pain and Shock Gates would result in serious damage to the body, but at least he would live.


    The Death Gate, however, lived by its name. Failure would result in death.


    Because of this, even Song Zhong and the old timer martial artists had to be very certain about their chances before attempting to break through!


    "And Zhou Tong, who has already mastered all there is to master in the fifth Gate and with his Iron Skin technique at hand, did not dare to challenge the Pain Gate. With his timid character, he will never advance further!"


    Fang Yuan shook his head in disdain.


    Those with martial arts manuals in their possession, and yet did not dare to make use of them for practice, were the most foolish people in the world.


    To be fair, Zhou Tong was the patriarch of the noble Zhou Family, and the family rose or fell together with him. He could not afford to compromise himself in any way.


    But the price he had to pay was meekness in the face of more skilled opponents, who had no qualms about taking advantage of him.


    "However, according to the masters from the books, and based on my own observations, these 3 Perilous Gates might be intimidating, but as long as the martial artist has an abundance of Spirit, Essence, and Magic, he''ll be able to cope well!"


    Because of this, Fang Yuan had every confidence in the spiritual fertilizer.


    He had to stock up on tea and rice in order to push these three stats into new highs so that he could smash through the 3 Perilous Gates at one go.


    "Alright, let''s set off today!"


    Fan Yuan lifted a bamboo basket onto his back and called out to the Flower Fox Ferret before heading out of the Valley.


    When he arrived at the campsite of the Zhou Family, it was apparent that Zhou Weixin had disappeared.


    ''A servant of the Zhou Family came by with news that Song Zhong had not become totally mad the other day, which set Old Zhou''s heart at ease. Furthermore, Miss Zhou finally went home grudgingly after her torturous experience.This is just as well. There is less trouble for me!''


    Fang Yuan was dressed in green robes. He let out a sigh of relief.


    After all, Song Zhong and Old Zhou were from the same Sect. Song Zhong had lost much and took revenge on his old enemies with a dogged determination. It was worthy to note that he held back from attacking Old Zhou.


    He was but an elder of the Spirit Returning Sect and was not invincible.


    "The marks that I left behind were definitely insignificant. As long as I do not reveal my skill, especially the Black Sand Palm, who would suspect me¡­?"


    Fang Yuan was extremely self-assured.


    The safer the Zhou Family was, the safer he was.


    As long as time dragged on, and he kept improving, none of this would matter anymore.


    "Ferret, it''s your time to shine!"


    Fang Yuan patted the ferret''s head. Both of them then sped into the forest and disappeared.


    _________


    Qingye City.


    "Useless piece of trash!"


    Song Zhong let out a roar. Song San immediately spat out blood and was thrown back several metres onto the ground.


    "I wanted information on all the Black Sand Palm experts in the county. I gave you so much time, and yet you turned up with so little¡­"


    Song Zhong began to walk forward slowly as he glanced at the bloodied Song San, his features regaining composure.


    "Spare me, Master!"


    Song San kowtowed repeatedly.


    "The Black Sand Palm is widely practised with so many variations. Song San feels that¡­"


    "Pow!"


    Song San''s speech had been cut short by a kick to his chest.


    "Are you saying that Yujie made a mistake? That he had poor eyesight?"


    "Song San did not mean that!"


    Song San clutched his chest in pain. He did not dare to even make a sound.


    "...Yujie naturally would not be in the wrong. It must be the servants who made mistakes in their anxiousness to leave. Maybe they heard wrong. Or perhaps...please give me more time Master!"


    "Hmph, get lost!"


    Following Song Zhong''s bellow, Song San ran out of the hall wretchedly, his eyes dripping with malice the moment he was out of sight.


    "Master!"


    After Song San left, a female disciple walked in and greeted Song Zhong with a bow.


    "I have followed your instructions and made preparations. Zhou Tong has lowered his guard and has summoned his former disciples¡­"


    "Excellent!"


    Song Zhong calmed down slightly after receiving the news, except that his enraged expression gave way to a sly one.


    "Let''s wait for his precious son to return, and we can deal with them all in one go!"


    "But Master, the Zhou Family is one of our own. Additionally, it can be confirmed that during the period where Yujie left us, Zhou Tong was recuperating after being severely poisoned. He had nothing to do with Yujie''s death¡­"


    The female disciple looked at Song Zhong with uncertainty.


    "...So?"


    Song Zhong squinted at her.


    "You think I have no idea? We played a part in his poisoning. And Zhou Tong has been in contact with the elders in his territory, telling them that I have been a tyrant¡­.We have to kill this sheep in a display of power to show the rest that I''m not to be trifled with!"


    The female disciple listened in silence and spoke after a long while.


    "This is ruinous for the Sect."


    "Hehe¡­"


    Song Zhong cackled.


    "I''ll have nothing to do with the downfall of the Zhou Family. It would be the doing of roaming gangsters. As long as we do not leave behind any evidence, who would dare to take an Elder to task?"


    "You are mad!"


    The female disciple shivered. She could see that her master was becoming more extreme following the death of his beloved son.


    "Yujie¡­"


    Song Zhong became oblivious to his surroundings and muttered under his breath.


    "All the people that you''ve ever disliked will not escape. And all those that you were fond of, Papa will deliver to you¡­"


    As the sun began to set, shadows danced on Song Zhong''s face like demons around a fire.


    [1] The ''Magic'' in Fang Yuan''s stats window is an indicator of how much magical energy he has.

 29 Spiritual Land

    A thick fog covered the vast green mountains.


    In the forest, Fang Yuan and the Flower Fox Ferret were traversing at a speed which could not be seen by the naked eye.


    He came to the forest to look for the spiritual fertilizer, which was essential for the development of his skills. Thus, he was rushing to find it.


    They reached the Clear Spirit Mountain by noon.


    "Come, let''s eat!"


    Fang Yuan looked at the sky and only saw a faint light from the scorching sun as they were covered by the surrounding trees.


    The spiritual Vermillion Jade Rice had run out. Hence, he naturally had to make his rice balls with the Vermillion Jade Rice. This was rather tormenting for him as he was picky about his food.


    Similarly, the Flower Fox Ferret was in disdain when it realised the rice balls were not made from the Vermillion Jade Rice. It dived into a nearby bush and dragged a chicken out not long after.


    "You are indeed picky!"


    Fang Yuan mocked the Flower Fox Ferret and then removed the intestines of the chicken. He went to a river to wash the blood off the chicken and seasoned it with some salt that he brought. He then wrapped the chicken with leaves and started roasting it over the fire.


    Not long after, a freshly roasted chicken was made.


    As he removed the wrapping leaves, he could smell a strong aroma.


    "Oohh¡­..It melts in the mouth and is not greasy at all. It tastes so fresh¡­."


    This dish also appeared in his dreams. Fang Yuan randomly made this dish on the spot and the Flower Fox Ferret really liked it. This made the Flower Fox Ferret tempted to get another chicken.


    "Dreams do come true¡­.."


    Fang Yuan had realised that what he dreamt did come true in real life. His life in the dream world was very similar to his in real life.


    "Or¡­...in the slang of the other world, this is a form of ''''breakthrough'', the only difference is that the current me is the combination of both memories/sides, with equal parts of both worlds¡­...


    He became clear and understood the situation. "Currently, I am Fang Yuan!"


    ...¡­.


    "Let''s go!"


    Fang Yuan continued on with the Flower Fox Ferret after finishing their lunch.


    The Clear Spirit Mountain was indeed deep. There were many rare birds and beasts, with leopards, tigers, wolves and jackals forming the majority. Not many old huntsmen and herb collectors dared to come this deep.


    "Roar!"


    A very loud roar was coming from the front. A giant tiger with a white forehead jumped out from the trees.


    "There are indeed many beasts in this forest!"


    Without blinking his eye, Fang Yuan attacked the tiger effortlessly with his right palm. "Black Sand Palm!"


    [Black Sand Palm (5th Grade)] gave an ultimate effect from the power it produced. However, both arms and palms did not have any changes, except for a black circle which would appear on the palm when executed.


    "Bang!"


    Fang Yuan hit the tiger''s skull with much force, causing it to roll onto the ground.


    This giant tiger had a thick skin. It rolled on the ground and was able to get behind Fang Yuan. It then used its tail like an iron whip and whipped his back.


    "Piak!"


    Fang Yuan''s clothing was torn into pieces.


    "Hmm? This tiger is definitely not normal. Even though it is not a spiritual beast, it is not much different from the mutated Pearl Tail Snake previously¡­.."


    Fang Yuan was surprised that it was able to survive his Black Sand Palm even though he knew that its skull was the strongest part of the body.


    What about the tail?


    Fang Yuan had Iron Skin for defence and this tiger had gotten weaker. It was no match for him.


    He touched his back and couldn''t feel any pain. From the perspective of the Flower Fox Ferret, a fading red print could be seen on his back.


    "Roar!"


    The giant tiger realised that Fang Yuan was too powerful and decided to run away.


    However, not long after it escaped, it became like a drunkard and fell onto the ground, with a dark coloured blood flowing out.


    "The combination of the Pearl Tail Snake''s poison and Black Sand Palm is a perfect one indeed!"


    He then sighed. "Even though I executed the Black Sand Palm, it is actually the poison encapsulated in the Black Sand Palm that killed the tiger. Should I just call it Poison Sand Palm instead?"


    "Unfortunately the tiger''s bones¡­.."


    At that moment, the tiger was poisoned to death and its body was badly destroyed. Fang Yuan regretted a little after seeing the state of the tiger.


    "Keke!"


    The Flower Fox Ferret passed by proudly but was disdained by the corpse of the tiger.


    To it, with the exception of the spiritual tea and spiritual rice, how could a piece of meat be called meat if it was not edible?


    "However¡­..there is definitely something different in this mountain!"


    Fang Yuan continued on with a serious look.


    From the Flower Fox Ferret, to the Pearl Tail Snake and then the giant tiger. This showed one thing.


    This Clear Spirit Mountain is definitely something!


    Or maybe, it was due to the influence of something mysterious present here.


    The place where the Flower Fox Ferret was bringing Fang Yuan to might be connected to that influence. There could be a chance for them to meet the owner!


    "Keke!"


    As they go in deeper into the mountain, the Flower Fox Ferret became even more excited. It was also alert and used its claws to gesture to Fang Yuan.


    "We are almost reaching our destination?"


    Fang Yuan bucked up and looked at the sky. The sun was setting and the place was going to be dark soon.


    "We have a little bit of time left. Let''s go and have a quick look!"


    Fang Yuan bit his teeth and went into the bushes with the Flower Fox Ferret.


    "Hooo"


    The surroundings suddenly started to fog up, causing the visibility to be poor.


    "This fog¡­..something is wrong!"


    It was normal for the top of the mountain to be fogged up all year round but this white fog was way too strong.


    If he were to go a few steps deeper, he would not be able to see his fingers. Fang Yuan felt a huge feeling of weariness. His eyelids became heavy and he started to close his eyes unconsciously. He then went into a deep sleep.


    "Sleep¡­..sleep¡­.."


    He could hear a voice whispering into his ears and he became in a trance.


    "Hold on a second¡­.I shouldn''t sleep. If I do sleep, everything will be over¡­."


    Fang Yuan had the magical energy that was beyond a normal human being and it proved its effectiveness. However, it only allowed Fang Yuan to stay alert.


    Even though he was aware of his surroundings, he was unable to move his limbs, which made it impossible for him to retreat.


    "The hell with it, how does the Flower Fox Ferret make it through here previously if I am like that now?"


    Fang Yuan was confused. He then heard noises made by the Flower Fox Ferret and it was getting further away from him.


    "Sleep! Sleep¡­.Once you sleep, everything will be alright¡­."


    The weariness got even stronger. Fang Yuan closed and opened his eyes. He shook his head and bit his teeth, "Damn it¡­..There is something wrong with the fog!"


    He forced himself to sit cross-legged and summon forth his inner power to counter the fog.


    Normally, his power from his Dantian was able to defend against any threats. This time, it seemed that his power was useless when dealing with such great power from the fog.


    "Go to sleep¡­.go to sleep¡­.."


    The whisper beside his ear became blurred.


    Fang Yuan shuddered and a scene appeared in front of his eyes.


    A white-haired elder who was dressed in white was sitting beside the spring water and tasting tea. "My Meditative Tea Ceremony is based on the foundation of trust and respect, breaking away from fate, curbing evil intentions and simplifying matters. Only with these would you have a genuine outlook, peace, and be set on the path to pursue dao."


    "A man of heart is a master of his own body and the lord of the gods. He sits still to achieve wisdom, and the slightest movement would bring upon his downfall. In the land of fantasy, the only truth is: Who would be able to comprehend the falsehood within the sweet promises? They dreamt big and underwent multiple events before they realised that there was more to life and that their hearts had changed. Who would have been aware that it was just a big dream..."


    ...¡­.


    "Master!"


    A series of his memories appeared. Fang Yuan then realised he was not drowsy anymore. In fact, he was way more alert than before.


    He now could confirm that Master Wenxin was not an ordinary person!


    Master Wenxin didn''t really pass down anything to him.


    The Meditative Tea Ceremony was the only precious gift from him.


    "Keke!"


    "Keke!"


    At that moment, when Fang Yuan looked at the white fog, it was no different from any other mountain fog. The Flower Fox Ferret beside him was getting impatient while waiting. It even dragged a very long banana leaf over and the leaf contained cool spring water.


    "Are you alright?"


    Fang Yuan suddenly understood what happened. "Does the mysterious magical power here target only humans? Or is it because the minds of the wild beasts are pure and that''s why they are not affected?"


    Obviously, the Flower Fox Ferret had been through here quite a few times already but it did not have the same experience as Fang Yuan. If not, it wouldn''t have brought Fang Yuan to this place.


    "It''s been hard on you!"


    After understanding this point, Fang Yuan didn''t make things difficult for the Flower Fox Ferret and drank the spring water straight from the banana leaf.


    "This water¡­."


    The spring water was clear and sweet. The water cooled his body.


    Fang Yuan only drank one sip and he felt way better than before.


    "Good spring water!"


    He started praising the water.


    Fang Yuan had drank before many types of spring water but this spring water with such quality was rare.


    "Nope, this is not normal spring water. It is definitely spiritual water!"


    Fang Yuan''s eyes glittered and asked the Flower Fox Ferret, "Where does this spring water come from?"


    "Keke!"


    The Flower Fox Ferret stood upright and pointed forward with its claws.


    "There again!"


    He gave a serious look.


    He guessed that the place deep in this fog was probably the source of the mutations that were happening throughout the whole Clear Spirit Mountain. Things like the spiritual fertiliser, spiritual beasts and spiritual water were formed because of that place!


    "It seems like I have to go and visit this place¡­."


    Fang Yuan got up and looked determined. "Spiritual land?"


    The spiritual land was formed by heaven''s will and created by the gathering of earthly energy. It was filled with all kinds of spiritual plants and plenty of spiritual beasts. It is an excellent piece of fertile and sacred land, and a treasure trove!

 30 Spiritual Bird

    "Spiritual land..."


    Fang Yuan looked ahead, his eyes full of passion.


    Even the lowest grade of spiritual land was a great piece of treasure, and of course, with the rewards came the danger as well.


    These spiritual grasses and flowers must have many spiritual beasts lurking around. Take for instance the previous encounter with the Pearl Tail Snake which was guarding the Poisonous Dragon Grass, there had to be many dangerous animals around all these spiritual plants.


    "No risk, no rewards, right?"


    Fang Yuan clenched his teeth, and looked determined, "Flower Fox Ferret, show me the way!"


    The Flower Fox Ferret frequented this route, and it was safe the previous few times it came from here. As long as Fang Yuan stayed wary of the dangerous fog, he should be fine.


    "Keke!"


    The Flower Fox Ferret was very clever and could lead the way in front, while Fang Yuan followed behind, focusing his inner power to his ears so that he could pick up any danger from the surroundings.


    The dangerous fog no longer had the same effect as before, since Fang Yuan recalled his Master''s teachings and utilised the Meditative Tea Ceremony.


    After a short while, the mountain fog dissipated and the view ahead appeared.


    "That is..."


    Fang Yuan witnessed the view in front of him and was in awe.


    Within his vision, he could see a small green peak covered in a circle of white fog, as though the sky had curtains covering. Once he was inside, the sky was blood red, and the view of the sunset was spectacular.


    "Can the wall of fog even cover the entire mountain peak?"


    Fang Yuan felt weird, and if not for the Flower Fox Ferret, who was guiding him all the way, he would have been mesmerised and gotten lost.


    This place was much more inconspicuous as compared to the secluded valley.


    "Hu..."


    "Wait up!"


    Fang Yuan took a deep breath and felt different.


    "Even the air here smells fresher, and with it brings spirituality... A human being can extend his lifespan if he lives here, and if one practises martial arts here, he will experience amazing progress!"


    His eyes glittered, "Based on this magical feeling, there is no doubt that this is a piece of spiritual land!"


    Fang Yuan felt as though he had won the top prize.


    But at this stage, he remained calm, followed the Flower Fox Ferret and ran towards the Green Peak.


    Behind the Green Peak was a ridge of barren cliffs, with many black spots on it. As the sky darkened, it became increasingly hard to see.


    The Flower Fox Ferret became alert, waved his paws and remained completely silent.


    Fang Yuan took in a deep breath and followed it to the bottom of the cliff.


    "Eh? This is..."


    Under the cliff was a small lake. The lake water was green as jade, and surrounding the lake was white sand all around.


    At the bottom of the cliff, the smell of the spiritual fertilizer filled the air, and he became speechless as he looked at the beach ahead.


    "This ''beach''... It is all made up of spiritual fertilizer, so much... so much spiritual fertilizer!"


    He mumbled to himself and was happy beyond words.


    He already knew how the spiritual fertilizer looked like. It was made up of translucent droplets and was everywhere around the beach. A few obvious holes seemed to be dug up by some animal, and the droplets became increasingly transparent with increasing deepness into the beach and the layer on top was pure white.


    "It seems that the more transparent the spiritual fertilizer, the more effective it is... I don''t even know what formed this beach, I''ve struck gold!"


    Fang Yuan''s eyes glittered. He took out his bamboo basket, rolled up his sleeves and was prepared to collect the spiritual fertilizer.


    "Squawk!"


    At this moment, a fist-sized white bird with red eyes landed on a neighbouring tree and began to squeak in anger.


    Its squawking disturbed a neighbouring large bird, which was about 10 times the size of it, like a large eagle. It flew straight at Fang Yuan.


    "Hmm? Another type of spiritual bird, this place is indeed very conducive to spiritual things!"


    Fang Yuan remained calm, his right hand forming into a claw-shape, and as quick as lightning, "Eagle Claw!"


    "Whoosh!"


    Amid a short squawk, large amounts of white feathers scattered around.


    This large bird could be considered to be a mutant at best, half spiritual bird, but still not a real spiritual animal, so how could it be Fang Yuan''s match?


    With one swipe, Fang Yuan''s Eagle Claw broke its neck.


    "Ha ha... Flower Fox Ferret, we have an additional dish for dinner!"


    Fang Yuan tossed the spiritual bird into the bamboo basket and smiled at the Flower Fox Ferret.


    However, at this point in time, the Flower Fox Ferret jumped at Fang Yuan and pulled on his clothing as though it was running for its life.


    "This..."


    Seeing how it reacted, it was obvious that it could sense that something extremely dangerous was approaching. Its fur stood up straight.


    Fang Yuan decided not to care about the spiritual fertilizer at this moment, picked up his bamboo basket and disappeared like the wind.


    "Squawk!"


    At his back, the small white bird''s squawking increased in intensity.


    "Squawk!"


    "Squawk!"


    ...


    All the surrounding birds in the vicinity began to squawk, one by one flapped their wings and flew down. It was the Red-eyed White birds from the previous encounter.


    "Hisss..."


    Fang Yuan was scared out of his wits, and channelled all his inner power to his legs, and ran for his life.


    He had to run!


    The Red-eyed White Birds covered the entire sky behind him!


    With their numbers, even if they were half-spiritual birds, real spiritual beasts would still be no match for them!


    The Flower Fox Ferret was also running for its life.


    "I finally know why the Flower Fox Ferret didn''t want me to come here!"


    Fang Yuan ran and his thoughts ran faster, "With their numbers, a normal person could never outrun them and would be pecked to death!"


    "To the fog!"


    He was a decisive person and chose to run into the fog wall.


    The birds chased from above, and even though Fang Yuan had a head start and had the assistance of the inner power, he would be outrun in no time, and the only hope he had was to hide in the dense forest or fog to lose the birds.


    "Whoosh!"


    The Flower Fox Ferret did not lie to Fang Yuan.


    At his current speed, he disappeared into the fog as soon as the Red-eyed White Birds formed a large group and began to chase after them.


    "Squawk!"


    Having lost track of Fang Yuan, the murderer of their friend, the large group of birds could only circle around the mountain and squawk in sorrow... It could be heard around the entire spiritual land.


    After venting their anger, the birds returned to their nest at the top of the cliff, and gradually quietened down.


    "Phew..."


    Fang Yuan heaved a sigh of relief and dared not to agitate the birds again. He slowly retreated out of the place.


    Outside.


    After experiencing the spiritual energy within the spiritual land, Fang Yuan felt that the outside world was unbearable, as though the heavens and earth were polluted.


    The truth was that the environment of the entire Clear Spirit Mountain was pretty good, but he still felt this way as he compared it to the spiritual land.


    "Spiritual land!"


    Fang Yuan eyed on the land covered by the fog, and felt emotional, "This spiritual land is all mine!"


    He had no reason not to feel this way!


    A natural spiritual land was a huge treasure itself, who knew what other spiritual plants might be hidden on the Green Peak, and the spiritual fertilizer, all these were enough for Fang Yuan to drool over.


    "And the spiritual birds... Such big birds, the king of these birds must be a spiritual beast, and may even be a grade higher than the Flower Fox Ferret!"


    Fang Yuan''s biggest wish was to own the entire Green Peak and take it as his own, then shift his spiritual tea and spiritual rice over here.


    Nothing in the secluded valley could match up to this spiritual land!


    "A pity... I am still not strong enough..."


    Fang Yuan frowned, "With so many spiritual birds around, I''m afraid only Wu Zongs can put up a fight?"


    Thinking to this point, he looked at his bamboo basket.


    Other than a thin layer of spiritual fertilizer, there was a spoil of his battle!


    "Ha ha... Flower Fox Ferret, didn''t you complain that the beggar chicken is not enough? We can enjoy tonight!"


    Fang Yuan carefully observed the spiritual bird in his hands.


    It had feathers as white as snow, but its eyes were blood red. It also had talons that glittered like a precious metal, and to top it off, a sharp beak, like a tiny eagle.


    After sparring with this spiritual bird, Fang Yuan knew that it was rather strong.


    Although it might seem that it could not withstand a single move from Fang Yuan, after all, Fang Yuan was a martial artist at the 5th Gate, equivalent to a deacon from the outside world!


    Looking at how fast the Red-eyed White Birds attacked if it was a normal person, a peck and a claw would have been able to dig out an eye!


    "What type of mutant bird is this? Why have I not heard of it before? What is it called? Red-Eyed Falcon? White-feathered crow? Red-eyed White Bird?"


    Fang Yuan felt like giving it a name and decided, "Mmm... Red-Eyed White Bird sounds best, Ha ha¡­...I am indeed talented in giving names..."


    Unknowingly, the white ferret, who was also forced to adopt the name of Flower Fox Ferret, was speechless and rolled its eyes.


    Of course, it only felt unjust for a short while.


    The Flower Fox Ferret threw all pride away when he saw Fang Yuan cooked a meal of Beggar Bird Meat. He circled Fang Yuan like a dog trying to please its owner.


    "This is creepy, you are a ferret, not a dog, so act like one and have some ferret pride!"


    Fang Yuan didn''t know to cry or laugh at the scene, tore the Beggar Bird into half and threw it towards the Flower Fox Ferret.


    "Keke!"


    Flower Fox Ferret pounced and munched on it, and let out a satisfying growl.


    To it, what''s a little dignity worth when there''s good food?


    "Mm? Is the taste that good?"


    Seeing the Flower Fox Ferret, Fang Yuan took a bite off the bird, and his expression changed.


    "This bird meat is more tender than a chicken; it''s fragrant and nice too. Delicious! Delicious!"


    He gobbled down the bird, rubbed his tummy with satisfaction and felt warmth rising within his body. His expression changed, "This nutrition level should be comparable to a meal of the Vermillion Jade Rice right? As expected from a spiritual bird!"

 31 Trouble

    It was dawn.


    There was fog surrounding the Green Peak and the spiritual land. Fang Yuan looked at the cliff with anticipation.


    A white figure approached the beach, stretched out its claws and seemed as though it was rummaging through something.


    "Squawk!"


    Above the cliff, numerous Red-eyed White Birds were flapping their wings and pecking around, not aware of the situation on the beach.


    In a short while, the white figure retreated and returned to the fog.


    "Haha... Flower Fox Ferret, good job!"


    The white figure was indeed the Flower Fox Ferret.


    Fang Yuan was unwilling to return empty-handed, and so instructed the Flower Fox Ferret to steal some spiritual fertilizer, as what it did previously.


    After all, the size, colour, and speed of the Flower Fox Ferret allowed it to escape even if it was spotted, and was the perfect candidate for the job.


    And after having Fang Yuan as a buddy, it became much more efficient.


    Fang Yuan retrieved the fully-filled cloth bag from the Flower Fox Ferret''s neck and smiled, "Good, one more time, and we can settle the entire season''s supply of Vermillion Jade Rice and spiritual tea!"


    "Keke!"


    The Flower Fox Ferret raised its paws, as though it was bargaining.


    "All right, I''ll keep your portion of the spiritual tea!"


    Fang Yuan could not help but feel embarrassed, as he felt that the Flower Fox Ferret had become much wiser and knew how to bargain! It needs to be controlled!


    "Go!"


    With a flick of its tail, the Flower Fox Ferret went on its way to steal more spiritual fertilizer.


    As long as Fang Yuan acceded to his request, nothing else matters.


    "This spiritual land... What a pity I cannot own it yet, what a pity..."


    Fang Yuan gazed at the Green Peak, in his eyes a tinge of regret.


    He knew that although there might be treasures within this spiritual land, the Red-eye White Birds were the owners of this spiritual land and with their existence, he could never develop in the spiritual land.


    Therefore, his short-term goal could only be to enter the mountains and to retrieve the spiritual fertilizer.


    "The only issue with this spiritual fertilizer is..."


    Fang Yuan looked up to the cliff and saw white spots falling down. His expression changed, "Oh sh*t¡­...The Flower Fox Ferret and I are actually collecting faeces!"


    That''s right!


    The white beach beneath the cliff was the place where the flock of Red-eyed White Birds went to defecate.


    Those incredible, effective spiritual plant fertilizers, were, in fact, bird''s droppings!


    It was a speechless discovery for Fang Yuan.


    Regardless, such a job with so much potential had to go on.


    "Anyway, bird''s droppings are a natural fertilizer, and since these are the droppings of the half-spiritual, or maybe even spiritual birds, then it is only natural that their droppings have such wonderful effects..."


    Fang Yuan was used to manual labour since young and therefore didn''t mind. After clearing his thoughts, he started to account for his loot.


    From the Flower Fox Ferret''s many trips to and fro, and thanks to the distracted Red-eyed White Birds, Fang Yuan obtained a huge amount of ''spiritual fertilizer'', enough for him to harvest and sow another batch of Vermillion Jade Rice, and pluck another batch of spiritual tea.


    He also took the opportunity and captured a few lone Red-eyed White Birds and ate them for a few meals, as a form of revenge for previously making a fool out of them.


    The truth was that Fang Yuan wanted to take advantage of the spiritual effect of the bird meat, and together with the Flower Fox Ferret, they hunted a few Red-eyed White Birds.


    Slowly, the birds learnt their lesson and rarely loitered outside the cliff. If they did, they would do it in packs, and the king bird would patrol around the area, which forced Fang Yuan to stop hunting.


    In fact, when Fang Yuan first saw the king bird, who was gigantic and had a wingspan over a few meters, he was shocked.


    It was definitely a spiritual bird!


    Even a few of the bird leaders had the spiritual level of the king bird!


    After this observation, Fang Yuan gave up hope on trying to claim the Green Peak for his own.


    "Keke!"


    The Flower Fox Ferret rushed back with another cloth bag full of spiritual fertilizer, and their mission was a success.


    This was normal, as the swarm of Red-eyed White Birds had the intellect of an average human and therefore would not pay too much attention to their own faeces.


    "It''s time to leave!"


    Carrying a full basket of spiritual fertilizer, Fang Yuan walked out of the fog, looked back at it, and recalled a sentence from his dream world, "I will be back!"


    At this moment, Fang Yuan was not alone.


    ...


    "Red-eyed White Birds, wait and see. One day, I will transform this whole spiritual land into my spiritual farm..."


    To a person who loved farming, seeing such a good piece of land go to waste was an unforgivable mistake.


    Even though he went back with their baskets full, his grudge against the birds remained.


    Fang Yuan brought home a grudge and even more harvest.


    The journey back was much smoother than the journey to the spiritual land. When he could finally see the secluded valley, Fang Yuan had already imagined how it would be like to have a bountiful harvest of spiritual rice and tea.


    But as he approached the entrance of the valley, his expression changed, "Someone''s here!"


    Around the valley was a mess, with blood stains everywhere. It was evident that someone came by.


    "From the marks, the person did not stay for long!"


    Fang Yuan felt the blood on the leaves, looked into the valley, placed his basket down and walked into the secluded valley.


    "Come out!"


    The Flower Fox Ferret sniffed the ground and pounced.


    Fang Yuan stood at the entrance and calmly requested.


    A moment passed but there was no movement.


    Fang Yuan frowned and waved his hand. The Flower Fox Ferret jumped in and popped his head out as though it was surprised.


    "Hmm?"


    Fang Yuan stepped in and saw someone lying on the ground. He was pale, and there was blood on his chest. He felt very familiar.


    "Zhou Wenwu from the Zhou Family? How did he end up in this state?"


    He felt for Zhou Wenwu''s pulse. "It''s a serious injury, but even though he''s passed out, his life is not in danger... Why would this small jerk have the guts to come to my place and give me more trouble?"


    Fang Yuan became speechless and came to the entrance.


    Previously, the Flower Fox Ferret warned him of a stranger nearby.


    "Who is it?"


    He walked out of the house and saw a man in black attire. He looked sinister and was around 30 to 40 years old.


    "Eh? You noticed me?"


    The middle-aged man was surprised, but sounded boastful, "I am Spirit Returning Sect''s Elder Song''s disciple, Song San, and I am under orders to kill the bastard from the Zhou Family, and if you do know..."


    "Oh! That bastard is in the house, bring him away!"


    Fang Yuan nodded his head calmly, and caught Song San by surprise, making him forget what he wanted to say.


    This type of ''I-have-yet-to-threaten-you-but-you-have-already-cooperated'' kind of feeling was a confusing one.


    This person was not the average person!


    Song Zhong was confused, and witnessed Zhou Wenwu being thrown out like rubbish, "I only have a simple doctor-patient relationship with this man, so take him away!"


    The Zhou Family meant nothing to Fang Yuan.


    He saved Old Zhou and had gotten the martial arts manual from him, and even protected Zhou Wenxin for a little while. That was already beyond what he would normally do.


    It was illogical to defend Old Zhou''s son and put his own life at risk.


    "He''s really Zhou Wenwu!"


    Song San took a step forward, recognised him and seemed satisfied. He turned around, look at Fang Yuan and asked, "You''re the doctor here?"


    "I only know the basics of healing..."


    Fang Yuan nodded his head.


    "So you were the one that treated Old Zhou''s poison?"


    "Poison?!"


    Fang Yuan grew suspicious.


    He knew that Old Zhou had contracted the Drunk Lover Poison, and Old Zhou himself had realised too, but how would this man know?


    Unless he was the one that poisoned Old Zhou!


    "What poison? I''m not sure!"


    Fang Yuan remained resolute on his stand.


    ''Know your limits, and know when to take a step back!''


    Seeing Fang Yuan, Song San knew that if the other disciples were sent here instead, they would let him off and make friends with him.


    There were not many people who dared to play along.


    He was unlucky to have met Song San because he was reprimanded by his master not long ago.


    Song San remained serious, and with a smirk, "Zhou Wenwu chose to look for you at his wits ends, so you must be Zhou Family''s ally!"


    Fang Yuan became much more serious.


    "I do not want to stir trouble..."


    Fang Yuan sighed, "Why do some people seem so eager to find death?"


    "Whoosh!"


    He became a black flash and rushed forward, his entire body pitch black, as though he was wearing a layer of iron clothing.


    "Eagle Claw Iron Skin Technique?!"


    Song San heard of this famous technique before and even saw Yu Qiuleng used it.


    Seeing his opponents skill, it seemed like he was at [Martial Artist (3rd Gate)] or [Martial Artist (4th Gate)]. How would he be of any match to Fang Yuan of [Martial Artist (5th Gate)]?


    "You deserve to die!"


    Song San smirked, with his right hand clenched into a fist, focused his strength and prepared to strike.


    But at this moment, Fang Yuan smiled, "You fool, you''ve been tricked!"


    In mid-air, his technique changed, as his claws transformed to a palm, with a black circle in the middle. It struck down with extreme power, as though it was a large hammer smashing down.


    [Black Sand Palm (Grade 5)]!


    "You..."


    Song San flustered and flew into mid-air, spitting out blood.


    "It''s you!"


    He laid on the floor, with blood oozing from his lips, regretful.


    It was as if that he realised at that moment, that this harmless young man was Song Yujie''s murderer, but he could no longer bring this piece of news out.

 32 The County

    "What have you guessed?"


    Fang Yuan went up slowly with an apathetic face. His cold look caused Song San to feel the brink of death.


    "Hold on a second¡­."


    He shouted. "You killed Song Yujie and Song Zhong will definitely not let you go. He is crazy and he wants everyone to die together with his son¡­. I can help you since I know that old man¡­."


    He spoke halfway and was horrified after coughing out a mouthful of blood.


    "I will settle that old man myself. You should be on your way now!"


    Fang Yuan did not know anything else which could cure the Pearl Tail Snake''s Poison other than the Yama''s Order.


    This martial artist should also be easily poisoned even though he was highly skilled like Fang Yuan.


    Not long after, Song San became a corpse with a blue-black face.


    "Unfortunately¡­. The poison is so effective that it killed Song San before I could get more information from him¡­. It seems like it is not worth to give him a pill of the spiritual medicine to let him survive a little longer¡­."


    Fang Yuan felt a little regretful after watching Song San died. He waved and said, "Flower Fox Ferret, go and patrol the area. Kill anyone who dares to come close to this area!"


    "Keke!"


    A bright white light flashed past and the Flower Fox Ferret was back not long after from its patrol. Its paws were clean and it shook its head.


    "No one? So Song San came here on his own?"


    Fang Yuan had a suspicion and sighed after looking at Song San''s body. "You are lucky!"


    If Song San had given up, Fang Yuan would naturally send Zhou Wenwu out and end their relations. However, Song San had the intention to interfere on his own and got himself into trouble in the end. He was indeed unlucky.


    Moreover, he was unconscious and did not know Fang Yuan''s attitude and performance previously.


    It would then be worth saving his life.


    "Song Zhong must be really crazy to get the whole Zhou family killed. Luckily, I''ve saved Zhou Wenwu''s life to allow him to find his sect for help. Any sects who know about his situation will definitely help him in any way!"


    Once a faction consolidated its power, it would never allow its own men to kill each other. Otherwise, where would the cohesiveness among the men be?


    If everyone from the Zhou family had been killed and there was no leader left, Song Zhong could find a few people as scapegoats and allow himself to be not traced as the murderer.


    Now with Zhou Wenwu alive as the sole witness, Song Zhong would not be able to escape when others knew about this!


    Hence, in Fang Yuan''s eyes, Zhou Wenwu was worth saving as he was useful.


    After all, Fang Yuan killed Song Yujie and he had to kill Song Zhong so that there would be no further threats.


    ...¡­.


    "Father¡­.. Ah Fu¡­."


    In his dream, he could faintly see Song Zhong struggling to stay alive.


    Zhou Wenwu shouted and woke up from his dream feeling shocked.


    He was previously injured in his chest but now he felt much better.


    "Yes¡­.Father fought against the enemies desperately so that my sister and I could escape through the secret pathway. Unfortunately, we were still being chased even though he was fighting the soldiers. In the end, we split¡­.."


    He began to regain consciousness and took a look at his surroundings. "Is this place¡­.the secluded valley?"


    "You have woken up?"


    Fang Yuan served a bowl of medicine and showed concern for him.


    "Thank you, Master, for saving my life!"


    Zhou Wenwu wanted to get up to show his gratitude but was stopped by Fang Yuan. "You are still injured. You should just stay in bed and rest¡­. What happened to the Zhou family?"


    "The Zhou family¡­."


    Once he mentioned this, Zhou Wenwu''s eyes became teary. "From today onwards, there will be no Zhou family in Qingye City!"


    "How is this possible? Are Old Zhou and Miss Zhou alright?"


    Fang Yuan sounded surprised and asked, "Who is the murderer?"


    "Song Zhong is definitely the mastermind of the murder!"


    Zhou Wenwu bit his teeth tightly and said, "Even though the murderer had concealed himself, I had seen him with my own eyes. I shouldn''t be wrong!"


    "Ssss¡­."


    Fang Yuan inhaled and asked, "How could it be?"


    "That Song Zhong is a crazy man!"


    Zhou Wenwu started to get up and said, "My sister and I were separated. I''m not sure whether you have seen us. When the soldiers and Song San came chasing after me, I then knew it was difficult to defeat Song Zhong¡­."


    "I didn''t see them¡­."


    Fang Yuan shook his head and said, "Master Zhou, you are a good man. This place is very secluded and Song San probably would have been gone back¡­."


    "I think so too!"


    Zhou Wenwu couldn''t believe what had happened, but when he thought about how Fang Yuan dealt with the situation, he understood what Fang Yuan meant and answered him.


    "What plans do you have, Master Zhou?"


    Fang Yuan cut to the chase by asking him that question.


    "I will return to the sect, of course, and look for the leader for help!"


    Zhou Wenwu''s eyes were red. He clenched his fist and said, "If I''m alive, he will have to be dead!"


    He himself knew that he couldn''t fight against Song Zhong on his own and he needed help from the sect.


    Furthermore, Song Zhong was the one in the wrong and he was definitely going to be punished as long as they were able to expose him!


    "With your current injuries, you shouldn''t move about so much. Luckily Qinghe County is just nearby. I can only prescribe enough medicine for you to find your sect but not enough to for you to regain your martial arts skills!"


    Fang Yuan nodded in agreement.


    "Thank you, Master, for your help!"


    Zhou Wenwu was grateful towards Fang Yuan but he felt sorrowful. He was supposed to rendezvous with Zhou Wenxin but they had not met up till now. She probably had been killed.


    In that case, he would be the only one left in the Zhou family.


    "After my revenge, I will do anything you want to repay your kindness!"


    "That will be unnecessary¡­."


    Fang Yuan swayed his arms and glanced at Zhou Wenwu, "How about I escort you to the county since you are still injured?"


    "What?"


    Zhou Wenwu was dazed upon hearing that.


    He also had this idea originally but didn''t dare to request for it since he had troubled Fang Yuan so much already. Since Fang Yuan offered to do it, it made it seemed like he was a good man in Zhou Wenwu''s eyes!


    Little did he know that in Fang Yuan''s eyes, Zhou Wenwu was extremely important in making sure that Song Zhong would be dead. Hence, Fang Yuan had decided to make that offer so he could make sure Zhou Wenwu reach his sect safely.


    Of course, Zhou Wenwu didn''t know the truth. In his eyes, Fang Yuan was kind-hearted with incredible medical skills.


    ...¡­.


    "Qinghe County¡­."


    On the road, a cart moved slowly. Fang Yuan wore his hat and pondered over his thoughts silently.


    In this world, the presence of the local authority was rare. For Qingye City, the families there were the ones controlling and making the calls instead of the local authorities.


    The county was similar in a sense that the Spirit Returning Sect was in total control of it. The local authorities present there had no say in anything.


    Rather, a portion of the high-ranking officials in the county were members of the Spirit Returning Sect.


    Therefore, Fang Yuan could guess the state of the royal sovereignty of this county, which was similar to the one he had in his dream.


    That was why after his whole family was killed, Zhou Wenwu did not even consider to report to the local authorities. Instead, he went to his Sect for help.


    The cart was moving smoothly at a steady pace, which was helpful to the injured person lying in it.


    ''The Flower Fox Ferret will stay behind to guard the secluded valley. I am sufficient for this trip to the county!''


    ''Of course, I should not reveal my Black Sand Palm whenever possible. My Eagle Claw Iron Skin technique needs to be stronger as soon as possible!"


    Fang Yuan was eager to improve his technique and he glanced at his stats window.


    "Name: Fang Yuan


    Essence: 2.7


    Spirit: 2.6


    Magic: 1.5


    Age: 18


    Cultivation: [Martial Arts (5th Gate)]


    Techniques: [Black Sand Palm (Grade 5)], [Eagle Claw Iron Skin Technique (Grade 4)]


    Skills: [Medicine (Level 2)], [Botany (Level 3)]"


    "Since I have the foundations for martial arts, I am able to improve my Eagle Claw Iron Skin Technique quickly.¡­."


    Even when he was still searching for the spiritual fertiliser, he still continued to train. Moreover, he was benefitting from consuming the meat of the spiritual beast. The result was way better than when he consumed the Vermillion Jade Rice.


    "My Spirit has increased by 0.1. My Iron Skin Technique has gained a new grade and it is not far from reaching the peak of the 5th Grade¡­."


    Fang Yuan was satisfied with his progress.


    When he killed Song Yujie previously, he had revealed his ability in the Black Sand Palm Technique. Hence, he would try as much as possible not to execute this technique.


    On the other hand, the Eagle Claw Iron Skin Technique didn''t have such a disadvantage and he could train it till he attained the 12 Golden Gates. By then he would naturally gain more attention from the others.


    Fang Yuan focused on the Eagle Claw Iron Skin Technique and a few messages appeared in his mind.


    "Eagle Claw Iron Skin Technique - A combination of inner and external techniques. When mastered, it would be similar to coating the entire body with iron, making it impenetrable by fire and water, as well as making the body difficult to wound. Currently at 4th Grade, this techniques strengthens the inner power of the Eagle Claw Technique!"


    In the path of martial arts, before the Pain Gate is broken through, only inner power, and not inner force would be cultivated!


    To Fang Yuan, this was the difference between the disorderly inner power and the rope-like inner force.


    However, practising martial arts was also beneficial for one''s inner power.


    He had this feeling that since his power from his Dantian got stronger, he could feel a very strong energy inside it.


    If he were to succeed in the conversion of his inner power, he would advance past the threshold for the standard of an expert in martial arts in Qinghe County!


    "Master¡­.Master Fang!"


    Just when Fang Yuan was about to execute and train his Eagle Claw technique, a weak voice was heard from the inside of the cart.


    "How are you feeling, Master Zhou?"


    Fang Yuan opened the cart''s curtains and saw Zhou Wenwu''s pale face.


    "I can still hold it!"


    Zhou Wenwu coughed a couple of times, coughing out blood in the process. "That¡­.that old man will not let me go easily. He will surely send his men to prevent us from reaching Qinghe County!"


    "So what?"


    Fang Yuan laughed and said, " We have nothing to worry about if Song Zhong doesn''t personally stop us!"


    He had easily defeated Song San, who was a disciple of Song Zhong. This clearly showed that his skills were comparable to the skills of Song Zhong''s men.


    Moreover, there were many ways to get to the county. He could purposely take a different road to make it harder for Song Zhong''s men to locate them.


    Regardless, they could still encounter trouble in the county.

 33 Decision

    "Whoosh! Whoosh!"


    A common white carrier pigeon descended into a big building.


    This building occupied a considerable amount of space at the corner of Qinghe County. It was obvious that someone of high importance lived here.


    The passers-by that walked past this building would either be envious or keep their heads down. No one dared to step out of line.


    This was the place of the local tyrant in Qinghe County, the Head of the Spirit Returning Sect!


    "Kuku!"


    The pigeon flew into a quiet and secluded courtyard and was received by a hand that was white like a white jade.


    "Master! Urgent report from Qingye City!"


    The owner of the hand removed the message from the leg of the pigeon. His face changed as he looked at the pretty lady, whose face was partially covered by a veil, by his side.


    This lady was around 30 to 40 years old. She appeared to be very graceful with eyes that shone bright like stars. It was easy to imagine that she was a beauty when she was younger.


    This lady was the head of the Spirit Returning Sect and Qinghe County''s only Wu Zong. Her name was Shi Yutong.


    She was rumoured to have brought her disciple to visit a friend far away. At this moment, however, to everyone''s astonishment, she was already in the building.


    Shi Yutong took a look at the message. Her brows furrowed as she spoke in a grave tone, "Song Zhong''s actions are overboard!"


    She knew that Song Zhong had just lost his beloved son and it was inevitable that he would step out of line.


    It would not be a problem if he killed off a few foes. However, he was overboard in killing a deacon of the sect over a suspicion.


    "Master!"


    A young maiden at the side of Shi Yutong said, "My father..."


    "Don''t worry. I have ordered my men to fetch Minister Lin from Qingye City. Soon, you will be able to meet him in the county!"


    Shi Yutong smiled.


    This maiden was the daughter of Minister Lin and was formally betrothed to Fang Yuan. Her name was Lin Leiyue.


    Shi Yutong calmly analysed the factions within the sect, as if she wanted Lin Leiyue to quickly understand the situation, "With Song Zhong as such, Elder Yan''s faction would not dare to raise the matter up. According to what I know, the Zhou Family is not totally annihilated.I just have to wait for them to bring up the matter before I uphold justice!"


    "It is just that..."


    Lin Leiyue appeared to be hesitant.


    "Do you think that I am unreasonable?"


    Shi Yutong laughed. She glanced at Leiyue as if she knew what she was thinking.


    "Leiyue would not dare to think so!"


    Lin Leiyue apologized with a bow.


    "This is what I have to teach you today. Balance!"


    Shi Yutong''s tone grew serious, "As the Sect Head, it is important to understand and balance the power and authority of those beneath you! Previously, Elder Yan''s faction has many who are untamed. We can use the current situation and kill two birds with one stone. We will use force to overcome force and help Elder Han. By doing so, I will act as a mediator and hold the power to decide their fate. This is of paramount importance. Do you understand what I am talking about?"


    "What master is saying that we should not readily take sides and instead act as a mediator?"


    Lin Leiyue blinked her eyes.


    "Not bad!"


    Shi Yutong nodded her head, "Silly girl, you are indeed witty. You need to understand that in a powerful organization, there will be fights between the factions. As the Head, you will need to achieve balance and equilibrium, forcing the factions to rely on us. By doing so, it will be easy to assume command of them..."


    If Leiyue was just an ordinary disciple, Shi Yutong would not say such words to her. However, Shi Yutong was training Leiyue to become the next Sect Head and as such, kept nothing from her.


    "Thank you master for your pointer!"


    Lin Leiyue understood very clearly that, to her master, the Zhou Family was nothing. It would just be luck that brought them to the county. If they could not reach the county, it would just mean that they were unlucky.


    Since Shi Yutong had already decided to act, Song Zhong would not come to a good end.


    As the Wuzong of the Spirit Returning Sect, Shi Yutong naturally had the grandeur and the confidence.


    "Hehe... It is funny that that Song Zhong''s son, Song Yujie, still wanted to ask for your hand in marriage? That is crossing the line and being too greedy...."


    Shi Yutong glanced at Lin Leiyue and poked fun at her, "Our Yue''Er is such an outstanding beauty, how many guys are going to fall in love with you in the future?"


    "Master!"


    Lin Leiyue flushed and stomped her foot, "Even you are making fun of me!"


    "You always understand where your priorities lie. I am not worried about you!"


    Shi Yutong said solemnly yet gently.


    Lin Leiyue trained with her in a high-level inner technique which required pure yin.She had many suitors within and outside the sect. However, these people only did so to increase their social status. Both the master and disciple knew the reason behind so.


    "The world is vast! What you saw previously was only the tip of an iceberg..."


    Shi Yutong said solemnly, "Leiyue, you were born with opened meridians which, together with your Spiritual Moon Body, makes you best suited for my ''Bright Moon Formula''. You have the potential to greatly surpass me and eventually reached the true Cultivation World..."


    "The true...Cultivation World!"


    Lin Leiyue muttered. Her eyes were yearning.


    Her master''s friend, who was an alchemy master, whom they visited opened her eyes to the world.


    The alchemy masters, which were rumoured to be even rarer than the spiritual knights and the magical knights, possessed a set of skills where they were able to use their alchemy flames within their bodies, combined with spiritual ingredients to form spiritual pills that were able to work all kinds of wonders.


    These spiritual pills did not have harmful side-effects and its effects were miraculous, as such, each type of pills was highly sought after by martial artists who were willing to fight for them.


    For example, the ''Frozen Moon Pill'' that her master got for her, was compatible with her body and allowed her to improve her martial arts skills by leaps and bounds. It would also increase the chance of success for her in the future when she attempted to break through the 3 Perilous Gates!


    Before she witnessed it with her own eyes, Lin Leiyue would never imagine such a thing actually existed!


    It was only natural that the alchemy masters were powerful members of the society where they were well-received. No one dared to offend them given their skills.


    For example, the alchemy master that she visited had a Wu Zong that acted as a bodyguard. If it was not for the friendship that the alchemy master had with Shi Yutong, the alchemy master would not have stepped in to help Lin Leiyue.


    This alchemy master was only a small part of the higher-levelled cultivation world!


    Lin Leiyue was overwhelmed by her emotions when she thought of these.


    Even though she was a lady, she dreamt to reach the pinnacle.


    "I will not disappoint my master!"


    Lin Leiyue bowed with firm resolution.


    "Haha...That''s good!"


    Shi Yutong helped her up with both hands, and said, "Now, you just have to train hard. With the aid of the pill, you would be able to swiftly overcome the Pain Gate and increase your inner power. After that, I will make you a the successor of the sect. No one will dare to say a thing!"


    ''Brother Fang...''


    Lin Leiyue thought of the ordinary youth that lived in the secluded valley when she heard this.


    At that time, her master cancelled the wedding without understanding the details, and Lin Leiyue was in no position to resist.


    If she was given another chance, would she have challenged the decision now that she had made up her mind?


    Lin Leiyue''s heart was in a mess. This was the first time she was perplexed...


    ...


    "We have reached Qinghe County!"


    Not far away, a carriage pulled by an ox drew closer. Fang Yuan gazed out at the city wall and smiled.


    This was the first time that he had come to a big city and as such, he was excited.


    "Cough cough..."


    Zhou Wenwu insisted on accompanying Fang Yuan despite his illness. His face was an unnatural shade of red. "Once we reach the territory of the sect, not even Song Zhong would be able to do a thing. However, he would certainly arrange for brutes to stop me at the city gate..."


    There were many routes along the way. As long as they were willing to detour, it was easy to avoid being blocked unless Song Zhong was the head of the Spirit Returning Sect.


    However, if he had guessed that Zhou Wenwu was making his way to Qinghe County, it would be easy to just wait for him there.


    "Brother Fang, do you have any idea?"


    Zhou Wenwu looked expectedly at Fang Yuan.


    Fang Yuan would not let anyone call him ''Master'' on the journey as it would bring attention to himself.


    Furthermore, his age was similar to Zhou Wenwu and after a few small talks, the two became closer and used it as an opportunity to change the way they addressed each other.


    "I do not have a plan. However, I have a stupid idea!"


    Fang Yuan''s lips curled into a smile, "We just choose a door and barge in. It is that simple!"


    "I see..."


    Zhou Wenwu would never imagine that Fang Yuan''s idea was to use simple brute force to barge in.


    "This problem was caused by Song Zhong himself. Unless his faction would make a grave error and send people to stop us?"


    Fang Yuan spread his arms, "This county has four gates, and as long as we are not too unlucky, we have low chance of meeting him unless he can split his body..."


    He would be able to deal with the road blockers single-handedly if they were Song Zhong''s disciples.


    "What if..."


    Zhou Wenwu was hesitant. He did not want to jeopardise the revenge now that it was within his grasp.


    "If we really clash with Song Zhong, we can only duel with him. The members of the Spirit Returning Sect would come if there was a big commotion right?"


    Fang Yuan glanced at Zhou Wenwu.


    If they did not even know how to make use of such a wonderful opportunity, Song Zhong would be able to exterminate Zhou Tong''s faction.


    "That''s right! We shall do as you say!"


    Zhou Wenwu gritted his teeth.


    He had nothing to be afraid of if an outsider like Fang Yuan would dare to do such a thing.


    Little did he know that Fang Yuan dared to do so due to the fact that he was highly skilled in martial arts.


    In the event that they met Song Zhong, he just had to use Zhou Wenwu as a shield and escape.


    Song Zhong had no idea that he was the killer and would not chase him like a mad dog.


    Furthermore, if Zhou Wenwu was killed by Song Zhong in front of everybody, it would further condemn Song Zhong!


    "It is best for an outsider not to meddle in a battle between factions¡­...If I take part in and did not handle the conflict well enough, I would likely be attacked by both sides or be used by them as a pawn!"


    Having the experience from another world, Fang Yuan''s heart was clear like a mirror, "Whatever the case, once this is done, I must quickly escape and leave this place as far as possible."

 34 Four Seas Cour

    "Please halt, this is a routine check!"


    West Gate, Qinghe County.


    Numerous martial artists clad in Spirit Returning Sect''s robes were scrutinizing the many who were passing by the gate, and they paid special attention to the large carts passing by. Bribery did not work, and they create chaos in the vicinity.


    An ox carriage slowly passed by, and as Zhou Wenwu observed the scene, he became increasingly nervous.


    He thought that he could not hide from the strict checks, and would be forced to fight his way out.


    Luckily for him, he realised that Song Zhong was not around, and heaved a sigh of relief.


    By fearing the Spirit Returning Sect''s reputation, the people entering the county did not dare to disobey. Many women were pulled out from their carriages, embarrassed. Their bodyguards were agitated.


    Even though the checks were slow, the queue was still moving, and not long after, it was Fang Yuan''s turn.


    "Is it your wife or your daughter in the cart? Get her out and let me see!"


    A perverted Sect member came forward and prepared to open the curtains.


    "Keke..."


    Fang Yuan looked into the cart, as though the whole thing was a joke.


    "What are you laughing at?"


    He could sense that the Sect member was already wielding a knife.


    "You are with Song Zhong? You don''t even know your own death, what an idiot!"


    Fang Yuan shook his head, the fingers on his right hand opened and quick as a lightning, he struck.


    "Kacha! Crack!"


    A distinct sound followed as the Sect member held onto his forearm, and with agony written on his face, he fell to the ground.


    "Eagle Claw Technique?"


    The few Spirit Returning Sect members in the vicinity looked at each other, and under the command of a young man clad in a green robe, they rushed forward, "Together!"


    "Ping!"


    Fang Yuan took a deep breath and his skin starting to turn greenish-black. He did not run but took a step forward to counter-attack.


    After avoiding the sword, he felt no pain when fists and kicks landed on his body, and even so for blunt weapons, the most he felt was a slight itch.


    On the contrary, his claws struck out and every Sect member fell to the ground, wailing in pain.


    This scene created even more chaos at the gates, and reinforcements came.


    "Zhou Wenwu, now it''s your time to perform!"


    Fang Yuan scoffed, spun around, headed into the city and disappeared.


    "I am the son of Spirit Returning Sect''s deacon, Zhou Tong!"


    Zhou Wenwu stood out and raised an iron token. "With the Sect''s token as proof, I am here to report Elder Song, for killing my entire family of 73! May the Sect uphold justice for me!"


    His last few words were loud and could be heard by all, and the Sect members changed their expression after hearing him.


    Even though Song Zhong might be powerful, he could not do whatever he wanted in Qinghe County, and now that Zhou Wenwu said his piece, the Sect would definitely do something.


    "This is really Zhou Wenwu!"


    Not long after, a group of Sect members hurriedly brought an old man to the gate, looked at Zhou Wenwu and comforted him, "Do not worry, for the Spirit Returning Sect will not let his murderer off the hook!"


    He stared at Song Zhong''s followers who were laid on the ground and waved his hand. "Capture them!"


    Many disciples rushed forward and used thick ropes to tie them up.


    "Uncle Xue, I hope you will uphold justice for me!"


    Zhou Wenwu let his emotions run wild, as tears welled up in his eyes.


    However, the truth was that he felt vengeful deep within him.


    The Sect would have known what had actually happened at Qingye City. All other elders had condoned Song Zhong''s followers to wreck havoc, but all of them did nothing to blown things out of proportion, and therefore pressure the Sect Master.


    However, the Sect Master remained calm despite the chaos.


    It was as though the entire Sect swallowed her!


    "Oh, where is the warrior that escorted you?"


    Elder Xue felt Zhou Wenwu''s pulse and appeared curious.


    "Brother Fang? I think he left by himself..."


    Zhou Wenwu knew that Fang Yuan did not want to get involved in the situation and so he said, "Where is the Sect Master? I want to see her right away!"


    "This of course, but before that, may I introduce you to the area''s Elder, Elder Han! He has waited for you for quite a while already!"


    Elder Xue grabbed Zhou Wenwu''s arm, and with his strength, Zhou Wenwu had no chance of escaping, even if he wasn''t injured.


    "Alright!"


    Zhou Wenwu agreed, albeit unwillingly.


    ...


    Within the crowd, Fang Yuan witnessed the scene and dispersed with the crowd.


    "Indeed¡­...The Spirit Returning Sect''s internal conflicts are at its peak now, and Zhou Wenwu might be made use of by the elders!"


    He did not want things to end up this way, and therefore created the chaos to attract attention, and took his leave.


    Even Zhou Wenwu, their descendent had such treatment. What would he as an outsider receive?


    "This was, however, Song Zhong''s fault, and if he was dealt with directly, it could save me a lot of trouble..."


    At a dark corner, Fang Yuan changed his appearance and walked down the streets of the county without fear.


    The chaos at the gate did not last long, and within the city, not many knew about it, and therefore business remained as usual.


    Compared to Qingye City, there were many more skilled martial artists, and even the women here were equipped with knives, which caught Fang Yuan''s attention.


    Of course, there were those delicate ladies who never left their house, but if all women picked up martial arts, there would definitely be a handful that would have the potential for martial arts.


    A prime example would be the Wu Zong martial artist from the Spirit Returning Sect, a lady well-known in Qinghe County.


    "This visit to the county was primarily to send this ticking time-bomb, Zhou Wenwu here, as well as to bring back more spiritual plants and more information regarding the spiritual land..."


    It was rare for Fang Yuan to leave the secluded valley, and now that he arrived at the county, he did not want to leave empty-handed.


    He also wanted to find out what happened to Song Zhong.


    "It is hard to obtain spiritual plants, and even harder to find out the secrets of the spiritual land, but there must be someone who knows about it..."


    He scanned his surroundings, and saw a large building and a street market, with many people around, as though business was blooming.


    "Four Seas Court?"


    Fang Yuan mumbled to himself before entering the doorway.


    "What would you like, young master?"


    The moment he took a step in, a waiter approached Fang Yuan with a smile and did not look down on Fang Yuan because of his clothing.


    "I am not from this place. What do you usually sell here?"


    Fang Yuan examined the place and was filled with curiosity.


    "Master, you have a good taste! Here at Four Seas Court, we are the biggest retailer in Qinghe County! From provisions to martial artist manuals and weapons, there''s nothing we don''t sell, and nothing we don''t buy!"


    The waiter proudly answered him.


    "Oh?!"


    Fang Yuan raised his eyebrows and knew that the waiter was not lying. The Four Seas Court was likely to have official backing, or they might even belong to the Spirit Returning Sect!


    Otherwise, who other than the Spirit Returning Sect''s own people, would dare to say such big words?


    "Are you sure you sell all sorts of things?"


    "Master, you must be kidding. There are so many types of treasure out there in the world, and if you are talking about the treasures in the legends, then we really don''t have it, but within Qinghe County, if we don''t have it, then nowhere else would have it!"


    The waiter smiled and rebutted.


    "That''s true..."


    Fang Yuan listened and had slight hopes. "I want to buy some spiritual plants, do you sell them here?"


    "Spiritual plants?"


    The waiter scoffed, "This stuff ain''t cheap!"


    "Mmm?"


    Fang Yuan was surprised, "You really do have it here?"


    Within Spirit Returning Sect, there seemed to be a small piece of spiritual land specially used to cultivate spiritual plants. Therefore, if some spiritual plants did get traded here it would not be surprising.


    After all, Minister Lin did get his hands on a bottle of Vermillion Jade Rice, so this Four Seas Court should not disappoint him.


    "Does master really want to buy spiritual plants?"


    There was suspicion all over the waiter''s face.


    "Don''t worry, are you afraid that I might not be able to afford it?"


    Fang Yuan looked at him, smiled, and whipped out a piece of golden leaf. "Bring me there!"


    For this journey, Fang Yuan brought out all the valuables he had within the valley, in case of emergencies. After all, buying spiritual plants and information on spiritual lands would require him to fork out a large sum of money.


    "Alright!"


    The waiter''s eyes glittered. "Master, this way please!"


    Within the Four Seas Court, there were many compartments, and after passing through a curtain, there was no more noise from the outside world.


    "Room A13!"


    The waiter brought Fang Yuan to a big room, took a bow and left.


    Not long after, two young ladies appeared, invited Fang Yuan to take a seat and prepared tea and fruits.


    "This level of service is a whole new level?"


    Fang Yuan found it amusing. At this point, he saw an old man entered the room, looking like a minister. He greeted Fang Yuan and asked, "I am Old Qian, manager of Four Seas Court. Are you looking for spiritual plants?"


    "Indeed, what do we have here? We can discuss the price!"


    Fang Yuan waved his hand and appeared rich.


    On the contrary, he had the jitters as he wasn''t sure if he had enough valuables to exchange for the spiritual plants.


    "Spiritual plants are after all not a rare item, and the Court has sold many of it. But there are only a few who managed to cultivate them, and many rich families have become poor because of this. Young master, you must consider carefully!"


    Old Qian seemed to be giving advice. "However, only spiritual lands can cultivate spiritual plants in large scale, and in the entire Qinghe County, the only spiritual land lies within Spirit Returning Sect, and so the others..."


    He shook his head, and his expression showed it all.


    "But if one spends time and money, and puts in all the effort to take care of it, then there might be a slight chance that it would germinate. Otherwise, how did the rare spiritual plants appear in the wild?"


    Fang Yuan, an expert in botany, had personal experience in growing spiritual plants, and with the experience, he could reply without hesitation.

 35 Stalking

    "Oh? So you are an expert in botany! Pardon my disrespectfulness!"


    Old Qian look surprised and waved his hands. "Since both of us are professionals in botany, I will not be explaining further. We only sell two types of spiritual plants. One is the Vermillion Jade Rice and the other is the Emerald Grass. Which type do you want? How about the Vermillion Jade Rice? However, you cannot buy that in bulk as the stock is limited¡­."


    In fact, the majority would choose the Vermillion Jade Rice when they came here to purchase the spiritual plants.


    After all, even if the rice stalk was not fully grown, it could still be eaten directly to boost one''s elemental energy.


    Such trickery when doing business was how the Four Seas Court earn money.


    However, Fang Yuan wasn''t interested in the Vermillion Jade Rice as he had sufficient supply of it back at his place.


    "What effect does the Emerald Grass have?"


    He immediately asked.


    "Hmm? You don''t want the Vermillion Jade Rice?"


    Old Qian was surprised and answered, "Both the Emerald Grass and the Vermillion Jade Rice are spiritual plants of the lowest grade. However, many herbivorous spiritual beasts enjoy eating these plants and would, in turn, improve the quality of the soil..."


    In fact, many who came here to purchase often traded for the Vermillion Jade Rice in large scales. In fact, Old Qian would be able to earn quite an amount, even though the customers already knew the source of the products.


    "Then I shall have some of the Emerald Grass!"


    Even though he wasn''t totally satisfied, Fang Yuan was not prepared to give up on the Emerald Grass.


    He began to imagine the Flower Fox Ferret eating the Emerald Grass in his mind and started to laugh at himself.


    "What? You want the Emerald Grass and not the spiritual rice?"


    Qian Fusheng was surprised but did not reveal it. "Every Emerald Grass seed is worth 1 gold tael. If you want 50 seeds at one go, there will be a discount!"


    "This price¡­."


    Fang Yuan was overwhelmed by the price and for once, he felt like a poor man.


    ''The prices of the spiritual plants are controlled by the rich. I am not rich and the price is definitely too overwhelming for me¡­.''


    He sighed while footing the bill. ''Even though the Emerald Grass and the Vermillion Jade Rice are considered the lowest grade among other spiritual things, the purchase would still attract a lot of attention. Maybe I should be more discreet next time¡­."


    Because of this, he refused to bring any spiritual things to trade with.


    A few dozen gold taels were unable to create a deep impression on the prosperous Four Seas Courts. But what if it was 1000 or 10,000 gold taels?


    There was no absolute fairness in this world. There were only prices which you can or cannot afford!


    "Great, please keep the seeds of the Emerald Grass well!"


    After the payment, Qian Fusheng quickly brought out a Red Sandalwood wooden box. The handicraft of the wooden box was delicate and there was a fragrance coming out from it, clearly showing that it was specially made.


    "The seeds of the Emerald Grass do not go well with metals. Please remember not to bring the seeds close to any kind of metallic objects¡­."


    Qian Fusheng reminded Fang Yuan and opened the wooden box. The box contained the green seeds of the Emerald Grass, which had a jade green colour.


    "Very well!"


    Fang Yuan kept the box safely. Before he left, he enquired, "Is there any other spiritual land in the whole of Qinghe County? I''m personally interested in the places where these spiritual things are grown. Maybe you would know where I can find them?"


    "This¡­."


    Qian Fusheng''s face changed and immediately shook his head. "Spiritual land is naturally created and it depends on one''s luck to find it. I do not know the mystery behind of the origin of the spiritual lands!"


    "I see!"


    Fang Yuan exited the building. "I shall take my leave!"


    After seeing him leave, Qian Fusheng paced a few steps and felt uneasy. "Little San!"


    "Yes, shopkeeper!"


    Inside the room, a painted wall automatically moved back and revealed a pathway. A person then came out from it.


    "Report this to the Sect!"


    Qian Fusheng sighed.


    "It was just a small purchase of the spiritual grass. Why is there a need to report?"


    Little San was a little surprised by Qian Fusheng''s order.


    "Buying a few seeds of the Emerald Grass was nothing. However, that customer even asked about the whereabouts of spiritual lands, making him suspicious. Send a person now to follow him!"


    "Shopkeeper, you are indeed vigilant!"


    At that moment, another person came out from the secret pathway. He was dressed in green and was a lean young master. He wore a Feline Eye Emerald on his head and his skin was glowing.


    He waved a foldable fan around. "It is so boring in the Sect as there is nothing big happening there. It is still more interesting outside. Even a small purchase like this could be so interesting."


    "You are here, Master Qing!"


    Qian Fusheng and Little San bowed and were humbled to see him.


    "I will personally follow this guy. You both should continue whatever you are doing!"


    Master Qing looked in the direction Fang Yuan went and gave a mischievous look.


    "Yes, Master!"


    Qian Fusheng and Little San looked at each other, both looking helpless.


    ...¡­.


    "Hmm?"


    After exiting the Four Seas Court, Fang Yuan went past a few shops and frowned.


    The combination of his two techniques in martial arts allowed his inner power to be very powerful for a [Martial Artist (5th Gate)]. Additionally, he had a higher than average magical energy and therefore he could sense someone stalking him.


    "Someone is following me? Could it be that the person wants to pick up a fight just over a few seeds of the Emerald Grass? Impossible!"


    He realised his guess was wrong and found out the reason why. "Looks like it was a taboo for me to find out the whereabouts of the spiritual land¡­.. After all, only the Spirit Returning Sect has control over the only spiritual land in Qinghe County¡­.."


    Even though his plan was well thought-out, Fang Yuan had lived in the mountains for so long and was therefore careless in handling the situation.


    "How can the Four Seas Court afford to send a [Martial Artist (4th or 5th Gate)] just to stalk me?"


    Such a skilled martial artist was not the common type, which surprised Fang Yuan.


    At that moment, he swiftly turned into a small alley and disappeared.


    "Hmm?"


    Not long after, Master Qing also reached the alley. "Did he realise that I was stalking him?"


    Master Qing was not afraid and decided to go after Fang Yuan instead of retreating.


    The alley was short and led to a dead end.


    "Thief, watch my claw!"


    "Whiz!"


    His clothing was torn into pieces.


    Fang Yuan was ready to attack anyone who had ill intentions against him.


    "Haha¡­.. What an idiot! Who would reveal their position when ambushing?"


    Master Qing laughed and folded his fan. Without looking back, he struck his foot backwards. "Flying Swallow Piercing Strike!"


    The normal fan was comparable to a sharp sword when in Master Qing''s hands. The fan pierced towards the black shadow and rustled through the air.


    "Chi!"


    The fan easily struck into the black shadow, but it was at this moment where Master Qing felt something was wrong.


    "Oh no!"


    He subconsciously retreated and defended himself with his fan.


    The first wrong step snowballed into subsequent errors.


    Missing his first move caused him to be at a disadvantage!


    "Chi!"


    Suddenly, the opponent''s intense Eagle Claw appeared right in front of him.


    "Good!"


    Master Qing was excited as he witnessed this Eagle Claw Technique. He retreated a few steps and distanced himself away from Fang Yuan. "Great Eagle Claw Technique! Compared to Yu Qiuleng''s, yours is only slightly inferior. Who is your master?"


    With such skilful martial arts, he must have been taught by someone well-known.


    "You have only attained 4th Grade of Eagle Claw Iron Skin Technique? Looks like your skills are still shallow. I am a 5th Gate Martial Artist!


    Master Qing proudly announced his skill.


    "What an idiot!"


    Fang Yuan looked into his eyes and felt sorry for him.


    Such a person who would reveal his own cultivation level to his enemy was either extremely confident or a fool.


    Unfortunately for Master Qing, he belonged to the latter!


    "It would be slightly difficult to defeat a [Martial Artist (5th Gate)] executing the Black Sand Palm, but that is just a mere obstacle to me!"


    Fang Yuan looked at the proficiency points of his Eagle Claw Iron Skin Technique and exclaimed. Executing the Eagle Claw Iron Skin Technique, his hands started striking out into space like a pair of claws.


    "Hold on a second!"


    Master Qing was anxiously trying to understand the situation. "This must be a misunderstanding!"


    He only wanted to stalk and spy on Fang Yuan, so how did it become a fight to the death for both of them?


    Also, he did not expect the person in front of him to be so hard to get along and violent.


    ''Luckily for me¡­..my inner power is far greater than his. He is using too much of his inner power to attack and will not last long. Once he has exhausted his strength, I will be able to¡­..''


    Master Qing thought for a moment and was overwhelmed by Fang Yuan''s quick and incessant claws, which suddenly increased by folds!


    "[Eagle Claw Iron Skin Technique (Grade 5)]! How is that even possible?"


    When martial artists fight, a slight difference between the skills of the two would have a great impact on the outcome. How would it be possible for one to strengthen his power out of a sudden?


    Master Qing was shocked and the Eagle Claw Iron Skin Technique broke through his defences. His body flew up high into the air and knocked onto a wall.


    "You¡­.."


    His became pale and he spat out a mouthful of blood. "You can''t kill me¡­."


    "Why?"


    Fang Yuan went forward and hit away his crown, which revealed a long hair. "Just because you are a¡­..woman?"


    "You found out?"


    Master Qing screamed and her voice became crisp and high-pitched.


    "Only the blind will not be able to see through such lousy make-up!"


    Fang Yuan was speechless. "Who are you? Why are you stalking me? How are you related to the Four Seas Court?"


    "Humph!"


    He did not know why she could remain silent and unafraid after her real identity had been discovered.


    "Oh?"


    Fang Yuan popped his knuckles and snickered. "Lady, you better answer me now or else¡­.don''t think that I won''t dare to hit a lady!"


    She became afraid and started tearing after hearing Fang Yuan''s threat.

 36 Robbery

    ''You are quite skilful in martial arts but you are mentally weak, like a flower in a greenhouse, a delicate lady...''


    ''You have ties with Four Seas Court, and the Court can get their hands on large quantities of spiritual plants, so you must be somebody...''


    Fang Yuan was a smart person, and his chain of thoughts brought him to a conclusion. "Spirit Returning Sect?"


    This lady was highly skilled and was on par with Song Yujie, and was therefore obvious that she was a skilled disciple of the Spirit Returning Sect.


    If he killed her, he would likely get himself more enemies.


    But of course, she only had the intention to stalk him, and therefore didn''t deserve to die.


    "What do you want! Don''t come near me!"


    Young Qing looked at Fang Yuan, feeling uneasy. She thought about the many stories of people being raped throughout the martial arts world and was scared out of her wits. "If you touch me... I will..."


    "Don''t you dare mention any backings that you might have, otherwise, I might just kill you!"


    Fang Yuan stuck his index finger out and flicked the skin of this young master. At this moment, the young master held her breath and stopped crying.


    "That''s right, much better!"


    He patted her cheeks.


    ''This lady''s skin is perfect and smooth as silk, comparable to the fur of the Flower Fox Ferret¡­...Pui... What am I even thinking?''


    Fang Yuan shook his head violently, and in a deep voice said, "After stalking me, are you prepared to compensate me?"


    "Compensate¡­?"


    The green master was lost.


    This pervert shouldn''t be thinking of doing any unruly actions, right? Why did he change so quickly?


    After panicking for a while, she calmed down and tried to made sense of things. ''Could it be that I am not attractive enough... And that even this pervert don''t even want me!?''


    She looked at Fang Yuan and felt that his eyes could kill someone just by staring.


    "What are you staring at? Unless you want your body to be searched?"


    Fang Yuan judged Master Qing, and even though she was not as skilful in martial arts, her figure was not bad.


    And by not having an Adam''s apple at her throat, she gave away her gender.


    "No! No!"


    Master Qing was anxious and almost sustained an internal injury. "Whatever you want... I... I will give you!"


    "I don''t want any martial arts manual!"


    He recalled the incomplete ''Spirit Returning Heart Manual'' which he looted from Song Yujie and thus felt that way. He held onto the object which Master Qing surrendered.


    He opened the shell-shaped box, saw its bright-red interior and became speechless.


    "This is the best Purple Scent Token in the county, worth 10 pieces of taels!" Master Qing replied weakly.


    "You rich people sure know how to play a fool!"


    Fang Yuan felt a little speechless, and when he knew that the lady was rich, the thought of kidnapping her arose.


    However, he was aware that her backing would not be any less influential compared to Song Yujie''s.


    This time although she lost, losing a little money would mean nothing, but letting her know about the dangers of the martial arts world would be the best lesson for her.


    If he indeed took the martial arts manual, or even kidnapped and blackmailed this green master, it would escalate the situation. The county might even close its gates to do a county-wide search.


    He knew that he could not deal with all those by himself.


    "Keke¡­... Young Qing, you''re quite rich eh?"


    Fang Yuan would be satisfied even if he was able to get a small fortune.


    "Qinghe Bank banknote, worth a 100 pieces of taels! And some loose change of 20 to 30 fragments of silver, and this jade bangle, and this hairpin, and this Emerald Feline Eye... Mmm, good deal, good deal!"


    Fang Yuan was used to being thrifty. He took the Feline Eye Emerald from her and smiled sheepishly to himself.


    In his eyes, Young Qing was his saviour.


    With this lady selflessly giving away her treasures, it quickly covered the cost of the spiritual plant he bought and even earned a little more.


    "You... You¡­...Boohoo..."


    Tears welled up in Young Qing''s eyes. The Golden Ticket was her hidden savings! She had just deposited it in the bank today but had to give up the ticket now.


    She was lucky not to have tried threatening Fang Yuan.


    "I know, you would definitely find someone to take revenge! As long as it''s not a senior, I''ll accept the challenge!"


    Fang Yuan tilted his chin and appeared boastful. "Among our age group, I, Young Martial God Wu Ming, is not scared of anyone!"


    "Young Martial God Wu Ming!"


    Young Qing repeated these few words to herself, as though she wanted to remember them for life.


    "Mmm, get lost, and remember that I live at the ''Ends of the World'', and will welcome you anytime!"


    Fang Yuan kept the items, turned around and left.


    After acting, he ran for his life! how exciting!


    Of course, his name was not Wu Ming, and as for living at the ''Ends of the World'', it was the name of the largest motel he saw on his way here.


    Poor Young Qing was being lied to, and unaware. "Young Martial God Wu Ming! Ends of the World! You remember this, I will get my seniors within the Sect to avenge for me!"


    ...


    "An announcement from the Spirit Returning Sect: From investigations on the alleged Elder Song, he had killed the innocent and harmed fellow Sect members. It was long since a person became mad from mourning, and after discussion among the Elders, the unanimous decision is to expel him from the Sect and put him on the list of wanted criminals. Anyone who captures this thief will get a reward of one thousand taels, a martial artist manual, or a piece of Gui Yuan Order!"


    Time flew by and a few days passed. A crowd formed at the gate of the county, reading the newly posted announcement from the Sect, all confused.


    "Song Zhong, Elder Song? He''s a martial artist of 7th Gate! How did he end up in this state?"


    "I''ve heard that news that his son passed away, and that drove him crazy!"


    "He''s the one who created chaos and destroyed the Kou Village!"


    "Hehe... Do you think the Sect would even bother if it was only a few outsiders who were killed?"


    Within the discussion, a person claiming to have insider information laughed. "The only thing that will condemn him for life, is that he took the lives of a fellow sect member''s family, the Zhou Family!"


    "Zhou Family? Zhou Family from Qingye City? ..."


    "That''s right, I previously even saw the Zhou Family''s young master stepping up to file the appeal!"


    "And Song Zhong managed to escape?"


    "This is their own internal affairs, otherwise why do you think they are recruiting help?"


    "No matter what, here''s our chance!"


    ...


    As the word spread, many members of the martial arts world were enticed by the reward of capturing Song Zhong.


    Taels and martial arts manual may not mean much, but the Gui Yuan Order was no small reward. Whoever held this order would gain the respect of anyone from the Spirit Returning Sect like an honoured guest, and could even exchange the order for a favour from the sect.


    In theory, they would accede to any request that was possible!


    "Song Zhong... Gui Yuan Order?"


    Outside the city, in a farm shed, Fang Yuan stopped his training as soon as he heard the news.


    The city was too dangerous, and hard to escape if he got into any trouble. He could only escape if he had extreme Lightness Skill, otherwise, he would without a doubt be captured. Therefore, he left the city and took shelter from a farmer.


    He did not use much money; just a few taels were enough to satisfy the family and convince them to let him stay.


    He took a quick look at his stats window:


    "Name: Fang Yuan


    Essence: 2.7


    Spirit: 2.6


    Magic: 1.5


    Age: 18


    Cultivation: [Martial Artist (5th Gate)]


    Technique: [Black Sand Palm (Level 5)], [Eagle Claw Iron Skin Technique (Level 5)]


    Skill: [Medicine (Grade 2)], [Botany (Grade 3)]"


    "I was all along a [Martial Artist (5th Gate)], and the progress of Eagle Claw Iron Skin Technique towards Grade 5 was quick. I have finally attained it..."


    After grasping the basics, mastering other techniques would be simple, and even the standards to meet were lowered in the progress bar, so naturally, he would have a rapid progression.


    He used this feature to extort Young Qing a few days ago.


    After all, the Pain Gate was one of the 3 Perilous Gates, and if there was an accident, one would get injured with no hope of recovery. Therefore, Fang Yuan had no choice but to take it seriously.


    "Initially, I thought that I could return home after the issue was settled, and focus on training. Who would''ve thought that the incompetent Spirit Returning Sect could not contain Song Zhong, and even had to recruit the help of the public to capture him?"


    Fang Yuan did not understand.


    Of course, he didn''t know that the internal strife within Spirit Returning Sect has escalated out of control.


    The Sect Head, Shi Yutong was not resolute, and the two clans under the leadership of the elders, Elder Yan and Elder Han, were in conflict, which resulted in such an outcome.


    The Sect Head only wanted peace and have positive control over the entire situation, and as for Song Zhong, she did not care if he was dead or alive.


    Of course, Fang Yuan didn''t know so much, but he knew one thing!


    He would only find peace if Song Zhong was killed!


    Although he took steps to cover his traces, he still wasn''t sure if someone could track him down. By then, if the martial artist in the 3 Perilous Gate ordered for his death, he could never escape from him.


    "I need to take this opportunity to get rid of him, while the situation allows!"


    Fang Yuan had decided, wore his clothing, ran out and soon disappeared.


    ...


    It was a piece of cake to obtain information about Song Zhong.


    The entire county was looking for him.


    It was heard that this person killed with no regard to his own life, killed his way out of the Sect, and escaped to take refuge within the large green mountains.


    This mountain was a part of the mountainous ridge of Clear Spirit Mountains, and after shutting down the major arterial routes within the mountain, patrolling was conducted. Many martial artists brought along their dry rations and followed, hoping that sooner or later, he would be captured.


    "Oh! It''s so crowded?"


    Outside of the mountains, Fang Yuan looked up, and saw the sun burning down brilliantly, and looked around and the numerous martial artists around. He was speechless. "I shouldn''t be too hasty. I just need to follow the crowd and witness Song Zhong''s death!"


    Although the large green mountain was an arterial peak, it was also rather large. The mountain was covered in grass and trees, and to find a highly skilled martial artist hiding within was no easy feat.


    But Fang Yuan wasn''t rushed. He slowly scanned the vicinity, at the same time made a few new martial artists friends and started sharing their experiences.


    One day, at noontime, he was sleeping on a large piece of rock. Suddenly, he heard a delicate voice. "Senior, it''s him!"


    The delicate voice sounded familiar.


    He turned his head to the source of the sound and was shocked.

 37 Peeping

    In the depths of the forest, shadows flickered, and a few human figures appeared.


    The first to step forward was Young Qing, who had exhausted all her valuables in front of Fang Yuan. She wore a green dress and carried a sword at her waist. She looked even more stunning than she did the other day, but her piercing voice did much to mar her beauty.


    There were other young men and women around her, and Fang Yuan recognised one of the ladies in a yellow dress.


    It was more than just recognition. He was familiar with her, and they even had a marriage agreement previously!


    "Sister Leiyue!"


    Young Qing tugged Lin Leiyue''s sleeves and said, "That''s him¡­he''s the evil person who robbed me! You have to avenge me!"


    "How dare you steal from our Junior Qing!"


    Lin Leiyue gazed at Fang Yuan, stunned. The people with her had already unsheathed their swords and were surrounding Fang Yuan menacingly.


    This was because Young Qing had looked them up before, and they had searched the whole Qingye County and the Four Seas Court for this ''Young Martial God Wu Ming'' to no avail. Of course they were angry.


    "Wait!"


    Lin Leiyue suddenly held up a hand, and slowly stepped forward. She was unsure and looked at Fang Yuan with hesitation.


    "You are...Brother Fang?"


    "Hehe¡­"


    Fang Yuan rubbed his nose and said, "To think that you still remember me!"


    He was also surprised to see that the young lass in his memory had gone through a complete makeover. She now had the airs of a big sister.


    "Wait!"


    Young Qing looked at Lin Leiyue, then at Fang Yuan. She was confused.


    "Isn''t Wu his surname? How did it become Fang?"


    "Qing!"


    Lin Leiyue wiped her brow embarrassedly and asked, "Are you really sure that it''s this person?"


    "That''s right, I''ll recognise him even if he was reduced to ashes. Big Sister, you know him?"


    Young Qing''s heart began to beat faster.


    After all, it was against the rules of the martial world to tail Fang Yuan in the first place.


    "Fang Yuan? Fang Yuan! I remember! Isn''t he the person you were once betrothed to?"


    One of the onlooking young disciples, most probably one of Lin Leiyue''s many admirers, glared at Fang Yuan with a look that could kill.


    "So it''s him!"


    Immediately, Fang Yuan became aware that all the males present hated on him more than ever. He was beleaguered by many pairs of flashing eyes that seemed to will him into burning up in flames.


    "Crap, did I kill their fathers or steal their wives? Is this hatred even justified?"


    Fang Yuan was speechless.


    In truth, Lin Leiyue was one of the most beautiful women in the Spirit Returning Sect. Coupled with her talent and gentle demeanour, as well as her high status, she was adored by many. Thus, when the admirers found out that Fang Yuan had a former rightful claim to her, they all saw it as an intense rivalry.


    "Ah haha!"


    Fang Yuan felt slightly awkward dealing with Miss Qing. But this was not the case with Lin Leiyue.


    After all, he had watched her grow up and they had no bad blood. Therefore, there was nothing to be guilty about.


    "So it''s you, Sister Leiyue. It seems like you are living well in the Spirit Returning Sect. This is a cause for celebration indeed!"


    "I''m sorry for what happened before!"


    Lin Leiyue had turned slightly red, and she bowed apologetically.


    She was unsure about her feelings towards her former fianc¨¦.


    But after this outing, she had at least understood that the world was vast and that she did not want to limit her opportunities in any way.


    "Qing, Brother Fang is a friend of mine. This whole thing must be a joke. Let us drop this matter, shall we?"


    Leiyue gave Qing''s hand a squeeze.


    After all, it would hurt their reputation if word got out about how the Four Seas Court mistreated a visitor. It was widely rumoured that the Four Seas Court was working for the Spirit Returning Sect, and to have this matter escalate might confirm these rumours. Lin Leiyue did not want that.


    "Fine!"


    Qing felt like crying. Her secret savings were all gone.


    "But...you have to return the hairpin to me! It...it was given to me for my birthday by my grandfather!"


    In fact, Qing had made it all up. It was just the most expensive piece of jewellery out of the rest.


    "Oh, I''m sorry!"


    Fang Yuan laughed and took out the hairpin.


    "If I had offended you, Miss Qing, I hope that you won''t hold it against me!"


    "This is more like it!"


    Qing''s eyes gleamed, and she grabbed the hairpin from Fang Yuan greedily. She then thought to herself regretfully, ''If I had known that this lad was going to be this obliging, I would''ve asked him for more jewellery pieces...boohoo¡­''


    The more she thought about it, the more she cursed inwardly.


    "Alright, alright!"


    Lin Leiyue could not help but whisper into Qing''s ear.


    "Really?"


    Whatever she had heard must have delighted her, for Qing immediately jumped up and nodded vigorously.


    "Yes yes yes!"


    She then turned to Fang Yuan and said, "Let bygones be bygones. I won''t pursue the matter anymore. Brother Fang, you are welcome to rob me again. After all, someone''s going to pay me back doubly...hoho!"


    As the words left her, Qing immediately knew that she had made a mistake, and quickly covered her mouth.


    "Who would have known that this lass would be so money-grubbing and miserly¡­"


    The crowd had realised what was going on and did not know what to say to Qing.


    "Brother Fang, are you here for the Song Zhong issue? If I remember correctly, you don''t know martial arts¡­"


    Lin Leiyue smiled demurely and changed the subject deftly as if nothing had happened.


    "Ah I''ve been practising a little, and I want to see the bustling city for myself!"


    Fang Yuan replied carelessly.


    "Song Zhong is fierce and stubborn and is a highly skilled pugilist. He''s still a great threat even though he might be injured. Please be careful!"


    Lin Leiyue had no idea about Fang Yuan''s background and warned him out of concern.


    "Okay!"


    Fang Yuan nodded and turned to leave.


    "Stop!"


    At this point, one of the onlooking young men stepped in front of Fang Yuan, blocking his passage.


    "Have you not heard Sister Lin? This is not a place you can stay in for an extended period of time. Don''t think that you can go on a rampage with your half-assed skills. Leave while you can!"


    A bunch of young male disciples, regardless of their near-zero chances with Lin Leiyue, were worried that sparks would fly between Fang Yuan and Lin Leiyue. They all had the same goal in mind, to eliminate this competitor!


    "Ah, Brother Zhao, that''s where you are wrong!"


    A male disciple with a freckled face laughed coldly and stepped forward.


    "Since this Young Master Fang was able to bully our Sister Qing, it must mean that he is very highly-skilled. Although I am untalented, I challenge you to a fight. Do have mercy on me!"


    "How can you leave me out of this?"


    "Let me! Let me!"


    The male disciples were worked up into a frenzy, eyes gleaming with bloodlust.


    This was their best chance to prove themselves in front of Lin Leiyue!


    "Qing, tell me honestly. What''s your progress in the Qingluo Technique that Master taught you?"


    As she observed the going-ons around her, Lin Leiyue pulled Young Qing towards her and whispered the question into her ear.


    "Grade 5!"


    Qing stuck out her tongue.


    "Ssss¡­"


    Lin Leiyue sucked in a breath of cold air.


    Young Qing was a crazy lass. She was a lady and had the backing of powerful figures in the Sect. None of the male disciples dared to go all out when sparring with her. As a result, not many people were aware of Qing''s true abilities.


    But this Fang Yuan, hasn''t he only been practising martial arts for a short while? How could he have defeated a martial artist of the 5th Gate?


    Lin Leiyue observed Fang Yuan a while more and realised for the first time that this young lad from the valley was indeed mysterious. She had wanted to defuse the situation but was at a loss for words now.


    "This¡­"


    Fang Yuan quickly scanned his immediate surroundings and deduced that these were basically martial artists who were either at the 4th or 5th Gates in martial art cultivation. They were no match for him, especially after he had consumed so much spiritual food.


    "This...is the effect of magical energy?"


    Fang Yuan was suddenly enlightened. Magical energy led to alertness and willpower! If he had more magical energy than normal, he would be able to gauge the skill level of his opponents through detailed observations. He would also be able to conceal his own abilities. Of course, the prerequisite was that he could not be too far behind in martial arts cultivation than these adversaries.


    Right now, after Fang Yuan had made some adjustments, none of his foes could tell that he was actually a master in his own right, having broken through the 5th Gate. On the other hand, their skills and abilities were all obvious to Fang Yuan.


    "I can''t gauge Lin Leiyue''s abilities though. She has a clear and bright aura emanating from her body. That is not normal!"


    Fang Yuan increased his alertness but displayed a cornered look outwardly.


    "This...probably isn''t a good idea! I''m a country bumpkin with no self-restraint. What if I hurt you all too badly?"


    "What?!"


    The crowd of male disciples were enraged by Fang Yuan''s taunt, and the freckled disciple shouted, "If I am killed by you, it can only be said that I was unlucky. No one shall avenge me. Everyone here, be my witness!"


    "Come on!"


    Under the gaze of Lin Leiyue and a few female juniors, he was eager to show off and jumped right into the fray.


    "The humble Sun Tieshu, looking forward to being schooled by you!"


    ''Idiot!''


    At this, Fang Yuan silently rolled his eyes.


    If the crowd had ganged up on Fang Yuan, he would have been on the losing end no matter how skilled he was.


    But this bunch of jokers actually intended to take turns to fight him individually. They must be tired of living!


    It was just as well that his Eagle Claw Iron Skin Technique required more practice to increase proficiency points. This battle was a good opportunity.


    However, just as Fang Yuan prepared to fight, his body hairs suddenly stood on end.


    This feeling reminded him of a chilling encounter back when he was four or five years old. He was taking a stroll in the forest then and was eyed by a wolf hiding in the shadows.


    ''Is this¡­an ambush?''


    Fang Yuan glided back by several steps and glanced at Lin Leiyue. Then he was struck by a realisation!


    "It''s Song Zhong!"


    "To think that he would be this headstrong. Even as he is wanted from all sides by his enemies, he chooses to retaliate instead of hiding!"


    "Lin Leiyue is the direct disciple of the sect leader and has a very important status. She will be a good hostage!"


    "But isn''t there word out there that Song Zhong is gravely injured? Are the stories untrue?"


    ...


    His mind whirring, Fang Yuan distanced himself from Lin Leiyue.


    She was the epicentre of trouble and it was best to get away from her.


    "Punk, you''re running away?"


    When Sun Tieshu saw that Fang Yuan was retreating, he paused.


    "Trying to be funny huh? Are you going to be a piece of trash now?"


    "Ah...yes, I''m physically weak. How can I ever hope to match you people? I have been a laughing stock! I''ll take my leave!"


    Fang Yuan spouted a load of nonsense and withdrew to the sidelines.


    It was at this moment that everything changed!

 38 Intense Battle

    "Whoosh!"


    "Bang!"


    A loud noise was heard. Numerous steel needles flew towards a group of Spirit Returning Sect disciples.


    "Hidden weapons?"


    Fang Yuan was confused. He was already prepared to jump forward and hide behind a giant rock to escape the incoming needles.


    "Puff!"


    However, the group of disciples were not so lucky.


    There were piercing sounds everywhere and there was a bloody explosion in the forest. Many corpses were lying on the ground and the whole scene became very bloody.


    After that wave of attack, Fang Yuan then popped half of his head out and saw Disciple Sun, who was mocking him previously, lying down in a pool of blood. His body became like a hornet''s nest.


    A long silhouette appeared and it seemed to be carrying something.


    "That is Song Zhong!"


    Lin Leiyue screamed and waved her sleeve. A hidden arrow was shot up into the sky and a high-pitched noise was heard. It then exploded into flames.


    "Hehe...are you going to look for Elder Li?"


    Song Zhong saw what happened and laughed. "There is no need for you to do anything! I have already brought him here!"


    He tossed and the object he was carrying in his hand suddenly rolled towards Lin Leiyue.


    "Master Li?!" [1]


    Miss Qing screamed and almost fainted.


    What Song Zhong was carrying was Master Li''s head, with his eyes still open. Whose head could it be other than his?


    "How is it possible?"


    Seeing this scene, Lin Leiyue felt light headed.


    "Haha¡­.This Old Li''s Scorching Sun Palm is quite powerful. Unfortunately, it is still inferior compared to mine!"


    Song Zhong coughed out a mouthful of blood and was still very cocky. "Shi Yutong that slut, she thought that I was injured badly and sent you to finish me off. She also sent Elder Li to keep a lookout for you just in case¡­.However, she didn''t expect that I would have a chance to obtain the Resurrection Pill left by the divine healer. Thus, I had already recovered from my injuries. Haha¡­."


    Lin Leiyue closed her mouth and felt hopeless.


    Lin Leiyue had read about the Resurrection Pill in the sect''s secret manuals before. It was named as such as the pill would be able to resurrect a dead person as long as he had a remaining breath. He would be able to recover within the night but would surely die after 7 days!


    Within the 7 days, the martial artist''s essence, spirit and magic would be at his peak.


    Since Elder Li was ranked higher than Song Zhong in the sect and Song Zhong was definitely inferior to him, how could he be killed so easily?


    Lin Leiyue broke out in cold sweat.


    The situation had come to a point beyond salvation.


    Even if the other elders from the sect saw the signal for help and rushed here to help them, they would probably not be able to stay alive till then.


    After all, there was a huge difference between the inner power of a martial artist at 2 Peaceful Gates and that of another at 3 Perilous Gates. Even if the opponent was able to suppress his injuries and start a killing spree, he would still be counterattacked with serious injuries!


    "Elder Song, we both have nothing against each other. Why are you doing this?"


    Lin Leiyue asked calmly.


    "Nothing against each other?"


    Song Zhong laughed and said, "Shi Yutong that slut had kicked me out of the sect and had ordered me to be killed. I will not let you go today for what you have done to my son!"


    As Fang Yuan heard his words, he kept his head low and was even more confused when Song Zhong looked at him.


    Even though he knew that Song Zhong was unaware of the real murderer, but being an ex-fianc¨¦ of Lin Leiyue, Song Zhong would definitely not spare him and Lin Leiyue the ''adulterous couple''!


    Luckily, Song Zhong was putting most of his attention on Lin Leiyue. Fang Yuan was convinced that Song Zhong would kill himself after killing the rest.


    ''This case was serious. If Song Zhong knew who was the real murderer, I would surely not be spared¡­."


    Fang Yuan was speechless.


    With his magical energy, Fang Yuan could feel that he was being watched even though Song Zhong had put most of his attention on Lin Leiyue.


    "What do you want now?"


    Lin Leiyue became nervous as Song Zhong kept going nearer to her.


    How could one who had consumed the Resurrection Pill and was going to die 7 days later be keeping her hostage? Song Zhong had wanted her to die together with him.


    Plus, he would also not spare Fang Yuan and the rest of the disciples.


    "I''m going to die¡­. I have yet to explore the vast world¡­. I''m not ready to die!"


    Lin Leiyue bit her teeth tightly and said, "Everyone, listen up. This person is out of control. We have to work together to defeat him! Elder Li is highly skilled and Song Zhong must have been injured while fighting against Elder Li!"


    Lin Leiyue was speaking to the desperate survivors. After hearing what she said and seeing that Song Zhong has a burnt palm print on his chest and a bloody mouth, they seemed hopeful.


    "Miss Lin, you have a good foresight¡­. Unfortunately, you have no idea what an injured 7th Gate martial artist can do!"


    Song Zhong went forward.


    He appeared relaxed but was still able to move swiftly to one of the male disciples. He casually grabbed the disciple''s neck and strangled him to death. His lifeless corpse fell to the ground.


    A [Martial Artist (7th Gate)] was indeed mighty.


    "Frozen Moon Swordplay!"


    At that moment, Lin Leiyue exclaimed as she struck towards Song Zhong in front of the rest who were in shock.


    "Whoosh!"


    Her shiny sword gave out a hint of cold energy as it was special.sy


    "Great sword skills! Great inner power!"


    Song Zhong focused and deflected the sword with his fingernail.


    "Ding!"


    With a distinct resonance from the sword fight, Lin Leiyue fell a few steps back and looked at Song Zhong who was pale and expressionless. She was delighted. "This person''s skills have dropped tremendously and is weaker than a 7th Gate martial artist. Don''t be fooled by him!"


    "I should really kill this b*tch!"


    Song Zhong''s expression changed and leapt forward.


    "Flying Swallow Piercing Strike!"


    "Green Emerald Palm!"


    "Frozen Frosty Moon!"


    Under the encouragement of Lin Leiyue, the remaining disciples attacked together without holding back and managed to surround Song Zhong.


    "You crazy clown, how dare you create trouble here?"


    Song Zhong was surrounded and gave a ferocious look. "It is because I have exhausted my Bone Piercing Needles. If not, how are you able to survive till now?"


    "Furthermore, you all have no idea how powerful a 3 Perilous Gate expert with inner force can be!"


    Song Zhong looked at both of his hands and his shirt started moving on his own. "Demonic Wind Hand!"


    He shouted and both of his palms produced a shockingly powerful force.


    "Puff! Puff!"


    Miss Qing and the rest changed their expressions and felt a great force going towards them. They were then thrown back and suffered internal injuries.


    They were martial artists of the 4th or 5th Gate, and as such, possessed only inner power and not inner force.


    After the Pain Gate was broken through, the inner power would be combined and after intense training, energy akin to indestructible metallic-like threads would form. That would truly be inner force!


    The difference between inner power and inner force was huge.


    This was why a [Martial Artist (6th Gate)] could become an Elder of a sect, which would allow one to have power and prestige.


    Song Zhong was demonstrating his power and only the talented Lin Leiyue could survive with the help of a spiritual pill. The rest of the disciples were all defeated.


    "Cough¡­."


    After one move, Song Zhong''s face became flushed and he was quite surprised that Lin Leiyue was still surviving. "You actually survived. You should feel proud of yourself even though you are going to die next!"


    Lin Leiyue was holding her sword with her right hand and it trembled slightly. Despite that, she was still calm.


    The spiritual pill inside her body was healing her previous injuries. If she could survive this fight, she would likely become an expert in martial arts!


    With her talent, he needed to destroy her completely to deny her any chances of survival. Otherwise, she would be able to make an unexpected comeback.


    "But¡­.how am I still able to survive? Almost all the disciples are wiped out¡­."


    Lin Leiyue had sealed up all her acupoints to recover from her internal injuries but it was still not an easy task.


    "Even though Fang Yuan is a Martial Artist (5th Gate), he had missed golden opportunity to attack. Even if he does help now, what is the point?"


    At that moment, she was filled with despair.


    "B*tch, I will send you now to see my dead son¡­.."


    Song Zhong took in a deep breath and managed to suppress his injuries. He then took a few steps forward.


    It seemed like the previous fight was not an easy one for him. Suddenly, he sensed a slight movement in his surroundings.


    "Hmm¡­.trying to escape?"


    He turned his head, grabbed a stone and threw it at Fang Yuan


    "Whiz!"


    A high-pitched noise came from the flying rock as if it was an arrow being shot from a bow, and it hit a silhouette.


    "Bang!"


    The rock landed and a crater was formed. The silhouette managed to dodge the rock, and it happened to be Fang Yuan.


    He touched his head and smiled. "You can continue old man. I promise I will not say anything out to anyone¡­."


    Miss Qing, who was lying down and coughing out blood, heard what Fang Yuan said and became angry.


    They were fighting for their lives here and this bast*rd was trying to escape? Hmph! He was definitely an assh*le. It made her furious to think that she actually thought that he was a good guy.


    "I am not deaf. Are you this b*tch''s fianc¨¦?"


    Song Zhong squinted his eyes and examined Fang Yuan. "Since you are, you shall not be spared as well!"


    "What the f*ck? Crazy old man, please do tell me if you are tired of living!"


    Fang Yuan was furious.


    What was there to say to the person who was trying to kill him?


    His expression became serious and his skin tone started to darken. Both of his hands formed the shape of the Eagle Claws and he leapt forward.


    "Chirp!"


    While he was executing the Eagle Claw Technique, it swept through the air and produced a sound like an eagle''s cry.


    Song Zhong closed his eyes and felt as if a flying overlord was flying swiftly towards him from the sky.


    "Great Eagle Claw!"


    At that moment, the rest were all in shock.


    [1] Master Li and Elder Li are the same person.

 39 Murderer

    "Die, old fool!"


    Fang Yuan bellowed, and his back muscles moved like how a bird spread its wings.


    A large power welled up in his back and travelled to his arms, wrists, palms and finally to the tips of his fingers.


    "Pitter-patter!"


    The joints in his body exploded with energy. The joints in his body acted as leverage. With each joint, the power increased manifold.


    "Eagle Claw!"


    Lin Leiyue was shocked when she witnessed the scene that unfolded in front of her.


    She had seen the move executed by Yu Qiuleng, who was renowned for the Eagle Claw Technique. Other than the fact that Yu Qiuleng was more skilled than Fang Yuan, the young lad was comparable in terms of vitality and spirit.


    "Is this still the old Brother Fang?"


    Lin Leiyue was astonished and did not know what to think.


    "He is so... so..."


    Her jaw dropped and the image of a gentle and prim lady was gone.


    She could only think of one thing, "If he had used his full power then, I would not have been alive!"


    In truth, she had overestimated Fang Yuan.


    Fang Yuan was not as skilled in the Eagle Claw Technique then as he was now If he had trained systematically, he would have made rapid progress in his martial arts skills.


    It was apt to say that he was seen in a new light after not seeing him for a few days as his skills had greatly improved.


    "Huhu!"


    The claws were capable of ripping organs. The gust generated by the claws were sufficient to cut the skin even before the claws landed on target.


    "Good lad!"


    Song Zhong panted, his face red. He waved his hands in the air to form a sign, "Demonic Wind Hand!"


    "Boom!"


    The claw and the palm made contact and a loud sound was heard.


    "Whoosh!"


    The dust rose. Fang Yuan flew away and landed squarely on the ground, a trail of blood dripping from the corner of his mouth.


    "Why are your inner power and your stamina so overbearing?"


    Song Zhong stood his ground, his face puzzled. He let out a laugh. "It''s a shame, no matter how unreasonable, that you will never be able to bridge the gap... cough cough...."


    Purplish-black blood started to spurt out while he was talking.


    "If you are a normal 6th Gate Martial Artist, I would naturally run away... but you are just an old dog. How long can your body last?"


    Fang Yuan wriggled the joints in his palms which cracked with a crisp sound.


    He had heard that the Resurrection Pill could only treat injuries once and keep the martial artist at his peak. It was effective in treating Elder Li''s injuries even before he was attacked by Lin Leiyue and the others.


    "Old...old dog?!"


    Song Zhong was stumped. Even Lin Leiyue was shocked.


    "You...you punk, you are dead meat!"


    Song Zhong seethed with anger. He had never been humiliated like this before as he was a [Martial Artist (7th Gate)].


    Even when he was banished from the sect, a small disagreement led to this bloodshed.


    Yet, his punk dared to insult him in the face?


    Lin Leiyue found it hard to believe and came to a misperception that the world had undergone a great change.


    "Haha... Old dog, it is still unconfirmed who will live and who will die!"


    Fang Yuan laughed and attacked, giving Song Zhong no opportunity to reply, "Watch my combo!"


    Song Zhong was at his wit''s end. However, he had a strong foundation in the martial arts. There was no one around that could match his inner power if he was given enough time to recover.


    As such, the only strategy was to attack relentlessly!


    Fang Yuan was confident in this aspect!


    After all, he had almost twice as much Essence as a commoner, which meant that he had extraordinary endurance and recovery.


    He was able to narrow the gap due to his inner power from the combination of Black Sand Palm (Grade 5) and the Eagle Claw Iron Skin Technique.


    "Schhhh"


    The gust generated from Eagle Claw cut the air.


    "Impossible, how did you recover so fast?"


    Song Zhong was astonished. He gritted his teeth and asked, "Are you trying to wear me out?"


    His face, which was originally red, started to have blood droplets flowing out from the pores, "The soul must burn to unleash the blood demon!"


    That was his secret move which allowed him to suppress his injury and boost his final strength. He had previously used it to kill Elder Li. The stress caused by using it a second time broke his body.


    "Die! Demonic Wind Hand¡ª¡ª Blood Palm!"


    Song Zhong lunged forward. Fresh blood dripped from his right hand and formed a coat of red around his palm. His palm clashed with the Eagle Claw.


    "Boom!"


    There was another resounding noise as Fang Yuan flew backwards. His face changed and he vomited a large amount of fresh blood, "This feels good!"


    His eyes were fervent and he stood back up, "Again!"


    "This lad... is he crazy?!"


    Song Zhong was afraid of this fighting style that Fang Yuan displayed. Fang Yuan was totally not concerned about his life.


    "Whoosh!"


    The sound created by those outside could be heard. Given by the sound produced, it was safe to say that there were highly-skilled fighters amongst them in the all-out pursuit of Song Zhong.


    Song Zhong paled. He immediately turned and fled into the densely vegetated jungle.


    Given the situation, there was no way he could murder the ''adulterous couple''. The only way was to hide and wait for the opportunity to arise.


    He still had plenty of opportunities as long as it was within seven days. This was especially true for the youth in front of him. Fang Yuan was very difficult to handle and without resting, Song Zhong was uncertain of being able to beat him.


    "Where are you going?"


    Fang Yuan bellowed as he gave chase.


    How could he let his opponent escape?


    Even if he knew the properties of the Resurrection Pill, there was a possibility in this vast world that Song Zhong might encounter a miracle and survive. Fang Yuan would never be at ease unless he saw Song Zhong dead before his eyes.


    When would there be a better opportunity?


    His opponent''s energy was depleted. It was a good opportunity to kill Song Zhong even for someone of his skill level.


    There might not be another opportunity if he missed it.


    "Whoosh!"


    In the deep forest, the two of them ran. No one knew how far they had run.


    "This old fool really has a lot of endurance. I wonder if it is the effect of the pill. "


    Fang Yuan saw that the distance between the two of them was not narrowing. He looked around at the surroundings before he shouted, "Old dog, don''t you want to know how your precious son died?"


    "What?"


    Upon hearing this, Song Zhong stopped running and turned around, his eyes fixed on Fang Yuan. "What do you know? Speak!"


    There was still a distance between Song Zhong and the troops. Even if he was delayed, he would have sufficient time to escape. He was more concerned about the truth and made the decision to stop.


    "Who killed that dog...Haha..."


    Fang Yuan did not stop. He rushed forward, his hands forming the Eagle Claw and struck at Song Zhong. "Go and ask your son!"


    "You brat!"


    Song Zhong''s expression turned cold. "Do you really think I cannot kill you?"


    He raised his palms towards the sky. An unyielding power could be felt from his palms.


    "Bang!"


    The fist and the claw met. Song Zhong''s expression changed. "No¡­you..."


    He stumbled back and looked at his hands, only to see that there were holes in his palms with black blood flowing out.


    "You used poison...no, this is the Black Sand Palm...It was you!"


    His eyes were bloodshot. He leapt forward, only to crash onto the ground.


    "I hate you! I hate you!"


    Song Zhong roared as he looked at his palm. He glared at Fang Yuan with a look that could kill.


    If he had known that the killer of his son was standing right before him, he would have used all means available to kill Fang Yuan, even if he had to sacrifice his life.


    However, he had been plotted against and there was no way he could retaliate.


    "You used the Resurrection Pill and used the secret arts many times. Your energy is depleted and you are crippled...After my Black Sand Palm, there is no way you would be able to survive. On this day next year, it will be your death anniversary!"


    Fang Yuan''s expression was cold. He took out a Yama''s Order and consumed it.


    Song Zhong was undoubtedly a master of the 3 Perilous Gates. He was struck by the Black Sand Palm and was injured but managed to counter his opponent''s attack on his inner power. This caused a portion of the Pearl Tail Snake''s poison to backflow, causing harm to Fang Yuan as well.


    However, Fang Yuan had the Yama''s Order which was able to act as an antidote to the poison.


    Song Zhong was not so lucky.


    "Please be on your way!"


    Fang Yuan stepped forward and looked at Song Zhong who was already unable to speak. His expression turned cold. "Song Yujie repeatedly send people to cause trouble to me. Do you expect me to die and not retaliate?"


    "As for you, you are yet another troublemaker. I cannot let you live for one more day!"


    While the Resurrection Pill was able to work miracles, its effects could be nullified. There were a few fabled magical pills that could save Song Zhong''s life.


    Fang Yuan did not want to create more problems even if it was unlikely.


    "Please be on your way. Remember not to trifle with me in your next life!"


    Fang Yuan nodded his head, lifted his right hand and brought it down sharply.


    "Boom!"


    Blood spurted out.


    ...


    Outside the forest, the sound of hurried footsteps could be head.


    "Footprints, over there!"


    "Song Zhong is just ahead. He is not going anywhere!"


    A group of martial artists surrounded the area. At the front of the group was Lin Leiyue and two protectors of the Spirit Returning Sect.


    "Leiyue, did that friend of yours chase after Song Zhong alone?"


    A protector shook her head, "Oh dear, that old thief is highly skilled and cunning. Your friend might have already fallen into his hands."


    "Fang Yuan... He would not!"


    Miss Qing said from the side. Those who had seen Fang Yuan and Song Zhong clashed would have confidence in him as well.


    "Hmmm... Song Zhong possessed a high level of inner force. A person with inner power would not be able to stand up to him. Even if he was avaricious, he would have died..."


    Another person chipped in but stopped momentarily when Lin Leiyue looked at him..


    "Hmmm? Someone is here!"


    The people in front came to a stop when they saw a silhouette walking out of the dense forest.


    "Brother Fang!"


    Miss Qing was pleasantly surprised. "Where is that old traitor, Song Zhong?"


    "Here!"


    Fang Yuan raised his right hand and Song Zhong''s severed head appeared. This caused the onlookers to be bewildered and uncertain.


    "The old traitor had been served his just dessert?"


    The two protectors could not believe their eyes.

 40 Secret News

    Song Zhong, the previous elder of the Spirit Returning Sect, had been executed!


    The news travelled far and wide within the entire Qinghe County, and of course, there was another not-so-credible rumour which said that if the one who gave the final strike was a young man, he must be highly skilled and therefore deserving of the rewards the Sect had promised.


    Many martial artists did not believe that a young man could take down Song Zhong.


    Who was Song Zhong? He was a renowned fearsome martial artist of the 7th Gate and an expert in inner force!


    Even the eldest disciple of Spirit Returning Sect, Lin Leiyue could not hold a candle to Song Zhong. How skilful would the young man be to dare challenge the Spirit Returning Sect''s top disciple?


    This must be a rumour!


    Song Zhong was likely to have been taken down by a skilled Spirit Returning Sect member.


    Just by his cultivation level alone would allow him to wreck havoc in Qinghe County.


    Only a few who knew the truth became a little worried after hearing the rumours.


    ...


    "Fang Yuan, are you really leaving?"


    He was at a small pavilion near the outskirts of Qinghe County.


    Lin Leiyue appeared confused and looked at the young man on a horse. "Just by seeing your potential in martial arts cultivation alone, you can enter the Spirit Returning Sect and become a direct disciple..."


    "My apologies, I have been used to exploring the wild, and cannot tolerate being confined... Sister Leiyue, I shall see you when we meet again!"


    Fang Yuan rejected her offer, whipped the horse and galloped away. Not long after, he disappeared within the horizon.


    The many people within the Sect, and the main troublemaker, Lin Leiyue, would bring many problems to Fang Yuan if he were to accept her offer.


    Knowing this, why would he stay long in the county?


    After trading for what he wanted, Fang Yuan left the country without hesitation.


    However, as for Lin Leiyue, looking at his shadow disappearing in the horizon brought much disappointment as she felt conflicted.


    "Are you feeling regretful?"


    With a flash, Shi Yutong appeared within the pavilion like a ghost.


    "He has his path to go, and I have mine. Since he made the decision, what more can we do?"


    Lin Leiyue raised her head and stubbornly replied.


    "Mmm... That''s good!"


    Shi Yutong noded her head with satisfaction and looked in the direction where Fang Yuan left. "But, this fianc¨¦ of yours has shocking potential and is not the average person!"


    "He..."


    Lin Leiyue became excited. "Master... Please enlighten me!"


    "Keke..."


    Shi Yutong snickered, and touched her nose. "Girl, you have become competitive... Don''t worry, to me, you still have the greatest potential among your peers!"


    "Then why was it that previously..."


    Lin Leiyue was sceptical. Against Song Zhong, she could only withstand his fists and defend, but Fang Yuan could retaliate head-on and therefore everything felt illogical.


    "That was because that young man had a good foundation... Leiyue, you should have known. There are people who are able to harness and use their martial arts the moment they begin to learn it, and can even become Martial Artist (4th or 5th Gate)! Fang Yuan is as such, either he has a great natural talent, or that he had consumed some spiritual food or treasure, and based on your description, Song Zhong was at the brink of death and had used up most of his inner force, and fight after fight, he could be exhausted to death and I wouldn''t be surprised..."


    Shi Yutong explained.


    She felt that it was a pity that the young man had such great potential. He had exceedingly high Essence, Spirit and Magic. If his magical energy was many folds more of the average human, he would be a well-known legendary spiritual knight.


    But for this, even if he would be outstanding in his youth, his age would catch up.


    After all, inner force was magical and cannot seem to be depleted when one was harnessing it.


    No matter one''s foundation, those who had the inner force befitting of the 3 Perilous Gates would undergo a drastic change in their bodies.


    Those with better physical quality would experience slower progress when they reach this stage, albeit still having a small advantage over the others, but it would not be as obvious as before.


    Shi Yutong looked at her disciple and commented, "Leiyue, don''t be discouraged. You have gained through this experience. If you can break through the 6th Gate, you would be the first among the young people within Qinghe County!"


    "Yes, Master!"


    Lin Leiyue clenched her fist, looked in the direction with Fang Yuan left, and seemed as though she was not willing to admit defeat.


    ...


    "Go!"


    Fang Yuan sped off on his horse, and seeing the scenery beside him fly past, he felt free like a fish in the ocean, a bird in the sky, a tiger in the forest.


    Qinghe County was complicated, like a giant trap.


    He was still unfamiliar with the outside world, had little relations with the powerful people, and therefore might not be pulled into conflicts.


    But that might not be the case if he decided to stay longer within the county, or even join the Spirit Returning Sect.


    "At the end of the day, the treasures from the outside world cannot compare to the comfort of my home!"


    Fang Yuan smiled to himself.


    He had gained a lot from this trip to the county.


    Defeating Song Zhong and collecting spiritual plants is one thing, and gaining from the Spirit Returning Sect''s hidden library is another.


    He was rewarded with the Elemental Returning Order for killing Song Zhong and used it to exchange for a visit to the hidden library.


    If he requested for a martial arts manual, he knew he would die and the Elemental Returning Order would not be able to save him.


    But if he requested to take a look at the normal books, that would be effortless to the Sect and he would not be denied entry.


    Seeing his relationship with Lin Leiyue, Shi Yutong very quickly agreed after he requested for the visit. She allowed Fang Yuan to stay and browse through the books for 3 days.


    The only regret Fang Yuan had was being unable to see for himself the real Wu Zong in the legends.


    "Hmm... There are so many highly skilled sect members observing me, just not the great Wu Zong!"


    Fang Yuan laughed and slowed the horse down.


    The truth is that other then the system within his mind, if word of his martial arts spreads out, it would at most be taken as a small miracle.


    Without looking at the explanations within the system, who would believe that he had the ability to cultivate spiritual plants, and even allow normal plants to evolve and have special traits?


    Because of this, he was unafraid.


    It still led him to feel uneasy with so many people spying on him.


    "Heh... Spirit Returning Sect, what''s so good about you?"


    As he was quite a distance from Qinghe County, he slowed the horse down and slowly paced forward.


    "But for a price to pay, it was worth it!"


    He thought through in the perspective of the sect. After all, he was an outsider and precautions still had to be taken against him. Understanding their rationale was one thing, accepting it was another.


    The risk of entering the hidden library was worth it.


    Within the many books and literature artefacts, Fang Yuan found what he was looking for.


    "I never knew... This world is so huge! Comparatively, a normal martial artist would never have the chance to know the truth... Even the spiritual knights only know the tip of the iceberg, what more about the mysterious alchemy masters and dream masters?"


    This information was obtained from a biography of a martial artist, and it was like a treasure to him.


    The author of the book was an elder in the sect long ago. He managed to break through every single Gate possible, and by exploring the outside world, he had the chance to exceed Wu Zong.


    Although he did not succeed at the end, he passed on not long after returning to the Sect, he left behind lots of discussion and stories of his exploration, and it was an overload of information about the outside world.


    Within his discussion, he mentioned the formation of spiritual lands.


    "The spiritual land is formed by heaven''s will and created by the gathering of earthly energy. It can only be encountered and cannot be created by man¡­...this sentence is both right and wrong!"


    Fang Yuan read on. "It seems that the small spiritual land which the Spirit Returning Sect lives on formed naturally. The first Sect Master knew it was a piece of treasure and shifted the entire Sect to where it was now, using it as a foundation... But there is another type of spiritual land, linked to the cultivators!"


    "Rumour has it that there was a highly skilled cultivator, and under certain conditions, like death, it may result in the birth of a new spiritual land."


    "Even though this cultivator may not be Wu Zong, whatever recorded was just rumours. But then again, the entire world may have hidden mysteries. Since an alchemy master is able to gain the blessing of the heavens and earth and concoct spiritual pills, another cultivator would be able to create a spiritual land, fertile land¡­...it is not impossible!


    "I just wonder, who was the source of the spiritual land at Green Peak..."


    Fang Yuan looked up, staring at the peak of the Clear Spirit Mountain, and felt a sense of familiarity. "I''m home..."


    Within the secluded valley.


    "Keke! Keke!"


    Fang Yuan stepped into the valley, and the Flower Fox Ferret pounced on him, nibbling at his robe, as though it was very excited.


    "Eh, why are you so anxious?"


    Fang Yuan was shocked as he saw the Flower Fox Ferret running towards the farm, as he sort of guessed what had happened.


    "Could it be..."


    He was filled with emotions as he rushed out.


    Upon reaching the tea forest, a fragrance filled the air, making him feel more refreshed.


    "Indeed..."


    Fang Yuan was ecstatic, as he saw another tree with the Questioning Heart Tea leaves.


    This spiritual plant had new leaves growing and the tea fragrance was intense.


    "Keke!"


    The Flower Fox Ferret pointed to the soil, and Fang Yuan noticed at the root of the Questioning Heart Tea that there were large amounts of spiritual fertilizer.


    "It seems that the Flower Fox Ferret was hard at work while I was away..."


    Fang Yuan was left speechless as he witnessed what was before him.


    The Flower Fox Ferret was rather proud; it did not care about other normal plants, and only took care of the Questioning Heart Tea and Vermillion Jade Rice.


    It could not hold back as it saw the leaves of the Questioning Heart Tea growing out.


    "Without my Meditative Tea Ceremony, there would not be any Questioning Heart Tea that would increase your magical energy!"


    Fang Yuan stroked the Flower Fox Ferret''s head, "Don''t worry, you will have your share!"


    After reading through the books, he had a deeper understanding of the benefits of the Questioning Heart Tea.


    There were different levels of spiritual plants. The lowest level included the Vermillion Jade Rice and the Emerald Grass, but these two could also increase one''s Spirit and Essence.


    As for spiritual plants which can increase magical energy? It was unheard of, and if people knew about it they would go crazy for it!


    In order to be a spiritual knight or alchemy master, the most important factor is magical energy!

 41 Breakthrough

    It was dawn.


    Fang Yuan came to a newly reclaimed farmland. Vermillion Jade Rice was grown on that farm, and he planted the seeds of the Emerald Grass there as well.


    "The Emerald Grass does not require a good environment to grow in. It is able to gather earthly energy and make the soil fertile. The Emerald Grass complements the Vermillion Jade Rice when planted next to them!"


    Planting a spiritual plant was a complicated process. Fang Yuan was very focused on it and only took a short break half an hour later to wipe his sweat.


    "Phew¡­.The newly reclaimed farmland has already reached its maximum capacity. There is not much land left in the secluded valley to expand the farm. Furthermore, the expanded farm will be exposed!"


    He was helpless. "I may have to move the spiritual plant to another place in the future!"


    What place would that be? It would be the spiritual land in Green Peak.


    As that place was very secluded, a Wu Zong would never be able to realise that a farm did exist in that location and would only be troubled by the presence of the Red-eyed White Birds.


    Fang Yuan had decided to relocate the secrets of the secluded valley to the new location after he had solved the current problem.


    After all, he was different from Master Wenxin.


    He had been attracting a lot of attention lately and this would increase the chances of others spying on him.


    "However, the amount of Vermillion Jade Rice I have now is sufficient enough for the Flower Fox Ferret and myself to consume for quite a long period of time!"


    Fang Yuan touched the Flower Fox Ferret''s head and smiled.


    The Spirit Returning Sect Head Shi Yutong could not make decisions regarding the spiritual land by herself. There was still a need to accommodate the needs of every faction as well as the export of spiritual plants. Even if the main disciples were allocated with some spiritual plants, it was not a large amount.


    Fang Yuan estimated that they could either eat the Vermillion Jade Rice once a week or treat it preciously like a spiritual pill and only consume it when he was ready to break gates. After all, they were not as luxurious as him!


    In fact, the previous amount of his consumption of the Vermillion Jade Rice could be 10 times more than Lin Leiyue''s!


    The Spirit Returning Sect was not luxurious enough to allocate such a large amount of Vermillion Jade Rice to just one person.


    Shi Yutong had no idea about Fang Yuan''s diet and thought that he must have been lucky to consume some natural spiritual treasure.


    Even spiritual pills were not natural. They were scarce and could not fulfil the requirement of a daily supply of staple like the spiritual rice could.


    This was the reason why Fang Yuan''s foundations in martial arts were so scarily strong, as his Essence, Spirit and Magic increased tremendously like a rocket.


    "Other normal human beings would benefit lesser after breaking through another gate as compared to me¡­.."


    Fang Yuan realised that the quantitative numbers in his stats window could be way higher than any other martial artist who was of the same level as him.


    "Of course, after breaking through the 6th Gate, my inner power will be fused and become inner force. Then, things will be different. Unless I can increase the supply of the Vermillion Jade Rice further and maintain my head start, the others will eventually catch up in future!"


    This was a bad news as it meant that Fang Yuan''s advantage would be diminished. However, as he looked at his farm, he smiled brightly.


    It was not difficult to eat the Vermillion Jade Rice every day, was it?


    He not only had the Vermillion Jade Rice but also had the spiritual tea. He could drink it whenever he wanted to.


    "Essence, spirit and magic could be considered as the three most important factors to one''s cultivation. Of the three, Essence possesses a physical form, Spirit is dependent on Essence and possesses a form too. Only Magic is formless!"


    "A rise in magical energy will result in stark improvements in many other aspects!"


    Through the previous trip and a few fights, Fang Yuan realised the effect of magical energy.


    Although he could not convert it to combat power directly, he could sense the enemy''s moves and eventually predict the outcome of the fight even before it began, making it extremely useful.


    This was also why he valued the Questioning Heart Tea even more.


    After a hard day''s work, Fang Yuan went to clean himself and changed into a new set of clothes. Then, he started to make some tea.


    With his past experiences, he felt more natural when making the tea as he was much more familiar with the process, and there was much improvement this time.


    First of all, the water used was different.


    According to an old saying, the most preferred type of water when making tea would be to use mountain spring water, followed by water from a river and the least preferred would be water from a well.


    Previously, Fang Yuan used the spring water originated from the secluded valley when making tea. The water was pure and sweet, and therefore could be considered to be of high quality. However, even since he had been to the spiritual land in Green Peak, he found a water source of even higher quality.


    The water used this time was the spiritual spring water which he had gotten on the way when he collected the spiritual fertiliser.


    Since the water originated from a spiritual land, the quality of it would naturally be higher than other normal mountain spring water.


    Good water would have to be matched with a good tea set for making good tea.


    Fang Yuan was using Master Wenxin''s precious tea set, which was also considered a good set.


    The spiritual tea made was already extraordinary on its own, and now paired with Fang Yuan''s meditative tea ceremony¡­..


    The Flower Fox Ferret was staring at the spiritual tea as the last step of the ceremony was completed.


    "Try it!"


    Fang Yuan served the spiritual tea to the Flower Fox Ferret.


    "Keke!"


    The Flower Fox Ferret brought its paws together, crossed it knees and sat down to enjoy its tea. It carefully licked the tea with its small tongue and was contented.


    Even though Fang Yuan had already known the effects of the spiritual tea, he was still surprised after seeing the Flower Fox Ferret''s expression.


    "Achieving a pure and sincere heart was the key to meditation, only then can one purify one''s mind and live without worries or anger, beyond life and death¡­..."


    He recited a few scriptures in his heart and his eyes glittered. This was the effect of spiritual tea clearing one''s mind.


    At that moment, he took another sip.


    "Oooo¡­."


    As the spiritual tea entered his stomach, a great sensation rushed in like waves in a storm.


    Fang Yuan gazed; he did not know where he was.


    A long time had passed and he finished the whole pot of tea unknowingly. Tears flowed down his cheeks.


    "I had thought that it was bullshit when others said that a flower could represent the world and a blade of grass could represent the heavens. But now¡­. A cup of tea just changed my perspective on my life?"


    Fang Yuan wiped his tears and remained silent for a while.


    He felt as though he was reborn once more after drinking the spiritual tea.


    It was easy to be reborn physically. However, how difficult would it be to be reborn mentally?


    He could do it with the spiritual tea!


    After a long while, he looked at his stats window:


    "Name: Fang Yuan


    Essence: 2.7


    Spirit: 2.6


    Magic: 2.0


    Age: 18


    Cultivation: [Martial Artist (5th Gate)]


    Technique: [Black Sand Palm (Grade 5)], [Eagle Claw Iron Skin Technique (Grade 5)]


    Skill: [Medicine (Level 2)], [Botany (Level 3)]"


    "Ssss¡­."


    Fang Yuan breathed in. "My magic has increased by 30%. Could it be due to the effect of the spiritual tea? No¡­.or could it be due to my previous epiphany?"


    Right after he consumed the spiritual tea from the meditative tea ceremony, he entered a strange but magical state, which made him felt as if he relived his whole life again.


    Such a state was considered rare and precious. One such opportunity allowed his magic to increase by 0.5!


    "I''m afraid that no other heavenly treasures can have the same benefits, right?"


    Fang Yuan inhaled a long breath.He could feel the inner power bubbling vigorously in his lower abdomen. The inner power from the Grade 5 Eagle Claw Iron Skin Technique surged forth violently on its own and reached the bottleneck of the 6th Grade!


    "Is this¡­.what many martial artists have been wishing for¡­.to attain a new grade naturally?"


    Fang Yuan was surprised and immediately sat down. He ordered the Flower Fox Ferret to watch over him and then closed his eyes.


    When a martial artist attempts to break through his current grade to attain new grade, it would most of the time be consciously using his inner power to break through, which was arduous.


    However, there was another way to break through. One would be able to break through his current grade naturally if his inner power was strong enough. His inner power would automatically be adjusted to work in his new grade, allowing him to execute his techniques naturally.


    The success rate was nearly 100%!


    ...¡­.


    At the same time, back in the Spirit Returning Sect.


    "Sister Leiyue, please have some spiritual porridge!"


    A female disciple carefully brought a wooden tray into the room. There was a bowl of Vermillion Jade Porridge on the tray.


    She could not resist the aroma from the bowl of porridge.


    "The Sect Head knows that you are about to break through to a new gate and she specially left a portion of hers for you! The portion is enough for 7 days and every meal will be spiritual rice."


    The disciple swallowed her saliva and added. She was envious of Leiyue.


    "Please help me to thank the Sect Head. You may leave now. I will be undergoing closed door cultivation. You will not have to come and attend to me other than when it''s meal time from now onwards!"


    Lin Leiyue stroked her hair.


    Everyone in the sect had their own amount of spiritual rice and even Shi Yutong did not dare to change her portion.


    However, since Shi Yutong knew that Lin Leiyue was about to break through the Gate, she gave her a portion of her spiritual rice as a form of support.


    If Fang Yuan, nope, if the Flower Fox Ferret was here, it would not resist its temptations and would start consuming the spiritual porridge.


    There was too much water, and too little spiritual rice when cooking the porridge. Of course, most importantly, the grain size of this spiritual rice was way smaller as compared to Fang Yuan''s homegrown Vermillion Jade Rice grains.


    However, in Lin Leiyue''s opinion, isn''t this how spiritual rice should be?


    She could feel a warm sensation after consuming the spiritual porridge and her inner power started to surge.


    "Let''s start!"


    Lin Leiyue closed all 4 doors and began the process of breaking through.


    Every gate would become increasingly difficult! The 6th gate was the first of the 3 Perilous Gates. Once she had broken through those gates, her inner power would be fused into inner force!


    Of course, if she failed, she would get injured badly.


    This gate marked the difference between a real expert in martial arts and a normal martial artist. In the Spirit Returning Sect, a [Martial Artist (6th Gate)] would be capable enough to hold a senior position and repress anyone!


    "I possess the Spiritual Moon Body and consumed the Frozen Moon Pill. I am quite confident since I fought against Song Zhong previously!"


    Lin Leiyue clenched her fists and said, "With the help of the spiritual rice, I will be successful in breaking through!"


    She crossed her knees and sat down. She regulated her vigorous inner power and began the process of breaking through.


    "Bang!"


    She sent her first wave of her inner power but was unable to break through the gate.


    Lin Leiyue expected this to happen as breaking through the 3 Perilous Gates was not an easy task. She would consider herself to have failed only when she had exhausted her inner power.


    Time passed quickly.


    Lin Leiyue seemed to have forgotten how much time had passed.


    In her body, her vigorous inner power was about to be exhausted and she was very close to breaking through the 6th gate.


    There was only a straw left that could break the balance between the two.


    "I cannot lose. I still want to see the outside world¡­..I want to surpass¡­.Fang Yuan!"


    While she was still conscious, a figure of a young man appeared in front of her. The figure was gigantic and shrouded her.


    "Puff!"


    She fiercely opened her eyes and spat a mouthful of blood.


    She suffered a backlash after failing to break through the Pain Gate!

 42 Sixth Gate

    "What''s the matter? Leiyue?"


    "Ping!"


    The door broke, as Shi Yutong entered. It was obvious that she was observing outside all along.


    "Didn''t you say you had 70 to 80 percent chance of succeeding? Why did you fail?"


    She held onto Lin Leiyue''s right hand, transferring her Wu Zong elemental force. Lin Leiyue''s skin became flushed. "Mas¡­ Master?"


    "Eh... You foolish girl!"


    Shi Yutong heaved a sigh of relief. "Luckily you previously took the Frozen Moon Pill which protected your meridians from being damaged... You were too rash this time!"


    "I''m sorry..."


    Lin Leiyue winced, unable to tell the truth.


    The only thing she was clear on, was that the young man''s shadow would be her motivation to break through the next gate.


    If she could not break through this mental barrier of hers, it would be increasingly difficult for her to improve. Even with the help of spiritual pills, the improvements would be minimal.


    ...


    Within the secluded valley.


    Fang Yuan opened his eyes and appeared joyful.


    "The 6th Gate of Martial Arts, the Pain Gate, is finally broken through!"


    He sighed for a moment, approached an old tree, focused his inner force on his palm, and struck towards the tree trunk.


    Ka!


    A distinct sound was heard, as though something broke.


    When Fang Yuan took his palm away, a distinct palm shape appeared on the tree trunk. Not only that, in the middle of the palm print were many tiny holes, with wood shavings falling out of them.


    "Inner power and inner force are two different things. If the former is likened to a cotton thread, the latter will be likened to a steel wire!"


    Fang Yuan took in a deep breath and knew that it was his luck that he could kill Song Zhong.


    "The difference between Pain Gate and the previous 5 Gates is too large!"


    He clenched his fist and felt the inner force building up within him. He looked at his stats window, and observed a drastic change:


    "Name: Fang Yuan


    Essence: 3.3


    Spirit: 3.2


    Magic: 2.0


    Age: 18


    Cultivation: [Martial Artist (6th Gate)]


    Technique: [Black Sand Palm (Grade 5)], [Eagle Claw Iron Skin Technique (Grade 6)]


    Skill: [Medicine (Level 2)], [Botany (Level 3)]"


    "Eagle Claw Iron Skin Technique------ A combination of inner and external techniques, the technique, when mastered, would be similar to coating the entire body with iron, making it impenetrable by fire and water, as well as making the body difficult to wound. At the current 6th Grade, defence is enhanced! Eagle Claw''s inner strength is enhanced!"


    "[Eagle Claw Technique (Grade 6)] enhances Eagle Claw''s inner strength! Strengthens defence!"


    The inner strength within Fang Yuan was something he had experimented on before, but for an increase in defence capabilities?


    He mulled for a moment and dispersed his inner strength to every part of his body beneath his skin.


    "Shing!"


    In a moment, his skin tightened and became metallic in colour. His inner strength circulated under his skin within him, like an armour.


    "With this defence, I can go head-on against any normal swords or knives..."


    Fang Yuan was impressed. "Such a shocking improvement in defence and attack! After breaking through the 6th Gate, I now have inner force, and am indeed very different from a normal martial artist!"


    With his improvement, he began to think of dealing with the spiritual birds at Green Peak.


    "With my skills, if those Red-eyed White Birds dare to fight me, regardless whether they are normal or spiritual they shouldn''t pose any problem. As for the leader, the large eagle, there might still be a little trouble!"


    Fang Yuan was longing for the spiritual land at Green Peak, in the depths of the Clear Spirit Mountain.


    He could not stand how every time he had to scavenge the place for loot and deal with the numerous spiritual bird''s attempt at stopping him.


    "The spiritual land at the Green Peak is a good place to set up a campsite, and the earlier we leave for it the better!"


    Only spiritual lands were best suited to grow spiritual plants.


    As of now, Fang Yuan depended on his botany ability to cultivate spiritual plants, but the amount of effort he put in and the lack of a suitable plot of land was always a pity.


    And it was not the safest place.


    Therefore, it was a must to get rid of the Red-eyed White Birds and take over Green Peak spiritual land.


    "At most, I shall fight with all my might against those white birds. I can kill some every day, and we shall see if they can breed faster than I can kill them!"


    Fang Yuan revealed a sinister look on his face.


    ...


    Within the mountains, it was confined, and unknowingly, ten days had passed.


    The people of Qingye City began to return to their homes, after being chased away in fear of being killed by Song Zhong. It was as though everything began to revert back to the peace it had before.


    As for Zhou Family, which was almost wiped out, they were beginning to be forgotten.


    The influence that the Zhou Family once had was slowly being taken over by other families, and one of the main contenders was the Lin Family.


    One fine day at Qingye City.


    A young man entered the city, and nostalgia was written all over his face. "Qingye City is still as happening as before!"


    It was Fang Yuan.


    He spent his time cultivating more Vermilion Jade Rice, drank spiritual tea for every meal, and waited at the outskirts of the Green Peak spiritual land, waiting for his chance to deal with the Red-eyed White Birds.


    [Eagle Claw Iron Skin Technique (Grade 6)] was impressive. He did not have to care when the Red-eyed White Birds flew and pecked at him, unless if they were pecking at the vital points on his body.


    Using this special ability, he killed many Red-eyed White Birds and hid in the fog if he encountered the spiritual bird''s nest. Every day he survived on bird''s meat, spiritual tea and spiritual water. As for his martial arts and foundation, there were gradual improvements.


    The flock of birds were observed to decrease in size as days go by.


    Against a cunning Fang Yuan, the Red-eyed White Birds might even migrate to another place.


    However, for now, Fang Yuan''s focus slowly shifted to the Vermilion Jade Rice farm.


    He faced a huge problem. He was running low on realgar powder, an important ingredient of the Still Fire Liquid...


    Even though he stored up large quantities of it previously, the farm did consume a lot of Still Fire Liquid, and the expansion of his production would naturally lead to this outcome.


    With this problem, no matter how unwilling Fang Yuan was, he had to leave to get more realgar powder, unless he wanted to witness the demise of his farm.


    Secondly, he did not dare to push the flock of Red-eyed White Birds too much.


    After his massacre, the remaining Red-eyed White Birds were especially fierce and cunning. When they encounter danger they would immediately squawk for help, and catch the attention of the flock and the bird king.


    There was once when Fang Yuan failed to escape and was pecked by a furious bird flock. He sustained many wounds on his back and with much effort escaped alive.


    After getting rid of the old, weak, sick and disabled birds, the remaining were tough fighters.


    He did not want to push them too much, as those spiritual beasts had the wisdom of humans. If they were desperate, they might destroy the spiritual land, and it was an outcome Fang Yuan had to avoid at all costs.


    "Shopkeeper! Give me 40 pounds of the best quality realgar powder! I want the best!"


    It was the same shop as before, and Fang Yuan exclaimed the moment he entered the shop, as though he was an uncivilised and aggressive customer.


    He earned quite a bit from his previous trip to the county, and a little money did not bother him.


    "40 pounds?!"


    The shopkeeper, who was originally smiling, appeared shocked. "This amount is too much, we only have 20 pounds here..."


    "If that''s the case, I''ll have them all!"


    Fang Yuan waved his hand proudly and was prepared to wipe out stock from the next shop.


    "Yes of course..."


    The shopkeeper looked down, chased his subordinates away and personally packed the realgar powder. Out of a sudden, he smiled and asked, "Eh? Have we met before, brother?"


    He felt a sense of familiarity as he saw the young man.


    "Yes! The previous time, I also bought realgar powder from this shop!"


    Being a [Martial Artist (6th Gate)], Fang Yuan had little considerations and became more direct.


    "Previous time, realgar powder! I remember it now, you were the one who sold the red ginseng, but the Zhou Family took it!"


    The shopkeeper thanked Fang Yuan.


    "That''s right!"


    Fang Yuan took the package over, and asked, "I''ve heard that something big happened in the county town, how''s the Zhou Family doing?"


    "Sigh..."


    The shopkeeper shook his head. "What else? The servants were either killed or have run away, their shop taken over, and their residence has become a gathering place for beggars. What a pity, for Old Zhou''s efforts to start the family business, and now it has all been completely destroyed..."


    Fang Yuan remained speechless.


    In the Zhou Family, Zhou Wenwu was still alive, and since Spirit Returning Sect was willing to punish Song Zhong, it seemed that there was a conclusion to the whole episode.


    To regain the Zhou Family''s reputation in Qingye City would not be easy. Even if Zhou Wenwu returned, he could only do so much, and could never hope for the Sect to help him, for the Sect was not a charity organisation.


    "Who has the biggest clout in Qingye City now?"


    Fang Yuan probed further.


    "No doubt it would be the Lin Family, as Old Lin had a good daughter... Following, it would be Zhang Family, Guo Family, and all these are newly-built families..."


    In reality, these two families were initially small families in Qingye City.


    As their opportunity arrived, they rose to power and could be said to have leeched on Zhou Family''s influence.


    Those who win would rule, and those who lose would become beggars. Even though it was just a small city, it was like a bloodshed competition.


    ''Looking at things now, it would be extremely difficult for Zhou Wenwu to start all over again, but then again, none of this is my business...''


    Fang Yuan shook his head, slowly walked out of the shop and disappeared into the crowd.


    The shopkeeper looked at his silhouette, shocked.


    ...


    "Master would like to purchase some realgar powder?"


    "That''s right!"


    Fang Yuan explored the city, and as he was preparing to buy some provisions, several people appeared before him.


    These few people wore uniforms and seemed to come from the same origin. All of them looked proud as they smiled, and the strongest among them appeared to be a [Martial Artist (3rd Gate)].


    "I am Zhang Han, and my family has long heard of master''s name, and want to make friends with you, master! This is a small gift, please accept it!"


    Zhang Han waved his hands, and several servants carried a delicate box. Opening the box revealed top-quality realgar powder, and another box glittered, as it contained 2 rows of small silver ingots.

 43 Fawn

    A silver flash.


    Two neat rows of silver ingots were so heavy the servant carrying it felt numbness in his hands.


    Fang Yuan ignored the ingots, as compared to gold and silver, he preferred the box of realgar powder.


    "Zhang Han? You''re from the Zhang Family?"


    He looked at their leader and had a mischievous look in his eyes. "Do you recognise me?"


    He knew that it was probably the shopkeeper who told the Zhang Family about him, and the Zhang Family''s influence was indeed strong; they could prepare the silver ingots and realgar powder in such a short period of time and even locate Fang Yuan to present him these gifts.


    The new families within Qingye City were indeed capable.


    "I do... Master Fang with magical healing abilities that saved Master Zhou from the brink of death, you are indeed the God of Medicine!"


    Zhang Han smiled.


    The news which actually shocked them was how Fang Yuan defeated Song Zhong in the county.


    Elder Song was the God of Killing in the eyes of those in Qingye City.


    So what if the Zhou Family was the strongest family in the city? So what if Master Zhou was the deacon of Spirit Returning Sect? If Song Zhong wanted the family to perish then they shall go!


    But even the unruly Song Zhong died in the hands of Fang Yuan, so who would dare to offend him? Whoever wanted to survive in Qingye City would have to suck up to him.


    ''Based on my master''s predictions, this person is probably a skilled martial artist who can harness inner force, but he is so young...''


    Zhang Han looked at Fang Yuan''s face with admiration.


    "I did not do anything to deserve this!"


    Fang Yuan waved his hand to reject. "I cannot accept all these gifts!"


    "Master is unsatisfied? Just tell us what you want, we will make it happen!"


    Seeing Fang Yuan''s rejection, Zhang Han became anxious. After all, he was tasked by his family to make friends with this highly skilled doctor.


    "I''m serious!"


    Fang Yuan replied in a serious tone.


    Since living with Master Wenxin in the Secluded Valley, both of them had weird temperaments.


    Whatever they wanted, they would get for themselves, or trade with others, but they never received offerings from others.


    Based on Master Wenxin''s explanation, it was hard to repay the favour if they accepted the gifts.


    Thinking about it, only Old Tian, Minister Lin and a few other lucky ones had better relationships with the Secluded Valley and Fang Yuan only traded with them.


    "Leave!"


    Fang Yuan waved his hands.


    "Master..."


    Zhang Han bit his lips. In front of this young man, he felt pressured, and could not retaliate. He had no choice but to bring his servants back.


    "If I accept rewards without doing deeds, I am no different from a thief!"


    Fang Yuan looked at their silhouette and shook his head.


    Unknowingly, he became the strongest influence within Qingye City.


    After all, Old Zhou of the Zhou Family only broke through the 5th Gate and was a deacon of the Spirit Returning Sect, but that was all.


    "Zhang Family, Guo Family were new families in the region, and they must have a few [Martial Artist (4th/5th Gate)]... Lin Family is even worse, as they only earned their reputation through Lin Leiyue in the Spirit Returning Sect..."


    Fang Yuan thought for a while and became speechless.


    A tiny Qingye City gave him a feeling that there were no true heroes, but many small contenders who fought for power.


    "The world is huge, and Qingye City is too small. It''s like the outskirts of the outskirts... Even the entire Qinghe County was just a small secluded place..."


    Fang Yuan was resolute on his viewpoint.


    ''After I have trained hard enough, I must explore the world and see for myself the wonders around the world!''


    ''Of course, I''ll have to take it step by step, and now, the most important is for me to break through the 3 Perilous Gates!''


    The 7th Gate was the Shock Gate. After breaking through it, he would reach where Song Zhong once achieved.


    Fang Yuan was extremely confident of himself.


    "Shock Gate oh Shock Gate, harming the essence and manipulating the magic... This should be a test of a martial artists'' magic level! With the help of the Questioning Heart Tea and the Meditative Tea Ceremony, I am unafraid of this perilous gate..."


    "And as for the 8th Gate, the Death Gate, If I don''t succeed, I will die. It is closely related to a martial artist''s'' Essence, Spirit and Magic points. My guess is that the higher one''s stats are, the greater the possibility of breaking through!"


    Fang Yuan was extremely clear about the first 8 Gates and had no other doubts.


    "If I break through the Death Gate and enter the 4 Heavenly Gates, I can indeed have my own way around Qinghe County. As for the Spirit Returning Sect, even the elders will have to make way for me!"


    In the 12 Golden Gates, the 4 Heavenly Gates would come after the first 8 Gates!


    Martial artists with such a cultivation level were among the strongest in the region and had the ability to start their own small clan. Even within Spirit Returning Sect, they could start a clan and create trouble.


    "Under my care, the Flower Fox Ferret should be on par with [Martial Artists (7th/8th Gate)], similar to that of the red-eyed white birds. As for the bird king, its ability should be comparable to the ability of a martial artist in the 4 Heavenly Gates..."


    Thinking of those spiritual beasts, Fang Yuan became vexed.


    Without getting rid of all the red-eyed white birds, how could he take over Green Peak spiritual land?


    As for the spiritual fertilizer, its magical capabilities would only increase after a long time, and new produce would not have much use. After taking over the spiritual land, those new produce would be able to aid the spiritual plants in their growth.


    However, he did not know if there could be an even greater danger than the red-eyed white birds, lurking within the spiritual land.


    ''But this makes things interesting... Right?''


    Fang Yuan touched his chin and realised the change in his personality since he first took up martial arts.


    It was as though he had a new passion, and thirst for more?


    ''It seems that martial arts can mould one''s character and is more beneficial than it may seem. After killing Song Zhong, my thought processes have become smoother and clearer. It seems like even my personality has become more active?''


    Fang Yuan thought about it as he walked around a few shops to get more realgar powder, as he managed to fill his entire bamboo basket with it. He finally reached the entrance of the city.


    "Ah! Spare my life! Spare my life!"


    A crowd formed at the entrance, and screams were heard, which piqued Fang Yuan''s curiosity.


    He became even more surprised as he went up.


    "Isn''t he the shopkeeper from the provision shop? Why is he here? And who are those around him..."


    Fang Yuan saw a flash as he witnessed the scene before him.


    In the scene, the plump shopkeeper was lying on the floor, his face swollen and not many of his teeth were left. One of his legs was fractured and he was pitiful.


    Two servants were around him holding whips and staring at him. The occasional whipping made the shopkeeper let out a cry of pain.


    These two servants wore the same attire as Zhang Han.


    "It''s a... pity..."


    Fang Yuan witnessed the scene but did not feel good about it. Instead, he shook his head, turned around and prepared to leave.


    He knew that his previous rejection on Zhang Han''s offer led Zhang Han to capture the shopkeeper who betrayed him, just so he could whip him in front of a crowd, just to let off steam and to let Fang Yuan see it for himself.


    This was the sad thing about being servants, because if the owner wanted them to hit, they had to obey, and for no good reason they could be killed if the owner wanted them to!


    "Doctor Fang!"


    At the outskirts of the city, Zhang Han was waiting for him. "Are you satisfied?"


    "The shopkeeper, is he one of yours?"


    Fang Yuan showed no expression and asked.


    "No, he was leaning towards the Zhou Family, but now he wants to lean towards my Family, he''s just like a wild grass!"


    Zhang Han shook his head and seemed unhappy. "Since he offended the God of Medicine, the previous beating was deserving..."


    "Forget about it, it was just a small matter!"


    Fang Yuan knew that if he did show his intentions, then Zhang Han might just let the plump shopkeeper ''disappear''.


    What good did he gain from doing all that?


    At the same time, he looked at Zhang Han and felt sorry for him.


    Zhang Han appeared happy, but he would be dealt with the same way the shopkeeper was dealt with.


    The head of the Zhang Family did not see to things himself but tasked Zhang Han to do it. Weren''t his intentions obvious enough? He would rather be safe than sorry!


    If Zhang Han succeeded, it would be a celebration.


    If he angered Fang Yuan, he would be the one getting the beating and be taken as the sacrificial lamb.


    "I have duly noted the Zhang Family''s good intentions!"


    Fang Yuan waved his hands and walked away. "I am an uncultured person who lives in the mountains, and I am not willing to be entangled with the affairs of the city. Your family can be assured of that!"


    Zhang Han bowed with respect and looked as Fang Yuan walked away.


    When Fang Yuan first spoke, he was just nearby, but at his last word, his silhouette could no longer be seen. Such lightness skill and inner power were of a totally different level.


    "Could it be... really... inner force!?"


    He was shocked, as his hair stood on its ends. He finally knew why the He Family wanted to suck up to him as much as possible.


    Previously, Song Zhong could massacre the entire Qingye City, imagine what could this master do?


    The only difference Fang Yuan had with Song Zhong was age. In the future, he could continually improve and enter realms he never thought was possible.


    Zhang Han knew he couldn''t, but couldn''t help it but became jealous of Fang Yuan.


    "Alright, everyone is dismissed!"


    Zhang Han came to the crowd, dispersed the observers, and ordered the two servants to stop. He supported a weak shopkeeper up.


    "Master Han... Spare... Spare my life, I shall not dare to do it again..."


    The shopkeeper continued to wail, and those who hear and witnessed the scene would feel sad for him.


    "Mm... You were not wrong to be loyal to my family, the only wrong you did was to offend that master..."


    Zhang Han walked up and gently patted the cheeks of the shopkeeper.


    "Of course, The Zhang Family knows how to distinguish punishment from reward! Just now, it was punishment, and now these are the rewards!"


    He whipped out a cheque and waved it in front of the shopkeeper.


    "Here you go, you can do anything you like from now onwards, even if it''s to seek me for revenge, please go ahead, do you understand?"


    "I don''t dare! I won''t dare!"


    The shopkeeper wailed, looked at the bank cheque and was too confused to say anything at that moment.

 44 The Stalker

    "After the downfall of the Zhou Family, two families rose to power, the Zhang Family, and the Guo Family... I''ve heard of the Zhang Family before, and they used to have some popularity before. This time, they only brought out a small part of their savings... The actions of Zhang Han revealed how scheming the Zhang Family was... And as for the Guo Family, their influence had been growing, but it remained unclear as to how they did it."


    Within the forest.


    Fang Yuan was sprinting, and at the same time, his thoughts ran through his mind.


    After breaking the 6th Gate, and with the birth of inner strength in his Eagle Claws, every aspect of him improved.


    For instance, he could naturally concentrate his inner strength to his legs and ran faster than the average person. This was not lightness skill but was the simplest use of inner force.


    With the help of his inner strength, Fang Yuan could traverse the forest as though there were nothing.


    "Eh?"


    As he approached the entrance to the valley, he realised a black figure kneeling down.


    "Master Zhou, what''s the matter?"


    Fang Yuan went up to him and saw his shaggered look. It was a young man, and if it wasn''t Zhou Wenwu, who else could it be?


    "Doctor Fang? You... You are not in the valley?"


    After seeing Fang Yuan, Zhou Wenwu''s eyes lit up and gave him a kowtow. His forehead was bleeding profusely. "Thank you, master, for taking revenge on behalf of my family!"


    The destruction of the Zhou Family was entirely due to Song Zhong.


    Fang Yuan saved Zhou Wenwu''s life before and even escorted him to Qinghe County to testify against Song Zhong. In the end, he even killed Song Zhong.


    Fang Yuan earned his respects.


    He frowned and left Zhou Wenwu alone. "Let''s forget about what happened in the past, what plans do you have for the future?"


    "I shall not hide my plans!"


    Zhou Wenwu straightened his back and showed a stubborn look. "I am useless, but the sect has decided to pass on my father''s role of a deacon to me!"


    In actual fact, Zhou Wenwu''s was much less skilful than Zhou Tong, but this was the Sect''s way of compensating for his loss.


    "I have decided to return to Qingye City!"


    Zhou Wenwu clenched his fist. "I must rebuild my family''s business here!"


    "I see!"


    Fang Yuan nodded his head, as this move of Zhou Wenwu was good.


    The next step would be hard. How would it be possible to get Lin Family, Zhang Family and Guo Family to take a step back for the rise of Zhou Family?


    Especially since these few families did gain from the downfall of Zhou Family, and they had their own plans up their sleeves.


    Fang Yuan calculated that there wouldn''t be much peace in Qingye City from now on.


    "Then I shall wish Master Zhou all the best!"


    "Ping!"


    Zhou Wenwu gave another kowtow. "Master Fang is my benefactor, and also my family''s benefactor! If you need a favour in the future, just inform me and I will see to it, regardless what it takes!"


    Fang Yuan smiled. "It''s alright, take care Master Zhou, I won''t send you off, please return!"


    He entered the valley, ignoring Zhou Wenwu.


    Seeing Fang Yuan''s silhouette disappear, Zhou Wenwu seemed disappointed and continued to kneel.


    ''Zhou Wenwu... He is indeed sincere!''


    Fang Yuan returned to the pavilion, placed his goods, called the Flower Fox Ferret to check on Zhou Wenwu, and then continued to mind his own business.


    Zhou Wenwu knew how powerful Fang Yuan was, and therefore did not dare to offend him.


    Those words which Zhou Wenwu said actually meant that if one day the Zhou Family rose to power again, they would still be willing to obey Fang Yuan.


    "Get help from other influential families? Zhou Family... It seems too big of a price to pay for them to start from scratch."


    Fang Yuan shook his head.


    He had the ability to help Zhou Family recover, but he felt that it was not worth the effort.


    If he really needed the help of influential families, why would he need to look for the Zhou Family?


    The Zhang Family seemed impressive, and he could become polite and ask them for help anytime.


    "Mmm... After considering all the factors, I have to sacrifice too much, to gain too little. It doesn''t make sense!"


    Fang Yuan shook his head, continued to prepare his ''Still Fire Liquid'', and took a stroll in his farm.


    ...


    It was dusk.


    A chill wind blew across the mountains, and the cold from the icy ground was biting.


    Zhou Wenwu stubbornly continued to kneel on the ground, and his mind was lost as he stared at the flickering candle in the valley.


    He was confident that by presenting even himself Fang Yuan would help him. However, Fang Yuan totally ignored his nonsense and closed the door on him, his mind set.


    Fang Yuan wouldn''t frown a bit even if he froze to death out here.


    Being a son of the Zhou Family, Zhou Wenwu had the responsibility to carry on the family line, and if he really died kneeling out here, he would cease the family line.


    The moon slowly rose higher and higher.


    Zhou Wenwen took a long sigh as his entire body became stiff. After a long while, he finally stood up, gazed at the Secluded Valley for a long while, before taking his leave by limping towards the forest.


    What he didn''t know was that two men in black were observing him the whole while within the bushes nearby.


    "Hey, he is just one person himself, how can he rebuild his family? Does he not know that the Zhou Family is history now?"


    "Although the Zhou Family is destroyed, it only took a short span of a few weeks, and many relationships were established from the incident, especially how the Sect still acknowledged the family is one of their own, and that is the crucial part!"


    The other person rebutted. "If they are not afraid of the Zhou Family''s comeback, then why would master send us out to spy on him?"


    "You''re right about that too, but I''m wondering why can''t we take things into our own hands and settle him once and for all in the forest!"


    The first guy had a malicious look in his eyes.


    "Are you crazy?"


    The other man in black was shocked. "This person is now the deacon of Spirit Returning Sect. Even Song Zhong couldn''t cover up the death of Zhou Tong, and he himself died in the end. Do you think you are more capable than Song Zhong? And you still want to kill another one?"


    When he said this, the other guy remained speechless.


    After half a day, he said, "We were lucky the owner of the valley did not promise to help him, otherwise, by his reputation and ability, our Guo Family will be in trouble."


    "That''s right... Zhang Family''s actions were a joke. He is just an ordinary doctor with little martial arts, and they gave him so much respect, what a joke!"


    "He was after all from a business family, and all they talk about is having peace and prosperity. But our family is different! We are based on our skilled martial arts! Every child at the age of 9 in our family will have to start picking up martial arts, and we have quite a number of Martial Artist in the 4th or 5th Gate. In addition... We still have Old Master!"


    At the last few words, both of them softened, and they appeared respectful.


    "As long as Old Master is around, our Guo Family will rise and become the number one family in Qingye City, or even number one in Jinjun County!"


    "Hmph, if we were not that afraid of being at the top, our family could have ruled over Qingye City easily!"


    The man in black announced proudly.


    "There are many powerful people in the martial arts world, Take for example this secluded valley, once is was Master Wenxin, and now Doctor Fang Yuan with impeccable healing powers and unparalleled martial arts. If we treat him as our enemy, it would be a large obstacle for our family to progress!"


    The other person sighed, and both men in black looked at each other, both wanting to find out how powerful he was. "Why not... Let''s test him out first?"


    Although it was just a thought, they unknowingly took a step forward.


    "Both of us are going to ambush him, and since both of us are strong martial artists who have broken through the 2 Peaceful Gates, surely we can escape if we are no match for him..."


    "Whoosh!"


    Two shadows entered the valley and arrived at the pavilion.


    ''This legendary Secluded Valley looks normal...''


    One of them appeared unsatisfied and mumbled under his breath.


    The moment he spoke, a white flash appeared in front of them.


    "Sssss!"


    "Ahhh!"


    A piercing scream was heard and echoed throughout the valley.


    "What is this... creature!"


    The other man in black retreated quickly, as he saw his companion fell to the floor with an arm detached, as blood spurted out.


    "Hisss!"


    In front of them was a white and large dog... white ferret?


    "Mutated... Mutated beast?!"


    The voice of the man in black trembled, as though he regretted his actions.


    ''The valley is indeed mysterious and scary, as they have a mutated beast to look after the living quarters?''


    On the other hand, the Flower Fox Ferret was calmly stroking its own fur, and from time to time made some noise.


    "Chiya!"


    The door to the pavilion opened, and as Fang Yuan yawned he looked at both of the men in black. "More spies? I think my luck isn''t too good these few days... I must warn those who might possibly do foolish things again, otherwise, it will be rather troublesome for me..."


    "You are Fang Yuan!"


    One of them said, "Why did you let the beast attack us?"


    "Attack you? Haha..."


    Fang Yuan laughed as though he had heard a good joke. "You two trespassed my valley, with ill intentions, and yet you dare accuse me? Both of you are indeed idi*ts!"


    "Idi*ts?"


    Both men in black looked at each other and did not quite seem to understand, but knew it should not be something good. Both of them stared fiercely at Fang Yuan.


    They knew that the white ferret was extremely fast and they could never outrun it if they attempted to escape to the forest.


    The only way out was to defeat its owner, Fang Yuan!


    Even though they have heard of Fang Yuan''s heroics, they have not personally seen it before and had a glimmer of hope in defeating him.


    "To stay alive, it seems I have to personally fight my way out!"


    Fang Yuan did not take them seriously. "Come, don''t complain that I didn''t give you the chance to strike first!"


    "Kill!"


    Both guys looked at each other as both of them, even the one with a broken arm, shouted and pounced upon him. His legs struck rapidly, so quick that there wasn''t any shadow.


    "Ferocious Tiger Palm!"


    "Shadowless Legs!"


    ...


    Palms and kicks flew in quick succession, but Fang Yuan did not dodge. He took in a deep breath, and his skin became a greenish-black.


    "Ping! Ping!"


    It was like raindrops hitting a banana leaf, continuous and distinct.


    When everything was over, and both of them were exhausted, they were surprised to see Fang Yuan still standing. Fear was written all over their faces. "Eagle Claw Iron Skin Technique at Grade 6 - A professional!!! Who knew such a level could be attained?"

 45 Infiltrate

    In the early morning, Fang Yuan put on rough clothing and tended to his garden leisurely.


    No one would imagine that beneath this garden, there were 2 martial artist''s bodies used as fertilizer!


    "What about the Guo Family?"


    Fang Yuan thought as he dug the ground.


    The two men were not his match and were easily defeated. After another round of beating and using of drugs to threaten them, the two men spilt everything out.


    The Guo Family was different from well-known Zhang Family. The Guo family was relatively unknown except for being a tyrant in a local village. They were able to bring down many from the Zhou Family due to their ruthlessness and their martial arts skills..."


    Not even the Lin Family would provoke such a rabid family.


    Fang Yuan was unhappy.


    "Perhaps I should also discourage people from coming to me"


    Fang Yuan thought.


    He had been in the limelight previously. Now, everyone in the Qingye City knew about a Doctor Fang who could work miracles and was highly skilled in martial arts.


    Fang Yuan wondered if he would still be able to tend to his field if people were to keep paying him visits to further their own agendas. He would also not be able to tend to his field if the Guo Family kept snooping around.


    Fang Yuan took no notice of such a small family even if they had individuals that were highly skilled, as it was not an issue.


    They did not cause much trouble when Zhou Tong was in charge which proved that they were nothing to be afraid of.


    Of course, Fang Yuan felt that it was best to improve himself so as to have more confidence.


    Fang Yuan blinked and the stats window appeared before his eyes:


    "Name: Fang Yuan


    Essence: 3.5


    Spirit: 3.4


    Magic: 2.2


    Age: 18


    Cultivation: [Martial Artist (6th Gate)]


    Technique: [Black Sand Palm (Grade 5)], [Eagle Claw Iron Skin Technique (Grade 6)]


    Skill: [Medicine (Level 2)], [Botany (Level 3)]"


    ...


    "Ever since I obtained inner power, it has stimulated my spirit and essence to rise significantly. Could my solid foundation be the reason for the massive increase in their stats?"


    Fang Yuan was vaguely suspicious. A normal 6th Gate Martial Artist would not be able to improve as much as him.


    As for the increase in magic, it could be attributed solely to the effects of the Questioning Heart Tea.


    Fang Yuan shared the tea with the Flower Fox Ferret once a day. While the effect of the tea was not as great as when he first drank the tea, he was satisfied with the constant increase in magic.


    Overcoming the Shock Gate, the 7th Gate of the 12 Golden Gates, would test the magical energy of the martial artist.


    At his current standard, he was 60% to 70% confident of overcoming the Shock Gate if he practised his Eagle Claw Iron Skin Technique enough!


    Given such a success rate, it would shock many. Even Wu Zong Shi Yutong would be tongue-tied.


    "Flower Fox Ferret, go and fetch the Still Fire Liquid!"


    After much consideration, Fang Yuan fetched a few bamboo canteens.


    The Flower Fox Ferret received the bamboo canteens and vanished in a puff of smoke. It was very different from the past.


    "The Flower Fox Ferret''s powers have been steadily increasing as well. It is hardly afraid of the realgar powder now..."


    Fang Yuan was astonished after witnessing the sight.


    A main component of the Still Fire Liquid was the realgar powder, which used to be the bane of the Flower Fox Ferret. After the Flower Fox Ferret was retrained, it no longer feared the realgar powder and just disliked the smell of it.


    After realizing, Fang Yuan experimented multiple times and came to a conclusion that the weakness of the Flower Fox Ferret was slowly diminishing.


    "That''s right... the spiritual beast needs to grow and might eventually enter the realm of Wu Zong. How could such a big weakness remain?"


    Fang Yuan rubbed his chin and guessed that it was either the effect of the spiritual rice and tea or the growth of the Flower Fox Ferret that resulted in the change.


    There was not enough information to arrive at a definite conclusion.


    "Keke!"


    Not long after, the Flower Fox Ferret returned. It looked expectantly at Fang Yuan.


    "You are getting more and more proficient... I know I know, you will get your spiritual tea today..."


    Fang Yuan looked at the Flower Fox Ferret and the image of the Flower Fox Ferret passing away one day appeared in his mind. He could not help but feel sad at the thought.


    "There is still one more thing!"


    He stroked the back of the Flower Fox Ferret, his eyes cold, "I will be going out tonight. I need you to look after the house. Kill any intruders on sight!"


    ...


    Qingye City.


    It was a dark and windy night. The crescent moon was covered by a cloud and the horizon was grey and hazy.


    "What a fitting night to kill a person!"


    Fang Yuan raced off. His speed matched that of a speeding horse and in no time, he arrived at Qingye City.


    The city gate was already closed. Fang Yuan could not help but laugh as he looked at the towering, mouldy city wall. He took out a long rope and a few nails and arrived at a corner of the city wall.


    "Eagle Claw!"


    Power surged into both his hands and he gained enormous strength. He gripped the stone wall and started to climb. Every now and then, he would hammer the nails into the cracks of the wall. These nails acted as footholds for him to climb up further.


    When he was halfway up, Fang Yuan threw the rope up. The rope latched onto the stone.


    "Woosh!"


    With a hard pull, Fang Yuan landed lightly at the top of the city wall and vanished into the darkness without anyone noticing him.


    "Sigh...At my current skill level, I still require the aid of tools. When I have mastered the Lightness Skill, this city wall would be nothing..."


    Fang Yuan thought as he swiftly descended from the wall.


    He was dressed in black attire and blended in with the darkness. As such, he went unnoticed by the drowsy soldiers guarding the gates.


    "Guo Family...Guo Family..."


    He knew where the Guo residence was as he had previously come to the city before. He stealthily made his way to the place.


    Guo Residence.


    The Guo family recently acquired their wealth and as such, their big house still preserved many characteristics that are similar to that found in villages. The house was heavily guarded by servants who were well-built. Even though it was the middle of the night, there were patrols with hounds patrolling the residence.


    The Guo Family was first in Qingye City in terms of military might and martial arts skills.


    Fang Yuan was unsure if it was the mannerism of the Guo Family or if the Guo Family had too many enemies to warrant such a level of security.


    No matter how well-guarded the residence was, the walls of the residence were significantly lower than that of the city wall. Fang Yuan looked for an opening and leapt over the wall.


    "Crack!"


    Behind the wall was a garden. Fang Yuan landed on the grass which rustled.


    He turned and swiftly ran towards the rocks.


    "Woof Woof!"


    Two well-built servants were patrolling the area with a large hound not far away.


    The hound had silky black fur and bloodshot eyes. Its teeth were white and sharp. It stopped in its tracks, looked at the place where Fang Yuan landed and turned to look at the rocks.


    "What''s wrong, Blackie?"


    One of the servants was curious. He released the leash and allowed the hound to move forward.


    The hound ran towards the corner of the wall and sniffed the ground before it ran towards the rocks.


    The two servants looked at each other, both on alert. One of them reached towards his waist while the other gripped the gong.


    "Good beast!"


    Fang Yuan saw the hound approaching from his hiding spot. He focused his inner strength in his eyes and glared at the black hound.


    In the study of martial arts, there was a saying where those highly-skilled were able to make their enemies cower just by glaring at them without leaving a finger.


    Given his current level, Fang Yuan was nowhere near the capabilities of those in the legend. However, his magical energy was higher than that of a normal person and he was up against a simple-minded beast. Hence, he was able to handle the hound.


    "Wuwu..."


    The black hound shivered as it felt terrified like a lone horse in the wilderness stalked by a predator.


    It whimpered before turning around and scampered away from the rocks.


    "What''s wrong?"


    The two servants were confused.


    "Could it be that the hound is still hungry? Or that it is lusty? "


    The other servant relaxed and joked.


    "What lusty? Did you think that everyone is like you, always looking for prostitutes in the street...my Blackie is..."


    The servant chided. He stroked the black hound''s head and said, "Let''s go, our shift is almost over. Let''s return to our room, drink some wine and eat some meat..."


    "I agree!"


    The other servant nodded his head. Both of them walked off.


    Fang Yuan waited for the sound of the footsteps to disappear before entering the inner area of the residence.


    The courtyard was large and there were many buildings. The residence was built like a maze. Fang Yuan silently cursed himself for making a blunder as he did not gather sufficient information about the residence.


    "Most residences are similar. Behind the living room would be the master bedroom..."


    Fang Yuan scaled the wall and was elated when he saw a few lights.


    Lighting up the lamps were costly. Only the owner could afford to light up the lamps to discuss matters.


    As Fang Yuan edged closer, he realized that the security in that area was tighter and knew that he had arrived at the correct place.


    An orange light lit up the surrounding. Two shadows could be seen from within the room.


    "Father, I was incapable. The seventh and the eighteenth disciples have not returned!"


    In the study room, the head of the Guo Family, Guo Jing was grovelling on the ground.


    If an outsider were to see this scene, they would be shocked.


    When did the hot-tempered and unreasonable head of the Guo Family become more docile and timid than a young rabbit?


    "Hmmm?!"


    Seated cross-legged on the mat was an old man with white hair and bright eyes. The old man turned his head in such an imposing manner that the room felt like it was struck by lightning. Guo Jing could not help but shrink away.

 46 Hiding

    "What happened, tell me about it!"


    Old Master Guo had a loud voice and was very much louder than the average person.


    "Yes, Father!"


    Guo Jing stood up and bowed. "The only child left of the Zhou Family, Zhou Wenwu, returned to the city. I was worried and therefore sent both my nephews to investigate and stalk him... At first, they relayed a message back to inform us that everything was normal, but when they entered the mountains and head towards the secluded valley, there was no further news."


    "The mountains? Secluded valley?"


    Old Master Guo looked down, and then said, "The doctor who could work miracles? Fang¡­ Fang¡­"


    "Fang Yuan!"


    Guo Jing felt unjust. After all, he lost two martial artists, which was a big deal to the Guo Family, not to mention the kinship they once had.


    "After the incident, our people observed Zhou Wenwu returning from the secluded valley, but could not obtain information regarding our 2 brothers, I''m afraid... They''re in trouble!"


    "Bast*rd"


    Old Master Guo raged, and Guo Jing became confused, for he did not know if Old Master was angry at him, Fang Yuan, or his 2 useless grandsons.


    "Did those two... ever get involved in any trouble?"


    After calming down, Old Master Guo used a soothing voice, as he looked extremely serious.


    "Never in their lives!"


    Guo Jing shook his head. "This is a grave matter. In the entire household, only you and I know about this, not even the best second brother can know about it!"


    "Good!"


    Old Master Guo nodded his head but looked lost for the moment. "Since I was 18, I was tasked to infiltrate this place and stay hidden. That was 60 years ago, and finally came the long-awaited orders from the Master. It was the real Master''s intention to make this family influential, so as to cover up the activities that we do, and it cannot be taken lightly! As long as we succeed this time, all our disciples will be able to come out of hiding and find the real Master..."


    "I understand this!"


    Guo Jing nodded his head as the eavesdropping Fang Yuan was shocked.


    "After hearing what both of them said, it seems that where the Guo Family came from elsewhere where they were a big power, and are now secretly inserted into Qingye City? No wonder they could become such an influential family from nothing in such a short while, like a burning fire!"


    "I am sure that they must have a similar plan in other counties... This was very well thought-out and a very well-kept secret, it is..."


    At that moment, it was as though he saw a large and invisible net covering the entire Qinghe County.


    The many disciples they had were like many tiny nodes, lying low but would all strike when the command was given.


    With that thought, he immediately held his breath, consolidated his magical energy, and focused his attention in the room.


    Their conversation was distinctly heard from outside.


    "My Father!"


    Guo Jing sounded as though he suspected something. "The sect''s order for us was to lay low, wasn''t it? Why the change?"


    "This matter..."


    Old Master Guo remained composed. "I''ve got some insider information. It seems that there was a traitor within the sect who stole an important treasure. He escaped in the direction of Clear Spirit Mountain and was highly likely to reach our vicinity. We could use this opportunity to come out, make use of all the manpower we have and cover up for the highly skilled martial artists that the sect had sent to deal with him. After all, Qinghe County is still within the control of the Spirit Returning Sect, and Shi Yutong''s sect is not one to be trifled with...."


    "The only problem is... It has been such a long time since the traitor escaped, and he might have already been long gone. The only reason why the sect is doing this is because they have not resigned to fate..."


    At this point, Old Master Guo had disappointment written on his face.


    On the contrary, Guo Jing looked happy.


    Regardless, the Guo Family could take advantage of the situation and make its mark!


    "Traitor... treasure..."


    "Such a coincidence?"


    Fang Yuan became increasingly shocked as he heard on. For a moment he thought of Han Shou, who died under his poisonous palms, and the hidden treasure map within his boots.


    The lines on the treasure map were similar to that of a talisman, and it seemed that many details were missing. After trying hard to gather more information about the treasure map, he became confused himself and decided to give up and shoved it into a corner.


    Now it seemed that this item was extremely precious, and the treasure of this strong influence opposing the Spirit Returning Sect! It seemed that they were willing to give up anything for this treasure.


    ''What a pity, what use would an incomplete map be?''


    Fang Yuan shook his head and heard Old Master Guo. "Hmm, secluded valley... Who was Fang Yuan? How dare he touch my people, does he think I''m a weakling? Although we have a short history here, for us to exert our influence, we need to show others that we can fight."


    "The news of our two martial artists failing their mission had spread, and as for Fang Yuan, he is already a highly skilled martial artist!"


    Guo Jing sounded serious. "Father, although you have trained secretly and are a Martial Artist of the 6th Gate, that young man is younger than you..."


    If his father was in his younger days, Guo Jing wouldn''t worry for him.


    But now, he was close to 80. Even though his inner strength was astounding, how could he match another martial artist of same cultivation level as himself?


    "I know, but the people in the Guo Family are not cowards!"


    Old Master Guo waved his hand. "Personally lead a troop to the secluded valley and gather information regarding Little Seven and Little Eighteen. If they are alright then escort them back and forget about the incident, but if they have died... Retreat immediately!"


    "Retreat immediately!"


    "That''s right, I will personally inform the Sect Head to inform him on the suspicious areas of the secluded valley!"


    Old Master Guo smirked. "Who asked for the secluded valley to be so deeply hidden within the mountains, so mysterious? Even if the traitor came from there I wouldn''t be surprised..."


    Guo Jing was surprised.


    Although he knew that this was not true and even if the martial artists from the sect knew about this, they would rather kill all those suspicious than let anyone live.


    "What a great plan, Father!"


    He looked joyful.


    Suddenly, he noticed his father frowning, as though he was anxious.


    "Pa! Pa!"


    At this moment, there was an applause heard from outside, as a man in black entered the room and walked in. "Good plan! Indeed a perfect plan!"


    "A martial artist skilled in inner force!?"


    Old Master Guo stood up looking angry and pulled Guo Jing behind. "Careful, Guo Jing, I will deal with this!"


    He looked at the man in black and was under stress. "May I know who you are, and why did you trespass the Guo Manor?"


    "Old Dog, you shall die!"


    Fang Yuan did not want to speak a word to the old man. He struck out his right hand and his index finger pointed forward like a sword.


    "Chi!"


    His arm grew in size, and under his black outfit, his skin became black. Even the centre of his palm had a little black too.


    Eagle Claw Iron Skin Technique, Grade 6! And there''s Black Sand Palm too!


    Fang Yuan mustered all that he could in one move!


    He had to do it. After all, this was the heart of the Guo Family, and Old Master Guo''s last sentence was heard loudly, as he did it on purpose to demonstrate his inner force. Footsteps were already heard rushing towards the room.


    Even though a martial artist skilled in inner force could easily take out those using inner power, facing a large number of them all at once could still exhaust him out.


    Fang Yuan eyes were deadly.


    At the moment Old Master Guo outlined the devious plan, he knew that the entire Guo Family had to be destroyed!


    "Eagle Claw?!"


    Old Master Guo was stressed out. He punched both fists in the air, and mustered all the strength he could, like a giant. "Giant Spiritual Strength!"


    "Ping!"


    The fists and claws met, and Old Master Guo was forced a few steps back. He unknowingly imprinted his footprint into the ground, as his face reddened. He spat out a large mouthful of blood, but his injury could not compare to his shock. "[Martial Artist (6th Gate)]? How could you have such aggression?"


    "Chi!"


    Fang Yuan''s black outfit was torn, which exposed his pitch-black skin. He quickly recovered from the injury he sustained due to his impressive physical condition and did not even take a step back after the first exchange of fists. He attacked once again like an eagle; his strength on his claws came from his abdomen to his arm, then to his palm, then to his fingertips. A popping sound was heard every time his inner force passed through.


    "Die!"


    "Eagle Claw Iron Skin Technique!? You are Fang..."


    Old Master Guo was even more surprised, but he could not complete his sentence as he received another strike from his opponent.


    "Hmph, Spiritual Giant Supporting the Heavens!"


    He stretched out both palms and received Fang Yuan''s claws that struck from above.


    "Ping!"


    The man in black could gain the upper hand against Old Master Guo, and from how he was shaking from withstanding Fang Yuan''s strikes, he was obviously on the brink of losing!


    ''Faster! Even faster!''


    He clenched his fists and was sweating profusely. He could only wait for reinforcements to arrive.


    "You''re not too bad, being able to withstand three claws from me!"


    Fang Yuan exclaimed and struck another claw out.


    "Mmm..."


    Old Master Guo became pale and exerted all his strength to hold on to the claws. He felt relieved as he saw his servants arriving to help him.


    In a blink of an eye, one claw broke free and went straight for his throat.


    "Kacha!"


    A distinct sound was heard as the servants entered the room, as they witnessed the scene unfolding right in front of their eyes.


    The pillar of support for the Guo Family, the all-mighty Old Master Guo held his neck, fell to the ground and remained motionless.


    "Thief!"


    Guo Jing was angered. "I will kill you!"


    "Then you shall die too!"


    To remove weeds, you need to pluck them from the roots, and Fang Yuan understood this theory.


    He rushed forward and struck out his claw at Guo Jing, who was attempting to hide among the crowd.


    "I''ll fight!"


    Guo Jing swept his arms across. After all, he was an able [Martial Artist (5th Gate)].


    Despite his attempts to summon forth his inner power, it crumbled upon clashing against Fang Yuan''s inner strength.


    "Kacha!"


    Fang Yuan snapped his neck, not giving him any chances.


    All the servants and even the descendants of the Guo Family took a few steps back, all afraid to make any eye contact with this man in black.


    Fang Yuan let out a cold laughter, flipped over the manor''s wall, and disappeared.

 47 The Aftermath

    Back in the old mansion of Zhou Family.


    Ever since the passing of Zhou Tong, the place became like ruins and many beggars came to gather here.


    However, when Zhen Wenwu was back, he immediately took the place back under his control and operated it as a base camp.


    Zhou Wenwu was wearing a mourning suit and gave his respect to a few tablets that were on the altar with incense. "Father¡­. don''t you worry. I will revive the prestige of the Zhou Family¡­."


    After the ceremony, he opened the door and felt sorrowful as he saw the dilapidated courtyard.


    The courtyard looked much more deserted now.


    ''Minister Lin is an old fox. Even though I''m using the Spirit Returning Sect''s name in my favour, he will likely not fall for it. He has stronger backers than me. How about targeting the Zhang and Guo Family? This will not be easy though¡­.''


    Zhou Wenwu gazed at the moon with a troubled look.


    The Zhang Family did have a strong background and power which they accumulated over the years. Hence, it would not be wise to attack them.


    On the other hand, the Guo Family was violent and unruly. One would need assistance to bring them under control.


    "Fang Yuan was not willing to lend a helping hand, and a few relatives promised to aid us financially but the fund is still not in yet¡­.ugh, and also my sister! No one knows whether she is dead or alive. This is indeed worrying me¡­."


    Zhou Wenwu sighed and suddenly, his expression changed.


    There was a loud and distinct noise coming from the Guo''s mansion.


    "Something bad happened¡­.to the Guo Family?"


    He climbed over the courtyard wall. Lights were shining everywhere and there were many screams and crying. He grew suspicious.


    Even though he wanted to find out what was happening, he knew that since the Guo Family was being attacked, they would be on high alert. It was better for him not to bother them right now.


    "Or maybe¡­. This is my chance to¡­."


    Zhou Wenwu gave it a good thought and his eyes glittered. "I''m not sure how is Old Guo now¡­."


    "He is dead!"


    A voice was heard from behind, which frightened Zhou Wenwu.


    "Are you¡­. Doctor Fang?"


    This voice was very familiar and sounded youthful. Zhou Wenwu was dazed for a moment but was relieved after realising who was it.


    However, his expression became serious when he saw Fang Yuan in his night combat outfit.


    Fang Yuan was present in the city at this timing and coincidently, something bad happened to the Guo Family. Could it be¡­.


    "You don''t have to guess. Old Guo and the homeowner Guo Jing are both dead¡­."


    Fang Yuan spoke in a deep voice.


    "Aaahh!"


    Even though he had guessed that Fang Yuan was behind it, Zhou Wenwu was still surprised and immediately kowtowed to Fang Yuan. "Thank you for helping me. I will do anything you want me to do¡­."


    Fang Yuan waved and said, "You don''t need to thank me. I am helping you this time because I will need your help in the future!"


    In fact, Fang Yuan ambushed the Guo Family to gather more information and to scare them.


    However, he changed his plans as he became furious after hearing some secrets. Hence, he killed the father and the son of the Guo Family to get the most out of the operation.


    He could say that he was invited by Zhou Wenwu to assist him in taking down the Guo Family. Who else could reveal the truth? Not only did he benefit without costing him anything, he even managed to reap gratitude from Zhou Wenwu.


    Most importantly, he gained a new assistant in the city. Zhou Wenwu could help him out and save him a lot of trouble.


    "Old Guo is a 6th Gate Martial artist and is indeed an expert in inner force. Guo Jing is a 5th Gate Martial artist..... Both of them are the most highly skilled in the Guo Family. I have removed them for you. Do you know what to do next?"


    Fang Yuan glanced at Zhou Wenwu and instructed him.


    "Old Guo is a 6th Gate Martial Artist?!"


    When Zhou Wenwu heard what Fang Yuan said, he sighed and was relieved that he did not rashly attack the Guo Family on his own. He then looked into Fang Yuan''s eyes with respect.


    Even an expert in inner force was defeated by him! How did Fang Yuan train his martial arts to such a state?


    "Hmm, the rest of the Guo Family that are still alive are easy to deal with. If you can''t even handle such loose ends¡­."


    Fang Yuan said in a deep voice.


    "If I fail to handle the loose ends, I would strip myself of my martial arts and I would not even think about reviving the Zhou Family anymore!"


    Zhou Wenwu patted his chest and seemed confident. He then added, "What about the Zhang Family?"


    "Hmm?"


    Fang Yuan turned around and stared at Zhou Wenwu with a serious look.


    "I''m thinking too much¡­."


    Zhou Wenwu immediately broke out in cold sweat and started apologising after Fang Yuan stared at him.


    "With the current situation of Zhou Family, removing Guo Family will be sufficient. Removing the Zhang Family will be too much!"


    Fang Yuan said coldly.


    Honestly speaking, the Zhang Family had more situational awareness and hence he had nothing against them.


    Furthermore, with the current population of the Zhou Family, it was impossible for the Family to restore its power like before back in Qingye City.


    The best outcome was to remove Guo Family for the Zhou Family to take over their assets and coexist with the Zhang and Lin families in a triangulated situation.


    Zhou Wenwu should have known these principles but he was too focused on getting revenge and achieving his dream. Now, Fang Yuan reminded him of these principles, which made him admire Fang Yuan even more.


    Fang Yuan was not only good in medicine and martial arts but understood the principles behind human relations as well. Was he born smart and talented?


    Zhou Wenwu respected Fang Yuan and said, "Thank you for reminding me. I have understood your point."


    "Very well, I have a few tasks for you to complete¡­."


    Fang Yuan chuckled.


    ...¡­.


    The news of the Guo Family spread.


    The Guo Family left the city the next day and relocated back to their original village. The family couldn''t care less about those who plundered them at that time and were extracting their men from Qingye City. This was like a retreat from a losing party.


    Looking at how sensible the Guo Family was in deciding to pull out from the city, Zhou Wenwu was satisfied with the number of valuable things that were left behind by the family as it was sufficient for his own needs. He felt that he could gain a foothold in Qingye City again.


    This time, he was clear of the situation and secretly gathered enough men to wipe out the entire Guo Family completely.


    The Zhou Family needed to be restored from scratch like the Guo Family, and hence one of the families in the city needed to be targeted in order for another family to take over. Guo Family was the best target in the whole of Qingye City.


    The Guo Family also realised that without the two highly skilled martial artists in the Family, they were weakened.


    During such times, the Lin and Zhang families were getting closer to the Zhou Family and had no intention of helping the Guo Family.


    At the same time, everyone knew what the secluded valley was capable of and would, therefore, think twice before attacking the secluded valley¡­.


    Of course, Fang Yuan was not really interested in any of these affairs.


    Zhou Wenwu would handle the loose ends on his own.


    Fang Yuan was already back home in the secluded valley. After taking a break, he went to the Green Peak with the Flower Fox Ferret.


    "Chirp! Chirp!"


    A flock of Red-eyed White Birds were flying past and a giant Red-eyed White King Bird was leading the flock.


    Fang Yuan hid in the woods and was irritated by their presence.


    "These birds are getting more vigilant than before and they are hard to deal with now!"


    The presence of these birds was a huge obstacle to his success in claiming this spiritual land. These birds had been giving him huge problems lately.


    Notwithstanding anything else, in one instance, when Fang Yuan went to get some spiritual spring water and spiritual fertiliser, he had to be cautious of the Red-eyed White Birds, in case they came out of their nests and attack him. Hence, the amount that he had gotten was not sufficient every time. Sometimes, the Flower Fox Ferret would be surrounded by these birds.


    "I will not be able to enjoy collecting the spiritual fertiliser if I don''t get rid of them soon¡­.."


    Fang Yuan looked at the beach that was beside the Eye''s Tear Lake. "Anyway, the longer the spiritual fertiliser is accumulated, the better it is. Also, the storage size of this beach is quite big to store a large amount of the spiritual fertiliser. Maybe I should not get rid of the birds for now first¡­."


    Fang Yuan estimated that the best spiritual fertiliser that could really help in the growth of the spiritual plants would need at least 10 years of accumulation in order to produce such an effect.


    With the time, he could make full use of the spiritual land. Wouldn''t he be able to grow any kinds of spiritual plants?


    "It is just that¡­..the rest of the Red-eyed White Birds are not a problem but the Red-eyed White King Bird is hard to deal with¡­.."


    Of course, he was gaining little from his hunts recently.


    At least the number of the Red-eyed White Birds was decreasing and there were fewer eyes to keep watch over the spiritual land. This gave Fang Yuan many opportunities to secretly enter the spiritual land to obtain the spiritual spring water and other precious spiritual plants.


    "Whoosh!"


    He went to the other side of the cliff and suddenly hid into a nearby bush.


    "A normal Red-eyed White Bird will be dead once it sees me. Even a spiritual bird can only last a little longer¡­.."


    Fang Yuan reached the One-eyed Spring and filled his bamboo canteen with the spring water to the brim. "This time¡­.maybe I should trek deeper in!"


    In his heart, he already treated the whole Green Peak like his own land.


    The spring water brought a cooling effect to the body. After Fang Yuan drank till his heart''s content, he felt refreshed and continued to explore the inner parts of the secluded valley with the Flower Fox Ferret.


    "Hmm, this spiritual land is definitely incredible¡­.."


    Even though he did not find any spiritual plants, there were many flowers blooming and the trees were bearing fruits at this unusual time. This scene filled Fang Yuan with emotions as he felt sorry for these plants.


    "Wasted! Totally wasted!"


    He looked at a piece of land which was fully grown with weed and felt distressed. "If this piece of land was used to grow spiritual plants, the food produced would be enough to last the both of us for an entire year. Damn those Red-eyed White Birds¡­."


    He cursed softly.


    After all, if he were to raise his voice, he might disturb the spiritual birds and they would come and surround the both of them. By then, they would be in big trouble.


    "Logically speaking, this spiritual land in the mountain should have one or two types of spiritual plants growing¡­..Why are there none?"


    As he went in deeper into the mountain, Fang Yuan frowned. He reached a big pit and squatted down. "The spiritual energy is stronger here as compared to the surroundings. Looks like there might be a spiritual object here before, just that it has been removed¡­.."


    He sighed and finally knew where the spiritual plants are.


    If he was correct, it should be in the nest of the Red-eyed White King Bird!


    As a spiritual beast, it would definitely hide the spiritual plants very well like how humans would hide their precious items.


    "Hmm?"


    At that moment, Fang Yuan''s expression changed and hid behind a bush.


    "Chirp!"


    A black dot from the sky came nearer and nearer along with a deafening cry.

 48 Bamboo Frui

    "Is that¡­.an eagle?!"


    With the black dot getting closer, Fang Yuan realised that the one who made a loud cry was a giant eagle. Its black feathers reflected a metallic colour under the sunlight.


    "Spiritual beast! Definitely a spiritual beast!"


    This black giant eagle was fast. Just as Fang Yuan lifted up his head, it already flew past the Green Peak and up into the sky.


    "This is strange¡­.how have I not seen this eagle before?"


    Fang Yuan saw that the flock of Red-eyed White Birds were disturbed and had a suspicion. "Is it because of coincidence or is it because spiritual beasts are coming from elsewhere?"


    "Chirp!"


    At that moment, the entire flock of the Red-eyed White Birds around the cliff were disturbed. Under the leadership of a few spiritual birds, they circled around in the air in a formation like an army troop.


    "Whoosh!"


    The giant eagle was not intimidated by the formation created but flew straight into the Red-eyed White Birds.


    "Chirp! Chirp!"


    Mournful bird chirpings could be heard and big white feathers came falling from the sky.


    The claws of the giant eagle were as sharp as a steel hook and the spiritual birds were struggling to avoid the sharp edge of the claws. The giant eagle also used its beak to peck through the head of one of the Red-eyed White Bird, causing the bird to die instantly, its body falling straight down.


    "Eagle Claw! This is the real Eagle Claw!"


    As Fang Yuan observed the battle of the spiritual birds intently, he felt like he had gained a better understanding of the Eagle Claw Technique.


    "Chirp! Chirp!"


    Finally, right after the giant eagle started to kill all of the other Red-eyed White Birds, a very loud angry chirp was heard from the top of the cliff.


    A white giant bird appeared; it was the Red-eyed White King Bird!


    It flapped its wings and flew right up into the sky to fight against the giant eagle. The giant bird gained the upper hand very quickly.


    "Keke!"


    The giant eagle fluttered its wings and dodged away from the Red-eyed White King Bird. It then used its sharp claws and broke through the defence of one of the Red-eyed White Bird by ripping the bird''s body. The giant eagle showed defiance towards the Red-eyed White King Bird and flew out of the formation like an arrow. A few of its black feathers fell as it escaped.


    "Chirp! Chirp!"


    Dead spiritual birds were a rare sight even though Fang Yuan had come here many times to steal spiritual objects.


    Looking at the damage caused, the Red-eyed White King Bird gave a long chirp and lead the formation of Red-eyed White Birds to chase after the giant eagle.


    "Eh?"


    Fang Yuan gave a cold look and realised something was different.


    "The black giant eagle slowed down its speed on purpose. It wanted to give an illusion that the Red-eyed White Birds could catch up¡­.What a cunning beast¡­."


    Seeing the Red-eyed White King Bird leading the rest of the Red-eyed White Birds out of the nest, Fang Yuan''s eyes suddenly glittered. "A chance for me!"


    "Chirp! Chirp!"


    The birds flew further and further away. Soon, they disappeared.


    Fang Yuan followed the pathway and kept climbing up. "There should be something of great value in the Red-eyed White King Bird''s nest! Even if there isn''t, I shall let those Red-eyed White Birds have a taste of a big loss!"


    He could only kill a few of them previously due to the presence of the Red-eyed White King Bird and a few of others. However, what about now?


    "Chirp! Chirp!"


    He appeared and the Red-eyed White Birds suddenly realised there was an intruder. The birds let out mournful chirps.


    "Get out!"


    The Red-eyed White Birds that were guarding the nest were weaker. Fang Yuan executed his Eagle Claw Iron Skin Technique and almost got every bird killed. Even though his shirt had been ripped quite badly, the Red-eyed White Birds were incurring much more damage.


    "It is considered normal for eggs to be present in a normal bird''s nest¡­."


    At that moment, Fang Yuan was not attracted by the eggs and went straight up to the peak. He then leapt onto a plateau.


    "Puff!"


    Both of his feet landed firmly on the plateau with his right hand shielding his body. He then checked his surroundings for any potential threats or movement.


    The plateau was connected to the cliff and there was a giant hole inside. The hole was where the Red-eyed White Bird''s nest lay.


    Seeing that an intruder had reached their nest, the Red-eyed White Birds got even crazier and went to fight against the intruder with no regard for their lives.


    "Get out of my way!"


    Fang Yuan shouted angrily. He fought against the birds and retreated a few steps back, and then got in deeper into the hole.


    "Chirp! Chirp!"


    Suddenly, among all the Red-eyed White Birds, a small spiritual bird with glittering feathers charged past all the other birds and straight at Fang Yuan.


    Fang Yuan couldn''t dodge in time. Instead, he released more inner strength. His shoulders started to vibrate like there was a sudden surge of energy.


    At that moment, blood splashed everywhere!


    Even though he had used his inner strength to defend himself, his shoulder was injured with a deep cut by a claw.


    "There is indeed a spiritual beast guarding this nest and it managed to injure me! Good! Very good!"


    He squinted his eyes and at the next moment, he leapt forward like a leopard and went straight at that spiritual beast while ignoring the rest of the birds.


    "You shall have a taste of my Black Sand Eagle Claw Palm!"


    His palm became black in colour like ink. His fingers and nails gave a metallic colour and a strange odour.


    With the help of the system''s function and his own research, Fang Yuan managed to combine the Black Sand Palm and the Eagle Claw Technique to form a new technique called the Black Sand Eagle Claw Palm.


    Now, Fang Yuan could finally unleash the true power of the [Black Sand Palm (Grade 5)] by accumulating poison on the Eagle Claw, turning them into a truly lethal form!


    "Chirp!"


    This mutated Red-eyed White Spiritual Bird had a very fast speed. Once Fang Yuan missed his shot, it would escape to a far place.


    If the spiritual bird was slower by a bit and its wings were scratched by Fang Yuan''s Eagle Claw, its feathers would drop.


    "Hehe!"


    After one move, Fang Yuan stopped chasing and started laughing.


    "Chirp! Chirp!"


    That spiritual bird did not fly far and suddenly, it gave a mournful chirp. It then fell from mid-air and was dead. A breeze blew its feathers up.


    That was the effect of the mutated Pearl Tail Snake''s Poison. Its effect was so strong that an expert in inner force who had been poisoned by this poison would still be in trouble.


    "Chirp! Chirp!"


    Seeing that the spiritual bird was dead, the rest of the Red-eyed White Birds retreated and didn''t dare to go forward. The birds had no choice but to let Fang Yuan enter the nest.


    "Oh!"


    The hole was not too deep and there was light shining through a gap in between the rocks. Fang Yuan walked a few steps and became alert. He then started smelling and said, "This is strange!"


    By right, there should be a fishy smell in the spiritual beast''s nest.


    However, he could only smell fresh air and even the air smelled clean. The spiritual energy here was surprisingly copious.


    At the end of the hole, there was a giant green rock and it had slight depressions in the middle. There were a few tree branches and feathers, which formed the shape of the giant bird nest.


    "So this is where the Red-eyed White King Bird''s nest lies?"


    Fang Yuan moved a few steps forward and was disappointed that there were no spiritual beast''s eggs.


    Ever since he had adopted the Flower Fox Ferret as a pet, he became interested in adopting other spiritual beasts. It was very rare to find a spiritual beast like the Flower Fox Ferret who was willing to communicate with humans.


    Fang Yuan was hoping that he could adopt one of the Red-eyed White Bird as the birds were considered spiritual beasts and could fly.


    "Birds would become close to the first thing it sees as it emerges from its egg. If I managed to get the spiritual beast''s egg and take care of it from young, the young spiritual beast can be tamed¡­.."


    Fang Yuan was filled with regrets as this Red-eyed White King Bird had not laid any eggs.


    He went forward a few steps and looked carefully at the bird''s nest. He eyes were attracted by something green in colour.


    Beside the nest, there was spring water gurgling and flowing down, which formed a small lake.


    Near the edge of the lake, there were a few strange bamboos being grown.


    The bamboos were jade-green and as though the bamboos were carved with top quality crystal jade. The bamboos gave out spiritual energy and the polluted air was absorbed.


    "Looks like these bamboos cause the air in this cave to be so fresh¡­.."


    Fang Yuan went forward to check out the spiritual bamboo.


    "Eh?"


    This time, he saw something different. He found some bamboo flower buds that were about to bloom.


    "This bamboo is flowering?"


    Fang Yuan then recalled an old record which stated: ''It is the circle of life. The bamboo sprouts a shoot once every 60 years. The shoot will then flower, and the flower will bear fruit and wilt. The fruit will sprout again, completing the circle.''


    "The blooming flower of the Jade Bamboo is bound to produce bamboo rice which is also called the bamboo fruit."


    "The legends of old spoke that a Phoenix would refuse to perch on anything other than a phoenix tree, to eat anything other than Lian Shi and to drink anything other than the best spring water. This Lian Shi they spoke of referred to the bamboo fruit!"


    "Previously, the spiritual land had very few spiritual objects. I was guessing someone must have taken the rest of the spiritual objects and looks like I was correct. This Red-eyed White King Bird took everything!"


    The hole was filled with spiritual light, which clearly showed that there were many spiritual objects present here.


    However, there were some spiritual objects which could not be moved easily as they would be destroyed if they were rashly relocated. Hence, Fang Yuan did not dare to collect any of the spiritual objects since he did not make any proper preparations.


    The spiritual bamboos, on the other hand, were grown singly and grew very quickly. Hence, the spiritual bamboos did not have this problem and could be moved easily.


    Fang Yuan came to the spiritual bamboo and started digging using his Eagle Claw Technique. He was digging faster as compared to using a shovel. Not long after, he managed to dig the whole spiritual bamboo out along with its roots. The rhizome of the bamboo was in a good condition.


    "With this spiritual bamboo, my trip is made worthwhile!"


    Fang Yuan carried the spiritual bamboo happily and went to look for other spiritual objects.


    "Keke!"


    Suddenly, the Flower Fox Ferret, which was keeping a lookout, ran in anxiously.


    "Is that¡­.the black giant eagle?"


    Fang Yuan came to the entrance of the hole and saw the black giant eagle. Previously, it was circling around the other Red-eyed White Birds, but now, it was charging towards him.


    "It drew the Red-eyed White King Bird out of its nest to distract the bird so that it could come back to the bird''s nest?"


    He looked happy and said, "Looks like you were also coming for the treasures in the Red-eyed White King Bird''s nest but unfortunately for you, I was here earlier to get them¡­.."


    At that moment, there were many white birds chasing after the giant eagle. The Red-eyed White King Bird was leading the other birds but it was still slower than the giant eagle and both of them became more distant.


    Fang Yuan understood what was going on. The giant eagle was making a distraction for the Red-eyed White King Bird by picking up a fight with it and it used its faster speed as an advantage to draw them further away from the nest. Finally, the giant eagle then flew back to its target which were the treasures Fang Yuan looted from the nest.


    However, this giant eagle was working alone and therefore incurred a big loss as Fang Yuan managed to reach the nest first.


    "My apologies¡­.All these stuff are mine now and I cannot give it to you!"


    With the giant eagle charging right at him, Fang Yuan laughed out loud and his right hand was shaped like a black claw. He then grabbed fiercely and shouted, "Eagle Claw Technique!"


    "Bang!"


    The giant eagle flew right out.


    The Red-eyed White King Bird was not too far away and when it saw what was happening, it was enraged and gave a long and piercing scream. The tip of its feathers was tinged with blood. The beast then flew over and accelerated at an alarming speed.


    "Enraged? Then I ain''t interested in playing with you guys no more!"


    Fang Yuan laughed. He carried the spiritual bamboo and escaped quickly from the peak.


    Back at the entrance of the hole, the giant eagle was surrounded by the angry Red-eyed White King Bird and it gave a mournful scream¡­..

 49 Spiritual Bamboo

    "Chirp"


    In the spiritual lands of the Green Peak.


    Fang Yuan held a bamboo stalk that was jade-green and ran like the wind. Behind him was an army of spiritual birds and the Red-eyed White King Bird.


    The Red-eyed White King Bird, King of Birds, directed most of its hatred towards the Iron-tailed Black Eagle, but Fang Yuan, the ''thief'', did not escape its wrath either. White birds screamed in the air and prepared to attack.


    "Damn it, my clothes¡­"


    In order to protect the spiritual plants, Fang Yuan had to channel the power of the Iron Skin Technique, which protected him from the aggressive clawing and pecking of the birds. His clothes were torn such that he was almost naked.


    Of course, his clothes were not his main concern, for the Iron Skin Technique was not able to keep the birds from tearing gashes into his skin every time they lunged.


    "Are you not going to act now, Flower Fox Ferret?"


    As he charged down from the Peak, Fang Yuan manoeuvred his body and ran towards the fog.


    "Keke!"


    A bright light flashed.


    A white figure flew past at the speed of lightning and had one of the spiritual birds by the neck. Following a loud snap, the bird''s head tilted at an awkward angle. It was dead.


    "Haha...well done!"


    Grabbing this chance, Fang Yuan sped into the mist and sighed in relief.


    "Keke...keke¡­"


    The Flower Fox Ferret dropped the spiritual bird and frolicked beside the spiritual bamboo. It wagged its tail at Fang Yuan like a pug, as if it wanted his approval.


    "Hehe...seems like you know the value of the spiritual bamboo too. In order to protect it, I have suffered many wounds...ouch¡­"


    Fang Yuan inhaled a breath of cold air and used remnants of his clothing to bandage his wounds.


    "It''s fortunate that Master left me some anti-scarring ointment. Or else I''d be disfigured¡­"


    He gritted his teeth as he tended to his injuries, all the while glaring at the carcass of the spiritual bird.


    "Great...we''ll have this bird for dinner¡­"


    As Fang Yuan concealed himself in the thick fog and heard the shrieks of the giant birds from a distance, he counted his blessings.


    "To think that the King of Red-eyed White Birds could be this ferocious. If the Black Eagle hadn''t challenged it first, I probably wouldn''t have escaped¡­"


    "Black Eagle, rest in peace! I''ll be leaving now!"


    Grabbing the spiritual bamboo and the carcass of the spiritual bird, Fang Yuan disappeared quickly into the fog together with the Flower Fox Ferret.


    ¡­...


    The secluded valley.


    Ever since Fang Yuan had demonstrated his power, no one had dared to trespass the mountains. Zhou Wenwu was also helping to keep an eye on the land. Everything was peaceful.


    Fang Yuan entered the valley and ran straight to the gardens. He checked that the defence mechanisms and traps were in place before setting his heart at ease.


    Although the gardens were located in a more secluded part of the valley, the variety of plants to be found there, including the spiritual rice and tea, were very valuable. Fang Yuan did not want to take any chances.


    "In the future, when I move all these plants to the Green Peak, the valley will become just a living space. That would be the best arrangement. For now, I just have to be more careful, set traps and tell the Flower Fox Ferret to be on guard¡­"


    Fang Yuan then left for the tea garden and patrolled the vicinity. He was reassured when he saw that the Questioning Heart tea tree was untouched, and he began to think.


    He used to lead a simple life. Now that he had revealed his background, it would definitely attract unwanted attention and consequently trouble. Nevertheless, he had made significant gains in martial arts and had a formidable amount of inner energy. It would be enough for him to defend himself.


    As long as the miraculous properties of the Questioning Heart Tea remained unknown, there would be no problems.


    "But if these problems can be avoided, they should be avoided¡­"


    Fang Yuan had a solemn look on his face and his thoughts moved quickly. "The best form of defence is still the Flower Fox Ferret. Or perhaps a few fatal traps in the vicinity of the gardens will do the trick, with poison in the mix, a poison as potent as the Pearl Tail Snake''s...of course, in the legends, the spiritual knights could set up powerful formations and borrow the strengths of heaven and earth. I don''t think it''s possible for me to do all that...let''s leave it for now¡­"


    Fang Yuan had to make some decisions in preparation for his relocation to the Green Peak. Defence mechanisms were necessary.


    "The best formations are still the ones described in the legends. Most of the conditions aren''t fulfilled though. I''ll have to look at the next best alternatives¡­"


    With the Questioning Heart tea leaves, complemented by the Meditative Tea Ceremony, Fang Yuan''s magical energy had increased by leaps and bounds. He had met the requirements of becoming a spiritual knight, an alchemy master and the like.


    Too bad these beings were mythological. Even if Fang Yuan had wanted to join their ranks, he could not.


    "Eh?"


    Fang Yuan was pleasantly surprised when he arrived at the Vermillion Jade Rice field.


    In the field, shoots that bore a resemblance to red jade were growing strong with alarming momentum.


    At the side, a row of emerald shoots had also emerged and were thriving.


    "Emerald Grass! It really doesn''t take a lot for this plant to prosper."


    Fang Yuan squatted down and peered at the leaves of the Emerald Grass.


    "Flower Fox Ferret, will you eat this?"


    "Keke?!''


    The Flower Fox Ferret looked conflicted and grabbed the spiritual bamboo at the side tightly with its claws.


    It seemed like the Flower Fox Ferret preferred the bamboo to grass.


    "Haha...you little clever thing!"


    Fang Yuan gave a little smile.


    "When the spiritual bamboos are grown, you''ll have your share."


    The bamboo was different from the other plants, for its growth was characterised by the branching out of its roots. If well taken care of, the bamboo plant would develop into a forest in a few years. It was one of the most valuable of the spiritual plants.


    Otherwise, Fang Yuan would not be this excited to see the bamboo. He picked it without hesitation over the other treasures of the King of Red-eyed White Birds.


    "Mm, here!"


    Fang Yuan went around the garden and found a spot next to a hill of bluestone. He planted the spiritual bamboo there and then, and created a small irrigation ditch.


    "Shhshhh"


    The leaves of the spiritual bamboo were toyed with by the wind. Little white flowers on its stem were on the verge of blooming.


    "Seems like the bamboo is likely to survive¡­"


    Fang Yuan washed his hands, satisfied. He also looked towards his stats window.


    "[Botany (Level 3)] - You are an expert among botanists and possess unimaginable powers. The plants that you grow have a small chance of evolving special traits!"


    Fang Yuan had already seen this small chance for himself.


    In the past, in all the gardens, only one tea tree had gone through a mutation. It was pathetic.


    But it was that one tea tree that produced the Questioning Heart Tea, and together with the Meditative Tea Ceremony, produced an incredible effect on one''s magical energy. To Fang Yuan, it seemed like everything in life was predestined.


    Now, Fang Yuan had other plans.


    This spiritual bamboo, spiritual rice and spiritual grace, could all be grown in bulk. Cultivated in large amounts, Fang Yuan could trigger more mutating yields as long as his luck was not too bad.


    Mutations on the spiritual plants, what would the yields be like?


    Fang Yuan looked forward to seeing the results.


    "It''s just that...levelling up my skills are way harder than levelling up my techniques! My Black Sand Palm and Eagle Claw techniques can improve so much with only a day''s worth of practice. I always hit a bottleneck when it comes to my skills. It seems like I have to fulfil a specific condition before I can move on to the next level¡­"


    Fang Yuan looked at his [Botany] and [Medicine] stats with some regret.


    These two skills currently had 99.9% worth of proficiency points. All that was left to level up was that tiny bit, and it was taking a long time.


    This situation reminded Fang Yuan of the previous bottleneck.


    Without the help of spiritual plants, his [Botany] would not have reached level 3.


    "Unless...if I want to level up in [Medicine], I have to keep on healing patients, or devise cures to difficult diseases. And [Botany], does it require the cultivation of a higher grade spiritual plant?"


    These skills did not immediately translate into fighting power, but it would provide invaluable assistance in many other areas. Fang Yuan thought very highly of them.


    "Alright, tea time!"


    After Fang Yuan was done, he clapped his hands and brought the Flower Fox Ferret to his abode.


    One cup of Meditative tea, to cleanse the soul. To forget material possessions and the self.


    Fang Yuan felt a clear aura diffuse into his body. His magical energy had begun to increase slowly, and he entered a state of semi-consciousness.


    ¡­...


    "Keke!"


    After he had settled into reality again, Fang Yuan got to his feet, rejuvenated. He suddenly realised that the Flower Fox Ferret had ran to him anxiously.


    "Hmm, something is wrong¡­"


    From what Fang Yuan knew of the Flower Fox Ferret, it always stayed inebriated longer than Fang Yuan after a tea session. This was the first time it had gotten up earlier.


    "Keke!"


    Seeing that Fang Yuan was not really paying attention, the ferret became even more agitated and tugged on his pants, motioning for him to tag along.


    "This...have you discovered something?"


    Sensing that something was amiss, Fang Yuan followed the ferret out of the valley.


    Having crossed a few rolling hills, Fang Yuan suddenly gave an exclamation. He knew what the Flower Fox Ferret had found.


    Within his sight, was shrubbery that had been squashed by a gigantic and magnificent looking Black Eagle. There were huge gashes on its wings. The eagle had an electrifying look in its eyes and gave a defiant scream when it noticed Fang Yuan.


    "The Black Eagle actually escaped¡­"


    Fang Yuan was amazed and stepped forward tentatively.


    "Chhhchhh"


    The Black Eagle spread its wings and flapped mightily, only managing to raise a huge gust of wind before falling to the ground.


    "This¡­what should we do? Kill it? Or ignore it?"


    Fang Yuan gazed at the Black Eagle hesitantly.


    But the Flower Fox Ferret jumped out hurriedly and clawed at the air.


    "You want me to save it?"


    Fang Yuan was not averse to saving the eagle. After all, he had ruined the plans of the eagle and had even dealt it a head injury. It would be appropriate if he made it up to the eagle.


    "I could save it, but look at the state it is in...how do I do it?"


    Fang Yuan stepped forward some more, and the eagle responded aggressively.


    "Keke!"


    Flower Fox Ferret cocked its head and ran to the side of the Black Eagle. It then began to twitter patiently, as if it was doing some explaining to the Eagle.


    Following the ferret''s actions, the Black Eagle lowered its head. It was calming down.


    Fang Yuan watched this happen with some amusement. He was impressed.


    "Holy cr*p...you''re a ferret. When did you learn to speak to birds?"

 50 Healing

    "Hey... Black Eagle, you should know that I''m here to save you. Regardless of what happened previously, we''re even here alright..."


    Although he knew that the black eagle could not understand human language, Fang Yuan was still relieved knowing that the Flower Fox Ferret could translate for him.


    After saying a few words to the black eagle, he turned around and returned to the secluded valley. He came out with many bottles of medicine.


    "Chirp¡­.."


    Seeing Fang Yuan approach it, the black eagle became increasingly anxious but was comforted by the Flower Fox Ferret.


    ''The eagle and ferret have so much chemistry...''


    Witnessing this scene, Fang Yuan took a few steps forward and began to examine its injury.


    "Hiss..."


    Fang Yuan was shocked. "No wonder it''s a spiritual beast. It''s able to undergo self-healing, and the wounds have already begun to heal itself..."


    This was good news for Fang Yuan, as it meant that he did not have to use too much of this precious ointment.


    "Phew!"


    Fang Yuan took out bandages and medicine, tried to make himself look harmless and approached the black eagle. He was extremely focused and concentrated his inner force on his Iron Skin Technique to protect himself.


    Even with the assurance of the Flower Fox Ferret, it was still hard to tame the black eagle. Wouldn''t it be risky if it suddenly took a bite at Fang Yuan while he was treating it?


    "Chirp! Chirp!"


    Although the black eagle looked anxious, it tried to restrain itself and did not move.


    "This injury..."


    Fang Yuan noticed that its wound had already stopped bleeding, but broken bones and feathers were visible. They were in a gruesome mess with broken twigs and other plant matter. This would greatly hinder its path to recovery and the eagle would no longer be able to fly.


    "The most important is to clear the foreign objects from the wound and correct the bone. It''s going to be extremely difficult for the eagle to do it on its own, but if I were to help it..."


    Fang Yuan stroked the wings of the black eagle.


    The black feathers felt metallic to the touch, and it was a weird feeling.


    "I''m going to start now, try to tolerate the pain!"


    Fang Yuan focused, grabbed a tree branch and plucked it.


    "Whoosh!"


    A bloody arrow flew towards Fang Yuan, and the black eagle uncontrollably attacked, as it prepared to peck at Fang Yuan.


    "Keke!"


    The Flower Fox Ferret continuously tried to calm it down, and it took a while before the black eagle begun to regain its composure.


    "It seems... It''s unappreciative of my efforts!"


    Fang Yuan let out a long breath and extended 2 fingers out. Using his Eagle Claw Technique, he channelled his energy to his fingers, momentarily turning them akin to metal pliers. Then, He removed a piece of shattered bone using his fingers and threw it aside.


    He felt enlightened after studying the wound inflicted by the Red-eyed White Birds on this strong black eagle, and he felt as though he gained a deeper understanding of the strength of the Red-eyed White King Bird.


    ''It seems... To defeat the king bird is no easy feat.''


    As he thought to himself, his hands were quick and in no time, he cleared the wound and applied medication to it.


    "Up next is to straighten the bones..."


    Fang Yuan shook his head. "Even though you are a mutated species and your rate of healing is incredibly fast, you still need to give your feathers time to regrow, and so you won''t be able to fly for the time being..."


    In fact, this was the greatest worry for the black eagle.


    Even though it was a mutated spiritual bird, it still needed to eat to survive, and especially in large amounts to quicken the recovery process.


    "Don''t you worry, since I saved you now, I will take care of you all the way till you have recovered!"


    Fang Yuan comforted the black eagle as his hands felt its bones. He mustered all his strength and corrected the position of the bones!


    "Kacha!"


    A distinct sound was heard.


    The black eagle winced, flung the Flower Fox Ferret away and tried to peck Fang Yuan.


    "I knew it!"


    Fang Yuan laughed and was already prepared for the black eagle''s reaction. He took a step back, and suddenly punched towards its head.


    "Peng!"


    He landed a heavy fist on the forehead of the black eagle. Its eyes rolled, and it fainted on the spot.


    "That''s right... Finally, you''re behaving!"


    Fang Yuan wiped his hands. "I should have made you faint from the beginning!"


    "Keke..."


    The Flower Fox Ferret was watching at the side, full of pity for the black eagle.


    "It''s done!"


    After dealing with the black eagle, Fang Yuan told the Flower Fox Ferret, "Up next, we shall set up a campsite here, and deliver food here once in a few days, and there should be no problem..."


    However, his expression suddenly changed.


    He noticed that the ''Skill'' portion of his stats window had changed.


    The digit ''2'' behind [Medicine (Level 2)] became blurred, jumped and transformed to ''3''!


    ''[Medicine (Level 3)]? I have finally broken through!''


    Fang Yuan was pleasantly surprised. ''Healing this spiritual beast was a blessing in disguise...''


    He looked at the description for [Medicine (Level 3)]:


    "[Medicine (Level 3)] - You are a professional within experts, a doctor who can make miracles. Will have a multiplied effect when dealing with complicated medical conditions! (Effect does not only apply to humans)"


    "Does not only apply to humans..."


    Fang Yuan looked at the black eagle, confused. "Could it be that I mastered veterinary without a master?"


    At this moment, there were more changes to his stats window:


    "Name: Fang Yuan


    Essence: 3.5


    Spirit: 3.4


    Magic: 2.3


    Age: 18


    Cultivation: [Martial Artist (6th Gate)]


    Technique: [Black Sand Palm (Grade 5)], [Eagle Claw Iron Skin Technique (Grade 6)]


    Skill: [Medicine (Level 3)], [Botany (Level 3)]"


    "Very well, it seems that skills would be harder to improve as compared to techniques, as there would be a special condition to be met before attaining a new level..."


    Fang Yuan stroked his chin, deep in his own thoughts.


    "The greater my skills, the higher the multiplier effect in the system... It seems that my title as the doctor who can make miracles happen would spread far and wide?"


    The proficiency points for [Medicine (Level 3)] became zero and naturally required numerous hands-on practice before being able to fill it up.


    Furthermore, to break through the bottleneck, he might have to heal certain rare and complicated medical conditions. All these would require him to set up a medicinal hall and do charity work.


    "The idea of running this seems probable..."


    Fang Yuan looked in the direction of Qingye City and zoned out...


    ...


    Time passed and many days flew by in a blink of an eye.


    The chaos in the Guo Family begun to settle down.


    However, there were still rumours of a doctor who could work miracles living in the secluded valley. He was known to have a weird temper and one should never offend him.


    Those who were curious and wanted to see the secluded valley for themselves were stopped by the Zhou Family outside the valley, which made the secluded valley even more mysterious.


    It was dawn.


    Fang Yuan walked out of his pavilion, sowed seeds, plucked weeds, fertilized his plants... After a round of chores, he proceeded to carry on with his intense martial arts training.


    "The Eagle Claw Iron Skin Technique proficiency points have reached a maximum, and it''s time to break through!"


    After a session of training, Fang Yuan closed his eyes, concentrated his inner force, and spit out a bright white essence, like a sharp arrow ready to penetrate anything in its way.


    "Hu... Out of the three Gates, Pain, Shock and Death, I can feel the Shock Gate now. Indeed, it''s a test of one''s magic points..."


    His improvement in [Medicine] aided his progress in martial arts.


    Fang Yuan understood that based on his magic points, he could undoubtedly break through the 7th Gate.


    As for other martial artists, if they made any mistake while breaking the Gate, they would end up crazy and there would hardly be a cure for them.


    "Keke!"


    A white flash flashed by as the Flower Fox Ferret appeared in front of Fang Yuan, trying to explain something.


    "Something has happened to the black eagle?"


    Fang Yuan thought to himself. "By now, it should have recovered and be able to fly, right?


    The Flower Fox Ferret appeared surprised as though Fang Yuan guessed correctly.


    It was reasonable for the Flower Fox Ferret to feel unjust. After all, all the food that was provided to the black eagle while it was recuperating was caught and delivered personally by the Flower Fox Ferret.


    Now that it had recovered, it was sad to see it go without saying goodbye.


    "Being a proud animal, since it allowed us to help it while it was injured, it would definitely remember our help and will reciprocate in the future..."


    Fang Yuan stroked the Flower Fox Ferret. "You''ve come at the right time, let''s drink tea!"


    "Keke!"


    The Flower Fox Ferret became excited after hearing about the Questioning Heart Tea.


    By living in the deep mountains and leading a carefree life, as well as understanding the different spiritual plants and spiritual objects, Fang Yuan felt at peace as his thoughts and his martial arts began to settle down.


    In technical terms, it meant that his foundation was solid, and the previous rushed efforts did not leave any hidden dangers behind.


    With this benefit, it would still be worth it even if his progress bar did not fill up.


    After drinking tea, Fang Yuan left the flower Fox Ferret to look after the valley, while he carried a small medical box and walked out of the secluded valley.


    In front of the valley, there was a flat land, and on the flat land were three straw pavilions. Next to the huts was a small pavilion.


    Many people walked past but no one dared to take a break here.


    In front, a plump minister was anxious. Even though the weather was rather cooling, he was sweating profusely like ants on a hot wok.


    "Keke... Old Lin is an acquaintance of the doctor who lives in the secluded valley. Why not just enter the valley, I''m sure the doctor would not scold you..."


    A few people were resting in the pavilion. The first was Zhou Wenwu. He had good relations with the Lin Family at first, but after the Song Zhong incident, the two families drifted apart, and now their conversation became sarcastic.


    "Haha... How would I dare?"


    Minister Lin laughed but was troubled. ''Young Master Fang improved tremendously, and there were rumours that not only his [Medicine] was good, his martial arts was even better. Even Song Zhong was no match for him, so why would he give me any face? Those who offend him would be in deep trouble, and if he refused to heal the person, I might even lose my life too, so this cannot be taken lightly!''


    "Doctor Fang is here?"


    Fang Yuan''s silhouette began to appear, and this shocked everyone.


    "Mmm, everyone, listen up. Is everyone clear on the rules? Three patients a day, and all will have to come up with payment to satisfy Doctor Fang first... If this cannot be done, please take your leave..."


    After his speech, he did not care less about others and entered the hut.


    Regardless how influential or powerful these masters or martial artists were, all of them appeared humble before the doctor who would save their lives, like obedient rabbits in a queue, and this included Minister Lin.

 51 Saving Lives

    Since the advancement of [Medicine], Fang Yuan, wanting to further push the boundaries, ordered the Zhou Family to release some news and rules on his behalf.


    He built a straw pavilion before the secluded valley, seeing only three patients a day. Patients wanting to seek treatment had to personally head down to the pavilion.


    In addition, the consultation fees had to be paid first. Trespassing on the back of the secluded valley was also prohibited. Any trespassers would be instantly kicked out, never being allowed back for treatment!


    Indeed, such rules were naturally infuriating.


    But in their world, only the strongest had the say and there were many people more eccentric than Fang Yuan. The people of Qingye City had grown to accept such rules as quirks of the divine healer, choosing to place their faith in him.


    What were these mere rules compared to one''s life?


    Over time, the rules set by Fang Yuan became commandments that were strictly adhered to.


    "Today, it''s a little odd!"


    Fang Yuan sat resolutely, his face showing signs of suspicion, "Usually it''s rare to even see a person in a day. This time I''m actually met with both Zhou Wenwu and Lin Benchu ..."


    Thinking back to the most recent patients that he treated, most of them suffered exterior wounds caused by the blade or close combat. Suddenly, Fang Yuan had a conjecture.


    "Come in!"


    "My respects Master Fang!"


    Lin Benchu ordered his men to stretcher in a martial artist whose face was pale but lacked any presence of blood, looking just like a zombie.


    Upon seeing Fang Yuan, Lin Benchu dared not overstep his position, completely adhering to the etiquette that he showed to Master Wenxin when they had first met.


    He bowed, displaying utmost sincerity, "Please save him, Master Fang!"


    "Medicine can''t revive the dead. I need you, Minister Lin, to understand this point!"


    Overhearing the correspondence between Fang Yuan and Minister Lin, Lin Benchu knew that knew that the favours that he accumulated in the past were of no use. He let out a bitter laugh, his heart experiencing an ineffable sense of regret.


    Fang Yuan ignored him and walked forward to lift the white cloth so as to examine the injury.


    "Eh?"


    He instantly noticed something different from that one glance.


    "How is it, Master Fang?"


    Minister Lin asked uneasily as if he was afraid that Fang Yuan would reply with a ''No''.


    "This person ... is probably someone whose skill was beyond the View Gate. He was only one step away from crossing the Pain Gate by condensing his inner force."


    Fang Yuan glanced over at the slightly depressed chest of the body. He shook his head, "Moreover, the martial art he practiced was an extremely Yin fist technique. Overestimating his own abilities, he challenged an in-house expert. He crippled his own Yin technique and suffered injuries caused by inner force."


    "Tsk..."


    Upon hearing that, Minister Lin took a deep breath of cold air as his voice quivered, "Divine healer ... You are saying that he was injured by an inner force expert?!"


    "What benefit do I get from lying to you?"


    Fang Yuan looked at Minister Lin and rolled his eyes, "Who''s the person that injured him? Where is he now?"


    "Well, I am not sure either ... Regardless, this guy is a disciple of Spirit Returning Sect, Zombie Fist Feng Han. I plead you to quickly treat him ..."


    Minister Lin''s face revealed a shred of awkwardness, but he still sincerely knelt down to plead.


    "This injury... Way too difficult!"


    Standing up, Fang Yuan paced around for a few steps, before shaking his head again, "You must know that external injuries are easy to treat, but internal injuries are very challenging. I can''t guarantee that I can heal this guy¡­"


    With a sigh, Minister Lin''s heart sank.


    "However, saving his life and even allowing him to regain consciousness shouldn''t be a problem¡­"


    Fang Yuan''s subsequent sentence caused Minister Lin to regain his vigor, his heart aching to shout words of abuse.


    Fortunately, he himself knew that these were definitely not people he would want to offend. Thus, he promptly whipped out a box, "I heard that the divine healer has interest in various spiritual items. Pardon the old man''s inability, but I specifically found a Vermillion Fruit ...."


    "What? A Vermillion Fruit"


    Fang Yuan laughed out, "Is it the legendary fruit that can immensely improve one''s inner force, a mystical fruit that bestows power equal to ten years of hard work?"


    "Yes..."


    Minister Lin face exuded a hint of awkwardness, "The Vermillion Fruit is an object of legend, so how could an old man like me obtain such a rarity? Well, I exhausted all my efforts to find this one fruit, I seek that the divine healer does not laugh at my incompetence!"


    Fang Yuan rolled his eyes once more, almost believing that Minister Lin was playing tricks with him.


    However, he still took the box. Upon opening the box, a dark red fruit was in sight.


    This fruit was the size of a baby''s fist and had the texture of a peach. While appearing ordinary, after meticulously feeling the fruit, Fang Yuan could sense a hint of spirituality.


    "Eh... This is definitely a Vermillion Fruit..."


    After confirming that the fruit was indeed a spiritual object, Fang Yuan felt an even stronger headache.


    The Vermillion Fruit had a legendary reputation even amongst the ranks of other spiritual plants such as the Vermillion Jade Rice and the Emerald Jade Grass. It came as no surprise that the Vermillion Fruit had such stringent requirements for the environment it grew in.


    Naturally, it would not sprout even after 8 or 10 years if it was casually planted in a random plot of land.


    To make matters worse, this fruit had an extremely long period of maturity. 100 years could be considered as a single unit of time when describing the length of time required. Hence, one would only be expected to obtain this fruit through a chance encounter. Otherwise, only sects with a long history would dedicate the time to grow this fruit.


    "If this fruit can sprout, my [Botany] skill will definitely see a breakthrough, but..."


    Fang Yuan shook his head, "Unless... it''s within the Green Peak Spiritual Grounds, along with my unique skills, there can be still some hope!"


    "Divine healer... So what do you make of this situation?"


    Seeing the uncertainty in Fang Yuan''s face, Minister Lin asked anxiously.


    There was definitely a case to be made with the presence of this spiritual object. Regardless of how preposterous the request was, he gathered his focus on this sole hope.


    "Hmm... I will help on the account that you and my master knew each other!"


    Fang Yuan carefully kept the box and took out a cloth pouch containing rows of thin golden needles.


    With a needle in hand, his face turned serious and the aura surrounding him instantly changed.


    "Whoosh!"


    Minister Lin looked at this scene and was thrown into a trance. It was as though he was watching the reincarnation of Master Wenxin.


    "Chi.. Chi!"


    Fang Yuan''s needles were seemingly flying, in a blink of an eye, he pierced over ten of Feng Han''s acupoints.


    Feng Han''s face distorted, abruptly opening his mouth to spit out a mouthful of black blood.


    "Hoo...."


    Although he was only awake for a short instance, falling back into unconsciousness shortly, his breathing stabilised and his face had a pinker hue. One could clearly see that he managed to cling to what was left of his life.


    "Thank you, divine healer! Thank you!"


    Minister Lin was overjoyed and said emotionally, "Witnessing the divine healer''s needles is like watching your master... I can''t believe that despite the divine healer''s young age, you managed to obtain the true skills of your master and even surpass his abilities!"


    Bootlicking was free and hence he naturally continued to bootlick.


    "Although I already knew this Golden Needle Acupoint Piercing technique beforehand, I still can''t be compared to my master. With Level 3 Medicine, the effects are still magical!"


    Fang Yuan felt ashamed but his act of brilliance managed to gain the respect of Minister Lin.


    "The patient has been treated, Minister please return home. Forgive me for not sending you out!"


    Seeing that Lin Benchu still had words to say, Fang Yuan decisively rolled up his sleeves and lifted his hand to gesture them out.


    "Sigh..."


    Lin Benchu joined his hands to bid farewell and along with his servants took their leave.


    Fang Yuan glanced over at his back view and murmured, "Old sly fox."


    If he were to really keep them around, it was not as if they would be honest and tell him the truth.


    Rather than trying his luck getting answers out of them, he would rather look for someone else.


    "Divine Healer Fang!"


    An instant later, Zhou Wenwu entered and bowed. He spoke with a tone of utmost respect.


    "Eh? Are you hurt?"


    Fang Yuan shook his head and poked Zhou Wenwu with the golden needle.


    "Thank you, divine healer!"


    Zhou Wenwu suffered a minor internal injury and felt that his inner power flow was not smooth. Upon the jabs of needles, he instantly felt comfortable and displayed his gratitude.


    "Don''t mention the titter tatter, what''s actually happening outside? The injured that the three big families are sending here is abnormally many..."


    Fang Yuan frowned, "Also, these are wounds from fights. To think that these injuries come from dealing with merely Guo Family?"


    "The divine healer knows it himself...."


    Zhou Wenwu''s face turned solemn, "The three big families reached an agreement to divide Qingye City. I was fully rested and obtained manpower to kill and establish dominance. The Guo Family was the best target! I discussed this plan with the divine healer before...."


    "Indeed, but you met with trouble?"


    Fang Yuan nodded his head.


    In reality, he already knew from the get go that the Guo Family had issues but he deliberately kept it from this bunch of people, hoping that they could be the ones to draw out the problem.


    "Previously, everything went smoothly. Although the Guo Family was brave, they were no match for the three families. Even some of their businesses were about to be lost...."


    Zhou Wenwu started to have suspicions, "However, from three days ago, the Guo Family managed to get the help of a powerful ally, causing a great hit to us... There is another strange thing!"


    "Oh? Quick, tell me!"


    Fang Yuan waved his hand.


    "The Spirit Returning Sect has somehow managed to catch hold of this and specially sent a group a people over. The first of which was Zombie Fist Feng Han, to think...."


    Zhou Wenwu shook his head, clearly showing how surprised he was, "When all these news are reported to the sect, they will definitely send more people down. Maybe even an elder will personally lead a team!"


    While saying this, he was full of confidence. After all, from his perspective, there was nothing that the Spirit Returning Sect could not resolve within the Qinghe County.


    But Fang Yuan was pretty clear that the mysterious party supporting the Guo Family was someone with an unpredictable strength that could definitely match the power of Spirit Returning Sect.


    "The battle of the two titans is nearing...."


    Although he did not know how Guo Family managed to get the help of such a power, Fang Yuan was no longer kept in the dark and could understand the current situation.


    And perhaps even Lin Benchu that old fox knew less than he did.


    "Zhou Wenwu!"


    Contemplating to this point, Fang Yuan made a decision.


    "Your humble servant is here!"


    Facing Fang Yuan, Zhou Wenwu was obedient as ever, bowing instantly and listening intently.


    "The Guo Family incident has a complicated background...."


    Continuing to contemplate, Fang Yuan did not want the periphery that he built up to suffer heavy casualties, "If the sect has any requests, you should do your best to fulfill them. But remember never to personally put yourself at the frontline. I wish you all the best!"


    "Could it be that the divine healer feels that Spirit Returning Sect is at a disadvantage?"


    Zhou Wenwu heart felt a perturbing chill, suddenly feeling a great sense of inscrutability.

 52 Winning Over

    "Vermillion Fruit¡­"


    After turning away someone who was seeking medical help, Fang Yuan glanced at the nearly filled proficiency progress bar while he tossed the box containing the Vermillion Fruit. He was satisfied.


    This might give him the chance to upgrade his [Botany] to Level 4.


    "It is impossible to grow Vermillion Fruits in the secluded valley, but it might be possible to grow it on the spiritual lands of Green Peak. Either way, it is always good to be prepared!"


    As Fang Yuan entered the valley, the Flower Fox Ferret darted towards him and circled him continuously. It seemed to have sensed a gem on Fang Yuan.


    "This seed is of paramount importance, I cannot allow you to eat it!"


    Holding onto the box, Fang Yuan said, "Anyway the Vermillion Jade Rice is about to ripen soon, are you still worried there is not enough food for you it?"


    "Keke!"


    Upon hearing this, Flower Fox Ferret thought about it extensively before indignantly making a choice.


    "That''s right, good boy!"


    Right after Fang Yuan''s compliment, Flower Fox Ferret raised its paw and pointed towards the direction of the spiritual bamboo. Its intentions were crystal clear.


    "What¡­ you want the spiritual bamboo after they have borne fruit as compensation?"


    Fang Yuan touched his forehead and said, "You are really insistent on not being short-changed¡­Eh? Wait!"


    Fang Yuan smelled something fishy as he looked at the expression on Flower Fox Ferret''s face. It looked as though he made a deal that was almost too good to be true. This aroused Fang Yuan''s suspicion and he hurriedly walked towards the spiritual bamboo.


    Before he even reached, he took in a deep breath and felt enveloped by a gush of current in the air.


    "The purity of the air here is already almost on par with that of the spiritual land. What a pity it is still lacking in terms of spiritual energy¡­"


    Shaking his head, Fang Yuan crossed the drain.


    Next to a rock, a green bamboo looked as though it was brimming with life and energy.


    "From what I saw earlier this morning, it looks extremely different¡­Is this because it has finally accepted this plot of land?"


    Fang Yuan broke into a smile. This meant that the spiritual bamboo was completely alive. Furthermore, looking at the flower buds, it would only take a few days for it to blossom.


    Fang Yuan finally understood why Flower Fox Ferret was willing to compromise on the Vermillion Fruit. It had set its sights on the spiritual bamboo!


    Of course, if the Vermillion Fruit was perfectly undamaged, with its flesh intact, it would be a completely different situation altogether.


    ...


    One night passed.


    On the next day, Fang Yuan woke up early in the morning. He immediately felt there was something different about his surroundings.


    "Could this be¡­...the spiritual energy produced by the spiritual bamboo? It could even travel till here?"


    Appearing to be solemn, Fang Yuan was actually filled with astonishment at this discovery.


    "Keke!"


    Flower Fox Ferret sprinted towards Fang Yuan. It was obvious that there was important news from the garden.


    Fang Yuan rushed over to where the spiritual bamboo was. The flower bud he saw the day before was in full bloom. Its pure white petals danced in the wind, releasing its spiritual energy. It also seemed to be causing a subtle resonance in the area next to it.


    "Is that¡­the field of Vermillion Jade Rice?"


    Fang Yuan tensed up and walked hurriedly to the side of the field. He was shocked at what he saw.


    In front of him were several red stalks of rice. They were half the height of a grown man and bore enormous grains that bent the thick stalks of the plant.


    "It ripened surprisingly fast! This is even faster than the previous harvest!"


    Fang Yuan stepped forward and stroke the grains and said, "Furthermore, the quality appears to be more superior than the previous harvest. Even though there were no major and sudden changes, could it still have been gradually accumulated?"


    Looking at this, Fang Yuan was filled with aplomb.


    As long as he selected the best harvest and continued to grow them over the next few seasons, he would definitely be able to bring about a transformation in the spiritual plants.


    Looking at the numerous fields nearby, Fang Yuan was suddenly touched and thought to himself, "Great! There is sufficient spiritual rice from the harvest this time for Flower Fox Ferret and me to consume over the year...There will even be leftovers after we leave behind those for planting and cultivation...If we can sell the rest, it would definitely bring in immense riches!"


    The Vermillion Jade Rice was only the lowest grade of spiritual plants. There was even a department within the Spirit Returning Sect that sells it as a source of revenue.


    Previously Fang Yuan was thoroughly shocked by the price of this sort of spiritual plants. Based on the quality of his recent harvest, he was sure that it would be in great demand on the market.


    Of course, there would be people who did not deserve it but yet desired to obtain it.


    "If it is just the Vermillion Jade Rice, it isn''t such a big deal¡­furthermore¡­why would I even need money?"


    Upon packing the last sack of Vermillion Jade Rice into the storage room, Fang Yuan broke into a wide smile of satisfaction. He thought, "Great, we shall eat Vermillion Jade Rice every day starting from today until we get sick of it!"


    "Keke!"


    Flower Fox Ferret which was next to him jumped about excitedly. It looked like it could hardly control its excitement.


    With the spiritual rice, what else was there for Fang Yuan to fret about? He cooked a big pot of fragrant Vermillion Jade Rice right away.


    The uniqueness of the flavour of the Vermillion Jade Rice this time was many times more intense than the flavour previously. The immense pleasure from eating the Vermillion Jade Rice was also intensified.


    After a long time, Fang Yuan finally woke up from his deep sleep. He opened his mouth and released a breath of white gas.


    He looked down and saw that he had already finished the entire pot of spiritual rice. Down to the very last cell in his body, he felt as though as he was reborn


    "The effects of the spiritual rice are even stronger this time¡­"


    Fang Yuan was extremely pleased. As he looked in the direction of the spiritual bamboo, he was filled with doubts as he wondered, "If the blossoming of the flower of the spiritual bamboo could actually accelerate the time taken for the spiritual rice to ripen, what type of spiritual bamboo is this? What are the uses of its fruits?"


    His doubts were answered soon enough.


    After three days, most of the flowers from the bamboo withered. They were replaced by green fruits which hung on the branches, brimming with life. It was a sight Fang Yuan had never seen before.


    "Bamboo fruits¡­in the legends, they were the staple foods of the phoenixes¡­"


    Flower Fox Ferret was already waiting patiently at the side for some time. Fang Yuan glanced at it, plucked a fruit and tossed it in the air.


    "Shoo!"


    In a flash, Flower Fox Ferret appeared on the other side of the rock with fruit in its mouth. It then devoured the fruit voraciously.


    "What is it like?"


    As Fang Yuan watched Flower Fox Ferret intently as he waited for Flower Fox Ferret to finish its meal.


    "Keke¡­Keke¡­"


    Flower Fox Ferret pretended to not understand Fang Yuan and pointed at the spiritual bamboo again. It was hinting that it could not taste the full flavours of fruit completely by just trying one piece. It needed a few more in order to get a sense of it.


    "What a greedy rascal!"


    Fang Yuan jokingly reprimanded. At the same time, Fang Yuan had a sense of assurance as he thought, "There should not be a major problem with it¡­"


    At the same time, Fang Yuan plucked a fruit and tossed into his own mouth.


    Crunch!


    It had the flavours of a green apple. It was sweet and palatable. At the same time, it sent a warm sensation flowing smoothly down his throat.


    "Erm¡­ this is¡­"


    Fang Yuan''s eyes widened as he felt his strength, inner force, Spirit, and Magic recharged to its maximum at that instant. He felt comfortable and extremely energetic at the same time.


    "It does not increase stats, could it be that it promotes recovery?"


    He thought again, "Could this allow one to recover Essence, Spirit, and Magic in such a short time?"


    As his train of thoughts led to Red-eyed White Bird''s outburst, Fang Yuan finally understood why the spiritual bird treated the bamboo fruit as though it''s a piece of treasure.


    After its outburst, it would definitely deplete a lot of its energy which would mean a long recovery time. However, with the fruit, this time would shorten.


    "Even during a duel when both sides suffer serious injuries, this fruit could be consumed?"


    Looking at the spiritual bamboo, Fang Yuan was gradually enlightened. He thought, "No wonder, this bamboo fruit could even snatch a person away from the hands of death, which explains its immense value..."


    "Hold on!"


    Slightly worried, Fang Yuan looked at Flower Fox Ferret and asked, "You did not seem to expand a lot of energy today and you even ate one fruit before this, why are you still asking for more?"


    "Keke?"


    Flower Fox Ferret thought for a moment and began gesturing. Fang Yuan then realised the bamboo fruits could only induce recovery in humans. However, when consumed by spiritual beasts, especially birds, it appeared to aid in their growth on top of its recovery effects. As a result, it was no surprise the Iron-tailed Black Eagle and the Red-eyed White King Bird treasured it so much.


    Fang Yuan broke into a slight smile as the thought of the Iron-tailed Black Eagle surfaced in his mind.


    Recently in the deep valley, Fang Yuan came across several dead beasts such as wild boars and tigers. Their wounds looked like they were inflicted by an animal with razor sharp claws. These must be the Iron-tailed Black Eagle''s acts of gratitude.


    At this instant, Fang Yuan thought of an even better idea.


    "Flower Fox Ferret...take these bamboo fruits and tempt the Iron-tailed Black Eagle into becoming our companion...No, tell the Iron-tailed Black Eagle that we would give it bamboo fruits if it ensured the safety of this valley. How about that?"


    The Iron-tailed Black Eagle had a formidable strength. Even though it was slightly inferior to the Red-eyed White Bird, it had an advantage over most others as it could fly.


    Generally, once it took flight and circled around the valley, nobody could come within 3 miles of the valley, not even the most experienced foot soldiers.


    Actually, Fang Yuan had already thought about making use of the Iron-tailed Black Eagle for quite some time.


    After he finally understood the instructions, the Flower Fox Ferret sped off into the vegetation with a few bamboo fruits.


    ...


    "Caw Caw!"


    In no time, along with an ear-piercing shriek, a deafening noise reverberated through the valley.


    Fang Yuan hurried over and found a dead python that was as thick as a human''s arm lying the ground. There were a few big holes on its body which fresh blood flowed out from.


    "Eh? Golden Silk Python?"


    Fang Yuan stepped forward to take a closer look. His face instantly lit up with joy as he thought, "Even though we do not have the snake gall, the skin and bones of a snake are also exceptional medicinal ingredients. Along with snake meat, we have sufficient food to last a few days..."


    "Chirp! Chirp!"


    Amidst the strong wind and loud noise, the Iron-tailed Black Eagle descended from the sky. From its back, a white little head emerged and hopped off gracefully and moved over next to Fang Yuan.


    "Brother Eagle, have you considered my offer?"


    Fang Yuan laughed and drew out a few bamboo fruits from his robes.


    "Chirp! Chirp!"


    Although the bamboo shoots did capture the Iron-tailed Black Eagle''s attention, it tilted its head upwards, as though it was not easily swayed by Fang Yuan''s gifts.


    However, it was evident from the eyes of the spiritual beast that it was indeed tempted by Fang Yuan''s offer.


    "Keke Keke...Sssss..."


    As Flower Fox Ferret gestured and explained, Fang Yuan quickly understood the situation. He remarked, "Oh, so Brother Eagle is unwilling to be the spiritual beast of humans? You misunderstood my intentions, I never thought of doing that. I only wanted to hire you that''s all. You will help me to patrol and protect this area and I will give you the spiritual fruits as payment...if it is insufficient, there are spiritual tea and spiritual rice..."


    Fang Yuan shook his head and ordered Flower Fox Ferret to translate it for the Iron-tailed Black Eagle.


    "Chirp! Chirp!"


    Flower Fox Ferret and Iron-tailed Black Eagle communicated through gestures and Iron-tailed Black Eagle eventually shook its head.


    "What a difficult nut to crack!"


    Fang Yuan wrecked his brain for a solution and told Flower Fox Ferret, "Flower Fox Ferret, let Iron-tailed Black Eagle know, we will not hire it. Instead, we are offering it...These spiritual fruits are the gifts we offer respectfully to it for its service in protecting the valley. How about this?"


    Shaking his head, Fang Yuan sent the Flower Fox Ferret to translate his words.


    "Chirp! Chirp"


    As expected, the Iron-tailed Black Eagle nodded its proud head this time, intently eyeing the bamboo fruits in Fang Yuan''s hand.


    "Alright, there you go!"


    Fang Yuan tossed the fruit into the air and watched the eager beast rushed to consume it. In his mind, Fang Yuan was speechless as he thought, "This beast is so ridiculously egoistic. This deal I made him was exactly what I proposed earlier. Fortunately, it met me, if not it would not be as profitable..."

 53 Urgent Matters

    Autumn passed by slowly into the bitterly cold winter.


    Snowflakes as large as goose feathers fell from the sky, blanketing the entire secluded valley in no time.


    Fang Yuan opened the window and exhaled a mist of white air.


    As he was an inner force expert, the temperature of the surroundings had little effect on his body. Even though he was wearing just a layer of thin clothing, he did not seem to feel cold at all.


    "Chirp! Chirp!"


    Iron-tailed Black Eagle called out in mid-air before landing steadily on the snow. It clutched a carcass of a young deer in its talons and looked at Fang Yuan intently.


    Iron-tailed Black Eagle''s was already extremely pampered by the offerings of spiritual items and other foodstuffs that Fang Yuan fed it daily. It seemed as if Fang Yuan were to chase it away, it would not be willing to return to its previous harsh lifestyle in the wilderness.


    "Keke!"


    Upon seeing good food, Flower Fox Ferret sped away, leaving shallow footprints in the snow that looked like plum flowers.


    "Choo..."


    Iron-tailed Black Eagle cried out when it saw Fang Yuan walking out. Its message was crystal clear.


    "Oh? There''s someone familiar approaching?"


    Through some interaction recently, Fang Yuan managed to grasp some of the more basic terms of the language used by these spiritual beasts. However, he has yet to fully master them. Nonetheless, he was still definitely confident of the few terms he used to communicate with the Iron-tailed Black Eagle.


    "Keep out of sight in the meantime..."


    As he tended to the small deer in preparation for his next meal, he spoke to Iron-tailed Black Eagle without turning his head, "Relax, there will be a portion of spiritual rice and barbequed meat for you today..."


    "Chirp Chirp..."


    With Fang Yuan''s reassurance, Iron-tailed Black Eagle then flew away reluctantly, disappearing into a tiny black speck in the sky in no time.


    This was Fang Yuan''s secret weapon; he could not reveal it to anyone so easily.


    As for the existence of Flower Fox Ferret, it was no longer a secret to those close to him. Instead, the knowledge of its existence seemed to intimidate them.


    "Zhou Wenwu would like to meet you, sir!"


    Before long, Fang Yuan strolled to the small hut along with the noise of the gong. Here, he saw Zhou Wenwu with a large and thick wolf skin cloak draped over him as he waited alone.


    "My greetings!"


    Seeing Fang Yuan appear, Zhou Wenwu''s eyes lit up as he stepped forward and showed his respects.


    "Erm...you''re not a stranger, please follow me into the valley!"


    This man''s loyalty and integrity could be trusted to some extent. In fact, they were put the test before. They were also secretly manipulated by Fang Yuan and Fang Yuan treated him differently from others.


    "Have you found out what''s the mysterious force behind the Guo family?"


    Fang Yuan flicked off the snowflakes that had fallen on his body and asked Zhou Wenwu casually.


    Seeing that Fang Yuan was not affected by the cold at all, Zhou Wenwu was filled with admiration and envy for him. He replied, "I''ve found out already and I''m here to report my findings sir!"


    "Very well, let''s discuss it in the valley. What a great timing, the spiritual rice is also ready!"


    Fang Yuan looked into Zhou Wenwu''s eyes. Although Zhou Wenwu seemed pure and innocent, Fang Yuan had the feeling that Zhou Wenwu was intently sizing him up. Recognising this, he said, "Based on your martial prowess, you have already reached the 5th Gate. What you need to do now is to strengthen your foundations and break through the Pain Gate!"


    "The more solid and firm your foundations are, the higher the chances of breaking through the 3 Perilous Gates. Even in the event you fail, the negative effects will not be as severe...Have you finished the Vermillion Jade Rice from the last time? Take along another batch with you this time then!"


    "Thank you, sir!"


    Zhou Wenwu was instantly delighted.


    After all, to be able to consume spiritual rice daily to boost his martial prowess was a privilege not even the direct disciples of the Spirit Returning Sect could enjoy.


    He would be stupid to betray Fang Yuan. Additionally, Fang Yuan had already emplaced traps on his body as preventive measures.


    Even though he did not say it explicitly, Fang Yuan had an immense reputation for being a divine healer. Any doubts Zhou Wenwu had were erased instantly.


    Even if Fang Yuan were to order him to fight against the Spirit Returning Sect, he would still do Fang Yuan''s bidding no matter what.


    Despite this, Fang Yuan still had some reservations about him.


    At least he was still able to maintain his possession of the spiritual tea and Iron-tailed Black Eagle a secret.


    "Greetings esteemed ferret!"


    After stepping into the valley and seeing Flower Fox Ferret, he became extremely humbled.


    At that point in time, he already knew that Flower Fox Ferret was the guardian spiritual beast of the valley and its specific role was to watch over the Vermillion Jade Rice.


    It was this sort of valuable secret that was worthy of the guardianship of a spiritual beast.


    Remembering when he first saw Flower Fox Ferret, it did not pay him any attention. It was hugging onto a large porcelain bowl and concentrated all its attention on voraciously consuming spiritual rice from it. This scene agitated Zhou Wenwu extremely.


    It was too embarrassing and intolerable!


    Not only was he unable to defeat Fang Yuan''s pet spiritual animal, even what he was eating was inferior to the pet''s. What sort of miserable and pathetic situation was he in?


    ''At least it isn''t too bad¡­ Fang Yuan still gave me some of the spiritual rice after all, even though it was not as much as the ferret''s..."


    At this point, Zhou Wenwu was minimally comforted that at least Fang Yuan treated him as well as his own pet. However, what Zhou Wenwu did not know was that Fang Yuan did not value the Vermillion Jade Rice as highly as he did.


    "Have a seat!"


    Entering the abode, Fang Yuan grabbed a cushion and poured a cup of clear tea. Even though it was just common tea, Zhou Wenwu felt as though he was pampered beyond measure by this mere gesture and was struck beyond words.


    "Have you found out the backers of the Guo family?"


    Fang Yuan shook off the snowflakes on his body and sat down.


    "Yes..."


    As Zhou Wenwu mentioned this, he slapped himself on the face.


    Even with Fang Yuan''s prior cautioning and medical help to preserve his life, he still nearly lost his life to the Guo family.


    "Ever since the failure last time, our sect repeatedly dispatched many groups of people led by elders to duel with the force behind the Guo family. After several intense duels, they finally found out that the force behind the Guo family was actually the Five Ghosts Sect!"


    Zhou Wenwu said angrily.


    "Five Ghosts Sect?!"


    Fang Yuan frowned. It seemed that after all, he was not as familiar as the situation around him as he thought he was.


    "This sect is extremely secretive and mysterious. They have always operated within Lieyang County. We also just found out that the ancestor of Guo family was actually a known disciple of the Five Ghost Sect...."


    Zhou Wenwu sighed and continued saying, "The Five Ghost Sect is an extremely powerful sect in the Secluded Mountain Prefecture. It is almost as powerful as the Spirit Returning Sect. They are even more mysterious and brutal than the Spirit Returning Sect too. By activating their spies in the Guo family and even sending out experts this time, it seems like they are looking for something..."


    "Oh? What are they looking for?"


    Fang Yuan''s heart skipped a beat and he enquired immediately.


    "I am not too sure myself, but it definitely is a piece of treasure! It was stolen and taken away by a traitor, but a lot of time has passed since then. I''m afraid it''s already lost..."


    Zhou Wenwu shook his head and carried on saying, "The Spirit Returning Sect also suffered big losses. I also just heard that in this period of time, the Guo family have also suffered great losses. It also appears that the experts from the Five Ghosts Sect have realised that they are not gaining much from this area and are starting to pull out..."


    "Pull out..."


    Fang Yuan nodded his head and asked, "Is it because of the Spirit Returning Sect?"


    "Correct!"


    Zhou Wenwu nodded his head and habitually replied in a slightly proud tone saying, "Their actions have already startled our leader. They are even preparing to send Elder Han down. No matter how proud and daring the Five Ghosts Sect are, Qingye City is after all the territory of our Spirit Returning Sect! Only that..."


    Zhou Wenwu then began to hesitate and stuttered, "...the retreat of Five Ghosts Sect seems to be because they are consolidating their forces for some far more important reason back home...our sect leader has already ordered us to investigate and our confrontation with them might carry on!"


    "So, it''s like that..."


    After hearing this, Fang Yuan remained silent for some time.


    It was obvious that whatever the Spirit Returning Sect was doing at this point in time was to some extent also helping him to avert disaster.


    Unless the Spirit Returning Sect drew away most of the attention of Five Ghosts Sect, the Five Ghosts Sect might even head straight to the valley.


    Fang Yuan was however puzzled at their decision to withdraw their forces now.


    Qingye City was the territory of the Spirit Returning Sect and furthermore, they had the support of the Wu Zong.


    It seemed reasonable for them to withdraw the moment they captured the attention of Shi Yutong. However, from Zhou Wenwu''s account, it appeared they had an ulterior motive.


    "It seems like¡­I really have to leave this valley!"


    Waving his hand, Fang Yuan gestured for Zhou Wenwu to leave him. After intense consideration, he finally made up his mind.


    Fang Yuan began to ponder over this incomplete treasure map that had captured so much attention from the Five Ghosts Sect. There was probably a lot more to it.


    ...


    Guo family.


    Several horse carriages were already lined up neatly in formation ready to set off. Members of the Guo family were looking distraught and several women were sobbing. After all, they were leaving their home for good and they did not know when they would be returning.


    "Hmph, all you know is how to cry! What a burdensome bunch!"


    From the side, a few stern-looking riders atop massive horses clad in black shouted angrily, "Stop behaving this way and move faster!"


    "Master, why do we have to save this household? After all, apart from the elders of the Guo family, what business do these commoners have with our sect?"


    One of the disciples who had a skull embroidered on the front of his robes complained to an elder next to him.


    "Idi*t!"


    The elder flew into a rage unexpectedly and said, "The elders of the Guo family sacrificed their lives for our sect and now in this conflict we caused more of their family to lose their lives. If we just abandon them like this, our other disciples will lose hope and confidence in us. You have to understand that it is precisely these commoners that form the roots of our sect..."


    "Hmph, Spirit Returning Sect..."


    The young martial artist scoffed, "Isn''t it unnecessary for someone who is around 7th or 8th Gate to come along on this operation?"


    "Hehe, if it was just inner force experts who came it would be easy..."


    The elder shook his head and said, "It''s just that I heard news that Elder Han was coming along with the reinforcements from the Spirit Returning Sect. He mastered the Yin and Yang energies twenty years ago and is already a martial artist of the 4 Heavenly Gates...I am reluctant to do so but I have to admit he is more superior than me!"


    "This journey to Qingye City is really unpleasant..."


    As if he was hit by some bad news, the young martial artist now looked down in distraught and said, "We have suffered too many losses...As for the Spirit Returning Sect disciples, despite suffering serious injuries, they could recover their old strength so easily so quickly..."


    "Yeah, I have heard that there''s a divine healer in this area. Apparently, he could even bring someone dead back to life. Rumours described him to be so divine and godly that it seemed ridiculous. But from the looks of it, there seems to be some truth in the rumours. Should there be a chance in the future I would like to meet this person..."


    The elder tugged on his horse reins and left without turning back, saying, "For now, nothing is more important than our sect''s issues. When you get out of Qinghe County, escort this group of people to Lieyang County with the rest of your seniors. I am making a move first!"


    After completing his sentence, he set his horse into a full sprint and disappeared in no time without even turning back.

 54 Attack

    "Chang chang!"


    "Chang chang!"


    The ear-splitting sounds of a gong pierced the silence of the secluded valley.


    "Eh?"


    Fang Yuan, who was in the midst of his training, frowned and looked towards what seemed to be a large crowd gathering outside the valley and remarked, "Why are there still such unruly people? They must be from the Spirit Returning Sect or the Five Ghosts Sect!"


    It was evident that given his capabilities, there was no doubt that he was the leader of the Qingye City. Even in Qinghe County, many of the martial artists showed him a great deal of respect.


    After all, in the world of martial arts, nobody could guarantee that they would not get ill or injured, and not require the services of the divine healer ever.


    It was probably either of those two who dared to do something like this.


    With this thought, Fang Yuan strolled out of the valley without delay.


    ...


    "Elder Lu, you cannot barge into the valley!"


    Zhou Wenwu stood his ground in front of the valley, speaking righteously, "These are the rules set by Divine Healer Fang. If you continue to blatantly disregard them and offend him, Elder Zhao''s injuries might worsen..."


    This group of people belonged to the Spirit Returning Sect. At the front of the group, two disciples were carrying a stretcher. An elderly man whose breathing was extremely weak laid on it.


    "Phew, phew..."


    Elder Lu clenched his fist and his eyes were bloodshot with rage. He barked, "What do you know? If Elder Zhao loses his life, you will not be able to answer for it!"


    These words increased the already high tension.


    Looking at Elder Zhao on the stretcher, Zhou Wenwu was in a dilemma.


    For any sect, martial artists beneath the 5th Gate were insignificant. Once a martial artist broke through the 6th Gate and developed inner force, the martial artist would be immediately bestowed an elder position. This was the true mark of an elite martial artist.


    Elder Zhao was well known in Qinghe County for his Great Sun Technique and Cloud Stepping Technique. Unfortunately, while he was rushing to another person''s rescue, he bumped into Gui Wusheng from the Five Ghosts Sect. Gui Wusheng was an infamous villain who was an 8th Gate expert who had broken through the Death Gate. It was rumoured that he already mastered the Yin energy and entered the realms of the 4 Heavenly Gates too!


    A short battle later, Elder Zhao had been injured. Thankfully Elder Lu came just in time, and Gui Wusheng seemed to be in a rush, otherwise, he probably would have lost his life there and then


    It was no wonder Elder Zhao was in such a depressing condition.


    "Move aside!"


    As he shouted, Lu Zhisen''s temper rose rapidly as he glared menacingly at those who stood in his way.


    "No way!"


    Zhou Wenwu broke out in cold sweat but he refused to budge, explaining, "Divine Healer Fang is an inner force expert that broke through the Pain Gate. Elder Lu, please show some respect!"


    "Hmph, there are so many rumours going about to the point that it''s hard to believe them anymore. Even if he is at the 6th Gate, what could someone that just broke through do against my iron pole?"


    Lu Zhisen remarked arrogantly. He was also speaking his mind.


    After all, fighting against a newly advanced [Martial Artist (6th Gate)] would definitely not be a problem for him, considering his vast amount of experience.


    Standing away from Zhou Wenwu and Lu Zhisen, Lin Benchu and the head of the Zhang household watched nervously in silence with a group of disciples from the Spirit Returning Sect.


    They were naturally inclined towards supporting Zhou Wenwu as Lu Zhisen was an elder infamous for his recklessness. However, they also did not dare to bear the brunt of Lu Zhisen''s murderous rage, hence they looked to Zhou Wenwu with respect and awe.


    "Saving this person''s life is extremely important and urgent! Get out of my way!"


    Having lost his patience, Lu Zhisen swung his hand at Zhou Wenwu.


    "Bang!"


    Zhou Wenwu was hit by an enormous force which he could not resist even with his inner power of the 5th Gate. As a result, he was sent flying through the air.


    Inner power indeed lost out when pitted against inner force.


    Furthermore, Lu Zhisen did not expand all his power. Should he have used his weapon, Zhou Wenwu''s brains would have been splattered on the ground.


    Even so, Zhou Wenwu was sent soaring high into the sky.


    "Bang!"


    After landing with a dull thud, he realised that he was not injured at all. He was forcefully grabbed up by the neck by Fang Yuan with only one hand.


    "Erm? So you are the Divine Healer Fang Yuan?"


    Looking at the youthful Fang Yuan emerge from the valley, Lu Zhisen felt an uneasiness in his heart.


    Fang Yuan looked incredibly young. He looked like he was younger than 20 years of age. Yet when he responded earlier by nimbly catching Zhou Wenwu with ease, his skills seemed to suggest otherwise. This confused Lu Zhisen greatly.


    "Yes I am..."


    Fang Yuan released Zhou Wenwu and while looking at Lu Zhisen, shook his head and said, "You refused to abide by my rules and yet you still expect me to tend to your patient?"


    "You¡­"


    Lu Zhisen''s face flushed red with anger. Swinging out his right hand, he instantly grabbed a metal pole as thick as a teacup and threatened Fang Yuan, "You dare to refuse to treat my patient? Be careful of my Coiling Dragon Iron Pole..."


    "Fu Ha ha ha!"


    Seeing this, Fang Yuan could not resist breaking into laughter.


    It was an entertaining sight watching Lu Zhisen''s reckless and temperamental behavior.


    Using force to threaten a doctor to tend to a patient? What''s the difference between that and forcing a fengshui master to select a spot to bury one''s ancestors? If Lu Zhisen intended to end his family line, he could continue trying his luck.


    "Argh...This is pissing me off!"


    Lu Zhisen''s face was blood red and the veins on his forehead swelled up and protruded out. He slammed the iron pole on the ground and caused a tremor around him. Raising his immensely huge arm, he charged towards Fang Yuan.


    "Hmm¡­6th Gate inner force?"


    Fang Yuan''s eyes flashed and opened his palm, spreading his fingers like an eagles claw, creating a swishing noise.


    "Sssss pa!"


    With a loud explosion in the air, Lu Zhisen staggered two steps backward. It was evident Fang Yuan inflicted some damage on him.


    "Ah... Dragon Subduing Pole Technique!"


    With his eyes reddening further and his body bursting with rage, Lu Zhisen was going to give everything he had. Swinging the iron pole in his hand, Lu Zhisen brought it down with immense force.


    "Good move!"


    Fang Yuan moved forward swiftly and twisted his Eagle Claw. When he reappeared, he broke through the shadows created by the movements of Lu Zhisen''s pole technique, grabbed onto the pole and forced it downwards.


    "Bang!"


    With a reverberating explosion, the Coiling Dragon Iron Pole deeply penetrated the soil, sending large amounts of soil particles into the air.


    Lu Zhisen''s face was now swollen and red. His nostrils were almost going to start bleeding. He grabbed the pole with two hands and mustered all his strength as he tried to yank it out of the ground. However, the pole did not seem to budge. It seemed as though the hand on top of the pole was like the Five Finger Mountain that physically repressed the Monkey God.


    After the short exchange of blows, Lu Zhisen broke out in profuse perspiration. The colour drained from his face as he tried to catch his breath.


    "So? Do you concede defeat?"


    Fang Yuan asked with a smile. He was delighted with his own improvement.


    "You...already broke through the Shock Gate?"


    Lu Zhisen stuttered, but there was a degree of certainty in his voice.


    In the earlier bout, Fang Yuan completely dominated the fight and displayed an impeccable character. Every move he made completely wowed the spectators. It was as though they were watching a renowned martial artist in action.


    The intense concentration Fang Yuan had seemed unrivaled.


    Lu Zhisen might have been a brute, but he was not stupid. He quickly got to his feet and respectfully apologised, "Sorry for offending you, I hope you would forgive me. Should you seek to dish out punishment, please just punish me!"


    As Lu Zhisen conceded defeat, he remembered the brilliant and talented individual the elder accepted as a student.


    In the past, the student improved at an incredible rate. But in comparison with Fang Yuan, it no longer seemed as impressive anymore.


    "Eh?"


    "This..."


    Lin Yuanwai and the family head of the Zhang Family widened their mouths in disbelief. It was almost as if they were in a dream.


    In just one bout, the fiery Elder Lu infamous for his reckless violence was brought to his knees.


    Furthermore, he had a reputation for being a veteran expert martial artist who was gifted in strength, and unrivaled amongst 6th Gate martial artists.


    Also, what did he just say? Shock Gate?


    At that moment, everyone turned their gaze onto Fang Yuan. They now began to look at him in fear.


    "If that''s what you think, then so be it!"


    Fang Yuan gave a vague answer, making it difficult for others to comprehend.


    In reality, he had already broken through the Shock Gate long ago. Had he failed to break through this gate with the help of the Questioning Heart Tea, it would be ridiculous and embarrassing.


    ''Anyway, in terms of cultivation and combat power, considering I could defeat this person, it seems like my martial prowess has reached the highest levels at least in Qinghe County?''


    Fang Yuan thought to himself and checked his stats window.


    "Name: Fang Yuan


    Essence: 4.2


    Spirit: 4.1


    Magic: 3.0


    Age: 19


    Cultivation: [Martial Artist (7th Gate)]


    Techniques: [Black Sand Palm (Grade 5)], [Eagle Claw Iron Skin Technique (Grade 7)]


    Skills: [Medicine (Level 3)], [Botany (Level 3)]"


    ''In the blink of an eye. a year has passed, and I came from being a nobody into a highly skilled martial artist with miraculous healing skills...''


    Fang Yuan thought to himself as he was flushed with a sense of accomplishment.


    This massive advancement made by Fang Yuan affected Minister Lin greatly.


    Looking at Fang Yuan, Minister Lin could only feel repeated waves of regret hitting him from inside, as though his heart was attacked by a venomous snake. It was excruciating for him.


    Even though Lin Leiyue had Shi Yutong''s blessings and the future of their sect seemed bright, it now appeared to be merely a hopeful expectation.


    In terms of true power, reputation and position, Fang Yuan was no less inferior than Lin Leiyue.


    Why was he so blind and wasteful to let go of such a desirable candidate?


    He could only regret as it was too late.


    Looking at the very impressed family head of the Zhang Family and the smug looking Zhou Wenwu, he felt very annoyed.


    It seemed as though they were all ready to send the women in their own families to sleep with Fang Yuan to win his favour.


    "An accomplished martial artist at such a young age!"


    Lu Zhisen silently sighed. Looking at the frail and weak Elder Zhao lying next to him, he swallowed his pride and grudgingly dropped to his knees and begged, "Please try to save him divine healer! Should you want to dish out punishment, please just punish me!"


    Seeing Lu Zhisen fall to his knees, and even Fang Yuan was moved.


    Even though Lu Zhisen was a boorish fellow, it appeared even he had a soft side.


    "Please recover!"


    Waving his hand, Lu Zhisen involuntarily stood up almost immediately.


    Fang Yuan continued to speak, "I shall forgive and forget your earlier transgression with what you have just done...Are you aware of my rules?"


    For every person the divine healer in the deep valley healed, he demanded either a spiritual object or anything else that was valuable as payment.


    "Yes! Of course!"


    Lu Zhisen respectfully presented a silk booklet and said, "I obtained half of these random records. The materials inside include records by several renowned elders, as well as various stories of spiritual knights. Please accept this as payment!"

 55 Shaoyang City

    "The Secluded Mountains Prefecture is one of the three prefectures in the country. It is also under the jurisdiction of the six counties, which Qinghe is a part of. It is home to several mysterious and special individuals..."


    "In terms of martial arts, there are several talented spiritual knights, capable of fully mastering spiritual energy and lightness skill. Only the cr¨¨me de la cr¨¨me of martial artists can rival their skills..."


    Fang Yuan sat cross legged as he prepared his tea.


    The steam from the piping hot water simmered off once it came into contact with the cool surroundings as the stunning fragrance of the tea wafted out.


    The small fireplace created a sense of comfort from the bitter cold environment.


    It was a different experience reading his book in such an environment.


    Elder Zhao from the Spirit Returning Sect suffered a life-threatening injury as he was hit by Gui Wusheng''s Ghostly Claw and the Decomposition Toxins seeped into his bones. His condition was made worse by his internal injuries. However, with the combination of Fang Yuan''s


    Golden Needle Acupuncture and Yama''s Talisman, Fang Yuan saved his life without a fuss.


    After Elder Zhao''s condition stabilised, Fang Yuan immediately sent off Lu Zhisen and the group of people who were thanking him profusely. He then began to read the book they gave him intently.


    "Erm...in this journal, the time period is longer. Furthermore, the author''s martial arts prowess is so advanced. It seems like he has reached the highest level of Wu Zong..."


    After reading through the book once, doubts arose in Fang Yuan''s mind.


    Most importantly, the author recorded several legends regarding spiritual knights, traditional customs and even revealed some precious pieces of information regarding advanced martial arts. This pleasantly surprised Fang Yuan.


    "I''m left with one remaining gate to clear to break through the 8th Golden Gates in the 12 Golden Gates. After I clear this, I must master the Yin and Yang energies for the 4 Heavenly Gates..."


    Laying out the 12 Cultivation Levels of Initial, Rest, Life, Restriction, View, Pain, Shock, Death, Yin, Yang, Earth and Heaven in front of Fang Yuan, he only had five left to clear.


    "At the 8th cultivation level, I must break through the Death Gate. At the 9th and 10th, I must master the Yin and Yang energies individually while at the 11th cultivation level I have to master combining yin and yang energies into one and to break through the 12th cultivation... At the 12th level, I must put in consistent effort in training to break through this level. After completing all these, I can finally get a taste of the exhilarating experience of being a martial artist of the highest level of Wu Zong..."


    "Many gifted martial artists have failed at this stage but apparently after passing this stage one would enter an entirely different realm altogether. There are even changes in the form¡­for example, one would no longer train inner force but...elemental force!"


    From these descriptions in the booklet, Fang Yuan was able to confirm that this author had already reached the Wu Zong level.


    "According to him, it is only with the breaking of the Wu Zong and mastering of elemental force then one could be considered to be really set on the route of cultivation which can then be worthy of comparison with the spiritual knights and alchemy masters..."


    While reading this particular paragraph of description, Fang Yuan sensed a hint of melancholy between the lines.


    At this point, Fang Yuan''s mood was also affected.


    After all, it was extremely rare even for gifted martial artists who had renowned teachers to break through the 4 Heavenly Gates. Wu Zong was more about fate. Even if one were to train and prepare for his entire life, he also had to count on fate to succeed.


    But as for spiritual knights and the like, they started training their elemental force straightway. Their strengths and abilities at the beginning were already on par with Wu Zong. This news could possibly disillusion several martial artists.


    "In the first place nothing in this world is fair!"


    Fang Yuan put down the booklet with a sigh. He was still very envious of spiritual knights and their kind, thinking, "Spiritual knights use elemental force and are able to manipulate nature, gaining the ability of Creation. For example, magical masters are able to arrange the key elements while alchemy masters can obtain the extremely beneficial essence from spiritual plants, grabbing the valuable fruits of nature. There are also the more mysterious dream masters¡­..."


    Fang Yuan no longer had further doubts about the martial arts route ahead of him before Wu Zong.


    Fang Yuan was only slightly puzzled about how to become a spiritual knight.


    "If we were to talk only about physical capabilities, there are not many people who are better than me I think. Especially in the aspect of magical energy..."


    As for the honing of martial arts skills, it usually consisted of just building up and enhancing elemental energy. As for Fang Yuan''s growth in the magical energy, he had the aid of the Questioning Heart Tea.


    As for the requirements to become a spiritual knight, it seemed to be very similar to this magical energy.


    Fang Yuan walked to the front of a bronze mirror and released all of his magical energy.


    At that moment, the young man in the mirror looked incredibly vibrant and lively. He was almost shining with youth and vigour, like a luminous pearl in the night.


    "Luminosity...magical energy of 3.0, and I can already accomplish something like that..."


    Fang Yuan knew that it would be a pity if he did not attempt to train to be a spiritual knight with his current capabilities.


    But becoming a spiritual knight was not a simple task. It required determination and will.


    "When I leave this time, I have to also pay more attention to the details here..."


    Fang Yuan made up his mind, but he was still slightly troubled.


    As for all those spiritual knights, Qinghe Country was just a poor rural area. Even he had never heard about this area in the legends.


    If he really wanted to find out, he had to travel out towards the Secluded Mountain Prefecture or even the capital of the country, maybe he had to even travel out of the country to search for it in order to have a glimmer of hope.


    "Ow!!!"


    After making up his mind, Fang Yuan got up walked to the garden and called out.


    His voice reverberated around the valley and shook the ground.


    "Chirp!"


    "Keke!"


    A big and small shadow from the sky and ground respectively sped towards Fang Yuan. It was Flower Fox Ferret and Iron-tailed Black Eagle.


    "I''m going to travel out for a long period of time, this secluded valley will now be under your charge!"


    Fang Yuan caressed the small head of Flower Fox Ferret and tossed a bamboo fruit to Iron-tailed Black Eagle.


    Taking his spiritual tea, spiritual rice, and bamboo fruit, he hid them in separate places within the vast and huge Clear Spirit Mountain. Given the vastness of the mountain, not many people would be able to uncover his hiding spots.


    After harvesting the crops for the last time, Fang Yuan set a fire and burned all the Vermillion Jade Rice plants into ashes. The barren Questioning Heart Tea tree and spiritual bamboo that were left looked a bit conspicuous, but it was extremely difficult to notice them. It would be far more challenging for someone else to take advantage of their beneficial properties in their current state.


    Furthermore, with the protection of the two spiritual beasts, Fang Yuan felt more assured.


    ...


    Lieyang County.


    This was a part out of the six counties in the Secluded Mountain Prefecture. It had always been the territory of the Five Ghosts Sect and a neighbour of Qingye County. As it had a few gigantic quarries, the county was economically powerful and looked more developed than Qinghe County.


    Winter passed and spring set in.


    Within Shaoyang City, people who rested during the bitter cold winter resumed transporting huge amounts of mineral ores again.


    These mineral ores of Lieyang harnessed some form of Yang energy. It was the blacksmith''s favourite material to add to their works which included weapons. After the addition of these mineral ores through a unique process, the quality of the constructed weapons would be enhanced and maybe even transformed. It might also have some divine or holy properties. It was said that such weapons could defeat the most demonic entities and were thus known to be the divine and powerful weapons of magical troops.


    Of course, this was just said in legends. However, the hard reality was that the demand for Lieyang mineral ores was far greater than its supply.


    Furthermore, along the journey, the value of these mineral ores would increase along the way. By the time they reached the main mansion of the Secluded Mountain Prefecture, the price would increase by fifty percent. When they reach the capital of the country, the price would double. If one was willing to risk breaking the law and transporting it beyond the country''s borders to faraway lands, the profits one could make would be almost uncountable. It was definitely enough for one to live the rest of his life in prosperity without having to work anymore.


    However, several dangers and obstacles plagued this transportation route.


    These merchants were only enticed by the sheer amounts of profits they could reap to take the risk of face the bandits and robbers along the way. They had to be brave, intelligent and extremely determined on their journey in order to succeed.


    "Is this Shaoyang City?!"


    As the horse carriage entered the gates of the city slowly, a jade-like hand pulled open the curtains and the person inside visually surveyed the different scenery the city held. The person was feeling incredibly excited.


    "Miss, we have reached the inn!"


    In front of the carriage stood a middle-aged man with a goatee. He looked like the hotel manager and at the same time, he also looked like he was the carriage driver.


    "Great!"


    The lady dismounted from the carriage. Her striking red robes incongruently stood out against the dull colours of her surroundings. Her eyes were glistening beautifully, but she covered half her face with a mask, eliciting looks of disappointment on those around her.


    "Old Yu, thank you so much for putting on the disguise and for also being my carriage driver, it must have been hard for you!"


    After entering the inn and requesting a suite, the lady removed her mask and revealed a gorgeous face. It was Lin Leiyue.


    "I am honoured to work for you, Miss Lin!"


    The middle-aged man smiled and wiped off the sweat from his face. The lines on his face changed drastically and he looked evidently more light-hearted.


    If Fang Yuan was here, he would definitely find this man familiar. This was the man who forced Lin Yuanwai to back out of his marriage. He was the Cold-faced Iron Eagle, Yu Qiuleng!


    "Elder Han has already notified us that he would link up with us as soon as possible to chase down Gui Wusheng!"


    Lin Leiyue clapped her hands and a few skilled martial artists entered, ready to take orders.


    "The Five Ghosts Sect has a mysterious background and they are unpredictable. When they were in Qinghe county they activated the spies they planted for many years. Their objective does not seem trivial. You are the elite spies of our sect in Shaoyang County, support Elder Han and my mission this time and find out the objective of the Five Ghost Sect!"


    "Yes Madam!"


    All the martial artists bowed respectfully.


    "Good, Yan San, Ma Si, Hou Wu, Zheng Liu...Four of you guard the four doors in Shaoyang County. The martial artists of Five Ghosts Sect have recently been gathering in this city. Make sure you get to know each of them inside out!"


    "Zou Jiu, you will..."


    Lin Leiyue looked as though she was issuing operational orders in an army. Her last order was to Yu Qiuleng, "Old Yu, I will put you in charge of the deployments of the Five Ghost Sect in this area!"


    "Rest assured, I will not fail you!"


    Yu Qiuleng replied in arrogant tone; he was confident that he would succeed.


    He had no reason to believe otherwise.


    Since the last time, Yu Qiuleng had made massive improvements in his martial prowess. He was also promoted to an elder in his sect. His confidence was bolstered, and he was extremely satisfied. This time, he was tasked with escorting members of the sect on this mission. It was a huge responsibility, an indication of his bright future in the sect, thus explaining his confidence and high morale.


    Seeing this, Lin Leiyue cautioned him, "The Five Ghosts Sect is as powerful as ours, do not be complacent!"


    "Very well said Miss Lin, I will remember it!"


    Yu Qiuleng waved as he replied. Judging from his cavalier attitude, Lin Leiyue knew then that he did not take her words seriously.

 56 Sparring

    As days and hours gradually passed, the whole Shaoyang City instead became more heavily guarded. With such a serious and solemn atmosphere, even the ordinary folks could feel it.


    Every day, there would always be people coming from Lieyang County. Even martial artists from other counties flooded the city daily.


    Needless to say, the people who couldn''t be left unmentioned, were the disciples of Five Ghosts Sect, constantly fighting and killing on the streets and in the alleyways, almost as if there was no stop to the violence and mayhem.


    Along with this, was news that a treasure had been spotted in Shaoyang City. The news spread far and wide, attracting even more warriors to come forth to the city.


    "There''s a treasure in Shaoyang City? Some claimed to have seen its shine, sparkling in the sky, lasting for many years?"


    Fang Yuan was riding a green donkey; upon hearing the exaggerated rumors, he broke into laughter.


    "Those rumors must be fake."


    Traveling beside him was a man 7 feet tall, body bursting with masculinity, as muscular as a bull.


    "This was personally said by brother, it cannot be any less true!"


    This huge man was carrying an axe the size of a door, with an air of ferocity around him, he said, "It seems like you''re a kindred spirit, why not come join us at Cow Head Mountain? We can eat huge blocks of meat, drink giant bowls of wine, talk about gold and silver, how enjoyable will that be, ha ha!"


    "Oh no oh no, Brother Wang, I am honoured by your offer and hospitality, but my martial arts skills are not up to par, so I think I''ll pass."


    Fang Yuan discreetly rolled his eyes, unable to believe that this fool could be a mountain king.


    He met this man on the road. After finding out that they both were heading to Shaoyang City, they had been traveling together ever since. His name, in particular, was very special. His surname was Wang and his first name was Fugui. The name Wang Fugui meant ''Rich King'', and that already sounded like it belonged to a wealthy man.


    From what Wang Fugui said, this Cow Head Mountain was also from Lieyang County and was supposedly very famous.


    "Brother Wang, you''re making the journey to Shaoyang City for the treasure too?"


    Fang Yuan didn''t want to talk about recruitment anymore and thus immediately changed the topic.


    "We don''t even know how the treasure looks like, even if we did, the experts will beat us to it, as if it''s that easy to find it!"


    A shrewd look flashed on Wang Fugui''s face.


    "Oh? I didn''t think brother would be someone who understood the situation."


    Fang Yuan was slightly surprised," Then why are you heading to Shaoyang City?"


    "Ha ha..."


    Wang Fugui waved his hands in excitement and said," Recently so many people are gathering in Shaoyang, and just as I was planning on gaining fame as a martial artist, I heard that Five Ghosts Sect has many senior martial artists here, even the junior ones are all here too! All I have to do is wait for a good opportunity to challenge them, beat them, and my name will spread throughout the lands. With such a good chance coming up, how could I miss it?"


    "Oh I see!"


    Fang Yuan cupped his hands together, at least he finally understood what the big fuss was about, and how it could still attract so many martial artists to come too.


    People from the world of martial arts weren''t passive and were not willing to miss out on any action if they heard of it. Needless to say, add on the promise of treasure, even while knowing that there might be danger, they would just walk straight up to face it without fear.


    "Brother, even though your martial arts skills are bad, but your medical prowess is unmatchable! If you could join Cow Head Mountain, and work for Brother Wang, then 1 of the 5 important positions will be left for you!"


    Ever since Wang Fugui personally saw Fang Yuan save a grandfather and grandson with medical techniques, he had been wowed and totally admired Fang Yuan''s medical skills, wanting to recruit him into the group.


    Unfortunately, Fang Yuan had no interest in being a mountain thief, and thus there wasn''t much Brother Wang could do.


    "We''ve reached Shaoyang City!"


    His eyes lighted up upon seeing the building in the distance.


    "Oh? There are martial artists fighting..."


    Wang Fugui saw that in front of the gates of the city there was a circle of sabre wielding martial artists. There seemed to be people fighting in the centre of the circle. Upon seeing that, Fugui excitedly said, "Everyone out of my way!", as he headed towards the circle.


    He was huge, hence it was good to be allied with him.


    Occasionally some martial artists flashed fierce looks, but upon seeing his body of steel, and the giant axe, they didn''t dare to pass any comments. This allowed Fang Yuan to pass through easily.


    As they entered the circle, it seemed like the battle was coming to an end.


    The fight involved two martial artists, one old and one young. The old guy was graceful and had remarkable skills, but it was evident that he was already exhausted to his limit and was being forced to a corner by the younger guy.


    "This youth had actually advanced to the 6th Gate, and became an inner force expert?"


    Fang Yuan eyes flickered as he looked at the younger warrior.


    He had nice eyebrows and a nice coloured skin. However, his face was extremely pale and he carried an aura of coldness. Wearing black, he was definitely a disciple of Five Ghosts Sect.


    "Who''s that?"


    Fang Yuan saw Fugui''s veins bulging in his neck, a look of eagerness on his face and was temporarily speechless.


    "Ha Ha, looks like you''re not from around here, you don''t even know Ghost King!"


    "Ghost King?"


    Fang Yuan shrugged; he really haven''t heard of this name before.


    "This guy is one of the best disciples of Five Ghosts Sect! He was born gifted, at the age of 20 he obtained inner power and was able to break through the Pain Gate, being the first youth in Lieyang County to attain that!"


    Wang Fugui''s eyes never left the fight, and in acknowledgment he merely murmured.


    "Oh..."


    Fang Yuan was rendered speechless upon hearing his response.


    Excluding himself, from the last time they met, even Lin Leiyue was still a few steps away from breaking through the Pain Gate. If this youngster had really done it then he would have set a new record.


    With regards to the difference in skill between Leiyue and this youngster, oh well, Leiyue would have to commit suicide out of embarrassment.


    After all, Ghost King was a merciless evil demon who managed to break through all 7 Gates in a year.


    Fang Yuan was an intellectual, but was indifferent when it came to battles.


    "Ghost King''s martial art is graceful and elegant, just like how a spider spins its web, slowly but surely forcing its prey into a corner. The old man is already completely exhausted, its best if he surrenders early lest he suffers even more internal injuries."


    "Five Moons Palm!"


    Ghost King gave a shout, his right hand turning pale beyond measure, completely drained of colour, as he gracefully slid past the old man''s defences and pressed his hand on the old man''s chest.


    "Argh..."


    The old man''s facial expression took a turn for the worse, as he rapidly staggered back, spitting out purplish black blood.


    "Flying Crane has actually been defeated!"


    "He is actually a renowned master of inner force in Lieyang County!"


    "Seems like he''s about to be replaced by the new generation of martial artists..."


    "Ghost King''s techniques are of such a high level, don''t even talk about Lieyang County, even within Secluded Mountains Prefecture, I doubt there''s many who can match up to him..."


    "Hey! Everyone listen up!"


    Ghost King eyed the whole circle and proudly said, "Shaoyang City is Five Ghosts Sect''s territory, anyone who has any thoughts about competing with us better think twice, or you''ll end up just like this old man!"


    Upon finishing his sentence, he gave a cold smirk. Surprisingly, he and the other disciples did not enter the city. They all got on horses and rode off to an unknown destination.


    Wang Fugui waited until they were gone before he indignantly said, "Hmph...that bold attitude of his."


    "If I wish my name to be renowned throughout the lands, all I have to do is go up, challenge them and win, am I right?"


    Fang Yuan''s eyes were filled with ridicule.


    Wang Fugui had natural strength and had trained in the brute strength of the Cow Devil Technique till the 5th Grade. Usually, there were few martial artists that could match up with someone like that, but it turned out that a master of inner power was one of those who could.


    Wang Fugui''s face broke into a smile and rubbed his head in glee but the moment he saw the Flying Crane walking away, all expressions vanished instantly.


    Under the shine of the setting sun, the back of Flying Crane seemed like a defeated hero, causing a tinge of sadness to suddenly hit Fang Yuan.


    It seemed like Ghost King''s display of power was very effective, striking fear into the circle of martial artists that were watching the fight. Having been shocked by Ghost King''s prowess, they suddenly became less rowdy and entered the city in a quiet and orderly manner.


    "Let''s go! I''ll bring you to Fragrance Bar for a drink or two."


    After entering the city, Wang Fugui shrugged off all past feelings of sadness and said," My drinking tolerance is unmatched in Cow Head Mountain, believe me, I''m not making it up!"


    "Ha Ha...I have other matters to attend to, please excuse me!"


    Although Fang Yuan wanted to personally see whether Fugui''s claim was true, after considering his own alcohol tolerance, he knew he was only going to embarrass himself and thus left immediately.


    "Oh? What matters are you referring to? Could you be going to meet some beautiful maiden?" Fugui teased.


    Suddenly, a carriage stopped in front of them and it''s doors swung open, revealing a young maiden. "Brother Fang Yuan? Please come in!"


    "You see! I really have matters to attend to!"


    Fang Yuan rubbed his nose as he entered the carriage.


    Wang Fugui stood there in a daze, only regaining his senses after a moment. Slapping his forehead, he said, "It''s ok, Brother Fang Yuan really has matters to attend to, he didn''t hide anything from me..."


    Suddenly, he had a fit of anger, and scolded, "Choosing women over me? How can he leave Fugui alone here by himself! Hmph...I''ll go drink wine by myself then."


    "Maiden Lin! What a coincidence!"


    The carriage had little room, and the air was filled with a fragrant smell.


    Sitting opposite Fang Yuan was Maiden Lin. She had a peculiar look on her face as she gazed at Fang Yuan, leaving him confounded as to why she had such an expression.


    Little did he know that Maiden Lin had failed before due to his mistake, and was embarrassed really badly. But she chose not to tell him out of fear that the Spirit Returning Sect would come knocking at his door.


    Upon hearing that Fang Yuan''s greeting came with a hint of alienation, Maiden Lin''s eyes flicked as she said delicately, "I heard that your medical skills have exceeded all expectations, and have surpassed even that of your mentor. I am in awe of your achievement, but I wonder, what brings you here? Surely you know that currently Shaoyang City is filled with danger?"


    Fang Yuan curiously asked, "I''ve heard that there was a treasure in the city, and have decided to come take a look. As long as I don''t get caught up in the hunt for the treasure there shouldn''t be too much of a problem... Is that the reason why Maiden Lin is here too?"


    Maiden Lin laughed, as she admitted, "This was supposed to be a secret but for some reason it has been leaked out to almost every city and county around here. Now the daily influx of warriors has increased to unbelievable amounts..."


    Fang Yuan''s eyes flashed, "Wasn''t the rumour spread on purpose?"


    Maiden Lin shook her head," Although taking advantage of the chaos to reap benefits will be good, but I definitely will not want to do it on such a large scale."


    "If that''s the case, this will be interesting..."


    Fang Yuan rubbed his chin, deep in thought.

 57 Suspicion

    The horse carriage stopped at the back of the large mansion and immediately two martial artists dressed as servants stepped forward and respectfully drew back the curtains on the carriage.


    "This place¡­seems to be the backyard of a house belonging to someone from the upper class¡­"


    Upon hearing the muffled commotion from the front yard, Fang Yuan silently nodded.


    Fang Yuan was already impressed when he saw the technique and skill behind the tricks done earlier. Seeing that of the Spirit Returning Sect, Fang Yuan was also convinced that the Spirit Returning Sect was indeed able to rival the veteran sects. Their influence in this area was no less remarkable.


    "This is the secret base for our Spirit Returning Sect. Apart from the martial artists from our sect, Master Fang you are our first guest!"


    Lin Leiyue broke into a gorgeous smile as she led the way in front.


    After making their way through a few smaller doors, they arrived at a garden. The garden was intricately arranged and designed. Even though the cold winter had yet to pass, signs of life and growth were beginning to emerge.


    Next to the clear green pond, a moustached martial artist was practising the Eagle Claw Technique.


    "Whoosh whoosh!"


    Accompanying each strike the martial artist made, the force pushed the air around him along while creating subtle sound effects. It was as though a pond of still water was being disturbed.


    "Old Yu!"


    Lin Leiyue made what appeared to be a casual greeting. However, Fang Yuan narrowed his eyes to this.


    Was not this the Cold Faced Iron Eagle Yu Qiuleng? The same person who followed Minister Lin into the mountain and then forced himself to break off his engagement?


    In the beginning, Fang Yuan thought Yu Qiuleng''s martial prowess were formidable. After watching Yu Qiuleng, he did not seem that powerful after all.


    It even seemed like Yu Qiuleng''s Eagle Claw Technique was inferior to Fang Yuan''s.


    "Erm, you are?"


    Yu Qiuleng gently nodded in acknowledgement towards Lin Leiyue. Looking at Fang Yuan, Yu Qiuleng felt a tingling sense of familiarity. Frowning his eyebrows, his eyes glistened all of a sudden as he remembered, "The guy from Qingye city?!"


    At this moment, a tingle of hostility crept appeared on his face as he thought, "How dare he still pester Maiden Lin?!"


    "It''s a misunderstanding Old Yu!"


    Upon seeing this, Lin Leiyue hurriedly explained, "I merely bumped into Master Fang along the way. Furthermore, he is an accomplished martial artist and is famous in Qingye city for his medical prowess¡­"


    "Hmph, it might just be a scam¡­"


    Yu Qiuleng dismissively snorted. Even though he has heard some rumours, he stubbornly refused to believe that this teenager from the mountains could accomplish so much. He might have killed Song Zhong and Elder Zhong, but it might be because they were already in a precarious position and Fang Yuan probably killed them by pulling off a trick or two.


    At this point in time, Fang Yuan was not displaying his martial prowess, and based on what Yu Qiuleng could see through his naked eye, he could not discern that Fang Yuan''s capabilities were as good as what was being said.


    "Oh? Looks like you do not like me very much?"


    Fang Yuan laughed harmlessly, but there was a slight hint of anxiety in his eyes.


    "Sir, reporting!"


    At this moment, a disciple of the Spirit Returning Sect sprinted towards them with a messenger bird in hand, "We have just received Elder Han''s message. He had already found the tracks of the elders from Five Ghosts Sect outside the city. Elder Han ordered us to reinforce them immediately!"


    "This matter is of utmost importance, we will move off right now!"


    Upon saying this, Lin Leiyue shot a pleading glance at Fang Yuan.


    Seeing this, Fang Yuan decided not to mention the next training session he was thinking of suggesting.


    Anyway, having seen Yu Qiuleng''s pitch black face, he knew there would be trouble for him, so there was no hurry.


    When an honourable man seeks revenge, waiting ten years to do so was not considered a long time. Even though he was not an honourable man, he could still wait a few days.


    "Very sorry Master Fang, our sect needs to attend to a pressing matter!"


    Lin Leiyue looked at Fang Yuan apologetically.


    "Oh, it''s alright, I shall take my leave then¡­"


    Fang Yuan turned and prepared to leave.


    "Do not let him leave!"


    At this moment, Yu Qiuleng, who was remaining quiet, remarked, "This man has heard the secrets of our sects, we cannot let him spread them"


    Yu Qiuleng was originally intending to kill Fang Yuan to prevent him from leaking the sect''s secrets.


    However, as the Spirit Returning Sect was a proper and respectable sect, and with so many junior disciples present, he could not surface his suggestion.


    "Master Fang, are you willing to follow Lin Leiyue?"


    Instantly reacting, Lin Leiyue remarked "What a coincidence! Isn''t this why I came?"


    Fang Yuan chuckled as this was also on his mind.


    "Alright, let''s delay no further, we shall move out this instant! There is no need to leave anyone here anymore!"


    Being a decisive person, Lin Leiyue left instantly. In no time, a group of people hurriedly exited the mansion and rushed towards a location in the mountains.


    ...


    "Click Clack!"


    The horses they rode took them at a blistering speed.


    "Maiden Lin, can you tell me, what is the treasure you were talking about?"


    Amidst the galloping of the horses, Fang Yuan''s voice resonated clearly in Yu Qiuleng''s ears. Fang Yuan''s question alarmed Yu Qiuleng.


    "Given what has occurred, Leiyue has nothing to hide. The treasure is said to be a piece of Yin Yang Jade!"


    Ignoring the cautionary cough from Yu Qiuleng who was beside her, Liu Leiyue replied immediately.


    "Yin Yang Jade?"


    Fang Yuan was slightly confused. After a moment, he remembered reading about it in a journal somewhere. His eyes brightened as he thought, "Isn''t Yin Yang Jade the item stated in legends that could merge the Yin and Yang energies and accelerate a martial artist''s advancement in skills?"


    After the 8 Gates of the path of a martial artist, it was the 4 Heavenly Gates!


    Discounting the Earth and Heaven Gate, the Yin Gate and Yang Gate at the start precisely required the merging of the Yin and Yang energies!


    This Yin Yang Jade was a famous treasure of generations. It was said that the jade was a natural gem which contained yin and yang energy and could immensely improve foundations of the martial artist. It was said that it could also break through the Yin and Yang Gates. It was indeed a much sought-after treasure.


    A martial artist from the 4 Heavenly Gates could easily be one of the top five martial artists regardless whether he was in the Spirit Returning Sect or the Five Ghosts Sect!


    This explained the importance placed on this treasure and the elaborate actions taken by the two big sects as well as many other martial artists to try to attain it.


    "Obtaining this Yin Yang Jade is equivalent to reserving a spot in the ranks of highly powerful martial artists at 4 Heavenly Gates in the future¡­"


    Fang Yuan nodded and glanced at Lin Leiyue.


    It was obvious that this operation taken by the Spirit Returning Sect to obtain this treasure was most likely for Lin Leiyue.


    However, Lin Leiyue was still injured which made Fang Yuan slightly unsure about who the treasure was for. He was even more incognisant if the person responsible for this was actually him.


    ''It is easy to defeat your external enemies, but difficult to overcome your inner demons!''


    Being aware of Fang Yuan''s gaze, appearing to be slightly embarrassed, Lin Leiyue lowered her head. She was however thinking, "To defeat my inner demons and take down my enemy''s strong points, it was originally sufficient for any of the elders to defeat Brother Fang in front of me. However, Elder Han''s report came all of a sudden and I was unable to adapt my plan in time. Fortunately Elder Han is present, it might even be easier to accomplish the mission!"


    Elder Yan and Elder Han were the left and right pillars of the Spirit Returning Sect. Both were top martial artists of the 4 Heavenly Gates!


    "The Little Frost Mountain is right here!"


    A junior disciple who arrived at the entrance to the mountain dismounted immediately. He summoned a messenger bird and nodded at Lin Leiyue.


    "Dismount and enter the mountain!"


    Lin Leiyue did not hesitate. Her will at this point in time was indomitable.


    "Move!"


    Yu Qiuleng took the initiative and led the way. At the same time, he shot a provoking glare at Fang Yuan.


    After all, in the dense and old forests in this mountain, an "accident" would, after all, be quite a common occurrence.


    Although it seemed like nothing would happen at that point in time, should they get into a fight with the people from the Sect of the Five Ghosts, some fratricide might be inevitable.


    However, after entering the mountain, Fang Yuan''s behaviour caused Yu Qiuleng to view him in a different light.


    The path was filled with multiple boulders and blocked by thorny plants¡­


    In the true old forests in the deep mountains, there was not even a path to follow. Even for veteran martial artists, it was extremely difficult for them to navigate.


    The people brought out by the Spirit Returning Sect were all respectable martial artists who could still manage the difficulty of the path. Yu Qiuleng was trying his best to conceal his discomfort as he waited to ridicule any mistake made by Fang Yuan.


    Fang Yuan was still patient and uncomplaining. He did not seem to slow down by the natural obstacles and looked more at ease and comfortable in his surroundings than Yu Qiuleng. As he moved swiftly through the obstacles, he casually enquired, "Do the communication methods used by your sect still work in an area like this? Also, are there any more instructions given by Elder Han?"


    "The methods of our sect are impeccable!"


    Yu Qiuleng replied grudgingly.


    He was shocked at Fang Yuan''s bravery as well as his remarkable Lightness Skill. However, even then Yu Qiuleng convinced himself that Fang Yuan''s ability was only limited to his slightly superior Lightness Skill.


    It must be acknowledged, that once someone has made up his mind about a certain issue, it would be extremely difficult to convince him otherwise.


    "Rustle rustle¡­"


    Suddenly, everyone emerged from the dense jungle into a clearing.


    They saw a valley ahead of them and messenger bird circling in the air, emitting ear piercing cries.


    "Elder Han is right in the valley, follow me to see him!"


    Yu Qiuleng took the lead and entered without hesitation.


    Fang Yuan surveyed the hills on both sides and tensed up his brows. He touched an object in his robes, took a deep breath and entered the valley.


    "Where is Elder Han?"


    After walking a few metres, Lin Leiyue surveyed the thin fog around them. She instantly asked, "Why have we not sent out a message? This area gives me a bad feeling. We cannot be careless, let''s retreat from this valley!"


    "This¡­.."


    Just as Yu Qiuleng was about to speak, the swooshing of arrows flying continuously sounded.


    Arrows flew from the opposite end.


    "Ah!"


    Some disciples who were hit dropped to the floor instantly. They died almost immediately after exclaiming and black blood flowed from their wounds.


    "It''s a trap!"


    Lin Leiyue drew her long sword and ordered, "Retreat!"


    Fortunately for them, they did not enter too deep into the valley and were thus not fully entrapped. After an exhausting escape, they found they had lost half of their original manpower.


    "The arrow tips are poisoned!"


    Thinking about the earlier scenes, Yu Qiuleng broke out in cold sweat.


    Had he continued to advance into the valley, they would have been attacked from all sides. Under the shower of that many arrows, their martial prowess did not matter as they would all be killed by the sheer number of poisoned arrows.


    "It''s a surprise you are able to discover my location, no doubt you are a talented disciple of the Spirit Returning Sect!"


    A feminine looking young man, accompanied by an applauding bunch of disciples from the Five Ghosts Sect, emerged arrogantly and slowly from the valley.


    "Caw caw!"


    The circling messenger bird automatically landed on his arm obediently. This caused colour of Yu Qiuleng''s face to become worse than that of a corpse. "How is this possible?"


    "Haha... Let me reveal to you, as long as it''s not a spiritual beast, it cannot resist the influence of the Temptation Pellet!"


    Fang Yuan met this young man before. He was Lin Huang.


    At that moment, Lin Huang drew out a pink pellet and fed it to the messenger bird. He shook his head in disappointment and said, "Had you guys entered the trap fully, all of you would have been dead and I would not need to do anything. Now I must come out of the valley to ensure my job is done. Tell me¡­ the method by which you all would like to die by?"


    Lin Huang visually surveyed the body language of Yu Qiuleng and Lin Leiyue. Initially slightly aggressive, Lin Huang became calmer but began to verbally provoke them, "Isn''t this legendary psychic who is also the beloved student of Shi Yutong? Hehe... If I capture you, wouldn''t this make the Spirit Returning Sect beg?"


    "Dream on!"


    Yu Qiuleng let out a thunderous roar and launched himself at Lin Huang with the immense energy of a hawk.


    It was clear to him that in their unfavourable situation, the only way to turn the odds around was to bring the fight to Lin Huang himself.

 58 Defea

    "Eagle Claw!"


    Qiuleng was a calm person but was not known for being submissive. Despite being surrounded by enemies, he was still constantly thinking of ways to turn the tables on them.


    He recognized Lin Huang, who was the favourite disciple of Five Ghosts Sect''s Sect Head, and the head of all disciples. His power and position would be equal to Lin Leiyue''s. Even though he has heard of Lin Huang breaking through the 6th Gate, but when it came to experience, there was no way Lin Huang could surpass him!


    If he could retaliate in one move, he might even win the battle!


    By then, Qiuleng''s Eagle Claw Technique was at full force, it was as if he was an eagle circling high above, and black-coloured eagle claws came crashing down like a thunderstorm. The two disciples by Lin Huang''s side let out a scream, and instantly flew backwards from the attacks.


    "Alright! Everyone stop!"


    Lin Huang burst into laughter. His right hand turned pale and flexible, as if it had no bones inside and is drained of all blood, and made the next move. "Five Yin Hand!"


    "Bang!"


    Qiuleng''s Eagle Claw and Lin Huang''s Five Yin Hand came in contact. There was a change in Qiuleng''s expression, and he flew back instantaneously.


    Lin Huang''s feet shifted at lightning speed and floated towards him like a ghost. "Leaving? How about seeking permission from my Ghost Shadow Steps first!"


    His footsteps became unpredictable, and suddenly he was right by Qiuleng''s side, with fingers black as ink. "Ghost Claw!"


    "Splat!"


    Lin Huang''s reached out with fingernails like jade pieces emitting a hint of evil. With a twist of his hand, both of Qiuleng''s hands retracted back quickly as if he got bitten by a snake. Before he knew it, there was a mark on his chest.


    "Puff!"


    Qiuleng''s facial expression shifted again, as he spat out a mouthful of blood and fainted on the ground. His face slowly turned black, and the 5 punctures on his chest spouted out blood as black as ink.


    Within the mere exchange of a few moves, Spirit Returning Sect''s last hope was defeated!


    After witnessing the difference between both competitors, Leiyue was lost for words, as if her heart was hanging over a cliff.


    "Cold Iron Eagle Yu Qiuleng? Is that all there is? How is your Eagle Claw compared to my Ghost Claw?"


    Lin Huang''s laughter was filled with disdain, and his eyes swept the room coldly. "Apart from Lin Leiyue, everyone else who is irrelevant is to be killed with no exceptions!"


    "This Lin Huang seems to have concealed his flaws quite well¡­"


    A thought flashed by Fang Yuan''s mind as he saw this scene. "This martial art seems to be of higher level than what was displayed before¡­ Being ruthless and evil, and only one step away from Shock Door, what a character. In due time, it is not impossible that he could become extraordinary, unfortunately¡­"


    Regardless of right or wrong, he could not possibly just offer up his head to someone who wanted to ''kill all with no exceptions''.


    There was also Yu Qiuleng.


    "Initially I was thinking of finding an opportunity to teach you all a lesson, but judging from the situation, if this drags on, this person might just die from his injuries¡­ Save me some trouble, may peace be with you!"


    Even up till then, Fang Yuan still had the mood to think of irrelevant things. He took a big step forward, pushed both his hands out, and the few Five Ghosts Sect disciples who were charging towards him flew backwards.


    "Eh?"


    Lin Huang seemed a bit taken aback. "An inner force expert? You aren''t from Spirit Returning Sect?"


    "Hmm¡­ Not really, but it seems like you still won''t let me go!"


    Fang Yuan shrugged his shoulders. "Where is Elder Han?"


    "Obviously that Old Hag Han is under the control of our sect''s experts, no need to count on him to save you all!"


    Lin Huang looked at Fang Yuan''s young face signifying his tender age, and felt a wave of anger surge through his chest. He licked his lips and said, "With your talent, you have definitely surpassed Lin Leiyue. I didn''t expect Qinghe County to harbour such a young talent! What a pity that you can''t live past today¡­".


    "Oh really? Unfortunately, I am always one to disappoint!"


    When Fang Yuan heard that, he tried his best to stifle his laughter.


    Leiyue looked at these two about to battle, her fists tightly clenched, and her eyes filled with worry. "Fang Yuan may be an expert in inner power martial arts, but he just advanced to his current level. Lin Huang is far more experienced than him, not to mention that he has Five Ghosts Sect''s support when it comes to divine power and techniques. Fang Yuan is but a mere commoner, so what good techniques could he have? Even Elder Yu lost! There really isn''t much hope¡­"


    She clearly knew that even if there was Lin Huang as the only opponent, based on the huge difference in their powers of Inner Force and Power, he could defeat all of them one by one. Thus, escaping was definitely not an option.


    A group attack? There were far more Five Ghosts Sect''s disciples on the other side than there are us, with even bigger weapons like bows and arrows!


    Thus, their only hope would be Lin Huang being defeated and captured during a solo fight.


    It''s just¡­ Was that even possible?


    Lin Leiyue looked at Fang Yuan''s back silhouette, her heart filled with mixed feelings and emotions, with a tinge of anticipation that couldn''t be explained.


    "Young Master, just kill them on the spot. Is there really a need for you to be directly involved?"


    A man dressed in black beside Lin Huang waved his hand, and more than ten Five Ghosts Sect disciples appeared with bows and arrows. A sense of danger washed through Lin Leiyue''s heart.


    "That would be unnecessary, this is our fight, no one is to interfere!"


    Lin Huang shook his head, as he looked at Fang Yuan with a glimmer in his eyes.


    This was not his arrogance talking. It was apparent that when martial arts were being competed with inner force, even if they were unable to handle the archers, they could still retreat back into the woods. They could use both offensive and defensive strategies. If they started fighting like guerrillas, they might even be able to kill a few of them, and that would be rather troublesome.


    Especially if all the arrows were fired at the same time and all the low-level disciples were killed, the opponent would have less to worry about and could escape immediately, sabotaging the mission.


    The only chance would be using Lin Leiyue''s disciples as bait, forcing Fang Yuan to engage in a battle with him.


    Lin Huang had confidence in his own skills, even Yu Qiuleng lost to him in combat, how much threat would a 6th Gate martial artist, that had only recently advanced, be?


    "Alright, you may begin!"


    Fang Yuan stood in the arena, his spiritual energy however was continuously focused on his surroundings.


    By now, the yin poison had already entered Yu Qiuleng''s bones, and he had reached the point of no return. He waved his hand, inviting Lin Huang to make the first move.


    "You should know that I''m one to bear grudges!"


    Initially Lin Huang was not keen on talking, and wanted to change the topic of conversation to stall for time. All it took was one look for him to know that even the gods were unable to save Yu Qiuleng now.


    Fang Yuan was far from ready to let this incident go, considering how Lin Huang just had ill intentions towards them.


    But right now, his actions and appearance indicated that he did not consider Lin Huang as a threat at all!


    This blatant act of ''disregarding'' immediately angered Lin Huang.


    Considering himself as the best, this behavior was completely unacceptable.


    "You''re dead meat!"


    Protruding veins appeared on Lin Huang''s forehead, even his usually pale skin reddened due to his anger. He floated forward like a ghost and thundered, "Five Yin Hand!".


    "Swoosh!"


    Fang Yuan glanced at him from aside, and flicked his right hand.


    "Swoosh!"


    Amidst the flow of air and friction, the cry of a hunting eagle was heard.


    Lin Leiyue closed her eyes, it was as if she saw a handsome spiritual bird, with both wings extended, gliding down gracefully with its sharp claws out!


    An Eagle Claw executed with both its shape and spirit!


    Compared to this Eagle Claw, Yu Qiuleng''s version was just child''s play!


    "Crack!"


    A loud bone-breaking sound was heard.


    With a loud cry, Fang Yuan held onto Lin Huang''s right arm and twisted it into an unnatural position, and he promptly fell to the ground and passed out immediately.


    Defeated in just one move!


    Master Lin Huang, the treasured disciple of Five Ghosts Sect''s master, an expert in Inner Power, the champion of Lieyang County''s teenage martial artists, defeated in just one move?


    With such a stark difference between the two battles, both the Spirit Returning Sect and the disciples of Five Ghosts Sect were lost for words, left in disbelief.


    "Fang Yuan¡­ became this powerful?"


    Lin Leiyue let out a sigh, and she felt as though the shadow he left in her heart had enlarged yet again. It was as if there was a huge storm cloud weighing her down, and it kept growing.


    "Young Master¡­ lost?!"


    "Quick! Save Young Master!"


    All the Five Ghosts Sect disciples were at a loss.


    Seizing the opportunity, Fang Yuan lunged at the archers. Like a tiger leaping into a herd of sheep, with a few casual swings of his hand, the archers flew out one by one, and passed out on the floor.


    "Nice!"


    As much as there was bitterness in her heart, Leiyue was elated by watching how the tables had turned. "Catch them all, especially that young master!"


    "This isn''t good, Young Master¡­ Elder Yu¡­ is dead!"


    A Spirit Returning Sect disciple was about to help Yu Qiuleng up, however upon seeing his complexion and checking his breath, the disciple''s expression changed drastically and he started screaming maniacally.


    "What?"


    Lin Leiyue''s body stumbled backwards.


    This ambush cost them an elder, so even if they did catch Lin Huang, it was very probable that they would be punished when they got back.


    However, it was right then that something unexpected happened!


    Amongst the Five Ghosts Sect disciples, a dark shadow lunged out at lightning speed towards Fang Yuan. With a wave of his hand, several Frozen Stars appeared instantaneously.


    "Zip!"


    The concealed weapons broke through the air, and there was a huge amount of power focused onto the concealed weapons. It was obvious that an inner force expert had launched it.


    There was another elder hiding among the Five Ghosts Sect disciples!


    Facing this kind of situations, even if the Spirit Returning Sect elders were to come forward, as long as it was not Elder Yan, Elder Han or Shi Yutong, that person was bound to lose.


    It was just bad luck for the other party to go against Fang Yuan!


    Fang Yuan''s magical energy had already reached level 3'', and with enough attentiveness, no one nearby would be able to conceal their actions from him!


    "Haha¡­ I''ve been waiting for you for a long time!"


    With a loud laugh and no time to spare, he folded up his sleeves and caught the concealed weapons and tossed them out fiercely.


    This might sound simple, but without precise control of the body''s inner force, it would be nearly impossible to execute that move.


    The Five Ghosts Sect elder who appeared was obviously a lot better than Lin Huang.


    "You should be lying on the ground too!"


    Fang Yuan however was indifferent. After taking away the concealed weapons, he lunged at the black shadow with a claw.


    Grade 7 Eagle Claw Iron Skin Technique, with Black Sand Palm!


    "Bam!"


    The surrounding trees were shaking, countless leaves and branches came showering down.


    A gush of blood spurted out, but it was not from Fang Yuan, but from the body of the Five Ghosts Sect elder who suddenly appeared!


    "You¡­ broke through the Shock Door, and are at the peak of the 7th Gate!"


    With a trembling voice, he exclaimed. The dark shadow fell to the ground, exposing an elderly face, with blood flowing out of his nostrils and mouth.


    "What? The 7th Gate?"


    Lin Leiyue covered her lips, all thoughts of her fighting for power with Fang Yuan instantly flew out of the window.


    After all, the Shock Door could only be attempted when the martial artist''s magical energy had peaked, there were no shortcuts for it.


    Even the most talented martial artists had to train for a few years, maybe even more than a decade! It was not rare to see people training their whole lives, but still unable to break through the gate.


    But Fang Yuan broke through it in such a short period of time?


    By now he had not even reached his 20s. With such talent, he could really be considered a demon!

 59 Gui Wusheng

    Silence!


    The silence was deafening!


    Not a single person made a sound. It was as if they were choked by a noose.


    What happened just now?


    The rising star of the Five Ghosts Sect, Lin Huang, a Martial Artist (Grade 6), was struck by Fang Yuan''s Eagle Claw. It was uncertain if he lived.


    An elder of the Sect, who was more highly-skilled, was similarly struck down like a fly.


    "Could it be that he is the old monster in disguise?"


    Even Lin Leiyue was shocked and looked at Fang Yuan differently.


    "Yin Wujiu?!"


    She stepped forward and exclaimed again.


    "Yin Wujiu? Who is that?"


    Fang Yuan asked.


    Lin Leiyue looked on in horror, "He is an elder of the Five Ghosts Sect and was fellow disciples with Gui Wusheng. He had long surpassed the 7 gates but was unable to break through the Death Gate. He is extremely cruel and legend has it that he single-handedly kill all his enemies, leaving no one behind..."


    "Given his character and martial arts skill, I am afraid he would never be able to break through the Death Gate. It would be the correct decision not to attempt it..."


    Fang Yuan shook his head.


    The Death Gate was the last of the Three Perilous Gates. Failure to break through the gate would result in death! There was no doubt that most highly-skilled practitioners were stuck at this gate.


    After all, who would dare to gamble their life?


    "Gui Wusheng... This name sounds familiar..."


    Fang Yuan furrowed his brows.


    "Gui Wusheng is even more skilled than his junior. He was a martial artist that had broken through the Death Gate. He is the leader of the group of Five Ghosts Sect''s martial artists in Qingye City and ranked top 5 in the Five Ghosts Sect!"


    Lin Leiyue wanted to roll her eyes. She explained.


    "This man''s Ghostly Dark Claw is very powerful!"


    Upon hearing this, Fang Yuan remembered that the elder of the Spirit Returning Sect that he had treated was wounded by Gui Wusheng.


    "Luckily, it is not Gui Wusheng leading the troops, if not..."


    Lin Leiyue shooked her head.


    "Haha...cough cough..."


    At this time, Yin Wujiu, who was collapsed on the floor, laughed and spat out a mouthful of fresh blood, "My senior...would not forgive you!"


    "Cut the crap!"


    Fang Yuan use his left hand and pressed against the old man''s skull, "Where is the Yin Yang Jade? What is the Five Ghosts Sect up to?"


    "Crack!"


    Yin Wujiu lost his courage as he felt the Eagle Claw''s strength increasing.


    While Fang Yuan was a free-lance martial artist who did not belong to a particular sect, he was still rather carefree and cavalier. Furthermore, given his age, the typical hot-hotheadedness of a young man like him meant that he could kill Yin Wujiu if he were provoked into a fit of rage. Even if people attempted to avenge him, it would not bring Yin Wujiu back to life.


    "This matter had always been anchored by my senior. I am not too sure..."


    Yun Yujie laughed bitterly, "All I know is that the Yin Yang Jade does exist...furthermore..."


    "Enough!"


    A loud explosion echoed in the valley.


    "Hmmm?"


    Fang Yuan lifted his head, "A highly-skilled opponent?!"


    A man''s shadow appeared in the ravine.


    His beard was white and his eyes were like that of a hawk''s. As he walked, the surrounding fog warped around him.


    "Gui...Gui Wusheng!"


    Lin Leiyue''s face turned deathly pale.


    The martial arts techniques of the Five Ghosts Sect were mostly Yin in nature. Long-term practitioners often suffered negative side effects to their appearances, causing some to look like to zombies.


    However, looking at Gui Wusheng''s robust features, it was obvious that he had overcome the restraints and reverted those negative side effects.


    "He had definitely broken through the Death Gate and is only one step away from the 4 Heavenly Gates!"


    The immense pressure caused Lin Leiyue to retreat. She looked at Fang Yuan''s unyielding posture and feared for him.


    "Senior?!"


    Yin Wujiu''s voice was fearful instead of grateful when he saw Gui Wuzheng.


    "Hmmm!"


    Gui Wusheng exclaimed, "Useless fellow! If I had not come forward, would you even betray our master?"


    "Cough cough..."


    Fang Yuan coughed, "Are the two of you done?"


    "Unbelievable...It is truly unbelievable..."


    Gui Wusheng examined Fang Yuan and said, "To think that a young lad of your calibre is here in my valley! It looked like I did not make a wasted trip here!"


    "You overestimate me!"


    Fang Yuan concentrated and realized the gap in power between Gui Wusheng and him.


    While the Death Gate might appear to be insurmountable, it was still possible to break through it.


    Furthermore, his stats were increasing at a rate that Gui Wusheng could not match due to his consumption of spiritual rice every day.


    He also had a few tricks up his sleeves. As such, he did not fear Gui Wusheng.


    Gui Wusheng was even more intrigued when he saw how composed Fang Yuan was. He exclaimed, "Good! You are able to keep your composure in front of me. That is hard to find. Which sect are you from? If you are not from any sect, why not join the Five Ghosts Sect? I can guarantee that you would be treated similarly to me!"


    He was experienced and recognized that Fang Yuan did not belong to any sect.


    Lin Leiyue''s heart fell when she heard what Gui Wusheng said.


    "Enter the Five Ghosts Sect?"


    Fang Yuan appeared to seriously consider the offer before shaking his head, "Sorry, I am not interested. It would be kind of you if you would tell me the location of the Yin Yang Jade. I would be so grateful..."


    "Sigh... What a shame!"


    Gui Wusheng sighed with his hands placed behind his back.


    "Oh? Why is that so?"


    Having undergone 10-odd years of being nurtured by Master Wenxin, Fang Yuan had long treated him as a teacher and a father. There was no way Fang Yuan would destroy that relationship by joining another sect.


    "It is a shame that you have to die today even though you are young and talented!"


    Gui Wusheng''s face was sinister, "Die!"


    "Boom!"


    His words overflowed with power. It was as if there was the clap of thunder directly beside his opponent''s ears.


    Lin Leiyue paled. Fresh blood trickled from her ears.


    "What a technique! If Fang Yuan was complacent, he would not live!"


    Lin Leiyue immediately turned her attention to the scene as soon as she regained her senses. What she saw surprised her.


    It was impossible to follow the fight with the naked eye. All she could see were flashes of two shadows fighting each other.


    "The Eagle Claw Iron Skin Technique?"


    Gui Wusheng gazed at Fang Yuan''s torn sleeves and cuts on the arms, his face turned dark.


    The technique Gui Wusheng had just used was capable of disabling a Martial Artist (7th Gate) momentarily and could ensure a swift victory by following up with a decisive strike. It was not easy even for a Martial Artist (7th Gate) to counter it. Gui Wusheng had once used this tactic to kill a Martial Artist ( 7th Gate).


    He was therefore shocked when he saw that Fang Yuan was unaffected by the technique and even engaged him in battle immediately. Furthermore, Fang Yuan''s Iron Skin Technique was perfect. There was no way Gui Wusheng could kill him in a single strike.


    "Not bad! This is indeed the Iron Skin!"


    Fang Yuan let out a deep breath. He looked at his surroundings and realized that the disciples of the Spirit Returning Sect and the Five Ghosts Sect had not recovered.


    Gui Wusheng''s technique was a psychological attack which tested one''s magical energy!


    Fang Yuan was not afraid of any martial artist in this aspect. His vigorous magical energy allowed him to instantly recover from Gui Wusheng''s technique.


    He would have been able to put Gui Wusheng at a severe disadvantage if he had learnt the methods to counter the attack on magical energy.


    As it was, Gui Wusheng was shocked.


    He looked at Fang Yuan''s youthful face and could only think of 1 word: Monster. It would be best to get rid of those talented enemies as soon as possible.


    Gui Wusheng did not hesitate any longer. In a flash, he created multiple shadow clones and rushed forward. Throwing his palms outwards, he conjured a whole sky full of black blood-thirsty bats.


    "18 Black Bats Palm!"


    Yin Wujiu let out a surprised gasp as he recognized that this was Gui Wusheng''s trump card. He could not believe it.


    He would never imagine that his senior, who had broken through 8 Gates, would use such a technique and all his energy against the youth facing him.


    "Good move!"


    Fang Yuan shouted. His Iron Skin technique formed an armour-like protection beneath his skin and acted as another layer of protection.


    His arms had turned black with the sheen of metal. His palms started to emit the poison of the Pearl Tail Snake!


    "Gui Wusheng had forced him to give his all with his relentless attacks!"


    "Eagle Air Strike!"


    "Whoosh!"


    Lin Leiyue stumbled back a few steps amidst the strong gust. She was already in a daze.


    From her perspective, she saw a majestic eagle charging straight into the wall of ravenous bats and took them head-on.


    This level of battle had greatly outstripped her capabilities as well as that of the disciples in the Spirit Returning Sect.


    Even those highly-skilled martial artists from the Five Ghosts Sect could be killed by the ghost bats if they were to enter the battle.


    As such, all they could do was to watch the two high-leveled martial artists battle as they moved deeper into the dense forest.


    "What should we do....without the head of the sect?"


    A disciple of the Spirit Returning Sect asked as he looked at the wake of destruction caused by Fang Yuan and Gui Wusheng.


    "We..."


    Lin Leiyue looked on.


    At the moment, Lin Huang was unconscious. With Yin Wujiu heavily wounded, the Five Ghosts Sect no longer had any skilled masters. The sect''s power and influence were greatly diminished.


    Her side was the same with Yu Qiuleng gravely wounded.


    She secretly rejoiced that she brought Fang Yuan along which had prevented the downfall of her fellow disciples in the sect.


    "We..."


    Lin Leiyue walked away before suddenly turning around and drawing her sword, "Kill!"


    "Swoosh!"


    A disciple of the Five Ghosts Sect who did not manage to dodge in time had his throat slit open and he toppled over.


    "If we are leaving, we might as well kill Lin Huang and Yin Wujiu!"


    The remaining disciples of the Spirit Returning Sect and the Five Ghosts Sect plunged into battle following Lin Leiyue''s outcry...

 60 Winning

    A few screams were heard along the main road.


    "Aahh, my face. Don''t hit my face! Aahh!!"


    "Stop hitting, I will give you all the money!"


    "You are a good man so please spare me! Spare me please!"


    ...¡­.


    These few rookies who had just integrated into the world of martial arts were bruised badly. The few of them handed over everything that they had.


    "Isn''t this better now? This whole area belongs to me¡­."


    Wang Fugui happily showed his superiority and punched the young martial artist who talked back to him previously. He then took a gold and silver-thread pouch from him and stopped as his was satisfied with what he had gotten. He then said, "You all are considered lucky today. If you all were at my Bull''s Head Mountain, you few weaklings would have lost a few of your own¡­.Now get out of here!"


    He lifted his leg and kicked an unlucky one who fled the slowest. That unlucky one rolled and crawled and was wishing so badly that he should have been born without his legs.


    "Tut Tut¡­.."


    After they fled, Wang Fugui counted how much he had gotten and was satisfied. "There are so many easy targets right here¡­.Plus, many of them are rich. Unfortunately, I can''t relocate my home to this place¡­."


    "Hehe! I can buy myself a few drinks at the brothel again today!"


    Wang Fugui played with the coin pouch and wondered, "Not really sure where Brother Fang Yuan is now¡­."


    However, when he was on his way back home, he saw a group of martial artists running towards him angrily. The ones leading the group were the few young ones he bullied just now.


    "That''s him, the tanned one. Don''t let him escape!"


    The few bruised young ones looked at him and their eyes were filled with anger.


    "Woah, time to run!"


    Wang Fugui immediately ran in the opposite direction and retreated into a nearby jungle under the hot pursuit of the group of martial artists.


    Even though their lightness skill were not that great, they were all trained in martial arts and had a great amount of physical strength. Hence, it didn''t take a long time for them to catch up in the jungle.


    "F*ck!"


    Wang Fugui cursed while he escaped frantically. "If I was near the Bull''s Head Mountain now, they would have lost me....and I could even request a group of men to help me. This place here is so deserted and it is difficult to even find one who can lend a helping hand right now¡­. Damn¡­.."


    He cursed halfway and stopped suddenly with his eyes wide open.


    Two people appeared right in front of him with a speed that was not easily distinguished by a naked eye. The two swiftly cleared the nearby trees to make a pathway.


    "This is not good!"


    Looking at how powerful those two were, Wang Fugui gave a weird cry and rolled clumsily out of the way.


    "Kill him!"


    "Don''t let that evil thief get away!"


    While Wang Fugui managed to dodge out of the way, the group who were chasing him ran straight into the danger he dodged to avoid.


    "Whiz! Whiz!"


    Silhouette sped past with immense forces!


    A few screams were then heard. Many of the martial artists were sent flying about as they spat out blood from their pale faces.


    "Aahh¡­. Old Zhong is seriously injured!"


    "Even a [Martial Artist (6th Gate)] with inner power is also badly injured¡­."


    "Please spare us! Please spare us!"


    "Don''t come any further¡­..Aahh¡­."


    ....


    No matter how much they pleaded for mercy, the silhouettes ruthlessly ignored their desperate pleas and finished them off gruesomely.


    Their deaths were considered to be of slightly useful as it slowed down the two silhouettes. One of them was a white-haired old man who was exhausted. He stepped on one of the heads of the dead martial artists and propelled himself off the ground. The force from this pushed the head down into the chest of the dead body.


    "Gui Wusheng¡­..don''t you dare to escape!"


    Then came the voice of a young man. A pair of arms reached out ferociously for the figure in front. It seemed as if though the pursuer was very determined to rip the person in front to shreds.


    "This figure¡­..this voice¡­.Why do both features seem so similar to Brother Fang Yuan''s?"


    Wang Fugui spat out the grass that went into his mouth and stared on in awe.


    At that moment, one of the survivors from behind exclaimed.


    "Hold on a second! Gui Wusheng! Could he be that famous elder from the Five Ghosts Sect and who was an expert in Death Gate?!"


    "Look at how murderous he is, who else could it be other than him? He looks like he has broken through the 4 Heavenly Gates¡­.."


    "But it looked like he was at a disadvantage¡­..my goodness. I wonder who was the one that was chasing him?"


    A few of the young martial artists lost their limbs while some of them were still spitting out blood and in shock. A strong man carrying an axe came to them and mocked them. "I know the person who was chasing the old man. However, you all don''t have to know as you all are going to be dead soon¡­.."


    ...¡­.


    "Black Sand Eagle Claw Palm!"


    "Ghostly Dark Claw!"


    In the mountains, the scenery objects on both sides were destroyed.


    Fang Yuan''s eyes focused and he fluttered forward suddenly. Once again, he duelled with Gui Wusheng.


    "Bang!"


    It was incredibly powerful but it was not as destructive as before.


    Both of them were now near their limits.


    However, in actual fact, the opponent was an expert and he deliberately caused Fang Yuan to overexert much of his inner strength.


    Just that every time this happened, Fang Yuan would swallow down a bamboo fruit quickly. His essence, spirit and magic would then recover immediately.


    The spiritual bamboo fruit not only helped in the growth of spiritual beasts, it also helped in recovering one''s essence, spirit and magic. This was one of the backup moves Fang Yuan prepared this time.


    "This again!"


    Gui Wusheng was extremely depressed to see his inner strength being exhausted and while Fang Yuan was recovering so quickly.


    From the start, he was suppressing the cunning Fang Yuan. However, Fang Yuan was well trained in martial arts and was difficult to deal with. Fang Yuan also had the spiritual medicine which allowed him to recover quickly. Hence the fight dragged on and on for nearly 3 days!


    Even though Gui Wusheng brought some pills as well, how could those pills be compared to the phoenix''s bamboo fruit? The bamboo fruit was definitely way more superior.


    In the beginning, it was Fang Yuan who was escaping from Gui Wusheng. Now, it was the other way round.


    Also, if Fang Yuan managed to catch up this time, Gui Wusheng would be dead!


    "What a cunning lad indeed. From the start, he pretended that he was not my enemy and led me into the mountains to prevent me from calling for help¡­...Luckily there are signs of human habitation here, which suggest that the city should be nearby..."


    Even so, Gui Wusheng had to admit that he started to become fearful of Fang Yuan during the fight.


    Fang Yuan couldn''t be defeated easily and could recover so quickly. If he was not a monster then what was he?


    Even if Gui Wusheng managed to escape today, it would be hard to say whether he would even want to take revenge on Fang Yuan in the future.


    "Now!"


    Fang Yuan''s eyes focused.


    His abundant magical energy allowed him to feel a drop in Gui Wusheng''s vitality.


    It was similar to a string breaking when stretched past its limit.


    At that moment, Gui Wusheng was reaching near his limit. However he still had a glimpse of hope, but it was this hopeful thought that brought about his downfall.


    "Die!"


    Fang Yuan did not hesitate and shouted.


    "Die!!!"


    His voice was so loud like thunder and it almost deafened Gui Wusheng''s ears.


    "Aahh¡­..my Paralysing Scream!"


    Gui Wusheng was shocked and couldn''t avoid what was going to happen.


    "Eagle Claw Palm!"


    At that moment, Fang Yuan immediately caught up with him and took a shot. Fang Yuan broke all his limbs!


    "Snap!"


    Gui Wusheng fell to the ground softly and was in shock.


    "Haha¡­..I''ve finally won!"


    With his wisdom in martial arts, he actually managed to defeat an expert in Death Gate. Fang Yuan was very impressed with himself and was at a loss for words. He couldn''t wait to cry into the air and rejoice.


    "How is this possible¡­.how could you have known my secret technique?"


    When he was conscious again, this was the first sentence he said.


    "Your secret technique¡­..involves the display of your magical energy isn''t it? It wasn''t that difficult, was it?"


    Fang Yuan went forward and punched his lower abdomen. Fang Yuan then gave him a few slaps, causing Gui Wusheng to be injured badly in the face. The force of these blows knocked out some of his teeth into a bloody mess.


    There was no other way. In his dream world, things like ''tearing tendons'', ''committing suicide'', ''poison in one''s mouth'' and many more left deep impressions on Fang Yuan.


    Now, Gui Wusheng''s limbs were broken, his martial arts abilities stripped off and his teeth knocked out. If he could still commit suicide in this short period of time, Fang Yuan would really be impressed by him.


    "Oh¡­.I¡­..understand now. You¡­..are naturally born with stronger magical energy¡­."


    Gui Wusheng couldn''t speak properly but he managed to express what he meant clearly. "This is heaven''s will! Heaven''s will!"


    "Whatever you say!"


    Fang Yuan then impolitely searched Gui Wusheng''s body for something of value to keep.


    There were many bottles and cans on his body and most of them contained things like poisonous powder, medicine, flammable items and coins.


    Fang Yuan smelled a few medicine bottles and threw them away.


    Gui Wusheng didn''t even poison him. Plus, Fang Yuan was highly skilled in medicine and had Yama''s Order with him to remove any kind of poison. Hence, the poison made by Gui Wusheng was nothing


    in his eyes.


    However, Fang Yuan''s eyes glittered when he opened a wooden box.


    Inside the box was a piece of jade. The piece of jade was clear and shiny. There were faint black and red textures inside it and the textures seemed to be moving, making it special.


    "Is this the Yin Yang Jade?!"


    Fang Yuan murmured and couldn''t believe his eyes. How could he able to get hold of such treasure in a farce?


    Clearly, he wasn''t prepared to receive anything good, was it? This was simply like a gift straight from heaven and coincidentally, it landed on him.


    "Something is not right. What is actually going on?"


    Fang Yuan, of course, couldn''t believe that he would be so lucky. He immediately grabbed Gui Wusheng by his collar and questioned him.


    "Haha¡­..you really think I will tell you?"


    Life was slowly fading from Gui Wusheng''s eyes.


    Fang Yuan kept silent for a while and slowly said, "You may not know yet that I am Fang Yuan and I live in the secluded valley!"


    Gui Wusheng''s expression changed upon hearing what Fang Yuan said.


    No matter how ignorant he was, he heard about the famous doctor in Qingye City.


    "As a doctor myself, I have many ways to make people speak. I do not wish to test these methods one by one on you¡­.Plus, you do have relatives, friends and disciples don''t you?"


    Fang Yuan said in a deep voice.


    "You¡­.are a member of the martial arts world and how could you go against the principle of not hurting one''s family¡­.."


    Gui Wusheng struggled and said.


    "Who told you that I was a member of the martial arts world?"


    Fang Yuan glanced at him and gave a jocose look.


    Gui Wusheng remained silent and Fang Yuan saw through him. Gui Wusheng was pretending to be sanctimonious but he was actually indifferent from any other people. He could do anything if he forced himself to do so.


    After a long period of silence, he finally admitted defeat. "This Yin Yang Jade was actually a treasure of the Five Ghosts Sect¡­."

 61 Emerge

    "This Yin Yang Jade came from the Five Ghosts Sect?"


    Fang Yuan was shocked. "Is the news about the treasure fake too? Just to create chaos?"


    "That''s right!"


    Gui Wusheng nodded and appeared lost.


    "To create confusion, you guys can even use the Yin Yang Jade as bait..."


    Fang Yuan took in a deep breath.


    To hide from the many martial artists, sacrifice would be required, and this was the sole purpose of the Yin Yang Jade.


    With a [Martial Artist (8th Gate)] and a well thought-out plan, the Yin Yang Jade was safe. Unfortunately, they encountered Fang Yuan¡­..


    "Good! However, the focus is not on the Yin Yang Jade..."


    Fang Yuan threw the jade up in the air and became serious. "That what is your real motive?"


    "Our real motive..."


    Gui Wusheng became expressionless but slowly began to describe. "It is a treasure map! Or should I say, an incomplete scrap... Our Sect once received a copy, but it was lost. This is the second copy!"


    ...


    Luori City.


    This city was at the extreme North of Lieyang County, and even further North of Shaoyang City. There was a ridge of mountains outside the city, called Xuanyan. Legend has it that there was fire everywhere and was extremely dangerous.


    It was noon, and farmers were ploughing on their farms, businessman working in their shops. Often kids could be seen playing by the river, and it was a lively sight to behold.


    "Hu..."


    Just before the gates to the city were closed, a person in a cloak hurriedly rushed to enter Luori City.


    "This place... Is indeed different from Shaoyang City!"


    This cloaked person was Fang Yuan.


    After Gui Wusheng''s tip-off, he hurriedly killed him and rushed to Luori City.


    Compared to Shaoyang City, which was filled with martial artists, Luori City was more lively. The villagers were carefree, and no one would have thought that under this peace was a big mystery.


    ''Even if I said it out, no one would believe that most of the Sect masters of Five Ghosts Sect actually live here...''


    Even though it was quieter than Shaoyang City, Fang Yuan could feel an immense pressure as he entered Luori City.


    This wasn''t a real feeling, but more of his imagination. It made him realise that this place was ten times more dangerous than Shaoyang City! A hundred times!


    "I still cannot fight and win any Martial artist of 4 Heavenly Gates..."


    Fang Yuan knew his own capabilities. He could easily defeat any [Martial Artist (7th Gate)], or be on par with a [Martial Artist (8th Gate)].


    If he made use of his external martial arts techniques, he might get a chance at winning. However, against the martial artists of 4 Heavenly Gates who trained and fused their Yin and Yang, he would stand no chance.


    Furthermore, the Sect Leader of Five Ghosts Sect was similar to Shi Yutong and had already attained Wu Zong!


    "At the moment, I can only hope for an internal conflict for myself to reap the benefits afterwards... Hopefully, the news that I let out would be useful!"


    In such a dangerous position, he could only keep reminding himself not to be too stubborn.


    If he succeeded, that would be best, but if he did not, it was still alright, as staying alive was the most important.


    Even if he did not get anything, in the end, he still would have the Yin Yang Jade as a consolation prize.


    "I am about to break through the Death Gate, and by then the Yin Yang Jade would be useful in aiding me in my journey to become a martial artist of 4 Heavenly Gates!"


    Fang Yuan thought for a while, walked along the streets and entered a hostel.


    "It seems that Spirit Returning Sect is not foolish. Elder Han was lured to Shaoyang City, Shi Yutong couldn''t locate him... If they received my anonymous letter they would surely come and fight over it... I shall be the coward to watch the fight by the side!"


    After deciding, he booked a small room. Every day, it seemed that he was quietly practising his martial arts, but in actual fact, he was observing the movement within Luori City.


    After all, he had already decided not to appear. If there was no response from the Spirit Returning Sect, or if the news came late, then he could only accept it.


    ...


    "The Five Ghosts Sect Sect Master being sceptical, did not really describe the real treasure map to Gui Wusheng. He only instructed him to spread the fake news. Only a few martial artists of 4 Heavenly Gates know the truth..."


    Fang Yuan was practising his martial arts peacefully in the small room. White smoke rose from his head like fog, and it appeared like clouds were forming.


    "[Eagle Claw Iron Skin Technique (Grade 7)] progress is filled, and now I just need to find an opportunity to break through the Death Gate..."


    Breaking through the 8th Gate was extremely decisive. If breaking through failed, he would die, and there would be no second chance!


    Although he was confident in his own foundation, Fang Yuan wanted to condition his body to the best it could be while breaking through.


    "Rumble!"


    His ears stood up as he heard the loud rumble.


    "Hmm? They''ve started fighting already?"


    Fang Yuan leapt over the wall and saw a bright crimson flash from within the city. Shoutings were heard and shadows flying around. He was happy to witness this scene.


    With his abilities, it was impossible to stalk the Five Ghosts Sect and ambush them, but it would be a totally different story if the Spirit Returning Sect were to do it.


    Without consideration, Fang Yuan jumped down and made his way towards the crimson flash.


    "Ping! Ping!"


    The nearer he approached, the louder the rumbling became, as though thunder roared ten times simultaneously.


    A chaos of this scale would surely attract the attention of the soldiers and martial artists. However, no one dared to take another step towards them, and the whole mess was a good opportunity for Fang Yuan.


    As he came closer, he realised that it wasn''t a fight within the Five Ghosts Sect''s compound, but in a rich businessman''s manor.


    At this moment, numerous shadows flew across the roof, and every action they took was full of strength.


    "From the Spirit Returning Sect? All the way here?"


    In the scene was a duo in black, surrounding an old lady clad in silver clothing.


    Although these 3 people appeared lifeless, their moves were deadly and they appeared powerful. Even Fang Yuan himself was afraid to join the fight.


    "Martial artists of the 4 Heavenly Gates!"


    Fang Yuan hid to the side and stared at the old lady, shocked.


    Even though all of them were martial artists of 4 Heavenly Gates, the old lady could sweep her crutch and pressure the other two. She was extremely strong.


    "Cha!"


    Out of a sudden, the old lady shrieked, and the lion head on her crutch pounced forward, breaking through the defence of one of the elders, as it touched his chest.


    "Senior?"


    The two elders retreated quickly, and the one which was touched by the old lady began to spit out blood.


    "Good! Good! Good!"


    The younger brother clenched his teeth, his eyes seeking revenge. "Elder Yan... Lady Yan! Today''s score will be settled, and we the Ghost Brothers will remember it for life!


    Together with his brother, one was Yin and one was Yang, but against this Lady Yan, they realised that she already broke through 11 Gates, and have already fused her Yin and Yang to become an elemental energy martial artist!


    At this stage, the only thing she needed to do was to train and get ready to break through Heaven Gate!


    [Martial Artist (11th Gate)] are not to be belittled as they harnessed elemental force. It was therefore not so surprising to see her fend of two opponents by herself.


    "Keke..."


    Lady Yan kept her crutch, coughed a few times, hunched her back and lost all her craziness previously during the fight. "Cough... As I get older, my memory would fail me... Two of you, did you see me leave anything behind? Do a good deed and pass it to me, and I will offer tea, apologise and leave immediately, how does that sound?"


    "What thing? We didn''t see anything!"


    The Ghost Brothers appeared shocked and denied.


    "Heh... I have not told you what is it, so why are you so quick to turn me down?"


    Lady Yan shook her head, rolled her eyes and looked at the two of them. "What a pity, Yin Shizhong, Brother Yin is not here. He should have lured Elder Han away by now, right? Two of you cannot hold me back!


    The Ghost Brothers looked aghast, but could not deny that she was stating the truth.


    At this moment, Fang Yuan was hiding in the shadows.His hair stood on its ends as he became increasingly anxious. He took a deep breath and concealed himself even more.


    "They cannot block you, but how about me?"


    Behind Lady Yan was a fearless and cold-blooded voice. It was as though every word of his could freeze one''s blood.


    While the voice was heard, Lady Yan immediately swung her crutch backwards with immense strength.


    "Hong!"


    The lion on the crutch opened its jaws and spewed crimson fire, accompanied with black smoke.


    After striking, Lady Yan struck forward again, caught her footing and turned around.


    Where she once stood was empty, and only the remnants of the raging fire were left behind, which stunned her.


    "Very impressive, I''ve heard about stories of Lady Yan''s ''Flaming Lion Crutch''. It was designed by Carpenter Lu, sturdy and able to spew poisonous fire from the top of the crutch. It is ranked 87th in the secluded mountains unique weapon ranking, and I''ve finally seen it for myself today..."


    The voice came from behind Lady Yan. Although it sounded normal, it was a praise.


    "Five... Ghosts... Sect... Master!"


    Lady Yan turned pale and stuttered while saying out the name she feared most.


    Only someone who had broken through the Heaven Gate attained Wu Zong and able to harness elemental force would be able to toy around with her!


    "This is... Wu Zong?"


    Fang Yuan shuddered and did not dare to look at the Five Ghosts Sect Sect Master.


    After all, based on rumours, the Wu Zong martial artist is extremely sensitive and would be able to sense when someone is looking at him. He then would feel the urge to kill those within 35 yards.


    "Keke! Why would Sect Master find trouble with Lady Yan? If you have any vengeance, just deal with me!"


    At this moment, accompanying bell ringing, Shi Yutong appeared and seemed welcoming. "I had a few suspicions when I heard about the news, but after seeing Sect Master here, I have no more doubts!"

 62 A Mysterious Man

    "Shi Yutong?"


    Upon seeing a Wu Zong, like himself, appear, the sect head of the Five Ghosts Sect lost his interest in teasing and making fun of Lady Yan and stood still.


    "Sect Head!"


    Lady Yan immediately rushed to Shi Yutong.


    Now that this respected woman was around, Lady Yan dared to look at the sect head of the Five Ghosts Sect.


    The sect head of the Five Ghosts Sect had a small stature, almost like a dwarf. He wore an ice mask and rays of green light shone from his triangular eyes. This sight was sufficient to strike fear into anyone who looked at him.


    "Someone leaked the news!"


    At this moment, the sect head of the Five Ghosts Sect spoke in an icy tone.


    If it was just Lady Yan who came, it would be easy to turn her away. Anyway, it could have been because they found some inconclusive traces of a horse.


    However, now that Shi Yutong appeared personally, they must be very confident! Their determination seemed unflinching.


    The loss of control in this situation unsettled the head of the Five Ghosts Sect.


    The disciples of the Five Ghosts Sect glanced at each other and gathered behind their sect head. Both camps glared at each other as tensions soared. Anything could spark a war between the two groups.


    Fang Yuan who heard the conversation from his hiding spot felt something was amiss.


    According to his plan, the Spirit Returning Sect should have checked out and tested the situation and confirmed that everything was alright before attacking. This confrontation should not even be happening.


    After all, the Five Ghosts Sect and the Spirit Returning Sect were equally powerful. Should they fight each other, both would suffer greatly.


    Shi Yutong and the sect head of the Five Ghosts Sect were both smart people and they should have recognised this fact.


    If this was so, what gave Shi Yutong the confidence to barge in like that?


    Fang Yuan was unsure about this, but it did not seem to stop him from retreating.


    At the same time, upon sensing the emerging tension and the incendiary desire for battle, the sect head of the Five Ghosts Sect smirked provokingly.


    "Shi Yutong!"


    The sect head of the Five Ghosts Sect spoke haltingly, "You seem intent on opposing everything I do. Is this your declaration of war against the Five Ghosts Sect?"


    "Hehe¡­How would I dare? I am just here to ask you to return our item, that''s all!"


    Shi Yutong replied playfully in a tone which gave the impression that she was vivacious and quick-witted, which was typical of girls her age. The only problem was people who treated her like this sort of girl would definitely suffer a grotesque death.


    "Snap!"


    A flash of white light that seemed like lightning shot out of nowhere.


    "It has begun...What exactly is the level of elemental force of a Wu Zong?"


    In his retreat, Fang Yuan tried to get a glimpse of what was going on out of curiosity.


    This scene was different from what he saw earlier between the martial artists at the Four Heavenly Gates. In this duel between the martial artists during elemental force, apart from the flash of light at the beginning, all was quiet.


    "Is this¡­because both martial artists have perfected the art of using elemental force such that it does not manifest in other forms of energy, which explains why the effects are not visible to us?"


    The powers of Shi Yutong and the sect head of the Five Ghosts Sect were so powerful they seemed godly. This scared Fang Yuan.


    The strongest evidence of their powers was the sight of the martial artists who tried to creep forward to sabotage either of the duellists losing their power instantly, as though they were swallowed by a giant whirlpool.


    "They moved!"


    Of course, Fang Yuan was unable to catch sight of the two martial artists.


    However, when he saw the disciples of the Five Ghosts Sect and Lady Yan use their Lightness Skill and sped for the city gates, he could not resist following them secretly.


    "Eh? Is something wrong?"


    At this moment, from all corners of Luori City, several silhouettes emerged and rushed off, using Lightness Skill, into the distance one after another. This startled Fang Yuan.


    Despite knowing the two dueling were extremely powerful, as well as that the earlier unlucky few perished because they were too close to the duel, these people who still dared to follow them were definitely formidable martial artists themselves.


    ...


    "Phew phew!"


    Traveling at a blistering speed, they arrived at Xuanyan Mountain in no time.


    This place was very different from Clear Spirit Mountain. Most of the knolls were bare, revealing the red boulders and soil of the mountain.


    Even from the depressions of the mountain, one could feel the blistering heat emitted from there. It was obvious that inside the depression, there was a terrifying volcanic lava from the crater.


    As for the natives living in the mountain and the martial artists, this Xuanyan Mountain was a place to avoid! If one were to fall into the crater, it did not matter how powerful the person was, one would completely dissolve into the lava.


    "How dare you despicable and inferior people try to finish us off while we are fighting each other? You must have a death wish!!!"


    All of a sudden, the Five Ghost Sect disciples and Lady Yan who were sprinting ahead halted, turned on their heels in mid-air and sped behind, all in sync with each other. One would not be able to tell that they were at each other''s throats before this.


    "As expected, the idea of watching the Spirit Returning Sect and Five Ghosts Sect destroy each other and picking up the scraps after that is not that realistic after all. They are already starting to clear the area..."


    Fang Yuan silently tore off a piece of cloth from his robe and covered half his face.


    At this moment, despite the intimidation by Lady Yan and the Five Ghost Sect disciples, there were still people chasing after the dueling pair. Those who still dared to do so were inner power experts who were at least at the 5th Gate and above.


    Furthermore, the number of these people far surpassed what Fang Yuan expected.


    "It seems like I am not the only intelligent person around!"


    Upon seeing this, Fang Yuan immediately realised that of all these experts, a majority of them were not locals. Most of them moved in only recently, having the same intentions as him to strike when both sects were weak! What he did not know was how they got their information.


    "Everyone attack together!"


    A hideous voice rang out as a powerful force exploded, revealing a proud figure. This startled Lady Yan and the disciples of the Five Ghosts Sect and they exclaimed, "Dugu Hong?"


    This man was a well-known martial artist who always trained on his own. He did not belong to any particular sect and roamed about freely. The reasons behind his sudden appearance were unclear.


    "Since Brother Dugu made the request, we would definitely go along with you!"


    Dugu Hong''s order was answered by three martial artists at the same time as they leapt out. They were dressed like hunters, draping their backs with wolf-skin, and the wolf heads on their shoulders bore eyes that glistened.


    "The Three Wild Wolf Brothers?"


    The disciples of the Five Ghosts Sect became more troubled.


    Although the three brothers were not on the same level as Dugu Hong, they were also formidable opponents who were experts at Yin energy. When the three of them combined their efforts, they could be equivalent to a martial artist at the peak of the 12th Gate.


    "Haha¡­Lady Yan and disciples of the Five Ghost Sect, get out of the way if you do not wish to die!"


    All these lone martial artists armed with extremely high levels of martial prowess who outnumbered Lady Yan and the disciples of the Five Ghost Sect charged forward.


    "Kill!"


    Lady Yan and the disciples of the Five Ghost Sect looked at each other, roared and stood their ground as they attempted to fight off the attackers.


    "Bang bang!"


    With the forces and energies from the various martial artists clashing with each other, a messy and ferocious war erupted instantly!


    "All these martial artists are not familiar with each other and thus do not trust each other yet. As they fight they are constantly watching their own backs..."


    Fang Yuan had no intention of joining in the fight and tried to swiftly skirt around the melee.


    With Lady Yan and the disciples of the Five Ghost Sect fighting for their lives, and the martial artists on the other side refraining from over-exerting, the fight would definitely last a long time.


    Of course, this would be exactly what Lady Yan and the disciples of the Five Ghost Sect wanted to achieve.


    Instead of joining in the fight, why not take advantage of this chance to skirt around them and move to the front.


    "Die!"


    Just when Fang Yuan thought of this idea, he found out he was not the only who had the same thoughts.


    Furthermore, the other person was his competitor in this situation.


    Just as he moved around the fight and was preparing to move forward, a martial artist dressed in black crept up next to him and threw out successive punches with both fists.


    Fang Yuan felt the force from the punches and then deduced that his competitor was also an expert at the 6th Gate at least.


    Judging from the power of his opponent, his fists were no less lethal than a weapon. This caused Fang Yuan to remember a famous fighting technique.


    "Wind and Thunder Palm? D*mn, rumour has it that this technique is immensely powerful. When it is executed by a martial artist at the 6th Gate, even a martial artist at the 7th Gate would be unable to meet this technique head on..."


    As Fang Yuan thought to himself, he made use of the pitch darkness and sent his fist flying menacingly towards his opponent like a pestle.


    "Snap!"


    The force from Fang Yuan''s fist contacted with that of his opponent''s palm. At that moment, a hint of triumph crept into his opponent''s eyes. But it changed also almost instantly into excruciating pain as the bones in his arm shattered. He was sent somersaulting backwards into the air, spilling blood as he went.


    In just one move, this was even more powerful than a martial artist at the 7th Gate!


    To describe the event in words did not do the sheer speed of it justice. In reality, everything seemed to happen in the blink of an eye.


    After defeating his enemy in just one move, Fang Yuan did not turn back and skirted the main fighting area and headed deeper into the mountain.


    Upon seeing this, Gudu Hong, the Wild Wolf Brothers and the rest were even more frustrated. Furthermore, Lady Yan and the Five Ghost Sect disciples were determined and desperate to prevent the other martial artists from chasing their dueling sect heads.


    "To break through and arrive here...It must have been easy?"


    As Fang Yuan sped along the mountain road, he visually surveyed his surroundings and realised the martial artists who were similarly able to break through or skirt past the fighting were like him. They were mostly between the 6th and 7th Gate and were not as recognised.


    "Yeah¡­ Lady Yan and the disciples of the Five Ghosts Sect found us too insignificant to hold us back. We are not as powerful and troublesome as Gudu Hong and the Wild Wolf Brothers. I never thought I would enjoy this ''privilege'' of having inferior martial prowess..."


    After turning around a peak, the company saw a huge volcanic crater.


    Next to the crater, two people were exchanging blows at a speed so fast it looked blur to the naked eye. It was Shi Yutong duelling the head of the Five Ghosts Sect!


    Seeing this, Fang Yuan felt confused and suspicious.


    The precious treasure map had yet to appear, so why would these two respected and powerful martial artists expand all their energy fighting each other? Were they not afraid that the map might not even exist and thus create a lifelong enemy for themselves?


    Or was it possible that both were extremely confident that they would completely defeat the other?


    With this thought, Fang Yuan immediately stopped advancing. His goose bumps erected as he thought, "Oh no! There might be a trap!"


    He immediately turned around and left without hesitation.


    How could a broken piece from a treasure map be more valuable than my own life?


    The risks at that point time were far higher than what he had predicted and had already exceeded the profits he could hope to receive.


    "Eh?"


    Upon seeing how Fang Yuan decided to not pursue further, a few of his companions became suspicious too.


    "I did not think that...there would be another enlightened person? What a pity..."


    With a low noise coming from what looked like a common 5th Gate martial artist, the situation changed completely at that instant.


    A layer of blood surfaced on his body. The martial artists around him were astonished. At that split second, his body disintegrated, and blood flowed out rapidly. The blood cluttered at his side and formed what seemed to look like several pythons writhing about.


    "Blood Pythons...Attack!"


    He pointed a few lucky survivors. The Blood Pythons immediately locked on their targets and charged. Fang Yuan was one of the targets.


    "What an impressive technique! It''s a spiritual knight!"


    Seeing this startling and terrifying sight, one of the martial artists screamed aloud.

 63 Reveal

    "This is¡­."


    Fang Yuan retreated but the Bloody Python was coming straight at him and an explosion was heard


    "Bang!"


    In this very short period of time, he could only execute the inner strength of the Iron Skin Technique to defend himself. A bright red light flashed across him.


    "Piak!"


    Fang Yuan''s expression changed and could only feel intense pain on both of his hands. A powerful and corrosive energy broke through his defence and was spreading across his arms.


    He was suffering till now as his inner strength of the [Eagle Claw Technique (Grade 7)] was deflected easily by that energy. This situation was similar to when a martial artist who was trained in inner power duelled with an expert in inner force.


    "Puff!"


    He rolled and landed on the ground. He was in shock and said, "Is this¡­..the elemental force? So the rumour of a well trained spiritual knight having the ability to leverage the power of nature is true!!"


    "Eh?"


    The explosion of the blood-coloured python caused the bodies of the martial artists who were defeated to disappear.


    Fang Yuan survived as he managed to escape far away from the explosion. Plus, he was only badly injured, which meant he still had a chance of survival.


    The mysterious man in black was surprised after seeing this. "You are lucky. Others who have tasted my bloody elemental force in normal circumstances would not have to think about surviving."


    Looking at Fang Yuan who was unconscious, he moved 2 steps forward and a bloody bright light appeared on his right hand. It seemed that he wanted to end Fang Yuan''s life.


    "Ouch!!!"


    At that moment, a shout was heard from the magma lake and it sounded urgent.


    "Damn it! Can''t even hold it longer, what a useless guy!"


    The man in black changed his expression and abandoned Fang Yuan and galloped away.


    "My Bloody Python will strike in all directions!"


    The Bloody Python was executed along with a roar and it became more powerful and concentrated. It also gave out a noxious rotting smell.


    "Spiritual knight? ....No! Another spiritual disciple that has not been promoted? So he is your backup?"


    Shi Yutong said in a clear and loud voice which could be heard from far away.


    ''Shi Yutong was so capable that she could make the head of the Five Ghosts Sect use his backup move on her¡­..but his backup move is indeed incredible¡­.."


    There was a breeze and Fang Yuan who was ''badly injured'' got up and frowned. He focused his inner forcefully on healing his injuries.


    Previously, he was pretending to be unconscious actually. If the mysterious spiritual knight had decided to kill him, he would have fought for his life.


    Luckily for him, Shi Yutong''s skill was way superior and could manage to suppress the head of the Five Ghosts Sect and distract him, allowing Fang Yuan to escape and survive.


    "But what about these injuries due to the elemental force¡­.."


    Fang Yuan was expressionless. He looked at his arm and frowned.


    When he was attacked by the Bloody Python, his clothing on both of his arms was broken into pieces and this caused his exposed arm to be burnt. The wounds on his arm were so bad that he could see the bones of his arm.


    Even his inner force couldn''t help to heal his injuries fast enough and suppress it from spreading.


    "This bloody elemental force acts like a poison? It is indeed powerful!"


    He could feel intense pain and numbness from his injuries. Fang Yuan knew that if he still didn''t receive any medical attention yet, his injuries would worsen and spread. By then, he would have to amputate both of his arms and his life would also be in danger!


    "Since it is poison and the injuries are due to elemental force, normal pills shouldn''t work¡­.."


    He frowned and took out two bamboo fruits with much difficulty. He swallowed them and thought about the Yama''s Order he had with him. He then drank the whole bottle of Yama''s Order as well.


    "Hoo hoo!"


    The bamboo fruit was indeed a powerful spiritual object. Once the fruit entered his stomach, Fang Yuan could feel a clear stream gurgling through his arms and his arms felt less painful.


    "Luckily¡­..I have the bamboo fruit with me still. If not, with these injuries, I would really be in big trouble!"


    Fang Yuan bandaged his wounds and lurked towards the magma lake to see what was going on.


    "Whooo!"


    The tremendous force from the one of the duelist''s palm technique caused sound effects which sounded like the howling of the wind.


    He could see the duel between Shi Yutong and head of the Five Ghosts Sect. Their moves were very fast and fluid. There were no explosions although there were loud noises created during the duel.


    That mysterious disciple beside the both of them was circling 9 Bloody Pythons and murmuring incantations. This caused the Bloody Pythons to flank Shi Yutong constantly.


    Shi Yutong was actually fearful of such spiritual attacks and it gave the head of the Five Ghosts Sect a chance for a breather when he was almost going to be defeated. Now, he had a chance to gain the upper hand.


    As time passed, the three of them were fully focused on the fight and completely unaware of their surroundings.


    "Haha¡­.that is unfortunate!"


    Fang Yuan felt regretful when he saw what happened.


    Victory was about to land in on one of the party''s hand. If he was an expert in 4 Heavenly Gates, he would be able to change the verdict of the duel.


    However, he was just a [Martial Artist (7th Gate)] and he was injured. If he was to join in the battle now, he would definitely not survived through it.


    "Patience! Patience!"


    He advised himself silently and hid somewhere even deeper.


    After all, he wasn''t here to obtain something of value and since now he knew how powerful the spiritual knight was, it was not a good time for him to attack.


    "Both Wu Zong and the spiritual knight are trained in elemental force. However, both would produce different effects¡­.."


    This battle was actually a good chance for him to learn and improve further.


    "The spiritual knight is more focused on the conversion of his elemental force into spells¡­..On the other hand, Wu Zong also has elemental energy but one will use it to condition his or her body. Therefore, both have different uses!"


    "However, according to what Shi Yutong said, the man in black has not been promoted to become a spiritual knight, but he is powerful enough to duel with Wu Zong¡­.."


    "However, Shi Yutong is highly skilled and was scheming. How could she land herself in such a disadvantageous situation?"


    ...¡­


    Fang Yuan pondered over his thoughts and focused on hiding himself.


    "I cannot give her any more chances as she is waiting for me to be lured out of the city and there will definitely be traps¡­..Blood Killer!!!"


    The head of the Five Ghosts Sect shouted and his eyes were filled with anger. He seemed to have a secret technique and his energy surged. "Five Ghosts Soul Capturing Technique!"


    He stretched his fingers and visible black smokes could be seen. It then became like a ferocious looking ghost which pounced forward.


    "Wu! Wu!"


    "Jie jie!"


    "Hehe!"


    ...¡­.


    At that moment, there were many ghostly screams heard and 5 streaks of black smokes transformed into a giant ghostly claw. The claw fiercely clamped down like the Five Fingers Mountain.


    "He released his elemental force to form that?"


    Shi Yutong let out a surprised scream and she transformed into 9 silhouettes suddenly which darted off in all directions.


    "Come down now!"


    The head of the Five Ghosts Sect gave a ferocious look and pulled back both of his hands.


    His Ghostly Claw tore through the silhouettes and left Shi Yutong in her original spot.


    Shi Yutong''s moves were impressive but the Ghostly Claw was much more superior!


    "What are you waiting for?!"


    After such a move, the sect head of the Five Ghosts Sect was already panting. He could not move to sustain his Ghostly Claw and could only shout in despair.


    "Haha! Well done!"


    Presented with this golden opportunity, the Blood Killer would not let it slip.


    He used his Ghostly Claw to suppress Shi Yutong and the 9 Bloody Pythons were attacking her at the same time. "9 Bloody Pythons, you shall explode!!!!!!!!!!"


    "Hiss!"


    As compared to how the Bloody Pythons attacked Fang Yuan previously, the Bloody Pythons revealed their tongues this time and made hissing sounds. Their scales were revealed clearly and they were indeed powerful.


    Seeing that the Bloody Pythons were charging towards Shi Yutong, the head of the Five Ghosts Sect was elated.


    "Whiz whiz!"


    At that moment, there was a sudden change!


    A few emerald flashes struck the pythons'' heads.


    "Puff! Puff!"


    The heads of the pythons exploded one by one like explosives and blood splashed everywhere.


    Suddenly, there was a sound of a flute coming from far and the notes from it were incredibly lively. Fang Yuan could feel the notes invigorating him as if he was in a different setting, filled with blooming flowers in spring.


    "Sorry that I came late, please forgive me!"


    From the sound of the flute, the head of the Five Ghosts Sect retreated and spat out a mouthful of blood. His Five Ghosts Soul Capturing Technique was then lifted.


    A clear and spiritual female voice was heard along with the sound of the flute.


    After the sound, a beam of emerald green light struck right beside the Blood Killer.


    "Aahh...elemental blood defence!"


    He shouted and a pool of blood appeared on his body. However, he couldn''t avoid what was about to happen as the beam of the emerald green light struck through his body, leaving a bloody hole.


    "A flute? A woman?!"


    The Blood Killer covered his chest and seemed to have recalled something scary. He immediately escaped without hesitation!


    Before he left, he gave a ferocious look and patted the head of the Five Ghosts Sect''s back. He then placed a violet pill on the head of the Five Ghosts Sect''s Yuzhen acupuncture point.


    "Blood Killer¡­.you?"


    Seeing that his ally betrayed him, the head of the Five Ghosts Sect was in shock and wasn''t ready to defend himself.


    The pill that was placed by the Blood Killer was especially mysterious. The pill went through his skin and he could feel its effect instantly.


    "Hoo! Hoo!"


    The head of the Five Ghosts Sect kept panting and his face was blushing. Many of his veins started hideously to pop out like worms beneath his skin.


    Suddenly, he shouted and pounced right at Shi Yutong like a crazy man.


    The Blood Killer then managed to escape with this opportunity.


    ....


    "Crazy Blood Pill?"


    At that moment, a lady arrived at the scene. She was dressed in a green gown, wore a golden bangle on her head and had an emerald-coloured belt at her waist. She was beautiful.


    Seeing that the head of the Five Ghosts Sect had become crazy, she joined in the battle. Both the lady and Shi Yutong managed to suppress him.


    "Fortunately, you came just in time to help me. Otherwise, I would be in big trouble¡­..Why did you let the Blood Killer off?"


    Shi Yutong asked.


    The lady in green then answered with a laugh. "You overestimate me. Even though Blood Killer had not been promoted to become the spiritual knight, but right after he had seen my secret technique, he thought I was way more superior and thus he fled¡­."

 64 Resistance

    "Seeing how things are, it seems that both Shi Yutong and the Five Ghosts Sect have their own ideas on how to defeat each other, and both had managed to get assistance..."


    At the sound of the flute, the Blood Killer escaped and Fang Yuan managed to retreat as well.


    "The only difference is that Shi Yutong''s reinforcement came from outside the city, and only arrived after Lady Yan was discovered, and therefore Shi Yutong was forced to reveal herself to lure the head of Five Ghosts Sect out of the city...."


    "Shi Yutong''s skill was above that of the head of the Five Ghosts Sect, and her assistant could scare away the Blood Killer. She was totally in control of the situation, and they had no chance of retaliating!"


    "Lieyang County will be very different from this day onwards..."


    Fang Yuan witnessed how the Blood Killer betrayed head of the Five Ghosts Sect and used him as a bait for him to escape, and knew that the head of the Five Ghosts Sect was unlikely to walk out alive under the attack of Shi Yutong and her strong assistant.


    The Five Ghost Sect would crumble without their head, and other sects would take advantage of them once they were at their downfall.


    ...


    "Whoosh!"


    Fang Yuan flew into the woods, his eyes filled with fury.


    "The Blood Killer is only strong in his spiritual spells. As for his martial arts cultivation, he is only equivalent to that of a [Martial Artist (5th Gate)]... Furthermore, he was hurt by the emerald flashes..."


    "And as for me? I''ve recovered from eating the bamboo fruit, and although my external wounds look terrifying, my internal wounds have already recovered quite a bit, and I can even fight!"


    Fang Yuan was unwilling to risk his life for a treasure map he knew little about.


    But it''s different about the Blood Killer!


    This person was a spiritual knight! ... Alright, according to Shi Yutong he was a spiritual knight-to-be, and badly hurt too. This was attractive to Fang Yuan, who wanted to observe spiritual spells in action.


    With the intention to stalk the Blood Killer, the Blood Killer could not run away from Fang Yuan.


    Indeed, after an hour, the Blood Killer stopped near a mountain spring to take a rest.


    The bandage over his wound on his chest was red. He twitched and felt suspicious. "The spiritual weapon does not seem to be the widely-known Spiritual Emerald Silk! If the Spiritual Emerald Silk attacked me personally, I would never have the chance to escape... Could it be that someone is tricking me?"


    After thinking, he felt extremely regretful.


    He knew that with him and the head of the Five Ghosts Sect teaming up, they would just be able to take down Shi Yutong, but the moment her ally arrived, even if it was a young disciple, they would have won. This was the main reason why he escaped without a doubt.


    The only thing was that betraying the head of the Five Ghosts Sect was akin to burning a bridge, and felt that it was a pity.


    "Curse you! After I have officially become a spiritual knight, I will peel all your skins alive to vent out my anger and take my revenge..."


    Blood Killer sighed, bent down and drank the spring water.


    After quenching his thirst, he opened his robes, looked at the blood-red bandage, clenched his teeth and tore it apart.


    "Piak!"


    As the bandage fell apart, blood spurt out of the wound.


    "Mm..."


    He bit his teeth and was sweating profusely. His right arm was shivering as he retrieved a dark-green bottle from his pocket. He scattered some white powder onto his wound and began to bandage it.


    Fang Yuan came out of hiding and took a few steps forward.


    "Who''s that?"


    As the Blood Killer looked up, his eyes revealed an emerald flash, as though he was an injured wolf.


    ''I was discovered?''


    Fang Yuan changed his mind, stood up and acted as though he was afraid. "Don''t... Don''t kill me..."


    "Mmm?"


    Blood Killer noticed his rotting arm and was perplexed. "You were that martial artist, but why are you still alive? How is this possible?"


    He knew Fang Yuan was a [Martial Artist (6th/7th Gate)] and therefore was not on guard. Unknowingly, he took a few steps towards him as though he was a weak martial artist who was easily affected by his blood elemental force. He was suspicious as to how Fang Yuan survived his attack.


    "This is the moment!"


    Fang Yuan stood his ground and struck.


    "Whoosh!"


    He rushed forward and felt the air rush over his claws, as he made an eagle''s cry. He appeared next to the Blood Killer as his claws emerged, with a black spot on his palm; the poison from the mutated Pearl Tail Snake harnessed in his palms.


    "Hmm?"


    Even though he was injured, he remained calm as he looked at Fang Yuan attacking him, as though he was extremely confident.


    "Mind Calming Spell!"


    He bit his tongue and spit out blood towards Fang Yuan, and shouted.


    "Wung!"


    A weird vibration was felt as it travelled onto Fang Yuan''s body.


    Fang Yuan was shocked, and at the moment his stood at where he was, maintaining his pouncing posture.


    "Hehe... This Mind Calming Spell is indeed useful when dealing with normal people... Cough Cough..."


    After two coughs, he examined Fang Yuan. "This person could survive my Bloody Python attack, it seems he is somewhat special. He would be a good ingredient for me to make a blood corpse... And while I am injured, I will need protection..."


    "Dementor!"


    He took two steps forward, and in his right hand was a dark-red pill. Mischief filled his eyes, as he exclaimed, "From today onwards, I am your master, and now, eat this!"


    Blood Killer ordered and stretched his right hand out.


    But at that moment, his expression changed.


    Fang Yuan''s expressionless face changed to one of mocking.


    ''This isn''t possible, how can a normal human being who is not of Wu Zong level be able to escape my Mind Calming Spell... Could it be...''


    Wild thoughts ran through his mind, quick as lightning.


    There were very close to each other and it would be useless if any one of them tried to defend himself.


    This golden opportunity was one that Fang Yuan wouldn''t give up.


    "Die!!!"


    He focused his inner force and his words were loud as thunder. It was something he picked up from Gui Wusheng, and the Blood Killer was stunned for the moment.


    His right hand struck out like lightning and formed an eagle''s claw. He hooked on to the throat of Blood Killer, pulled with his might and a distinct fracture sound could be heard.


    "Eagle Claw Technique! Black Sand Palm!"


    After the first move, Fang Yuan continuously struck at the Blood Killer like raindrops, every move aiming at the Blood Killer''s vulnerable spot.


    After all, he was a cunning person and Fang Yuan was afraid to let him survive.


    Fang Yuan was fortunate to be lucky.


    Blood Killer''s corpse landed on the ground, like a doll being abused.


    "Phew..."


    Fang Yuan heaved a sigh of relieve after witnessing his death but was afraid of the trouble which might come along.


    To deal with a spiritual disciple was indeed not an easy task.


    Even when he was injured, he could conjure up spells. If not for Fang Yuan''s remarkable magic abilities, he would have been trapped and made his slave.


    On hindsight, it was rather scary.


    "However... Even though the elemental energy of the spiritual disciple is similar to that of Wu Zong, it was extremely different... Just now, it felt as though he had used up all his energy and had little strength left."


    With combat experience, Fang Yuan realised a little secret of the spiritual disciple. "After all, their defence is average. Take for instance this Blood Killer. Without the help of the sect head of the Five Ghosts Sect''s, he was no match for Shi Yutong... Only after attaining the level of a spiritual knight will be able to match up to a Wu Zong, or even surpass them..."


    After thinking, he took a few steps forward and felt satisfied.


    It was a good feeling to kill someone and take their treasure.


    A spiritual knight would be scheming and Fang Yuan had to take precautions. He picked up a tree branch, carefully peeled open Blood Killer''s clothing and found a cloth bag.


    A few bottles within the bag were damaged from the fight, and the medicine powder was mixed together. Spiritual pills would be rendered useless by now as they were destroyed. Fang Yuan did not dare to touch any medicine or poison from the bag.


    Other than these, there were other miscellaneous objects and a few taels of silver, which made him feel like it was not worth it.


    "This can''t be... I took such a risk to kill this spiritual disciple, and this is all I get?"


    Looking at the rotten corpse, Fang Yuan remained speechless and even felt like whipping the corpse.


    The good thing was that he wasn''t such an extremist, and after rummaging through his belongings one more time, he stood up and sighed. "Ah... It seems that there is really nothing, I guess luck is not on my side!"


    He remained silent as he looked at Blood Killer''s corpse.


    "You attempted to kill me first, and therefore it is only normal that you are killed by me. Just because you are a magical person, I will... dig a grave for you, so that you will not be eaten by wild beasts!"


    Using his inner strength, it was effortless for him to dig a large hole in a short amount of time.


    "Rest in peace!"


    Fang Yuan struck his palm out and shoved the corpse and his belongings into the hole, and was about to cover the grave up.


    At this moment, a jade-coloured object was revealed from the corpse, which stopped Fang Yuan in his tracks.


    "Wait a minute... What is this?"


    He grabbed a tree branch and flicked his arm out of the grave. The jade piece was clearly visible just beside the bone.


    "What the..."


    Fang Yuan spent a long time to separate the jade from the bone and appeared shocked. "This person is crazy, why would he hide this in his own body..."


    If he didn''t strike that many palms and claws on the Blood Killer till he was disfigured, he would not have discovered this piece of jade.


    "What does this count as? Retribution? Since he could have hidden this piece of jadeite in his body, who is to say that there is no second piece, third piece... Even after his death, he is still asking to be tortured?"


    He became speechless and vexed.


    After a short while, he looked at the 2 looted objects that were washed and went into deep thought.


    Because of the discovery of the jade, he had to force himself to do a thorough search on the corpse. His unintended move unknowingly brought him rewards.


    Fang Yuan remained speechless as he looked at the loot.


    "Treasure map... broken pieces..."


    This treasure map was discovered in the Blood Killer''s clothing, sewed in between the cloth. As for the corpse? After an intense search, Fang Yuan found nothing and proceed to bury him.


    What appeared in front of Fang Yuan was an incomplete treasure map, similar to the one Han Shou had!


    "This piece is the missing part of the treasure map, just lacking a corner! Who would''ve known that the Five Ghosts Sect had already obtained the treasure map and passed to the Blood Killer for safekeeping..."


    This incredible encounter and miraculous turn of events left Fang Yuan speechless.

 65 The Death Gate

    "Things are constantly changing in this world. Who can predict what is the next move?"


    Fang Yuan had caused the Five Ghosts Sect Sect Master and the Blood Killer to be dead one after another. He managed to obtain pieces of the treasure map and was very happy with it.


    With such treasure in his hand, he was naturally happy about it. However, he had only gotten two pieces and one last piece of the map was still missing. He was worried.


    "No matter what, a treasure map that could cause the Five Ghosts Sect and a spiritual disciple to be so obsessed with would lead to a treasure that is extraordinary¡­.."


    "Of course, the most important issue is not this¡­.."


    Fang Yuan murmured and kept the pieces of the treasure map safely. His right hand touched a piece of jadeite and he kept silent.


    That piece of jadeite was clear and shiny. It seemed that there were streaks of gold lines circulating in it, making it special.


    Also, the Blood Killer had the treasure map sewn on his clothes but he hid the jadeite in his body, which clearly showed that the piece of jadeite was very precious.


    "Just that¡­..I wonder what mystery this piece of jadeite holds!"


    He stared at the square-shaped jadeite for a long time. He couldn''t find any handwritings or symbols on it. It could reflect light when placed in water under sunlight.


    "This is strange!"


    Fang Yuan shook his head and kept the jadeite safely. He then continued on his journey.


    During this trip outside the Qingye City, he battled in the jungle and killed Gui Wusheng and the Blood Killer. He also obtained a few treasures like the Ying Yang Jade, pieces of the treasure map and the mysterious jadeite. He even got to observe a battle between Wu Zong and the spiritual disciple. Thus, he gained quite a lot through this trip and was very satisfied.


    The only thing that he wanted to do now was to cut off any relations between him and these incidents.


    This was fairly simple.


    After all, Fang Yuan didn''t even reveal his face before.


    Even though back in Shaoyang City, someone witnessed him leaving together with Gui Wusheng, nobody knew the outcome of the duel between the both of them. Fang Yuan could say that both of them were on par with each other and they fought till exhaustion.


    But what about Gui Wusheng? The Five Ghosts Sect was crumbling and it would be normal for him to hide now, wouldn''t it?


    If it still looked suspicious, the rest could find the ghost of Gui Wusheng to testify.


    "Next, if I were to remove all the traces I left behind here, that would be sufficient!"


    Fang Yuan trekked through the forest and walked a big circle. He then exited the Xuanyan Mountain by another way and reached a nearby county. He then boarded a carriage and quickly went back to Qingye City.


    ...¡­..


    Days after, back at the inn where Fang Yuan was living in.


    Fang Yuan, who was lying down, opened his eyes and was welcomed by a bright light.


    "Hoo¡­.."


    Fang Yuan exhaled out a long breath and stretched himself.


    "Once I have broken through the Death Gate, I will be reborn...I have finally attained [Martial Artist (8th Gate)], which is the Death Gate!"


    He was not really surprised that he attained it.


    After all, he was already in a state which he could attain a new level anytime.


    In addition to the previous battles and the lessons learnt from the duel between Wu Zong and the spiritual disciple, his attainment was a matter of time.


    Of course, the main contribution to his attainment was his daily intake of spiritual food, which allowed his foundations to become stronger and thus able to break through the Death Gate successfully!


    Ever since he felt that he was ready to break through, Fang Yuan immediately found an inn and got the best room in the inn for him to prepare to break through.


    This time, the breakthrough of the Death Gate was different for him as it felt as if he went for a nap.


    Correct! He went for a nap!


    If he was able to wake up from the nap, it meant that he broke through successfully. However, if he did not wake up, it meant he was dead!


    Even though the concept was simple, it also had a possible scary outcome!


    "Hmm?"


    Fang Yuan got up and felt that both of his hands were sticky. It felt very uncomfortable and he rubbed his hands. A layer of dead skin then dropped off and it revealed a new layer of clear and bright skin.


    "Reborn? I am really reborn!!!"


    He looked at his hands happily and tore away the dead skin which was on his arm.


    "Piak!"


    It was as if a snake had changed its skin. On his arm, a layer of skin which contained traces of dirt and blood dropped off, revealing a smooth layer of new skin, perfect and without any scars on it.


    "The cultivation of martial arts is actually considered a tough training. With a bit of talent, one can train his elemental force when he has attained Wu Zong¡­.."


    Fang Yuan gradually understood.


    Under normal circumstances, most people would not be able to reach the lowest gate of a spiritual knight.


    However, martial arts is different!


    From the start, there were 3 gates, namely the Initial, Rest and Life. One who did not have prior experience would be able to break through and attain them in 3 years with hard work.


    If one had prior experience, one could try to break through the Restriction Gate and strengthen one''s inner power.


    After the Pain Gate, one would have gained inner force and could improve his essence and spirit naturally. After the Death Gate, one''s inner force would reach its peak.


    Next, whether to take in both Yin and Yang or to combine them together, was part of the preparation needed to break through the Heaven Gate and train one''s elemental force.


    "This process is one step at a time and consists of 12 steps, which is different from the process which involves the spiritual disciple breaking through to become the spiritual knight. Hence, the former process is considered to be more favourable¡­.."


    At that moment, Fang Yuan did not look down on martial arts but felt full of respect for the creation of the 12 Golden Gates in martial arts.


    The creator had given many who did not have prior experience a straight pathway to attain the Heaven Gate!


    Correct, the Heaven Gate!


    Fang Yuan recalled that the Blood Killer looked at him with disdain and knew what kind of impression spiritual knights and sorcerers had on normal human beings.


    Then what about normal human beings? If one was to be able to break through all 12 Golden Gates and attained Wuzong, one would become immortal and would be able to reach the heaven!


    "The Yin Yang Jade can be used right after the 8th Gate!"


    Fang Yuan was not as petty as Gui Wusheng. Gui Wusheng was reluctant to use it for himself but Fang Yuan had decided to use it immediately to speed up his training process.


    Of course, before using it, he wanted to have a look again at his stats window.


    His stats window then appeared in front of him:


    "Name: Fang Yuan


    Essence: 5.0


    Spirit: 4.9


    Magic: 3.3


    Age: 19


    Cultivation: [Martial Artist (8th Gate)]


    Technique: [Black Sand Palm (Grade 5)], [Eagle Claw Iron Skin Technique (Grade 8)]


    Skill: [Medicine (Level 3)], [Botany (Level 3)]"


    "Eh? There is an increase in my magic, is it because of the breakthrough of the Death Gate? Or is it due to the effect of the spiritual tea which was triggered during the breakthrough? Or is it both?"


    His essence and spirit had increased tremendously and Fang Yuan had expected it.


    What surprised him was that his magic had increased by 0.3.


    After all, he did not have any other breakthroughs other than his previous breakthrough of the 7th Gate.


    "However, this is normal anyway¡­.The prerequisite to being a spiritual knight or a sorcerer was to have a high level of magic! How could martial arts only help to improve one''s body condition? It definitely had to improve one''s magic as well!"


    "Or maybe¡­.attaining the 4 Heavenly Gates was not only to combine the elemental force of Yin and Yang but also to improve one''s magic to prepare oneself for Wu Zong¡­."


    "The 12 Golden Gates; I have broken through the 8th gate which is the Death Gate. Next up will be the 9th Gate, which is the Yin Gate, and then the 10th Gate, which is the Yang Gate, and then the 11th Gate, which is the Earth Gate and lastly the 12th Gate, which is the Heaven Gate!"


    Fang Yuan took out the Yin Yang Jade. The piece of Jade was perfect and it had both red and black textures in it, which made it special.


    This piece of jade could speed up the combination of Yin and Yang for a [Martial Artist (8th Gate)]. This was one of the secret processes of the Five Ghosts Sect.


    Even though the Five Ghosts Sect had wanted to use this piece of jade to attract its enemies, the jade landed into Fang Yuan''s hands in the end.


    "This jade¡­..seems to be used in this way!"


    Fang Yuan murmured and shipped his inner force onto his palms.


    At that moment, there was a conversion and his inner force that was actually in 7th Gate previously was now smoothly transferred to the 8th Gate.


    He noticed a swirl in the inner part of the Yin Yang Jade with the combination of Yin and Yang.


    "Go!"


    Fang Yuan shipped his inner force into the circulation of the Yin and Yang and his inner force went one round in the circulation and then back into his body.


    "Hiss..."


    At that moment, he felt a cold stream down his arms and then to shoulders and his chest¡­..and then finally to his lower abdomen.


    "Is this¡­..Yin?"


    Fang Yuan looked at the Yin Yang Jade and the textures on the jadeite were still clear as before. It seemed like it had not been used before.


    "According to the Iron Skin Technique and the manuals from the Spirit Returning Sect, if a [Martial Artist (8th Gate)] wants to make a breakthrough, he would have to train hard daily and endlessly. As such, he should be able to get the Yin into his body in half a month or so, but now¡­.."


    He looked at his stats window again.


    He saw his proficiency points for [Eagle Claw Iron Skin Technique (Grade 8)] had increased by 1%.


    "My intake of Yin this time equals to half a month of hard work by a normal [Martial Artist (8th Gate)]?"


    Fang Yuan''s eyes glittered and said, "This Yin Yang Jade is good stuff. The Five Ghosts Sect is indeed rich with treasures¡­.."


    In fact, he was being whimsical.


    Even though Five Ghosts Sect was rich, the Yin Yang Jade was considered one of the most precious treasures in there and was hidden well. Normal elders would not have known this piece of jade.


    If the purpose was not to attract the enemy, Gui Wusheng would not have brought the jade out.


    Even so, Gui Wusheng only had the right of safekeeping it and not the right of using it.


    "Gui Wusheng that stupid idiot. He was probably controlled by the Five Ghosts Sect Sect Master..."


    Fang Yuan then came to a conclusion. "If one does not know how to appreciate the treasure, even if the treasure was a gift from heaven, the treasure would hurt one instead!"


    He got up and opened the windows. He breathed in deeply and looked at the Lieyang County silently.


    With the Five Ghosts Sect Sect Master and the Blood Killer dead, the Five Ghosts Sect had no leader. In addition to the attack by the Spirit Returning Sect, the Five Ghosts Sect would definitely split and it was a golden opportunity for one to take advantage of the situation!


    Since the Five Ghosts Sect had a piece of Yin Yang Jade, maybe they would have a second or a third piece of the same jade or something similar in value¡­.


    Fang Yuan was too imaginative and he grew greedy.


    "Hold on a second, I have gained a lot from this trip and I should reflect and plan my next moves, instead of finding ways to get even more such treasures."


    Fang Yuan''s eyes glittered and thought, "Looks like I have improved too quickly. I better return home to continue on my cultivation, along with farming and making tea¡­.."

 66 Cultivation

    "Chirp!"


    A black dot appeared in the blue sky and accompanying it, a bird''s caw.


    "Hu!"


    A large eagle with metallic wings flew down and landed in front of Fang Yuan.


    "I''m back!"


    Fang Yuan walked forward and patted the Iron-tailed Black Eagle.


    "Keke!"


    Black Eagle did not appear to reject him, which pleased Fang Yuan, because he knew that they had gotten even closer than before.


    "Is everything alright in the secluded valley?"


    He took a few steps forward and reached the entrance. A white flash appeared and stopped at his legs. It was the Flower Fox Ferret.


    All this while, they had no spiritual tea, and the two beasts also didn''t know how to start a fire. They had no choice but to return to their old ways of hunting and eating meat raw and therefore, both of them longed for his return.


    For instance, the Flower Fox Ferret had already caught two plump chickens and was waiting for Fang Yuan to cook them.


    "Greedy fellow!"


    Fang Yuan scolded him jokingly and entered his home.


    Even though there were two spiritual beasts looking after the secluded valley, Fang Yuan was still worried and went around to check on things.


    He arrived at the farm and firstly went to look for the Questioning Heart Tea. He couldn''t contain his excitement as he noticed small leaflets sprouting from the branches of the tree.


    This trip made him realise the importance of having higher than average magic points.


    He owed it all to his magic points that he could survive the ordeal this time.


    "This tea should be spring tea, as the season is coming soon..."


    Fang Yuan as extremely pleased, as he arrived at the farm and realised almost all the Vermilion Jade Rice had been harvested. However, the surroundings were not barren.


    Shrubs of Emerald Grass were sprouting around the farm in an orderly manner, full of life.


    "The Emerald Grass is growing rather well!"


    As it was the lowest form among spiritual plants, it only two purposes was to cultivate a plot of land and also be harvested as food for spiritual beasts. Fang Yuan scanned the area and could not find any plant with evolved special traits, and was a little disappointed.


    "Let''s take a look at the spiritual bamboo!"


    With shocking healing abilities, the bamboo fruit could even heal wounds caused by elemental forces, and this made Fang Yuan realise the importance of it.


    As he approached the bridge, he was overwhelmed with joy.


    Beside the rock, a green bamboo stood tall and strong. Its branches were emerald-green and had no signs of rotting.


    "When a spiritual bamboo blooms, fruits will form. It would then rot and die after its fruits ripen, and re-sprout into a new spiritual bamboo... This is because it cannot receive enough nutrients to sustain itself... But now, what is happening?"


    Fang Yuan looked at his [Botany] and knew that this was one of the special traits that the spiritual bamboo evolved to have.


    Even though the spiritual bamboo was not completely evolved, it already had certain traits of it being improved, and for instance this time, it did not rot.


    "Keke!"


    The Flower Fox Ferret pointed to a little bulge on the ground, as it tried to hint to Fang Yuan that it was something new.


    "Eh? Could it be..."


    Fang Yuan gently dug out the layer of soil above, and a purple shoot appeared.


    "Indeed... When spring comes the bamboo will flourish, what an unexpected gain!"


    It was different from the spiritual bamboo. Its bamboo trunk had a layer of purple and hidden within it, there was spiritual energy which emitted a pleasant fragrance.


    "I could locate other bamboos by following its roots, and for this root..."


    Fang Yuan followed then bamboo root and discovered a few more bamboo shoots. He gingerly covered the shoots with soil and was smiling from ear to ear.


    "Keke¡­...Chirp Chirp..."


    The Flower Fox Ferret was pulling at his clothes, its paws pointing about. Fang Yuan was amused, "You want to try the bamboo shoot?"


    "Chirp Chirp!"


    After hearing this, the black eagle at the side seemed to understand what was happening and appeared as excited as the Flower Fox Ferret.


    "You guys... This spiritual bamboo is a treasure, how can we kill the source of our food?"


    Fang Yuan continued, "There''s quite a lot of spiritual bamboo within the red-eyed white king bird''s nest, as well as other spiritual things... When we have a chance, I shall bring you guys along to loot the entire place!"


    With his improvements in martial arts and his two spiritual beasts, Fang Yuan started to have ideas on the Green Peak once again.


    "Chirp Chirp!"


    The Iron-tailed Black Eagle had bad blood with the red-eyed white birds all along and was excited at the thought of Fang Yuan''s suggestion.


    Even though they have decided on the plan, it still wasn''t easy to deal with the red-eyed white king bird.


    After all, the king bird was equivalent to a martial artist of the 4 Heavenly Gates and would be even more unpredictable when angered.


    The Iron-tailed Black Eagle was extremely lucky to have escaped the previous ordeal, and there was no way it could have escaped again given the same situation.


    Furthermore, Fang Yuan had just returned and he should be resting and recuperating.


    ...


    "Phew... I am finally able to rest after this hectic period!"


    The next day, Fang Yuan held a teacup, took a sip and was in deep relaxation.


    "Spiritual bamboo shoots for breakfast, coupled with Meditative Questioning Heart Tea. Even the gods couldn''t ask for this!"


    After mulling over it for the whole night, he gave in to pressure from both the Flower Fox Ferret and the Iron-tailed Black Eagle, and the three of them enjoyed the bamboo shoots for breakfast.


    Of course, it was the three of them sharing one shoot.


    Fang Yuan was shocked to his wits.


    Regardless the crunchy texture, or the milky fragrance, or the sweet sap, they were all on a different level.


    Of course, he became extremely regretful after eating it.


    His was afraid that he would not be able to resist eating the remaining shoots, and he felt that it was such a waste to eat the shoots and therefore lose the fruit that it would bear in the future.


    "Both of you have gained quite a bit..."


    Seeing the both of them drinking the spiritual tea, eating the spiritual bamboo and strengthening themselves, Fang Yuan admired them.


    After all, the spiritual beasts were different from humans; there are no gates for them. As long as they eat and drink to their fill, and grow to a certain age, they would automatically attain a higher level.


    Comparatively, he needed to train hard, and would, therefore, feel that he had no choice but to accept the fact.


    As a cup of Questioning Heart Tea entered his stomach, he began to forget his worries.


    After a long while, he slowly placed his teacup down, and heaved a long sigh.


    "The higher my magic, the harder it would be to increase it... Furthermore, the effect of the Questioning Heart Tea slowly seems to be unable to satisfy me anymore..."


    This was normal. As time passed, the spiritual plants which were able to increase one''s magic would be treasured by many, and would be called ''Deity Plants''.


    Of course, being such a unique plant, the Questioning Heart Tea would definitely be beneficial to spiritual knights as well.


    Fang Yuan realised that even though his body was less receptive to the Questioning Heart Tea, he could drink more of it instead of focusing in finding a better quality deity plant to replace it, and that would solve the problem.


    "The most important thing now is to quickly break through the 4 Heavenly Gates! Fusing the Yin and Yang, to break the Earth Gate and Heaven Gate, all these should be extremely beneficial to my magic!"


    After sorting out his thoughts, he crossed his legs and sat on the ground, and took out his Yin Yang Jade.


    After playing around with the Jade, Fang Yuan knew how to use the Jade in general. Only the inner force of [Martial Artists (8th Gate)] would be able to enter the Jade, to be split it into Yin and Yang, and this would expedite the progress of cultivation by a thousand times.


    "After the process, I would have lost around half of my Yang..."


    The black and red stripes within the Jade became milder, and Fang Yuan felt that it was a pity.


    Yin and Yang are the forces of the heavens, and they coexist, never alone but always together.


    Whenever some Yin was taken, the same amount of Yang would be lost, in order for the forces within the Yin Yang Jade to remain balanced at all times.


    As he had not broken the Yin Gate, he could only see the true Yang from the afternoon sun being lost, as he had no way to harness it.


    "Keke!"


    As he was sighing, a white flash appeared, and a paw came in contact with the Yin Yang Jade. It was the Flower Fox Ferret.


    "Eh? What are you doing?"


    Fang Yuan was confused, as he observed. The Flower Fox Ferret was actually harnessing the extra Yang for his own cultivation.


    "Can spiritual beast cultivate their skills on their own?"


    He felt that his view of the world was once again obsolete. The memories he had from another world made him aware that many demons would train under the moon, but this was the Yang from the sun, and it was completely different.


    "Hiss!"


    After taking in a shred of Yang, the Flower Fox Ferret held its breath, shook, and laid flat on the ground, as though it was drunk.


    Fang Yuan had seen the Flower Fox Ferret in this state a few times before, while he was drinking the Questioning Heart Tea.


    "It seems that it had entered a deep level of cultivation..."


    Fang Yuan nodded his head, kept the Yin Yang Jade, and had a headache.


    Afterall, there was another being at home who would be after his own treasures. To be on guard against it would not be easy.


    Of course, he wasn''t stingy about the Yang lost. To Fang Yuan, he would rather strengthen his spiritual pet than let it go to waste!


    The only thing he was afraid about was that the beast might not be aware of how to harness it properly, and might take in too much Yang. This would not only spoil the Yin Yang Jade, but also harm the beast, and that wouldn''t be worth it...


    "Phew... If I continue to fuse my Yin every day, I should be able to achieve a breakthrough to 9th Gate in a few days time..."


    Seeing the experience bar slowly being filled, Fang Yuan nodded his head and started to train.


    To a [Martial Artist (8th Gate)], taking in Yin was the hardest of all. The fusion was much easier, and after 2 hours, Fang Yuan completed his training for the day. He felt as though a clear river was flowing through him, and was immensely satisfied.


    Since he was in such a good condition, he decided to take the opportunity and took out a piece of jade.


    This jade was different from the Yin Yang Jade. It was squarish, and it was as though a golden coin was swirling within it. It was indeed the jade Fang Yuan obtained from the Blood Killer.


    He was completely relaxed and wanted to unveil the mystery of this jade.


    "There seems to be no carving on it, and it does not seem like a key..."


    Fang Yuan sighed and suddenly stuck it on his own forehead. He focused his magic on his forehead, as though he was gathering and pushing the magic upwards physically.


    "Rumble!"


    ...


    ...


    ...


    After a long while, nothing happened.


    Fang Yuan rolled his eyes, took the jade down, and felt a little disappointed. "Indeed, the memories from the other world shouldn''t be taken too seriously. Using magic to understand jades, this was most likely bullshit from the author..."


    Even though it was as such, he felt that he understood something else.


    Within this jade, there must be a secret, and the only thing lacking is the key to it.

 67 Mystery

    "I''m here to see you, sir!"


    Zhou Wenwu bowed respectfully and was also relieved to see Fang Yuan.


    Previously, when Fang Yuan went out on a trip, Zhou Wenwu would feel unsafe. However, with Fang Yuan back, he felt much safer.


    "Hmm!"


    Fang Yuan crossed his knees and sat down. He then waved his hand and said, "How is everything in Lieyang County?"


    He had about 10 days left before he had to go back to the sect. With the daily cultivations of body and soul, Fang Yuan''s [Martial Artist (8th Gate)] was much more stable than before. With the intake of the Yin, he had improved tremendously.


    Zhou Wenwu was affected the most by his improvement.


    To him, Fang Yuan was way more superior than the dead Elder Song!


    Upon hearing what Fang Yuan asked, he then answered immediately, "Ever since the news of the injured Five Ghosts Sect Sect Master spread, there was chaos everywhere in Lieyang County. Everyone in the Five Ghosts Sect were panicking and some of the disciples had decided to defect. Some of the elders stayed indoors while some went missing. Meanwhile, there were other forces getting ready to join in this mess¡­.."


    The situation was expected.


    Without the suppression of the Five Ghosts Sect, the sect was already considered well organised if the sect did not split.


    Also, there were loyal disciples who were still there, but there was a possibility that they might change their mindset as well.


    "Is there any movement made from the Spirit Returning Sect?"


    Logically speaking, Shi Yutong did not gain anything through this expedition and wouldn''t go back to the sect so easily before she gained anything.


    If there was the help of the mysterious spiritual knight, there would be a possibility of losing the two counties.


    "Under the leadership of Spirit Returning Sect Sect Master, Spirit Returning Sect controls Shaoyang City and two of the quarries in Lieyang County. After which, there is not much movement from them¡­.."


    Zhou Wenwu was really telling everything that he knew about the sect.


    "Really? It looks like the sect is confident in its preparation for its next move!"


    Fang Yuan nodded his head upon hearing what Zhou Wenwu said. However, it was not an easy task for the sect take over the whole of Lieyang County. "But the sect only controls the two quarries¡­..but this should be sufficient for the sect to show its power. Very well!"


    The more chaotic Lieyang County was, the more problematic it would become for the Spirit Returning Sect. However, to Fang Yuan, it would be more advantageous.


    "Also, the Spirit Returning Sect incurred a big loss this time and even the Second Elder Han Yan was also injured badly and was currently recovering back in the sect. The sect was also on a lookout for any good doctors to help in the recovery and Master, please be extra careful!"


    "One final thing¡­.."


    Zhou Wenwu hesitated for a while before he continued, "The sect secretly ordered for me to collect intelligence about you¡­..and it seemed like it was an order given by a series of Sect Masters!"


    "A series of Sect Masters¡­.if it was Shi Yutong, she wouldn''t be so secretive about it. That means a certain person is very interested in me now?"


    Fang Yuan stroked his chin and dismissed Zhou Wenwu. He then sighed and said, "Being too handsome is also a problem for me now¡­."


    Jokes aside, he could sort of guess that this order was initiated by Lin Leiyue but it had nothing to do with the possibility that both of them still had feelings for each other.


    Even if Fang Yuan had revealed a part of his ability, she would be very surprised by it and this would make her even more curious to find out more about Fang Yuan.


    Outsiders wouldn''t know how Fang Yuan was like in the past and would only know there was someone powerful in the secluded valley.


    However, Lin Leiyue knew the background of Fang Yuan.


    Since she knew Fang Yuan was also a normal person in the past, she would then be even more surprised with the improvements Fang Yuan had in his abilities and skills.


    Fang Yuan had expected this to happen but didn''t expect the other party to be so secretive in finding out more about himself. It seemed like Lin Leiyue was hiding a secret or something.


    "Never mind¡­..I shall think of a solution on the spot when the time comes. I should get back to farming! And this¡­.."


    Fang Yuan flipped his hands and an emerald green jade appeared.


    He looked at the golden textures on the piece of jade was mesmerised by it.


    ...¡­.


    Spring had arrived in March. Birds were flying and chirping everywhere.


    Winter had passed and the flowers were blooming. Fang Yuan came to the Vermilion Jade Rice farm specially during this time.


    Looking at the consolidated Emerald Grass, the farm hadn''t become a waste as the colour of the soil remained pure black and it was still in good condition.


    "This fertiliser¡­..has a beneficial effect on the farm!"


    Fang Yuan wore a thick clothing. He carried a hoe and started to cultivate the Vermillion Jade Rice.


    The seeds that were planted were chosen by him and were of high quality. The condition of the seeds remained well for a long period of time.


    "I think there is no need for further expansion of the spiritual farm. The current size of the farm is sufficient¡­.."


    Beside him, the Flower Fox Ferret and the Iron-tailed Black Eagle were also helping out in the farming.


    After a busy morning, Fang Yuan then made a pot of tea and enjoyed the tea with the other 2 spiritual beasts beside the spiritual farm.


    "All the spiritual tea leaves have been picked. The bamboos are growing fast. I have also just planted the seeds for the spiritual rice and with the spiritual fertiliser added, this year''s harvest should be a big one¡­."


    Fang Yuan couldn''t help but think of the Red-eyed White King Bird when he thought of the spiritual fertiliser.


    Even though he already had plans to raid the nest once more, but with the Yin Yang Jade in his hands currently, he decided to postpone that plan and prepare himself for further improvements.


    If he could break through the 4 Heavenly Gates, he would have no problem in dealing with the Red-eyed White King Bird.


    Also, with the current happenings around him, he was not thinking about expanding outwards.


    There were dark clouds everywhere in the afternoon and it looked like it was about to rain. It was also humid and this made it easier to fall asleep.


    Back in his home, Fang Yuan sat down and ordered the 2 spiritual beasts to keep a lookout outside. He looked at the emerald green jade and was mesmerised even further.


    There was a cool stream flowing down his fingers as he touched the piece of jade and this made him alert and not sleepy anymore.


    During this period of time, Fang Yuan had been searching for the secret of this piece of jade and now he had managed to learn something about this piece of jade.


    "The main criteria for being a spiritual knight was one''s magical energy¡­..Hence, one should start by improving the magical energy¡­..This piece of jade is indestructible and inner force cannot even destroy it. However¡­.."


    Fang Yuan took a copper basin and it contained a red liquid. The liquid gave off a fishy smell and it was actually blood.


    "This Blood Killer is so secretive in his movements. He is slightly evil and now even the things that he brought along with is also slightly evil in nature¡­.."


    He came to this conclusion about the piece of jade that the Blood Killer had hidden in his body after many rounds of unsuccessful experiments with it.


    "Ploop!"


    He was expressionless and he dropped the piece of jade into the basin.


    Fang Yuan then stared at the basin.


    Not long after, there was a change in the basin.


    The golden textures on the jade seemed to be moving about and absorbing the blood as the colour of the liquid started to turn gold. Finally, the colour was back to blood red.


    After a period of time, the emerald green piece of jade became red and the golden textures had become blood red in colour as well, which looked like the blood vessels of a person. The jade seemed evil.


    "Are all spiritual knights¡­..that evil in nature?"


    Fang Yuan then picked up the bloody jade and washed it with clean water.


    The bloody jade was fine and glossy. The red textures in it were slightly moving and that made it a special jade.


    "There is not much change!"


    Fang Yuan placed the jade under the sun and couldn''t find any handwriting or symbols. Even his inner force couldn''t be shipped into the piece of jade.


    He experimented for quite a while and then placed it on his forehead, in between his eyebrows while biting his teeth.


    The position he placed the jade was called Yintang in traditional Chinese medicine. That position was also called Mind Palace in the world of inner power. This was an important acupuncture point as this was where one''s essence, spirit and magic met. One who was highly skilled in medicine could decipher how strong a person is from his or her Yintang.


    In this world, there was also another name for it, called ''Heaven''s Eye''!


    This name originated from an old anecdote. The anecdote stated that in the past, there was an immortal person who had three eyes. After generations, the Heaven''s Eye closed gradually.


    Whether the anecdote was real or fake, Fang Yuan was not really bothered by it. However, with his magical energy being concentrated between his eyebrows, he could observe his surroundings and hide.


    "Pah!"


    The position where he placed the bloody jade gave off a cooling sensation.


    Fang Yuan concentrated his magical energy from the Mind Palace and started to explore the secrets of the bloody jade.


    "Bang!"


    A loud noise then came from his mind.


    There were no obstructions this time and his spiritual mind managed to reach into the jade.


    Fang Yuan felt as if he reached a chaotic space and there were numerous red handwriting appearing right in front of him. The handwritings were about a form of technique.


    "It''s the Blood Magic Technique; Focused Magic Returning Scroll!"


    At the start, a few of the handwritings were big in size, which made it very visible. The handwritings brought about a tense atmosphere and this caused Fang Yuan to be in shock.


    He continued on looking at the handwriting and realised that the Blood Magic Technique taught one on how to concentrate one''s magical energy and attained the level of a spiritual knight!


    However, it was not easy to attain it as the criteria required one to have magical energy that was beyond a normal human being. Furthermore, it was almost impossible for one to have such great amount of magical energy.


    Also, the training process was gory. One example would be the ''Blood Elemental Force''. One would have to concentrate 3 Yang and 7 Yin as a blood sacrifice. 10 sets of blood from 10 different people would be needed to build the foundations. The entire process was extremely cruel and the crueler the victims were treated, the higher the probability of success.


    Seeing this, Fang Yuan frowned.


    He knew that his character was not good in nature but if he were to execute this process, it would not do any good to his morals anyway.


    After a long while, Fang Yuan then placed the bloody jade down and his face was pale white. He then shook his head and said, "Blood Magic Technique is way too evil and cruel. The risks are too high¡­.."


    Even though this technique was very cruel, there were recordings at the back of the scroll which stated some tips used by different spiritual knights and disciples of different magical energy. The tips were also used along with other medicine and tools. The scroll also mentioned the formula on how to make the Crazy Blood Pill. This caused Fang Yuan to be interested in the scroll again.


    Without knowing it, he had almost exhausted his magical energy and knew the hardships of a spiritual knight.


    With his current level, he had already exhausted his elemental energy. Under normal circumstances, normal people would not have been able to discover the secrets of this jade, not to mention about using it for training.

 68 Flame Jade

    "Although I can''t learn the Blood Magic Technique, the description of the uses of magical energy is still useful, maybe I can learn from it..."


    After unveiling the secrets of the jadeite, he focused his energy on understanding the Blood Magic Technique.


    Based on his prediction and the inscriptions on the jadeite, Fang Yuan was sure that the Blood Magic Technique was not a widely circulated technique among the spiritual knight community; it was merely a technique for those who wanted to hastily improve their skill through other means possible.


    "In this Focused Magic Returning Scroll, there are only two steps. The first is to focus one''s Blood Elemental Force and become a spiritual disciple. The second step would be to break through and become a spiritual knight..."


    Thinking of the scroll''s description, Fang Yuan shook his head.


    Compared to the 12 Golden Gates, the cultivation method of the spiritual knights only consists of one step. If one did not have immense potential, it would be impossible.


    "As for the training methods of elemental force, some of it might be relevant for me..."


    Once a martial artist fused his Yin and Yang, and then through the Earth and Heaven, he would have formed elemental force.


    The Blood Magic Technique''s description of harnessing the elemental force was entirely relevant and could be followed to the tee.


    After all, Fang Yuan had enough magic, comparable to that of a spiritual disciple.


    The Blood Magic Technique was not something suitable for him, and if he wasn''t desperate enough, he wouldn''t try to learn it.


    "However, as for elemental force... It is something of a higher tier than inner force. It is sometimes called Heaven and Earth''s spiritual force, and its potential is immense and cannot be fathomed..."


    Fang Yuan had witnessed a battle between Wu Zongs and a spiritual disciple and was extremely looking forward to attaining a whole new level as what he saw.


    "Based on my potential, it should be possible for me to start gathering my elemental force!"


    This was the final conclusion he ended up with after reading about the Blood Magic Technique and based on his own martial arts experience.


    Although he could not adopt the training methods of the spiritual disciple wholesale, he could adapt it to his own training to expedite his progress.


    After all, the Eagle Claw Iron Skin Technique could only break through 12 Gates, but to break through Wu Zong it was impossible.


    In addition, the Spirit Returning Heart Manual that Fang Yuan had was also incomplete, and it was the important parts that were missing.


    He had to plan for his future.


    "Of course, I must not neglect my Meditative Tea Ceremony... especially the cultivation of the mind."


    The only useful power would be power that one could control. Fang Yuan did not want to lose control of his mind, especially when getting involved with this type of magic technique. Even though he was only adapting from it, he still had to take precautions.


    ...


    The next few days were devoted to understanding the Blood Magic Technique.


    This technique was a spiritual knight technique which required a deep understanding of it. Even though he was only adapting from it, he had to understand the entire technique, which led to him even sacrificing his sleep and meals, which showed the extent he devoted to understanding the technique. He had no further energy to find trouble for others.


    "The 12 Golden Gates is merely a process to harness elemental energy. For a martial artist with average potential, he would have to take it step by step. As for the spiritual knights who have higher potential, they would ultimately end up on the same path... In theory, if I focused my elemental energy, I could instantly become Wu Zong! What a pity... The 3 Yins and 7 Yangs sacrifice as described in the Blood Magic Technique is full of implications, and other problems may surface, I cannot practice it..."


    As he was farming he was mulling over this problem.


    "As of now I have accumulated enough Yin, and I just need to wait for the right moment to break through into the 9th Gate and become a martial artist of the 4 Heavenly Gates..."


    If this news spread, the entire Qinghe County would be in shock!


    After all, what was the whole concept of the 4 Heavenly Gates? Within the Spirit Returning Sect or the Five Ghosts Sect, he would be top 5! It was no longer the majority of the martial artists, but the pinnacle!


    If Secluded Mountain Prefecture knew about it, they would take Fang Yuan as the most talented young man in the martial arts world. Lin Huang or Lin Leiyue wouldn''t even be considered.


    Even as such, Fang Yuan didn''t care much.


    In his mind, he had a crazy plan.


    "What''s so great about breaking through the 9th Gate? 10th Gate, the Yang Gate, and 11th Gate the Earth Gate are all actually pathways to harness the elemental force, or should I say, the seeds to elemental force! Although I have no intention to learn the Blood Magic Technique, with the assistance of the Yin Yang Jade to fuse my Yin and Yang, it would be possible to obtain elemental force and attain the next level, the Earth Gate!"


    Fang Yuan''s eyes was filled with passion.


    To focus his elemental energy and break through Wu Zong was too large a step. Furthermore, he had little information and fully based his assumptions on what was written on the Blood Magic Technique manual, and he wasn''t convinced.


    It would be different at the Earth Gate!


    This Gate required the fusion of Yin and Yang to produce the seeds of elemental force. This would fulfil a large requirement to break through the Earth Gate.


    With the Yin Yang Jade, he had enough knowledge of the Yin and Yang.


    The most important was that he had the guidance of the Blood Magic Technique, and had no qualms about focusing his elemental force, so what considerations would he have in harnessing the seeds of the elemental force?


    "If the plan works, I can break both the 10th Gate and the Earth Gate one after another!"


    "If my guess is correct, the breaking through of the Heaven Gate is actually breaking through the control of Mind Palace! One''s magical energy would be surge, and when a martial artist reaches this stage, even if he loses focus he would recover in no time. He would have the chance to break through to Wu Zong and have the chance to harness elemental force... This is no problem to me!"


    Fang Yuan heaved a long sigh.


    To him, understanding the 12 Golden Gates were as simple as flipping his palm to look at his fingerprints, and he had no other doubts.


    "Eh?"


    He was stunned for a moment and looked at the farm.


    After a downpour, the Vermilion Jade Rice seedlings began to sprout furiously in neat rows.


    There was a particular patch which seemed empty, and it was as though the spiritual plants were dead.


    Not just the Vermilion Jade Rice, but even the Emerald Grass had signs of withering.


    "Could it be..."


    Fang Yuan wasn''t disappointed; instead, he was rather excited about it as he rushed forward to examine it up close.


    Indeed, in the middle of the barren patch were flame-like seedlings standing out, extremely eye-catching.


    Fang Yuan examined it further and realised that it was shorter than the average seedling. It was a deep orange, with a streak of gold in the middle. The colour was extremely vibrant, like a flame.


    Comparing the Vermilion Jade Rice to it would be like comparing the eyeball of a fish to a pearl. They were of a totally different level.


    "Haha..."


    Fang Yuan smiled as he saw the seedlings before him, and not long later, he could no longer contain his laughter and started to burst out laughing.


    "Indeed... It''s a spiritual plant evolving a special trait! Level up!"


    The Vermilion Jade Rice was a spiritual plant to begin with, and what entails after evolving the second time? Fang Yuan looked forward to it.


    After all, this was still spiritual rice!


    It was different from the bamboo fruit and other spiritual medicine. This was milder in magical energy and could be produced in masses and consumed daily!


    This would be a priceless treasure for those big sects!


    "Hmm, this seedling evolved from the Vermilion Jade Rice and is even better than it, I shall name it ''Flame Jade Rice''!"


    After a long period of examination, Fang Yuan stood up, swept the dirt away and looked around at the withered plants, looking helpless. "After evolving, the spiritual plant would steal the elemental energy from its surroundings. Both the Vermilion Jade Rice and Emerald Grass failed to survive..."


    His thoughts linked to the bamboo fruit that he was holding in his hands all along.


    It would not grow if it was planted here. Ultimately, the Flame Jade Rice was just a little better than the Vermilion Jade Rice.


    What made Fang Yuan speechless was the fact that only one of the many evolved!


    How many grains would there be? And how many batches did he plant already?


    He might not even be able to harvest a bowl of Flame Jade Rice! Therefore, the priority now was for him to focus his efforts to let it grow, replant all the harvest and after a few seasons, only then would he start to consume it.


    "Ultimately, it would be a gain, just that the starting would be a little troublesome..."


    Fang Yuan bit his teeth and looked around. "Hmm... Given the surroundings of the secluded valley, it is impossible to plant the Flame Jade Rice in large scales!"


    Unknowingly, he looked towards the mountainous ridges of the Clear Spirit Mountain.


    ....


    "I want to meditate and break through gates, I wouldn''t be too worried if both you are guarding the secluded valley!"


    After a good meal of Vermilion Jade Rice, Fang Yuan called to the Flower Fox Ferret and the Iron-tailed Black Eagle. "There is one thing you two should take note. Do not harm the spiritual bamboo, spiritual tea, spiritual rice, and especially the Flame Jade Rice! Remember, if you want to have a taste of it in the future, you need to listen to me!"


    It was rare that he was fierce to the two spiritual beasts.


    The two spiritual beasts were not stupid and knew that they should not jeopardise their long-term benefits just for short-term satisfaction.


    Fang Yuan closed the curtains and cleared his mind.


    This was the state of mind that he achieved through years of cultivation under the Meditative Tea Ceremony. Within seconds, all cluttered thoughts were cleared and peace was restored in his mind.


    After these few months of cultivation and training, he knew that his foundation was stable. Although he felt nothing, he knew that the previous time he ate the spiritual bamboo, his elemental energy had improved.


    At the 8th Gate, his abdomen was filled with Yin, and this was the perfect opportunity to break through!


    Fang Yuan sat down as he tried to feel for the spiritual feeling. Within his body, the Yin energy swirled within him, as it began to fuse with his inner force. They were now a single entity.


    ...


    Unknowingly, it was daybreak and the sunlight peered through his curtains.


    "Kacha!"


    Fang Yuan, who was sitting down on the ground, let out a long sigh.


    "Whiz!"


    A white flash as agile as an arrow shot out, and all around him, he felt cold, which lowered the temperature in the entire room.


    "After fusing my Yin, would there be any changes to my stats window?"


    Fang Yuan mumbled to himself, stood up, and felt newfound strength within him as he nodded his head. "The 9th Gate, completed!"

 69 Elder Han

    "How far is Qingye City from here?"


    Along the old pathway, there were a few carriages moving. Suddenly, a pale hand stretched out and opened the curtains, which revealed a pair of eyes.


    The hand was so pale that it looked as if it had lost a great amount of blood. The blood vessels along the arm were also visible.


    The person whose hand was pale had a strange voice. His old raspy voice had a slight hint of youthful vigour in it. He was already panting after saying a few words, which clearly suggested that he was easily short of breath.


    "Elder Han please hold on, we will be there in a few hours time!"


    The person who was at the helm of the carriage was Lu Zhisen, who went to the secluded valley to seek medical attention previously.


    The only difference was that now he was being polite and respectful instead of his usual recklessness.


    "Hurhur¡­.that''s good¡­.after all, we have Lin Leiyue with us on this trip. Once we reached back home, you should have a big reunion with Minister Lin¡­.."


    Elder Han looked middle-aged. His lips were red and his teeth were white. He had a beautifully shaped pair of eyes. With his pale cheeks, his facial features were handsome in a feminine way. This effeminate side of him was accentuated whenever he covered his mouth when he coughed gently. Even Lu Zhisen was disgusted by this.


    However, no matter how courageous he was, he wouldn''t dare to do anything to Elder Han who had attained the 4 Heavenly Gates in the Spirit Returning Sect.


    "Elder Han, you are being too polite!"


    Lin Leiyue was riding on a red date coloured horse previously and galloped forward respectfully after hearing what Elder Han said.


    In the sect, she was the junior of both Elder Yan and Elder Han. After all, to an expert in 4 Heavenly Gates, even the direct disciple of the sect head was not on the same level unless the disciple had very exceptional abilities.


    "Cough¡­.no harm¡­..hurhur¡­.."


    Elder Han wanted to say something but his expression changed. He then started coughing and covered his mouth with a piece of white handkerchief.


    After which, he saw blood on the handkerchief.


    "Elder Han¡­.."


    Lin Leiyue got anxious and said, "Have your injuries worsened?"


    "Hurhur¡­.hurhur¡­.I won''t die don''t worry¡­.."


    Elder Han waved his hands and replied proudly. "Hehe¡­.the vice head of the Five Ghosts Sect''s Soul Searching Hand was indeed powerful. Unfortunately for him, I was still more superior and managed to kill him. If the vice sect head was slightly more powerful, I would probably not be able to survive. Even if I managed to survive, I would probably be a vegetarian from then onwards¡­.."


    Even though he sounded defeated, Lin Leiyue still respected him.


    After all, Elder Han got hold of his position as an elder in the sect 50 years ago and definitely had a vast experience in martial arts. Even though he was older than Lady Yan, he was still able to defeat many good young martial artists. Everybody in the Qinghe County would be afraid when they heard his name.


    He was in such a state because he was ambushed by the Five Ghosts Sect.


    "Please don''t worry, Elder Han. This doctor in the secluded valley is highly skilled and can cure many illnesses. He was also the one who cured Elder Zhao previously!"


    Lu Zhisen said, "You are highly skilled and with the help of the doctor, you should be able to recover in no time!"


    "Haha¡­.thanks for your well wishes!"


    Elder Han smiled but his deep expression showed that he seemed to be thinking of something else.


    Lin Leiyue didn''t seem to notice his expression and pondered over her thoughts silently. "Even though Elder Han had managed to defeat the vice sect head, one other person still managed to escape and this would mean serious trouble for the sect. Plus, with both Elder Yan and Elder Han being injured right now, the attacking power of the sect would be less¡­..Both elders had not recovered from their injuries and the doctors in the sect had no solutions to help them. This doctor in the secluded valley would be our final hope then¡­.."


    As compared to Elder Han''s injuries, Lady Yan''s injuries were worse when she was fighting against a few experts.


    However, Song Zhong was part of her faction previously, but he was killed by Fang Yuan¡­..


    Not to mention anything about grudges but she would mind.


    Even if Fang Yuan was willing to treat her, she would probably not trust Fang Yuan fully and she would think that Fang Yuan would do something harmful to her.


    After all, if a doctor wanted a person to die without being identified as the murderer, the doctor would have many ways to do it.


    In fact, Shi Yutong actually had another choice which was to seek medical attention from the alchemy master who had previously helped Lin Leiyue.


    However, the alchemy master was a carefree person and isolated himself from the outside world. Plus the alchemy master had other commitments and why would the alchemy master accept a request made by the Spirit Returning Sect?


    Previously, the alchemy master owed Shi Yutong a favour which was why he agreed to help Lin Leiyue. Since now the favour had been returned, it would be harder to ask the alchemy master for help.


    "Elder Han, this doctor has a weird attitude and he set many rules¡­."


    The memories of him being scolded by the doctor were still vivid in his mind. Lu Zhisen touched his head and remarked.


    "Don''t worry, I do understand. After all, I''m the one that require his help now¡­."


    Elder Han smiled and looked at Lin Leiyue. "Lin Leiyue, I heard you were once engaged to this doctor and you even went to Shaoyang City?"


    Upon hearing this, Lin Leiyue blushed. "Yes, you are correct!"


    "That is unfortunate¡­."


    Elder Han closed his eyes and didn''t know who should he feel unfortunate for, Lin Leiyue or Fang Yuan.


    ''This person is mysterious. The head of the sect had instructed to keep Fang Yuan for the sect''s use¡­.at least not to let him go to the enemy''s side¡­.and also to find out the secret behind his fast advancement in his skills¡­..''


    He then returned to his previously relaxed posture and gazed out at Qingye City in hopelessness.


    ...¡­..


    Back in the secluded valley.


    "Hoo¡­..Haa¡­.."


    Fang Yuan was half naked and was regulating his breathing.


    "Chirp! Chirp!"


    Iron-tailed Black Eagle flew down from above. Its claws were like hooks and with its fast speed, it was indeed a powerful eagle.


    "Keke!"


    On the ground, a white light flashed past very quickly.


    "You came just in time!"


    With the attacks from air and land by the 2 spiritual beasts, a normal expert in 4 Heavenly Gates would also be confused.


    However, Fang Yuan couldn''t wait to take action when he saw this.


    "Iron Skin Technique!"


    He breathed in and could feel the energy surging. He then stepped his right leg out and the ground beside his leg split.


    "Piak!"


    The clothing on his leg immediately broke into pieces and it revealed his muscular legs and tightened skin. He was not injured at all.


    "Hissss..."


    The Flower Fox Ferret retreated and looked as if it had incurred a big loss.


    "Hoo! Hoo!"


    Just when it had just retreated by a few steps, a strong wind came and a giant eagle''s claws came pouncing down.


    "Haha¡­.."


    Fang Yuan laughed and lifted his right hand with his left hand at the bottom. This formed an eagle''s claw shape and he aimed it at the sky.


    "Chirp! Chirp!"


    When the giant eagle''s claws came, Fang Yuan''s eyes glittered and grabbed with both his hands. "You better come down now!"


    "Swish! Swish!"


    Fang Yuan''s attack was strong and swift. Both of his hands managed to grab hold of the giant eagle''s claws and he lifted the claws fiercely.


    "Bang!"


    The Iron-tailed Black Eagle then fell to the ground forcefully.


    With such strong impact, the Iron-tailed Black Eagle couldn''t hold any longer even though it had tough bones. It let out a cry to admit defeat.


    "Keke!"


    The Flower Fox Ferret immediately raised both of its claws to admit defeat.


    "Fine, I shall stop¡­...I was just warming up actually¡­.."


    Fang Yuan stopped and saw both the Flower Fox Ferret and the Iron-tailed Black Eagle were trembling. They were obviously injured by Fang Yuan''s inner force. Fang Yuan then went forward and treat them.


    ''The inner force of an expert in 4 Heavenly Gates changes and is different from a normal inner force. Such inner force can defeat a low skilled martial artist easily¡­.Of course, no matter what changes there are, elemental force is way superior compared to inner force and both types of forces are of different levels¡­..''


    Fang Yuan gradually understood how it felt to be a [Martial Artist (9th Gate)].


    Through his tough training, his skills had surpassed the two spiritual beasts and that meant a lot to him.


    At least, the spiritual beasts which were previously living in the forests knew the concept of ''the weak losing out to the stronger ones''. They might become friends with humans but having a weakling to become their master was unacceptable!


    The first step to tame a spiritual beast was to show one''s dominance over it!


    Similarly, in this case, Fang Yuan felt that the way the Iron-tailed Black Eagle looked at him was different now. The Iron-tailed Black Eagle was less proud now.


    "With my current skills and the 2 spiritual beasts, dealing with the Red-eyed White King Bird shouldn''t be a big problem for me now¡­."


    Upon reaching this conclusion, Fang Yuan was slightly hesitant instead.


    Even though he already had plans to take over the Green Peak, the Red-eyed White King Bird could, after all, fly. If he missed his shot and caused it to escape elsewhere, wouldn''t he have to fear of it coming back in future?


    "It is better for me to break through the 11th Gate first before moving on to take over the Green Peak!"


    Fang Yuan wavered and looked at his stats window:


    "Name: Fang Yuan


    Essence: 5.9


    Spirit: 5.8


    Magic: 3.5


    Age: 19


    Cultivation: [Martial Artists (9th Gate)]


    Technique: [Black Sand Palm (Grade 5)], [Eagle Claw Iron Skin Technique (Grade 9)] (with the addition of Yin''s inner force)


    Skill: [Medicine (Level 3)], [Botany (Level 3)]"


    "The 4 Heavenly Gates, which was after the Death Gate, did actually help to improve my magic!"


    Even though this was not the first time he saw his magic increase by a little, he felt happy still when he saw the increase.


    From his conjecture, he had realised that attaining the 12 Golden Gates was similar to becoming a spiritual knight. This would allow a normal human being to become powerful.


    As such, the process not only helped to condition one''s body and also improve one''s magic.


    However, he didn''t expect this feature to only appear when approaching the 4 Heavenly Gates.


    "With such big magnitude, it would still be difficult to attain the standard of a spiritual knight even if one was able to break through the Heaven Gate¡­.."


    This was the reason why there were many martial artists who were of [Martial Artist (12th Gate)] but there was no one in Wu Zong.


    The Heaven Gate was difficult to break through! Attaining Wu Zong was even tougher!

 70 Xuan Yin

    After many days.


    Fang Yuan was seated on an emerald rock and was frowning, as though he had doubts.


    "After the 9th Gate, the next step is to harness the Yin to break the Yang Gate. But in order to fuse the Yin and Yang to form the elemental force while breaking through the Gate, I will need some help..."


    Although Fang Yuan had the spiritual knight''s Blood Magic Technique, it was ultimately different from true martial arts.


    The highest Gate he could attain through the Eagle Claw Iron Skin Technique was the 12th Gate. There was no chance of him breaking through Wu Zong, and realizing the true elemental force.


    The only chance Fang Yuan had was through the Spirit Returning Heart Manual, which was incomplete. He felt that it was such a pity.


    "The Spirit Returning Heart Manual is passed down by word, so must I really kidnap a Spirit Returning Sect disciple or elder to question him?"


    He had a wild thought but dismissed it quickly.


    "Chirp! Chirp!"


    At this moment, there was a strong gust of wind as the Iron-tailed Black Eagle landed on the ground, chirping at Fang Yuan.


    "Oh? Is someone arriving?"


    Fang Yuan waved and sat down.


    "Gong Gong!"


    "Clang Clang!"


    The sound of deafening gongs was heard from a distance and it drew nearer and nearer to the secluded valley.


    "Another one who is giving me more experience...!"


    Fang Yuan took a quick glance at his experience bar, and [Medicine] was filled up to a large extent and was almost equal to that of [Botany]. He laughed, stood up and walked out of the valley.


    "Someone from the Spirit Returning Sect?"


    In the pavilion, a crowd was waiting patiently and followed the rules. The one in front was his acquaintance, Lu Zhisen.


    "The doctor has arrived!"


    The usually rash Lu Zhisen became excited and greeted Fang Yuan the moment he saw him.


    "Oh, it''s Elder Lu. Who''s injured this time?"


    Fang Yuan was direct, but none of the Spirit Returning Sect''s disciples took it to heart. After all, a doctor who could make miracles would be rather different from other normal doctors.


    "Cough cough... it''s me!"


    The disciples made way and revealed an Elder Han in a wheelchair.


    "I am injured and cannot properly offer you a greeting, please don''t take it to heart!"


    Elder Han clenched his fist and greeted Fang Yuan. He appeared humble, which surprised Elder Lu and the other sect disciples.


    Lin Leiyue was not here. When they returned to Qingye City, she immediately returned to her home. Even though she made the excuse up, it was clear why she didn''t come along with the rest.


    "A doctor should have care like parents, why would I blame you!"


    Fang Yuan intentionally deepened his voice and noticed Elder Han twitched his eyebrows as he laughed. It seemed that he agreed with Fang Yuan, but deep down knew that he was scheming and might not be that easy to deal with.


    "Please!"


    After he brought the patient into the Straw Pavilion, he felt his pulse. "Elder Han had sustained an internal injury for quite a while now, this is hard..."


    At the same time, he felt emotional, for he had seen every elder, including the Sect Master of the Spirit Returning Sect.


    "Doctor, you are indeed impressive. This injury was from the Five Ghosts Sect assistant Sect Master! Cough Cough..."


    Elder Han explained, and Lu Zhisen revealed a delicate box.


    "I''ve heard of your rule, and have no intention of breaking it. I present to you the Xuan Yin Heart Technique Manual, and hope you will accept it..."


    Elder Han continued. "This heart manual came from the Five Ghosts Sect and can be cultivated up till the realm of Wu Zong without any problem. Furthermore, this is a complete copy of the manual. I''ve heard that you rendered assistance to Lin Leiyue at Shaoyang City, and I shall thank you for that. Please accept this manual as a form of my gratitude... Regardless if I will recover in the future, I shall send more gifts, which will surely satisfy you!"


    "Xuan Yin Heart Technique? The Five Ghost Sect''s true magical technique?"


    Fang Yuan was surprised and received the box. As he opened it, he saw a black scroll within, filled with tiny words describing the 12 Golden Gates as well as Wu Zong. Based on his current experience he could only understand the first few lines and knew that this was the real deal.


    "This present... is worth too much!"


    He closed the wooden box and had a serious tone. "Elder Han, are you sure you are willing to give this technique manual to me? Won''t there be implications? Furthermore, I know that any manual with the sect''s special technique that is able to break through to Wu Zong would surely be incomplete, and had to be filled up by the word of mouth and cannot be written down, am I right?


    What was a sect''s special technique?


    This meant that if Fang Yuan was willing, he could base solely on this technique to start his own sect!


    This kind of sect foundation was akin to a magical weapon, so how could one give it up so easily?


    "Doctor Fang is indeed wise!"


    Hearing how Fang Yuan understood the crux, Elder Han''s eyes glittered. "This technique was stolen by myself, and since the Five Ghost Sect is almost destroyed now, you can accept this gift without any worry for no one will find trouble with you... And as for the incomplete manual, I have already filled it up personally, and you can try it out to see for yourself, it would be fine..."


    "Filled up?"


    Fang Yuan frowned.


    "That''s right... I only had to capture a few disciples of the Five Ghosts Sect to obtain the remaining information, nothing too difficult..."


    Elder Han laughed while Fang Yuan remained silent.


    After capturing these people, there was no need for torture. They would automatically sell out their sect to ensure their own safety and preserve their own life.


    ''This came at such a good time...''


    After all, he was looking for a technique that could attain Wu Zong. Never would he have dreamt that someone would deliver it to him. What a blessing!


    Furthermore, Elder Han was an extremely suitable patient for him to test his skills on!


    After fusing the Yin and Yang, seeds of the elemental force would develop to break through the Earth Gate. This was Elder Han, a [Martial Artist (11th Gate)]. But now, he had no strength and had to succumb under Fang Yuan''s hands; what a scene!


    ''A martial artist of Earth Gate would have already harnessed elemental energy, and by observing this person''s blood circulation and inner force, I can test my hypothesis further!''


    Fang Yuan felt warm, and his glare made Elder Han feel uncomfortable for a moment.


    "Please leave, I will start now..."


    Fang Yuan retrieved his golden needles, told Lu Zhisen in a serious tone.


    "Oh! Very well!"


    Even though he wanted to watch Fang Yuan, he wasn''t a fool and politely left the Straw Pavilion. He even closed the door after him, but no one really knew what he was thinking about.


    "I will use my Golden Needle Acupoint Piercing Technique. If you feel any pain, do not use your elemental force to counter it, just relax and let nature take its course!"


    Fang Yuan spun around and was uncertain. Even though Elder Han was powerful, he was powerless here. "I''m afraid that in your current state, even if you wanted to move you wouldn''t be able to..."


    "Very well!"


    Fang Yuan''s hands worked extremely fast, and 2 golden needles made their way towards Elder Han''s forehead.


    "Eh?!"


    Elder Han''s face twitched, remained motionless and fainted.


    "Ping!"


    His body fell to the ground. Fang Yuan first observed his palms as he appeared light-hearted. "You may seem to trust me completely, but you took precautions against me... Of course, it may be your habit as you roam the martial arts world for the many years, but I''ll let you know that your precautions were right..."


    With such a good test subject in front of him, why would he not take full advantage of it?


    Since he decided to make use of him, keeping him awake would be troublesome, so why not just make him faint?


    "This is the rights of a doctor. Whatever I do is for your own good!"


    Fang Yuan looked at the defenceless Elder Han, and his smile grew...


    ...


    "Creak!"


    After a while.


    The door to the hut opened and revealed a somewhat exhausted Fang Yuan.


    "Doctor, how is Elder Han?"


    An anxious Lu Zhisen came over.


    "It was fortunate!"


    Fang Yuan wiped his fake sweat and smiled. "Bring him home first. After 7 days, return here for me to perform my acupoint piercing once again. Coupled with medicinal herbs, he should recover fully in half a year..."


    Illness and injury might come in an instant, but recovering would take very much longer. Lu Zhisen understood that.


    Thinking about how the people within the sect were all helpless when facing Elder Han, Elder Lu gained even more respect for Fang Yuan. He bowed, came into the hut and saw Elder Han lying there with a weak breath. His face had more life now, and Lu Zhisen was glad. "Thank you, doctor! I will return after 7 days!"


    He then ordered the disciples of the Spirit Returning Sect to put down all their gifts and brought Elder Han back.


    Fang Yuan sent them off, and only after they have disappeared from sight, Fang Yuan revealed a sinister smile.


    It was true that Elder Han''s injury was hard to treat. If he did use his true [Medicine] skills, it would only take him half a month to save him. However, he wanted to delay his recovery so that he could use him more often as a test subject.


    "Furthermore... This person has his guard up against me!"


    What Elder Han did previously had worried Fang Yuan a little.


    After all, he was the Spirit Returning Sect''s Elder, who commanded a high position within the sect. His attitude would be equivalent to the Spirit Returning Sect''s attitude, and so Fang Yuan could guess what the sect''s impression of him was.


    "This was reasonable though..."


    Fang Yuan thought about this. If he was the sect and an uncontrollable factor appeared, he would be likely to react the same way as the sect.


    The sect only had the intention to test him for now, and might even want to have him as an ally, but as for the future, no one knew.


    "The good thing is that I have gained so much this time, therefore my prediction could be true!"


    Thinking about his own little experiment, Fang Yuan clenched his fist in excitement.


    Elder Han even volunteered himself as a test subject, which was of a great help to Fang Yuan.


    After all, he could conclude that it was indeed possible to directly harness the seeds of elemental force. This was even more so after obtaining the Xuan Yin Heart Technique; it was as though the last piece of the puzzle appeared.


    "Hmm, even Shi Yutong wouldn''t have guessed that I only cared about how to breakthrough to Wu Zong, and not any other secret martial arts manuals. With the Blood Magic Technique as a reference, any wrongly filled up information would not be able to escape my eyes... Of course, I will have to take precautions against this Elder Han too!"


    After thinking, Fang Yuan returned to the secluded valley, changed to a new set of clothes, ordered the Flower Fox Ferret to look after the house, and started to chase and follow the Spirit Returning Sect party.

 71 True Intentions

    It was a peaceful night in Qingye City.


    Lin family''s mansion was located in the central of the city. After the incident of Song Zhong and the collapse of Zhou family, Lin Benchu and Lin Dayuan were successful and managed to hold a strong image for the family. They even redecorated their entrance door and added a pair of green lion statues right outside the door.


    Fang Yuan was familiar with this place. Back when he was a child, he visited this place before with Master Wenxin.


    At this point, Elder Han and a few disciples from the Spirit Returning Sect were seeking shelter here as well.


    Fang Yuan waited till the right time before he changed into his night combat outfit. He then snuck into the Lin family''s mansion and ignored the guards and the disciples from the Spirit Returning Sect.


    Even though it was late into the night, a few rooms were still lit.


    Fang Yuan randomly glanced at his surroundings and snuck into Minister Lin''s study room.


    "Hoo! Hoo!"


    He jumped softly and reached the roof. He then lifted one of the green tiles from the roof and looked inside the room.


    Minister Lin was rich all of a sudden. Although his study room was messy and the books were piled up at a corner, there were many expensive decorations and antiques placed around the room.


    Also, there was another person standing right in front of Elder Lin.


    "Lin Leiyue! She is here also?"


    Fang Yuan wavered slightly.


    Of course, he was a [Martial Artist (9th Gate)] and both the father and the daughter didn''t notice him yet.


    "What? You haven''t make a breakthrough?"


    Minister Lin listened to what his daughter said and he gave a worried face.


    Even though he became rich overnight, he knew that if his daughter still did not manage to make a breakthrough in time, her position in the Spirit Returning Sect would not be stable.


    She was representing the Lin family, and if she did lose her position, the consequences would be dire.


    "Don''t worry daughter¡­.what exactly happened? With your talents¡­.with your talents¡­.."


    Minister Lin wanted to add on but he knew nothing about the concept of her being a spiritual being. He could only keep walking around and then he waved his hand. "If you need anything, you can just tell me!"


    Even though Minister Lin clearly understood that even with the help from the Spirit Returning Sect and Shi Yutong, Lin Leiyue was not able to make a breakthrough, what could he do about it if the Lin family became bankrupt from this in the end? However, he felt that he shouldn''t mention this now and he gave a ferocious look.


    "Father¡­.there is no use¡­."


    Lin Leiyue looked down at her dress and sighed.


    "You¡­..sigh¡­.."


    Minister Lin pitied his daughter and said, "You do know that Fang Yuan has just become an expert in inner force and he is well known in Qingye City. The Zhou and Zhang families now are taking orders from him¡­.."


    Their disengagement was not a secret.


    Obviously, it was like a tight slap in the face for the Lin family as Fang Yuan now managed to improve tremendously and become more well known.


    Also, this happened when Lin Leiyue was still alive.


    If she was dead or she was trapped in one of the gates for too long, Shi Yutong might lose confidence in her and by then, there would be no bright future for the Lin family.


    If one managed to reach a very high level but fell from it, in the end, it would be a very big problem.


    "Sigh¡­.."


    Minister Lin sighed and said, "If we had known this would happen, we should not have even¡­."


    "What was supposed to happen has already happened. You should say no more, Father!"


    Minister Lin didn''t expect Lin Leiyue''s reaction to be this big after he said his sentence.


    "Leiyue¡­..is it that you¡­.."


    Minister Lin was surprised and seemed to have thought of something. He then shook his head and left the room silently.


    Now, Lin Leiyue was the only person left in the room.


    "Fang Yuan¡­..Fang Yuan¡­.."


    From the silence, Fang Yuan could hear a whisper from Lin Leiyue. She then sighed emotionally.


    "..."


    Fang Yuan unintentionally heard her secret and left after covering the tile back.


    With Lin Leiyue''s talents, it was indeed strange for her to be stuck at the Pain Gate for so long.


    Only now then he realised he was one of the reasons why she had failed to break through.


    "No wonder you came to inquire about me previously¡­."


    Fang Yuan wasn''t that narcissistic to a level that he would think Lin Leiyue still had feelings for him. Now, he could make a guess easily. "Was it because of her evil side? I didn''t expect that I would affect her that much!"


    During training, when one meets his or her evil side, there were only two solutions to this problem.


    One could forcefully deal and remove her evil side, or one could¡­..


    Upon thinking about the other solution, Fang Yuan was speechless and had a wonderful feeling about such happenings.


    "Could this be her punishment to herself? Then this will be none of my business already..."


    With his character, the opponent would not be able to deal with him in any way.


    Fang Yuan could conclude that with his tremendous improvement, he would surpass Lin Leiyue and even Shi Yutong. This would also mean that Lin Leiyue would feel guilty of herself for her entire life for not being able to make that breakthrough.


    Such punishment was crueler than taking her life away.


    .....


    Fang Yuan couldn''t be bothered with what Lin Leiyue was feeling right now.


    From the start, he was already not concerned with her matters and he could easily not be bothered by her. He then continued to search for Elder Han.


    ''From my acupuncture, he should have just woken up!''


    Fang Yuan waited silently and suddenly heard a laughter from the courtyard below him. He then knew he located Elder Han and sneaked there.


    "With my skills now, there will be a chance of me being discovered only when Elder Han fully recovers!"


    Fang Yuan bypassed a few whispers and came to a room. He then concentrated his magical energy between his eyebrows and focused it outwards.


    He had learnt this trick from the scroll in the Blood Magic Technique. After he executed this trick, he could see clearly what was inside the room. The furniture were placed nicely in the room and there was an old man lying down on the bed. The old man got up fiercely and spat out a mouthful of blood.


    "Elder Han!"


    A person came in anxiously and Fang Yuan could recognise that the person was Lu Zhisen.


    "It is nothing¡­...I''m okay!"


    Elder Han coughed out another mouthful of blood but he then felt better. "I''m hungry. Can I have a bowl of ginseng porridge¡­."


    "Coming up!"


    Lu Zhisen replied happily and asked, "You are better now, Elder Han?"


    "I have recovered partially. This doctor Fang is indeed powerful. As compared to him, all the doctors back in our sect are useless!"


    One could see that Elder Han''s resentment for the doctors back in the sect was big. Elder Han then observed his surroundings and asked, "Are we back in the Lin family''s mansion?"


    "Yes, you have been asleep from the acupuncture till now. The doctor has prescribed you with medicine and reminded you to take a good rest. We will then go back to him after 7 days!"


    "Hmm!"


    Elder Han acknowledged and swallowed a spoonful of the porridge. He suddenly said, "Guan Feng, keep a lookout outside. I will need to speak to Elder Lu!"


    "Yes, Elder Han!"


    A voice from the outside acknowledged Elder Han''s order and a few of the disciples from the Spirit Returning Sect then came to patrol the surroundings.


    As such, to spy on them, one would either have to go head-on with the guards or find a way to sneak in.


    Fang Yuan laughed and moved further away from the room. However, with the concentration of his magical energy, he was still able to hear the conversation inside the room clearly.


    "With Guan Feng guarding outside, I feel much safer to speak to you¡­."


    Elder Han nodded and his expression suddenly became gloomy. "How is Fang Yuan''s¡­..skills? You have duelled with him before so you should know?"


    Lu Zhisen was surprised by Elder Han''s question and replied, "He is [Martial Artist (7th Gate)] and has not broken through the 4 Heavenly Gates¡­..I am ashamed that I couldn''t survive through a few of his moves!"


    "Hehe¡­. I see, a [Martial Artist (7th Gate)]. He is well known in Qinghe County but with what I have seen now¡­..Fang Yuan has not revealed his full power yet¡­.."


    Elder Han laughed and imagined a scene which Fang Yuan was charging right at him.


    In fact, he had no intention to repel his attacks as he knew that he was injured badly and if Fang Yuan really had intentions to kill him, he would not be able to repel Fang Yuan''s attack.


    However, Fang Yuan had a secret technique and if he executed it, his skills would be on par with a [Martial Artist (8th Gate)]! This would be his true power.


    "Did you just mention¡­..the Death¡­.the Death Gate? That¡­.is impossible. He is still so young! This is only possible if he had started training while he was in his mother''s womb..."


    Lu Zhisen''s voice was trembling, which clearly showed that he was surprised by Fang Yuan''s achievements.


    He spoke halfway and realised that according to what the Lin family had learnt, Fang Yuan had only trained martial arts for a year!


    "Do you understand my point? Even if the Lin family''s intel on Fang Yuan was wrong, he must be extremely talented to achieve such level even if he had started training since young¡­..If the sect head was not busy, she would have taken this matter into her own hands¡­.."


    Elder Han closed his eyes and said, "You have known enough about him for now. I have duelled with him previously and I shall tell you more after I have recovered!"


    "Yes, Elder Han!"


    Lu Zhisen acknowledged and was worried.


    "Haha¡­.you thought I had done something funny to the Xuan Yin Heart Technique?"


    Elder Han seemed to have seen through him and laughed. "I will still need his help to recover from my injuries. How could I do such thing and betray him at this point in time? What I gave him was indeed the original one!"


    However, Elder Han did not mention that even though the technique he gave was original, through Shi Yutong''s authentication, when this technique was trained to a high level, there would be side effects. The side effects include a change in personality and the condition of the body and many more.


    Such changes were gradual and would not be discovered if one did not train the technique to a high level.


    But if one were to do so, it would be impossible to revert.


    ''Lin Leiyue is the next successor to the throne of the sect head. Fang Yuan can be persuaded to join their side and in future, it will be sufficient to just reward him. How will he then be able to improve further and become a threat to the new successor?''


    ''Furthermore¡­...the presence of Fang Yuan is just a big obstacle to Lin Leiyue. Lin Leiyue still haven''t realised that I have been advised by the sect head before about this¡­..''


    ''After my recovery, I shall help to solve Lin Leiyue''s problems!''


    ''As for Fang Yuan, I will need to know all his secrets and if I am successful, maybe I can reward him and have him by my side. If I am not¡­...hehe¡­..''


    ...


    Under the flame, Lu Zhisen saw Elder Han''s dull face darken. He instantly felt a cold stream rush down his spine and he shuddered.

 72 Love Birds

    "Anything can happen, and no one can guess what others are thinking..."


    With his robes fluttering, Fang Yuan ran out of the Lin Mansion and heaved a long sigh.


    Even though he did not listen to Elder Han''s entire plan, but from his tone and attitude, it seemed that the Spirit Returning Sect was guarding against Fang Yuan, and was trying to restrict his movements.


    Of course, Fang Yuan had already guessed this. Furthermore, he was already suspicious of Elder Han, and as of now, it seemed like a challenge as to whose plan would be the better one. This was not definitely a bad thing for Fang Yuan.


    "The powers of Spirit Returning Sect are now reduced, and coincidentally, Leiyang County is in a mess right now. Shi Yutong should be occupied trying to deal with the situation in Shaoyang City... This is the best opportunity for me!"


    Within the entire Spirit Returning Sect, Elder Yan and Elder Han''s inner powers were the strongest and both were martial artists of the 4 Heavenly Gates. However, both of them were injured now.


    "It seems... Elden Han''s recovery would have to be delayed again..."


    Fang Yuan mulled, his eyes deep in thought.


    On their side was a Wu Zong and a spiritual knight, and it would be unwise to go head to head.


    Of course, since Elder Han would still need Fang Yuan to heal him, while he was recovering Fang Yuan would still be safe.


    "Half a year... Hehe..."


    Fang Yuan shook his head.


    With his current progress, who would know how much he could achieve in half a year?


    "From how Elder Han looked just now, it seems that there is no problem with the Xuan Yin Heart Technique, but there might be repercussions in the future... Heh Heh... Spirit Returning Sect? Spirit Returning Sect!"


    Fang Yuan''s eyes narrowed and a mysterious light glowed from them.


    ...


    After returning to the secluded valley, Fang Yuan settled down. His daily routine included training with the Yin Yang Jade, farming in his spiritual farm, drinking the spiritual tea, consuming the spiritual rice, and occasionally would send Zhou Wenwu out to bring back news to keep himself updated of the outside world.


    The Flame Jade Rice was re-planted by him many times, and it seemed different from the usual Vermilion Jade Rice, as it required a different method of growing.


    "The good thing is that the Flame Jade Rice evolved from the Vermilion Jade Rice. I could follow this lead, and maybe it would be recorded in the book Master left behind..."


    In the field of botany, Fang Yuan was undoubtedly the expert.


    He slowly placed a few ruby stones around the seedlings, and nourished it with spiritual fertilizer. Fang Yuan took a step back and was relieved as he noticed the Flame Jade Rice grew a little.


    "Flower Fox Ferret, you will be in charge of protecting it from now on, do you understand?"


    Fang Yuan stroked its head, as though he was instructing him, and gazed into the sky.


    As the sun set, the crimson sun rays filled the secluded valley, making everything appear orange.


    "Today is the 6th day. Elder Han will return tomorrow to beg me to heal him..."


    Fang Yuan had a cunning look, and suddenly a shriek was heard.


    "Chirp! Chirp!"


    A strong gust of wind came as the Iron-tailed Black Eagle landed, with its back facing Fang Yuan.


    "Good job!"


    He chuckled, climbed onto the back of the Iron-tailed Black Eagle, hugged its neck and steadied himself.


    "Chirp! Chirp!"


    Fang Yuan lifted off together with the Iron-tailed Black Eagle, and as the wind howled against his face, he could not open his eyes.


    Once he got used to the wind, he peered open his eyes and realised that he was high above the ground!


    In the fluffy white clouds, a black silhouette flashed past. It took aim at a direction and flew towards it like an arrow shot at a target board!


    "This is... The feeling of flight?"


    Fang Yuan looked down, and through the thin clouds, he could see the entire Qingye City, as though it was a sandcastle, and the people were like ants.


    From a different angle, the feeling was entirely different.


    This view made him feel like he was a God!


    "One day... I will become like this! I must reach this level!"


    Fang Yuan tighten his grip and was determined.


    The Iron-tailed Black Eagle was quick. In a few moments, it had already flown past Qingye City.


    "Chirp! Chirp!"


    As the sun fully set, the moon rose and a large black shadow landed just outside a city.


    Fang Yuan looked at the large city and felt that it was a pity. "Oh, Qinghe County... The previous time I took so much effort just to come here, but this time it was effortless to reach here on the back of the Iron-tailed Black Eagle. Uncomparable!"


    That''s right. Qinghe County, or rather, the headquarters of Spirit Returning Sect, was his target!


    Fang Yuan wasn''t a person who would not retaliate. Since the Spirit Returning Sect had plotted against him, he wouldn''t mind creating trouble and confusion for the sect.


    And in his plan, the Iron-tailed Black Eagle played a big part.


    "If we succeed, we can return to the secluded valley tomorrow to prove that we were not here... If my prediction is incorrect and if Shi Yutong did set up ambushes around the Sect, I can still escape with the Iron-tailed Black Eagle!"


    Fang Yuan stroked its feathers and fed it a bamboo fruit. "Wait here, and hear out for my signal!"


    "Chirp! Chirp!"


    The black eagle nodded its head and assured Fang Yuan.


    ''I have finally tamed this beast!''


    The truth was that only this time after breaking through the Yin Gate and defeating the Iron-tailed Black Eagle would the eagle allow him to ride him and fly with him!


    Before that, the black eagle was still proud of itself and did not really allowed Fang Yuan to touch it.


    If not for that, Fang Yuan would have brought it along for his previous journey to Lieyang County.


    "It really boils down to fate and skill to tame a spiritual beast!"


    He knew that luck played a part too for him to tame this black eagle.


    Firstly, he was lucky to have the Flower Fox Ferret to allow him to communicate with the black eagle. Otherwise, both of them could never have communicated.


    Afterwards, he was lucky to have the bamboo fruit, which was exactly what the black eagle wanted.


    Furthermore, with these two factors, the black eagle would still not listen to him, until he proved his worth by overpowering both spiritual beasts.


    All these factors had to exist before this was possible.


    Seeing how the Sect controlled the county, and even if Shi Yutong was powerful, no one knew if she did tame any spiritual beast on her own.


    ...


    The Spirit Returning Sect was a big sect, and with its headquarters here it could rule over Qinghe County.


    Fang Yuan changed to a darker clothing, wore a mask, hid from the disciples on patrol and entered the sect.


    He was now a martial artist of the 4 Heavenly Gates and could have his own way in Qinghe County. How would the disciples be of any match against him?


    Furthermore, even if he was discovered, any Elder who came would also be no match for him.


    "Ghosts..."


    Fang Yuan was like a headless housefly, and even almost triggered a few traps. He realised the biggest enemy in the entire headquarters was the complicated arrangement of the interior.


    "Is it better for me to fight my way in, or would it be better to burn this entire place down?"


    Fang Yuan did not want to resign to fate. "If this is so, I will only hurt the surface, there won''t be any pain!"


    The entire Sect was huge, and based on his strength alone, even if he was a martial artist of 4 Heavenly Gates, he could only do so much damage, unless his life was in danger!


    "I''ll grab the tongue first!"


    He took a few steps forward, entered a large courtyard; it was like a small garden.


    The night was peaceful and a few fireflies danced around.


    "Eh?"


    Fang Yuan exerted his magical energy like a web, and suddenly, his expression changed and he smiled, as he approached a corner.


    "Brother Tian!"


    A woman''s voice was heard. "I''ve missed you!"


    "Sister Ling, it was the same for me... The sect''s rules were strict, how would I dare to enter your bedroom? Luckily, the Sect is undergoing a big change now with a lack of manpower, so they chose me as the law enforcer. This was why I had the chance to visit you..."


    A deep voice was heard, and it was a familiar one. "Sister Ling, I''ve missed you so dearly... One day of not seeing you felt like 3 seasons..."


    "Ew..."


    Fang Yuan felt like vomiting as he heard it, and jumped out. "Ha! Who would''ve known that I would encounter two lovebirds here!"


    "Who''s this?"


    The couple who were sitting in the pavilion were shocked. The male disciple, without thinking, struck his palm out at Fang Yuan.


    "For someone who has yet to attain inner force, you dare to challenge me?"


    Fang Yuan tried to cover himself up. He had his voice deeper, and with a flick of his finger, a few stones with the strength of inner force flew towards the disciple. As he was struck, he spat out blood and fell to the ground, bringing the female disciple with him.


    "Who are you exactly?"


    The male disciple looked at the man in black with shock.


    He was after all a [Martial Artist (5th Gate)], and was one of the leading ones among his fellow disciples, and yet he was so easily defeated over here. His opponent was indeed strong, and even his master might not be able to match up to...


    "Alright... Both of you. Do you want to live or die?"


    Fang Yuan tried to drag time.


    After all, since this person was the law enforcer, he could take advantage of him and aid Fang Yuan in his mission. This place was a dead corner and it would take a while before anyone would come by here.


    "Live!"


    These two disciples were not hard to deal with, and after witnessing Fang Yuan''s skill, they had no other choice.


    "Alright, I have a few things to ask. If you can answer me truthfully, I will leave and will not harm you two. Otherwise... Hehe..."


    Fang Yuan looked at the female disciple. She was wearing a pink dress, and her skin was white as snow. She had a small mole at the corner of her mouth and was rather pretty.


    "Let Sister Ling go, and just take me!"


    The young man exclaimed.


    "Hm... I shall ask now. Your foundation seems good, so you should have gotten the true teachings of the Sect, and practised the Spirit Returning Heart Manual, right?


    Fang Yuan''s eyes glittered.


    "You want to secretly learn our Sect''s inner power technique?"


    The young man was shocked, but at that moment, Fang Yuan struck Sister Ling and made her faint. He smiled and said, "After you have answered me, I will awaken her, and ask her the same question, and if there is any difference, hehe..."


    At that moment, the young man broke into cold sweat.

 73 Arson

    A dark cloud rolled across the sky and covered the light from the moon.


    Under the hazy starlight, a small lake could be seen. The water in the lake took on a dark colour in the nighttime. In the centre of the lake was a tower surrounded by water. The only way to reach that tower was via a wooden bridge that was connected to the bank of the lake.


    "The Martial Arts Court of the Spirit Returning Sect?"


    Fang Yuan had yearned to be here for a very long time. However, it was heavily guarded. Even though they had previously agreed to let him peruse the manuals, they had only opened up the most common collection for him.


    "This place is surrounded by water...It is obvious that they are afraid of a fire that might destroy the treasures found in this place..."


    "It appears as if the pair of wild mandarin ducks did not lie to me, this is a crucial location for the Spirit Returning Sect..."


    Fang Yuan smirked.


    The Martial Arts Court were heavily-guarded with countless of traps. Disarming the traps would waste too much time.


    As his opponents were most afraid of a fire breaking out, he would achieve the intended effect by setting the place on fire.


    ...


    "Crackle Crackle!"


    Not long after, a small fire was formed outside the martial art court and started to grow. Soon, the raging flames started to engulf the whole court.


    "Hmmm? A fire? Hurry, sound the alarm and get the buckets!"


    "Crack!"


    The window shattered and a person bolted out. He bellowed and directed to a few disciples who were guarding the martial arts court to extinguish the fire.


    "Understood!"


    The few disciples replied as they scrambled for the buckets. The person looked at the growing fire, his face displaying anxiety, "Damn... smoke and fire are prohibited in this place, which of these disciples were careless?"


    No one had dared to attack the property of the Spirit Returning Sect first. As such, they were not vigilant.


    "It is lucky that the fire is not too big and only a few walls are burnt. The situation is under control!"


    In a moment of anxiety, the person pushed away a few disciples in front of him and arrived at the side of the lake. "Move!"


    He was surprisingly strong. With a flick of his wrist, a long and black whip appeared. It was like a snake and wove around the buckets, linking the buckets together and submerged them into the lake.


    "Swish!"


    Using the whip, he lifted the buckets into the air and emptied the content onto the fire. The fire became smaller. "


    "The elder is amazing!"


    "His skills with the whip is of another world!"


    A few disciples gazed in awe and loudly praised him.


    "Hmph!"


    The elder flicked the whip once again, causing the buckets to submerge in the lake. He gathered his energy to put out the fire.


    At this moment, the surface of the lake burst open, revealing a shadow which leaps forward!


    "Hmmm?"


    The elder was shocked. He did not expect to face an ambush below the surface of the lake!


    At this moment, the whip was still connected to the bucket and he was unable to use it. He could only loosen his grip on the whip and with both palms pushing forward, generated a wall of energy with a resounding crash! He was a Martial Artist (7th Gate) and highly-skilled in inner power!


    While not many had heard of him, he was the guardian of the Martial Arts Court and practised his skills daily. Although he only knew a few techniques, he was cast in a new light.


    "Ha!"


    The shadow in front of him did not dodge and instead struck out with his palm, his palm appeared to be slightly caved in and had a black sheen to it.


    "Bang!"


    As their palms clashed, the guardian felt an incredibly strong inner power that chilled him to his bones. He could feel his inner power diminishing as realization dawn upon him, "You are...!"


    He was wounded as his inner power was countered. His face turned black as he was struck by the poison of the Pearl Tail Snake.


    "Bang bang!"


    The shadow continuously struck the guardian and left a palm print on the guardian''s head.


    "Boom!"


    The guardian toppled over with no pulse and breath!


    In a matter of seconds, this trump card of the Spirit Returning Sect, one of the martial artist who had broken through the Death Gate, lost his life!


    The disciples shrieked before tossing aside their pails and ran away.


    Other than running away, they had no other options. This was no longer about fighting to survive.


    "Splash! Splash!"


    The wooden bridge was too narrow. In their attempt to escape, they shoved each other. Some of them even jumped in the lake and swam for the shore.


    "Bong! Bong!"


    The sound of the gong broke the crisp silence.


    "Someone had invaded the sect and set the Martial Arts Court on fire!"


    "Hurry! Notify all the elders and the protectors!"


    "Guard the place and do not panic!"


    ...


    As the Martial Arts Courts were being engulfed by the fire, the whole Spirit Returning Sect was moving and acting fast.


    A group of disciples, under the leadership of Lady Yan had already surrounded the lake.


    Lady Yan had an electrifying gaze. She waved her walking stick and charged into the lake. She was highly skilled in the Lightness Skill and could even tread water!


    "Who dares to insult my Spirit Returning Sect?!"


    She looked at the Martial Arts Court that was engulfed by the flames with a pained look. She fixed her eyes on Fang Yuan and glared at him, "Scoundrel!"


    "Whoosh!"


    She waved her walking stick and rushed towards Fang Yuan.


    At the banks, many elders and deacons were headed for the centre of the lake.


    "Haha..."


    Fang Yuan laughed before turning around to run, "Old woman, I can''t believe you are not dead!"


    He kicked in the direction of the old lady.


    "Crack!!!"


    The wooden boards were lifted off the ground and caught fire. They were sent hurtling towards the old lady.


    "Come if you dare!"


    Fang Yuan laughed and ran.


    "Get out of the way!"


    As Fang Yuan was escaping, his palms turned black.


    At his current level, the Black Sand Palm was lethal. An ordinary elder who had broken through the 6th or 7th Gate would be heavily wounded if he was struck by the technique. Even the wind generated from it was laced with poison which caused the surrounding low-skilled disciples to collapse onto the floor.


    He had already gone easy on them and had only used the technique at a level that was comparable to that of a martial artist that had broken through the 8th Gate. The results would be even more devastating if he had not held back.


    "Whoosh!"


    Fang Yuan did not engage in any battle and instead headed towards the outer boundaries.


    "Cough cough... I will never let you escape!"


    Even though the Lady Yan had already broken through the Earth Gate (11th Gate), she was heavily wounded and could only fight at a skill level that was comparable to that of a martial artist (9th Gate). Seeing Fang Yuan as such, she became enraged.


    The scoundrel would not be so presumptuous if Shi Yutong was present!


    "We had been too careless. To think that people would not dare to come here and cause trouble given the Sect''s reputation!"


    Lady Yan silently cursed herself. Her hatred for Fang Yuan increased.


    "Black Sand Palm? The power of the 8th Gate? Do you really think that no one in the Sect could stand up to you?"


    Lady Yan let out a cry as she saw that Fang Yuan was escaping. How could she let him go? She leapt forward and with a shriek that resounded in the place, said: "Elder of the Southern Palace, Elder Di, follow me!"


    "Roger!"


    These two elders were the closest to breaking through the Death Gate amongst the elders protecting the place. With the aid of these two elders, Lady Yan was confident of taking down Fang Yuan despite not being able to utilize her full strength!


    "Haha¡­.Old lady, come if you dare!"


    Fang Yuan taunted. They chased relentlessly and in no time, arrived outside the county.


    "Tsk tsk...No wonder you are from such a big sect. Wasn''t that the Lightness Skill?"


    Fang Yuan wanted to go easy on them and allow them to catch up. However, he soon realized that no matter how fast he ran, the distance between them kept shrinking.


    Under the moonlight, Lady Yan and the two elders appeared to be gliding gracefully through the grass and at the same time, fast as lightning.


    "Scoundrel, where are you running to?"


    Lady Yan glided forward. With a wave of her left hand, the Lion Head walking stick flew towards Fang Yuan''s back.


    "Hmph!"


    Fang Yuan slipped and missed a few steps.


    "Crack!"


    Lady Yan smiled and her arms suddenly extended.


    "Back Piercing Hand!"


    "Roar!"


    The lion head opened its mouth and spat out a ring of fire towards Fang Yuan''s back.


    "Boom!"


    The ring of fire exploded mid-air and charred the ground.


    "Whoosh!"


    The two elders at the back stopped. "Lady Yan''s Lion Head walking stick is indeed impressive!"


    "Careful!"


    Lady Yan grasped her stick, her face red. She coughed violently before saying, "The man is not dead yet!"


    "What?"


    The two elders were shocked. They suddenly felt a gust of strong wind.


    "Caw!"


    The aura of an eagle hunting its prey could be felt amidst the strong gust of wind. The Iron-tailed Black Eagle flew towards them, the claws outstretched.


    Bang!


    At this moment, the ground cracked open and Fang Yuan emerged from the crack. His hands were formed into the claws. He did not hold back the inner power of the 9th Gate.


    He could not be bothered anymore and struck with all his might!


    The two elders let out a gasp. They managed to fend off the attack of the Iron-tailed Black Eagle but Fang Yuan''s eagle claw managed to get past their defense and grabbed their throat. They could only let out a small sound.


    "Lady Yan, you are next!"


    Fang Yuan turned and spoke calmly.


    "A martial artist who is of the level of the 4 Heavenly Gate...Eagle Claw Iron Skin Technique...and this beast?"


    Lady Yan coughed, her eyes confused, "Who are you?"


    "Who I am is of no importance. What is important is that I hope you would be able to last longer!"


    Fang Yuan gazed coldly.


    Lady Yan was an expert who had broken through the Earth Gate. Her technique that she used previously was impressive. If Fang Yuan had not seen the technique, he would have been at a severe disadvantage.


    He had no intention of killing his opponent.


    After all, such a good test subject was hard to come by!

 74 Concealmen

    It was dawn.


    Elder Han and Lu Zhisen came to the secluded valley and saw Doctor Fang who was dressed in white robes.


    "How are you feeling, Elder Han?"


    Fang Yuan asked gently, his actions were calm like the spring breeze; no one could associate him with the murderer and arsonist in the Spirit Returning Sect the night before.


    "Fortunate to have been healed by Doctor Fang, I am recovering well!"


    Elder Han smiled, and the precautionary attitude he had before was gone.


    Fang Yuan had other thoughts of his own. If Elder Han knew that he was the one behind all that happened in the Spirit Returning Sect the night before, he wasn''t sure if he would be as calm as he was right now.


    Of course, he did not know what happened and had to act like it.


    After all, even a Wu Zong martial artist would not be able to traverse from Qingye City to the Spirit Returning Sect and back in a night, not to mention accomplish so many things- unless he had a flying spiritual beast.


    "The previous time I have undergone the Golden Needle Acupoint Piercing, I slept until midnight and was a little worried..."


    As Elder Han mentioned it, he took notice of Fang Yuan''s expression.


    "Keke..."


    What kind of person was Fang Yuan? He did not twitch a muscle, and explained, "This was because your injury was too serious, and I would require the body to enter a deep sleep for it to slowly recover. It is akin to learning martial arts the slow way, the same idea... I believe Elder Han knows this better than me!"


    "That''s right!"


    Elder Han froze, then slowly nodded his head.


    He did not like the experience of fainting and letting someone else have full control over his body.


    However, if he wanted to recover, he had to listen to this doctor and did not have another choice.


    "Mm, I''ll leave it in your hands, Doctor!"


    He gulped his medicinal soup, stripped and laid on the bed.


    "Mm!"


    Fang Yuan took out his golden needle, pierced several acupoints in quick succession, and Elder Han subconsciously fell into deep sleep.


    "I hate distractions while I am doing my thing..."


    Fang Yuan said, without even turning his head.


    "Ah... I''m sorry! I will leave now!"


    Lu Zhisen scratched his head, chuckled and left the room.


    Even though this was not an instruction from Elder Han, he had no other choice but to do so as Fang Yuan had requested for it.


    ....


    In the room, Fang Yuan waved his needle around. He was not attempting to heal Elder Han, but rather, to seal and experiment on him.


    ''A martial artist of the 4 Heavenly Gates has a very different circulatory system, especially its ability to fuse and form a miniature elemental force in a Martial Artist (11th Gate)...''


    Fang Yuan placed his right palm on Elder Han''s abdomen, focused his magical energy through his Mind Palace and reached into the depths of his elemental energy.


    ''Even though it is just a miniature elemental energy, it is still the fusion of Yin and Yang. Its strength comes from the Earth and Heavens and should not be belittled. Be it yesterday''s Lady Yan, or today''s Elder Han, if not for their serious injuries, I would be no match for them...''


    After testing it out, he had a deeper understanding of elemental energy.


    ''Elder Han''s seeds of his elemental force seems to be a little weaker than that of Lady Yan''s, but it''s just nice for me...''


    After a few rounds of experimenting, Fang Yuan stopped, looked at the helpless Elder Han, and his thought ran wild. ''Both Elder Yan and Elder Han are dealt with. Could they call the Heavenly Gods to help them? I''m not sure if that''s enough, why not add in a Shi Yutong...''


    Just last night, he lured Lady Yan out of the city, and with the help of the Iron-tailed Black Eagle, attacked her. It was a big loss for the Sect, and even Lady Yan was captured.


    She was a highly skilled martial artist within the Earth Gate, and what Fang Yuan wanted to study was her own miniature elemental force in her diaphragm, which was why he spared her life. However, to her, this would not be a good thing.


    ''Hmm... 2 test subjects, so now I can compare them. I would run some small tests and keep a daily log for Elder Han, and as for Lady Yan, I would do the more destructive research on her, that''s right!''


    Fang Yuan was pleased, and in his eyes, Elder Han was merely a lab rat.


    ...


    The sun rose.


    Unknowingly, a day has passed.


    Lu Zhisen was flustered. "Why did he take so long? It wasn''t this long the previous time..."


    He looked at the secluded valley and could tell that there was something secretive about it. Looking at the Straw Pavilion, he did not dare to take a step forward, and his mind started to run wild. "If anything happens to Elder Han, what would I do?"


    Anxious, he became increasingly nervous.


    Just as he was about to break the rule and enter the hut, the door opened and Fang Yuan appeared.


    "What are you trying to do?"


    He realised that Lu Zhisen had the posture as though he was about to charge in, and casually asked.


    "Haha... Haha... Nothing much! I just wanted to check on your progress, and checking if you require any of my assistance..."


    Lu Zhisen scratched his head and looked earnest.


    "It''s fine. Bring him back, and return in half a month''s time!"


    Fang Yuan waved, stood at the side and revealed a pathway.


    "Half a month? Didn''t you say 7 days the previous time?"


    Lu Zhisen enquired.


    "What is it? Any objections?"


    Fang Yuan stared at him.


    Facing the doctor, Lu Zhisen was embarrassed. He was no match for Fang Yuan and could only silently carry Elder Han away, as though he was escaping.


    ''Seeing his expression, it seems that he is worried that I might harm Elder Han... In fact, he guessed it...."


    Fang Yuan witnessed them leaving, touched his chin and smiled.


    After they returned, they would get the news of the chaos in Spirit Returning Sect, and would no longer have the effort to guard against him anymore.


    ...


    "Iron-tailed Black Eagle, let''s go!"


    Back to the secluded valley, Fang Yuan rode the black eagle to a mountain cave.


    As someone who had foresight, he had done preparations.


    This mountain cave was halfway to the peak of the mountain and was Master Wenxin''s temporary abode when he came here to pluck mountain herbs. There was even a water vat and a few dry rations. The location was very good and the cave was rather hidden.


    Once Fang Yuan become influential enough, he would tidy this place up as his second base.


    And as for the Iron-tailed Black Eagle, it originally had to travel long distances to reach the secluded valley, but now, the journey was just the bat of an eyelid.


    "Chirp! Chirp!"


    Accompanying the bird''s chirping, the Iron-tailed Black Eagle landed on the ground, and Fang Yuan leapt onto it.


    Removing the vegetation cover, a mountain cave was revealed. It was formed naturally and seemed like the nest of a wild animal; something was different as he approached the cave.


    The ground was flat and dry; there was no moss or weeds growing on the rocks. It was barren and was even a little reflective.


    Fang Yuan lit a fire torch, appeared emotionless and walked to the end of the cave; a scene appeared.


    On the ground was a layer of dried grass, and surrounding it a large water vat, a few dry rations hidden under a few rocks, as though one was afraid that other animals might eat it. The entire place seemed worn-down, but to a person trapped in the mountains, hungry and thirsty, this was not a bad survival shelter.


    "Lady Yan! What do you find of this place? Oh... I have forgotten that you are still asleep..."


    At the end of the cave, there was a little crack and it was pitch-dark. One could squeeze through the crack, walk a few steps forward and arrive at a large hole in the floor.


    On an emerald rock, Lady Yan''s silhouette appeared, albeit drowsy and pale; it was obvious that she was ill.


    Fang Yuan took out a pill, forced it down her, and took out his golden needle to perform acupoint piercing on her forehead.


    "Wu..."


    After a short while, Lady Yan sighed and opened her eyes.


    "You are... The big thief just now?!"


    She sounded shocked as she saw Fang Yuan.


    After all, no one could associate the evil and strong 4 Heavenly Gate martial artist last night to the young man in front of her.


    "Indeed, it is me!"


    Fang Yuan nodded his head and did not deny it. He immediately noticed Lady Yan''s look of despair.


    "Mm, you are quite smart. You know that once I''ve shown you my face I will not allow you to leave this place..."


    "A pity... Looking at the state you are in, it would be hard for you not to die!"


    In order to hold this Earth Gate martial artist in captivity, Fang Yuan spent a lot of effort. He first sealed her inner force, and dislocated all her joints, in case she used her underhand means to escape. In this way, even if she was Wu Zong it would be hard for her to escape.


    "Good move! Good move!"


    Lady Yan was extremely experienced in the martial arts world and could guess her own predicament. "What feud does my Sect have with you? To deserve such treatment?"


    "Revenge?"


    Fang Yuan touched his chin. "There might be a feud. My name is Fang Yuan, does it ring a bell?"


    "Fang Yuan? Fang Yuan!!!"


    Lady Yan was suspicious of him and glared into his eyes. "It''s you! How is this possible?"


    She knew of Lin Leiyue''s incident and was also aware that the young man from Qingye City was rather capable as he could subdue Song Zhong.


    However, Song Zhong was only a Martial Artist (7th Gate)!


    And Fang Yuan now? Obviously a martial artist of the 4 Heavenly Gates! And the large spiritual eagle too! Against both of them, even with the help of the 2 other Elders, they could put up a fight.


    Lady Yan felt that even if she recovered and teamed up with the other 2 Elders, they would still be no match to Fang Yuan and his eagle!


    He seemed younger than 20 years old?


    With his potential, he wasn''t just gifted anymore; he was a mutant!


    "Master Fang... Regarding what happened that day, I don''t want to mention it anymore. I only want to know if there is any chance of you reconciling with the Spirit Returning Sect."


    Lady Yan struggled to talk, and her words were filled with hope.


    Being at odds against a talented martial artist of limitless potential, she could see the downfall of the Spirit Returning Sect and therefore attempted to reconcile them, regardless of what conditions she might have to accept.


    "No hope!"


    Fang Yuan shook his head. "I guess you don''t know the entire story?"


    At this point, Lady Yan lost all hope¡­...

 75 Breakthrough

    "Elemental force is the force of heaven and earth. When one activates his elemental force, he will be able to start afresh. This is the essence of strength and it changes unpredictably. It also acts as a solid foundation to build up to higher levels¡­.."


    Through his thorough research, Fang Yuan realised that the combination of Yin and Yang could produce the ''Miniature Elemental Force'', which was unbelievably powerful.


    Such a discovery shocked and overwhelmed him.


    Furthermore, the ''Miniature Elemental Force'' was able to surprise him even though it was way inferior as compared to the real elemental force.


    "With my current foundations, it is impossible for me to master Wu Zong with my elemental force!"


    "But it is possible for me to combine the Yin and Yang to form the Miniature Elemental Force to make a breakthrough!"


    Back in the secluded valley.


    Fang Yuan sat on a green rock while carrying the Yin Yang Jade and he appeared relaxed.


    "Ha!"


    His 9th Gate Yin''s inner force kept flowing out like a river and flowed into the Yin Yang Jade. A clear sound was heard.


    "Kacha!"


    The Yin Yang Jade shook and its inner part vibrated from the shock. The shock was subsequently absorbed.


    With such a great infusion of Yin, the balance was tipped and caused the swirling in the Yin Yang Jade to be destroyed.


    "Now¡­...explode!"


    Fang Yuan opened his eyes widely.


    "Kacha! Kacha!"


    The swirl which combined both Yin and Yang suddenly exploded and the Yang kept expanding and compressing. Gradually, a new type of energy was formed.


    The Yin Yang Jade was unique and tough, and Fang Yuan wanted to make use of these two advantages to compress the combined Yin and Yang into a single entity!


    With the strong fusion from his inner force, the exploded swirl was compressed into a small dot. The dot solidified.


    "Ha! Liquify the combination of Yin and Yang!"


    Under the force of fusion by Fang Yuan, cracks formed on the surface of the Yin Yang Jade and the cracks were spreading throughout the entire piece like a spider web.


    "Whiz!"


    A constant swirling noise was heard from the Yin Yang Jade.


    ''Fortunately, I was using the Yin Yang Jade. If I was using my Dantian, it could have already been exploded."


    Yin Yang Jade was unique and could accommodate both Yin and Yang. It was the best choice to use it to fuse both Yin and Yang into one.


    If he were to perform the compression in his Dantian, he would have to worry about the consequences.


    Of course, even if he used the Yin Yang Jade and failed, he would still be injured, but his injuries would be minimal.


    "Hoo! Hoo!"


    He concentrated his magical energy into the Yin Yang Jade and observed the movements made by both Yin and Yang.


    With the concentration, the Yin and Yang inside the jade were quickly fused and it became more solidified than before. It gave out a red and black colour and there seemed to be a slight disturbance in it.


    "Kacha!"


    After a while, a crisp sound was heard.


    Even though it sounded soft, Fang Yuan thought it sounded as if a silver bottle was broke through by a liquid.


    "Bang!"


    Inside the Yin Yang Jade, a big amount of Yin and Yang was compressed into a dot. Finally, after a huge amount of compression, the dot started to fuse.


    A new form of energy which was green in colour was formed through the magical energy. The energy looked as if it was in a liquid form and was strong. It managed to absorb both Yin and Yang into one form and Fang Yuan'' inner force could feel some resistance from this new form of energy.


    "Good!"


    He opened his eyes widely and his inner force from his diaphragm went into the jade and fused constantly.


    This Miniature Elemental Force was formed from his combination of Yin and Yang. Currently, the Miniature Elemental Force also absorbed a huge amount of his inner force. At the start, there was some resistance. As time passed, the level of resistance lowered.


    Fang Yuan''s expression was very serious. He used a bit of his inner force and allowed the Miniature Elemental Force to be transferred from the Yin Yang Jade to his arms.


    "Woo!"


    He frowned as he felt as if his tendons had been cut.


    "The force is indeed powerful¡­..If my condition of the body was not as strong and my tendons were not as tough, I would be feeling more than just pain now."


    Fang Yuan thought about this silently.


    This was perfectly normal as compared to the inner force from the 9th gate, the current Miniature Elemental Force gave a different feeling!


    Such situation was similar to when a small river meets the ocean and become overwhelmed by the ocean.


    Of course, Fang Yuan had already expected this to happen. Since he was able to hold on further still, he immediately used this new form of energy to fuse the remaining.


    ...¡­..


    A period of time passed.


    A white shadow appeared and it was the Flower Fox Ferret. It was shocked when it saw Fang Yuan.


    After all, Fang Yuan''s condition did not look well from the outside.


    There was white smoke coming out from his head and his skin colour became blood red.


    "Kacha! Kacha!"


    As the Flower Fox Ferret grew more worried, two clear sounds came from Fang Yuan.


    He opened his eyes and became composed.


    "I have completed!"


    Fang Yuan was satisfied as he could feel a constant flow of inner force around his body.


    "Bang!"


    At that moment, the Yin Yang Jade which he was carrying in his hands became into a pile of white ash.


    Fang Yuan remained silent upon seeing this.


    This unique treasure was not able to endure his doings and became a pile of ash.


    "Even though this jade did not have Yin and Yang, it was still a unique treasure¡­.To other sects, this treasure would probably mean nothing to them as they didn''t know about this trick, but it was not worth for the jade to..."


    After all, one could use the Yin Yang Jade to make tremendous progress but it would still not be as fast as Fang Yuan''s. Plus, the jade would not be destroyed when used in training.


    Perhaps there could another chance in the near future to use it again for such purpose.


    Even though he was reckless, he managed to exchange this piece of jade for progression. From the sect''s perspective, this exchange would not be worth it, but to Fang Yuan, it was.


    Fang Yuan clapped his hands and went to a peony tree while ignoring the Flower Fox Ferret''s stare.


    His eyes focused and he transferred his inner force to his fingers and then to a nearby plant.


    "Whiz!"


    There was a light sound in the air as the peony tree trembled a little. Its leaves gradually fell.


    In actual fact, Fang Yuan''s fingers were still a distance away from the peony tree.


    "Wu Zong allows one to release his elemental force to the surroundings and it is magical! I have not achieved Wu Zong yet but with the Miniature Elemental Force, I am able to achieve a slight part of the skill¡­.."


    Next, Fang Yuan''s limbs moved without his control and he shook his head. "I have gained too much energy and my physical and mental body have not gotten used to it...."


    He looked at his stats window:


    "Name: Fang Yuan


    Essence: 8.0


    Spirit: 7.9


    Magic: 4.0


    Age: 19


    Cultivation: [Martial Artist (11th Gate)]


    Technique: [Black Sand Palm (Grade 5), [Eagle Claw Iron Skin Technique (Grade 11)]


    Skill: [Medicine (Level 3)], [Botany (Level 3)]"


    "[Eagle Claw Iron Skin Technique (Grade 11)]; At this stage, one will be difficult to be dealt with as one will not be injured easily with the concentration of one''s elemental force!"


    "Energy¡­...This amount of energy is strong enough!"


    Fang Yuan clenched his fists and could feel the immense power inside his body. He could not wait to find another expert to duel with.


    If both Elder Yan and Elder Han attacked him together now, he would not be afraid.


    In the entire Spirit Returning Sect, he only feared Shi Yutong.


    "What would be the outcome if I fight against a Wu Zong now?"


    Fang Yuan closed his eyes and recalled the day when he saw the duel between Wu Zong and the spiritual knight. There was a fast transfer of magical energy and when Fang Yuan recalled this scene, he shook his head.


    "Not yet! I would probably end up escaping if I were to fight against them now. Of course¡­.. if I considered the spiritual beasts I have and geographical location in my favour, I would still have the possibility of escaping!"


    He must survive in order to be able to make his next move. Fang Yuan clearly knew this logic.


    He was relieved at the result.


    His skills had reached such a high level and he would have the ability to defend himself. Even if all the spiritual objects in the secluded valley had been discovered, he was confident in continuing what he used to do.


    ...


    After the breakthrough, Fang Yuan was in a good mood and he went for a shower happily. He then changed into a new set of clothes and was about to make some tea when a noise came from outside.


    "This is Zhou Wenwu, I am here to see Master Fang Yuan!"


    Zhou Wenwu sounded shocked but Fang Yuan did not show any concern for it.


    Ever since the Spirit Returning Sect was raided by a mysterious person, the Martial Arts Court had been burnt and the sect lost a few elders during the battle. Lady Yan was also missing and no one knew whether she was dead or alive. Qinghe County was in a chaos after the news of the Spirit Returning Sect being raided started to spread.


    The most mainstream way of looking at things was that the raid was done by an expert from the Five Ghosts Sect as a form of seeking revenge.


    Nobody linked the raid to Fang Yuan, who was living in the secluded valley and had been taking care of Elder Han''s illness.


    Everybody was panicking and Zhou Wenwu came to ask for help constantly. It was obvious that he was seeking for protection and to prove his loyalty for Fang Yuan, he would expose all kinds of secrets of the Spirit Returning Sect.


    For example, Fang Yuan knew that ever since the raid, the Spirit Returning Sect recalled all the elders and disciples from all their controlled territories and was willing to give up some of the territories, hoping that the sect would get away from such incidents in future.


    Lu Zhisen, who was in Qingye City, was ordered to return to the sect as soon as possible.


    However, Elder Han chose to stay behind and no one knew the actual reason why he chose to stay behind. He claimed that he was seriously injured and with his current injuries, he would be useless anyway if he were to return to the sect to help. Fang Yuan guessed that this old man was probably too afraid to die now and would only go out for battle when he had fully recovered.


    He was happy now and without the contributions of the two elders, he would not have been able to improve that fast.

 76 Extinction

    Zhou Wenwu was worried and came to ask for support. Fang Yuan consoled him with a few sentences and sent him back.


    After all, Fang Yuan was quite busy at that moment.Where would he have the free time to attend to Zhou Wenwu''s needs?


    Back in the Green Peak.


    The peak of the mountain could be seen vaguely in the cloud of fog. There was grass grown there and there was a Red-eyed White Bird flying around.


    "Finally I''m here!"


    Fang Yuan was wearing tight clothing. The Flower Fox Ferret and the Iron-tailed Black Eagle followed behind closely and they were all tensed up.


    Even since he reached this place, Fang Yuan had been eyeing this piece of spiritual land for quite a while. However, there were huge Red-eyed White Birds guarding this piece of land and his plans on the further development of this land were all useless.


    Currently, the numbers of the Red-eyed White Birds had decreased by a lot and Fang Yuan was now a [Martial Artist (11th Gate)]. He was capable to remove the Red-eyed White Birds!


    "I am quite familiar with the movements and the activities of the Red-eyed White Birds already¡­.."


    Fang Yuan hid in the cloud of fog and focused on observing any movements on the cliff.


    "The Red-eyed White King Bird should be back from its hunting now¡­."


    "Chirp! Chirp!"


    After a few hours, a sound made by the Red-eyed White King Bird was heard through the strong wind.


    Fang Yuan had seen the Red-eyed White King Bird flying through the cloud of fog many times. Its giant wings spread through the cloud of fog and its claws were holding onto a giant python. It then landed smoothly on a platform.


    "What a great opportunity for me!"


    At that moment, Fang Yuan''s eyes glittered.


    The Red-eyed White King Bird was able to fly and could escape from Fang Yuan easily even though Fang Yuan was powerful enough to defeat it.


    After all, even with the Iron-tailed Black Eagle''s help, it was hard to say whether he could defeat the Red-eyed White King Bird in mid-air.


    "I will go to the entrance of the hole to trap the Red-eyed White King Bird later. You both will deal with the rest of the Red-eyed White Birds outside. Understand?"


    Fang Yuan gave instructions to both the Flower Fox Ferret and the Iron-tailed Black Eagle.


    Both spiritual beasts had become smarter as they had been drinking the spiritual tea for quite some time. Both of them nodded to acknowledge the instructions given by Fang Yuan.


    "Very well!"


    Fang Yuan did not hesitate and went to the peak right away.


    "Hoo! Hoo!"


    At the top of the cliff, one would be mesmerised by the beautiful scenery of the Green Peak. The cloud of fog surrounded the cliff and the place suddenly felt a little smaller.


    "Her!"


    Fang Yuan breathed in hard and jumped out from a bush. He then jumped down from the cliff and landed firmly on a platform.


    "Chirp! Chirp!"


    Many of the Red-eyed White Birds started to make noises and came attacking with a few other spiritual beasts leading the group.


    "Get¡­..out of my way!"


    Fang Yuan exhaled a long breath and shouted loudly. Many white feathers fell to the ground and many Red-eyed White Birds became unconscious.


    If Gui Wusheng was here and had witnessed that his Paralysing Scream was able to produce such effect, he would be very surprised.


    "Chirp!!!"


    On the platform of the entrance of the hole, a big silhouette appeared and it was actually the Red-eyed White King Bird. It glared at Fang Yuan and its eyes were filled with anger.


    The Red-eyed White King Bird still remembered Fang Yuan for stealing its spiritual objects!


    Not only did Fang Yuan come here to steal on a regular basis, he was also killing its own species.


    As the leader of the Red-eyed White Birds and a spiritual beast, the Red-eyed White King Bird was very concerned about the survival of its species.


    It would be much more hostile towards its enemy!


    It then let out a strange noise and did not hesitate to pounce on Fang Yuan.


    "Haha¡­.we meet again. I shall send you back!"


    Seeing that the Red-eyed White King Bird was charging right towards him, Fang Yuan was slightly eager to fight against it. His Iron Skin Technique was at its peak and his right palm became black and hard like iron. He then went forward and grabbed forcefully.


    "Bang!"


    There was a loud noise and the platform shook. A few pieces of small rocks then fell from the walls of the hole.


    The Red-eyed White King Bird then flew back to the hole quickly as it lost the battle.


    It did not expect a human would be that powerful. On normal occasions, humans ran away once they see it!


    "That was not satisfying enough for me, fight again!"


    Fang Yuan shouted as he stepped into the hole.


    Even though a spiritual beast can become stronger on its own without any training, the time needed for that to happen was at least 10 years and sometimes a few hundred years!


    However, humans could train on their own and become stronger also.


    As heaven''s movement was ever vigorous, so must a gentleman ceaselessly strive along. That was the beauty of the training!


    "Chirp! Chirp!"


    The Red-eyed White King Bird rolled and got up. It shook its feathers and a few pieces of rocks fell off. Suddenly, there was a loud chirp and the edges of the feathers started to become red in colour.


    It became mad!


    Fang Yuan triggered the Red-eyed White King Bird and caused it to become mad.


    "So what if you are mad?"


    Fang Yuan glanced at it and his miniature elemental force quickly surged. His muscles became bigger and he grew slightly taller. He then charged right at it.


    "Bang!"


    "Bang!"


    Back in the hole, pieces of rocks were flying around and there were many shock waves.


    "Chirp! Chirp!"


    "Keke!"


    Outside the hole, the Flower Fox Ferret and the Iron-tailed Black Eagle were working well together. They sealed the entrance of the hole and dealt with the incoming Red-eyed White Birds.


    In the past, both of them would not have been able to defeat the whole group of Red-eyed White Birds on their own. Now, with the ambush technique that they had learnt from Fang Yuan, the decreasing numbers of the Red-eyed White Birds and the benefits both of them got from the spiritual objects, their skills had improved tremendously. Not only were they able to hold the entrance of the hole on their own, they were able to defeat the large group of the Red-eyed White Birds as well.


    This resulted in a big battle on the platform. Many white feathers fell onto the ground and the whole place looked as if it had just snowed.


    "Keke!"


    The Flower Fox Ferret lifted it claws and smashed through one of the opponent''s head. It then jumped and managed to broke another opponent''s neck.


    "Chirp! Chirp!"


    The remaining Red-eyed White Birds saw what happen to the dead ones and let out a sorrowful chirp. They then retreated.


    How could the Iron-tailed Black Eagle let this chance go? Even though it was of no match for the Red-eyed White King Bird, it was able to deal with the other Red-eyed White Birds and chased after the remaining ones. It managed to kill the rest in the end.


    Not long after, dead Red-eyed White Birds were seen everywhere in the Green peak with a few exceptions. A few remaining birds were seen hiding in their nests as they were too scared to come out.


    Seeing this, both the Flower Fox Ferret and the Iron-tailed Black Eagle looked at each other before entering the hole.


    The shock waves stopped and when both of them reached the end of the hole, they saw a small lake. There, a few bamboos were growing beside it and there was a huge bird''s nest.


    There was a pile of rocks at a corner of the hole and a big white feather could be seen there.


    "Hoo...hoo¡­."


    Fang Yuan spat out a long breath and he reverted to his original size. His clothing was already torn into pieces and there were 3 obvious claw marks on his chest.


    "The Red-eyed White King Bird is indeed powerful. It can fight a martial artist at the peak of the 12th Gate after it got enraged¡­..Luckily I was at an advantage and had a stronger body, if not I would not have been able to defeat it!"


    Fang Yuan reflected on his battle with the Red-eyed White King Bird and swallowed a bamboo fruit to recover his power.


    He sighed upon seeing the nest.


    Even though the spiritual plants were precious, why would both of them be even concerned about the spiritual plants when they were fighting to the death against each other?


    Hence, many of the spiritual plants in the hole were destroyed during the battle.


    "Chirp! Chirp!"


    The Iron-tailed Black Eagle did not consider much and flew to the pile of rocks. It then stared at the Red-eyed White King Bird.


    "Oh? You can feel it too?"


    Fang Yuan was surprised and went to the pile of rocks as well. "It is actually not dead. It fainted because of its injuries and its madness. Now it is definitely no match for you¡­.."


    "Caw! Caw!"


    Seeing this, the Iron-tailed Black Eagle then happily patted its wings and went off to look for spiritual objects with the Flower Fox Ferret.


    Fang Yuan had a thought when he saw the Red-eyed White King Bird was now held captive.


    There was no need to mention the advantage of spiritual beasts who could fly. The Red-eyed White King Bird was more powerful than the Iron-tailed Black eagle at its peak. It could become mad as well. If it was not in such a state, it would be difficult to defeat it.


    Or maybe, Fang Yuan was no match for it and could probably not be able to escape from it if the battle was in a piece of clear land!


    With such power, it was ideal for the Red-eyed White King Bird to be guarding the Green Peak regardless of anything.


    A Red-eyed White King Bird that was alive was way better than a dead one.


    Also, even though many of the Red-eyed White Birds were killed, the young ones and the eggs remained.


    "Even though the chance is slim, one has to keep on trying with that glimpse of hope!"


    Fang Yuan decided not to bother it anymore and went to the nest.


    This Red-eyed White King Bird was addicted to collecting objects. Most of the spiritual objects in the Green Peak were moved to its nest.


    However, most of the spiritual objects now were destroyed during the battle and Fang Yuan was in distress over this.


    "Besides the bamboo, there is an unknown wisteria which is still in good condition¡­.."


    Fang Yuan then picked up a half-smashed fruit which was red in colour and had a few cracks on the surface. There was a look of distress on his face when he saw it.


    How many types of spiritual objects were there in this world? With his limited knowledge about spiritual objects, he was not able to recognise all of them.


    After much discussion, both the Flower Fox Ferret and the Iron-tailed Black Eagle could only give up a seed of a fruit and no one knew whether this seed could still grow into a plant.


    "This spiritual land is not too big and it is sufficient to hold the whole farm¡­."


    Fang Yuan had decided that it was necessary for the Questioning Heart Tea Tree and the Flame Jade Rice to be relocated to the Green Peak.


    "I shall leave a portion of the land to try and grow the Vermillion Fruit. It should be able to grow¡­."


    Fang Yuan felt happy about the plans that he had made for the new spiritual land.


    With the removal of the Red-eyed White Birds, no one would be stopping him from making good use of this piece of spiritual land in the Green Peak.


    "I should continue digging further to see if I can save a few of the other spiritual plants!"


    After much calculations, he was in distress and started digging.


    ''Kacha! Kacha!"


    At that moment, a wall which had no cracks on its surface finally collapsed and crumbled into pieces of rocks. A secluded and dark tunnel was then revealed.

 77 Inheritance

    "Eh?"


    Fang Yuan approached the side of the cave, examined it carefully, and felt anxious.


    "This tunnel is smooth and doesn''t seem to be formed naturally, but rather, man-made... Furthermore, the layer of rocks outside is obviously a cover-up. There was too much commotion made by the red-eyed white king bird and I while we were fighting, and the rocks gave way?"


    After re-enacting the scene, Fang Yuan made a guess on what caused the rocks to give way.


    "It seems that this spiritual land is not unclaimed. Did someone discover it before me?"


    With this thought, he became solemn.


    "Seeing the surroundings outside, it seems that it had been quite a while since someone came here?"


    Fang Yuan lit a tree branch and threw it into the tunnel.


    "Whoosh!"


    The flame was huge and the surroundings were illuminated.


    "There is no air circulation, so how is it possible..."


    Seeing this, he became suspicious. "How is it possible for fresh air to enter this secret tunnel? Could it be that there is another tunnel inside that leads to the outside world?"


    Who would have thought that within the nest of the red-eyed white king bird there would be a secret tunnel?


    What was even more surprising was that this tunnel was antique, but seemed like it was rebuilt, and smelled like it was lost in time.


    "Flower Fox Ferret!"


    Fang Yuan nodded his head. The Flower Fox Ferret dashed into the cave and appeared after a short while.


    "Is there any danger?"


    Seeing the response of the Flower Fox Ferret, Fang Yuan sighed and carefully entered the cave.


    The four walls of the cave were smoothened out, and with the light from the flame, a distinct shadow could be seen on the wall.


    "This is impossible... What material is this made out of?"


    Fang Yuan touched the wall, and it felt cold and smooth, like the finest silk, or a mirror. It was shocking.


    Furthermore, within the woods, the purpose of a secret tunnel would be to bring convenience and act as a shortcut, or a hiding place; there was no need to make it so exquisite.


    Unless... It was effortless to make it as such.


    Fang Yuan continued walking inwards, and his shadow continually appeared on the walls, overlapping each other, appearing somewhat hypnotic.


    All of a sudden, a layer of fog appeared, covering the ground.


    "Go to sleep! Sleep!"


    A strong hypnotic force was felt as Fang Yuan became sleepy.


    "This is... The unknown force surrounding Green peak spiritual land?"


    Fang Yuan felt a chill down his spine.


    Surrounding the spiritual land, there was a similar hypnotic force protecting the land. This force seemed to only affect humans, and even Fang Yuan himself was previously affected by it, and only pulled through with a little bit of luck. After that incident, he slowly grew a resistance to it.


    However, the force here was stronger by 10 times! 100 times!


    Fang Yuan felt his eyelids becoming heavy, and even the miniature elemental force within him felt lazy, and he could not call upon it.


    "The mind is the owner of the body. If it is calm, it will become wiser; if it is unsettled, one will become lost. In meditating, one must find peace and leave all behind. Only if this is fulfilled would someone find void and reconcile with the teachings. In leaving everything behind and meditating, there are four deviations in which one must avoid, and they are: The mind lost in blindness, the mind cannot be controlled, the mind does not know where it comes from and where to go, and one''s thoughts do not agree with one''s actions. Only by overcoming these four difficulties would one be able to control their mind and enter the next step of cultivation..."


    In a moment, the entire Meditative Tea Ceremony appeared in his head.


    Fang Yuan crossed his legs, sat down and began to recite.


    After a while, he felt a cooling sensation flowing from his consciousness. He felt a chill all over, and the restricted inner force began to flow smoothly throughout his entire body again.


    Fang Yuan opened his eyes, and a furry face appeared in front of him.


    "Keke!"


    The Flower Fox Ferret looked at Fang Yuan, and seeing that he was alright, patted its chest with its paws, as though it heaved a sigh of relief.


    There was an urgent chirp coming from outside, and the Iron-tailed Black Eagle sounded rather desperate. It was too big-sized to enter the tunnel and could only make a commotion outside to attract attention.


    "I''m alright!"


    Fang Yuan shouted, and appeased the two spiritual beasts. He felt comforted that spiritual beasts were much more loyal than humans; if Zhou Wenwu was here instead, who would''ve known what would happen.


    After getting a grip, Fang Yuan looked at the tunnel. The walls were as reflective as before, and the fog rose up from the ground as though he was in Heaven; the only difference was that there was no more hypnotizing effect.


    "Master... You saved me once more..."


    Fang Yuan sighed and walked on.


    Very quickly, he approached a dead end. There was a crystal door made up of many tiny crystals.


    Above the door was a crack, and within it was an obvious green colour. It seemed like a squarish jade piece.


    With its features, Fang Yuan could recognise from one look and recall the jade with the Blood Magic Technique.


    Without hesitation, he stretched his hand out to retrieve the jade.


    "It is indeed similar..."


    There was no special trap or mechanism when Fang Yuan attempted to retrieve it. He tried to push the crystal door, but it was as firm as a mountain and would not budge.


    Mustering up all his strength, he tried a few more times. Fang Yuan was disappointed that even with his current strength, he still could not open the door.


    "If the top of the door could have this piece of jade, then I wonder what other treasures would be inside?"


    Fang Yuan hesitated, thought about it, and placed the jade on his forehead. He focused his magical energy on his Mind Palace, and something broke through.


    "Rumble!"


    A rumbling was heard from around. Fang Yuan became dizzy and a scene appeared in front of him!


    Within the fog, an old man wearing a feathered robe appeared in front of the door, and looked over, full of compassion.


    "Master?!"


    Witnessing this scene made Fang Yuan feel like he was seeing a ghost!


    This old man''s image was exactly this same as his buried Master- Master Wenxin!


    He witnessed Master Wenxin''s last breath and even saw his body being cremated, and tombstone erected.


    "Fang Yuan, do you feel shocked after witnessing this scene?"


    Master Wenxin jokingly asked, and his tone and expression were the same as how Fang Yuan remembered him. "Master must let you know, that this is not a joke, nor it is my rebirth from the dead. What you are witnessing now is the imagery I left behind... This spiritual land was set-up by myself, and only you can pass the tests along the way to make it alive here!"


    "Imagery..."


    Fang Yuan realised that the surroundings were not real, but just a figment of his imagination. "Whatever is recorded in this jade is now playing in my mind? Is Master this powerful? This move is unprecedented... Furthermore, setting up this spiritual land?"


    One of his suspicions was removed.


    With such a strong hypnotic force around the entire mysterious spiritual land, how could his Meditative Tea Ceremony easily counter it?


    The only possibility was that he held the ''key'' to it!


    This land was an inheritance from Master Wenxin!


    After he cleared this doubt, another doubt arose. "Master... What kind of person are you, why would you leave it here for me to discover and not pass it to me directly?"


    "When I was young, I made a little name for myself. I became tired of the happenings in the city and left to live in the secluded valley, then subsequently met you. All this is fate..."


    Of course, Master Wenxin could not answer Fang Yuan''s question; after all, he was just an imagery and had no mind of its own. It could only continue as to how it was programmed. "Master initially prepared to bring all my teachings to the grave, and let you led a simple life. That might be a good choice, but after that, I realised that you were not a normal person!"


    Even though this was just an imagery, Master Wenxin''s expression still shocked Fang Yuan, as though he was being seen through. He began to suspect if Master Wenxin had known about his secret all along.


    "Therefore, as a special person, you will undergo a special journey. Your life will be full of surprises... Master shall leave you this piece of land, and see if fate brings you here!"


    At the end, Master Wenxin''s tone became serious. "Master will split my inheritance into a few parts, and you have to progressively inherit in order to receive the full inheritance. This is for your own good; after all, my teachings are too dangerous... But if you may succeed in the future, you can stand tall and proud..."


    "Lastly, after inheriting what I have for you, you will definitely pass it down. I use to have a nickname in the past, called ''Heartless''..."


    After Master Wenxin''s description, Fang Yuan''s expression kept changing; from the joy at the beginning, to being surprised by his master, then shock. It was complicated.


    After a long while, the imagery disappeared, and what was left was a line of words.


    "Master''s inheritance..."


    Fang Yuan did not read on. He kept the jade, looked at the crystal door, confused, and suddenly, he knelt down and kowtowed three times.


    "Master, don''t you worry. As your disciple, I will pass down whatever I have learnt, take over whatever you might have, and also... take your revenge!"


    "Dong! Dong!"


    After paying his respects, he left without turning around.


    Master Wenxin''s inheritance was split into a few parts, and without accomplishing what was written on the jade, no one could open the door, not even by brute force. Fang Yuan had no other choice but to leave.


    The information he gathered today was too much for him. He needed to calm down and think through it.


    "Chirp! Chirp!"


    Fang Yuan took a quick glance at the unconscious red-eyed white king bird, went out to the cliff, rode the Iron-tailed Black Eagle, and flew over the Green Peak spiritual land.


    Although this spiritual land was rather small, it was still over half a square mile. Although most of it was hilly and uneven, to Fang Yuan, it could be flattened out and converted to a farm and it could be expanded by another 200,000 square yards.


    "Such a spiritual land with a dream-like surrounding... Who would have known that it was made by Master from scratch..."


    Fang Yuan looked at the entire spiritual land, and his became increasingly shocked. "Is he a dream master?"


    Based on Master Wenxin, he was a dream master.


    A dream master was different from a spiritual knight who could conjure spells with the flick of a wrist and different from an alchemy master who could make spiritual pills. A dream master was much more superior, and based on rumours, on the list of talents, a dream master was ranked first, and if becoming a dream master was impossible, only then would one consider to become a spiritual knight or an alchemy master.


    Furthermore, if one were to become a true high-level dream master, his dream world could be actualised, and such dream-like surroundings would be formed!

 78 Dream Master

    "The spiritual land is either formed naturally on its own or formed when a dream master dies¡­.."


    The Iron-tailed Black Eagle landed on the peak. As Fang Yuan witnessed this scene, he was shocked and speechless.


    At least, now he knew that Shi Yutong and the spiritual knight would never be able to achieve this. Master Wenxin was way more superior than them.


    "All of a sudden, there is a change in the nature of this piece of land and it became a spiritual land¡­..The power of a dream master is indeed incredible!"


    Fang Yuan still couldn''t believe it. "Such master could rest in peace in solitude. What a secret type of energy this is..."


    Obviously, this master was way beyond Wu Zong and the level of spiritual knights. He was probably the most powerful in the whole of the secluded valley and even in the country!


    The world was too big and this country was just a small part of this world.


    Fang Yuan knew that if he were to be discovered by his opponent now, he would not be spared.


    "Just that¡­..in this world, miracles do happen and that is what that makes life much more interesting!"


    He silently clenched his fists and glanced at his stats window.


    With such a system that he had inherited, he was much more confident to improve himself quickly. One day, he would be able to achieve, or even surpass the level Master Wenxin had achieved!


    By then, he would have helped to fulfil what Master Wenxin hadn''t been able to!


    What about now?


    Fang Yuan forced himself to stop pondering over these thoughts and began to plan ahead.


    "Iron-tailed Black Eagle, Flower Fox Ferret! Faster, you two! We will be quite busy for a period of time soon!"


    The main obstacle in the spiritual land on the Green Peak was the Red-eyed White Birds. Even since they had been removed, Fang Yuan would want to explore the whole of Green Peak to collect spiritual objects and also to map out this place.


    Of course, the main point was to find a suitable place here to build his own secret base and relocate the important spiritual plants from the secluded valley to here.


    The Green Peak was not small.


    It was not an easy task to find a suitable spot to live in such a vast place.


    Luckily, Fang Yuan had the Iron-tailed Black Eagle with him to explore the whole area. After a period of exploration, they managed to find a suitable spot in the middle of the mountain. There was a large flat land of a few square miles. There was also a spiritual spring nearby and the place here was not far from the platform leading to the nest of the Red-eyed White King Bird.


    Fang Yuan became a hardworking gardener. He organised this piece of land to make it suitable for further developments and built a fence around the perimeter. He then started the relocation process.


    Luckily, there were still some spiritual bamboos left in the hole which the Red-eyed White King Bird lived in. However, the Vermillion Jade Rice was not on the list for the relocation. Fang Yuan was only aiming to relocate the Questioning Heart Tea Tree and the Flame Jade Rice.


    "The soil in this spiritual land is way better than the one back in the secluded valley!"


    Fang Yuan lifted the hoe and dug his way into the soil. He then nodded in agreement.


    Back in the secluded valley, he had grown quite a huge amount of the Emerald Grass in the Vermillion Jade Rice farm. Emerald Grass could help to freshen the surrounding air and if he did not plant this spiritual plant here as well, the nutrients in the soil here would leak out easily.


    However, there was still a big difference between the soil in the secluded valley and the soil here in the spiritual land.


    "Not only the condition of the soil, the quality of the air, water and other factors were way inferior back in the secluded valley as compared to here¡­.."


    Fang Yuan looked at the relocated Questioning Heart Tea Tree that was in front of him and happily nodded his head.


    Even after the relocation process, the Questioning Heart Tea Tree was not withered, but rather, was still in a good condition.


    "I shall return to the secluded valley in the afternoon and relocate the Flame Jade Rice here. Then, I can shift my focus from the secluded valley to here¡­."


    In the spiritual land, not only the spiritual plants were thriving, Fang Yuan himself felt comfortable to be in there.


    Also, one could live longer in the spiritual land. A martial artist could have a higher chance of success in making a breakthrough here. If not, why would this piece of land be called the blessed land?


    Not to mention, this piece of spiritual land was left behind by Master Wenxin and it meant a lot to Fang Yuan.


    "In future, the secluded valley will just be like an outpost and the main base will be right here in this spiritual land!"


    The place here in the Green Peak was quite secluded and it was difficult for others to discover this place. Also, there was a strong hypnotising fog to guard against anyone who dared to trespass.


    Fang Yuan was immune to the hypnotisation. An expert in 4 Heavenly Gates or even a Wu Zong would find it difficult to trespass this area, and they would end up sleeping forever.


    "The power of the dream master is indeed great¡­.."


    Fang Yuan went to the cliff where the Red-eyed White Birds were residing previously and looked at the nests. There were a few young birds and eggs remaining¡­... he pondered about this silently.


    "Chirp! Chirp!"


    This was a strong gust of wind and the Iron-tailed Black Eagle came back with a chicken and a wild rabbit.


    "Hmm, very good!"


    Fang Yuan clapped his hands and said, "Flower Fox Ferret and the Iron-tailed Black Eagle, I will need both of your help to take care of these young birds for a while!"


    "Keke!"


    Upon hearing Fang Yuan''s request, the Flower Fox Ferret opened its eyes widely and gave a speechless look.


    The Iron-tailed Black Eagle was even more shocked by Fang Yuan''s request. The Iron-tailed Black Eagle and the Red-eyed White Birds were enemies. How could one request it to take care of the young birds? What was Fang Yuan thinking?


    "After all, you all are birds and have some similarities¡­."


    Fang Yuan pushed the responsibility to the two spiritual beasts and carried the wild rabbit back into the hole.


    "Chirp! Chirp!"


    A loud but weak chirp was heard.


    "Bang!"


    A giant silhouette appeared and it looked as if it had knocked onto something as a loud noise was produced.


    "Why? Red-eyed White King Bird, you have still not accepted reality?"


    Fang Yuan took two steps forward and gave a cheerful expression.


    Previously, the Red-eyed White King Bird was staring at him furiously.


    Now, many of its bones were broken and it was held by a big metal chain. Furthermore, a few giant rocks were holding it down and it could barely move.


    Currently, the Red-eyed White King Bird''s elemental energy had been exhausted from the battle and it would be hard for it to escape since it was restrained.


    After defeating the Red-eyed White King Bird, Fang Yuan didn''t kill it in the end. Instead, he trapped it.


    However, the Red-eyed White King Bird was still full of pride. It decided to have a hunger strike since it was trapped!


    "You still don''t want to eat?"


    Fang Yuan then threw the wild rabbit to its mouth and took out a bamboo fruit. "It feels terrible after being enraged, doesn''t it? Do you want this?"


    "Chirp! Chirp!"


    The Red-eyed White King Bird turned its head and did not even look at Fang Yuan.


    Even though through its eyes, one could see its weakness. However, it was still proud. It was once considered an overlord, so how could it admit defeat to humans?


    Especially to an evil human who killed its own species!


    "Hoo¡­.looks like this is impossible!"


    Fang Yuan shook his head and knew that even though it was a spiritual beast, it could only survive up to a month without any food or water. He could end up getting just a dead spiritual bird.


    Also, his plans to fully overcome this spiritual bird would fail.


    "Looks like¡­..fairytales are lies. How can you accept it when you had just killed so many people? Are you brainless or are you a moron?"


    "You were probably related to my master and that was why I didn''t kill you!?"


    Fang Yuan shook his head and sealed the entrance of the tunnel with pieces of rocks. He then went to the platform outside and saw that the Flower Fox Ferret and the Iron-tailed Black Eagle were struggling to take care of the birds. It was an interesting scene to look at even though it was a mess.


    "This piece of spiritual land is finally mine!"


    He looked at the sky and there was a bright orange light shining at this place through the blue sky. It must be a beautiful sunset.


    Fang Yuan crossed his knees and sat down. He then took out a piece of jade and had mixed feelings.


    He placed the jade between his eyebrows and concentrated his magical energy. A passage on a technique appeared and it was beautifully written.


    Even though he had read the passage many times, regardless, he once again read from the start to the end and understood the meaning of the passage.


    This jade was left behind by Master Wenxin and it was a way for him to become a dream master!


    "A dream master! The energy from a dream master is considered to be the most powerful even though it is similar to that of spiritual knights, alchemy masters and array masters!"


    Master Wenxin''s method was simple but it was convincingly effective.


    Especially after Fang Yuan had personally witnessed the miracle in this spiritual land.


    "A dream master is one who would always make contact with the dream world! A dream¡­.It is the most the magical thing in this world. How are humans able to dream? Why do scenes of the future appear in dreams sometimes? The answers to these questions are supposed to be discovered by a dream master and once he knows that he is dreaming, he will be able to accomplish anything!"


    Even though such processes were illusory, Fang Yuan knew that a dream master could accomplish this.


    Mind could affect matter and consciousness could affect reality!


    The spiritual land right in front of him was the best scene to relate to the statement!


    A real dream master could be very powerful and scary at his later stage!


    Fang Yuan also understood why Master Wenxin praised his unique talents and left something valuable behind for him to inherit.


    "That secret had already been discovered by Master Wenxin!"


    The strange dream world that I had¡­...No, that was not even a dream. It was reliving my entire and actual life¡­.."


    "Since Master Wenxin was a dream master and was sensitive to the details that were related to the dream world, how could he not have discovered?"


    "Or maybe, because of this, he felt that I had the qualities of a dream master? Or maybe he was hoping that I could control what was happening in the dream world and not be confused by it?"


    ...¡­.


    These few possibilities came into his mind and he understood Master Wenxin''s effort. He was touched by it and was more determined than before.

 79 Heaven’s Elemen

    The world was vast and was split into 4 parts, namely Heaven''s Element, Earth''s Branches, East''s Victory and South''s Departure. In each part, the population was more than a billion, and there were as many countries as there were stars in the Milky Way. In these countries, many things were happening; demons and beasts having their own way, humans and gods co-existing, bizarre occurrences, and the most eye-catching phenomenon was the strength of the ''True Cultivator''.


    In Heaven''s element, there was a Green Cloud mountainous ridge, and a Green Cloud House.


    Green Cloud Sect was one of the top 9 True Cultivator influence in Heaven''s element. At one time, the sect trained 5 exceptional grandmasters and was therefore very well-known. Furthermore, there were more than 10 highly experienced old eccentric men at the helm. The sect''s name was at the top for more than 10,000 years, and there were countless talents trained from the sect, and therefore was referred to as the ''Lucky Sect''.


    Green Cloud House was a branch of the Green Cloud Sect and was responsible for recruiting and training the younger generation of disciples. Every 10 years, one of the many in the House would be recommended to join the Main Sect, and become an honorary disciple. His reputation and influence would then be comparable to a nation''s master.


    Within Heaven''s Element, there were more than a thousand of such Houses, and our story would begin from one of these small Houses.


    "Fang Yuan, wake up and do your chores!"


    In the dormitory, Fang Yuan woke up, rubbed his eyes, and while he was still half-asleep, he noticed a few disciples in green yelling at him, as though they looked down on him.


    "Chores? Oh, this is what the disciples of the House have to do daily. They will have to carry water, chop wood, tire themselves out, practice breathing techniques, all to hope for some breathing space and a good foundation..."


    Some information popped up in his mind, and Fang Yuan recalled his identity.


    "I was originally a farmer''s son. It was fate that I saved a House deacon''s life. Seeing that I looked special, he brought me to the mountains... A pity that it was his blunder. Although I might look like I have celestial blood, I was the useless one out of the many people with celestial blood. Five years had passed and I have not felt the fate to become something greater, and therefore became the laughing stock..."


    Although this memory felt extremely real, for unknown reasons, Fang Yuan felt a little odd and said. "F*ck... Why is this beginning a useless piece of wood yet again? I''m sick of this obstruction okay?"


    As he exclaimed, he shocked himself.


    As for ''useless piece of wood'' and ''obstruction'', he didn''t even know what he meant, and why he would say it.


    "Eh? Fang Yuan, you''re quite daring huh!"


    A few disciples in green were shocked. Even though they did not know what he was saying, his mocking tone was rather obvious, and their faces turned red with anger.


    "This kind of useless wood should be chased out of the House!"


    "He owes it all to Deacon Wang..."


    "I have never seen such an impudent brat in the House before!"


    "Pui, how can this type of person wish to become immortal!"


    "Fang Yuan, you seem to be full of energy! You shall settle all the chores today by yourself!"


    One of the disciples took a step forward and smiled with pride. "Did you hear what I said?"


    "So what if I am a failed celestial blood?"


    Fang Yuan clenched his fist, his veins bulging out. "I will successfully build my foundation, enter the Main Sect and become an Immortal Cultivator!"


    "Ha ha!"


    "What did I just hear?"


    "Did the useless person just claimed that he wanted to be an Immortal Cultivator, and enter the Main Sect?"


    The crowd became silent, and slowly, laughter began to fill the room. A young man who came from Wang Hou''s Family appeared unfriendly, squinted his eyes and said, "Don''t boast, be careful with your words!"


    He didn''t have to do the dirty work; a few followers came forward, preparing to teach Fang Yuan a lesson.


    "Cough Cough!"


    A loud commanding voice was heard from behind.


    "Good day Deacon!"


    Many young ladies paid their greetings and opened up a pathway. A middle-aged man walked out, his sharp eyes sweeping across the room. "What are you all doing here? Go and do your chores!"


    "Yes, sir!"


    Even the young man from Wang Hou Family did not dare to disobey the deacon and left promptly. Before he left, he stared at Fang Yuan, which sent chills down his spine, as though a snake was crawling on his back.


    "You, leave too!"


    The deacon stared at Fang Yuan, shook his head, and slowly took his leave.


    Fang Yuan went back to the room and carried his hoe and bamboo basket.


    ...


    The Green Cloud mountainous ridge was the source of green wood. This type of wood was entirely green, and strong as steel. It was the perfect material of best quality to construct buildings or ships.


    If left to grow more than a hundred years, the wood could be used entirely to form some low-grade tools.


    With this alone, Green Cloud House could survive on its own, without trading with the neighbouring smaller countries.


    Therefore, chopping the green wood was the daily chore of the lowly disciples.


    Of course, there were not many like Fang Yuan, who tried for five years but was still not fated for anything greater.


    "Piang!"


    As the axe landed on a crack in the green wood, there was a continuous sound. The impact on Fang Yuan''s hand was unbearable, and he felt numb.


    He took in a deep breath, and with a straight face, landed another hit on the wood. He controlled his breathing and breathed in a rhythmic fashion.


    "Through chopping wood every day, I would train my circulation, bones and joints to get some sense of Spirit... Even though I have zero potential, I should take around a year to enter the Main Sect, but now I have spent five years..."


    After an afternoon, Fang Yuan finally finished chopping his green wood. He wiped his sweat and smiled. "After gaining a sense of Spirit, I still need to build up my foundation for a hundred days before I can commence by Spirit training! There are 13 tiers in Spirit training, and only after completing everything, I would be at the pinnacle and would finally have the rights to try and get assessed into the Main Sect... I''ve heard that after the Demonic Wind stage, the inner Dragon and Tiger in me would combine, and undergo 19 Misfortunes before entering the ''Golden Pill'' stage!"


    "Within the Golden Pill stage, I would finally be comparable to the standards of an outer disciple. And as for when I''ll undergo the 39 Calamities and fusion of Elemental Infant so as to enter the inner Sect... After that, there will be Magic-splitting, Magic-melting and Magic-fusing... All these realms are increasing in difficulty. Furthermore, the Misfortunes would become increasingly scarier, and at the stage of Disaster, in every century there would be one 99 Wind-Fire Misfortune, and if one can survive it 9 times consecutively, and finally able to fly in the sunrise towards the heavens, one would become Immortal... I must become Immortal!!!"


    "Wait a minute... Immortal Cultivation sounds familiar... What strange language am I speaking in again?"


    Fang Yuan scratched his head, drank a mouthful of water and prepared to continue chopping wood.


    "I found him, he''s here!"


    All of a sudden, there was a commotion along the pathway to the mountains, and a few figures appeared.


    Fang Yuan felt miserable as he saw the group approaching.


    Those that appeared were the many young masters from Wang Hou''s Family and a few followers.


    "Fang Yuan... You were lucky in the morning that Deacon came to help you. However, this is the wilderness, I shall wait and see who would come to save you now!"


    A bulky young man came forward, and as he clenched his fist popping sounds could be heard.


    "These few have already comprehended the sense of Spirit, and are within the Spirit training stage. I am no match for them... Run!"


    Without a second thought, Fang Yuan turned around and ran.


    Just a few followers would give him problems already, not to mention the backup brought by the young masters from Wang Hou''s Family. They were highly skilled and their progress was incredibly quick; rumour has it that there were about to enter the 5th tier of Spirit training!


    "Give chase!"


    Seeing Fang Yuan escaping, a few followers naturally gave chase.


    Their stamina was good, and they were quick. By splitting up, they cornered Fang Yuan to the edge of a cliff.


    "Haha... Try running!"


    By splitting up, they cornered him, and the young masters stood behind, excited. "Beat him up! See if he''ll dare to talk to Sister Shui Ling any more!"


    "What?"


    Fang Yuan felt unjust. "You are against me just because of this? I have absolutely no relationship with Sister Shui Ling, we just had a few words..."


    "What, who would be as stupid as me, beaten up for nothing..."


    Unknowingly, Fang Yuan felt a sense of familiarity as he witnessed this scene.


    It was as though he went through the same thing once before, it was as though a girl whom he was not close with brought him trouble too.


    "It''s this feeling again... Wait a minute, Why... am I running? Why am I here?"


    "Who... am I?"


    Fang Yuan mumbled to himself, lost. He released his essence all around, and his breathing changed.


    "Beat him up!"


    A few followers did not wait and rushed up.


    "Ha! Eagle Claw!"


    Shadows flew by, and fractures were heard. The young masters were shocked.


    They did not expect this to happen; the ones on the floor crying for help were their followers instead.


    "Secular martial arts..."


    He frowned. "Is it that strong?"


    "It takes one day to see through, and realise that I am me all along!"


    Fang Yuan ignored him and laughed. He was ecstatic. "So... This is the feeling of a dream master!"


    He now realised that this entire world was his dream world!


    From existing in his dream to figuring out his identity to waking up and being aware, these were the important gates for a dream master to break through!


    Not everyone could become aware in their dream.


    It would be more likely for one to be sucked in and get lost in their own dream.


    However, Fang Yuan easily broke through this first Gate in his first dream!


    "It seems that Master did teach me a thing or two..."


    Fang Yuan became emotional.


    Although Master Wenxin did not directly teach him the ways of a dream master from the beginning, the Meditative Tea Ceremony that he passed down was strongly related to the role of a dream master.


    Furthermore, he grew up in an alternate dream world from young and had plenty of experience.


    With these two factors, he broke through the ''Riddle of the Dream'' relatively quickly, quicker than the average person.


    "Is this person... crazy?"


    At one side, a young master noticed Fang Yuan talking to himself and began to worry. He clenched his teeth and took out a talisman which gave out a spiritual light.


    This was a treasure bought at a high price; the young master felt that it was a waste to use it on Fang Yuan. With a shout, he exclaimed. "Ji!"


    "Whoosh!"


    A bright light flashed, and both of Fang Yuan''s arms dropped down cleanly.

 80 Dream Disciple

    "Haha¡­ This Golden Blade Talisman is indeed a useful spiritual talisman!"


    Seeing the power of the talisman, the young master laughed heartily, but after a while, his laughter stopped. He stared at Fang Yuan, who was bleeding profusely, and his face turned blank. "You¡­ you¡­ you..."


    The physical body would be extremely precious to those Immortal Cultivators who have yet to break through and enter the Golden Pill period.


    As for him, left with two empty shoulders, he should have passed out from the pain, or even die!


    Surprisingly, Fang Yuan appeared extremely calm, as though it was not his own body that was hurt.


    "Since all of this is a dream, then the pain and the suffering I am experiencing would be fake... As long as I want to exist in this dream world, I will be able to do so. In theory, I am the owner of this entire dream world!"


    Fang Yuan tried to change himself and return to his real state; he tried regrowing his limbs, and later on, he tried to increase his cultivation level directly to Tribulation Stage.


    Nothing happened. His plan to cheat and become an immortal failed miserably.


    Following that, Fang Yuan tried to change the physical world. For instance, he tried to summon the 99 Wind-Fire Tribulations to strike and kill those noisy pests but failed again.


    "Ah... It seems like I have to take things step by step!"


    Fang Yuan recalled the description of the dream world. Some people, under certain circumstances, would be aware that they were having a nightmare, but would not be able to wake up from it. Furthermore, they could do nothing about the fear in the dream, because they were not able to control their own consciousness, and Fang Yuan was in this situation.


    "To be able to be conscious in a dream is already an important step. The next step would be to remain conscious the moment the dream begins. As the saying goes, I would always know who fell asleep first!"


    Fang Yuan took a few steps forward. The blood from his arm already formed a pool on the ground, but he was still calm, as though it wasn''t even his own blood.


    "What are you doing? Fre... Freak! Don''t... Don''t come over!"


    The young master was in shock and fell to the floor. A foul smell came from his crotch, as he peed in his pants.


    Regardless of how high he was in his Spirit training, he was after all a young man, and after witnessing such a gruesome scene was scared till he peed!


    "I guess that death is still the quickest way to leave the dream world in the initial stage? Of course, I must have the intention of leaving, if not, even the Tribulation stage would be able to wipe me completely off from this world..."


    Fang Yuan frowned, took two steps forward and lifted the young master up.


    "Very normal... Very real..."


    He cut the wrist of the young master, and the arteries, veins and bones were visible.


    The young master continued to struggle and threw a few objects on Fang Yuan. A few more bloody holes in his body appeared.


    "Interesting! Interesting! Would I still return here the next time I dream?"


    Although the dream world was interesting, the flow of time in both worlds had to be managed well.


    In history, there were dream masters who were careless while cultivating and were trapped in their dream world, unable to escape. In the end, they died of hunger in the real world!


    As a rule of thumb, whenever a junior dream master trained, there should always be a senior dream master by his side to look out for him.


    Fang Yuan did not have a senior by his side, and to be safe, he wanted to leave immediately without having to consider if he still had enough time in the real world.


    "Only after I am able to control my dream world will I become the owner of the world. By then, controlling the flow of time would not be a problem... Based on this alone, I could get endless time compared to others..."


    Fang Yuan heaved a sigh, brought the screaming young master to the edge of the cliff, and jumped down.


    ...


    "Rumble!"


    Green Peak spiritual land.


    Fang Yuan''s body shook, and he opened his eyes.


    "Entering a dream... so interesting... Who would''ve known that my first dream world would be a world of Immortal Cultivators? I thought that it would be the other weird dream!"


    He was longing to experience the other modernised world full of technology another time.


    However, a junior dream master could not control his own dream worlds, and could only roam around dream worlds without control.


    "Eh?"


    He looked at the incense in front of him and saw a halfway-burnt incense smoking away.


    "I spent more than 10 years in the dream, but it is not even equivalent to the time to burn one incense in the real world?"


    The speed of time in dream worlds conjured by dream masters was usually faster than that of the real world. Of course, there were still many weird and wonderful dream worlds, and therefore dream masters could cheat time and explore every one of them.


    Fang Yuan heaved a sigh and placed the jade on his forehead.


    "The cultivation of a dream master is split into 4 steps: Entering a dream, becoming self-aware, changing the dream world and lastly, ruling the dream world!"


    Becoming self-aware meant that every time one entered a dream, he could be aware that he was dreaming, and not be confused.


    The next step was changing one''s body, followed by the surroundings and finally the entire dream world. Only then would one rule the dream world!


    After this dream world training, Fang Yuan felt a cool stream of knowledge and consciousness flowing into his Mind Palace and into his body. He became refreshed, took in a deep breath, and glanced at his stats window:


    "Name: Fang Yuan


    Essence: 8.0


    Spirit: 7.9


    Magic: 4.1


    Profession: Dream Disciple (Junior)


    Cultivation: [Martial Artist (11th Gate)]


    Technique: [Black Sand Palm (Grade 5)], [Eagle Claw Iron Skin Technique (Grade 11) (Able to harness Elemental Force)]


    Skill: [Medicine (Level 3)], [Botany (Level 3)]"


    "Dream Disciple - You are new to being a dream master, and have the skills to become self-aware in a dream; these skills are the most basics in the profession!"


    "Every dream training would increase [Magic] by ''0.1'', and that''s not too bad!"


    Fang Yuan nodded in satisfaction.


    The requirements of a dream master were high and unfathomable; even though Fang Yuan himself possessed 4 times more magical energy than the average person, he could barely reach the basics of a dream master cultivation!


    Of course, the harder the initial stages, the greater the potential of cultivation.


    "The initial stages of a dream master training would begin in one''s own dream world as that was the safest. One''s magical energy would be greatly affected if they were to get injured or die in another''s dream world... One is only considered to have attained the title of ''Dream Master'' when one gains full control of his own dream world, after which the exploration of other dream worlds would begin..."


    Fang Yuan read what Master Wenxin had left behind for him, and knew that at the beginning, a dream master would be weak, and may not even be able to protect himself.


    Only when one had become a true dream master and begin to explore other people''s dream worlds, would the real power of the dream master surface.


    "While martial artists train their Spirit in their Dantian, a dream disciple cultivates his Mind Palace between the eyebrows. When he reaches the stage of dream master, he would be cultivating dream elemental force..."


    Fang Yuan rubbed his forehead.


    He felt a cooling sensation in his Mind Palace; it was a totally different type of power from inner force.


    Based on its characteristics, it was more similar to the blood elemental force and a spiritual knight''s elemental force. At the same time, there were slight differences as well.


    "When I am able to fully control my dream world, this miniature elemental force will transform into dream elemental force, and act as the foundation for my cultivation!"


    Fang Yuan stood up, loosened his joints, and walked out.


    He came out from a grass hut built at the halfway point of Green Peak spiritual land. There was fencing around, and the Flame Jade Rice and Questioning Heart Tea were all growing well, within the fencing.


    "Indeed... Spiritual land is the best for growing spiritual plants!"


    Fang Yuan approached the boundaries of the fence and arrived at a carefully carved out plot of land for plantation.


    Other than the two matured spiritual plants, he planted the seed of the bamboo fruit, and a few other spiritual plant''s seeds which he recovered from the bird''s nest.


    Hopefully, by harnessing the magical abilities of this spiritual land, the spiritual plants would be able to germinate.


    The cultivation of a dream master could not be rushed. At this stage, a dream a day would be enough. Fang Yuan would spend his remaining energy on setting-up the spiritual land, and try to win over the red-eyed white birds.


    Those birds were made to starve, and when desperate, obeyed those who gave them food, which comforted Fang Yuan.


    As long as they were willing to put down their pride for once, there would be a chance of taming them in the future. Slowly, day after day, step by step, no matter how resolute they were, they would surely be tamed one day.


    The only worry was the red-eyed white king bird, with no fighting will, and was already useless.


    "And these bird eggs... Let the Iron-tailed Black Eagle hatch them? Seems like an original idea!"


    Fang Yuan climbed on a platform and held a large white egg in his hands. He felt the little movements of the chick within the egg, and shook his head. "Should I¡­.. Look for a bunch of hen to try it out? It may work!"


    If the red-eyed white king bird knew of this plan, he would be so embarrassed, and might even change its mind and listen to Fang Yuan.


    "Chirp! Chirp!"


    Just as Fang Yuan was deciding whether or not to use the bird eggs to provoke the red-eyed white kind bird, a gust of wind came and the Iron-tailed Black Eagle landed on the platform, carrying the Flower Fox Ferret on its back.


    It had been teasing the other white birds together with the Flower Fox Ferret for the past few days, and both of them had been travelling to and from the secluded valley and did not know that Fang Yuan was considering asking it to become the eggs'' nanny.


    "What happened?"


    He was signalled to come towards them, and Fang Yuan smiled. He froze.


    "Keke!"


    The Flower Fox Ferret let out a pitiful cry. There was a clean wound on it; it was not harmed by other animals, but rather, by a weapon.


    "This injury... Something has happened to the secluded valley?!"


    Fang Yuan squinted his eyes, looking fierce.


    "True... I''ve placed all my attention to this spiritual land, and tossed aside everything else, could it be that something has happened?"


    "The only issue I have is that that used to be my home and my Master''s reputation!"


    "Who dares to provoke me!"


    Fang Yuan let out a cold laugh and rode on the back of the Iron-tailed Black Eagle. "Let''s go! We shall teach them a lesson!"


    "Chirp! Chirp!"


    The Iron-tailed Black Eagle spread its wings, soared into the sky and disappeared.


    ...


    Secluded valley.


    Two groups of people were waiting outside of the straw pavilion.


    One group was Elder Han and Zhou Wenwu, while the other group was a group of foreign martial artists crowding around an old man, who was clad in a quail-feathered robe and appeared to be full of energy.


    "The white ferret was Doctor Fang''s pet, and you dare to harm it?"


    Zhou Wenwu looked at Elder Han, who did not seem to put the matter at heart. Yet, he still stood out to exclaim.

 81 Vigour of Style

    "Master is not here, and the white ferret is no match for them. This group of people looks menacing, what should I do?"


    Zhou Wenwu glanced anxiously at Elder Han.


    Standing right in front of him was an old man who was dressed in feathered clothing. He was known as ''Old Crane'' and was a famous doctor in the Secluded Mountains Prefecture.


    The purpose of his visit was to embarrass Fang Yuan after receiving news that Fang Yuan was a well-known doctor in the secluded valley.


    Even though Zhou Wenwu had got information that Old Crane was coming and immediately came back with backup, the sly Elder Han did not want to get himself involved, leaving Zhou Wenwu to deal with it.


    "Hey! You are a stupid beast with no manners. You dare to hurt others, so there is no wrong in teaching you a lesson!"


    One of the bodyguards of Old Crane then joked.


    This bodyguard had an immense energy. He was good-looking, but his eyebrows made him looked evil.


    Zhou Wenwu did not dare to say a word.


    According to Elder Han, this bodyguard, Hu Yuxu, was a [Martial Artist (10th Gate)] who had the combination of Yin and Yang and was about to break through the 11th Gate.


    If not for the Flower Fox Ferret, this bodyguard would have already trespassed the secluded valley.


    However, the Flower Fox Ferret sustained slight injuries by the bodyguard''s moves.


    Hu Yuxu was afraid of the Flower Fox Ferret as it was incredibly quick and that he was also unfamiliar with the terrain in the secluded valley. Hence, he did not dare to trespass this area.


    Little did he know that the Flower Fox Ferret had gone out with the Iron-tailed Black Eagle to find help; he thought the Flower Fox Ferret was probably hiding somewhere and setting up an ambush.


    In fact, if Fang Yuan had not ordered the Iron-tailed Black Eagle not to appear in front of anyone, both the Flower Fox Ferret and the Iron-tailed Black Eagle would have been able to defeat Hu Yuxu together. However, it would be a different situation if the two spiritual beasts were to meet a few martial artists that were as skilful as Hu Yuxu at the same time.


    "Since Fang Yuan is nowhere to be seen, shall I charge straight into the secluded valley to force him to come out?"


    Hu Yuxu''s eyes were filled with danger and he glanced at Old Crane.


    He then saw Old Crane stroking his beard. He seemed to have no idea on what to do next.


    He was extremely smart! Anyone who knew him would agree, as Hu Yuxu unknowingly looked at Old Crane and the men behind him.


    Even though Old Crane brought quite a number of men with him this time, there were only two Martial Artist in the 4 Heavenly Gates who were truly capable.


    One of them was Hu Yuxu, while the other was a middle-aged man, standing straight with his sword.


    Even though the other man looked like he was in his thirties, his eyebrows were white and his eyes gave a weary look, showing that he was not young.


    "So what do we do, Zhang Sheng?"


    Hu Yuxu asked. If both of them were to join hands and attack, the Flower Fox Ferret would not be a problem for them.


    After all, Zhang Sheng was very skilful and was an 11th Gate Martial Artist. In addition, he had a good reputation.


    "I am only obliged to escort Old Crane, in the form of returning a favour!"


    Zhang Sheng shook his head and said, "Since the owner is not here, wouldn''t it be rude for us to trespass his area like that?"


    "Very well!"


    Elder Han overheard their conversation and nodded his head. "I have heard that Zhang Sheng from Cangshui County is not only highly skilled in martial arts, but also a righteous person with good character. Looks like that is true!"


    Upon hearing this, Old Crane replied, "Elder Han, I have seen your injuries before. If you trust me, I will attend to you personally and guarantee that within 3 months, you will fully recover!"


    "Hmm?"


    Elder Han was shocked by his words.


    To be honest, he had been treated by Fang Yuan for quite a long while already and has his suspicions. He felt that Fang Yuan was intentionally dragging the treatment, which irritated him a little.


    If he had no other choice, he had to let Fang Yuan continue to treat him.


    However, did Old Crane just assured him a full recovery in 3 months?


    Elder Han looked down, deep in thought.


    "Hu Yuxu, go and announce our arrival again. If Fang Yuan still doesn''t appear, bring Ah Da and Ah Er in and invite him out!"


    Old Crane said in a deep voice.


    "Yes, Old Crane!"


    Two martial artists appeared behind his back.They were both [Martial Artist (8th Gate)]. Both of them looked alike and were twins.


    Both of them were different from Zhang Sheng. Zhang Sheng was repaying a favour to Old Crane, but these two brothers were just servants and following orders.


    Upon hearing his order, Zhang Sheng looked worried. Elder Han flinched but did not stop them.


    Zhou Wenwu was left alone to block the entrance of the valley and gave a helpless look.


    He was not loyal to the point where he was willing to sacrifice his life for Fang Yuan. This was all he could do.


    "Hehe¡­..a martial artist with inner power, and yet you dare to block me. I must say that you are very courageous indeed! Very courageous!"


    Hu Yuxu stared at him and was full of mystery.


    As he stared into Hu Yuxu''s eyes, Zhou Wenwu started to have goosebumps all over. He trembled and felt a huge pressure coming, making him retreat and fumble over his steps.


    "Very good, you are remarkably brave!"


    At that moment, a gentle voice came from the valley inside. Zhou Wenwu immediately stood straight and said, "The doctor is here!"


    "Gentlemen, you have come from far and been making things difficult for me. May I know why?"


    Among the clear voice, a young man took only a few steps and arrived outside the secluded valley. Zhang Sheng''s eyes glittered as he saw this.


    "Eh?"


    Elder Han was also surprised when he saw Fang Yuan!


    Fang Yuan had given him a mysterious vibe. He realised that it was not because of his medical skills, but his martial arts!


    He also felt that even after fully recovering, he still might not be able to deal with Fang Yuan, which frightened him!


    Previously, Fang Yuan didn''t reveal his martial arts and looked harmless. As he revealed his Lightness skill, everyone was shocked!


    "Zhou Wenwu, you have done a good job. You can leave now!"


    Fang Yuan patted Zhou Wenwu''s shoulders, flattering him with recognition of his good job.


    If he wasn''t busy hiding the Iron-tailed Black Eagle, he would have arrived earlier. However, he came at the right time as he could see Elder Han''s heart waver, and witnessed Zhou Wenwu''s determination at the same time. He realised that Zhou Wenwu was loyal enough to be worth training.


    Even though Fang Yuan knew that Zhou Wenwu was forced to take action, it didn''t matter! Regardless if he did it out of his own will, it didn''t matter to Fang Yuan. What mattered was that at least he took action! That was commendable!


    ''Even a dog who is keeping guard has to be rewarded if it has done well. Not to mention¡­..Zhou Wenwu''s martial arts is not strong enough and he has yet to attain the 6th Gate. He will still be defeated easily!''


    Fang Yuan thought about helping Zhou Wenwu break through the 6th Gate, which was a piece of cake for him.


    As the leader, he should help his men out as it would make them more loyal and obedient.


    What about the possibility that Zhou Wenwu might betray Fang Yuan in the future? If he could maintain this speed for improvement, Zhou Wenwu actually would never be able to catch up with Fang Yuan and therefore would probably never betray Fang Yuan.


    "So, you are the famous doctor in the secluded valley?"


    Hu Yuxu looked at Fang Yuan with frivolous expression.


    After all, with his experience, a doctor who was not at least 50 years old with a wealth of experience in medicine was not considered an expert.


    Fang Yuan was young, and he was not a magical demon with healing prowess. Therefore, he must be a fraud!


    "Hmm?"


    Fang Yuan gave a mysterious look in his eyes, which frightened Hu Yuxu a little.


    "An expert in the 10th Gate, Yang Gate?"


    He murmured a few words, shocking Hu Yuxu. "Even though you are a 10th Gate Martial Artist, your energy and blood are damaged, which makes your foundation weak. You look sickly and I can see that there is an imbalance between the Yin and Yang in your body from the energy of your Mind Palace¡­..You are only comparable to an average 9th Gate Martial Artist. It appears that you made your breakthrough in the Yin and Yang energies via evil means? How many people have you harmed in the process?"


    "What?"


    Hu Yuxu retreated and cold sweat started forming on his forehead.


    The technique which he used was known as the Inverse Yin Elemental Technique. It was an evil technique but one would be able to progress and make a breakthrough of the Yin and Yang quickly.


    He didn''t expect that Fang Yuan could see through his method in one look.


    Even though he was stealthy in his actions, many innocent people had suffered because of him. If they could relate all these incidents to him, his reputation would go all the way down. From the suspicious looks of Zhang Sheng and other martial artists, he knew that they already suspected that something was wrong with him!


    "No wonder he couldn''t take criticisms and could improve tremendously¡­.."


    "I had also heard that Hu Yuxu was lewd and had many mistresses¡­.There were also rumours that he liked men as well..."


    "I just recalled that Hu Yuxu disappearance would always coincide with the appearance of the pervert Flower Butterfly. Could he be¡­.."


    A few whisperings were heard, making Hu Yuxu disgusted.


    "Nonsense..."


    He felt wronged and replied with a sense of justice. "I am using the Frozen Water Formula and it is not through evil means. Please stop accusing me!"


    "Really? How unfortunate!"


    Fang Yuan glanced at him with pity in his eyes. "Even though this evil technique allows one to progress quickly, there are various consequences! After all, you stole your Yin and Yang energies from others. From one hour before and after noon and midnight, do you feel that your Yin and Yang are unbalanced, causing you much pain from their clashes? How does it feel to be bipolar too?"


    "Also, you will probably not be able to break through the Earth Gate in your entire lifetime. The things that I have just mentioned are not written down in that technique, isn''t it? And did the doctor beside you remind you of this?"


    "How¡­.how did you know?"


    Hu Yuxu''s voice exclaimed in shock, as though someone had discovered his biggest secret.


    As he spoke, he realised that he should not have said it.


    "Wow!"


    Zhang Sheng exclaimed. "So you are this type of person. I feel ashamed to be on the same side as you! Hu Yuxu, I shall not hurt you today for Old Crane''s sake. However, if I were to see you doing evil things again, I will not hesitate to stop you with no mercy! Mark my words!"


    "Aahh!"


    Hu Yuxu''s expression changed. With a shout, he escaped!

 82 Solution

    "This¡­.."


    The rest looked at Fang Yuan and was speechless.


    Fang Yuan was able to discover such a big secret of a [Martial Artist (10th Gate)] just by looking at him for the first time, and even made him escape in embarrassment?


    Shouldn''t this sort of medical skill be at the peak of the ''looking'' stage of the 4 diagnostic methods?


    Among all the onlookers, Elder Han was the most embarrassed.


    His heart previously wavered at the same time when Fang Yuan appeared, which caused him to be very embarrassed of himself in front of Fang Yuan.


    ''Without violence, he was able to defeat his enemy with just a few sentences. What potential!''


    Elder Han became a little frightened when he thought about this. As he was thinking, Fang Yuan questioned Old Crane. "Are you also a doctor?"


    "Correct. Old Crane is a well known and respected doctor in the Secluded Mountains Prefecture!"


    Ah Da, on behalf of Old Crane, was trying to hint to Fang Yuan that Fang Yuan was just a young man and was still considered a junior when compared to Old Crane.


    "Oh! Then may I ask you, Old Crane, if you noticed the abnormalities on Hu Yuxu''s body?"


    Fang Yuan continued to press on with his questions, as he reached a climax.


    "Well¡­.."


    Old Crane hesitated in his answer.


    If he said that he did not notice the abnormalities, wouldn''t he be admitting that his medical skills were inferior to Fang Yuan''s?


    But if he could detect the abnormalities but intentionally hid it from Hu Yuxu, it would be even more terrible.


    "Since you are a well-known doctor, you should be very sensitive to these details and should have already detected it, shouldn''t you? Why are you still hanging around with such an evil person? Where is your medical ethics? Where has it gone to?"


    Fang Yuan was harsh in his words. "Medical ethics are the most important for a doctor! If a doctor is talented but does not have the medical ethics, you will only bring suffering to others even if you are the most powerful doctor in the world!"


    "You¡­.."


    Old Crane, who previously looked like a superior doctor with his long beard, was now blushing in embarrassment; his fingers were trembling.


    Indeed, the purpose of his visit was to actually embarrass Fang Yuan.


    However, he didn''t expect to meet such a cunning lad who didn''t even question his medical skills, but his medical ethics!


    In fact, this was what Fang Yuan wanted to achieve.


    Fang Yuan had nothing to fear even if they were to question each other''s medical skills. However, why should he follow his enemy''s plan to put their medical skills against each other?


    They could not blame Fang Yuan for tarnishing their reputation as they were the ones who had provoked Fang Yuan first!


    "And for Elder Han, you agreed to help him? Mind if I ask you, what did you do? How dare you to brag without shame? How could you treat a patient''s life so lightly? Doctors should have the care and concern for their patients just like how parents have for their children. Where is your care and concern for Elder Han? Or maybe you don''t have it in the first place?"


    Upon hearing what Fang Yuan said, Elder Han was even more embarrassed this time.


    He was even more afraid than embarrassed actually.


    Indeed, Old Crane simply glanced at Elder Han and estimated that Elder Han could recover fully under his treatment in 3 months. How confident was he about his estimation? After all, no doctors in the sect were able to treat Elder Han and Shi Yutong even had to ask the alchemy master for help.


    "Doctor Fang, don''t be angry!"


    His life was still more important than his pride.


    He was thick-skinned and replied, "I knew the principle of being faithful to one. How could I ask someone else to treat me halfway during my treatment under you? Not to mention whether Old Crane''s medical skills were good or not, even if he was a powerful doctor, I would still want to be treated by you, Doctor Fang!"


    "You¡­."


    "All of you!!"


    His sentence was so harsh, making Old Crane furious and speechless. Suddenly, he spat out a mouthful of blood and fainted.


    "Oh? This is bad!"


    Fang Yuan saw what happened to Old Crane and shook his head. "Your medical ethics and tolerance are no good, how could you even become a doctor? Even I feel ashamed for you!"


    Elder Han''s eyelids twitched upon hearing what Fang Yuan said.


    Old Crane thought he could embarrass Fang Yuan. Little did he know that he would lose even before the fight. Plus, his reputation was tarnished and he was deeply embarrassed. It would be very hard for him to face anyone now!


    "Enough!"


    Zhang Sheng drew out his sword and raised his voice.


    "We shall not discuss further regarding Old Crane''s medical ethics. I am sorry that we have caused much disturbance and trouble in this visit. We shall take our leave!"


    Knowing that their mission was a failure, Zhang Sheng did not say much and instructed Ah Da and Ah Er to carry the fainted Old Crane. All of them left in embarrassment.


    "Zhang Sheng is a well known martial artist in Cangshui County. He had mastered the Tumultuous Nine Sword Technique and is also an 11th Gate Martial Artist 11th Gate....."


    Elder Han said as he saw the group of them leaving.


    "Oh? Are you suggesting that I should have attacked them? I am a doctor and not a fighter¡­.."


    Fang Yuan patted his chest and act as if he was very scared of them. "Elder Han, you are also an 11th Gate martial Artist. I shall leave it to you to help me and find a chance to humiliate them back?"


    Elder Han shook his head with a forceful smile when he heard Fang Yuan''s request.


    Even if he were to recover fully from his injuries, he was still an elder of the Spirit Returning Sect and it was a serious consideration to provoke another [Martial Artist (11th Gate)].


    He could only feel that Fang Yuan was too profound to be understood.


    Fang Yuan laughed and consoled Zhou Wenwu with a few words.


    In fact, he would likely be inferior to Old Crane if one was to compare both of their medical experiences and skills.


    However, Fang Yuan''s shocking magical energy aided him. Furthermore, he was a [Martial Artist (11th Gate)] and was extremely familiar with Yin and Yang. Thus, Hu Yuxu could not hide his secret from Fang Yuan.


    Fang Yuan not only verbally attacked them but also used an underhand method as well.


    ''The dao of spiritual knights is impressive indeed. With a little influence from a dream master and some combination with the Blood Magic Manual, in certain situations, it is even more useful than a 10th Gate martial artist.''


    Fang Yuan nodded his head and was satisfied with how he handled the situation.


    "Since the two of you are here already, why not just come in and have some tea!"


    Without another word, he went back into the valley. "Also, Zhou Wenwu, I am lacking a few servants here. Please help me find some clever ones!"


    "How could I disobey your orders?!"


    Zhou Wenwu was happy as he knew he was even closer to Fang Yuan now, making Elder Han envious of him.


    If the news of servants needed at Fang Yuan''s place spread, the big families in Qingye City would not hesitate to send their children here as servants.


    Fang Yuan of the secluded valley seemed to have become the strongest influence in Qingye City.


    "Among these servants, there better be some farmers who have the experience of taking care of spiritual plants!"


    There were no more secrets in the secluded valley. There were a few acres of Vermillion Jade Rice and a bamboo growing. There was not much left to be revealed as Fang Yuan had already shown off his abilities.


    "Spiritual plants?"


    Elder Han''s expression changed as he heard what Fang Yuan said.


    Fang Yuan restrained his expressions and said, "It was pure luck that the few acres of Vermillion Jade Rice were able to grow. I will have to thank your sect for giving me as a gift to plant it!


    "Vermillion Jade Rice? And a few acres of it?"


    Elder Han widened his eyes.


    It was true that the Vermillion Jade Rice originated from the Spirit Returning Sect and many families in the county did plant it. It was difficult to grow them in small amounts as it could exhaust human and material resources easily. The land used to plant the spiritual plant would have to be changed every few years as the planting of spiritual plants would make the piece of land infertile in a few years.


    How then was Fang Yuan able to grow a few acres of the Vermillion Jade Rice?


    ''Or maybe the spiritual land is right here?''


    Elder Han''s expression changed and observed the surroundings of the secluded valley carefully. He then shook his head and thought, ''No¡­.the land here is probably very fertile, but it is astonishing to grow such a good amount of spiritual rice here!''


    ''Or maybe Fang Yuan has a secret method specifically for growing spiritual rice?''


    Elder Han''s suspicions of Fang Yuan grew and he glanced at Fang Yuan. A thought then came into his mind. ''What a coincidence he is opening up the secluded valley and hiring servants. It is a good time for me to investigate!''


    This was one of Fang Yuan''s purposes.


    He sealed the secluded valley away from the public so others would try to guess the secrets of it.


    Fang Yuan was taking this chance to reveal part of the secluded valley so as to clear some people''s suspicions.


    There was a big difference between a low-profile talent who could become powerful all of a sudden and another who had a poor background but rose up to become powerful by eating spiritual rice every day.


    He wanted to divert the attention to the secluded valley so that they would overlook the secrets in the Clear Spirit Mountain.


    When Elder Han saw that the few acres of the Vermillion Jade Rice grown here were in better condition as compared to the ones that were grown back in the sect, he could not believe his eyes.


    "This is impossible! Impossible!!!"


    He squatted and looked at the fertile land, as though he wanted to taste it.


    Unfortunately for him, Fang Yuan had not added any spiritual fertiliser. Even if Elder Han had brought back a few samples of the soil to test, he could only conclude that the soil was normal and fertile.


    After he sent a shocked Elder Han away, Fang Yuan asked Zhou Wenwu to stay behind.


    "Yes, Master!"


    Without the presence of any outsiders, Zhou Wenwu became slightly stiff.


    "You have done well today!"


    Fang Yuan sat down while crossing his knees and nodded his head. "However, your cultivation level is¡­..low!"


    "That is because I am incapable!"


    Zhou Wenwu blushed.


    He had consumed the spiritual rice daily and his inner power had reached its peak level. However, he did not know what he was lacking and therefore could not make a breakthrough.


    "The 6th Gate is also known as the Pain Gate. Breaking through this gate will be the defining moment for many martial artists. Once you make this breakthrough, your inner power will be converted to inner force!"


    Fang Yuan glanced at Zhou Wenwu and said, "If you want to rebuild the Zhou family''s name and reputation, being a 5th Gate martial artist is not enough!"


    The current situation in Qingye City was different from before. An inner power martial artist would not be able to control a situation on his own. Similarly, Zhou Wenwu was not able to handle the situation on his own.


    While perturbed, he was stunned when Fang Yuan served him a cup of tea. "Drink it!"


    ...¡­..


    ''If a martial artist wants to break through to attain the 6th Gate, one has to accumulate their Essence, Spirit, and especially one''s magical energy. As one breaks through higher gates, the requirement of one''s magical energy will also be higher¡­..''


    Fang Yuan clearly knew that Zhou Wenwu''s accumulation of his inner power had reached the peak level for a [Martial Artist (5th Gate)]. However, Zhou Wenwu was still young, and his magical energy was slightly low. Hence, he was stuck at the 5th Gate. He did not want to risk making a breakthrough as he would be seriously injured should he fail.


    Fang Yuan''s cup of tea would solve his problems.


    Also, Zhou Wenwu was stuck at the 5th Gate for quite a while and there could be a possibility that he would make a breakthrough by chance. With this cup of tea which Fang Yuan could use against Zhou Wenwu, Zhou Wenwu would not say a single word.

 83 Evolve

    "Chirp! Chirp!"


    In the open sky, the Iron-tailed Black Eagle flew higher and higher, and finally became a small black dot.


    "Keke!"


    The Flower Fox Ferret waved its paws around. Its progress of recovery was halfway, and it seemed excited.


    "Don''t worry! Nobody can take advantage of us! I will take revenge for you!"


    Fang Yuan comforted the Flower Fox Ferret, smiling.


    The trouble that Old Crane brought to him could not be paid back by just a mouthful of blood!


    Furthermore, he was worried that the other party did not know his true strength, and they attempted to fight their way in with martial artists.


    "The brothers who have broken through the Death Gate are still just on par with the Flower Fox Ferret, and both Hu Yuxu and Zhang Sheng, who have broken through the 4 Heavenly Gates, are no match for me... The Iron-tailed Black Eagle can deal with the rest!"


    Fang Yuan''s battle plan was simple, or even too plain, but it didn''t matter!


    With the flying spiritual beast, He could fight and, escape whenever he wanted to and could always be on the top of things!


    Zhou Wenwu was a local of Qingye City. Even though he could not match against any of these enemies, he could stalk and get information about them within the city as easy as the snap of his fingers.


    "The party did not stop at Qingye City, and went straight back to Cangshui County?"


    With this information, Fang Yuan''s smile widened. "Even though they were cautious, they still underestimated my abilities and think that they could get away?"


    "Chirp! Chirp!"


    The Iron-tailed Black Eagle seemed to know what he meant, and with a long chirp, he increased his speed.


    ...


    Two World Mountain.


    This was the separation between Qinghe County and Cangshui County. The mountainous ridge was continuous, hilly and was like a dragon, separating the two sectors.


    "Chirp! Chirp!"


    The Iron-tailed Black Eagle possessed an astonishing eyesight; it noticed a trail of what seemed to be a campsite and immediately descended.


    "Who would''ve known that they could make it this far, they are really quick!"


    Fang Yuan examined the surroundings and it was full of fire pits, tents etc. His expression suddenly changed. "Something''s not right!"


    He went up and noticed cuts on the tents, flipped pots and bowls, and the blood stains on the ground. He became interested. "Internal conflict?"


    At this point, he had no other doubts, and he opened the tent flaps.


    "Whoosh!"


    A pungent smell of rot filled the air, and in the tent laid two people. They were the martial artists who came that day to look for trouble, but both of them had no signs of life.


    "Dead... Poisoned?!"


    Fang Yuan looked at the weird smile that both corpses had, and looked at the embers in the fire pit. He remained speechless.


    "Who would''ve known... Someone accomplished what I set out to do!"


    He scavenged the tent and found even more corpse within the tent. Accompanying the morning peace in the forest, this was a scene filled with fear.


    "Seeing how it is, it seems that most of them did not see it coming and died in their dreams and the remaining ones who found out what was happening tried to retaliate..."


    Fang Yuan came to the boundaries of the campsite and found even more martial artists corpses, and their cause of death, being stabbed by a weapon. There were slash marks on the neighbouring trees as well, evidence of a fight.


    He closed his eyes, and it was as though he could witness the scene last night. "Only one person has the ability to poison so many on such a large scale, and that is... Old Crane!!!"


    Only this doctor would know of such colourless and odourless quick-acting poison, and he would not draw suspicion to himself because of his status.


    "But... Why did he do it?"


    Fang Yuan was confused. "Just to cover up for his failure? Not to this extent, right?"


    He only took it as a possibility; after all, anything could happen when one becomes crazy.


    It seems that the rational madman could only do so much.


    Following the tracks forward, Fang Yuan''s eyelid twitched.


    "One skilled martial artist escaped... This is retaliation!"


    In front of him was two corpses with their heads split open. The wounds were inflicted by a sword.


    "Zhang Sheng''s Tumultuous Nine Sword Technique?!"


    Fang Yuan twitched his eyebrow. "Did Old Crane go crazy? To the extent of harming Zhang Sheng? Or was he forced to?"


    He understood everything once he noticed the imprint on a tree trunk; it was that of a palm.


    "Iron-tailed Black Eagle!"


    He called for it and quickly leapt on its back. "Follow this trace, and search the campsite for clues! Don''t give up anything suspicious!"


    ...


    "Nine dragons strike!"


    In the woods, Zhang Sheng was pale. His clothes were tattered, and the sword in his hands swung about; the only thing that was visible was nine streaks of flashes, as though the galaxy was upside down and flowing down.


    "Puff!"


    He was fighting the two brothers who broke through the Death Gate, Ah Da and Ah Er. Witnessing his attack, both of them went pale and tried their best to fend off the attacks.


    "Whoosh whoosh!"


    Two distinct sword slices were heard. Both of them were in disbelief and fell to the ground. Each of them had a cut half an inch on their forehead.


    "Puff!"


    Zhang Sheng kept his sword. He looked uncomfortable, and suddenly spat out a mouth of black blood.


    At this moment, a sneaky shadow pounced towards Zhang Sheng, and a claw landed on his abdomen.


    "Pang!"


    A loud sound was heard and Zhang Sheng flew backwards, not knowing how many ribs he had broken.


    "Hehe... Zhang Sheng, your ''Hunting Dragon Technique'' is indeed impressive and can surely reach the Wu Zong level. To be able to withstand until now even though you were poisoned is a testament to the ability of your technique, and you can even kill Ah Da and Ah Er, I respect you for that!"


    The assailant had a decent look, with evil in his eyes; it was Hu Yuxu, the one who was scared away by Fang Yuan.


    "You gave him a claw on his abdomen, and therefore he is useless now!"


    A voice came from the side, and Old Crane slowly appeared. Looking at Ah Da and Ah Er''s corpse, he frowned. "Why didn''t you attack earlier? I took a lot of effort to train these two subordinates!"


    "This person''s sword technique is too powerful at first. If I did not take advantage of his negligence for defence while fighting, I wouldn''t have confidence to hit him in one strike!"


    Hu Yuxu became surprised.


    This was because Zhang Sheng wielded his sword and stood right back up!


    Even though his condition looked bad, his legs shivering, he still stood up straight like a javelin!


    "Why?"


    He looked at Old Crane and forced those words out. Every single word he said took a tremendous amount of effort.


    "My fellow friends and I look up to you, which was the reason why I agreed to help you. So what if we lost? Do you need to come to this point, to mix around with these kinds of despicable people?"


    Zhang Sheng could not believe what he saw, and stared at Hu Yuxu, as though he wanted to kill and torture him.


    The Three Heroes of Cangshan, the Guo Brothers, and the Flowery Sword... Every good soul in the team, all their smiles seemed to appear in front of him.


    "Why? Haha... You martial artists act like you listen to my uncle but disobey him behind his back, and caused his setback. Don''t you think that is a huge crime on its own?"


    Hu Yuxu snickered and continued. "Not just the few of you! Don''t forget about that Fang Yuan and everyone else who was in the secluded valley that day! I will not let a single one of you off!"


    "You guys did not die here, but died in the hands of Fang Yuan at the secluded valley, and all of you were also being ambushed by the Spirit Returning Sect!"


    "Everyone in the secluded valley cannot run away!"


    Hu Yuxu treated Zhang Sheng as though he was dead, and rattled on casually, letting out more information.


    Old Crane frowned but did not say anything.


    "Un... Uncle?!"


    Zhang Sheng''s eyes widened, then shook his head. "So this is the relationship between the two of you... It seems that you, Old Crane, are aware of his wrongdoings and act like nothing happened, is that right? Who would''ve known that the both of you would be in cahoots? To think that I thought Doctor Fang was wrongly insinuating you that you have no ethics, and now it is clear that you are the lunatic!"


    "Say whatever you wish to say!"


    Hu Yuxu smiled and said. "After today, you will become a ... dead person! Furthermore, based on my uncle''s reputation, who do you think they would believe?"


    "You thief!"


    Zhang Sheng was furious. "I will haunt you as a ghost!"


    "Ah... Zhang Sheng, I initially did not want to bring you into this!"


    Old Crane finally spoke.


    His face was full of pity. "All because you did not want to follow instructions like Ah Da and Ah Er, and also that you knew too much of our secrets. If you live on, it would be my biggest worry..."


    "Old thief!"


    Zhang Sheng lashed out. "Was I blind at the beginning..."


    "Carry on! Carry on!"


    Hu Yuxu focused his inner force onto his palms and went forward. "I didn''t like you from the start, and now I shall send you to Heaven!"


    Zhang Sheng struggled and wanted to retaliate but to no avail. He was poisoned, and was tired from the many fights, and was subsequently ambushed. He was like a burnt-out match and was standing there with his last breath.


    Even if Hu Yuxu didn''t kill him, he was unlikely to survive through the night; he couldn''t even move a finger now.


    "Pa! Pa!"


    At this moment, a distinct clapping sound travelled from the woods.


    "Who''s that?"


    Hu Yuxu retreated and was on high alert. He had the look of death, as though he was not going to let anyone off alive.


    "Remarkable! Remarkable indeed!"


    Fang Yuan slowly appeared from the dense woods, and he jokingly said. "Who would''ve known that I could witness all these just by casually strolling through..."


    "It''s you!"


    Old Crane was shocked and shortly after, he turned fierce. "Fang Yuan from the secluded valley!!!"


    From his tone one could tell that he had extreme hate for Fang Yuan and wanted to boil him alive; even Fang Yuan was confused himself as to when their hatred for each other escalated to such a level.


    "Haha... You could have survived, but you chose death by coming here!"


    Seeing that Fang Yuan was alone, Hu Yuxu was shocked, then started laughing maniacally. "Tell me, how would you like to die?"


    "Why do some people think that they are too compassionate?"


    Fang Yuan waved his hands and a white flash appeared from the forest. "Flower Fox Ferret, this is for you!"


    "Keke!"


    Seeing its enemy, it was raging.


    Seeing that the person who injured him was just in front, the Flower Fox Ferret turned into lightning and pounced on him.


    "You beast!"


    Hu Yuxu shrieked and knew that it was powerful as he had fought the Flower Fox Ferret previously. He took out a jade sword from his hips and defended himself.


    "Alright, Old Crane. Don''t we have a score to settle for ourselves?"


    Fang Yuan looked at Old Crane mockingly.

 84 Some Rest At Las

    "Fang Yuan, you''re pushing it too far!"


    Seeing Flower Fox Ferret dragged Hu Yuxu away unrelentingly while Fang Yuan continued to advance continuously, Old Crane was panic stricken. He stepped backwards and shouted out.


    "I''m pushing it too far?"


    Fang Yuan snorted mockingly, "You took the effort to travel all the way here to disturb me. When you did not achieve your objective, you even devised a deadly trap and tried to trick me. How dare you say that I''m the one pushing it too far?"


    "Shoo!"


    As he was talking, he sped like the wind and circled Old Crane a few times before coming to a halt by the side.


    Old Crane''s face turned ghostly pale. His hand shivered and a few bags of medicine fell to the floor as he stuttered, "You¡­have broken through the 4 Heavenly Gates?"


    Even though he knew that Fang Yuan was a highly skilled martial artist with an unrivalled inner force, he never thought that Fang Yuan was such a formidable martial artist!"


    Fang Yuan was not even past 20 years of age! Yet he was so proficient and outstanding in both medicinal abilities and martial prowess to the point that it was completely unbelievable!


    "Do not forget that I am also a medical practitioner. Those moves you have will not work on me!"


    Fang Yuan wriggled his nose and shook his head slowly.


    Even though Old Crane was also trained in martial arts like him, he was probably only around the 5th or the 6th gate. How could he possibly be a match for Fang Yuan?


    As for attempting to use poison on Fang Yuan, Old Crane was simply making a fool out of himself in front of Fang Yuan who was an expert in this field.


    "Ah!"


    After seeing what happened, Hu Yuxu who was struggling with Flower Fox Ferret let out a shout. He threw out a Sword Flower which burst into flames in mid-air, sending rays of blinding light in all directions. He forced Flower Fox Ferret to release its grip and took the chance to escape.


    "Keke!"


    Seeing Hu Yuxu escaping, Flower Fox Ferret flew into a rage and chased after Hu Yuxu relentlessly with vengeance. Even though it was less powerful than Hu Yuxu and could not possibly hold him back alone, it could still get its revenge with the help of its friend.


    "Choo choo!"


    A gigantic black eagle descended from the sky through strong gusts of wind and blocked Hu Yuxu''s escape path. Brandishing its razor-sharp talons, it charged towards Hu Yuxu.


    "Yin yang Sword!"


    Hu Yuxu''s expression changed. He thrusted his sword in its direction. The Yin and Yang energies flowed along the blade of the sword, forcing the airborne eagle to land.


    "Sou!"


    At this instant, Flower Fox Ferret appeared out of nowhere within the range of Hu Yuxu''s weapon and tore out his throat!


    Snap!


    Blood spurted everywhere as Hu Yuxu slumped to the ground. There was a gaping hole in his throat and a painful contorted expression on his face.


    As he lay on the ground, he eyes were still filled with rage, as though he was still indignant that he was killed by two beasts.


    "What a great spiritual bird!"


    Seeing Iron-tailed Black Eagle, the colour drained from Old Crane''s face. It seemed like he knew his end was near.


    He looked at Fang Yuan deeply and thought, "Not only is he highly skilled in martial arts, he even has spiritual beasts. What impressive achievements! I am ashamed beyond measure..."


    "Sigh¡­I never thought that after all these years, I would actually die here!?"


    After saying this, he dropped to his knees without hesitation. A smile appeared on his face and his breathing halted instantly.


    "Oh? Did he commit suicide?"


    Fang Yuan stepped forward and checked for Old Crane''s breathing from his nostrils. His mouth curled into a mocking smirk. Suddenly, he forcefully jabbed his index finger onto Old Crane''s heart with lightning speed.


    "Pooh!"


    With a dull thud, Old Crane''s lifeless body fell to the floor like a wooden log.


    "It doesn''t matter if you are really dead. I will give it to you if you are able to survive after I destroy your meridians!"


    Without looking at Old Crane again, Fang Yuan walked towards Zhang Sheng.


    At this point in time, the two spiritual beasts who just neutralised Hu Yuxu returned together on either side of Fang Yuan. It was an impressive sight.


    "Cough..."


    Zhang Sheng spat out fresh blood which contained some parts of his internal organs and asked cynically, "Is the divine healer here to kill me?"


    "Oh? Why would you say so?"


    Fang Yuan frowned.


    "Old Crane has many connections. You would probably think twice before killing him. But seeing that you treat your spiritual eagle and true martial prowess with such secrecy, it seems that killing a person who has witnessed them would be the only way to keep these secrets. And for that reason, I too must die right?"


    Zhang Sheng chuckled scornfully, "Anyway, even if you do not kill me now, I would still die by the end of today!"


    "True, your core elixir is broken. Even if you do not die, you would be handicapped for life!"


    Fang Yuan surveyed Zhang Sheng''s injury. Nodding his head, he asked, "What if I am able to save your life and help you keep your martial prowess?"


    "What?"


    Fang Yuan''s question kindled a fire within Zhang Sheng which shone through his eyes. This caused Fang Yuan to chuckle silently.


    It was natural for all living things to have a desire to live. It was hence natural for a martial artist to desire to continue living.


    "And what would you have me do?"


    Zhang Sheng was no doubt a street-smart and intelligent person as he immediately thought about what Fang Yuan wanted in exchange.


    "I will save your life and help you keep your martial prowess. In return, you will work for me for 20 years. What do you think?"


    Even before Zhang Sheng and Old Crane embarked on their journey, Fang Yuan already did a background check on Zhang Sheng. He understood quite a bit about Zhang Sheng. Zhang Sheng was an extremely skilled martial artist who was reliable and had an impeccable character.


    If not for Zhang Sheng''s impeccable character, Fang Yuan would have killed him without hesitation.


    "Work for you for 20 years?"


    Zhang Sheng was slightly puzzled. Then he laughed and asked, "Aren''t you afraid that news of today''s incident might leak out? Or I might just leave you halfway through the 20 years?"


    "Do not worry, I trust you!"


    Fang Yuan generously waved Zhang Sheng''s negative suggestions away. On the outside, Fang Yuan seemed cavalier, but in reality, he had already made the necessary considerations.


    In the first place he had no intention of hiding the fact that he killed Old Crane so it did not matter to him if the news were to spread out or not.


    Even though a known doctor like Old Crane would have connections to several important people, people were rational, and it would be more beneficial to gain the favour of a living divine healer than to avenge a dead one.


    Fang Yuan refused to believe that many martial artists would fight him to avenge Old Crane when he could possibly save their lives one day.


    As for the possibility of Zhang Sheng breaking the deal, it was even more unlikely unless Zhang Sheng was willing to endure humiliation and shame to his name in the future.


    Furthermore, Fang Yuan was very experienced with managing his subordinates. An excellent example was Zhou Wenwu who was now respectful and compliant towards Fang Yuan.


    The addition of Zhang Sheng did not seem to be a problem for him.


    After all, Fang Yuan was a Martial Artist that had broken through the 11th gate. Taking Zhang Sheng under his tutelage was a worthy investment.


    ''There is a need to have someone to guard over this valley in the meantime. Even though Zhou Wenwu just broke through the 6th Gate, his military prowess is still far from a satisfactory level. Having just him to guard the valley alone is insufficient...''


    Fang Yuan sighed in his mind and then asked Zhang Sheng, "Make up your mind now!"


    "You mean...I have a choice in this?"


    Zhang Sheng joked bitterly.


    If he rejected the offer, he would definitely die by nightfall!


    "Great, you will have yourself to thank in the future for making the correct decision!"


    Fang Yuan stepped forward and applied acupuncture using his golden needle. He then took out a green fruit and instructed Zhang Sheng, "Eat this!"


    "Crunch!"


    Zhang Sheng obeyed in a docile fashion. When he felt the bamboo fruit dissolve and flowed to his intestines, he asked in a surprised tone, "It''s a spiritual item?"


    "Haha...If I am only capable of doing things like saving lives, wouldn''t it besmirch my glorious reputation as the divine healer of the secluded valley?"


    Fang Yuan laughed and hoisted Zhang Sheng onto the back of Iron-tailed Black Eagle. He said, "Take care and you shall be back to your normal active state within a few months!"


    ...


    The news of Old Crane''s death did not spread out immediately. His corpse was only discovered several days after he died. When it was discovered, it created quite a bit of anguish.


    Of course, it was just intensified emotions that''s all.


    There was not even a need for evidence for people to identify the famous doctor in Qingye County as the person who defeated Old Crane. As for the martial artists from Cangshui County, they mostly made passing remarks about Old Crane''s death before continuing with their lives.


    This was exactly as Fang Yuan predicted. Nobody would care about the death of this divine healer.


    "Of course...Old Crane knew many people indeed. There would definitely be some fools amongst them who would seek revenge for him!"


    At this time, he was in the valley and he instructed Zhou Wenwu, "Be more vigilant. If you see martial artists looking like they are here to seek revenge, expand all means and kill them on sight! Show them no mercy!"


    Although these people were coming to seek revenge, they were also honourable people. Fang Yuan killed their friend or relative so it was reasonable for them to do so.


    "Yes sir!"


    The fires of passion shone through Zhou Wenwu''s eyes brightly. He had successfully broken through the Injury Gate and achieved his dream of becoming an expert in inner force.


    If Old Man Zhou had such powers earlier, the Zhou family would have long dominated Qingye City and even Central Song.


    As his martial arts prowess was improving by leaps and bounds, he was immensely grateful and respectful of Fang Yuan. He was determined not to let him down.


    Zhou Wenwu was very clear that Fang Yuan could help him improve so much and he could definitely also cause him to lose his powers.


    Hence, whatever Fang Yuan demanded of him, he made sure he tried his best to deliver.


    At this point, there were new additions to the staff in the valley. The lady chefs were judiciously selected. They were very well-known culinary experts in Qinghe County. As for the new servant girls, they all looked incredibly gorgeous and had extremely gentle and demure behaviours. As for where they came from, Fang Yuan did not even have to ask to know the answer.


    Of course, what caught his attention was not the girls, but the man who was always sweeping the floor within the mansion grounds.


    Of course, this was Zhang Sheng!


    His Dantian was broken and all of his cultivation lost, causing his head of hair to turn white overnight, with some traces of old age appearing as well.


    Fang Yuan was tending to Zhang Sheng on a consistent basis in an attempt to help Zhang Sheng reaccumulate his energy and strength as soon as possible. As for the martial arts capabilities Zhang Sheng once had, he could only rely on himself to train and get them back.


    Zhang Sheng was also a ruthless man. Seeing himself in such a pathetic situation, he changed his name and took a new identity as a servant. He swept the floors daily and also allowed others to treat him like a common servant.


    Fang Yuan guessed that Zhang Sheng''s first reason for doing so was because he was ashamed that he had lost his martial arts powers. The second reason was that Zhang Sheng had numerous enemies and was afraid that they would bring trouble to the valley and Fang Yuan if they had known his whereabouts. He was indeed an honourable gentleman.


    Fang Yuan held this sort of people in high regard.


    Loyalty was the important virtue that a leader would look for in his subordinates.


    Of course, if the subordinate was very capable and loyal, and did not create problems for his leader, it would be an ideal and perfect scenario.


    ''Considering his martial arts prowess, I am confident of handing over this secluded valley to him in the future!''


    A servant girl approached Fang Yuan with a smile on her face as she went up to offer him some tea. Fang Yuan waved his hand and sent her away without even noticing the pain from rejection in her eyes. Alone, he walked to his training room.


    Now that everything has settled down, it is time to sleep!

 85 Impudence

    "Ping!"


    It was as if he had fallen from a great height. Fang Yuan trembled and open his eyes.


    "Life is but a dream. It''s a good thing that I''m self aware..."


    Fang Yuan did a visual sweep of his surroundings. Darkness. Rocks. It looked like the bottom of a deep gorge. He could not help but laugh.


    "To think that after entering my dream this time, I could become self aware immediately!"


    Usually, when people entered their dream world, it was extremely difficult for them to become self aware. Even if they did, it remained a one-off thing. The fact that Fang Yuan was able to do so was testament to his massive improvement in skill.


    "Hmm...this is¡­"


    Fang Yuan saw a puddle of blood and mud next to him, and faraway shouts coming from the cliff above. Fang Yuan looked at his own body, and understood.


    "Isn''t this still the world from before? Even following the point in time?"


    Due to him having tested the passage of time, Fang Yuan was relaxed and ignored the mess beside him. He kneeled with his legs folded beneath him, and considered his current situation.


    "Usually when people dream, the experience is a bizarre and unpredictable one. It is the same for novice dreamers. But I am different! My first dream world is so stable! The world actually has an intact system in place?"


    This world was a product of imagination, and even carried with it a sense of absurdity. But on the surface, it was able to run by itself and had natural laws in working order. This was a huge improvement!


    According to Master Wenxin''s writing on the Jade Scroll, for an average dreamer to create a relatively complete dream world, it would take a few years'' worth of hard work!


    "This...it is either I''m prodigious, or it is because Master had already given me some pointers regarding cultivation in the dream world."


    "Still, an imagined world is ultimately a make-believe one. All the so-called power systems and paths to immortality are bullshit! No one in Qinghe County would fall for it, not even the low level martial artists of the 3 Prosperous Gates!"


    Since everything was an illusion, how would there be any sign of realness?


    Fang Yuan reminisced the exercises devised by the Green Cloud House, and found it very amusing.


    "As the dream world gradually increases in realism, the rules also have to mirror those in reality...this is a big project. To me, this is a fantasy!"


    Fang Yuan tilted his head to one side. He was no longer conflicted. He looked around him before climbing upwards, tracing an opening in the wall.


    The slopes were steep and the wind cut like knives. Fortunately, big and thick vines lined the rock walls. They had weathered the elements and were as strong as metal chains. They supported Fang Yuan''s weight easily.


    "Whew¡­"


    When Fang Yuan had scaled the cliff, he huffed and immediately shook his head.


    "Although i can''t change the look of the world, or increase my level of cultivation, there is no doubt that I ''exist''. This is my dream world, I am the owner. Even though my authority is severely limited and I have to refresh my state of being, I can sustain my own existence!"


    "Now...I should try to influence my surroundings, then finally change the world!"


    "That damned method of breath training. I still need to use it for practice!"


    It was easy to attempt immortal cultivation in the World of Qianyuan. One simply had to be in good physical shape, and use their celestial blood to absorb the spiritual energy. In this way, one could surely advance and succeed in building a solid training foundation.


    Initially when his real self was lost, the setting Fang Yuan gave himself was ''Trash Celestial Meridian'', without any ability to sense spirit energy.


    But now?


    Following his thoughts, a gust of wind blew, and small strands of refreshing aura were pulled towards him, guided into his body through the back of his neck, and straight into the spine.


    ''Whew¡­."


    After a while, Fang Yuan open his eyes and exhaled a foggy breath.


    "Spirit Energy Training Stage Tier 1, complete? Why does it feel so similar to the 12 Golden Gates? Also, it has absorbed much of my knowledge, and memories of the other world¡­"


    "Not sure how good the settings that I had given myself are. Can I be compared to the prodigies?"


    Fang Yuan was among the Green Cloud Mountains, where the House was. The place had an abundance of spiritual energy.


    After he had completed his Spirit Training, Fang Yuan could not bear to leave. He let himself enter a meditative state again.


    "Huff"


    A slight breeze. A white mist materialised and gathered as it floated towards Fang Yuan.


    The so-called 13 Tiers of Spirit Training were child''s play to him.


    Level 2!


    Level 3!


    Level 4!


    In a flash, Fang Yuan had advanced five tiers, and had reached the Middle Stage of Spirit Training.


    "This seems pretty average to me?"


    Fang Yuan rubbed his arm, speechless.


    "It seems like in my subconsciousness, the magic of the immortal cultivators in this world does not have a spectacular effect on physical growth. The more important things are the royally issued spiritual talisman, spiritual curse and magical weapon!"


    "Senior Liu, it''s here!"


    Suddenly, lights flashed from above. A group of people rode past on a flying object shaped like a giant leaf. They were the jerks from atop the cliffs.


    They had spied Fang Yuan as well, and were turning red with rage.


    "This Fang Yuan is the one who killed the Young Marquis. You have to help us deal with him!"


    "Senior Liu, do be careful. This person is very strange. He had lost an arm previously, and I have no idea how he recovered. What a monster!"


    "Even if this person survives a fall down the cliff, and gives off weird vibes, who cares? Our senior Liu Zhou is a gifted individual who has already completed his Spirit Training and is very close to accomplishing the Demonic Wind Technique. With his celestial body and a 397th Mainland Immortal Ranking, his future is limitless!"


    _________


    "Huff"


    The magic artifact fell onto the group. From above came a suave looking youth with sharp features. His green robes fitted him very nicely and seemed to emit a soft glow.


    He had a princely air about him, which used to arouse a sense of inferiority in Fang Yuan. However, Fang Yuan was perfectly composed this time. He seemed totally uninterested.


    "You are Fang Yuan? I am Liu Zhou! My peers have accused you of killing the Little Marquis of Hanhai by pushing him off the cliff. All that remains of him is a bloody mess. Do you plead guilty?"


    The youth frowned upon seeing Fang Yuan. He had noticed that this bum was somewhat different today.


    Especially after he had climbed up from the bottom of the cliff and seen the remains of the Little Marquis. Fang Yuan was not in the least remorseful, which made him all the more unreadable.


    "Does it matter whether I plead guilty or not?"


    Fang Yuan laughed. He found this very interesting indeed.


    ''Everything in my dream is in fact a reflection of what is going on in my subconsciousness. In other words, to conquer the dream world,...I have to retract my base emotions, be in control of my true self and cultivate my mind?''


    "You¡­"


    Liu Zhou narrowed his eyes. He suddenly realised that Fang Yuan was a real threat.


    He could not see any hint of fear on Fang Yuan''s face. This was impossible.


    A normal youth would give off uneasy vibes after being caught doing something unpleasant. When threatened with the laws, they would break in the end.


    The youth before him was an exception. He maintained a cool look, as if the people surrounding him were insignificant bugs, as if he was the master of the sect!


    That''s right! It was exactly this feeling!


    Liu Zhou''s eyes gleamed. His hatred for Fan Yuan was increasing by the second.


    "How dare you! Surrender yourself!"


    As he roared, a jade sword flew out from his sleeves. The magical artifact slithered through the air like a snake and gave off a lethal glow.


    "Magic artifact!"


    "A real magic artifact! A flying sword!"


    A few low level disciples exclaimed in amazement. It was entirely unexpected that their Senior Liu would use such a valuable item against a common wastrel like Fang Yuan.


    "Hmm? This man intends to kill?!"


    Fang Yuan was feeling the effects of the magic artifact.


    He felt the weight of mountains crashing down on him, and the malevolent aura of the flying sword calling out for his blood. Still, he could not resist smiling coldly.


    "He feels that I have slighted him and his ego is hurt?"


    Fang Yuan felt a murderous rage coming.


    If Fang Yuan had been in the Qinghe County of the real world, he might have held back. However, at this moment, he laughed out loud.


    "You are as lowly as an ant, and yet you dare to come at me with the intent to kill. It seems like the Green Cloud House will be awash in blood because of you people!"


    The art of cultivation required a mastery of the mind.


    At this point, it did not matter if he went against the whole world and the immortal realm. It was but a dream!


    "There are too many restrictions in the real world. The martial artist will have their souls clouded. How can we get around this?"


    Fang Yuan had a sudden revelation.


    "In the dream world, everything is up to me. I can kill and burn as I wish. If I choose to do good, I could become the Buddha of a thousand households. If I choose to commit evil, I could bring about the end of the world. This is the best place to cultivate one''s heart!"


    Fang Yuan had resolved his thoughts, and charged at Liu Zhou without any more hesitation.


    "Hmph! Dumbass!"


    Liu Zhou''s features twisted into a sneer as Fang Yuan pounced towards him.


    How could a mere mortal deal with someone who had already completed his Spirit Training, and had magic artifacts and spiritual talismans at his disposal?


    "Jade sword! Kill!"


    Liu Zhou pointed at Fang Yuan, and the flying sword shot towards Fang Yuan at a ferocious speed, leaving a green trail of light in its wake. It had pierced through Fang Yuan''s chest.


    "Poof!"


    A hole was punched into Fang Yuan''s chest amidst a cloud of blood and flesh.


    But Fang Yuan did not even creased his brows. He had full control of senses and felt pain at only the lowest degree. He went up to Liu Zhou.


    "The Black Sand Eagle Palm!"


    "Ping!"


    Liu Zhou flew backwards after receiving a blow from Fang Yuan. Fang Yuan paused, a curious look on his face.


    "You...you devil!"


    Liu Zhou climbed to his feet painfully and looked down at his shimmering robes. He was actually afraid.


    "What the hell are you?"


    Even the cultivators of the Golden Pill Stage would not have escaped unscathed if they had a hole punched into their chest.


    Liu Zhou no longer saw Fang Yuan as a mere disciple. To him, Fang Yuan was now a terrible monster that would not die!


    "A defensive magical equipment?"


    Fang Yuan looked at his right hand and muttered to himself.


    "To think that I actually have such a setting. I was really looking for trouble¡­"


    As Fang Yuan sighed, he walked to Liu Zhou''s side.


    "Ahh...stay away from me!"


    Liu Zhou backed away quickly from the vile man who was immune to spiritual items and magic. He was after all more frightened to see a spiritual aura emanate from Fang Yuan''s hand.


    "Magical artifacts have limits too!"


    Fang Yuan ignored the havoc that the flying sword was wrecking. It did not matter how many times the sword cut into him for he could recover instantaneously. He focused at the task at hand instead, landing continuous punches on Liu Zhou''s magical robes.


    "Click"


    Finally, Liu Zhou''s magical robes were torn apart as he looked on with absolute terror. Fang Yuan immediately took the opportunity to smash in his head.

 86 Immortality

    "Hooo hooo..."


    There was only the sound of the gentle breeze in the dead silence.


    A few junior disciples of the Green Cloud Sect looked on and stuttered in disbelief.


    "Senior Liu Zhou?"


    "Ah! Senior Liu is dead..."


    "How? Isn''t Fang Yuan a useless bum?"


    "Fang Yuan is no longer the useless bum we knew. He is now an undefeatable demon! His existence only brings disaster. We have to report this to the elders immediately!"


    "Fang Yuan...we will have our revenge!"


    ...


    "Idiots!"


    Fang Yuan rushed forward and stepped onto the Gigantic Leaf Magic Equipment. With just a thought, he easily seized the rights to use it.


    Looking around, Fang Yuan saw that apart from the few followers of the young master, there were still a few infamous and despicable ruffians left. Fang Yuan killed them without hesitation and took their valuable possessions before flying off on the Gigantic Leaf Magical Weapon.


    "Liu Dan''s reactions are too slow, and he doesn''t seem experienced enough in wielding the weapon..."


    Soaring high up in the sky with the weapon was an experience on a totally new level for Fang Yuan.


    At this moment, Fang Yuan gazed at the bright and shiny flying sword and the magical robe he stripped off from Liu Dan''s dead body. He was silent in thought.


    Liu Zhou''s magical power was in fact impressive, but he was not an experienced fighter. This was especially evident when he restricted himself when he concentrated on his magical power defending himself while also using the flying sword to cover himself. This proved to be too much for him to handle as he did not have enough energy left to use the Gigantic Leaf to flee in the end.


    Otherwise, if Liu Zhou had taken the chance to attack Fang Yuan when he held the advantage, Fang Yuan would probably be unable to defeat him so easily.


    "This magical weapon is indeed excellent... but what use does it have for me?"


    Fang Yuan then experimented controlling the flying sword, causing him to smile happily with a childlike glee. After a while, he contentedly tossed it aside.


    "So, what is the use of giving me a sacred weapon!? Even though I can use it against gods and deities, it has almost no use in the human world, how is it even useful to me?"


    For a dream master to cultivate his abilities, he made use of the imaginary to supplement reality, displaying his powers.


    Master Wenxin could actualise things in his dream world into reality. He could actualise spiritual lands, and even spiritual beasts and lands that were millions of years old. It was truly an amazing and unrivalled ability.


    As for Fang Yuan, he could not even bring a single stalk of grass into the real world, much less immensely powerful spiritual equipment.


    "Using the fake as a mean to cultivate in the real world, the more realistic the laws, the greater the likelihood of things inside being actualised!"


    Fang Yuan muttered to himself, "If one were to construct an imaginary world based strictly on the laws of the real world, there is a possibility it might be beneficial for one''s breakthrough in the future. But for now, my abilities are not at the level that can handle the mysteries behind this ..."


    The set of skills Master Wenxin passed on to Fang Yuan had several levels. As of then, Fang Yuan only mastered the most basic of them and was already thoroughly impressed and in awe. He could not help but feel more excited about what was to come.


    "Bang!"


    Just as the Great Leaf Magical Weapon shakily brought Fang Yuan out of Green Cloud Mountain, an explosion thundered out. Fang Yuan felt there was someone or something burning with fiery rage hot on his heels. A voice shouted out, "Thief, stop in your tracks!"


    A tremendous spiritual force which contained demonic wind energy crashed into the Green Leaf Magical Equipment. This collision caused it to wobble unsteadily and with its internal system in disarray before it finally crashed to the ground.


    "Sou!"


    As the magical Weapon crashed to the ground, Fang Yuan leapt up and nimbly landed on the canopy of an old tree by the side. Without looking at the collision, he turned his attention to the furious person charging towards him and thought, "An immortal cultivator from the demonic wind period? What is he here for?"


    The main focus of the world was to cultivate to become an immortal.


    After completing the 13 Tiers of Spirit Energy Training, one could explore the world and seek out a demonic wind energy that was suitable and absorb it. From there, the cultivator would have unimaginable abilities for the preparations to develop of the Golden Pill of Dao in the future.


    The better the demonic energy, the more substantial and strong the Golden Pill would be. This would make the Golden Pill of Dao all the more worth looking forward to.


    If one''s pill was able to reach the Grade 1, one was almost guaranteed to shatter his pill to form an elemental infant, split and evolve his spiritual will, and eventually undergo heavenly tribulation.


    "Roar roar!"


    At this moment, Fang Yuan was chased by a great bluish-black ball of demonic wind energy. It took on the shapes of a dragon and tiger, creating a rancorous noise. This could thoroughly shake an immortal cultivator to his core.


    "This is a Dragon Tiger Demonic Wind, which is the most inferior kind of demonic energy and it is extremely sparse. It looks like it is a deacon that as no hope of forming a pill in his lifetime..."


    With just a glance, Fang Yuan figured out what that was.


    Even then, as an immortal cultivator, it was not to be underestimated. It caught up with Fang Yuan in a blink of an eye and transformed into a ferocious and well-built middle-aged man. He looked similar to Liu Zhou, except that his bloodshot eyes were filled with rage it looked as though he could not wait to swallow Fang Yuan whole. He barked out, "You are the one who killed my nephew?"


    "Who would have thought one could fly around in the Demonic Wind Stage in human form? This is so convenient!"


    Looking at this man, Fang Yuan remarked eagerly.


    In this short period of time, Fang Yuan''s martial arts progress was also on a roll. He broke through several gates successfully and had already reached its full completion.


    Although Fang Yuan did not take this middle-aged man seriously, the middle-aged man could no longer contain his anger and shouted,"A demon from another world?! Or are you an ancient demon from the Savage Period?"


    "Up to you to decide!"


    Fang Yuan waved his hand and the Sky Blade shot out. It charged towards the middle-aged man like a green sea dragon.


    "Zhou''Er''s Sky Blade?! To think that his imprints were removed so quickly?"


    Upon seeing this, the middle-aged man exploded in anger. Without even using a weapon, he directly tapped his head and shouted, "Go!"


    "Roar roar!"


    With a thunderous roar, the demonic wind in the shape of the dragon tiger which was circling around him launched itself with lightning speed and trapped the Sky Blade within.


    "I do not care what sort of demon you are! You killed my nephew, you will pay for it with your life!"


    Seeing that the Dragon Tiger Demonic Wind had already countered Fang Yuan''s flying sword, the middle-aged man''s confidence was bolstered. He opened his mouth and shout out a small seal. The seal expanded rapidly in its path mid-air, turning into what looked like a small black hill.


    "Dragon Tiger Seal, destroy!"


    Pointing at Fang Yuan, the magical weapon which now looked like a small hill came crashing down instantly.


    Bang!


    It caused a tremendous tremor in the ground and loose particles and debris flew up into the air. The trees toppled down one after another.


    In just one strike, anything that was in the location where Fang Yuan once stood had sunk several metres deep into the ground. Nothing was spared.


    "What a great magical weapon with remarkable power! It seems to match your demonic wind quite well?"


    In a flash, Fang Yuan reappeared. He began laughing and applauding.


    He deduced that this person''s demonic wind was in fact very weak. But because he had the magical weapon, it made him rather formidable. This explained why he was courageous enough to chase after Fang Yuan.


    "Erm? He''s not dead?"


    The middle-aged man was shocked. He just witnessed the area where Fang Yuan once stood got hit by his weapon on target. He had believed that there was no way Fang Yuan could have avoided that.


    "You are no doubt extremely unpredictable, but your demonic wind abilities do not seem impressive, why should I fear you!"


    Gritting his teeth, he made a gesture with hand and the two dragon and tiger demonic winds abandoned the flying sword and merged into the seal.


    "Ow ow!"


    "Roar roar!"


    With this reinforcement, the seal''s power increased tremendously. With the eyes of the two beasts shining menacingly, the seal headed straightforward Fang Yuan''s head again.


    As Fang Yuan contemplated his next move, he could already feel the sheer power of the force from the magical seal. It exerted a pulling force on him, restricting his movement.


    "Bang!"


    The magical seal crashed on Fang Yuan''s head, causing his body to be smashed into a bloody and gruesome mess.


    Just as a smile appeared to take shape on the middle-aged man''s face, it quickly turned into a contorted look of shock and disbelief.


    In a flash, Fang Yuan was again standing at his original location, looking as though nothing happened to him at all.


    "How is it possible?"


    The middle-aged man''s expression changed. With a wave of his hand, several shiny and eye-catching magical weapons appeared. Axes, pitchforks and so on now charged towards Fang Yuan.


    "Ha! Holy Combination of Dragon and Tiger, Flooding Water and Burning Fire, Golden Winds and Smothering Earth! Activate!"


    With this incantation, all these magical weapons dropped from the sky, evolving into many unthinkable forces and landing on Fang Yuan.


    "Bang!"


    "Bang!"


    By this point in time, the hill had already endured several lethal, destructive and disastrous attacks. Not only was it completely overturned by the Dragon Tiger Seal and other magical weapons, it was devastated by the several spells shot out by the middle-aged man. There was almost no chance of survival for any orgasm living in it.


    However, one could not say there was definitely no chance of survival because Fang Yuan stood perfectly unharmed in the centre of it.


    "Enough?"


    Fang Yuan yawned restlessly and looked at the middle-aged man.


    "No¡­...impossible! Even if you are an ancient demon, it is still impossible! This must be a trick! An illusion!"


    As the middle-aged man muttered, he forcefully executed a few moves on himself to confirm that he was not hallucinating. With this confirmation, the blood drained from his face and with a shout of despair, he flew off without turning back.


    Even though he had yet to avenge his nephew, Fang Yuan proved too formidable and intimidating for him.


    "It was so boring to be attacked the whole time!"


    Being on the receiving end of the middleman''s offensive moves and being smashed to pieces so many times, Fang Yuan''s anger had built up steadily. How could he let this man off easily?


    "Now that he has escaped, how do I chase after him? Even though the Green Leaf Magical Weapon seems great, it definitely cannot outrun the Dragon Tiger Demonic Wind!"


    Fang Yuan shut his eyes as he thought of a solution.


    All of a sudden, the energy on his body began the breakthrough, even causing a large disturbance in the heaven and the earth. Small strings of demonic wind energy automatically appeared, and after he refined them, he entered the Demonic Wind Stage in that instant.


    "Let''s go!"


    Riding on the demonic wind, Fang Yuan was flying in his human form. His speed increased tremendously and caught up in no time.


    "This is...demonic wind? This creature has advanced into the demonic wind stage?"


    The middle-aged man turned around. When he saw Fang Yuan, his felt as though his soul was sucked out from him. "Furthermore, it''s the Dragon Tiger Demonic Wind? Holy, what has this world become? Could he accomplish this just by merging the demonic winds? Could he be the son of God?"


    Thinking about how he sacrificed almost everything to search the whole world to master just a bit of the demonic wind, and the excruciating experience from it, immense rage and unfairness overwhelmed his heart. It could even almost swallow him whole.


    "This creature is too terrifying, I cannot fight it!"


    He already had no intention to avenge his nephew, all he thought of was to escape and hide from this creature for the rest of his life.


    "Sou sou!"


    Two lines of demonic winds cut through the sky, moving extremely quickly.


    Suddenly, the sight of the buildings on the grounds of Green Cloud Sect came into sight. This caused a delightful smile to appear on the middle-aged man''s face. He shouted, "Help me master!"


    "You think just because you are back here you are safe?"


    Fang Yuan momentarily entered a mysterious realm.


    All that he had seen previously caused him to enter an advanced level of enlightenment. He suddenly widened his eyes and shouted, "Die!"


    As he shouted, the middle-aged man in front of him''s look of extreme delight changed drastically.


    He instantly felt that he lost all his abilities and he was falling from the sky like a bird without wings. The look of pure terror plastered his face.


    "Bang!"


    A pool of blood splattered on the boulder. This expert from the demonic wind stage fell to his death.

 87 Extermination

    "That shout sounded like it was from Brother Liu!"


    "He went off to kill Fang Yuan. Maybe he met Fang Yuan when he shouted?"


    "Who dares to go against us, the Green Cloud Sect in Heaven''s Element?"


    "Sigh¡­..unfortunately Liu Zhou is dead. If not, he would be able to defeat the enemy!"


    ...¡­


    The long shout from the middle-aged man shook the entire Green Cloud House. A few flashes of light then appeared and thoughts ran wild. What everyone saw next was unbelievable.


    "Oh my god! What have I seen?"


    "Brother Liu fell to his death!"


    "Are you kidding? How can a True Cultivator in the Demonic Wind Stage be able to fall to his death? There had been no such absurd accidents in the whole of the cultivation world!"


    "But that person is really Brother Liu and looks like he has failed in his cultivation!"


    "Could it be that we are under some illusion spell?"


    A few other Demonic Wind Stage True Cultivators rubbed their eyes and couldn''t believe what they had seen.


    "Which powerful person dare to intrude Green Cloud House?"


    "Bang!"


    3 giant streaks of light rose from within the Green Cloud House, revealing a white-haired old man accompanied by two middle-aged men who were in the Golden Pill Stage and Elemental Infant Stage respectively. The rest of the True Cultivators bowed down to them and greeted. "House Master, Deputy House Master!"


    "I am Yu Xiong, may I know your intention for intruding our place and killing our deacon?"


    The white-haired Elemental Infant Period House Master looked stern and stared at Fang Yuan.


    The House Master understood what he saw from his spiritual will. Deacon Liu was actually escaping but when Fang Yuan made his move, Deacon Liu became a normal human being as his body disintegrated instantly.


    Seeing what Fang Yuan had done, the House Master knew from his spiritual will that Fang Yuan was also in the Demonic Wind Stage and was a powerful enemy. The two Golden Pill Stage deputy house masters beside him immediately summoned their magical weapons to defend themselves.


    "They are my nephews and they work in collusion with each other. They wanted to kill me, and I only acted in self-defence!"


    Fang Yuan stood with his hands behind his back. He squinted his eyes and laughed. "It doesn''t matter. In this world, who do I not dare to kill? Who can''t be killed by me?"


    "You''re an evildoer!"


    "You''re a crazy man!"


    "You''re a devil!"


    ...¡­..


    Yu Xiong looked at a few other house masters and deacons in the eye and knew that they would not let this matter go.


    "House Master, Fang Yuan is one of the disciples in our sect. He had always been dull and seemed stupid. I''m not really sure how he has become like this¡­.."


    At that moment, a deacon reported to Yu Xiong about Fang Yuan.


    "A disciple of ours?"


    Yu Xiong was surprised.


    To him, a few disciples that were still training were still higher skilled than him.


    However, after seeing what Fang Yuan could do, he was confused. "Could he be possessed by a demon from another world or is he the reincarnation of some ancient demon?"


    Yu Xiong then said, "No matter what, if we let this devil escape today, there will be misery and suffering in future. All disciples listen up, make a Green Cloud Array!"


    "Yes, House Master!"


    A few bright flashes were seen going into the building under the leadership of the two house deputy house masters.


    "Bang!"


    Suddenly, a green fog then appeared in the Green Cloud House and it formed an array which surrounded Fang Yuan.


    "This is your array? Interesting!"


    Fang Yuan stood firmly and saw the changes around him. An attack array was surrounding him, piquing his interest.


    Previously, he had made minor amendments to his body with just his thoughts. However, he still had to follow a sequence in order to improve and at this point was only at the Demonic Wind Stage.


    After all, the cultivation in this dream world was just an illusion and it could not be transferred over to his real life.


    ''One can only blame my logical thinking skills? To create such a world that has become so tight in terms of security? And even taking me as an enemy?''


    Fang Yuan understood the power that he possessed as the ''creator'' of the dream world.


    The reason was that in this dream world, only he was real and he was the bridge connecting the real world and the dream world. Hence, objects or people near him, or within the influence of his thoughts, would be affected by the laws of reality in the real world.


    That was why Deacon Liu became a normal person and fell to his death when Fang Yuan attacked him just now.


    "Unfortunately¡­... My attacks are still limited! Nevermind, it might improve after I gain more experience!"


    Fallen trunks surrounded him as he was thinking.


    The Green Cloud Array consisted of 5 rows that rotated constantly. It would transform with time and as time passed, the power of the array would be increased, eventually forming an extreme five elements array.


    "Fallen trunks¡­..I don''t want to get squash to death¡­.."


    Fang Yuan looked the incoming giant trunks and touched his chin. He thought of something and shrouded himself in his power.


    "Bang!"


    At that moment, many trunks and vines trapped him.


    "Kacha! Kacha!"


    Many cracks appeared before exploded.


    Among the mess, Fang Yuan came out unharmed.


    "Clang!"


    Suddenly, a giant golden blade formed right above Fang Yuan, making a clanging sound as it landed on his neck.


    The golden blade broke in half as it landed.


    "Rumble! Rumble!"


    The Green Cloud Formation changed again and this time, there were flames.


    Fang Yuan took a deep breath and breathed in the flames. Satisfied, he let out a burp. "Old Yu Xiong, any more tricks? Just show all of them to me now!"


    "This¡­.this¡­."


    Yu Xiong, who was hidden within the formation was surprised. "Physique cultivation? Was this an inheritance from the Savage Period?"


    Seeing Fang Yuan charging straight into the formation with the intention to break it, Yu Xiong had to take action.


    "Let there be wind and lightning on my command. Activate!"


    Yu Xiong was, without a doubt, an expert immortal cultivator in the Elemental Infant Stage. With just a command, the surrounding was suddenly filled with strong winds and lightning. A green lightning descended and struck Fang Yuan.


    "Peng!"


    Fang Yuan was motionless. There was only a hint of green smoke emitting from his shoulders and his clothes were still in good condition.


    "Oh lord, is his body made out of magical equipment?"


    Yu Xiong was frightened. The Elemental Infant inside him suddenly appeared on his chest. He then shouted, "Green Cloud Sword!"


    "Rumble!"


    The whole formation shook and the green cloud started to fade away. It then converged above Yu Xiong''s head to form a figure of a giant green sword.


    "Execute!"


    Under Yu Xiong''s command, the giant green sword fell straight towards Fang Yuan like a collapsing mountain.


    Above the sword, lightning flashed and the wind howled. The surrounding 5 rows of light converged to become a remarkable spiritual technique and flowed along the blade of the sword!


    Miles away, flocks of birds started to fly away and many wild animals fled as though a catastrophe was about to strike.


    This sword was dominating and powerful!


    "Mighty House Master!"


    At that moment, everyone, be it the disciples or the Golden Pill Stage deputy house House Master, were all cheering for the house master as though they had witnessed the devil being killed by the mighty sword.


    "Whoosh!"


    The sword then came crashing down.


    "Buzz! Buzz!"


    The ground shook and a giant crack appeared on the ground. A giant cloud of dust was formed from the crack.


    "Hoo, hoo....even though this looks fierce, the Green Cloud Formation will kill the enemy in one strike without any pain or suffering¡­..uh¡­."


    Yu Xiong exhaled a long breath.


    In the epicentre of the explosion, there were cracks everywhere, but one portion of land was perfectly preserved, untouched. This portion of land stood out among the destruction.


    On that perfect portion of land, a person stood firmly on the ground, unharmed.


    That person was holding a green sword in his hand as well.


    "This¡­..this is impossible!"


    Yu Xiong exclaimed and retreated. "Are you an old fogey in the Tribulation Stage? If not, how are you able to control the perfect sword essence as if it is nothing?"


    "Perfect sword essence?"


    Fang Yuan smiled and went forward with the Green Cloud Sword in his hand. "To me, this sword is as soft as a paper. I can knead it into anything I like!"


    "You¡­..are a devil!"


    Yu Xiong was furious and shouted. "All the disciples in the Green Cloud House, we shall work together to fight against our enemy!!!"


    While he was speaking, his Elemental Infant had become a small golden sword and it flew through the thin air. It was a clever way to call for help.


    "House Master!"


    Among the shouting, a few bright lights flashed to the front. "With our help, we shall defeat this devil!"


    "Idiots!"


    Fang Yuan laughed and waved his hand lightly.


    "No!"


    As Yu Xiong gave a horrified look, Fang Yuan struck the Green Cloud Sword out, and released the sword essence, increasing his fear factor.


    "Whoosh!"


    5 bright lights shrouded the Green Cloud Sword as it crashed down towards the main hall of the Green Cloud House.


    "Bang!"


    Even though the range of his attack was not was as wide as before, the sword essence that Fang Yuan possessed was the main essence of the array, destroying the main hall.


    Yu Xiong and the 2 deputy house masters spat out mouthfuls of blood and were all seriously injured. There were a few unlucky deacons who didn''t manage to survive.


    "Stop calling me a devil. Can''t you address me properly by my name?"


    Fang Yuan came towards Yu Xiong and glanced at the group of people who once considered themselves the ''immortal ones''.


    "What should I do next? Kill all of them?"


    Fang Yuan questioned his conscience.


    If his conscience told him to kill, then he could even destroy the whole world!


    "Hold on a second¡­..are¡­.are you Fang Yuan?"


    Among the crowd of disciples, one person walked out, with fear written all over his face. Fang Yuan could recognise him as the deacon who introduced him to the Green Cloud House.


    "Hehe¡­ There is karma even in the dream world?"


    Fang Yuan laughed and gave a serious look. He went near Yu Xiong and said, "Karma is too complicated. I''ll settle everything with one sword!"


    "You..."


    Yu Xiong was in shock. An Elemental Infant appeared on his head as it wanted to escape.


    "Drop!"


    Fang Yuan laughed and exclaimed.


    "Pa!"


    His Elemental Infant fell onto the ground like a doll, motionless. Fang Yuan walked up and squashed it with his foot!

 88 Death from the Roar

    "To be lost in the world, and realise it was but a dream... I can do anything I want, for I am the only real thing here!"


    In his laughter, Fang Yuan left the Green Cloud House, which once pinned high hopes on him. His shadow disappeared, and only the raging fire was left behind.


    Not long after he left, the spiritual fire engulfed the entire Green Cloud House and turned everything into ash, a few spiritual lights were seen from the horizon, and almost instantaneously moved to the area above Green Cloud House.


    A few high-levelled immortal cultivators were enraged after witnessing this scene.


    "What guts! What guts!"


    An old man with a child''s complexion chuckled. "You dare to oppose the Green Cloud Sect? Even though you might be an ancient demon, we will still destroy you!"


    "Nine days of rain, pour!"


    A pretty lady twitched her eyebrows, swung her willow branch and formed a downpour, which extinguished the fire. "Based on Yu Xiong, although the ancient demon might seem to only have harnessed the Demon Wind, he cannot die and be destroyed as his body is extremely tough. You''d better invite a few more senior brothers proficient in seals and arrays to help out!"


    "That is right! I, an immortal cultivator, am the owner of all things, what have I not experienced? I have even dealt with and killed more than a hundred extraterrestrial and ancient demons, one more should be no problem!"


    If Fang Yuan was here, he would be able to sense the anger from these immortal cultivators!


    This was the confidence that they had gotten over many past victories!


    "What''s more... Brute force! Cannot be destroyed?"


    An old man with his eyebrows and beard as long as flames licked his lips and his eyes glittered with excitement. " "If this is true, this demon is a top-grade material for making magical equipment! It might even be able to fend off a few 99 Wind-Fire Tribulations!"


    At the mention of this, even the expressions of those Magic-splitting, Magic-melting and Magic-fusing experts'' expressions changed, revealing their greed on their faces.


    To enter the Tribulation Stage, going through the 99 Wind-Fire Tribulations was a must, and it was not just once, but once every century.


    It was fine if one barely scraped through it; if one failed, he would likely die, which was a fear among those in the world of immortal cultivators!


    Even though they are high up in the hierarchy of the Green Cloud Sect, they still have a phobia of the life-threatening Tribulation; they would gather all the magical weapons they could, just to increase their chances of making it through the Tribulation.


    After hearing what the weapon smelting elder had to say, everyone started to think for themselves.


    ....


    "Everyone will punish this demon!"


    Amidst the shouting, an immortal cultivator of Elemental Infant Stage thrust his sword, An impressive atmosphere was produced as the sword''s afterimage and the swordlight fused together to become one


    "Chi la!"


    This swordlight which had the ability to divide mountains and separate rivers landed on Fang Yuan, but what came off was only a little spark.


    Without even a frown, Fang Yuan struck his claw out. The colourful light on the body of the immortal cultivator was destroyed as if it was a bubble and a palm-sized elemental infant was dragged out.


    "Ah... My body... Demon!"


    A small elemental infant witnessed the destruction of its own body, and even the strength of the elemental infant seemed to disappear; it became a defenceless doll with fear in its eyes. "This is impossible... How did you capture my elemental infant?"


    An elemental infant was the fusion of one''s Essence, Spirit and Magic at their peak after the Golden Pill was smashed. It had a visible shape but was actually not made of any substance. It could naturally possess supernatural powers, teleportation, possession of another body etc.


    But to Fang Yuan, the elemental infant was like a real infant; it could not defend itself. This moment scared the hell out of this immortal cultivator.


    "It''s from the Green Cloud Sect again..."


    Fang Yuan held the elemental infant and had a tinge of annoyance in his eyes.


    After the Green Cloud House was burnt down, he immediately became the common enemy of the immortal cultivator world and was hated by everyone. Many others left their mountains and were all after him.


    Even though a cultivator at Tribulation Stage was right in front of him, he routinely crushed him effortlessly; he wanted to let everyone know that even though he was almighty, he would still be irritated by pests.


    "This time, I would solve the problem entirely!"


    With one breath he destroyed the elemental infant. Fang Yuan looked out to the mountainous ridge, looking curious.


    This was the sacred mountain of the Green Cloud Sect, and the top spiritual ridge of the entire Heaven''s Element; it was well known even throughout the entire world.


    The main mountain ridge of Green Cloud Sect laid here.


    "Demon!"


    "The ancient demon is here!"


    After Fang Yuan killed the elemental infant, he did not stop and continued to trespass the sacred land of the Green Cloud Sect. A large golden bell on the top of Green Cloud Sect''s bell tower was struck eighty-one times, and it shook the earth.


    It was as if the entire Green Cloud Sect was like an awoken spiritual beast, roaring.


    "What audacity!"


    "A small demon, but you dare to oppose Green Cloud Sect?"


    A few streaks of light shot out; a group of angry old cultivators came out, staring at Fang Yuan, as though they wanted to smelt him on the spot.


    "Ah¡­ It''s the Magic-melting Cultivators that are here!"


    "And the weapon smelting elder too!"


    "With us around, the Green Cloud Sect can eliminate this animal, and we might even be able to smelt him into a precious weapon!"


    ...


    Outside, many streaks of light were visible. They were the Demonic Wind, Golden Pill and Elemental Infant stage Cultivator, and were all brimming with confidence.


    "You want to smelt me?"


    Fang Yuan felt rather amused after hearing them and looked at the weapon smelting elder. "The Green Cloud Sect is too much, and you deserve to be destroyed..."


    "Destroyed?"


    The weapon smelting elder was confused, as though he had heard a huge joke, and started to laugh hysterically. "The Green Cloud Sect had many hidden secrets. We not only have more than 10 masters who have passed the Tribulation Stage, we also have the protection of elders in the Immortal World. You are just a small demon who knows a simple indestructible divine technique, and yet you dare to say such words?"


    As he laughed, his expression became fierce. "Even if you are indestructible, the Green Cloud Sect can still suppress or seal you away. Don''t you worry, I will then personally extract your soul and use your body to create a magical equipment!!!"


    "A bunch of id*ots!"


    Fang Yuan grinned from ear to ear. "You dare to boast in front of me? Come down!!!"


    "Rumble!!!"


    After sensing the entire dream world, He became increasingly familiar with changing the surrounding environment.


    The result of that was an invisible vibration that came from his voice, engulfing the old man.


    Horrified, the weapon smelting elder lost all his magical strength, shrieked and fell down from mid-air.


    A few other elders were met with same fate.


    "Pa! Pa!"


    Blood stains were everywhere on the ground.


    These few elders were not simple-minded; they prepared magical weapons and spiritual talismans to defend themselves, as such, they would still be able to use them immediately even if they were unable to focus their magical power.


    Notwithstanding that, the weapon smelting elder trained in secret techniques even smelted several pieces of hard magical weapons into his own body, making his body strong as steel. Even if he were to jump into a mountain of knives or a sea of flames, he would be able to survive. A fall from such a height would mean nothing to him!


    But it was still useless!


    Regardless body or magical weapons, everything became like glue and exploded as it touched the rocks.


    Even their elemental infants lost their ability to leave their bodies. They could only witness themselves falling to death and were squashed with their physical bodies!


    Silence!


    There was dead silence at the gate of Green Cloud Sect.


    The silence was so deafening that a large number of Green Cloud Sect disciples witnessed the scene in shock.


    "What... What did I just see?"


    After a long moment, a female disciple clad in pink robes rubbed her eyes. "So many Magic-melting elders, and the Magic-fusing weapon smelting elder, and they all just died with a roar?"


    That''s right! To all these disciples, they had just witnessed a demonic roar; the few elders who were all so proud before instantly fell down from shock became melted and died from the roar!!!


    "It seems that the effect is not too bad! And I have positive control over it!"


    Fang Yuan approached the melted bodies and came close to the gates of Green Cloud Sect.


    "Ah! He''s coming!"


    "Leave quickly!"


    "Save me!"


    ...


    Seeing a demon who was able to kill so many highly skilled cultivators approaching, the Green Cloud Sect disciples fled like a flock of birds, extremely embarrassed; they had lost the pride of being the number one Sect.


    "Hong! Hong!"


    After all of them had retreated, a high pitched bell rang, and the ground shook.


    Fang Yuan leapt and looked down. The entire sacred mountains of the Green Cloud Sect came alive and gathered at the Green Cloud Sect gate to fuse... It fused into the shape of a large green dragon.


    "They could suck the spiritual energy from a hundred miles of the entire sacred land to form this large defensive array?"


    Fang Yuan looked at the eyes of the dragon, and felt that there was much hatred in it; it was as real as a human''s expression, which shocked Fang Yuan a little.


    "To break through this array, one must destroy the spiritual vein and the earthly energy over a hundred mile radius protecting it... Other than recruiting the help of an immortal that has already ascended, or gathering a group of immortal cultivators in the Tribulation Stage, there aren''t any other options!"


    Fang Yuan nodded his head and took a few steps forward.


    Within the Green Cloud Sect, an old man in green stood in front of the gate and appeared serious; he was the Green Cloud Sect Sect Master!


    "This demon is too scheming, it is not even afraid of the Green Immortal Dragon Array! It seems like I will have to set up a spiritual seal array!"


    He glanced at a middle-aged man who seemed to be of a high level of cultivation. "Also, I will need your help to deliver this letter to the Grandmaster''s Hall!"


    After his words, he threw a piece of green jade that was emitting spiritual light.


    "Roger!"


    Focused, the middle-aged man knew that the Sect Master had little confidence in the sect and had to use his final move; to get help from the Tribulation Stage Grandmasters!

 89 Tribulation

    "The first step for the cultivation of a dream disciple is to be self-aware and then try to achieve that in every dream world!"


    "The second step will be then to try to control the dream world!"


    Fang Yuan strolled on in high spirits. Within him, the dragon and the tiger combined and produced a Golden Pill.


    The Golden Pill was round, bright and shiny. At the same time, there was a sense of indestructibility of the pill. When it formed, it created such an impact that shook even heaven and earth. The elemental energy from it formed a small funnel and the auspicious energy transformed into a Lingzhi. Several different other transformations then rapidly and repeatedly appeared.


    "This is¡­."


    The Green Cloud Sect Sect Master almost pulled his beard off when he saw what happened. "Forming the Golden Pill?"


    Every disciple in the Green Cloud Sect was familiar with the process of forming the Golden Pill.


    But what they couldn''t understand was that this devil who had killed many elders was not even in the Golden Pill Stage!


    A person''s words can paint such a beautiful picture! When the dragon and the tiger combine, Yin and Yang meet¡­..Looking at this, this pill is of Tier 1 standard! One can use the combination of Dragon and Tiger in the Demonic Wind Stage to form a Tier 1 Golden Pill?


    Nearby, a white-beard old man saw this phenomenon and opened his mouth widely. "The combination of spiritual dragon and spiritual tiger in the Demonic Wind Stage is not the last in the list of the Heaven and Earth Demonic Wind but it can form a Tier 1 pill? And¡­...there is tribulation in there?"


    Many of the disciples had the same question as the old man.


    They looked up and saw that the phenomenon was fading away. They could see a clear blue sky but there was a feeling of messiness.


    Every step an immortal cultivator took, there would be tribulations accompanying him.


    Especially when one entered the Golden Pill Stage, he would get a sense of the evil in this world for the first time; the 99 Wind-Fire Tribulations!


    Even though this was the lowest level in the 19 Tribulations, it could cause immense sufferings to an ingenuine cultivator and he would have almost no chance to survive unless he had the help of his magical equipment, allies, arrays or help from the sect.


    What was happening?


    A devil was forming a Golden Pill right in front of the Green Cloud Sect, skipping the process of going through any tribulations.


    "Why am I not as fortunate as this devil?"


    The Sect Head of Green Cloud Sect witnessed the phenomenon coming to an end. He gave a serious expression and stared at Fang Yuan. "This devil has a very powerful energy and is likely to be strongly related to the tribulations..."


    Look at this, it made him rethink about the concept of human consciousness as his confidence shook.


    "It''s just a Golden Pill, that''s all!"


    Fang Yuan was in a trance. After being aware of what was happening, he approached the Green Immortal Dragon Array.


    "Hou! Hou!"


    The Green Immortal Dragon Array looked at Fang Yuan and let out a long cry before sweeping its gigantic body across.


    It was huge like a mountainous ridge and the energy it dissipated seemed to have come from the earth. As it shook its tail, the entire physical Green Cloud Sect came crashing towards Fang Yuan.


    Even an expert in the Tribulation Stage had to focus and be cautious when in such an intense situation.


    However, Fang Yuan yawned a few times and slowly stretched out his right hand.


    "Rumble! Rumble!"


    His right palm appeared normal and was similar to any other palms. When compared to the Green Immortal Dragon Array, it was like a grasshopper using its arms to block an oncoming car.


    Astonishingly, the next moment surprised many disciples. His right palm could actually counter such a destructive move completely!


    ''In reality, no matter how significant the things are in this dream world, they are just illusions....''


    Fang Yuan sighed and grabbed the fog coming from the Green Immortal Dragon Array with his right hand, pulling it forcefully.


    "Kacha! Kacha!"


    There was a snapping sound as though a rope was under tension before giving way.


    The Green Cloud Dragon let out a loud roar of displeasure and its body compressed towards Fang Yuan. It was unable to control itself anymore.


    At the same time, the spiritual energy in the Green Cloud Mountain was dissipating.


    "Is¡­.is he cultivating the spiritual dragon?"


    The Green Cloud Sect Sect Master was left in complete shock and could feel the impending destruction of the Green Cloud Mountain. His eyes became bloodshot. "We cannot allow him to destroy our sect''s foundations. Kill him!"


    A red long sword appeared and flew straight at Fang Yuan.


    At that same moment, the elders, the deacons and the disciples of the Green Cloud Sect also executed their magical equipment, including flying blades, steel forks and axes, pagoda shields and horse carriages¡­..these weapons were unique and filled the sky.


    Fang Yuan did not flinch a single bit as he encountered all these magical equipment.


    The next moment, he was overwhelmed by these weapons like raindrops pelting on a leaf.


    "Kacha!"


    The magical weapon of the Sect Head of Green Cloud Sect was considered the most powerful among all. They were made by forging 9 Days Mystical Metal and 10,000 Years Mystical Ice over Heavenly Flames for 81 days. The weapons formed were incredibly strong and could be used in several ways.


    However, as it came in contact with Fang Yuan, it broke into two pieces!


    With the weapon of his life broken, Sect Head of Green Cloud Sect turned red and spat a mouthful of blood. "This is impossible¡­..has this devil''s body become divine?"


    "Ding! Ding! Dang! Dang!"


    As the Sect Head of Green Cloud Sect spat out blood, the rest of the magical weapons came falling down and disintegrated into a pile of sand as they landed on Fang Yuan.


    Even the sect head''s weapon was destroyed. How could the other magical equipment hold up? Some of the magical weapons were being recovered. Otherwise, they would follow in the Green Cloud Sect Sect Head''s footsteps, having their lifeline magical equipment destroyed, and all of them would cough up blood.


    "Keke¡­.."


    Fang Yuan laughed and blinked his eyes before breaking another two swords.


    Since his body was the only ''reality'' in the dream world, any type of magical weapons would not be able to harm him in any way.


    Even with the overwhelming magical equipment, he was not hindered at all!


    "Rumble! Rumble!"


    With Fang Yuan constantly tugging at it, the Green Cloud Dragon roared in anger. It slowly shrank in size and landed on Fang Yuan''s palm like a strand of noodle.


    As the last straw broke, the entire Green Cloud Mountain lost its spiritual energy, ending up a normal mountain.


    "Stop!"


    Suddenly, a loud roar shook the ground and it revealed a shocking spiritual will. Many of the low-levelled cultivators could not withstand it and unknowingly knelt down.


    "Woo! Woo!"


    Dark clouds filled the sky. Thunder and lightning danced around as though the tribulation was here!


    A silhouette appeared from the sky in the midst of the scary atmosphere. The silhouette''s eyes were glittering and glared at Fang Yuan.


    With its appearance, the lightning and thunder grew stronger.


    "I, Green Cloud, send my greetings to you, Grandmaster!"


    The Sect Head of Green Cloud Sect was overwhelmed with emotions and brought a few others to greet the Grandmaster.


    "He is the Tribulation Stage Grandmaster who has just awaken from hibernation!"


    The disciples cheered and rejoiced.


    Indeed, so what if the devil was very powerful?


    Their Tribulation Stage Grandmaster was most powerful in this world!


    "Devil?"


    The Grandmaster stared at Fang Yuan and shook his head. "This is strange¡­..I cannot feel any devil''s energy from you. My spiritual will tells me that you are just a normal person!"


    "Then what do you think?"


    Fang Yuan laughed and he was fiddling with the green noodle in his hand.


    The Grandmaster frowned.


    A normal person couldn''t possibly force the Green Cloud Sect to such a state, and was even more impossible to casually harness the entire spiritual energy of the mountains in his hands!


    "I will not pursue the matter of who is in the right and wrong. I am just going to ask you a question, will you stop whatever you are doing now?"


    The Grandmaster then looked at the dark clouds and said with a sense of ambiguity. "Or would you rather fight me to the death and suffer together under the 99 Wind-Fire Tribulations?"


    The tribulation would destroy everyone, and could not be targeted at a specific person.


    The previous few Tribulation Stage Grandmasters were not able to handle the first tribulation and feigned their deaths. In the end, they had to live their lives in hiding.


    Now, with the appearance of this Grandmaster, another tribulation would be triggered!


    This was going to be fatal!


    After all, even if an enemy was able to defeat a truth cultivator who was in the Tribulation Stage, he would not want to be involved in the tribulation and get hurt by it.


    Especially for the tribulations that were in the Tribulation Stage, if a Tribulation Stage Grandmaster were to be involved in another tribulation, he would be completed destroyed and vapourised!


    After all, by the laws of the tribulations, the stronger the resistance, the more powerful it would be!


    "Reconcile?"


    Fang Yuan laughed and shook his head. "You immortal cultivators made many to become slaves and did all sorts of evil things to them. You all forced them to worship you. When killing them, have you ever spared a thought for the normal human beings?"


    "Of course, it would be just an excuse if you all said what you all did was for the greater good. However, most importantly¡­..I want to see the Tribulation Stage tribulation for myself!''


    The Grandmaster who was listening to what Fang Yuan said almost spat out blood and rubbed his ears in disbelief. He looked at Fang Yuan and asked, "What¡­.what did you just say?"


    "I said¡­.I want to feel the effect of the tribulations and I''m asking you to help me with it!"


    Fang Yuan laughed, went forward and waved his hand. The green noodle was flung out, transforming into a roaring dragon''s head.


    "Rumble!"


    The roar destroyed half of the Green Cloud Sect, leaving many disciples dead.


    "This devil¡­..I shall fight you to death!"


    The Grandmaster came out of hiding. Exploding the spiritual seal apart, it descended and rushed towards Fang Yuan.


    As he approached, the dark clouds in the sky grew denser. Heavenly wind and fire rained down relentlessly. There were also many blinding flashes of lightning that gave off a purplish light.


    God''s eye!


    With the lightning formed from the 99 Tribulations, the Grandmaster was also injured badly!


    "Pi la!"


    At that moment, many eyes of lightning tribulation crashed down and sealed the whole area. Even those of Elemental Infant Stage were unable to move.


    "You shall die!"


    The Grandmaster was struck by the tail of the Green Cloud Dragon and his body flew out. Shortly after, he was struck by the lightning of the God''s Eye. Half of his body was destroyed into pieces but his face still had a smile.


    "Pi la!"


    Another lightning of the God''s Eye struck down and the Green Cloud Dragon roared mournfully. It was then partly annihilated and landed back on Fang Yuan''s palm.


    "Oh? So this is the 99 Wind-Fire Tribulations?"


    Seeing the 3 lightning strikes from the God''s Eyes striking towards him, and the raging heavenly wind and heavenly fire, he smiled.

 90 Feared Name

    "Grandmaster..."


    The Green Cloud Sect Sect Head could see that the Grandmaster''s body crumbled under the lightning of the God''s eye. Even the Grandmaster''s magical energy started to dissipate. The Sect Head could no longer bear it and knelt onto the ground. Tears rolled down his cheeks.


    "Grandmaster..."


    The disciples of the Green Cloud Sect lamented. Some of them even shrank back.


    The 99 Wind-Fire Tribulations was indeed too frightening!


    Some of the faint-hearted disciples started to develop doubts as they thought about having to undergo the nine Tribulations after the Tribulation Stage.


    "Honglong! Honglong!"


    After losing the target, the storm clouds rolled back and the golden rays appeared once more.


    "The Grandmaster sacrificed himself so that the Green Cloud Sect can survive. Do not ever forget this!"


    The Sect Head stood up and wiped his tears away when an elder next to him pointed towards the storm, his face filled with chagrin, and said, "That...that demon...he lives!"


    "What?"


    The Sect Head was shocked.


    He could see a silhouette in the storm.


    "The 99 Wind-Fire Tribulations is nothing much!"


    Fang Yuan swept the dust off his shoulders and stood up. He looked at the Sect Head coldly and said, "Looks like it was Heaven''s will for you all to become my experiment..."


    "Honglong!"


    He took a step which caused the whole Green Cloud Sect to shake.


    The earth trembled and he instantaneously reached the Elemental Infant Stage.


    "Monster!"


    The Sect Head winced, "How can you still be allowed to survive?"


    In his mind, he had already decided to vanquish this bane at all cost with the aid of the Mainland Tianyuan...no! With the aid of the immortal cultivators in the World of Qianyuan!


    Fang Yuan was only one person!


    "Honglong!"


    Another tremor shook the earth.


    From the ruins of the Green Cloud Sect, a dozen beams of light emerged, each one appeared to be old monsters who have reached the Tribulation Stage.


    "Even that old ghost is dead!"


    An old lady looked at Fang Yuan and shivered, "My illusion techniques are of no use as well!"


    "Leave it to us, the three brothers!"


    Three elders in yellow robes, who looked similar to each other, stepped forward. "Our skills are more useful in delaying him!"


    "Not bad, the three Huang Brothers are array masters. When they work together, buying time would be no problem...we cannot let the legacy of the Green Cloud Sect be destroyed in our generation. If not, how will we be able to face our masters in the immortal world?"


    The old monsters appeared to be ready to sacrifice themselves for the sect, "If things do not go well, we need to open the immortal gate and get the help of the masters in the immortal world even if it means sacrificing ourselves!"


    "Boom!"


    The Huang Brothers brought out many magical weapons which caused the earth to react with a loud sound.


    White fog appeared and started to form a maze, layers by layers and trapped Fang Yuan at the heart of the maze. It appeared that the three brothers knew very well that it was not realistic to defeat Fang Yuan.


    It was enough to trap him in the maze. They did not dare ask for more.


    "What a good array. It is indeed formidable!"


    The Sect Head praised, "That demon would not have been able to easily destroy the Green Immortal Dragon Array if it was created by the three of you!"


    "Hurry!"


    The old lady shouted, "Don''t waste the Grandmaster''s effort!"


    "Understood!"


    The Sect Head clenched his fists. He drew his sleeves and started to lead the disciples away.


    It was then when the sky darkened and ominous dark clouds appeared.


    "What happened?"


    The old lady exclaimed, "Who is so careless as to reveal their Disaster-level aura?"


    "Kacha! Kacha!"


    Thunder roared and the lightning danced across the sky. The God''s eyes started to form, almost as if the deities were observing the mortals. The sky rumbled.


    "Impossible!"


    The old lady let out a shriek when she saw the God''s eyes descending upon the maze-like array.


    "Honglong! Honglong!"


    The tremendous power of the God''s eyes struck mercilessly upon the array.


    The whole array shook when the first lightning struck it.


    It was followed by the second, the third...the lightning caused the whole array to shatter, revealing the faces of the Huang Brothers.


    "Big Brother?!"


    "Second Brother?!"


    "Third Brother?!"


    The three brothers looked at each other before turning to face Fang Yuan who was walking out of the array.


    "Even though this array can be broken by other conventional means, I might as well test my abilities after gaining this new power of lightning..."


    Fang Yuan smiled, "It is time to end this!"


    He looked up into the sky where the black storm clouds gathered. A dozen God''s Eyes surrounded the Huang Brothers. Lightning struck the three Huang Brothers and turned them into ashes.


    "Damn..."


    The remaining old masters and the disciples of the Green Cloud Sect were rooted in shock. The old lady mumbled, "Controlling the tribulations...is that even possible? How can someone who breaks all the rules be allowed to exist in this world?"


    "He has already reached a level where he is able to effect changes..."


    Fang Yuan was satisfied with his ability to control the tribulations, "I am able to manipulate the heavens and earth. Now, I am not far off from controlling the dream world..."


    He had realized now that the reason that he was able to undergo cultivation as a dream master much faster than the others was due to the fact that Master Wenxin had helped him develop a strong foundation.


    "Being able to reconstruct the world, awakening my true self, and even being able to manipulate the world quickly...what I have achieved in under a month greatly outstripped those normal disciples who had been training for multiple years or even decades..."


    Fang Yuan gently waved his hand.


    His fingers were long and thin. After overcoming multiple gates, his hands no longer possessed any dead skin and were instead, white and tender. The power to manipulate the heavens and earth was at his fingertips.


    "Kacha! Kacha!"


    The sky turned pitch black.


    The only colours that could be seen were from the lightning.


    Green and purple lightning from the God''s Eyes rained down. The lightning appeared to be alive and headed towards the disciples of the Green Cloud Sect.


    "Wind-Fire Tribulations, the 39 Tribulations, and the 19 Tribulations..."


    The Sect Head''s face turned ashen when he witnessed the scene.


    Even though the disciples at the Demonic Wind Stage and below possessed the ability to recall the lightning to a certain extent, they were unable to do so for this tribulation which was at a higher level. For these disciples, it was certain death for them!


    The sound of ten thousand lightning was indeed frightening.


    Even the Green Cloud Mountain had been reduced by the lightning.


    While Fang Yuan had not mastered his control over the dream world, he possessed sufficient power to throw the whole dream world into a state of unrest.


    "Honglong!"


    Under Fang Yuan''s manipulation, the lightning tribulation in the world of Qianyuan, which had always been just, became unreasonable.


    The lightning would strike anyone as long as they are the disciples of the Green Cloud Sect. Even after being struck by the 99 Wind-Fire Tribulations, the cycle repeated itself till all the disciples were dead.


    "Demon!"


    A change occurred just as the lightning was reducing the Green Cloud Mountain into a pile of dirt.


    A thunderous noise boomed. From the nine heavens, a golden ray of light shined through and formed a richly embellished golden gate. Even the lightning tribulations were dispelled when the gate was formed.


    The golden gate opened a small fraction and from within, a glimpse of the immortal world could be seen and an enraged intent could be felt.


    "It''s the Grandmaster!"


    The Sect Head and the old lady who were struggling under the lightning tribulation could only weep, "The Grandmaster in the immortal world descended to this world for us!"


    "How dare you destroy my legacy! Die!"


    The golden gate opened a little more. A giant hand emerged in a beam of light and reached out towards Fang Yuan.


    This was the attack of the Green Cloud Sect Head in the immortal world!


    "Hmmm? Immortal?''


    Fang Yuan let out a smile, "Do you really think that after enduring the 9 tribulations and rising to become an immortal, you will always remain outside the three worlds and no longer be within the five elements?"


    "Dream on!!!"


    "Your immortal world...is also part of my dream!"


    Fang Yuan made no effort to dodge the giant hand and instead grabbed the hand and yanked!


    A surprising thing that shocked all the bystanders happened.


    Compared to the hand, Fang Yuan was just like an ant. No! Fang Yuan was even smaller than an ant.


    However, he managed to drag the hand and the arm out of the golden gate!


    The old lady''s eyes widened in shock as she saw a tall and elegant elder clothed in a green robe being dragged out from the golden gate.


    "Grand¡­.Grandmaster!"


    As a high-ranking member of the Green Cloud Sect, she had seen the drawing of the Grandmaster. He was true to the drawing.


    "How would he be able to perform the same move in the human world?"


    The Sect Head''s expression was grave as he looked at the young man in front of him.


    "Hmmmm...It is almost time...after I defeat you, I would be able to control this world and improve further!"


    Fang Yuan said. He looked as if he saw a delicious prey.


    ...


    After a few days, a shocking news spread across the world of Qianyuan.


    The Green Cloud Sect had been destroyed by a demon with many elders of the Tribulation Stage dead. Even the next successor in line had fallen in the hands of that demon!


    The immortal world was in a state of unrest and had even given the demon a name. He was known all around as the Apocalyptic Demon!

 91 Leveling up

    "Yawn..."


    Qinghe County, secluded valley, within the stone room Fang Yuan used for training.


    Fang Yuan stood up, stretched and looked at his own hands and legs. He chuckled. "In the dream, I am an indestructible, immortal-killing demon, but in this world, I am nothing..."


    "The difference between reality and dream is scary... I''ve heard that some dream masters were so deeply immersed in the dream world that they forgot their true selves, voluntarily staying in the dream world..."


    Fang Yuan looked solemn.


    In reality, who could say that the dream world was not a real one?


    Compared to just existing in the real world, the dream masters who could achieve something in the dream world were better off.


    "These types of reparation are a form of escape, and I will never accept it!"


    Fang Yuan took a quick glance at his stats window:


    "Name: Fang Yuan


    Essence: 8.0


    Spirit: 7.9


    Magic: 4.5


    Profession: Dream Disciple


    Cultivation: [Martial Artist (11th Gate)]


    Technique: [Black Sand Palm (Grade 5)], [Eagle Claw Iron Skin Technique (Grade 11) (Able to harness Elemental Force)]


    Skill: [Medicine (Level 3)], [Botany (Level 3)]"


    "Very good! This time after the dream, I was able to gain ''0.4'' in magical energy, and had quite a bit of dream disciple cultivation..."


    He was pleased with the result. As he triggered the mechanism, the stone moved aside and sunlight poured into the room, making him squint his eyes.


    "Young master!"


    Outside the room stood a young servant, who approached Fang Yuan to pass him a towel.


    "Little Pearl... How long have I been inside?"


    Fang Yuan wiped his forehead and asked.


    "One day and one night!"


    Little Pearl had baby cheeks, white skin, a plump figure and looked flirtatious in her smile. He didn''t know how Zhou Wenwu found this girl; she was rather thoughtful.


    When Fang Yuan returned to the pavilion, a chef served a bowl of porridge made from spiritual rice and a few other dishes.


    "One day and one night?"


    Little Pearl scooped some soup and proceeded to feed him, while Fang Yuan remained in shock. ''It seems that time passes much faster in the dream world, and will change the rate of how fast time passes? This is a little advantage... Without reaching Wu Zong, I am able to let the elemental force nourish my body. Which martial artist would dare to isolate himself for more than three days?''


    After sorting his thoughts out, Fang Yuan opened his mouth and a mouthful of porridge came.


    He just had to look at the dish, and Little Pearl would get it for him; she was extremely thoughtful. Fang Yuan could enjoy the life like a master.


    "Little Pearl, where are you from?"


    He pinched her cheeks, which felt extremely smooth to the touch.


    "I... I am from Lieyang County, and was sent by my aunt to Master Zhou''s place..."


    Little Pearl looked down and whispered softly.


    "I see..."


    Fang Yuan realised that Zhou Wenwu spent a lot of effort in selecting the servants for him, and as for how many families he destroyed, no one would know.


    "Are you literate?"


    "A little!"


    "Very well, I will teach you a part of a magical technique, and you can pass it on to the other servants!"


    Fang Yuan squinted his eyes. "The servants of the secluded valley must be different from the rest!"


    With the resources he had, it was effortless for him to train and maintain a batch of martial artists. He had even prepared the Xuan Yin Heart Technique for them to learn!


    This was a secret technique passed down within the Five Ghosts Sect, and could be used to cultivate up till Wu Zong, which was a testament to its potential.


    Furthermore, after reaching a high grade, there might be consequences and therefore Fang Yuan was unwilling to try it out for himself; he only took parts of it to adapt, but now he finally found a use to it.


    What would be the consequence?


    Fang Yuan glanced at Little Pearl.


    Seeing the potential of these servants, if they did not have his help, it would be lucky for them to train and harness inner force on their own; they wouldn''t think about the Four Heavenly Gates.


    If the Xuan Yin Heart Technique really had to potential to break through Wu Zong, then no one in the right mind would present it as a gift.


    After his meal, Fang Yuan became energetic and walked around the secluded valley.


    "Good day Young Master!"


    "Good day Young Master!"


    ...


    Amidst all the greetings, Zhang Sheng was sweeping the floor, undisturbed. Fang Yuan left him alone, nodded his head, and went to the spiritual farm.


    "Master Fang!"


    A few farmers who were farming came over. "The Vermilion Jade Rice is growing very well, and cannot be compared with the previous farmed I worked at. We are going to get a bountiful harvest soon!"


    They were all sweating profusely and were jubilant at their efforts.


    Of course, other than them, the guard of the spiritual farm, and the Flower Fox Ferret had their contributions too.


    Although Fang Yuan did not put too much thought about these small things, he still had to guard against those who would secretly target the Vermilion Jade Rice.


    Because of that, the Flower Fox Ferret stayed in the secluded valley. With it serving as a deterrence, and Zhang Sheng as a spy, no one could plot anything on the farm.


    "Keke!"


    Fang Yuan became speechless as he saw the Flower Fox Ferret sit at a side and instructed a servant in green to roast meat for him.


    He noticed Fang Yuan and swiftly ran to his side, trying to please him.


    Disregarding the spiritual tea and spiritual rice, in the heart of the Flower Fox Ferret, he preferred Fang Yuan''s roast meat over the that of the servants.


    He tapped his chest, as though he meant that he was hard at work making sure that nothing happened around the spiritual farm.


    "You guys have worked hard!"


    Fang Yuan stroked the Flower Fox Ferret''s head and got everyone around the spiritual farm to gather. "When the spiritual rice ripens, everyone will get their share!"


    "Thank you, master!"


    The servants were jubilant after hearing this and offered their thanks.


    "Hmm!"


    Fang Yang waved, turned a few rounds to appease the crowd, and left the secluded valley.


    Behind the mountains, the Iron-tailed Black Eagle was waiting and stared at Fang Yuan as he approached.


    "Let''s go! To the Green Peak spiritual land!"


    Fang Yuan leapt on the back of the Iron-tailed Black Eagle and was decisive.


    The secluded valley was his connection to the outside world; his real base was the large Green Peak spiritual land.


    "Chirp!"


    The Iron-tailed Black Eagle shot into the sky and disappeared...


    ...


    Green Peak spiritual land, middle of the mountains.


    A few straw pavilions were made out of rough workmanship, and there was a simple garden in front, albeit not well-maintained.


    "The riches of this world is like a passing cloud..."


    After experiencing the world and how everyone wanted to bribe him with riches, he had a totally different feeling after arriving here.


    His cultivation as a dream disciple made him appreciative of nature. He came down from the eagle''s back and immediately went to check on the Questioning Heart Tea and Flame Jade Rice.


    Loosening the soil, fertilizing, watering... Every move was real.


    After doing everything, and looking at both spiritual plants growing well, Fang Yuan sighed. "We now have a steady supply of Questioning Heart Tea, but we will have to wait for a few more seasons for the Flame Jade Rice..."


    One stalk of rice would obviously not be enough for consumption. Fang Yuan was also a generous person. He would not forget the Flower Fox Ferret''s and the Iron-tailed Black Eagle''s share.


    "Simmering the spiritual rice could damage it. I''ve heard that some alchemy masters can directly produce spiritual pills from spiritual rice. One pill would be able to sustain one for days, and the nutritious value would be preserved in the pill, which makes it the most efficient way of using spiritual rice..."


    With random thoughts in his head, he looked at the other spiritual objects and was surprised.


    "This is..."


    He approached the small platform which in it planted the spiritual bamboo. He noticed a few small shoots appearing from what was a flat ground, and one would not notice it if they did not look hard enough.


    "The bamboo fruit has germinated?"


    Fang Yuan was ecstatic.


    In his view, a cloud of red-white smoke appeared and was absorbed by the stats window. The ''Level 3'' behind [Botany] became blurred.


    Under all his hard work, he had already filled the proficiency points for [Botany] to the brim and was just lacking in opportunity for him to break through.


    The germination of the bamboo shoots fulfilled the criteria, like how he managed to plant the spiritual plants the previous time. The [Botany (Level 3)] jumped a little, and became ''4''.


    [Botany (Level 4)]!!!


    Fang Yuan was filled with emotions and looked at the description:


    "[Botany (Level 4)] - Your hands have now surpassed a mortal''s, and through your cultivation of the spiritual plants, the chances of a special trait evolving have increased, and now there is some chance of awakening some special abilities."


    "[Botany (Level 4)], indeed requires the experience of planting a high-level spiritual plant!"


    Fang Yuan clenched his fist and had a rough plan to break through his [Medicine].


    "Increasing in chances of special traits evolving. Does that mean that my spiritual plants now have a higher probability to be evolved?"


    He thought through carefully about the description and focused on every word. "Chance of awakening some astonishing ability? What does that mean?"


    The system on him was not sentient and had no mind of its own; he had to base on his own deductions, and the answer would not just appear.


    The surprised Fang Yuan looked at other spiritual plants, hoping for another such thing to happen.


    However, this time, only one of the many germinated.


    "The growth of the spiritual bamboo may take hundreds of years... Even though I might have the spiritual fertilizer, there is only so much time I can expedite..."


    Walking out of the garden, Fang Yuan sighed.


    "Maybe... The only hope is to keep increasing my [Botany] Level!"


    Since he could increase the chances of evolving a special trait, shortening the growth period of the plant could be a possibility?!


    Fang Yuan''s thoughts ran wild. If he could plant plants that require hundreds or thousands of years in a matter of years, then his [Botany] would be the top of the world!


    Of course, the condition was that he had to keep his skill a secret, or cover and hide from spies.


    With some motivation, Fang Yuan went to take a look at the red-eyed white kind bird.


    It decided to not eat any food and became skinnier. It was pitiful, but Fang Yuan had no thoughts of releasing it. If it did not agree to be tamed, he would let it die here!

 92 Harves

    Even though the Red-Eyed White King Bird did not want to eat, Fang Yuan still had his ways to deal with it.


    He could use underhand means to ensure its survival and slowly deal with it.


    After all, he had no time limit, and would not lose anything by dragging on.


    But it seems that he did not have to go to such extremes; he had to use death to obliterate the king bird''s pride.


    ...


    Half a month later.


    "Start harvesting!"


    Zhou Wenwu personally led the people, and he was filled with emotions.


    The spiritual farmers all agreed and began to harvest the ripened rice.


    This batch of rice was about to mature; even though Fang Yuan guarded the secret of the spiritual fertilizer closely and did not use it this time, it only delayed the period of maturity by a little.


    At this moment, the entire Vermilion Jade Rice farm was filled in red. All the farmers and servants rolled up their sleeves and started to cut the rice stalks; every single rice stalk was harvested.


    After working for so long in this rice field, they all knew the value of this spiritual farm.


    "The harvest from this spiritual farm is more than 1300 pounds! Congratulations, Doctor Fang!"


    Outside the farm, Fang Yuan stood next to Elder Han, both witnessing the harvest. Elder Han chuckled.


    The Spirit Returning Sect''s entire spiritual farm could not match the amount of harvest that Fang Yuan had, which made Elder Han envious.


    ''However... Our sect grows not only spiritual rice, but other spiritual plants as well, and therefore the secluded valley cannot compare to it... A pity that Sect Master sacrificed half of our savings on Lin Leiyue...''


    Thinking of this, the stingy Elder Han felt a pain in his heart.


    After the pain, he looked at the bundles of harvest and began to worry.


    Even though the secluded valley only produced spiritual rice, it was still a form of spiritual plant production!


    Furthermore, on such a large scale, they could be a stronghold themselves. Thinking about how he could sense the Xuan Yin Heart Technique on all the servants made him even more worried.


    ''Techniques, spiritual rice... Even though he only rewards those who work hard, this doctor is rather generous. If they become more developed, they will surely affect the reputation of the Spirit Returning Sect...''


    With spiritual plants, techniques and rewards, this was no different from a small sect!


    Furthermore, from certain angles, it might even be better than a sect.


    After all, with fewer things to worry, they could escape if they wanted to.


    Elder Han thought to himself. Even the direct disciples of the Spirit Returning Sect might not be able to learn such a high-levelled technique like the Xuan Yin Heart Technique, even though they might only be at Grade 6.


    Not to mention the reward of spiritual rice for hard work.


    ''With all these... I''m afraid that these servants will be extremely loyal, and even the spies might be pulled over as well!''


    If the spies working undercover were not blackmailed or forced to carry out their duties and be loyal, how many of them would be able to resist such temptations?


    Unless his family members were captured, or if he did not have common sense, then he might be able to.


    Elder Han looked at Zhou Wenwu, who seemed more and more like a lackey and sighed. It was as though he could see the future of Qingye City.


    "What are you thinking about, Elder Han?"


    Fang Yuan seemed to have detected Elder Han''s silence and asked cheerfully.


    "Keke... I never thought that the secluded valley would have such abundance of supplies, and was just thinking about it!"


    Elder Han never thought that the Doctor from the secluded valley was one that he could work with well, especially after the news of the death of Old Crane!


    "I see!"


    Fang Yuan nodded his head. "I''ve newly concocted a few medicines. Also, you are fit beyond my expectations, and just need to rest well after my treatment. After consuming the medicine that I have prescribed, after a hundred days, you will recover fully!"


    This Earth Gate test subject was of little value to Fang Yuan now. After all, he himself was already a [Martial Artist (11th Gate)], and only being a [Martial Artist (12th Gate)] or Wu Zong could satisfy his needs.


    Furthermore, after getting rid of Elder Yan, if Elder Han were to get into an accident here, he would draw unnecessary attention to the secluded valley.


    Shi Yutong was not a fool, she did not need evidence to have her way!


    "What... This is good news, thank you, doctor! Thank you, doctor!"


    To Elder Han, this was exceptional news, and he continuously thanked Fang Yuan. "Don''t worry, I will order for those spiritual objects to be sent here after I am back!"


    "Mmm!"


    Fang Yuan did not reply, but inside he was pleased.


    There was a small plot of spiritual land within Spirit Returning Sect, and there were many more species of spiritual plants there than his own collection; furthermore, there were professionals taking care of it, which meant that it might even be of better quality than those at Green Peak spiritual land.


    After levelling up his [Botany], he needed experience like this to fill up his experience bar.


    Furthermore, there was the special ability of a [Botany (Level 4)], which he wanted to try out.


    "Master!"


    After completing acupuncture for Elder Han, it was his final use of him as a test subject. He made Elder Han suffer an immense amount of pain before letting him go. Afterwards, Zhou Wenwu happily reported, "The harvest for the spiritual valley is completed, and I have personally witnessed them stored the last bag of harvest into the storage room. We have a total of 1,500 pounds of harvest, rice stalks..."


    "Mmm..."


    Fang Yuan brewed a cup of tea, and as he drank it he was listening to Zhou Wenwu report, and from time to time nodded his head.


    Zhou Wenwu swallowed his saliva, his tummy rumbling. He did not dare to ask for a cup of tea, which left a deep impression in him.


    "We have these unshelled rice, and after shelling them we would get 1,300 pounds of spiritual rice... Take 130 pounds with you, be it keep it all for yourself, or distribute it to the rest, it''s all up to you!"


    "Also, keep the shells, for we can use it to feed chickens and ducks next time..."


    Fang Yuan casually instructed him, like a landlord.


    "Yes yes..."


    Zhou Wenwu agreed, but inside he was confused. "The shell of the Vermilion Jade Rice is even more nutritious than normal rice... Yet master would not let humans eat it, but feed it to chickens and ducks? Gee... I wonder how would their meat taste like once they''ve grown up?"


    After thinking, his mouth became dry.


    "Also, the rules regarding reward and punishment for the servants must also be decided!"


    Fang Yuan took Zhou Wenwu as a housekeeper. "Everyone in the secluded valley can learn and break through the first three Gates of the Xuan Yin Heart Technique. As for the 2 Peaceful Gates, 3 Perilous Gates, the 4 Heavenly Gates and even the method to break through to Wu Zong, these must be kept secret and only taught when one has made some significant contribution!"


    "Of course!"


    Zhou Wenwu nodded his head.


    In fact, after finding out that Fang Yuan had no reservations in passing down the Xuan Yin Heart Technique to the servants, Zhou Wenwu abandoned his family martial art technique and converted to the Xuan Yin Heart Technique. Even when Fang Yuan mentioned to him the negative side effects that might be present, he still did not put that to mind.


    After all, he knew his own martial arts and if he did not change to a higher-level technique, it was impossible for him to break through the Death Gate, into the 4 Heavenly Gates!


    As for Wu Zong, he only dared to dream about it, and therefore was not worried about the possible side effects.


    Zhou Wenwu was ultimately different from the rest of the servants; Fang Yuan did pass down to him the entire method of attaining the 4 Heavenly Gates. The spiritual rice was a great support to his intense training, and all these made him even more loyal to Fang Yuan.


    After all, where could he find such a good boss?


    ...


    After settling the minor stuff in the valley, Fang Yuan left the secluded valley, rode the Iron-tailed Black Eagle and arrived at the Green Peak spiritual land.


    Other than the secluded valley, the garden here also had a supply of Vermilion Jade Rice, which he personally planted.


    Based on logical sense, with the help of the spiritual land and spiritual fertilizer, it should have been matured and ready for harvest.


    Only because he accidentally attained a higher level in [Botany] did he delay it until now.


    As he arrived at the farm, his eyes were filled with a bright flame-colour.


    He initially planted 5 sections of Vermilion Jade Rice here, and the initially healthy Vermilion Jade Rice was now withered and replaced by the Flame Jade Rice, as though it had sucked all the essence from the Vermilion Jade Rice.


    "One, two, three... six, seven!"


    Fang Yuan counted, and the smile on his face grew. "Seven stalks of Flame Jade Rice! Haha... [Botany (Level 4)] is indeed impressive, the chances of the special trait evolving are much higher than before!"


    Without hesitation, he went up and harvested the 7 stalks of Flame Jade Rice and the remaining Vermilion Jade Rice. In a moment, Fang Yuan had a small bag of red and round spiritual rice the size of a spiritual pill.


    "This is Flame Jade Rice?"


    He picked up a handful and examined closely.


    This rice was still unshelled, and although the bag was covering the spiritual rice, it seemed to be unable to cover its radiance.


    "Although I have not seen a spiritual pill as described in the legends, I''m sure I could fool people if I bring this out!"


    Dissipating his magical energy, Fang Yuan could sense the thick spiritual energy all around.


    "However... I don''t know about the qualities of this Flame Jade Rice. I can''t feed this to the Flower Fox Ferret like how I did with the Vermilion Fruit, can I?"


    Fang Yuan had mixed feelings. Food was of extreme importance to humans. He had plans to eat the Flame Jade Rice as a staple in the future and had to be more stringent in his checks and be clear of its medicinal properties in order to eat it safely.


    "Other than this, I still have to investigate the properties of the spiritual wisteria and the Cracked Ice Fruit the found at the king bird''s nest..."


    How many spiritual objects were there in the world?


    With the teachings of Master Wenxin, Fang Yuan still did not dare to claim that he had known all of it.


    The spiritual plants found at the king bird''s nest still did not germinate after a long time, which made Fang Yuan suspect his own [Botany] skills. He did not fulfil certain important criteria for the germination of spiritual plants and had to do some research on his own to find out on his own.


    "Since the next batch of Vermilion fruits in the king bird''s nest has ripened, why not take a trip there..."


    Fang Yuan touched his chin.


    Since the journey to Lieyang County, he had experienced the interesting world, especially the encounter with spiritual knights, which sparked interest in him.


    Furthermore, the Blood Killer who died in his hands did not seem to be a simple guy Fang Yuan had to do more investigation on the Blood Killer.


    "The spiritual knight who assisted Shi Yutong the other time... Who would''ve known that Shi Yutong could not only recruit the help of an alchemy master but also able to find such a helper?"


    Fang Yuan shook his head and knew that his ability was far from those strong powers.

 93 Secluded Mountain Prefecture

    It was dawn.


    The rain had stopped and the air was humid. The scenery was clear.


    A group of carriages were moving steadily along the wet pathway. There was a youth dressed in green and his eyes were glittering. He seemed to be excited and was engrossed in a discussion. "We will be reaching the Secluded Mountain Prefecture soon!"


    "Xia country is vast and geographically, it can be separated into 3 Prefectures¡­... Lieyang, Qinghe and Cangshui counties belong to the Secluded Mountain Prefecture and the Prefecture City is at the heart of it. This city is way more prosperous compared to other counties and the master of the Secluded Mountain Prefecture is the most powerful in the entire Secluded Mountain Prefecture! Legend has it that he is a spiritual knight who can harness nature''s elements!"


    His face was flushed with excitement, as though this was his first trip away from home. With a little pride, he added. "I have a small family business in the city..."


    "Haha¡­..Master Yu, you are too humble! How can the scale of your family business be considered small?"


    Fang Yuan was dressed in a thick clothing as he rode a green donkey by the side of the carriage. He was enjoying his chat with the youth in green.


    Inside, he was still displeased. ''It looks like Elder Han is still being cautious of me¡­..Unfortunately, he thinks he can cheat me, but he doesn''t know that he is actually helping me instead¡­.''


    After Elder Han had recovered, without hesitation, he sent a few spiritual objects as payment.


    However, what made Fang Yuan speechless was that even though after Elder Han had seen him growing the Vermillion Jade Rice, it was obvious that he did not want Fang Yuan to grow stronger. However, the spiritual objects Fang Yuan received from him was not a common type like the Emerald Grass. It was a Thousand Year Frozen Fruit and similar other plants which required a few hundred to a thousand of years for the plants to grow to produce their effects!


    Although such spiritual plants were considered precious, Fang Yuan would probably not have the chance to witness these plants to bear fruits. He had no choice but to accept them anyway.


    The amount Elder Han paid for his treatment was considerably great in terms of the spiritual plants he gave.


    Unfortunately, Elder Han didn''t know that Fang Yuan would be satisfied with just the Vermillion Fruit as growing it successfully would aid Fang Yuan in strengthening his [Botany].


    ''Of course¡­...to reduce the time taken for the spiritual plants to grow, the spiritual fertiliser can only help to a certain limit. I will still have to improve my botany skills. Furthermore, there''s no way for me to obtain any more spiritual plants from the Spirit Returning Sect. I hope there will be takeaways from the Prefecture City!''


    With that thought, he left the Flower Fox Ferret back in the secluded valley and the Iron-tailed Black Eagle back in the Green Peak to guard these places. On the other hand, he was carefree as he rode a green donkey to the Secluded Mountain Prefecture.


    The trip there was relaxing and smooth, although they encountered some troubles along the way. After doing a few good deeds, he was noticed by the hired master who was passing by in a caravan. They were impressed by Fang Yuan''s martial arts skills and invited him to travel together.


    This caravan, which was called White Cloud, was also heading towards the Secluded Mountain Prefecture and the youth named ''Yu Xinlou'' was the hired master of the caravan. Fang Yuan hesitantly accepted their invitation under pressure and joined the caravan. Not long after, they struck up a conversation.


    The Secluded Mountain Prefecture City was of a different level compared to the other counties. Disregarding everything else, the young people from the Secluded Mountain Prefecture City would be more well-informed as compared to those in the other counties.


    ''Even the disciple in the Spirit Returning Sect might not know about spiritual knights¡­...For myself, if I didn''t read a few books about it, I would probably be ignorant now¡­.."


    Fang Yuan felt slightly ashamed of himself before Yu Xinlou''s voice was heard.


    "Brother Fang, since you are able to achieve the 6th Gate by the age of 20, you are considered a talent in this Prefecture City. You might have the chance to get a glimpse of Wu Zong in future¡­.."


    To Yu Xinlou, being a [Martial Artist (6th Gate)] was very impressive to the point it was hard to put in words. In comparison, he himself was not even a [Martial artist (4th Gate)], which meant that Fang Yuan was way stronger than him.


    "Brother Yu, you think too highly of me. There are many other powerful people in the Prefecture City. With my cultivation level, how am I considered powerful?"


    Fang Yuan smiled and glanced at the old man who was riding the horse carriage.


    This old man was a Martial Artist (9th Gate) and had the cultivation level of the 4 Heavenly Gates. He should be the secret bodyguard of this caravan.


    As the conversation took place, the old man had been worriedly keeping an eye on him. However, he could neither tell how powerful Fang Yuan was nor could he tell that his own cultivation level had been exposed to Fang Yuan.


    ''It looks like¡­..Yu Xinlou doesn''t know that this old man is the most highly skilled in the whole caravan, but the few inner force experts are all aware¡­..Hehe, was he raised by a pig?''


    Fang Yuan laughed in his heart and pitied Yu Xinlou.


    He was not entirely convinced that Yu Xinlou deserved to be the rightful heir to the caravan.


    ''With my magical energy, I can make use of the Blood Magic Manual and a small trick from my dream disciple cultivation to hide my cultivation level easily¡­..''


    Seeing that it was effective even against a 4 Heavenly Gates martial artist, Fang Yuan was convinced that his trick to hide his cultivation level was worth it.


    At least, without elemental force, no one could see through his concealment.


    ''What if I encounter Shi Yutong? The chance of my cover being blown will be 50%.....''


    Fang Yuan squinted his eyes and was casually talking to Yu Xinlou. At the same time, in his mind, he was trying to figure out the secrets of his dream world. Suddenly, a cheer was heard. "We have reached the Prefecture City!"


    "Oh! We are here already?"


    Fang Yuan was surprised. He nudged his donkey to approach the front of the carriage.


    After a turn, a gigantic city appeared right in front of Fang Yuan''s eyes.


    The first impression Fang Yuan had on the Secluded Mountain Prefecture City were the tall city walls!


    Dark and tall, they were majestic structures stuck into the ground. The shortest wall was at least 35 yards in height!


    What was the concept behind building such tall walls?


    Even a martial artist who had inner force would find it impossible to climb over the tall wall to enter the city!


    "This scene is majestic, isn''t it?"


    Yu Xinlou saw the scene and smiled wide. "This Secluded Mountains Prefecture City was personally designed and overseen by the first generation prefecture head. The old man was an array master, hence not only are these city walls touching the clouds, their foundations have spiritual arrays carved into them, making them extremely sturdy and without any weakness... There are 3 layers, namely the outer district, inner district, and central district. 10 thousand families live here, making it the most populated place in the northern area of Xia Country!"


    "Hmm, this city does live up to its name!"


    Fang Yuan nodded his head in agreement. It was the first time he had seen such an ancient majestic city, greatly shocking him.


    Especially¡­..


    ''So this city was built by the first prefecture master, the array master? No wonder I could feel a mild pressure¡­..It seemed that the rumours of his doings are true too¡­.''


    "The current prefecture master is a spiritual knight, I wonder how powerful he is!"


    Fang Yuan silently sighed.


    A true spiritual knight would be different from him or Blood Killer. Having already consolidated his magical energy and obtained elemental energy, he would be able to produce powerful spells with a wave of his hand.


    On one hand, an array master could build such big city. On the other hand, a spiritual knight could become powerful through the use of spiritual spells. Harnessing energy from heaven and earth, he could single-handedly match against thousand-men strong troops.


    ''If the chance of my cover being blown by a Wu Zong is 50%, then the chance of my cover being blown by a spiritual knight will be near to 100%. I have to be more careful...''


    As they got closer to the city, the city wall loomed above them.


    Outside the city entrance, the city gates were so huge that it looked like a mouth of a giant monster. The carriage was like an ant compared to the size of the city gate.


    Around the city gate and above the city walls, there were many martial artists in black armour patrolling the area. All of them looked fierce and were sharp, making it obvious that they were all well trained.


    "Inner power! The weakest martial artist here is probably at the 4th Gate!"


    Fang Yuan saw this scene and his heart wavered.


    The defence in this city was much stronger than that of in the Spirit Returning Sect.


    "These are the soldiers of the Secluded Mountain Prefecture and they are under direct orders from the prefecture master. I strongly urge you all not to provoke them! In this city, you can provoke anyone but not any of the Secluded Mountain Prefecture Master''s men, or else you will die terribly!"


    Yu Xinlou reminded everyone in a soft voice.


    "Don''t worry, I will be mindful of this!"


    Fang Yuan laughed and entered the city with the others after paying an entrance fee.


    "Wow!"


    After they entered the city, they were welcomed by the lively bustle of the city.


    The main road was built with green rocks and was wide enough to fit a few carriages. There was bustling everywhere and there were many stalls on the two sides of the road. There were many street vendors selling different kinds of things; there were too many choices to choose from.


    "This city is much more prosperous as compared to the other counties!"


    Fang Yuan sighed.


    "The Secluded Mountain Prefecture is usually not so busy. Looks like Brother Fang you came at the right time!"


    Yu Xinlou laughed and said, "It will be the prefecture master''s 300th birthday soon. There will be many guests who are coming from everywhere to give their well wishes. Also, the Secluded Mountain Prefecture Business Council would be taking this chance to hold a few large-scaled fairs to attract every other businessman from other parts of the country to come here. You can also find foreigners here¡­..This place will become the busiest in this country!"


    "Oh? Really?"


    Fang Yuan was surprised.


    He lived in seclusion for many years and was clueless about such big events. It seemed that Zhou Wenwu did not know that the prefecture master''s birthday banquet would be one of Fang Yuan''s considerations.


    After all, his level was still low and his experience was limited to Qingye City. He would probably not be able to escape the shackles of the Qinghe County.


    ''But... 300 years old?''


    With Master Wenxin''s inheritance and the Blood Magic Technique, Fang Yuan was rather familiar with spiritual knights.


    A normal Wu Zong, even if he doesn''t make any further breakthroughs, can basically live for 200 years, and it''s even longer for spiritual knights, with a lifespan of about 300 years at the initial stages.


    ''According to the words of my master, it is extremely difficult for a spiritual knight to progress to the next level. It looks like this prefecture master does not have much progress in his cultivation. Otherwise, he would not be cooped here¡­...It seems like his life is about to end soon? Someone else is going to take over the position as the prefecture master soon?''


    Thinking about this, he was shocked.


    Seeing how packed the prefecture city was, it seemed that it would not be just a simple birthday celebration.


    ''Looks like there is going to be trouble brewing in the Secluded Mountain Prefecture....but how is this my business?''


    After rejecting and thanking Yu Xinlou''s invitations many times, Fang Yuan left on his own. Looking at the prosperous street, he smiled to himself¡­...

 94 Business Centre

    In the central of Prefecture City, there were many treasures, talents and potentials. The city master''s birthday hyped up the entire place, making it busier than ever. People from all places came here, and treasures from around the world made their way here too.


    Fang Yuan did not rush to trade for spiritual objects and plants, but rather, made a point to look for a hostel to stay for the night.


    The Secluded Mountain Prefecture had a curfew. By midnight, the people who had not returned to their lodging, be it, tourists, residents or famous people, would be thrown in jail and become a slave!


    It was only reasonable for him to worry about a place to stay for the night.


    Due to the overwhelming response from people all around the world, every hostel was full, and the rental price went up a few folds due to the high demand.


    After visiting a few other hostels, he realised that they were all full. Fang Yuan became irritated and wrecked a residence, took out money as compensation and booked the entire building.


    The head of the household happily received the money and accompanied the entire family to the outskirts of the city to stay there temporarily and let the entire house out to Fang Yuan. While leaving, he explained the situation to the trooper on patrol.


    "Hu..."


    Fang Yuan walked in and closed the door. He felt a little bored.


    "The Secluded Mountain Prefecture City will surely earn loads this time. Who knows if this might be the end of their bad luck or the last of their good luck..."


    After a few days of investigation, Fang Yuan understood the happenings of the Secluded Mountain Prefecture City.


    "The role of the Prefecture Master was official yet private and is conferred by the Imperial Court. But if one is incapable, his placing would be threatened! The previous few Prefecture Masters fought their way there and were only confirmed after approval from the Xia Country. There was no room for rejection..."


    After much thought, Fang Yuan pitied the Xia Country''s royal family.


    With such constraints over his power as compared to a constitutional monarchy in other countries, it only meant that they had jurisdiction over a few more areas.


    Of course, it was none of his concern how the Xia Country''s royal family was doing.


    He was more concern over the happenings within the Secluded Mountain Prefecture. After all, the Prefecture Master was like a mini emperor over six counties.


    If he had completed his cultivation, he might be tempted to run for it.


    The current Secluded Mountains Prefecture''s Head is a spiritual knight named Liu Yan. There''s nothing his Scorching Sun Spell can''t burn to a crisp, and his strength is number 1 in Secluded Mountains Prefecture..."


    Rumours had it that there were hidden experts within the Prefecture, and therefore could not be just this one spiritual knight.


    At the very least, from various traces left behind in Qinghe and Lieyang County, Fang Yuan had discovered three possible locations that held the inheritance of a spiritual knight.


    "Blood Demon, and that alchemy master and spiritual knight that helped Shi Yutong¡­...That''s not right, the alchemy master and spiritual knight might be the same person, otherwise, it would be a little unusual for Shi Yutong to have such a wide network."


    He sighed, and his expression changed. "Shi Yutong would surely attend this event since it is such a major thing in the Secluded Mountain Prefecture!"


    Fang Yuan did not have to care about anything; Shi Yutong was different. She was the head of a Sect, and any changes in the Secluded Mountain Prefecture, albeit small, would surely affect her Sect, what more for this big change?


    After clearing his thoughts, Fang Yuan stood up and went to the Secluded Mountain Court.


    The entire vicinity was bustling, but everyone felt unwelcoming.


    This place was similar to the Four Seas Court in Singhe County; they were the biggest business council in their areas, and both had strong backings.


    "Not many places within the Secluded Mountain Prefecture would trade spiritual objects, but it was still the most convenient place to do so... And I''ll have to visit the ''Elemental Gathering Court'' one day, as it''s renowned for cooking spiritual food!"


    "Welcome, my lord!"


    At the doorway, two rows of waiters were neatly spaced and offered their greetings to Fang Yuan, and none of them seemed to give him less respect for being young.


    A female shopkeeper stood out of the row and asked, "My lord, would you like to do business?"


    "I would like to buy spiritual plants!"


    Fang Yuan was direct.


    "The trading of spiritual plants is done at the Spiritual Food Court, follow me!"


    The shopkeeper smiled and led the way. He arrived at a counter.


    Many coolies were busy shifting and weighing bags of rice, like a normal rice shop.


    Fang Yuan glanced and saw the labels of Vermilion Jade Rice and Emerald Grass, as though they were all on sale.


    "Would you like to buy spiritual plants? This is the right season!"


    The shopkeeper''s round face glowed and continued. "We have just received a new batch of spiritual plants. Although it might seem like boasting, we have the complete selection of spiritual plants in the entire Secluded Mountain Prefecture, and also many other food types for you to choose from... Of course, planting of spiritual food would be rather troublesome, and if you would like to buy a large amount, I regret to inform you that we only have a limited supply..."


    As he was speaking, a waiter served two cups of tea.


    Fang Yuan sipped a small mouthful, and through the smell and taste of the tea on his taste buds, he realised that even though the tea was not brewed from spiritual leaves, the spiritual essence had spread to it, which was rather rare. He became excited and said, "Take out all your spiritual plants and let''s take a look!"


    "Alright!"


    The shopkeeper chuckled and did not seem to despise him. he clapped his hands and a helper carried out a red sandalwood plate, and on it a jade bottle.


    "Come, my lord, please take a look. This Vermillion Jade Rice, the most commonly planted in the county¡­...There''s also Black Jade Rice from the north which can help one fight against the cold if consumed for long periods, and this is Green Striped Rice from the swamps, which increases one''s resistance to poisons when consumed¡­...We also have Bone Quenching Flower, Three Star Fruit..."


    Following his introduction of the spiritual plants, Fang Yuan grew irritated. "Why are all these plants the common ones? Are there no better plants?"


    The Black Jade Rice was as common as the Vermilion Jade Rice and could not pique his interest; he could try it out just because it was a new species to him.


    "Higher tiered spiritual plants?"


    The shopkeeper smiled. "Every sect and every household have limited supply of spiritual food, and would not even let out one grain of rice seed. Other than these common goods, we really don''t have anything else..."


    ''That''s it!''


    Fang Yuan patted his head, as though he had thought something through.


    If one had a grain of spiritual rice, they could keep growing it and increase their supply, and from there increase their power and influence, they could strategically stock up food.


    After all, no martial artist would eat spiritual flowers, spiritual grasses or spiritual pills every day, but they could eat spiritual rice every day, which highlighted the importance of rice.


    Even the widely circulated Vermilion Jade Rice, when gone through generations of farming and storing, could become the foundation for a household, and therefore no one would want to bring it out to sell.


    "It must be my imagination!"


    Fang Yuan laughed but thought for a moment. He knew that the value of his Flame Jade Rice would rocket if he put it out for sale!


    Even though hope was lost for a higher tiered spiritual rice, Fang Yuan still had interest for the other spiritual plants.


    "I am interested in the Sickle Grass, Serrated Flower and the previous two Black Jade and Green Striped Rice. Name me a price!"


    Fang Yuan knew that in these shops they would not have any real valuable spiritual plants, but their basic selection was rather wide and therefore started to make his purchase.


    Sickle Grass and Serrated Flowers were spiritual flowers and grass, but they possessed no special abilities. They only had stalks and leaves as strong as iron, edges as sharp as knives, and a disposition for harming people. Fang Yuan bought them naturally out of consideration for the safety of the spiritual land.


    And as for the other common spiritual plants, he decided to get it to increase his collection and to see if any of it would evolve special traits.


    "Mmm, here are the seeds for the spiritual flower and spiritual grass, and the total will be..."


    Fang Yuan bought all the spiritual plants which he did not encounter before. The price was rather substantial as the shopkeeper reported the total price.


    He surely did not have enough money to pay.


    "I did not bring enough money..."


    Fang Yuan continued, and seeing no response from the shopkeeper, he retrieved a bamboo fruit and offered it. "To trade this for the rest, how''s that?"


    "This is?"


    The shopkeeper looked at the green bamboo fruit, and his expressionless face changed. "A spiritual fruit?"


    Although he sold spiritual plants seeds, the value of an actual spiritual plant was very much higher than that of a spiritual seed.


    He was solemn for a moment, then took out a pair of glasses and placed it on his nose. He inspected the fruit. "Hmm... This is... The bamboo fruits from the legends?:


    "Oh? You have a good eyesight!"


    Fang Yuan praised him, and calmly took another sip of tea.


    He was crafty in this. In most other spiritual fruits there would be seeds within the fruit, but the bamboo had to be planted by grafting and the formation of bamboo shoots, and not by fruits, and therefore there would be no seed being given away.


    If the shopkeeper knew that Fang Yuan decided to do this because of what he previously said, he would be so angry.


    "You''re right. This bamboo fruit is the food for phoenixes and can replenish one''s magical energy. It will have an unbelievable effect on spiritual birds!"


    After a long while, the shopkeeper put down his glasses and looked at Fang Yuan with much hospitality. "Three bamboo fruits will be able to exchange for all these spiritual seeds, and if you have any more, we would like to buy some more with a high price!"


    He was rather smart not to inquire about the bamboo shoot and bamboo roots, as he knew that was the customer''s privacy. If he asked, the deal would likely fall through.


    "I happened to have these few by luck, and that''s all I have!"


    Fang Yuan lied through his teeth and took out another bamboo fruit with some taels. "Remember to deliver the spiritual seeds!"


    "Of course!"


    The shopkeeper nodded his head and felt that it was a pity. He carefully kept the two bamboo fruits and ordered for the spiritual seeds to be brought for Fang Yuan to inspect every single seed. There was a piece of paper with writings on it detailing on how he should care for the spiritual plants, which saved him a lot of trouble.


    Fang Yuan was pleasantly surprised at their hospitality. He asked. "Shopkeeper, you have good eyesight. Do you provide any appraisal service?"


    "Of course, of course!"


    The shopkeeper nodded his head.


    Even if the Secluded Mountain Court did not have this service to begin with, the shopkeeper would also do it for free to pull their relations closer, considering the bamboo fruit that Fang Yuan had.


    ''Mm? Is the bamboo fruit really that valuable?''


    Fang Yuan was shocked at this scene.


    The bamboo fruit could not be planted and the only usage of the fruit was to eat it.


    It had the ability to replenish one''s Essence, Spirit and Magical energy, and even amongst the spiritual knights, it would be popular.


    ''The backing of the Secluded Mountain Court would be the Secluded Mountain Prefecture Master, and it seems like... My guess was correct¡­...''

 95 Secret Meeting

    The effect of the bamboo fruit was extraordinary, but to a spiritual knight, it was just a supplement.


    Many spiritual pills, spiritual flowers and spiritual fruits also produced similar or greater effects.


    If not, the shopkeeper would not be so polite and would use all means to obtain these special spiritual objects!


    Fang Yuan thought about it before taking out the Cracked Ice Fruit which he found at the Red-eyed White King Bird''s nest.


    "Seed?"


    When the shopkeeper saw what Fang Yuan took out, he let out a laugh.


    "When I found it, it was already in this condition¡­.."


    Fang Yuan helplessly said, "However, I still remember how the actual fruit looked like. I can describe it in detail to you..."


    ...¡­


    "According to what you said, this fruit seems to be the Icy Fire Jialan. This item would sprout in the first 15 years; its flowers would bloom in the next 15 years, and it would bear fruit 15 years after that. It could calm one''s heart, remove one''s inner demons, and it had a combination of opposing elements: Yin and Yang. This made it very unique and mysterious, making it something martial artists at the 9th and 10th Gates could dream of but never have!


    After a long while, the shopkeeper rubbed his eyes and said in a deep voice.


    "Since this fruit is well sought after by 9th and 10th Gate martial artists, could this fruit have a similar effect as compared to the Yin Yang Jade, making breakthroughs easier?"


    Fang Yuan''s eyes glittered.


    "You''re correct. If a martial artist at the peak level of the 10th Gate consume this fruit, the chance of him being able to condense the Miniature Elemental Force and making a breakthrough to the 11th Gate will increase by 50%!"


    The shopkeeper stroked his beard and said, "Unfortunately, this is just a seed! Also, the conditions for growing this seed are too demanding."


    It would take 40 to 50 years for the seed to grow, which was too long for a normal human being. Of course, this was not the main point.


    Even if with its seed, it would not germinate in any normal spiritual land.


    "I see, thanks a lot!"


    Fang Yuan thanked the shopkeeper. He did not feel regretful that the Flower Fox Ferret had actually took half a bite of the fruit.


    After all, this fruit was useless to him and he was not in rush to make a breakthrough by taking this fruit.


    "I have gotten a branch from the wisteria plant. If you can appraise that it is really from the wisteria, I will give you another spiritual fruit as a reward!"


    Fang Yuan took out the branch with a serious look.


    "Very well!"


    The shopkeeper was very excited but when he saw the wisteria, he was in deep thoughts for quite a while and didn''t say a word.


    Fang Yuan was disappointed seeing that the shopkeeper couldn''t answer. He didn''t expect that this experienced shopkeeper in the Secluded Mountains Prefecture City couldn''t appraise the spiritual object.


    "This branch is really from the wisteria!"


    Suddenly, a clear voice interrupted his thoughts. Fang Yuan lifted his head and saw a beautiful lady dressed in green.


    She was wearing a golden bangle on her head and a emerald green belt at her waist. She also had a bamboo flute with her. Her face was smooth and beautiful and her eyes were clear like water.


    "You are..."


    Fang Yuan gave a doubtful look but was shocked.


    This woman was the spiritual knight who helped Shi Yutong during the fight over the treasure map.


    ''No¡­..she is not a spiritual knight. She is just a spiritual disciple!''


    Fang Yuan was much more experienced than before and was able to tell her cultivation level by just looking.


    "My name is Ling Yin. I cannot help but interrupted when I saw you taking it out. My apologies!"


    The young lady took a bow and stared at Fang Yuan with different look.


    "There is no need for you to apologise. May I find out the effect of this wisteria branch?"


    The shopkeeper stood up and return a humble bow. It was obvious that he wanted to know the answer to his question so badly. If he couldn''t get the answer, he would probably not have the mood to eat or sleep for the next few days.


    "There is no harm telling you. Wisteria is a rare plant but it does not have much benefits¡­.."


    Ling Yin''s voice was soft and she looked at Fang Yuan playfully. Seeing him focused, she continued. "However, wisteria is one of the main ingredient used in making Continuation Spiritual Pill!"


    "Continuation Spiritual Pill?"


    The shopkeeper exclaimed, "Isn''t that the spiritual pill which is rumored to allow one to survive for another 10 days when consumed no matter how serious the person''s injuries are?"


    "Yes!"


    Ling Yin then continued and said, "Unfortunately, the effect of this spiritual pill will be reduced by a lot when it is consumed by a spiritual knight. If not, this spiritual pill will be worth much more..."


    "You must be kidding¡­.."


    Fang Yuan could not hold back further. "Since the wisteria is one the main ingredients, the other ingredients should be rare and hard to find¡­...Even if one is able to gather all the ingredients, I''m afraid one will still need a alchemy master''s help to produce this spiritual pill. The chances of successfully making this pill shouldn''t be that high!"


    After hearing what Fang Yuan said, the shopkeeper became less excited and sat down in his chair. He then murmured, "I see¡­..I''m afraid there is only one person here in the Secluded Mountains Prefecture who is skillful enough to make such pill. However, how would that person be willing to make the pill easily? Previously, Shi Yutong, the sect head of Spirit Returning Sect had to come personally to ask for help. She expended a great amount of spiritual objects and favours before he barely agreed to help. No one else would be bold enough to ask him for help, unless it is the prefecture master himself¡­.."


    "Thank you for the explanation, young lady!"


    Fang Yuan politely said and took out another bamboo fruit. "Please accept my small gift as a token of my appreciation for your help!"


    "I should thank you instead!"


    Ling Yin laughed and then continued saying, "If I hadn''t seen you taking out this bamboo fruit, I wouldn''t have said it. My apologies to you two!"


    She was being direct because of the spiritual object, saving the shopkeeper from embarrassment. Hence, the shopkeeper could not blame Ling Yin for interupting. Fang Yuan could not help himself but took another look at this lady.


    "However, a piece of information in exchange for a spiritual fruit is too much. I shall not take advantage of this and I want you to accept this gift!"


    Before Ling Yin left, she took out a emerald green jade with a different expression.


    "Oh? This jade is so cooling and it makes it a good toy. Thank you!"


    Fang Yuan said without changing his facial expression.


    "A toy?"


    Ling Yin couldn''t help but said, "This jade has something hidden in it. It will be fate if you can uncover its secrets! I shall take my leave!"


    Within seconds, she disappeared into thin air.


    "Hey, shopkeeper¡­.."


    Fang Yuan was playing with the jade in his fingers as he mockingly smiled. "Do you know that lady?"


    "You are kidding¡­.."


    The shopkeeper shook his hands randomly and said, "She looked like an immortal from heaven. How could I have the honour to know her?"


    "An immortal from heaven? Great description of her!"


    Fang Yuan kept the spiritual plants and the seed safely in a small package and parted with the shopkeeper. He then left the Secluded Mountains Court without looking back.


    ''This Ling Yin, she must have doubted me...''


    After he turned into a small alley, he hid himself well before taking a look at the jade as thoughts ran through his mind.


    What Ling Yin gave him was a piece of jade!


    ''It seems like she could detect my martial arts skill or my high magical energy¡­...But, what kind of attitude is this?''


    His magical energy was above average and he see the inscriptions within the jade.


    ''Those who can see this message have magical energy that is above the average person. I invite you to go to a place called Three Elemental Views within the prefecture city to make a sincere wish, and you might have the chance to catch an opportunity!''


    The inscriptions appeared gentle but it sounded arrogant to Fang Yuan, making him unhappy.


    ''However, this also proved that she did not detect any abnormality from me and only felt that my magical energy was beyond normal. Or maybe she was just hoping that I could read the inscriptions in the jade?''


    ''If I chose to go and seek for opportunities, won''t I have to give out all my spiritual objects as gifts?''


    Since Fang Yuan had the inheritance from a dream master, he wouldn''t need these opportunities.


    He laughed and threw the piece of jade into the air. As it glittered, it landed into the drain.


    He laughed softly and left without looking back.


    ...¡­.


    At the same time, back in the Secluded Mountains Court.


    Ling Yin went to another hall, as if she had arrived into another land.


    A door opened in front of the hall and revealed a person with a bright smile. It was the Sect Head of Spirit Returning Sect, Shi Yutong!


    "I''m late again!"


    She gently held Ling Yin''s hand and sat down.


    The surroundings was quiet. There was a bridge with water flowing under it and the occasional bird chirps and cicada noises. There was a Guqin hanged on the wall. The place was separated from the outside world by a tunnel pathway and it was an entirely different world here.


    Shi Yutong was a regular here. As the door closed, she personally made a pot of floral tea for Ling Yin. A few golden-veined flower petals were suspended in the tea, as it emitted an orchid fragrance.


    "Sister, please forgive me. I should have been able to reach here earlier. Something interesting happened while I was on my way and I encountered an interesting person, which was why I was late¡­.."


    Ling Yin smiled while she explained.


    "Oh? How interesting was it? Tell me now!"


    Shi Yutong seemed to be very interested. After all, she knew that her sister was one who was full of pride.


    She was not only born in a family with a rich background, but was also gifted. Her gifts were recognised by many famous teachers as they took care of her, making her slightly arrogant.


    Such a person would already be enjoying all the good things in life. What matter would even interest her?


    "This thing started from a bamboo fruit¡­.."


    Ling Yin''s lip had a slight curve. "I had discovered that the young man were not just a normal person. He had an exceptional amount of magical energy and it was sufficient enough for him to become a spiritual servant!"


    Such people with such an amount of magical energy would have the potential to become a alchemy master or a spiritual knight.


    But for many years, or perhaps even for the rest of one''s life, one would remain at the level of a spiritual disciple - the lowest cultivation level amongst spiritual knights. For the rest of one''s life, one would only be able to run errands for spiritual knights, and would be referred to as spiritual servants.


    In fact, these spiritual servants were actually brought in by spiritual knights as the spiritual knights were claiming to be recruiting new spiritual disciples but the recruited ones ended up being servants for free.


    "From what you said, this young man had inner force, his magical energy was twice as much as a normal person and he also had a rich background. It looks like he is a suitable candidate!"


    Shi Yutong nodded in agreement after hearing what Ling Yin said.


    Even though spiritual knights and alchemy masters were powerful and skillful, they needed much more resources as compared to Wu Zongs.


    In Xia Country, in order to train under these spiritual knights, a large capital is needed. Otherwise, it would be almost impossible for one to become a spiritual knight.


    Of course, she wasn''t bothered by such matters.


    Shi Yutong sighed and suddenly appeared serious. "Sister Ling Yin, that rumour is real¡­...The Secluded Mountains Prefecture Master Liu Yan is nearing his death. Is your master considering to take over him?"

 96 Pharmacis

    "A Wu Zong can live up to 200 years old, while a spiritual knight can live up to 300 years old. These are fixed figures!"


    Ling Yin said in a clear voice. "The master of the Secluded Mountain Prefecture, Liu Yan, is highly skilled in fire-type spiritual spells. His ability to kill is shocking, but he did not have any achievements with respect to cultivation. Furthermore, he endured a serious injury in his younger days, and from then on recuperated and rarely used his ability. He is reaching his end now... Would Sister like to fill up the vacancy of the Secluded Mountain Prefecture Master?"


    Shi Yutong became shocked from her cheeky expression. "Sister, you are mistaken! If I can improve my martial arts further, then maybe I would think about it, but now I can only hope for peace within Secluded Mountain Prefecture!"


    "That''s great!"


    Ling Yin smiled innocently, as though she was very happy. "Master is also interested in the appointment, and since Sister has given up, I won''t be troubled anymore..."


    "Another news for Sister! I previously came in contact with Sect masters from two counties, and they were both supportive of my master taking up the appointment. With Sister''s support, it is likely to be settled!"


    The Secluded Mountain Prefecture was made up of only six counties. With the support from three and Lieyang County in ruins, they would have gotten the support form the majority.


    "Sister, do not worry! Why would I oppose your master?! The Spirit Returning Sect will be behind Master Lu!"


    Shi Yutong was a smart woman and clarified her stand.


    "Very well, with Sister''s support, this is settled!"


    Ling Yin smiled, and although she was discussing an important matter, she still had a cheerful disposition.


    ...


    "There is chaos in the Prefecture City!"


    It was dawn the next day. Fang Yuan opened the door looked at the sky and thought to himself.


    Liu Yan''s birthday celebration and the appointment of the Secluded Mountain Prefecture Master would be the cause for trouble!


    ''A gentleman will not stand under a collapsing wall. Regardless if Liu Yan dies or not, and who would be the newly appointed Prefecture Master, all these are not my business, and it''s not worth the risk to be part of it!''


    Fang Yuan walked down the street and appeared relaxed. "After a few more trips, and getting everything that I need, I must leave before the birthday dinner begins!"


    The Secluded Mountain Prefecture City was huge; there were two large streets stretching to the North and the South, and in the middle was the City Master''s Residence.


    "Sanyuan Guan is a famous building along the South Street, it seems that it housed a few impressive people here..."


    Thinking about the jade that Ling Yin gave him, he flinched and continued on the North Street.


    Fang Yuan''s objective was simple. He wanted to explore all the shops which sold spiritual seeds, and afterwards walk about the streets to see what he could find.


    ''I need luck for this, and it cannot be rushed... I can have lunch at Elemental Gathering Court, I''ve heard that the spiritual feast there is amazing...''


    With a happy heart, Fang Yuan dressed up lightly and arrived at the North Street.


    As the date of the birthday celebration drew nearer, the streets became increasingly lively. Many strange items arrived from all over the world, and even though these items did not have many uses, they were still able to pique Fang Yuan''s interest and opened his eyes to the world.


    "Antiques from the ancient times, every piece is exquisite!"


    "Spiritual flower and spiritual fruit, we have everything!"


    Knife, spears, swords and halberds, every single one is perfectly designed, don''t miss it!"


    "Talent show, a martial artist expert in inner force is going to demonstrate it!"


    ...


    Both sides of the street were bustling with life. Fang Yuan was speechless after seeing a few stalls which sold spiritual materials.


    ''Everything is fake, and once in awhile you would see the Vermilion Jade Rice, and yet they can claim that these are all treasures. All are fakes!''


    "Indeed, in the stories, they always talk about scavenging the streets for good stuff, but now I know they are all fake!''


    After seeing countless fake goods, Fang Yuan was rather disappointed at not finding anything that he wanted.


    "Forget about it, I shall have a feast and change to another location in the afternoon!"


    He looked up to the sun and decided.


    "Can everyone be my judge! This ill-hearted stall owner is trying to cheat people with fake medicine!!!"


    Suddenly, a rough and loud voice was heard; it was from an inner force expert.


    Fang Yuan felt interested and squeezed into the crowd to join in the commotion.


    In the centre of the crowd, there was a small medicine stall. It had quite a number of pills and medicinal herbs displayed on the table, including a jade bottle, a wooden box, and a plasticine seal. Everything looked normal for a medicine stall.


    The stall owner was around 20 years old and was a gentlemanly young man. However, at that moment, he was grabbed at the collar by a rough and burly man. His fist was about to land on his face.


    "You immoral fake pharmacist, asking for 10 pieces of gold leaves for one bottle of ''Breath Condensing Powder''. After eating more than half the bottle, my child still couldn''t break through the 4th Gate! If you don''t explain yourself, I shall let you die here!"


    Although he was brute, he had already harnessed inner force and was a [Martial Artist (6th Gate)], which was rather skilled. No wonder no one stepped up to stop him.


    "Brother, I have told you before, the Breath Condensing Powder can only improve your chances, but at the end of the day, it is really up to his foundation and cultivation to see if he can break through..."


    He continued to explain. "Furthermore, only alchemy masters can produce a sure-hit pill, and the price of it would surely be not as cheap as 10 gold leaves..."


    "How dare you talk back!"


    The burly man raged and focused his inner force to his palms. He wanted to show this absurd young man what he was capable of.


    Although he was reckless, he was not a fool. He knew that in front of such a large crowd, it would not be too nice to rough it out, and opted to directly use his inner force to harm him internally.


    "Wait!"


    At this moment, a palm landed on his arm.


    The reckless and unstoppable inner force was suddenly met with an immovable palm and he was stopped.


    "Who are you? Are you standing up for this immoral pharmacist?"


    The burly man turned his head around and saw a calm Fang Yuan.


    "It is not important as to who I am. I only want to take a look at the Breath Condensing Powder, and I hope you''ll let me!"


    Fang Yuan chuckled and used a little force. The burly man''s hand unknowingly released the collar of the young pharmacist.


    ''An expert in inner force, and of higher skill than me!''


    Looking at the cheeky Fang Yuan, the burly man was shocked and said, "Alright, I shall let you be the judge!"


    He delivered a jade bottle to Fang Yuan.


    Fang Yuan picked open the cork, poured a little and smelt it. He nodded his head and said, "This is indeed an authentic Breath Condensing Powder!"


    He glanced at the burly man who was not convinced and smiled. "The only problem is that the Breath Condensing Powder can only increase your chances. You child could only blame on his luck that he did not break through..."


    Seeing that the burly man was continuing to pester the stall owner, he turned serious and whipped out a few pieces of gold leaves. "Here are 5 pieces of gold leaves, take it that I''m buying this bottle of Breath Condensing Powder. Do you really think that the Secluded Mountain Prefecture''s troops will not do anything to you if you want to keep this up?"


    Seeing how Fang Yuan was stronger than him and even offered compensation, the burly man was appeased and stared at the stall keeper. "Count your blessings!"


    He squeezed out of the crowd and left, embarrassed


    Seeing that the action was all over, the crowd dispersed.


    "My name is Huang Fu Renhe, and I thank you for your assistance!"


    The young man thanked Fang Yuan and bowed. "Give me a period of grace, I will return the money to you!"


    "It''s alright!"


    Fang Yuan waved generously. He only did that because he wanted to help out, so why would he expect him to pay back?


    He looked at Huang Fu Renhe''s stall and shook his head. "You are¡­.. A pharmacist? These medicinal powders are not bad, the only thing is that the price is too low, and you are likely to be losing money!"


    Fang Yuan could not detect any elemental force or miniature elemental force from Huang Fu Renhe, and knew that he wasn''t cut out to be an alchemy master or disciple; he had to be a normal pharmacist.


    "Without any reputation or backing, if I don''t sell it cheaper than the Secluded Mountain Court, who would buy from me?"


    Huang Fu Renhe laughed. "Benefactor, I shall not hide from you. That business which involved the 10 pieces of golden leaves was my biggest business. I used it all up to get medicinal herbs to make more medical powder..."


    "Don''t call me benefactor, just Fang Yuan will do!"


    Fang Yuan smiled. "It''s about lunchtime now. Pack your stall up and follow me to Elemental Gathering Court, my treat!"


    "Why would I let you do that?"


    Huang Fu Renhe waved his hands in rejection, but could not fight Fang Yuan''s hospitality. He was pulled along to Elemental Gathering Court, and they opened a room.


    This person was inexperienced in the outside world and seemed innocent, and Fang Yuan could see through him.


    ''Mm, he is indeed a pharmacist. Who would''ve known that he would have such an experience... Hehe, to become a spiritual servant?''


    Listening to him talking, Fang Yuan filled his cup of wine and heartily drank it.


    Based on Huang Fu Renhe, he was born with a silver spoon and had a good life. However, he was identified by a mystery person who accepted him as a disciple. As he left his own home, he became increasingly poor and knew what his outcome would be if he stayed on. In the end, he secretly ran away.


    "I am such a fool..."


    After two cups of wine, Huang Fu Renhe became tipsy and laid on the table. "Based on my potential and spiritual knowledge, how can I become an alchemy master? The most I could hope for is to become a disciple. Master took me in because he wanted another servant, and he very quickly used up all our resources. When my household became broke, his attitude towards me changed and in the end, he even wanted me to test out medicine for him. I had no choice but to run away, to the ends of the world..."


    "So that''s how it is!"


    Fang Yuan encouraged him to drink more, and not long after, Huang Fu Renhe became drunk and slept.


    Looking at the snoring Huang Fu Renhe, he was excited. He wasted so much effort not because he noticed anything that he had, but he noticed him!


    Even though this person could not become an alchemy master in the future, he could still be a lowly pharmacist, able to mix herbs to produce medicine, and was familiar with medicine. This was what he was lacking in.


    Although Fang Yuan was interested in alchemy, he had limited [Essence] and therefore did not want to get involved too much in it.


    He uncovered this piece of gem and wanted to bring him back to the secluded valley.


    Anyway, the produce from the secluded valley was enough for Huang Fu Renhe to consume and he could groom him.

 97 Aid

    "Ouch¡­..my head hurts!"


    Huang Fu Renhe opened his eyes and held his head as though it was about to blow up.


    At that moment, he recalled vividly what happened yesterday and was very surprised. "This is strange. Even though I owe a stranger a favour, why should I treat him so nicely?"


    He didn''t know that Fang Yuan was not only a skilful speaker but could also use his magical energy to affect others. As such, he landed into a trap set by Fang Yuan, allowing Fang Yuan to know everything about him.


    "Brother Huang Fu, you have woken up. Come and have some soup to sober yourself up!"


    Fang Yuan open the door and served a big bowl of hot soup.


    "Thank you for your help. This place is¡­.."


    Huang Fu Renhe asked as the walls around him looked unfamiliar.


    "This is a temporary place that I''m living in. Brother Huang Fu, you don''t have to worry, I have brought your stall back along with your medicinal pellets and powder and nothing has been lost¡­..I admire the medicinal powder that you have made as they are really good!"


    Fang Yuan gave a light smile and said.


    In reality, this world had a rather traditional view towards pills and medicine. An ordinary pharmacist like Huang Fu Renhe could at most dispense or concoct a few types of medicine. On the other hand, alchemy disciples and alchemy masters could use spiritual fire to concoct higher grade spiritual pills and medicines.


    However, through Fang Yuan''s thorough investigation, he found out that Huang Fu Renhe''s skills in making pills were of a similar standard to that of a spiritual disciple. If his success rate of making pills was higher, he would have been cultivated by other sects long ago. Of course, Fang Yuan would not let go of this chance.


    "Hmm¡­...Brother Fang, you think too highly of me¡­.."


    Huang Fu Renhe blushed slightly.


    He aimed for perfection when producing pills and medicine and hence he had incurred much losses. If it was not for his low success rate, he would not have been so poor.


    "I shall tell you the truth!"


    Fang Yuan revealed. "I am from Qingye City in the Qinghe County. I am actually living in the secluded valley, which is a well known for producing spiritual rice. I am inviting you to have a visit there. Will you accept my invitation?"


    "The Qingye Secluded Valley?!"


    Huang Fu Renhe squinted his eyes and was surprised. "Are you the famous doctor from the secluded valley?"


    "I have to say that is me since there is only one secluded valley in Qingye City!"


    Fang Yuan touched his nose and didn''t expect that he would be that famous.


    "Pardon me for the disrespectfulness!"


    Huang Fu Renhe immediately bowed and was still in shock.


    He could feel that Fang Yuan was willing to establish a relationship with him. If he were to go to the secluded valley, with Fang Yuan''s assistance, his skills in producing pills and medicine would definitely improve tremendously.


    However, even though Fang Yuan produces his own spiritual objects, Huang Fu Renhe''s experiments required a vast amount of resources. Could Fang Yuan supply his needs?


    Also¡­..


    "Even though my secluded valley is not that big, I should be able to handle and support all your experiments'' needs!"


    Fang Yuan seemed to know what was on Huang Fu Renhe''s mind and assured him.


    Fang Yuan was not lying. Even if the secluded valley was not big enough, he had another piece of spiritual land in the Green Peak. If he had not seen Huang Fu Renhe''s strong foundations, he could easily spend large amounts of money to invite any other pharmacists.


    As for alchemy masters, they not only needed to be talented but also needed a master to pass down skills to them. At the moment, Fang Yuan wasn''t thinking about this as this was impossible for him.


    "Since you have invited me, I shall gladly accept your invitation. However, I will have to pick my sister up!"


    Huang Fu Renhe''s reply was swift and decisive. Fang Yuan was not expecting such a quick response.


    ''Wow¡­..he answered so quickly although I had already prepared a few other methods to convince him just in case!''


    Fang Yuan looked at Huang Fu Renhe and had a feeling that Huang Fu Renhe was not stupid at all. It seemed like Huang Fu Renhe had tricked him instead of the other way round.


    ''On top of that martial artist previously, could he have provoked many others and is looking for means to get out of the prefecture?''


    "Good, since you still have another family member, I shall bring her back as well!"


    With a slight doubt, he followed Huang Fu Renhe to the south district outside the city.


    As compared to the prosperity inside the city, the south district here felt like a slum. The houses here were built side by side and did not look stable, as though a breeze could blow the houses down. There were piles of rubbish along the road which gave a horrible stench.


    "You used to live in such places?"


    Fang Yuan scrutinised the place, embarrassing Huang Fu Renhe in the process. Fang Yuan added, "The people here are really poor."


    "My house is just right in front, the one below the small bridge!"


    He quickened his footsteps as he approached the entrance of his house. "I was drunk and didn''t return home. My younger sister should be very worried."


    "Brother Renhe, why are you only back now?"


    At the roadside, there were a few people in tears as they called out to him. "Something bad happened at your house. A few fierce people went into your house!"


    "What?"


    Huang Fu Renhe was shocked and quickly ran under the bridge.


    Along the river, there was a straw cottage and covered with mud outside. There were many people gathering outside his house and a middle-aged lady exclaimed as she saw Huang Fu Renhe coming. "Mister Huang Fu, hurry up! Your sister is being taken away by a few bad guys!"


    "Lanruo! Lanruo!"


    After hearing what the lady said, Huang Fu Renhe became very anxious and squeezed through the crowd, and saw a few strong men trying to her sister away.


    "What are you all doing? Let go of my sister now!"


    Huang Fu Renhe immediately pounced forward, his eyes welled with tears.


    "Bang!"


    One of the men laughed and pushed him away, as he fell to the ground.


    "Brother!"


    Even though her sister was young and her face was covered with dirt, her voice was sweet and clear and her eyes were glittering.


    "So you are her brother! Hehe¡­..your sister is pretty. I want her for 5 taels of silver!"


    A man with a small beard walked out from the straw cottages. He rubbed his small beard and threw out a silver piece with a cold laugh


    "Get out of here now!"


    Huang Fu Renhe was infuriated.


    If not for spending a huge capital for the resources in producing pills and medicine, how would he become so poor? No matter how poor his family was, they were surely not worth just a few taels of silver.


    "Looks like¡­.you are in big trouble!"


    Fang Yuan had realised that this group of men were not simple.


    ''If they wanted her just because she was pretty, what was the use of having a young girl? Wouldn''t they have to support her for another few years?''


    ''If they wanted to sell her away for money, there were other choices as there were many other families outside the city who were also selling their children¡­.''


    Fang Yuan carefully looked at the young girl. She was dirty and it didn''t seem like she had anything special.


    ''Eh?''


    However, after looking at her for a few times, he realised something.


    ''This girl''s magical energy is very strong¡­... almost 3 times as much as a normal person! Her magical energy has reached the threshold of a spiritual knight''s!''


    Magical energy was mysterious and could not be otherwise detected without special means.


    For example, Fang Yuan could conceal much of his real power and managed to deceive Ling Yin.


    However, this young girl had not been trained and was born with such overflowing magical energy. Hence, she did not know how to conceal her real power. With Fang Yuan''s dream master cultivation, even though he was just a dream disciple with limited offensive capabilities, his skills in detection was superb and could sense the difference in that young girl.


    ''This means that¡­...this group of men are not simple. They are most likely to be puppets to some powerful person!''


    ''But to kidnap my sister?''


    Fang Yuan let out a cold laughter and went to Huang Fu Renhe''s side. "Do you need my help?"


    "Yes, please. I will remember this!"


    Huang Fu Renhe was in a dire situation and needed any help he could get.


    "Very well!"


    Fang Yuan nodded his head and blocked the group of them.


    "Hey kid, go mind your own business and don''t interrupt us!"


    The man with the small beard was startled at first and then gave a warning with a wicked smile. He was wearing a shirt with the sign of a wolf''s head.


    "Aahh¡­.the imprint of the Wild Wolves Gang?"


    A few screams were heard and the crowd began to disperse. Many of them retreated as they were afraid.


    The Wild Wolves Gang was the gang that controlled this poor district. It was rumoured that the gang leader was a 4 Heavenly Gates martial artist. The people in the gang were violent and rude. Their reckless nature allowed them to earn money through extortion.


    "How? Do you still want to interfere?"


    The man with the small beard replied with a cocky face, deriving happiness from threatening Fang Yuan.


    His gang had real influence in the area. Even though he was just a small pawn in the gang, he became rich ever since he took up private jobs.


    He was even happier seeing Lanruo struggling.


    The glowing talisman he had showed that she was a suitable person. If he could turn Lanruo in, he would be able to get 100 golden leaves as a reward!


    "Brother Fang, what should we do?"


    Huang Fu Renhe''s feeling was dampened.


    He clearly knew the intentions of the Wild Wolves Gang.


    "What do you mean what should we do? How could you not do anything and look at your sister being taken away?"


    Fang Yuan looked at Huang Fu Renhe.


    "How can I do that?"


    Huang Fu Renhe shook his head.


    "Then things are easy!"


    Fang Yuan went forward and said, "Do you all want to break your arms on your own and kowtow to apologise or do you all need me to help you?"


    "What an arrogant kid, break his limbs!"


    The man with the small beard was furious and saw a silhouette moving quickly.


    "Kacha! Kacha!"


    Sounds of bone fractures were heard. He wanted to retreat quickly, but it was too late.


    "Aahh! My hand!"


    "Spare me!"


    "A martial artist!"


    ...¡­


    Among the screams, Fang Yuan easily broke the arms of a few gangsters and brought the young girl to safety. He then stood in front of the man with the small beard and smiled at him.


    "Aahh¡­.you better not come near me! My uncle is the protector of the Wild Wolves Gang. He¡­..he..."


    The man with the small beard retreated and was crying in pain silently.


    "Oh!"


    Fang Yuan nodded his head. He then grabbed the man''s right arm and twisted it. "So what?"


    "Karak!"


    A fracture sound came and the man immediately knelt on the ground with tears and mucus dripping down.


    "Hmm?"


    Looking at the talisman that fell out of clothing, a puzzled expression appeared on his face: "This is¡­...spiritual inscriptions. This spells trouble!


    "Leave now!"


    He turned his head without looking back at the man and called out to Huang Fu Renhe.


    "Okay!"


    Seeing what had happened, Huang Fu Renhe knew that he couldn''t stay here any longer, and quickly entered the straw cottage. Not long after, he came out cursing while carrying a big baggage. He then kicked a few of the gangsters as they once destroyed his stuff.


    "You bring your sister and leave now! Remember to wait for me at the house!"


    Fang Yuan handed Lanruo back over to Huang Fu Renhe and reminded him.

 98 Wild Wolves Gang

    "I can''t thank you enough with words!"


    Huang Fu Renhe bowed before leaving with Lanruo.


    Fang Yuan went beside the man with the beard and held the spiritual talisman. He then asked, "Who gave you this spiritual talisman?"


    "Aahh...you are dead! I will not let you off¡­.."


    The man was rolling on the ground in pain and shouted. There was no way for the both of them to have a conversation.


    "Sigh¡­..I knew it¡­.."


    Fang Yuan shook his head and helplessly stared at the incoming reinforcement.


    The group of reinforcement looked much more elite. All of them were wearing long robes with the same big wolf''s head imprint on their chests. They were indeed fierce and could bring silence in the village by striking fear.


    "Kacha! Bang!"


    Seeing them coming, the crowd instantly dispersed and everyone went back into their houses. They locked their doors and windows as they were afraid of them.


    "You are the one who injured my gang members?"


    Among all the men from the gang, there was a middle-aged man who took a step forward and asked. His face seemed to be glowing and resembled to the man with the beard.


    "Who are you?"


    Fang Yuan asked, even though he already knew the answer.


    "I''m Du Feng, the protector of the Wild Wolves Gang!"


    He was extremely composed and his eyes looked fierce, evident of a Martial Artist (7th Gate). Fang Yuan was quite surprised that even a small gang leader here in the Secluded Mountains Prefecture would be so well trained in martial arts.


    "Very well, your gang has been taking innocent people from their families forcefully. What crime should you all be guilty?"


    Fang Yuan said loudly with a sense of justice, as though he represented justice.


    "We take away innocent people forcefully?"


    Du Feng was a little doubtful at first but then realised that it was likely that his nephew, the man with the small beard, could either be lustful, or this could be part of his private job.


    However, he was certain he should help his nephew, but he didn''t know Fang Yuan''s background, explaining his hesitation.


    "It looked like you have no idea ¡­.."


    Fang Yuan stepped on the leg of the man with the beard and slowly added pressure. "Speak now, or else I will break all your limbs and cripple for life!"


    "Aahh¡­.I will speak! I will speak!"


    The man with the beard cried out loud.


    To him, being dead was way better than living a crippled life. His biggest fear was to be crippled for his life.


    "I was instructed by a lady. She will ask me to source for suitable children whenever she comes to trade with me. I don''t know where she lives¡­.Also, I remember that she has a nice voice!"


    This man was a weakling. He did not hesitate to speak the truth under pressure, while his uncle remained speechless.


    "I see!"


    Fang Yuan nodded his head, turned his back and left.


    Such arrogance from Fang Yuan made Du Feng furious.


    This was his first time seeing a person looking down at the Wild Wolves Gang!


    "How dare you!"


    Seeing Fang Yuan taking his leave, Du Feng could not resist and grabbed Fang Yuan''s back.


    "Ha!"


    Without looking back, Fang Yuan struck his palm backwards.


    "Bang!"


    With Fang Yuan''s palm, Du Feng''s body flew and he spat out a mouthful of blood in mid-air. He was left in shock. "4 Heavenly Gates!"


    He didn''t expect such a young martial artist to have achieved the 4 Heavenly Gates!


    Also, Fang Yuan was not just a normal Martial Artist of the 9th or 10th Gate. The feeling of resistance Du Feng felt from Fang Yuan was beyond the level of his own gang leader. He started to draw similarities to the famous experts who had achieved the peak level of the 4 Heavenly Gates long ago!


    "What now? Do you want to continue?"


    Fang Yuan observed his surroundings. After such a commotion, there was still no presence of the Secluded Mountain Prefecture soldiers rushing here. It was probably because this was a poor district and the fact that the Wild Wolves Gang were involved.


    "No! I wouldn''t dare!"


    Du Feng forced himself to get on his feet and broke into cold sweat.


    Such an expert like Fang Yuan could wipe out their whole gang overnight!


    Upon reaching this thought, Du Feng immediately bowed and apologised. "This man is ignorant and is rude to you. You can do whatever you want to him. Don''t be angry!"


    "What?"


    The man with the beard was surprised by his uncle''s reaction. He didn''t expect his highly skilled and capable uncle to be defeated in one palm, and to give himself up without hesitation.


    The rest of the men in the gang were extremely adaptable and knew how to react to the situation for fear of death. Without hesitation, they kowtowed and apologised, with their foreheads bleeding. "Sir please spare us! Sir, please spare us!"


    "I will spare you all!"


    Fang Yuan waved his hand. He knew that he would still have to find out the source of the spiritual talisman from the man with the beard.


    "Young hero, our gang leader likes to meet new capable young people. If you don''t mind, would you like to come along?"


    Du Feng realised that Fang Yuan could be negotiated easily and offered him.


    "I''m not that skilful!"


    Fang Yuan was shocked. He was not that foolish to enter the base of his enemy, which would give them a good opportunity to attack him. Even though they were not enemies now, he still would not go.


    He then left and disappeared within seconds.


    ...¡­..


    Du Feng stared at Fang Yuan''s back and was speechless for quite a while.


    "Uncle¡­.uncle!"


    The man with the beard then managed to get up now. He held his broken arm and worriedly exclaimed.


    "Hmm!"


    Du Feng stood with both of his hand behind his back and gave a cold look. "Look what you have done¡­...You better start telling me what happened in detail¡­..and when have you started doing dirty jobs for other people?"


    He asked with much disappointment and anger.


    Ever since the situation outside had become unstable, the whole gang had been keeping a low profile under the instructions of their gang leader. After all, they would get into big troubles easily if they were to be in high profile.


    However, Du Feng didn''t expect his own nephew to attract so much attention. Was he tired of living?


    "Uncle, please spare me¡­.."


    What more could the man with the beard say? Say that he was greedy and lustful? He could only ask for forgiveness now.


    "We shall talk again when we get back!"


    Even though Du Feng felt like killing his useless nephew, he held back his anger.


    The group of them left hurriedly. After they had disappeared into the next corner of the street, only then did the residents dared to open their doors and windows.


    However, there was a silhouette following the group of them. It was a curious Fang Yuan. "Another mysterious spiritual knight¡­..The situation here in the Secluded Mountain Prefecture is getting more complicated!"


    He didn''t want to announce his arrival as he headed towards their headquarters but felt that it would be harmless for him to follow the gang stealthily.


    ...¡­.


    The headquarters of the Wild Wolves Gang was not far from the previous place. It was a big house and was well guarded by a few men of the gang.


    Back in the hall of the headquarters.


    "Pa!"


    A loud slap was heard. Du Feng looked at his nephew who was crying out loud. He felt like killing to prevent him more troubles. "Speak now¡­.who are you working for!"


    "Uncle, please spare me¡­.."


    The man with the beard teared and mucus was dripping down. He revealed the truth.


    "What? A spiritual talisman? Which will appear different as it detects suitable children?"


    Du Feng was an experienced man. He went up and kicked his nephew. "You are willing to do what others have told you to do. Why don''t you die when I asked you to do so?!"


    Du Feng was scared and shocked.


    such means were definitely those of spiritual knights or spiritual disciples. Moreover, the person did things so sneakily, which made him most likely a foreigner cultivating with evil arts.The consequences would be unimaginable if the soldiers of the Secluded Mountain Prefecture would find out his involvement in such doings.


    However, he could not suddenly stop. What if they suspect that there was something wrong? Would they take it out on the Wild Wolves Gang?


    It was not a difficult task for the weakest spiritual disciple to wipe out the entire Wild Wolves Gang.


    Thinking about this, Du Feng kicked his nephew once more, causing him to spit out another mouth of blood.


    "This matter is too serious. I will have to report to the gang leader!"


    Just as Du Feng was hesitating, a young man dressed in purple entered the main hall. "What happened, Du Feng?"


    The young man looked calm and his eyes were glowing. Unknowingly, he had a creepy look.


    "Gang leader!"


    Du Feng bit his teeth and informed the gang leader about the incident.


    "A suspected evil spiritual disciple and a martial artist who has achieved the 4 Heavenly Gates..."


    The creepy looking young man was the gang leader of the Wild Wolves Gang. His name was Diao Guangdou. He had already developed inner force and could extend his lifespan. His actual age was much higher than that of Du Feng''s. Also, what he had experienced was a miracle. He was only a humble waiter in the past. It only took him a short period of time to become the leader of a gang.


    "This matter is indeed complicated!"


    At that moment, the inspiring Gang Leader Diao was troubled after hearing Du Feng.


    "Gang leader, should I?"


    Du Feng looked at his nephew and gave a ferocious look.


    In order to keep his position as the protector of the gang and to show his loyalty, he wouldn''t mind killing his own nephew.


    "You shall keep an eye on him!"


    Diao Guangdou waved his hand and two men came to drag the man with the beard out.


    "I have failed you!"


    After the cry from the man with the beard had faded away, Du Feng then knelt on the ground and asked for forgiveness from Diao Guangdou.


    "Sigh¡­.."


    Diao Guangdou heaved a long sigh and said, "I didn''t expect to meet such troubles after settling the big plan!"


    Du Feng was surprised. He already knew that the gang leader had been planning something big but didn''t expect him to take action now. Keeping a low profile previously was just a coverup. He suddenly felt that the gang leader was too profound to be understood.


    "I deserve to die!"


    Du Feng had no choice but to ask for forgiveness.


    "Forget it. Since you have made a mistake, I will still have to punish you..."


    Diao Guangdou tucked his lips and said, "Well, since there is a new prisoner in the prison, you shall serve your punishment by guarding the prison. Don''t make any more mistakes, do you understand?"


    "A prisoner? Is the prisoner from the White Cloud Business Council¡­.."


    Du Feng''s eyes suddenly brightened up. He bowed and dismissed himself. "Understood, sir. I shall not make any more mistakes."


    After Du Feng had left, Diao Guangdou touched his chin and was in deep thoughts. "Unfortunately¡­..if we had gotten hold of that girl, we would have a chance to be on good terms with the spiritual disciple. Compared to the spiritual knight, it is not worth to sacrifice the relationship with the spiritual knight to be on good terms with the 4 Heavenly Gates martial artist¡­..Hehe, thinking of having good terms with that two of them? I''m afraid the outcome would be disastrous!"


    He was in disdain of Du Feng''s choice as Du Feng did not want to choose a side during the fight. What was he thinking?

 99 A Rescue Mission

    "Tsk tsk...Chief Diao is indeed introverted! At the same time, he is also straightforward and decisive!"


    Amidst the chatter and laughter, Fang Yuan suddenly emerged.


    "How did you get in?"


    Diao Guangdou was taken by surprise.


    This was the headquarters of the Wild Wolves Gang! The very core of the sect! Apart from the constant patrols along the perimeters, within the compound there were minimally two inner force experts protecting the area.


    Furthermore, Diao Guangdou, the most powerful member of the gang, was present today.


    Despite all these, Fang Yuan was still able to intrude without being spotted. What did this represent?


    "Even though this person is young, his powers are extremely advanced and powerful. Could he be an ancient entity from some unknown godforsaken land?"


    Diao Guangdou visually assessed Fang Yuan for a moment before bursting into laughter, "Hello senior, what may I do for you?"


    "You are indeed quite good at bootlicking! What a pity... Nothing can save you today!"


    Fang Yuan shook his head as he replied.


    With the help of Du Feng''s ''informant'', Fang Yuan was crystal clear about the defences of the Wild Wolves Gang.


    Furthermore, with Fang Yuan''s magical powers, he heard Chief Diao''s earlier conversation with his closest subordinates loud and clear. This created a desire to kill in Fang Yuan.


    Anyway, for a lowly sect like that, all of its members definitely had blood on their hands. Even if Fang Yuan wiped out the entire sect he would not have an ounce of regret.


    Of course, Fang Yuan would not admit the true reason for the attack. He waited and eavesdropped on their conversation to pick out what they had to say about him.


    "Shut up, die!"


    He glanced at Diao Guangdou who looked like he still wanted to beg for mercy and scoffed.


    "Voom!"


    After attaining Gui Wusheng''s Paralysing Scream and combining it with the techniques in the Blood Magic Manual, the effects were even more extraordinary.


    It was almost as if right after Fang Yuan shouted, Diao Guangdou, who had broken through the 9th gate and was also an expert of the 4 Heavenly Gates, was rooted to the spot.


    "Slash!"


    Fang Yuan moved forward and nonchalantly stretched out his right arm, baring his razor-sharp nails. The thrusting force from this move cut through the air like a knife.


    With the combination of the Paralysing Scream and his advance, even a martial artist who has broken through the 12th gate would minimally suffer a major injury from this.


    For a martial artist in the 4 Heavenly Gates who had not broken through the Earth Gate, it was almost certain such a move would kill him.


    "Ah! Nine Snake Rodent Strikes!"


    However, Diao Guangdou''s reaction caused a slight surprise in Fang Yuan.


    Diao Guangdou who was momentarily stunned suddenly opened his eyes and flew backwards. All the bones in his body suddenly softened and his body crumbled to the floor. Like a boneless snake, he dodged Fang Yuan''s fatal claw with extreme agility.


    "Who are you? Guards!!!"


    In a flash, Diao Guangdou retreated backwards a few metres and shouted out for help.


    Blood flowed from the conspicuous claw wounds on his chest. During Fang Yuan''s surprise attack, Diao Guangdou did not escape fully unharmed.


    "It''s the chief!"


    "There''s a crisis in the main hall!"


    "Send reinforcements now!"


    ...


    There was the commotion of the shouting of commands and hurried footsteps.


    "Erm?"


    Fang Yuan frowned as he was also surprised, "Interesting. Judging by your martial prowess, you should have lost your head by now..."


    Just now, Fang Yuan remembered clearly seeing a flash of red light on Diao Guangdou''s body. Diao Guangdou blocked out his Paralysing Scream, rendering it almost ineffective.


    It seemed that Diao Guangdou was clear that his magical powers were no match against Fang Yuan''s. The only possibility for what happened was there was external intervention.


    "Hahaha...I could not have imagined that you are actually quite impressive. Looks like I have to use my full powers!"


    Fang Yuan burst out laughing and stepped forward. The muscles on his body swelled out piece by piece and took on a bluish-black colour. It enlarged to the extent it looked as though Fang Yuan was wearing a layer of metal armour.


    "He is too strong, retreat!"


    Diao Guangdou grabbed on his chest and fled hastily.


    He was only able to survive earlier as he relied on a unique treasure to protect his mind. But he knew that this object had its limitations and to fight against Fang Yuan whose powers were much more superior than his was suicidal. His only chance of survival was to retreat and regroup with the rest of the sect and attempt to fight Fang Yuan through the advantage of numbers.


    However, Fang Yuan was too fast for him.


    In what seemed to be a gust of strong wind, Fang Yuan sent a punch flying at Diao Guangdou just as he stepped out of the main hall.


    "Hoo hoo!"


    In the midst of the strong wind, Diao Guangdou felt that he was no longer chased by a person, but a wild beast.


    After the strong wind subsided, Fang Yuan''s punch hit him like a missile, knocking the air out of his lungs.


    "Even for a 12th gate martial artists, your powers are considered very impressive!"


    Diao Guangdou widened his eyes with rage. At this point, he knew that the only chance for him to live was to fight back. Mustering up the final bits of his courage and will, he turned around to face his enemy. With a loud noise exploding from his waist, he right arm turned into the claw of an eagle and his left arm turned into a serpent. Both shot out like arrows as Diao Guangdou shouted, "Dual Eagle Snake Killing Technique!"


    "Snap!"


    "Shoo!"


    The force behind this technique erupted. This was Chief Diao''s signature move and several martial artists had died under it.


    However, as his fist and claw landed on Fang Yuan''s body, it felt as though they contacted a sheet of strong iron. Even the force which he channelled into the move rebounded back and hit him. The colour drained from Diao Guangdou''s face.


    "Iron Skin...How is it that its power is so strong?"


    In that split second, an idea popped into Diao Guangdou''s mind. It was also his last idea.


    This was because after his failed attack, Fang Yuan was already now right in front of him.


    "Die!!!"


    Fang Yuan was ready this time. He responded with everything he had. Apart from using the Paralysing Scream again, he stretched out his arms and cut off Diao Guangdou''s paths of escape and with immense force, he struck the target in the centre.


    At that moment, he had little care for whatever technique he used. He purely depended on his superior martial arts prowess to overpower Diao Guangdou.


    Diao Guangdou was rooted to the ground, petrified. He bore the full force of Fang Yuan''s attack as Fang Yuan''s arms smashed on both sides of his head.


    "Bang!"


    With a loud bang, his head exploded. The blood and brains from his head became a gruesome mess and blood flowed out from his nostrils and eyes. Then he slumped to the ground.


    "Erm...this move worked again. Maybe the amulet on him only had a one-off protective function?"


    Out of curiously, Fang Yuan got down and searched Diao Guangdou''s body. Then he stood up and glared at the rest of the Wild Wolves Gang.


    "Why? Who else has a death wish?"


    With this roar and his almost demonic appearance combined with how he killed Diao Guangdou in lightning speed, he looked very intimidating.


    "Chief...chief is dead..."


    "This person is unbeatable...."


    After all, Wild Wolves Gang was a rowdy bunch of undisciplined rascals. Upon seeing the gruesome death of their chief, chaos ensued as they instantly abandoned their posts and weapons and fled desperately for their lives.


    "They can go, but you cannot!"


    Fang Yuan looked around and stepped forward, like a tiger entering a flock of sheep. Before long he carried out a skinny inner force martial artist out of the chaos.


    Seeing that this person was well-clothed and well-endowed with jewellery, Fang Yuan deduced that this person held an important position in the sect and asked, "Did your chief take action against the White Cloud Business Council before? The one where Yu Xinlou was a young lord at?"


    Fang Yuan found him worth saving and helping. Had it been anyone else, Fang Yuan would not have even bothered.


    "Correct!"


    Even though the skinny man was an inner force expert and one of the protectors, he behaved timidly in front of Fang Yuan. He said, "Our chief launched a surprise attack and exterminated the White Cloud Business Council and their possessions. He also kidnapped the young lord to wait for the right moment to seize the inheritance and possessions of the Yu Family...All these were the ideas of the chief, it has nothing to do with me!"


    "Take me to the prison and I shall spare your life!"


    Fang Yuan commanded coldly.


    "Yes...yes sir!"


    Shaking in fear, the skinny man led Fang Yuan to the place.


    When the news of Diao Guangdou''s death spread out, the entire prefecture ensued in chaos. People were busy fighting with each other, fleeing or looting the prefecture. Nobody bothered to avenge their dead chief. The foolish few who stood in the way were easily killed and pushed aside by Fang Yuan as he easily arrived at the back yard.


    As this was a private prison by the Wild Wolves Gang, it was naturally not too conspicuous. It was well camouflaged under an artificial hill.


    "Ah...Protector Zhang, what happened to you?"


    Arriving inside, the disciples who were incognisant of what just happened looked on in disbelief and shock as they say Elder Zhang behaving so obediently next to Fang Yuan.


    "Hmm, seeing that you have been obedient, I shall spare your life!"


    Fang Yuan waved his hand. With this, Elder Zhang was sent flying out of the prison and he crashed with a few of the prison guards, causing them to vomit blood and pass out.


    "Who dares to offend¡­eh, it''s you..."


    After entering the corridor, a figure appeared. It was Du Feng. Upon seeing Fang Yuan, the colour drained from his face.


    "Get lost!"


    Fang Yuan shouted. He sprinted forward with lightning speed and pressed his palm on Du Feng''s Dantian.


    "Ah...you...removed all my martial arts abilities?"


    Du Feng fell to the ground momentarily as blood trickled out from the corner of his mouth. He had an excruciating expression on his face.


    "You should count yourself lucky that you can even live like a normal human being..."


    Fang Yuan took away a bunch of keys from his waist and opened the metal gate at the end of the corridor.


    "Whooo!"


    A gust of stale and repugnant air gushed onto his face instantly.


    In the prison, the air circulation was expected to be poor, but the atmosphere stank of a noxious odour.


    "Ah...what have you done to my uncle?"


    Furthermore, in an adjacent cell, Fang Yuan caught sight of a familiar person. It was the man with the mouse-like beard who offended him earlier.


    "Haha, I gave you a chance, but you refused it. You are indeed looking for trouble!"


    Without looking, he flicked a small rock which hit the man, causing him to gently fall to the ground.


    "Ah...Someone is breaking into the prison!"


    "Save me, I have a lot of wealth and I can also pass on to you very formidable martial arts techniques!"


    "Save me!"


    ...


    A huge commotion erupted as several prisoners stuck their black and filthy arms through the window grills and they tried to catch Fang Yuan''s attention. However, behind the grills, many pairs of menacing eyes shone in the pitch darkness.


    "I am not the saviour, do not expect me to save you!"


    Fang Yuan rolled his eyes. If they were innocent civilians, there was no reason for them to be locked up in here. As for whether this punishment for whatever crime they committed was justified, it was not worth his time to ascertain.


    Fang Yuan walked further down into the basement of the prison and he saw a few cells that looked especially impregnable. Looking through the small window, he saw a man lying on the ground.


    "Yu Xinlou!"


    Fang Yuan smiled.


    You are...Brother Fang?"


    Hearing a familiar voice, Yu Xinlou climbed up instantly. Upon seeing Fang Yuan, his mouth widened slowly and he asked, "What are you doing here?"

 100 Birthday Dinner

    "Whoosh... Piak!"


    Fireworks exploded in the skies of Secluded Mountain Prefecture City, like a shower of meteors; they fell towards the ground with their colourful flaming tails.


    In the blink of an eye, it was the day of the birthday dinner. The entire Secluded Mountain Prefecture City was celebrating.


    Even though there were more conflicts on the streets and a few gangs being destroyed due to the influx of people from all around the nation, it was all neglected due to the joyous occasion of the birthday dinner.


    Prefecture Master''s mansion.


    "As Qinghe City''s Spirit Returning Sect Sect Head, I offer my greetings to you, Prefecture Master!"


    Amongst the loud discussions, Shi Yutong wore a cloth over her face and entered the Prefecture Master''s mansion under the escort of a few Spirit Returning Sect disciples.


    Spirit Returning Sect was a stronghold in the entire county, and therefore Shi Yutong''s arrival was quite a big affair. She was directed to the heart of the hall.


    ''The troops of Secluded Mountain Prefecture are impressive, indeed impressive...''


    She appeared friendly and greeted a few people whom she personally knew, but deep inside she was surprised.


    At the gate of the mansion, there were two rows of Martial Artists (6th Gate and above) to guard it. There were emotionless and had metal armour, and were able to strike fear in anyone who looked at them.


    At this point, all the guards were martial artists who broke through the 4 Heavenly Gates!


    These highly skilled martial artists were able to lead a few hundred troops among the Secluded Mountain Prefecture.


    After all, the weakest soldier within the Secluded Mountain Prefecture armed forces was a Martial Artist (4th Gate). A few capital leaders were at the Wu Zong level and were comparable to Shi Yutong!


    If they didn''t have such power, they wouldn''t be able to ensure peace in the Secluded Mountain Prefecture!


    At the seat of the hall master sat a cheerful old man, wearing a spiritual robe with a hundred ''longevity'' sewn onto it. He was skinny and it was as though he would fall from a strong breeze. However, he had fire in his eyes and seemed unpredictable.


    This was the Secluded Mountain Prefecture Master, who had controlled over 6 counties and the Secluded Mountain Prefecture armed forces - Liu Yan.


    "Spirit Returning Sect''s Shi Yutong congratulates my lord, prefecture head, and specially presents 3 stalks of spiritual ginseng and 10,000 gold coins. Here''s wishing you longevity!"


    Shi Yutong looked at Liu Yan and paid her greetings. Her loud and clear voice travelled throughout the entire hall, and her pricey gifts made a commotion.


    "Haha¡­.. Yutong, you are too kind, please recover!"


    Liu Yan laughed heartily, and even his beard began to float up; it was evident that he was pleased with Shi Yutong. "Please have a seat, and promise me you''ll drink with me a few cups tonight!"


    "Of course!"


    Shi Yutong laughed, got seated and scanned the surroundings.


    She was Wu Zong and the master of a county, she was seated at a special table with everyone at the same level as her. A few of them were the capital leaders, and there was one seat empty. He was under Liu Yan and was not present.


    "Sect Head Shi, I''ve heard that you have just taken in a highly capable disciple. There is someone to take over your place now, and I am so envious of you!"


    At the other table across, a muscular man offered a drink.


    He was wearing the armour of the Secluded Mountain Prefecture City and did not bother to take it off. He used a large bowl for his wine and was extremely forthright.


    "Niu capital had a good reputation..."


    Shi Yutong downed one bowl of wine. "My disciple is playful. Even though she might have potential, how could she compare to the talents here in the Prefecture City?"


    "We cannot compare! Not at all!"


    The capital leader of Niu County shook his head and pointed at the empty seat. "After all, you recruited Master Lu''s help to make a spiritual pill for her. With that to aid her, no matter how talented our people are, how can we compare to your disciple?"


    Shi Yutong froze and was deep in thought for a moment. A voice came from the side. "Master Lu is the only alchemy master in Secluded Mountain Prefecture and has many friends in many counties... Isn''t that right, Sect Head Shi?"


    His eyes were extremely sharp and whoever he gazed at felt uncomfortable.


    Shi Yutong felt even more unbearable and almost wanted to run for the door!


    The few people that he stared at were those who supported Master Lu to take over the appointment!


    Liu Yan had mixed feelings, raised his wine bowl and scanned the surroundings as though he did not hear the previous exchange.


    At the moment, the entire atmosphere changed, and there was an uncomfortable silence as though someone died.


    Under such a huge stress, a few Wu Zong martial artists broke into cold sweat.


    Just before Shi Yutong decided to start the fight, a few high pitched voices travelled from outside, albeit fearful. "Lu Renjia, Master Lu, brings my disciple Ling Yin to offer our greetings to Prefecture Master!!!"


    ...


    "It''s so lively within the Prefecture City!"


    At this moment, there was a group of people observing from outside the Prefecture City.


    Fang Yuan stood on a little hill and observed everything. He then looked at Huang Fu Renhe and Yu Xinlou by his side. "What? Are you still wondering why I retreated?"


    "Why would we?"


    Huang Fu Renhe waved his hand. "Benefactor saved my life and my sister''s life, and we will never forget this favour. Regardless, I will always obey you!"


    Fang Yuan smiled and looked at the small girl beside him.


    Lanruo was washed up and wore a robe. Other than being slightly malnutrition, she had no difference as compared to a normal child, but Fang Yuan could sense her unimaginable magical energy; she was a perfect candidate to become a spiritual knight.


    If there could be another miracle, she might even be able to become a dream master.


    ''This kid is not Huang Fu Renhe''s blood-related sister, but her stepsister... stepsister... Why did I not have such luck?''


    As Fang Yuan stared at Lanruo, she could feel his gaze and shrugged her neck.


    Fang Yuan was impressed and how she could sense his gaze and then turned his attention to Yu Xinlou.


    The young proprietor of the White Cloud Business Council went through an ordeal of losing his entire family and even went to jail. After everything, he became much more mature, and the bloody wounds on his face gave him a resolute look.


    "The ordeal that the White Cloud Business Council went through was a heavy blow to me, and it seems that we have lost footing in the Prefecture City... We should leave to another place, and as early as possible. I am looking forward to Master''s Qingye City! If you have any favour next time, my business council will help to our fullest ability!"


    He was a smart person and turned the entire business council to Fang Yuan''s service, in exchange for protection.


    "Don''t worry, I still have some influence in Qingye City!"


    Fang Yuan smiled and said.


    Even though the White Cloud Business Council was damaged, it was still rather influential in Qingye City and could strengthen his influence outside the city. With their alliance, even the Spirit Returning Sect would find it hard to try and interfere with them.


    "I still have to thank Master for saving my life!"


    Yu Xinlou bowed and gave his thanks to Fang Yuan, as he solemnly said.


    "It was casual... And I did gain from it too, so you don''t have to thank me..."


    Fang Yuan looked at Yu Xinlou and felt a little pitiful for him.


    The conflict in his family and the betrayal from a blood-related family member completely uprooted the entire White Cloud Business Council. The old proprietor of White Cloud Business Council and the 4 Heavenly Gate Martial Artist sacrificed and paid their lives, which strongly affected Yu Xinlou.


    Of course, he was considered a strong man for being able to deal with it and grow from it.


    Fang Yuan fiddled around with a blood-coloured jade in his hand, and his smile grew.


    He did not lie.


    He did gain from the destruction of the Wild Wolves Gang. The most important takeaway was the blood-coloured piece of jade.


    ''This piece of jade seems to be a treasure. Fiddling around with it for prolonged periods of time can help to improve one''s health and absorb the impurities in one''s body, which could be considered as improving one''s physique. This was the reason why Diao Guangdou could accelerate his progress from a small waiter to a gang leader, to what he had achieved...''


    He was a waiter and was middle-aged. Therefore, to be able to rise so quickly, he had to have a good potential.


    Who would''ve known that he could become a 4 Heavenly Gate Martial Artist? This piece of jade played a big part in it and was a treasure of Diao Guangdou which he kept dearly. It seemed to also have a calming effect for him.


    However, it was not enough to match Fang Yuan, which led to his death and his treasure landing into someone else''s hands.


    ''This thing is not simple...''


    At Fang Yuan''s current cultivation level, this jade''s ability was rather insignificant. As Fang Yuan placed it under the sun, he noticed fine red lines within the jade, like the arteries and veins in a human. He was shocked at the way Diao Guangdou used it, as it was simply squandering the item.


    ''There''s blood hidden in the jade, forming structures similar to human meridians, and it can also protect one''s divine spirit¡­...I''ll name you Blood Spirit Jade!''


    Fang Yuan named it and promptly kept the Blood Spirit Jade properly. He appeared rushed. "Let''s go... The Prefecture City is now trouble, and the further we go the better!"


    "Yes, master!"


    Huang Fu Renhe and Yu Xinlou both felt that he was overreacting, but still bowed and followed anyway; they did not dare to disobey.


    At this moment, a large pounding was heard from the city gates, which made their expression change.


    In front of the 35-yard tall city wall was two large metal doors, which under the force of machinery and human force, slowly closed up, like a beast closing its big mouth.


    Hundreds of citizens were screaming just behind the doors, like ants.


    "Rumble!"


    In the end, the entire door was shut, and in three other directions, the same sound was heard.


    On the city walls, rows of Secluded Mountain Prefecture soldiers walked out in armour. All of them wielded knives and swords and loaded their bows, as though they were facing a big threat.


    The entire Secluded Mountain Prefecture City seemed like a beast ready for war.


    "Closing all four doors?"


    Yu Xinlou observed the scene and was shocked. "Even the previous few wars did not escalate to this intensity? What is happening in the Secluded Mountain Prefecture?"


    "Regardless of what is happening, it is of no concern to any of us. The Prefecture Master and the higher-ups will settle it. If they cannot deal with it then neither can we, so let''s go!"


    Fang Yuan waved his sleeve, turned around and left.


    It was always good to be an opportunist, but the risks this time were too high and it was unjustified to go for the rewards.


    ''It seems that the Secluded Mountain Prefecture made the first move, this Liu Yan is not simple...''


    He thought about it, jumped on a carriage, and neglected the two behind; both of which looked at him in awe.

 101 The Figh

    "What are you intending to do, Prefecture Master?"


    Lu Renjia was gentlemanly, and there was a light fragrance coming from him, which had the ability to calm the others down.


    His eyes were like lightning and shot right at Liu Yan, interrogating him.


    "Kacha! Kacha!"


    The sound of armour dragging across the floor could be heard from outside. Numerous Secluded Mountain Prefecture soldiers flooded the hall.


    Liu Yan lifted his eyebrow and smiled. "It isn''t about what I want to do, but you, Master Lu. What do you intend to do?"


    As he spoke, he appeared stricter. "By getting closer to my prefecture''s sects and Prefecture soldiers just to hastily sit in my seat? You think I can''t live long? You are trying to bully me?"


    "Rumble!"


    The rage of a spiritual knight was not to be taken lightly!


    In the hall, Shi Yutong could feel an immense spiritual pressure which was almost suffocating.


    Looking at Liu Yan, he was seated in his seat, but green flames appeared and seemed to be surrounding him, and were slowly growing.


    "Impossible!"


    Lu Renjia took out a small bronze cauldron and placed it in front of himself. He was not ashamed of anything and became serious. "Old Liu... Why are you still so strong? Must be... What treasures have you consumed to lengthen your lifespan?"


    "That''s right!"


    Liu Yan''s voice became deeper, with a mocking tone. "Hehe... I was fated to receive a Fire Dragon Fruit. Not only does this fruit complement me perfectly, it also had the ability to lengthen my lifespan... If I''ve used this to make it into the ''Red Dragon Pill'', it''s ability would increase fivefold. However, I knew that you would be greedy, so why would I trust you to do this for me?"


    Shi Yutong''s heart became heavy after hearing this.


    If not for his old age, Liu Yan would still be the number one spiritual knight in the entire Secluded Mountain Prefecture! Due to his planning, despite the fact that his enemy had improved tremendously, he was able to keep the secret and eventually trick them with the news that he was dying!


    ''This words are not meant for Master Lu, but for the rest of us Sect Masters!''


    With this, Shi Yutong had a question in mind. ''Even if he kneeled down to surrender, I wonder how will things end up? It seems that he still had to let out his position and live in privacy for the rest of his life!''


    ''It seems that this is still more worth than the Sect being destroyed by the Secluded Mountain Prefecture soldiers.''


    The pretty Sect Master suddenly changed her expression, as though she was fighting a mental battle. The two Wu Zongs on both sides seemed to be in the same predicament.


    "Don''t be fooled by this Old Liu!"


    Lu Renjia rolled his eyes and said, "Eating the Fire Dragon Fruit raw can only increase his lifespan by a century! This old fool doesn''t have too many years to live..."


    He looked at Liu Yan with a sinister look, with no intention to conceal his motive to kill. "Furthermore... Even if you are willing to use your life to pit against us, in the end, all of us will die together!"


    "Even if we have to die together, I will still exterminate this bunch of you!"


    Liu Yan became fierce and waved his hand. A streak of green fire shot out like a dragon and aimed straight for Lu Renjia.


    "Fight!"


    Lu Renjia became extremely serious and pushed the cauldron forward.


    "Rumble!"


    An invisible ripple of energy dispersed, and the green flame dragon was destroyed into embers, which flew in all directions.


    "Ah!"


    A soldier wearing a Thousand Year Chilled Metal Armour could not dodge in time and was struck by an ember, lighting his shoulder in green flames.


    "Hong! Hong!"


    In the next moment, his entire person became a green human torch. He shrieked and died in an instant.


    ''Liu Yan''s fire-type spiritual spells were even scarier than before... Even martial artists of the 4 Heavenly Gates don''t stand a chance!''


    Witnessing this scene, Shi Yutong was shocked to her wits and glanced at her lowly-skilled sect disciples, who were all shivering in fear. She was glad not to have brought her own disciple along. Otherwise, she might not be able to leave this predicament.


    "It seems that everyone is unwilling to accept my gracious offer..."


    Liu Yan looked at Shi Yutong and the other Sect Masters and shook his head. Suddenly, he gave a deafening shout. "The soldiers of Secluded Mountain Prefecture, do hear this. The Spirit Returning Sect, Bone Melting Sect and the Yellow Brothers sect are now traitors. Kill every single one!"


    "Yes, Master!"


    A commotion was heard and the clanging of knives and swords outside was deafening.


    "Haha¡­.. Sect Master Shi, I, Old Niu, have always wanted to get closer to you, and now I finally have the chance!"


    The capital leader of Niu Capital laughed, wore a helmet with bullhorns and approached her.


    "If I had a choice, I would not want to oppose you Prefecture Master, but..."


    Shi Yutong was unwilling but made her choice.


    Since he had already done it and was found out, any hesitation would only quicken his death. The only solution he had was to carry on what he was doing.


    "Haha... You guys have made the right choice!"


    Lu Renjia laughed. "After this, I will not forget any of you. And as for the promised spiritual pills, I will deliver two times more!"


    "Lu Renjia!"


    Liu Yan turned ferocious and slowly stood up.


    "Hong! Hong!"


    Balls of green flames appeared around his body, burning brightly in mid-air. There was a continuous stream of heatwave coming from him. "Do you still think that you stand a chance?"


    He still feared this alchemy master.


    Although his combat skills may not be good, his alchemy skills helped him developed many diplomatic ties.


    "You would never guess what my secret move would be! Even though you surpassed my expectations today, that is all you are going to be!"


    Lu Renjia became speechless. "Tiancan, Dique, bring Ling Yin away!"


    "Yes, master!"


    Two Wu Zongs suddenly stood beside Ling Yin and escorted her out.


    "None of you will leave this place today! He! The elemental forces of nature, listen to me! Green Dragon Dance! Prosperity be in the world!


    Liu Yan recited his mantra, and spiritual imprints appeared on his spiritual gown.


    "Hong! Hong!"


    Nine balls of green flame surrounded him, and suddenly evolved into claws. A green dragon formed from the balls of flame and struck towards Ling Yin.


    "I am your opponent!"


    Lu Renjia frowned and threw out a few pills.


    "Peng!"


    A red pill collided with a white pill in mid-air and exploded. A grey fog appeared, which constrained the fire dragon.


    Liu Yan could see that the fire dragon within the fog had lost its spirituality. It stopped moving and began to slowly shrink in size.


    "Good! You have lived in the Secluded Mountain Prefecture for almost twenty years and it is only today that I get to see your true ability!"


    Liu Yan began to spew fire out of his eyes. "Hopefully you do not disappoint me!"


    "Hong! Hong!"


    In a short moment, the green flames covered the entire hall!


    ...


    "Eh?"


    Outside the Secluded Mountain Prefecture City.


    Fang Yuan, who was on the carriage, turned his head around and took a quick glance in the direction of the Secluded Mountain Prefecture City.


    The tremor of the spiritual force was way beyond the capabilities of a spiritual disciple; it was obvious that two spiritual knights were engaged in a fight.


    "Master?"


    Yu Xinlou and Huang Fu Renhe rushed over, saw Fang Yuan staring in the direction of the Secluded Mountain Prefecture City, and followed suit.


    "Rumble!"


    At that moment, It seemed as though a flame started to grow in the Prefecture Master''s mansion. Thick smoke rose into the sky like a chimney.


    "That is... the direction of the Prefecture Master''s mansion!"


    Yu Xinlou was dumbfounded. "Today is the City Master''s birthday, and yet they close the four gates to the city, and even something like that could happen within the city...''


    "Are these green flames from the legendary Secluded Mountain Prefecture City Master''s spiritual spells? I''ve heard that he is skilled in fire-type spiritual spells, and is a totally different level!"


    Huang Fu Renhe observed the increasingly chaotic city, and made eye contact with Yu Xinlou; he broke out in cold sweat.


    If not for Fang Yuan who brought them out of the city, they would be the ones trapped inside, desperate. They might even be implicated to death.


    "Rumble!"


    Another deep tremor was heard.


    To have travelled such a long distance, Fang Yuan understood that the two spiritual knights had used their spiritual force to strike a hard one on each other.


    Indeed, when he looked back, he saw something like a roof flying in mid-air, and suddenly it broke apart into flames. Screams were heard where it landed.


    "Oh¡­.. This is how spiritual knights fight with each other?"


    Fang Yuan was shocked to see such a fight.


    Even though he had become a dream disciple, he could not command his elemental force as he wished as he was not a dream master yet.


    Seeing how one''s own elemental force could affect nature in such fearsome means, he knew what to expect in the future.


    "Elemental force... It''s not far from me!"


    Fang Yuan clenched his fist, in silence.


    In terms of martial arts, he had already broken through the 11th Gate. What was left for him was the final Heaven Gate and Wu Zong to break through before he could finally attain Wu Zong.


    As for his journey as a dream disciple, he had also entered the final stages and was only a few steps away from truly being able to control his own dream world.


    "It''s just... My skillset is specific, and the destructive power of a dream master can never be on par with that of a spiritual knight..."


    Fang Yuan sighed, and suddenly called Yu Xinlou and Huang Fu Renhe over. "It seems that the only one capable of going against the Secluded Mountain Prefecture Master is that alchemy master, Master Lu?"


    "Although I have never seen him personally, I have heard that his alchemy skills are superb, and well known throughout the entire Xia Country... My previous master is no match for him!"


    Huang Fu Renhe looked agonized and said.


    He explored the ends of the world and his exposure was rather broad.


    "The influence of the Prefecture City is rather strong, but the Secluded Mountain Prefecture Master had many connections with the outside world, and external allies might help him out!"


    Yu Xinlou shook his head.


    "Hmm... That''s true. The destruction that we witnessed just now, could it be made by several spiritual knights and Wu Zongs together? Isn''t it a good chance to see what we can loot amidst the chaos?"


    Fang Yuan made a guess after hearing him said that.


    ''To loot from the chaos, we will still need a formidable party. Otherwise, we would be killing ourselves!''


    "Let''s go! We need to rush!"


    "Fang Yuan did not hesitate and ordered them.


    "Yes, master!"


    Yu Xinlou instructed for the carriage to move on. As he looked back at the Secluded Mountain Prefecture City, he was filled with mixed emotions.


    Seeing his hometown being destroyed and feeling sad was secondary; it was more of a worry.


    The entire Secluded Mountain Prefecture would change!

 102 The Peak Level

    "Elemental force¡­...Only spiritual knights, Wu Zong, and other similar level experts can awaken the ability to use this power that of the heavens and earth..."


    The carriage was sparkling.


    Inside the carriage, Fang Yuan seemed to have closed his eyes to rest, but in fact, he was finding out the secrets behind his elemental force.


    "There are roughly two systems of power in this world. One is magic and the other is physique...The path of magic would be arduous at the start because it depends on one''s potential. Only spiritual disciples, alchemy disciples, dream disciples or the likes can develop elemental force under the guidance of a master!"


    "Physique, on the other hand, is slightly different. I can be described as the supplement of magic. In the 12 Gates of martial arts, one will start from the 3 Prosperous Gates, before moving onto 2 Peaceful Gates and then the 3 Perilous Gates, and lastly the 4 Heavenly Gates in this order. This order helps to build one''s foundation for obtaining elemental force. However, the first 8 gates would only help to condition one''s body while only the 4 Heavenly Gates would improve one''s magical energy gradually. Hence, although one may have reached the peak level of the 12th Gate, one may not have reached one''s full potential to become Wu Zong!"


    "Of course, I am different from them and I can choose to go by both paths of magic and physique. Martial arts is just a form of self-defence in the early stages, and also a way for me to build up my foundations¡­...The 12th Gate is the final preparation for me to make a last breakthrough which is completely dependent on my magical energy!"


    The trip to the Prefecture City was beneficial for Fang Yuan.


    Even though he could only watch the moves of a spiritual knight from afar and feel the spiritual pressure, it made him slightly more optimistic of a breakthrough.


    This was not because of his gifts, but rather, his accumulation in experience.


    "It looks like when these skills have reached a later stage, they cannot be depended on proficiency points to be improved. Rather they depended on self-realisation and maybe some sort of opportunities¡­.."


    Fang Yuan glanced at his stats window and noticed that his Eagle Claw Iron Skin Technique''s proficiency points had reached 99.99% in Grade 11!


    Along with this self-realisation, the last percentage of improvement needed was finally fulfilled!


    Suddenly, Fang Yuan closed both of his eyes.


    "Piak!"


    He could feel a soft sound coming from the middle of his forehead.


    However, this sound was not real. It was the tremor from his sea of consciousness!


    "Hoo¡­.."


    Fang Yuan exhaled gently while he held on to his forehead.


    From previous breakthroughs, he could feel his inner force surging around his whole body. This time, it was totally different. He could feel a slight dizziness and a swell in his head as if a brick had just been squeezed into his consciousness.


    "Such feeling I''m getting¡­..must be due to my body''s inability to adapt to the sudden surge in magical energy¡­.."


    He looked at his stats window again and saw the changes.


    "Name: Fang Yuan


    Essence: 8.0


    Spirit: 7.9


    Magic: 5.5


    Profession: Dream Disciple


    Cultivation: [Martial Artist (12th Gate)]


    Technique: [Black Sand Palm (Grade 5)], [Eagle Claw Iron Skin Technique (Grade 12)] (Limit reached)


    Skill: [Medicine (Level 3)], [Botany (Level 4)]"


    Fang Yuan was surprised by the changes. "There are not much increments for my [Essence] and [Spirit], but my [Magic] has improved by 1!"


    Such great improvements were way more than what the Questioning Heart Tea could do.


    However, there were also side effects from this vast improvement and these side effects were quite scary. Hence, Fang Yuan had to clear his mind to allow his body to get used to the increase in magical energy.


    After a while, his energy was at its peak and he became very alert.


    He could feel that his thinking speed was much faster than before and he was very satisfied.


    "Even though I had the magical energy of an average person from the start, but with the cultivation from my master, my strong foundations, the help of the Questioning Heart Tea and the breakthroughs in martial arts, I am now comparable to the other talents!"


    "With my current magical energy, I should be considered gifted among all other normal spiritual disciples!"


    His mind was clear and Fang Yuan stretched himself. He then continued to check on other areas.


    "[Eagle Claw Iron Skin Technique (Grade 12)] -- You have mastered this technique to its peak level and the level is similar to the creator of this technique! However, due to the disadvantage of this technique, this technique cannot be further improved to condense elemental force!"


    The system also identified that the Eagle Claw Iron Skin Technique had reached its peak and there would be no further improvements.


    This meant that if Fang Yuan still wished to continue to make a breakthrough in his martial arts, he had to change his cultivation to either the Xuan Yin Heart Technique, the Spirit Returning Heart Manual or other similar high levelled techniques.


    "This system is useless¡­.Can''t it improve or optimise my techniques?"


    Fang Yuan murmured and stroked his chin. "No¡­..the system''s abilities seem to come from my level of comprehension¡­.."


    Where did martial arts originate from in this world?


    Martial arts were created by man, of course! Since one could create techniques for Wu Zong, Fang Yuan believed that he could similarly do so.


    A real expert would probably be able to raise his Eagle Claw Iron Skin Technique to Grade 13, Grade 14 or even Grade 15!


    Of course, with his current level of comprehension and experience, the chances of him going crazy from improving his technique was very high, since he was cultivating without any help.


    "Even if I enter the dream world to experiment, with my current level of cultivation as a dream disciple, I''m afraid I''m not even able to simulate inner force properly, let alone elemental force!"


    Death in the dream world didn''t mean actual death. Therefore, he could simulate many different environments to try out.


    If he was capable enough, he could build another Xia country in the dream world!


    With this convenience, high cultivation levelled dream masters often improved their techniques in martial arts beyond the original peak levels. Furthermore, they could also provide services for optimisation of martial arts for other martial artists. Of course, these services would cost a bomb.


    With Fang Yuan''s current level of cultivation, he would not be able to simulate at such a level yet.


    "However¡­...this is also another type of cultivation. At least it would be much more convenient to reproduce my actual physical body in the dream world, and give it inner force¡­.."


    The ability for a martial artist to understand their own body condition would be rather useful.


    However, if Fang Yuan had the ability to simulate everything in the dream world and allowed himself to go crazy from improving the Eagle Claw Iron Skin Technique to Grade 13 for a few thousand times in the dream world, he would already have made a breakthrough in his cultivation of becoming a dream master, thereby developing dream elemental force.


    Hence, the effectiveness of this method to aid his martial arts was still debatable.


    "However, if this method was solely for the purpose of the cultivation to become a dream master, it could still be done. I shall remember this!"


    He added another to-do item in his checklist silently in his mind and opened the curtains. The sunlight was blinding, causing him to squint his eyes.


    "How long have I been meditating? Where are we now?"


    Fang Yuan looked at the coachman and asked him.


    "Sir!"


    The coachman was from the White Cloud Business Council and was one Yu Xinlou''s men. As such, he would not be rude to Fang Yuan and answered him politely. "You have meditated for half a day. We are currently in Qinghe County and in two days time, we should be able to reach Qingye City!


    "Very good, get Huang Fu Renhe and Yu Xinlou to come over here!"


    Fang Yuan got out of the carriage and randomly asked one of the horse riders dressed in green to get off the horse. Fang Yuan then took over, as the horse obediently allowed him to train his riding skills.


    "Sir!"


    Not long after, Yu Xinlou and Huang Fu Renhe came over. Yu Xinlou''s eyebrows were furrowed and his face looked sad.


    "Oh? From your facial expression, it looks like you have gotten the news of the current situation in the Secluded Mountain Prefecture City!"


    Fang Yuan'' eyes then brightened up.


    Even though he had decided not to be involved in the happenings in the Prefecture City, he still sent a few men to find out about the current situation, and it was worth it.


    "One of the riders from my business council has just returned with news. The current situation in the Prefecture City is quite bad..."


    Mentioning this, Yu Xinlou''s eyes went red. "It was the misfortune on the day of the birthday banquet. The fire spread through the entire city, costing the lives of many innocent civilians living there. Now, many civilians are trying to escape the city, and my riders have seen a few of their ex-colleagues who were also escaping. The Prefecture City is now a big battlefield!"


    "What?"


    Fang Yuan was surprised and asked, "Lu Renjia is that powerful?"


    "You can''t imagine how many connections an alchemy master like Lu Renjia has!"


    Huang Fu Renhe gave a wry grin and said, "Of all the 6 counties in the Secluded Mountain Prefecture, 3 of them clearly voiced out their support for Lu Renjia. Even one capital leader from the Secluded Mountain Prefecture was convinced to join Lu Renjia''s side and remained undercover. When the time is ripe, the Prefecture Master''s side will go down!"


    "Even so, I don''t believe that the Prefecture Master will lose in his own territory. It doesn''t matter if his men were dead. Ultimately, what would be the outcome of the fight between the leaders? And what about the Wu Zongs?"


    Fang Yuan frowned and asked.


    Of course, he was only interested in Liu Yan and Lu Renjia.


    "Such information is rarely disclosed and no one knows the truth. There are only rumours everywhere¡­."


    Yu Xinlou shook his head and said, "I have heard that this Prefecture Master is holding back. Even though his life is coming to an end, he is still holding back, with the intention to capture everyone who opposes him once and for all. However, he did not expect Lu Renjia to come up with an ultimatum¡­.. Furthermore, both parties are recruiting reinforcements from external parties. The final outcome will lead to both sides being severely weakened. However, as long as the leaders of both parties are alive, I''m afraid the war will last!"


    As he spoke, his face gave a worried look.


    The war in the city had caused much sufferings and chaos. The ones suffering the most was the civilians.


    Escaping to Qinghe County did not mean that one would be safe from the heat of the battle.


    "Hmm¡­..The downfall of both sides¡­..This alchemy master is unexpectedly capable!"


    Liu Yan was actually the most highly skilled in the entire Secluded Mountain Prefecture. However, Lu Renjia, who was just an alchemy master, could fight against him to such a stage, shocking Fang Yuan. Fang Yuan then asked, "What about Shi Yutong?"


    Yu Xinlou shook his head and said, "Spirit Returning Sect is one of the 3 sects who had rebelled. However, I haven''t heard any news about the whereabouts of Shi Yutong. She probably managed to escape successfully!"


    Fang Yuan had expected that anyway.


    With the cunningness of Shi Yutong, it would be strange if she didn''t manage to escape.


    "It looks like¡­.this world is going to get even more chaotic!"


    He looked at the end of the pathway ahead and sighed. "Pass down the order to tell everyone to move faster! Otherwise, by then, it will be harder for us to return amidst the chaos if the Spirit Returning decides to gather their men to join in the fight."

 103 Pill Making

    It was eight years since the Xia Country opened up to business from other countries.


    Lu Renjia created chaos by betraying the Secluded Mountain Prefecture, and even recruited the help of an evil spiritual knight, and ended up badly hurt together with Liu Yan. Qinghe County, Cangshui County and Jushi County declared to pull out of the Secluded Mountain Prefecture''s governance, and under Lu Renjia''s command.


    Of course, all these didn''t affect Fang Yuan.


    With the Zhou Family and others as the local families under him, the White Cloud Business Council had a smooth transition into Qingye City; Fang Yuan did not need to worry about the small issues.


    He left Huang Fu Renhe in the secluded valley and made him comfortable, before riding the Iron-tailed Black Eagle and arriving at the Green Peak spiritual land.


    "Phew... The air here is the best. It is so much different as compared to the air outside..."


    The spiritual land was filled with spiritual energy. Fang Yuan unknowingly took a few deep breaths and appeared drunk with power.


    "If not for the things I have to settle in the outside world, living here for a long period of time would be like a deity living in heaven..."


    He sighed and clenched his fist.


    The chaos in the Secluded Mountains Prefecture urgently required strong martial artists as protection.


    In terms of martial arts, he had already reached the peak for the Eagle Claw Iron Skin Technique. Unless he changed his cultivation to another type of martial arts, he would have no hope in breaking through to Wu Zong.


    However, the Spirit Returning Heart Manual and the Xuan Yin Heart Technique were both profound. Without the hindrance of the 12 Gates, and to train to reach the level of the Eagle Claw Iron Skin Technique would be extremely hard.


    "The good thing is that I have another path to take. Based on my prediction, the creation of the 12 Golden Gates is to cover up for the shortcomings of normal humans... Since I have overflowing magical energy, my journey to become a dream master would be a smooth-sailing one!"


    If he could break through to obtain elemental force, then he would be the only one in the entire Xia Country who would be able to oppose the Spirit Returning Sect and other Sects!


    "What a pity... I have not sent the Flame Jade Rice for an appraisal!"


    Fang Yuan took out a handful of flame-red rice grains, with regret in his eyes.


    After the trip to the Secluded Mountain Court, he now knew the value of the higher tiered spiritual rice. It might even be more valuable than the Questioning Heart Tea.


    This was because there was only one Questioning Heart Tea Tree, but on the other hand, the rice could be planted many times and be resold to earn back the money.


    With the valuable plants in his hands, Fang Yuan did not dare to expose what he had, especially after seeing the situation at the Prefecture; he did not want to involve the alchemy masters and spiritual knights.


    "The good thing was that I managed to appraise a few spiritual objects, bought a whole bunch of new spiritual seeds, and obtained two new helpers. I should be rather influential now, albeit small..."


    Fang Yuan went to take a look at the Questioning Heart Tea and the spiritual bamboo shoots. The Questioning Heart Tea was growing well, with the prospects of another season of tea leaves being able to be harvested. As for the bamboo shoots, the shoots remained small, which made Fang Yuan roll his eyes.


    Based on the maturity period of the spiritual bamboo, even if he used his spiritual fertilizer, it would be hundred years later before it would mature.


    But then again, if he could harvest around ten bamboo fruits, be it changing to another type of martial arts or by harnessing brute force to break through to Wu Zong, it would be so much more helpful.


    "It seems that I have to become a dream master to obtain Master''s next piece of inheritance..."


    Fang Yuan went to the red-eyed white king bird''s nest to check that the nest was alright, and glanced at the growing wisteria. He nodded in satisfaction.


    "Chirp..."


    Suddenly, a shriek came from the cave which broke the silence. It attracted Fang Yuan''s attention to the red-eyed white king bird.


    Although it appeared sluggish, its eyes remained ferocious and full of stubbornness. Fang Yuan knew that unless a miracle happened, it was almost impossible to tame it.


    "You seem to be quite energetic. Hmm... I shall not feed you then..."


    Although this bird refused to eat, Fang Yuan still had other ideas. Previously, he used underhand means to subdue it but was lost for words as it did not appear any less fierce than before. He went up to the straw pavilion, poured out every spiritual seed he bought and began reading through the planting manual.


    "The Black Jade Rice and Green Striped Rice are nothing much, I can just directly sow them in the spiritual farm... Their effects are similar to that of the Vermilion Jade Rice, and at most I''ll just have new flavours to try!"


    "The Bone Quenching Flower can destroy one''s bones and tendons, and complements the Three Star Fruit perfectly. If I plant them together, I can increase my produce by a few folds!"


    "The Sickle Grass and Serrated Flower are the most troublesome. Other than requiring a specific type of land, it still feeds on blood!"


    ...


    After a long while, Fang Yuan closed the manual, his eyebrows slightly raised.


    Blood-fed meant consuming the bones, flesh and blood of wild animals. If these two spiritual plants did not get the blood they require, their growth would be hindered and they might not even germinate, making the plants feel carnivorous and barbaric.


    Of course, these two spiritual plants were not to be eaten or made into pills; they were for protection.


    "They are similar to plants like the Pitcher Plant and the Venus Flytrap... The only thing is that the Sickle Grass and Serrated Flowers are slightly more brutal; their prey are wild beasts or even humans!"


    Of course, the normal Sickle Grass had at most a serrated edge like a knife. If a normal person came into contact with it, his flesh would be cut and he would bleed profusely, causing him to die in a gruesome way. As for martial artists, especially high-levelled martial artists, they would easily dodge these plants, just as for the Serrated Flower.


    But Fang Yuan didn''t intend for these normal spiritual plants to protect his home.


    He bought these seeds to produce them in large quantities, so as to increase their chances of evolving their special traits. Hopefully, they would evolve into even more fearsome spiritual plants, and together with the hypnotizing fog around the Green Peak spiritual land, it would be able to guard against even the strongest 4 Heavenly Gate martial artists!


    To produce large quantities of spiritual plants would be almost impossible to do in the small farm at the secluded valley; he could only go ahead with the plan at the Green Peak spiritual land. Everything had to be done by Fang Yuan personally.


    As for the farm at the secluded valley, a few farmers already raised the problem of the soil getting less and less fertile.


    If Fang Yuan still refused to reveal the secret of the spiritual fertilizer, the next season''s Vermilion Jade Rice harvest would be much lesser, and eventually, it would lead to too many farmers at the farm.


    "This is not too bad... At least I can dismiss those thoughts of greed! It would be even more beneficial during times of war."


    Fang Yuan stroked his chin and started to worry.


    Fighting a war is all about resources, especially the long-standing wars. One should not execute the decisive move as the first move, otherwise, the entire war would deplete all the resources available.


    To a martial artist, doctor, herbs and storage of spiritual objects, a war was a test to all of these.


    "What a coincidence that Qinghe County was named as one of the betrayal counties now in chaos. It is not a matter of whether it will spread, but that it will surely spread! Unless one had enough influence from the start, otherwise trying to control it would be to remove the insignificant powers!"


    Fang Yuan slowly understood as he looked in the direction of the county.


    If he guessed correctly, he would be able to face of Shi Yutong the next time round.


    "Based on my current stage of cultivation, it is still not enough, and I am still not there yet!"


    He was lost in his thoughts...


    ...


    Chaos ensued in the outside world, but it did not seem to have spread to the secluded valley yet.


    The grass was lush, the insects and birds were making their noise, the farmers were farming and the servants were washing clothes; the entire scene was one of tranquillity.


    Unknowingly, a few days went by.


    In the pavilion, Fang Yuan wore his normal clothing and was sitting with Huang Fu Renhe. Both of them were looking at the stove in front.


    "The skill of alchemy is all-encompassing. The art of lighting fire is already very profound, and normal people might not even be able to comprehend it in their lifetime..."


    Huang Fu Renhe explained, and at the same time added a few animal charcoals underneath the stove.


    This was a valued possession brought here personally by Zhou Wenwu. There was only a hint of burnt smell, and every piece was delicately carved into animal shapes. They were extremely valuable and were sold by the piece.


    However, Huang Fu Renhe treated it like garbage and didn''t even blink an eye as he threw it into the fire.


    "Hong! Hong!"


    The fire grew larger, and the green flames licked the green stove. A strong fragrance filled the air.


    "An alchemy master would use spiritual fire to make their pills. I am useless and can only use normal fire as a replacement, which is much less efficient and would make a whole lot of difference..."


    Huang Fu Renhe blushed, and timed it right before lifting the stove. "It''s done!"


    White smoke rose into the sky, and as Fang Yuan channelled his energy into his eyes, he could see a puddle of liquid medicine at the bottom of the furnace.


    Huang Fu Renhe''s faced turned red and was totally engrossed in his role. He began the extraction, purification and evaporation process - This was not how the alchemy masters would describe it, but to Fang Yuan, this was what he saw.


    After the filtered medicine evaporated into crystals, what appeared in front of Huang Fu Renhe was many piles of yellow, fragrant and seemingly tasty powder.


    "This is Spiritual Grain Powder. It can be consumed directly, and after eating it, one would not feel hungry for three days. However, it harms one''s digestive system, and therefore is not considered top grade..."


    Huang Fu Renhe passed the medicinal powder to Fang Yuan, but his face was full of regret. "Based on my ability, I could possibly make Combat Ration Pellets in the future, but forget about Royal Valley Pill..."


    "Alchemy Master?"


    Fang Yuan thought of the Questioning Heart Tea and smiled cheekily. "Don''t give up so soon, you might be able to do it in the future!"


    Powder, Pellet and Pills were the three types of medicine, and their medicinal powers were in increasing order. It was also how pharmacist and alchemy masters proved their own worth.


    Using the same ingredients to make the pills, the Spiritual Grain Powder could last for three days but would harm the digestive system, while the Combat Ration Pill could last for 7 days. As for Royal Valley Pill, it was a common food source for high-levelled cultivators who planned on going into closed-door cultivation for long periods. A prolonged period of consumption would strengthen one''s body, which led to some highly-skilled martial artist giving up on food and eating spiritual pills instead, to strengthen their foundation.


    But for Huang Fu Renhe, he could only forcibly produce Combat Ration Pellets from spiritual grains; this was because he had no help from spiritual fire and therefore could not attain the level of an alchemy master.


    "You''re talking about learning martial arts? I can''t do it!"


    Huang Fu Renhe laughed. "I''ve tried this path before, but I have no potential for it and I could spend my life training but will not be able to harness inner force."


    He was dumbfounded, clenched his teeth, and was feeling determined again. "My lord saved my life and Lanruo''s, and even took us in. I have nothing to hide. In alchemy, other than controlling the fire, the most important is to understand the properties of every ingredient and be highly skilled in appraising them... I am useless and have not accomplished much in this field, but I have a gift for you, master!"


    As he spoke, he loosened his belt and retrieved something stuck in between, and passed it to Fang Yuan.


    "This is... a piece of jade?!"


    Fang Yuan was surprised and pleased at the same time. He knew that this person had totally given his trust to him.


    "This is indeed a piece of jade... This is from my master... I took it from him, but it was a pity that I was unable to see its contents..."


    Huang Fu Renhe blushed and explained.

 104 Exaction

    "I had spent much energy looking for this piece of jade in the past, but who would''ve guessed that it would appear so effortlessly!"


    Inside the room, Fang Yuan slowly put the piece of jade down, feeling relieved.


    "The thing that I had wanted most came to me in such a way¡­.."


    He shook his head, with a slight happiness in his heart.


    According to what Huang Fu Renhe said, many years ago, he was being ill-treated and was under extreme pressure; there was no way he could endure. Taking an opportunity, he escaped with this piece of jade to the Secluded Mountain Prefecture.


    However, his magical energy was not great enough to see through the piece of jade to know its secrets.


    To Fang Yuan, however, it was a piece of cake.


    <<Spiritual Recordings>>!


    This was the title of the paragraph inscribed in the piece of jade. It was the elementary book for potential alchemy masters. The book not only had recordings of the characteristics, medicinal effects and methods of handling different types of spiritual objects, it also included a special way to appraise spiritual objects, aiding alchemy masters in determining the quality of spiritual objects, if they were poisonous, etc.


    After all, there were many weird and strange spiritual objects present in this world and it was impossible for the inscription to cover every single one of them.


    "Of course, the most valuable pieces of information will be the explanation by alchemy masters themselves, as well as the methods of handling different types of spiritual ingredients¡­....This inscription should be considered very precious to Huang Fu Renhe!"


    Fang Yuan thought about it before deciding to pass on the information from the Spiritual Recordings to Huang Fu Renhe. Ultimately, this piece of jade was from him.


    "Unfortunately, Renhe didn''t know about the preciousness of this object. If he had passed this jade to Lanruo, that girl should be able to see some of the secrets in it, and of course¡­...that would also mean that the jade would not come to me!"


    He felt fortunate, and at the same time, a little worried.


    The mysterious spiritual knight or spiritual disciple who wanted to kidnap Lanruo was also a problem.


    Of course, he had already exterminated the Wild Wolves Gang. It would be hard for the spiritual knight to track him down.


    Being such a gifted girl, Fang Yuan was not willing to give her up.


    "I cannot easily pass on the cultivation of a dream master. However, I still have a few other spiritual knight techniques with me¡­.."


    Letting his thoughts run wild, he pondered. "It will be beneficial for me to train a few loyal subordinates. Of course, as much as possible, I shouldn''t let her learn the Blood Magic Manual. Just the thought of it spooks me¡­.."


    "Thinking about this, as part of the secluded valley faction, we can have anything we want. If I need people, I can get them. If I need spiritual ingredients, I can also get them. We now have a doctor, a pharmacist, a martial artist and a certain level of influence, and therefore should be considered the most powerful in Qingye City. If I was the Sect Head of the Spirit Returning Sect, even if I only knew a little about the secluded valley, I would still have to ask them for help in times of war¡­.."


    Fang Yuan stroked his chin and was speechless.


    He was in a different position and hence, his perspective and attitude in seeing things were very different.


    Since he was part of the secluded valley, he wouldn''t wish to see the Spirit Returning Sect having their way and becoming powerful at the expense of the suffering of others.


    "Master! They are already here!"


    While Fang Yuan was in deep thoughts, Zhang Sheng called to him from outside.


    "Direct them to the main hall. I will be there soon!"


    Fang Yuan opened the door and saw Zhang Sheng carrying a broom.


    Under the care of Fang Yuan, and with the help of spiritual ingredients, Zhang Sheng''s Dantian recovered. He had re-obtained his inner force and reinstated his status as a considerably skilled martial artist.


    In the main hall of the secluded valley.


    Zhou Wenwu, Yu Xinlou and Huang Fu Renhe were waiting in there.


    Huang Fu Renhe looked like he had no worries and was enjoying his tea. Yu Xinlou seemed a little worried and Zhou Wenwu was the most uneasy one.


    "Here comes Sir!?"


    Seeing the arrival of Fang Yuan, the three of them got up and greeted him.


    "Hmm!"


    Fang Yuan nodded his head to acknowledge them. He then sat in his chair and waved his hand.


    Seeing this, Zhang Sheng closed the doors to the main hall and guarded outside. With his skills, even martial artists of the 4 Heavenly Gates could not sneak up upon them.


    "You may speak now. Did something happened at the Spirit Returning Sect?"


    Fang Yuan came straight to the point.


    "You are correct. The Spirit Returning Sect had given an order for all cities in Qinghe County to be on alert. Soldiers from the Spirit Returning Sect are now deployed everywhere, and every family in the county are expected to contribute and help out in any way they can!"


    Zhou Wenwu gave a wry grin.


    The way he mentioned about the Spirit Returning Sect showed that he was unhappy with the sect.


    "Oh? What did they blackmail the three of you for?"


    Seeing this, Fang Yuan became interested.


    "Every big household in the Qingye City will have to give 100 taels of gold and all the spiritual food they have. The households will also have to provide their most powerful martial artists to be under the direct command of the city master!"


    Zhou Wenwu''s face was black.


    Previously, things were improving back in the Zhou family. However, with this order from the sect, his family would be forced to their limits, and even he, an inner force expert, would have to be conscripted since he was the most highly skilled in his family, which explained his expression.


    "The situation for my family is slightly better than Brother Zhou''s!"


    Yu Xinlou forced a laughter. "I was ordered to give them some money and food supplies, and some of my business shops to the temporary city master¡­.."


    "Since all of you were affected, I guess it is a matter of time the secluded valley will be blackmailed too..."


    Fang Yuan murmured and suddenly, he asked, "A temporary city master? What about the previous county leader?"


    The previous county leader was a good old man. He was kind, and it was probably due to the fact that he did not have real power and authority over the county. As long as things were not too chaotic or going out of hand, he would always be the forgiving and kind old man, which made him the favourite among the rich and powerful.


    However, since the situation in Qinghe County was different now, the previous system of bureaucracy was no longer relevant. Hence, the county leader, together with the name of his appointment, had to be changed.


    "City master?! This name sounds like a mercenary!"


    Fang Yuan curled his mouth and said, "Why? Why haven''t they ask me to give up anything?"


    "This is expected!"


    Zhou Wenwu added. "Your influence in the Qinghe County is bigger than ours. Furthermore, you are not living in the city and have no business or tradings there. Since you can walk away from this easily, the city master would not dare to bother you much¡­.."


    "Master, Little Pearl says that we have a female guest!"


    Zhang Sheng voice was calm and deep, frightening Zhou Wenwu a little.


    Even though Zhou Wenwu knew that Fang Yuan had taken in a cleaner, from his voice, it seemed that this cleaner''s inner force was powerful, and might have surpassed himself.


    "A female guest? Who is she?"


    Fang Yuan glanced at Zhou Wenwu and had a premonition.


    Zhang Sheng then went to have a few words with Little Pearl, before his deep voice came again. "She is from the Lin family. Lin Leiyue!"


    "It''s really her!"


    Fang Yuan had expected her. "You three, take your leave! Bring her in!"


    "Yes, Master!"


    The three of them answered together and left. Not long after, Little Pearl brought the female guest in and quickly served her tea. After which, Little Pearl left.


    "Miss Lin, please have a seat!"


    Fang Yuan waved his hand and stayed calm.


    Lin Leiyue stared right at him, in shock. She could feel that he had changed too much, even exceeding her expectations for him.


    From the confident look Fang Yuan gave, it was a level of prestige that he could only attain from being at a high cultivation level for a long period of time and the ability to take a life without blinking his eye. Even though she had made a breakthrough in the inner force, she would still fear him.


    "Even though my secluded valley is a little remote, I still have some good tea for my guests to enjoy. Please!"


    Fang Yuan lifted his teacup and took a sip.


    The tea that was used to serve the guests was not spiritual tea. However, it was still good and fragrant.


    "Good tea!"


    Lin Leiyue took a sip and her eyes glittered. She then looked at Fang Yuan with a bit of disappointment and determination. "Brother Fang, I guess you already know the purpose of my visit?"


    "Sigh..."


    Fang Yuan shook his head and gave a wry grin. "It is the Spirit Returning Sect''s business to take full control over the country. What has that got to do with the secluded valley?"


    "There is a saying that, a land in a country belongs to the king, and the people living in the land are the people of the king.Even though the secluded valley is not geographically in Qingye City, it is still under our jurisdiction. Would you disagree with this point?"


    Lin Leiyue gave a strong rebuttal.


    At that moment, a thought went through her mind. ''I am saying this is for your own good. If we end up fighting and causing the sect head to take action, I will not be able to answer to Master Wenxin¡­.."


    Thinking about the amount of effort she had put in to persuade her Master, Shi Yutong and how Fang Yuan was not recognising her effort, she was a little pissed.


    "This is true..."


    Fang Yuan touched his nose and looked at Lin Leiyue without an expression. "And what will the Spirit Returning Sect want from me?"


    "The spiritual rice, of course!"


    Lin Leiyue bit her teeth and said, "At least 660 pounds of it. Of course, the Spirit Returning Sect will not be getting it for free. We will buy it from you at market price. Also, since you have impressive medicine skills, I will also have to ask you to relocate to the Qingye City. This is also for your own safety, in case you get injured by robbers at night. Of course, the sect will need your help to treat the injured members of the sect during the war..."


    "After everything is over, the sect will allow you to choose the next three generations of the city master of Qingye City. How does this sound?"


    After she had spoken, she looked at Fang Yuan, hopeful. The conditions that she had given him were much much better compared to the others.


    "Hmm¡­.."


    Inside, Fang Yuan laughed silently and intentionally gave a look of hesitation. "This is such a hard decision to make, I will need some time to consider¡­.."


    He had to live up to his title as the doctor who could work miracles.


    As long as he didn''t show that he wanted to relocate to Secluded Mountain Prefecture and join the other side, Shi Yutong would not dare to pressure Fang Yuan to the limits.


    ''He still needs to consider?''


    Lin Leiyue became even more unhappy. She got up and said, "You have 5 days to consider, and I have fought for this deal for you. If we don''t hear from you after 5 days, it will no longer be me looking for you!"


    After her threatening words, she glanced at the back of the hall and noticed a few people hiding behind, before giving a bow and left.


    "Hehe¡­..Lin Leiyue, this little girl¡­... her tone is so different now after being a junior sect leader for a few days¡­.."


    Fang Yuan touched his chin and felt a toothache. "She''s too fierce!"


    "We are useless!"


    At the back, the three of them came out blushing.


    "I cannot blame you three. Zhou Wenwu, I''m afraid that you were already followed as you made your way to the secluded valley¡­."


    Fang Yuan exhaled a long breath and was under no pressure.


    After all, even if Shi Yutong came personally, he would be able to escape even if he couldn''t defeat her.


    He was not in a desperate situation, which was why he had nothing to worry.


    However, if he really lost his subordinates and his business, he could always hire more people and rebuild the business. There was nothing to be worried about.


    Of course, that would be the worst-case scenario. For now, it would still be best to keep his subordinates and his business.

 105 Farming

    "Elder Han!"


    As Lin Leiyue walked out of the secluded valley, a shadow followed her.


    However, it seemed that she had already predicted it, and therefore her expression did not change. "Thank you for coming personally to settle this!"


    "Hehe..."


    Elder Han shook his head. He was already completely recovered by now and got back the calmness a Martial Artist (11th Gate) should have. However, he knew that he could not go head-on against the secluded valley. "The secluded valley has many secrets, especially Fang Yuan himself. Within the entire Sect, I''m afraid only the Sect Master can infiltrate successfully..."


    "If what you said is true, then Fang Yuan''s cultivation level is... 4 Heavenly Gates?"


    There was shock in Lin Leiyue''s eyes.


    After being allies with Lu Renjia, the alchemy master had to bear with the pain and gave them a sizeable amount of spiritual pills in an attempt to improve their relations; Elder Han and Lin Leiyue both benefited from it, with one being able to recover successfully and the other able to break through the next gate.


    However, as compared to Fang Yuan, Fang Yuan''s improvement was still more shocking.


    "Even I''ll have to admit that Fang Yuan is gifted... I can no longer see what''s going on in the secluded valley with the addition of that spiritual beast!"


    Elder Han shook his head in dismay. After getting rid of the strong opposition, the secluded valley could actually be comparable to the Spirit Returning Sect.


    After shock came fear.


    "The Spirit Returning Sect kept a low profile, which led to the opposing powers being developed slowly... We could use this chance to teach them a lesson and get rid of them!"


    He did not try to hide his motive.


    On the battlefield, all it would take was an order and he could let martial artists die themselves, without using underhand means.


    Only when the opposing powers within the county become lesser would the Spirit Returning Sect have the freedom to do whatever it wants.


    And as for the secluded valley, it was indeed a miracle. Without much notice, it had developed so much over such a short period of time.


    However, it still didn''t matter much. With the Sect Master in charge, using her ability as a 12th Gate Martial Artist at her peak, it would be as simple as jumping over a wall.


    The difference between Wu Zong and the normal martial artist was immeasurable; it was like comparing Heaven and Earth!


    "How would Master deal with the situation..."


    Lin Leiyue stopped and looked back at the secluded valley once more. Suddenly, her heartbeat became faster. She did not want to see Brother Fang reach this point of no return, but at the same time, she felt immense relief. She was resolute and walked away.


    Both of them were extremely quick and disappeared into the forest within moments.


    The serenity and tranquillity of the forest were intoxicating.


    After a long while, Fang Yuan appeared and looked indifferent. "They even had to send Elder Han to spy on the secluded valley, so it seems that there is no other person capable enough in the Sect already!"


    "Unless... Shi Yutong?"


    ...


    After Fang Yuan returned to the secluded valley, even more news came in.


    This rebellion went to the extremes. Not only did Qinghe County, Cangshui County and Jushi County leave the Secluded Mountain Prefecture''s jurisdiction, they were led by the Spirit Returning Sect, Bone Melting Sect and Yellow Brothers Sect respectively to come together to form a large army of over 10,000 troops. Additionally, external forces joined in as well, and Lu Renjia became the undisputed alliance leader. He directly issued the challenge to Liu Yan without regard for any reputation.


    As for the Xia royal family, and the other two prefectures, they would have to wait and see. Even if they tried guessing, they could only send out highly-skilled martial artists in disguise and had to be cautious.


    Fang Yuan did not know the happenings in the other two counties, but in Qinghe County, the Spirit Returning Sect was putting in an effort to eradicate the rebels and remove those families who were loyal to the Secluded Mountain Prefecture. This was all expected.


    There was news that three entire families were eradicated, and they plundered a large amount of resources. The other families who knew of this lived in fear, afraid of being the next family to be dealt with.


    From all these, Fang Yuan could predict that he did not have much time left.


    However, there was a piece of news which made Fang Yuan wary.


    "Lu Renjia could recruit the help of a mysterious spiritual knight, and this spiritual knight has blood-red light all over him; he must have the assistance of the Blood Dragon, which explained why he could suck the blood essence of 3 or 4 Heavenly Gate Martial Artists and 5 Inner Force Martial Artists at one go and that was extremely scary..."


    "This description... Why does it sound so much like the Blood Magic Manual, could it be that this person is related to the Blood Killer?"


    Thinking of this, he ended his speculations about Lu Renjia.


    "If I create trouble for the Spirit Returning Sect now, I would greatly hurt their battle strength. It would become hard for Shi Yutong to take control of the entire county and unite all the forces together... By sending Elder Han and her other direct disciples all around already revealed her intention, but..."


    If Fang Yuan really wanted to kill, then even two Elder Hans could not save their own lives.


    However, killing mindlessly did him no good and was therefore not what he would do.


    "Keeping them alive would buy me at least five days more..."


    To a normal martial artist, it was impossible to gather opposition support and fight against the Spirit Returning Sect in just a mere 5 days, but to Fang Yuan, it was slightly more possible. He just had to dream.


    ...


    Green Peak spiritual land.


    Within the straw pavilion.


    Fang Yuan placed a stone basin in front of him, and in it full of clear water. There were a few red dots suspended in the water.


    Taking a closer look would reveal that the red dots were actually grains of Flame Jade Rice, swirling in the basin of water, at it seemed that there was a layer of gold that had yet to come off.


    "Go!"


    With the wave of his finger, he exerted a force and the water mixed with a flame-red colour flew out, landing on a bamboo paper placed at one side. It grew upwards quickly, forming a trace of red glow.


    Fang Yuan took up the piece of paper and examined it.


    "Based on the method for identifying poisons recorded in <<Spiritual Recordings>>, I can now confirm that this spiritual rice is not poisonous. Using the water refinement method, I can observe from the paper that there is a hint of gold in the red. Its fire-type properties are strongest, but in it, there is a hidden metallic property as well, how unexpected... At the end, the trace is 1.6 inches long, which shows that its spirituality is of the higher tier of Yellow Grade. Because it is a spiritual rice, maybe it can be placed under the Mystery Grade?"


    The method of appraising as described in this <<Spiritual Recordings>> was founded by alchemy masters who realised that a vast variety of spiritual items existed.


    And in it, the spiritual materials were classified into Heaven, Earth, Mystery and Yellow.


    Based on the description in <<Spiritual Recordings>>, the Vermilion Jade Rice, Emerald Grass, and even the Bamboo fruit and the Icy Fire Jialan were all of Yellow grade, and were just slightly above average.


    As for the Flame Jade Rice, Questioning Heart Tea and the Vermilion Fruit, they were more extraordinary and could be classified under Mystery grade.


    "The Flame Jade Rice''s effects might not be better than that of the Icy Fire Jialan and were at the higher end of the Yellow Grade. However, since it could be harvested every season and stored in large quantities, its value could go up and therefore could be classified as Mysterious Grade... As for the Questioning Heart Tea and the Vermilion fruit, both of them are undisputedly of Mystery Grade..." As for the Questioning Heart Tea and the Vermilion fruit, both of them are undisputed..."


    "After appraising the grade of the Flame Jade Rice and knowing its qualities, I can now produce it in large scales and start consuming it..."


    Fang Yuan nodded his head, picked up the shell of the Flame Jade Rice, went outside and fed it to the Iron-tailed Black Eagle.


    As the Black Eagle ate it, it wailed in happiness.


    "The Flame Jade Rice is a fire-type plant. If Liu Yan or other fire-type spiritual knights know of this plant, they would do all they can in their power to get it and consume it every day. Its benefits are countless, but to me, it would only aid me if I chose to cultivate fire-type techniques in the future..."


    The Flame Jade Rice he brought here to appraise was of a small quantity, and Fang Yuan was too lazy to cook it. He gave it all to the Iron-tailed Black Eagle to enjoy.


    Afterwards, he went to a newly allocated spiritual farm, and grain by grain planted it in.


    [Botany (Level 4)] was indeed impressive. Fang Yuan''s natural actions made the action of sowing seeds even more delicate.


    "If you want to enjoy such good rice next season, remember to properly guard this spiritual farm, and don''t let anyone destroy it, understand?"


    Fang Yuan stroked the Iron-tailed Black Eagle''s head, as though it was instructing it.


    After trying it out for itself, it would surely pay more attention to guard the spiritual farm.


    Looking up, he realised that it was noon.


    Fang Yuan stopped farming and cooked a full pot of Vermilion Jade Rice. He also instructed the Iron-tailed Black Eagle to catch two fresh fishes and smoked them for lunch.


    The water quality in the spiritual land was rather good, and the fishes that came from it were fat and fresh. By using smoke to remove the fish''s stench, the fish meat became crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. As he tore the fish, the meat and bone separated easily, and it was simply delicious. It was the perfect lunch.


    "Chirp! Chirp!"


    Fang Yuan was enjoying his lunch, while the Iron-tailed Black Eagle was flapping its wings in unsatisfaction, as though it deserved more.


    After trying the Flame Jade Rice, it was used to it and eating the Vermilion Jade Rice was a torture for it.


    "Haha..."


    Seeing how human-like the Black Eagle was, Fang Yuan laughed uncontrollably.


    After a full meal, Fang Yuan returned to the spiritual farm and started to plan. "Following which, I will have to focus on the Flame Jade Rice! The Black Jade Rice, Green Striped Rice are just new flavours, while the Bone Quenching Flower and Three Star Fruit are not as useful. Maybe I can pass some to my servants for them to start growing them as well. Of course, the most important are still the Sickle Grass and Serrated Flower!"


    Fang Yuan had high hopes for these two aggressive spiritual plants. He specially instructed the Iron-tailed Black Eagle to hunt for some wild animals and started to prepare the blood for these plants.


    "Other spiritual plants thrive with spiritual water and spiritual fertilizer, but these two spiritual plants do not have requirements as for what type of soil, instead they need to be blood-fed and fertilized with flesh and bones..."


    Fang Yuan specially chose a location far from the original spiritual farm and opened up a narrow but long plantation.


    This was not only in consideration of the original spiritual farm but also for the growth of these two spiritual plants.


    "After all, these spiritual plants are predators, and therefore they should have a larger area to themselves so that they can experience hunting for prey by themselves. That would also save me a lot of trouble!"


    There were quite a number of wild animals in this spiritual land and it was sufficient for the growth of these two spiritual plants.


    "Whoosh!"


    Fang Yuan stirred a wooden bucket and used a gourd to scoops out a serving of blood. He watered it on the gourd, and the spiritual farm became a ''blood farm''. After which, he slowly planted the seeds one by one.


    "Since I am using flesh as the fertilizer, they definitely will grow to become ferocious monsters!"


    He had a strong feeling that with the increased chances of the special traits evolving that came with his [Botany (Level 4)], this farm would bring him a lot of surprises.

 106 The Sweep

    Fang Yuan sat cross-legged inside the meditation room, holding the jade manual passed to him by the dream master. He had a serious expression on his face.


    "The path to become a spiritual knight is made up of only a huge single step! However, spiritual disciples, alchemy disciples and dream disciples are only comparable to Earth Gate martial artists, harnessing only miniature elemental force... Only by breaking through would they obtain elemental force!"


    Although he was a dream disciple and held just the basics of elemental force, along with the dream master''s consistent and accumulative training, his martial prowess had improved tremendously, considering he was not even a competent fighter at the start.


    Comparing with the blood killer who was at a similar level as a spiritual disciple, he originally bragged that he had already mastered blood elemental force, but it turned out that he was just trying to impress others. If he had really mastered blood elemental force, he would have killed Fang Yuan instantly within the first move.


    Even so, the blood killer''s blood elemental force was still very powerful and lethal. The incident affected Fang Yuan tremendously.


    As for now, Fang Yuan was extremely determined to become a dream master to fully control and master elemental force.


    "To become a dream master, I have to be true to myself. I am only able to truly master elemental force when I am able to be the master of my own imaginary world!"


    "If I had all these powers, fighting the Spirit Returning Sect would be a piece of cake."


    Fang Yuan breathed in deeply and began meditating. He allowed his soul to wander into a faraway and unknown realm as he shut his eyes.


    ...


    World of Qianyuan, Mainland Tianyuan.


    "Oh...It''s still this place again!"


    During the appearance earlier, Fang Yuan regained his soul and he could tell that he was in the imaginary world.


    "To be a dream master, I need to be in complete control of this world of my imagination. For now, I have only accomplished half of it..."


    Fang Yuan looked at both of his hands and activated all his senses.


    Feeling an abundance of magical energy and a tingling sense of connection with the heaven and earth, Fang Yuan knew then that his skills had improved again.


    Sadly, everything that happened in this imaginary world did not reflect reality.


    "Disperse!"


    With this thought, the original immense power he felt disappeared instantly as he returned to his original self.


    As he recounted the internal messages from the real world, every nerve in his system and his internal strength rose within his body. The energies within him activated and created a storm within his body, momentarily creating a semblance of a miniature elemental energy formed by the merging of the yin and yang forces.


    After a moment, the heavenly gate opened, and Fang Yuan immediately became a full level 12 martial arts expert.


    "Eagle Claw Technique!"


    Fang Yuan shut his eyes and his right hand thrusted forward.


    "Slash!"


    In the direction which Fang Yuan shot out his hand, trees in the pathway of his technique split from the centre. The cuts where the trees split open were as smooth as the surface of a mirror. Fang Yuan''s power was greater than in the real world!


    However, Fang Yuan was not satisfied, "It''s too unrealistic!"


    The combat power of a dream master is relatively weak at the beginning. After becoming a dream master, the ultimate goal was to achieve the Prominent Divine Stage!


    Prominent Divine Stage?


    One''s Mind could affect matter and consciousness could affect reality!


    Only the dream masters who were capable of actualising objects from the dream world into the real world were worthy to rule, and they can do anything!


    Of course, the path to the Prominent Divine Stage was extremely difficult. It was never easy to create objects from nothing!


    Therefore, the first thing a dream master had to master would be the laws of reality. A shortcut could be created if a dream world could be moulded to obey and mimic the real world!


    Nonetheless, at his current stage, Fang Yuan was far from being able to do such a thing.


    After all, he was still unfamiliar with the laws of reality, and needed to accumulate experience.


    Even his body''s physical composition of meridians in his dream world was still far from his actual body''s composition.


    "How could I even think of trying to elucidate further grades of the Eagle Claw Iron Skin Technique with such a weak foundation?"


    Fang Yuan shook his head in frustration.


    The inability to allow his body in the imaginary world to completely merge and combine with the one in the real world indicated a problem for Fang Yuan. It meant that whatever he could master in this world could not be brought over into the real world as it would likely cause very detrimental effects that could cause a gruesome death should he attempt to do so.


    "It seems like... the merging of martial arts powers from the imaginary world to the real world is still very much a work in progress! Is it possible that brute strength is the only way to achieve this?"


    As he was deep in thought, several immensely powerful spiritual wills swept by in terror.


    "It''s that demon!"


    "The Apocalyptic Demon is here!"


    "Run! Hurry!"


    Within several kilometres of Fang Yuan, immortal cultivators were in complete chaos as panic gripped the area. It seemed as though a catastrophe was about to hit.


    "Am I that terrifying?"


    Fang Yuan caressed his face, feeling slightly troubled.


    All he did was to completely wipe out Green Cloud Sect. He could not believe that doing so would give him such a horrific reputation.


    However, from the perspectives of these immortal cultivators, Fang Yuan did not just wipe out a major sect. He even took down the most powerful immortal elders of the sect and killed them. This gave him his ferocious and brutal reputation!


    "All of these developed from my cluttered thoughts and will continue to evolve by itself..."


    Seeing this, Fang Yuan felt deeply relieved.


    To take control of the entire imaginary world was in fact his own personal aim. He was not willing to make any compromise to achieve this aim.


    He smiled himself and walked forward, paying no attention to the chaos around him.


    "Bang!"


    Suddenly, the scene in front of him changed.


    The original mountainous environment now became masked by a thick fog. This drastic change now seemed to contain several other small imaginary worlds.


    As these arrays became suppressed, Fang Yuan was also planted back at his original location.


    "Hmm...Just because you guys are able to find this array, do you really think it can stop me?"


    Fang Yuan smiled flippantly as his line of sight pierced through the array, looking at the several immortal behind it.


    "This time, to take you down, the Tribulation Stage grandmasters from Heaven''s Element, Earth''s Branches, East''s Victory and South''s Departure have all came together. The grandmasters from the higher realm have also spared no effort to make their way here, and brought with them the precious and rare Delicate Xuan Huang Array. This array can split the heaven and earth and is considered a rare treasure. It is blessed by the Xuan Huan energy, and can take you down regardless if you are formidable demon from other realms!"


    These immensely confident voices rang out continuously from outside the array.


    "An extremely powerful gem you say?"


    Fang Yuan scoffed and stepped forward suddenly.


    "Bang!"


    The array changed instantly. Huge bolts of lightning flashed out on the ground and struck out in all directions. All the little imaginary worlds unexpectedly disappeared into little pockets of forces, coalescing as they sped towards Fang Yuan.


    Under such an array, it would be extremely difficult for even an immortal cultivator from the higher realms to survive through this!


    "I said...I demand light!"


    Fang Yuan''s thunderous voice shook the imaginary world he was in.


    "Shoo!"


    Just as he shouted, a ray of light really appeared.


    This ray of light was not very bright, but it burned. It was like the first ray of light in a world of eternal darkness. It was unbelievably penetrating and sweeping.


    "Snap! Snap!"


    Wherever the light passed through, it showed complete devastation and ruin. Even though one sought to completely extinguish all the vile and pernicious forces in this world, they could only slowly melt away under this light.


    "Bang!"


    After a series of explosions, a huge hole emerged. Through it, one could barely see the blue skies and fluffy white clouds of the imaginary world.


    "Impossible!"


    The immortals from the upper realms who came to fight off Fang Yuan shouted out in shock and disbelief.


    "The most powerful weapon? It has no effect on me!"


    Fang Yuan sighed and stretched out both his arms in front of him. Instantly, all the rays of light coalesced on his arms. All the flying rubble caused by the Delicate Xuan Huang Array merged into a crystal luopan and landed on his palm.


    As the fog dispersed, it revealed the unfamiliar surroundings as well as the elders and from the upper realms who came to fight Fang Yuan. All of them had the look of utter disbelief and shock.


    "How is this possible?"


    "This was the most precious and powerful weapon in the world, how did it get defeated and destroyed so easily? It was indestructible!"


    "The gem that had suppressed by powers is lost. Could this be god''s will?"


    ...


    The immortals looked on in horror and uncertainty at Fang Yuan.


    "Enough!"


    Fang Yuan shouted coldly. This brought about a deathly silence.


    "How dare you come down to this realm out of your own accords? Prepare to face the consequences!"


    Fang Yuan narrowed his eyes and glared at a few elders who were obviously guilty of this crime and said, "All of you are guilty, accept your punishment!"


    "Heavenly Punishment?"


    A few immortals were taken aback. At the same time, a panel of white jade door opened above their heads. When it opened, several bolts of lightning flashed out and struck them.


    "Is this... The tribulation to become a deity? Didn''t we live through that 42,000 years ago? Why is it starting again?"


    One immortal pulled out his moustache in disbelief.


    "Do not panic, it might be an illusion to trick us into a trap!"


    "Snap! Snap!"


    These highly experienced and skilled immortals were also very tenacious. After being calming down, many began taking out their immortal weapons and starting probing.


    Almost immediately, a frightening flash of magical lightning struck down and hit a shiny immortal sword.


    With a sickening noise, the sword was cracked from the middle.


    Its owner who was spiritually connected to the weapon lost the colour from his face and spat out a mouthful of slightly purplish blood, saying, "Not good! It''s real!"


    "You people could enjoy your freedom after you became immortals. Why suffer the heavenly tribulation?"


    Rays of lightning flashed in all directions and the ground trembled. Amidst this complete catastrophe, a few immortals were forced to desperation and executed their most powerful techniques in an attempt to resist.


    This was not like a virus. One could not gain immunity just by getting hit once.


    Just like a knife wound, it was not possible that just because a victim had a scar from a knife attack meant that he was no longer afraid of getting attacked by a knife again.


    Specifically talking about this heavenly tribulation, this was the most feared and horrifying punishment of all. Even the immortals feared this.


    "This demon...could even manipulate the heavens!"


    "This demon is undefeatable and could even manipulate the heavens...This is either a major catastrophe or an apocalypse!"


    Seeing the rest of the immortals suffer and perish in the chaos, the veterans from the previous disaster they suffered 42,000 years ago looked on in submission to their fate.


    "The immortal world is the immortal world and the normal world is the normal word. We have already put in so much effort and work and reached this level, why must we still control the events in the world we left behind?"


    Fang Yuan looked on as the last bolt of lightning struck down on an immortal which caused him to break into a fit of hysteria. Fang Yuan grumbled silently, disappointed that the rules of this world and the universe were the constructs of his own thinking.


    "Okay, now that the external people are gone, it''s time to deal with the situation here!"


    As Fang Yuan looked at the suffering immortals, he broke into a smile. This made him look all the more menacing to them.

 107 Control

    "What do you want, demon?"


    An immortal cultivator in the Tribulation Stage stood out, as though he had a great sense of justice.


    "You''re noisy!"


    Fang Yuan took a glance and flicked his fingers.


    "Snap!"


    The next moment shocked many grandmasters who were in the Tribulation Stage. The immortal cultivator''s cultivation was slowly stripped off, from the Tribulation Stage to Magic-fusing, then Magic-melting, then Magic-splitting, then Elemental Infant Stage¡­.and then finally, he had nothing left of his cultivation and was back to a normal person.


    "You¡­.."


    An Immortal Cultivator who had made a breakthrough could originally extend his lifespan.


    However, since his cultivation was stripped off, the previously middle-aged looking immortal cultivator had transformed into a white-haired old man with full of wrinkles.


    He stretched his thin fingers as though they were chicken claws. Before he could say a word, he fainted and was no longer breathing. He had died of old age!


    "So? Does anyone have anything to say?"


    Fang Yuan squinted his eyes as he spoke, and no one dared to say a word.


    With a wealth of experience, they all knew the theory of surrendering and admitting defeat. They all knelt down and asked, "What orders you have for us, senior?"


    "Senior?"


    Fang Yuan laughed and thought in his heart, "What a sudden change in tone. Is this how my consciousness is?"


    "Forget it!"


    "He waved his hands and added, "From today onwards, whatever belongs to the mortal world will remain in the mortal world, and whatever belongs to the immortal world will remain in the immortal world, this is to¡­...separate heaven and earth!"


    Everything Fang Yuan said was absolute and was to be abided.


    Just as he had spoken finish, the heaven and earth shook, as though something was changing.


    "The immortal world¡­..has been separated!"


    Some of the grandmasters in the Tribulation Stage closed their eyes, while some of them took out their jades. They stared at it, speechless.


    They had no intention of rebelling against Fang Yuan, who was able to change the world with just his words.


    "From today onwards, I will be the greatest leader in the world of Qianyuan, the ruler of everyone. Those who follow me will prosper and those who go against me will perish!"


    Fang Yuan''s voice was apathetic. He looked at the immortal cultivators who were bowing down to him, but his heart did not waver a single bit.


    As of this point, he was the ruler of the whole of Qianyuan.


    So what if he was the ruler of this world? It was just a dream and he was not capable of controlling the dream world yet.


    "One can only control a world when one has reached the peak of his abilities. I am still a distance away from that level!"


    Similarly, an emperor in the real world seemed to have the control of a country, but compare this to the entire world and it would become negligible!


    At least, an emperor couldn''t affect nature and will be clueless about whether there would be flood, drought or famine.


    Fang Yuan''s had more control than an emperor in the real world. He could be considered a deity, but he was still a distance away from having full control over this dream world.


    "What happens after the separation of heaven and earth?"


    He thought about it before disappeared in front of the group of grandmasters, leaving them in shock.


    ....


    Time passed like flowing water.


    Unknowingly, 100 years had passed.


    After the separation of heaven and earth, the immortal world was sealed. Grandmasters in the Tribulation Stage who had managed to survive the 9 Tribulations would no longer be able to access the immortal world.


    In the beginning, the entire cultivation world was in desolation. Many immortal cultivators were left in despair and walked the path of evil.


    100 years later, as the evil immortal cultivators were being ganged up upon and killed off, a new generation of immortal cultivators was born. The world started to settle down.


    Many grandmasters in the Tribulation Stage had tried to escape into the immortal world, but all had failed to do so. After losing faith, they decided to spend their lives discovering the secrets of longevity.


    An increasing number of immortal cultivators from the new generation started to believe that there were no immortals in this world to begin with and that the most powerful beings were the grandmasters in the Tribulation Stage.


    Without external influences from the immortal world, the isolated cultivation world began to develop.


    Although Fang Yuan had declared himself as the greatest leader of this world, he had kept a low profile ever since, and lived in seclusion. Hence, everything from destroying the demon to separating heaven and earth slowly became a myth.


    "Hmm¡­... my current body in the dream world is very real. There are no differences, at least visually¡­.."


    Fang Yuan was living within the depths of the forested mountains. He examined his Dantian, full of satisfaction.


    In this dream world, treasures and magical weapons were all but illusions. Martial art techniques were all just a kid''s play.


    The only useful thing in this world was the environment of the dream world, which he could use to perfect his martial arts.


    At least, in this 100 years, Fang Yuan became extremely familiar with the Eagle Claw Iron Skin Technique. He had also read through the Spirit Returning Heart Manual and Xuan Yin Heart Technique Manual many times and was very familiar with the both of them, and might even be more well-versed than both Shi Yutong and the sect head of the Five Ghosts Sect now.


    Once he was back in the real world, he could be comparable to a sect head.


    "Even though I have spent so many years, it is still only 99% similar! The one last percentage of difference would make the outcome a lot different in the real world!"


    Fang Yuan sighed silently.


    With the combination of the two manuals he had read, he had a much clearer idea on how to progress on the pathway to Wu Zong with the Eagle Claw Iron Skin Technique. He had also made a few successful ''breakthroughs'' in this dream world.


    However, to have a successful breakthrough in the real world, he would still have to test it out slowly in the real world. It would still be insufficient to just think about it in the dream world.


    "This¡­..I would need a test subject¡­.."


    Fang Yuan gave a cold look and suddenly lifted his head. "Hmm? Is this¡­.."


    His current level in this world was at the peak. By simply staring into space, he arrived at an immortal cultivators'' cave.


    "Haha¡­.I have succeeded! I have succeeded!"


    An immortal cultivator in the Golden Pill Stage with messy-looking hair stared at a clumsy machine, which was spinning. His eyes then glittered."This spiritual turbine can work without the help of the Immortal Cultivators and function on crude oil. Even mortals can use it to create spiritual force. ¡­..the vision of my ancestors is about to come true!"


    The number of immortal cultivators in the world of Qianyuan was still much lesser than the number of mortal people.


    In any world, there would always be only a small population of immortals. Otherwise there would be insufficient resources to go around.


    However, with the presence of the spiritual turbine machine, the entire world had changed.


    "Hmm? After the separation of heaven and earth, my fruit of labour is finally shown here. Is the world finally changing?"


    Fang Yuan''s eyes glittered.


    Even though he had become the most powerful immortal, he still couldn''t fully control the world, and instead, had some daring thoughts of his own.


    For instance, he could control and set this world onto a different path.


    After all, he was the ruler of this world! No one could say anything if he wanted to destroy the world!


    He had free will to do whatever he wanted to and had executed the separation of heaven and earth. Finally, he saw the prelude to the era of post-immortal cultivators.


    "Here we go¡­.."


    He sighed and slowly waved his hands. The heavens shook and a resolute change began to form.


    ...¡­..


    "Spiritual energy! The spiritual energy is decreasing!"


    "In recent years, the number of immortal cultivators has been decreasing, and it is even harder to find children who are spiritually inclined among the population¡­."


    "Sigh, I was from the south of the cultivation world. There are already 18 small sects which are unable to find any successors, driving them to extinction. I cannot find words to describe the situation¡­.."


    "I have heard that in the mortal world, the revolution of the spiritual turbine had the potential to completely replace the immortal cultivators, by being able to create spiritual force, and power talismans and magical weapons.¡­...It is extremely simple to operate¡­..Is this the trend of the future?"


    Even though immortal cultivators were known to be stubborn, some of them understood and realised the trend in the world and started to make discreet changes in order to continue thriving.


    On the other hand, there were many high-levelled immortal cultivators who had no further progress in their cultivation and were at risk of losing their cultivation level. Some even went crazy looking for the demon who destroyed their world, which was Fang Yuan.


    From their instincts, they guessed that the decrease in the amount of spiritual energy was linked to the demon that had separated heaven and earth.


    Of course, Fang Yuan was too lazy to deal with them.


    ...


    History kept unfolding itself.


    The drainage of spiritual energy started to slow down and maintained at a steady level after many high-levelled immortal cultivators died.


    Not many young immortal cultivators in this world who could absorb the energy into their bodies. Those in the Golden Pill Stage and the Elemental Infant Stage were already considered the most powerful, and the Magic-melting and the Tribulation Stage had already become a myth.


    The only good news was that with the decrease in the lifespan of the immortal cultivators, the destruction due to karma was getting smaller and everything settled down.


    With this, the mortals were able to utilise the spiritual turbine machine to obtain energy comparable to that once harnessed by the immortal cultivators. Slowly, they used it as their bargaining chip to make requests.


    The immortal cultivators, who were so used to being superior for a long time surely would not entertain to such requests. With this, an impending war broke out between the two sides.


    The outcome was expected. The small population of the immortal cultivators was easily overwhelmed by the bigger population of mortals. Since then, the remaining immortal cultivators went into hiding in the woods, and the new era of mortals thus began.


    Many new countries were born spreading across the 4 big continents. The improved mindsets and productivity levels further pushed the modern world to greater heights.


    ...¡­.


    The Year 389 of the New Calendar


    In the capital of the Star Country, Heaven''s Element.


    The tar roads were designed in intersecting parallels. Beside the roads were a few big and tall cemented buildings. A giant screen was playing an advertisement of a middle-aged man making a speech. He was a candidate for the mayor election and he was gathering votes.


    "Rumble!"


    Many flying cars flew by, floating above the roads like blood flowing in arteries. They were emitting white smoke from their exhausts.


    Beside the road, there was a cafe.


    Fang Yuan wore spectacles and was scrolling through his smartphone.


    "It has already been 300 hundred years¡­..I cannot believe that from my subtle hints, the whole world has undergone major technological advancements. This is vaguely similar to the weird dream I had previously¡­.."


    "Immortal cultivators are now a myth. Those who occasionally appeared would only be regarded as fortunate ones with special abilities, and would be subjects of interests to experiment on..."


    "With a wave of my hand, this world is under my control!"


    Fang Yuan laughed lightly and snapped his fingers.


    "Kacha!"


    At that moment, the whole world had come to a strange stop, as if time had stopped running.

 108 Dream Master

    "The essence of a dream master is to have full control over one''s dream world, and subsequently rule it!"


    "A dream which lasted a thousand years. I have finally attained such a level!"


    Fang Yuan sighed.


    Since he broke through Heaven Gate and increased his magical energy, he had a strong feeling that he could use this hidden ability in conjunction with his cultivation to become a dream master, and could, therefore, make tremendous progress.


    Indeed, by taking advantage of the Spirit Returning Sect''s pressure, he was desperate and made it!


    "Shatter!"


    He breathed out lightly, and the entire dream world shook.


    "Kacha! Kacha!"


    Cracks began to form all around, like a mirror cracking. Pieces shattered and fell towards the ground, as the cracks spread throughout the world in the speed of light.


    "Rumble!"


    In the blink of an eye, the entire dream world disintegrated into powder. Even the connecting Immortal World, Hell, the mighty Yama, and the daoist grandmasters were not spared. In shock, they disintegrated together with the world.


    "I am the Light! I am the beginning! I am everything!"


    Fang Yuan stood in the middle of emptiness, full of emotions.


    The feeling of being a creator was one that was extremely overwhelming; it was the ultimate goal for most of the cultivators.


    If a dream master remains trapped in a dream world and forgot to return to the real world, his physical body in the real world would die, and this was the danger of being a dream master.


    "My dream world, I am the creator!"


    Just by thinking, an entirely new Qianyuan world began to form, and after a few upgrades, it was entirely the same as the previous world.


    "There is an entire world in a flower, an entire Heaven in a blade of grass. Alas, a dream is everything!"


    Fang Yuan shook his head, and his surroundings changed once again.


    The Green Peak spiritual land appeared, followed by Qingye City, Qinghe County, Secluded Mountain Prefecture.


    A world similar to reality appeared in front of him.


    "Brother Fang, it was all Leiyue''s fault!"


    "Master! Ready to receive your orders!"


    Surrounding him was a number of feminine ladies. There were Lin Leiyue, Zhou Wenxin and the other ladies who were once related to him before, albeit in some way or another. All of them looked pitiful.


    "Good day to you, Master!"


    Around 10 Wu Zongs and spiritual knights kneeled on the floor and became as lowly as dogs.


    "Oh?"


    Seeing this scene, Fang Yuan stroked his chin and found in interesting. "The details in my subconscious mind are appearing again?"


    Even though he had full control of his dream world, it was still fluid.


    A person''s mind was complex enough, not to mention one''s subconscious mind.


    Even the calm water in a well might become waves of tsunamis the next moment.


    Therefore, even if one was enlightened, anything could still happen and one might lose his enlightenment.


    "Once control is lost, the cultivation level of the dream master would drop... In the path of cultivation, there is another huge obstacle to overcome, and that is attaining ''Steadiness''. To be steady and be unwavering, to be wise and not use the wisdom, have values and be independent, and from there make the dream world a stable one, so that one would not accidentally stray from the path of dao..."


    Fang Yuan shook his head, and a clear glow appeared from his body.


    All the ladies and servants who were shone at by the clear glow disintegrated into dust, with Fang Yuan the only one standing.


    "Phew..."


    He opened his mouth and released a white flash like an arrow; it shot out a few feet.


    "Eagle Claw!"


    Fang Yuan''s hands became claws, and move by move he practised.


    Regardless of technique or strength, it was similar to that of the real world already.


    "Chirp! Chirp!"


    Accompanying the movement of his joints, his breathing and the movement of his fingers, a distinct and loud chirping came from his body, as though his entire physical body was a large eagle.


    "Good, now that the body in my dream world is 99.9% as that in the real world! The last 0.1% is the limits we have in the real world, and unless I have a good grasp of the limits of the real world, my training would be useless..."


    "This level of reality has already allowed me to try out and make some predictions to my breakthrough. The last three types of tryouts would have to be done in the real world already!"


    Fang Yuan shook his head as he felt the fear of a dream master.


    It was all about accumulating. In the beginning, a dream master would have insignificant combat powers but could use his abilities to assist himself and even deduce out techniques, which was the unique advantage of a dream master.


    "Just plain old technique deduction, and is still much more efficient as compared to when I was a dream disciple... I have understood what it is to be a dream master!"


    Fang Yuan remained quiet.


    ...


    Reality.


    Green Peak spiritual land, in the straw pavilion.


    Fang Yuan opened his eyes, and his face shone. "Only I will know who will awaken first... A thousand years in the dream but not even 5 days in the real world..."


    He chose to enter a closed-door cultivation here due to the level of safety and privacy available, but more importantly, he had someone to protect him!


    He had earlier informed the Iron-tailed Black Eagle to knock at the door rapidly if he had been in confinement for too long, in case he got too engrossed in his dream and forgot about the time.


    "Of course... the few hundred years in the Qianyuan world is nothing... It is just a thought that developed!"


    Fang Yuan recalled the wonderful feeling that he once had, and thought hard about it.


    Everyone would mature if they had to experience a thousand years. However, he spent a hundred of those years living in seclusion, and even detached himself from the world like a god, influencing the changes in the world. Therefore he only spent a fraction of all that time experiencing the world.


    After all, anything could happen in the dream world.


    "If I were to think about the time ratio, one day would be equivalent to a few years in the dream world. Although it might be a long time, it has yet to reach its limits..."


    Fang Yuan shook his head and started to worry about his own evolution.


    There was an entirely new force within his mind palace which replaced his previous miniature elemental force. It was like a dragon in hiding, albeit resting, and its aura was shocking.


    Elemental force!


    True elemental force!


    "Have I gained complete control of my dream world, became the owner of the world and entered the world of a dream master?"


    These changes were under Fang Yuan''s predictions, and he took a glance at his stats window:


    "Name: Fang Yuan


    Essence: 8.0


    Spirit: 7.9


    Magic: 8.5


    Profession: Dream Master


    Cultivation: [Martial Artist (12th Gate)], [Dream Master (1st Tier) (Fused Elemental Force)]


    Technique: [Black Sand Palm (Grade 5)], [Eagle Claw Iron Skin Technique (Grade 12) (Limit)]


    Skill: [Medicine (Level 3)], [Botany (Level 4)]"


    "My [Magic] points have increased by ''3''? And I don''t feel uncomfortable about it, it seems that my body has adapted to it already..."


    Fang Yuan nodded his head, and looked at the description for ''Dream Master'':


    "Dream Master - You rule the dream world, you are a traveller between dream and reality, and a nightmare for all your enemies! You can control you dream world at will, and you are everything in your dream world!"


    "The description is rather simple... In reality, the first part of my inheritance ends at becoming a dream master, and I have no idea what''s coming up next..."


    Fang Yuan touched his chin but did not feel disheartened.


    After all, Master Wenxin''s inheritance was there to stay. Since he became a dream master, he would be entitled to one part of it.


    "Forget about the rest, the most important is learning the usage of dream elemental force... It would be useless if I could only use them in my dream world..."


    "As well as martial arts... After becoming a dream master, my body feels increasingly real, and the three types of breakthrough seemed likely. With my magical energy, I can surely attain the Wu Zong level. Once I can prove that I am able to, then I will break through anytime!"


    As he thought about it, he opened the door.


    "Chirp! Chirp!"


    The Iron-tailed Black Eagle saw him walked out, and chirped in joy.


    "It''s tough on you, good job!"


    Fang Yuan stroked its head, and eagerly headed to the cave in the middle of the mountains.


    "Chirp!!!"


    The shrivelled red-eyed white bird which was originally lying on the floor immediately lifted its head, and in anxiety, all its feathers stood on its ends.


    It was the same evil human who was back, but it could feel a whole lot of difference in him. It was an astonishing transformation.


    "Teacher!"


    He felt different as he entered the cave with his inheritance.


    The Questioning Heart Path did not have any visible effect on Fang Yuan.


    The dream elemental force in his Mind Palace shook, and the hypnotizing effect that once made him sleepy dissipated. He arrived at the crystal door.


    Previously, Fang Yuan tried all methods but could not get the door to open.


    However, this time, as both hands came in contact with the door, Fang Yuan felt an entirely different feeling.


    A gush of dream elemental force flowed from his forehead, through his hands and into the crystal door.


    "Whoosh!"


    After exerting his dream elemental force, the crystal door spun with a bright and colourful light, as though there was water flowing through it from inside. Suddenly, it was as though it melted, and the door slowly disappeared.


    The huge obstacle for him previously just disappeared like that!


    Behind the crystal door was another tunnel.


    At the end of the tunnel, it was a purple crystal wall, and on top of it sat a pearl the size of a dragon''s eye.


    "The second inheritance?!"


    Fang Yuan was filled with emotions. He took out the piece of jade which he previously took, and placed it on the Purple Dragon Eye.


    "Wung! Wung!"


    A flash of light appeared and shot right into the emerald jade.


    It happened in the blink of an eye, and shortly after, the Purple Dragon Eye lost all its brightness and became an ordinary looking marble; the original piece of emerald jade now had streaks of purple in it.


    "This method of saving information is too eerie..."


    Fang Yuan sighed and used his magical energy on the jade.


    "Rumble!"


    On the back side of the original inheritance, there was a new paragraph of text; it was the method of cultivation for a dream master.


    After reading through it carefully, Fang Yuan became shocked.


    "It is indeed the path of a dream master because after accumulation, my power will increase exponentially... But the only thing lacking is Master''s message... It seems that everything is in the last piece of inheritance?"


    Fang Yuan looked at the purple crystal gate and sighed a deep breath.


    He knew that at his level, he was unable to open the door to get the last piece of inheritance.


    "This piece of inheritance included the details of the cultivation process from the beginning of a dream master all the way to the Prominent Divine Stage, and is enough for my cultivation..."


    Fang Yuan was extremely satisfied. Only his Master, whom he lived with all his life would help him so much. If it was another person, they wouldn''t teach him everything so smoothly and would make things difficult for him.

 109 Into the Dream World

    "A dream master is the master of his own dreams! If the dream master wants to improve further, he will have to involve himself in other people''s dreams¡­..Such an involvement is highly risky and it is easier to succeed by targeting a person who is less spiritually intelligent to train with..."


    As he recalled the description in the inheritance, Fang Yuan became serious.


    The dream masters who were able to access other people''s dreams were known as ''dream-accessing masters''. The next step would allow the dream master to alter other people''s dream, and would be known as ''dream-building masters''!


    These two stages were the basic stages of a dream master.


    After all these, it would be cultivating to attain Prominent Divine Stage: to understand the rules of reality and assimilate them into the dream, transforming things from the dream world into reality.


    In conclusion, the more similar the dream world was to reality, the more similar the rate of time flow would be.


    "Only when a dream world is similar to reality can a dream master start to actualise objects¡­..If I want to achieve the standard that my master has achieved, I will need a longer time to do that¡­.."


    Master Wenxin achieved not just the Illusionary Divine Stage, but could also build his own world and form spiritual land as well.


    Fang Yuan could not imagine the complexities of such an achievement.


    "The risks of accessing someone else''s dream is way more dangerous than entering my own¡­.If I was to get injured or killed, it would damage my magical energy and even my body in reality¡­.."


    Fang Yuan walked out, stared at the Red-eyed White King Bird, and was lost in his thoughts.


    ...¡­..


    "Chirp!"


    One of the eggs broke. A chick with a few feathers and red coloured skin emerged.


    It opened its little eyes and was feeling hungry.


    With an immense amount of energy, it instinctively pecked and ate its own eggshell, while keeping a lookout at the other chicks.


    Some of the young birds were much stronger. After coming out of their shells first and finish consuming their eggshells, they laid their eyes on the other chicks.


    In the cruel fight for survival, being blood-related did little to deter them from fighting for their lives.


    The chicks quickly fed on their own eggshells and shrieked loudly. They seemed unwilling to share their portions with the rest.


    "Whoo! Whoo!"


    Just as a few chicks were squeezing and on the brink of fighting, a big gust of wind blew and a giant bird suddenly appeared above the nest.


    The giant bird''s feathers were pure white and the bird''s eyes were bloodshot. There were also a few golden feathers on the tip of its head, resembling a crown.


    "Pa!"


    After it landed on the nest, its metallic black sharp claws opened, dropping a piece of deer meat in front of the chicks.


    ''A deer? Why do I find it familiar?''


    This thought went through the mind of a chick but disappeared as it was distracted by the piece of meat.


    It was so fragrant!


    As they were hungry for food, the eyes of the young birds were all bloodshot.


    "Chirp! Chirp!"


    "Chirp! Chirp!"


    The chick hobbled forward with the other birds and started to feed on the blood that was dripping from the meat.


    "Chirp! Chirp!"


    The Golden Crown King Bird let out a loud chirp. Using its claws and beak, it tore the meat into smaller strips, making it easier for the young birds to consume them.


    Although they were beasts, they had already displayed signs of being special. Even though they were only at the stage of infancy, they had no problem digesting the raw meat.


    "It''s great to fill full¡­.."


    Another thought went through the mind of the chick.


    After which, the energy it had was used to digest the meat, leaving the chick tired as it dozed off¡­..


    ...¡­.


    In a blink of an eye, many years had passed.


    In the sky above a piece of spiritual land, the chicks had grown bigger and they were spreading their wings and flying across the big blue sky.


    The Golden Crown King Bird would wait till all the chicks had fully matured before bringing them to the cliff. At the cliff, the Golden Crown King Bird would push them down one by one!


    Those spiritual birds which had not mastered the ability to fly would fall to their deaths!


    Under the fear and pressure of death, many spiritual birds would awaken and be able to flap their wings to bring themselves up.


    Once they were able to fly, they were considered mature and they could start to hunt on their own.


    The father of the young birds, which was the giant bird, would violently chase all the young birds out of the nest.


    Every day, the young bird which had just reached the adult stage would have to endure through hunger and spend a lot of effort to hunt for its own food. It would also have to build its own nest to attract female birds in future.


    Being pressured to survive and reproduce, the young bird quickly became the best hunter among their kind. It was able to hunt more preys than any other normal white birds and was larger in size, only inferior to the king bird.


    However, there were many instances where the young white bird would still be confused.


    Especially when it had gotten used to flying, but still didn''t know what its hands were used for.


    ''A pair of hands¡­..this is a new term!''


    Such thoughts which appeared many times in the young bird''s mind had taught it how to think. This made it more spiritual than the other birds.


    At this point in time, it had thoughts of challenging for the position of the king bird.


    Only at the highest position would it be able to enjoy the greatest amount of power in the whole population. This was every white bird''s dream!


    The current king bird was the Golden Crown King Bird.


    "Wait a minute¡­.to overthrow the throne? Why must I do that?"


    The young bird was a little confused as that thought came to its mind.


    "Who am I, where am I from and where am I going¡­..Am I really a bird now? No! No! I have a name¡­..my name is..."


    In the sky, the young bird was in a trance and started to fall down quickly.


    "I remember!"


    "I remember!"


    I am a white bird¡­..no! I have seen this type of bird somewhere!"


    "I''m not a white bird. I''m Fang Yuan!!!"


    "I am¡­..in the dream of the Red-eyed White King Bird!!!"


    ...


    Many confused thoughts then went through its mind like a massive flood, and he remained helpless as he became overwhelmed.


    "I have actually¡­.became a bird?!"


    While he was falling down from the sky, Fang Yuan didn''t know to laugh or cry.


    He no longer had the ability to make his bird body fly again.


    "After all¡­.this is not my dream¡­..and there would be a backlash as consequence¡­.That was close!!!"


    He still feared to know that he had become a bird. "Luckily, I am able to become self-aware, and this means that I have gotten the hang of it. I would be able to gain self-awareness quicker in future¡­..but I don''t want to die in a bloodied mess now!"


    Fang Yuan let out a loud cry and the bird let out a loud chirp. With much effort, he managed to spread his wings and fly again.


    "That was close!"


    He exhaled a long breath and said, "This is not my own dream. If I were to get killed here, there would surely be a backlash!"


    "Kacha!"


    Immediately after, he heaved a sigh of relief.


    A loud thunder rumbled from above and lightning struck down. The mid-air shattered and a fearful giant hand emerged from nowhere.


    The giant hand''s target was very clear. It went straight at the cliff and nobody could escape from it!


    "Damn¡­...if I had my cultivation¡­.."


    Looking at the giant fingers, Fang Yuan felt like an ant. As his mind was whirling, his mind blacked out.


    ...¡­.


    Green peak spiritual land.


    Back in the nest of the Red-eyed White King Bird.


    Fang Yuan took a few steps back and opened his eyes. Two streams of blood flowed down from his nostrils.


    "This is¡­..the backlash from the dream world!"


    He wiped away the blood and looked at the confused Red-eyed White King Bird. He then gave a wry grin.


    He tried out the dream-accessing method in an attempt to communicate with the Red-eyed White King Bird, but faced with an emphatic defeat!


    Even though the bird was a semi-smart spiritual beast, the resistance in its dream world was powerful. Its consciousness had combined with Fang Yuan''s, making Fang Yuan incarnate into a Red-eyed White Bird and making his mysterious dream a scary one.


    Luckily, Fang Yuan was a dream master and was able to wake up after a few hints. Otherwise, he would have remained trapped in that dream world.


    Even so, after gaining self-awareness, the consciousness of the Red-eyed White King Bird immediately took countermeasures against him.


    "The giant hand that was covering the whole sky¡­.. That should be the scariest thing in that dream world. It appeared in that world to deal with me specifically¡­.."


    Fang Yuan touched his chin and was in deep thoughts.


    Even though the things in that world was fake, it was still very real in the subconscious mind. Since the Red-eyed White King Bird feared the giant hand the most, it would naturally have an impression of it in its dream.


    This was the strength of a dream master. In the dream world, adversaries would unknowingly reveal valuable information.


    "However¡­...the risks are nonetheless high..."


    Recalling the dangerous situation that he had just experienced in the dream world, Fang Yuan was still afraid.


    "If not for the retaliation from the bird''s subconscious mind, and that I became aware of the dream, this failure might severely harm my divine spirit. It would not be as simple as using up a large portion of my dream elemental force and experiencing a little bleeding..."


    "Chirp! Chirp!"


    The Red-eyed White King Bird stared at Fang Yuan and was a little confused. It didn''t know what Fang Yuan had just experienced.


    Unknowingly, it had a strange feeling towards Fang Yuan. It was as though he was kind but evil at the same time, and had a phobia of him.


    "However¡­..this is the correct method. In future, I will be much more familiar with the method of execution. Compared to the complicated human beings and even more complex dream masters, this is considered an easy task already!"


    Fang Yuan sat down and his dream elemental force was flowing slowly in his body. His throbbing headache slowly dissipated.


    "Now, the subconscious mind of the bird has regarded me as an enemy. I should not prioritise it. Instead, I should start with the Iron-tailed Black Eagle''s and the Flower Fox Ferret''s dreams first before trying to access its dream again. Afterwards, it would be the most complicated dream world if the humans¡­.."


    After deciding, he walked out of the cave and took a deep breath of the air from the spiritual land. He felt more refreshed.


    "I have made a breakthrough in the pathway to becoming a dream master. Next up, Wu Zong!"


    "I have already tried the method and pathway of breaking through the Eagle Claw Iron Skin Technique in the dream world. There are three possible ways for me to do it, and I will need to try all of them in the real world¡­.."


    Even though there was only a slight difference between the dream world and the real world, there was still a possibility of him going crazy, as it involved his own elemental force.


    Of course, Fang Yuan would not use his own body to try out and hence, he would have to find test subjects.


    "Even though elemental force originates from heaven and earth, they might appear in different forms. Take for instance, dream elemental force is more illusionary, while the martial arts'' elemental force in the Mind Palace originates from the Dantian... To qualify as a test subject, a person must be at least an Earth Gate martial artist and be able to harness miniature elemental force... I have one such person in my hands, no... I might have two!"


    Fang Yuan looked at Qingye City and gave a scheming look.


    [1] We''ve started using ''backlash'' to replace ''rebound'' as it conveys the meaning of the raw better.

 110 Kidnap

    Qingye City.


    The fortress was distinctly different. The wall was fully manned by several elite troops. An enormous crossbow was locked and loaded, pointing towards the main gate. The large arrowhead which had an iron hook attached to it looked like it could fall any moment.


    During this period of war, not only was the head of this city replaced, even the guards were all replaced with troops from the Spirit Returning Sect.


    Here, the army officers were all from the Spirit Returning Sect. Even though they were not as ostentatious and well-manned as the Secluded Mountain Prefecture to have level 4 martial artists as their lowest ranking soldiers, their lowest rankings soldiers were still around level 3, strong enough to easily power commoners without a martial arts background.


    Ta ta!


    Against the red evening sun, a group of riders emerged from the horizon. They were shouting and riding aggressively at great speed.


    "Halt...Any unknown armed personnel who steps within the 30 metres radius of the wall will be killed without hesitation!"


    Soldiers from the Spirit Returning Sect instantly grew alert and nervous as they readily aimed the crossbow in the direction of the riders.


    "This is an Elder from the Spirit Returning Sect! We have a pass!"


    From the centre of the riders, a flag was raised. This was characteristic of the Spirit Returning Sect. One of the riders raised an iron pass plate and sprinted to the bottom of the wall, just outside the 30m radius and shouted.


    "Sou!"


    A disciple from the Spirit Returning Sect executed Lightness Skill and leapt off the wall. He took a look at the pass and returned.


    In no time, the gates opened, and Elder Han personally came out to invite the guests saying, "Hello Elder Bian! Sect Head informed me about this earlier, but I did not think that you would have arrived this soon!"


    "The leaders of Maple City are spineless cowards! All we did was to exterminate a few families to scare them into submission...Hehe, I can be quite unpredictable sometimes!"


    Elder Bian then chuckled flippantly, looking all the more intimidating to those around him.


    At 30 years of age, with his hair at both sides greying, Elder Bian looked like an extremely experienced and seasoned martial artist. His martial arts skills were also highly advanced. They were comparable to those of Elder Han''s.


    "Come, please come inside Brother Bian!"


    As a mark of respect, Elder Han pushed his right clenched fist into his left palm and smiled as he said, "Qingye City is different from the other places, the situation here....is slightly unique!"


    Bian Xie was a renowned solo martial artist in Qinghe County. The legends said that he was a tomb raider from young. When he was still young he chanced upon a large tomb and found several extremely rare martial arts manuals buried with the body. From then, he already had the cultivation of the earthly element realm and the ambitious desire to break through Wu Zong and establish his own sect.


    Up till now nobody knew what Shi Yutong promised him in exchange for his allegiance to the Spirit Returning Sect.


    Elder Han guessed that Shi Yutong intended to make Bian Xie the successor and replacement for Lady Yan who had been kidnapped for such a long time. As there was no news up till now, the chances of her returning were very low.


    "Hehe...Of course I know, as for this well-known healer of the secluded valley..."


    Bian Xie broke out in a care-free laughter and walked to the main residence of the city by the side of Elder Han.


    Although the newly appointed head of the of the city had some credible qualities in management, he was not proficient in martial arts. Upon seeing the arrival of the influential and powerful elders from the sect, he threw a welcome banquet for them which he had prepared way in advance.


    After the food was served, Elder Han started to discuss official business. He waved his hand, gesturing for the servants to leave Elder Bian and him alone.


    "Elder Bian your arrival cannot be timelier!"


    Elder Han took a mouthful of wine. As his face flushed slightly with redness, he reported, "Fang Yuan is a very powerful martial artist. He has probably reached the 4 Heavenly Realms. He also has a spiritual beast. In Qingye City, I am the only one confident of doing reconnaissance beyond the secluded valley without being detected...."


    "It''s so challenging?"


    Bian Xie frowned and was filled with an unspeakable sense of jealousy.


    He was not sure whether he was jealous of Fang Yuan being so gifted in being able to reach the 4 Heavenly Realms at such a young age, or was he jealous of Fang Yuan''s great fortune at being able to have a spiritual beast as a companion, or maybe he was jealous of both aspects.


    Elder Han raised his wine bowl and had an awkward smile on his face and remarked, "I am not that afraid of what he might do, but I am indebted to him..."


    "Elder Han do not worry, let me handle this!"


    Bian Xie had heard about the news of Fang Yuan treating Elder Han. He was also aware of the unclear relationship between Fang Yuan and the pet disciple of the sect head.


    Silently blaming Elder Han for being unwilling to take action and making him the aggressor, and also his bad luck for only joining the sect recently, he had no choice but to accomplish this mission regardless how nasty and unpleasant it was.


    ''Both sect heads are almost done with signing the alliance pact and will return very shortly. When she does, it''s best for her to make the decision!''


    Bian Xie was very troubled but he looked relaxed on the outside, enthusiastically drinking with his parter.


    "Keke..."


    Out of nowhere, a high pitch noise pierced through the air, causing Bian Xie and Elder Han to jump to alertness.


    "Who is that who dares to make such a ruckus, are you looking for trouble?"


    Elder Han turned towards the source of the noise and froze in shock.


    A young man pushed opened the door and strode in carefreely. This was Fang Yuan.


    "Oh? Looks like you are having a banquet? I hope you do not mind that I turned up without invitation?"


    Fang Yuan entered without paying much attention to Bian Xie and spoke directly to Elder Han.


    "Haha...Why would we?"


    Elder Han laughed dryly. For some reason, his palms started perspiring.


    Qingye City was under the maximum security of the Spirit Returning Sect. Furthermore, this place was the core of the city and it was supposed to be the most highly guarded and secure place! How could Fang Yuan have evaded all those patrols and sentries and entered?


    Of course, Fang Yuan''s intention of visiting was more important now. He looked like he was not here on peaceful terms.


    "This is..."


    Bian Xie had never met Fang Yuan before. Judging from the way Fang Yuan behaved, he thought Fang Yuan was an important official in the city and Bian Xie looked towards Elder Han.


    "Elder Han, let me introduce to you, the divine healer of the secluded valley, Fang Yuan..."


    Elder Han laughed dryly as the muscles on his face twitched uncontrollably.


    "So, it''s you!?"


    Bian Xie widened his eyes. After all, he was just discussing about how to take down Fang Yuan with Elder Han. Now that the person they were discussing about had appeared in front of him, the situation was extremely tense and awkward.


    Most importantly, how much of their conversation did Fang Yuan hear?


    "I remembered the dateline we gave you was in 5 days'' time. Are you here because you have made a decision?"


    Elder Han calmed himself down. Looking at Bian Xie by his side, he regained some of his confidence and spoke.


    "Yes, I have decided!"


    The smile on Fang Yuan''s face widened as he said gleefully, "Furthermore, I am quite lucky today. I was originally planning to catch a guinea pig, I was not expecting Heaven to be so generous to also send me a..."


    "How dare you!"


    Despite not knowing what Fang Yuan meant by referring to them as an experimental object, judging by his behaviour, it was obvious he was not there in peace and was ready to start fighting.


    Elder Han instantly made the pre-emptive strike. With a thunderous roar he smashed the wine bowl in his hand in a thousand shards.


    "Smash!"


    As the bowl splintered into a thousand pieces as it hit the ground, the sharp noise reverberated and pierced through the silence.


    However, there was no response from the surroundings. There was only dead silence.


    Upon seeing this, the aggressive Elder Han exchanged a furtive glance with Bian Xie and realised their disadvantageous situation. Both began to break out in cold sweat.


    "How? Very disappointed perhaps?"


    Fang Yuan laughed, "Were you thinking of using the smashing of the bowl as a signal for 300 troops to appear and take me down? It''s useless...I have already sealed off this area. If any noise from within this area can travel out by more than 30 metres, I would be impressed!"


    "Lock down?"


    Elder Han rose up slowly. He knew a fight with Fang Yuan was inevitable. He removed his outer robe and revealed his Golden Soft Armour and clenched his fists into a weird stance as he said, "Please enlighten me, divine healer!"


    "Do not waste my time, I do not want to play this type of little games with you!"


    Fang Yuan shook his head and replied, "If you surrender, I will still give you a painless death!"


    "Such arrogance!"


    Bian Xie shouted out and stepped into a weird footwork and arrived in front of Fang Yuan in a blink of an eye. He threw out a punch and with the thunderous roar of a ferocious tiger, it flew towards Fang Yuan''s face.


    The manual that Bian Xie took from the tomb had a total of three parts. One part had a total of 12 beastly feast techniques which were incredibly ferocious, another part was on the iron bone technique which solidified one''s internal structures and the last part was on Lightness Skill, the Steps of No Return technique. With these techniques combined, they were no less inferior than the Spirit Returning Heart Manual and the Xuan Yin Heart Technique and were incredibly famous in Qinghe County.


    Bian Xie attacked Fang Yuan with all his might, creating a remarkable sight.


    "The Bestial Fist? I have heard of your reputation..."


    Fang Yuan casually sent a right claw flying towards Bian Xie. Fang Yuan''s execution looked casual, but was in fact immensely powerful and flawless.


    "Slash!"


    As Fang Yuan''s claw contacted Bian Xie''s fist, Bian Xie let out a gruesome scream and retreated extremely quickly. His right hand was locked in a weird angle behind his back.


    Elder Han''s eyelid jumped rapidly.


    From his point of view, he could see blood flowing profusely on Bian Xie''s entire arm. Bian Xie lost the fight in just one move!


    "The Heavenly Gate!"


    Fang Yuan stuttered.


    "To be able to force Bian Xie to such a condition, not only was Fang Yuan a level 12 martial artist, he was definitely the top martial artist of that level. He was probably not far from the Wu Zong!"


    Recounting his opponent''s technique, Bian Xie''s heart froze over.


    The claw technique looked so simple, but it was so magically devastating and lethal. The executioner must have had practised it diligently for at least 30 years! Bian Xie refused to believe his opponent was so young.


    However, the scar and excruciating pain from his battle wound confirmed this harsh reality, causing Bian Xie to convince himself he was in a dream.


    "You were counting on this man?"


    Elder Han rolled his eyes and replied, "So it seems you are very powerful, but what use does it have? Young man, I advise you to think about the consequences of your actions and not act so rashly."


    "It seems I have to kill you to make you concede defeat!"


    Fang Yuan laughed, "Just now I was rash as I was overly excited to finish him off, unless...you really thought that was everything I had?"


    "What?"


    Panic struck Elder Han. He was beginning to realise the perilous situation he was in.


    "Leave quickly!"


    Without further hesitation, he grabbed Bian Xie and sprinted in the opposite direction.


    They went at an incredible speed and in a blink of an eye they were by the side of the wall. Elder Han was fully confident that nobody was that powerful to neutralise the guards outside without making a noise. He just had to rally all the soldiers and he would be able to survive.


    However, his eyes widened instantaneously.


    "Whoo whoo!"


    Within the hall, there was some sort of force in the atmosphere that coalesced on Fang Yuan.


    A layer of thick fog appeared out of nowhere and blanketed the whole area. It even seemed to be alive as Elder Han felt as though there were numerous hands grabbing onto him.


    "Sleep! Sleep!"


    Elder Han suddenly felt an irresistible urge to fall asleep hit him, causing him to slow down.


    It did not matter how many alarms bells rang off in Elder Han, his felt as though weights were attached to his eyelids.


    "Bang!"


    Just as he was intensively battling the sleep demon, he heard a dull thud next to him. It sounded as though a human body had hit the ground. At the same time, he felt a sharp pain in his neck and his vision blacked out as he fell into a coma.

 111 Shame

    "Spiritual spells?"


    Elder Han opened his eyes, but his surroundings were pitch black. He tried to recall what happened, and subconsciously mumbled to himself.


    The suspicious fog and its similarity to spiritual techniques made him think of a spiritual knight.


    "Very good! You''ve gained consciousness quicker, which means that you are stronger than Bian Xie!"


    Fang Yuan stood at a side, satisfied.


    "Why did I not guess..."


    Elder Han laughed. "After knowing you for so long, I still had no idea that you know spiritual techniques..."


    "It''s only normal that you are unaware of it!"


    The path of a dream master was inclined towards illusions, and therefore one was hard to detect.


    Of course, Fang Yuan only used his elemental force for detection, or to make mental suggestions. Only when he had fully become a dream master and could harness dream elemental force did he learn a few spiritual techniques from Master Wenxin''s inheritance.


    Take for instance, the Bewildering Fog was one of the spiritual techniques which he had learnt.


    Since it was summoned using dream elemental force, even martial artists in the 4 Heavenly Gates would succumb to it.


    "You showed me such a big secret of yours... It seems that you have no intention of letting me go alive..."


    Elder Han understood and accepted death, as he looked at his surroundings.


    The place seemed like a cave. A torch burnt brilliantly which filled the cave with the smell of rosin. In the middle of the cave were three stone platforms. Other than himself and Bian Xie, there was another person!


    Furthermore, this person was a familiar one.


    "Elder Yan... Lady Yan!!!"


    Elder Han''s eyeball almost popped out. "You were the one that ambushed our sect!?"


    Thinking about how his person destroyed his sect, and yet he foolishly sent himself to him, Elder Han began to break into cold sweat.


    "That''s me!"


    Fang Yuan smiled. "Why is it fair for the Sect to plot against me, but unfair for me to strike first?"


    "Evil thief!!!"


    Elder Han''s heart sank. He still felt for the Sect, and therefore was raging. However, he could not move a single bit.


    The inner force which was initially strong was now sealed in the Dantian like a ferocious tiger in a locked cage, helpless.


    "Stop struggling. I have studied you and Lady Yan the longest, and if I still don''t know how to seal your martial arts, then I should just give up as a doctor!"


    Fang Yuan calmly stated, and at the same time examined Bian Xie''s joints.


    As compared to Elder Yan and Elder Han, this [Martial Artist (11th Gate)] felt rather unfamiliar. He had to understand him a little more before taking any action.


    In fact, no one was more suitable than Elder Yan and Elder Han in being test subjects.


    After all, both of them were under Fang Yuan''s control previously. Their circulatory system and martial arts were both deeply studied by Fang Yuan. As for Bian Xie, Fang Yuan still had to perform a few tests.


    "What exactly do you want?"


    Fang Yuan appeared too mysterious, and the only conscious Elder Han could not hold back any longer and asked.


    "Don''t worry, it''s a good thing! I want to help you break through to Wu Zong!"


    Fang Yuan answered honestly.


    "What?"


    At that moment, Elder Han thought that he had heard the biggest joke of his life, but slowly fear grew in him, and with anticipation, he asked. "What joke is this?"


    "The 12 Gates of Martial Arts, in reality, is a method of self-training. It continuously developed one''s potential, much like the process ancient spiritual knights used to go through... Once a person''s magical energy is sufficient, with external stimulation, it is not hard to obtain hints of elemental force. This is especially true to Earth Gate martial artists like you, who have already sowed the seeds of elemental force..."


    However, Fang Yuan deliberately missed out a point.


    This forceful way of breaking through gates would take up too much essence from the body. Notwithstanding the shortening of one''s lifespan, one''s body might not be able to take it, as the increasing magical energy could not reconcile with the elemental force. Once the external stimulation is removed, the body would die immediately!


    After all, martial arts was all about foundation, and such a hasty achievement would mean nothing.


    But to Fang Yuan, this was all he needed.


    With the experience to break through Wu Zong under immense pressure, he could reaffirm his predictions and use his dream elemental force to break through his own Wu Zong!


    "You don''t seem to believe me?"


    Fang Yuan looked at Elder Han and grew a sinister smile on his face. "Doesn''t matter, I will aid you in breaking through the Heaven Gate, and allow you to reach your peak first!"


    "What?"


    Elder Han was shocked, as he saw Fang Yuan pointing his finger towards his forehead.


    "Chila!"


    Suddenly, a large concentrated force the strength of an ocean broke through Elder Han''s Mind Palace. It broke through the Heaven Gate with brute force, which left him in a state of shock, as he continued screaming.


    The Heaven Gate needed a martial artist to break through it by himself willingly. With Fang Yuan''s limited experience with using dream elemental force, his brute force approach would lead to dire consequences for Elder Han.


    However, the effect was immediate.


    After the commotion, Elder Han''s eyeballs were bloodshot. He had an excruciating headache, as though someone took an axe and ploughed it through his head.


    The restrictive Gate finally broke, and large amounts of magical energy rushed into his conscious mind, making him feel dizzy.


    "Not... right..."


    In his dizziness, a thought went through. "This force... elemental force!!! You are a spiritual knight!!!"


    Elder Han could feel the astonishing force within him, and it might even be stronger than what Shi Yutong harnessed.


    There was only one explanation for this, no matter how impossible it might be. This young man was not even a spiritual disciple, but a spiritual knight with full control of elemental force!


    Thinking about how the Spirit Returning Sect was plotting against a spiritual knight, Elder Han felt disheartened, and his conscious became blurred.


    "Ahh¡­.. Breaking through the Heaven Gate with brute force would have side effects, and a shortened lifespan right?"


    Fang Yuan shrugged his shoulders. "Rather than dying normally, why not do something crazy before dying, something like breaking through Wu Zong!"


    This way of forcefully breaking through gates was possible to almost all Wu Zong spiritual knights, but the consequences would be terrible.


    Fang Yuan had already practised it for 10 years in his dream, and in theory, it was perfect. He had ultimate control over his dream elemental force, but after doing it, his test subject would not have long to live.


    However, he was satisfied with just having this test subject to confirm his prediction.


    "Elder Han, hold on tight. Even if you will die, you should die as a Wu Zong and die glamorously!"


    He became as serious as he ever would and struck a palm on Elder Han''s dantian.


    At the same time, he stuffed large quantities of spiritual medicine and the likes of the bamboo fruit into his mouth.


    The continuous stream of dream elemental force slowly seeped into Elder Han''s dantian, and towards his miniature elemental force, as it slowly initiated the process of breaking through Wu Zong!


    "The proper way to attain Wu Zong is to do it without haste, step by step. However, it would still be possible if someone used their elemental force to stimulate and break it through brute force... For others, they would explode while doing it, but for me, having harnessed dream elemental energy, I can still control it even by using brute force!"


    Fang Yuan''s eyes glittered.


    In front of him, Elder Han''s appearance became increasingly scary.


    He looked ferocious, and veins were popping up everywhere. Blood flowed all around like earthworms digging through the ground, and his entire body seemed inflated like a balloon.


    "Con...tract!"


    Fang Yuan did not care and commanded the miniature elemental force to continuously compress itself, in an attempt to transform it into elemental force.


    "Ping!"


    After a long while, a soft sound travelled from the cave, followed by Fang Yuan''s sigh. "I''ve failed... It seems that the first prediction is impossible, but that''s ok, let''s continue..."


    ...


    The disappearance of two Elders in the prefecture led the entire Qingye City into chaos.


    The new Qingye City Master became anxious, but could only comfort himself that the two Elders were martial artists of the 4 Heavenly Gates, and if they join forces within the prefecture, they would still be able to guard against Wu Zongs, and therefore were likely to be on a secret mission that no one else knew about.


    However, five days had passed, and once Shi Yutong returned, he knew that all hope was lost.


    "Elder Han and Elder Bian are missing?"


    Shi Yutong wore a scarf over her face and appeared wealthy. By her side was Lin Leiyue, who was staring at the new City Master.


    "I am useless and deserve to die!"


    Even though this City Master was a Spirit Returning Sect disciple, he was still a lowly subject in front of Shi Yutong.


    "This enemy is powerful to be able to abduct two Elders without a sound. Even if you have prepared for him, it would still be futile! Return!"


    Shi Yutong calmly said a few words, which made Qingye City Master sigh and dismissed him.


    "Master..."


    When the others had left, Lin Leiyue appeared confused. "There is suddenly an appearance of a highly skilled person in Qingye City, so what should we do now?"


    "It is not likely that even a Wu Zong could take down both of them... It might be a spiritual knight!"


    Shi Yutong appeared serious. "I will personally take charge of this area and deliver a letter to the alliance leader for him to send help!"


    A spiritual disciple would be comparable to a Wu Zong, but still highly depended on the nature of his spiritual technique. However, they would still lose to a Wu Zong based on their actual strength and skill.


    Recalling the previous fight for the treasure map, both the spiritual disciples were just assisting the Wu Zongs in the combat.


    If a spiritual disciple go one on one with a Wu Zong, with an incomplete elemental force, how would they match Wu Zong?


    However, comparing a spiritual knight and a Wu Zong in the same realm, Wu Zong would lose.


    By predicting the enemy''s ability, Shi Yutong thought about the possibility of the mysterious spiritual knight and became on guard.


    "How''s it going on in the secluded valley?"


    Lin Leiyue finally revealed her own intentions. "The deadline is over, but he has not given me a reply..."


    "Secluded valley..."


    Shi Yutong looked beautiful, but now had a cold look in her eyes. "Could it be that the disappearance of the two Elders is related to the secluded valley? Otherwise, why would they only disappear now?"


    "Furthermore... I am also suspecting that the previous ambush on our sect is also related to the secluded valley! Even though we have no proof, but there is just too much coincidence, and hard for anyone not to suspect!"


    "What?"


    Lin Leiyue took a few steps back and tried to imagine Fang Yuan.


    Realising that she might be lied to all this while and being manipulated by Fang Yuan, she became frustrated.

 112 Wu Zong

    "Ow!!!"


    Back in the Green Peak.


    A long wail was heard from Fang Yuan''s straw cottage. The wail was so loud that it travelled up into the clouds in the sky.


    "Chirp! Chirp!"


    The Iron-tailed Black Eagle which was flying past was frightened a little by the loud wail and it almost knocked onto the cliff.


    "Haha¡­.the pathway to Wu Zong is complete!!"


    The wooden door opened and revealed Fang Yuan. He walked out and his essence, spirit and magic were very different now.


    "I have spent numerous years spent on the theory of the dream world and this has become the foundation. It will be combined with the experiments conducted in the real word to form the threshold for the Eagle Claw Iron Skin Technique to make a breakthrough for Wu Zong!"


    He looked at his Dantian.


    The originally sky-blue miniature elemental force had slowly settled down into a liquid similar to mercury. It appeared tumultuous and dynamic, like a sleeping dragon. Its power was unthinkable.


    "This is the Wu Zong''s elemental force!!"


    Fang Yuan let out a long breath and look at his stats window.


    "Name: Fang Yuan


    Essence: 10


    Spirit: 10


    Magic: 8.5


    Profession: Dream Master (Dream-accessing)


    Cultivation: [Dream Master (1st Tier) (Fused Elemental Force)], Wu Zong


    Technique: [Eagle Claw Iron Skin Technique (Grade 13) (???)], Ecstasy Spell, Shadowstep


    Skill: [Medicine (Level 3)], [Botany (Level 4)]"


    "Dream Master - You are the creator of dream worlds, and a traveller between dream and reality, and a nightmare for all your enemies! You can control you dream world at will, and you are everything in your dream world!"


    "[Eagle Claw Iron Skin Technique (Grade 13) (???)] - You have achieved the impossible by fusing the Black Sand Palm, the Spirit Returning Heart Manual and Xuan Yin Heart Technique together to raise the peak level of the Eagle Claw Iron Skin Technique to the level of Wu Zong. Your martial arts'' elemental force would be encapsulated with stronger poison, stronger aura and stronger Yin!"


    "Bewildering spell - a spiritual technique of a dream master. Able to release a bewildering fog at will, disrupting an enemy''s concentration. Currently able to have a considerable effect on a martial artist at the 4 Heavenly Gates."


    "Shadowstep - a physical skill of a dream master. It is illusionary and untraceable."


    "[Medicine (Level 3)] - You are an expert in medicine and others see you as a powerful doctor. You will be able to treat any strange and complicated diseases successfully! (Such ability is not limited to humans)"


    [Botany (Level 4)] - Your hands are considered holy. With your personal cultivation of the spiritual plants, the chances of plants growing in a good condition are increased tremendously. You will have a small magical power of being awaken."


    It seemed like the bigs changes to his stats was due to the previous two breakthroughs.


    "My martial arts has improved to the realm of the elemental force!"


    Fang Yuan sighed softly and saw that the Iron-tailed Black Eagle was right in front of him. It was looking down and it felt close to him.


    Even since his previous failure, he didn''t dare to take a peep at the Red-eyed White King Bird. He had shifted his target to the Iron-tailed Black Eagle and the Flower Fox Ferret who are closer to him.


    As expected, after a few rounds of dreams access, he not only felt that he had grasped the essentials of becoming a dream-accessing master, he was much closer to the Iron-tailed Black Eagle.


    "It has been 5 days already. Let''s go!"


    He went on the back of the eagle and make a soft noise.


    "Chirp! Chirp!"


    The Iron-tailed Black Eagle spread its wings and flew very quickly into the sky. It then disappeared into the thick fog¡­..


    ...¡­


    The secluded valley was very quiet in the morning.


    The thin fog started to fade under the bright sunlight and the mist on the leaves reflected the sunlight to form with a rainbow coloured light.


    The Flower Fox Ferret was patrolling the farm in a relaxing mood. It was as if it was an old rich man who was looking at his own precious assets.


    Little Pearl had prepared a roasted fish for the Flower Fox Ferret for breakfast. At a distance away, a few old farmers came and finished up the dried food supplies. They then continued their farming.


    "Where has Sir gone to? The time for him to consider is already up since it has been 5 days!"


    Zhou Wenwu and a few others were in a different situation from the farmers. They were very uneasy now.


    "The sect master from the Spirit Returning Sect has reached the Qingye City and she will be here today. How do we deal with her?"


    Yu Xinlou''s forehead was forming cold sweat as well.


    "Sir is very mysterious. Maybe he is caught up in some emergency matters and that''s why he is not here yet¡­."


    Zhou Wenwu said with a wry grin. He took a glance at Huang Fu Renhe, who was beside Miss Lanruo and shook his head.


    If the situation would reach a point that it couldn''t be salvaged, these siblings would be considered lucky if they could still be out there wandering around afterwards.


    "I hope Sir will be back soon, or else we don''t know what can happen here¡­.."


    He was having complicated feelings and didn''t seem like he was an outsider.


    Zhang Sheng was very silent and was outside sweeping. He seemed to be using a little more force than usual, which made it seemed like he was not really at peace.


    "The sect master of the Spirit Returning Sect has arrived. Where is Fang Yuan?"


    Suddenly, a clear voice was heard from the valley outside and this shook Zhou Wenwu a little.


    "The Spirit Returning Sect¡­..is here!"


    Zhou Wenwu gave a wry grin and look left and right. He then realised he was the most senior here and had no choice but to take the initiative. "Let''s go and welcome them!"


    Outside the valley, Lin Leiyue looked at the entrance of the valley and was doubtful. "Since master, you are feeling suspicious about him, why do you need us here?"


    "I will need you to find out his bottom line! I don''t know whether the secluded valley is involved with the matter and we will need to investigate. It will not be good if we alert him at the initial stage!"


    Shi Yutong replied while sitting by a soft bridge and she was looking at her fingernails.


    "Yes, Master!"


    Lin Leiyue felt a little strange but she followed her orders anyway.


    Not long after, a few silhouettes appeared in the secluded valley.


    "Greetings, Sect Master. We are honoured to have you here but Fang Yuan is caught up with matters and is not in the valley currently¡­.."


    Yu Xinlou was a hired master of the business council and therefore had the ability to welcome the guests.


    "Zhou Wenwu!!"


    Lin Leiyue frowned and saw a person who was hiding. She then said, "You are from my sect but why have you left your position and chose to come here? You better come out right now!"


    She was already very unhappy with Zhou Wenwu for helping others secretly from the start and had decided to question him now.


    "I¡­..this¡­.."


    Zhou Wenwu had difficulty answering her.


    Technically speaking, even though Fang Yuan was incredible, he was slightly inferior to the Spirit Returning Sect.


    However, when he recalled how Fang Yuan had helped him in many ways, that didn''t matter to him.


    "Hey brat, your name is Wenwu, right?"


    Shi Yutong looked at Zhou Wenwu and had a little banter with him. "If I didn''t remember wrongly, I gave you your position in the sect as I pitied you when Deacon Zhou was dead. You were then able to continue your father''s legacy and you are not grateful for it? Hmm?!"


    "Bang!!"


    How scary was the Spirit Returning Sect?


    She squinted her eyes. A huge pressure was felt everywhere, and Zhou Wenwu, who was in front, was shivering in fear. He could feel his inner force coming to a halt, as his knees were about to hit the ground uncontrollably.


    Shi Yutong seemed to have displayed her might on purpose. Such great pressure not only overwhelmed Zhou Wenwu, it began to spread further. Yu Xinlou, Huang Fu Renhe and a few of the others were overwhelmed by it.


    Just when Fang Yuan''s men were overwhelmed and about to be defeated totally by Shi Yutong, a loud chirp came from the sky above.


    "Chirp!"


    With a strong gust of wind, the Iron-tailed Black Eagle landed in the secluded valley and was looking very proud.


    "Your remarks are overboard, Sect Master Shi!"


    Fang Yuan got down from the Iron-tailed Black Eagle and his voice could be heard very clearly in the area.


    "Sir!"


    Seeing Fang Yuan''s arrival, the people in the secluded valley then recovered from their shock.


    "Spiritual bird!"


    Lin Leiyue was surprised when she saw the Iron-tailed Black Eagle.


    She could feel a great pressure from the eagle and it was comparable to a 4 Heavenly Gates martial artist. With its fast flying speed, even a Wu Zong couldn''t catch up with it.


    After all, a martial artist cannot fly!


    She took a deep breath and knew that Fang Yuan had relied on it.


    ''Luckily my master is here. The presence of this spiritual bird will not affect the overall situation!''


    Lin Leiyue secretly bit her teeth and was surprised to see that her master was also surprised.


    "You are Fang Yuan?!"


    Shi Yutong got up slowly and gave a serious look.


    "Yes, I am¡­..What advice do you have for me, Sect Master Shi?"


    Fang Yuan''s elemental force in his Dantian was flowing and surging in his body. He was feeling very excited.


    After the breakthrough, he had wanted to duel with another one who was of a similar level as him. Shi Yutong was definitely the most suitable candidate for that.


    "You are so young, yet you have already reached the realm of the elemental force. I feel ashamed of myself!"


    Shi Yutong sighed while she said. Her words felt like tornadoes as they spread across the whole area.


    "What? Elemental Force? Wu Zong?!"


    Lin Leiyue retreated a few steps and saw her master had said that with a serious face. She then realised that she had not heard wrongly and her mind was blank all of a sudden.


    She didn''t expect that Fang Yuan had managed to reach such a level!


    What did Wu Zong mean?


    It meant that in the Secluded Mountain Prefecture, one could open his or her own sect and own a county. The person would then be the leader of a powerful sect!


    This was a dream that many martial artists had wished for but it was very to achieve it.


    Even though Lin Leiyue was skilful enough and Shi Yutong had mentioned that there was hope for her to achieve Wu Zong, her probability of having a successful breakthrough was just slightly higher than the rest. On the other hand, Fang Yuan had actually made a breakthrough with solid proof and the difference between the two of them was very big.


    "What? Sir, you have broken through Wu Zong?"


    "That''s great!"


    Compared to Lin Leiyue''s uneasiness, Zhou Wenwu, Huang Fu Renhe and the rest were very happy. They knew what Wu Zong was and they knew that they would likely be able to pass through the current situation safely. From today onwards, the secluded valley would be a stable and powerful region in Qinghe County.


    "Keke!"


    Fang Yuan seemed to be eager to have a duel with Shi Yutong. Shi Yutong then laughed and asked, "From your breath, I can see that you have only just make the breakthrough. Why? You can''t wait to have a duel with me now?"


    "If you can give a few bits of advice or so, I will be very grateful!"


    Fang Yuan replied.


    "Very well!"


    Shi Yutong slowly asked, "Right here?"


    "Right here it is!"


    Fang Yuan had concealed some of his magical energy and Shi Yutong didn''t manage to see his bottom line. She only thought that Fang Yuan was just a person who had just achieved Wu Zong and gave him a serious look when she asked about it.


    "Whooosh!"


    Lin Leiyue and the rest of the Spirit Returning Sect disciples retreated to a distance away and were stretching their necks to watch the duel. Both parties were feeling hopeful of this duel.


    It was rare to see a duel between two Wu Zongs!

 113 The Challenge

    A gentle wind blew at the entrance of the secluded valley, stirring up the sand on the ground.


    The entire place was silent; a pin drop could be heard.


    "Brother Yu, Brother Huang Fu..."


    Zhou Wenwu''s palms started to sweat as he focused on Fang Yuan and Shi Yutong. "Even though Master is Wu Zong, he had only just attained it, whereas the Sect Master of Spirit Returning Sect is an experienced Wu Zong..."


    "Which one of us can actually guess what Master is thinking?"


    Yu Xinlou was equally worried but appeared calm. "Maybe Master just wants to show off his Wu Zong capabilities to scare them off. After all... Master is only 20, right? Even if he loses this match who would dare to belittle him?"


    Huang Fu Renhe nodded his head in agreement.


    Even the weakest Wu Zong would be far stronger than a [Martial Artist (12th Gate)] at his peak.


    Taking Fang Yuan''s age into consideration, people would think that he was a demon with extreme gifts! His future cannot be fathomed!


    Fang Yuan did not know what his followers were thinking.


    But if he knew that they had decided in their minds that he was not Shi Yutong''s match, he would be speechless.


    "I cultivate as both a martial artist and a spiritual knight. Even if I concealed my cultivation as a dream master, my magic is still much higher than that of a normal Wu Zong. This is where my advantage lies. Therefore, I could take on the experienced Wu Zongs without any worry. By taking on Shi Yutong today, I can further set a name for the secluded valley!"


    His thoughts ran wild in his mind as he took a quick glance at Shi Yutong.


    "Master Fang, I am a lady, so I shall have the first move!"


    Shi Yutong felt that he was distracted at the moment and therefore struck first!


    Her movements were swift. With continuous footsteps, she appeared in front of Fang Yuan like a ghost. Her delicate hands suddenly transformed into palms and struck down on Fang Yuan.


    At where she originally was, there was still a shadow, and her words seemed to come from there as well.


    "What a good timing!"


    Fang Yuan laughed, raised both of his hands and without retreating or counter-attacking, he countered with brute force!


    Seeing this, Shi Yutong''s beautiful eyes became suspicious, as she exerted her elemental force. Her hands seemed as though they could melt jade; the green veins were distinct and visible.


    "Spirit Returning Strike! White Lotus Palm?"


    Lin Leiyue shrieked; she knew that her master had exerted all her force in one move, and even used her secret technique!


    "Ping!"


    A large sound was heard followed by a wave of vibration travelling in all directions. The people of the secluded valley and Spirit Returning Sect all took a few steps back, and there was rumbling in their ears.


    In the battlefield, the two silhouettes came into contact and immediately flew apart. Both of them gained their footing shortly.


    Fang Yuan appeared emotionless and looked at his own arms.


    "Pa!"


    His clothing was suddenly torn apart and flew into the air like butterflies, revealing his muscular build and smooth skin.


    As Shi Yutong witnessed this scene she held her hands behind her back, as she did not gain any advantage from this opening move. Her eyes were full of suspicion. "Using a rough technique to break through to Wu Zong? What technique is this? 13 Golden Bells Concealment Technique? Or the Golden Jade Bone Formula? No... It doesn''t seem like any of it!"


    Those who used rough techniques to break through Wu Zong were crazy about martial arts and would use brute force in combat with little to no weaknesses. This gave Shi Yutong a headache.


    "Whoosh! Whip!


    At the same time, Fang Yuan''s body produced popping sounds, all the way from his spine every piece of bone. He stretched all five fingers out and swiped, bringing with it a strong gust of wind. "One more time!"


    "Chirp!"


    With the end of his sentence, he flew forward and the friction with the air made a high-pitched chirping sound. He stretched his hand above Shi Yutong''s head, and the force which popped within his body a few moments ago hardened his body and travelled to his arms and fingers, all the way to his fingertips. His fingernails were sharp as a knife and his fingers went for her head.


    His hand had yet to land, but the wind from the fingertips could already stun her scalp.


    Shi Yutong retained her composure and with a face of compassion, clasp her hands together in front of her chest. "Compassionate Seal!"


    A holy light appeared on her face as her elemental energy formed a ring of protection around her; it was as though the compassionate Buddha had arrived at the mortal world.


    "Break... it!"


    Fang Yuan disregarded the protection and with his rough technique, struck down hard with his right hand, like a hammer.


    "Crush!"


    The exertion of energies was a different scene in the audience''s eyes.


    It was as though a ruthless large eagle was shrieking, with its sharp talons striking towards a Buddha in white robes!


    After a short moment, Shi Yutong screamed and dodged away from where she stood; what was left there was Fang Yuan, who slowly stood up.


    "Master... is actually at the disadvantage!"


    Seeing their silhouettes come together once again, and looking Shi Yutong''s messy robes, Lin Leiyue''s eyeballs almost popped out.


    Never would she have imagined that her god-like master would be pressured and put at a disadvantage by Fang Yuan!


    "Good technique!"


    Shi Yutong looked at Fang Yuan with suspicion in her eyes. "Eagle Claw Iron Skin Technique?!"


    After exchanging a few hands, she seemed to have understood Fang Yuan''s technique but still could not believe her eyes.


    When did this ordinary 4 Heavenly Gate martial arts technique gain the ability to break its limits?


    "Indeed... What does Sect Master think about it?"


    Fang Yuan shrugged his neck, and his laughter struck fear.


    Although he had only just attained Wu Zong, Shi Yutong was fighting with him in terms of rough techniques, and by pitting her weakness against his strength, she would obviously lose.


    "Great! Indeed, a young warrior! I guess I''ll have to deal with you like a real opponent!"


    Shi Yutong blushed, and once again placed her palms together.


    "Rumble!"


    A white glow appeared from her body, and in mid-air, pieces of white flower petals were floating around. These petals came together to form white lotus flowers which gradually landed on the ground.


    "Releasing elemental force! Forming a figure outside the body!!!"


    Yu Xinlou exclaimed. "This is a battle between pure elemental forces. Master had just attained Wu Zong, and have yet to explore the uses of magical energy, I''m afraid..."


    "Oh? Finally the real deal?"


    The white lotus flowers seemed like an illusion, but in fact, every petal was extremely heavy and had the ability to explode.


    Fang Yuan witnessed this scene and smiled. "Great, I''ve just completed my warm-up!"


    Elemental force was the force that cultivators harness!


    Although he had only just attained Wu Zong, he had previously attained the title of a dream master, and therefore the fight between magical energies was at the same level.


    "The releasing of elemental force and forming a figure is merely the control of one''s own elemental force... Those with a higher magical energy would therefore have an advantage!"


    As he thought to himself, Fang Yuan carefully transferred his elemental force from his Dantian to his arms and released it.


    Even though he used his magical energy to assist him in harnessing his elemental energy, the assistance that he had gotten was not to be belittled. As of now, he had fine and delicate control of his elemental force, which was better than that of many Wu Zongs!


    "Chirp! Chirp!"


    Accompanying the high-pitched chirping, Fang Yuan''s claw struck out. A large black eagle claw appeared in mid-air, which reflected light like the finest metal, and every slight detail of the claw was distinctly visible, as the claw struck out.


    "Pa! Pa!"


    Many white lotus flowers were swiped at by the eagle claw and disappeared in mid-air; what was left was white dots that fell to the ground.


    "How is this possible?"


    Shi Yutong took a few steps back, and a chill went down her spine.


    The releasing of elemental force and the forming of figures was something only experienced Wu Zongs could do. It was obvious that Fang Yuan only just attained Wu Zong, so how did he have this ability?


    Needless to say, the lifelike Eagle Claw figure was much stronger than her figure!


    This shouldn''t be happening!


    "This level of gift... Demonic!"


    "Rumble!"


    The large eagle claw struck downwards without mercy. Shi Yutong dodged it like how a willow would bend in the wind as she twisted her waist. Her breathing was rapid, and she took a glance at Lin Leiyue who was watching the fight and sighed.


    This disciple of hers was already rather gifted, but compared to Fang Yuan, she was nothing.


    In the beginning, she missed out on the opportunity and only appreciated the pearl, but gave the uncut jade a miss.


    It was too late as everything had already developed to this stage, and there was no turning back.


    "Haha! Again!"


    Of course, Fang Yuan did not know what Shi Yutong was thinking.


    Conversely, he was increasingly excited as the battle ensued.


    Shi Yutong was the best teacher he could have, as she selflessly gave out all her Wu Zong combat experience during this fight. Secretly, he wished for her to be able to hold on a little longer, just for the fight to last a little longer.


    "Chirp! Chirp!"


    Both his claws struck forward with his elemental force in mid-air. One claw came from the left, and the other from the right, trapping Shi Yutong in the middle!


    "Bloom and grow!"


    Shi Yutong''s palms pushed outwards as she exerted her elemental force, destroying the two Eagle Claw figures, as she shook hard.


    "Whoosh!"


    Within the fog, Fang Yuan appeared and another claw came from above!


    The Eagle Claw Iron Skin Technique breaking through to Wu Zong meant that his strength was not in releasing his elemental energy, but in using his heavy and brute physical techniques.


    "Pa!"


    A piece of elemental force white flower petal landed on Fang Yuan and exploded, but he was unharmed. Fang Yuan maintained his swiftness and came in front of Shi Yutong, striking his right claw out.


    Shi Yutong suddenly felt a cold sense of danger.


    It was a feeling that she had not felt in a long while.


    Obviously, his young Wu Zong had the ability to kill her! And he had the intention to!


    "Ping!"


    She raised her hands with much effort to block the claw and subsequently retreated. Her expression changed as she spat out a mouthful of blood!


    "Master!"


    Witnessing this scene, Lin Leiyue rushed forward, but it was all too late.


    Fang Yuan seemed to be too engrossed in the fight and there was no way for him to calm down. He chased her and struck his claws continuously to force Shi Yutong to a certain spot.


    As the most critical moment, the sound of a flute was heard which, as though an armoured cavalry came to the rescue.


    A graceful figure appeared from the woods blowing her flute.


    "Indeed there is someone else!"


    Fang Yuan laughed and took a step back.


    "Cough cough... Master Fang is highly skilled, and I cannot match it!"


    Only at this point did Shi Yutong had the breathing space to declare defeat, and her face turned pale, which showed that she had suffered from severe injuries.


    "You are... Ling Yin?"


    Before the fight even began, Fang Yuan already realised someone spying on them, and purposely fought hard to force the spy out. Only then did he realise that it was the mysterious spiritual disciple which he met at Secluded Mountain Court.


    "My greetings to Master Fang!"


    Ling Yin chuckled. "The moment we met, I knew that you were not an ordinary person, and who would''ve known that you are now at the level of a Wu Zong..."

 114 Split Up

    "Have you and Fang Yuan met before?"


    Shi Yutong was suspicious and continued. "You are the disciple of the great alchemy master Lu Renjia, and since he loves to nurture the younger generation, he would be overjoyed to know about the talented Fang Yuan!"


    Hearing this polite yet threatening words, Fang Yuan remained calm, squinted his eyes and revealed a cold look. "You only appeared at the end of the fight. I see that you have the intention to help this Sect Master secretly?"


    He had already witnessed the two sisters fighting side by side against the Five Ghost Sect Sect Master; he knew that he would not be so lucky and that Shi Yutong would definitely bring assistance with her.


    Shi Yutong could easily overpower any normal Wu Zong without any help.


    Even if a spiritual knight had ambushed them, the two ladies could still defend themselves and escape.


    After all, being the favourite disciple of an alchemy master, and in troubled times like this, how could she not bring a few treasures for self-defence?


    Fang Yuan still did not forget how Ling Yin fought the Blood Killer with her emerald flashes.


    ''The likes of an alchemy master can harness spiritual fire for alchemy and is therefore sought after by many cultivators. Therefore, it is only normal that they are wealthy... If I strike now, I am only 30% confident to take down both of them, so it would only be wiser to take them down one by one!''


    "How would little sister dare?"


    Even if she was the disciple of an alchemy master, she still lowered her status while talking to another Wu Zong.


    After all, although spiritual disciples harness a miniature version of elemental force, and were able to cast a few elementary spiritual techniques, they would still be no match when against true elemental force.


    Ling Yin felt her hair standing on its ends as Fang Yuan stared at her. She felt insecure, and a little embarrassed.


    "If that is so, let''s discuss the important stuff!"


    Fang Yuan turned his head and came straight to the point while looking at Shi Yutong. "What is the purpose of Sect Master coming here personally?"


    "This..."


    Shi Yutong froze.


    She intended to defeat the doctor at the secluded valley first to let him know her prowess before extorting some spiritual rice.


    However, the other party was now a Wu Zong!


    Not just a Wu Zong, but a Wu Zong that was more powerful than herself!


    How could she state her conditions now?


    "Hehe... I have received news that Leiyue''s fiance is here and therefore came here specially to visit. The criteria set previously were but a joke, right?"


    Ling Yin took a few steps forward and tugged at Shi Yutong''s sleeve, as she hinted her with her expression.


    "That''s right! That''s why I have come here!"


    A Wu Zong is worth establishing a good relationship with, and especially when the Wu Zong is so strong!


    If she could convince him to join their alliance, losing a female disciple wouldn''t matter!


    After weighing things out, Shi Yutong came to a conclusion and looked at Lin Leiyue.


    ''Master...''


    Once Lin Leiyue understood her master''s intentions, she blushed and felt agonised.


    Her proud personality did not resonate with the fact that she was treated like a gift or a compensation. What made things worse was that Fang Yuan once rejected her!


    ''Indeed an experienced person. A Sect Master''s words are indeed heavy...''


    Fang Yuan noticed Lin Leiyue''s minute actions.


    He recalled how Shi Yutong convinced Yu Qiuleng to force himself to reject the marriage previously, which was a 180-degrees change to how she was treating him now, after witnessing how highly-skilled he was.


    "Forget about it. Why would I still mull over the marriage incident?"


    Fang Yuan waved his hand. "Please take your leave, I won''t send you!"


    Hearing his heartless words, Shi Yutong looked at Ling Yin and forced a smile.


    They knew that it did not matter to Fang Yuan whether they were on the same side or now. Furthermore, they could feel that he was irritated by his words.


    Lin Leiyue shivered.


    After she finally convinced herself to sacrifice her future for the Sect, Fang Yuan could reject her effortlessly.


    This scene became a joke compared to the fight at the beginning!


    Her face became flushed as she felt that everyone was mocking her. She could not control herself and her tears flowed out, as she turned around and ran away.


    "Keke... My disciple is so mischievous, don''t take it to heart!"


    Shi Yutong took a step back. "Since Master Fang has no intention, then Sister Ling Yin and myself shall not disturb you any further, we shall take our leave!"


    As a Sect Master, her words had weight.


    As they took their leave, there was no chaos. With a Wu Zong and a spiritual disciple leading the way, the rest dispersed orderly.


    ...


    In the forest, Shi Yutong instructed the Sect disciples to find Lin Leiyue, and hinted to Ling Yin to take another path.


    Not long after, they arrived at a small cliff and looked far out. Everywhere was forest-green.


    "Good, we are more than 10 miles away now, we can speak here!"


    As the gentle breeze blew, Shi Yutong said, "Even though Fang Yuan is more skilled than me, I can still eavesdrop on him!"


    "Since you say so, I am assured! However, just in case..."


    Ling Yin smirked and took out a spiritual talisman, which burst into flames without any wind. From the crimson flame, a spiritual print emerged and glowed. It imprinted itself on her forehead and glittered.


    "Mmm... There is no second Wu Zong nearby!"


    She closed her eyes for a moment and concluded.


    "Harnessing the ability of the spiritual talisman, you are able to increase your magical energy and increase your detection ability to be on par with that of spiritual knights. I am relieved!"


    Shi Yutong nodded her head in satisfaction and admired how Ling Yin could sacrifice a spiritual talisman without hesitation just for her.


    She did not have an alchemy master as her backer and therefore could not be as extravagant as her.


    "Sister, you do not want to admit that you have lost, is that right?"


    Ling Yin smiled cheekily. "You have painstakingly planned this, but who would''ve known that there would be such a change of events! If this news spreads, the families and organisations that we have convinced might reconsider their loyalty!"


    "We cannot help it. After all, who would''ve known that he could suddenly become a Wu Zong?"


    Shi Yutong was bitter. She shook her head and became resolute. "After seeing him, I am sure that Elder Han''s disappearance is related to the secluded valley! Furthermore, it might even be related to other stronger powers..."


    "Is this why you did not allow me to fight just now?"


    Ling Yin toyed with the jade bangle on her wrist. "If we teamed up against him, we might be able to defeat him, like how we did against the Five Ghosts Sect Sect Master the previous time, hehe..."


    She turned serious. "Before the war, such a change in Qinghe County would be against my master. Do you have the confidence to be able to convince him to be on our side?"


    "As of now, I''m afraid not!"


    Shi Yutong bit her lip. "You are also aware of the marriage rejection incident. Seeing how he responded just now, you could tell that it did not matter to him anymore. If we had to blame someone, it would be that disciple of mine who could not manage the situation properly..."


    "Then this is troubling. If he chose to strike us at a critical moment, as a Wu Zong, he would bring us a lot of trouble!"


    Ling Yin looked down in despair.


    "Sister, what do you mean?"


    Shi Yutong guessed. "Strike first? That''s right! Making the first move is a good idea!"


    "Let''s not delay it any further. I''ll find my master and get him to send some highly skilled martial artists to help us out!"


    Ling Yin replied.


    These two ladies were decisive. In a few words, they had concluded that there was no way to convince Fang Yuan to help them, and immediately thought of killing him as the solution!


    Unless they had enough resources, otherwise they had to get rid of those getting in the way before the war begins.


    "That''s a good idea!"


    Shi Yutong wanted to say something but was interrupted by a red firework in the sky.


    "That is the Sect''s signal. It seems that they have found Leiyue, oh..."


    Shi Yutong nodded her head. "She is not mature enough yet. Maybe I shouldn''t have used the spiritual rice and spiritual pill to aid her in breaking through the Pain Gate then..."


    "If you did not aid her in becoming an inner force martial artist, how can she defend herself in times of war and conflict? This only showed your care and love for her..."


    Ling Yin smiled. "I was joking just now. You will surely reconcile with your disciple after a good talk!"


    "Thank you, sister, for understanding, I shall make a move first!"


    Hearing how understanding Ling Yin was, Shi Yutong stood up and used her Lightness Skill. After a few jumps, she disappeared into the forest.


    "Eh... I am so jealous of Leiyue for having such a good master!"


    Ling Yin knew that the master and disciple needed their private space to talk and so did not follow her. She looked in the direction where Shi Yutong went, sighed and at the same time suddenly felt worried.


    The cricket sounds around the forest made the forest feel even more eerily silent.


    A breeze blew across her face, and she shivered.


    She felt the feeling of danger, and her mind was empty, as though she had done something wrong.


    "Danger? That''s impossible, I''ve checked that the surroundings were clear just now! Even if I''ve separated from sister, as long as I am not being followed, what should I be worried about?"


    Even such, Ling Yin''s palm subconsciously rubbed her jade bangle as she scanned the surroundings on high alert.


    "You are quite alert!"


    A clear voice travelled from afar. It was a young voice and brought with it a sense of familiarity.


    "It''s you!"


    As the fog thinned out, Ling Yin saw a figure walking out of the fog and clenched her teeth. "Fang Yuan!!! Impossible! Even if you are Wu Zong, you should not be able to hide from Shi Yutong''s and I!"


    "Then why is it that you still cannot detect me? Do you want to make a guess?"


    Fang Yuan moved his feet and his entire body floated forward. It split into 10 bodies, which confused anyone who would see him.


    And his speed was completely different from when he was fighting Shi Yutong previously.


    At the same time, a huge spiritual pressure was exerted.


    "Spiritual knight?"


    Ling Yin''s face changed.

 115 Hunting Down

    Ling Yin retreated quickly and the weapons on her body were reflecting light.


    She didn''t expect Fang Yuan to be able to conceal himself that much. His spiritual techniques and martial arts not only had been improved tremendously, he had managed to break through the threshold of the elemental force!


    Fang Yuan was not only a Wu Zong but also a spiritual knight. Obviously, he had managed to pass both her and Shi Yutong''s checks successfully and even heard the secret conversation between the both of them. He had also decided to attack when both of them were separated.


    "Sir, please listen to my explanation first!"


    In quick succession, Ling Yin activated many spiritual talismans and equipment to defend herself. With a change in the pitch of her voice, the green bangle emitted a bright emerald glow, which then transformed into a small dagger, ready to fly out of her hands.


    Unfortunately, she could only achieve this step.


    "Ecstasy spell!"


    Fang Yuan executed the spell and the surrounding fog started to get denser like a tsunami. Ling Yin was overwhelmed by the fog.


    In the white fog, there was a flash of green light and a female voice.


    "Pa!"


    The emerald green coloured bracelet landed on the ground and rolled to Fang Yuan''s feet.


    "Disperse!"


    Fang Yuan snapped his fingers and the fog from the spell started to fade away. It then revealed Ling Yin who was unconscious.


    Even though she had so many layers of defence, she was not immune to the spell executed by a dream master.


    "I am a dream master and it will be strange if I can''t even handle a spiritual disciple!"


    Fang Yuan picked the bracelet up and shook his head.


    He would probably be worried if he was dealing with both Ling Yin and Shi Yutong at the same time. However, he would just be worried that he cannot use his full power in front the both of them.


    Since now both of them were separated, it was much easier to ambush one of them.


    This spiritual disciple who had managed to suppress the Five Ghosts Sect Sect Master and the Blood Killer was easily defeated and there was barely any resistance.


    "My dream master''s spiritual techniques tackle one''s mind. What''s the use of having so many layers of defence?"


    Fang Yuan squatted down.


    With a flash of light, Ling Yin''s defences started to fade and her defences were formed into a few charms and weapons.


    "Hehe¡­..her teacher is indeed an alchemy master. Look at all these charms and weapons¡­.."


    Seeing the many spiritual charms and weapons that were on her body, Fang Yuan shamelessly took everything from her without even leaving a bottle of medicine for her.


    After he was done, Fang Yuan then sent out a signal.


    "Chirp! Chirp!"


    Along with the high pitched noise from an eagle and a strong gust of wind, the Iron-tailed Black Eagle landed.


    "Bring me to Shi Yutong!"


    Fang Yuan got onto the back of the eagle with a serious look.


    He was not prepared to let her go and since he had already attacked Ling Yin, he would want to defeat the other one as well!


    "However¡­.my actions have offended Lu Renjia. If I don''t want to be out there and running for my life in future, I will have to be on Liu Yan''s side."


    Fang Yuan murmured and was wavered.


    The Iron-tailed Black Eagle charged into the sky and disappeared into the layers of cloud.


    ...¡­..


    "Master...."


    Beside a spiritual spring.


    Lin Leiyue tucked her arms and sat on a green rock. She looked at the flowing spring water and there were a few black fishes swimming in the water. She then recalled the days when she was younger.


    Back when Master Wenxin was still alive, her father had much admiration for Master Wenxin and they visited him often.


    It was that spring when she first met Fang Yuan and both Lin Leiyue and Fang Yuan were still very young.


    Master Wenxin liked Lin Leiyue a lot and proposed a marriage between Lin Leiyue and Fang Yuan. Her father gladly accepted it.


    However, no one expected Master Wenxin to pass away so soon as he was highly skilled in medicine. Also, Lin Leiyue was valued by Master Wenxin but now everything had changed since Master Wenxin''s passing.


    She didn''t expect that Fang Yuan, who was previously alone and had no one to depend on, was able to improve tremendously in terms of his cultivation and skills in medicine on his own. His business in the secluded valley was thriving and he had even made a breakthrough for Wu Zong already!


    Even though she was talented and spiritual, Master Shi Yutong had only mentioned that there was a chance, and not a guarantee, for her to achieve Wu Zong!


    One had the potential while the other had the ability to achieve Wu Zong. The difference between the both of them was very big!


    Even her master was generous in her words and had sacrificed Lin Leiyue''s looks to pull Fang Yuan to their side.


    ''This world¡­..only respects the powerful ones. If one wants to control his or her destiny, he or she will need to have the ability to do so!''


    As she was looking at the shadows formed in the water, Lin Leiyue clenched her fists.


    Suddenly, a reflection of another person appeared on the surface of the water.


    "Leiyue, are you blaming me?"


    Shi Yutong was beside Lin Leiyue and she asked with a gentle voice.


    "I dare not to blame you!"


    Lin Leiyue quickly got up.


    "You didn''t dare, but that didn''t mean that you did not¡­.."


    Shi Yutong shook her head and said, "However, this is human nature. I''m not blaming you!"


    "Master¡­...for the greater good of the sect, I''m willing to sacrifice!"


    Lin Leiyue bit her teeth and continued, "No matter how Fang Yuan humiliates me, I will seek for his understanding¡­.."


    "It''s good that you are willing to sacrifice for the sect!"


    Shi Yutong''s eyes glittered. "However, you don''t have to worry this matter anymore!"


    "What?"


    Lin Leiyue was very surprised. "He is a Wu Zong!"


    "Under normal circumstances, I can understand why you will choose to let this matter go, but now the situation is different. We have many allies and Master Lu, and won''t a Wu Zong be just a small issue to us?"


    Shi Yutong gave a cold look and said, "Fang Yuan is too powerful and he hates me. He has become the most unstabilised factor and I will have to remove him before the big battle!"


    "This..."


    Lin Leiyue was startled and speechless. However, she was feeling relieved at the same time.


    "Chirp! Chirp!"


    Suddenly, a small green bird appeared and landed on the shoulder of the Shi Yutong. The bird was chirping anxiously.


    "Bad news. Ling Yin is in trouble!"


    Shi Yutong''s expression changed and Lin Leiyue was surprised by her it as it was her first time seeing that expression from her master.


    "Before I got separated from Ling Yin, I had the green bird to watch over Ling Yin just in case anything happened to her. Since the bird is so anxious now, something bad must have happened to her¡­..In this county, the only person who can do this is Fang Yuan!"


    Shi Yutong brought Lin Leiyue along and they went into the forest quickly with their lightness skill. "Our secret plans must have been discovered and we are bound to get killed by Fang Yuan! There is no room for Ling Yin to escape!"


    Lin Leiyue was sluggish and knew that the secret plans made by Master and Ling Yin must have been discovered by Fang Yuan and Ling Yin was probably killed.


    Isn''t this an irony when Shi Yutong had asked her not to worry about the matter just now?


    "Chirp! Chirp!"


    However, it was not a good time to care about these conflicting matters now.


    With the loud chirp from an eagle, a giant eagle appeared from the layers of cloud and it spread its wings. A giant black shadow was formed.


    "How is this possible?"


    Shi Yutong''s expression changed completely.


    She had purposely chosen a small pathway in the forest which was concealed by the tall trees. However, that giant eagle was still able to locate her wherever she went.


    "Hoo! Hoo!"


    There was a strong gust of wind and the Iron-tailed Black Eagle took a shot. Its sharp claws had broken an old tree into half.


    "This is not good!"


    Shi Yutong pushed Lin Leiyue away and said, "Fang Yuan must have done something on us and that''s why he is able to locate us. Looks like we will have to split. Leave now!"


    Shi Yutong let go of her hand and caused Lin Leiyue to be pushed at a distance away in another direction.


    "Master!"


    Lin Leiyue was teary and had no choice but to leave the place.


    Behind her, she heard a loud voice and a loud eagle''s chirp.


    The eagle was not giving Shi Yutong any mercy and it went straight towards her.


    "Fang Yuan, it''s really you!''


    Shi Yutong''s voice then came. Another clear voice was heard. "Ling Yin has been defeated. Sect Master, you have injuries and you are definitely no match for me. What are you waiting for?"


    "I would rather die in the name of justice than to surrender!"


    Shi Yutong sighed and continued, "I didn''t handle this matter properly and hence I landed myself in this trouble. I admitted that I had lost but I would want to fight to the death for honour!"


    "Very well!"


    Fang Yuan''s voice was projected and an explosion then came.


    Lin Leiyue heard what happened and her heart sank. She knew that Fang Yuan had caught up with her master and there was no chance for her to escape already.


    Even though she was still confident in her master, her master was previously defeated by Fang Yuan. Hence, how lucky would she be this time?


    "Fang Yuan!"


    She bit her teeth and escaped with tears in her eyes. She swore in her heart, "I...I will have my revenge one day!"


    ...


    "Very good! Your courage is commendable!"


    Fang Yuan praised Shi Yutong who was standing right in front of him.


    Fang Yuan didn''t care about Lin Leiyue who had started to run away.


    Both of them were now not of similar grade and level.


    Also, Shi Yutong had brought quite a few disciples from the Spirit Returning Sect and since they were all separated, it would be very troublesome to kill every one of them.


    The current issue he was facing now was pressing and he would think about the rest later after he had defeated Shi Yutong.


    "Eagle Claw Palm!"


    "Compassionate Seal!"


    "Bang!"


    Releasing their elemental force, the figures clashed, and in the process broke many trees. The entire place was in a mess.


    Shi Yutong was of no match for Fang Yuan as she was already injured. Currently, her messy hair and her bloody mouth made her looked like she was in a poor state.


    "Don''t you think of escaping from me. Wherever you go, I will still be able to find you!"


    Fang Yuan said coldly and kept discouraging Shi Yutong with his words.


    "I know..."


    Shi Yutong took a glance at the Iron-tailed Black Eagle and gave a wicked smile. "I have a question that needs to be answered. If I don''t get the answer, I will not die in peace!"


    "Are you wondering how I am able to track you down?"


    Fang Yuan shook his head and said, "You will know the answer very soon!"


    "What?"


    Shi Yutong felt a great sense of danger coming towards her suddenly. She didn''t think much and quickly transformed into 9 shadows. The 9 shadows then attacked from all directions.


    "Ecstasy spell!"


    Fang Yuan lifted his fingers lightly and the surrounding fog started to spread. All her shadows were engulfed in the fog.


    "Is this¡­."


    Shi Yutong was confused at first by the fog, but the elemental force inside her Dantian shook her and she was able to recover from the spell. She was very surprised and asked, "Is this¡­..a spiritual spell?"


    "Peng!"


    With her slight hesitance, she was on her way to her death since her enemy was a Wu Zong.


    Fang Yuan suddenly appeared behind her and grabbed!

 116 Knocking On The Door

    Upon removing her face mask, Fang Yuan was shocked at the amazingly gorgeous looks of Shi Yutong.


    Beneath her perfectly curved eyebrows were a pair of upward sloping eyes. She had a small mouth and flawless porcelain skin. Even though she was no longer youthful, age did not seem to have caught up with her. She looked like she was at most 30 years old, maybe with an aura of a much mature woman.


    Even though she was in her coma, her beautiful eye brows and the slightly pained expression on her perfect was still sufficient to arouse the deepest desires of the men around her.


    Even though Ling Yin was also considered to be a pretty woman, in the presence of Shi Yutong she paled in comparison.


    "Sir...sir..."


    Of course, Fang Yuan could casually enjoy this pleasant sight while the others beside him were in utter shock.


    After stuttering about for quite some time, Zhou Wenwu finally got his words out of his mouth and said, "Sir...you...you said that you went out on a hunting trip earlier..."


    ''How did you end up bringing back these two ladies with you from your hunting trip?"


    This was the most pressing question Zhou Wenwu had on his mind that he wanted to ask, but he could not muster the courage to do it.


    "Oh...While I was on my trip I coincidentally heard these two ladies discussing about how to sabotage me, so I took action and brought them here!"


    Fang Yuan dug his ear as he blatantly spoke the truth.


    ''It seems like you already had an ulterior motive before you embarked on this hunting trip and you just ended up stalking them.''


    Yu Xinlou and a few others rolled their eyes at Fang Yuan''s admission. Huang Fu Renhe coughed and stepped forward and asked, "Now that if have both of the sect heads of the Spirit Returning Sect, what is there to be afraid of them?"


    "Correct!"


    Zhou Wenwu''s eyes brightened instantly and said, "Sir is also a Wu Zong too!"


    The immense prestige of the Spirit Returning Sect caused Fang Yuan''s judgement to be clouded a little earlier. Now that his mind has cleared, he felt a little indignant as he thought, "Anyone with the ability could live within Qinghe County! What makes the Spirit Returning Sect the natural owners of this area!"


    "Keke..."


    Fang Yuan rolled his eyes at this far-fetched thought.


    Although admitted, now that the Secluded Mountain Valley had the supreme tutelage of Fang Yuan, a few martial artists who have broken through the 4 Heavenly Gates and the spiritual beasts, there was no difference between the Secluded Mountain Valley and the Spirit Returning Sect or Five Ghosts Sect. However, they were a world apart in terms of rootedness.


    Based on Fang Yuan''s calculations, it would be almost impossible for him to control Qingye City based on the little resources he had, unless all the disciples in the Spirit Returning Sect swore their allegiance to him.


    If he attempted to control the county, it would definitely lead to chaos and unrest. The costs outweighed the benefits.


    "Sorry for spouting rubbish sir!"


    Zhou Wenwu blushed with embarrassment.


    As a former disciple of the Spirit Returning Sect, Zhou Wenwu was in an awkward situation. He was very eager to demonstrate his loyalty to his new master. The best way to do was of course to denigrate his original sect as much as possible, to show that he had severed all ties with them.


    "However, you made one excellent point. Maybe we will not take Qinghe County, but I definitely want to take down Qingye City."


    Fang Yuan nodded his head and said, "Zhou Wenwu, what is the likelihood of you controlling a city if you return now?"


    "Erm..."


    Under Fang Yuan''s strong influence, Zhou Wenwu responded, "If you rise to Wu Zong and the news of the capture of Shi Yutong spreads out, the likelihood is about 50 to 60 percent!"


    "It seems like you are still clear headed, and your judgement has not been clouded!"


    Fang Yuan nodded his head and said, "I''ll place Flower Fox Ferret and Zhang Shengpai under your charge. Go back and rally everyone else immediately to detain or banish the disciples of the Spirit Returning Sect!"


    "Yes sir!"


    After some internal calculation, Zhou Wenwu concluded that after the removal of the Guo family, Qingye City was now up for contention amongst his own Zhou family, the Zhang family as well as Minister Lin''s Lin family. The Zhang family was greatly influenced by the secluded valley and there was no problem convincing them. His only main obstacles were the Lin family and the Spirit Returning Sect. Minister Lin was a sly old fox, if he had known that Shi Yutong was defeated and captured, he might also switch allegiance or even maintain his neutrality for the sake of his family''s survival.


    As of now, the only person left to deal with was the new head of the city and a thousand disciples of the Spirit Returning Sect.


    Zhou Wenwu witnessed the mighty powers of Flower Fox Ferret himself before. It was comparable to a martial artist of the 4 Heavenly Gates level. With the addition of the extremely powerful and formidable servant cleaner, there was a high chance the mission would succeed. Zhou Wenwu beamed with confidence at this thought.


    If he could take advantage of this situation and strengthen the position of his family to become the top-ranking family in the city, the days ahead looked extremely hopeful.


    "But sir...why aren''t you leading this mission yourself?"


    After Fang Yuan answered, a few doubts emerged in Zhou Wenwu''s mind.


    He believed that if Fang Yuan led the mission himself, with his reputation as a Wu Zong, the disciples of the Spirit Returning Sect might even give up without a fight and all the other families would swear allegiance to him automatically.


    "I...naturally will have other more important things to tend to!"


    Fang Yuan lifted up the two comatose women and mounted Iron-tailed Black Eagle and ordered, "Attend to your tasks. I hope that I can have Qingye City in my control by the time I return!"


    "Kaw kaw!"


    Iron-tailed Black Eagle flapped its wings and took off.


    With the extra weight of two extra human beings, it was a slightly burdensome load for it. Nonetheless it still flew off and disappeared amongst the clouds.


    ...


    "Even though I have captured these two women, I have brought more trouble for myself. Without considering Shi Yutong, Ling Yin is the disciple of Lu Renjia. If he finds out he will definitely not let this matter rest and I will have very little options available when he does that!"


    Fang Yuan ordered Iron-tailed Black Eagle to fetch him to his secret hiding spots. He first dropped Shi Yutong off at the place he detained Lady Yan and then brought Ling Yin to the Secluded Mountain Prefecture City.


    "Since I cannot trust Lu Renjia, I can only ally myself with the head of the Secluded Mountain Prefecture. I think this stepping stone and application seems rather substantial!"


    Fang Yuan took a glance at the comatose Ling Yin cradled in his arms indifference in his eyes.


    Having gone through the training in his imaginary world, Fang Yuan was exposed to incredibly beautiful women. Ling Yin''s aesthetic beauty could not sway him.


    This sort of temporary beauty could not last in the long-term.


    What attracted Fang Yuan''s attention was the spiritual objects and other ornaments on Ling Yin.


    "As long as one was a spiritual knight, one would be able to use spiritual prints to create a spiritual amulet. But most of these ornaments on her seem to be extremely rare charms..."


    High up in mid-air, a translucent force floated up approximately 500 metres in front of Fang Yuan, blocking off the strong winds from reaching him, allowing him to sit steadily on the platform as he toyed with the green bangle in his heads.


    "This spiritual item...seems very interesting..."


    Fang Yuan''s sight dug deep into the amulet. In no time, he dug out the most valuable item within the bangle.


    The bangle was neither gold nor jade and spiritual light gleamed from it. Several spiritual prints lined the bangle, forming a chain.


    "What a great spiritual item!"


    Fang Yuan then attempted to inject some Dream Elemental Force into it and removed Ling Yin''s original presence within it. Fang Yuan then decisively left his own mark inside it.


    "Snap!"


    In a burst of light, the green bangle turned into a dagger in his hands. On it, cold light enveloped the spiritual light earlier. Just by this sight one could tell it was not a normal item.


    There were complicated writings on the body of the dagger, seemingly forming the olden words for "Green Snake".


    "The Ancient Green Serpent Dagger?"


    Fang Yuan let go of his hand and the magical energy dispersed. The green dagger melted into a ray of green light flowing about on his body as though it was a part of him.


    "Outstanding!"


    After this experiment, Fang Yuan was extremely delighted.


    "Even though I am not an expert in using instruments or weapons, the power in this spiritual object is quite remarkable. It might even be good enough to be beneficial for a spiritual knight."


    It was obvious that this was a gift from Lu Renjia to Ling Yin.


    In reality, if Fang Yuan was a bit more aware, he would have known that Lu Renjia personally used this spiritual item before and was probably very well known for doing so amongst the higher echelons of the Secluded Mountain Prefecture.


    By bestowing this give to Ling Yin, he sought to protect her through its reputation. Even if she ran into a spiritual knight or a Wu Zong, not many would risk offending him by attacking Ling Yin.


    But going by Fang Yuan''s unconventional way of thinking, Lu Renjia''s plan not only failed, it also gave Fang Yuan an extra valuable spiritual item.


    "You will be mine from now on!"


    Even though Fang Yuan did not know much, he could judge from the response of Blood Killer and deduce that this dagger was extremely well-known. It could possible even be Lu Renjia''s precious item.


    However, he had already done the worst thing possible to offend Lu Renjia, it did not matter to Fang Yuan that he took away his precious item. At that point, he contentedly and happily kept the item and continued looking at his other loot.


    "Erm, apart from a few spiritual amulets with unknown uses, the rest are just common pills. I''ll let Huang Fu Renhe identify them when I get back..."


    After a while, Fang Yuan rubbed his chin as though he was thinking of something.


    He was slightly disappointed that he did not find any special alchemy or secret spiritual knight manuals on Ling Yin, but what he got was also irreplaceable.


    "In fact, as a spiritual disciple, she is extremely valuable to me. Just by considering that fact that if I improve by one more level within the dream master realm and become a dream building master, I can extract everything that Lu Renjia taught her as long as it was not protected by magical will...."


    A dream master had to be make extensive preparations to succeed. Even though Fang Yuan only mastered the dream elemental force, he had also received assistance on several other aspects which were sufficient for him to see many unexpected results!


    ...


    Even though the Secluded Mountain Prefecture City was very far away from Qinghe County, it was only so if one were to travel by land.


    At the blistering speed Iron-tailed Black Eagle flew at, in no time, Secluded Mountain Prefecture City appeared as a black giant in front of Fang Yuan.


    In comparison to the grand and magnificent sight of earlier days, the city now looked devastated and run-down. What was left of the city was plastered full of burnt stains or blood stains. This was the obvious devastation of the ongoing war.


    At that point, the head of the Secluded Mountain Prefecture, Liu Yan attempted to encircle Lu Renjia but he underestimated his opponent. Furthermore, he was slow in his execution of his strategy and had to deal with the rebellion of three strong families as well as some of the higher-ranking officers in the army. This brought about massive casualties to both sides and the entire city was ruined. The civilians were in great suffering.


    In the end, Lu Renjia retreated first but he annexed three counties and was still in a state of war with the Secluded Mountain Prefecture. Nonetheless, the Secluded Mountain Prefecture was no longer the power it once was.

 117 The Mee

    "Who is it?"


    The Iron-tailed Black Eagle landed and its giant body frightened the people who were living in the mansion of the prefecture master.


    Fang Yuan clearly knew that many arrows were now aimed at him. Such threat caused the eagle to fidget a little. It could feel that there was a very high chance of it being seriously injured or getting killed!


    ''Correct¡­...if the Secluded Mountain Prefecture didn''t have any air defences, wouldn''t the spiritual beasts which could fly be ruling the airspace?''


    He rode on the eagle and intruded the Secluded Mountain Prefecture City, and even landed right in front of the mansion of the Prefecture Master. This had caused lots of attention.


    As the alert was sounded, many Secluded Mountain Prefecture soldiers came and surrounded Fang Yuan. The leader who was leading the group of soldiers was an 8-feet tall strong man. He was wearing a bull''s horn helmet and he charged straight through a crowd violently and shouted, "How dare you intrude the Secluded Mountain Prefecture. Who are you? What''s your name?"


    The man with the bull''s horn helmet was bold but cautious. He knew that such person who could ride a spiritual beast was definitely not a simple one. Also, Fang Yuan didn''t land directly inside the mansion of the Prefecture Master, which showed that he was not trying to harm anyone. The man with the bull''s horn helmet then ordered his men to stay put and be alert.


    "Hehe¡­..I''m Fang Yuan from the mountains. I wish to see the Prefecture Master!"


    Fang Yuan stood with both of his hands behind his back after he had got down from the Iron-tailed Black Eagle. He seemed to be very calm and was able to smile even though there were many soldiers surrounding him.


    "Wu Zong?!"


    The leader focused on Fang Yuan.


    This Wu Zong was young and a stranger to him. He was quite surprised and had to be cautious of Fang Yuan.


    "You want to see the Prefecture Master?"


    He stared at Fang Yuan and went through his mind quickly. He cannot recall anyone who was Wu Zong and was able to tame a spiritual beast. He then continued, "I will report your arrival to the city master, but it is up to the city master whether he wants to see you or not¡­.."


    "Yes, I know¡­.."


    Fang Yuan seemed to be quite confident that the city master would see him.


    In fact, in times of war and when this place was heavily guarded, the Prefecture Master would be busy handling matters. However, with the power of Wu Zong, Liu Yan would definitely make time to see the Wu Zong even if there were no support forces backing the Wu Zong.


    Indeed, not long after, a soldier came running towards Fang Yuan and said, "The city master would like to invite you to the guest hall!"


    "Very good! But I will have to get my gift for him first!"


    Fang Yuan went back to the eagle and carried Ling Yin down from the back of the eagle.


    "What are you¡­.."


    The leader couldn''t believe his eyes.


    He wanted to comment on the gift as the city master was already old and was not into young girls anymore. Plus, Fang Yuan was a Wu Zong and even brought such a gift, which disgraced him as one.


    When Fang Yuan tidied Ling Yin''s long hair and revealed her face, the leader was even more shocked. "Ling Yin!!"


    He knew her as the beloved disciple of Lu Renjia and had previously seen her at the birthday banquet. He also knew that Lu Renjia even sent two Wu Zongs to escort this lady.


    However, she was now beaten till unconscious and given as a gift.


    He couldn''t comprehend this big change.


    "What do you think of this gift?"


    Fang Yuan threw Ling Yin to the leader.


    "Uh¡­.."


    The leader was feeling awkward and immediately ordered his men to bring Ling Yin to elsewhere, where his men could watch over her. He then gave a thumbs up to Fang Yuan and said, "Well brother¡­..what a good way!"


    At that point, he was not feeling suspicious of Fang Yuan already.


    Even though he could see that Fang Yuan was trying to make use of Ling Yin to gain the trust of the city master, the city master was not a simple person. He was the most powerful spiritual knight in the whole of the Secluded Mountain Prefecture and such assassination was just a joke to him.


    However, if Fang Yuan was planning something else, wasn''t he treating the staffs living in the Secluded Mountain Prefecture as fools?


    Hence, the leader could confirm that Fang Yuan was sincere about joining the alliance with the city master. He then welcomed him and said, "Come¡­..I shall bring you to the guest hall personally! And also your spiritual beast!"


    The leader then ordered, "Men! Ask the chef to slaughter a few of the snow cows and bring the beef to the spiritual beast!"


    "Thank you! However, my spiritual beast is a little different. It prefers to eat roasted meat!"


    Fang Yuan smiled and continued, "And if there is hard liquor as well, it will be even better!"


    "Haha¡­..you are indeed a special person. Even your spiritual beast is special. What a coincidence, the roaster meat here in this mansion is superb and I shall ask my men to bring a few bottles of wine!"


    The leader''s eyes glittered and were wide opened.


    If Fang Yuan didn''t have any matters on his hand to settle, the leader would probably be eating and drinking with Fang Yuan together to their hearts'' content. Likely, they would swear to become brothers as well.


    "Please lead the way!"


    The Iron-tailed Black Eagle was having a feast outside while Fang Yuan followed the leader into the mansion of the Prefecture Master.


    The mansion looked grand and many of the structures here were newly built. There were a few big pits which had not been covered up and they looked worse than the ones outside the city gate.


    ''Were these pits formed during the battle between the spiritual knight and Wu Zong?''


    Fang Yuan thought.


    From what he had seen from the outskirts of the city, the battle was so intense that half of the main hall was destroyed. One would not be surprised if the whole mansion here was destroyed totally.


    The Prefecture Master was very capable as he was able to rebuild this place to such a state.


    After they went past a small garden, they reached the guest hall.


    "Please have some tea first. The city master will be here soon!"


    After they entered the guest hall, the leader invited Fang Yuan to have a seat and two beautiful servants came in and served him tea. They then left right away, which clearly showed that they didn''t want to stay in the hall for long.


    "The tea made here in the Secluded Mountain Prefecture is the best in the whole of Xia Country. You have to taste it!"


    The leader lifted the teacup and took a sip of the tea delicately. He was enjoying that cup of tea.


    "Oh?"


    Fang Yuan then laughed and said, "Well, I will have to taste it for myself then!"


    He could smell the fragrance of the tea as he lifted his teacup. The fragrance brought him a sense of tranquillity and peace.


    In the translucent tea, the tea leaves slowly unfolded. This particular tea leaf was like a piece of white jade, and the veins on the leaves were distinct and connected to the stem of the leaf. As the leaves spread out, it was akin to a flower blooming slowly.


    "Good tea!"


    Fang Yuan gave a surprised look and said, "From the colour of tea, I can see that this tea is of high quality!"


    Of course, he knew that the leader had not much knowledge in tea and since he had enjoyed the tea so much, it was likely a spiritual tea.


    ''This tea is inferior to my Questioning Heart Tea.''


    Fang Yuan''s heart wavered and took another sip.


    A bland taste filled the mouth, bring with it a mild stimulation to the taste buds. The stimulation slowly increased in intensity and was unlike a strong sensation that would slowly die down. This was an unforgettable taste and would leave a strong impression.


    Of course, as the tea reached the stomach, Fang Yuan could feel the spiritual energy spreading inside his body and his Dantian was warmed by the tea. He felt that his elemental force had improved even though it was just a slight one.


    "How is it?"


    The leader stared at Fang Yuan and saw that he was also enjoying the tea as well. The leader then patted Fang Yuan''s leg and said, "Good one, brother!"


    "Hmm?"


    Fang Yuan was confused by the leader''s expression and actions.


    "Brother Fang, this tea is actually a spiritual tea and is limited in stock. This tea is only served to important guests. Spiritual knights, Wu Zongs, or anyone else who have tasted this tea for their first time will have a very different expression on their faces, which show that they really enjoy the tea. This is the first time I have not seen an expression that has changed. Very good!"


    "Hehe¡­.."


    Fang Yuan was speechless for a moment and felt that the leader seemed like a crazy person when he agreed with someone as his actions were overly expressed.


    In fact, even though the tea served was good, it was not really the top-notch ones. The leader wanted Fang Yuan who was used to drinking Questioning Heart Tea to feel lost after drinking this tea? What a joke.


    "Here comes the city master!"


    Just when Fang Yuan thought that the leader had wanted to swear with him as brothers, the city master was finally here.


    "I have seen you before, Prefecture Master!"


    He exhaled a long breath and got up to greet the city master after he had managed to stop the conversation with the leader.


    "Hehe¡­.there is no need for such formality. Please rise!"


    Liu Yan held Fang Yuan with both of his hands and was smiling widely.


    As Fang Yuan got up, he was looking at the city master in detail.


    From just a look, one would think that the city master was just a skinny old man with two thick eyebrows.


    However, Fang Yuan was not only a Wu Zong, he was also a dream master and hence was able to detect much more.


    There was always a fire-type energy surrounding Liu Yan at all times. By simply using one''s magical energy to observe the area, one would realise that it was no longer a person sitting in the prefecture master''s chair; it was a huge fireball!


    This illusion meant that this person''s spiritual knight cultivation had already reached the peak and was on the brink of a breakthrough, slowly approaching the next stage of cultivation.


    "Your name is Fang Yuan?"


    Seeing that Fang Yuan had joined the alliance out of his own will and even brought another powerful person as a gift, Liu Yan would definitely not put up his strong self in front of Fang Yuan. He was constantly giving a smile and was kind. He looked like one of the kind old neighbours in the city.


    However, his eyes looked solemn. "If I''m not wrong, you are not only a Wu Zong but also somewhat a spiritual knight¡­..Also, you have already made a breakthrough to the heaven, haven''t you?"


    This was not much of a secret as Fang Yuan had already expected the city master to know this when he gave Ling Yin as a gift.


    He had also reveal part of his magical energy on purpose and it was normal that he had been seen through.


    "You''re correct!"


    Fang Yuan nodded his head conservatively. However, even if Liu Yan was 10 times more observant, he would still not be able to detect Fang Yuan''s true identity as a dream master.


    After all, there were many branches of spiritual techniques, and dream elemental force was the most illusionary one. How would Liu Yan be able to differentiate it from the others?


    "You are a talented one indeed. I admire you!"


    Liu Yan''s expression had gotten a little more serious.


    "What¡­..Brother Fang, you are a spiritual knight? Oh my..."


    The leader, who was beside them, was so surprised. "You really have my full respect!"


    "You can leave first, Leader Niu!"


    Liu Yan frowned and waved his hands.


    "I will take my leave!"


    Leader Niu dared not to be arrogant in front of the city master. He immediately took a bow and left, leaving just Fang Yuan and Liu Yan in the guest hall.

 118 Advice

    Only Liu Yan and Fang Yuan were left in the guest hall after Leader Niu left.


    Liu Yan seized Fang Yuan up and sighed, "My friend, you have reached such a high level at such a young age. On the other hand, I have achieved nothing at my age..."


    "Prefecture Master, you have overestimated me!"


    Fang Yuan replied humbly.


    While Fang Yuan had previously heard about Liu Yan''s character, he still felt the need to be wary of Liu Yan.


    "This is not overestimating you!"


    Liu Yan stroked his sparse goatee and said, "From what I know, there are only a few people who are able to reach the level of Wuzong or spiritual knight in Xia Country. You are the first person to simultaneously reach the two levels in Xia Country! I think even amongst the neighbouring countries, you are considered a genius that appeared once every 300 years!"


    While many old masters were able to alter their appearance to look young, the life energy that they exuded was different. Not even Fang Yuan''s real age could be hidden from Liu Yan''s spiritual eye.


    Fang Yuan did not expect that Liu Yan would hold him in such high esteem.


    After a moment of silence, Liu Yan asked, "Who is your teacher?"


    "I am from Qinghe County, and my teacher is Master Wenxin!"


    Fang Yuan used his master''s alias which was the name that his master used to avoid trouble.


    Upon hearing that Fang Yuan was from Qinghe County, Liu Yan laughed. "Good! Good! Good! A youth from my Secluded Mountain Prefecture!"


    He pondered for a while before asking, "Where is your master?"


    The master must be frightening if he was able to train his disciple to such a level.


    "My master is long gone!"


    This was no secret. Many in Qingye City knew and Fang Yuan did not make any attempt to hide the fact.


    "I see! No wonder..."


    Liu Yan nodded. He suddenly thought of something and after pondering it for a while, he made up his mind. "I want to talk to you about something but I wonder if you are willing to hear it out?"


    "Please speak!"


    Fang Yuan waved his hand.


    "The cultivation of martial arts or the road to being a spiritual knight requires years of effort and hardship. There is a limit to the energy of a person no matter how talented he is. This is especially true where it becomes increasingly difficult to progress later on. My friend, it is advisable to only choose one path of cultivation if you do not want to end up like us. Only then will you be able to achieve success!"


    Liu Yan advised.


    "Thank you for your input sir!"


    Fang Yuan felt like rolling his eyes as Liu Yan did not mention the conditions of joining the alliance and instead gave him a piece of advice regarding his cultivation.


    Fang Yuan knew that Liu Yan meant well. However, Fang Yuan was very different from other geniuses and as such, the advice was not applicable to him.


    "I would advise you to choose the path of the spiritual knight if you are to choose one path of cultivation!"


    Liu Yan could see that Fang Yuan did not take his advice to heart and turned strict, "Furthermore, from my years of experience. I have a revelation that there is no path after Wuzong!"


    "There is no path of cultivation after Wuzong?"


    Fang Yuan quivered as he noticed this problem.


    "That''s correct!"


    Liu Yan laughed bitterly, "Why did you think the 12 Golden Gates of Cultivation was set up?"


    "It was to help those martial artists to develop a strong foundation, especially those who lacked the aptitude to reach a higher state of elemental force!"


    Fang Yuan answered without a moment of hesitation.


    He had the right to be confident for someone who had undergone the cultivation of martial arts.


    Based on his predictions, the path of martial arts was conceived by a spiritual knight who wanted to benefit the masses. Therefore, the step by step process through the 12 Gates was created.


    After all, the path of a spiritual knight started from a spiritual disciple followed by becoming a spiritual knight. This was a huge single step and was extremely difficult.


    Martial arts divided this huge single step into 12 Gates. There was a process to be followed as a path to increase one''s cultivation level. Finally, those cultivators with enough magical energy would successfully breakthrough if they have just enough potential to become a spiritual knight or alchemy master.


    "That is correct!"


    Liu Yan nodded his head, "However, martial arts'' elemental force is primitive and low-levelled. How can it be compared to a spiritual knight''s elemental force?


    Even the techniques of the Spirit Returning Sect and the Five Ghosts Sect could only reach the realm of Wuzong with no means to progress after..."


    Liu Yan continued, "There are sayings that in the distant Da Qian Empire where martial arts is common and progression in martial arts is fast where the realm after Wuzong had been clearly divided, unlike here where people are still sentimental..."


    "Therefore, comparatively, for us spiritual knights, as long as we cultivate naturally and slowly develop our elemental force, by accumulating our cultivation, we would be able to achieve a breakthrough. We have also inherited a few incomplete records of the way ahead, and are not completely clueless about the future for this path of cultivation!"


    "This information should be given to you by your master. However, as he had passed away, I could only take matters into my own hands and tell you this."


    Fang Yuan listened carefully and his expression grew grave.


    "Loss of the path of martial arts, incomplete spiritual knight cultivation techniques...I did not expect the Secluded Mountain Prefecture and even Xia Country to be a barren wasteland for cultivators!"


    "I wonder if the Da Qian Empire would be more interesting as compared to here."


    He thanked Liu Yan as his mind revolved around the thought.


    After all, even though Master Wenxin had given him the full inheritance describing the path to becoming a dream master, Fang Yuan was still clueless about the situation in Xia Country and the recent changes in the cultivators'' world.


    ''I need no reminder to continue down my path as a dream master!''


    Fang Yuan now realized the value of the inheritance in his hand.


    Compared to the other spiritual knights who only had the badly damaged inheritance, Fang Yuan felt that he would be able to achieve much more than the other spiritual knights and would not walk into a dead-end.


    Fang Yuan felt that given time and effort, he would be able to surpass Liu Yan''s and Lu Renjia''s level.


    "So? What do you think?"


    Liu Yan looked at Fang Yuan and grimaced.


    "No...I was momentarily lost from too much information!"


    Fang Yuan shook his head, "Furthermore, I do not know the situation of the cultivation world in the Da Qian Empire."


    "There are rumours that path of martial arts is well developed in the faraway Da Qian Empire. They have already discovered the cultivation path after Wu Zong. This is unlike us here. Even if we have discovered the way ahead, we would selfishly keep it for ourselves..."


    There are also many spiritual knights who possessed frightening inheritance. It is said that a single person could take on tens or even hundreds of our people..."


    Liu Yan drifted off and sighed, "It''s a shame that the Da Qian Empire is so far away with many dangers along the way. It is said that not even a Wu Zong or a spiritual knight would be able to reach there easily!"


    ''Da Qian? I would go there and have a look once I become a Dream Master!''


    Fang Yuan silently made up his mind.


    Fang Yuan had heard of Da Qian Empire before. Master Wenxin was from Da Qian who travelled to Xia Country to avoid trouble.


    "I am really grateful for your advice!"


    He asked, "I just wonder why you would tell me so much?"


    "Haha...good question"


    Liu Yan''s eyes appeared bright, "I gave you so much information precisely because you are a part of the Secluded Mountain Prefecture! You are much better than that outsider, Lu Renjia!"


    Fang Yuan did not know whether to laugh or cry. To think that the Prefecture Master was such a staunch supporter of this ideology.


    "Since you are from Qinghe County, I believe that the Spirit Returning Sect Sect Master Shi Yutong fell at your hands?"


    Liu Yan closed his eyes and suddenly exclaimed, "That Lin Yin was cunning and recently appeared in Qinghe County. I did not expect you to act so quickly and capture them in one fell swoop!"


    "They colluded and tried to kill me. I can only act first..."


    Fang Yuan laughed bitterly, "That is the reason why I come to the Prefecture Master to seek protection!"


    "Hmmmm?"


    Liu Yan laughed, "Haha...good, straight to the point! I like your frank and sincere character!"


    Whether it was the first impression or the effect of the dream master, Liu Yan was starting to like Fang Yuan.


    Elder Han and Elder Bian would not be able to die peacefully if they were to hear about Liu Yan''s assessment of Fang Yuan.


    "What do you want me to do? Send the army to Qinghe County to support you?"


    Liu Yan looked at Fang Yuan jokingly.


    "Of course not!"


    Fang Yuan shook his head.


    While Liu Yan appeared to like him, talk was cheap.


    If Liu Yan would readily send in troops after hearing a few words from Fang Yuan, it would be because his brain was damaged.


    No one so na?ve would be able to hold the position of the Prefecture Master.


    As such, Fang Yuan needed an object or say things that would sway Liu Yan.


    Ling Yin was just a small gesture.


    "Sending an army would waste too much time and effort. Furthermore, I was not hoping that the Prefecture Master would help me conquer the whole county..."


    Fang Yuan blinked his eyes, "I was wondering if you are interested to quickly end the war?"


    "Hmmmm? Speak!"


    Liu Yan straightened up when he heard this. It was obvious that he was interested.


    "It was only recently that I took down Shi Yutong and Ling Yin. Lu Renjia would not be able to receive such news so quickly!"


    Fang Yuan had already thought of what to say on his journey, "The Spirit Returning Sect is currently without a leader. In order to stabilise the alliance, he would send a powerful person, even himself, to keep the situation at hand. This makes him an easy target to ambush. Even if we are not able to kill him, we would be able to gravely injure him!"


    "Using a spiritual beast? He would be caught unprepared?"


    Liu Yan''s eyes glinted.

 119 Bone Melting Sec

    "Wrong!"


    Fang Yun shook his head. "I don''t want to ambush Qinghe County''s support, but rather, the Bone Melting Sect''s Sect Master!"


    The three sects, Spirit Returning, Bone Melting and Yellow Brothers Sect all had Wu Zongs at the helm controlling a cony each. Collectively, they gave strength to Lu Renjia''s betrayal.


    Furthermore, Lu Renjia was from the Bone Melting Sect!


    "This way, we can remove the leader! If Prefecture Master would join us, we can cause great damage to the opposing alliance, disrupting their atmosphere!"


    Fang Yuan said confidently.


    Even though Liu Yan had three other counties under his name, these three counties were weak, especially Lieyang County. After the chaos, they could not recover and therefore could not give support.


    Lu Renjia was an alchemy master and was therefore influential. Not only they were evenly matched, he still had the upper hand.


    However, now that it was easy to take control over Qinghe County, the situation turned around.


    "Mmm... Lu Renjia would surely send reinforcements to Qinghe County. This is a good opportunity for us to strike!"


    Liu Yan nodded his head but did not say a word.


    "Of course... If you feel that this plan is too dangerous, we can still head towards Qinghe County to deal with those who are assisting them. We can similarly gain control over the whole situation!"


    Fang Yuan knew Liu Yan''s considerations and added a line.


    "No need!"


    Liu Yan''s red eyebrows twitched, and after a short while, he came to a decision. He stood up and walked forward. "If I don''t decide now, trouble will ensue! Right now, the enemy is weak while I am strong. If I don''t take this opportunity, wouldn''t I be letting them have the opportunity to regroup?"


    He knew how impressive an alchemy master''s networking was. If he gave Lu Renjia any chance to regroup, he would be on the losing end.


    "Pass down my orders. Get all the capital leaders and spiritual knights... To the main hall!"


    Liu Yan exclaimed, as his voice travelled far.


    "Let''s not delay, now is the best time to move!"


    Fang Yuan immediately agreed.


    After making a decision, this Secluded Mountain Prefecture Master was rather decisive and did not think twice.


    "Prefecture Master, Niu Dingtian, Leng Ning and Xiang Zilong reporting!"


    "Keke... Brother Liu, I wonder where did the spiritual bird outside come from? It is majestic!"


    ...


    After a short while, a number of martial artists entered the hall; they all harnessed elemental force.


    Three of them wore the Chilled Metal Armour and had a sinister look. Every movement of theirs resembled a killer. They were all the Wu Zong capital leaders of the Secluded Mountain Prefecture armed forces.


    Another old man was clad in white robes. Although he seemed a little crazy, he had a big build, slightly larger than Niu Dingtian.


    "Spiritual knight?"


    Fang Yuan looked at the person with a serious look.


    From this old man, he felt a totally different Wood-type inner breath. He had the feeling of spring and life.


    "Brother Mu, don''t be rude!"


    Liu Yan jokingly chided him and continued. "The spiritual bird outside belongs to Fang Yuan, Brother Fang. Don''t you dare have any ideas on it!"


    He turned and faced Fang Yuan. "This is my good friend, Daoist Mu Li. He had lived in seclusion and only offered his help when I wrote him a letter... He loves spiritual birds, and once he caught a ''Pure Yang Bird'', which once guarded the Heaven Facing Peak for one year and one month, but sadly, he did not get anything in return..."


    "Liu Yan, stop exposing me!"


    Daoist Mu Li blew at his moustache before looking in Fang Yuan''s direction. His expression changed to one of suspicion. "Wu Zong? Mmm? No, not right... Spiritual knight! Cultivating both martial arts and spiritual techniques at the same time, and still of such a young age! Monster!"


    "Cough cough!"


    Liu Yan almost choked on his saliva, and coughed repeatedly, afraid that there would be an internal conflict.


    "Oh, it''s Sect Master Fang!"


    As for the other two capital leaders who heard that this young man could cultivate martial arts and spiritual techniques at the same time, and furthermore having both aspects entering the realm of elemental force, both of them became polite and greeted him.


    "You''re welcome!"


    Fang Yuan waved his hand. "Daoist Mu Li is interested in my spiritual bird? Unfortunately, that black eagle of mine is rather proud and will not recognise any outsiders..."


    "Ah... Then there''s no choice!"


    Daoist Mu Li sighed. "I have tried to, with much effort, catch a spiritual eagle. As I tried to tame it, it starved itself to death and did not succumb to me¡­.. Ah..."


    At this point, he sounded as regretful as he could possibly be.


    "Young man, did you use any secret technique to tame this black eagle? Teach it to me! I''ll teach you a wood-type spiritual spell in exchange for it, what do you think?!"


    He looked at Fang Yuan in anticipation and almost went up to tug his sleeve to beg him.


    "Mu Li..."


    Liu Yan could not hold back. "Don''t you already have a Wind Chasing Falcon? Isn''t that enough?"


    "Little Green is good, but the more the merrier... Brother Liu, you do not know what I am wishing for. I want to form an army of spiritual birds and change my Wood Elemental Temple to Five Birds Temple!"


    Mu Li exclaimed with a straight face, which made Liu Yan almost burst into tears.


    "Alright, I have gathered all of you to round up our strength and collectively attack the Bone Melting Sect''s Sect Master, clean up the place and destroy Lu Renjia!"


    With the wave of his hand, a feeling of death spread throughout the hall.


    Hearing this, the seemingly joking Daoist Mu Li became serious.


    "... This is what happened. Based on what Brother Fang has told us, Lu Renjie must have just received news and have sent out reinforcements to assist Qinghe County. His own base is therefore weaker and is a good opportunity for us to strike. What do you guys think?"


    Liu Yan explained the entire happening and looked at the capital leaders.


    "We will follow your orders!"


    Niu Dingtian, Xiang Zilong and Leng Ning were all his subordinates and therefore replied while kneeling down.


    "Mmm... Although I want to attack the weaknesses of Lu Renjia, the earlier the war would end, the better it would be for the prefecture. I agree with what Master Fang had said, which is just to strike the Bone Melting Sect... Hehe, anyway we now have two spiritual birds at our disposal. If we use them properly, we can strike them by surprise!"


    Daoist Mu Li shared his own view.


    "I am for the same idea! Let''s not delay any further, and leave now! Mu Li, call for your Wind Chasing Falcon too!"


    Liu Yan changed to a long robe which glittered with a spiritual glow and arrived at a school behind the hall.


    "Hehe... Good!"


    Daoist Mu Li smiled, took out a bamboo whistle and blew hard into it. A sharp whistle travelled far and wide.


    "Chirp!"


    A large green bird shot down from the clouds like an arrow.


    "Chirp! Chirp!"


    Seeing this, the Iron-tailed Black Eagle who was originally eating roasted meat could not hold back anymore. It flapped its wings and as the wind it created blew the Secluded Mountain Prefecture soldiers, it flew up and chased after the Wing Chasing Falcon.


    "Hu Hu!"


    On the school compound, sand and dust flew everywhere. Landed in the middle were two spiritual birds looking at each other, as though they were challenging each other.


    "Good spiritual bird! Good spiritual bird!"


    Daoist Mu Li enjoyed it very much, and he almost drooled.


    Fang Yuan was examining the Wing Chasing Falcon.


    It was aerodynamic and its feathers were a bright green. Its head was slightly smaller as compared to the Iron-tailed Black Eagle, and its breath seemed shorter too.


    If the Iron-tailed Eagle was compared to a 4 Heavenly Gate martial artist, then the Wing Chasing Falcon should be an expert in inner force.


    Even though it was as such, Fang Yuan could see a hint of unyieldingness in its eyes. It was not afraid of the Iron-tailed Black Eagle.


    "I, Niu Dingtian and Master Fang will be together. Xiang Zilong, Leng Ning, you two shall ride the Chasing Wing Falcon and set off immediately!"


    Fang Yuan leapt on to the Iron-tailed Black Eagle, comforted it before allowing Liu Yan to ride it as well. He felt a sense of pride as he waved his hands.


    "Chirp! Chirp!"


    "Chirp!"


    Accompanying two chirps from the eagle, the Chasing Wing Falcon raced the Iron-tailed Black Eagle into the sky, and both of them disappeared into the horizon.


    ...


    Cangyi County, White Bone Mountain.


    This was where the Bone Melting Sect was. The first generation of the Bone Melting Sect''s Wu Zong stumbled upon this spiritual land and transformed it into their base. The opening of Bone Melting Sect had been around 500 years.


    With such a foundation, there were many Wu Zongs from the Bone Melting Sect, which went on continuously for many years. The Sect Master of Bone Melting Sect shook the Secluded Mountain with the Bone Melting Palm Technique and was even more well known than Shi Yutong.


    The Bone Melting Sect now was a mess.


    At the foot of the mountain, there were many new soldier camps, and one could hear them shouting orders at the base camp.


    Since Lu Renjia''s rebellion, the Bone Melting Sect was his most loyal supporter. Therefore, Lu Renjia decided to place his rebellion alliance base camp here, as a challenge to the Secluded Mountain Prefecture.


    However, there was peace and tranquillity in the Bone Melting Sect, as spiritual energy filled the entire compound.


    Lu Renjia crossed his legs and sat on a futon, and in front of him stood a cauldron as tall as a human. Charcoal flames were burning brilliantly beneath the cauldron, continuously giving off green flames which licked the base of the cauldron.


    While looking at the flames, Lu Renjia''s expression was one of worry.


    "Master Lu, you are worried about your disciple?"


    A scribe in white entered the room. He was middle-aged and had white sideburns. He held a foldable fan in his hand and looked suave. Just by his appearance, no one would associate him with the cruel Bone Melting Sect Sect Master as heard in the legends.


    "That is right..."


    Lu Renjia did not get up. He casually pointed to a futon to welcome the Bone Melting Sect Sect Master to sit down, before sighing. "Who would have predicted for such a big thing to happen to such a protected disciple of mine? I am responsible for the disappearance of Ling Yin and the chaos in Spirit Returning Sect."


    "Heh... Shi Yutong is a useless piece of junk. Other than having looks, her martial arts is sh*t, and can even be abducted by a junior Wu Zong. She has brought shame to all of us!"


    Bone Melting Sect Sect Master still did not know that Fang Yuan cultivated martial arts and spiritual techniques at the same time, and was full of dissatisfaction with Shi Yutong. He comforted Lu Renjia and said, "Master Lu, you need not worry. Did you not already sent Tiancan and Dique, the two brothers, as well as the Blood Demon to aid them in Qinghe County? With the three of them, what can a Wu Zong do?"

 120 Ambush

    "Even if it is so, I still do not think it is safe!"


    Lu Renjia frowned further. He got up and paced up and down before making up his mind, ordering, "Send down my order immediately, use the spiritual messenger! Order Blood Demon and the Crippled Brothers to abandon the mission and return immediately!"


    "This..."


    The blood drained from the face of the head of the Bone Melting Sect as he stuttered, "Sir are you afraid it might be...a trap?"


    "Correct! If the Wu Zong who captured Shi Yutong was in cahoots with Old Liu, then they are trying to create a diversion!"


    Lu Renjia paced around the room in a circle a few times. His thoughts were clearer, and he said, "Since we have to go, we must rally all the veteran martial artists together on this trip! I am not only going to foil Old Liu''s sneaky plan, I am going to make him pay too!"


    "Good!"


    Just as the head of the Bone Melting Sect stood up, two loud shrill calls of an eagle pierced the air from the sky above.


    "We''re under attack!!!"


    The deafening noise of the bell and drum reverberated through the air above the Bone Melting Sect. The junior disciples were completely out of control and were in utter chaos. However, the guards closer to the core group stood at high points and aimed their arrows towards the sky.


    "Haha... I have been tolerating their nonsense for too long, it''s payback time! Charge straight down, do not be frightened of the arrows!"


    Liu Yan laughed heartily. With a stretch of his hand, six green fire dragons appeared in front of him, baring their teeth and claws as they roared threateningly. The dragons emitted blistering heat waves into their surroundings as they charged downwards at incredible speed.


    "Voom voom!"


    An archer''s tower got struck by a flame of green fire and burst into flames immediately. The locked and loaded 8 Oxen Bowls caught fire in no time and the archers by the side were not spared the painful death, screaming in agony as they fell from the tower.


    "Shoot! Shoot!"


    The head of the Bone Melting Sect exploded with rage and flew onto a roof. He snatched away a huge bow and pulled the string to its maximum tension. The arrow shot out with amazing force towards the two spiritual birds.


    Behind the head of the Bone Melting Sect, the disciples and elders of the sect who were originally in utter chaos eventually found their composure and got a hold of the situation. At the same time, several long-range weapons shot into the sky to meet the great enemy.


    "Elemental force of heaven and earth, do my bidding!"


    Liu Yan did a finger gesture as he shouted out the incantation. Immediately, two green and red fires burst out in front of Iron-tailed Black Eagle and Wind Chasing Falcon, as though forming a shield.


    At the same time, a huge flame exploded in mid air and rained down like a meteor shower.


    This was the spiritual fire. Even though it was in a small quantity, it was terrifying enough for most of the lower ranking disciples. To use it in such a big environment, it became a fire disaster in no time, lighting up all the beautifully constructed buildings.


    "Liu Yan! You old thief!"


    Seeing this, the head of the Bone Melting Sect seethed with anger as he shouted, "One of us must die today!"


    "Snap!"


    He drew back the string on the bow as he prepared his next shot, but as he exerted too much force, the bow snapped into two.


    "Lu Renjia...you old thief, show yourself!"


    As Liu Yan''s passions got intensified in the fight, he shouted out for his enemy.


    Fang Yuan assessed the situation closely and was on his toes. With the dispersal of the powerful magical elemental force, Fang Yuan communicated with Iron-tailed Black Eagle as they dodged the lethal arrows shooting up from below. With the shield of fire, they could move about freely in the barrage of arrows.


    ''According to what Liu Yan said on the way here, Lu Renjia is an alchemy master. He hired a spiritual knight who goes by the name of Blood Demon and also has two servants who are Wu Zong martial artists going by the name of the Crippled Brothers! With the combined might of these people and the heads of three sects, this was almost enough to overpower the Secluded Mountain Prefecture!''


    With the combination of powers of seven martial artists who had elemental force, it was more than enough to overpower the existing head of the Secluded Mountain Prefecture.


    Before, this Liu Yan definitely had more than three generals in the secluded mountain. But after one of them rebelled, he fought another general to their deaths in the war earlier. This pattern continued which severely weakened the power of Liu Yan''s forces.


    ''If I did not arrive, the Secluded Mountain Prefecture would be wiped out even though they have two spiritual knights, three Wu Zongs and the scarily impressive power of Liu Yan! As for just now, if Liu Yan had dared to even use such that technique without Iron-tailed Black Eagle covering for him, he would definitely be encircled and trapped without a chance of survival!''


    "Chief Bai!"


    Looking at the disaster unfold in front of him, Lu Renjia shook his head and said, "We are overpowered now, we must avoid the tip of the enemy''s spear and head for open ground where the spiritual fire cannot work its magic to cut our losses!"


    "As of now the enemy is pressing its advantage. Now that the Spirit Returning Sect is in trouble and the head of the Huang Kun Sect has rushed here, we should still not take the enemy on. All we can do now is to wait for Blood Demon and the rest to hurry back quickly!"


    Combining all of their powers, it would be more than sufficient to deal with Fang Yuan, Liu Yuan and their spiritual beasts.


    "Do not care about this sect now, head straight for the camps at the foot of the mountain to break out!"


    "Woo woo!"


    Earlier when the Bone Melting Sect was enveloped in flames, the army camps at the bottom of the mountain sprang into full alertness. Horns blared anxiously, and arrows were loaded into their bows. They were definitely more disciplined and ready than the Bone Melting Sect.


    After all, it was the elite soldiers of the three counties who resided within the camps. They were a uniformed and legitimate force, not a bunch of rowdy disciples.


    "Move!"


    The head of the Bone Melting Sect winced and ignoring the pain in his heart, commanded loudly, "Disciples of Bone Melting Sect, disperse and break out!"


    This was a painful decision, but it was very effective.


    After all, Liu Yan was just one person, even if he was more powerful, how many could he possible kill?


    Anyway, if the sect got burned down, it was just a matter of losing face. He could always rebuild it later. Even Liu Yan''s own city got destroyed.


    "Chase them!"


    Upon seeing each other, the enemies raged further.


    Without much effort, Liu Yan spotted Lu Renjia behind the head of the Bone Melting Sect and shouted angrily, "Prepare to die!"


    "Bang! Bang!"


    Several huge falls of fire formed on his arms and they crashed downwards from above, like from a flamethrower.


    "Haha...you old devil you expanded everything you had, aren''t you afraid that you might have went a bit too hard?"


    Lu Renjia laughed and as he waved his hand three alchemy balls flew out.


    "Voom!"


    The white ball exploded in mid air and the temperature fell drastically immediately. The whole place became freezing cold and neutralised the raging fire.


    ''Even though this person is an alchemy master, it seems that he isn''t that inflexible!"


    Seeing this, Fang Yuan thought of an idea and silently ordered Iron-tailed Black Eagle to soar up higher.


    How could spiritual knights and the Wu Zong act so speedily?


    In no time, Lu Renjia and the head of the White Bone Sect cross the mountain and arrived at the foot of it.


    Within the camp, a gust of dust sped towards Lu Renjia. The leader wore a yellow robe and had a thunderous voice as he shouted, "Master Lu, I will help you!"


    "Be careful Chief Huang, this old devil got himself a spiritual eagle from somewhere which is even more powerful than the Wind Chasing Falcon!"


    Seeing the head of the Yellow Brothers sect arrive personally to help him, Lu Renjia heaved a sigh of relief and cautioned him.


    "Haha, do not worry Master Lu. This Liu Yan could not have possible expected me to be defenceless against his spiritual bird right?"


    With a wave of his hand, the cover sheets on a few carriages were removed to reveal 5 unique looking crossbows. The arrows had several unknown prints on it and the arrow head looked slightly illuminated by a dull green light.


    "Aim!"


    "Fire!"


    With a few shouts from the troops, the five cross bows let out a deafening roar.


    "Bang!"


    The tremendous recoil caused several carriages carrying the weapons to exploded instantly.


    The power of such a gigantic crossbow was naturally tremendous.


    "This..."


    High in the air, Fang Yuan immediately felt anxious and realised danger was coming his way and commanded, "Iron-tailed Black Eagle, dodge to your right!"


    "Shoo!"


    Almost instantaneously after spiritual will was activated, a ray of green light passed through the shield of fire and brushed past the wings of Iron-tailed Black Eagle, shooting down some of its iron feathers.


    "Bastards!"


    By the side, Liu Yan thrusted his five fingers outwards and flaming claw appeared, causing the other crossbow to combust into ash.


    Iron-tailed Black Eagle was lucky that Fang Yuan pre-empted it and saved its live. However, the Wind Chasing Falcon next to it was not so lucky.


    Along with the gasps of awe from the people, Wind Chasing Falcon increased its speed and dodged two of the arrows, but got hit by the last one in its wing. The arrow pierced into it and blood flowed out as it let out a painful shriek.


    "Fantastic!"


    Looking at the unsteady Wind Chasing Falcon fall towards the ground, Lu Renjia heaved a sigh of relief and said, "You skills are incredible Chief Huang, you have helped us a lot!"


    "Our sect started off constructing equipment and mechanisms and I made this crossbow myself. The most crucial parts of the crossbow are made from iron of top quality. The arrows were also further enhanced with the inscription of spiritual prints. Even if they had the protection of feathers of 4 Heavenly Gates level, the arrow could still penetrate through!"


    The head of the Huang Kun sect boasted with satisfaction.


    "Surround them and kill them off!"


    Seeing Wind Chasing Falcon fly closer to the ground, rays of frosty light shot out of Lu Renjia''s eyes.


    "Just us? Unless the entire army surrounds them, if not..."


    Upon seeing the people on top of the spiritual birds, the head of the White Bone Sect lost a bit of confidence.


    Would the two highly skilled Wu Zong and spiritual knight even stupidly fall for the trap and allow the army to surround them?


    "Do not worry, even without the help of the main force, we can take them on ourselves!"


    Lu Renjia winced a little and then painfully drew out an item and said, "With this, it doesn''t matter if our opponents double in force, we can delay them here until Blood Demon and the Crippled Brothers return! When they do, it will be time for Liu Yan to die!"


    "This is...the Spiritual Array Map?"


    The eyes of the head of Huang Kun sect lit up as he licked his lips and said, "This is such a rare and precious item you have!"


    "Brother Huang, you flatter me!"


    Lu Renjia smiled grimly and said, "Spiritual Array masters are no longer in existence in this area. This Spiritual Array Map is the last of its kind and it can only be used once. To do so will be to spend half of my life''s possessions..."


    "Sssss.... I''ve long heard that it was difficult to become a Spiritual Array master. But if one were to succeed, it would be extremely powerful and difficult to defeat."


    How much possessions did an alchemy master have? Even if it was just a fraction, it was still enough to make any sect desirous.


    To achieve the Spiritual Array Map at such a huge cost, its powers and effects must be devastating.


    To be able to see Lu Renjia be so confident of delaying and holding up such formidable martial artists, it was a sight only a privileged few could enjoy!


    "Chase!"


    The heads of the Huang Kun Sect and the Bone Melting Sect made eye contact and hurriedly followed behind Lu Renjia as they moved towards the area where Wind Chasing Falcon fell.


    "Erm!"


    Fang Yuan who was still in the air caught sight of this immediately and grew suspicious, "They are extremely daring to leave the protection of the army and come out on their own!"


    Based on their flexibility, in order to chase up to people like themselves, the only way to do so was to leave behind the main army.


    But to so courageously do so when they were clearly at a disadvantage, they must have something they were relying on for support!


    "Hehe...Could it be that Lu Renjia thinks that just because he behaves so daringly I wouldn''t dare to fight him?"


    Liu Yan pointed somewhere deep into the mountains and said, "Let''s go there!"


    Deep in the mountains and the jungle was where the main army could not enter easily, which was also where they could effectively execute their techniques to the maximum extent.

 121 The Battle

    "Wuwa, my Little Green... I will banish them to hell and wipe their existence off the face of the world!"


    Within the forest.


    Trees in an entire forest were being cut down, and on the ground, blood was flowing everywhere.


    "Chirp! Chirp..."


    Chasing Wing Falcon tried its best to lift its head up and weakly chirped. It looked like it was out of breath, which affected the Iron-tailed Black Eagle which was at one side, and it did not have the urge to joke around with it anymore.


    "Good!"


    Liu Yan twitched his eyebrows. "Instead of wasting time, why not hurry up and heal it, then bring it away from here. Otherwise, it would be too late when this place becomes a Wu Zong and spiritual knight battlefield, and any spiritual beast who is going to get injured because of the battle deserves it."


    "Yes of course!"


    Daoist Mu Li froze, and slowly became serious. "Little Green, hold on! Spring breeze rain, strike!"


    A green flash shot out from his palm, which transformed the fog in the air into water droplets, and it landed on the wound of the Wind Chasing Falcon.


    "Mm?"


    What happened next shocked Fang Yuan.


    Under the cover of the raindrops, it was as though there was a layer of cloud over the Wind Chasing Falcon''s wound. The bleeding stopped immediately and recovered... After the spiritual technique was over, what was left behind was a scab. Other than the surrounding being bald with no feathers, it was no different than before.


    ''Wood-type spiritual spells... Healing?''


    Seeing such a healing effect, Fang Yuan almost vomited. If there were more spiritual knights around like Daoist Mu Li, then doctors would be rendered useless already.


    "Brother Fang, let your Iron-tailed Black Eagle watch the battle with the Wind Chasing Falcon from afar!"


    Liu Yan waved his hand and briefed the rest. "Since Lu Renjia is approaching us even after knowing that we have two spiritual birds, he must have some backing or tricks up his sleeves."


    "Understood!"


    Fang Yuan nodded his head. He used his spiritual will to instruct the Iron-tailed Black Eagle to fly high. At the moment, the Iron-tailed Black Eagle shot up into the sky. Even though the Wind Chasing Falcon''s wound was recovered, it opened up again after it tried to use force to flap its wings, and the falcon shrieked. It used its claws to run into the forest and disappeared.


    "Alright. I would like to see what tricks Lu Renjia has up his sleeves?"


    Liu Yan laughed heartily, as though he was very generous.


    On the other hand, Fang Yuan was less confident and frowned. With a wave of his hand, a layer of fog appeared but was not obvious since it was in the jungle.


    "Fog?"


    Liu Yan and Daoist Mu Li were both spiritual knights and knew that this was Fang Yuan''s doing. However, using their spiritual will, they could not find anything special about it and both of them were surprised.


    "They''re here!"


    Just when Daoist Mu Li was curious and wanted to ask about it, Liu Yan exclaimed.


    From the forest came three silhouettes. The one in front was Lu Renjia. The Bone Melting Sect Sect Master and the Yellow Brothers Sect Sect Master were on his left and right respectively, and since they were following him from behind, it was obvious that they were his subordinates.


    They did not bring a single martial artist who was below the realm of elemental force because they knew that in such a battle, they would not aid but only burden them.


    "Keke... Old fogey Lu, how dare you come to find us with only two Wu Zongs? Do you want me to grant you your death?"


    Liu Yan looked at Lu Renjia''s expression and could tell that he was on his highest alert, but up front, he appeared as though he was mocking him.


    "Hmm!"


    Lu Renjia exclaimed, as he scanned across from the Secluded Mountain capital leaders, to Daoist Mu Li and ended up staring at Fang Yuan.


    "You are... the new Wu Zong form Qinghe County?"


    He was the only unfamiliar face present and was the youngest of all, and therefore Lu Renjia could not be mistaken.


    "That''s right. I am also the one who captured your disciple, Ling Yin!"


    He was unsettled and took a few steps away from the group, all the while staring at Lu Renjia.


    "Good! Very good!"


    Lu Renjia unexpectedly laughed. "I have already sent Blood Demon and Tiancan Dique brothers to Qinghe County. Do you think that your servants and useless guards can still survive?"


    Although he had already sent the message to recall them back, he did not mind to use this piece of news to worry this young Wu Zong''s mind - Since Fang Yuan had kept all his magical energy, Lu Renjia could only see him as a normal Wu Zong.


    Liu Yan looked at Mu Li for a while, both suspicious of what Lu Renjia said, but both did not dare to expose the truth.


    "Do anything you want to my subordinates..."


    Fang Yuan waved his hands. "But if they want to save Ling Yin, they will have to penetrate the defences of the Prefecture Master''s Mansion!"


    "That''s right!"


    Liu Yan stood out too. "Ling Yin has been captured and held in my water prison, hehe... Master Lu is a respectable person and will never know where that place is. But that is fine, you will join her there very quickly."


    "Very well, it seems that all of you are against me, and deserve to die!"


    Lu Renjia''s expression changed and seemed even more confident.


    "Quickly strike!"


    As a spiritual knight, they had the ability to feel their blood gushing and the insecurity in their mind. Liu Yan shouted and made the first move.


    "Six royal levels, hear my command... Heavenly fire burn the field!"


    "Chila!"


    Six beams of light shot out from his body and became imageries of their own in mid-air. They lighted up the entire sky, and suddenly fell downwards!


    This power shocked Lu Renjia, and he could only retreat.


    "Chance!"


    The Wu Zongs and spiritual knights were all talents, so how could they miss this great opportunity to strike?


    While the opponents were busy retreating, Fang Yuan and Niu Dingtian, together with the Secluded Mountain capital leaders rushed forward.


    "He! The wood element of the Heaven and Earth, bless! Bind!"


    Even though Daoist Mu Li did not advance, both his hands each had a daoist talisman which flew forward. One of it became a layer of green flash, which blessed the few Wu Zongs in front, granting them greater powers.


    As for the other daoist talisman, it dug its way into the ground and disappeared.


    "Ping! Ping!"


    Beside Lu Renjia and company were green vines with thorns appearing from the ground. These vines twisted around and circled inwards, like a cage.


    "Spiritual Peak Technique, crush!"


    With flames coming from above, Wu Zongs attacking from in front, and thorny vines from the back, Lu Renjie broke into cold sweat. He took out a cauldron pill and threw it forward.


    "Rumble!"


    An image of a small cauldron appeared, which grew in size under the crimson flames. It became the cauldron which supported the Heaven and Earth, as it contained the green flames in the sky. It then transformed into many smaller flames which dispersed in all directions.


    The vines burst into flames after coming into contact with these smaller flames, and could no longer move.


    After this single move, a distinct crack appeared on the small cauldron, which broke Lu Renjia''s heart.


    "This is likely to be a one-off magical weapon, or has a certain limit! Follow me!"


    Fang Yuan squinted his eyes and tilted his head, as a green flame flew across his hair. It landed on an ancient tree behind him, which burst into flames and became a large torch.


    "Buy some time for me!"


    Lu Renjia looked ferocious, took out the Spiritual Formation Image and exclaimed.


    "Alright!"


    Bone Melting Sect Sect Master looked at Yellow Brothers Sect Sect Master.


    They were experienced Wu Zongs. Although they could not take two opponents each, they could still stall time. They took a few steps forward and blocked Fang Yuan and the rest.


    ''Now!''


    No one knew why Fang Yuan suddenly smiled cheekily. "Ecstasy Spell!"


    "Whooo!"


    The mild mountain fog surrounding the area thickened and covered Lu Renjia and company.


    "Eh?"


    "This is..."


    In reality, the usage of this Ecstasy Spell could only at most put a 4 Heavenly Gate martial artist into a deep sleep. As for Wu Zongs and spiritual knights, they could easily awaken once their elemental force was focused.


    However, a fierce battle with no regard for their lives would be the biggest weakness of everyone.


    "Kill!"


    "Die!"


    ...


    Seeing how both the Bone Melting Sect Sect Master and the Yellow Brothers Sect Sect Master were in shock, Niu Dingtian and the other Wu Zongs did not hesitate to use their strongest skills.


    "Demonic Bull Fist!"


    Niu Dingtian exclaimed as he became muscular in an instant. As his originally large build increased in size once more, he appeared to be a small giant.


    He also broke through Wu Zong using the Rough Breathing Technique and became a crazy demon during battle. As his fists struck out, it was like two large and heavy hammers.


    "Rumble!"


    The Bone Melting Sect Sect Master regained his consciousness in a while, but the moment he came to, he already saw Niu Dingtian''s fist at his nose.


    "Ah! Bone Melting Palm!"


    He used all his elemental force in his right palm which seemed invincible.


    "Peng!"


    As the fist and palm met, both of them were left in shock.


    "What a strong and brute fellow!"


    The Bone Melting Sect Sect Master took a step back. It was obvious that he was at a disadvantage, and thought to himself. "Could it be that I was being ambushed by the fog, and you tried to hurt me?"


    His Bone Melting Palm was the unique counter to rough techniques and was the nemesis to Niu Dingtian.


    However, since he lost the advantage of taking the first move, every following move was pushing him to an even more disadvantageous situation.


    "Dragon Subduing Kick!"


    As Niu Dingtian was pushed away, Xiang Zilong followed up from above. Both his legs struck out continuously and were as sharp as a knife. It could even be comparable to magical weapons!


    "Go and die!"


    The Bone Melting Sect Sect Master retreated continuously, which unknowingly made the Yellow Brothers Sect Sect Master stand out.


    "Condensing Frost!"


    Leng Ning appeared feminine yet masculine, and it was hard to tell if he was a male or a female. His opening strike was devastating. There was frost on his hands, as they struck out in an unpredictable manner. Suddenly, he leapt in front of Yellow Brothers Sect Sect Master.


    The Yellow Brothers Sect Sect Master was skilled in making mechanisms but was still comparatively weaker in martial arts when compared with the Bone Melting Sect Sect Master. Since he was also left in a state of confusion after the ambush from the fog, he could only rush and dodge a sword strike towards his chest, but there was a slit on his body.


    "Run!"


    With the wound on his body and the possibility of death, he did not hesitate to make his escape.


    If he did not run, he would die here!


    As a Wu Zong, he fully trusted his spiritual sense.


    Unfortunately, his spiritual sense would become his biggest weakness against a dream master skilled in confusion.


    Leng Ning was not the only one attacking the Yellow Brothers Sect Sect Master!


    As the Yellow Brothers Sect Sect Master tried to escape, Fang Yuan rushed forward like a giant eagle, and clawed at his weak point!

 122 The Formation

    "Aahh!"


    The Yellow Brothers Sect Sect Master let out a cry.


    His accurate martial artist intuition had caused his death!


    His spiritual heart had been greatly hit.


    He had no choice but to hit back by pounding on the Fang Yuan''s chest with both of his palms. This method would cause both of them to be injured.


    If Fang Yuan was persistent in taking away his life, he would want Fang Yuan to be seriously injured as well!


    Of course, the sect master didn''t want such outcome to happen ultimately.


    ''Please stop!''


    He made a move while having that thought in his mind.


    Unfortunately, God seemed to have forsaken him. Fang Yuan, who was right in front of him, gave him a wicked smile and the force from his hands was very strong. Fang Yuan seemed like he was not afraid to die.


    "Even Heaven wants me to die!"


    The sect master was sighing in his heart but was putting more force in his hands. "Let''s not figure out who is better than the other and we shall perish together!"


    "Peng!"


    Just when the sect master had that idea popped up into his head, his brain was torn by Fang Yuan''s hands and the content from his brain started to flow out, which made this move a fatal one!


    At the same time, the sect master used both of his palms that were filled with surging elemental force and make a print on Fang Yuan''s chest.


    From the loud noise, Fang Yuan was pushed back with much force and his clothing was torn into pieces, which revealed his muscular chest and his tanned skin. Fang Yuan was not injured at all.


    As a person who had made a breakthrough through the Eagle Claw Iron Skin Technique for Wu Zong, this achievement had brought him a benefit now.


    Even though his body was in a good condition now, it was not the best!


    The Sect Head hastily retaliated without preparation, which prevented him from exerting his full strength. Furthermore, he was already killed by Fang Yuan, hence the force in his palms became even weaker¡­...


    "Hoo¡­.."


    Fang Yuan exhaled a long breath and the colour of his chest turned back to its normal colour. However, he was feeling intense pain in his chest.


    "A Wu Zong indeed, this comeback before his death is quite powerful actually!"


    Fang Yuan rubbed his chest and thought about it silently. He didn''t see the shocking expressions of the people that were watching them.


    "What? The Yellow Brothers Sect Sect Master is dead?"


    Bone Melting Sect Sect Master saw what happened and couldn''t believe his eyes. "Oh my god¡­..he is also a Wu Zong and he is dead just by being torn through the head like a watermelon¡­.."


    Looking at the dead sect master who was as powerful as him, the Bone Melting Sect Sect Master immediately had the intention of retreating.


    He was a sect master of the Bone Melting Sect and had control of one of the counties. Everyone was fearful of the Bone Melting Sect in the Secluded Mountain Prefecture and how could he easily fold here?


    "Is it still not done yet, Master Lu?"


    The Bone Melting Sect Sect Master retreated to where Lu Renjia was.


    "You think producing such thing is an easy task? Also, we still have to deal with Liu Yan''s Fire-type spiritual spell!"


    Even though he was rushing to set up the spiritual array, Lu Renjia did not let go of the small cauldron that was in his hand.


    An illusion of a giant cauldron then appeared and it engulfed Lu Renjia in it and he was far from the confrontation with Liu Yan.


    Liu Yan was not to be provoked as with his Fire-type spiritual spell, Lu Renjia''s cauldron would be easily broken into pieces even if there was restraint.


    "You shall die! 9 into 1!"


    With the execution of the spiritual spell, the 9 green fire dragons flying in the sky suddenly let out a long roar, before combining to become one green giant dragon. The giant dragon then flew straight down from the sky.


    "Aahh¡­.with my broken cauldron and my blood, an emerald green destruction shall ensue!"


    Seeing this destructive scene, Lu Renjie bit his tongue and spat out a mouthful of blood on the cauldron.


    "Kacha! Kacha!"


    There were many crack marks on the cauldron and was expanding. In the end, the small cauldron exploded and there was a small green pill floating in mid-air. It was giving out a shocking amount of spiritual force. The pill suddenly went up into the sky and caused the surrounding to be red in colour.


    The green fire dragon who was in that area had started to become calm and the fire in the dragon was extinguished.


    "Emerald Blood Heart Pill? Lu Renjia cultivated his whole life together with this pill, and yet he was willing to sacrifice it¡­.."


    Liu Yan shouted, "This person is preparing for a stronger move, we need to destroy what he has with him right now!"


    "Yes, Master!"


    Niu Dingtian, Xiang Zilong and a few others acknowledged and pounced on Lu Renjia.


    Unfortunately, they were too late.


    "Hehe¡­.puff¡­..it''s finally complete!"


    Lu Renjia spat out a mouthful of blood and gave a joyful look as he looked at the array map he was holding.


    "The 4 spiritual poles shall combine together. The Grand Rock Spirit, heed my command, form the array in all 8 directions!"


    With blood on his mouth, Lu Renjia chanted the curse quickly. Throwing the spiritual array map towards Liu Yan, he shouted, "Go!"


    "Xiu!"


    With a flash of a spiritual light, a blurry light started to shine from the sky and it engulfed Fang Yuan, Liu Yan and the others.


    "Whoosh!"


    The earth shook and a few giant rocks started to break through from the underground and rise to form like a giant maze.


    "Is this¡­.a spiritual array?"


    Liu Yan''s voice could be heard from far and it started to get softer till there it couldn''t be heard.


    "We are being separated? A spiritual array is indeed powerful. I have not expected this to happen!"


    Fang Yuan touched the hard rock that was right in front of him and he could feel a cold texture, which meant that this spiritual array was not fake.


    "Eagle Claw Palm!"


    He stretched out his hand and all his fingers became like eagle''s claws. He then grabbed one big piece of the giant rock and twisted it. The broken pieces became in powder form and got blown away by the wind...


    "The foundations are tough. It seems like it will not be easy to break this rock!"


    After spending much effort, he managed to break through a wall and came to a conclusion.


    He was not familiar with spiritual arrays, but there was one thing he was clear about: it had to either trap, kill, or confuse.


    "The stone array formed a maze, but it is not lethal. It is just a trap array and is not dangerous. The only worry is that we might be split and taken down one by one!"


    "I remembered that I was not far from the rest when the spiritual array was activated¡­.."


    Fang Yuan then put his ear by a rock and listen to the surroundings.


    ....


    "This is¡­..the spiritual array?"


    Outside of the maze, the Bone Melting Sect Sect Master was staring at the stone maze and was almost speechless. "You have an uncanny workmanship indeed! I heard that a big sect in the Da Gan Empire had invited a spiritual array master to produce an array. If the Bone Melting Sect had done that as well, would there be such things happening now?"


    "Master Lu, are you able to make a drive to the array so that all of them will be killed?"


    Thinking about the losses he had incurred today, the Bone Melting Sect Sect Master felt disgusted and was looking at Lu Renjia with a hopeful look.


    "Dream on! This is just a trap array. Its purpose is to trap people not to kill people! I am not as powerful as the array master, hence how am I able to change the purpose of the array?"


    Lu Renjia''s face was very pale. "Also, in order to maintain this array, I have to inject my elemental force into it. You can help me and take over for a while!"


    "Hmm?!"


    As he placed both of his hands on the array map and felt a suction sucking his elemental force away from him, the Bone Melting Sect Sect Master''s face also became pale.


    With this suction speed, his elemental force would be exhausted in just a short period of time!


    Luckily, Lu Renjia was not hurting him. Lu Renjia closed his eyes to rest after swallowing a few spiritual pills. He then passed a medicine bottle to the sect master and said, "This is a bottle of Elemental Recovery Powder, and can aid in the recovery of your elemental force. You will need to hold on for at least another hour!"


    "Damn it..."


    Lu Renjia felt a little angry as he mentioned that. "If from the start, we had set up the array map and I was not injured, I would have been able to maintain this array on my own and you could have entered the array together with the Yellow Brothers Sect Sect Master and break through the array if you both don''t meet Liu Yan!"


    "No one expected the other party to be that powerful. The teenager''s spiritual spell is powerful that it has killed the Yellow Brothers Sect Sect Master..."


    Looking at the corpse, the Bone Melting Sect Sect Master had a lingering fear.


    "So long as we are able to maintain this, Blood Demon, Tiancan and Dique will reach here in the end!"


    Lu Renjia sighed and cursed. "Damn this Old Liu, he had managed to find a good location. If we were on a flat land, I would have called for an army of soldiers to kill them no matter how many men it would take to kill!"


    It was not practical for such an attack in the mountains.


    It was very troublesome for the army to transport the heavy equipment up the mountains like the ordinance and the armour.


    Even if the elite forces were sent in, they also couldn''t gain the upper hand just by pushing people forward to attack. There were more disadvantages than advantages.


    Hence, Lu Renjia and the Bone Melting Sect Sect Master could only choose to trap them for a long period of time while waiting for their reinforcements to come.


    ....


    "The array dao is indeed profound... This stone maze seems to touch the edge of universe dao, which is actually space dao! We''re lucky that Lu Renjia is not an actual spiritual array master and is unable to unleash the full potential of this array. Otherwise, we would be in a more dire predicament!"


    Inside the maze, Fang Yuan sighed while breaking the stone wall.


    In fact, he was overestimating the power of Lu Renjia and the Bone Melting Sect Sect Master.


    From the cultivations of the two of them, they could only maintain this array and could not control what was happening inside the array. Hence, this was quite dumb in a sense.


    "Who is there?"


    The sound from the breaking of the rock shocked everyone that was on the side. In the tunnel, a deep voice was heard.


    "Is it Leader Niu? I''m Fang Yuan!"


    Fang Yuan recognised Leader Niu''s voice.


    "Haha¡­..it is Brother Fang indeed!"


    Niu Dingtian came out quickly and said, "This place is so deserted that it has almost suffocated me to death!"


    "Hmm, this is a spiritual array and is very mysterious. We better hurry and find the city master or else we would get broken through!"


    Fang Yuan then listened to the surroundings for any sound with his ear by the rock.


    "I have tried this method myself but it is useless¡­...or else I would not be scurrying here like a fly..."


    Niu Dingtian said a few words and saw Fang Yuan getting up. Fang Yuan went towards a branch road confidently.


    ''Normal people will not be able to detect such small changes. However, I am a dream master and my magical energy is much higher as compared to the other spiritual knights. Hence, I am different from the rest and able to detect these small changes!''


    Fang Yuan had an idea. "Even though this spiritual array is magical, the person who initiated this array is lousy. If I am able to find Liu Yan, we will probably have a chance to force our way out of this array!"


    Only a spiritual array master could control the array on the inside and cause endless sufferings.


    As for Lu Renjia and this god damn array, they were definitely inferior.


    "However, it is commendable that they are able to trap 3 Wu Zongs and 3 spiritual knights for such a long period of time with just an array map..."

 123 Victory

    "Master Lu, something''s not right!"


    After a short while, outside the stone maze, the Bone Melting Sect Sect Master''s expression changed. "The array map is sucking in too much of my elemental force, I can only hold on for a while more!"


    "How is this possible?"


    Lu Renjia shook his head, surprised. "Could it be that they are destroying the array from inside, forcing the spiritual array to start repairs and use up more elemental force?"


    Although he was not an array master, he still roughly knew about it and did not use the array blindly; it was an accurate prediction.


    "A single Wu Zong or spiritual knight cannot have such destructive power, they are combining forces!"


    "What should we do?"


    Bone Melting Sect Sect Master shouted. "Master Lu, think of an idea!"


    "I am an alchemy master, not a spiritual array master, how would I know?"


    Lu Jiaren rolled his eyes. "Even though they might be together, it would still remain difficult to break out of this spiritual array..."


    "Ping!"


    At the end of his sentence, a loud noise came from the top of the stone array.


    "Heavenly fire shall burn the field!!!"


    Liu Yan exclaimed, and green flames exploded, causing many large rocks to fly into the sky in all directions.


    "Whoosh!"


    After the large flame at the top of the array, the entire stone maze started to form web-like cracks spreading throughout the entire array. The spiritual array crumbled down with the sound of breaking wood, like a sandcastle.


    "Ah!"


    The Bone Melting Sect Sect Master screamed, and looked at the array map in his hands.


    At this moment, a small fire grew from the centre of the map and spreaded across the entire map. In a short while, the entire map burnt into ashes.


    This was not the doing of Liu Yan, but the one-off nature of the spiritual array map. After usage, it would be destroyed.


    "Haha... Lu Renjia, you''re good!"


    Amidst the dust, Liu Yan stood out. "Impressive that you could find an array map. If you used it during a battle, I''m afraid my brothers and I would die. Now, it seems like the Heavens want me to take care of you, and destroy you!"


    Although he was brimming with confidence, he unknowingly looked at the calm and composed Fang Yuan.


    The Secluded Mountain Prefecture Master knew that if not for Fang Yuan''s ability to feel around within the array, even he himself would be trapped inside! He had no way to deal with his array.


    It seemed that it was heaven''s will that his newest alliance member was Fang Yuan, and not any other person!


    "Let''s go!"


    Seeing how Liu Yan and company broke through the array, Lu Renjia and the Bone Melting Sect Sect Master were shocked out of their wits, and unanimously decided to run.


    "Follow them!"


    Liu Yan would not let this opportunity go, and commanded.


    "Iron-tailed Black Eagle!"


    Fang Yuan shouted into the sky. From the clouds, the Iron-tailed Black Eagle appeared and landed on the ground, allowing Fang Yuan to easily leap on its back.


    "What a pity that my Wind Chasing Falcon is injured, otherwise..."


    Taoist Mu Li mumbled to himself, but was not slower than Liu Yan as he sat on the eagle''s back.


    Even though the Iron-tailed Black Eagle was a spiritual beast and was rather large in size, the addition of three humans on its back made it tired. The remaining three Wu Zongs had to use their own Lightness Skill to chase after Lu Renjia.


    "Haha... Lu Renjia! Where can you go?"


    Liu Yan stood on the Black Eagle and shouted, while on the other hand as Lu Renjia witnessed this scene, he became desolated.


    He never would have guessed that this spiritual eagle had such a spiritual property and would hide in the clouds and only come out once its owner was freed from the stone maze!


    As the spiritual beast chased after him, it was almost impossible for him to get away.


    "Chirp! Chirp!"


    In a moment, the Iron-tailed Black Eagle landed in front of Lu Renjia and blocked his way.


    Fang Yuan and Liu Yan jumped down from the eagle''s back, and chose their opponents.


    Using the analogy of picking the rotten oranges to squeeze, Fang Yuan was against the Bone Melting Sect Sect Master, leaving Lu Renjia to Liu Yan, his nemesis.


    As for Taoist Mu Li, he sat on the eagle''s back, as his body gave out spiritual light, as though he was preparing some spiritual techniques.


    ''You cunning old fogey!''


    Fang Yuan scolded him in his mind, looked at his opponent, and was not worried a single bit.


    Even though the name of Bone Melting Sect Sec Master was well heard-of in the Secluded Mountain Prefecture through the Bone Melting Palm technique used to counter rough techniques, but what more?


    Even if his opponent was focused, Fang Yuan was still unafraid; this was disregarding the Sect Master''s injury and his depleted elemental force. He was pale and seemed like he would fall without Fang Yuan even touching him.


    "Do you have any last words?"


    Fang Yuan shook his head and came straight to the point.


    "I..."


    Bone Melting Sect Sect Master could recognise Fang Yuan.


    Among the enemies that he faced today, other than Liu Yan, it was this young man Fang Yuan who left the deepest impression in him.


    He could disguise himself as a Wu Zong until he used his Ecstasy Spell, which revealed his identity as a spiritual knight, which showed that he had foresight.


    Furthermore, Yellow Brothers Sect Sect Master, who was on par with him, also died under Fang Yuan''s claw!


    Now that Fang Yuan focused on him, together with the other three Wu Zongs, and another spiritual knight from above, he had nowhere to go!


    He was in such a dire situation; Lu Renjia wasn''t any better.


    "Thief Lu!"


    Looking at the desolate Lu Renjia, Liu Yan was excited. "On the day when you betrayed me, did you ever think that this day would come?"


    "Heh!"


    Lu Renjia chuckled. "If I cannot be the king, then beggar it shall be. I am just not resigned to fate that the Heavens want me dead!"


    At this point, he looked at Fang Yuan, and he seemed depressed.


    That was only natural.


    If Fang Yuan did not join the Secluded Mountain Prefecture alliance, Liu Yan would not have the guts to attack and even succeed!


    Without this sneak attack, Lu Renjia could prepare and regroup before attacking, and could surely defeat Liu Yan and claim the appointment of Prefecture Master!


    Unfortunately, all these had just became a dream.


    Of course, if Fang Yuan knew his current thoughts, he would have scoffed.


    He had decided his fate the moment he pulled the Spirit Returning Sect into his alliance.


    Furthermore, there was also Ling Yin by Shi Yutong''s side to aid her, and under such circumstances, why would he not attack Lu Renjia to destroy the source of the problem?


    ...


    "Whoosh!"


    In such a short period of time, there was a sudden change to the entire situation."


    A blood flash appeared from the forest like a quick arrow being fired, and in the forest a silhouette could be seen.


    "Don''t harm him!"


    After the blood flash, Tiancan and Dique rushed forward as well, panicking.


    While he was at his wits end, Lu Renjia''s saviors had arrived!


    "Die!"


    Seeing the change to the entire situation, Fang Yuan immediately took action.


    As he exclaimed, his paralyzing scream was much stronger than before, even a few folds stronger! Using his magical energy as his foundation, together with his dream master''s Ecstasy Spell, even spiritual knights would be stunned for the moment!


    "Kacha!"


    Using this opportunity, he rushed in front of the confused Bone Melting Sect Sect Master, and with his right hand becoming a claw, he crushed his neck without hesitation.


    "Ping!"


    As his corpse landed on the ground, it was lit into flames by Liu Yan''s green flames, and became ashes.


    Seeing Lu Renjia''s reinforcements approaching, Liu Yan knew that he might have the chance to flip the entire situation around, and thus used his ultimate technique.


    "Let the flames burn! Let Heaven and Earth be a furnace!"


    Flames surrounded him; a large amount of green flames rose up as he attempted to end Lu Renjia''s life.


    However, Lu Renjia was an alchemy master and was unafraid of flames. If Liu Yan was not of higher cultivation than him, it would be hard for Liu Yan to pressure him with his flames.


    Lu Renjia put on a silver cloak. He fought the fire while at the same time retreated.


    "Ah... You force me to do this!"


    From the heat of the battle, a loud voice was heard, and there was a shocking spiritual pressure everywhere.


    It was obvious that Lu Renjia used some methods as an ultimatum against Liu Yan. He spit out a mouthful of blood, and as his silver cloak became tattered, he advanced forward, as he seemed to rejoin the Blood Demon and company.


    "Bless! Restrict!"


    In mid-air, Taoist Mu Li''s spiritual spell was also completed. With the flick of his wrist, numerous green flashes struck down.


    Fang Yuan was protected by a spiritual glow and felt rather warm. He slowly regained the energy that he exhausted previously, but on the other hand, for Lu Renjia, he became visibly slower than before.


    "Go!"


    His eyes became bloodshot, and he bit on a spiritual pill which he hid in between his teeth. He seemed to be unaffected by the spiritual spell and almost arrived into the safety and protection of the blood flash.


    "Go!"


    "Whoosh!"


    Suddenly, an emerald flash shot like a rainbow stretching across the sky, and in front of Blood Demon, it pierced through Lu Renjia''s neck!


    "Cough cough..."


    Lu Renjia fell to the ground. As the emerald flash dissipated, a weird looking blade appeared, and his expression changed.


    Never would he know that he would die under his own weapon!


    "Master!"


    As the blood flash weakened, two shadows appeared from behind. There were Tiancan and Dique. Both of them were kneeling on the ground and were crying as they looked at Lu Renjia''s corpse.


    "All these remaining are evil as well, do not let any one of them escape!"


    Liu Yan''s moustache was covered in blood, and commanded the three Wu Zongs, including Niu Dingtian. "Wipe them all out!"


    "Yes Master!"


    Niu Dingtian and company agreed, and surrounded the few who remained.


    ...


    After a few days, the news that shocked the entire Xia Country spreaded.


    The outside world thought that the fight within the Secluded Mountain Prefecture would last incredibly long, but in fact, it ended quicker than anyone could ever expect.


    The Secluded Mountain Prefecture Master Liu Yan took the opportunity, personally led his alliance into a dangerous territory to kill Lu Renjia, and at the same time remove the Bone Melting Sect Sect Master and the Yellow Brothers Sect Sect Master.


    Including the previously captured Shi Yutong, the entire opposing alliance was completely wiped out, and the rebels were defeated.


    Furthermore, the two Wu Zongs Tiancan and Dique were surrounded and killed, as they accompanied their master.


    As for Blood Demon, he had foresight and executed a mysterious Blood Escaping Technique to successfully get away, which made him the only remaining rebel left.


    Liu Yan became increasingly well-known, but as the biggest contributor, Fang Yuan remained low profile and remained unknown to many.

 124 Reward

    Back in the Secluded Mountain Prefecture City.


    Half a month had gone by. As the war was over, civilians who had left their houses to escape the war were returning and this made the city a little more lively.


    Back in one of the magnificent guest rooms in the city master''s mansion, Fang Yuan sat down with both of his eyes closed and had drifted into his dream world.


    Not long after, he opened his eyes and was reminiscing. "This pathway to become a dream master¡­...is indeed magical and mysterious!"


    As he reached the stage of a dream master, he could fully control his own dream world. Even though it had been stabilised, if he were not to incur any damage mentally which could cause him to collapse mentally, he would definitely be able to dominate his own world!


    Just then, he went back to the time when he was young and explored that world again. He even went to the dream in that time and relived his life again which was full of joyful experiences.


    The feeling that he had gotten couldn''t be described with words.


    "That world¡­..is too real...."


    Also, Fang Yuan had many more guesses with regards to this dream world.


    "Or maybe¡­..this dream did really exist and I was there. Also, it didn''t even know that that was my hometown and I had managed to catch up with the ''crossing''. The two souls from the real and dream worlds had started to combine together and caused the dream I had as a young child to appear now in my memories?"


    He thought through this and took another glance at his stats window.


    "Name: Fang Yuan


    Essence: 10


    Spirit: 10


    Magic: 8.6


    Profession: Dream Master (Dream accessing)


    Cultivation: [Dream Master (1st Tier) (Fused Elemental Force)], Wu Zong


    Technique: [Eagle Claw Iron Skin Technique (Grade 13) (???)], Ecstasy Spell, Shadowstep,


    Skill: [Medicine (Level 3)], [Botany (Level 4)]"


    Once he entered the dream world, he would have the chance to cultivate himself. Fang Yuan was very satisfied that his magic had improved again.


    "My current magic is probably higher than that of Liu Yan¡­..I''m also starting to attract a lot of attention..."


    He had also realised that when he had exterminated Lu Renjia, the power that he had displayed was shocking.


    When there was war, it was better for one''s allies to be stronger. However, when the war was over, being more powerful than another would only cause jealousy.


    As he had expected such things would likely to happen, he had purposely been on a low profile. He showed that he had no intention of gaining any power to prevent any people from being jealous of him.


    Anyway, with his current skills, not many would dare to provoke him or take away his share. It was actually benefitting Fang Yuan when he kept a low profile as he would be regarded as someone powerful but had nothing against the rest of the world, like Taoist Mu Li.


    Indeed, Liu Yan was satisfied with Fang Yuan and Fang Yuan had enjoyed his hospitality for quite a long period of time.


    "Is Master Fang in there?"


    As he was thinking, Taoist Mu Li''s voice came from the outside. Fang Yuan then shook his head and was feeling irritated.


    In the city master''s mansion, the things used here were of top quality. There was Taoist Mu Li, who had found many reasons to visit Fang Yuan and even chatted with him about spiritual birds. He had shown great interest in the Iron-tailed Black Eagle and seemed that he was willing to give up anything in exchange for that eagle. This had caused Fang Yuan to be quite annoyed about it.


    If not for his skills in feeding spiritual birds as well as his powerful Wood-type spiritual spells, which allowed Fang Yuan to learn quite a lot from him, Fang Yuan would have chased him away long ago.


    "It''s Taoist Leader Mu Li!"


    Hence, Fang Yuan didn''t want to do anything bad to him and instead, he welcomed him with a smile and said, "Are you going to discuss with me about spiritual birds today?"


    "Not really! I have another issue to tell you today!!"


    His face was quite serious. "There is news from the front line of the battlefield. Leader Xiang Zilong had led his troops to remove the remaining rebellion forces. There is finally peace in the Secluded Mountains Prefecture!"


    "This is great news!"


    Fang Yuan cheered but he was not really surprised by it.


    The leaders and martial artists who had elemental force from the rebel forces were all killed already. The remaining rebellion forces were definitely low skilled and easy to be removed. Hence, Fang Yuan had expected a victory in the war.


    "Not bad, Brother Liu is probably calling all of us to go over for the rewards!"


    Taoist Mu Li laughed and said, "Since Master Fang, you had contributed the most, I bet the city master would agree to it even if you want a county as a reward¡­.."


    "Well¡­..this is unnecessary. I''m living alone freely and separated from the rest of the world. I also don''t have many close friends who need to be taken care of..."


    Fang Yuan shook his head and found another flaw from Taoist Mu Li.


    He was too ignorant about the politics! Or maybe, he was too naive!


    ''This rebel was a lesson to all and how could Liu Yan allow his power to be seized by the local leaders? Also¡­...the Spirit Returning Sect, the Bone Melting Sect and the Yellow Brothers Sect were all exterminated. The evil that was in the 3 counties was swept away. The Five Ghosts Sect from Lieyang County had disbanded and the other 2 counties were already controlled by Liu Yan. If he didn''t want to rely on territories that he had to build up his name and power, then what was he waiting for? Liu Yan was likely to abandon the sects and factions to change the legislature of the counties.''


    ''If I was to ask for my reward now, I could really get a county, but I will have to worry about being regarded as a trouble to Liu Yan in future! I would rather not ask for such reward and be free from any problems!''


    Of course, he knew that there was going to be a huge debate on whether to centralise or decentralise the counties. Fang Yuan wouldn''t want to be involved in the debate and hence chose to sit on the fence.


    Too bad, he already had Qingye CIty and there was no way he could return it back.


    ....


    "We have seen you before, city master!"


    In the main hall, Fang Yuan and Taoist Mu Li greeted the city master.


    Power was man''s best medicine. Liu Yan had much power in his hands right now. He was feeling very comfortable and looked energetic.


    "Haha! You two came here just in time!"


    Liu Yan waved his hand and two soldiers came up. They then lay out a map of the Secluded Mountain Prefecture on the floor.


    "I was able to kill Lu Renjia with both of your help. Brother Fang, you had contributed the most and I should share parts of the Secluded Mountain Prefecture with you two.


    He said with much pride, "You two can circle the parts that you like and I will agree to it!"


    Taoist Mu Li then swallowed. He was a little startled to see that he could get any parts of the Secluded Mountain Prefecture from the big map which was laying in front of him.


    At least, he knew the limit of his capabilities. He was just a supporting role in this war and had no part in the attack. Plus, his contributions was not as much as Fang Yuan and hence he kept silent. He then looked at Fang Yuan.


    "Hehe¡­..I have only contributed a little to this war and dare not to ask for any reward! After all, I''m living alone and have no intention of opening a sect or a faction of my own..."


    Fang Yuan waved his hands and continued, "If you allow me, I hope to just have Lu Renjia''s book of alchemy master, a few pieces of advice from you regarding spiritual knight and your help to get me a few seeds of a few spiritual objects as rewards and I would be very grateful!"


    "The rewards you are asking are too less! Too less! How can these rewards be compared to the number of contributions you had made?"


    Liu Yan shook his head.


    However, Fang Yuan who had extraordinary magical energy was able to capture that slight happiness Liu Yan had in his heart. Fang Yuan disapproved of it in his heart but showed a very sincere look. "Please listen to me, city master. Because of Lu Renjia''s actions, the whole of the Secluded Mountain Prefecture had undergone an irreversible change and the pieces of land here had been overly separated. The sects and the factions were having a hard time to take control of their own territories and hence we cannot separate these lands again!"


    "Hmm¡­...what you said is true..."


    Liu Yan was happy and continued, "I have intentions of removing the sects'' control in these pieces of land. I will order my men to control these counties and these counties will now be under my jurisdiction. How you two think about this?"


    Only now, Liu Yan then revealed his true intentions.


    "Great decision!"


    Fang Yuan was feeling a little annoyed but he still nodded his head in agreement.


    "This decision¡­...seems not bad!"


    Taoist Mu Li nodded his head and seemed a little depressed.


    "Haha¡­..very well!"


    Liu Yan laughed and was very cheerful. "Taoist Leader Mu Li, I will give you the piece of land that is within 100-miles radius of the Wood Elemental Temple as an asset and can be passed on to the future generation. You will not have to pay any taxes for that piece of land!"


    "As for Brother Fang, I will give you what you have asked but I still think is too little!"


    Liu Yan got up and walked a few steps. "You can recommend who to be the next governor of the Qinghe County. Also, there are also 10 acres of spiritual land from the Spirit Returning Sect and you can have those as well! How is it?"


    "Thank you, city master for agreeing to my request!"


    Fang Yuan immediately gave thanks.


    "Haha¡­..I have a small gift for you as well. Brother Fang, you will understand what I mean once you are back in your room!"


    Liu Yan laughed and said but he sounded as if he was joking.


    "Hmm?"


    Fang Yuan was a little confused. When he went back to his room, he then understood what Liu Yan had meant. He couldn''t help but laugh as he saw Ling Yin lying down on a couch. He was speechless. "What is going on?"


    "Sir!"


    A housekeeper who was beside him laughed heartily and replied, "The city master said that since she is your prisoner, you shall decide how to handle her!"


    "Okay, I understand. You can leave now!"


    Fang Yuan was speechless and waved his hand to signal the housekeeper to leave the room. He looked at Ling Yin who was pale but pretty and couldn''t help but to laugh. "Now I have one more issue to settle!"


    Logically speaking, since Fang Yuan had killed her master, it is normal for him to kill her as well.


    It seemed that Liu Yan had wanted Fang Yuan to kill her instead of doing it himself.


    ''This Secluded Mountain Prefecture City Master¡­..one can go through hard times together with him but one cannot share the good stuff with him...''


    Fang Yuan closed his eyes and recalled when he first met Liu Yan. He came to a conclusion in his heart.


    "The desire of man is infinite. Previously, Liu Yan only was respectable and only had one mission, which was to remove the rebellion forces initiated by Lu Renjia. However, now when the war is over, he immediately wants to centralize the whole of Secluded Mountain Prefecture and have the whole place under his control. After he has gotten the full control of the Secluded Mountain Prefecture, will he be eyeing for the other two prefectures in the country and rule the whole of Xia Country?"


    "He should just leave! Just leave! After he has gotten what he wanted, he should just leave!"


    Recalling what he had just seen, Fang Yuan then made a decision.


    He then went forward and checked on Ling Yin. He then realised she was just unconscious and not seriously injured. She just looked weak.


    "Should I kill her?"


    Fang Yuan stroked his chin and shook his head. "I''m not in a hurry to do that. Also....after Lu Renjia was killed, she would have a lot of secrets. Liu Yan may not be able to get her to spill these secrets out, but for me, I can use her as a target to practice the skill of dream accessing and dream building¡­.."


    As a dream master, he was an expert in getting intelligence from others. Even though Liu Yan might have thought that Ling Yin was of no use now, Fang Yuan was able to find some sort of use from her.

 125 The Mee

    "Master Fang, please take care and remember to visit in the future..."


    Outside the airspace of the Secluded Mountain Prefecture and high up in the sky, Daoist Mu Li rode on Wind Chasing Falcon as he reluctantly watched Fang Yuan prepare to take his leave.


    The way Daoist Mu Li watched Fang Yuan caused his goosebumps to rise.


    However, he knew that Daoist Mu Li was not a bad person and he was even slightly adorable to some extent. Fang Yuan waved his hand and said, "You do not have to send me off further...Before I leave, I would like to tell you that even though this place is excellent, it still cannot be compared to your home. Return to the Dao journey as soon as possible and enjoy the rest of your life!"


    Right after he finished his sentence, Fang Yuan nudged Iron-tailed Black Eagle into flight without caring whether Daoist Mu Li understood his parting words. In no time they became a small black dot in the sky.


    "Even though this place is excellent, it still cannot be compared to home...What a great saying!"


    Daoist Mu Li nudged Wind Chasing Falcon to circle around the area as he muttered these words. Then he smiled bitterly and sighed, "Haiz...you can easily leave this chaos, but I am stuck here for long!"


    ...


    "Whoo whoo!"


    High up in the sky in the strong winds, Fang Yuan felt extremely delighted and shouted out in jubilance.


    After all, whatever he took back this time was more than enough.


    He did not have much intention to control Qinghe County. Based on what he had, it was already slightly challenging to control Qingye town, what more a county?


    He was even more disinterested in setting up his own sect.


    This time, not only did he take control of Qingye City, he could also nominate the governor. This was already a delightful surprise.


    "Most spiritual knights in Xia Country, and even the neighbouring countries, are stuck at the Elemental Gathering Realm and cannot progress further... After 200 years of hard work, Liu Yan is now close to the next realm... Fusing elemental force and purifying it, the next stage would be to break through to the Elemental Opening Realm! To use one''s elemental force and break through all the hidden locks in the body, one will be able to control his body like how an arm controls its fingers, unveiling the human body''s true potential!"


    As he thought about these, Fang Yuan grew increasingly solemn as he thought, "What a pity...Spiritual knights who have reached the Elemental Opening Realm are no longer around. What is left are some information about them in the incomplete inheritances and manuals!"


    It was very obvious that if Liu Yan really reached the Elemental Opening Realm, he was the top martial artist in the country. He was even the top spiritual knight.


    "Only that...is it even that easy to break through to this level?"


    Fang Yuan was very doubtful about this.


    There were few highly skilled spiritual knights like Liu Yan in each country who had completed consolidating their elemental force and were very close to advancing to the next stage. But it seemed like nobody had managed to break through, making it seem extremely difficult.


    It was obvious that with Liu Yan''s advancement and desire to break through to the next level, people around were increasingly worried.


    It might even be possible that the unrest created this time was by some people who did not wish to have a spiritual knight who was in complete mastery of elemental force to disrupt the balance of power in the country.


    As such, even though Liu Yan looked like he was firmly in control, he was definitely very troubled internally, especially with the problems he was facing emotionally which was the most critical.


    "But... what does all this got to do with me?"


    Fang Yuan broke into a smile as he thought, "Who cares what goes on outside? I will just take advantage of this peace before the storm to stay in Qingye City to grow my crops..."


    "Once I am able to successfully break through to the Dream-building and Illusionary Divine stages, I can still return and reclaim this old piece of land!"


    After becoming a dream master, with the inheritance from Master Wenxin, he would be able to cultivate smoothly all the way to the Prominent Divine stage!


    Of course, the dream master''s Prominent Divine stage was divided further into many sub-stages. Even attaining the most elementary sub-stage would give one the power to rule an entire country!


    "After all, the way of the dream master is to make sufficient preparations before acting. The longer I train the more powerful I become, I might even be on par with a spiritual array master!


    "Generally speaking, the Dream-accessing and Dream-building Stages of a dream master can be compared to the Elemental Gathering Stage of a spiritual knight. The Illusionary Divine Stage would be comparable to the Elemental Opening Stage. As for the peak of the Prominent Divine Stage and even the stage of actualising an entire spiritual land, these stages must be much higher than the Elemental Opening stage. As for how to attain it, I have no idea too..."


    "Dream-building, followed by Illusionary Divine stage, and subsequently the branching out of a dream master. This is the direction I should he heading towards in the future!"


    As he was deep in thought, Iron-tailed Black Eagle suddenly let out a loud call of jubilation.


    Fang Yuan was shaken out of his deep thoughts and he saw the Clear Spirit Mountain in sight as well as an extremely familiar looking city.


    "Qingye City?!"


    He patted the eagles neck and it landed.


    "Whoo whoo!"


    In the midst of the strong downwash and the sight of the intimidating and powerful Iron-tailed Black Eagle, the peace within the city crumbled momentarily into panic.


    "Sir is here!"


    Then, a group of riders rode towards Fang Yuan. Its leader was Zhou Wenwu. He bowed and said, "Hello sir!"


    "Erm, it looks like you''re doing well as the head of this city!"


    Fang Yuan looked at the guards following behind Zhou Wenwu and burst out into laughter.


    In truth, these guards were very fortunate.


    When Fang Yuan ordered Zhou Wenwu to take down Qingye City, he had no intention of creating a diversion for himself. If Lu Renjia had not ordered Blood Demon and company to retreat, these guards would probably be in great suffering.


    Of course, the risk that Zhou Wenwu took earlier paid off.


    At least, with the support of Fang Yuan and the Secluded Mountain Prefecture, Zhou Wenwu was able to consolidate his power as head of Qingye City smoothly.


    "Sir, all remnants of the Spirit Returning Sect have been cleared out of the city!"


    While walking towards the renovated and revamped official residence, Zhou Wenwu ordered the servants to leave them as Yu Xinlou and him reported the latest news in the city to Fang Yuan.


    The last time Fang Yuan came to this place he did so furtively on his kidnapping mission. Now he could stride in proudly as the owner of the place.


    "They''ve been cleared out? Outstanding!"


    Fang Yuan dropped Ling Yin and ordered Yu Xinlou to make preparations as he lifted up her forehead.


    He then remembered, the head of the Spirit Returning Sect in his custody was another problem for him.


    Upon seeing this, Zhou Wenwu spoke up again and said, "The head of the Lin family, Lin Benchu and all 72 of his family members have been locked up. We are waiting for you orders!"


    "Oh? Lin Benchu is also detained?"


    Fang Yuan was slightly surprised by this news. To Fang Yuan, he could not decide whether Lin Benchu was a sadistic person or he was just plain cold-blooded. It was thus a surprise that this major obstacle was removed so quickly.


    "Also..."


    Zhou Wenwu then began to flush with awkwardness as he reported, "Lin Leiyu has also been detained. Would you like to see her?"


    "Erm?"


    Fang Yuan looked at him and asked, "You successfully detained a martial artist with inner force? Who helped you?"


    "Sir, you''re observant!"


    Zhou Wenwu thought about the complicated history between Lin Leiyue and Fang Yuan and felt incredibly uneasy. Beads of perspiration formed on his forehead as he revealed, "Lady Lin was betrayed by her own people from the Spirit Returning Sect!"


    "Tell me more in great detail..."


    Fang Yuan picked up his cup of tea, his face was expressionless.


    "This was what happened..."


    Zhou Wenwu calmed himself down and reported everything he knew in great detail. What happened was actually very simple. When he took down Minister Lin''s entire family, Lin Leiyue definitely came to their rescue.


    When news of Liu Yan''s victory arrived, the remaining fighting forces of the Spirit Returning Sect saw their morale completely broken and gave up. A few disciples and elders who were desperate for their own safety rebelled and betrayed Lin Leiyue, turning her in in hope they would be pardoned.


    "Where is she?"


    Fang Yuan thought in silence for a while before asking.


    "She is currently locked up in an isolated cell alone in the prison. So are Lin Yuanwai and his family!"


    Zhou Wenwu braced himself as he reported the decision he made for them.


    In fact, if Zhou Wenwu did not consider Fang Yuan''s dealings with the Lin family, he would have wiped out the whole family. He did not forget how they betrayed his family and took all of his family''s property during the crisis in central Song.


    "Let''s go, after all we know each other, we still have to go over and visit them!"


    Fang Yuan stood up reluctantly and walked to the prison with Zhou Wenwu.


    The prisoners were separated within the prison according to their statuses. For example, people of more respectable statuses were placed in the single cells as they naturally could not be treated as a normal criminal.


    In fact, apart from the lack of freedom, the living conditions of the single cells were almost on par with those in the local inns.


    After opening several metal gates, Zhou Wenwu led Fang Yuan to a cell.


    Through the grills made of top quality metal, Fang Yuan saw the slender outline of Lin Leiyue.


    Lin Leiyue lost significant weight in this short period of time. Her legs were chained by iron chains made of Thousand Years Cast Iron. Even if she recovered her strength, it would be impossible for her to escape.


    "Brother Fang...no! Sir Fang, this is a misunderstanding!"


    From the other side, Lin Yuanwai stuck his chubby head out and begged, "Please take into consideration our past friendship and spare our family!"


    "Fang Yuan?"


    The sound of her father''s voice caused Lin Leiyue to come out of her thoughts and back to reality. She turned around to face the man in front of her with a complicated expression on her face.


    She originally intended to take revenge on Fang Yuan, but she was easily defeated by his subordinate. She could not help but to admit that he had long overtaken her, to the extent the survival of her entire family now depended on him.As for himself, Fang Yuan gained several personal items from this trip. Riding on the strength of the Secluded Mountain Prefecture, he acquired a bunch of precious spiritual items as well as Lu Renjia''s alchemy manuals. He even received guidance from Liu Yan on how to become a spiritual knight.


    Instead, it was the plot of spiritual crop belonging to the Spirit Returning Sect that failed to impress Fang Yuan.


    "This world is mostly made up of spirituality and martial arts. Martial arts only exists because it plays a supportive role to spirituality. Although there are developments in martial arts in the Da Qian Empire, the development is however not seen here..."


    Fang Yuan calculated the items he benefitted such as the guidance from Liu Yan, the advice and lessons he took out from Daoist Mu Li and Lu Renjia''s alchemy book. After he all he had learnt and gained, Fang Yuan was rather clear about his future after he becomes a spiritual knight.


    "After a normal spiritual disciple promotes to become a spiritual knight, it can all be classified as the realm for the consolidation of elemental force already!"


    "Based on this aspect, it didn''t matter if one was an alchemy master, spiritual knight, spiritual array master or even a dream master, it was the same. The phases of entering the dream world and constructing dreams are all a part of the realm for the consolidation of elemental force. For other aspects or other terms, they do not deviate too much from the original principle that is to consolidate one''s elemental force while putting in consistent hard work and effort in doing so!"

 126 Stocktake

    "Master... How do you want to deal with the Lin Family?"


    Out of the cells, Zhou Wenwu bowed and asked.


    "Whatever you wish to!"


    Fang Yuan waved his hands and gave a vague reply to Zhou Wenwu. He did not care one bit about the Lin''s Family future.


    "Also... You don''t need to worry about Qinghe County. The Secluded Mountain Prefecture Master has the intention to insert county soldiers there and send a governor there... I have the right to recommend the first governor!"


    As he ended his sentence, he could see the desire in Zhou Wenwu''s eyes, which died out after awhile.


    After a while, he realised that Zhou Wenwu did not plead him to recommend him as the governor, and nodded his head. "You know your own limits, and that''s good..."


    "I know that I can only do so much. It took me a lot of effort to take care of Qingye City already, so I know cannot take up this challenging role..."


    If he said that he had no desires for the role of governor, that would be lying. It was just untimely!


    With Zhou Wenwu''s self-confidence, if he was given 20 years to develop in Qingye City, he could naturally become the next governor.


    "Mm... Qingye City is yours, and Yu Xinlou will be your assistant! Zhang Sheng will take care of the secluded valley..."


    Fang Yuan planned for his subordinate''s future. "Also... The spiritual farm in Spirit Returning Sect is ours now, so hurry and send some people to take it over from the city, and Huang Fu Renhe will be in charge of this!"


    Without further ado, without eating the dinner which Zhou Wenwu painstakingly prepared, Fang Yuan called for the Iron-tailed Black Eagle and disappeared into the sky.


    ...


    "Everything that happened on Earth is a miracle..."


    High above the clouds, Fang Yuan looked down at the city and had a different feeling from before.


    When he came to the city for the first time, never would he know that the entire city, together with the neighbouring mountains and rivers, would be his property.


    He returned to the secluded valley and told the excited Huang Fu Renhe about the spiritual farm, and instructed Zhang Sheng to take care of the secluded valley. Without stopping, Fang Yuan brought the Flower Fox Ferret along and arrived at where they held Shi Yutong.


    In the cave, a sleeping beauty was in deep sleep and appeared shrivelled and skinnier.


    "Alright, enough of pretending, Sect Master Shi!"


    Fang Yuan scoffed. "You think you can hide it from me?"


    At that moment, the sleeping beauty opened her eyes and her face glowed.


    Even though she was in such a state, she still had an elegant vibe.


    "Master Fang still remembers me...."


    Shi Yutong sighed, and in her voice a little hint of resentment.


    "Why? Is the location not good enough? Or not enough staples?"


    Fang Yuan jokingly enquired.


    He used a secret dream master technique to seal up Shi Yutong''s elemental force, and this seal was extremely hard to break open.


    As of now, she was just a normal lady, and could no longer escape the trap she once placed here herself.


    If she did not rely on the staples and water provided, she would have died of hunger!


    "I am already a prisoner, why would I dare to be presumptuous? That would be asking for more!"


    Shi Yutong sighed again. "There is no moonlight or sunlight in the cave, so I felt a little lonely, please don''t hold it against me!"


    "Why not just come straight to the point. You want to hear about what happened outside?"


    Fang Yuan had a cheeky smile. "Firstly... I can tell you that half a month have already passed!"


    "Half a month?!"


    Shi Yutong nodded her head and forced a smile. "I''m afraid that Qinghe County is now in war? Lu Renjia''s disciple is captured, and his alliance member trapped. He will surely do something about it, and you have joined the Secluded Mountain Prefecture Master''s alliance?"


    "Lu Renjia is dead, and there is no more Spirit Returning Sect..."


    Fang Yuan sighed softly and observed Shi Yutong''s expression.


    "Lu Renjia... Dead?"


    Her eyes were wide and she was in disbelief. "How is that possible? Master Lu has the protection of Tiancan and Dique and even recruited the Blood Demon. Including our three counties, he should be at the winning end!"


    "Liu Yan''s alliance and I ambushed him and took his life while he was deploying his people all around!"


    Fang Yuan did not hide. "Based on logic... I thought that you would be more concern about Spirit Returning Sect..."


    "When the nest is flipped, how will there be any uncracked eggs?"


    To Fang Yuan''s question, Shi Yutong shook her head. "Since Lu Renjia died in your hands, then Bone Melting Sect Sect Master and Yellow Brothers Sect Sect Master would be no better, and the addition of Spirit Returning Sect would not do much..."


    Even though it was as such, she was still reflective. "I cannot face the grandmasters of Spirit Returning Sect after its destruction."


    Her attitude shocked Fang Yuan.


    He thought that she would grief over the destruction of her own Sect as a Sect Master.


    He did not expect Shi Yutong to look defeated, but still able to hold her emotions.


    "What is Master Fang''s intention for me?"


    Shi Yutong raised her head and looked at Fang Yuan.


    "Since you are my enemy, our feud cannot be settled just by a smile. However, I will also not be unreasonable and kill you, because that would be undeserving to a Sect Master. I can only have you stay here for a while longer. After all, a living Wu Zong would have more value..."


    Fang Yuan shrugged his shoulders and noticed the shuddering of Shi Yutong''s delicate body.


    Even though this was not the cruelest way possible, but to her, it was definitely not a good thing.


    Especially looking at Fang Yuan''s progress, if he reached the corresponding stage in his dream master cultivation, he could use her as practice. By then, she would have preferred a quick death.


    "I will replenish your food and water. Of course, before that..."


    Fang Yuan took a few steps forward and took out a few golden needles. "I will periodically come back to strengthen the seal on your body!"


    "Master is indeed an amazing doctor. I can do absolutely nothing with this seal on me..."


    Shi Yutong forced a smile and appeared helpless. She did not resist but asked. "Other than the Main Treasures Vault in my Sect, I have another secret storage, and only I know about it. Are you interested?"


    "Nope!"


    Fang Yuan replied decisively, which almost made Shi Yutong choke.


    ...


    "This lady...is cunning! She is still trying to turn things around even in a dire situation!"


    As he approached Green Peak spiritual land, Fang Yuan touched his chin and there was a sinister look in his eyes. "If not for the high value of a Wu Zong test subject, I would have killed her straight away, as that would be most appropriate..."


    "Chirp! Chirp!"


    The Iron-tailed Black Eagle chirped and entered the white fog, and the Green Peak appeared in front of Fang Yuan.


    "Flower Fox Ferret... While I was outside, you were lazy huh... Did you listen to my instructions and feed them?"


    Fang Yuan approached the peak of the cliff and saw that the Red-eyed White Bird''s nest were all empty. There were a few small bird corpse, as though they were starved to death.


    "Keke!"


    The Flower Fox Ferret tried to explain. Its paws were pointing here and there, as though it was describing that there was not enough prey to hunt.


    Fang Yuan could only shake his head in disappointment. He knew that asking a spiritual beast to be a nanny was a little too much, and it was only normal that this would happen.


    He intentionally down to take a look at the Red-eyed White King bird.


    Even though the king bird was skinny like a bag of bones, it still had a little breath left, and Fang Yuan smiled. "This spiritual bird has a strong will to live..."


    Since the most important king bird was still alive, then a few baby bird''s death would mean nothing.


    Fang Yuan returned to his straw pavilion and started to account for his spiritual plants.


    Firstly, it was the Vermilion fruit. It was still a tiny shoot and did not grow much, which made Fang Yuan speechless.


    The Questioning Heart Tea was filled with leaves, and had a little emerald glow around the entire tree; it was brimming with life.


    Of course, there was the extremely important Flame Jade Rice. All of them germinated and looked like tiny flames. They greedily sucked the ground of spiritual energy.


    If not for the nutritious ground in Green Peak spiritual land, they might not even be able to grow here.


    Up to this point, Fang Yuan was rather satisfied. The Flower Fox Ferret was not completely lazy, as it did take care of these spiritual plants.


    "However... it seemed that none of it evolved any special traits, I was thinking too much..."


    After one round around the farm, Fang Yuan looked at the condition of the Icy Fire Jialan and the other single trunked spiritual plants and did not find anything special, which made him a little disappointed.


    "What about the Sickle Grass and the Serrated Flower?"


    He had high expectations for these two plants and specially planted them separately from the others to give them enough space to hunt for food.


    "Keke!"


    After a few steps, the Flower Fox Ferret seemed afraid and tried to explain that there was something scary that happened there.


    "Eh?"


    Fang Yuan became excited and walked even faster.


    The Sickle Grass and Serrated Flower could hunt for their own prey, but the farm was empty with an occasional corpse lying around. These were the unlucky ones who were attracted here and ultimately offered their flesh as a sacrifice to become the fertilizer for these two spiritual plants.


    "Wow..."


    Seeing how the surrounding plants were greener than before, with plenty of wild fruits, Fang Yuan heaved a sigh of relief. "When did these two spiritual plants have the ability to nourish the farm?"


    With the numerous fruits around, wild animals would be attracted here, like how a bait attracts fishes. Furthermore, they fed the animals until there were big enough before capturing them, and Fang Yuan was shocked as to how these spiritual plants would know such a concept.


    "Wait for me here..."


    Seeing how the Flower Fox Ferret was afraid to take another step forward, Fang Yuan instructed it to stay put as he used his Lightness skill and arrived at the original farm.


    "Hu..."


    As he looked far, it was a sight to behold.


    Half of the hill was covered with a specific plant. This plant had a thick stem and silver leaves, and in the middle, brightly coloured flowers were blooming and from the flower there was a strong fragrance. He could see a large amount of nectar from these flowers, which made him salivate.


    "This is..."


    Fang Yuan had enough magical energy to see the horror behind the beauty!


    Beneath the Sickle Grass and Serrated Flower, there was a large number of flesh and bones decomposing to become fertilizer for these plants!

 127 Relocating

    What lay under the thick bushes of vegetation and colourful flowers were in fact heaps of skeletons!


    Considering that this patch of spiritual plants was just seeded not too long ago, the destruction it caused was unfathomable!


    "Could it be due to this reason that caused Flower Fox Ferret to catch way fewer prey than before...that led to deaths of so many nestlings?"


    Fang Yuan looked over the entire patch of vegetation and an idea popped up.


    "Caw caw!"


    At this instant, a small grey sparrow appeared in the sky and circled above the vegetation. It was obviously attracted to the strong scent of the nectar, but it was also wary and hence undecided on its next move.


    "It''s you then!"


    A spark glistened in Fang Yuan''s eyes as he picked up a small rock and flicked it at the sparrow.


    "Shoo!"


    As the rock shot through the eye, the sound of the rock breaking through the air resistance at blistering speed was deafening. There was flash of spark and the sparrow let out a painful shriek before falling to the ground.


    With Fang Yuan''s current powers, the rock he flicked was almost as powerful as an arrow released from a bow, killing the sparrow instantly.


    "Shoo!"


    As the sparrow dropped towards the ground, the sickle grass on the ground reacted instantly. A large and thick blade of grass with a metal gloss on it swiped through the swallow, slicing it into two as blood splattered on the ground.


    "The speed and power of it..."


    Fang Yuan widened his eyes in shock and thought, "I''m afraid this might even be as powerful as the swordsmen from the desert!"


    "Snap!"


    A more shocking incident happened in front of Fang Yuan again.


    The plants on the ground violently scrambled together. The jagged edges of the leaves and flowers were like razor-sharp teeth and half of the sparrow''s carcass was swallowed into the mess of plants.


    "Crunch crunch!"


    By the side, countless rays of light bounced off the smooth and sharp blades of the grass. What was left of the sparrow''s corpse turned into a pool of blood spread evenly over a nearby patch of sickle grass.


    "Is it normal for Sickle Grass and Serrated Flowers to be this brutal?"


    Fang Yuan widened his eyes as he thought, "They must have evolved! Furthermore..."


    He spotted a few pieces of dried and decomposing flowers and leaves by the side of the patch of Sickle Grass. He thought in awe, "The newly grown spiritual plants even wiped out the common plants that were here before them and are using them as fertilisers now...."


    This patch of spiritual plants had blood on their hands since their birth!


    "But, I think that it is even better if these two types of spiritual plants are more aggressive and offensive. What I do not know is whether the old way of dealing with normal Sickle Grass and Serrated Flower will work on these evolved spiritual plants."


    Fang Yuan thought and jumped off the tree branch.


    "Chomp chomp!"


    Just as both his feet met the ground, the ground exploded open and a piece of thick and thorny root spiralled towards him with amazing speed!


    "Even the roots of the plants are also weapons, this is a new capability for these two spiritual plants."


    Fang Yuan grabbed onto the root with his right hand and instantly felt the pain shoot through his palm. He winced slightly and thought, "If a common martial artist were to grab this like I did, his skin would be penetrated, and his blood would be sucked through the roots...the thorns on this root might even be poisoned..."


    Of course, he was not any common martial artist.


    As a Wu Zong who has completely mastered the Eagle Claw Iron Skin Technique, his body was incredibly tough.


    "Get out!"


    Fang Yuan broke out in a loud laughter and tapped the ground lightly with his toes. He immediately flew backwards in a flash.


    "Pooh!"


    From the bed of flowers, there was a violent disturbance as Fang Yuan plucked out a Serrated Flower with its roots intact from the soil. It let out a beastly roar as Fang Yuan did so.


    Furthermore, the loose strands of roots brought along a few shards of Sickle Grass as the plants flew towards Fang Yuan.


    "Crunch crunch!"


    Several black rays of light bounced off the razor-sharp blades of grass.


    The blades of Sickle Grass spun rapidly in mid-air like cutter-wheels as they flew towards Fang Yuan.


    "Hmm?"


    Fang Yuan''s palm changed into a colour like that of enhanced steel. He flicked out a few rocks rapidly. Each rock avoided the sharp ends of the grass blades and accurately hit them in the centre.


    "Pah pah!"


    Several blades of Sickle Grass were cut through the centre by the rocks flicked out by Fang Yuan. Green liquid flowed out of the cuts made by Fang Yuan''s rocks.


    "Goo jee!"


    Sensing the immense threat, the Serrated Flower opened and closed its large mouth and squirted out a jet of nectar. The scent of the nectar was incredibly alluring and confounding.


    Fang Yuan dodged the nectar and it landed on the ground. The nectar instantly caused several small holes to open up in the ground and thick white smoke billowed from them.


    "What a surprising move!"


    Slightly surprised, Fang Yuan grabbed onto the roots and brought the Serrated Flower out of the plot of vegetation onto a piece of green rock.


    "Goo jee goo jee!"


    It was only here, did the spiritual plant finally quietened and calmed down. However, the roots continued to struggle and crawl about, as though it was looking for soil.


    "This is...so great!"


    This sight made it difficult for Fang Yuan to even mask his delight.


    In the past moment, movement and change was so rapid and sudden. There was no difference between this and a duel between two martial artists, especially with the lethal instincts of the two evolved spiritual plants.


    "These two are only the spiritual plants at the outermost of the plot of land..."


    As Fang Yuan gazed at the Serrated Flower which was the size of a basin, he immediately thought what it was like in the centre of the plot of the spiritual vegetation. The Serrated Flowers in the centre were definitely like grinding plates. Even if a wild bull were to charge in, it would also be dismembered and devoured!


    "It would be sufficient to use them to protect the spiritual lands!"


    He lit a lighter and walked to the front of the Sickle Grass.


    "Pooh!"


    In a flash, the black blade of grass slashed the lighter into two and cut the back of Fang Yuan''s hand, leaving a clear white scar.


    "It is not even afraid of its old nemesis...It appears it is more difficult to control it than before!"


    Before these two spiritual plants evolved, they had a common nemesis, which is fire!


    In fact, most plants were commonly afraid of fire.


    But what the Sickle Grass just did in the face of fire gave Fang Yuan a little surprise, which turned into worry.


    "The roots are mobile and can move on its own. But to move it and then use it in a new location might be troublesome!"


    Fang Yuan watched the plant on the rock wriggle its way out of it back onto the soil and then make its way back to its original position in awe.


    The spiritual plants at this moment exhibited traits of animals.


    This alarmed Fang Yuan. If he allowed them to continue growing, they might evolve to become uncontrollable and incredibly destructive.


    However, remembering the folk tales he heard, he remembered hearing about tree elves in the West and Flower Spirits in the East. It did not seem that surprising for plants to develop spiritual intelligence after all.


    "Furthermore...It is a good thing they have independent thought!"


    A spark glistened in Fang Yuan''s eyes suddenly.


    The most important part of a dream master''s journey was to align oneself with nature as much as possible!


    This was all because of the most basic ability to enter the dream world!


    Every item had a soul! Every grass or tree, flower or rock, or even the highest mountains were similar in having a soul and independent thought!


    What was different for them was it took a long time, maybe even centuries for them to formulate a thought. If a dream master were to enter the dream suddenly, he would definitely work himself to death!


    But what happens after reaching the highest level?


    If one were to access the dreams of the entire world, would the constructs and rules of the world be laid out for the dream master to see?


    Even now, it had unique effects!


    "My dream-accessing technique is still unable to have any effect on plants. However, the Sickle Grass and Serrated Flowers can already express rage, fear and and other emotions like wild animals... Furthermore, their minds are purer than that of wild animals, which is the best state for me to influence them..."


    Fang Yuan rose and looked towards the plot of spiritual plants as thoughts raced through his mind.


    ...


    "Keke!"


    After a period of time, Flower Fox Ferret which was on guard along the perimeter sprang into full alert and shot next to a big tree. Its eyes were filled with shock and panic.


    In front of it, the plot of deadly vegetation was bustling with activity.


    "Pooh pooh!"


    Several roots broke through the ground and reached outwards like human limbs. Bringing many stalks of Sickle Grass with them, it began its great migration.


    The whole plot of spiritual plants began shifting away. The sight was incredibly abnormal and freaky enough to freeze a person in fear.


    The slope which the spiritual plants once occupied was not bare apart from Fang Yuan who sat cross legged on it. He was using magical energy to control the movements of the spiritual plants.


    "My access into the dream world this time is more successful than expected!"


    He was filled with delight as he thought, "Surprisingly, there was only one stalk of Serrated Flower which evolved. The other flowers grew from the pollen of the original stalk and are thus linked to it. I just have to control this particular flower and the rest would follow also. The sickle grass is just growing on the nutrients from the Serrated Flowers!"


    The dream world of plants was incredibly pure and simple. With just a few interactions, Fang Yuan felt that the plants already formed a close relationship with him and was beginning to rely on him. He could influence their movement with just his mind.


    "After all they are just plants...it seems that they have yet to develop a sense of identity!"


    Fang Yuan looked at the bare hill and immediately demanded, ""Spring breeze rain, strike!"


    "Whoo whoo!"


    The clouds billowed and coalesced into a heavy rain cloud before falling on the hill heavily.


    This was a wood-type spiritual spell which was excellent at growing and maintaining the soil for plants to thrive on. He learnt this from Daoist Mu Li.


    However, spiritual spells were incredibly challenging, and Fang Yuan had yet to master them despite several attempts.


    However, when Fang Yuan entered the dream world of the Serrated Flower, he felt that his understanding of the botany world deepened immensely, which allowed him to overcome the parts of using spiritual spells he once found difficult.


    "This ability to aid the growth of the plants is simply..."


    Even though the Beneficial Downpour Technique was elementary enough for a spiritual disciple to execute, Daoist Mu Li said that he took one year to master it, and yet Fang Yuan took only a moment!


    This difference was unexplainable!


    "To cultivate within a dream is to steal essence from heaven and earth, by benefitting from all three worlds... Unbelievable! Unbelievable!


    Fang Yuan gasped in awe repeatedly. He was now clear why dream masters were at the highest end of the pyramid in the Da Qian Empire.


    Even without fighting powers, dream masters were still able to consolidate extremely solid foundations with such powerful aid which was something very few others could accomplish.


    "Let''s go!"


    Fang Yuan rose and brought Flower Fox Ferret out of the Green Peak Spiritual Land, but he was still within the shield of the Bewildering Fog.


    "Sha sha!"


    Several stalks of Serrated Flowers and Sickle Grass shifted, and according to his plan, they rooted themselves down at selected positions and formed a new layer of protection.


    "It seems like if a Wu Zong tries to trespass, he would first be disconcerted by the Bewildering Fog and then attacked by spiritual plants. These are enough obstacles to hold him off. Normal martial artists who try to trespass will just become fertilisers for the spiritual plants..."


    Fang Yuan nodded in satisfaction. His Green Peak Spiritual Land was further secured.

 128 Disciple

    After grafting the Sickle Grass and Serrated Flower, Fang Yuan realised that these two spiritual plants had a special property, which was extreme growth!


    He casually sowed the seeds at the beginning, only to return to a vast field of flowers and grass! These two spiritual plants were planted not long ago and were extremely hardy. If there was prey, they would consume it, but if there was no prey, they could stay in ambush and receive nutrients like normal plants, from the soil.


    With enough blood and flesh, the Green Peak spiritual land''s defence would be completely set-up.


    "A normal martial artist would find it impossible to break through the two-layered defence of the Ecstasy Fog and the spiritual plants, and if a Wu Zong was not careful he might also get trapped... If there was good coordination, together with the ambush of these two spiritual beasts, they could severely injure a Wu Zong! This defence is sufficient for now!"


    On the peak of the mountain, Fang Yuan brewed a pot of Questioning Heart Tea and enjoyed it with the Iron-tailed Black Eagle and the Flower Fox Ferret.


    Since the demise of Lu Renjia, he returned to the Green Peak spiritual land and lived in seclusion.


    Every day consisted of farming, planting and researching the ways of a dream master. Occasionally he would leave to settle minute stuff in the outside world, and time passed very quickly like this.


    In the blink of an eye, months flew by.


    "Good! This spiritual land is indeed extraordinary!"


    In the farm which planted the Flame Jade Rice, Fang Yuan already began to harvest the rice grains, and his face was full of joy. "Together with the spiritual fertilizer, the period for it to mature has become even shorter..."


    Based on the astonishing intake of nutrients by the Flame Jade Rice, the consequence of planting it at the secluded valley was that the land would become barren and the rest of the spiritual plants there would wither.


    This consideration was thrown aside in the spiritual land.


    "After this season''s harvest, there would be enough for consumption. I have already begun to grow tired of the usual Vermilion Jade Rice, and it''s good to change once in awhile..."


    With expectations, Fang Yuan rode on the Iron-tailed Black Eagle and flew out of Green Peak spiritual land.


    After all, he was no longer alone. When there were issues to settle in the outside world, his subordinates did not dare to make the bigger decisions without his approval.


    Of course, there were not many of such decisions that needed his approval, but this time, it was rather important.


    "Although the governor of Qinghe County might not be as influential and powerful as the previous Spirit Returning Sect Sect Master, he must also not be an ordinary person. There are many who want to wield this power..."


    Since the Secluded Mountain Prefecture Master wanted to appoint Fang Yuan as the governor, Fang Yuan did not want it. However, he soon realised that none of his subordinates was up for the job unless he decided to step up.


    "The truth is... Shi Yutong is a good choice if she becomes loyal and obedient... What a pity that I can''t trust her anymore!"


    That thought ran past his mind as he flew in the sky. The Iron-tailed Black Eagle begun to descend into Qingye City.


    "Master!"


    A few subordinates gathered in the city square, and even Huang Fu Renhe and Zhang Sheng rushed towards him as well.


    "Please rise!"


    Fang Yuan waved his hands, arrived at the main hall and sat down.


    "Huang Fu Renhe, how''s the spiritual land in the Spirit Returning Sect?"


    As he asked, Huang Fu Renhe bowed and replied. "To reply Master, I have smoothly taken over the 10 acres of spiritual farm. All have been accounted for. I have received 587 stones of spiritual grains, and as for the spiritual flowers and spiritual grass..."


    "Mm?"


    Fang Yuan twitched his eyebrows.


    It was not that Huang Fu Renhe did a bad job, but that it was a very smooth transition.


    Even with the backing of the Secluded Mountain Prefecture Master, Huang Fu Renhe could single-handedly under the scrutiny of many take over the entire farm, which surprised Fang Yuan.


    ''I initially wanted to use this chance to show my power and destroy those that would disobey... It seems that the families in the county are rather smart!''


    Fang Yuan enquired. "Did you encounter any difficulties in the process?"


    "There are bound to be difficulties, but with the support of the Chen Family in the county, everything was rather smooth and I fulfilled Master''s instructions!"


    Huang Fu Renhe replied respectfully.


    The young man who recruited him was now a whole lot different from him, which resulted in the change of attitude from Huang Fu Renhe.


    "Chen Family?"


    Fang Yuan did not bother about these families, but the name was rather familiar.


    Based on how he lived in seclusion and was still able to hear this name before, the Chen Family should be rather influential in the county.


    "To reply master, the Chen Family is from Qinghe County. Their family master is Chen Qing, a renowned 8th Gate martial artist in the county. There are also rumours that he is just one step away from the 4 Heavenly Gates!"


    Zhou Wenwu took a step forward and further explained. "When the news of the destruction of Spirit Returning Sect spread, this family was the first to switch sides and killed whoever in the family who were disciples of the Spirit Returning Sect. I''ve heard that three old people died and two other direct descendants too... After handing over a bloody list of names, they passed the checks from the Secluded Mountain Prefecture and were cleared. They are now the number one influential family in Qinghe County..."


    "This Chen Qing is indeed cruel!"


    Fang Yuan smiled.


    Since they laid their foundations in Qinghe County, how could they not have relations with the Spirit Returning Sect? The cleansing of the family is not as simple as just killing a few people, but the innate mindset of the family members already.


    Of course, the Chen Family''s future is of no business with Fang Yuan.


    "By doing this, the Chen Family must have a favour to ask for right?"


    Fang Yuan looked at Huang Fu Renhe and smiled.


    "Master, you are indeed spot on! Chen Qing has a son called Chen Ziying, who wants to be your disciple. His son is no older than 20 years but is already an expert in inner force. He has extreme potential that I cannot match up against!"


    Huang Fu Renhe was convinced by Chen Ziying and therefore tried to put in a good word for him.


    "20 years old and already a 6th Gate martial artist, mm! Rather impressive!"


    Fang Yuan nodded his head.


    Even Lin Leiyue needed the help of a spiritual pill before breaking through the Pain Gate. The Chen Family surely did not have as many resources as the Spirit Returning Sect, which meant that Chen Ziying was indeed gifted!


    Of course, Fang Yuan did not compare him to himself. If he really did so, all the talents in the entire country would be ashamed when they know of Fang Yuan.


    "What a pity... I have no intention of having a disciple!"


    Fang Yuan shook his head and sighed. "However... If the Chen Family just wants a status for him, I can give him the status of being my disciple. As for what I want to pass down to him, it is entirely up to me. Bring this message to the Chen Family for them to consider!"


    Fang Yuan guessed that the Chen Family only wanted to scare others with his name, and therefore a disciple in-name would satisfy them.


    As for a real disciple?


    Chen Ziying was not qualified enough; even Lanruo was lacking a bit.


    "Master is cultivating both martial arts and spiritual techniques at the same time and has already harnessed elemental force, so I guess the Chen Family would surely be willing to accept Master''s offer!"


    Huang Fu Renhe could guess the intentions of the Chen Family and therefore replied instinctively.


    "Mm, then so be it!"


    Fang Yuan waved his hands and dismissed Hung Fu Renhe, and Yu Xinlou stood out. "Master... The White Cloud Business Council has been rebuilt, and the shops in the entire Qinghe County have been reclaimed. The Council is now on a larger scale than before, and is under your command!"


    Yu Xinlou knew that his Business Council rode on Fang Yuan''s influence in order to smoothly progress in the county, and therefore without hesitation showed loyalty to Fang Yuan.


    "It''s a good thing that trading is smooth in the county!"


    Fang Yuan passed down a few instructions. He did not bother himself too much with these external power. However, it would still be a good thing if they could be developed, as he no longer had to travel vast distances to get what he wanted.


    ...


    "Huang Fu Renhe, bring Lanruo and come around to the study!"


    After settling the minute stuff, Fang Yuan instructed Huang Fu Renhe to follow him.


    "Yes, Master!"


    Although he didn''t know the purpose of bringing Lanruo along, Huang Fu Renhe obliged politely and brought his sister to the City Master''s study.


    This study was huge, and the racks were filled with ancient books. There was a celadon vase on a wooden shelf and in it a plum blossom flower.


    "Greetings, Master!"


    Huang Fu Renhe greeted first and tugged Lanruo to do the same.


    The little girl was a little afraid, bowed and her voice was filled with fear. "Greetings, Master..." Her voice was as soft as an ant.


    "Haha! No need for formalities!"


    Fang Yuan felt rather kind and amiable, as he examined Lanruo.


    This girl once accompanied Huang Fu Renhe to scavenge for food and sleep on the streets, and therefore suffered quite a bit. After being taken care of for quite a while now, her figure became plump and there were baby fats on her cheeks, like a porcelain doll, extremely lovable. Fang Yuan could not hold back and pinched her cheeks.


    ''Not good!''


    Huang Fu Renhe witnessed this and was torn in between.


    ''Could it be that Master likes Lanruo? She is still too young!''


    ''However, there are men who have these kinds of fetish... What should I do if Master is as such?''


    Furthermore, thinking about how Fang Yuan was still a youth who was single, it sort of confirmed his possibility, and Huang Fu Renhe broke into cold sweat.


    "Huang Hu Renhe... Do you know why the Wild Wolves Faction wanted to capture Lanruo previously?"


    Of course, Fang Yuan didn''t know what was going through Huang Fu Renhe''s mind, but he could feel his uneasiness, and therefore softened his tone.


    "I don''t know..."


    There was still the same conflict in his mind, and under confusion, he replied.


    "Because Lanruo was born naturally with an above average magical energy! She is a good candidate for a spiritual knight!"


    Fang Yuan smiled. "With her potential, she would be much stronger than you!"


    "What?"


    Huang Fu Renhe was shocked. Looking at Lanruo''s eyes, he could not believe it. "Master, you are saying that... Lanruo can become a spiritual disciple?"


    "If she works hard enough, she could even become a spiritual knight!"


    Fang Yuan smiled and nodded his head as he looked at her. "Lanruo, are you willing to become my disciple and learn the art of alchemy?"


    "Quickly agree! Kneel down and greet your master!"


    Huang Fu Renhe immediately instructed Lanruo to do so. Only a fool would give this opportunity a miss.


    "Master!"


    The little lady was clueless but followed suit, as she kneeled down and greeted Fang Yuan.


    "Mm, very well. In my hands, I have the entire collection of alchemy art from Lu Renjia. If you work hard, it would be possible for you to become an alchemy master in the future!"


    Fang Yuan glanced at Huang Fu Renhe. "Renhe, you can learn as well!"


    "Thank you, Sir!"


    Huang Fu Renhe showed extreme gratitude an even changed the way he addressed Fang Yuan. It was as though he had sold his life to Fang Yuan, and pulled their relationship and loyalty another step closer.

 129 Matured

    "Xiu! Xiu!"


    The waving of the sword reflected flashes of light in the garden.


    A teenager was holding onto a sword that was 3 feet long and he had a slender figure. He was practising his sword skills.


    Even though he was young, his moves were fast and his tactics used seemed to be complicated. It seemed that he was well taught by someone else.


    Whenever he drew his sword, there was a energy formed from the sword and he was also an expert in inner force!


    All of a sudden, one could only see a flash of silver light in the flower garden and one would not be able to recognise that it was a person.


    "Let there be breeze!"


    He made another move with his sword diagonally and there was smoke produced. 9 petals then started to sway and split along the veins.


    "Good sword skills!"


    Fang Yuan came out of the corridor with Lanruo and praised the teenager.


    "My family''s martial arts is a joke to the experts!"


    The teenager kept the sword and took a bow. "I''m Chen Ziying, Master!"


    "Hmm, get up!"


    Fang Yuan was smiling at the talented disciple who had come to Fang Yuan out of his will. "What kind of martial arts did you learn previously?"


    "My family''s Long Spring Technique and a few sword skills!"


    Chen Ziying replied with much respect.


    "With your age, it is indeed rare to find one who could train to such a level..."


    Even though Chen Ziying was talented, he was not arrogant like any other normal talented ones and Fang Yuan like such character.


    In fact, Chen Ziying would probably have nothing to show off even if he had wanted to as Fang Yuan was young as him but was already a Wu Zong.


    "Thank you for your praise, Master!"


    Chen Ziying took another bow.


    "Hmm¡­.."


    Fang Yuan touched his chin and said, "Since now you are my disciple, I shall teach a few moves. However, your magical energy is not that great yet. If you manage to breakthrough for Wu Zong in future, there is a chance for you to become a spiritual knight. For now, I can only teach you a few martial arts moves!"


    "I''m honoured to be your disciple and to be able to learn from you!"


    Chen Ziying replied with much respect and he recalled what his father had said to him.


    ''Even though the Chen family''s strong will is displayed, but in the end, the family is too deeply involved and is not able to gain anyone''s trust in the Secluded Mountain Prefecture. Also, there are a few jealous ones who are trying to sabotage us. There is a saying that it is harder to make step forward than retreating. Hence, we will have to find a stronger ally who we can depend on and Master Fang is the most suitable person in the whole of Secluded Mountain Prefecture!''


    ''At least I''m now accepted as a disciple. Even if I''m accepted as a slave instead, so be it! The main priority is to be liked by Master Fang!''


    ...¡­.


    As he thought about that, he was listening to what Fang Yuan said attentively.


    "What I have learnt is not complicated. I will pass on the Eagle Claw Iron Skin Technique to you!"


    Fang Yuan touched his chin.


    With him pushing the peak limit in the dream world and a few adjustments he had made to his experiments for the Eagle Claw Iron Skin Technique, this technique was not like before. It was near to perfection and was way better. It also consisted of 13 grades and enabled one to break through the bottleneck of Wu Zong!


    This newly edited technique was a secret martial arts technique and it was of the same level as the Spirit Returning Heart Manual.


    ''What a coincidence¡­.there is so little knowledge about Wu Zong right here in the Xia Country but with the help of my dream world, I can practice and push the limit of Wu Zong. I will then be able to see for myself the state after Wu Zong¡­..''


    Fang Yuan looked at Chen Ziying with a strange look. ''By teaching him the Eagle Claw Iron Skin Technique, not only it will help me to refresh my martial arts, I will be able to find out what is it like beyond Wu Zong¡­..A spiritual knight can fully master the elemental force. My martial arts should be of similar level to that in future¡­...I shall not visit the Da Qian Empire for now as it is better for me to fumble on my own first.''


    "Thank you, Master!"


    Chen Ziying didn''t know what Fang Yuan was thinking and when he heard that the skill which was going to pass on to him was a good technique, he took a bow with satisfaction.


    Fang Yuan silently approved Chen Ziying as he was not overboard and not easily moved by honour.


    "I have decided to recommend Niu Dingtian as the new county leader!"


    Out of the blue, Fang Yuan suddenly mentioned this.


    Not anyone could take up the position as the governor of the Qinghe County. If it was an outsider who took up the position, the outsider would still want the soldiers from the Secluded Mountain Prefecture to listen to his or her orders?


    Also, even though Liu Yan had allowed him to choose who to be the next governor, Fang Yuan would have to take into consideration of the Secluded Mountain Prefecture''s presence there. Hence, Fang Yuan had chosen Niu Dingtian whom the Secluded Mountain Prefecture was familiar with.


    "Leader Niu is good is martial arts and is quite immersed in improving his martial arts. Hence, he will probably not have enough time to handle the county''s matters. I am recommending Chen Qing from the Chen family to be his personal assistant!"


    After Fang Yuan said that sentence, the teenager''s eyes were already filled with tears.


    "I will do anything in future to repay your kindness!"


    Chen Ziying kowtowed and knew that this recommendation would be approved by the city master as it was recommended by Fang Yuan.


    As such, the Chen family would have a position here in the county and hence achieving their goal.


    ''Even¡­..according to what Master had mentioned, Leader Niu is a rough martial artist. Isn''t the Chen family is going to be known for handling the county''s matter''s as an assistant?''


    As he thought about this, Chen Ziying was feeling passionate as he didn''t expect his new master to treat him in such a nice way. He was having the intentions of repaying this kindness till his death.


    "Haha¡­...you are my disciple. If I don''t consider for you, who else can I consider for?"


    Fang Yuan was smiling widely. It was like a benevolent teacher showing kindness to his filial disciple. However, deep down in his heart, he was thinking, ''You said you would do anything to repay my kindness!''


    No matter what, even though it was not entirely a bad thing to be so calculative towards his own disciple, it was not really a good thing still and hence he would have to make some sacrifice first.


    As for Lanruo, Fang Yuan had the same concern for her.


    Alchemy not only required an inheritance, it needed one''s talent and lots of effort had to be put in.


    Fang Yuan was already focusing on the pathway of Dream Master and how would he have the time to help Lanruo for Alchemy?


    However, Lanruo was talented and she had her brother, Huang Fu Renhe by her side to help her. Hence, the both of them could focus on Alchemy without Fang Yuan''s help.


    If one of them could be an alchemy master in future, it would bring many benefits.


    ''Unknowingly, my power has risen to such a level¡­..''


    As Fang Yuan thought of this, he was also shocked. ''I''m currently controlling a city but my power is still considered small in the Qinghe County. In future, when Lanruo and Chen Ziying have grown up and are able to make a breakthrough in the elemental force, won''t I be qualified to rule the whole of Secluded Mountain Prefecture?''


    ...¡­.


    Anyway, it was a good thing for both Chen Ziying and Lanruo to have found Fang Yuan as their master and both of them can depend on him.


    The news of Fang Yuan accepting two disciples soon spread. Zhou Wenwu and a few of the others came and congratulated him. There were other big households from the city who came to congratulate him as well and even gave him gifts to show their loyalty.


    Previously, when the method which Zhou Wenwu used to pressure the Lin family had scared the rest a little. Since there was a chance now, they would make great efforts for Fang Yuan.


    However, Huang Fu Renhe soon realised that Fang Yuan had no talent in being a teacher.


    Whether he was teaching Lanruo or Chen Ziying, Fang Yuan taught them only the basics and it was up to the two of them to comprehend the rest. Sometimes, Fang Yuan just gave them manuals for them to study on their own.


    Not many people could endure such ''self-learning'' technique for a long period of time.


    Luckily, both Chen Ziying and Lanruo were talented and both of them often had many discussions about their research with Huang Fu Renhe. Through this brainstorming, they were barely able to keep up with the pace that had been set by Fang Yuan.


    What about Qinghe County?


    After Niu Dingtian was appointed as the county leader, he was indeed annoyed with the county matters and made all his assistants to handle the matters. Chen Qing was hence promoted and had some power. The Chen family became rich and even wrote many letters to Chen Ziying, asking him to be a filial disciple towards Fang Yuan, in order to maintain his family''s prosperity.


    Even though Chen Ziying had the intention to be well liked by Fang Yuan, Fang Yuan only taught a few days of lessons and was nowhere to be seen for the rest of the days. Fang Yuan was also not back in the secluded valley often and this made Chen Ziying disappointed in Fang Yuan.


    Fang Yuan was not showing much concern to the Chen family already.


    In fact, ever since he found out that the seed of the Flame Jade Rice had matured, Fang Yuan had shifted his focus onto the spiritual farm.


    Also, the Green Peak had an abundance of spiritual energy and it was good for one''s cultivation. Fang Yuan couldn''t bear to leave that place even when he was having a break.


    "Haha...Flame Jade Rice has finally matured!"


    In the farm, there were many flame-like spiritual plants grown. Hanging above were a few gigantic buds that were carrying the pill-like Flame Jade Rice.


    "Chirp! Chirp!"


    A few sparrows were still circling around in the sky even though some of them had been caught by the Iron-tailed Black Eagle.


    "I didn''t expect a matured farm to be able to attract so nearby animals and birds!"


    Fang Yuan grabbed a rock and threw it into the sky.


    "Whoosh!"


    A few broken pieces of rock was shot into the sky like a flame and among the cries, big amount of feathers then came falling down.


    "I''m afraid I will have to plant the seeds of the Sickle Grass and the Serrated Flower so that they can guard this farm in future."


    Fang Yuan then leapt forward to the side of the spiritual farm. He stepped with his right foot and his foot was like an iron plough. The layer of soil was flipped open.


    "Pa!"


    A groundhog let out a cry. Its eyes were glittering under the sun and there was spiritual energy around it.


    "Do you really want to continue digging?"


    Fang Yuan kicked it away with his leg.


    "Keke!"


    There was a flash of white light appearing in mid-air and the light revealed Flower Fox Ferret which had landed on the ground. Its mouth was holding onto the groundhog and it started to feed on the groundhog.


    Even though the Flower Fox Ferret''s appetite had changed, it still couldn''t resist the meat from another spiritual beast. It pinched its nose and ate the piece of meat raw.


    "It is still too obvious to plant one acre of spiritual rice!"


    After he had removed the pests, Fang Yuan had decided to increase his defences of the farm in future, or else he would incur a big loss. He then started to harvest the crops with the Flower Fox Ferret.


    "If I have so much spiritual rice for me to eat every day, I don''t mind living in the mountains here for the rest of my life."


    Looking at the storage that was fully filled with food supplies and the two spiritual beasts which both gave a hopeful look, Fang Yuan then clapped his hands and said, "Very good, we shall eat to our hearts'' content!"

 130 Dream Building

    Fang Yuan was extremely experienced in cooking spiritual rice.


    However, he did not know what to expect from the Flame Jade Rice. For instance, the heat had to be brought up to cook it.


    If he did not prepare enough Flame Jade Rice, he was afraid he would undercook and waste the first pot of spiritual rice, which would be a joke!


    "Hu!"


    Once the spiritual rice became cooked, Fang Yuan lifted the pot cover, and an intense heatwave came out of the pot.


    "Keke!"


    "Chirp! Chirp!"


    The Flower Fox Ferret and Iron-tailed Black Eagle gathered around and stared at the cooked Flame Jade Rice.


    In the pot, grains of spiritual rice were glowing red, and were of a much larger size than before, like a lychee. It was crystal clear, and there seemed to be a tiny flame in within.


    "Why does this feel like I am making spiritual pills?"


    In spending time guiding his disciple, he slowly understood Lu Renjia''s alchemy techniques and felt that cooking this pot of spiritual rice was rather similar to making spiritual pills, and the end products of the two processes were rather similar as well.


    ''Of course... Spiritual rice is grown naturally and will, therefore, be better than a normal pill. Furthermore, it can be eaten as a staple, but for a pill, one still has to be worried if it is poisonous...''


    He took out two grains of spiritual rice and distributed them to the Flower Fox Ferret and Iron-tailed Black Eagle. He then took one grain for himself and stuffed it in his mouth.


    "Wu!"


    This rice was crispy and fragrant. Needless to say, its taste was wonderful. More importantly, after unshelling the rice, it was as though a burning flame exploded in his mouth, through his throat and down to his stomach. His Dantian became warm, like a small fireball in it.


    "Wonderful spiritual property!"


    With such a strong replenishment of spiritual energy, it was easily many times more beneficial than the Vermilion Jade Rice, which made Fang Yuan''s eyes glitter.


    Even with his astonishing magical energy, he could still feel that the elemental force in his Dantian was being stimulated, becoming just a little stronger than before.


    "This scale... It is much larger than the spiritual tea in the Secluded Mountain Prefecture..."


    Fang Yuan touched his forehead and his hand became moist. He was beginning to sweat.


    "If I consume this on a daily basis, it will train my fire element and cleanse my bone marrow! Furthermore..."


    His eyes flashed and he gestured something with his hands.


    "Chila!"


    A small flame appeared at his fingertips.


    "Fire-type spiritual spells... I''ve learnt it?"


    Fang Yuan was extremely interested in spiritual spells. He had read up all about it in the Secluded Mountain Prefecture and took down mental notes of it.


    Liu Yan was a fire-type spiritual knight himself. Although he did not teach his secret spiritual spells, he did not reject Fang Yuan''s plea to learn a few basic spiritual spells used by spiritual disciples.


    Spiritual spells were the hardest to learn, and as Fang Yuan tried to harness it, he encountered immense difficulties.


    However, this time, with the stimulation of the spiritual spells, he felt that he understood fire-type cultivation even more, and he could even feel the fire-type force in the Heavens and Earth. It was a different path from dream accessing and harnessing wood-type spiritual spells, but the end goal was the same. All of them were equally profound.


    "This Flame Jade Rice is fire-type. If I consume it for a long period, I would be able to increase my fire-type experience..."


    Fang Yuan rubbed his chin and was in deep thought. "If Liu Yan knew about this, he would spend a fortune just to get his hands on these!"


    He was already at the peak of the Elemental Gathering Realm and was just one step from Elemental Breaking Realm.


    However, this last step was arduous!


    In order to get assistance to have even the slightest chance to break through, he would snatch or steal this Flame Jade Rice if he knew of its existence.


    "Keke!"


    "Chirp! Chirp!"


    While Fang Yuan was lost in his thoughts, he suddenly became aware and realised that the Flower Fox Ferret and the Iron-tailed Black Eagle had eaten half of the entire pot of Flame Jade Rice, and was a little frustrated. "Hmph... Both of you didn''t leave anything for me!"


    He joined them in the queue to snatch for more.


    This Flame Jade Rice was extremely filling. Every grain was as big as a lychee, and he became full after eating 7 to 8 grains of it. Seeing the Flower Fox Ferret and Iron-tailed Black Eagle both slowing down to slowing chew on it, he then remembered to slowly savour the taste of it.


    "With my qualifications, if I focus on cultivating fire-type spiritual spells, I should be able to be on par with Liu Yan in less than 20 years!"


    After the meal, Fang Yuan felt that he understood more about the Flame Jade Rice''s benefits.


    "Of course, by purely training as a spiritual knight would be too dumb and a waste of my gifts!"


    Fang Yuan''s eyes glittered. "With so much aid from all these spiritual objects, I don''t believe that I cannot break through the bottleneck of a dream master!"


    ...


    "Chirp! Chirp!"


    On the peak of the Green Peak spiritual land, a large flock of Red-eyed White Birds were flying around, flapping their wings and chirping.


    As the owners of this entire land, other than hunting, these birds were extremely free, and once in awhile would fly to the river, comb their feathers and play around, as though they enjoy it very much.


    In this peaceful environment, a grey shadow took a shortcut and climbed up to the peak of the mountain.


    "This Red-eyed White King Bird is about to starve to death, and yet it is still so strong-willed! How troublesome!"


    This grey shadow was indeed Fang Yuan!


    Without a doubt, this was the dream world of the Red-eyed White Bird.


    It was a certain level to be able to awaken and become lucid in one''s own dream world.


    However, he was now able to become lucid in someone else''s dream, which meant that he had attained a higher level in his journey as a dream master.


    Furthermore, after a few reincarnations as birds and much experimenting, Fang Yuan was able to adopt a human body in the dream and therefore did not have to force himself to adapt to a bird''s life anymore.


    Otherwise, if he did this a few more times, he was afraid that he would pick up the habits of the birds and therefore affect his own lifestyle. For instance, the feeling of having wings, or the urge to fly once he was on a cliff.


    "The Elemental Gathering Realm of a dream master is split into two parts. The first is dream accessing, and the second is dream building!"


    A dream-accessing master can enter the dream of anything with a spirit. Editing the dream world and creating imagery would be for a dream-building master!


    "When a person is dreaming, he would put his guard down. By building a similar scene to the person''s dream, one would be able to steal secrets... This is the most basic use of dream building. Who could tell the difference between reality and imagery? The true essence of dream building is mashed-up memories!"


    Fang Yuan approached the top of the cliff. He was already familiar with the terrain, as he aimed at the platform and jumped.


    "Ping!"


    After falling for a while, he landed on his feet first and did a somersault.


    "Chirp! Chirp!"


    The sound attracted the attention of the Red-eyed White Birds, and a few white birds chirped and rushed towards him.


    "Get lost!"


    Fang Yuan struck his hands as claws and aimed at the birds.


    "Whoosh! Whoosh!"


    His ambush broke the skull of the Red-eyed White Birds, which fell to the ground. Fang Yuan continued to rush towards the king bird''s nest cave.


    Ultimately, this was the Red-eyed King Bird''s dream and it was alert. Therefore, Fang Yuan''s ability here was only that of a 4 Heavenly Gate martial artist.


    But that was enough!


    "The king bird is now out hunting and have yet to return. Of course, it would return shortly... This is because the eggs in its nest are about to hatch. It will need to rush back to let the chicks see it at first sight!"


    Fang Yuan smiled.


    Birds had a specific habit. The newborns will treat whoever they see first as their parents, and would become more intimate with them.


    "Chirp! Chirp!"


    Outside, there was the shriek of birds. The Golden Crown King Bird had returned and realised something which made it very angry.


    "Wait out there! Dream building!"


    At this moment, Fang Yuan felt that he had increased control over this dream world, and started to affect the cave.


    "Eagle Claw!"


    "Rumble!"


    As his claw struck, the opening of the cave crumbled and large rocks fell and covered the entrance of the cave. The Golden Crown King Bird was frustrated but could do nothing.


    "I want... light!"


    Fang Yuan mumbled a few words and suddenly, the entire cave was lighted up by a warm light.


    "Chh! Chh!"


    At this moment, in the next, a few huge eggs started to wobble, and cracks appeared on the eggshells. Small beaks protruded and slowly pecked at the shell, forming small holes.


    "That''s right, keep it up!"


    Fang Yuan approached the nest and observed.


    "Kacha! Kacha!"


    Accompanying the distinct cracking sounds, the eggshells cracked and revealed chicks with little to no feathers. There were still pink little chicks.


    Seeing the baby chicks, no one could imagine that one of them would eventually go on to become a red-eyed white king bird.


    "Chirp! Chirp! Chirp! Chirp!"


    As the chicks opened their eyes, they carved an impression of Fang Yuan in their little minds.


    "Good chicks!"


    Not only that, Fang Yuan even stretched out his arm and stroked them one by one, making the chicks remember his breath.


    ...


    In the cave, Fang Yuan opened his eyes.


    At the same time, the Red-eyed White King Bird in front of him opened its eyes too. As it looked at Fang Yuan, it was weird. It did not have the fierce look it once had, but rather, a kind look.


    "Good... here, have some food!"


    Fang Yuan smiled and passed it a bamboo fruit and a few grains of Flame Jade Rice.


    "Chirp! Chirp!"


    The Red-eyed White King Bird chirped weakly and obediently opened its beak to eat the food.


    "It''s done!"


    Seeing this scene, Fang Yuan was overjoyed. He knew that the Red-eyed White King Bird had fully accepted him.


    ''Who would''ve known that this attempt at changing its memories would be so successful. Luckily, I had prepared myself mentally for this...''


    Although the dream world was different from memories, a lie repeated a thousand times would become the truth. As long as he continuously convinced it in its dream many times, the Red-eyed White King Bird would confuse its dream world with its memories.


    Furthermore, this spiritual bird''s mind was more innocent than that of a human, and it would be easier to work on it.


    The only thing the Fang Yuan didn''t expect was that he would succeed on the first try!


    "Very good... This Red-eyed White King Bird has the capabilities of a 4 Heavenly Gate martial artist, and would even be on par with a 12th Gate martial artist when it is raged! Furthermore, it is a spiritual bird and has the ability to fly, and can also control the flock of red-eyed white birds. I have another strong aide now!"


    Since he had tamed the Red-eyed White King Bird, Fang Yuan immediately released the chains on it and fed it with large amounts of spiritual food for it to recover.


    "I have now entered the stage of a dream-building master, and just lack practice on a human''s dream... I still cannot be considered experienced..."


    Fang Yuan knew his own abilities well. Half a month after the first harvest of the Flame Jade Rice, his cultivation was improved quickly.

 131 Pathway

    "Name: Fang Yuan


    Essence: 11


    Spirit: 10.5


    Magic: 9


    Profession: Dream Master


    Cultivation: [Dream-Building Master (High Elemental Gathering Stage)], Wu Zong


    Technique: [Eagle Claw Iron Skin Technique (Grade 13) (???)], Ecstasy Spell, Shadowstep


    Skill: [Medicine (Level 3)], [Botany (Level 4)]"


    "Dream-building Master - Not only you have access to any dream worlds, you are also an illusionary editor. You are the real dominator even when you are in other people''s dream world!"


    ...¡­


    "As I reached the stage of a dream-building master, I have also reached the high elemental gathering stage..."


    As he looked at his stats window, Fang Yuan touched his chin.


    He realised that the stats listed were based on his knowledge and comprehension.


    For example, after Fang Yuan knew the difference between Elemental Gathering Realm and Elemental Breaking Realm, the stats for his cultivation had a big change.


    "I''m afraid a normal spiritual knight needs at least 10 years in order for them to reach the high elemental gathering stage? I only spend a few months to get it¡­.."


    Fang Yuan realised that he was more suitable to become a dream master and his speed of breakthrough was also faster.


    Plus, he only spent a few months to be on par with those who had spent at least 10 to 100 years of training.


    Inside his mind palace, the dream elemental force was flowing in his mind like water and was very pure. If he were to improve a little more, he would probably be like Liu Yan and able to reach the threshold of the elemental breaking realm.


    "Of course¡­...when becoming a dream master, one will not be at the elemental breaking realm straight away. There needs to be holy training as this involves turning illusion into reality!"


    "However, if one wants to turn a dream world into reality, does one know that the rules of comprehension and the energy needed are scary? Hence, when training to become a dream master, one could choose different pathways to do it. To simply put it, one would not start with forming the whole dream world. One could start with a normal knife, a spiritual pill or a spiritual spell in the dream world. One could even start with just a normal rock¡­..If one could achieve this, one would be holy!"


    "Even though the process of making such world involved one to start from small objects to big ones, the time needed was very long¡­..Some dream masters even got stuck at this stage for their whole life..."


    A world, and even the smallest world in the universe did contain many scary rules?


    Even though one would spend their whole life trying to make such a world, not many of them could become the actual dream masters who could produce such worlds. Many of them remained stuck at the holy illusionary stage.


    "Also¡­...within that stage, there are different pathways for dream masters to go and hence there will be different specialisations!"


    Fang Yuan recalled the content that he had inherited from Master Wenxin and his eyes started to glitter. "For example, the simplest would be the study of dream worlds. Complementing with the techniques for dream-building, it would help a dream spell master produce spiritual spells. Also, having a soldier''s fundamentals would help a dream soldier master, or maybe one could play a support role as a dream alchemy master, or a dream array master who would research on the heavens and earth. The most tedious one would be the spiritual beast master who can create live animals. The most mysterious one would the dream divine master, who would be able to predict one''s future and luck..."


    Basically, the pathway of becoming a dream master covered all kinds of spiritual knights.


    A dream master could achieve what a spiritual knight could achieve and even if there is something a spiritual knight couldn''t achieve, it would not be hard for the dream master to achieve it, if not why would they be called the dominators of their full-time career?


    "The difference between a dream master and both a spiritual alchemy master and spiritual array master will be that for dream masters, the raw materials that they get are produced by themselves from the dream world and hence the cost of it is very little. Their skills can be trained in the dream world and this is one of the advantages. Of course, the main point is that a dream master is able to comprehend the rules of heaven and earth during battles and training for alchemy and arrays! They are constantly improving the dream worlds that they are displaying!"


    "All dream masters only wish for one thing, which is to display a dream world that is holy and big!"


    Fang Yuan''s eyes glittered and sighed while he shook his head. "Unfortunately¡­...I''m still quite a distance away from that stage!"


    A dream spells master who was at his basic level could produce a spiritual spell from the dream world and this was no different from a spiritual knight! What did this show? It meant that with one''s imagination, one would be undefeatable with the confusion of illusion and reality.


    Anyway, if one would want to reach this stage, one would have to make a breakthrough in the holy illusionary stage first and that would also be the elemental breaking realm for a spiritual knight!


    Plus, it was more difficult for a dream master to make that breakthrough as compared to the spiritual knight.


    If one wanted to display something from the dream world into the real world, even if it was just a small rock or a sand particle, it represented a supernatural power! Mind could affect matter and consciousness could affect reality!


    "However, since this is more difficult, the benefits of breaking through the holy illusionary stage are greater. One would be at the top even if one was in Da Qian Empire¡­.."


    Fang Yuan sighed and waved his hand in the sky.


    "Chirp! Chirp!"


    The Red-eyed White king Bird landed and started to rub Fang Yuan''s palm.


    Ever since he had managed to tame this bird through dream-building, the bird had become closer to Fang Yuan.


    Fang Yuan even made the bird forgot about the revenge it previously had.


    It was the expertise for a dream master to tamper with one''s memories and create illusions.


    "Have some more!"


    Fang Yuan took out a big amount of Flame Jade Rice and Questioning Heart Tea for the bird to feed on.


    The Flower Fox Ferret and the Iron-tailed Black Eagle were feeling a little jealous with regards to the treatment the Red-eyed White King Bird had gotten.


    "Chirp! Chirp!"


    Even though the Red-eyed White King Bird previously did not feed on spiritual rice and spiritual tea daily, it was still joyful and it quickly ate the spiritual food. Sometimes, it also used its beak to rubbed against Fang Yuan and this made both of them even closer.


    ''This Red-eyed White King Bird is special and its abilities is much higher than that of the Iron-tailed Black Eagle even without any prior spiritual food supplements. If now it is constantly being supplemented, there is a possibility that it can reach a higher level!''


    This was the reason why Fang Yuan was treating the bird so well.


    After all, to a spiritual knight who was in the elemental gathering realm, the Iron-tailed Black Eagle was only used as a mean of transport. The eagle would not be useful in battles but what about another bird which had the elemental force?


    Fang Yuan had more hope for the Red-eyed White King Bird which had the possibility of breaking through.


    "Keke!"


    "Chirp! Chirp!"


    That scene triggered both the Flower Fox Ferret and the Iron-tailed Black Eagle. Both of them came to Fang Yuan to show their abilities by bringing a few preys they had hunted.


    "Haha¡­.you two!"


    Fang Yuan laughed and said, "Since the bird has fully recovered, the bird will take over the role of taking care of the rest of the Red-eyed White Birds. You two will not have to hunt for prey daily to feed the young birds¡­.."


    Even though through Fang Yuan''s previous attacks, the Red-eyed White Birds population had incurred quite a big loss. However, the Red-eyed White King Bird was still here. Along with the young birds and the eggs, plus Fang Yuan''s spiritual objects for them, the bird population would develop quickly.


    "As for you two¡­..you two shall follow me to the Prefecture Master''s mansion!"


    With regards to the fight between the spiritual beasts, Fang Yuan was quite surprised by it and of course, he would not forget this two even though he now had a new pet, which was the bird.


    "Chirp! Chirp!"


    The Iron-tailed Black Eagle lay facing down. It spread its wings to signal Fang Yuan to get up quickly. It then gave a stare to the Red-eyed White King Bird.


    ''What is this¡­..Big black. Where has your pride of being an eagle gone to?''


    Fang Yuan was speechless and as he saw the unwilling look from the Red-eyed White King Bird, he couldn''t help but laugh.


    ...¡­..


    "Master!"


    In the Prefecture Master''s mansion, everything was going smoothly. The only ones that still needed coaching would be Lanruo and Chen Ziying.


    "Hmm, Ziying, your Eagle Claw is not bad now!"


    Fang Yuan was surprised that in just a short period of time, Chen Ziying had managed to break through the 4th Gate and could concentrate his inner power from the Eagle Claw.


    Even though Chen Ziying already had prior experience in martial arts and didn''t have to pass through the initial stage, Fang Yuan didn''t expect him to have practised the Eagle Claw Technique to such a level.


    "I''m able to achieve this is because of your guidance and help of the spiritual rice!"


    Chen Ziying bowed with much sincerity.


    After all, even though he was the son of the Chen family, he didn''t have Vermillion Jade Rice for all meals daily.


    In fact, it was because Fang Yuan had found a type of rice that was better than the Vermillion Jade Rice and hence he was willing to give out the Vermillion Jade Rice to his men and disciples.


    If Chen Ziying knew that what he had enjoyed was what Fang Yuan had abandoned, he would be shocked.


    "Master¡­.."


    Since they had known each other for quite some time already, Lanruo was not shy when in front of Fang Yuan anymore. "I don''t really understand some of the spell language and the techniques in the alchemy. For example, the Three Yang Fire and the Three Yin Fire, and also the Settling Jade Liquid and Rising Sun¡­.."


    "For these¡­.you will have to wait. I have some matters to settle today. I will answer all your questions tomorrow!"


    Fang Yuan was feeling a little ashamed but he didn''t show it on his face. He waved his hand the two disciples to leave first and then he went to the prison.


    In the prison, there was a cell that was rather clean and he saw Ling Yin in it.


    "How are you, Miss Ling Yin?"


    Fang Yuan greeted her and smiled at her.


    Ling Yin was sitting down with her knees crossed and she opened her eyes slightly to take a glance at Fang Yuan. She then replied sorrowfully, "You can forget about getting any intelligence from me!"


    "Miss Ling Yin, why are you rejecting me straight away?"


    Fang Yuan unlocked the cell with a key and held onto her chin.


    Ling Yin''s whole body was trembling but she was not resisting, as she knew that it would be of no use since Fang Yuan was powerful than her.


    "Since you are not willing to die, it means that you still have matters to settle. No matter what it is, whether is it with regards to revenge or repaying someone''s kindness, as long as you are not willing to die, we will have room for discussion, isn''t it?"


    Fang Yuan seemed to be very confident.


    "My master is already dead and you still want to know the secrets of alchemy? Dream on!"


    Ling Yin''s expression changed.


    A real alchemy master couldn''t be cultivated just by looking at manuals. One would need a senior''s guidance as well to become an alchemy master. That was why Liu Yan was willing to give Lu Renjia''s alchemy books to Fang Yuan.


    Liu Yan didn''t believe that Fang Yuan could cultivate an alchemy master on his own.

 132 Dream Stealing

    "Dream?"


    Fang Yuan smiled and showed a mysterious look.


    This unpredictable attitude of his worried Ling Yin.


    "That''s alright..."


    He smiled and was rather gentlemanly. "I initially wanted to trade with you, your knowledge in alchemy for your freedom... But since you are not willing, then..."


    "Pa!"


    Fang Yuan snapped his fingers.


    "Whooo! Whooo!"


    A layer of Ecstasy Fog appeared and covered Ling Yin.


    "You..."


    Ling Yin stared at him and said a word before falling asleep.


    Even if her miniature elemental force was not sealed, she would still succumb to Fang Yuan''s Ecstasy Spell, not to mention the state she was in now.


    "My lady... Let''s meet in your dream..."


    Fang Yuan placed his palm on Ling Yin''s forehead and initiated the dream accessing process.


    ...


    It was daytime with a slight drizzle. A thick fog was all around.


    In the Secluded Mountain Prefecture, within a large manor, Ling Yin stood up and yawned as she rubbed her eyes.


    She had the look of a 12-year-old with two hair buns. She was in a pink robe and wore silk shoes, with two yellow flowers at the side. She was like a mini sculpture, adorable.


    "This is... My home..."


    Ling Yin was confused. "Why do I feel like I have forgotten something important..."


    "Ling Yin!"


    A voice travelled from the front of the manor, and Ling Yin threw all her thoughts aside. She stuck out her little tongue and said, "Oh no, I''ve woken up late today, will Master scold me?"


    She ran all the way and arrived at the alchemy room.


    In the middle of the alchemy room stood a large cauldron, and beneath it was Beast Charcoals burning. There was no smoke, only red flames, and anyone who stood near it would sweat profusely.


    "You''ve missed the morning lesson, why are you so late today?"


    Lu Renjia was wearing a brown robe in front of the cauldron, looking much younger than before.


    "Don''t be angry master... I... I was working late last night, and slept a little later than usual!"


    Ling Yin kneeled down and begged for forgiveness, and was worried that she would be beaten by the bamboo rods.


    "Hmm, I''ll remember this... I will test you today. You will start reciting the alchemy technique and alchemy song, then I''ll test your medicine identification... If there are any errors, hehe..."


    Lu Renjia displayed a strict master face and continued, "Let''s start with the Nine Transformation Alchemy Formula, then the Fire Hand Palm! Recite!"


    "Yes, Master!"


    Ling Yin obediently agreed and without hesitation started to recite. "Nine Transformation Alchemy Formula starts with the elements, first with ancient fire, then with wood..."


    She was smart, to begin with, and now she could feel her thoughts rushing through her mind, as she grew suspicious. ''How did I learnt so much of Master''s alchemy techniques?''


    As she smelled the concoction, she could immediately identify the pill being made. It was the usual Hundred Grass Pellet, which she could make it herself too.


    ''Wait... When did I learn the recipe for Hundred Grass Pellet?''


    The young Ling Yin was suspicious, then heard Lu Renjia''s voice again. "Hmm, you are familiar with the techniques which means you are hardworking. However, it is not enough to just know them, you still need to understand!"


    Lu Renjia showed a fierce expression, and Ling Yin did not dare to think any further as she shivered.


    "Let me ask you, what is the difference between Three Yang Fire and Three Yin Fire?"


    "Their difference lies in the type of flame. The Three Yang Fire is charcoal flame, while the Three Yin Flame is..."


    Ling Yin answered without hesitation.


    "Then what is the Settling Jade Liquid and Rising Sun?"


    "Jade Liquid refers to pill essence. When the pill essence settles, it is a sign of the pill condensing. The Rising Sun refers to the method of extracting the pill, generally speaking..."


    ...


    Time passed quickly as the exchange went by, and the young Ling Yin became increasingly suspicious.


    Master''s questions were obviously those that she had not learnt, but unknowingly, she would be able to answer them, as though she had ten years of experience in alchemy.


    ''I seem to... forget something... Could it be that I''ve learnt alchemy before?''


    Suddenly, there was an excruciating pain in her brain as she hugged her head with her hands, and squatted down in pain.


    "Mm, you''ve done well in today''s test, go and rest!"


    As ''Lu Renjia'' witnessed this scene, he had a weird expression and waved his hands. A fog emerged from a corner of the alchemy room, and slowly entered Ling Yin''s body.


    "Yes, Master! I will take my leave!"


    Ling Yin heaved as the pain in her head subsided. She did not think about it anymore and left.


    "Whooo..."


    As the door closes, Lu Renjia sighed, and suddenly transformed into Fang Yuan, with pity on his face. "Even though I am in the dream building stage, I am still too inexperienced. While trying to retrieve the secrets and stimulating her, I might even accidentally make the real Ling Yin lucid, and might be at a disadvantage!"


    "I have gained quite a lot today, so I''ll just come back tomorrow!"


    He smiled and the entire dream world collapsed.


    ...


    "What a good dream!"


    In the cell, Fang Yuan gazed at Ling Yin, who was soundly asleep and left the cell.


    One would be innocent if he thought that he could conceal any secrets from a dream master!


    Although he did not know any alchemy, this direct disciple of Lu Renjie must know, Furthermore, she was personally taught by him, which made her even more valuable.


    "What a pity my dream-building skill was only elementary, otherwise I could just flip through her memories while she was awake, and could even reproduce the exact scene where Lu Renjia taught her..."


    Fang Yuan only reached the stage where he could edit a spiritual beast''s memories. To do the same to a spiritual disciple, he would need more skill.


    "With my new knowledge, I can still manage Lanruo!"


    "Furthermore, it would also be good to gain more alchemy experience. After the holy stage, I might even follow the path of a dream alchemy master..."


    With this to play cheat, what else could he say?


    On the next day, Fang Yuan called for Lanruo and answered her queries.


    Huang Fu Renhe was listening at one side, surprised.


    He thought that Fang Yuan was only skilled in martial arts, and not in alchemy.


    However, it seems that his Master''s alchemy skills was even better than his, which made Fang Yuan even more mysterious in the eyes of Huang Fu Renhe, as his respect for him grew.


    ...


    Unknowingly, half a year went by, and the new year has begun.


    In Xia Country, the new year was an extremely important festival. In the Secluded Mountain Prefecture, every household was decorated with colourful lanterns and there were hustle and bustle all around.


    Furthermore, many people spent a lot of money after surviving the battle. Even the normal household bought many new clothes and tons of meat to celebrate life after the war, and the entire city centre became much more prosperous.


    In Qingye City.


    "Master look... This is the Blood Clotting Powder which Lanruo personally made!"


    Lanruo wore a leopard print coat, and her face was glowing with happiness as she showed off her achievement to Fang Yuan.


    "Oh?"


    After hearing her, Fang Yuan diverted his attention from the festivities outside to the packet of powder in Lanruo''s hands.


    Fang Yuan grew a year older, but there wasn''t any drastic change to him. He wasn''t scared of the cold anymore and wore a thin clothing despite the snowfall outside, which made him special.


    He took the packet of powder form Lanruo''s hands and sniffed it. "That''s right, this is good quality Blood Clotting Powder. Good job Lanruo, you are now a qualified pharmacist!"


    A pharmacist is not an alchemy master; not even an alchemy disciple, but at least she was making progress.


    Based on theory, she only had two more steps. The first being fusing her miniature elemental force to become an alchemy disciple, and the next would be to break through to elemental force to become an alchemy master and able to harness spiritual fire!


    Only two steps for Lanruo to become the likes of Lu Renjia, like how in a blink of an eye, a chicken would become a duck.


    In reality, Fang Yuan knew that it would be almost impossible.


    Although it might seem that a normal person could become an alchemy master in two steps, and even looked much simpler than the 12 Golden Gates, the difficulty of it was immense.


    Unlike martial arts where one can advance step by step, the way of a spiritual knight is to reach for the Heavens in one single step!


    It was obvious that those without gifts or potential should give up. Only those with gifts, a strong foundation, and luck might have a chance.


    Why luck?


    This was a problem related to finding a master.


    Take Lanruo for an example. If she did not meet Fang Yuan, she had to wait for ages before ''someone worthy sees potential in her'', before a spiritual knight would take her in as a disciple.


    The scariest possibility would be while waiting for the right master to come along, she might be abducted by the Wild Wolves Faction like the previous time, or even worse, taken in by an evil spiritual knight, who would use her a sacrifice.


    Fang Yuan would be satisfied if Lanruo could break through the bottleneck and become a qualified alchemy disciple before she turns 20.


    "Master... Is there something bothering you?"


    Lanruo raised her head and could sense that something was not right.


    "Oh?"


    Fang Yuan was surprised. "To detect this you must have a strong magical energy. I''m glad my spiritual food cultivation for you did not go to waste... You''re right, Master is a little vexed."


    "Lanruo wants to grow up and quickly mature so that I can help out Master and Brother!"


    Lanruo exclaimed.


    "Haha... Just some small matters, I won''t need Lanruo''s help for this one!"


    Fang Yuan laughed and pinched Lanruo''s cheeks.


    "Master, don''t"


    While playing a fool with her, his had forgotten his worries.


    "Master!"


    When Lanruo left, Zhou Wenwu approached Fang Yuan and greeted him.


    As the city master, he now had a beard and looked rather composed. "The Chen Family brought news. The people from the royal family are here..."


    "Alright!"


    Fang Yuan looked at the heavy snow outside and waved his hands. "Such urgency... They must be here because of Liu Yan. After all, this city master of ours is rather high-profile!"

 133 Princess

    Fang Yuan guessed that since the demise of Lu Renjia, Liu Yan''s ego began to inflate.


    At the rock bottom, the only way was up.


    Lu Renjia''s betrayal was a hard hit on the Secluded Mountain Prefecture, but was that really the case? When the rebels had gathered together, Fang Yuan''s tactic to strike the leader had helped the Secluded Mountain Prefecture alliance to remove Lu Renjia and two Sect Masters, banishing them into defeat. There were no other consequences for the Secluded Mountain Prefecture, and so there was no destruction or consequence to speak of.


    Needless to say, Liu Yan took the opportunity to cleanse out the rebels and destroyed the opposing Sects and powers. The split of power among the 6 counties were re-gathered and the power was concentrated in the Secluded Mountain Prefecture. Therefore, this incident was a big growth to his power.


    At least there was no such nonsense in the other two Prefecture in Xia Country.


    Based on Fang Yuan''s thoughts, he was removing all those that might challenge his power and concentrate his influence.


    Such a growth in power would undoubtedly lead to wild thoughts.


    Furthermore, Liu Yan was a spiritual knight at the peak of the Elemental Gathering Realm, and was just a step away from touching the Elemental Opening Realm!


    "Based on the report from Chen Family, Liu Yan only took a short break before coming up with all these tricks. In this half a year, he had the intention to extend his power out of the Secluded Mountain Prefecture¡­.. He might have even done it already!"


    Previously during the chaos by Lu Renjia, Fang Yuan had already guessed that external powers would get involved. With Liu Yan''s standing now, he would only take revenge on them.


    As Fang Yuan knew that in the previous year, the Secluded Mountain Prefecture Armed Forces recruited more and more people. For this, they willingly lowered their standards in recruitment and even allowed [Martial Artists (3rd Gate)] to join. With this move, they had more than 30,000 troops!


    "With all these indications, it isn''t hard to guess Liu Yan''s intention..."


    Fang Yuan sighed. "Furthermore... Even the royal family is unsettled! Why did they look for me instead of the Secluded Mountain Prefecture? Trying to get me involved?"


    He felt depressed after thinking about it.


    "Let the messenger see me!"


    Fang Yuan arrived at the main hall and waved.


    As a person who cultivates both spiritual techniques and martial arts, and a talent who harnesses elemental force, especially since he was only 20 and had a bright future, he could afford to have such airs.


    "Yes, sir!"


    Zhou Wenwu did not feel that anything was wrong when Fang Yuan instructed a messenger from the royal family, bowed and made way.


    No long after, a few ladies entered the door and greeted Fang Yuan. "I am Xie Lingyun, please accept my greetings!"


    The lady in front was tall and fair. She had a flower petal on her forehead and long black hair. She had a simple hairpin and allowed her hair to drape over her shoulders. She had the vibes of generosity, a different vibe from Shi Yutong.


    "Your surname is Xie?"


    Fang Yuan twitched his eyebrows. "What is your relationship with Xie Quan?"


    Xie Quan was the current emperor of Xia Country!


    Alas, his name was not feared enough. As a spiritual knight cum Wu Zong, Fang Yuan could call his full name without his title and no one would dare to question him.


    At first, this was not his attitude. However, as this lady directly approached him as though she wanted to involve him in this, he would naturally not show any sign of respect.


    "That''s my father!"


    Xie Lingyun forced a smile and looked at Fang Yuan. His eyes was filled with surprise.


    "Oh, you''re the princess, my apologies! Don''t put it to heart!"


    Fang Yuan casually apologised, and did not have a sense of respect.


    The two servants beside Xie Lingyun were fuming, and only Xie Lingyun was calm and composed. "I am only a humble citizen, how would I dare to accept the title of princess?"


    Her attitude impressed Fang Yuan. "May I enquire the purpose of your visit, princess?"


    "To eliminate the impending disaster!"


    Xie Lingyun maintained her straight face. "I have news that the Secluded Mountain Prefecture City Master Liu Yan has intentions to expand his control and invade Summer Sun Prefecture. Regardless of who prevailing in the invasion, the damage in the Prefecture City would be folds of that in the Secluded Mountain Prefecture City, therefore I am here to make peace of the situation..."


    "You should be looking for the Secluded Mountain Prefecture City Master for this, why me?"


    Fang Yuan touched his chin, confused.


    "My words carry no weight, therefore I am here to ask for grandmaster''s favour!"


    Xie Lingyun bowed. "In the previous internal conflict, grandmaster''s quick thinking and actions prevented chaos in the Secluded Mountain Prefecture, and is all your merit. This time, the danger is much more than before, and I hope grandmaster will help me!"


    Her sincere words touched Fang Yuan. "Please recover!"


    As he waved, he released his elemental force, and a gentle force supported Xie Lingyun up.


    ''This force... Indeed a spiritual knight Wu Zong, incredible! And he is exactly same as in the legends, young and skilled!''


    Xie Lingyun looked at Fang Yuan and blushed.


    To establish relations with such a talented person, why would her emperor father care about a daughter? His purpose of sending her here might just be to offer her to Fang Yuan.


    To give up a daughter and gain a strong ally would be common sense to those who do business.


    Fang Yuan was not a lustful person, and there were many who would want to sleep with him; he did not have to choose a hard one.


    "If you think I have much influence over the Prefecture Master, then you are wrong! I am not the person you are looking for!"


    Fang Yuan shook his head and his words were direct, as though they could freeze Xie Lingyun''s blood.


    "Furthermore, the purpose of your visit is to find out more about me. Since you harbour ill intentions, why must I help you?"


    He probed further and his words were like knives.


    Xie Lingyun was shocked.


    She detoured to here with this intention indeed but thought that this young Wu Zong could be easily taken advantage of. Even if she could not convince him, it was also alright to try her luck.


    Never would she have thought that Fang Yuan would not react normally, and did not respond how a normal person would respond.


    ''This person has no regard for pride and honour like a young man, and only cares about physical rewards!''


    Xie Lingyun was sorely disappointed. She knew that she had little to no chance of achieving her goal.


    "All the land belongs to the emperor, and all that lives on this land are the emperor''s citizens!"


    She took in a deep breath, and her attitude took a 180 degrees change. "Grandmaster Fang is also a citizen of Xia County, and yet you have no loyalty to the country? Furthermore... You have already seen me, so how can you expect others to not suspect you?"


    As Xie Lingyun said these words, her heart was pounding. She thought that Fang Yuan would be angered, but he froze and started clapping.


    "Haha... Well said!"


    Fang Yuan praised her. "Finally princess, you are showing your true colours!"


    "Will grandmaster be willing to help?"


    Xie Lingyun''s eyes glittered in anticipation.


    "I live in seclusion and is not willing to partake in any of these matters. I only know that there is a Secluded Mountain Prefecture above me, and as for the royal family of the Xia Country, although powerful, will have difficulties controlling those on the ground..."


    Fang Yuan sighed, and Xie Lingyun blushed in embarrassment.


    The lack of full control was always a contentious part of the royal family''s power, and now Fang Yuan had to remind her of it.


    "Furthermore, it''s really simple to bridge the gap!"


    Fang Yuan revealed a suspicious smile. "Think about it... If I killed you and brought your head to the Secluded Mountain Prefecture City Master, do you think I can gain his trust?"


    "What?!"


    Xie Lingyun shuddered and the two servants behind her stood up, as though they were ready to fight for their lives.


    Even if twenty more servants came forward, they would only die in Fang Yuan''s hands.


    "You are very lucky. Although you offended me, I am very gracious and will not kill you just because of our differences of opinion. Take your leave!"


    Fang Yuan waved his hands. "Go where you should go, and don''t stay in Qingye City!"


    "That..."


    Xie Lingyun bit her lip and did not forget her objective.


    "The collaboration?"


    Fang Yuan laughed sarcastically. "I never work with people who try to dig information from me!"


    Hearing this reply, Xie Lingyun sighed, bowed and retreated with her servants.


    ...


    "Master Fang! Master Fang!"


    Not long after Xie Lingyun left, gongs were heard and Leader Niu rushed into the Prefecture City in a hurry.


    "Niu Dingtian?"


    "What are you doing here?" Fang Yuan asked while he was coaching Chen Ziying in the backyard.


    "After receiving news of the princess making a detour, I rushed here and tired out a horse before reaching!"


    Leader Niu scratched his head and laughed. "I''m here to remind you that the lady is trouble, don''t get involved with her!"


    "Thank you, Brother Niu!"


    Hearing how he rushed here to deliver news, albeit late, Fang Yuan was still full of gratitude.


    "Ah¡­.. If it was last time, this issue would be nothing. But now, City Master''s temper is getting worse. Just last month, he lectured Xiang Zilong and his brother over a small issue, causing them to lose face in front of the capital leaders..."


    Niu Dingtian sighed.


    Fang Yuan''s eyes flashed as he heard the news.


    Before the destruction of the world, something crazy would happen first; it seemed that this was applicable to Liu Yan too.


    ...


    "Princess..."


    In the royal carriage escort, in the largest carriage, a lady servant angrily commented. "That Fang Yuan was too much, how dare he insult you!"


    "I don''t have enough power, who can I blame?"


    Xie Lingyun did not put that to heart but instead laughed. "Furthermore... We have gained something. At least we now know that Fang Yuan is together with Liu Yan. Isn''t this a piece of valuable information?"


    "I was tasked with an important mission on this trip to the Secluded Mountain Prefecture, so a little unjust wouldn''t matter!"


    Looking in the direction of the Secluded Mountain Prefecture, Xie Lingyun was filled with worry.


    She was a messenger and brought the royal''s family final condition with her.


    If Liu Yan decided to do whatever he wanted, a war would break out!

 134 The Annual Mee

    "The Secluded Mountain Prefecture here is so lively!"


    A new year had arrived and the Secluded Mountain Prefecture had sent out invitation cards to invite Fang Yuan, other Wu Zongs, spiritual knights and the rich to the Secluded Mountain Prefecture for a banquet.


    As they returned back to the Secluded Mountain Prefecture City, the feeling was different this time.


    "Haha¡­..Brother Xiang!"


    Niu Dingtian and the others entered the Prefecture Master''s mansion. When he saw Xiang Zilong, his eyes glittered. "I have missed you a lot!"


    As he spoke, Niu Dingtian went forward and gave the other a hug.


    "Thank you, Brother Niu, for your concern!"


    Xiang Zilong''s face looked a bit dull and he forced out a smile. "You don''t have to raise your voice in the Prefecture Master''s Prefecture. The city master has punished quite a number of people recently..."


    If both of them were not close, Xiang Zilong would not be reminding Niu Dingtian about this.


    Niu DIngtian''s expression changed and asked, "Why?"


    "The city master is displaying his might¡­.."


    Xiang Zilong shook his head and obviously didn''t want to speak further as he saw Fang Yuan was present as well.


    "Greetings, Leader Xiang!"


    Fang Yuan was not really greeting him seriously and continued to ask, "Is the city master here?"


    "The city master is seeing another important guest in the study room. All guests please head to the main hall for the banquet first!"


    One of the three capital leaders of the Secluded Mountain who walked out the last greeted Fang Yuan.


    "An important guest?"


    Fang Yuan wavered but his expression was still the same. As he entered the main hall, he was complimented by many other guests.


    After all, he was a young Wu Zong and had a bright future. So many people had wanted to establish a good rapport with him.


    ...¡­..


    Coincidentally, Liu Yan who was seeing the guest in the study room had mentioned Fang Yuan as well.


    "Hehe¡­..Princess, I heard that you came to Qinghe County to poach one of my men?"


    Liu Yan was giving a cold smile as he looked at Xie Lingyun.


    At that moment, Xie Lingyun was standing upright with her drooping eyelids. It seemed that she didn''t even dare to take in a deep breath.


    The feeling she had gotten from the Secluded Mountain Prefecture City Master was different from the young Wu Zong.


    The city master was not only serious and displaying his might, he was greedy and aggressive. She didn''t know what to say in such a scary atmosphere.


    However, she bit her teeth and continued with a tone of dissatisfaction, "The Secluded Mountain Prefecture is under Xia Country. Since there is a Wu Zong, I am here on behalf of the royal family to find out more. Is that wrong?"


    Liu Yan didn''t know what to say.


    Even though the royal family of Xia Country had not much power now, after all, the royal family was still of legitimism and it was better for him not to go against them.


    He then gave a cold smile and continued, "It seems useless to talk about this. What is the purpose of your visit, Princess?"


    "I''m here for the conflict¡­. I heard that you are using military forces against the Summer Sun Prefecture? Have you gotten that order from the royal family?"


    Xie Lingyun continued with a stern look. "If not, it is wrong for you to do that and there is no reason for you to do that. Don''t force the royal family to form an alliance with the other two prefectures to go against you!"


    No matter what was the current situation like in Secluded Mountain Prefecture, when the two prefectures formed an alliance with the royal family, they would be very powerful. Hence, Liu Yan had to reconsider his actions.


    "Humph¡­...The Summer Sun Prefecture Master is the one causing this conflict. He was the one behind causing the rebel which was led by Lu Renjia. Am I in the wrong to have my revenge?"


    Liu Yan was pissed off.


    "You have no evidence to prove that. How can you say so?"


    Xie Lingyun shook her head and continued, "If you are willing to stop whatever you are doing, the royal family can help to mediate the situation by making the Summer Sun Prefecture compensate you¡­.."


    In fact, she was here to discuss the bottom line of the situation and the conditions for the mediation. She was using both the soft and the hard approaches at the same time.


    However, Xie Lingyun was feeling a little sad in her heart.


    Why had it become the case where the royal family had to be the middleman when handling relationships between the prefectures?


    Even though she was feeling sad, she didn''t want to see an internal conflict in Xia Country. Xie Lingyun then said with her gentle voice, "What more do you want from us in order for you to stop?"


    "You are asking me to set the conditions?"


    Liu Yan laughed and continued, "I shall gladly set the conditions then¡­...3 pieces of Flame Jade Rock, 1 Deep-ocean Fire Coral and the length of it should not be less than 38 inches. I will also want 10 Lieyang Calming Pills and the Thousand Years Fire Grass¡­.."


    "Si¡­.."


    Even though she knew that Liu Yan would take this chance to ask for a lot of things, but when she heard what Liu Yan had wanted, she had to take in a deep breath.


    "I see that you have quite a lot of things that you want¡­..However, the Flame Jade Rock can only be found deep in the volcanoes and a Wu Zong will be needed to obtain these rocks. The Fire Coral which is more than 38 inches is considered as the royal treasure of the Xia Country. Also, the Fire Grass and the Lieyang Calming Pills are high-quality spiritual objects and spiritual pills respectively. They are also the treasure of the Summer Sun Prefecture Master..."


    Xie Lingyun gave a wry grin and continued, "If you want one of those, there is room for discussion. However, are you not making things hard for me when you ask for so many things at one go?"


    "Humph, if he doesn''t give these to me, I shall take it from him on my own then!"


    Liu Yan let out a humph and there seemed to be a flame appearing above his eyebrows.


    ''This Liu Yan¡­.is indeed at the peak of the Elemental Gathering Realm. He is just a step away from achieving the Elemental Opening Realm...''


    No one knew that Xie Lingyun had much knowledge about that.


    Just by hearing what Liu Yan had asked for, the spiritual objects were of high quality and were fire related. She then knew that he was preparing for that final breakthrough and needed lots of spiritual objects to help him to achieve that.


    She would definitely not agree to the conditions.


    Or else, if she gave what he wanted and he had achieved the Elemental Opening Realm successfully, she would be in danger in future.


    However, if she didn''t give what he wanted, there would be chaos and war. Also, Liu Yan could then obtain those things he needed by force.


    There was not much difference as both outcomes were the same. This was a difficult decision for her to make.


    At this point, Xie Lingyun knew that Liu Yan was crazy. He would want to obtain those supplies needed for the breakthrough at any cost.


    ...¡­.


    "The city master and the ambassador of the royal family have arrived!"


    In the main hall, as the guests heard the arrival of those two, they immediately stopped whatever they were doing and looked at the two who had just arrived.


    "Hehe¡­..A new year, a new beginning. Today is the start of the new year and with the well wishes from the royal family, all of us shall have a good drink!"


    Liu Yan sat in his seat and said while drinking his wine.


    "To the city master! To Xia Country!"


    The guests then toasted and drank at one go.


    As everyone was drinking, Fang Yuan took this chance to take a glance at Liu Yan and Xie Lingyun. Both of their faces were normal and both didn''t look happy or angry. No one knew how their conversation had gone. Both of them maintained the look of a host.


    ''She thinks she can hide from everyone but she cannot hide from me¡­..This lady seems to be troubled by certain matters¡­..Looks like there are a lot of things happening in Xia Country...''


    Fang Yuan sighed in his heart and took a quick glance at Liu Yan.


    He could feel that the flame in Liu Yan was getting stronger. His magical energy was flaming and he seemed to be merciless.


    ''Liu Yan''s cultivation had improved again. Looks like this was Lu Renjia had left behind after his death¡­..''


    Even since that alchemy master was dead, even though Fang Yuan had taken a copy of the alchemy related books from the dead master, Liu Yan had kept the spiritual plants and spiritual pills that were made long ago for himself and didn''t share any of them with Fang Yuan.


    It seemed that with the help of the spiritual pills, Liu Yan''s cultivation was able to improve and it looked like he could make a breakthrough for the Elemental Opening Realm anytime. No wonder he was so aggressive.


    After all, if he managed to achieve the Elemental Opening Realm, he would be ranked number 1 among all other spiritual knights in this country and also the nearby countries!


    Not to mention defeating Summer Sun Prefecture, not many would be able to stop Liu Yan if he chose to exterminate the whole of Xia Country and rule it.


    After the banquet, a servant came to Fang Yuan and whispered to him that the city master would like to meet him.


    Fang Yuan was sighing silently and thought that it didn''t seem like a good thing. However, he still followed her to the study room.


    "I''m here!"


    Under the bright light, Liu Yan was seen standing with his hands behind his back and his back was facing Fang Yuan. He seemed to be enjoying an art piece that was hanging on the wall.


    "I have seen you before, city master!"


    As Fang Yuan got nearer to Liu Yan, he could feel a stronger pressure from Liu Yan and it felt as if Liu Yan''s magical energy was about to blow up.


    "I see that your essence, magic and spirit have changed a lot. Looks like you have improved a lot and I''m ashamed of myself.


    Since Fang Yuan was becoming the dream building master, he had quite a big improvement in the Elemental Gathering Realm and therefore, his breath was different.


    If the current Liu Yan who was in the room now was the Liu Yan that had not have any improvement in his cultivation, that Liu Yan would probably not be able to detect that Fang Yuan had improved. Fang Yuan was feeling serious and replied, "I only manage to cultivate another spiritual spell¡­..City master, you have sharp eyes indeed!"


    "I see!"


    Liu Yan nodded his head.


    He didn''t expect that Fang Yuan could achieve the high Elemental Gathering stage in just a short period time and Fang Yuan was now not far from his.


    Fang Yuan had also cultivated a few strange spiritual spells, and hence there was a change to his breath. Hence, he agreed with what Fang Yuan had told him.


    "What do you have for me, city master?"


    Fang Yuan bent his body slightly and asked.


    "Don''t you think that after Lu Renjia is killed, both of us are not as close as before?"


    Liu Yan then continued with a wry grin. "Not only you, even for my men. I''m now only closer to Taoist Mu Li..."


    As he spoke, Fang Yuan became alert but was surprised.


    ''I didn''t expect Liu Yan to trust Taoist Mu Li the most¡­..Hang on, he is actually an evil person on the inside but has pretended to be a good person. How many spiritual knights can I actually get along with?''


    Fang Yuan was a little jealous of Taoist Mu Li and started to make guesses about him.


    "I have the intention to attack Summer Sun, and hence I will need your help once again!"


    Liu Yan didn''t even wait for Fang Yuan''s opinion and instead, he listed his request out straight away.


    "I''m not capable enough, I''m afraid¡­.."


    Fang Yuan shook his head and didn''t accept Liu Yan''s request.


    He was not that crazy enough to follow Liu Yan and go against the whole of Xia Country.


    If Liu Yan had already broken through the Elemental Opening Realm, he could still consider.


    "Hmm?"


    Liu Yan frowned and turned around. Fang Yuan could instantly feel a great amount of pressure going towards him.


    "I''m living alone and prefer to be separated from the rest of the world. If you do not have anything else for me, I will take my leave first!"


    Fang Yuan did not show any fear.


    He was a spiritual knight that had reached the high Elemental Gathering stage. Even if he couldn''t manage to defeat Liu Yan, he could still be able to escape away from him!


    His Iron-tailed Black Eagle was circling above and standing by!


    Since he had an escape route, he had nothing to be afraid of.


    "If you are willing to help me, after the war, I will let you take on the role of the Prefecture Master!"


    Liu Yan also knew that using his power as a city master to force Fang Yuan was the worst method, hence he brought up the conditions.


    "Hmm?"


    Fang Yuan was startled and said, "Since city master, you don''t have the intention to rule the Summer Sun, why do you want to invade it still?"


    "There is a saying that even if there are thousands of people stopping me from doing it, I will still bravely do it!"


    Liu Yan''s reply was decisive.

 135 Fallou

    "Do it?


    Fang Yuan was taken aback.


    In Liu Yan''s words, to ''do it'' should mean to enter the Elemental Breaking Realm.


    Since he was even willing to let our his appointment as Prefecture Master, it showed that he did not care too much about power anymore.


    Based on Fang Yuan''s magical energy, he could easily tell that Liu Yan was speaking the truth.


    "Since that is so... Why not stay low, because with Prefecture Master''s ability..."


    Fang Yuan stopped halfway and looked at Liu Yan, aghast.


    "You can tell!"


    Liu Yan shook his head in despair. "I am over 300 years old, and I am lucky to have extended my lifespan with the help of a Fire Dragon Fruit. However, through the previous few fights, I have depleted my Essence, Spirit and Magic, and have not much longer to live..."


    "Based on my condition, my body is starting to die of old age. It would be impossible for me to break through before I die, and I can only follow the crooked ways to break through... The good thing is that in the collection that Lu Renjia left behind, there is such a secret way. It describes how I can use large quantities of similar-type spiritual things to increase my chances of breaking through..."


    Liu Yan had greed written all over his face.


    If he could break through to the Elemental Breaking Realm, he could lengthen his lifespan, and therefore was willing to take this gamble.


    "Prefecture Master, why do you share such confidential information with me!"


    Fang Yuan sighed.


    Liu Yan did not have long to live!


    If this news spreads, imagine how much chaos would it create!


    Furthermore, Liu Yan''s sharing was honest and desperate.


    "Sadly... I am not interested in this appointment as Prefecture Master, Master should look for someone else!"


    Fang Yuan shook his head.


    He was not interested in such a large scale rebellion and such a gamble for life and death.


    It didn''t matter to him if Liu Yan as dying or not; he was at his prime time! It was not logical to get himself in all this mess for a slim chance of rewards.


    "Eh?"


    Liu Yan''s fiery eyebrows twitched.


    He thought that he understood Fang Yuan well enough, and even helped him a lot previously. Who would''ve thought that Fang Yuan would reject to help him, and this gave him a feeling that Fang Yuan had no sense of gratitude.


    "Hong! Hong!"


    As the spiritual knight raged, the surrounding air burst into flames, as though many flames were burning at once.


    Streaks of colours appeared in mid-air and combined to form a few fire snakes, as though there were about to combine to become a dragon.


    ''Eh? Fight just because of differences in opinion? Could it be that fire-type spiritual knights are all fiery-tempered?''


    With all these suspicions, Fang Yuan found it even weirder as he looked at Liu Yan.


    Liu Yan seemed to have lost his mind after so much cultivation. After all, Fang Yuan cultivated both martial arts and spiritual techniques, and he would need to spend a large amount of effort to take him down. If he made everyone know that there was internal conflict within the Secluded Mountain Prefecture, would that do him any good?


    Might the people of Summer Sun Prefecture celebrate as well?


    However, Fang Yuan was not willing to sit there and wait for his death.


    Before the fire around Liu Yan emerged, a thin layer of fog already appeared around Fang Yuan. It was thick and had occasional waves like clouds, and covered the entire room.


    "Hmm... A firefly''s glow and you dare to challenge the moon''s glare? Die!"


    Liu Yan waved his hand and 9 streaks of crimson light shot out as though it was released from a bow, and pierced a large hole into Fang Yuan''s chest.


    "Pu!"


    ''Fang Yuan'' was expressionless. There were ripples all over his body, and slowly it became a fog which dissipated.


    "Shadowstep!"


    Fang Yuan had split into many images of himself, rushed out of the room door and to the courtyard outside.


    "Chirp! Chirp!"


    In the air, the Iron-tailed Black Eagle circled around and chirped, as though it was prepared to land.


    "How dare you!"


    Liu Yan was fuming. He took a few steps out and waved. A green fire dragon was formed and flew around the sky, opening its jaws and lashing out its claws.


    "Elemental energy of the Nine Heavens, hear my command..."


    As he recited, the elemental energy around was disturbed; he was really fuming mad.


    ''Liu Yan...is asking for death!''


    Fang Yuan squinted.


    "Halt!"


    Before the fight could begin, a black shadow flew into the middle of the courtyard and landed; It was the Wind Chasing Falcon, separating Liu Yan and Fang Yuan. Taoist Mu Li leapt down from the bird. "Both of you are talents of the Secluded Mountain Prefecture, so why spoil your relationship over a small matter? Sect Master Fang is young and direct, so just apologise and let''s all forget about this..."


    He had the attitude of a mediator, and accompanying the gentle breeze and drizzle, Liu Yan calmed down and the fire dragon dissipated.


    "Taoist Mu Li is right, I offended Master. Please accept my apology and forgive me!"


    Seeing this scene, Fang Yuan was still suspicious, but he knew that he should take a step back, and therefore immediately bowed and apologised.


    "Hm... Forget it!"


    Liu Yan brushed him aside, and Taoist Mu Li flicked a whistle into the air. As it flew up, it made a high-pitched whistle.


    "Dismiss the guards!"


    The activated soldiers turned around and like how water would seep through sand, they disappeared in a moment.


    "I have other important things, I shall take my leave first!"


    Fang Yuan cupped his fists in politeness, leapt on the Iron-tailed Black Eagle and flew off.


    "Who would''ve known that this boy had such potential to cultivate to such a realm... Some hard-working spiritual knights don''t even get to achieve what he has now. I''m afraid that I was too reckless in handling today''s situation..."


    Only when the black shadow disappeared did Liu Yan sighed.


    Only when he fought with him he realised Fang Yuan''s cultivation was already at such a level!


    "He is more than qualified to become a Prefecture Master."


    Taoist Mu Li looked serious as well. "He is such a talent!"


    He saw Fang Yuan''s abilities and knew that the Prefecture Master would not be able to stop the fight in the heat of the battle, which was why he stood out to mediate.


    Otherwise, if both of them really fought, Liu Yan might not be able to take Fang Yuan down, and instead, there would be a commotion with dire consequences.


    It would be even more disadvantageous for his invasion plan.


    "Pass the order down!"


    Liu Yan frowned. "If anyone spreads whatever happened today, I will kill their entire family!"


    "Yes Master!"


    Taoist Mu Li took his leave, but he appeared secretive...


    ...


    Second day in the Prefecture City.


    People from all over arrived here to form a large market, business was very good.


    Fang Yuan changed into a brown robe and entered the market.


    Even though they only fought a hand, Liu Yan should know his abilities. Together with the Iron-tailed Black Eagle, as long as he was not trapped, he should be able to escape!


    Since it was such, there was no meaning to find trouble for him; that would only make him more enemies.


    ''It''s good to be at odds, I''ll have one more reason to reject him...''


    ''Seeing Liu Yan''s energy yesterday, although it still had a strong spiritual pressure, he felt a hint of evil energy coming from his forehead. It seemed that the secret way from Lu Renjia''s collection is not any good, and it might have dire consequences...''


    Fang Yuan was casually strolling through the stalls and stopped by a few to take a look.


    At his current cultivation realm, he would not lay his eye on any normal things. The few exceptions also did not pique his interest, and he felt regretful for not being able to find anything good.


    ''Although... It would not make sense for all the good stuff to come to me, that''s like a story in a novel!''


    Fang Yuan laughed and looked at the sun.


    It was noon, and the warm sunlight landed on him, giving him a different feeling.


    As he was looking for a restaurant to fill his appetite, a plain-looking horse stopped in front of him.


    "Grandmaster Fang, we meet again!"


    As the curtains flipped, it revealed an excited Xie Lingyun. "Please enter the carriage, and we can discuss things!"


    "Again?"


    Fang Yuan shook his head. Although he knew that whatever happened in the Secluded Mountain Prefecture could not be hidden from Liu Yan, and furthermore he fought with Liu Yan yesterday, he still decisively went up the carriage.


    "To the best restaurant!"


    He ordered her the moment he entered, as though Xie Lingyun was the carriage master.


    "Since grandmaster is interested, Xie Lingyun is willing to accommodate. If grandmaster comes by the capital next time, Xie Lingyun can treat you to a vegetarian meal at Clear Spring Temple, and I promise you, it will be unforgettable!"


    Xie Lingyun bit her lips and smiled.


    "My apologies, but I live on the outskirts of the city and have no interest in the capital!"


    Fang Yuan replied sarcastically.


    "Please do not take it to heart!"


    Xie Lingyun apologised and appeared serious. "It was Lingyun''s inappropriateness the previous time, please forgive me!"


    "Since you are here, it seems that you are rather well-informed and know about yesterday night''s fight. However, you can stop pleading for me to help you. Our Prefecture Master is extremely passionate about war, and it is not likely anyone can change his mind..."


    Fang Yuan shook his head.


    "Indeed..."


    Xie Lingyun shuddered and almost froze in the carriage. "Would the accomplishments of the Xia Country be wasted?"


    "Stop!"


    Fang Yuan waved his hands. "Why are you so desolate? Do you think that by gathering the forces around Xia Country, you cannot defeat Liu Yan?"


    "So what if I can defeat him? The neighbouring Yuan and Wu Country are both watching out. Once our country is in a mess, they will send in their troops and destroy us..."


    Xie Lingyun forced a laughter.


    "They why not aid Liu Yan in breaking through the Elemental Breaking Realm bottleneck? If he can succeed, how would the neighbouring countries dare to offend us?"


    Fang Yuan had some doubts but did not wait for Xie Lingyun to reply. "That''s true too... How can you all trust Liu Yan? This is not a long-term solution. If he continues to be greedy, it will be catastrophic! Therefore, all you are hoping for is for the situation to come under control."


    The higher the authority, the stronger the hope for those at the bottom to be settled and for the hierarchy to remain stagnant forever.


    At this time, the ''Alpha'' or ''Rebellions'' would appear, but their resistance would not be strong.


    Although Liu Yan was neither of those two, he was still a factor which attracted the attention of many. Unless there was a breakthrough, the outcome would still be feared.

 136 Secrecy

    The journey to the Secluded Mountain Prefecture over the new year ended on a bad note.


    Fang Yuan returned to Qinghe County completely unaffected by the sudden rise in tensions in the country.


    To Fang Yuan, to be able to enter the dream world to practise martial arts, grow and cultivate his spiritual plants and to impart his teachings to his two disciples on a daily basis was a joyful way to live his life.


    Furthermore, he had several precious treasures waiting for him to master and control. He did not have the time to bother about what was going on around him.


    ...


    Within the dream world.


    "Bang!"


    The corpse of the Sect Head of the Five Ghosts Sect fell to the floor.


    Ling Yin chuckled dryly and said, "Congratulations on defeating such a great enemy senior. You need not live your life in worry in the future anymore!"


    "This person is scheming and had inserted for a spy within my county. His objectives and intentions were not to be underestimated...Thankfully we made him expose them during this operation to hide the treasure map..."


    Shi Yutong oozed with confidence. This was so unlike the pathetic state of her future self.


    This scene was from the war over the treasure map in Lieyang County!


    Furthermore, Fang Yuan was watching from a third person''s perspective. Even though he was standing next to the two ladies and observing them, they were completely oblivious to his presence.


    "I have a stronger control over Ling Yin''s dream world now and I can already retrieve her memories..."


    Even though this was in an imaginary realm, it was in fact Ling Yin''s memories of what happened before.


    To a dream master, nothing was a secret!


    "The works of a dream master are simply so..."


    As Fang Yuan immersed himself in the scene, he was equally awestruck. As long as a dream master was determined, nobody could hide their thoughts or secrets from him.


    Even a person''s life experiences, memories, wealth could be taken away in the dream world.


    "How is this called a dream-building master? It should be called a dream-stealing master...even a pig could become a Wu Zong pig if it trained for many years in a Wu Zong''s dream world!"


    Fang Yuan guessed that as long as any dream master had the heart, he could become the top martial artist anywhere he went!


    "Of course, I also have to consider the issue of natural talent and amount of effort put in...a dream master must focus on his cultivating path and spend less time on other useless aspects. To invest this way over the long term, might also bring about some negative impacts...but it is also too unfathomable!"


    Whatever Fang Yuan was doing to Ling Yin was of another kind. He was not extracting her experience in alchemy. Instead, he was looking through her other secrets.


    The bright moon illuminated the dark starless sky as a crow flew south.


    The violent commotion from afar died down slowly.


    It was obvious that those martial artists realised which side had already won and did not dare to take a second look before escaping swiftly.


    As long as Shi Yutong and the head of the Five Ghosts Sect were not both seriously injured, there was no way for any of them to take action at all. It was the best time for them to get away while they still could.


    Fang Yuan stood aside and watched silently.


    "Treasure map?"


    A spark flickered in Ling Yin''s eyes.


    As Fang Yuan was in control of her dream world, he could also sense the curiosity that popped up in Ling Yin.


    "Why? Junior Ling Yin, you are from a rich family and have an alchemy master, why would you be interested in my little treasure?"


    Shi Yutong forced a closed lip smile.


    A spark flickered again in Ling Yin''s eyes as she pressed further, "Senior, you are making fun of me again. Tell me more about it..."


    "I only just learnt about this!"


    Shi Yutong continued, "Do you know that the ancestors of the head of the Five Ghosts Sect were not from this country?"


    "Hmm?" Ling Yin was taken aback and she continued to ask, "Could it be they were immigrants? But there is nothing inappropriate about this!"


    "It does not just end there!"


    Shi Yutong shook her head, "The ancestors of this person were from the Da Qian Empire!"


    "What?"


    Ling Yin shuddered.


    "Now do you also find that something is wrong? Da Qian is situated so far away from here and the road here is incredibly perilous. His ancestors defied all odds to reach here. They had to be incredibly strong to pass through the many mountains and rivers to reach this place...Furthermore, these people picked a poor rural area like ours to settle down in. It is extremely suspicious!"


    Shi Yutong spoke on slowly.


    Ling Yin thought about it quickly and then replied, "But...How do you know all this? Did you also plant spies within their sect?"


    "I just returned the favour..."


    Shi Yutong waved her hand. It was common for big powers to plant spies in each other''s sects.


    Even if the head of the Five Ghosts Sect did not plant the Guo family as spies in their county, she would have done the same. This was nothing to do with favours, it was most basic thing to do to a potential rival sect.


    "The ancestors of the head of the Five Ghosts Sect were from Da Qian, could it be that the treasure map was his?"


    Ling Yin''s eyes lit up.


    "Indeed!"


    Shi Yutong nodded her head in admission and replied, "It was rumoured that the particular ancestor was incredible power and unpredictable. However, he did not live a long life and died soon after he reached here. Apparently, he sustained a serious injury and before he died, he left a set of treasure maps split into three sets to be looked after by three of his disciples!"


    "Three sets?"


    Ling Yin asked curiously, "Why? If he had such a precious treasure, wouldn''t it be better to just hand it over to his heir?"


    "I am not sure about this, maybe he had a deeper intention!"


    Shi Yutong continued saying, "After he died, the three disciples fell out with each other which made it impossible to piece back the full treasure map. It stayed that way until now. Now, the three of them are already dead and they do not have surviving family members. However, it is the descendants of the particular ancestor himself who are now trying to reclaim the treasure map!"


    "Based on what know, he has already gotten one set. But, it was stolen away by Han Shou''s disciple. The set that just has emerged is the second set! In order to find out the exact location of the treasure, we need all three sets together!"


    "The treasure left by the expert from Da Qian?"


    Ling Yin''s eyes lit up and remarked, "My master might also be interested in this!"


    "If Master Lu could help us, it would be great!"


    Shi Yutong then said in a serious tone, "If that person had such a valuable treasure hidden, why didn''t he leave it to his heir? There must be some complication going on that even he found difficult, how could I work alone? Please ask Master Lu...


    "There are no doubts that this was Shi Yutong. She was clear about her actions and knew the risks and benefits of them. Furthermore, she was not blinded by greed of the treasure...."


    Fang Yuan stood aside and watched on. Suddenly, he snapped his fingers.


    "Snap!"


    He snapped out of the dream world.


    After all, this was all the memories Ling Yin had about the treasure map.


    He could now know every thought that went through Ling Yin''s mind. Ling Yin could not hide even the smallest idea that she had from him. However, he was powerless against Shi Yutong.


    This was also after all just Ling Yin''s dream, not Shi Yutong''s!


    "To do this on a Wu Zong like Shi Yutong is a bit too risky based on my current skill level!"


    Even though Shi Yutong was held captive by him and definitely knew and experienced a lot more than Ling Yin, Fang Yuan was cautious about entering her dreams.


    To use such a technique was almost similar to gambling.


    If Fang Yuan were to be injured or killed in her dream world, his magical energy would also be damaged. Furthermore, Fang Yuan was not confident of suppressing the malicious intent in a Wu Zong''s subconsciousness.


    "When I''ve reached the peak of the Elemental Gathering Realm, after perfecting my dream-building skills, I might try it out on Shi Yutong..."


    Fang Yuan scratched his chin as he thought of what he just saw.


    The treasure map was extremely precious, and he already had two out of the three sets. What he did not expect was that the treasure belonged to an expert from Da Qian, which excited him slightly.


    "What a pity the head of the Five Ghosts Sect is already dead. If not, I would definitely be able to obtain the most detailed information from his dream world. Now that the sect is destroyed, their archives have probably been completely looted...At least there is still hope in retrieving the archives, I just have to get Zhou Wenwu and my other disciples to carry out this mission for me!"


    This was the benefit of being a major power. He could activate the people under him to carry out these tedious and troublesome tasks for him. He could afford to appear after they have found the relevant items.


    "Carry on then!"


    After considering his options, he stretched out his arms.


    "Whoo whoo!"


    The entire dream world changed before him.


    The sun rose from the east and set in the west quickly. People moved at an incredibly fast-forwarded pace and it was difficult to properly see them.


    Of course, this entire world was from the lens of Ling Yin.


    Her entire dream world was now under the complete control of Fang Yuan.


    "This is the terrifying part of being a dream master...I just have to work a bit harder and soon I can be in full control of her soul. Almost like Red-eyed White Bird, I can even alter her memories and swear allegiance to me..."


    Fang Yuan was clear about his potential abilities, yet he was grounded at the same time.


    "If this sort of powers were not controlled won''t the world be in utter chaos?"


    "I wonder if there are any laws or restrictions regarding the advancements of dream masters in Da Qian..."


    Fang Yuan was aware of the sinister side of humans. If this sort of powerful ability developed without any form of control, Da Qian would have become a hellish abyss a long time ago.


    Of course, laws and regulations were merely just words written on pieces of paper. What could law enforcement officials possibly do to deal with dream masters?


    "Master!"


    Fang Yuan got out of his thoughts and observed the next scene.


    Within the Secluded Mountain Prefecture, Ling Yin came to the front of Lu Renjia and respectfully bowed and reported, "The preparations have already been made. I successfully convinced Shi Yutong to support your claim to the throne!"


    "We have to adapt to the changing times!"


    Lu Renjia kept his hands behind his back as he sighed.


    As Fang Yuan watched from the side, he realised something was amiss and he thought, "This time should be the birthday celebration of the head of the Secluded Mountain Prefecture. It is also before Lu Renjia''s rebellion so why isn''t he all pumped up and ready to fight? Instead he looks so solemn here. Could the rumours of external intervention be true? Such that Lu Renjia was not in control of the situation?"


    Ling Yin also sensed that something was not right as the expression on her master''s face was one she had rarely seen.


    "Ling Yin!"


    Lu Renjia raised his head suddenly and pulled out a secret diagram and ordered, "Memorise this diagram and then destroy it once you are done!"


    "This is..."


    Looking at the map on her hand, Ling Yin was slightly puzzled.


    "This is the location of one of my secret mansions. It is within Lieyang County, and this secret is only between the two of us..."


    Lu Renjia dryly said, "If all goes well this time, everything will be alright. If things go south, and if...something bad happens to me, go to this place. Focus your energy on training, do not be involved in the affairs around you, do not look for spiritual knights and do not come out again. Most importantly, do not try to seek revenge for me!"


    "Master..."


    A strong premonition grew as Ling Yin fell to her knees crying.

 137 The Reunion

    "The Secret Hole Mansion in Lieyang County?"


    Fang Yuan''s eyes glittered and went forward to take a good look at the secret map.


    "Hmm? Who are you?"


    There was someone standing beside them all along and both Lu Renjia and Ling Yin had not realised that before. Both of them were very shocked.


    "I should leave here as soon as possible!"


    As Fang Yuan saw that Ling Yin''s face was getting distorted and seemed like she was about to be awakened, there was a sudden lightning and thunder. Fang Yuan, being a wise man, did not want to continue further as the odds were against him and hence decided to leave the dream world.


    ...¡­.


    Back in the real world, in the prison in Qinghe County.


    "Pitiful lady..."


    Fang Yuan opened his eyes and saw Ling Yin, who was lying on the wooden bed and she looked as if she just had a nightmare. Fang Yuan started to pity her.


    He had gotten into her dream these few days to obtain secrets and this had already exhausted her mentally. If he continued to do this, there could be a confusion for her between the dream world and the real world and hence, she might become crazy afterwards!


    "Luckily I have almost gotten everything that I need from her already¡­."


    As he recalled the secret location Lu Renjia was at, Fang Yuan was feeling a little excited.


    That was the escape route that the alchemy master had prepared for himself and was definitely top secret!


    Unfortunately, for Lu Renjia, he didn''t expect Ling Yin to be in the hands of a dream master before he was caught and now Fang Yuan knew where he was.


    "So he is in Lieyang County¡­.what a coincidence. Looks like I will have a visit to there then!"


    Fang Yuan murmured to himself and immediately looked for Zhou Wenwu. Fang Yuan then gave him some orders.


    ...¡­


    When he thought of doing something, he would do it.


    Fang Yuan felt that he himself was more of a person who was more involved in actions. He waited for the news from the investigation made by Zhou Wenwu''s men, then he would travel to the city of Lieyang County by his Iron-tailed Black Eagle.


    "Since the disintegration of the Five Ghosts Sect, Lieyang County has benefited from that. Even though there are a few chaotic things happening, no war has happened here before¡­."


    Fang Yuan got down from the eagle outside the city and entered the city alone. He enjoyed the scenery along the way.


    Because of the trade in ore, the city here was prosperous and it didn''t look poor.


    On the street, there were many martial artists who were quite powerful. Many of them had either daggers or sword with them and they were very alert. The atmosphere was quite tense.


    "Looks like the rumour is true!"


    He recalled the report from Zhou Wenwu and gave a smile. "The Five Ghosts Sect¡­...has become active again!"


    Ever since the battle for the treasure map broke out, the Five Ghosts Sect Sect Master lost his life and left behind a few elders and disciples. The Five Ghosts Sect was then known to have incurred a big loss. Also, with suppression from the Spirit Returning Sect, many of the disciples had their names hidden to keep a low profile.


    This matter was supposed to remain like this. The disciples could either thrive somewhere else or continue to suffer here. It would take at least 10 to 100 years for the sect to be rebuilt.


    However, it was different now!


    The Spirit Returning Sect was involved in the rebel. Even Shi Yutong had been taken away by Fang Yuan and was kept in the prison ever since.


    The Spirit Returning Sect was being rooted from the ground and the sect would not have a firm position in the Secluded Mountain Prefecture.


    However, Lieyang County had always been on the side of the Secluded Mountain Prefecture City Master and there were rumours saying that the remaining few from the Five Ghosts Sect had put in much effort to fight against the rebel forces.


    Hence, there would be rewards. With the support from the new governor of the county, the disciples of the Five Ghosts Sect gathered once again to rebuild their sect!


    This was definitely not an easy task!


    Even though the Spirit Returning Sect was out of the picture now, there were others who had depended on the embezzlement of the funds of the Five Ghosts Sect and they would definitely not agree to this and there would be a conflict between the two parties.


    Fang Yuan thought of the worst case scenario. It was that the governor was likely to claim the power of the sect when both parties were busy fighting.


    It was just too mainstream to claim the power by force.


    After all, Lieyang County was different from the Qinghe County. Lieyang County didn''t have a governor who was Wu Zong and the governor hence could not use force to suppress the whole county. Hence the governor could only use that approach.


    The two parties had also realised what the governor was trying to achieve but could only continue with the governor''s plan. Hence, this was the beauty of having great power.


    "Eh?"


    Suddenly, Fang Yuan saw a familiar person and followed the person immediately.


    "The battle of the Five Ghosts Sect, Strong Flame Sect and the Big River Faction is the headline here in the Lieyang County. The alliance of the brothers from the Bull''s Head Mountain, the Black Wind Village and the Eighteen Mountains will have to be pushed into the limelight as well!"


    It was a man who was 84 inches tall who spoke that and he was carrying a giant axe. It made people became fearful of him.


    "Isn''t he Wang Fugui, whom I have met in Shaoyang City, the owner of the Bull''s Head Mountain?"


    Fang Yuan simmered with laughter. "Well, this fool is also here."


    "Eh? Are you not Brother Fang?"


    When Wang Fugui saw Fang Yuan, his eyes glittered and went close to Fang Yuan. He then greeted Fang Yuan loudly.


    "Haha¡­...I have been missing you since the last time we separated!"


    "Slow down slow down!"


    Fang Yuan shifted Wang Fugui''s big hand away using his shoulders. "What are you all doing?"


    "Hehe¡­..I shall introduce to you the brothers from the Bull''s Head Mountain. I''m here with them is so that I can take this chance to have a firm position here in Lieyang County and become famous!"


    Wang Fugui pounded his chest with much confidence and introduce a few other muscular men to Fang Yuan.


    Fang Yuan looked at those muscular men and thought that many people would have avoided them. He then shook his head silently.


    This group would definitely attract lots of attention as they walked down the street noisily.


    Especially now there was a normal person standing with that group, Fang Yuan could sense that many pairs of eyes were staring at them right now and couldn''t take it anymore.


    "I wish you all the best in your future endeavours. I shall take my leave first¡­.."


    Fang Yuan shook hands and couldn''t wait to leave.


    However, Wang Fugui pulled Fang Yuan back and whispered to him, "Recently, there is a young Wu Zong in the Secluded Mountain Prefecture who has become famous. He is originally from Qinghe County and his age is not big at all. Also, he is highly skilled in medicine. Is that person you, Brother Fang?"


    If it was someone else who had asked Fang Yuan, he would just say it was someone else who coincidentally had the same name as him.


    However, Wang Fugui had previously seen how Fang Yuan defeated Gui Wusheng and that had left a deep impression on Wang Fugui. Hence, Wang Fugui would have thought that person was Fang Yuan.


    "Yes, that person is me¡­.."


    Fang Yuan answered softly.


    He already knew that Wang Fugui was bold but cautious. He was not as reckless as he seemed to be, or else, Wang Fugui would have revealed Fang Yuan''s identity to the public already.


    "Hehe¡­.don''t worry, Brother Fang. My mouth is very tight. I have not mentioned to anyone about the previous incident!"


    Wang Fugui laughed and knew the benefits of keeping a secret.


    Although Fang Yuan didn''t really have to hide his real identity during this visit, he just didn''t want to have unnecessary trouble.


    "I owe you!"


    Fang Yuan shook hands with him and continued, "Wang Fugui, do you know where the Five Ghosts Sect is right now? Bring me there, please!"


    "No problem!"


    Wang Fugui patted his own chest with confidence and gladly accepted the request. His eyes were filled with excitement.


    With an expert now to suppress the enemy, the group of them knew that victory would be on their side definitely.


    "The Five Ghosts Sect previously had a big temple in the city and also another piece of spiritual land. However, ever since the Five Ghosts Sect Sect Master was killed, the temple was claimed over by the Spirit Returning Sect and the spiritual land was separated and taken over by other great powers! Even though the remaining people from the Five Ghosts Sect had gathered together, it was hard to recover those lost assets and they had to find another place to rebuild..."


    Wang Fugui was leading the way and was talking non-stop. "If Brother Fang, you didn''t look for me, one would not know where they were right now¡­.."


    "Hey, Wang Fugui, are we not heading to the Big River Faction to look for trouble?"


    Beside him, one of the men, who was confused, shouted and questioned him.


    "Get out!"


    Wang Fugui slapped the man and then continued talking to Fang Yuan. "You see, this is one of the matters my brothers have wanted to settle and the matter is the biggest one in the whole of Bull''s Head Mountain. It is just a small faction. I shall even out with them later!"


    "Why? Has the Big River Faction provoked you again?"


    Fang Yuan asked with a forced smile.


    "It''s nothing¡­.."


    Wang Fugui then continued loudly, "Who here is not clear of the bottom line of the Big River Faction? They are just a bunch of water pirates! Previously, we have business on land while they have theirs on the sea. We have nothing to do with each other. However, they have stolen our business once they are back on land. We cannot endure that any longer!"


    The group them were busy chatting and laughing. Their noise level was quite high and passer-bys had to avoid them.


    Not long after, they reached a building.


    "Isn''t this¡­.a martial arts centre?"


    Fang Yuan wiped his sweat and asked, "Wang Fugui, are you sure you have brought me to the correct place?"


    "It''s definitely this place. I''m correct!"


    Wang Fugui pointed and said, "I had heard that since this place was claimed by a sect, the place was run by a disciple¡­.You see, which normal martial arts centre would be guarded by such skilful people?"


    "That''s true!"


    Fang Yuan walked a few steps forward and looked at the two tense-looking disciples who were guarding the entrance of the centre. He used his magical energy and could feel that the disciples had energies that were similar to Xuan Yin Heart Technique in their bodies.


    Normal disciples would not know the mystery behind the Xuan Yin Heart Technique. However, the Five Ghosts Sect was specialised in evil techniques and it was very easy to recognise that.


    Fang Yuan, who had researched on Xuan Yin Heart Technique in the dream world for many years and had encapsulated that technique into the Eagle Claw Iron Skin Technique when he had broken through Wu Zong, thus empowering his Yin and was known as the sect master of the Xuan Yin Heart Technique, definitely would not recognise that energy wrongly.


    "Remain where you are! Who are you? Our martial arts centre has been closed for a few months and it is now the Five Ghosts Sect''s temple. What are you trying to do?"


    The two disciples had already seen the big noisy group and started to have muscle cramps, but they still stood out and shouted at the group.


    "Both of you?"


    Fang Yuan squinted his eyes and continued, "Are not qualified. Ask your leader to come out now!"


    "Bang!"


    He released a little amount of his energy and two disciples could instantly feel the coldness of the Yin energy. They then scurried off in shock.

 138 Convince

    How skilled was Fang Yuan?


    Notwithstanding his cultivation as a dream master, just by his Wu Zong status, he was able to start a sect on his own!


    Needless to say, he did the unthinkable and broke through the 13th Gate using the Eagle Claw Iron Skin Technique, and fused the various heart techniques into it.


    Xuan Yin Heart Technique was just one of it!


    By releasing his energy, how could the two lowly disciples of the Five Ghosts Sect take it? Their legs went numb and both of them collapsed. They were shocked out of their wits.


    "Great one, where do you come from?"


    There was chaos in the martial arts centre. After a short while, numerous Five Ghosts Sect disciples escorted an old man with white hair out, as though they were meeting a strong enemy.


    He stared at Fang Yuan, full of curiosity.


    "I shall not mention my name. I am here to request a favour!"


    Fang Yuan exclaimed.


    "Mm?"


    Although the old man had a good temper, after hearing what Fang Yuan said, he almost broke out. "Who asks for favours like this? I have yet to see everything in this world!"


    He looked at the mysterious Fang Yuan but did not act rashly. "May I know what favour is that?"


    "Very simple!"


    Fang Yuan continued. "I want the secret records of your sect and the diary of your grandmaster. Of course¡­ and the last secret mystery of the Xuan Yin Heart Technique!"


    "What?"


    The old man changed his expression.


    Although the secret records of the sect and the diary of the grandmaster were not martial arts, they still involved the privacy of the sect. How could they easily give it to a stranger?


    Furthermore, he still asked for the secret mystery of the Xuan Yin Heart Technique!


    To a sect, this action was akin to pulling out its roots!


    "Are you intending to force me to fight you?"


    The old man took two steps forward and looked extremely stern.


    "Grandfather Wuhun, no..."


    Behind him, a small girl appeared and shouted, but was held back by the other female disciples.


    "Oh, so you''re the last surviving Five Ghosts Sect Death Gate Elder!"


    Fang Yuan continued mocking him. "So? Do you want to fight me?"


    "I have no intention to bully anyone, I am only retaliating in self-defence..."


    Gui Wuhun looked at the increasing number of martial artists surrounding and sighed.


    "Keke... Are you seeing this? My brother''s robbery is so stylish!"


    Among the crowd, Wang Fugui patted his chest honourably.


    "It seems that those people are not admiring us, but looking down on us..."


    As he scanned the crowd, his eyes glittered. "I think I spotted a few enemies of ours!"


    "Mm? Where?"


    Wang Fugui swung his axe. "Haha... My axe is thirsty. Don''t run, have a taste of my axe!"


    ...


    Gui Wuhun focused and seemed to be oblivious to the surroundings. He focused his strength in his arms and released it out, as though he had marked out territory, and engulfed the young man opposite him.


    ''The rebirth of the Five Ghosts Sect shall begin from this fight!''


    The scene where all the disciples escaped after the sect was destroyed kept replaying in his mind.


    This enraged him, making him push his strength to the limits. This nearly allowed him to break through to the 4 Heavenly Gates bottleneck!


    Even though his opponent was an expert in inner force, he had the confidence to end this battle swiftly.


    "Elder Wuhun is impressive!"


    Many Five Ghosts Sect disciples bowed in respect as they witnessed this scene.


    The anger and desolateness that all of them had experience were all let out; they needed a victory to rebuild their confidence in the sect.


    "Good!"


    Fang Yuan clapped his hands.


    It was extremely favourable to the opponent. Even if Gui Wuhun was facing off a [Martial Artist (9th Gate)], he might be able to defeat him and claim victory.


    But Fang Yuan was different!


    He was never close to a [Martial Artist (9th Gate)], and would only disappoint Gui Wuhun.


    "What''s wrong?"


    Gui Wuhun adopted his stance but realised that the young man did not move at all, which made him doubtful.


    By allowing his opponent to focus his strength, Fang Yuan was either a fool or extremely confident!


    Just this simple thought made Gui Wuhun feel uneasy.


    Even a 4 Heavenly Gate martial artist would respond!


    "He!"


    He had no means to escape!


    As his energy was focused to the limits, he could feel his veins almost exploding with energy. Gui Wuhun struck out his palm, forming a ghastly shadow towards Fang Yuan!


    "Five Yin Hand!"


    Gui Wuhun pushed his Xuan Yin Heart Technique to its limits, stretched his arm out and struck his claw down, disrupting the Yin energy as a swirl appeared in the middle of his palm.


    This claw focused all the strength he could have ever mustered in his entire life. The moment he struck out, he had the mentality of ''this would be the strongest claw I could have ever struck in my lifetime''.


    Not just the Five Ghosts Sect disciples, but the surrounding martial artists were all in awe. Even Wang Fuhui slowed down and took a glance at the fight.


    "Kacha!"


    A shadow flashed by, bringing with it wind and sand.


    As the fight was about to reach the climax, the layer of energy surrounding the both of them disappeared, revealing the normal ground.


    Fang Yuan remained composed and stood still.


    Gui Wuhun maintained his stance. He struck at a small pit on the ground, and his face went pale.


    "Grandfather Wuhun!"


    The small girl shrugged away and ran into the middle of the battlefield, with tears in her eyes. "Stop fighting!"


    "Pu!"


    Seeing the small girl running towards him, Gui Wusheng spat out another mouth of blood.


    "Elder?"


    The Five Ghosts Sect disciples rushed towards him.


    How did the godly Gui Wusheng lose?


    Not just by one move, but mysteriously as well, confusing them.


    "No worries... Just some blood clots, I will be much better after spitting it out!"


    Gui Wuhun pulled the little girl towards him and became serious. Suddenly, he greeted Fang Yuan and bowed. "Are you Sect Master Fang from Qinghe County, secluded valley?"


    He could not think of another Wu Zong as young as him.


    His heart was bitter.


    If he knew who Fang Yuan was from the beginning, he would not have initiated the fight from the start.


    "Fang Yuan?"


    "Qinghe Doctor?"


    "Sect Master of two sects?"


    "Such a young man, making everybody else ashame of themselves!"


    ...


    A person''s name was like a tree''s shadow.


    Everyone knew of Fang Yuan''s name in the entire Secluded Mountain Prefecture.


    But not everyone saw him in person before, which led to this fight.


    "That is me. Do you have anything else to say, Gui Wuhun?"


    Fang Yuan nodded his head."


    "Haha..."


    Among the crowd, Wang Fugui laughed hysterically, looked at Fang Yuan, and boasted quietly. "Did you see that... that is my brother! I''ve seen his potential the first time we met, and we have become sworn brothers since..."


    "You are wise!"


    Suddenly, they seemed to look up to Wang Fugui.


    ...


    "Since sect master is here personally, what else can I say? The Five Ghost Sect is at your disposal!"


    Gui Wuhun gave in and used his strict face to stop those disciples who were still angry.


    He knew that if he did not make the correct decision, Fang Yuan could easily wipe out the entire Five Ghosts Sect.


    This was all the sect had left, so how could he let everything here be wiped out?


    "Very well!"


    Fang Yuan approached the entrance of the martial arts centre. "Give me all your secret records. I will stay here for a few days!"


    "We will accede to your request!"


    Gui Wuhun bowed. "Let out the finest room in our centre for Sect Master Fang to rest... All our disciples will have to greet Sect Master Fang from now onwards, and are to be respectful towards him!"


    "..."


    There was silence among the Five Ghosts Sect disciples. A moment ago there were angry and were not willing to give in, and now there were expected to become obedient servants. It was really a test of their minds.


    A few who adapted quickly already started to fawn upon Fang Yuan. "It is our Sect''s honour for Sect Master Fang to see our secret collection. Please enter and enjoy some tea!"


    "Mm..."


    Fang Yuan gave Wang Fugui a ''Do anything you please'' look, and entered the martial arts centre.


    Gui Wuhun followed him closely, carrying the little girl and looking troubled.


    "This girl... What''s her name?"


    Fang Yuan asked as he continued walking.


    "This..."


    Gui Wuhun hesitated for a moment, then replied. "He name is Little Xia, the daughter of my friend!"


    "Indeed a friend!"


    Fang Yuan turned around, looked at Gui Wuhun, and remained silent.


    The energy of this little girl reminded him of the Five Ghosts Sect Sect Master.


    Never would he have thought that such a rough brute could have such a cute and delicate daughter.


    Furthermore, there seemed to be an unknown secret in the Five Ghosts Sect.


    The other disciples seemed to be clueless about it.


    ...


    "Master?"


    Outside the martial arts centre, the other martial artists have dispersed, leaving Wang Fugui and company behind.


    "Why did the sect master enter and leave us here?"


    "Did we not come here to destroy their place? Why did it become like this?"


    They were all clueless and looked at one another. They all had the same thought. "Did master anger Fang Yuan?"


    Wang Fugui was sorrowful, and his heart was pounding.


    He forced himself to look composed. "Brother... He has his own ways of doing things, what do you guys know about? Hurry up and follow me to destroy the Big River Faction!"


    His confusing words indeed confused them, as though he meant that ''there is someone above us''. All of them straightened their backs and followed Wang Fugui with much pride, as they made their way to destroy the Big River Faction.

 139 The Secret Mansion

    "So I see, it''s the Xuan Yin Heart Technique!"


    Back in the temporary headquarters of the Five Ghosts Sect.


    Since Fang Yuan had displayed exemplary martial art, all his requests were strictly acceded to by Gui Wuhun. Even if Fang Yuan had wanted to know the last mystery behind the technique, Gui Wuhun didn''t dare to disobey.


    "Previously, the Xuan Yin Heart Technique from Elder Han only comprises of the 12 Gates and the method to break through Wu Zong. However, that was not the real version¡­..The secret was only made known to the oldest sect master and the inherited elder."


    When Fang Yuan had taken the Xuan Yin Heart Technique from Elder Han, Fang Yuan didn''t trust him and even found some problems with this technique when he was practising it in the dream world. It looked like he was correct about the defect of the technique.


    "After the 4 Heavenly Gates, the version of the Xuan Yin Heart Technique I have with me is different from the real one. The version I have is evil in nature and¡­...the Miniature Elemental Force I have trained will be restrained when it meets the real version. This is a secret method used by the Five Ghosts Sect to control many elders and disciples!"


    The real version of the technique was passed down by ear and mouth.


    Luckily, Gui Wuhun was the elder who had inherited it and Fang Yuan was then able to get the mystery behind this technique.


    "This technique should not be called the Xuan Yin Heart Technique, it should be renamed as¡­..Xuan Yin Body Refining Spell! A martial artist who has reached the peak of the 12th Gate can use this spell to refine his or her body to become the Xuan Yin Metal Body. The power obtained will be similar to a Wu Zong with elemental force!"


    Of course, the Five Ghosts Sect didn''t have any martial artists who were at the peak of the 12th Gate previously. Or else, the situation would have been different if there was a Xuan Yin Metal Body cultivated by the Five Ghosts Sect.


    "This martial art¡­..is a type of spiritual spell previously. It is then changed by someone into a heart technique and the person has managed to design such a marvellous control technique. That person is indeed a talented one!"


    After pondering for quite a while, Fang Yuan sighed.


    Luckily he avoided the evil pathway even though he had read through the content regarding the Xuan Yin Body Refining Spell. He had pushed for the strengthening of his Yin from his Eagle Claw Iron Skin Technique and managed to avoid that dangerous stage.


    Currently, as he had gotten the full inherited copy of the Xuan Yin Body Refining Spell, with the exception of perfecting his Eagle Claw Iron Skin Technique with a few spiritual spells, there was no other use to it.


    However, the Five Ghost Sect Sect Master''s recordings and notes which were kept by the inherited elder shocked Fang Yuan a little.


    "From the description, his ancestor has great magical power¡­.."


    Fang Yuan read one of the pages and shook his head.


    Even though the recordings were recorded based on someone else''s account and there could be some mistakes here and there, most of the content should be accurate.


    "It was said that this ancestor had such great magical powers that the techniques he had passed on were shocking. The requirements were very high and even his three greatest disciples were not able to fully inherit them. As time passed, the techniques were lost but the Xuan Yin Body Refining Spell became well known and that was what made the Five Ghosts Sect special!"


    "Unfortunately, there were originally 3 pieces of treasure maps. 2 of them are in the Xia Country and had been taken away by the Five Ghosts Sect Sect Master. The last one was missing and had probably ended up in a foreign country already¡­.."


    Fang Yuan rubbed his forehead as he had a little headache.


    If the last piece was in the Secluded Mountain Prefecture or even somewhere in the Xia Country, there was still hope even though it would be very hard to find the last piece. Anyway, he wouldn''t have to look for it personally as he had his men to do it.


    However, if the last piece really ended up in the hands of a foreign power, the consequences would be very serious.


    "Hoo¡­.."


    As he placed the last scroll back onto the bookshelf, Fang Yuan got up and stretched himself. "Maybe I should put that matter aside first and focus on Lu Renjia''s secret mansion¡­.."


    He was looking forward to examine the condition of the place that alchemy master was living in.


    Fang Yuan was currently in a small room with the doors shut. No light could enter the room and the only light source was from the table lamp.


    In the whole of the martial arts centre, this place was guarded the heaviest. After all, the last inheritance of the Five Ghosts Sect was stored here.


    "Did you manage to find anything, Sir?"


    At that moment, when Fang Yuan walked out of the study room, he met Elder Gui Wuhun who asked him with much respect.


    "I did!"


    Fang Yuan nodded his head.


    "We are honoured to have been able to help you!"


    Gui Wuhun smiled till his eyebrows were almost joined together like an old chrysanthemum and continued, "The governor of Lieyang County know that you are here and he is here to visit you. He is waiting in the guest hall¡­.."


    He looked at Fang Yuan with a look of anticipation.


    If Fang Yuan had followed his own intention, he would have rejected to see the governor.


    However, since he had just troubled Gui Wuhun to look through the secret manuals and now Gui Wuhun only needed him to show his face to the governor, this was just a small request and Fang Yuan felt that it was rude to reject. Hence, he replied, "No problem, please lead the way!"


    "Yes, Sir!"


    Gui Wuhun was overjoyed.


    He was old and experienced. Hence, he knew how influential the governor of Lieyang County was, but he had the intention to sow discord. Without hesitation, he wanted to help the sect to establish a good rapport with Fang Yuan.


    Also, Fang Yuan was already right at the doorstep.


    With the current position Fang Yuan had in the Secluded Mountain Prefecture, Fang Yuan would not have to say a word. With him, the life of the Five Ghosts Sect in Lieyang County would be way better than before.


    ...¡­..


    Three days later, in the Melting Sun Peak.


    This place was the most famous landmark in the Lieyang County, but the name sounded fierce!


    The Melting Sun Peak was filled with fire. Hence, within the 6300-yard radius, there were no plants grown there.


    Also, the fire gave out poisonous gas and normal human beings would die from breathing in the gas!


    Hence, this place was very good for mining but not many dared to risk their lives to come here and mine. The place was therefore kept in its original state.


    "Chirp! Chirp!"


    At that moment, a shadow of a black eagle was hovering over the Melting Sun Peak and was letting out a high-pitched chirp.


    "Keep going, don''t stop!"


    On the back of the eagle, there was a person and it was Fang Yuan, who had came here to look for the secret mansion of Lu Renjia!


    He rode the Iron-tailed Black Eagle and circled around the vicinity for a few times. His eyes then glittered. "This is the place. Land there!"


    "Chirp!"


    The eagle flapped its wings and a big gust of wind blew away the poisonous gas.


    Even if the poisonous gas was 10 times stronger, the gas would not be able to poison Fang Yuan and the Iron-tailed Black Eagle.


    "Lu Renjia had been travelling a lot since young and had stayed in Lieyang County for quite some time already. He even managed to build a secret mansion just in case he was in trouble¡­.Unfortunately, it was useless!"


    Fang Yuan, who had managed to obtain the memory from Ling Yin, had no difficulty in locating the secret mansion.


    He would reach the mansion after passing by a giant lava lake.


    "According to the map, at the edge of the lake, the entrance to the mansion will be right above the wall of a cliff¡­.."


    Fang Yuan found the cliff and touched it.


    The rock here felt different from those elsewhere. The rock here was a little warm.


    Also, there was the presence of vegetation here.


    There were vines that were red in colour and were very tough. The vines had sharp thorns and they grew over half of the wall of the cliff. It looked scary to many people.


    "This place is really well hidden!"


    As he released some of his magical energy, he didn''t manage to find anything. Fang Yuan then knew that Lu Renjia had an extra setup. He then sighed lightly. His foot tapped on the raised rocks lightly and his whole body rose like a cloud.


    His lightness skill was very good and he was able to jump up by a few yards to the middle section of the cliff.


    "3 pieces of raised rock to form a finished shape. This is the place!"


    When he saw the exact symbol here, which was like the one in the secret manual, he felt happy and grabbed the wall with his fingers.


    "Chi! Chi!"


    How powerful was his Eagle Claw Technique? These vines were very sharp, but with his fingers slaying through, the vines then broke and a small platform was revealed.


    The platform was very small and could only fit one person.


    Fang Yuan went on top and saw a red coloured moss above the cliff. It looked strange and Fang Yuan went up to have a look. However, he couldn''t find anything useful and it was as if he had been obstructed.


    "Good stuff!"


    His eyes glittered and said, "Even though this moss is not really spiritual in nature, it was special still. I''m not sure whether this can be relocated to somewhere else¡­."


    Such spiritual object was grown here likely because of the unique environment. Even though Fang Yuan had the intention to relocate this plant, he had no confidence in doing so.


    Then, there was an echo after he hit the wall of the cliff. He figured out for a while and managed to find the mechanism behind it.


    "Kacha!"


    With a loud noise, the dust from the rocks came down and the wall, which was right in front of Fang Yuan, had started to move and it revealed a tunnel. The end of the tunnel seemed to have a red light shining brightly.


    "Hoo! Hoo!"


    A light breeze came through the tunnel and the ventilation of the air suggested that there were other tunnels connected as well. There was no bad air.


    "Interesting! This is interesting!"


    Fang Yuan was bold. Plus, this place was built as a backup place for Lu Renjia, hence it would not be built in such a way that would endanger the lives of Lu Renjia himself and his disciples. Hence, the place was not dangerous and Fang Yuan went straight in.


    Not long after, he reached the end of the tunnel and there was a strange alchemy room right in front of Fang Yuan.


    "This is¡­.."


    What he saw was a cave that was not small. Beside the cave, there was a small magma lake and it was boiling hot.


    In the magma, there was a huge alchemy furnace and the surface of it had many lines. The material of it seemed to be gold or rock and the colour was dull. There were many red lines moving vibrating as well.


    "An alchemy furnace that is using the underground fire? This is indeed a good place to practise alchemy!"


    Fang Yuan sighed upon seeing that.


    If this room was discovered by Huang Fu Renhe, he would probably not leave this room ever once he entered it.


    After all, when one is practising alchemy, it would be much more convenient with the help of the underground fire.


    Other than the alchemy furnace, there were a few cupboards beside the cave and they were metallic. The jade bottles that were placed in these cupboards would bring coldness to whoever who touched them.


    "If one wants to store the medicinal pills here, the pills will need to be stored in a special place. This person is indeed rich as he is using Cold Jade Bottles to store the pills¡­.."


    Fang Yuan sighed with envy and now he knew how rich this alchemy master was.


    He was very happy as he counted the number of things he could get this time that were of great value.

 140 Level 5

    "Elemental Gaining Pill, A pill to replenish elemental force and strengthen the body..."


    "Calming Pill, to clear one''s mind and be at peace..."


    "Muscle Building Pill, bones and muscles will heal wounds within seven days..."


    The entire shelf was filled with jade bottles, and beneath every bottle, there was a label describing the pill''s name and usage, which overwhelmed Fang Yuan with information.


    For Lu Renjia to keep all these here, they must all be spiritual pills made from spiritual ingredients, and all had spiritual abilities.


    Normal martial artists would fight to their deaths just to get their hands on any one of these pills.


    Of course, at his level, not many spiritual pills would have an effect on him.


    Fang Yuan scavenged the shelves, and could only find 3 bottles which might be useful to him.


    "There are 10 pills in the bottle of Elemental Gaining Pill, 5 pills in the bottle of Calming Pill, and 18 pills in the Muscle Building Pill!"


    Fang Yuan tossed the bottle in his hand. "There are only two types of pills here which will aid my cultivation, I wonder if I will improve in my cultivation after swallowing all of it at once?


    Thinking about how Liu Yan took over half of Lu Renjia''s assets and used them to break through to his current state of cultivation, Fang Yuan wanted to try it out as well.


    "The wealth of an alchemy master is ridiculous..."


    After accounting his pills, Fang Yuan let out a long sigh and as he admired Lu Renjia''s assets.


    Of course, not all the pills on the shelf were spiritual pills. Half of them were normal ingredients, water and some money.


    When Lu Renjia was preparing this secret mansion, he had already thought of all the circumstances in which he would come here to hide, and therefore prepared for it already.


    "There are about 10,000 taels of silver here. Including the valuable resources here, he can get back on his feet wherever he might run to..."


    Fang Yuan flipped the bottom of the shelf and dragged out two large jade boxes.


    Opening one of them revealed a purple animal hide, with purple scales as large as eyes, glittering. It would strike fear in whoever laid their eyes on it."


    "High-grade spiritual beast''s hide?"


    He touched his chin and tried to feel the energy from the beast''s hide. "I''m afraid the animal is of Wu Zong level when it was alive!"


    It was not easy to tame a spiritual beast.


    It was even more so for a spiritual beast of Wu Zong level. Even if Lu Renjia personally tried, he could only get some valuable ingredients from it.


    However, it was still an extremely valuable item.


    Fang Yuan held the hide in his hands, pulled it and was rather satisfied with its hardness. If he directly wore it over his body like a cape, it would still be stronger than any normal armour, and might even have a considerable defence against spiritual spells.


    "A pity I am not an alchemy master. Otherwise, I will be able to use it as a material to make a strong armour... By keeping this, Lu Renjia should also have the same intention..."


    After much thought, Fang Yuan opened the second jade box.


    At that moment, his eyes were filled with a baby green colour.


    In such a big jade box, half of it was filled with crystal clear liquid, like liquid lead and mercury. There was a green glitter from the middle, as though it had a mind of its own.


    "Spiritual seed?"


    Fang Yuan carefully removed the green colour from the middle and realised that it was a green crystal. In the middle of the green crystal was a jet-black seed that was not obvious to the naked eye. The green glitter seemed to have seeped out from the crystal.


    "This crystal is a form of seal, and together with the liquid, is able to preserve the life of any plant..."


    Fang Yuan made a guess and explained to himself.


    Like the jade bottles, there was a description under both jade boxes; they seemed to be have been prepared for Ling Yin.


    "Star-eyed Leopard hide... Who knew that such treasures exist in Xia Country, and where did Lu Renjia find this?"


    Lu Renjia directly described the origins of the purple hide. It was from a treasured mutated beast and was a good material for armours. It had increased defence capabilities against spiritual spells.


    As for the other jade box, the origins of the spiritual seed was not as clear. The only thing mentioned was that this unknown spiritual seed had a strong will to live, but a pity that it was hard for it to germinate.


    "Spiritual seed?"


    Fang Yuan sighed. "Only one such seed and it is able to display so many traits, could it be from the Heavens?"


    Spiritual objects were classified into the four grades namely Heaven Grade, Earth Grade, Mystery Grade and Yellow Grade. It was easy to obtain spiritual objects of Mystery Grade and Yellow Grade, but it all depended on luck for one to find a Heaven Grade or Earth Grade spiritual object. In the history of Xia country, these spiritual objects only appear once in a few hundred years, and are nicknamed the deity plants!


    Maybe spiritual plants of Heaven Grade only appeared in the Da Qian Empire.


    "Eh?"


    Suddenly Fang Yuan''s expression changed!


    This was because the green-glowing crystal in his hands suddenly flashed, and as the liquid inside it started to swirl, it appeared as though it was about to melt.


    "How is this possible... Why is the seal melting so quickly?"


    Fang Yuan frowned. He noticed the normal-looking seed within it started to glow yellow, and he could feel energy emitting from it.


    "This is..."


    He was familiar with this scene. Regardless if it was his first time planting the Vermilion Jade Rice, or the germination of the Vermilion Fruit, this yellow glow would always appear as the breakthrough for his [Botany]!


    "It is indeed you..."


    Fang Yuan brought his stats window out and noticed that the ''4'' behind his fully filled experience bar jumped. It broke through the bottleneck and became Level 5!


    [Botany (Level 5)]!


    "Even though it did not germinate, I could still experience a breakthrough in my [Botany] just by coming in contact with its energy?"


    Fang Yuan looked at the seed which appeared normal once again, shocked. "This is not possible if it is an Earth Grade seed... Could it be... Heaven Grade? How did this treasure lie in Lu Renjia''s hands?"


    It was a pity that he did not have the chance to access Lu Renjia''s dream to unveil this secret.


    Based on his prediction, Lu Renjia only knew that this seed was valuable, but did not know its real value!


    "Value!"


    After recovering from his shock, Fang Yuan was overjoyed. "With the breakthrough in my [Botany], even if I get nothing from this journey, it would still be worth it!"


    He only said this after noticing the description of his [Botany (Level 5)]:


    "[Botany (Level 5)] - You are a grandmaster in the world of botany! All plants that go through your hands will evolve special traits, and their maturity period will also be shortened!"


    This ability of his was rather god-like.


    After this tip, Fang Yuan immediately thought of the Vermilion Fruit back at home.


    With spiritual fertilizer, spiritual land and his own abilities, it was possible to mature the Vermilion Fruit''s shoot.


    "Great, this is great!"


    Fang Yuan nodded his head, and looked at his stats window:


    "Name: Fang Yuan


    Essence: 11


    Spirit: 11


    Magic: 9.5


    Profession: Dream Master


    Cultivation: [Dream-Building Master (High Elemental Gathering Stage)], Wu Zong


    Technique: [Eagle Claw Iron Skin Technique (Grade 13) (???)], Ecstasy Spell, Shadowstep


    Skill: [Medicine (Level 3)], [Botany (Level 5)]"


    Consuming the Flame Jade Rice, cultivating the way of a dream master and this breakthrough now all led to the big change in his stats window.


    "In the future, Xia Country will be in a mess. To hold my ground, I need to have real strength and ability!"


    Fang Yuan clenched his fist, full of anticipation.


    ...


    Summer Sun Prefecture.


    As Fang Yuan was visiting Lu Renjia''s secret mansion, a devastating thing happened in Summer Sun Prefecture.


    Because of complacency, the Summer Sun Prefecture''s three cities were invaded in one day as the Prefecture Master''s power was at stake.


    The sunset was red as blood.


    In a faraway city, there was chaos as people were fighting.


    Waves of uniformed Secluded Mountain Prefecture soldiers were killing their way in but were made to halt by the arrow rain, which made them eventually retreat back embarrassingly.


    "Prefecture Master!"


    In front of the capital leaders, Xiang Zilong''s eyes were bloodshot as he kneeled in front of Liu Yan. "Why not take a rest here for the night! We can surely take down Huangshi City tomorrow!"


    "Hmph, a bunch of useless fools!"


    Liu Yan was clad in golden armour as he witnessed the Secluded Mountain Prefecture soldiers being pierced by the arrows, as he exclaimed.


    "I made an effort to leave the inexperienced soldiers to defend at the counties, and brought the experienced once here, and yet we still need so much effort to invade a district town!"


    His eyebrows were twitching, showing his anger.


    "A Wu Zong is now in charge of Huangshi City, and is therefore different from last time! Furthermore... Our troops have taken down three cities already, and are all worn out... I deserve to die!"


    Xiang Zilong tried to explain, and as he looked at Liu Yan''s eye, he shivered and apologised.


    "Keke... Don''t worry, Prefecture Master!"


    Taoist Mu Li, who was at one side, chuckled. "Our army is tired, and the enemy''s arrows are almost used up. Later, I shall aid our soldiers to take down this city!"


    "Chirp! Chirp!"


    After finishing his sentence, he leapt on the Wind Chasing Falcon and disappeared.


    Not long after, a green spiritual light appeared from the city walls, accompanying a certain Wu Zong''s rage.


    Seeing this opportunity, the Secluded Mountain Prefecture soldiers tried to attack once more and finally opened the city gates. Everyone squeezed in and brought the fight to the alleys.


    "Very well, since the enemy is stupid, pass the order down to burn down the entire city!"


    Liu Yan witnessed this scene and passed down the order.


    "What?"


    Xiang Zilong was shocked. "Prefecture Master, please reconsider. The common people are innocent...


    "Hmph! This entire city''s people are all rebels and are against me, and I shall treat all of them the same!"


    Liu Yan snickered. "If I don''t do this, how do I strike fear in the enemy? I am decided, so stop trying to make me reconsider!"


    He not only ordered to burn the city but also personally joined in. In the city, the nine green fire dragons were flying about, and thick smoke filled the sky; the entire city became hell.


    "If you hate me, come fight me!"


    Seeing the entire city becoming like hell, Liu Yan remained emotionless. He held a blood-coloured jade in his right hand. "For me to break through, this sin is nothing!"

 141 Twis

    In the beginning of the new year, Liu Yan from the Secluded Mountain Prefecture attacked Summer Sun Prefecture. In just half a month, he had managed to take down 15 cities and had caused 8 cities to be burning in fire. The casualties rate was very high and the whole of Xia Country was horrified by this!


    The Summer Sun Prefecture Armed Forces had lost the battle and the Prefecture master had no choice but to abandon the Prefecture City. He then went to ask for help from the Clear Spring Prefecture, the royal family of the Xia Country or anyone who had the ability to do so.


    On the 15th day of the 4th month, the Secluded Mountain Prefecture Armed Forces had surrounded the whole of Summer Sun Prefecture City and a big battle started.


    It was dawn.


    Above the city wall of the Summer Sun Prefecture, there were many cultivators getting up onto the city building to observe the movement of the enemy.


    "Zhe! Zhe!"


    A scholar who was dressed in green then sighed and said, "Every order will be executed. The soldiers train daily and there is even a special way for them to set up the tents¡­...They are a group of powerful soldiers indeed!"


    "Humph, my Summer Sun Elite Forces is not any inferior to the Secluded Mountain Prefecture. That Old Liu Yan is very experienced in martial arts and there are Mu Li and Xiang Zilong assisting him!"


    The Summer Sun Prefecture Master who was beside the scribe was pulling a long face.


    The scribe, who had made that comment previously, was the Clear Spring Prefecture Master. Even though both positions were of the same level, the Clear Spring Prefecture Master didn''t say anything that was hurting as he had travelled all the way here to help the Summer Sun Prefecture.


    "Well said!"


    The scribe laughed and didn''t refute. "Even though the strength of my armed forces has increased, I only have about 50,000 soldiers and another 20,000 soldiers as reserves. With your ability, Summer Prefecture Master, we will have a chance!"


    "I''m not afraid of wars, but Liu Yan doesn''t play this war the proper way. He is a spiritual knight and went off many times. What can we do?"


    The Summer Sun Prefecture Master sighed.


    "If that is the case, why do you still need my help?"


    The scribe dressed in green then laughed and continued, "Liu Yan is overboard this time!"


    From the way they looked, Liu Yan had actually broken the rules of the protocol between Wu Zong and spiritual knights.


    Nevermind if he was insatiable and felt like attacking others. He actually used his role as a spiritual knight to sabotage others and caused others to lose their faces. Hence, there would be a loss of interests. If one would provoke a spiritual knight and that spiritual knight had found ways to attack one''s sovereign even though he cannot defeat that one, the actions of the spiritual knight would be considered evil.


    Liu Yan was the initiator of this war and hence he deserved a beating.


    "The royal family has stated that they fully support our Prefecture in this attack, but they haven''t sent any actual help¡­.."


    The Summer Sun Prefecture Master gave a cold laugh and said, "Looks like after this war, we will not only have to change the Secluded Mountain Prefecture Master, the royal family will also have to be...Hehe..."


    "Indeed¡­.there are many movements from the royal family recently!"


    As the scribe heard this, his eyebrows moved as well.


    Even though there was chaos in the Secluded Mountain Prefecture, the royal family had reached out too much and this was also a problem for those few prefectures. Also, there were a few traces left behind¡­..


    If not for the pressing issue of Liu Yan, the Clear Spring Prefecture Master would have to ask for an explanation from the royal family with another ally already.


    In the past, the 3 prefectures had got together to create troubles for the royal family for a few times.


    The final outcome was that the royal family could only incur the losses without saying anything and the royal family even lost a king. Hence, the royal family was back into its original position and had to take care of the losses it had incurred.


    Even though the situation was different this time, the outcome would still be the same.


    The Clear Spring Prefecture Master was very confident of this.


    "Chirp! Chirp!"


    At that moment, there was a long chirp and a black shadow came from the enemy''s side. There was a person on top and the person looked violent and tough. Who else could the person be other than Liu Yan himself?


    "Xiao Yunqing, Lan Xiaosheng!"


    Seeing that the two prefecture masters were here, Liu Yan felt even more excited and said, "You both are here? Very good! I can just remove you two at one go and there will be no need for the extra effort to remove separately!"


    "Old Liu, your words are aggressive!"


    Lan Xiaosheng focused on Liu Yan. Even though his mouth was not wide open, his voice was able to travel through the clouds.


    "Roar! Roar!"


    There was a furious roar coming from the city and a giant black shadow flew above the city wall. It spread its wings and flew into the sky.


    The black shadow felt like a dragon and a tiger at the same time!


    It had the look of a big tiger, but it had wings and was very energetic.


    It is a special tiger with wings!


    The tiger was the White Winged Tiger! It was a tamed spiritual beast from the Clear Spring Prefecture. It not only was able to fly, its body was tough like metal and it could fight against a [Martial Artist (11th Gate)]!


    "Let''s go!"


    Xia Yunqing and Lan Xiaosheng leapt lightly onto the back of the White Tiger. Lan Xiaosheng looked at the lonely Liu Yan and laughed. "I''m impressed that you dare to fight against us even though you are alone. Where are your 3 leaders, the spiritual knight and the young sect master?"


    "I alone am sufficient enough to defeat you two!"


    Even though the two prefecture masters right in front of Liu Yan were also great spiritual knights, Liu Yan was very confident and treated the two of them as though they were dead already!


    Such attitude made the two prefecture masters even more furious.


    "Good! Very good! Looks like you are powerful enough to defeat the two of us on your own. How can we reject this?"


    Xia Yunqing gave a long laugh and was feeling excited.


    From the way he looked, it would be hard for Liu Yan to defeat the two of them on his own if he had not reached the Elemental Opening Realm!


    This was the best time to end the war as Liu Yan was on his own.


    He turned his head and saw that Lan Xiaosheng also had the same look as him. Both couldn''t wait to defeat Liu Yan.


    Both of them looked at each other and as the White Winged Tiger gave a loud roar, it pounced in the direction of where Liu Yan was...


    ...¡­..


    Just when the 3 prefecture masters were fighting.


    Back in the capital of the Xia Country.


    The Xia Country was split into 3 prefectures. Most of the land was controlled by the respective prefectures and there was a small portion of land that was still controlled by the royal family. At least it showed that the royal family still had some sort of power in this country.


    The capital laid at the intersection of the 3 prefectures and there were no walls built around the capital city!


    It was said that it was decided to be like this when the 3 prefecture masters were chosen. However, this clearly showed that the royal family of the Xia Country had to be a puppet forever and couldn''t go against anyone who had great power.


    Since there was no wall surrounding the capital city, there were enemies in all directions and the city was prone to many threats. The royal family had also become weak.


    If not for the survival of the king''s heritage and the restraint of the 3 Prefecture masters, the whole of Xia Country would have probably been exterminated.


    "So how is it, Princess?"


    Back in a tall building in the royal palace, tea was served to Xie Lingyun who had just returned from her trip as an ambassador. Her expression was confused and she was facing a white-haired energetic old daoist.


    "Even though Liu Yan is frenzied and has created trouble for the Secluded Mountain Prefecture, the matter is still related to Xia Country. The two prefecture masters of the Summer Sun and Clear Spring are both loyal ministers and how can we let Gui Country handle this matter for us?"


    Plus¡­..I''m just a lady and you, the ambassador from the Gui Country has looked for the wrong person!"


    Xie Lingyun said confidently, "I should look for Father to discuss this matter!"


    "Hehe¡­.Miss Xie, why do you have to hide from me? Miss Xie, your power is considered to be great in this country! In fact, the king from my home country is also impressed with your methods of handling the matter!"


    The old daoist shook his head and seemed to have known some secrets.


    "What are you talking about?"


    Xie Lingyun''s expression changed.


    "I''m not speaking nonsense. Your methods are special. In just a short period of time, you are able to rapport the support of a spiritual knight and a Wu Zong. This is incredible!"


    The old daoist laughed and said.


    As he spoke, Xie Lingyun''s energy was being shocked a little and she couldn''t regulate her energy, which caused her face''s colour to be changing.


    "Wu Zong is here. You don''t need me to point out where the spiritual knight is, do you?"


    The old daoist looked into Xie Lingyun''s eyes intensely as if he wanted to know what she was thinking.


    "Just tell me, what are you going to do now?"


    Xie Lingyun took a deep breath and her expression changed.


    If Fang Yuan was here, he would be surprised by her change in expressions.


    Xie Lingyun was standing straight with much confidence and she looked like a commander who had no miscalculations.


    "I have said before. The king from my home country is willing to help you. However, after everything is settled, please give a portion of the Secluded Mountains as a reward to the king¡­..and you two can get married. The king has been admiring you for a long time already¡­.."


    The old daoist shook his head when he said that to Xie Lingyun.


    As she heard this, she laughed and suddenly gave a cold look. "The king of the Gui Country is indeed asking for a lot from me, I will have to reject his offer!"


    "You don''t have to reject this offer straight away!"


    The old daoist continued with much confidence, "Your plan of interlocking the attacks is indeed great and you even placed a mole by Liu Yan''s side. However, you have overlooked something!"


    "Lu Renjia?!"


    Xie Lingyun was able to what was it on the spot and she was surprised. "I was already guessing that Lu Renjia had something to do with the foreign power. So it was you people!"


    "We only put a little trick there and we didn''t expect to reap anything from it!"


    The old daoist stroked his beard and continued arrogantly, "I see that you have known quite a lot of things from Lu Renjia and that include one secret method¡­.."


    "Is it regarding the method of using high-quality spiritual objects to break through the bottleneck?"


    Xie Lingyun interrupted him and gave him a mocking look.


    "So princess, you also know that. You are indeed special¡­.."


    The old daoist was a little surprised but was still full of confidence. "What I want to mention is the other manual. The manual is dedicated to Blood Demon and one could use a normal person''s blood to recover one''s elemental force! This method is called the Blood Refining Technique. This technique could cause a lot of damage as it requires the blood of thousands of people to produce its effect. Also, one could be affected mentally if one executes this technique!"


    "Blood Refining? Blood Refining!"


    Xie Lingyun was shocked and her nails were gripping onto something unknowingly. "The Huangshi City is being burnt?"


    "Correct, we have sent our men to have a look and indeed, there is a possibility that many people are already the victims of this technique¡­..However, Liu Yan was smart and he burnt the whole city straight away to remove any traces and evidence."


    The old daoist gave a weird smile and continued, "I guess you will know whether is it real or fake very soon!"


    "Princess!"


    At that moment, there were a few rapid knocks on the door. Then, a servant rushed in and was looking very anxious. "Breaking news from the Summer Sun Prefecture! Liu Yan has managed to defeat the other two prefecture masters. He has killed Xia Yunqing while Lan Xiaosheng, who was seriously injured, has escaped. The Summer Sun Prefecture¡­...has been taken down!"


    "What!?"


    Xie Lingyun''s expression instantly changed.

 142 Shi Yutong’s Dream

    End of the fifth month.


    Accompanying the Summer Sun Prefecture Master''s death, and the escape of the Clear Spring Prefecture Master''s death, the Secluded Mountain Prefecture''s soldiers occupied the entire Summer Sun Prefecture and seemed to be targeting the Imperial City next.


    In a short while, Liu Yan''s influence grew exponentially and was known as the number one spiritual knight, his infamous name spreading throughout the country.


    "Xia Yunqing is dead? Lan Xiaosheng has escaped with injuries?"


    As he returned to Qinghe County, Fang Yuan received this news and was in disbelief.


    "Impossible! This would only be possible if Liu Yan is in the Elemental Opening Realm! If he was still in the Elemental Gathering Realm, he would be no match against two opponents the same level as him... Unless..."


    Fang Yuan sighed and looked at Zhou Wenwu. "Any other details?"


    "Reporting!"


    Zhou Wenwu bowed. "From our sources, the three Prefecture Masters fought with extreme intensity, especially when Liu Yan struck, the fire burnt the clouds in the sky, making the entire sky a crimson red like it was on fire..."


    "After that, Prefecture Master Liu took over Summer Sun Prefecture and gathered the Wu Zongs and spiritual knights within the prefecture to swear their loyalty to him. If they did not do so, they would be severely dealt with!"


    At this point, his looked stressed out. "Sir, what should I do?"


    "A cloud burnt by fire?"


    Fang Yuan twitched his eyebrows. "This is a little weird..."


    Based on his knowledge, Liu Yan''s spiritual fire was green.


    Of course, this was a small detail. The important thing was that Liu Yan had a resounding victory. Why did he not continue and take over the Imperial City and become king, but gather the heroes and martial artists is Summer Sun Prefecture?


    ''Could it be... that he had not entered the Elemental Opening Realm and only won because he used other improper means... By now he should have run out of energy...''


    Fang Yuan was deep in thought, and as he glanced at his worried subordinates, he chuckled. "If anything happens, we''ll react to it accordingly. Since Prefecture Master has invited me, I will go..."


    After all, the takeover of Summer Sun Prefecture would mean that Liu Yan had gotten his hands on their valuables and treasures. He did not know if he could forcefully achieve a breakthrough, and was rather curious about this.


    ''Of course, before all this, I should focus on my own cultivation!''


    After dismissing his subordinates, Fang Yuan arrived at the meditation room, crossed his legs and sat down. With a flip of his palm, an Elemental Gaining Pill looted from Lu Renjia''s secret mansion appeared.


    "The medicinal properties of a spiritual pill is extremely strong, and cannot be compared to spiritual rice, which can be consumed daily. However, I still can use it to increase my cultivation once in a while!"


    Fang Yuan mulled. "I have already tested these few bottles of spiritual pills on others, and their effects are indeed remarkable, with no side effects, and it should be safe for me to try it... Who would have thought that I will end up taking spiritual pills to aid in my cultivation?"


    Without hesitation, his eyes flashed as he popped on Elemental Gaining Pill into his mouth. He shut his eyes as he allowed the pill to take its effect.


    Fang Yuan was extremely experienced in taking spiritual objects, but this was his first attempt at taking a spiritual pill.


    As the pill entered his stomach, it was a different feeling altogether.


    A strong and steady spiritual force was felt, like an awakening dragon swirling within him. His muscles expanded and he felt like his skin was being stretched.


    ''This spiritual pill is still much stronger than spiritual rice in terms of medicinal properties!''


    This spiritual pill was made from the essence of spiritual objects, and therefore should not be compared to a normal spiritual plant.


    Based on Fang Yuan''s estimation, the spiritual force from one of this pill would be akin to eating 66 pounds of spiritual rice! This was the speciality of an alchemy master.


    After a long while, Fang Yuan opened his eyes.


    "The Wu Zong elemental force within my Dantian is indeed stronger, what a pity it cannot go any further..."


    Feeling the progress in his cultivation, he twitched his eyebrows. "However, there is still little growth in my dream elemental force. It is still stagnant as before, and it seems that it can only be cultivated through dream accessing and dream building!"


    As he thought to this point, he used his magical energy to scan through his entire body, and his expression changed again. "Although the spiritual pill is remarkable, there is still the fear of pill poisoning and the problem of increasing dependence on it... However, I still don''t have the luxury of having one spiritual pill each day, and that a high-levelled alchemy master made used of nature to produce this spiritual pill, which means that it should not be poisonous..."


    ...


    There was no higher attainment for a Wu Zong, and therefore it did not matter how much more the elemental force was being developed.


    Fang Yuan stopped taking the Elemental Gaining Pill as he turned his focus on the Calming Pill.


    He first targeted Ling Yin.


    This girl was a spiritual disciple and was equivalent to a [Martial Artist (11th Gate)]. However, as of now, she was exhausted by Fang Yuan and was almost on the verge of mentally breaking down.


    If Fang Yuan was interested, he could change the mindset of this lady and could make her a loyal servant.


    Ultimately, he was not an evil person and did not have the ill intention to change her memory drastically. He only wanted to correct the hostility towards him in her subconscious mind. For instance, he could retarget her hatred onto Liu Yan, before slowly making her loyal to himself.


    In the cell, within the Ecstasy Fog, Ling Yin was sleeping soundly and appeared naive.


    "A good dream!"


    After he made a slight amendment to her memory, Fang Yuan stood up and left the cell.


    Changing someone else''s memory was a huge process. Even though it was just a minute change, the process could still take up to a day or two.


    However, once the process was completed, her loyalty could be assured and she could be part of them now.


    "If we''re talking about this..."


    Walking past a few other cells, Fang Yuan looked at a few familiar faces and thought to himself. "We could try this method on the Lin Family, especially Lin Leiyue and Lin Benchu, and that would save Zhou Wenwu all the trouble as well..."


    Regarding the Lin Family''s future, although Fang Yuan had left the decision to Zhou Wenwu, it only made him more conflicted.


    He could not release them, but could not kill them as well, and could only hold them in the cells.


    The hardships that the Lin Family had gone through were enough. If they promised not to create trouble outside in the future, they could actually be released.


    As for Lin Leiyue, since Master Wenxin could see her potential, then she should not be as simple as having spiritual abilities?


    "Go!"


    After leaving the jail, Fang Yuan called for the Iron-tailed Black Eagle and flew to where he captured Shi Yutong.


    "You''re here again!"


    Within the cave, Shi Yutong crossed her legs and was seated, emotionless.


    Since the moment she knew that she could not entice Fang Yuan with anything, and could not convince Fang Yuan to release her, she had been like this the whole while.


    However, Shi Yutong felt a sense of danger today and tensed up.


    ''To improve my cultivation and my dream elemental force, I have to access many dreams and build many dreams. Even a spiritual disciple cannot guard against my dream-building abilities anymore, and the next I shall try is a Wu Zong...''


    Fang Yuan had a look of determination and waved his hands, as a white fog appeared.


    "What do you want?"


    Shi Yutong was shocked.


    The unknown was the most feared. Her elemental force was already sealed by Fang Yuan, and he could do anything to her. Yet, he was still rather serious, and must, therefore, have an ulterior motive - From the looks of it, her gut feeling was correct, but there was nothing she could do.


    She was completely helpless as Fang Yuan had all the control over the situation!


    As the Ecstasy Fog flowed, Shi Yutong fought hard but to no avail. Her eyes shut as she fainted


    Fang Yuan maintained his seriousness.


    If he failed to access a Wu Zong''s dream world, the consequences would be dire.


    "Hopefully, the Calming Pill would be as effective as it was described, and hopefully it would be able to clear my mind!"


    Fang Yuan knew that at his current stage of cultivation, it would still be insufficient to access a Wu Zong''s dream, unless he had the help of a spiritual pill.


    Therefore, he swallowed the spiritual pill and pointed at Shi Yutong''s forehead. "Dream Accessing!"


    ...


    Qinghe County, Spirit Returning Sect.


    The doors were tall and majestic.


    A group of young children wore martial arts robes and queued up to enter the Spirit Returning Sect.


    "Listen up. Spirit Returning Sect is the number one Sect in Qinghe County. It is your honour to enter the Sect. From today onwards, you need to swear your loyalty and promise not to break any Sect rules, otherwise..."


    There was a martial artist coach in front lecturing the group. As he approached the end, his tone became stern.


    "Now, we will begin to assign you to your coaches. Please come up if your name is called!"


    The deacon''s voice was heard. "Zhaohu, Wanger, Qiansun... You are under Coach Gui! Come out now!"


    "Master!"


    Three kids came to the front and kowtowed to a man in brown robes, as he called himself their master.


    "Mm, follow me!"


    The man in the brown robe looked serious and albeit unwilling, brought the three kids with him.


    "The next group, Zhou Luoqiu, Bao Hongyan, Yu Bicheng... You are under Coach Zhang!"


    Three other mischievous kids came up and greeted a middle-aged lady.


    Their clothing revealed that they were all rather well to do. The lady coach seemed kind and a little more skilled than the previous coach in brown robes, and as she nodded her head she brought the children with her.


    "Next group..."


    Accompanying this voice, the number of children was getting lesser and lesser, and finally, only a few of them remained.


    "This is weird... Why am I here?"


    A kid in torn clothes like a little beggar had a doubtful look on his face.


    It was as though an Ecstasy Fog was swirling in his head, giving him a headache.


    "Who... am I?"


    "Fang Yuan! Are you alright?"


    At this point, a little girl approached him and asked him nervously.


    "Fang Yuan? Fang Yuan! I am Fang Yuan!!"


    The little beggar mumbled to himself and smirked. "Thank you, little sister!"


    After being lucid, Fang Yuan felt his energy grow like animal instincts and scanned his surroundings. "Mm... This is indeed Spirit Returning Sect. All thanks to the spiritual pill, otherwise I would have been lost in this dream world..."


    At his side, the little girl stared at him, clueless.


    "Forget about it!"


    Fang Yuan was feeling rather disturbed and pinched the little girl''s cheek. It felt slightly different from Lanruo, and he asked, "What is your name?"


    "Shi Yutong!"


    The little girl smiled and passed to him a white handkerchief, "Come, wipe your face!"


    "Mm?!"


    Fang Yuan shockingly received the handkerchief and was confused.


    Were the heavens playing tricks with him?


    ...

 143 Blood Demon

    "There is no difference between the real world and the dream world?"


    Back in the Green Peak, Fang Yuan made himself a pot of Questioning Heart Tea and he looked dazed.


    His expectations were exceeded when he went into the dream world this time.


    If the Calming Pills didn''t produce its effect to keep Fang Yuan alert, he would probably not have been able to wake up on his own.


    Even though he managed to wake himself up in the dream world this time, Fang Yuan was still a little confused.


    "This is another effect of the dream world!"


    The fragrance of the spiritual tea went into his nose and Fang Yuan touched in between his eyebrows. "I have been rushing through my cultivation recently, hence it is inevitable that I''m feeling mentally unstable!"


    Even though this experience was shocking and it didn''t hurt him, it gave him a reminder.


    Ever since he had become the dream master, his cultivation level had improved tremendously, but he still thought it was not enough and decided to use spiritual pills to push himself further. Hence, there was a setback.


    If he hadn''t realised it early and wasn''t able to wake himself up to recover himself with the spiritual tea and fruit, he would probably end up lost in the dream world and it would be very difficult for him to find his way back!


    As he was making tea, Fang Yuan recalled Master Wenxin''s Meditative Tea Ceremony. He then focused on clearing his mind to become innocent and pure.


    "I have managed to learn something from this experience!"


    Fang Yuan took a sip of the tea and looked at his stats window.


    "Name: Fang Yuan


    Essence: 11.2


    Spirit: 11.5


    Magic: 10


    Profession: Dream Master


    Cultivation: [Dream-Building Master (Complete)], Wu Zong


    Technique: [Eagle Claw Iron Skin Technique (Grade 13) (???)], Ecstasy Spell, Shadowstep


    Skill: [Medicine (Level 3)], [Botany (Level 5)]"


    "Not only there is an improvement in my essence, spirit and magic, I have completed the realm for dream-building from the previous dream access as a Wu Zong!"


    In other words, when he had completed the realm for dream building, it was equivalent to a spiritual knight who was already at the peak of the Elemental Gathering Realm and had reached the threshold for the Elemental Breaking Realm!


    This was also the evidence to show that Liu Yan, Xia Yunqing and Lan Xiaosheng were capable enough to become the prefecture masters!


    "Of course¡­..even though elemental breaking is hard, the holy realm is even harder! To have something from a dream world and display it in the real world, even if it was just a grass, a flower, a sand particle or a small rock, it is still difficult to achieve that!"


    The stage which involved a dream master to enter a dream world to build the dream was similar to a spiritual knight who was at the Elemental Gathering Realm. Fang Yuan guessed that the Holy Realm was equivalent to the Elemental Breaking Realm!


    Fang Yuan didn''t know what kind of magical power a spiritual knight who was at the Elemental Breaking Realm had, but for a dream master who was at the holy realm, the dream master could convert his accumulations to battle strength and this was not a trivial matter!


    "If I was at the Holy Realm, even if Liu Yan was at the Elemental Breaking Realm and he had brought a few more spiritual knights who were of the same level as him to fight against me, I would not be afraid! Unfortunately¡­.."


    Fang Yuan shook his head and sighed.


    "Holy Realm only has one requirement; one has to be able to display something from the dream world into the real world! It can be even just a sand particle and it will be sufficient!"


    As he thought about the requirement for this breakthrough, he gave a wry grin.


    One''s mind could affect a matter and one''s consciousness can affect the reality. How could this be so easily achieved?


    The Holy Realm!


    This was the realm that every dream master had wished to go for. One could say that most of the dream masters who had managed to break through successfully would be stuck in that realm.


    The mountains, the vegetation, the rivers, the lakes and all living things¡­..All these had to be displayed which in the end, would form a small real world. How was this easy to achieve?


    "Unfortunately¡­..Xia Country and the nearby countries like Yuan Country and Wu Country are quite ignorant. These countries don''t have any inheritance of Wu Zongs and also dream masters. Or else, I will have a group of people to consult with and I will not be struggling to explore on my own¡­.."


    Fang Yuan was feeling regretful. He got up and went to patrol the garden.


    As he had reached Level 5 for his botany skills, he could shorten the time taken for the plants to grow. Hence, Fang Yuan planted all the spiritual seeds he had.


    The effect was the biggest on the Flame Jade Rice. The crops were heading and could be harvested soon.


    This applied to the other spiritual seeds as well, even for the seed of the Vermillion Fruit which would take a long time to grow and there were only slight changes to the seed every day previously. This had caused Fang Yuan to be in despair previously.


    "It is hard to get Vermillion Fruit, but I have lots of bamboo fruits...."


    Fang Yuan had managed to get a good supply of bamboo fruits from the spiritual bamboo for rainy days and let out a long whistle.


    "Chirp! Chirp!"


    In the sky, the cloud was separated and a Red-eyed White King Bird came flying down. It landed right in front of Fang Yuan and rubbed its head against him. It showed a close relationship with Fang Yuan.


    "Little White, I will need your help this time!"


    Fang Yuan touched the feathers of the Red-eyed White King Bird and gave it a smile.


    This bird was definitely better than the Iron-tailed Black Eagle in terms of ability. This bird was as powerful as a [Martial Artist (12th Gate)]. Plus it could get mad and fly, and hence it could fight against a Wu Zong!


    Since he was heading to the Summer Sun Prefecture, it would be a dangerous trip and hence Fang Yuan would want to bring another who could fight.


    "Iron-tailed Black Eagle, Flower Fox Ferret, please help to take care of the spiritual medicine when I''m not around!"


    It has already been decided and Fang Yuan couldn''t care what the other two spiritual beasts had thought of it. He immediately got onto the back of the bird and flew up into the sky.


    ...


    "It was rumoured that ever since Liu Yan entered the Summer Sun Prefecture, he didn''t attack Huangshi City. Instead, he ordered to have the whole city on fire and the number of people who were either injured or killed was at least 10,000. From that day onwards, whenever he met a city which had resistance, he would order the city to be burnt and the whole Summer Sun Prefecture was like a living hell¡­.."


    "Hoo! Hoo!"


    In the sky, the wind was very strong.


    Fang Yuan passed by Huangshi City and saw a black contour line along the city wall and it looked as if like a scar. He then gave a light sigh.


    "Even though he has killed a lot of people, I will still have to admit that his method is a good one to display his might!"


    "Also, as the Summer Sun Prefecture Master is killed, the whole Summer Sun Prefecture will have to listen to Liu Yan''s orders in fear and no one will dare to disobey him. Liu Yan is on his way to dominating this prefecture¡­.."


    Fang Yuan was speechless with regards to Liu Yan''s actions.


    Liu Yan had admitted that he was not going to live any longer and he would die if he didn''t make a breakthrough. It was expected of him to become so frenzy right before his death.


    "The sky is turning dark. I should find somewhere to rest and continue tomorrow!"


    He looked at the head of the bird and patted it lightly.


    The Red-eyed White King Bird let out a long chirp and started to descend.


    "Eh?"


    However, at that moment, Fang Yuan saw a bright light from the corner of his eye. The light was coming from Huangshi City and it was flirtatious.


    ...¡­.


    "Demon! A demon!"


    A troop of soldiers from the Summer Sun Prefecture cried out loud and were running in all directions.


    Behind them, there was a bright red light blinking and it formed a shape of a Blood Python. The python chose its target and started biting the target!


    In fact, it had already done that.


    "Ssss..."


    The huge python looked real and the scales on its body were very clear. Its rolled its red tongue out and one of the soldiers who ran away the slowest was being swallowed. The blood of the soldier was absorbed and it spat back out a dry corpse.


    It seemed like it was playing with its prey. It didn''t kill the soldiers all at once and instead, it caused the soldiers to spread out and run away. Then, it would catch them one by one and drink their blood, like a legendary demon.


    "Jie jie¡­..The Yang in the blood of the soldiers is just nice and the blood tastes good. This is benefitting me!"


    There was a person on top of the Blood Python. The person was wearing a blood red coloured robe and was demonic.


    "How dare you, demon!"


    A lieutenant from the Summer Sun Prefecture shouted at the demon and he was also a 4 Heavenly Gates martial artist. He then projected his voice to a distance away. "Since you are also a spiritual knight, how can you not know the protocol in Xia Country? A martial artist who has elemental force cannot attack any normal people randomly! Or do you want to be wanted by the 3 prefecture masters?"


    "Hehe¡­..the 3 prefecture masters?"


    The person gave a demonic smile.


    "Sssss!"


    The Blood Python roared and the next moment, the lieutenant didn''t have time to defend himself and was trapped by the tongue of the Blood Python like a dumpling.


    "Liu Yan from the Secluded Mountain Prefecture had broken the rules. He was killing people by setting the whole city on fire. Also, Summer Sun Prefecture Master Xia Yunqing was killed and the Clear Spring Prefecture Master Lan Xiaosheng had escaped with serious injuries¡­..Now, who else in the whole of Xia Country would dare to go against me?"


    That spiritual knight was laughing crazily and was feeling regretful.


    "Such opportunity to obtain blood openly in public was rare. Unfortunately, all the prefecture masters were taken away by Liu Yan and I pity them¡­..Hehe, their blood contained the grudges of tens of thousands of people. If their blood was given to me, I''m afraid I would be able to reach the peak of the Elemental Gathering Realm instantly and I could try for the Elemental Breaking Realm¡­.."


    "Evil thief!"


    A 4 Heavenly Gates martial artist could not handle a spiritual knight.


    That lieutenant had no choice but could only see his own blood being taken away and he would soon become a dry corpse.


    "You will be punished¡­..for your sins!"


    Before he died, the lieutenant''s voice became hoarse and he cursed.


    "Jie jie¡­...I will be punished?"


    The spiritual knight waved his hand and the dry corpse flew out. The corpse was split into a few portions as it landed on the ground. "I will still have to be fearful of punishments for my sins? In this country, who has the capability to punish me? Haha¡­..Haha¡­.."


    He laughed loudly and was full of arrogance.


    However, the laughter suddenly stopped, as if a duck had been grabbed by its neck.


    The remaining soldiers who had managed to survive looked up and saw a giant white shadow flying down quickly like a lightning. Within seconds, it was already at the head of the Blood Python.


    "Chirp! Chirp!"


    The white shadow moved and it revealed the Red-eyed White King Bird. It revealed its claws and landed on the Blood Python with much force.


    "Sssss!"


    The Blood Python let out a sorrowful cry and was pushed by about 35 yards away. A blood red fog started to spread and there was a foul smell.


    "Blood Demon, long time no see!"


    On the back of the bird, there was a young master whom as if was sent from heaven and laughed.


    "Are you¡­..Fang Yuan?!"


    The Blood Demon could recognise that the person was Fang Yuan.


    When Lu Renjia was surrounded, he was the last to reach the battlefield and had met Fang Yuan that time. He was so frightened the previous time and hence he escaped.


    "I was finding a place to rest but I didn''t expect to meet my enemy. Don''t even think of escaping today!"


    Fang Yuan looked at the dry corpses that were lying on the ground and sighed.


    "Humph! Stop bragging!"


    The Blood Demon''s face got serious.


    He had decided on the spot to retreat that day as there was suppression from Liu Yan and he was not confident in dealing with 2 spiritual knights and 3 Wu Zongs at the same time!


    However, he was only dealing with one person currently!


    "Even if your power is doubled of a Wu Zong, you are still too arrogant!"


    The Blood Demon looked in all directions to make sure Fang Yuan was really alone. Then, his eyes were filled with anger. "I will gladly accept your blood then!"

 144 Decapitation

    "The world shall burn and drown in blood!"


    Facing the country¡¯s most gifted martial artist thus far, Blood Demon did not dare to hold back his abilities. His opening move was the highest level of the Blood Magic Technique.


    "Voom voom!"


    Streaks of blood appeared in a shield surrounding him, making it look like he was engulfed in flames. It was quickly expanding as Blood Demon charged towards Fang Yuan.


    Even though this was not the blistering Yang fire, it was the more lethal and virulent Yin fire. Once it contacts the skin, it would cause the flesh and bone to disintegrate instantly.


    "This is indeed the Blood Magic Technique!"


    Looking at this, Fang Yuan¡¯s eye lid jumped.


    The spiritual spell used by Blood Demon were similar to those in Fang Yuan¡¯s Blood Magic Manual. They were after all from the same source. Of course, in comparison, it was evident that Blood Demon had already mastered the skills to the highest levels while Blood Killer and company were not even worthy of being his disciples.


    However, to use this technique against him might seem very surprising.


    After all, the Blood Magic Manual was with him!


    "Rains of heaven!"


    In response, Fang Yuan steadily made a hand gesture and a layer of rain and cloud appeared.


    "Haha...Did you think my flames were normal fire?"


    Looking at this, Blood Demon broke into a mocking smirk. It was as though he was disdainful of Fang Yuan for underestimating him. However, his smirk widened into a shocked look of disbelief.


    This was because under Fang Yuan¡¯s manipulations, relentless drops of rain poured out of the clouds into the centre of the blood-coloured flames.


    "Splash!"


    After a few huge loud explosions, the toxic flames that could engulf the entire world were extinguished. What was left were the white fumes that were beginning to disperse.


    "How is this possible?"


    Blood Demon was panic-stricken.


    Not only was Fang Yuan just a novice at spiritual spells. More significantly, he only used a simple spiritual disciple technique to successfully counter the Blood Magic Technique. This was extremely intolerable to Blood Demon.


    Bead of cold sweat were beginning to form on his forehead.


    Based on what he felt, the drops of rain were incredibly compact and tough. Yet the rainfall was also as flexible and nimble as a fish. It went straight for the weak point of his spell and completely caused it to fall apart. It was like hot knife cutting through butter.


    If he had heard of the classic tale about the chef carving the cow¡¯s carcass, it would definitely be more surprised and shocked than he already was.


    This was because Fang Yuan only used a very common technique which he had practised and mastered to perfection. Furthermore, he did not expand a significant portion of his energy and powers to do so.


    "This spiritual spell..."


    Huge beads of cold perspiration flowed from Blood Demon¡¯s forehead. He felt as though Fang Yuan had seen through him already.


    "You have killed many innocents for no reason and committed several other heinous crimes. Today I will serve you the justice you deserve...Of course, these are not the main reasons. Who asked you to provoke me first!"


    Fang Yuan smiled, and a wavering streak of green light flew out from his palm.


    "Crap!"


    Blood Demon retreated instantly, and a dark red light appeared from his body, "Heavenly Blood Shield!"


    After setting up this defence, he turned on his heels and sped off without turning back.


    How could he fight against such an opponent? He would not dare to fight against Fang Yuan ever again in his life.


    After all, to fight against an opponent who could see through him was enough of a hellish experience.


    After experiencing it once, Blood Demon did not wish to go through it a second time.


    However, it was a pity as Fang Yuan was not going to let him off so easily.


    "Go!"


    With his command, the streak of green light became extremely vibrant and flexible. It skirted along the sides of the red shield and caused it to vibrate violently. Then, the green light cut through the shield with ease.


    "Snap!"


    Blood Demon was taken aback. He saw his shield break open like an egg shell to reveal the green light. It looked like a weirdly shaped green dagger.


    "Ancient Green Serpent Dagger?"


    Of course, he was familiar with this weapon which was used by Lu Renjia formerly.


    "Pooh!"


    The Ancient Green Serpent Dagger flew towards him from extremely tight angles.


    Amidst all these, Blood Demon turned and bent over his waist into a painful angle as he attempted to dodge the weapon.


    Even so, the dagger pierced through his shoulder and sent blood splattering into the air.


    Fang Yuan panted violently like a hopeless beast. He was trying desperately to find a way to survive and was at the same time extremely dumbfounded by Fang Yuan¡¯s abilities.


    "You have already reached the peak of the Elemental Gathering Realm?"


    Glaring at Fang Yuan, these words came out of his mouth with great difficulty as he refused to acknowledge the facts.


    Fang Yuan breaking his spiritual spell earlier could be due to his carelessness and Fang Yuan¡¯s good fortune. However, with the dagger penetrating through his defences, it showed that Fang Yuan was indeed capable and there were no excuses this time.


    Without waiting for Fang Yuan to reply, several wounds on his body opened up and blood flowed from them. It was almost as though he was dipped into blood.


    "Hehe, I will remember you! Blood Escape Technique!"


    With this shout, Blood Demon transformed into a ray of red light and shot away with amazing speed.


    Previously, he also used a similar technique while escaping from Liu Yan and Taoist Mu Li. Even though Taoist Mu Li had a spiritual bird, he was also unable to catch him.


    "Red-eyed White Bird King! Rage!"


    At this point, it was evident that Blood Demon might not be that lucky again.


    With a shout, Fang Yuan leapt onto the Red-eyed White Bird King.


    The bird cawed continuously. The tips of its feathers turned into a bright red bloody colour. Its originally blistering speed increased by five times! With a flash of white light, it easily caught up with Blood Demon.


    "How is this possible?"


    Blood Demon was completely at loss of what to do.


    This technique was his last resort. Whenever he executed it, it would take up a huge portion of elemental force. It even had negative side effects such as causing him to sustain serious injuries or decreasing his powers.


    Of course, with such risks involved, the results were outstanding. It enabled him to travel at a speed so fast that even a normal spiritual bird could not keep up with him.


    Ever since Blood Demon trained and mastered the Blood Magic Technique, he had always relied on this technique as a trump card and reassurance to do whatever he wanted.


    However, how was it possible that the spiritual bird Fang Yuan was riding could keep up with him?


    Blood Demon was shocked to the core.


    Not only was Fang Yuan able to reach the peak of the Elemental Gathering Realm at such a young age, how was it also possible for him to get a spiritual bird as powerful and ruthless?


    ¡®Something is wrong, this spiritual bird is obviously a large eagle. Its speed cannot be this fast!¡¯


    Blood Demon tried to spur himself on "Even though this bird might be faster than me, it might be because of some secret elemental energy. As long as I can outlast it, I still might escape!"


    Thinking about this, he drummed up his courage and bit off the tip of his tongue. He then spat out a mouthful of vital blood.


    "Splash!"


    Riding atop Red-eyed White Bird King, Fang Yuan saw the traces of blood on the ground grew thicker with shades of purple. Blood Demon¡¯s speed increased by 3 times.


    "Hehe...you are now gambling your life on this?"


    Calmly, he took a few bamboo fruits and fed them to Red-eyed White Bird King and ordered, "Continue to chase after him, let¡¯s see how much more blood can he afford to spit!"


    "Kaw kaw!"


    Red-eyed White Bird let out a loud shrill and the feathers on it became even redder. With the enhancements of the bamboo fruits, the duration of its rage was extended.


    After some time.


    "What the...what creature is that? It has endless energy? This is not normal!"


    The rays from the Blood Escaping Technique grew weaker. Blood Demon was ghostly pale, and the black colour of his hair faded to resemble a sickly and withering tree. He was unsteadily falling to the ground.


    Hearing the caws from the bird behind him, he opened his mouth with much difficulty, but he no long had enough vital blood.


    "Haha... it seems like my proud life will have to end in such a pathetic manner. This is retribution!"


    Blood Demon¡¯s coarse vocal chords made his laughter sound as horrendous as a crow. His vision went black and he fell to the ground.


    "Hmm?"


    Red-eyed White Bird King landed majestically as Fang Yuan leapt off. He was slightly suspicious as he wondered, "Is he dead?"


    As the rays of light of the Escape Technique vanished, he saw Blood Demon.


    Blood Demon¡¯s corpse was in state way worse than those preserved by Fang Yuan. All the vital blood in him was expanded.


    "He exhausted himself by continuously using the Blood Escaping Technique"


    Fang Yuan then looked at the utterly exhausted Red-eyed White Bird King next to him and immediately fed it a few bamboo fruits, "Eat them slowly, do not worry, I still have many more for you..."


    If Blood Demon came to live and saw this, he would definitely die of anger again.


    "Green Serpent! Go!"


    Looking at the breathless Blood Demon, Fang Yuan still refused to leave anything to chance. Waving his hand, a green ray of light appeared and shot towards Blood Demon, slicing off his head.


    Only then did Fang Yuan truly believe he was dead.


    "You are indeed a special fellow, even though you died such a pathetic death..."


    Fang Yuan then unhesitatingly stepped up to search his body.


    He was very interested to find what a spiritual knight had in his possessions.


    Sadly, Blood Demon was a poor devil. He had nothing else on him except for a jade scroll.


    Fang Yuan then used his magical will to look through Blood Demon¡¯s corpse. He found the lower portion of the Blood Magic Manual. It seemed like Blood Demon had some form of relation to Blood Killer.


    It was a pity that the two of them were killed by Fang Yuan, but Fang Yuan could not be bothered to find out more.


    "These types of unscrupulous issues are not worth my time. But the Blood Escaping Technique does seem promising!"


    Fang Yuan was not interested in the Blood Magic Technique at all, but he was pleased to find the Blood Escaping Technique in the lower portion of the Blood Magic Manual.


    Undoubtedly, even though the Blood Escaping Technique used up a lot of energy, it was more of a benefit than a loss to someone who mastered it.


    "However, is this all a spiritual knight possessed?"


    Fang Yuan could not believe this. Thinking of how Blood Killer behaved, he waved his hand. The robes on Blood Demon were torn open instantly to reveal the naked corpse of Blood Demon.


    "Eh?"


    At this time, something caught the attention of Fang Yuan.


    A patch of skin on Blood Demon¡¯s chest looked different from the skin on the rest of his body. Evidently, something was done to it.


    Fang Yuan waved his hand. With a flash of green light, the piece of skin flew into Fang Yuan¡¯s palm.


    "What a brilliant way to hide this!"


    This piece of skin was treated before. It was extremely similar to human skin. As it covered Blood Demon¡¯s flesh for some time, it was not immediately obvious that it was not human skin.


    It was only because the way in which Blood Demon died caused his muscles to shrink, exposing the difference to Fang Yuan.


    "Could this be a special technique too?"


    In the extremely thin piece of leather, it could only store at most a sheet of paper. When Fang Yuan opened it, his eyes widened, "This is..."


    In his hands was a piece of old map. The lines and colours on it were extremely familiar to Fang Yuan because he already had two other similar pieces!


    "The third piece of the treasure map!"

 145 Plo

    "This is heaven''s will!"


    In front of Fang Yuan, the three damaged treasure maps combined into one and transformed into a complete map which outlined an area with a red dot at its centre. It was only when the three maps were combined before the information was revealed. Even if an outsider possessed a copy of the map, it was worthless as the true copy was required.


    "The first map was a gift from Han Shou, the second map was obtained from the Five Ghosts Sect from Lieyang County...and this third map was with the Blood Demon..."


    Fang Yuan rubbed his eyebrows as he pondered.


    "Wait...According to the findings of the Five Ghosts Sect, the third map was with the third disciple of ''that master''[1] who had left the country...and this Blood Demon was coincidentally a spiritual knight who travelled the 4 seas...Could he be the descendant of the third disciple?"


    His eyes brightened, "If that is really true, a lot of things would make sense!"


    From the Blood Magic Technique, the Blood Demon and the Blood Killer were somehow linked, and if the Blood Demon was the descendant of the ''that master'', he would surely know the secret of the treasure map. If that was the case, it was no coincidence that the Blood Killer and the Five Ghosts Sect Master knew each other and were likely to be influenced by the Blood Demon to act as a spy to locate the other 2 maps.


    Even the Blood Killer''s action of swallowing the treasure map would make sense.


    Although this was just a speculation, Fang Yuan felt that the guess was not far off from the truth.


    "I seem to have an affinity with treasures recently. I have just obtained Lu Renjia''s secret mansion and another bigger treasure awaits me..."


    Fang Yuan carefully examined the map.


    There were a few mountain ranges and water bodies on the map that appeared foreign to Fang Yuan. However, he was certain that he would be able to track down the location of the treasure if he compared the map with the maps of Xia Country and the neighbouring countries.


    "The treasure must be really important. From the methods of ''that master'', there might even be risks. Now is not the time to be impatient!"


    Fang Yuan leapt onto the Red-eyed White Bird, "Time to go to Liu Yan''s banquet...just that..."


    He looked at his surroundings and appeared to be perplexed, "Where is this place?"


    ...


    Just as Fang Yuan chased too far and left the borders of the Summer Sun Prefecture, and had to hurry back.


    Summer Sun Prefecture City.


    The prefecture city had undergone many changes. After the fire, the city walls still remained. However, the original flags had now been replaced by the flags of the Secluded Mountain Prefecture Armed Force. There were few pedestrians on the streets and they hurried with their head down. They would occasionally glance up at the flags and the soldiers, their eyes full of hatred.


    The Prefecture Master''s Residence was bustling with activities.


    Ever since Liu Yan displayed his unparalleled military might, the Sects within Summer Sun Prefecture had started to come forward to surrender.


    Furthermore, Liu Yan had gathered the Wu Zongs and the spiritual knights and consolidated his power to with an air of unifying Xia Country. Banquets were hosted in the Prefecture Master''s Residence for days and nights and the residence was extraordinarily lively.


    Rare and precious spiritual items, especially fire-type items were confiscated by his troops and delivered to his residence.


    "Adding oil to a blazing inferno, what good luck!"


    Outside the residence, an old man who was previously secretly conversing with Xie Lingyun gazed in front of him, his eyes appeared to flash.


    He turned, and looked at Xie Lingyun, "Princess, are you ready?"


    Xie Lingyun bit her lips and appeared to be helpless, "Even you said that that man possessed good luck, why are we even fighting so hard against fate?"


    The Taoist Elder was not only of high cultivation level, in the spiritual knight world, he possessed all kinds of abilities. Xie Lingyun had previously experienced his powers and did not dare neglect it.


    "That is incorrect!"


    The Taoist Elder shook his head, "While Liu Yan possessed good luck, his fate is like a bonfire which requires an endless supply of firewood to keep it burning. However, his energy is starting to diminish and he does not have much time left. He had spent much of his energy in defeating the two prefecture masters previously. If we act now, he would have no chance to live."


    Xie Lingyun was hesitant and did not speak.


    "Hehe...unless you want to see him unify the prefectures and eventually enter the capital and usurp the throne?"


    The Elder Xuan Sheng sneered.


    "Of course not. It is just that your conditions are too harsh...for the two families to become in-laws and divide the counties. The Secluded Mountain Prefecture have 6 counties which belong to the country¡­...our ancestors fought countless of wars to create this. How can we easily give this up?"


    Xie Lingyun replied slowly.


    "Since the passing of the King of Xia, the three Prefecture Masters have coexisted side by side. These lands only belong to the royal family nominally..."


    Elder Xuan waved his hand, "Furthermore...you have already agreed to be with the king and even sign the documents. Are you trying to go back on your promise now?"


    "Of course not!"


    Xie Lingyun glared at the elder, "Lingyun just wanted to remind Elder Xuan that we hope that Wu Country would abide by the agreement. While Xia Country might not be as strong, we still have an army!"


    "Of course!"


    Elder Xuan turned red, "When you are married to our king, Xia Country and Wu Country would be united. The king of Xia would be the father-in-law of our king. Of course, we would come to your aid. Once we have gotten rid of Liu Yan, Xia Country would be able to reclaim the Summer Sun and the Clear Spring Prefectures. That would be a cause for celebration!"


    "I certainly hope so!"


    Xie Lingyun sighed deeply, "I have already brought the Wuzong from my country. The spy within the City Master Prefecture would assist you too. When are you going to act?"


    "Liu Yan had already been exposed to the Elemental Opening Bottleneck. Ordinary traps would not work on him. Only by pressuring with an ambush by an army would work on him!"


    Xuan Sheng laughed,"I brought the imperial advisor of Wu Country, the Blood Demon and the elders as backup especially for today. With the Wuzong and the spy in the residence, Liu Yan has no chance of surviving."


    "Imperial advisor of Wu?"


    Xie Lingyun appeared to be afraid upon hearing the title.


    "Haha...if he did not offer his help, who would dare to take on Liu Yan? Now princess, do you believe in our sincerity?"


    Taoist Elder Xuan Sheng laughed loudly. He took out a string of firecrackers and tossed it into the air, causing it to explode mid-air.


    "Honghong!"


    In the deafening blast, an overpowering aura could be felt. A man flew forward on a Qingye spiritual weapon and boomed, "I am Wu Wudao! Where is Liu Yan?"


    "Imperial Advisor of Wu?"


    Liu Yan and Taoist Mu Li flew out of the residence on the back of the Wind Chasing Falcon, their expressions solemn.


    This was especially true for Liu Yan.


    With just a look, he could tell that the person in front of him was no less powerful than him. They were both at the peak of the Elemental Gathering Realm and were stuck at the bottleneck.


    "Wu Country and Xia Country had never interfered with each other''s state affair. Why is the imperial advisor here?"


    Liu Yan asked loudly.


    "The devoted took to the task when the victims begged for help!"


    Wu Wudao wore a golden helmet. His face looked boorish and he sported many battle scars. His cape flowed with the wind and he gave out an overbearing presence. He was a highly skilled spiritual knight.


    "Victims begged for help?"


    Liu Yan''s eyebrows appeared to be smoking, "Those traitors in the capital! I should have disposed of the royal family first when I had the chance!"


    "It is too late to say all these. Come!"


    Wu Wudao beckoned.


    "Come!"


    Liu Yan''s expression was grave. He spoke to Mu Li, "You go first and rally the troops and guard against any raid!"


    "Understood!"


    Mu Li retreated before his expression changed. He aimed for Liu Yan''s back and struck him.


    "You..."


    Liu Yan could not react to this betrayal in time and was struck by Mu Li. His face turned red and he spat out a mouthful of fresh blood.


    "How dare you!"


    He ground his teeth and his surroundings were set ablaze. The Wind Chasing Falcon below him caught fire and turned into a massive blaze in the sky.


    "Please forgive me! I have my reasons to do so!"


    Taoist Mu Li stood behind Wu Wudao and said, "I originally worked for the Xia royal family. My previous interactions with you were all a facade!"


    "Haha, well done!"


    Xuan Sheng witnessed the scene and raised his eyebrows, "I did not expect that the princess would insert a spiritual knight as a spy next to Liu Yan. This level of deception makes me feel so inferior now."


    "This is insignificant. Act now. I do not want the Secluded Mountain Prefecture to be given the opportunity to rise again!"


    Xie Lingyun''s words were cold. It was time to remove the problem at its roots now that she had already acted!


    "Very well! With our underhand methods and the reputation of the princess, we will accomplish great things within the Summer Sun Prefecture!"


    Taoist Elder Xuan Sheng gave the signal and not long after, the whole Summer Sun Prefecture was in a state of unrest.


    "Prefecture Master!"


    Leader Niu and his man rushed forward towards the area where the Wind Chasing Falcon fell upon seeing Liu Yan being ambushed.


    "Hong!"


    Spiritual strength spurted out and shredded the corpse of the Wind Chasing Falcon. Liu Yan walked out slowly, "I am fine!"


    The corner of his mouth was dripping with fresh blood that contained a tinge of green.


    "Master Liu, there is no need to use the Wind Chasing Falcon to instigate me..."


    Taoist Mu Li spoke coldly, "You are heavily wounded at your core and poisoned badly. How much more spiritual energy do you think you can harness?"


    "Taoist Mu Li, you would dare to do such a thing?"


    Leader Niu bellowed.


    "When two armies go to war, unscrupulous methods would naturally be utilized!"


    Wu Wudao laughed, "Don''t tell me you don''t know this?"


    "Haha...good!"


    Liu Yan appeared to be breathing weakly. However, his eyes were bright, "There will only be one survivor in today''s battle!"


    [1] ''That master'' refers to an individual that has not been unveiled as of this chapter.

 146 Death

    "Hmmmm? That is..."


    Fang Yuan rode on the Red-eyed White Bird and soared above the nine heavens at an astonishing speed.


    As he reached the borders of the Summer Sun Prefecture City, his expression grew serious.


    Immerse spiritual pressure could be felt in the direction of the prefecture city. The city was ablaze and was covered in thick black smoke. The scene looked apocalyptic.


    "Could it be that Liu Yan felt that burning the eight cities was not enough and wanted to burn down even the Summer Sun Prefecture?"


    Fang Yuan spat, his face solemn.


    In the prefecture city, a plot was being carried out against Liu Yan who was surrounded by assassins!


    "Given Liu Yan''s current prowess, only those who are extremely skilled and hold high appointments in the country would be able to force him to this stage...could it be that the wheel of fate has turned? He had not even gotten the Wu Zongs and the spiritual knights in the two prefectures to swear their loyalty to him and it appears that he is going to be disposed of first..."


    Fang Yuan smiled.


    He did not know if Liu Yan would be a blessing or a bane in the future. At least now, he would not be forced to take sides.


    "Little White, fly higher!"


    Fang Yuan gave the orders to the Red-eyed White Bird after he thought through it.


    It would be safer for him not to take sides and instead observe when the two sides clashed.


    ....


    As compared to Fang Yuan, the countless people in the prefecture city were not as calm.


    "Houhou!"


    In the sky above the residence, 9 scarlet fire dragons with their tails intertwined together were spitting flames. This caused the whole sky to be painted crimson red.


    "Heavenly Fire Dragon?"


    Xie Lingyun''s emotion was a mix of fear and regret as she witnessed this scene, "Liu Yan had truly reached the Elemental Breaking Bottleneck!"


    "It is precisely so that will seal his fate!"


    Xuan Sheng spoke without a moment''s hesitation, "In the neighbouring Wu Country, Yuan Country...and even Xia Country do not have a spiritual knight who has reached the Elemental Breaking Bottleneck take on a command position. Who would wish to have a superior if they are powerful leaders themselves?"


    Xie Lingyun laughed bitterly. She did not know why but a silhouette of a youth appeared in her mind.


    She knew that he was an exceptional genius who had the potential to surpass Liu Yan given enough time.


    "Wu Wudao! I will bring you down along with me if I die today!"


    Liu Yan stood on top of the fire dragon''s head, his eyes fixed on the Imperial Advisor.


    His hair was in a mess and his chest was riddled with holes. He looked sinister and let out a laugh. He bit his tongue and spat out a mouthful of purple-red blood. His pores opened and beads of blood started to flow out to form a figure of a man from the blood.


    "Flaming Blood Secret Technique! Scarlet Dragon Fire Pill...explode!!!"


    "Houhou!"


    The nine fire dragons let out a cry before they each spat out an illusionary pill the size of a fist. The pills combined to become the size of a human head, raging with flames and flew towards Wu Wudao.


    "Chhh!"


    Wu Wudao did not dare to be complacent and hurriedly dodged the attack. However, layers and layers of the Five Elements Light appeared on his body and surrounded him.


    In that instant.


    The fire pill pursued Wu Wudao and clashed with his defence.


    "Honglong!"


    The heavens and earth turned dark.


    The wind howled and tore at the ground.


    "Cough cough..."


    Taoist Elder Xuan Sheng looked at the sky amidst the dust, "Shit... If the Blood Demon was here, Liu Yan would have fallen into the trap with his previous technique and would be subdued by the Blood Demon!"


    "Why is he not here?"


    Xie Lingyun asked coldly.


    "This¡­..how would I know?"


    Xuan Sheng looked around and saw something. He immediately leapt forward, "Imperial Advisor sir, are you okay?"


    "Cough Cough¡­..I am fine!"


    Xie Lingyun followed closely behind and arrived at a badly damaged stone wall. She could see a person with torn clothing and badly burnt skin. His abdomen was pierced by a metal spear and he was nailed upon the wall, fresh blood trickled from his wound.


    Upon seeing the arrival of Xuan Sheng, his eyes brightened, "I may have been struck by Liu Yan''s flying spear, but he had been struck by my God Searching Palm. Not even the deities can save him! The final victory is mine! Cough cough..."


    He appeared to be proud and spat out mouth after mouth of fresh blood.


    "Don''t mind me, go and collect Liu Yan''s corpse! Also, get rid of all the Secluded Mountain Prefecture Armed Forces, especially the three Wu Zongs!"


    Wu Wudao waved them away and grasped the metal spear. With a yank, he pulled out the spear which resulted in his blood gushing out from his body.


    "Understood!"


    Xuan Sheng respected the Imperial Advisor. He stood up and gave the orders to his people.


    Behind him, Xie Lingyun witnessed the scene.


    After this incident, the prefecture city was badly damaged. In addition to the destruction of the cities, the Summer Sun Prefecture was greatly weakened.


    After Liu Yan''s death, Wu Country would gain the Secluded Mountain Prefecture according to the agreement which would further enhance their power.


    The strong ones would become stronger while the weak ones would become even weaker. Would Xia Country be able to fend off Wu Country''s conquest after tens or hundreds of years?


    Lingyun was afraid that not even a small village would be left!


    Her view was bleak when she thought about it.


    ...


    "Cough Cough..."


    After Liu Yan used the Flaming Blood Secret Technique, he was sure that he was going to die. He was immediately surrounded after he beat Wu Wudao.


    He was groggy and could not remember what happened next.


    It was then when a small blaze that went down his throat and spread through his body caused him to wake up and open his eyes.


    He could see that he was in a cave. The floor was wet. It was dark and silent. The moss that grew at the sides were covered in dew drops.


    "I...I..."


    He opened his mouth and realized that his voice was coarse like sandpaper. He could not help but smile bitterly.


    Just the act of smiling caused him to feel like his body was being torn apart.


    After being struck by Wu Wudao''s God Searching Palm, he had completely lost his Elemental Force that he had painstakingly trained and was now useless.


    It was a miracle that he was still alive after sustaining such grave injuries.


    ''I must have been saved by a master or unknowingly swallowed some treasure for me to be still hanging on to my life.''


    Liu Yan''s eyes lit up with hope as he realized that there was someone there.


    "Master Liu, are you awake?"


    The voice was familiar. The other person took out a Bright Moon Pearl which lit up the whole cave. Liu Yan was astonished. "It''s you! Fang Yuan!"


    "Of course it''s me!"


    Fang Yuan laughed and sat beside Liu Yan, "Who else would be able to save your life other than me? What happened in the Summer Sun Prefecture City?"


    From his question, Liu Yan was convinced that Fang Yuan was not a member of Wu Country.


    Liu Yan remembered his defeat and his expression grew dark, "The Imperial Advisor of Wu challenged me to a fight, Taoist Mu Li was a spy and betrayed my troops and I..."


    He did not have to use his brain to guess that the troops and even the three Wu Zongs in the prefecture met their ends.


    "Imperial Advisor of Wu?"


    Fang Yuan nodded his head and looked at Liu Yan, "You are gravely wounded and your magical energy is diminishing. There is no doubt that you will die! I can only prolong your life for a while longer. If you have any regrets, do say now!"


    "You would help me seek revenge?"


    Liu Yan''s eyes were burning.


    "No..."


    Fang Yuan smiled, "If you request something that is not too difficult and my mood is good, I will help you. If the task is too difficult, dream on. I will just bury you and we will be even!"


    Liu Yan flushed. He could not speak out any more requests.


    After a while, he sighed, "I regret not being able to break through the Elemental Breaking stage..."


    "I am afraid that you would still be involved even if you wanted to stay out of it, Brother Fang!"


    "Oh? Why is that so?"


    While Fang Yuan could deduce as much, his heart sank when he heard what Liu Yan said.


    "Haha... why did Wu Country agree to help out this time? This is because the Xia Country Royal Family gave them sufficient incentives! Hmm! Those stupid worms, other than the state, what is there to sell? I am not sure of the other conditions, but I am sure one of them would be dividing the land in return!"


    "Dividing of land?"


    Fang Yuan stroked his chin, "The Secluded Mountain Prefecture would be affected by the drawing of the countries'' boundaries!"


    "That Wu Country...cough cough..."


    Liu Yan coughed, his whole face red. It was obvious that his time had arrived, "...had coveted the Secluded Mountain Prefecture for a very long time. It was previously prevented by me. Now, it is up to you. Brother Fang, I still had a favour to ask of you and I hope that you would not decline!"


    "Speak first!"


    Fang Yuan''s face was distorted.


    "I hope that you would take over the position as the Prefecture Master of the Secluded Mountain Prefecture!"


    Liu Yan said solemnly.


    "Me?"


    Fang Yuan pointed at himself. He was speechless.


    The position of Prefecture Master had always been held by the most powerful. As of now, there was no one more suitable than him.


    "That''s right, this is my way of revenge and is definitely beneficial for you too!"


    Liu Yan struggled before he managed to take out a black seal and passed to Fang Yuan.


    "This seal enables you to take command of the troops in the 6 counties within the Prefecture...I still have some treasure in the residence. They are now yours! Remember that the Wu Country is very greedy and ambitious. They will not let any outsiders break through to the Elemental Breaking Realm. They come for me this time and they will not let you go next time!"


    Liu Yan used his remaining energy to tightly grasp Fang Yuan''s hand.


    Not long after, the Secluded Mountain Prefecture Master who had astonished numerous countries took his last breath and passed away.

 147 To Seize

    "Secluded Mountains Prefecture Master?"


    Within the cave, Fang Yuan looked at the body of Liu Yan and the black Secluded Mountain Seal in his hand. He pondered without speaking for half a day before he shook his head. "He has really given me a tough problem!"


    There was no doubt that Liu Yan was selfish and wanted Fang Yuan to avenge him before he passed away.


    The position to be the Prefecture Master was a bait!


    However, Fang Yuan had to admit that Liu Yan said was true.


    In the struggle for power, those spiritual knights who were close to surpassing the Elemental Opening Realm would become a thorn in the flesh of the countries.


    Then what about him, the genius who was just barely over 20 and had already surpassed the Elemental Force Realm in both martial arts and magical prowess?


    He was able to enjoy peace previously as the Secluded Mountains Prefecture already had Liu Yan who was targeted.


    Furthermore, they did not realise that his rate of improvement would be so frightening.


    If Wu Country had found out that Fang Yuan had already reached the peak of the Elemental Gathering Realm, he would suffer the same fate as Liu Yan.


    When he had taken over the position as the Prefecture Master, he would draw attention and trouble from all sides and would not be able to hide away from them even if he were to hide in the deep mountains!


    "This is the dilemma! Both sides would not be able to feel at ease with each other, especially after the death of Liu Yan..."


    Fang Yuan sighed, "Only when one side is destroyed, or when absolute dominance is achieved would there be peace, if not, there will be war and lives lost!"


    His name had already reached the ears of Wu Country. Furthermore, Liu Yan was no longer there to protect him.


    Once Xia Country had divided the Secluded Mountains Prefecture, he would be under the jurisdiction of Wu Country. His fate would no longer be under his own control.


    "It appears that I should take on this position!"


    He could either choose to escape far away or go against Wu Country.


    As he was pressured by both sides that were on the verge of war, it was naturally better for him to take on the position and consolidate his power in the Secluded Mountains Prefecture.


    "I will play with all of you!"


    Fang Yuan laughed.


    The greatest difference between Liu Yan and him was that he was still young and had a lot of resources. If things did not go his way, he could easily escape on his eagle. There will always be another opportunity for him to come back.


    Only when he was willing to lose would he gain.


    After all, Fang Yuan was not a dead man hanging from a tree.


    ...


    He would do what he thought of.


    Fang Yuan''s speed was unmatched due to the Red-eyed White King Bird.


    He reached the Secluded Mountains Prefecture City even before the news of what happened in the Summer Sun Prefecture reached.


    "In terms of speed, my Red-eyed White King Bird is unmatched...however, the news are not just spread by men. If Wu Country was coming, they would have mobilized their troops by now..."


    Fang Yuan circled the city another round before patting the Red-eyed White King Bird. Together, they descended in front of the City Master''s Residence.


    "Who are you?"


    In an instant, a group of soldiers surrounded him. Upon seeing that it was Fang Yuan, they immediately shrank back.


    They could remember that Fang Yuan did not even give the Prefecture Master any face. What about them? They saluted Fang Yuan, "Welcome Master Fang!"


    "Hmm, where is the City Guardian? Bring me to him!"


    Fang Yuan nodded his head and asked.


    "The City Guardian is sick and would not be entertaining any guest, we are really sorry!"


    An officer of the army turned pale and immediately said upon hearing Fang Yuan''s request.


    "Oh? Sick? All the more I should pay him a visit!"


    Fang Yuan smiled and arrived next to him, "Have you forgotten that I am the famous doctor within the prefecture? What illness does the City Guardian have? Let me go and have a look!"


    "This..."


    It was obvious that the officer was hiding something. His eyes were shifty and just as he was about to speak, Fang Yuan grabbed him and his body went limp.


    "Lead the way!"


    Fang Yuan appeared to be smiling but his words were laced with threat.


    He possessed immerse martial arts and could easily act before the bystanders were able to react.


    "Okay..."


    The officer knew that he would die if he were to challenge Fang Yuan.


    From an outsider''s point of view, Fang Yuan was amiable and was bantering with the officer. However, the officer knew better and could only lead Fang Yuan towards the residence with a bitter face.


    "Shualala!"


    Upon reaching the courtyard, Fang Yuan could hear the sound of armour dragging against the floor in the surroundings.


    The troops of soldiers stepped forward, their swords unsheathed and their arrows aimed at Fang Yuan.


    A black-faced officer raised up an emblem, "The City Guardian ordered that he would not entertain any visitors today. Please leave!"


    "Hmmm? What courage!"


    Fang Yuan laughed and boomed, "Even if Liu Yan was here, he would not dare to use this tone to talk to me! Could it be that you are giving false orders and conspire against me?"


    The atmosphere in the prefecture city had been weird these few days.


    Even the vice city guardian claimed to be ill and would not see any guests.


    A few soldiers wavered and shrank back.


    While the black-faced officer was their superior and even carried the emblem, they should not be expected to fight with a person that was both a Wuzong and a spiritual knight!


    How many brothers-in-arm would be wounded or killed if they were to take part in the fight without the support of a martial artist who had reached the Elemental Force Realm?


    "Not obeying the orders would make you a traitor! Kill!"


    It was impossible for the black-faced officer to back down. He commanded, "Those who retreat will be killed!"


    The soldiers were well trained and upon hearing the command of their superior, they fired their arrows towards Fang Yuan without hesitation. This caused the captive in Fang Yuan''s hand to cursed, "You dare hurt me?!"


    "Xiuxiu!"


    The arrows rained down.


    The unfortunate officer had just scolded a sentence before he was riddled with holes from the arrows, much like the hives of bees.


    Fang Yuan wore a smile as the arrows passed through him as if the arrows were passing through the surface of the water in the lake, causing no harm except for a few ripples.


    "Illusion? That''s not good!"


    The black-faced officer immediately retreated. The spiritual talisman on his body lit up and a wall of water rose behind him.


    "Shadowstep!"


    In the blink of an eye, Fang Yuan appeared before the officer and reached out to grab him.


    "You want to stop me with just a spiritual talisman?"


    "Kacha!"


    Under the surprised gaze of the black-faced officer, the wall of water shattered like an eggshell. It did not even manage to delay Fang Yuan for a while.


    Fang Yuan grabbed him by the throat and lifted him up.


    "You are a spiritual disciple and yet, you are working as an officer in the army. What a waste of talent!"


    He teased before looking around. Countless of soldiers did not dare look him in the eyes and instead hung their heads down.


    "I am an outsider and an enemy of the City Guardian. The Prefecture Master begged me to create chaos and set things right. You, bring me to the City Guardian!"


    He randomly pointed to a soldier at the side, "Don''t dare?"


    "Well..."


    The soldier hesitated and was struck down by Fang Yuan. "This person is a traitor!"


    He turned to another soldier. "You, bring me there fast, if not you will meet the same fate as him!"


    Wu Country had already infiltrated the Secluded Mountains Prefecture Armed Forced and even controlled the City Guardian. However, Fang Yuan was sure that there were still some who were loyal.


    Fang Yuan was in no rush and could slowly ask one by one.


    After killing 3 or 4 people, a soldier could no longer bear it and knelt down to beg, "Sir, please spare us. We were forced by the officer. I will bring you to see the City Guardian immediately!"


    "Let''s go!"


    As more and more soldiers and officers gathered around looking suspicious, Fang Yuan smiled and asked the soldier to lead the way.


    Not long after, they arrived at a small courtyard. Fang Yuan immediately kicked the door of the room open and saw a few people surrounding the bed as if to shift a patient. Upon seeing Fang Yuan breaking in, they instinctively thought to silence him.


    Fang Yuan was caught off-guard.


    "How dare you seize the City Guardian?"


    Fang Yuan shut his eyes and a spiritual light glowed in his hand. A green thread flew out and circled the interior of the room.


    The few people where inner power experts and there were 2 martial artists who had reached the 4 Heavenly Gates. However, Fang Yuan was too fast and before they understood what was happening, had turned into souls under the blade of the Ancient Green Serpent Dagger.


    "The City Guardian was really seized?"


    Outside, countless of officers rushed forward and were stumped when they saw the patient on the bed, "Hei San [1], how can you do this?"


    "Enough, all of you get out, after everything is settled, I will let you see your City Guardian!"


    Fang Yuan tossed Hei San aside as if he was trash and said.


    Fang Yuan had already established his position amongst the soldiers. A few officers looked on in dismay before balling up their fists and left. Not long after, shouting could be heard before it turned peaceful once again.


    Fang Yuan came to the side of the bed and looked at the unfortunate City Guardian.


    The City Guardian was at the 4 Heavenly Gates before he fell into the trap set by Wu Country. His fate was no longer up to him to decide.


    "Poisoned? Simple!"


    Given his medical abilities, he had no trouble curing this man. After analyzing his conditions, Fang Yuan gave him a Yama''s Order and waited.


    After a while, the City Guardian sat up and spat out a mouthful of black blood. The colour returned to his face and he saluted, "Zhang Qingfeng is grateful for your aid!"


    "Hmmm, was this done by Wu Country?"


    Fang Yuan put his hands behind his back and asked.


    Zhang Qingfeng replied, "I have a close confidante who was bought over by them. They could not buy me over and instead poison me. I am afraid that if they did not have any use for me..."


    Cold sweat started to form on his forehead as he thought about what could happen.


    "Good, do you recognize this?"


    Fang Yuan nodded his head and took out the Secluded Mountains Seal.


    "Ahhhh? This is..."


    Zhang Qingfeng was momentarily shocked. After he carefully looked at it, he kowtowed, "The humble servant meets the Prefecture Master!"


    "Do you not question this?"


    Fang Yuan was surprised.


    "Before the Prefecture Master left, he told me that whoever holds the Secluded Mountains Seal would be the Prefecture Master!"


    Zhang Qingfeng teared, "Furthermore, before they suppressed me, they revealed information which I thought was fake and that it was just to confuse me. I did not know that it was true...Master, you must avenge the previous Prefecture Master!"


    [1] Hei San is the name of the black-faced officer.

 148 Reform

    ''Revenge? If not for Wu Country''s ill intentions, I wouldn''t get myself involved in this mess!''


    Fang Yuan rolled his eyes but displayed a face of sincerity. He supported Zhang Qingfeng from his bed. "Don''t worry. Since I''ve accepted the appointment as Prefecture Master, those who plot against the old Prefecture Master will be our enemies!"


    "Prefecture Master!"


    Zhang Qingfeng continuously paid his respects. "You have saved my life, and are determined to take revenge for the old Prefecture Master. From today onwards, my life is yours, and I will obey your every command!"


    "Very well!"


    Fang Yuan nodded his head and had the exhilaration of playing a video game. "It is of utmost importance to gain control of Secluded Mountain Prefecture! The Secluded Mountain Prefecture City is the core of the entire prefecture! How confident are you in controlling the Secluded Mountain Prefecture Armed Forces?"


    "Quite confident!"


    Zhang Qingfeng replied without hesitation. "Although my martial arts is not that good, I can still train soldiers out. Most of the new soldiers out there were trained personally by myself! And as for the platoon leaders, there were all recommended by me as well!"


    This was his saving grace, to convince Fang Yuan of his usefulness.


    "Very well. Later on, go outside and convince the soldiers to close up the four doors. Use the group of traitors as leads to find out who are the other spies, and clean up the city!"


    Fang Yuan ordered decisively.


    "Understood!"


    Zhang Qingsheng replied loudly and draped an armour over himself.


    He was, after all, a martial artist of the 4 Heavenly Gates and had Fang Yuan''s aid. He recovered quite a bit already and regained his might after equipping his armour. As he opened the door, he could hear the cheers from the Secluded Mountain Prefecture soldiers.


    "Good!"


    Fang Yuan witnessed this scene and nodded his head. He knew that the Secluded Mountain Prefecture was finally under his control.


    ...


    The Secluded Mountain Prefecture City was especially crowded today.


    Previously, a large white bird intruded the city, followed by the chaos in the Prefecture Master''s Mansion.


    While the crowd was unsettled, groups of soldiers went out to the streets and sealed the four doors. They enforced their patrolling as well.


    Even the dullest would have guessed that something big happened.


    All the residents were afraid of the unknown and closed their shops and houses. They hid in underground caves and shivered in fear, afraid of the violence that would ensue.


    "Chirp! Chirp!"


    With the sealing of the 4 doors and the lookout from above by the red-eyed white kind bird, the next step was to locate the spy families based on the sources and eliminate them.


    It was a fearful scene to behold.


    Even the most influential of families were among the list of families, and the entire family had to be removed.


    There were a few cases of retaliation, which could not be taken down by the normal soldiers. The highly skilled martial artists within the Prefecture Master''s Mansion would then personally see to it.


    In a short while, the entire Secluded Mountain Prefecture was covered in blood.


    "Who would''ve known that the Wu Country did not send a spiritual knight here, not even a Wu Zong... Otherwise, I''ll have to personally see it!"


    In the Prefecture Master''s Mansion, Fang Yuan wore a new set of grand robes and wore a crown on his head. He looked much more cultured than before, and became more gentlemanly, as he shook his head in disappointment.


    "It is rare to find martial artists that are able to harness elemental force, even in Wu Country, and they had to take charge of the various counties. To deploy manpower in the Summer Sun Prefecture and trouble the Secluded Mountain Prefecture is not an easy thing to do!"


    Zhang Qingfeng reported.


    He held a name list in his hand, with bloodstains on it. As he went through the name list, he was utterly shocked.


    "If I use my soldiers against all these people, I might have to lose thirty percent of them!"


    "Thirty percent is good enough already!"


    As Fang Yuan heard him, he snickered and looked at Zhang Qingfeng. "Now that the Prefecture City is under our control, what''s next?"


    "If your predictions are right, that the Wu Country and the Xia Country''s royal family came to an agreement, their next step would be to enter the Secluded Mountain Prefecture. Now that we do not have a footing, we might be plotted against by Summer Sun, Clear Spring Prefectures and the Royal Family! The most important thing to do now is to gather the forces of all 6 counties to witness your appointment, and announce to the world that you are in charge!"


    Although Zhang Qingfeng had yet to break through to Wu Zong, he had the looks of it and added, "Take this opportunity to command Qinghe, Cangshui, Lieyang, Cangyi counties... Send their leaders to congratulate you, and deal with those who are absent!"


    Fang Yuan nodded his head. In reality, this was how politicians show off.


    Those who were willing to witness his appointment as Prefecture Master were those who would willingly follow him and could be treated as their own people.


    Those who were not willing to even show their faces would be traitors, and there would be no qualms killing them.


    "However, there is something to be discussed..."


    Zhang Qingfeng continued, "The previous Prefecture Master brought his strongest allies to war with him, and from the numerous deployments of soldiers, we only have an army of 5,000, and including all those from the other counties, it would still not exceed 10,000. Furthermore, the majority of them are new and inexperienced soldiers, and are unlikely to be able to defend against the Wu Country''s attack!"


    "The only solution is to force conscription for all families, and to investigate within Summer Sun Prefecture..."


    Fang Yuan was lost in his thoughts. "10,000 of our troops were destroyed in one day. There must be a few survivors, and the few capital leaders are Wu Zongs as well. Although they might have been trapped, they might still have a chance at survival. Sending people to Summer Sun Prefecture to investigate might have its returns."


    "Yes, Prefecture Master!"


    Zhang Qingfeng dismissed himself, with excitement written all over his face.


    Fang Yuan remained disappointed as he shook his head.


    Regardless, the Secluded Mountain Prefecture was still badly damaged. Even if he immediately recruited new soldiers and was able to instil loyalty in every one of them, it would still be akin to using a praying mantises arm to block a car against an infuriated Wu Country.


    Since he agreed to take up this appointment as Prefecture Master, he had confidence in achieving his objective. He could not reveal this secret, not even to Zhang Qingfeng, who had only just displayed loyalty to him a few days ago.


    "One of you!"


    As he walked out, he called for one of the soldiers to come towards him.


    "Prefecture Master, what instructions do you have for me?"


    This soldier kneeled on one knee and was rather respectful.


    "Rush to Qinghe County, Qingye City, and pass this letter to Zhou Wenwu!"


    Fang Yuan passed a letter to the soldier.


    Calling his own subordinate here was only normal. Since he was removing the spies, there would be vacancies for him to insert his own trusted subordinates.


    ...


    Many days had gone by.


    News of the change of command among the soldiers in Summer Sun Prefecture and the death of Liu Yan only reached Secluded Mountain Prefecture now, which shocked many.


    With Fang Yuan in charge of the Prefecture City, everyone was calm and composed since the spies were already wiped out.


    He walked to the centre and made an announcement with the Secluded Mountain Seal. He ordered for all families to mourn for the old Prefecture Master for three days, before preparing for his appointment ceremony.


    Outside the Prefecture City.


    Carriages passed by, as they could see the Secluded Mountain Prefecture City, like a large black beast.


    "This is unthinkable... Who would''ve guessed that I could come to the Prefecture City in this status..."


    Yu Xinlou peeled the curtains and mumbled to himself after seeing the city.


    He was plotted against by other people and had to unwillingly give up his ancestor''s business here before following Fang Yuan to Qingye City.


    However, there were so many changes in such a short period of time.


    The death of the Prefecture Master, and the appointment of Fang Yuan as the next Prefecture Master, who would have the power over thirty percent of the entire Xia Country!


    "This is very different now!"


    Yu Xinlou sighed and clenched his fist. "I must help Master to gain total control over the 6 counties!"


    "Dada!"


    "Dada!"


    Suddenly, a group of calvaries arrived outside the city gates.


    The carriage became tensed up. The people from Qingye City had the escort of the soldiers from Qinghe County and therefore went up to confront the calvaries. "Who are you people?"


    "I am the City Guard Zhang Qingfeng. I am under orders from the Prefecture Master to welcome all of you!"


    Zhang Qingsheng stopped his horse and examined the people in the carriage.


    "Sorry to have troubled you!"


    Yu Xinlou hurriedly returned a greeting. "Let''s not waste time, shall we enter the city!"


    As they entered the Prefecture City, the solemn atmosphere was overwhelming. Yu Xinlou''s heat was heavy as he looked at one of the guards.


    As they entered the main hall, he sighed in relieve on seeing Fang Yuan seeing calmly in the seat of the Prefecture Master. He greeted him without ado. "Greetings, Sir, and congratulations on being appointed as the Secluded Mountain Prefecture Master!"


    "Congratulations Sir! Congratulations!"


    Behind him, other than Zhou Wenwu who had to remain in Qingye City to take charge, the rest were here. Huang Fu Renhe, Zhang Sheng, and even Lanruo and Chen Ziying, his two disciples, were here as well to congratulate him.


    "Mm, all of you are here just in time."


    Fang Yuan nodded his head and started to assign them their respective roles:


    "Yu Xinlou, you are the Nine Gates Administrator. Your job is to manage the trading in Nine Gates Trading Market, and let it function as normal!"


    "Zhang Sheng, you are the Prefecture City''s Secret Guards Leader!"


    ...


    These were all originally his subordinates, but now they were given extremely high-status appointments.


    "Yes Sir, we will lay down our lives for you!"


    After being appointed to their ministerial roles, these subordinates paid their respects once more, knowing that their fate was all intertwined with Fang Yuan. If he prospered, they would all prosper, but if he died, they would all die.


    "The most important thing now is my appointment ceremony. Work together to get it planned, and don''t leave out any important guests and presents!"


    Fang Yuan casually instructed them, but as he was doing so, an excited voice interrupted him. "Prefecture Master, good news! Good news!"


    "Mm? Come in!"


    Fang Yuan waved his hands and saw Zhang Qingsheng waving a letter, full of excitement. "The latest news from Summer Sun Prefecture is that the general that we have sent encountered a large Secluded Mountain Prefecture army of around 9,000 soldiers, and they were led by Leder Niu and Leader Xiang!"


    "Mm?"


    Fang Yuan stood up and was rather surprised. "Is this true? Both the capital leaders are all right?"


    "Leader Niu is alright, but Leader Xiang has mild injuries, but only superficial!"


    Zhang Qingsheng was overjoyed.


    "Haha... Good!"


    Fang Yuan was suspicious about the news, but all he displayed was a face of happiness. "Send someone to assist them!"


    "Congratulations, Prefecture Master! This calls for a celebration!"


    Yu Xinlou and the rest were all filled with excitement.


    Just as he started out on his appointment as a Prefecture Master, such good news already came his way. Indeed, it was blessing from the heavens.


    Most importantly, with this additional help, he could be much more confident.

 149 The Ceremony

    It was the fifteenth day of the seventh month in the Xia Calendar. The day was marked as an auspicious one, and was a suitable day for those who wanted to start a business or travel.


    The weather was pleasant and there was a gentle breeze.


    Within the Secluded Mountain Prefecture, families took down the white cloths that were put up to mourn for Liu Yan, and changed to red cloths, in celebration of the appointment of the new Prefecture Master.


    Fang Yuan chose this date to hold his appointment ceremony.


    A few days ago, martial artists and sect masters from all over came to the Prefecture City, making it livelier than before.


    As the gates of the Prefecture City opened, guests and visitors flowed in.


    "The Governor of Lieyang County is here!"


    "The Five Ghosts Sect Sect Master is here!"


    "The Governor of Cangyi County is here!"


    "The gang leader of Giant Whale Gang is here!"


    ...


    As they reported their names, those who held high appointments within the Secluded Mountain Prefecture gathered in the main hall.


    Yu Xinlou and company put in a lot of effort for the entire ceremony. From the rituals to the details on welcoming every guest, everything was settled very well, and had the vibe of an extremely important ceremony.


    "Master taking over as Prefecture Master is what everyone wants!"


    From afar, Fang Yuan watched silently, and behind him was Zhang Qingfeng, who exclaimed.


    "That''s right, what everyone wants!"


    Fang Yuan wore a grand silk robe and a crown. He looked like a fine gentleman and had a domineering vibe.


    At his appointment ceremony, everyone was congratulatory; no one had any opposing intent.


    Firstly, it was because there were all aware of the impending invasion from the Wu Country. No matter how capable this young man would be, he would still lose.


    Secondly was that Fang Yuan''s appointment was official.


    There was an agreement stating that the strongest among the Prefecture would be the Prefecture Master.


    Based on skill, who could match up against the martial artist cum spiritual knight Fang Yuan?


    In terms of influence, he already had the loyalty of the Secluded Mountain Prefecture Armed Forces, and his own base at Qinghe County, Qingye City. With Niu Dingtian''s and Xiang Zilong''s support when they return, there was no one else who could fight with him for this appointment.


    He had the skill and the means and therefore was only natural for him to be the Prefecture Master.


    Of course, with this appointment responsibilities would come.


    "The auspicious time is here!"


    Accompanying the firecrackers, the ceremony master''s voice became louder.


    "Let''s go!"


    Fang Yuan took the golden cloak over and draped it over himself. With the airs of a master, he walked into the main hall.


    "Greetings to Prefecture Master!"


    Every guest greeted him with a smile as he walked past.


    If not for his dream master cultivation and his shocking magical energy, he would not have known the true feelings of these guests.


    ''Suspicious... afraid... fearful... There are only a few true loyal ones!''


    His mind was cold but he kept his joyful appearance.


    His footsteps were silent as he walked up to the stage. At one side, Zhang Qiingfeng looked serious as he held a tray with a black seal on it. It was the Secluded Mountain Seal.


    In reality, all the loose ends were tied up; this was just a ceremony.


    "Prefecture Master, will you please have the Secluded Mountain Seal!"


    As drum beats were heard, Zhang Qingfeng kneeled down and presented the seal.


    "Mmm!"


    Fang Yuan held the seal in his hands and walked up to the Prefecture Master''s seat. He sat down and appeared composed.


    "As Prefecture Master takes his seat, subordinates shall pay our greetings!"


    As the ceremony master exclaimed, even the most scheming subordinate had to follow the flow, kneel down and bow three times in respect.


    ''This is a gentleman''s pleasure!''


    Seeing the masses kneeling before him, Fang Yuan felt that he harnessed a huge power, which could make him go over his head easily.


    Fang Yuan being Fang Yuan, he was able to be awakened from the trance easily after countless training from dreams.


    It only took a simple thought for him to regain clarity.


    Regardless if he was taking over Qingye City or taking control of Secluded Mountain Prefecture, it was simply just dealing with others.


    When it was time to give up, he could do so easily with little to no attachment to the power.


    "Life is like a game of chess, and the other people are like the chess pieces. As a Prefecture Master, I shall engage in a good game of chess with the surrounding countries!"


    Within a thought, Fang Yuan felt enlightened as the cultivation of his mind became deepened.


    The experiences in his dream world were ultimately fake. However, they were of a great assistance as training opportunities to cultivate his mind in the real world.


    As he regained his composure, a clear voice travelled through the entire hall. "Everyone, please rise... As the new Prefecture Master takes his place, we have a lot of unfinished business to settle, and I hope everyone will cooperate!"


    Everyone got up to their feet and looked at each other, and saw the majestic and young Prefecture Master, as everyone flinched in their hearts.


    "The messenger from Wu Country is here!"


    At this point in time, the door outside shook, and the ceremony master''s voice of hesitation was heard.


    "Prefecture Master?"


    Niu Dingtian stood out.


    He was a boor and displayed his loyalty to Fang Yuan after knowing of Liu Yan''s plans while he was alive.


    Fang Yuan only used those that he trusted as his subordinates, as he gave them important roles.


    It was the same for Xiang Zilong, except that he was still recuperating from his injuries.


    Niu Dingtian felt that the messenger was hostile. "Do you want me to chase him away?"


    "Today is an auspicious day, and all who come are guests. Do invite him in!"


    Fang Yuan shook his head and passed his order down.


    Not long after, a skinny man in brown robes adopting a daoist priest appearance entered as he stared at Fang Yuan intensely.


    "I am Xuan Sheng, and I''m here to congratulate Prefecture Master''s appointment on behalf of the Wu Country!"


    Daoist Elder Xuan Sheng cupped his hands, and without much respect, continued. "Presenting a hundred taels of gold, a pair of Ruyi, and an Imperial Letter!"


    "Imperial Letter?"


    Fang Yuan sighed. "What is it written?"


    Xuang Sheng stroked his beard and chuckled, as though he did not care that he was in enemy''s territory, brimming with confidence. "This Imperial Letter is signed by the Xia Country''s advisor, stating that the land of the entire Secluded Mountain Prefecture is now under the jurisdiction of the Wu Country!"


    "What?"


    With the news, the entire hall was in shock.


    Even though he had heard of the news of Xia Country giving up land to Wu Country, he did not expect them to be crazy to the extent of giving up an entire prefecture to the neighbouring country!


    There was a commotion in the entire hall.


    "Silence!"


    Fang Yuan appeared calm as he struck his right palm out.


    "Weng!"


    A large energy was felt throughout the entire hall, as though everyone''s neck was held and the commotion stopped.


    A few people witnessed this scene and broke out in cold sweat.


    The fear from this new Prefecture Master was no less intense as compared to Liu Yan, which was an unbelievable thing.


    "... Based on the Imperial Letter, the Secluded Mountain Prefecture is now the property of the Qu Country. Your appointment as Prefecture Master will have to be approved by our country and written in our records before it is official!"


    Xuan Sheng continued to blabber on. "My country''s king loves talents. If you prepare a huge gift for him and follow me to see my country advisor, who else could snatch this appointment from you?"


    He tried to incite Fang Yuan, and even Niu Dingtian could not come to a decision.


    Xuan Sheng was waiting patiently with anticipation.


    ''Once Fang Yuan agrees, he would be officiated and the Secluded Mountain Prefecture would fall even without an invasion... Even if he is undecided, if he is willing to join the Wu Country, he would fall into our trap, and is still a good outcome!''


    As he was thinking of the possibilities, Xuan Sheng looked at Fang Yuan and his eyes shone brightly.


    ''Eh? This old daoist has ill intentions, and is still trying to confuse my divine spirit?''


    As he came into eye contact with Xuan Sheng, he felt his consciousness collapsing, as he almost unknowingly agreed.


    But who is he?


    As his dream elemental force moved, he recovered from the trance and was infuriated. "Hehe... Who cares about the Xia Country''s Imperial Letter?"


    "What?"


    Xuan Sheng''s expression changed. "This man is young and possesses high magical energy. How could he escape from my Six Soul Eyes... Strong adversary! If he continues to develop, he would be a big threat to the Wu Country!"


    Only at this moment did he realise that his neck stiffened. He could not move away from Fang Yuan''s glare, as though he became a puppet, unable to move. "Backlash!"


    Although his Six Soul Eyes were impressive, if his target was much stronger than him, it would result in a backlash, and this backlash might even kill him.


    Fang Yuan did not give him any regard. "Wu Country is a crazy country! The Wu Country''s Imperial Advisor is greedy and cruel. The previous Prefecture Master died in your hands and now you want to convince me?"


    "My Secluded Mountain Prefecture can survive on its own, why bother about outsiders trying to seal us up? As for the Xia Country king, losing his land is such a disgrace and an ungentlemanly act. I will question him personally next time!"


    "Ah!"


    As he finished his words, Elder Daoist Xuan Sheng spat out a mouthful of blood.


    That was not all.


    As he covered his eyes, he wailed. As he got up to his feet, a pair of eyeballs fell out, leaving two bloody eye sockets, striking fear in anyone who saw him.


    "Good... Good..."


    Elder Taoist Xuan Sheng was pale, as he laughed. "I have no foresight, and deserved this! But, Prefecture Master, don''t get too cocky... My Wu Country''s Imperial Advisor has already prepared an army of 100,000 soldiers at the boundaries of your PRefecture, waiting for the command to invade. Once the go-ahead is given, your tiny prefecture will be reduced to ashes!"


    This was a huge threat, and many who heard it were shocked to their wits.


    "Prefecture Master... Who would''ve known..."


    Inside, Niu Dingtian was shocked beyond words, and could not say a single thing as he looked at Fang Yuan.


    He knew that this old daoist was highly skilled, and was equivalent to the level of a spiritual knight. He was still initially worried that Fang Yuan might be at a disadvantage.


    But look, by just staring at him, even his eyeballs could fall off?


    This scary move could even be stronger than Liu Yan''s spiritual spells.


    "Very well, then bring my work to your Imperial Advisor!"


    Facing a threat, Fang Yuan chuckled. "Tell him, I am waiting for him to come here and die!"

 150 Preparation

    The sky was dark.


    There was supposed to be a banquet after the ceremony.


    However, the Secluded Mountains Prefecture was facing an imminent crisis. Those in power were not in the mood to be frivolous. They had either left the ceremony or were waiting for Fang Yuan to give his orders.


    "Prefecture Master!"


    Fang Yuan stood majestically on a high platform.


    Zhang Qingfeng arrived behind him and bowed deeply before reporting, "The names of those families and sects which have left the prefecture city have been taken down!"


    "Very well, once I have assumed my position, I will order leader Niu to bring his troops and use those people as examples to warn the rest!"


    Fang Yuan stroked his chin, his eyes flashed coldly.


    How would Wu Country react to his display of strength?


    ''Even Wu Country has to pay for murdering Liu Yan. I would be able to buy some time if I display my strength and confuse them further.''


    ''There is no time to retrain the troops. However, there is sufficient time to flush out those traitorous families and sect!''


    Grand Hall.


    The candles burned brightly and lit up the surrounding.


    The surrounding four bronze pillars contained blocks of ice with pipelines to emit cold air but the people in the room still felt hot and uneasy.


    No matter what, no one would be at ease facing Wu Country.


    "The Prefecture Master ascend to his throne!"


    Following the music, the entire hall was silent.


    Fang Yuan sat upon the golden Nine Dragons Throne and looked down at the masses.


    Below him, Leader Niu, Zhang Qingfeng, Yu Xinlou, Zhang Sheng and a few other trusted aides were present.


    Upon seeing his arrival, the people who were feeling uneasy appeared to have found their pillar of support. They quietened down and waited for his instructions.


    "Zhang Qingfeng, explain the situation!"


    Fang Yuan waved his hand as he maintained a poker face.


    "Yes, sir!"


    Zhang Qingfeng stepped forward, bowed at Fang Yuan before facing the crowd, "according to my reports, the troops of Wu are gathering at the borders of the country. Their numbers are no less than 10,000! Furthermore, although the Summer Sun Prefecture is in shambles, there are troops being deployed in the Clear Spring Prefecture and the Xia Country capital. We cannot discount the possibility of an attack on multiple fronts! The army that we are facing in total might be more than 20,000!"


    The people in the hall shivered.


    "What about our side?"


    Fang Yuan was unconcerned and probed on.


    "We have gathered the troops in the 6 counties. In addition to the factions in the Summer Sun Prefecture, we have around 30,000 soldiers. Furthermore....most are new soldiers who did not have sufficient training!"


    Zhang Qingfeng said bitterly.


    The Secluded Mountains Prefecture was sorely lacking highly-skilled warriors in the beginning. Now, even the common military might was lacking as compared to other prefectures or countries.


    It was no longer as simple as a defeat but rather an irrevocable loss!


    "Very well! In my position as the Prefecture Master, I will now give the first order!"


    Fang Yuan''s face remained unchanged upon hearing all kinds of bad news, "Those sects and families that are loyal to the Secluded Mountains Prefecture, fortify the defenses and gather at the prefecture city!"


    "At the same time, Leader Niu, bring the troops and purged the prefecture of those whose names appeared in the list!"


    "I want to make sure no enemy would get a single grain of rice or sway a single person in my land!"


    ....


    The faces of the masses changed when they heard those words.


    "Sir..."


    Zhang Qingfeng said, "The enemy is too powerful. This plan would only buy us some time but in the end, it would not be of any use... the Secluded Mountains Prefecture would be reduced to a swamp!"


    "Your loyalty is commendable!"


    Fang Yuan said, "I have my own plans and am making preparations. You do not have to say anything more and may go now!"


    Zhang Qingfeng retired. He was gloomy before he had a sudden realization.


    This Prefecture Master was barely over 20 years old and had already achieved so much in martial and spiritual arts. Could it be that he was also a genius in other fields?


    He was worried as he had seen many martial arts geniuses who created a mess when they tried their hands on other things.


    "Yes, sir!"


    Leader Niu answered loudly and was full of energy. "I had long wanted to teach those people a lesson! Now, they will know the power of the whip!"


    It was obvious that he wanted to punish the traitorous families who betrayed those in the Summer Sun Prefecture and would not go easy on them.


    "As for Leader Niu, you will recuperate your wounds to prepare for the oncoming battle!"


    Fang Yuan further comforted Xiang Zilong.


    The two people were the most highly-skilled martial artists he had.


    "I am willing to serve the Prefecture Master and avenge the previous Prefecture Master!"


    Xiang Zilong used his remaining arm which could move to salute, "Xiang Zilong will follow all your orders!"


    "Very good, with the two of you working together, what can I not achieve?"


    Fang Yuan laughed heartily and gave another order, "Yu Xinlou, I need you to help me collect some stuff, the greater the quantity, the better. As for you, Zhang Sheng, I would need you to make a trip to Xia Country capital and the Clear Spring Prefecture to deliver 2 letters!"


    "Yes, Sir!"


    "Understood!"


    Yu Xinlou and Zhang Sheng carried out their orders while Xiang Zilong pondered for a while before asking, "Prefecture Master, do you mean to cut ties with Xia Country?"


    He butted in, which resulted in Zhang Qingfeng feeling momentarily annoyed and Yu Xinlou to glare at him.


    "That is naturally the case. After all, the Secluded Mountains Prefecture is given to Wu Country. Liu Yan is already dead. What other reasons do they have to remain as enemies?"


    Fang Yuan shook his head, "Even if they send troops to help Wu Country, it will just be a front and cause the neighbouring counties to strengthen their defense. This will buy us some time and allow us to battle Wu Country to decide the victor!"


    "The Prefecture Master is indeed wise!"


    Xiang Zilong was satisfied with the explanation and retired.


    ...


    By the end of July, Niu Dingtian had purged countless traitorous families and disciples of the sects.


    Wu Country was unable to help those traitors. Niu Dingtian was backed by a Wu Zong and supported by a large army. No one was a match for him.


    Except for those who felt something was amiss and fled the prefecture long ago, the others were not so lucky.


    The relocation of the masses also started just like that.


    The two moves were unpopular with the masses and Fang Yuan received backlashes from the two moves as the newly appointed Prefecture Master.


    Wu Country army camp.


    The soldiers of Wu set up camp with their military banners flying high. Each sector was filled with trenches and was heavily guarded. Every soldier was going about doing their own things and it was not feasible to harass or poison the troops.


    All of them were fit and muscular. Their face looked as if they were ready to kill.


    The Country of Wu placed a strong emphasis on the military where the king had absolute authority over it. The army had over 20 ranks and the soldiers were rewarded heavily for their effort, be it gold, silver, women, land and even martial arts manuals. As such, the troops took pleasure in going to war and the military might of Wu Country was far greater than that of other neighbouring countries. Only the cavalry of Yuan Country was ahead of them when battling in the grassland.


    "Imperial Advisor!"


    In a huge tent, the floor was covered in golden fleece which was unceremoniously stepped on. Incense was lit in the four corners, emitting green smoke.


    Wu Wudao sat cross-legged. He suddenly opened both his eyes to look at Taoist Xuan Sheng.


    "Your Six Soul Eyes is considered to be the best amongst the Wu Country''s 3 great miracle techniques. To think it would be destroyed?"


    Wu Wudao''s heart skipped a beat as he looked at the gaping hole.


    "That new Secluded Mountains Prefecture Master is no ordinary man. He is a threat to Wu Country!"


    Xuan Sheng spoke coldly, "Not taking his physical cultivation into account, his magical energy is immensely strong to the point that it is terrifying!"


    "I heard that he is only 20 years old? He is indeed a genius who would be able to surpass the Elemental Opening Realm!"


    Wu Wudao sighed, "First, it was Liu Yan. Next, it was Fang Yuan. Why are such capable heroes not born in Wu Country? Sigh...the heavens treat Wu Country so unkindly and treat Xia Country so generously!"


    "Nothing good comes out of not accepting heaven''s will!"


    Xuan Sheng replied, "Xia Country is weak and cannot utilize its talent. This is the cause of all its troubles. It is a good opportunity that heaven gives to Wu Country!"


    "Well said!"


    Wu Wudao clapped his hands and laughed. His face suddenly turned a deep shade of red. He immediately took out a pill and swallowed it.


    The pill was snow white and was kept in a black jade bottle. After the pill left the bottle, the interior of the tent felt like a cold wind blew past it and the temperature dropped a few degrees.


    "Mystical Ice Pill? How are your wounds?"


    Xuan Sheng furrowed his brows.


    "Liu Yan''s move was really strong. Even with the help of the Mystical Ice Pill, I am afraid that it will take half a month to keep the wound under control!"


    Wu Wudao lowered his voice, "I have sent a message to my two worthless disciples and General Fei Long to come and help!"


    "If that is the case, the Secluded Mountains Prefecture would not be a problem!"


    Xuan Sheng nodded his head and appeared to be satisfied.


    The Imperial Advisor was a spiritual knight who had reached the peak of the Elemental Gathering Realm. He was exceptionally good at imparting skills and had 300 disciples under him, of which two of them had broken through the Elemental Force Realm.


    As for General Fei Long, he was a famous expert in Wu country. He had taken part in countless battles and had won them all. He was also highly-skilled in martial arts and had once taken on and defeated 3 Wu Zongs! He was ranked number 2 in Wu Country after the Imperial Advisor!


    With such military might, the Secluded Mountains Prefecture who had only three people in the Elemental Force Realm was doomed without a doubt!


    "Furthermore..."


    Taoist Elder Xuan Sheng looked secretive. He took a few steps forward, "I have a plan which I am quite sure to have a high chance of success!"


    "Hmm? Speak!"


    Wu Wudao raised his eyebrows.


    "To tell you the truth, I had planted numerous spies within the Secluded Mountains Prefecture. While most have been rooted out, the biggest spy still remain!"


    Xuan Sheng continued, "According to him, while the Prefecture Master is highly cultivated, he knows nothing about warfare and is too na?ve. He has made preparations to settle everything in one shot. Why not we beat him at his own game. Even if we win, we must make them fear us by winning clearly!"

 151 Spy

    At the Eighth month, The Imperial Advisor of Wu Country, Wu Wudao, led an army of 100,000 troops to invade the Secluded Mountain Prefecture, destroying everything he came across.


    Within 10 days, he was able to take control of two counties, as he pushed the boundaries closer and closer to the Secluded Mountain Prefecture City, signalling his intention to destroy the Prefecture. As the word spread, the entire country was in shock.


    Cangshan City.


    The city was built around the mountainous areas, and its geographical location was of extreme importance, as it was right at the edge of the Prefecture City. Following a plain would lead one straight to the Prefecture City, and was therefore intensely fought over by both sides.


    Fang Yuan led his army of 20,000 troops across the wilderness and into Cangshan City, ready to face the 100,000-men strong army form the Wu Country.


    "Listen up! The Wu Country''s Armed Forces are invincible, and since our Imperial Advisor is generous, he has granted all of you one night''s time to surrender. If you don''t comply, you will die without a doubt!"


    Suddenly from below, they were calvaries and a voice convincing them to surrender. "... Don''t say words that you are not prepared to!"


    "Hmph!"


    Zhang Qingfeng was infuriated. He took a bow, pulled it all the way back and released an arrow.


    "Whoosh!"


    A deafening sound came from the release of the bow, and the arrow shot into the sky, quick as lightning. It pierced through the soldier on a horseback and pinned him to the ground, as the fletching quivered.


    "Good!"


    The soldiers on the city walls exclaimed, and as they saw more calvaries approaching, they kept the corpse, all the while in silence.


    The difference between both sides was too huge that even Zhang Qingfeng did not have much confidence in his own army.


    "Let''s go down to the conference, then have a good night''s rest before preparing for the big battle tomorrow!"


    Fang Yuan wore plain clothes, quietly observed the scene and gestured.


    "Yes, Sir!"


    ...


    A group of men walked down the stairs and arrived at the main hall. Unable to hold himself back, Xiang Zilong enquired. "Prefecture Master... The opposing force has a strong army and calvaries, and are five times the size of ours. Furthermore, they have the Flying Dragon General leading them, as well as the Wu Country''s Imperial Advisor and three other spiritual knights, how can we match up with them?"


    "Don''t worry!"


    Yu Xinlou walked out, a little dazed and shook his head. "Our Master had made some preparations beforehand!"


    This confused everyone, especially Xiang Zilong, who looked at Fang Yuan.


    "Please say the truth! The Wu Country''s Armed Forces are strong, much stronger than our army. If we clash head-on, we will surely lose!"


    Fang Yuan nodded his head and explained the truth. "And this is why I need everyone to defend for three days, and after three days, the situation will change!"


    "Three days?"


    Xiang Zilong looked at Niu Dingtian in disbelief, as both of them shook their heads.


    ...


    That night, a black figure flew out of Cangshan City and landed in the Wu Country''s military camp.


    "Three days?"


    Xuan Sheng took the bamboo tube from the spiritual pigeon before letting it go. He then instructed a daoist disciple by his side to read it out for him, and his was shocked as he scanned the surroundings.


    Even though both his eyeballs were not there anymore, he could still strike fear in those that made eye contact with him.


    "A change in situation after three days? Impossible!"


    It was Flying Dragon General.


    He was middle-aged and had white sideburns. His sharp eyebrows and glaring gaze gave him a gentlemanly feel; he was surely a handsome young lad in his younger days.


    As he stared at the map, he shook his head. "Unless he can fly his troops, there is no other way of a change in the situation within three days!"


    "Regardless if he was just bluffing us, or if he was really confident, we don''t really need to care about him!"


    Wu Wudao smiled. "Even if that Secluded Mountain Prefecture Master had gathered his troops in Cangshan City, we can still go head-on and take them down!"


    "That''s right, a good strategy would be to use plots and deploy more troops to take down their small army!"


    Flying Dragon General nodded his head in agreement. "Regardless of what plan he has, I can just break all of them by brute force!"


    "Since both of you think this way, then we shall invade them tomorrow!"


    Elder Daoist Xuan Sheng said, "Even if we cannot take down the city, at night time, I can still order for our spy to take them down from the inside!"


    Even though he did not mention who the spy was, the rest still nodded in agreement.


    Afterall, to them, the new Secluded Mountain Prefecture Master did not know what he was doing. Anyone under him could be a spy, and it seemed that it was just fate for the Secluded Mountain Prefecture to fall.


    ...


    As time flew by, it was the second day.


    "Orders from the general! Invade!"


    100,00 men formed up and lined up in a continuous never-ending line.


    Accompanying the order form the general, the other soldiers of the Wu Country repeatedly chanted, "Invade! Invade! Invade!!!"


    At the sound of the horn, ladders, arrow towers and invasion vehicles were pushed in front of the formation. The archers took up their spot, looking serious and full of will to fight.


    Seeing this scene, the soldiers on the city walls shuddered in fear.


    Even though the soldiers of the Secluded Mountain Prefecture Armed Forces had martial arts, they were still in fear. After all, the usual martial arts duel and fighting were different from war altogether.


    "Throw the rocks! Throe!"


    In the Wu Country Armed Forces formation, more than 10 carts were wheeled into position, and on the command of the Lieutenant, large rocks were continually hurled towards the city walls.


    "Rumble!"


    "Rumble!"


    Rocks ranging from 13 pounds to 130 pounds were directed at the city walls, breaking a large hole in it and making a large rumbling sound.


    The rumbling was continuous, and there were even cracks forming at some places.


    After a wave of rock-hurling, the rock carts seemed to become defective after much usage and were wheeled away to be serviced. Many ant-liked soldiers pushed the ladders and arrow towers and braved the arrows from the city, advancing towards the city gates.


    "Prepare the arrows, shoot!"


    On the city walls, Zhang Qingfeng roared and ordered as a rain of arrows flew downwards.


    Many soldiers were shot down, but they did not back away. Instead, they approached the city walls and as their arrow towers covered them, they began the ascend the ladder upwards.


    "Prepare the Golden Liquid! Pour!"


    "Where are the rocks? Fire away!"


    On the city walls, bots of boiling hot Golden Liquid were poured down the walls relentlessly. Accompanying it were the giant rocks being rolled down, smashing many soldiers and burning many too. In a short while, the bottom of the city walls had a thick layer of blood. The entire scene was extremely gory.


    "Leader Niu, Leader Xiang!"


    Fang Yuan remained composed as he continuously deployed troops, and called for both Wu Zongs.


    "The enemy is ferocious, so be wary of their Beheading Strategy!"


    "Thank you for your concern, Prefecture Master, we will be cautious!"


    Niu Dingtian and Xiang Zilong bowed, and Xiang Zilong added, "If we still had our experienced soldiers, they would not have the guts to attack us head-on!"


    What is the Beheading Strategy?


    It was that they might send their elemental force martial artist who would have only one objective: to take out Fang Yuan, or that they would use their soldiers to surround the opposing Lieutenant in order to win the battle without fighting.


    Fang Yuan used this strategy before by taking out Lu Renjia, returning peace to the Secluded Mountain Prefecture. It was the easy way.


    However, the situation now was different.


    His 20,000 strong army was all in the city. Even if the enemy''s spiritual knight or Wu Zong made it through the gates, they would be captured by the three of them. Without regard for the soldiers'' lives, they could surely exhaust any spiritual knight or Wu Zong to death.


    Therefore, to both sides, this was not a fair trade.


    Furthermore, it was no secret that Fang Yuan possessed a spiritual bird.


    Even if the enemy was stupid, they would not be stupid to the extent of entering and sacrificing themselves.


    After a day of gruesome battle, there was a mountain of corpse below the city gates.


    "Retreat!"


    Under the scorching sun and the bloody mess around, the Wu Country''s army retreated out of the massacre site.


    "Reporting, Prefecture Master!"


    Zhang Qingfeng had many wounds, and his armour was dyed blood-red. "The Wu Country''s attack today was ferocious. About a thousand of our men died, and 800 of them were severely injured! Their army''s casualty rate would surely be folds of ours!"


    As he reported, his eyebrows twitched.


    The opposing army was crazy, too crazy than he expected.


    If it was like that daily, it would only take 10 days for the Secluded Mountain Prefecture Armed Forces to crumble.


    "Since today has passed, it means that we have two days left. Everyone is dismissed, and rest well for the battle tomorrow!"


    Fang Yuan casually waved his hands.


    "Yes, Sir!"


    ...


    It was nighttime. Pitch-black and there was no wind.


    A secret room within the city was brightly lit.


    A few Lieutenants of the Secluded Mountain Prefecture Armed Forces were gathered, looking solemn. "We cannot continue this war!"


    "It only took one day for our casualty rate to be 10 percent, so how can this be sustainable?"


    A bearded well-built man slammed his fist on the table. "That person is Wu Zong and also a spiritual knight, and has a spiritual bird as well. If the situation becomes worse, he can leave, but we would be stuck here awaiting death!"


    "That''s right!"


    The other Lieutenants were deep in discussion, expression their dissatisfaction.


    This was partly due to Fang Yuan''s inexperience in handling a large army and he was, therefore, unable to appease the army.


    In reality, if not for his gifts and martial arts, there might be a rebellion and the army would break free of his control. As of now, there were only holding it in.


    "Lieutenant Xiang, what is your plan for gathering us here?"


    A few other Lieutenants scolded a few more times, but all shifted their attention to the person in the middle.


    "That''s right!"


    A lieutenant among them all laughed. "Everyone are brothers, so I shall speak the truth. There is no doubt that the Secluded Mountain Prefecture would lose. If we want to survive, or even live a comfortable life, the best plan is to switch loyalties!"


    As he spoke, not one of them questioned him, which revealed that most of them had in one way or another thought about it.


    "Based on our abilities, to betray would be extremely difficult!"


    Lieutenant Qiuran sighed. "Zhang Qingfeng is extremely loyal to that person and is still a martial artist who harnesses elemental force. He even patrols the city gates personally..."


    "What if you included us?!"


    Suddenly, a shadow appeared, entering the room.


    "Mmm?"


    The Lieutenant who was discussing the secret was in shock and almost pulled out his knife. As he saw the person''s face, he relaxed and looked happy. "Leader!"


    "What a coincidence, it''s my duty to patrol today. It would be easy to betray and give the city up!"


    The leader sighed. "I am doing this not for myself, but to avoid the impending war on the Secluded Mountain Prefecture!"


    "Leader, you are right!"


    The Lieutenants were all overjoyed. "Under the leadership of leader, what is there to be afraid of?"


    A few rash individuals blurted out. "This appointment of Secluded Mountain Prefecture Master should have been yours. Fang Yuna is just an outsider, what rights does he have to claim this appointment?"


    "Very well, let''s not waste time. Let''s..."


    This person was deep in thought and suddenly he frowned. "Who''s there?"


    "Chirp! Chirp!"


    A high pitched chirping travelled from outside, and a figure appeared, followed by a voice. "Niu Dingtian, have you seen for yourself and heard it for yourself?"


    "

 152 Appearance

    "Brother Xiang, I didn''t expect that you were such a person!"


    Niu Dingtian''s voice was deep and was filled with shock.


    Xiang Zilong knew that he couldn''t escape. He went to the entrance with a few other lieutenants. Illuminating the way with their fire torches, they saw Fang Yuan, Niu Dingtian, Zhang Qingfeng and a few other soldiers already surrounding the whole place.


    Niu Dingtian, who was in front, was still in disbelief. "Why are you doing this, Brother Xiang?"


    "Hehe¡­.The winner shall be the king, and the loser shall be the beggar. Since I''ve lost, what can I say?"


    Xiang Zilong gave a cold smile and looked at Fang Yuan. "But, how could you have known that it''s me? Enlighten me, Prefecture Master, so I can rest in peace!"


    "Your plan was perfect, but I had already begun to suspect you from the beginning!"


    Fang Yuan shook his head and continued, "Summer Sun Prefecture was so dangerous, but you two Wu Zongs managed to escape, how fortunate!"


    In fact, this was just an excuse Fang Yuan used to explain his suspicions of Xiang Zilong.


    The actual reason was that he was a dream master and therefore could sense evil in Xiang Zilong.


    "Just because of that?"


    Xiang Zilong couldn''t believe it.


    He had always been very loyal to Liu Yan and did not harbour any thoughts of betrayal while on the way to the Summer Sun Prefecture. Hence, he couldn''t believe how Fang Yuan was able to see through him.


    "Yes, it is because of that¡­..Plus¡­.."


    Fang Yuan chuckled and continued, "Since I''m the Prefecture Master, do I need any reason to suspect you? Oh¡­..I will need to thank you for sharing the intelligence with the enemy. As a token of appreciation, I shall let you die faster!"


    "You¡­.."


    Xiang Zilong broke into cold sweat.


    He didn''t expect that Fang Yuan, a young Prefecture Master to be so profound!


    Fang Yuan knew that he was a spy, kept mum, pretended he didn''t know anything, and even caused him to share fake intelligence with Wu Country!


    An ant would do everything to keep itself alive.


    The few other lieutenants around appeared hopeless, but Xiang Zilong was different. Scanning his surroundings quickly, he was prepared to escape this place!


    After all, he was a Wu Zong and could go anywhere he wanted to go. If he could escape to the enemy''s camp, he could live there comfortably for the rest of his life. Why would he be willing to die here?


    As this thought flashed through his mind, there was a sudden change!


    "Whoosh!"


    Fang Yuan shifted himself quickly like a lightning and in a blink of an eye, he appeared right in front of Xiang Zilong and grabbed him!


    "Chi! Chi!"


    The surrounding air became tense, and as Fang Yuan started to grab hold of him, the surrounding air became as though they were layers and layers of chains, restricting Xiang Zilong.


    Even though he knew that this was just an illusion, it had utterly shocked Xiang Zilong.


    The new Prefecture Master was so powerful!


    "Aahh!"


    Xiang Zilong''s face became red and his blood vessels started to explode. Between life and death, he unleashed his potential and freed himself from Fang Yuan''s claw to his neck. Suddenly, he retreated 10 yards backwards before leaping forward; the shadow of his legs fell like raindrops.


    "Dragon Subduing Kick!"


    Xiang Zilong was also a Wu Zong and was very experienced. He also knew that he would be dead if he chose to escape. The only way out was to defeat the other person.


    Hence, he chose to strike first and the first move that he executed was his strongest technique.


    "Crackle!"


    The shadow of the leg reached Fang Yuan and started to noise like how raindrops land on leaves. However, Fang Yuan paid no attention as though his opponent''s moves were like a gentle breeze. He went forward and struck another claw out!


    "Rough technique? Your technique is scarier than Niu Dingtian''s!"


    This thought ran through Xiang Zilong''s mind. A crisp sound was heard and he fell to the ground, crying out loud.


    "Peng!"


    There was blood everywhere.


    Only now did the others watching realised that Xiang Zilong''s leg had already been grabbed and broken by Fang Yuan, and the leg had fallen onto the ground.


    In just a few moves, Xiang Zilong, who was well known in the Secluded Mountains and had been a capital leader in the Secluded Mountains Mansion Armed Forces, was defeated?


    Not only that, but he was defeated that easily?


    Niu Dingtian opened his eyes widely and slapped his cheeks for a few times. He couldn''t believe what he had just seen.


    "Bring this man away and lock him up!"


    Fang Yuan brought out a white handkerchief to wipe off the bloodstains on his hand while he gave that order.


    "Prefecture Master, what about these lieutenants?"


    At that moment, Zhang Qingfeng were prepared to take down these lieutenants and knelt down to ask for further instructions.


    "These betrayers? What more can I say? Just kill them!"


    Niu Dingtian''s eyes were filled with anger. He was disappointed in Xiang Zilong and these lieutenants.


    "Even though they are a bunch of useless crap, there is still some use in them!"


    Fang Yuan then thought, "Xiang Zilong had already wanted to betray us tonight. I should use them as baits to lure the soldiers of the Wu Country out..."


    "Prefecture Master! Please allow us to achieve something great for you in order to compensate for the sins we have made!"


    When they realised that there was hope for survival for all of them, the few lieutenants immediately knelt down and kowtowed.


    ...¡­.


    It was midnight.


    Outside the city gate.


    A troop of soldiers stealthily reached the city gate with black masks and weapons.


    After they mimicked the cry of a mouse for 3 times, they heard something across the city wall and there were a few noises. A small gap opened in the city gates and a lieutenant was revealed behind the gap. "Why are you all late?"


    "We were making further preparations just in case!"


    The leader of the troop whispered, "How is the situation inside like?"


    "The lieutenant here guarding the gate has been taken down by us. The rest of them are on our side. Follow me!"


    The city gate was opened slowly and there was excitement in the eyes of the leader. He then led the troop of people into the city stealthily.


    As they passed through the old city wall, they were not in the city yet. They would still have to take another path, which was why this place was also nicknamed the Urn City.


    "Something is not right!"


    Within the Urn City, someone besides the leader cried out loud. "Retreat, it is a trap!"


    "Close the city gate!"


    "Kacha! Kacha!"


    After a few loud noises, the city gate was fully closed and the whole place was suddenly well lighted. Many archers were already pulling their bows and aiming at the troop and started to fire their arrows.


    "Hmm? There is a spiritual knight among them? Since he is here, does he think he can escape?"


    Most of the people in the troop were either injured or dead from the rain of arrows. Fang Yuan''s eyes lighted up and as pounced forward, he ordered Niu Dingtian to follow closely.


    ...¡­.


    "Damn it! We have fallen into a trap!"


    Outside the city wall, the army of the Wu Country had gathered there quietly. Taoist Elder Xuan Sheng was surprised when he heard the noises and cries from the Urn City.


    "The enemy have their defences up here. We should retreat!"


    General Fei Long looked far towards the city walls and heard a few shouts and killing noises. His face was all tensed up.


    "Looks like the noises are not from the successful rebellion of Xiang Zilong, but from their revelation and downfall!"


    Wu Wudao was disappointed.


    One of the men among that troop was one of his disciples, whom he had cultivated with all his heart and soul to attain the status of a spiritual knight!


    However, his disciple was now trapped in the city.


    With this, he had the urge to lead all the most skilled men to charge through the city walls to save his beloved disciple.


    Unfortunately, his magical weapon, the Flying Leaf, had been destroyed and as he looked at the expressionless General Fei Long and the blind Taoist Elder Xuan Sheng, he gritted his teeth.


    Who would have known that this precautionary measure would lead to the death of his disciple!


    "This is so strange!"


    After the Taoist Elder Xuan Sheng had calmed down, he also had the same question in his mind. "As a spiritual knight, how could he not know that something was amiss before entering the city?"


    Ever since they had become enemies with the new prefecture master of the Secluded Mountain Mansion, they felt restrained constantly and did not know why or how.


    Such a feeling was torturous.


    The commanders of Wu Country didn''t know that Fang Yuan was a dream master and also considered to be an expert in deception and illusions. Furthermore, he had set up these traps personally. Hence, it would be a joke if a recently promoted spiritual knight were able to see through them.


    "Pass the order down. We shall return back to base and attack tomorrow!"


    General Fei Long ordered his troops to return to base. Before he left, he looked at the city building and had a bad feeling.


    ...¡­.


    "They didn''t attack?"


    Above the city wall, Fang Yuan gave a cold laugh as he witnessed the troops from the Wu Country returning to their base. "They are really able to endure this. However¡­..they are in a precarious situation!"


    "If we don''t counterattack them tonight, it will still be the same tomorrow!"


    He stood at the city building, deep in thought.


    "Counterattack the enemy tomorrow?"


    Niu Dingtian and Zhang Qingfeng were behind Fang Yuan. Although they were convinced of his ability, they were still a little startled when they heard what Fang Yuan had just said.


    "That''s right. Pass the order down to add more meat for tomorrow''s breakfast. Let all our soldiers have a good meal before we prepare to attack!"


    Fang Yuan gave a mysterious smile.


    Beneath him, there were noises at the foot of the city wall¡­..


    ...¡­..


    It was the second day. The scorching sun was high up in the sky.


    "Men, get the heads of Xiang Zilong and the spiritual knight as a sacrificial gift for the gods!"


    Without hesitation, Fang Yuan cut off the heads of the two elemental force experts effortlessly and threw their heads down from the city wall.


    Witnessing this, Wu Wudao flinched as General Fei Long gave a huge sigh. Without any reservation, General Fei Long ordered the army to attack the city with all their might.


    Even though they experienced setbacks a few days ago, the general still believed in his war tactics.


    His ability was still greater than the enemy. If he were to suppress the enemy head-on without fear for anything, Wu Country would surely win the war.


    "Rumble!"


    "Rumble!"


    As the trebuchets were activated, the Wu Country''s soldiers were charging straight at the city wall with no fear of death.


    Soon, the city wall became like a meat grinder. Both sides suffered heavy losses and there were many bloody bodies piled up. The city wall had turned red because of the blood.


    "Reporting! The situation at the west gate is critical. The enemies have already got onto the city wall!"


    "Reporting! Critical situation at the east gate. There are heavy losses there and we need backup now!"


    ...¡­.


    The reports came in like falling snow. This was the consequence of having a small army, and there were breaches everywhere along the city wall.


    "Prefecture Master, let me go and help them!"


    Niu Dingtian and Zhang Qingfeng knelt down to ask for permission to join the battle.


    "There is no need!"


    Fang Yuan waved his hand and said, "Order the troops to retreat and fight in the streets!"


    "What?"


    Everyone was shocked when they heard that order. Once the troops retreated, it would be as though they had lost the battle. Why even bother talking about a counterattack?


    "This is an order!"


    Fang Yuan glared at them.


    Immediately, there was a loud noise coming from the east gate. Then, there were many cheers of ''We''ve broken through'' heard. The soldiers from the Wu Country flooded into the streets of the city.


    "The Secluded Mountain Mansion Armed Forces are much more useless than I thought¡­...Nevermind, it is better this way. This will be more convincing..."


    Fang Yuan nodded his head as he looked at the soldiers from the Wu Country, who were given multiple orders to suppress their enemies completely. Fang Yuan gave a smile and raised his right hand.


    "Whoosh!"


    At every corner of the city walls, the ground started to break. Many flowers appeared, and light was reflected from blades. Within seconds, the nearby Wu Country soldiers were at lost and were soon slashed into pieces.


    Outside the city, General Fei Long was stunned. Slowly, he witnessed the entire Cangshan City transforming into a flower city within seconds¡­..

 153 Counterattack

    "Rumble! Rumble!"


    As the ground broke, thick and thorny vines extending their way up like demonic hands.


    On the stems, there were many thin and sharp Sickle Grass.


    "Chila!"


    As the Sickle Grass glittered from its reflection, even the most skilled soldier would die after being surrounded by these menacing plants.


    "Slurp! Slurp!"


    Brightly-coloured and large Serrated Flowers opened their large mouths and without hesitation swallowed these soldiers in whole; they were immensely satisfied.


    As the basis of the formation, the spiritual flowers and spiritual grass covered the entire Cangshan City, gobbling up almost half of the entire We Country''s army.


    Even the most highly skilled could only destroy one or two stems of the Serrated Flower, which did not really hinder things.


    The volume of plants and the fact that they could start growing the moment then landed on the floor and had the special ability to become enraged meant that these two evolved spiritual species became a life-sized human meat mincer.


    "Ah... This is..."


    Outside the city, Flying Dragon General was confused, and his eyes bloodshot. Seeing the number of casualties from his army, he was infuriated and spat out a mouthful of blood.


    Even though the few of them were spiritual knights, they were still no match for the entire Secluded Mountain Prefecture.


    This big loss not only destroyed the Wu Country''s objective but also weakened their strongest army. Even the country itself might not be stable anymore!


    Even he the general was at loss facing such a humiliating defeat. The other leaders were angry too and tried to attack in rage.


    "They are rather similar to Serrated Flowers and Sickle Grass..."


    As Wu Wudao witnessed the scene, he frowned. "Those two are normal spiritual plants, why would they evolve to such an extent?"


    Notwithstanding others, just based on their size, brutality and their fire-resistant ability, they could form up a formation by themselves and coordinate an attack; no one could associate them with the two most normal spiritual plants.


    ...


    "Prefecture Master? What''s this?"


    Niu Dingtian and Zhang Qingfeng were overjoyed.


    If previously they were referred to hopeless and desolate, the strong defence now would mean they would be overjoyed without words.


    Not just that, but if they took the opportunity, they might just turn it into a victory!


    "This is the spiritual plant formation that I have set up! It is thanks to Yu Xinlou that I am able to set it up to such a scale..."


    Fang Yuan nodded his head.


    "This is all Sir''s plan, how would I dare to take credit?"


    Yu Xinlou hurriedly kneeled down and replied.


    He was rather surprised. As a businessman, he knew that there were large quantities of spiritual plants here, but they were only normal spiritual flowers and spiritual grass. He was still confused at how they could become so scary.


    Fang Yuan smiled, giving them a mysterious feel.


    The ability of a [Botany (Level 5)], together with large amounts of spiritual flowers and spiritual grass, as well as with the help of spiritual land and spiritual fertilizer, and the most crucial being the unique environment of a battlefield; all these created a deadly trap!


    ''Although the evolved Serrated Flower and Sickle Grass are ferocious, they grow extremely quickly and have little to no requirements for the type of land, especially since there were so much blood and flesh to feed them...''


    The casualty rate in Cangshan was now more than ten thousand! It was the best greenhouse for these plants.


    Originally being quick growers, and with the help of spiritual fertilizer and his [Botany (Level 5)], the entire underground of Cangshan City was already filled with budding spiritual grass and spiritual flowers, as they began to form their formation.


    Based on Fang Yuan''s current Botany skills, the chance of normal spiritual plants evolving is already very high, especially with such large numbers of plants.


    He was still not satisfied and returned to the Green Peak spiritual land to bring along the Serrated Flower King, using him as a central nervous system to control the other Serrated Flowers to listen to its command.


    Otherwise, why would these spiritual flowers and spiritual grasses become so obedient and even knew how to ambush? Why would they stay quietly underground and not create havoc outside?


    "The Sickle Grass and the Serrated Flower are companions. As the Serrated Flower has the ability to move around, it can bring along the Sickle Grass, and will become scarier than any killing machine might be..."


    He had a tinge of coldness in his eyes. "With the help of my dream master''s ability, it would be simple to deny detection from the opposing spiritual knights and Wu Zongs, and therefore able to surprise them..."


    The city of spiritual flowers and spiritual grasses in front of him had already become a living hell, and even bore fruits.


    "Zhang Qingfeng!"


    Fang Yuan exclaimed.


    "Yes, Sir!"


    Zhang Qingfeng replied, full of excitement.


    "Regroup the army, and prepare for the counter attack!"


    "Yes, Sir!"


    The entire Cangshan City was hard to explain.


    Because of his specific deployments of the soldiers, Fang Yuan''s army did not suffer that much of a loss. Even the guards all the way at the city gates could run all the way into the city and were not affected by the attack. He could regroup an army of around 5,000.


    The Wu Country''s army, however, sent all their troops to the frontline. After half a day of battle, they had many casualties, and the change in the situation made them lose their momentum. The entire army was destroyed.


    "Kill!"


    As Zhang Qingfeng entered the battlefield, his intentions were obvious.


    The demonic plants avoided the Secluded Mountain Prefecture soldiers, and only chose to attack the Wu Country''s soldiers. Both the soldiers on the ground and the general looking from afar knew that the war was over.


    "Retreat!"


    "Quickly retreat!"


    The soldiers who entered the city became the fertiliser for the plants, and the soldiers behind hurriedly retreated like ducks broken away from one another. They just ran without a lead; the only thing they knew was that the further they were from the city the better.


    "Rumble!"


    The Serrated Flower King would not give up on such an opportunity! As a rumble was heard, vines popped out of the ground and blocked the path of the retreating soldiers, as it enjoyed its food.


    "Kill!"


    Zhang Qingfeng opened up a path within the spiritual flowers and gave chase. He killed like nobody''s business, as though he was cutting grass.


    "Retreat! Retreat!"


    At this point in time, the Flying Dragon General finally came to his senses.


    He had suffered a great loss! There was no hope for any comeback with such a defeat.


    The only thing he could do was to retreat and reduce the casualty rate.


    "Good beast!"


    Wu Wudao and Elder Daoist Xuan Sheng, together with another spiritual knight, began to fight against the spiritual plants.


    As he stuck his finger out, the thorny vines crumbled as though a poisonous snake bit it. Not only that, the entire Serrated Flower shuddered and fell to the ground, and in a short moment lost all its life.


    "God Killing Finger!"


    Elder Daoist looked at Wu Wudao, as though he could see using his eye sockets. He waved his sleeves and sliced two Sickle Grass into bits.


    "This is troublesome..."


    The vibration from the destruction of these plants made him tense up.


    "This spiritual flower and spiritual grass are working together in an orderly manner. They are extremely ferocious and feed on blood... Every one of it resembles an inner force expert..."


    Elder Taoist Xuan Sheng sighed. "If we wait here and become trapped within the plants, it would be even more troublesome. If someone of our skill level were to ambush us then, it is likely we would fall for it..."


    "We can still deal with one or two of them, but look at the sheer number..."


    Wu Wudao had perfect eyesight and could detect the biggest Serrated Flower amongst all the plants. It just swallowed three soldiers and spat out flower buds, amidst all the blood.


    As the flower buds touched the ground, they took in blood and grew at an alarming rate the human eye could detect. In a short while, it became a scary entity all by itself, ready to devour more flesh.


    Just a single Serrated Flower and Sickle Grass would not do much, even if it was evolved with special traits.


    However, if it exceeded a certain amount, the threat level would increase exponentially.


    "Who would''ve known that the Secluded Mountain Prefecture Master had this move... Control of spiritual plants?"


    In Wu Wudao''s heart, his alertness against Fang Yuan shot up.


    "Let''s make a move, it''s time for us to leave!"


    As the result of the war was obvious, Fang Yuan called for Niu Dingtian. Together, they rode the Red-eyed White King Bird across the city walls. As they circled the sky, soon after, they were able to locate Wu Wudao and company.


    Using their spiritual knight and Wu Zong abilities, these elemental force martial artists had to fight their way out, forming a safe route for the normal soldiers to escape.


    One of the spiritual knights was using fire-type spiritual spells.


    His spiritual fire was different from that of Liu Yan''s; it was black as ink, like black liquid oil burning, and had the ability to decompose anything it came into contact with.


    Even if the Serrated Flower and Sickle Grass were fire-resistant, they were still reduced to ashes after coming into contact with the spiritual fire, which showed the strength of the spiritual fire.


    However, even that spiritual knight was sweating profusely. It seemed like using his spiritual spells was exhausting too.


    "It''s you!"


    Fang Yuan''s eyes glittered.


    Among the three elemental force martial artists, he had the lowest cultivation level. He had to find the weakest to bully.


    "Chirp! Chirp!"


    As the Red-eyed White King Bird chirped, it''s feathers were dyed red as it descended, quick as lightning.


    "Die!"


    Fang Yuan used his paralyzing scream, which was hard to fend against.


    As the spiritual knight froze, an eagle''s claw struck towards him. As he awakened from the trance, it was too late.


    "Ah..."


    He had just enough cultivation to dodge the claw and retreat, but there was already 5 streaks of blood across his chest.


    "Die!"


    Fang Yuan was merciless as he flew across, striking his leg out this time.


    Striking his claw and his leg was a well-planned move which would restrict all the possible escape routes for this spiritual knight. In the next moment, he would take his life.


    "Don''t be rude!"


    As his leg was diverted sideways, the spiritual knight fell back and spat out a mouthful of blood. Suddenly, there was a shadow between the both of them, blocking Fang Yuan from delivering his death kick.


    "Flying Dragon General?"


    As Fang Yuan examined the middle-aged man in front of him, he began to think of Flying Dragon General.


    Only such an experienced Wu Zong would be able to save the spiritual knight''s life in the nick of time.


    Compared to him, Wu Wudao and Elder Taoist Xuan Sheng were still inferior.


    ''What a pit I couldn''t finish him off, but that is fine too... That spiritual knight is useless now, and can no longer take part in this fight!''


    As he glanced at the half-dead spiritual knight, his mood was uplifted, and he scanned the rest of them.

 154 Resounding Defea

    "Prefecture Master!"


    With the interference from General Fei Long, Wu Wudao and Xuan Sheng recovered. They looked at Fang Yuan with intense hatred.


    "That''s right!"


    Fang Yuan smiled. He did not hold them in regard.


    The Elemental Force Realm experts were nothing to him.


    The situation remained unchanged even though Fang Yuan previously had the protection of the troops. He did not fear these spiritual knights.


    He was the king amongst the spiritual flowers and grass!


    As for the few aristocrats of Wu Country in front of him? There 100,000 troops were scattered and their strength was unable to be mustered.


    The offensive and the defensive were reversed!


    ...


    A gust of foul-smelling wind.


    Not far away, the Sickle Grass and Serrated Flowers were dancing. Like a reaper, they claimed the lives of many soldiers.


    Wu Wudao, Xuan Sheng and Fei Long felt like vomiting blood after they witnessed this scene.


    How can they rely on so few people to conquer Secluded Mountains Prefecture?


    Their army had been destroyed and any plan that they had, had turned into a joke.


    The mastermind behind all this was the youth that was laughing in front of them. They did not realise that the reason for all his previous preparations was all for that one moment of attack!


    "Good!"


    General Fei Long praised, "I have never lost a single battle. To think that my streak would end in your hands..."


    "How? Unless you wish to continue?"


    Fang Yuan said loftily with no sign of fear.


    Wu Wudao was momentarily indecisive.


    He still had General Fei Long and Taoist Elder Xuan Sheng at his side. In terms of strength, they outmatched their opponent. However, things were not as simple.


    After all, the Prefecture Master was impossible to predict which caused him to worry excessively.


    His condition was being suppressed by the Mystical Ice Pill but there was no guarantee that his conditions would not worsen during the battle.


    On the opponent''s side, Niu Dingtian was the weakest. However, he was trained in rough technique which was enough to harass an opponent. That spiritual beast''s aura was also comparable to a martial artist at the peak of the 12 Gates and it had the ability to fly. If it also possessed a few more talents, it would have become a force to be reckoned with... In addition, there was also the unpredictable Fang Yuan...


    Given the situation, defeating the opponent was not something that could be achieved in a short amount of time.


    Furthermore, they would not be able to stop their opponents from escaping!


    Looking at how the situation was developing, he definitely did not have so much time!


    If they were unable to swiftly bring down their opponent, they would soon be surrounded by the Secluded Mountain Prefecture Armed Forces and the spiritual flowers and grass!


    If that was the case, it would be their side that perished.


    General Fei Long was helpless and did not have a plan to turn the tables around.


    "Zhi''Er!"


    Wu Wudao arrived at the side of the spiritual disciple who was vomiting blood in a flash. He fed the disciple a spiritual pill and looked at Fang Yuan with hatred.


    It was not wise to deal with an enemy without knowing the enemy''s ability.


    He shouldn''t let emotions cloud his thinking even though one of his beloved disciples had sacrificed his life for the country and the other beloved disciple was heavily wounded.


    Wu Wudao looked bitterly at the Red-Eyed White King Bird and asked coldly, "Prefecture Master, what are your desires?"


    "You entered my territories, killed my people and still ask me what my desires are?"


    Fang Yuan was bemused as if he heard a joke.


    "It is natural that the strong feed on the weak. Given the situation in Xia Country, if Wu Country did not act, there would still be Yuan, Zhu Country...even you, are you really just a subject of the Xia Country?"


    Taoist Elder Xuan Sheng shook his head.


    "Hmm...never mind!"


    Fang Yuan glanced back at Cangshan City which was beginning to quieten down, "I want all of you to leave the Secluded Mountain Prefecture and swear a blood oath that you would not invade us within the century!"


    "A century!?"


    General Fei Long furrowed his brows.


    He might have agreed readily if it was just a few decades. After all, the army of Wu Country had suffered great loss and needed time to recover.


    But a hundred years? That was a bit too long.


    "What if we do not agree? Unless you think you can threaten us with your troops?"


    Wu Wudao coldly asked.


    While they were interested in helping Wu Country preserve its strength. It was not feasible if it was a matter of life and death.


    "Of course not!"


    Fang Yuan''s expression grew cold, "I will only guarantee that none of you will leave the prefecture alive!"


    "Haha..."


    Wu Wudao laughed. "Do you think you can kill us?"


    "I am confident of delaying you till the army arrive and surround you!"


    Fang Yuan dusted his shoulders, "If my plans fail, at least I would be able to escape with my spiritual beast! What about you all? Care to try?"


    Upon hearing this, Wu Wudao''s breaths slowed and he shriveled.


    The opponent possessed a flying spiritual beast and was shameless to the extent of escaping if he could not beat them.


    What the opponent said was true! If he felt that something was amiss, he could turn tail and run.


    Furthermore, he was young and had countless of opportunities for revenge.


    As for them, a wrong move would result in their deaths!


    If they had really miscalculated, went into battle and did not manage to defeat the spiritual knight cum Wu Zong and his spiritual beast, there was a possibility that they would be surrounded and killed.


    In an instant, the three of them hesitated.


    They did not have much time to consider as they see their troops being defeated and the spiritual plants slowly surrounding them.


    Especially...


    Wu Wudao looked at Fang Yuan and Niu Dingtian and saw that they had ill intentions for his disciple.


    He knew that once the battle starts, he might be able to survive but his disciple would die without a doubt!


    "Prefecture Master...well-played. I concede!"


    Taoist Elder Xuan Sheng caved in, "I acknowledge the century agreement!"


    Wu Wudao felt grateful.


    This matter was grave and as such, either General Fei Long or he could acknowledge the agreement first. If not, there would be consequences.


    Xuan Sheng knew that and as such he stepped forward and gave in, knowing full well that he would take the brunt of the consequences.


    "If that is the case, I agree as well!"


    General Fei Long sighed.


    Wu Wudao gave his promise.


    "That''s good, please leave. I will not be seeing you out!"


    Fang Yuan waved and smiled as if he was a good host. There was no sign of mutual hostility.


    "The Secluded Mountains Prefecture is guaranteed a century of peace..."


    Wu Wudao''s and General Fei Long''s eyes met. They sighed and silently walked away.


    "Prefecture Master, why not ...?"


    Seeing the view of the people disappearing, Niu Dingtian stepped forward and asked.


    "Do you have the confidence to kill the three of them? Wu Wudao is the Imperial Advisor of Wu, General Fei Long is the prodigy in Wu Country. Who knows what trump cards they are hiding?"


    Fang Yuan looked at him, "How many of our soldiers'' lives must be sacrificed with no guarantee of victory?"


    Niu Dingtian could not answer and sweated cold sweat.


    Fang Yuan closed his eyes. He still had some stuff that he did not speak out loud.


    Wu Wudao and his companions readily agreed to the agreement as Fang Yuan had given several conditions that were beneficial to them apart from their current circumstances.


    For example, the agreement only applied to the troops and did not govern the martial artists in the Elemental Force Realm.


    If he was met with any danger, there was no guarantee that these powerful individuals would not come to cause trouble.


    They would definitely come!


    However, without this ''loophole'', how would he expect that the Wu Country would so readily withdraw?


    Fang Yuan was confident of his abilities.


    ''It seems like from now on, I am another Liu Yan in the mind of Wu Country. I might even be met with more consequences...the more they come, the more I can hone my skills!''


    There were benefits to not declaring war.


    For instance, Wu Wudao only knew that Fang Yuan was unpredictable and cunning. He would not expect that Fang Yuan had already reached the peak of the Elemental Gathering Realm!


    He could make use of the time he gained to make a breakthrough in the shortest possible time.


    Worldly conspiracies would be nothing if he managed to break through the Elemental Gathering Realm.


    ...


    Summer Sun Prefecture.


    "The king order that the Summer Sun Prefecture is part of Xia Country. Today, we specially come forward to reassure the citizens that there would be not taxes in addition to other benefits if you all surrender. If not, you will be charged with treason and executed!"


    In front of a city, there was a struggle followed by the raising of a white flag in the face of the army of the Xia Country capital.


    "Very well, this is already the third city which surrendered without a battle!"


    Xie Lingyun celebrated as she dispatched the troops to enter the city. "Out of the 6 counties in the Summer Sun Prefecture, 3 counties have returned to the hands of the royal family. This is a cause for celebration!"


    She had no intention to help Wu Country in this battle.


    In the eyes of the Xia Country''s royal family, the previous Prefecture Master, Liu Yan, was a traitor and that the Wu Country was greedy.


    Being attacked by both sides and the benefits taken away by Wu Country? Only a fool would do that.


    After receiving the letter from Fang Yuan, Xie Lingyun ordered the troops to put on a front, while the main body of troops heads towards Summer Sun Prefecture with an intention of making the Summer Sun Prefecture the property of the royal family.


    She had a similar plan for the Clear Spring Prefecture.


    "Such a shame...the Summer Sun Prefecture is in ruins..."


    As she thought of the devastating scene that she had witnessed on her journey here, Xie Lingyun could not help but shake her head, her face displaying a sign of worry.


    ''After Wu Country conquer the Secluded Mountains Prefecture, the next step would be to set their eyes on the remainder of Xia Country...luckily it takes time to implement changes. However, Xia Country do not have many opportunities left, especially...engagement...''


    To be truthful, it is natural for the royal family to be connected by marriage.


    However, Xie Lingyun was hesitant as that would give the other party another reason to take over Xia Country during times of unrest.


    "A letter from the Secluded Mountain Prefecture!"


    A messenger hurried forward.


    "Is it about the defeat of the Secluded Mountains?"


    Xie Lingyun could not help but sigh when she thought of the genius who was highly cultivated but lacked practice. The latest report suggested that he had staked everything in Cangshan. Defeat was imminent for him.


    "There was a resounding defeat. But it was not the Secluded Mountains and was Wu Country instead!"


    "What?"


    Xie Lingyun trembled and looked incredulous.

 155 The Map

    "When the heart is focused, the foundations will strengthen¡­"


    High up in the air, a strange black bird spread its wings and glided into the airspace of the Secluded Mountain Prefecture. On its back rode a Taoist priest.


    Overlooking the huge Secluded Mountain City in the air inspired a sense of awe. The looming city walls, the orderly roads and the dots that moved along them...everything seemed to suggest that the city had left behind the shadows of war. The morale of the people had risen and stabilised.


    Most people were fine with simply being followers.Whether it was Liu Yan previously, Fang Yuan now, or even the Wu Country. They farmed when they had to farm, paid taxes when they had to pay taxes.


    If one could loosen his iron grip on the domain and rule with more benevolence, the people would definitely praise him to the high heavens.


    Currently, Fang Yuan had displayed the ability to fend off the advances of the Wu Country, and had consequently boosted his approval ratings among the masses. As the new master of the Secluded Mountain Prefecture, his prestige and authority were increasing by the day.


    The priest let out a sigh, for he knew that his lord¡¯s schemes were likely to be futile. Besides, the other party was of a surprisingly young age and had unpredictable methods. He could not help but feel uneasy.


    At this moment, things on the ground began to get noisy. They had sensed the priest¡¯s arrival.


    *Tweet*


    Just as the priest was beginning to look wary, a white flash swooped out of the City Manor with a large screech and positioned itself in front of the black bird.


    "What a bird!"


    Sitting atop the black bird, the priest could feel the agitation of his mount, and he gave a bitter laugh.


    "With the presence of such a bird, the Secluded Mountain Prefecture City¡¯s airspace is impregnable. My future plans will probably come to naught."


    "Do not worry, I am acquainted with your master, and I am not here to wage war either. You can go now!"


    The priest spoke to the King of the Red-eyed White Birds, and patted the crown of the black bird. He then slowly descended under the watchful gaze of the Bird King.


    "Haha...a friend from faraway, what a pleasant surprise! Brother Mu Li, you haven¡¯t been honest with me!"


    Fang Yuan stepped out of the Prefecture Master Manor, his arms open in a welcome gesture. He was adorned with a magnificent rope embroidered in dragons and on his head sat a golden crown. He was a grand sight.


    "You mock me, Prefecture Master! You haven¡¯t been honest with me either!"


    Upon seeing Fang Yuan, the priest¡¯s bitterness became more apparently.


    This priest was a good friend of Liu Yan, and was in fact an agent of the Xia Country royals. He was the Taoist Mu Li.


    "Regarding all that had happened before, we both had our difficulties, so let bygones be bygones. You are an esteemed guest. Please do enter my humble abode and make yourself comfortable!"


    Fang Yuan waved his hand with a laugh.


    The Taoist Mu Li was partly responsible for the death of Liu Yan, Fang Yuan¡¯s predecessor. On the other hand, Fang Yuan barely knew Liu Yan, and had nothing to do with his demise.


    Also, Mu Li was here as an envoy of the Xia royals. Thus, Fang Yuan had sent away the people who could potentially make things ugly, like Niu Dingtian. So far, things had gone smoothly.


    "Then I shall not stand on ceremony!¡¯


    The Taoist Mu Li bowed once more, and looked towards to Bird King with approval.


    "This bird has an unrivaled majesty. It will be a great help to you, Prefecture Master!"


    Although Mu Li was concealing his identity and was a secret agent, his admiration for the huge bird was true.


    It was a pity that the Wind Chasing Falcon had fallen over the Summer Sun Prefecture. With the help of the Xia royals, Mu Li had managed to find this rare black bird, which proved to be an adequate replacement. However, it was still incomparable to the Wind Chasing Falcon. Now that he had seen the King of the Red-eyed White Birds, which was superior even to the Irontail Black Eagle, he was forced to accept that his mount was grossly inferior to the Bird King.


    "It was simply the workings of Fate!"


    Fang Yuan smiled and walked with the Taoist Mu Li into the hall. Two maidservants served the tea and retreated respectfully.


    "Sigh¡­"


    The Taoist Mu Li held the teacup in his hand and as he stared into the depths of the spiritual tea, he was overcome by a wave of melancholy.


    "Brother Mu Li, you must be here as a representative of the Xia family, I hereby thank you for your trouble!"


    Fang Yuan gave a salute by cupping his right fist with his left hand.


    Fang Yuan had previously struck up a correspondence with Xia, and since Xie Lingyun and Lan Xiaosheng were also unwilling to get into the mess over at the Secluded Mountain Prefecture, both parties did not take things too seriously. All was fine.


    To them, the Secluded Mountain Prefecture had no chance against the Wu army, and was bound to fall sooner or later.


    Except that the Battle of Cangshan City was a disaster for the Wu Country. Fang Yuan had used twenty thousand troops against the hundred thousand strong Wu army and defeated them decisively. Fang Yuan had gained a formidable reputation as a result, and had also drawn up the Hundred Year Agreement to secure his power. After that, the Xia Country to sent out ambassadors frequently so as to maintain good relations with Fang Yuan.


    As of now, with Wu Country¡¯s defeat freshly imprinted on everyone¡¯s mind, no one would dare to offend the Secluded Mountain Prefecture. In fact,they were extremely worried that Fang Yuan would make a move on the Summer Sun and Clear Spring Prefectures, or even harm the Xia royal family.


    "We are all friendly, no worries!"


    The Taoist Mu Li became solemn as the conversation moved into serious matters.


    "So, what is the purpose of your visit today?"


    Fang Yuan asked directly.


    With the Wu letter of credence, even if Fang Yuan wanted to become a vassal of the Xia Country, Xue Lingyun might not accept it, for her prestige as the ruler would be irreparably damaged.


    Of course, seeing that the Wu Country was unable to annex the Secluded Mountain Prefecture was great news to Xie Lingyun too.


    "Our Lady is pleased that the Secluded Mountain Prefecture is self sufficient. Thus, even if the Prefecture intends to become independent, the Xia Country will be very supportive¡­"


    The Taoist Mu Li grinned.


    "Oh!"


    Fang Yuan laughed coldly.


    "So you intend to push the Secluded Mountain Prefecture out into the cold such that we will become a buffer between the Xia and Wu countries? And we will have to help you spy on and fend off the Wu country?"


    The Taoist Mu Li¡¯s heart sank.


    This was precisely the intention of his Lady.


    To let the Secluded Mountain Prefecture confront the Wu country while the Xia country could simply provide reinforcements if needed. This would be a favourable status quo.


    After all, the royal family had already reclaimed half of the Summer Sun Prefecture, and if they were allowed to rest and recuperate, they would be strong enough to deal with the issues in the Clear Spring Prefecture.


    To think that this young Prefecture Master would be this sharp and point out their ulterior motives unabashedly.


    "The Prefecture Master is indeed straightforward. This is the plan!"


    The Taoist Mu Li nodded. After all, he was a spiritual knight too, and seeing that Fang Yuan had done away with the pleasantries, he would too.


    "To celebrate your ascension, our Lady has prepared a gift. It is already on its way!"


    ¡¯They have no substance!¡¯


    The confession of the Taoist Mu Li was most amusing to Fang Yuan. He now knew that Xie Lingyun was afraid that he would invade the Summer Sun Prefecture and undo the work she had put in to stabilise the territory.


    And it was not just him. The Master of Clear Spring Prefecture, Lan Xiaosheng, was probably of the same mind as well.


    ¡®If I chose to interfere forcefully, Xie Lingyun and Lan Xiaosheng were bound to join forces against me, and might even rope the Wu Country into the alliance. On the other hand, if I compromise, there is a good chance that Lan Xiaosheng might fall out with the Xia royals¡­"


    These political mind games were detailed in the history books, and Fang Yuan was well read enough to be shrewd.


    "If that is the case, many thanks to the Lady for her best wishes...the Secluded Mountain is in a terrible state, and will not be partaking in military action anytime soon. We will have to count on you in the days to come!"


    "That¡¯s right! That''s right!"


    The Taoist Mu Li was elated, but then realised that Fang Yuan had spoken of the Secluded Mountain Prefecture as being the equal of the Xia Country. The arrogance emanating from Fang Yuan was depressing to Mu Li.


    ___________


    "The time I have left is running out¡­"


    Having gotten rid of the Taoist Mu Li, Fang Yuan half-closed his eyes in deep thought.


    The skirmish on the Secluded Mountain was a great victory, and had not betrayed his true capabilities. It would be enough to deter potential enemies.


    When the situation stabilises, the politicking and espionage will most definitely resume. The impending chaos was unpleasant to think about.


    Not only that, when his foes figure out that he is the second Liu Yan, they might gang up and launch assassination attempts on him.


    Fang Yuan did not fear these challenges, but he was tired of dealing with them.


    "Why shouldn''t I relinquish my authority and live a carefree life beyond the city?"


    His position as Master of the Secluded Mountain Prefecture was a powerful one, but it also made him a prime target. He was a sitting duck.


    Fang Yuan planned to go into seclusion and meditate for a period of time. He preferred initiation to retaliation.


    But regarding whether he could bear to give up his power?


    Fang Yuan was not perfect, but he believed in his own abilities. In his opinion, power and influence would naturally come along if one was capable.


    It did not matter even if he transferred power to his subordinates. No one could take away his personal strength from him. He had the moral high ground too, and there was no one who could really threaten him.


    Even if he came out of his seclusion and returned to a tumultuous world, with his cultivation and prodigious botany skills, no problem would be too difficult for him to handle.


    To Fang Yuan, his status as the Master of the Secluded Mountain Prefecture was a dispensable title.


    He was prepared to walk the talk!


    Still, before he left, he had to make some preparations.


    "Master! I would like to request an audience with you!"


    Yu Xinlou and Huang Fu Renhe carried a big pile of scrolls and waited patiently outside.


    "Come in!"


    Fang Yuan shook his head discreetly.


    Ever since he had succeeded to his current position, these men were becoming increasingly polite to the point of obeisance. This created a distancing effect and sometimes, Fang Yuan actually felt lonely.


    "Master, we have followed your orders and organised the manor books. We have gathered the maps of the Xia, Wu, Zhu countries...as well as the Yuanrong Grasslands. We shall present them to you now!"


    "Mm!"


    Fang Yuan chose at scroll at random. This map was made of premium goatskin and had been sanitised to prevent rotting. Still, its borders were covered with mold stains.


    Although these maps were created decades ago, they should be largely accurate.


    Fang Yuan opened the most comprehensive map, where a triangular piece of land was detailed.


    On this continent, the domains of the Xia Country were clearly marked and sat in the middle. Beside it lay the lands of the Wu Country. These two countries took up nearly half of the total land area. In the immediate surroundings were the smaller states of Zhu, Yan, Qi etcetera. Other than perhaps the Zhu Country, the tiny states were no better than the Secluded Mountain Prefecture. They were but small players on the game board.


    "The great seas on the three sides of the continent were referred to as ¡®The Deep¡¯ in the historical records. They are said to be endless, with life forms few and far between."


    Fang Yuan¡¯s gaze traversed over the continent to the northern part of the map. It was a sprawling grassland.


    "This is the Yuanrong Grasslands. There lay the Yuan Country, where the people rule over the land with their horses and bows. They live like nomads¡­"


    "To get to the Da Qian Empire, one has to journey through the grasslands. This is the only way!"


    Fang Yuan stared at the map, his eyes gleaming.

 156 Zhu Country

    The world was huge, even Fang Yuan at his cultivation level could not comprehend the vastness of the world.


    As he examined the rough drawing of the map, his fingers ran through the Yuanrong Grasslands, and as excitement filled his eyes, he let out a long sigh.


    To reach the Da Qian Empire, he had to traverse through this grassland, and it was still unknown what troubles or dangers he might face.


    Furthermore, based on his current cultivation, it was still not very safe.


    He was also not in a hurry to go there too.


    "Take your leave!"


    As he waved, he dismissed Yu Xinlou and Huang Fu Renhe. With the flip of his palm, the treasure map from the Five Ghosts Sect appeared in his hands.


    This was so secretive that he did not intend to let anyone else know about it.


    At this point in time, the three-pieced treasure map was combined into one, forming an intricate drawing of mountains. There was also an obvious spot which caught his attention.


    "This Five Ghosts Sect ancestor from the Da Qian Empire is not simple..."


    While examining the treasure map, he had a complicated look on his face.


    After all, this treasure had so much affinity with him. Even though it was split into three pieces and circulated far and wide, he could still gather them together, which made him believe that it was fate.


    The ''master''s'' true identity was also very suspicious.


    The three of his disciples had their own accomplishments. The Xuan Yin Metal Corpse Spell could develop the Five Ghosts Sect to such a stage, and as for the Blood Demon, his inheritance was of immoral ways.


    "An extremely strong immoral demon? That escaped here after failing in the Da Qian empire..."


    Fang Yuan touched his chin. "From the act of not directly passing down this treasure to his descendants, I can infer that there must be risks in this... Of course, treasures can only be obtained from risks, and if it was safe, I''ll rather not try!"


    ...


    He was an extremely decisive person. Since he had decided, he delegated the internal affairs of the Prefecture down to his subordinates and split his power, and he seemed unafraid that they would go against him with their power.


    Afterwards, Fang Yuan rode the Red-eyed White King Bird back to Green Peak spiritual land.


    He wanted to settle the minute stuff before putting down everything to look for the secret place in the treasure map.


    As Fang Yuan left the Secluded Mountain Prefecture City, many carts contain valuables and gifts were delivered into the city.


    If Daoist Mu Li was still here, he would be speechless. Fang Yuan had already left, so what was the point of delivering all these gifts?


    Outside the city gates, in a restaurant''s private room, there was complete silence. There was a spread on the table, and a 15-year aged wine was opened as its fragrance filled the entire room.


    "The Royal Family of the Xia Country have put in quite a lot of money!"


    From a window opening, a pair of eyes stared at the carriages of valuables entering the city, as it laughed.


    It was a young man in silk robes and was around 25 years of age. He had definitive facial features and would leave a strong impression on those who looked at him.


    As he said, there was a hint of anger on his face. "Xie Lingyun did not honour her words and caused my army to be destroyed. She deserves to die!"


    "Be cautious with your words, prince!"


    At the table, there was another person in green clothes. He had a cloth tied around his hair bun, and although his clothes were plain, there seemed to be extremely clean. He appeared to be about 40 to 50 years old and was originally closing his eyes to rest. As he opened his eyes, he had a warm gaze. "This lady has a marriage agreement with our king. Based on the rituals, she is your unwedded sister-in-law!"


    As he spoke, the surroundings shook as his energy spread across the room, as though his instructions were absolute.


    His level of cultivation was definitely in the realms of elemental force.


    "Hehe... My brother wanted to marry this lady in order to facilitate his future plans and make it official... It seems that this lady is immature and does not have a sense of gratitude. Luckily, we will not sit back and do nothing..."


    The internal conflict in the royal family might just kill the new bride.


    After all, Wu Country only needed an excuse to invade.


    "Even if this is so, you should restrain!"


    The middle-aged man shook his head. "Considering the fall of our army and the shock it brought to our country, it would be unwise to create more trouble. Even if Xie Lingyun were to delay the date of marriage, our king can only hold himself back and wait..."


    "Delay? This lady is full of pride, that might just happen..."


    The young prince smiled. "Compared to her, I am more interested in that young Wu Zong. Cultivating his magic and the path of martial arts at the same time, and is even able to have control over spiritual plants? Wiping out tens of thousands of soldiers?"


    "I have done the investigation, it is indeed true... Although there are some restraints on that prefecture, they are nonetheless a force to be reckoned with."


    The middle-aged man sighed again. He knew the value of such power. Even the Imperial Advisor, Elder Daoist Xuan Sheng and General Fei Long cautioned against Fang Yuan when they returned to their country.


    Otherwise, they wouldn''t be here as well.


    "The new Prefecture Master''s tactics are mysterious, but what is his true cultivation? Based on his progress and potential, he might be at the peak of the Elemental Gathering Realm at 50 years old, and able to reach the bottleneck to the Elemental Opening Realm!"


    The young prince rubbed the ruby ring on his finger, appearing solemn.


    "This talent cannot be comprehended with common sense. However, since they have made the 100-year agreement, it would be impossible to send in large amounts of troops to take over them. The only way is to slowly plot against the prefecture!"


    The middle-aged man answered in a serious tone.


    No matter how much these two people estimated Fang Yuan''s abilities to be, they would never have guessed that he was already at the peak of the Elemental Gathering Realm, ready to break through to the Elemental Opening Realm.


    "Sir!"


    A shopkeeper entered, and in a serious and respectful tone, said, "We have news that the Secluded Mountain Prefecture Master has left the Prefecture City a few days ago. The internal affairs are now handed over to Leader Niu Dingtian, Zhang Qingfeng, Yu Xinlou and a few others to settle!"


    "This is... weird!"


    The young prince hands shuddered. "There is such a person in this world? Who would give no regard to absolute power? Is he not worried that his subordinates would overthrow him?"


    "Maybe... Only by doing this would he have accomplishments...."


    They were all rather impressed at Fang Yuan.


    However, both of them looked at each other, speechless.


    Since Fang Yuan was not in the Prefecture City anymore, what use did their preparations here and the spies have?


    ...


    As the news spread, Fang Yuan had already left the Green Peak Spiritual Mountain, riding on the Iron-tailed Black Eagle''s back, flying freely in the sky.


    "Chirp! Chirp!"


    The black eagle was unhappy that the Red-eyed White King Bird took over its role, and used this opportunity to showcase its ability. Its speed was indeed as quick as an arrow, and they flashed across the clouds.


    "Now, my influence, martial arts, spiritual spells and even my prestige are at peak levels, or should I say bottlenecks!"


    Fang Yuan crossed his legs and sat down, staring into space.


    Even though the wind was strong, his clothes did not sway a single bit, which appeared weird.


    "Being the Prefecture Master of the Secluded Mountain Prefecture is already my limit, and I have attracted many spies as well. I would sooner or later have to reveal my true strength..."


    "The only solution is to keep improving myself!"


    He clenched his fist and his blood almost boiled.


    Xia Country, Wu Country, Zhu Countr and even Yuan Country all did not have obvious Elemental Opening Realm spiritual knights coming from them.


    If he spearheaded and entered this realm first, he could have ultimate control and a firm footing. He would not have to worry about others plotting against him anymore.


    "The equivalent of the Elemental Opening Realm of a dream master is the Illusionary Divine Stage. It is incredibly arduous to achieve this stage. One would be required to reproduce something from the dream world in the real world. Even if it was a grain of sand or a spiritual spell, it would still be counted as an overall success!"


    The path of making visions into reality as a dream master was the hardest of all.


    "Based on the theory of my ''past life'', there is a fixed cycle in everything, but as for the Prominent Divine Stage of the dream world, it is to make ''something out of nothing''!"


    Fang Yuan bit his lip. "Maybe not really something out of nothing, but based on my current cultivation, I am unable to understand the mystery of the highest stage."


    The end goal of a dream master was always to turn vision into reality.


    But in order to make objects and beings with souls, and subsequently the world, such power could not be harnessed by ordinary dream masters. Every object had their own law of nature to follow.


    To Fang Yuan, however, this exploration was too deep for him now. He could only follow the instructions from Master Wenxin to slowly enter the Illusionary Divine Stage.


    He would only slowly unravel the other mysteries after attaining the highest cultivation level possible.


    "To attain the Illusionary Divine Stage, I just need to reproduce some part of my dream world into the real world to be considered a breakthrough!"


    "Based on the experience of my master, it would be the hardest to reproduce living beings, followed by spiritual objects, then normal objects. The easiest would be to harness the flow of energy from spiritual spells!"


    Even if both were to be constructed by sand, Fang Yuan understood that a body of energy would be easier to create than a real physical body


    A dream spells master was very common in the Illusionary Divine Stage.


    A dream spells master would create spiritual spells in dream worlds and transfer them into the real world.


    Since they create the spiritual spells in their dream world, the elemental energy required is far lesser; they could create any type of spiritual spells and could be conversant in all 5 elements, and were especially good in casting illusions and confusion arrays.


    This power would overwhelm the others in the same realm.


    But a dream spells master would be the easiest path for a dream master to take to enter the Holy Stage!


    The path of a dream master is countless, and the possibilities were endless!


    Only now did Fang Yuan truly understand the true meaning in Master Wenxin''s inheritance.


    ...


    "Chirp! Chirp!"


    While Fang Yuan was deep in thought, the seated Iron-tailed Black Eagle let out a long chirp.


    "Mm? We have arrived at Zhu Country?"


    Fang Yuan looked down in anticipation.


    Zhu Country was a small country. It had 10 counties and were neighbouring countries with Xia Country and Wu Country. However, they were slightly weaker and in the past 10 years, there was no news of any new elemental force martial artists, as though they would be a weakening force.


    In comparison, it was rather similar to the Secluded Mountain Prefecture which Fang Yuan was in charge of.


    "The ''master''s'' treasure map points towards the middle of the Drunken Moon Lake in Zhu Country!


    Fang Yuan''s eyes glittered.


    His cultivation had already reached the peak, and any additional consumption of spiritual pills or spiritual rice would not be beneficial to his cultivation. Only by breaking through would his cultivation improve further.


    This treasure might do all the difference!!!

 157 Drunken Moon

    The Descent Moon Court was a famous landmark in the Zhu Country. The court was located beside the Drunken Moon Lake. It had 7 floors and was over 30 yards tall. The construction of the court was extremely ingenious From the top floor, the view of the Drunken Moon Lake was spectacular and had a soothing effect. Inside the court, there were a few calligraphies made by famous scholars. The most poetic one was the ''Immortal Drunken Moon'' and was considered a treasure in the court. Not anyone would have a chance to see it.


    There was a thin layer of fog gliding on the surface of the lake. The lake was huge and it was home to reeds and other aquatic life. The scenery was mesmerising, and the lake had provided a living for many people. One of the best aquatic products that could be caught from the lake was the Drunken Moon Silverfish. It was a delicacy served in the Descent Moon Court. The dish was carefully made and consists of getting the freshest sections from 49 different Drunken Moon Silverfishes. It was delicious beyond comparison. It was said that tasting this dish would be akin to attaining immortality, and other types of meat would taste worthless in the next three months.


    Fang Yuan sat boldly in a suite room. There was a jade white wine pot in front of him and the wine in it was very fragrant. A sumptuous meal was laid out on the table, and one of the dishes was the speciality in Descent Moon Court; the 7 Treasures Sliced Drunken Fish. The slices of fish were thin and transparent. There was also an aroma of the wine from the slices of fish, making it very tasty.


    "Hmm¡­..not bad. This is good!"


    Fang Yuan took another slice using his chopsticks and tipped the waitress beside him. "This fish is fresh and tender. With the addition of the wine, it is a complete match and a good combination. This taste is extraordinary¡­.."


    "Master, you are an expert in food indeed!"


    After hearing Fang Yuan''s praises, the waitress quickly kept the tips and her eyes were filled with happiness. "This is a top quality Drunken Silverfish. This fish naturally has the taste of the wine and it is rare to catch this fish in the Drunken Moon Lake!"


    "The Drunken Silverfish?"


    Fang Yuan laughed and his eyes glittered a little. "So the fish knows how to drink alcohol?"


    "This¡­..I''m afraid the fishes do know how. Looks like master, you are not here for the Drunken Moon Festival?" The waitress was a little startled as she asked that question.


    "The Drunken Moon Festival?"


    Fang Yuan casually enjoyed his meal. "Tell me more about it!"


    "Yes!"


    The waitress was a little surprised. Nevertheless, she still explained it in detail to Fang Yuan.


    There would be a few days in the Drunken Moon Lake where there would be a Lunar Corona. During this period of time, wine aroma would come from the lake intermittently, as it reflects the moon on the surface of the lake. Hence, the name Drunken Moon Lake.


    During these few days, the lake would have good stuff like the rare Drunken Silverfish and other spiritual animals!


    This attracted many scholars and martial artists to explore the secrets behind this. They would also trade here in the market during this period of the year and since then, this had become an annual festival.


    "Oh?"


    Fang Yuan laughed and said, "So what a coincidence, I''ve come at the right time. Looks like I am destined to experience this festival!"


    "Of course. Master, you are a lucky person!"


    The waitress covered her mouth and laugh politely. However, that was not what she thought.


    Not anyone could enter the Descent Moon Court. Even though was Fang Yuan was a stranger to the court, the waitresses were ordered to provide a good service to Fang Yuan and serve him good food. So how could he be just a normal person?


    Not to mention, Fang Yuan had an elegant temperament and was wealthy.


    She was guessing that Fang Yuan must be from a rich household.


    Fang Yuan lifted up his cup. Amidst the cooling breeze and the scenery, his mind was running wild. ''I didn''t expect¡­.that the location of the treasure was a tourist landmark. The person who made the map, his actions are very unexpected¡­...However, since he could hide the map from so many people, the method of concealing the treasure might not be that simple. With the festivities around, I could delay a day before heading to the lake to continue searching¡­.."


    ...¡­.


    Since the Drunken Moon Festival was quite famous in the Zhu Country, preparations were made a few days in advance.


    As the festival approached, Fang Yuan realised that more and more people arrived at the lake. Martial artists were walking around with swords and daggers, looking ferocious and all tense up, causing many to subconsciously avoid them.


    It was nighttime. The moon was high up in the sky and above the lake, there was a layer of thick fog.


    The lakeside was very quiet and there were a number of lone fires burning emerald green in colour, giving one the creeps.


    As the number of lone fires increased, horses and cows gathered around. Tents were being set up and the place became like a market. However, to those who had no idea what was going on, it would seem like a gathering of demons.


    In fact, it was called the Ghost Market.


    Fang Yuan realised that it was just a gathering set up by the cultivation world. This gathering was made mysterious like a cult so normal people would not join in.


    "I should take a look at this annual black market!"


    Nobody knew who was the one who organised the black market and the people who came were all mysterious. Fang Yuan wore a hat which had covered almost half of his face.


    The products sold in this black market had unknown sources. However, there were a few good stuff here.


    Of course, there was no guarantee to any of the products sold. One could end up getting a fake product or products that might implicate them with bad blood, and if that is so, one can only blame oneself''s bad luck.


    "Is it your first time here?"


    At the entrance of the ghost market, a few strong men in black were guarding and as they saw Fang Yuan, they welcomed him with a smile.


    "Yes¡­..Are there any rules here when I enter this place?"


    Fang Yuan''s eyes glittered and he was glowing, startling a few of them.


    "No rules¡­.just a few agreements that we have to remind you when you enter!"


    The leader of the group laughed and explained. "Inside the market, you can either exchange a good with another good, or you can pay in gold or silver. However, banknotes are not accepted. Once a trade has been made, you cannot ask for a refund. Of course, the most important is that you should not use force on anyone or else you will be severely dealt with."


    "Hmm."


    Fang Yuan waved his hands and entered the market.


    "Big Brother..."


    Another man in black beside the leader noticed that Fang Yuan was rather rude. He went forward to talk to the leader.


    "Don''t harbour any stupid ideas. Are you tired of living?"


    The leader''s eyes were serious as he berated that man. "We were recommended by everyone to guard this place because we are righteous! It would not pay off to do these meaningless things! Also¡­.."


    As he looked in the direction which Fang Yuan had gone, he was feeling a little worried.


    Even though Fang Yuan''s voice sounded young, the leader was unsure if Fang Yuan was an old master in disguise. No one would be able to help him if he really offended an expert who could use elemental force.


    ...


    This leader obviously didn''t know that by being reserved, it saved his life.


    Fang Yuan was looking around in the market, surprised.


    "A black market indeed. The goods here are of good quality and the prices are rather cheap. The only thing is that no one knows where these goods come from¡­.."


    He went past a few stalls and bought a few rare spiritual objects, and was not interested in the rest.


    After all, at his current level of maturity and his status as a prefecture master, there were not many things that made him interested.


    "Everyone, the Drunken Moon Lake is about to open. There will be numerous spiritual objects around, and therefore is the best time to try your luck. How can you not have a Water Map with you?"


    A loud voice was heard from the front.


    Among the rather silent market, this voice attracted quite a lot of attention.


    Fang Yuan went forward and saw a person wearing a cloak. The person was squatting by the roadside and there was a small stall right in front of him, displaying 3 maps for sale.


    "This is the Drunken Moon Water Adventure Map. I have spent decades crafting out this map and I will be only selling 3 copies. Each copy cost 1,000 taels of white silver or any goods that are of similar price!"


    He sounded greedy.


    "This map is crafted beautifully, but I''m not sure if it''s real or fake¡­..Otherwise, 1,000 taels for this map is not at all expensive!"


    An onlooker came forward and took a look at the map. He shook his head and asked, "Is it possible for me to have a look at the complete version of the map?"


    "Not possible!"


    The man in cloak rejected straight away and said, "Only those who have paid can view the complete version. I am swearing right here that there will only be 3 copies of this map sold this year!"


    ''Hmm? Indeed a smart person!''


    Fang Yuan went forward and realised that the maps were incomplete as the map had missed out many districts. However, the map was crafted beautifully. There were measurements and legends included, which seemed that much effort had been put into when crafting this map.


    However, the possibility of it being fake was very high. It would be too late to regret it if he had bought it and realised that it was fake.


    Also, who could fully trust that person in the cloak with just a guarantee from him? After all, the person could make a few more copies and make money from it by selling them.


    "What a pity¡­..if it was just 100 taels of silver, I will take the gamble!"


    One of the onlookers shouted.


    "I, Jiang... will not lie to anyone. If I said there would be only 3 copies, there would only be 3 copies!"


    The man in the cloak was little angry and raised his voice.


    "Haha¡­...since you put it that way, I shall support you then!"


    At that moment, the crowd made way and an old person dressed in black came forward. "These are good quality Drunken Pearls. One pearl is worth 100 taels. Can I exchange 10 pearls for that map?"


    "Of course!"


    The man in the cloak kept the pearls from the old man and passed one copy of the map to him with both of his hands.


    "Are you two in cahoots to trick the rest of us?"


    Seeing the appearance of the old man, the rest of the onlookers felt even more suspicious and were even more hesitant to buy the map as they were afraid that it might be a fraud.


    There were all kinds of people in this Ghost Market.


    However, Fang Yuan had a different opinion.


    ''These two knew each other. The man in the cloak only revealed this fact when he became angry. From the reaction of the old man who had bought the map, it seemed that is rather influential¡­..Even though he seems to be only at the level of the 4 Heavenly Gates...''


    With this thought, he had some assurance with regards to the authenticity of the map. He went forward and examined the map once more.


    As he looked, he was a little surprised.


    Some parts of the incomplete version of the map seemed to coincide with the treasure map which he already had.


    "After all, the Drunken Moon Lake is huge. It will be too troublesome to look for it one by one and now I even manage to find clues here. Looks like I have found what I wanted!"


    As he thought about this, Fang Yuan went forward and grabbed a copy of that map.


    "Hey friend¡­.."


    The man in the cloak became angry, but his hair stood on its ends as though he was facing a ferocious beast.


    "Don''t worry, I''m paying for it!"


    Fang Yuan cleared his throat and tossed him a jade bottle.


    "Are these¡­.spiritual pills?"


    As the man in the cloak poured the contents of the bottle out, his eyes were wide opened and he let out a cry, and the onlookers were in shock.

 158 Combined Assaul

    Whenever Fang Yuan went out, he would bring along a large amount of gold and silver that were befitting of his status. However, it would be easier to make trades with items in the Ghost Market. For convenience, he brought along spiritual pills and objects primarily.


    He took out a Muscle Building Pill. Based on the sheen that caused it to shine like a pearl in the dark, it was obvious that it was not common, and possessed a bit of pill essence.


    "The pill''s carvings, essence and sheen...this is a real spiritual pill!"


    The old man, who previously asked for money to purchase the map, croaked, his eyes fixed on Fang Yuan. "To be able to produce spiritual pills, could it be that you are a medicine master?"


    He guessed that the person was either a true alchemy master, although the possibility was very small, or an alchemy disciple who could only use the title of a medicine master.


    Fang Yuan could not be bothered to correct him!


    This pill is known as the Muscle Building Pill. It is able to treat injuries quickly. How about I trade this pill for your map?


    He looked at the person in the cloak and asked directly.


    "That would naturally be enough. Your pill is worth much more than that!"


    The cloaked man immediately bowed.


    Although he was usually proud and arrogant, the man could not be haughty in front of a possible alchemy disciple.


    "That''s good!"


    Fang Yuan nodded his head and left.


    "Shuala!"


    The martial artists who were there to see the commotion parted to create a path, their eyes fiery. None of them dared to step forward and talk to him without understanding his nature.


    The cloaked man had already started to close his stall and did not want to continue his business.


    "Wait, I want to buy that map!"


    A martial artist boomed after racking his brains.


    "That''s right, I will pay in silver and add another 100 taels!"


    Another man in black shirt with bloodshot eyes said.


    They had finally understood the value of the map which was sought after by a mysterious person and an alchemy master.


    "I am happy with what I have obtained today, please leave!"


    The cloaked man held the spiritual pill tightly and disappeared into the crowd.


    Hindered by the rules and regulations of the Ghost Market, some of the people felt that it was a pity. However, there were others that started to gather.


    After all, that was a spiritual pill!


    According to what that alchemy master had said, the pill would be a lifesaver at a critical moment!


    The inner force experts and the martial artists of the 4 Heavenly Gates were willing to pay the price and shed blood for the pill.


    People were willing to fight for just one spiritual pill. As such, Fang Yuan, the purported alchemy master, would face much trouble.


    He appeared to be unaware. After looking at a few other stalls, he shook his head and headed for the exit of the Ghost Market.


    "Sir, wait!"


    The old man who purchased the map rushed forward and said respectfully, "I am Yu Feishui, it is my fortune to meet you today!"


    "Oh, a lucky encounter!"


    Fang Yuan asked indifferently, "How may I help you?"


    Yu Feishui revealed his identity which was famous in this district. It was obvious that Fang Yuan was not a citizen of Zhu Country as he had not even heard of his name.


    He was cunning and appeared common, "That right, I have a large number of spiritual ingredients that I would like to present to you as a gift!"


    "Drunken Moon Festival?"


    Fang Yuan asked.


    "You are definitely knowing!"


    Yu Feishui smiled, "I know the person that previously sold you the map, his name is Jiang Tianwang. He is familiar with the water and thrived in it. His ancestors made a living out of the Drunken Moon Lake. If they had not met any unforeseen circumstances, they would not be here selling maps."


    "What does that got to do with me?"


    Fang Yuan asked coldly.


    "Every Drunken Moon Festival, the Drunken Moon Lake would produce up to 3 times as much Drunken Fish with the possibility of spiritual fish appearing!" Yu Feishui continued, "This time, I have put in the effort and created 3 metal hull flying ship, and the maps of Jiang Tianwang. I am only lacking an alchemy disciple to be able to use the spiritual fish as an ingredient..."


    An alchemy master was second to none in fully utilising spiritual animals and plants.


    Yu Feishui understood perfectly that it would be a waste if there was no alchemy master at hand to utilize the spiritual fish even if they had a good haul.


    As such, he looked at Fang Yuan and gritted his teeth, "If you are willing to help, I am willing to share half of my haul with you!"


    He bowed deeply after speaking.


    Truth be told, half the portion was too much even for an alchemy disciple.


    However, Yu Feishui was cunning and was not thinking about the harvest but rather used it as a mean to approach the alchemy master. As such, he was willing to sacrifice everything he had.


    "I have heard your request clear, it is just a shame..."


    Fang Yuan shrugged his shoulders and mocked him, "I am no alchemy master! Goodbye!"


    He waved his hand and walked out of the Ghost Market in big strides.


    "What?"


    Yu Feishui''s mouth dropped open. He felt like giving himself a slap.


    He realized that Fang Yuan only took out a spiritual pill and did not confirm that he was an alchemy master. All the previous guesses were his wishful thinking.


    Knowing this, he still ran forward and revealed all his plans?


    This was not how he normally behave!


    ''Wait a minute, when I chased after him just now, I only wanted to test him. Why did I reveal the truth and even my name to him the moment I met him?''


    Old Yu felt that something was off the more he thought about it. He was in cold sweat.


    "Haha...to think that he would be able to get to Old Yu!"


    At this moment, a few people appeared at his side, their looks were ominous. "He must be from another country as he did not even know your name. Rest assured, we will help you!"


    They chased after Fang Yuan immediately after finishing the sentence.


    Old Yu recognized them as the Long Hair Demons, a famous group of bandits in Zhu Country. It was rumoured that all their members had at least broken through the Death Gate, and they were all united and cunning.


    The seven brothers had even managed to escape from a Wu Zong together!


    With a strong reputation, they were unrestrained and were notorious in Zhu Country.


    "There are to be no fighting within the Ghost Market. However, there are no such rules outside the market..."


    Yu Feishui muttered as he looked in the direction that Fang Yuan went.


    He did not know why he was not concerned about the youth but was afraid for himself to the point that his limbs started to tremble.


    ...


    "Reckless idiots!"


    Fang Yuan had realized long ago that he was being followed.


    After all, he flaunted the spiritual pill in the black market and did not display his ability. Was it not to attract the attention of others to tempt them?


    Given his current power, they were nothing no matter how many of them came.


    He would be able to escape even if they were Wu Zongs and spiritual knights from Wu Country.


    Soon after, the Long Hair Demons met their doom.


    So what if they possessed a good technique that would allow them to combine their Elemental Force which would in turn rival that of a Wu Zong?


    Fang Yuan was no ordinary Wu Zong!


    He lifted up the second brother, shook his head and tore him apart.


    The second brother was well-built. Under Fang Yuan''s hand, however, he tore like paper. Fresh blood and innards spilt onto the floor.


    "You are...a Wu Zong!"


    The eldest brother did not run away. Looking at his brothers'' bodies, he was in utter despair.


    They could not beat the person standing in front of him even when the 7 of them combined their strength. Now that he was alone, how could he fight Fang Yuan?


    He was filled with hatred!


    He had already remembered the features of those experts that should not be messed with from the neighbouring countries but Fang Yuan did not meet the criteria for all of them.


    If not, he would not have foolishly took on Fang Yuan and be sent to his death!


    "Hmmm, correct guess, sadly there is no prize!"


    Fang Yuan used the shadowstep and arrived before the eldest brother. He touched the eldest brother''s forehead. "Dream!"


    The eldest brother trembled, closed his eyes and when into a deep sleep.


    A white fog appeared and slowly swallowed everything in its path...


    After a while, Fang Yuan opened his eyes. With a wave of his hand, the eldest brother''s head cracked open.


    "Long Hair Demons? What kind of stupid name is that?"


    He was disgusted and shook his head.


    After his dream-building was completed, the martial artists and spiritual disciples who were of the Elemental Force Realm and below were unable to keep secrets from him.


    From the dream alone, he was able to delve into the life of the eldest brother, understand his whole family tree and even know where they hid their loot from years of evil-doing.


    Of course, he was able to get much more information than that.


    From the Long Hair Demons, he noticed the set of technique which allowed them to combine their assault.


    After careful examination, he made a new revelation.


    "This combined assault technique was passed down for generations. Their ancestor was a common fisherman of the Drunken Moon Lake. It was fate which resulted in him meeting a benefactor who took him in as a servant and imparted this skill to him after he had served for 3 years..."


    Fang Yuan stroked his chin. "Based on the timeline, it was very close to the founder of the Five Ghosts Sect. Could they be the same person?"


    There was no purpose to further investigate.


    What was important was that the technique was now in his hands.


    "I have no use for this technique, however, this is not a bad technique to the servants and can be used to guard the house..."


    Fang Yuan stroked his chin and wondered if he should impart skills to the Secluded Mountain Prefecture Armed Forces.


    While pondering, Fang Yuan dispelled the fog and the misty Drunken Moon Lake appeared before his eyes.


    The moonlight lit up the waters.


    Fang Yuan touched his nose.


    The gentle breeze brought along the fragrance of alcohol. It smelled no difference from the Drunken Silver Fish.


    "The lake water carries the smell of alcohol, the moon and the lake meets? The Drunken Moon Festival... is here!"

 159 Spiritual Fish

    In the lake, there were many boats.


    Since the Drunken Moon phenomenon, there were many martial artists coming from everywhere and seemed to have gone crazy with the fishermen here, as they all gathered in at the Drunken Moon Lake.


    After all, the commencement of the Drunken Moon Festival would mean that the volume of silver fishes would increase exponentially, just like the past years.


    Needless to say, among the normal silver fishes, there would be the extremely valuable Drunken Moon Silver Fish.


    Once they get any catch, the restaurants by the lake would buy the fish in taels at a standard rate.


    With this enticement, everyone ranging from three-year-olds to old folks joined in the craze for fishing. Some even went to the extent of just floating around the lake on a piece of wooden board, without any regard for their own life.


    Of course, beneath the large profits earned were lives that were lost; there were countless corpses at the bottom of the lake.


    A cultivator would have a different taste.


    How would they be satisfied with normal fish?


    They were all interested in the spiritual fishes and spiritual objects in the depths of the Drunken Moon Lake, and the Wine Spring Source, which was described in the legends to be able to transform the entire lake into wine!


    "Of course, the Wine Spring Source is but a myth, and is likely to be fake..."


    Since obtaining the whereabouts of the ''master'', Fang Yuan had an idea of his own.


    He might even be the one behind the weird phenomenon at the Drunken Moon Lake. With his god-like powers, it was scary and almost made him wanted to return home.


    After all, this ''master'' was not his own master, who would without hesitation teach him everything he knew. Conversely, the chances of him being evil were rather high, and there might be that danger.


    "Chirp! Chirp!"


    The Iron-tailed Black Eagle flapped its wings, creating huge gusts of winds.


    As the gust blew at him, Fang Yuan''s clothing remained still.


    "Old Fish was right. Jiang Tianwang''s ancestors used to work around the lake, and his water map was indeed intricately drawn..."


    Fang Yuan crossed his legs and sat on the eagle''s back. He opened the map which he purchased and compared it with his own treasure map, as he came to a conclusion.


    "Chirp! Chirp!"


    The Iron-tailed Black Eagle chirped as it felt a little tipsy from the air full of wine fragrance. Suddenly, it descended and made waves on the surface of the lake with its claws. As he ascended, it had already caught two struggling silver fishes in its claws.


    "Mmm?"


    Accompanying the struggling silver fishes was a strong scent of wine fragrance, which was extremely mouth-watering.


    Fang Yuan looked at the treasure map in his hands, then looked at the water map, speechless.


    "The closer I get to the treasure, the more Drunken Moon Silver Fishes there would be. Following, I''m afraid..."


    Indeed, at this moment, the Iron-tailed Black Eagle had already eaten both fishes. As it took aim at another school of fishes, something happened!


    "Splash!"


    In the splashes of water, a silvery fish of 25 inches jumped out of the lake, right into the claws of the Iron-tailed Black Eagle.


    Its scales were glittering, and its skin was like jade. Suddenly, it opened its mouth and spit out a stream of water towards the eyes of the Iron-tailed Black Eagle.


    "Splash!"


    This stream of water came extremely quick. The Iron-tailed Black Eagle could only narrowly dodge it, and as the stream of water landed on its neck, a few feathers dropped. It took a slight turn in its flight path an almost headed into the water. Chirps of anger were heard.


    The silver fish was extremely slippery. As its shot landed on the eagle, it slipped into the water and with a flick of its tail, it vanished. The Iron-tailed Black Eagle could only let out a long chirp.


    "Nice spiritual fish!"


    Fang Yuan witnessed all of it on the back of the Iron-tailed Black Eagle. This silver fish had a spirituality of its own, unlike a normal silver fish. It was truly a spiritual being!


    If a martial artist were to eat it, he would become stronger. If an alchemy master were to obtain it, he could extract all the essence from it and turn it into a spiritual pill!


    Yu Feishui spent his entire fortune making three metal hull flying ships and sent out all his assistants, all for this spiritual fish.


    "Spiritual beings are valuable. Based on the size of this lake, there would be a lot of spiritual fishes in it... Maybe it can train up a batch of highly skilled martial artists just with these spiritual fishes?"


    Regardless cultivation or martial artists training, foundation and resources are the most important.


    Where do such resources come from? Of course from spiritual beings!


    If one was gifted and had enough spiritual objects to supplement, one could follow in Fang Yuan''s miraculous footsteps and break all the gates in quick succession.


    "Of course, after the Death Gate, the Wu Zong gate would require affinity and a high magical energy. Not every spiritual object had the ability to increase one''s magic."


    Fang Yuan located a small island and ordered the Iron-tailed Black Eagle to land there and rest. Seeing the occasional shimmer on the surface of the lake, Fang Yuan was lost in his thoughts. "This spiritual fish is not bad. If it can be tamed, I might even try to carve out a pond in the Green Peak spiritual land..."


    "Chirp! Chirp!"


    After Fang Yuan dismounted the Iron-tailed Black Eagle, it flew to the lake to find trouble for the fishes. At one go, it managed to catch 10 drunken silver fishes, but none of them was spiritual.


    On the contrary, the Iron-tailed Black Eagle was sprayed at many times by the spiritual fishes and looked embarrassing.


    "Haha..."


    As Fang Yuan witnessed this scene, he happily joined in. "I''ll take revenge for you! Let''s go!"


    "Chirp! Chirp!"


    With his help, the Iron-tailed Black Eagle instantly became much more energetic. It took aim at a school of fishes and dashed towards it.


    "Splash!"


    The school of fish hurriedly scrambled away. At the side, a splash appeared as a spiritual fish jumped out. With a spray, a stream of water aimed straight at the Iron-tailed Black Eagle.


    After all, the Iron-tailed Black Eagle was a bird, and it would be disadvantageous for it to play hide-and-seek with the spiritual fishes in the water.


    "Trying to escape?"


    Fang Yuan laughed, as he struck his right hand out and crushed the water stream.


    "Whoosh!"


    Not just that, his energy was gentle as silk but strong as metal. As it entered the lake, it vanished.


    Fang Yuan closed his eyes and used his magical energy to control his energy. Suddenly, he exclaimed.


    "Up!"


    "Splash!"


    As the water surface broke, the spiritual fish which took a shot at the eagle was yanked out of the water, and its tail continued to flap.


    This mystical move was a testament to Fang Yuan''s superior prowess in giving his elemental energy a form outside his body as well as his developing dream master''s skill in probing into memories.


    "Ping! Ping!"


    With the flick of this right wrist, he swung the spiritual fish onto the island and scanned the lake for more. Together with the Iron-tailed Black Eagle, he managed to catch 5 more spiritual fishes in a short span of time.


    "Alright, that''s enough!"


    After predicting the Iron-tailed Black Eagle''s appetite, Fang Yuan stopped catching more fishes and came to the island. He collected some dried twigs, started a fire and began cooking the fish.


    The Drunken Moon Silver Fish was a delicacy, the pride of Zhu Country.


    He had tried it for himself before at Descent Moon Court, and it was indeed remarkable. Seeing this spiritual fish again, he could not help himself but dig in.


    "By smoking the fish, I will remove the fishy stench. Since it already has wine on it, I won''t need other condiments... I shall just cook it directly..."


    Fang Yuan quickly slit open the spiritual fish''s stomach, cleaned it before smoking it over the fire. He only added a little salt to enhance its taste.


    After a short while, an astonishing fragrance came from the spiritual fish meat, making him drool.


    "Mmm..."


    Fang Yuan gave it a large bite and his mouth was filled with the freshness and juiciness of the fish. It was indeed delicious.


    "This fish meat is chewy and there is no fishy stench from it. In fact, it has a hint of sweetness in its meat, and together with the fragrance of wine, there is also a small numbing spiciness, good! Delicious!"


    As he shook his hands, the fish bones separated from the meat smoothly.


    After finishing an entire fish, Fang Yuan licked his lips and started to prepare the second one.


    Beside him, the Iron-tailed Black Eagle was enjoying the fish too.


    After a long while, both Fang Yuan and the Iron-tailed Black Eagle laid on the beach, both full and satisfied.


    "Mmm... This spiritual force is therapeutic, with water-type properties. It has a similar effect as the Flame Jade Rice..."


    Fang Yuan closed his eyes and rubbed his tummy, as he felt the spiritual energy spreading throughout his body, bringing with it a feeling of warmth. Every pore on his skin was extremely relaxed, as though he was in Heaven.


    "After a full meal, let''s take a nap before finding the treasure!"


    Fang Yuan placed both his hands behind his head, satisfied and completely relaxed.


    All the pieces of the treasure map were with him, and there was no one else to compete with him. Therefore, he felt that it was alright if he delayed it by a day or two.


    After a short while of resting, his eyebrows twitched as he stood up and examined the surface of the lake.


    "Splash! Splash!"


    Three metal hull flying ships were riding the waves and appeared in front of Fang Yuan.


    These ships were extremely big and the appearance was very unique. It was entirely covered in metal, and there were two gigantic oars on each side of each ship. Even if they were riding against the wind, they could still sail at an astonishing speed.


    "Metal hull flying ships?!"


    Just by this, Fang Yuan could guess who the ships belonged to.


    Seeing a bright red flag with the image of a whale at the fore of the ship, Fang Yuan said to himself in a mocking tone. "What a coincidence!"


    "Grandfather, there is smoke there?!"


    As the metal hull flying ships approached, they realised the smoke from the island.


    "Mm?"


    On the plank of the ship, Yu Feishui stroked his beard. "There are no ships here, but there is smoke. I''m afraid that someone might be stranded there. Send some small boats to take a look!"


    He appeared wise and seemed to have absolute control over the situation.


    However, shortly after, his eyeballs almost dropped out. He saw a black bird carrying a person as it landed on the ship''s plank.


    "This is... a spiritual bird!?"


    Yu Feishui was in disbelief and stopped his subordinates from wielding their weapons. Instead, he took two steps forward and greeted Fang Yuan with respect. "Junior Yu Feishui sends my greetings to you, Senior!"


    He knew that he could not fend against this bird, and therefore the person who tamed it must be a senior!


    Regardless how young he was, he must be a senior!


    "Mmm..."


    Fang Yuan chuckled inside, as Yu Feishui did not recognise him. "I''ve heard what you said previously, and you are indeed kind-hearted. Good, very good!"


    Yu Feishui heaved a sigh of relief and looked at his grandchildren with a look of gratitude.

 160 Spiritual Fish King

    "This is my granddaughter. Xiaohong, come and greet senior!"


    Yu Feishui was relieved as he knew he that this person was not evil. He immediately pulled her granddaughter out to greet Fang Yuan.


    "I''m Yu Xiaohong. Greetings, senior!"


    Her granddaughter was about 20 years old. She had bright eyes and a natural cheerful smile. She had two braids, was tall and had a beautiful figure. Her skin was tanned as she was often under the sun.


    "Hmm, alright!"


    Fang Yuan waved his hands and came to the bow of the ship. "Did you build this ship to catch the spiritual fishes during the Drunken Moon Festival?"


    "You''re correct!"


    Yu Feishui took a few steps forward and continued, "I''m a water explorer. With the help of this ship, I would be satisfied if I can get some inheritance for my future generations.¡­.."


    Fang Yuan had no comments.


    The spiritual energy was limited. In the entire Drunken Moon Lake, this area had the highest concentration of the spiritual energy, which explained the appearance of spiritual fishes.


    Fang Yuan had the spiritual bird, and Yu Feishui had the Metal Hull Flying Ship, both of which would attract attention. After a while, there might be many other martial artists would flock here like as if they were sharks who had just smelt blood.


    "Grandfather! It''s the silver fishes!"


    At this moment, Yu Xiaohong stared at the silver lining on the surface of the lake with her sharp eyes and shouted.


    "Hmm? Get the metal nets and the spearguns. We shall use the fishing hooks first. Order the other 2 boats to surround this area and don''t let any of the fish escape!"


    Yu Feishui told Fang Yuan that he needed to leave to attend to his business.


    Even though he appeared cowardly in front of Fang Yuan, he was, in fact, smart and capable.


    Along with a few exclamations, many sailors began to sprinkle large amounts of fish bait into the lake. They also tossed a huge fishing hook into the lake, with a golden red coloured earthworm on the hook as bait.


    "This golden earthworm is a favourite among the silverfish and the Drunken Silverfish¡­...There might even be a slight chance to attract the spiritual fish!"


    Seeing that Fang Yuan was a little confused, Yu Xiaohong explained to him in detail.


    "Whoosh! Whoosh!"


    Fang Yuan came to the side of the boat and saw a silver glitter on the surface of the water. Many silver fishes had come to feed on the bait.


    As many of the fishes snatched to feed on the bait, there were some caught on the hook.


    ''How could the normal fish bait compare to the golden earthworm? Of course, they would snatch for it! However, naturally, the stronger ones will win the fight! How can the silverfishes be able to snatch the earthworm from the Drunken Silverfishes? And how will the Drunken Silverfishes be able to snatch it from the spiritual fishes? The ones that will be caught on the hook will be the best fishes!''


    Fang Yuan looked on and agreed silently.


    "Hooks up!"


    Yu Feishui gave the order with a calm look.


    "Ughhh! Ughhh!"


    Two sailors started to the turn the winch to bring the fishnets back, pulling up many silverfishes.


    "Hmm¡­..most of them are Drunken Silverfishes. We have a good catch today!"


    Even though his goal was to catch the spiritual fish, Yu Feishui also wanted the normal silverfishes and the Drunken SIlverfishes.


    He stared at the fishing line as it reeled in, nervous.


    "Whoosh!"


    At that moment, the fishing line came onto the surface of the water and there was a 37-inch long spiritual fish on the hook!


    Its shape stood out from the rest of the fishes and it was obvious that it was different.


    As the fishing line was pulled even harder, the line was rising slowly and was under tension, as it approached its breaking point.


    "Grandfather, it''s the spiritual fish!"


    Yu Xiaohong shouted.


    "Hmph!"


    Yu Feishui ran to the speargun at the bow of the ship. With steadied hands, he aimed at the spiritual fish and pulled the trigger.


    "Peng!"


    The speargun at the bow of the boat was, in fact, a ballistic projectile. It was a few inches long and had a metal hook that was chained to the speargun.


    As it was fired, a shocking sound was heard and the whole ship vibrated slightly.


    "Pa!"


    The struggling spiritual fish knew that it was facing a threat and flicked.


    With a light sound, the fishing line finally broke. The spiritual fish flicked its tail and basked under the sunlight as it avoided the speargun, before dropping back into the lake.


    "Sigh¡­.."


    Yu Feishui sighed and gave another order again. "Spread the metal nets!"


    A sailor from the lower decks ran to the upper deck and started waving a flag.


    Two other Metal Hull Flying Ships started to surround and spread their metal nets. As the nets slowly combined together, the sailors turned the winch and hoisted the silverfishes caught in the nets.


    "With what we have caught, we will not incur any loss. The spiritual fish is too cunning! I''m afraid that that fish will not¡­..hmmm¡­."


    Yu Feishui was disappointed and approached Fang Yuan. As he spoke halfway, he suddenly stopped and was shocked.


    "Hua la!"


    Huge waves appeared together with a long silver shadow. This fish was a few yards long and was on the surface of the water. Suddenly, it lifted its head and shot out a stream of water, like an arrow. The metal nets were broken.


    "Kacha!"


    As the deafening noise was heard, the water arrow struck the metal nets and sparks were formed. A large hole broke open, and the silverfishes fell back into the lake like a waterfall as they escaped with their lives.


    "What...what the hell..."


    Yu Feishui rubbed his eyes and said, "It''s not even possible for a spiritual fish to break the metal nets!"


    "All right!"


    From the disruption, Fang Yuan was able to see the gigantic fish''s entire body.


    It was twice as long as a normal spiritual fish and there was a golden line on its back. Immediately, Fang Yuan knew that this fish was a special one; it was the king of the spiritual fishes!


    "It''s the Dragon King!"


    "The Dragon King is angry!"


    Some of the superstitious sailors immediately shouted, and some of them even knelt down and kowtowed.


    "Grand¡­.grandfather¡­.what should we do?"


    At that moment, Yu Xiaohong was stunned as she looked at the surface of the lake.


    She saw a big school of silverfishes gathering around the golden line, and together with other Drunken Silverfishes and spiritual fishes, they formed a humongous school. The fins of the fishes were like tiny waves, undulating.


    "Tens thousand fishes are coming! Is the Dragon King really here?"


    Yu Feishui was extremely experienced, and yet this was his first time witnessing such incident. Looking at the number of fishes gathered below the surface of the lake, it seemed that they didn''t want to leave, but wanted to attack instead. Cold sweat started to form on his forehead.


    It was never easy to hunt for a spiritual beast, and one had to mentally prepare to risk one''s own life in the process.


    "Whoosh! Whoosh!"


    Many fishes followed behind the spiritual king fish and circled around. Waves from the lake started to rise to form a whirlpool, and it started to grow in size.


    "Leave now!"


    Yu Feishui shouted at the top of his voice and the sailors on the three Metal Hull Flying Ships shouted together. On both sides, the ships started to use oars to get out of the whirlpool.


    "Puff! Puff!"


    How could the spiritual king fish let them go easily?


    Beneath the surface of the lake, many spiritual fishes came together, shooting water arrows at the oars in an attempt to destroy them. Some of the fishes even charged straight at the hull of the ship, producing hitting noises which shocked the sailors.


    If their ships weren''t the Metal Hull Flying Ships and didn''t have the metal boards to protect the hull, the ship would have been destroyed by those fishes and all of them would have drowned!


    Even so, Yu Feishui was helpless and in despair as he witnessed the Metal Hull Flying Ships being dragged into the centre of the whirlpool. It seemed that there was no way to salvage this.


    "Senior!"


    He went to Fang Yuan and took a big bow. "I''m not afraid to die, but I beg of you to bring my granddaughter away with you!"


    Yu Feishui knew how the situation was going to end.


    The situation had reached a point where it couldn''t be salvaged. The only way out was to sit on the Iron-tailed Black Eagle to escape!


    "No! Grandfather! I will not go!"


    Yu Xiaohong held onto her grandfather''s arms and started to tear.


    "Hmm...Old Yu, does such a situation happen often?"


    Fang Yuan, however, was feeling calm. He was leaning against the railings and looked at the silver shadows beneath the whirlpool.


    Hundred of fishes had come to greet their king by forming a whirlpool. This spiritual king fish indeed had the style of being the king of the sea.


    "How is that possible?"


    Yu Feishui gave a wry grin. "Previously, only a few spiritual fishes gathered together to attack, breaking my wooden ships into pieces¡­..This was why I spent a fortune to build these Metal Hull Flying Ships. I originally thought that nothing bad would happen as long as we do not enter the Bewildering Fog, but no one has expected this¡­..Sigh. I guess this is how life works!"


    "Bewildering Fog?"


    Fang Yuan touched his chin and his eyes glittered. "Tell me more about it!"


    At that moment, there were mournful cries everywhere on the ship, as if it was the end of the world. Therefore, Fang Yuan''s attitude made Yu Xiaohong furious.


    Many of the sailors knew that the only way out was by taking a flight on the Iron-tailed Black Eagle and they surrounded it, looking unfriendly. However, with the respect they had for Yu Feishui and Fang Yuan''s mysterious background, they didn''t dare to touch it.


    Yu Feishui felt that Fang Yuan was a courageous and powerful man. Hence he went straight to the point. "Now, it is the Drunken Moon Festival and there will be an occasional fog. However, this fog is different from any other fog. Whoever sets foot in it will not be able to make it out alive! Ever since, any cultivators who would see this fog would keep a good distance from it. If one enters this fog in an attempt to catch the silverfish, one would surely die¡­...Senior, if you want to know more, my granddaughter will tell you more in detail..."


    At that moment, the ship had started to list to one side. It felt as though everyone on the ship was going to die along with the destruction of the ship.


    "I shall fight him!"


    "Kill him and snatch the bird from him!"


    Those sailors were mentally tortured to their limits. Seeing how Fang Yuan was able to remain calm, they couldn''t hold it in any longer. One of the stronger man with a long face led the other sailors, drew out his long sword and pounced towards Fang Yuan.


    "You all¡­.."


    Yu Feishui blushed but couldn''t do anything to stop them.


    No matter how respectable he was as the captain, his fellow sailors would still waver when it came to the decision between life and death.


    "Sorry senior, I shall teach them a lesson!"


    He still wanted her granddaughter to leave with Fang Yuan, as he went forward and stopped the group of sailors.


    "That will be unnecessary!"


    Fang Yuan waved his hand. "Little Black! Go!"


    "Chirp! Chirp!"


    Iron-tailed Black Eagle took a glance at everyone and swiped them with its wings.


    "Kacha!"


    Its feathers were hard as steel it had magical strength. Wherever it swiped, the sailors fell backwards and fractured themselves.


    Even metallic daggers and sword were easily broken by its wings.


    This scene caused the teary sailors to be stunned.


    Only thinking about their survival, they did not care and think much, which explained why they were now stunned.


    How would they expect themselves to escape on the bird if they are no match for it?

 161 Spring Eye

    "What are you doing, Zhang Feng, Li Gui? Get over here!"


    Yu Feishui shouted.


    While the Iron-tailed Black Eagle was engaging the other sailors, he ordered for his most loyal subordinates to ''save him''.


    At the same time, while looking at the large bird, Yu Feishui was lost in thoughts.


    He thought that he had already overestimated Fang Yuan, but never knew that even his pet would have the ability of a 4 Heavenly Gate martial artist!


    Even though he had slight control over the chaos on his ship, the ships were still getting pulled in by the whirlpool, and everyone on the ships was in despair.


    It seemed like the situation was fixed!


    "Let''s go!"


    Fang Yuan laughed and leapt on the eagle''s back.


    "Chirp! Chirp!"


    The Iron-tailed Black Eagle took off into the skies.


    "Senior..."


    Yu Feishui felt hopeless; he thought that Fang Yuan wanted to escape by himself.


    But at that moment, he was utterly surprised.


    In the sky, the Iron-tailed Black Eagle let out a long chirp and flew as quick like a black lightning, straight towards the centre of the whirlpool.


    "Splash!"


    The spiritual king fish was like a real dragon. Among the hundreds of fishes, it suddenly felt a sense of danger and looked up at the mysterious person above it.


    "Pew! Pew!"


    It swam to the surface of the water and shot a stream of white glow towards the eagle.


    Behind it were ten over spiritual fish which shot out the water stream at the same time too, forming a web of water.


    "Avoid it!"


    Fang Yuan closed his eyes and tapped the eagle''s head.


    Manipulating his magical energy, the Iron-tailed Black Eagle seemed to have a premonition of what would happen and dodged the water stream from the spiritual king fish cleverly.


    As for the water stream from the other spiritual fishes? At most the cost of a few feathers, nothing more.


    "Beast!"


    The Iron-tailed Black Eagle arrived at the centre of the whirlpool, and a large voice was heard from its back.


    "Whoosh!"


    A shadow of a person appeared in mid-air, and as its right arm stretched out, a large palm appeared, pressing down on the water surface.


    "Splash!"


    The entire surface of the water was pressed down a few inches, and the whirlpool came to a halt.


    In the tumbling waves, the large body of the spiritual king fish was revealed!


    "This..."


    On the metal hull flying ships, Yu Feishui and company were lost for words.


    "Projecting his elemental energy, giving it a form outside his body, and suppressing the lake with one palm..."


    Yu Feishui witnessed this scene, and excitement filled his eyes. "This is elemental force! Wu Zong!"


    Although he had already long guessed Fang Yuan''s identity, he could only confirm it now.


    "Grandpa... Can this senior take down the spiritual king fish?"


    At one side, Yu Xiaohong held her braids and looked at Fang Yuan''s back with much anticipation.


    "Even if he cannot take it down, he can at least chase it away!"


    Yu Feishui''s wrinkles disappeared for a moment as he grinned from ear to ear. He was extremely confident of this martial artist who was able to harness elemental force!


    ...


    "Pew!"


    In the waves, the spiritual king fish appeared once more and flicked its tail.


    Three blue crystal pearl-shaped marbles flew in the direction of Fang Yuan, making a loud whirring noise.


    As the side, many other spiritual fishes joined in, strengthening their attack.


    "Mm? Retaliate? Not too bad!"


    Fang Yuan transformed his palm into a claw and struck the water.


    "Bang! Bang!"


    The water marbles exploded in Fang Yuan''s claw, making a sound of an explosion. It made him soaking wet, but other than that, it did not have any effect on him.


    "Get... up!"


    After one move, Fang Yuan shouted, and released fine elemental force from his index fingers into the lake, and he exclaimed once more.


    "Splash!"


    In the large splash, the gigantic body of the spiritual king fish was dragged out by Fang Yuan.


    "Go!"


    He rode the Iron-tailed Black Eagle and arrived at the metal ship. With the flick of his wrist, the gigantic spiritual king fish landed on the deck, flicking its tail around.


    A few courageous sailors approached to capture it but were shot by its water stream, causing their body to split into two parts as they died a gruesome death.


    "This spiritual king fish is good, I shall keep it as a pet!"


    A strong gust of wind blew as the Iron-tailed Black Eagle landed on the deck.


    Fang Yuan reeled in the fishing lines and set them out again.


    "Splash!"


    Not long later, 6 spiritual fishes were flung onto the deck. "This is a gift to you!"


    "Ah... How can we accept it?"


    Yu Feishui rubbed his hands together. One spiritual fish could accelerate the progress of two martial artists. "I don''t deserve this credit!"


    "I have my uses for you. Don''t do anything to this spiritual fish and the baby fishes, I want them alive!"


    Fang Yuan observed that the school of fishes had no more leader, and were swimming frantically in all directions. The whirlpool was also settling down.


    "Senior, you want to... keep them as pets?"


    Yu Feishui''s eyes glittered, but then shook his head and forced a laugh. "It''s impossible... So many years of the Drunken Moon Festival and many spiritual fishes were caught, but none of them could be bred. Furthermore, the water in this lake is different from water elsewhere. Even if it could be bred, the spirituality of the fish would be slowly lost..."


    An important factor for the survivability of the spiritual fishes was the Drunken Moon Festival, and everyone knew that.


    Furthermore, everyone could guess that the secret of the Drunken Moon Lake water laid in the Ecstasy Fog. Unfortunately, the fog was too strong, and anyone who entered it would not be able to come out alive.


    "I only wanted to try. Where do you live? I will leave here soon, and by then, I will look for you."


    Fang Yuan glanced at Yu Feishui.


    Even if he did not threaten Yu Feishui, he would still not dare to be dishonest after Fang Yuan showed off his skills.


    Furthermore, a spiritual king fish was not much and was not as important as his own objective.


    "Ah... I am the sect leader of Golden Dragon Sect. If you want to look for me, just go to the mountainous entrance of Golden Dragon Sect!"


    Yu Feishui was rather depressed.


    He had a name for himself, but as he revealed his identity, no one really cared, making him feel like he was a frog in the well.


    ''Breeding spiritual fish?''


    Yu Feishui thought for a moment and continued. "If these spiritual fishes want to survive, legends have it that they cannot leave the Wine Spring. If you can locate the Wine Spring Source, you might be able to breed the spiritual king fish."


    "Pa!"


    At this moment, the spiritual king fish started to act up again, flicking its tail and hitting a few well-built sailors. As it scrambled, it arrived at the edge of the deck.


    "Chirp! Chirp!"


    Unfortunately for it, the Iron-tailed Black Eagle was already waiting there. It held it tightly to the deck with its claw.


    This spiritual king fish was comparable to a dragon in the lake and not even the Iron-tailed Black Eagle could match it. However, out of the water, it could not use its strengths and was held down.


    "Wine Spring Source... Rumours have it that this eye only works during the Drunken Moon Festival, and spread miles away, covering the entire lake with wine fragrance. I need to see it for myself..."


    Fang Yuan glanced at Yu Feishui, then to the spiritual king fish. "Keep it properly, and prepare a room!"


    ...


    In his dream, there were raindrops pelting on the lily pads. Like pearls, they rolled into the water.


    A silver fish was hiding at the root of the lily flower, playing in the water.


    Suddenly, an Ecstasy Fog appeared, covering the entire place, and bringing with it a unique fragrance.


    The silver fish was clueless and followed the stream of the water. It did not know how far it had swum, but it arrived at an underwater cavern.


    There was a dim light coming from it, and the fragrance of wine was unbearable. It could not resist the temptation and went straight for it.


    As it swam deeper, it finally reached the end of the cavern and saw a Spring Eye...


    ...


    "Phew..."


    In the cabin, Fang Yuan opened his eyes and spit out a mouthful of breath.


    In front of him, the spiritual king fish was held captive in a large tank. It was built entirely out of metal and was extremely strong. However, it was rather narrow and was quick difficult for the fish to manoeuvre freely inside.


    Fang Yuan was already very satisfied. After all, this was on a ship, and he could not ask for too much.


    "What a spiritual fish, with such complete memories..."


    Fang Yuan was very satisfied with the result of this dream accessing.


    "Indeed, this spiritual king fish had the assistance of the Wine Spring Source for it to become as such. That underwater cavern must be a natural spiritual land too, however... There is only one such Spring Eye, and it is within an Ecstasy Fog."


    Fang Yuan was not surprised at the result, but instead, he had already predicted it.


    Even Yu Feishui might know the secret of the Ecstasy Fog, but he was not capable enough to investigate further.


    Many martial artists might have attempted to find the secret of the Drunken Moon Lake, but were all met with mishaps as they entered the Ecstasy Fog; they had no chance at all.


    However, it was entirely different for Fang Yuan!


    "The Ecstasy Fog is like a wall. Humans cannot enter, but animals can... In comparison with the surroundings of the Green Peak spiritual land, Master had also implemented the same defences, this is a dream master''s tactic..."


    He sighed a long sigh and his eyes glittered.


    He was sure that the ''master'' who escaped from Da Qian Empire, set up the defensive fog in the Drunken Moon Lake and started the Five Ghosts Sect was a dream master too!


    As a dream master himself, Fang Yuan was much more interested and attracted by the Eye.


    "In the legend, is the Wine Spring Source formed naturally or did someone put it there?"


    With suspicion, Fang Yuan opened the cabin door and walked to the deck.


    "Senior is done with meditation?"


    He could see that Yu Xiaohong waited for quite a while, as she brought a bowl of fish soup over. "Please enjoy some soup."


    "Mmm."


    Fang Yuan noticed that the soup was a pure white, with an intense fragrance. Its taste was also extremely fresh and smiled. "Is this your cooking?"


    Yu Xiaohong blushed. "That''s right, don''t mind my amateur cooking skills."


    "Not at all! This is comparable to that from Descent Moon Court!"


    There were no added condiments to this bowl of fish soup. Instead, it had the essence of the fresh fish and was completely natural.


    Yu Feishui witnessed this scene and was extremely pleased. "If senior is satisfied, why not stay for a few more days. The Golden Dragon Sect will serve you well..."


    "That''s alright, We all have our stuff to attend to, so why delay?"


    Fang Yuan shook his head. "After a few days, I will visit your sect. Goodbye!"


    Without further ado, he leapt on the Iron-tailed Black Eagle and soared into the sky.


    "Grandpa..."


    Yu Xiaohong looked at the eagle as it slowly became a black dot, and remained silent. Suddenly, she asked. "Could it be that senior doesn''t like me?"


    "Eh..."


    Yu Feishui looked at her granddaughter. Other than admiration, he could see a hint of selfishness in her eyes and did not know what to do.

 162 The Square

    "As the Ecstasy Fog covers the lake, humans cannot enter, but the silver fishes can freely swim through it. This is obviously a dream master''s Ecstasy Fog!"


    As Old Yu and his granddaughter were deep in their thoughts, Fang Yuan sat on the Iron-tailed Black Eagle''s back, full of anticipation.


    With the treasure map, water map and the spiritual king fish''s memories, there was no way he could not find it.


    As the Iron-tailed Black Eagle flapped its wings, a large Ecstasy Fog appeared in front of Fang Yuan.


    This was the Ecstasy Fog which the ''master'' had placed once a year during the Drunken Moon Festival.


    It was totally calm like a wall, which was rather weird for a fog.


    "Chirp! Chirp!"


    The Iron-tailed Black Eagle did not care one bit and dived straight into the fog.


    "Sleep! Sleep!"


    As he entered the Ecstasy Fog, Fang Yuan''s consciousness began to waver. His eyelids became heavy, like a thousand tons of additional weight.


    "It is indeed a dream master''s Ecstasy Fog!"


    This scene only reaffirmed his guess that the ancestor of the Five Ghosts Sect was a dream master who escaped from the Da Qian empire!


    "Meditative Ceremony!"


    Fang Yuan cleared his thoughts and recited Master Wenxin''s Meditative Ceremony scripture. In his mind palace, dream elemental energy flowed throughout his entire body and momentarily took on a strange shape. This caused his consciousness to become extremely clear.


    "A fog of such strength, I''m afraid that even Wu Zongs will not be able to awaken..."


    Fang Yuan became serious. "If not for my Meditative Tea Ceremony, or my cultivation as a dream master, I might be trapped as well!"


    At this point, he was fearless.


    Following the strong winds, the Iron-tailed Black Eagle broke through the fog wall, and an island full of greenery appeared in front of him.


    "This spiritual king fish''s memories point to this place too!"


    Fang Yuan squinted his eyes and arrived on the island. He jumped down from the eagle and leapt straight into the water.


    "Splash!"


    There was the sound of water splashing and there were bubbles all around him.


    The world underneath the lake was weird. There was a weird glow, but Fang Yuan ignored it and followed the spiritual king fish''s memories as he searched for the cavern.


    Not long later, a pitch-black cavern appeared in his vision.


    "This is where the Wine Spring Source is... The spiritual king fish was only lucky to have stumbled upon this to become what it is now!"


    As a Wu Zong, he had unthinkable abilities.


    Fang Yuan could cleverly use his elemental force to take a quick breath at the bottom of the lake.


    He took out a Bright Moon Pearl, which illuminated the water beneath the surface. As there was nothing much, he continued swimming deeper.


    The wine fragrance surrounding him became stronger and stronger. As he entered the cavern, the feeling of being intoxicated became increasingly stronger.


    "With the spiritual king fish here, other animals would be chased away. After all, why would it let any other animal become like it?"


    Fang Yuan entered the cavern and arrived at the bottommost part of it.


    There was seaweed all over the rock walls, and the wine fragrance was getting stronger.


    If a normal person were to enter this place, he would be intoxicated to death!


    "There is indeed a Wine Spring Source!"


    Fang Yuan turned his head and looked at a hole in the wall.


    The immense wine fragrance originated from the hole, bringing with it a hint of spiritual energy.


    "No wonder the spiritual king fish can grow to such a state!"


    Fang Yuan was not shocked at all; instead, he was pleased. "Come... out!"


    As he spoke, his elemental force was released like a web and it entered the hole.


    "Rumble! Rumble!"


    Large amounts of wine flowed out from the Spring Eye, as though it was free of charge.


    Fang Yuan''s expression remained, as he strengthened his elemental force.


    From the spring, a burst of spiritual energy shot out. It was intense and was comparable to that at the Green Peak spiritual land.


    At this moment, a grey stone rolled out of the hole. On the surface, it seemed to be covered in moss and algae, but it was still indeed the source of the spiritual energy.


    This stone resembled the shape of a wine pot. It was round in the middle, and the spout was thin and long. There was an unending flow of wine coming from the spout.


    "Wine Spring Source?"


    As Fang Yuan observed, he was dumbfounded and had no other suspicions.


    He stretched his right arm and picked up the stone wine pot. His expression changed. "This is really a wine pot... spiritual treasure?"


    Rumour had it that among the spiritual knights, there was an equipment forging branch that could create unimaginable spiritual equipment.


    However, as compared to normal equipment forging masters, the talismans and magical equipment that spiritual knights made after experimenting on their own were dispensable and trash.


    "Bottomless wine pot? What a good spiritual treasure!"


    Fang Yuan exclaimed and exerted a force from his hand. The rock shattered into pieces and fell to the ground, revealing the actual form of the spiritual pot.


    The pot was neither made of gold nor jade. It had a black exterior, and there was a fine line at the mouth, with a pot cover next to it. When the pot was opened and tipped to one side, spiritual wine began to flow out of it.


    "Good treasure, what a good treasure!"


    Fang Yuan placed the cover on the mouth of the pot, and the wine stopped flowing out. The wine fragrance slowly dissipated.


    "It seems like this wine pot was not deliberately placed here, but an abandoned spiritual treasure. Who would''ve thought that it could have such power..."


    Fang Yuan''s eyes grew, and his fear for that dream master grew as well.


    Just by possessing this spiritual treasure, this mysterious ''master'' might not be any less affluent than Master Wenxin.


    Furthermore, his traces were mysterious and he was likely to be immoral.


    If he wanted to forcefully take it, he could not know what would happen to him.


    "Splash!"


    In the fog, a splash appeared on the surface of the lake. Fang Yuan''s silhouette appeared, and with one leap, he arrived at the shore of the island.


    He circulated his elemental energy as the water on him started to evaporate.


    In the smoke, his clothes began to dry up, as he started to feel comfortable.


    Fang Yuan opened the pot cover and drank a mouthful of spiritual wine.


    "Whoosh!"


    A fiery stream of wine entered through his throat and swirled in his stomach. All his acupoints were relaxed and the pleasure could not be described with words.


    "There is more that the wine can do!"


    There was no need for any explanation. Its concentration was more than 10 times the normal water.


    It only took a mouth for Fang Yuan to enter a trance. As his elemental force shook, he was awoken.


    "Good wine, this is good stuff!"


    As he praised the wine, he looked at the island.


    The island was not a big one, but it was filled with greenery. He could feel a lot of energy signatures from the vegetation, which meant that there were not normal plants.


    If not for the lack of spiritual energy, Fang Yuan would have guessed that this was another piece of spiritual land.


    "The treasure map and the spiritual king fish''s memories all point to this place!"


    Fang Yuan sighed and walked into the dense vegetation with no regrets.


    "Ssss!"


    The forest was creepy as there were weird noises coming from everywhere.


    Fang Yuan walked through the forest and suddenly, he saw a large green snake coiled up on the ground. It was breathing in the fog, as though it had the wisdom of a human!


    "Get lost!"


    This snake was comparable to a [Martial Artist (12th Gate)], but Fang Yuan squinted his eyes and exerted his energy from his body.


    "Sssss!"


    The green snake wanted to retaliate and adopted a defensive stance. However, as it detected a large amount of energy from its adversary, it retreated, turned around and fled, as though if it was one step slower it would have been killed by the force behind it.


    "Mmm, you''re quite smart!"


    Fang Yuan did not hide anymore, as his energy level shot up!


    Why was his cultivation level so high now?


    He was not just a martial artist in the Elemental Gathering Realm, but a dream master as well!


    By adding up both of these, it was not as simple as adding their cultivations.


    In a moment, a fearsome energy field spread across the entire island. As the large spiritual beasts detected the energy spreading throughout the entire island, they could only scramble and look for a hiding spot.


    Those weaker ones could only kneel down and surrender to the strong energy.


    "Haha... I am the master!"


    As he laughed, he trotted through the island.


    With his threat, the other beasts would not there to do anything to him.


    "This island..."


    After close observation, Fang Yuan had a shocking discovery. "I''m afraid that someone had already done something to separate this place from the real world. Only during the Drunken Moon Festival would this place appear and be accessible. On other days, even if the whole world was searched thoroughly, this place could never be found!"


    As he thought about it, the mysterious dream master became increasingly scary.


    Fang Yuan bit his lips and arrived in the middle of the island.


    There were obvious signs of human interference here.The mountainous ridges suddenly disappeared, as though someone had chopped it off.


    On top of where the original mountain ridges should have been, there was a gigantic square laid out in white jade. It had an unimaginable width and there were many carved statues around. Every stroke of the statue was unbelievably real.


    Among all these carvings were people, birds, and animals. Their eyeballs were made out of black precious gems, which made them look extremely real, as though they could come alive the next moment.


    "Mmm?"


    Arriving here, Fang Yuan felt that something in his robes felt extremely hot.


    As he took it out, he realised that it was the treasure map of the Five Ghosts Sect!


    As this point in time, the treasure map was smoking, and the red marking became a brilliant red with a mild glow.


    "No risks, no rewards. Furthermore, it is just a piece of inheritance... Since he had already made up his mind to pass it to the future generations, he must have hoped that someone would inherit it, and therefore it should not be too dangerous!"


    Fang Yuan calmed himself down and followed the instructions on the treasure map as he arrived in the middle of the square.


    There were 49 statues carved in white jade, and on every one of them, there was some sort of energy holding them down. It was mysterious and seemed like a certain formation.


    Fang Yuan based on the instructions on the treasure map, triggered the mechanism and went to the middle of the square.


    "If there is a real treasure, it would be here!"


    He opened up his treasure map and stared at the shining marks on it, speechless.


    "Wuwu!"


    Outside, the many statue carvings started to make a synchronised noise.


    The treasure map in his hands burnt up, in what seemed to be a response to the noise.


    Suddenly, a glow appeared in the middle of the square, straight into Fang Yuan''s forehead.


    He froze at his spot as his eyes were filled with colours, as he entered a weird dream.

 163 Two Worlds

    It was early autumn, the morning breeze was chilly.


    Many youths were gathered on the training ground. They wore simple clothing and were well built. Their faces were flushed and they had a fiery look in their eyes.


    In front of them, an eagle-eyed tall instructor was in the midst of lecturing.


    "The Yang Family was able to have a position in the Da Qian due to our martial arts and spiritual techniques. Those from the Yang Family would need to undergo tests and train their martial arts skills since they were eight... all of you were less gifted and veered from the paths of cultivation. However, you all can still hone your martial arts! As long as you have broken through the 12 Golden Locks and rise to become a Wu Zong, there is still hope!"


    "Of course, being a Wu Zong is not easy. If you are successful, you can minimally become a clan elder and improve the standing of your clan. You will not have anything to worry about!"


    The Yang Family was a large clan with strict rules.


    The family members were treated very differently depending on their status.


    The youths'' eyes shone and they stood up straight when they heard that such a path was open for them.


    The instructor looked at this scene but secretly sighed to himself. ''I should at least give them some hope!''


    It was extremely difficult to undergo cultivation. In his eyes, only a few of the youths standing in front of him would reach the 4 Heavenly Gates. As for being the clan''s deacon, it was already impossible for them.


    ''How are they able to break through the Gates without the resources?''


    The instructor was also a member of the Yang Family. After many years, his mind had become clear.


    No matter how gifted or talented one is, without the proper guidance and the resources, one would still achieve nothing. He did not understand this when he was young and had slogged away half his life without being able to break through the 9th Gate. When he was finally accepted into the family of the eldest son, he received a ''Limit Breaker Pill'' which enabled him to concentrate his Yin energy and become the instructor of the family clan. Every month, he would have spiritual food. His days were finally becoming better.


    ''My hardship today is nothing. The quality food I received can be used to give to my beloved son so that he would have a strong foundation and would not have to walk down the same path as me...''


    ''Speaking of which, even the life of a member of the eldest son''s family might not necessarily be smooth-sailing!''


    The instructor looked towards the side of the training ground where a thin and weak youth was standing. The youth looked envious.


    The instructor sighed before raising his voice, "I will be teaching you the Qian Kun Giant Spiritual Technique today. This technique possesses a strong foundation and dense inner power. When one breaks through the Pain Gate, it will strengthen his inner power beyond ordinary levels. After breaking through to Wu Zong, he would be able to harness Giant Spiritual Strength. It is a first grade technique in Da Qian! This opportunity is hard to come by! All of you should cherish it!"


    "Understood!"


    The youths shouted. Even their voices were full of vigour.


    Outside the training ground, the youth witnessed the scene and clenched his fists.


    His name was Yang Fan. He was also a member of the eldest son''s branch of Yang Family. It was a shame that he was a b*astard child.


    For the Yang Family clan, the first wife and the concubines were treated very differently. The children of the first wife were adored and nurtured to take over the family career and lead a luxurious life.


    As for the children of the concubines, they had to see if their father was fond of them. If the maternal side of the family was strong and influential, they would be unfortunate as their lives would be made difficult by their maternal side of the family and at the same time, received no love from the father.


    It was unfortunate but Yang Fan had experienced such ill-treatment.


    His father was not fond of him and his mother''s side of the family made things difficult for him. Even his servant dared to bully him.


    When he was 8 and had to take the aptitude test, he was given the wrong timing and missed the test. This caused his father to become enraged. From then on, he was not able to train his martial arts and could only study.


    In the Da Qian Empire, those who do well in their studies can become officials. For a commoner, it was not a bad pathway. However, in the Yang Family, without the ability to protect himself, how could he fend off the outsiders?


    "I must become outstanding!"


    Yang Fan clenched his fists. ''If there is no one to teach me spiritual techniques, I will train my martial arts! Every clan has their own rules. I am also a member of the Yang Family and it makes no sense for me not to learn the moves. The only problem would be that I would not have the resources and the food!''


    Practising martial arts consumed a lot of energy. As such, the disciples of the clan would receive a generous portion of money to buy meat and tonic to nourish their bodies.


    In addition, those who ranked the top few would be rewarded with spiritual rice every month.


    If they were spiritual disciples, alchemy disciples or dream disciples, they would be treated better and would be provided with spiritual food every day.


    It was a pity that he hardly see meat on the table. Spiritual food and wine for nourishment were out of the question.


    "The Qian Kun Giant Spiritual Technique focus on the foundation. Consume more food every day to strengthen the body and the blood! After you all go home today, eat more meat. Spiritual meat is even better! Of course, eating the spiritual pill is a must..."


    On the training ground, the instructor''s words flowed without stopping.


    At this moment, even the youths on the training ground could only laugh bitterly.


    They would be able to consume spiritual rice and meat every day for a while if their families become more prudent. But consuming a spiritual pill every day?


    Only a member of the eldest son''s family would be able to have that thought.


    The instructor sighed as he looked on.


    Even if one was a genius, it would be because he had a lot of resources.


    The second young master of the eldest branch of the family Yang Hu was born gifted. When he was just 100 days old, he was given a ''Tiger Meridian Giant Spiritual Pill'' which gave him a strong foundation. There was no question that his inner power was unbelievable as a Martial Artist (8th Gate). He had once defeated 10 martial artists of the Yin and Yang Gates, and after that took on a martial artist (11th gate) without signs of fatigue. He was known as the number 1 martial artist of the younger generation of the Yang Family.


    However, he was not truly number 1 in ranking as there were still cultivators!


    The eldest young master of the eldest branch of the family and the third missy were extremely gifted. They had already broken through the spiritual disciple realm when they were 15 to 16 years old. This was especially so for the young master who was rumoured to attack a spiritual knight and was on the verge of reaching the status of a spiritual knight!


    ''The eldest branch of the family produced many talents. As compared to them, the fourth young master is very common...no, insignificant....since I have chosen to be with them, I should be loyal, this Yang Fan...''


    The instructor glanced at Yang Fan and saw that he had not left. He gave a sigh. He purposely raised his voice and explained the Qian Kun Giant Spiritual Technique much more meticulously than before.


    ''Hmmm? He does not have good intention!?''


    If he was an ordinary youth, he would think that the instructor was sincerely imparting the knowledge and would feel grateful.


    However, Yang Fan did not know why, but he was more sensitive to the moods of people as compared to other people and could tell that the instructor was harbouring some ill-intent. It was as if Yang Fan could hear the voice in his heart.


    ''Practicing of martial arts require resources! If I rashly practice, I would only harm my body! Furthermore...while the clan does not prohibit people from practising, my father only allowed me to study. What if he realized that I was secretly training? I am afraid that I will receive another beating!''


    Yang Fan turned and left the training ground after he thought about it.


    "Hmmm? This is strange!"


    The instructor lowered his voice and smirked as he saw Yang Fan left.


    So what if there were consequences? He just wanted to show that he was loyal!


    ...


    Yang Fan returned to his room. He looked at the bleak walls and laughed bitterly.


    His other brothers had their own yards and servants to tend to them even though they were b*astard children as well. As for him, he even had to make his own curtains.


    "At least my fifth and sixth brother knew who their mother was, but me..."


    Yang Fan was silent.


    While his two younger brothers were born to a servant, the servant was promoted and became a concubine of his father.


    As for his own mother, she was...missing!


    Truth be told, it was a very odd and disgraceful matter, especially for his father who was the eldest son of the family.


    It was precisely because of this that he received no love from his relatives. If not for the ranking, no one would realise that the eldest branch of the family had a fourth young master.


    The run downed room was cold as there was nothing to block the autumn breeze.


    Yang Fan flipped open the book on the table and glanced at it before closing it and sighed, "6 years of studying. It would be great if I can take the exams and become an official after 3 years. Maybe I would be able to achieve some glory and help with the family affairs. I would marry a virtuous wife and just like that, half my life would pass...but I am not willing!"


    He was angry and his eyes flashed. "Why is it that we are all part of the Yang family but are treated so differently? When I was young, I was even bullied by the servants and when I grow up, I would have to beg my brothers and mother[1]. What kind of joke is this?"


    "I want to practice martial arts, I want to undergo cultivation. One day, I will overpower the Yang Family, question my father why I was treated like this and find out my mother''s location!"


    In the run-downed house, the youth clench his fists with a determined look.


    Bang!


    At this moment, the door was pushed open and a lady walked in.


    This lady was around 40 years old. She was elegant and wore a lot of jewellery. Next to her stood a large servant who was carrying a blue-eyed Golden Silk Cat. The material of the clothes she wore was much better than Yang Fan.


    "I have met Mother before!"


    Yang Fan''s heart dropped as he bowed.


    This lady was his father''s rightful wife, Lady Wang, who had given birth to 2 boys and 1 girl. Her position in the house was firm and she grasped the power to execute people.


    "You unfilial son, what have you done today? Do dare to not listen to your father''s teaching? Hmm?"


    Lady Wang said with a murderous aura.


    Yang Fan quivered. It was as if he saw the silhouette of the instructor and could only admit, "I was walking past the training ground where I stopped for a while out of curiosity. Please forgive me, mother!"


    "Very well, you admit? Housekeeper, give him 10 whips as a warning to the others!"


    After Lady Wang gave the order, she turned around to walk out of the door.


    She could deal with this b*astard child with just a word.


    Behind her, the sound of the leather whip rang, leaving a bloody wound on Yang Fan''s back.


    In the midst of fiery pain, his magical will started to return. ''This must be avenged...wait a minute, who am I? Why am I here?''


    With this thought, he had a sudden realization. "I am not Yang Fan, I am Fang Yuan!"


    [1]He is not referring to the person that give birth to him but his father''s first wife.

 164 Bastard

    "Fourth Master, know your place!"


    After the housekeeper and servants punished him, they walked away proudly.


    Fang Yuan laid on the bed; his mind was messed up.


    After a long while, his true ''self'' finally awoken, and retained all of Yang Fan''s memories.


    "Sss..."


    As he flipped around, his back was burning from the wounds, making him take in a deep breath as he almost blurted out vulgarities.


    "Getting spanked just after being lucid, what luck..."


    Fang Yuan shook his head and was rather appreciative. "If not for this spanking, I don''t know when I would become lucid as well, so it may very well be good luck too..."


    He scanned his surroundings and gathered his consciousness. "Is this the test left behind by the Five Ghosts Sect ancestor?"


    "Dream Building!"


    To a dream master, it was a basic skill to be able to change a dream world.


    However, as Fang Yuan tried, he was left in shock. "What''s wrong?"


    As he realised, he took too long to awaken from this dream world.


    "I cannot use my dream master abilities! Could it be because the dream master of this dream world has a higher cultivation level than me?"


    Fang Yuan looked around. "Then what is the difference between this dream world and the real world?"


    The happenings in this dream world were vastly different from the dream worlds Fang Yuan had.


    The most important thing was that is felt extremely real!


    "I am afraid that the laws of this world are the same as that of reality!"


    He became serious, as he knew what this meant.


    "To transform a dream world into reality, he must be at least in the Prominent Divine Stage! Did he leave this dream world here as a test?"


    Fang Yuan started to think deeper.


    This dream world was too real. If he were to remain trapped in here, the consequences would be dire.


    If he wanted to leave this dream, how could he do it?


    "To leave a dream world, there are two ways aside from dying; to follow the flow or to oppose the flow. This is not my dream world, so death is not an option! As for ''opposing the flow'', it would be to forcefully take control of the whole dream world which will allow me to come and go as I please. However, my cultivation is not as strong as this dream master''s, so this is not viable!"


    "That leaves me with the option of ''going with the flow''! The main idea is to be open-minded and accomplish some wish of the dream''s owner... From my analysis of the surroundings, it seems that it is probably something like gaining power and seeking revenge..."


    After lying down flat for a while, and as the wounds on his back stabilised, Fang Yuan got to his feet, walked to the study table and opened a book at random. "Computing?"


    From his retained memories, the Da Qian empire based itself on martial arts. Even if it were literature examinations, there would not be much discussion about it. On the other hand, they were more biased to practical skills, calculations, geography, livelihood, and these were a must-test.


    The dream owner studied hard for the Imperial Examination, and now Fang Yuan felt that he was rather confident in passing and becoming a clerk.


    This Imperial Examination was for the recruitment of clerks. There was no such thing as becoming an official straight away. Everything had to start small!


    "This is the Da Qian Empire... Even their systems are much more advanced than Xia Country''s¡­..."


    Thinking about Xia, Zhu and the other countries, or the clans, factions or sects that fight with each other, Fang Yuan rolled his eyes.


    "This might be the real memory of that Five Ghosts Sect ancestor, which will help me a lot!"


    Fang Yuan thought about other things.


    He wanted to visit the Da Qian Empire. However, he had not taken over the unlucky Yang Fan''s memories, and there were not many problems with the written language or the spoken language.


    Furthermore, the information this young man was receiving was rather complete, which would allow him to have a more intuitive understanding of the Da Qian Empire.


    "Also, this real dream world shall be a role model for me to follow!"


    Fang Yuan''s eyes glittered as he observed the arrangement of the surroundings.


    In order for a dream master to attain the Prominent Divine Stage, they would first have to learn how to make things real.


    To be able to influence objects with his mind, influence reality with his consciousness, and transfer objects from the dream world into the real world, the first step was for him to adjust his personal dream world to make it as though it was a real world, where the same laws were applicable.


    This dream world was a benchmark he could follow.


    "Even if there is no treasure, this is still worth it! Of course... it would be better without the other two weaknesses...."


    He took in a deep breath.


    It was extremely dangerous to explore the dream world.


    The death in the dream would endanger the life of the real body! Secondly, being trapped and unable to escape the dream would let the real body die of hunger!


    "The past few dream worlds were from my consciousness, therefore 10,000 years could pass by without much time lost. But now in this world, since it is very real, the rate of time flow is exactly same as in reality!"


    Fang Yuan became serious. "In reality, my body is within the Ecstasy Fog, and I am still under the protection of the square, so I should be fine. However, if I am trapped here, my real body might die of hunger... In terms of time, I only have 1 month! 30 days!"


    He had already broken through to the realm of elemental force and had unthinkable abilities.


    As his body was filled with elemental force, he would unknowingly take in nutrients from the outside world. Within 30 days, he would not die of thirst or hunger.


    "But this is my limit. I need to achieve the objective in 30 days, right? Most importantly is that I don''t even know the objective, and have to find out by myself..."


    Fang Yuan pointed a middle finger towards space. "Really... This is such a weird treasure?"


    ...


    Although the whip seemed to be extremely painful from the outside, he did not sustain many internal injuries.


    After all, Yang Fan did not make any grave mistakes for them to use as an excuse to beat him up.


    In the run-down room, Fang Yuan flipped a book describing the Da Qian Empire. As he concentrated, he found a map from within, which was like a treasure to him.


    After a long while, he placed the book down, rubbed his eyes and laughed. "This body... is too weak! He doesn''t even have inner power! He is the most normal person!"


    Without a doubt, this difficulty level was as though he was put through hell.


    "To train in martial arts, I have my Eagle Claw Iron Skin Technique, and the Qian Kun Giant Spiritual Technique. However, I am lacking in time and even more lacking in resources! In fact, the lack of resources is a more pressing problem!"


    Fang Yuan touched his chin. "The only way is to cultivate spells!"


    It was not easy to learn!


    If he wanted to learn martial arts, Yang Fan could observe at the martial arts centre, but to learn to be a spiritual knight, it was impossible!


    But this was Fang Yuan, not Yang Fan!


    He already had two paths of spiritual knights to choose from! Why would he need to secretly observe others?


    "Furthermore, this is most suitable for me!"


    The path of a spiritual knight was straightforward. There were only two gates. After breaking through to become a spiritual disciple, the next step would be a huge one!


    Otherwise, if he tried to train in martial arts, could he break through 13 Gates to Wu Zong in just one month? Even Fang Yuan was not that crazy!


    "Furthermore, to the Yang Family, although a Wu Zong might be impressive, that''s it!"


    Only until now did Fang Yuan realise the scale of the Da Qian Empire.


    Just a Yang Family, nothing much to the Da Qian Empire and yet they could produce 8 Wu Zongs in their line of heritage, with three more spiritual knights. Who knew what else they would have.


    Even so, there were only considered impressive in their county, but still did not have the ability to become tyrannical!


    "Becoming Wu Zong would only mean that you had the right to speak in the Yang Family, but still could not help Yang Fan achieve what he wanted to!"


    Fang Yuan was rather confident that Yang Fan was likely to be the mysterious ancestor of the Five Ghosts Sect.


    And he had entered his real memories!


    "I cannot learn the Blood Demon''s Technique. Let''s go back to the old path of a dream master!"


    It only took him awhile for him to be decided on his path.


    After all, he was most familiar with the path of a dream master, and it placed emphasis on the ''mind''. This path was as mysterious as it could be, and if he had enough experience, it would be rather simple to break through.


    "Since Yang Fan became a Prominent Divine Stage dream master in the future, he must have the potential to become a dream master, otherwise how could he become successful just by secretly learning martial arts? The probability of training the wrong way and harming himself would be much greater!"


    "Of course, the most important thing right now is to move out of this place!"


    Fang Yuan bit his lip.


    This Yang Family was a big jail in itself!


    With such a large number of strong martial artists, the constant surveillance from his mother, and the many loyal servants!


    In this lawful society, they could use many underhand means to deal with him, and he might not even be able to retaliate, otherwise, he would be labelled as an ''unfilial son'', making the death sentence applicable!


    "I have considered this before deciding not to learn martial arts. The cultivation of a dream master is the one hardest to detect. I''m just afraid that there might be a high-level cultivator within the family that can detect my cultivation... Therefore, it is a must to shift out, and the best excuse would be the examinations... It''s coming half a month later?"


    As a bastard child, he was pressured everywhere in the household and had no say.


    The only solution was to use the name of the Imperial Court to get out of the place, but other than that, he had to depend on himself.


    "Fourth Master!"


    Suddenly the doors were opened and a servant entered carrying a tray of food. With much disrespect, she said. "Mother has instructed for you to be confined here and reflect about your wrongdoings. Supper is here!"


    She took out two dishes of vegetables and a bowl of unshelled rice.


    "Reflect about my wrongdoings?"


    Fang Yuan frowned, then smiled. "I know, I will reflect on my behaviour. Please assure my mother!"


    The servant was shocked.


    Based on her impression, this young kid would likely throw a tantrum, and by then she would have her means to deal with him. Never would she have thought that he would accept fate and not be worked up.


    "That''s good!"


    The servant felt that the Fourth Master suddenly became very mysterious. Left speechless, she carried the tray and walked out.


    Fang Yuan rubbed his tummy and started digging in.


    Although it was in a dream, his body could still experience hunger, fatigue, get injured, bleed or even die!


    What was the difference between this dream world and reality then?


    Although the rice was hard and the vegetables were tasteless, Fang Yuan was satisfied and cleared the entire bowl.


    "I''m lucky that there''s vegetable this time round. Next time, they might give me leftovers..."


    He chuckled, made a mental note and looked at his mother''s room across. "Not letting me ace the examinations by confining me? Such hatred!"

 165 Yang Hu

    Back in the cottage.


    Fang Yuan lay down and seemed to be taking a nap.


    In fact, threads of energetic magical energy were gathering between his eyebrows and he was absorbing more energy from the surrounding. The magical energy was just like a dragon hiding in the deep canyon, ready to soar into the sky.


    "Even though inner force can be removed and is temporary, the heart is always there! As long as I have the will, it will be forever!"


    Fang Yuan got up and felt refreshed.


    He already had the mindset of a dream master, and therefore it was not hard for him to overcome this huge step once more.


    After all, the condition of his body was extraordinary. Yang Fan was an empath since young. He could know what others were thinking as his magical energy was extraordinary, to the point where it was scary!


    Or maybe, since the rest knew about his abilities, they started to take notice of him and treat him badly out of fear.


    "As long as I can absorb the elemental energy from the heavens and earth into my body and open up the area in between my eyebrows, mind palace, and sea of consciousness to gather elemental force, I will be able to break through to become a dream disciple¡­..but I''m not in a rush. Even though a dream disciple is an expert in concealment, there could be experts by Lady Wang''s side¡­.. I should take one step at a time."


    He slowly trained his sea of consciousness and his mind was very clear. He even relived his past experiences and gained many more insights. Unknowingly, he had already reached the state of peace as stated in the Meditative Tea Ceremony by Master Wenxin.


    Achieving peace in the soul would mean that he would be resolute in all difficulties.


    This was his current state.


    He already had the mindset of a dream master and was just a single thought away to achieving it.


    "This is what a dream master can do¡­..After all, when a dream master accesses a dream, it is a gamble. No one can guarantee what will happen next, hence it is best to only follow their heart!"


    With this information, his mind flickered. He directed the flow of elemental energy from heaven and earth towards his back, accelerating the healing of his injuries.


    "The imperial examinations is the pressing issue now. Looks like Lady Wang wants to lock me up forever. No, not me! Yang Fan! ¡­..How much hatred does she have with him?"


    Even though the imperial examinations didn''t matter to Fang Yuan, that was the only excuse he could use to get out of here.


    However, from the way it looked, Lady Wang wanted to lock him up forever. She wanted him to leave a normal life which he would not have any chance to become famous!


    It had been 7 days since he was first locked up.


    He had absorbed the elemental energy from heaven and earth and his injuries were almost healed.


    "I have achieved the requirements of a dream master. The next step for me will be to form my dream elemental force and not the dream miniature elemental force!"


    Fang Yuan touched his Mind Palace


    The area in between his eyebrows was opened up, which meant that the preparations had been completed and now, all he needed was the opportunity to act.


    "If Lady Wang wants to hurt me further, I will kill her and disappear. This seems like a good idea! However, how should I pass this dream world?"


    Seeing the life of Yang Fan, the essence of breaking through seems to lie in the Yang family!


    "Furthermore¡­..there is martial arts!"


    As he spoke, his eyes were filled with excitement.


    The Xia and Zhu Countries were separated from the rest of the world. Their knowledge was shallow and Wu Zong was the highest level in the world of martial arts for them. However, it was different in the Da Qian Empire!


    After Wu Zong, one could explore even more realms and be on par with an Elemental Opening spiritual knight!


    The Yang family''s Qian Kun Giant Spiritual Technique was one of the possible techniques to do so!


    "Probably... Yang Fan''s inheritance is the existence of this dream world!"


    With these new learning pointers, Fang Yuan was very happy.


    This might be because he was a dream master and therefore the benefits he had gotten from this dream world could exceed his expectations.


    "The final inheritance for a dream master will likely be the real dream world which he has gathered from his memories¡­..No matter what kind of techniques, treasures, experience or connections there are, all these can be passed down fully as an inheritance!"


    Suddenly, Fang Yuan had a thought. "Maybe¡­..Was one of the inheritance that Master Wenxin had left for me one of the dream worlds that he had experienced? Hold on..."


    He looked at this seemingly real world and realised that something was wrong.


    "There is no difference between the real world and the dream world¡­...Such a seemingly real dream world filled with complex memories. If all these come together, will they combine? This is one of the risks in a dream world."


    Accepting another set of memories might pollute him and even develop a new set of personality and character.


    In the previous world he lived in, he would describe it as schizophrenia, but a dream master can leverage on this to experience a whole new life!


    "An evil dream master might have a way to make it happen!"


    Fang Yuan took note of that and started to sort out the new knowledge he had about martial arts.


    "Even for a family that trains in martial arts, a martial arts instructor will only teach the contents of the Qian Kun Giant Spiritual Technique for the 12 Gates. For the method on how to break through Wu Zong and the way to cultivate after Wu Zong, it is a secret and a bast*rd like Yang Fan will not know about it. Yang Hu, on the other hand, will probably know¡­.."


    "I have heard from some of the martial artists of the older generations that there are Wu Zongs who are on par with spiritual knights in the Elemental Opening Realm¡­..That realm is named¡­..Meridian Opening!"


    His eyes were glittering.


    The dream world of a dream master was the greatest treasure.


    As Fang Yuan was attempting to fulfil the requirements of the dream world to break out of it, at the same time, he was digging out these treasures.


    "Talking about fulfilling the requirement, Could Yang Fan have gone to Xia Country after exterminating the Yang family? If that was true, the difficulty level would be unimaginable¡­.."


    Fang Yuan shook his head. Even if he was at his peak level, he was of no match for an Elemental Breaking spiritual knight and a Meridian Opening martial artist.


    "Yang Fan!!"


    At that moment, there was a loud voice which irritated Fang Yuan'' ears, as though a tiger had just roared by the side of his ears.


    "Kacha!"


    The weak wooden door broke opened and a strong teenager barged in.


    He had thick eyebrows and fierce-looking eyes. He had two yellow cheeks and his forehead seemed to have a few spiritual prints, which formed a character ''Íõ''. His moves brought about an amazing power like a tiger reincarnated into a human.


    "It''s Second Brother!"


    Fang Yuan, taking on the identity of Yang Fan, greeted him with his fist. "May I know the purpose of your visit?"


    Lady Wang had 3 children, 2 boys and 1 girl. Fang Yuan had no business with them and dropped the formalities.


    However, the essence of Yang Hu surprised Fang Yuan.


    ''He is huge and has Tiger Bones. Rumours have it that he opened a Tiger Meridian too. Indeed, he is very impressive!''


    At that moment, Fang Yuan could feel that Yang Hu''s inner strength was beyond normal, his body seemed to contain a furnace. Next to his heart, a spiritual pill was constantly pulsating and supplied spiritual force to his whole body.


    "Good spiritual pill. Compared to this, Lu Renjia''s pills are trash¡­."


    Fang Yuan thought, "With the help of the spiritual pill, if one was cultivating the Qian Kun Giant Spiritual Technique which required strong foundations, one would even be able to defeat 4 Heavenly Gates martial artist even if one was just an 8th Gate martial artist!"


    "Hmm?"


    As he saw Fang Yuan, Yang Hu frowned and realised that his fourth brother was different.


    Immediately, he became angry and said, "I have reports from my men that you disobeyed Father''s order and talked back to Mother? Is your mouth itching? Do you want to lie in bed for a month?"


    "This matter¡­..was already 7 days ago¡­."


    Fang Yuan was speechless at that point.


    This teenager waited till now to reprimand him about this matter? This matter was already history. He was heartless, and there might be a possibility that he bothered about this as someone might have tried to fan the flames between them.


    Fang Yuan squinted his eyes. He recalled from Yang Fan''s memories that Yang Fan was once beaten by Yang Hu till he vomited blood, causing him to lie down on the bed for a month straight.


    "So, you still dare to talk back to me?"


    Yang Hu stared at Fang Yuan, grunted and went forward.


    "Yang Hu!!!"


    Fang Yuan took in a deep breath and shouted. "I was ordered by Mother to be locked up in solitary here. You have broken the rules since you broke in!"


    "Plus, you are a martial artist and you dare to bully a normal person like me. Furthermore, we are brothers as well. Do you still want your reputation?"


    Even though Fang Yuan spoke very fast, it was clear and impactful.


    Yang Hu was startled and stopped moving. He hesitated to take action on Fang Yuan.


    He was not afraid of anything in this world but he still considered the strict orders set by her mother.


    "You¡­.."


    Yang Hu retreated to the entrance before starting to react. His face was flushed as he cracked the knuckles in his fingers.


    "Second Master!"


    At that moment, a person appeared and stood in the way of Yang Hu. "Fourth Master is right. Plus, you still need to go and greet Mother!"


    ''Yang Qing!''


    Fang Yuan recognised the martial arts coach who talked endlessly on the training ground. He then squinted his eyes.


    "Hmph, I shall let you go for now. I will come back and settle this once I''m done seeing Mother!"


    Yang Hu said angrily and turned back.


    "So sorry, Fourth Master!"


    Yang Qing smiled and apologised. He seemed like a good old man. If Fang Yuan didn''t know his true colours before this, he would probably be deceived by his honest look.


    "Not your fault. It''s just that my door¡­."


    Fang Yuan pointed at the broken door and gave an innocent look.


    "I will send people to fix this!"


    Yang Qing became pale and unsettled as he hurriedly left.


    ...¡­.


    Inside the room, incense was burning and it gave out a spiritual aura.


    Lady Wang took a few sips of the spiritual soup, and her golden nails were shining brightly. As she saw Yang Hu coming in, she frowned. "You went to look for Fourth Brother?"


    "I heard that he disobeyed the house rules and so I went to look for him¡­."


    Yang Hu was like a jerk on his own, but like a tamed cat in front of his mother.


    "You have already matured, so why are you still being so calculative towards your brother? Don''t you want your reputation?"


    Lady Wang''s eyebrows stood up as she started to scold Yang Hu.


    "I was being anxious on behalf of you. Yang Fan was preparing for his imperial examinations. Should I go and break one of his arms¡­."


    "Jerk!"


    Lady Wang was really angry this time. "What do you take me as? Since Fourth Brother wants to prepare for his examinations, why should I be in his way? Chun Lan, please go and tell Yang Fan to study heard and prepare for his examinations. Also, send 10 taels of gold to him for his examination fees!"


    "Yes, Lady Wang!"


    One of the servants left. Yang Hu scratched his head and was confused.


    "Little Hu, you can leave first. Ask Yang Qing to see me!"


    Lady Wang stroked her golden cat and her eyes glittered.

 166 Meridian Opening

    "Fourth young master, the missus has already lifted your restraining order and have given you 10 gold taels to let you prepare for your exams!"


    Chun Lan was around 16 or 17 years old and wore a red dress. When she smiled, two dimples could be seen.


    "Help me convey my thanks to the missus!"


    Fang Yuan accepted the gold and said indifferently.


    "You...hmmmm!"


    She stomped away angrily when she did not receive the response she expected.


    "How cute...even though she is angry!"


    Fang Yuan returned to the house and started to pack up his things. He smiled coldly.


    When Yang Hu came looking for trouble, He purposely dragged Lady Wang into the picture.


    No matter how hypocritical and evil the person was, she would maintain a kind front in front of the clan.


    Lady Wang was not willing to bear the name as the person who purposely prevented the child from taking the imperial examinations.


    After all, she had other methods that were more direct and efficient.


    For example...generously giving him the money and wait for him to leave the Yang Family before purposely making things difficult for him or even kill him, creating a case with no lead!


    "I would definitely die if I was still the weak youth!"


    Fang Yuan''s eyes were deep and he had an epiphany.


    "Maybe Yang Fan never completed the imperial examinations. However, I must be successful and make a name for myself! It is a reasonable goal!"


    Truth be told, this was a test to see where Yang Fan''s desires lie.


    Was it a success or was it revenge? Was it something else?


    "I just do not know which rat will come."


    After a while, Fang Yuan carried a small bundle and walked out of the Yang Family gate under the malicious gazes.


    The Yang Family was located on the outskirt of the county and was half a day''s journey away from the city where the imperial examinations were held.


    There were carts pulled by donkeys available. However, Fang Yuan chose to walk. He walked slowly and arrived at a dense forest.


    "How? Isn''t it time to show yourself after following me for so long?"


    Fang Yuan took a breath. He suddenly turned around and looked behind him.


    "Fourth young master can actually detect me?"


    A black shadow walked out. It was Yang Qing!


    He had not changed his clothes. He walked out confidently in front of Fang Yuan, fists clenched. "Please forgive me, young master, I am only following orders!"


    "You are here to kill me?"


    Fang Yuan shook his head.


    Yang Qing smiled and his expression grew dark. "How did you know?"


    Fang Yuan replied, "Sigh, Lady Wang would be too kind if you are dressed as such to break my limbs. However, she is crazy and no medicine can save her!"


    "It appears that the people in the residence have misunderstood you!"


    Yang Qing nodded his head, "Fourth young master, you are as intelligent as the eldest young master and the third missy!"


    He slowly moved forward, his palms had already started to gather yin energy.


    He had already received orders from Lady Wang and must not fail his task!


    Yang Qing became fervent after he remembered what Lady Wang had promised him.


    ''There is not much hope for me left. However, this is for my beloved son.''


    "It seems that you are sure that there is no one around to dare to act here!"


    Fang Yuan looked towards Yang Qing.


    "That''s right!"


    Yang Qing appeared to be pleased with himself, "Even if you shout till you are hoarse, no one would come to your help!"


    "Why do these words sound so familiar?"


    Fang Yuan was speechless, "This can already be considered overconfidence?"


    "Overconfidence?"


    Yang Qing could not understand what Fang Yuan was talking about[1]. His face showed his desire to kill.


    "Huff..."


    Fang Yuan exhaled, "Whatever happens here would not attract the attention of the Yang Family."


    He touched the space between his brows. In that instant, clouds started to emerge in the surroundings!


    Heavenly and earthly energy started to gather to form a spiritual whirlpool which enveloped him.


    The spiritual energy in Da Qian was denser than that in Xia Country by a huge margin which caused Fang Yuan to take on a terrifying appearance as a dream master.


    "Elemental Force is the force of the heavens and earth! What I have as the dream master is the Dream Elemental Force!"


    In his mind, threads of energy from the heaven and earth converged and mixed with the magical energy to form a Dream Elemental Force embryo which once again transformed into a ball of mercury-like Dream Elemental Force.


    In an instant, Fang Yuan transformed into a dream master!


    Yang Qing could not believe his eyes after witnessing the transformation.


    "Impossible!"


    He collapsed onto the floor and soiled himself. "Even the young master had not become a spiritual knight...you, you are just a commoner! Yes, you are not Yang Fan but a demon who possessed him! You are dead, once you are discovered, you will be arrested!"


    "Idiot!"


    Fang Yuan looked at him and waved his left hand.


    Huhu!


    The Bewildering Fog started to move forward. Yang Qing, who was on the ground, rolled backwards and retreated.


    "Oh? It appears that you were only putting on an act!"


    His technique was good. While it was unsightly of him to roll around on the ground, his speed was fast as lightning.


    If Fang Yuan had been complacent and walked up to him, he would have regretted it.


    No matter how good Yang Qing''s lightness skill was, he was unable to outrun the fog.


    Yang Qing gave a look of despair as the fog surrounded him before it was dispelled.


    Fang Yuan walked forward and looked at Yang Qing who looked empty.


    He lifted Yang Qing and used shadowsteps to arrive in the middle of the dense forest.


    "Dream!"


    After Fang Yuan found a cave, he took a deep breath, touched the space between Yang Qing''s eyebrows and used his ability.


    "This is Yang Fan''s true dream world. As the rules of this world is the same as the real world, it means that the living things have consciousness and dream worlds...as such, I can enter their dreams as well! A dream within a dream!"


    In that instant, many thoughts flowed into Fang Yuan.


    Inside the cave, Fang Yuan''s real body was motionless as he delved into the mind of Yang Qing and looked for the information that he was interested in.


    "It was really that vicious Lady Wang''s idea to send him here!"


    "Even though he committed many crimes, he was extremely good to his only child. He only helped them so that his child could have a future..."


    ...


    Fang Yuan looked through all his memories. One memory caught his eyes:


    In the dream world, within a secret room, an elder spoke solemnly, "Yang Qing, you have broken through the 4 Heavenly Gates. Now it is time to impart to you the part of Qian Kun Giant Spiritual Technique that is relevant to the Wu Zongs. You must remember..."


    ...


    Fang Yuan went through and remembered all the memories.


    After a while, he opened his eyes and smiled. "It appears that after Wu Zong, there is another level, the Meridian Opening Realm!


    He had really achieved a lot by entering the dream this time.


    Experimenting with dreaming within a dream was only one of the small ideas that he had.


    The big idea lied with Yang Qing''s martial arts knowledge as well as memorizing them so that he would be able to use them next time!


    "The most important stage for a Wu Zong is the Elemental Gathering Realm where they gather elemental force and give it form outside of one''s body. In Xia Country and Wu Country, there are many Wu Zongs, including General Fei Long, who are stuck at this stage...In Da Qian, the spiritual knights have Elemental Opening Realm while the Wu Zongs have Meridian Opening Realm! This meridian is no common meridian. Rather, it is spiritual meridian! Since the path to cultivating martial arts had been destroyed, they used elemental force to train their spiritual meridian for cultivation! For every meridian that is opened, the Wu Zong would gain 1 elemental power level.


    This ''Elemental Power Level 1'' was a unique notion of the Da Qian Empire. It could be seen as the full power of a newly ascended Wu Zong!


    "The Giant Spiritual Strength that a person gains after breaking through to Wu Zong using Yang Family''s Qian Kun Giant Spiritual Technique is actually 1 elemental power level! Those who advanced to Wu Zong using the Qian Kun Giant Spiritual Technique are twice as strong as a normal Wu Zong!"


    "That is not all, this spiritual technique can help cultivate 8 spiritual meridians. Even in the Da Qian Empire, this is quite an impressive technique!


    The better the technique, the more spiritual meridians that could be cultivated. In the end, you would be able to undergo ''body forging''!


    Rumours had it was a change that is similar to being reborn for martial artists. Even the elders had only heard of it and had never witnessed it with their own eyes before.


    There were sayings that the more spiritual meridians opened, the stronger the power of the Wu Zong. The divine body forged would also be more terrifying and comparable to the bodies of the deities and the demons!


    "The Meridian Opening Realm for martial artists is similar to the Elemental Opening Realm for spiritual knights and the Illusionary Divine Stage of the Dream Master! No one knows what the corresponding cultivation level for Body Forging was either ..."


    Fang Yuan had the feeling that regardless of the pathways to cultivation, the end would be extremely frightening.


    "What a shame...Yang Qing''s memory only had the Giant Spiritual Technique to open the spiritual meridian and did not have the portion of Cast Body!"


    This was natural. The higher the level of the technique, the more secrets involved.


    Fang Yuan predicted that the last stage of the Qian Kun Giant Spiritual Technique was either known by the clan elders collectively or was only known by the clan master.


    "If I want to try next time, and able to procure the whole manual, the price would be terrifying..."


    Fang Yuan could not calculate what would happen if the manual was spread to the whole of Da Qian Empire.


    "Of course, the most important thing now is that I have a direction for improvement for my martial arts!"


    He looked at the unconscious Yang Qing and suddenly pressed him with his right hand.


    Yang Qing jerked on the ground and stopped breathing shortly after.


    "It is lucky that I left early. If not, I would miss the timing of the exams!"


    Fang Yuan walked out of the cave and struck it once with his palm.


    Huala!


    A small amount of spiritual light appeared on his palm and seeped into the rocks.


    Not long after, cracks started to appear. The entire wall crumbled and buried the cave.


    Although he would not admit to what he had done, it was better to have lesser troubles.


    Without the interference from Yang Qing, the remaining journey was smooth-sailing for Fang Yuan. He arrived at the county at noontime.


    The golden rays of the sun fell onto the tall building and added a golden sheen to the walls of the building.


    The gate opened and the passers-by bustled around.


    "The patrols are mostly martial artists (6th gate) with inner power?"


    Fang Yuan''s eyes shone.


    Just this point alone showed that this city surpassed his Secluded Mountain Prefecture.


    [1] Fang Yuan was using a slang that was relevant to the real world and as such Yang Qing of the dream world was unable to comprehend what he was talking about.

 167 The Imperial Examinations

    "Master, do you need a room to stay in?"


    After entering the city, Fang Yuan recalled his way and went to a hotel.


    The location of the hotel was a little remote and the sign of the hotel was a little old. However, it was very tidy on the inside and no speck of dust was found on any of the tables and chairs. The antique furniture also brought an ancient feeling to the whole atmosphere.


    Of course, the most important thing was that the price for a room here was rather cheap.


    As he entered, a humble lad welcomed him.


    "Hmm, is the room upstairs available?"


    "Yes, of course!"


    The lad was smiling brightly.


    Fang Yuan nodded his head and booked the room for 10 days. He paid a 3 days worth of rent as deposit. Meals were counted separately.


    "You can order whatever you want. If our kitchen doesn''t provide, I will be more than happy to get it for you from elsewhere!"


    As Fang Yuan reached his room, the waiter told him.


    The waiter realised that even though Fang Yuan was dressed normally, his aura was a little different from others. Hence, guessed that Fang Yuan was rich and was travelling on his own, and could, therefore, get tips from him.


    "That will be unnecessary. What do you have in the kitchen?"


    "You''re in luck! Our kitchen has just received two big pieces of beef and a piece of mutton. Chicken and duck are already prepared by our chefs. We also have the Green Lotus Rice, a type of spiritual rice. Anyone who eats this will have a lasting fragrance of the rice in their mouth. It is one of the popular dish ordered here."


    The waiter said everything at one go.


    "Hmm, I shall have a plate of beef, two plates of vegetables and a bowl of the Green Lotus Rice!"


    He didn''t expect such a small hotel to be able to provide spiritual rice.


    After a while, the waiter carried a tray out. The sauce from the plate of beef smelled delicious. There was a plate of stir-fried vegetables and a plate of mushrooms with sliced meat. Then, there was a bowl of green rice which filled the air with the fragrance of a lotus. "Your dishes are all here!"


    "Hmm!"


    Fang Yuan tipped the waiter and signalled the waiter to leave. He then started with the Green Lotus Rice.


    This spiritual rice was fragrant and soft, but it was not sticking to his teeth. The fragrance of the lotus filled his whole mouth. Even though the spiritual force this rice provided was not as much as the Flame Jade Rice, it was comparable to the Vermillion Jade Rice. Since this hotel was so small, this was already considered good.


    "Just that¡­..for a dream world, this feels so real!"


    Fang Yuan ate another piece of beef and he was thinking about something else. "I''m easily addicted to this dream world."


    After a long sigh, he thought about other stuff.


    "Now, Lady Wang would have known that something is wrong. It will be hard to guarantee that she will not take any action. I should head to the government office to register myself for the examinations first, just in case!"


    The government of the Da Qian empire was richer than the one in Xia Country.


    Legend has it that the founder of this empire was so magical and was able to suppress everyone. Even in today, many capable leaders were holding important appointments in the government of the empire. Hence, many of the factions and the rich households still abide by the rules set by the government.


    Previously, when Yang Fan had wanted to sign up for the examinations, he probably had the backing from the government officials to go against his family.


    However, Fang Yuan wanted to score well in the examinations only because he wanted to find out the method to break through this dream world.


    After coming to a conclusion, he left the hotel and went to the city.


    The government office was located in the heart of the city. Two stone beast statues were placed at the south entrance. Their heads looked like a tiger''s or a lion''s, and the eyes of the statues seemed to be glowing. The statues seemed to be alive.


    These beasts were called the ''Eye Beasts''. It was said that the eyes could differentiate between good and evil. Hence, the government loved to use these beasts to maintain order in the city.


    As Fang Yuan passed by the beasts, he felt something different.


    "Magical weapon?"


    From the eyes of the statues, he could feel a spiritual spell being cast in them and gave a sigh. The government of Da Qian was indeed spending a lot of effort on such stuff.


    "To register, I will have to submit my name, place of birth, appearance, family background and also to nominate another person for guarantee purposes in order to sit for the imperial examinations successfully¡­..Of course, I''m from the Yang family and there is an advantage for coming from a rich family. However, I will still have to pay for the examinations!"


    As he entered through a small door with other scholars, Fang Yuan gave a cold look. He was already familiar with the registration process but inside, he was complaining about it. "If the government collects fees for every imperial examination back in the olden days, I''m afraid everyone would complain about it..."


    When it was his turn, he filled up his surname, his signature and stamped his fingerprint. After making payments, he received a wooden board.


    On the board, basic information about him was written on it, including his facial descriptions. He was given two copies of it, and the wooden board was used as an entry proof to the examination hall.


    "I have heard that the rules set by the founder of the Da Qian Empire were unconventional and there are many complaints about these rules!"


    After he left the government office, Fang Yuan rubbed the wooden board and his face was expressionless.


    If this had happened in the olden days, where scholars were insulted with money, some of them would be very grief-stricken and would rather die.


    However, this world was different!


    Only with strength comes power. It would be strange to see a scholar overthrowing those people with the existence of powerful people like Wu Zongs and spiritual knights around.


    If not for the existence of cultivation in some scholars, the scholars probably would not have any power.


    "Sir, please stay where you are!"


    Just when Fang Yuan was about to leave, a scholar dressed in green came over. "I''m Xiao Mu. Are you also preparing for this imperial examinations?"


    "I''m Yang Fan!"


    Fang Yuan greeted him but felt that the expression Xiao Mu was giving was a little strange.


    Previously, Fang Yuan did not realise anything strange from him. Now, he could feel a slight dream elemental force from him, and it was in a form of a print.


    That print meant that he was under scrutiny from some dream master, and no outsiders could meddle with it.


    As Fang Yuan saw the print, he became a little fearful.


    "He has piqued the interest of a dream master¡­."


    Fang Yuan released a little of his magical energy and thought to himself. "His potential is great. He is more than capable to be a spiritual knight or an alchemy master, but he is just a few steps away from becoming a dream master. However, he does not seem like he is not looking for disciples, but rather, has an evil intent!"


    Spiritual knights can have spiritual servants. Similarly, a dream master can have servants, especially through the usage of this type spiritual prints.


    As Fang Yuan looked at Xiao Mu, Fang Yuan pitied him.


    Xiao Mu''s face was pale. He had panda eyes and eye bags, and it seems like he had not been sleeping well.


    "So you are Brother Yang!"


    Xiao Mu greeted him and continued, "I admire your good looks and I want to be friends with you¡­."


    "Friend?"


    Fang Yuan chuckled and said, "My focus now is to score well for this examinations and I would prefer to study without any disturbance. If you still have the intentions to make friends, mind if I suggest to gather with a few other friends once the examinations are over!"


    "I''m sorry!"


    Xiao Mu blushed and bowed apologetically. He wanted to know where Fang Yuan stayed.


    However, Fang Yuan gave an unhappy expression and left.


    "Hey Brother Fang¡­.wait for me!"


    Xiao Mu tried to catch up with him but was too physically weak to do so. After passing a street, he lost sight of Fang Yuan and gave a hopeless look.


    Suddenly, he appeared to be in pain and started to touch his own neck. He then went to a small alley and his breathing became heavier and heavier.


    "Phew¡­.Phew¡­.."


    His face became distorted and veins were now visible on his face. While panting, he exclaimed. "No¡­..Stop torturing me already¡­..That man! You felt it for yourself, that man! He will be able to satisfy your needs. Look for him, and leave me alone!"


    His eyes became bloodshot. The most mysterious thing was that a green-headed ghost face appeared on what used to be his clear neck, like a tattoo!


    ...¡­.


    "That guy is a big problem for me!"


    As Fang Yuan returned to the hotel, he recalled the weird feeling he had gotten from Xiao Mu and tensed up.


    If it was any other person, he would have beaten the person till he was unconscious and entered his dream to find out more. However, Xiao Mu had a dream master''s print, and he might have the resistance against dream masters. Hence, if Fang Yuan recklessly entered Xiao Mu''s dream, he might walk straight into a trap and be fighting against the dream master who was behind this.


    Only an idiot would look for trouble by making a new enemy.


    Plus, he was here for the imperial examinations, and not this.


    "This man is trouble and is going to be in the same examination room as me. Even if I can avoid him now, it will still be difficult for me to avoid him after the examination¡­..Alright, I shall entertain him after the examination!"


    Fang Yuan yawned and opened his book.


    The focus of the examinations was on real-world situations. Since he had 6 years of knowledge from Yang Fan and his own prior experience, he wasn''t afraid of this examination.


    The only thing he had to take note of was the notes and research beyond the examples of Da Qian. For that, he would have to revise one more time.


    ...¡­..


    Time passed quickly and it was the day of the examinations.


    To be an official, one had to start off as a clerk first, and there were many levels for clerks. The highest level would be the supervisor, followed by an orderly, and lastly the service worker. There was a hierarchy to it.


    Once one scored well in the examinations, one could directly take up the role of a supervisor.If everything goes well, one would be promoted to become an official of the government. By then, one would have the backing of the government and would be considered the same level as the politicians. With this protection and backing, it was indeed good to be an official of the government. This was why many scholars had come for this imperial examinations.


    At the break of dawn, many scholars were already waiting outside the examination hall. Some were carrying lanterns and their writing materials. The richer ones had their servants by their side.


    Fang Yuan easily found Xiao Mu with his sharp eyes.


    Xiao Mu was in the middle of a crowd and was acting suspiciously. He kept looking around and seemed like he was looking for something.


    ''What a greedy person!''


    Fang Yuan gave a cold laugh.


    At that moment, Xiao Mu saw Fang Yuan and gave a happy face. He wanted to come over and to talk to him.


    "Dong! Dong!"


    Suddenly, along with the sounding of the gong, the door to the examination hall was opened. Two rows of soldiers then came out in an orderly fashion. "It''s time. All scholars please enter the hall! Prohibited items are not allowed in this hall. Whoever gets caught will be given 50 strokes of the cane and banished far away from the city!"


    "Whoosh!"


    The many scholars filled up the entire hall in just a short period of time.


    The seats were already allocated long ago, but these scholars still rushed into the hall as though they would lose out if they were the last to enter.


    Among the crowd, Xiao Mu was pushed forcefully by the crowd into the examination hall as he smiled helplessly at Fang Yuan.


    Fang Yuan thought to himself that whoever was friends with him would be unlucky for the rest of their life.


    "There will be a physical check. All reading materials or anything related to the content of the examination is not allowed!"


    At the entrance, there was a proper procedure for the physical check. However, the scholars were not checked by humans. Instead, the Eye Beasts were checking them like a demonic magic mirror. All scholars were instructed to pass by them and anyone who had evil intentions would be identified easily. Those identified would suffer all types of punishments, and it would be too late to regret.


    "This is just a county level examinations and yet spiritual knights are deployed here to overlook the examinations?"


    Fang Yuan became a little frightened.

 168 Ghastly Head

    In the middle of the examination grounds, there was a tall building.


    There was a good view here; every student could be seen clearly.


    An official with a spiritual bird sewn on his shirt smiled. "We have 3112 candidates today, which is a thirty percent more than the previous year, showing the education level of our county."


    He was the governor of the county. The other two officials saw that the main official was in high spirits today, and were also rather happy.


    However, there was a Daoist carrying a feather fan, looking at the examination grounds, unsettled.


    "Daoist Fei Xiong, what''s the matter?"


    As the governor noticed, he began to worry. "Could it be a problem with the spiritual array on the Eye Beasts?"


    The Eye Beasts were used to catch those who might cheat, but it was not without its loopholes.


    "Nope!"


    Daoist Fei Xiong returned to his position. In front of him, there was a small array set-up, with a few specimens of the Eye Beasts, as though they were alive as their eyes were glowing.


    "The energy in the spiritual array is normal and had already picked out 32 candidates. Please be assured, there would be no chance of any of them slipping through!"


    Daoist Fei Xiong promised.


    "Very well!"


    The governor sighed but did not detect the suspicion in Daoist Fei Xiong''s eyes.


    "The weird part is that the Eye Beasts'' eyes flashed for a while just now, and was evident that a highly skilled person interfered with it. However, after scanning the entire examination ground, we could not find anything... Only one person is suspicious."


    Daoist Fei Xiong stroked his beard, and a thought ran wild in his mind. "It seems that among these candidates, there is a mysterious one!"


    With his spiritual techniques, his left eye flashed red and was no different from that of the Eye Beasts.


    In front of him, a faint glow appeared and landed in front of the last registered candidate.


    That candidate was pale and had weak knees. Who else could it be other than Xiao Mu?


    ...


    In the examination grounds.


    Every candidate was separated by a wooden partition and had a wooden table in front of them. It was extremely squeezy to even move about between the partitions.


    Fang Yuan concentrated in his seat and snickered. "How dare you find trouble for me, I''ll keep you busy!"


    The spiritual array in the Eye Beasts could not detect him as they were tricked into taking him as a normal person.


    Xiao Mu was not that lucky.


    Although he also hid his spiritual energy, Fang Yuan''s underhand means still exposed him.


    As of now, he should be closely watched by the officials already.


    With the fun of mischief, Fang Yuan happily opened the examination script and started to read through it.


    Although this examination lasts only a day, there were many things being tested.


    The first question was about Confucian studies.


    It was just filling in the blanks. However, they did not test the Confucian classics. Instead, they tested astronomy, physical geography, and human geography.


    This not only tested the candidates'' experience, it also tested them on their knowledge of words and their mindfulness.


    After all, the answer script was not allowed to have any cancellation or removal of markings and had high expectations for every candidate.


    After the simplest Confucian studies, it was on mathematics. For the Da Qian empire to recruit clerks, they had to be proficient in mathematics and be familiar with all 8 volumes of ''Mathematical Studies''.


    There were requirements to calculate area, volume and composites, making Fang Yuan think about his previous life.


    Fortunately, Confucian studies were the foundation of Yang Fan, and he could answer them all.


    As for the mathematical problems, with his high magical energy, his mental sums skills were impressive. Furthermore, he had learnt the basics of computing sums in his previous life, and could, therefore, answer any question that came his way.


    After calculation and ensuring that he made no careless mistakes, he wrote down the answer.


    Calligraphy was not Fang Yuan''s forte, but with his impressive control of strength, every stroke of his was not the perfect calligraphic stroke, but it was distinct enough for one to understand.


    As he understood the nature of examinations, how could Fang Yuan not know the importance of it?


    They did not require a perfect handwriting; just a discernable one would do.


    Unknowingly, half a day passed and it was noon.


    He did not need to lift his head; the rustling sound beside him told him everything.


    ''Most of them are in the mathematical section now, but there are some who have yet to fill in the Confucian studies?''


    Fang Yuan shook his head, placed his brush down to rest and drank two mouths of water.


    "The mathematical portion also tested one''s endurance. Without enough endurance, how can one last so long? I''m afraid they would vomit blood from extreme fatigue!"


    As he was deep in his thoughts, there was a commotion East of him. Two soldiers carried out a candidate, whose clothes were stained with blood.


    Both students beside Fang Yuan witnessed it and were lost for words.


    Fang Yuan, on the other hand, did not care one bit and flipped open the last examination script.


    It was on policy making and was a practical topic. The question posed was in the form of a case and required the candidate to base on the classic laws to make a judgement. It was very subjective and was a trap for most candidates.


    If the candidate only knew to study from the books, he would be trapped in this question.


    Without hesitation, Fang Yuan took up his brush and started to write.


    Regardless of how uninformed he was on policy-making, he was still once a Prefecture Master and had the experience.


    However, he needed to take note of the difference and not bring it laws which the Da Qian Empire did not have.


    As he completed the examination, he still had two hours of time left.


    Of course, Fang Yuan didn''t wait any longer. He called for the official and handed in his script before arriving at the holding room to drink tea. After there were enough students in the holding room, the soldiers escorted the entire batch out.


    "If nothing weird would happen, then I would be able to get it!"


    Once he exited the examination grounds, Fang Yuan was brimming with confidence.


    "And by then, I will know what this Yang Fan really wishes for..."


    "Brother Yang!"


    At one side, a pale candidate exclaimed with joy and arrived in front of Fang Yuan. "Who would''ve thought that Brother Fang had also completed the examinations! Why not go for a drink, my treat?"


    "Sure!"


    Seeing the skinny Xiao Mu, Fang Yuan nodded his head, and unknowingly took notice of his neck.


    ''Even though you might have the print of a dream master, coming up to me to seek your death? Or seek your death?''


    Of course, Xiao Mu could not detect anything unusual.


    Even when he was at the examination grounds and was detected by the officials, he thought that he did not cover himself up well enough. Now, he wanted Yang Fan to bear the brunt. He treated Fang Yuan like his father and pulled him to a restaurant, sat down and started to drink with him.


    "Where did Brother Xiao come from? Could it be a Xiao Family in this county?"


    Fang Yuan held the cup of wine, his face flushed.


    "I''m not afraid to let you know, I am indeed a member of the Xiao Family, but my ancestor was a bastard, and so now we are just a normal family..."


    At this point, Xiao Mu sighed and felt a little hatred in him.


    "Come on, this wine is good stuff, let''s have a few more cups!"


    As he shared, he encouraged Fang Yuan to drink more wine. Fang Yuan drank a long and at last became drunk. He was then escorted back to his inn.


    "Come... Brother Xiao, let''s drink!"


    Fang Yuan laid on his bed, full of alcohol. He mumbled a few sentences before going into deep sleep.


    "Good chance!"


    Xiao Mu''s expression changed and did not appear drunk anymore.


    He looked at Fang Yuan and twitched his facial muscles. Suddenly, he ripped his clothes apart, revealing a spiritual print on his neck, forming the shape of a green ghost head.


    "See this? This is the person who is disturbing you!"


    His words were filled with temptation, as though he was talking to a ghost. "Look for him! Don''t disturb me! Go!"


    Accompanying his voice, the tattoo on his neck started to glow and spin as though it had a life of its own. It was chuckling and slowed down.


    "Good boy, go... look for him, don''t bother me!"


    Xiao Mu appeared crazy as he placed a hand on Fang Yuan. The tattoo slowly moved to his elbows, but soon remained stuck there.


    "Go... go... why are you stopping? Why do you want to bother me?"


    After countless attempts of encouraging it, Xiao Mu almost broke down. With a hint of sadness, he shouted. "Get lost! I have already found a scapegoat for you, so don''t disturb me!"


    "Jie jie!"


    The laughter of the ghost was distinct in the quiet room.


    Although it could not be deciphered, Xiao Mu seemed to have understood it. "You cannot do it... now? Do you need three nights of... contamination? Stay close... don''t leave?"


    "Pa!"


    He clapped his hands. "Alright, I know what to do!"


    Looking at Fang Yuan, he seemed rather unwilling but finally became cold-blooded. "Brother Yang, don''t blame me! If you want to blame, blame it on the fact that we are the same type of people, and are harassed by this stupid thing!"


    Xiao Mu had decided. He rushed down and was likely to be looking for the innkeeper to book a room.


    On the bed, the originally drunk Fang Yuan opened his eyes. "This print... It''s doesn''t seem to be so simple..."


    He acted weak to being Xiao Mu''s guard down and reveal his true intentions.


    However, his type of dream master print was very rarely seen. It was like a living thing, which confused Fang Yuan.


    "From Xiao Mu''s reaction, it seemed like he suffered a lot from the print, but it does not seem to be as simple as a dream master looking for a servant, could it be..."


    Fang Yuan''s eyes glittered.


    ...


    After a few hours.


    He faked to become sober and saw Xiao Mu as he arrived downstairs.


    "Brother Yang, you''re awake! I have specially asked the kitchen to prepare soup to sober you up!"


    He was full of smiles, which was infectious. "After a good chat with you, I felt schooled in your knowledge of the world. How I wish I could learn from you day and night. I have shifted here to be your neighbour, and I hope you don''t mind!"


    "Since this is an inn, everyone here is a guest! You''re thinking too much!"


    Fang Yuan smiled. "It''s a good thing I have nothing on this few days and have to wait in the city for the results of the examinations to be released. I was still wondering how I would spend my days!"


    "If Brother Yang doesn''t mind, I''m willing to treat you to a tour around the city!"


    Xiao Mu was pleased, as the fog in his eyes grew bigger...


    It was midnight and everyone was tired and resting.


    "Coming!"


    Fang Yuan extinguished his candle and crossed his legs on the bed. He noticed faint green Bewildering Fog coming from the room next to him and snickered. "I want to see what you are!"


    He concentrated and waved his hands. A white Bewildering Fog appeared, blocking the green fog. He took a little of the green fog and wrapped it around his palms, like a green snake slithering around his fingers.

 169 Ranking

    "There is no doubt that this is the work of a Dream Master!"


    The green fog appeared to be alive and twirled non-stop around Fang Yuan''s finger. It tried to enter the space between his eyebrows.


    However, the green fog would be blocked by a ray of light, which gave off an aura like the Five Fingers Mountain, every time it came close.


    "That Xiao Mu should have been confused by the fog and as such, experiences nightmares every day. There could be other damages..."


    Fang Yuan muttered, "What does that Dream Master want?"


    He took a few steps forward and arrived beside the wall. He released his magical energy and broke through the green fog.


    A hazy guestroom appeared before his eyes.


    Although it was no different from this world, the room was filled with the dense green fog. On the bed, Xiao Mu''s eyes were tightly shut and his eyeballs rolled about under his eyelids. He tightly gripped his blanket which was torn. He appeared to be tortured.


    Around his neck, the green demonic tattoo became even more obvious and expanded to his chest. It looked as if it was about to leave his body.


    "The more painful the nightmare Xiao Mu experiences, the more powerful and larger the tattoo becomes...it looks like..."


    Fang Yuan moved his eyes.


    At this moment, the void started to shack.


    He was stunned. He looked at both his hands, "Dream-build!"


    Threads of inner power appeared, they broke through the Death Gate and arrived at the 4 Heavenly Gates.


    "I have recovered my Eagle Claw Iron Skin Technique (Grade 9)?"


    Fang Yuan was pleased, "I have found...the gateway to Yang Fan''s ideas!!!"


    In order to leave the dream world of others, especially that of an evil dream master, suicide was out of question. On the other hand, unless his cultivation was higher than that of the said dream master, it would be futile as well.


    The only way to escape was to ''obey''!


    By complying with the subconscious mind of the original host of the dream, one would be able to exit the dream world!


    "My dream-building ability had returned even though it was previously sealed. Does this show that I have reached the pivotal point?"


    Fang Yuan looked at Xiao Mu who was still having nightmares.


    "That''s right...Yang Fan eventually becomes a Dream Master! Given his status in the family, how could he have a master to guide him? Unless it is an encounter by chance!"


    "Unless¡­...could it be that his chanced encounter is here?"


    With this thought, Fang Yuan, who had originally wanted to interfere, hesitated. After thinking, Fang Yuan left.


    ...


    "Brother Yang, how did you sleep yesterday?"


    The breakfast in the guesthouse was sumptuous. There were buns, cakes, biscuits etc. Fang Yuan took a bowl of porridge and slowly ate it.


    Xiao Mu had dark circles under his eyes. He sat opposite and wanted to say something but hesitated. He could no longer take it and finally asked.


    "Ah? Me?"


    Fang Yuan was stunned. "Not bad, a night without dreams, why?"


    "Nothing!"


    Xiao Mu''s face was contorted. Fear, sadness, jealousy...all kinds of emotions were mixed and could be seen on his face.


    Fang Yuan gazed at Xiao Mu who flushed and hid back in his room after bidding Fang Yuan goodbye.


    "Interesting! Really interesting!"


    Fang Yuan thought as he looked at Xiao Mu.


    This Dream Master''s marking did not appear to be like those common markings. Rather, it appeared to have many secrets hidden within.


    It was hard to tell whether it was a blessing or a curse for an ordinary person to receive it.


    ...


    In the examination hall.


    More than a dozen rooms were open. Countless invigilators were looking at the scripts in front of them meticulously.


    As the Head Invigilator, the governor did not have much tasking. All he had to do was to supervise the evaluation of the scripts and come out with the rankings afterwards.


    While the first and last in ranking may appear to have done equally well in their examinations with no difference in their scores, their backgrounds mattered and could affect their scoring. This was worth fighting for.


    It was just that it was not so intense.


    The governor was a product of doing well for the examinations and as such, he knew full well that the thin scripts could determine the status of the commoners and as such, dared not neglect his duty.


    "Governor! The recommended script from Room B!"


    An aide jogged forward and presented a script.


    "Hmm?"


    The governor took a look at the script and nodded his head. Without looking at the answer, the words looked nice and grand. There was just a small amount of cursive in the middle of the script that marred the neatness of the script which was a shame.


    However, considering the young age of the student, it was hard to come by.


    After reviewing the script, he was satisfied that there was no problem with the logic and the calculations in the script. The only issue was with the question that was subjective where the examiners would score him as they see fit. However, he would not receive a low score for it.


    He could not help but remark, "Good...He would most likely be ranked first!"


    He immediately ordered a person to retrieve a small knife and cut open the seal that was covering the name of the person who submitted the script. "Xiao Mu? Hmmm? He would be ranked 1st if nothing unexpected happens!"


    "Xiao Mu!?"


    Daoist Fei Xiong, who was originally sipping on his tea unhurriedly, asked, "Xiao Mu of the Xiao Family?"


    "That''s right!"''


    The governor nodded his head as he saw that the interest of the spiritual knight was piqued. He remembered something. "You once heavily monitored a student in the examination hall. Could it be the same person?"


    "That''s right...I did not notice anything strange!"


    Daoist Fei Xiong shook his head slowly.


    "This..."


    The governor was suspicious and took the script aside.


    Not discovering a problem does not mean that there was no problem. Being the top scorer would require some connections. However, his answers were too good and the governor did not want to penalize him.


    "Governor, the recommended script from Room A!"


    After a while, another aide came forward and held up a script.


    "The examiner of Room A was Lord Peng right? He is well-known for being old-fashioned. It is no easy feat to be recommended by him. Let me see!"


    The governor was very curious and opened the script.


    "Hmm, the words are not bad, neat and tidy, and the style is grand. However, Xiao Mu''s writing is slightly better..."


    His first impression was that the script was not exceptional. He took a look at the script. There was nothing wrong with the first two pages, the reasoning was clear and easy to understand, with his very own style.


    "Hmmm, not bad? This is really not bad!"


    He read and read again. He could not help but praise it, "Good, an older and more experienced person might not be able to produce a better standard!"


    "Oh?"


    Daoist Fei Xiong was interested and came forward to take a look.


    "This essay displayed maturity and the crucial thing is that the experience is rich. This is really unbelievable!"


    The governor heaved a sigh and took out Xiao Mu''s script.


    By comparing the two scripts, the governor could see the difference in style. While Xiao Mu''s words were good, it was lacking in character. It was just like a lone soldier who was great on his own. However, when met with a strict and impartial formation of troops who were common at best, the lone soldier would have to retreat.


    "Which one do you think is better?"


    Daoist Fei Xiong stroked his moustache. "Based on their scripts, I can tell that they are exceptional. I am interested in the two of them!"


    "These talents are scouted by the imperial court, don''t think about taking them in and teach them cultivation!"


    The governor chided.


    "How is it easy to find those talented in cultivation..."


    Daoist Fei Xiong shook his head, "They had just accumulated good karma, now it''s time to see their nature!"


    A sign of curiosity flashed across his eyes.


    He did not know who the script belonged to. However, he knew that Xiao Mu had a great aptitude.


    He made up his mind to find out who the script belonged to.


    "Haha...employing the young talents for the country is one of life''s important task!"


    The governor laughed and started to cut open the seal.


    The two aides and even Daoist Fei Xiong leaned in to take a closer look.


    ...


    Three days past in a flash.


    Fang Yuan and Xiao Mu arrived at the examination hall and found a teahouse to rest in while waiting for the news.


    "Brother Xiao is exceptional, you will definitely come first!"


    Fang Yuan smiled and said as he saw that Xiao Mu was anxious.


    Those that sat near them were also scholars and smiled with good intention when they heard him.


    "I am indebted!"


    Xiao Mu smiled. His smile looked worse than when he cried.


    He was anxious, not because of the ranking of the examination but rather, because of Fang Yuan.


    This was because, for the past few nights, he had intentionally tried to harm Fang Yuan to no avail. This caused him to feel suspicious and as such, he could not help but be unnatural around Fang Yuan.


    "The results are out!"


    After three blasts, the examination hall opened and a few aides came out, carrying the name list.


    Numerous candidates surged forward and gathered at the wall.


    "Haha...I made it!"


    "It is lamentable that my hair had already turned grey when I finally had a chance to improve my social status..."


    "I will come back after one year!"


    Those that made it and those who did not, happiness, sadness, regrets and other types of emotions were mixed and felt by Fang Yuan.


    "They are already so crazy even though this is not the true imperial examinations where those who made it will become officials. How would they react when they passed the actual imperial examinations?"


    He sighed and look at the name list and saw that Xiao Mu was in second place. He immediately turned around and congratulated Xiao Mu, "Xiao Mu, congratulations!"


    "Ah?"


    Xiao Mu was stumped. His eyesight was not as good as Fang Yuan and did not realise that he not only passed but got second placing when his acquaintances came forward to congratulate him. He smiled and said, "I will treat all of you to tea!"


    "Brother Xiao appears to be enjoying himself?"


    Fang Yuan asked, "Why aren''t you the first?"


    "Brother Yang must be joking. A pass is a pass, no matter how high or low the score, everybody starts at the same place. What is the difference?"


    Xiao Mu forced out a laugh, "Who is the candidate that got number 1?"


    "He is right in front of you!"


    A candidate nearby pushed Xiao Mu''s shoulders and came forward. "It is Brother Yang Fan!"


    "Oh? Is that so?"


    In his heart, he was unwilling. However, he forced himself to congratulate Fang Yuan. "You are much more talented than me. It is only natural that you deserved it!"


    He knew that Fang Yuan was better than him. However, when he thought of the mark that followed him like a parasite but let the person in front of him go, he was no longer able to suppress his bitter resentment.


    ''Why? Why is the person more talented than me, yet he did not have to suffer what I suffered, why are the heavens so unjust? Why is earth so unfair? Hate! Hate! Hate!''


    Xiao Mu looked dark and a green light flashed across his eyes.

 170 Green Ghos

    In the middle of the night.


    In the inn, there was a warm light come from a lamp in Fang Yuan''s room.


    "Brother Yang, you''re not asleep?"


    A shadow covered his light, and his voice was sinister.


    "I knew you''d come!"


    Fang Yuan opened the door and invited Xiao Mu in.


    Xiao Mu was shocked. He saw a pot of wine on the table and two other dishes. The most crucial was the two sets of cutlery and bowls, which meant that Fang Yuan was expecting someone.


    "Have a seat!"


    Fang Yuan took a seat himself and poured a cup of wine for Xiao Mu.


    "Alright!"


    He sat down and drank the cup. A taste of spiciness filled his mouth and up to his nose, and he felt as though he was reborn, with a tinge of anger.


    "Do you know that I admire you?"


    After a long while, Xiao Mu opened his mouth, with a tone of disappointment.


    "Oh? Why is that?"


    Fang Yuan toyed around with the cup in his hands, and he didn''t know whether to laugh or not.


    "You are smarter than me and luckier than me!"


    Xiao Mu was reduced to tears. "Why... You have everything that I admire, and yet you don''t need to be disturbed by this stupid thing!"


    As he lamented, he ripped the shirt revealing his neck. A Ghost Head tattoo appeared, as though it was smiling. It had a dark green colour on half of the ghost''s face.


    "And because of this, you''re out to kill me?"


    Fang Yuan asked calmly.


    "That''s right, I''m here to kill you!"


    Xiao Mu nodded his head.


    A layer of green fog appeared and covered the entire inn.


    Regardless the innkeeper, or the waiters, or the other guests, they were all in deep sleep, and their faces appeared to be in fear, as though they were suffering from a nightmare.


    At this point in time, the tattoo climbed up to Xiao Mu''s face, and slowly into his eyes, as though it was unnerving.


    Due to the print, his voice was also affected.


    "Oh..."


    As Fang Yuan witnessed this, he looked at Xiao Mu with pity. "Your pain and suffering, it''s all about this print? If you knew it''s true value, I''m afraid you will be regretful!"


    "You know its origins? Tell me!"


    The other half of Xiao Mu''s face appeared to be hopeful, as he stretched his hands out.


    Fang Yuan''s eye flashed and he struck his right index finger out.


    "Kacha!"


    An ear-piercing fracture was heard.


    Xiao Mu shrieked and fell to the floor. The bone of his right arm was completely shattered and was bent in a heart-breaking angle.


    Breaking through the 9th Gate, with the evolved Eagle Claw Iron Skin Technique was not something a normal human being could handle, albeit not achieving its full potential.


    "You are... a martial artist?"


    Xiao Mu laughed cunningly. "It''s useless. Although I have not learnt martial arts, I have previously sought the help of ten over martial artists, but they all died under this print!"


    "Jie jie!"


    Accompanying the weird laughter, the Ghost Head tattoo grew larger as though Xiao Mu had worn a mask. As it opened its ghost eyes, it stared at Fang Yuan with curiosity.


    "Good boy... Kill him!"


    Xiao Mu pointed at Fang Yuan, and his expression changed from one of sucking up, to one of temptation, to one of rave... he was drowned in expressions.


    "What a pity!"


    Fang Yuan casually commented after seeing this.


    "What did you say?"


    The human side of Xiao Mu''s face became flushed, and his eyes were bloodshot.


    "I said that I pity you! You have already detected the print''s objective, and yet you don''t know how to control it. You only know how to follow it''s instructions, feed it and become its slave!"


    Fang Yuan tore Xiao Mu''s phobia apart mercilessly. "Not only your magical energy but even your body has rotted away. It was a chance for you, but it became your dictator, and you deserve this!"


    "Fear to such a stage where you do not think about yourself, but channel the hatred to others, enraging yourself, but you are just a little bug full of pity!"


    Every word and sentence was true, and Xiao Mu could not argue. In fact, it enraged him further. "I want you to die!!!"


    Suddenly, his tone changed to one of temptation and command. "Hurry up, kill him! Kill him! Kill him! If you can do this, I will give you my entire dream world!"


    "Jie jie!"


    Suddenly, a blood-curdling event happened.


    A distinct sound came from the face of Xiao Mu. He stood up forcefully and shot out a red beam of light from his ghost eye as he examined Fang Yuan. "You are right. This boy is a disappointment. I still thought that if he passed the training, we could even recruit him in!"


    The human side of Xiao Mu became fearful. "Who are you? Why can you control my body?"


    "Haha... I am Qing Gui. Did you not cry and beg me to help you?"


    A mocking voice came out from Xiao Mu''s mouth. If someone were to see this scene in the night, they would surely have nightmares.


    "You are it, the Ghost Head tattoo!"


    Xiao Mu finally understood. Unfortunately, he could only control the human side of his face. All the other parts of his body were under the green tattoo''s control.


    "Taking over?"


    Fang Yuan became serious.


    "After being infected by my Qing Gui print, you can train whatever you want with a boost in your magical energy, and you will be initiated into the Sect. I can also adopt your human form!"


    The half-face of Qing Gui was full of pride.


    ''Evil dream master?!''


    Fang Yuan came to a conclusion.


    This Qing Gui dream master was fated to have met Xiao Mu as it detected that he had an above average magical energy. However, he was still far from the standard of a dream master.


    Therefore, he imprinted the Qing Gui tattoo on him to test him.


    If he could successfully defeat the dream demon, he could make the Qing Gui tattoo disappear. His magical energy would increase by folds and he could inherit the gift of being a dream master.


    However, if he failed, he would be countered by the print. The print would then consume his Essence, Spirit and Magic to grow, and finally, take over his body!


    ''This most important thing is¡­... This was such an important test to him, and yet he did not tell his disciple anything!''


    Fang Yuan mumbled to himself. ''Such lack of regard for human life, it is indeed an evil and immoral path!''


    "You must be wondering why I did not mention this before?"


    Qing Gui laughed. "If I told you, then what is the true meaning of training? How can you become a dream master without tribulations?"


    "Dream master?!"


    The human half of Xiao Mu''s face was in shock.


    He was regretful! Extremely regretful! He was being ostracized by his family and was not allowed to practice martial arts, which was why he shifted his focus to the Imperial Examinations.


    However, there was a dream master''s inheritance right in front of him, but he did not treasure it. Rather, he allowed the inheritance to take over him!


    "Master! I am willing to become your disciple, and learn the ways of a dream master!"


    Xiao Mu exclaimed, but it was too late.


    "Heh! You are always like that, and I''m sure even if I had nurtured you, you would still be the same! Just be a good boy and let me take over you!"


    Qing Gui started to snicker, and the dark green colour started to spread throughout his entire face.


    As the end, it entered his eye and transformed his last eye into a Ghost eye.


    "Heavenly Ghosts Transformation Technique!"


    A green fog appeared, engulfing Xiao Mu.


    A chilly voice was heard, as though it had come from the depths of hell.


    As the green fog faded, a green long-haired sinister young man with long eyebrows stood in front of Fang Yuan.


    Every part of Xiao Mu was being transformed, and he disappeared from the face of the Earth.


    "Qing Gui?!"


    Fang Yuan took in a deep breath and looked at the green haired young man in front of him.


    "That''s right, that''s me!"


    Qing Gui''s voice was not terrible. Rather, it was soothing and attractive.


    "I see that your potential is greater than that previous garbage. How? Are you interested in becoming my disciple?"


    Qing Gui looked at him in anticipation.


    "Disciple?"


    Fang Yuan changed his expression. "Do I need to have the ghost-like tattoo as well?"


    "To be my disciple, that is a must!"


    Qing Gui was filled with pride. "Do you know how scary my Sect''s true ability is?! To join it is your fortune!"


    "Of course, your potential is much greater than that garbage. You can straight away accept me as your master, and I shall help you get rid of your mortal ties!"


    "Get rid... of my mortal ties?!"


    Fang Yuan was lost for words.


    If it was not him that was here, but the young Yang Fan, would he have the ability to say no?


    "That''s right! Since you''ve joined us, you cannot have any relationship with your family and friends. I will help you remove every one of them!"


    Qing Gui chuckled. "Every person who becomes my disciple must pass this stage, to forget their mortal self. From then, you can focus on becoming a dream master!"


    "Crazy fellow!"


    Fang Yuan commented on this person in his own mind and made a decision.


    Since he was not able to detect Fang Yuan''s cultivation, it seemed that his cultivation was not too high.


    He could understand. After all, the person here was just a print taking over a human body. Since the human body itself was a disappointment, the end product would not be satisfactory.


    Just to be sure, he had to test.


    "You want to get rid of my mortal ties?"


    Fang Yuan showed a face of pride. "You do know that my family is the Yang Family. Can you remove all of them?"


    "Yang Xinglie''s Yang Family? That''s rather troublesome!"


    Qing Gui''s eyes flashed and he snickered. "No worries. It''s just one Elemental Opening spiritual knight, two Meridian Opening Wu Zongs... When my real body arrived, it would be effortless!"


    Yang Hanglie was Yang Fan''s biological father and the leader of the Yang Family!


    From Qing Gui''s words, Fang Yuan had obtained valuable information.


    Firstly, he now knew the ability of the Yang Family. It was indeed a force to be reckoned with, with 3 Elemental Opening spiritual knights, which could easily create havoc in Xia or Wu Country.


    The split body of this Qing Gui was not as skilled and could not take on an opponent from the Elemental Opening Realm.


    Lastly, the true body of Qing Gui would have the ability to take on an opponent from the Elemental Opening Realm, even if he was just boasting!


    ''Could the Yang Family be destroyed just like this?''


    Fang Yuan thought to himself, and could not guess what would happen next.


    ''However, I came in first in the Imperial Examinations, and there seem to be no improvements in my dream building ability. It seems like this was not Yang Fan''s objective, and that leaves me either revenge or finding his biological mother...''


    At this point, he squinted his eyes¡­...

 171 The Big Battle

    "None of the disciples which I have chosen has ever escaped me in history!"


    Qing Gui saw that Fang Yuan hesitated a little. He gave a cold laugh and stretched his right hand out.


    Xiao Mu''s arms had been broken by Fang Yuan, but Qing Gui''s arm was still in a good condition. As he grabbed, the green fog started to surge, taking the form of a cage. Huge pressure overflowed from all directions.


    "Hmph!"


    Fang Yuan''s Dantian exploded as his inner force flowed around his whole body. His skin colour became metallic. Instead of retreating, he pounced on Qing Gui.


    "With just your 9th Gate cultivation level, do you think you can defeat my print?"


    Qing Gui gave a cold smile and waved his fingers, and green fog came together and formed a giant python. The python wrapped around Fang Yuan and trapped him.


    Immediately, Qing Gui''s face turned serious. An emerald green coloured scar appeared between his eyebrows. Like a small snake, it was moving around and without warning split into two.


    "Woo¡­.."


    Qing Gui gave a deep sigh. Splitting the print was clearly not an easy task for him.


    "Hehe¡­..lad, how will any normal person have such fate? Don''t miss this chance!"


    A small amount of spiritual light landed on his palm. Like a fog, the spiritual light remained unsettled. Qing Gui took a step forward and grew a suspicious look. "While I was in hibernation, I felt a resistance from you against my print. Whatever mysteries you are hiding, show them all to me now!"


    "Heavenly ghost print transfiguration, come and go!"


    Qing Gui gave a cold smile as he trapped all of Fang Yuan''s limbs. He then chanted a curse.


    From his deep voice, the spiritual light from his hand fused together. A few enchantment writings appeared to form a chain. Slowly, they connected together, and after a while, a small green print was finally formed. Qing Gui stretched his arm out to place the print on Fang Yuan''s forehead.


    Qing Gui was already attacking without any reservations.


    "You have walked into a trap!"


    Just when Qing Gui was about to place the print onto Fang Yuan''s forehead, Fang Yuan gave a smile and exclaimed. "Go!"


    "Whoosh!"


    A white-coloured Bewildering fog started to gather in the surroundings and the fog fused to form the shape of an arrow. Flying forward, it aimed straight for the spiritual print.


    "Pa!"


    The only use of the print was to control one''s mind, and therefore had limited power itself. Coming into contact with the fog arrow, the print exploded.


    ''Aahh¡­.."


    Qing Gui held his forehead and cried out loud. "You¡­.you are a dream master!!!"


    His heart was filled with regret and hatred.


    If the print was not hibernation and had been activated earlier, he would have realised that Fang Yuan was special!


    "You''re right, but sadly there is no prize for getting the correct answer!"


    In between Fang Yuan''s eyebrows, his dream elemental force was surging. His limbs shook and the green fog started to fade away.


    "Shadowstep!"


    He tapped his foot lightly. Immediately, thousands of illusionary images of him appeared.These illusions were quick and in no time, Fang Yuan reached Qing Gui and struck his finger towards his forehead, with the intent to kill.


    "You want to extinguish my divine spirit? Dream on!"


    The spiritual property on his forehead was the only weakness Qing Gui had.


    He didn''t expect that it would be easily seen through by Fang Yuan. In shock, he quickly bit his tongue and spat out a mouthful of blood.


    "Whoosh!"


    The blood formed a blood arrow and it went head-on with Fang Yuan''s finger. On contact, it vanished.


    Fang Yuan''s action was delayed for a moment as he uncontrollably hesitated.


    Using this opportunity, Qing Gui tried to avoid Fang Yuan''s finger. Instead, his chest was hurt by Fang Yuan.


    "Po!"


    There was an explosion on his chest and a bloody hole appeared. Emerald-green coloured liquid was splashing everywhere.


    "Aahh¡­.Sen Luo Hell! Ten thousand Buddhas, Kill!"


    Qing Gui let out a powerful shout. A Bewildering fog surrounded him and transfigured into numerous ghostly shadows. A few evil ghosts appeared with green faces and sharp teeth hungry for flesh. However, the other half of the spirits took on the form of Buddha and Arhat. All of them looked fierce and were staring right at Fang Yuan.


    "Are they real or fake? Or both?"


    The entire hotel seemed to have become a ghost city, and Fang Yuan let out a cold laughter. "What is fake will be fake! What is real will be real! Your cultivation level is not very high and yet you dare confuse me between the two? Let me¡­.break it!"


    Even though Qing Gui was at the Illusionary Divine Stage or higher, but being distracted, he could only be comparable to the Elemental Gathering Realm at most!


    Along with Fang Yuan''s exclamation, the whole area shook.


    The white fog started to get denser. Many of the ghosts died, and the Buddhas disappeared, revealing Qing Gui in the middle.


    "Do you think that my Sen Luo Hell is only an illusion?"


    At that moment, with a cunning smile, he pointed his fingers.


    "Kacha! Kacha!"


    As illusion was destroyed, the guest room appeared larger than usual. Unknowingly, the four corners of a room had runes sparkling with spiritual light. These runes became an array and started to pressure Fang Yuan.


    "You have a hidden spell in the illusion?"


    Fang Yuan gave a pale face. He knew that even though Qing Gui was at the Elemental Gathering Stage, he was still highly experienced in combat. He already had a backup plan, and his attacks were continuous.


    "Rise, Giant Wood Array!"


    Qing Gui exclaimed, and the wooden planks from the room started to break. Vines started to spread, forming thick logs which flew towards Fang Yuan.


    "Bang! Bang!"


    "Bang! Bang!"


    Fang Yuan quickly struck his claw out and broke many of the thick logs. With every grab, an eagle''s cry accompanied it.


    "It''s useless. Even though my wood-type spiritual spells are weak, but when used together with my Giant Wood Array¡­ After all, you are just a 9th Gate martial artist¡­.."


    Qing Gui mocked Fang Yuan as he saw what he was doing. However, in the next moment, he was in shock and was speechless.


    "Heavenly Eagle Claw!"


    Along with Fang Yuan''s shout, there was a glow coming from his claws as it became deadly.


    "Chirp!"


    With a high-pitched chirp, a large black eagle suddenly appeared.


    Its eyes scanned quickly and its feathers were as tough as a metal. Using its sharp claws to strike, many of the logs from the array were broken with ease and fell straight down.


    "Release of elemental force! Giving it an eagle''s form!!!"


    Qing Gui was very surprised. "You are a Wu Zong!!!"


    Thoughts were rushing through his mind.


    At such a young age, Yang Fan was able to cultivate both martial arts and spiritual techniques, and on both ends, he was able to cultivate and obtain elemental force. Such talent was rare in Da Qian Empire and he must have inherited skills from somewhere.


    Qing Gui realised that he had acted too rashly but it was too late.


    "Kill!"


    The giant eagle chirped and broke through the array. Fang Yuan then became a shadow and jumped to the side.


    ''My dream building ability has improved again!''


    ''Looks like a large part of the breakthrough of the dream is from the Yang family. A small part is here!''


    Deep down in his heart, Fang Yuan had predicted that Yang Fan would probably have been a disciple of Qing Gui and suffered a lot under him.


    At this moment, Fang Yuan counter-attacked Qing Gui. By accomplishing a small part of the breakthrough of the dream, he had gained even more control of this world and his real Wu Zong power was recovered!


    "Qing Gui Claw!"


    Qing Gui retreated but both of his hands became emerald green in colour. Both of his hands became ghosts claws as he struck out.


    "Martial arts? No! It''s a spiritual technique. He is using a spiritual technique as a form of martial arts!"


    Fang Yuan let out a big laugh and said, "How can his ghostly claws compare against my legitimate martial arts technique! Watch out for my Eagle Claw!"


    "Whoosh!"


    Without avoiding the ghostly claw, he too struck his claw out.


    The air in between them shook. The wind produced by both claws were powerful and pulsated in all directions, destroying the guest room in the process.


    Amidst the explosions, Qing Gui exclaimed and blood exploded out from his body. Transforming into a green flash of light, he escaped from the window.


    "Don''t even think of escaping from me!"


    Fang Yuan would not let him go easily and started to go after him.


    "Aahh¡­...Who is this demon, how dare you harming others in the city with your spells? What are you taking the government as?"


    Right in front, Fang Yuan heard a deafening voice.


    "Hmm?"


    With a few leaps, Fang Yuan arrived at a field. In front, he saw Qing Gui being stopped by a daoist, who appeared mad.


    The daoist had a gentle demeanour, but became violent and powerful when he attacked.


    Most importantly, surrounding the daoist were a few Eye Beasts'', and their eyes were glowing red as they were able to see through Qing Gui''s illusion.


    "Little daoist, you are asking for trouble!"


    Qing Gui was filled with hatred as he was stopped from escaping.


    Even though he was an incarnation, if not for injuries he had and he the rush he was in to escape, how could he be easily stopped by the daoist?


    "Hey, that daoist priest over there, don''t let that person escape!"


    Fang Yuan seemed very relaxed and slowly walked over. "This person is frenzied. He has destroyed the whole hotel and even killed a scholar!"


    "Eh? How dare you?"


    Daoist Fei Xiong was furious.


    A scholar who had passed the imperial examinations but hadn''t taken up the role of an official was still considered a member of the government. How could there be no severe punishments for such murder?


    Plus, he was escaping under Daoist Fei Xiong''s nose, implicating him.


    "Eye Beasts!"


    Daoist Fei Xiong shouted, and the Eye Beasts lined up in a formation. Their eyes let out a red glow. "Destroy the evil! Destroy the evil!"


    "Bast*rd!"


    Seeing Fang Yuan coming for him and with the suppression from others, Qing Gui knew that he would not be able to escape and showed a gloomy face.


    "You want to kill me? You two shall die together with me!"


    Breaking his own arm and his wounds glowed an emerald green, and not one drop of blood flowed from his wounds. At this moment, he used his other arm to execute a technique. "Sen Luo Flame, burn this place into hell!"


    "Rumble! Rumble!"


    Emerald green flames started to engulf his body. As the red glow from the Eye Beasts landed on the flames, the flames flickered for a while before the red glow faded away.


    Slowly, the fire had begun to spread and some of the flames had caught onto the Eye Beasts. Some of the statues became emerald green fire torches and were reduced to ashes.


    "This is¡­.."


    Daoist Fei Xiong was surprised and retreated.


    Such flame was not only evil in nature, it reminded him of someone who was extremely powerful but evil.


    "Sen Luo Flame?!.....Now I remember. You are Qing Gui, the Venerable Qing Gui!"


    Daoist Fei Xiong was filled with regrets.


    If he knew the person was Qing Gui, he would not have driven him to his wit''s end and ended up provoking him.


    After all, from the energy Qing Gui was giving out, he could guess that it was just an incarnation of him.


    "You all¡­.shall die!"


    Qing Gui had become a person on fire and started to run towards Fang Yuan and Daoist Fei Xiong.


    "Rise!"


    Fang Yuan knew that that move was his last resort and he would not be able to last.


    Even though the fire was intense, it was less intense compared to before after some of it had spread to the Eye Beasts.


    Fang Yuan struck both of his hands into the ground, where all the elemental force was. The whole ground started to break and a large portion of it rose like an iron wall before Fang Yuan threw it at Qing Gui.

 172 Eagle

    "Whoosh!"


    The emerald fire from Qing Gui burnt everything in its way, its intensity unparalleled. The soil wall burst into flames coming in contact with the flame.


    "Very well! Come again!"


    Fang Yuan''s breathing intensified and as he ran, he created clouds of dust behind him.He then pounced on Qing Gui.


    "Rumble! Rumble!"


    The fire was getting stronger, and Venerable Qing Gui began shouting fiercely. "Come out!!!"


    The fiery Qing Gui started to simmer down on its own after a while, and at the heart of the flame, the flame lost its brilliance slowly.


    "Let''s go!"


    Seeing this, Fang Yuan didn''t continue to attack Qing Gui. Instead, he grabbed Daoist Fei Xiong and escaped with his Shadowstep.


    "Pi la!"


    In a flash.


    Qing Gui, who was on fire, suddenly transformed into an arrow and flew towards where Fang Yuan and Fei Xiong were previously at, engulfing the place in a sea of fire.


    "I¡­. will not let you two go!"


    Amidst the fiery emerald flame, Qing Gui chanted the curse as his voice got softer and softer.


    "He is going to die for real this time!"


    Fang Yuan slowly commented as he noticed the dissipating flames and the alarmed residents and constables nearby.


    "Hmm¡­..Unfortunately, that was just his incarnation. We have provoked the evil Qing Gui and there would be consequences¡­.."


    Daoist Fei Xiong looked at Fang Yuan with a gloomy face. "Are you¡­.Yang Fan, the top scorer for the imperial examinations? The members of Yang family are indeed special!"


    Fang Yuan laughed in his heart.


    Daoist Fei Xiong knew his background and attributed his ability to harness elemental force in both martial arts and spiritual techniques to his family. This might have been the Yang family''s secret.


    However, Fang Yuan would not reveal this and he gave a confused look, "You are¡­.."


    "I''m a spiritual knight that enforce the law for this county, and my Daoist name is Fei Xiong! Since you are also a spiritual knight, let''s just skip the formalities between us, otherwise in a few hundred years later, there might be a confusion in our seniority for future generations?"


    "Brother Fei Xiong!"


    Fang Yuan nodded his head.


    "That''s right!"


    Daoist Fei Xiong gave a happy face and he felt more connected to Fang Yuan. "Brother Yang, the martial arts you are cultivating has a lot hidden potential. It is comparable to the Qian Kun Giant Spiritual Technique and I''m guessing that you have attained the Second Elemental Force? Otherwise, you couldn''t have extinguished the flame from Qing Gui that easily¡­.."


    The First Elemental Force was the full power of a martial artist who had just make a breakthrough to obtain elemental force. By saying that Fang Yuan had the Second Elemental Force, it meant that he was as powerful as 2 Wu Zongs or spiritual knights!


    ''My Eagle Claw Iron Skin Technique is slightly inferior to the Qian Kun Giant Spiritual Technique. However, with the help of my dream elemental force which is at the peak of the Elemental Gathering Realm, it is no doubt comparable to 2 Wu Zongs!''


    Fang Yuan thought for a while and smiled without saying anything. This demeanour increased Daoist Fei Xiong''s curiosity.


    ''I only know two talents from the Yang family, Yang Long and Yang Ling. Both of them are disciples of a spiritual knight and they have a bright future ahead. However, both of them are still spiritual disciples¡­..''


    Daoist Fei Xiong''s eyes were glittering and he suddenly asked, "Brother Fang, do you know who is Yang Long and Yang Ling? Legend has it that these two are the youngest and the most powerful martial artists in the Yang family. However, when compared to you, there is a lot of difference¡­.."


    In between his sentences, there were many sighs.


    "I shall tell you, I''m somewhat related to the two of them¡­.."


    Fang Yuan gave a vague reply and this made Daoist Fei Xiong sighed even more. "The Yang family is indeed full of talents. Yang Hanglie is indeed a lucky man¡­.."


    As he heard that, Fang Yuan was startled.


    "Who are you guys?"


    At that moment, many soldiers surrounded them and a few Wu Zongs were leading the group of them.


    If one would say that the battle between Fang Yuan and Qing Gui had some restraints previously, the fight afterwards including the Daoist would be one without consideration. The whole street was now in a mess and the battle had affected the innocent ones. Many of them were either dead or severely injured.


    "It''s me!"


    Daoist Fei Xiong shouted and stood out. The 3 Wu Zongs hastily greeted him immediately. "Sir Fei Xiong!"


    "An incarnation of Qing Gui has caused all this mess. Brother Yang Fan was here coincidently and assisted in stopping Qing Gui''s evil doings. I can be the witness for that¡­.."


    Daoist Fei Xiong stroked his moustache and said, "Also¡­...the person who has scored the second highest in the imperial examinations, Xiao Mu from the Xiao family, has unfortunately died in the hands of Qing Gui. Please report this piece of news as well!"


    "Yes, Sir!"


    The few Wu Zongs looked at each other. They then took a bow and left.


    "Thank you!"


    Fang Yuan thanked Daoist Fei Xiong. He knew that this was Daoist Fei Xiong''s attempt to establish a good relationship with his family.


    "No problem! Brother Yang, you are so gifted, and yet chose to render your service to the government. We are lucky to have you in this county!"


    Daoist Fei Xiong gave a wide smile and continued, "Even though you are the top scorer for the imperial examinations, you can only start as a service worker, but it feels like undeserving for you to take on that job. How about letting me nominate myself as a guarantor for you to become an official through the martial arts competition?"


    A few pieces of information suddenly appeared in Fang Yuan''s memories.


    Even though Da Qian Empire was a powerful empire, the empire still wants to maintain good relations with martial artists at the level of Elemental Gathering Realm and above.


    Whoever had the backing of an Elemental Gathering Realm martial artist would immediately be able given the appointment as an 8th Grade Eagle Lieutenant!


    After all, this was an extraordinary world! Even the strong and powerful Da Qian Empire would still humbly establish good relations with powerful martial artists.


    "The martial arts competition¡­.it''s not happening now, is it?"


    Fang Yuan''s face looked a little strange as he scoffed at the idea.


    This world was just a dream and it was not real. What was the use of getting such a high position?


    "I might accept the offer if I was given the position to be the king of the Da Qian Empire, allowing me to read the martial arts books in the library. However, who would know if the martial arts library even exists!"


    This dream world was built based on the experience of Yang Fan, who would go on to become a dream master in the future.


    It was not an issue to obtain the Qian Kun Giant Spiritual Technique from Yang Qing. After all, Yang Fan was from the Yang family and it was likely that in the future, he would be able to successfully fuse his spiritual meridians and achieve the Divine Body.


    However, no one knew how much treasures were hidden in the dream world version of the Da Qian martial arts library.


    ''This might be because of the limited knowledge Yang Fan has...However, there is a chance that I may stumble upon the full picture of it¡­.After all, the pathway of a dream master is magical and mysterious. It is entirely normal for anything to happen.''


    "What do you think?"


    Daoist Fei Xiong gave a hopeful look to Fang Yuan. He didn''t know the outrageous thoughts that ran through Fang Yuan''s mind.


    "This is what I want, I shall not ask for more!"


    Fang Yuan accepted the offer and said with a gloomy face, "After all, I have already provoked Qing Gui¡­.."


    "Hmm!"


    Daoist Fei Xiong suddenly changed his facial expression and said, "You are right¡­.Venerable Qing Gui is a descendant of a heritage of evil dream masters. His methods are brutal and it is rumoured that he has achieved an extremely high level in the Illusionary Divine Stage. Normal Elemental Opening Realm spiritual knights and Meridian Opening Realm Wu Zongs are no match for him. The Yang family cannot defend you from him, but the government can!"


    He concluded with much pride, making Qing Gui sound like an ant which could be dealt with easily; which in fact is true! If the government did send its most powerful men to take him down, defeating Qing Gui was just a piece of cake.


    Fei Xiong felt that the way how Yang Fan avoided the situation was well thought out.


    "Great! Great! Great!"


    Pulling a young talent to work for the government, Daoist Fei Xiong would be credited for it. His expression became gentle. "Since Lieutenant Yang, you have joined the government, you are one of us now. I shall bring you to see the governor later to confer to you your official seal!"


    "Thank you, please guide me along!"


    Fang Yuan was familiar with the formalities of the Imperial Court. By appearing humble, he became better liked by Daoist Fei Xiong.


    When there were benefits, Fang Yuan was able to adapt and willing to eat humble pie, to an extent no one could expect!


    Since Fang Yuan was now one of them, there was nothing else to talk about.


    Immediately, Fang Yuan followed Daoist Fei Xiong to visit the governor.


    The governor was a kind man. He was shocked to hear that Yang Fan was not only the top scorer for the imperial examinations, but was also a Wu Zong and a spiritual knight. The governor happily went on to process his official seal and settled the administrative issues for him.


    From then onwards, Yang Fan was an 8th Grade Eagle Lieutenant. He had the protection of the government and gained much convenience when handling issues in the county.


    Without any reservation, Fang Yuan took advantage of his role to gather as many martial arts related and spiritual techniques related books to read.


    For this, he had agreed to all the conditions set for him, regardless of what they were, except selling himself away.


    "You two don''t have to send me off. I will be going back to my hometown!"


    The deadline of a month was about to end and Fang Yuan bid farewell to Daoist Fei Xiong.


    Above the county city wall, Daoist Fei Xiong seemed to have some thoughts as he saw Fang Yuan leaving.


    "Why? Are you worried that he might betray us? Or will he repay our kindness?"


    The governor appeared behind Daoist Fei Xiong and asked, not knowing if he should smile or not.


    "Will he even come back?"


    Daoist Fei Xiong replied without facing the governor. " He is already an official of the government and his name is registered in the system. Who can change it? Even if the previous documents about him was fake, everything else should be real now! Unless he prefers to be wanted by the government!"


    "You are right!"


    As the governor listened, he nodded his head in agreement.


    "Plus, I have gathered some intelligence about Yang Fan and it is quite interesting to know!"


    Daoist Fei Xiong suddenly gave a mysterious look.


    "From the way I look, Yang Fan is not going back to share the good news and bask in the glory. He is going back to taking revenge!"


    "What?"


    The governor was shocked and shook his head. "Why?"


    The governor felt that anyone who was talented, regardless of his family background, had to be brought up well.


    "I believe it is because of his background. His mother, hehe¡­.."


    Daoist Fei Xiong stopped halfway, as though there were inappropriate parts to it.


    The governor replied with a serious tone, full of anticipation. "Even if there is hatred, how is it wise to go now? No matter how weak the Yang family is, they still have a spiritual knight in the Elemental Opening Realm and two Wu Zongs in the Meridian Opening Realm. Plus, their family''s Qian Kun Giant Spiritual Technique is quite impressive!"


    "This of course¡­.."


    Daoist Fei Xiong seemed confident and gave a cunning look. "That''s why I have sent a request to the Eagle Commander Headquarters to send someone to follow him secretly and lend a helping hand if needed. This is to make sure that he is unharmed! No matter what the outcome of his revenge is, Yang Fan will have nowhere to go and can only work for the government with all his heart!"

 173 Revenge

    Yang Family.


    In the First Wife''s room, two highly skilled martial artists were guarding the door respectfully like statues. "We have found Yang Qing''s corpse. It was covered in a secluded cave in the mountains, and his limbs were torn apart. There are no clues as to how that happened..."


    Lady Wang was seated and she stroked the white cat with her right hand, appearing graceful.


    At this point, she squinted her eyes. "I remember... Yang Fan does not know martial arts and did not cultivate spiritual techniques. How could he kill Yang Qing?"


    The two martial artists broke into cold sweat. "This¡­.. We have no idea!"


    "You have no clue about anything, and even took so long to investigate. What use do I have for you?"


    Lady Wang frowned and was infuriated.


    Half a month had passed, and more and more news came back. There was news of Yang Fan getting the top spot for the Imperial Examinations as well!


    Of course, the news of Yang Fan being conferred as the Eagle Lieutenant was made an official secret by Taoist Fei Xiong, and therefore Lady Wang was still not aware.


    Even so, she was already raging inside.


    The people she sent to kill the little bastard were all killed instead, and the little bastard went on to get the top spot in the Examinations. Even though he was just a clerk and was still insignificant to the Yang Family, it was still a sore eye.


    Most importantly, Lady Wang felt that she could no longer control the household!


    That was the most infuriating of all!


    "It''s a good thing that that bastard had gotten the top spot, but he has yet to return? Could it be that he hates me?"


    She lowered her volume and mumbled to herself.


    "Lady¡­.. The little bastard should have just died. You were the one who pitied him and let him survive. However, he was not at all grateful and even killed someone. If he returns, you can use the house laws to take his life!"


    One of the investigators softly replied.


    He was one of Lady Wang''s servants and married into the Yang Family. However, he still treated the First Wife as his Lady and addressed Yang Fan as the ''little bastard'' with no regard for anything.


    "You''re right..."


    Lady Wang massaged her forehead and closed her eyes. "Even if Yang Qing was in the wrong, Yang Fan could still change his family or request for Father or my help to uphold justice for him. What could he gain from killing him?"


    Although there was no evidence, she had already named Fang Yuan as the killer.


    "Da Wang, Er Wang, both of you hurry to the county city to bring Yang Fan back. Even if he had already become a clerk, it doesn''t matter, just bring him back! Our Yang Family is still influential enough to do that on the court!"


    Lady Wang squinted her eyes once more. "He thinks that he can disregard the Yang Family after getting the top spot, gosh!"


    "Yes Lady!"


    Da Wang and Er Wang bowed. They both knew that First Wife had already decided to kill him after bringing him back here!


    "Wang Yiai, come out!"


    At the point of time, an explosion was heard as though there was thunder rumbling beneath the ground, making everyone dazed.


    All the servants were confused at what was going on, but Da Wang and Er Wang looked at each other. Both of them knew that this was the Lady''s full name. Whoever dared to shout her full name was tired of living!


    At this moment, they felt as though they were in a dream.


    "Ping!"


    "You bastard child!"


    Lady Wang became cold. With the flick of her right wrist, an expensive porcelain vase shattered on the ground.


    She could tell who the person was, which made her tremble, and her voice was much more sinister than before.


    "Da Wang and Er Wang! Go out and bring me that bastard! Disrespectful bastard! Does he have any regard for me, the Yang Family and its ancestors?"


    Lady Wang''s voice was sharp and high pitched.


    "This is... crazy!"


    Da Wang and Er Wang were at loss. They walked out of the door and saw the person who was shouting and were shocked. "It''s you! Yang Fan!"


    "That''s right!"


    Fang Yuan was clad in white robes and appeared gentlemanly. As he walked, his loud voice filled the entire residence. "Wang Yiai, Lady Wang! You abused your authorities as a Lady to pressurise me into listening to you three times. When I was eight, you made me miss my aptitude test for martial arts and forbid me from training martial arts. When I was twelve, you allowed your children to bully me, like what Yang Hu did... I will be patient to take my revenge. I will settle this score with you!"


    "What audacity!"


    This voice shocked the First Wife and attracted the attention of those in the other rooms.


    "Yang Fan!!!"


    Suddenly a shadow appeared and pounced towards Fang Yuan like a large worm. It was Yang Hu.


    He was enraged. "Good! Good! Very good! What audacity to wrong mother. Do you want to be beaten to death by the Family? I will grant your wish!"


    As her son, hearing Fang Yuan verbally abuse his mother made Yang Hu infuriated.


    "What a joke...Any kindness she gives me, I will repay in folds! However, Wang Yiai tried to harm me in every way possible, so where''s the kindness? I will never acknowledge her as stepmother!"


    In front of the Yang Family, Fang Yuan tore their relationship apart.


    He knew that once he said that, the entire Yang Family would not let him off, not just Wang Yiai.


    But so what?


    Breaking through this mental barrier made him feel a lot better, as though he had quenched his 3-day thirst with icy cold water. Every pore of his skin relaxed, making him feel cooling.


    ''Yang Fan was holding on to two things. The first was Qing Gui, and the second should be this Lady Wang! Although he held on to other things like finding his biological mother, after completing this, I should be able to escape from the dream world unscathed!''


    Fang Yuan''s eyes glittered. "Wang Yiai, come out and die!!!"


    With this, he was just one step from death!


    Fang Yuan was clear about this. However, he knew that his one-month deadline was about to be over as well. His real body in the outside world could not hold on any longer, and he just had to deal with whatever dangers associated with this!


    "Rumble!


    A loud sound was heard.


    While the others were still in shock, Yang Hu had already struck.


    He concentrated his inner strength. Although he was only at Death Gate, his inner force was very well developed and was comparable to that of a 4 Heavenly Gate martial artist!


    Furthermore, there was a faint shadow of a large tiger behind him, ferociously growling as its right paw struck.


    "Tiger Growling Fist!


    If Yang Fan was that ordinary boy before, he would become flesh and bones under this strike, with no doubts of death!


    He could tell that the enraged Yang Hu had a real motive to kill!


    "Very good!"


    Fang Yuan''s eyes glittered as he struck his right fist out.


    "Rumble!"


    An intense amount of energy exploded from his body like a demonic gorilla!


    In front of the demon, the majestic tiger immediately became a small pitiful kitten.


    "Kacha!"


    There was a loud sound in mid-air. Yang Hu flew backwards like a cannonball, and his entire arm was fractured and bleeding.


    "Yang Hu, how dare you touch me! Do you know who I am? I am from the Imperial Court! You have offended someone of higher rank, do you want to rebel?"


    Fang Yuan''s voice was full of energy.


    This plot twist shocked the entire Yang Family.


    When did this Fourth Master, who did not know martial arts and spiritual techniques and could only study, suddenly become so powerful?


    Fang Yuan did not care a single bit. He took a few steps forward. "Of course, you have been unkind to me, but I cannot do that to do. I have broken your bones as a warning to you, for you to realise that there is a law for us to follow. If you owe, then you will have to pay back!"


    "You... pui!"


    Yang Hu still appeared strong at first, but after hearing what Fang Yuan had to say, his eyes widened and he almost spat out a mouthful of blood before fainting.


    "Lady!"


    Da Wang and Er Wang came forward to rescue him, but their expressions changed. "Young master''s bones... are destroyed!"


    "What?"


    Lady Wang shrieked. "You two useless servants. What are you waiting for, hurry and capture the little bastard! A small clerk, and yet he dares to use the Imperial Court''s name, is he not afraid of mockery!"


    Even though it was as such, news of Yang Fan topping the cohort spread out.


    The other wives were afraid of the Imperial Court, and also did not want to get involved in the First Wife''s affairs and therefore did not react.


    "Yes Lady!"


    Da Wang looked at Er Wang. They held their hands together and combined their miniature elemental force into one elemental force. They then released it to form a physical shape, which adopted the shape of a two-headed snake, as it bit towards Fang Yuan.


    "Two 12th Gate martial artists, indeed a match against Wu Zong! Such ability, but resigned as a house servant. What a pity!"


    Fang Yuan squinted his eyes and a shadow of a Black Eagle appeared behind him. "Furthermore... I had already thought him a lesson. Who would''ve thought that you two would not learn, and even dare to attack an Imperial Court''s Official in public! You to deserve to die!"


    As he said the word ''die'', the entire house felt hotter.


    "Chirp! Chirp!"


    The chirping of the black eagle was accompanied by the striking of its claw, splitting the two-headed snake into two.


    It continued to strike towards Da Wang and Er Wang, as the claw struck from above!


    "Rumble!"


    A large hole appeared on the ground, and in the middle was the remains of Da Wang and Second Wang.


    "I''ve said it, the previous time was just a warning!"


    Fang Yuan smiled.


    Their deaths made the entire place silent.


    After a long while, a voice of disbelief was heard. "Wu Zong?!"


    An old man stood forward, his face filled with suspicion. "How old are you?"


    "Potential does not depend on age. Third Elder, you are under the Third Wife, so don''t get involved in the First Wife''s issues!"


    Fang Yuan took out a seal. "I am Eagle Lieutenant of the Da Qian Empire. These two servants tried to attack me, so they deserved it!"


    "Indeed an Imperial Court Official!"


    Third Elder nodded his head and confirmed Fang Yuan''s identity. "Yang Fan, you are ultimately part of the Yang Family, so don''t overdo things! If there are any issues, you can seek help from the court!"


    He had nothing to say regarding the deaths of Da Wang and Er Wang.


    After all, they were just two servants, and they indeed tried to harm an Imperial Court Official.


    Furthermore, regardless of what happened, Yang Fan was still a member of the Yang Family. Kinship was still important, and he was scarily gifted!


    Unknowingly, the highly skilled martial artists had a different impression of Yang Fan.


    Lady Wang was in desolation after witnessing everything.

 174 Clear Moon

    "This is the First Wife''s matter, we should not interfere!"


    "Brother Fan, we all know how you are doing recently¡­.."


    "The Patriarchal Hall? Isn''t it controlled by the first wife?"


    .....


    The crowd was raging.


    In a big household, nothing was fair and there were bound to be conflicts. These conflicts were often covered up in the name of the patriarchal and the household.


    At this moment, whenever there was a conflict of interests, there would be a tendency for violence to break out.


    Nobody would dare to stand out and help regardless of the time spent together and the bond they shared.


    Some chose to sit and do nothing, and some even tried to push others to stand out.


    As Lady Wang saw this, her face became pale white.


    Underneath the name in the household and the Patriarchal Hall, she was just a lady with ill intentions.


    "Wang Yiai, are you guilty of your sins?"


    Grasping this perfect opportunity, Fang Yuan took a step forward.


    "Rumble!"


    The entire world shook and all the servants beside Lady Wang fainted. Only Lady Wang was left, giving a stern look. Ruggedly, she insisted, "Father will not forgive you!"


    At that moment, if it wasn''t for her pride, she would have knelt down as well.


    As she said that, the whole atmosphere became very tense. Everyone from the Yang family had an image of a person in their minds.


    Yang Hanglie!


    This person was not only the birth father of Yang Fan, he was also the head of the Yang family. He was extremely cunning and the way he did things was unique.


    Of course, the most important thing was that he was the only Elemental Opening spiritual knight in the whole family! Other than the two ancestors who were at the Meridian Opening Realm, Yang Hanglie was the sole reason for the power and existence of the Yang Family.


    "Correct!"


    A deep voice was heard.


    The pressure Fang Yuan exerted on Lady Wang was suddenly gone.


    A middle-aged man entered from the main hall.


    His sideburns were white and his nose bridge was high. He appeared well-built and every move he made, made him seem like a god.


    "Old Master!"


    Lady Wang exclaimed in surprise. Hurriedly, she used her handkerchief to wipe off her tears of joy.


    "An incarnation?!"


    Fang Yuan and the other Wu Zongs were able to see through it.


    "I am now at the Heavenly Wind Canyon, more than a thousand miles away from home, to look for a spiritual knight for both Yang Long and Yang Ling. I felt something amiss at home and therefore used my backup plan!"


    Yang Hanglie walked in big steps and his eyes were very fierce. He took a glance around quickly and no one dared to go against him. All of them were lowering their heads, looking obedient.


    "Naughty boy, kneel down!"


    The presence of Fang Yuan was highlighted among the silence of everyone in the house.


    Yang Hanglie''s face was flushed as he shouted at Fang Yuan.


    In front of his father, the head of the household, revenge, righteousness and any other thing became meaningless.


    "Bast*rd!"


    Seeing that Fang Yuan was unwilling to kneel down to ask for forgiveness, Yang Hanglie became even more furious. "Bast*rd! What are you waiting for?"


    As he waved his hand, the energy from the 5 elements of the earth flashed and transformed into a giant wheel which fell on Fang Yuan.


    Yang Hanglie was a spiritual knight specialised in the 5 elements!


    He was able to make use of the 5 elements to produce something. Even though this was just an incarnation of him, he was still an Elemental Gathering Realm spiritual knight and had the Fifth Elemental Force. His power was similar to the combination of the powers from 5 spiritual knights!


    "What happened?"


    "Hanglie, why are you so angry? Did someone intrude our house?"


    Just as the light from the 5 elements was flashing, two powerful spiritual auras were activated in the hall. One could sense that these two spiritual auras were filled with fury.


    "I have caused much disturbance to you two ancestors. I will apologise personally later on!"


    Yang Hanglie''s body was glowing with the light from the 5 elements and he looked like a god that descended from heaven. "Yang Fan! You have sinned once more by disturbing our two ancestors. You better start kneeling down for your punishment!"


    "Get out!"


    Fang Yuan gave a wicked laugh. With his Shadowsteps, he charged right at Lady Wang.


    "A spiritual knight?"


    Yang Hanglie was a little surprised and shook his head. "That is useless!"


    He waved his hand again and the light of the 5 elements dissipated, before becoming a dirty yellow colour and was as huge as a mountain. With immense force, it fell towards Fang Yuan.


    "Puff! Puff!"


    The illusionary image of Fang Yuan exploded, revealing the real Fang Yuan. The 5 Elements Wheel had already reached his forehead.


    Seeing this, Fang Yuan bit his teeth and gave a smile, before attempting to knock the wheel with his head.


    Such action was suicide and Yang Hanglie found it strange. Even though he wavered a little, the wheel was still falling down on Fang Yuan''s head, which clearly showed his intent to kill Fang Yuan.


    "Ugh!"


    Time suddenly stopped at that moment.


    Amidst a sigh, 2 spiritual knights who had been hiding in mid-air appeared. Both were dressed in black spiritual feathers robe. As they swiped their hands across, many black feathers came falling down and interfered with the light of the 5 elements.


    Even though Yang Hanglie had the Fifth Elemental Force, he hesitated when he saw the black feathers. "Eagle Leader?"


    "Greetings, Master Yang. We are Black Owl and Crazy Night!"


    The two leaders bowed and continued, "This person is a lieutenant from the Eagle Army, will you spare him?"


    Inside Yang Hanglie''s heart, he was shocked.


    Yang Fan already knew that those two leaders were present long ago but didn''t mention anything about it. Instead, he forced both of them to take action to defend him, as he knew that they were not willing to let Yang Fan get killed!


    Many people were shocked at how scheming Fang Yuan was, and his hatred for Yang Hanglie.


    "Thank you, both of you. Haha¡­.."


    At that moment, there was a change to the situation.


    As the two Eagle Leaders were talking to Yang Hanglie, Fang Yuan laughed and blood started to flow out from his pores all over his body. Instantly, he became a bloodied man.


    "Kill!"


    He became a streak of bloody light and in a flash, he arrived next to Lady Wang. He struck his finger out towards her Mind Palace, in an attempt to kill her!


    Lady Wang became pale and slowly fell to the ground. She had lost her breath and no one could save her.


    The streak of bloody light wavered. Within seconds, it disappeared without leaving any traces behind.


    Quick! Quick! Quick!


    All these happened within seconds and some didn''t have the time to react. Fang Yuan had already killed Lady Wang and escaped long ago.


    "That seems like¡­.."


    Crazy Night was startled. "Is that the Blood Escaping Technique from the evil dream masters? How did Yang Fan get implicated with these people?"


    Black Owl gave a serious look. "He is able to kill someone in a single strike and traverse a long distance in a short time. If he kills one person in every ten steps, the consequence would be unthinkable after travelling a thousand miles without traces! Good! That''s good! Just that I''m not sure is it a good thing or a bad thing to have him in working for the government¡­.."


    Fang Yuan was not bothered by what these people had thought of him.


    The moment when he killed Lady Wang, the dream world shook and an unknown change arose.


    "I have gotten back all my dream building powers! I can return now!"


    With that thought in his mind, a blood-red meteor zipped across the sky and disappeared.


    Numerous spiritual knights and Wu Zongs in every corner of Da Qian Empire were stunned when they witnessed the meteor. Some dream masters even seemed to fear for it...


    ....


    "Crack!"


    It sounded as if a glass mirror had broken.


    Fang Yuan''s whole body was shaking and he woke up from the dream world.


    "How¡­.how long have I been asleep?"


    He felt very weak throughout his whole body, to the extent that it was difficult for him to even lift his fingers.


    What he saw in front of him was the big square. Many of the stone statues had started to disintegrate together with the square, as though a lot of time had passed.


    "Judging by my condition, I have entered the dream world for nearly a month¡­.."


    Fang Yuan trembled as he got up, giving a complicated look. "If I were to be late by a few days, I''m afraid my body would have been dead. I would either end up stuck in the dream world or become a lonely ghost¡­.."


    A dream world of an evil dream master was this dangerous.


    Furthermore, Fang Yuan could mildly sense that there was a possibility of him being taken as a servant, just like what Qing Gui did to Xiao Mu.


    However, he was not a normal dream master. He managed to break through and finally had the answers to the mystery behind Yang Fan''s dream world.


    "Roar! Roar!"


    "Ssss! Ssss!"


    Unknowingly, many strange beasts gathered around the square, looking at Fang Yuan with their fierce-looking eyes.


    "This square contained a form of energy to chase away these ferocious beasts¡­..However, as I broke through the dream world, the energy is getting weaker, and the threat towards these beasts is getting weaker as well!"


    Fang Yuan shook his head and felt that this small island was extremely dangerous.


    If it was the descendants of Yang Fan who had come to find this treasure after gathering the 3 pieces of the treasure map, they would probably get killed by their own ancestor!


    He walked and arrived in front of a stone statue.


    It was a 3-eyed monkey. It had 6 arms and it looked as if it was about to pounce on something.


    Fang Yuan blew lightly on it.


    "Sa! Sa!"


    The whole statue disintegrated into a pile of sand.


    "The energy that had held on to the statue had faded, which explains why the statue disintegrated easily with just a light breath of air!"


    Fang Yuan shook his head.


    "Whoosh!"


    With the disintegration of that one statue, a domino effect was created.


    The other statues in the square also started to disintegrate one by one.


    Finally, the disintegration of the stone statues affected the condition of the square as well. As the white jades lost their colour, an explosion, revealed the foundations of the ground.


    After which, a distinct glow appeared from the foundations in front of Fang Yuan. The glow rose and appeared as though it was the moon.


    "Roar! Roar!"


    "Ssss! Ssss!"


    Seeing the destruction of the square and the revelation of the treasure, the beasts which gathered around the square started to get crazy and charged towards Fang Yuan.


    Fang Yuan was weak and this was surely a dangerous situation for him! Only the strongest will survive!


    "Haha!"


    Instead, Fang Yuan laughed and was very happy. "Yang Fan, Yang Fan¡­..you have been extremely thoughtful but you have missed out something. Even though I have gone through your inheritance and have no energy to fight now, I still have¡­...it!"


    "Chirp! Chirp!"


    The Iron-tailed Black Eagle flew through the clouds and descend like a flying arrow.


    "Get me that!"


    Fang Yuan used up the last bit of his elemental force to obtain the clear moon before he was lifted up into the air by his Iron-tailed Black Eagle!


    "Roar! Roar!"


    All the beasts could only roar in desolation as they saw what had happened.


    "Haha!"


    It was indeed a happy occasion to reap the rewards of his goal.


    Fang Yuan opened the cap of the wine pot and drank the spiritual wine to his heart''s content. He then took another good look at the treasure.

 175 Poison King

    ¡®A pearl?¡¯


    Fang Yuan looked at the enormous pearl in his hands with curiosity.


    The bright rays of light faded away to reveal the pearl in Fang Yuan¡¯s hand. It had the size of an infant¡¯s fist.


    The surface of the pearl was flawlessly smooth. It was even glowing slightly. Just by looking at it, one could straightway tell that it was not a common item.


    ¡®This is the treasure that Yang Fan left behind?¡¯


    Fang Yuan sighed in disappointment.


    He would have preferred if Yang Fan kept the true dream world for him to explore on his own.


    After all, Fang Yuan reaped immense benefits from that dream world. It was as if he had gone to Da Qian Empire on his own.


    ¡®What is so special about this pearl...¡¯


    As Fang Yuan muttered, some of his elemental force shot into the pearl as he tried to figure out the gem.


    The pearl vibrated for a moment and came to a still. The elemental force that entered it was useless.


    ¡®It seems like the equipment for dream masters can only be used by them!¡¯


    After using elemental force to test out the pearl, Fang Yuan had a rough idea about how to deal with it. Next, he used dream elemental force.


    "Voom Voom!"


    After Fang Yuan projected his dream elemental force into the pearl, it vibrated again. This time, the pearl shot out rays of bright light.


    Immediately, Fang Yuan felt there was some form of connection between his magical will and what seemed like another universe.


    This ¡®universe¡¯ was a huge area of space way beyond one¡¯s imagination and the door to this universe was in Fang Yuan¡¯s hands.


    "A spiritual spatial container?"


    As Fang Yuan wondered under his breath, he flicked out a silver coin onto his palm. In a flash, the coin vanished.


    At the same time, the glittery silver coin appeared in a corner of the spatial container. This sent Fang Yuan into deep thought.


    ¡®There is almost an entire universe inside this pearl, this must be the Mountain River Pearl!¡¯


    He then used his magical will to search about and finally found his answer.


    ¡®The spiritual treasure, Mountain River Pearl?¡¯


    Fang Yuan scratched his chin.


    This pearl was a storage device. The space inside it was incredibly vast. It could even fit entire mountains and rivers. The only limitation it had was that it could not fit living organisms into it.


    ¡®It almost seems like this space inside is almost like an incomplete replica of this world...¡¯


    Fang Yuan seemed to have understood a little.


    In Fang Yuan¡¯s opinion, the Mountain River Pearl was the original version of the Green Peak spiritual land, except that it was an inferior version of the current one.


    However, the advantage was that he could take it with him anywhere and everywhere. It would be incredibly convenient if he could fit the pearl onto a ring and wear it.


    ¡®What a pity...Yang Fan is such a stingy fellow to not leave anything for me inside...¡¯


    Fang Yuan shook his head and sighed.


    The true dream world was evidently not in the Mountain River Pearl, but on the White Jade Square.


    Sadly, Fang Yuan only had one chance.


    ...


    After the Drunken Moon Festival, the thick fog gradually dispersed. The Wine Lake and the spiritual fish also gradually disappeared.


    As the treacherous waves and currents calmed, several fishermen began to return with a plentiful haul. Smiles of joy and satisfaction were plastered over their faces.


    Occasionally, there were a few martial artists who miraculously reeled in spiritual fish. These people were harassed constantly by offers almost everywhere they went. Of course, there were also many who were secretly envious and some who dueled either to get to fish or to find out the benefits one could enjoy from having it.


    The entire Drunken Moon Lake bustled with activity in no time.


    It was a pity that all these people who were enjoying themselves immensely had no idea that the Drunken Moon Festival that year was the last one they would be having.


    Golden Dragon Sect.


    There was a small lake behind the temple which had some fishes.


    There was a queer development in the lake. There was the movement of a figure that took the shape of a dragon which transformed into a bright silvery light. It sprang up forcefully like a dragon.


    It was the Spiritual King Fish.


    As it swam, it constantly shot out jets of water, as though it was expressing its unhappiness with its tiny living quarters.


    Behind it, several other spiritual fishes and even more Drunken Fishes and Silverfishes followed loyally.


    ¡®Haiz...¡¯


    Yu Xiaohong stood by the side of the lake. She had her hair tied up into two long braids which extended beyond her waist. As her energetic eyes scanned the surface of the lake, a pained expression appeared on her face.


    ¡®The movements of the Spiritual King Fish are really too large. Even if our sect takes every precaution possible, this news would still leak out!¡¯


    As she played with her braids, she glanced towards the great hall and sighed helplessly, "With Granddad¡¯s abilities, we might not be able to fully control even those few spiritual fishes. What more the Spiritual King Fish? If the elder had not appeared, others might have already used force to rob this place! But, that elder is now nowhere to be seen..."


    Even though Yu Feishui tried his best to play up Fang Yuan¡¯s abilities, there were no limits to one¡¯s greed.


    It might have been effective had Yu Feishui not overdone it. Now, the accomplishments of the Wu Zong that many people had in mind were all the lies painted by him!


    Especially...after finding a strong support, he had become more complacent.


    "Old Yu!!"


    The atmosphere in the great hall was instantly spiritless.


    Yu Feishui sat on the throne and looked at everyone else expressionlessly.


    "A word of advice, you will not be able to keep the Spiritual King Fish!"


    Then, a one-eyed martial artist barked out threateningly, "We are only politely discussing this exchange with you because we see you as an established veteran sect in Zhu country. Aren¡¯t you willing to return us this favour?"


    "Brother Chu, you overestimate me!"


    Yu Feishui broke into a painful smile and replied, "I have no say in where the Spiritual King Fish should be!"


    This one-eyed martial artist was Chu Jie. He was the leader of 18 Chain Wall, the biggest gang of bandits in Zhu country. The martial arts he had were already at the 12th Gate.


    Apart from him, there was another gentler and more civilised looking man in white. He was Deadly Bookworm: a well known sinister martial artist who operated alone.


    The last person was a beautiful woman who looked around 30 years of age. Her face was like a cherry blossom and she had a charming smile. Yu Feishui did not dare to underestimate her.


    After all, Lady Miao Hua was a spiritual disciple! Her Intoxicating Hibiscus spiritual spell was formidable. She even successfully annihilated 3 martial artists at the 4 Heavenly Gates in a row!


    These three did not have a great reputation and were obviously trying to bully him.


    Apart from them, there were several other legitimate sects and even people representing government officials hiding behind the scenes. There were also many forms of threats and bribes given by them.


    After all, the temptation of the Spiritual King Fish was too huge to resist.


    "We have already waited for so long, why isn¡¯t that skilled person here?"


    Deadly Bookworm chuckled and asked, "Could it be that you are intent on humiliating us despite our utmost sincerity?"


    "Old Yu, please have a look at our terms and conditions in this exchange. They will definitely not disappoint you!"


    Similarly, Lady Miao Hua forced a smile and added, "I am offering a bottle of ¡®Hundred Thousand Flowers Pill¡¯, Deadly Bookworm has offered the secret manual for the powerful technique ¡®Thousand Hearts Sword Technique¡¯ and Brother Chu is offering 500,000 taels of gold! We are asking to exchange all these items for just the Spiritual King Fish. The other spiritual fishes will still be yours! Apart from these, each of us will owe you a favour. Any time you require our help, we will definitely extend it without hesitation! What do you think?"


    Her eyes glistened alluringly as she spoke. It almost had a hypnotic effect.


    "You..."


    Old Yu sunk into a deep contemplation.


    To be honest, although the items offered were still not worth as much as the Spiritual King Fish, they were immensely valuable enough to prove their sincerity.


    However, Yu Feishui had to consider whether Fang Yuan would take it out on him when he returned to find out that he sealed this deal.


    "Please return!"


    Yu Feishui made up his mind and hardened his stance, "Although we are a small sect, we will not be easily bullied by anyone! Not only does the Spiritual King Fish belong to someone else, I will also not make this deal with you based on your reputations! Guards!"


    With his last command, there was a huge movement outside as several disciples of the Golden Dragon Sect entered the hall armed with Soft Fish Scale Armour, fishnets, iron oars and other equipment.


    Even a powerful dragon cannot defeat a snake in its natural habitat!


    It did not matter how powerful the visitors were, they were greatly outnumbered. When the number of ants grew large enough, it would still be enough to kill an elephant.


    "Sigh¡­"


    When Deadly Bookworm saw this, he didn¡¯t say much and just sighed: "Since you¡¯re such a stubborn old fogey, we¡¯ll have to invite an expert to come out! Even if you don¡¯t give us any face, you¡¯ll have to consider wisely before doing the same for this elder."


    "Rumble!"


    The moment his last word was uttered, an overbearing aura exploded from the outside.


    "Sect head, someone is barging..."


    A disciple of the Golden Dragon Sect came rushing in with a shocked expression on his face. Before he could finish his sentence, his face turned beet red and he spat out blood furiously, finally falling to the ground.


    "Hiss hiss!"


    The ground where his blood landed gave off large plumes of white smoke.


    "This is¡­...poison?"


    Yu Feishui¡¯s expression turned sour as he thought of which famous expert had arrived.


    "You guys¡­...Your backer is..."


    With a shivering voice, he spoke, "Poison King Jie Wuming?"


    "He he"


    A man slowly entered the hall amidst the cold laughter.


    Around him, large numbers of Golden Dragon Sect disciples fell, clutching their necks in agony.


    This short and unassuming man wore a robe interspersed with blood red and emerald green colours, which made one feel dizzy and extremely uncomfortable just by looking at it.


    "Yu Feishui? At least you¡¯re still somewhat knowledgeable!"


    Jie Wuming¡¯s voice was like an owl¡¯s, raspy with the power to send a chill running down one¡¯s spine.


    "Elder Jie!"


    Chu Jie, Deadly Bookworm, Lady Miao Hua respectfully stood behind Jie Wuming.


    After all, this man was a Wu Zong who was adept at using poison!


    Since Zhu Country was small, this Jie Wuming was rumored to be the number 1 expert in the country due to his evil and underhanded means that others greatly feared.


    "Elder Jie!"


    Yu Feishui could only stand up with a disturbed expression on his face: "You¡¯re an established person, so why have you come to put me in a spot as well?"


    "He he¡­"


    Chuckling, Jie Wuming replied, "I¡¯ve been researching a sort of mixed poison and I heard that the Spirit King Fish had some excellent materials for it. This made me instruct these three useless fellows to make a move..."


    As he spoke about this, a chilling gaze shot out from his eyes: "However¡­...Could it be that I¡¯ve been out of the martial arts world for too long, to the point that my name is no longer recognised and even you don¡¯t want to give me any face?"


    "What kind of statement is this?"


    In his heart, Yu Feishui cried, but when he thought of the divine technique that Fang Yuan displayed previously, he gritted his teeth and responded: "But this Spiritual King Fish is really the item which that elder safe kept with the Golden Dragon Sect. I can¡¯t make the decision on his behalf!"


    "Hmph!"


    Jie Wuming snorted, walking forward as though as his figure was swaying.


    In response, Yu Feishui backed away swiftly, but a figure suddenly appeared in front of him. The arms he used to shield himself shuddered violently while he left 7 to 8 footprints in the ground.


    He could smell a flowery fragrance in that instant, then a spurt of blood came bursting out of his mouth.

 176 Justice

    "Grandfather!"


    Yu Xiaohong heard the commotion and scrambled to the main hall, only seeing Yu Feishui''s silhouette lying on the floor, spitting out blood. He eyes swelled up with tears.


    "Yu Feishui... Do you think you can brush me off easily?"


    Jie Wuming flicked his fingernails and chuckled.


    "Since you don''t want to cooperate with me, you will regret it!"


    Chu Jie and Deadly Bookworm ran up, both with sinister looks in their eyes.


    "Go and get the spiritual king fish and the other spiritual fishes at the back, and... since this Golden Dragon Sect is opposing me, destroy it as well!"


    Jie Wuming placed his hands on his back and had the appearance of a person of high status; every word from his mouth was bone-chilling.


    "Eh... Sister''s youth and future, but she chose to oppose us. How unwise?"


    Lady Miao Hua walked up with a red handkerchief, revealing spiritual light. "Sister can''t save you too, but I can lessen your pain before you die..."


    Her delicate voice confused Yu Xiaohong.


    "Senior will not let you off!"


    She still had a thought of clarity as she struggled to reply. She was imagining in her head the image of the large eagle.


    "Keke... with Elder Jie here, why do I have to be scared?"


    Lady Miao Hua smiled brighter than the sun and complimented Jie Wuming again.


    "That''s right! Who would be afraid of such a senior who does not dare to show up?"


    Jie Wuming squinted his eyes, as though he enjoyed the compliments.


    "Elder Jie is the most highly skilled in Zhu Country!"


    Chu Jie and Deadly Bookworm continued to praise him after hearing Lady Miao Hua, for praise is free.


    This Old Yu seemed to really have a backing. Although Wu Jieming seemed to be unafraid of his backing, the rest were not as highly skilled and had to use his name in their favour to make themselves feel better.


    "Even if a Wu Zong arrives now, it would just be a minor annoyance!"


    Deadly Bookworm and the rest started to boast more and more, Jie Wuming was narcissistic, which made him enjoy the moment very much.


    To him, since that Wu Zong did not appear for many days, he must be too afraid to make an appearance!"


    If that is so, what else do all of them have to be afraid of?


    It was a pity that today was their unlucky day.


    "What?"


    A deep voice was heard in the main hall.


    "Who''s that?"


    Chu Jie, Deadly Bookworm and the rest jumped up.


    Jie Wuming became worried. "Voice from a hundred miles? A Wu Zong indeed!"


    "Chirp! Chirp!"


    As the voice ended a high pitched eagle chirp was heard.


    There was a huge gust of wind and a large commotion outside. A majestic large eagle landed outside the residence, and a person calmly dismounted the eagle. He was wearing white and appeared mysterious. Who else could this be other than Fang Yuan?


    "Senior!"


    Yu Feishui and Yu Xiaohong exclaimed in joy.


    Deadly Bookworm and company were left in fear. "Such a young Wu Zong?"


    As for Chu Jie, since he was a leader of a large gang, he had the most exposure to the happenings of the world. Seeing Fang Yuan and the large eagle... He thought of something, as his heart sank. He involuntarily retreated to the sides of the hall.


    "Mm, you two have worked hard, I will take over the rest from here!"


    Fang Yuan gave Yu Feishui and Yu Xiaohong and apologetic smile.


    Back in the secluded valley, he ate spiritual rice as staple every day. Eventually, when he became the Secluded Mountain Prefecture Master, his taste increased. Never would he know that a spiritual king fish with several other spiritual fishes would create such chaos in Zhu Country, and could even attract a Wu Zong.


    Of course, everything that happened was somewhat related to him.


    After all, after getting Yang Fan''s treasure, he became very weak and had to rest, which led to him arriving late at Yu Feishui''s residence.


    These people thought that since Fang Yuan did not appear, Yu Feishui was bluffing them and trying to make them believe in an imaginary backing that he had, explaining their ruthless and reckless behaviour.


    "You are..."


    Jie Wuming looked at Fang Yuan, appearing serious.


    Compared to Lady Miao Hua and the rest, he knew that this person in front of him was not easy to deal with.


    "I am Fang Yuan!"


    Fang Yuan answered him truthfully.


    "Fang Yuan!?"


    No matter how ill-informed Jie Wuming was, he had still heard of the war in the neighbouring country. "You are the one who was under thirty years old, and yet able to cultivate martial arts and spiritual techniques together, entering the Elemental Gathering Realm, and even able to fight and win the war at Cangshui City as the Secluded Mountain Prefecture Master?"


    "Even though that is a little exaggerated, that''s right!"


    Fang Yuan smiled.


    After admitting his identity, Lady Miao Hua''s and Deadly Bookworm''s legs went jelly.


    Secluded Mountain Prefecture Master!


    Spiritual knight Wu Zong!


    This status was like a huge mountain to them!


    Even though the Secluded Mountain Prefecture was smaller than the Zhu Country by a little, but based on his ability, if he wanted to invade them, the power-scattered Zhu Country would not be able to defend!


    Furthermore, he was a spiritual knight! He was the rare talent that would only appear once in hundred years!


    Just based on his solo fighting skills, all those in the Elemental Gathering Realm in Zhu Country would have to fear him.


    His own ability was already so powerful, and with additional assistance, Fang Yuan would become a person capable of taking over anything he wanted!


    Facing him, even Jie Wuming had to think twice.


    As for Deadly Bookworm and Lady Miao Hua? If they have yet to kneel down and beg for leniency, they would be considered mentally strong already.


    "Good! Good!"


    Jie Wuming was emotionless. He was ashamed, furious, afraid, unsettled and was experiencing all sorts of emotions. Finally, he forced a smile. "Since this spiritual king fish is Brother Fang''s property, then we shall not have it, please accept my apology..."


    Yu Xiaohong was dumbfounded.


    Previously, a fierce Wu Zong came and injured her grandfather as she felt that the entire world was about to crumble.


    However, now, Jie Wuming was smiling sheepishly, and Lady Miao Hua was shivering in fear... All these made her feel like her dream was fake. A fierce Wu Zong would be scared just by the name of a person? What kind of person is this senior?


    "Secluded Mountain Prefecture Master... Fang Yuan?"


    As for Yu Feishui, after regulating his breath, he was surprised. "Indeed... I should have thought of it!"


    All the focus was on Fang Yuan, but there was only a soft laughter.


    His laughter became increasingly loud, and it became hysterical.


    "What are you laughing at?"


    Even though Fang Yuan had not spoken a word, his attitude of not wanted to settle this peacefully was already understood by Jie Wuming.


    "You forcefully enter my people''s house, snatch their things, hurt my people and now, you think a simple apology will do?"


    Fang Yuan chuckled. "Could it be that my reputation does not worth anything at all in your eyes!"


    Fang Yuan already wanted to avenge Old Yu, who was still spitting blood. Furthermore, base on his current high standing in the society, he could not let of Jie Wuming so easily.


    Otherwise, there would be no doubt that he would use his own reputation to compare against Fang Yuan''s.Fang Yuan would allow it to happen only if he was a fool.


    "Not good!"


    The first one to react was not Jie Wuming, but Chu Jie.


    At the beginning, he had already hid at the walls of the hall. When he heard Fang Yuan saying all these, he screamed and ran for the exit.


    "Bast*rd!"


    Jie Wuming noticed and was furious.


    This action of Chu Jie would show others that Jie Wuming was useless, that he would lose terribly in the hands of Fang Yuan. Even though that was the fact, his reputation would still be affected.


    "Can you run?"


    Fang Yuan''s eyes were full of pity.


    He was a little street smart but lacked wisdom. He knew that if he let off Jie Wuming today, the first person Jie Wuming would find trouble for is him.


    Even if he was just like an ant, he did not feel happy to let him escape.


    Fang Yuan bit his lips and gently blew.


    "Whoooo!"


    A white arrow shot out of his mouth. Everyone in the hall saw a white flash hit the running Chu Jie before his head fell to the ground.


    "Pa!"


    After his head landed, his body continued to run forward a few more steps before falling down and started to bleed profusely.


    Mouth spitting Flying Sword! Killing one person in ten steps!


    Just based on this single move, Fang Yuan could become a deity in the ancient days, gaining the respect and prayers from the masses.


    "Hmph!"


    Jie Wuming sighed. "I injured your person, and you killed mine. Consider it as interest paid... I''ll be taking my leave!"


    Deadly Bookworm and Lady Miao Hua were in utter shock.


    It was obvious that Jie Wuming was afraid!


    Facing off the mysterious Secluded Mountain Prefecture Master, even if only one subordinate was killed, he still left in a jiffy without caring about his other subordinates.


    Without a doubt, if Fang Yuan wanted to continue setting the score, they would become the scapegoats!


    "Not enough!"


    Indeed, at the next moment, Fang Yuan shook his head and looked at Deadly Bookworm and Lady Miao Hua.


    Jie Wuming was at loss. He did not know if it was worth it to save these two lackeys and pit himself against the Secluded Mountain Prefecture Master.


    Fang Yuan''s next sentence shocked him.


    "As compared to killing the chickens for the monkey, I would prefer to kill the monkey for the chickens!"


    Without hesitation, Fang Yuan continued. "You have hurt Yu Feishui, and if I hurt you, we''ll be even!"


    "Little boy!"


    Jie Wuming was enraged. His blood boiled and his beard was covered in blood. He looked up and shouted, "Do you really think you can take advantage of me?"


    "Sssss!"


    Immediately after, a large amount of elemental force was concentrated, forming a dark green python sticking out its tongue, slithering around the hall.


    This gigantic python was seemingly real and had a musky fragrance, enticing people to take a few more deep breaths.


    "However, Deadly Bookworm and Lady Miao Hua turned pale and retreated. The tried to focus, as though they were dodging something.


    "Poison technique?"


    Fang Yuan pinched his nose. "Since you know my name is Fang Yuan, then you should know that I have a nickname before I became the Secluded Mountain Prefecture Master. How dare you use poison against me? Are you nuts?"


    With that, a white rainbow appeared, and a few medicinal pills exploded as he rushed towards the python.


    "Chila!"


    The python was majestic at first, but after being struck by the palm which scattered the medicinal pills, it was as though it was being squeezed at the neck. Finally, it shrank and an opening tore through the middle of the python, as it started to disappear.


    Only at this point did Jie Wuming realise that before he became a prefecture master, he was the famous miracle doctor of Xia Country!

 177 Approximation

    Jie Wuming turned deathly pale after Fang Yuan dispelled his poisonous technique.


    He looked at Fang Yuan, his voice hoarse, "You would not stop until you are dead?"


    "Jie Wuming, remember this, you are in no position to bargain with me, much less threaten me!"


    Fang Yuan''s expression was cold. He arrived beside Jie Wuming, his right hand took on the shape of claws and he struck down!


    "Pila!"


    He used the Eagle Claw Iron Skin Technique to reach the level of Wu Zong which was a majestic and ferocious skill. He now possessed the Second Elemental Force and was on par with a Wu Zong who had trained with the Yang Family''s Qian Kun Giant Spiritual Technique. He now had enormous strength and as such, the technique was hard to block.


    Jie Wuming''s skills were originally lower than his and depended completely on his poison technique.


    However, his poison technique was dispelled and he was in dire condition.


    "You..."


    He barely finished saying a word before a gust from the claw struck him which severed his right arm.


    Jie Wuming was shocked as he met Fang Yuan''s cold gaze.


    "I am only using my prowess as a Wu Zong. If you are not even able to counter this, you might as well die here!"


    Fang Yuan''s hands moved like the wind and created many illusions of his claws.


    "This..."


    Yu Xiaohong and Yu Feishui looked on in a daze.


    A Wu Zong! Zhu Country''s top fighter! A renowned king of poison! He was being pressured to such an extent?


    Duo Mingshu and Lady Miao Hua trembled in their shoes but dared not leave, their hearts beating wildly.


    "Xiuxiu!"


    The gale was fierce.


    Fang Yuan became happier as he fought.


    With the experience from his dream, his Eagle Claw Iron Skin Technique had reached the level of a master!


    On this mainland, where martial arts were beginning to become extinct, there was nothing after the Elemental Gathering Realm! However, Yang Fan was from the Da Qian Empire where martial arts was commonplace, he knew that there was still the Elemental Opening Realm after the Elemental Gathering Realm!


    Gathering the spiritual meridian, with every one increasing the elemental force, would allow one to obtain the Divine Body in martial arts!


    "I have deduced the method of opening the meridian using the Qian Kun Giant Spiritual Technique. As the Eagle Lieutenant, he had gathered experience by reading extensively the collection in the county and strengthened his foundation. The next step would be to open the spiritual meridian while using my Eagle Claw Iron Skin Technique and enter the Meridian Opening Realm!"


    In Fang Yuan''s eyes, Jie Wuming had become a good target.


    "Xiuxiu!"


    The sound became more intense.


    The countless illusions transformed as the wild wind howled and whipped around. Suddenly, the illusions disappeared and revealed the figure of Jie Wuming.


    The old man was drenched in sweat. His face turned pale and he collapsed!


    If Fang Yuan did not hold back, he might die of exhaustion!


    "Bring him away!"


    Fang Yuan stood straight and looked at Jie Wuming.


    In his mind, Jie Wuming was an excellent subject for his experiment.


    From the previous fight, he had a rough sensing of the next stage of the Eagle Claw Iron Skin Technique. If he was able to use Wu Zong as the base to continue his experimentation, he would be able to deduce the method to open his spiritual meridian.


    ''Such a shame...these techniques originated from the Qian Kun Giant Spiritual Technique. If my experiment is successful, I would be able to change the name of the Eagle Claw Iron Skin Technique...''


    Truth be told, that was nothing much.


    After all, the Eagle Claw Technique was the most basic of the skills with many variations such as the Giant Strength Eagle Claw Technique and the Poison Claw. The skill is compatible with other moves. As such even if there was a Giant Spiritual Eagle Claw, it would not be a problem.


    ''Of course...I must be cautious in this step! I would need to figure it out in my dreams and then practice it in real life...as this is from the Qian Kun Giant Spiritual Technique, its impact would be great. I am just afraid that I would be unable to break through the limit and fail to complete the technique!''


    Fang Yuan''s eyes were serene. He knew that he had yet another reason to visit the Da Qian Empire.


    "Un...understood!"


    Yu Xiaohong was in a daze and unconsciously agreed to it. Soon after, she came around, her face flushed like an apple, and vigorously shook her head.


    "Since this is the request of Prefecture Master Fang, I would accomplish it at all cost. It is just that if we want to wait until Jie Wuming wakes up...cough cough..."


    Yu Feishui clambered up and struggled to speak.


    "Rest assured, I will not leave during this time!"


    Fang Yuan stood up straight and smiled. "The scenery here is enchanting. I want to stay here for a while and am not sure if the both of you will agree to it?"


    "Of course! Definitely!"


    Yu Feishui and Yu Xiaohong nodded their head as if they were chicks feeding on grains.


    "Oh, and the two of you..."


    Fang Yuan turned around and looked at Duo Mingshu and Lady Miao Hua.


    "The two of you...if you require any compensation, discuss it with Yu Feishui!"


    Fang Yuan waved his hand.


    "Thank you, sir, for your generosity!"


    The two of them expressed their gratitude and repeatedly kowtowed as if they had been given a pardon.


    ...


    With a Wu Zong in town, the threat from the Golden Dragon Sect became a joke.


    When Fang Yuan''s identity was leaked out, those that were looking at him with ill intentions retreated and some even came forward with gifts as apologies.


    Half a month later.


    Golden Dragon Sect Mountain.


    "Jiujiu!"


    The eagle''s cry rang out and pierced the clouds, the sound travelled for miles.


    The Iron-tailed Black Eagle was trimming its feathers as it looked gravely at the figures in the fog.


    "The gathering of the elemental force is for the opening of the meridian! The Qian Kun Giant Spiritual Technique was a top-notch technique to open the spiritual meridians. It is able to open 8 spiritual meridians, gaining elemental power level 8, and eventually achieving the Divine Body. By then, the martial artist would be very formidable and difficult to defend against!"


    Fang Yuan walked on and every now and then, waved a claw. The action caused the clouds and fog to split and the elemental force caused waves to be formed in the lake as it was channelled outwards.


    The spiritual king fish knew what was happening and hid at the bottom of the lake without coming out.


    "The technique to open the meridian for my Eagle Claw Iron Skin Technique should not be second to this...of course, the most crucial would still be the Meridian Opening. Even if only one spiritual meridian is gathered, I would still be able to enter the Meridian Opening Realm!"


    Although Fang Yuan was simultaneously cultivating his martial arts and magical energy, he was still at the Elemental Gathering Realm.


    Even though Fang Yuan had reached the peak of the Elemental Gathering Realm on his path as a Dream Master, he was not confident to break through the Holy Illusionary as it was too difficult.


    It did not matter as it would be sufficient to suppress this mainland if he managed to enter the Meridian Opening Realm in the path of martial arts.


    "Benefactor, please have the soup!"


    A bubbly figure carried a food container forward. It was Yu Xiaohong.


    As he opened the container, the rich smell of the fish soup reached his nose. It had spiritual properties.


    This is a spiritual fish soup and was made with the Drunken Moon Lake spiritual fish as the main ingredient. It tasted fresh and replenished the spiritual energy.


    "Thank you!"


    Fang Yuan reached for the soup and gulped it down.


    Yu Xiaohong placed both her hands under her chin and watched on silently. It was as if small stars appeared in her eyes.


    ''Thanks to Jie Wuming''s selfless contribution, I have nearly figured out the method to gather the first spiritual meridian with the Eagle Claw Iron Skin Technique...''


    After drinking the spiritual soup, Fang Yuan waved Yu Xiaohong away without caring about her feelings and looked at his own stats window:


    "Name: Fang Yuan


    Essence: 11.5


    Spirit: 11.5


    Magic: 9.9


    Profession: Dream Master


    Cultivation: [Dream Master (Peak of Elemental Gathering Realm)], Wu Zong


    Technique: [Eagle Claw Iron Skin Technique (Grade 13) (11%)], Ecstasy Spell, Shadowstep


    Skill: [Medicine (Level 3)], [Botany (Level 5)]"


    "There are increases in 3 of my stats, of course, the most important would be the proficiency points, and it can finally be increased!"


    Fang Yuan almost teared.


    After he reached Wu Zong, the proficiency point of the Eagle Claw Iron Skin Technique had stagnant as he had no way to further improve.


    Now, with a direction for him to improve, the proficiency points for the Grade 13 Eagle Claw Iron Skin Technique had finally been released.


    As long as he continuously practicing, he would be able to reach the proficiency point of 99%. After that, all he needed would be an opportunity to break through the Meridian Opening Realm.


    "With the nourishment from the spiritual things, there would definitely be no bottleneck once I reach the peak of the 13th grade. When that time comes, my cultivation as a Dream Master and a Wu Zong would be at the peak of the Elemental Gathering Realm. There would be no one here that would be a match for me unless I was ganged upon!"


    After all, Elemental Gathering and Elemental Breaking were two notions.


    It would be difficult to take on many opponents at once. Faced with the threat of Wu Country, Fang Yuan could only be patient.


    "It won''t be long..."


    He looked gravely in the direction of Wu Country.


    ...


    Capital, Xia Country


    "I would like the princess to reconsider, my country might be forgiving but we definitely would not tolerate it if we keep getting bullied! My 200,000 strong army would not accept it as well!"


    The young prince who previously appeared in the Secluded Mountains Prefecture City threatened.


    "200,000?"


    Xie Lingyun laughed and brushed aside her hair, "Why did I receive news that you all met with trouble in Cangshan and were defeated in the plains previously? A few thousands of them were lost in the battle, 200,000 strong army? Is there even 10,000 soldiers left?"


    "How dare you!"


    The prince was enraged. He looked at Taoist Mu Li who stood behind Xie Lingyun. His mouth moved but did not say anything. He turned around and stomped off.


    When he reached the guesthouse, he flew into a rage and smashed a cup.


    "She dares to humiliate me?"


    His eyes were bloodshot and he breathed heavily.


    "Your Highness, you are too superficial. Every time a big event had a peaceful air..."


    The middle-aged scribe shook his head.


    "Wu Country is still strong, Yuan Country was just a small obstacle, the more important one is still Cangshan City..."


    The prince raged once more, "That Fang Yuan!"


    Looking at the prince''s enraged expression, the middle-aged scribe hesitated before saying, "There is news about the Secluded Mountain Prefecture Master."


    "Speak!"


    "He was at the Drunken Moon Lake in Zhu Country and took part in the Drunken Moon Festival. I heard that he caught a spiritual king fish and even clashed with the Zhu Country''s King of Poison, Jie Wuming. Jie Wuming was defeated!"


    The middle-aged scribe fanned himself.


    "Jie Wuming..."


    The prince''s eyes shifted, "If it was you, how would you compare?"


    The middle-aged scribe was shocked and replied, "It would be easy to chase him away, and killing him would be hard! Capturing him would be even harder!"


    "But the Prefecture Master did it! The rate at which his powers are increasing is a cause for worry..."


    The prince''s eyes shifted and he suddenly smiled coldly, "He is going to bring about his own destruction!"


    At that moment, Xie Lingyun received a report from Fang Yuan and was at a loss for words.

 178 The Conference

    At the Green Peak spiritual land.


    The fog scudded and separated, revealing a giant eagle.


    "Chirp!"


    At the cliff, a silhouette of the Red-eyed White King Bird appeared. Behind it, there were numerous small white birds following behind. As they saw someone approaching, they all became excited.


    "Whoosh!"


    A streak of white light flashed past; it was the Flower Fox Ferret.


    "I''m back!"


    Fang Yuan, who was riding on the eagle''s back, was emotional as he saw his spiritual beasts.


    His Iron-tailed Black Eagle was not only transporting him, it was carrying a huge metallic box with its claw and in the box was the spiritual king fish.


    As for the other types of fishes like the spiritual fish and Drunken Fish, they were not as lucky as all of them had either been mashed up or dried up and stored in the Mountain River Pearl.


    The treasure left behind by Yang Fan may seem useless on the outside, but when it came to storing things, it had brought much convenience to Fang Yuan and it would make things easy for him if he had to travel in the future.


    "No place can compare to my own comfortable home!"


    Fang Yuan ordered his Iron-tailed Black Eagle to land and exclaimed as he went to look for the Red-eyed White King Bird and the Flower Fox Ferret.


    Of course, if the location of his secret house was made known to others, the royal family of the Xia and Wu Countries would be eyeing for it as well.


    To him, his appointment as the Secluded Mountain Prefecture Master was incidental. How could that be more important than the spiritual land at the Green Peak?


    "Clang! Clang!"


    There were loud clanging noises coming from the metallic box continuously.


    "You still have so much energy even though you have been locked up inside for such a long period!"


    Fang Yuan touched his chin and said, "Alright¡­...there is a small pond below this cliff. It shall be yours once it has been expanded!"


    Since he was already into farming, how could he not be having fishes as well?


    The pond below the cliff was a suitable location to rear the fish there.


    No matter how strong the spiritual king fish was, without the freedom it used to have in the big river and ocean, it would slowly become less fierce.


    "I guess I am considered rich now¡­.."


    After he returned to the spiritual land, Fang Yuan started to stocktake the assets he had.


    The spiritual medicine garden was the most important, but the Flame Jade Rice was not to be neglected as well.


    The Green Peak spiritual land now had the protection of the Bewildering Fog, Sickle Grass and Serrated Flower surrounding the Green Peak. Internally, the farm was patrolled by the Flower Fox Ferret and the Red-eyed White King Bird, making it extremely peaceful. The crops in the farm and the plants in the spiritual medicine garden were thriving. Fang Yuan was able to harvest a season''s worth of tea leaves, and even the seed of the Vermillion Fruit was growing pretty fast and had grown into a strong and small tree.


    "I had revealed my abilities a little while I was in Zhu Country and it had likely gathered some attention. I had better remove the suspicion on me!"


    After he returned to the straw cottage, Fang Yuan sat down with his knees crossed and let out a long sigh.


    The mistakes and experience of the previous Secluded Mountain Prefecture Master Liu Yan was a timely reminder for Fang Yuan.


    Liu Yan was only having a slight possibility of breaking through the bottleneck of the Elemental Opening Realm and had already encountered so many problems. What would the even more talented Fang Yuan face?


    As a precautionary measure, he would have to remain mysterious and not appear too many times in front of others as they might target him.


    "Hit and run, hmm¡­ When did I become a guerrilla fighter?"


    As Fang Yuan thought about this, he chuckled and gave a cold look. "IT seems¡­..I have to destroy their hopes!"


    To do that, he could either stay where he was or he could progress and breakthrough to the Elemental Opening Realm!


    "In this pathway of a dream master, I have reached the peak level of the Elemental Gathering Realm. This breakthrough will be very difficult. My mind can affect the physical matter, to actualise an object from the dream world¡­.. How is it an easy task?"


    "For this, I can only wait for an opportunity. Next up is to focus on the pathway in martial arts!"


    "Since I have attracted much attention from the Zhu Country, I should stay in the Green Peak for a period of time to self-cultivate¡­.."


    Fang Yuan looked at his stats window and seemed to have a thought.


    Thanks to the unlucky King of Poison, Jie Wuming, Fang Yuan had come up with not just the idea of his new technique and had progress in coming up with the general movement of the technique.


    ...


    Half a month had passed.


    Fang Yuan was full from his meal and he took a sip of the spiritual tea. He then came to the courtyard.


    Breathe in¡­..and out...


    With just the simple act of breathing, there was a stream of air flowing around the courtyard. The spiritual energy had gathered to form a whirlpool. All of these made it seem like there was a huge beast inside his body.


    "The Qian Kun Giant Spiritual Technique from the Yang family is built upon one''s foundations! The breathing technique focuses on strengthening the digestive system, and can be further improved with an intake of large amounts of spiritual objects¡­..I have plenty of spiritual rice, spiritual tea, spiritual flowers and spiritual fruits!"


    Those who learnt this technique from the Yang family might not be able to enjoy the luxury of these resources, and therefore, Fang Yuan can accelerate his progress on the cultivation of this martial art technique much more than usual.


    "With strong foundations comes a strong elemental force, which will be above that of the average human. At the stage of Wu Zong, one would have giant spiritual strength¡­.My Eagle Claw Iron Skin Technique is based on the rough breathing technique and it helps to strengthen my Eagle Claw. Therefore, this compensates for the lack of internal cultivation in this technique!"


    Originally, there had always been a limit for the Eagle Claw Iron Skin Technique and the highest one could achieve was the peak of the 12th Gate.


    Fang Yuan was then able to break through the limit of the peak in the dream world, of which no one in the past had been able to do so. The limit was pushed to the 13th Gate for him to be able to attain Wu Zong. Hence, his version had already varied quite a bit from the original one.


    After encapsulating the essence of the Qian Kun Giant Spiritual Technique into it, the difference became appalling.


    "With the experiments, I have made in the dream world and the complement of being a Wu Zong in the real world, opening the first spiritual meridian and the concentration of the spiritual meridian to breakthrough to Grade 14 shouldn''t be a big problem. This sublime version of the Eagle Claw Iron Skin Technique will no longer be the original one. I shall name this new technique the Giant Eagle Metal Body Technique!"


    With this thought in his mind, the letters of the Eagle Claw Iron Skin Technique in his stats window started to become blurred and the entire name changed.


    "Name: Fang Yuan


    Essence: 12


    Spirit: 12


    Magic: 9.9


    Profession: Dream Master


    Cultivation: [Dream Master (Peak of Elemental Gathering Realm)], Wu Zong


    Technique: [Giant Eagle Metal Body Technique (Grade 1) (99%)], Bewildering Spell, Shadowstep


    Skill: [Medicine (Level 3)], [Botany (Level 5)]"


    "Giant Eagle Metal Body Technique - It is a unique technique which is formed from the combination of the Eagle Claw Iron Skin Technique and the Qian Kun Giant Spiritual Technique. This technique is initiated from elemental force and strengthened with giant spiritual strength. Defence is strengthened. Poison capabilities are strengthened. Energy is strengthened. Yin properties are strengthened. Current progress is 99% for the first spiritual meridian!"


    All these were written based on the proficiency points but there was a bottleneck for the last step.


    "If I am able to concentrate the first spiritual meridian successfully, I will be a Meridian Opening Realm martial artist and I will be powerful enough to suppress anyone in this land¡­.."


    Fang Yuan''s muscles tensed up like a giant spiritual god''s. His skin was as tough as iron but on the surface, it looked like any other person''s skin. These were the changes after he had encapsulated the Qian Kun Giant Spiritual Technique into the Eagle Claw Iron Skin Technique.


    "Now my breathing is deep and my strength is superb! This is indeed one of the top techniques in the Da Qian Empire!"


    Fang Yuan slowly explored the features of this new technique. Suddenly, a streak of spiritual light appeared on his body, like a small snake. The streak of light was moving about and it looked illusionary.


    This was the first spiritual meridian he had concentrated. However, since it was not yet stabilized, therefore, it appeared illusionary.


    "I have already reached the bottleneck for martial arts as a dream master. After this, I can no longer improve by cultivation and hard work alone¡­.."


    Fang Yuan murmured to himself and called out for the Red-eyed White King Bird. "It''s time to go and manage the matters in the Secluded Mountain Prefecture and look for opportunities to improve!"


    ...¡­..


    In the Secluded Mountain Prefecture City.


    Inside the Prefecture Master''s mansion, people were squeezing about.


    Zhou Wenwu, Yu Xinlou and the others now had stable spiritual auras. They had matured quite a bit and were handling the matters of the Secluded Mountain Prefecture together with Zhang Qingfeng.


    "Chirp! Chirp!"


    Suddenly, a series of chirps was heard and their faces were filled with joy. "This chirp¡­..The Prefecture Master is back!"


    They immediately went out to the courtyard and indeed, a strong gust of wind accompanied the descent of Fang Yuan and the Red-eyed White King Bird.


    "Greetings, Prefecture Master!"


    All of them cleared any thoughts that they had in their minds as they greeted Fang Yuan.


    "There is no need for the formality. Gather everyone for a meeting in the main hall!"


    Fang Yuan waved his hand.


    "Yes, Master!"


    No one dared to disobey his order. After a while, the main hall was filled and Fang Yuan went to his seat.


    Niu Dingtian, Zhang Qingfeng and a few newly appointed capital officials, Zhou Wenwu, Yu Xinlou, Huang Fu Renhe and¡­...familiar and new faces were all present here. Oh, and the two disciples, Chen Ziying and Lanruo, together with a middle-aged man who had a long moustache. This man was the father of Chen Ziying, Chen Qing. Together, they bowed and greeted Fang Yuan, "Long live the Prefecture Master!"


    "Please rise!"


    Fang Yuan lifted his right hand and everyone rose against their own will. Even Niu Dingtian rose as well and felt a little frightened.


    ''The person with the greatest power!''


    With such ability, even if he distributed his power among his men, it was only a matter of an order before effortlessly consolidating his power back again.


    Of course, Fang Yuan would not trouble himself and was just trying to demonstrate his capabilities.


    "I have been focusing on my cultivation. Did anything big happen here?"


    He skipped the introductory speech and went straight to the point.


    "After some reorganisation, we now have 30,000 soldiers and there are no enemies. It has been quite peaceful!"


    Niu Dingtian was the first to report.


    "Regarding the people, prices of commodities are stable. The sufferings caused by the previous war is slowly disappearing. Even though the citizens did not mention that they are living a good life, they are still able to survive. My next step will be to gather all the refugees to move to the barren land!"


    Zhou Wenwu reported calmly in a clear and logical way.


    However, Yu Xinlou hesitated a little in his report. "There is another matter. Princess Xie Lingyun from the Xia royal family has brought the letter of credence, and had requested to see you! Since you were not here, I have arranged for her to stay in the guest hall."


    "Xie Lingyun?!"


    Fang Yuan frowned.


    He felt that she was only here because of something.


    "Why is she here?"


    "She has written the purpose of her visit on the letter of credence. It''s about the Yuan Wu Conference!"


    Zhou Wenwu replied.


    "The Yuan Wu Conference?"


    Fang Yuan was a little shocked. He felt a sense of familiarity with that term and recalled that he had seen it in a book before.


    With the explanation of that term from one of his subordinates, he then fully understood it.


    This conference was similar to a conference between countries.


    Logically speaking, disbanding of old countries and forming of new countries would only be formally recognised by every other country if the issue was highlighted and approval obtained during the conference.


    Previously, Yuan Country''s influence was at its peak. However, among all the other countries, Wu Country was the strongest. Hence, this conference was formed as these two countries had taken turns to host it, and it had since become a tradition. This was why it was called the Yuan Wu Conference.


    "This conference is, in fact, a platform for every country to display their armed forces!"


    Zhou Wenwu looked a little worried as he mentioned that. "If we are unqualified to enter the conference, we will not be able to avoid war, and this has been proven many times in history!"


    ''Isn''t this a platform for nomads and farmers to display their strengths?''


    Fang Yuan''s eyes glittered and came to a conclusion.

 179 Yuan Country

    "The Secluded Mountain and Xia Country are of the same ancestry and cannot do without each other. For this Yuan Wu Conference, we must stand together to prevent anyone who might try to act against us!"


    Xie Lingyun''s voice was soothing and gentle, and in front of Fang Yuan, she expressed her intentions with grief. "This time... If you, as the prefecture master would like to start a country on your own, the Xia Country would give our fullest support!"


    "Has the situation reached such a stage?"


    Fang Yuan was troubled.


    To start a country... Who would have thought that a small issue at the beginning would escalate to such a stage?


    And at the next moment, he saw through the weakness of the Xia royal family.


    Even with the protection of Daoist Mu Li and another Wu Zong, the Xia Country was still extremely weak.


    After all, the Secluded Mountain Prefecture was forcefully separated from the Xia Country, and the Summer Sun Prefecture was left war-torn. It was a matter of months before the country could recover fully from all these setbacks.


    "Other than official affairs, I have a personal issue..."


    Xie Lingyun looked at Fang Yuan''s disciples and asked him, "I''ve heard that you have taken in two disciples? Are you interested in taking in another one?"


    "Oh?"


    Fang Yuan laughed. "Is this the royal family''s decision?"


    Never would he have thought that in this situation, the Xia Country would still be willing to trust him.


    After all, his progress would be a hindrance to Yuan, Wu and the other countries.


    "I have thought through it carefully. In this tumultuous times, if the Xia Country wants to progress, the only way is to take this gamble!"


    Xie Lingyun bowed respectfully. "Lingyun is useless. May I invite Prefecture Master Fang to take up the appointment as the Xia Country Advisor! Please accept the future fate of this country as payment. From now on, we will stick together till death! As a gift, we will accede to anything that you might request from the Xia Country''s treasury and the royal family''s private collection!"


    ''Is this them showing their utmost sincerity to me?''


    Fang Yuan''s heart wavered. "Finally, the princess''s true colours!"


    After pondering for a while, he continued. "I''ll agree to take in another disciple. Where is he?"


    "Right here!"


    Xie Lingyun smiled cheekily. "What do you think of me, prefecture master? Do I have the potential?"


    ...


    The leaves were rustling in the breeze.


    On the plains, a group of cavalry were cheering as they chased after a prey.


    Among the group, the leader was a 20-year-old young man, who was wearing a golden crown but had a brute appearance. Two bodyguards on their horses accompanied him by his side, and they appeared majestic.


    At this moment, they had spotted a yellow goat. Stretching his bow, the young man then released an arrow.


    "Whoosh!"


    The arrow was like a meteor, gliding through mid-air. It went straight into its left eye and came out from its right eye, without touching any of its furs.


    "Wonderful! Eighth Prince, your archery skill is amazing!"


    The surrounding troops cheered heartily. Seeing the opportunity, they react quickly and carried the prey before showing it off to everyone in the vicinity.


    "During the autumn season, before these animals enter their hibernation, they will stuff themselves with food. This is the best opportunity to hunt!"


    The Eighth Prince smiled and tossed his bow on the ground. "What''s so great about a yellow goat? Why not catch a wolf or leopard, that''ll be more interesting..."


    This Eighth Prince was the youngest son of the Yuan King. Since the independence of Yuan country, there was a law that the youngest son would take over his position.


    This was because in the past, out in the plains, the mortality rate was high. After the father and a few older brothers had died in the war, the youngest child who would''ve just matured would take over the household, and this was a common practice.


    Although the current king had been in his position for many years, he was still very used to having a lot of power. Thus, many would view the Eight Prince as the heir to the throne, which gained him a lot of admiration.


    "The fun has ended for today..."


    After galloping for a while, the Eighth Prince pulled the halter and gazed towards the South. "Who would know when would horses be able to gallop up the Southern Mountain! By then, we will be able to hunt anywhere we want! This is what men should be doing!"


    Everyone''s eyes glittered.


    In the history of the Yuan Wu Conference, countries would have slight conflicts with one another, especially between the Yuan and Wu Countries.


    Before this year''s conference, the Wu Country had a small setback, which made the Yuan Country have thoughts on how to take advantage of them.


    "What a pity... The previous time Wu Country was defeated, it was Second Brother who was leading the troops..."


    The Eighth Prince shook his head and sighed. "Father was happy and rewarded Second Brother with many gifts. He even added more troops and calvaries to his original battalion¡­.."


    This was one of his reasons for planning to attack the South.


    The Eighth Prince knew that even though the traditional law gave him the advantage of being the rightful heir to become king, it still could not guarantee him the throne.


    Needless to say, his father, the king, was at his prime age. The Eighth Prince''s few younger brothers were growing up incredibly quick and were about to reach the age of maturity. By then, his position would become very awkward.


    In order to protect and assure himself to become the king, the Eighth Prince had to have some form of accomplishments to back himself up, in order for the entire Yuan Country to be willing to accept him as king.


    What else can compare to taking over the entire Southern Mountain?


    "The upcoming Yuan Wu Conference would be my chance! Among the southern people, the Wu Country is the strongest. Judging from the size of their military, they can no longer compare to us. Next up would be to see whose side is stronger!"


    The Eighth Prince waved his hand and ordered for a person whom he could trust. "In the upcoming Yuan Wu Conference, all the country''s kings, newly promoted spiritual knights and Wu Zongs would all come together. In this period of time, were there any noticeable ones?"


    This person was dressed in black robes. He had a spiritual drum tied around his waist. His appearance was blood-red and felt like he had a bloodied vibe. The handle of the drum appeared pale, as though it was made from a real bone.


    He was a spiritual knight from the plains, but the Yuan country preferred to call him a shaman.


    "The countries in the south are all in chaos. Recently in the past six months, there was an uprising in a strong country, the Xia Country! They went through a separation, and an entire prefecture was separated out from the country!"


    This shaman''s voice was high pitched, as though a piece of metal was scratching against another. "The new Secluded Mountain Prefecture Master is called Fang Yuan. He is highly skilled in a shaman''s spell techniques, and is a strong warrior!"


    "Rumour has it... His spiritual techniques allow him to control spiritual plants, which gives him the ability to transform an entire city into a demonic plant hell. With this, his plants swallowed tens of thousands of the Wu Country''s soldiers!"


    "Furthermore, he is extremely skilled in martial arts, and is on par with the strongest warrior we have in Yuan Country!"


    ...


    It was obvious that this shaman had his spies in the south. Even though he was always in the plains, he could still continuously report his findings of Fang Yuan.


    "Fang Yuan?"


    The Eighth Prince froze, before continuing. "Who would have thought that there would be such an outstanding person from the people of the South. He is our greatest enemy! We must observe him at the upcoming conference."


    "Not just that... I''ve heard from the Wu Country that they want to get rid of this person as well. We might be able to work with them! If there''s a need, their country advisors Wu Wudao and General Fei Long might be able to help us secretly!"


    If Fang Yuan had heard this conversation, he would have been speechless.


    Wu Country and Yuan Country were bitter enemies and had once fought aggressively on the plains.


    However, they might form an alliance just to deal with him.


    "Haha... Let''s work with them! Why not?"


    Eighth Prince laughed. "This is how the people from the South are! Even at their demise, they are still against each other, killing amongst themselves! Wasn''t Xie Daoling like that too?"


    "That''s true!"


    The shaman, who was at one side, was nodding his head. "The people from the South like to fight among their own people. If they could come together and unite, only then would we feel threatened and need to hide in the depths of the plains. But now, this is our best chance! This time, the king has the intention to allow Eighth Prince to represent Yuan Country, and this is the best opportunity for us to observe the other countries!"


    "That''s right! That''s right!"


    Eighth Prince nodded his head.


    "Report!"


    At this moment, a black dot appeared on the horizon. It was speeding towards them on horses.


    "Your Highness!"


    A huge number of calvaries and troops rushed and approached, before stopping in front of him. The chaotic scene turned into silence.


    A soldier leapt down from his horse and bowed. "The First Prince has attacked the Sunset Division and returned victorious!"


    "Big brother is back!"


    Eighth Prince sighed as he felt a little depressed.


    They had already sorted out the issue of who should be the rightful heir. However, the return of the First Prince meant that he also knew the importance of the Yuan Wu Conference!


    "Could he be thinking of replacing my rights of representing our country?"


    Eighth Prince squinted his eyes and glared.


    "Also... the First Prince had presented a female saint to the king, the pearl of the plains - Purple Dream Princess! I''ve heard that when she arrived, the entire palace was smitten. The king was elated and rewarded him handsomely..."


    "This big brother of mine..."


    The Eighth Prince was speechless. He had yet another worry in his mind.


    In fighting to become the crown prince, he could not take a step back. After all, there were too many people who placed their hopes and their reputation on him.


    ...


    Wu Country.


    "Soldiers, let''s move out!"


    As the command was given, ten thousand soldiers formed a rectangular formation, and it was impressive.


    Even though the Wu Country had suffered a defeat before, their confidence and strength were still there. These ten thousand soldiers were the best of the best, the elites. Every single one of them was at least a platoon commander.


    Needless to say, among these ten thousand elite soldiers, there were another thousand calvaries!


    "Good! Looking sharp, appearing strong!"


    General Fei Long patrolled around and noticed the calvaries. He nodded his head in satisfaction. "With such strong soldiers, we can escort the king safely if anything were to happen!"


    He was clear that they only had the chance if his own calvaries were on par with Yuan Country''s calvaries.


    "Congratulations on General''s return!"


    Wu Wudao was smiling at one side. "Our country governor trust you enough to pick you for this conference!"


    "A general who loses his war, what more can I say?"


    General Fei Long slowly looked around and to the direction of Xia Country. "This time, we might be able to see the Xia royal family and that Secluded Mountain Prefecture Master at the conference."


    "Fang Yuan!"


    At the mention of his name, Wu Wudao''s face became pale, and he was filled with hatred. "Since we want to deal with him, we need a foolproof plan. Contacting Yuan Country is only part of the plan. We still need to obtain information about him. As the saying goes, know yourself well, and know the enemy well..."


    "This of course!"


    General Fei Long nodded his head. "I have sent people to investigate on that person''s spiritual flower and spiritual grass array. It is indeed powerful! However, it has a major weakness. It is extremely strong in defence, but it cannot be used in attack! It will be rendered useless at the upcoming conference!"


    A spiritual knight''s ability was mysterious and could appear in many forms. They had obviously taken Fang Yuan''s skill in botany as a specific spiritual knight spiritual technique.


    "That''s good news!"


    Wu Wudao squinted his eyes. "In this conference, either we do nothing, or we strike hard! We cannot give them any more chances!"

 180 Breakthrough

    "The vast wilderness, and the grazing sheep..."


    Looking at the vast plains, Fang Yuan sighed.


    Autumn was the season for the plains to flourish. It was extremely relaxing to speed through here on a horseback.


    Behind him was a 1,000-men strong army marching slowly, and the atmosphere was solemn.


    Among these soldiers were different armour and flags, and it was obvious that they were not from the same army.


    "Is this your first time here, Prefecture Master Fang?"


    A horse emerged from the troops and arrived by the side of Fang Yuan; it was Clear Spring Prefecture Master Lan Xiaosheng.


    Although he appeared to be close to Xia Country, he was in fact not. He felt uncertain about the conference. Looking at how Secluded Mountain Prefecture and the Xia Royal Family became closer, he immediately tried to show his affectionate side.


    The Yuan Wu conference was an opportunity for all of them to unite together.


    He was rather interested in Fang Yuan.


    Fang Yuan had to admit that his respectfulness made him hard to be disliked - if only he was not a fence-sitter, unwilling to be loyal to any side.


    He could be sure that Lan Xiaosheng would record down anything that he had said, but only until the day that Fang Yuan would be defeated, he would not outrightly oppose him!


    There was nothing about loyalty here, he only cared about his own survival.


    "Indeed, it''s my first!"


    Fang Yuan sighed. "I''ve heard that the plains are extremely vast. Even Yuan Country could take over only the most fertile lands and a few big cities but not the entire plains, and they even had to face the defiance from the small divisions in the area, is that right?"


    "That''s right!"


    Lan Xiaosheng was familiar with the place. "The plains actually belonged to the different divisions, and even Yuan Country was formed by the biggest and strongest Golden Division. Even so, they could only take over the piece of small land near our territory... From another angle, we can actually say that they have protected us from the threats of the plains."


    "The depths of the plains..."


    Looking far, Fang Yuan felt excited. "I''ve heard that after that piece of land is the ancient path to the Da Qian empire..."


    Although he had explored the empire in a dream world, he was still curious about the real Da Qian Empire.


    ...


    At night.


    Many tents were erected on the plains, and in the middle of the campsite was a fireplace, and food was cooking on it.


    Soldiers were consuming their dried rations, holding on to their wooden bowls and waiting for a portion of soup to be scooped for them. The higher ranking officers had meat and soup, and dessert such as ginger biscuits.


    "If we do not prepare, we would be out in danger!"


    At a small distance away from the campsite was a small hill, and Fang Yuan laid there lazily.


    Under him was a patch of soft grass, and by his ear was the occasional chirping of crickets. The grassy smell filled his nose and without even looking up, he could see the stars, the full moon and the milky way... Everything was in sight.


    "We are but a tiny dust compared to the universe, incomparable to the wonders of nature, but we have the most potential!"


    Fang Yuan opened his wine pot and gulped down a large mouthful of wine.


    The spiritual wine was extremely fragrant and a warm stream trickled down his throat into his belly. It was a warm and fuzzy feeling, and it gave out hints of spiritual energy, rejuvenating his body.


    "This wine pot has its mystery in it, and the fact that I can drink such good wine every day makes it comparable to the Mountain River Pearl!"


    With the shimmer of a spiritual glow on Fang Yuan''s hand, the wine pot disappeared.


    Ever since he started his training in his Giant Eagle Metal Body Technique, his appetite had grown, and the spiritual wine was but a small supplement for him.


    If not for the Mountain River Pearl which stored heaps of spiritual rice and spiritual fruits, he could not sustain his diet for the entire journey.


    As he looked at the campsite with the flicker of the fire, he laughed silently.


    "Looking at my age, potential and the fact that I''m not part of the royal family of Yuan Country and Wu Country, I would be a threat to them! Am I sacrificing myself by going to the Yuan Wu Conference?"


    Slowly, he stood up and closed his eyes. A spiritual meridian appeared on his body, and as it slithered around, it appeared illusionary.


    "Giant Eagle Metal Body Technique!"


    As compared to the cultivation of a dream master, the bottleneck for martial arts was much easier to break through.


    Every time when Fang Yuan had time, he would focus on forming the spiritual meridian. Even if it would not increase his proficiency points, it would still deepen his understanding of the technique.


    "The path of humans... The path of the Universe... Spiritual meridian! Using external energy to complement what the human body is lacking in..."


    However, there was a little difference in his cultivation today.


    Looking at the starry night sky, his mind clicked. Coupled with the strong foundations in his body, a mysterious change started to appear on Fang Yuan''s body.


    "Kacha!"


    Suddenly, a soft explosion was heard in his body.


    The spiritual energy around him swirled and was slowly absorbed by his body.


    At that moment, Fang Yuan felt an accelerated absorption of elemental energy from Heaven and Earth!


    He was shocked and appeared a little dazed. "This is... spiritual meridian!"


    There was no path after Wu Zong.


    However, the Wu Zongs in Da Qian Empire gathered and with their collective effort, they had managed to find a way.


    Since Wu Zong was the extreme of the human body, it meant that it was necessary to take in energy from outside after obtaining elemental force. By taking in energy from outside, a spiritual meridian could be formed, which would increase the threshold of energy in the body!


    This stage was known as the Meridian Opening Realm! It was comparable to the Elemental Opening Realm of the spiritual knights.


    "Because I am assimilating the spiritual meridian into my body, being a natural process, for every meridian formed I would increase my potential as a martial artist! Who can even imagine the power of the divine body after forming the maximum amount of spiritual meridians possible..."


    Fang Yuan rubbed his chin and felt as though he could not accept the fact that there were changes to his own body.


    "I knew that the Yuan Wu Conference was dangerous, and initially wanted to use it to pressurize myself into making the breakthrough!"


    "Who would''ve thought that all it took was a moment to result in such a change. There is no need for me to risk it just for the breakthrough anymore!"


    "Whoosh whoosh!"


    Suddenly, a shadow leapt out of the campsite. Swiftly, it arrived on the hill and had an uneasy look. "Prefecture Master Fang, that was..."


    "Oh, just a mere achievement in my cultivation of martial arts!"


    Fang Yuan smiled reservedly.


    "I see, you''re indeed a talent!"


    Lan Xiaosheng was generous with his praises. "Prefecture Master''s talent is putting me to shame!"


    He would not be able to understand the Meridian Opening Realm, and had thought that Fang Yuan had a small improvement in the Elemental Gathering Realm instead... If he could not understand, how could he tell the difference?


    He was still full of admiration for Fang Yuan''s talent.


    "Prefecture Master Fang, your spiritual aura..."


    He could still tell that his spiritual aura has changed, and looked suspicious.


    "Oh, I''ve learnt a new spiritual technique. Was it the change in my spiritual aura that you have detected?"


    Fang Yuan lied through his teeth.


    "Oh, I see! With Prefecture Master Fang, we will be able to achieve what we want in this Yuan Wu Conference!"


    Seeing the expressionless Fang Yuan, Lan Xiaosheng forced a helpless and awkward laughter, and he looked away, lost.


    ...


    The Yuan Wu Conference was a conference which involved the many countries in the mainland.


    Of course, with the uprising of Yuan Country, their attitude had worsened.


    They have chosen the boundary of the plains as the location for the conference, next to a lake.


    As the countries started to arrive for the conference, more and more tents were being set up, and many different flags were flying. In the centre of all, there was a tall elevated platform being built.


    Zhu, Qi, Kun, Hong and many other small countries have arrived. Putting their ceremonial contingent on display, the entire place looked rather majestic.


    Fang Yuan was riding on a large horse and with much interest, he was learning to recognise the different flags under the coaching of Xie Lingyun.


    As compared the countries who were geographically smaller than the Secluded Mountain Prefecture, Fang Yuan felt that his status was rather high. Even Zhu Country could be considered a big country.


    "Where''s Wu Country and Yuan Country?"


    As they walked to the lakeside, their army started to pitch their tents. Fang Yuan looked at a distance and enquired.


    "Obviously, they will be the last to arrive!"


    Xie Lingyun was riding a white horse and was next to Fang Yuan. Wearing a veil, she concealed her face.


    Suddenly, she stared at Fang Yuan. "Master, it seems that you have achieved a breakthrough? Even your aura feels different..."


    Fang Yuan laughed but did not answer her. "Disciple, go have a look at your king."


    This was the conference among the kings, and the king of Xia Country was here as well.


    However, Fang Yuan felt pitiful after seeing him. He was a pale looking middle-aged man plagued with illnesses. He could not even speak properly and was exactly like a puppet.


    It was obvious that this puppet king in Xia Country was of no use. All the country''s affairs were single-handedly handled by the beautiful disciple of his.


    "In this conference, Wu Country would surely force me into a corner. Master, you must help me!"


    Xie Lingyun gave a pitiful look.


    "Hehe... Even if they forget about you, they would also find trouble for me!"


    Fang Yuan squinted his eyes. "This is good... We can settle this once and for all!"


    "Wooo! Wooo!"


    The bugle of the armies was sounded.


    From afar, at the horizon, there was a thin black line.


    A large troop was formed up and making their way forward.


    "Wu Country''s soldiers!?"


    Xie Lingyun softened her voice. "The country governor of Wu Country is here!"


    Fang Yuan remained silent.


    The 10,000-men strong army approaching in their formation struck fear in all of the smaller countries.


    As the formation reached the lakeside, the drumbeat halted. The soldiers in the formation split up respectfully, revealing a pathway. A man in golden armour galloped on his horse and arrived in front.


    "This country governor of Wu Country seems to be a valiant warrior, and I''ve heard that he is not even 40 yet! Not bad indeed..."


    Fang Yuan nodded his head, and at the same time, his spiritual sense could detect that he was being looked at by two enemies.


    "Mm, one of them is Wu Wudao, and the other is General Fei Long. No strangers!"


    He looked over and smiled.


    However, as for Wu Wudao and General Fei Long, both of them acted as though they had met a strong adversary. They approached the golden-armoured warrior and started mumbling to him.


    As the golden-armoured warrior removed his helmet, a face with distinct features was revealed. As he looked over, he had the vibe of a great warrior who had the ability to take over anything he wanted.


    Although he was not Wu Zong, as the leader of the country, together with his army formation, Xie Lingyun was equally pressured by him, as she was by Wu Wudao!


    "Mm, both Wu and Yuan Country are here!"


    Xie Lingyun felt a little breathless and gently patted herself to awaken her mind.


    Looking in the direction of North, there was a fine black line rushing towards them from the horizon, and it was a shocking scene to behold!

 181 All Ready

    In the north.


    Rumbling noises were heard. Sand was drifting in the wind as the ground shook.


    There were rows of cavalries. Like dark clouds, they were as strong as a hurricane and as terrifying as a tsunami. Nothing could stand in their way.


    At the Crescent Moon Lakeside, the soldiers from the small country were panicking. No matter how much the commanders were reprimanding them, the situation was not improving and they all felt as though something bad was about to happen.


    Even the much stronger soldiers of Wu Country appeared a little panicky, moments before the impending arrival of the soldiers from the Yuan Country. This frightened Fang Yuan a little.


    In front of the Yuan Country''s soldiers, even if the soldiers of the Wu Country was strong, they were ultimately still inferior to them.


    The horses were galloping at full speed, and there were more than ten thousands soldiers approaching.


    As they reached the lakeside, the soldiers stopped in their tracks and started to set up their tents. In the centre of the tents, a giant golden tent was the first to be erected. The ground was laid with top quality sheep''s wool. On the outside, it was decorated with gold foils, jewellery and jades. That tent looked like a palace and it repressed many other countries.


    "That is the flag of the King of Yuan!"


    Xie Lingyun looked at the flag that was displayed at the golden tent and was furious. "He is just a prince, and he thinks he can represent the whole country? What an arrogant guy!"


    "They are stronger than us. What can we do about it?"


    Fang Yuan was not bothered by that. "Since the ones in charge are here, we should go too!"


    In fact, if the rest of the countries were to team up, Yuan Country would not be able to defeat the rest. However, the rest of the countries already had conflicts with each other, so how would they work together to defeat the enemy?


    "Not to mention, Yuan Country has always wanted to attack the powerful countries like Xia and Wu Countries. The other kings will definitely stand aside to watch the show!"


    With this understanding, Fang Yuan felt that the conference was rather useless.


    After a short while, there was a procession. The kings appeared one by one and went to their seats.


    Xie Lingyun however, bit her lip and went to Fang Yuan. "Master¡­...if something bad happens today, please do take care of your own safety!"


    "I know!"


    Fang Yuan knew very clearly that ever since he had the possibility of breaking through the Elemental Opening Realm, Xia Country was dependent on him. This was why Fang Yuan''s safety was their top priority.


    However, he couldn''t say that to her and therefore just nodded his head slightly to acknowledge. The princess couldn''t do anything about it.


    The only thing she could do was to introduce the guests to Fang Yuan.


    "That is the king of Qi Country. Qi Country is rich in salt and this is their advantage. Even though the citizens there are rich, not many good spiritual knights or Wu Zong are being cultivated from there¡­.."


    Xie Lingyun introduced them one by one in detail to Fang Yuan. "Also, that man with the red face is the king of Kun Country. Even though the citizens living in the Kun Country are poorer, there is a stronger culture of martial arts there. Their citizens were brave enough to fight against soldiers from the Wu Country. In the previous battle of the Yellow Pool, under the leadership of General Fei Long, Wu Country took almost 5 years but barely defeated Kun Country. After the war, Wu Country had overspent their resources and from then, they had given up the idea of taking over Kun Country¡­.."


    Fang Yuan glanced at the king of Kun Country with an interesting look and realised that he was very capable. The king was a cultivator and was at the peak of the 12th Gate. He was an outstanding one among all other kings.


    At that moment, a fat king sitting on the opposite saw Fang Yuan and greeted him humbly.


    "Who is that?"


    There was a saying that one should not go against another who is smiling at one. Fang Yuan looked at the flag that was behind the king and asked.


    "That is the king of Zhu Country. He is a good old man. He has been well respected by his people and is similar to the previous kings in Xia Country!"


    Xie Lingyun said that with a sarcastic tone.


    Fang Yuan knew what she meant as he heard that. The king was a puppet as well, put in place to maintain peace in the country. It seemed that the king of Zhu Country was similar to the king from Xia Country.


    However, Fang Yuan had created a mess in Zhu Country and even caught the King of Poison, Jie Wuming. Hence, Fang Yuan was considered murderous and ferocious, and that was why the king was being respectful and fearful of Fang Yuan.


    There was a specific etiquette in the Yuan Wu Conference.


    At the platform, only kings could sit down. Others who were accompanying would have to stand by the side.


    There was a year when the three Prefecture Masters of the Xia Country could only ''escort'' the king of the Xia Country to the conference and could only protect him from behind.


    Now, Fang Yuan and Xie Lingyun were also standing behind the king of Xia Country but this time, their positions were allocated slightly to the front.


    ''So is this the position that the Xia Country has managed to get from the previous conference?''


    Fang Yuan knew that if he was to announce the Secluded Mountain Prefecture as a country on its own in this meet, he would be able to have his own position.


    Of course, he would have to achieve that on his own and would have to deal with other countries first.


    ''I''m not sure what Yuan and Wu Country have prepared for us. I''m looking forward to it!''


    Fang Yuan saw many of the kings sitting down and the musicians who were around them started to play some pieces to welcome them. Even though it sounded very ancient, Fang Yuan still enjoyed the music.


    Such ceremony was a rare one.


    Among the noises from the drums, the king of the Wu Country and the prince of the Yuan Country got down from their horses.


    "It is rumoured that Wu Qiankun, the king of the Wu Country, is brilliant and good in martial arts. He is, therefore, a remarkable king who is determined to reform the country, making it stronger day by day¡­.Of course, ever since that defeat, his reputation was affected. Recently, there was also the trouble from Yuan Country¡­."


    As Xie Lingyun said this, her voice became inaudible.


    After all, if everything had gone smoothly, he might have been his husband.


    However, no one could control the things that were happening. What had happened had already happened.


    "Not too bad!"


    Fang Yuan looked at Wu Wudao, who was standing behind Wu Qiankun and shook his head. He then looked at the group of people from the Yuan Country and asked. "What about that young lad over there?"


    "He is the eighth son of King Yuan from the Yuan Country. His name is Ge Ritu, which meant brightness! Since he is young and has a strong family backing him, he is a suitable candidate for the next person to take over the throne."


    Xie Lingyun raised her eyebrows.


    When the eighth prince came, she looked very uncertain and realised that she kept looking at the prince, before feeling shy and angry at herself.


    "You have sharp eyes indeed!"


    Fang Yuan nodded his head and shook his head. "Yuan Country has already been established but they still haven''t been able to remove the original tribal habits. There will be conflicts and I''m afraid there will be a big trouble!"


    Among all other countries, everyone believed that the eldest son in the family who be the one taking over the throne in future. Under the influence of the other countries, Yuan Country also paid attention to such matter.


    Plus, with the shamans and the advanced medical skills, the lifespan of the people in Yuan Country had been extended. If this continued on, it would mean trouble in future.


    It might even lead to a rivalry between siblings in the future.


    Ge Ritu''s eyes scanned across the kings from the south and noticed many pale, friendly and fearful faces. ''Indeed¡­..it is true that people from the south are weak and they love internal conflicts. I will be able to rule this whole piece of land in future and this piece of land will be basking in brightness!''


    Suddenly, he noticed a lady.


    Her white dress was swaying and she looked graceful. She looked royal even with her emotionless look on her face and he was wavered by that.


    ''Since big brother has offered the princess from the Sunset Division to Father, which appeased him, I should not lose out too.''


    He then stopped and asked with a southern accent. "You are¡­.."


    "Eighth Prince, she is the daughter of the king of Xia Country, Princess Lingyun!"


    An official who was beside him replied.


    "You''re not bad! Very good!"


    Ge Ritu laughed, making Fang Yuan a little displeased.


    "Who are you then?"


    Ge Ritu turned and noticed Fang Yuan.


    "Eighth Prince!"


    Wu Wudao then introduced with his malicious voice. "This is the top warrior from the South. He is the Secluded Mountain Prefecture Master from Xia Country and his name is Fang Yuan! He is only 20 years old!"


    "You are Fang Yuan!"


    The Eighth Prince focused on Fang Yuan and said, "How does he fare against my top warrior in the Yuan Country? Zhuo Li Getu!"


    The Eighth Prince scoffed and an angry-looking man came forward.


    The man was 8 feet tall and he looked brute. His narrow eyes were glittering and he had a high nose bridge, which made him looked like a wolf and an eagle at the same time. He was wearing a plains robe but he revealed his chest and there was a green wolf head tattoo on it.


    His name, Zhuo Li Getu, meant that he was fearless in the language of the plains.


    The man had an immense amount of energy. From the way Fang Yuan judged him, he was a powerful Wu Zong and was superior to General Fei Long from Wu Country.


    "I will bet with 100 battle horses and 10 gold coins that your warrior is inferior to mine!"


    The Eighth Prince went forward and glared at the king from Xia Country. "How does this sound?"


    "Cough..."


    The king of Xia Country gave a cough and his face became even much paler.


    Xie Lingyun couldn''t bear the sight of this. She stood out and said, "Please show some respect, Eighth Prince! The conference hasn''t even started and you are already breaking our agreement?"


    Ge Ritu was startled when he heard this.


    He then realised that he was just a prince and not a king. Plus, his position as the heir wasn''t stable as well.


    King Yuan had entrusted him to represent his country for this meet. If he were to cause any trouble just because he was too reckless, his brothers would definitely not let go of this golden opportunity to put him down.


    He then gave a cold smile and walked away as he returned to his seat.


    The official heaved a sigh of relief and shouted with a deep voice. "All kings can start to inspect their soldiers!"


    The Yuan Wu Conference was a platform for everyone to showcase their strength and to choose the leader of the conference!


    Previously, this opportunity was only given to Yuan and Wu Countries.


    If Wu Country was chosen, the plains would be peaceful and it would take advantage of its position as the leader of the conference to take over land as their territory.


    If Yuan Country was chosen, knowing that the southern countries were weaker would make them send off a wave of nomads to the South to plunder from the people living there.


    ''No matter what¡­... this would not involve the people! No! These would not even involve the smaller countries¡­.''


    Fang Yuan took a glance the kings of the smaller countries and pitied them. "When a country''s government is prosperous, the citizens will suffer. When there is war, the citizens will also suffer! Fortunately, this is an extraordinary world and cultivators like us can still survive!"


    "Woo! Woo!"


    The bugle was sounded, and it was the signal for the elite forces of every country to come out of their camps. Carefully, they lined up in a formation. Following the order that they were given, they marched past the elevated platform smartly.


    Within minutes, there were hundreds and thousands of soldiers below the platform. Their armour were clanging and the swords were glittering in the sunlight, making the whole place much more lively.


    ''Hmm, most of the elite soldiers are 4th Gate martial artists who have obtained inner power. The average body condition of these soldiers is very high¡­..''


    Fang Yuan looked at the formation for a while and understood what was going on.

 182 Sudden Change

    "Kill!"


    Beneath the stage, nearly 10,000 Wu soldiers shouted in unison, bringing their morale to a peak.


    Shortly after, another 5,000 cavalrymen from Yuan Country rode past, demonstrating the skill of horseback archery. Each of them was well built, and while the formation was a little messy, it was filled with a barbaric aura. That sort of sharpness that only those who had undergone many bloody battles could exude made the leaders of various countries'' expressions change.


    "My king has an order!"


    Eighth Prince Ge Ri acted as though as there was no one around and carried on. "For today''s conference, the leader will be my country! Otherwise..."


    Although he didn''t explicitly say it out, all of the countries had some idea of what he meant.


    It was time for the south to react to this provocation!


    "He he!"


    Upon hearing this, the King of Wu Country did not move, but Wu Wudao laughed coldly, "If the Eighth Prince is willing to pledge that after becoming allies, you won''t invade the southerners'' lands, what''s stopping us from recognising you as the alliance leader?"


    Naturally, this condition was not something he could agree to.


    If he did, it would just show his enemies that he was weak, which would, in turn, allow Yuan Country to understand what the actual situation was and they would just force their way down south with more fervour.


    In reality, people of the Yuan Country were very ambitious. Hence no matter what they obtained from the conference, it wouldn''t be enough to satisfy them, and they would just continue pillaging their way southwards. This was the common understanding of all countries.


    At this point, all of them could only rely on the alliance to suppress these flames of arrogance and force the Yuan Country to know their place.


    "The contingent inspection is over. Let the martial arts contest begin!"


    As expected, the Eighth Prince did not make such a foolish pledge. Instead, he coldly snorted before changing the topic of conversation to something else.


    If the contingent inspection was a representation of the strength of one''s army''s foundation, then the martial arts contest was a display of one''s army''s top-tier strength.


    Especially if there were any disagreements between countries, they could be resolved through a contest.


    However, at this point in time, the greatest problem on everyone''s mind was the threat of Yuan Country''s cavalrymen!


    As a result, all of the kings were just gazing at each other in silence.


    Under this shroud of noiselessness, it was the Xia Country''s King that stood up first.


    This man was not young, with a rather pale face but a very energetic voice. "I have few virtues and meager abilities, and since I ascended the throne, there have been countless natural disasters. Hence, I will at least help to secure the position of a virtuous man. Secluded Mountain Prefecture''s Head, Fang Yuan, is here today. He is a man with great morals and the Secluded Mountain Prefecture belongs to him. I am willing to give him land to set up..."


    "Wait!"


    Wu Country''s King interrupted loudly.


    "Does Xia Country''s King mean that he wants to give some land to Prefecture Head Fang and make him a king? Where would his land be?"


    "Naturally it will be the Secluded Mountain Prefecture!"


    Xie Lingyin rebutted.


    "He he..."


    Shaking his head, Wu Qiankun responded, "Unless my eyes are failing me, on the current maps, your country has already ceded the area of Secluded Mountain Prefecture to my country. The only way you can give him land to make him king is to take other people''s land."


    Once these words left his mouth, not only was Xie Lingyin enraged, but even Lan Xiaosheng felt a little anxious.


    "You''re right!"


    A crisp voice echoed out, causing many people to look in that direction in disbelief. It was Fang Yuan!


    "This Secluded Mountain Prefecture originally belonged to Xia Country! Only much later was it given to Wu Country!"


    Fang Yuan spoke with great gusto, as though as he was very confident. " I then took it back from the hands of Wu Country after a great battle. Moreover, I also established a pact with Wu Country that they would not violate our borders for a hundred years, and there''s a contract as proof. Since the ancient times, this has been the proper way to obtain a country!"


    This so-called ''proper way to obtain a country'' was essentially just one point: wielding absolute power!


    When this was mentioned, a few members of the Wu Country were infuriated.


    This was especially so for General Feilong and Wu Wudao. Their previous defeat could be said to be the greatest disgrace of their lives.


    ''This person must be insane. Does he not know that he has become a thorn in my side? This conference will where he dies!''


    Wu Wudao plotted in his heart as he looked towards Eighth Prince.


    Eighth Prince also looked over at the same time, and it was like he understood Wudao''s intentions as he said, "You men of the south are so wishy-washy. For land, it naturally belongs to whoever occupies it, and if you want to reason at this conference, then do so through the martial arts contest!"


    ''In plain, doesn''t it mean a fight to the death?''


    Upon hearing this, Fang Yuan rolled his eyes secretly.


    The only person representing the Secluded Mountain Prefecture was him, hence he had to fight.


    When that time came, any means necessary could be used.


    Regardless how devastating the Yuan Country was, they could only mount a single campaign towards the south. Eventually, they would have to return to the plains, and it would be the lower class families that would be broken up due to the battles.


    However, if a spiritual knight of the Elemental Opening Realm appeared, all countries would be easily bullied by that individual.


    The implications of which were very clear to those who knew of this possible situation.


    If Fang Yuan hadn''t broken through to the Meridian Opening Stage, he wouldn''t have dared to enter this tiger''s den with such confidence.


    "Yes!"


    Wu Qiankun was the first to agree.


    The cause for his loss earlier was largely Fang Yuan, hence there was naturally more animosity towards him.


    Even though they had a non-aggression pact with the Secluded Mountain Prefecture for 100 years, it didn''t mean that he couldn''t act against Fang Yuan himself.


    "Master?"


    Xie Lingyin appeared a little pale and crept closer to Fang Yuan. "Wu Country has many capable men. You can''t go against them, so why don''t you wait for an opportunity in the future!"


    "There''s no need for that!"


    Fang Yuan waved her off.


    Wasn''t all the waiting he did just for this opportunity to give everyone a shock?


    A person with the potential to advance to Elemental Opening Stage was a genius and had to be killed off early. However, for someone that had already advanced to that stage, he would be miles ahead of others, and they would have to bow down to him.


    "You guys, who''re coming to meet his or her death?"


    Entering the arena, Fang Yuan stared down the people all around with a fierce aura emanating from him.


    When General Feilong''s and Wu Wudao''s eyes met his, they could feel a chill run down their spine, as though as they had done something wrong.


    The might of a person could suppress multiple generals!


    The next strongest person in Yuan Country after Ge Ritu, Zhuoli Getu, licked his lips, and his blood seemed to start boiling.


    "Since it''s a matter of the secluded mountain, naturally the Wu Country will send someone!"


    Just as Wu Qiankun was about to suggest General Feilong, he saw an expression of shock on Feilong''s face, and he didn''t feel very good inside while he said, "I''ll have to trouble our Imperial Advisor!"


    "Good!"


    With a wave of his white sleeves, Wu Wudao entered the arena.


    There was a death grudge between him and Fang Yuan as an Elemental Gathering Stage disciple of his was killed by Fang Yuan.


    If he wasn''t injured back then, he would have fought Fang Yuan to the death much earlier.


    "Greetings, I am Wu Wudao!"


    Wu Wudao took a step forward, and his aura was as grand as a tall mountain, "Secluded Mountain Prefecture Head, you killed my beloved disciple and occupied my country''s land. I have to bring this to a conclusion today!"


    "Exactly what I was thinking!"


    Fang Yuan chucked, but inside he was contemplating whether to go all out from the start and use his martial arts to kill this old fogey in a few blows.


    ''One punch? That''s a little too shocking right?''


    ''Two punches then, but it''s still very shocking, three punches seem fine...''


    ''Heck it, why am I thinking so much, it''s still better to kill him with one punch!''


    If Wu Wudao could hear Fang Yuan''s thoughts, he would probably have spat out a mouthful of blood there and then.


    "Wooo woooo!!!"


    However, just as Ge Litu was very excited to watch the fight, a deep horn sounded out from afar. It came gradually closer, bringing with it a smoke signal.


    "What? It''s the Grey Wolf Horn?"


    Everyone was puzzled, and their mysterious gazes fell onto Ge Litu.


    In that moment, Ge Litu felt as though as he had fallen into a pack of wolves.


    "Let''s go! Zhuoli Getu, go to escort the messenger. I''ll coordinate the men!"


    The Yuan Country had a system: whenever the Grey Wolf Horn was sounded, it meant that a sudden change had occurred in the country!


    With this scene unfolding before them, even the Eighth Prince didn''t have the mood to sit around, so he stood up and got ready to leave immediately.


    "Wait! The ceremony isn''t over yet..."


    While Wu Qiankun put on a front, he secretly ordered General Feilong to mobilise the army, but still with a sheepish smile on his face. "Since Eighth Prince is here on behalf of your father, how could you leave in advance?"


    "I''m not one of you! So why do I have to care about the rules of you southerners?"


    The problems in his country were very pressing, almost as though as his eyebrows were on fire, hence Ge Ritu shouted rudely as such before striding off the stage.


    Many elite sharpshooters followed closely behind, guarding him.


    "Sigh¡­...It seems like there''s really something important happening in Yuan Country!"


    The King of Xia Country gazed upon the figures of the young prince and his entourage that faded away on the horizon, and suddenly suggested, "Why don''t we postpone the conference for now?"


    "But of course!"


    "I support this move!"


    The other kings were moved by this suggestion. All of them couldn''t wait to leave, consolidate their men, and inquire about what had happened.


    ''What a pity... to let this kid escape!''


    No matter how unwilling Wu Wudao was, he could only back down, returning to Wu Qiankin''s side.


    "However... "


    Wu Qiankun nodded his head, "Fellow kings, please do not be in such a hurry to leave. This sudden change in the plains could be a good thing for us!"


    "What a pity..."


    No one knew that Fang yuan had the same idea as Wu Wudao, and at the same time, he was shocked by the recent developments.


    What kind of catastrophe could have happened in the Yuan Country such that it caused the Eighth Prince to become so flustered?


    ...


    That night, Fang Yuan and those in the higher echelons obtained a detailed report.


    "Collapse of the country..."


    After hearing this news, Xie Lingyin remained the calmest in the room, "Could it be that the old king''s body was in a critical condition? That''s why it was the Eighth Prince that came for the conference?"


    "Impossible!"


    In a moment, this thought was eliminated from her mind.


    "If this was the case, then how could there have been this large a commotion. From the way that the Eighth Prince rushed back with his army, he was obviously not aware of what had happened. He was caught with his pants down!"


    "Naturally!"


    Fang Yuan agreed, "All princes of Yuan Country have their own subordinates and armies. Even if they were deemed to be backup kings, it would be a very dangerous time for them, not to mention if they were outside..."


    "At this point, since the elite forces of our countries are here, if we muster a decisive blow, it could disrupt the leadership of the enemy..."


    Lan Xiaosheng grabbed her fan, even breathing a little more roughly than before.


    "That''s not possible!"


    This proposal might have been very tempting, but as quickly as Xie Lingyin''s eyes lit up, they fizzled out as she looked outside the encampment.


    All of the countries'' armies were not only very far away, but also on guard. Obviously, their motives were not aligned.


    "Even¡­...Even if all of our countries go into battle and wipe out the Yuan Country, there would still be other families in the plains that will rise up¡­...Once their forces are ready, they would still continue to head southwards."


    Fang Yuan shook his head in frustration. This was the inevitable clash between the farming culture and nomad culture.


    Farmers wanted to occupy the plains, and throughout history, unless there were industrial revolutions, they would either fail or become culturally assimilated without any other possible options available.


    "Now I wonder what Wu Qiankun''s reaction will be?"


    Xie Lingyin''s eyes lit up again, turning to face the encampment of the Wu Country.

 183 Forced

    In the Wu Country''s tents, the candles were burning brightly.


    As one of the stronger country in the area, Wu Qiankun''s news was undoubtedly more detailed than that of Xia Country''s.


    "The First Prince has invaded Sunset Division and presented Purple Dream Princess to the king. Elated as he was, he invited her into his tent before dying abruptly. Purple Dream Princess is nowhere to be found... is this a revenge plot for the fallen soldiers?"


    Wu Qiankun clenched the piece of message and he was in disbelief. "Their king has spent half of his life fighting wars and has fought a name for himself. In the end, his life was ended by a woman, who would have guessed..."


    "He deserved it!"


    "This old thief, he''s finally dead!"


    As the king, he had to be mindful of his words and expression. However, Wu Wudao and General Fei Long had no considerations, and both of them appeared elated.


    The Yuan King was a cruel man. He had attempted to invade the South many times and had no restraint in anything that he did. His hands were splashed with blood from countless people, and even the Wu Country had once suffered an invasion which involved 18 cities being taken down by the Yuan Country, and the casualty rate was extremely high.


    Most importantly, this person was extremely cunning and was suspicious of everyone. He was like a poisonous snake!


    Such an easy death made Wu Qiankun feel as though he was dreaming.


    "If not for Ge Ritu, who led his army back to resolve this issue using military force, I would have thought that this might be their plan to confuse us..."


    Looking at the ministers below, he smiled bitterly.


    "My king! This is a good opportunity! And a rare one too!"


    General Fei Long''s eyes burned with passion. "There is internal conflict among the foreigners. If we gather our infantry and create trouble for them in the Dragon City... Even if we cannot destroy Yuan country completely, we can at least cripple them..."


    As he spoke, his voice became increasingly soft.


    "Hehe... With all the other countries outside, why should we be the first one to strike?"


    Wu Wudao smiled coldly. "I have understood it now. On this piece of land, every country is in defence. Whoever who strikes first will die! Furthermore... what do we stand to gain by destroying Yuan Country? Do you think we can convert the grass plains into farms, and subsequently reward the soldiers with it? If they decide the capital to be at the garrison, then we would need to spend huge amounts of money and effort before being able to take them down. There might even be an impending doom for us in the future, and this has all happened in history before!"


    "So do we wait and do nothing?"


    General Fei Long replied, unconvinced.


    "Of course not!"


    Wu Wudao held his fists and bowed at Wu Qiankun. "King! The chaos in Yuan Country and the fact that they have no leader now means that you can contest the appointment as the alliance leader! Thereafter, you can gather all the countries to come together to take down Dragon City and support the First Prince in becoming their new king!"


    "This..."


    Wu Qiankun''s eyes glittered.


    The alliance leader would be the leader in name to lead and bring soldiers into alliance! It was unbelievable to be able to pressure the Dragon City and choose the next king of the Yuan Country!


    "That''s right!"


    General Fei Long answered loudly. "We stand to gain a lot from this! Firstly, we can pressure the many countries to stand on our side. Gathering our influence, we will become a force to be reckoned with! After gathering our influence, the princes who would want to become the crown prince would have to establish relations with us! Our country can benefit from both sides!"


    "And this is only the first advantage!"


    Wu Wudao twirled his moustache. "Based on the power we can gather, the truth is that we still cannot completely exterminate Yuan Country. Supporting the First Prince is in preparation of the future."


    "Wise words, Imperial Advisor!"


    Wu Qiankun felt that there was much to be explored.


    In getting involved with the Yuan Country''s internal affairs, the future for Wu Country would be more or less decided. The grass plains would no longer be prone to invasion. The only thing to do would be to train up a deputy. If well performed, generations of alliance leaders from the Wu Country would become the king of the plains, and the plains would be well protected!


    Not just that, everyone would be used to the outcome in time to come!


    Once Yuan Country had been taken over completely, and with the current power of the Wu Country, their collective power would be increased by folds! Wu Country would become the strongest in the region, and would be one step closer to becoming the alliance leader!


    Of course, all these had to be done slowly, and might even take more than a generation''s time.


    However, if they were to persevere, they would ultimately be an unmatched power! The most important was that their plans were all gradual and would likely not be met with a lot of resistance.


    "This is... a plan to unify the whole region!"


    Wu Qiankun became increasingly excited. "Even if it takes my life, I must complete the first step, as a foundation for generations to come!"


    "We will put our lives on the line for Wu Country!"


    Wu Wudao and General Fei Long kneeled down, bowed and both of them were burning with passion and loyalty for the country.


    ...


    The second day.


    "What? Is the conference re-opening? So quickly?"


    In the campsite of the Xia Country, Fang Yuan and company received the news.


    It was a messenger from the Wu Country, and his face was gleaning with happiness. "Regarding the Yuan Country''s affairs, my king as already received news, and is intending to discuss with every country over the conference."


    After the messenger took his leave, Xie Lingyun and the rest were lost in thoughts.


    "The chaos in Yuan Country is natural. It seems that Wu Country wants to take action now!"


    Lan Xiaosheng folded his foldable fan and rhythmically slapped in his other palm. "Princess and Fang Yuan, what are your plans?"


    "We''ll react to whatever happens. Let''s go take a look!"


    Fang Yuan looked in the direction of Dragon City, the capital city of Yuan Country. He could feel a tinge of uneasiness.


    He thought of the Eighth Prince from Yuan Country, and his formidable influence and power. Even with so much power, he still became flustered the moment he received the smoke signal.


    The Wu Country had an ulterior motive for this conference. Would Fang Yuan let them have their way?


    A row of people walked up to an elevated platform. Subconsciously, Xie Lingyun and Lan Xiaosheng''s eyelids twitched.


    There were many flags being positioned around the platform, and Wu Qiankun was wearing a crown. He was dressed in a dragon''s robe and sat in the leader''s seat. Many servants surrounded him, and the entire scene was majestic beyond words.


    "This is the alliance leader''s seat!"


    Xie Lingyun shook her head. "Wu Country did not wait for the voting from the other countries, and claimed the appointment for themselves?"


    "Don''t say that, Lady Xie!"


    Wu Wudao walked out from the side and laughed. "Yuan Country''s king has just died. My country king is not appointed as the alliance leader with the recommendation from Qi, Zhu and Kun Country. How is this unfair?"


    "When was this?"


    "Last night!"


    Wu Wudao smiled and felt that the depression that was in him for the past few days had all been let out.


    "King of Xia Country, you''re late. Hurry up and ask the alliance leader for forgiveness!"


    One of the small country governors came out, only to put Xia Country on a spot.


    They were clear about the fact that the chaos in Yuan Country would lead to the inevitable uprising of Wu Country. The only way was to establish good relations with them and stand on their side.


    "I... I..."


    The king of Xia Country was only a puppet. He could not even complete a proper sentence now.


    Xie Lingyun quickly showed a hand sign. Immediately, two servants supported the king of Xia Country to pay respects to Wu Qiankun. "Greetings, alliance leader!"


    "No need for formalities!"


    Wu Qiankun waved his hand.


    "After being recommended by many countries to become the alliance leader, I am fearful. I will do my best and will not let everyone down!"


    Suddenly, he stood up and looked in the direction of Dragon City in Yuan Country. "Yuan Country is also part of the alliance. However, they are in a state of chaos now because of the death of their king. After this conference, I shall bring every country in this alliance together to head towards Dragon City to bring peacekeeping efforts to them and to protect the royal family, ensuring the survival of the late king''s descendants!"


    It was always important to sound noble.


    As Wu Qiankun shared his noble objective, many country governors agreed in unison.


    "Alliance leader, you are compassionate!"


    "This is what needs to be done!"


    In reality, everyone knew what would happen if troops were to enter Yuan Country.


    "Good!"


    Wu Qiankun was flushed. "Today we shall drink blood and swear to make our alliance official. We will look out for each other and enjoy good times together. Those who betray us, we will deal with them together!"


    With the wave of his head, an official carried a bull''s head and walked up the platform.


    As the alliance leader, Wu Qiankun would not personally kill an animal. He only had to demonstrate the action of killing it.


    Not long after, cups of blood wine were distributed to the several country governors.


    Fang Yuan was observing from the sidelines.


    The country governors from Zhu, Kun and Qi Country were all pale, but all of them did not hesitate to gulp the cup of blood. They were all fearful of what Wu Qiankun could do to them.


    ''Everything is now official!''


    Fang Yuan looked down and stared coldly. "Next up... They will surely kill one person as a form of warning and sacrifice, right?"


    Indeed, at the next moment, Wu Qiankun''s swept the crowd with a sinister look.


    "Alliance leader!"


    At that moment, the Qi Country Governor leapt out. "The essence of an alliance is trust. Today, in the conference, we have a country who is untrustworthy! Xia Country Governor, since you''ve agreed on a marriage with Wu Country, why did you go back on your words? Also, regarding the rebellion in the Secluded Mountains Prefecture, why did you cover up for the mastermind? What are your intentions?"


    "This..."


    Against such a huge pressure from everyone, even Xie Lingyun found it hard to deal with.


    "This is Xia Country''s internal affairs! As an outsider, what right do you have to interfere?"


    Fang Yuan stood out from the row. Disregarding the stares from everyone around, he calmly continued. "Especially all of you country governors! Today, Wu Country can abruptly interfere in Yuan Country''s internal affairs, and tomorrow all of you would do the same. Even if all of you do the same one by one, it would be equally detrimental! Remember what happened to Yuan Country today! Your country could end up like Yuan Country or Xia Country one day!"


    "What audacity!!!"


    Wu Qiankun was fuming mad. "You dare to be disrespectful in front of me?!"


    In reality, this was just an excuse.


    The main point was that Fang Yuan had managed to explain everything that he had done and everything that he had planned to do.


    "Alliance leader, Fang Yuan was the one who opposed our soldiers. He should have been given the death sentence! Today, he was disrespectful in front of you, and is another offence! Please execute him!"


    Wu Wudao stood out and said coldly.


    "That''s right. In front of all the armies, discipline and order are of utmost priority. Please execute him!"


    General Fei Long knelt down and pleaded Wu Qiankun as well.


    ''Righteousness would be the best excuse to kill someone! If we were all normal people, and if I were to encounter this situation, I would surely die!''


    Fang Yuan solemnly thought to himself.


    He finally knew how it felt like that if everyone were to decide that he was guilty, he would be guilty!


    Every country''s representative was here. With so many people accusing him at the same time, it was indeed something to be feared.


    Of course, the most important was the oncoming soldiers that were slowly making their way to surround him, together with the leaders, General Fei Long and Wu Wudao.


    "Alliance leader has his orders. This is not a drill. Be mindful that this person is extremely powerful, and all are instructed to protect your respective country governors..."


    Wu Wudao''s face was flushed with excitement. He had the thrill as though he was about to take his revenge.


    "How dare you! What do you intend to do to my imperial advisor?"


    Xie Lingyun stood up with a serious look on her face.


    As for Lan Xiaosheng? He kept on retreating and was already nowhere to be seen.


    "Haha... Lingyun, you and your country have made the right decision!"


    Fang Yuan stood in the middle, scanned his surroundings and suddenly broke out into laughter.

 184 The Power of Wu

    On the elevated platform at the conference.


    Fang Yuan stood out and looked around.


    Among the many who were accusing him, Wu Wudao and General Fei Long were smiling cunningly, as they slowly approached him.


    The other country governors were either looking coldly at the scene or were looking with anticipation.


    After all, this was a gifted 20-year-old boy who had obtained elemental force! His future was too uncertain, and he could likely attain the Elemental Opening Realm in the future!


    Of course, they were not willing to see a person with such power; it would be a threat to the region.


    At this point in time, Wu Zongs and spiritual knights of the different countries were guarding their country governors closely. A few of them arrived at the scene with menacing looks on their faces, as though they were instructed to join in.


    The scene had escalated to a point of no return!


    "Kill this person, and bring his head back as a sacrifice!"


    Wu Qiankun bit his teeth and exclaimed.


    His commanding voice was like an order, and suddenly both sides roared into action.


    "Die!"


    General Fei Long was taking the lead in front. An energy field taking up the shape of a dragon wrapped around his body, and out of a sudden, he struck 18 palms outward, releasing his elemental force. The energy field spread and the soldiers were forced to retreat. As a wine cup landed on the floor, the entire elevated platform was wrecked.


    "God Searching Palm!"


    Simultaneously, Wu Wudao struck at the same time.


    He was extremely fearful of Fang Yuan and therefore used his killer move as the first move.


    "Whoosh!"


    Accompanying his hand movements were the glitter of spiritual light. A translucent palm print appeared and then vanished into thin air.


    This God Searching Palm was the counter to Zu Qiao ad Divine Spirits. It was known to be untraceable and extremely deadly. Previously, the Secluded Mountain Prefecture Master Liu Yan was struck by this palm which led to the destruction of his Zu Qiao. Even Fang Yuan might succumb to his palm.


    "Kill!


    It was not just the both of them attacking; the Wu Zongs and spiritual knights from the other smaller countries were helping out as well.


    Many variations of spiritual techniques and martial arts techniques were all targeted in the centre.


    "Rumble!"


    "Woof! Woof!"


    In the mid-air, a few spiritual beasts pounced upwards, guarding the space above. There was a vague silhouette of a person above as well.


    There was no way out!


    Facing such an all-around attack, the Fang Yuan who once cultivated in both martial arts and spiritual techniques would still not stand a chance. Even if he were to cultivate and reach the peak of the Elemental Gathering Stage, even with the help of his spiritual beasts, he would still have no way of escaping!


    But he was no longer the unskilled Fang Yuan he once was!


    Both General Fei Long and the God Searching Palm were coming for him, and a few other Wu Zongs and spiritual knights were attacking from behind as well.


    However, all Fang Yuan did was to take in a deep breath.


    "Phew!"


    As his energy level surged, a rugged and highly visible spiritual meridian appeared on his body!


    The second stage of Wu Zong, the Meridian Opening Realm!


    "God Searching Palm!?"


    He appeared calm. As he stretched out his right hand, he used two fingers to press his forehead.


    "Kacha!"


    In mid-air, a palm print appeared as though it was about to strike Fang Yuan. However, it cleanly landed into Fang Yuan''s trap, and a distinct cracking sound was heard. Within seconds, it was destroyed like a soap bubble.


    "Peng! Peng!"


    General Fei Long''s eyes widened. Taking this opportunity, he crazily struck numerous palms around Fang Yuan. "18 Palms of Fei Long!!"


    "Rumble!"


    After the loud sound, Fang Yuan''s clothing was torn, revealing his muscular build and the distinct veins on him. Mockingly, he grabbed General Fei Long by his wrist. "How''s that? Enough?"


    "Impossible!"


    General Fei Long and Wu Wudao''s eyeballs almost dropped out.


    Even if Fang Yuan used a rough technique to break through to Wu Zong, giving him a hardy body, but General Fei Long was also a Wu Zong! Furthermore, General Fei Long had stellar results in many wars. Using his killer move, even if he was targeting a metal statue, he would still be able to beat it into a piece of metal chunk!


    But what happened to Fang Yuan? Was he left completely unharmed?


    General Fei Long was shocked beyond words. As Fang Yuan grabbed onto his wrist, he felt as though Fang Yuan''s palm was made out of iron. As his expression changed, he wailed. "Imperial Advisor, save me..."


    "Kacha!"


    As he ended his sentence, his entire arm was crushed under Fang Yuan''s grip. Treating him like rubbish, Fang Yuan threw General Fei Long away.


    "Get... Lost!"


    As Fang Yuan shouted, the spiritual meridian on him glowed, and suddenly the glow was transferred to his right hand, as he struck his fist out once again.


    "Rumble!"


    The elevated platform shook and a few pieces of supporting wood broke, as though it might crumble anytime.


    The surrounding Wu Zongs and spiritual knights all spat out blood and flew backwards. Wu Wudao, who was in front, was punched squarely in the chest and crashed into the platform. There was a gaping hole in his chest, and his internal organs were visible.


    Who would have thought that a single punch could be this powerful!


    "Impossible!"


    The table flipped in just a matter of seconds.


    Even Xie Lingyun was in a daze.


    "This... this is not a spiritual technique! But... pure martial arts..."


    General Fei Long spat out three mouthfuls of blood before struggling to ask. "What is this technique? Could you have... broken through!"


    In order to defeat so many Wu Zongs and spiritual knights at once, there was only one possibility. He must have achieved the Elemental Opening Realm!


    "Giant Eagle Metal Body Technique!"


    Since breaking through, this was the first time Fang Yuan had used all this power, and it felt different from before.


    "After the Opening Meridian Stage, my elemental force will surge, but more importantly, I have the resistance to spiritual spells!"


    Looking at the few spiritual knights who were spitting out blood, he mulled.


    Just now, the spiritual techniques and curses were targeted at him. However, with the spiritual meridian protecting his body, a simple tremor would destroy all spiritual techniques and curses, and could even result in a backlash to whoever summoned it!


    ''This is such a contradiction. The higher the level of Wu Zong, the greater the number of spiritual meridians, and the greater the resistance to stronger spiritual spells...''


    ''If there was a presence of an Elemental Opening Realm spiritual knight secretly helping them, then I would not be able to withstand their collective power. However, all these useless people are just here to sacrifice their lives!''


    Amidst the silence, Fang Yuan stood on the elevated platform and looked around. Not one country governor dared to look at him in the eye.


    Even Wu Qiankun was rooted to his chair, his face completely pale.


    "Never would I have thought that I would arrive at this day!"


    Fang Yuan clenched his fist tightly.


    This was power great enough to suppress the entire region!


    At this point, Fang Yuan unknowingly looked at his stats window:


    "Name: Fang Yuan


    Essence: 18


    Spirit: 18


    Magic: 9.9


    Profession: Dream Master


    Cultivation: [Dream Master (Peak of Elemental Gathering Realm)], Wu Zong (First Meridian)


    Technique: [Giant Eagle Metal Body Technique (Grade 2) (1%)], Ecstasy Spell, Shadowstep


    Skill: [Medicine (Level 3)], [Botany (Level 5)]"


    "Giant Eagle Metal Body Technique (First Meridian) - Combining the essence of Eagle Claw Iron Skin and the Qian Kun Giant Spiritual Technique, this is a unique creation. It is mainly powered by elemental force and is supplemented with the Giant Spiritual Strength. Defence is strengthened, poison is strengthened, breath is strengthened and Yin properties are strengthened! Currently formed one spiritual meridian, and now gained one elemental power! Now with resistance to spiritual spells!"


    Fang Yuan thought to himself. "As of now, I''m at the third elemental force. It seems that if normal Wu Zongs were to break through, they might be able to achieve 5 or 6?"


    The third elemental force was equivalent to the combat power of three Wu Zongs combined!


    Furthermore, combat power could not be simply added up just like that.


    "Have you broken through the Elemental Opening Realm?"


    General Fei Long stood up straight like a pole stuck in the ground. His eyes were full of passion.


    Fang Yuan could tell that this was a sincere question from a martial artist to inquire about his own martial arts cultivation.


    "Is there really still a path after Wu Zong?"


    General Fei Long appeared solemn. He approached Fang Yuan and gave him a respectful bow, and it seemed as though he wanted to die a gentleman.


    "That''s right. Spiritual knights have the Elemental Opening Realm, and Wu Zongs have the Opening Meridian Realm!"


    His thirst for knowledge even on the brink of death made Fang Yuan''s heart waver, as he returned a bow.


    "Haha... I''ve started learning martial arts since I was 8, reached the 12th Gate when I was 30, and broke through to Wu Zong after another 20 years. I initially thought that I have reached a dead end, and therefore switched to become a general of the army. Ultimately, martial arts did not fail me!"


    General Fei Long became even more serious and signalled with his hand. "Please! To die under a Meridian Opening martial artist is my honour!"


    "General, don''t!"


    Wu Qiankun''s expression changed.


    Wu Wudao could not be saved, and he didn''t want to lose another top-notch Wu Zong.


    However, General Fei Long had already brushed aside all thoughts of riches and fame. He had the pure mind as a martial artist and was begging Fang Yuan to kill him.


    "Please!"


    Fang Yuan was solemn. He channelled his energy to his right hand.


    "Ha! Dragon God Searching Palm!"


    General Fei Long suddenly became a shadow and rushed swiftly in front of Fang Yuan. As he concentrated his energy on his left hand, he slowly formed a dragon''s claw with it.


    "Third Elemental Force!"


    Without using any techniques, Fang Yuan struck an ordinary fist out.


    "Kacha!"


    An immense amount of energy countered General Fei Long''s force, and as if flowed through his arm into his body, it destroyed everything in its way.


    "Pa!"


    General Fei Long flew backwards, and his blood spurted out.


    "Cough cough..."


    Landing on a table, he crashed right into it, and he was coughing out blood. "Meridian Opening! Is that the path of a Wu Zong? What a pity... I won''t be able to see that again..."


    After finishing his sentence, he shut his eyes and stopped breathing!


    "Imperial advisor! General!"


    Wu Qiankun was in a daze, and his mind was lost.


    Just moments ago he was suppressing every other country, and was the rightful alliance leader with best scholars and martial artists!


    But now, both his trusty aides were killed instantly!


    Anyone who would experience such a change in events would feel like dying.


    Looking around, he realised that the many countries which previously sworn their alliance were flustered as well. A few of them started to look at Xia Country, with the intention of establishing good relations with them. None of them dared to look at him in the eye, but he was helpless.


    In this world, power was absolute!


    If Fang Yuan was still in the Elemental Gathering Realm, then they would do whatever it takes to kill him.


    However, he has already broken through. The only logical thing to do was to become his ally. Who would even care about the alliance leader? Since the alliance leader was recommended by the masses, then he could also be impeached by the masses!


    "I suddenly feel that, due to our divide in choosing the previous alliance leader, we should do the voting once more!"


    The country governor of Kun Country spoke in a serious tone.


    "Cough cough..."


    The king of Zhu Country coughed and almost choked because this was also what he was about to say. Looking at the country governor of Kun Country with annoyance, he added. "That''s true. I shall recommend the country governor of Xia Country. Does anyone have any opinions?"


    "Of course not! Prefecture Master Fang is a gifted individual. Since he is the leader of the Secluded Mountain, he should start another country, and become the country advisor of the Secluded Country! He is the most appropriate candidate to be appointed as the alliance leader!"


    Another country governor from a small country stood out, but all he got were stares from the other country governors.


    "Haha... Haha..."


    Witnessing this scene, Wu Qiankun cracked a smile and started laugh hysterically. "Good! Good! Good! We are all good alliance members!"


    He knew that even with all his bodyguards, his fate laid solely in Fang Yuan''s hands!

 185 Secluded Country

    ''King, how could you die here?''


    Although there were many bodyguards around, none of them could give Wu Qiankun a sense of security.


    As he looked at the approaching Fang Yuan, even with his bodyguards by his side, he could feel the chills. He could vividly remember the time where he held back for the sake of the First Prince, the excitement he had from getting the appointment of alliance leader, and the plans he had in his mind in taking over the region.


    ''I still need to take over the region, how can this happen... how...''


    His lips were chapped as though they were about to crack. "Grandmaster Fang, I would not mind to take up the role as your imperial advisor..."


    "Peng!"


    Without finishing his sentence, Fang Yuan had already come before him, striking his palm out forcefully.


    "Pa!"


    A distinct sound was heard.


    Wu Qiankun rolled on the ground and spit out a mouth of blood and some broken teeth. Hastily, he tried to stop his bodyguards from retaliating.


    He was a clever man.


    Even though Fang Yuan could kill him with one finger, he had chosen to slap him without killing him. It was obvious that this was just a warning.


    "I have been disrespectful. May grandmaster forgive me!"


    What type of man was Wu Qiankun?


    As a respectable country governor, he had to power to determine anyone''s fate. Even though he was being ridiculed by Fang Yuan, he had no choice but to suck it up.


    "Mmm, you''re still sincere!"


    Fang Yuan was very observant. After all that Wu Qiankun had gone through, if he could still act as though nothing had happened, Fang Yuan would immediately kill him.


    Everyone''s face was pale with fear. This was truly terrorizing!


    Those at the Elemental Gathering Realm still had to be reserved. However, reaching the Elemental Opening Realm meant that one could do anything he wished!


    More importantly, Fang Yuan had a new achievement in the realm of martial arts!


    If this news were to spread, martial artists and Wu Zongs from all corners of the region would attempt to establish good relations with the most powerful influence of the region. The numbers of Wu Zongs would increase!


    Needless to say, no one was powerful enough to plot against and kill a martial artist in the Meridian Opening Realm.


    This was why Fang Yuan dared to kill in front of so many people, and even dared to slap Wu Qiankun! Wu Qiankun could do nothing but suck it up.


    "I am incapable of being appointed as the alliance leader. Since Grandmaster Fang is the leader of the Secluded Mountains Prefecture, you are the rightful country governor of the Secluded Country. Please accept the appointment as alliance leader!"


    Wu Qiankun gritted his teeth and forced his unhappiness within himself, as he smiled and offered Fang Yuan the appointment.


    "I am a free person, and I don''t want to be involved in the worldly affairs! I will not take up this appointment. However, I will recommend the King of Xia Country. She has a good character and will be the best candidate!


    Fang Yuan shook his head as he walked towards the campsite of Xia Country. He then carefully escorted the white-haired King of Xia Country to the seat of the alliance leader.


    "Cough cough..."


    Xie Lingyun contained her excitement and followed behind the King of Xia Country, as she mumbled something to herself.


    "The alliance leader is here. Pay your respects!"


    Fang Yuan scanned his surroundings and spoke with a threatening tone.


    On the elevated platform, he could kill whoever he wished.


    "Greetings, alliance leader!"


    It was only natural to pay respects to those of a higher status. The Zhu Country Governor was the first one to greet, followed by the Kun Country, Hong Country...


    Wu Qiankun was in a daze. Unknowingly, he followed the crowd and paid his respects as well.


    "Please rise!"


    King of Xia Country raised both of his hands. "Since we are all allies, the first thing is to decide on the boundaries. The Secluded Mountain Prefecture will now become a country in itself. This is a blessing we haven''t had in many years! Bring the map here!"


    A servant immediately brought a large map over and rolled it open.


    "Please!"


    King of Xia Country took the brush but handed it over to Fang Yuan.


    "Mmm!"


    Fang Yuan did not hesitate. He marked out a large area around the Secluded Mountain Prefecture, including his initial territory and almost half of the neighbouring Wu Country.


    As Wu Qiankun saw this, his eyes turned red. This meant that his country''s foundation would be ripped apart!


    However, he was now the meat as to Fang Yuan was the knife. He could only suck it up. If only Fang Yuan was born in the royal family of the Wu Country!


    "Wu Qiankun, do you have any objections to this arrangement?"


    To be able to snatch such a large portion of land from Wu Country, the entire Xia Country was elated.


    "Nope!"


    Wu Qiankun forcefully replied.


    "That''s great!"


    Xie Lingyun continued. "Let us not forget to acknowledge the documents for the new country! To go through the Land-Defining Ceremony, let us all celebrate for Secluded Mountain... Secluded Country!"


    There was a proper procedure to start a country.


    The most important was to go through the Land-Defining Ceremony. This would be initiated when the King of Xia Country and Wu Qiankun both allocate a piece a land to Fang Yuan as a representation of breaking land apart before defining it as a new territory.


    Afterwards, every country had to use their country seals to acknowledge the territorial boundaries of the new country.


    The last one to do so was Wu Qiankun. His eyes were sore. This was a first in Wu Country''s history to give up land even before a war! However, he had no other choice!


    After all, if he didn''t agree to this, the Wu Country''s royal family might be exterminated!


    After all the administrative work was completed, the Secluded Mountain Prefecture not only expanded in size in the direction of Wu Country but was also transformed into ''Secluded Country''! It might become the holy ground for martial arts in the region!


    Even though King of Xia Country might be a puppet, the procedures made him worn out. Mustering his energy, he announced, "Done! Everyone is to abide by the new territorial boundaries, and no one is to get involved in his country''s internal affairs! No disputes, but if you insist, you shall face the attack of every other country in the alliance!"


    However, he could not step down yet. After Fang Yuan had shown his intention, he continued.


    As soon as he spoke, the many kings heaved a sigh of relieved and looked happy. Even Wu Qiankun became more relaxed.


    The Land-Defining Ceremony had utterly embarrassed Wu Qiankun, but it was not without benefits for him.


    After all, after what had happened, the Meridian Opening Realm Wu Zong, leader of Secluded Country, was now on their side. He has also signed the agreement not to invade other territories, which was an assurance of peace in the immediate future. There was no more worry that this powerful leader might destroy other countries.


    "Since this is settled, is the conference dismissed?"


    Wu Qiankun smiled and asked earnestly.


    "Dismissed? Why?"


    Fang Yuan let out a casual laughter and argued back. "Actually, you make sense. Since Yuan Country is a part of the alliance, how can they be absent?"


    "Right now, their country is plagued with internal conflicts. We should proceed there to restore peace!"


    This was Wu Wudao''s initial plan, and Fang Yuan copied it entirely.


    Since the alliance leader has been changed, no matter what Wu Qiankun''s intentions were, he could only follow orders now.


    "That''s right! Imperial advisor''s... No, King Fang''s intention is also my intention!"


    The King of Xia Country hurriedly agreed.


    "Since the order has been given, everyone should be clear on what to do. What else is there to buck-pass? Servants, serve the blood wine! After drinking the blood wine and swearing allegiance to the alliance, everyone is to return to their military camps to bring their troops into Yuan Country!"


    Fang Yuan felt into the mood of being the alliance leader as he gave the command.


    The king of Xia Country immediately nodded his head continuously, like a chick pecking the ground.


    Seeing this scene, all the country governors rolled their eyes discreetly, but on the outside, everyone agreed without hesitation.


    ...


    Back in their military camp, Lan Xiaosheng was the first to receive them "Greetings, king!"


    He appeared humble, but inside he felt regretful.


    If he had known that Fang Yuan was this powerful, he should not have left them.


    "Forget about it!"


    Fang Yuan paid no attention to him. "Wait at the gates of the camp. If there are any visiting Wu Zongs, record their names down and welcome them into the tents."


    As he spoke, he arrived at the main tent together with Xie Lingyun.


    "Phew..."


    Xie Lingyun heaved a long sigh before composing herself. As she examined Fang Yuan, she felt like she was facing a monster. "Master... When did you achieve your breakthrough to the Meridian Opening Realm?"


    "I have had the feeling all along, and broke through when I felt it coming!"


    As compared to the commotion Liu Yan had when he achieved his breakthrough, Fang Yuan''s breakthrough was the classic example of a silent one, and shocked everyone only at the crucial moment!


    Thinking about the fact that her master had broken through to the Meridian Opening Realm, and the fact that the pressure on Xia Country has been lifted, Xie Lingyun became ecstatic and extremely emotional. Her eyes were glittering as she looked at Fang Yuan, and her face appeared flushed.


    "Hehe... I have had the honour of receiving a Wu Zong''s inheritance, and in it was the description on the path after the Elemental Gathering Realm..."


    Fang Yuan coughed a few times, but still had no choice but to explain it to her.


    "Indeed!"


    Xie Lingyun was not shocked; it was obvious that she had predicted this all along.


    After all, no matter how talented Fang Yuan was, he could not discover the path after Wu Zong all by himself.


    Wouldn''t this render the teachings of martial arts in this region a joke?


    Therefore, he must have stumbled upon a treasure left behind by someone from the mainland in order for Fang Yuan to have such an accomplishment!


    "Alright, accompany Mu Li and the rest to prepare the troops and calvaries! It is no longer difficult to settle Yuan Country and start a prosperous dynasty on the mainland in the future!"


    Fang Yuan waved his hand and dismissed Xie Lingyun.


    There were 30,000 troops gathered here. There were the best of the best from every country, and almost 10,000 of them were elite infantry soldiers. If there was no proper planning and allocation, there might be a breakdown in communication.


    In reality, if the Xia Country''s troops were not the second-largest here excluding the Wu Country''s, and without Fang Yuan''s power, how would the many countries be so obedient to follow instructions?


    "King!"


    After Xie Lingyun had left, Lan Xiaosheng was waiting outside for a moment before reporting to Fang Yuan. He had a face of shock.


    "Tell me! How many came?"


    Fang Yuan casually asked.


    "King, you have only tasked me to count in the Wu Zongs. As of now, there are three outside waiting. There are Zhang Xia, Liu Shanchuang and Li Hanghu!"


    The other Wu Zongs had their reservations and would not boldly approach Fang Yuan. Therefore, those who came were either working along, or had minimal relations with their countries, and all were only committed to exploring the path of martial arts. These Wu Zongs were the perfect people to establish relations with.


    "Invite them in!"


    Fang Yuan waved his hand, and a few martial artists with unique energy types entered the large tent.


    Fang Yuan had heard the names of this Wu Zongs before.


    Liu Shanchuang was famous for his Judo Technique, and Li Hanghu''s Multiple Technique was not to be belittled. As for Zhang Xia, disregarding everything else, the fact that she, a lady, could attain Wu Zong meant that her foundations were strong.


    However, as the three Wu Zongs met Fang Yuan, they knelt down without hesitation. "Greetings, king. Please teach us the way to breakthrough!"

 186 The Plains

    "I know the way to achieve the breakthrough for the Meridian Opening Realm!"


    Fang Yuan glanced at the 3 Wu Zongs in front of him. "But I cannot teach you for free! We are no longer affected by worldly affairs, so I shall be straightforward. Work for me for 10 years, and I shall show you the way to the Meridian Opening Realm!"


    In the Da Qian empire, although the techniques in the Meridian Opening Realm were rare, they were still not worth this much.


    Needless to say, Fang Yuan was baiting them.


    After the Meridian Opening Realm, what about tips for forming the spiritual meridian? What about the technique to condense the Divine Body?


    Basically, if they were to agree to his terms, they would have agreed to be part of Fang Yuan''s team.


    However, these 3 Wu Zongs were already mentally prepared. They only hesitated a while before exclaiming. "10 years is too little!"


    To those who were in desolation at the fact that being a Wu Zong was a dead end, they would be willing to do anything to find the path after Wu Zong.


    Forget about the 10-year agreement. Even if they were made to become slaves for a hundred years, they might even agree.


    "Alright!"


    Fang Yuan let out an expression of joy before going up to help them up. "From now on, all 3 of you will swear your loyalty to the Secluded Country. We are all one family now, so let''s do away with the formalities!"


    He could be direct and straightforward towards other people, but since he was facing his own capable subordinates, there was no need to.


    By treating them with respect and dignity, the three Wu Zongs were inspired, and the initial unwillingness and resistance to the agreement became lessened.


    Compared to the joyous happenings in the Xia Country''s tent, the Wu Country''s tent was filled with an atmosphere of sorrow.


    Looking at the two stretchers draped in white clothes stained with blood, Wu Qiankun''s face was flushed. Forcefully, he drew his sword and sliced a wooden pillar next to him. "Xia Country! Fang Yuan! Bullies! I will take my revenge one day!"


    It was indeed a humiliation for both his trustful aides to be killed.


    It was further humiliation for him to give up his piece of land and be demoted from the appointment of alliance leader.


    However, the most infuriating for Wu Qiankun was the fact that his life was determined by someone else.


    In the history of Wu Country, there were records of ''Wu People causing political revolt'' and ''illegal usage of spiritual spells'', which served as warnings to the younger generation. However, these would surely not leave as deep an impression as what had happened this time.


    After releasing his anger, Wu Qiankun calmed down and took in a deep breath. "Pass the order down... For our entire army to temporarily... listen to the orders of Xia Country!"


    After finishing his sentence, he seemed to have lost all his strength and was on the brink of collapsing onto the floor. "Get lost!"


    The bodyguards and servants around were longing to leave all along. With his command, they were secretly in joy as they hurriedly made their way out, and even so, they were still hoping to run faster.


    "Phew phew..."


    Wu Qiankun was breathing heavily. After half a day, he finally looked at a corner.


    There was a man in black there. Nobody knew when he had arrived, and he looked as if he was waiting for someone. He was well camouflaged and could not be easily spotted.


    "Black Ice!"


    Wu Qiankun stood up with a look of determination. "Based on our capabilities, would it be possible to kill Fang Yuan by setting up traps?"


    "That will be difficult!"


    Black Ice''s voice was hoarse like an owl. "We only have limited recordings regarding Elemental Opening Realm spiritual knights in the royal family''s secret collection. Furthermore, these recordings are about spiritual knights, not Wu Zongs..."


    "How did our ancestors deal with the Elemental Opening Realm spiritual knights in the past?


    Wu Qiankun''s eyes glittered.


    "They either establish good relations with them or hide from them... Only a small handful of talented people would be able to achieve a breakthrough to the Elemental Opening Realm. To them, this place is only a small pond. They would rather head towards the Da Qian empire to search for the path ahead..."


    Black Ice sounded confident as if he had seen all of these himself.


    "Then the only way is to tolerate them!"


    Wu Qiankun bit his lip, revealing some blood.


    As he thought about Fang Yuan''s age, he felt hopeless. If Fang Yuan decided to stay in the region forever, then even his own grandsons might not be able to live long enough to outlast Fang Yuan.


    "Based on how he managed to achieve a breakthrough in the Elemental Opening Realm at 20 proves that his potential is limitless! However, the more worrying part would be the fact that he had managed to discover the path after Wu Zong!"


    Black Ice''s explanation was straightforward. "How many people in the world train in martial arts? I''m afraid the number of people pursuing spiritual techniques is less than a thousandth of it! Imagine if the sheer number of martial artists would come together and combine forces..."


    "Meridian Opening..."


    Wu Qiankun mumbled on these two words, which had the potential to drive the entire mainland crazy. With a helpless smile, he thought of General Fei Long. "That''s right... All highly skilled martial artist would not be able to resist this temptation."


    ...


    On the second day, 30,000 troops were formed up as they marched towards the Dragon City, the capital of Yuan Country.


    The continuous reports were coming in, making Fang Yuan able to understand much more.


    "Eh?"


    As he sat in a carriage with Xie Lingyun serving him at one side, he casually took a piece of a report to read, and his eyebrow began to twitch. "Purple Dream Princess?"


    "This lady is the prettiest of all in the plains, the princess of Sunset Division! Master, are you interested in her?"


    Xie Lingyun teased him, but in her tone was a hint of jealousy.


    "Haha... I am only interested in her as she is the key person involved in the death of the Yuan King... A village of pretty ladies would be the downfall of any hero. This saying is very true, hehe! He didn''t die in vain!"


    Fang Yuan casually threw the report aside and scoffed.


    Suddenly, he thought of the late King of the plains, Temujin. His death was unexplained, and this sent a chill down Fang Yuan''s spine.


    Whoever who succeeded would always pay less attention to themselves. They would die in the most uneventful way.


    Even the most prestigious emperor was not spared. As long as he was human, any natural disasters or accidents could still kill him and wipe out the accomplishments he had in his life!


    ''Since I am no longer mortal, I will not make their mistakes. However, I still need to be cautious!''


    In order to successfully explore the world and embark on the journey towards eternal life, one had to have a clear mind. Fang Yuan was jolted and woke up, and he reminded himself that he must not become proud of his achievement in taking over the entire mainland, or that would lead to his downfall.


    "The question is... Where did Purple Dream Princess end up afterwards?!"


    He posed a question.


    "She might have been diced into pieces by the Golden Wolves Guards!"


    Xie Lingyun bit her lip. It was obvious that she was not optimistic about Purple Dream Princesses'' survival.


    "If that is true, they would publicly announce it. Looking at the situation in Yuan Country, where the First Prince is gathering his military power as he readies himself to pit against the other princes, they would surely announce the outcome of Purple Dream Princess if that really happened!"


    Fang Yuan rubbed his chin.


    "Master, what you mean is..."


    Xie Lingyun blinked her eyes as though she was in a daze.


    ''The expressions revealed subconsciously are always the most moving!''


    Fang Yuan sighed in his heart and continued. "That Purple Dream... She is not simple! She might still be alive! After all, if it was a plan for revenge, even though the King is dead, the few princes are still alive!"


    "Then what should we do?"


    Xie Lingyun appeared serious. "Should we support one of the princes?"


    "Haha, there is only one spot for king! How is this worth it!"


    Fang Yuan laughed and appeared unpredictable.


    ....


    Outside the Dragon City, there was blood everywhere.


    Two troops of soldiers were fighting, and the horses were neighing loudly. Arrows flew around and the entire plains were covered in a hue of blood.


    After the day has ended, both sides retreated. The Eighth Prince, Ge Ritu appeared vexed as he listened to his subordinate''s report. "Damn! Why is the casualty rate so high?"


    "The First Prince Ba Tu has taken over Dragon City. Second Prince A Guda took the opportunity to bribe and take over the King''s personal soldiers. The other princes have the support of their own divisions. If we stayed in Dragon City, Ba Tu would never have the chance to take it over!"


    Zhuo Li Getu reported in a serious tone.


    The sudden changes in the city were too quick for Eighth Prince to react. He was caught off guard. When he returned, it was already too late.


    Not just that, but by being the youngest prince, the other princes were jealous of him, and the situation was not desirable.


    "Damn! Since Father is now dead, we should follow the rules and gather the leaders of our people to recommend the heir!"


    Ge Ritu exclaimed helplessly.


    The late king was an accomplished one, and his children were all remarkable.


    First Prince Ba Tu was valiant and skilled in war. Second Prince A Guda was a highly skilled strategist. As the youngest among all the princes, Ge Ritu was the most average, and could only rely on the tradition to fight for the throne.


    "Report!"


    A calvary sped towards Ge Ritu and a soldier dismounted from the horse before kneeling down. "News from those behind has it that the people of the South have ended the conference. They have decided on a new alliance leader!"


    "Hmph!"


    Ge Ritu scoffed and knew that this was not the right time to be calculative about this. "Who did they recommend? The Country Governor of Wu Country?"


    "No! It''s the king of Xia Country! As of now, the countries have not returned. Instead, they have come together and are now in the plains. 30,000 soldiers are now coming our way towards the Dragon City!"


    "What audacity!"


    Ge Ritu''s hands became pale, as he gripped on to the horse whip.


    "If you give me 30,000, no! 20,000 soldiers, I can wipe out their army of 30,000 in the plains! When did the weak people of the South have the guts to invade his piece of land which the heavens have given to us?"


    "Eighth Prince, you need to calm down!"


    At this point, Zhuo Li Getu stood out.


    His status was different. Not only was he the strongest warrior of Yuan Country, he was the mentor assigned by the king to guide Ge Ritu. Hearing him speak, Ge Ritu immediately quietened.


    "With unity comes strength. Right now, we only have 10,000 troops. Taking into account the relentless invasions and disturbance from the other princes, this is not the time to start a war with the people from the South!"


    Zhuo Li Getu calmly reasoned.


    "Your intention is to... negotiate peace?"


    Ge Ritu looked at his own mentor with a cold look.


    "The people from the South are like a herd of sheep. Even with a lion as a leader, they are still weak. As long as we have some time, we can invade towards the South in the future! A temporary agreement will not mean much!"


    Zhuo Li Getu casually commented, as though the agreement would worth nothing.

 187 White Robes

    Since the first inhabitants of Yuan Country from the grass plains, they were sceptical.


    They settled down in areas with vegetation and water sources, and there were only a few large cities in the entire region.


    As Fang Yuan led the countries towards Dragon City, they did not encounter many locals on their way, and therefore there was little resistance.


    Of course, as he got closer to Dragon City, there were obstacles in his way.


    In front of Fang Yuan were rows and rows of calvaries. Although they appeared disorganised, they still seemed powerful. Every one of them looked fierce, and the horses were all strong ones with red eyes and an occasional puff of visible air from their mouths. A row of white teeth was revealed as the horses snarled.


    "Master, I have the details!"


    As the soldiers were waiting for their command, Xie Lingyun rushed over to Fang Yuan''s side on a horse. "What we see in front of us is the Golden Sheep Division and Louqie Division. There are the armies of the Third and Fourth Prince! Should we send someone to talk to them?"


    "That won''t be necessary. Send all the country governors here!"


    Fang Yuan was considered to have unofficial control over the country governors. He, as a single person, was able to decide their life and death. Therefore, when the command was given, no one dared to disobey.


    No long later, Wu Qiankun and company arrived before him.


    "The huge grass plains of Yuan Country is a big problem for us. I am useless, yet I want to solve this problem!"


    Fang Yuan commanded. "Order all the calvaries to gather and follow me as we break their formation!"


    "Hold on, should we hold talks with them?"


    Wu Qiankun appeared to be confused.


    On one hand, he hoped that Fang Yuan would die from rushing into their formation.


    On the other hand, seeing the internal conflict in Yuan Country made him feel that he was so close to success, and therefore felt a little regretful.


    In the end, the thought of letting Fang Yuan fall into their trap won over his head.


    "There''s no need! They are not afraid of us! If we do not defeat them, there will be no ground for negotiations!"


    Without wearing an armour, Fang Yuan immediately gathered his 5,000 strong calvary troops and began to charge.


    "No one can match us!"


    Draped in white robes, Fang Yuan rode a white horse and came to the front of the formation with much elegance.


    A white horse was not auspicious! This was because, in the ancient times, many horses were brown or black, and riding a white horse would attract too much attention. Furthermore, it could be easily picked up by firepower. Needless to say, Fang Yuan did not care about all these.


    "Charge!"


    "Kill!"


    "Kill!"


    "Kill!"


    Even though the attack was planned in a rush, Fang Yuan''s spirit and passion were infectious, and all of them felt the vigour to fight.


    "Calvaries from the people of the South?"


    On the opposite camp, both princes were enraged as the people of the South did not hold their line of defence even after seeing their own troops. "Destroy them!"


    "Charge!"


    The cavalry units on the grass plains were shouting as they made their horses sprint.


    Their battle horses were much taller than the horses from the South and were also ferocious.


    Rumour had it that on the grass plains of the Yuan territory, there was a Heavenly Horse. It came from the Nine Heavens and was the leader of all spiritual beasts.


    The Heavenly Horse would not live with the normal horses, and would only be found in perilous areas.


    Every time when shepherds had managed to track the whereabouts of the Heavenly Horse, they would let out the most obedient and beautiful female horse into the mountains and valleys.


    Among 10 of these female horses, there would be at least one that came back pregnant, carrying the descendant of the Heavenly Horse.


    After many generations of mating, this became the standard for battle horses on the grass plains.


    Even though they only had a hint of the Heavenly Horse''s genes, they were still very much stronger than normal horses. If martial artists with inner force were to form a human wall, these horses would still be able to break through it easily.


    The two lines of calvaries became spearheads as they approached each other.


    "Bang!"


    "Bang bang!"


    Finally, after a few collisions, a few soldiers were flung at each other, becoming a pile of bloodied corpses.


    "Fire!"


    The people of the Yuan Country grew up on horsebacks. Their archery skills were commendable and could even shoot at full power from close range.


    "Whoosh whoosh!"


    Arrows fell like rain and landed on Fang Yuan. However, they could not even penetrate the energy field around him as they were deflected to the ground.


    "Die!"


    His eyes flashed with anger. As he waved his hands, the heads from two horses rolled onto the ground.


    ''Their too weak! Even after my discreet hypnosis, they can only produce such standards!''


    Fang Yuan looked behind him. Many cavalry units were slashing their spears around as they were engaged in fierce fights with the cavalry units from the grass plains. It was a pity that it was an ugly sight to behold, for most in most of the fights, two soldiers were required to fend off one soldier from the Yuan Country. They were useless beyond hope.


    ''After all, they are not professionals. Furthermore, we have only just combined forces, and the soldiers do not know their Thousand-trooped Commanders well as the Thousand-trooped Commanders know their soldiers. Therefore, I should not fault them!''


    ''Luckily, my plan did not require any dependency on them!''


    Looking at a direction, Fang Yuan leapt off his horse''s back.


    "Whoosh!"


    His Giant Eagle Metal Body Technique was used to the maximum, and the raining arrows could do nothing to slow him down. From the naked eye, he had transformed into a white shadow. After a few leaps, he had already arrived in front of the Yuan Country''s Thousand-trooped Commander who was giving orders.


    "Kill!"


    This person''s skin was like metal as it was extremely reflective. Seeing Fang Yuan approaching him, he revealed a cunning smile and leapt backwards, in the meantime returning a few slashes from his broad knife.


    "Protect the Thousand-trooped Commander!"


    From the surroundings, many cavalry units rushed towards Fang Yuan. All of them were martial artists in the 4 Heavenly Gates, and this Thousand-trooped Commander was even stronger, with a cultivation at the peak of the 12th Gate.


    His retreat and the narrowing of the circle around Fang Yuan happened within seconds. However, they all seemed to be well versed in the tactic, as though they had practised it for a thousand times before. It was obvious that this was a tactic they had prepared for this type of war.


    After all, in this world, there was the existence of Wu Zongs and spiritual knights! War had to adapt to this fact.


    "Useless!"


    Fang Yuan exclaimed as his speed suddenly increased. He managed to escape the circle and came in front of the Thousand-trooped Commander. With his finger, he folded and broke the knife, and at the same time struck his forehead.


    "Peng!"


    The Thousand-trooped Commander''s head exploded like a watermelon, and his corpse fell to the ground.


    The 8 soldiers, who made up the circle, froze. At that moment, their eyes turned red with fury. "Die!!!"


    Yuan Country was strict in training their soldiers. If their Thousand-trooped Commander were to die, all of them had to die as well, including their family members.


    At this point, there were already dead in the eyes of their country. The only way for them to have a chance at survival was to kill Fang Yuan in order to use merit to redeem themselves. Therefore, all of them rushed towards Fang Yuan without any regard for their lives.


    "Using a grasshopper''s arm to block an oncoming car!"


    Fang Yuan stretched his arm out. As the swords came in contact with his arm, they immediately became scrap metal and flew backwards quickly.


    "Ping! Ping!"


    On the spot, these 8 soldiers became like a hornet''s nest; their bodies had an uncountable number of wounds as blood oozed out from every single wound.


    All of this happened in a matter of seconds; the death of the Thousand-trooped Commander and the death of the 8 soldiers. The remaining thousands of soldiers under his charge began to panic.


    In the armed forces of the Yuan Country, a Ten-trooped Commander would be in charge of 10 men. A Hundred-trooped Commander would have to lead 100 men. Therefore, a Thousand-trooped Commander was the leader of a thousand soldiers! He was indeed a high ranking leader, and his death meant that the command post was figuratively crippled.


    Fang Yuan did not slow down. Snatching another horse, he rushed towards the 20,000-men strong troop.


    "Kill him!"


    Kill him!"


    The people of Yuan Country were in a mess. Among the 1,000 soldiers and 10,000 horses, a white dot was rushing through, as Fang Yuan continued to kill a few other Thousand-trooped Commanders. There was no one who could stop him.


    "Generals, don''t hide, otherwise your troops will not dare to face the white robes! Haha..."


    On the opposite, Wu Qiankun looked at the white shadow as it pounced around within the Yuan Country soldiers. Hearing the cheers from the sidelines, he was dumbfounded together with the other country governors.


    "This is the time to strike. What are you all waiting for?"


    Xie Lingyun looked at the one-man army as it caused disruption to the enemy, and her eyes glittered. "Gather all our troops and attack! Attack!"


    "Sound the drums and attack!"


    The king of Xia Country gave the command.


    Wu Qiankun had initially hoped that Fang Yuan would fall into the trap of the enemy. However, he had lost all hope as he witnessed the scene in front of him. He had decided to be more respectful to Fang Yuan.


    "Attack!"


    As the 20,000-men strong army exclaimed, their voices were rumbling. Behind the inspired calvaries, they started to invade as well.


    ...


    "Pu!"


    Blood splattered as another Thousand-trooped Commander fell to the floor, with disbelief on his face.


    "This should be the seventh!"


    Fang Yuan casually tossed the corpse away. The path in front of him was now clear, and he could see two men dressed in bright robes running away.


    "You cannot run!"


    As he took in a deep breath, the glow of the spiritual meridian appeared and surrounded his body.


    "Protect the prince!"


    A few shamans leapt out as they chanted numerous evil incantations on him.


    A few Wu Zongs appeared as well as they attempted to corner him.


    "Do you think you can stop me?"


    As the few evil incantations landed on his body, the flicker of the glow of the spiritual meridian immediately caused them to dissipate into thin air.


    As he focused his strength on his claws, Fang Yuan struck them out. "Giant Eagle Claw!"


    "Whoosh!"


    As his elemental force gathered, they seemed physically real to the touch as Fang Yuan used it to press the few Wu Zongs; they were pressed into a bloody mess!


    This was the violent power of suppression from someone with the Third Elemental Force!


    "You... You are not human, but Qiutege! Qiutege!!!"


    Seeing their bodyguards being minced effortlessly by Fang Yuan, they quickened their pace and ran even faster than a horse! Once they were caught, they were already frightened to the point that their pants were wet.


    One of them was older and looked like Ge Ritu; he was the one who pointed at Fang Yuan and screamed.


    Qiutege meant an evil demon in the language of Yuan Country.


    Even though they knew the existence of cultivation, they still treated such a powerful and unreasonable person as an evil demon!


    "Both of you are useless! Wait, I could use both of you!"


    Fang Yuan grabbed the both of them and snatched a spiritual horse over for himself. Using both of them as a shield, how would their own soldiers dare to fire their arrows? With this, he was able to rush back to his own troops.


    "Pa! Pa!"


    Casually, he flung the weak princes to Xie Lingyun. "These two are high-status slaves. Let them have a taste of the cavalries from the grass plains! If that is not possible, we can still initiate a trade with the other princes. Let''s see how much they will be willing to pay for the both of them!"


    "Master..."


    Xie Lingyun''s mouth was wide open, but not a word came out.


    The other Wu Zongs looked at him in fear and were all dripping sweat.


    To capture their leaders among thousands of soldiers!


    They didn''t dare to think that such a thing would happen. Once they were surrounded by equally skilled martial artists, and with the combined attack from the enemy, they would surely be captured.


    However, Fang Yuan had made history today!


    Witnessing this, Wu Qiankun felt even more hopeless. Facing such an opponent, even if he had thousands of soldiers, a great strategy, it would still be useless! Fang Yuan was a person who would not waste time, and would charge straight into the formation to take down the general, and finally the leader!


    It was a simple plan which made use of brute force, but it was extremely effective!


    From then on, a man dressed in white robes on a white horse would forever be a nightmare to the soldiers on the grass plains.

 188 Dragon City

    On the vast plains, from a distance, there was a majestic view of a city.


    That was the capital of Yuan Country, Dragon City.


    As one of the few buildings and being the largest city of Yuan Country, it was the country''s headquarters, and it was the place people put their trust in and faith in.


    At this point in time, an army of the people from the South had finally arrived at the weakness of Yuan Country.


    "Queen, we hope that you would convince him to become allies with our princes. It''s a win-win situation!"


    Within the tent, a Yuan Country representative was smiling as he was being dismissed.


    "This is... the third one for today right?"


    Xie Lingyun rubbed her forehead. As much as she felt tired, she also felt pleased.


    From the destruction of the two princes armies and Fang Yuan having the nickname of Qiutege in the grass plains, to the peaceful journey from then onwards, the other princes had learnt from Third and Fourth Prince''s mistakes and had sent out messengers to show their good intentions.


    "Not just Second Prince A Guda and Eighth Prince Ge Ritu, but even the First Prince Ba Tu had come forth. All of them were humble, and we have finally gotten back at them on behalf of the other small countries. Master, what you have said is indeed true! Even if we want to negotiate, we have to defeat and force them into submission first!"


    The previous victory was the crucial event that enabled them to choose in peace which prince they want to support!


    "Master, who would you want to support?"


    Xie Lingyun looked at Fang Yuan''s tent, perplexed.


    ...


    However, Fang Yuan was no longer in his tent.


    "The Dragon City is indeed different from the other cities. It has a different vibe to it!"


    With his skills and guts, he had managed to secretly infiltrate the capital of Yuan Country.


    The city walls and the guards who were on continuous patrol were all a joke to him.


    "I''m guessing that the current owner of Dragon City is Ba Tu?"


    As he walked towards the city square, his eyes were filled with curiosity. "To resort to such a means to get to the throne! He must be doing all that he can, what a pity!"


    Even with the possession of Dragon City, Ba Tu had the weakest foundation among all the princes.


    "I''ve heard that since Ba Tu has the reputation of the son that led to the death of his father, many of his own people dislike him. What a poor thing..."


    Looking at the empty streets, Fang Yuan let out a gentle sigh.


    Around him, many guards were patrolling. However, they were like blind men and ignored Fang Yuan''s existence.


    The first part of the cultivation to be a dream master was to be ''illusionary''. Even if these warriors had obtained inner force, they would still not be able to see or hear Fang Yuan.


    ''With the cultivation of a dream master, I wouldn''t have to be afraid of people combining forces and attacking me. Opening meridians after Wu Zong would allow me to take out the leader among thousands of soldiers! With both of these together, I am invincible! In this region, whoever I want to kill will die, even if it''s the king of Yuan Country or the governor of Xia Country!''


    As he thought to himself, he arrived at the palace of Yuan Country.


    This palace was majestic. However, it was lacking in a certain vibe.


    Without saying anything, a layer of bewildering fog covered himself as he entered the palace.


    In the Royal Study.


    "Jerk! Why are Yehe Division and Nayan Division not listening to my orders? I want to send troops over and destroy them!"


    In a moment, everyone could feel the wrath of Ba Tu.


    As the eldest son of the king, his facial features were rather similar to the late king. He had a brute appearance and was the classic example of a boy who grew up in the grass plains.


    After letting out his anger, he began to slowly calm down. All that was left in his heart was a sense of helplessness.


    "The woman... Have we found her?"


    Ba Tu was filled with regret.


    He recalled the first time he set eyes on that woman''s beauty. He had to control his own urges and overcome his greed before he could make the decision to give her to his father.


    This was purely his act of loyalty, and he had no evil intentions.


    "Who would''ve known that that woman would... that woman would... She isn''t human! She''s a devil, with the heart of a fox, the eyes of a snake, the teeth of a wolf and the poison of a scorpion..."


    Thinking about it, Ba Tu felt a little fortunate.


    If the woman were to throw herself to him, then he would be the one dead.


    ''No one... no one can resist that smile of hers!''


    Thinking about her sweet smile, Ba Tu quickly shook his head vigorously as though he wanted to erase all these memories of her.


    "That woman... We have no clue about her whereabouts since that day!"


    In front of Ba Tu was a shaman who knelt down as he reported. He sounded helpless.


    "She must still be around, in the Dragon City, within the palace walls!"


    Although Ba Tu was a valiant warrior, he was just a frantic person with no clarity of thought. His eyes were bloodshot, and he paced up and down as his heart was filled with uneasiness.


    "Don''t worry prince. With my protection, that evil woman will not come in. Not just her, but anyone else before. Nobody can come in here without me noticing!"


    The shaman replied, brimming with confidence.


    "Before? Does that mean that there is such a person able to do that now? Is it the demonic person from the South?"


    Ba Tu mumbled.


    "That Fang Yuan is indeed a threat to the grass plains. However, there is nothing to be worried about, my prince. All of us will swear to protect the royal family with our lives!"


    "My two brothers might have agreed to Fang Yuan''s conditions, and I have no idea what they are! Hmph..."


    Ba Tu was not the average person. He had strong foundations, and slowly, he began to calm down. "I''ll send a messenger. This is to establish good relations with the people from the South. Before this internal conflict is over, it is not wise to have another enemy. Since they have not replied us, you shall look for them in a while. Tell them that if they are willing to work for me, they will get honour and everything else!"


    "Yes, sir! You are the eagle, flying high in the sky, and we are your hunting dogs!"


    The shaman replied respectfully.


    "Don''t foolishly think that that is my intention. But if I don''t do this, how can we concentrate our forces and defeat A Guda and Ge Ritu?"


    A cunning look flashed on Ba Tu''s face, like a wolf. "After I have taken over the entire grass plains, we will head South to plunder from them. Otherwise, how would we be able to withstand the extreme cold weather?"


    "Prince, that is a wonderful plan!"


    The shaman praised Ba Tu, but suddenly, his expression changed as he looked out of the window. "Who''s there? Who''s there?"


    "Me!"


    Fang Yuan revealed himself as he walked in with big steps. With a mocking tone, he asked, "You''re Ba Tu? I''m here now! You can lay out your conditions!"


    "What audacity!"


    Seeing a stranger walk in out of a sudden, Ba Tu subconsciously grabbed the knife on his waist, and his expression changed. "This is not right... You''re..."


    There was only one such person who had the ability to traverse within the boundaries of the palace undetected.


    The white-robed Qiutege - Fang Yuan!


    "You''re smart!"


    Ba Tu quickly composed himself, and Fang Yuan nodded his head.


    With such a composure, Ba Tu was not the average reckless person.


    "I have already sealed this place up. No matter how loudly you may shout, no one would be able to hear you!"


    Fang Yuan slowly walked towards him.


    "Fang Yuan, what is your motive for coming here?"


    Just thinking about this made Ba Tu anxious.


    "I''m only here to warn you that I have the ability to destroy everything!"


    Fang Yuan replied without any reservations, and suddenly his silhouette flickered.


    "Not good!"


    The shaman was in shock. With a wave of the spiritual drum in his hand, a blood-red glow slowly spread across the room.


    "You''re a mere firefly, and yet you dare to fight with the moon''s glow?!"


    Facing him, Fang Yuan smiled. The spiritual meridian on his body appeared as a huge force disabled the shaman''s spiritual spell. The Elemental Gathering Realm shaman exclaimed as a hole broke through one side of the spiritual drum. He was grieving beyond words.


    "Rumble!"


    As the blood-red glow dissipated, Fang Yuan came to Ba Tu. Using his fingers, he flicked his knife away and grabbed him by his neck like he was carrying a helpless chick.


    "I''m here to warn you that if I decide to take your life, you cannot escape from me!"


    Fang Yuan moved closer to him. "I''m prepared to sign the alliance agreement with you. If you ever try to break the agreement, think about this moment!"


    "I... understand!"


    Ba Tu''s face became purple as he struggled to reply.


    The pressure of suffocation and death started to distort his consciousness.


    "That''s good!"


    Fang Yuan released his grip, and Ba Tu quickly used his hands to support his own neck. With much desperation, he greedily gulped in breaths of fresh air, and his tears almost flowed out.


    Never had he thought that being able to breathe normally was such a privilege.


    Seeing how Ba Tu suffered, he knew that he had set a deep impression in him. With a laughter, Fang Yuan asked. "About that Purple Dream Princess... where did she come from? Does she have anything with her? Bring me to her!"


    "You... go!"


    Ba Tu waved his hand.


    The shaman was in shock, and he bowed respectfully to Fang Yuan. "Our honourable guest from the South, follow me!"


    As Fang Yuan''s silhouette slowly disappeared, Ba Tu''s face turned green...


    ...


    "To think about it, if the dream-building technique was not that complicated, I wouldn''t need to put in so much effort?"


    Fang Yuan followed the shaman and smoothly walked through the palace, with a tinge of regret.


    The final stage of the dream-building technique would allow the dream master to alter old memories and confuse illusions with reality. The effects would be unthinkable.


    But the human mind and memories are too complicated! To alter them would be too troublesome, and it was almost impossible to perform it on such a leader - it would take up too much time.


    Furthermore, even though they might not be cultivators themselves, these leaders would still have highly-skilled bodyguards. They could detect abnormalities and react accordingly. They could even be replaced if anything happened to them!


    Therefore, to Fang Yuan, it would be a waste of time trying to access the dreams of these servants and bodyguards! Even for tactics which target to take down the leader, the main point would be only to induce fear.


    If he had to reach this stage, Fang Yuan had to be mentally prepared to become enemies with the whole world.


    "We''re here. This was where Purple Dream Princess once stayed..."


    Through a garden, past a few corridors, the shaman brought Fang Yuan to a majestic tent. "The tents and equipment are directly brought over from the Sunset Division!"


    "Mmm!"


    Fang Yuan was not afraid that the shaman might have anything up his sleeves, and walked right in.


    The decor of the interior of the tent was normal. The only thing which caught his attention was a crystal mirror which was glittering.


    Using his magical energy, he detected a familiar type of spiritual aura.

 189 Purple Dream

    The palace of Yuan Country was majestic. With the mixtures of courts and tents, the kings from the other country would be at a lost if they saw all of these.


    At this point in time, Fang Yuan was in one of the tents.


    Using his magical energy, he could sense everything in the tent. His nose picked up a hint of mild fragrance as he imagined an image of a stunning lady.


    Even though her face was covered, Fang Yuan could still figure out her looks.


    "A beauty indeed, but..."


    There was a suspicious look on his face. "This spiritual aura... dream master? No! Just similar!"


    "Ha!"


    Fang Yuan had a serious look on his face. Suddenly, his hands moved and rays of spiritual glow seeped out of the tent.


    The shaman was standing respectfully at one side. He knew that this sorcerer from the South was trying to trace the spiritual aura of the murderer, and shook his head silently.


    Looking at Yuan Country''s capabilities, how many shamans would they have serving them?


    The death of the king and the disappearance of Purple Dream led many to come here and loot their valuables.


    However, be it fierce hunters or those skilled in spiritual techniques, none of them had their way. Even the many spiritual knights who came from the South had no way of dealing with the shamans here.


    This Qiutege from the South was rumoured to have discovered the path after Wu Zong, and was known by many as the gifted one. However, who knew if he even possessed any spiritual techniques?


    The next moment left him in shock.


    A layer of fog appeared within the tent, and a hint of purple glow was visible in it.


    As the colours mixed, the fog moved towards the crystal mirror, and the purple hue thickened.


    ''Indeed a tactic of a dream master, but why does it not convince me...''


    With the wave of his sleeves, the purple glow dissipated and Fang Yuan remained silent.


    "Sir?"


    The shaman had waited for quite a while before going up to him.


    "Take your leave, there''s no need to follow me!"


    "Whoosh!"


    Only a shadow of Fang Yuan was left, and his words travelled from afar. It was evident that he had left a long time ago.


    Seeing this, the shaman turned pale.


    ...


    On the streets.


    Looking at the purple fog floating in front of him, Fang Yuan followed closely as it seemed to be heading in a certain direction.


    "Heh... This method of stalking her spiritual aura is actually quite useful!"


    He had learnt this spiritual technique while he was the Eagle Lieutenant in Yang Fan''s dream. Back then, he used his status to read up on spiritual techniques like such from the government building. This technique was once frequently used by thieves and pirates in the past.


    Executing it made him realise that it was rather powerful.


    The Purple Dream Princess which left many shamans and warriors from the Yuan Country helpless immediately revealed her tracks.


    "It takes a lot of courage for her to still remain in Dragon City!"


    Following the spiritual sign, Fang Yuan arrived at large household. After walking one round around it, he smiled to himself before barging in.


    "How dare you! Don''t you know that this is Ye Lu Buhua''s household?"


    A person who seemed to be the housekeeper walked out with a whip in his hand. As he saw Fang Yuan, he was shocked. "A person from the South?"


    "Get lost!"


    Without looking, Fang Yuan waved his sleeves and this person rolled on the floor.


    "Are you trying to kill me?"


    "How dare you!"


    After a few shouts, a few others rushed out with their bows and they looked fierce.


    After the commotion, the soldiers on patrol in the streets hurried here and surrounded the house.


    "All of you are not her!"


    Fang Yuan scanned his surroundings. With the ball of purple fog in his hand, he barged into the backyard.


    "Whoosh whoosh!"


    The arrows fell like raindrops, but none of them managed to even touch Fang Yuan.


    Under the shock of many, Fang Yuan lightly leapt up and flipped over the wall to arrive at the backyard.


    This created chaos and many ladies began to scream.


    Many wives screamed as they ran away, but they all seemed normal. Fang Yuan shook his head in disappointment.


    "All of you are still not her!"


    He looked around and identified a suspicious spot.


    "Come out!"


    With the strike of his palm, the wooden window broke into pieces and flew everywhere.


    "How dare you! Who are you? How dare you intrude my house?"


    A general walked out of the room. His eyes were ferocious, and behind him was a 20-year old gracious looking lady.


    "Purple Dream Princess, stop hiding!"


    Chuckling, Fang Yuan released the ball of purple fog. It exploded and transfigured into many small snakes, which caused the lady to scream.


    "Hiss hiss!"


    The small snakes swerved, but instead, they rushed towards the general.


    "Eh..."


    The general let out a gentle sigh, but this time, his voice was different. It was charming and sweet, but when matched with his appearance, it was creepy.


    "This is a good place to hide. Why do you want to reveal my identity?"


    A lady''s voice came out of the general''s mouth, like a scene straight out from a nightmare. The lady next to Fang Yuan had mixed feelings of embarrassment and anger before she fainted on the spot.


    "You''re not from Yuan Country!"


    The general, who seemed to have taken over the identity of Ye Lu Buhua, examined Fang Yuan before concluding with much confidence.


    "Purple Dream Princess!"


    Fang Yuan''s hair stood on its ends.


    After all, a seven feet tall male suddenly took on the delicate actions of a lady, and just the sight of it would give anyone goosebumps. "Impressive Transfiguration Technique! Do I have the honour of seeing your real appearance?"


    "You want to take a look at my real appearance?"


    ''Ye Lu Buhua'' shook his head. With a clear and gentle voice, he replied. "This is simple! But why do you have to come now and disrupt my plans for revenge?"


    It was obvious that this ''general'' was an important figure in Dragon City, and should have a certain degree of influence.


    At the crucial time for the princes to fight for the throne, creating trouble would hit all of them the hardest.


    "Ah!"


    "General?"


    "No, he''s not the general, but a demonic woman!"


    ...


    The soldiers who were witnessing the scene finally realised what was happening, and they were all creeped out.


    Had their general been swapped out? This was something that would only happen in their dreams!


    "This Transfiguration Technique is nothing..."


    Purple Dream Princess let out a soft sigh. "The difficult part was learning his expression, habits and actions! All thanks to you, my effort is now wasted! How do you intend to compensate me?"


    "If this is your true attitude, then I might consider surrendering, but now..."


    Fang Yuan snickered.


    "Hehe... I know that you have other thoughts in your mind. You won''t let me off without seeing my face!"


    Purple Dream Princess smiled, and suddenly she peeled her skin off.


    A white glow flashed past!


    An unusual thing happened.


    She peeled off the entire face of Ye Lu Buhua, including his neck, chest, legs and shirt... After the entirety of it was peeled off, it seemed as though she was simply wearing a Ye Lu Buhua robe.


    After the robe had been peeled off, it glowed and became a piece of thin white paper; on it was an image of Ye Lu Buhua''s. The paper floated to the ground.


    A beautiful lady with glittering eyes and a mesmerising smile stood at the same spot. She was the ultimate beauty!


    "I''ve heard of the beauty from the North. When you look at the soldiers, they will forget about their duties, if you look at the king, he will forget about the country... Purple Dream, oh Purple Dream! Indeed a true beauty, you are as mesmerizing as a dream!"


    Fang Yuan clapped his hands and sighed.


    Even Fang Yuan was dazed for a moment. The soldiers around were all at lost.


    "You''re the first one to be able to awaken from my mesmerizing looks!"


    Purple Dream''s stunning eyebrows frowned. "You give me a different vibe as compared to other men, I don''t want to..."


    While she was in the skin of Ye Lu Buhua, it was disgusting to see her graceful actions.


    But now, every action she made reaffirmed her as an alluring beauty. Her natural beauty was her best weapon!


    "What do you not want to do?"


    Fang Yuan was a little distracted by her and took a step forward.


    "Don''t want to ... Kill you just like that!"


    As she spoke, her voice was so sweet that it felt as though she wanted to bring him into a sweet dream.


    "Whoosh!"


    At the same time, her body whizzed and within a split second, she appeared in front of Fang Yuan! She stretched her 5 fingers towards him.


    Her fingers were long, white, smooth and comparable to white jade.


    However, they became deadly claws and her nails sliced through the air.


    Even if Fang Yuan was a new Wu Zong, he would still be pierced by the deadly claws of hers!


    But Fang Yuan was no longer a new Wu Zong.


    How could he compare to what he was before?


    "Why would such a beauty like you want to be a thief!"


    Suddenly, Purple Dream Princess''s expression changed as she felt her wrist being locked up by what felt like metal cuffs; she could not move a single bit.


    "You... Let me go!"


    She blushed, albeit in anger, but anyone who saw her would likely listen to her.


    "Indeed an illusionary spell!"


    Fang Yuan smiled with confidence. "Stop trying so hard. These illusions are useless to me! Don''t worry, I won''t kill you, and I won''t hand you over to Yuan Country as well. I am only curious about you!"


    "You... You are..."


    However, Purple Dream''s expression became weird all of a sudden.


    It was as though she was experiencing fear, shock and curiosity all at once... Everything flashed through in her eyes, but suddenly her eyes had a determined look. "Go!"


    "Weng!"


    Spiritual inscriptions began to appear all over her body like purple flowers blooming. All of a sudden, there was an explosion.


    "This is... a spiritual array? No! You are..."


    Fang Yuan was astonished and readily released his grip on her before retreating out.


    "Rumble!"


    Only after leaving the entire household did he turn his head around. All he saw was a purple streak of light shooting up towards the sky, sucking in the entire household of Ye Lu Buhua.


    "Array?!"


    He shook his head. "No... The most important is still her identity! Who would''ve guessed that she was a..."


    Fang Yuan mumbled a few words. Looking at the increasingly chaotic Dragon City and the troops that were approaching, he quickly left.


    He had a strong feeling that he would meet Purple Dream Princess again in the future.

 190 Splitting of Land

    Ye Lu Buha''s death was merely the beginning of the chaos in Dragon City.


    It was nothing compared to what happened afterwards.


    In a short span of a day, Fang Yuan had ''visited'' the First Prince Ba Tu, Second Prince A Guda, Eighth Prince Geritu in succession. He also used the name of alliance leader to pressure them into joining the alliance.


    Of course, if it was before all of this had happened, the people of the Yuan Country would not care about this, but in order to cooperate with the powerful Fang Yuan, even the fiercest lion would become an obedient cat.


    Even the most delinquent Eighth Prince had to follow after the strongest warrior of Yuan Country, Zhuo Li Getu had lost to Fang Yuan after three moves. Without much say, they had to partake in the conference held by the king of Xia Country.


    Outside the Dragon City.


    Troops of soldiers from Yuan Country were moving, and Ba Tu was in the middle. There were a few warriors and shamans around him.


    "Why not organise the conference within the city?"


    He scoffed in dissatisfaction, but there was a hint of fear in his eyes.


    Ba Tu was not afraid of Fang Yuan. If Fang Yuan wanted to kill him, there was nowhere he could hide!


    He was fearful of his few brothers.


    "Don''t worry prince. The conference is held within the camp of the people from the South. I''ll use my reputation as the strongest warrior in the world to ensure our safety!"


    By his side was a shaman with a nose piercing. "With that master around, A Guda and Ge Ritu would not take the risk to try to kill you! Furthermore... If the conference was held in the Dragon City, your brothers might not be agreeable to it!"


    Ba Tu smiled helplessly. He knew that if that happened, he might just set a trap to capture both A Guda and Ge Ritu, for it would be a rare opportunity to capture them.


    "These people from the South cannot fight wars, but I''ll have to admit that their architecture skills are not too bad! If there''s a chance for us to go to the South in the future, remember to capture a few carpenters and architects to be our slaves!"


    As the arrived at the campsite, there were a few tall platforms built on towers, and Ba Tu though silently to himself.


    "Lu lu!"


    At a short distance away, there were two trails of sand dust approaching.


    "It''s the bugle of A Guda and Ge Ritu!"


    With one look, Ba Tu appeared solemn.


    As they came closer and closer, the atmosphere became increasingly tense.


    The people from the South had already expected this to happen. With the opening of the campsite''s gates, a few thousand troops flowed out. Under the command of Zhang Xia, Li Hanghu and Liu Shanchuang, they managed the situation to restore order.


    "Hmph!"


    Ge Retu leapt down from his horse, and Zhu Li Getu followed. This ''strongest'' warrior of Yuan Country seemed to be a little pale as he coughed a few times. It was obvious that he was not in his best condition, and could only follow weakly behind Ge Ritu.


    "Ba Tu! What a demon you are! You have been cursed by the heavens and you are now guilty of murdering your own father. How dare you come here?"


    Ge Ritu squinted his eyes and gave a cold look, as he softly called out, "Zhuo Li Getu..."


    "Eighth Prince, I understand your intent..."


    Zhuo Li Getu coughed before continuing. "From this distance, ignoring the fact that I might die, I can indeed kill Ba Tu. However, the people from the South would surely not let us off. This would only benefit your brother, A Guda!"


    "I know, and that''s why we have to exercise restraint!"


    Ge Ritu gave a serious look as he walked up the platform. His expression changed once more.


    He had expected to see the various kings sitting according to their allocated positions, but there were two unexpected people here!


    "It''s Third and Fourth Prince!"


    Zhu Li Getu replied. "It seems that the news is true. With the 20,000-men strong army, both of them surrendered to the people from the South!"


    "What humiliation! I will never forget this day!"


    Ge Ritu clenched his fist.


    As the three princes arrived, they made eye contact with the two princes who were already there and exchanged fierce looks with one another.


    "Yuan Country and Wu Country have always been the pillar of strength in the conferences!"


    As soon as everyone arrived, the king of Xia Country gave his speech which he had prepared. "... The death of the king of Yuan Country is a regret, but Yuan Country cannot be without a leader..."


    "Hmph! Does the alliance leader have the intention to get involved in our internal affairs?"


    Although he was the youngest, Ge Ritu was the first one unable to control himself and rebutted.


    "All of you are heroes. How can I casually make the decision? However, the chaos in Yuan Country is ultimately not a good thing! Do I have the authority to make such a decision?"


    Xie Lingyun stood up and smiled. "Although we only have 30,000 soldiers here, we have already sent out the signal. Soon enough, we would have a 100,000 more joining us from the boundaries of the grass plains!"


    Hering this, Ba Tu and A Guda looked at each other, feeling troubled.


    If they manage to gather their troops, it would not be an easy fight.


    However, Fang Yuan was clear that this was Xie Lingyun''s over exaggeration. Even though he had the ability to manipulate every country governer and king, he would be fortunate enough if he had managed to gather 100,000 troops.


    The sheer number was enough to strike fear in them.


    Immediately, a few people from Yuan Country were at lost. "What do you all want to do?"


    "We have said it before. To have peace in the grass plains, we need to come up with a plan that everyone is agreeable to!"


    Fang Yuan remarked.


    Although he was only wearing the robes of a country governor, his position was the highest without a doubt. Therefore, had the most right to talk.


    Ba Tu and A Guda were lost for words. Finally, it was still Ge Ritu who stood out. "What do you all intend to do? Say it now!"


    "Very well!"


    The king of Xia Country clapped his hands. "All of you princes are heroes, and I dare not make the decision. What if everyone gets to be king to lead their own country? How does that sound?"


    "What?"


    This suggestion shocked everyone.


    Ge Ritu was enraged and shocked at the same time. His words were stuck in this throat, and he could not say anything.


    This was because he could see interest in the eyes of Ba Tu, A Guda and even the Third and Fourth Prince, and therefore was in desolation.


    Since he used to be the crown prince of Yuan Country, he had looked at the problem from the king''s perspective. Of course, he would find this arrangement unacceptable.


    However, it was good news for the other princes.


    Indeed, instead of trying to fight for a slim chance at being king, it was easier and more tempting to take the rewards now.


    The reward was the most tempting to the princes with little hope of being king.


    "That''s right!"


    Fang Yuan''s voice spread. "This grass plains is huge! It is even possible to split this land up into 80 pieces if you like! By splitting it into 8 pieces, every prince can be their own king and start their own country!"


    At this stage, his plans started to unfold.


    Regardless of which prince would become the ultimate king of Yuan Country, they would still target the South!


    Even if he destroyed Yuan Country, he would only get a few years of peace before a new country would rise again.


    Therefore, the only solution would be to let the people of Yuan Country have internal conflicts and waste their time on each other.


    "There are too many divisions in the grass plains, and it would be impractical to wipe them all out. We need your expertise, and therefore we will support this plan!"


    He thought to himself silently.


    Splitting up the huge Yuan Country and allowing the princes to fight among each other; helping the weak and taking down the strong; all of these are just there to let them waste time. Splitting them up would not give them the chance to gather their strength together.


    This was a delicate operation and required the cooperation of the countries neighbouring the grass plains to support the plan, but Fang Yuan was willing to try it out.


    Even if it were to fail, it would cost him nothing. What was there to fear about?


    "How do we split the land, people, soldiers and horses?"


    Ge Ritu asked.


    "This is simple. Every matured prince would get 10,000 citizens, allocated based on the divisions in the land. As for the grass plains, I have split it up into 8 parts, come and decide for yourself who to get which!"


    Fang Yuan ordered for a map to be brought up.


    On the map was the area of Yuan Country. Although the grass plains were closer to the South, it was vast and fertile.


    But now, it was casually split into 8 portions, and on all of the portions, there was a label.


    Ba Tu, A Guda and Ge Ritu looked at one another.


    It seemed that the people from the South had already prepared for them to split up their country.


    However, no one dared to make a decision and be the one guilty of splitting the country up, plus... How would they be convinced to settle for this without even trying to fight for the throne?


    "Thank you for your kind intentions. Both of us will sign the alliance agreements!"


    Third and Fourth prince, both who were already taken over, leapt out.


    They had a slim chance to fight for the throne, to begin with. Now that their armies were defeated by Fang Yuan, they had huge losses. It would be a blessing in disguise for them to take this consolation prize.


    ''Disgusting... Both of you are the thieves among us!''


    Witnessing this scene, Ge Ritu gritted his teeth and clenched his fists in anger.


    "We will... accept this plan!"


    Even so, it was only logical to agree to the agreement.


    Tears rolled down his cheeks as soon as he had agreed to the plan.


    ...


    "Congratulations, master! You have made history!"


    Seeing the princes take their leave, Xie Lingyun could no longer hold in her excitement as she exclaimed.


    Wu Qiankun bit his lip but remained silent.


    Even he had to acknowledge that the plan of splitting them up, if realised, would neutralise the Yuan Country''s threat.


    He felt regretful for not being able to accomplish this noble plan under his leadership.


    ''If everything in the grass plains is settled, and if this person directs his attention to Wu Country, what should I do?''


    Thinking about this, Wu Qiankun was in fear.


    While he was in fear, Fang Yuan coincidently turned his head around and looked at him, which made him lost for words.


    "It''s still early to talk about this!"


    Fang Yuan looked at Dragon City and was lost in his own thoughts. "Pass the order down for all soldiers to be on alert, to prepare for any sneak attacks from the Yuan Country!"


    "What?"


    Xie Lingyun was shocked.


    "Although they are disappointed, they have not lost all hope yet. Without a defeat, how would they listen to us?"


    Fang Yuan snickered, as though he had seen through all of them.


    ...


    At midnight, the Second Prince A Guda and Eighth Prince Ge Ritu came together to prepare to attack the camp. However, they met with an ambush and were squarely defeated. Zhuo Li Getu was killed. On the second day, First Prince Ba Tu presented Dragon City and surrendered. He was made the king, and the other princes were made their own kings as well. The conflicts which would go on to last a hundred years between the princes on the grass plains have finally begun¡­...

 191 Dream People

    After the 8 princes were made kings, there was peace in the grass plains.


    The Yuan Wu Conference came to an end; or perhaps, it should be changed to the Xia Secluded Conference. Every country led their soldiers back to their countries.


    Although the process was a perilous one, with the appearance of someone more superior than him, Wu Qiankun was lucky to have witnessed the splitting up of Yuan Country''s power. Without the threat from them invading the South, he left the conference with mixed feelings.


    His loss was the greatest. Not only had he lost both Wu Wudao and General Fei Long, even some parts of his territory had to be given up. It would be interesting to see how he could maintain his rule over his people.


    But of course, all these were none of Fang Yuan''s business.


    After the conference, he bade farewell to the king of Xia Country and Xie Lingyun, and left for the plains on a red horse.


    "Whoooo!"


    A strong gust of wind blew across the plains. The grass was all lying on the ground, dried up and hardened. There was a feeling as though the world had come to an end in the coldness of the plains.


    "Winter is here!"


    Fang Yuan took in a deep breath. "The people of Yuan Country living in the plains are going to suffer this winter!"


    As the 8 kings fought against each other, and without the chance to invade South, this winter would lead to many freezing to their deaths. The only way out was for them to recklessly plunder from the people in the North, but this would lead to dire consequences.


    But again, all these did not matter to him.


    "There is a big lake another 20 miles ahead, and the Sunset Division used to be here. However, they are now wiped out under the command of Ba Tu..."


    As he moved forward, he could smell a strong rotting stench, coupled with the smell of blood.


    Many vultures and crows were already circling the sky, ready to enjoy a feast.


    "I''ve heard that the Sunset Division is one of the more well-known divisions in the North of Yuan Country, with over a thousand well-built men. If they really want to wipe them out, they''ll have to prepare a hole large enough to bury 10,000 people!"


    Fang Yuan galloped forward on his horse and arrived at a battlefield. Although it had already been cleaned up, remnants of the battle including broken bones were scattered around, attracting the company of wild wolves and dogs.


    After the war, what was left of the original yurt was a skeleton in its place, and the ground was charred. It was as though the place was being burnt down.


    Hell! Hell! Hell!


    This place which resembled hell made Fang Yuan sigh.


    After remaining silent for a while, he closed his eyes and started his cultivation. A purple fog appeared in front of him once again.


    "Whooo! Whooo!"


    The purple fog took on the shape of a snake and slithered around. Finally, it became an arrowhead and seemed to be pointing in a certain direction.


    Without hesitation, Fang Yuan followed the purple fog.


    After the lake, the terrain was undulating and Fang Yuan arrived at a rift valley.


    Fang Yuan dismounted his horse and followed the purple fog in, as he ventured into the depths of the rift valley.


    After a day''s journey, the sky slowly darkened. The sun set in the west as the moon slowly rose from the east, illuminating the entire place with moonlight.


    There was a small lake within the rift valley, and in it was a perfect reflection of the full moon, and it appeared illusionary like it was a dream.


    Beside the lake, there was a green rock, and on the green rock laid a beautiful woman which seemed to have come from a dreamscape - it was Purple Dream.


    "You''re here?"


    She looked up and gazed innocently at Fang Yuan, as though she had already predicted that he would come.


    "You''re not human!"


    Fang Yuan took in a deep breath and replied in a deep voice.


    "How am I not human?"


    Purple Dream smiled and raised her palm. Under the moonlight, her palm was like an exquisite piece of white jade. "I have flesh and blood, I have emotions, and I have everything a woman has. How am I not human? Dream Master Fang?"


    "You knew..."


    Fang Yuan sighed once more.


    From the first time he interacted with this woman, he could sense a familiar spiritual aura from her, and his findings had confirmed his suspicions.


    This lady, Purple Dream, was not an original human of the Da Qian world, but the creation of a dream master!


    A dream master could be skilled to the extent of creating an entire world! Of course, they could create animals with life!


    However, from an object to a spiritual object, to a living thing, to animals with wisdom and finally, to humans, every one of these stages possesses a huge amount of difficulty.


    If the dream master who created Purple Dream was still alive, his cultivation might be even higher than that of Master Wenxin!


    "I have only heard of the existence of ''dream people'' in the Da Qian Empire. I never thought that I would meet one here!"


    Fang Yuan sighed. "Where''s your owner?"


    "Owner?"


    Purple Dream smiled innocently. "I would rather use the term ''Almighty Father''!"


    Fang Yuan silently agreed. A dream master who had the ability to create worlds and humans was worthy of this title.


    "What a pity... He doesn''t know!"


    There was a pitiful look on her mesmerizing face. "Almighty Father is no longer here... Besides, I have no idea why I''m here. I only remembered that there was a crack in the heavens and on the earth before I came to this world. I was abandoned here and wandered off into the plains. It was only after a while before the Sunset Division found me, and they worshipped me..."


    "Previously, Ba Tu came here and mindlessly killed everyone from the Sunset Division. I wanted to take revenge for them. The old king is dead, and Ba Tu is next!"


    She remained expressionless, even as she was describing the act of killing. She appeared calm. "Are you here to stop me?"


    "Although they might already have plans and killing him might work out in the short term, but his son would simply ascend to the throne... There''s not much difference!"


    Fang Yuan shrugged his shoulders. "As a form of trade, since you''ve owed me a favour, I will need you to return the favour!"


    "Return the favour?"


    Purple Dream smiled. "Dream master, do you know that to us, the dream people, you dream masters are our owners? Don''t you... want to place your imprint on me and make me your slave?"


    Fang Yuan let out a long sigh.


    He had to admit that this woman in front of him was an exquisite being.


    However, he could only see sorrow in her beautiful eyes.


    The wisdom of humans came from the ability of humans to think. However, this might not be a good thing entirely. For example, humans might occasionally doubt themselves.


    This was especially true of the dream people.


    If dream masters had absolute control over them, would their existence in the world be a reality or just an illusion?


    If they don''t even have a conscious ''self'', how pitiful would that be?


    Without reason, Fang Yuan''s soul had a sudden realization. "To survive and have descendants are the two main desires of living things. However, these two desires can be summarised as ''existence!'' Prove to the world and yourself that you are in existence!"


    The concept of eternity and everlasting were just a continuation of ''existence''.


    "To this world, as long as you exist, there is nothing more to it! Since you are living and breathing now, you are proof of existence. Why bother about what others think of you?"


    Purple Dream shuddered in shock as she heard Fang Yuan.


    After a long while, she smiled and replied. "You''re so contradicting. In the beginning, you lectured me on how I was not human, but now you''re consoling me... I have to admit that what you said make sense. It seems that I should not stay in the plains, but should travel South and read your books and immerse myself in your culture. There are so many new concepts and ideas to be learnt..."


    "You are on Ba Tu''s side, and since I''ve killed him, I''ve indeed owed you a favour. What do you want?"


    After much consideration, she asked.


    Fang Yuan began to realise that this dream person, Purple Dream, had a mind purer than most humans.


    ''Is this the design of the dream master who created her, or is this just a natural flaw?''


    Fang Yuan stumbled for a while. "I don''t need much. It''s enough I can get information on how to pass through the plains and head towards Da Qian Empire!"


    "Are you intending to go to Da Qian Empire?"


    Purple Dream looked at Fang Yuan with curiosity. She began nodding her head but quickly shook her head. "The plains is a perilous place, and it''s nothing like how you imagine it to be. I almost died there, but fortunately, the Sunset Division saved me. As for you, you might be able to make the journey..."


    "Oh? What are the dangers of the plains?"


    Fang Yuan became more and more interested.


    "I only know a little..."


    Purple Dream''s voice became a little muffled. "At the extreme North of the Yuan boundary, there are strong and intense cold winds blowing at almost every moment. It is a living hell, and I was abandoned there the moment I arrived in this world. Although it was only at the boundary, it was enough to injure me severely. Furthermore... you won''t be alone there. Ferocious animals lurk in that area..."


    "Rumour has it... the path towards Da Qian Empire passes through that place. If you want to make your way there, you will first have to pass through the Northern-most boundary of Yuan Country. Other than the natural threats, the people and divisions there are extremely unwelcoming. Together with the existence of shamans and warriors, even the Yuan Country could not deal with them."


    After hearing the information, Fang Yuan tried to remember it and nodded his head continuously. "Don''t you worry! Before losing all hope of going there, I wouldn''t recklessly make my way there."


    He knew that it was no simple task to journey from the mainland to Da Qian Empire.


    This was also why the evil dream master Yang Fan and his own master, Master Wenxin, had decided to hide in the mainland.


    "That you for your advice, lady. We owe each other nothing now!"


    After obtaining what he wanted, Fang Yuan cupped his fists and thanked her before taking his leave without hesitation. This made Purple Dream very curious.


    ''The living things actualised from dream worlds are weird, and behind her existence is an extremely skilled dream master. Even though it seems that he might have met with an accident, I''m not sure if he''s really dead. It isn''t a good idea for me to get involved in this.''


    Outside the rift valley, Fang Yuan flipped on his horse, his eyes glittering with excitement.


    He had his takeaways from this journey to the plains. From breaking through to the Meridian Opening Stage, to successfully defeating both Yuan and Wu Country, and finally the information and tips from Purple Dream, it was all a delight for him.


    "Next up would be to return to Green Peak spiritual land to continue my cultivation..."


    After letting out a long breath, his eyes were filled with determination.


    Master Wenxin''s regret and whatever he was pursuing could not be satisfied if he stayed in the mainland.


    Da Qian Empire was his stage to perform!


    Of course, he would not attempt the journey blindly without preparation. Firstly, he had to accustom himself to every corner of the mainland and take advantage of all the resources it could provide to him. Only when he had achieved the peak in his cultivation would he try out the journey to Da Qian!

 192 Three Years

    Three years later, at Green Peak spiritual land.


    Half of the hill was covered in red; it was planted with the Flame Jade Rice, and the large rice stalks bent downwards, giving it the feeling of a bountiful harvest.


    In the sky, many red-eyed white birds were circling, flying through the bewildering fog; they were hunting for prey in the mountains.


    At the bottom of the cliff, the originally small pond was expanded, taking up the shape of a natural lake. The spiritual king fish was swimming about casually, and following it was a school of small spiritual fish. As they were enjoying their time swimming, they occasionally spit out water from the lake.


    "As long as my heart is there, I can achieve the state of peace!"


    In front of the straw cottage, Fang Yuan placed a teapot filled with tea. As he slowly sipped his tea, he appeared to be deep in thought.


    Even though quite some time had passed, his appearance remained the same from the time he had broken through the Elemental Gathering Stage.


    "What a pity... I still cannot achieve a breakthrough to reach the Illusionary Divine stage. The Questioning Heart Tea and other spiritual objects have no effect on me now!"


    In the past three years, Secluded Country and Xia Country ruled the mainland, and Fang Yuan was able to obtain a continuous supply of spiritual plants.


    Level 5 Botany was not to be belittled. This skill of his allowed him to experience many plants evolving special traits, but he was not lucky at all. It was either the special trait evolved was useless, or it was similar to the Flame Jade Rice. There was nothing special which would catch his attention.


    "Up until now, even the Flame Jade Rice can no longer satisfy my needs. However, it''s still a good source of food for the Red-eyed White Birds and the spiritual fish..."


    Fang Yuan rubbed his chin.


    The Yang Family''s Qian Kun Giant Spiritual Technique required him to have a scarily huge intake of food.


    His Giant Eagle Metal Body Technique was mainly composed of this Giant Spiritual Technique, and therefore they had similar requirements.


    With the large amounts of spiritual objects and the Flame Jade Rice, his cultivation was exceedingly quick at the beginning. However, as time passed, the spiritual objects slowly lost their effectiveness and could only be used to replenish his energy.


    Fang Yuan guessed that it was his way of consuming spiritual food as staples which resulted in them losing their medicinal properties.


    There was an easy solution to this. It was to look for even rarer and higher-tiered spiritual objects. However, on the mainland, it was almost impossible to find a spiritual object that had an effect on Fang Yuan.


    There was another solution; to do alchemy and make spiritual pills.


    In fact, Fang Yuan was already using this method. After wasting much spiritual medicine, he felt a huge improvement in his alchemy technique. He was already extremely well-versed with the Fire Hand Palm, and there was no doubt that he could go out and convince others that he was an alchemy master.


    However, even though he had a lot of spiritual objects in his hand and had an extensive collection of them, there were only a few spiritual pills that were beneficial to him. Even if Fang Yuan were to snatch over those useful spiritual pill formulas, he would slowly consume them till they had no effect on him.


    Moreover, he generously fed the Flame Jade Rice and other spiritual objects to the birds and fish, and this must have given him something in return.


    It might be due to the spiritual land or due to the spiritual objects that the original population of the Red-eyed White Birds slowly recovered. Even for the lake beneath the cliff, Fang Yuan had painstakingly caught a few silverfish and kept them in the lake before they became more active.


    "With the help of the spiritual pills and spiritual objects, I have finally formed half a spiritual meridian. It will be up to today to see if I can form the remaining!


    With anticipation in his eyes, he stood up and walked to the spiritual medicine garden.


    This place was expanded and was very much different from the past. It housed many valuable and rare spiritual plants, as well as many plants which have evolved their special trait.


    If any alchemy master from the mainland were to stumble upon this spiritual medicine farm, he would probably go crazy over it, but this place was nothing special in Fang Yuan''s eyes.


    As he came to the spiritual medicine garden, he noticed a small tree with a bark that was jet-black in colour. It was as though the small tree was smelted by metal.


    On the branches of the tree, red and round fruits were hanging, and there was a clear fragrance coming from it.


    The fruit had a unique shape. It had the appearance of a red date but it was much larger. There was a hint of green on the otherwise red fruit.


    "Chirp chirp!"


    "Keke!"


    The Red-eyed White King Bird, Iron-tailed Black Eagle and the Flower Fox Ferret were squatting at one side, looking in anticipation.


    "The Vermilion Fruit tree... It''s finally maturing, what a long wait!"


    Fang Yuan''s eyes welled up.


    The maturity period of this fruit tree was too long; even he himself almost lost confidence in it.


    The good thing was that there was another of it by its side for him to compare and monitor the growth of the tree, and he had finally arrived at this moment.


    "Whooo!"


    At noontime, something miraculous happened.


    The green colour of the Vermilion Fruit slowly disappeared and the fragrance of the fruit became stronger by about 10 times!


    The flock of Red-eyed White Birds became frenzied, and even the Spiritual King Fish in the lake was whipping its tail on the surface of the lake, showing its dissatisfaction.


    "The Vermilion Fruit, it''s ripe!"


    Fang Yuan was excited and reached his hand out to pluck one of the Vermilion Fruit, before stuffing it in his mouth.


    "Kacha!"


    It was as crunchy as a ripe apple, and the bitten Vermilion Fruit had a crescent moon mouth shape on it. The fruit was filled with juice.


    "Gulu!"


    As Fang Yuan swallowed, a gush of warm energy flowed down into his belly, transforming into a pure spiritual energy!


    The Vermilion Fruit was classified as a Mystery Grade spiritual plant, and consuming it directly would be beneficial.


    Without wasting the opportunity, Fang Yuan closed his eyes and harnessed the huge amount of energy in him.


    "Rumble!"


    A strong force exploded in Fang Yuan''s body, and amidst the gushing wind, a spiritual meridian formed on his chest and it was extremely distinct.


    "Chila!"


    Following, another spiritual meridian appeared on his back and glowed brightly. Furthermore, another faint spiritual meridian started to appear on his right arm, albeit only about a tenth of an actual spiritual meridian.


    In his stats window, the original [Giant Eagle Metal Body Technique (Grade 3 (51%))] jumped and became (Grade 3 (55%))!


    "Such an improvement? Unbelievable!"


    Fang Yuan laughed heartily and picked up the Vermilion Fruit, stuffing the rest of it in his mouth.


    "Hmph..."


    As he continued to improve in his cultivation, the spiritual meridian on his right arm became increasingly bright, as it started to form.


    As the number jumped erratically, the proficiency points of Grade 3 suddenly exploded and became 70%!


    "Ah! Not enough! Barely enough!"


    As his eyes opening wide, the veins on his forehead popped out. He could feel that the spiritual energy in his body had stabilized. Forcefully, he grabbed another Vermilion Fruit and stuffed it into his mouth.


    "Rumble!"


    Spiritual energy resembling a tsunami was released and a huge pressure made Fang Yuan a little dizzy at the moment. With the assistance from such a spiritual force, the third spiritual meridian formed and disappeared within his body.


    "The third meridian of Wu Zong, I''ve done it!"


    He looked at his stats window:


    "Name: Fang Yuan


    Essence: 30


    Spirit: 30


    Magic: 9.9


    Profession: Dream Master


    Cultivation: [Dream-building Master (Peak of Elemental Gathering Realm)], Wu Zong (Third Meridian)


    Technique: [Giant Eagle Metal Body Technique (Grade 4) (1%)], Ecstasy Spell, Shadowstep


    Skill: [Medicine (Level 3)], [Botany (Level 5)]"


    "The third spiritual meridian! Together with my initial Second Elemental Force, I am at the Fifth Elemental Force!"


    The Illusionary Divine Stage of a dream master was a huge step. Even though he might be stuck in his cultivation as a dream master, he was far ahead of everyone else in terms of martial arts.


    The world was an interesting place. With so many coincidences happening on him, even Fang Yuan would be lost for words.


    As he looked at the sparse Vermilion Fruit tree and the few spiritual beasts beside him who were all in shock, he smiled helplessly.


    "The remaining fruits would not be enough for me to form the fourth spiritual meridian... Furthermore, I have a feeling that the resources in the mainland are slowly becoming useless to me!"


    To a highly skilled person in the Elemental Gathering Realm, the mainland was not a place which would aid in their cultivation. Spiritual plants were at most of Mystery or Yellow Grade and had limited properties. The spiritual pills produced were also not the ideal pills everyone would want their hands on.


    He had the strong urge of disregarding everything and embark on his journey to Da Qian Empire.


    "To think about it, the Questioning Heart Tea has lost its effect on me, and same goes to the Flame Jade Rice. If the Vermilion Fruit end up the same as well, I don''t really have a choice..."


    Fang Yuan did his research on this phenomenon.


    After reading many ancient records and through his detailed predictions, his understanding of the mainland was slowly deepened.


    "This mainland is desert to spiritual energy. It is scarce in natural elemental energy, and there are only a few who trained from a normal human to become something extraordinary!"


    The scarcity of elemental energy would lead to a decrease in the existence of spiritual plants, which would cause spiritual knights of the Elemental Gathering Realm to be unable to achieve their breakthrough, and this was a vicious cycle.


    To break out of this, he either had to change the entire landscape or escape this mudpit.


    Of course, Fang Yuan did not have the ability to change the entire place, and therefore he could only choose to escape and find opportunities elsewhere.


    But before leaving, he had a few things on hand to settle.


    "Regarding spiritual objects, the spiritual objects here are almost useless to me. Furthermore, I have the Mountain River Pearl and have already stored loads of it..."


    Things that were stored in the Mountain River Pearl would not rot, and therefore there was nothing to be worried about.


    "As for the Secluded Country, Xia Country and the group of disciples and subordinates, it would be like firing a shopkeeper... The most important is still master''s inheritance!"


    Master Wenxin had left behind three portions of inheritance, and Fang Yuan had only inherited two of them.


    Being stuck before the Illusionary Divine Stage led him to try out different ways to achieve the breakthrough but to no avail.


    "But now, I have a new breakthrough in my martial arts. Based on what I''ve practised before, I can try my luck!"


    After thinking, he immediately went to try it out. Fang Yuan came to the Red-eyed White King Bird''s nest in the cave, which was where Master Wenxin had left his inheritance.


    In front of the purple crystal door.


    Fang Yuan stretched his hands out, and his dream elemental force surged.


    However, the door stood still and nothing moved. It seemed that his efforts were put to waste.


    "The Illusionary Divine Stage is too difficult... Not only does it require talent and hard work, more importantly, it requires an opportunity... the last gate that master had put in place must be related to my abilities!"


    Fang Yuan took in a deep breath and utilized his Giant Eagle Metal Body Technique. Three spiritual meridians appeared on his body before disappearing again.


    "Ha! Purify Essence into Spirit! Purify Spirit into Magic! Change in type of elemental force!"


    As he exclaimed, his martial art elemental force flowed through his spiritual meridian and undergone a miraculous change as it flowed to his forehead between his eyebrows.


    "Rumble!"


    As his Zu Qiao shook, something changed.


    His brute martial art elemental force, through his intentional regulation, had turned into the incomprehensible dream elemental force. Like a huge river, the dream elemental force flowed into the purple crystal door.


    15 minutes! 30 minutes!


    After 45 minutes, the door finally moved!

 193 Yuan Sec

    "Buzz! Buzz!"


    The originally stiff purple crystal door started to glow, and the glow started to swirl.


    As the door was pushed open, there was only a stone wall behind; the entire place was barren.


    Fang Yuan licked his lips and took out the jade.


    "Whoosh!"


    Suddenly, many gold words appeared on the stone wall. Like tadpoles, they became a glow of light and entered the jade.


    "Fang Yuan, my disciple..."


    At the same time, a faint light appeared, forming the shape of an old man wearing a crown.


    "Master!"


    Even though he knew that that was not the real master, he still respectfully bowed.


    "If you can reach this stage, it means that you have achieved a breakthrough to the Elemental Gathering Realm, very good!"


    Wenxin, no! Master Heartless stroked his beard and looked down. He was filled with emotion, and it did not seem like a simple imagery.


    "I will teach you everything that I''ve learnt! After achieving a breakthrough to the Elemental Gathering Realm, you should be the strongest in the mainland. I''m sure you''d harbour thoughts of going to the Da Qian Empire, am I right? If that is so, I can trust you to handle some of my unsettled business..."


    After hearing Master Heartless'' explanation, Fang Yuan became increasingly stressed.


    "Remember, before you are skilled enough, don''t avenge... me!"


    Slowly, the light dimmed and Master Heartless''s voice became increasingly soft. Finally, there was silence and the last glow of light fell to the ground and vanished.


    "I will follow your orders, Master!"


    Fang Yuan remained solemn.


    His master was already considered highly skilled among the dream masters; quite ahead of the Illusionary Divine Stage.


    To think about it, if he were to face his master''s enemy now, he would only be an ant; or to be more accurate, an ant with a big head, but still an ant!


    "I might need to wait until I''ve broken through to the Illusionary Divine Stage and reach the peak of it, or I could complete the Meridian Opening Stage and form the martial artist Divine Body before I have the rights to think about revenge!"


    Fang Yuan kept the jade properly, and there was a fire burning in his eyes.


    "The Illusionary Divine stage is too hard to break through, and for martial arts wise, I''m slowly approaching a dead end once again..."


    This was his sentiment after forming his third spiritual meridian.


    After all, most parts of his Giant Eagle Metal Body Technique was discovered by himself. The only reference he had was the Qian Kun Giant Spiritual Technique and the parts on Meridian Opening. Other than that, the various books he had read through in the governor''s office were not detailed and did not have much value for him to take reference.


    He didn''t even get his hands on the book which described forming the martial artist Divine Body.


    This resulted in him not being able to swiftly advance in his cultivation, and every step he took was an arduous one.


    "In Meridian Opening, the first three meridians can be grouped together and are bottlenecks to be broken through before one can form them. However, the difficulty of forming the fourth spiritual meridian is much higher than the first three, and it would be too scary to imagine how I would break through to form the 7th spiritual meridian. But if I manage to do it, I would be a respected even in Da Qian Empire..."


    Fang Yuan looked at his stats window and was deep in thought.


    He was stuck regardless if it was his martial arts cultivation, his dream master cultivation, or even his skills.


    His entire cultivation seemed to have arrived at a ''huge bottleneck''.


    The place he lived in was small and there was not enough elemental energy. This had already caused him some problems in advancing further.


    "I am only Level 3 in Medicine. Even though I''ve saved countless lives in the past three years, it is still the same. As for Botany, the spiritual plants I have are of low grades and are no longer able to help me in breaking through..."


    Fang Yuan sighed and left the cave. He returned to a specific spot at the boundary of the spiritual garden.


    Over here, the land was barren. There was a thick layer of silver shavings forming the shape of a wreath.


    That was all. There were no signs of any plant life.


    "This is the only chance I have at breaking through my Botany skill, but it''s a pity..."


    As his eyes glittered, Fang Yuan raised his right hands and grabbed the soil.


    "Whoosh!"


    The ground beneath split, revealing a jet-black seed that was underwhelming, and the seed landed in his hands.


    This was one of the treasures he had obtained from Lu Renjia''s secret mansion.


    Lu Renjia was indeed a famous alchemy master. His assets were extremely valuable and all his spiritual pills aided Fang Yuan in his breakthroughs. The hide of the Star-eyed Leopard was slowly made into a piece of armour in the past three years, and Fang Yuan wore it inside him ever since.


    This seed was very mysterious. Fang Yuan guessed that it might be of Earth Grade or even Heaven Grade since even the energy from it could help Fang Yuan break through his Botany bottleneck. If it could germinate, it would surely aid Fang Yuan in breaking through once more.


    In the past three years, Fang Yuan had resorted to all means, but the seed remained as such, which was disappointing news.


    "They might have a way to make it germinate in Da Qian Empire!"


    With this thought, Fang Yuan''s hand glowed and the seed was kept safely in the Mountain River Pearl.


    "These Vermilion Fruits are now useless to me, split it among yourselves!"


    After finishing up, Fang Yuan came out and saw the three spiritual beasts waiting outside. "I''ll be leaving for quite some time. Take care and guard this piece of spiritual land for me!"


    "Keke!"


    Thinking about this, the Flower Fox Ferret became anxious. He rushed towards Fang Yuan and nibbled on his robe.


    The Red-Eyed White King Bird and the Iron-tailed Black Eagle displayed their reluctance as well.


    "Alright, be good!"


    These three spiritual beasts already had the cultivation level comparable to a 12th Gate martial artist. However, they have yet to break through to reach Wu Zong.


    After all, the gate to unlocking elemental force was not easy to begin with. How could they easily achieve it?


    "I''ll miss the three of you, but it will be troublesome to bring the three of you along..."


    Fang Yuan sighed.


    It was much convenient if he could ride on the birds and fly. However, this journey of his would require him to go through the extreme North of the plains where strong gusts of winds would be constantly blowing, making it extremely arduous to fly.


    Furthermore, in Da Qian Empire, spiritual beasts which have not attained Wu Zong were of not much use.


    He would rather leave them at home to practise by themselves. Who knows, since Green Peak spiritual land was mystical, together with the spiritual plants, he might come home to a surprise.


    Of course, he had to settle tons of other stuff before he could go.


    "Let''s go!"


    He leapt onto the Red-Eyed White King Bird and commanded it to fly.


    In an instant, the Red-Eyed White King Bird spread its wings and flew into the clouds.


    ....


    Secluded Mountain Prefecture City.


    After going through an expansion, this place was now the capital city of Secluded Country. The city spread out like a spider web and pathways stretched across the city. There were many people and the entire place was prosperous, much more prosperous than before.


    "Chirp chirp!"


    The Red-Eyed White King Bird was rather familiar with this place as it flew above the city walls towards the palace.


    "It''s country governor, sir!"


    On the city walls, the soldiers on patrol started to kneel down and paid their respects in the direction of the white bird.


    "Greetings, sir!"


    Before the palace, Niu Dingtian, Zhang Qingfeng and the others had gotten news of Fang Yuan''s arrival and made their way to receive him. This included Zhou Wenwu, Chen Qing, Yu Xinlou and the other ministers.


    "Forget about all these useless greetings!"


    Fang Yuan came down from the bird''s back and waved his hands casually. "How''s the country?"


    "With your reputation and the close partnership with Xia Country, everything is fine. Just last month, we have received gifts from Wu Country!"


    Niu Dingtian reported respectfully.


    "As for the internal affairs, we have taken in the refugees, allocated barren land for farming and set up another caravan. Trade has been blooming too ever since the previous war. Now that we have another new piece of territory from the Wu Country, the people have started to move there. 10 years is all we need to become the strongest country on the mainland!"


    As he spoke, Zhou Wenwu''s eyes were filled with excitement.


    "Mmm, pass the order that I have something important to announce during tonight''s banquet!"


    Fang Yuan lowered his head and walked into the palace.


    This was where the original Prefecture Master''s mansion was. After undergoing renovation, everything was simple since he was not a person who likes to show off. As he was living in Green Peak spiritual land, there was no use in decorating the palace with gold and silver.


    "King!"


    As the servants and concubine saw him, all of them paid their respects.


    Especially for the concubines, they were all local and selected by the ministers. They had the perfect body shape and all of them looked at him in anticipation.


    They all wanted to be Queen.


    After all, it was weird for Fang Yuan to be King. Although he was the King, he had no wife, no children. This raised a lot of suspicion and the women who were selected to be his concubines got into conflicts, and some of them even died fighting. All of these made Fang Yuan speechless, and he had no choice but to order his subordinates to keep them in check. Only then there was peace.


    Although he had no restrictions, he was still unwilling to start a family even though he was not religious.


    After all, he was prepared to go to the Da Qian Empire. If he left his wife and children behind, wouldn''t he be leaving them at risk of harm?


    Therefore, to avoid this, he decided not to start a family.


    "To the royal study!"


    He ordered a servant directly.


    "Yes, sir!"


    This servant had a pleasant look, which reminded him of someone.


    One year after the Lin Family was locked up, Fang Yuan remembered them and ordered Zhou Wenwu to release them. Using his dream master''s technique, he erased Lin Leiyue''s memory, and from there cut all ties with them.


    As for the alchemy disciple Ling Yin, she was being made a test subject by Fang Yuan. After a few times of altering her memories, she almost became senile. However, she was now loyal to Fang Yuan and was brought to the palace to become a minister.


    The royal study.


    After dismissing the servant, Fang Yuan walked in and waited for a while.


    "Sect Master... we''re here!"


    A few delicate voices were heard.


    "Come in!"


    As the door slowly opened a few people walked in. They had a strong spiritual aura; all of them were Wu Zongs. Among them were two ladies.


    "Greetings, sect master!"


    As soon as these few people saw Fang Yuan, they bowed and greeted him respectfully.


    There was a lady. In her eyes were mixed emotions of sorrow and resentment, but it was unsettled. This lady was Shi Yutong!


    "Please rise!"


    Fang Yuan waved his hands. "All of you are elders of Yuan Sect, please disregard the formalities!"


    Three years ago, not only did Fang Yuan start the Secluded Country, but he had also started a sect of his own. He had created the largest organisation of martial artists in the mainland, and it was called Yuan Sect!


    Members had to contribute to obtain and share martial arts technique, and among them, there were even people achieving the Meridian Opening Stage. The recruitment did not restrict them based on their family background, and therefore many martial artists started to join. It was not the strongest sect in the mainland, and from then on, the Secluded Country became the holy ground for all martial artists.

 194 Heart Attack

    Fang Yuan, who had advanced into the Meridian Opening Stage, was no doubt the strongest martial artist in the mainland.


    With his reputation and the allure of his techniques, coupled with the fact that the requirements to enter his sect were low, it was only natural for Yuan Sect to grow and become stronger.


    In fact, Fang Yuan believed that Yuan Sect, with all the happenings, had more potential than Secluded Country.


    Or should I say, a martial artists'' organisation acting like a sect?


    No one could forever be king of a country, but for these type of organisations, if managed properly, could live up to a thousand years!


    "We now have a system to receive contributions, and it was well received by the various counties!"


    "Regarding the search in the archaeological site, it is in progress now. A few martial artists have already reported the location of several secret treasures, including the inheritance which has the details on how to attain the Elemental Gathering Stage!"


    "Wu Country and Zhu Country have already found out about our bounty. I think we won''t have to wait long before they will offer us a contribution!"


    ...


    In front of Fang Yuan, even Wu Zongs had to be on their toes as they reported their findings to him.


    "Very good!"


    After hearing the reports, he nodded his head in satisfaction. "I want to initiate a council made up of 9 elders to lead Yuan Sect. When I''m not around, the 9 of you will vote to make decisions, and decide based on the majority!"


    "Yes, Sir!"


    These 9 Wu Zongs bowed.


    In reality, it was already common for Fang Yuan to be absent most of the time. The few elders were already used to handling problems on their own.


    This was just officialising what they were normally doing.


    "Are there any updates regarding the secret treasure? I don''t want normal news. I want those that even Wu Zongs find it hard to obtain!"


    This was Fang Yuan''s plan.


    After putting together the mainland''s resources, he wanted to dig up the inheritance.


    Since Master Wenxin and Yang Fan could escape to the mainland, there must be a third person! Or a fourth!


    Those who were able to make the journey from Da Qian Empire to the mainland had to be highly skilled, and had to be at least in the Elemental Opening Stage!


    If he could discover their inheritance, it would be a huge boost to Fang Yuan.


    "There''s one in the middle of Yan Country!"


    Shi Yutong looked up, took a step forward and reported.


    "Yan Country?"


    Fang Yuan rubbed his chin and unintentionally noticed her beautiful figure.


    A smart person will know the right choice in difficult times. After being held captive for many years by Fang Yuan, Shi Yutong finally revealed the secret treasure of Spirit Returning Sect and became completely loyal to Fang Yuan.


    Of course, Fang Yuan wouldn''t admit that his dream-accessing technique played a huge part in converting Shi Yutong. At least, it lessened her hostile intent. Otherwise, it would be a difficult task to convince her.


    "Yan Country?"


    Fang Yuan sighed and asked. "Does it have any special characteristics?"


    "For normal inheritance, like the ones left behind by Wu Zongs, a martial artist at the 12th Gate might not be able to obtain the inheritance, but at least he would be able to make it out alive..."


    Shi Yutong''s voice was clear like spring water. "But for the one at Yan Country, we have sent 5 12th Gate martial artists, but none of them was able to make it out alive. It''s extremely dangerous!"


    "Oh?"


    Hearing what she said, Fang Yuan became interested.


    A Wu Zong''s inheritance was useless to him. He wanted unique inheritance that even Wu Zongs would have trouble obtaining! Only from there would he have a chance to get what he needed.


    "I''ll follow you tomorrow!"


    After a while, Fang Yuan was determined. Quickly, he dismissed the people of Yuan Sect and walked to the main court of the palace.


    The main court was luxurious and the pillars were decorated with dragons and phoenixes. In the middle was a throne decorated with 9 golden dragons on it.


    As Fang Yuan arrived, many people were already waiting in the main court.


    "Greetings, King!"


    He was wearing plain clothes as he casually sat on the dragon throne. Everyone still greeted him respectfully and were on their toes.


    "Mm, my dear people, do away with the formalities!"


    Fang Yuan raised his right hand and gave off the vibe of a king.


    "I am always in meditation and is unable to see to all the country''s affairs timely. Therefore, I am going to initiate a system to select 7 ministers to make decisions on behalf of myself. They will vote to decide on matters..."


    In reality, it was similar to what he had done in Yuan Sect.


    By splitting up power for them to manage the sect and country, he would avoid the problem of one person having too much power.


    Or put in other terms, he could ensure that the power would remain split for a period of time.


    As such, Fang Yuan would be able to settle issues easily if he ever comes back one day.


    Of course, this was all he could do, and the rest was up to fate. If there would be a day where Secluded Country would fall, it would just be a mere pity to Fang Yuan.


    He scanned across all his ministers.


    Zhou Wenwu, Yu Xinlou, Zhang Qingfeng, Niu Dingtian... of course, and his two disciples.


    He would hand this country over to them temporarily.


    "Master..."


    Chen Ziying and Lanruo both felt that there was something amiss. After the meeting, both of them stayed behind and waited for Fang Yuan. Lanruo''s eyes were already welled up, as though both of them knew that something was wrong.


    "Haha... Don''t worry, I am just preparing to meditate for a very very long time..."


    Fang Yuan rubbed Lanruo''s head. He was not prepared to say the truth.


    "Master, you cannot abandon me!"


    Even though Lanruo was already a few years older, she was still like a child. She stretched out her hands and stuck out a little finger. "Promise me!"


    "Yes!"


    Fang Yuan promised her as they hooked their fingers together.


    ...


    The next day, early in the morning, in sight of many, the Red-Eyed White King Bird flew up into the sky and disappeared into the clouds.


    "Whooo! Whooo!"


    The strong wind was gushing by Fang Yuan''s ears.


    From up above, the entire city and the people looked like miniature toys.


    "To Yan Country!"


    Fang Yuan tapped the bird''s head and used his spiritual will to direct it to a certain direction. Afterwards, he took a quick look at the beauty beside him.


    "Sect Head!"


    Shi Yutong appeared pale. However, as a Wu Zong, she was still able to handle the intensity of flying. As she saw Fang Yuan looking over at her, she blushed and nodded her head.


    "For the journey to Yan Country, I have prepared to take a detour to Wu Country first to settle some other matters!"


    Fang Yuan went straight to the point.


    "Wu Country?"


    Shi Yutong asked.


    "You''re a clever person!"


    Fang Yuan rattled on. "I''m sure you''ve guessed what I''m about to do, am I right?"


    Shi Yutong turned pale and replied. "You''re a deep person, Sect Head. How would I dare to guess your intentions?"


    "I won''t hide it from you. The country governor of Wu Country is trouble, and I''m preparing to kill him!"


    Fang Yuan continued. "Everything that I''ve established originated from my martial arts, and I''m sure you are aware of this. Therefore, I want you to take good care of Yuan Sect and Secluded Country while I''m gone..."


    "Yes, Sir!"


    Shi Yutong replied respectfully.


    After his repeated hints, she had mixed feelings of love and hatred for Fang Yuan, but could not do anything as she was weaker than him.


    Before becoming confident of taking down Fang Yuan, she would not dare to do anything.


    "Chirp! Chirp!"


    At this moment, the Red-Eyed White King Bird let out a long chirp.


    As Fang Yuan looked down, he realised that they had flown into Wu Country''s airspace. The three mountains in front were surrounding a mountainous city.


    "We are now in the capital of Wu Country..."


    Seeing this, Fang Yuan smiled.


    ...


    In the palace of Wu Country.


    Wu Qiankun was reading a book. Suddenly, he had an uneasy feeling as though something bad was about to happen. He paced about in his palace and tossed his ancient book on his red sandalwood table.


    "Pa!"


    As the book landed, the surrounding servants shivered in fear and did not dare to breathe a word. They were afraid of being picked on by Wu Qiankun to let out his anger. The situation had been like that since the independence of Secluded Country three years ago.


    ''Why am I feeling so uneasy today? Did I miss out anything recently?''


    Wu Qiankun used to be a valiant warrior and was middle-aged, but not old. However, now, he started to have white hair growing from his sideburns.


    "All of you, get out! Without any instructions, don''t come in!"


    He frowned as he casually dismissed them.


    "Yes, Sir!"


    Hering this, the few servants heaved a sigh of relief. Hurriedly, they left.


    Wu Qiankun circled a few rounds. Suddenly, he approached his bookshelf and activated a certain mechanism.


    "Kacha!"


    A small drawer popped out. Inside were a few spy documents. These were all secretly obtained by Black Ice, and in it were the latest news about Secluded Country.


    "There shouldn''t be any problem. I''ve treated Secluded Country with respect and even gifted them precious valuables this time. He should be satisfied..."


    As he mumbled to himself, a fog started to appear in front of him.


    To him, the existence of such a person was a headache.


    The good thing was that all of these would soon be history.


    "Based on Black Ice''s report, from his actions, he doesn''t want to enjoy the riches of his country, nor the 3,000 concubines in his palace. He is just a dumb martial artist with no brains! Soon, we would not be able to satisfy him, and he would surely make his way to Da Qian Empire... Once that happens, it will be my chance!"


    He clenched his fist and his face became flushed with excitement.


    "Eh..."


    Suddenly, he could hear someone breathing in his room.


    "Who''s that?"


    Wu Qiankun was left in shock as he threw his teacup on the floor. Swiftly, he held on to a jade piece that was hanging from his chest, and it was glowing red.


    "Let''s not waste time! Since I have arrived, I would naturally have sealed this place from the outside world. Normal people will not be able to notice anything!"


    Two shadows emerged from the darkness. They were Fang Yuan and Shi Yutong.


    "Oh, its the king of Secluded Country. May I know why you would play such a prank on me?"


    Although Wu Qiankun was asking calmly, his voice was hoarse like a dead man.


    "You would know..."


    Fang Yuan shook his head. "It''s always your enemies that will know you best... Not many of my ministers and subordinates have guessed that I''m about to leave, but you have guessed correctly! Well done! However... I don''t want to keep you alive. You would only cause trouble!"


    ''This is not good!''


    Long before Fang Yuan''s appearance, Wu Qiankun was already slowly retreating. Hearing his words, he sprinted towards the chair behind his table.


    There was a secret mechanism there which would bring him through a secret tunnel, and would keep him safe by dropping a thousand-pound heavy stone!


    If the stone were to drop, even Wu Zongs could not escape it.


    But he was unfortunate because this was Fang Yuan!


    Even before Wu Qiankun would react, the shadow of Fang Yuan flickered and the next moment, he could feel a stinging pain in his chest. All his spiritual talismans were useless, and soon after, he slowly landed on the ground, his face a hue of purple.


    After seeing Fang Yuan slowly disappearing, a few moments later, a few servants entered and they were all panicking.


    "The King has a heart attack!"


    "Get the Imperial Doctor!"


    ...


    The chaos ensued but became softer and softer. After taking in one last breath, he entered darkness for eternity...

 195 Poisonous Dragon

    Yan Country, in the Poisonous Dragon Lake.


    This was a famous location in Yan Country and was located in the deep mountains. It was covered in a green poisonous fog, and there were even reports of people seeing a dragon here!


    The fog was extremely poisonous and there were no signs of life within a 10-mile radius from the lake.


    There was a peak not far from here.


    A few martial artists dressed in their attire were waiting with anticipation.


    A man in black with a scar on his face was looking at the poisonous fog. Grabbing a golden pheasant, he threw it into the poisonous fog.


    "Ke Ke!"


    The golden pheasant rapidly flapped its wings, fanning the poisonous fog. As it shrieked, it struck fear in the martial artists'' heart.


    "Pa!"


    It fell to the ground and was no longer moving.


    "Whoooo! Whoo!"


    As the wind blew, spotted feathers were flying everywhere and quickly disappeared.


    The corpse of the golden pheasant was now just a pool of blood, flowing on the ground.


    "Oh sh*t, this is indeed a perilous place!"


    Scarred Face swallowed his saliva. "Lady Hu San, is it true that there''s an inheritance hiding here?"


    "Of course!"


    A lady by his side answered. She was middle-aged and was wearing a leather robe. She had a belt made from cow''s hide and on the belt were 10 flying knives hanging from it. The knives were all extremely sharp and were extremely reflective.


    "If not for the fact that the poisonous fog was in this 10-mile radius and that it doesn''t spread out, I wouldn''t have dared to come here!"


    Lady Hu San looked at the green fog and spoke in fear.


    Her ancestors had received insider information about the inheritance a hundred years ago. No one was able to approach the fog even after many generations of attempts at trying. In fact, this had distracted her family from their jobs and poverty struck them.


    Therefore, after the uprising of Yuan Sect, this lady boldly sacrificed herself to the sect.


    "However... accomplishing this would allow me to obtain the thousand-contribution jade, and I can use that to request a good martial art technique from the sect!"


    Scarred Face licked his lips in envy.


    "Even the Five Elders of the Li River couldn''t make it back alive. I just hope that the sect''s envoy would not blame me!"


    Lady Hu San smiled helplessly.


    "Chirp! Chirp!"


    Suddenly, a black dot appeared on the horizon.


    The black dot was flying swiftly in the sky. As he approached closer, they could tell that it was a huge spiritual bird. It was white-feathered and its eyes were bloodshot, and it appeared proud.


    The most shocking was the fact that it had the spiritual aura of a 12th Gate martial artist!


    "Ah! This spiritual bird might just be stronger than the Five Elders of the Li River!"


    Scarred Face turned pale. "Why would it appear here?"


    Although the few of them were considered skilled, all of them still suspected that if the bird was to go crazy, it could take all of them out!


    To be unable to take on a bird after 10 over years of martial arts training?


    "You''re Lady Hu San?"


    The giant bird landed and did not move. A voice was heard from the top of the bird.


    "Greetings, senior!"


    Lady Hu San walked up and bowed respectfully. Immediately, she saw a man and a woman walking over, as though they were from a painting.


    "I am Lady Hu San. May I know who you are?"


    She had already guessed who they were, and her face was flushed.


    "We are from Yuan Sect. Kudos to your hard work!"


    Fang Yuan remained silent. Shi Yutong walked up and replied calmly before taking out a piece of Emerald Green Jade. "This is a thousand-contribution jade. You can exchange it for what you want at any branch of the Yuan Sect!"


    "Thank you, sister!"


    Lady Hu San received the thousand-contribution jade respectfully and kept it properly. Looking at the jealous looks of those around her, she subconsciously touched her flying knives.


    She had no doubts that if not for the presence of the two Wu Zongs, these ''old friends'' of hers would risk their lives to get such a treasure on their hands.


    "Tell me about what happened here!"


    Seeing Lady Hu San keep the thousand-contribution jade, he continued. "Don''t leave out any details!"


    "Yes, Sir!"


    Although he kept mum most of the time, the moment he opened his mouth, Shi Yutong retreated respectfully by his side with her hands behind her back. Immediately, Lady Hu San could tell who the real master was, and a chill went down her spine.


    "Reporting!"


    Since she did not know Fang Yuan''s true identity, Lady Hu San decided to give her utmost respect. "The inheritance in Poisonous Dragon Lake was first discovered by my ancestor Hu Ying from an old diary. This led to my ancestors coming over to settle down in Green Dragon Country in order to obtain the inheritance. However, due to the fact that the poisonous fog is extremely dangerous, none of us could walk in long enough, even with the help of a spiritual pill as an antidote. Only those martial artist above the Earth Gate could sustain for awhile based on their own ability..."


    "I had reported to Yuan Sect previously. The sect had deployed the Five Elders of the Li River to investigate. All of them had taken the Life and Death Concoction. In the Concoction were two types of worms, the male and female Concoction Worm. If one of the worms died, the other will not survive... After entering the poisonous fog, everything went smoothly at the beginning. However, after half an hour, all the 5 Concoction Worms outside died, and this meant that all five of them died as well... Forgive us!"


    Lady Hu San reported, and slowly felt fearful.


    After all, it was not easy to find five 12th Gate martial artists.


    "Mm. Bring me the diary!"


    Fang Yuan waved his hands.


    Although unwilling, Lady Hu San pulled out an ancient book from her robes and presented it to Fang Yuan.


    His expression remained unchanged as he slowly read the book.


    After a while, Fang Yuan lifted his head up and casually waves his hands. "Alright, I am now clear of the danger here. From now on, this is none of your business, take your leave!"


    Fang Yuan approached the poisonous fog and started to gather his energy.


    "Buzz! Buzz!"


    As he gave his elemental energy a form outside his body, he formed a bubble that wrapped around him. Taking a large step, he walked into the poisonous fog.


    "Chi! Chi!"


    The thick poisonous fog came to live and stuck itself on the bubble of elemental energy, trying to work its way in. This caused Fang Yuan''s elemental energy to slowly deteriorate.


    However, compared to his true amount of energy, this was nothing.


    "Let''s go!"


    As he called out, Shi Yutong walked forward and waved her hands. A green elemental energy bubble appeared and she walked next to Fang Yuan. Slowly, they disappeared into the poisonous fog.


    "Projecting elemental energy?!"


    On the outside, Lady Hu San, Scarred Face and the rest were stunned.


    When the Five Elders of the Li River came previously, they had to spend almost half a day preparing, swallowing antidotes and spiritual pills. It was not this simple.


    Furthermore, after all that preparation, they still fell short.


    "Wu Zong!"


    Lady Hu San remained in a trance for a while before sighing. "Both of them are Wu Zongs! Indeed, only such a person would be able to tame such a spiritual bird! The only thing is that... the appearance of this senior, and the spiritual bird..."


    As her eyes widened, she had already thought of a certain possibility.


    Scarred Face and the rest changed their expressions as well. Looking towards the Poisonous Dragon Lake, their eyes were filled with respect as they mumbled to themselves. "Did Sect Master personally arrive?"


    ...


    "Sa! Sa!"


    In the green poisonous fog, there was silence. The only exception was the shuffling of their feet, and it was weird to hear it in such a silence.


    After walking 30 metres, the poisonous fog became increasingly concentrated and the stress on the elemental energy bubble was much stronger.


    Fang Yuan was coping well, but Shi Yutong was struggling beside him as her elemental energy bubble started to glow.


    "The closer we get, the more concentrated the poisonous fog would be!"


    Fang Yuan lifted his leg up. There was already a pile of mud on the ground. It was as though the earth here had succumbed to the poison and had started to rot.


    If not for the fact that Fang Yuan had covered his shoes in elemental energy, they might rot as well.


    "Although it''s called Poisonous Dragon Lake, in reality, it is just a marsh! Furthermore..."


    Fang Yuan grabbed forward.


    "Whoosh!"


    After a flash, his hands were already filled with green worms.


    These worms were half an inch long and were glowing in the green light. They also had two pairs of translucent wings and a pattern on its abdomen. It resembled a human in pain ad it was extremely gruesome.


    "This thing is poisonous and it seems to have the ability to decay your elemental energy. Be careful..."


    With the flick of his finger, a green mark appeared on the ground. White smoke started to emerge and the ground decayed, revealing a hole.


    Shi Yutong was shocked beyond words as her expression changed.


    Although she was also Wu Zong, compared to Fang Yuan, there was still a stark difference.


    If these green worms ambushed and attacked her, she might not have been able to defend herself.


    "It seems that the ancestors of Lady Hu San did not record about these worms..."


    Fang Yuan smiled, took a few steps forward and struck on the ground with his right foot.


    "Kacha!"


    As the ground split open, mud flew everywhere, revealing some scattered bones. From the appearance of it and the extent of its decay, it was as though it had died for many years.


    "The Five Elders of the Li River?"


    Shi Yutong noticed an iron ring and exclaimed in shock.


    "Mmm. They''re incapable and boastful, and no one would''ve guessed that they would die here!"


    Fang Yuan shook his head and continued forward.


    "Bloop! Bloop!"


    The deeper they ventured, the softer the ground. There were scattered pools of green water in the mud, and they were bubbling. As the bubbles burst, a smell of sulphur filled the air.


    If a normal person or a 12th Gate martial artist were to be here, they might accidentally fall into the marsh and be swallowed alive.


    Fortunately, Fang Yuan and Shi Yutong were extraordinary people. Every step they took, they appeared extremely stable.


    After a while, a green lake appeared in front of both of them.


    "Chi! Chi!"


    At this place, the green fog became less concentrated and visibility was improved.


    However, Shi Yutong''s elemental energy bubble let out a screeching sound. The original shape that it used to be, the bubble became extremely deformed at this point in time.


    "The further you''ll go, the more you''ll get!"


    Fang Yuan nodded his head. "This is the furthest you can go. Wait for me here!"


    Without waiting for Shi Yutong''s reply, he had already arrived at the surface of the lake.


    "Splash!"


    As his right feet landed firmly on the surface of the lake, a layer of wave spread outwards. However, it did not succumb to his weight.


    Walking on water!


    Even Wu Zongs would find it hard to do this. Needless to say, this Poisonous Dragon Lake was not composed of normal lake water.


    Fang Yuan appeared calm and arrived at the centre of the lake.


    Releasing his magical energy, his face appeared as though he had understood something.


    "Hiss!"


    Suddenly, an extremely long but curved silhouette like a bow appeared under the surface of the lake!

 196 Water Dragons Pearl

    "Crash!"


    With a hiss, a giant wave formed in the lake which was originally calm.


    A huge shadow suddenly leapt out from the beneath the water surface and created a mace-like pillar of water which was aimed at Fang Yuan.


    "Hmmm? What a beast, you still dare to attack me?"


    Fang Yuan chided. 3 spiritual meridians suddenly surfaced in his body. "You...come out!"


    "Rumble!"


    He originally possessed an elemental power level of 2. With the addition of 3 levels, his [Essence] reached 30 points! With it being released all at once, the power was sufficient to topple mountains and overturn the seas [1]!


    "Bang!"


    Two gigantic hands made of elemental force appeared. With a strike of the claw, the pillar of water was dispersed.


    At the same time, the other hand grasped the tail of the shadow and gave it a yank!


    "Sou!"


    Amidst the water droplets, a giant snake was tossed from the bottom of the lake onto the bank, creating a small tremor in the earth.


    "This is..."


    Shi Yutong''s footwork was light and she retreated rapidly. Her face was full of shock as she look at the monstrous snake.


    The snake was as thick as a water barrel and was covered in emerald green scales. It was more than 30 metres long. More importantly, it had a set of small claws and it had a lump on its forehead. The snake was no ordinary snake.


    "Dragons and snakes exist deep within the mountains... ancient snakes possess spiritual energy and can transform into a water dragon in 500 years!"


    Shi Yutong''s expression changed. "This is...this is a water dragon!"


    Given the water dragon''s spiritual aura, it was a stretch to classify it as a dragon.


    "Its horn is not yet fully grown and cannot even be considered a young dragon. It is a snake monster at most!"


    Fang Yuan rode a wave forward even though he appeared uninterested.


    "Hiss!"


    The giant snake[2] raised its body and held its head high, its pupils full of suspicion as it looked at its enemy. It hissed menacingly once again.


    What made Shi Yutong flabbergasted was the fact that while the snake was extremely vicious, it appeared timid in front of Fang Yuan.


    "It seems that you have achieved spiritual awareness. I do not want to kill as well. Be good and hand over that person''s inheritance...and I will spare your life, how about that?"


    Fang Yuan slowly moved forward as he tried to strike a deal with the snake.


    "Hiss!"


    The water dragon was enraged. It opened its jaws.


    "Whoosh!"


    An emerald green fog appeared and float towards Fang Yuan. Wherever the fog passed, the ground made a hissing sound and white smoke emerged. In a flash, the ground where the fog passed dissolved. It was apparent that the poison was unmatched.


    The inheritance was important to the snake and it would go to great lengths to protect it!


    "What a poisonous creature!"


    Fang Yuan''s expression remained unchanged. He heaved a sigh and shook his head. "It seems that this Poisonous Dragon Lake was created by you?"


    The spiritual meridians on his body flashed and formed a multi-coloured armour which surrounded his entire body. The poisonous fog was unable to penetrate it and Fang Yuan dashed through the poisonous fog, appearing before the giant snake.


    "Hiss!"


    The snake hissed as it used its tail like a giant mace and struck down on Fang Yuan.


    "Giant Eagle Claw!"


    Fang Yuan''s left hand formed the shape of a claw as he struck viciously.


    Compared to the giant snake that was over 30 metres in length, Fang Yuan''s small frame appeared to be like an ant''s. However, with a strike from his claw, his elemental force ripped through the air, creating a tremor. The snake''s tail was struck open and a large number of scales, stained with the snake''s poisonous blood, crashed and shattered against the ground.


    "Sect head..."


    Shi Yutong saw the clash between the snake and Fang Yuan from the side and realized that although she was a Wu Zong, she was unable to help.


    The prowess of the two of them was far beyond what she had imagined!


    "This piece of land has many dangers. If the master is not here, the snake would not budge even if a few Wu Zongs were here..."


    She swept the entire area with her eyes as suspicions clouded her beautiful facial features." It is just...where is the inheritance?"


    The surroundings were filled with nothing but highly toxic marshes with a small lake.


    "Unless it is at the bottom of the lake..."


    A horrific thought appeared in Shi Yutong''s mind.


    If that was truly the case, one would have to dive into the poisonous lake water to search for the inheritance and at the same time, dodge the attacks of the snake. Even a Wu Zong would be heavily wounded or killed if he was not careful.


    "Whoosh!"


    Unknowingly, the surrounding was filled with white fog. It was thick and advanced and retreated, like a common fog in the mountains.


    However, Shi Yutong knew the real danger of the fog and had experienced it before. She hastily retreated.


    ''This Bewildering Fog was the spiritual technique of the Sect Head...it is able to confound the senses of even a Wu Zong and ....''


    Shi Yutong hastily fixed her eyes on the snake monster.


    The fog surrounded Fang Yuan and the snake as they battled, and seeped into the scales of the snake. However, Shi Yutong was astounded as the movement of the snake did not appear to be affected by the Bewildering Fog.


    "Hmmm?''


    Fang Yuan also noticed that the fog had no effect on the snake as well.


    A blinding flash of light flashed in the lump on the snake''s head.


    The monstrous snake''s resistance against the Bewildering Fog momentarily increased exponentially.


    "According to the norm, while the snake is stronger than an ordinary Wu Zong, it is a spiritual beast and as such, its mind is simple. It should be easily affected by the fog..."


    Fang Yuan looked on, deep in thought.


    "Unless it possesses a treasure that protects it!"


    "Hiss!"


    As the light on its head started to flicker, the snake covered its entire body with the poisonous fog that it spat out. With a vicious flick of its tail, it tried to escape towards the lake.


    Its preferred battlefield was still the bottom of the poisonous lake!


    "Do you think that I only have these few tricks up my sleeves?"


    Fang Yuan laughed, both hands making a grab for the snake. "Come back!"


    "Whoosh!"


    The surrounding fog condensed into chains and trapped the snake.


    The snake possessed immerse strength and as it struggled, many chains broke one by one. However, the broken chains started to recombine and restrict the movement of the snake.


    "Ha!"


    Fang Yuan muttered the incantation and a huge amount of white fog gathered before him, forming a wall of white fog.


    "Go!"


    An immense pressure blanketed the entire area.


    He looked at the monstrous snake before sending the wall of white fog towards the snake. In an instant, it arrived before the snake.


    "Hiss!"


    The snake''s scales were raised. It was restricted by the chains and was a huge target. There was no chance that it would be able to escape.


    In that crucial moment, the lump on its head released a blinding light and cascaded over its body like a screen of water, protecting it.


    "Crash!"


    The next instant, the wall of white fog was shattered and there was a layer of fog covering the earth.


    The blast from the impact was channelled outwards and even dispelled the poisonous fog that was nearby.


    Shi Yutong''s martial arts were raised to her limits. Her ears were ringing and she lost her orientation. It was only after a while before she became aware of the situation.


    All she saw two long marks on the ground. She was only affected by the aftershock and her defense almost crumbled. She was flung back over 30 metres and almost sustain serious injuries!


    "What happens to that giant snake?"


    She lifted her gaze and saw that there was a large crater where the snake originally was. The lake water flooded into the crater and at the bottom of the crater was the giant snake. Its scales were shattered and a claw was broken. It looked very pitiful.


    Fang Yuan stood before the snake and looked like a deity.


    "There is no need to pretend. This small injury is nothing!"


    He arrived before the snake and looked on mockingly.


    He had barely finished his sentence when the snake glared at him with vicious intent and used its remaining claw to strike him.


    "Crash!''


    The earth shook and a claw print appeared on the ground.


    "Sou!"


    Fang Yuan transformed into a shadow and evaded the attack before arriving at the lump on the giant snake''s head.


    "The snake is strange mostly because of this lump!"


    He was suspicious. 3 spiritual meridians appeared on his body and the sheen of his armour intensified.


    "Hiss!"


    The giant snake started to flail wildly as it tried to fling Fang Yuan from its head in order to protect the lump.


    "Hehe..."


    Fang Yuan remained rooted, his left hand transforming into a blade. His face looked indifferent as he brought the blade down.


    "Pop!"


    The blade flashed.


    Amidst the shrieks of the monstrous snake, the lump on its forehead split open, its poisonous blood splattered onto Fang Yuan.


    "Chh chh!"


    Its poisonous properties were much more fearsome. Even though the defences were formed using the power of the spiritual meridians, the elemental force was dissipating at an alarming rate with a "chh" sound.


    "Giant Eagle Claw!"


    Fang Yuan took a deep breath before channelling his elemental force onto his left arm. He plunged his hand straight into the lump, towards the source of the light and closed his hand on a spherical object.


    "Hiss!"


    Beneath him, the giant snake started to thrash about and even slam its head on the ground.


    "Come out!"


    That spherical object appeared to be connected to multiple blood vessels like an old tree where its branches are intertwined.


    Fang Yuan laughed and using his elemental power level 5, severed the meridians and yanked out the object!


    "Chhh!"


    A jet of blood spurted out as the giant snake gave a pitiful cry before falling limply to the ground as if all the bones in its body were removed.


    "This is..."


    Shi Yutong stepped forward and confirmed that the snake was gravely injured from its weak spiritual aura. She then looked at Fang Yuan who was gracefully floating down.


    In his hand was a blue pearl which had some blood stains and threads of remnants on it.


    "If my guess is correct, this pearl is a rare treasure. The snake might have possessed magical properties. However, it was only after being exposed to the pearl that the snake started to display signs of transformation..."


    Fang Yuan wiped away the bloodstains to reveal the original look of the rare treasure.


    It was the size of a fist and was blue. Flickering golden threads could be seen within the pearl.


    "Dragon Pearl?"


    Shi Yutong pondered before speaking the name of a rumoured legendary treasure before correcting herself. "No..."


    "It is not a dragon pearl but a water dragon pearl. However, I suppose you can call it¡­.."


    Fang Yuan shook his head before turning to leave.


    "Hmmmm?"


    Shi Yutong was startled. "Sect Head, What about the inheritance?''


    She did not forget what Fang Yuan set out to get.


    "It''s here!"


    Fang Yuan looked at the pearl in his hand and smiled.


    The predecessor displayed originality by hiding the inheritance within the pearl. If Fang Yuan''s magical energy was not extraordinary, he would not have realized it.


    As for the snake, without the pearl, even if it was able to survive, its prowess would be greatly diminished and it would not be of much use.


    [1] A Chinese idiom suggesting that the something, in this case, power was enormous.


    [2] snake monster, snake and water dragon are used interchangeably to describe the water dragon based on the original text of the author.

 197 Golden Body

    Deep in the night.


    The room was bright like day as the lights filled the entire room with radiance.


    This was the maximum potential of the Bright Moon Pearl. However, when the Bright Moon Pearl was compared to the object in Fang Yuan''s hand, it paled in comparison. It was like passing of fish eyes for pearls.


    "Dragon pearl, dragon pearl...in this world, there might indeed be dragons...if those exist, then water dragons and the likes exist as well!"


    The world was vast. The mainland that Fang Yuan was living in was just a small, remote and desolate corner of the world.


    Because of its location, the elemental energy of the heavens and earth was low, resulting in it becoming a forgotten place unworthy in the eyes of those in power.


    However, things were different in the centre of the world, for example, where the Da Qian Empire was located.


    Fang Yuan stared at the pearl in his hand.


    A blue light constantly swirled around and encompassed the pearl with a brilliance that was able to captivate onlookers.


    "This does not just contain the water dragon''s energy, it is very much like the jade and contains a spiritual will as well!"


    Fang Yuan closed his eyes and channeled his immense spiritual will into the pearl.


    "Roar!"


    Within the pearl, there was chaos. Suddenly, a dragon''s shadow appeared. It had a snake''s body and a fish tail, with a single horn on its head. The dragon had 4 limbs with 3 claws each. It was a standard green water dragon!


    It witnessed Fang Yuan''s spiritual will and was momentarily enraged. With a roar, it pounced on Fang Yuan.


    "Hmmmph! You dare to be mischievous with such a small water dragon aura?"


    Fang Yuan''s spiritual will rumbled like a passing storm.


    "Boom!"


    Multiple giant streaks of lightning appeared and struck the water dragon.


    The green water dragon gave a pitiful cry before it dissolved into purple energy which was dispelled.


    "Reveal yourself!"


    Fang Yuan''s spiritual will continued to probe and amidst the chaos, a string of golden words appeared.


    ''My name is Nie Kuang, from the central province of Da Qian. I used the Hundred Poison Golden Body to cause chaos in the world. The future generations must continue to spread my name and let the world know that my way is neverending...''


    The words were clustered together and the beginning was an autobiography.


    "Nie Kuang?"


    After a while, Fang Yuan opened his eyes and kept the pearl. "This Hundred Poison Golden Body is really so powerful?"


    The inheritance within the pearl was a martial arts manual.


    Fang Yuan was disappointed as the technique was not like the Da Qian Giant Spiritual Technique which talked about opening meridians and achieving the Divine Body.


    At his peak, Nie Kuang was just an ordinary Wu Zong who had not opened his spiritual meridians.


    However, he had the blood of a spiritual knight in the Elemental Opening Realm in his hands!


    It was because of this that Nie Kuang had no choice but to travel far away to a secluded area to escape from trouble.


    "An ordinary Wu Zong who managed to kill a spiritual knight in the Elemental Opening Realm?"


    To Fang Yuan, that was like an ant biting an elephant to its death!


    "If the Hundred Poison Golden Body was like what he described, I suppose that there is still a possibility!"


    According to what Nie Kuang described, he came from a small martial arts sect and possessed an inheritance of his own. He had an ancestor who was able to breakthrough to become a Wu Zong, but due to the shortcomings of his technique, was unable to reach the Meridian Opening Realm. The ancestor was unhappy and later on, made a vow to create a technique able to rival that of a meridian opening technique.


    This ancestor''s martial arts prowess was not up to mark. However, his skills lie in medicine and poison. After toiling for his entire life, he finally developed a technique that became the Hundred Poison Golden Body later on.


    This technique used all types of objects with poisonous properties and combined it with the flesh of the martial artist, bringing out their hidden potential and increase the strength of the body. While the martial artist would not be able to enter the next realm, his strength would be comparable to that of a Wu Zong who had entered the Meridian Opening Realm. Truth be told, this was a technique that was only focused on strengthening the body.


    Although the objects used were very rare, this method was viable. According to Nie Kuang, although he had never managed to open his spiritual meridians, his body was so strong that at his peak, he had an elemental power level of 7, unable to be wounded by swords and spears. His body was impenetrable by fire and water and even the spiritual spells of a spiritual knight in the Elemental Opening Realm was nothing to him!


    That was something really impressive!


    "The Giant Spiritual Technique of the Yang Family can only increase the elemental power level by 1 and it is considered impressive. This Hundred Poison Golden Body is able to increase the elemental power by 6 levels?"


    Fang Yuan stroked his chin. "This is not bad indeed. It is just that..."


    If this technique had no shortcomings, everyone in the Da Qian Empire would be practising this technique. How is it possible that not even the descendants know about this technique?


    With a look at the prescription required, Fang Yuan was able to guess the reason.


    "Jade Bone Dark Flower? Heavenly Fragrant Bone Burning Grass..."


    Fang Yuan had never heard of these poisonous plants before.


    There was one ingredient that he had heard of, Nine Festival Jade Sweet Flag, which was an earth grade spiritual plant!


    "This technique requires too many resources and the results are not directly proportional to the resources used!"


    Fang Yuan shook his head as he figured out the shortcoming of this technique.


    While the technique was indeed strong, it required a terrifying amount of resources. The resources used to nurture Nie Kuang was sufficient to train up a few spiritual knights in the Elemental Opening Realm and Wu Zongs in the Meridian Opening Realm!


    Furthermore, a Wu Zong in the Meridian Opening Realm need not be afraid of this technique. After opening the spiritual meridians and attaining the Divine Body, the physical body would similarly be strengthened and become more powerful than using the Hundred Poison Golden Body.


    With this comparison, those sects that still trained the disciples with the Hundred Poison Golden Body technique could be considered foolish.


    "Based on how this person spoke and acted, this is a technique spread and used by an evil sect...to swindle and forcefully take what belongs to others to benefit themselves..."


    Fang Yuan was able to largely guess Nie Kuang''s history based on this technique.


    "It would be hard to gather the ingredients and undergo the 1st Refining Stage here!"


    Fang Yuan stroked his chin. "However, this might be possible for me...!"


    This technique did not require the opening of the spiritual meridians and instead focused on the training of the physical body. To an ordinary Wu Zong, this technique was of no use.


    However, Fang Yuan had incredible botanical skills and as such, he did not give up.


    He knew the advantages of strengthening his physical body as he had used rough techniques to breakthrough to become a Wu Zong.


    "The Hundred Poison Golden Body is split into the 1st, 10th and the 100th Refining stage. Every stage requires the use of poisonous objects...after the 1st Refining Stage, the physical body will gain an increase in 1 level of elemental power. The body will then be impervious to hundreds of poisons. Nie Kuang was in the Tenth Refining Stage. As a result, his body was tough as steel and resistant to Elemental Opening spiritual spells and his elemental power level increased by another 5 levels!"


    "As for the Hundredth Refining Stage, it is just a conjecture. Not even Nie Kuang''s ancestor was able to achieve it. It was not because he was unable to learn the technique but rather, the resources needed was too much!"


    Fang Yuan clenched his teeth and made up his mind.


    "I do not need to rely on the Tenth or the Hundredth Refining Stage. However, it would be good to have another set of technique for self-defense on my road to Da Qian. I will practice this technique before making my way there!"


    To him, it was a bonus for him to obtain this Hundred Poison Golden Body technique.


    ...


    As Fang Yuan was the emperor in this area, people would tend to whatever he needed.


    When he returned to the capital of Secluded Country, the whole country was abuzz with activities when they received the news of what Fang Yuan required.


    All sorts of common, uncommon poisonous objects from across the world and even from the plains were sent to the palace.


    "The 1st Refining Stage is the easiest stage of this technique!"


    Within the palace, a layer of green fog lingered, taking on the shape of a dragon and a snake. The green fog was trapped by the spiritual inscriptions at the side.


    Fang Yuan stared at the multiple cauldrons in front of him, each holding medicinal liquids which gave out fragrances that were able to captivate onlookers.


    However, they were all poisonous!


    There were snow mountain spiders, green bamboo five-paced vipers, 3-eyed peacock guts and spirit-chasing scorpions...


    In addition, there were also Cruel Sky Flower, Earth-rotting grass and Intoxicated Orchids...


    There were all sorts of known and unknown poisonous objects that were first refined multiple times before being placed in the cauldron and the process continued. An ordinary person would surely die when he comes into contact with the poison! Even a Wu Zong might be poisoned to death!


    "Furthermore, the required ingredients were not considered too precious and substitutes could be found as well..."


    Fang Yuan was a famous doctor and after practicing, he was able to carry out the process easily.


    "Rumble! Rumble!''"


    After an hour, the fragrance of the medicine started to vanish and Fang Yuan extinguished the flames. The liquid in the furnace had become congruent and become a black paste.


    Fang Yuan nodded his head as his smile expressed his joy. Without hesitation, he walked forward and applied the poisonous paste onto his body.


    "Oh..."


    When the paste came into contact with his skin, there was a sensation of pain and numbing itch which slowly seeped into his bones. It was as if there were thousands of ants climbing all over his body and biting him.


    Fang Yuan had experienced this sensation multiple times before. He furrowed his brows and bore with the pain. His body absorbed the poisonous properties and stimulated his potential.


    The technique to attain the Hundred Poison Golden Body was crude and easily managed.


    "Of course, the most important element of this technique happened to be the Water Dragon Pearl!"


    After a while, the medicinal properties were slowly absorbed and Fang Yuan''s skin took on a bronze hue.


    The court was made mostly of rocks and in the middle, a large hole was carved out and filled with boiled medicine.


    In the middle, the Water Dragon Pearl bobbled up and down, giving off threads of blue light.


    "This is a true inheritance, with a technique and an accompanying treasure to train with! What a pity this is only the First Refining Stage!"


    Without hesitation and fear, Fang Yuan removed his clothing and jumped straight into the pool.


    "Whoosh!"


    The poisonous liquid, combined with the boiling temperature made Fang Yuan feel like he was stabbed a thousand times over.


    "Good!"


    Fang Yuan gritted his teeth as he felt his elemental force surging forward towards a barrier.


    "Bang!"


    After a while, there was a roar of a dragon and the Water Dragon Pearl in the pool burst open, transformed into a fine powder and entered Fang Yuan''s body.


    "Roar!"


    Fang Yuan''s nose trembled, emitting a roar similar to a dragon''s. He suddenly leapt out of the pool and looked at his hands, his expression jubilant. "I have successfully attained the First Refining Stage!"

 198 The Journey

    "Are there any changes to my stats window?"


    After successfully breaking through the 1st Refining Stage, Fang Yuan looked at his stats window:


    "Name: Fang Yuan


    Essence: 36


    Spirit: 30


    Magic: 9.9


    Profession: Dream Master


    Cultivation: [Dream-building Master (Peak of Elemental Gathering Realm)], Wu Zong (Third Meridian)


    Technique: [Giant Eagle Metal Body Technique (Grade 4) (1%)], Bewildering Spell, Shadowstep, Hundred Poison Golden Body (1st Refining)


    Skill: [Medicine (Level 3)], [Botany (Level 5)]"


    "Hundred Poison Golden Body - A secret form of martial art, and is based on using extreme poison to trigger the body''s potential, increasing physical strength. Currently at the 1st Refining Stage, and gained one elemental power level. The physical condition of the body is strengthened, and body is now resistant to all types of poison!"


    "Resistant to all types of poison..."


    Fang Yuan rubbed his chin. "I''m afraid the ''all types'' of poison only include the common types of poison. If I encounter spiritual poison or deadly poison... I might still succumb to it, even if I''m at the 10th Refining Stage or 100th Refining Stage!"


    He looked at his own body.


    After successfully breaking through the refining stage, his became slightly taller and his muscles were more defined. His skin was tight and had a bronze hue.


    With any movement, his joints crackled, releasing an immense amount of energy.


    "It seems that I will no longer need to use my elemental force and just use my physical body to be still able to defeat a Wu Zong!"


    Fang Yuan clenched his fists tightly, and there was satisfaction in his eyes.


    "I can leave the affairs of the country and the sect to the ministers and elders..."


    He walked out of the palace and passed down a message to the ministers and elders, reminding them to behave in his absence. After which, he called for the Red-Eyed White King Bird and flew back to Qingye City.


    This was where he started all of it, and therefore felt different from other places.


    The secluded valley gave him the most memorable memories.


    He slowly walked to the opening of the valley.


    "Who''s that? Eh? King!?"


    A few martial artists carrying long swords came out. As they saw Fang Yuan, they were all in shock and quickly knelt down.


    "Rumble!"


    As the news of Fang Yuan''s arrival spread, the entire secluded valley was in chaos. From housekeepers to the servants, everyone paid their respects to Fang Yuan.


    "So much time has passed since I was here!"


    The secluded valley appeared the same as before but had its differences now. Fang Yuan shook his head. He turned around and left.


    The old secluded valley would forever be a memory and would never come back.


    "Those that are stuck in the past will never have a future!"


    Fang Yuan rubbed the Red-Eyed White King Bird''s head. "Old White, I''ll see you!"


    The secluded valley, secluded country and the entire mainland, was but a small part of his life''s journey.


    He had to start on his new journey.


    "In my life, I must live spectacularly and find the path to eternity, as well as... the path to the past!"


    He was still longing for the world he once lived in his past life.


    "Chirp! Chirp!"


    The bird seemingly understood Fang Yuan''s determination. As it flew up, it circled the sky and let out a sorrowful chirp...


    ...


    The plains in Yuan territory.


    Since three years ago when Fang Yuan split up the 8 kings, Yuan Country was left in internal conflict and turmoil from that day onwards.


    The countries from the South worked together to sow discord among the 8 of them and constantly kept each of their influence in check.


    Although there might be instances of accidents, like the death of the 1st Prince Ba Tu, generally speaking, everything was rather stable.


    The people living in the North finally enjoyed a period of peace.


    The land and sky were vast.


    Fang Yuan quietly came to the North without picking up too much attention. He bought a white horse and galloped straight through Yuan Country, arriving at the Northern Territories. He came to the rift valley near the Sunset Division.


    As he walked in, he lit up a purple incense.


    A mild fragrance of sandalwood filled the air. There was a hint of spirituality which slowly dissipated.


    This was a present he had received from Purple Dream. She had told him that if he ever lit this incense, she would be able to detect it and would appear to meet him.


    "Where did she go in the past 3 years..."


    Fang Yuan tied the horse and started to pitch his tent. As he prepared dinner, he thought of Purple Dream''s face and let out a smile. "Her seductiveness would bring trouble to whichever city she may visit..."


    With the Mountain River Pearl, travelling had become much more convenient for him.


    Since he had decided to go on a long journey, he had to prepare enough food.


    Slowly, he started to retrieve charcoal, a metal wok and a structure as he started to cook rice.


    He was using premium Flame Jade Rice and the rice grains were huge. As he cooked, the fragrance of the rice filled the air.


    His horse started to sniff the air and stared at Fang Yuan, as it started to salivate.


    Although it was only a normal horse, it knew that if it could eat spiritual food, it would be beneficial to it, and it might even give it spiritual awareness.


    "What a clever beast!"


    Fang Yuan jokingly chided.


    No matter how wasteful and luxurious he was, he would not feed an average horse with spiritual food.


    If this was the Heavenly Horse from the plains, he might consider.


    Not long after, the spiritual rice was cooked and the smell was invigorating. As the rice glowed a beautiful red, the sunset on the plains was a calming orange, and the entire scene gave Fang Yuan a different feel.


    He took out his chopsticks and started to eat his dinner heartily.


    Originally, he should have tried his hands on catching a wild goat to eat, but he was too pampered already. Unless it was a spiritual goat, he would not even bother to try it.


    "Da da!"


    "Da da!"


    As his ears twitched, Fang Yuan looked towards the horizon, where the sky and the plains met.


    Not long after, a few black dots appeared on the horizon. In a matter of minutes, they came closer and Fang Yuan could identify two waves of horses, all of which had a person riding on them. There were lesser people in the first wave in front, as though they were running for their lives. The wave of horses behind seemed to be giving chase as they shot a few arrows in an attempt to kill.


    "War between countries? Personal feud?"


    Fang Yuan did not care.


    Everything was fair in this world.


    He was a person who wouldn''t care much, to begin with. Therefore, he didn''t have any thoughts on helping them this time.


    After all, the weak might not be kind people deserving of help.


    However, this time, he was not the one looking for trouble. Instead, trouble was looking for him.


    The black smoke, fire and tent were too obvious to be disregarded.


    Those people who were escaping were subconsciously running towards the direction of Fang Yuan.


    "Get hold of them!"


    "Don''t let them run!"


    The people behind shouted as though Fang Yuan was already on their side. Or rather, they did not care much and shot a few more arrows.


    "This bunch..."


    Speechless, Fang Yuan grabbed a handful of rocks and exerted a force on in his right hand.


    "Kacha!"


    There was a huge crack on the rocks. As they exploded, they became many pebbles.


    "Get... lost!"


    He waved his right hand.


    "Chi! Chi!"


    The pebbles flew extremely quickly towards the horses. In mid-air, they rubbed against each other, producing sparks and a screeching sound. It was as though they were as strong as arrows.


    "Whoosh! Whooosh!"


    Blood was flying everywhere as the pebbles hit the people on the horses.


    Regardless if they were running or chasing, all of them ended up the same.


    Furthermore, even the huge horses started to bleed as they were hit by the pebbles. Both parties were in chaos. As they heard Fang Yuan''s loud and commanding voice, they started to scramble in all directions and did not dare to remain near him.


    "Mmm! Not too bad!"


    After chasing away the flies, Fang Yuan dusted his hands with satisfaction.


    He did not even use his elemental force this time. It was purely his physical strength. Compared to elemental force, he had much more control of it, and he could last longer.


    As for the people of the Yuan Country, Fang Yuan''s demonic actions would have left a deep impression on them.


    ...


    "Little Prince! That''s not a person! It''s a monster, a demon!"


    Among the people who escaped, a middle-aged cavalry general reported to a young man. "Stay away from him! As far as possible!"


    "I..."


    His young man was dressed like royalty. His face was pale, as though he could not recover after witnessing hell.


    After awakening from his trance, he held his horse. "No! I want to look for him! This is for revenge, for our people! Even if he has the power of a demon, I still hope we can..."


    This cavalry general had a lot of experience and guessed that the person was the rumoured legendary warrior from the South. However, the fact that the person would kill so easily worried him. After much thought, he said, "Little Prince, you have royal blood and are our only hope. How can we risk it? We have heard that that demon is ruthless! If you trust me, then let A Yeqi and myself be your messenger to talk to him!"


    Even though this Little Prince reaffirmed that he was not afraid, he was actually fearful deep inside. After much hesitation, he agreed to the cavalry general''s request.


    Little did that know that Fang Yuan was there waiting for a person. Afterwards, he would head North, and would never come back.


    ...


    "Purple Dream, you''re here!"


    After chasing away those people, Fang Yuan waited for a while. At the corner of his eye, he could see a shadow and he smiled.


    "I''ve come late, but I''ve managed to see a show!"


    Purple Dream looked exactly the same as she was 3 years ago. It was as though the heavens were bias towards her, and left her with no signs of ageing.


    She looked at Fang Yuan with her mesmerizing eyes and sighed. "Is your heart made of steel?"


    "I am just focused on what I need to do!"


    Fang Yuan shrugged his shoulders. "On the plains, divisions and tribes come and go. If I have to care about every single detail, I''d have to forget about my own cultivation! As for now, I''ve not missed the time, right?"


    "Nope. This is the time where the chilly winds are the weakest!"


    Purple Dream nodded her head and started to whistle.


    A pure white spiritual beast with a little horn on its head started to run towards them. It was like a unicorn, and it looked at Fang Yuan, as though it was guarding against him.


    "Mm? This horse is not too bad!"


    Fang Yuan nodded his head and kicked his own horse.


    Although he had carefully handpicked his horse, it could never compare against a spiritual beast! As his own horse became triggered by the spiritual aura around, it became fearful.

 199 Icy Gorge

    "Whooo! Whooo!"


    As the North wind blew, the elements were harsh.


    Only a white scene could be seen. Water froze into ice and the flying snow was sharp like a knife. It was like a blizzard hell!


    This is the chilly winds? Who would''ve thought that this would be how the extreme North of the plains look like!"


    Fang Yuan was laying on the unihorned beast lazily with Purple Dream. As he inhaled, he could smell the mild fragrance from Purple Dream, and a few strips from her robe caressed his face playfully.


    What happened to the white horse? It was already frozen to death a few hours in the chilly winds. Normal beasts could not handle the harsh elements here.


    Even Purple Dream''s Unihorn Beast was releasing a white glow from its horn, and the glow covered its body.


    Not just that, the hairs on its hooves stood on its ends, resembling a huge vacuum. Only then could it traverse on the snow without obstruction.


    ''To be able to do this meant that it could also walk on water. There was a rumour in Xia Country that there was once an outstanding general with a pet that was able to walk on water. On many occasions, it rescued the general from danger, and was known as a lucky animal...''


    Ultimately, it felt different travelling with a beauty. Fang Yuan felt a little different in his heart.


    Purple Dream wasn''t asleep yet. Suddenly, she turned around and in a clear voice, exclaimed. "This is only the outer boundary of the chilly winds. In order to reach Da Qian Empire, we need to go through the heart of the extreme North. I have already led you around the blizzard. However, you will be by yourself in the depths of the plains, against the wild animals."


    "You... Are you not going to Da Qian to look for your master?"


    Fang Yuan could hear Purple Dream''s intention from her voice and asked.


    "Master... Are you talking about my Almighty Father?"


    Purple Dream laughed pitifully. "You will never be able to accomplish what he had done. I pray for Him and tell Him about all my worries. He has always been with me!"


    Fang Yuan remained silent.


    He felt that this lady in front of him had displayed the signs of becoming a mad follower of a cult.


    ''Will a dream master end up a God?''


    He felt that something was not right. It could be because that dream master had passed on, which led to Purple Dream having these thoughts.


    "Whooo! Whooo!"


    The Northern winds were extremely strong.


    A shadow appeared in front. It slowly became bigger and bigger, and finally, it took on the shape of a huge gorge.


    No!


    This was not a normal gorge; it was the gate to the Heavens!


    Two icy cliffs stood on each side, and they were tall as they blocked out more than half of the sky. He could not see the end.


    "You must be careful. In the icy gorge, there are a lot of dangers. I should put it this way. It is a whole new world altogether..."


    Purple Dream dismounted from the horse and took a step back. "I can only bring you thus far!"


    "Many thanks!"


    Fang Yuan rubbed his nose.


    If Purple Dream did not help him, he might have wasted too much effort trying to circumvent the blizzard and to locate this place.


    "I hope that you can find what you are looking for!"


    Purple Dream smiled, turned around and leapt on her horse. In an instant, she disappeared into the snow.


    "The dream people... they''re interesting!"


    Fang Yuan looked in the direction that she went, smiled, and turned around to face the icy gorge.


    "Whooo! Whoo!"


    As the chilly winds blew, the coldness within the gorge was extreme due to the fact that it was paved with two icy cliffs on each side.


    Fang Yuan almost lost his footing to the wind. Fortunately, he was prepared and he exerted a force on his legs, as they held onto the ground like roots.


    Suddenly, a black shadow whizzed past him, as though it was fired from a bow pulled back all the way.


    "Mm?"


    With his right hand, he caught the object. Immediately, there was a ''kacha'' sound and ice crystals were fragmented. All that was left on his hand was snow.


    At the entrance of the gorge, the extreme wind could even blow icicles as though they were arrows. This was scarier than any other type of traps!


    "Icicles?! As this stage, even martial artists of 4 Heavenly Gates would not be able to escape!"


    Fang Yuan looked at this hand and let out a cold breath.


    His reaction time, defence, and the speed of his hand was already at a stage which Wu Zongs could only dream of.


    This was only one icicle. If there were many flying at the same time, even Wu Zongs would be troubled by it, and might even be pierced to death!


    At this place, any wounds sustained would lead to the loss of one''s martial arts, and even the blood flowing from the wound would freeze!


    "I was fortunate to have strengthened my body before I came here. Reaching the stage of 1st Refining Stage is already many many times stronger than a normal Wu Zong!"


    There was a white flash!


    Suddenly, in Fang Yuan''s hands were many metal chains. At the tip of the chains were long nails that were thick. The entire thing was heavy and it reflected a silvery black.


    All of this was made from Hundred Casted Iron. In the normal world, it could be made into magical weapons, but to Fang Yuan, it was just a tool.


    "Ha! Go!"


    As he raised his right hand, he exerted an immense amount of force. The chain, which was a few hundred pounds heavy, spun into a black ray of light. As he flung it straight ahead, it broke through the icy surface and struck on the stone wall, stuck.


    "Go!"


    As he looked at the entrance of the gorge, he walked ahead without hesitation.


    "Whoosh! Whoosh!"


    The freezing cold wind was stinging! Furthermore, there were thousands of icicles flying through the wind this time!


    Nearer to the entrance, the icicles were more concentrated, and it flew at an astonishing speed!


    "Pa! Pa! Pa! Pa!"


    Fang Yuan retrieved a gigantic metal shield from the Mountain River Pearl and shielded himself. In an instant, he could hear the icicles pelting on his shield, like how raindrops would land on a banana leaf.


    As the icicles hit his shield, they shattered and soon after, a thick layer of ice formed on this shield.


    The bone-piercing chill of the ice slowly spread through the metal shield.


    Even Wu Zongs might freeze to death in such an intense cold!


    "My physical body is slowly becoming unable to withstand the cold!"


    As he focused, three spiritual meridians appeared on his body. They transformed into a layer of armour and covered his body.


    "Weng!"


    With the glow, the previous cold that he felt was mitigated.


    Not just that, his palms became burning hot like a furnace. As the shield conducted the heat from his palms, there was visible steam coming from the front of the shield as the ice started to melt and evaporate.


    "Again!"


    Fang Yuan walked to the marking which he had placed earlier on, pulled out the metal nail and swung the chain once more.


    "Whoosh!"


    The black glow was like a black dragon, and once again, the metal chain was stuck firmly to the stone wall.


    "At this stage... Even Meridian Opening Wu Zongs might not be able to pass through this place safely!"


    At the entrance of the icy gorge where the wind came from, the air current was extremely strong and the air was chilly. Fang Yuan bit his teeth. "This is only the first stage to overcome on my way to Da Qian Empire. I now know why many died here. Firstly, there is no one around here to help. Secondly, not anyone can successfully pass through the perilous obstacles!"


    His master and Yang Fan were both dream masters at the Illusionary Divine stage and were both extremely capable.


    Even Nie Kuang did the impossible. With his 10th Refining Stage of his Hundred Poison Golden Body, he could use brute force to force his way through.


    Other than these three people, normal Meridian Opening Wu Zongs, or even Elemental Opening spiritual knights would retreat in fear when faced with this natural threat.


    "Rumble! Rumble!"


    Another cold and extreme wind came. With the extreme pressure on the metal shield, there was a crack appearing!


    "What in the world!"


    Fang Yuan focused. As he released and recovered the metal chain in quick succession, he rushed his way through.


    Even a metal shield casted from Hundred Casted Iron could not withstand against this. Even if he had confidence in his own body, he should have guessed that he would not be able to hold any longer.


    "Ping!"


    After walking a few yards forward, there was a huge mess of icicles, icy rocks and icy boulders falling straight down at him.


    "Dang!"


    Fang Yuan raised his metal shield, knocking one of the icy boulders away. His arm was left in pain, and he quickly used his elemental force to recover his arm.


    "Run!"


    As his eyes glittered, he started to use his Lightness skill and Shadowstep. Avoiding the icy boulders, it was an arduous task to traverse within the icy gorge.


    Occasionally, he would encounter boulders which cannot be avoided, and he would use the metal shield to block it with brute force. As for the flying icicles, he could no longer care about them and could only use his physical body to endure.


    Fortunately for him, he was well built. His Iron Skin Technique together with his First Refining Stage body was indeed an effective combination.


    If it was a normal Wu Zong who came, his body would have already been pierced a few bloody holes.


    "Not just defence wise, but a normal Wu Zong''s elemental force would not be enough as well!"


    Fang Yuan sighed. Suddenly, his hair stood on its ends. He could feel danger approaching, and suddenly he was ambushed, causing his Mind Palace to shake.


    "Rumble!"


    At the peak of the cliff, a huge icy mountain started to crumble. The base of it started to crack up, and like a pillar, it smashed its way down, covering the entire sky in the process.


    "What the... f*ck!"


    Fang Yuan''s eyes opened wide. Seeing the shadow engulfing him in, he quickly threw the shield away and ran for his life.


    ''If I were to be smashed by the icy mountain, I would have zero chance of staying alive!''


    As his hands held on to the metal chain, he quickly advanced. He started to harness all the rough breathing techniques he could as he could not care less about the icicles hitting him. Under his elemental force''s protection, most of the icicles were shattered in an instant.


    "Whooo!"


    "Whooo!"


    As the shadow grew bigger, the air current which was initially there was starting to become obstructed as well.


    "What a joke! I don''t want to end up as a popsicle! Shadowstep!"


    With all his strength, Fang Yuan swung the metal chain and advanced a few yards at once. His face was flushed and his eyes were bloodshot.


    "Kacha!"


    As he leapt out, it was as though he had escaped into another territory. The intense winds were now much milder than before.


    "Since the middle of the gorge is much wider than the entrance of the gorge, the strength of the wind would naturally be reduced!"


    It was the perfect opportunity! Without hesitation, Fang Yuan used his Shadowstep, and on every layer of ice, he left a deep footprint.


    "Rumble!"


    The icy mountain crashed into the ground without any reservation, causing a mini earthquake in the vicinity. Shattered pieces of ice and rocks started to fly in all directions.


    "Whoosh!"


    A shadow flew past.


    Fang Yuan''s body escaped the area which the icy mountain crashed into. However, he was still hit by many shattered pieces of ice, and as the elemental force protecting him weakened, many shrapnels of ice struck his back.


    "Ah!"


    He let out an exclamation. However, he continued to move forward and used the force from the flying shrapnel to further propel him forward. Finally, he reached a safe area.


    "Phew!"


    After crossing a crack on the ground, Fang Yuan looked at the pile of mess behind him and felt regretful.


    "This... Is this the inside of the icy gorge?"


    After entering the icy gorge completely, there was a completely new world in front of him.


    Although the surroundings and the ground were still covered in ice and snow and were extremely tough, this was a whole new world. The intense winds were much milder, and not far from him he could feel the spiritual aura of a living thing.


    "There is indeed a new world after going through hell!"


    Fang Yuan let out a satisfactory sigh and his eyes glittered. "Da Qian Empire... I''m coming!"

 200 Giant Tiger

    It was a whole new world within the icy gorge.


    Fang Yuan sprinted 10 miles ahead until he could no longer see the walls of the icy gorge. Only then did he raised his head up and looked at the bright sun.


    The surroundings were a scenic ice world. The chilly winds were no longer there.


    There was no more thick layer of snow on the ground, nor there was unbreakable ice. Instead, it was a white coloured kind of soil.


    There were scattered moss and wild grasses around. Although they appeared small and weak, they were, in fact, the only things with life here.


    "What a world this is in the middle of the icy gorge..."


    Fang Yuan sighed. He was extremely clear now.


    Although it was not visible from where he was, if he were to walk by the sides of the gorge, he could see the cliff walls which extended into the clouds!


    This enormous icy gorge was like a wine pot. The ends were small, but the middle was extremely wide. Because of this, a unique ecosystem was formed inside of it.


    "I must pass through this icy gorge in order to reach the Da Qian Empire. If I walk around and make a detour outside of the icy gorge, I would not only waste too much energy, but the chilly winds could tire out even the strongest Elemental Opening spiritual knight!"


    The icy gorge was too deep. Fang Yuan trotted ahead for quite a distance.


    The day seemed long. Finally, the sun set and nightfall arrived, but it was unbelievably short.


    After going deeper and deeper, there seemed to be more forms of life. There were a few groups of trees and the appearance of a translucent white ant.


    "Such are the miracles of life!"


    Fang Yuan squatted down and examined the ants; he was filled with emotions.


    With the flick of this fingers, a stream of energy was released. The ground broke and as a hole appeared, a scorpion the size of a palm crawled out.


    This scorpion''s body was like jade. It was glistering and raised both of its pincers. It was also wavering its tail as it looked at Fang Yuan.


    "Icy Jade Scorpion?"


    Fang Yuan smiled as he identified it.


    In order to train his Hundred Poison Golden Body, he needed these types of poison. Without any reservations, he flicked his finger once more, this time hitting the back of the scorpion.


    Although this poison was potent, the scorpion was still useless in front of Fang Yuan. Immediately, it crippled onto the ground and was no longer moving.


    As a white glow flashed, the Mountain River Pearl took in the poisonous creature within it, as though it was not afraid of the poison spreading within it.


    This spiritual tool that was able to store things brought extreme convenience to Fang Yuan. He could travel anytime he wanted.


    Seeing the sky slowly darken, he took out his tent and cooking equipment and started to cook his spiritual rice to replenish a day''s worth of energy.


    ...


    The icy gorge was huge, it was enormous!


    Fang Yuan''s endurance was already greater than a thousand-mile horse. However, he had already walked for seven days in a row, without the end in sight.


    Furthermore, there were occasions where he got lost due to his inexperience.


    "Even the sun''s position is wrong?"


    Fang Yuan raised his head up in disappointment. He started to suspect if this sun was the same sun as the one in the outside world.


    At this point in time, he had walked into a forest. The trees here were not very tall, and on the outside, they were coated with a pure white. There were even layers of frost on some of the leaves. However, there was no spiritual energy around, which meant that these plants were normal plants which evolved special traits.


    "Whoosh!"


    In the grass patch, a dark shadow was startled as it flew forward like an arrow.


    Fang Yuan threw some rocks from his hand.


    "Whoosh!"


    As the rock sparked after coming in contact with the air, it flew straight like a bullet and hit the shadow.


    "Chi!"


    A gush of blood spurted out as the black shadow fell onto the ground. It was a snow rabbit.


    "Chi! Chi!"


    Fang Yuan was delighted. "Not too bad! We''ll have roasted rabbit meat for dinner!"


    This snow rabbit was native to the icy gorge. There was a hint of spiritual energy from it and it was not a normal species. It would leave no traces behind as it moved, and its meat was delicious.


    How did he know all these? He had once encountered a snow rabbit before.


    "The deeper I go, the more concentrated the vegetation, and the larger the size of the animals would be..."


    Fang Yuan rubbed his nose and started to think. "Could it be because I have traversed through the pole? And that after becoming extreme, the life forms would revert? This place resembles the poles of Earth. Is this proof? No... I don''t even know if the world is a sphere or not... This might just be a natural phenomenon!"


    His knowledge of Geography was not in-depth enough in his past life, and he was too lazy to mull over this problem. Without thinking much, he pitched his tent and roasted the rabbit meat.


    Since he brought along salt and seasoning with him, the roasted rabbit was extremely fragrant, and anyone who could smell it would salivate.


    After roasting it, Fang Yuan pulled out its leg. His nose was filled with the roasted fragrance of the rabbit, and all of its oil and essence was fully absorbed into the meat. The skin was perfectly roasted and the meat inside was tender. Together with the fact that the snow rabbit''s meat was naturally good, this was an unforgettable feast.


    "Munch! Munch!"


    Fang Yuan had a huge appetite as he started devouring half of the roasted rabbit.


    Just as he finished savouring the first half and was eyeing on the other half, there was a roar of a tiger coming from the forest.


    This was the natural order of the world; there must be a predator within the woods!


    Accompanying the roar of the tiger, a strong gust of wind blew as the grass and trees swayed. Naturally, it was a threatening feel.


    "This is..."


    Fang Yuan scanned around and noticed the culprit behind all these; it was a huge tiger.


    However, this tiger had a pure white fur. Its skin was glowing and appeared to be larger than the average tiger by two or three times. There were black stripes on its white skin and it was extremely beautiful. Of course, its most defining feature was its two sharp fangs resembling sharp icicles. It protruded out of the tiger''s mouth and was clearly visible from outside.


    "Sword toothed Tiger? No! Frost Sword Toothed Tiger!"


    Fang Yuan started to give it names. "What a spiritual beast! Looking at it, it seems that it is almost about to achieve a breakthrough to Wu Zong! If it was on the mainland, the red-eyed white king bird might not be able to take it down!"


    The bloodshot eyes of the white tiger stared at the half-rabbit in Fang Yuan''s eyes as it started to salivate. Obviously, it was attracted by the roasted rabbit.


    "Seriously..."


    Fang Yuan started to laugh. Looking at the size of the huge tiger, he suddenly rubbed his chin. "Alright! I was still troubled by the fact that I don''t have a ride, and here you come!"


    "Roar!"


    The white tiger did not understand what Fang Yuan was saying, but since it was spiritual, it could tell his intentions from his expression.


    Seeing Fang Yuan''s mocking face, it was infuriated and it pounced towards Fang Yuan!


    "Rumble!"


    The paws of the tiger met with the claws of Fang Yuan, but there was only one result.


    "Roar!"


    Its body swung as its tail was like a chain.


    "Chi!"


    In mid-air, there was a shadow flying once again.


    "Haha... I believe this is all you''ve got!"


    Amidst the laughter, The shadows flew about in mid-air. As Fang Yuan''s body was revealed, his right hand grabbed in the mid-air, catching the tiger''s tail. "Up you go!"


    Fang Yuan only had the capability of a Wu Zong in his physical body. After exclaiming, the white tiger rolled n the floor and it was thoroughly embarrassed.


    "Roar! Roar!"


    With the flick of its tail, it flipped itself upright. It was triggered and became more ferocious than before. As it exhaled a cold breath, its paws struck forward with the intent to kill.


    "I''m not even afraid of the storm at the entrance of the icy gorge. What makes you think I''m going to be afraid of your frost?"


    Fang Yuan had a taunting look in his eyes as he reached out both of his hands.


    "Kacha!"


    As the frost landed on his body, the energy around him deflected it, leaving no trace of it behind.


    The incoming paws were firmly grasped by him in his hands.


    As the white tiger shook, there was a hint of fear in its eyes.


    Although the human in front of it was small, it had the strength of a reckless and brute beast!


    "Lie down!"


    Fang Yuan started to become playful and executed a perfect swing from the back. As his wrist flicked, he flipped the white tiger above his head and it landed squarely on the ground.


    "Rumble!"


    There was a giant hole in the ground and soil flew in all directions.


    It was a shocking scene to behold.


    A small human could actually playfully take down the king of the forest! What strength and power!


    "Mmmmmm!"


    The white tiger flipped itself upright and ran into the forest after letting out a grunt.


    It was afraid and had chosen to escape!


    How would Fang Yuan let his ride escape so easily?


    "You''re not going anywhere!"


    As he exclaimed, he leapt and landed on the back of the tiger. His hands became claws as he struck deep into the tiger''s skin.


    "Chi! Chi!"


    "Roar! Roar!


    The white tiger was frenzied. It started to sprint and roll on the floor in an attempt to fling the person on its back away.


    However, it was as though Fang Yuan was training a horse. He sat firmly on its back. Hearing the wind fly past him, he knew that the beast was carrying him forward.


    After tumbling for half a day, the white tiger was exhausted as it started to pant.


    "Does this mean that it''s tamed?"


    Fang Yuan patted its head, resulting in it turning its head back. It opened its jaws wide, and its eyes were fierce.


    "Oh, I knew it..."


    He sighed and started to become serious. As he pointed his finger out, a bewildering fog appeared, engulfing the white tiger.


    The white tiger was already exhausted beyond means. As it was affected by the bewildering fog, it laid on the floor and entered a deep sleep.


    From an outsiders view, Fang Yuan executed his dream master''s technique and entered the giant tiger''s dream, as he managed to catch a glimpse of its life.


    From a weak tiger cub being fed by its mother to the sorrow it experienced as it was chased out from the cave to the hardships it endured trying to hunt on its own... Finally, the happiness it gained from ruling the forest and becoming king...


    "Wait a moment!"


    Fang Yuan picked up something different in the dream. "There''s a human! This white tiger has seen a human before! There are signs of human life in this icy gorge!"


    ...


    He had an excited look in his eyes as he opened them.


    Purple Dream only knew everything up to the icy gorge. To journey towards Da Qian Empire, Fang Yuan had to explore the remaining journey on his own.


    Therefore, the appearance of a human was a great help to him.


    "Wuuuuu!"


    At this point in time, the white tiger beneath him slowly opened its eyes. Looking it Fang Yuan, it no longer had the ferocious look it once had. In fact, it was trying to please Fang Yuan.


    "Let''s go! Towards the direction where the human has gone to!"


    Fang Yuan commanded it without reservations. "As long as we reach there, I will roast any type of meat for you to enjoy!"


    With this assurance, the white tiger was extremely excited. With a roar, it sprinted into the forest...

 201 Traces of Life

    "Brother, we cannot proceed further!"


    Somewhere not far from the icy plains, two small figures were trotting along.


    The larger figure was a boy wearing an animal''s hide as a coat. He was carrying a bamboo basket and his shoes were already torn. His face was full of determination. "If we don''t enter the icy gorge, how can we obtain enough herbs to cure father''s illness? Don''t forget that we have to give our contribution to the city master as well!"


    "It''s too dangerous out there. It''s uncharted territories filled with poisonous insects and ferocious beasts, and they''re all out to kill you!"


    A little girl was pulling on his arm, and her big eyes welled up with tears.


    "LEt go!"


    The young boy was decided as he licked his lips.


    "I''m not letting go!"


    The little girl persisted. As the girl pestered her for a while longer, the young boy could no longer hold it in. As he waved his arm away, the little girl fell to the ground.


    "Of course I know about the dangers in the icy gorge. But if we don''t hand in our contribution, how will our family be allowed to continue living in the village?!"


    The young boy continued. "Without the protection from the array in the village, we will all die!"


    "Boohoo..."


    The little girl knew this fact as well. She sat on the floor and started to wail.


    "Ah Xian, don''t worry. I have a rather good understanding of the Death Plains. Furthermore, I know a little martial arts, and I am rather confident about it!"


    The young boy comforted the little girl. As his expression changed, he was prepared to journey into the unknown.


    However, at this moment, he stopped in his tracks.


    He could see a huge black shadow slowly emerging from the woods.


    It was a white giant tiger from the mountains, and the black stripes on it resembled chains, giving it a mysterious feel.


    "Roar! Roar!"


    As it leapt, it looked around in its vicinity. The young boy and little girl froze in their positions; they were too fearful to do anything.


    ''It''s... It''s too powerful...''


    The young boy''s legs turned jelly, and he heard a voice from inside of him. "This is only the boundary and there is already such an animal that I am unable to do anything about. How scary is the icy plains? No wonder the village forbade us to leave our houses after sunset and made us give up a portion of contribution every year to maintain the array..."


    "Ta! Ta! Ta! Ta!"


    As the giant tiger approached, the young boy started to sweat profusely. He clenched his teeth and was unable to speak a single word.


    "Kekekeke!"


    Although he could still stand, the little girl beside him was chattering her teeth, and there was a foul smell of urine from her legs.


    At this point in time, the demonic white tiger bent over, revealing a person''s silhouette. It opened its mouth and blabbered a few weird words.


    Although no one could understand it, soon after it spoke, the tense atmosphere was no more.


    It was as though the seasons had changed from winter to spring. The fearful thought of a ferocious tiger was long gone.


    "Lord!"


    Anyone who was able to tame such a ferocious beast had to be a highly skilled martial artist. With that, the young boy quickly greeted him respectfully.


    "Eh? Who are you people?"


    Hearing the young boy speak, Fang Yuan''s eyebrows twitched.


    This was not the language they used on the mainland. Instead, it sounded similar to the common language spoken in Da Qian Empire!


    Why could he speak the Da Qian language?


    He had already practised it before in Yang Fan''s dream world.


    However, even if he did not learn it before, it was still alright. To a dream master, it was only a matter of one dream-accessing opportunity to learn a foreign language quickly.


    "I am a villager from the nearby Rock Village, and my name is Yu Jian. This is my younger sister, Ah Xian!"


    Yu Jian hurriedly took a bow and stuttered.


    "Rock Village?"


    The lord on the back of the tiger became curious. "Are there many people here? Where are they?"


    Yu Jian started to become nervous and stutter even more.


    After his explanation, Fang Yuan finally understood.


    ''There are people living nearby, and they are split into many different villages. At the heart of all the villages is the Descending Star City!''


    ''Furthermore, the way he speaks and his mannerism are alike to the people in Da Qian Empire. Could these people have migrated from there?''


    Below, the young boy Yu Jian was secretly examining this lord.


    ''He is so well-dressed! He must be an important person from the city!''


    From the young boy''s experience, he only had the chance to interact with the people in his village. Descending Star City was the centre of the entire world to him. He would never know how huge the outside world would be.


    "Bring me to your village!"


    Fang Yuan thought for a moment before directly requesting him.


    Seeing the young boy hesitate for a while, he continued. "Were you preparing to pluck herbs with the bamboo basket and the hoe? I shall hire you as my guide, and this is your remuneration!"


    As he said, he waved his hand. A special flower with pure white petals and a red hue in the centre of it appeared and slowly drifted to the ground.


    "Snow Petal Red Pistil Flower?"


    Yu Jian was shocked. He quickly but carefully picked up the flower with both his hands and was left speechless.


    Although this was something Fang Yuan had casually plucked, it was hope for his entire family!


    "Yes, lord! I''ll bring you there right away!"


    He rubbed his tears from his eyes, kept the flower properly and pulled his sister together to bow and pay their respects to Fang Yuan.


    The little girl was lost for a moment. However, she was sure that her brother no longer needed to risk his life. She let out a long sigh and her eyes examined the giant tiger with curiosity.


    "Sorry to trouble you, you can go now!"


    Fang Yuan took out a piece of roasted meat and shoved it in the Frost Sword Toothed Tiger''s mouth before chasing it away.


    To Fang Yuan, a spiritual beast who had not broken through the Elemental Gathering Stage could at most be a form of transportation for him.


    Furthermore, this beast would attract too much attention. Since he had already arrived at a place with people, it was better to let it go.


    "Wuuuuu!"


    As the Frost Sword Toothed Tiger swallowed the roasted meat, it reluctantly rubbed its head in Fang Yuan''s palms. Finally, under Fang Yuan''s hypnotisation, it grunted before returning to the icy plains and disappeared after a while.


    "Lord, is that your spiritual beast?"


    Yu Jian witnessed the scene and was full of envy.


    "Spiritual beast? If you say so, but I did not raise it up. I only picked it up along the way..."


    Fang Yuan smiled and shook his head as he looked at the young boy wearing the beast hide.


    This boy was too inexperienced, but he already had the cultivation of a 5th Gate martial artist, and it was not too bad.


    "Please lead the way!"


    At this point, he had no more reservations. He started a casual conversation with the young boy and tried to learn the way he spoke.


    After all, his boy did not owe him anything, and it would be too much for Fang Yuan to read his mind and memories for no good reason.


    Furthermore, this young boy was inexperienced and he might not know much.


    Yu Jian was leading the way in front. Not long after, a simple village appeared in front of him.


    It was really simple!


    Fang Yuan was speechless. The village which they spoke about was just a piece of flat land and a few round structures built together. It appeared sturdy, and almost half of it was underground.


    This type of construction would shield them from the unforgiving coldness, and the sturdiness allowed it to withstand normal threats.


    Of course, aesthetic wise, they could not ask for too much.


    In fact, it was normal to most villagers to be constantly putting their lives at risks. Why would they care how pleasing the structure would look?


    Fang Yuan noticed something different in the surroundings of the village. "Spiritual inscriptions? No... This is... a spiritual array! Although simple, this is indeed a spiritual array! Who would''ve thought that there would be a spiritual array master here!"


    "Lord?"


    It could be because Fang Yuan was staring for too long. Yu Jian anxiously asked Fang Yuan. "This is the protective array of our village. Is there any problem with it?"


    "Who placed this array here?"


    Fang Yuan asked directly.


    "Of course it''s the spiritual array master from Descending Star City!"


    Although it felt a little weird, Yu Jian answered him honestly. "Every year, we have to contribute huge amounts of staples, spiritual medicine and beasts'' hides to Descending Star City, in exchange for the spiritual array masters'' arrival to maintain this Rock Array. With it, we can repel wild and fierce beasts at night, and it can even shield us from the cold as well. If we do not contribute enough, the entire village would be exterminated..."


    As he said the last few words, he clenched his fists with determination in his eyes. "I must become part of the city so that I can bring sister and Father along with me to enjoy a good life there!"


    "Descending Star City?"


    Fang Yuan rubbed his chin. "I must pay a visit to that place!"


    The villagers of Rock Village had started to notice them. After a commotion, a weak and old man carried a smoking pot and walked out.


    "Yu Jian, go home! Be careful not to catch the disease die in the icy plains!"


    The old man appeared kind. Seeing that Yu Jian was safe and sound, he heaved a sigh of relief and started to advise him. "It''s just a poison! There must be a cure. Don''t worry about this year''s contribution. If we gather all that we have together, I''m sure it will be enough!"


    "Village head..."


    Yu Jian''s eyes welled up with tears. Hurriedly, he retrieved the Snow Petal Red Pistil Flower from his basket. "This is a gift from this lord. I have fulfilled my family''s contribution this year..."


    "Keke!"


    The old village head looked at it and was shocked. "To find a flower of such maturity, I''m afraid it''s only possible in the icy plains! Only a petal of this flower would be enough to treat your father''s poison!"


    He clenched his smoking pot and gave Fang Yuan a bow. "Thank you for saving our lives. I am Shi Ying, the village head of this small village. Lord, did you come from Descending Star City?"


    "Descending Star City? No..."


    Fang Yuan shook his head.


    He was now clear that Descending Star City was like the capital of this region.


    The villages in the vicinity had to depend on it for their survival. Of course, in the process, they were being taken advantage of.


    With the protection from the city, the centre of the city would be the safest place. Therefore, it was the ultimate lifetime goal for every villager to make it there.


    Seeing the suspicious look on the old village head''s face, Fang Yuan laughed, before casually coming up with a story in which he followed his master from young, and had lived his life on the icy plains like a nomad.


    "Lord, are you intending to go to Descending Star Country?"


    Hearing Fang Yuan''s request, Village Head Shi let down his guard as he laughed heartily. "This is nothing much... What a coincidence! Tomorrow, our village would be forming a caravan to head towards Descending Star Country. It''ll be on the way!"


    In reality, he had planned it extremely well.


    Since Fang Yuan was hard to predict, and even he himself could not tell how highly skilled Fang Yuan was, then he must be really highly skilled.


    These villagers only had to show him the way, and they could get free protection from him. It was a win-win situation and a profitable agreement!

 202 Ghosts

    On the flat land, a small caravan was trotting along an arduous journey.


    Based on what Yu Jian had said, the environment around the region here was harsh. Occasionally, there might be ice storms, and temperatures would drop drastically at night. Wild beasts native to the icy plains might even appear, and without the protection from the spiritual array, it would be a daunting task for them to even survive.


    The village would form the caravan on a regular basis and head towards Descending Star Country. Using large amounts of low-quality staples, they were able to trade for top quality salt, weapon, and necessities they need for their survival.


    Of course, the largest caravan would be the one escorting the contribution to the spiritual array master in Descending Star Country for him to continue to maintain the array.


    It was a pity that the most experienced and respectable person in the village was Village Head Shi. In reality, he was also rather inexperienced and could only boast about his travels and experiences in Descending Star Country when he was younger. To Fang Yuan, this was considered nothing worthy.


    "Descending Star Country is just ahead. We will reach there after 8 nightfalls!"


    Among the caravan, Yu Jian was extremely excited.


    The caravan consisted of many people, and there were many full sacks on the cart. The animal pulling the cart along was a huge black boar. It had a hump on its back and it was covered in blubber.


    Based on what Yu Jian had said, the ''Black Peak Boar'' was extremely common here. It was the most widely used ride and its thick blubber allowed it to withstand the cold. It could even last a few days without food due to its fatty reserves. Furthermore, it ate anything that was given to him. Most importantly, it was a delicacy.


    As he described, the young boy swallowed his saliva; his mind was filled with the fragrant taste of roasted meat.


    Fang Yuan had a cart to himself. He was one of the few who did not have to walk on his feet. Looking at the Black Peak Boar, he was speechless.


    To serve its whole life, and to end up at a delicacy, it was a selfless animal.


    "Eh? This caravan is too quiet!"


    The well-built guard who was leading the villagers was Li Hu. He was 7-feet tall and was a proud man. He draped a tiger''s hide around him and held a Hundred Casted Knife. After walking around, he commented.


    The region around Descending Star Country was not a safe place to be. As long as it was beyond the lake which surrounded the city, anything could happen here and the soldiers of the city would not care.


    Furthermore, the harsh environment produced many hardy beasts native to the region. These were the best type of animals for the caravan to hunt.


    Previously, in the many times they had escorted the goods, even with the accompany of villagers from other villages, there were always being ambushed, which caused them to lose their goods.


    However, this journey was a peaceful one; there was not even an animal in sight.


    ''This is the power of a skilled martial artist!''


    Li Hu looked at Fang Yuan and his eyes were filled with admiration.


    ''It''s a pity that I''m too old. There is no hope for me in learning martial arts. Also, this lord has not expressed his interest in any of the girls in our village...''


    He sighed inside. Suddenly, he saw Yu Jian walking forward to talk to Fang Yuan, and gave a hopeful look.


    Perhaps, the entire village''s hope was laid on this young boy.


    ...


    "Beasts native to the icy plains? Compared to normal beasts, these beasts have a little spiritual property!"


    As his magical will shook, Fang Yuan detected an icy snake laying in ambush nearby. Slowly, Fang Yuan gave off a hint of spiritual aura.


    The snake had killed many animals on its way here and was filled with a murderous vibe.


    However, just a little spiritual aura from Fang Yuan was able to strike fear in the snake, and it escaped.


    Along the way, if not for Fang Yuan who was secretly helping them, this small caravan would have encountered dangers everywhere, and it would be a miracle if anyone here could survive.


    "This region is indeed harsh!"


    Fang Yuan grabbed a handful of black rice and thought to himself.


    This was the main produce of Rock Village. It had an average taste and it felt like grains of sand; dry and tasteless. The only good thing about this rice was that it grew at an exceptional rate and was resistant to cold weather. This was enough for survival in this region.


    Furthermore, there were only a few pieces of land near Rock Village which could support the growth of this rice. It needed constant care and protection, or it would be eaten by wild animals, which would result in a reduced harvest.


    In this caravan was almost half of the entire village''s stock of black rice.


    "Everyone, stay alert!"


    Li Hu exclaimed. "We are reaching Red Leaf Village ahead. We have good relations with their village head, and we can request him to let us stay over in their village for the night!"


    "It was a peaceful journey this time. If we can make it to the city, we can surely trade for a lot of top quality salt, and over 13 pounds of scrap metal..."


    Yu Jian followed the village accountant along the way and slowly learned how to calculate. His eyes were filled with joy.


    In the Descending Star Region, every child had to contribute their part to the village. In the face of survival, everyone was equal and there were no priorities given.


    "Red Leaf Village?"


    Fang Yuan sighed deeply and called for Yu Jian. "You have good relations with their village head?"


    "That''s right... Red leaf Village is close to Descending Star Village. They have a huge flat and fertile land nearby and their protective array is much stronger than that of Rock Village..."


    Yu Jian''s eyes were filled with envy. "Our village head had once saved the life of the village head of Red Leaf Village, which laid the foundation for their relationship!"


    After these few days, Fang Yuan had a rough understanding of the happenings in this region.


    In the Descending Star Region, the land nearer to Descending Star City would be more fertile, and the villages who could occupy these lands were stronger.


    Yu Jian''s village was only at the fringe of the region and was considered the poorer villages. On the other hand, Red Leaf Village was considered average. However, there were still in a similar situation whereby they were still taken advantage of by Descending Star City.


    Red Leaf Village had gotten its name from the red maple leaf that it produces. This maple leaf was valuable as it was an ingredient to many medical concoctions. Since there was a demand for this leaf in Descending Star City, the villagers would harvest some leaves while they hunt, which helped them become slightly wealthier.


    Although they only stayed here for a while, Yu Jian was already full of admiration for Red Leaf Village.


    "Lord, look over there! That''s the Red Leaf Forest!"


    After walking for a distance, Yu Jian pointed to a red forest not far from them and exclaimed with envy.


    As Fang Yuan looked over, his expression was weird.


    "Wait a moment!"


    Li Hu''s face started to appear serious as well. "We''ll stop here temporarily. Follow me, and we''ll check it out!"


    "What happened?"


    Yu Jian let out a curious look on his face.


    "I''m afraid Red Leaf Village has run into some trouble..."


    Fang Yuan shook his head. "Look... There''s no one attending to the surrounding farms and this Red Leaf Forest... Don''t you think it''s too peaceful?


    "You''re right!"


    Yu Jian nodded his head and was stunned. "What... what about the villagers? Where have they gone to?"


    "Let''s take a look for ourselves and we''ll know the answer!"


    Fang Yuan walked up and looked at Li Hu. "Let''s go!"


    "Alright!"


    Li Hu nodded his head and was excited.


    Although it was mysterious and felt ominous, the fact that this mysterious and highly skilled lord was willing to go with him reassured him.


    He called for to other villagers, both of which were martial artists who had obtained inner force, and ordered them to follow Fang Yuan as they walked towards Red Leaf Village.


    "Lord, wait for me!"


    Yu Jian clenched his teeth and followed them as well.


    ...


    "This is..."


    As they approached Red Leaf Village, Li Hu gave an unpleasant look.


    Red Leaf Village was originally filled with energy and life, but now, all they could see was blood! There were huge patches of blood everywhere! A rotting stench filled the air and Yu Jian immediately became pale and turned over; he did not dare to look at the mess.


    "Human blood?"


    Lu Hu bent over and smeared some blood on his finger. There was fear in his voice.


    This scene was too horrendous.


    "Furthermore... This would mean that there are a lot of people who died. Where are their corpses? Where did their corpses go?"


    Quickly, he arrived at the boundary of the village.


    The stone walls were covered in moss and there were a few spiritual inscriptions glowing; it was obvious that it had been here for over a year. There was nothing wrong with the protective array.


    However, there was no one behind the village!


    "I''m Li Hu from Rock Village! Is the village head here?"


    Looking at the village which was partially covered with a thin layer of fog, Li Hu clenched his teeth and exclaimed forcefully, but there was no response.


    Seeing this, he remained silent. Clenching his teeth, he turned around and left.


    "Let''s go, don''t look back!"


    He instructed Yu Jian and the other two villagers as he headed back to where they came from. "Let''s continue our journey without any more breaks!"


    As he returned to the caravan, Li Hu quickly chased the Black Peak Boar as though it was a crazy dog and they journeyed on.


    "What happened?"


    Fang Yuan only caught a glimpse of the village and was unsure of many things. The most crucial thing was that there were no signs or clues of murder.


    Li Hu''s face stoned. After a long while, he finally spoke, and his voice was hoarse. "Death without a corpse, and coupled with the fact that the protective array is still intact, I''m afraid that they have encountered ghosts!"


    "Ghosts?!"


    Fang Yuan was astonished.


    Even though his cultivation had already reached an extreme level, and that he had seen many things before, it was the first time he had heard of the existence of ghosts.


    "Lord, you''re unaware?"


    Li Hu was utterly shocked. "The place which you come from! Are there are no ghosts? That''s not possible... Almost every year, there would be a village that would experience such a thing..."


    "I''ve heard of it before but I''m not too sure about it. Tell me more..."


    Fang Yuan rubbed his nose and his eyes were filled with curiosity.


    "Oh!"


    Li Hu was confused and did not bother to press Fang Yuan any further. Instead, he obediently explained it to Fang Yuan. "Ghosts leave no trace as they come and go, and they do not have a physical body. There is a type of... curse!"


    "We don''t know where it comes from, or where it wants to go. We only know that every time it appears, many people would disappear and it would leave behind many weird things..."


    "No matter how strong the martial artists were, or even spiritual array masters, everyone was defenceless against it. However, the weird thing is that it had never happened to Descending Star City before. That is the only place we can take shelter..."

 203 Spiritual Array

    "Ghosts... curse?"


    Fang Yuan revealed a mysterious smile. "Interesting! This is really interesting!"


    Ghosts were once described in Master Heartless''s inheritance and Yang Fan''s dream world, but none of them was described like that.


    "If it wasn''t an extremely strong evil spirit which wiped out Red Leaf Village, then it must be..."


    Fang Yuan was deep in thought. Suddenly, he looked at Li Hu and ordered. "We must be on our way to Descending Star City!"


    "Yes Lord!"


    Even the laziest person would become extremely alert after such a thing happened. After all, everyone would take their lives seriously. For their own safety, it was better to keep a distance from Red Leaf Village.


    Due to their continuous journeying, they did not rest much. Instead, they arrived at Descending Star City a day earlier than planned.


    "Indeed a spiritual city!"


    Looking ahead, he could see the lake surrounding the city.


    Although this city, with walls of only 20 feet tall, could not compare with the many huge cities that Fang Yuan had seen before, it was still rather lively. There were even spiritual inscriptions glowing on the city walls! As it swirled around, it gave the impression of a huge array.


    "For sturdiness, defence and prosperity..."


    Even Fang Yuan could only understand little about the true potential of the entire array around the city.


    ''It seems that the spiritual array master here had learnt quite a bit from Da Qian Empire, and is quite impressive!''


    "Hold it there! Pay the entrance fees!"


    As they arrived at the city gates, a row of soldiers stopped the caravan. The leader of the soldiers wore an armour made of an unknown hide, and this was already considered rather luxurious. "We''ll count the people and the goods separately. Are you from Rock Village? You should know the rules, right?"


    As the leader looked at Fang Yuan, he continued. "A day''s worth of tax can only allow you to stay in the city for a day! If you are caught by the soldiers at midnight, it would not be as simple as paying a fine."


    "No worries, we know the rules!"


    Li Hu smiled and shoved a piece of black ore in the leader''s hands. "Please let us pass!"


    "I knew it! Everyone from Rock City is beggars..."


    The leader frowned as though he was unsatisfied. However, he still kept the black ore and kicked Li Hu harshly. "Hold on to the license and get lost!"


    Facing a person of such authority, not just Li Hu, but even Yu Jian shrugged his head, afraid to speak a word.


    Since they were submissive, Fang Yuan did not want to attract too much attention as well. He followed their lead and became an obedient villager as they paid their tax to enter the city.


    "This is our license. It allows us to stay in the city for a day. Lord, please keep it well. There are soldiers patrolling in the city at every moment. If we do not find a place to stay by midnight, we would be captured and sent to the quarries, with no chance of coming out..."


    "Oh?"


    Fang Yuan received the license and realised that it was a clay slab. It was made of a normal material, but there was a small spiritual inscription on it.


    The spiritual inscription appeared useless and was only a form of marking. Based on the energy level, it would disappear in a few hours and could not last till the next day.


    Descending Star City used this method to maintain order among the people living in the city.


    However, to Fang Yuan, it was a useless method.


    He looked around and noticed a small market.


    Villagers that came from everywhere were following the lead of their leaders, and their eyes were filled with curiosity. They began to start trading at the market and were engaging in barter trade.


    "My intention is to explore Descending Star City!"


    Fang Yuan went up to Li Hu, who appeared pale. Without hesitation, Fang Yuan said, "Goodbye, I''ll see you next time!"


    He did not owe them anything. Instead, he provided protection to the entire caravan, and therefore he could leave without worries.


    Li Hu was left dumbfounded and remained silent.


    "Lord..."


    Yu Jian clenched his teeth. "Bring me along! I want to be your servant! I am willing to do anything, and I eat very little..."


    "Haha... Thanks, but I don''t need a servant!"


    Fang Yuan rubbed Yu Jian''s head. "Little fellow, you should not take the risk now. Rather, you should continue to work hard on your martial arts and get a strong foundation, and take care of your family and your sister..."


    This young boy had fate with Fang Yuan, but it was not enough to change his mind.


    After saying his piece, Fang Yuan waved goodbye and disappeared into the crowd in style.


    "Lord..."


    Yu Jian was stunned.


    He thought that based on his relationship with Fang Yuan, even if Fang Yuan would reject him as a disciple, he could still gain something from him.


    Never would he have thought that Fang Yuan would leave just like that, destroying all hope that he initially had!


    "How would it be so easy to get such a good deal... This is only reality!"


    Although Li Hu was not willing, he still went forward and comforted Yu Jian. "Don''t think about it anymore. At least you have left an impression of yourself in his mind. If you were to meet him in the future, you will have an advantage over others!"


    Thinking about those people who boasted that they had found highly skilled masters in Descending Star City, he realised that all of them were gifted, and their family had enough wealth to support their dream. Some of the families even went bankrupt just to support their children!


    If they didn''t do this, how would they escape the cycle of poverty and bring hope to their family?


    Young people nowadays were too weak!


    ...


    "Indeed, even the words are in Da Qian language... The ancestor of Descending Star City must have migrated from Da Qian..."


    Fang Yuan walked down a few streets and were looking at their signs.


    The bestsellers in the market were still weapons and food!


    Other than Hundred Casted Steel, there were weapons made out of beasts native to the icy plains and spiritual beasts. Their asking price was even higher than normal weapons, but the demand there.


    Of course, these were still considered low-quality trades.


    The top quality products would not be easily found on the streets, but in the majestic courts.


    "Spiritual Array Court?"


    Fang Yuan arrived at the centre of Descending Star City and noticed a towering building. The signboard was filled with words that were written with energy, but the most important was still an octogonal spiritual tablet. It was glittering on its surface and the spiritual inscriptions on it were glowing. This meant that a spiritual array master was in charge of this place.


    "We sell all types of protective array plates, array maps, and the services of a spiritual array master..."


    Fang Yuan rubbed his chin as he read off the introduction. He became increasingly excited.


    To survive in a place with such harsh environments, they could rely on arrays!


    Regardless if it was the brutal cold or the icy storm, the harsh natural weather conditions or the beasts native to the icy plains, all types of unknown dangers could wipe out an entire village.


    Without the protection from a strong protective array, any prosperous village would still collapse after 3 days.


    "It seems that the immigrants from Da Qian have obtained the inheritance to the array techniques in the Da Qian Empire..."


    Fang Yuan walked into Spiritual Array Court and had a mysterious look on his face.


    He had interest in knowing more about spiritual arrays.


    If he was a normal spiritual knight, he had to worry that it might not be applicable to him.


    However, on his path as a dream master, there were different paths to take after the Illusionary Divine Stage for him to specialise. There was no harm in understanding another path, and instead, it might even benefit him.


    "Eh?"


    As he entered the court, he could feel that something was different.


    "The concentration of Heaven and Earth elemental energy? It''s going up and is many times that of the outside... It has similar effects to a spiritual land!"


    As he took another step forward, the surroundings suddenly expanded, revealing a huge hall. The decor was luxurious and did not feel normal at all.


    "A new scene with every step? Indeed an array!"


    Fang Yuan nodded his head and arrived at the counter.


    "Welcome, guest!"


    The person at the counter was a middle-aged man smiling. He was wearing a silk robe and appeared wealthy.


    Furthermore, he appeared happy and a little chubbier than the rest. Fang Yuan could tell that his living conditions must be much better than the villagers living in Rock Village.


    "What do you need, guest?"


    He had a professional smile on his face. "We sell an ''immovable array'', and it is uniquely designed for defence. It consists of three array plates and eight array flags. If you follow the design on the spiritual array map, you will be able to achieve at least 80% of the original array''s power! This is the top choice for many who are looking to protect their homes!"


    "Of course, if you are not satisfied with it, you can leave a feedback. I will contact the spiritual array master, and he will personally help you arrange the array..."


    "Immovable array?"


    Looking at the sealed up wall behind the counter, together with the array plates that were glowing with spiritual light, he shook his head. "The area covered for this array is too small. What if I want to protect an entire village?"


    "That will be a giant array!"


    The person at the counter shook his head. "We only sell it at the heart of this court. To add on, you will need to receive approval from the City Lord Manor. If the city master does not approve of it, then we would not dare to bear this responsibility..."


    A giant protective array would be protection for an entire village!


    The city master of Descending Star City was the source of this spiritual array. This way, he managed to obtain land and control over the villages and therefore would want ultimate control over the distribution of this giant array.


    "I see!"


    Fang Yuan nodded his head.


    He could tell that in Spiritual Array Court, of all the many counters, every counter had a corresponding spiritual array master which was at the level of a disciple.


    The giant array of all the villages required a spiritual array master at the Elemental Gathering Stage to personally construct, and therefore people had to pay a premium for it. To add on, there were also many restrictions.


    ''It seems that the city master has the sole access to the spiritual array master''s inheritance...''


    Fang Yuan shook his head. "I need to put myself against the city master just for a spiritual array master''s inheritance? This doesn''t seem... like it''s worth it..."


    Spiritual knights had all sorts of techniques up their sleeves. If enough time was given to a spiritual array master, he could surely come up with a shocking array capable of killing many. Fang Yuan did not want to test that theory out.


    ''The Descending Star City is their nest. A spiritual array master would have placed an array here that would last for eternity...''


    Thinking about this, Fang Yuan was confused.


    "It''s alright. This seems not too bad, I''ll have it!"


    Just as the person at the counter thought that the trade was about to fall apart, Fang Yuan suddenly exclaimed, leaving him dazed.


    "Alright. What would you use for payment?"


    He rubbed his hands together as though he was extremely excited.


    After all, it was not frequent that he would get a sale, and his commision would be quite a huge percentage.


    "How''s this?"


    Fang Yuan smiled and took out a jade bottle.

 204 Kongming

    "This is..."


    The plump person at the counter broke the seal of the bottle and poured out a glowing pill. On the surface of the pill, there were spiritual inscriptions, and he froze. "Spiritual pill?"


    His face twitched, and he swiftly kept the pill, acting all suspicious like a thief. After looking around, he bowed towards Fang Yuan. "You have spiritual pills? Please take a seat, and we''ll serve you tea!"


    "Mm!"


    Fang Yuan looked down and acted mysteriously.


    In fact, the value of these spiritual pills was beyond his expectations.


    ''That''s true... After all, Descending Star City is on its own, and I don''t see any alchemy masters passing down their skills. They are also scarce in resources...''


    Looking at the attentive person at the counter, Fang Yuan came to a conclusion. "The value of these spiritual pills are more than what I''ve guessed."


    "Keke..."


    The person led Fang Yuan to a beautiful room and personally served him tea. Afterwards, he began to introduce himself. "My name is Hai Fu. I am the representative of array master Zhang Kongfan, who has learnt from Kongming the Godly Monk. Master Zhang is extraordinary and his Immovable Array is indeed remarkable..."


    Hai Fu had a glib tongue and could almost describe the elementary version of the Immovable Array into a gigantic array cast by a spiritual array master.


    "Keke..."


    Fang Yuan smiled and did not say a single word. He sipped his tea gracefully and looked at Hai Fu.


    As he stared at Hai Fu, Hai Fu started to sweat profusely. He clenched his teeth. "If you have 4 bottles of this spiritual pill, I''ll make the decision to sell you this array, and let''s take this as an opportunity to make friends!"


    Looking at Hai Fu''s face muscles twitch, it was as though Fang Yuan was taking advantage of him.


    However, Fang Yuan knew that if the deal would go through, Hai Fu would be able to profit a lot from it.


    After all, no one should trust anything a businessman would say.


    Amidst the silence, Hai Fu started to sweat even more and started to bargain. "3 Bottles. That''s the minimum I can go. Just the array plate of this Immovable Array would already require rubies, Hepu Stones and Mysterious Ice Essences..."


    "I am alright with 3 bottles of spiritual pills!"


    Under Hai Fu''s worrying eyes, Fang Yuan finally opened his mouth. "But I have a condition!"


    In reality, these spiritual pills were made by Lanruo and himself and were far more inferior than the ones Lu Renjia made. However, it would already be considered a treasure here in Descending Star City.


    "Please state your condition!"


    Spiritual pills were in high demand, and there was always a price for it on the market, but no one would sell it.


    The moment he heard that there was a chance that the deal might go through, Hai Fu''s eyes glittered.


    "I want to meet the maker of this array plate, Zhang Kongfan, Master Zhang! Of course, it would be even better if I could see Kongming the Godly Monk!"


    Fang Yuan asked in a deep voice.


    "You are a big customer. Of course, there''s no problem in letting you see Master Kongfan... But as for Kongming the Godly Monk..."


    Hai Fu let out an uneasy look and pushed the bottles back. "If you insist, then we have to break the deal."


    "Forget about it!"


    Fang Yuan smiled. He knew that he had crossed the line. "Zhang Kongfan would be alright. Send him here!"


    ''What an attitude...''


    Hai Fu kept the spiritual pills, passed him the array plates and felt a little suspicious about the whole thing.


    However, seeing how Fang Yuan could easily take out so many bottles of spiritual pills made him wonder if he was an alchemy master. In that instant, all his unhappiness and suspicions were gone.


    "Please wait out here!"


    He took a bow and walked out of the room swiftly.


    "Eh?"


    Fang Yuan sat down for a while. Suddenly, he frowned and looked at a certain corner of the room.


    Just a few moments ago, he realised that an array with the properties of hypnotisation was activated. Hai Fu was testing his skills.


    ''How dare he!''


    Fang Yuan was infuriated and gave a cold look.


    "I''m sorry for the wait, Master Zhang is here!"


    Indeed, not long after, Hai Fu pushed the door open and appeared extremely humble.


    Following which, a man in his thirties walked in with a proud look on his face.


    "You have requested to look for me?"


    He had an impatient look on his face. "What''s the matter? If you are requesting for me to cast an array, we''ll have to settle the payment separately. If you are looking at rectifying the protective array over the villages, I''ll need the city master''s approval..."


    "It''s not about all these..."


    Fang Yuan scoffed. "It''s just that I have never seen an array master before, which was why I called you out... What a pity... You''re such a disappointment, hehe..."


    "What?"


    Zhang Kongfan was enraged.


    As a prestigious array master - albeit just a disciple for now, they were proud people wherever they went. Never had they experienced such humiliation!


    "You... what audacity!"


    His body shook, and he stared fiercely at Hai Fu.


    "Forgive me, master!"


    Hai Fu was scared to his wits and started to kneel down.


    Never would he have known that the normal -looking Fang Yuan would be a fraud!


    "I was initially intending to talk over some terms with you. It''s a pity you have an evil mind. By using your array to spy on me, you have violated my rules..."


    Fang Yuan calmly spoke.


    "You..."


    Zhang Kongfan almost choked.


    Every room in Spiritual Array Court was protected with spiritual arrays. This was done in consideration for the spiritual array master''s safety.


    After all, since he was rather weak, wasn''t it normal for him to check on the other party before agreeing to meet him? How would it become violating Fang Yuan''s rules?


    Although he really had an evil intent, he had not displayed it yet.


    "Hai Fu, capture him, give him a good beating and take all his valuables..."


    Zhang Kongfan became very serious.


    From what he had obtained from the array, he detected that this person was only a normal martial artist. Even though he might have status or a strong backing, he had to get back at him! This was a matter of an array master''s pride!


    "Yes, master!"


    Hai Fu stood up like a loyal dog, as though he was ready to pounce on Fang Yuan anytime.


    "Hehe, you''re just a spiritual disciple, and yet you don''t know where you should stand!"


    Fang Yuan shook his head and squinted his eyes.


    Hai Fu froze and fell to the ground, with his eyes staring up.


    "E? You''re not a normal person!"


    Zhang Kongfan realised something was wrong. "How could you hide from the spying of my spiritual array?"


    "That''s because you''re too weak!"


    Fang Yuan remained seated without moving. Suddenly, he struck his right hand out.


    "Whoosh!"


    As the air circulated around the room, it was as though there was an invisible hand as it lifted Zhang Kongfan up, pulling him towards the position where Fang Yuan was seated.


    "Four levels of Heaven and Earth, Protect!"


    Zhang Kongfan retreated and crushed a certain spiritual talisman. A protective glow of light appeared.


    Not just that, the array over the entire court seemed to be moving. A huge force was felt, but it was unknown where it came from.


    "It''s useless!"


    Fang Yuan lightly blew.


    "Whoooo!"


    Suddenly, there were strong gusts of wind.


    Zhang Kongfan went pale. He felt as though the person sitting in front of him was not a human, but a mountain! A heavenly mountain!


    A shocking amount of energy exploded from Fang Yuan, which isolated him from his array.


    "Although I might only have limited control over the array, the fact that you can disrupt my control over the array, it means that you are... Wu Zong..."


    Zhang Kongfan clenched his teeth and forcefully remarked.


    Never would he have thought that this rude young man in front of him had already broken through the Elemental Gathering Realm!


    Even with his potential and the help of his master, he was only a spiritual disciple!


    "Have you finally realised what''s happening?"


    Fang Yuan smiled. A layer of bewildering fog covered the entire room, and suddenly it engulfed Zhang Kongfan!


    ...


    "Namo Amituofo!"


    With his control over the array disrupted, and the fact that there was so much commotion, the entire Spiritual Array Court had already known what was happening.


    Just as Fang Yuan was about to execute his dream-accessing technique on Zhang Kongfan, a Buddhist bell was heard as a compassionate-looking old monk entered the room.


    "My disciple is reckless. May you be compassionate and let him go this time!"


    This old monk was tall and his eyebrows were extremely long. His eyes were small and it was as though his vision was not that good.


    "Hehe, Master, since he''s your disciple, why would I cause trouble for him?"


    Fang Yuan let go of his hand and exclaimed forcefully. "I''m just reprimanding him for his mistakes!"


    This old monk was Zhang Kongfan''s master - Kongming the Godly Monk!


    He was different from his disciple; he was a true spiritual array master!


    "He is indeed alright, and has merely passed out"


    Kongming the Godly Monk walked up and checked on Zhang Kongfan and Hai Fu. Afterwards, he placed his hands together in front of his chest. "Thank you for your benevolence!"


    Little did he knew that Fang Yuan was already laughing inside of him.


    No one could tell from the outside that he had executed his dream-accessing technique, as Zhang Kongfan seemed perfectly normal.


    Even Kongming the Godly Monk would have no idea that in just a short period, Fang Yuan had already learnt all these spiritual array techniques through Zhang Kongfan.


    ''It seems that a group of spiritual array masters came together to rule the city undercover. They are indeed from Da Qian Empire and only came here because of the disaster...''


    Fang Yuan quickly scanned through Zhang Kongfan''s memories and sieved out the important information.


    The physical bodies of the spiritual array masters were too weak to traverse through the hell-like icy gorges. Therefore, years ago, the group of spiritual array masters were conflicted if they should go through the icy gorges. Finally, they decided not to and settled down here, forming the Descending Star City.


    ''It should be Star Ghost who is in charge of Descending Star City now! Of course, Kongming the Godly Monk is also at the level of Elemental Gathering Realm, and it the second most powerful spiritual array master in Descending Star City!''


    Although these two people were not Elemental Opening Realm spiritual knights, they had already settled down in Descending Star City for quite a while. If enraged, even normal Elemental Opening Realm spiritual knights might not be able to fight against them.


    After all, they had the geographical advantage.


    "This master..."


    Kongming the Godly Monk looked at Fang Yuan with shock. "Why do I find you unfamiliar... I have long known all the highly skilled martial artists in the entire Descending Star City..."


    "Unless..."


    With his small eyes, he could still assess the situation calmly. "You are not from this city!"

 205 4 Elements

    "Where do you think I come from?"


    Truth be told, if Fang Yuan were to tell a lie about his background, it might be sufficient to fool those low-leveled lackeys of the Rock Village. However, he would most certainly be unable to fool a person of Kongming the Godly Monk''s calibre.


    Afterall, Descending Star City was too small. There was no way that it would suddenly produce an unknown Wu Zong.


    "You must be from Da Qian!"


    The old monk said confidently.


    Fang Yuan felt slightly ashamed.


    Great! Due to his exposure to Yang Fan''s dream world, he was able to speak the dialect fluently which caused Kongming to be mistaken.


    "Could it be that the Da Qian is very close to here? Or that there are no other people gathered around here?


    Fang Yuan asked.


    "Oh?"


    Kongming the Godly Monk was shocked and twirled his beads faster. "You are not from Da Qian? Then you must be from Vast Deserts? Hell of Thousand Ghosts? Death Corridor?"


    ''All these places are landmarks behind the Descending Star City?''


    Fang Yuan muttered as he considered overpowering the monk and using his Dream Entering abilities.


    "Or...from the South? Impossible!"


    The monk racked his brains, "No one is able to break through the Ghost Gate in the icy gorge!"


    Seeing how certain the monk''s tone was, Fang Yuan recalled that if he had not already broken through the Meridian Opening Realm and had the opportunity to strengthen his physical body, it would indeed be difficult to pass it.


    From the way that the old monk reacted to the danger, Fang Yuan knew that there were few who managed to break through the Ghost Gate and reach the Yuan Wu Kingdom.


    "Enough! What is the use of investigating where I come from?"


    Fang Yuan smiled and asked directly.


    "Not bad, I am just asking!"


    Kongming the Godly Monk acted as though he had attained enlightenment and bowed at Fang Yuan again. "May I know what brings you here?"


    While the Descending Star City was isolated, those with authority were in contact with their counterparts from other areas. It was just that news travelled slowly and as such, he was unable to discern Fang Yuan''s identity.


    "I have no plans. I am just travelling!"


    Fang Yuan appeared to be disinterested and said, "I heard that the Way of Array in the Descending Star City is second to none. As such, I specially came here to have a look..."


    "Hehe...this is nothing more than lies which are perpetrated to deceive the commoners!"


    Kongming shook his head. However, Fang Yuan was able to see the pride in Kongming''s eyes.


    "I came across something strange on my journey and I would like to pay a visit to the city master. Would it be convenient to pay him a visit?"


    Fang Yuan stared at Kongming the Godly Monk and asked suddenly.


    "Although the city master is busy running the daily affairs, if he knows that someone of your calibre is here, he would definitely come and personally welcome you!"


    Kongming put his hands together, "You said that you witnessed something strange, may I know what happen?"


    "I passed by a village known as Red Leaf Village! All the villagers were slaughtered and the village was in a miserable state... I could hardly bear to look at it."


    Fang Yuan said slowly and saw that Kongming''s actions quickened, "Tales of ghosts and monsters cannot be trusted. However, I am interested in this curse and would like to help!"


    "Amituofo, you are so kind. You will definitely enjoy karmic reward in the future!"


    Kongming nodded his head. "I will pass on this information to the city master. However, how the city master responds would be beyond my control..."


    "Ohh...."


    At this time, there was a cry of alarm.


    Zhang Kongfan clutched his head and slowly got up. He saw Fang Yuan and his face was full of fear. "You...what have you done to me?"


    "Cough cough..."


    Kongming the Godly Monk coughed, causing Zhang Kongfan to turn around and bow. "Master!"


    "Hmmm, this master over here is more senior than you and highly skilled. Why would he purposely make things difficult for you?"


    Kongming chided before he spoke to Fang Yuan. "My disciple is stubborn and have not been inducted into the Way of Brahma. He is just a disciple. Please forgive him for all the mistakes he makes! Kongfan! Apologise to this master immediately!"


    "Yes, Master!"


    A master''s order should never be disobeyed. Furthermore, Zhang Kongfan had no confidence after seeing how his master was respectful towards Fang Yuan. He immediately turned to Fang Yuan and bowed, "Please forgive me for my mistakes!"


    The fat shopkeeper, Hai Fu, who was standing by the side nearly fainted upon witnessing this scene.


    Since when did the high and mighty spiritual array master have to treat a person with caution?


    "It''s okay!"


    Fang Yuan waved his hand. He was not interested in dealing with the lackey.


    Furthermore, Zhang Kongfan was considered unlucky. His compensation was more than sufficient and Fang Yuan was lazy to pursue the matter.


    "Thank you, Master!"


    Kongming the Godly Monk was pleased. Zhang Kongfan, who was by his side, had no choice but to follow suit and bow. Hai Fu was still feeling dizzy. Everyone could see his condition but no one took notice of it.


    "Do you have any place to stay in the Descending Star City?"


    Kongming continued, "If you have not decided on a place to stay, I can offer you a place at the sambhogakaya monastery. It is quite peaceful..."


    "Hmmmm, then I shall gladly accept it. Thank you!"


    Fang Yuan rose and walked out of the shop with the old monk.


    Zhang Kongfan followed behind like a servant. He was sullen but had no avenue to vent his feeling. All he could do was glare vehemently at Hai Fu before walking out.


    Hai Fu wanted to cry but no tears came as he witnessed this scene...


    ...


    Fang Yuan and Kongming the Godly Monk walked side by side on the path. The soldiers at the sides immediately bowed and parted when they saw the both of them. It was clear that Kongming held a high position in the city. Afterall, he was a spiritual array master in the Elemental Gathering Realm.


    "What do you think of the arrays in this city?"


    Kongming the Godly Monk asked absentmindedly.


    "Excellent...if I am not wrong, this array consists of 4 elements as its foundations. The 4 elements are Green Dragon, White Tiger, Vermillion and Black Tortoise which guarded the four gates rigorously¡­..however, the array of the Vermillion in the South appears different from the conventional 4 Elements Spiritual Array. It appears to be a variant of the conventional spiritual array!"


    While Fang Yuan may not be a spiritual array master, He was knowledgeable and not many could compare to him. His offhanded remark surprised Kongming, "You are so sharp and yet, you only dabbled in the Way of Arrays?"


    Zhang Kongfan, who was standing behind, was shocked and felt ashamed.


    Fang Yuan was proficient in the Way of Arrays and spying on him with his arrays was similar to provoking him openly. As such, it was no wonder that Kongfan would lose out.


    "The Way of Arrays is mysterious and full of potential. How can I say that I dabbled in it? I merely tried it out as an eye-opener to this path..."


    Fang Yuan smiled.


    Truth be told, with Zhang Kongfan''s experience and his foundation in arrays, his skills were comparable to that of a spiritual array disciple. He was only lacking in terms of practice.


    "I see!"


    Kongming the Godly Monk laughed but he did not believe Fang Yuan.


    Afterall, the Way of Arrays required much effort. His intuition told him that Fang Yuan was gifted as he was able to attain Wu Zong even though he was still young. What would the older generation and he be if Fang Yuan was able to reach his prowess in spiritual prowess so easily?


    "This is due to the fact that the South faces the icy gorge and plains which possess hidden dangers. Amongst the arrays protecting the Descending Star City, the Vermillion Fiery Array had been adapted and is the strongest of the 4 arrays..."


    However, the old monk did not delve deeper into the explanation and introduced it simply to Fang Yuan with a gentle smile. "Furthermore, there is still a layer of change hidden within the array!"


    "Oh! What change?"


    Fang Yuan asked while staring at the sky.


    "It appears that you have figured out a thing or two, not bad. The answer to this lies in the history of the Descending Star City! The reason behind why the city can stand till today!"


    Kongming said with a hint of pride.


    "Please teach me!"


    Fang Yuan put on a humble front. Suddenly, his gaze changed as he looked towards the city fair.


    There, indistinct sounds of quarrelling could be heard. The noise came from a delegation of Rock Village.


    "What?"


    Kongming the Godly Monk stopped walking. "Are you interested in what is happening there?"


    "Yes, I have met a few of them before!"


    Fang Yuan said calmly.


    "If that is the case, we should go there and have a look!"


    Kongming the Godly Monk put his arms together and with the air of an important person, turned and walked towards the city fair.


    ...


    "This is too much!"


    Yu Jian''s face was red with anger. He pointed towards a businessman, "This is good quality Black Rice and beast hide! You agreed to trade green salt and casted steel for my goods and now, you dare to use inferior salt and rough steel to appease us?"


    "Hehe..."


    The businessman stroked his rat-like beard, his eyes shrewd, "Who says that your goods are of good quality? It is already not bad that you are receiving these as a trade for your rubbish! What? Still want to cause trouble?"


    The businessman had backing, and as such, he was able to do business at the fair. Furthermore, he was a resident of the Descending Star City and as such, he was not afraid to call upon the soldiers. It was not easy to determine who would have the last laugh.


    "Yu Jian, don''t be rash!"


    Just as Yu Jian was about to leap forward and fight with the businessman, Li Hu grabbed onto his right shoulder and pinned him.


    "Whatever! This deal is off! Return my goods to me!"


    Li Hu coldly stared at the businessman with a killing intent.


    "Okay!"


    The crafty businessman smiled, "However, you only gave me 1500 kg of inferior black rice and 200 sheets of torn hide. These are not worth much..."


    "You..."


    Li Hu was fuming.


    He remembered that the opposite party was frantically loading the goods. It was obvious that he had planned to scam them.


    At this moment, even though he was well-tempered, he wanted to kill the businessman and his hand reached for the hilt of his sword.


    "Soldier! Soldier!"


    The businessman immediately shouted as he leapt away.


    "What''s wrong?"


    A group of soldiers who were patrolling came forward. The leader had a high spiritual aura and was a martial artist of the 4 Heavenly Gates.


    "Sir...these villagers from outside the city banded together to bully us citizens!"


    The sly businessman was brazen in his accusations as he had backing. His uncle was a leader in the patrol.


    If he did not have the connections, he would not have dared to do such a thing.


    "I see!"


    The leader of the patrol was familiar with the businessman as well. Without a second look, he signalled to his troops with a wave of his hand. "Capture all of them!"

 206 City Master

    "What?"


    Yu Jian was only a young boy; this was the first time he had experienced the dark side of society.


    These cunning businessman cheated them of their goods and even wanted to send them to jail!


    "Foreigners, how dare all of you. It seems that there will be quite a few new additions to the cells!"


    The leader of the patrolling guards exclaimed.


    In his heart, he was thinking. ''Rock Village has no strong backing. Even if we kill them, no one would stand up for them...''


    There was no doubt which side justice would favour.


    "Sir, we are willing to give up our good. Please let us go!"


    Li Hu was pale. He had no more intention to go against them and started to plead.


    "Hehe... This is the consequence of getting on my nerves!"


    The cunning businessman was laughing at one side. "All of you... go and reflect on your actions in the quarry! Guards, please!"


    "Hold up!"


    Zhang Kongfan, who was now a messenger, appeared.


    "You are..."


    The leader of the patrolling guards was shocked. As he noticed Zhong Kongfan''s luxurious clothing and a logo he had on him, he appeared stern and took a bow. "Sir!"


    As a spiritual array master, even if he was just a spiritual disciple, everyone in the city would show their utmost respect to them as they were the ones running the city.


    "Mm, these people..."


    Zhang Kongfan stared at Li Hu intently and clenched his teeth. "They are my friends... What''s happening?"


    "Ah... Nothing much!"


    The leader of the patrolling guards was stunned. Between the businessman and the spiritual array master, he quickly took a stand.


    Turning around, he stared at the businessman with justice. "Businessman Min, you have wrongly accused of these foreigners. Follow us to the government court. We''ll also need you to seal up your storeroom, and we''ll check it!"


    "This... This..."


    The cunning businessman was stunned.


    His backing was only the uncle of the leader. If they wanted to do things ''by the book'', he would have no grounds to resist.


    Furthermore, as Businessman Min looked at Zhang Kongfan, his legs turned jelly.


    Never would he have thought that these foreigners had a spiritual array master as their backing!


    How was this possible?


    How would a person of such a high status get involved with these lowly people?


    Businessman Min''s heart was filled with regret. However, he knew that there was nothing more that he could say. Everything was reasonable.


    After all, he was a smart person, and without hesitation, he admitted. "I admit to my wrongdoings! I shouldn''t have listened to rumours and caused trouble to these people!"


    Looking at Li Hu and Yu Jian, he was now smiling. "I''ll return you your goods, and compensate you guys another 10 rocks of green salt, 130 pounds of top-quality metal. Please accept!"


    Li Hu and Yu Jian rolled their eyes.


    In reality, both of them had no clue as to what was happening, and how did the situation change.


    The originally fierce looking businessman suddenly became an obedient one, to the extent that he was afraid they might not accept his gifts.


    "All of this had become as such, and we owe it to the appearance of this Sir!"


    Li Hu looked at Zhang Kongfan and could guess that this person had a high social standing. Quickly, he knelt down. "Thank you for saving our lives, Rock Village will never forget you!"


    "No worries, I have been tasked by someone else to do this!"


    Zhang Kongfan had an unnatural look on his face. Turning around, he did not accept the gratitude from these people.


    After all, if not for his Master''s instructions, he wouldn''t care less about their survival.


    "Since this is so..."


    Li Hu knew the limit. Even though Zhang Kongfan was a strong backing, he did not want to force it on him, which might result in a backlash. "Then we shall keep things as such!"


    He took a bow towards the leader of the patrolling guards. "Thank you for upholding justice!"


    "Mm, you''re welcome!"


    The leader smiled. He knew that they were thankful for his help. "I am Luo Fan. If you do visit Descending Star City in the future, you can look for me!"


    "I''ve settled this, and I shall take my leave!"


    Zhang Kongfan looked down and left. He did not care less about how they were going to settle the issue.


    "Eh? That is..."


    Yu Jian looked towards the direction where Zhang Kongfan headed towards. Rubbing his eyes, he thought that he had seen a familiar silhouette. After blinking a few times, they were all gone, and it was like an illusion.


    "That should be Lord!"


    Li Hu walked towards him and exclaimed with confidence. They only had relations with one such powerful person. "Who would''ve known that he could manipulate a spiritual array master..."


    In his voice, there was a hint of regret.


    Although they already knew that Fang Yuan was extraordinary, they now could tell that his status was very much higher than what they could have imagined.


    ...


    Just as they were all excited, Fang Yuan arrived at Kongming the Goldy Monk''s monastery.


    "Sambhogakaya Monastery?"


    Looking at the huge signboard, he smiled. "I''ve heard that in Brahma, there are three types of bodies. They are Sambhogakaya, Dhammakaya and Nirmanakaya. Every single type of these bodies have immense capabilities and are all unpredictable. How many of these bodies have you cultivated, Master?"


    "Oh? You know about the teachings of Brahma?"


    Kongming the Godly Monk was shocked, but afterwards, he shook his head and sighed. "My ancestor was a Buddhist from Da Qian Empire. There were rumours that he had already cultivated his Sambhogakaya. However, his descendants were all weak and they were unable to escape Da Qian. Therefore, we have lost almost half of all our scriptures. How could there be any teachings left for us to cultivate? I am useless, and have only understood and discovered a few illusionary theories on spiritual arrays for me to advance to become a spiritual array master..."


    He was in a daze, as though he had started to recall his younger days.


    "I see!"


    Fang Yuan was interested in the recordings about spiritual arrays.


    However, he knew that he could not show his interest right away. Otherwise, it would be as though he was declaring war on them.


    ''Why do all the authors of martial arts manual dislike recording down their teachings properly?''


    He thought to himself silently as he walked into the monastery.


    The monastery appeared lavish on the outside, but the interior decor was simple. There was a tall Banyan tree in the middle of the courtyard and it was flourishing. Every pavilion was nicely decorated and the presence of the monastery bells and gongs gave this place a sense of serenity.


    "Peace within chaos. This is a good place!"


    Seeing this place, Fang Yuan let out a sigh.


    "I''m glad you like it!"


    Kongming the Godly Monk was welcoming. "If you like this place, you can stay here for as long as you like!"


    "Thank you!"


    Although the courtyard was a good place, the Banyan tree, statue of Buddha and the arrangement of everything in the monastery gave Fang Yuan a strong feeling that he was within an array.


    "Did I walk into a trap knowingly? Kongming the Godly Monk must be glad now, right?"


    He was laughing at his own stupidity inside. Following Kongming the Godly Monk, he arrived at a room and settled down.


    "Please have your meal!"


    The meditation room was plain and simple. Inside, there was a fragrance incense burning, and none of the decors here appeared luxurious.


    After meditating for a while, Fang Yuan heard a courteous knock on his door. Following his acknowledgement, a small monk entered. "Grandmaster had informed us that you are our valued guest and you have no dietary restrictions like us. Just let us know what you''d like to have for your meal, and we will buy it back for you!"


    "Mm, thank you!"


    Fang Yuan took the tray of dishes over and realised that it was a vegetarian meal.


    There was a stack of fragrance stir-fried mushrooms. This was an interesting dish that made used of the most common ingredients. The few other vegetarian dishes were all very interesting in their own ways and were fragrant. The rice prepared was a type of spiritual rice known as ''Little Lightning''. Every grain of it was pointy and in each grain were tiny flashes of light. Long periods of consumption would allow one to be immune to electrocution. When eating it, one''s tongue would feel as though it was being electrocuted, and it was indeed a memorable dish.


    This vegetarian meal was comparable to food for royalties, even though it did not include any meat dishes.


    "If not for the things that I have to attend to, this would be a good place for me to settle down for the rest of my life..."


    After finishing the meal, he dismissed the young monk, he thought to himself. If not for the quirky things in this city, it would be even better!"


    "Hehe... Master Fang Yuan!"


    Without letting Fang Yuan rest, Kongming the Godly Monk personally came to visit him. "You have a good reputation indeed. When the city master heard of your arrival, he rescheduled his important matters tonight, and is now rushing down to pay you a visit..."


    "This is not about my reputation. I''m sure the city master is concerned for the villagers and is only anxious after hearing about the tragedy in Red Leaf Village!"


    Fang Yuan casually replied Kongming the Godly Monk, which stunned him for a while. He could not saying anything else and smiled at Fang Yuan.


    ...


    Sambhogakaya Monastery was rather huge. In the backyard, there was a spacious garden, and in the middle of the garden was a small octagonal pavilion.


    At this point in time, under the pavilion, there was a person patiently waiting.


    He had sharp eyes and a majestic vibe. Although he had the appearance of a middle-aged man, his skin was glowing white. He was wearing a crown and did not appear old at all. Instead, he appeared full of life.


    "Is this my young friend, Fang Yuan?"


    He raised his head at looked at the approaching Fang Yuan. As he smiled, his eyes were filled with curiosity.


    "I''m Fang Yuan from the wilderness. Greetings, city master!"


    Fang Yuan paid his respects and entered the pavilion without any hesitation.


    "You''ve come from afar, and as the host of this city, I have failed to welcome you. Please forgive me!"


    He had a deep an attractive voice and gave off a masculine feel. Indeed, he was very welcoming.


    However, for unknown reasons, looking at the perfect and masculine face of the city master, Fang Yuan''s face twitched and he had the urge to go up and give him a punch.


    He could no longer hold it back. "I shall not hide my intentions. I am intending to go to Da Qian Empire. However, I am lost, and I hope that you can provide me with a map..."


    "Oh?"


    The city master of Descending Star City frowned, expressing his curiosity. Slowly, he nodded his head. "This is a small matter. Don''t keep it to your heart! I will send someone to bring a map over shortly..."


    Looking at Fang Yuan, his eyes were filled with suspicion. "Could you have... came from the South of the icy gorge?"


    That icy hell was a huge obstacle that came from the heavens. It had blocked the path of many, and therefore, the appearance of Fang Yuan meant a lot to him.

 207 The Revelation

    Regardless if it was Descending Star City, the Vast Deserts, or the Death Corridor... all these places were not meant for humans to survive.


    They were forced to have so many villages.


    All the village ancestors were people who have been defeated during fights in Da Qian, and had no choice but to emigrate.


    The path here from Da Qian was only possible with the sacrifice from many ancestors before them.


    However, the fact was that the ancestor of Descending Star City was also like the rest; stuck and denied entry by the chilly winds and icy gorge!


    ''This is not right...''


    Fang Yuan looked at the city master of Descending Star City and suddenly thought of something else.


    ''It seems that everything has been set in stone. After all, no matter how much the citizens or villagers are suffering, those at the top are already leading a comfortable life. Therefore, they had no motivation to risk their lives and head South... Rather than gambling their lives away to risk it through the icy gorge, why not head back to Da Qian Empire!;


    Even Yuan and Wu Country of the mainland were considered slums when compared to Da Qian Empire.


    With Yang Fan''s memories, Fang Yuan was extremely clear about this.


    This could be described as how the people from poorer countries might risk their lives to immigrate to a more prosperous country, and rarely would you see people going the other way round.


    ''This is true... Who knows if he was the nth generation of city masters. Since the enemies they made in Da Qian Empire did not track them all the way here, it must mean that they must have given up. If they change their names and secretly return to Da Qian, they might have a good chance of living their entire lives there... However, they would surely prefer to be king and rule over the city here...''


    Fang Yuan thought of something else. He felt that he now had a deeper understanding of the people who gave up their initial plans of migrating to the South.


    With a smile, he continued. "Does it matter if I come from the South?"


    "That''s true..."


    The city master of Descending Star City stroked his beard without another word. It was obvious that he would not take the risk to explore the mainland South of the icy gorge.


    "City master, are you here to discuss what happened at Red Leaf Village?"


    Fang Yuan changed the topic. "Everyone in the village disappeared without a word, and the village was soaked in their blood. There were no corpses lying around, and this phenomenon is mysterious!"


    "You might not know about all these since you are not from our region. However, this is a common sight..."


    The city master sighed. "It has been an annual affair for these mysterious things to happen. If it''s a small scale event, it would affect 10 people. If it''s of a bigger scale, it might affect te to hundreds of people, or even the entire village! Even so, we would not find it unusual at all..."


    "Where do you think this curse had come from, city master?"


    Fang Yuan looked down to avoid eye contact.


    "Based on my predictions... It comes from a higher being!"


    The city master appeared serious. "Our existence is miraculous. The only explanation which might sound illogical is the existence of a higher being..."


    "Even if the higher being was to be destroyed, a simple thought of hatred and anger from it would linger around for eternity. If it meets a storm, it would transfigure into a poisonous dragon!"


    "Their souls would never die..."


    Fang Yuan''s eyes glittered. "City master, you are guessing that there is a vengeful soul lingering around?"


    "Does it matter if there is or there isn''t?"


    The city master laughed. "With the Four Elements Spiritual Array, be in a vengeful soul or a curse, nothing can come near us!"


    What about the villages?


    The villagers were lowly. Would he even care?


    "Indeed..."


    Fang Yuan gave out a long sigh.


    In this world where power means authority, it would be too naive to place hopes on the powerful.


    "Then what is the purpose of your visit, city master?"


    "I have heard of the arrival of a Wu Zong and found it to be interesting, which is why I paid a visit!"


    The city master examined Fang Yuan with much interest. "Do you want to contribute to Descending Star City? If you agree, I will treat you as well as how I treat Kongming the Godly Monk!"


    ""Master Kongming is a spiritual array master!"


    Fang Yuan was shocked. "City master, why do you think that a small Wu Zong can be compared to a powerful spiritual array master?"


    "I have my own plans!"


    The city master smiled, brimming with confidence. "What do you think?"


    "I''m sorry!"


    Fang Yuan rejected him without hesitation. "My dreams lie in Da Qian¡­.."


    "What a pity..."


    The city master did not feel dejected. Instead, he cautioned him out of goodwill. "The Vasts Deserts, Hell of Thousand Ghosts and the Death Corridor are places that are not easy to traverse through. Only patches of areas in these places are suited for survival, and the rest of the region is filled with dangers. If you regret at any point in time, feel free to return here. The doors of Descending Star City will always remain open for you..."


    "Thank you!"


    Fang Yuan thanked him and ended their short meetup.


    ''This city master is too helpful. I''m sure that he has an ulterior motive!''


    It was suspicious that he offered Fang Yuan a high position despite the fact that Fang Yuan contributed nothing to them!


    Human nature was the same everywhere.


    The next day, the city master had ordered a servant to deliver a piece of map carved on an animal''s hide. Although the lines drawn on the map were thick and not detailed, it could accurately depict the general shape of Descending Star City, the Vast Deserts, Death Corridor and more. It was indeed a sincere act on the part of the city master.


    "Please thank the city master on my behalf!"


    After getting the map, Fang Yuan wasted no time. He bade farewell to Kongming the Godly Monk and walked out of Sambhogakaya Monastery.


    "Master?"


    Kongming the Godly Master personally guided Fang Yuan out for a few miles. He held a string of meditation beads in his hand and continuously chanted his mantra.


    One of his disciples could no longer hold himself back. "Why not..."


    "It is fate to start and end, fate to rise and fall. All of these are sins!"


    Kongming the Godly Monk sighed. Without explanation, he waved his sleeves. "We will return to our monastery. All of you, remember! If there is nothing important, don''t leave the monastery..."


    ...


    Walking on the streets of Descending Star City once again, Fang Yuan gained the admiration of many villagers and felt that this was a little interesting.


    Unknowingly, he had walked to the vicinity of the East Gate.


    "If he were to do anything, he would do it here..."


    Fang Yuan let out a sigh.


    "Whoosh!"


    Indeed, at the next moment, his surroundings spun around and vibrated like waves. As he composed himself, he realized that the surrounding people, streets, the noisy market and the tall walls were all gone. The only thing left was a big square, and Fang Yuan stood by himself in the centre of the square.


    "Spiritual array? Changing of the array?"


    Fang Yuan looked around and gave a respectable look. "This is indeed impressive!"


    "This is the Soaring Green Dragon Technique originating from the Four Elements Spiritual Array. It''s my honour that you admire this array!"


    In the empty square, a loud voice was heard.


    A shadow slowly approached him. It was the city master of Descending Star City!


    "It''s you indeed!"


    Fang Yuan sighed once again. "I have unintentionally seen your secrets, but I am already on my way to leave the city. Why do you want to force me into a corner?"


    "This is... indeed my fault!"


    The city master remained silent for long. Suddenly, he sighed and continued. "As a form of compensation, I shall explain to you all that has happened from the beginning!"


    "Even if you don''t explain to me, I can roughly guess... Red Leaf Village and all the other past events were caused by you, am I right?"


    Fang Yuan shook his head and sighed. "Your intention... is to either use them as a sacrifice or to trade their lives, in order for you to obtain your power!"


    "That''s right. In order to maintain the Four Elements Spiritual Array till now, how much resources do you think I would need? Even if we were to bury the nucleus of a star at the heart of the array, it still would not be enough! I will have to maintain it regularly..."


    "This is almost similar to how I''ve imagined it to be..."


    Fang Yuan nodded his head. "Then why look for me?"


    "In order to withstand the brutally cold weather these few years, the Four Elements Spiritual Array was damaged. Although I am in the midst of repairing it, I am lacking in a crucial ingredient. After thinking for long, I have thought of making use of a Wu Zongs'' blood essence and a few other ingredients which I already have, so that I can replace this method of regularly sacrificing so many people..."


    "In this city, all the Wu Zongs are your own people, except me, of which I have foolishly walked into your trap..."


    Fang Yuan sighed.


    "That''s right!"


    The city master took a respectful bow. "Please rest in peace. The entire Descending Star City will be eternally grateful for your contribution..."


    As he finished his sentence, his body was surrounded by a sense of ''justice''!


    Through his expression, Fang Yuan knew that the city master felt that everything he had done was the correct decision and that under his orders, he felt that even Fang Yuan, who was a Wu Zong, must obediently sacrifice himself to contribute to the foundations of the Four Elements Spiritual Array!


    "This mindset of yours... it''s rather irritating!"


    Fang Yuan shook his head without any intent to hide his intentions of killing.


    "Do you think you can escape?"


    The city master of Descending Star City sounded extremely confident and appeared relaxed.


    It was totally understandable for him to feel such a way.


    After all, Fang Yuan was in the centre of his Four Elements Spiritual Array.


    Generations of spiritual array masters had completely transformed this land into a trap that no one would be able to escape!


    As he clapped his hands, two Wu Zongs appeared. They revealed a cunning smile and slowly approached Fang Yuan.


    With so many advantages for the city master, a normal Wu Zong had to obediently listen to him.


    ''Really...''


    After Fang Yuan figured out the reason behind the deaths of all the people in Red Leaf Village, he did not know whether to laugh or to cry. He gave a cold look.


    "I don''t want to trouble you, and yet you don''t want to let me go?"


    Even so, the transformation ability of the Four Elements Spiritual Array did give Fang Yuan a shock, as it was something he had never seen before.


    "Forget about it. I''ll let you know that this is a terrible mistake of yours!"


    Fang Yuan took in a deep breath as the spiritual aura around him changed.


    "Something''s not right!"


    At this point in time, the city master was left gaping. "I just had news that this person''s energy consumption is 10 times more than a normal Wu Zong! He is not a normal Wu Zong, but a Meridian Opening Stage Wu Zong!"


    "That''s right! I''m sorry, it''s too late!"


    Fang Yuan laughed heartily as three spiritual meridians appeared on his body, forming a spiritual armour. Without holding back, he struck a punch towards the city master!

 208 Vermilion Bird

    Fang Yuan originally had the Fifth Elemental Force. With the 1st Refining Stage of his Hundred Poison Golden Body, he had gained 1 elemental power. In total, he had achieved the Sixth Elemental Force!


    What was the implication of this?


    Nie Kuang, who had managed to form a divine body and forced his way through the icy gorge, was able to defeat many Elemental Opening realm spiritual knights at his peak! He had the Seventh Elemental Force then!


    Fang Yuan was not far from him. By leveraging the element of surprise, his power was multiplied by many folds.


    "Rumble!"


    The entire square shook.


    Before the other two Wu Zong could come to their senses, Fang Yuan''s fists had already reached them.


    He was quick! Quick beyond imagination!


    "Ah! Dragon Tiger Protective Seal!"


    "Star Spiritual Aura!"


    Both Wu Zongs were caught off guard. Before their minds could even react, their muscle memory had already taken defensive action.


    One of the Wu Zongs cast a seal, and silhouettes of a dragon and a tiger appeared around him, forming a huge seal.


    The other Wu Zong released elemental force from every single pore on its body continuously, forming a protective energy shield around him.


    The martial arts from Da Qian were still far more superior than that of the Yuan and Wu Countries in the mainland.


    Even these two Wu Zong migrants skills were rather impressive. They had the Second Elemental Force!


    They would be among the best of the best if placed together with the Wu Zongs in the mainland!


    However, Fang Yuan didn''t care much. Exerting more force, he struck his fists out!


    What a fist!


    The silhouette of the dragon and tiger disappeared upon touch, and the defensive shield made up of elemental force was broken!


    This kind of power was enough to be considered destructive!


    "Ah!"


    "You..."


    "Bang! Bang!"


    Both Wu Zongs turned pale and spat out a mouthful of blood. Being struck by the fists, there were countless sounds of fractures coming from their body. Like a dead snake, they fell to the ground!


    "Die!"


    Fang Yuan swiftly approached the city master of Descending Star City and struck his claw out.


    "Ah!"


    His expression changed as he quickly retreated.


    He was filled with regret!


    Never would he have thought that the weak Wu Zong in front of him that he was about to capture would suddenly transform into a powerful demon!


    "Soaring Green Dragon, change!"


    The good thing was that the death of the other two Wu Zongs bought him some time.


    This city master was also a spiritual knight himself. As he recited his spiritual mantra, he altered the array.


    Previously, he caught Fang Yuan by surprised and altered the array based on the map. However, now that Fang Yuan was on guard, it would be much more troublesome to alter it once more. Therefore, he decided to cast the array on himself instead of Fang Yuan!


    "Whoosh!"


    After a flash, he disappeared and managed to dodge from Fang Yuan''s claws. He appeared at the edge of the square.


    "You are dead! No one can save you in my Four Elements Spiritual Array!"


    He appeared serious and cast a technique once again. "Split!"


    "Weng!"


    As the air shook, Fang Yuan could feel that the natural elemental energy was slowly segregated from him, until there was none of it left.


    "Pressure!"


    The city master pointed at Fang Yuan, and following which, a huge pressure akin to a mountain started to fall on him. This resulting in a creaking sound on his spiritual armour followed by an uncomfortable screech.


    "Is this the power of an array?"


    As he felt the huge pressure piling up on him, he felt as though the entire world was against him. With that thought, he laughed to himself heartily.


    Previously, he had only seen an array designed to trap. Furthermore, it was only an array map and was similar to the Immovable Array which was sold to him. How could it compare to the huge protective array cast over Descending Star City that was maintained by countless spiritual array masters?


    "City master! You have only used the altering technique in the array and even sent out Wu Zongs to capture me. This only means one thing. You are not willing to move this array too much. Could it be due to the fact that the damage on this array has yet to be repaired?"


    "Plus... Although the map you gave me was accurate, you had hidden a spiritual tracer inside to locate me, is that right?"


    He spoke with confidence. With the experience gained from accessing Zhang Kongfan''s memories and his previous experience with spiritual arrays, he could quickly identify the problems. As he threw the map on his hands away, the city master''s expression changed.


    If he knew that this would have happened, he should have sacrificed one of his men. At least, the situation wouldn''t escalate to what it was now.


    Not only did he lose two Wu Zongs, he had made a new enemy!


    Since Fang Yuan was now his enemy, he had no other choice but to risk it all and destroy him here.


    Withstanding the huge pressure, Fang Yuan placed his hands behind his back and stood up straight.


    "The purpose of this array is to protect against people from outside. By altering the array and putting me in the centre, you are not using it to its fullest potential. Are you not worried that the damage would become more severe... and that the spiritual array would be destroyed in the end?"


    "You think too much of yourself!"


    The city master showed a black face. "Considering the foundations of my protective spiritual array, do you think that you, as a weak Meridian Opening Wu Zong, can destroy the whole array?"


    "White Tiger Killer Technique! Seven Death Ultimatum, go!"


    "Roar! Roar!"


    Amidst the roaring, white fog from the surroundings came together to form the shape of a huge tiger. It snared its fangs and appeared ferocious.


    Following its tiger instincts, it pounced forward and swiped its claws at Fang Yuan.


    It was already majestic to begin with. With support from the array, it was even more powerful!


    "Good!"


    Fang Yuan laughed out loud. As he mustered his Giant Eagle Metal Body Technique, his physical body appeared normal but the energy level within him was surging. Quickly, he mimicked a huge eagle as he let out a long chirp.


    "Giant Eagle Claw!"


    "Chirp! Chirp!"


    As the eagle''s claw met with the tiger''s claw, the eagle''s claw disappeared.


    The white tiger was left shocked and was dazed for a moment. As its body glowed, it swiped another claw towards Fang Yuan.


    "The animal is part of the array... it is still not as instinctive as a real beast!"


    Fang Yuan rushed forward and the pressure on his body was no more. Quickly, he arrived at the head of the white tiger. "I''ll... destroy!!!"


    "Rumble!"


    Amidst a huge roar, he struck a fist on the tiger''s head.


    The tiger was stunned and its claws froze in mid-air. In a daze, it collapsed.


    "Whoosh!"


    The entire Descending Star City shook, and cracks resembling spider webs were formed on the city walls.


    "You..."


    The city master was in despair. "You even know about arrays?"


    He could tell from the weird steps that Fang Yuan took that he had already identified the weakness in the array. Following which, he timed it nicely to end of the tiger and the array in one punch.


    Otherwise, how would such a ferocious beast succumb to a single punch?


    Furthermore, this had led to the cracks on a part of the city walls!


    The city master''s face turned green.


    "Soaring Green Dragon, Black Tortoise Groundbreaking Technique, White Tiger Killer Technique... All three techniques, go!"


    "Roar!"


    The dragon and tiger''s roar could be heard, and the ground shook as a black tortoise appeared. Three silhouettes appeared once more as they surrounding Fang Yuan.


    This was the power of arrays!


    Without destroying the foundation of the array, all these attacks would be continuous.


    Even though it was temporarily damaged, it could be repaired quickly.


    "How can you foolishly think you can go against the power of Heaven and Earth?"


    The city master''s voice was heard. "Since you are a Meridian Opening Wu Zong, I now believe that you come from the South... Give up and let me restrain you. I might spare your life!"


    From all that has happened, he felt that his own skill in casting arrays had dramatically improved.


    If the array was perfect, there would not be any weaknesses for Fang Yuan to exploit.


    However, with the weaknesses in place, and the continuous techniques that he had to execute, it was as though he was training himself. Therefore, it would be normal for his skill in casting arrays to improve drastically.


    "Whoosh!"


    Suddenly, Fang Yuan was all over the place. He was using his Shadowstep and once again arrived at the array beast''s head. "You have missed out on something. You''re too careless, city master! Giant Eagle Claw!"


    "Chirp! Chirp!"


    As the figure of an eagle formed behind him, his energy was shocking, and it was as though he was like a ball of fire. Rushing into the array of beasts, the wings of the eagle swiped at the white tiger, the claws of the eagle striking the green dragon and the beak of the eagle pecked at the black tortoise. With a shriek, the black tortoise disappeared.


    "Rumble!"


    The entire Descending Star City shook as though there was a mini earthquake.


    Many buildings were tilted as the ground cracked open.


    This had never happened before, and this made many of them feel as though the end of the world was coming.


    "This is impossible..."


    "How can the protective array fail?"


    In Sambhogakaya Monastery.


    Kongming the Godly Monk opened his eyes in curiosity. "How is this possible?"


    The instability of the array must be due to the fact that the city master was drawing energy from the energy source of the array, coupled with the fact that the array had suffered damage!


    Based on what he knew, the city master had spent quite a lot of effort in plotting against Fang Yuan. He had even called for the help of two Wu Zongs, and therefore was rather confident that nothing would go wrong!


    "If the protective array were to be destroyed, the entire city will crumble and there will no longer be any signs of life..."


    Unknowingly, an image of a young boy appeared in front of Kongming the Godly Monk.


    "All of you wait here. I have to go out and take a look!"


    With a look of determination, he stood up, bowed and disappeared swiftly.


    ...


    "Three of them..."


    The city master was in desolation. With a heartless look, he continued. "You forced me to do this! Vermilion Bird from the South! Come out!"


    In order to gain resistance from the chilly winds and cold weather, the city master was well-versed in fire-type techniques.


    However, the damaged portion of the array was from the Vermilion Bird. Therefore, if there was no need, it was not advisable to activate it.


    However, against Fang Yuan, he had to reveal his final move!


    "Chirp! Chirp!"


    As a fiery glow flashed past, a giant inferno bird appeared. As the flames burned continuously on its wings, the bird let out a distinct chirp.


    "Vermilion Bird from the South?"


    Fang Yuan froze.


    The power of this spiritual beast was much greater than the three illusionary beasts that he had fought previously.


    "Weng! Weng!"


    Not just that, but there was also a brightly-glowing diamond on the head of this Vermilion Bird.


    This was the energy source! The energy source of the entire Four Elements Spiritual Array!

 209 Compassion

    Descending Star City!


    This city was a piece of barren land in the past. There were no traces of human life, and it was a disaster-stricken place.


    One day, a group of people arrived here.


    There were migrants from Da Qian Empire. Because of their own reasons, they had to leave the empire to start afresh in rural places in hopes of survival.


    They were the ancestors of the city master of Descending Star City and Kongming the Godly Monk!


    They wanted to traverse through the icy gorges but were afraid of being trapped in there. Therefore, they had no choice but to settle down and faced the continuous threat from the cold and brutal weather, and the beasts native to the icy plains.


    Finally, there came a day.


    A piece of asteroid landed on the plains.!


    All it took was one night for the entire barren piece of land to change. The land became much more fertile and they could now plant all types of plants.


    Furthermore, at the position where the asteroid landed, there was a huge surge in energy.


    The array masters among the migrants could feel it, and from there designed a South Vermilion Fiery Array to separate themselves from the cold. They were the ones who started everything.


    Soon after, from the contributions of their descendants, a few array techniques were added to the initial array, forming the Four Elements Spiritual Array. Furthermore, they bug a lake on the position where the asteroid landed in remembrance of the miracle the asteroid brought to them. This was why the city was named Descending Star City!


    Therefore, the Vermilion Bird from the South was the core of the entire Four Elements Spiritual Array. It had the energy of the asteroid!


    This was the myth behind the name of Descending Star City.


    And now, the myth has turned into reality!


    The simplest of all arrays; the Vermilion Fiery Array, and the energy source are now in front of Fang Yuan!


    "Rumble!"


    The shocking tongues of flame and the heat from it were making Fang Yuan dizzy.


    The eyes of the Vermilion Bird were filled with life, and the three dead animals which appeared previously was nothing compared to it.


    "Good! Good! Good!"


    Fang Yuan appeared serious and complimented.


    "This Vermilion Fiery Array is the only real array. You descendants don''t know the true power of it and added three extra animals making the Four Elements Spiritual Array. However, all of you are not highly skilled enough, and therefore are just making useless additions to the array!"


    "You..."


    As the city master heard him, his pulled a long face - he was one of those who made the useless additions!


    "Small boy, what do you know... If we didn''t form the Four Elements Spiritual Array, how would we be able to protect such a huge area of land like the Descending Star City... But why do I have to explain all these to you? You are about to be burnt alive by the Vermilion Bird!"


    He had a ferocious look as he exclaimed.


    "So it''s your greed!"


    Fang Yuan sighed softly. "There are no problems with the Vermilion Fiery Array. The problem is with your insatiable greed!"


    As he replied, he rushed forward and his hands formed claws. "Giant Eagle Claw!"


    "Chirp! Chirp!"


    Accompanying a high-pitched chirp, a giant claw appeared as it struck down towards the city master.


    "Rumble!"


    As the Vermilion Bird witnessed the claw, it swiped its wings.


    A circle of flames appeared, forming a wall around the city master.


    "Haha... It''s useless! I am still under the protection of the Four Elements Spiritual Array. Your opponent is the Vermilion Bird!"


    The city master laughed heartily as he altered the array once again.


    "Chirp! Chirp!"


    The Vermilion Bird let out a long chirp. As the energy source on its head glowed, it spread its wings and spread a wave of flames towards Fang Yuan.


    "Weng! Weng!"


    As the asteroid shook, it became dimmer.


    "Rumble!"


    The Descending Star City shook once more.


    Cracks continued to form on the city walls, and the spiritual inscriptions started to disappear.


    "Roar! Roar!"


    "Hiss! Hiss!"


    "Chirp! Chirp!"


    ...


    Suddenly, there was a roar from the storm outside. In the icy plains, there were a few huge shadows appearing.


    It was a huge beast from the icy plains. It had a huge body and bloodshot eyes that let out a ferocious glow.


    "Chatter!"


    "Chatter!"


    ...


    On the city walls, the guards were chattering their teach in fear, and could not even hold their weapons properly. "Icy... Icy beasts attacking the city?"


    "How is this possible? We have the protective array, and they cannot come close..."


    From a long time ago, the claim that Descending Star City was impregnable was the emotional support for many of the people living in the city.


    "How could this happen?"


    Amidst the chaotic crowd, Yu Jian held on to Li Hu''s hands tightly. "Isn''t Descending Star City the safest place?"


    "I have no idea. It might be due to the fact that the protective array is having some problems. I''m sure the people in the city will resolve it..."


    Li Hu''s face was pale. He didn''t even believe what he had just said, and his right hand started to grip tightly onto his knife.


    "How did all of this happen?"


    In the walls, a high-ranking general looked at the beast but was thinking all about what was happening inside the city. "City master... You have miscalculated this time!"


    "Chirp! Chirp!"


    In the centre of the centre, there was a sudden distinct chirp.


    A pillar of fire suddenly appeared and rose up into the sky as it pierced through the clouds and headed towards the sun.


    This was not a cause for celebration!


    As the fiery ball of fire rose up, the spiritual inscriptions on the city walls became increasingly dimmer.


    Finally, a huge icy gorilla, which was 3 storeys high, leapt onto the walls and started to pound on its chest!


    "Rumble!"


    It was destruction everywhere!


    One portion of the city walls crumbled and fell down, revealing the streets and houses of the city!


    "Keke!"


    As the icy gorilla saw it, it stroked its arms, grabbed onto a soldier and started to feast on it.


    "Ah... Save me, I don''t want to die!"


    Although the soldier had broken limbs, he was still alive and was wailing for help.


    However, no one could react to what was happening.


    There were still caught in a daze from the tremors.


    "Amituofo!"


    At this crucial point in time, a white silhouette flashed past.


    The icy gorilla stopped whatever it was doing. Looking at its hands, the food that it was feasting on was long gone.


    "That you for saving me, Godly Monk!"


    On the city walls, Kongming the Godly monk slowly placed the soldier down. Looking at the icy gorilla, he was enraged.


    "Aw! Aw!"


    The icy gorilla did not care much. Instead, it pounded its fists on its chest once again and rushed towards Kongming the Godly Monk.


    "The hidden King Kong, immovable like a mountain!"


    Kongming the Godly Monk clasps his hand together before pushing it outwards. A faint golden glow appeared in his palms.


    "Weng! Weng!"


    As the golden glow in his palm intensified, it finally formed a swastika symbol. With that, he exerted the pressure out.


    "Roar! Roar!"


    The icy gorilla exclaimed in pity and retreated backwards as though it was being held down by a mountain. Soon after, there were golden flames appearing on its body, and it was a matter of seconds before it was engulfed in flames.


    "Chirp! Chirp!"


    An icy phoenix with three ice crystals on its tail appeared. Quickly, it flew by the icy gorilla.


    "Whoosh!"


    As the golden flames died out, the icy gorilla laid on the ground and sighed weakly. Together with its burnt fur, it was a comical scene to behold.


    However, Kongming the Godly Monk could not laugh.


    "Icy beasts with the cultivation level at the Elemental Gathering Stage? And not just one! Where did all of them come from?"


    He was feeling unsure. With the meditation beads in hand, he walked to the crumbled wall and chanted six words:


    "Weng! Ma! Ni! Bei! Mi! Hong!"


    "Rumble!"


    Rows of golden runes appeared on the two broken walls at the side. Slowly, they extended out and met in the centre, forming chains of Sanskrit covering where the broken wall once stood.


    "Weng! Weng!"


    Not just that, but golden runes appeared on every wall. They represented strength and eternal blessing.


    "Thank you for saving our lives!"


    A few Lieutenants rushed forward and thanked him.


    "Amituofo!"


    Kongming the Godly Monk shook his head. "I have only activated the restrictive power within the walls, which were placed there long ago by our ancestors. It can merely withstand the altering of the array and hold off the beasts outside for about an hour!"


    He could not cast a new protective array over the entire city just by himself.


    However, it was different at the walls. With the ''secret ingredient'' added by their ancestors years ago, it was an inheritance left for the descendants in case of an emergency. This way, they could still take the geographical advantage.


    Even as such, without the most important energy source, the array would not be able to last long.


    ''This place is barren and cannot be compared to Da Qian Empire. To maintain the array, we need to either use the energy source or... we have to use blood sacrifice...''


    Kongming the Godly Monk held his meditation beads in one hand and fiddled with it. "Sins! All these sins!"


    ...


    "It seems to be chaotic outside!"


    Within the Vermilion Fiery Array, Fang Yuan looked embarrassed. His expression was one of disappointment. Suddenly, he laughed. "I knew it... You are crazy and don''t even care about your city. How could you use energy from the entire city against me! Are you not afraid that your disciples and your relatives might be attacked by icy beasts?"


    "That will not happen just yet. Our ancestors have left something within our walls to buy us some time in an event of an emergency..."


    The city master looked serious. "Furthermore... This is all the time I need to kill you! Vermilion Bird!"


    "Chirp! Chirp!"


    In front of Fang Yuan, the Vermilion Bird agreed to the city master and was extremely human-like. Facing Fang Yuan, it opened its beak.


    "Rumble!"


    "Rumble!"


    As red flames burned, the extreme temperatures caused the ground to melt, forming puddles of gooey liquid.


    "You are indeed crazy, and there''s nothing I can do to help you..."


    As the flame burnt through Fang Yuan''s silhouette, it failed to burn Fang Yuan. His real body appeared on the other side as he shook his head and sighed. "City master, you are known to be noble. Are you going to continue to be lost in your own personal greed?"


    "Of course... it is useless to tell you all these. This is because I have one reason to fight against you!"


    In the array, a layer of bewildering fog appeared and spread out.


    "And that reason is... The fact that you wanted to take advantage of me! That means you deserve to die!"


    As his imagery appeared everywhere, Fang Yuan''s real body appeared in front of the city master.


    In the face of death, even the Vermilion Bird was in a daze!

 210 Takeover

    Everything would have a soul!


    There would be a mountain god in the mountains, a water spirit in the rivers!


    Even on pieces of lands, vast oceans, or even planets of worlds, each and every one of these entities would have their own spirits.


    Even so, the minds of these spirits move extremely slow and might take up to a thousand years for a single thought! But they exist!


    Since they have souls, we can interact with them and access their dreams!


    This would be the origin of the cultivation of dream masters!


    This also means that in the array lies an array spirit!


    Of course, in small arrays, the spirit would be too weak, or it might have even have been developed yet.


    However, on first sight, as Fang Yuan looked at the Vermilion Bird, he could confirm that the Vermilion Fiery Array had a living spirit in it!


    If the spirit were to be the likes of those in huge mountains or in dead arrays, Fang Yuan would not be able to access their dreams as his ability was still limited.


    However, this strong-spirited array was the perfect opportunity for Fang Yuan to strike!


    This was similar to the fact that he could not access the dreams of normal plants, but managed to access the dreams of the Sickle Grass and Serrated Flower!


    "Weng! Weng!"


    In an instant, the fiery Vermilion Bird fell into a daze, and the entire array came to a halt!


    In the next moment, following the tremor of the asteroid, energy flowed back into the Vermilion Bird as it snapped out of its trance.


    This was the moment Fang Yuan was waiting for!


    This Vermilion Fiery Array had its weakness from the beginning. It was burdened by the other three elements, and after fighting with Fang Yuan for an extended period, Fang Yuan had already figured out the rules that the array would abide by, and the mysteries of the array.


    This was the opportunity for Fang Yuan!


    "Go!"


    Fang Yuan executed his Shadowstep. After leaping on a few weak points on the array, he leapt over the fiery wall and arrived in front of the city master.


    "You..."


    The city master''s expression was one of fury and shock. Just as he spoke a word, Fang Yuan exclaimed. "Die!"


    It was a tremendous shout; akin to a tsunami!


    In this shout, Fang Yuan not only used his secret technique but also infused in it the dream master''s bewildering fog!


    Facing this, even the city master, who was a spiritual knight, was dazed.


    "Whoosh!"


    This was the golden opportunity!


    A Wu Zong was already extremely fast; a Meridian Opening Wu Zong was even more so!


    In a few moments, he had already arrived in front of the city master as he struck his fist out.


    "Bloop!"


    A water bubble appeared as it spun in the air with spiritual inscriptions. It had a weird indentation as it blocked the punch for the city master.


    "A time-sensitive spiritual treasure?"


    Fang Yuan laughed cunningly. "Even this can''t save you! Let the strength of 3 spiritual meridians strike!"


    "Kacha! Kacha!"


    Three spiritual meridians appeared on his body and disappeared quickly.


    At the same time, there were popping sounds coming from his back. Like dominos, the popping sounds travelled down and finally reached his fists, bringing with it an immense amount of force.


    "No!"


    Finally, the city master was aware of what was happening. Quickly, he ordered the Vermilion Bird to come to his rescue.


    But it was too late.


    "Whoosh!"


    A distinct sound was heard as the bubble popped, allowing Fang Yuan''s fist to go through, landing on the city master''s body.


    After all, he was an array master! Not a Wu Zong!


    The outcome was determined from the moment he had allowed a Meridian Opening Wu Zong to come close to him!


    Even though the city master was wearing an inner armour and hung a talisman which glowed in spiritual light, all of it was no use!


    With an angry grunt, Fang Yuan exploded in strength. In a matter of seconds, he had pushed his own limits.


    This fists broke through the city master''s robes and landed on his inner armour, forming a huge indentation.


    At the same time, an intense tremor was felt through the inner armour and exploded within the city master''s body.


    "Mmm..."


    The crown on the city master''s head exploded. His hair was blown and his eyes, nose and ears were bleeding. As he opened his mouth, pieces of his internal organs came out.


    There was no way of faking such a death; he was dead beyond hope.


    "Eh?"


    Fang Yuan could detect a hint of elemental force on the corpse of the city master.


    "His soul? His mind? Or his regrets?"


    He smiled as his spiritual aura exploded like a burning sun,


    "Chi! Chi!"


    Suddenly, black smoke started to come out from the corpse, and with it was an intense screeching sound. Finally, the city master''s face of resentment exploded.


    "The utter destruction of your body and soul would mean that you are truly dead. If you can come back to life, I''ll respect you!"


    Fang Yuan sighed and looked at the Vermilion Fiery Array.


    Although the city master had died, the Vermilion Bird was still a huge trouble for him.


    "Chirp! Chirp!"


    With the loss of its owner, the Vermilion Bird seemed to have calmed down and was no longer aggressive like before. Instead, it lazily walked about and occasionally pecked its own feathers.


    All of its actions made it look like a real living bird, and no one would associate it with a dead array.


    "Array techniques are trule impressive!"


    Fang Yuan complimented as he walked ahead, trying to stroke its feathers.


    "Chirp! Chirp!"


    A pillar of flames appeared and started to burn the elemental force on Fang Yuan''s hand.


    Fang Yuan leapt away and waved his hands as a spiritual meridian appeared. Quickly, he extinguished the fire and repaired his armour.


    Seeing that there was no more threat, its feathers stood down as it became a carefree bird.


    "Without a person controlling the array, the fiery array is already impressive enough. It will balance itself out and defend itself from external threats!"


    Fang Yuan was lost in his thoughts.


    Based on his understanding of arrays, together with the experience he had just gained, he came to an unlikely solution.


    "Dream accessing!"


    Facing the spiritual array, he executed his dream-accessing technique once again.


    The bewildering fog was the foundation for all dream masters. It would not cause harm to the subjects, and instead, had a soothing effect on them.


    The Vermilion Bird did not react. However, based on its spirituality, it became dizzy but quickly composed itself as its own mind dispelled the resistance.


    "Another time!"


    Fang Yuan''s eyes glittered as he attempted his techniques once more.


    An extremely short dream soon appeared, and as he took on the role of the Vermilion Bird, he witnessed the forming of Descending Star City and the efforts of the ancestors...


    "Chirp! Chirp!"


    Time passed. The Vermilion Bird spread its wings and comfortably fell into a deep sleep...


    Fang Yuan walked up and lightly plucked at the asteroid.


    "Whoosh!"


    The asteroid, which was the energy source, was on Fang Yuan''s hand.


    "Hmm..."


    The first thought that Fang Yuan had was that the piece of asteroid was heavy!


    Extremely heavy!


    After it stopped glowing, the asteroid was only as large as a fist, but it weighed a few thousand pounds!


    If not for the fact that Fang Yuan''s physical body was strengthened, he might not be able to lift it!


    "All of the essence lies in this asteroid. It has an immense amount of energy, but after generations of failed leaders, most of its energy has been used up... This was also why the city master had to continuously supply blood to keep it going..."


    Fang Yuan looked at the asteroid on his hand.


    On the glittering side of it, there was a blood imprint, which appeared sinister.


    "This object... has been made into a magical weapon..."


    Fang Yuan was curious. "Furthermore... this object has no owner now. Through the Four Elements Spiritual Array, I might be able to take possession of it!"


    It was obvious that the previous owner of the asteroid must be the city master of Descending Star City!


    The death of him would mean that the asteroid now had no owner.


    More importantly, through dream accessing, Fang Yuan had gained a deeper understanding of the Four Elements Spiritual Array, to the extent that he might be the person who has the deepest understanding of it in the entire city!


    Furthermore, the amount of elemental force he had was folds of normal Wu Zongs and spiritual knights.


    With a simple release of energy, the asteroid had no resistance as his spiritual will marked an imprint on it.


    "So... Do I have complete control over the Four Elements Spiritual Array now?"


    Fang Yuan looked at the asteroid, not knowing if he should laugh or cry.


    "Chirp! Chirp!"


    The Vermilion Bird woke up and looked at him calmly.


    "Return! Remove the restriction on the city, and continue protecting it!"


    Fang Yuan used his spiritual will to command the Vermilion Bird.


    "Chirp! Chirp!"


    The Vermilion Bird let out a long chirp as it transformed into an inferno. Soon, it disappeared into the ground.


    "Whoosh!"


    In the square, the restriction was not lifted, and construction of the walls could be seen.


    "City master, how could you recklessly use the energy from the asteroid? Don''t you know that this would lead to... Cough..."


    As the restriction was lifted, a bald man barged in impatiently and nagged.


    Seeing Fang Yuan, he was in shock as his expression was one of disbelief. "It''s you?!"


    "That''s right, It''s me! Are you disappointed?"


    Fang Yuan mocked him as he tossed the asteroid into the air.


    Looking at him toying with the asteroid, Kongming the Godly Monk turned pale. Suddenly, he appeared fearful, greedy, compassion... all sorts of expression flashed across his face.


    "I''m Kongming, greetings to you, city master!"


    After changing his expression countless times, he clenched his teeth and reluctantly knelt down.


    "City master?"


    Fang Yuan didn''t know if he should laugh or not.


    "Regardless of who it is, whoever has possession over the asteroid and control over the protective array shall be the rightful owner of Descending Star City!"


    Kongming replied without hesitation.


    He was a smart monk. Seeing that Fang Yuan had taken possession of the asteroid, he knew that the lives of everyone in the city were in his hands.


    Afraid that Fang Yuan would run away after taking the asteroid, he quickly gave him the appointment as city master, in hopes that with the power and responsibility, he could convince this highly skilled person to stay.


    Why not forcefully take it back?


    Even the mighty city master with control over the Four Elements Spiritual Array and other resources couldn''t last against him. How would he even dare to try?


    "You''re a smart person!"


    Fang Yuan nodded his head. "However... what about the fact that you lied to me..."


    "I was useless and could not tell that you were highly skilled. I''ll make myself blind!"


    With a face of determination, Kongming smashed his eyes, and dark-red blood started to ooze out.


    To pay the price of lying to Fang Yuan, he completed blinded himself.


    "Very well!"


    Fang Yuan nodded his head. With another toss, the asteroid became a flash of light and burrowed underground.


    On the city walls, there were glows of lights chasing away the icy beasts. With that came the cheering from inside of the city walls.


    "Thank you, city master!"


    Kongming the Godly Monk placed his hands together and displayed a face of serenity.

 211 The Aftermath

    "Finally... It''s over?"


    Within the rubble, Yu Jian crawled out. He was left stunned as he witnessed the burning inferno and the blood everywhere.


    "Yup... It''s over!"


    Li Hu finally let go of his knife. Looking at the glowing walls, his let out an expression of disbelief. "Who would''ve known that even Descending Star City would experience such a thing!"


    "I''ve heard from Lord that..."


    Yu Jian''s eyes glittered. The strength of a country is not determined by its geographical location, but by the heart of the people!"


    "Heart of the people?"


    Li Hu looked at the mess and was deep in his own thoughts.


    "That''s right. I want to go back!"


    Li Hu clenched his fist. "I want to transform our village to become the strongest, to the extent that even beasts native to the icy plains wouldn''t dare to attack us! I want to make it become the second Descending Star Country!"


    This young men, for unknown reasons, had given up on the plan to move to Descending Star City and had set a new goal for himself.


    "Mm... That''s good! But before that..."


    Li Hu didn''t feel normal at all. "Should we treat our own injuries before meeting up with our fellow villagers?"


    "Eh?"


    At this point in time, Yu Jian realised that he had an open wound on his leg; so deep that even his bone could be seen. With a cry, he laid on the floor helplessly...


    ...


    "So this is the city master''s mansion?"


    At the same time, Fang Yuan placed his hands behind his back like the owner as he looked at the large plot of land that was under construction.


    "That''s right..."


    By his side, the blind Kongming was guiding him respectfully like a servant.


    "Based on what I know, this is the location of all the treasure vaults of the past city masters!"


    "Oh? So their all mine now!"


    Fang Yuan laughed jokingly. "What do you think I should so as to take over the old city master''s influence as soon as possible?"


    Kongming the Godly Monk gave it a deep thought. "The old city master had two Wu Zongs as his sidekicks. However, both of them are dead now. Array masters wise, other than him, I''m the only one left, and I can convince the other spiritual disciples for you... Therefore, the only thing you have to do is to call for the high ranking officials of the city and show them your skills. Soon you will be able to rule them with fear!"


    "I see!"


    Fang Yuan looked around. There were already many nervous soldiers surrounding him.


    "However, I think a direct method would be better!"


    With the wave of his hands, the entire city master''s mansion shook.


    "Roar! Roar!"


    "Aw! Aw!"


    The green dragon, white tiger and black tortoise all appeared, taking three corners of the mansion.


    Although they worth nothing in Fang Yuan''s eyes, they were akin to the Gods to the people of the city. They were the proof of power!


    "What''s happening?"


    "Is this... the Three Elements Spiritual Array?"


    "Didn''t the city master went off to deal with the Wu Zong? Why would he be surrounding the mansion?"


    ...


    There was too much commotion and many martial artists filled the mansion. All of them were at the peak of the 12th Gate and were all spiritual disciples of array masters. Seeing that Fang Yuan was the one manipulating the array, their expression changed. "Why is it you? Where''s city master?"


    "City master?"


    Fang Yuan smiled. "From today onwards, I am the city master! Those who follow me shall live, and those who are against me shall die! Kneel before me!"


    "Crazy!"


    "You''re a madman!"


    "This person is possessed!"


    "But why is Kongming the Godly Monk following him... sh*t, we have to really kneel!"


    ...


    As the high ranking officials looked at each other, none of them had a good feeling about this.


    The few unimportant people at the sides were shocked and excused themselves.


    "Roar!"


    As the green dragon swung its tail, a 12th Gate Martial Artist was flung to the wall and became a pile of bloody mess.


    "Roar! Roar!"


    On the other end of the mansion, the white tiger roared and as its claws landed, it sliced through a martial artist which was attempting to run away.


    "Don''t kill me, don''t kill me!"


    A female martial artist knelt down. "I am willing to follow you!"


    With the first, many others followed suit as they bowed down.


    ...


    After a moment.


    In the study, Kongming the Godly Monk let out a soft sigh.


    "What''s the matter? Do you think I overdid it?"


    Fang Yuan was flipping through a martial arts manual. In it were the recordings of ''Dragon Tiger Protective Seal''. He looked up and smiled.


    "The way you did it was direct and struck fear in all of them. Of course, it''s effective! However, it might be a little extreme and therefore it would be hard for you to win over their hearts for you to rule of the city properly in the future..."


    Kongming the Godly Monk reminded him, as though he was truly thinking for Fang Yuan''s sake.


    "I understand the difference in use hard and soft tactics..."


    Fang Yuan opened the windows and looked at the world outside.


    If he were to stretch out his hand, the entire city would be at his disposal.


    But how could this city compare to Secluded Country?


    He couldn''t even care less about Secluded Country. Why would he give up his dreams and ambitions for the sake of this small city?


    "How would the normal understand the ambitions of the noble..."


    He shook his head and continued. "We''ll check out the treasure vault later!"


    "Yes, Sir!"


    Kongming the Godly Monk bit on his lips and was dismissed, much to his reluctance.


    Leaving Fang Yuan to the entire study, a glow appeared on his hands and a few ancient books disappeared.


    "Mm... There are a few good martial arts manuals in this study, not forgetting the scrolls which detailed the techniques of casting spiritual arrays. From all of these, I can train up a spiritual array master myself... Of course, the most important would be these maps. They would allow me to figure out the rest of the path to Da Qian Empire..."


    After reaping from the study, Fang Yuan arrived at the city master''s treasure vault.


    This was almost half of all the treasures the city master once had.


    However, it was a pity that Fang Yuan were not appreciative of most of the treasure.


    "Eh?"


    At one corner, he discovered a small surprise.


    "Is this.... an Elemental Crystal?


    It was the size of his thumb and was translucent, and the discovery brought much joy to Fang Yuan.


    This was a commonly used treasure in the martial arts world of Da Qian Empire. It had the ability to quickly replenish a Wu Zong or spiritual knights elemental energy, and could also be the energy source for arrays or spiritual weapons. Therefore, it was highly sought after.


    "Although its quality seems average and it can only be considered a low-grade elemental crystal, the good thing is that there is a lot of it. These few thousands of it is worth quite a fortune if I remember correctly in Yang Fan''s memories... let''s move it all out!"


    With the Mountain River Pearl in hand, Fang Yuan kept everything that was there.


    "Even if it was rubbish, it would have its value. Anyway, I have an infinite storage space in the Mountain River Pearl, and I''ll just put in everything that I can..."


    When Kongming the Godly Monk returned, he was stunned. Even a beggar would cry if he entered the treasure vault now.


    "City master, you..."


    Although he was blind, he had a strong spiritual will and knew what had happened. "You don''t have to do this even if you had a spiritual treasure that could store items, right?"


    "Alright!"


    Fang Yuan was satisfied. With a mischievous look, he continued. "By using my authority as the city master of Descending Star City, I will now give my first order!"


    "Yes, Sir!"


    Kongming suddenly became serious as he bowed.


    "Mm, I shall appoint you as the city master. When I''m not around, you shall handle everything in Descending Star City!"


    With the wave of his hand, a glow appeared from the ground. The asteroid appeared, and it became imprinted with Kongming''s spiritual aura as well.


    In reality, this was giving him the authority to manipulate the Four Elements Spiritual Array.


    "What? You''re leaving?"


    Kongming had already guessed it from the beginning and could confirm it now.


    Fang Yuan did not care about the state of the city as he was about to leave!


    However, he did not keep the asteroid with him, and this was a sign that he had given the city dwellers a chance to live on.


    "Of course... Descending Star City cannot satisfy my ambitions!"


    Fang Yuan waved his hands and left without hesitation.


    "Eh..."


    Kongming''s eye socket looked at Fang Yuan as he left, and he sighed.


    It was envious to see how Fang Yuan could be unmoved by external enticements.


    It was a pity that he was a monk and therefore could never reach the stage that Fang Yuan was at.


    If hell was not empty, he would not become a god peacefully! This was not only an oath, it was also his way of living!


    ...


    Outside Descending Star City.


    Fang Yuan opened up a piece of map.


    This was from the personal collection of the old city master and was much more detailed than the one he gave to Fang Yuan previously.


    "To reach Da Qian, I will have to traverse through 13 Dangers. Among these 13 Dangers, only three are suitable for people to live in. These places have their own city lakes and are the Vast Desert, the Death Corridor, and the Hell of Thousand Ghosts..."


    Fang Yuan shook his head.


    The ancestors of the old city master and Kongming the Godly Monk were the group of migrants who settled down the furthest from Da Qian Empire. They were only an icy gorge away from the mainland in the South but were thousands of miles away from Da Qian.


    "As long as I know the direction to head towards, it''s alright!"


    Fang Yuan was extremely confident about this.


    He had made it through the most arduous icy gorge. If the ancestors of Descending Star City could make it through the 13 Dangers, he should not have much problem doing the same.


    "Let''s go!"


    Taking one last look at Descending Star City, Fang Yuan turned his back and left.


    At the gates.


    Yu Jian and Li Hu were escorting goods out of the city. With a look of grief, they too slowly left the city.


    Although they had received help from an anonymous benefactor which helped them sell their goods and even receive a huge amount of compensation, a few villagers still died gruesomely from the disaster which struck the city.


    In response, a group of villagers could only keep their corpse properly. No one was in the mood to talk about revenge, and the entire caravan back was solemn.


    "Ah... this is all fate!"


    Li Hu sighed. "Let''s go! Even though some of our villagers have died, we will still split the profits and earnings with their families!"


    "Naturally!"


    The other villagers would also hope for their families to receive their share if they were the ones to be met with unfortunate incidents. Therefore, all of them agreed and gave an appreciative look towards Li Hu.


    As the leader, Li Hu seemed matured. Looking at Yu Jian, he commented. "Let''s go, stop reading your book..."


    "Oh, alright!"


    From the incidents, Yu Jian had also matured. Closing the book, his hands were still shivering. "I''m coming!"


    In his heart, he was utterly shocked. ''Martial arts manual! This is much more impressive than the ones in the village! Indeed, treasures are only found in dangers...''


    Looking at Descending Star City for the final time, he had mixed emotions. ''Descending Star City... I will be back!''

 212 Desert City

    In the Vast Deserts.


    Compared to the brutal cold and unforgiving winter in Descending Star City, this place was scorching hot; it was the exact opposite of the previous icy world.


    The desert stretched beyond the horizon. Together with the harsh environments, it was a place almost uninhabitable for life.


    Unless one would ride the desert native ''Fire Resistant Camel'', it would be nearly impossible to go through the desert.


    "Ring! Ring!"


    Accompanying the bells on the camels, a caravan appeared in the heatwave. All of them wore a scarf as a precaution against sandstorms. Everyone was solemn and it was like a row of zombies walking - they were trying to reduce their energy consumption and were avoiding all unnecessary action.


    The Fire Resistant Camel was almost twice the size of a normal camel and had three humps on its back. Its fur was a fiery red and it would shimmer under the bright sunlight.


    As the sunlight and heat reflected off the camel''s fur, it was absorbed the next moment, making its fur even brighter.


    Although these Fire Resistant Camels were not spiritual animals, they had a mind on their own and their fur was highly sought after on the market.


    The caravan consisting of tens of these fire resistance camels were already considered a fortune among the desert dwellers.


    There were only a few organisations in the desert with such a fortune.


    A white camel was on the flag of the caravan, and it was majestic looking.


    White Camel Caravan!


    This was one of the top caravans in the Vast Deserts and was famous in the vicinity.


    "Father... look!"


    It was noon and the sun was hanging in the sky. The scorching heat waves were creating refractions in mid-air, and their visions were distorted.


    A camel rider was looking around and suddenly opened his mouth wide as he looked at a distance.


    "Hmm?"


    His father was an experienced warrior. With his sharp eyesight, he was stoned as well as he looked into the depths of the desert.


    In the middle of the desert, there was a layer of white and it appeared a little translucent, as though it was melting under the hot sun.


    This was the White Desert; the place of extremes. Even the Fire Resistant Camel could not walk out of it alive.


    However, at this point in time, a black silhouette walked out of the White Desert.


    "This is not an illusion!"


    The entire caravan was shocked. Some of the businessmen flipped down from their camels and bowed in respect towards the black figure.


    "To conquer the White Desert... If he is not a god, then he must be a devil!"


    The warriors mumbled to themselves as they held onto their scimitars. Slowly, they became increasingly anxious.


    "Whoooo!"


    As the scorching wind blew, the black figure slowly approached and revealed itself to be a man.


    He was wearing a white robe with red flowers sewn on it, and a bamboo hat on his head. Although he was slow, with every step, he would seemingly float forward like how a deity would move.


    "Phew... It''s a person?"


    As the person arrived in front of the caravan, he removed his hat, revealing a young face. It was Fang Yuan!


    "This is great! Finally, it is possible to walk out of this d*mned desert!"


    He nodded his head and revealed his excitement.


    Thinking about the journey he had embarked on, he was filled with emotions.


    From the time he had left Descending Star City, months had already flown by!


    With his martial arts and his skills, together with the map from the old city master of Descending Star City, he rushed his way and traversed through ten over dangers.


    Compared to the danger in the icy gorge, this was nothing. However, the long journey slowly made Fang Yuan tired.


    Furthermore, he had several weird encounters on his journey here.


    For instance, in the Hell of Thousand Ghosts, he had met with a ferocious ghost which was a few hundred feet tall. If not for the fact that the ghost was not interested in the puny him, he might have to wait it out there.


    Other than the ferocious ghost, he had also encountered three tribes which were made up of weird people, as well as fierce beasts from the legends... With his abilities and a little bit of luck, he managed to pass every obstacle safely and did not die in there.


    Now, he had arrived at the Vast Deserts.


    Due to the fact that he was tired of rushing, he had chosen the shortest path; to cut across the White Desert.


    It was also in the White Desert where he met the rumoured Golden Giants Tribe and was almost forced to death. Only by using his dream master''s Shadowstep and the teachings of spiritual arrays did he successfully escape from there.


    Now that he finally could see the existence of normal people, he was extremely excited.


    "Since there are people here, Desert City must be close by..."


    Fang Yuan recalled the map of the city master of Descending Star City. "After crossing Desert City and the Three World Mountain, I will be able to reach Da Qian..."


    After dividing the mountain into three portions, the mountain was nicknamed ''Three World Mountain''!


    Not only was the place the boundary of Da Qian, it was rumoured to have isolated a separate world filled with perilous dangers within.


    To put it in other words, an unknown world would be the most feared!


    "The fact that many migrants have successfully traversed through the Three World Mountain meant that if I could find the correct way, the dangers of Three World Mountain would be negligible compared to the icy gorge, but I still cannot neglect it... Furthermore, looking at the current state that I''m in, I must clean myself and take a rest first!"


    "Desert City is a favourable place!"


    After Fang Yuan snapped out of his thoughts, all he could see was the weird looking group of Fire Resistant Camels.


    On the camel''s backs were many huge boxes that appeared heavy. It was obvious that this was a caravan, and on the flag which was on the box, there was the figure of a white camel. Half of the caravan were sincere and bowed down towards him, while the other half were being threatened as they wielded their scimitars, with a look of fear in their eyes as they were on full alert.


    This was especially so for a young man. His legs were bent and as they shivered, his hand was on his scimitar. He was at lost as to what he should do and appeared comical.


    "All of you... are all of you guarding against me?"


    Fang Yuan smiled and released some energy as he asked.


    "Whooo!"


    The wind picked up. As soon as he finished his sentence, a sandstorm started to brew. The hot air stirred up the sand, and the camels retreated.


    "Sandstorm?"


    A young rider went pale and fainted.


    "He is a god who is capable of controlling the weather! We cannot go against him!"


    The few who were already kneeling down were superstitious and started to nag at the rest.


    "Good martial arts cultivation!"


    A few of them in the caravan were smart.


    One of them was the father of the young man. He was the leader of the escorts, and his beard was braided. He placed his weapon down and greeted Fang Yuan respectfully. "Sir... We are from the White Camel Caravan. If you have any requests, we will try to accede to it!"


    He was clear about one thing.


    The person in front of him was not a god, but an extremely powerful Wu Zong!


    He was much stronger than himself, and if he were to be infuriated, the entire caravan might not be able to survive!


    Therefore, in order to survive, he would not hold back to do anything for Fang Yuan.


    "Mm. I need a guide, a local guide!"


    Fang Yuan replied.


    "I, A Xiuda, am willing to serve you, the highly skilled warrior who is able to traverse the White Desert!"


    As soon as he heard his request, the man with the braided beard quickly knelt before him and humbly replied.


    "Very well!"


    Fang Yuan nodded his head and remained silent.


    ...


    "Ah!"


    Amidst the commotion, one of A Xiuda''s sons screamed as he woke up from his slumber. Looking around and seeing that everyone was looking at him, his face turned red.


    He realised that the caravan had already continued to make its way. One of the riders by his side smiled and tossed over a bag of wine. "Are you frightened? A sip of strong wine will help!"


    "Thank you!"


    He took the bag of wine, opened the cap and drank it heartily. At that moment, he could feel as though flames were burning from his throat down to his stomach.


    After becoming a little drunk, the fear he had was gone.


    Only now did he realise and he started to ask. "Is that... the devil who walked out of the White Desert?"


    "Pa!"


    As soon as he said those words, a knife cheek was slapped across his face.


    "Father... why did you hit me?"


    Seeing that it was A Xiuda who hit him, the young man''s tantrum was gone, and he could only hold his head and ask.


    "J*rk! That is not a devil, but the honourable Fang Yuan Sir!"


    A Xiuda had a serious look on his face and in his eyes.


    The young man turned around and saw that in the middle of the caravan, all the good were cleared off the camel''s back. In place of the goods was a small table and wine, and a person was riding on the camel with luxury. It was the devil!


    No, rather, he was Fang Yuan Sir.


    He was very young and seemed to be of the same age as himself. It was unbelievable that he was able to traverse the White Desert and its harsh environmental conditions!


    At this point in time, it seemed that the person had already noticed someone looking at him. He moved his eyes to meet his own, and he smiled.


    The young man shivered in fear. With the smile of the devil, his hands started to shiver.


    A Xiuda sighed as he saw this.


    Phobia and fear was the best weapon to destroy a person!


    When he was younger, he once had a companion that was like that as well. His companion was able to kill lions and tigers while he was younger. However, once, his companion and another friend encountered a scary incident and all the guards were killed, only leaving his companion and his friend. From that day onwards, his friend had a phobia and lost his sanity. Although his companion was still sane, he had a fear for the desert, and even the act of lifting a weapon would make his hands shake in fear - as an escort, he was useless now. He could only dwell in the Vast Deserts and provide re-supplies and reinforcements for people entering the Vast Deserts. He got married and had a few children, and soon after had a happy life.


    ''My Da Daer... you can surely walk out of this phobia!''


    Looking at his own sun, he had a worrying look, but he did not dare to do anything to Fang Yuan; he could only pray in silence.


    As the caravan walked for half a day, the vast desert with no ends was no more as the caravan was greeted with a sea of green.


    A huge green lake was seen. It was the intersection of many rivers, and from there a beautiful lake was formed.


    On the edge of the lake, a huge city with walls built from bricks appeared.


    Although it did not seem attractive from afar, it was still a miracle, taking into account the fact that this was a desert.


    "Whoo! Whoo..."


    "Aw! Aw..."


    Several guys cheered.


    Their caravan had travelled long and they had finally reached home.

 213 Three Worlds

    Standing tall on the land of green was Desert City. Under the brilliance of the sunlight, the city was coated in gold.


    It was like a compassionate mother; with open arms, it was as though it was welcoming the tired traveller.


    The buildings in Desert City were mostly one storey high. They were built of wood and the windows were small. Most of the people on the streets were escorts wearing their martial artist suit.


    Of course, there were also caravans from all around, and dancing ladies who were dressed beautifully.


    "Sir! This is the headquarters of the White Camel Caravan."


    As the caravan trotted ahead, they arrived at an octagonal-shaped building which appeared luxurious.


    A Xiuda ran into the building. Not long after, an old man with treasures in his hands slowly walked out under the escort of 8 servants.


    In front of him, several child servants in white were laying out a golden-coloured wool carpet.


    "Welcome, our guest from afar!"


    The old man with a white beard welcomed Fang Yuan with open hands, as though he had heard of him before. "I am the leader of White Camel Business Council, Bai Santong. Greetings, Fang Yuan Sir!"


    "Oh?"


    Fang Yuan felt weird. "You are... a migrant from Da Qian?"


    "My ancestors are indeed from Da Qian Empire!"


    Bai Santong laughed. "In fact, most of the dwellers in Desert City have made it through the Three World. However, most of them have started a family with people of different backgrounds, resulting in our unique culture..."


    "I see!"


    Fang Yuan nodded his head without saying more.


    Bai Santong, on the other hand, did not dare to let his guard down.


    Since he was able to traverse through the White Desert, he must be a highly skilled Wu Zong!


    Furthermore, he was here to continue his journey through the hellish environments after the White Desert. He must be someone powerful!


    "May I know if you need any help? If we can help, we will surely do so!"


    Bai Santong placed his fists together and enquired respectfully.


    "Very simple... I want information regarding the Three World Mountain! Of course, I will reward you!"


    Fang Yuan waved his hands. A jade bottle flew across and landed on Bai Santong''s hands.


    "This is... spiritual pill?"


    Bai Santong took out a pill and was left stunned.


    Fang Yuan was secretly laughing inside.


    Alchemy masters and spiritual array masters were not common, and even more so for rural areas like these. With their limited resources, the price of spiritual pills would soar.


    This would worth more than even gold outside.


    "Don''t worry, Sir!"


    Bai Santong kept the spiritual pills properly. With added respect, he continued. "I will gather all information regarding Three World Mountain and present it to you!"


    I was already worth it for him to risk his life for the spiritual pills! Gathering information was an easy task, and one would be stupid to not do it for the pills.


    If not for the fact that he was a respectable person here, Fang Yuan wouldn''t have let him have such a good deal.


    ''I only have to... gather information regarding the Three World Mountain...''


    Bai Santong dismissed himself and invited Fang Yuan to join his business council, and his mind was filled with curiosity. "To gather information regarding Three World Mountain. Could this person have the intention to entire Da Qian Empire? Seriously..."


    He did not know what to say.


    They escaped out of Da Qian and were fugitives. As long as their enemies were inside Da Qian Empire, they would not dare to return.


    Needless to say, to enter Three World Mountain from the other way would be much harder than any normal human could do.


    Because of these two reasons, even though they were the closest city, no one in Desert City would have such a crazy thought.


    But now, there was such a person!


    ''Regardless, as long as I keep him happy and keep the spiritual pills coming, that is enough...''


    As Bai Santong thought to himself, there was a look of determination in his eyes.


    ...


    Three days later.


    In the headquarters of White Camel Business Council, within a luxurious room.


    The floor was covered in golden wool carpet. A concubine was dancing on the carpet barefooted.


    Fang Yuan leaned against the silk cloth lazily.


    In front of him were a few concubines revealing their white arms. They were fighting for the chance to serve him wine and other delicacies.


    "Wine made from grapes served in a wine glass! This life... it''s not too bad!"


    Fang Yuan gulp down a cup of red wine as his face began to flush.


    Within the grapes, there was a mixture of spiritual fruits. The taste was refreshing and most importantly, he could enjoy being a little tipsy.


    "Sir!"


    As the door opened, A Xiuda walked in humbly. He presented a few documents to him. "This is the relevant information regarding Three World Mountain..."


    "Mm. All of you, take your leave!"


    Fang Yuan waved his hands. The concubines and musician bowed in respect as they took their leave.


    "Three World Mountain!"


    Fang Yuan knew what his priorities were.


    As his eyes glittered, he looked through the information.


    "Three World Mountain! This is the area connecting this place to Da Qian Empire. It is divided into three portions, and two of it are the Da Qian World and Man Huang World. The other portion is the Illusionary World!"


    "Rumour has it that... the Illusionary World is a land actualised by a highly skilled dream master on his deathbed... but the catch is... that place is not a spiritual land, but a perilous land!"


    When highly skilled dream masters die, they would be able to actualise their dream world to pass in on to their descendants.


    Take for instance, Master Heartless, who had left behind Green Peak spiritual land and an inheritance for Fang Yuan.


    However, there were exceptions. For those that would be seeking revenge, they would surely not leave behind a spiritual land, but a perilous land that would kill any life!


    That dream master was not only highly skilled but was also affected by an unknown factor before his death. This resulted in the perilous land which was actualised to evolve and combine with the two other worlds. Therefore, it was left in an unusual state of coexistence with the other worlds, illusionary and fleeting.


    If someone were to travel from Da Qian World to Man Huang World, they might have a slight chance of entering the perilous land, but the risks were not high.


    But if someone were to go in the opposite direction, they would surely encounter the perilous land. Not only was it dangerous, but unpredictable too!


    Normal Wu Zongs, spiritual knights or even dream masters might not make it out of there alive!


    Soon, no one in Desert City ever had the thoughts of going back anymore.


    "The land left there by a dream master would appear randomly and it would bring danger with it..."


    Fang Yuan touched his chin and revealed a smile. "I must take a look for myself!"


    ...


    At the same time, within Desert City, in a secret room.


    "Young master, young mistress, the latest secret news!"


    An escort with a strong spiritual aura passed through many layers of security checks and entered a room. He took out a letter.


    "Secret letter? The seal of chicken feather and blood arrow? Is this from Da Qian?"


    Both the young master and mistress had weird expressions.


    "It must be a serious incident for our family to use this method of delivering the letter!"


    The mistress appeared older and commanded, "Brother Yun, open it!"


    There was a unique seal on the letter. Without opening it with the correct method, the letter would self-destruct.


    "Alright!"


    Qin Yun took out a small knife, cut his thumb, and dripped his blood over the seal of a chicken feather.


    "Keke!"


    At that moment, a red light flashed.


    A proud looking cockerel appeared and cawed loudly before pecking the seal.


    "Chi!"


    The seal was broken.


    Only a certain blood type could open the seal on the letter.


    The young Qin Yun took the letter out, but it was a plain sheet of paper.


    "It is indeed plain. Give it to me!"


    As the young mistress saw the letter, she was excited. "It must be someone close to us who delivered this letter!"


    Qin Yun laid the letter on the table. The young mistress took out an emerald ring from her finger and poured out a black powder. Mixing it with water, a black paste was formed and they applied it to the surface of the letter. Afterwards, they placed it in the furnace.


    As the letter dried up, red words began to appear on the letter.


    "This..."


    As he scratched his head, there was a look of excitement on his face. "Qin Fengyu... is dead?"


    This was the legitimate son and grandson of the Qin Family and was favoured by many. He was about to take over the establishments of the Qin Family.


    The two of them were merely b*stards.


    The Qin Family had a huge establishment and were also in control of a county. Naturally, there would be competition among the children to be the rightful heir to the family''s inheritance.


    Although both of them were b*stards, their bloods were extremely pure. Therefore, they were considered a sore eye to many and were therefore involved in the fight. For their survival, they had to escape the Qin Family and even out of Da Qian.


    But now, it was a moment of joy for them.


    The family had suffered an attack and the main family was killed. Not just Qin Fengyu, but the other legitimate children all died or were handicapped. Instead, the two of them were the most appropriate of all the children to be heirs now.


    Therefore, their family had sent them this letter to recall them back.


    "Sister... Are we going back?"


    Qin Yun was excited and anxious.


    "We must!"


    The young mistress clenched her teeth. "Have you forgotten what Mother has instructed us with at her deathbed?"


    "Of course I didn''t forget, but Aunt is there..."


    Qing Yun stumbled on his words.


    "Why are you calling that evil woman Aunt?"


    The young mistress frowned.


    "I''m too used to it..."


    Qin Yun shrugged his shoulders. This aunt was the legitimate first wife of their father and had the greatest power. It was her who chased both of them out of Da Qian Empire.


    If they were to return, the greatest threat would still be from this woman!


    "No! Not just her! We have to go past the Three World Mountain as well!"


    The young mistress clenched her teeth and called for a person. "Uncle Zhou, do you have any method to go through the Three World Mountain safely?"


    Uncle Zhou had a tall build and a cold look. He had big bones and his skin was extremely tanned. "Young mistress, young master... It is easy to come out of the Three World Mountain, but hard to enter. If you are travelling from Da Qian to where we are now, it would be quite safe. But if you are going against the flow and entering Da Qian, you will be met with the perilous land! I am only a 12th Gate martial artist and cannot protect you there! We need to seek help!"


    "I know!"


    The young mistress clenched her teeth. "For revenge, we will pay any price!"

 214 Chapter 214 The Dead Knigh

    "We are Qin Qing and Qin Yun. May we come in?"


    In the White Camel Business Council headquarters, Fang Yuan looked at the message in his hands. "Who are these people?"


    "They have escaped Da Qian recently and are from the Qin Family..."


    A Xiuda held his scimitar and added. "They have protection from their loyal servants. Their leader, ''Elder Zhou'', is at the peak of the 12th Gate, and is skilled in a secret technique. He once held his front and defended 10 strikes from a Wu Zong before admitting defeat!"


    There were still differences among the martial artists who were below the Elemental Gathering Stage. This Elder Zhou must be the top among them.


    Of course, his power was small like an ant to Fang Yuan!


    "However... since I have nothing up, why not? Let them in!"


    Fang Yuan waved his hands. Not long after, A Xiuda led three people in.


    The first was a young mistress. She seemed to be in her twenties and her skin was white and smooth. Her legs were long, and she appeared very lively.


    This was especially so for her petit lips. She gave off a vibe of determination and it was obvious that she was the leader among the three.


    This was the lady from Qin Family, Qin Qing.


    As for Qin Yun, who was standing at one side, he was pleasant looking at had obtained inner force in his martial arts cultivation. He was therefore not completely useless, but appeared a little weaker and therefore did not stand out as much.


    ''With such an outspoken sister, even a genius would seem weak and would ultimately appear like the average person...''


    Seeing the three of them, Fang Yuan thought to himself. ''Eaglets cannot hide behind their mums forever. They must face tribulations before they can grow!''


    Of course, this was none of his business, and therefore he did not comment. He turned his attention to Elder Zhou and was a little more interested.


    Without taking into account his martial arts cultivation, Fang Yuan felt a sense of familiarity as he sensed the spiritual aura of his secret technique. As he tried to recall, he realised that he had known it from Yang Fan''s dream world, among the collection of secret techniques.


    "Mountain Fog?"


    He softly commented these two words.


    "What?"


    As Elder Zhou heard this name, he was stunned!


    The name of the secret technique he had cultivated was called Mountain Fog. It could increase his defensive capabilities and could be as immovable as the mountains. This was how he could withstand the 10 strikes from the Wu Zong.


    The Wu Zong in front of him gave him not only a sense of danger but could also see through the foundations of his secret technique. This was shocking!


    "Sir, you''re spot on!"


    Elder Zhou forced out a laugh.


    In front of a Wu Zong who knew about secret techniques, he did not have the confidence that he could last if they were to fight.


    "Alright, let''s not be distracted. You''re Qin Qing, right? Why are both of you looking for me?"


    Fang Yuan waved his sleeves and asked directly.


    "I''ve heard that you, Sir, are gathering information regarding the Three World Mountain. We are here to present to you more information!"


    Qin Qing laughed, and Qing Yun knelt down. With two hands, he passed a secret script over.


    "Eh?"


    Fang Yuan looked through the script and was drawn into it.


    He already had quite a lot of information regarding Three World Mountain.


    However, the details in this script were much more than the ones the White Camel Business Council had provided.


    ''How could they even calculate the timing and probability of the appearance of the Illusionary World... How many people are being sacrificed for them to do such an in-depth research?''


    Looking at the young siblings, he shook his head. ''It''s not them! It should have been their fate for them to inherit this from their ancestors. Or could it be the discovery of the Qin Family?''


    "This is indeed good!"


    The entire room was silent, and only the flipping sound of Fang Yuan reading the script could be heard.


    Qin Qing was extremely anxious. Although she appeared calm and composed, her heart was already pounding. She finally felt relieved after hearing Fang Yuan''s comment.


    "I shall keep this. What do you guys want in return? Riches? Spiritual pills? Or martial arts manuals?"


    Fang Yuan casually asked.


    "None of these!"


    Qin Qing clenched her teeth. "I''ve heard that you are intending to cross the Three World Mountain against its natural flow. May we request you to bring along both of us? We are both trained in martial arts and will not be a burden to you!"


    "Impossible!"


    Although he confirmed his prediction, Fang Yuan outrightly rejected them.


    What a joke!


    The dangers of the Three World Mountain already struck fear in his heart, so why should he bring along two burdens with him? Was he hoping to die faster?


    Qin Yun shuddered and turned pale; he was utterly disappointed.


    "I cannot guess the methods that you might be using to cross the Three World Mountains, but you must be cautious..."


    Qin Qing did not give up and continued. "You will surely have more resources than us, and more highly skilled as well. You might be more prepared than us, but you are lacking in something!"


    "Oh? What is it?"


    "A sacrificial warrior!"


    Qin Qing replied without hesitation. "Do you know how dangerous the Three World Mountain is? You are still lacking people who would test out the road ahead for you. These people must be volunteers and have a certain level of self-defence!"


    As she spoke, A Xiuda''s expression changed.


    She was right!


    In the Three World Mountain, dangers were everywhere. If he were to risk himself for every danger, he would not be able to walk out alive even if he had nine lives.


    All he needed was someone who would test the dangers for him.


    However, what use would it be if these people were unwilling, have thoughts about running away, or even have thoughts about tricking him?


    If he were to use a lot of money to buy himself explorers to test the dangers, they might not be skilled enough, and it was hard to find people who were willing and able to do so.


    He could only use sacrificial knights! Loyal sacrificial knights!


    However, these sacrificial knights were not trained. How could they help?


    Qin Qing was extremely confident as she looked at Fang Yuan. "Sir, you just have to let us tag along. As a reward, I can provide a group of 18 sacrificial knights. The weakest of them will have the cultivation level of at least an inner force martial artist. I think this would be enough for us to sacrifice in Three World Mountain!"


    "You make sense..."


    Fang Yuan smiled. This woman was extremely thoughtful, but she had missed out something.


    How could she comprehend his god-like abilities?


    With his dream-accessing techniques and his alchemy skills, if he was willing to stay in Desert City for a period of time, he could train out a large group of sacrificial knights.


    Of course, this method would expend a lot of time and effort and would be rather inhumane to force the people to become his slaves.


    If he allowed the Qin Family to help him on his, he did not have to do the dirty work and that could save him a lot of trouble.


    He glared at Qin Qing. "How can you assure the quality and loyalty of your sacrificial knights?"


    "Although we have lost the fight to be the heir within the Qin Family previously, we didn''t gain nothing. On the contrary, all of these people were once a threat to the legitimate sons. Otherwise, why would they be chased out of Da Qian Empire?"


    As she mentioned her family feud, there was a sense of hatred in her eyes. "The 18 Black Feathers Cavalry came from our family. They had once recited a blood oath to remain loyal to the two of us. They would even hesitate if they were to have any suicidal thoughts!"


    "Is this the same for this martial artist by your side?"


    Fang Yuan casually asked.


    "Naturally..."


    Qin Qing''s face turned a little pale. "Not just that, Elder Zhou is also the leader of the 18 Black Feathers Cavalry! All of them have their secret techniques which are unique in their own ways, and if combined, they might even be able to take down three Wu Zongs!"


    ''What an emphasis on their skills. Is she afraid of me testing them out?''


    Fang Yuan looked at Qin Qing and revealed a mysterious smile. ''This lady is too immature, but this is due to her age... However, if she can really sacrifice her subordinates without blinking an eye, then I must be wary of her...''


    Although he was considering her trustworthiness, he quickly ordered, "Alright, ask them to take their own lives!"


    "What?"


    This was the worst outcome she had predicted. Qin Qing face became even paler, and Qin Yun, who was beside her, almost jumped in fear.


    "If you cannot convince these sacrificial knights, it means that you cannot prove their worthiness. Therefore, why should I bring you two burdens along?"


    Fang Yuan commented without blinking an eye.


    "Miss!?"


    Elder Zhou had a look of determination as he looked at Qin Qing.


    "You... You..."


    Qin Qing clenched her teeth. She looked away and controlled her tears. "Take your own life!"


    "Yes Miss!"


    Elder Zhou agreed as he plucked out his scimitar.


    "Chi!"


    The room flashed from the reflection of the scimitar.


    "Splurt!"


    Blood spurted onto the ground, dyeing it red.


    "Uncle Zhou..."


    Qin Yun was left dumbfounded and tears welled up in his eyes.


    "What are you crying for?"


    Fang Yuan waved his hand impatiently. "He is not dead yet!"


    "Mm?"


    Qin Qing was stunned. She could see a knife scar on his neck, and the scimitar almost took his life. However, in that instant, a hand grabbed and held on to the scimitar, stopping it from going in further.


    His life was on the line!


    ''My ability to harness a precise amount of force is already at such a stage, this is good! Good!''


    Fang Yuan looked at him and nodded his head in satisfaction.


    Others would have thought that he had godlike powers before he cracked this joke.


    However, in reality, only he himself knew that whatever happened just now was just his own experiment.


    After all, if his ability was still lacking, he wouldn''t be the one dying!


    If Qin Qing were to hear Fang Yuan''s inner thoughts, she would surely break out in cold sweat and shiver in fear.


    "Whoosh!"


    With the flick of his finger, the knife was flicked away. He quickly took out a few golden needles and started acupuncture on Elder Zhou to stop the blood flow. His actions were extremely smooth as though he was well-versed with what to do.


    "Alright, he has only sustained an external injury. I''ve given him spiritual medicine. After a night''s rest, he would recover, and it will not delay our journey to the Three World Mountain..."


    After settling his wound, Fang Yuan stood up and dusted his hands. "It would be a pity if such a skilled man like him were to die here..."


    "Sir, what do you mean?"


    Qin Qing was extremely excited and confirmed with Fang Yuan on his intentions.


    "That''s right, the bunch of you are useful in the upcoming expedition to Three World Mountain!"


    Fang Yuan nodded his head. "However, you must agree to listen to my commands and never to disobey me before I shall agree to bring you two along!"


    "Thank you, Sir!"


    Qin Qing was ecstatic. Hurriedly, she pulled Qin Yun and bowed towards Fang Yuan.


    ''This pair of siblings are willing to risk so much to go to Da Qian. It seems that they might have a great calling, and I might have a use for them!''


    Looking at them, Fang Yuan thought to himself silently.

 215 Chapter 215 Spiritual Monkey

    From the outside, the Three World Mountain did not seem that tall. However, it was continuous and the end of the mountain was not in sight. Surrounding the mountains were layers of fog, and the scene was therapeutic.


    No one could imagine that this was the mountain that was divided into three, separating Da Qian, Man Huang and the perilous Illusionary World.


    "Phew... I''m finally out..."


    At a path leading from the mountain, a young man crawled out, with his nose bleeding. Looking at the plains and desert in sight, his face was filled with excitement. Quickly, his expression turned into one of determination and hatred. "The Murong Family, just you wait. I will take revenge for what you did today!"


    He had sworn that he would recuperate here before returning to Da Qian to take revenge on the family that had left him in such a state.


    "Tata! Tata!"


    Not far from here, there were galloping sounds heard.


    A black line appeared and it began to draw nearer. On closer look, they were 21 cavalries.


    "Sir, it seems that that is someone who has just escaped from Da Qian Empire!"


    A middle-aged man examined him before shaking his head. "He is only a 12th Gate martial artist with severe injuries. He has no value to us!"


    "Mm?"


    Another young man rode his horse forward as the 2 cavalries on both sides made way for him. It was obvious that he had the higher status among all of them.


    "Tell me... Did you see the Illusionary World white you were on the Three World Mountain?"


    The young man asked directly and his voice was filled with energy as it vibrated the air around.


    "No!"


    The martial artist was in a daze and mumbled a reply.


    "Indeed..."


    Fang Yuan sighed and released the martial artist. "If they came from Da Qian, they would have a lower chance of encountering the Illusionary World at around 10 percent! But if we go against the natural flow, we would surely encounter it! This useless person... He was left in such a state by the mere dangers of the mountain. If he had really encountered the Illusionary World, I''m afraid he wouldn''t even know where his body would be rotting at... Let''s go!"


    As he finished his sentence, he gave up and turned around.


    "Yes, Sir!"


    The other 20 cavalries obeyed, and there seemed to be a female voice among them.


    "Ughh!"


    The martial artist rolled on the floor as he felt the spiritual aura around him. Quickly, he swallowed a mouthful of saliva. "Isn''t the Man Huang rumoured to have lack of martial artists and resources, and that even martial artists of the 4 Heavenly Gates would enjoy riches and power? Why is it like that?"


    At that moment, the martial artists'' heart fell as he started to accept the fact that the world was an evil place...


    ...


    "Based on the collective maps and the information, we need to find the shortest route once we enter the mountains..."


    Fang Yuan was leading Qin Qing, her brother and the 18 Black Feathers Cavalry and stopped on a mountainous track.


    The shape of the mountain was extremely weird. There were two peaks, and the peak at the eastern side was higher, while the peak at the western side was lower. The peaks were sticking out and the entire mountain resembled a two-headed snake.


    "Although it is rather dangerous that we need to cut through the habitat of the spiritual monkeys to take the shortest route, the longer we stay in the Three World Mountain, the higher the chance of encountering the Illusionary World..."


    Qin Qing mumbled and was agreeable to Fang Yuan''s decision.


    She was not aware of the fact that Fang Yuan was not only a Wu Zong, but also a dream master, and that he was rather interested in the Illusionary World.


    With her current cultivation level, all she was hoping for was to minimise the troubles they would face on their journey.


    ''Of course... This is the best possible outcome. If we do encounter the Illusionary World, we''ll just have to react accordingly...''


    Fang Yuan''s eyes were glittering, as though he could see through the fog and the secret within the Three World Mountain.


    "Everyone, get into formation!"


    Elder Zhou covered his mouth with a cloth which made his voice hoarse. However, with a command, the other 17 riders immediately obeyed and dismounted and spread the warning.


    Fang Yuan was rather impressed with the 18 Black Feathers Cavalry.


    If not for them, he would not have brought along the two burdens as well.


    "Let''s be clear. Although I''ve agreed to allow you two to follow me, I will only protect you two to a certain extent. If we encounter any real danger, every man will be for himself!"


    Fang Yuan stared at Qin Qing in the eye. "If any of you would like to back out, it''s not too late!"


    "Don''t worry, Sir!"


    Qin Qing licked her lips as her face was filled with determination. "If that really happens, it would mean that we are not fated to make it through!"


    She was wearing an inner armour and there were spiritual inscriptions all around Qin Yun and herself. They were covered in all sorts of protection.


    Hearing this, Fang Yuan did not comment. With the wave of his hand, he continued. "Since that is so, let''s be on our way!"


    ...


    As the sunlight peered through the leaves of the trees and the fog, there were dim spotted shadows on the ground.


    As the 18 Black Feathers Cavalry spread out, the three of them were surrounded in the middle. With much caution, they made their way into the mountain.


    The forest was tranquil, peaceful, and the flowers were beautiful. It was as though there was no danger at all.


    At this point in time, Qin Yun appeared excited. Seeing a huge flower, he unwittingly walked up and stepped on a dried branch, making a kacha sound!


    "Hiss! Hiss!"


    At the moment where the cavalries were less alert, the ''dried branch'' suddenly moved and revealed sharp fangs. It bit towards Qin Yun''s foot!


    "Ah..."


    As everything happened, Qin Yun''s mind was blank and he could not move a single bit.


    He could only detect a golden flash from the corner of his eye!


    "Whoosh!"


    A golden needle appeared and at the speed of light, it struck at the head of the dried branch and disappeared into the ground.


    "Hiss... Hiss..."


    The dried branch started to curl up and wailed in pain.


    Elder Zhou quickly rushed towards Qin Yun and sliced the dried branch into many pieces, and green blood started to flow out.


    "Dried Skin Snake?"


    Elder Zhou bent down and revealed a horrible look. "This snake is best at absorbing one''s energy. With its appearance similar to a dried branch, its camouflage is perfect! Even I was tricked!"


    Qin Qing''s face turned pale as she quickly went up to comfort Qin Yun.


    The Dried Skin Snake was an extremely cunning animal. It would camouflage as a tree branch to attract its prey. Its venom was extremely lethal and if not for Fang Yuan''s help, even with the spiritual inscriptions protection him, Qin Yun might still not be able to survive the Dried Skin Snake''s venom, and the outcome would be terrible.


    "Thank you, Sir, for your help!"


    As she stood up, she brought Qin Yun along to thank Fang Yuan.


    Even if they were not here for the Illusionary World, they had still benefited much from journeying with Fang Yuan.


    "It''s nothing. If we meet a real danger, it''s best for you to not depend on me!"


    Fang Yuan spoke the truth, and the Qin siblings rolled their eyes in their minds.


    This was especially so for Qin Yun, whose face was flushed.


    He had a little gratitude for Fang Yuan previously, but now it was all gone.


    After the commotion, they continued to make their way.


    Half a day had passed and the vegetation became increasingly denser. The skies were covered in dark clouds, covering the entire sun.


    "We must be careful. The habitat of the spiritual monkeys is just in front!"


    Elder Zhou tightened his grip on his scimitar and spoke in a serious tone.


    Fang Yuan recalled the information regarding the spiritual monkeys.


    Within the Three World Mountain, there was a weird species of spiritual monkeys. Their arms were long to the extent they would reach for their knees, and their bones were extremely hardy. Knives and swords would not be able to hurt them, and they were immune to the elements as well. When matured, they would be comparable to an inner force martial artist! If they were slightly stronger, they would have the cultivation of a 4 Heavenly Gates martial artist! The leader of their pack would be at the Elemental Gathering Realm!


    This was not the worst part.


    The worst would be the intellectual monkeys with spiritual eyes.


    These monkeys would have the same level of intellect as humans and could execute a special ability from their Mind Palaces. It would be wise for even a Wu Zong to avoid them as well.


    This time, Fang Yuan and company were intending to cut through the biggest habitat of these spiritual monkeys.


    There were stories of lucky Wu Zongs who were able to see for themselves the gathering of more than a hundred spiritual monkeys. There must be a monkey king at the Elemental Gathering Realm among them, and a probability that there might be spiritual monkeys who have evolved special traits!


    At that point of time, that particular Wu Zong was scared to the point that he ran away. He only recorded the details of the encounter in his diary after he had escaped.


    However, Fang Yuan and company were intending to make their way through with brute force, and the difficulty level was unimaginable.


    "Let''s take a rest first. Afterwards, while we are refreshed, we can try to rush through during the night!"


    Fang Yuan squinted his eyes.


    Although the forest was slightly illuminated, his senses told him that it was almost nightfall in the outside world.


    No matter how scary the spiritual monkeys might be, they were still animals after all and would have a regular activity pattern. If they could deduce that pattern, they would save a lot of trouble.


    "Yes, Sir!"


    As he commanded, Elder Zhou and the rest could only obey.


    The group of them found a large empty spot, pitched their tents and started to eat their dried rations.


    One of the Black Feathers Cavalry''s nose twitched and revealed a look of excitement. "There''s a source of water East of here! I''ll take some water back!"


    "Every one of them in the 18 Black Feathers Cavalry has a unique ability. Number 13th has a keen sense of smell and hearing, and can detect water sources from miles away..."


    Elder Zhou explained proudly.


    After an hour, Number 13 was not back yet, and Elder Zhou''s expression changed.


    "It seems that he might have encountered trouble. Let''s go and look for him!"


    Fang Yuan, who was sitting with his legs crossed, commented.


    As the other 17 of them started to search, they only took a short while before located Number 13 next to a lake.


    He was frozen in a posture of retrieving water, but the bottle in his hands was on the ground. His body was frozen like an ice statue!


    "What a mysterious chilly lake!"


    Looking at the emerald spring water, he mumbled to himself.


    "This seems like..."


    With the glitter in his eyes, he released his elemental energy, forming a huge hand which hauled the lake water up.


    "Rumble!"


    From the extreme force, the calm lake started to gush and a geyser appeared.


    Looking at this, Qin Yun was stunned.


    Although he knew that Wu Zong was powerful, it was a rare sight to see the scary scene of a Wu Zong exerting all its strength.


    "Come out!"


    As the water on both sides made way, Fang Yuan''s struck his claw out. The huge hand formed out of elemental force hauled a sky blue pearl out and brought it to the ground.


    This pearl was glowing inside and appeared normal. Weird enough, it was not cold, and on the contrary, it felt a little warm to the touch and was extremely mysterious.

 216 Chapter 216 Monkey King

    "Freezing Pearl!? Indeed the same as how it was recorded!"


    Fang Yuan was filled with excitement but became serious. "But we''ll still have to test its effects!"


    Casually, he pointed at one of the cavalries. "You, go! Pick up the pearl!"


    "Follow instructions!"


    Number 17th''s expression changed. As Qin Qing took in a deep breath, she commanded him.


    "Yes, Sir!"


    As he clenched his teeth, he wore a leather glove. He then walked up calmly and picked up the Freezing Pearl, and nothing happened.


    "Mm. Take out your gloves and try again!"


    Fang Yuan nodded his head and commanded him once more.


    "Ah!"


    Number 17th obeyed. As his finger touched the pearl, he screamed.


    "Whoosh!"


    A blue flash of light exploded from the pearl, covering him.


    As the glow dimmed, there was only an icy statue left in his place. Number 17th, who was frozen in the ice, had stopped breathing!


    "To freeze on touch. It can freeze anything as long as it''s not elemental force, flowing water or anything similar. It is indeed a freezing pearl!"


    Fang Yuan nodded his head. With the wave of his hands, the blue pearl landed in a jade box, which was subsequently taken in by the Mountain River Pearl.


    Qin Qing and Qin Yun, both who witnessed this scene, remained silent.


    "Indeed... I need these sacrificial knights!"


    Fang Yuan heaved a sigh inside.


    If he had prepared a bunch of sacrificial knights for his previous journeys, he wouldn''t have encountered so many dangers himself!


    "Mistress, master, let''s go!"


    Elder Zhou sighed. "Number 13 and 17 are both dead. Let''s not make their death for nothing. As long as we remember them and pay respects to them once we are back in our family, and not forgetting to compensate their descendants..."


    "That''s right!"


    Qin Qing licked her lips and stood up with determination. "We not only have to pay our respects to them, we must also bring them into the Qin Family''s ancestry! As long as our Qin Family exist, we must let them live on!"


    With that, she pulled Qin Yun over.


    "Sister... I know..."


    Qin Yun''s eyes were red.


    He knew that if he were to fail in being the heir of the family, then these two sacrificial knights would have died for nothing.


    "Let''s go!"


    He gritted his teeth and followed on.


    "Very good!"


    Fang Yuan walked on. As he felt the Qin siblings catching up, he nodded his head.


    He felt that after the death of the two sacrificial knights, both Qin Yun and Qin Qing had the magnanimity of a heir. They had matured extremely quick in such a harsh environment.


    "Phew..."


    Fang Yuan sighed. "Let''s take this opportunity and cover as much ground as we can!"


    Everyone remained silent as they started to rush.


    "It''s around midnight now, and the group of spiritual monkeys should be sleeping and not wandering outside..."


    It was pitch black everywhere and in the fog, the visibility was at its worst.


    It was a good thing that everyone was a martial artist with a considerable cultivation level. Everyone had a keen sense of sight and hearing and could rely on the dim moonlight to continue their journey.


    The mountainous road was rugged. Coupled with the fact that they were making their way in the dark, Qin Yun had fallen down a couple of times and his hands were bloodied.


    Elder though looked around and whispered. "Only if we''re extremely unlucky, would we encounter the mysterious species here..."


    "Wuuu! Wuuuu!"


    As he spoke, a voice full of energy was heard.


    "Is that the sound of the monkeys?!"


    Qin Yun exclaimed.


    In the dark, a pair of eyes glowed and stared at Qin Yun.


    "Flick!"


    Fang Yuan shook his head and casually flicked his fingers.


    "Whoosh!"


    He shot out a concentrated beam of elemental force. Like an arrow, it flew in the air and glowed.


    Qin Yun''s pupils contracted. With the illumination from the streak of elemental force, he could see the appearance of the spiritual monkey.


    It was extremely big in size and was taller than himself. The muscles on its arms were bulging and it was even thicker than his own legs. As its hands stretched past its knees, its face was fiery red, and there was a mysterious glow coming from its mind palace.


    The unique thing was that this spiritual monkey appeared to be extremely old, and the fur on it was turning white. There was a sense of spirituality in its eyes, giving off the vibe that it was a cunning monkey!


    Without a doubt, the spirituality of this monkey was shocking. If it was given more time, it might develop its spiritual eye and awaken itself!


    However, all of its hopes and dreams would end here!


    "Chi!"


    The streak of elemental force struck through its mind palace, breaking a bloodied hole in the process. Its brain fluid exploded out and the entire scene was a mess.


    "Let''s go!"


    Fang Yuan sighed. "After killing this old monkey, the rest will soon come along. We need to move quickly!"


    "Quickly!"


    Qin Qing''s expression changed. Without hesitation, they were on their way again.


    Without consideration for any ambush that might be present, everyone used their lightness skill. Their speed of advanced increased and after a short while, they had already passed a mountain stream. The silhouettes on both sides were retreating quickly as they advanced.


    "Wuuu! Wuuu!"


    At that point in time, there were many sounds from the monkeys in the surroundings. It was continuous and spread far and wide, striking fear in those who heard it.


    "Whoosh! Whoosh!"


    Many pairs of eyes appeared and surrounded them like candles.


    "This is... Monkey... monkey tribe!"


    Qin Qing lost her voice.


    "It seems that we are too late. We''re surrounded!"


    Fang Yuan shook his head. "There''s no use in us hiding. They have the geographical advantage, and the fact that everywhere is pitch black makes it even harder for us! Get me the Bright Moon Pearl!"


    "Weng! Weng!"


    A bright glow filled the darkness and the surrounding paths, vines, trees... Everything was illuminated.


    Qin Yun took in a cold breath as he looked at the tribe of monkeys.


    The monkey tribe was full of ferocious monkeys. With more than a hundred of them, they surrounded Fang Yuan and company. Staring fiercely at them, it was as though they wanted to eat them up alive.


    At the same time, more monkeys were arriving.


    "Wuu... Wuuuu..."


    There was a sharp sound heard. Loud and full of elemental energy, the sound almost led to Qin Yun spitting out a mouthful of blood.


    "Let''s go!"


    Fang Yuan exclaimed. With a huge hand formed from elemental force, he bashed his way forward.


    A few spiritual monkeys were swiped away and broke a few bones as they wailed in pain.


    There was now a hole broken apart among the surrounding monkeys and a group of people rushed out.


    "We can''t withstand this for long!"


    Fang Yuan led the way. Looking at the spiritual monkeys who were giving chase, he commanded. "Three of you, carry the light source and distract the monkeys away!"


    "Yes, Sir!"


    Three sacrificial knights appeared solemn. Holding on to the Bright Moon Pearl, they turned towards a separate direction.


    "Wuu! Wuuuuu!"


    "Wuu! Wuuuuu!"


    The monkeys shrieked. Fang Yuan and company took cover and hid within a small gorge. As they felt the monkey tribe rushing by them, the Qin siblings'' hearts were pounding.


    They were clear that the sacrificial knights who were picked out as bait were as good as dead. The only thing they could do was to prolong the time before their death.


    Even for them, if they were discovered, they would also have to face death.


    "Most of the monkeys have given chase to the three of them. Next up, we have to... bash our way through this gorge!"


    Elder Zhou gritted his teeth and led the way.


    Fang Yuan had a look of empathy in his eyes but did not say much as he followed silently behind.


    "Sister..."


    Qin Yun took a few steps forward and twitched his nose in curiosity. "What is this... why is this so fragrant?"


    "This is... wine!"


    Elder Zhou was sure of that. How could he not know the smell of such fragrant wine?


    "Why would there be the fragrance of wine deep in the forest?"


    Qin Qing''s face was flushed, as though she was a little tipsy.


    "Keke!"


    Elder Zhou was stunned as though he had thought of something. His teeth started to chatter in fear. "This wine had the fragrance of berries and is fermented from a hundred different fruits. It is the Monkey''s Wine!"


    "Monkey''s Wine, fermented by monkeys. How interesting..."


    Qin Yun continued, as his expression changed. "Why would the fragrance... be here?"


    "This is because... we are in the monkey''s nest!"


    Fang Yuan replied without batting an eyelid.


    "Monkey''s nest?"


    Qin Yun rounded a corner and arrived at a flat land. On the side of the cliff were golden-coloured vines, and many female monkeys were hanging by the vines and carrying their babies. Some of them were in deep sleep, while others were awakened by the commotion and looked around nervously.


    In the middle of the place was a rock cavern and the fragrance of the wine seemed to have originated from there.


    "It''s... it''s really the monkey''s nest!"


    Qin Qing turned pale. If not for the fact that Fang Yuan was with them, she would have thought that Fang Yuan had intentionally led them here.


    "The most dangerous place is always the safest place. Don''t you think this place is a good place to stay?"


    Fang Yuan smiled. "All the strong monkeys have left to chase them, and left this place defenceless. The monkeys would never think that we would ambush their nest!"


    "Furthermore... if we don''t come here, how can we defeat the monkey king?"


    "Monkey king?"


    Qin Yun almost fainted.


    "Of course, the monkey king!"


    Fang Yuan continued with a serious tone. "I am obviously no match for all of the spiritual monkeys. But if we take down their leader, it would strike enough fear in them for us to leave this place safely!"


    "Sir... You are looking to fight with the monkey king?"


    Elder Zhou shuddered as he recalled the practices of the monkeys.


    Wild animals would respect the strong. If anyone could defeat the monkey king one on one, they would gain the respect of the spiritual monkeys, and could safely leave the mountain.


    "How did you guess that the monkey king would be here?"


    "If the monkey king is here, we shall defeat it. If it is not here, we shall rest here and take their wine with us. Any problems with that?"


    Fang Yuan turned around with a surprised look.


    "I see!"


    Elder Zhou gritted his teeth. "This is indeed a possible plan. However... Don''t worry Sir, we will guard the outside and will not let any spiritual monkeys interfere with your fight against the monkey king!"


    "Very good!"


    Fang Yuan shifted his attention to the rock cavern in the middle.


    From there, he could already feel a strong spiritual aura from a spiritual soul''s presence.


    "Monkey king?"


    He laughed heartily with no intention of hiding. The energy level in him surged to peak levels.


    "Wuuu Wuuuuuuuu...."


    Many baby monkeys started to scream and hugged their mothers as they retreated, and some of them even fainted.


    "Wuu! Wuuu!"


    From the rock cavern, a tall monkey''s silhouette appeared.


    It was a few feet tall and was covered in golden fur. As it stood up, the eye on its mind palace opened, revealing a mysterious glow. There was a silvery flash from its eyes, and as soon as it saw Fang Yuan, it rushed out.


    This was the spiritual monkey king, which had evolved a special trait!


    Reacting to Fang Yuan''s challenge, it exclaimed furiously and in the process, the surroundings shook.

 217 Chapter 217 Black Shadow

    "Wuuu! Wuuuuu!"


    The Golden-furred monkey king exclaimed. Its gigantic body started to make a run towards Fang Yuan.


    The Qin siblings turned pale!


    Facing this ferocious animal, they froze in their tracks! They could not even dodge and was awaiting their deaths.


    Not just them, even Elder Zhou and the few Black Feather Cavalries were biting their lips till they bled.


    There was no question!


    If the Qin siblings were to face this monkey king alone, there was no doubt that they would die, and there was not even a slight chance of survival for them.


    "Good!"


    Fang Yuan looked at the monkey claw which was about to land and started to laugh. With his right fist, he flew upwards.


    "Rumble!"


    The ground shook!


    If the previous scene was described as the sky falling down, then Fang Yuan would be the pillar breaking through the skies.


    "Bang!"


    As the claw and fist met, the ground in the vicinity cracked as though there was a mini earthquake.


    The Golden-furred monkey king took two steps back and stared at the small ant in front of him curiously. The energy it had in it was immense.


    "Chi Chi!"


    "Wuuu! Wuuuu!"


    The commotion attracted a lot of strong monkeys.


    Seeing that a human was fighting with their king, they calmed down and formed a circle as they witnessed the fight without attempting to go forward to help.


    "Phew..."


    Elder Zhou and the rest retreated. "Everything seems good... It seems that the monkey king is indeed respectable. If Sir can defeat it, they would surely not dare to attack us!"


    "Can Sir defeat the monkey king?"


    Qin Yun looked at the surrounding spiritual monkeys and stumbled on his words.


    "This..."


    Elder Zhou sounded depressed. "This monkey king is at the Elemental Gathering Stage and had opened its spiritual eye. With its powers, normal Wu Zongs would not be its match... But looking at how daring Sir is, it seems that he has something to depend on!"


    "Bang!"


    As soon as he finished, they witnessed Fang Yuan slamming the spiritual monkey king into a rock wall, leaving a huge indentation in the wall as the rocks around it crumbled.


    "What a monkey king! It seems like I have to show you my true powers!"


    There was a mild golden glow emitting form Fang Yuan''s skin. This was the extreme stage of the combination of the Hundred Poison Golden Body and the Giant Eagle Metal Body.


    Not just that, there were three snake-like glows on his back. The three spiritual meridians disappeared into his body, taking up the shape of an armour.


    "Rumble!"


    Following the surge of energy, the air around was vibrating. The monkey tribe shuddered and took a few steps back.


    "This is... Meridian Opening!"


    Qin Qing exclaimed in delight. "Sir is a Meridian Opening Wu Zong!"


    "No wonder he could think of traversing the Three World Mountain by himself."


    Elder Zhou came to a realisation.


    "Wuu! Wuuuuu!"


    Following an exclamation, the spiritual monkey king climbed out from the dent in the wall. It was infuriated and the third eye from its mind palace started to glow, shooting a beam of light at Fang Yuan.


    "Whoosh!"


    A streak of golden light landed on Fang Yuan.


    "This is..."


    Fang Yuan felt an immense difficulty in raising his right hand, and his joints were cracking. In despair, he exclaimed. "Is this your godly powers? Gravitational Technique?"


    His body felt extremely heavy and the pressure he was experiencing was similar to the Four Elements Spiritual Array.


    The difference was the fact that the city master of Descending Star City had to painstakingly develop and perfect the array, but the Golden-furred monkey king could use it anytime it wanted to with the flick of its spiritual will!


    "Wuu! Wuuuuuu!"


    The Golden-furred monkey king roared and appeared enraged. It arrived in front of Fang Yuan and raised its claw.


    "Heh, however... This binding strength is still not enough to put me down! Giant Eagle Claw!"


    Without fear, he struck out his claw.


    "Chi! Chi!"


    The claws met in mid-air.


    The illusionary giant eagle claw was explosive as it gave off a fearful screech in mid-air.


    "Bang! Bang!"


    The Golden-furred monkey king took a few steps back and had a look of confusion in its eyes.


    Never would it have thought that someone who was trapped by its Gravitational Technique would be able to move without much restriction.


    "Mm... It seems that this is all you''ve got!"


    Fang Yuan swung his neck as though he was not being affected by the binding technique at all.


    He could previously break through the array, so why would he put the Golden-furred monkey king''s Gravitational Technique on his mind?


    "I''m wondering if I can dig out your third eye to smelt it into a magical weapon!"


    "Chi! Chi!"


    In a moment, the Golden-furred monkey king''s fur stood on its ends, as it shrieked.


    "You can feel my spiritual aura... this is not right!"


    Fang Yuan looked around and realised that several other spiritual monkeys were screaming as well. They started to escape and gave up watching the fight, as though they could feel an impending disaster.


    "Wuu! Wuuuuu!"


    The monkey king felt the same as well. Without caring about the fight or his wine, he climbed up the cliff and ran away.


    "Sir... Did you scare the monkey tribe away?!"


    Qin Yun stared in disbelief.


    "Idi*t!"


    Fang Yuan looked into the dark skies and appeared solemn. "The spiritual monkeys own this place. They have only escaped because they have sensed a familiar impending disaster..."


    "Disaster?"


    Qin Qing shook and made a guess. "Illusionary World?"


    "I''ve heard that this world is illusionary and will only occasionally appear in Three World Mountain. Whoever who would encounter it would not likely be able to survive!"


    Elder Zhou revealed a look of determination. "Compared to it, the danger from the monkey tribe is nothing... To think about it, we were even willing to run through the monkey''s area to avoid the Illusionary World, but in the end, it had still arrived..."


    The sky became darker.


    As the monkey tribe ran for their lives, there was not a single life form left. The mountain breeze blew and with it was a rustling sound. Everywhere was extremely silent compared to the initial commotion, and it was an eerie silence.


    "Keke! Keke!"


    Qin Yun was chattering his teeth in fear as he looked at his sister. "What should we do?"


    "Sir?!"


    Qin Qing took two steps forward and looked at Fang Yuan. She knew that it all depended on him for all of them to escape alive.


    "We''ll not run!"


    Fang Yuan shook his head as though he had just snapped out from a trance. There was a look of shock on his face. "We are now... Already in the Illusionary World..."


    "What?"


    The Qin siblings went pale. "How is this possible?"


    "The Illusionary World does not belong to our world from the beginning. Like how two pieces of paper would stack together, it would only appear where two points meet, where the two other worlds coincide. This is the real Three World Mountain!"


    Hearing the silence in the air, Fang Yuan shook his head.


    "Then what will happen to us..."


    Qin Qing was about to add on but was distracted by the sounds of a tribe of monkeys.


    "Chi! Chi!"


    In the darkness, many pairs of red eyes appeared as they approached them.


    "This is... the spiritual monkeys from before! No... that''s not right..."


    Elder Zhou looked.


    The spirituality in the monkey''s eyes was now gone, and their eyes were bloodshot. Their movement was zombie-like and their fur was a pitch black. Like shadows, they stood up and approached them.


    "One of you, go and test their ability!"


    Fang Yuan ordered.


    "Die!"


    A Black Feather Cavalry rushed forward. He had the cultivation of an 8th Gate martial artist, and he struck his scimitar towards the head of one of the spiritual monkeys.


    "Chila!"


    As the scimitar glittered, it went straight into the head of the black monkey.


    An eerie scene soon unfolded.


    There was no blood, no screaming.


    The black monkey appeared normal, and the scimitar on its head started to disappear, as though the shadow of it was swallowing it in.


    Not just that, the scimitar seemed to be able to attract and pull the Black Feather Cavalry towards it.


    "No..."


    The Black Feather Cavalry wanted to let go, but the black monkey stretched out its hands and held him tightly.


    "Ah..."


    He started to wail but was slowly taken in by the shadow of the black monkey. Soon, he was left with his upper body, then his shocked face, then his arm.


    Finally, as the black monkey pressed him in, the Black Feather Cavalry disappeared and was swallowed completely.


    Without changing its expression, its bloodshot eyes became even redder as it stared at Fang Yuan and the rest.


    "How can such a normal spiritual monkey evolve such a powerful trait?"


    Fang Yuan appeared serious. "Are all of you possessed? Let''s go!"


    Looking around, he had no intention of breaking out of the surrounding monkeys. He made a dash towards the monkey king''s rock cavern.


    "Follow!"


    Elder Zhou pushed the Qin siblings along and ordered another two sacrificial knights to distract them. Together, they hid in the rock cavern.


    The rock cavern was rather spacious, and it was extremely dry inside. It laid in the centre and was a favourable hiding spot.


    With the strong fragrance of wine, everyone in the rock cavern became tipsy.


    There were two exclamations behind followed by footsteps. It was evident that the black monkeys had caught up to them.


    "If there are no other escape routes, we would die here!"


    Fang Yuan took a quick look at a corner and his eyes glittered. "However, we are surrounded now. We can only defend this place with our lives!"


    "In history, the Illusionary World would only appear for a while. We just have to last longer than it!"


    "Furthermore... My goal is not to simply last for a period of time!"


    ...


    As his eyes glittered, he could see a black monkey walking towards them.


    "Giant Eagle Claw!"


    "Rumble!"


    The black monkey few backwards and there were three deep claw marks on its chest.


    "It seems that attacking them with elemental force is rather effective! Although it took up some of my energy, it is still effective!"


    As he struck the monkey, he quickly retreated.


    A few black monkeys started to surround them once again.


    "Down!"


    As he aimed at a rock wall, he released his elemental energy, causing rocks to crumbled and seal the cavern.


    "Whoosh!"


    Long before he had sealed the cavern, he had released a streak of elemental energy. Like a sharp knife, it sliced the head of a black monkey. In mid-air, he grabbed the monkey''s head and brought it into the cavern.


    "This way..."


    He had already used his spiritual will and realised that there were escape paths in the cavern. Before hiding in the cavern, he had already planned for the way ahead.


    He started to do a headcount for all the people with him, now that they had retreated deep into the mountains.


    He realised that after all that commotion, the only ones left were the Qin Siblings, Elder Zhou, and three other Black Feather Cavalries.

 218 Chapter 218 Spiritual Seed

    "Wuu! Wuuuu!"


    Within the cavern, the Bight Moon Pearl illuminated the entire place with a green glow. They all had a creepy look as the green glow landed on their faces.


    This was especially so for the spiritual monkey''s head in Fang Yuan''s hands. Even though the head was already severed off, it still had the vitality in it. Shrieking loudly, it opened its fangs as though it wanted to cause trouble.


    "What is this... weird creature..."


    Both Qin Yun and Qin Qing gave a disgusted look.


    "Indeed a weird creature!"


    Fang Yuan walked up and examined the black mist that was spurting out from the spiritual monkey''s severed head.


    "Hiss... Hiss..."


    The black mist was thick and started to slither up Fang Yuan''s fingers like a hand full of life.


    "Ha!"


    As his eyes glittered, he exerted his elemental force.


    "Chila!"


    White smoke emerged. His elemental force was against the dark force and it had resulted in a stalemate.


    "This is a strong dark force..."


    After a while, Fang Yuan opened his eyes and let out a long sigh. "Although it''s his evil in nature, its power is already comparable to elemental force..."


    "Chichi!"


    As he spoke, the monkey''s head in his hands disappeared into a puddle of black blood. Most of the dark force disappeared together with it without leaving any traces of it behind.


    "Does the dark force take cover in the Illusionary World?"


    Fang Yuan could detect the power of the shadows. As he looked around, he felt depressed.


    "This means that... Not just spiritual monkeys, but humans might be possessed by it too!"


    The commotion outside slowly settled down.


    Through a crack in the rock wall, a black mist slowly slithered its way in like a hand dancing.


    "What is this... damned thing?!"


    A Black Feathers Cavalry sliced his sword at it, but the sword went straight through it and into a rock, resulting in sparks.


    Not just that, the black hand slithered its way up the sword and spread to his palm, arm and finally to his chest.


    "Number Four!"


    Elder Zhou exclaimed and rushed over as he used his finger to press on Number Four''s acupuncture point, but to no avail.


    To make things worse, the black hand continued its way on his fingers.


    "Ghost!"


    Elder Zhou''s expression changed. As he swung his scimitar, two of his fingers dropped onto the floor.


    "Boss?"


    Two other Black Feathers Cavalry were in shock.


    Only now did they realise that their fellow brother stood up. His face was shrouded in black mist and his eyes were bloodshot. As he let out a beastly roar, he pounced towards them with his hands shaped into claws. Opening his mouth wide, he bit on their necks.


    "Get lost!"


    Fang Yuan looked at the helpless Qin Siblings and waved his right hand.


    "Bang!"


    As the dark-forced Number Four screamed, he was smashed into the rock wall.


    "How does this dark force spread so quickly?"


    Fang Yuan came to Number Four.


    His limbs were broken and should not be able to move. However, he raised his neck and the ferocious look it gave made it seemed like he was no longer human.


    "What a parasite..."


    With focus, Fang Yuan grabbed his pulse and transferred his elemental force.


    "Weng! Weng!"


    There was a white glow that originated from the back of his hand as it slowly spread to his wrist, arms, chest and face.


    "Chi!"


    As the dark force was cleansed out of him, an unconscious and pale-looking middle-aged man was all that was left.


    "He should be... fine now¡­...."


    Fang Yuan calmly commented before keeping silent once more.


    ''This dark force and elemental force counter each other. My guess is right... It is extremely afraid of dream elemental force. This must be left behind by an evil dream master, right?''


    Elder Zhou witnessed the scene before him and looked at the two fingers on the floor with a helpless look.


    He was extremely regretful.


    If he knew that Fang Yuan was able to save Number Four, he wouldn''t have needed to sacrifice his fingers!


    His determination to save a life seemed like a foolish joke now.


    "Godly doctor..."


    Qin Qing could not stand it anymore and asked.


    "I can chase the dark force away and heal fractured bones, but this..."


    Fang Yuan shook his head. "If these two fingers were still on him, I can still transfer my elemental energy to chase the dark force away, but now... I am more curious about their thinking..."


    "Why do you want to do that, even though I am beside you and you have seen for yourself what happened to the monkey''s head?"


    He glanced at Elder Zhou with a serious look.


    "This..."


    Elder Zhou appeared confused, before revealing a shocked look. "Young Mistress, Young Master, beware! This dark force seems to be able to affect your thinking!"


    He was affected by the dark force, which explained his reckless and extreme actions.


    "How? Are you still able to walk?"


    Fang Yuan stood up and turned towards the widest tunnel.


    "No... No problem!"


    Elder Zhou clenched his teeth and used his clothing to cover up his wounds. Looking at his unconscious subordinate, he gritted his teeth. "If we meet any more dangers, I hope that Sir, you will be able to bring Young Mistress and Young Master to safety. The few of us can sacrifice anytime!"


    "Mm, this was my plan all along!"


    Fang Yuan replied without batting an eyelid.


    Elder Zhou was speechless.


    ...


    At this point in time, at the sealed wall by the crumbled rocks, the black mist started to spread in.


    Fang Yuan followed the fragrance of the wine and the tracks left behind by the monkey king as he continued deeper into the cavern, finally locating the nest of the monkey.


    "This is..."


    Qin Qing was speechless when she witnessed what was before her.


    In front of her was a huge underground cave like a square.


    In the middle of the square, there were countless tree roots and stumps. In the middle of it all was a huge tree, and around it was many tree stumps.


    This tree was the last of its kind.


    In the huge tree, there was a huge hole. It was filled with a green-coloured wine. The fragrance of the fruit wine filled the entire square. It was intense and the smell of it was 10 times more than before! 100 times!


    Qin Qing was already too tipsy to begin with. As she came to the square, she could not withstand it any longer. As he face became flushed, she became drunk and fell to the ground.


    At the side, Qin Yun started to wail and mumbled to himself. "I want revenge!" "Sister... Mother! I feel terrible and drained..." Slowly, he went into a deep slumber.


    "What in the world!"


    Seeing what just happened, Fang Yuan was speechless.


    Of course, the spiritual monkey''s wine was not poisonous. In fact, it had nutritious value and was able to supplement the body. However, they were not able to hold their liquor and this was therefore no different from drugs.


    Unfortunately, the Qin siblings were both not accustomed to drinking and the protection they had all over their bodies were useless, which was why both of them succumbed.


    "Look after the two of them..."


    After casually instructed them, he used his lightness skill and leapt on the tree stumps.


    "Monkey wine? Monkeys are well known to gather fruits to ferment, producing wine. Who knew how long the wine was here. There might even be spiritual fruits in it..."


    Fang Yuan took out his Mountain River Pearl and prepared to take out a few empty gourds.


    However, suddenly, his expression changed.


    With the flip of his hands, a seed appeared.


    The seed appeared black and unattractive, but it slowly released an emerald glow and a slight hint of a thought of its own, as though it was trying to convince its thirst to exist.


    "It..."


    Fang Yuan could recognise that this seed was a treasure he had found from Lu Renjia''s secret stash. It was the seed of a spiritual plant which he suspected as a Heaven Grade.


    The spiritual seed was extraordinary. Previously, just the spiritual aura of it was already enough to help Fang Yuan achieve a breakthrough in Botany.


    Putting all hopes on it, Fang Yuan planted it in Green Peak Spiritual Mountain, but nothing happened since, which made him a little disappointed.


    However, there were changes to the seed once again. It exerted its own will to exist, but it was directed to the pool of monkey wine.


    "Mm..."


    Fang Yuan looked at the tree stump followed by the monkey wine and was confused. "Is this happening because of the spiritual tree or the spiritual wine? No, the spiritual wine had absorbed all the essence from the tree while it was fermented. I''m afraid it has already taken all the spiritual property from the spiritual tree..."


    Thinking about it, he finally decided not to use his own means, but follow the wishes of the seed and submerged it into the wine.


    Although the spiritual wine as good, Fang Yuan already had a comparable bottomless wine pot. Together with his huge collection of spiritual items, it was hard for him to convince himself to take this spiritual wine, of which the contents of the wine was still unknown to him.


    "Bloop! Bloop!"


    Once the spiritual seed was submerged into the pool, it started to glow as it released a huge bubble.


    Following which, a swirl started to appear in the middle of the pool of wine. It slowly grew and became bigger, but the amount of wine started to decrease.


    Finally, a dried wooden platform was revealed and in the middle of it was the spiritual seed.


    At this point in time, the black skin was shed, revealing an emerald green colour. The signs of life within the seed started to grow.


    "I''ve seen many people drinking wine... But it''s my first time seeing a spiritual seed drinking wine!"


    Fang Yuan smirked. Slowly, he felt the last hint of spiritual property in the tree stump he was standing on being sucked away, and it started to dry up.


    "Weng! Weng!"


    With the wave of his hands, the spiritual seed landed on his palm.


    "Indeed... It''s different!"


    If the seed''s previous appearance was described as an uncut rock, the spiritual seed would be considered a beautiful gem.


    "If I can locate a spiritual land, this spiritual seed should be able to germinate now, right?"


    With a flash, the spiritual seed was once again absorbed into the Mountain River Pearl.


    The wine fragrance which initially filled the entire place was slowly dissipating, and the Qin siblings slowly came to after being made to drink water.


    "All it takes for it to shed its skin was an entire pool of spiritual wine and the spiritual property of this spiritual tree?"


    Fang Yuan leapt down from the stump, speechless. "Is this a good thing or a bad thing..."


    "This is..."


    Elder Zhou looked at the roots left behind by the old tree and was shocked.


    "This was the nest of the spiritual monkey king and this was his treasure!"


    Fang Yuan rubbed his nose. "Of course, let''s hope that it will not be enraged after coming back here!"


    "Bang!"


    In the next moment, following a loud sound, there were footsteps approaching.


    Elder Zhou forcefully turned his neck over and saw a huge silhouette rushing into the cave.


    The monkey king appeared very different from what it used to be.


    All of its golden fur had become black and its eyes were bloodshot. Seeing the empty tree stump, its ferocious look turned into one of confusion as it let out a blood-curdling cry.


    "It''s the spiritual monkey king! It is being possessed!"


    Elder Zhou and the rest appeared desolate.

 219 Chapter 219 Breakthrough

    "Who would''ve thought that the spiritual monkey king would also succumb to the dark force..."


    Sensing the increasingly scary spiritual aura of the spiritual monkey king, Fang Yuan shook his head and gave a serious look.


    He had confidence that he could defeat the previous spiritual monkey king, but now, the current spiritual monkey king gave him a feeling of danger.


    "Elder Zhou..."


    He was back facing Elder Zhou and was signalling for them to find their way out.


    "Sir... take care!"


    Elder Zou protected the Qin siblings and ran towards the wall to hide.


    In the next moment, a powerful spiritual aura filled the entire place.


    "Wuu! Wuuuuuu!"


    The enraged monkey shrieked, and countless dark force hands were dancing around, almost covering the entire cavern.


    "Whooo!"


    A black shadow rushed forward and struck a claw out at Fang Yuan.


    "Ha!"


    The spiritual armour on Fang Yuan''s body started to glitter. Channelling strength to his right hand, he struck his fist out.


    "Bang!"


    As the fist and claw met, Fang Yuan''s expression changed. He flew backwards and cracks appeared on his spiritual armour. Within seconds, it shattered and disintegrated into sparks.


    "Wuu! Wuuuuu!"


    The black enraged monkey was much more fierce than before. With its weird shriek, its third eye between its eyebrows opened, and a huge force landed on Fang Yuan.


    "Whoosh!"


    Not just that, but a dark streak of light shot out from its third eye, and it quickly landed on Fang Yuan.


    ''What the hell! How does it being possessed allow it to be stronger?''


    Fang Yuan''s expression changed and tried his best to break free from the force.


    "Whoosh!"


    The dark streak of light flew past its shoulders, destroying his elemental force armour. His clothing started to disintegrate, and even his golden body was not able to withstand it. A small part of his muscle started to dissolve, revealing an open wound.


    "This power..."


    "Whoosh!"


    With a flash, Fang Yuan used his Shadowstep and escaped into a random tunnel, disappearing.


    "What a powerful monkey. It was different from what it used to be..."


    Without turning his head, he quickly ran.


    "It seems to have the Seventh Elemental Force, comparable to when Nie Kuang was at his peak! Not just that, his third eye has two unique abilities. One of them is the Gravitational Technique, and the other would be that dark streak of light!"


    Thinking about the ambush from the monkey king, even Fang Yuan started to shudder in fear.


    The intensity of that attack was enough to kill him!


    "What a strong dark force... Furthermore, I could feel the evil intent of it..."


    He rubbed the area between his eyebrows. While they were fighting, his dream elemental force from his Zu Qiao could detect the evil intent from the monkey king.


    "Hatred, pain... It seems like a combination of negative feelings?"


    Fang Yuan thought to himself. "Only a fool would pit himself against the unknown, not to mention that it was such a powerful adversary!"


    Not far from him, there was a cry.


    He was unclear if it was the Qin siblings who had encountered the monkey king, or sacrificial knights trying their best to distract the monkey king.


    Taking this rare opportunity, Fang Yuan continued to explore his way and took a huge detour, finally reaching the deepest part of the cavern.


    "I don''t know how deep this cavern this. I can randomly pick a place and defend, and that should be no problem... Of course, the best would be for me to find an exit and escape from either the entrance where we came from or another exit!"


    In the midst of rushing his way, Fang Yuan released his spiritual will in an attempt to find an exit.


    "The tunnel ahead is a dead end!"


    "The tunnel on the left has no air circulation, and from there comes the occasional roar. It will be likely to meet the spiritual monkey king there..."


    "There''s wind noises and water splashing from the hole in the right. There might be a hidden river or exposed exit!"


    ...


    As he gathered all the information with his spiritual will, he quickly assessed each of them.


    Using his Shadowstep, he rushed into the tunnel on the right.


    "Whoooo! Whoo!"


    As a gentle breeze was felt, a hidden river was revealed underneath.


    "Bloop! Bloop!"


    The water from the river was not clear. Instead, it was a green liquid. It was bubbling continuously and was continuously eroding the river banks on both sides.


    "Wuu! Wuuuuuu!"


    The monkey king was heard, and Fang Yuan could vaguely see a huge silhouette chasing from behind.


    "Chi chi..."


    Fang Yuan bent down and stretched his right hand into the river.


    "Chichi!"


    The corrosive river water was resisted by the elemental force and golden glow from his hand.


    "... Never would I have thought that I would be forced to such an extent. Are the novels reliable? They always let the protagonist encounter a miracle after jumping into rivers, right?"


    Fang Yuan''s thoughts ran wild. With a splash, he leapt into the green river, displacing a huge amount of water.


    As the green river water landed on the walls and the ground, it started to corrode holes, and from the holes came a white smoke.


    "Splash!!!"


    An even greater splash of water was heard.


    It was the spiritual monkey king. Seeing Fang Yuan attempting to escape by jumping in, it couldn''t care less and followed suit.


    The river water started to corrode its fur, but the monkey king was protected by the dark force. With an exclamation, it tried to search for Fang Yuan.


    ...


    Outside the mountain.


    "Whoosh!"


    As the ground exploded, an underground tunnel was revealed and Fang Yuan leapt out, looking at the sky.


    The fog had dissipated long ago, and the clear was clear with a bright moon.


    However, the moon had a red hue, as though it was signalling that something bad was about to happen.


    "Has the Illusionary World completely combined with the real world?"


    Fang Yuan laid on the ground and stared into the sky, looking depressed. "Indeed... the miracles that all the protagonists would encounter after jumping into rivers are all lies!"


    He appeared extremely worn-out.


    After being soaked in the corrosive river water, his clothing became tattered, even though it was protected by his elemental force. He now appeared like a beggar, and his golden skin was revealed.


    "Bloop! Bloop!"


    There was a rumbling sound from beneath, followed by a tremor as though there was an impending earthquake.


    It was as though Fang Yuan could hear the exclamation from the monkey king.


    "Why is it always following me!"


    With a sigh, he looked for a direction and disappeared with his Shadowstep.


    "Bang!"


    Behind him, the cavern exploded, revealing the possessed monkey king''s body. It screamed as it started to give chase.


    The wind was rumbling!


    As he was running, Fang Yuan started to notice changes in the area around him.


    "This place looks weird... It seems that with the arrival of the Illusionary World, the rules of reality would change as well..."


    "Or should I say, with the constant spread of dark force, this region is slowly transforming into a dream world... It''s a pity that my dream building skills are still not strong enough in a highly-skilled dream master''s dream world. Otherwise, I would be able to control all these!"


    Fang Yuan took a quick glance at the spiritual monkey king, who was not giving up, and gritted his teeth,


    "Wait a moment. Dream building!"


    Suddenly, Fang Yuan''s expression changed. With the flick of his fingers, the cliff ahead of him started to rumble and land appeared between both cliffs.


    "My powers..."


    Looking at his own hands, he was shocked. "I can use them? Could it be that this dream master is weaker than Yang Fan? No! This is not right..."


    Fang Yuan came to another conclusion. "Could this be the peculiar property in Three World Mountains that would leave every dream master with they dream building powers? After all, this is not a complete dream world and there must be loopholes within the rules for us to exploit..."


    "Wuu! Wuuuuu!"


    On the flat ground which was once a cliff, Fang Yuan stopped running.


    Behind him was the aggressive spiritual monkey king giving chase.


    Turning around, he was eager to test his powers. "Although I have proven that I have my dream building abilities, I am still unsure of how much I can do. I''ll need to do an experiment!"


    "Puff! Puff!"


    Seeing the arrival of the monkey king, he casually snapped his fingers. Suddenly, vines appeared from the ground; they were metallic and were full of thorns like snakes. Within seconds, it trapped the monkey king.


    The thorns from it started to break through the dark force''s defence and went into its skin.


    "Aw! Aww!"


    The spiritual monkey king gave out a weird scream and pulled on the vines, breaking them.


    "Still not strong enough..."


    Fang Yuan looked at the scene and shook his head. "I cannot weaken him. Can I try strengthening myself..."


    Although he only obtained an insignificant ability to alter the world, it was enough for Fang Yuan. The monkey king was no match for him.


    Seeing the monkey king pouncing at him, he shrugged his shoulders. The ground beneath gave way, and the cliffs appeared once more.


    The monkey king lost its footing and fell all the way down. Not willing to give up, it struck its claws on the cliff walls.


    "Get down!"


    Fang Yuan stomped his foot on the ground. With a rumbling sound, a crack appeared and half of the cliff crumbled into rocks, which started to fall towards the monkey king.


    With the threat of nature, even the monkey king could do nothing but grunt. It released its grip and fell into the abyss.


    "This Illusionary World..."


    Fang Yuan had already forgotten about the monkey king. Looking at everything around him, he had a look of disbelief and excitement.


    "It is real and illusory at the same time! Mind could affect matter and consciousness could affect reality, and this is exactly what it meant!"


    His dream master cultivation was put to a halt as he was unable to actualise things from his dream.


    This was a chance for him!


    This Illusionary World combined the real world with dreams. Just like a dream master, it was guiding Fang Yuan on how to do it, giving him inspiration to achieve a breakthrough.


    "What is a dream? What is not a dream?"


    The moon with a red hue was covered by a faint glow in the sky.


    As the sun began to rise from the East, its golden rays spread far and wide, but it remained hidden within the clouds.


    "Only I will know, who is the true master of this dream..."


    Fang Yuan mumbled something to himself, closed his eyes and entered a mysterious state of nirvana.


    Just as the sun was about to rise, banishing the Illusionary World and separating it from the real world, he held on to this opportunity and started to comprehend the process of actualising his dreams in reality.


    "Whoooo! Whooo!"


    The mountain breeze caressed his face.


    An unexpected thing happened.


    An unknown energy brought along the dark force in the air, transforming it into a black snake which circled Fang Yuan. Suddenly, it pounced on him, engulfing him in within.


    Fang Yuan was not conscious yet, and it was as though he had become a black hole, swallowing all the dark force around him...


    From this, a mysterious force was born, which started to slowly push his cultivation as a dream master towards greater heights, attempting for a breakthrough!

 220 Chapter 220 Illusionary Divine

    Fang Yuan felt as though he had slipped into a fairytale dream.


    For dream masters to break through the Elemental Gathering Realm, they had to achieve the Illusionary Diving Stage. This could only be done by having a complete understanding of the rules of reality and releasing a huge amount of dream elemental force.


    As for comprehending the rules of reality, he had already gathered enough experience in the past three years. Together with Yang Fan''s dream world, he had enough understanding of the rules.


    However, he still did not have the endurance to achieve a breakthrough. This was still true, even though he possessed an entire spiritual land!


    But now, a continuous force seeped out from his limbs, getting ready to break through!


    ''I only wanted to... Understand the rules in this Illusionary World... what is happening now? Am I using the strength here to achieve a breakthrough?''


    Fang Yuan was helpless as he looked at his Zu Qiao changing. Within his mind palace, his dream elemental force gathered continuously as he prepared for the breakthrough.


    Of course, he wouldn''t let go of this perfect opportunity. Concentrating, he made full use of the chance that was given to him!


    With much focus, Fang Yuan could vaguely see a huge door which covered the skies and was as tall as a mountain.


    That was the gate of the Illusionary Divine, and the difficulty level of breaking through this gate compared to the Opening Meridian stage of Wu Zong was unimaginable.


    His dream elemental force rumbled and like a tsunami, it crashed onto the door.


    "Whoosh!"


    It was intense!


    As the huge door shook, it remained closed.


    Without thinking much, Fang Yuan quickly gathered his dream elemental force and tried once more.


    "Whoosh! Whoosh!"


    Under the continuous crashing of waves, even the strongest door would crack. From the cracks, there was a colourful glow, and the glow intensified as more and more cracks appeared, as though it was about to explode.


    That was the line which separates the real world and the dream world, the ability for the mind to affect matter!


    ...


    Flash!


    There were countless white flashes!


    At the moment where the door crumbled, white light flowed into Fang Yuan''s Zu Qiao, into his mind palace and his consciousness.


    "Whoosh!"


    A void was forced into his consciousness; this void was the link between illusory and reality.


    "Whoosh! Whoosh!"


    As the white flash sparked, it became weaker¡­.... It started to spread far and wide, and finally, it became a small space with a radius of a few feet, and the height of about 8 inches.


    "This is... my dream world! Actualising my dream world!"


    In the middle of the space, there was a small person the size of a figurine, which had the looks of Fang Yuan. This was his consciousness.


    "My dream world! A dream master''s actualised dream world is where the Illusionary Divine lies! Where my nest lie... it is the most crucial, and is the fort that allows me to defend from other dream masters!"


    Since Fang Yuan had the inheritance from Master Heartless, he had an understanding of his actualised dream world.


    "This dream world seems real and illusory at the same time, and is the foundation to everything else that I can actualise..."


    "In my dream world, I can do anything!"


    Fang Yuan looked at his feet. There was a layer of sand and nothing else in mid-air. He shook his head helplessly.


    It was already not bad considering it was the first time for Fang Yuan to actualise his dream world.


    "I want to know what is that force which assisted me in my breakthrough!"


    Fang Yuan had a confused look. Suddenly, he waved his hands, and his clear voice was heard throughout the mountain "I am the master of my dream world, the king of this world!!!"


    In his loud voice, he started to use his dream building skills. A flash appeared, which then transformed into a talisman. It was as though there were 9 Fire Dragons dancing around.


    ...


    Three World Mountain.


    On the peak of one of the mountains.


    Fang Yuan who was deep in meditation suddenly opened his eyes.


    "Actualise!"


    He exerted his dream elemental force. Connecting himself with his actualised dream world, a fiery-red talisman appeared in front of him, and the dragons were roaring and appearing mighty. His spiritual technique was impressive, and it was no weaker than that of the previous Secluded Mountain Prefecture Master, Liu Yan.


    He could dream of thousands of spiritual techniques in a single dream! A dream spells master!


    "Is this... the power to actualise?"


    Looking at the talisman in front of him, Fang Yuan remained speechless. ''I have only seen him cast this spell once, and I can cast it myself now just by using dream elemental energy...''


    To actualise spiritual spells, he only needed to exert energy. However, to actualise other objects, especially physical objects, it would be much harder.


    Therefore, most dream masters would specialise as a dream spells master after achieving a breakthrough to the Illusionary Divine Stage.


    "Then... What about a dream soldier master?"


    Fang Yuan thought to himself.


    Within his actualised dream world, a huge amount of dream elemental force condensed, forming the shape of a black dagger.


    The actual world.


    After a flash, a long metal piece landed in Fang Yuan''s hands.


    This metal was unpolished and was average in hardness; it barely resembled a dagger.


    "This is real!"


    After recovering from his shock, he frowned. "I''ve spent too much effort doing this. For such a piece of normal metal, the amount of dream elemental energy I have to spend is much more compared to the spiritual technique which I cast previously... Furthermore, it seems like a low-quality dagger. Could this be due to the fact that I am not used to actualising objects? It seems that I am far from actualising magical weapons from my dreams..."


    "I have not yet decided which path I am going to specialise into, but what I am sure of is that this dream elemental force is extremely important! I cannot waste it, and I''ll have to use it wisely!"


    Initially, Fang Yuan''s dream elemental force was only used for him to cast his bewildering fog and Shadowstep, and there was a surplus of it all the time.


    But now, he realised that he was going to run into a deficit of dream elemental force.


    The power of actualising in the Illusionary Divine stage was extremely strong. To actualise an object, a lot of dream elemental force would have to be used up. Needless to say, it was not worth it for him to actualise valuable treasures as the consumption of dream elemental force would be more than the value of these treasures. Notwithstanding the fact that he was not at that level of cultivation yet, even if he were to be there, it would still not be worth it to exchange that amount of dream elemental force for the treasures.


    Only those at the peak of the Illusionary Divine Stage could consider doing something as ambitious as this.


    Thinking about this, Fang Yuan looked at his own stats window:


    "Name: Fang Yuan


    Essence: 36


    Spirit: 30


    Magic: 20


    Profession: Dream Master


    Cultivation: [Illusionary Divine (???)], Wu Zong (Third Meridian)


    Technique: [Giant Eagle Metal Body Technique (Grade 4) (1%)], Bewildering Spell, Shadowstep, Hundred Poison Golden Body (First Refining)


    Skill: [Medicine (Level 3)], [Botany (Level 5)]"


    "Illusionary Divine - You are not only the master of your dream world but also the divine person of the Illusionary World! Mind could affect matter and consciousness could affect reality, and being a divine person, you have the ability to alter reality!"


    "What a breakthrough in my magical energy! A huge leap indeed!"


    Fang Yuan rubbed the area between his eyebrows.


    Previously, when his magical energy rose by a point or two, he would feel a stinging pain in his head.


    But now, with such an increment to his magical energy, everything was absorbed by his actualised dream world, and he did not flinch a single bit.


    "However... Magical energy is still not directly related to the consumption of my dream elemental force... If there is something more direct that I can use to measure my consumption, that would be good!"


    In that instant, Fang Yuan thought of something.


    Immediately, he was left dumbfounded as his stats window became blurred. Behind his magical energy, there was another blue bar!


    That''s right!


    It was similar to the red bar he had which displayed his proficiency points, and it could accurately reflect each level.


    It was not full; the blue bar was only about 80%-90% filled. It was the dream elemental force which he used up just now.


    ''Mm... If I would consume 1% of my dream elemental force everytime I cast my bewildering spell, then the actualising of a spiritual technique would take up 5% or even a little more...''


    Looking at the blue bar, Fang Yuan commented confidently.


    Although he knew that the stats window only displayed what he already knew, this breakthrough and the new additions to the window still surprised him.


    "Illusionary Divine is a huge stage, and the path to actualising objects is a long one..."


    Fang Yuan clenched his fists and was brimming with self-confidence.


    Yang Fan or his own master only reached the peak of the Illusionary Divine stage.


    Even so, they were still respectable and highly skilled people in Da Qian empire already.


    An Illusionary Divine dream master!


    If Fang Yuan had such a cultivation level in Yang Fan''s dream world previously, he would not settle for a mere Eagle Lieutenant appointment.


    "Wuu! Wuuuuu!"


    Accompanying the growl, a huge shadow leapt from the walls of the cliffs, making its way up. It was the spiritual monkey king.


    It was filled with rage and energy like a burning inferno, and its bloodshot eyes were fierce. However, as it looked at Fang Yuan, it hesitated.


    "Why would you hesitate?"


    Fang Yuan thought about it. "Can you feel something different about me?"


    He smiled and heaved a breath.


    "Roar! Roar!"


    A red talisman which was floating around him exploded, revealing 9 red fiery dragons. These dragons started to roar ferociously and rushed towards the monkey king.


    "Rumble! Rumble!"


    As the dragons spit fire, the entire place became a burning inferno. It was as though a fiery pill was burning in the centre of the inferno.


    "Chi! Chi!"


    The spiritual monkey king was burnt throughout as it wailed in pain. The dark force from its body started to rise up.


    After all, it was time for the separation of the Illusionary World, and the force from the dark force would slowly weaken.


    "What a good beast!"


    Fang Yuan nodded his head. Another green talisman was tossed out form his actualised dream world.


    "Elemental energy of the Nine Heavens, hear my command, strike!"


    "Whooo! Whoooo!"


    Suddenly, another 9 green dragons flashed and appeared next to Fang Yuan. Quickly, they became tornados and swirled themselves at the monkey king.


    The fire was growing in the wind!


    As the wind blew, the fire grew even stronger, and the power of the dragons were many folds of what it was last time!


    As the inferno on the monkey king''s body raged, it let out an ear-piercing shriek.


    "Roar! Roar!"


    In the wind and fire, the red dragons and the green dragons combined and fused together. Their power multiplied and the entire mountain was set on fire.


    ...


    Quite some time passed, and Fang Yuan arrived at a scorched piece of land.


    Hints of dark mists gathered, fused and landed on his palm.


    He remained expressionless. Seeing the dark force making its own way into his palm, the originally consumed dream elemental force was replenished. "Indeed, I must have had the help from this dark force to achieve the breakthrough to Illusionary Divine Stage."


    Fang Yuan let out a sigh and glanced at a distance.

 221 Ten Extremes

    Once the Illusionary Divine stage was attained, it would become extremely powerful. The spiritual monkey king, which once struck fear in Fang Yuan''s heart, could not even withstand him now.


    Regardless, Fang Yuan appeared calm.


    In his actualised dream world, he composed himself and waved his hands. "Dream elemental force!!!"


    "Whoosh!"


    His dream elemental force surged out like waves crashing, engulfing his actualised dream world in a thin layer of bewildering fog.


    As the mercury-like dream elemental force was being consumed, the bottom was slowly revealed and everything seemed normal.


    "Something''s not right!"


    Fang Yuan waved his hands, gathering a hint of dream elemental force. As the dream elemental force rose into the air, it glittered in the sunlight.


    "Condense!"


    As he concentrated, the dream elemental force fused in front of him, taking up the shape of a silvery mirror as it slowly expanded.


    Following which, on the reflective mirror surface, a dim red hue flashed across like a tiny snake slithering about, bringing with it a sinister feel.


    "Damn... the dark force!"


    In the real world, Fang Yuan appeared depressed.


    He had no more doubt that the dark force aided him in achieving a breakthrough to the Illusionary Divine stage!


    "Like the spiritual monkey king, I am affected by the dark force too... This might just be the highest level of being possessed!"


    Fang Yuan gritted his teeth. "I need to find a way to get rid of it! And before that, I should leave the Three World Mountain as soon as possible!"


    He did not want to end up like the spiritual monkey king and become a monster.


    Although he was still clueless if his breakthrough was by accident or caused by the dark force, he wanted to leave Three World Mountain regardless, and the further the better.


    At this point in time.


    A purple glow rose from the east as the sun began to rise, pouring its golden rays across the vast mountains.


    Fang Yuan could sense that the Illusionary World was already separating from the Three World Mountain.


    Under the sunlight, the shadows slowly disappeared, and even the possessed spiritual monkeys started to faint. Black fogs were starting to rise from their heads.


    "If not for the fact that this experience was extremely real, I would have mistaken it for a bad nightmare myself!"


    Fang Yuan shook his head and returned to the spiritual monkey king''s nest.


    Many well-built monkeys were lying on the floor and all of them appeared to have suffered heavy injuries. Fortunately, all of them were still alive.


    With his current Illusionary Divine power, it would be a snap of his fingers for him to deal with the monkeys if they decide to surround and attack him together. With confidence, he slowly walked into the cavern and began his search for survivors.


    "Bang!"


    A wall of shattered rocks broke open.


    Seeing the disfigured corpse of Elder Zhou, Fang Yuan remain speechless.


    Till his last breath, this person was still holding on tightly to his scimitar with a ferocious look, like a loyal guard.


    "Rest in peace!"


    Fang Yuan helped Elder Zhou to close his eyes before looking around. However, he could not locate the Qin siblings.


    "Elder Zhou and the few Black Feathers Cavalry are dead... could the Qin siblings have a hope of survival?"


    Turning around a corner, he found a pool of blood and a few miscellaneous items and shattered weapons. They seemed to be the belongings of one of the Black Feathers Cavalry.


    The reason why these people were willing to die and be sacrificed was to fight for the survival of the Qin siblings.


    "Based on where the spiritual monkey king has gone to, the amount of time that passed and the power of the other spiritual monkeys..."


    Fang Yuan turned around and walked into the underground cavern.


    The thick tree stump appeared destroyed, and the pool of wine within it was now empty. Its roots were now shrivelled and it looked extremely pitiful.


    "It''s not here?"


    Using his magical will to sense the surroundings, Fang Yuan frowned. With the wave of his hands, a spiritual spell appeared. "That''s alright... Let''s test this spiritual searching spell out!"


    This was the power he had after achieving the Illusionary Divine stage!


    As long as he had enough dream elemental force, he could reproduce any spiritual spell which he had come across before.


    After drawing it out in his actualised dream world, he would be able to actualise it in the real world!


    With this ability alone, he would be able to defeat most spiritual knights from the Elemental Opening Realm.


    "Weng!"


    As his spiritual spell exploded, a white flash was seen.


    With the wave of his sleeves, two spiritual auras appeared before dissolving in the white flash.


    It was important not to let one''s guard down!


    These two spiritual auras were secretly obtained from the Qin siblings, and he had done so to prevent them from secretly attacking him.


    However, from the looks of the situation, it seemed that these two spiritual auras were needed to initiate the spiritual searching spell.


    "Whoosh!"


    The white flash condensed into a ball of light, which then casually floated. Suddenly, it floated above the empty wine pool, circled it before it stopped moving.


    "Eh?"


    Fang Yuan was surprised. As he leapt into the dry pool, he remained speechless looking at the moist walls and smelling the wine fragrance.


    In the middle of the wine pool, the ordinary looking base of the pool felt soft, as though there was a warm body underneath it.


    Feeling the base with his right hand, he quickly grabbed on to something before pulling it up.


    A bright flash appeared and suddenly, there were two other people underneath; they were the pale-looking Qin siblings.


    Their eyes were shut and they were shivering as though they were in a nightmare. Most of their protective talismans were already destroyed and they appeared extremely weak.


    "This concealment cloak..."


    As Fang Yuan examined the silvery concealment cloak in his hands, his eyes glittered.


    The concealment cloak was reflective and it was as though there were waves flowing on it. It appeared mysterious and glittery.


    "A treasure that can completely conceal one''s spiritual aura? Even my spiritual will can''t detect them..."


    Fang Yuan mumbled to himself. "Although it is still unable to hide from the spiritual searching spell, it is already impressive enough..."


    As he examined the cloth, he slowly kept it without giving a thought. After it was folded, it was only the size of a fist, and as thin as an insect''s wings, which made it extremely mysterious.


    "However, since I''ve found you two..."


    Looking at the both of them hugging each other tightly, he laughed. "It''s your luck!"


    ...


    In the dream, there were swords slashing around, and the grunting from the monkeys.


    It was as though the scene of Elder Zhou''s fierce look and the unrelenting Black Feathers Cavalry appeared in front of his eyes.


    "Young master... leave!"


    The bloodied faces of the 18 Black Feathers Cavalry appeared and approached him.


    "Ah!"


    Qin Yun screamed and opened his eyes.


    "This is... water!"


    Wiping off the sweat from his face, he looked around at his surroundings. It was a dense forest, and there was a small stream flowing. There was a thin layer of fog as well.


    "Brother Yun, since you''re awake, get on your feet!"


    Following, Qin Yun was kicked. "We''ll have to leave Three World Mountain, latest by tonight!"


    "It''s Master Fang Yuan!"


    Qin Yun stood up, looked at his sister and blushed. She was standing up and dripping wet, and her figure could be seen. "Did you save us from the spiritual monkey king''s cavern?"


    He was still thinking about the scene which they played dead in the wine pool.


    It goes without saying that Qin Qing was the one who came up with the idea, hoping to get a chance at survival by playing dead. They were fortunate that Fang Yuan really returned to rescue them, otherwise, both of them would have died inside.


    "Mm, it''s me. Let''s go!"


    Looking at both of them shivering, Fang Yuan did not feel any pity for them at all as he commanded them to move.


    "Elder Zhou..."


    Qin Qing mumbled something subconsciously before remaining silent.


    Their loyal servant and 17 other brothers were left dead in the mountains.


    "Let''s go, brother!"


    Qin Qing walked up, held on to her brother''s shoulder and displayed maturity and strength that someone her age would not have.


    "We''ll reach Da Qian Empire soon. Don''t you want to take revenge for them?"


    "I want to... take revenge!"


    Qin Yun clenched his teeth. "I will take over the Qin Family and become a powerful person!"


    ...


    It was a vast desert plain after the Three World Mountain.


    At the horizon, a continuous mountainous vein formed a defensive line, and there was another obstacle for them to go through, which was known as the Ten Extremes!


    The Ten Extremes were heavily guarded by the generals of Da Qian Empire, and they would send out patrolling guards to patrol the defensive line. Anyone who would attempt to escape Da Qian would become a fugitive and be given the death sentence!


    Of course, if the fugitives had traveled through the desert plains and the Three World Mountain before deciding to come back to Da Qian Empire, they would have to go through the dangers in the Ten Extremes.


    Nightfall.


    As a fire burnt, a snake was being roasted on it and the air was filled with its roasted fragrance.


    "It''s done!"


    Fang Yuan took a piece of snake meat at looked at the Qin siblings. "Since we have reached the border of Da Qian, our agreement has come to an end..."


    "We are eternally grateful for Master''s aid in protecting us all the way to here!"


    Qin Qing took a bow. After dressing up, her actions revealed her beautiful figure, with a hint of seduction.


    She was a smart person.


    After the death of Elder Zhou and the 18 Black Feathers Cavalry, she could only rely on Fang Yuan now.


    Furthermore, it was no small feat for Fang Yuan to be able to bring them out safely from Three World Mountain; he would be considered rather skilled even among those in Da Qian Empire.


    "However... it will be hard for us to go through the Ten Extremes!"


    Qin Qing took another bow and her face was filled with sincerity. "Master, please bring both of us along through the Ten Extremes! To be honest, we are members of the Qin Family. Brother Yun is the next heir to take control of the family! If you would help us, we would be extremely grateful and will repay your kindness after we''ve taken control of the family!"


    As Fang Yuan heard her offer, he was lost for words.


    Most of the time, these would be empty promises. Furthermore, most of the protective treasures and talismans were already used up while they were travelling through the Illusionary World. The only thing they could offer was themselves.


    Although Qin Qing was pleading him, she was not extremely desperate to the extent of giving up a city or country for him.


    "Alright!"


    Looking at the Qin siblings, whose faces were illuminated by the fire, he smiled. "Since we''ve journeyed to this point, shouldn''t you introduce me to the Qin Family?"


    Fang Yuan did not have any concrete plans for his trip to Da Qian Empire.


    Although Qin Family was powerful, it was not the most powerful family. Therefore, it could be a good place for him to stay in Da Qian Empire.


    Although he had learnt the Da Qian Language and literature in Yang Fan''s dream world and even got appointed as the Eagle Lieutenant, it was considered a long time ago and there would be changes now.


    He needed stability to completely integrate into Da Qian Empire.


    Wouldn''t it be a good idea to start from the Qin Family?

 222 Taking Action

    "The Da Qian Empire stretches thousands of miles. There are 99 regions in the whole empire and 587 counties. The capital of the empire is Jade City!"


    "The Qin Family is based in the desert region Northwest of the capital, in Dongyi County. Our ancestors wanted to start our own country and fought battles in the desert. After a hundred wars, we have finally won. From then, the next heir would be the sons of the previous master of the family..."


    ...


    The flames were flickering.


    As night came, Qin Qing sat next to the fire and was speechless.


    As she slowly described, a powerful family, many times more powerful than Yang Fan''s family, appeared in Fang Yuan''s mind.


    "If what you say is true, then the Qin Family must be the most influential family in Dongyi County! The family master would automatically pass down his power to the next generation, and they would have 500 soldiers each at their disposal... Because of this, the few most powerful people in the family would be the elders, who would be either Meridian Opening Wu Zongs or Elemental Opening spiritual knights."


    "And your main enemy is the First Wife, Lady Xu? She is the eldest daughter in the Xu Family and has a strong influence. Is it true that one of her ancestors is a spiritual array master at the Elemental Opening Stage?"


    Fang Yuan asked casually without any respect.


    Once a dream master achieves the Illusionary Divine Stage, his power would multiply by many folds, and he would give no regard to normal spiritual knights in the Elemental Opening Realm or Wu Zongs in the Meridian Opening Stage.


    Spiritual array masters would still give him a little trouble but that was all.


    "Look at Da Qian Empire! Even a small county like Dongyi County would have so many spiritual knights in the Elemental Opening Realm! Of course... any county in Da Qian Empire would be as large as a country in the mainland, like Yuan Country or Wu Country..."


    Fang Yuan shook his head and took in a deep breath.


    This was still the desert between Three World Mountain and the Ten Extremes, and hardly and life was seen here. However, he could already feel the elemental energy building up in the surroundings.


    It was impossible to breed a dragon in a tiny pond!


    Although this was only the boundary of Da Qian Empire, it was already filled with elemental energy, which was enough to convince Fang Yuan to stay.


    "This is only the desert plains. If this was Da Qian Empire, I''m sure the spiritual energy and elemental energy would be many folds of what I have at Green Peak spiritual land!"


    Fang Yuan sighed in his heart.


    After thinking to himself, he saw Qin Yun gobbling the snake which they just cooked, which made him laugh to himself.


    ...


    The moon and the stars were bright in the night sky.


    Fang Yuan crossed his legs and appeared to be sleeping.


    As he linked his consciousness to his actualised dream world, the Fang Yuan figurine appeared serious. One of his hands was pointed up to the sky while the other was pressing against the ground. His dream elemental force was surging as it pushed outwards on the limits of the actualised dream world.


    "The cultivation of Illusionary Divine is to find out one''s true power and embark on the process to slowly advance to the peak..."


    Fang Yuan focused as his dream elemental force began to condense.


    Although it was hidden, he could detect a hint of red-coloured dark force among his dream elemental force; it was like a leech, impossible to get rid of.


    "It seems like I''m really possessed..."


    Controlling his dream elemental force, he continuously tried to use up all of it to wash the dark force out, but to no avail. "Fortunately, I was able to walk out safely from the Three World Mountain. This must be an accident... Regardless, it is still not a good thing for the dark force to linger about in my body!"


    He could feel that he had brought trouble to himself.


    Suddenly, there was a tremor.


    In the real world, on the desert plains, the crossed-legged Fang Yuan opened his eyes as they glittered. "Get up!"


    The Qin siblings clumsily got to their feet. Their sleepy faces turned into a serious one. "Are these... cavalry units?"


    "Don''t worry. The Xu Family and Lady Xu, both of them do not have such influence to make the guards of the Ten Extremes work for them. Those killers who would go after you two would only be found in Dongyi County."


    Fang Yuan looked ahead. "This should be their routine patrols to catch fugitives!"


    Qin Qing and Qin Yun both shuddered.


    This was a message from the Da Qian Imperial Family! Any citizens from Da Qian Empire who escape would become a fugitive and would be killed on sight!


    Not just that, but the guards of the Ten Extremes were the best guards of Da Qian Empire. They would go on patrols often and would actively attack those they deem guilty. If they were to come across both of them, they would surely not let them go.


    "No! We can''t let them spot us!"


    Qin Qing clenched her teeth.


    No one would know that they had escaped.


    As long as they could go through the guards of the Ten Extremes undetected, no one would know that they were fugitives! They wouldn''t send people to Desert City to check on their background.


    The crux was this; they could not let the guards hold any evidence to prove that they were seen in the desert plains!


    Therefore, the first reaction of Qin Qing when she saw the incoming cavalries was to run.


    "I''m afraid it''s too late!"


    Fang Yuan shook his head. "Furthermore, there''s another way for them to not know of your existence here. We can kill all of these guards! Isn''t that a solution too?"


    "What did you just say?"


    Qin Qing and Qin Yun were stunned. Slowly, they realised that the master which they have placed all their hopes on was a madman.


    ...


    "Hurry up! Catch them!"


    Under the moonlight, a group of people was escaping. All of them had strong spiritual auras and the leader among them was an old man, who was a Wu Zong. He was guarding a few young men.


    "The heavens are not fair! It was obvious that Nishui Sect was the one colluding with the governor, wrongly accusing us, the Nine Suns Sect as traitors, causing our sect master to be locked up in jail and tortured to death. We have already tried our best to appeal, but the officials and the governor would surely protect each other, which ultimately forced us out of Da Qian Empire..."


    The old Wu Zong exclaimed as tears welled up in his eyes.


    "Kill!"


    Behind him were heavily-armoured cavalries and all of them appeared ferocious.


    The leader had a little mustache at the side of his mouth and had the appearance of a bully. With a cunning laughter, he continued. "We have nothing to do with these internal disputes! I only know of the order that whoever trespasses the guards of the Ten Extremes would be labeled as fugitives, and we would be credited with killing you people!"


    "Right now, all of you have escaped Da Qian on your own accord. Therefore, all of you are fugitives! Face your death!"


    "Whoosh!"


    As he spoke, he pulled his metal bowed released an arrow upwards, and the arrow fell down like a raindrop.


    A disciple of the Nine Suns Sect was shot in the chest, and blood spurted everywhere as he fell to the ground.


    "These are the talents of our Nine Suns Sect!"


    The old Wu Zong''s face was flushed as he spat out a mouthful of blood. Quickly, he pushed a young man away. "Bring young master away. I''ll hold them up! Spiral Qigong!"


    "Whoosh! Whoosh!"


    Two energy auras appeared, which subsequently transformed into spirals. The surging energy held the cavalries back.


    "Lu!"


    As the dust was stirred, a young man held the reins to the horse. The metal bow on his hands was already broken, and he appeared solemn. "You old fogey, since you want death so much, I, Lin Quannan, shall give it to you!"


    As he waved his hands, a figure of elemental force appeared.


    This young man was also a Wu Zong. Similar to Fang Yuan''s experience in Yang Fan''s dream world, he was enlisted in the army as the Eagle Lieutenant!


    Furthermore, his first move was a killer move and had the vibes of a powerful commander. In no time, he had subdued the old Wu Zong.


    "Iron Blood Fighting Energy! Ten Bloodied Styles!"


    The young man, Lin Quannan exclaimed. From his four limbs, a dark red elemental force seeped out, bring with it a strong iron smell. The elemental force combined to become his armour and the design on the armour was extremely intricate.


    However, what was more interesting was his Ten Bloodied Styles. Every move of his was extremely simple but effective. It gave off the vibe of a commander and the feel that even if he were to die on the battlefield, he would bring the enemy with him. Without reservations, he pressured the old Wu Zong to his limits.


    This young man, Lin Quannan, might even be one step away from Meridian Opening Stage and could breakthrough anytime!


    "Pu!"


    On the horizon of the desert plains, there were silhouettes of people fighting.


    The old Wu Zong could not withstand his opponent''s moves. He had endured a palm on his chest, before another claw. His hand flew away as blood spurted out.


    "Elder Han..."


    The people of Nine Suns Sect were in chaos. The young master was full of tears but was held back by a few loyal disciples as they retreated towards Three World Mountain.


    Due to the mysterious nature of the place, even spiritual knights of the Elemental Opening Realm or Wu Zongs would not dare to enter into the depths of the mountain, not to mention chasing all the way to Desert City.


    Therefore, it was a victory for those escaping Da Qian Empire to make it to Three World Mountain.


    However, for the people of Nine Suns Sect, the distance to the mountain was akin to a step to Heaven.


    "Black Tiger Guards, listen to my command. 1st group and 2nd group are to surround them. Don''t let a single one of them escape!"


    Lin Quannan returned to his horse and gave a confident look. "3rd group, patrol around the area. 4th group..."


    He pointed towards the direction of the campsite which Fang Yuan had set up. "It seems like there was the flicker of fire in that direction. Check it out, and if you see any fugitives, kill on sight! You don''t need to ask me for permission!"


    "Yes, Sir!"


    The guards split into groups behind him and they were all extremely ordered.


    "Ah!"


    "What is this?"


    "A vine monster? Be careful, this is a spiritual knight''s spiritual spell!"


    ...


    Suddenly, there was a commotion in the direction which the 4th group had set of towards.


    "Hisss! Hiss!"


    With the hissing sound, there was a wave of grass growing. The originally barren piece of land started to have life, and the roots of the vegetation started to grow rapidly like dancing ghosts and quickly, the horses'' feet were tangled up.


    "Wood-type spiritual spell?"


    Lin Quannan slit his wrists and poured warm blood over the roots.


    "Sizzle!"


    As his blood was poured over the grass, white steam appeared and the grass started to shrivel up and rot as though they had met their nemesis.


    "A Wu Zong''s blood is Yang in nature. Although I cannot counter spiritual spells using spiritual meridians like those Wu Zongs of Meridian Opening Stage, my blood can counter the most basic spiritual spells!"


    Lin Quannan let out a long laughter. "Which cowardly being dares to ambush me?"


    In reality, it was not because of the fact that his blood was magical and was able to break the spiritual spell. Rather, it was because he had learnt a secret spell and was purely harnessing it.


    Otherwise, a normal Wu Zong''s blood would not be able to threaten Fang Yuan''s spiritual spell.


    "He has only countered one of my spiritual spells. How dare he be so full of himself..."


    A soft sound was heard from all directions and the people of Nine Suns Sect were filled with happiness, as though they had met their saviour.


    "Sha! Sha!"


    As the soft sound came to an end, waves of grasses started to rumble from all directions, and the scale of it this time was many folds larger than before.


    "How is this possible? Could this be a spiritual array, casting so many spiritual spells at once?"


    Lin Quannan''s face was filled with disbelief as he struggled to comment.

 223 Boss Wan

    This spiritual spell was extremely powerful and the person who cast it must not be an ordinary spiritual knight.


    Furthermore, it was unaffected even after being countered by the blood from Lin Quannan, and the subsequent waves were even more powerful.


    All of these traits led Lin Quannan to believe that he was facing a spiritual array!


    Only a spiritual array could have such a continuous effect of casting spiritual spells!


    "No... It''s not right! Although a spiritual array is powerful, it requires a lot of effort in casting it. How would he know that I would be here? Could the enemy be a master predictor?"


    As he was lost in his thoughts, the vines danced wildly and were like whips, trapping his beloved horse.


    "Get down your horses and gather at where I am!"


    Lin Quannan wielded his knife. After a few slices, the vines around him flew about, revealing an empty plot of land.


    The remaining guards gathered towards him, but a few unfortunate ones were being blinded by the vines as their shrieked. The vines cut through their skin and sucked their blood dry. In a matter of seconds, they were breathless and had become a dried corpse.


    "Demonic!"


    Lin Quannan cut his palm once more, dripping his blood everywhere. With his fellow guards, who were all afraid, his face was flushed. "What a demon! How dare you ambush against government officials! You are dead! No one from the heavens would be able to save you!"


    "Chi! Chi!"


    As he spoke, countless vines slithered towards him like a bunch of snakes. As they leapt into the circle, they were countered by the blood and sizzled.


    "Keke... You are facing your death now and you still dare to be so full of yourself!"


    The soft voice travelled once more.


    Following, there was a red glow in the depths of the grass plains. The red glow slowly grew and finally, it became a burning inferno!


    "Rumble!"


    In the inferno, there were 9 red dragons slithering in mid-air. They were all chasing a bright-red dragon pearl.


    A secret spell - Heavenly Fiery Dragons!


    Amidst the roaring, the flaming inferno scorched the grass plains, surrounding Lin Quannan and his guards.


    "A Double-typed spiritual knight?"


    Lin Quannan held his nose and retrieved a token from his waist.


    The token was an alloy of bronze and pure gold, and there was an image of an eagle soaring carved on it. On the back of the token, there were small inscriptions.


    At this point in time, an array was activated. It was a defensive array and as it was activated, a streak of light shot upwards, and it was shocking to behold.


    "Sir, be careful. This is an imperial token. They have already informed the Ten Extremes. We must destroy them before their reinforcements arrive!"


    As the Nine Suns Sect Wu Zong witnessed this, he shouted loudly.


    He had no idea that Fang Yuan already knew about it.


    Seeing a translucent shield breaking his fiery glow, Fang Yuan quickly called for the winds in his actualised dream world. Without hesitation, another green-coloured wind spiritual spell was cast.


    "Whoosh!"


    In the real world, a tornado was brewing and numerous green dragons appeared. Slowly, they fused together with the fiery dragons, which quickly increased the power and effect of the spiritual spell!


    "Even a Triple-typed spiritual knight would not be able to cast such powerful spells in such a short period of time!"


    Seeing his protective shield cave inwards as though it was about to give way, Lin Quannan''s face was filled with shock. "You''re not a spiritual knight... but... dream spells..."


    "Rumble!"


    In the next moment, under the clawing of the green dragons, the protective shield crumbled. Smoke and fire filled the entire place.


    ...


    "I am Han Yangkun of the Nine Suns Sect. Together with me is the young master, Dong Fanglie. We thank you, Sir, for saving our lives!"


    After a while, Han Yangkun could finally see his benefactors. They were two men and a lady, and all three of them were covered with a shawl over their faces.


    After all, Fang Yuan wanted to enter Da Qian Empire and it would not do him any good to reveal his real appearance. This was especially so since they have gotten themselves involved in a murder case.


    Han Yangkun could understand this point and directly bowed towards Fang Yuan, who appeared to be the leader among the three of them.


    "You people from the Nine Suns Sect must have a spy among the Ten Extremes in order for all of you to come out safely, right? If you want to show your gratitude, bring him to me!"


    Fang Yuan was direct and to the point.


    Although the Qin Family had their own connections, the current situation would make their own connections less trustworthy.


    "No problem!"


    Han Yangkun replied without hesitation. "It is my honour to serve you, Sir! However... how should we deal with him?"


    He looked at the burnt place where the fiery dragons struck.


    The only thing left was the charred guards. As for Lin Quannan, although he had suffered many burns and was unconscious, he was still breathing. He was indeed a gifted Wu Zong.


    Lin Quannan was well-known among the Ten Extremes and was gifted in martial arts. He started at the age of 8 and achieved a breakthrough to Wu Zong at 20. Naturally, with his skills came all the honour and recognition he deserved.


    But now, he was just a pile of bloodied mess. A dead talent would be of no use.


    No one could predict what would happen next, and everything could come to an end in an instant.


    "How do we deal with him? Of course to kill him!"


    Fang Yuan smiled coldly, which made Han Yangkun shudder. Although he had already guessed Fang Yuan''s intentions, he was still shocked.


    "Furthermore, either you or your young master will have to be the one to kill him!"


    Fang Yuan laid out another condition. "Since all of you are escaping, are you afraid that the officials from Da Qian Empire would come after you?"


    Han Yangkun went pale and looked towards Dong Fanglie.


    The young master bit on his lips. He knew that if he were to do it, they would no longer be able to return to Da Qian Empire.


    ''But if we don''t do it, I''m afraid the entire sect will die here! Since he was asking about the way to bypass the Ten Extremes, it''s obvious that he wants to secretly make his way back in. He will not be able to give us trouble in the future...''


    Thoughts were running wild in Han Yangkun''s head, but all he showed was a wide smile. "Sir, you''re right... The Three World Mountain is mysterious. It is alright for us lowly beings to enter. The higher the cultivation of a person, the greater the chance to encounter the Illusionary World. This is a natural obstacle. Therefore, what do we have to fear?"


    Taking two steps forward, his remaining hand struck down forcefully.


    "Chi!"


    Blood spurted everywhere.


    This heavily injured young gifted Wu Zong, the Eagle Lieutenant of Da Qian, had become a subject for testing.


    "Very well. You are trustworthy enough!"


    As the mysterious spiritual knight chuckled, it was like the murmuring ghosts in the ears of the young master of the Nine Suns Sect.


    ...


    Although the Ten Extremes were heavily militarised, there were still commoners living there.


    In the desert plains, which was between the Three World Mountain and the defensive line of the Ten Extremes, there were a few special resources, like an extremely valuable quarry and a few species of special and unique medicinal herbs.


    This was why the commoners of the Ten Extremes or even the businessmen and soldiers were reliant on these resources for their survival, forming a perfect model for business to thrive.


    Of course, as these resources were being transported, there would be smugglers.


    For instance, by paying lower taxes, they would profit more. There were many who would risk their lives for elemental crystals.


    Han Yangkun had presented to Fang Yuan a way of communication between the smugglers.


    At the mysterious point where three rivers met, Qin Qing lit up some smoke. After a long while, they could see around 10 horses galloping their way towards them.


    Although they were nowhere as well-equipped as the guards from Da Qian, they were all still well-built and had murderous vibes, as though killing was their second nature.


    "Where is Han Yangkun? Why is he not dead yet?"


    The cavalries in front gave way, revealing an old man dressed in tattered clothing. He was extremely skinny and his eyes were darting around like a mouse.


    "Boss Wan!"


    Fang Yuan walked out from the shadows and waved his hands.


    All the riders were 4 Heavenly Gate martial artists. However, the most crucial point was that Boss Wan, although unappealing, was a spiritual knight!


    Without such a strong backing, how would these cavalries dare to travel thus far to trade?


    "You are..."


    Boss Wan had a suspicious look in his eyes.


    From Fang Yuan, he could sense danger. It was a secret spiritual knight technique of his own, of which he had used multiple times to escape from danger. There was no way he could be wrong about Fang Yuan.


    "That''s not important. The most important is the fact that you are a businessman of integrity, and that you would recognise this, right?"


    Fang Yuan laughed and threw out a black dagger blade.


    "You are indeed the person that Elder Han recommended!"


    Boss Wan took out a dagger''s handle and pieced it together with the blade. It was a perfect match, and he nodded his head. "The few of you, are you all looking for a way in?"


    "That''s right! Please assist us, Boss Wan!"


    Fang Yuan clapped his hands and Qin Yun brought a large sack over to Boss Wan.


    "Elemental crystals? These are low-quality ones!"


    Boss Wan nodded his head and one of the riders went forward to take a look at the contents of the sack.


    "A thousand elemental crystals for each person! I''m sure the price is still the same, right?"


    Fang Yuan enquired directly.


    "Of course not..."


    Boss Wan rolled his eyes about as his mind went through a list of fugitives who had just escaped Da Qian. Slowly, he shook his head. He could not think of any fugitives who would want to risk their lives by entering Da Qian from the desert plains.


    No one in Da Qian knew about the issue in Qin Family yet, and no outside would be able to see their motives.


    Needless to say, there were no records of Fang Yuan in Da Qian.


    "I have something to clarify!"


    Boss Wan smiled. "I have a path which links into Da Qian, and this path is able to bring you into the Ten Extremes. However, those without an identity imprint will not be allowed to enter the final gate into Da Qian. Spiritual talismans are used to ensure security over there. Previously, Elder Han could go through the gate smoothly as he was escaping Da Qian, but it is different for the three of you..."


    "Identity imprint? Can we take a look at it?"


    Fang Yuan thought for a while before asking.


    "Of course!"


    Boss Wan nodded his head, and the previous rider came forward and revealed his left arm.


    On his arm, there was a tattoo-like imprint. It was engraved deep into his arm and into his veins, and on it, there was a little spiritual glow.


    "It is a miniature spiritual array and is bound to our circulatory system, which makes it non-transferrable!''


    Fang Yuan nodded his head and exclaimed. "We just want to enter the Ten Extremes. Please show us the way, Boss Wan!"


    "No problem!"


    Elder Wan nodded his head in confusion.


    The guards of the Ten Extremes had the equipment to check for the identity imprints. If they did not have it, they would be labelled as fugitives and would be killed.


    Why would these three people dare to enter? Were they thinking of hiding inside the Ten Extremes? This would be impossible! Could they have people in the Ten Extremes waiting for them?


    After a series of exchanges, Boss Wan felt that the three of them were extremely mysterious.

 224 Passing Through the Gates

    Along the streets in the Ten Extremes, there was the vibe of Da Qian empire everywhere, ranging from the architecture to the clothing. The Qin Siblings stared into space and felt as though everything was a dream


    Although it was pricey to engage Boss Wan''s services, it was worth it. He managed to bring them around the most dangerous parts of the Ten Extremes and successfully brought them into the Ten Extremes.


    Of course, as soon as they arrived at a safe location, Boss Wan immediately left the three of them alone. It was obvious that he did not want to be associated with the three of them, as they had no identity imprints.


    "This is Da Qian?"


    Fang Yuan took a deep breath.


    Although he had once experienced life in Da Qian Empire through Yang Fan''s dream world, it was still a different feeling to personally be here.


    "Let''s find a place to stay for the night before planning ahead!"


    With his spiritual will, he could detect that danger was lurking everywhere in the city. There were guards patrolling at every moment, along the streets with lowly-built buildings.


    "We''ll listen to you, Sir!"


    The Qin Siblings knew that they were still not yet out of danger and therefore agreed without hesitation.


    An hour later, they were in a restaurant.


    And the ground floor, it was bustling and the entire place was filled with the fragrance of wine and meat, making them salivate.


    It was hard to find a hostel within the Ten Extremes. After a long while, the Qin Siblings found a restaurant which offered lodging. As for the lodging? They had to show their identity imprints!


    "It''s not too bad now. During night time, the Ten Extremes would undergo a lockdown and the guards would increase the frequency of their patrols. If you have an identity imprint, you would be warned on your first offence, fined on your second and made a slave on your third offence! For those without identity imprints like us, we would be killed on sight!"


    Qin Qing had a worried look on her face. Although there was a sumptuous meal on the table, she had no appetite.


    "To us, although we have already passed through the most dangerous borders of the Ten Extremes, there are still a few gates to pass through if we want to reach Da Qian, and all of these gates would require us to show our identity imprints..."


    Qin Yun was worried. "Should we inform those in our family that are on our side? Judging by our influence, we should be able to make a few fake identities, right?"


    "That is not possible!"


    Qin Qing shook her head in disagreement. "We cannot let any outsiders know that we have left Da Qian!"


    If the first lady in their family, Lady Xu, were to find out that they had escaped the empire, she would insist that they were fugitives and they would no longer have the hope of taking over the family.


    "Identity imprints? I have them!"


    Fang Yuan reached into his robes, but in reality, in his actualised dream world, three identity imprints appeared.


    ''How is this possible... How did you get them?"


    Qin Qing''s eyes glittered.


    "Don''t worry about how I got them. You only need to know that it is likely to pass through the most basic equipment when checked..."


    As for the more sophisticated methods of checking the authenticity of the imprints, for instance, a check by spiritual array masters, Fang Yuan knew that these toys wouldn''t be able to deceive their way through.


    "These two identity imprints do not have owners. In order to activate the spiritual array on it, it will require your spiritual auras!"


    Fang Yuan reached his hand out.


    "Whoosh!"


    As the energy flowed in, Qin Yun felt as though he had lost something as he looked in confusion.


    As he received his own identity imprint, he could see the miniature spiritual array being activated on it as it revealed a spiritual glow.


    "Very good! It seems that it''s working!"


    Fang Yuan nodded his head. Looking out to the streets, he could see a group of guards approaching.


    "Go and test the effectiveness of this identity imprint!"


    He bit his lips and ordered Qin Yun in a strict tone.


    "What?"


    Qin Yun turned pale in shock.


    He knew that this was a fake and the act of challenging the guards with a fake identity imprint gave him the chills. After all, he was still a young boy.


    "If we must test it out, then I will..."


    Qin Qing bit her lips and stood up.


    "No!"


    Fang Yuan stopped her with his palm and looked at Qin Yun. "You do know that you are back here to take control of your family, right? If you are unwilling to take such a small risk, how would I be able to trust you and depend on your family?"


    Qin Yun gritted his teeth. Suddenly, he thought of Elder Zhou and the 18 Black Feathers Cavalry and promptly stood up. "I''ll go!"


    ''Indeed, it is easy to control this young lad!''


    Fang Yuan smiled and nodded his head. Slowly, he glanced and Qin Qing. "I''ll have to control this girl..."


    ...


    "Hold up, what are you doing?"


    Needless to say, Qin Yun was not prepared for this. He did not do anything but only gave a suspicious look as he stood on the streets, which attracted the attention of a guard.


    A group of guards came over and examined him. "You don''t look like you''re from here..."


    "Cough cough... I am... I am..."


    Qin Yun was too nervous to say anything. Facing a large group of guards, he was intimidated and started to stutter.


    "Haha... Look at this foolish boy. He looks so well-to-do, but he is just an uneducated bloke!"


    The leader among them started to laugh but gave off a suspicious feeling. With the wave of his hand, a guard took out a bronze mirror and aimed it at Qin Yun.


    "Weng! Weng!"


    A yellow glow was emitted from the mirror and landed on Qin Yun.


    Qin Yun shuddered and felt that his breathing had stopped. His limbs were paralysed and he was unable to move a muscle.


    On his shoulder where the identity imprint was, a sound was heard.


    "Weng! Weng!"


    The bronze mirror glittered and finally turned into a hue of green.


    "There''s no problem with his identity imprint. He should be a businessman from elsewhere who came here to trade. Hehe... Boy, the Ten Extremes is very dangerous. It''s not a place for people like you!"


    The leader of the guards revealed his yellow teeth and gently patted Qin Yun''s cheek with the blade of his knife. Casually, he continued asking. "What''s your identity number?


    "Woooo! Woooo!"


    At this point in time, a bugle was heard across the entire Ten Extremes.


    "Tata! Tata!"


    A group of cavalries galloped past the gate and along the streets.


    "Riding a horse along the streets? What has happened that could be so serious?"


    As the leader''s expression changed, he diverted his attention away from the cowardly Qin Yun and gave his order. "Retreat, back to base! I''m afraid something big has happened!"


    ...


    Looking at his silhouette from behind, Qin Yun finally came to his sense and started to breathe heavily.


    "Not bad!"


    Fang Yuan approached him at encouraged him with a calm voice.


    "Since you managed to fool them, we can now try to go through the gate... Let''s not waste time and be on our way now!"


    "Wuuu!"


    Qin Qing walked at the back. As she turned around, she could still see the chaos in the entire Ten Extremes and felt a little confused. ''Could it be... They have found out what happened in the desert plains?''


    ...


    Fang Yuan and company made it through the gate.


    The fire was still burning and a few square miles of the desert was charred.


    Hundred of cavalries remained silent as they formed a circle.


    "It''s here! Officer Lin''s last hint of spiritual aura was here!"


    A soldier dressed in white exclaimed as he searched the area with a spiritual light.


    "How would they dare to kill an officer of the Ten Extremes! When did the people of Nine Suns Sect have this ability?"


    From the side, a general in black armour stood out.


    He was tall, had eyes like a monkey and sideburns like a tiger. His face was squarish and he had large ears. With every step of his, it felt as though there was a mini earthquake.


    "Bang!"


    As the black-armoured general approached the center, he clenched his fist and punched the ground.


    Soil and mud flew everywhere and everything that was left was a huge hole with the smell of a rotting corpse.


    Fang Yuan was not that helpful and made sure that the Nine Suns Sect were the ones who would be responsible for his own doing.


    All of their efforts to conceal the corpse were futile and it was discovered.


    "Whoosh!"


    Within the hole, a few shattered pieces of stone started to gather together under the influence of an invisible force and finally landed in the black-armoured general''s hands, forming the shape of a bronze token.


    "Lin Quannan''s token is here. It seems like he has met with an unfortunate event..."


    The general closed his eyes. "What a strong spiritual spell! Its foundations are wood-type and it is further complemented by wind and fire-types! When did the Nine Suns Sect have such a strong alliance?"


    "Reporting!"


    At this point in time, following the arrival of an eagle, a soldier knelt on one knee and reported loudly. "We have news that Nine Suns Sect have already traversed through the desert and have entered Three World Mountain. Should we continue to chase them?"


    "There''s no need to!"


    The black-armoured general waved his hands. "Do you want to relived what they have experienced?"


    The Illusionary World was too mysterious, and there were instances of even spiritual knights in the Elemental Opening Realm dying there! Even the Ten Extremes would not be willing to risk, and from that day onwards, the Three World Mountain became a forbidden ground.


    "Something feels... out of place!"


    As the soldier in the white feather robe bent over, his face was filled with curiosity. "Although all signs point to the Nine Suns Sect as the culprit, these soldiers did not die at the hands of the Nine Suns Sect..."


    "Could it be..."


    The black-armoured general froze before slowly dusting his hands. "It is the bad luck of Officer Lin to have encountered a highly skilled person. This person could have come from the desert beyond the Three World Mountain! This is not good!"


    His eyes glittered. Suddenly, he leapt onto his horse. "Immediately inform the city to keep their guards up. A fugitive might be making his way back to Da Qian!"


    "And also, order all the cavalries to patrol the smaller routes!"


    It was evident that this black-armoured general had enough experience. As he passed down his orders, he slowly set up a giant net to capture the fugitives.


    Little did he know that Fang Yuan and company had already left the Ten Extremes and even bypassed the final gate. They had already entered Da Qian Empire!


    Sand Region.


    This was one of the regions among the 99 in Da Qian Empire and was situated at the North-west of the empire. The people here were brute. The region consisted of 6 counties, and Dongyi County was one of them.


    In the county, there were many people. Within a sedan, the Qin Siblings looked out with tears welling up in their eyes.


    "Finally... we''re back!"


    Qin Qing clenched her teeth as her eyes were filled with tears. "I will... take my revenge!"

 225 An Encounter

    In Dongyi County, within the Qin Family Mansion.


    Lady Xu had a gentle look and was clad in jade jewelry. She was a totally different woman compared to Lady Wang, the stepmother of Yang Fan.


    However, in terms of their power and standing in the family, both of them were equally powerful and influential.


    Lady Xu closed her eyes as she recited a mantra. The servants and housekeepers around her remained silent and were all afraid to let out a sound.


    Since the death of her son, Lady Xu had cried many times. From then on, she was devastated and all she did every day was to recite her mantra and pray for the soul of her late son. No one else outside the family knew what happened.


    However, in reality, only the few servants closer to Lady Xu would know that she was aware of the movement of every other wife in the family.


    After an hour, the entirewas recited to completion.


    Lady Xu stood up. Her face was filled with sorrow and compassion, which was an expression only possible after finishing the mantra.


    "Master has been eating lesser and lesser these days and has started to sleep later and later. The Frog Roe and Lotus Chicken are ready in the kitchen. Qinghe! Serve it to Master!"


    "Yes My Lady!"


    A servant acknowledged and dismissed herself.


    "Also... Take care of the few young master and mistress under me. Send someone to check on them every day and replenish anything that they might need..."


    "Yes, My Lady! My Lady, you are indeed caring!"


    A housekeeper bowed and left.


    As he walked out of the door, the housekeeper stroked his beard. "The death of old master and her few sons meant that she had to decide on an heir. Since she is not willing to let Qin Yun and her sister be the heir, she could only choose among the children from the other wives and establish good relations with them!"


    "Whoosh!"


    At this point in time, a man in black flashed past, bringing with him a gush of wind, which made the housekeeper shudder.


    ''This person...''


    As he shuddered, he recalled that Lady Xu had many untold secrets. With this, he kept his head low and acted as though he didn''t see anything.


    "Greetings, My Lady!"


    As the man in black saw Lady Xu, he knelt down on one knee and appeared solemn.


    The compassionate-looking Lady Xu slowly put her mantra scroll down and waved to the servants, dismissing them. "How are my master and mistress?"


    Keeping her head down, she spoke. There was a chill vibe from her gentle voice.


    "Qin Qing and Qin Yun are untraceable. We are suspecting that they have already passed Three World Mountain, but our spies in the Ten Extremes have yet to receive any news about them..."


    The spy was from the Qin Family too. He seemed to be helping the Qin Siblings but in reality, he was the killer move arranged by Lady Xu.


    If the siblings were to contact him, he would immediately betray them and activate the guards in the Ten Extremes to take them down as fugitives. This move would wipe them out once and for all.


    But now, how could there be no news?


    "One Elder Zhou would not be enough to protect them from the dangers in Three World Mountain. All of them could have died... or perhaps, the Qin Siblings have already settled down in the plains and are no longer interested in returning to Da Qian..."


    The man in black too a guess.


    "That''s not alright. I am still not sure about this!"


    Lady Xu shook her head as she toyed around with her meditation beads.


    "The 15th of this month would be the gathering of the Qin Family. I intend to let Qin Lei be the heir... By then, as long as we get the approval from Old Master, we''ll record it down in the family books. There should be no issue about this. Even if Qin Yun and his sister were to come by then, they would not be able to do anything!"


    "That is a good move, My Lady! Do you have any instructions for me?"


    The man in black asked, still kneeling down.


    "Return home and invite Grandmaster Xu!"


    Lady Xu gritted her teeth and her face was filled with determination. "It is unfilial of me to have to trouble Grandmaster Xu. However, after this, when I have control over the family, I would reward you greatly!"


    Grandmaster Xu was a spiritual array master and was highly skilled in his profession.


    "Yes My Lady!"


    The man in black had a bad feeling about this.


    "Very well. By then, I will need you to do this..."


    Lady Xu lowered her voice and whispered.


    "Yes My Lady!"


    The man in black shuddered and his eyes were filled with a burning passion. This was an ultimatum.


    ...


    "The 15th of this month would be the gathering of the Qin Family. Every time an heir is chosen, if the records would have to be re-written, they must be a ceremony. Members of the family would get to recommend the next heir, at least officially..."


    In a secluded inn in Dongyi County, Qin Qing lowered the window shades as she described to Qin Yun and Fang Yuan.


    "Brother Qin Yun ranks in front and has the purest blood of them all! His appearance would be able to change everything!"


    Qin Qing exclaimed with confidence.


    "Purity of blood?!"


    Fang Yuan was skeptical. "You are intending to change everything just because his blood is purer?"


    He couldn''t feel any power or influence from Qin Yun.


    "Wait up. Come here!"


    As he called Qin Yun over, Fang Yuan used his nails to scratch in Qin Yun''s arm, opening a red wound.


    As the blood flowed out, it condensed into a bubble in mid-air.


    "Whoosh!"


    As Fang Yuan executed his technique, a silver mirror appeared. The bubble of blood slowly crept up the mirror before exploding. The thick red blood swirled about, and in it, there were hints of gold.


    "Eh? There''s a little power in here... However, the power in his blood is not from your family!"


    Fang Yuan was shocked.


    "It seems that Sir, you are aware of it!"


    Qin Qing chuckled. "The power of the people in Qin Family is not from our own people! To think about it, it is more closely related to dream masters!"


    At this point, she raised her chest like a proud cockerel.


    "Oh? Tell me more!"


    Fang Yuan forced a look of interest.


    "Sir, you may be unaware, but there are many valuable and mysterious beasts in Da Qian Empire. They do not originate from our world, and the beasts native to Da Qian are incapable of harnessing the power from blood."


    Qin Qing continued. "However, a dream master is able to communicate with other worlds and create objects out of nothing. They can create a whole new species!"


    "The Yang Xuan blood in our Qin Family originates from a dream master and has been passed down from a long time ago. Although little, this blood would give us fire-resistant properties and would also accelerate our cultivation if it is fire-type."


    "Dream master..."


    As soon as Fang Yuan heard it, his eyes glittered. "The Qin Family is related to dream masters?"


    "I am not sure about this."


    Qin Qing shook her head. "Dream masters live for a long time, and this is especially so for those who are able to gather energy from heaven and earth and absorb essence from living things. They can live for a very long period of time and it would even be possible for them to be surviving until today. However, I am unsure of his relationship with the Qin Family."


    ''It seems that the status of dream masters in Da Qian is beyond my expectations...''


    As he thought about it himself, Fang Yuan changed the topic. "It is not enough for Qin Yun to become heir just because his blood is purer. The crucial thing will be the Xu Family''s involvement in this, and the few stubborn elders in the Qin Family. I can help you ''convince'' them, but what can you offer me?"


    "Everything!"


    Qin Qing clenched her teeth and pulled Qin Yun along to kneel down. "Since you are a spiritual knight, you must have some technique to take ownership of other people''s soul. As long as we succeed, after Qin Yun has become the rightful heir, I would be willing to sacrifice my soul to you and be your slave for eternity. Other than that, the Qin Family would be willing to accede to any of your requests!"


    "Sister..."


    Qin Yun was shocked at the conditions she laid out. His eyes popped out and he did not dare to say another word.


    "That''s not enough!"


    Fang Yuan shook his head. "If you throw in your brother''s soul for me to control, then only we have room for discussion."


    "Impossible!"


    Qin Qing suddenly rejected him. "My brother is about to become the master of the Qin Family. If anything weird happens to him, don''t you think the elders in the family would find out?"


    "That is why I don''t want his soul. I only want something that would allow me to control him."


    Fang Yuan replied with a straight face.


    "Alright, I''ll agree!"


    Qin Yun bit his teeth and agreed.


    "What are you doing?"


    Qin Qing was infuriated.


    "I am the master of the family, and I''ll have the final say!"


    Qin Yun had an expression of determination never seen before."Sister, you have always been the one sacrificing for us. Now, it is my turn to do so."


    ''I am only offering to help them take revenge. Why does it sound like I am taking their lives!''


    Fang Yuan was unable to stand their squabbling and left the room. He started to roam the streets casually.


    As the capital of the county, the county city was extremely lively. It was much more prosperous than his own Secluded Country.


    ''To think about it, I am still unfamiliar with the powerful people in Da Qian Empire and even more so for the information regarding dream masters...''


    Fang Yuan subconsciously recalled Qing Gui, the dream master which appeared the previous time he accessed Yang Fan''s dream.


    He seemed like the leader among the evil dream masters, and it was as though he had a huge sect under him.


    Of course, in reality, Fang Yuan did not become a dream master. He destroyed one of Qing Gui''s incarnations.


    On the contrary, Yang Fan was likely to have been taken in by Qing Gui as his disciple. He could have even cut all ties with his family and destroyed the entire Yang Family.


    Afterward, Yang Fan became highly skilled, but no one knew if he had taken in disciples.


    "The qualifications to become a dream master is too high. I''m afraid that it is a rare profession even in Da Qian Empire and is not common..."


    Fang Yuan entered a tea house and ordered a few snacks.


    Not long after, the dishes were served and the fragrance filled the entire room. The tea was spiritual tea and the snacks were creatively made from spiritual ingredients.


    "Eh?"


    At this point in time, a caravan slowly entered the city. Among the caravan was a horse carriage. As a pair of white hands peeled open the curtains, a glittery pair of eyes were revealed as it scanned around.


    As their eyes met, both of them were in shock.


    "This feeling... Dream master!"


    Fang Yuan sipped a mouthful of spiritual tea. "What a coincidence? Could this dream master be arriving for the Qin Family gathering? If that is so, it seems like they indeed have relations with the dream masters in Da Qian..."


    ...


    "Young mistress?"


    In front of the carriage, an old man enquired, confused.


    He had big hands that were extremely steady, and he was a Wu Zong. However, he was treating this lady as though she was a god.


    "Nothing much. Let''s go!"


    A gentle voice was heard from the carriage.


    As the carriage continued along its way, the person in the carriage was confused as well. "Dream master? Could he be an ally of the Qin Family? Who would''ve thought that such a boring mission would have such an unexpected finding!"

 226 Ambush

    In Dongyi County, on a secluded mountain path, a caravan continued its way.


    The caravan was luxurious. All the riders were riding white horses and were clad in white robes. They were all looking energetic.


    If this was in the wild, such a luxurious caravan would be a prime target for all the mountain thieves and robbers.


    However, their journey was peaceful.


    They owed the peace to the little flag above the carriage. The flag had the print of three small clouds.


    Any thieves with exposure would know that this was the flag for the Xu Family, the symbol of power!


    Although the Xu Family was not the top three families in Dongyi County, it had to surely be in the top ten. The family was led by a spiritual array master who had many connections.


    Of course, the most important fact was that the eldest daughter of the Xu Family was married to the Qin Family, and was the first lady of the Qin Family!


    Because of this, even the families who rank in front of the Xu Family would still have to respect them.


    "Haha... I thought that the journey would be dangerous. Now, it looks like a harmless field trip..."


    On a white horse, a young man clad in silk robes smiled with pride.


    His face was pale and his eye sockets were deep. He had eye circles, and it was evident that he had abused alcohol and had frequented brothels, which harmed his body.


    "Eh... Third Brother, this is an emergency! Otherwise, Aunt would surely not have to trouble our Grandmaster to help out!"


    A young man beside him who was slightly older continued. "However, as long as our Grandmaster is personally seeing to this, those people will not be able to cause trouble! The Qin Family is ultimately ours!"


    "You''re right, First Master!"


    The others agreed.


    Under the wings of protection from the spiritual array master, the Xu Family have never encountered any true danger. This proud and self-entitled mindset of theirs was not something that could be changed overnight.


    Looking at one of the carriages, Third Brother felt relieved.


    In the Xu Family, the Grandmaster has always been the pillar of support.


    "Since our Grandmaster, the Xu Family have already taken control of a district within 10 years. We are among the top ten families in the county. If we are successful in taking over the Qin Family, we can become the most powerful family in Dongyi County. Even the Sand Region can no longer have any control over us!"


    As he looked into the setting sun, his heart was filled with pride.


    Suddenly, as the Third Brother squinted his eyes, he could see a black dot on the peak of the mountain east of them.


    The black dot soon disappeared from the peak of the mountain as though it had jumped down. Quickly, it rushed towards them and became a silhouette. In a moment, flames broke out.


    "It''s an ambush!"


    Against the 9 fiery dragons, the Third Master could only shout. In an instant, he was in flames.


    "Roar!"


    As the fiery dragons roared, they spit out burning flames which swept across the entire caravan before leaping towards the carriage in the middle.


    "Hmph! What audacity!"


    Within the carriage, a weak voice was heard and with it the feeling of helplessness.


    "Mountains, rise!"


    In the carriage, spiritual inscriptions glittered and quickly exploded, transforming into a small array. The array covered the disciples of the Xu Family and protected them.


    "A spiritual array from the carriage? Haha... Wind Dragon, come out!"


    The black figure laughed, and another 9 green dragons appeared, which slowly combined with the fiery dragons.


    The flames would become stronger in the wind!


    In a moment, the spiritual array which was cast abruptly was destroyed. Many disciples and elders of the Xu Family... were dead before they knew it. They became dried corpses or even worse, left without a corpse.


    "Whoosh!"


    The carriage broke apart, revealing an old figure with grey hair. The old person appeared lost.


    "Whoosh!"


    Amidst the wind and fiery dragons, a figure of a person appeared as though a god had descended onto earth. As he leapt out, he struck a fist.


    "Rumble!"


    Behind him, three spiritual meridians condensed and the fist landed on the old person at full strength.


    "Chi!"


    A spiritual inscription on the old person''s clothing glittered, forming a translucent armour which was extremely strong. However, the old person still shook after receiving the punch, and his face turned red. He spat out a small mouthful of blood and quickly retreated. "You are... A Wu Zong at the Meridian Opening Stage! Why would such a highly skilled person like you ambush without a sound and assassinate an old man like me?"


    "You have blocked the way of too many people!"


    It was Fang Yuan.


    After convincing the Qin Siblings to put some form of control over them, he had to help them to the best of his abilities to push them to the position of power.


    Although the decision of who would be the heir would only be made at the Qin Family gathering, he would not wait until then to take down his enemy.


    It would only be logical to take down those that would oppose you before the decision-making day!


    Elder Xu was the biggest threat to him.


    Firstly, he was the strongest supporter of Lady Xu and would surely stick by her no matter what.


    Secondly, if a spiritual array master was given time to prepare, he would be able to capture everyone who would go for the Qin Family gathering! Even Fang Yuan would not want to pit himself against a spiritual array master within his meticulously-planned array.


    Therefore, this was the best chance!


    It was a golden opportunity for a spiritual array master to walk out of his highly protected nest.


    Right now, without time given for him to prepare, he could only use the magical weapons which he brought along to defend himself. This was the best chance for the Meridian Opening Wu Zong to strike!


    "Giant Eagle Metal Body!"


    "First Refining Stage Golden Body!"


    As Fang Yuan exclaimed, a golden glow appeared around his body. With the Sixth Elemental Strength, he was like a destructive dragon to the survivors of the Xu Family.


    "Don''t harm our Grandmaster!"


    Seeing how he could tear apart the Grandmaster''s defence like cotton, one of the members of the Xu Family exclaimed and rushed to the back of Fang Yuan, striking him with his fists.


    "Weng!"


    As the fist landed on Fang Yuan''s back, a loud sound akin to a gong was heard.


    "Ants, scram and get lost!"


    As he casually flicked his hands, the Wu Zong behind him was in shock and flew back uncontrollably. He suffered many fractures in his ribs and his blood spurted across the air as he flew. His internal organs and bones became a bloodied mess.


    "Are you... sent by the Qin Siblings?"


    Seeing Fang Yuan unharmed with the protection of the spiritual armour, Elder Xu retreated continuously as though he was truly afraid.


    If he was given time to prepare, he would not be afraid of even a Wu Zong in the Elemental Opening Realm.


    However, the only thing he was lacking now was time!


    He was quickly overcome in a matter of seconds!


    In front of a Wu Zong who ambushed him, his weakness was revealed!


    "I can give you 2 times of what they offered! No... Three times!"


    With another fist, Elder Xu spat out another mouthful of blood. As his last defensive equipment was destroyed, he crawled on the floor with embarrassment. With all his strength, he continued to exclaim. "I help others cast spiritual arrays and I have loads of wealth and connections. Let me go and you will gain my friendship and valuable treasures. Compared to all I have, what can the Qin Siblings offer you?"


    "You can never match up to what they can offer me..."


    Fang Yuan went up and sighed. "They can give me the entire Qin Family. Can you?"


    "The entire Qin Family? You..."


    As his pupils contracted, Elder Xu could see a white finger approaching him.


    This finger was white and long, as though it was carved from the finest white jade. It was perfect-looking, but now, it was reaching towards his forehead!


    "Chi!"


    As Elder Xu''s head exploded, his Zu Qiao was shattered as he fell straight to the ground without a breath.


    This influential and powerful spiritual array master could do nothing to defend himself under an ambush and had now become a corpse.


    "Eh? He didn''t even resist!"


    As his spiritual will trembled, Fang Yuan took a few steps backwards and casually picked up a disciple of the Xu Family and threw him forward.


    "Ah!"


    The disciple let out a cry and was struck by a dark glow which emitted from Elder Xu. The skin on his forehead was peeled off, revealing a black coloured ghost face which seemed to have a life of its own.


    Sweeping him with his spiritual will, the black ghost recorded everything from his mind and appeared enraged.


    "Chi!"


    It was extremely quick. In a matter of seconds, it disappeared completely, and it took a while before Fang Yuan knew what had just happened.


    "The imprint of death? This should be the doing of an even stronger spiritual knight. This spiritual knight must have made is such that the print would be activated upon the death of Elder Xu and it would target the closest living person..."


    If he were to be imprinted with the imprint, it would be an enemy that wouldn''t rest until his death.


    Fortunately, Fang Yuan was a Wu Zong and also a dream master. He was adept with distractions and illusionary spells. In that instant, he could detect that something was wrong and could quickly find a scapegoat to take his place. With a little spiritual technique, he had resulted in the imprint landing on the Xu Family''s own disciple.


    "Kacha!"


    After confirming, Fang Yuan casually broke the unfortunate scapegoat''s neck and started to sweep the area to kill off any survivors and loot from them.


    The most important was, of course, Elder Xu, since he was wealthy. The next would be the hidden Wu Zong in the Xu Family.


    ''However... that black ghost face seems familiar...''


    After thinking for a while, the image of Qing Gui''s face appeared in Fang Yuan''s mind.


    ''Venerable Qing Gui? No! It doesn''t seem so, but it seems likely that these two ghosts are related. Could both of these originate from evil dream masters?''


    After looting all of them, Fang Yuan burnt down the entire area.


    "The Xu Family''s reinforcements are settled. Next up would be to clean up the Qin Family!"


    ...


    The 13th day and the weather in Dongyi County was cooling.


    The atmosphere in the Qin Family''s mansion was a weird one.


    Everyone was rushing here and there to finish the final preparations for the gathering.


    In the backyard, the atmosphere was tense.


    "It has been a while and Grandmaster is not here yet. I am worried!"


    Lady Xu held the meditation beads in her hands and looked down. "Xu Fu, wait at the city gates. If they are not here by noon, follow the path which they would take and find them!"


    "Yes My Lady!"


    Xu Fu was the man the black. This time, he had no more hesitation and agreed loudly.


    "Reporting! My Lady, bad news!"


    At this point in time, a housekeeper ran over frantically. He clumsily tripped over the doorstep and broke his front tooth as his mouth started to bleed. It was a funny sight to behold, but his message seemed extremely important. "There are traces of a fight between spiritual knights outside the city. After an investigation, it is confirmed to be the Xu Family''s caravan! I''m afraid... it''s a bad thing!"


    "What?"


    Lady Xu stood up and her mind went black, as she struggled to maintain her balance.

 227 Meng Lian

    It was nightfall.


    Fang Yuan dressed in black and snuck into Qin Family''s mansion.


    As the most powerful family in Dongyi County, the defence of the Qin Family''s mansion was rather strong. In fact, they even had a protective array over their mansion. It was rumoured that the array was part of Heaven''s Five Element Array and even spiritual knights in the Elemental Opening Realm would be trapped for a moment.


    Unfortunately for them, they could guard against outsiders but not their own people.


    Although this miniature Heaven''s Five Element Array was not cast by Elder Xu, the Qin Family and once invited him to repair and maintain the array.


    And for unknown reasons, Elder Xu had left a loophole in the array and had remembered it in his mind.


    Therefore, the capture of the Xu Family had benefited Fang Yuan.


    "Who would guess that the Qin Family would have something like this..."


    After entering the Qin Family, the thing which Fang Yuan feared most was the danger that he could sense from the main hall.


    "Not lone people, but a whole group of them! Are these their private soldiers?"


    Every heir would have control over 500 of these soldiers.


    From the looks of it, these private soldiers were not normal troops, but spiritual troops! Dao troops! If combined into a military formation, it could be comparable to a spiritual knight in the Elemental Opening Realm!


    "Needless to say, these type of families would pass down secret techniques. As long as one of them would be chosen to be the heir, they would sacrifice everything that they have got to train a newbie into a Wu Zong or spiritual knight!"


    Fang Yuan took in a deep breath and felt a little fearful.


    In Da Qian Empire, every family in every county would have such strong foundations and resources.


    Even when Lady Xu wanted to take over Qin Family, she had to do it subtly, for even she herself had to fear the power in the family.


    "No wonder they had to compare the purity of their blood..."


    Fang Yuan looked at the patriarchal hall and turned around.


    His target was not the people of high status in the family.


    The First Lady''s of the Qin Family.


    Outside a luxurious hall, the atmosphere was sorrowful and there were crying sounds heard.


    As soon as they had received the bad news, Lady Xu had collapsed and then everyone was on their toes.


    Fang Yuan''s motive for coming here was not to console her, but to kill her!


    "I myself am enough to plot against the Qin Family!"


    He gracefully leapt into the garden in the backyard of the mansion and revealed a mysterious look. "No matter what this Lady Xu had planned, as long as she is dead, who would be against Qin Yun in becoming the heir?"


    "Bewildering fog!"


    Although there were a few strong spiritual auras around the Qin Family mansion, Fang Yuan did not care less. With big steps, he walked into the mansion as his bewildering fog spread.


    "Clang!"


    Within the room, the sound of porcelain cups breaking was distinct.


    "My Lady! I can give up my life, but you must take care of your body!"


    Xu Fu looked at the spiritual medicine which was spilt all over the floor and was expressionless. Blood trickled down his head but he did not flinch a single bit as he exclaimed.


    "Eh..."


    The gentle voice of Lady Xu was heard, as she choked on her own words. "My poor Grandmaster, as well as my father and brothers..."


    She had already cried her fair share. Wiping her tears, she revealed a look of determination. "Do you know who is the killer?"


    "We have no idea. It should be someone they encountered on the way, and that person is at the Meridian Opening Stage!"


    Outsiders would have no idea, but how would the both of them no know?


    A spiritual array master with the protection of a hidden Wu Zong! For an ambush to be successful, the person had to at least be of Meridian Opening Stage, or must have had help from other spiritual knights!


    "The Qin Siblings!"


    Lady Xu remarked with hatred.


    She had always been an amiable person and would not have stepped on the toes of others. It was rather obvious if she carefully thought of the people who would be against the Xu Family.


    Although it was unbelievable, it had to be the truth!


    "Who would''ve thought that those two bast*rds would be able to turn things around and get such a strong reinforcement!"


    Lady Xu continued angrily. "Tomorrow, I will look for Old Master and the few elders! I''ll let them make the decision!"


    After the downfall of Xu Family, this women knew who she had to rely on!


    After all, she was the eldest daughter-in-law of the Qin Family. As long as she made herself look pitiful in front of the few elders to make them angry, she would be able to convince the Qin Family to send people out to take down the mysterious highly skilled person.


    After all, she had spent quite a lot of effort in trying to appease the few elders for the past 10 years.


    Even if the Qin Siblings were to return, she had confidence that it would still go her way!


    "Not bad! Not bad indeed!"


    As the door opened, Fang Yuan walked in.


    As the bewildering fog dissipated, the servants and housekeepers fell, unconscious.


    "Who''s there?"


    Xu Fu stood up, all tensed up.


    "The one who is here to kill you!"


    With a casual palm, his spiritual meridian slithered around. All Xu Fu could feel was an immense pressure on his chest.


    As he shrieked, blood started to flow from his mouth and nose, and the bones in his body shattered into a million pieces. However, there was not too much sound and he fell down like a snake without bones.


    "Cough cough..."


    On the bed, an old Lady Xu coughed a few times as soon as she saw Fang Yuan.


    "Wu Zong at the level of Meridian Opening Stage.... and this spiritual technique..."


    Her eyes were quickly filled with hatred. "Did you ambush the Xu Family carriage?"


    "That''s right! Not just that, but I am going to kill you tonight as well!"


    Fang Yuan nodded his head and admitted to his doings.


    "What did the Qin Siblings offer you?"


    Lady Xu asked, her voice filled with hatred.


    "You don''t have to know this, because... you are already a dead person!"


    Fang Yuan slowly walked towards her and raised his right hand.


    "You... cough cough... cough cough..."


    As Lady Xu coughed continuously, her chest turned red and the hatred in her eyes slowly increased in intensity.


    As Fang Yuan''s finger was about to reach Lady Xu''s forehead, he suddenly stopped and looked towards the door. "It''s you!"


    "It''s me! Hehe¡­.. We have affinity! Who would''ve thought that we would meet again today!"


    At the side of the room, a servant who was unconscious suddenly stood up and laughed.


    Previously, the servant looked decent but was not the most beautiful.


    However, now, no one would be able to associate her with the servant which she disguised as.


    In Fang Yuan''s eyes, suddenly, a pretty lady appeared.


    Her eyes were beautiful and she had a solemn look. It was as though she had descended from the heavens and gave off the feeling like a lotus flower blooming in the mud.


    Even Lady Xu would feel ashamed when compared to her.


    "It''s you, lady!"


    Fang Yuan could recognise that this lady was the dream master which he had met that day.


    To be unaffected by the bewildering fog, she must have gone through a dream master''s training. However, it was exceptional that she could deceive Fang Yuan and camouflage among the servants.


    "I still do not know your name!"


    Seeing an actual dream master from Da Qian Empire, Fang Yuan felt excited.


    "I am Meng Lian!"


    Meng Lian bit her lips. "What about you?"


    Although there was danger everywhere in the Qin Family''s mansion, the lady appeared calm as though she was the owner of the mansion.


    "I am Fang Yuan! Meng Lian, are you here for Lady Xu? If that is so, I''ll gladly give her to you!"


    Fang Yuan shrugged his shoulders.


    To him, it was not the most important priority for him to take over Qin Family.


    Since this lady was a dream master, she must have had a master. She could have strong backing, and it was unwise to make enemies.


    "... Lady, save me!"


    It was as though Lady Xu was holding on to her lifeline. Climbing down from the bed, she tugged at Meng Lian''s dress. "Lady, if you save me, I will reward you with everything that I have and I will obey your every order..."


    "Bang!"


    Suddenly, she appeared helpless and fell to the ground.


    "Hehe... This is just a mission. How can it be compared to you, young master?"


    Meng Lian smiled cunningly. "Let this woman be my gift to you, how does that sound?"


    Fang Yuan continued smiling but was shocked inside.


    Although Meng Lian was talking to him cheerfully, her actions reflected how lightly she would take a human life.


    Or in other words, in her eyes, only dream masters were ''human'' like her!


    ''Such confidence...''


    Fang Yuan sighed in his mind.


    A dream master in the Illusionary Divine stage was indeed powerful.


    At higher stages, these dream masters would be able to make objects or even an entire heritage of humans.


    Needless to say, there would be many paths of Illusionary Divine Stage and every path was extremely strong, to the point that these dream masters would rarely have any friends.


    With all these powers, it was only natural for them to feel confident.


    To see oneself as a god and creator, it would only be normal to see normal humans as ants.


    Even a lady like this had such a power. What would be the power of all the evil dream masters in the entire Da Qian Empire?


    After thinking to himself, Fang Yuan asked directly. "You must have a request since you are offering a gift! What would you need to help you with?"


    "Great! Master Fang, you''re straight to the point!"


    Meng Lian revealed a joyful look. "You look unfamiliar and must be a new dream master. Have you joined the ''Dream Realm''?"


    "Dream Realm?"


    Fang Yuan''s heart skipped a beat, but his expression remained unchanged. "Nope!"


    "Would you allow me to bring you then... to be honest, I would contribute much more by bringing a new member back compared to these small missions!"


    Meng Lian was jubilant as she exclaimed.


    Both of them were dream masters and could feel each other''s intent. After a while, they became more direct.


    "Contribution?"


    Fang Yuan asked, curious.


    "Have you not heard of dream realm? Oh my, have your master not told you anything about it?"


    This time, it was Meng Lian who covered her mouth in disbelief.


    "This... To be honest, I was fortunate enough to encounter a dream master''s inheritance, that''s all!"


    Fang Yuan rubbed his nose. He was speaking the truth, but he did not reveal where the inheritance was. Therefore, this was not considered lying and Meng Lian would not be able to see though Fang Yuan.

 228 Dream Realm

    "Ah, I see!"


    Meng Lian examined Fang Yuan as her eyes glittered. "What a gifted person to be able to find your own way to become a dream master!"


    "Perhaps!"


    Fang Yuan''s expression did not change, but inside, he was laughing.


    Even though Meng Lian was a dream master like himself, she should be stuck at the dream-building stage, comparable to a spiritual knight at the peak of elemental gathering realm. Since she had not achieved a breakthrough to the elemental opening realm, she was unaware of her own hidden potential.


    After realising this, his interest towards Meng Lian and the Dream Realm grew.


    "Who''s that?"


    "What audacity! How dare you trespass the Qin Family''s mansion!"


    With such a huge commotion in the room and the fact that both Fang Yuan and Meng Lian did not bother to hide, they were quickly discovered.


    He could detect the fury in all of them.


    As they found out the death of Lady Xu, they were even more infuriated.


    "Kill!"


    Around the patriarchal hall, people started to appear. They were well-built and started to surround them. All of them were clad in armour, and they were wielding bows with spiritual inscriptions on them.


    It was illegal in Da Qian Empire to own more than three pieces of armour for each family, except for officials and those under special circumstances. Otherwise, they would be treated as rebels!


    As for the bows with spiritual inscriptions, needless to say, it was the death sentence to just own one of them!


    However, with the power and influence of the Qin Family, they could have a 500-soldier strong private army, which made everything they did seem legal.


    "What an array!"


    "Whoosh!"


    As their shadows flashed, Fang Yuan and Meng Lian leapt onto the roof as they witnessed the scene in silence.


    "All these soldiers have cultivated a special technique for them to fuse their inner force together. Furthermore, this formation seems to have its uniqueness..."


    Seeing the soldiers forming up in their array and detecting their spiritual auras, Fang Yuan complimented them, as all of them complemented the formation perfectly.


    "This is the Qin Family''s ''Fiery Feathers Array''! These 500-odd soldiers have the blood of the Qin Family too! Using the array''s power, they might even be able to summon the rumoured Fiery Bird''s incarnation!"


    Meng Lian rolled her eyes at Fang Yuan before explaining.


    "Who''s that? Who dares to come to my family to kill?"


    A thunderous roar was heard and a few extremely strong spiritual auras were detected approaching the room. A few old people with white hair appeared. They were the elders of the Qin Family.


    The elder in front turned red like a burning volcano.


    "It''s me!"


    Meng Lian chuckled. "I don''t like her, therefore I killed her. What can you do about it?"


    "You..."


    The few elders of the Qin Family were enraged, but the elder in front remained calm. Looking at Meng Lian, he was rather confused. "You are..."


    "Good foresight, old man!"


    Meng Lian smiled and took out a token.


    Fang Yuan took a quick glance at the token. It seemed to be made of both gold and jade and there were wooden carvings on it. In the middle, there was a blooming white lotus.


    "You are a... Divine Lady!!!"


    The elder heaved a huge sigh and the rest of them changed their expressions.


    "So... Do you want to capture me?"


    Meng Lian smiled innocently and walked out of the mansion.


    All of the elders of the Qin Family clenched their teeth. Even though they were all powerful and had spiritual troops and spiritual arrays to help them, they did not dare to lay a single finger on her. They could only look at her take her leave, but none of them knew the significance of the white lotus and how it managed to strike fear in all of them.


    With all that she had done, Fang Yuan remained silent and followed behind Meng Lian, feeling proud of what she had done.


    ...


    "Is she really... that Divine Lady?"


    Only when Meng Lian and Fang Yuan were out of sight did an elder enquired, his voice full of fear.


    "If it''s not her, then who would it be?"


    The master elder smiled sheepishly. "Although we are the strongest family in Dongyi County, we are nothing compared to that. Why would that Divine Lady find trouble with the First Wife?"


    After a long silence, everyone began to think about the fight for the heir.


    However, even the master elder, who was closest to Lady Xu, had nothing to say.


    "Eh... Since the death of Qin Jie and Qin Fengyu, the Qin Family had been a mess..."


    The master elder sighed loudly. "We should quickly decide on the next family head to stabilise the Qin Family. Otherwise, if we always have to come out to settle disputes, we would die earlier... Where is our grandson Qin Yun?"


    He had no other intentions as he spoke, but the few other elders already knew his plans.


    ''He... should be able to arrive before the ceremony!''


    One of the elders was pleased. Finally, his efforts had not gone to waste, and he was beginning to reap the rewards.


    ''However... Is a dream master really that powerful, to the extent that a simple thought from them would be able to change brother''s intentions?''


    The other elders were skeptical. "... could it be to push him to become family head so that they can scrutinise him?"


    The Qin Siblings were the ones most suspicious to be responsible for everything that happened today.


    By supporting Qin Yun to become the family head, they would establish good relations with him and can also test him out. If Fang Yuan were to find out about their thoughts, he would die of laughter...


    ...


    "Where is the Dream Realm?"


    Fang Yuan followed Meng Lian as they arrived at the outskirts of Dongyi County. He had a confused look on his face.


    "What is the impression of the Dream Realm in your mind, Fang Yuan? What is our world?"


    Looking at the surroundings, it was a piece of wilderness with no life in sight. Meng Lian suddenly asked Fang Yuan.


    "The reality is an illusion, and illusionary things are real! Our dream worlds are like a bubble that can be destroyed and rebuilt in an instant. This is also true for your world..."


    Fang Yuan replied in a serious tone.


    "Why would you have such a deep impression of dream worlds and our world?"


    Meng Lian felt a little suspicious and continued explaining. "Where do you think... the Dream Realm would be? Of course, in our dreams!"


    "Dreams? Entering the dream of another dream master?"


    Fang Yuan suddenly felt inspired.


    "That''s right! By dream-accessing, every dream master would be brought to a common dream world, the Dream Realm. The Dream Realm is a large-scale public trading place!"


    From Meng Lian''s description, Fang Yuan''s expression changed. "Dream masters from all over the world can connect together in an instant through dream accessing and even do trading... It''s unbelievable!"


    In his past life, this would be known as the internet which connects the world. However, dream masters were able to actualise it out and even use it for trading purposes.


    ''All dream masters would specialise in different professions, but all of them can come together in the Dream Realm...''


    Fang Yuan''s eyes glittered; he could not wait to experience it for himself.


    "Master, have you finally realised that I am not out to harm you?"


    Meng Lian smiled cheekily.


    "What is this Dream Realm built on?"


    As he frowned, he thought of a question.


    "Have you heard of a wild animal called ''Kun''?"


    "Kun!?"


    Thinking about it, Fang Yuan exclaimed. "Is it the one in the legends? The thousand-year-long dream of the beast which is illusionary? The one that normal people are unaware of?"


    "That''s right! This wild animal ''Kun'' is a mutant. Our ancestors, the dream masters in Da Qian, have put in a lot of effort to catch one of it, keeping it in captivity and using it as the foundation of the dream world!"


    Meng Lian took out a glittering scale the size of a palm. "This object has the spiritual aura of the Kun. As long as you are a dream master, you can use your dream-accessing technique to enter that dream world!"


    "Many thanks!"


    Fang Yuan received the scale over. Indeed, he could feel an illusionary spiritual aura from it.


    "Let''s go... Since this is your first time, I will have to verify your identity. Once you have been there before, you would not need this piece of scale and can access the dream world anytime and anywhere!"


    Meng Lian brought him to a cave in the mountains, hugged her knees and fell asleep next to a piece of green rock. She had entered her dream.


    "Dream accessing!"


    Scanning the surroundings to ensure that it was safe, Fang Yuan closed his eyes as well.


    Of course, he would still guard against this lady.


    However, ever since he had achieved a breakthrough to Illusionary Divine Stage, his magic proficiency points gained an exponential increase, which led to a new technique. This new technique allowed him to keep a tinge of consciousness in his body even after dream accessing. Therefore, if there was any danger, he could immediately wake up.


    Since Meng Lian invited him, he would not decline and therefore executed his dream-accessing technique as well.


    ''Roar roar!''


    As he traced the spiritual aura on the scale, his consciousness rosed and he could see a river of colourful bubbles.


    Suddenly, a loud roar was heard and the bubbles burst.


    As he focused, he drove away all the fog, revealing a big animal.


    It was the size of an island and was sky-green in colour. Its body was covered in scales and had 8 legs, 6 eyes, 4 ears, and its limbs resembled a spider. It was flat on its back and felt mysterious and unnatural at the same time.


    "The ancient wild animal - Kun!"


    Fang Yuan focused.


    He realised that although the gigantic animal''s spiritual aura was scary, it was like a pool of still water and had no intention of fighting. It was covered in seals all around its body, and there was a dream world within it.


    Although the dream world was huge, it was easy to infiltrate. Any dream master would be able to enter it at will.


    ''Indeed a public place!''


    At the side, a few streaks of light broke the surface of the dream world and penetrated through. Seeing this, Fang Yuan began to rush straight into the dream world without any more hesitation.


    "Pu!"


    At the corner of the street, a shadow flashed by and Fang Yuan''s body appeared.


    "You''re here?"


    At the side, Meng Lian''s voice was heard. "I have been waiting for quite a while..."


    Turning around, Fang Yuan could see Meng Lian smiling cheekily there. He was shocked. "How can your body be so real..."


    Half of her body was covered in a layer of fog, and in the fog, there were white lotuses blooming. Everything was fleeting.


    Fang Yuan was stunned. Quickly, a thin layer of white fog appeared around him too.


    "You learn fast!"


    Meng Lian praised him. "Firstly, welcome to the Dream Realm. As a new member, you are entitled to an identity inscription plate. You will have to use it to accept missions and rewards!"


    Fang Yuan nodded his head, and a jade inscription plate appeared in front of him.


    "It''s done!"


    Meng Lian clapped her hands and smiled. "The mission to bring in a new member is complete! Realm Spirit, my reward!"


    "Whoosh!"


    On her hands appeared a jade inscription plate which was similar to Fang Yuan''s. However, there were a few golden words written on it, which made it look mysterious.

 229 Explore

    "What is the Realm Spirit?"


    "It used to be the consciousness of the Kun, but it has since been altered by dream masters to become the manager of the Dream Realm. It is neutral!"


    Meng Lian cheekily answered. It was evident that she was happy as she had just given a huge contribution.


    ''Semi-automated manager?''


    Fang Yuan rolled his eyes. "What kind of world is this?''


    "Contribution points are the currency of the Dream Realm. You can use it to buy stuff, techniques, information or even hire highly-skilled dream masters to help you do stuff. Every contribution point is hard-earned. Therefore, you must value it as much as how you value your own eyes!"


    Meng Lian reminded him.


    "Thank you for the reminder!"


    Fang Yuan held his fists together.


    "At the end of this street is the marketplace for missions. All dream masters would put up missions that they need help with and you can take a look there."


    "Also, in the Dream Realm, the powerful would set up their own bases and have a certain amount of authority. You are a clever man and surely would know the consequence of angering them, right?"


    Meng Lian blinked. "Although the Dream Realm is a peaceful place, Da Qian is not. If you do not want to be taken advantage of as a newcomer, it is best to work with someone powerful... The organisation I am working for is quite influential. If you are considering, please remember to tell me."


    "Of course!"


    Fang Yuan smiled. He could feel that other than the contribution points that she could earn, this was the true purpose of Meng Lian bringing him here.


    Getting new blood for the organisation was important. Needless to say, he was rather skilled as a dream master.


    Furthermore, an identity token from her was already enough to strike fear in the Qin Family. Therefore, he could deduce the influence of the dream master she was working for.


    Of course, Fang Yuan did not want to get himself into trouble and therefore casually replied her. He even rejected Meng Lian''s invitation and continued his way on the streets.


    ''This person...''


    Looking at Fang Yuan''s disappearing silhouette, her eyes glittered. ''He is very wary of me, but this is normal. Otherwise, he wouldn''t be able to survive till now... My


    is supposed to affect his mind, but it had no effect on him! He is not a normal person, and it is such a pity that the Dream Realm forbids us to use dream spells here. Otherwise, I would try planting a lotus print on him!''


    "Great technique!"


    Along the streets, Fang Yuan could see only a few people, but he did not let his guard down.


    Everyone here was a worthy dream master. Looking at the numbers, all the dream masters of Da Qian should be here.


    Thinking about Meng Lian''s actions, Fang Yuan shuddered.


    ''That temptation and influence from her was not the simple bewildering spell anymore. It was from her passion and her nature. It is different from the evil spells and therefore I will be unable to guard against it! That lady has an ulterior motive!''


    ''Although the Dream Realm is great, I would not be so foolish as to be tempted by it and stay here...''


    As he smiled, he chose to leave.


    "Peng!"


    A white fog exploded and a full-grown man suddenly disappeared from the streets. However, the surrounding dream masters were not shocked by it as though they were already used to such occurrences.


    ...


    In the real world.


    As the water from the stream trickled outside, the surroundings were peaceful. Next to a green rock, a beautiful lady was hugging her knees and her eyes were closed. It was as though she had just fallen asleep.


    "Wow! It seems like the time flow in the Dream Realm and the real world is roughly the same! It seems like not much time has passed..."


    Fang Yuan nodded his head and smiled as he looked at Meng Lian, who was still in the Dream Realm.


    As a Wu Zong, his spiritual aura was stronger and therefore, he would be more responsive and could awaken faster.


    However, the fact that she dared to sleep out in the open meant that she must have some sort of protection in the form of magical equipment.


    "Whoosh!"


    As his ears twitched, Fang Yuan could detect the sound of wind.


    It seemed like a few highly skilled martial artists were on their way here.


    ''Forget it...''


    He gave a mysterious look as he looked at Meng Lian. ''Although you had other motives, you did introduce me to the Dream Realm. I''ll let you off this time!''


    "Rumble!"


    Three spiritual meridians appeared on his body, forming a spiritual armour.


    The few martial artists immediately knew that they were being discovered. From then, they came out of hiding and rushed towards the cave using their elemental force.


    Fang Yuan could detect that the person in front was Meng Lian''s coachman the other day.


    Based on his current abilities, it was possible for Fang Yuan to capture all of them. However, Meng Lian might have a treasure on her from a powerful dream master and therefore, it was not worth it to risk offending the powerful dream master.


    With that, Fang Yuan sighed and tapped his feet lightly on the ground. Quickly, he leapt onto a tree branch and soon disappeared.


    "Mistress!"


    As the few Wu Zongs arrived at the river, they all heaved a sigh a relief seeing that Meng Lian was unharmed. Quickly, they guarded the surroundings.


    After a while, Meng Lian''s eyebrows twitched as she opened her eyes. "Where is he?"


    "We are useless. He has gotten away!"


    The person in front knelt down and asked for forgiveness.


    "The few of you together can defeat a Wu Zong in the Meridian Opening Stage! How could you let him get away? And it''s remarkable how he can recover from the dream world so quickly..."


    Meng Lian blinked her eyes. "Indeed, talents come from everywhere!"


    She did not think about the fact that if she did not harbour evil thoughts against Fang Yuan, he might not have been so alert.


    "That person is highly skilled in martial arts and is in the Meridian Opening Stage. Please be careful, Divine Lady!"


    As her subordinate reported, Meng Lian''s expression changed.


    "Got it... Fang Yuan, hmm?"


    Looking in the direction which Fang Yuan left in, her eyes were filled with curiosity.


    How could someone reach such a cultivation level in both martial arts and spiritual knight cultivation?


    Who is this Fang Yuan?


    ...


    On the 15th day, the Qin Family gathering was held.


    As the Qin Siblings appeared, they were welcomed. Qin Yun was unanimously recommended to be the heir and the next family head and everything went smoothly like it was a dream.


    As for the First Wife Lady Xu, news spread that she had died of illness. Of course, the Qin Siblings knew the real cause of her death and from then on, they had more respect and fear for Fang Yuan.


    "The seeds have finally germinated. Next would be to wait for them to mature for harvest!"


    Fang Yuan was constantly monitoring the movement of the Qin Family from the shadows.


    Once Qin Yun took over as family head, he no longer appeared and seemed to have left.


    "Alright, now is the time to explore the Dream Realm!"


    In an underground cave, Fang Yuan appeared solemn. Shutting his eyes, he commenced his dream accessing technique.


    Countless dream worlds appeared and were represented by bubbles. Suddenly, all of them exploded.


    A familiar spiritual aura was felt, and he walked straight into it without reservations.


    The defence of the Dream Realm was almost nonexistent.


    "Whoosh!"


    As a glow flashed, the familiar corner of the street appeared.


    "If I join any organisation, I would appear in their bases. But now, I am a lone cultivator, and can only depend on fate to see where I will appear?"


    Fang Yuan snapped his fingers as a layer of fog shrouded over him.


    Every dream master who came here would use such a technique to conceal their identity, making everything in the Dream Realm mysterious.


    As he walked along the street, he started to examine everything.


    "Spiritual objects? Techniques?"


    Fang Yuan was already speechless as he arrived at a random spiritual plant shop.


    On the counter, large amounts of spiritual plants were placed casually. Most of the spiritual plants were of Yellow Grade, and there were plants of Mysterious Grade as well. All of these were sold by weight and only the Earth Grade spiritual plants and above were given shelves of their own.


    "These are... real objects! They are not created by dream masters!"


    As someone who was in the Illusionary Divine Stage, he could recognise the difference the moment he picked up a purple Three Petalled Flower. It was not an object actualised by dream masters.


    "It''s real?"


    He subconsciously muttered it out.


    "Hey, are you new here?"


    Behind the counter, a dream master wearing a ghost mask laughed. "If the Dream Realm could only trade information, what would be so useful about it? If you are a normal dream master, we can deliver it to any county within Da Qian Empire as long as you pay enough elemental crystals. Of course, if you are an Illusionary Divine dream master, you can accept it directly into your actualised dream world. Do you understand what I am talking about?"


    Accepting it into the actualised dream world would mean that it could be immediately actualised and the dream elemental force used would not be Fang Yuan''s own one.


    He knew this, but under the sceptical eyes of the shopkeeper, he quickly left.


    "Wouldn''t it be an immediate delivery to deliver it directly to the actualised dream world?"


    Walking along the streets and looking at the lively scene on both sides of the street, Fang Yuan was stunned.


    "Can the actualised dream world accept real items? How does it work for the object to be actualised out?"


    It was a sudden realisation that Fang Yuan knew too little about his profession as a dream master.


    On the streets, there were many different stalls ranging from weapons stalls to spiritual pills and medicine. There were also spiritual arrays and everything was here. However, the cheapest would already cost an elemental crystal. For more expensive goods, contribution points were required.


    Although he had collected quite a lot of spiritual treasures and had an entire spiritual land to himself, he still could not be considered wealthy.


    At the end of the street, he arrived at an empty square.


    "Whoosh!"


    A hot stream of air gushed into his face, bringing him to another world.


    Many dream masters were walking about in the square. Some of them were covered in a layer of fog, some ever wearing a hat and some bared it all. Occasionally, they would notice the middle of the square, and everyone was talking at the top of their voices. It was extremely lively.


    "This is..."


    In the middle of the square, there was a huge rock tablet. It was squarish in nature and was a pure black.


    On the surface of the rock tablet, Da Qian words were carved in it and they were glowing with spiritual light. It was shimmering and attracted the attention of many.


    "Buy for me a Three Eyed Grass, and I will pay you 5 contribution points!"


    "Looking for a spiritual array master. Interested parties, please contact me!"


    "Master Danfeng has a mission - forming a party! Require help to explore a secret world, requesting help from dream masters Illusionary Divine Stage and above. Must obey instructions and be agreeable to the splitting of loot..."


    "Selling Limb Regeneration Pills. One pill for 20 contribution points! Made from a revered alchemy master, and the quality is guaranteed!"


    ...


    Many messages appeared which confused Fang Yuan for a bit.


    As he was reading the messages, he could see dream masters taking the initiative to walk up. They would place their own jade inscription plates on the rock tablet and leave hurriedly. From there, he could roughly guess how everything worked.

 230 Fengxin

    After a period of observation, Fang Yuan went forward and similarly took out his jade inscription plate and placed it on the rock tablet.


    "Rumble!"


    At that moment, there was an information overload in front of his eyes. It was as though this rock tablet was a huge ocean and tons of information were like fishes swimming around in front of him.


    All he had to do was to ''fish'' out any information which interests him.


    ''My foundations are still the weakest!''


    Fang Yuan was extremely clear about his weakness. ''This is especially so for my cultivation as a dream master. I would be the most inexperienced because I have no master and no other dream masters to discuss my cultivation. Even though I am in the Illusionary Divine Stage, nothing would work out if I do not get my basics right!"


    "I want information relevant to the basics of being a dream master!"


    As his thought flowed out, it was like a bait, attracting many fishes to him.


    ", will require 5 contribution points!"


    ", written by Shi Huzi. Will require 20 contribution points!!"


    ", written by Venerable Tian Lan. Will require 50 contribution points!"


    ", written by anonymous and is incomplete. Will require 10 contribution points!!"


    ...


    At that moment, all types of information regarding the cultivation of a dream master, records of experience and frequently asked questions appeared. It was indeed an overload of information.


    Fang Yuan was enticed by all the recordings but as he looked at his plain-looking jade inscription plate, he was disappointed.


    "Ah... I have nothing. One word, poor!"


    He realised that he was lacking in contribution points! Lacking a lot!


    "The dream masters in Da Qian Empire have a vast experience of the outside world. Their foundations would surely be stronger than mine. If I want to catch up, I''ll have to put in more effort!"


    The good thing was that there were a lot of interactions among the dream masters in Da Qian Empire. Just by spending contribution points, it should be easy to obtain the common things.


    "It is extremely hard to gain contribution points. They don''t even accept elemental crystals in exchange for contribution points... It seems that Meng Lian had gained quite a lot of contribution points by recommending me to the Dream Realm..."


    At that moment, Fang Yuan felt like he was cheated by Meng Lian.


    Since he could not exchange for contribution points, he could only go about selling things or completing missions.


    "My fortune..."


    Missions were dangerous and unpractical, and Fang Yuan immediately thought of selling things.


    With a spiritual land and a Botany skill in hand, he could make something out of it.


    "Looking for missions - Selling spiritual plants!"


    In his mind, everything flashed past.


    Once his message flew out, the original fishes disappeared and new fishes came by.


    "Looking for a Phoenix Tail Flower, price negotiable!"


    "Need a Thousand Year Black Bamboo that is longer than 3 inches, willing to pay 100 contribution points!"


    "Collecting all types of evolved spiritual flowers and plants. Price negotiable after meet up!"


    ...


    Numerous pieces of information flashed by Fang Yuan and it was extremely convenient for him to sieve out what he was looking for.


    As he slowly picked, he chose the message which was about collecting evolved spiritual flowers and plants.


    "Whoosh!"


    As his spiritual will shook, that specific piece of information flew out and a more detailed message appeared - "Collecting spiritual plants on a long-term basis, the rarer the better! Will offer a good price!"


    On the window for contact information, there was a name ''Feng Xinzi'' on it and a logo of a wind chime.


    "This seems to be how I can contact him!"


    Fang Yuan tried to touch it using his mind. Within seconds, an angry thought returned. "Who''s that? Don''t disturb me while I am doing alchemy!?"


    ''Illusionary Divine! A dream alchemy master? It seems that his magical energy is extremely strong! He is surely stronger than me!''


    As his heart shook, he maintained his composure. "I''ve heard that you need spiritual flowers and plants? I happen to have some stock with me, and these spiritual plants that I have cannot be found in Da Qian."


    "Oh, such confidence!"


    Feng Xinzi stopped what he was doing and reported a meeting point. "Wait for me at the square. If I find out that you are lying to me, hehe! You will not want to know what I would do to you."


    "I am only afraid that you do not have enough contribution points!"


    Fang Yuan was filled with confidence. He cut off the communication and came to a spot in the square.


    Not long after, a man in green robes approached him. There was pill essence all over him which formed the shape of a Lingzhi. Just a sniff of it was enough for Fang Yuan to know that he was a high-tiered dream alchemy master. Thinking about it, even Lu Renjia might not be fitting to help this person wear his shoes.


    "I am Feng Xinzi. Were you the one who left the message? I hope that whatever you have to offer me is worth my time away from my cauldron, otherwise..."


    Feng Xinzi glanced at Fang Yuan and turned around. "Follow me!"


    ''Why are all these famous and powerful people so quirky?''


    Fang Yuan shrugged his shoulders and followed behind.


    Both of them arrived at a tea house. It was evident that Feng Xinzi was extremely familiar with this place. Without hesitation, he had booked a private room and crossed his legs as he sat down. "Alright... With the assurance of the Realm Spirit, whatever we discuss here will not leak out. Even if you take out spiritual plants of Heaven Grade, I will still have the ability to buy it!"


    "I''m afraid to disappoint you. All my spiritual plants are only of either Mysterious Grade or Yellow Grade. However, they are unique and I''m sure this would be the first time you are seeing them!"


    Fang Yuan smiled. Suddenly, in his actualised dream world, a few spiritual plants appeared. Quickly, he actualised them into the Dream Realm.


    "This is..."


    Feng Xinzi scanned the plants quickly and his casual expression became a solemn one.


    "Interesting, wonderful..."


    He fiddled with the Flame Jade Rice in his hands as he was in disbelief. "Indeed... I have not seen such a spiritual plant before! Where did you get it from?"


    Fang Yuan smiled but remained silent.


    Firstly, Da Qian was already extremely separated from the mainland and Yuan and Wu Country. Communication was difficult between these regions and therefore it was normal for there to be differences in the spiritual plants.


    Furthermore, how would Feng Xinzi come across this spiritual plant which was evolved specially by Fang Yuan?


    "The effect of this spiritual rice ranks it at a Yellow Grade. It is fire-type with a hint of metallic properties. The most crucial thing about this plant is that it cannot be found anywhere in Da Qian. It can be planted in large scales and therefore from all these unique properties, it can be classified as a Mystery Grade!"


    Feng Xinzi closed his eyes for a while before quoting a price. "If you don''t mind selling it, I am willing to offer you 30 contribution points!"


    "That''s nice!"


    Fang Yuan nodded his head.


    He knew that for a Mystery Grade spiritual plant, it was a rather good price.


    This was because firstly, this rice could be planted in large scales, which would benefit a lot of people. Secondly, Feng Xinzi had a generous personality, which was why he quoted a high price.


    ''This is the difference between the people from the mainland and Da Qian...''


    Feng Xinzi kept the Flame Jade Rice properly. As he took out his inscription plate, Fang Yuan''s own jade inscription plate had some changes. There was a faint golden ''30'' appearing on the plate.


    In the mainland, the Flame Jade Rice would be a killer weapon which had the ability to support an entire sect. However, in Da Qian, many families would already have spiritual rice of Mystery Grade or even Earth Grade. If not for the fact that it was a new type of rice, it might not even be worth half the price that Feng Xinzi offered.


    "I am extremely satisfied with your offer. Would you be interested to look at some other spiritual plants that I have with me?"


    Seeing that Feng Xinzi had the intention to leave, Fang Yuan smiled and took out another few spiritual plants.


    "Eh?"


    As Feng Xinzi exclaimed, he examined the other few new spiritual plants. Immediately, he looked at Fang Yuan with a weird expression. "All of these are not seen in Da Qian before! Are you from the outer regions or from the other small worlds?"


    ''Outer regions? Other small worlds?''


    Fang Yuan was shocked inside. ''Have the dream masters in Da Qian began to explore outside of Da Qian?''


    After receiving this crucial piece of information, he remained expressionless and signalled Feng Xinzi to look at this spiritual plants.


    After a long while, Feng Xinzi was a little disappointed as Fang Yuan avoided his question. Slowly, he began to look at Fang Yuan''s spiritual plants once again.


    All of these spiritual plants had special traits evolved all these years while Fang Yuan was training.


    Most of them were of Mystery Grade and Yellow Grade. Their effects were weird but unique in their own ways, but none of them had an important usage.


    "Mm... Not bad indeed!"


    Although Feng Xinzi was shrouded in his own pill essence and his face was covered, there was joy in his voice. "I have never heard or seen all these spiritual plants. May I offer you 50 contribution points for all of them?"


    "Of course!"


    Fang Yuan immediately agreed and started to pack it up for him.


    With a laughter, Feng Xinzi kept the spiritual plants properly. "If you have any other spiritual plants next time, remember to look for me! My offer will surely be better than what others can offer!"


    With that, the symbol of a wind chime floated up and landed in Fang Yuan''s hands.


    "Of course!"


    Fang Yuan kept the symbol and imprinted it on his jade inscription plate. It was comparable to exchanging numbers with Feng Xinzi if this was his previous life.


    "Goodbye!"


    "I''ll see you!"


    As they placed their fists together, Fang Xinzi''s silhouette disappeared.


    In a corner of Da Qian Empire.


    Within an underground alchemy room.


    Feng Xinzi opened his eyes. There was a glitter in his eyes. "Actualise!"


    On the table in front of him, a spiritual light glittered and the Flame Jade Rice and other spiritual plants appeared.


    "Great... I won''t be wrong about this!"


    Although they were low-grade spiritual plants, Feng Xinzi was still extremely excited. "Evolved spiritual plants! I can''t go wrong! With them, by Ten-thousand Pill Cauldron will be improved! Haha... Haha..."


    ...


    The Dream Realm.


    ''Feng Xinzi is an alchemy master. The purpose of him buying all my spiritual plants should be to do further research and produce new spiritual pills, I believe?''


    Fang Yuan returned to the square, still deep in his own thoughts.


    ''The actualised dream world brings so much convenience to dream masters!''


    Every dream masters'' own actualised dream world was their own tiny private space. They could use dream elemental force to produce objects of all kinds and actualise them into the real world. The consumption of dream elemental force would vary from person to person and from object to object.


    However, if done in reverse, for instance placing a real object into the actualised dream world, the object could be traded with another dream master. From then, they would only require a small amount of dream elemental force to transfer and be retrieved out by another dream master. This would be an extremely convenient way of trading. However, the disadvantage would be that the requirement for doing this was extremely high. Dream masters had to be either at the Illusionary Divine stage and above.


    ''Why do I feel like a delivery man?''


    As he approached the center of the square, his eyes glittered. "Search - Buying the Basics of dream masters!!"

 231 Dream Soldier Master

    In the dream world, purchasing information took little time.


    As long as the payment in terms of contribution points was made, the purchased information would appear immediately in the form of jade scroll guarded by a realm spirit which proved its authenticity.


    "Dream Master''s Basic Introduction, purchase!"


    "Dream Master''s 10 Questions, Shi Huzi requested 20 contribution points for it! Purchased!"


    "Dream Creek Records, bought!"


    "The Path of Illusion, the Tianlan People requested 50 contribution points! Buy...oh, I do not have sufficient contribution points again!"


    Fang Yuan looked at his reduced contribution points on his inscription plate and the 3 manuals in his hand. He could not help but feel dumbfounded. "Selling manuals containing insights in cultivation is daylight robbery...if one more dream master were to purchase this information, they would gain another portion of contribution points."


    However, he knew clearly that unless one was talented or famous, it would be wishful thinking for a dream master to become prosperous with just the manuals alone.


    Fang Yuan left the Square and arrived in the alleys. He took out the ''Dream Master''s 10 Questions'' and flipped through it.


    The pages of this ancient manual were yellow and its cover was hard. It appeared glossy and no matter how one looked at it, it looked like a treasure. As Fang Yuan''s hand descended onto the manual, there was a flash of light which engraved itself onto Fang Yuan''s forehead.


    "Oh..."


    Fang Yuan grew dizzy and in his sea of consciousness, a wall of text appeared. "Dream Masters make use of heaven and earth to become the master of all living things! In the beginning, dream masters were prosperous and were aware of the 10 questions..."


    The 10 questions were simple and philosophical. Fang Yuan could tell that the author had reached the pinnacle of being a dream master just by reading the text.


    After finishing the book, he turned his attention to the ''Dream Master''s Basic Introduction''. While the book explained difficult concepts in simple terms, it provided Fang Yuan with a solid foundation and clearly recorded the path after the Illusionary Divine Stage. As such, Fang Yuan was able to have a better understanding of his strengths and weaknesses.


    However, what caused Fang Yuan to be astonished was the ''Dream Creek Records'' which appeared to be handwritten!


    The manual was in tatters and was full of colloquial speech. However, it managed to portray the problems that the dream masters faced.


    "After becoming a dream master and travelling through the Da Qian Empire, I have discussed swords with the sword masters, compared knives with the knife enthusiasts, ruled the beasts, remained undefeated and studied the different pathways under the heavens. This resulted in me feeling deeply that the path of a dream master is to use the blessings of heavens and earth and might not even be of this world!"


    "When one is born, and by the time he reaches adulthood, he would have to ponder upon where he came from and where to go from there. Where do we, as dream masters, come from? Dream elemental force, the ability to actualize objects pique my interest!"


    "...After thousands of comparison, I dare conclude that every pathway of cultivation requires the use of heavens and earth''s power for one to be extraordinary. Why do dream masters require so many resources? There can only be one reason! The difference between dream masters and Wu Zongs or spiritual knights! The dream elemental force that we require does not originate from this world! It is from another higher dimension which is able to support the dream master''s ability to actualize objects...we can even say that the Illusionary Divine Stage is entirely based on upon the unknown source of power!"


    "The final outcome of any pathway to cultivation is to return to one''s roots, to search for the source of the power... I dare predict, that in order for a dream master to surpass himself, he needs to find his roots, the origin of everything!"


    ...


    The records only contained a few pages but it was enough to shock Fang Yuan.


    "It appears that the dream masters already knew the existence of another world and have even started exploring it!"


    "It seems that the ability to actualize objects in the Illusionary Divine Stage is not just purely dependent on one''s intense training, it requires the source of the dream masters'' power..."


    Fang Yuan had long sensed it.


    If he had gone about doing things his previous way, in order for a dream master to actualize an object, he would need to thoroughly analyse the laws of the world which was impossible for anyone to accomplish.


    However, throughout history, there were many dream masters who have reached the Illusionary Divine Stage. The only possibility was the addition of an external source of power which greatly simplified the process of reaching the Illusionary Divine Stage.


    Fang Yuan''s mind wandered, and he imagined that when he broke through to the Illusionary Divine Stage, a ray of white light bestowed upon him the ability to create an actualized dream world and the ability to actualize objects as the giant door shattered!


    "Dream Master World!"


    "This is the name that the author give to the world where dream masters originated from! Ever since this writing was published, all the dream masters desired to find this world. However, no one was able to succeed till today..."


    Just a small leakage from the Dream Master World was sufficient to supplement a dream master''s power and allow him to actualize an object.


    If one is able to find the Dream Master World, wouldn''t he become extraordinary and divine, forever having nothing to worry about?


    It was precisely because of this conjecture that spurred the later generations of dream masters to search for leads regarding the Dream Master World.


    "There are talents in every generation...there has been rapid progression in the changes in the Da Qian dream master''s world in the few short years that my master lived in seclusion."


    Fang Yuan nodded his head and felt excited. "However... I like this atmosphere!"


    Fang Yuan had previously chased after longevity and eternity, but it had always been smoke and mirrors.


    Now, he suddenly saw a possibility of success.


    The excitement felt was similar to the feelings that a traveler, who had been travelling for a long time in the dark and had suddenly seen the light, would feel.


    "Of course...the Dream Master World and the likes are still too far ahead of me. I should be considering the path to take after reaching the Illusionary Divine Stage!"


    Fang Yuan grew serious.


    After reaching the Illusionary Divine Stage, there were different pathways to take, the simplest being the dream spell master, followed by the dream soldier master, dream alchemy master, dream array master, dream beast master and the mysterious dream prophet master. There were all kinds of abilities and different pathways even though the end goal was to create an actualized dream world. The pathways taken were different and as such, each pathway had its own unique features.


    "This is due to the fact that creating a whole dream world is too difficult and as such, the dream masters start with a portion of the laws and expand from there. As such, their abilities are different as well!"


    Fang Yuan thought of his own master''s inheritance.


    Master Heartless took the path to become a dream soldier master after reaching the Illusionary Divine Stage.


    A dream soldier master created magical soldiers in his own dream world by first giving the magical soldiers form. With the condensed dream elemental force, the troop''s prowess increase and their thoughts can become a reality. They will be able to topple mountains and overturn the seas [1]. They are able to adapt and react to all types of situations. In the end, a dream soldier master would be able to use this pathway to have a better understanding of the world!


    As for a dream spell master, he would be able to develop thousands of spells with a single thought. A dream array master would be to form an array in his dreams in an instant. If the elder of Xu Family was a dream array master and was able to call upon his arrays from his dream world, he would not have come to such a sorry end.


    "A dream beast master create their paths using summoning spells. He uses dream elemental energy to actualize all sorts of wild beasts and summon a large army of beasts. Of course, there is a branch in this pathway which specializes in transforming one''s own body to become ancient beasts etc, inheriting their abilities and at the same time retaining the dream master''s intellect. It is difficult to master..."


    The introduction to the basics of dream master was enough to dazzle Fang Yuan.


    "Furthermore...all the pathways are not mutually exclusive and are able to complement each other. It is just that the time taken would be multiplied. There is also the issue with aptitude of the cultivator and as such, the cons outweigh the benefits..."


    Given his current abilities, he was only able to use a few dream spell master''s techniques. Even other types of dream masters would not reject the use of dream elemental force to create dream spells in order to aid themselves in their chosen pathways. However, they pale in comparison to a true dream spell master who is able to cast thousands of dream spells with a single thought.


    Only with single-hearted devotion can one achieve results.


    Regardless of which pathway, the outcome was still the same. All the routes lead to the same destination and as such, it was a waste of effort to walk multiple paths.


    "Where does my path lies?"


    Fang Yuan sighed. Truth be told, he did not have many options.


    While a dream soldier master might not be the strongest amongst the dream masters, there was no doubt that the inheritance in his hand was the most complete.


    "Firstly, I do not have enough contribution points to search for the techniques of the other pathways. Secondly, these techniques might not be able to compare to what my master gave me...Afterall, my master''s dream soldier master inheritance is a secret inheritance and contain other mysteries. Furthermore, it is extremely compatible with me..."


    Fang Yuan shook his head and made up his mind.


    Fang Yuan had achieved much in the pathway of martial arts and was not willing to give it up. Choosing the pathway of a dream soldier master would undoubtedly maximize his potential in martial arts.


    "Master''s dream soldier master pathway is a secret inheritance called the ''Eight Gates Sword Array'' which possessed some characteristics of a spiritual array. 8 magical soldiers are created in the dream world to form an array and when required, they can be summoned to assassinate opponents or act as protection for the user! It complements my martial arts!"


    The 8 Gates Sword Array used the 8 trigrams [2] as its foundation which encompassed all the living things in the heavens and earth. The fine changes within were limitless.


    "While the 8 Gates Sword Array is effective, it does have a downside to it. Its characteristics are obvious and as such, if the enemies of my master see it, I will be in deep trouble..."


    "Furthermore, my martial arts is another limiting factor!"


    Fang Yuan''s Giant Eagle Metal Body Technique was developed by himself and was currently in the beginning stage of forming the 4th spiritual meridian. However, he was unable to proceed further.


    In order to achieve a breakthrough, he only had 2 options.


    The first option was to obtain the entire manual of Yang Family''s technique, the Qian Kun Giant Spiritual Technique and combine it to fill up the gaps in the Giant Eagle Metal Body Technique.


    The second option was to use his contribution points and request the help of a more skillful dream master to perfect his technique!


    Due to their actualized dream world, dream masters were able to deduce martial arts techniques.


    Fang Yuan faced difficulties and was unable to further improve his Giant Eagle Metal Body Technique. However, that did not mean that other dream masters were unable to do so!


    If that was the case, it would be difficult to keep the technique a secret and as such, Fang Yuan was unwilling to seek the help of other dream masters.


    "Maybe...I should put up posters requesting to buy the entire volume of the Qian Kun Giant Spiritual Technique manual?


    Fang Yuan muttered to himself.


    The Yang Family was exterminated by Qing Gui. As such, it was likely that the in-house technique was spread to the outsiders.


    Afterall, there were so many dream masters in Da Qian with treasures and information as long as one was able to pay the price!


    [1] A Chinese saying which means that they possess immerse power.


    [2] The 8 trigrams eight symbols used in Taoist cosmology to represent the fundamental principles of reality, seen as a range of eight interrelated concepts.

 232 Inform

    Qin Manor.


    In the main library of the manor, Qin Yun was draped in robes of dark gold. He wore a silver circlet on his crown, and a pencil mustache above his lips. It seemed as though he had calmed down.


    Incense of premium quality burned on in the room. The rich scent of ambergris permeated the air.


    All was silent, except for the steady rattle of an abacus. Qin Qing was present too, and his skillful hands danced on the abacus as if he was playing a musical instrument. Before him lay a huge pile of account books.


    As the figurehead of the Qin clan, Qin Yun had not managed to find any reliable underlings. Other than his own sister, there was no one that he trusted.


    After a while, the clacking sounds of the abacus beads ceased. Qin Qing scribbled some notes on paper before settling himself down on a chair. He let out a sigh and rubbed his forehead vigorously.


    "What is the situation?"


    Qin Yun served up a cup of spiritual tea and asked his question casually.


    "Last year...the various holdings of our clan, including the group at Soul Mountain, raked in a total of 108,500 elemental crystals. Of course, they are of poor quality...less the amount distributed to the different branches of the family, there would be 50,000 elemental crystals left over!"


    Qin Qing displayed no hint of happiness but gave off vibes of depression.


    "But other than the usual expenses, we have to manage the Vast Sea Army as well. This year, we are projected to spend at least 20,000 elemental crystals, and we''ll have to pay a tribute of 40,000 of elemental crystals to the Elders'' Hall. We still have to pander to the various requests of the elders and source for valuable spiritual herbs and spices. All of these require a large amount of time and effort¡­"


    *Hiss*


    Qin Yun sucked in a breath of cold air.


    "So, this means that the Qin clan is barely making ends meet?"


    "Having looked through the accounts, this seems to be the case. In the past few years, Lady Xu has been tapping on the Qin clan''s reserves...regardless of how much wealth our predecessors had hoarded, we''ll go broke if we continue to spend at this rate, unless...we cut down on other overheads!"


    Qin Qing shook his head.


    "The running costs of the Qin clan are already as lean as they can be. They can be reduced no further. The only things we can potentially cut down on are the tributes to the Elders'' Hall and the Vast Sea Army... and yet, these are untouchable!"


    Qin Yun shook his head vigorously in reply.


    The Vast Sea Army was the personal guard of the Vast Sea Viscount. After assuming his title, he came into possession of the magical commanding weapon of the Vast Sea Army. He now had the loyalty of 500 men at his immediate disposal. There was no reason for him to restrain his own power.


    The tribute to the Elders'' Hall was a large one, but there was no other choice. If the tribute was compromised in any way, the elders could penalise him under the family laws, or even cast him out of the clan!


    "If we cannot stem these numerous outflows, we will have to create additional sources of income¡­"


    As Qin Yun spoke, a peculiar change came over his facial expression, and he rubbed the back of his neck.


    The imprint of a black datura had appeared on his skin, and the flower petals were spreading as if they were alive.


    "Our lord is summoning us¡­"


    Qin Yun murmured.


    With regards to His Lordship, Qin Yun was both in awe and grateful.


    What was the Xu Clan to them? Even with the backing of a Spiritual Array Master, they suffered great losses anyway and had already dropped out from the list of Dongyi County elite families. The remnants of their clan continue to be on the run from their enemies and were leading wretched lives. The Qin siblings had played a part in damning the Xu clansmen and considered it their revenge.


    Also, with Fang Yuan''s help, the Qin clan was now larger than the Xu clan in size, had gotten rid of Lady Xu, and Qin Yun was even raised to the position of clan leader. How powerful was he exactly?


    Thus, Qin Yun had nothing but respect and gratitude for Fang Yuan.


    "This method...actually managed to fool the clan elders, we should quickly go pay our respects!"


    Qin Qing nodded his head, passed down some instructions, and followed Qin Yun out of the manor.


    _________________


    There was a famous place in Dongyi County called Sha Zhou Leng, and it was always crowded with people.


    At this point, a horse carriage parked in the shadows discreetly, with the Qin siblings seated cross-legged within. Both of them had looks of unease on their faces.


    "Why isn''t His Lordship here yet? Did something serious crop up?"


    "Or perhaps...we''ve been tailed?"


    Qin Qing, with her ice-cold intelligence, knew that being the head of the Qin clan did not come with complete control over the clan.


    At the very least, behind the clan leader, the Elders'' Hall loomed and was influential in every management aspect of the Qin clan.


    Qin Yun, even as the clan leader, continued to face severe limitations in his work.


    "Will His Lordship...be afraid of the Qin Elders'' Hall?"


    As Qin Qing shook her head, a wave of fatigue swept over her without warning. She suddenly felt drowsy and her eyelids were getting heavier by the second. She then fell asleep, head leaning against the carriage walls.


    "Ehh? Sister!"


    Qin Yun exclaimed in surprise and began to channel his elemental force for self defence.


    Qin Yun had already reached the Wu Zong level of martial arts cultivation, having broken through the 12 Gates!


    However, following the infiltration of a stream of gas into the carriage, Qin Yun fell unconscious to the floor anyway.


    __________


    "Where...what is this place?"


    Qin Yun experienced a strong feeling of weightlessness, and he sprang to his feet forcefully, only to find that he was in the middle of a foggy wasteland. A wispy figure in the vicinity caught his eye.


    "Yun?"


    "Sister!"


    Qin Yun ran forward and grasped the cold palm of Qin Qing.


    "Where are we?"


    "If I''m not wrong, we are in our dream world!"


    Qin Qing was certain of it.


    "Good! Clearly intelligent. It''s a good thing that I have promoted you two!"


    The mists converged into the figure of a youth wearing white robes. It was Fang Yuan.


    "Oh, I see that His Lordship is a Dream Master. It''s our fault for not realising it earlier!"


    Qin Qing pulled Qin Yun along and hurriedly bowed to Fang Yuan respectfully.


    Her heart, however, was pounding hard in alarm.


    His Lordship had previously proved himself to be a Wu Zong and well versed in spiritual spells. The Qin siblings understood that he was a master of both martial arts and magic, and that was that. They had no idea that he was a Dream Master too!


    In the Da Quan world, the status of a Dream Master was much higher than that of a spiritual knight.


    To put it brusquely, even the lowest leveled Dream Master could be on an equal footing as Qin Yun, Lord of the Qin clan and Vast Sea Viscount!


    "You may rise! Qin Yun, you have done well to assume the leadership of the Qin clan...you''ve even become a Wu Zong?


    Fang Yuan exuded indifference as he spoke.


    The changes within Qin Yun''s body was obvious to Fang Yuan.


    Besides, this was a low levelled Wu Zong. He had killed too many of them to care.


    "His Lordship has astounding eyesight!"


    Although he had entered the realm of elemental force himself, in front of Fang Yuan, Qin Yuan spoke as though he was a cowering youth. Even his voice was quivering.


    Qin Yun finally understood why the Elders were unable to detect Fang Yuan''s Restriction.


    The ways of a Dream Master were indeed unpredictable.


    Of course, Fang Yuan had the intention to conceal too.


    Otherwise, if the truth was out, the Elders would not have agreed to let a Restricted individual assume leadership of the clan.


    Qin Yun''s eyes darted about quickly, and his thoughts ran wild.


    Fang Yuan''s display of power must have been meant to intimidate the Qin siblings and to remind them that having received his help, they were bound to him.


    Thus, Qin Yun exclaimed, "His Lordship has aided us in our revenge, and we will forever be grateful to you. From now on, the Qin siblings are at your service!"


    "Hey, you are too serious!"


    Fang Yuan waved his hand, and the Qin siblings got to their feet quickly.


    "Now...all I need you two to do is to find out two things for me. First, the rise and fall of a certain clan, and everything else about it. Second, I want the map of the Da Qian empire, palace layouts, clan territories, the various factions and how they are organised. Give me everything you can find out!"


    "You have been careless today, and people are watching. From now on, we shall communicate in the dream world¡­"


    "What?"


    The Qin siblings were stunned, and as they looked at each other, they thought of the Elders'' Hall.


    "Yes my Lord!"


    "Very well, you two may go!"


    As Fang Yuan nodded, the dream world dissipated.


    _____


    In the horse carriage, Qin Yun awoke with a start and looked at Qin Qing. As they made eye contact, they understood that everything that had happened was real.


    "Let''s go back!"


    Qin Qing pressed Qin Yun''s palm knowingly.


    "I understand!"


    Qin Yun nodded vigorously. Fan Yuan was the most powerful person in the equation and had to be obeyed. Also, Qin Qing seemed to have the intention of challenging the Elders'' Hall with Fang Yuan''s backing.


    Although the Qin siblings knew that they were playing with fire, they had no choice because they were Restricted.


    "But anyway...these people dared to tail me, they must be wiped out!"


    Qin Yun pulled the curtains aside and noticed a few shadows darting out of his view. A cold determination settled over him.


    At this point, falling out with the Elders'' Hall was unwise. But he had to send them a message.


    As the newly appointed leader of the Qin clan, how could he not demonstrate his power?


    _______


    A short distance away, Fang Yuan wore a farmer''s hat and blended in with the tourists, looking as though he was enjoying the sights of Sha Zhou Leng. His lips curled up into a slight smile.


    ''The ways of a Dream Master are mysterious and profound. Only a casual usage of the relevant skills yielded such great effects!''


    So what if someone was tailing us?


    Even if he had been giving instructions to the Qin siblings right in front of them, they would be powerless to do anything.


    Only another Dream Master could challenge a Dream Master!


    "Now I believe that the Dream Master is definitely not a native role of the Da Qian world. It is much more complex than the other techniques and defies logic¡­"


    The more Fang Yuan practised, the more he believed the contents of the journals within the ''Dream Creek Records'' to be true.


    "Absolute martial force would give absolute power and influence!"


    He stared at the desert in front of him with a serious look on his face.


    "A Dream Master not only wields great power, he also provides vital resources. He is totally self sufficient and can even supply the outside world...with these abilities, is it possible to not crave for power?"


    Fang Yuan knew the answer. There was no way he could resist.


    "Although I have no idea how the Da Qian royalty continues to stand to this day, it must be a precarious balance. Perhaps, all it will take is just a little push to break them, and when that happens¡­"


    He sniffed and seemed to catch the smell of blood and fire. This was the smell of the war to come!

 233 Sword Array

    Actualised Dream World.


    As the foundation of an Illusionary Divine Stage dream master, Fang Yuan''s dream world was very small. It was no taller than 2.6 metres and its circumference was no longer than 3.2m.


    "The cultivation of the Illusionary Divine Stage is the cultivation of the actualised dream world. One day, this will become a true world!"


    In the centre of the heavens and earth, Fang Yuan''s true consciousness appeared, one hand pointed at the sky and the other hand pressing against the earth.


    "Crash!"


    Dream elemental force surged forth and flushed the borders of the actualised dream world.


    With every wave, the chaos of the outside world was washed away. The actualised dream world started expanding at a slow rate.


    "The journey of a dream master in the Illusionary Divine Stage is a long and arduous one. Who knows how much effort is needed to reach the Prominent Divine Stage!"


    Fang Yuan sighed.


    Every day after he completed his work, he would go out and arrive at an open field.


    "Dream soldier master, in the beginning, his primary focus is to actualize soldiers and uses martial arts as a supplement. In the end, he will walk the path of training his soldiers to have a better understanding of the world...Truth be told, it is to start with laws regarding weapons and the likes before moving on to grasping the laws of the world! Any pathway of a dream master will ultimately reach to the same end-goal!"


    "My Master''s secret teachings, known as the 8 Gates Sword Array incorporate the essences of arrays and martial arts. Its prowess is unparalleled. It uses the 8 trigrams as its foundation, and is able to transform and adapt to suit the situation!"


    Fang Yuan have read through Master Heartless''s inheritance many times. At this time, verses of chants flashed across the bottom of his heart, and he understood all the verses completely.


    He sat cross-legged and his spiritual will penetrated the emptiness. He started to gather his previously-expended dream elemental force.


    When his essence, energy and magic had recovered to their peak levels, Fang Yuan stood up, and suddenly shouted, "8 Gates Sword Array, rise!"


    "Whoosh!"


    Sword radiance flashed!


    All kinds of blue, red and golden coloured swords converged, with multiple colours flashing. The sharpness of the blades was threatening. Suddenly, the swords fell to the ground and in the centre of the actualised dream world, 8 hazy sword shadows appeared.


    Once the array appeared, the whole atmosphere within the space changed. It was as if sharp wills started to gather.


    "Only the path is set at the start. Not a single divine soldier gather...this is merely beginning!"


    Fang Yuan looked at the flickering sword shadows and shook his head, "At the peak of my master''s cultivation, he completed the 8 Gates Sword Array. At my current level, it is very difficult to actualize 1 divine soldier. The good thing about this array is that it does not require the 8 divine soldiers to converge. The array can be used even if it was just 1, 2 or 3 divine soldiers [1]!"


    He turned his gaze towards the South with a solemn expression.


    Over there, under a red cloud, a scarlet sword essence appeared to be holding up the heavens like a giant pillar. Within it, the sword''s shadow was hazy.


    "The true South gifts flames! This is for the fire-type sword! The easiest to gather amongst the 8 Gates Sword Array! It is the best place for me to start!"


    Fang Yuan consumed Flame Jade Rice daily and as such, his fire-type energy was the most abundant. Naturally, it would aid him in his cultivation of the fire sword.


    "South-leaving Fire, listen to my command, fire-type sword, gather!"


    A beam of light shot from his eyes and onto the red sword pillar.


    "Crash!"


    Dream elemental force as vast as the sea surged forth and entered the fire-type pillar. The fire-type sword momentarily appeared as it started to actualize.


    The sword was around 1 metre long and the blade was scarlet in colour with simple and mysterious markings engraved upon it. The hilt of the sword was in the shape of a fiery dragon. The whole sword appeared to be a raging flame and yet, there was a hint of green will.


    The sword shadow, which was originally an illusion started to become real.


    "10%?"


    After a long time, with his dream elemental force depleted, Fang Yuan looked at the shadow and was pleased.


    It was no easy feat to actualize a magical soldier.


    What he had done so far was to create a form. He still had to slowly train.


    Afterall, even if he had gathered the 8 spiritual swords and complete the array. It was a huge task to separate the array from the actualised dream world and actualise it in the real world.


    The path to reach the Prominent Divine Stage was indeed long and difficult!


    Every actualised sword and the dream soldier master''s cultivation would bring about enormous changes. When the 8 swords are gathered, it would be enough to shock the heavens and earth, make demons and deities afraid. The array would clear the path before him.


    "This 8 Gates Sword Array is split into levels according to the number of magical soldiers actualised. The most basic is the 1 sword, followed by 2 swords, when at last the 8 swords form the array, it can affect the heavens and earth, one step at a time, clearing the way forward!"


    Fang Yuan stroked his chin, "It feels like this is similar to the spiritual meridians of the Wu Zongs!"


    For a Wu Zong in the Meridian Opening Realm, the spiritual meridians were gathered and split into different levels. In each level, the battle prowess of the Wu Zong was different.


    "I hear that after a spiritual knight reaches the Elemental Opening Realm, the next step in his cultivation would be to link his spiritual points!"


    "Other dream master pathways are roughly similar and can be split into 8 or 9 realms..."


    After remembering the recently-purchased information, Fang Yuan no longer had any confusion regarding the cultivation in the Elemental Opening Realm.


    For an ordinary cultivator, the main focus of cultivation was to attain the elemental force!


    It was only after breaking through the Elemental Gathering Realm could a cultivator be considered extraordinary and considered to be on a path of cultivation.


    This step was known as cultivation to become a Wu Zong, spiritual knight or dream master.


    The second step was to reach the opening of spiritual meridians of the Wu Zongs and elemental opening points for the spiritual knights. The dream masters were different depending on the pathways taken but they all had around 9 gates to be broken through.


    "The third step, which is also the last step, is to return to their roots and seek the real meaning and source of the elemental force. In the pathway of martial arts, it would be to complete the opening of the spiritual meridians and the formation of the Divine Body. The last step is not known for the spiritual knights and as for the dream master, it would be to reach the Prominent Divine Stage!


    There are vast differences in power between the levels in the 9 gates of elemental opening. Furthermore, becoming a dream master is much more advantageous compared to the other 2 pathways..."


    Fang Yuan looked at his stat board and realized that there were changes to it after he made the realization:


    "Name: Fang Yuan


    Essence: 36


    Spirit: 30


    Magic: 21


    Profession: Dream Soldier Master


    Cultivation: Illusionary Divine Stage, Wu Zong (3 Meridians)


    Technique: Giant Eagle Metal Body Technique [Grade 4(1%)], Hundred Poison Golden Body [1st Refining Stage], 8 Gates Sword Array [1 sword (10%)]


    Skill: [Medicine (Level 3)], [Botany (Level 5)]"


    "If I calculated correctly, I am currently at the power level of a Wu Zong in the 4th level and a dream master in the first level of the Illusionary Divine Stage?


    Fang Yuan was stumped, "It is just that this is not reflected in my actual battle power..."


    At least, with his current cultivation at the Illusionary Divine Stage, he would be able to overpower Wu Zongs who opened 3 or 4 spiritual meridians. The Wu Zong would not even be able to escape.


    "The main focus of my cultivation now is to firstly, perfect my Giant Eagle Metal Body Technique and secondly, gather the fire sword..."


    Truth be told, this Leaving Fire Sword was the interpretation of the fire-type pathways in the world. In other words, this was the gathering of the laws of fire in Fang Yuan''s actualised dream world.


    "Other than slowly grinding using the dream elemental force, it is only in the dream world can one find a treasure which aid in his cultivation..."


    Fang Yuan nodded before shaking his head.


    "Whoosh!"


    Suddenly, the 8 Gates Sword Array shook and the scarlet sword essence exploded, causing Fang Yuan to be surprised.


    He looked up and saw that the Leaving Fire Sword pillar, which had started to actualise a few percentage point, supporting the heavens and earth had raised the dream world by another 20 centimeters.


    That was not all. Countless of Leaving Fire Sword essence appeared and eliminated the chaos surrounding the dream world, causing his actualised to expand at a rate multiple times faster than when he used his dream elemental force to grind his dream world.


    "This is the true way to cultivate the dream world!"


    Fang Yuan sighed as he made that realization.


    At that moment, he was considered to have just started his cultivation in the Illusionary Divine Stage.


    "With the 8 Gates Sword Array in place, my dream world would continue to expand and actualise even without my management!"


    Fang Yuan nodded in gratification as he deeply felt the formidability of being a dream soldier master.


    In the real world.


    In a secluded valley where the vegetation was lush and the area deserted.


    Within a cave, Fang Yuan sat cross-legged as he absorbed the surrounding essence to his limit. He suddenly opened both his eyes.


    "Fire Sword!"


    With a wave of his hand, a scarlet sword essence measuring a few centimetres appeared and fell down swiftly!


    "Chi"


    On the ground, a scorched mark which extended in a straight line for a few metres could be seen.


    "Although the Fire Sword has not been completely formed, its sword essence can be adjusted and its power is no less than an ordinary divine soldier. The most crucial point is that it can be perfectly commanded like how an arm is able moves the finger [2] ... in the future, I will be able to use the sword essence to fend off an enemy or maybe complement it with my martial arts. How does ''8 Meridians Divine Sword'' sounds?"


    Fang Yuan stoked his chin and drew out a thread of his dream elemental force.


    After several bouts of changes, Fang Yuan started to worry as he saw the thread of dark red amidst the chaos.


    "It would be better to get rid of the hidden dangers left behind in the Three World Mountain.


    His spiritual will shifted and in an instant, he entered a dream and arrived at the dream world.


    "Gather information ¨C Three World Mountain, dream master!"


    Before the 4 rock tablets, Fang Yuan retrieved his emerald order plate and started searching.


    Due to the fact that what he needed was scattered information, the information was not too expensive but his inheritance was completely cleared.


    "Three World Mountain divides 3 worlds and hence, its name. 900 years ago, Tian Xiezi, a dream master from the Evil Divine Sect fell here, causing the dream world to transform into an illusionary world, in between reality and illusion. It is a natural stronghold, and all travelers, regardless of whether they go with the flow or against the flow, met their downfall. Dream masters dare not approach for fear of meeting misfortune..."


    Fang Yuan''s expression changed after reading the contents of the report.


    "Nothing...there is no information regarding this type of dark force. It seems that the only lead is Tian Xiezi of the Evil Divine Sect?"


    Fang Yuan had heard of, and was very familiar with, the name.


    However, it was not from his, but Fang Yan''s dream world!


    "After becoming the Eagle Lieutenant, I have investigated and finally realized that Qing Gui was a dream master of the Evil Divine Sect!"


    Fang Yuan''s eyes looked serene: "Looks like...my affinity with him is not so easily broken."


    With this type of force mixed into his dream elemental force, Fang Yuan might suffer in the future even if the consequences were not obvious yet!


    Given Fang Yuan''s character, he would definitely not allow this ticking time-bomb to remain on his body.


    As such, it was imperative that he made a trip to Evil Divine Sect and seek out the source of the dark force!


    "This trip is still too difficult given my current standard..."


    Fang Yuan shook his head, "Perhaps...I can try asking for assistance to search for a method to get rid of foreign force within my dream elemental force...contribution points, the most important is still the contribution points!"


    After multiple searches, he had used up all his contribution points.


    "I need to quickly raise a huge sum of contribution points!"


    He looked towards the stone tablets, his gaze solemn.


    [1] The technique handed down by Master Wenxin is unique, as such, the soldiers are swords.


    [2] A chinese idiom which means that the sword is able to be perfectly commanded like an extension of one''s own body.

 234 Organisations

    In the Dream Realm.


    "Look at my spiritual plants! They are full of spirituality and the price is worth it!"


    Fang Yuan covered himself in a fog as he looked at a trader in front of him. "10 contribution points! I can''t go any lower!"


    "Fine! Since these are new spiritual plants!"


    In front of him was a huge golden glow. The dream master concealed inside must be plump-sized. Now that they had come to an agreement, he took over a huge number of spiritual plants.


    "Eh..."


    After a while, as Fang Yuan looked at his bare looking inscription plate, he shook his head in disappointment. "It''s too slow! Too slow... If I continue at this speed, who knows when I would save up enough contribution points..."


    He did not bring the entire Green Peak spiritual land with him and could only spend all that he brought along with him.


    Furthermore, the spiritual plants planted in his spiritual land were of low grade and the only selling point for them was the fact that they were a novelty in Da Qian.


    "After doing a stocktake, there are a few that I cannot sell, like the mysterious spiritual seed..."


    Fang Yuan thought about it. If he really did want to sell it, he was confident that he could get a good offer from Feng Xinzi.


    That dream alchemy master was really generous. Unfortunately, he was only interested in new types of spiritual plants and he would only buy small quantities of them. After a few transactions with him, Fang Yuan could only continue to sell his spiritual plants to other people.


    "It seems that the only way to get more contribution points is to do missions..."


    Fang Yuan took in a deep breath and at that moment, he felt as though he had gone through a bottleneck.


    At this point in time where he still could not rely solely on his skill in Botany to make a living, the only way he could get more contribution points was to do missions.


    The good thing was that he would be rewarded heavily by the rock tablet regardless if he were to take up the mission to be a helper, assassin or explorer.


    "Fang Yuan, are you there?"


    Just as Fang Yuan was deep in his thoughts, his jade inscription plate glittered. The symbol of a wind chime appeared and from there was the voice of Feng Xinzi.


    "I am in the Dream Realm!"


    Fang Yuan was respectful towards this loyal customer of him.


    "That''s good! Come to the tea house, I have something to tell you!"


    Feng Xinzi sounded serious. "You... need contribution points right? I have a mission here, and you might be interested in it¡­... "


    "Oh? I''ll be there right away!"


    Fang Yuan was decided as he came to the tea house which they first met.


    As usual, Feng Xinzi booked a private room and sat inside. The pill essence wrapped around him in the shape of a Lingzhi, making him look like a deity.


    "Brother Feng!"


    Fang Yuan greeted him and came straight to the point. "Why would you think of me?"


    "This is because I have done business with you a few times and feel that you are a trustworthy person!"


    Feng Xinzi looked down.


    As dream masters, they had a keen sense of feel. The first impression was paramount for them to decide if the person was good or bad.


    "Furthermore, you have the ability since you are in the Illusionary Divine stage! I am lacking in one more person, and therefore I thought of you!"


    Feng Xinzi spoke the truth.


    "Ah... I am honoured!"


    Fang Yuan nodded his head. "May I know what type of mission it is?"


    "Exploration! Exploring a newly discovered small world!"


    Feng Xinzi replied.


    ''An exploration mission?''


    Fang Yuan raised his cup as he hid his fears. ''I knew that dream masters were able to communicate through worlds. I never thought that I would start my first mission exploring a new world.''


    "Can I first take a look at the information regarding the mission?"


    He asked as he remained expressionless.


    "Only after accepting the mission can I tell you the information about the mission. However, I can tell you a little about it. This new world has not been discovered by other dream masters, and the difficulty level is not that high. The rules of this world''s reality are similar to that of ours..."


    Feng Xinzi appeared extremely confident and sounded like he was tempting Fang Yuan to join.


    "This... I will need a few days to consider. Also, if I am decided, I would like to accept the mission and receive the reward through the Realm Spirit!"


    The Realm Spirit was originally the consciousness of the Kun. After alteration, it became more like a programmed manager of the Dream Realm. Under the scrutiny of all the dream masters, it would be absolutely partial.


    With the Realm Spirit as the middleman, it would be a form of assurance. Unless Feng Xinzi and the other dream masters decide to leave the Dream Realm for good and risk being wanted by other dream masters, everything would be fine. Fang Yuan knew that if it was him instead, he would not be important enough to be placed on the wanted list.


    "This of course. However, you only have one day to consider! Our set- up in that small world is about to take effect..."


    Feng Xinzi continued. "Don''t miss this chance!"


    ...


    "Exploring a new world!"


    After parting with Feng Xinzi, Fang Yuan came to the rock tablet as he browsed through the glistering missions on it.


    As his spiritual will shook, 10 contributions were used up and information started to flood into his mind.


    In the vast universe, although Da Qian was huge and strong, it was not the only world to exist.


    Within worlds, due to different reasons, there would be secret realms as well.


    These secret realms or spiritual lands were only partially developed. In other words, they were new worlds that have yet to mature.


    Outside Da Qian, there was a whole new world.


    Dream masters have predicted that the formation of worlds was from the actualised dream worlds of powerful dream masters!


    A new;y developed world might be covered with dangers. After braving the risks, explorers would be rewarded heavily. However, the new world might also be a desert with no findings, or it might even be a trap, set up to trap visitors.


    In conclusion, the risks and rewards would be there. It was all up to the dream master''s own confidence.


    In history, there were stories of normal dream masters becoming sect masters after exploring one new world.


    "There are two ways for dream masters to explore new worlds. The first would be to dream-traverse through 3,000 worlds. Through the temptation of the new worlds, they would cast arrays on it, opening a slit to the new world and allow their soul to enter. This would be the most common way of accessing new worlds. The other way is to bring their actual body into the new world. The requirements are too much and I''m afraid that even Feng Xinzi and his company would not be able to do it yet..."


    After reading through a few recordings, Fang Yuan came to a conclusion.


    It was worth it to take the risk this time!


    It was secondary to earn the contribution points. More importantly, he could gain experience.


    After all, if he used the dream-traversing method, even if he died in the new world, it would only be a failed exploration mission and he would at most hurt his spiritual will. He could undergo cultivation and train again!


    ...


    After a day, in the Dream Realm, in a void space.


    "This is a space which I have rented from the Realm Spirit using contribution points. It is completely safe and the chances of success by dream-traversing here would be high!"


    Feng Xinzi could seemingly see through Fang Yuan''s confusion and added a few more words. "Also... let''s welcome our new member! Remember to look for a safe place to hold your physical body. After all, even though we have researched on the rate of time flow in both worlds, accidents might still happen!"


    "Don''t worry, Brother Feng!"


    Fang Yuan followed behind Feng Xinzi. "Since I''ve decided to join, I would already make the necessary preparations."


    "Very well, I''ll now introduce to you a few group members!"


    Feng Xinzi looked at the centre of the space.


    At there, there were two other dream masters waiting.


    Seeing Fang Yuan, their voices were skeptical.


    "Feng Xinzi, is this the new member which you have found?"


    Covered in flames, a man''s voice was heard. "He doesn''t seem hardy enough!"


    "That''s right! It is no easy task to explore a new world!"


    The other voice was from a lady, which was shrouded in illusionary flower petals.


    "This is..."


    Fang Yuan looked at the lady as his eyebrows twitched. "White Lotus?!"


    "Friends, Brother Fang Yuan is handpicked by me! There is no doubt about his ability and personality!"


    Feng Xinzi walked in front of the other two dream masters as he calmly spoke.


    Following which, he explained to Fang Yuan. "Come, I''ll introduce them to you. This is Venerable Fiery Dragon, and this is Deity Clear Lotus! Are you suspecting that she is related to the Divine Lotus Cult because of her appearance? Keke... This is a misunderstanding! Although Deity Clear Lotus''s Nine Lotus Heart Technique looks similar to the techniques of the Divine Lotus Cult, they have their difference!"


    "That is true!"


    As Fang Yuan took a closer look, he quickly apologised. "I apologise for my reckless opinion. Please forgive me, Deity!"


    "That''s alright!"


    From the lotus petal, there was a clear voice. "I am already used to it. Every stranger I meet would suspect as well..."


    Fang Yuan let out a soft laughter. He was indeed afraid of her because of Meng Lian.


    After getting rid of her, he did an in-depth investigation on her, which shocked him.


    She was part of one of the two evil dream master sects in Da Qian - the Divine Lotus Cult!


    Dream masters were good at instilling feelings in other people. By forming a cult, their influence would grow by many folds. Even in Da Qian Empire, their cult was banned. It was rumoured that the ways they adopted spread their teachings were mysterious and they were able to unknowingly affect Wu Zongs, spiritual knights or even dream masters to work for them.


    The Divine Lotus Cult and the Evil Divine Sect were the two evil sects among the dream masters. The small sects which originated from these two larger organisations were countless, and they could be described as the source of evil dream masters in Da Qian.


    Although Qing Gui''s evil name was well-known, he was only a small figure in his sect and was far from being the leader.


    "In reality, we are all part of the Realm Alliance!"


    After some thought, Feng Xinzi took the initiative to dissipate his own pill essence, revealing his true appearance. He was a middle-aged man.


    "Realm Alliance?"


    "Mm, most of the members are dream masters who do not belong to any sect. By relying on the Dream Realm, these members came together to form an alliance, and even dream masters with sects would be allowed to join. Therefore, the alliance is extremely powerful and there are almost no restrictions to it..."


    Feng Xinzi continued. "Other than that, there are good dream master sects like Baize Mountain. This is the main pillar for all dream masters in Da Qian. Finally, there is also a Source Seeking Sect. That sect is mainly made up of a bunch of foolish people who would do anything to search for the source of power for dream masters. Just stay away from them!"


    "Of course, dream masters in these 5 organisations don''t just stick to one organisation. They can move around!"


    Fang Yuan looked down. He knew that if not for his quick thinking, he would be likely taken in by Meng Lian to join the Divine Lotus Sect.


    Among these five organisations, the only good one was Baize Mountain. The Realm Alliance was a neutral organisation, and the remaining three were either evil or crazy people. These people would be the ones causing trouble for the entire world.

 235 Offerings

    "Brother Feng, didn''t you mention that there would be five of us?"


    Fang Yuan looked around.


    "Mmm. The last one is not here yet. The technique that she is cultivating is a little special..."


    Feng Xinzi was ambiguous.


    "Feng Xinzi, don''t lie about me in front of our new member!"


    As he finished his sentence, a gentle voice was heard, which made Feng Xinzi laughed. "It''s just a joke, don''t take it to heart!"


    Quickly, he turned around and explained to Fang Yuan. "Our fifth member is Yu Tianlao. Her cultivation is in dream spells and the Mastery of Curses..."


    "I see!"


    Fang Yuan nodded his head.


    The Mastery of Curses was a cultivation related to karma. The techniques would be activated as soon as the curse was spoken, and it was a rare form of cultivation among the dream masters.


    Therefore, after seeing a compassionate looking old lady supporting herself with a walking stick, Fang Yuan immediately became serious.


    In the Dream Realm, if dream masters were to reveal their true self, they would either be fools or they were confident of their own stills. It seemed like Yu Tianlao belonged to the latter.


    Not just him, but even Venerable Fiery Dragon and Deity Clear Lotus shuddered.


    "Keke¡­.. Feng Xinzi, how is your Ten-thousand Pill Cauldron? Are you still trying to produce a pill spirit? It''s not that I want to put you down, but to create life in a cauldron... Difficult! It is extremely difficult!!!"


    Yu Tianlao looked at Feng Xingzi and shook her head.


    The path to Prominent Divine stage was tough all along. Although this method is extremely difficult, it is my only hope!"


    Feng Xinzi''s face was one of determination and seemed that he was not afraid of death. "I am already almost there, how can I just give up?"


    "Creating life?"


    Fang Yuan''s eyes glittered as he heard him.


    Although the Illusionary Divine stage allowed them to create many things, there was a huge difference between normal objects and spiritual objects, from normal metal to divine troops. All of these were small breakthroughs to be achieved in itself.


    However, the jump from producing non-living things to a lifeform was a paramount difference. It was a huge step within the Illusionary Divine stage.


    Who would''ve thought that Feng Xinzi was already at this stage?


    Fang Yuan was stunned.


    ''Of course... After being able to form living things, he would be able to form spiritual beasts and birds, followed by humans with intellectual minds! A dream master at this stage can be known as a ''creator''. This is no longer the elementary Illusionary Divine stage, but the Prominent Divine stage!''


    How arduous would it be to cross this stage?


    Based on Fang Yuan''s predictions, Feng Xinzi was already stuck at this stage for long and had no progress.


    ''Although I don''t know this dream alchemy master''s combat skills, his cultivation is already comparable to a dream soldier master forming the Fourth Sword!''


    "Keke... Say anything you want, and I hope that your evil mouth loses its life one day!"


    Yu Tianlao laughed. "I did not come here today to reminisce about the past. The new world is dangerous. If we lose this chance, we might need to wait for other fools to find another one for is. Feng Xingzi, have you prepared everything?"


    "Of course!"


    Without hesitation, he exclaimed. "Realm Spirit, I want to seal up my void space!"


    "Rumble!"


    In the Dream Realm, Fang Yuan felt as though the void space which all of them were in was separated, as though they were travelling through the fabric of spacetime.


    With the assurance of the Realm Spirit, there was nowhere safer than where they were right now.


    Feng Xinzi quickly took out many spiritual equipment, talismans and blobs of spiritual blood as he started to piece together an array.


    Although Fang Yuan was familiar with spiritual arrays, he was still confused at the sight of this particular array.


    As for Feng Xinzi, Venerable Fiery Dragon and Deity Clear Lotus, all three of them seemed to have a deep understanding of this array. Together, they quickly completed the formation of the array.


    ''Dream masters are indeed talented in many aspects. The longer they live, the more skilled they would be...;


    Fang Yuan took in a deep breath after seeing them cast the array.


    If the three of them were to disguise themselves as spiritual array masters, they would never be seen through.


    "It''s done!"


    As the finishing touches were completed, Feng Xinzi wiped the sweat off his forehead. Looking at the array which was red, gold and green, he let out an expression of joy. "It is indeed easier to locate the other worlds in the Dream Realm. Next up, we''ll have to send out the signal and wait..."


    "Cough cough... let me be the one to send out the signal!"


    Without consideration for others, Yu Tianlao stood out at took a quick glance at Fang Yuan. "It will be up to you guys to come up with the energy needed to communicate with the other world!"


    "This of course!"


    Fang Yuan knew that he was here to make up the numbers and therefore could not avoid doing the manual labour.


    "Very well. With the five of us, we should have enough dream elemental force!"


    Feng Xinzi was ecstatic as he quickly arranged everyone in their positions. The four of us will position ourselves at the corners and try to activate the array inscription. At the beginning, 10 percent of your strength would be enough. Wait for my command!"


    "Alright!"


    Fang Yuan stood at the position of the White Tiger. As he waved his hands, waves of dream elemental force flowed into the array.


    In front of him, talismans started to glow, and the inscriptions on the array started to glitter as the array continued to take in energy.


    "Buzz! Buzz!"


    At the four corners, each Illusionary Divine stage dream master exerted their dream elemental force. The array inscription started to expand and the three-coloured glow slowly intensified. Suddenly, it shot into the air and started to link up with another world.


    "This is it... This is it..."


    Yu Tianlao stood in the centre of the array. With her focus, she hardly looked like she was her age. "The Nine Heavens and Ten Earths, execute the divine searching technique! Go!"


    As she executed her curse, physical forms of her spoken word appeared and were glowing.


    ''This is using her spiritual will to locate the worlds. To be able to do this, a dream master must have an exceptional amount of magical energy to link up our Dream Realm to the other world... The curse by Yu Tianlao would increase the chances of success...''


    Fang Yuan continued to put in his effort as he slowly recalled the information Feng Xinzi provided to him the moment he agreed to join them.


    "That located new world is nicknamed ''Hui'' by Feng Xinzi! The Hui Realm!"


    "This world is newly discovered and according to Feng Xinzi, the rules of reality which govern that world is similar to the ones which govern Da Qian Empire..."


    "The array is only acting as a bait. We will still need to offer sacrifice to the natives in that world... Previously, Feng Xinzi had already disguised himself as an evil spirit to deliver sacrifices to them. Just like fishing, as soon as they become greedy, we can execute our dream-traversing technique at the right time and location. In the future, it would become much more convenient to revisit the world to conduct further explorations..."


    "Buzz!"


    At this moment, on the array, there was a red glow.


    "We have a response! They have initiated the sacrifice!"


    Yu Tianlao and Feng Xinzi were beaming. "Start to locate their world! Let''s begin!"


    In a few seconds, all of them were excited.


    ...


    Hui Realm.


    There were two suns in the sky. One was glaring while the other one was dim. Both of them were hanging in the sky, stationary. At night time, both suns would become dimmer. Therefore, the moon in Hui Realm was always a full moon. The land in the realm was divided into many regions.


    In the middle laid the Heliocentric Region. It was a vast and scorching desert and there were no signs of life. At the outer extremes laid the Corona Region. The nights were extremely long and it was rare to even have a little sunlight in that region. There were almost no forms of life there as well.


    Of course, the natives would call these two regions the ''Death Zones''!


    In the middle, where the sunlight was sufficient, a small country was formed and there were finally signs of life.


    Within a deserted mansion in Lie Country.


    "Are all the sacrifices ready for Deity Feng?"


    A wealthy looking middle-aged man asked his subordinates.


    His forehead was sticking out and his nose was pointed. His face was flushed and he wore luxurious clothing. At this moment, he continuously rubbed the ring in his fingers as he was deep in his thoughts.


    The ring looked normal and therefore felt a little out of place as compared to this man''s clothing. However, to him, it seemed as though all the treasures in the world were incomparable to this ring!


    Around him, ten over capable subordinates were working hard as they mixed gold and silver ingots together with jade shavings. With all of these, they arranged a huge array on the floor.


    Another ten odd-looking objects were placed in the centre of the array. Everything felt weird and out of place, which made many of them confused.


    There was a law in Lie Country which states that anyone performing black magic would be killed!


    If anyone were to see them and report it to the authorities, everyone there would be killed and their family members would be implicated as well!


    However, this middle-aged man remained focused, as though he at an utmost confidence for Deity Feng.


    The famous ''Su Guo'' was in a daze as he was deep in his thoughts.


    Twenty years ago, he was just a small businessman. With some affinity, he managed to obtain a ring. From then on, he became a priest who preached for Deity Feng.


    Although he did not know the true purpose of being a priest, this did not stop him from reaping the rewards after a few rounds of sacrifices. It was because of this that his wealth grew.


    ''Based on what Deity Feng had told me, the few previous instances were only small offerings. This time is the true sacrifice offering! Whatever I will gain will be 10 times more than before! Also, I will gain the technique to extend my lifespan!''


    Su Guo''s eyes were red.


    In terms of wealth, he was already rich enough to start a country. However, the unknown potential of having more power and the path to a longer lifespan was what he was really hoping for.


    "Sir, the offerings are here!"


    In the middle of a stone platform, a few weird objects of different spiritual auras were placed.


    In the centre of all the offerings, there was a green-coloured wood. It was the trunk of a Thousand Year Dragon Tree. In order to obtain it, Su Guo''s caravan suffered deaths of 187 people on the journey there, not to mention the money he had to spend as well.


    A red jewel beside the wood was an Aqua Rainbow Coral Jade. It was obtained after the sinking of 30 large vessels and many more divers who died attempting to get it.


    ...


    To put it in another way, only Su Guo who had such wealth was able to collect all these treasures.


    "Buzz!"


    As the offerings were position in place, the array started to glow.


    Su Guo took two steps forward and took in a deep breath. His wish was about to come true!

 236 Possession

    "The mighty Deity Feng... Please descend into our world and realize my dream!"


    Dark clouds formed in the sky as lightning ripped across.


    It was as though aliens were about to enter the Hui Realm as everything shook.


    Within the abandoned mansion, Su Guo felt uneasy. As he looked at the glowing array, his face was flushed. Subconsciously, he took a few steps forward.


    Within the array, the few offerings in the middle were slowly consumed by a brightening glow, forming a bright ball of light.


    "Buzz!"


    As the ball expanded, it slowly formed the shape of a door and shook.


    "Rumble!"


    At that moment, there was a huge explosion.


    As the winds blew, Su Guo flew along with it, defenceless. He rolled along the floor and in the process fractured many of his bones.


    Slowly, the abandoned mansion could not withstand the destructive force as well. Amidst the explosion, it collapsed, forming a pile of rubble.


    "Rumble! Rumble!"


    At that moment, the dark clouds rumbled and streaks of lightning struck down. It was as though the heavens were enraged as thunder roared continuously.


    However, there was something weird. As the lightning was about to strike the abandoned mansion, it would swerve and strike something else.


    Amidst the storm, there were multiple light streaks on the roof of the mansion. Slowly, from the light streaks, a dark-coloured door was formed. In an instant, the door opened!


    It was as though the gods above were enraged!


    As over ten streaks of lightning combined, an extremely thick and huge streak of lightning collectively struck at the top of the black-coloured door!


    Su Guo and his subordinates were all unconscious. It was not known if they were still alive or not.


    It might be a good thing that they were unconscious.


    This was because every form of life in a 100-mile radius was shuddering with fear and sweating profusely as though a disaster was about to happen!


    ...


    The lighting came and went.


    Soon after the huge lightning struck, the dark clouds quickly disappeared and the two suns slowly appeared again in the sky. Under the warm glow of the suns, a few white clouds appeared on the horizon. It was a peaceful sight to behold and it was as though the storm was just a dream.


    "The backlash did not last too long in this world... d*mn, my leg!"


    After a long while, amidst the rubble, a middle-aged man mumbled to himself. "Fortunately, I''ve bought some spiritual inscriptions to reduce the backlash from traversing through worlds and added them into the array. Otherwise, the consequences would surely be much more serious..."


    Although he was wearing a servant''s attire, the way he spoke and acted was much different. If someone who knew him was to see him like this, they would give him the title of being ''possessed''.


    "This is the... Hui Realm?"


    Fang Yuan raised his head and looked at the two suns in the sky, before looking at his own two hands.


    The skin of his hands was tight and appeared young. His fingers were full of calluses, which was a sign that he frequently did manual labour.


    "It seems like I have possessed a young servants'' body. Did he survive the storm because he was too lowly to be near the epicentre of the lightning strike?"


    At the moment when the array was completed, the five dream masters in the Dream Realm worked together to bring their soul through space to arrive at the Hui Realm.


    However, there was already such a destruction even by simply transporting their souls. Therefore, they had to choose to possess the body''s of the natives here and it was up to their luck to see who they possessed.


    Compared to the unlucky Feng Xinzi who possessed a person with broken legs, Fang Yuan felt that he was rather fortunate.


    "Alright, where are the other three?"


    With Fang Yuan''s help, Feng Xinzi finally pulled his legs out from the rubble and looked around. "The time of arrival is very short, so they shouldn''t be too far from us!"


    "We are here!"


    As he finished his sentence, he could see the silhouette of two people supporting each other as they walked out from the rubble. Looking at their appearance, it was a male and a female.


    "Venerable Fiery Dragon, Deity Clear Lotus!"


    Feng Xinzi looked at the man. He was 7 feet tall and was wearing a martial artists'' attire. He had a knife around his waist and appeared well-built. He appeared well-skilled in martial arts and gave off a manly vibe. With a tinge of jealousy, Feng Xinzi complimented. "Brother Fiery Dragon, what fortune!"


    "Yeah, sure!"


    The lady by the side started to nag. "I am Venerable Fiery Dragon!"


    "This..."


    Fang Yuan and Feng Xinzi were stunned.


    This was the problem of possession. Although their own bodies were extremely strong, there might be a deviation in the traversing of worlds, which might result in such an ending.


    Fang Yuan looked at the body which Venerable Fiery Dragon possessed.


    It was a lady in her mid-twenties. Her eyes were big and beautiful and her lips were puckered. There was a mole at the corner of her lips and her skin was as smooth as milk. He was a beauty.


    Of course, this beauty was now brute and her tone did not match her appearance.


    "This is..."


    Fang Yuan looked at Feng Xinzi with confusion, and both of them looked at the well-built man in black robes.


    "I am Clear Lotus. Greetings to you, my friends!"


    The well-built man blushed and bowed.


    His girly actions were gentle and graceful and it seemed like he was a graceful lady.


    However, since it was a male who was doing it, Fang Yuan and Feng Xinzi both started to have goosebumps.


    This was especially so for Feng Xinzi.


    Previously, he was still complaining about his leg. However, now, he did not feel like it was a big issue already.


    "We cannot change the bodies which we are possessing. If not for the protection of the array, as soon as our souls were to leave these bodies, we would be exposed to the elements..."


    Feng Xinzi continued with a serious tone. "You two will have to make do with it. The good thing is that the time we will spend in Hui Realm is... Eh? Did anybody see Elder Lao?"


    "I''m here!"


    In front, a young and gentle voice was heard. A young girl about the age of 16 walked over with a proud face. "I cannot find anyone suitable around here, and therefore have to make do with this young girl..."


    With such a weird combination of appearance and personality, Venerable Fiery Dragon, Deity Clear Lotus and even Fang Yuan felt a little uneasy.


    The good thing was that all five of them were dream masters of the Illusionary Divine Stage and all of them had seen enough weird happenings in their lifetimes.


    Previously, they were only joking. In a short moment, all of them regrouped and started to discuss the important details.


    "This realm is ultimately a new realm. Although we have understood some of the dangers of this realm through Su Guo, we are still uncertain of the exact details. Everybody, please be careful!"


    Feng Xinzi reminded everyone.


    Even normal dream masters would feel half as powerful if they were to be thrown into a new realm. Only dream masters of the Illusionary Divine stage would have enough evolved dream elemental force to alter reality and remain calm.


    Therefore, the minimum requirement for explorers of new worlds was to be at least a dream master of the Illusionary Divine stage!


    "This goes without saying!"


    Yu Tianlao rolled her eyes. "Your useless friend is still here. Do you want to save him? After all, he is a native and will be of use to us."


    "There''s no need!"


    Feng Xinzi thought to himself for a while before coming to a decision. "He has already broken the law. Even if we save him, he will have bad luck for his whole life and he will be likely to be captured!"


    As the person who brought them in, Su Guo was a criminal and his sins were already too much. He would not be able to right his wrongdoings for a few lifetimes to come.


    "Although it might seem convenient at first to follow him, we will still have to suffer the consequences of his wrongdoings in time to come and this would implicate us. It is better for us to explore on our own! After our first attempt at possession, we have already integrated with their realm. Unless the bodies which we are possessing dies, revealing our soul, nobody in this realm would realise what had happened!"


    Feng Xinzi looked at Fang Yuan and reminded him once more. "Even if our souls are left here, it is not death for us. However, we would still be severely drained on our original bodies. Furthermore, if we are captured or killed too many times, we might integrate completely with this realm and experience its backlash. Therefore... take care and be careful! Most importantly, if met with danger, we can lose the body and even let it die, but we cannot let our souls get captured!"


    "I know this!"


    Fang Yuan was appreciative of Feng Xinzi''s friendly reminder and nodded his head to show his agreement.


    "Alright! Every array can only transport 5 souls through. Now, we have time to explore the Hui Realm!"


    Venerable Fiery Dragon and Deity Clear Lotus looked at each other. "Let''s split up and explore. After three months, we''ll meet up and discuss our findings together. How does that sound?"


    Seeing their confidence, Fang Yuan could guess that the few of them had already obtained information from Su Guo regarding the realm and roughly knew what they wanted to do.


    "Mm... I''m fine with this plan. Furthermore, I have some other private issues to settle. What are your thoughts on this, Elder Lao?"


    Feng Xinzi looked at Yu Tianlao.


    "To search base on our own affinity. This is fair!"


    Yu Tianlao nodded her head. However, her voice was deep, which made Fang Yuan glance at her with confusion.


    Seeing that Yu Tianlao had realised that he was glancing at her, Fang Yuan rubbed his nose. "I am not seeking for anything to gain. I only intend to walk around and understand the happenings in this world!"


    "Mm. Regardless, just remember to meet after three months!"


    Feng Xinzi nodded his head and looked at the surroundings. "We cannot stay long here. Let''s take our leave. Remember to prioritise safety and make sure not to be captured by the powerful people in this realm!"


    Such a commotion at the abandoned mansion would surely attract a lot of attention.


    Fang Yuan knew that Su Guo''s life was over.


    Without thinking too much about him, Fang Yuan picked a direction to walk in and was on his way.


    "Mm... This physical body is not cultivated. It seems that I must slowly train it. Although I have the experience to achieve breakthroughs, it is still extremely troublesome to train up this body, regardless if I am able to use my power of Illusionary Divine!"


    In a short moment, he had turned into a small path.


    After a while, Fang Yuan stopped at looked behind. "Elder Lao, why are you following me?"


    "Hehe!"


    As a shadow flashed by, Yu Tianlao appeared. She had two ponytails on her head and she twirled it around in her fingers. "Feng Xinzi and the rest have decided on what to do and abandoned you by yourself. Young man, do you want to work with Elder Lao?"


    "It''s alright!"


    Fang Yuan''s objective was to gather more experience and explore on his own. After all, he still had to contribute his findings after three months and was not interested in gaining anything else. Therefore, he outrightly rejected her.

 237 Fixed Stats

    "Is that so... What a pity! I know of a good place and wanted to bring you there to give you more experience. It seems you are unappreciative!"


    The young girl which Yu Tianlao had possessed shook her head and turned around.


    Although she was possessing a normal person, there was fog all around her. In a flash, she disappeared.


    ''Using dream elemental force to strengthen your body?''


    Witnessing this scene, Fang Yuan mumbled to himself but did not put it to heart. "Bring me along to give me more experience? I''m afraid you just want to kill me, right?"


    He scanned his surroundings with his spiritual will. After assuring himself that no one was following him, he executed his lightness skill and quickly disappeared.


    Just as the five of them took their leave, a group of people rode horses and arrived at the scene of destruction. They sealed the entire place and the region was in a chaos...


    ...


    "Whoosh!"


    The river was flowing.


    Fang Yuan stood at the river bank and looked at his own reflection.


    He was a pale looking young man with long eyebrows, and there was a hint of strength in his eyes.


    "I''m rather lucky. At least I am stronger than the three of them..."


    Fang Yuan nodded his head and waved his hands.


    "Buzz!"


    Dream elemental force appeared on his palms.


    "Dream masters in the Illusionary Divine stage have the ability to alter reality. Although it is still effective in this world, the consumption of dream elemental force is much higher than before. I''ll have to use it carefully."


    After a few rounds of experimentation, Fang Yuan finally understood.


    The physical body which he possessed was a normal young man which was average.


    Furthermore, his soul was average as well. Without the strength from his Mind Palace, he was using up the stored dream elemental force in his actualised dream world, and there was no way to replenish it.


    "I must quickly strengthen this body!"


    After coming to a conclusion, Fang Yuan began to try out something new.


    He picked up a green-coloured rock.


    This rock was from the river bank and was from the river bank. It even had a layer of moss on it.


    In a moment, a bewildering glow glittered from his hands. Around the rock, the air started to vibrate and finally, the rock exploded.


    "Whoosh!"


    The green rock became a powdery mess and was blown by the wind.


    In his actualised dream world, the 8 Gates Sword Array shook and the Fire Sword shimmered, but nothing else happened.


    "I failed... is this due to the fact that the realms are separated?"


    Just previously, Fang Yuan had attempted to transfer an object from the Hui Realm into his actualised dream world.


    If it was possible, he would have discovered a new way to store things as well as transfer objects from the Hui Realm to Da Qian.


    However, his plan had failed from the start.


    "In Da Qian Empire, dream masters in the Illusionary Divine stage can link themselves to the Dream Realm through their actualised dream world and only consume a little dream elemental force, transferring objects from one place to another in an instant. However, this is not possible here..."


    Fang Yuan thought about it. He realised that even though he could still communicate with his actualised dream world, it felt distant and separated from him.


    "After all, we are separated by an entire realm. It is possible to transfer energy but not objects. However, this might be possible if my actual physical body is here!"


    He shook his head as he concluded that his plan to transfer treasures from Hui Realm to Da Qian was down the drain.


    "Something''s not right!"


    Fang Yuan was a smart person and could quickly pick out the discrepancy. "If there was nothing to be gained, Feng Xinzi and the rest would not want to come here! Or... what they are planning to get their hands on is not something with a physical form and is able to be transported through their souls?"


    As he thought down this train of thoughts, he felt that everything was much more logical.


    He knocked his head and could roughly guess the plans of these few dream masters.


    "They can get what they want, I''ll just care for myself..."


    Looking at his powerless hands, he gave off a bitter laugh. "Give me my stats!"


    "Whoosh!"


    In front of him, a window appeared. Information flooded the window, which surprised him.


    "I was only testing! Who would know that this would work!"


    Fang Yuan smiled. "It seems that this trait is something that is tied to my soul!"


    As he changed a physical body, there were extreme changes to his stats as well:


    "Name: Fang Yuan


    Essence: 0.9 (36)


    Spirit: 0.8 (30)


    Magic: 1.1 (21)


    Profession: Dream Soldier Master


    Cultivation: [Illusionary Divine (???)], Wu Zong (???)


    Technique: [8 Gates Sword Array (First Sword) (10%)]


    Skill: [Medicine (Level 3)], [Botany (Level 5)]"


    Looking at his own stats, Fang Yuan was speechless.


    This body which he was in was the same as his own stats before he had started to train in martial arts while he was in the secluded valley.


    Most of his techniques were wiped off. Only the 8 Gates Sword Array, which was related to his actualised dream world, remained.


    As for his skills, he was surprised to see that they were perfectly preserved, even the levels of the skills.


    "The bodies possessed by other dream masters should be similar to mine. However, they have the advantage of retaining their techniques in their actualised dream world, which means they would have a head start to strengthen their bodies!"


    Based on his predictions, the other 4 of them would now be in hiding and attempting to train up their body, or they might even use evil spells to strengthen their body''s strength.


    If they did not recover at least half of what they use to have, they could do little.


    After all, how could there be no highly skilled people in such a big world?


    If they could die even in hiding then it would be a big joke.


    "What do this original stats mean?"


    Fang Yuan looked at the numbers in the brackets and stroked his chin.


    As his mind focused on the numbers in the brackets, a mysterious piece of information was revealed, which allowed him to understand everything.


    "Fixed stats? This would mean that... regardless of which body I am in, I would retain the maximum skill of what I have? This would be true even for reincarnation..."


    "If this is true, then I would not have the problem of being stuck at bottlenecks anymore, but..."


    Fang Yuan took in a deep breath and started to execute his Giant Eagle Metal Body Technique.


    "Whoooo!"


    The winds blew.


    The muscles on his body started to vibrate and the shriek of an eagle was heard.


    In his stats window, the originally absent Giant Eagle Metal Body technique started to reappear.


    "Crack!"


    Popping sounds were heard from his body as his joints cracked.


    "The rules of reality which govern this world is similar to that of Da Qian. Therefore, the basics of training in martial arts should be similar as well. I just need to adapt a little..."


    Fang Yuan closed his eyes and stuck his five fingers out in the shape of an eagle claw. Slowly, he experienced the little differences in this realm as he executed the technique.


    "The 12 Golden Gates - Initial Gate, Rest Gate, Life Gate, Restriction Gate, View Gate, Pain Gate, Shock Gate, Death Gate... Open!!!"


    At that moment, 8 loud sounds were heard. The energy in his body fused and started to form inner power. Slowly, the inner power came together to form a wire-like inner force.


    "The Hui Realm is a little different from Da Qian. There are no Yin, Yang, Earth and Heaven Gates in the 4 Heavenly Gates. Instead, there are only two steps to form and obtain elemental force!"


    "Chirp! Chirp!"


    Behind Fang Yuan, a giant metallic eagle silhouette appeared.


    "The realm of elemental force... breakthrough!"


    Fang Yuan was decisive. In a moment, he took in elemental energy from Heaven and Earth into his Dantian, forming the martial artists'' elemental force.


    Finally, the Giant Eagle Metal Body Technique in his stats window started to settle down.


    "This speed..."


    Seeing that his Essence was already half of what he used to have and looking at his hands, Fang Yuan was in disbelief.


    "How can I so simply recover my cultivation as a Wu Zong? Does this mean that I only need a day''s work to get back my full potential?"


    Fang Yuan finally understood.


    If normal people training in martial arts was compared to a tortoise crawling, then the method which he just used would be akin to cheating and running at full speed!


    Even if the dream masters were to lose their ability, they could harness the ability to actualise in their souls to cheat and give themselves a headstart to recover their abilities.


    What a headstart for him!


    "Fixed stats! This means that no matter how many times I change my physical body, if given time, I would be able to recover my abilities to its fullest potential!"


    Fang Yuan clenched his fists and his eyes glittered.


    This ability was a comforting one to him.


    After all, the highest level of mission in the Dream Realm would be exploration missions!


    Even dream masters in the Illusionary Divine stage still would not have the ability to transport their physical body to the new worlds, and therefore it would be common to perform possession on the natives in the world to be explored.


    Other dream masters would need one to two months to recover all their strength. However, with the help of fixed stats, Fang Yuan could achieve it in a moment. What a difference!


    "The difference in our abilities would mean that I have more time to explore the secrets of this world and reap more benefits from it!"


    Fang Yuan glanced at his own stats window and realised a big change:


    "Name: Fang Yuan


    Essence: 12 (36)


    Spirit: 12 (30)


    Magic: 8 (21)


    Profession: Dream Soldier Master


    Cultivation: [Illusionary Divine (???)], Wu Zong


    Technique: [8 Gates Sword Array (First Sword) (10%)], Giant Eagle Metal Body Technique


    Skill: [Medicine (Level 3)], [Botany (Level 5)]"


    "My stats window has retained the peak of my abilities. Regardless of any changes, I would be able to recover those abilities extremely quickly..."


    Fang Yuan clenched his fists. "Alright, let''s recover everything then!"


    At this point, his expression changed. As he looked behind, his face appeared serious.


    Amidst the ruffling of robes, black shadows appeared in the forest and appeared to be surrounding him.


    "That''s quick... Wait, how did they find me?"


    Fang Yuan was desolate. "The only possibility is that one of them betrayed me. Or should I say, use me as a bait to distract these people away from them to get more time to escape..."


    Using his spiritual will to scan, he found something amiss.


    Underneath his clothing, there were a few strands of hair. There were so light that he did not even feel them there.


    "Keke..."


    Fang Yuan shook his head and picked up the strands of hair. "With the loss of my cultivation as a Wu Zong, I even failed to keep my guard up and detect this..."


    If the chasing soldiers were to arrive a moment earlier, they would surely give him a lot of trouble, which would make him use up a lot of his remaining dream elemental force to take all of them down. This would slow his progress in recovering his abilities.


    But now?


    Looking at the soldiers approaching, he appeared mysterious. "Very well... I was still worrying about how I should go about to deepen my understanding of this world, and here all of you come!"

 238 Zodiac

    "The demon who did black magic is in front!"


    In the forest, a group of soldiers were chasing Fang Yuan and their expressions appeared solemn.


    They were wearing uniforms and it appeared that they were from a single organisation.


    At this point in time, a small-eyed man next to the leader twitched his nose.


    "Whoosh!"


    As a yellow glow emerged, his nose started to change. Facial hair started to grow on both sides of his face, which appeared a little yellowish.


    After a deep breath, he came to a decision.


    "Very well, let''s split!"


    The leader of all of them was a young man wearing a bamboo-woven crown. He was wearing long silk robes with an image of a cockerel sewn on it and a pair of cloth shoes. Although he appeared young, his actions seemed matured and he seemed to have a lot of influence.


    "Yes, sir!"


    Behind him, a few groups started to split and approached the river.


    While they were splitting up, behind every leader of each group was a dim glow which took the shape of a tiger or leopard. With this, their speed in the forest increased.


    "Great! With Shinto, I''m afraid he won''t be able to escape!"


    Everyone looked jubilant.


    "Hmph! We cannot find any evidence at the site where Su Guo had cast his black magic. This time, with the help of the mountain gods, we might be able to get some leads!"


    The young man let out a laugh.


    "Sir... We cannot control the gods. Please mind your words!"


    The few of them beside him twitched a little.


    The presence of the gods in the mountains must be related to the supernatural event. This young man was the envoy of the capital of Lie Country. He was not afraid of anything. After all, he had to lead the country in the presence of the gods above him. How would he dare to be disrespectful?


    "Heh..."


    The young man was extremely quick, but a little impatient. "We have already investigated that Su Guo must have used illegal means to build his wealth. We wanted to capture him as soon as he was rich enough. Who would know that Deity Feng... Hehe, that deity is most likely an evil one!"


    "With such a thing happening, someone must be held responsible and accountable for this. This is my chance to perform!"


    Nonetheless, he would not put all his resources here just to capture Su Guo.


    "We see him!"


    As the soldiers spoke, they continued making their way through the forest. As the arrived at the river, a silhouette of a young man was seen.


    The young man was wearing a servant''s uniform and appeared to be one of Su Guo''s subordinates. He was standing in the middle as the soldiers started to surround him.


    "I am Qin Yi, the Silver Badged Envoy of the Six Gates of Lie Country. Surrender!"


    Qin Yi leapt towards the young man an exclaimed. It was a sight to behold.


    After all, he was on the good side and the young man was the bad guy! It was only logical for him to take the young man down!


    After all, the bad people would naturally be a little more cowardly and wouldn''t dare to go against a government''s official, right?


    With such a pressure from Qin Yi, the young man would surely be unable to even use half of his original power. Therefore, he was at an advantage.


    "Whoooo!"


    As his claws struck towards the young man, a white glow appeared behind which quickly transfigured into the shape of a huge tiger. With such a ferocious strike, the atmosphere was tense.


    "Hmmm... is this how energy is being used in the Hui Realm? Interesting!"


    Fang Yuan smiled as he looked at Qin Yi.


    Although there was martial arts and spiritual spells in the Hui Realm, it was not common.


    In this realm, the popular practice was through Shinto combined with royal energy to form a unique relationship.


    Those in a position of power would be designated the mountain gods and water gods. They would have spirits protecting them wherever they go. Even lowly officials and citizens were allowed to absorb spiritual objects and harness their abilities based on their zodiacs.


    Take for instance, Qin Yi. He was born with the attributes of a white tiger, with his zodiac being the tiger. With his cultivation in a Hundred Year Spiritual Tiger Palm and strength from the royal energy, he was able to form the shape of a tiger. It was impressive and even comparable to a 4 Heavenly Gates martial artist!


    In contrast, the poor and lowly people had to train hard and cultivate in martial arts and spiritual spells. They would take a very long time to reach a certain cultivation level.


    Qin Yi was only 20. Born with a silver spoon and a high status in the government, he was comparable to a 12th Gate martial artist at his peak. He would still be considered a talent in Da Qian.


    With his tiger claw, the people around witnessing it were all doubtful that Fang Yuan could escape from it. Afterwards, it would be the routine capturing and questioning.


    "The spirit of a tiger? Spiritual technique? Martial arts? Interesting! Really interesting!"


    Fang Yuan raised his right fist and countered his claw.


    "Bang!"


    His fist was ordinary-looking and there was no white tiger behind him. It was incomparable to Qin Yi''s tiger claw.


    However, after a loud bang, Qin Yi exclaimed as his right arm shattered. He flew backwards.


    "Aw! Aw!"


    Behind him, the spirit of the white tiger was making noises as though it wanted to protect its owner.


    "What the hell is this?"


    Fang Yuan looked at all of them as though they were not worth his time. "Get... lost!"


    "Rumble!"


    As the energy in him surged, his temperature rose and his blood gushed around in his veins. From him, there was the sound of a huge river gushing its way downstream and he was like a human furnace.


    As he shouted, the white tiger exclaimed and exploded into sparkles.


    "What... what the hell!"


    The soldiers around were stunned."


    A punch and a shout were all it needed to defeat the envoy from the Six Gates, the reincarnation of the white tiger, Qin Yi?


    And the person who defeated him was a small servant?


    Illusion! It must be an illusion!


    "This is impossible..."


    Qin Yi laid on the floor and shouted with embarrassment. "You are using... martial arts?! How is this possible?"


    In this realm, it was a hard and tedious process to cultivate in martial arts. Therefore, it was always being belittled. Even though there were a few people who were at the cultivation level of sect masters, Qin Yi did not put a single one of them to heart.


    This was until he met Fang Yuan!


    After a punch, he was sure that he did not harness the strength of his zodiac!


    If he did, they could suppress his zodiac''s strength with the help of the Mountain God.


    A simple fist without drawing strength from external sources gave him a new understanding.


    Even the simplest martial arts could be so powerful!


    Unfortunately, Fang Yuan could not understand a single word he was saying.


    By looking at his expression, Fang Yuan could still understand what was going through in his mind.


    "Ah... I knew it. It is troublesome to bridge the language barrier. Fortunately¡­.. I have you guys!"


    Fang Yuan looked around and smiled.


    "Get up!"


    Seeing their envoy on the ground, the soldiers were a little afraid. However, they still obeyed and got to their feet.


    Not just that, the array which they formed was glowing. It was able to harness strength from the heavens and earth, which resembled elemental force a little.


    "No... Rather than describing it as elemental force, I should call it miniature elemental force! This is because they can only draw strength from this forest!!"


    Fang Yuan''s eyes glittered.


    The difference between elemental force and miniature elemental force was the difference between an 11th Gate martial artist and a Wu Zong!


    Therefore, after gathering his elemental force, he struck another punch out.


    "Rumble!"


    As the air exploded, a wave of heat spread.


    The trees and grass fell. Even a layer of the ground was shaved off as dust flew about.


    As everything settled down, there was a pile of unconscious soldiers lying about.


    "What did you do? Don''t come over..."


    Seeing Fang Yuan approaching him, Qin Yi slowly crawled backwards and appeared flustered. "I knew it... you are not human! You are being possessed by that evil Deity Feng!"


    "What I pity! I don''t understand a single word you are saying!"


    With a face of regret, Fang Yuan shook his head. Swiftly, he struck Qin Yi, making him unconscious. With his right index finger, he pointed in between Qin Yi''s eyebrows.


    "Dream accessing!"


    The dream lasted for 10,000 years.


    Within moments, Fang Yuan witnessed Qin Yi''s life from a 3rd person''s perspective.


    From his innocent days while he was a child to his discovery of his zodiac sign, then to his smooth career in the government''s office into the Six Gates. Finally, vices consumed him as his personality changed.


    Fang Yuan''s motive was to learn the language of the Hui Realm.


    Along the way, he learnt about the zodiacs, gods and royal energy.


    "The zodiac of a white tiger would allow him to train a Spiritual Tiger Palm?"


    In the Hui Realm, Fang Yuan opened his eyes and looked at Qin Yi''s claws.


    Indeed, the bones in his arms were thicker than normal.


    "Unfortunately... the path of the zodiacs is too reliant on external strength!"


    Fang Yuan shook his head. Looking at Qin Yi''s personality, even a martial artist of 4 Heavenly Gates from Da Qian would be able to defeat him easily.


    "Regardless, it is still a quick way to cultivate such power. Compared to martial arts which would require patience and a lot of hard work, this path would surely be more attractive, especially for the people of higher status with access to the royal energy!"


    It was best to be able to control one''s own strength and power independently.


    The cultivation on the path of zodiac would require a lot of resources and the approval from the royal family. Additionally, through Shinto, cultivation on the path of zodiac was the preferred choice over cultivating in martial arts and spiritual spells.


    "Zodiacs are the heart of how energy is transferred in the Hui Realm. It is through the combination of the royal energy. Without these sources of energy, one would lose their strength. This would be a good way to have control over the cultivators."


    "Qin Yi was young and was even a Silver Badge Constable. His status is still considered low and therefore the help he had was limited! He should be around the same status as a 7th Grade official... If it was a 1st Grade official in the Lie Country, with the combination of their zodiacs, he would surely be able to obtain elemental force or even achieve the Elemental Opening Realm!"


    "Other than self-cultivation, there is another path of cultivation in Hui Realm! That is Shinto! To be accepted by the gods, the person would have to submit himself to the royal family. Otherwise, it would be classified under the worship of evil gods and he would be captured!"


    ...


    As his thoughts whirred in his mind, Fang Yuan scanned the peaceful forest and scoffed.


    "You stalked me before and now you help them secretly. Do you think you can hide from me? Mountain God, come out! Do you want to force me to burn down this place?"


    "Aww!"


    Within seconds, there was a change in the forest.


    Eyes appeared amidst the vegetation. It was a pack of wolves.


    With the appearance of the wolves, other animals began to appear as well. All of them remained silent and appeared in an orderly fashion, which makes the entire scene creepy.


    "Oh?"


    Seeing the animals, Fang Yuan shook his head. "It seems that there is a huge difference in power between the good and evil. Are you only capable of this, Mountain God?"

 239 Realm Energy

    The strength of Shinto would gradually grow and they would control a certain area.


    Fang Yuan was clear of this.


    Take for instance the Mountain God. If it were to pay attention, it would be able to know everything that happened within the Zhuobie Mountain. It could even transfer its strength and assist government officials who were within Zhuobie Mountain. This was seen in the increased strength of the array formed by the soldiers previously. If the Mountain God did not help in the dark, the array would not have been so strong as to harness miniature elemental force.


    Furthermore, it would know about all the treasures in the mountain. All animals would have to listen to its orders and its power was limitless.


    However, it was still weak.


    After all, it was considered a Yin Spirit. It would be difficult for it to be exposed in the realm for long. Of course, as a god, it could still temporarily break these constraints.


    Wouldn''t it be giving itself away by revealing itself in front of Fang Yuan?


    Therefore, it could only play a supporting role and incite the animals within the mountains without showing itself.


    "Not just that... for such a god to continue existing, it would require approval from the royal family. With the high casualty rate of government officials every year and the lack of government positions, it would be hard to strike a balance between this two. Therefore, in Shinto, the competition is tough... This is seen between the Mountain God in Zhuobie Mountain and Chenghuang God."


    Fang Yuan had freshly obtained these pieces of information from Qin Yi''s memories through dream accessing.


    "The Mountain God of Zhuobie Mountain was a 1st official in its past life and had led a respectable life. Furthermore, his disciples were all capable. This was why it had gained approval from the royal family... Interestingly, this had happened hundreds of years ago..."


    Seeing an army formed by the animals, Fang Yuan fiddled with a blood-red sword essence and sighed. "What a pity... I don''t want to live such a life!"


    "Whoosh!"


    In his actualised dream world, the vague imagery of the 8 Gates Sword Array shook, and the fire sword glowed brilliantly.


    "Whoosh!"


    In a moment, a red sword essence exploded around Fang Yuan like raindrops.


    "Chi! Chi!"


    As blood splattered around, shrieks from the animals were heard amidst a fiery glow!


    Even though Fang Yuan had yet to actualise the complete fire-type divine troops, just the sword essence was enough to hurt an adversary as strong as a Wu Zong!


    As the illusionary swords flew out, animals and vegetation alike were caught in a burning inferno.


    This fire was not normal fire but spiritual fire. There were sparkles within the blood-red sword essence. As the essence spread, flames broke out everywhere.


    In the burning inferno, there was a weak cry. Within moments, it was no longer heard.


    "Is it really so weak?"


    Although he knew that Shinto was weak, he was a little confused after personally experiencing itself.


    There was an illusionary red sword in his hands. Dragons were carved on the sword''s handle and there was a greenish hue to it. It was translucent and extremely similar to the one he had in his actualised dream world.


    "I was saving this sword for the god. Who knew that it would be so useless..."


    Fang Yuan shook his head, turned around and disappeared into the horizon.


    After half a day, government officials finally rushed their way here. All of them were left speechless.


    ...


    "It is impossible for Feng Xinzi and company to take any treasures from the Hui Realm..."


    Leaving Zhuobie Mountain, he quickly regained his strength as he started to think to himself.


    "Even the unique techniques here can only be studied upon but not brought back as the two worlds are ultimately different... Unless a specific treasure can be made illusionary and taken into their souls to be brought back... If that is so, there is only one such thing! Realm energy!"


    Fang Yuan''s eyes glittered.


    To dream masters, anything physical would be a burden. Only treasures which were illusionary were worth keeping!


    Realm energy would fulfil this criterion!


    "Based on the description of Hui Realm, there is realm energy between Heaven and Earth. It is the source of everything. In a country, there is a country''s realm energy. In the wilderness, there are spiritual realm energies and earth realm energies! A country would depend on its country''s realm energy in order to transfer energy to government officials to strengthen them. However, Huangchengs Gods, Mountain Gods and River Gods would need to rely on realm energies to survive..."


    "Most importantly, if the realm energy can be absorbed, then it can be brought along with the soul!"


    If Feng Xinzi and the rest didn''t have any other motives, this would be the most probable conclusion.


    With this guess, Fang Yuan knew what he had to do.


    After two days.


    On a green rock, energy surged around Fang Yuan. Three spiritual meridians formed on his body. He had recovered all the cultivation he had in Da Qian.


    "Indeed... my unique ability would allow me to quickly recover my cultivation regardless of the physical body I am in."


    He stood up and looked at his stats window:


    "Name: Fang Yuan


    Essence: 36


    Spirit: 30


    Magic: 21


    Profession: Dream Soldier Master


    Cultivation: Illusionary Divine (1st Tier), Wu Zong (3rd Meridian)


    Technique: [Giant Eagle Metal Body Technique (Grade 4) (1%)], Hundred Poison Golden Body (1st Refining), [8 Gates Sword Array (1st Sword) (10%)]


    Skill: [Medicine (Level 3)], [Botany (Level 5)]"


    As he fidgeted, the joints in his body started to crack loudly.


    "Finally, I''ve recovered all my abilities. It''s suffocating to feel bound for so long!"


    Fang Yuan had a premonition that this unique ability of his would bring him far in the future!


    "Considering their affluence, Fang Xinzi and company would surely not go after the small realm energies!"


    "This would leave them with the bigger mountains and rivers with concentrated earth realm energies. If they can absorb those realm energies into their soul, they would be able to bring it back to Da Qian as a form of... resource for cultivation?"


    Fang Yuan started to think deeper. "If I had known, I shouldn''t have killed the Mountain God, but captured it and do some research on it!"


    Based on his cultivation, he was qualified enough to seal the Mountain God''s realm energy but lacked the technique to go about doing it.


    After all, this was the first time that Feng Xinzi had asked him to come along. Why would he share his knowledge without reservations?


    "Luckily, three months is a long time. I have all the opportunities to try!"


    Fang Yuan gazed into the sky and appeared deep in thought.


    ...


    Golden Dragon Lake.


    This was the biggest lake in Lie Country and stretched across a few counties. By leveraging on transport over the lake, people had a good chance of survival by settling around the lake.


    Of course, the most famous thing about the lake was the Water God, Golden Dragon God!


    This God was famous since a long time ago. It was approved by the previous royal family and had a lot of experience. By harnessing the realm energy from the huge lake, it survived the previous wars which led to the uprising of Lie Country.


    In the growing years of the country, the country had sent envoys to check on the lake. The Golden Dragon God was still powerful and could reveal itself even in broad daylight. Therefore, it was still approved but in fact, it was the country''s attempt to establish good relations with it.


    "This god is one of the elders in Shinto!"


    It seemed to Fang Yuan that by riding to the country''s realm energy, the king of Lie Country had resorted to killing the low-levelled gods like Huangcheng God.


    However, ancient gods such as the Golden Dragons God, who harnessed middle-tier realm energy, could defend itself. Therefore, it was not worth the effort of the country to kill it.


    Therefore, the Golden Dragon God was a strong god among the Shintos in Lie Country. It was not only an elder but was the leader of a group of Water Gods and was rather influential.


    With a target, Fang Yuan executed his lightness skill and rushed his way through a road which was less populated by the natives. As he neared the boundaries of Golden Dragon Lake, he slowed down.


    After three days, he crossed a mountain peak and arrived at a pier.


    "Storm Pier?"


    Looking at an old-fashioned wooden sign, he walked towards a jetty. "Is this Changliu River? I want to hire a boat to bring me to Golden Dragon Lake!"


    He was speaking the official language of Lie Country, the language which Qin Yi spoke. He even had their accent.


    The fishermen around looked at him. "Young man, do you want to go to Golden Dragon Lake? It is a two-day journey and will cost you 20 coins!"


    The coins in Lie Country were shaped like tiny knives, and there was a tiny hole at the end of the knives, to provide convenience by allowing it to be strung together.


    Fang Yuan took out 20 knife-looking coins. These were contributions from the soldiers he had killed and were new and shiny looking.


    "Young man, you are indeed from the capital! What generosity!"


    The new coins were limited in production and were worth two old coins. As the fishermen looked at the coins, their eyes glittered.


    As they exchanged glances, an old fisherman walked out. "If you don''t mind, take my boat!"


    "Oh, you are..."


    Fang Yuan examined him. The fisherman was in his 40s. However, due to the fact that he was physically strained, his hair was white and he looked older than his age. His fingers were rough and seemed strong, giving him the appearance of a good coxswain.


    "What is your name? Call me Yu Da!"


    Old Yu chuckled to himself as he brought Fang Yuan to an old-looking boat which looked sturdy. He weighed the anchor, opened the sails and sailed out of the harbour. He seemed extremely familiar with what he was doing.


    "Eh? Have you awaken your zodiac?"


    As Fang Yuan squinted his eyes, he could see that there was a shroud of water-type energy around Yu Da''s body, making him look like a black fish.


    "You are right! My zodiac is a black carp and I was fortunate enough to absorb a black carp''s scale in my younger days. It didn''t help me much except to allow me to swim better and feel the water better..."


    Yu Da laughed to himself.


    Considering the fact that he was not gifted and had no backing, it was already rather impressive for him to reach such a stage.


    Even so, without assistance from the government, it would be extremely hard for him to achieve a breakthrough. He was only a tad bit stronger than the average human.


    The boat sailed in the direction of the stream which made it rather fast. Fang Yuan casually engaged in a conversation with Yu Da.


    "Why are you going to Golden Dragon Lake?"


    "To pray to the gods!"


    "I see!"


    Yu Da pushed his chest out proudly. "Our Golden Dragon God is the most responsive! That is..."


    As he continued, his face started to appear solemn and remained speechless as he stared at the surface of the water.


    ''The gods under him often bring trouble to the people...''


    Fang Yuan thought to himself. ''This is already nearing the region of Golden Dragon Lake. Of course you wouldn''t dare to speak your mind...''

 240 Uncle River

    There were monkey shrieks from both sides of the river bank, as the boat sailed through the mountains.


    It took only a day before the surroundings around the boat started to change drastically.


    The mountainous ridge became shorter and shorter and finally, it became a flat ground.


    Changliu River became wider and wider and could no longer be called a river, for it resembled something more like a channel.


    "Where is this?"


    Looking at the scenery on both sides, Fang Yuan enquired.


    "This is Golden Sun City, and the river we are on is called the Golden Dragon River. We are not far from Golden Dragon Lake now..."


    Yu Da chuckled.


    "This area doesn''t seem to be very peaceful..."


    Fang Yuan pointed to the riverbank.


    "That is..."


    As Yu Da looked over, his expression changed.


    There was a group of people crowding around the riverbank. They seemed to be praying and there were occasional crying sounds.


    A young lady who was dressed up was being sent into the river on a wooden raft.


    The raft was not sturdy. If it were to reach the centre of the river, under the pressure from the surging river, it would surely break apart. By then, the young girl on the raft would likely become a meal for the fishes.


    Of course, if her soul was captured in the process, it would be worse.


    "Praying to Uncle River?"


    Yu Da was pale. "What a sin... If I knew that something like this would happen, I wouldn''t have sailed on this boat. What if we anger the Dragon King?"


    He whispered the words ''sin''. If not for Fang Yuan''s strong hearing ability, he would have missed out as well.


    "Praying to Uncle River?"


    Fang Yuan made a shock expression. "Isn''t Uncle River a god? Why do they need to offer him sacrifices? To make matters worse, the worst form of sacrifice, a human being?"


    "This practice of Uncle River''s Marriage dated back to a long time ago. However, this year''s ceremony is already over. It seems like something bad had happened on the river, otherwise they wouldn''t resort to this..."


    Yu Da sighed.


    Helplessly, their boat drifted close to the river bank, allowing them to witness everything clearly.


    On the shore, incense were lighted and paper offerings were drifting about in the sky. A few sorceresses were performing a ritual.


    As the moment arrived, the young lady was wailing as the raft she was on was being pushed out to the river.


    "Let''s wait it out. If we continue our journey now, it is disrespectful to Uncle River!"


    Witnessing this scene, Yu Da refused to budge.


    Not just that, he also started to kowtow on his boat. "Dragon King, we have no ill intentions, please forgive us! Please forgive us!"


    "Really..."


    Fang Yuan shook his head and was speechless. Looking at the river surface, he could clearly see the silhouette of the lady on the rafts.


    She was around 18. Even with makeup on, she had a childish look on her face. Although she was not crying, her eyes were filled with tears as she looked over to a couple in despair.


    "Kacha! Kacha!"


    The raft was already built to break down under pressure. Now that it had arrived in the middle of the river, it started to break apart.


    A dark shadow was formed directly under the river. It was mysterious-looking which made the young lady shudder in fear.


    "Is this offering ceremony an annual thing?"


    Witnessing this scene, Fang Yuan gave a look of displeasure.


    "Once a year would be the minimum. If there were any natural disasters, they would perform it again... What are you doing?"


    Yu Da was explaining casually about the ritual. However, as soon as he saw Fang Yuan leaping into the water, he was stunned.


    "What am I doing?"


    Fang Yuan smiled.


    Fang Yuan''s legs were firmly planted onto the water surface and remained unmoved as the waves swept across. "To save someone, naturally!"


    Although he planned to find trouble for the Golden Dragon God, it was still a good thing to save someone.


    "Save... save... someone!"


    From the moment Yu Da saw Fang Yuan standing on the water surface, he knew that he was someone special. As he was holding in his shock, he stuttered.


    He was filled with regret! Just because he wanted to earn some money, he infuriated the Water Gods! How could he ever think of working here next time?


    If the heavens would give him another chance, he would surely not do business with Fang Yuan/


    Unfortunately, there was no such thing as a second chance.


    As Yu Da looked across the water, he could see Fang Yuan strutting towards the raft. "Young lady... what is your name?"


    "I..."


    The young lady was stunned. "I''m Ling''er!"


    As a final wave crashed into the raft, it shattered into many pieces.


    "Come! Grab hold of my hand!"


    Fang Yuan stretched out his hand. "Do you want to be fed to the fishes?"


    "Whoosh!"


    At this moment, another wave struck.


    Amidst the screaming of the young lady, Fang Yuan could feel an icy cold hand grabbing on to his own arm.


    "Very well, it seems that you still want to live!"


    Fang Yuan did not bring the girl back to the river bank.


    After all, from their stupidity, even if the young lady were to return, she would surely be sent out as sacrifice again.


    Furthermore, by saving the young lady, Fang Yuan angered the spirits in the water.


    "Whoosh!"


    Seeing that their offering was being snatched away in front of their eyes, the shadows under the water were enraged. They started to send tsunamis on the water surface. Suddenly, there was a whirlpool in the middle of the river which slowly grew in size, drawing Fang Yuan in.


    "You are as insignificant as a grain of rice, and yet you dare to glitter like a pearl?"


    Fang Yuan snickered and flicked his finger.


    "Whoosh!"


    A red-coloured sword essence appeared in struck the bottom of the river.


    Although his fire-type sword essence was being restrained by the water, it was still nonetheless destructive.


    "Bloop! Bloop!"


    The shadow beneath them shook. Slowly, bubbles began to emerge from below, followed by a huge black fish that was 8 inches long. With its belly facing the sky, there was a huge hole in it where blood was flowing out from.


    "Indeed a spirit... However, based on the perspective of the people in this realm, it should be a spiritual animal, right?!"


    Fang Yuan took a quick glance at Yu Da.


    If he did not lie, then his cultivation could begin from the moment he took in the scale from a black carp.


    Indeed, after seeing this huge fish, Yu Da appeared uneasy.


    By the looks of it, he would be considered mentally strong if he did not faint after seeing the dead fish.


    "It... is dead? Is this... Uncle River?"


    Ling''er was stuttering but could still be understood.


    "Uncle River? Lady... you think too much! It is just an animal!"


    Fang Yuan rolled his eyes and waved his hand.


    "Chi!"


    On the river surface, it was as though another sun appeared.


    The continuously burning fire-type sword essence was like an arrow as it shot down into the water.


    Blood spread everywhere on the surface of the river as many fishes and crustaceans alike floated about. All of them were dead.


    "Oww..."


    Seeing all the dead fishes, Ling''er turned pale and felt nauseous.


    On the riverbank, the few people who were performing the ritual were dumbfounded. There could not believe what they had just seen.


    Uncle River, who had pressured them for many years, making them sacrifice so many young ladies, just died like that?


    "He is dead! Uncle River would not let him off!"


    The sorceresses were spouting nonsense as they started to curse Fang Yuan.


    "Whoosh!"


    In the next moment, a huge spiritual aura appeared from the river.


    "Who was it?"


    "Who dares to undermine the power of Uncle River of the Golden Dragon River?"


    "Who was it?"


    "Who dares to kill my crustaceans army?"


    ...


    As a strong energy surged through the surroundings, a whirlpool exploded, revealing a golden glow which slowly formed the shape of a human in golden armour.


    "Human, are you going against the agreement between Lie Country and my people?"


    This person''s form was illusionary and it was wearing gold armour. There were golden scales on its face and two long beards. All of these gave it a vibe of royalty.


    As it waved its hands, a strong pressure was felt.


    The pressure exerted combined with a mysterious force which seemed to be coming from inside of it, striking fear in all lifeforms in the vicinity.


    "You are Uncle River of this river? You are the Dragon King in the legends...?"


    Fang Yuan looked at the person in front of him with curiosity.


    "That''s right!"


    The golden-armoured Uncle River remarked in a proud voice. "You have disturbed my auspicious event and killed my crustacean army. I will skin you and use you as oil to be burnt for three years!"


    "Keke..."


    Fang Yuan laughed.


    Looking at the golden-armoured Uncle River, he had coldness in his eyes. "It seems that the Golden Dragon Lake has given you too much protection. How dare you even appear before me?"


    "What do you mean?"


    Uncle River felt that something was not right. With the wave of his hands, the river surged and thousands of water arrows were flying towards Fang Yuan.


    Not just that, there was a defensive wall in front of him made from water crystals.


    This level of water-type spiritual spells was comparable to an elementary spiritual knight.


    But to Fang Yuan, in response to the water arrows, he waved his right hand. An illusionary red sword appeared in his hands as it swayed in the air.


    "Whoosh!"


    The water arrows exploded in mid-air.


    Under the illumination of a red glow, the water fell downwards like rain. It was as though all of what had happened was just hallucination.


    A sword to counter everything!


    Although Fang Yuan''s swordsmanship was only elementary, he could strengthen it with dream elemental force. With divine troops, sword essence and his own martial arts, it was comparable to the highest level of swordsmanship in the legends.


    "The previous Mountain God of Zhuobie Mountain was not as daring as you to reveal himself to me!"


    After commenting, he struck his sword out.


    "Whoosh!"


    There was a red glow.


    A red glow struck through the defensive wall of water crystals and into the chest of the golden-armoured man.


    "How dare you..."


    The golden-armoured man looked down in disbelief. "My father will take revenge for me..."


    "Idi*t!"


    Without reservation, Fang Yuan pulled his sword back out. Soon after, the image of the golden-armoured man vanished as it became a golden carp.


    The carp was only three inches long but all of its scales were golden in colour. More significantly, there were two long whiskers on its mouth, making in extraordinary.


    Fang Yuan did not care about all these. At Uncle River''s moment of death, he released his spiritual will and covered the golden carp in dream elemental force.


    "Where is the source of the realm energy?"

 241 Dragon Realm Energy

    Although the Uncle River the golden carp was not the Golden Dragon God, it was still a Water God and had the attributes of a dragon. Or to put it in another word, it had the blood of the Golden Dragon God.


    With such a status and the fact that it took ownership of a region, it would surely have the protection of the Dragon God.


    Therefore, Fang Yuan quickly isolated its corpse and used his dream elemental force to attempt to keep it within his own actualised dream world.


    Of course, a physical object like the corpse was impossible to be contained within the actualised dream world.


    As the air around it vibrated, the corpse exploded and a loud bang was heard.


    At the same time, Fang Yuan''s expression changed.


    He did gain something in his actualised dream world.


    Before the carp exploded, a small white hint of realm energy appeared and quickly dissipated. The small tail of the carp was caught and thrown into the actualised dream world.


    "Condense!"


    Within the actualised dream world, Fang Yuan''s true self appeared. He stretched out his right hand.


    The air trembled and white streaks condensed on his palm, forming half the portion of realm energy. It was a pure white and was wriggling like an earthworm.


    "If not for my ability to control my own actualised dream world, I might just let it disappear. Would the realm energy disappear the moment it is released? Could this be... natural realm energy?"


    Fang Yuan sighed.


    What was left in his hands was less than half the amount of realm energy from Uncle River.


    He was already quick to capture the realm energy, but most of it had dissipated before he could keep it.


    The amount of realm energy which Uncle River had was given to him by the Golden Dragon God, and might not even be 1% of what the Golden Dragon God had.


    "What can I do with 0.5% of realm energy?"


    After a long sigh, he opened his hands and released the realm energy.


    Feng Xinzi and the few others were likely to be coming for this energy, so there must be some use for it.


    If realm energy was released, it would dissipate quickly and disappear.


    "Are there no changes?"


    Fang Yuan looked at the size and height of his actualised dream world and shook his head. Suddenly, he glanced at his stats window:


    "[8 Gates Sword Array (First Sword) (11%)]"


    "There is an increase of 1% for the Leaving Fire Sword?"


    Fang Yuan rubbed his chin and looked at his Leaving Fire Sword, which seemed to have not changed.


    If not for the proficiency bar in his stats window, he would not even be aware of such a minor change.


    "I''ve gained 1% from such a small amount of realm energy. What should I expect after getting the realm energy from Golden Dragon Lake?"


    Fang Yuan''s eyes glittered. "The difficulty level for the other swords should be different from the Leaving Fire Sword, but it should allow me to actualise a true Leaving Fire Divine Soldier and begin on my next step for the next sword, right?"


    "Although I don''t know the reason why Feng Xinzi and the rest are after the realm energy, to me, it is enough to know that I can increase my cultivation through it!"


    "I am just lacking in a technique to seal the realm energy!"


    If he used brute force, even if he could painstakingly kill the Golden Dragon God, he would lose more than half of its realm energy. How could he bear to let it go to waste?


    Therefore, he had to obtain the technique to seal realm energy!


    Since Feng Xinzi and the rest had already planned for the exploration mission in this realm a long time ago, they must be prepared.


    Fang Yuan closed his eyes and returned to reality.


    The river was surging.


    Although he had many complicated thoughts in his dream world, it was only a blink of an eye in the reality.


    Regardless if it was Ling''er who was beside him or Yu Da who was frightened to his wits, or even the crowd at the riverbank, none of them could react to what had just happened.


    Uncle River was killed!


    Since the accession of Golden Dragon God, nothing like that had ever happened!


    "Let''s go!"


    Fang Yuan was not interested in the commotion at the riverbank and directly commanded Ling''er.


    Her eyes were filled with dismay, but she did not resist Fang Yuan.


    After all, she knew that regardless of how things would turn out, it would not be appropriate for her to return...


    ...


    After three days, at Golden Dragon Lake.


    The lake was extremely vast and deep. On the surface of the lake, there was a thin layer of fog. Many small islands were within the lake, housing many island dwellers who would only worship the Golden Dragon God. They were like their own country and even Lie Country could do nothing about it.


    Along the sides of the lake, in a restaurant, Fang Yuan ordered a pot of wine, a few dishes and enjoyed himself there.


    As for Ling''er, he had given her some money and let her off.


    After all, he only wanted to help her for the sake of helping her, and it was a small issue.


    As for the Golden Dragon Lake, there was peace after the death of Uncle River, the golden carp. This surprised Fang Yuan.


    "He must be extremely nervous inside, right? I''m sure he is preparing for my arrival?"


    Fang Yuan finished his last cup of wine and stood up, preparing to pay for the bill.


    At this moment, he twitched a little before slowly sitting down again, smiling.


    "Deng! Deng!"


    As footsteps were heard, two people walked down from the wooden staircase from the upper floors. Seeing Fang Yuan, their expression remained unchanged as they walked over.


    "Brother Fang!"


    It was a man and a woman. The man looked like a martial artist while the woman was a beautiful lady. It was Venerable Fiery Dragon and Deity Clear Lotus.


    Of course, even though they had already gotten used to their bodies, they flinched in uneasiness as they met someone familiar. After greeting each other, they promptly joined him at the table.


    As the brute looking martial artist which Deity Clear Lotus was possessing waved his hands, a layer of mist appeared. From outside, people could only see three friends happily chatting.


    "Alright, we can speak without a worry now!"


    Deity Clear Lotus looked at Fang Yuan. "It has been a few days and Brother Fang has already accomplished something big!"


    "Hmph..."


    Venerable Fiery Dragon scoffed. "You killed Uncle River, the golden carp! Do you know how much trouble that would bring to our plan?"


    "I have no idea!"


    Fang Yuan shrugged his shoulders and gave an innocent look. "Didn''t we agree to split up and do whatever we want? How would I know who your target would be?"


    Venerable Fiery Dragon was stunned.


    In fact, he had already discussed this with Deity Clear Lotus that the main objective would be to take down Golden Dragon God. This was why they came straight to Golden Dragon Lake.


    After hearing the news of Uncle River being killed, they quickly came out from hiding without a regard for anything.


    Little did they know that Fang Yuan was new to this place. Furthermore, since they did not discuss the ''big plan'' with him, it was only normal that something like that would happen.


    "As for you guys..."


    Fang Yuan was infuriated. "Both of you know that realm energy is extremely beneficial. Why did you hide this fact from me?"


    As he raged, the air around shook as though there was a strong source of energy.


    Deity Clear Lotus looked at Venerable Fiery Dragon and were shocked. "Your cultivation level... How much have you recovered?"


    "About 30% to 40%?"


    Fang Yuan lied through his teeth.


    "Keke... We have only heard about realm energy from Su Guo. Before confirming it, we did not dare to do anything reckless..."


    Deity Clear Lotus tried to salvage the situation, but Fang Yuan did not believe anything that she said.


    "If this is so, then Feng Xinzi and Yu Tianlao would also target this place, right?


    Fang Yuan''s eyes glittered as he asked.


    "No, Feng Xinzi is much more greedier... As for Yu Tianlao, she is rather mysterious and no one would ever know what she is up to..."


    Venerable Fiery Dragon looked at Fang Yuan and felt that he was too mysterious to be understood.


    "Brother!"


    As for Deity Clear Lotus, she waved her hands welcomingly. "It is fate that we are able to meet Brother Fang. Let''s count him in, shall we? After all, it''s good to have another person helping out! Looking at the situation at Golden Dragon Lake, I''m afraid just the two of us won''t be able to handle it!"


    "That''s true!"


    After a long silence, Venerable Fiery Dragon nodded his head.


    "Oh, thank you for your generosity!"


    Fang Yuan placed his fists together and acted like he was appreciative. In a short while, after their exchanges and lies, it was weird that they could still get along.


    "That''s right... Brother Fang, your guess is correct. Both of us are here for the Golden Dragon God, or should I say... the realm energy within the 800-mile radius of the Golden Dragon Lake!"


    Deity Clear Lotus nodded her head. "After my research, I found out that the realm energy would not only aid us in our cultivation in the Illusionary Divine Stage, it would also have miraculous effects in smelting weapons and doing alchemy!"


    "The only problem is that it is hard to obtain and hard to contain..."


    Fang Yuan shook his head and sighed.


    "Looking at how things are, I''m guessing that you have lost more than half of the realm energy from killing Uncle River, right?"


    Deity Clear Lotus bit her lips and smiled. "I can teach you a technique to contain the realm energy. Let this be a sign of my sincerity for working with us!"


    "Hmph... The golden carp, Uncle River, is the third child of Golden Dragon God and has his love. If we were the ones to contain the realm energy, we would surely be able to contain 90% of it!"


    Venerable Fiery Dragon spoke in a regretful tone.


    "Haha... Forgive me for my recklessness!"


    Fang Yuan smiled. "Since Deity Clear Lotus have expressed her sincerity and both of you are going after the Golden Dragon God, I''ll listen to all of your commands!"


    "That''s great!"


    Deity Clear Lotus was jubilant. "With the addition of Brother Fang, I am extremely confident we''ll make it work this time!"


    Fang Yuan was rather confused that Venerable Fiery Dragon did not rebut Deity Clear Lotus''s comment.


    It seems that the power of Golden Dragon God was much more than he had imagined.


    Indeed, Deity Clear Lotus started to describe Golden Dragon God''s abilities. "Under this god, there is Uncle River, Patrolling Ghost and others. Most importantly, we have to contain the realm energy of Golden Dragon Lake. It is as powerful as 3 or 4 dream masters in the Illusionary Divine stage combined, and even Feng Xinzi is afraid of facing the Golden Dragon God alone... However, it is most troublesome when these beings are within their territories, as they would be strengthened by their realm energies. For instance, The king of Lie Country would be strengthened by the country''s realm energy, which makes him invincible against many spiritual spells. Even Yu Tianlao could do nothing to him..."


    "I see!"


    Fang Yuan nodded his head.


    "In fact, the realm energy in Hui Realm has appeared in Da Qian before, but in a different form!"


    Venerable Fiery Dragon added on. "For instance, if the royal family of Da Qian did not have protection from the heavens and the control of the dragon energy, it would already be overrun by the crazy people from the Evil Divine Sect and the Divine Lotus Cult."


    "Protection from the heavens, control of the dragon energy?"


    Fang Yuan started to think about it and slowly began to understand the backing of the royal family of Da Qian.


    "Mmm, the king of Lie Country is equivalent to a small Da Qian Emperor... With the realm energy of the country, we cannot go near him. However, if we are able to take his realm energy...."


    There was a hint of temptation in Deity Clear Lotus''s voice.

 242 Bait and Kill

    Dragon God Island.


    The island was situated in the depths of Golden Dragon Lake. On it, there was the largest temple, built to worship the Golden Dragon God. It was under the protection of many strong believers who lived nearby.


    These island dwellers live among the islands in the lake and depend on the Golden Dragon God for survival. Their establishments on the lake were shocking and even the king of Lie Country could do nothing about it.


    "Just on Dragon God Island itself, there are already about 10,000 people living on it, and a standing army!"


    Fang Yuan and the two other dream masters approached the island, and their eyes were glittering.


    One month had already passed since the three of them had met.


    With they own secret techniques, Venerable Fiery Dragon and Deity Clear Lotus went all out and recovered more than half of what they originally had. To recover even more of their abilities, they were met with all sorts of restrictions. Compared to Fang Yuan''s unique ability, the difference was obvious. At some point, he even felt that he could take the both of them down. Of course, that only remained as a thought.


    Through the past month, they had collected quite a lot of information regarding Golden Dragon Lake.


    Finally, the three of them could not hold it back any longer and started to plan their attack.


    "Within the lake and especially at the Dragon God Island, the Golden Dragon God would be able to use its full strength, and he would be further strengthened by the realm energy..."


    Fang Yuan shook his head. "We should not fight him here."


    "Of course we wouldn''t!"


    Venerable Fiery Dragon gazed at Dragon God Island with a serious look and raised his hands.


    "Chirp! Chirp!"


    A few red sparrows landed on his arms and chirped cheerfully.


    However, Venerable Fiery Dragon remained with his serious look, as though he had received new information.


    "How''s it?"


    Deity Clear Lotus asked.


    "The defence on Dragon God Island is tight. Even my secret technique to spy on them was discovered! We cannot go in by brute force!"


    Venerable Fiery Dragon continued to look solemn and shook his head.


    "If that is so, then the only way is to attract him out of his nest!"


    Both of them looked at Fang Yuan.


    Seeing their reactions, Fang Yuan rolled his eyes. "Shouldn''t you keep your promises?"


    "Alright!"


    Venerable Fiery Dragon patted his own chest. "I will transfer you 100 contribution points when we get back!"


    "I''ll give you the technique to seal the realm energy now!"


    Deity Qinghe passed her white-coloured inscription plate over.


    "Alright!"


    Fang Yuan took the inscription plate and placed it on his forehead. Immediately, he received a huge transcript of the technique. "I''ll verify it on my own. If there are no problems with it, we can carry on with our plan three days later!"


    "That''s good!"


    Venerable Fiery Dragon exchanged mysterious glances with Deity Clear Lotus.


    ...


    Three days later, on Dragon God Island.


    "Roar! Roar!"


    In the temple, a figure with the head of a dragon and the body of a human let out a terrifying roar.


    It was similar to that of a tiger or leopard''s roar, with the vibe of a God.


    On Dragon God Island, people and animals alike would kneel down and pay their respects to the Golden Dragon God.


    "Dragon God is here!"


    In the temple, a priest was wearing a colourful but scaly hide. There were even scales on his face. He was in meditation, as though he was listening out for something. Quickly, he turned around and announced:


    "The mighty Golden Dragon God had passed down a decree! The person who killed his son, the golden carp, is here at Golden Dragon Lake... Find him and kill him! Bring his head back as an offering!"


    "Wuuu! Wuuu!"


    Many island dwellers shouted in fury as they started to paddle their boats and took their leave from the island.


    ...


    At the border of Golden Dragon Lake.


    "Shing!"


    Fang Yuan pointed his finger out like a sword and struck at random.


    In front of him, there was a huge tortoise. As the sword essence struck through its shell, green blood started to flow out.


    "Five Places and Ten Earths, Seal!!!"


    He struck his left palm on the shell of the tortoise.


    "Buzz!"


    A glow appeared and a small amount of realm energy was visible. As it struggled to escape, it was contained by the runes around. Slowly, the space around it shrunk and finally, it became like an earthworm, which was subsequently thrown into Fang Yuan''s actualised dream world.


    "This technique is really simple..."


    The plan which Deity Clear Lotus and Venerable Fiery Dragon came up with was to use Fang Yuan''s identity as a bait. He would enter the Golden Dragon Lake and attract the island dwellers out before killing them.


    As long as the damage they could create was huge enough without displaying any real threat to the Golden Dragon God, he would surely appear to stop them!


    What if he would decide to be a cowardly tortoise? They would kill their way in until the Golden Dragon God wouldn''t be able to take it!"


    Previously when Fang Yuan killed the golden carp, he sealed his own spiritual aura, which made him undetectable.


    With his sudden revelation, he attracted this large tortoise and the other crustacean army.


    ''This is not right... you''re overdoing it!"


    Beside him, a red sparrow was chirping. "You need to fight and run at the same time, convincing the Golden Dragon God that he has the ability to take you down. The best would be to injure yourself and force him to come out of hiding, making himself vulnerable!"


    "I know..."


    Fang Yuan waved his hands in annoyance but he was panicky inside.


    If Venerable Fiery Dragon were to become a trickster, he would be rather successful.


    "And also... The realm energy..."


    The red sparrow stared at Fang Yuan as though it was begging for an earthworm to eat.


    "Whoever killed it shall have it!"


    Fang Yuan rejected him without hesitation, turned around and took his leave.


    "Whoosh!"


    At the small river near them, a splash appeared and a huge green prawn crawled up the shore. With its two huge claws, it started to snap at Fang Yuan.


    "Another one who is looking for death!"


    Fang Yuan looked across the lake and saw the silhouette of a wooden boat. He smiled.


    "Chirp! Chirp!"


    This time, the red bird leapt on his shoulders and chirped into his ears.


    "Alright, I''ve got it, fight and run at the same time!"


    Fang Yuan swung his sword out, forming a red moon in the air. Within seconds, he had already chopped off the head of the prawn and started to drag the prawn along with him by its tail. "It''s such a rare sight to see a freshwater prawn this huge! We''re having a good meal tonight."


    As soon as he walked into a forest, there was a trail of blood behind him.


    ...


    Not long after, the news of a person wreaking havoc at Golden Dragon Lake spread.


    The fishermen could haul up fishes of over ten inches long and huge turtle shells. Of course, they also found remnants of broken boats from the island dwellers.


    Many fishermen reported that they had seen the devil before and that it was only a young man.


    At the same time, the casualty rate on Dragon God Island steadily crept up.


    Finally, it was the seventh day.


    "Roar! Roar!"


    As a dragon''s roar was heard, the ground gave way. A golden flash of light shot out from the temple and towards the South.


    South of Golden Dragon Lake.


    "My God will never let you off!"


    An island dweller, who was a Wu Zong, spat out blood.


    He was highly skilled in martial arts and was at the level of a Wu Zong. With the assistance from other spiritual objects, he was comparable to a Wu Zong in the Meridian Opening Realm.


    But now, he was laying on the ground like a dead dog. Not long after, he lost his breath and died.


    "I''ll wait for him!"


    Fang Yuan breathed heavily, and his body condition had deteriorated.


    This island dweller was indeed highly skilled and posed a formidable opponent. This resulted in Fang Yuan having multiple injuries and he was bleeding everywhere, soaking in clothes wet in blood.


    Of course, this didn''t matter.


    If he continued to head South and through a mountain, he would be out of the territory of Golden Dragon Lake.


    If the Golden Dragon King wanted to strike, it would strike now.


    Fang Yuan revealed a worn-out look and started to close his eyes and meditate.


    Around him, there were many corpses of the island dwellers. It was like a massacre and huge volumes of blood filled the ground. It had turned black and was a nauseous sight to behold.


    In the hell-like surroundings, Fang Yuan sat in the middle peacefully, which felt confusing.


    After a short while, Fang Yuan stood up and was prepared to leave.


    "Rumble!"


    At this moment, a golden glow appeared and a strong surge of energy exploded!


    At a small river beside where Fang Yuan was, there was a black shadow within. It was long like a gigantic snake.


    "Roar! Roar!"


    After the roars were heard, there was a huge splash and a gigantic water dragon appeared.


    This water dragon had the body of a snake and had four claws. It was green in colour with hints of golden streaks on its back. With its ferocious eyes, he glanced at Fang Yuan. "Mortal, was it you who killed my son and destroyed my crustacean army?"


    "Why do all Gods like such an entry?"


    Fang Yuan dug his ears. "Regardless... You are still a water dragon, not a dragon!"


    Fang Yuan was certain that this was the Golden Dragon God.


    Even though it had the support from the royal family and had been existing for a few hundred years already, it still had insufficient cultivation to become a true dragon.


    On the contrary, from the water dragon''s eyes, he could only feel that he was evil and cruel.


    "It seems that the gods in this realm are problematic. If you continue to rule with fear and control your followers, how can you think about achieving something big in the future?"


    Fang Yuan shook his head and looked at the red sparrow.


    "Alright, you can make the first move. Deity Clear Lotus and I will make the necessary arrangements to block his path!"


    Fang Yuan could hear Venerable Fiery Dragon''s voice in his mind.


    "What audacity!"


    Without a doubt, Fang Yuan''s indifferent attitude had infuriated the Golden Dragon God.


    With a water dragon''s roar, the Golden Dragon God grew in size and struck a huge claw above Fang Yuan.


    "Rumble!"


    Fang Yuan quickly dodged the claw. At where he once stood, there was a huge claw mark on the ground.


    "You indeed have the assistance from the realm energy from the Golden Dragon Lake..."


    Fang Yuan widened his eyes. "Your physical body, energy and blood have already reached its peak! Watch out for my sword!"


    As he complimented the Golden Dragon God, there was a glow on his right hand.


    The illusionary shadow of a red spiritual sword appeared in his hands.


    "Leaving Fire Sword, strike!"


    "Whoosh!"


    A fiery glow struck mid-air and landed on the water dragon, knocking its scales off and revealing a wound.


    "Rumble!"


    Not just that, a small fire started to burn on the water dragon.


    "Ah... How dare you..."


    As the Golden Dragon God exclaimed, he harnessed his water-type techniques in an attempt to put out the fire.


    Previously, Fang Yuan was concealing his true ability but now, as he used his full strength, he gave off a different feel.


    "Who are you exactly?"


    Golden Dragon God transfigured into a middle-aged man wearing robes and started to float in mid-air. He appeared solemn.


    "I am the person who is responsible to kill you! Watch out!"


    Fang Yuan exclaimed.


    "Rumble!"


    As the blood in the ground came together, spiritual inscriptions were formed, creating a huge array and trapping Golden Dragon God in it!

 243 Killing in the Array

    "What is... this?"


    In the blood array, Golden Dragon God was glowing as he was fighting against the binding array. His expression was changing.


    "Save me, king!"


    Amidst a blood fog, many illusionary shadows appeared. The first of them was an animal with the feathers of a crane and the shell of a tortoise. It looked fierce but the shadow of it was incomplete. Its eyes were bloodshot. "King... I''m in pain!"


    "Dragon God! Dragon God!"


    Behind him, many spirits were rushing and they were all covered in a black mist.


    "God, please protect the island dwellers!"


    Most of the island dwellers had fractured bones and they were like grieving souls surrounding the Golden Dragon King.


    "What this about..."


    Witnessing this scene, Fang Yuan''s expression changed.


    "Hehe... how''s my Thousand Soul Bloodied Array?"


    Beside him, Venerable Fiery Dragon and Deity Clear Lotus appeared. "I created this blood array. As for the grieving souls, it was Deity Clear Lotus''s Karma Technique. It is normal for this god to experience all these karma, for he had a good deal of coming to an agreement to coexist with the mortals!"


    "I''ve learnt!"


    Fang Yuan nodded his head. "Normal spiritual array masters would only know how do cast an array and the most they could do would be to rely on the geographical features of where the array would be cast. However, both of you are able to do it naturally after taking into account the background of the Golden Dragon God and cast it naturally! Kudos!"


    All these grieving spirits and island dwellers were not only killed by Fang Yuan but had to become a tool after death to go against the Golden Dragon King. They were pitiful as they were being manipulated while they were alive, and even after death.


    Even the arranging of the array to trap the Golden Dragon King was an impressive one.


    "The two of them... they are not simple! But to train and achieve the Illusionary Divine Stage, how could they not have had any help?"


    Fang Yuan thought to himself silently and looked at the array.


    ...


    "King..."


    "Princess..."


    "Save all of us!"


    In the blood array, every grieving soul was pestering the Golden Dragon God.


    "How dare all of you! Do you want to disobey my orders?"


    Golden Dragon King took two steps back and revealed a face of determination. "Do all of you want to be destroyed and vanish from this world?"


    "Rumble!"


    As he spoke, a concentrated bubble of realm energy appeared from his body and rose up slowly like a cloud, becoming a sight to see 800 miles around the Golden Dragon Lake.


    "Chi! Chi!"


    The souls which approached him dissipated and melted as though they were snowmen under the sun.


    "Rumble! Rumble!"


    Surges of energies continuously struck the array like waves.


    "What a strong force from his realm energy!"


    Outside, Venerable Fiery Dragon and Deity Clear Lotus were frantic. "The most realm energy we have ever seen was from Uncle River. Who would have thought that this Golden Dragon God would have so much realm energy!"


    "We cannot allow him to break out of the array, or he will escape through the water."


    Deity Clear Lotus roared and placed her both her hands on the array.


    "Chi! Chi!"


    Within seconds, her strong arms quickly withered and became skin and bones. It was as though life was being sucked out of her arms.


    "He will not escape. He will simply use the realm energy from the Golden Dragon Lake to destroy us completely!"


    Venerable Fiery Dragon glanced into the cold-looking eyes of the Golden Dragon God. Together with Deity Clear Lotus, he placed his feminine hands onto the array.


    After taking in life from the both of them, the blood array started to stabilise. Although it looked precarious, it was still able to contain the Golden Dragon God''s relentless attacks.


    However, both of them were extremely pale as though they were dead.


    "Both of us have sacrificed 20 years of our lives in an attempt to contain the Golden Dragon God''s realm energy for a while longer. Fang Yuan, quickly enter the array and kill him, or we will all lose our lives!"


    Their voices were heard in Fang Yuan''s mind, which made him roll his eyes.


    However, he also understood the teachings of arrays and could tell them both of them had already exerted their strength. If he were to ask them to fight against the Golden Dragon God, it would be extremely tough for them.


    Furthermore, as time passed, both of their life essences would be lost. Their hair even turned white, which was evident that they had already lost many years of their lives.


    "Without assistance from the realm energy, the dragon king is only a spiritual knight in the Elemental Opening Realm and a Wu Zong!"


    Fang Yuan shook his head and took a step into the array.


    "Rumble!"


    In the next moment, everything changed!


    It was bloodied all around and there was pressure felt everywhere.


    In the centre, the Golden Dragon God''s body glittered as it repelled the blood fog which was within the array. There was a streak of realm energy on his head which was sealed by the glow of blood from the array.


    "Thief, it''s you again!"


    Seeing Fang Yuan, the Golden Dragon God''s expression changed once more.


    If not for him, how would he so carelessly leave the lake and be captured?


    He wanted to kill Fang Yuan so badly and drink his blood!


    However, it was an experienced god. "We are only on opposite ends because of the death of Uncle River. I have 8 other sons just like him, and countless crustacean army! Why not stop fighting... With all my wealth, I can compensate you anything you want!"


    "Oh? You''re becoming smarter!"


    With a mysterious look, Fang Yuan shook his head. "What a pity... We don''t want your treasures, but the realm energy in this 800-mile radius lake!"


    "That is the source of my energy!"


    The Golden Dragon King looked desolate. "It seems like... We have to fight each other to our deaths!"


    As soon as he finished his sentence, he rushed forward and transfigured into a water dragon. With the swerve of his tail, he swiped at Fang Yuan.


    "Pa!"


    Fang Yuan was struck by the tail and fell above the array. He stood up as though he was uninjured and dusted his chest. "Indeed... Without assistance from the realm energy, you are not such a formidable opponent after all!"


    "You!"


    The water dragon in the blood array widened his eyes. "How can you remain uninjured?"


    "Why not?"


    Fang Yuan rubbed his chest. As he rubbed, his clothing disintegrated and flew with the wind like butterflies, revealing his golden body.


    This was the strength of Giant Eagle Metal Body coupled with the defensive Hundred Poison Golden Body!


    "There is no such person like you in Lie Country who does not need to rely on the powers of the zodiac... What kind of God are you?"


    The water dragon asked as he sounded confused.


    "You are already a dead dragon. Why do you need to know so much?"


    Fang Yuan let out a laugh and pointed his right hand out. "Thousand arrows, strike together!"


    "Whoosh! Whoosh!"


    In his actualised dream world, the 8 Gates Sword Array shook.


    Countless red-coloured sword essence filled the blood array, and in the array came an exclamation filled with fury and pain.


    "Chi! Chi!"


    "Rumble!"


    In the blood array, the water dragon dodged the sword essences as they slowly inched towards the boundary of the lake.


    Every time the array shook, Venerable Fiery Dragon and Deity Clear Lotus would spit out a mouthful of blood. Within minutes, their hair became completely white.


    "This dragon is more powerful than we have expected!"


    There was blood on Deity Clear Lotus''s mouth. "If not for fate for us to meet Fang Yuan, we might end up dead if we were to strike recklessly!"


    "That''s true!"


    Venerable Fiery Dragon had an awful look on his face. "I am worried about our friend not being able to take down the dragon in such a short time. If he takes a little longer, we would die and return to our realm. Yu Tianlao would surely laugh at us!"


    "Kacha!"


    At this point in time, a stronger force struck the array and cracks started to appear on its side.


    In the array, Fang Yuan swung his sword essence around and slowly started to form a sword, landing it on the water dragon''s body.


    As the water dragon flew out, blood spurted everywhere and it crashed into the walls of the array.


    As everything shook, countless water dragon scales and water dragon blood scattered on the ground like rain.


    "Kacha!"


    In the blood array, the blood glow which contained realm energy shook and started to crack under immense pressure. The realm energy within it was trying to break free as though it could emerge anytime.


    "We can''t hold any longer. We need to kill the dragon now!"


    Through his spiritual will, Fang Yuan could sense that the both of them were about to use up all their energy. "If we let it escape, even I would probably die and it would hurt our own physical bodies! It would not be worth it then! Use your final strength!"


    As the Golden Dragon King sensed that the realm energy was about to escape, it had a joyful look and became more composed.


    "Rumble!"


    In front of him, three spiritual meridians appeared on Fang Yuan''s body forming a spiritual armour and covering his body.


    "Whoosh!"


    At the same time, a translucent fire sword was shimmering in Fang Yuan''s hands. It had a dragon carving on its handle and was a Leaving Fire Sword.


    "Sixth Elemental Force and the Leaving Fire Sword, kill!"


    Becoming a shadow, Fang Yuan approached the Golden Dragon King swiftly.


    As the spiritual armour glowed, it blocked off most of the attacks.


    With the look of determination in his eyes, Fang Yuan danced around the water dragon and wielded the sword with all his life. Avoiding all his other wounds, he came to the water dragon''s neck and lunged forward!


    "Roar! Roar!"


    As the water dragon roared, it appeared as though it could not hold on further.


    With the scales on its neck falling, Fang Yuan continued to strike the water dragon''s body, allowing the sword''s essence to explode within the body


    "Growl!"


    After a dull voice was heard, the water dragon''s stomach expanded as though it had swallowed a small burning sun.


    The stomach continued to grow and finally, it could not hold any longer and exploded.


    As blood splattered across the sky, two halves of a water dragon''s corpse fell from the sky and as it hit the ground, dust was stirred up.


    "Finally... it had ended!"


    Fang Yuan waved his hands, retrieving the scale from its neck.


    It was an inverse scale and was different from the rest. It seemed to be of pure gold and different from the scales from other parts of its body, which stunned Fang Yuan.


    "Kacha!"


    In the next moment, the blood array crumbled.


    "Phew... It''s finally dead!"


    "This d*mned dragon is really fierce... Wait, quickly contain the realm energy!"


    Deity Clear Lotus and Venerable Fiery Dragon were stumbling about but held on and executed the technique to contain the realm energy in mid-air.


    "Good!"


    Without reservations, Fang Yuan helped out and the three of them worked together to execute the technique.


    "Roar! Roar!"


    Amidst the runes, a white streak of energy slithered like a dragon and on its way, it struck the seal.


    "What a fellow!"


    Fang Yuan gritted his teeth. "Such power! Indeed the realm energy from 800-mile radius of the Golden Dragon Lake!"

 244 Dragon Palace

    Compared to Uncle River''s realm energy, the process of sealing Golden Dragon God''s realm energy was much harder.


    Even though the three of them were working together, he could feel an energetic dragon forcing its way out.


    "Haha... great!"


    However, Venerable Fiery Dragon and Deity Clear Lotus were pleased.


    The more difficult it was to contain the realm energy, the bigger their reward.


    "Buzz!"


    As the realm energy surged, dark clouds began to form above the entire Golden Dragon Lake.


    In the sky, lightning struck everywhere.


    Even though the three Illusionary Divine dream masters came together, the huge realm energy was extremely hard to contain, even without the Golden Dragon God controlling it.


    "Five Places and Ten Earths, Seal!"


    Finally, before the lightning could strike them, colourful runes were covered all over the realm energy and as it glowed, the realm energy was contained.


    "Split!"


    As the three of them worked together, according to their agreement, the dragon-shaped realm energy split.


    "Kacha!"


    In the explosion, the original realm energy became three smaller streaks of energy. As their power was reduced, they could no longer attempt to break out.


    "The Golden Dragon God''s realm energy is plentiful. If we carry it around us, we would attract too much attention and trouble for us. The best way to keep it is to keep it directly into our actualised dream world."


    Without hesitation, Deity Clear Lotus and Venerable Fiery Dragon transferred their realm energy into their dream worlds.


    Fang Yuan did the same thing.


    The amount of realm energy was huge. With it, the Golden Dragon God could manage 800 miles of land and even go against the royal family. If all these realm energies were to land on a small god''s hands or on a cultivator''s hands, they would surely achieve a breakthrough immediately and therefore gain the power which the Golden Dragon God once had. After all, it would be more favourable for the realm energy to end up with the natives compared to Fang Yuan and company. At least, that would be the choice of the heavens.


    "Although we are concealed in the bodies of the natives, the more we do, the more we are revealing ourselves..."


    The three of them stood together and looked at the dissipating dark clouds. "The heavens would surely find some way to deal with us. They might even create some Energy Souls!"


    "Energy Souls?"


    Fang Yuan immediately thought of the protagonists in the novels which he had read about. These protagonists would be equipped with magical weapons and beautiful ladies would automatically come to them. With this thought, he shuddered.


    "That''s right. These Energy Souls are rather troublesome and cannot be killed. Therefore, they can become strong very quickly..."


    Venerable Fiery Dragon gave an unpleasant look. "If we go after these Energy Souls, we might even encounter the even more powerful Fate Souls. I''m sure you do not want to have the feeling of going against the entire world..."


    "What we''ve done is still considered a small commotion in this world, right?"


    Deity Clear Lotus''s expression changed.


    "This is only a Dragon King is a small place and the heavens might let us go. As For Feng Xinzi''s big plan..."


    Venerable Fiery Dragon shook his head. "It''s not that simple. It would only be normal if the heavens would interfere. Regardless, in the next two months, we''ll prepare to live in seclusion and handle the realm energy. What about you, Brother Fang?"


    "Me?"


    Fang Yuan rubbed his nose. "I would explore this world and gain more exposure. Don''t you want to follow me to explore the dragon''s nest?"


    "... These treasures are useless to us..."


    Deity Clear Lotus continued. "What is rarer than the corpse of a water dragon?"


    Looking at the water dragon corpse on the ground, she commented. "To us, it can only be made into a one-time usage magical weapon to be disposed of in this world..."


    Although pessimistic, they carried on to split the corpse of the water dragon.


    They were friendly to each other since they knew that this was something they could not bring out of this world.


    Afterwards, the three of them worked together once again as they prepared to explore Dragon God Island.


    Other than an empty temple and the many escaping island dwellers, they still could not find the dragon''s nest.


    "Since he calls himself the Golden Dragon God, he might have built a Dragon Palace underwater!"


    Deity Clear Lotus and Venerable Fiery Dragon immediately backed out. "In this 800-mile huge lake, even though we are dream masters in the Illusionary Divine stage, it is still impossible for us to slowly search for it. Instead of wasting time here, why not find a place for us to slowly recover our cultivation and make a few magical weapons in preparation for the final plan!"


    Facing such a rejection, Fang Yuan could only laugh.


    He had already restored all of his cultivation. Furthermore, he was not well-versed in smelting magical weapons. He could only show a face of regret as a response to their rejection and continue on with his plan.


    "Although Deity Clear Lotus is right, I have nothing else to do. I have restored everything that I need to restore, so it will be alright for me to continue searching. I might even find something useful!"


    After a few days, at night.


    As the sun set, the moon started to spread its glow over the surface of the world.


    On the lake, the moonlight was shimmery but there was peace everywhere.


    "A full moon above the ocean, and people and the ends of the world can enjoy the same moon. For lovers would resent the long night and think of each other..."


    Looking at the moon, Fang Yuan slowly recited a poem.


    Although there were two suns in this realm, there was no changing moon, which disappointed him a little.


    "This place... it is still not my original world!"


    Lying on a small boat, he drifted along with the current. Looking at the moon above him, he took out a piece of scale.


    This scale had sharp edges like a sword and was golden. It had a hint of dragon property and was not a normal scale; it was the inverse scale of the Golden Dragon God.


    Because all three of them were friendly towards each other, or it could be the fact that they didn''t mind, Venerable Fiery Dragon and Deity Clear Lotus did not say anything about him keeping the scale.


    Under the moonlight, on the surface of the lake, the golden glow on the inverse scale intensified and inscriptions full of spiritual property started to appear on the scale.


    As he dipped the inverse scale into the lake, there was a surge of energy which spread from the scale.


    "It''s the Dragon God!"


    "Dragon God!"


    Not long after, a black shadow appeared beneath the lake. "Golden Dragon God is already dead. How can I still detect his spiritual aura? Could it be a broken scale? If I swallow it, I will have the blood of the dragons and might even be able to become a dragon in the future!"


    "Mortal, hand over the piece of scale!"


    "Splash!"


    As water splashed around, a huge black shadow emerged from the lake. It was a black snake''s head the size of a water pot. Its ferocious eyes were like torches. As it spoke human language, its tongue slithered in an out of its mouth, making it seem evil.


    If a normal person were to see this, they would be shocked and stunned.


    "Who would''ve guessed that there is still such a monster in the Golden Dragon Lake!"


    Without caring what the snake had said, Fang Yuan kept the piece of scale. "I have a question. If you cannot answer, you will end up like the three previous island dwellers. They are now reflecting on their own actions in my stomach... Where is the Dragon Palace? Hmmm?"


    As he asked, a huge pressure was felt in the vicinity and on the black snake.


    "Ah... You''re the human who killed Golden Dragon God!"


    As the black snake exclaimed, it turned around and tried to escape.


    How would Fang Yuan let it escape? With the casual flick of his finger, red-coloured sword essences appeared in mid-air and as it pierced through the black snake, there were many charred wounds appearing. Its red blood started to seep into the lake, dying it red.


    "If you still want to escape, the next sword would be through your head!"


    Snakes were extremely good at surviving. Although it had many wounds on its body, none of them was severe.


    As it froze in mid-air, many figures of red swords were pointing towards its skull.


    Such a threat almost made the snake cry.


    It was extremely unlucky! It was only attracted by the blood smell of the Golden Dragon God but ended up facing the person who killed the God. If he had known, he wouldn''t have come to risk its own life.


    "I''ll say, Sir!"


    The black snake lowered its head, showing its respect. "There is a huge array outside the Dragon Palace. Normal island dwellers would not know its location, but the few Uncle Rivers and us demons would know. I''ll bring you there now!"


    "Very well!"


    Fang Yuan leapt onto the snake''s head.


    With all his experience in dealing with animals, he knew that the snake was speaking the truth.


    With the confusion array outside the Golden Dragon God''s palace, normal island dwellers would unknowingly bypass it.


    However, this black snake was not normal. With its status, it surely knew the location of the palace.


    "Let''s go!"


    With Fang Yuan''s command, the black snake leapt into the water.


    ''Humans cannot survive in the water. When we reach the bottom, i''ll...''


    As a cunning look flashed in the black snake''s eyes, it quickly noticed a layer of spiritual armour surrounding the human, repelling the water around him. A long red sword was held to its head, which made it helpless and had no choice but to obediently show him the way.


    As they swam across a group of colourful corals, an underwater palace appeared in front of Fang Yuan''s eyes.


    The palace appeared extremely luxurious and it was covered by a large hemisphere outside. Within it, corals were used as decoration and pearls covered the floor. It was a luxurious sight to behold.


    "Sir... This is the location of the palace. Although I can trespass the protective array outside, without the permission of the Dragon God, I cannot decide on my own accord!"


    The black snake humbly commented.


    "Mmm, at least you''re aware!"


    Fang Yuan approached the membrane of the hemisphere. Something within his robes started to heat up. It was the piece of dragon scale!


    "Verification of spiritual aura?"


    Fang Yuan tilted his head to think, before pressing on the inverse scale.


    "Buzz!"


    A red glow with streaks of gold appeared as it landed on the membrane.


    "Whoosh!"


    As the membrane shook, an opening was revealed which was only large enough for one person to enter.


    "Indeed!"


    Fang Yuan smiled, kept the scale and walked it without hesitation.


    As the opening gradually closed, the black snake waited for half a day before leaving quietly.


    "This is not what I have expected. Although, the palace is luxurious, there are no servants here. On the contrary, it seems more like a secret hideout for a cultivator?"


    Fang Yuan circled the palace a few times and noticed that the palace was not huge. As the membrane repelled the water, there was no water pressure within the palace. Instead, there was fresh air within. He stumbled upon an alchemy room, a study and a meditation room. He was ecstatic, especially with the whole room of books. Most of the books were about cultivation. Even though there were differences in their realms, it could still greatly improve his foundation.


    Therefore, he decided to stay here for a month to take in all the knowledge he could.

 245 Self Destruction

    The Dragon Palace was bathed in golden rays.


    Walking along the pavement, one could see many Bright Moon Pearls radiating a brilliant glow.


    Apart from that, there was also the Water Evading Pearl, Dust Evading Pearl and many other treasures conveniently placed in each and every corner. Any of these pearls would be highly sought after in the mortal world, but they were relegated to mere decorations in this fancy palace.


    "There should be other deities in the dragon palace¡­"


    Fang Yuan squatted in front of a pile of ashes and was deep in thought "The Golden Dragon God''s realm energy was split into 3. Could they have fled the palace knowing that they have lost their pillar of support? But what about the water folks? Could it be that the Golden Dragon God was a very cautious person and would only let his subordinate the Yin Spirit stay in the palace and tend to him?"


    This appeared rather curious to Fang Yuan. But he too had no one even though he was of a talented and courageous person.


    On the flip side, if there was a tribe of dragon descendants and water folks, it would be a hassle to kill them all.


    He arrived at the study and casually flipped open a book.


    The Golden Dragon God had a vast collection. Some of the martial arts manuals were even inscribed onto bone or shell plates, then bound together. Every book could be considered a work of art.


    "Rain Cloud Evoking formula?"


    Fang Yuan teased out the gist out the formula. "Only a person with dragon properties could cultivate this technique¡­ Specifically meant for demons¡­ This book has indeed broadened my horizons."


    He browsed through the manual and placed it down, picking up a roll of inscribed steel leaves.


    This unknown leaf was wide and had a glossy surface. Inscribed on it was a tightly packed cluster of small words. Every stroke seemed to be filled with a rich history.


    "Green Spiritual Sword Formula? Finally a martial arts technique for humans."


    Fang Yuan glanced through it. The energy circulation techniques were crude and focused on rough sensations of the energy flow. The last few sword techniques were fairly unique and slightly interesting.


    "After all, even Zodiac or Shinto cultivators'' strength boils down to the strength of one''s realm energy as well as the absorption of realm energy. One could achieve everything even without obtaining a high status in the society. As such, techniques of Hui Realm were biased towards utility."


    "Mmm, such an interesting train of thought."


    He firmly remembered the teachings of the Green Spiritual Sword Formula. These insights would aid him in completing his techniques or think on his toes in future situations.


    In the blink of an eye, half a day has passed and Fang Yuan returned to the treasure vault of the Dragon Palace.


    The vault was well hidden and it took Fang Yuan some effort to finally locate it.


    In front of the broad and sturdy gate, stood statues of two spiritual beasts. They had black jewels as eyes and were very lifelike.


    "Pi Xiu? [1]"


    Fang Yuan stared at the spiritual beast and muttered to himself.


    The statues had the form of a lion, a head of a dragon, a body of a horse, legs of a unicorn, and a pair of wings sprouted from its back. It had a very fierce expression and looked similar to a Pi Xiu.


    "ROAR"


    He stepped forward to touch the door handle when the two Pi Xiu roared to life.


    "Hmph, trying to stop me with a simple static array?!"


    The corners of Fang Yuan''s eye curled, and the Leaving Fire Sword appeared in his hands.


    Roar!


    In that instant, there was a warmth radiating from his clothes. The Inverse Scale of the Golden Dragon God appeared with a pure gold hue and was pulsating with life, roars of a dragon could even be heard.


    "WuWu!"


    The two Pi Xiu bowed their heads in submission and returned to their original positions, turning back into stone statues.


    "So you sensed the blood and spiritual aura of the Golden Dragon God?"


    Fang Yuan kept the scale "This scale turned out to be the key to the array guarding this Dragon Palace. No wonder my journey in the Dragon Palace was so smooth sailing."


    His placed both hands on the door.


    The door was smelted from pure crimson copper, it was thick and tall, had 99 round studs and was complete with door knockers in the mouths of a beast. Its design was simple yet grand.


    With a light push, the heavy doors swung apart effortlessly, revealing an entire vault filled with shimmering treasures.


    Gold, platinum, pearls, jade, corals¡­.


    The large amounts treasures piled on the floor and formed a small mountain.


    Fang Yuan paid no attention to them and walked deeper into the treasure vault.


    In here, several pillars of rainbow corals were converted to shelves, on them were pieces of treasure, each of them was radiating energy in splendid brilliance.


    "The Life Shortening Sword?"


    He walked forward and read the label on the coral "Concocted from a 300-year-old coral''s gold, mixed with 9 Bends Spiritual Wood, smelted with Venerable flames for 49 days. On the last day, the sword must be used kill a tiger demon, completing the concocted process. The edge would be unimaginably sharp. The sound of the sword cutting through the air struck fear into the souls of others, hence the name, Life Shortening Sword.


    Beside it laid the handles of several spiritual weapons, all of good stats.


    A unique piece was the Crystal Spiritual Armor, it was said to be forged from the shell of a 10,000 years old Mystic Turtle and possessed exceptional defensive capabilities. Fang Yuan was thrilled and put it on immediately.


    Even though he could not bring it back to his original world, it would still be of good use in his time here in the Hui Realm.


    "But¡­ It was still right for Venerable Fiery Dragon and company to not come here."


    He sat on the pile of gold and looked at the many treasures that lay in front of him, shaking his head. "There aren''t many items that are of use to us, besides, they could not be brought out of this world. To delay one''s recovery for these was not worth it. But¡­."


    He walked to the depths of the vaults, shifted the corals away and lifted the Life Shortening Sword, and stabbed the wall furiously several times.


    He shamelessly used the misused the spiritual sword as a shovel and dug a small hole in the walls, revealing a small hidden switch.


    "Hahaha, hidden mechanisms designed by mortals would not fool me!"


    He flicked the switch and opened the hidden safe, in it laid a tiny box.


    The surface of the box was a deep black, covered with various spiritual inscriptions. It sat still without releasing any forms of energy, this was indeed a unique treasure.


    "Tsk Tsk¡­. A self-destruction array?"


    Fang Yuan deduced that from just the surface of the box and burst out in laughter, "There must be something very valuable hidden in it. It was a pity that I knew nothing of the unlocking techniques."


    Despite that, he made a wild guess and placed the inverse scale onto the black box.


    "If this scale cannot open the box, I would have no other options than to use brute force. I should be able to fish the item out before the box self-destructs."


    He thought nonchalantly.


    After all, there were not many treasures that could be brought back to their world like the realm energy. Even a legendary treasure would be of little use.


    Roar!


    Upon placing the scale on the box, a dragon cry was heard and a small water dragon emerged, as if it was a miniature golden dragon god, it was bathed in blood.


    "An opportunity?"


    Fang Yuan''s eye twitched, the water dragon leapt onto the box and shimmered with spiritual light, his expression changed, "Oh no, it is initiating the self-destruction spiritual inscriptions!"


    He had a horrified look on his face as his mind raced.


    The Golden Dragon God had it designed this way on purpose. The scale was the key of the array, but when it came to this last treasure box, it became a command for self-destruction. A smart alec would think that it would unlock the box, but in reality, he had chosen to destroy it!


    "This must be an item of great importance!"


    Fang Yuan pointed his finger, the Fleeting Fire Sword appeared and split the box open forcefully.


    At this point, luck dictated if his method would enable him to retrieve the treasure in its entirety.


    He was a decisive man, and he acted upon his instincts immediately.


    "Go!"


    The Fleeting fire sword was condensed to its peak. It split into 2 before exploding.


    "Come back"


    Fang Yuan tried to fish out the treasure, then retreated quickly.


    Boom!!!


    A frightening explosion resulted, blowing the treasure vault into rubber.


    Fang Yuan retreated to the entrance and looked at the horrid state the vault was in, speechless. He opened his fists.


    In his palm, there was a small segment of roots remaining, of the length of a pinky. The rest of it was long gone.


    "Is it some sort of spiritual plant?"


    Fang Yuan could not appraise the grade of the spiritual plant just from the roots, but he was sure it was of extraordinary value.


    "No¡­This is right and wrong¡­"


    Fang Yuan sniffed the plant and felt something was different. He then used his spiritual will to look at White Whiskers in detail and saw large volumes of spiritual inscriptions on it. It was a pity most of it was destroyed.


    "Such a pity¡­ Even if I had the entire plant, it would be useless to me. Unless I could keep it in my actualized dream world and bring it away."


    He looked at the roots and shook his head, "I still have some time on my hands, and why not try to salvage this plant?"


    After all, Fang Yuan had the help of the Stats board, even though he started with nothing, he still retained his botany skills.


    "These roots have water properties, the dragon palace would be an ideal location for it, and it was far superior to any spiritual lands."


    Fang Yuan looked at his surroundings and obtained some information from the roots, he stroke his chin, and his eyes were brimming with joy.


    He planned to spend his remaining time reading the manuals in the dragon palace study and to concentrate on cultivation. While doing so, he would be waiting for the plant to grow.


    He was curious why the golden dragon god would go to such great lengths to destroy this object.


    He got it doing it immediately.


    Fang Yuan was a man of action, after careful considerations, he realized that the main hall of the dragon place had the best water energy. He tore it down and made it into a flower bed.


    This flower bed was unlike others, it was surrounded by spiritual earth, in the middle, he made a small indentation that resembled a pond.


    Above the dragon palace, the spiritual waterfall flowed down into the pond, it was milky and fragrant, filling up the pond. The white whiskers laid in the centre of it all.


    Fang Yuan was fairly confident about reviving this spiritual plant. It all stemmed from his level 5 botany skills.


    "Botany [Level 5] ----- You''re now a master in the Botany Realm! Any plants planted by you would not only awaken but also develop special traits, the maturity period would also shorten based on the conditions!"


    "Even though I cannot restore it to its original condition, to be able to awaken it or develop special traits would be good too¡­"


    To him, successfully reviving the plant was going to be a bonus, a failure would just be remembered as a funny memory. With that in mind, Fang Yuan took his mind off the pond, went into a side chamber and sunk into a deep state of cultivation


    [1] Qi Xiu is beast from Chinese mythology. It is a ferocious beast and it said to have a voracious appetite for gold, silver and jewels.

 246 Miraculous Frui

    Within the actualised dream world.


    "Rumble!"


    The dragon cried faintly.


    After the spiritual seal was broken and the restrictions lifted completely, the white realm energy flew into the sky, transformed into a cloud dragon and thrashed around in the tiny space.


    "It seems that you have not suffered enough!"


    Fang Yuan shook his head as he witnessed the situation, "8 Gates Sword Array! Rise!"


    "Swoosh!"


    In the centre of the space, the cloud dragon did not dare approach the array. The 8 sword radiance flickered as they supported the heavens and earth, forming a sword array.


    The fire-type sword essence was especially threatening as it appeared to overpower the other 7 sword essences.


    Suddenly, the sword radiance shot out, surrounded the cloud dragon like a whirlpool and constantly inflicted cuts upon it.


    The sharp radiance reduced the realm energy into the purest form of energy and scattered it.


    "Crash!"


    With the aid of the energy, the whole actualised dream world started to expand and the fire-type sword within the 8 Gates Sword Array started to form.


    Finally, after a period of time, accompanied by the humming of the sword, the Leaving Fire Sword roared, the red glow shook the world as the scarlet dragon danced in the sky.


    In that instant, multiple fire sword essences surged forth and stimulated the entire dream world, causing it to expand multiple folds.


    "Roar!"


    The cloud dragon let out a cry, but it was unable to go against the insurmountable sword essence. It was completely destroyed and turned into pure elemental energy. The Leaving Fire Sword glowed and the scarlet dragon on the hilt appeared to come to life as it let out a roar.


    "The fire-type sword is finally formed completely!"


    To Fang Yuan, it was better to be content with what he had than to risk losing everything by doing too greedy. Even though the realm energy would be more useful in Da Qian, it would be better for him to increase his power before taking part in Feng Xingzi''s grand plan.


    Fang Yuan would use the realm energy to aid in his own cultivation regardless of how Venerable Fiery Dragon and the others think.


    At this point in time, the Leaving Fire Sword was finally formed!


    "The Leaving Fire Sword is located at the true South. Next, it will be the water-type sword located at the true North!"


    Fang Yuan waved his hand and the Leaving Fire Sword fell onto his palm. Every inscription on the sword was real and appeared simple.


    "Fire and water have no mercy. As of now, I am just a dream soldier master who has cultivated 1 sword. If I am able to successfully form the water-type sword, I would be able to summon it into the actual world to form the Water-Fire Dual Sword Array! This is also where the secret teachings of the 8 Gates Sword Array truly become formidable!"


    Given Fang Yuan''s current standard, he was able to summon a Leaving Fire Sword and was no different from an ordinary dream soldier master.


    However, once he would be able to form more swords, he would be able to combine the 3 talents [1], 4 divisions[2] and the 5 elements sword array ...the possibilities were endless and he would be able to change the world with his sword array!


    "Using fire to stimulate water, go!"


    He tossed out his fire-type sword and in an instant, at the North of the sword array, a penetrating chill, blue and slender long sword momentarily appeared. The water on it swirled around and started to gather.


    "What a shame, this realm energy is only one-third of the Golden Dragon Lake! It was almost not enough to form the fire-type sword. I was only able to succeed due to the hard work that I put in the past 2 months!"


    Fang Yuan shook his head. "If I am able to obtain the realm energy of the Golden Dragon God, it would be sufficient to form half the water-type sword..."


    It would be increasingly difficult to form the swords of the 8 Gates Sword Array. Of course, those cultivating other pathways of dream masters would experience the same difficulty.


    ...


    In the real world, Fang Yuan opened his eyes, "Stats window!"


    In an instant, a screen which only he was able to see appeared before him:


    "Name: Fang Yuan


    Essence: 36


    Spirit: 30


    Magic: 30


    Profession: Dream Soldier Master


    Cultivation: Illusionary Divine Stage (1st tier), Wu Zong (3 Meridians)


    Technique: Giant Eagle Metal Body Technique [Grade 4(1%)], Hundred Poison Golden Body [1st Refining Stage], 8 Gates Sword Array [2 swords (1%)]


    Skill: [Medicine (Level 3)], [Botany (Level 5)]"


    "The cultivation of a sword is able to raise the magical energy by 10?"


    Fang Yuan was deep in thought. "Towards the end, the disparity would be even greater! It is no wonder that there are such great disparities between a high-levelled Illusionary Divine Stage dream master and an ordinary dream master..."


    He stood up and shook his sleeves. He could not help but feel satisfied when he saw his collection of manuals that filled his entire house.


    "After close to 2 months of training, I have completely refined the realm energy and reached another level in my cultivation. Not only that, I have memorized everything in the Dragon Palace records. This gain is sufficient...Furthermore, there is yet another surprise."


    Fang Yuan arrived at the Dragon Palace Main Hall.


    He had already torn down the place and converted it into a small flowerbed. In the middle, there was a pond and within the pond, the White Whiskers had germinated, grew...and transformed into pure white flower and plant.


    Its leaves were sparkly and translucent and grew atop a white stalk. However, its veins were golden in colour.


    If one were to observe carefully, one would be able to notice a large number of runes within the golden veins. It was truly a sight to behold.


    At that moment, there was a white flower bud the size of a small bowl at the top of the spiritual plant.


    "What an exotic spiritual plant, I have never heard of it before!"


    Fang Yuan sat cross-legged and silently waited for the flower to bloom, "Who knows what type of fruits it will bear and what properties does the fruit have...."


    After half a day, above the Dragon Palace, spiritual water cascaded endlessly.


    Within the pond, the white flower bud quivered and started to blossom slowly.


    "It''s here!"


    Fang Yuan opened both eyes and stared intently at the pond.


    "Rumble!"


    At this time, a faint sound heard from the outside world caused his expression to change. "This pressure...a heavenly threat?"


    He looked at the spiritual flower in the middle of the pond in astonishment as he did not expect that the blossoming of this flower was predestined!


    Above the Golden Dragon Lake.


    Dense clouds loomed as lightning flashed.


    It was as if the heavens were furious. The overwhelming pressure caused many spirits to cower and remain hidden in their dens, not daring to even reveal themselves.


    This was a heavenly threat!


    Within the Dragon Palace, the moment the first petal of the exotic flower blossomed..."Crack!"


    Amidst the loud sound, the sky appeared to be ripped open and a streak of purple lightning suddenly descended, its target, the water body within the Dragon Palace.


    "Crash!"


    The surface of the lake rippled and many spiritual fish floated up with their bellies facing upwards. It was truly a disaster for the fishes in the pond.


    "This Dragon Palace was built at the bottom of the lake with the intention of preventing lightning strike!"


    Fang Yuan was not really shocked after witnessing this scene.


    The Golden Dragon Lake was the first line of defence. The Coral Array outside was the second line of defence and the defensive array of the Dragon Palace was the third line of defence!


    He was still in an advantageous position. Even if he was of no match, he would still be able to make his escape!


    "The more you incur the jealousy of the heavens, the more I want to find out what kind of thing you are?"


    Fang Yuan released the red light in his hand and a scarlet sword appeared. It was the Leaving Fire Sword!


    However, compared to the shadowy sword essence previously, the current Leaving Fire Sword was the real deal! Even if Fang Yuan was dead, the sword could still remain within the real world and unleash its potential. It could even become an inheritance of a small family clan!


    "Rumble!"


    Outside, the lightning flashed endlessly. Some streaks of lightning even managed to reach the Dragon Palace.


    "It is able to destroy the Coral Array outside so quickly even with the lake weakening it?"


    Fang Yuan fixed his eyes on the pond. Within the pond, the white flower had blossomed halfway and a small amount of golden light was trickling out.


    "Crack!"


    A streak of lightning appeared and struck the top of the Dragon Palace heavily. The whole membrane shook and was shattered shortly after with a loud crash.


    Water flooded in and the structures were overwhelmed. Large portions of the structures collapsed in a short duration.


    "Stabilise!"


    Fang Yuan''s expression remained unchanged as a Leaving Fire Sword appeared. The Leaving Fire Sword circled the spiritual pond and channelled the water outwards.


    "Crash!"


    Within the spiritual pond, the flower finally bloomed completely and gave out a unique fragrance.


    A ray of golden light descended from above.


    At this time, a streak of purple lightning flashed, the specks of lightning combining as if it was a tiny snake and flew towards the golden light.


    "Hey!"


    Fang Yuan was expecting this. In the instant the purple lightning appeared, he had already drawn out the Leaving Fire Sword. "You dare intercept me? You did not ask for my permission!"


    "Swoosh!"


    An extremely concentrated line of fire flashed and struck the purple lightning snake.


    Fang Yuan''s arms trembled and he moved back a few steps.


    Using the time that he had, he reached out and grabbed the golden light. Soon after, the white flower withered and turned to dust after it had served its purpose.


    "Boom!"


    Lightning danced crazily in the sky!


    One could feel the wrath of the heavens even at the bottom of the lake.


    "This is not fate, but rather...not stopping, not giving up unless the target is achieved!"


    Fang Yuan''s expression grew solemn.


    Even though he was a dream master in the Illusionary Divine Stage, he would not be able to hold up against heaven''s will. Even if he remained hidden in the Golden Dragon Lake and refused to leave, he would definitely be no match for heaven''s trial!


    "It looks like...this object is crucial!"


    He looked at his palm and saw that the white exotic flower had borne a fruit which looked like a golden ball. There were runes which flickered and formed a ring of light around the surface of the fruit, causing onlookers to be dazzled.


    "Crack! Crack!"


    Another few streaks of lightning struck down, which caused Fang Yuan''s spiritual armour to crack as he tried to flee.


    "I cannot take it any longer!"


    His face grew solemn as he started experimenting with transferring the golden fruit into the actualised dream world.


    Even though he knew that doing so might destroy this mystical treasure, he still took a gamble and did it after weighing the pros and cons!


    "Whoosh!"


    Fang Yuan did not expect the process to take place without a hitch as the golden ball disappeared and reappeared in his actualised dream world.


    After losing its target, the raging lightning turned peaceful. The dark clouds in the sky dispersed, revealing the scorching sun. The brilliant sunlight lit up the ground and formed a rainbow.


    "Whooo..."


    Fang Yuan''s sorry shadow appeared beside the shore as he heaved another sigh. "It''s so dangerous!"


    If he was not able to form the first sword, he might not have the ability to keep the golden fruit safe from the lightning.


    Furthermore, if he was not able to successfully transfer the golden fruit into the actualised dream world, Fang Yuan would have to give it up under the neverending heavenly lightning.


    He might even be implicated if he was inattentive!


    However, there was no problem now.


    His actualised dream world and the real world could be considered two different worlds. As such, the heaven''s trial of the real world could not reach him in his actualised dream world.


    "It is just...what is that?"


    Fang Yuan looked at the golden fruit within the actualised dream world. He was unable to discern the sand-like spiritual runes on the surface of the fruit which caused him to enter a deep thought. "What is this extraordinary object and who knows how the Golden Dragon God attain it in the first place..."


    [1] The 3 talents refer to heavens, earth and man


    [2] The four divisions refer to the four divisions of the 28 constellations

 247 Plan

    In his actualised dream world, a golden fruit was floating in mid-air, and it was covered in the glow from the countless runes on it.


    "This... doesn''t seem like a spiritual fruit!"


    Fang Yuan thought to himself.


    The white flower could only be considered as ''half spiritual''. Leveraging on the way plants grow, it mimicked it to enter the world.


    The most direct way to prove this theory was the fact that his own botany skill did not improve.


    "Based on common sense, a spiritual plant which was able to attract the heaven''s attention should be enough for me to achieve a breakthrough in my Botany, right? But now, it seems like there are no changes..."


    Fang Yuan looked at his own stats window. "The only explanation is that the stats window does not consider it to be a spiritual plant?"


    Fang Yuan examined the golden fruit closely.


    It was concentrated with runes on its surface like stars in the night sky. The runes were arranged in a specific manner, but it was unknown as to what message it was trying to convey.


    Furthermore, just by looking at it would make his eyes dazzle.


    "It''s alright. I''ll look up on information on it when I return to Da Qian. From there, I might get some information..."


    Fang Yuan looked up to the skies which were clearing up and turned around to leave. "Our three months are up. Since he had asked me for help here, I will have to return to meet up with Feng Xinzi to hear about his plan..."


    ...


    After living in seclusion for two months before returning to civilization, Fang Yuan realised that Lie Country had ended up in a turmoil.


    Fires were burning everywhere and there were fights among the soldiers. Even the peaceful lake was pushed into unrest as the dwellers made preparations to leave anytime.


    "What happened?"


    As he arrived at a city, he took out his knife-shaped coins and randomly asked a person on the streets who appeared educated.


    "Oh..."


    The scholar was around his 40s and had a goatee. He was wearing a pale green robe and it seemed like he was drinking to drown his sorrows. With a long sigh, he replied. "The country is unfortunate with a series of disasters... Two months ago, the Golden Dragon God was killed and there was unrest at the Golden Dragon Lake. The Lie Country continued to pressure and the two brothers of the king of Lie Country, Lord Chunhe and Lord Huixing gathered their troops to rebel. There were rumours that they had obtained the dragon''s realm energy and took over ten cities, killing the imperial soldiers and are now starting to take over the capital!"


    "Such a thing could happen?"


    With The Qin Yi''s memories, Fang Yuan was rather familiar with the happenings in Lie Country.


    The lords here had their own pieces of land and their own private army. However, if they were not of the royal family, they would not be approved of power and status.


    Lord Chunhe and Lord Huixing were strong contenders with influence and troops under them. With a sense of justice, they could cause trouble for the country if they led the rebellion.


    "This feels weird..."


    Fang Yuan took out a string of coins and chased the scholar away. There was a look of suspicion on his face. "Although both of them will benefit in the short term, the people under them would lose their homes and would hate them. Could they be frenzied? Wait a moment..."


    There was a glow in his eyes. "Could it be that... Feng Xinzi and Yu Tianlao were behind all these? That''s right. With this explanation, everything would make sense! His big plan would be to..."


    At this point in time, Fang Yuan''s eyes glittered. He quickly rushed towards Lie Country''s capital.


    ...


    The capital of Lie Country laid on a piece of flatland. The city walls were tall and surrounding the city was endless plots of farms.


    But now, there were fires everywhere and smoke filled the air. There was a campsite set up just outside the city walls and the soldiers were sleeping with their weapons. War could happen anytime.


    Not just that, in the daytime, soldiers would go out and harvest from the farms. It was evident that they wanted to cut off their food supply and had the intention to trap them for a long period of time.


    On the city walls, as the king of Lie Country looked across, he was a little dizzy. "Why did this happen! Oh, why did this happen?"


    He was in his 40s and his face was a healthy red. His skin was smooth and appeared young. He had considerable experience in politics but had not fought a war before. Therefore, he was lost at what to do facing such a situation, which put him at a disadvantage.


    As the king of Lie Country, he had the protection of the dragon''s realm energy, the assistance from his zodiac and strength from Shinto. However, he still did not dare to retaliate. As for the threats from martial artists, he had his personal guards to take care of them.


    However, what would be the use if he was the last one standing and the whole country was destroyed?


    "Have you investigated?"


    After a long sigh, the king of Lie Country gritted his teeth with a face of determination. Why are my two brothers rebelling?"


    "Reporting!"


    An official in black took a bow. He was in charge of reporting information. "Based on information from our spies, the Lords are being controlled by demons!"


    "Demons?"


    The king frowned.


    "Since a long time ago, they were not reliant on the king, which meant that they would not have the assistance from the realm energies! However, the two demons both of mysterious spells which are able to hypnotise both Lords, by are able to strengthen them too, which ultimately resulted in the unrest today!"


    The official in black lowered his head and kowtowed, and his forehead started to bleed. "I have not done my job, I deserve to die!"


    "I am being blessed by the heavens! With the protection of the country''s realm energy, how could demons possibly create unrest?"


    With this news, the king was relieved. "Regardless of anything that might happen, my capital is heavily guarded. As long as we can defend until the few masters arrive, by then, they would be able to destroy the demons!"


    "Wise words, king!"


    Hundreds of officials echoed at the same time.


    He had no choice but to go with this plan. Although it should not be considered a plan, it was nonetheless effective.


    Most importantly, no one could shoulder the responsibility of losing a war within the city. Even so, since it was something that everyone supported, even though cowardly, everyone would still rejoice over it.


    Witnessing this scene, the king of Lie Country could guess what his subordinates were thinking, and his eyes became blurry.


    ...


    Outside the city, on a plateau.


    "Brother Feng Xinzi, Sister Yu Tianlao, we meet again!"


    Fang Yuan, Venerable Fiery Dragon and Deity Clear Lotus arrived here and indeed, they managed to meet Feng Xinzi and Yu Tianlao.


    "It has only been a few days and you could do such a big thing! I was surprised!"


    Deity Clear Lotus bit her lips and smiled. With the appearance of a brute man, everyone had goosebumps.


    "Cough cough..."


    Feng Xinzi twitched his face and looked towards Fang Yuan and Venerable Fiery Dragon. "What do you think about my army?"


    "A messy bunch!"


    Fang Yuan looked towards the campsite and shook his head. "The king of Lie Country didn''t get his throne through the correct means. With his two brothers coming together to rebel against him, they could have the same power as compared to the power of Lie Country. With the split amongst the generals, they could only rob the commoners and attack the city, losing the heart to defend the country. Even though they might benefit in the short run, they would fall in the long term..."


    "You''re good! Good!"


    Feng Xinzi clapped his hands and laughed. "I never knew that you would be familiar with the happenings in the world. I''ve underestimated you..."


    "Isn''t it more effective to wipe out the officials who are helping the king?"


    Fang Yuan frowned. "When the masters arrive, the split generals would be easily defeated. What are your purposes in doing this?"


    "Hehe... our purpose? Have you not guessed it yet?"


    Yu Tianlao chuckled. "Why didn''t the three of you inform me of the good deed that you guys were doing at Golden Dragon Lake? Don''t you want to share the rewards with me? Hmmm?"


    "Keke..."


    Venerable Fiery Dragon exchanged glances with Deity Clear Lotus and appeared embarrassed. "How could the realm energy at Golden Dragon Lake compare with the realm energy of the country? I''m sure that the two of you have gained something by training the Lords and their soldiers, right?"


    "Of course we''ve gained. However, we''ve placed them in Chunhe and Huixing. Otherwise, how would these two id*ots survive until now?"


    Feng Xinzi''s eyes glittered. "Our big plan is to take the country''s realm energy!"


    ''Indeed!''


    Fang Yuan nodded his head silently in his mind.


    Although the Golden Dragon Lake was only 800-mile radius wide, there was already such a concentrated realm energy in for the Golden Dragon God to have such power. However, it was still under the control of the country, which made it obvious as to how powerful the country''s realm energy was.


    He was not shocked that this was the thing which attracted Feng Xinzi.


    "It''s a perfect opportunity to strike when the king is at lost!"


    Deity Clear Lotus lowered her head and was confused. "I''m sure we all know that the two Lords are useless and cannot complete their task... If the masters to gather, then it is a matter of them that their death would be imminent!"


    "Therefore, it is up to us!"


    Feng Xinzi looked at the capital of Lie Country with a burning look in his eyes. "Combining the power of five dream masters in the Illusionary Divine Stage, I''m sure we can break through a city gate!"


    "Phew..."


    Venerable Fiery Dragon took in a cold breath. "We can surely break through the city wall! But have you thought about the consequences? With the protection from the heavens, we are revealing ourselves to disasters from the heavens if we come out and take things into our own hands! We would then be plagued with endless troubles!"


    "No risk, no rewards!"


    Yu Tianlao glanced at Venerable Fiery Dragon. "Even with 20% of the country''s realm energy, we can surely achieve a breakthrough in our own cultivation! Furthermore... Feng Xinzi had already prepared an array to cover us from the disasters in preparation for this trip... Didn''t the few of you see it while we were dream-traversing?"


    "If you think that is not enough, I have a secret technique with me to harness the realm energy and conceal our spiritual auras!"


    Yu Tianlao looked at Fang Yuan and company before laughing. "Didn''t the three of you get the realm energy from Golden Dragon Lake? Take it out now and after everything is done, you guys will get your fair share!"


    "This..."


    Venerable Fiery Dragon exchanged glances with Deity Clear Lotus and both of them were hesitating.


    Although the realm energy from the Golden Dragon Lake was valuable, they would surely agree if they could exchange it for the country''s realm energy.


    Although there were risks involved, they still had a chance of success.


    After all, Feng Xinzi had already planned for quite a while and was confident of success.


    "If the both of you are willing to give us our fair share of the country''s realm energy, both of us would be willing to give our realm energy up."


    Deity Clear Lotus nodded her head.


    "What about you, Brother Fang?"


    Feng Xinzi looked at Fang Yuan with a look of anticipation.


    "This..."


    Fang Yuan scratched his head and replied with embarrassment. "I have already used up all my realm energy..."

 248 The Pen and The Sword

    "Used up?"


    Fang Yuan realised that not just Feng Xinzi, but even Venerable Fiery Dragon and Deity Clear Lotus were looking at him with disappointment.


    "Do you know how valuable realm energy is?"


    Deity Clear Lotus''s finger shook. "If brought back to Da Qian, it can be exchanged for at least a thousand contribution points. Some high-tier dream masters might even come up with their own offers to buy or even owe you a favour... Even if you are keeping it for yourself for self-cultivation, you can combine it with spiritual objects to improve its effect. Why would you do this... you''re wasting it!"


    "Eh... it''s actually our fault for not explaining it to him..."


    There was a look of pity on Venerable Fiery Dragon''s face.


    As for Feng Xinzi and Yu Tianlao, both of them had a look of suspicion on their faces. They were suspecting if Fang Yuan had told them the truth.


    To Fang Yuan, it was extremely worth it to use a third of the realm energy from the Golden Dragon Lake to achieve a breakthrough in his own cultivation as a dream master. It was not a waste.


    No matter how good the prospects were, practical gains were the most important.


    Fang Yuan remained speechless as he glanced at Venerable Fiery Dragon and Deity Clear Lotus giving up their realm energies to lend them out.


    "Hehe... Brother Fang, you seem to be very nonchalant about everything here!"


    Noticing him, Yu Tianlao chirped.


    "It''s not that... I am only thinking. Throughout the years, Lie Country must have some sort of backing or source of power to remain in power. Are the five of us enough to take down the king..."


    "Keke... Don''t worry, my friend!"


    Feng Xinzi waved his hands. "I am already familiar with every person in Lie Country. No one is stronger than Golden Dragon God... except for the king of Lie Country. He has the protection of the realm energy, which makes it a little troublesome..."


    "When do we strike?"


    "Let''s not delay things further. A day later would mean an additional day for the masters to prepare. Let''s get ourselves ready and strike now!"


    Feng Xinzi was decisive.


    ...


    "Kill!"


    Both lords, Chunhe and Huixing were Feng Xinzi''s puppets. Just as Fang Yuan and company were making their last preparations, the commotion of chaos was heard as they prepare to invade the city.


    "Bang!"


    A huge catapult hurled a hundred-pound rock at the city wall.


    As the rock crumbled into smaller pieces, it smashed into a few people, making blood spurt everywhere.


    Those rocks which were slightly more accurate were flung just above the city walls, smashing everything in their way and resulting in a bloodied mess.


    "Release the arrows!"


    On the walls, soldiers were frantically trying to defend as they shot their arrows at the enemies.


    As the enemies approached the walls, there were logs and rocks being rolled down, smashing everything in its way.


    "Haha... the heavens are blessing the king!"


    At the city gate, a general with a black face was laughing. "They have yet to compose themselves but are already attempting to attack the city! They are seeking death!"


    Although they didn''t know the reason behind the haphazard enemy attack, he knew that if they continued to attack, they would slowly be weakened!


    They were disorganised to begin with and could only survive by pillaging the villagers.


    Now that they were attacking without organisation, they would not be able to withstand once the casualty rate rises. They might even crumble in the next moment.


    ''By then, I would get the credit for everything... should I counter attack them outside the city? If I can capture any one of the lords, I might be heavily rewarded!!!''


    Just as his eyes were glittering with greed, he could see 5 shadows rushing towards the city gate at an astonishing speed.


    "Who are those? Kill them!"


    Although he knew that these 5 people were highly skilled, he did not panic.


    After all, in his many years of experience in Lie Country, he was already familiar with the different ambushes from enemies. Therefore, he could naturally react to the situation.


    The only thing he was unaware was that the 5 of them had abilities he could never have imagined.


    The next moment.


    "Rumble!"


    There was a huge explosion and the city walls shook. The general almost lost his footing.


    His ears were buzzing and bleeding, and he felt a little dizzy. "What happened?"


    As he struggled to crawl onto the city walls, he was dumbfounded.


    Where the city gate once was it was no more. Instead, there was a huge hole, and 5 silhouettes were standing by it.


    "What are you guys waiting for? Attack! Attack!"


    The guards outside the city were shocked as well. As they slowly came out of their daze, their eyes were bloodshot. "Those who enter the city will get riches and concubines... your pick!"


    "Kill!"


    Seeing that their strongest defence was destroyed, the attack soldiers were inspired. Attracted by the rewards, they shouted as they rushed into the city.


    Compared to them, the guards within the city were stunned and unable to react.


    Seeing the city gate being destroyed, their confidence was shaken.


    Since their enemy had assistance from the gods, the only thing they could do was to run and escape!


    "De... Demons!"


    Looking at the five Illusionary Divine stage dream masters at the city gate, his face was flushed as he spat out a mouthful of blood. "Even if it costs my life, I would fight all of you to my death!"


    "Kill!"


    "Kill them!"


    His eyes were bloodshot. Enraged, he killed an escaping soldier and gathered his own soldiers, mustering their courage.


    However, his fighting spirit was only a small wave in the ocean of enemy soldiers. Within seconds, he disappeared.


    "Kacha!"


    In the sky, dark clouds started to form as lightning danced in the sky.


    It was as though the involvement of the 5 dream masters had angered the heavens, resulting in the natural disaster.


    ...


    "What a defeat..."


    At the city gate, the five dream masters in the Illusionary Divine stage were witnessing the war, and Fang Yuan sighed.


    Even though the five of them were just standing there, the surrounding troops were still afraid to come near them and proactively gave them a small empty space.


    "This is the downfall of the capital of Lie Country...."


    Feng Xinzi lowered his head. "Do not hold back and release everything that we''ve got! Double Dragons, create chaos!"


    Two streaks of realm energy appeared on his hands. Fang Yuan could recognise that they were from the Golden Dragon Lake.


    In Feng Xinzi''s hands, the two streaks of realm energy roared and transfigured into two white serpents. Rushing up into the sky, it formed an array and released 5 streaks of white glow, covering Fang Yuan and the rest of the dream masters.


    "Oh... this is..."


    Looking at the glow on his own hands, Fang Yuan no longer felt that there was an impending calamity.


    ''Feng Xinzi is an experienced dream master indeed. He can shield us from the heavens with a simple array!''


    Fang Yuan silently complimented him in his heart. Following, he could hear Feng Xinzi''s voice. "This array can only cover us for about 4 hours. In return, we have to use up all the realm energy from the Golden Dragon Lake... we need to make full use of this opportunity!"


    "Go!"


    As the five of them looked at each other, they rushed into the royal palace.


    "King! Bad news! The city has been invaded!"


    In the royal palace, the king who has just returned to the palace turned pale. He almost tripped down a flight of stairs. "How can they enter so quickly?"


    "It''s 5 demons combining forces to break the city gate!"


    "Such a thing could happen?"


    The king got to his feet and cried. "Does the heavens want me dead?"


    Ultimately, he was not the average person. Before the servants could console him, he had already wiped his tears. "I can die but the country must live on! Letting my brothers inherit the throne would still be better than letting the 5 demons take control! Where''s the First Officer and First Lieutenant?


    "We''re here!"


    As both of them arrived, they bowed with a face of determination.


    "As king, I now announce that both of you are the imperial advisors. Quickly be on your way to kill the demons!"


    The king of Lie Country clenched his teeth.


    After wiping out the demons, even though the country would be in shambles, he could still ensure his family''s place on the throne. If the demons were to be successful, his heritage would be no more and the consequences would be unimaginable.


    "Chi! Chi!"


    Since he was the king, following his commands were dragon roars.


    Behind the king, a huge streak of realm energy appeared. It stretched from the skies to the ground and a majestic power which the realm energy at the Golden Dragon Lake lacked.


    "Whooo! Whooo!"


    Two spiritual auras broke from the country''s realm energy and landed on the First Officer and First Lieutenant, strengthening them.


    "Chirp! Chirp!"


    "Aww! Aww!"


    Behind the both of them, there was a Vermilion Bird and a White Tiger respectively. Absorbing the realm energies, they started to achieve breakthroughs and arrived at a level no one had attained before.


    "I can only die serving you to repay your kindness, king!"


    In a bright glow, both of them flew upwards and out of the royal palace.


    "King!"


    The king was dizzy and almost fell to the ground. As he looked at the shocked faces of his servants around, he rubbed his nose, and blood came out. "In history, we do not make people imperial advisors unless necessary. Now, I understand why..."


    ''Appointing imperial advisors would suck out life from me, which would ultimately lead to my death...''


    Finally, he understood. ''With such a minor injury, it must be the heavens siding me!''


    ...


    "Be careful! The enemy is highly skilled and they are most probably the First Officer and First Lieutenant. They harness power from the zodiacs of a White Tiger and a Vermilion Bird respectively, are are the epitome of ''the pen and the sword''!"


    Feng Xinzi could see two strong spiritual auras emerging from the royal palace, transfiguring into a White Tiger and a Vermilion Bird. "Killing them would render the king useless!"


    "White Tiger, to counter their enemies?"


    Fang Yuan stared at one of them with interest.


    Above that person''s head was a bright white glow forming the shape of a huge tiger. Just by the looks of it, it already seemed more superior to Qin Yi''s white tiger.


    Needless to say, there were glitters of stars on the white tiger, which made it look more ferocious and determined.


    "Is this the zodiac which the country''s realm energy support?"


    Venerable Fiery Dragon appeared solemn. "With such power, I''m afraid they might be stronger than the Golden Dragon God!"


    "Demon! Die!"


    On the other side, there was a red glow and a Vermilion Bird landed, revealing an old man with a gentlemanly look and a crown on his head. As he pointed at the 5 of them, a burning inferno started to grow.

 249 The Battle

    The old First Officer was still an advisor of Lie Country. As his zodiac strengthened him, he transformed into a Fiery Vermilion Bird as his power was used to its maximum capacity.


    "Roar! Roar!"


    As he struck, the other First Lieutenant was also coming towards them strong. With the roar of his white tiger, he swung a claw at the 5 of them.


    The tiger''s roar could be heard a thousand miles away and in it, there was a burning spiritual aura. As the power of the Alkaid Star landed, it was similar to the power of a Wu Zong in the Meridian Opening Realm; both were perfect counters to spiritual spells.


    With the combination of the pen and the sword, their combined strength was more than just two Golden Dragon Gods!


    "Ah..."


    At one side, there were cries coming from the soldiers. They were set ablaze by the fire from the Vermilion Bird and were quickly burnt to death. Even the cultivators among them could not escape!


    They were only watching from the sidelines but could already experience its intense power. This would mean that Fang Yuan and company would experience pressure from the bird a hundred, or even a thousand times more!


    "You''re good!"


    Spiritual meridians appeared on Fang Yuan''s back which formed a spiritual armour, and a fire-type spiritual sword was actualised on his hands as well. Fang Yuan let out a gentle sigh as he entered his strongest state, ready for battle.


    "If I had yet to achieve a breakthrough, I might find it troublesome to deal with this thing!"


    As the spiritual armour on his body glowed, it repelled the fire. Fang Yuan quickly glanced around.


    Around Deity Clear Lotus, petals of lotuses appeared around her and let out a warm glow, separating her from the burning inferno outside.


    With an exclamation, a red fiery dragon appeared around Venerable Fiery Dragon.Its scales were shimmering as it appeared extremely real. With another shout, the flames in the vicinity disappeared as the dragon started to swallow it up.


    "Thank you Venerable!"


    A pill''s essence surrounded Feng Xinzi as he smiled at Venerable Fiery Dragon.


    "Hehe... do you really want to use your child''s play against me..."


    Yu Tianlao looked at the Alkaid Star White Tiger zodiac and laughed. "Pain!"


    "Aw! Aw!"


    The tiger claw suddenly stopped in mid-air and the entire tiger started to flicker.


    Within the tiger, the old First Lieutenant went pale as he clenched his teeth, almost shrieking in pain.


    "How''s it, old lieutenant?"


    Seeing this, First Officer stopped and instructed the Vermilion Bird to spread its wings, covering both of them inside.


    "Be careful of that woman! Her witchcraft do harm by merely speaking a few words!"


    First Lieutenant wiped the blood stains on his mouth. Slowly, his eyes turned bloodshot.


    "Is this a curse technique?"


    Fang Yuan looked at Yu Tianlao with confusion. "Indeed mysterious!"


    In the next moment, the Alkaid Star White Tiger stabilized once again and pounced out with bloodshot eyes.


    "Burn!"


    With a smile, she continued her Mastery of Curses.


    "Aw! Aw!"


    But this time, the Alkaid Star White Tiger was prepared as it roared loudly.


    "Rumble!"


    A glow shot down from the Alkaid Star and transfigured into a long spear striking down.


    "Pu!!!"


    Yu Tianlao''s expression changed as she spat out a mouthful of blood. Quickly, she retreated. "What are you all waiting for? Do you want to see me die?"


    From her tone, Fang Yuan could here a rare hint of anxiety.


    He looked up towards the sky.


    From there, he could see a bright Alkaid Star!


    ''It seems that there are limitations to the Mastery of Curses. For instance, if she were to curse something with a much higher cultivation, she would experience a backlash! The first Lieutenant is rather smart to link up himself with the Alkaid Star. This way, if Yu Tianlao wanted to curse him, she would have to curse the entire Big Dipper or face backlash!''


    Looking around, he realised that Feng Xinzi was a dream alchemy master while Deity Clear Lotus and Venerable Fiery Dragon were dream spells masters. With a sigh, he swung his fire-type spiritual sword out.


    "Whoosh!"


    The completely formed fire-type sword essence formed a streak of fire as it shot towards the Alkaid Star White Tiger.


    "Aw! Aw!"


    The white tiger was fearless as it continued to swipe at the sword essence.


    "Whoosh!"


    After a sound was heard, the white tiger''s claw was severed and fell to the ground.


    "Whoosh!"


    Fang Yuan became a black shadow as he rushed into the figure of the white tiger. With another strike of his sword, the sword essence exploded as the First Lieutenant'' expression changed. "What an impressive magical weapon!"


    He had the premonition that even with the blessings of the country''s realm energy, he would still succumb to Fang Yuan''s red sword!


    "Oh, so Brother Fang is a dream soldier master!"


    Venerable Fiery Dragon complimented him as he waved his hands, mustering the fiery dragon to fight with the white tiger.


    "First Officer, we are your opponents!"


    Seeing Fang Yuan making the first move and Venerable Fiery Dragon blocking the path of the First Lieutenant''s white tiger, Feng Xinzi and Deity Clear Lotus stood in front of the First Officer. Pill essence and lotus petals filled the air and even the Vermilion Bird could not break through.


    "Feng Xinzi?"


    The First Officer''s eyes glittered. "I''ve heard that the two lords are being incited by a man named ''Feng Xinzi''. Is that you?"


    "Naturally!"


    Feng Xinzi was not a cowardly man as he quickly admitted.


    "This would mean that you are the man behind all these. You are a criminal and deserves to die!"


    The First Officer appeared solemn. "Die!"


    "Chirp! Chirp!"


    Behind him, the Vermilion Bird gave out a long chirp as its flames grew bigger. It flew towards Feng Xinzi.


    "A sacrificial move?"


    Feng Xinzi shook his head and his body started to glow. Quickly, he transformed into the shape of a cauldron.


    The cauldron was red and had three legs and two handles by its side. It was as though it was carved from a huge red piece of jade. Suddenly, the top of the cauldron opened up and fire began to spit out of it.


    "Fire Consuming Cauldron?"


    Deity Clear Lotus could recognise that this was Feng Xinzi''s signature move.


    However, a Vermilion Bird''s sacrificial move would create a much scarier inferno than anyone could ever imagine!


    Even an alchemy master''s cauldron was not enough to consume the flames in entirety. As the golden flames spread, Deity Clear Lotus and Feng Xinzi were forced to retreat in embarrassment.


    "Nothing happened?"


    After a wave of flames, the First Officer shook his head as he realised that both of them were unharmed. As he mustered his energy, a streak of light emerged from his head as it searched for a random star in the sky to combine its energy.


    "Rumble!"


    As the glow from the stars scattered, a Vermilion Bird burning in flames appeared and once again went after Feng Xinzi and Deity Clear Lotus.


    Inspiration in writing transforming into a Vermilion Bird! The rebirth of the bird!


    The First Officer was filled with a scholarly vibe and in the destruction of his zodiac, pure tongues of flames swept across, and it was a terrifying sight to behold!


    "Yu Tianlao!"


    Even Feng Xinzi could not cope with the continuous waves of flames as he called for help.


    "Extinguish!"


    As Yu Tianlao glanced over, she did not dare to curse the First Officer anymore. Instead, she targeted the Vermilion Bird directly.


    "Chirp! Chirp!"


    The newly reborn Vermilion Bird''s flames weakened in a moment.


    Seeing this, the First Officer sighed and continued to release his scholarly vibes as fuel for the Vermilion Bird to recover and strike back once again.


    "Hey old man, although you''re the First Officer, don''t you still want to keep your life? Why are you going all out?"


    Feng Xinzi had always been very gentlemanly but this time, he could not hold back. "Since you want to die, we''ll grant you your wish! Continue to hold up against him, he won''t be able to hold on for long!"


    "Everyone would die someday!"


    The First Officer smiled calmly and looked at the First Lieutenant.


    "Aw! Aw!"


    The white tiger started to roar.


    The First Lieutenant was at a disadvantaged situation.


    As the sword radiance glittered, there was another charred scar on his shoulder.


    Fang Yuan was one of the rare dream masters with highly skilled martial arts.


    Not just that, his fully actualised magical soldiers were extremely sharp and hardy.


    With the combination of skill and weapon, he had reached the peak potential of a dream soldier master!


    Furthermore, there was Venerable Fiery Dragon who was also helping out with his spiritual spells.


    "Bind!"


    As Venerable Fiery Dragon pointed to the ground, vines started to appear and bind the white tiger.


    "This is the time! Fiery dragon - explode!"


    With a heartless look, he exclaimed.


    "Rumble!"


    The fiery dragon roared and exploded and within seconds, the white tiger was covered in red flames.


    "You..."


    The First Lieutenant''s face was flushed and there were burnt marks all over his body. With the explosion, he flew backwards.


    Fang Yuan would not let such a golden opportunity slip by.


    At the moment of explosion, he risked the flames and rushed towards the First Lieutenant, striking his right hand out.


    "Whooosh!"


    The flames flickered.


    The fire-type sword went straight through the First Lieutenant but there was no blood, as the wound was charred!


    With such an injury, any mortal, even if he was an imperial advisor, would die without a doubt!


    "Cough cough..."


    The First Lieutenant''s expression changed as he spat out a few mouthfuls of blood. With a smile, he exclaimed. "Brother, I''ll take my leave first!"


    Behind him, the Alkaid Star White Tiger wailed and condensed.


    "Let''s go!"


    Fang Yuan''s eyebrow twitched as he retreated quickly with Venerable Fiery Dragon.


    "Haha... either way, I''ll die! Why not die for the country?"


    As the First Officer cringed, he appeared as though he had aged another 10 years. "With my green blood, dye the skies green! Green Skies Green Blood, the Vermilion Bird shall burn!!!"


    "Pu!"


    With his knife, he sliced his chest.


    "Whoosh!"


    Green blood started to flow out as it seeped into the Vermilion Bird.


    Shortly after, the First Officer appeared weakened and seemed like he could not live much longer.


    However, with the Green Skies Green Blood chant, the undead Vermilion Bird let out a long chirp and spread its wings. Its spiritual aura started to grow by a thousand folds!


    "Two crazy old men!"


    The five dream masters quickly retreated as they witnessed two mushroom-shaped clouds floating up in the air.


    "They are only a temporary nuisance!"


    Feng Xinzi wiped the blood from his mouth and exclaimed. "This is not good!"


    "Kacha!"


    "Kacha!"


    5 consecutive distinct sounds were heard as the white glow on Fang Yuan and company exploded!


    "Whoooo!"


    The winds blew and dark clouds started to spread across the sky!


    In the skies, lightning started to strike everywhere and in the thunder, there was a familiar feeling of impending threat.


    The self-destruction of the two old men, together with the realm energy had destroyed the protection on their bodies! Their demonic and evil spiritual auras were revealed in the realm.


    "Rumble!"


    Thunder roared and it was as though the heavens were taking things into their own hands!


    A tribulation from the heavens has arrived!

 250 Wrapping Things Up

    "Kacha!"


    Amidst the dark clouds, lightning struck everywhere and 5 streaks of purple lightning descended from the heavens! This was a tribulation from the heavens, a backlash from the entire realm!


    "We have to give it our all!"


    The five dream masters looked at each other and exclaimed.


    "Fire Consuming Cauldron!"


    "Fiery dragon explosion!"


    "Funeral Flowers Chant!"


    "Seal!"


    The 4 dream masters all revealed their signature moves to counter the purple lightning.


    Even Fang Yuan was solemn. His Sixth Elemental Force exploded and together with his fire-type spiritual sword, he sliced towards the purple lightning.


    "Rumble!"


    As the lightning met with his sword, his hand shook and he retreated, his face looking desolate.


    "What on earth..."


    Looking at the Leaving Fire Sword, he noticed the spiritual light from it becoming dimmer. It was evident that the sword was damaged, and he let out a soft sigh.


    He had restored his full power and could only do so much to counter the tribulation from the heavens. The 4 other dream masters would surely have it worse.


    "The power of the tribulation increases as we continue to fight against it."


    Looking at the dark clouds in the sky, Fang Yuan laughed coldly. "If we lose our physical bodies, our souls would be exposed to the elements. Even though we are at the Illusionary Divine stage, our souls would still be captured and it would not be as simple as damaging our original bodies."


    "This is not good..."


    Feng Xinzi''s robes flew with the wind and his chest started to turn red. Suddenly, he shouted. "We cannot guess the heaven''s intention and it is unwise to go against it. The only way out is to kill the king of Lie Country and obtain the country''s realm energy before making our way back!"


    Even though they were possessing the bodies of the natives, the heavens could already identify them and the tribulations would only continue.


    They could only have a chance of survival if they had the power of the entire world, but how was that possible?


    With that, Fang Yuan started to laugh to himself as he heard what Feng Xinzi said.


    "Alright!"


    However, he was not standing in their shoes as he had already reaped the benefits and would not be without his gains if he returned. Venerable Fiery Dragon and Deity Clear Lotus, on the other hand, would feel the pain as they would have lost everything. Thus, they quickly rushed towards the royal palace.


    On the top floors of the royal palace.


    "Demons! Demons indeed!"


    The king of Lie Country shuddered as he witnessed these five silhouettes killing the First Officer and First Lieutenant, as well as countering the tribulations from the heavens. With that, his legs turned to jelly.


    "Protect the king!"


    In the royal palace, there were other highly skilled people other than the First Officer and First Lieutenant.


    Many servants and generals rushed towards the five of them like grasshoppers trying to block a car.


    "Seeking death!"


    Against the few desperate dream masters, they all turned into a bloodied mess.


    A few unlucky ones even had to undergo the tribulations from the heavens and were struck by lightning.


    "King... The capital and royal palace have been invaded. You are no longer the king. Cooperate with us and give us the realm energy, and we might just let your soul free!"


    Feng Xinzi struck his palm and a few armoured guards flew away.


    Originally, his plan was to gather both Chunhe and Huixin to rebel and force the king to give up his throne and strike while they hand over the dragon''s realm energy.


    But now, since the heavens had already detected them, the plan was being messed up.


    "Rumble!"


    The dark clouds covered the entire country and darkness filled every corner of the palace. Within minutes, it had turned into night time.


    As the purple lightning struck, the vicinity would be lighted up for a second, illuminating a chaotic capital city and the pale face of the king of Lie Country.


    "Quickly hide, king! These demons are undergoing tribulations from the heavens and cannot last long!"


    At one side, a servant advised the king.


    "It''s too late!"


    The king laughed. "I am already dead! Even if I were to die, I will not let these demons get what they want!"


    As he spoke, blood began to flow out of his mouth.


    "King..."


    The servants beside him cried. Without another word, all of them surrounded the king as they attempted to let the king survive a little longer.


    "The King of Lie Country dictates that the Country''s realm energy will return to the heavens. Heavens, please decide on how you would deal with these demons!"


    As the king struggled, he used his blood to write out a few sentences. Within seconds, his face started to bleed as he lost his breath.


    As the 5 dream masters rushed upstairs, they were shocked.


    A pitiful roar of a dragon was heard and the illusionary shadow of a water dragon fell.


    Following, a streak of realm energy as thick as a pillar separated from the water dragon and shot straight into the sky before disappearing.


    Everything happened within seconds but Feng Xinzi quickly understood what was happening. "Despicable!"


    "How can the king be so extreme? To destroy his own country?"


    Witnessing the scene, Fang Yuan was confused as well.


    Originally, even if the king were to kill himself, the dragon''s realm energy would be split among the few potential heirs of the throne, with Chunhe and Huixing being the likely recipients.


    If that had happened, then everything would have gone according to Feng Xinzi''s plan.


    But now, by returning the country''s realm energy to the heavens, it was destroying all their hopes.


    "Ah! Even though you''re dead, I will kill all your descendants and burn your soul!!!"


    Venerable Fiery Dragon was enraged.


    Both Deity Clear Lotus and himself had invested their realm energies and thought that they could gain from it. But now, everything was lost and he was going crazy.


    "Rumble!"


    As for the heavens, after receiving the realm energy from the king, the lightning and thunders rumbled with much more power than before.


    Countless purple lightning formed the shape of an eye.


    The eye of the heavens!


    Suddenly, the dream masters felt as though they were being seen through.


    "Let''s go!"


    Fang Yuan was decisive. Although he could defend himself from the previous few rounds of tribulations, the heavens were truly awakened this time. They had no chance against it and he quickly executed his dream-traversing technique to abandon his body as he travelled back to his own realm.


    "Buzz!"


    As that moment, he vaguely heard the exclamations from Feng Xinzi and the rest and a red lightning striking his possessed body, burning it.


    ...


    Da Qian Empire, Sand Region, Dongyi County.


    Fang Yuan shook as he opened his eyes.


    "Phew!"


    After shaking his limbs, he only felt a little weaker than before. It was a good thing that he had instructed his body to continuously take in elemental force before leaving it, and therefore everything was fine.


    However, he still felt a little fear at the moment he left the Hui Realm.


    The red lightning was stronger than the previous tribulation by 10 times! 100 times!


    At his current level of cultivation, if he were to be struck, he would die in the realm and even affect his own real body!


    "The good thing is that... I have still gained from this trip!"


    Looking at his stats winder, he smiled.


    "Name: Fang Yuan


    Essence: 36


    Spirit: 30


    Magic: 30


    Profession: Dream Soldier Master


    Cultivation: Illusionary Divine (1st Tier), Wu Zong (3rd Meridian)


    Technique: [Giant Eagle Metal Body Technique (Grade 4) (1%)], Hundred Poison Golden Body (1st Refining), [8 Gates Sword Array (2nd Sword) (10%)]


    Skill: [Medicine (Level 3)], [Botany (Level 5)]"


    "The realm energy from the Golden Dragon Lake is enough for the 8 Gates Sword Array to achieve a breakthrough, and that is enough..."


    Fang Yuan''s consciousness entered his actualised dream world. Looking at the centre of the 8 Gates Sword Array, he noticed that the Leaving Fire Sword was dimmer than usual. This was due to the damage that it had sustained from countering the tribulation. However, it didn''t matter as he could slowly use his dream elemental energy to repair it.


    Other than that, there was also a golden fruit floating in mid-air as it floated around with his dream elemental force. There was a circle of golden glow around it and it was covered in runes.


    "Let me find out more about this in the Dream Realm... and also take a look at Feng Xinzi and the rest of them... they still owe me a ton of contribution points!"


    Fang Yuan closed his eyes and entered the Dream Realm.


    The streets were busy as usual. As soon as Fang Yuan entered the Dream Realm, his jade inscription plate started to glow.


    "Feng Xinzi?"


    Fang Yuan''s eyebrows twitched.


    "It''s me... Brother, let''s meet at the usual place!"


    Feng Xinzi sounded weak.


    "Alright!"


    Fang Yuan was deep in his own thoughts as he arrived at the tea building.


    Indeed, Feng Xinzi was already waiting for him in a private room.


    Inside, a beautiful lady with a familiar spiritual aura greeting Fang Yuan.


    "Its Deity Clear Lotus!"


    He smiled and recognised her. "I wonder where Venerable Fiery Dragon and Yu Tianlao are?"


    "Yu Tianlao and yourself were quick to react and left before the lightning struck. As for Feng Xinzi and myself, we were a little slower and were slightly affected and our souls were heavily wounded. As for Brother Fiery Dragon..."


    Deity Clear Lotus revealed a sad look. "We still have no news of him. I have already contacted the people of his sect but there is still no news of him. I''m afraid... he is unfortunate!"


    Fang Yuan bit his lip.


    No one would expect that a simple exploration mission would escalate into such a situation.


    "In that realm, normal deaths would lead to damage to the soul. However, for us, we have crossed the line..."


    Feng Xinzi let out a bitter laugh. "Before I came here, I have researched about the red lightning. It seems that the lightning is from the natural source in that realm! Dream masters who would attract such a lightning would usually not end up well!"


    "Natural source?"


    Fang Yuan was deep in his thoughts.


    "That''s right... the natural source of energy of Hui Realm is from their realm energy, and especially from the country''s dragon realm energy. The heavens were enraged to the point that they would not mind consuming their natural source of energy to destroy us..."


    There was fear in Feng Xinzi''s voice.


    In fact, he was prepared for the journey to Hui Realm. Otherwise, he wouldn''t have gotten the array which was able to shield them from the tribulations.


    Never would they have thought that an enraged world would be so scary, and this was a huge blow to him.


    "Oh... I''m afraid that Brother Fiery Dragon''s soul is either severely injured or he might have died, and I am at fault..."


    Feng Xinzi sighed, took out his inscription plate and waved his hands. On Fang Yuan''s inscription plate, there was an additional string of contribution points. "This is the promised contribution points!"


    "And from me!"


    Deity Clear Lotus was honourable and quickly transferred contribution points to Fang Yuan as well.


    "Thank you!"


    This was what they had agreed on, and Fang Yuan accepted the contribution points without hesitation. They continued to talk for a while.


    Feng Xinzi and Deity Clear Lotus were both injured. Not long after, they parted as they returned to healing their injuries.

 251 Hire

    Fang Yuan originally had no more contribution points left. But now, he had another few hundred contribution points and he hesitated no more as he arrived at the rock tablet.


    "Based on the number of contribution points I have, I''m sure I will have enough to hire a high-tiered dream master to discover the path ahead for my Giant Eagle Metal Body Technique. However, I can only make breakthroughs for a few more grades, and might as well buy the Qian Kun Giant Spiritual Technique!"


    After thinking about it, he released his interest in buying the entire recordings of the Qian Kun Giant Spiritual Technique and placed emphasis on the entire recordings. This meant that he expected the recordings to include the process of condensing the Divine Body.


    Fang Yuan was speechless when he realised that he had to pay a contribution point just by releasing his request.


    "Next up... to find out information relating to dream-traversing the different realms!"


    He quickly browsed through the information on the rock tablet as the relevant ones were sieved out.


    There would be a short synopsis of the information to allow the reader to understand what the information was about before the reader would decide to buy the information so that he could continue reading the information.


    Suddenly, Fang Yuan shuddered.


    He focused on a piece of information regarding how to accurately dream-traverse to a specific location and there was a picture as well, which piqued his interest.


    The information was recorded by a famous dream master known as Venerable Dream Traverser. He also realised that his recordings were rather popular as many had bought from him.


    He immediately bought it without hesitation when he realised that he would have to fork out 100 contribution points for the recording.


    "Rumble!"


    A glow emerged and huge chunks of information appeared.


    "The realm would be unaware that you are from a foreign realm... There are two ways in which dream masters can explore worlds. Either by exploring the worlds in their true physical body or through dream-traversing... I will first explain how to dream-traverse to a specific location... The techniques include ''Three Elemental Technique'', ''Offering Technique'' and ''Realm Breaking Technique''... regardless, they are all inferior to obtaining a Realm Evidence!"


    "Realm Evidence is something which obeys the rules of reality in that realm and is universally accepted everywhere in the realm. A person with Realm Evidence would automatically integrate with the realm and will have a high tolerance within the realm. It is something everyone would hope for but not everyone would get!"


    Behind the description, there was a picture depicting how Realm Evidence would look like. There were talismans, swords or even an ordinary looking rock.


    The only similarity between these objects was the fact that there would be many runes within it, which would inscribe the coordinates of the realm they were from.


    "This..."


    Reading this, Fang Yuan was speechless.


    To him, Realm Evidence was the entry pass to everything and it would not matter how it physically looked like.


    "From the appearance of the runes around it, it''s likely that the golden fruit has the coordinate of a realm!"


    His eyes glittered. "No wonder it looked so confusing! I will need to express it in the form of a talisman in order to sieve out the coordinates of the realm and acceptance to the realm..."


    Since he had just returned from dream-traversing, he would not immediately attempt it again.


    Furthermore, he still needed to learn how to activate the coordinates and it was not something that he could achieve in a short period of time. Therefore, he left the Dream Realm promptly and arrived at the Qin Family''s mansion, requested for a quiet place and started to execute his dream-accessing technique.


    Although the Qin Family''s mansion was protected by a protective array and had the protection of a few elders, Fang Yuan could still sneak in without anyone knowing that the Qin Siblings were his moles.


    Very quickly, Qin Yun, who was doing some manual labour, felt sleepy and waved his hands. "I''m a little tired. I''ll take a quick nap first, don''t disturb me!"


    "Yes, Sir!"


    The servants were promptly dismissed as Qin Yun arrived at a reclining chair. With a yawn, he entered into a deep slumber.


    In a bewildering fog, his body appeared and he noticed a young man in front. "Greetings, Sir!"


    "Mm, please rise!"


    Fang Yuan waved his hands. A stone table and two stone chairs suddenly rose, and there was a tea set on the table with brewed tea in it.


    "Here!"


    He quickly called Qin Yun to join him and poured a cup of tea for him. After all, he was a family head and he had to treat him like one. "How''s the investigation?"


    Qin Yun took a small sip and was mesmerised by the fragrance of the tea.


    He knew the prowess of a dream master and therefore was respectful. "I''ve got news regarding the Yang Family. They were originally the most influential family in their county but unknowingly, they were wiped out by Venerable Qing Gui!"


    ''Indeed, it happened!''


    Fang Yuan nodded his head before continuing to probe further. "Did the imperial court investigate what happened?"


    "Venerable Qing Gui was a dream master in the Illusionary Divine stage and was not easy to take control of him... Furthermore, he was from the Evil Divine Sect! Of course, it was necessary to go by the books and conduct the investigation, but as to how the investigations were being conducted... Hmmm..."


    Qin Yun shook his head and Fang Yuan was once again reminded of the power of dream masters in Da Qian Empire.


    "As for the Qian Kun Giant Spiritual Technique... The technique was the Yang Family''s signature martial arts technique and would allow a martial artist to form 8 spiritual meridians and condense the Divine Body. It is considered rather powerful and after circulation, most families would have parts of the recordings regarding the technique. However, most parts only record up to forming the 8 meridians. As for the entire recordings, after my investigations, they should be in the hands of the Ruan Family!".


    "Ruan Family?"


    Fang Yuan''s eyebrows twitched. Never would he have guessed that the Qin Family would be so efficient in their investigations.


    "That''s right! The Ruan Family is related to the Yang Family through marriage. On the day of the downfall of the Yang Family, one of the elders was severely injured but managed to escape. He was rescued by the Ruan Family but unfortunately, could not be treated. With that, he passed on and the entire recordings of the Qian Kun Giant Spiritual Technique now lie in the hands of the Ruan Family!"


    Qin Yun continued. "Ruan Family is situated in Victorious East Region, Yiwu County. It is two regions away from Sand Region. Sir, do you need directions there?"


    The Da Qian Empire was vast and many times larger than Yuan and Wu Country.


    "No need!"


    Fang Yuan waved his hands. He started to miss the flying beasts he had back at home.


    "Wait a moment..."


    His expression changed. "There seems to be a hiring service in the Dream Realm. I can directly hire a spiritual bird to bring me to Victorious East Region, and this idea seems possible..."


    However, there was also such a service provided in Sand Region. The only difference was that the type of birds used was weaker, slower and easily tracked down.


    Without another word, he left.


    In the Qin Family''s mansion, Qin Yun slowly woke up and was deep in his thoughts.


    ...


    With a target in mind, Fang Yuan quickly put up a mission request in the Dream Realm.


    There was no difficulty in this mission. It only required the person to ferry him. Therefore, he only offered 10 contribution points. Even so, there were quite a lot of people interested in taking up the mission.


    After browsing through a number of interested dream masters, he chose a dream master''s symbol of which he deemed that the dream master was not too powerful.


    This person which he had chosen was respectful and mentioned that he had a spiritual bird comparable to a Wu Zong and could fly undetected.


    Most importantly, he was geographically near this dream master!


    After a few words, they had agreed to meet up.


    After 2 hours, on a peak in Dongyi County, a giant spiritual bird landed amidst the gushing wind.


    This spiritual bird resembled an eagle and had golden feathers and two heads. It was a Golden Double-headed Eagle and was ferocious in nature. It was rumoured that this bird would be able to obtain elemental force at maturity and even have wind and fire abilities. The strongest among these birds would be comparable to a spiritual knight in the Elemental Opening realm or a Wu Zong in the Meridian Opening realm.


    "Greetings, senior Fang!"


    As the double-headed eagle landed, a young man walked down from the back of the eagle and greeted Fang Yuan.


    "Mmm, you''re Huo Qing?"


    Fang Yuan nodded his head. "Based on the agreement, I''ll pay you half of the amount, and after ferrying me to Yiwu County in Victorious East Region, I''ll pay you the remaining half. Is that right?"


    "That''s right!"


    Hua Qing invited Fang Yuan up the back of the eagle. Within seconds, the double-headed eagle had flown into the clouds.


    "Chirp!"


    The double-headed eagle let out a long chirp, forming a green sphere which covered its body, blocking the wind.


    "Senior, please enjoy!"


    On the spacious back of the eagle, Huo Qing had prepared tea and snacks. "We''ll arrive there in a day''s time after crossing two regions, please be patient!"


    "You are meticulous..."


    Fang Yuan looked into Huo Qing''s eyes and realised that he was an elementary dream master in the realm of dream-accessing.


    Of course, considering his age, he was already a talent.


    The only thing was that there was a big gap between his cultivation and Fang Yuan''s, which was why it was still appropriate for him to address Fang yuan as a senior.


    "This double-headed eagle is rather good. If it was me, I think I would be unable to tame such a quick spiritual bird..."


    After a while, Fang Yuan complimented him.


    "You''re right, senior!"


    Huo Qing was careful with his words. "There are lots of dangers within these two regions that we are crossing. Even though we''re high up in the sky, we still have to be careful... Furthermore, we will be flying across county cities, district towns and even some influential and powerful families. Therefore we have to avoid them... I am useless and can only rely on this to make a living..."


    Hearing his explanation, Fang Yuan was shocked.


    He never knew that Da Qian Empire would be so advanced to the point of even protecting their own airspaces.


    If he were to capture any random spiritual bird and flew across, he would invite trouble for himself.


    Of course, from this, he could also understand why Huo Qing was doing this.


    Huo Qing had painstakingly tamed a Golden Double-headed Eagle, remembered the air routes and made a living from ferrying people to places. From offering such services for hire, he would be able to earn contribution points to exchange for resources in the Dream Realm.


    If Fang Yuan was a native from the Da Qian Empire without any special skills, after becoming a dream master, he would probably take the same route and depend on a skill to save up in order to achieve a breakthrough in the future.


    "Not bad... not bad at all!"


    The journey was a smooth one and the land below started to turn green with vegetation. As the mountainous regions approached, Fang Yuan knew that they had entered Victorious East Region. Suddenly, he enquired. "With such an ability, have you thought of expanding? For instance, establishing an association and offering your services to everybody?"


    "Keke..."


    Huo Qing laughed. "I am a dream master! How can I serve mortals? Furthermore... they cannot afford to hire me!"


    Fang Yuan remained silent.


    Even elementary dream masters would have the pride of dream masters in Da Qian Empire.


    Remaining silent, they quickly arrived at Yiwu County. On a plateau, Huo Qing ordered the double-headed eagle to land, and Fang Yuan dismounted.


    "Senior, are you here for your private affairs and that you don''t want anybody to know about it?"


    Huo Qing stroked the double-headed eagle''s feathers and fed it a spiritual fruit. "If you want to return, you can look for me! Little Golden and I are capable of evading the spiritual air soldiers!


    As he spoke, there was a sense of pride coming from him.

 252 Kidnap

    ''There are air soldiers patrolling the air in Da Qian?''


    Fang Yuan had picked out a different meaning from Huo Qing''s words and became more alert.


    After all, to have control over the vast area and be blessed by the heavens, the Imperial Court would surely have this ability!


    Even though he was the Eagle Lieutenant in Yang Fan''s dream world, he still did not know everything.


    At this point in time, he could slowly understand the power of Da Qian.


    "Only dream masters would be able to fight against dream masters... I''m afraid that as Feng Xinzi described the 5 most powerful organisations in Da Qian, he left out the Imperial Court!"


    Fang Yuan waved goodbye to Huo Qing and entered Yiwu County.


    ...


    In Yiwu County, the Ruan Family was considered one of the influential families.


    In history, after receiving the Qian Kun Giant Spiritual Technique from the Yang Family, everyone in the Ruan Family, be it elders or disciples, received a boost in their martial arts skills. From there, they had produced two elders in the Meridian Opening Realm, which secured their standing in the county.


    Of course, there were rumours that the reason why the Ruan Family could become so powerful in such a short time was not only due to the fact that they had the Yang Family''s martial arts, but they also had a secret vault! This made the Ruan Family, without a doubt, one of the most powerful families in the region.


    However, by now, after many years, the rumour had started to go away.


    After all, which family could climb up and rise in influence without killing and sacrificing others? How many innocent people were harmed along the way?


    Since they were being suspected of wrongdoings, they would not harp on it. Slowly, the people in the county would forget about their deeds and would take them for a kind and pure family.


    To others outside the county, they would appear to be a legitimate strong family.


    In the Ruan Family''s mansion study.


    The current family head of Ruan Family was Ruan Ming. He was in his fifties and was a Wu Zong. He knew how to take care of his body well and therefore only appeared to be in his thirties. He closed his eyes as he listened intently to his subordinates report the accounts.


    "In the East City, we have earned 2,000 elemental crystals. They have been kept in the main vault!"


    "The business in the few shops within the city are stabilising. Every month, they would bring 500 elemental crystals. According to your wishes, we have already sent them to Young Master Junxian!"


    ...


    The few housekeepers knew the family head''s temper and were all respectful. In the process, they casually mentioned a young master''s name.


    "Mmm, Junxian is gifted and is the hope of our family... we cannot stop supporting him!"


    As he mentioned his son, he slowly opened his eyes, revealing a look of joy.


    He had 3 sons and 5 daughters. Most of them were average but Ruan Junxian was gifted in martial arts. He started at the age of 3 and achieved a breakthrough to the Pain Gate at the age of 8, obtaining inner force. Now, he was 16 and was already at the peak of the 12th Gate. He had entered ''Thousand Year Mountain'', a big sect in Victorious East Region. There were rumours that he was the most gifted there and was treated especially well.


    However, Ruan Ming knew that establishing good relations was extremely important. Even though he was inside a big sect, he still needed a continuous supply of resources.


    As a family head, Ruan Ming was restricted in many ways and could only help him within his boundaries.


    "Family Head, we have good news!"


    At this point in time, a guard came in and knelt down on one knee with a joyous look on his face. "Young Master Junxian has written back! He will be leaving the sect with his master, ''Black Tiger Taisui'' and will be around Yiwu County in the next few days to come!"


    "Haha... Good news indeed!"


    Ruan Ming stood up. "Pass down the instructions to make preparations... Black Tiger Taisui is not only a Wu Zong in the Meridian Opening stage but also Junxian''s master. We cannot show him any disrespect!"


    This He Shantong, the Black Tiger Taisui, was a person of high status in Thousand Year Mountain and legend has it that he had already formed 5 spiritual meridians and the Sixth Elemental Force! In the Tiger Ranks, he was ranked 87th in the whole of Victorious East Region!


    Victorious East Region was a region filled with martial artists and therefore had a ranking system of the Tiger Ranks and Dragon Ranks.


    To be ranked, one had to be younger than 40 years of age and be at least a Wu Zong. To be highly ranked, one had to at least be in the Meridian Opening stage.


    As for the Dragon Ranks, it was mostly unchanged. Only people who had formed all the spiritual meridians and condensed the Divine Body would be able to enter.


    For He Shantong to be in the Tiger Ranks meant that he was indeed highly skilled.


    Although the Ruan Family had three elders in the Meridian Opening stage, none of them was in the ranks.


    ...


    Outside the Ruan Family, Fang Yuan casually picked up a guard and flung him away, getting what he wanted.


    "The Ruan Family is similar to the Yang Family. They pass down their martial arts based on the status of the family members. I''m afraid only the family head and the three elders know about the entire recordings..."


    At this point in time, Fang Yuan was still not skilled enough to just barge in a powerful family like the Ruan Family.


    More importantly, after getting what he came for, it would be hard for him to escape the surrounding guards.


    Furthermore, there might be countless arrays protecting the family''s mansion or secret weapons. After all, this was not Yuan or Wu Country. Any wrong step would lead to him being captured.


    "In order for the plan to work, I''ll have to lure the snake out... That''ll be the beloved son of the Ruan Family, Ruan Junxian, right?"


    Fang Yuan rubbed his chin as his eyes glittered.


    He never thought of the possibility of a trade. How would such a powerful and influential family easily give up their secret martial arts technique? Even if they were agreeable to a trade, Fang Yuan could most possibly be unable to afford it, or rather, unwilling to pay for it.


    "Ranked 87th in the Tiger Ranks, He Shantong, the Black Tiger Taisui... Keke..."


    As he looked towards a random direction in the city, he chuckled.


    ...


    In the forest, the surroundings were peaceful.


    Along a path, a carriage was slowly advancing.


    The carriage did not appear luxurious, but in fact, it was made from Thousand Year Bronze Wood and was less bumpy. There was a mild fragrance within the carriage.


    The person who was riding the horse pulling the carriage was around 15 years old.


    "Junxian, there''s no need to rush. Yiwu County is just ahead."


    As the curtains were drawn, He Shantong, the Black Tiger Taisui was chuckling.


    "When we return home, I''ll give you the best reception, master!"


    Ruan Junxian was smart. As he commented, He Shantong started to laugh happily.


    After laughing, his face turned serious. "Do you know the task given to us by the sect?"


    "I know, to destroy the Li Family! Leave no stones unturned!"


    Ruan Junxian was young. As he mentioned this, he felt a little bad.


    "To be honest, the Li Family are not evil. However, of all people, they had to offend us. If we do not teach them a lesson, other families would think that they can climb all over our heads, and it will be hard for us to do what we need to do in the future..."


    He Shantong started to share his own experience.


    "Master... I''ve learnt!"


    Ruan Junxian clenched his teeth. "The strong will kill the weak, and this has been true since the beginning of mankind... Even our Ruan Family could only grow at the expense of other families!"


    "Very good! You''re rather smart for someone who had been doing martial arts for your lifetime!"


    He Shantong praised him.


    He had never said such words to other disciples before, but now, he had said it to Ruan Junxian. From the first time he saw Ruan Junxian, he was already beginning to feel bias towards him, and even he could not believe himself.


    "Based on our sect rules, since this is your first mission, I am only allowed to supervise you, of course... if you can get external help, that will not be flouting the rules..."


    As he changed the topic, he started to give tips to Ruan Junxian.


    Ruan Junxian was listening intently when suddenly, the horse came to a halt.


    "What happened?"


    The young man tumbled down from the horseback and quickly looked in front.


    All he could see was a man in white blocking the path of the carriage.


    The two horses pulling the carriage were frightened and refused to budge.


    "Stay behind me!"


    He Shantong appeared serious as he pulled Ruan Junxian to one side.


    "I am He Shantong from the Thousand Year Mountain. May I know who you are?"


    Looking at the young man in front, he could only feel a fleeting feeling as though he was connected to the heavens and earth, making his heart shudder.


    Based on his many years of experience, it was extremely rare to meet a cultivator with such a spiritual aura.


    "Black Tiger Taisui?"


    Fang Yuan examined the martial artist who was ranked in the Tiger Ranks.


    He was a skinny person with a tanned face and a pair of burning eyes. With a smile, he continued. "You''re just like that?"


    "It seems that you are here for revenge?"


    He Shantong slowly walked out of the carriage, with a strong and pressurising spiritual aura.


    He did not ask Fang Yuan the reason why he was here, for he knew that he had countless enemies.


    Furthermore, other than enemies, there could be other people looking for trouble as well.


    "That''s true... and false at the same time!"


    Fang Yuan went straight to the point. "If you are willing to lend me Yuan Junxian for a few days, we can avoid the fight. Wouldn''t it be a win-win situation?"


    "Without considering the fact that he is my disciple, but the fact that he is a disciple of the Thousand Year Mountain would mean that I would lose my face if I were to let you take him away from me!"


    He Shantong smiled and took in a deep breath.


    "Whooo!"


    Suddenly, the muscles in his body bulged and he became taller. Within seconds, he had transformed from a bony person to a tall and well-built man.


    Not just that, his skin had turned black like metal and two sharp fangs grew out from his mouth, as though a tiger had possessed him.


    Black Tiger Taisui was indeed powerful!


    "Master''s Seven Star Black Tiger Transfiguration?!"


    Ruan Junxian turned pale. Never would he have thought that his master would use his most powerful move in the opening!


    "OH? Not too bad! Let me test you out!"


    Fang Yuan slowly walked out and casually struck out a punch.


    "Whooo!"


    A gust of wind blew and the sand was drifting.


    "First Star! Second Star! Third Star! Open!"


    He Shantong exclaimed as three spiritual meridians formed behind his back, forming the shape of constellations. With that, he pounced towards Fang Yuan.


    "Rumble!"


    As their fists met, both of them were forced a few steps backwards.


    "Fourth Elemental Force? Not bad!"


    Fang Yuan shook his numb arm. "You''re stronger than me before I open my spiritual meridians!"


    With his Wu Zong cultivation, Giant Eagle Metal Body and Hundred Poison Golden Body, he was still weaker than his adversary.


    "Before opening your spiritual meridians? Meridian Opening Wu Zong?"


    Ruan Junxian covered his gaping mouth. In the next moment, he could see three thick spiritual meridians forming behind Fang Yuan''s back, forming a spiritual armour. He also grew a pair of eagle wings and claws.


    "Giant Eagle Claw!"


    "Fourth Star! Fifth Star! Open!"


    "Bang!"


    In a loud bang, five constellations appeared behind He Shantong''s back. With that, he pitted his Sixth Elemental Force against the eagle''s claw.


    In a red flash, he flew back with a sword wound on his chest.


    In a single move, He Shantong, the Black Tiger Taisui who was ranked 87th in the Tiger Ranks, was defeated!

 253 Facade

    In the Ruan Family.


    The servants were all busy setting up tables full of delicacies in preparation for the dinner.


    Ruan Ming was in the living room. As he paced around, there was a worried look on his face. "Why are they not here yet? Look for them!"


    "Yes, Sir!"


    A few housekeepers agreed and were promptly dismissed.


    Not long after, the head housekeeper frantically ran into the mansion. As he did, he clumsily tripped over a step and knocked his forehead into the ground, grazing it. "Family Head, someone delivered a letter together with Young Master''s jade!"


    Ruan Ming''s heart skipped a beat as he composed himself and took the letter.


    "What audacity..."


    There were only a few words in the letter. After reading it, his right hand started to shiver. "This person has kidnapped Junxian and want us to bring the Yang Family''s Green Blooded Qilin!"


    The few housekeepers remained silent.


    The Green Blooded Qilin was a treasure of the Ruan Family. It was a jade figure which had extraordinary properties of strengthening bones, enhancing elemental force and was an antidote to many types of poison.


    "Who could it be? Guo Family? Li Family?"


    Ruan Ming paced around. "This is an emergency. If the enemy could get hold of Junxian, this must mean that he had defeated He Shantong, the Black Tiger Taosui. When did the Ruan Family get ourselves such a strong enemy?"


    He wouldn''t believe that people would go after their family merely for the riches.


    "It''s alright, let me consult the few elders!"


    He was a decisive person and went straight to the patriarchal hall.


    As the few housekeepers exchanged glances, they all knew that the family head was decided. He would surely save Young Master Junxian. After all, he was not only his biological son but also the entire hop of the family''s future.


    In the patriarchal hall of the Ruan Family.


    It was peaceful and surrounded by a few plots of spiritual farms filled with unique flowers and plants.


    At the boundary of the spiritual farm, there were a few straw huts. Three old men who looked like farmers were sitting within as they smoked and drank tea.


    "Greetings elders, I am the unfilial grandson, Ruan Ming!"


    As soon as Ruan Ming arrived, he immediately knelt down and explained what had happened.


    "We have seen Junxian before. He would surely be a Wu Zong in the Meridian Opening realm in the future and is the pillar of our family with potential to become stronger..."


    As an elder emptied his smoke pot on a rock, he continued with a hoarse voice. "However, this time, our enemy is extremely strong. Even I myself don''t have the confidence to defeat Black Tiger Taisui! It seems that we have to compromise... A human life is always more important. After all, it is just a mere Green Blooded Qilin!"


    As they came to an agreement, the issue was settled.


    "Mmm, we''ll agree to this!"


    The two elders by the sides nodded their heads in unison. "Just remember that you''re responsible for this!"


    "Of course!"


    Ruan Ming replied respectfully. If not for the fact that the elder head and he shared the same heritage, he could not have resolved this easily.


    "This is no big issue..."


    The other two elders agreed to the arrangement. "You''ll go by yourself and we will follow behind you secretly, hehe... I''ll want to see what kind of god is he?"


    "I''m afraid that the enemy will be prepared. Just in case, we should immediately inform Thousand Year Mountain!"


    Ruan Ming quipped.


    Thousand Year Mountain was an influential organisation in the Victorious East Region, and was led by a highly skilled martial artist ranked in the Dragon Ranks!


    "That''s true... After all, Black Tiger Taisui and Junxian are both from Thousand Year Mountain!"


    In terms of influence, Thousand Year Mountain would be much stronger compared to the tiny Ruan Family, which was why the three elders agreed to it. "Although help might not come in time, it is still better than nothing!"


    ...


    After half a day on Bull''s Head Mountain.


    Based on Fang Yuan''s requirement, Ruan Ming had to personally deliver the goods.


    In reality, this was all a facade.


    The Green Blooded Qilin was randomly mentioned. With such a short time given, the Ruan Family had to personally come and could not plan for anything. This was Fang Yuan''s motive.


    On a plateau, he could see three people walking towards him. The one in front was Ruan Ming.


    Behind him were two old-looking elders with powerful spiritual auras. Both of them were Wu Zongs in the Meridian Opening realm.


    As for the elder head? He was guarding at home.


    After all, it could be a trick to lure all of them out. The mansion was important and they had to guard it.


    "Father..."


    Ruan Junxian followed behind Fang Yuan with a desolate face. His martial arts were sealed but he was not severely injured. He was carrying an unconscious He Shantong.


    As he saw Ruan Ming arrive, he called out to him but subsequently felt ashamed.


    "Junxian, how are you and your master?"


    Seeing this, Ruan Ming could only sigh.


    "I''m alright and master is only slightly injured.... This person is a 3rd Meridian Wu Zong, be careful, Father!"


    Ruan Junxian looked at Fang Yuan and exclaimed.


    Who knew that Fang Yuan would completely ignore him? Fang Yuan looked at the family head of the Ruan Family. "You are Ruan Ming? Very well! Have you brought what I have asked for?"


    "I''ve brought it!"


    Ruan Ming opened his cloth bag. Inside, there was a green and red-coloured figure of a Qilin and it was glittering.


    "Wait up!"


    Seeing Fang Yuan approach him, Ruan Ming took a step back and raised the Green Blooded Qilin high up in the air. "I''ll pass you the goods, but you''ll pass me the person! If you dare to try anything funny, I''ll destroy this treasure and the Ruan Family will forever be against you!"


    "Hmmm... Whatever!"


    Fang Yuan sighed and pushed Ruan Junxian forward.


    As they approached each other, the two elders behind Ruan Ming started to muster their elemental force, making the situation rather tense.


    In the vicinity, everyone was extremely tensed up.


    Just as Ruan Junxian was halfway from reaching his father, something happened!


    With a snicker, Fang Yuan executed his shadowstep and came in front of Ruan Ming, striking a claw out!


    "What a thief!"


    Ruan Ming glanced at him and mustered his elemental force as he was about to destroy the Green Blooded Qilin.


    Beside him, the two elders exclaimed and struck the force of their spiritual meridians out.


    All of this was planned before. If Fang Yuan wanted to snatch the Green Blooded Qilin, he would have to endure the strike from both Meridian Opening Wu Zongs! It was the perfect plan!


    With a sinister smile, Fang Yuan dodged them.


    "Bang!"


    Unable to do anything, the Green Blooded Qilin was shattered to pieces as Ruan Ming was left stunned.


    "Haha... Do you really think I''m after this thing?"


    With a laugh, he pointed his right index finger out and a red sword essence appeared.


    A sword''s essence would strike as far as 30,000 miles, and a sword''s radiance would blind 19 regions!


    "Ah!"


    The fight between highly skilled martial artists would mean that any mistakes would lead to the outcome of the fight. As the two Wu Zongs had predicted Fang Yuan''s intentions wrongly, they had to dodge the sword essence with much embarrassment.


    They were inferior to Fang Yuan from the beginning and now, they were panicking.


    "Stay down!"


    Behind Fang Yuan, his spiritual meridians formed and transfigured into a spiritual armour covering his whole body. As he came closer, he struck a claw out at Ruan Ming.


    Under the attack of Sixth Elemental Force, being a normal Wu Zong, Ruan Ming could only do so much. Even after the Second Elemental Force exploded from his Qian Kun Giant Spiritual Technique, it was not enough. His neck was gripped on and his mind went blank.


    "Father!"


    Within seconds, Fang Yuan had already forced the two Meridian Opening Wu Zongs back and had captured Ruan Ming.


    Ruan Junxian''s expression changed as his eyes became bloodshot.


    He finally understood that Fang Yuan had only revealed his Meridian Opening cultivation to him for him to trick his few elders and immediately felt regretful.


    He never knew that this young man would be so dangerous!


    "Mmm... It''s just another two Meridian Opening Wu Zongs. Why not take both of them with me as an assurance!"


    After capturing Ruan Ming, Fang Yuan glared at the other two elders, and they could sense danger in his eyes.


    It was an unplanned surprise for him to be able to capture so many members of the Ruan Family.


    "Thief!"


    At this moment, there were sounds coming from the foot of the mountain, and a group of people were arriving.


    The person leading the pack was an old man with white hair. Behind the old man, there were 6 spiritual meridians forming, making him appear like a giant.


    "Qian Kun Giant Spiritual Technique? This must be the elder head to have reached such a level of cultivation! He should be in the Tiger Ranks!"


    Fang Yuan was mildly shocked. As he looked at the group of people behind, he noticed that someone was pointing at him.


    As vibrations from their voices spread, Fang Yuan became aware of what was happening. Outside his actualised dream world, a grey fog was attempting to enter.


    "Buzz!"


    In the next moment, the 8 Gates Sword Array shook and the red sword essence flashed around, reducing the grey fog to nothing.


    "A curse master?! Or a dream master?"


    Fang Yuan smiled. With the protection of the soul in his actualised dream world, it was an extremely effective defence against attacks from spiritual wills. This was especially so for fights among dream masters, as the main battleground would be in their actualised dream worlds.


    As he looked down, he realised that most of them were spitting out blood.


    "They have indeed called for reinforcements. These should be the highly skilled people in Yiwu County... forget it!"


    He did not want to continue fighting and promptly left.


    After all, he had already gotten what he wanted.


    Furthermore, although there were only a few highly skilled people in Yiwu county, they would still give him trouble if they combined forces.


    "Go!"


    Before he left, he flicked his finger out. Suddenly, there appeared another sun in the sky. The sword essence from the red sword was like the brilliance from the sun. As it shone down, it seeped through the vegetation and rocks and blocked the group of people who were giving chase.


    Everyone was shocked at slowed down as they witnessed Fang Yuan escaping into the woods.


    "Brother!"


    As the two elders saw the elder head, they were embarrassed.


    "Who would''ve guessed that that crazy person was after Ruan Ming!"


    The elder head gave a cold look. "Although I had already rushed here, it seems like I was a little late!"


    Without caring about Ruan Junxian, he looked at the people behind. "How is Brother Qing Yun?"


    "That person cultivates in both spiritual techniques and martial arts and has an extremely powerful spiritual will. Brother Qing Yun initially wanted to cast a spell to confuse him, but little did he know that he would experience backlash!"


    A middle-aged woman shook her head. "When did your Ruan Family anger such a strong enemy? If I knew he would be so strong, I wouldn''t have agreed to help out!"


    "We''re sorry about this!"


    The elder head of Ruan Family gave a bitter smile. "I am also confused about this. However, rest assured that I will not get any of you implicated in this. After this, we''ll deliver gifts as a form of compensation!"


    With this, the few highly skilled martial artists who had arrived to help out became a little more amiable, but in the elder head''s mind, he had already vomited blood countless times.

 254 Lin Qianye

    In the dense forest, Fang Yuan reached the depths of the mountains. As he released the sword essence, he carved out a cave and a stone bed before throwing Ruan Ming onto it.


    "Dream accessing!"


    As he spoke, his right index finger touched the area in between Ruan Ming''s eyebrows.


    It was a facade when Fang Yuan had requested for the Green Blooded Qilin. His real objective was to retrieve everything about the Qian Kun Giant Spiritual Technique from this family head!


    If he had requested this from the beginning, he would have given them time to prepare against him. After all, there were many dream masters in Da Qian and they could seal his memories.


    Taking him by surprise would mean that although he would have some techniques to defend his own spiritual will, there was nothing that Fang Yuan had to fear.


    Many years ago, he could already access the dream of a Wu Zong. Being a dream master in the Illusionary Divine stage, he could easily access Ruan Ming''s dream, even if he was met with resistance.


    "Mmm? There is indeed a seal in his memories. After all, as family head, he would know too many secrets and they had to take precautions..."


    As Fang Yuan entered Ruan Ming''s consciousness, he arrived at a golden lock which sealed up a bunch of secrets.


    "The good thing was that he is unaware of my motive and therefore did not strengthen the defence. I can still break this with some time!"


    With the wave of his hands, a fog appeared and it seeped into the limbs of Ruan Ming.


    Dream masters were skilled in manipulating spiritual wills and souls. At his current level of cultivation, it was not easy, but neither was it too hard to break through the seal. Fang Yuan had the confidence that he could do so.


    ...


    Yiwu County.


    "It is a revenge I must take against the person who captured my father!"


    Ruan Junxian and Black Tiger Taisui had both recovered. There was hatred in Ruan Junxian''s young eyes. "I want to search for that evil person and save father!"


    "Don''t spout nonsense!"


    The Elder head was his great great grandfather. As he lectured him, he slapped him squarely in the face.


    It was a distinct "Pa"!


    "The only reason why your father would want to save you is that you are the future of our family!"


    The Elder head appeared solemn. "If anything were to happen to him, you can still inherit his place and become family head. If you go and anything bad were to happen to you, who would take over the family?"


    In the family, the fight to become family head was a fierce one.


    If Ruan Junxian was around, he would only need a few years of training to officially become the family head and the other grandsons could not win the fight.


    If he were to die while searching for his father, there would be no more heir and the First family would crumble.


    "That person cultivates in both spiritual techniques and martial arts, he might be a dream master!"


    With a pale face, He Shantong the Black Tiger Taisui commented.


    With this, the elder head of Ruan Family started to have goosebumps but forced a smile. "Daoist Qing Yun has also investigated and it seems that this is true... Unknowingly, our family has angered a strong enemy. We have done nothing but calamities keep coming to us..."


    "Dream masters are mysterious and we''ll have to slowly investigate. Elder head, please be assured that the Thousand Year Mountain will not be bullied. If he is not from the five strongest organisations, what do we have to fear?"


    He Shantong rubbed his chest.


    "That''s right!"


    A strong voice was heard, but it was as though it had come from a distance.


    "Vice Sect Head?"


    He Shantong quickly bowed and greeted, and Ruan Junxian did the same.


    Although He Shantong was of a rather high status in Thousand Year Mountain, he knew that the most highly skilled person would be the sect head who was ranked in the Tiger Ranks. The second would be the Vice Sect Head, Lin Qianye. He has already formed 8 spiritual meridians and it one step away from condensing the Divine Body! He was ranked 5th in the Tiger Ranks!


    "I am using the Thousand Mile Voice Technique to speak to all of you... That person is reckless and has infringed upon us, the Thousand Year Mountain... I will personally take over. If he has a backing, we will let him off with a small punishment, otherwise... It''s not like I have not killed dream masters before!"


    As they heard the cold voice, everyone in Ruan Family had joy all over their faces.


    ...


    Within the cave.


    Fang Yuan closed his eyes. The advanced techniques of Qian Kun Giant Spiritual Technique to condense a Divine Body was already in his consciousness.


    "At the Wu Zong level, the Qian Kun Giant Spiritual Technique can increase one''s spiritual strength. From there, one can form 8 spiritual meridians and obtain the Tenth Elemental Force as they achieve the Giant Spiritual Divine Body. This is comparable to the Divine Body in martial arts. From there, one can cleanse their bones, purge their blood and transform from a mortal body to a new Divine Body. This is known as body forging! At this stage, martial artists would be strengthened in all aspects and martial arts would be an instinct to them. They would be comparable to spiritual knights and are known as True Divines!"


    At this point, Fang Yuan had no doubts about the martial arts path in Da Qian.


    From the beginning, there was the 12 Golden Gates. As one reaches Wu Zong, they would be able to obtain elemental force and continue on to Meridian Opening Stage, similar to spiritual knights in the Elemental Opening Stage. In the end, the body would be forged into a True Divine!


    This level of cultivation would be comparable to a high-tiered Illusionary Divine stage and considered highly skilled in Da Qian and be ranked on the Dragon Ranks in Victorious East Region!


    Spiritual knights in the Elemental Opening Realm would cultivate in spiritual points. As they improve in their cultivation, they would arrive at a True Elemental Realm which was comparable to the True Divine!


    After all, Ruan Ming was the head of a big family and was a strong cultivator himself. Therefore, he knew quite a lot and in turn benefited Fang Yuan.


    "A spiritual knight at the True Elemental Realm and a martial artist at True Divine would be rare highly skilled people in Da Qian. If they were placed somewhere else, they would be a true grandmaster!"


    "With the complete recordings of Qian Kun Giant Spiritual Technique, there shouldn''t be any problem for me to explore and discover the Giant Eagle Metal Body Technique to form the 8th meridian!"


    There was a look of excitement on Fang Yuan''s face.


    Spiritual knights would train in their spiritual points while Wu Zongs would open their meridians. Although the end stage would be similar, the number of spiritual meridians or spiritual points formed would determine one''s potential.


    If there were loopholes in the techniques and the maximum spiritual meridians that could be attained was 6, then it would be impossible to enter the next stage.


    For instance, the Seven Star Black Tiger Transfiguration performed by Black Tiger Taisui could only form a maximum of 7 spiritual meridians. Even if he were to condense the Divine Body, he could never match a Giant Spiritual Divine Body.


    Comparatively, the Qian Kun Giant Spiritual Technique could form 8 spiritual meridians. This was considered a relatively good technique in Da Qian.


    "A true top-notch technique, regardless of forming spiritual points of spiritual meridians, would be able to form 9! 9 is the extreme number! If such a technique is used to achieve the True Elemental Realm or True Divine, it would be the most powerful!"


    Fang Yuan was determined. "I cannot allow my Giant Eagle Metal Body Technique to stop at the 8th meridian. It must be able to break through the last meridian to become perfect!"


    He would either do it to perfection or forget about it. After all, he was a perfectionist.


    Glancing at the rock bed, he could see a pale Ruan Ming. It was evident that he was injured, but it was not life-threatening.


    After all, Fang Yuan was only here for the technique and not to wipe them out.


    "Initially, I wanted to compensate you. However, since you have snatched this technique from the Yang Family, It is only karma that I am snatching this back. If you are not happy, I can''t do anything about it..."


    After reading through Ruan Ming''s memories, Fang Yuan now knew that the uprising of Ruan Family was at the expense of Yang Family.


    Even the elder from Yan Family who had come to look for them for help was captured and tortured to reveal the technique and the secret vault of the Yang Family.


    From this, since he had Yang Fan''s memories, it was justified if he were to destroy the Ruan Family.


    Of course, Yang Fan did not help him to the extent that Fang Yuan would feel compelled to help him take revenge and wipe out the Ruan Family.


    As Fang Yuan looked back, he quickly felt a sense of fear all around.


    "They''re already here?"


    "And a highly skilled one too!"


    As he walked out of the save, he saw a man in black.


    The man was sitting on the branch of a pine tree and with the swaying of the branches, it appeared as though the man was as light as a feather, but his spiritual aura was extremely pressurizing, which could easily confuse others.


    "Are you the officials or part of the family? How did you find me?"


    Looking at the person, Fang Yuan was shocked. Ultimately, Da Qian was very different from the mainland, where he could do anything he wanted. Now, after being reckless, people would be on his tail.


    "I am Lin Qianye, the Vice Sect Head of Thousand Year Mountain! As for how I tracked you down, I''ll let you know after you die!"


    The man in black let out a sinister smile. He had a handsome face and an ivory white skin. As he smiled, he gave off the vibes of a poisonous snake.


    "Whoosh!"


    In his actualised dream world, the fire-type spiritual sword flickered and released its sword essence!


    "Not good!"


    With such a reaction from his instincts, Fang Yuan quickly retreated as a red sword sliced in front of his chest.


    "Peng!"


    A humongous force was felt. Even though he had the Sixth Elemental Force, he could not block the incoming force completely. With a sigh, the force struck his chest as he flew back.


    Lin Qianye kept his fist. "A dream master indeed! Furthermore... You''re in the Illusionary Divine stage!"


    "8th meridian?"


    As Fang Yuan flew backwards, a spiritual light glowed around him as he looked at the sword in his hands.


    This fire-type divine soldier was able to counter even tribulations from the heavens and was therefore undamaged. However, his arm felt a little numb and if he countered with all his force, it would not end up favourable for him.


    In front of him was a Wu Zong who had opened up 8 meridians!


    Not just that, his spiritual meridians did not appear on his back but was all around his body forming a weird pattern. With such a humongous force, he already had half the power of what a Divine Body would have!


    "Only with an extreme technique would you be able to achieve extreme cultivations?"


    Martial arts in the extreme should not be belittled!


    Of course, the power of dream masters was way beyond Wu Zongs. However, Fang Yuan''s cultivation as a dream master was still too low.


    Fang Yuan was able to be on par with Lin Qianye just by forming the Water Sword to form the Water-Fire Dual Sword Array. He did not even have to form all 8 swords.


    Without another word, Fang Yuan quickly took his leave.


    On him, as the Mountain River Pearl glittered, a pearl was being absorbed into his actualised dream world. It was the Freezing Pearl which he had obtained by luck in the Three World Mountain.


    The Freezing Pearl was a water-type spiritual treasure with a hint of coldness. As the 8 Gates Sword Array shook, there was a blue glow creeping up on the water-type sword as it was slowly formed.


    "You cannot run!"


    Lin Qianye would not let Fang Yuan go. With a leap, he rushed forward and gave chase.


    "Let the heavenly fire burn the ground!"


    Fang Yuan wielded the red sword and as the sword essence exploded, flames broke out everywhere, creating a burning inferno. "Ruan Ming is in the cave. If you want him dead, then continue to chase after me!"

 255 The Escape

    Cliff Region.


    This region was beside the Victorious East Region. The terrain was undulating and resembled a desert.


    Because of the harsh environmental conditions, the people here were slightly more uncivilised and brave. Therefore, a culture of ''swordsman'' was born, which was a different culture from the Dragon and Tiger Ranks in the Victorious East Region.


    At this point in time, in the desert, two swordsmen were fighting.


    As they were swordsmen, they wore bamboo hats and wielded swords. Their swordsmanship was superb and every strike was a deadly one.


    "Long Xuanfeng, give up the treasured sword and I''ll let you survive!"


    A swordsman clad in white robes looked fierce with a long scar on his face. He was being surrounded by 10 other swordsmen.


    Hearing the calls for him the surrender, he smiled as something glittered by his waist.


    "Clang clang!"


    As the swords sliced against each other, there was a distinct sound. Under the moonlight, many swords were broken into half, revealing the swordsmen''s shocked faces.


    Within seconds, there was a slit on each and every one of their necks as blood spurted out.


    Killing 12 people in a single stroke!


    After executing the secret technique, Long Xuanfeng took in a deep breath and looked at his treasured sword with joy. "Haha... with the help of Cold Moon, I can perfect the extreme sword technique and become the most powerful in Cliff Region!"


    "Whoooo!"


    As a strong wind blew across, there were two black dots on the horizon.


    The black dots were extremely quick and slowly, they became the silhouettes of two people.


    "Mmm? Who''s seeking death?"


    As he was lost in his thoughts, Long Xuanfeng looked in the direction of the two silhouettes.


    "Get lost, and don''t be in the way!"


    There was an impatient voice as a humongous force was felt. Without control, Long Xuanfeng fell backwards and the Cold Moon slipped out of his hands.


    "Ahh... My treasured sword!"


    As he exclaimed, he crawled to where the sword was. However, as he saw the Cold Moon stuck into the ground, there were 5 holes on it, allowing him to see through it.


    ...


    "Lin Qianye, you''re really persistent!"


    Such a small distraction was unable to pique Fang Yuan''s interest. As he looked at Lin Qianye who was giving chase, there was a look of fear on his face.


    Previously, he had used Ruan Ming''s life to threaten Lin Qianye for while.


    After 2 hours, Lin Qianye began to catch up to him again.


    Fortunately for him, he had cultivated in both spiritual technique and martial arts. Although he could not match up against Lin Qianye, he could still defend himself. Along the way, he had tried escaping and fighting back, and they had now entered the Cliff Region.


    By now, he had figured out how Lin Qianye could track him down.


    "He should be tracking me down based on my spiritual aura... Is this his increased sensitivity since he is about to condense the Divine Body?"


    He had tried to lose him multiple times but Lin Qianye had managed to catch up every single time. There was a menacing look in Fang Yuan''s eyes.


    In his actualised dream world, the Freezing Pearl had been fully absorbed and the Water Sword was halfway formed. There were also changes in his stats:


    "Name: Fang Yuan


    Essence: 36


    Spirit: 30


    Magic: 33


    Profession: Dream Soldier Master


    Cultivation: Illusionary Divine (1st Tier), Wu Zong (3rd Meridian)


    Technique: [Giant Eagle Metal Body Technique (Grade 4) (1%)], [Hundred Poison Golden Body (1st Refining)], [8 Gates Sword Array (2nd Sword) (30%)]


    Skill: [Medicine (Level 3)], [Botany (Level 5)]"


    ''I can try using the water-type sword essence now!''


    Fang Yuan seemed determined.


    "You have violated the rules of our sect. We will hunt you down no matter where you go! Do you think you can be smug just because you''re a dream master? I have killed dream masters before!"


    The cold voice of Lin Qian Ye was heard. To him, it was a surprise that this dream master had such a strong endurance.


    The stronger his opponent was, the more determined he was to kill him!


    This person had no backing and was not from the 5 powerful organisations. However, he was still strong and if left to survive, would bring them trouble in the future!


    "Whoosh!"


    As they continued the chase, son after, they could hear the sound of water gushing through a river. Just across a cliff, there was a huge river which was connected to the ocean.


    "We''re here!"


    Fang Yuan approached the cliff and leapt forward.


    "Don''t think of running away! Thousand Leaves Palm!"


    Behind, Lin Qianye gave chase as multiple shadows of his palms appeared and covered the sky.


    As Fang Yuan struck his palm downwards, water splashed out from the river and rained down like raindrops. "Watch out!"


    As the water evaporated, a blue sword appeared and struck towards Lin Qianye.


    "Eh?"


    Lin Qianye had been fighting against the fire sword for quite a while. Now that the cold water-type sword appeared, there was a layer of frost on his hands and he panicked a little.


    Of course, this was only because he was caught by surprise. As the spiritual inscriptions on his body glowed, the frost melted.


    "Fire Sword!"


    Fang Yuan could not let this opportunity slip by.


    He had chosen this place to strike in order to make use of the water from the river to strengthen his Water Sword. Quickly, he struck his Fire Sword out as well.


    As the red sword combined with the blue sword, there was the force of an explosion. "Water-Fire Dual Sword Array! Explode!"


    Of course, this was not the complete array. This was because the Water Sword had not been completely formed and was extremely unstable. However, Fang Yuan was leveraging on the instability of the Water Sword to result in the strongest possible explosion.


    "Rumble!"


    In mid-air, Lin Qianye could not dodge the sword and hand to counter it with his brute force.


    "Whoosh!"


    After the explosion, the red and blue sword essence dissipated, leaving the cliff with many holes.


    In the mess, Lin Qianye got up to his feet and appeared extremely pale. As he clutched on to his chest, two open wounds started to bleed profusely.


    "The spiritual aura is broken..."


    As he took in a deep breath and glanced at the flowing river, there was a reverse in the flow of energy in his body as he spat out a mouthful of blood.


    ...


    "Thousand Year Mountain... Lin Qianye?"


    After three days, Fang Yuan had swum down the river and emerged from an underwater ice block. With an explosion, his body was revealed.


    "I will take this revenge for I''m a gentleman!"


    Looking in the upstream direction, he snickered and left.


    With such a distance between the spiritual auras, Lin Qianye could no longer locate him.


    At this point in time, his array was still incomplete. If he wanted to go against him head to head, he would still lose. Therefore, it would be wiser to take his revenge later.


    "Now that the Thousand Year Mountain is investigating me, I should not return to Sand Region to bring trouble to the Qin Siblings..."


    "Fortunately that is just one person, we''ll see as the time goes..."


    As he looked around, he realised that the place was very foreign.


    After a long escape and swim through the river, he no longer knew the place.


    "I should look for a place to settle down for the night before trying to train my martial arts and strengthened my sword array..."


    Looking at the sun, he chose a direction and started to make his way. "Fortunately, I can access the Dream Realm anywhere in Da Qian, so it wouldn''t make a difference wherever I go!"


    Since he knew that he was still being chased after by Thousand Year Mountain and might have even caught the attention of the Imperial Court, he quickly changed his appearance and died his hair, adopting the look of a middle-aged man. Following the direction of the river, he arrived at a small town.


    After casually looking for an inn to stay and finding out where this place was, he realised that the town was called Fengxiang, under the jurisdiction of the Ming Region.


    Fang Yuan''s fortune was all in the Mountain River Pearl. After another half a month''s journey, he found a town and used his elemental crystals to purchase a small mansion.


    Da Qian had quite a lot of control over the happenings in the whole empire. Regardless if it was buying a mansion or doing other stuff, if one did not have an identity, they would be noticed.


    However, Fang Yuan''s method was simple.


    He looked for an average family and used his dream-accessing technique to alter their memories, allowing him to be recognised as a long-distance relative. Using elemental crystals and his relations with the people, he would be able to do anything and since he had no criminal records, the officials would not care that much as well.


    The middle-aged man which Fang Yuan had transformed into had no criminal records and could therefore successfully purchase the mansion for him to take cover.


    "Da Qian is different from other places. As long as I have elemental crystals, I can buy spiritual rice, spiritual vegetables and even spiritual water. They would even deliver it to my doorstep..."


    After taking a look at the kitchen, Fang Yuan was extremely satisfied.


    He would have hired a few servants, but he had too many secrets. Since this place was only a temporary holding place for him, he saw it as unnecessary trouble.


    "To think about it... I have seen in the Dream Realm that the most suitable rice for dream masters would be Yellow Grain Rice, as in ''Yellow Grain in every dream''. Unfortunately, this type of spiritual rice would surely be at least a Mystery Grade and is rather rare. If I have a plot of spiritual land in the future, I could buy some from the Dream Realm to plant?!"


    In the small town, the highest grade of rice that they would sell would only be of Yellow Grade, which was still sufficient for him to replenish his energy.


    After a full meal, Fang Yuan entered the Dream Realm.


    On the streets, there was a flash and Fang Yuan appeared.


    "Victorious East Region, Thousand Year Mountain!"


    As he arrived at the rock tablet, he paid a few contribution points and obtained some basic information.


    "Thousand Year Mountain is an influential sect in the Victorious East Region. The sect head is Venerable Longhu who had cultivated in the ''Dragon Tiger Hell Guarding Formula''. It has the potential to open up to 8 spiritual meridians and form the Dragon Tiger Divine Body. That is its True Divine, and he is ranked 13th in the Dragon Ranks!"


    "The Vice Sect Head is Lin Qianye and has a cultivation level of an 8th Meridian Wu Zong. He is trained in the Kurong Mysterious Technique and the Thousand Leaves Palm... he is ranked 5th in the Tiger Ranks!"


    ...


    "With a True Divine leading the sect, it is indeed rather troublesome... If I were to hire a dream master of comparable capabilities, I might not be able to afford it."


    As he thought about it, he contacted Feng Xinzi and briefly described the situation.


    "Oh? Brother, you have angered the Thousand Year Mountain?"


    This was a reaction he had expected. Feng Xinzi sounded calm, as though it was not a big deal.


    After all, Da Qian was too huge and dream masters were able to travel everywhere. Who would be able to control the dream masters?


    Needless to say, Feng Xinzi''s backing was much stronger compared to Thousand Year Mountain.


    "In fact, the Thousand Year Mountain is nothing much, except for Venerable Longhu. After all, he is a True Divine... Only 7th Tier Illusionary Divine dream masters would be able to deal with him!"


    Feng Xinzi sighed.


    The 7th Tier of Illusionary Divine was similar to the 7th spiritual meridian of Wu Zong and the 7th spiritual point of spiritual knights. However, the power of a 7th Tier Illusionary Divine dream master was much greater than the rest.


    Fang Yuan was stunned. Even Feng Xinzi himself was only around the 3rd to 4th Tier in the Illusionary Divine stage. After all, doing alchemy to produce a spiritual pill was different from creating a conscious mind.


    Spiritual pills were just a physical entity like a spiritual sword, unique in nature. However, a lifeform would be able to reproduce by itself and the difference between these two concepts was immeasurable.

 256 Reincarnation

    "However, I have an idea to ensure your safety!"


    On his jade inscription plate, Feng Xinzi''s spiritual will was brimming with confidence.


    "Oh? I''m willing to hear more about it!"


    Fang Yuan smiled and could already guess what Feng Xinzi wanted to offer. After all, he had yet to achieve a breakthrough in alchemy and therefore could not have the ability to protect him. Therefore, it was likely that he was going to recommend Fang Yuan to whoever his backing was.


    Indeed, Feng Xinzi continued. "The Thousand Year Mountain only dared to attack you because of the fact that you have no backing. The Realm Alliance is one of the five strongest organisations among the dream masters. If you are willing to join, looking at your potential and strength, you would surely be valued. What can the Thousand Year Mountain do to you?"


    "My potential and strength?"


    Fang Yuan was stunned as he slowly recalled


    His performance was not striking in the Hui Realm, but at least it was comparable to the other experienced dream masters. Therefore, people would assume that he was hiding his true skill before the exploration mission.


    ''In fact, it was because they were limited by the difference in realms and could only restore half of their abilities while I was at my peak...''


    Feng Xinzi was a 3rd to 4th Tier Illusionary Divine dream master and had only half of his abilities in the Hui Realm. On the other hand, he had used his full potential, and it was indeed similar. However, in reality, only Fang Yuan knew for himself the extent of his abilities.


    ''Unknowingly, I have now become a talent?''


    As he smiled, he replied. "This is a big thing... Let me consider!"


    "Of course. Know that the Realm Alliance has the least restrictions on dream masters. Furthermore, I will personally bring you through the alliance and therefore the path up will be much easier..."


    Feng Xinzi mumbled on before cutting off.


    "Most importantly... Although my potential is not bad, I have still yet to reach the stage of being an ultimate talent..."


    Fang Yuan shook his head and let out a bitter laugh.


    Feng Xinzi must have assumed that he was a talent.


    "It is possible to be trained to such a level, but my cultivation now is still too low to think about it... I''m afraid that if I were to enter the Realm Alliance, I would lose self-control..."


    "I need to train up!"


    Fang Yuan walked out of the rock tablet square and arrived at a corner. "Realm Spirit, I want to apply for a void space to carry out the locating of another realm!"


    "Ding! I have received your request and will deduct 100 contribution points!"


    A cold and mechanical voice was heard. In the next moment, Fang Yuan found himself in an empty space with the surroundings sealed.


    Based on the ability of the Realm Spirit, the void space which it had created would be strong enough to withstand the attacks of True Elemental spiritual knights and True Divine martial artists.


    "Based on the description by Venerable Dream Traverser, the first step would be to have an empty space as a base. Of course, it is possible to do it in my actualised dream world as well but that would be putting my life at risk. It would be safer to do it in the Dream Realm!"


    With the flip of his hand, a golden fruit was revealed. Around the fruit, there were chunks of golden runes around it, which made it look mysterious.


    However, he knew that this was not a real fruit but the coordinates for another realm, and it was merely taking up the physical shape of something else.


    "Dream-traversing to other worlds would still be the fastest way to train up!"


    Fang Yuan''s previous rewards made him wanted to try again.


    Furthermore, he could tell that the entire Da Qian was heavily monitored. Without a certain level of ability, his reckless actions would only attract the attention of the powerful and lead to his death.


    Compared to this, dream-traversing to other realms was less troublesome. If he was lucky, he would reap a lot of rewards and it was worth a try!


    "I am not hoping that I would find the source of dream masters. I am only hoping that I will arrive at a realm similar to the Hui Realm so that I can gain some realm energy and form a few more swords and I''ll be satisfied..."


    Looking around at the surroundings, Fang Yuan hesitated no more. He followed Venerable Dream Traverser''s description and started to poke at the golden fruit.


    "Rumble!"


    As the golden fruit shook, golden flames started to burn it. The runes slowly came together and circled the fruit like a river. Suddenly, it exploded and formed a door frame.


    With a force similar to a black hole, Fang Yuan''s body was sucked towards it.


    "Eh?"


    Fang Yuan wanted to slowly experience the feeling. However, he quickly became dizzy and a huge force which penetrated the realms was felt.His mind almost stopped.


    After a long while, he opened his eyes and a new world laid before him.


    ...


    This was a world full of water.


    There were rivers and streams, lakes and oceans covering the whole world. There was very little land as they were all submerged under all the water in the realm.


    In mid-air, it was concentrated with natural elemental energy. Of course, in his own world, it would be known as spiritual energy.


    On the 3rd day of the 7th month, there was a slight drizzle.


    As the mist dissipated, there were huge water droplets which condensed on the lotus leaves. As the water droplets trickled down and into the lake, small waves were created


    "Whoosh!"


    A mild wind blew across and as the lotus leaves swayed in the wind, a bluish-green ocean stretched to the horizon, combining seamlessly with the sky.


    There was a splash as a black carp leapt out of the water.


    "Mmm... it seems that this is not just a large pond, but a lake!"


    In the black carp, Fang Yuan''s released his spiritual will, not knowing if he should laugh or cry. "Who would''ve guessed... In this world, animals are the ones ruling it and therefore, I have become an animal as well!"


    To him, this was nothing much. After all, he had such experiences in previous dream-accessing moments. Quickly, he adapted to having no hands and legs as he trained by swimming in the water just by using his body.


    After exploring, he was clear about where he was.


    He was in a big lake which stretched across a large area and he was possessing a black carp not longer than a foot. If he were to be caught, he could make the perfect meal.


    There was a saying among the animals in Da Qian. "Carps have hard fins, teeth, whiskers and are not the ideal meal!"


    With black scales, this was about how Fang Yuan appeared now.


    Furthermore, this water realm seemed to have more dangers than he could imagine.


    All around there were ferocious fishes and water beasts. Even in the vicinity of the lotus flowers, it was not any safer.


    To think about it, even for such a small fish, it could have its own spirituality. This might be attributed to the concentrated natural elemental energy in the environment.


    "Since I''m a fish, I am the ruler of the waters! Let''s get to the task at hand, which is to train up!"


    Fang Yuan came to the lotus leaves and concealed himself in the shadows of the leaves.


    "Big fishes will eat small fishes, small fishes will eat shrimps and shrimps will eat dirt! I am rather small and should try eating shrimps to fill my belly..."


    Fang Yuan comforted himself for the fact that he did not possess a shrimp and therefore did not have to eat dirt.


    Furthermore, the shrimps in the river were fat and delicious and it would be alright to eat them raw.


    As he came to a spot, he quickly swallowed a few shrimps, controlled his energy and attempted to eat another two small fishes which were smaller than the size of the baby finger. With a mouthful, he slowly digested them.


    After a satisfactory burp, he came to a slit in a rock to rest and started to explore his body.


    "Stats!"


    With just a thought, a window appeared:


    "Name: Fang Yuan


    Race: [Black Carp (10 Years)]


    Essence: 0.3


    Spirit: 0.3


    Magic: 3.3


    Profession: ???


    Cultivation: ???


    Technique: ???


    Skill: [Medicine (Level 3)], [Botany (Level 5)]"


    ...


    "Alright, since I''m a fish, I should be fortunate to preserve 10% of my initial magic proficiency points..."


    After looking at his stats board, Fang Yuan was speechless.


    With the unique ability to fix his stats, he could quickly restore his abilities.


    However, how could a fish train? This was a worthy question.


    "Since I have the most magic points, I am most suitable to be a dream master and train techniques which would require my essence and magic!"


    The good thing was that he was experienced. Regarding his predicament, he could quickly come to a conclusion. "Furthermore, it is unsuitable for me to train like a human and therefore I cannot restore my old techniques. However, I did discover a few techniques in the Golden Dragon God''s palace the other time. Although this realm is different from that, the differences are minute and I should be able to train them!"


    "Of course, based on my current situation, I should hide. Otherwise, it would be wasteful if a big fish were to come along and swallow me up..."


    Fang Yuan was determined.


    At this moment, a strong current was felt as the river tumbled into an ocean, disrupting everything beneath the water.


    "What is this?"


    A strong force was felt underwater. This was the demonstration of power from the strong to the weak, as though the powerful beings were calling the weaker ones to gather.


    Beneath the lotus flower, back black carps, red carps, grass fishes, water snakes, shrimps and crabs and a few other entirely new species appeared, forming up a line.


    On the lake, there was a golden wave. A few ten thousand carps had formed a line and became a wave which shimmered on the surface of the lake.


    "The Water God is calling for us!"


    In the water current, a green-faced water guardian appeared with huge clams under its feet and a double-headed spear in his hands. With big eyes, a wide mouth and a toad''s face, it grabbed onto a few huge fishes and poked them.


    The poked fishes tumbled and started to grow hands and legs, somewhat resembling a human. The only thing was that they had a weird appearance and scaly skin.


    "Transformation?"


    With a strong spiritual will, Fang Yuan was still in control of his body as he hid in the slit of the rock. As he witnessed the scene before him, he started to laugh.


    This transformation method was used by demons to strengthen their subordinates and servants. Their methods were ruthless and imperfect. The animals which they transfigured would appear ferocious-looking and would lose a part of their spirituality! They would have to be a servant for life.


    ''If the river gods were the ones transfiguring, I could still consider, but you are just a water guard...''


    As he thought to himself, he hid deeper into the slit.


    "I, the Qi Lake Water God, have completed my cultivation. As to who will now own Qi Lake, it is up to fate..."


    After a long while, a loud and powerful voice was heard.


    "Qi Lake Water God? It seems that he is the God of this place. Completed his cultivation? Is he going to the heavens after this?"


    As Fang Yuan made wild guesses, he noticed the golden glow dissipating and the water creatures started to swim away. He decided to be a cowardly tortoise.


    With his current abilities, even if he were to gain rewards, it would be almost impossible for him to take it. Instead, he might even lose his life.


    Rather than risking his life, he would rather quietly hide and train.

 257 9 Transformations

    Qi Lake, within the Lotus Region.


    All the fishes were feasting as autumn arrived in order to stock up food for the winter.


    The lotus leaf rustled as a ferocious black shadow appeared. It revealed its sharp fangs as it swiftly bit a water snake into two and devoured it.


    Blood flowed as the ferocious aura caused the surrounding aquatic animals to flee.


    This black shadow ate quickly, ferociously and greedily. It had just finished devouring the water snake before it set its eyes on the surrounding fishes and shrimps. With a wave of its tail, it gave chase, causing droplets of water to splash everywhere and startling a flock of seagulls.


    "Eat! Eat again! My newly improved ''Nine Steps of Dragon Transformation Formula'' is most suitable for the water dwellers to cultivate. The first phase is to increase the appetite and increase the digestive abilities. This is to accumulate spiritual energy through constantly eating!"


    This black carp was naturally Fang Yuan.


    At this moment, he took another look at his stats:


    "Name: Fang Yuan


    Race: [Black Carp (20 years)]


    Essence: 3.6


    Spirit: 3.6


    Magic: 4


    Profession:???


    Cultivation:???


    Technique: [Nine Steps of Dragon Transformation Formula (1st Transformation)]


    Skill: [Medicine (Level 3)], [Botany (Level 5)]"


    This type of stats was considered not bad within the small Lotus Region. Coupled with the previous few months of stuffing himself with food, his body had grown to 3 feet long which was around 1 metre. He could now be considered a fish monster.


    Of course, in this realm where all sorts of monsters and demons existed, his type of monstrosity could not make it to the list.


    "20 years? It seems that the years at the back does not represent age but rather power?"


    Fang Yuan had a realization.


    The stat window was fixed. If he was reborn as a person, he would be able to return to his peak if he managed to regain his skills!


    Furthermore, as a unique beast, before he reached the peak of his stats, he would not experience a bottleneck and as such, could raise his power crazily the whole way.


    "This Nine steps of Dragon Transformation Technique is a technique which I obtained from the Golden Dragon God''s Palace and is most suitable for black carps. There are a total of nine steps and the first 3 transformations are carp transformations followed by the black snake transformation, the python transformation, the giant venomous snake transformation, the horned dragon transformation, the water dragon transformation and finally, the true dragon transformation! Legend has it that as long as the 9 steps of transformation are completed, regardless of the original race, one can transform into a true dragon!"


    "It''s a shame that one can only reach the water dragon transformation with the Golden Dragon God''s technique. I have also made changes to the first 3 transformation technique to make it more suitable for the body of a carp and this realm as well."


    "Given my fixed stats, I would not experience any bottleneck before I reached the true dragon transformation!"


    Fang Yuan''s gaze was solemn as he continued to feast as the black carp. Regardless of whether it was a fish, worm, snake, or bird, Fang Yuan quickly bit it to its death in one bite and devoured it, transforming it into vital elemental energy.


    Of course, he would not stupidly provoke foes that were stronger than him. Even if the fish was one head length shorter than him, he would let the fish go. He was king of those water dwellers within 1 square centimetre in length and he specifically chooses fish or water dwellers that were less than a foot long, using a large quantity of fish or water dwellers as a supplement to his cultivation.


    After an unknown period of time, he felt the hot sensation that was in his fish abdomen broke through a certain gate and flowed through his entire body.


    A small whirlpool was generated within the water region as the black carp, which was originally 3 feet in length expanded and in an instant, became 6 feet long, which was close to 2 metres.


    "2nd transformation!"


    Fang Yuan''s eyes shone as he looked at his own stats:


    "Name: Fang Yuan


    Race: [Black Carp (33 years)]


    Essence: 6


    Spirit: 6


    Magic: 6


    Profession: ???


    Cultivation: ???


    Technique: [Nine Steps of Dragon Transformation Technique (2nd Transformation)],


    [Water Controlling Technique]


    Skill: [Medicine (Level 3)], [Botany (Level 5)]"


    "Water Controlling Technique?"


    The increase in his stats was expected. However, he was shocked when he saw the technique.


    He was thinking when a few writings appeared within his sea of knowledge as if it were logic brought about by the heavens and earth.


    However, his current abilities were very weak and he could only control the water flow to increase his speed.


    "The ability to control water? That is not bad at all!"


    If he was an ordinary fish-type spirit, he would only be able to control the water flow.


    However, Fang Yuan was not ordinary. After considering for a while, he suddenly leapt out of the water and shot a water arrow from his fish mouth.


    "Pff!"


    The strength of the water arrow was considerably huge. A white water bird, which was originally resting, was unable to dodge the arrow. It was struck by the water arrow and


    fell into the lake.


    Fang Yuan immediately pounced on it and devoured it.


    "The ability to control water should increase as the spirit''s cultivation increases, as of now, I am able to comprehend the minor techniques of increasing speed and forming water arrows, water gun and using water protect myself. In the future, my power will continue to increase..."


    Fang Yuan''s eyes flashed as he realized the benefits of this dream realm.


    "Even though the cultivation here is not transferable to other realms, my comprehension of water-type techniques are valuable...even if I achieved nothing in this dream-traverse, I will be able to condense the water-type sword 5 times faster when I go back. That is more valuable compared to anything else!"


    After the 2nd transformation, Fang Yuan''s capabilities increased with the Water Controlling Technique.


    Now, he dared to strike those fishes that were of his size. After all, those type of fish could be counted as spirits. Their spirit and blood were thick and one of them was equivalent to tens or hundreds of normal fish!


    His hunting area had expanded from a small corner to the whole of the Lotus Region as well.


    "Water gun!"


    Fang Yuan flicked his tail as he fixed his eyes on a big green fish.


    The fish might not be as big as he was. However, it was still around 5 feet long with shiny scales. It was also a predator in this region.


    He was naturally unafraid as he swam forward and condense a stream of water gun.


    This was a water-type move which spiralled and as such, it was most suitable for an underwater attack.


    The big green fish was startled at first when it saw the black carp approaching. After overcoming its shock, it swam forward fiercely and was struck by the water gun. In an instant, a large hole appeared on its body as the scales flew in all directions.


    Fang Yuan did not wait and instead, rushed forward and severed its nerves in one clean bite, sending the fish to its death. Soon after, he started to devour the fish.


    "Good! There is no doubt that this is spirit grade. This spirit and blood are uncommon and of importance to me!"


    Fang Yuan felt that his vital elemental energy was supplemented way beyond what was normal as he ate the meat of the fish. It seemed that the big green fish could be considered a spirit. It was a pity that some of its spiritual knowledge was not yet attained and as such, it was muddleheaded and could only act based on its instinct.


    Fang Yuan felt that his vital elemental energy increased quickly with the consumption of food. Unknowingly, his body grew by another foot which was a cause for celebration.


    "The first 3 transformations of the Nine Steps of Dragon Transformation Formula focus on the storing of the vital elemental energy. I do not experience any bottlenecks and as


    such, I can quickly achieve my cultivation!"


    He quickly devoured the big green fish till only the bones were left. After which, he used his spiritual will to scan the surroundings and discovered that something was amiss.


    "Who is there?"


    "Ahhh...no...don''t eat me!"


    A scallop the size of a millstone appeared from below the silt. It seemed as though it wanted to escape by sprouting water.


    "Stay!"


    Fang Yuan laughed coldly. This level of ability to control water was nowhere near his level of water control. With his manipulation of the water current, he swam to the scallop as if he was looking for an area to strike.


    "Ohhh....Please don''t eat me, I am not tasty!"


    A wave of spiritual will transmitted from within the scallop as a Yin spirit appeared. It took on a shape of a beautiful young girl. "My flesh is very smelly, very smelly..."


    "Haha¡­..rest assured, since you have already achieved spiritual awareness and is able to give your divine spirit form, I will not eat you!"


    Fang Yuan revealed his Yin spirit which took on the shape of a youth in black clothing as he used his spiritual will to communicate.


    In his heart, he felt pleasantly surprised.


    The demonic strength of the scallop in front of him was obviously lesser than the big green fish. However, it was able to attain spiritual awareness and even project its Yin spirit, which was hard to achieve.


    Compared to the scallop, the green fish was a simple being. Even amongst the demon race, they were not of the same level.


    "You really won''t eat me?"


    It was obvious that the little girl had little experience. She was frightened till she teared.


    "I really won''t eat you!"


    Fang Yuan had to hold back his laughter.


    The spiritual energy in this realm was thick. One would be able to project their Yin spirit if they managed to achieve their divine spirit.


    The Yin spirits in this realm were very innocent. For example, the little girl in front of him revealed herself without much thought. If he had any ill intentions, he would be able to destroy its soul.


    "That''s good!"


    The little girl patted her chest as the scallop opened and closed its mouth, revealing the snow-white flesh and the pearl within.


    "Idiot!"


    Fang Yuan''s spiritual will moved forward and slapped her forehead. "Don''t trust what strangers say so easily. Furthermore, don''t anyhow reveal the light of your pearl or it will cause you much trouble!"


    "Roger!"


    The young girl cradled her head as she cried softly in pain. She looked at the condensed spiritual will which revealed a far superior Fang Yuan. She wanted to cry but no tears came.


    "That''s enough, how did you project your form?"


    Fang Yuan swam at her side and asked randomly.


    "I face the moon and absorb the energy every night. After a while, I manage to do this!"


    The little girl could feel Fang Yuan''s kindness which drew her closer.


    "Do you face the moon and absorb the Emperor Flow Serum or the Chilling Night Essence?"


    Fang Yuan looked at the innocent girl and adored her in his heart. He touched her forehead. "I show pass you a technique. Next time, you will be able to cultivate faster as you face the moon and cultivate! Also, since you do not have a name, I shall call you Luo Zhu!"


    At this point, he touched Luo Zhu''s forehead with a finger.


    Luo Zhu swooned and attained much knowledge. She smiled sweetly. "Thank you, brother[1]!"


    Her brows furrowed as she asked sadly, "Why do you eat so many fishes?"


    "That is because I am cultivating!"


    Fang Yuan looked into the horizon. "It is just that our dao is different!"


    "Rumble!"


    At this moment, above the water surface, a streak of white lightning flashed as the dark storm clouds loomed overhead, bringing with it an immense pressure.


    "It''s here again!"


    Luo Zhu was so frightened her divine spirit immediately hid in the scallop and dared not come out. This was a heavenly tribulation. She was frightened even though it was far off and there was a water body between them.


    "Hmmm, recently, there is a lot of lightning in Qi Lake!"


    Fang Yuan''s divine spirit was unafraid of the thunder. His eyes were solemn as he remembered the voice of the water god. His feeling that time was running out increased.


    "It is considered fate if I am still able to visit the beach after I achieve a breakthrough in my cultivation!"


    The water god rewarded his allies generously and yet, there were 3 tribulations outside- heaven, earth and people!


    Previously, he distributed his wealth in order to gain some karma.


    However, the tribulation outside was vast. Could it be overcome easily? This was a good opportunity for the other water dwellers and those who covet his position.


    [1] A term of endearment to an older person.

 258 Transforming Into A Dragon

    Ever since he had met Luo Zhu, Fang Yuan started to explore further and began to make friends with a few spirits.


    To be labelled as a spirit, they had to have a hardy physical body and had to be spiritually aware.


    Fang Yuan would not eat these creatures. Instead, he would befriend them and gather information from them.


    He still preferred the big green fish with strong energy but spiritually unaware of what was happening.


    After his eating spree, he had grown to as long as 3 metres and as he swam, waves swept above him. He was a bully in the region.


    If this place was a small lake or river, he could create chaos and might even be respected as a Water Dragon King.


    Of course, there were many powerful creatures in Qi Lake and the little cultivation of his was only average.


    "Another one!"


    As he swam in the lake, his body glowed black. He would no longer pay attention to smaller fishes.


    "My body is surging with elemental force. If I swallow another spirit, I can surely achieve the 3rd Transformation!"


    Normal fishes would not be able to train up so quickly.


    "Do I really need to attack those spirits? If I do, I''ll have to kill them in one bite must hide from others, otherwise, trouble would come looking for me..."


    It was alright for Fang Yuan to eat the other normal fishes to cultivate himself. However, it was considered overboard if he were to eat the creatures with spiritual awareness.


    Considering his ability now, he still did not have the power to go against the unspoken rule of not attacking creatures with spiritual awareness.


    As he swam and looked out for potential targets, he unknowingly arrived at where Luo Zhu was.


    With his spiritual will, he scanned the surroundings and suddenly became enraged. With the flick of his tail, he rushed over.


    "You indecent thing, hand the pearl over!"


    In front, Luo Zhu refused to open her clam, and there was a soft crying voice of a little girl.


    Outside, there was a ferocious sawtooth fish bigger than Fang Yuan''s current size. He had a slim body and a swordlike mouth filled with teeth as sharp as a saw. There were spikes on its tail as well and a Yin Spirit the shape of a middle-aged man was above it. "Hand it over! If you do not, I''ll break your shell open and destroy you!"


    He was extremely quick and as he swam behind Luo Zhu, he aimed before charging at her with full speed.


    "Bang!"


    After a huge tremor, there was a big hole in her shell and Luo Zhu was wailing loudly.


    "How dare you!"


    Although it was only normal for the strong to eat the weak, Fang Yuan was Luo Zhu''s friend and he had to help her.


    Seeing the sawtooth fish attempting to charge at her again, Fang Yuan rushed out and rammed into his stomach, biting it with his sharp teeth.


    "Kacha!"


    He had cultivated his sharp teeth. For the purpose of biting and digestion, he had strengthened it, and it was as hard as metal. Immediately, there was an open wound in the sawtooth fish''s stomach, as Fang Yuan bit a piece of flesh from him.


    "Ah... How dare you!"


    As the middle-aged man screamed, his Yin Spirit returned to his body, and the sawtooth fish appeared more ferocious than ever.


    "Water spear!"


    As his spiritual will shook, two swirling water spears appeared and penetrated through the sawtooth''s wound, destroying his insides.


    "This is impossible..."


    A wave of thought came from the eyes of the sawtooth fish.


    Although they were about the same size, the sawtooth fish was a natural predator and would have the advantage over normal fishes like carps.


    Never would he have thought that this black carp was a mutated fish!


    With a feeling of unjust, the sawtooth fish continued to rush forward instead of retreating and was ready to fight for his life with Fang Yuan.


    "Haha, do you think I''ll be afraid of you?!"


    Fang Yuan knew his strengths and was aware that he was the strongest among all creatures in the local region. He wouldn''t be afraid of even the biggest creatures. With the flick of his tail, he smacked the sawtooth fish and followed up with a bite, pulling of flesh with every mouth.


    "Brother, please spare me! Spare me!"


    After their exchange, the sawtooth fish was at a disadvantage and was under Fang Yuan''s total control. There was nothing he could do to release himself and could only reveal himself as a Yin Spirit to beg for his life.


    "Hmph, since you intend to harm my friend, I cannot let you go!"


    Fang Yuan exclaimed as he rolled his eyes. Finally, he bit onto the head of the sawtooth fish.


    "Ah..."


    The middle-aged man exclaimed as his spirit attempted to escape.


    Although he had lost his physical body and that the Yin Spirit would slowly die with it, he would still have a slight chance of survival if fate allows.


    Of course, Fang Yuan would not let him survive. Quickly, he released his Yin Spirit as well and fired a water arrow at him, destroying his Yin Spirit.


    "This is god given!"


    Looking at the huge sawtooth fish corpse, Fang Yuan quickly gobbled him up in happiness.


    He was only halfway done but he could feel a warm surge of energy breaking through something in his body.


    On his stats window, the figures changed:


    "Name: Fang Yuan


    Race: [Black Carp (66 Years)]


    Essence: 12


    Spirit: 12


    Magic: 12


    Profession: ???


    Cultivation: ???


    Technique: [Nine Steps of Dragon Transformation Formula (3rd Transformation)], [Water Controlling Technique (Grade 2)]


    Skill: [Medicine (Level 3)], [Botany (Level 5)]"


    "Indeed, I''m at the 3rd Transformation! Could the 66 Years refer to my cultivation level? That my abilities are comparable to a water spirit that has cultivated for 66 years?"


    Fang Yuan was deep in his thoughts as he looked at his stats window.


    "Brother!"


    As the clam opened, Luo Zuo invited Fang Yuan over.


    "Didn''t I tell you not to let anyone see that pearl of yours? Look at what happened!"


    Fang Yuan was in a good mood as he stroked the little girl''s forehead.


    "I''ve learnt!"


    Luo Zhu tugged at Fang Yuan''s sleeves as she examined him with curiosity. "Eh? Brother, when did you change your appearance? You have a beard as well!"


    "This is a transformation. With enough spiritual energy, I would be able to start the next stage of condensing!"


    Fang Yuan''s Yin Spirit examined his own body as well.


    His body was originally larger but now, it had become shortened. This was due to the fact that the energy in his body had been purified.


    Even so, his glittering scales and longer whiskers made him looked more experienced and powerful. More importantly, his water-type skills had improved.


    "In the Nine Steps of Dragon Transformation Formula, the first three transformations would be to form the basics. It would be difficult to achieve a breakthrough to the 4th Transformation!"


    Looking at his black carp body, he was lost in his thoughts.


    In the Nine Steps of Dragon Transformation Formula, there was a difficulty in the 4th Transformation. It was called ''Carp Leaping Over the Dragon''s Gate''.


    This would involve his physical body changing, which was a huge thing.


    After all, with the body of a carp, he could at most be a demon in a river. Only by leaping over the Dragon''s Gate and gaining the properties of a dragon could there be a future for him.


    "To think about it, I was fortunate enough to possess this black carp, since it is related to dragons. That way, I would have the affinity to become a dragon! If I were to possess a crab or shrimp, I would really cry."


    "Kacha!"


    At this moment, there was the sound of an explosion on the surface of the river. Purple lightning struck down like pillars of heaven.


    This was a different threat from before, and Fang Yuan was stunned.


    "This is..."


    Without caring about Luo Zhu, Fang Yuan quickly floated to the surface of the lake.


    As he arrived on top, he witnessed dark clouds covering the sun and moon. Lightning flashed down towards the centre of the lake.


    ''This is the power of the heavens!''


    No matter how many times he had seen this before, it would strike fear into him every single time.


    "The Water God is finally going to experience the tribulation!"


    As a wave of water spread across the surface of the lake, many spirits floated up as well and were all shocked as they witnessed the lightning.


    No matter how many creatures there were, all of them could only hide like Fang Yuan. There were only a few who were able to release their Yin Spirit, and even Luo Zhu could not do it.


    There was an old creature with a white beard sighing.


    Beside him, there was a well-built man with a black face and brute spiritual aura.


    "Brother Gui, Brother Zhu!"


    Fang Yuan greeted them.


    Both of them quickly returned a greeting. "Congratulations, Brother Fang, on your improvements in cultivation!"


    Fang Yuan knew the both of them. They were the spirits nearby. Before he had made the breakthrough, he had even thought about eating them.


    The white-bearded creature was Gui Zhong, a green-haired tortoise. He was the oldest among all of them and was around a thousand years old. Brother Zhu, on the other hand, was a crocodile and was similar to Fang Yuan in a sense where he also trained up by eating other animals.


    At this point in time, as the three of them looked at the lightning crackle down, they appeared extremely solemn.


    "Water God''s tribulation?"


    Fang Yuan acted as though he was confused. "Please explain."


    "Ah..."


    Gui Zhong sighed. "The Water God of Qi Lake was originally a green python. Although he had the properties of a dragon and had once ruled over an area, he was ultimately not a dragon!"


    "After a hundred years, a snake would transform into a python, and after another five hundred years, the python would finally transform into a dragon... Ah, the Water God has painstakingly trained for five hundred years and has good karma. However, to become a dragon, it still has to undergo a lightning tribulation! Not just that, he will have to undergo a human tribulation as well, and I''m not sure if the Water God will be able to make it through..."


    Fang Yuan remained silent.


    The few hundred mile radii of the Qi Lake and the presence of the Water God would surely attract a lot of attention from everywhere.


    "Previously, the Water God had made used of his good karma to delay his tribulation. Who knows if he had cleared his human tribulation as well... He can no longer delay it and with the lightning, he had to face it squarely..."


    As soon as Gui Zhong finished his sentence, a purple streak of lightning crackled across the sky, engulfing the entire sky in a white glow like a pillar from the heavens.


    In the middle of the lightning, there was a black shadow roaring.


    "Roar!"


    Suddenly, there was a powerful dragon''s roar.


    All the spiritual energy in the vicinity of Qi Lake quickly gathered around the black shadow.


    "Good!"


    Witnessing this, Gui Zhong was jubilant. "With his good karma and the help from the spiritual energy around the lake, he is likely to make it!"


    Just as he ended, a few streaks of black smoke rushed towards the Water God with much hostility.


    It was evident that some of the black streaks of smoke were from the powerful demons in Qi Lake as they rushed up to disrupt the transference of spiritual energy to the Water God.


    "Rumble!"


    As the final lightning struck down, the silhouette of a dragon was struck and a pitiful dragon''s roar was heard in the minds of every creature living in the lake.


    "Water God..."


    Gui Zhong was stunned. Seeing a water dragon falling down and breaking into two parts as black smoke surrounded it, he was speechless.


    "Hehe... hehe..."


    At the side, the crocodile gave a snicker with a hint of worry. After all, he also had properties of a dragon and he could end up like the Water God!

 259 Good and Bad Fortune

    "Splatter!"


    After the lightning tribulation, as the clouds disappeared, large raindrops began to pelter on the surface of the lake.


    A red streak of light shot up into the sky, illuminating the entire lake.


    It gave off a tempting vibe as the creatures around the lotus flowers were beginning to get attracted to it, especially the crocodile.


    "Ah... It seems that the Water God has passed on. This is the dragon''s blood spilling into the lake!"


    Even though the Water God of Qi Lake had not become a real dragon, it already had its blood. Although it was still far from being a dragon, his destruction meant that it would be extremely hard for anyone to attempt to transform into a dragon.


    "Whoosh!"


    It was as though a gunshot went off as fishes swam frantically to the centre of the lake.


    "This object... Please don''t snatch it from me, the two of you!"


    The crocodile snarled and disappeared into the water in a glow of light.


    Tthe crocodile appeared once more, but this time covered in a thick scaly armour as it made its way clumsily into the centre of the lake.


    "Brother Gui, why are you not after it?"


    Fang Yuan looked at Gui Zhong and smiled.


    "The competition is intense and there are a few powerful demons among them. I am but a bag of bones, what can I do? Furthermore... I am too slow... Why are you not trying, brother?"


    Gui Zhong replied as he glanced at Fang Yuan with curiosity.


    "The current is too strong there, and I''m afraid I would be lost!"


    Fang Yuan smiled.


    In reality, both the carp and the tortoise were related to dragons and would naturally have the properties of the dragon. Therefore, they did not have to obtain it from external sources.


    Therefore, he could swim around calmly with Gui Zhong.


    Fang Yuan initially had the thought of reaping the rewards from the Water God, but after seeing the tribulation and the intense competition among the demons, he gave up on the thought.


    Based on his current cultivation, it would be suicide if he were to try to snatch the dragon''s essence in the middle of the lake.


    The crocodile, although spiritually aware, was attracted to the centre by his instincts. It was unknown if its instinct was a good thing or a bad thing.


    "If there''s nothing else, I''ll carry on with my cultivation!"


    After finishing his piece, Fang Yuan returned his Yin Spirit into his body and flicked his tail. Bidding goodbye to Luo Zhu, he promptly disappeared into the depths.


    Gui Zhong remained speechless. "He is humble and composed, and can even resist against such a strong temptation. This black fish is mysterious..."


    Looking at the centre of the lake, he snickered. "Dragon''s blood? Hehe... Do they really think that the Water God''s blood is dragon''s blood? How could one possibly obtain dragon properties so easily?"


    Beneath him, a huge shadow appeared. It was a huge green-haired tortoise with streaks of gold on its shell.


    "With the death of the Water God, the Qi Lake will return to its usual chaos. Why should I get involved in all these? I''ll take a rest! And we''ll see what to do after a hundred-year-long dream..."


    With a flash, his Yin Spirit returned to his body and disappeared.


    "Bloop! Bloop!"


    Bubbles were released as the green tortoise started to sink downwards like a heavy rock.


    ...


    "How could they think that it would be so easy to get dragon properties?"


    After calming Luo Zhu down, Fang Yuan swam away as his Yin Spirit chuckled.


    Although there was a chance for his carp body to activate its dragon properties, the chances were extremely low. If he were to obtain real dragon''s blood, he would be able to transform entirely and his future would be limitless.


    "However, a normal water dragon''s blood would be poisonous. It would be extremely difficult to try and get the drop of real dragon''s blood amidst all the competition!"


    As he swam gracefully, he swallowed another small fish. "I shall watch the show from afar..."


    In the blink of an eye, 7 days had passed.


    Indeed, the crocodile did not return. A few mutated fish returned instead. Although they did not get the dragon properties, they were still fortunate enough not to be poisoned by the water dragon''s blood. All of them were fat looking and filled with elemental force.


    Seeing this, Fang Yuan was jubilant. He had decided that from that day onwards, he would target these mutated fish.


    "Whoosh!"


    Underwater, two streams of water swirled into water spears which pierced through a white fish.


    This white fish was a few feet long and was much larger than Fang Yuan. More importantly, the scale on it was golden, which made it unusual.


    Fang Yuan had relied on his strong stats and Water Controlling Technique to kill the other fish.


    "Although these fish did not get the water dragon''s true blood to gain their dragon properties, they had taken in the water dragon''s spiritual aura and benefitted from it... By slowly eating them, I will slowly consume the water dragon''s spiritual aura and increase the possibility of me leaping through the Dragon''s Gate..."


    He looked at his own body.


    He was originally 8 inches but now, he was only 3 inches long. His scales were glittering with a dull gold hue, and his whiskers were long. Every inch of his body was perfection.


    "Am I finally at this stage?"


    Fang Yuan felt that he was at his limits, and took a quick look at his stats window:


    "Name: Fang Yuan


    Race: [Black Carp (99 Years)]


    Essence: 17


    Spirit: 17


    Magic: 17


    Profession: ???


    Cultivation: ???


    Technique: [Nine Steps of Dragon Transformation Technique (3rd Transformation)], [Water Controlling Technique (Grade 2)]


    Skill: [Medicine (Level 3)], [Botany (Level 5)]"


    ...


    "No matter how concentrated the spiritual energy is in this realm, the limit for carps is 100 years. I am already at this stage... I either go all out and leap through the Dragon''s Gate, or I become nothing!"


    "Of course, what are the things I can take from this realm that would benefit me? Or should I say, what can I take from this realm..."


    Fang Yuan had already tested the theory out. The rules which govern this realm was much stricter than the rules of reality in Hui Realm.


    The connection between him and his actualised dream world was limited and it was arduous for him to even harness the sword''s essence. It was even more difficult for him to transfer anything into the actualised dream world.


    "Dragon''s pearl, dragon''s properties... Or the natural spiritual meridians... and the position of Water God. Everything is a mystery..."


    After giving it much thought, these were the few things which he could attempt to transfer to his actualised dream world. However, as he had learnt before, he still needed to restore his abilities.


    Without abilities, he could not even defend himself!


    As he was thinking to himself, there was a sudden stream of current ahead as many creatures started to rush towards the lotus flowers.


    "Brother, save me!"


    The one in front was Zhu Tong, the crocodile. His body was covered in wounds as he dyed the water red.


    Seeing Fang Yuan, his eyes widened as he quickly rushed towards him.


    "You deserve to die!"


    Fang Yuan''s spiritual will was enraged. "Zhu Tong! How dare you bring trouble to me!"


    "Water spears!"


    Within seconds, 6 to 7 water spears were fired at the crocodile.


    With the strength of his spiritual will and his Water Controlling Technique, the water spears he had fired were comparable to arrows or even cannons from ships!


    "Pu! Pu!"


    Even the scales of the crocodile could not deflect the water spears. As the water spears pierced through, blood exploded from him.


    Zhu Tong''s Yin Spirit appeared and smiled. "Who would''ve thought that... I would die at the hands of my own brother..."


    Since his physical body had died, his soul would not be able to sustain for long. The figure of the well-built man slowly disappeared. In a sigh, a golden glow shot out of the crocodile and landed on Fang Yuan''s head.


    "This is..."


    With his spiritual will on guard, Fang Yuan could control the glow if it were to harm him.


    However, after examination, he realised that it was a map.


    "That ... black fish, hand over the map of Water God''s secret mansion, or I''ll eat you up!"


    As fishes behind gave chase, the water guardian standing on clams appeared once again, looking ferocious. It was the same one which Fang Yuan had seen before.


    "Water God''s secret mansion?"


    Fang Yuan remained speechless as he looked at the crocodile corpse.


    It seems that the crocodile was rather lucky to have obtained the map. However, he was no longer alive to enjoy the reward.


    Of course, by passing on the treasure map to Fang Yuan, he wanted to bring trouble to Fang Yuan!


    Seeing the face of the water guardian, Fang Yuan knew that even if he were to hand it over, he would still be killed.


    After all, anyone who encountered the treasure map would remember it in their spiritual wills.


    "Go!"


    With the pressure from the water guardian and the assistance he had from the other water spirits, Fang Yuan was pressurized to make a decision.


    Seeing this, he quickly flicked his tail and swam away.


    "Hey! Where are you going!"


    These water spirits were naive. Only after Fang Yuan had swum for a distance did they realise what was happening. They were fuming mad. "Stay!"


    Blue streaks of light were shot towards Fang Yuan and spread out underwater.


    There was a golden glitter on Fang Yuan''s body. With the flick of his tail, numerous water spears exploded behind him as he quickly made his escape.


    He could no longer stay in the region of the lotus flowers.


    "This black carp..."


    The water guardian was stunned. After a while, there was a glitter in his eyes. "This fish does not seem normal. Catch it!"


    "Also, investigate its background. How can our elder demon''s treasure lie in the hands of others? I want him to be trapped in the Qi Lake!"


    ...


    "What luck! I didn''t ask for trouble, but trouble came looking for me!"


    He did not do anything to deserve the trouble. As he swam away, he felt a little depressed.


    He was already at the 3rd transformation of the Nine Steps of Dragon Transformation and had restored half of his stats. Under chase, he was obviously quicker than the normal fishes and spiritual fishes.


    After all, even the water guardian might be no match for him.


    "This will not end here..."


    Fang Yuan had a premonition that everything was not over.


    He would surely be tracked down and chased after. After all, that was the outcome for the crocodile, and he was no different.


    "I need to leave this place!"


    He had made up his mind. "Furthermore... Since they are so anxious about the treasure map, let me take a look at it. I might even be lucky and surprised!"


    The heavens did not give it to him, but it ended up with him ultimately!


    Although the crocodile wanted to harm Fang Yuan by giving him the map, he was strong enough to escape and make use of it, turning it into his fortune.


    Good things can turn bad, and bad things can become good!

 260 Secret Mansions

    Beneath Qi Lake, there was a water palace. It was where the Water God once stayed and was filled with spiritual energy. It was glittering gold from the inside, and there was a huge protective array on the outside.


    In the main hall, pearls and jade pieces covered the floor, reflecting the image of many clams and shellfish dancing about.


    On the tables, there were spiritual fruits and spiritual wine; a dinner was ongoing.


    But this time, the owner of the place was no longer the Water God of Qi Lake.


    "Brother Bai! Please!"


    The three demons were the stars of the night. One of them who was covered in a flowery pattern offered wine to a young man in white. "Wishing you a speedy cultivation to become the next Water God!"


    Brother Bai was Bai Guan, a python. The other two were a water buffalo and an alligator snapping turtle, but both of them were suitable and had dragon properties as well.


    They had already decided since the attack on Water God. Bai Guan did the most and would receive the imperial order and the water palace. The remaining corpse and dragon properties from the Water God would be divided equally among the other two.


    "Thank you for your blessings!"


    Bai Guan smiled. Inside him, the imperial order, in the form of a talisman, floated mysteriously. "The previous Water God is of the same race as me. If not for the fact that my tribulation is about to arrive and I require the imperial order, I wouldn''t have attacked him..."


    "We still need to clean up what he did while he was alive!"


    The alligator snapping turtle revealed his Yin Spirit, a well-built man. The man started to gobble down an entire pig and cow before gulping down bowls of wine. After a satisfactory burp, he continued. "The previous god trusts no one and therefore there might be a trap or two in this palace!"


    "I know..."


    Bai Guan continued. "With the imperial order from the Water God, I can detect that the few generations before him have put in place several secret mansions. I''m guessing that they are preparing to have a comeback!"


    "Comeback?"


    The buffalo shrieked. "We cannot let that happen!"


    If they did not combine forces, none of them was strong enough on their own to take down the Water God.


    "Your objection is useless. These are the rules of this world. If you have heavenly karma, you can have a chance of a comeback!"


    Bai Guan stroked the beard above his mouth. "Of course, I will still have to depend on fate to see if I can cultivate and transform into a dragon. Furthermore, I already have the position of Water God and there''s nothing else I can do."


    With the appointment of the Water God, he had access to a 500-mile radius area of spiritual energy around the lake.


    This was assistance from the heavens and earth on a single person. If the Water God were to revive, he could be equally powerful without the imperial order and would regain his power after his reincarnation.


    "Even so, we still have to get rid of the trouble!"


    The few demons exchanged glances with a murderous look.


    "Water God, the water guardian Ha Haer is requesting to see you!"


    After the dinner, a water guardian entered and knelt down respectfully. He was the one who chased after the crocodile.


    "What''s the matter?"


    Strictly speaking, Bai Guan had yet to reach the cultivation level to be the Water God, but his actions were already demonstrating his power.


    Ha Haer started to describe everything from chasing the crocodile to the encounter with Fang Yuan.


    "A black carp? You let him snatch the treasure map and escape?"


    Bai Guan frowned. "You useless thing!"


    "Water God, spare me! Spare me!"


    Ha Haer started to kowtow.


    "From the chaos, the crocodile had obtained a map of the secret mansion. Although it is not the map of the most important one, we still need to be wary!"


    After lecturing, Bai Guan appeared solemn. "After receiving the imperial order and undergoing cultivation, I already have half of what it takes to be the Water God. Although I cannot exactly pinpoint the locations of the secret mansions, I can roughly detect them! The scattered secret mansions are all small issues. Most importantly, we need to destroy the one within the dragon palace!"


    The white python was extremely decisive and quickly made a decision.


    ...


    At the same time, Fang Yuan followed the directions on the map and arrived in a new area.


    Qi Lake was extremely large and this area was a secluded one. More importantly, there was little spiritual energy around here and schools of fishes would not come here.


    Furthermore, the current was strong and it was a dangerous place.


    "This should be the place on the map!"


    After swimming past a coral tree and through a few underwater currents, he arrived at a trench in the lake.


    "The Water God''s secret mansion? What can I find inside?"


    The trench was deep but Fang Yuan was unafraid and dived right down.


    Beneath, it was pitch black and Fang Yuan started to feel fear of the unknown.


    "Bloop! Bloop!"


    After a while, bubbles emerged from the side and lantern-like eyes appeared.


    "Hmmm?"


    As Fang Yuan dodged, he released his spiritual will and realised that his attacker was an eel.


    "Water-type shield!"


    As his spiritual will shook, a translucent shield covered him with a current of water.


    "Peng! Peng!"


    As soon as the shield was formed, there came a continuous fierce knocking.


    Ferocious glares from many eyes appeared, surrounding Fang Yuan like a pack of wolves.


    "Is this... an eel''s nest?"


    With a bitter smile, Fang Yuan released water arrows in all directions.


    "Whizz!"


    The water arrows pierced through many eels, sinking many. The others started to escape in fear.


    "Heh... I just have to kill one to scare the rest away!"


    With the flick of his tail, he released his spiritual will once more and followed the directions on the map, eventually arriving at a water cave.


    "This is the place..."


    Clenching his teeth, he dived in.


    "Buzz!"


    In the next moment, there was a flash and the surroundings started to change.


    As soon as he entered the hole, he could see what was truly inside.


    What had appeared in front of Fang Yuan was a huge array formed from a fog. In continuously consumed spiritual energy from the water around and remained active.


    "Is this an array?"


    There was a look of interest in his eyes.


    The array was only average but it was already considered strong to the lake dwellers. However, to Fang Yuan who has knowledge about arrays, it was nothing.


    "Destroy the array!"


    With the flick of his tail, he started to work on it.


    ...


    Beneath the Water God''s palace.


    Bai Guan, the water buffalo and the alligator snapping turtle stood before an array and took in a cold breath.


    "Impressive! Impressive indeed!"


    The water buffalo stared at the array. "Who would''ve thought that that green python would be so well-versed in arrays."


    "This place is considered the heart of the palace. Without it, I can only activate the buildings outside. I''m afraid my abilities are still limited, even with the imperial order..."


    Bai Guan let out a sigh and looked at the 12 tall pillars in front of him and the fog surrounding it. "This is a powerful restriction. I''m afraid we will have to slowly undergo cultivation to break through it in the future."


    These three demons were totally clueless about arrays and could only think about breaking through it using brute force.


    Within seconds, three streaks of black fog appeared and shot up into the sky.


    ...


    "This restriction looks simple on the outside but is complicated on the inside!"


    On the head of the black fish, Fang Yuan''s Yin Spirit appeared. He was examining the colourful restriction in front of him.


    After breaking through the fog array outside, he arrived here. He could see the vague silhouette of jade treasures beyond the restriction.


    "Water God is indeed a God. A random secret mansion is already so luxurious! What about the palace?"


    Fang Yuan''s Yin Spirit shimmered as he entered the restriction.


    "Whooo!"


    The colourful restriction started to spin from a green, to red, then to black.


    "Fortunately, this is only a variation of the Five Elements Array!"


    After investigating it, there was a look of joy on his face.


    Fang Yuan already had the elementary knowledge of arrays. In an attempt to form the 8 Gates Sword Array, he placed more emphasis on learning about arrays. Although he was still not an expert in it, he could still easily break through a simple restriction like this.


    "Restriction, transfer?"


    After mulling over it, Fang Yuan sighed. "Is this restriction is linked to another array elsewhere? That after breaking it, it would affect something elsewhere? Fortunately, after transferring, I can reverse the changes!"


    Looking at the imagery of a palace appearing and disappearing, his expression changed.


    "Kacha! Kacha!"


    At this moment, on the restriction, there was a distinct sound, and Fang Yuan''s expression changed once more. "This is not good! Is the other restriction from elsewhere activated as well?"


    Without hesitation, he slammed his fish body forward.


    "Rumble!"


    In the next moment, something happened!


    After coming to his senses, Fang yuan found himself in an enormous palace carved in white jade. There was a flowery array beneath him.


    Not just that, outside him, there was a commotion and three thick streaks of black fogs started to rise upwards.


    "Is that... the Demon King!?"


    Fang Yuan stared.


    At the same time, outside, Bai Guan and the other two demons stared at the black carp which appeared in the palace.


    They had painstakingly made their way through the array and were left with the final steps. Who would''ve known that a black carp would appear?


    "D*mn it!"


    Fang Yuan shivered in fear. "It seems that in all the secret mansions of the Water God, there would be the same array linking everywhere together, and even linking the secret mansion which the demons are after?"


    As he clenched his teeth, he glanced at the array before rushing towards the main hall.


    "I am the Water God. What are your intentions, black carp?"


    Seeing this, Bai Guan was enraged. Frenzied, the other two demons joined him in rushing into the array. "Succumb to me and I will let you become the general to lead all the water troops. You will only be under me but above everybody else!! A gentleman like me never lie!"


    "Get lost!"


    Fang Yuan rolled his eyes as he swam into the main hall.


    "Rumble!"


    As soon as he entered, there was a shocking surge of energy.


    In the golden-plated stairs, there was a corpse of a green dragon.


    "This... this is a real dragon!"


    Its scales were green with a hint of gold. It had two antlers and four claws and was majestic looking. In a moment, Fang Yuan could already recognise it. Quickly, he noticed a golden pearl glittering on the dragon''s head, and knew that the energy he felt was from the pearl.


    "Dragon Pearl!"


    He swam across and bit it in his mouth.


    "Whoosh!"


    The process of taking the pearl was shockingly smooth. Following, the corpse of the dragon disintegrated into ash.

 261 Breakthrough

    "Is this... what''s left behind of a dead dragon? A Dragon Pearl?"


    After obtaining the Dragon Pearl, the green dragon, and even the palace started to disintegrate.


    Outside, as the three demons witnessed the scene unfolding, their eyeballs were bulging.


    "Little black fish, you won''t be able to handle it! Give it to me!"


    "I''m not stupid!"


    As he looked at the other treasures around, he felt a sense of pity. Regardless, he rushed to the centre of the palace where he had come from through the array.


    "Oh no, does this black fish understand how to manipulate arrays?"


    As Bai Guan exclaimed, a huge white python emerged from behind, hissing loudly.


    "Crumble!"


    Finally, the array could not hold on any longer as it shattered.


    "Don''t think of leaving!"


    The three demons started to chase after Fang Yuan.


    "I''m sorry, but it''s too late!"


    With a smile, he disappeared among the glow.


    "Rumble!"


    In the next moment, an astonishing surge of energy swept across the entire palace, turning everything into rubble.


    "Ahh! That d*rned black fish!"


    Bai Guan shrieked. "Don''t let me catch you, otherwise I will make you regret being born!!!"


    Behind him, the water buffalo and alligator snapping turtle looked at each other.


    Being the more powerful demons of Qi Lake, it was a disgrace for them to be outsmarted by a small fish.


    Needless to say, it was a huge loss.


    Everywhere was glittering.


    ...


    In the secret mansion within the trench.


    Fang Yuan fired a water arrow and destroyed the restriction, heaving a sigh of relief. "Phew!"


    If he were a little late, he would be captured by the three demons and had to give up on this world.


    Only until now he could finally examine the Dragon Pearl in peace.


    The golden pearl was only as big as a thumb. There was a mild golden glow coming from within and it gave off the vibe of a dragon.


    If not for the fact that Fang Yuan was from another world and had strong magical energy, he might not even be able to take it away.


    "In this Dragon Pearl, it contains dragon element. In other words, the essence of a dragon. Because all of the element is within the pearl, the pearl is extremely strong. If I were to swallow it, I''m afraid I won''t be able to digest it..."


    As he looked at the pearl, he still swallowed it without holding back.


    "Whatever, I''ll just take it as though I''m swallowing a rock. After all, I don''t have pockets to store things, right?"


    There was a benefit for swallowing the pearl. The vibe of the dragon was now isolated in his stomach and could no longer be tracked. If there was a need to, Fang Yuan could also release it to scare other predators.


    Fang Yuan felt satisfied. "I''m afraid I''ll have to wait till I''m at least at the 6th Transformation before I can digest it. However, it should still be able to activate the dragon properties I have in me, right?"


    Clumsily, he swam out of the trench, aimed at a certain direction and swam quickly.


    He had to swim quickly!


    He now had the treasure map and even the pearl! Since he had taken the pearl in front of the three demons, they would surely hunt him down.


    Could the entire Qi Lake be hunting for a black carp now?


    "I cannot stay in Qi Lake anymore. The only way is to run..."


    Qi Lake stretched across 500 miles, but it was not a standalone lake. On the contrary, it was connected to a lot of other rivers and streams.


    Without hesitation, Fang Yuan chose the closest An River and swam towards it.


    No matter how powerful the Water God might be, he could only exert his power within Qi Lake. If Fang Yuan were to escape the lake, the three demons could do nothing.


    "It''s a pity that I''ll have to leave the Lotus Flowers!


    As thoughts ran through his mind, he continued to rush along his way.


    At the size of 3 feet and 3 inches, there were many other black carps like him. Many carps were caught just because they looked like him.


    "I''m about to reach there!"


    As soon as Fang Yuan realised that a search was going on in Qi Lake, he paid more attention to concealing himself. As he looked in a certain direction, there was a look of joy on his face.


    He was not far from the river mouth of An River.


    Underwater, Fang Yuan could feel a current of water, bringing with it sand and nutrients from an unknown water source.


    As soon as he reaches An River, he could go to other lakes and from then on would be a free fish.


    With the flick of his tail, he increased his speed.


    He knew that the longer he took, the higher the chances of him being caught by the three demons. Based on his current level of cultivation, he might not even be able to escape from them once spotted.


    "Whooo!"


    Underwater, the strong current was like a thousand hands as it pushed Fang Yuan outwards.


    The good thing was that he was strong enough to swim against it. Against the current, Fang Yuan continued to swim towards An River.


    "The crucial thing about a carp leaping through the Dragon''s Gate is the part about leaping! I will need energy and courage!"


    Suddenly, Fang Yuan realised something.


    At that moment, it was as though he was right beneath the Dragon''s Gate, ready to leap!


    "Haha... You cannot run!"


    At this moment, a glow appeared.


    "Destroy!"


    With the flick of a tail, Fang Yuan saw the water guardian in front of him.


    He opened his mouth wide and gave a joyful expression. "The God has ordered us to guard the exits. Who would know that you would fall for it! Haha... It is only fair that you end up in my hands. Let''s see how I''m going to deal with you!"


    The water guardian had a high level of cultivation. As he swung his spear, a wave appeared on the surface of the lake.


    "This time... you cannot run!"


    Looking at the black carp, he was overjoyed. He stretched his hand over.


    "Water arrow!"


    "Water spear!"


    Fang Yuan executed his techniques in quick succession. However, their cultivation levels were too different and the water guardian was cunning as well. He wore a spiritual armour and therefore, Fang Yuan''s attacks were not effective.


    Ha Haer grabbed the water in front of him. At that moment, Fang Yuan could feel as though the water had stopped, trapping him in something like a cage.


    "We need to end this quick. Otherwise, if the other water guardians or demons arrive, I would be in real trouble..."


    "Destroy!"


    With the flick of his tail, an enormous force exploded, destroying the water cage. Free, he continued to rush towards An River.


    "Eh? You''re quite good!"


    Ha Haer revealed his true form, a toad. As he opened his mouth, he aimed it at Fang Yuan.


    "Whooo!"


    The water underneath started to swirl on Fang Yuan as the water was sucked into Ha Haer''s mouth. Fang Yuan felt an immense pressure.


    "Hmph, you could have survived, but you chose death... Kill!"


    A murderous look flashed across Fang Yuan''s eyes. Suddenly, he stopped resisting and rushed straight towards Ha Haer''s mouth.


    Seeing this, Ha Haer did not close his mouth. Instead, he started to swallow in more water.


    "Now!"


    Fang Yuan''s eyes glittered as he opened his mouth as well.


    "Roar! Roar!"


    In the next moment, a loud roar was heard.


    The roar sounded ancient and powerful, as though people would fear it just by hearing it.


    As soon as the roar was heard, there was the vibe of a dragon in the vicinity.


    It was as though time had stopped.


    Ha Haer was a water dweller. Against the vibe of a dragon, he could not resist as he stumbled onto the ground.


    "Die!"


    Swimming towards him, Fang Yuan fired multiple arrows at Ha Haer''s weak points.


    "Pu!"


    As soon as a water arrow dissipated, another one would be coming at him. Because it was continuous, it appeared like a white streak.


    "You..."


    There was blood at the throat of Ha Haer. With a face of unwillingness, he fell to the ground, crushing a seashell in his hands.


    "Rumble!"


    In the next moment, there was a black flash and the vibe of anger all aiming at Fang Yuan.


    "Pu!"


    His body was flung out, and some of his scales dropped.


    "A one-time use talisman?"


    Looking at the breathless Ha Haer and the powdery substance on his hands, he looked away and continued rushing towards An River.


    "Pu!"


    A 3 feet fish leapt out of the surface of the water and over the obstacle which Ha Haer had built, landing into a foreign river.


    "Phew..."


    Although his body appeared hammered, Fang Yuan heaved a sigh of relief as soon as he entered the waters of An River.


    The thought of being chased and killed soon disappeared in his mind as he came to terms with the fact that he had escaped out of Qi Lake.


    However, he had a price to pay..."


    "Is that strike from the demon king?"


    Looking at his own body, he was stunned.


    The feeling of power, much stronger than he was, was felt as the water guardian attacked him.


    "This is not alright. If it goes on, I think I will die..."


    Fang Yuan was expressionless. Suddenly, he felt his stats window shaking.


    On the original Black Carp (99 Years), he became blurred and turned into (100 Years)!


    "The time of breakthrough has arrived, what a time..."


    For fishes, it would be extremely strenuous for them to heal their injuries or leap over the Dragon''s Gate.


    Needless to say, Fang Yuan was now severely injured and had consumed more than half of his elemental energy. This made in untimely for a breakthrough.


    "To heal and breakthrough at the same time? I have it... the Dragon Stinging Technique!"


    The good thing was that Fang Yuan was not the average fish. He had learnt a specific technique for use in such a situation from the Golden Dragon God''s study.


    "I need to heal my injury, and I need to achieve my breakthrough as well... Since I cannot provide elemental energy now, I can retrieve energy from my body!"


    Fang Yuan executed the technique in silence.


    A miracle happened.


    The black carp was originally 3 feet long, but now, it was shrinking and finally, it became 1 feet long.


    Of course, the injury also reduced in size and disappeared.


    "The Dragon Stinging Technique would allow me to shrink in size, heal my injury and gather my elemental energy. Of course, there are side effects as well... In the following few days, I would be at my weakest and therefore, I would remain the size I once was like the other black carps..."

 262 Marketplace

    It was extremely dangerous for a carp to leap through the Dragon''s Gate even though it was not related to transforming into a dragon.


    It was especially dangerous for Fang Yuan as he was already seriously injured. Hence, Fang Yuan had no choice but to use the Dragon Stinging Technique to preserve his life after breaking through.


    It was called the Dragon Stinging Technique as it granted the user a second chance at life. It preserved the life force and energy of the user, and in an instant, it used up all his elemental energy, turning him into a foot long black carp.


    On the upside, all his injuries were reduced by more than half.


    "Because I am too heavily injured this time, I will need to maintain the Dragon Stinging Technique for quite a long period of time. Once it finally ends, I can smoothly breakthrough to the 4th transformation..."


    He appeared greyish, as if his stats window got sealed up, and murmured to himself under his gills.


    Any other demon would likely be dead if they experienced this right after breaking through. Even if they were lucky enough to escape death, they would be left in a state where they would lose all hope, went crazy, or transformed into all sorts of different creatures.


    It was thanks to his vast knowledge and his high stats that he managed to survive the ordeal and keep his sanity.


    "Even though I managed to tide through this dangerous ordeal¡­. This prolonged state of weakness would be the death of me!"


    When Fang Yuan saw a crocodile swim past, he flicked his tail and quickly swam away from it.


    If this was before he was weakened, the crocodile would have been eaten up by him, but he really could not afford to fight it now.


    It would have been all for naught if he survived taunting the Water God, killed Ha Haer, jumped through the dragon gates, only to be killed by a normal crocodile.


    The current of An River was very fast and was vastly different from the calm lake of QI. Luckily Fang Yuan managed to adapt quickly.


    Additionally, there were certain advantages to maintaining the Dragon Stinging Technique.


    The water god filed an arrest warrant for a 3-foot black carp that had enormous strength and possessed the abilities to manipulate water. This was completely different from his current state. The Dragon Stinging Technique would allow him to be unnoticed by even the powerful demons, there would be no threat to his identity being revealed.


    "Mmm, I should use this chance to gain my footing in the An River. After that, I can follow the river to its source and seek out the Golden Court Lake!"


    Fang Yuan was prepared to stay on the run.


    At least he knew how the Golden Court Lake was connected to the An River. When comparing size, the Golden Court Lake was much bigger than the Qi Lake, it could be considered as an inland ocean!


    Of course, it was a vast distance away, it was as if he was travelling from the northern lands to the southern skies!


    "I should take a few days to recover before going on my way again."


    Fang Yuan looked at his surroundings, he immediately flicked his tailed and hid in a bush of seaweed.


    .....


    Half a month later.


    "The effects of the Dragon Stinger Technique will be wearing off soon. I should take advantage of my current state and be on my way!"


    There were of hidden dangers all around him. In addition, there were constant patrols by the water spirits. Fang Yuan had heard that the Qi Lake Water God had issued an arrest warrant for a 3-foot black carp and sought help from the demon of An River. He felt uneasy and decided to leave his current hiding spot for somewhere even further.


    Based on his current appearance and his abilities to conceal his spiritual aura, he would not raise any suspicion even if he was swept by a spiritual will.


    "Just keep swimming, just keep swimming¡­. F*CK, the swimming speed of a normal carp is just too slow!!!"


    Fang Yuan was absolutely exhausted when he finally reached the main tributary of the An River. It was a huge plane of slow-moving water.


    "Mmm, there is someone."


    The river was very broad. There was bait being thrown into the river from both shores, it was apparent that someone was fishing.


    "Could it be¡­.. Have I finally met the humans of this word? I almost thought this world was only dominated by spirits and demons!"


    Fang Yuan felt really playful, he weaved between the fish hooks and would sometimes stop to eat the fish bait before playfully tugging on the fish hooks.


    "Mmm, I am full now, I should continue on my journey."


    He burped and was prepared to leave. All of a sudden, he was startled.


    A 10 foot long carp was in the middle of foraging for food when he saw Fang Yuan and charged towards Fang Yuan.


    "If this was before, I would have killed you with a single water arrow!"


    Fang Yuan cried out, before escaping.


    In his weakened state, he was merely a normal black carp, with average swimming speed. He was almost caught a few times by the carp, before finally taking cover in the seaweeds.


    He was met by dangers after dangers. He saw a hidden current up ahead and was very happy "F*ck you!"


    He focused and shot across the hidden current as soon as he saw a break in its flow. The carp who was following right behind him was caught in the current and swept to god knows where.


    "An idiot like you wanted to eat me?! Go eat yourself ass*ole!"


    Whilst in the middle of his celebration, a huge net was cast in his direction.


    "Mmm?"


    Before Fang Yuan could react, he was caught in the net and pulled out of the water.


    Hua la!!


    Only him, some seaweed, some crustacean were left in the net after the water was drained.


    "Is this a fishing boat?"


    Fang Yuan heart sank "I celebrated too soon"


    "Ahh¡­ such a bad haul again!"


    A well-built fisherman pulled the net onto the deck, threw the seaweed away, and picked up Fang Yuan "This carp is all we have, we can either sell it or cook some fish stew¡­."


    Fang Yuan was not unlike any other ordinary fish, he flopped for a while, before foaming at the mouth. There was really nothing he could do.


    After all, not only was he a third of his original size, he was literally a fish out of the water. It was likened to a dragon trashing in the shallows or a tiger in the open savanna.


    Hua La!


    He was thrown into a basket of fishes. The fisherman hauled a few more nets and threw all the bigger fishes into the basket with him. They were transferred into a water-filled basin.


    "Hmm¡­ It looks like fishes in this basin are for sale, he would not kill us for now. What luck?"


    Fang Yuan was deep in thought "I am going to get eaten either way, be it roasted or steamed, such a depressing situation to be in¡­."


    He looked at the other fishes around him and glared at them "What are you looking at? SCRAM!"


    "I am going to be eaten¡­ I am going to be eaten¡­.."


    There was a green fish with a slight bit of spiritual awareness, but that was about it. He looked slightly retarded and was swimming in circles furiously.


    "Mmm?"


    This basin was rather small, it only contained Fang Yuan, the green fish and 2 other spotted fishes with no spiritual awareness.


    The last fish was an interesting one.


    "Hey you, where are you from?"


    Fang Yuan wrestled through the crowd and said hi to a fish of his type.


    In from of him, was another carp. The carp was much shorter than Fang Yuan, he was only about half a foot, did not have much meat. He looked beautiful, had scales of a golden and reddish hue and long flowing whiskers. The carp looked similar to Fang Yuan when he was still of the 3rd transformation. The carp was either gifted with such good looks, or he had cultivated.


    "¡­."


    The Golden Red Carp looked at Fang Yuan and blew bubbles innocently.


    "F*ck! Don''t you dare play dumb with me¡­. Hey hey, we are caught and are about to be made into soup, if you have any tricks, this is the time to use it!"


    Fang Yuan rammed into the carp.


    The golden red carp merely stared at him, motionless.


    "Could he really be a retard?"


    Fang Yuan was out of options when he knew that this method could not work.


    Not long after, the boat docked. With a jerk, the basin was lifted and brought into the pier.


    "Fishes for sale!"


    "Fishes for sale!"


    ¡­..


    The pier was not very big, but there was still high human traffic and was quite crowded.


    Fisherman filled the sides of the pier, selling fish.


    "Ladies and gentleman, come take a look at my fishes! Freshly caught and still full of life!"


    Although the fisherman spoke slightly differently, Fang Yuan could still make out what he was saying.


    The fisherman picked up the green fish. The green fish was flopping about furiously. If It was himself, he would have feigned death to prevent himself from being sold and cooked.


    "My love, you must be tired after your long journey. These fishes looks good, how about I buy one for you to regain some strength?"


    A couple walked to the stall.


    Fang Yuan evaluated the couple. The man was in his early 20s, wore a green shirt and had a piece of jade hung around his waist, it was of good quality too. His pupils were of a deep black, he could feel the authority of an officer from his eyes. Following behind was a student, beside him was a sweet looking lady. She had difficulties moving and had a small belly and looked to be pregnant.


    "My love! My love, this fisherman''s fishes are the best!"


    The fisherman saw the young man, and his eye sparkled "Look at how fresh these fishes are! Especially this golden red carp, that''s a rare catch! A stew made with him would be very nutritious for the lady! "


    "Oh, let me take a look!"


    The officer wearing green shirt stopped and looked at the fishes.


    Fang Yuan looked on coldly, but he caught the gaze of the fisherman. The fisherman was eyeing the jade piece on the officer and looked at the lady with a perverted gaze.


    "They are indeed good, I have read somewhere that golden red carps possessed spiritual energy and would be great for my lady!"


    He looked at his wife "My dear... What do you think?"


    "Me?"


    She hung her head low, she did not want her husband to spend so much on her and could not make a decision. She looked at the carp and was shocked "It...It seems to be crying!"


    "Mmm?"


    The officer saw it too "Wow, it is spiritually aware!"


    "How could we kill something that was spiritually aware? My dear, how about we buy it and set it free?"


    She looked at her husband, her eyes were filled with a loving gaze "Let''s take it as we are earning good karma for me and our children."


    "Al¡­ Alright!"


    He would not have normally agreed to that, but the officer was feeling generous "We are getting this carp!"


    "I really could not tell, he was the acting type!"


    He looked at the teary eyes golden red carp and was speechless, "You really are good, but I not really not thick-skinned enough!"


    "That would be one silver, it is a golden carp after all!"


    The fisherman was all smiles and decided to rip the couple off.


    "That is very expensive, but for the sake of my wife and children, I will take it!"


    The officer took out the money and paid him.


    After paying, he pointed to fang yuan and the green fish, "Release the golden carp, but give me these 2 fishes, stew one, and steam one!"


    "F*CK!!!!"

 263 Transformation

    After he was bought, Fang Yuan managed to obtain the identity of the couple from the information he gathered along the way.


    The green-robed official''s surname was Xu and his name was Ren. He was a scholar of the Qinghe District and was a child prodigy. At the age of 12, he was chosen for and passed the imperial examinations to become an official. After being selected to become an official, he took a few servants with him and took up the position. The lady, Wan''er, was his wife and was 5 months pregnant.


    The rides in the carriages of the ancient times were bumpy and were not suitable for a pregnant lady. Furthermore, the drainage system of this realm was developed. As such, Xu Ren chose to take the boat.


    At the quay, he rented a small boat and travelled downstream in it.


    As for Fang Yuan and the other 2 fishes, they were naturally brought to the kitchen.


    It was noteworthy to mention that the golden carp was still there. It seemed that Xu Ren was either going to find another location to release it or consume it. Afterall, it could be considered a semi-spiritual object which would bring about benefits to the unborn child.


    The sky outside grew dark and the kitchen started to become busy. The reddish-gold fish looked at Fang Yuan and the other fish with an expression of ridicule.


    "Die die die..."


    The big green fish was scared senseless and could only repeat these few words.


    "Really...When I rely on the mountain, the mountain topples and when I rely on the water, the water dries up [1]. In the end, I still have to rely on myself!"


    Fang Yuan silently concentrated and was motionless.


    The effects of his Dragon Stinging Formula were almost gone. As such, he was able to remain fearless in the face of death. Otherwise, if he was able to overcome his predicament just by crying, there was an 80% chance that he would do so even if he said that he was unwilling.


    "A dragon can change its size, is able to soar or hide. When it is big, it is able to swallow clouds and blow out fog. When it is small, it is able to stay hidden. It is able to soar between universes and hide within the great waves..."


    This Dragon Stinging Formula was a miraculous technique of the dragon race and was necessary to save his life.


    Fang Yuan silently chanted the formula and felt threads of elemental energy moving rapidly within a dried up area within his body.


    "It does not just take one step for a carp to transform into a dragon. Instead, it is the stimulation of the dragon properties within the body and creating an opportunity to transform into a dragon!"


    Fang Yuan''s eyes lit up with understanding as he thought of the content of the Nine Steps of Dragon Transformation Formula.


    "How? Are we doing it?"


    At this moment, a man''s lofty voice was heard.


    "That young master of the rich family is loaded. Did you see the amount of money he had when he was buying the fish? There must be dozens of silver taels. Furthermore, the jade hanging from his waist is no common grade item!"


    This voice sounded very familiar. Fang Yuan realized that it was the fisherman from before.


    At the moment, the person who was doing odd jobs and the person tending to the fire started to gather. There was a total of 6 or 7 people, which caused Fang Yuan to sigh.


    Xu Ren was blind to choose a black boat!


    Those who lived in the mountains lived off the mountains while those who lived in the sea lived off the seas.While these fishermen led difficult lives, they were skilful for their livelihood. When they were halfway through the journey, they halted the boat and asked the official if he would like to eat homemade noodles or wonton noodles.


    They were villagers of the mountains by day and pirates by night.


    This fisherman had no time for civilities as well.


    "Wait a minute, I feel that this lady''s background is not so simple. I am afraid that she might have connections!"


    "Old Jia, you are always afraid to die. Don''t forget the previous time, we killed a 7th-grade official and toss his seal into the waters, who would be able to find it?"


    "Bai Lilang, don''t think that I do not know what you are thinking. You incite all of us as you have taken a liking for the lady?"


    ...


    The group of professional pirates discussed passionately. In the end, Bai Lilang''s proposition was favoured as those greedy pirates hooted.


    "Let''s do it! We do not see this type of fat goats[2] often!"


    "Steal his gold and seize his wife!"


    ...


    "Guys, I do not want the gold and silver this time around. I only want his beautiful wife and I hope that you guys would not fight over her with me..."


    The fisherman who captured Fang Yuan, Bai Lilang, cupped his hands, his face full of smiles.


    "Since you have said so, we shall let you have the lady. The amount of gold and silver the fat goat has on his body is enough as compensation...haha...we can go to the brothel and find a few that are on par with the lady!"


    "I want his jade!"


    "Good, then it is decided. We should not drag this on any longer. We should strike now and drink the fish soup when we return to celebrate!"


    Bai Lilang spoke in exultation.


    It was hard to blame him as he had a plan. The boat was now in the centre of the river which was a prime danger area. Even if the information leaked out, what could the couple do?


    "My master and his wife are waiting to eat the fish. What are you all standing around for?"


    At this time, a servant walked into the kitchen, he was babbling when he witnessed the scene, which caused him to be stumped and confused.


    "Pffft!"


    In that instant, Bai Lilang lunged forward, drew out a dagger and stabbed him viciously.


    The servant''s eyes were glazed as he toppled over.


    "Eat fish? Haha...go and drink soup in hell!"


    Bai Lilang laughed out loud as he licked the blood from the corner of his mouth. He instructed the other pirates and they rushed out of the kitchen. Faint, indistinct cries echoed within the silent kitchen.


    "Haha...this is retribution!"


    Fang Yuan looked at the reddish-gold carp who was starting to panic and rejoiced. "That pirate do not care if you have spiritual energy. You are definitely becoming a soup for them!"


    The reddish-gold carp glared at him but did not speak.


    "Die, die, die!"


    At the side, the green fish turned in circles, causing Fang Yuan to become dizzy.


    "This is boring!"


    In his heart, he shook his head. A shiny black sheen appeared on his body.


    In the black light, Fang Yuan''s body became elongated. His whiskers disappeared as he transformed into a 3 feet long black snake.


    At this time, his stat window appeared and displayed his new stats:


    "Name: Fang Yuan


    Race: [Black Snake (10 years)]


    Essence: 18


    Spirit: 18


    Magic: 18


    Profession: ???


    Cultivation: ???


    Technique: [Nine Steps of Dragon Transformation Formula (4th Transformation)], [Water Controlling Technique (Grade 3)]


    Skill: [Medicine (Level 3)], [Botany (Level 5)]"


    Fang Yuan silently remembered and adapted to his new body.


    "Crash!"


    He deftly turned his body and slithered out of the basin onto the ground.


    "The 4th transformation in the Nine Steps of Dragon Transformation Formula is known as the Black Snake Transformation. The dragon properties are stimulated and one is no longer limited to just the water!"


    A flesh of a simple creature born in the water would turn into rock once it reached the shore.


    However, after reaching the Black Snake Transformation, the situation was different.


    Black was the colour of the water element [3], the black snake was also a water snake. As such, it was able to swim in the water and slither on land. If a common carp was able to reach this cultivation level, his path of Dao would have broadened.


    "Die, die, die..."


    The green fish was scared senseless after witnessing the transformation of the black fish into a black snake. It looked as if it was almost scared to death when it saw Fang Yuan spit out the seed[4].


    Even the golden carp was dazed, its big eyes revealing its shock and fear.


    "Stimulating the properties of a dragon, transforming into a black snake, other than the Water Controlling Technique, there must be other...however, I need to find this out myself!"


    Fang Yuan lazily crawled beside the basin, lifted the big green fish and tossed it out of the window.


    "Splash!"


    The river was outside the window. With a dull thud, the green fish was tossed into the water and swam away speedily.


    Onboard the boat, indistinct cries could be heard. Amidst the massacre, there was no one to notice the empty kitchen and the direction in which a fish escaped in.


    "Good, he escaped. Time for me to escape as well!"


    Fang Yuan spoke loudly on purpose and started to climb towards the door.


    "My fellow dao cultivator, wait!"


    Indeed, the reddish-gold carp could stand it no longer and speak on its own accord.


    Her voice was soft and silky. It was a girl...no, female.


    "It seems like you know how to speak..."


    Fang Yuan did not leave and instead, lay down beside the basin and gazed on. "I am starting to think that you are a mute!"


    "..."


    The reddish-gold carp was speechless. However, Fang Yuan predicted that she had already made up her mind.


    "I did what I did previously as I had my difficulties. I am carrying a huge burden...please forgive me and save me!"


    The reddish-gold carp started to beg.


    She was well aware of the situation. If it was still the young lady Wan''er deciding, she had a big chance of surviving. If it was Xu Ren making the decision, there was a 50% chance she might be cooked. Now, it was the group of pirates making the decision. There was no way she could survive. As such, she could not care less and sought help from the mysterious black snake.


    "You did not reveal your name even as you seek help. No sincerity!"


    Fang Yuan spat out the seed.


    "I am...Li Luan..."


    "What did you do? Why did you end up here?"


    Fang Yuan probed but the carp refused to reply.


    "Nevermind¡­..I will help you since we are both water dwellers!"


    Fang Yuan lifted the reddish-gold carp and prepared to toss her out of the window.


    Afterall, he had regained half his stats. Although he looked like a black snake that was just 1 metre long, he was able to take on a Wu Zong in a fight.


    "Wait!"


    The reddish-gold carp continued to speak. "I...I am a criminal in the An River. I am afraid I cannot reveal myself in the river! Furthermore...I am in debt to the couple..."


    "That is your debt...Xu Ren wanted to boil me!"


    Fang Yuan rolled his eyes.


    The reddish-gold carp roughly understood Fang Yuan''s character and spoke immediately. "If you were to help me, I am willing to give you some benefits!"


    "Make yourself clear first!"


    At this moment, the shouting onboard had started to die out. It was obvious that the situation was critical.


    Li Luan had no choice and could only reveal what she had in mind. "I know of a water mansion with 20 pearls, 30 pieces of beautiful jade, and a bottle of spiritual pills which is greatly beneficial to our types!"


    "Hehe...you are no ordinary carp to know about all these!"


    Fang Yuan laughed coldly but pursue the matter no further. Instead, he turned into a streak of black lightning as he headed towards the deck.


    "Although I do not owe Xu Ren a favour, I have a grudge against Bai Lilang and I must have my revenge!"


    On the floor, there was bloodstain everywhere as the maids and servants lay in the pool of blood. In the master bedroom, shelves were toppled and voices could be heard.


    "You...how dare you, I am an official of the imperial court!"


    Xu Ren''s voice could be heard. There was also cries of shock from the lady.


    "Hehe! So what if you are an official. It is not like I have not killed an official before..."


    Bai Lilang laughed nastily. He yearned for the beautiful lady and could not wait to kill Xu Ren and seize his wife.


    [1] The author means that Fang Yuan had no one to rely upon as they were unreliable.


    [2] fat goat is used to refer to those who are extremely rich.


    [3] Traditionally, the 5 elements are assigned a colour each and the water element was assigned the colour black.


    [4] seed of a hyacinth plant

 264 The Route by Land

    Xu Ren wielded a long sword and protected his wife. Looking at the approaching robbers, sweat started to drip from his forehead.


    He had little training in martial arts but could not be considered as a martial artist. Although his chances were slim against the robbers, he had no other choice but to protect his wife with all his life.


    "Thud! Thud!"


    Unknowingly, the two robbers behind fell to the ground, unconscious.


    Shock, one of the robbers went forward and tried to feel for their breaths. "Boss, their dead!"


    "Hisss!"


    As a hissing sound was heard, another one of them fell to the ground after a black flash.


    "Snake! There''s a snake!"


    The murderer slithered on the ground and all of them could see it clearly.


    "Isn''t it just a snake?"


    Bai Lilang was the bravest. Unknowingly, he was fearful at the beginning but now, he was full of courage. "Look at me kill it!"


    With that, he struck his knife.


    "Clang!"


    As the blade of the knife sliced across the scales of the snake, sparks were formed as the blade was deflected away.


    "How is this possible?"


    Bai Lilang was shocked.


    "Demon... Demon!"


    The fishermen around all screamed and escaped in all directions.


    "Whoosh! Whooosh!"


    This time, the black snake arched its body and shot out at the fishermen one by one.


    As blood spurted everywhere, wounds opened up in every fishermen''s chest. All of them fell to the ground.


    "Ghost¡­.. Ah!!! Ghost!"


    Bai Lilang was utterly shocked. He legs turned to jelly and he started to pee in his pants.


    "This body is indeed useful!"


    After testing out his new body, Fang Yuan was satisfied with it. After all, it was much stronger than the black carp. Seeing Bai Lilang getting on his knees to beg him, he snickered. "It''s alright if you harm others, but how dare you harm me? You should go to hell!"


    With that, he slithered forward and ended Bai Lilang life.


    "Ah... Is this snake the one that saved us?"


    Wan''er had not recovered from her previous shock. As she got to her feet, she was in disbelief as she looked at the black snake, with its scales glistering under the candlelight.


    "It''s me!"


    Fang Yuan spoke in the human language as soon as he opened his mouth.


    "Demon... Demon!"


    Wan''er turned pale and almost fainted.


    "Wan''er, don''t be afraid. There are good people and bad people. Since this snake saved our lives, it must be a good demon!"


    Xu Ren tidied his robes before bowing to the snake. "I am Xu Ren. Thank you for saving our lives! We are grateful for your help and will repay your kindness..."


    "Forget it!"


    The snake looked down. A black smoke rose from the snake''s head, revealing Fang Yuan''s Yin Spirit.


    "I am Fang Yuan. It is only a little fate that I am here to rescue you. However, I have something that I need you to do!"


    "As long as it is legal and moral, I will do it!"


    Seeing Fang Yuan reveal his Yin Spirit, Xu Ren was even more certain that he was a powerful demon and started to sound more respectful.


    "Mm, it''s nothing much. The Golden Red Carp needs to make use of your human karma to protect it for its journey ahead!"


    Fang Yuan came straight to the point.


    In reality, he was considering for himself.


    After all, the three demons from Qi Lake were chasing after him. Although he had already changed his appearance, it was still troublesome for him to journey through the river. Therefore, he had thought of journey together with the humans to conceal himself and have a smooth journey ahead.


    No matter how creative the demons were, they would never be able to think of such a method of transport.


    Xu Ren wanted to go to Golden Lake Prefecture and it was on the shore of the Golden Court Lake, so it was along the way.


    "For protection? I only know little martial arts and have little human karma..."


    Xu Ren was confused and felt as though he was about to get in a lot of trouble.


    However, he knew he could not bear the consequences if they were to get into a fight.


    "If I say you''re qualified, it means you are!"


    Fang Yuan snickered. "Unless... you are an ungrateful brat?"


    As he was a demon, he realised his demonic vibes. Xu Ren''s hand went numb as his sword fell to the ground.


    ''He has the upper hand now, so I should obey him... Who would''ve thought that I have just left danger but now, I''m back to danger...''


    Xu Ren sighed in his mind and bowed respectfully. "Why would I dare to disobey?"


    "Haha, very well!"


    Fang Yuan''s Yin Spirit returned as he slithered up the bed. "Bring the boat alongside and settle the minor stuff... Also, bring the Golden Red Carp to me!"


    "Yes, sir!"


    Xu Ren promptly obeyed. As he walked into the rooms, he saw his subordinates lying in pools of blood and felt sorrowful.


    His wife was in shock after seeing all the dead bodies and was on the verge of a miscarriage. After consoling her for a long while, she finally calmed down.


    Not long after, Xu Ren indeed shifted Li Luan to the bedroom and dismissed himself. As for how to alongside the boat and inform the officials, he had to figure it out on his own.


    ...


    After the corpses were shifted out, the rooms became much more spacious.


    Xu Ren and her wife didn''t dare to fall asleep. They had let out their room as a form of respect to the black snake.


    As water lapped on the hull of the boat, there was a dim candlelight in one of the rooms.


    "Why are you still hiding?"


    Fang Yuan released his Yin spirit and stared at the bowl with Li Luan in it.


    The Golden Red Carp had no other choice and started to close its eyes.


    In a bright flash, a beautiful lady which resembled a deity appeared in the room.


    Around her, there were streaks of water which made her look magical and immortal.


    "You Yin Spirit... is injured! If it was daytime, I''m afraid you can''t even release your Yin Spirit!"


    Seeing this, Fang Yuan shook his head.


    The cultivation of one''s Yin Spirit was, in essence, creating something from nothing. The more real it appears, the higher the cultivation.


    Take for instance the young man Fang Yuan was now. He had flesh and blood and appeared like a real person.


    Comparatively, the lady''s Yin Spirit was extremely flickering and people would think that she was a ghost.


    However, Fang Yuan could tell that her Yin Spirit was as such due to her injury and not the lack of cultivation.


    "I cannot maintain my spirit long, I''ll apologise for that first!"


    Li Luan bowed and her face was flushed. As she apologised, she transformed into a fog and returned to her physical body.


    "Mmm. Who did you anger?"


    Seeing her, Fang Yuan became interested and casually asked.


    "... It''s the An River Dragon God!"


    Li Luan replied honestly and sighed.


    After all, the demon before her was extremely smart and could roughly guess her predicament even if she tried to hide. Therefore, it was useless to hide and the fact that she was wanted throughout the entire river was something that she could not hide for long.


    "Good! I like your style!"


    Fang Yuan smiled. After all, he only angered a few demons and upcoming Water God but was already in such a state.


    This lass had much more personality to anger a Dragon God!


    To be called a dragon god, he had to have a dragon body and an imperial order. Even the powerful demons in Qi Lake would not dare to make him angry.


    "How did you piss him off?"


    There was a hint of curiosity in his eyes.


    "This is a secret and I cannot say it!"


    Li Luan was adamant. "It''s no use... in fact, if you know about it, it will bring you trouble!"


    What do you intend to do not?"


    Fang Yuan could tell that regardless of how powerful Li Luan was previously, she was helpless now. Her Yin Spirit was but a flickering figure which was unable to seduce any mortals.


    "Since you have already made the arrangements, why ask me?"


    Li Luan countered and replied. "To travel by the methods of humans to reach another region is indeed a good idea!"


    "Hey, did you ask me before joining me on my journey? Be careful, I might just throw you overboard!"


    Fang Yuan rolled his eyes.


    "Didn''t you tell Xu Ren that I wanted to ride on their human karma to avoid trouble?"


    Li Luan gave a pitiful look.


    Seeing Fang Yuan''s expressionless face, she could only surrender. "What do you want? I know of a few places with treasure and a few recordings of the classics and some techniques..."


    ''This lass is not simple... What a pity she''s not experienced enough and would easily be taken advantage of...''


    Fang Yuan gave a look of submission. "Alright! I''ll help you today, and we''ll slowly discuss my rewards later!"


    Although he was not a person who would risk it all, after all, he would not really die in this realm. Therefore, it was only logical to take the biggest risks to reap the biggest rewards.


    ...


    Xu Ren seemed smart. After a short while of figuring things out, he finally learnt how to control the ship and brought it safely alongside.


    Following which, he quickly found some farmers and tasked them to report to the district court.


    It was a big thing for a ship to have so many corpses. In a short moment, many constables arrived on the ship.


    If it was a normal businessman on the ship, he would be pinned a murderer.


    However, with his name and his status, the treatment he received was different. He quickly reported that Bai Lilang and company were the murderers, and spent some money to do a proper burial for his subordinates. Everything was smooth-going and three days later, they had slipped off and were on their way again.


    To Fang Yuan and Li Luan, all these didn''t matter.


    In fact, being far from underwater meant that they could avoid a lot of stalking, which was a good thing to them.


    "This district town is rather lively..."


    In a carriage, there was a fish tank. In it, a Golden Red Carp swam about freely, and it was a weird sight to behold.


    What was more intriguing was the fact that there was a dull sound coming from beside Xu Ren. A snake head popped out from his collar as the snake peeked around with curiosity.


    "Benefactor, you''re right! The people managing this district are doing a good job!"


    Xu Ren was pale.


    Anyone who had a poisonous and deadly killer snake slithering around their bodies would not look lively.


    This was Fang Yuan''s way of controlling him.


    Otherwise, Fang Yuan would be afraid that he might go back on his words and hire monks or Daoists to deal with him.


    Humans would have the instinct to survive. If Xu Ren were to anger Fang Yuan, he might be killed on the way there. Therefore, he had to obey.


    It seemed that Fang Yuan''s method was working.


    Xu Ren put in his best effort and did not dare to do anything else out of the ordinary.


    After all, he wouldn''t want to risk his own life!


    "There are quite a number of temples and monasteries along the way... It seems that demons and ghosts rule this realm..."


    Seeing this, Fang Yuan shook his head.

 265 Prediction

    With the help of the educated Xu Ren, Fang Yuan started to understand the people of this realm.


    Based on Xu Ren''s description, they were in a country called ''Da Chu''. North of Da Chu were countries like ''Da Qi'', ''Da Liang'' and others, and these three countries were coexisting together while having tension at the same time.


    Since history, Da Chu had been here for 10 centuries and had slowly become weaker over the years. With their geographical disadvantage, it was getting harder and harder for the Imperial Court to exert their control over the country.


    Of course, to those who were aware of the situation, they would know that Da Chu still had about 10 over years to go. However, there were still a few unavoidable small conflicts within the country.


    "The Golden Lake Prefecture is on the shore of the Golden Court Lake. People do live here, but there are two big threats. Firstly, there were pirates. Secondly, demons would create chaos here. Out of these two, demons had posed the bigger problem!"


    Xu Ren looked at Fang Yuan and let out a long sigh.


    He had felt depressed for long and had no one to confide to. However, after spending so many days together, he spilt the beans.


    "Oh? Why is that so?"


    Fang Yuan became interested and probed further.


    It seemed that the place was filled with spiritual energy. With that, demons and spirits would be attracted there, especially so since the waterways were extremely connected. If it were the Water Gods or Dragon Gods which came, it would be alright as they were already being prayed to in temples. Powerful demons would have their temples and offerings would be considered as a protection fee. Therefore, these demons and spirits would not easily attack humans.


    However, for the rest of them, they were cruel in nature and only wanted to eat humans. They were not given any offerings and had to survive like insects, which meant that they could do anything they wanted.


    Further probing from Fang Yuan made him realise that a demon as powerful as him would be worthy of a temple and offerings, and this made him speechless.


    The power and influence of demons in this world was unbelievable.


    After explaining further, he appeared sorrowful.


    "If I was the official for this place, I would clear the evil demon, spirits and pirates and maintain peace in the area!"


    As he spoke, Xu Ren slowly became affected by Fang Yuan. His face flushed as he exclaimed. "Eh... What did the people do to deserve the demon''s pestering? When can we restore peace?"


    "Husband!"


    Wan''er tugged at Xu Ren''s sleeves. As he became alert, he realised that two demons were blocking their way with a cunning look on their faces.


    "Haha... I''ll settle them!"


    Fang Yuan released his Yin Spirit and revealed a normal looking man in black. With a smile, he waved his hands. "My friend and I do not feed on blood. However, in this world, it is the survival of the fittest. If the people Dao want to move up, they should not depend on demons, but strengthen themselves! The world will still revolve and the people Dao will have to adapt! If they can understand this, they will develop!"


    "Survival of the fittest? The world will still revolve, and the people will have to adapt?"


    Xu Ren''s eyes glittered as though he had understood something. Suddenly, he got up, tidied his robes and bowed towards Fang Yuan, full of sincerity. "Benefactor, you are a genius! Although the books have not recorded anything like this before, it seems like something I can resonate with! We have to adapt to develop... Although I was still at lost at what I should do with regards to the Golden Lake Prefecture, I am clear of what I need to do now."


    "Bloop! Bloop!"


    In the fish tank, the Golden Red Carp spoke as bubbles floated up. "Brother, what you said is true. However, why are you helping the humans? Are you trying to be one of them? Although Xu Ren might understand it, I don''t think he can put these words into action!"


    "What nonsense are you spouting?"


    Fang Yuan rolled his eyes. His Yin Spirit was in the form of a human and he only spoke what he thought was logical. However, the Golden Red Carp could even talk about him trying to be one of them, making him speechless.


    "You should know that the dragon energy in humans is different from the dragon properties in us demons. Furthermore, I am only a weak demon. How would I dare to think of such absurd things? Am I not afraid of tribulations from the heavens?"


    With the existence of the imperial order, people and demons in this realm believed in fate.


    However, to Fang Yuan, it was all bullsh*t.


    What was fate? It would be a mere experience for the physical body!


    Even demons would be able to cultivate and become a water dragon. Naturally, they would be strengthened by the violet energy and therefore, they would not care about fate.


    As for the practice among humans to provide offerings in temples, he couldn''t care less about it.


    After all, this practice would get them involved too much and would make them rely too much on the demons and in turn, they would be easily controlled by the demons and therefore had to consider many things. Instead, there would be much more freedom to cultivating as a demon.


    "Everyone would have the ability to decide their own futures!"


    As he silently sighed, he closed his eyes and continued his cultivation.


    In the past few days, he had also ordered Xu Ren to go to the riverbank and retrieve the treasures which Li Luan had described the location of. Indeed, there were gold ingots, silver ingots, jade and a few spiritual pills. With those, Fang Yuan swallowed them and continued his cultivation.


    As he closed his eyes, a golden pearl vibrated in his stomach and released a warm glow.


    Ever since he had attempted to leap the Dragon''s Gate and obtaining a hint of dragon property, he became ever more connected with the Dragon Pearl. Although he still could not absorb it, he could harness its glow to slowly change his own snake body.


    ''A rope can cut a tree and drops of water can cut through a rock with time. If I use my dragon property to try digesting the Dragon Pearl every day, I''m sure I will benefit from it and it will surely give me an advantage in transforming into a dragon in the future!''


    In the Nine Steps of Dragon Transformation Formula, there would be a huge breakthrough required after every 3 transformations.


    From a carp to a snake, it was called Carp Leaping over the Dragon''s Gate. After success, he would gain some dragon properties and would no longer be restricted to the water.


    At the 6 transformations, from the giant venomous snake transformation to the horned dragon transformation, it was another huge breakthrough, called Dragon Transformation Stage. There would be tribulation from the heavens at this stage!


    Fang Yuan guessed that the tribulations were a form of returning the favour! After all, after taking in spiritual energy for cultivation, they have to be some form of retribution.


    "Cultivation can be split into internal cultivation and external cultivation. With the Dragon Pearl, I should be able to fulfil the internal cultivation of the Dragon Transformation Stage... However, there is still a tribulation that awaits!"


    Fang Yuan was lost in his thoughts. "Based on the rules of reality which governs this realm, with karma, one would be able to reduce the intensity of the tribulation... of course, it would only reduce the intensity but not remove it completely. It is still up to the individual to survive the tribulation..."


    Suddenly, he opened his eyes as though he had thought of something. "Heavenly karma can be used to reduce the intensity of the tribulations. People karma, on the other hand, can be used to reduce the intensity of people tribulations... Previously, the Water God of Qi Lake had inadequate powers. Although he had enough heavenly karma and was able to delay the day of the heavenly tribulation, he did not have sufficient people karma. With the powerful people tribulation and the fact that his body was weak, he could only go down... However, since he had enough heavenly karma, he would be given a chance to try again... Wait a minute, I seemed to have become the people tribulation of the Water God, as I have taken his backup Dragon Pearl with me... This Water God is really unlucky!"


    "However... People! Do they refer to humans as people or demons as people?"


    Fang Yuan was stunned.


    This was the question as to who would rule the world and how the world would revolve. If understood, he would benefit from it.


    Initially, the power and influence of demons would make them the people of the realm.


    However, the Water God of Qi Lake had offered protection to many fishes and creatures living in the lake and even distributed his wealth before undergoing his tribulation. If demons were the people, then he should have quite a lot of people karma instead.


    "Therefore... there is only one explanation. The god had identified the people wrongly?"


    Fang Yuan was utterly shocked. "Although the demons are powerful, humans would be the last ones standing?"


    It was unclear, to begin with. As he slowly understood everything, he realised the truth of the world.


    Even a strong demon like the Water God of the Qi Lake couldn''t break through. This was because it was too early for him to know.


    With the demons having everything their way, how would the other species dare to fight against them?


    However, since Fang Yuan was from another realm, he had a different point of view and could instantly see through the confusion.


    "The demons would fall and the humans would prosper; this would be the trend in this world!"


    "The fact that everybody''s Yin Spirit was in the form of a human was an explanation for the trend of the world, and not for convenience and standardization sake!"


    Fang Yuan''s eyes glittered.


    "Rumble!"


    At this time, there was an explosion heard. Normal people would be shocked but Fang Yuan felt fear.


    "Eh? Something''s not right?"


    Xu Ren pulled the curtains. Sunlight filled the carriage and a gentle breeze caressed his face. "Why would there be a lightning strike out of nowhere?"


    He was a mortal, and so was his wife. Both of them shivered in fear.


    As for Li Luan, she froze in the fish tank as though she could feel the power from the heavens.


    "To detect something even before it happened..."


    Fang Yuan acted as though he was shocked, but smiled inside. "It seems that my prediction is correct... There must be a few unique people in this realm who are able to see this fact. Some of them would create trouble while others would remain in hiding, waiting for the perfect opportunity to gather all the tribulations and make use of it to form the Killer Tribulation!"


    This was Fang Yuan''s chance.


    Even though he had the realm evidence and had come from another world, he was still a demon. If he were to do something out of the ordinary, he had to make sure that it was 10 times more extreme than the usual! A 100 times!


    With the Killer Tribulation in place, everyone''s fate would be intertwined and it was his time to perform.


    "It seems that... I''ll still have to support the people!"


    Fang Yuan snickered, but this time, he looked at Xu Ren with a different expression.


    Fang Yuan originally wanted to make use of him and abandon him after he had reached the Golden Court Lake. However, it seems that he would have to continue to use him even after reaching the Golden Court Lake.


    "Just now... what happened?"


    Li Luan hid in the fish tank and curled up into a ball.


    As the thunder roared, she could feel the power of the heaven tribulation.


    In front of a powerful thunder like that, even the strongest version of her would crumble into powder!


    "Did someone anger the heavens? If that is so, why are the tribulations not happening?"


    After a long while, nothing happened in the vicinity. Li Luan mustered her strength and composed herself as she looked at Fang Yuan with a weird expression.


    This demon was extremely powerful and could even transform from a carp to a snake. This was something never heard of.


    Furthermore, after spending many days with him, Li Luan could feel that the power and energy within him was not something a simple poisonous snake could harness. These were signs of an increase in dragon properties.


    The speed at which he was gaining his dragon properties was shocking.


    It was possible for someone to believe that Fang Yuan was the one who angered the heavens.


    However, the snake was upright and looking upwards into the sky with a shock expression, but was unharmed. With that, Li Luan became confused.

 266 River God

    The Golden Lake Prefecture laid on the boundary of the Golden Court Lake. In the prefecture, there were 10,000 families and 55,000 people living here.


    Although there were no majestic mountains and little farms, they relied on the Golden Court Lake to survive. They were living the average life; although not well-to-do, they were not poor as well.


    In the prefecture, there were 5 districts and these districts were famous for their rice and silk.


    Of course, the people here liked to pray and give offerings as well. Many different types of spirits would roam about and eat humans. The humans could live off harvesting different resources from the Golden Court Lake. As long as they were willing to work hard, they would be rewarded and their family would be able to survive. As for the unlucky 0.1% who would end up in the demon''s stomach, they could only blame it on their bad luck.


    Comparatively, the people living here had quite a high quality of life. Therefore, more and more people would shift here.


    Scholars would exclaim that ''the harsh government is fiercer than the demons around''!


    Regardless, after 10 over years, nothing had changed.


    Xu Ren was tasked to one of the five districts here; to be the district minister of Black Lake District.


    In the hierarchy of Da Chu Country, in every district, there would be a district leader, a person who was in control of a 100-mile radius of the district. The district leader would be a 7th Grade official. Additionally, there would be an 8th Grade official assigned as the district minister. In reality, the district minister was only a backup and was only required to learn from the district leader and do nothing else.


    In the district town, there would be a district lieutenant, main assistant and the Six Division Ministers. All of them would have their own roles to play. It was similar to an enlarged sparrow; all of its organs have their own roles to play for the sparrow to survive, and this was similar in the prefecture governing system, and even the Imperial Court.


    As Xu Ren arrived at Black Lake District, he first paid his greetings to the district leader before taking over from the previous district minister. Afterwards, he consulted his colleagues on an auspicious day for him to formally take up the appointment. All of the minute stuff made everything much more complicated.


    Even Wan''er had to carry her unborn baby around and help out.


    However, all of these were none of Fang Yuan and Li Luan''s business.


    Looking at how they were right now, they would instead scare people off.


    In the backyard of the Xu Family Mansion, in a small pond, Fang Yuan laid within some seaweed and lazily looked up.


    As nightfall drew closer, the front yard was brightly lighted up, and there were the sounds of a bamboo flute. It was Xu Ren inviting his colleagues to spend the night in his house.


    "The fate energy of the people Dao is indeed interesting!"


    Fang Yuan mustered up his demonic strength, opened his spiritual eye and noticed the changes happening in the front yard.


    In his view, there was a bright glow shooting straight up into the sky, as though it was a warning for others not to get too close.


    "This is especially so for Xu Ren. Previously, I''ve not felt much from him. However, after he became district minister, his fate energy has increased exponentially... Of course, I can still kill him if I want to, but the tribulations that would follow would be worrying..."


    "When humans of the people Dao gather, they would strengthen their fate energy. However, this is because the people are gathered around him and is temporary. They are different from us. If our fate energy were to be increased, it would be buried deep in our bones. As long as we are alive, out fate energy would remain!"


    In the pond, a Golden Red Carp poked her head out as Li Luan''s voice was heard.


    "That''s true!"


    Fang Yuan knew the difference between humans and demons and nodded his head.


    "Li Luan, are you deciding to stay here?"


    He looked at the Golden Red Carp and asked curiously.


    "Hmm... There''s an auspicious aura in this mansion and is suitable for me to rest and recuperate here!"


    Li Luan sounded determined. However, in reality, she wanted to take advantage of the protection that came with Xu Ren''s strong fate energy.


    Fang Yuan already knew her intentions but did not expose her. As he smiled, he slithered out of the mansion.


    In was nightfall. With his black body and enormous strength, he moved like the wind and was undetectable.


    Using this chance, he explored the district town. The first impression he had was that there were too many people around, and the second impression was that there were too many temples! Too many of them!


    There were Water God temples, General Temples, Lake God Temples and many more, confusing him.


    Taking a closer look, he realised that there were many types of demons. Although there were righteous gods who only offered protection, the majority were evil demons often feasting on blood offerings.


    "It has reached such a stage where the demons use fear to rule over their followers!"


    Fang Yuan sighed. "Even the officials can''t handle the demons. They can only resort to allowing them to stay and rewarding them in exchange for peace. This is pitiful..."


    Of course, karma was real and for everything that the demons had done today, they would have to pay back another day.


    These demons and gods were now enjoying the offerings from humans. However, in the event of a Killer Tribulation, they might not even dare to step out and admit their doings.


    However, it was reasonable considering that this was the prevailing trend in the area.


    At least, Fang Yuan could guess that since many people were using their people Dao karma to reduce the intensity of their tribulations, their tribulations would be much easier. This would make the good gods stronger and they might be able to change the demons in the future.


    Regardless of how evil-looking a god might appear, as long as the god had enough followers, the impression of him would change and become more acceptable to the public.


    This was the idea of using followers to become acceptable and approved by the public.


    "The god dao could be approved at the prefecture level. Most of the time, the district leader would send the letter of approval and the prefecture would usually approve it... Xu Ren, did you mention about building a temple to worship me? How about ''Black Dragon General''s Temple''?"


    As his thoughts ran wild, he leapt into a small river.


    "Splash!"


    As soon as he entered the water, he felt extremely comfortable.


    Although he had transformed into a snake, he still retained many qualities of a carp. This was akin to giving a fish its water.


    "Great!"


    Fang Yuan slowly executed his techniques and could feel a huge amount of water-type spiritual energy rushing towards him at an unbelievable speed. He was overjoyed. "It seems that I have developed a lot after leaping through the Dragon''s Gate! With such a speed of absorbing spiritual energy and the fact that the Dragon Pearl is within me, I don''t have to feed on others every day!"


    To complete the Nine Steps of Dragon Transformation Formula, he would require a lot of resources.


    Previously, Fang Yuan had no choice but to kill and eat fishes to absorb their elemental energy.


    With his newly-acquired dragon properties, he could now absorb the spiritual energy from nature. With the assistance of the Dragon Pearl, there was no need for him to kill and eat fishes at the rate which he was doing previously.


    ''Does this mean I have completed the elementary stages of absorbing energy from blood and flesh?''


    A weird thought popped up in Fang Yuan''s head. "From now onwards, I would disguise myself. Although I am now different from the rest, our innate ability is to be a thief! To steal from the heavens! To steal from the Dao!"


    Regardless of how improved his methods of absorbing energy were, he still could not run away from the fact that he was stealing energy from something else, be it animals or the air.


    In the teaching of Dao, there were 5 types of thieves. Anyone who could realise these five would have a smooth sailing future!!!


    Beneath the water, he was extremely fast. Like a black arrow, he quickly darted through the river and arrived at a larger river. Following the flow of current, he reached the Golden Court Lake.


    "Rumble!"


    The moment he entered the lake, Fang Yuan could feel the concentrated spiritual energy rushing towards him, making him intoxicated.


    "Very good! Such a normal lake can have such concentrated spiritual energy! If I am able to find a spiritual underwater mountain range, I could build a mansion there!"


    Fang Yuan''s cultivation had changed from eating other smaller creatures to absorbing elemental energy from nature.


    Therefore, he no longer chose the place with fishes as his cultivation point. Rather, he now preferred places with concentrated spiritual energy.


    "Even though I have already understood this realm and the trend of it, without power, how can I follow the trend?"


    He swam around before settling down and concealing his spiritual aura. After searching for a few underwater spiritual mountain ranges, he was speechless. "The better spiritual mountain ranges are already taken up by a few stronger spirits. Why would they leave the good ones lying around untouched?"


    It was possible to snatch, but he had to consider the consequences carefully.


    After all, he was a visitor and if he were to anger them, they might surround him and attack him together.


    "Fortunately, I have already reached the black snake transformation. If I was still in the body of a black carp, I would be high profile and everyone in this lake might just come after me the next day!"


    Thinking about it, Fang Yuan held back, turned around and headed back for Black Lake District Town.


    "Greetings, benefactor!"


    Xu Ren had just ended his dinner and smelled of alcohol.


    However, just by seeing Fang Yuan in black, he quickly sobered up, bowed and appeared humble.


    "The Golden Court Lake seems good, and I feel like staying here for long!"


    As soon as Fang Yuan opened his mouth, Xu Ren felt relieved. He was afraid that this snake might pester his family for his entire life.


    "However... you owe me a temple. How do you intend to resolve this?"


    Fang Yuan asked.


    "This... after going through the relevant authorities, I still need some time. It is especially hard to find a good plot of land these days!"


    There was a look of uneasiness on Xu Ren''s face, but he had spoken the truth.


    He had to go through the district leader for this, submit an official application to the prefecture and therefore, the process would already take up a few days.


    Of course, most importantly, getting a plot of land was not the issue.


    There were already many temples and demons in the city. How would there be space for one more?


    "Haha... This is easy. Let me ask you. Are there any cruel gods and demons around that like to feed on humans? If so, how about capturing them to boost your profile?"


    Fang Yuan laughed.


    "If that is so, thank you, benefactor!"


    As Xu Ren heard Fang Yuan, there was a look of joy on his face.


    ...


    Half a month later, in Heizi River.


    "Water God requires sacrifice from a young boy and a young girl. Quickly send them over!"


    By the side of the river, a sorcerer was mumbling. Her face was painted as she shouted at the villagers, threatening them.


    "Didn''t we give our offerings twice this year already..."


    "Eh, it''s greedy and we have no choice..."


    "What a pity, Yang Wa and Yu Wa..."


    ...


    As the villagers sighed, they wanted to resist but didn''t have the courage to.


    Even their leader could only sigh.


    "The time is up!"


    As the sorcerer looked at them, her face was gleaning. With the thought that she would be able to trick the villagers of more money throughout the year, she quickly put in more effort in convincing them. "Please deliver your offerings to the river!"


    "Wait up!"


    At this point in time, there was a voice heard.


    A few constables opened up a path. Xu Ren wore an official''s robes and appeared majestic. With a sense of justice, he continued. "Don''t move!"


    "It''s the district minister! Greetings, district minister!"


    The village leader quickly greeted him.


    Although the district minister was only an assistant to the district leader, he was still an 8th Grade official of the Imperial Court. The village leader was in no position to disrespect him.


    As he greeted Xu Ren, the rest followed suit.


    "It''s the district minister?"


    The sorcerer let out a cackle. "The Water God in Heizi River is approved by the Imperial Court as well. Are you stopping the Water God from enjoying his offerings? If he becomes infuriated, it''s none of my business!"


    "It''s not that!"


    Seeing such a demon, a hint of anger flashed in Xu Ren''s eyes. Quicky, his expression changed to a gentle one, and he smiled. "The young boy and girl are too skinny and are imperfect. Sorcerer, please enter the river and tell the Water God that I''ll search for a better sacrifice for him to enjoy!"


    With this, he continued to prompt her. "Come on, please enter the river!"

 267 Evil Dragon

    "Yes, Sir!"


    The constables following Xu Ren were rewarded heavily by him. With a ferocious stance, they went up, grabbed the sorcerer and tossed her into the water.


    The sorcerer struggled but alas, she was only a skinny only woman being thrown into a deep river. After a few shrieks, she sank into the water and was no longer seen.


    "This..."


    The people who were giving their offerings were shocked.


    Although they had seen unreasonable tortures by the officials before, most of these tortures were only executed on the weak and poor people. None of them would dare to go against a god.


    But now, did the newly appointed district minister just sacrificed the sorcerer to the Water God?


    Within seconds, the timid ones among them started to feel the jitters.


    "Oh? The sorcerer is not back. Could she have forgotten about us? How about someone go down and take a look?"


    After saving the two children from becoming sacrifices, Xu Ren smirked.


    No one dared to look at him in the eye.


    "Bloop! Bloop!"


    At this moment, the calm water began to bubble.


    A black shadow emerged and bubbles floated up, together with blood and a few drapes of cloth. It was a horrific scene to behold.


    "Wa! Wa!"


    A child''s cry was heard, and it was ear piercing.


    "It''s the Water God! The Water God is enraged!"


    The villagers were panicking. Some of them looked at Xu Ren with hatred.


    ''Hmph! If not for my low rank, I would''ve wiped out all of such evil offering practices!''


    Xu Ren was composed and his thoughts were clear.


    Since he had brought people with him to interrupt the offering practice, he would have been prepared.


    At this point in time, at the opposite side of the river, a black shadow flashed as Fang Yuan leapt into the water.


    He was extremely quick and went straight to the River God. At that moment, he could see how the River God looked like.


    It was about 10 feet long, completely black with a flat head and 4 legs. It was an andrias, a variation of a salamander.


    "Wa! Wa!"


    The andrias had eaten the sorcerer and wanted to send a wave of water to flood the people ashore. As soon as it saw Fang Yuan, it was stunned and let out a crying sound of a baby.


    "It''s horrible!"


    Fang Yuan''s eyes glittered. "Water spear technique!"


    "Whoosh!"


    His control over water was delicate and powerful now, and the water spear that he conjured was a sky blue and was much more hardy than before.


    "Wa! Wa!"


    The andrias knew that the water spear was powerful. With a shriek, many white pearls were spat out of its mouth.


    As the pearl glittered, the imagery of the spirits of a young boy and girl appeared. However, the two children had bloodshot eyes, sharp teeth and claws and were protecting the andrias.


    "Are these servant spirits?"


    Fang Yuan was stunned.


    There was a saying from a long time ago which goes ''Being a servant for the Tiger''. This saying meant that the powerful spirits would eat people and capture their souls, turning them into their own servants.


    This was the case for the andrias.


    Furthermore, seeing all the pearls in front of him, the number of killings the andrias had done was shocking.


    Seeing this, Fang Yuan was shocked. "Demon, you''ve sinned. Even if the heavens would let you off, I wouldn''t!"


    In reality, after understanding that the trend of the realm was the downfall of the demons and the uprising of the humans, all of Fang Yuan''s actions were pro-humans. Since the andrias had killed numerous humans, its fate energy would be weakened and it would surely meet its downfall. Therefore, there would not be further complications after killing this andrias, and there was no need to worry about any backing that it might have.


    This was taking actions according to heaven''s will, which would make things simpler. If one were to go against heaven''s will, it would not be just doubly hard, but one would have to be prepared to face tribulations from the heavens as well.


    "Shake!"


    As he mustered his demonic strength, a ripple emerged from the tip of the water spear.


    The spirits of the young boy and girl were stunned and froze at their spots.


    "Ah!"


    As the spirits were destroyed, the water spear continued on and struck on the body of the andrias, penetrating through. It continuously shrieked in pain, and its Yin Spirit emerged. "You cannot kill me! I am the official Heizi River God, appointed by the Imperial Court!"


    "Go f*ck yourself!"


    Fang Yuan''s Yin spirit emerged and struck its claw out, crushing the andrias''s Yin Spirit within his hands.


    "Bloop! Bloop!"


    As soon as the Yin Spirit was dead, the andrias lost its breath and started to sink down.


    The many spirits among the pearls floated around. If left untouched, they would become a group of water spirits and would trouble people.


    "Sigh..."


    Fang Yuan released a water current and collected all the pearls together.


    "It seems that these pearls are made from the bones of people. In every pearl, there is a sealed spirit in it. It must have used a demonic fire to smelt these pearls and transform them into powerful servant spirits..."


    As he thought about the techniques he had browsed through before, he released his spiritual will and fiddled with the bone pearls.


    "Crackle!"


    After an explosion, the demonic energy of the andrias was wiped off the bone pearls, and the spirits in the 49 pearls were released.


    "Contain!"


    Although the technique was different, Fang Yuan could still attempt the general technique of containing spirits. Quickly, he pointed his finger at the many spirits.


    "Wa! Wa!"


    Most of the powerful spirits were unwilling to be contained, but alas, they were too weak to fight back. Since all of them had marks from the first time they were smelted into the pearls, they did not have the strength to resist. Soon, all of them were contained in their pearls, and the pearls were strung together to form a lace.


    "Although this is cruel, it will be rather useful..."


    Fang Yuan shook his head, sighed and looked into the water.


    He could see a few red runes glowing, and it was as though they formed a talisman.


    "The Imperial Order? And the many years of cultivation of the andrias?"


    Thinking about it, he did not directly take the Imperial Order over. Instead, he used his technique on it and the talisman hardened, forming a block of jade which landed in his hands.


    "It doesn''t seem powerful... Could it be due to the fact that it is only a title of Da Chu Country?"


    Comparing it to the Water God of the Qi Lake, Fang Yuan could tell the difference. "A real god has to be appointed by the heavens as well for it to be authentic! If it was like this Water God, it is only a fake and can only be appointed by the heavens based on its luck. If the andrias could harness all the spiritual energy in Heizi River today, I would not be able to defeat it so easily..."


    "However, since the trend of the realm is towards the people dao, it would be extremely easy to gain the appointment from the heavens if I were to protect humans!"


    This was the trend of the realm.


    To allow a few righteous gods to become strong and powerful so that they could support the human Dao!


    One would have to experience it for oneself in order to know the slow but influential power of the heavens!


    It would be all these accumulative events that would lead to the trend actualising.


    "In the next 10 years, there would be many heroes and Energy Souls among the humans! Also, the demons would experience internal conflicts among themselves and will go down... This is fate!"


    Fang Yuan''s thoughts ran wild. If he could go with the flow of the trend, he would benefit from it.


    Of course, firstly, he had to occupy the andrias''s underwater mansion.


    The underwater mansion was a huge cave with a few strong currents of water outside to protect it.


    "Hmm... It is a rather good mountain range and the spiritual energy is rather concentrated here. It is a good place for me to stay for a while! The only thing about this place is that the protective currents are a little weak. I''ll improve the protection of this place later!"


    A black snake was a water snake, and therefore, it was extremely versatile underwater.


    After examining the place, Fang Yuan decided to clear the corpse and bones from the mansion before returning to the surface of the river.


    "Benefactor?"


    Xu Ren had already chased the villagers away and instructed for the constables to stand guard from afar. He was waiting all by himself by the riverbank.


    Seeing Fang Yuan emerging from the river, he gave off an anxious look. "How''s the Water God?"


    "I''ve killed it! It has sinned too much and deserved it!"


    Fang Yuan continued. "I''ll prepare to stay here for the time being. Continue on with the plan and have me take over this Water God!"


    "Mmm, I know what to do!"


    Xu Ren nodded his head.


    He had no objections to removing an evil god and replacing it with Fang Yuan.


    At least, Fang Yuan would not demand offerings. This point was enough to convince him that Fang Yuan was better than then andrias. Even if people were to question his actions, he could explain himself.


    To Fang Yuan, it was beneficial for him to make use of the officials to cover up for the fact that he wanted to snatch the underwater mansion for himself.


    "When you return, know your duties. Take good care of the carp in the backyard pond... She owes me something. If I return and she is no longer there, I can only go after you for what she had owed me..."


    Fang Yuan laughed and ignored the pale Xu Ren. Turning around, he leapt into the water and disappeared in a splash.


    ...


    In the Golden Court Lake.


    Beneath the lake, there was a Dragon Palace.


    The dragon palace was extremely big like a giant''s country. On the jade square in the centre of the palace, there was a black water dragon!


    The water dragon had a horn, 4 limbs and 3 claws on each limb. Its eyes were bloodshot and it had the vibes of a dragon. It was not just a black water dragon, but an evil dragon!


    It was the Golden Court Dragon God! A powerful demon from the heavens! The king of demons! Even the An River Dragon God or the Water God of Qi Lake would have to pay their respects to him.


    "Greetings, Dragon God!"


    Outside the dragon palace, there was a flash and a tortoise guard escorted a demon in.


    The demon stood on its legs and was hairy, with golden fiery eyes and a ferocious look. However, as soon as it saw the evil dragon, it paid its respects.


    "Mmm, it''s you, monkey!"


    The black water dragon opened his eyes, and the monkey demon could feel an immense pressure on him. "What are you here for, Monkey God?"


    "Hehe... I am only here because the An River Dragon God had tasked me to send a letter of a wanted fugitive!"


    The monkey demon plucked a strand of its hair and blew it, and an image appeared in mid-air. The image of a beautiful lady appeared. If Fang Yuan was here, he would have found her extremely familiar.


    "The An River Dragon God must capture this lady!"


    The monkey demon chuckled.


    "Mm, I will inform those under me about it..."


    The black water dragon flicked his claws as though he was asking the monkey to be dismissed.


    "Dragon God!"


    The monkey demon refused to be dismissed. "I have something else to say!"


    "Please carry on!"


    "The demons on land feel that you are a little overboard to allow humans to fish in the Golden Court Lake! Although the humans give you plenty of offerings for many years to come, do you feel anything different in recent years?"


    The monkey demons appeared solemn. "The scarcity of resources and energy from the heavens have led to conflicts among us demons... but instead, the humans are thriving and if this continues, I''m afraid..."


    "Hmm, I understand!"


    However, the Golden Court Dragon God shook his head, as though he felt that the monkey demon was worrying too much.


    After the monkey demon had left, he sighed. "Nobody would know the heaven''s intentions..."

 268 Secret Technique

    "Long Live the Heizi River God!"


    "Please bless us, the compassionate Heizi River God..."


    ...


    Unknowingly, 3 years had passed by in a flash.


    At the riverbank of Heizi River, there was a small altar with incense, fruits, flowers, pig''s head and goat''s head as offerings. After the practice was complete, they would throw it into the river.


    After Xu Ren had changed the way of offerings from live offerings to the three basic forms, the Water God surprisingly did not attack humans. Instead, its requests became lesser and lesser, and the villagers felt thankful.


    At the same time, the reputation of Xu Ren slowly improved and he was now known for being compassionate.


    Under the river, within a spiritual cave in the underwater mountain ridge.


    A huge snake appeared to be in hibernation and there were flames floating around it, glittering as the flames flickered, which made the snake looked immortal.


    "Hmm?"


    Fang Yuan woke up and was astonished. "Did I just hibernate for an entire year?"


    Looking at his own body, he was shocked to find out that he had grown from 3 feet to 6 feet long. His scales were now glistering and he looked menacing:


    "Name: Fang Yuan


    Race: Black Snake


    Essence: 21


    Spirit: 21


    Magic: 21


    Profession: ???


    Cultivation: ???


    Technique: [Nine Steps of Dragon Transformation Technique (4th Transformation)], [Water Controlling Technique (Grade 3)]


    Skill: [Medicine (Level 3)], [Botany (Level 5)]"


    "With the spiritual energy around and the assistance from the Dragon Pearl, my cultivation has indeed shot up. I believe that it''s not long before I will become a python!"


    A python was a giant snake!


    From the Black Snake Transformation to the Python Transformation, it was not hard.


    However, since a python would be huge, there would be differences. For instance, a snake would prefer cold while a python would prefer warm and would be naturally strong. If his transformation would be successful, the limitations of a snake would be removed as well.


    "And all of these as well..."


    Fang Yuan fidgeted and noticed the small flames surrounding him.


    Although he remained quiet in his hibernation, after all, he was the Water God of the underwater mansion. The offerings in Heizi River would go to him.


    Furthermore, he did not kill or harm anybody, which earned him gratitude from the villagers. With their sincere offerings, Fang Yuan was humoured.


    "Hmm, this colourful glow is from the incense. It is best if I don''t touch it!"


    Fang Yuan opened his spiritual eye and examined before telling them apart. "The outermost layer of golden glow is my people Dao karma, which will allow me to reduce the intensity of people tribulations..."


    Thinking about it, he opened his mouth and stretched out his tongue.


    The colourful glow did not move. Instead, the outer golden glow was pulled towards him by an invisible force and it condensed into a small golden flower which landed in front of him.


    "Go!"


    As his spiritual will shook, an unknown world was revealed. As a tremor was felt, the flower of people Dao karma was transferred into his actualised dream world.


    "It is indeed possible!"


    Seeing this, there was excitement in his eyes.


    The rules of reality which governed this realm were too strict and different from his own realm, and there was not much energy he could muster from his actualised dream world.


    However, the flower of karma was from the heavens and had no physical shape and content. Therefore, it could be transferred into the actualised dream world for him to take away.


    "However... I don''t know what the flower could be used for in my own world?"


    Fang Yuan sighed. "Based on the rules of reality which governs this realm, with karma comes fortune and good fate. I could just walk out and find a magical weapon lying on the floor, and I can even use it to reduce the intensity of tribulations... However, does the Da Qian world recognise karma from this realm?"


    In a thought, he felt that everything did not make sense.


    "I should quickly use it up!"


    As his spiritual will shook, the golden flower exploded and dissipated within the actualised dream world.


    After a golden flash, there seemed to be no changes in the actualised dream world.


    "It doesn''t seem that useful..."


    Fang Yuan was speechless. As he slowly experienced it for himself, he could finally detect it. "It feels as though my actualised dream world is now more responsive? Also... it seems that it is more connected with this realm. If I use up more people Dao karma, I might be able to use my 8 Gates Sword Array here!"


    "Could the effect of the people Dao karma allow me to integrate into this world?"


    He made a wild guess in his mind. "To test if this is true, I will need to obtain more people Dao karma. In this realm, I''m sure I''m able to!"


    He waited until nightfall before leaving and arriving at the Black Lake District government office.


    "I can sense the official''s energy becoming stronger... It feels much more concentrated here!"


    Fang Yuan quickly commented before swiftly entering the government office. The fate energy in the government office was too weak to restrict him.


    In the study at the back of the government office.


    Xu Ren now had a moustache and appeared more mature, He was reading some books late at night and he frowned, as though he was troubled.


    "Sir! Your wife has cooked some bird''s nest porridge. Please enjoy and rest early!"


    Outside, a beautiful servant served the porridge, which filled the room with its fragrance.


    "It''s hard on you, Sir!"


    Xu Ren was pleased with his wife. After all, she was respectful and even gave birth to a son for him. He took a spoon and started to eat the porridge. "I have just taken over the district government office and will be quite busy, unlike before. Please return and send my regards to my wife, and remind her to rest! Don''t wait for me!"


    The previous Black Lake district leader had reached the end of his 3-year tenure and had already risen up the ranks to be part of the prefecture. Therefore, Xu Ren had taken up his appointment.


    After all, it was only normal for people to be promoted and move a step up.


    Of course, this was also due to Xu Ren''s hard work.


    However, only after taking over the district and control the 100-mile radius land did he realise the difficulty of it.


    "There are two main threats in Black Lake District. Firstly, it would be the evil gods and secondly, pirates. As the in-charge of this district, I need to get rid of these in order to live up to my appointment!"


    After finishing the porridge, he dismissed the servant and started to reminisce about his younger days and started to clench his fist.


    "The pirates are hiding on the Golden Court Lake and their movements are mysterious. They would come together and strike at the same place before retreating back into the lake. Therefore, they are extremely hard to find and I suspect that they have a powerful backing. The previous district leader could only send his soldiers to protect the district''s people, but he was unable to wipe out the pirates completely!"


    "As for the threat from evil gods, it is harder to deal with. Even I myself can only try my best to support the righteous gods for them to go against the evil gods..."


    At this point, he glanced at the pond at the backyard and there was a mysterious look in his eyes.


    He had previously made use of the black snake to get rid of the previous threat from the Heizi River Water God. From then, there were no troubles for the next three years and there was no need for live sacrifices, which was an example which he hoped to emulate.


    The golden red carp in his mansion had slowly recovered and could finally be put to use.


    Previously, he was a little anxious about the fact that there was a demon living in his backyard.


    However, in the past 3 years, the golden red carp did not do anything to threaten them. Instead, it had helped them in the dark and helped them resolve many issues, slowly gaining the family''s trust, to the extent that they would trust the golden red carp more than Fang Yuan.


    "District leader, an old friend is here to visit!"


    With a golden flash, a beautiful lady appeared in his study. It was Li Luan.


    "Lady Li, an old friend? Who is it?"


    Xu Ren was shocked. It must be somebody powerful for Li Luan to release her Yin Spirit.


    "It''s me!"


    As a black fog spread into the room, a young man in black robes entered.


    "It''s indeed you, my friend!"


    Li Luan took a bow. "It has been 3 years, and I congratulate you for your improvement in cultivation!"


    "It''s benefactor!"


    Xu Ren stood up and bowed.


    "How can I compare to you, Lady Li? After all, you are cultivating in the government''s office! After 3 years of cultivation, I have reached a bottleneck and I have to come here!"


    Fang Yuan sat down and looked at Xu Ren. "Sir Xu, would your ambitions 3 years ago count today?"


    "Of course!"


    Xu Ren knew that Fang Yuan wouldn''t visit him without a purpose. As soon as he heard him, he promptly agreed.


    "Alright! If that is so, I will help you in accomplishing something good for the country!"


    Fang Yuan looked down.


    "If that is so, I''ll send in a letter of approval to recommend you as the god of the district town!"


    Xu Ren was overjoyed as he exclaimed.


    "Keke... We can discuss this later!"


    With a flash, Fang Yuan disappeared. Li Luan quickly followed him.


    Within seconds, only Xu Ren was left behind in the study, and all that had happened felt like a dream.


    ...


    "What are you intending to do?"


    In a garden at the back of the government office, Fang Yuan sat next to a pond as is tail flicked around on the surface of the water.


    A golden red carp swam towards him, Li Luan''s voice was heard.


    "What do I want to do?"


    Fang Yuan laughed as he looked in another direction. It was as though he could see through walls as his eyes were fixed in the master bedroom.


    In the bedroom, Wan''er looked like a housewife as she coaxed her son to sleep.


    The child was only 3 years old and was extremely cute. However, it appeared different from a normal human.


    It had fate energy of normal levels, but it felt as though it might explode any time, which gave Fang Yuan a sense of familiarity. With the Dragon Pearl in his body, he could detect that the child was not normal, as though he would be the cause of a people tribulation


    "You are asking me what I am intending to do. However, I want to ask you. Xu Ren is a normal human. Previously, you can still lie about staying here to recuperate. What excuse do you have now?"


    Looking at Li Luan, he continued. "I didn''t think that you would have detected the trend in this realm as well and even invested in it... Let me think. What did you do to the child? Hmm... I''ve received news that the An River Dragon God is looking for a demon fugitive, and it seems that that demon had stolen a treasure from his dragon palace. Could it be the water dragon''s Dragon Pearl?"


    "You..."


    There was a look of shock on Li Luan''s face.


    Never would she have thought that her discreet actions would be discovered by Fang Yuan so easily.


    Fang Yuan chuckled inside.


    He had a Dragon Pearl of his own and was of higher quality than the water dragon''s Dragon Pearl, which made it extremely easy for him to detect.


    "However, the water dragon''s Dragon Pearl is a treasure for a demon''s cultivation. What use does it have on a human?"


    Looking at Li Luan, Fang Yuan interrogated her.


    Seeing this, Li Luan could only take in a deep breath and reveal everything. "That day, I was heavily injured. Therefore, I had to make use of the protection from the Xu Family. However, after seeing the birth of their child and detecting that he was special, I decided to do it!"


    "That water dragon''s Dragon Pearl is not something that the An River Dragon God would require to survive. Instead, it was a treasure passed on by the previous generations of dragon gods. It is filled with karma and fate energy, and not much dragon properties in it. Through my secret technique, I have planted it into Xu Ting''s heart and covered it up..."

 269 Clear Wind

    "You''re really ambitious!"


    Fang Yuan rubbed his hands together. "This treasure would be able to contain his fate energy. When Xu Ting grows up and becomes accomplished, you want a share of his fate energy and karma? To increase your cultivation?"


    "That''s right! I must take revenge!"


    Li Luan had a determined look on her face, and her Yin Spirit emerged. "Please help me, brother. After all of this is over, I am willing to be your slave to repay your kindness!"


    "Forget it..."


    Fang Yuan waved his sleeves. "Don''t look for me for such a troublesome thing! However, since we have similar goals, we can work together!"


    This lady''s enemy must be at the same level of the An River Dragon God and Fang Yuan did not want to find trouble for himself.


    However, he had to admit that the execution of his plan would be much smoother with her help.


    "Of course..."


    Li Luan stood up, confused.


    The water dragon''s Dragon Pearl is an extremely valuable treasure!


    Although she had already declared that the pearl had minimal dragon properties in it and that it could not assist Fang Yuan in transforming from a python to a dragon, it could contain fate energy and the benefits were immense.


    At the moment where Fang Yuan had exposed her, she had already made plans for the worse. However, she could not believe it that Fang Yuan had no greed.


    However, it was also a good thing that she did not have to fight with her benefactor.


    As she heaved a sigh of relief, she continued. "Brother, please swear to the heavens as proof!"


    In this realm, the heavens were almighty. Although there might be no response at the moment of swearing, all of it would be accumulated in the tribulation to come and even the Dragon God would have to consider twice before swearing.


    "I swear to the heavens that I have no greed over the water dragon''s Dragon Pearl. If I break my promise, the heavens can deal with me in any way they like!"


    Fang Yuan rolled his eyes and looked at Li Luan. "Is this enough for you to keep your thunder pill?"


    "I''m sorry!"


    Li Luan blushed and quickly kept the thunder pill before apologising once more. "I am too cautious..."


    "Alright, now can you explain to me where are you from?"


    Fang Yuan stared at the golden red carp.


    "I am... the daughter of the Water God of Qi Lake!"


    Li Luan clenched her teeth but finally revealed her identity.


    "What?"


    Fang Yuan was in shock at the coincidence in the world. "Alright, you don''t have to say anything more..."


    He could guess this lady''s predicament.


    Her father had died and she had sworn to take revenge for him. Therefore, she had infiltrated the palace to steal the treasures.


    As for how a water dragon could give birth to a carp? A water dragon was flirtatious in nature and there was no explanation needed.


    However, no matter how good her plan was, she was unlucky. Although the water dragon''s Dragon Pearl was a treasure in itself, it was unable to help her transform into a dragon. Following, she was then chased by soldiers and was fortunate enough to be rescued by the Xu Family. After seeing the birth of Xu Ting, only then did she think of harnessing his fate energy for her own cultivation.


    "I believe this lady is unaware of my identity..."


    Fang Yuan looked at Li Luan. "Could she have suspected anything after seeing my black carp body? That should be a small issue. Against the demons in Qi Lake, we are natural allies!"


    ...


    "Eh? This is..."


    At the East of Black Lake District, there was a Dao temple called Clear Wind.


    The owner of Clear Wind Temple was rumoured to be a powerful person who worked hard to destroy evil demons and earned a reputation for himself. He was nicknamed ''The Godly Sword of the Sun and Moon''. As he aged, he retired here. He was spot-on in fortune telling and deciphering dreams, which gave him a good business.


    Of course, Venerable Clear Wind had good progress in his cultivation in recent years and no longer got himself involved in the happenings around. He had left the work of managing the temple to his few direct disciples while he would cultivate in peace by himself.


    "Master!"


    At this point in time, within Clear Wind Temple, a young Daoist came to the backyard and was shocked.


    His master had unknowingly started to meditate in isolation. As his master looked out towards the district, his face was solemn.


    "Is this Tong Ming? You should have mastered your Energy Viewing Technique, so come take a look!"


    Venerable Clear Wind was around 80 years old but appeared like a middle-aged man. His face was full of vitality and his black sideburns stretched downwards, giving him the appearance of a respectable Daoist


    As he looked towards the government office, his eyes glittered.


    "Yes, Master!"


    Tong Ming opened his spiritual eye and executed his Energy Viewing Technique towards the government''s office. "A red streak of energy is originating from the office like the glow of a fire... The district leader has plenty of people Dao fate energy! Also, there is a colourful scroll within the red streak of energy. This is the scholarly energy! Sir Xu is a scholar and will be able to ensure peace in the district! It is good fortune for the people!"


    "Eh?"


    After looking for a while longer, his expression changed. "There seems to be a faint black glow coming from the back of the government office. This is the energy of aggressive soldiers. Could the district leader intend to use his soldiers?"


    "And then?"


    Venerable Clear Wind''s expression remained unchanged and continued asking.


    "I''m useless and this is all I can see..."


    Daoist Tong Ming was sweating profusely.


    "You have already mastered half of the Energy Viewing Technique since you were able to see all that you had described...."


    Venerable Clear Wind sighed. "Amidst the energy of the aggressive soldiers, there is the energy of demons! I''m afraid that demons now control the government office and have already disguised themselves to get close to his family members..."


    "Demons?"


    Daoist Tong Ming shuddered and did not know what to do. "What should we do?"


    "Exterminate it, of course!"


    Venerable Clear Wing revealed a murderous look. "Bring my sword to me!"


    "Yes, Master!"


    Daoist Tong Ming returned to the temple and within seconds, he had retrieved a sword out.


    The sword appeared normal and Venerable Clear Wind started to recite his sword formula and exert strength on the handle of the sword.


    "Whoosh!"


    With the roar of a dragon, a peak of three feet erupted from the ground.


    As he glanced at the peak, Daoist Tong Ming started to feel his eyes hurting and could look no more.


    He knew that his master had used this magical sword to kill countless demons. With all the spiritual energy in it, it could already become the sword''s spirit! Normal people would not be able to wield it and handle that much energy.


    Only his master would be able to recite his sword formula and use it at will. Humans and demons alike would be no match for this sword.


    "When can I ever get the moon... Oh, Sun Moon Sword, I never thought that I would have to use you again..."


    Venerable Clear Wind''s face was composed, but his mind was filled with many thoughts:


    ''It is the only fate for the uprising of humans. We cultivate the authentic way and we are pure humans. Our grandmasters were fortunate to have the opportunity to allow us to enter the realm and help the people Dao...''


    ''I have disguised myself as a vigilante for over 30 years before realising that something impending would happen, and Black Lake District was one of these places which would be happening. Therefore, I have decided to live in seclusion here and take in a few disciples...''


    ''Who would''ve guessed that demons would be involved in this tribulation! Do you demons really think you can share a piece of our fate energy and karma and develop your own Dragon Court? Hehe...''


    Although they were after the same thing, he could not allow this to happen.


    Even though whatever the demons were doing might be beneficial to the people Dao, only humans should do it. If demons were to accomplish it, they would have a hope of survival! They would also take a share of our karma.


    Taking away one''s fortune was akin to killing one''s parents.


    Taking away one''s karma and fate energy would reconcile the demons and humans forever!


    ''Regardless of how the demon knew the trend of the realm or the fact that it might be coincidence, I cannot let it happen and cannot let them have our fate energy!''


    Venerable Clear Wind had a cold look on his face.


    ...


    Black Water General''s Temple.


    The Black Water General was similar to the previous Heizi River God and would frequently demand live sacrifice and would sometimes even go up ashore to feed on humans.


    The moon was high up in the night sky.


    Suddenly, there was an explosion coming from the temple and the ground shook.


    "What happened?"


    The awoken temple master draped on his robes and quickly entered the temple. He was left dumbfounded.


    "Bang!"


    In a loud crash, there was a crack on the neck of the statue of the Black Water General and soon, it broke apart and rolled onto the floor, spinning. Many offerings were smashed.


    "General... general!"


    Although it was just a statue, it meant that there was an impending disaster for the temple.


    "Rumble!"


    Suddenly, another loud sound was heard. As the ground exploded, a black fog emerged. Within the black fog, there was a small creature which stretched out its 4 legs. It attempted to run towards the river.


    "Don''t think about escaping!"


    Behind, there was another black glow. A huge black snake appeared and it swiftly blocked the creature''s path.


    With the second glow, the temple master could no longer take it and fainted.


    "Aw! Aw!"


    As the giant turtle''s path was blocked, it stopped and stretched its head out. With a menacing roar, it shouted. "We are both demons! Why are you troubling me?"


    "Just shut up!"


    Fang Yuan was too lazy to continue the conversation. With the flick of his tail, several water spears flew out.


    "Chi! Chi!"


    Not just that, the water spears froze in mid-air, forming icicles and making it stronger.


    Ice, made from water but colder than water!


    After transforming into a black snake, Fang Yuan''s Water Controlling Technique had improved once more and he even learnt to form ice on his own without any master''s guidance. As he executed it, the temperature in the surroundings dipped.


    "Bang!"


    In front of the old turtle, the ground cracked and a wall made of soil emerged.


    However, within seconds, the entire soil wall started to freeze up and crumbled in the next instant. The following icicles struck through the shell and into the turtle''s flesh.


    "Whoosh!"


    The old turtle quickly retracted its 4 limbs and head into its shell. As the icicles struck it, it slowly stretched its limbs and head out once more but this time, blood was oozing out.


    "Impressive ice-type technique!"


    Another flash appeared and Li Luan''s Yin Spirit appeared. She appeared shocked. "The chill in the icicles froze any chance of survival for the old tortoise. It is just right, and the control over the chill is impressive!"


    "This old turtle is also weak and you have already researched on him. He had few followers, therefore, there would be fewer implications if we were to kill him..."


    Fang Yuan slithered up and struck his tail into the shell.


    "Chi! Chi!"


    Red streaks of light emerged from the shell and crept up Fang Yuan''s scales.


    After a while, the flesh of the old turtle disappeared, leaving a shell behind.


    Although Fang Yuan was over the phase of eating normal flesh and meat, the demon''s flesh was still filled with essence in it. After swallowing the turtle''s flesh, he grew a little longer and his scales had a dull red pattern now.

 270 Imperial Sword

    As the bright moon shone, the river gushed downstream.


    After the death of the old turtle, its essence was being absorbed by Fang Yuan and all that was left was a turtle shell and a faint glow around it.


    "Do you mind?"


    Fang Yuan casually glanced at Li Luan. "Do you have the interest to join god dao? If that is so, by all means, take over him. After all, it wouldn''t be hard to be appointed by the human dao..."


    However, it all boiled down to her own luck if she could be given a title by the heavens as well.


    "Talking about following god dao, you have already controlled Heizi River for three years. Why are there no improvements in your cultivation?"


    Li Luan bit her lip and smiled. "We have different goals so there''s no meaning in this conversation!"


    "That''s true..."


    Fang Yuan nodded his head but was secretly shocked.


    He knew that if he were to benefit from Xu Ting by taking in his karma, he might get himself involved in the impending tribulation. This was why he chose to live in seclusion and only took control over the spiritual mountain range underwater.


    Since Li Luan was clueless about the impending tribulation, her actions of trying to make use of Xu Ting to help the people Dao was only reasonable.


    ''There could be a possibility that this woman might be involved in the impending tribulation!''


    Fang Yuan examined Li Luan.


    Based on his definition of ''involved'', he meant that she would be the epicentre of the tribulation.


    After all, his actions were already affected by her...


    "The moon..."


    Li Luan looked up and commented softly.


    At that moment, Fang Yuan''s Yin Spirit became tensed up.


    Under the moonlight, he could feel a sense of danger.


    "Quickly retreat!"


    Within seconds, he quickly arched his back and leapt into the river as quick as lightning.


    Within seconds, he could see a shimmer in his eyes.


    The silhouette of a sword landed under the moonlight.


    This sword was glittering as though it was as bright as the moon. It struck down with a murderous vibe.


    The sword hesitated for a moment as it detected Fang Yuan escaping the vicinity. In a split second, it decided to change its target and went for Li Luan instead.


    "This is a flying sword technique! A flying sword controlled by someone!"


    The flying sword became a streak of light as it struck down and suddenly, Fang Yuan recalled a sentence from a poem - ''As beautiful as the moon, the enchantress takes her leave!''


    "If I don''t help her, she''ll be dead!"


    His spiritual will shook as 3 ice pillars emerged from the ground, shielding her.


    "Whoosh!"


    The sword essence exploded, destroying the 3 pillars of ice and shattering it.


    It was this extra split second which gave Li Luan the opportunity to use her lifeline.


    "Thunder Pill, explode!!!"


    A green streak of electricity ruptured and struck onto the sword essence.


    "A thunder-type technique indeed!"


    As the power of the thunder pill was revealed, Fang Yuan could feel his scales standing on its ends.


    The God of Thunder was considered one of the strongest gods. Therefore, thunder-type techniques were one of the more powerful techniques.


    Although this thunder was not a tribulation, the destruction that it had caused was only a little lesser than a natural tribulation!


    "Clang!"


    After a clang, the sword essence disintegrated, revealing an ancient-looking sword. It was three feet long and there was a string of cherries on the handle, drifting through the wind.


    "Ah... thunder technique!"


    A spiritual will emerged from the sword. Within seconds, the flying sword turned around and flew off quickly, shaking in the wind.


    "Brother, are you alright?"


    Fang Yuan slithered back ashore and checked on her.


    "Thanks for your assistance! Otherwise, I wouldn''t even have the chance to activate the thunder pill!"


    Li Luan held her chest, worried.


    She had the feeling of coming back from the dead!


    If her Yin Spirit was killed, she would have ended up as a vegetable even though she still had her physical body.


    "This person is powerful! He should be a warrior among the people!"


    Fang Yuan glanced at Li Luan. "Have you not realised anything after staying at the Xu Family? I''m surprised that you haven''t been killed!"


    Li Luan rolled her eyes. "I was panicky throughout my stay in their mansion and have kept my demonic energy for the past three years. Do you think I''m like you? You don''t even conceal yourself when walking out in the streets! It must be your actions and negligence which attracted this highly skilled warrior!"


    Fang Yuan was taken aback.


    His intention in killing the evil gods was to let Xu Ren submit an official appeal to the prefecture to get rid of the evil gods.


    Although the officials could not absorb and harness spiritual energy around them, they could gather the fate energy of the people Dao which would be troublesome for Fang Yuan.


    However, the officials from the prefecture could render the fate energy of the evil gods useless.


    Never would he have thought that such an ordinary action taken by Xu Ren would attract so much attention.


    "Forget it... I want to see who this powerful human is!"


    Fang Yuan revealed a courageous look. "I''m going to look for that human! Do you want to follow me?"


    "This... I wouldn''t dare to disobey!"


    Li Luan clenched her teeth. Looking at the direction which the sword flew towards, there was a vengeful look on her face.


    After all, she was a demon! It was already rare that she, as a demon, did not take advantage of the humans! How could she allow another human to take advantage of her?


    ...


    Within Clear Wind Temple.


    Venerable Clear Wind crossed his legs and sat on a platform. As he recited his mantra, his body remained still.


    Beside him, there were a few loyal disciples protecting him.


    "Buzz!"


    A streak of sword-reflected light entered from outside and landed in front of Venerable Clear Wind.


    On the sword, a small Yin Spirit emerged. It had the looks of Venerable Clear Wind and hurriedly, it leapt into Venerable Clear Wind''s physical body.


    "Buzz! Buzz!"


    In a glow, the physical body of Venerable Clear Wind stood up. As he opened his eyes, his face became flushed and he hastily spat out a mouthful of blood.


    "Master?!"


    The surrounding disciples were in a shock.


    They knew that their master''s flying sword technique would require his Yin Spirit to possess the sword and this would allow the sword to be able to fly 10 over miles and strike whenever and wherever he wanted!


    Since the Yin Spirit would have the protection of the spiritual sword, it was extremely safe.


    However, it seemed that their attempt at assassination had failed and even the Yin Spirit had experienced backlash!


    "Cough! Cough! The two demons are extremely powerful! Quickly bring me my Heavenly King Revival Pill!"


    Venerable Clear Wind spat out a few more mouthfuls of fresh blood and his face was extremely pale. He was struggling to instruct his fellow disciples.


    One of his disciples had already prepared the spiritual pills and served them to Venerable Clear Wind. After a while, he seemed to have recovered a little. "Tong Feng, Tong Huo, quickly set up the array... A strong enemy is coming!"


    Looking at the disciples he had in the temple, running away would not be a good choice as they would surely be hunted down. By then, all of them would die.


    The only thing he could do was to take advantage of their geographical location and defend with all their lives.


    "Yes, Master!"


    Two of his disciples quickly rushed around the temple. Within minutes, there was a stream of air circulating around the temple, protecting it. Above the temple, there was a layer of fog rising up, concealing the entire temple.


    After a short while, two streaks of fog landed next to the temple. It was Fang Yuan and Li Luan.


    "They''re feeling guilty! This only goes to show that they were the ones who attacked us!"


    Fang Yuan glanced at Li Luan.


    Li Luan blushed. She was still doubting his tracking abilities but now, she was proven otherwise.


    "We should be fighting now right? Hold on, we have to announce our arrival..."


    Fang Yuan slowly slithered forward and shouted with a commanding voice. "Listen up you brats! Since you dare to attack us, you must be prepared for our revenge. I''ll give you all how long it takes for an incense to completely burn for all of you to come out and surrender. If not, I shall burn this temple and leave nothing behind!"


    "How dare you!"


    They could no longer hold it in. A voice travelled from inside the temple. "You evil demons live among us humans and are even forcing the district leader to take your orders! We''re helping the heavens by killing the both of you!"


    ''You must be powerful to have the guts to rebut... You can even convince me that your ambush on us is reasonable! Seriously?''


    Fang Yuan rolled his eyes and prepared to break the array.


    "Master... That demon is preparing to enter the array!"


    Within the array, a few disciples were extremely nervous.


    "Relax! How would such a stupid animal understand the philosophies of the array?"


    Venerable Clear Wind appeared contented. "It would take an extremely powerful demon to break this array using brute force... what is this!!!!"


    He was originally composed but now, his hands were shivering.


    His eyes were wide opened and his mouth was gaping as he was trying to comprehend what was happening before him.


    In front of him, the black snake had entered the array. It was slithering to the east, followed by the west. It was looking for all the weak points in the array and using its own technique to destroy them.


    "Rumble!"


    As the array was destroyed, what was left behind was Venerable Clear Wind and his few disciples.


    "How is this possible? This is a secret array passed down to us by our ancestors!"


    Venerable Clear Wind was dumbfounded. He wielded his sword and walked up. "Demon, how did you break this array?"


    ''Eh... I''m not going to waste my time talking to you!''


    Fang Yuan kept mum and observed Venerable Clear Wind''s fate energy.


    Because of Venerable Clear Wind''s cultivation, he was able to conceal his own fate energy. However, Fang Yuan''s cultivation was stronger and therefore, he could still see through Venerable Clear Wind''s concealment.


    "His martial arts are rather good. Of course, the interesting part is the additional energy surrounding him, which is the fate energy passed down to him from his ancestors... Furthermore, looking at the situation, it seems that he has gained protection from the heavens... It''s a pity that he is too stubborn... We are all helping the people Dao, so why does he want to fight with me?"


    Looking at the cold look in Venerable Clear Wind''s eyes, Fang Yuan knew that he was a stubborn person. Therefore, he quickly came to a decision. "I''ll kill him! Who cares if he has the protection of the heavens? I couldn''t possibly let him kill me if he wanted to, right? As for going against the trend of the world, there will surely be some tribulations afterwards. Even if I cannot use my karma to reduce the intensity of the tribulations, I must still kill him today!"


    He transformed into a sharp arrow and flung himself forward.


    "Watch out for my sword!"


    Although Venerable Clear Wind''s Yin Spirit was injured and was unable to wield his sword, his true self could still do it. With his first strike, he could perfectly defend his physical body at the same time.


    "What a good strike!"


    Fang Yuan flicked his tail, avoided the sword and struck on the blade of the sword.


    "Ah!"


    Venerable Clear Wind retreated. There was fear in his voice.


    How could a snake know martial arts?

 271 Slaying Evil

    There was no room for error in a fight among the highly-skilled!


    With just a simple oversight, Venerable Clear Wind was disarmed of his long sword as a black flash shot through his chest.


    "Pu!"


    His physical body crumbled as though the essence of his body was being sucked out. Instantly, he had become a dried corpse which fell to the ground and shattered.


    "Ah... You''re too extreme!"


    A black fog rose from the head of the corpse as a Yin Spirit appeared.


    This was the spirit of Venerable Clear Wind. If it were to escape, it could find other suitable bodies and live on, or it could reincarnate into a new body. The possibilities were endless.


    As it glanced fiercely at Fang Yuan, the Yin Spirit waved its hands in an attempt to enter the sword and escape.


    "Don''t think about running!"


    Li Luan walked up and stretched her hands out. Immediately, a big red net appeared which contained the spiritual sword within.


    Considering her abilities and cultivation, it was theoretically impossible for her to contain the spiritual sword. However, the sword was previously damaged by the thunder and lighting which she had summoned and had yet to be combined with Venerable Clear Wind''s spirit. With the advantage, she made full use of it. Although the sword was trying its best to penetrate its way through, but to no avail.


    "This is your fate!"


    A huge hand made out of black fog appeared above Fang Yuan''s head, which quickly struck towards the spirit of Venerable Clear Wind.


    The spirit of Venerable Clear Wind was attempting to resist but as the black fog hand thickened, it became dizzy and restrained.


    "Master..."


    Only now did Venerable Clear Wind''s disciples became aware of the entire situation. With a look of shock on their faces, a few of them attempted to rescue their master but the rest were at loss and were thinking about how to escape.


    "You cannot kill me... I am the disciple of Xuan Zhen Sect, an authentic sect in the world! If you kill me, you will be in trouble!"


    Venerable Clear Wind''s spirit was struggling. "It was my fault that I had attacked you. Isn''t it enough that you have destroyed my physical body?"


    "... You are aiding the district leader and therefore are a good demon. If you don''t mind, we can join forces and no one in Black Lake District can be our match!"


    This person had a glib tongue. As he spoke, even Li Luan couldn''t help but started to think about his offer.


    After all, he made sense.


    Regardless if he was from a sect, or in terms of karma or even just laying out the pros and cons, it was not worth it to kill this person.


    "Die!"


    Fang Yuan''s eyes glittered as his black hand crushed the spirit.


    With a shriek, the spirit disintegrated. This was the real destruction of the spirit that was irreversible.


    "Ah... Master?"


    A few Daoists were in shock. "How dare you kill master?"


    "Who cares about what he was trying to say! The fact was that he had attempted to kill me and even guarded against me. How can I be fooled by him?"


    Fang Yuan snickered.


    Although Venerable Clear Wind''s offer seemed like a win-win, it might bring trouble for Fang Yuan.


    The most important thing was that Venerable Clear Wind had a backing and could always call for help. On the other hand, Fang Yuan was alone. Therefore, he had fewer rights to speak up for himself and this would only spell trouble.


    This was why he had to destroy him completely!


    "Pu! Pu!"


    After a few black flashes, every Daoist in the vicinity held their chests and fell to the ground as blood seeped out of their wounds.


    "Brother... why are you so extreme?"


    Seeing this, Li Luan gave a look of discomfort.


    "This is not my choice. The moment that sword tried to harm us, there was no turning back..."


    Fang Yuan revealed his Yin Spirit and looked depressed.


    Looking at his own fate energy, Fang Yuan chuckled. He could see the little flames around him as usual. In fact, he had restored his people Dao karma.


    Instead of being reduced, it had increased!


    ''Humans will rise and the demons will fall. After killing this person, I would be against the trend of this realm. How could this not be detected? This would only mean one thing. The heavens are confusing me! Although my karma seems normal, they are preparing for an extreme tribulation for me! If I do not be on my guard at all times, I would get myself into trouble!''


    The Energy Viewing Technique and the likes of it seemed to have originated from his realm. Therefore, this realm could manipulate such energy-viewing related techniques and make it seem normal!


    Although people might see that he was full of auspicious energy, his enemies would see him as extremely troubled and would strike after seeing it!


    "Since I''ve killed him, I might as well kill the rest!"


    Indeed, Li Luan felt nothing about killing the other Daoist


    After all, she was not human to begin with. Seeing the death of the many daoist was akin to the death of ants. After a sigh, she quickly got over it.


    "This person belongs to a sect. Therefore, it is a good idea to wipe all of them out completely to no one would be able to report what had happened here!"


    There were thinking about how to clear the mess that they had made.


    After an intensive clearing session in the temple, they managed to find some loots.


    "Keke... These daoist are rich indeed!"


    In the small courtyard, they could already find a few treasures.


    There was gold, silver, pearls and their total worth seemed to be a few thousand taels. All of these were the contributions from the district people.


    Other than these, they also had countless bottles. These were the spiritual pills made personally by Venerable Clear Wind, of which Li Luan had looted quite a number of them.


    It was a fact that in terms of alchemy and casting arrays, the demons were less-developed in these areas compared to humans. They were even more incomparable in other tedious processes.


    "Keke..."


    Seeing this, Fang Yuan smiled. "You can have the spiritual pills if you want. Just leave me the herbs!"


    He walked up calmly and with the strength of his Yin Spirit, he picked up the Sun Moon Sword.


    Although it had been damaged by the lighting and thunder and had lost its owner, it remained sharp and lethal.


    "It''s a good sword!"


    He heaved a sigh. "I''m afraid all the spiritual pills and treasures cannot compare to this sword!"


    It was not an easy feat to smelt a spiritual sword like this.


    Just the materials required to smelt the sword would require gold, silver, jade shavings and iron forged from the stars. After smelting it, it would require a cultivator to use spiritual force to refine and polish it for many years. Furthermore, the sword would require cleansing periodically using lotus essence and ginseng soup to maintain its spiritual property, and the consumption of the sword was insane.


    There was a saying among the people in this realm. The poor would study and become scholars while the rich would learn martial arts and make a name for themselves through cultivation. It was extremely true.


    "Since history, treasured swords should always go with heroes. This sword fits you to a tee, Brother Fang!"


    Li Luan knew that she did had did less than Fang Yuan in taking down Venerable Clear Wind and therefore did not fight with him for the prize.


    "Sounds good!"


    Fang Yuan looked up. "Let''s shift all these away and burn the entire temple down! Remember, don''t let anyone know what happened here today, not even Xu Ren! We were only killing an evil god today and none of this is related to us!"


    "I know what to do!"


    Although she did not know why Fang Yuan wouldn''t let her ask Xu Ren for help in clearing up the place, Li Luan still agreed.


    ...


    Within a spiritual cave in Heizi River.


    Fang Yuan sat within and released his Yin Spirit. As he opened his spiritual eye, he snickered. "The tribulation is coming! I need to strengthen myself!"


    If he could see signs the impending arrival of a tribulation in his fate energy, he would be less worried. After all, he could use his karma to reduce the intensity of the tribulation.


    However, there were no traces or signs of anything happening. This was the most dangerous as the tribulation might strike anytime to take his life and he would not have any time to prepare!


    "Although the heavens are hiding the signs of tribulation from me, I can still roughly guess. The weakening of my fate energy would mean that a tribulation is coming. However, I am rather powerful now. If the heavens want to take my life, they can only do it in two ways..."


    Fang Yuan was deep in thought.


    If he was a human, say an official, he would be likely to plead guilty and be stripped of his appointment before a punishment would be meted out.


    However, he was a demon and all these were useless on him. Therefore, there were only a few methods in which the tribulation could strike him.


    "Only a direct Killer Tribulation can deal with me. As of now, there are two ways it can come. Firstly, it can come from the Xuan Zhen Sect, the sect which Venerable Clear Wind came from! Although I have killed everybody there and cleared all traces, the cultivators might be able to guess and calculate the happenings. If they are powerful enough, they might just find out something!"


    Secondly, the tribulation can come in the form of a more powerful demon god! After all, I have been destroying temples in Black Lake District and my traces are obvious. How could there be no backlash against me?"


    After analysing all the possible outcomes, Fang Yuan chuckled.


    There was nothing he could do to survive the tribulation but strengthen himself!


    As he sighed, he spat out a long sword which appeared translucent. It was the Sun Moon Sword.


    "When can I ever get the moon?"


    Reading the inscription on the sword, he sighed once more. "For me to use it, I have to smelt it again!"


    He was already mentally prepared from the moment he had decided to take the sword.


    "Go!"


    As his spiritual will shook, 49 bone pearls shot out.


    This was the property of the evil god, the andrias. The spirits of the vengeful souls were freed, but the hatred and aggressiveness of the spirits remained in the pearls.


    "Bang! Bang!"


    As the bone pearls exploded, a white powder landed on the Sun Moon Sword and a black mist seeped into the sword at the same time.


    "With this spiritual material, I can smelt the sword again and therefore remove traces of Venerable Clear Wind from the sword. Although the sword would no longer be able to fly, I can still make use of its sharpness!"


    Fang Yuan was inexperienced in smelting swords. However, he was only doing a touch up on the Sun Moon Sword. Furthermore, he had experience in dealing with his very own 8 Gates Sword Array and could still do it.


    With a shriek, an immense amount of demonic force was released and wrapped the sword within.


    As the bone pearls exploded and fused together with the sword, the original spiritual sword was now a pale bone-white and appeared sinister...


    In a flash, 7 days had gone by.


    "Come back!"


    As Fang Yuan retracted the demonic force, a snow-white sword was revealed!


    The sword released vibes that made it both good and evil as though it was smelted from bones. As it released a demonic glow from the blade, a black mist was spinning around the sword.


    "White Bone Evil Slaying Sword! This is a combination of the spiritual sword that killed many evil demons and the vengeance of 49 young spirits. It will be extremely effective against demons and ghosts!"


    Fang Yuan released his Yin Spirit and imprinted his own spiritual will on the sword.


    After another round of smelting, the original resistance which was felt from the Sun Moon Sword had disappeared. In a mouth, Fang Yuan had swallowed the entire sword.


    "Alright, it''s time to test it out!"


    There was a look of determination in his eyes. "Go!"


    "Whoosh!"


    Within his body, the White Bone Evil Slaying Sword shot out a flash which struck on the Dragon Pearl in his body.


    "Wuuu..."


    Fang Yuan''s body shook as though he has sustained internal injuries. Within seconds, there was a bright golden glow.


    In his spiritual will, the Dragon Pearl shook as well. A silhouette of a green dragon appeared as bits of gold fell from the sky.


    "Smelt!"


    Although it was only something insignificant, Fang Yuan''s body started to expand as though he had eaten too much. He quickly closed his eyes and started to enter a state of deep cultivation.

 272 Human Tribulation

    In the district city, in front of the Black Water General''s Temple.


    "This is an order from the District Leader. Since this god required live sacrifice, it is an evil one. The destruction of its own statue is a sign from the heavens that it is being punished. Don''t be alarmed by this!"


    Two government servants raised gongs and shouted at the top of their lungs as they explained what had happened in the temple to the residents.


    After a seal was pasted on the doors of the temple, a print of the district leader was imprinted, forming a seal.


    In reality, such a weak seal would do nothing to trap the original Black Water Old Turtle. But now, it was enough to trap its weak spirit.


    "This is creepy. In just one night, so many Water Gods have been killed..."


    "Not just that, even the Clear Wind Temple has been reduced to ashes. Could there be a powerful demon passing by our district, hence causing all these?"


    "Since Venerable Clear Wind is well-known for killing demons, he might be the one who had exterminated all these evil Water Gods and might be injured himself as well..."


    He sighed.


    "Shhh, don''t talk so much. Do you still want to live?"


    After sighing, he was being pulled by the people behind as they covered his mouth.


    "Jerk!"


    The government servant who was making the announcement became angry. With a whip, he whipped the ground with a loud crackle. "The Clear Wind Temple has not been maintained well and therefore was a fire hazard. Don''t spout nonsense!"


    There were lives involved!


    If they were to admit that it was a murder case and they could not investigate and find out who the murderer was, it would look bad on the district leader.


    Furthermore, Xu Ren had also suspected that it might be Fang Yuan''s ''mishandling''. Since there was no one who had hatred towards the temple, they could just let things settle as such.


    In the government office, it was always good to avoid trouble. Therefore, the government servant glared at the person who made the comment.


    "Don''t put it to heart! My brother is retarded..."


    The few of them quickly pulled the person out and left.


    It might be a casual comment, but there might be serious complications that come with it.


    "Venerable Clear Wind?"


    A skinny person among the crowd was curious and decided to take a look at the temple.


    However, everything was reduced to ashes and around the temple, there were a few incense and crying sounds.


    This scene had left him in shock. "Could it be really the doings of a demon and that Venerable was being killed by a demon like how he killed demons?"


    As he left the city, he arrived in the wilderness. There was a yellow glow on his body as his actual physical body was revealed. It was a huge horse monkey wearing clothes.


    The horse monkey revealed his teeth which resembled that of a dog. With a murderous look, he picked up an incense and prayed respectfully. "Grandmaster, I have investigated. It is indeed true that there are a series of demons being killed. As of now, 7 of them had died and the other remaining are fearful... Furthermore, Clear Wind Temple within the city has been burnt down completely and everybody in the temple, from the temple owner to the Daoist children, died..."


    He knew that Venerable Clear Wind had an extremely high cultivation and it was a joke that he would be burnt alive in the temple. "This is fishy. Should I continue my investigation?"


    "There''s no need!


    In a fog, a human appeared. It was the monkey demon which had visited the dragon palace before. "I already have news that it is the doing of a black snake demon who had snatched a cave from the previous Heizi River God 3 years ago. Quickly go and kill it!"


    "This..."


    The horse monkey scratched his ears, conflicted. "The Water Gods in Golden Lake Prefecture are officially under the jurisdiction of the Golden Court Dragon God. If I do this, it seems rather inappropriate... Furthermore, if that black snake demon is able to kill 7 gods, it must be rather powerful. I''m afraid I am not skilled enough to kill him..."


    "Hmph, the old Dragon God is already an old fogey and does not seem to care about this. If he doesn''t take any action, as the monkey god, leader of demons on the land, we should help him do his job. As for the black snake demon, it has been assisting the humans but is becoming crazy. Come over here. I will give you three strands of hair. You can use them to kill that demon!"


    The imagery of the monkey god plucked out three hairs from itself and blew at them. In a flash, the three strands of hair went through and arrived at the chest of the horse monkey.


    "I will accede to your order!"


    The horse monkey smiled, figured out the direction to Heizi river and walked towards it.


    ...


    "River God, please bless us with a bountiful harvest!"


    "We, your followers, pray for good weather!"


    ...


    Next to Heizi River, there was already a small temple built there.


    This was built out of gratitude from the villagers as Fang Yuan had given them less pressure since his arrival.


    They had offered him the appointment of ''Black Dragon General''. Never would he have thought that Xu Ren could receive an approval for a title for Fang Yuan, which made him speechless.


    "Who would''ve guessed that such a small river would attract so many offerings! The prosperity of the human race is much more than the monkeys of our race living in the mountains..."


    As the horse monkey witnessed the offerings, he felt a little jealous. With a chuckle, he rolled on the floor and revealed his true body. It was an aggressive monkey covered in black fur. The aggressive monkey raised its fist and smashed the altar in the temple.


    "Rumble!"


    Amidst the tremor, the altar crumbled and a few people who were unable to run away in time were injured and started to bleed. They were crying for help.


    "De... Demon!"


    "The demon that eats humans are here!"


    The villagers rushed out and wished that they had another pair of legs to help them run faster.


    "Eh, what happened?"


    The aggressive monkey looked at his own fists and was confused.


    This was too simple!


    Don''t these gods prioritise these offerings? Why would they allow him to destroy them effortlessly?


    "Are you finally here?"


    In the river within the mud, a pair of eyes appeared.


    Fang Yuan did not believe in incense and offerings to begin with. He had left the temple there to act as a bait and an element of confusion.


    Suddenly, a water reflective technique appeared, which revealed the monkey.


    "A monkey demon? I should be able to deal with it with my current cultivation..."


    After smelting the spiritual sword, Fang Yuan had left his cave and had hidden beneath the water just to wait for this day!


    "I cannot hide from the tribulations from heavens. If I avoid it this time, a stronger one would come next time. I need to go through it... After this tribulation, I should continue helping the people Dao and follow the trend of this realm so I won''t get myself into any more trouble!"


    Fang Yuan waited quietly. He witnessed the monkey destroying his temple, becoming enraged and finally, the monkey started to eat humans... After ensuring that there was no other ambush in the surroundings, he revealed himself.


    "This demon is aggressive and has a strong demonic strength. Also, the three golden furs behind its head seem insignificant but it might be his secret weapon! I cannot let my guard down!"


    At this point in time, he started to swim towards the shore. The waves from the Haizi River crashed onto the riverbank and became dark in colour.


    "I''ve caught you!"


    As the monkey exclaimed, he rushed mindlessly towards the riverbank.


    Covered by mist, a huge array formed and sealed the monkey within four walls.


    "Eh? Is this... an array?"


    The monkey was shocked as he regained his composure.


    However, a black fog emerged from the mist; it was extremely thick and appeared strong.


    "Bang!"


    The monkey wailed as he was being hit by the black fog. Dumbfounded, he glanced at the black shadow in front of him, which was about 30 feet in height.


    In front of his enemy, his height of 10 feet seemed like a joke.


    Indeed, a silhouette of a snake appeared. However, the snake appeared extraordinary and was as long as 30 feet! It was as thick as a water bucket and its head was as huge as a water vat. Under its cold stare, the monkey demon could feel a sense of cruelty.


    ''How is this a black snake? It is a black python!''


    Feeling that his enemy was as strong as himself, the aggressive monkey became depressed.


    In front of him was a black python who had achieved the 5th Transformation with the help of the Dragon Pearl!


    "Name: Fang Yuan


    Race: Python


    Essence: 24


    Spirit: 24


    Magic: 24


    Profession: ???


    Cultivation: ???


    Technique: [Nine Steps of Dragon Transformation Technique (5th Transformation)], [Water Controlling Technique (Grade 4)], [Natural Magical Strength (Grade 1)]


    Skill: [Medicine (Level 3)], [Botany (Level 5)]"


    ...


    Against such a powerful Fang Yuan, the aggressive monkey felt a chill in his spine, as though he was against a godly demon. This was due to the increment in Fang Yuan''s dragon properties.


    He was not any normal python, but a dragon python!


    "Python Wrapping Technique, Kill!"


    As the black silhouette shook, Fang Yuan''s tail curled and trapped the aggressive monkey, constricting him.


    This was the killer move of a python and was indeed scary when Fang Yuan executed it.


    No matter how strong the aggressive monkey was, with the constriction, there were cracking sounds from its body. It shrieked continuously but as it was restrained, it could not move a single bit. The only thing it could do was to wait for its impending death.


    "Grandmaster, save me!"


    As he was about to die, he suddenly thought of his grandmaster and screamed for help.


    "Whoosh!"


    From the back of his head, one golden hair started to glow and heat him, creating an immense force which repelled the python.


    "Chi!"


    Another hair transformed into a long golden sword and flew towards Fang Yuan.


    "No one can save you today!"


    Fang Yuan opened his snake mouth and a white glow shot out. It was the White Bone Evil Slaying Sword!


    "Clang!"


    Both swords clashed with each other in mid-air and the golden sword broke in half. Without hesitation, the white bone sword continued to strike towards the monkey.


    "No..."


    As the monkey screamed, the third hair exploded. However, nothing happened. Instead, a streak of light shot up into the sky.


    "Trap!"


    Fang Yuan focused and activated the array.


    "Chi!"


    However, the streak of light was extremely quick and even the clouds were repelled. In a moment, the trap array was broken apart as the streak of light disappeared into the sky.


    "Who would''ve thought that my array would be... unable to contain it. Two strands of hair were able to defend from two of my strikes! This is indeed a powerful demon!"


    Fang Yuan''s eyebrows twitched. As the sword landed down, it ended the monkey''s life.


    "We have already become enemies. How can I not kill him?"


    As he shook his head, he shivered.


    He could feel that something was wrong and quickly opened his spiritual eye to check on his own body.


    All of his fate energy was completely gone. There was an intense golden glow which transformed into 7 small golden flowers arranged nicely and floating in space.


    "Is the tribulation over?"


    Fang Yuan was sceptical. As he looked around, he could see a streak of black fog flying around him. However, it did not seem hostile. Fang Yuan was confused.


    "I have worked hard to kill evil gods and have stood firm on the side of the humans. Although there is a backlash from killing Venerable Clear Wind, I have tided over the tribulation and I am ultimately still protected by the people Dao..."


    "Following which, even if there are implications to come, they would be harmless! However, this is not what I want!"

 273 Giant Venomous Snake

    Canger Mountain.


    It was a huge mountain within the Golden Lake Prefecture, and there were many dangers lurking within.


    However, at the centre of the mountain, there was a scene of serenity.


    Spiritual water flowed everywhere and flowers were blooming. A group of monkey demons were playing around and as they ran into the forest, they were catching fleas from each other.


    In the middle, there was a black peak. It was barren and extended straight up towards the sky. There was a circle of dark clouds surrounding the peak, which struck fear in those who set eyes on the peak.


    As a golden streak of light flew into the mountain, there was an exclamation from the peak of the mountain. "What audacity, python demon! How dare you kill my grandson! I will peel your skin alive to let out my hatred for you!"


    On the peak, within a cave, the monkey god''s golden eyes were flaming. The other female monkeys in the cave could not avoid as they scrambled. "How dare you! How dare you! I''ll kill you!"


    As he stood up, the entire mountain shook.


    "Monkey King, wait up!"


    Another streak of light entered the cave, which then transfigured into a tortoise guard. "My god invites you to gather at the Golden Court Lake for a discussion about the demons!"


    "The dragon god invited me?"


    The monkey god froze and composed himself. ''I must be in my physical body to meet the dragon god. Otherwise, it would be extremely disrespectful! Indeed, a small monkey is nothing compared to the demons. However... I cannot contain my anger!''


    As he struck his fist out, there was a golden glow and a secret path revealed itself within the cave. A golden-haired monkey walked out with a serious look.


    "Although the python is powerful, I believe my incarnation will be able to kill it!"


    The monkey god smashed towards his forehead. Immediately, a black fog appeared which entered the golden-haired monkey''s body.


    The golden-haired monkey became ferocious in an instant as it walked towards the opening of the cave.


    "Tortoise guard, I''m sorry for the wait. Let''s meet the Dragon God now!"


    As the monkey god turned around, he cheerfully exclaimed.


    "That''s good!"


    ...


    At the same time, within the government''s office.


    Due to the fact that his physical body was extremely obvious, Fang Yuan could only send his Yin Spirit to look for Xu Ren.


    Otherwise, he would have destroyed the entire office if he were to come in person.


    After attaining the 5th Transformation, this magical energy increased exponentially and the Yin Spirit which he formed would be able to walk under normal daylight, had flesh and was no different from a normal human.


    "Greetings, god!"


    In the small study, there was only Xu Ren and Li Luan.


    Li Luan looked at Fang Yuan with an expression of shock. It was only a matter of days, but Fang Yuan''s spiritual aura had strengthened by folds. To her, Fang Yuan was becoming increasingly mysterious and her sense of insecurity intensified.


    "There was a powerful demon which intruded out district, but I have killed it!"


    Fang Yuan ignored Li Luan''s thoughts and spoke his mind.


    "What? A powerful demon?"


    Xu Ren shuddered. Although he had cultivated for many years, he still turned pale.


    "Mmm. Our district has been actively clearing the evil gods and our movements are too obvious. This is only normal... After all, I''ve killed it... We can just take our leave anytime, but what can you do, district leader?"


    Fang Yuan was determined but as he spoke, he remained expressionless.


    "Since this is the case, I shall face whatever that comes!"


    Xu Ren gritted his teeth and bowed towards both Li Luan and Fang Yuan. "Please take good care of my wife and my child if anything happens to me!"


    "Things have not escalated to such a stage yet!"


    Fang Yuan shook his head. "Do you know why the popular righteous gods like Goddess Xiang Fei and Golden Dragon General are alright with our doings?"


    These were righteous gods. Although they were once demons, they had already lost the evil side in them and would no longer request for live sacrifices.


    "Rumble!"


    As soon as he spoke, dark clouds formed above and thunder roared.


    "This is because the demons have split! Those clever ones would choose to be righteous gods! However, the majority of them would be tempted by the offerings from humans and had already taken the offerings for. This is especially so for those demons which only exist in spirit form. They cannot resist anything!"


    Fang Yuan rattled out the trend of the realm without much consideration.


    "Kacha!"


    As soon as he finished his sentence, a streak of lightning struck across and Li Luan became pale. She fell to the ground as though she could not take it any longer.


    ''Indeed enraged, but useless!''


    Fang Yuan smiled to himself as his spirit remained resolute and unafraid.


    After all, he was in the government office, a creation of the people Dao. He was also standing next to Xu Ren, who was an official and therefore would have the protection from him. Additionally, there was another important factor in the government office: Xu Ting!


    Lightning could never strike here!


    "The demons have split? Some of the demons are helping the humans?"


    After hearing this, Xu Ren shuddered. "What do you mean?"


    "You can directly request from the prefecture to get the authority to clear all the evil gods before obtaining approval to officially help the righteous gods...."


    Fang Yuan smiled.


    This was forcing the demons to take a side! Those who would support the humans would be protected given assistance to deal with the evil demons!


    ''Let me be the one to cause the chaos in this world!''


    A thought appeared in his mind.


    No risks, no rewards!


    To gain the most out of this realm, he had to take risks!


    "I understand now... No wonder the both of you are willing to help me! It seems that you two are the brave ones among the demons!"


    There was a glitter in Xu Ren''s eyes as his face became flushed with excitement. "Could there really be an uprising among the humans?"


    "Brother, why do you want to do this?"


    Suddenly, there was a voice at Fang Yuan''s ears; it was Li Luan.


    She gave a complicated expression as she glared at Fang Yuan.


    "Why do we want to betray the demons? This is merely following the trend of the heavens... Furthermore, don''t you think your actions in the Xu Mansion are more overboard than mine?"


    Fang Yuan replied her using the same technique.


    Li Luan was stunned. As she thought about how she inserted the water dragon''s Dragon Pearl into Xu Ting, she started to break into cold sweat.


    "Don''t worry. Although we would have started the Killer Tribulation, we will still be involved in in the future. However, there are many advantages to make the first move... Perhaps, you can ride the wave and take your revenge before everything is destroyed!"


    As he comforted Li Luan, he gave Xu Ren a few pieces of advice for him to be prepared. However, in reality, he was just convincing Xu Ren to ensure his own son''s survival. As Fang Yuan''s Yin Spirit left the government office, he smiled to himself as he looked at the clear skies.


    ''Everything would boil down to this!''


    His Yin Spirit quickly returned to his physical body. Slowly, he opened his spiritual eye and waited.


    On his head, there were 7 golden flowers arranged nicely, spinning about in mid-air. As they spun, they released a warm golden glow.


    "Rumble!"


    At this moment, his forehead shook. He knew that was undergoing some sort of transformation.


    A green glow descended from the heavens and landed on the golden flowers.


    "The heavens are showing their appreciation! I''m sure of it!"


    Seeing this, Fang Yuan felt relieved and overjoyed at the same time. "Is this heavenly karma?"


    If one helped the people Dao, they would gain people Dao karma. If one followed the trend of the heaven, they would gain heavenly karma!


    Although this was the first time he had witnessed it with his own eyes, he was sure of it.


    "People Dao karma is gold in colour and can bring fortune and reduce the intensity of people tribulation! How about heavenly karma?"


    He opened up his actualised dream world and absorbed the green energy.


    At the moment where the green energy was leaving the realm and entering the actualised dream world, something happened! The original green colour returned to the world and a pure form of energy more powerful than realm energy entered. It felt as though it was the product of the heavens and the feeling felt similar to the realm energy in Hui Realm.


    As soon as the actualised dream world received the energy, the Water Sword was formed at an extraordinary rate.


    "It seems that I can trade heavenly karma for energy from the heavens. I''m sure that the righteous gods have used their heavenly karma to gain approval from the heavens and from there start absorbing the spiritual energy in their vicinity!"


    Fang Yuan''s eyes glittered.


    The reason he was helping Xu Ren was for this!


    "However... If I can gain all these fate energies just by revealing the heavenly tribulations, why didn''t the earlier people do it?"


    Fang Yuan was confused. After much thought, he smiled to himself.


    At the same time as the heavens showed their appreciation, a greyish-black force landed and surrounded him, which appeared sinister.


    "If I gain some, I must lose some. Since I have revealed the plans of the heavens, there will be a tribulation that I must go through. This tribulation should be something that I cannot survive through at my current stage... I''m afraid the earlier people would have died if they revealed the heaven''s intentions!"


    As his heart shook, he quickly released all the heavenly karma that he had.


    In his actualised dream world, the Rough Water Sword in the North quickly formed.


    Suddenly, the entire array shook. The water-type sword flew upwards. As the water and fire glittered in the array, the actualised dream world expanded.


    "Water sword and people Dao karma, go!"


    Fang Yuan''s spiritual will shook and a golden flower flew out.


    The blue water-type sword essence and the red fire-type sword essence appeared in front of him.


    "This is not enough! With this, I''m afraid I''m too weak to survive the impending tribulation!"


    He had a bad feeling about this. Without thinking much, he spat out a Dragon Pearl. "Water-Fire Dual Sword, White Bone Evil Slaying, three swords, break!"


    The powerful sword essence struck on the Dragon Pearl and a golden fluid, dragon''s essence, began to flow out.


    At the same time, remnants of heavenly karma were transformed into pure elemental energy which landed on the black python.


    As the black python looked up and roared, four stumps appeared beneath its body.


    The stumps quickly grew and in an explosion, they had become four legs.


    This was the 6th Transformation of the Nine Steps of Dragon Transformation Formula! The Giant Venomous Snake Transformation!


    The Venomous Snake was considered a young dragon to some, and a poisonous snake to others. It was a mixture of both and had an abundance of dragon properties.


    Fang Yuan examined himself. He had a snake''s head, four legs and dragon''s tail. "A Venomous Snake is merely a four-legged snake or a giant lizard. The snake properties have been transformed into dragon properties. However, to become a dragon, I still have to go through a Dragon Transformation Stage! I need to change my entire physical body to do so!"


    Even so, the Venomous Snake would be king among the snakes!


    Looking at his stats, he noticed some changes:


    "Name: Fang Yuan


    Race: Giant Venomous Snake


    Essence: 30


    Spirit: 30


    Magic: 30


    Profession: ???


    Cultivation: ???


    Technique: [Nine Steps of Dragon Transformation Technique (6th Transformation)], [Water Controlling Technique (Grade 5)], [Natural Magical Strength (Grade 2)], [8 Gates Sword Array (3rd Sword (1%))]


    Skill: [Medicine (Level 3)], [Botany (Level 5)]"


    "Great!"


    As he planted his four legs firmly on the ground, Fang Yuan roared like a prehistoric crocodile.


    At this point in time, a golden-haired monkey had realised his powerful demonic vibe! It was shocking!

 274 Betrayal

    "Demon King?"


    Detecting the energy from the golden-haired monkey, Fang Yuan smiled.


    This golden-haired monkey''s spiritual aura was much stronger than the previous monkey which attacked him.


    If Fang Yuan was still at the 5th Transformation, there was no chance that he could escape alive.


    But now, at the 6th Transformation, there was a tremendous difference!


    After achieving the Giant Venomous Snake Transformation and strengthening the connection of this dream world to this realm, he could now harness the sword essences of both the fire and water swords. He had confidence against the monkey king!


    "What a snake demon!"


    Detecting the demonic energy from the giant venomous snake, the golden-haired monkey became shocked. "I am the leader of Canger Mountain, the monkey god! Anything that walks on land is under my jurisdiction. Why do you want to help the humans and cause trouble to the demons?"


    If this was last time, the monkey king would have gone straight into the fight without much talk.


    Giving Fang Yuan a chance to explain himself was after taking into consideration the fact that he was his own kind, therefore pitying him.


    "A demon should be able to do whatever it likes! I''ll help whoever I wish! Why do you care so much?"


    Fang Yuan laughed.


    "Do whatever you like!"


    There was a murderous look on the golden-haired monkey''s face. Suddenly, he revealed his true physical body. It was a monkey as tall as a small hill, wielding a metal pole and a mask. "Let me do whatever I like and kill you today!"


    "Rumble!"


    The ground shook and dust flew everywhere.


    "The Golden Monkey wipes out all the evil demons!"


    Fang Yuan mumbled out a sentence from a poem.


    This demon felt more powerful than the previous monkey and was highly skilled in martial arts as well. Therefore, it had the ability to be the king of demons.


    Even the three demons from Qi Lake could not compare to it!


    "Water-Fire Dual Array, Go!"


    Due to the fact that Fang Yuan had linked his actualised dream world to the current realm using his people Dao karma, although he was still unable to actualise the swords, he could harness the sword essences form both swords.


    Immediately, two streaks of glows appeared on his body; red and blue. It was as though two dragons had emerged from the ocean and combined forces.


    "Clang! Clang!"


    The sword essences rained on the iron pole like raindrops hitting a leaf. The force from the Water-Fire Dual Array was continuous.


    "Eh? Spiritual sword?"


    The golden-haired monkey retreated and realised that the iron pole in his hands was now filled with holes. There was a look of worry on his face. "There are signs of an array as well! Where did you come from?"


    "You''re about to die soon, so you don''t have to know that much!"


    Fang Yuan roared, rushed forward and flicked his tail!


    "Bang!"


    The golden-haired monkey flew backwards and landed on a hill, shaking the entire place.


    "Rumble!"


    Fang Yuan did not stop. Instead, he opened his mouth wide and started to swallow the monkey.


    As he sucked the monkey into his mouth, there was a white glow coming from his mouth. It was the White Bone Evil Slaying Sword. Flying out, it sliced through the iron pole and struck itself into the golden-haired monkey''s body.


    "... The incarnation which I''ve painstakingly cultivated¡­...?"


    The golden-haired monkey looked down at his wound and started to have a mysterious look on his face. "Impressive... looks like you''ve earned the right to fight with my true self!"


    ...


    At the same time, in the Golden Court Lake, Dragon Palace.


    In a large square, a huge black water dragon curled up and opened his eyes lazily.


    In front of him was a huge jade table with all sorts of delicacies on the tabletop.


    "It is my honour to be invited by you, Dragon God..."


    As soon as the Monkey God spoke, his expression changed. ''What''s happening? How did that snake demon transform into a giant venomous snake? Even my incarnation is being defeated...''


    He stood up hurriedly, as though he was about to make his way out.


    In the next moment, the entire palace shook. Water-type spiritual energy slowly but forcefully held the Monkey God back into his place.


    "Monkey God, since you''re here, you must try my Hundred-Fruit Wine!"


    The black dragon slowly spoke as he flicked a bowl of green fruit wine towards the Monkey God.


    "This... Alright!"


    The Monkey God raised the bowl and drank heartily.


    ...


    "Oh, you are just an incarnation. What a pity your incarnation is injured. How do you think it would affect your true body?"


    On the battlefield, Fang Yuan heard the threat from the golden-haired monkey and started to taunt.


    "Haha... How would such a small demon like you understand the powers of the monkey king? Even if you kill my incarnation, it will not affect my true body at all..."


    The golden-haired monkeys started to laugh heartily.


    This statement was, however, admitting that his incarnation was no match for Fang Yuan.


    To a demon king, this was unbelievable.


    ''Where did such a weirdo come from? His physical body is strong, his demonic techniques are powerful and he has such abilities!''


    The monkey king felt a little depressed.


    His incarnation was no match to Fang Yuan in terms of demonic techniques, magical abilities or even his physical body. How could the fight go on?


    "Water and Fire sword essence, explode!"


    Suddenly, a streak of red and blue sword essence exploded in front of the monkey king, slicing the iron pole in half.


    "Go!"


    Seeing this, the Monkey God knew that he had to escape!


    After all, he had trained this incarnation''s physical body for many years and he was not willing to abandon it just like that.


    "You can''t escape!"


    In a black glow, Fang Yuan''s tail curled up and trapped the monkey. "Did you ask me for my permission?"


    He still had properties of a python. Seeing that the monkey was trapped, Fang Yuan quickly opened his mouth and engulfed him as though his mouth was like a black hole.


    Of course, Fang Yuan would have taken precautions. Before swallowing him, a white-coloured sword flew out of his mouth and through the heart of the monkey.


    The next scene was a shocking one.


    A monkey as tall as a small hill was being swallowed by a snake with 4 legs, as though a snake was swallowing an elephant.


    As Fang Yuan was digesting the incarnation''s flesh with his sword essence, he was ripping apart the monkey''s soul as well, exploring the secrets within.


    ...


    "What audacity!"


    In the Dragon Palace, the bowl of wine in the Monkey God''s hand shattered into pieces. "How dare he... How dare he..."


    Not only did his incarnation lose to Fang Yuan, it was also swallowed whole.


    He could feel the entire process of being swallowed by the snake as well, which made him infuriated.


    "Ah... How dare you eat my incarnation! I will skin you alive and eat you for a hundred days!"


    The Monkey God stood up and the entire palace shook.


    "Monkey God, wait up!"


    The black dragon looked over and smiled.


    "Why are you stopping me, old dragon?"


    The Monkey God''s eyes were bloodshot as he glared at the black water dragon. "You invited me here, but it seems like you are helping him. Could the snake be your child?"


    "Nope!"


    The water dragon opened his mouth and laughed. "I am just following the trend of the world!"


    "What do you mean?"


    The Monkey God composed himself. At the same time, the imagery of a monkey with 3 heads and 6 limbs appeared behind him.


    "The demons will fall and the humans will rise. This is the intention of the heavens!"


    The black dragon revealed the truth and the red in his eyes were gone; instead, they appeared wiser.


    "Alright! You''ve finally said it!"


    The Monkey God was enraged. "You are the king of demons in the Golden Court Lake! Do you know what you''re saying? Do you want to betray the demons?"


    "Demons?"


    The black-coloured Dragon God let out a laugh. "I''m no longer a demon..."


    "Buzz!"


    As bubbled covered the dragon, within seconds, it had disappeared. Where it once curled up was a human wearing robes, with the horns of a dragon on his head.


    He had a serious expression and spoke with a composed voice. "Since the Thousand-Year tribulation, my dragon body had been destroyed by the tribulation. My soul was unwilling to reincarnate into a dragon and I can only rely on the people Dao to continue living on..."


    "I didn''t know that after losing my physical body, my soul would be weakened. After recovering from a deep slumber, I had found myself in the body of a human reliant on the people Dao. How can I give it up and dig my own grave?"


    "No wonder..."


    The Monkey God nodded his head. "Since the Thousand-Year tribulation, you have been living in seclusion and even opened up the Golden Court Lake to humans. I finally know the reason. You are no longer the Dragon King of the demons, but the Golden Court Dragon God of the people!"


    "If someone like you could also give up on the demons, it is no wonder the giant venomous snake could do the same... Could it really be destined for the humans to rise?"


    There was a look of unwillingness in the Monkey God''s eyes. "I can''t believe it! We demons have been ruling for so long, why would the humans stand a chance against us?"


    "Rumble!"


    As he exclaimed, the 3 heads and 6 limbs entered his body. Within seconds, he had transformed into a 100-feet tall monkey. "Old Dragon, I am only below you because I had always believed that you were the dragon and therefore more superior. Now that your dragon body is destroyed, let''s see what you have against me! Watch out for my pole!"


    "Ah... Monkey God... You''re still as rash as before!"


    The human-form Golden Court Dragon God seemed like an ant in front of the humongous monkey. However, he shook his head in disappointment as though it did not care about the incoming pole.


    Indeed, in the next moment, the monkey''s expression changed. His pole was being held firmly by the Golden Court Dragon God.


    It was a shocking scene to behold.


    It was like an ant carrying an elephant!


    "Although I am on the path of god dao, I have the faith of a few thousand followers. I have already formed my indestructible body. As the officially-appointed Dragon God, I can absorb and harness all the spiritual energy within the lake! It is a fact that the demons will fall and the humans will rise! I am only just following the trend!"


    The Golden Court Dragon God continued. "I have every advantage against you. Do you think you can overthrow me, monkey?"


    "I''m not convinced!"


    Although he knew that he was nothing compared to the Dragon God, his 3 heads started to shriek and his 6 limbs swung around.


    "You''re dumb!"


    The Golden Court Dragon God sighed. "If you''re looking for trouble, then die!"


    "Rumble!"


    There was a huge explosion in the Dragon Palace as the pillars fell.


    After the destruction, a storm grew above the lake and in the Dragon Palace, the Monkey God was nowhere to be seen.

 275 Return

    Within the mountains and forests where the vegetation was flattened, the beasts started to retreat.


    A 30 feet long giant venomous snake slowly approached the centre. Its stomach was bloated and disproportionate to the rest of its body.


    Fang Yuan had used his body''s ability to melt objects, and the water and fire sword essence to devour the Golden-furred Monkey King.


    His Yin Spirit had also suppressed the Monkey King''s magical clones. He had also used the thread-like spiritual will to carefully tease out those useful memories.


    Consuming people dao karma could reinforce the actualised dream world and allowed him to regain a small portion of his dream master''s capabilities.


    It was now second nature for Fang Yuan to devour others to achieve what he wanted.


    "I found it...The Three Corpse Seven Murderous Magic Splitting Technique!"


    Suddenly, Fang Yuan''s eyes lit up as he found a magical formula. Upon closer look, he exclaimed, "Wonderful! This is wonderful beyond words!"


    Even though the monkey king sealed up a portion of his memories, Fang Yuan was still able to rake up some information.


    Firstly, the Monkey King was the Monkey God and master of the surrounding mountains and forests of the Golden Court Lake! He cultivated in 2 ancient divine techniques, the first being the Three Heads Six Arms Technique and the second being the Three Corpse Seven Murderous Magic Splitting Technique!


    The Three Heads Six Arms technique was a powerful divine technique that was not found within the magical clone.


    However, the magical clone possessed the magic-splitting technique.


    "This magical technique is cultivated by the ancient demons to cleanse their 3 Corpses! Only by cleansing their thoughts will they be successful..."


    Fang Yuan was enlightened when he read the string of demonic words.


    According to the instructions of the manual, the 3 Corpses referred to the never-ending development of all kinds of dark and gloomy thoughts. Beheading the 3 Corpses was, in reality, a technique to remove all the dark desires and thoughts, leaving behind only the pure divine spirit.


    As such, this was essentially a technique which cultivated the divine spirit.


    Of course, the beheaded evil thoughts were useful as well. One would be able to use the 7 Murderous Technique to cultivate an elemental clone. This was known as the Three Corpse Seven Murderous Elemental Clone, which was controlled by the primary elemental clone. As it was created by discarded thoughts, it does not cause weakness upon leaving the body and had no implications on the body if it was destroyed. As such, this was a superior magical clone technique.


    "Hmmmm, not bad, this type of technique is valuable even among the dream masters!"


    Fang Yuan rejoiced and immediately noted it down carefully.


    "It is just that...this demon is still at the dragon palace. If he suddenly appears and start killing in a rage..."


    Fang Yuan was able to defeat this magical clone easily. However, when faced with the actual Monkey God who was able to use Three Heads Six Arms Technique, Fang Yuan reckoned that he only had a 50-50 chance of emerging victorious.


    "Perhaps I should leave first after achieving such a huge haul?"


    Fang Yuan opened both eyes and mulled.


    However, at this moment, his whole body shivered as he immediately detected that something was amiss.


    Threads of green and gold karma rained down from above, forming a golden flower around the size of a bowl. The golden flower was surrounded by a ring of brilliant green flowers.


    The brilliance from the flower melted away the lingering dark energy from the surroundings and his body akin to how the spring sun melts away snow. This caused Fang Yuan to be shocked.


    "Increase in karma and dispersing the tribulation aura. The tribulation is already over? How is that possible? The monkey god could still bear it even though I have devoured one of his magical clone? Unless he is dead, there is no doubt that he will be looking for more trouble with me!"


    "However, this karma is definitely not fake. I do not care so much. If the heavens dare to give it to me, I will dare to accept!"


    Fang Yuan could not care less. He immediately opened his actualised dream world and stored his karma within it. He momentarily achieved a peace of mind.


    "Worth it! It will all be totally worth it even if a lightning strikes me down now!"


    Fang Yuan arrived beside the river and dived into the water before entering the dark hole in the river.


    ...


    7 days passed.


    Under the Heizi River, Fang Yuan occupied a river current and was deep in thought. "It is indeed peaceful. Furthermore, Xu Ren had received the support of the prefecture. The whole Golden Lake Prefecture had started to purge the evil gods... the Monkey God had not appeared. The demon monkey race of Canger Mountain is in a mess. That means... it is really dead or trapped?"


    This indicated that there was interference from another power that was stronger than his. As such, Fang Yuan was momentarily afraid.


    "Truth be told, it is enough. The tribulation had started. However, in order for it to be strong, we still have to slowly wait ten years plus for Xu Ren''s son, Xu Ting to finally grow up!"


    "It is time for me to go back!"


    Although the flow of time between the two realms was different, he could tell that it was almost time as he had received a warning from the Realm Spirit.


    "Of course... before I leave, I should preserve this body well. I do not want to start all over again the next time I come back!"


    Within his sea of consciousness, Fang Yuan''s divine spirit released a brilliant light, expelling a small amount of greyish-black colour which combined with the killing aura of the White Bone Evil Slaying Sword to form another small grey ring of light.


    This was the result of his seven days of cultivation. A magical clone created using the Three Corpse Seven Murderous Magic Splitting Technique.


    As for controlling this type of spiritual will, he was naturally skilled at it as he was a dream master.


    Needless to say, this was originally a technique from this realm and as such, there was no problem using this technique in the realm.


    This magical clone contained the memories and emotions that he left behind and completely followed orders of the original body. Even if it was destroyed, the magical clone was created from unwanted desires and would not affect the original body. As such, it was extremely useful.


    "After I leave, you are to remain in this body and focus on survival. You must preserve your strength and wait for me to return!"


    The primary elemental clone engraved a spiritual will onto the magical clone. It could be said that after it passed on the instructions, it momentarily separated itself.


    "Hiss..."


    The giant venomous snake opened its eyes and looked at him.


    "The newly created Three Corpse Seven Murderous Elemental clone is still extremely weak and unable to be in control of the actual body. However, it does not matter. With the nourishment from the strong body and the previously devoured golden-furred monkey king, the body and spirit will combine and become inseparable!" Fang Yuan thought.


    Fang Yuan''s Yin spirit was still in the form of the black-clothed youth. When he saw the giant venomous snake lazily rolled over and crawled about as if it understood him, Fang Yuan started to move.


    ''The magical clone possesses sufficient intellect. In this phase where it is weak, there would be no problem if it hides itself deep within the mountains and forests¡­...''


    After seeing the demon leave the dark riverbed and disappeared into the dense forest, Fang Yuan smiled. With a wave of his hand, a door made of light appeared.


    The heavens and earth shuddered. However, no dark clouds formed.


    He looked at the heavens and earth and smiled as he disappeared into the door.


    ...


    Da Qian Empire, Ming Region.


    Within the district town, in the basement of a residence, Fang Yuan shuddered as he opened his eyes.


    The floor was covered in a layer of dust as the area had not been swept for a long time.


    As for his body, there were not many changes as he was a Wu Zong.


    He frowned as he arrived at the yard. He drew some water from the well to wash up before he went into the kitchen, cooked some spiritual porridge and slowly consumed it.


    "At least 10 days have passed since I shut myself out. If I had any servants, they would have felt that something was amiss and made a big ruckus."


    He shook his head and started to adjust his energy with his eyes closed. After cultivating for a period of time which was comparable to the time a normal person slept for, he entered the dream world.


    "The application is now close!"


    The cold and clear voice of the Realm Spirit rang as soon as he appeared. Fang Yuan was unconcerned as he carefully checked the records before realizing. "It seems more than 1 month has passed? That means more than 3 years have passed in the water realm as 10 days here is equivalent to 1 year there? The flow of time is indeed scary¡­"


    Using the dream world as the intermediate stop, one could not only seek protection, but also received warnings from the Realm Spirit for the primary elemental clone to return to the body when the body could no longer sustain the dream-traversing. This was another advantage of using the dream world as the intermediate stop.


    At least, the body would not starve to death. This benefit came with some contribution of course.


    "Furthermore... after travelling once, there will be a coordinate left behind. Next time, I would be able to go back to the same place using Venerable Dream Traverser''s method and could even bring a few friends along..."


    The actions in the water realm could be considered an opening act. The tribulations had just started and had not reached its full potential.


    It would be time for harvesting in the next dream-traverse!


    "The gains this time is significant as well!"


    Fang Yuan was pleased as he looked at his stat window:


    "Name: Fang Yuan


    Essence: 36


    Spirit: 30


    Magic: 40


    Profession: Dream Soldier Master


    Cultivation: Illusionary Divine (2nd Tier), Wu Zong (3rd Meridian)


    Technique: [Giant Eagle Metal Body Technique (Grade 4) (1%)], Hundred Poison Golden Body (1st Refining), [8 Gates Sword Array (3rd sword)(1%)]


    Skill: [Medicine (Level 3)], [Botany (Level 5)]"


    His Illusionary Divine Stage had jumped another tier even though it had barely been a month of dream-traversing. This rate of breakthrough was simply unbelievable. Fang Yuan understood the reason why so many dream masters liked to traverse across the realms. The gains were shocking even though it was extremely dangerous.


    "That''s not all!"


    He looked at his actualised dream world and saw that 2 out of the 8 swords in the array had been formed. The sword auras of the Fire and Water-type swords was splendid and endlessly destroy the borders of the dream world, causing the dream world to expand.


    In the East, the hilt of a purple sword had started to form. Traces of sparks could be seen surrounding it and it brought about a frightening presence.


    "The East trembles! The third spiritual sword is the Sundering Thunder Sword!"


    The Lord of Thunder destroys! As such, the Thunder Sword''s radiance was extremely threatening and even outstripped the Fire Sword. It was especially effective in destroying demons.


    Fang Yuan believed that, should the Thunder Sword actualise, the great demons of the water realm could do nothing but flee!


    In the centre of the 8 Gates Sword Array, there was a green source of heavenly energy.


    "I traded the Heavenly Karma, which I obtained from killing the Monkey God''s magical clone, for this heavenly energy. What is the original source of this heavenly energy? If it is similar to the realm energy, it would greatly aid my cultivation as a dream master!"


    Fang Yuan was not in a hurry as he looked outside the sword array.


    Outside, there were 7 golden flowers, 1 big and 6 small flowers clustered together and emitted a bright light. Fang Yuan did not know the use of these flower.


    "The Heavenly Karma can be used to exchange for heavenly energy. However, people dao Karma can only be used in the water realm. Maybe I should try selling it..."


    All these were left behind in preparation for the next dream-traverse.


    The people dao Karma could at least be used for him to quickly regain his dream master''s abilities in the water realm.


    Of course, it would be better if the dream masters know the other uses for the karma.


    Fang Yuan arrived at the stone tablets. He checked for relevant information regarding the uses of the karma before putting up an offer to sell the golden flowers after deliberation.

 276 A Fortunate Acciden

    "How''s that?"


    "I''m sorry, we do not have any Mystery Grade spiritual rice in stock. There might be stock in the bigger shops..."


    Fang Yuan walked out of the rice shop and the shopkeeper followed. "You can pre-order with us! Just leave your address with us and I can help you check on the stock from other shops..."


    "Forget it, I''m only ordering a few pounds of it..."


    Fang Yuan shook his head and walked away.


    He had asked around and realised that he was in a place called Yu Ming District Town in Ming Region.


    Although it was a secluded town, it was well-equipped with amenities. There was also strict control from the government here and anything out of the ordinary would catch their attention.


    "The sale of Mystery Grade spiritual rice is under the jurisdiction of the government. If I buy it in large quantities or engage in trade with its seeds, they will check my background... and I can''t let them check mine! There are even restrictions when buying rice for personal consumption, so I shouldn''t even think about the Yellow Grain Rice..."


    Fang Yuan sighed and turned into an alley.


    Once he walked out of the alley, he had transformed into another person.


    As he approached his own mansion, he used his spiritual will to ensure that no one was following him before he entered the mansion.


    Behind the master bedroom, there was a small courtyard surrounded by four walls and a ceiling; it was airtight.


    As he walked in, an energy field started to surge around him and there was a faint eagle''s caw.


    "I now know the complete Qian Kun Giant Spiritual Technique. Although it only has a maximum potential of forming 8 spiritual meridians, I can use it as a foundation to experiment and push my Giant Eagle Metal Body Technique to the 6th meridian. Once that is achieved, I would have completed my foundation to achieve all 9 meridians..."


    Although he could also condense the Divine Body with 8 meridians with the above-average Giant Spiritual Divine Body, Fang Yuan was a perfectionist and would only settle for the best.


    "Chirp! Chirp!"


    At this point in time, he struck his claws out and as the energy surged through his body, he took up the form of a majestic giant.


    A few hours passed.


    Fang Yuan kept his claws, controlled his breathing and breathed out a streak of white breath.


    He wiped his sweat off and commented. "By adapting from the Giant Spiritual Technique, I have made adjustments to the first 3 spiritual meridians. Finally, I can start to train and form the 4th and 5th..."


    Finally, he had cleared the huge obstacle on his path of martial arts progression.


    "If I have the assistance from spiritual objects and the proficiency points bar, my progress in martial arts might even be quicker than my cultivation as a dream master!"


    Fang Yuan gulped down a bowl of spiritual porridge and frowned. "What a pity... These spiritual grains are too low-quality. Do I really have to... get a piece of spiritual land in Da Qian Empire?"


    The spiritual porridge was only of Yellow Grade. Fang Yuan felt disgusted after eating it and quickly finished up before going to the meditation room. As he closed his eyes, he entered the Dream Realm.


    "Ding! Ding!"


    "Ding! Ding!"


    As soon as he entered, the jade inscription plate around his waist was ringing continuously, which gave Fang Yuan a shock. "Is that golden flower really that popular?"


    Although he did not manage to gather any information regarding people dao karma, he still pinned up an announcement to sell the golden flower and did not guess that the response would be so good.


    "It seems like... this is really something!"


    Fang Yuan rubbed his chin as the notifications popped up.


    "How much are you selling this golden flower for?"


    "I''m willing to pay 50 contribution points!"


    "The highest I can go is 100 contribution points!"


    ...


    Ten over messages flooded the inscription plate and most of them were people naming their prices and showing their interest in buying the golden flower. Some of them even tried to fish out information from Fang Yuan as to where he had obtained these flowers. Seeing all of these, Fang Yuan smiled to himself.


    He only paid attention to two messages out of the many.


    The first was from Feng Xinzi. It seemed as though he was too bored from recuperating, which was why he had left a message for Fang Yuan. "Good move, Brother Fang! However, this object is extremely precious and mysterious. You won''t be able to find any information regarding it in the Dream Realm. Let''s meet up and discuss about it..."


    The other one had a symbol of a white lotus. A clear voice came out of the symbol. "It seems that you, brother, have found a Karma World for yourself and are trying to sell its coordinates! The Divine Lotus Cult will not disappoint you, my brother!"


    "How direct! This spiritual will seems familiar..."


    As Fang Yuan pressed on the white lotus symbol, the white lotus brightened up and its petals unfolded. Not long after, a clear voice was heard. "Are you the brother that is selling the karma flower?"


    "I am!"


    As soon as Fang Yuan replied, he could hear a sharp voice of a lady. "It''s you! Fang Yuan? I can recognise your spiritual will and your voice!"


    "Are you Meng Lian?"


    Fang Yuan recalled the divine lady from the Divine Lotus Cult and smiled.


    Initially, this lady had pulled him into the Dream Realm and had earned quite a bit from it. However, since she had opened up an ocean of possibilities for him, they were even.


    After a long while of silence, Meng Lian''s voice rung again. "Who would''ve thought that... You would have reached such a stage! However, Let me warn you. Although the rewards from these worlds are big, you cannot explore them alone as they are too dangerous. If you hand over the coordinates to this world, I can assure you the position of an Outer Deacon in the Divine Lotus Cult!"


    "And after that?"


    After hearing her, Fang Yuan snickered. This lady knew that he had no backing and therefore was more direct and bold with her words.


    Only a fool would hand over a gold mine in exchange for a title!


    "After that? What else do you want? Do you know how popular the Divine Lotus Sect is?"


    "Say no more!"


    Fang Yuan was speechless. He cut the line and ignored her.


    ...


    In the real world.


    "You..."


    In a secret hideout, there was a pond full of white lotuses. In the middle, there was a lady dressed in white and she had a smooth skin. However, she was agitated as she clenched her teeth. "Very well... you have rejected me once and now you rejected my offer yet again. Do you even respect the Divine Lotus Cult?"


    She knew that Fang Yuan had no backing. Shouldn''t he be thankful to have such an appointment in the cult?


    Who did he think he was to touch such a precious world? He should obediently give it up!


    "This person is progressing too fast and is lucky in everything he does. This is indeed mysterious..."


    Meng Lian composed herself but revealed a sly look on her face. "However... I am the one who introduced you to the Dream Realm. No matter how neutral the Realm Spirit might be, I''m sure there''s something I can do..."


    ...


    In the Dream Realm.


    In a tea house, Fang Yuan ordered a pot of spiritual tea.


    He had used contribution points to buy this pot of spiritual tea. It was sweet and fragrant and the best part was that his spirit could drink it directly.


    "Brother Fang!"


    Not long after, Feng Xinzi entered and appeared anxious. "Have you sold the golden flower?"


    "Haha... Why are you so anxious?"


    Fang Yuan calmly poured a cup of tea and waved his hands. "Please take a seat! You have always been the one footing the bill so let me play host this time!"


    "Anything!"


    Feng Xinzi knew that he had lost his composure. He sat down and took in a deep breathe before raising his teacup. "Please forgive me for my anxiety. I''ll drink this cup of tea as an apology!"


    "That''s alright!"


    Fang Yuan sipped the spiritual tea and felt a cooling sensation. "Should we... discuss about the karma flower?"


    "So you do know that that is a karma flower..."


    Feng Xinzi laughed. "I was dumb to think that I could take advantage of you and thought that you had obtained the flower by luck. It seems that your luck and cultivation is indeed shocking to be able to explore such a world."


    "Is such a world rare?"


    Fang Yuan was shocked. He recalled Hui Realm and Da Qian Empire. Although there were involvements of karma in these worlds, they were not as obvious and direct as they were in the Water Realm. Furthermore, the karma in the Water Realm could directly affect his luck and power.


    "Not just rare, but super rare!"


    Feng Xinzi shook his head and gave off an expression of ''you-lucky-brat''. "Furthermore, although us dream masters rule thousands of worlds, we have yet to discover a world more powerful than Da Qian. These type of Karma Worlds are the hardest to infiltrate due to their tribulations. Any wrong step would lead to a lightning tribulation in these worlds..."


    "What is the most valuable thing in these worlds?"


    Fang Yuan could guess that no one would share their experience in dream-traversing to other worlds. Even if he were to join any organisation, he guessed that he would need to be someone of status before he would even be allowed to look at information regarding the Karma Worlds.


    "Brother, you''re greedy. Since you''ve gone there, you should know..."


    Feng Xinzi continued. "The most valuable treasure in a Karma World is firstly, the spiritual treasures which you can make illusionary and this depends on your luck. Secondly, imperial orders from the heavens. Although you will not be able to become a god, you can use it for other purposes. Lastly, the karma in that world. Both heavenly karma and people dao karma are rare!"


    ''Rare?''


    Fang Yuan was confused but in a short while, he understood.


    A complete Karma World would have an organisation structure for the god dao and people would guard over the world forming a tightly-knitted system in the world. Anything out of the ordinary would be noticed by the deities and any unknown but powerful beings would immediately experience a heavenly tribulation. Therefore, foreigners like them would find it hard to survive in such a world.


    Fang Yuan was lucky to have understood the trend of the Water Realm and therefore could follow the trend, making his stay effortless.


    "Indeed..."


    Thoughts raced through his mind and Fang Yuan appeared fearful. "I have put in so much effort and yet only obtained 3 karma flowers. After using 2 of them, I was even chased by powerful demons and almost died."


    "You have gained quite a lot considering that it''s your first time!"


    Feng Xinzi complimented him.


    "Alright, other than allowing us to integrate easier into that realm, what other purposes would this karma flower have? There are really a lot of interested buyers..."


    Fang Yuan raised his ever-blinking inscription plate and deleted the notifications.


    The greedy Realm Spirit charged him for such a simple service, which made him roll his eyes.

 277 Dream Future Master

    "This karma flower... this karma flower..."


    Feng Xinzi laughed. He knew that Fang Yuan was clueless about the karma flower. "Firstly, it can be used to allow us to integrate into the world faster. We will also be able to call for help from outside the world! Also... it can be used in some rare alchemy and equipment-smelting techniques."


    "If this is so, shouldn''t it be not heavily sought after?"


    Fang Yuan raised his eyebrows.


    "Of course, some people believe that... If one has enough of these karma, they can directly create the Realm Evidence to that realm, or predict the coordinates of that realm from the karma that came from there!"


    Feng Xinzi revealed the truth but placed emphasis that it was only a probability. "It is only a possibility and has yet to be proven..."


    "I see!"


    Fang Yuan nodded his head and believed what Feng Xinzi had said.


    He knew the importance and value of Realm Evidence. It could be possible for the Realm Evidence to be exchanged using a huge amount of heavenly karma but would require an impossibly huge amount of people dao karma.


    "If this is so, I have no qualms to sell it to you... Considering the demand for it and the fact that even the Divine Lotus Cult is also after it, please offer me a high price!"


    He looked at the anxious Feng Xinzi and commented.


    "I''ll be honest with you, brother... You''re right. My alchemy progress has reached a bottleneck. I am intending to produce a pill''s spirit in order to achieve a breakthrough..."


    Feng Xinzi let out a bitter smile. "Through preparations, I have 50 percent confidence in achieving the breakthrough. With the karma flowers, I might add another 5 percent! Therefore, the price that I will offer you will surely be the highest. I might not have enough contribution points but I can compensate that with spiritual pills! As for the Divine Lotus Cult... stay away from them, brother!"


    "Oh? Why should I? The price that they are offering seems to be the highest as of now!"


    Fang Yuan purposely probed to find out more.


    "Not just that, I''m sure they are very interested in the coordinates of the world, right?"


    Feng Xinzi shook his head. "I don''t know much about them. I only know that the dream masters of the Divine Lotus Cult seem to be able to retain most of their power in these worlds. It was rumoured that the ancestors of the cult had gained a lot from these Karma Worlds and therefore, since then, they would put in a lot of effort to locate such worlds... A few dream masters who once worked with them by acceding to their requests didn''t end up well!"


    Fang Yuan was shocked as soon as he heard the description from Feng Xinzi.


    "Forget it... Let''s see the deal through! How many contribution points do you have left?"


    Fang Yuan glanced at Feng Xinzi as though he wanted to take advantage of him.


    ...


    "You''re indeed an alchemy master! Look at your wealth!"


    After a short while, Fang Yuan walked out of the tea house with a smile on his face.


    Although Feng Xinzi had already spent a fortune trying to form the pill spirit, his savings were already enough to satisfy Fang Yuan.


    "As for what he said about the Divine Lotus Cult, I really need to be careful!"


    Fang Yuan came to the rock tablet, spent some contribution points and started to look for information.


    There was a change of expression on his face:


    "A guide - The experienced dream masters in the Dream Realm have the responsibility to bring in new dream masters. With every new member, the dream master who introduced the new member would be rewarded with 500 contribution points... Furthermore, this dream master will be the official guide of the new member. By using 1,000 contribution points, the dream master will be able to get updates about the new member and will be able to locate the new member. However, in order to protect the privacy of the new member, the location services will only be accurate to the region!"


    After reading the description, Fang Yuan chuckled. "No wonder she''s so good to me! It was her plan all along! Considering that she''s an evil woman, this is no surprise!"


    It was fortunate that the location services could only locate him by the region. Da Qian Empire was huge and it was almost impossible to find a dream master within a region.


    "It''s too easy for new members to be cheated..."


    Fang Yuan exclaimed. "Realm Spirit! I want to remove the association with my guide!"


    "Di! I''ve checked that your guide, Bai Lian [1], has not fulfilled her responsibility. Your request has been approved!"


    There was an almost-immediate reaction from the Realm Spirit.


    Fang Yuan heaved a sigh of relief.


    It was a small thing, but it was a matter if Meng Lian had realised it.


    Now that he had removed all associations with her, they were now completely unrelated.


    "Divine Lotus Cult... I''ll take note!"


    Fang Yuan gave a cold look before coming offline.


    ...


    In the Dream Realm, there was a void space decorated with white lotuses; it was the area used by the Divine Lotus Cult.


    There was a cold look in Meng Lian''s eyes. "Realm Spirit, I want to exercise my rights as a guide to pay 1,000 contribution points in exchange for Fang Yuan''s location!"


    In reality, there was not much use in determining the region in which Fang Yuan was in.


    However, the location could be refined with the help of the Divine Lotus Cult.


    Previously, Fang Yuan had no value to her, but now, Bai Lian had come to a decision.


    "This service will cost you 1,000 contribution points. Deducted!"


    The robotic voice of the Realm Spirit was heard and a long silence followed.


    "Di! The other person has removed his association with you. Location services have failed!"


    "Respectable dream master, due to the fact that you did not fulfil your responsibility as a guide, the Realm Spirit will now deduct the initial 500 contribution points!"


    The Realm Spirit''s voice was heard once more, which shocked Bai Lian. "What?"


    The title of a guide was as fragile as paper. If their relationship was severed, then it would have no purpose. Otherwise, it could be used to manipulate the dream master under the guide. There were instances of dream masters that have been disadvantaged due to this rule.


    "D*mn it!"


    The knuckles in Meng Lian''s fingers cracked and there was a ferocious look on her beautiful face. "Fang Yuan, you cannot run!!!"


    Although she could no longer use the location services provided by the Realm Spirit, there were many more things that she could do.


    Thinking about it, she left the Dream Realm and arrived at her secret hideout.


    It was a temple. In it, there was no god. Rather, there was a lotus flower carved from white jade with a tablet in front. There were no words on the tablet but rather, there was a row of mysterious-looking runes which flashed a golden glow.


    "I am follower Meng Lian, and as I pray with sincerity, I invite Grandmaster to appear!"


    Meng Lian appeared serious as she lighted the incense and prayed.


    "Buzz! Buzz!"


    Green smoke emerged and the petals on the white lotus on the altar started to open. A blurred figure emerged and there was a glow everywhere.


    "Greetings, Grandmaster!"


    Bai Lian paid her greetings respectfully.


    "Forget it!"


    A voice was heard on the altar; it sounded neither male or female. "You are a reserved Divine Lady. In front of a true Divine Lady, you can only make one request. Think carefully!"


    "I have thought through carefully!"


    Meng Lian gritted her teeth and a white lotus appeared on her forehead. In it, there was the image of a young man; it was Fang Yuan. "This person has the coordinates of a Karma World. Grandmaster, please help me in locating him!"


    "Mm, it is indeed fate for you to discover such a lead!"


    The voice from the altar appeared shocked. With the wave of its hand, the white lotus from Meng Lian''s forehead flew towards it.


    Meng Lian remained still and had utmost confidence in the person before her.


    This Grandmaster was a highly-skilled dream master and a dream future master. The Grandmaster could let the happenings take place in its dream world and take into consideration the trend of the world to foretell the future. The Grandmaster was spot-on every single time it made a prediction.


    Of course, the Grandmaster had its limitations.


    Every time it proceeds with a prediction, it would consume a lot of elemental energy.


    If the person being investigated on had too high a cultivation level, the information the Grandmaster would receive would be fewer.


    Furthermore, there was the possibility of backlash as well. If the Grandmaster were to predict the opposite of what would happen, the Grandmaster would be likely to die.


    "Although the information you provided is limited to his looks and his name, I am powerful enough to predict the future of that small dream master!"


    Meng Lian quickly gathered her thoughts. If not for the fact that she shared the same heritage with the Grandmaster, as a reserved Divine Lady, she might not even have the rights to get help. It was a great favour from the Grandmaster to agree to help her.


    "If I can obtain the coordinates of that Karma World, everything will be worth it!"


    Her eyes glistened as thoughts ran wild in her mind.


    "Hmm... This person''s future is blurred and it is extremely hard to predict his future. However, since you only require his location, that is simple..."


    After a short while, the figure on the altar spoke again.


    A small slip of paper appeared in mid-air and glided down. On the piece of paper, a few names of places were written down.


    Seeing this, Meng Lian was overjoyed.


    "After this, we are even. Take care of yourself!"


    With a flash, the figure disappeared. What was left behind was the lotus on the altar as how it was before.


    Hearing the words from the Grandmaster, Meng Lian felt a little lost.


    ...


    "Hmm? Why do I feel a little worried..."


    In the small district town, Fang Yuan was practising his martial arts. Suddenly, he felt a chill down his spine.


    "I only have enemies from Thousand Year Mountain and Divine Lotus Cult. The Thousand Year Mountain might be able to trace me until here but even Lin Qianye will not be able to make me feel as such. Only the presence of Venerable Longhu would make me feel like this..."


    Fang Yuan appeared solemn. "Could this mean... The Divine Lotus Cult? Meng Lian is indeed scheming..."


    To survive this, he could only rely on himself.


    He took a quick glance at this stats window:


    "Name: Fang Yuan


    Essence: 36


    Spirit: 30


    Magic: 40


    Profession: Dream Soldier Master


    Cultivation: Illusionary Divine (2nd Tier), Wu Zong (3rd Meridian)


    Technique: [Giant Eagle Metal Body Technique (Grade 4) (5%)], [Hundred Poison Golden Body (1st Refining)], [8 Gates Sword Array (3rd Sword) (2%)]


    Skill: [Medicine (Level 3)], [Botany (Level 5)]"


    "Although my spiritual techniques and my martial arts are improving, they are taking too long. The only thing I can make use of will be the heavenly energy from the Water Realm..."


    Fang Yuan''s consciousness entered his actualised dream world. Looking at the green ball floating in his 8 Gates Word Array, he remained silent.


    The force that he could exchange from heavenly karma was extremely similar to the realm energy from the Hui Realm. Both of them could directly increase a dream master''s cultivation level and were extremely rare.


    Based on his guess, this would be the purest form of heavenly energy. Or rather, the source of energy of the world. It was a common form of energy across all worlds as they would come from the same source.


    "If I can obtain huge amounts of heavenly energy from the worlds, it would only be a matter of time before I achieve consecutive breakthroughs..."


    Looking at the ball of heavenly energy in front of him, he sighed. "This is too little..."


    As more and more swords were formed in the 8 Gates Sword Array, the resources needed to form the next sword would increase exponentially. This ball of energy was not enough!


    [1]: Bai Lian is Meng Lian''s actual name.

 278 Breakthrough

    As a dream master reaches the higher levels of cultivation, it would become exponentially difficult to achieve a breakthrough.


    Fang Xinzi, a dream alchemy master, had already landed himself into bankruptcy in order to achieve the breakthrough.


    Fang Yuan had encountered the same problem as well.


    To form the Thunder Sword to completion, all that he gained from the Water Realm was not sufficient.


    "Fortunately... I still have my martial arts. Although I am at the 4 Grade of Qian Kun Spiritual Technique, the resources required is much lesser than what I will need to form the 3rd sword in the 8 Gates Sword Array. Therefore, there is still a chance for me to achieve a breakthrough!"


    As he focused, the green-coloured ball of energy flowed out from his actualised dream world into his body and immediately, he could feel a warm fuzzy feeling.


    "Mmmm!"


    Fang Yuan let out a sound of satisfaction. It was as though he was soaking in a hot spring and there were thousands of ants crawling on his limbs and biting him.


    "This is due to the fact that my progress is too quick and a normal human''s body would not be able to take it... Fortunately for me, I have the Hundred Poison Golden Body!"


    As Fang Yuan slowly felt the expansion of his elemental force like an enraged dragon, he was overjoyed.


    If not for his Hundred Poison Golden Body and the fact that his physical body was incredibly strong, he would likely have exploded like a bomb and become a pile of bloodied mess.


    But now, streaks of gold glistened on his skin. He forcefully contained the intense elemental force into his body and guided it to breakthrough towards the 4th Grade of Giant Eagle Metal Body.


    "5% - 10% - 50%!!!"


    On the stats window, the progress behind the Giant Eagle Metal Body rose quickly.


    "Chirp! Chirp!"


    Behind Fang Yuan, the 3 spiritual meridians subconsciously appeared. Another one was slowly being formed, albeit illusionary. As it glowed, it slowly became permanent.


    The 4 spiritual meridians worked together to reveal the image of a person, half-human and half-eagle. The person was facing the sky, chirping. The energy around the person surged and the sand beneath his feet was stirred.


    "60% - 70% - 90%!!!"


    As the heavenly energy was being consumed, his progression shot up and arrived at 99%!


    "Bang! Bang!"


    Although Fang Yuan had an extremely hardy physical body, his pores had started to bleed and his skin started to stretch. It was as though he had become a human balloon.


    "Break... through!"


    Fang Yuan exclaimed and his strong spiritual will remained steadfast. In an instant, he had broken through.


    "100%"


    On the stats window, the number behind the Giant Eagle Metal Body became blurred.


    "Phew..."


    Fang Yuan composed his breathing. It felt as though the elemental force in his body had found an opening to escape.


    At the same time, there were a few changes to his physical body. Beneath his skin, a layer of green glow appeared. As it fused with his original golden body, the outcome was a dim golden glow.


    "Finally, I''ve broken through!"


    Fang Yuan''s eyes glittered as he glanced at his stats window:


    "Name: Fang Yuan


    Essence: 42


    Spirit: 36


    Magic: 40


    Profession: Dream Soldier Master


    Cultivation: Illusionary Divine (2nd Tier), Wu Zong (4th Meridian)


    Technique: [Giant Eagle Metal Body Technique (Grade 5) (1%)], [Hundred Poison Golden Body (1st Refining)], [8 Gates Sword Array (3rd Sword) (2%)]


    Skill: [Medicine (Level 3)], [Botany (Level 5)]"


    "I''ve formed a new spiritual meridian!"


    Fang Yuan tested out his techniques. The 5th Grade of Giant Eagle Metal Body was indeed different. Elemental force flowed around like a huge river. Through his 4 spiritual meridians, there was a blurred figure behind him.


    "This is the illusionary shadow of the Divine Body. Of course... It is only a shadow! To condense the Divine Body, there''s still a lot more to be done..."


    Fang Yuan felt his own forearm.


    After the improvement he had made in his martial arts, he felt that his physical body was strengthened and that his sense of sight and hearing were improved as well.


    Of course, compared to Lin Qianye, who had a nose more sensitive than that of a dog''s, his cultivation was still far from him.


    But now, with the twitch of his ear, he could hear a commotion outside his mansion.


    After hearing a few sentences, he let out a bitter smile. "Did I really attract so much attention from my breakthrough? Nevermind... I wasn''t planning to stay here for long anyway!"


    He picked up his clothing and left in a blurred shadow as he leapt across the wall.


    "Hold up! I am the Eagle Lieutenant of Da Qian! Who are you?"


    From the direction of the government office, a group of martial artists were rushing towards Fang Yuan. The one leading the pack was a Wu Zong and as he saw Fang Yuan taking his leave, he exclaimed.


    "I would be a fool to wait here!"


    Fang Yuan gently leapt and spread his arms like how an eagle would spread its wings. After leaping through a few yards, he turned into a small alley and disappeared.


    With the experience from Yang Fan''s dream world and through his own investigations, he knew that although the walls of the district town were not tall, there were traps laid there, like talismans or bows. If he were to cross the walls, he might be ambushed.


    Since the district town was rather large, he could look for a place to hide before trying to escape at night.


    "Sir?!"


    A few soldiers were dressed in martial artists'' robes. "How should we settle this?"


    Fang Yuan was cunning and it would be practically impossible to find him in the large district town.


    "Wait up!"


    The Eagle Lieutenant was a well-built man with sharp eyes and a menacing look. He quickly waved his hands and after a few moments, a constable arrived with an official document. "Sir, we''ve checked his background!"


    "Hmm? Fang Yun? He doesn''t have a history at all! He''s a phoney!"


    After reading a few lines of the document, he could deduce what had happened. "The few of you are too lax!"


    "Sir, please forgive us!"


    The constable shivered and broke out in cold sweat.


    He knew the unspoken rule. The higher up had to do this not because of money, but because they were forced to.


    After all, these people with fake identities would generally have martial arts. They might even be a Wu Zong or a spiritual knight! If they become angry, no one could handle them!


    "Forget it..."


    The Eagle Lieutenant could guess what had happened and did not continue to probe further. Instead, he started to look around at the surroundings.


    After a while, he gave a gentle expression. "We''re fortunate that he is just a new Wu Zong and has no evil intentions... But he really has the guts to breakthrough in the middle of the city, hehe... does he really think that no one is in charge of this place?"


    The others felt a little depressed after hearing it.


    It was indeed surprising that he did not attempt his breakthrough in the forest or wilderness, but right in the centre of the bustling city!"


    "Since he has left on his own accord, it means that he has no evil intentions. However, we will still have to file a report for this and do the necessary investigations..."


    The lieutenant mulled for a while before coming to a decision. "Search carefully and tighten security during your patrols!"


    This was just trying to ensure peace in the district town.


    "Smart move, Sir!"


    The few soldiers bowed and heaved a sigh of relief.


    Since Fang Yuan did not commit any heinous crime, no one would be willing to risk their lives fighting a Wu Zong.


    After all, among all of them, only the lieutenant had broken through to the realm of elemental force. All of them were unnecessary and a burden if they were to engage Fang Yuan.


    Seeing this, the lieutenant shook his head and sighed.


    If it was in his younger days, he would want to serve the country with all his might. But now, as he grew older, he had to consider for his family before acting rashly.


    This was only normal as he was a human.


    ...


    It was nightfall.


    The moon was extremely beautiful.


    In the government office, a few constables fainted. The lieutenant was enraged. "What audacity! How dare you enter the government office without permission and use your demonic techniques? Are you not afraid that you will be captured by our soldiers?"


    The Eagle Lieutenant was furious. Looking at the few people in white around him, there was a look of fear and anger on his face.


    Although his district might not be able to handle these people, it would become a big case and the Imperial Court would surely bring them to justice!


    Even the normal evil highly-skilled martial artists or cults had to be wary!


    By then, soldiers from the county and region would gather. These people were just ants and were extremely easy to kill.


    "Hehe... I''m really scared!"


    With a gentle laughter, a girl in white robes descended. She had a fragrance and her eyes were beautiful. "But... How will your Da Qian Imperial Court deal with my Divine Lotus Cult?"


    "Ah... you''re a demon from the Divine Lotus Cult!"


    The Eagle Lieutenant shrieked, turned around and started to run!


    Normal spiritual knights, sects and powerful families might fear the Imperial Court, but this would not include the 5 alliances of the dream masters!


    This was especially so for the Divine Lotus Cult! Previously, they were involved in an assassination of an official of a region. The Imperial Court was infuriated and sent out highly skilled martial artists to deal with the cult. For 10 years, both sides had suffered losses and in the end, there was no conclusion.


    Compared to an official of a region, he was only a small Eagle Lieutenant! What could he do?


    Therefore, he turned around and ran away without hesitation.


    "Hehe... I like smart people!"


    "Stop!"


    The Eagle Lieutenant was extremely quick. As he leapt, he managed to emerge out and was about to jump across the walls.


    Suddenly, there was a voice. His nose picked up an intoxicating fragrance and it was as though a person was next to him, whispering into his eats.


    "8 Forms of Magical Dragon, to the ends of the world!"


    The well-built man bit his tongue and snapped out of his trance. Suddenly, there was an illusionary shadow of a blood dragon appearing on his legs.


    At the same time, there were many white flower petals raining down in the vicinity. As the white petals landed on him, they entered his body.


    "I cannot sleep! I cannot sleep!"


    The lieutenant was shouting to himself, but even the sharp pain on his tongue was not enough to wake him up. As his eyes slowly shut, he could vaguely see the people in white approaching him. Finally, he could no longer resist and fainted.


    "Dream accessing!"


    Meng Lian walked up. With an innocent look, she placed a smooth and white finger on the forehead of the lieutenant.


    After a while, she opened her eyes with a look of shock. "It is Fang Yuan indeed. He has escaped! Quickly search for him!"


    "Yes!"


    The people in white bowed and vanished in a second.

 279 Intent to Kill

    "Protect the district leader!"


    "Quickly use your spiritual spells to request backup from the county!"


    "Where is the Eagle Lieutenant?"


    ...


    Although it was midnight, such a commotion shook the entire government office.


    In the small courtyard with the presence of the district leader and district minister, there was a small array. Spiritual inscriptions glittered. Of course, against the demons from the Divine Lotus Sect, it could only give them a small sense of protection.


    The commotion in the government office ensued as constables gathered in front of the office with their bows ready.


    Alas, all of these were for show. All of them knew that the enemy was where the Eagle Lieutenant was but none of them dared to offer their assistance.


    "The demon from Divine Lotus Cult!"


    The district leader wore simple clothes. Seeing this scene, he clenched his fists so hard that his fingernails went into his flesh, and bit his lips till they were bleeding. "This country is not like a country anymore! For the people, I must destroy this demon one day!"


    "Please mind your words, Sir!"


    Beside him, there was an old housekeeper. "The previous region leader said the exact same words. Afterwards, he was assassinated by the people of the Divine Lotus Cult, which was a huge insult to the Da Qian Imperial Court... Afterwards, both sides engaged in many more killings and many innocent people were harmed in the process. The civil war destroyed 17 cities and killed as many as a few thousand, and the royal family of Da Qian knew that it was no longer sustainable..."


    If they continued to fight, havoc would ensue everywhere.


    After all, the Divine Lotus Cult did not need to care about the lives of others but it was different for the Imperial Court; at least on the surface, they had to care.


    If Da Qian were to carry on with the losing war, they would bring themselves to their self-destruction. Therefore, they had to give in.


    Li Zhun knew who was behind it and felt depressed. "Dream masters... They are an evil tumour of this world! We need to eradicate them to obtain peace!"


    ...


    "Did the district leader study too much and become foolish?"


    Hearing what Li Zhun had just said, he almost spat out blood.


    If it was another dream master who heard this, District Leader Li would probably not live to see the next day.


    "... However, this is also true for other regions with exceptional martial arts and powerful organisations!"


    "Furthermore, dream masters are much more powerful than the average person, Wu Zongs and spiritual knights. They can even create things from nothing and actualise spiritual lands, resources and even tribes, which is unbearable."


    "If we have a new king fortunate enough to eradicate the dream masters, the next would be to wipe out the spiritual knights. After that, it would be to ban all martial arts and there would be peace everywhere."


    Strictly speaking, the power of dream masters had caused them to receive the most hatred from people.


    Although they had a high status due to their power, it was not a good thing.


    Thinking about it, Fang Yuan''s eyes glistened.


    Of course, it was none of his business as to what the dream masters or the Imperial Court would do.


    Looking towards the direction of the commotion, he gave off a cold look. "Meng Lian... She''s looking for trouble! Does she really think that I am weak? Look at how many people she brought along with her!"


    All of these were just distractions.


    He had created the illusion that he was about to escape so that he could remain in hiding and see what he would do next.


    He was extremely clear what he had to do.


    The Divine Lotus Cult was persistent and he did not know what Meng Lian did to locate where he was hiding.


    "There are about 10 Wu Zongs, 3 spiritual knights and Meng Lian herself, a dream master... Now that she had brought along 6 Wu Zongs in white robes and 2 spiritual knights, there are 6 more!"


    All of these should be the people of the Divine Lotus Cult that they could gather in the region.


    If she were to lead them to their deaths, Meng Lian would not be able to answer to the cult.


    "What a risky move!"


    Fang Yuan watched as Bai Lian and her people entered the government office and killed the Eagle Lieutenant. He was expressionless as he could finally account for all the manpower that the Divine Lotus Sect had in this region.


    If Fang Yuan was still at the cultivation level when he first arrived at Da Qian, he would not be able to go head-on against all these people and would have to hide.


    But now?"


    "Let''s head to Fang Yuan''s mansion to take a look. We can find some objects with his spiritual aura. Even if we have to execute the Blood Searching Technique, we cannot let him run away!"


    Meng Lian walked out of the government office with her hands stained with the lieutenant''s blood. She paid no attention to it and continued to give out orders to the people around her.


    "Yes, Ma''am!"


    A few Wu Zongs in white robes replied.


    At this moment, a lotus print appeared on Meng Lian''s forehead. Suddenly, it exploded as flower petals fell down and covered her in an attempt to protect its owner.


    "Water and Fire sword essence, explode!"


    At the moment of the appearance of the lotus flower, a red and blue glow suddenly appeared above her head and exploded!


    "Whoosh! Chi! Chi!"


    Numerous streaks of red and blue struck around and blood spurted everywhere!


    The 3 Wu Zongs protecting Meng Lian were sliced into pieces!


    The 3 other Wu Zongs shrieked and flew back as they sustained severe injuries.


    Only the spiritual knight had a self-activated protective talisman which protected him from the strike. However, his hand was still bleeding.


    The Water-Fire Dual Sword Array at its full potential did not disappoint Fang Yuan. It took many lives in an instant.


    "It''s you! Fang Yuan!!!"


    Meng Lian looked at the silhouette before her and gritted her teeth in anger. "How dare you go against us?"


    If Fang Yuan did not appear before her, she would never have thought that this dream master without the backing of an organisation would be so cruel.


    With just a sword essence, 3 Wu Zongs were sliced up!


    This was akin to a harmless rabbit transforming into a big bad wolf!


    "You are already all out against me. I can only retaliate!"


    Fang Yuan appeared.


    With the fire sword in his hands, he walked forward.


    "Kill!"


    Although the 3 remaining Wu Zongs were severely injured, they mustered their courage and in an instant, 3 spiritual meridians appeared behind their backs. They were prepared to combine forces and fight to their deaths.


    "It''s useless..."


    The actualised Fire Sword had a dragon on the handle. The blade of the sword was like a flame. With a simple swipe, the sword radiance was released and in an instant, the killer moves of all 3 Wu Zongs were countered.


    Walking forward, he struck a sword at each and every one of them, killing all 3 Wu Zongs.


    Their Golden Silk Armour and Elemental Force Protection were useless defences against he Leaving Fire Sword.


    All of his actions had demonstrated the power of a 4th Meridian Wu Zong and a magical soldier, which pushed the power of a dream soldier master to its maximum potential!


    "Magical soldier?"


    The remaining Wu Zongs looked at the fire sword which appeared on Fang Yuan''s hand and made a guess. "You are a dream soldier master?"


    "That''s right, but you''re too late!"


    In an instant, Fang Yuan came before them and ended their lives with a simple lunge.


    In a red glow, the spiritual knight felt as though the entire world was lying on him and that he had no means of escape.


    "Posture of the Heavenly Lotus! Go!"


    Meng Lian finally reacted to what had happened. She quickly executed the technique and the flower petals in front of her flew and shielded the spiritual knight from Fang Yuan.


    "Underground Burrow!"


    The spiritual knight bit his tongue and spat out a mouthful of blood. Brown-coloured spiritual inscriptions appeared on his body as he started to burrow underground.


    "Why struggle?"


    Fang Yuan sighed and sliced his Leaving Fire Sword down, breaking apart the petals in front of the spiritual knight.


    He mysteriously arrived at a seemingly random spot and struck his sword into the ground!


    "Rumble!"


    The ground cracked and the crack lines resembled a spiderweb. Smoke gushed out of the cracked lines.


    As soon as he pulled his sword out, blood gushed out like a geyser.


    "Alright, now all that''s left is you!"


    Fang Yuan plucked his sword, stood up and looked at Meng Lian.


    The lady before her was only a newly-promoted dream master. To him, it was a matter of a few strikes of his sword. However, as a reserved Divine Lady, he was unsure if she had any protective treasures with her.


    "You want to kill me? It''s not that simple!"


    Seeing how Fang Yuan could easily finish off her subordinates, Meng Lian forced herself to regain her composure. "It''s my fault for not knowing how powerful you are, but... by killing all my subordinates, it seems that you have decided to make enemies with the Divine Lotus Cult!"


    "You have started all this!"


    Fang Yuan sighed as he struck his Fire Sword out.


    "Ding!"


    There was a metallic sound as the sword touched the flower petals. The white lotus shook before calming down, but Meng Lian who was within was unharmed.


    "It''s useless... As the reserved Divine Lady, I have the protection of the Divine Lotus Print, your weak sword essence can do nothing..."


    She stopped halfway and her expression changed.


    In Fang Yuan''s left hand, a shorter magical sword appeared. It was blue and had chilly vibes.


    "Water-Fire Dual Array, kill together!"


    Fang Yuan struck both swords out together. The red sword essence quickly combined with the blue sword essence and there was an exponential increase in power.


    "Bang!"


    Under the Water-Fire Dual Sword Array, even the Divine Lotus Print would not be able to hold. There were cracks forming and it looked extremely unstable.


    "If I can use master''s 8 Gates Sword Array all at once, it would be extremely powerful! However, this would also mean that people would be able to identify it and know who my master is. Among the dream soldier masters, there are too many that are using the Water-Fire Dual Sword Array. Therefore, I can still use it without too much concern!''


    Thoughts ran through Fang Yuan''s mind. He held the fire in his right hand and the water in his left. As the swords combined, a strong and concentrated sword essence exploded like a sun.


    "Rumble!"


    In the huge explosion, the Divine Lotus Print cracked and crumbled.


    "You..."


    Meng Lian retreated and there was blood on her lips, which stained her clothing. It was a pitiful scene.


    "Die!"


    Fang Yuan was determined. Without a sense of pity, he struck another sword out.


    "You forced me..."


    As she felt her death approaching, Meng Lian quickly pulled a piece of jade from her neck with a fierce look on her face.


    "Who dares to harm my lady?"


    A loud and powerful voice was heard.


    In the piece of jade, there was a glow as the jade started to crazily absorb the elemental energy from the surroundings.


    "The magical clone of a powerful person?"


    Fang Yuan sighed. He knew that an important lady like Meng Lian would have plenty of protective treasures on her body. Quickly, he came to a decision. "Retreat!"

 280 Joining the Realm Alliance

    "You have the guts to kill the people of my cult! No one will be able to save you!"


    A silhouette appeared from the jade. It seemed to be a scholar wearing a crown. The person had a long beard and appeared righteous.


    His body was illusionary but it was forming quickly. He pointed at Fang Yuan and shouted, "Destroy!"


    "Whoosh!"


    There was a bright glow.


    In mid-air, runes flashed and quickly flew towards Fang Yuan. Subsequently, they entered his forehead.


    "Eh?"


    In his actualised dream world, a gigantic word ''Destroy'' appeared. As the word glowed, it brought with it the feel of destruction.


    This scholar was extremely powerful and wanted to destroy Fang Yuan''s spirit!


    "8 Gates Sword Array, attack!"


    After all, the actualised dream world was Fang Yuan''s base. This was where all his power was and of course, he would have the advantage here.


    Fang Yuan recalled the techniques of defence from the inheritance of Master Heartless. With a simple thought, the 8 Gates Sword Array shook and 8 sword essences flew up, trapping the glowing word. Smashing it downwards, the word crumbled into powder.


    "If this was the real world, I would still not be able to use the 8 Gates Sword Array to its fullest potential. However, I can already execute the techniques of the array within the actualised dream world. If you are physically here, you might be able to kill me, but now, you are trying to kill me with just your incarnation?"


    In the real world, Fang Yuan laughed and flicked his right index finger. Immediately, two swords flew out. "Water-Fire Dual Sword Array, Go!"


    "Whoosh! Whoosh!"


    Two streaks of red and blue rose up into the sky and formed a small array which contained the scholar and Meng Lian within.


    In the next moment, the water and fire sword essences exploded.


    "Ahhh!"


    Meng Lian exclaimed as a wound opened up at her chest.


    "Guard!"


    The scholar had to help his daughter and therefore split his energy to protect her.


    There was a glow in his hands and a brush appeared. As he wrote in mid-air, he formed the word ''Guard''.


    With a glitter, the word transformed into a shield which protected him and Meng Lian in within.


    "Rumble!"


    As soon as he completed his technique, a terrifying explosion broke out.


    As the dust flew, it covered the sky like a mushroom cloud.


    At the place where the explosion occurred, there was now a large hole. The government office was also affected and many were dead, but Fang Yuan was no longer to be seen.


    "Adoptive father, why didn''t you chase him?"


    Meng Lian held her chest and her face was filled with hatred. Suddenly, her expression changed.


    There were two sword scars on the scholar''s body. His originally half-formed body had now become illusionary as though it would disappear anytime.


    "Great sword skills! Great sword array!"


    The scholar sighed. "This person is not only in the Illusionary Divine stage but has commendable combat skills. I believe that the only way to defeat him is to use our cult''s protective technique. Lian''er, remember, don''t be reckless!"


    If his true self was here, he wouldn''t have let him escape.


    But now, there was nothing he could do.


    He glanced at the government office which was in tatters and shook his head. "Let''s go... If the highly skilled people from Da Qian were to surround us, it would be troublesome!"


    "Alright!"


    Meng Lian gritted her teeth. She had to admit that the failure of this mission had made her embarrassed.


    "Fang Yuan? I''ll remember you!"


    ...


    At the outskirts of the district town, in the wilderness.


    Fang Yuan spread out his arms like an eagle in flight and rushed out.


    "Whoosh! Whoosh!"


    Two streaks of light quickly flew towards him and entered his body.


    In his actualised dream world, the Leaving Fire Sword and Rough Water Sword returned to their original positions but the glow from them had become dimmer.


    "It seems that that scholar is indeed powerful."


    Fang Yuan looked down. He quickly transferred his dream elemental force towards the spiritual swords, repairing them.


    This was the advantage of being a dream soldier master.


    Even though his weapon might be damaged, all he needed would be some time to repair it, which would be much simpler than when he was forming the swords.


    If he could really form the 8 swords and form the sword array, he could attack continuously and the array could be utilised to its maximum potential.


    "However... Looking at my current standards now, it seems that I am still no match for the Divine Lotus Cult!"


    The killings which he had committed were purely due to the fact that they were looking for him and he had to retaliate. Even if he escaped, he would still be chased by them and therefore, he would rather take the initiative and kill as many enemies as he could.


    Now that he had earned himself some time, it was different.


    "I shall not return to the Qin Family, since I cannot be certain if I am being followed. Furthermore, looking at the cultivation levels of the Qin Siblings, if I were to get them involved in this, they would probably die like ants being stepped on..."


    Fang Yuan came to a decision and decided to run as far as he could.


    After all, there were 99 regions in Da Qian! He had been dwelling in the less populated regions and had yet to experience the prosperous lands.


    This was the perfect opportunity for him to explore.


    "Looking at the hatred the Divine Lotus Sect have with the Imperial Court, I''m sure their influence would be the weakest at the capital..."


    Fang Yuan rubbed his chin. "Of course... It is dangerous for me to be alone. I need to find a backing..."


    He arrived at a river and executed the Turtle Aura Technique before freezing the water beneath to form a small icy mountain. He then trapped himself within and dived into the river, allowing the river stream to carry him along.


    At the same time, Fang Yuan entered the Dream Realm.


    ...


    "Feng Xinzi!"


    He took out his inscription plate and sent out a message.


    "Brother, you''re just in time. In a day''s time, I will prepare for a makeover in preparation for making the pill!"


    Feng Xinzi''s symbol shook and replied almost instantaneously. "What''s up, brother?"


    "I have been targeted by the Divine Lotus Cult. Can I get protection if I join the Realm Alliance?"


    Fang Yuan was honest and enquired directly.


    "You are interested in joining the Realm Alliance? That''s great! Wait for me..."


    In the next moment, Feng Xinzi''s figure appeared in the Dream Realm with a look of joy on his face. "It is a wise choice to choose us!"


    "I hope so!"


    Fang Yuan rubbed his nose.


    He had a rough understanding of the 5 organisations of the Dream Realm.


    The Evil Divine Sect and the Divine Lotus Cult were both evil sects with a bad reputation. On the other hand, there were too many restrictions to join Baize Mountain, while the Source Seeking Sect was filled with crazy people.


    Thinking about it, he realised that the Realm Alliance was the only one with the least restrictions and the least requirements.


    "Let me warn you beforehand. Previously, the Divine Lotus Cult had looked for me and we had a big fight. I had even killed some of their people!"


    Fang Yuan was honest.


    "Brother, you''re really... decisive!"


    Feng Xinzi let out a bitter laugh and continued. "Are there dream masters among people you have killed?"


    "Nope. Only a few Wu Zongs and a spiritual knight. Meng Lian had sustained a few injuries!"


    Fang Yuan reported.


    "Then that is no problem at all!"


    Feng Xinzi sighed. "To the Divine Lotus Cult, Wu Zongs and spiritual knights are just servants and they could easily be replaced by new people. Furthermore, this was the test period of the reserved Divine Lady. Your actions might be welcomed by the other reserved Divine Ladies!"


    "However, these reserved Divine Ladies all have a Divine Lotus Print to protect them and other countless magical equipment and yet, you can still hurt her..."


    Feng Xinzi nodded his head. "It seems like your abilities are beyond my expectation! Follow me!"


    He brought Fang Yuan to a dead end of the Dream Realm.


    As the fog dissipated, a green mountain appeared and there seemed to be people on the mountain.


    "This is the headquarters of the Realm Alliance in the dream world!"


    Feng Xinzi dissipated the pill essence which covered him and brought Fang Yuan along a path of stone steps. Not long after, they arrived at a stone square.


    What surprised Fang Yuan was that there was a similar mission rock tablet in the middle of the square. Words were inscribed on the rock tablet and huge amounts of information flashed across.


    "This is a special feature provided by the Realm Spirit to the 5 big organisations. The function of this rock tablet is exactly the same as the one in the Dream Realm. On it are mostly the missions specific to the Realm Alliance. The rewards for the missions here are greater and there are some classified pieces of information provided from the tablet as well, including information regarding the use of karma..."


    As Feng Xinzi spoke, he brought Fang Yuan to a rock palace and into a room. "Elder Smelter, greetings to you!"


    "Haha... You wouldn''t come here without any rhyme or reason. Come in!"


    The doors slowly opened by themselves.


    It was extremely spacious inside and at the four corners, there were many pools of different colour, including red, purple, blue, green, white... Different coloured flames were burning brilliantly but no heat was felt from the flames.


    In the middle of the palace, there was a rock bed and on it was a person crossing his legs. He was a short person and his eyebrows were red. He had a compassionate look and smiled as he saw the both of them.


    As he looked at him, Fang Yuan was shocked and could feel that he was being seen through. Immediately, he knew that this person was a high-tiered dream master which was much more powerful than him. "Greetings, senior!"


    "Fang Yuan, Venerable Smelter is the elder of the Realm Alliance. He is at the 7th Tier of the Illusionary Divine stage!"


    At Fang Yuan''s ears, he could hear Feng Xinzi''s voice as he introduced to him the person in front.


    Although the 7th Tier Illusionary Divine stage was not the Prominent Divine Stage yet, the combat powers were similar! He was a powerful person, even among everyone in Da Qian Empire.


    "Keke, no need for formalities. You are Fang Yuan, and you wish to join the alliance?"


    Elder Smelter chuckled. "You''re good! You''re not even 30 and yet you have already achieved the 2nd Tier of the Illusionary Divine stage, hmmm... You have the vibes of a magical soldier. Are you on the path to becoming a dream soldier master?"


    "That''s right! Elder Smelter, you''re good!"


    Fang Yuan bowed and replied.


    At this point in time, Feng Xinzi started to explain the situation Fang Yuan was in. Elder Smelter laughed. "It''s just a few slaves of the Divine Lotus Cult! That''s nothing... our Realm Alliance is still capable of giving you protection from them. As for Lin Qianye from the Thousand Year Mountain... Hehe, this person is crazy! He even dared to kill a dream master previously. He is just seeking is death! Little Fang, don''t you worry. It is a coincidence that I am in the North. Wait for me and I shall help you take your revenge!"


    Venerable Smelter had a personality similar to fire. As he exclaimed, he looked at Fang Yuan, impressed.


    "Considering your age and cultivation, you are indeed a talent. If you join the Realm Alliance, you can have the rights of Two Leaves. Feng Xinzi, see that it is done!"


    "Yes, Sir!"


    Both of them took a bow once more and were dismissed from the hall.

 281 Revenge

    "Haha... Brother Fang, you''re really lucky that Elder Smelter admires you!"


    As soon as they walked out of the hall, Feng Xinzi congratulated Fang Yuan. "From today onwards, we will be an alliance. Remember to look out for each other!"


    He felt that Fang Yuan was his lucky star and it was fate that they met each other.


    After knowing Fang Yuan, he not only obtained large amounts of rare spiritual plants, he also had the karma flower now.


    "Please guide me along with your invaluable experience!"


    Fang Yuan knew that although the Realm Alliance was not as strict, there were different factions within the alliance. Elder Smelter and Feng Xinzi were of a faction and now, Fang Yuan was part of it too.


    Of course, it was a good thing that someone was there to guide him through as soon as he joined the alliance and therefore, he would not reject the help given.


    "Of course!"


    Feng Xinzi quickly agreed. "The requirements to enter the Realm Alliance is the least. The only thing we ask of you is not to betray the alliance and not to fight against our fellow alliance mates. Also, you just have to complete a mission every once in a while. You will sign an agreement with the witness of the Realm Spirit and anyone who breaks the agreement will be hunted down by every dream master alive and will be denied entry into the Dream Realm!"


    He explained in detail and Fang Yuan gained more understanding of the organisation structure and the powers in the Realm Alliance.


    Since the Realm Alliance was formed from scattered groups of dream masters in the past, there were no sects and physical headquarters; everything was in the Dream Realm.


    In the alliance, the ones with the most power were the Elders Association. It was known that the association was formed by a group of 7th Tier Illusionary Divine dream masters. There was an official Alliance Leader who had already entered the Prominent Divine Stage and was the heart of the Realm Alliance.


    Below them were cultivators ranked from 1st Leaf to 7th Leaf, and the varying ranks would have different levels of authority and treatment.


    A normal dream master who just joined the alliance would have to start as a 1st Leaf Cultivator and complete missions to rise up the ranks.


    Fang Yuan had directly entered a faction and was admired by an Elder. Therefore, he was directly conferred the rank of a 2nd Leaf Cultivator without much effort.


    "The higher the rank of a cultivator, the greater the chances to accept missions of high rewards and the greater the authority to browse through top-secret documents..."


    Feng Xinzi brought Fang Yuan to the square and in front of the rock tablet. "The top of this tablet is the official binding document of the Realm Alliance. You can simply call for the Realm Spirit to witness your signing!"


    Fang Yuan looked towards the top of the tablet. Indeed, there was a row of small golden words. These words described the agreement of the Realm Alliance and they were indeed less uptight and strict than the other alliances. With a nod of his head, he called for the Realm Spirit.


    "Ding! You''ve been verified! Let the Realm Spirit take care of the rest!"


    After a mechanic bell rang, the inscription plate around his waist flew up. In a flash, there was a new row of golden inscriptions on it.


    "This is the rights to enter this place and use this rock tablet. Congratulations, brother! When you first use the rock tablet of the Realm Alliance, your rank will automatically be updated to a 2nd Leaf Cultivator!"


    Feng Xinzi smiled.


    ''Is it that simple?''


    Fang Yuan was shocked. The Realm Alliance was indeed a carefree alliance, judging by how his initiation took place.


    "Alright, the disciples of Elder Smelter will look for you for the other matters! I''ll be on my way to continue my alchemy!"


    Feng Xinzi took out his inscription plate and swiped it on the rock tablet. With a look of joy on his face, he quickly disappeared.


    "It must be another mission to bring in a newcomer!"


    Fang Yuan rolled his eyes but knew that in order to join the alliance, he had to let Feng Xinzi get the longer end of the stick and therefore didn''t mind. After which, he placed his inscription plate on the rock tablet.


    "Di! Welcome, Cultivator Fang Yuan!"


    Many pieces of information flowed out. They were classified into different sections, namely rewards, missions, techniques and secret news. The first piece of information was a congratulatory message from the Realm Spirit.


    "Due to the authority of Elder Smelter, you have directly gained the rank of a 2nd Leaf Cultivator. You can straightaway accept missions of 2nd Tier difficulty and below and can browse through a part of the information bank!"


    Fang Yuan nodded his head. "It is a good idea to classify missions into tiers so that dream masters will not die in the mission just because they are under-skilled..."


    His scanned through everything quickly and found the description regarding karma. It was similar to what Feng Xinzi had described to him, just more generic.


    However, there were only pieces of information about people dao karma and none about heavenly karma. It seemed that his authority was not enough to view more information.


    ''Hehe... This is a good way to motivate the dream masters to serve the alliance so as to rise up the ranks to see more classified information...''


    ''Of course, this is happening everywhere. As long as they don''t take too much advantage of the low-tiered dream masters and don''t keep them within the low ranks for too long, it would be alright. Instead, as the low-tiered dream masters rise up the ranks, they would proactively respect the confidentiality of these pieces of information and the system would be able to operate smoothly!''


    Fang Yuan snickered and found the piece of information which he needed:


    "The different tiers in the Illusionary Divine stage are defined based on the things that are actualised. In every 3 Tiers, a huge breakthrough will be required! The 4th Tier of the Illusionary Divine stage would require the dream master to create something from nothing and actualise a spiritual property in objects!"


    The spiritual property would be referring to pill spirits and equipment spirits. The objects would have a spirit and a mind but would be unable to replicate on its own.


    Feng Xinzi was at the 3rd Tier of the Illusionary Divine stage. If he were to be successful in creating a pill spirit, he would have broken through to the 4th Tier.


    Even to Fang Yuan, it would be an extremely arduous task to form the 4th sword.


    At this stage, every magical sword would have their own sword spirit and would be able to form the 4 Emblems Sword Array. It would have half the power of the 8 Gates Sword Array and was something to be feared.


    "The 7th Tier of Illusionary Divine would allow one to create a race and actualise a small piece of spiritual land!"


    A race would refer to a heritage of living things able to take care of themselves and self-populate in the wild.


    Reading up to here, Fang Yuan was deep in his own thoughts.


    If his guess was right, his master, Master Heartless, should be at this stage.


    In Da Qian, this level of cultivation would be comparable to the martial arts Divine Body and spiritual knights in the True Elemental Realm. They would be able to rule over an area with their might.


    There was only a line of description for the Prominent Divine Stage. "Able to create people! Able to create an ecosystem! The creator of all!"


    "Oh, the race which was described in the 7th Tier Illusionary Divine Stage did not include people! Does the difference lie in the wisdom of humans?"


    Fang Yuan made an educated guess.


    Dream masters below the level of Prominent Divine Stage could only actualise animals or even humans with simple thoughts. However, they were unable to create an entire sentient race!


    Just by this point alone, dream masters in the Prominent Divine Stage deserved the title of ''Divine''. This was why the Imperial Court of Da Qian had to fear the dream masters.


    Fang Yuan roughly understood why the dream masters of Da Qian could feel a sense of superiority here.


    It was not just the difference in powers; dream masters were on an entirely new level. As a creator of things, how would the dream masters compare themselves to the things that they could create?


    "Cultivator Fang Yuan, my master invites you!"


    Just as Fang Yuan was carried away by his own thoughts, a small child in red robes came to him and bowed.


    "You are..."


    Looking at the child, he could see through the disguise and realised that it was not a real child, but a fiery dragon.


    "I am Fiery Dragon, the subordinate of Elder Smelter!"


    The child replied respectfully.


    "Since that is so, please lead the way!"


    Fang Yuan looked at the back of the child and was lost in his thoughts.


    The Fiery Dragon was likely to be created by Elder Smelter. Although his actions were no different from a normal human, it was not able to reproduce. Therefore, it could only be created by a dream master and was therefore not considered a race.


    "Haha¡­.. Fang Yuan, come over here!"


    It was the same hall. Elder Smelter smiled and invited Fang Yuan over.


    "You have joined our alliance! That''s good!"


    He stroked his beard and continued. "I have just talked to the elders of the Divine Lotus Sect. They will not hold you accountable for killing a few servants. However, you have to defend yourself in the event a dream master of similar cultivation comes to you for revenge! After all, it is the testing period for the reserved Divine Ladies. If they can kill you, they will be heavily credited for it!"


    "Thank you, Elder!"


    Fang Yuan bowed and thanked him sincerely.


    He was not at all worried about the fact that a dream master of similar cultivation would seek him for revenge.


    ''It is indeed different after I have a backing! Of course, the good thing is that this Elder Smelter is very protective. It seems like the right choice to join this faction..."


    "Alright, my physical body has already arrived at Victorious East Region. Let''s meet at the foot of Thousand Year Mountain!"


    This came as a shock to Fang Yuan.


    "Thousand Year Mountain?"


    "Of course! Does Lin Qianye really think that he can get away with it after killing dream masters?"


    Elder Smelter waved his hands. "The previous dream master had no backing and was indeed a little overboard. Therefore, he deserved it. However, ultimately, as a martial artist, you cannot just simply kill a dream master! And don''t forget your encounter with him as well! We need to let them know that there is retribution in this world!"


    Elder Smelter was indeed an aggressive person. With a snicker, he continued. "I want to see how Venerable Longhu can protect Lin Qianye!"


    Fang Yuan remained silent.


    A dream master could afford to be overbearing!


    ...


    Thousand Year Mountain.


    Ruan Junxian was practising his martial arts and appeared focused.


    There was a layer of sweat on his forehead but he did not mind and continued to practise.


    Since the previous incident, he had decided to put in more effort in practising his martial arts.


    Although Ruan Ming was rescued in the end, it was a disgraceful incident for the Ruan Family. Even though Lin Qianye had promised the family that he would kill the dream master, there was no news of it, which made the entire family depressed.


    Finally, they realised that Fang Yuan was only after them for the martial arts technique. However, none of them was willing to admit that they were enemies with Fang Yuan. After this incident, they might seek revenge in the future.


    To experience such an unfortunate event in a single day was embarrassing, especially for such a big family like the Ruan Family.


    The cause behind all that had happened was a single dream master!


    "I must train hard! To achieve a breakthrough to Wu Zong!"


    After executing a series of techniques, Ruan Junxian finally stopped and clenched his fists. "From the tests I did when I was younger, I know that my magic abilities were only average. However, after breaking through to Wu Zong, my magic would increase and from there, I can try to cultivate in spiritual spells! However, it''s still a pity that I will not be able to become a dream master..."


    A spiritual knight had a higher status than Wu Zong but was nothing compared to a dream master.


    The strict requirements to be a dream master left many unqualified.


    "... However, if I become like the Vice Sect Head with top-notch martial arts, I can still kill dream masters easily. Hmmm... what path should I choose in the future?"


    Lin Qianye walked back and forth, deep in thought.


    "Han Longhu, come out!"


    A loud voice was heard as though thunder roared, and Ruan Junxian was shocked. "Who would dare to call the sect head by his full name? Is he crazy?"

 282 Death Figh

    "Roar! Roar!"


    After a few roars, many thick fiery dragons appeared in mid-air and spat our flames towards the mountain.


    There was an immense amount of energy in every fiery dragon and after a few moments, the entire Thousand Year Mountain was set on fire.


    Black smoke filled the sky and it was as though doomsday was approaching.


    "Retreat!"


    Seeing this, Ruan Junxian had no intentions of fighting. With the other disciples, he ran towards the headquarters of the Thousand Year Mountain.


    This was the power of the heavens! It was not something that humans could go against!


    "Roar! Roar!"


    The few dragons flew around lazily and slowly shrunk in size. Although they were shrunk, they were still over 30 feet long and were still majestic beasts. On the head of one of the dragons, there were two people.


    Witnessing this scene, Fang Yuan broke out in cold sweat.


    The fiery dragons were setting everything into a burning inferno but he could feel no heat from where he was standing. This was the perfect control of powers on the part of Elder Smelter, which was indeed impressive.


    This was the power of a 7th Tier Illusionary Divine dream master!


    Never would Fang Yuan have guessed that Elder Smelter would be so reckless. They had only met moments before Elder Smelter launched an attack against the Thousand Year Mountain.


    The entire Thousand Year Mountain would be reduced to ashes if Venerable Longhu was not around!


    "Hmph... I''m not even burning down a city. This is merely a mountain! I''ll like to see who can stop me!"


    Elder Smelter waved his hands majestically.


    "Fiery Dragon Child, burn this place down!"


    His voice roared across the entire Thousand Year Mountain.


    "Yes, Sir!"


    A child''s voice was heard from all three dragons. Suddenly, the dragons flew up and circled the mountain, spitting fire in the process.


    "What?"


    Ruan Junxian was confused as he hid among the fellow disciples. From the shout, he could feel pain in his ears and he almost fainted. "Where did this demon come from? How dare he destroy our sect!"


    "This person can control fire dragons and use their spiritual awareness to his advantage. I''m afraid he''s a dream master!"


    The Black Tiger Taisui, He Shantong, had more experience and could vaguely know what was happening. There was a look of despair on his face. "This person is a high-tiered dream master as well! Other than our sect head, no one can stand a chance against him!"


    "Dream master!"


    Ruan Junxian turned pale and his legs went jelly. "Could it be that they are still after my family?"


    "You think too highly of yourself. Do you think they will need such a powerful dream master to wipe out your family?"


    He Shantong chuckled and for the first time felt that this disciple of his was causing too much trouble. "I''m afraid that they are after the sect this time, hmmm... Vice Sect Head!"


    At this stage, even He Shantong was like an ant and could not do anything to help the situation.


    Under the burning inferno, even a Meridian Opening Wu Zong would be reduced to ashes!


    "Ah..."


    In the sect head''s hall in Thousand Year Mountain.


    A person was wearing robes with dragons and tigers sewn on it. As he placed his hands behind his back, another person was kneeling down behind him. It was Lin Qianye.


    "Qianye, do you know where you''ve gone wrong?"


    This was the sect head of Thousand Year Mountain, Venerable Longhu. He was 13th in the Dragon Ranks and had already condensed the Divine Body.


    "I should not have recklessly chased after that dream master!"


    Lin Qianye scoffed. "Why didn''t he bring out his backing before? This is frustrating!"


    "Sigh... You still don''t know where you''ve gone wrong! This is not the source of the trouble! It was the fact that you previously killed a dream master. Our Thousand Year Mountain is a small sect. Why kill the dream master out of frustration? Do you know why other people are not willing to kill dream masters? They are all waiting for others to do so...¡­"


    Venerable Longhu sighed. "It''s partially my fault for not being stricter with the rules. Because of this, you have become too proud of yourself. You need to know that the world is huge and even having the Divine Body, I have to think twice before acting!"


    "Brother!"


    Suddenly, Lin Qianye stood up and walked forward. "What do I have to fear? I will only die at most!"


    "Don''t be stupid!"


    Venerable Longhu waved his sleeves and Lin Qianye could not help it but took 3 steps backwards. Although he had already formed 8 spiritual meridians with the Kurong Mysterious Technique, he was still nothing compared to a True Divine.


    "As the sect head of Thousand Year Mountain, how can I not shoulder the responsibility?"


    Venerable Longhu looked at the flames in mid-air and took a step out.


    "Rumble!"


    On his body, a surge of energy condensed and transformed into the figures of a dragon and a tiger. "Who are you and why are you here?"


    The voice was no weaker than that from Elder Smelter as it spread throughout the mountain.


    "Chi!"


    As the vibrations from the voice swept through the flames, they were extinguished immediately.


    "This is the power of a True Divine!"


    "You''re impressive, sect head!"


    As the few disciples witness their sect head taking action, they cheered loudly.


    "Remain where you are and don''t come out!"


    Venerable Longhu shouted once more as he quickly made his way to the top of the mountain to engage the dream master.


    "Is this a True Divine with a Divine Body?"


    Although Venerable Longhu only glanced at Fang Yuan for a split second, Fang Yuan could feel that his dream elemental force came to a halt and at that moment, he was speechless.


    He knew that if he were to fight Venerable Longhu, even after using his killer moves, he would be finished off with a single punch without a doubt!


    "A True Divine martial artist will be able to use their pure energy to condense it into power and hurt someone without even touching them! This is godly!"


    Seeing the dragon and tiger beside Venerable Longhu, Fang Yuan slowly understood.


    "Hehe... Venerable Longhu, you''re finally here! Give me Lin Qianye and kill him in front of me and I shall forget all this, otherwise... I will make the Thousand Year Mountain cease to exist!"


    Elder Smelter exclaimed loudly.


    He wanted to directly destroy the entire sect!


    Although Venerable Longhu had a good temper, there was a hint of anger on his face. Holding it in, he looked at Fang Yuan. "Are you the dream master who attacked the Ruan Family?"


    "Not attack, but merely collecting debts!"


    Fang Yuan shook his head and appeared insistent.


    "Alright... I''ll apologise on behalf of my Vice Sect Head!"


    Venerable Longhu gave a respectful bow. "Please forgive Lin Qianye this time. We''ll reward you in the future! If you have any requests, the Thousand Year Mountain will accede to it!"


    "This..."


    Fang Yuan was tempted to accept his offer.


    After all, it was good to establish good relations with a True Divine martial artist. However, it was a pity that he was not in the position to make the decision as he looked over to Elder Smelter.


    "Hehe... It''s too late for regrets!"


    Elder Smelter was unforgiving. "That brother of yours didn''t just chase Fang Yuan. How should we settle the score the previous time he killed a dream master?"


    With this, Fang Yuan closed his eyes. He knew that there was no longer a chance for a peaceful resolution.


    His heart shivered.


    ''Elder Smelter seems righteous on the outside but he is actually scheming! Firstly, he wants to demonstrate his power on Thousand Year Mountain! Secondly, he wants me to offend the True Divine and be loyal to him! This is indeed a good plot, but it''s too cruel!''


    "What do you think?"


    Indeed, Venerable Longhu felt that there was no room for discussion as gave off a cold expression.


    This was only a high-tiered dream master, and he had the cultivation of a True Divine himself. He stood a chance against this dream master.


    "Hehe... It seems that you will not fear until you''ve seen the coffin!"


    Elder Smelter waved his hands "Three Suns Dragons, Go!"


    "Yes, Sir!"


    As a child''s voice responded, the 3 dragons expanded and roared.


    "Hmph! Dragon Tiger Massacre!"


    As Venerable Longhu leapt backwards, the figures of the dragon and tiger leapt into him, allowing him to form the silhouette of a giant.


    The silhouette was extremely clear. It stood tall like a god and there were imprints of dragons and tigers on his body. As the muscles on his body contracted, he looked up towards the sky and struck a punch out.


    "Bang!"


    There was a loud explosion and the entire Thousand Year Mountain shook.


    As the two most powerful people in the vicinity struck, the power that they had generated could potentially destroy an entire city. How could the mountain take the stress?


    "Crumble!"


    As Giant Longhu took two steps backwards, the buildings crumbled and there were cries and blood spurting everywhere.


    "You are... Smelter of the Realm Alliance?"


    In the next moment, Venerable Longhu dispersed his Divine Body and smiled, for he had identified the dream master.


    "That''s right!"


    As the fiery dragons exploded, Elder Smelter waved his sleeves and released his dream elemental force. Within seconds, 9 similar dragons appeared. "How''s that? Do you want to continue?"


    "If you are willing to stop, I will be eternally grateful for that. But if you insist, I can only defend with all my life! The spirit of a martial artist is to never give up!"


    Venerable Longhu replied decisively.


    Even a 9th Tier Illusionary Divine dream master would have to think twice if a True Divine were to fight with all his life.


    ''Elder Smelter will not risk his life for me. If I''m not wrong, he should be thinking about something else...''


    Fang Yuan watched from the sidelines and thought to himself.


    Indeed, in the next moment, Elder Smelter started to laugh. "Alright, how about both of us take a step back? Let Lin Qianye come out and fight Fang Yuan to their deaths. Both of us shall not interfere and after the fight, we''re even. How''s that?"


    "That''s a good idea!"


    As Venerable Longhu was deciding, a silhouette rushed out. It was Lin Qianye.


    He looked at Fang Yuan and was full of confidence.


    After all, he had managed to chase him down. That was only a few months before, so what could change?


    "Second Brother!"


    Venerable Longhu glared at him.


    "Big Brother, if we do not settle it like this, what other choices will we have?"


    Lin Qianye voice was softly heard in Venerable Longhu''s ears. "Even if I die, I can still protect Thousand Year Mountain!"


    "Alright!"


    Venerable Longhu finally agreed with tears in his eyes.


    Lin Qianye laughed and walked forward as he looked at Fang Yuan. "Please!"


    ''This Elder Smelter just trapped me?''


    Fang Yuan rolled his eyes. However, he felt something in his sleeves and heard Elder Smelter''s voice in his mind. "Just go ahead with the fight. If you think you can no longer continue, just throw this out. I''ve hidden a fiery dragon in it. Burn him down!"


    After all, Elder Smelter only wanted Fang Yuan to become enemies with Thousand Year Mountain and to be loyal to him. Therefore, he wouldn''t let him die. Although this was cheating, Venerable Longhu did not detect anything. It was a scarily impressive move.

 283 Ups and Downs

    "Please!"


    It was also Fang Yuan''s wish to be able to fight with Lin Qianye once more.


    The people of Thousand Year Mountain crept out of their hiding spots to watch, although they were given the order to hide.


    It was a rare opportunity to spectate a death match between a highly-skilled martial artist and a highly-skilled dream master.


    "Whoosh!"


    A Leaving Fire Sword appeared in Fang Yuan''s hands and the flames burnt brilliantly. "Have you regretted what you''ve done?"


    "Regret? You dream masters are a poisonous tumour to society! The only regret I have is killing too few of you!"


    Lin Qianye laughed. "Even if I die killing you, it will be worth it!"


    It seemed that Lin Qianye knew of his predicament.


    If he were to lose, he would die.


    Even if he were to win and kill Fang Yuan, Elder Smelter wouldn''t let him go!


    Death was his only option and therefore, the best outcome for him was to die together with Fang Yuan.


    This was how pitiful it was to be part of the weaker force!


    "Alright, it is only times like this that I can hear what you truly feel!"


    Fang Yuan smiled and struck his sword out. The sword essence of the Leaving Fire Sword exploded.


    "Lin Qianye is indeed crazy! Nothing could save him!"


    Elder Smelter glared at Venerable Longhu. "Is this how you teach your disciples?"


    "Of course not!"


    Venerable Longhu was stunned. He could feel the death wish from Lin Qianye!


    Inside, he sighed. Lin Qianye''s parents were killed by dream masters and the love of his life was abducted by a dream master as well. All of these had let to the change in his personality.


    "This is just sword essence!"


    8 spiritual meridians appeared behind Lin Qianye''s back as he rushed forward. "Thousand Leaves Palm!"


    "Whoosh!"


    Both his hands released elemental force and turned translucent. With continuous strikes, he extinguished the sword essence.


    "Kurong Double Posture-Killing the Devil!"


    As a Wu Zong with 8 spiritual meridians, he was just one step to forming the Divine Body and become a True Divine.


    With a flash, Lin Qianye quickly arrived in front of Fang Yuan and sliced down with his hands.


    Behind him, the 8 spiritual meridians came together to form a figure, half of which appeared wilted and the other half healthy. With this, his body was strengthened.


    This was putting all of his strength in one strike, preparing to kill Fang Yuan in a single blow!


    "Impressive!"


    If Fang Yuan was a normal dream master, he would have been stunned by the spiritual aura of the Kurong Mysterious Technique. With a split second of hesitation, he would probably be killed on the spot.


    But Fang Yuan was not only a dream master, he was also a Wu Zong!


    His thoughts ran quickly as a dim golden glow emitted from his body. The 4 spiritual meridians behind his back quickly formed a spiritual armour as he retreated.


    At the same time, in his left hand, a blue Water Sword appeared as well. "Water-Fire Dual Sword Array! Kill!"


    "Whoosh! Whoosh!"


    Streaks of red and blue sword essence trapped Lin Qianye at where he was before exploding.


    "Oh? You''ve achieved a breakthrough? No wonder you dare to fight against me! How can such a dual-sword array be so powerful?"


    Lin Qianye shook and could feel a pressure within him. He finally realised that the person in front of him was a worthy opponent and he had to focus.


    "Buzz! Buzz!"


    The Kurong Figure assimilated into his back and spiritual inscriptions appeared on his body. Even half of his face started to dry up and appeared as though it was wilting.


    Although his appearance was disfigured, his body became extremely strong. As the sword essence landed on his body, only pelting sounds were heard.


    ''Brother, you have finally improved...''


    Seeing this scene, Venerable Longhu sighed.


    If Lin Qianye could survive the fight, he could possibly condense the Divine Body after 3 years of meditation and arrive at the peak of martial arts!


    However, all breakthroughs would require an immense amount of resources.


    Even though he might break through to the next stage, his cultivation would not immediately follow.


    Witnessing the fight, Elder Smelter started to feel increasingly aggressive.


    "Die!"


    Lin Qianye roared like a beast, but all his moves were to perfection as he forced Fang Yuan to his limits.


    "Hmm... It seems like sword essence alone would not be able to kill you."


    Fang Yuan struck his swords out continuously like a river stream.


    Although Lin Qianye was immune to the weaker sword essences, the main sword essence could still hurt him. Therefore, the physical body of the magical soldiers would surely be able to kill him.


    After a series of exchanges, there were a few bloodied scars on Lin Qianye and his expression became increasingly frenzied.


    "Magical Technique of Burning Blood!"


    He roared as his skin exploded. Instantly, he became a bloodied person and resisted all the sword essences before arriving before Fang Yuan. "Die!"


    "Water and Fire, strike together!"


    Fang Yuan clenched his teeth and struck both swords out. A slight rumbling of thunder was heard.


    "Whoosh!"


    The ground shook and the dust flew.


    Venerable Longhu sighed and Elder Smelter seemed worried.


    "Great... I finally died in your hands..."


    Lin Qianye looked at the sword in his hands and had a mixed expression.


    After finishing his sentence, his forehead exploded, revealing a charred scar inflicted by a sword. He fell to the ground, motionless.


    ''The Water-Fire Dual Sword Array is on par with you. The final thunder-type sword essence made the difference...''


    Fang Yuan wiped the blood on his mouth, turned around and faced Elder Smelter. "Fortunately, I did not disgrace the dream masters!"


    "Great! This is great!"


    Elder Smelter retrieved his fiery dragon, but Fang Yuan could not guess what he was thinking.


    "You have returned victorious but you are injured. Have a good rest!"


    His expression returned to normal as he looked towards Venerable Longhu. "Since the culprit is dead, we shall take our leave..."


    Venerable Longhu was expressionless as he looked at Lin Qianye''s corpse.


    Seeing this, Fang Yuan sighed. He knew that they would be enemies for a long time to come and there was nothing he could do to establish good relations with them.


    "Let''s go!"


    Elder Smelter chuckled and led the way while Fang Yuan followed behind.


    If not for the protection from Elder Smelter, the entire Thousand Year Mountain would tear him apart alive.


    ...


    After a long while, the unforgiving sun rays landed on Venerable Longhu. He was motionless like a statue in the wind.


    "Sect head?"


    A few elders came out with worried looks on their face.


    "Forget it. Bury Qianye and let him... rest in peace!"


    Venerable Longhu waved his hands and as he finished his sentence, he almost choked on his words.


    "Yes, sect head!"


    A few deacons and disciples came out and cleared the mess.


    Looking in the direction where Elder Smelter had left, Venerable Longhu was in a daze. Finally, he returned to the building. "I want to meditate in seclusion. Don''t disturb me!"


    ...


    "This... This is the power of dream masters! Is this person against our family?"


    Ruan Junxian looked at the tattered battlefield and Lin Qianye''s corpse, not knowing what to do.


    Lin Qianye was the pride of the sect, a highly skilled martial artist with 8 spiritual meridians and was a single step away from condensing the Divine Body. But now, he was killed by Fang Yuan. This was a severe setback for Ruan Junxian.


    He felt that even if he were to reach the cultivation level of Lin Qianye, he would still be easily killed by the dream master''s single strike of the sword.


    Furthermore, in the time that he would take to reach the 8th spiritual meridian, how far ahead would his opponent be?


    Their vast difference was discouraging.


    "Junxian!"


    At this point in time, a few disciples surrounded him with aggressive looks.


    As the crowd gave way, the Black Tiger Taisui, He Shantong came.


    "Master!"


    Ruan Junxian felt even more uncomfortable but forcefully raised his head up to look at his master in the eye.


    "You... sigh. Although it is not your fault, it is a fact that all of this started with your family. I''m afraid the Thousand Year Mountain cannot let you stay..."


    Ruan Junxian turned pale and took a few steps backwards. "Master.... You..."


    He felt a sharp pain in his heart.


    He knew that none of them wanted to get implicated and therefore wanted to chase him out of the sect!


    Thinking about how much he had offered his master in the past years, there was a burning sensation in his chest.


    However, he could only clench his teeth. If he were to display his dissatisfaction, he might get himself killed.


    "I can no longer be your master!"


    He Shantong sighed. "From today onwards, we shall cut our ties. Leave the mountain!"


    "Master!"


    At this point in time, a young martial artist stood out. "Although he is being chased out, he still has martial arts which belong to the Thousand Year Mountain!"


    Ruan Junxian glanced at him but had no energy to rebut.


    Previously, this young martial artist appeared respectful to Ruan Junxian but now, who would''ve thought that he would turn his back on him!


    "That''s right, we need to strip him of his martial arts!"


    "Master, you''re too kind. Why are you only chasing him out? If you ask me, I believe we should kill him..."


    ...


    There were only a few who would be willing to help him, but countless others who were trying to make things worse for him.


    Seeing this scene, Ruan Junxian wanted to laugh.


    Where had these loyal disciples gone to when trouble arrived at the sect?


    After all, they feared those that were powerful and some of them even had the thoughts of changing sides and siding the dream masters.


    "That''s not appropriate. After all, Junxian had known martial arts before he entered the sect, and... the Ruan Family is still here!"


    He Shantong twitched his eyebrows and shook his head. "Go!"


    "Thank you master... and everyone else!"


    Ruan Junxian stumbled on his way down the mountain like a zombie.


    Thinking about the times where he was considered a talent, and the good times with his fellow sect mates, tears started to well up in his eyes.


    "Haha... Haha..."


    Arriving at a small cave in the mountain, he tried to cry but instead, he started to laugh heartily.


    "Who would''ve thought that I, Ruan Junxian, would end up like this... Haha! If not for my family, I wouldn''t even be able to keep my martial arts!"


    "Haha... dream masters are bullies and Heaven is blind! Blind!"


    As he was wallowing in despair, something miraculous happened in his body.


    "Whooo!"


    Elemental energy started to flow like a spiral.


    There was a distinct popping sound coming from his Dantian.


    "Is this... Have I achieved a breakthrough?"


    Ruan Junxian was shocked but composed himself. "Have I achieved the breakthrough which I''ve been dreaming about all day? Am I a Wu Zong now?"


    If this was earlier, he would be overjoyed.


    But now, he could only smile. Even with a True Divine, the Thousand Year Mountain could not protect Lin Qianye. How would they be able to protect him?

 284 Delivery Mission

    In the mountains, by the river.


    Elemental force surged around in Ruan Junxian''s hands and he could control it like his limbs.


    "I have finally achieved the realm of Wu Zong!"


    There were mixed expressions on his face. "If I had achieved the breakthrough earlier, I can become the protector of the mountains. By then, if they want to chase me out, they will still need the approval from 70 percent of the elders and the approval of the sect head... With this, I have a chance to stay and things wouldn''t escalate to this stage... What a pity!"


    However, Ruan Junxian was not confident of breaking through to Wu Zong if not for the happenings and his fluctuating emotions.


    "Regardless, it is rare to harness elemental force. If I join the Imperial Court of Da Qian, I can become an official and might even have special treatment since I am young. I would think that I would be conferred the appointment of an Eagle Lieutenant..."


    As a person coming from an influential family, Ruan Junxian was extremely familiar with the hierarchy. "However, after entering the military, I would be bounded by more restrictions..."


    His largest obstacle was Fang Yuan; like a humongous mountain, Fang Yuan was a shadow in his mind.


    "That high-tiered dream master is likely to have overlooked me. Therefore, the Ruan Family can still survive... As the Young master, the only thing I can do for the family is to search for a strong backing for the family!"


    Ruan Junxian''s eyes were burning with passion. "The best would be for me to become a dream master myself and subsequently join the 5 powerful organisations. If that were to happen, the Ruan Family would become the most powerful family in the Victorious East Region!"


    He knew that the world was unfair and only dream masters belonged to the higher levels of cultivation world.


    Any influential family would surely have a powerful dream master to back them up.


    If any family wanted to become more powerful, they would have to spend fortunes trying to train a dream master from their family before they could progress to have the rights to fight with other families.


    Furthermore, even the Imperial Court had employed a large number of dream masters known as the ''Hidden Dragon Guards''. Otherwise, they could not have ruled over the 99 regions so smoothy.


    "Now that my magical abilities have been improved, I can start to cultivate in spiritual spells. However, I am still a little short in becoming a dream master..."


    There was a look of depression on Ruan Junxian''s face.


    A dream master was not only unparalleled in fights, they could create life and was the number 1 profession. Unfortunately, the requirements to become a dream master was too high and it was too hard.


    However, all hope was not lost.


    For instance... a few natural treasures were rumoured to be able to strengthen the foundation of a Wu Zong and initiate the path to become a dream master.


    "Forget it... After all, there are a few Meridian Opening Elders at home maintaining peace and order. There is no need for my presence at home. Why not explore the lands in search of opportunities? I can strengthen myself at the same time!"


    Ruan Junxian came to a decision. Looking back at Thousand Year Mountain for one last time, he turned around and walked away.


    The world was ever-changing and even a dream future master would not be able to accurately predict the future with complete certainty.


    Even as an ant, he had to strengthen himself and believe that he will become powerful one day!


    ...


    "Fang Yuan, how are you feeling?"


    A fiery dragon flew around and roared. Mingling in the skies, it was like a deity.


    On its back, Elder Smelter looked at Fang Yuan.


    "Impressive!"


    Fang Yuan sighed softly.


    Below them was a small city.


    The Fiery Dragon had spirituality and was playful. As it peered through the clouds and revealed its claws, the city dwellers started to panic and hide like ants.


    A spiritual light started to glow on the city walls and in the government office, and many archers readied their bows.


    "Haha!"


    Elder Smelter was overjoyed. "That''s right... This is the majestic power!"


    He pointed at the people at laughed. "We dream masters are equivalent to gods in the ancient times! How would mortals ever understand our power?"


    "The few of you, don''t go too overboard! Although the Da Qian is ordinary, it would be troublesome if the ''Hidden Dragon Guards'' were to come!"


    Elder Smelter had a proud look as he commented, but his face twitched the moment he mentioned the ''Hidden Dragon Guards''


    "Oh? Please explain to me, Elder! How does the Hidden Dragon Guards compare with the Realm Alliance?"


    Fang Yuan became interested.


    "Hmph! Just a few lackeys that depend on the humans for survival. How can they compare to the Realm Alliance? If you see any Hidden Dragon Guard, just kill them!"


    "If not for them, hehe... I''m afraid that the Imperial Court would be destroyed by the crazy people from Source Seeking Sect!"


    Elder Smelter looked away; it was evident that he did want to continue with this topic.


    As for Fang Yuan, he was deep in thought.


    "To keep two evil sects and one crazy sect at bay must mean that the Hidden Dragon Guards are rather powerful! They might be on par with the 5 powerful organisations. Since they have the support of the Imperial Court, they should be quite powerful! But... What made the Source Seeking Sect go against the Imperial Court?"


    As he thought about it, he subconsciously spoke his mind.


    "Hehe... There''s nothing surprising as to what that bunch of crazy people can do!"


    Elder Smelter knew that he had said something wrong and did not want to reveal more.


    "Alright, where do you intend to stay next?"


    Elder Smelter changed the topic and asked Fang Yuan.


    "I have been cultivation in seclusion. For now, I want to explore Da Qian and visit the capital!"


    Fang Yuan spoke the truth but hid his intentions. This was a small trick that he used. After all, he was speaking before a high-tiered dream master who would be sensitive in detecting his tone and emotions.


    But now, Elder Smelter could not detect anything fishy. "I need to return. After killing the evil water dragon in Sand Region, I have obtained 3 drops of ''Mysterious Elemental Heavy Water'' and I can use them to perform alchemy. Since you have the intention to explore the place, help me with something!"


    "Please instruct me. I''ll do anything!"


    Fang Yuan heaved a sigh of relief and replied.


    "Help me deliver an item to the Middle Region since the capital is in the Middle Region as well..."


    Elder Smelter took out a small red sword. "Take this sword and bring it to Tianmu Mountain in Middle Region. Ask to see the owner of the mountain and pass this sword to the owner... Don''t worry, you won''t be doing this for nothing. I will officially assign you this mission in the Dream Realm!"


    This mission was assignment-typed and the rewards were not good, but it would count a lot towards his contribution to the Realm Alliance.


    "I will do it!"


    Fang Yuan took the sword over form Elder Smelter. The red sword which was previously glowing died down in its brilliance as soon as it entered Fang Yuan''s hand; it was like a normal sword now.


    "Alright, be on your way!"


    Elder Smelter waved his sleeves and immediately, Fang Yuan could feel a huge force pushing against him; it was akin to a small boat being pushed by a tsunami. As soon as he realised what had happened, he was already on a small hill on the outskirts of a county town.


    "This is the power of a 7th Tier Illusionary Divine dream master!"


    Looking at the busy and prosperous county town, Fang Yuan sighed. Without wasting time, he quickly disappeared into the forest.


    ...


    "The journey to Middle Region is long and therefore, I need to make some plans..."


    Fang Yuan was neutral about the mission.


    He was only a newbie among the dream masters and would not suspect that Elder Smelter would try to harm him by assigning him this mission.


    Of course, he had to be wary of the small sword and had to seal its energy up. This was not guarding against Elder Smelter but rather, it was merely being careful.


    After finding a secluded spot, he entered the Dream Realm and indeed, on his inscription plate, there was a new ongoing mission. It was assigned by Elder Smelter and after browsing through the details, he could only accept it.


    ''Generally speaking, this was among the unspoken rules which were already not considered strict. After all, I am a new member and it is only logical for him to test me out...''


    Fang Yuan came to the headquarters of the Realm Alliance and started to browse the information on the rock tablet.


    As a 2nd Leaf Cultivator, he had certain rights and could access parts of the information bank. Pieces of information from the information bank were either mostly not found on the rock tablet in the Dream Realm, or they were classified. After all, it was not a bad thing to read up more.


    Of course, the missions on the rock tablet in the Dream Realm were more generic and it was the place where the 5 powerful organisations would interact.


    "I am clear about the cultivation of a dream soldier master and am looking forward to the next dream-traversing opportunity... As for that mysterious force in my body, I need to clear it out as soon as possible before I reach the 4th sword, otherwise, things would get tricky!"


    There was a look of depression on Fang Yuan''s face.


    When he achieved a breakthrough previously in the Three World Mountain, he had the help of the mysterious but evil force.


    Although it was not affecting him now, it would be troublesome if he were to lose control over the mysterious force in the future!


    "The 4th Tier of Illusionary Divine is a big leap. Among us dream soldier masters, it would mean that we can form the spirit of the swords. This is especially so for the 8 Gates Sword Array. After forming the spirits of the 4 swords, I would be able to harness at least half the potential of the 8 Gate Sword Array... Therefore, I must quickly get rid of the evil force in me!"


    Once the magical soldiers get their spirituality, their power would increase by folds and they could potentially fly on their own to attack enemies. This would be similar to the Fiery Dragon Child of Elder Smelter.


    The mysterious force might affect the spirit of the sword, making it an evil spirit. If that becomes the case, Fang Yuan would become the slave to his swords.


    "Tian Xiezi... Why are you still causing trouble a few hundred years after your death?"


    Fang Yuan gave a cold look as he continued to browse the information on the rock tablet.


    It was extremely rare to encounter any technique which would dispel evil forces in one''s body. Most of them would cheat him of his money and those who potentially could help were charging more than he could afford.


    Finally, something was different.


    "9 Smelting Technique (Incomplete): Able to purify and remove foreign true energies from one''s body. The setback would be that one''s cultivation would drop, and the drop is dependent on how polluted one''s body is..."


    "Only an incomplete version? Furthermore, it can only purify true energy? What about elemental force and dream elemental force?"


    Fang Yuan rubbed his chin.


    As a 2nd Leaf Cultivator, he could only read up to here. However, from the description, he had the feeling that there was more to it.


    If he could get his hands on the complete version, he might be able to purify his true energy, true elemental force and even dream elemental force.


    "This is a solution indeed. Of course, the root of the problem is still from Evil Divine Sect!"


    Fang Yuan gritted his teeth.

 285 Black Roc

    Tian Xiezi was a dream master of the Evil Divine Sect. After his death at the Two World Mountain, his dream world became the Illusionary World and from then on, Three World Mountain was born.


    Just by the dangers of the Three World Mountain alone, it could be deduced that he was at least a 7th Tier Illusionary Divine dream master and was able to create spirits. Even after his death, demons with their own spirits were seen lurking in the Illusionary World.


    "What a pity... With my rights as a 2nd Leaf Cultivator, I can only read up to here. There''s nothing left below!"


    Fang Yuan shook his head and started to worry about how he should travel to the Middle Region.


    The world over here was extremely vast. There were 99 regions in Da Qian Empire and every region was already extremely huge. Any average human might not even be able to traverse through an entire region in their lifetimes. Therefore, not many would have been to the capital before.


    "The map of the entire Da Qian should be classified information and I need to be at least a 5th Leaf Cultivator before I can get the details... The only information I can gather is the map of the 9 regions nearest to me..."


    Fang Yuan looked at the rock tablet as his eyes glittered. "To head towards the Middle Region, the path designated for officials, the Official Path, would be the most convenient path. The officials would report for duty and send troops through the Official Path. However, the requirements to use the path are extremely stringent and there are checks everywhere along the path. Even if I can find my way in, it would take a lot of effort to go through the checks undetected and I would waste too much time..."


    As he walked out of the headquarters of the Realm Alliance, he arrived at a public space.


    "I am at Victorious East Region. How do I make my way to Middle Region?"


    Just a simple thought from him triggered pieces of information which were revealed before him.


    "There are mountains and rivers in between East Victorious Region and Middle Region. There are 87 danger areas along the journey and it is a must to take a route around them. The most comfortable and quick way is to take a ride on a spiritual bird. Of course, the journey will also take about a month to a few months..."


    Fang Yuan searched and indeed, there were dream masters like the previous Huo Qing.


    However, this time, the bird was a huge black roc beast[1] and it was rumoured that the roc had the blood of the legendary Kun Roc. Its body was as huge as a mountain and it flew at incredible speeds. It was the ruler of the skies.


    The dream master must be at least a 4th Tier Illusionary Divine dream master to be able to tame such a powerful bird.


    "Black Roc, I want to head to Middle Region!"


    Fang Yuan used his spiritual will to communicate to the dream master according to the symbol on the tablet.


    "Alright, the journey will cost you 200 contribution points. You will have to pay 100 contribution points as a deposit first and tell me your location. I will reserve a seat for you!"


    Not long after, there was a reply.


    "Reserve a seat?"


    Fang Yuan was shocked.


    "Do you think you''re the only person I''m fetching?"


    Black Roc scoffed. "After receiving the deposit, I will tell you when I''m arriving. The earliest would be 3 days from now and the latest would be a month!"


    "Alright!"


    Fang Yuan was speechless but paid the contribution points. "I am at Sand Region, Dragon''s Head Mountain!"


    With the Realm Spirit as a witness, he was not afraid that Black Roc would cheat him of his money.


    "Very well, wait for my news!"


    After receiving the contribution points, Black Roc left, satisfied.


    Fang Yuan remained speechless. Although he knew that it was impossible, he had the feeling as though he was being cheated. With a laugh, he left the Dream Realm as well.


    "Could I be feeling this way because I don''t have enough contribution points? I have not felt such fear and anxiety in a long while..."


    Without wasting time, Fang Yuan made his way towards Sand Region.


    He did not know how long he would spend in Middle Region. Therefore, he felt that he should at least inform the Qin Siblings of his movement and remind them to be on their guard. After all, they were his backup plan if all else fails.


    ...


    It was nightfall and the stars glittered brilliantly.


    In the Qin Family mansion in Dongyi County.


    A silhouette slipped into the mansion and the protective array failed to detect anything.


    The Qin siblings were already asleep. Disoriented, they arrived at a place.


    There were trees, a river, a small bridge and a small pavilion supported with bamboo poles. A young man sat within and there were a few tea bowls placed in front of him.


    "Greetings, Sir!"


    The Qin Siblings looked at each other and knew that this was Fang Yuan calling for them in their dreams. Together, they greeting him.


    "Take a seat! Have some tea!"


    Fang Yuan waved his hands.


    "Thank you!"


    Qin Qing raised her tea bowl and realised that the bowl was made from ceramic. With its average-looking appearance, it gave off an ancient vibe.


    The tea gave off a similar vibe; it was sweet and there was a hint of jasmine fragrance.


    "How''s it?"


    Fang Yuan smiled.


    "Simple and elegant!"


    Qin Qing smiled and replied. However, Qin Yun was observing the surroundings and came to a realisation. "Are you intending to travel, Sir?"


    "Hmmm?"


    Fang Yuan looked at him, astonished. "That''s right!"


    After becoming independent as the family head, Qin Yun felt more matured now. Through all that he had gone through and the new experiences, he seemed like a polished gem.


    "In my absence, take care of yourselves..."


    After reminding them to take care of themselves, Fang Yuan left.


    ''Why are they not here... Divine Lotus Cult, what are you thinking?''


    The purpose of Fang Yuan returning to the Qin Family Mansion was to track the Divine Lotus Cult''s movement as well.


    After all, he had become enemies with a reserved Divine Lady and would surely attract the attention of many.


    Meng Lian''s competitors were grateful to Fang Yuan but none of them would solely depend on Fang Yuan for their success to be the Divine Lady.


    ''The Divine Lotus Cult and Evil Divine Sect are the two most powerful evil dream master sects and by now, they should have known about my background...''


    Thoughts ran through in Fang Yuan''s mind as he purposely leaked a hint of his own spiritual aura.


    ...


    "Divine Lady!"


    In a mansion within Dongyi County.


    Although this mansion was no different from other mansions, anyone who entered it would be shocked.


    In a row, 18 lanterns were lighted up, illuminating the interior of the mansion.


    There was a golden-furred carpet on the ground and a light fragrance of the lotus flower.


    Suddenly, one of the lanterns flickered and in an instant, the flame of the lantern exploded!


    "Whoosh!"


    In the quiet room, the noise was easily picked up. Two servants in white walked up and looked at the woman sitting on the lantern.


    "Lantern C2 had detected something. It must be that person!"


    This woman was around 20 and had a gentle demeanour. She had pretty eyebrows and gave off the vibe as though she came from a rich family.


    Such a lady would be regarded as a beauty in the world and no one would associate her with the cruel Divine Lotus Cult or think that she was an evil reserved Divine Lady.


    At this point in time, the Divine Lady smiled. "The cult has placed an order. No dream master of 4th Tier and above are allowed to go after him, for his is now part of the Realm Alliance... However, they did not impose restrictions on the magical equipment that we can use. Of course, looking at my current cultivation level, I''m not skilled enough to use most of them. However, the Changming Magical Lantern is not an offensive magical equipment as has an extraordinary ability to perform surveillance! I can first detect his location before striking him by surprise!"


    After Meng Lian''s embarrassing defeat, she not only sustained severe injuries but also used up most of her protective magical equipment. The resources of the Divine Lotus Cult in the vicinity were all used up by her and by letting it all go to waste, she no longer seemed likely to become the chosen one, the Divine Lady.


    It was good news for the other 7 reserved Divine Ladies that one of them was no longer in the competition.


    Furthermore, if any of them were to be able to capture Fang Yuan, it would be a huge accomplishment. Although capturing Fang Yuan would not directly make her the Divine Lady, at least it would give her the edge over the other reserved Divine Ladies.


    This was the reason behind the arrival of this reserved Divine Lady.


    "Although this person is extremely cautious and even talks to his subordinates through their dreams, after my observations, I can tell that he is preparing to travel somewhere far!"


    This reserved Divine Lady was witty and immediately gave her orders. "Order the spies in Qin Family to gather information from the Qin Siblings... Also, start monitoring the skies of Dongyi County. If there are any findings, immediately report to me!"


    After dismissing them, the reserved Divine Lady remained seated and smiled. "Before embarking on his journey, he would surely enter the Dream Realm..."


    She closed her eyes, arrived before the rock tablet in the Dream Realm and started enquiring.


    ...


    After 15 days.


    Sand Region, Dragon''s Head Mountain.


    The Dragon''s Head Mountain was a geographically interesting location in Sand Region. Although it was secluded, the peak of the mountain had a panoramic view of the region and the extreme peak had the shape of a dragon''s head. Being unique, it attracted many tourists.


    Fang Yuan stood on the top of the dragon''s head and looked up into the sky, speechless.


    "Handsome... that person seems stupid!"


    Tourists behind him were commenting on him. A young girl in red robes looked at Fang Yuan and started laughing.


    "Don''t cause trouble!"


    Beside her was a man with a long sword. He looked like a martial artist and he lectured the girl before apologising to Fang Yuan. "My junior is too direct, please don''t blame her!"


    Both of them dressed up like martial artists but they only had the cultivation of around the 5th to 6th Gate. Fang Yuan did not even bother to look at them.


    "You..."


    With such an attitude, both of them were shocked. They knew that the world was huge and there were many highly-skilled people all around. Could they have encountered one themselves?


    "Eh? Why is the sky darkening?"


    Before being able to continue the conversation, a shadow descended and covered the entire sky.


    The tourists in the vicinity looked up and saw a huge bird descending.


    In mid-air, a bird the size of a small hill slowly approached. As it came closer, they finally realised that it was an enormous black bird with a huge back and a small building on its back. They were all left tongue-tied.


    As the bird descended, huge gusts of wind blew about on the mountain. The martial artist and his junior held on tightly to vines as they were almost blown off their feet.


    "Is this the black roc?"


    Fang Yuan leapt onto it and felt as though he was standing on a flat piece of ground. Seeing a huge inn ahead, he walked towards it.


    "Keke... Brother, welcome to the Black Roc Inn. I hope you will enjoy your stay in the next month with the other guests!"


    In the inn, a dream master was standing in the place of an innkeeper. Although he was smiling happily, Fang Yuan could feel his 4th Tier Illusionary Divine Cultivation. "I understand!"


    "Whoooo!"


    As the black roc spread its wings, it flew up into the sky.


    Beneath, the martial artist and his junior were stunned. Fortunately, they did not start a fight with Fang Yuan. Otherwise, they wouldn''t have time to regret...


    [1]: The Roc is an enormous legendary bird of prey in the popular mythology of the Middle East.

 286 Mengmei

    "That''s good!"


    The Black Roc Beast, with its black feathers and plump body, gave a genial smile that carried a hint of arrogance.


    "Currently, my Black Roc Inn has 19 guests and 36 servants. After I receive 3 other dream masters and their servants, we will set off and arrive in the Middle Region...of course, dear guest, you are a dream master and we will arrange for you to stay in the Tianpin Room!"


    "Servants?"


    Fang Yuan found it mildly strange.


    "Of course... not every dream master is alone like you are. In this day and age, the dream masters trained by the influential clans, even the ones of a lower level, set off on their journeys with at least a few spiritual knights."


    Black Roc scoffed.


    "Some even have large harems that serve them wherever they go. These people merely rely on their wealth to get by, and they actually hope to achieve great things, hmph¡­"


    Its tone was contemptuous as if it favoured Fang Yuan, a lone cultivator, over the rest of them.


    Fang Yuan gave a wry smile as he listened.


    It was not that he had nobly decided to go at it alone. His situation had more to do with his foundations being too weak and inability to source for manpower.


    Of course, to others, a dream master at the Illusionary Divine stage without followers was a person who had clearly decided to wholeheartedly pursue enlightenment.


    Without another word, Fang Yuan went straight to his room and saw that it was spacious and well-tidied. There was a sleeping quarter, a living area and even a meditation corner.


    Of course, there was no kitchen.


    After all, it was high up in the air, and there were restrictions. Still, there was a common kitchen with a full-time cook.


    If the customers were dissatisfied, they could book the kitchen for their own use. The service was indeed rather comprehensive.


    "If Huo Qing could be considered a solo journeyman, then the Black Roc is exaggerating slightly..who knows, he might actually achieve something given time¡­"


    Fang Yuan opened up the windows and stared out into the strong winds and blue skies of the world outside, deep in thought.


    ...


    With the darkening of the skies came dinner time.


    Most of the dream masters preferred peace and silence and rarely took their meals in the inn''s common dining hall. They had their meals sent to them in their rooms where they could frolic about with their concubines and live like gods.


    Fang Yuan did not have such a capacity and therefore, ordered a meal in the hall.


    The dishes were served quickly by the waiters, who were also cultivators who had obtained elemental force. They were most likely followers of the Black Roc and they seemed completely content with carrying out their menial tasks.


    "Dear guest, the served meals are complimentary, free of charge. Of course...if you want more food, you can inform our chefs, or send your servants to the kitchen to prepare the food. For this, we will charge a fee!"


    This servant looked to be in his thirties. However, the Wu Zongs would tend to look much younger than their actual age, and Fang Yuan placed his estimate closer to sixty years old. The articulate servant had a white towel draped over his shoulder. He was probably a runner.


    "No need, this is more than enough!"


    Fang Yuan nodded his head and dismissed him.


    The occupants of the dining hall were few, and Fang Yuan picked a corner where he could dine in peace.


    The meal was extremely sumptuous and consisted of three dishes and a soup. It was chicken soup which was rich and fragrant and it whetted the appetite. Just one taste and Fang Yuan immediately knew that the chicken in question was fed with spiritual rice. It was truly special.


    The other three dishes were: mushrooms and greens, meat slices and a stir-fried mix. They were all fantastic. The chef responsible for this meal was definitely better than the cook he had recruited in the Da Yuan mainland. Fang Yuan helped himself to more servings of food eagerly.


    "The rice used is the Cloudy Pearl Rice, which can be considered a luxury good. However, the quality is still somewhat lacking in comparison to the Yellow Grain Rice.."


    After he had his fill, Fang Yuan rubbed his tummy and sighed contentedly.


    At this time, a gentle voice floated in.


    "The Yellow Grain Rice is a top-grade spiritual good and is extremely beneficial to us dream masters. The plant only grows under harsh conditions and is a rare find in the territories controlled by the 5 powerful organisations. Only the Da Qian aristocrats are capable of supplying Yellow Grain Rice in bulk. But to me, this is the most improbable method to acquire the rice!"


    Fang Yuan turned around and noticed a beautiful young lady in robes of lotus-green. She looked like she was of noble birth, and blushed when she met his gaze.


    "Thank you for your explanation! I am Fang Yuan, may I have your name?"


    "I am Liu Mengmei, a member of the Liu Clan in the Middle Region..."


    Liu Mengmei had a very sweet-tempered outlook and her manner of speech was demure.


    "I see!"


    As a traveller, Fang Yuan was unwilling to engage a stranger in anything beyond casual conversation and toasted her before turning around to leave.


    He had to concur that the wine served by the inn was of good quality; it was clear and smooth on the throat. Fang Yuan was beginning to feel tipsy after only a few cups.


    Fang Yuan was not a hardcore drinker and this amount of alcohol was just right. Fang Yuan thus walked back to his room.


    Liu Mengmei watched on as Fang Yuan''s silhouette faded into the distance. With a smile on her lips, she retired to her room as well.


    "Divine Lady!"


    Two female servants in green were already waiting in the room and bowed in greeting as Liu Mengmei entered.


    "Mm, that person is indeed heading towards the Middle Region. Our preparations seemed to have paid off..."


    Liu Mengmei continued on after a pause.


    "It is just that he is extremely guarded. It will be difficult to get close to him. Not to mention that this place is under the protection of Black Roc, and taking action here will break his rules! Set up the Nine Lotus Divine Lantern Soul-infusing Array! I will take him on in the dream world!"


    "Yes my Lady!"


    The two female servants bowed out of the room and began with their preparations.


    To the dream masters, there were many ways to kill someone without spilling blood.


    Also, as long as the ongoing conflict between the Divine Lotus Cult and the Realm Alliance did not violate the fundamental laws or inconvenience the other guests, the Black Roc would not dare to interfere!


    Liu Mengmei smiled and walked to over to the centre of the 9 Perpetual lamps with the seal in her hands. She sat down with a solemn look on her face.


    "Chi!"


    "Poof"


    Around her, the Perpetual Lamps lit up instantly, and a clandestine wave shot out.


    ...


    In his room, Fang Yuan sat down relaxedly with his legs crossed.


    "Not bad, not bad! This building is constructed of spiritual wood and arranged based on an arraying technique, which enables elemental gathering and concealment...in fact, the whole inn is a giant magical tool. Every room occupant has a small degree of authority, but the core of power belongs to Black Roc!"


    Based on Fang Yuan''s knowledge of arraying techniques, this was all he could tell.


    Still, he was very sure that the Black Roc was not only a dream master in the Illusionary Divine


    stage, but was, in fact, an array master.


    At Black Roc''s level of cultivation, he could lay out sentient arrays that could operate independently of the array master and exert immense power!


    However, if Black Roc really had ill-intentions, there was only one way things could end: He could destroy by the many dream masters residing in the Inn.


    With this unspoken threat, together with the guarantee of fairness by the divine beings, Fang Yuan''s safety and privacy were more or less assured on this journey.


    "But...what about that woman, Liu Mengmei?"


    Fang Yuan rubbed his chin and a slight smile played on his lips.


    Although Liu Mengmei had disguised herself well, and there were no hints of similarities between her and Meng Lian, but Fang Yuan had a feeling nevertheless.


    And there was no need to mention that when Fang Yuan had deliberately released his spiritual aura at the Qin Manor, this woman had swooped right in. It was too much of a coincidence.


    "I doubt this Divine Lady would be as bold as to fight in midair and endanger the safety of dozens of dream masters...the only possibility would be to engage in the traditional way of dream masters!"


    Fang Yuan shut his eyes confidently and entered a deep stage of meditation.


    ¡­...


    It was deep into the night.


    Fang Yuan aura was in the dream world. Suddenly, felt a disturbance.


    "She has arrived? I cannot wait!"


    A cold smile broke out on his face.


    "To be able to break through the barriers placed around the inn is no mean feat. However, barging into my dream world is a mistake. This woman is slightly more powerful than Meng Lian since she is at the illusionary divine stage!"


    At the borders of his dream world, a fog started to gather.


    It was clear that Liu Mengmei had ill intentions and was indeed barging into his dream world.


    Fang Yuan had the protection of the 8 Gates Sword Array. If activated the array, the woman''s concentration would be severely affected and she would suffer.


    "However...this does not fit in with my original plan!"


    Fang Yuan sensed that Liu Mengmei was at the 1st Tier of the Illusionary Divine stage and had the help of a magical tool.


    He waved his hand and the 8 Gates Sword Array immediately dimmed, allowing the fog the infiltrate. His true aura was momentarily dazed and he nearly fell into the dream.


    ''If I remain asleep after a certain period of time, the 8 Gates Sword Array will immediately reappear to eliminate the approaching enemy!''


    In that moment of unconsciousness, according to the Three Corpse Seven Murderous Magic Splitting Technique, Fang Yuan''s thoughts will be separated from his body and be transferred to the 8 Gates Sword Array.


    Now that his body and consciousness were both protected, Fang Yuan had no qualms about taking on the Divine Lady.


    "She actually dared to infiltrate my home ground with a prowess of only the first stage. Even with the help of a magical tool, this is extreme foolishness¡­"


    Fang Yuan''s spiritual will acted up, and he fell immediately into a dark swirl.


    ...


    It was dawn and golden rays fell upon the earth.


    Beneath the green mountains, the roosters crowed, and the little village came alive.


    "When Heaven is going to give a great responsibility to someone, it first makes his mind endure suffering. It makes his sinews and bones experience toil, and his body to suffer hunger. It inflicts him with poverty and knocks down everything he tries to build. In this way Heaven stimulates his mind, stabilizes his temper and develops his weak points¡­[Mencius, Gao Zi Part 2]"


    A bright voice reciting the classics floated out of a straw hut.


    The door opened. A beautiful and kind looking lady walked out. She looked like she was younger than 20 years, and yet her hair was arranged as though she was married. She went over to the chicken coop and picked up two warm eggs, and broke into a smile.


    "Good girl!"


    She sprayed some grains on the floor to reward the hen.


    After that, she busied herself with chopping firewood, boiling water, cooking rice. Beads of perspiration decorated her forehead even though the weather was cold.


    The farmer''s life was undoubtedly a tough one, not to mention that they also had to support the scholar at home.


    Before the morning light was at its peak brightness, breakfast was ready. A pot of porridge, two servings, one thick and one thin. The woman added an egg into the thick serving, and after some hesitation, added another. She then walked over to the adjoining room.


    "My husband, it''s time for breakfast!"

 287 Horse Bandits

    "Mmm, it''s been hard for you, wife!"


    With gratitude, Zhang Han commented as he walked out and rubbed his red eyes.


    He was around 20 and wore a scholar''s attire. However, it was ordinary clothing and one could tell that he was not an imperial scholar. He had a skinny look at they were leading poor lives.


    Looking at the egg in his bowl and the soup that his wife had prepared, he had a heavy heart. "Mei''er, it has been 3 years since we''ve been married. Every day, you''re doing the hard labour and it has been hard for you..."


    Quickly, he picked up his chopsticks and started to peel the egg, but was stopped by his smiling wife. "I''m fine. Besides, what''s more important is your studies!"


    "One is enough for me, have more for yourself!"


    Zhang Han insisted and wanted to give her another egg. Although his wife knew that he was persistent, she stood firm and rejected.


    Under her supervision, Zhang Han ate his egg. Laughing, Mei''er started to eat her egg as well, delighted.


    Could this be happily ever after?


    Witnessing this scene, tears welled up in Zhang Han''s eyes as he almost cried.


    After breakfast, Mei''er cleared the table while Zhang Han appeared dazed.


    Hmm, his name was Zhang Han and he was a scholar. His family had about a hectare of farmland, a few hostels, and he had a wife for himself.


    When he was young, Zhang Han''s family was rather affluent and could afford for him to study. However, afterwards, his siblings were fighting for their parent''s inheritance. He had no grounds to fight and only inherited a little. There was no progress in his studies as well and slowly became the joke of the village. Slowly, poverty set in.


    "Mei''er, don''t you worry! I will become an Imperial Scholar and let you live the rest of your life in bliss!"


    Zhang Han was determined as he clenched his fists.


    "That''s right! I shall wait for then!"


    His wife, who was busy, turned around and smiled, filling his heart with encouragement.


    In the ancient times, being an Imperial Scholar was a big thing. They were not obliged to greet officials and were exempted from slavery. Additionally, officials would reward them with plots of land. The top students would be given a fixed amount of staples every month. Although they were still not considered rich, they were well-to-do.


    However, Zhang Han was a bit of a nerd and was unsuccessful many times in many examinations.


    Zhang Han felt a little different today. As he looked at his wife rushing towards the farm, he walked over. "Let me help you!"


    "That''s not appropriate. You are a scholar, how can you do the menial stuff?"


    Mei''er rejected his help and spoke with fear in her voice.


    "Let me accompany you!"


    There was nothing Zhang Han could do to convince Mei''er.


    The couple walked along the farm. It was cold and there was a lining of frost on the leaves of the nearby trees.


    Zhang Han casually plucked a branch and waved it around at random. As the branch cut through the air, there was a buzzing sound as though he knew swordplay.


    "Husband, it is cold. You should return!"


    Mei''er carried a hoe on her shoulders and spoke with worry. "Your body has always been weak..."


    Since young, Zhang Han was a weak boy but now, although he did not wear thick clothing, he did not feel too cold. With a smile, he held Mei''er''s hands. "Don''t worry, I''m strong!"


    Although this was a normal act of intimacy, Mei''er started to blush. "No... Don''t do this here! If someone else sees us, we''ll be in trouble!"


    In the olden times, there were many rules and teachings. Even legitimate couples performing acts of intimacy in public would provoke rumours to be spread, which might cause their death!


    Zhang Han was a scholar and knew this. However, he did not let go. "Look around. There''s nobody!"


    Both of them talked and laughed as they arrived at their own farm.


    Mei''er started to tend to the farm and Zhang Han had attempted many times to help her out but was rejected. Finally, he sat on a wooden stump next to the farm and started to read his books.


    As the sun rose, Mei''er started to sweat and her sweat slowly dripped onto the soil.


    "Who would understand how much effort it takes to harvest rice..."


    Zhang Han shook his head and placed his book down. He quickly poured a cup of tea. "Mei''er, take a rest. I can help out!"


    "It''s alright! I''m almost done!"


    Although she claimed that she was almost done, she still stopped whatever she was doing and took the cup of tea over.


    Before she could say anything else, the galloping of a horse broke the silence.


    "Gallop! Gallop!"


    At the horizon, a few black dots appeared. The black dots slowly grew in size and the farmers around were stunned as they looked at the horses.


    Suddenly, there was a cry. "The horse bandits are here, run!"


    After running a few steps forward, the farmer who cried out was soon caught up by the horse. With a flash, his head rolled onto the floor and his blood spurted everywhere. His body continued to run a few steps forward before tumbling to the ground.


    "Father!"


    A well-built man cried as he waved his hoe. "D*mn you! I''ll fight with you!"


    "Whoosh!"


    Alas, he was only a farmer. His strength, technique and equipment were far off from that of the horse bandits. Amidst laughter, a horse galloped through and the long sword sliced effortlessly through the hoe and slicing the well-built man in half. His intestines and blood flowed out and it was a horrendous sight.


    "Run!"


    The other farmers finally realised what was going on as they ran for their lives towards the village.


    "Haha..."


    As the horse bandits laughed, they chased the farmers around and casually killed a few more of them.


    Although there were a few hundred people in the village compared to the few horse bandits, the horse bandits were much more highly-skilled than the rest of them and the chaos which ensued made the villagers unable to regroup and defend.


    "Go!"


    Zhang Han grabbed his wife''s hands and ran. Her hands felt cold, but there was no time to think about it.


    One of them was a scholar while the other was a woman. Both of them could not run fast and started to trail behind, attracting the attention of the horse bandits.


    "Eh? That lady is sweet!"


    One of the horse bandits noticed Mei''er and his eyes glittered as he galloped ahead. "Haha... scholar, give me this lady!"


    "Husband! Quickly leave! Don''t care about me!"


    Mei''er was determined as she pushed Zhang Han away.


    "No!"


    Zhang Han clenched his teeth. "I am willing to die together!"


    "What a couple. It''s a pity I won''t let your wish come true!"


    The horse bandit laughed and chased up to them. With a grip, he pulled Mei''er onto the horse and struck his sword on Zhang Han''s head.


    "Husband..."


    Amidst Mei''er''s wailing, Zhang Han''s expression changed. Although he appeared stunned, he was already taking action.


    In that instant, Zhang Han tilted his body and avoided the sword. His right hand quickly struck out and gripped the horse bandit''s wrist. With a pull, the horse bandit wailed as the sword flew out of his hand.


    "Clang!"


    Zhang Han held the sword and sliced it in the air.


    A line of blood appeared on the horse bandit''s forehead as he tumbled down the horse''s back.


    The snatching of the sword and killing of the horse bandit happened within seconds. While the horse bandits behind were still cheering, the horse bandit in front tumbled down, which left them in shock.


    "Go!"


    Zhang Han leapt onto the horse and along with his wife, they galloped away.


    The horse was as swift as wind as it rushed towards the remaining horse bandits.


    "Die!"


    As he swung his sword out, with the strength of the moving horse, he sliced another hose bandit in half.


    "Ah!"


    The remaining horse bandits galloped ahead and exclaimed. "How dare you kill our people!"


    "Hmph!"


    Zhang Han did not reply them. Instead, he controlled the horse and swung his sword out a few more times. In a few seconds, another 2 horse bandits were sliced off their horses.


    "Spare me! Spare me!"


    Seeing this, the last horse bandit was petrified as he turned around and escaped.


    "Whoosh!"


    After galloping for a few seconds, a glow flashed past and struck into the horse bandit''s back. It was a sword.


    As the horse neighed, it flung the corpse off its back and continued galloping.


    "Phew... I would always know who would awaken first!"


    After killing the horse bandits, Zhang Han stopped the horse, kept the sword and gazed at the beauty in his arms. He had mixed emotions.


    "Husband... you..."


    Mei''er was shocked at what had happened and has yet to compose herself.


    "You''ve sealed your memories? What an effort!"


    Zhang Han, nope! Fang Yuan sighed as he pointed his finger at her forehead.


    "You..."


    Mei''er''s mouth was bleeding and she appeared confused. She did not believe that he husband was capable of all that he had just done. Her eyelids became heavy as she started to close them.


    At that moment, she opened her eyes and had a mysterious look. "Impossible! I''ve already harnessed the abilities of the magical equipment and arrays. How can you become self-aware so quickly?"


    If Fang Yuan did not become self-aware, the scholar would die under the sword of the horse bandit and Mei''er would act accordingly. This would surely leave a deep impression on her heart.


    If she were to repeat this for a few more lifetimes in the dream, she could completely destroy Fang Yuan!


    "You don''t have to know this... Are you prepared to face the backlash of intruding into my dream world?"


    With a sinister smile, the sword essences of the fire and water sword appeared in Fang Yuan''s eyes. Slowly, it penetrated Mei''er''s eyes. "Reverse this! Dream in a dream! Go!"


    Fear was written all over Liu Mengmei''s face. Within seconds, she fainted and lost her breath.


    "I''ve caught you!"


    With a smile, Fang Yuan carried the corpse in his hands.


    He knew that she had the help of magical equipment and her dream world to recreate the past 3 years and force a snippet of memory into Fang Yuan''s dream world. Strictly speaking, the dream only started from this morning. Liu Mengmei wouldn''t give him so much time, or he might have the chance to become self-aware.


    To complete the act to perfection, she used her own mind and sealed her own memories. It was a lot of effort for her to do this to reveal her truest emotions.


    "Life is complicated like a dream! Mei''er... thank you!"


    Fang Yuan dismounted from the horse, dug a grave and buried Mei''er.


    Afterwards, he quickly restored his true appearance and the dream world started to crack.


    As a dream master, he needed to have the strong willpower to leave the illusionary. This dream could be the best memory he would ever have, and yet it would not affect how he would live his life in the future.


    Entering a dream and leaving it would be akin to being reborn!

 288 Love Tribulations

    Firecrackers erupted as the joyous wedding proceeded.


    "First bow to the Heaven and Earth! Second bow to the parents! Spouses bow to each other¡­."


    Under the master of ceremonies'' address, the newlyweds bowed to each other and were sent for consummation.


    Donned in a wedding garb emblazoned with red silk across his chest, the groom lifted the bride''s veil with a jade ornament. Adorned in a grand phoenix tiara and wedding shawl, the belle''s indescribable beauty radiated under the red candle lights with a tinge of shyness.


    "My lady!"


    "My husband!"


    As the wedding candles extinguished, nothing could be heard.


    ...


    Out of the blue, the scene changed.


    A wedding entourage was happily celebrating, as the bride inside the marriage sedan wept.


    Suddenly, as they travelled across a hill, the bride jumped out of the marriage sedan as though she was crazy and dashed towards the tombstone beside the road.


    She took off her ceremonious wedding dress to reveal a solemn mourning dress.


    "Lady, please don''t!"


    The matchmaker and the sedan porter were utterly shocked as they looked at the bride wield a dagger in front of the grave, with her face covered in tears.


    "If we can''t be together when alive, then I rather be buried together in death!"


    The bride appeared resolute as she caressed the tombstone. All of a sudden, she rammed her head into it and a stream of blood flowed down the tombstone.


    The tombstone cracked open and two butterflies seemingly fluttered out.


    ....


    Abruptly, the scene changed yet again, now to a dangerous mountain peak.


    A young couple was being hunted down by a large group of martial arts experts. Both of them wielded swords, and the woman had an infant swaddled in her arms.


    "Father!"


    As the young woman turned back to look at a senior, a sorrowful expression appeared on her face, "Brother Tian and I are sincerely in love, in this two hundred over years the two families have been feuding with each other as mortal enemies, how many people have died by now? Isn''t that enough?"


    "Outrageous! Even if you marry a dog or a pig it''s still better than marrying this guy!"


    The senior was seething with rage as he spoke, "I rather not have such a daughter. Perhaps, I should have drowned you back then!"


    "Master¡­"


    The young man looked at his side''s people with a forced smile.


    The two sides had been in a bloody brawl for hundreds of years. This time, because of the two lovers themselves, they finally joined forces for once.


    "Sigh..., you should just take your own life!"


    The master directly declared. It was rare for either of the two sides to be in agreement with their enemies.


    "Sister Mei, have you ever regretted before?"


    The young man laughed and looked at his wife.


    "I have no complaints and no regrets! As long as I am with you, Brother Tian, I will never regret!"


    Not long after, a bloody battle erupted¡­


    ...


    Da Qian Empire.


    It was a cold night. The black roc beast let out a loud, abrupt caw and sped up, with its back still steady.


    Inside a covert room in Black Roc Inn, Black Roc suddenly opened his eyes, "Array? Dream Entering?"


    Although he was supposed to respect the dream masters'' privacy, he was allowed to monitor them if they were attacking each other in their dreams.


    After looking at the room number, it was all clear, with a slight headache, "As long as the issues between the Realm Alliance and the Divine Lotus Cult don''t cause too much action and disturb others, I better care less to avoid being implicated!"


    "Eh?"


    Moments later, he wondered, "Can''t believe the Reserve Divine Lady has such a high tiered treasure, this means the Dream Master is in danger. Hopefully, the issues don''t become big problems¡­"


    Luckily, the two rooms were still relatively peaceful and he could finally be slightly at ease.


    However, a short while later, his expression changed yet again.


    He was shocked to see Liu Mengmei coming out from his room, arriving in front of Fang Yuan''s room.


    Such Sky numbered rooms had a Spiritual Will Imprint on it that could grant limited control powers. As the door squeaked open, it was evident that the person in the room had granted her permission to enter.


    Liu Mengmei hesitated a short while before entering the room.


    The events thereafter were what he could not see.


    Although he was really curious to know who won during this confrontation, he knew if he were to rashly intrude, he would definitely be discovered and this would foster animosity.


    "Perhaps, they are evenly matched and might even make peace?"


    Perplexed, Black Roc stroked his chin.


    ...


    "You came!"


    Inside the room, Fang Yuan sat cross-legged, smiling without saying anything.


    "Of course I came, you perverted guy! You got me into deep trouble!"


    Liu Mengmei blurted, as her eyes gleamed with both anger and joy, yet with a tinge of tenderness and surprisingly without resentment. Other people would have been pretty shocked to see such a look.


    "An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth!"


    Fang Yuan shook his head.


    "Nevermind..."


    Liu Mengmei sighed, "Anyway, you have already become my psychological barrier. No matter what you do, I will still forgive you!"


    Just from her state, Fang Yuan could tell she was fully subdued by him. After a mere moment of happiness, a chilling thought emerged in Fang Yuan.


    ''Deliberately intruding another Dream Master''s Dream World is a highly dangerous move. Of course¡­, this woman put in lots of money to make use of rare treasures'' powers to attempt to fully subdue me. Her Real Spirit entered my homeground, the first stage Dream World, and I almost lost. If she succeeded, I am afraid I would have become a marionette under her allure by now.''


    ''Of course, now that the situation is reversed, not only did she not succeed, on the contrary, I entered her Real Spirit''s dream and planted the Eternal Love Tribulations Imprint on her heart. Even though it could only affect the inclination of her fondness, it was sufficient!''


    Naturally, it was impossible to fully control a Dream Master, even by any means, it would be discovered by an advanced stage Dream Master immediately.


    Hence, Fang Yuan chose another method, which was through utilising dreams within dreams, pestering for an eternity and planting hints, which made Liu Mengmei unknowingly fall in love with him.


    It was a choice she made herself, out of natural instincts, without being manipulated by any external powers. Expectedly, it would leave no trace behind while appearing seemingly fitting and reasonable.


    Clearly, such situations were very rare, it required the Dream Master to deliberately intrude the opponent''s dream with its own Real Spirit, and then be fought back by the opponent, with the Real Spirit falling into Dream World, and finally, the opponent can then possibly make its move.


    A Dream Master who deliberately invaded another person''s dream world must either be profoundly skilled or fully prepared, so how could she make such a rookie mistake?


    And it was the fact that Liu Mengmei picked the wrong opponent that led her to such a state.


    "What are you thinking about, my dear husband¡­"


    Noticing that Fang Yuan was in deep thoughts, Liu Mengmei said, "I brought with me my whole heart for you to fully trust this time around, with just a command of yours, I will definitely not leak the whereabouts of my dear husband. Although the Divine Lotus Cult is giving us trouble, it''s nothing but a death feud between you and Meng Lian, I will scheme for you and there will be no more future complications!"


    "This sounds good!"


    Fang Yuan then said, "But can you not call me ''dear husband''!"


    "My love for you is already deeply rooted and resolute¡­."


    Liu Mengmei was on the verge of tears, she let out a distraught sigh and said, "Besides, in the Dream World, my dear husband has already taken advantage of me. Are you not going to admit it?"


    Even though Fang Yuan was shameless, his face turned red upon hearing that.


    Initially, she deliberately designed the Dream World and did not let him take any advantage of her.


    However, eternities later, it was him who was toying with her Real Spirit. Naturally, he had no scruples. After having formed such a loving relationship, there were no secrets left in front of her.


    "Okay, up to you!"


    Through that experience, Fang Yuan knew he broke her heart and has already become a psychological barrier in her heart.


    For her to progress, she could only either have the wisdom to break the bond between the two of them or to fully submit to him and there was no other choice!


    A wrong thought could cause devastating consequences beyond redemption, and such was the horror of battles between Dream Masters.


    "Also¡­, we have to maintain our hostile relationship on the surface, there must be a reason for you to come and find me tonight. Hmm, let''s just say we were evenly matched as we fought in the dreams, so you came to provoke me. Let''s create a small commotion later to prevent Black Roc from suspecting¡­"


    Now that Fang Yuan had gained so much from her, it was certainly not too much to utilise her even more. Fang Yuan then asked again, "Have you brought any rare treasures with you?"


    "As a Divine Lady, I am under the protection of the Divine Lotus Print, the Green Yang Divine Lantern,..."


    As Liu Mengmei listed her rare treasures, cold sweat dripped from Fang Yuan''s forehead.


    Not only has she cultivated to the Illusionary Divine stage, she possessed numerous protective treasures. The odds were definitely even if they fought face to face.


    "Very good, you and I continue to do what we should do, after you reach the Middle Region, you notify your cult that you have aborted the mission as I was too troublesome to handle. There is no need to go too overboard in order to protect your own safety!"


    Fang Yuan immediately started to plan, as with her as his pawn, it was definitely beneficial.


    "Thank you, my dear husband, for caring about me!"


    Fang Yuan knew Liu Mengmei was definitely very happy from the way her eyebrows moved as she smiled beautifully.


    After all, he experienced so much in the Dream World, he should be extremely familiar with her.


    "Also, when you are back, help me take note of two things. First, it''s news about the Evil Divine Sect, things regarding Tian Xiezi¡­, and also, pay attention and look for the refinery of different spells, especially rare dream elemental force spells.


    Fang Yuan closed his eyes and said slowly.


    Liu Mengmei solemnly said, "Regarding the intelligence about the Evil Divine Sect, I can sort them out for you tomorrow. Whereas, regarding the refinery of rare elemental spells? With my current status, I only have information regarding one kind, which is the complete version of the 9 Smelting Technique that can refine rare elemental forces¡­ However, they are ineffective to dream elemental force, but I also heard my Elder mentioned that the 9 Smelting Technique has another version which was known to exterminate all living matter and I believe the rare dream elemental force would not be able to survive it too!"


    "Just exchange the complete version of the 9 Smelting Technique for me!"


    Fang Yuan said directly, as he pulled out the small sword Elder Smelter gave him, "Do you recognise this item?"


    "I don''t recognise it!"


    Liu Mengmei shook her head immediately.


    Fang Yuan had a small glimmer of hope, but could only let out a sigh as he kept the small sword.


    The item had a strange build and Fang Yuan did not dare to court death by keeping such an item with unknown origins in the real Dream World.


    Moreover, he suspected the item could not even be kept in the Dream World, else the Elder Smelter would not have spent so much effort to look for people to send him the mail.


    ''I guess I can only start solving this mystery when I reach the Middle Region, at Tianmu Mountain?''


    At that moment, he had already made up his mind that he wanted Liu Mengmei to exhaust all channels to source for information regarding the mountain.


    Although the dreams kept cycling, he was detached from it, whereas Liu Mengmei was still deeply trapped in it. The stark differences between their situations naturally resulted in different mentalities.


    Truth be told, if Liu Mengmei succeeded initially, the Fang Yuan now would be way more miserable than the Liu Mengmei now.

 289 Old Mother of Tianshan

    Black Roc was experienced in his trade and knew the dangers in the sky. Therefore, their journey was a rather smooth one as he avoided all the spiritual air soldiers.


    The black roc beast was the ruler of the skies. By releasing its spiritual aura, the other ferocious animals would make way and would not find trouble for them.


    After finish acting with Liu Mengmei, both of them continued to live in their own rooms. After a few days, they made a few friends who were staying in the inn.


    Unknowingly, a month had passed and the number of dream masters gradually lessened as they alighted at their destinations.


    Finally, the people left behind were just Fang Yuan, Liu Mengmei and a few others.


    "Alright, this is the border of Middle Region. If we cross the border, there would be more soldiers patrolling in the skies. By then, even I would not be able to avoid all of them..."


    After all, Middle Region was where the royal family of Da Qian stayed. The security was extremely tight here and it was different compared to the other regions.


    Needless to say, the capital was there and it was filled with powerful people. Black Roc wouldn''t be so foolish as to go there and just by coming to the border of the region was a risk in itself.


    "Thank you!"


    Fang Yuan and the rest were understanding as they thanked Black Roc and dismounted the black roc beast.


    Liu Mengmei left with her servants and took one last glance at Fang Yuan. There was an unwilling look in her eyes and no one could guess that she had completely surrendered herself to Fang Yuan.


    "Haha... Brother Fang, be careful! The demonic ladies of Divine Lotus Cult are a troublesome bunch!"


    A dream master noticed them exchanging glances and commented.


    He was short and plump like a round ball. Wearing a gold robe, he gave off the vibes of a rich person. There were 8 subordinates following him and among them were Wu Zongs and spiritual knights. He called himself ''Qian Kuan''! He was the person behind a small organisation in Middle Region and had a 3rd Tier Illusionary Divine cultivation.


    "I only wish for them not to think about me. That would be all!"


    Fang Yuan displayed a troubled look.


    "You''re handsome and talented, but you seem a little empty... Have you gave it a thought? My promise still stands. Take your pick among my girls, and I shall give them to you!"


    Qian Kuan laughed while the few servants behind him remained emotionless. A few of them lowered their heads in embarrassment, while others were winking at him, trying to attract his attention.


    "This... I don''t think this is suitable for me. Thank you for your offer, though!"


    Although it was extremely normal for dream masters to exchange subordinates, Fang Yuan would not accept the offer from a stranger! After rejecting Qian Kuan, he promptly left.


    Black Roc laughed as he witnessed this scene. After the last visitor had left, he sighed. "He is indeed carefree... It has been awhile since I saw someone like this. I wonder how far can he go... How is this any of my business?"


    He walked up the black roc. With a chirp, it shot into the air and disappeared.


    ...


    "Middle Region is indeed the middle of the world. Even the elemental energy here is plentiful..."


    As he took a walk in the forest, he sighed.


    He could feel that the natural elemental energy was rather concentrated here. It was at least 5 times as dense as that in Sand Region. Therefore, normal humans living here would be able to increase their life expectancy and cultivators would be able to easily achieve breakthroughs. However, the most important was the fact that the capital was here and business was booming. With the increasing population, the Middle Region would be as powerful as 5 other regions combined!


    "Of course, the control of the Imperial Court is stricter here in Middle Region. It would be impossible for me to bluff my way through with a fake identity..."


    Previously, he was miles away from where everything was, but now everything was in front of him! There were plenty of soldiers and highly-skilled people here!


    Even the 4th Tier Illusionary Divine dream master Black Roc would fear the region. Fang Yuan would surely understand that he had nothing to show off here.


    "Tianmu Mountain!"


    Opening the map, he could see a path. "Mmm... This mountain is at the Northwest of Middle Region. It is only a few hundred miles from the Jade Capital. Or should I say... This is the limit of the 5 powerful organisations of the dream masters!"


    He now knew that Tianmu Mountain was an obstacle planted by the dream masters in the Middle Region.


    By the looks of it, the dream master in control of the mountain must be powerful.


    He had to be at least a 7th Tier Illusionary Divine dream master to stand firm under the scrutiny of the Imperial Court.


    "Could his cultivation be even higher... like the Prominent Divine Stage?"


    Fang Yuan''s eyes glittered.


    ...


    After 7 days, Fang Yuan finally arrived at the foot of Tianmu Mountain. The tall mountain towered before him.


    What surprised him was that the mountain did not appear dangerous. In fact, there was a huge city at the foot of the mountain with trade happening everywhere. Business was booming


    "The owner of Tianmu Mountain¡­.. How can I find you?"


    There were patrolling guards at the city gates. If Fang Yuan wanted to do something to bluff his way through, he would be able to do so. However, there was no need.


    He made his way around the city and went straight to Tianmu Mountain.


    He guessed that based on the owner''s abilities, he should be able to detect Fang Yuan''s arrival.


    The vegetation was dense and crickets chirped.


    Tianmu Mountain was covered with lush greenery and was full of elemental energy. It was an excellent place for cultivators to train for it had gathered energy from everywhere.


    Of course, what piqued Fang Yuan''s interest was the fact that there were traces of dream masters. He could detect it the moment he entered the mountain.


    "Come out!"


    After walking a few feet, Fang Yuan sighed and looked in a certain direction. "I have no grudges against you. Why are you stalking me?"


    "Whoosh!"


    As soon as he finished his sentence, the surroundings started to change. A wave appeared in mid-air and spread, revealing a hidden array meant to kill.


    The spiritual light on the array was glowing and the energy around the array was surging. Even Fang Yuan would be troubled by the array if he were to step in.


    But now, since the array was revealed, it was no longer a threat.


    "Although we have no grudges, the fact that you are visiting Old Mother of Tianmu means that you must have a token! Since you are in the fight as well, this is only normal!"


    From the shadows, a dream master emerged. He had white eyebrows but black hair and seemed about 50 years old. With the cultivation of Illusionary Divine, he was considered rather good among the dream masters.


    "Oh? I''d like to hear more about it!"


    Fang Yuan sighed. He knew that he was tricked by Elder Smelter and had unknowingly gotten himself involved in trouble.


    "Don''t you know about it? Don''t you have a token with you?"


    The dream master was confused as well.


    "Whoosh!"


    At that moment, a red streak of sword essence exploded in mid-air and flashed.


    "You..."


    He shrieked as the space around him started to bend. As the sword essence struck onto the ground, a charred hole appeared.


    "A dream array master? With some illusionary spells?"


    Fang Yuan laughed heartily and walked up. He blocked the path of the dream master as the dream master tried to escape into the array. With the wave of his hand, a chilly blue streak of sword essence appeared. "Go!"


    Combining the powers of fire and water, the array master started to retreat and quickly shouted a formula. "Strike!"


    As he chanted his formula, he started to distort and become translucent. It was as though he was about to disappear in the next moment.


    "Keke... What a small trick. Destroy!!!"


    4 spiritual meridians appeared on Fang Yuan''s back as his muscles started to grow. With that, he exclaimed.


    With the Seventh Elemental Force and the thick blood of Wu Zongs, the air around him shook, revealing the shocked face of the dream master.


    "You... do you want to live or die?"


    Since there might be a possibility of other highly-skilled people observing their fight, Fang Yuan did not want to continue using his powers as a dream master. Instead, he used his martial arts and with a flying kick, he struck the dream master and placed the fire sword on his neck.


    "Master!"


    Everything happened within seconds. Only when Fang Yuan held the dream master to his neck did a few people appear from the thick vegetation with shocked looks.


    "Tell me... what is the use of the token?"


    Fang Yuan held the fire sword and forced an answer.


    "How can you not know?"


    The dream master was in a daze. "Why are we still fighting, then?"


    "You speak too much nonsense!"


    Fang Yuan frowned. The fire sword flickered and the few surrounding Wu Zongs quickly retreated as though they had been hit.


    "A token is a token! It is the item you need to enter the Changli Mountain Hollow!"


    With his life on the line, the dream master spilt everything out.


    "Changli Mountain Hollow? What has it got to do with this token? Also, where is Old Mother of Tianmu, the owner of the mountain?"


    Fang Yuan probed further.


    "It has nothing to do with the token. The Changli Mountain Hollow is a joint discovery by the 5 powerful organisations of the dream masters. The token was also created by the 5 powerful organisations and it is rumoured that with the token, one will be able to get help from Old Mother of Tianmu to enter the Changli Mountain Hollow. Changli is a person rumoured to have attained the Prominent Divine Stage. Even though he had passed away, whatever that he left behind was enough for us descendants to enjoy for a long time to come..."


    With a sword by his neck, the dream master blurted out everything he knew quickly.


    "I see. You don''t have a token, so you wanted to snatch mine. What a person..."


    Fang Yuan shook his head and asked a final question. "Where is Old Mother of Tianmu?"


    "This... I have no idea!"


    "Since you have no idea, what''s the use of being alive?"


    A murderous look flashed across Fang Yuan''s face. He would not let anyone with ill intentions towards him get away.


    The fire sword shook and was about to land.


    "Bang!"


    As the ground shook, a green vine appeared and shielded the dream master from the sword.


    "Ding!"


    Although fire was the weakness of wood, the Leaving Fire Sword could not damage the green vine. Instead, there was a distinct sound like jade colliding with ice.


    A voice was heard in Fang Yuan''s ear. "I don''t wish to see blood!"


    "It''s Old Mother of Tianmu! Greetings!"


    Seeing the appearance of Old Mother, Fang Yuan stopped and took a bow.


    "I know the intentions for your visit. I am willing to see you!"


    Fang Yuan kept his sword and followed the vine. Son, he arrived before a cliff, which was covered in green rocks.


    As soon as he arrived, the cliff started to split, revealing a black tunnel.

 290 Mountain Hollow

    The tunnel was dark. As soon as he entered the tunnel, his mind entered a state of confusion.


    He could feel as though he was falling. Tensed, Fang Yuan prepared his sword essence.


    However, as soon as he woke up, he realised that he was standing in a hall. In front of him was a platform 10 feet wide and 30 feet tall. There was a glow coming from the top of the platform like a sun, and there was a silhouette of a person on the platform.


    "Greetings, Old Mother of Tianmu!"


    Fang Yuan took a deep bow and felt stunned as he detected the person''s vast and powerful spiritual aura.


    "Hehe... are you not afraid that you''ve got the wrong person?"


    A clear voice travelled from the platform as though it was from a 15-year-old girl.


    ''I don''t really have a choice here!''


    Fang Yuan rolled his eyes inside but gave a respectful look. "Only the Old Mother of Tianmu would have such a majestic entrance!"


    "You''re right! You''re from the Realm Alliance. What are you here for?"


    The Old Mother on the platform laughed, and Fang Yuan felt as though he was being seen through.


    "Ring!"


    At this point in time, there was a chime from his robes. The small sword flew out and shimmered a brilliant red.


    "This is a token from Elder Smelter of my alliance. Please accept it!"


    Fang Yuan continued respectfully.


    "Hehe... This token is not mine, but yours!"


    As the glow of the sun spread, the face of a beautiful lady appeared, but all that Fang Yuan could see was a pair of glittering eyes.


    Calm and emotionless... yet high up like a god.


    She seemed like the gods in the heavens from the other realms which he had visited.


    "Mine..."


    As he mumbled to himself, he realised that he had fallen into the plan of Elder Smelter.


    "That''s right! It is extremely rare for anyone from the 5 powerful organisations to get the chance to visit the Changli Mountain Hollow! Who would''ve guessed that Elder Smelter would give it to you!"


    The Old Mother of Tianmu mocked him. "Could you be... his illegitimate son?"


    "... If I don''t want this token, what will happen to me?"


    Fang Yuan was speechless and directly asked about the token.


    "There are no ifs. As long as you are a member of the 5 powerful organisations and you have the token, you can enter the Changli Mountain Hollow as you wish. If it is yours, it will be yours. Others cannot take this away from you, and you cannot reject this!"


    The Old Mother of Tianmu sounded strict, as though this was a heavenly law.


    ''This is not good!''


    Fang Yuan''s hair stood on its ends.


    "Be on your way!"


    At that moment, from the Old Mother''s finger, a streak of light landed on the small red sword.


    After receiving the glow, the sword exploded and struck forward, shattering the mid-air. A door was revealed.


    Fang Yuan quickly felt a huge force pushing him towards the door. Before he could react, he was sucked into the door.


    In the next moment, the platform regained its peace once more, except for the golden glow of holy light which spread across the entire floor.


    "You''re clever to be on your guard. However, it will depend on your luck to see if this is a good or bad thing for you!"


    Old Mother of Tianmu mumbled to herself. Soon, she returned to the glowing sun and disappeared.


    ...


    "What the hell!"


    In mid-air, a door appeared and a person fell from it.


    Fang Yuan had composed himself and landed squarely on the branch of a tree. Looking at the dense vegetation, he knew that this was no longer Tianmu Mountain, but within a hollow.


    While he was travelling to this hollow, a line of information appeared, allowing him to understand where he was.


    "This is... the inside of the Changli Mountain Hollow?"


    The hollow was, in fact, a miniature version of a small world.


    Of course, such a miniature version was yet to be matured. Therefore, it still had to rely on the Da Qian Empire.


    Changli was a Prominent Divine dream master and after his passing, his inheritance was a hollow situated near Tianmu Mountain.


    Therefore, with the Old Mother of Tianmu in control and together with the power of the 5 powerful organisations, they had finally located the hollow.


    Unfortunately, the hollow would reject access to highly-skilled dream masters. Therefore, in every organisation, they had to send a dream master of 4th Tier and below to explore the hollow. Everything would be kept a secret and only when the representatives arrive here, they would be briefed on the details of the hollow.


    Of course, Fang Yuan felt like laughing after knowing of this.


    "Why didn''t he send someone who was loyal and had potential? Why did he send me? I have only just joined the alliance! This place must be full of dangers lurking everywhere!"


    The state which he was in was akin to his many dream-traversing experiences. However, the only difference was that the hollow was within Da Qian and that he was using his real physical body!


    If he were to die, he would really die and there would be no chance for him to come back.


    "Elder Smelter, Old Mother of Tianmu... Although they might seem like respectable people in peacetime, they would be ever so willing to sacrifice those under them in times like this¡­.."


    He shook his head and started to gather information about him.


    "Now... the hollow has yet to be activated. This should be the boundary of the hollow..."


    Fang Yuan looked far and could see a layer of fog all around, surrounding him and the forest within.


    "Based on the information, I will need to wait for another 2 months for the hollow to be activated. By then, the few of us selected explorers would have to explore the hollow and retrieve treasures from within. Of course, it would be best if we can obtain the Prominent Divine dream master''s inheritance. If we can take complete control over the hollow, the organisation we come from would be heavily rewarded!"


    Unfortunately, Fang Yuan was unwilling!


    "After my arduous exploration, the rewards will still not go to me!"


    "Fortunately, I have 2 months to spare... Furthermore, it seems like Old Mother of Tianmu has intentionally split the explorers up to prevent us from killing each other and wasting our energy..."


    The size of a hollow would be as huge as a region or even a few regions combined.


    With such a huge area and being separated by an array, other dream masters would not dare to do anything to it and hiding a few people within the hollow would most likely go undetected.


    Of course, when the restrictions would be lifted and when all of them would head to the centre of the hollow, they would be detected by then.


    "Does this mean that... now is my precious time to rest?"


    Fang Yuan laughed, examined the geography of the area and casually came to a cave.


    The hollow of this Prominent Divine dream master was indeed impressive. Every flower, every grass, every rock and every tree was exactly the same as the outside world.


    Also, there was an exact same sun which glared from the skies.


    Fang Yuan could not comprehend such complexity. Instead, he closed his eyes and attempted to enter the Dream Realm.


    "I cannot feel it... It seems like I am separated from it by a void space... It seems that although the hollow depends on Da Qian for its existence, it is still an independent world after all..."


    Fang Yuan sighed.


    As soon as he realised that he was unable to enter the Dream Realm, most of his plans became futile. This would mean that he would not be able to call for backup.


    "They didn''t even give me time to prepare. It feels like they are plotting something against me... It''s a pity that even if I am able to make it out alive, I am unable to immediately get my revenge!"


    Fang Yuan''s eyes were burning with passion.


    "Looking at my 2nd Tier cultivation, it seems like I would be the weakest among all the explorers. Without any magical equipment to protect me, I would be endangered¡­.. Extremely endangered!"


    "In the next 2 months, I must quickly increase my cultivation. I must at least achieve the 3rd Tier of Illusionary Divine and gain some experience from the hollow before I become capable enough to explore the heart of the hollow. If I am discovered by other dream masters, I can only fight with all my life!"


    "The only solution is the dream-traversing technique!"


    Fang Yuan mumbled to himself and a look of determination appeared on his face.


    He had yet to reach the maximum potential in the previous Water Realm. Therefore, he had left with the intention to return and reap everything from it in the future.


    And now, his physical body was facing a threat. He could not care so much and had to do whatever he could. "Although I will only have 1 to 2 years over there, with careful planning, I will be able to gain enough karma! This is what I can use to protect myself!"


    Fang Yuan gritted his teeth. After sealing the cave, he did a thorough check of his surroundings before starting to dream-traverse.


    "The previous two times, I had the assistance of the Realm Spirit. Now, I will have to locate the coordinates myself, making it more troublesome. Furthermore, I will have to take care of my own physical body. Fortunately, with the Three Corpse Seven Murderous Magic Splitting Technique, I can leave a hint of consciousness to check on my physical body. If I encounter any danger, I can wake up immediately!"


    As for locating the coordinates outside the Dream Realm, Venerable Dream Traverser had also described the process before... Most importantly, it is fortunate that I have gone to the Water Realm before with the use of Realm Evidence. With my incarnation within the Water Realm, it shouldn''t be too hard to awaken it!"


    He adopted a comfortable posture and laid down before executing his dream traversing technique.


    As he closed his eyes, among the universe, it was as though one of the worlds had detected him and started to call out to him.


    This was the connection between his real body and his incarnation. They shared the same consciousness and it would be extremely hard to separate them.


    "This is the one!"


    A Yin Spirit floated out and shook in mid-air. As it condensed elemental force, it started to perform a ritual.


    In the middle of the ritual, space started to distort and slowly, a swirl appeared in mid-air. The calling from the incarnation was heard coming from the swirl.


    Seeing this, Fang Yuan leapt into the swirl without hesitation.


    "Bloop!"


    As the swirl shook, it dispersed. As everything darkened, the cave returned to its original state.


    ...


    Tianmu Mountain.


    Flames started to appear as a fiery dragon danced around and transformed into a child.


    Looking up at the platform, there was a look of fear and respect written on his face. "Old Mother of Tianmu, all my people have entered!"


    "The Realm Alliance contributed 5 people and both the Divine Lotus Cult and Evil Divine Sect contributed 6 people each. Baize Mountain contributed 3 people and Source Seeking Sect contributed 1. Including the 10 over lone cultivators that we have attracted, everyone is accounted for..."


    On the platform, the glow was glaring. Old Mother of Tianmu appeared and she was calm. "We have arranged it in a way that they will all meet as soon as the heart of the hollow is activated. There will be surely more than 20 deaths and we will fulfil the requirement of blood sacrifice..."


    "Sigh..."


    The Fiery Dragon Child who was possessed by Elder Smelter sighed. "Who would''ve guessed that the seal of Changli Mountain Hollow would require the blood sacrifice of dream masters in the Illusionary Divine Stage to be broken for us to enter? All of us have no choice. At most... we shall compensate whoever is fortunate among them to survive!"

 291 Return

    The seal on Changli Mountain Hollow was real, but Old Mother of Tianmu would surely not tell Fang Yuan the truth.


    They were just sacrificial sheep!


    They were planned to kill each other and from there, satisfy the requirements to break the seal.


    Because of this, every organisation put in their best effort to trick newcomers into entering the hollow.


    "Sigh... Why is the requirement so weird? To ask for Illusionary Divine dream masters under the age of 60? Although we have such talents, they are painstakingly trained by us. How can we sacrifice them just like that? The only solution is that every organisation contribute a few..."


    Elder Smelter sighed.


    "Why is that? Are you soft-hearted now?"


    Old Mother of Tianmu laughed.


    "Nope!"


    Elder Smelter''s expression remained unchanged. "We are not killing them completely. It''s just that we''ve given them a slim chance of survival and it''s up to them to see if they can do it. Furthermore, after the seal is broken, they can also enjoy the spiritual treasures in the hollow. This will be their fate! Whoever can survive will be the true talents! The rest of them would be killed because they are useless and do not deserve to survive!"


    "Haha... Well said!"


    Before Old Mother of Tianmu could continue, a black silhouette on the wall started laughing. "Dream masters are all respectable! How can we let the useless people destroy our reputation? Only by such a method can we sieve out the real dream masters. The representative from Source Seeking Sect is a reserved who is already aware of the requirements of breaking the seal! Furthermore, he has voluntarily entered the hollow even after knowing what would happen! If he were to survive, we can officially recognise him as a dream master!"


    "Old Xue!"


    Elder Smelter was stunned. As his eyes blinked continuously, there was fear written on his face.


    After all, the bunch of dream masters from Source Seeking Sect were all crazy!


    They were not just crazy, but also powerful and would do anything to attain their goal.


    Everyone would feel a little uneasy when facing people from the Source Seeking Sect.


    "Don''t worry, I''m just here to take a loot... After all, we have a stake in the Changli Mountain Hollow!"


    Old Xue laughed, which did not ease their emotions. "Alright, I want to remind everybody that this place is too close to the Jade Capital. The Imperial Court has yet to discover the Changli Mountain Hollow. However, at the moment of blood sacrifice, the energy of the hollow would surge and the Hidden Dragon Guards would be able to locate the hollow and make their way here..."


    "If the 5 organisations unite, why should we be afraid of the Hidden Dragon Guards?"


    There were flames in Elder Smelter''s eyes as he commented.


    "We''re not afraid of the Hidden Dragon Guards. But if the Imperial Court sends every highly-skilled person they have, we will have trouble!"


    Old Mother of Tianmu added.


    "The Imperial Court is the biggest thief of all!"


    Elder Smelter was enraged by sounded jealous at the same time.


    It was no joke that the royal family of Da Qian had the power of the heavens!


    Even if normal True Divines and True Elemental spiritual knights would reach their peaks, they would be able to achieve another breakthrough under the blessing of the Dragon Meridian. If they do so, they would be as strong as a Prominent Divine dream master!


    Although there were only a few of such people, together with the Hidden Dragon Guards, they were on par even if the 5 powerful organisations were to combine forces.


    If they did have such abilities, the royal family of Da Qian would be wiped out long ago.


    "Hehe... That''s right!"


    Old Xue''s voice was sharp like a bird. "With the geographical advantage, they are fortunate... We believe that it is the Imperial Court''s doing that prevented us from being able to find the source of dream masters... In reality, the inheritance, the hollow, all these are small issues. The 5 organisations should come together to destroy the royal family of Da Qian or even sacrifice their blood. From then, we might be able to trace the source of dream masters..."


    "Keke..."


    Elder Smelter exchanged glances with Old Mother of Tianmu and was laughing inside. The bunch of dream masters from Source Seeking Sect were indeed crazy!


    ...


    Water Realm, Golden Lake Prefecture, Black Lake District.


    The District Leader was no longer Xu Ren. Because of his commendable efforts, he was promoted to the prefecture level after 3 years. He was now a Prefecture Minister.


    In fact, he was slated to become the Prefecture Minister after the retirement of the current Prefecture Minister. Therefore, many people started to support him and establish good relations with him, making him rather influential.


    At this point in time, an old daoist with a head full of white hair brought along two children and were strolling on the streets in Black Lake District.


    "Mm, the people are doing well and there have been no more sightings of evil gods blackmailing the people. This is good governance!"


    The old daoist smiled and stroked his beard in satisfaction.


    "I''ve heard that this is the work of the previous District Leader, the current Prefecture Minister, Xu Ren. He was strict and harsh against thieves and robbers and took the initiative to clear evil gods. He also took extra care of the old people and educated the masses. In 3 short years, the people in the district would no longer steal and there was no need to lock their doors while they were sleeping at night. This is true prosperity..."


    The child behind continued but appeared to be only 12-years-old.


    On the other hand, the other child looked around and lowered his voice. "The current district leader Zhang Gui is under Xu Ren... Xu Ren served out of pure loyalty last time. Now, he has settled down in the Golden Lake Prefecture. Not only did he shift his entire family here, he has also bought numerous plots of land and rebuilt temples. With all his assets, he is the most influential family in Golden Lake Prefecture!"


    "If this is his fate, then it is normal¡­.. Otherwise, how else should he plan for his future?"


    The white-bearded old daoist smiled. "The uprising of the people dao is the trend. We daoists should follow the heaven''s intention. Everyone in the Xu Family would be heavily involved in the upcoming tribulation. We must pay close attention!"


    "This of course!"


    The child behind chuckled. "Our people have been instructed to establish good relations with him. Otherwise, as an official from a foreign land, without us secretly helping him to influence the Imperial Court, do you think he will be able to have such progress? Not to mention how smooth it was for his family to settle down?"


    "It''s a pity.... The Xu Family is close to many demons..."


    The child at the side sighed. "Who knew how the demons started?"


    "From the Killer Tribulation, the fates of everyone would be messed up. This is only normal!"


    The old daoist''s beard drifted with the wind, but his tone was chilly. "These demons want to support the Dragon Court and take our share of fate energy and karma! By killing Clear Wind, they have displayed their persistence! We shall allow that carp demon to live for another day. Hehe, when the time is right, we shall kill the demons in front of Xu Ren to display our might!"


    The 3 of them spoke as they walked. Although there were passers-by, they did not leak any information. Soon, they arrived on the outskirts of the city.


    "Grandmaster, are we here to kill the giant demon?"


    A child asked. Seeing that there was no one around, he toyed around with a hint of sword essence in his hands.


    The sword essence was a pure white and as extremely concentrated. However, in his hands, the sword essence became liquid-like and flowed around. The child''s cultivation in swordplay was shocking!


    Since he looked young, he had to be a reincarnation and was a powerful person in his past life.


    "That''s right, it''s that giant demon!"


    At the outskirts, the old daoist no longer tried to conceal himself. As energy surged around him, his robes flew with the wind. It was a majestic sight to behold; he was like a deity.


    Behind him, the two children transformed into swordlight and combined. "Have we located the Giant Venomous Snake?"


    "Yes!"


    The white-bearded daoist was infuriated. "We had detected something the moment Venerable Clear Wind died. However, the killer was too cruel and did not even leave his spirit behind. Without and leads and after a few years, I have received a prediction from an elder fortune teller. Finally, I know that this is the doing of the two demons from Black Lake District!"


    "That carp demon has the protection of the fate energy from Xu Ren, so let''s forget about her for the moment. The Giant Venomous Snake is the culprit behind all and lives in seclusion. Therefore, we must kill it to appease our brother. Otherwise, everyone would think that Xuan Zhen Sect is weak!"


    "Although this demon has weak karma, it is extremely cunning and would not leave traces behind. We have tracked it a few times but in the past few times, it has escaped successfully... Not this time!"


    "Rumble!"


    As the 3 of them spoke, they had entered a forest.


    The skies changed and fish-scaled clouds appeared. The dark clouds brought with them an atmosphere of danger.


    "Is this... Heavenly Tribulation?!"


    The daoist was extremely familiar with such a vibe. The clouds were different from the usual dark clouds and therefore, he could immediately identify it.


    "Haha... That''s right! This is a Heavenly Tribulation!"


    The old daoist laughed heartily. "That Giant Venomous Snake is extremely powerful and has a few tricks up its sleeves. It will be hard to deal with it. However, I have asked the fortune teller to calculate the ripe time to strike. This is the tribulation period of the demon, and therefore, it will not be able to escape us!"


    There was a murderous look on his face. "With such a weak fate energy, do you think you can transform into a dragon? Hehe... We are involved in this demon''s people tribulation! Striking together with the Heavenly Tribulation, it has no way of escaping!"


    With the dark clouds, lightning and thunder, it was the best compass to guide them to the Giant Venomous Snake.


    The 3 daoists made their way and soon after, they had arrived at the foot of a mountain.


    At the foot of the mountain, there was a source of spring water. The spring water was chilly and gave off cold vibes.


    Streaks of lightning began to rip across the skies, forming a net of lightning.


    "Haha... This demon''s Heavenly Tribulation is indeed powerful! We might not need to strike, and it will be dead!"


    Seeing this, the old daoist was overjoyed. However, he became confused. "This doesn''t seem right... By helping Xu Ren and clearing the evil gods, it has accumulated good deeds. How can it have such a weak fate energy? How can its Heavenly Tribulation be so intense?"


    "This must be because it had gone against the Xuan Zhen Sect! By doing so, it had put itself against the people dao!"


    A child laughed. "Regardless, this is good news to us!"


    "That''s right!"


    The old daoist stroked his beard. The 3 of them were daoists and were afraid of approaching the tribulation. Therefore, they looked at everything from afar.


    "Kacha!"


    "Whoosh!"


    Water splashed everywhere and a huge black silhouette appeared.


    It had a snake''s head ad 4 legs. The scales on its body were black but had a hint of golden glow. As it looked up into the sky, it roared like a ferocious beast.


    "What a Giant Venomous Snake!"


    The 3 daoists turned shocked. "With such power, no wonder it can attempt to transform into a dragon!"

 292 Horned Dragon

    The Giant Venomous Snake was a powerful type of snake!


    With 4 additional legs, it could walk on land and swim in the water. It had limitless abilities.


    But alas, its snake properties were still more than its dragon properties. It was still a beast! To become a dragon, it had to undergo a complete transformation! As well as undergo a tribulation!


    Now, the scales of the Giant Venomous Snake glittered; it was evident that it had plenty of dragon properties in it. It was unbelievable.


    However, this was only Fang Yuan''s incarnation. In the past 10 years, it had continuously absorbed the essence of the Dragon Pearl and had grown tremendously. As it roared, its demonic energy exploded from its body and acted as a shield. As the streak of lightning struck its body, there was only a charred mark with no severe injuries.


    With how things were, although there were a few more Heavenly Tribulations to come, it could survive all of them with its brute force and transform into a dragon!


    "What a demon! Do you really think you can become a dragon? The Xuan Zhen Sect will never allow it to happen!"


    The white-bearded old daoist gritted his teeth and whipped out a spiritual talisman which was giving off a purple glow. "I invite all the grandmasters of Xuan Zhen Sect, and together with the help of karma, to destroy this beast!"


    "Whoosh!"


    The spiritual talisman swirled and formed a purple glow as it shot into the sky.


    "Kacha! Kacha!"


    A layer of dark clouds formed, filled with streaks of lightning within. They were tribulation clouds and together with the natural heavenly lightning, the intensity of the tribulation increased by folds in that instant.


    With a single bolt of lightning, the Giant Venomous Snake wailed as blood spurted out. A big hole was struck on its body and around it were charred marks.


    "The Magical Thunder Talisman is the treasure of the sect! There are limited numbers of them and every usage would consume a huge amount of karma and fate energy from the sect..."


    Both child daoist were shocked.


    "This Giant Venomous Snake is already displaying properties of a dragon. If we really allow it to transform, it will become much more powerful than it was. How can we let that happen? After all, this is a threat to our sect. We have to kill it now!"


    The old daoist roared. "Both of you, quickly help!"


    "Kill!"


    Both children exchanged glances. With a wave of their hands, two streaks of sword essence appeared. One was green while the other was purple. Both of them swung their sword essences at the Giant Venomous Snake.


    The two children were actually reincarnations of the elders from Xuan Zhen Sect. They were equipped with the Purple Sword and Green Sword. Although these two swords were still inferior compared to the spiritual treasure of the sect, they were still powerful magical equipment and were comparable to the lightning tribulation!


    The swordlight and streaks of lightning combined as they circled the Giant Venomous Snake.


    It was an emergency!


    ...


    "D*mn, what is this all about?"


    It was a whole new experience for Fang Yuan to locate the world by himself and execute the dream-traversing technique independently.


    However, that feeling completely changed as soon as he entered the Water Realm.


    A huge force was felt, as though it was about to separate Fang Yuan from his incarnation and isolate him outside of the Water Realm.


    The good thing was that the locating of the Water Realm was already in effect. With his incarnation in the realm as well, it was not that easy to separate Fang Yuan from the realm. He was forcefully squeezed into the realm but it felt as though he was locked up in a wooden box and spun around. His spirit felt uncomfortable.


    After spinning, he opened his eyes. His dream-traversing technique was successful as he entered his incarnation.


    In a short moment, he adapted to his body as information flooded his mind.


    "What? It has been 15 years?"


    "Is my Giant Venomous Snake undergoing a tribulation now?"


    Fang Yuan looked up at the streaks of lightning and felt a little dizzy. "Isn''t one month in Da Qian equivalent to one year here? Why is it 10 years now? It this because of the tribulation here? That it does not want to be disturbed?"


    Of course, he could slowly think about all these next time. More importantly, he had to survive this tribulation!


    "It was a good thing that I brought along with me the karma I had earned. However, since this incarnation is slowly breaking down the Dragon Pearl and absorbing the dragon element, there shouldn''t be any problem with it!"


    He raised his head and was deep in thought as he observed the dark clouds dissipating.


    At this moment, a purple glow appeared and the Heavenly Tribulation struck once again.


    Furthermore, two streaks of swordlight flashed by. One was green while the other was purple, and both had the intent to kill.


    "D*mn!"


    Fang Yuan was enraged. "Who dares to attack me!"


    There was a hint of gold in his eyes. He wanted to kill.


    "Go!"


    With that, he activated his actualised dream world. The remnants of people dao karma appeared and formed a golden flower. The golden flower floated to the top of his head before disappearing.


    "Buzz!"


    The link between the actualised dream world and the realm strengthened once more as two magical swords appeared before the Giant Venomous Snake. "Water-Fire Dual Sword Array, strike!"


    "Whoosh!"


    Both the Fire Sword and Water Sword flew out, forming a small sword array. With a single sweep, it trapped both the green and purple sword essence within the array.


    However, this was all Fang Yuan could do.


    In the next moment, the streaks of lightning turned purple and covered the Giant Venomous Snake.


    "Rumble!"


    Everything shook.


    Following, the dark clouds dissipated and sunlight peeked through the clouds. The destructive scene felt like an illusion.


    "Eh? Is the Giant Venomous Snake dead?"


    The old daoist and the two children exchanged glances. Following, they walked up and saw a 90-feet-long ferocious Giant Venomous Snake corpse.


    The corpse was jet-black and was filled with many holes on its body. Every hole was charred and there was a creepy silence in the vicinity.


    "It''s impressive that it is still able to preserve its corpse after undergoing the Heavenly Tribulation and my Magical Thunder Talisman!"


    One of the children scoffed and sounded confused. "Where did the Water and Fire Sword go to? The swords that trapped our sword essences!"


    "Hehe... This Giant Venomous Snake is considered a powerful demon. It must have some treasures in it! We cannot let it go to waste!"


    The other child laughed and walked up, ready to slit open the demon''s stomach.


    "Eh? Something''s not right, let''s get out of here!"


    The old daoist was stroking its beard. Seeing the child walking up to the corpse, he did not think too much. However, a piece of jade around his waist suddenly gave off an alarm which sent chills down his spine.


    "Whoosh!"


    One of the children bent over and was inspecting the Giant Venomous Snake''s corpse. It could not run in time and was struck by a White Bone Flying Sword. Without a shriek, he collapsed and his spirit was destroyed as well. A small purple sword dropped to the ground and a distinct sound was heard. It was still shimmering in its glow, which showed that it had extreme spiritual properties and was unwilling to be destroyed just like that.


    "Brother!"


    Seeing this, the old daoist and the other child started to tear in their eyes. "Demon, die!"


    "Splash!"


    Swordlight and magical techniques sliced away at the corpse, breaking it into many pieces.


    However, within the corpse, there was a golden glow. The silhouette appeared.


    The silhouette was only 3 feet long. It was like a small green-gold snake. The scales on it were green and they emitted a golden glow. On its head, there was a small horn.


    As it looked up towards them, there was no snake property. Instead, it had a powerful vibe like a dragon!


    It was no longer a snake, but a dragon!


    The 7th Transformation of the 9 Steps of Dragon Transformation Formula! The Horned Dragon Transformation!


    It was recorded in the : "A young dragon with a horn is a Horned Dragon! It would have the body of a fish, the tail of a snake, patterns on its body and a horn on its head!"


    In fact, this was how a dragon would look like before maturity.


    Even though it was young, it was still a dragon! It was no longer like the previous fish and snakes, and it had magical properties as well! It would be able to dispel poison and give off a righteous vibe.


    "The heavens are blind to let you transform into a dragon!"


    The old daoist was devastated.


    Dragons were the leaders of all animals. They would be able to control the weather like a real god. Any demon who would be able to transform into a dragon would be considered powerful! A demonic god! They were impressive.


    To put it in another way, Fang Yuan was now eligible to become the Golden Court Dragon God based on his magical powers and his species.


    It was partly fate for him to be able to achieve to this far. Cultivators would at much as possible avoid killing these dragons, for they would experience a decrease in fate energy and would have to undergo a Heavenly Tribulation themselves!


    After undergoing the tribulation, Fang Yuan was now a dragon and was completely different from before!


    "The heavens are fair to every living thing! Since everyone has the same treatment, why can''t I become a dragon?"


    With a golden glow, a young man clad in golden robes appeared; it was Fang Yuan.


    But now, this was no longer his Yin Spirit. It was his actual physical body.


    Higher-tiered demons would face more difficulties in trying to form a figure.


    In the 9 Steps of Dragon Transformation Formula, Fang Yuan would only be able to form the human body at the 7th Transformation.


    Of course, the formed figure would be a human of 15-years-old and would have decent looks, unlike those of the demons.


    With a cold laugh, Fang Yuan continued. "Look at you. You are with the people dao, and yet you are afraid that others would have a share of karma. You say that the heavens are unfair but in fact, it is you people who are selfish! The people dao are losers!"


    The old daoist and the leftover child looked at Fang Yuan as their heart shook.


    In that instant, they felt as though they were the ones in the wrong.


    "What a minute... this must be one of your demonic techniques! Don''t be confused!"


    The old daoist reacted quickly and exclaimed.


    As he recited a formula, a glow covered his entire body like a bubble. This formed a defensive shield around him.


    The remaining child, although a reincarnation of an elder, had not restored all of his cultivation. He was left rooted to the ground, not knowing what to do.


    "Whoosh!"


    Fang Yuan would not let this chance go to waste. With a finger, the Water-Fire Dual Sword Array flew out, forming a sword array and trapping the child. He released the sword essence from both swords and in that instant, a green spiritual sword fell to the ground and vibrated.


    "You..."


    Seeing Fang Yuan walking up to pick up both the Purple Sword and Green Sword, the old daoist was infuriated. Both swords were still vibrating but were well in Fang Yuan''s control. The old daoist spat out a mouthful of blood and was enraged.


    Although these two children were reincarnations of elders with cultivations in spiritual swords, their powers were now restricted and instead, they had lost both spiritual treasures.


    "Demon! How dare you take my sect''s flying swords?"


    The old daoist was anxious and with the wave of his sleeves, two streaks of black rope flew towards Fang Yuan. They were like black snakes as they wrapped around the Purple Sword and Green Sword.


    Not just that, the old daoist continued to recite a formula in an attempt to re-ignite the two swords.


    "These heavenly treasures belong to those who have them... Now that I have them, they are mine!"


    Fang Yuan laughed heartily.


    Since they were enemies now, how could he return them their weapons?


    From the time he had killed Venerable Clear Wind, the tussle between the sect and him had already begun. Only one side could be left standing.


    Thinking about this, Fang Yuan quickly used his karma flowers. As they were being consumed, the resistance from both swords started to reduce.


    "What treasures!"


    Fang Yuan was overjoyed. "Don''t think about having these two swords back!"

 293 The Encounter

    Fang Yuan had successfully transformed into a dragon and had absorbed more than half of the Dragon Pearl within him. Now, the power in his dragon body was surging and it was unbelievable.


    The few daoists with their cultivation were now inferior to Fang Yuan.


    With the wave of his hands, the sword essences of the fire and water sword exploded. The two black ropes disintegrated in the sky.


    "You!"


    In shock, the jade around the old daoist waist started to glitter and a glow emerged, covering him.


    "Whoosh!"


    With the rumbling of thunder, a White Bone Evil Slaying Sword shot out like an arrow and pierced through his forehead. The shocking sword essence shattered his elemental clone.


    "Bang!"


    The headless corpse of the old daoist fell to the ground and dyed the ground with his black-coloured blood.


    "Hehe... I''m afraid these 3 daoists are among the powerful ones in Xuan Zhen Sect! Would this be enough to be considered as a strong blow to Xuan Zhen Sect?"


    Fang Yuan thought to himself.


    After killing these 3 daoists, it would affect his karma, but that didn''t matter.


    This was because he had already transformed into a dragon and his ability alone would be able to overcome the loss of fate energy. Therefore, killing these 3 daoists were nothing.


    Looking at his stats window, Fang Yuan realised that there was a tremendous change:


    "Name: Fang Yuan


    Race: Horned Dragon


    Essence: 36


    Spirit: 36


    Magic: 40


    Profession: ???


    Cultivation: ???


    Technique: [Nine Steps of Dragon Transformation Technique (7th Transformation)], [Weather Controlling Technique (Grade 1)], [Natural Magical Strength (Grade 3)], [8 Gates Sword Array (3rd Sword) (2%)]


    Skill: [Medicine (Level 3)], [Botany (Level 5)]"


    "My current stats are about the same as my true stats in the world I belong to. My Magic has been restored to how it was due to the fact that I had used karma to restore the link with my actualised dream world... Has Grade 5 of the Water Controlling Technique evolved to Weather Controlling Technique?"


    Fang Yuan rubbed his chin and glanced at his techniques before letting out a sigh. "Or should I say... Grade 5 is a stage in itself and after achieving a breakthrough, there will be changes to the technique. Since my skill is in Botany, should I expect something to change after achieving a breakthrough in it?"


    At this point in time, he was extremely sure that if he were to achieve the 8th Transformation to become a water dragon, the cultivation of his incarnation would surpass his actual cultivation level.


    This was nothing much though; the greater his abilities, the better he would be able to reap from this world.


    There was a tinge of excitement on Fang Yuan''s face. "Who would''ve thought that time would pass quicker in this world after the tribulation! This is indeed fate for me to enter the realm at the correct time!"


    Originally, he planned to kill his way to achieve the next transformation but now, he was living in the moment he had been waiting for!


    With a happy heart, he started to scavenge for loots. Both the child daoists had nothing on them, but the elder daoist had a few treasures with him, especially the piece of jade around his waist.


    After keeping it, Fang Yuan shot his finger out. The flames from his sword essence erupted, incinerating the 3 corpses into ashes.


    "Xu Ren has done a good job... Has he been appointed the Prefecture Minister already? There''s Xu Ting as well. He is 18 this year and should be experiencing a tribulation soon..."


    He rushed towards the prefecture city in a hurry.


    Previously as a Giant Venomous Snake, he would give off a demonic vibe wherever he go. Now, as a dragon, he could go anywhere and people would welcome his auspicious vibe.


    ...


    Golden Lake Prefecture, Prefecture City.


    Next to the Xu Family Mansion, Fang Yuan sat by a roadside stall, took out some money and bought himself a pot of tea and a few dim sum. Heartily, he started to indulge.


    In his consciousness, he started to retrieve the memories of his incarnation for the past 10 years.


    "The powerful countries of the people dao would be Da Chu, where Xu Ren is at, Da Qi and Da Liang... Da Chu is experiencing a downfall now with the death of her previous king. The new king is only 8-years-old and power still lies in the ministers around him. With the weakening of the Imperial Court and the natural disasters that are happening, Da Chu is in a mess... The Imperial Court will have no choice but to take things into their own hands and take Da Chu back!"


    "Golden Court Prefecture... It is still quite prosperous but unfortunately, it is a few towns away from the Imperial Court and the Imperial Court will have difficulties helping the prefecture. Therefore, it seems as though the prefecture is governing itself..."


    This was the time.


    However, as the people dao became stronger, the fact that there were involvements of demons meant that things were much more complicated.


    "Under Xu Ren, the evil gods in Golden Lake Prefecture have been cleared and the emergence of the few righteous god like Golden Court Dragon God ensured that support was given entirely to the people dao. Therefore, there have been fewer cases of evil demons wrecking havoc..."


    "On the other hand, in the An River and Qi Lake, the demons have become increasingly rampant. Could the demons have known of the trend of the world and could this be their response to it?"


    Of course, there were intellectual demons among them and Fang Yuan felt that things wouldn''t be as simple as they seem.


    "Looking at things now, the king is young and the time is ripe. If he doesn''t take any action now, he would miss out on a golden opportunity..."


    Although Fang Yuan''s incarnation was living in seclusion for the past few years, it had received messages from Li Luan. From there, Fang Yuan could deduce and predict the happenings of the upcoming tribulation.


    "Things will have to come together after splitting, and split after coming together... Looking at the state of Da Chu and the fact that Da Qi and Da Liang did not invade Da Chu meant that both Da Qi and Da Liang are having their own domestic problems as well. If there were to be an uprising of a dragon, Da Chu could have its peace restored and could even take over Da Qi and Da Liang. Fate energies would surge everywhere and the people dao would prosper!"


    Fang Yuan thought silently to himself.


    Of course, the dragon might not appear in Da Chu. As long as it would appear anywhere with people and civilisation, things could still happen.


    With the emergence of dragons and other demons, there were too many factors, too much for Fang Yuan''s experience to comprehend.


    "Guest?"


    As he was deep in thought, he attracted the attention of many passers-by. The stall owner walked up to Fang Yuan, confused.


    "I am waiting for someone! You don''t have to serve me!"


    Without thought, he waved his hands and smiled. The person he was waiting for had arrived.


    "Hiss..."


    Following the direction in which Fang Yuan was looking at, the stall owner took a glance and saw a 15-year-old young woman walking out from the Xu Family Mansion. As she came out, she was stunned and speechless.


    "Greetings brother, I am Li Luan!"


    This lady was indeed Li Luan. However, compared to how she was before, there was a huge difference.


    As they exchanged their greetings, both of them were shocked at each other.


    Li Luan was shocked at Fang Yuan''s successful transformation and the fact that he no longer had any demonic vibes, but the vibe of a majestic dragon. Her senses told her that Fang Yuan had the same vibe as her father, who was also a dragon!


    Of course, just by her eyesight along, she was unable to deduce that Fang Yuan had successfully transformed into a dragon; she could only tell that he had tremendous improvement in his cultivation.


    Fang Yuan was stunned by the fact that Li Luan had a physical body.


    "Who would''ve thought... that you can undergo a successful reincarnation and become a human!"


    With the flick of his finger, he segregated the both of them from the rest with a spell before commenting.


    He was right! The lady before him was a true physical human, not a demon!


    Li Luan must have gave up in being a demon and went into a pregnant lady to be born after 10 months. In this way, she could have a physical human body and this was similar to the two children from Xuan Zhen Sect.


    "No wonder they cannot do anything to you!"


    Fang Yuan was initially confused. Even with Xu Ren''s protection, there were many highly-skilled humans who would not allow her to even come close to the Xu Family.


    He wouldn''t have guessed that she would have the resolution to reincarnate into a human!


    "This is nothing much. After all... I have been following the Xu Family for all these years. With your help, I have slowly understood fate... The uprising of the people dao is indeed heaven''s intention, so why go against it?"


    Li Luan spoke calmly but Fang Yuan could feel that she was still hiding something.


    After a long while of silence, Li Luan continued. "Are you here for..."


    To her, Fang Yuan was always mysterious and the past few times, she realised that he was a cruel person who would strike fear in many.


    If not for all that had happened, she would not want to be associated with Fang Yuan.


    "I want to meet Xu Ren! The time is ripe and he should strike now!"


    Although Fang Yuan was composed, it felt as though he was shouting into Li Luan''s ear.


    "Alright, I will relay your message to him!"


    She understood what he meant. With a pale face, she gritted her teeth and stood up.


    "Yu!"


    At this point in time, a few horses arrived at the door of Xu Family Mansion. The few servants at the doors passionately exclaimed, "My Lord has arrived!"


    "Mmm!"


    A young man leapt down from the horse. He was nimble and had sharp facial features. He was rather handsome.


    Seeing Li Luan walking over to him restlessly, the young man threw his horse whip. "Luan''er, what happened?"


    Seeing how anxious he was, it was obvious that he was related to Li Luan.


    "No... Nothing much!"


    Li Luan blushed. Seeing how Xu Ting wanted to help her tidy her hair, she avoided him and ran into the mansion.


    "What happened?"


    Xu Ting was stunned. As he looked across, a servant went up to him and whispered something into his ear. Soon, he glared at Fang Yuan.


    ''Hehe... Could this young kid have fallen for her? What is Li Luan doing?''


    Fang Yuan was confused. ''No... Not right. As a demon, there would be simpler ways to mess with the humans! Li Luan has become close with the Xu Family and would probably have intertwined her fate with the family... Although I''ve helped Xu Family in the past, If I were to get myself involved this time, I would reveal my identity...''


    He had the premonition that things would not go smoothly this time.


    At the same time, he was on guard; things were unpredictable here.


    "My Lord, old master is inviting him in!"


    Li Luan quickly rushed out. Seeing this, she tugged on Xu Ting''s sleeve; she didn''t want them to fight.


    "Since my father wants to see him, let him come in!"


    Xu Ting felt down and appeared depressed.


    Fang Yuan swung his robe and entered, registering this young man''s minute expression.


    ''Jealousy? Confusion? Hatred? Interesting... Only with such a chess piece will I be able to enjoy a good game of chess!''

 294 Calculations

    Greetings, Master Xu!"


    Fang Yuan waved his hand and sat down unceremoniously before sizing Xu Ren up.


    They had not met for 15 years. The upright angry youth who was worried about the country and his people then had turned into an expressionless two-faced middle aged man. Not a hint of anger could be found upon his face even though Fang Yuan was so disrespectful. It was clear that Xu Ren was shrewd which caused Fang Yuan to feel that the flow of time had been cruel.


    "It seems like my lord is here!"


    Xu Ren looked at Fang Yuan''s youthful features and felt a sense of regret. He gave another solemn bow, "I would like to thank you once again for your great help in the past! What other teachings do you have for me this time? If you have any use for me, I would not hesitate to go through great lengths to help!"


    Fang Yuan remained expressionless after hearing this. However, he laughed coldly in his heart.


    Using his spiritual sense, Fang Yuan could already sense the hidden room that was concealed in the study room.


    Within this antique study room, 8 skilled martial artists were hiding. There were also another two magic masters outside!


    Furthermore, the 8 martial artists were full of killing intent. It was obvious that they had killed many others before. They had trained their essence and magic to the point where even demons and ghosts were afraid of them.


    With an order, the study room could turn into a battlefield. Even though Fang Yuan was capable of the 5th or 6th transformation at that time, it would be troublesome for him to kill Xu Ren when he was surrounded.


    Needless to say, after the Xu Family relocated here, they had amass their power and had many links with other martial artists. It would not be difficult for him to call up hundreds of loyal soldiers.


    This was Heaven''s will.


    ''It seems like Xu Ren has truly grown up!''


    Fang Yuan thought solemnly but said, "I would not dare...You have the protection of Fate. I am here this time to ask you if you will act now that the time is ripe."


    "Fate?"


    Xu Ren was shocked. He waved his hand in the direction of Northwest. "I, Xu Ren, am an official of the court. I must naturally be loyal to the king..."


    He stopped in the middle of the sentence as he saw Fang Yuan''s smile and could not continue.


    He now remembered that the opponent was a demon! He would not fall for this type of trick. Xu Ren fell silent and nodded his head.


    He finally spoke after a long time had passed. "The previous king did me a huge favour. I was not willing to scheme against his country at first. However, this concerns my race and as such, even if I am unwilling, I must try my best in order for my people to be happy!"


    It seemed that after one had been in the court for long, he would learn to use the glorious banner of People Dao as an excuse and a cause to conceal his disloyalty and plans for a revolt.


    Fang Yuan nodded although he knew that it was a lie.


    Whether there was such a cause, was another situation altogether. Fang Yuan could tell that Xu Ren was intelligent.


    Fang Yuan was clear about it ever since Xu Ren moved his entire race here and spread the word to raise sacrificial knights.


    "How do you intend to do it?"


    Fang Yuan asked again.


    The current magistrate, Kou Wei, is very old and sick. He is retiring soon and I have made preparations to take over his post and strengthen my base..."


    Xu Ren''s face twitched, but he still told Fang Yuan his plan.


    Afterall, there were no outsiders in the house. His bodyguards were all sacrificial knights who were all extremely loyal.


    "If that is the case, we will lose time!"


    Fang Yuan scoffed upon hearing what Xu Ren said.


    The tribulations were only taking place these few years and yet, Xu Ren wanted to idly wait for the magistrate to retire? After all, he was not the hidden dragon [1] but merely his father. He had lost his fearless spirit and the courage to usurp everything and start again.


    "Then, according to your intention, I should act now?"


    Xu Ren laughed. He had made up his mind to kill the demon in front of him on the spot if it were to suggest that to him!


    Afterall, Da Chu was weakened. Even if they mustered troops to revolt, they would only perish.


    "Not necessarily!"


    Fang Yuan smiled. "Do you still remember your wishes in the past?"


    Xu Ren absentmindedly remembered the past when he was still a hot-blooded youth. He had the ambition to rule the country and make it peaceful for the people. "The Golden Lake Prefecture has 2 evils, which are the evil gods and the pirates!"


    After a few years of purging the evil gods, there were not much of them left.


    Only the pirates, who advanced and retreated like the wind, were left. They usually hid within the Golden Court Lake like water droplets in the sea [2] and were extremely skilled in battles on water.


    Furthermore, the natural and man-made disasters in the other prefectures had resulted in the victims seeking refuge at the Golden Court Lake, which gave the pirates an endless stream of backups.


    Although Xu Ren had sent his troops to stomp out the pirates and have even achieved a decisive victory, the pirates came back not long after like how the spring wind brought along life during springtime.


    According to his calculations, there was only hope in removing the pirates if he occupy the surround prefectures around the Golden Lake Prefecture and govern them together.


    "Unless, you make this trip today because you have a plan to exterminate the pirates?"


    Xu Ren asked joyfully.


    "How did the officials handle the situation after capturing the pirates the past few times?"


    Fang Yuan played around with the teacup and spoke frankly with the official. With this kind of temperament, Xu Ren could not help but felt that even his talented son could not match Fang Yuan.


    After pondering, he replied, "The leader of the pirates are executed while the rest are relocated. However, I do not have much land in the Golden Lake Prefecture and am unable to relocate all of them.As such, there were many repeat offenders!""


    "Previously, you were working within the constraints of being in the local authority and could only do so much. But now, by thinking out of the box, wouldn''t you have everything? The Golden Lake Prefecture has always been focused on the development of the military. Wouldn''t this make an excellent source for soldiers?


    Fang Yuan smiled as he presented his idea.


    Truth be told, all these were made by Heaven''s will for Xu Ting.


    If not, how would he manage to rise up the ranks so easily?


    "Converting the pirates to become soldiers? Once the quota is exceeded, it would be no different from openly revolting..."


    Xu Ren pondered for a while and felt that Fang Yuan had not fully expressed himself. He could not help but stand up and gave a deep bow, "Please enlighten me!"


    He could not help but feel that the same scenario played out many years ago when he made the decision to exterminate the evil gods!


    "There are many waterways in Da Chu. After training them, these pirates will make a topnotch navy¡­Furthermore, they owe their lives to you and would be loyal to you!"


    Truth be told, the navy was just a supplement to the cause. What Fang Yuan really meant was that Da Chu had existed for hundreds of years. The rules of the king had greatly affected the people. If one is to stage a revolution, even with the support of his people, there was an 80% chance of failure. At this time and age, the king''s influence was unbelievable.


    As such, if the revolution really took place, there would be little support.


    However, the pirates were lawless. They were the people who killed the officials and went against the law. They would be fiercely loyal if they were able to lead a better life and saved from the harsh seas.


    They would not hesitate to go against the heavens. This was the type of mentality that the revolutionary army needed!


    "Well..."


    Xu Ren understood immediately and was moved.


    In any rebellion, if the people''s minds were not resolute, once shaken, there would be spies and the army would be defeated.


    The Imperial Court had been awe-inspiring for many years. There were few who would dare to usurp everything.


    However, there were no shortage of people within the pirates who were willing and dare to bring down the king.


    It would certainly be advantageous to him if he manage to recruit the help of the pirates.


    Most importantly, he would be able to hide the troops within the lake where they would not be seen or heard unless when called upon. Once called upon, they would be able to occupy the waterways and attack the other prefectures. The chances of catching the others off-guard and unprepared was very high.


    If that was the case, he would be able to act immediately with great confidence that he would be able to annex the region.


    If he had time on his side...ruling the world would not just be a dream!


    "You have enlightened me with your words!"


    Xu Ren immediately kowtowed, tears flowing from his eyes, "I am able to reach where I am today due to your help many years ago. I am willing to build a shrine in my family house and offer sacrifices throughout the four seasons. I hope you would not decline my suggestion!"


    Up till now, he still believed that Fang Yuan was a Black Dragon General that was sealed and a god.


    "Haha...This is all Heaven''s will. Do you think I came up with this plan?"


    Fang Yuan laughed before leaving.


    With a flash of golden light, he disappeared without a trace.


    Upon witnessing this scene, Xu Ren''s face darkened and he mulled for a long time before clapping his hands. "Come out!"


    "My lord!"


    The wall behind the study room opened and two men walked out. They kneeled down respectfully.


    "This matter...this is a top secret, I presume you know the rules?"


    Xu Ren laughed coldly.


    "Rest assured, my lord, this matter will not spread. If any rumours leak out, I will be held accountable!"


    The martial artists knew the weight of the situation. They solemnly kowtowed, their scalps dark red in colour.


    "I naturally trust you all. You all can go now!"


    Xu Ren waved his hand and allowed the martial artists to retreat before looking towards Wen Sheng. "Shen Changhe [3], you are the mastermind. What do you think of this plan?"


    This scribe was dressed in green robes and was around 30 years old. He was in his prime and appeared scholarly. He was full of confidence, and after overhearing what was said, he said, "My lord, I overhead the conversation just now. After consideration, I feel that this plan is remarkable. Hiding the troops in the lake. Once there are changes, we can completely control the surrounding 5 prefectures and immediately create the atmosphere to..."


    "The most crucial element is still to capture the pirates in the right and just way so that no one can find fault in my doings!"


    "Yes!"


    Xu Ren stroked his beard. It was obvious that he was very satisfied.


    "It is just that...who will spearhead this operation?"


    He looked towards Shen Changhe and asked.


    Shen Changhe shuddered and broke out in cold sweat. He immediately kowtowed and said, "As the official, even if the magistrate has washed his hand of this matter, it would be best to avoid implications. However, you can send young master!"


    "The young master has already become a scholar. If he were to perform this task, he would be awarded the post of a 9th grade official with the power to investigate in every county, and may even become the substitute district lieutenant..."


    The power to control the troops was a heavy responsibility. As the mastermind, Shen Changhe would not be so foolish as to get himself implicated.


    Truth be told, recommending Xu Ting was the only option.


    "Hmmm...the world is in a mess. So what if he becomes a scholar? It would be better for him to become an official directly. I will go speak to Ting''er..."


    Xu Ren could not help but smile when he thought of his son.


    The responsibility of improving the family''s social status in the future lied with his talented son.


    [1]A person of power and significance


    [2] The pirates blend into the surroundings well


    [3] Wen Sheng and Shen Changhe are the same person.

 295 Dragon Palace

    "The immeasurable!"


    In a small temple, the chief Daoist walked out of the room where he was conducting morning classes. He gazed silently in the direction of the Golden Lake Prefecture.


    This Daoist was named Qing Xuan, and was in his fifties. His hair was half white, and his complexion was often a healthy pink. He was full of vitality.


    However, at this point in time, his face was ash grey as he stared at the reddish skies.


    His heart felt as though it was going through a storm.


    ''The convergence of fate energy, the gathering of an evil aura, this smells of war...the Xu family wants to rebel¡­''


    This was expected, and his sect had invested in this too.


    "But according to the plan, wasn''t it up to the three grandmasters to advise the head of the Xu family, and subsequently claim all the credit? Why did they act so early?"


    This had resulted in a loss and would inevitably compromise the great scheme of things.


    "Could it have been the Carp spirit?"


    Daoist Qing Xuan pondered, and his eyes were cold.


    "I wanted to let her off, seeing that she had already reincarnated into a human being, and also had the protection of dragon aura. Who would''ve known that she would betray her master? She must be destroyed!"


    In truth, if it was only to aid the Dragon Court, it was alright to sacrifice karma and fate.


    But the most important consideration was that, this demon was close to the headquarters, and if she antagonised him one day, his investment would most probably fail.


    "I doubt that a little demon like her would be this bold¡­"


    The Daoist Qing Xuan pinched his fingers in an attempt at divination, but found the fates difficult to read. He was baffled.


    "Although it was destined that our forefathers fought hard for the rise of People Dao...but it remains unclear as to who will have the last laugh when disaster strikes. Although my cultivation in both energy and divination techniques is solid, but I remain confused. Only the three grandmasters¡­"


    "Wait!"


    Thinking about the three grandmasters today had put a chill in his heart.


    "According to my sect''s prophecy, the grandmaster should have arrived, but why hasn''t he? Demon hunting is no matter. In the Golden Lake Prefecture, which demon other than the Dragon God would be able to face the combined forces of the three grandmasters together with their purple and green swords?


    "Chirp"


    At this time, a green light flashed in the skies, and a little green bird landed on a prune tree in the garden. It continued to twitter and chirp.


    "This is¡­"


    The Daoist Qingxuan flicked his fingers, and an enchantment was created. His face was extremely solemn.


    "What happened exactly? To the extent where the sect has to activate the green bird messenger?"


    As Qing Xuan recited some chants, a spiritual aura fell over the green bird.


    "Chirp"


    The green bird''s large beady eyes turned green for a moment, and it opened its mouth to speak. The voice was an old one.


    "Qing Xuan! In the Grandmasters'' Hall, the jade tablets of the three grandmasters have all broken at the same time, and they are probably in a bad situation. You shall investigate this covertly. Be careful, and remember to not act rashly!"


    "What?"


    The green bird was not an intelligent animal to begin with, and after uttering the last word, it reverted to the simple beast it was and started to peck its feathers. It was oblivious to Qing Xuan''s terror.


    "The jade tablets of the Grandmasters'' Hall is a secret feature of our sect. The spiritual wills of sect elders will be accumulated on the tablets. Three tablets cracking at the same time can only mean that all three grandmasters have met with harm...could it be the work of the Golden Court Dragon God?"


    There were no other possibilities that he could think of.


    This problem, coupled with the disturbances in the Xu family''s dragon aura, caused him to break out in sweat.


    "The forces that the sect has put in place in the Golden Lake Prefecture cannot be entirely activated, but we should not leave them hanging either¡­"


    Daoist Qing Xuan paced back and forth, deep in thought.


    "I won''t alert the rest, except for the spy in the Xu family. I will send them a message to find out what exactly happened¡­"


    Except that he could not dig too deep or risk disturbing the dragon aura, which could cause things to turn ugly.


    It would compromise investigative efforts if that happened.


    However, if he put in effort, there would definitely be results.


    The reports came in at nighttime.


    "Lord Xu intends to send an army to deal with the pirates in the Golden Court Lake?"


    The room was dark save for a tiny light. The Daoist Qing Xuan analysed the situation.


    "The Golden Court Lake was vast, with countless of small islands. To clear them all was no small feat...also, there were some heroic figures among the pirates who must not be underestimated¡­"


    In truth, Qing Xuan understood that the Golden Court Lake was a god-given chance for the Xu family to grow their power.


    Their decision to act now also meant that the odds were in their favour.


    Qing Xuan turned to the messenger angrily.


    "This is a serious matter. You must report back to the sect immediately. Our people have to participate in this too...or we will lose a great opportunity."


    He looked towards the flame ponderously.


    Qing Xuan did not have the means to continue investigating the fate of the three grandmasters . He had to appeal to the sect for help.


    ________


    Fang Yuan was not in the mood.


    He went to the water''s edge and moved his body slightly. A layer of water vapour materialised and lingered about the surroundings. The light rays were reflected into different colours. This was a special occurrence.


    "A horned dragon has power over water, and also has the ability to control the weather¡­"


    Fang Yuan took a step forward and there was a flash of golden light. He had transformed into a horned dragon, and dashed towards the blue skies.


    "Huff"


    The winds had risen and the clouds were gathering. The sky was darkening. Before long, rain began to fall.


    "The horned dragon can master the elements, which is a prodigious ability! The other major demons will never be able to achieve this¡­"


    As Fang Yuan traversed the clouds, he was experiencing something entirely new to him.


    "Following the transformation into a horned dragon, one can manipulate all the water vapour in the immediate area. He is no different from a water god!"


    Of course, being the youngest dragon around meant that his powers were still very much limited.


    Additionally, Fang Yuan had no intention of causing storms and floods, and thus flew about carefully trying to familiarise himself with the art of weather control.


    "A good rain knows its season, and comes when spring is here...in truth, this is the limitation of a horned dragon. To create real storms that affect a large area would require one to become a water dragon!"


    The horned dragon was a junior dragon, but the water dragon was powerful and was always accompanied by the winds and rain.


    "A pity...I''ve only managed to progress to the 8th step in the 9-Step Dragon Transformation Technique. The most crucial step is the True Dragon Transformation!"


    The water dragon was powerful, but was no match for the true dragon.


    The water dragons were numerous, like the various lords of the mortal world. But there could only be One True Dragon, just like how there was only one emperor.


    As his thoughts wandered, Fang Yuan could not help but examine his luck and karma.


    Dealing with Xu Ren had triggered the recovery of his People Dao Karma, which was previously down by half.


    Of course, an evil aura was gathering, which was the backlash created from trying to change the general trend.


    "Who cares if I am to be dealt with with tribulations...it cannot be out of the blue...with my skills in magic, no one can challenge me in the Golden Court manor . The Daoist Xuan Zhen knew that the revenge plan would take a lot of plan, which leaves one more possibility!"


    Fang Yuan''s eyes gleamed. He had no intention of slowing down, and the rain began to spread to the edges of the Golden Court Lake.


    From the torrents of water rose a water demon mounted on a black fish.


    "Who is the one causing such a great disturbance? Do you not know that this is the territory of our Dragon God?"


    If Fang Yuan could create such a turbulence, the water demon should rightfully show him some respect.


    But the water demon defied expectations and raged on. Following a wave of its arm, a jet of water shot up into the skies.


    "Insolence!"


    Fang Yuan swung his tail and the water jet fell apart immediately.


    Not only that, but he willed the lake waters to become turbulent. The water film formed a bubble and levitated into the air.


    The water demon was frightened and was trapped in the bubble like an insect in amber.


    Fang Yuan examined it with interest. He had every intention to kill it.


    ''Hmm...this must be the workings of karma and fate, altering the potential of opportunities to confuse the mind?''


    If it was a native, he would definitely be irritated, kill the water demon in one blow and begin a massacre. This would foster an enmity with the Dragon God.


    Although this was the worst case scenario, it was a highly probable result.


    But Fang Yuan was different!


    Gods and spirits from another world had high resistance towards the temptations of fate.


    "You actually dared to challenge me, water demon."


    Fang Yuan released the demon partially from the water prison, and revealed his true dragon form. He then asserted his authority.


    "My...my lord?"


    The water demon was terrified.


    The dragon was the lord of all water beings, born to be a king.


    The water demon had disrespected a dragon and knew that his actions were treasonous. No words could express the fear it was experiencing at the moment.


    At this point, Fang Yuan felt a tinge of regret. It was unlike him to be provoked so easily.


    "I was playful and did not realise that I was trespassing. This is partially my fault. This, I will spare you. Go report my arrival to the Dragon God, now!"


    Following a nod from Fang Yuan, the water demon dived into the deep and disappeared from sight.


    In truth, these were but Fang Yuan''s excuses.


    Knowing that the tribulations were impending, he acted first to bring the ball into his court. This was a useful method.


    Like what happened just now. With a clear plan, one would be become more reserved in their actions.


    Otherwise, following the activation of heaven''s will, one will still suffer. Without any preparation, the effects would be more profound.


    Before long, a swirl formed in the water. Water beings formed two rows, and a turtle appeared. It bowed down solemnly.


    "My lord the Dragon God, upon finding out that a fellow dragon has come to visit, was extremely happy. May I invite you to join us in for a gathering at the Dragon Palace!"


    "Mm lead the way!"


    Fang Yuan was intent on finding out more about the Dragon God of Golden Court Lake. He dived into the water and appeared as his human self. He then sat on the back of a large turtle.


    "Yes, let your old servant lead the way!"


    The turtle was obsequious and pointed out the road ahead.


    The turtle race was related to the dragon race, and yet it was very difficult for turtles to cultivate the dragon form. Most of them were loyal followers of the Dragon God, and looked forward to the day where he could become a true dragon and elevate them together with him.


    Now that the turtle had met a young dragon in Fang Yuan, it considered him a master too and decided that it would not compromise on the formalities.


    The turtle was a sturdy creature, but yet moved at an alarmingly fast speed in the water. Before long, a glittering place of gold and jade appeared before Fang Yuan''s eyes.

 296 The Patrol

    The Dragon Palace was opulently grandeur and precious materials lined the floors and walls. Even though it was the most grandiose palace Fang Yuan had ever seen, he was unamused as he had seen similarly magnificent palaces before.


    The tortoise guard was caught off guard by Fang Yuan''s indifference.


    "My master is the richest amongst all in the seas and this palace is home to many treasures of Golden Court Lake; even the previous visitor, the Monkey God, was in utter awe of the palace. Yet, I can''t believe unlike others, you are so indifferent to such opulence! Perhaps, you are from the seas?"


    With greater reverence, the tortoise guard led Fang Yuan inside a large plaza.


    Inside the plaza, a black water dragon opened its eye.


    "Leave him here and the rest of you all are dismissed!" he ordered with a powerful demeanour.


    "Yes, your majesty!"


    With the Golden Court Dragon God''s command, all the water dwellers solemnly and respectfully retreated.


    However, Fang Yuan''s expression changed suddenly as he gazed at the black water dragon. "This can''t be right¡­, that''s not his true form!"


    "Splash!"


    Under the soft noise of water splashing, it was as though the mirage was dispelled by water.


    Akin to a soap bubble bursting, the humongous body of the black evil dragon suddenly disappeared and left behind a majestic deity. The deity was donned in a royal crown and had two dragon horns coming out of his forehead.


    "God Dao Golden Body!"


    Fang Yuan was in awe and paid respects again, "It is my honour to meet you!"


    The golden body was cast from the beliefs of the people dao and possessed boundless powers that were even greater than that of the dragon body.


    Unfortunately, it was after all built from the intangible beliefs of the people dao and was not bound by flesh.


    "So the Golden Court Dragon God''s true form is actually a people dao deity!" he thought.


    It was a sudden realization for Fang Yuan as all his doubts were cleared at once. "No wonder the clearing of the evil gods'' offerings went so smoothly, behind those righteous gods, there was help from this greater god!"


    "Ah, no need for formalities!"


    The Dragon God raised his hands slightly and a surge of force lifted Fang Yuan.


    "I have been paying attention to you for a long time!"


    The Dragon God smiled and continued, "I welcome you inside to talk!"


    The two of them then entered the palace hall behind the plaza.


    The palace hall was colossal. It had forty-nine sturdy golden pillars supporting a golden dome roof. Above it, ripples of water could be seen and it was truly a sight to behold.


    "This is the heart of my Dragon Palace, Blue Water Hall! Whatever we discuss here cannot be leaked, and it can even conceal secrets and mislead those who try to predict!"


    He then sat on his main seat and gestured towards Fang Yuan, "Have a seat too!"


    Fang Yuan sat on the Fire Jade Coral Chair and felt warm and comfortable.


    At that moment, a puzzled expression appeared on his face. "Paid attention to me for a long time? Have we met before¡­?"


    "Ah, I have been noticing you ever since you destroyed the Monkey God''s magical clone. However, I was busy doing my dragon transformation and was too wary of you. Hence, even though I thought of inviting you many times, it is such a pity I ended up backing out every time¡­"


    The Dragon God grinned, "Also, about that Black Dragon General''s Temple of yours? I was also the one who sent people to tidy it, else people would have stopped visiting and providing offerings¡­"


    It was all clear to Fang Yuan.


    The Golden Court Dragon God was in charge of all the water deities in the surrounding radius of Golden Court Lake, he must have noticed Fang Yuan since that period.


    But was he biased towards the humans since then?


    Fang Yuan was even more certain that he could achieve his goals during this trip.


    Initially, he simply wanted to meet him first while transformed as a horned dragon and then look for more information later on.


    However, he could now complete it in one step.


    "This Dragon God''s water dragon incarnation is already destroyed, what''s left is just the embodiment of people''s beliefs. He can be influenced the most easily now, and there''s no doubt he is biased towards the humans." Fang Yuan thought.


    Fang Yuan stood up and bowed, "Thank you Dragon God! However, I have a favour to ask of you!"


    "Go ahead!"


    The Golden Court Dragon God gestured.


    Although he was already a people dao deity, his heart was still influenced by his previous form. Thus, he had a warmer attitude towards this fellow horned dragon.


    "The prefecture minister of Golden Lake Prefecture, Xu Ren, deeply pities the commoners'' tough life and furthermore, pirates are rampant over there. He wants to eradicate those pirates but however, the Golden Court Lake is so vast with thousands of islands. So please, I seek your helping hand, Dragon God!"


    Fang Yuan narrated Xu Ren''s situation and added, "If you help out the commoners of Golden Court Lake, they would be tremendously grateful for your benevolence!"


    "Ah, even if you did not mention this matter, I was already prepared to do so!"


    The Golden Court Dragon God stroked his beard with satisfaction.


    As a people dao deity, it was beneficial for him to maintain both the peace and stability of the environment and a large number of believers.


    "As a righteous god, I, the Golden Court Lake Dragon God, would definitely know the hiding locations of all those pirates¡­ Just that gods and humans should not interact too closely, hence, I still require a human aide!"


    The Golden Court Dragon God exclaimed with radiance in his eyes, "You! How about you?"


    "Of course I can!"


    Fang Yuan laughed; he knew that he had successfully established rapport with the Dragon God.


    "In his eyes, we are very much alike¡­ both born as dragons, both sensed great tribulations, both wanted to help the people dao¡­ unlike humans and their infighting¡­. Of course, perhaps the Golden Court Dragon God''s does not require a lot of karma points, solely relying on self-sustenance, unlike those of Xuan Zhen Sect who consumed so much and fought with others who vied for it too..." Fang Yuan thought.


    "Ah, it is my privilege to have you as my guest! I have already informed my subordinates to prepare a grand feast for you tonight!"


    The Golden Court Dragon God nodded, his divine gaze momentarily faded as he chatted like any other noblemen, "You must enjoy a couple of drinks tonight!"


    "Of course!"


    As they spoke, Fang Yuan began to wonder about the entertainment the Dragon Palace provided and he inevitably expressed his curiosity.


    It was normal for someone with such a high cultivation level to be so direct.


    "Hahaha¡­, great!"


    The Dragon God was elated. He clapped his hands and two groups of gorgeous shell ladies swarmed out. Behind them were water dwellers carrying an array of delicacies.


    Spiritual meals that could be eaten by both humans and Yin Spirits were consumed in the Dragon Palace.


    Although it was not very useful for Fang Yuan, it was eye-opening for him and he enjoyed his time with the host.


    ...


    Spring, 3rd Year of Yong An, Da Chu.


    At the pier of Black Lake District.


    Xu Ting stood on top of two ships and behind him were soldiers. The soldiers were fully geared and carried a faint sense of ferocity.


    As he looked at the ships and the soldiers, he was very satisfied.


    At that time, Xu Ting was already a ninth grade official. He was assigned as Black Lake District''s naval patrol officer.


    As a patrol officer, he was in charge of recruiting soldiers, busting pirates, and also had the authority to set up roadblocks both on land and sea. At his current rank, he could only recruit a hundred men at most.


    With help from his clan and aid from the district leader, Zhang Gui, he managed to form the troop quickly. The only thing left for the substantial troop was to test its prowess in a real war.


    "Father was right, troubled times are ahead. I don''t need scholarly honour, in the future, it is a brawn over brain kind of world¡­" he thought.


    Unknowingly, Xu Ting felt melancholic as he looked at his military officer''s uniform.


    Black Lake District''s district leader was an old friend of his father. He was very kind to Xu Ting and supplied him with all the bows, arrow, armour and food that he required.


    Xu Ting still had some regrets. Once a candidate has been promoted to an official, he could no longer take the imperial examinations.


    "As a man, you shall seek for respect and authority!"


    As he stood at the front of the ship and faced hundreds of subordinates staunchly obeying his orders, he felt a strong sense of power and authority within him. The surge of dominance seemingly opened another door in his heart, as he felt like he had a greater ambition ahead of him.


    "Eradicating the pirates of Golden Court Lake is just the part one of my grand plans, once it succeeds, my clan would at least have the capital to have a footing in this tumultuous world..." he thought.


    Although he also thought of what would happen thereafter, he quickly buried those thoughts.


    At that moment, such wild ambitions were too elusive. He had to ensure his current plans succeeded first.


    "Sir, we can prepare to sail now!"


    The crew reported the conditions of the winds and the water to Xu Ting.


    "Hoist the sails! Embark!"


    As Xu Ting gave his commands, he glanced at the pier for the last time with no wistfulness.


    "Raise the anchor!"


    "Set sail!"


    The ship''s crew were all experienced seafarers. Under his command, the two ships embarked smoothly.


    Also, it was an official vessel, it had a larger body, drained more water and was immaculately stable. The possibility of feeling seasick on the ship was also much smaller. Furthermore, the key areas were covered in iron sheets and the ships'' defence was unparalleled.


    There were two such warships and each had fifty soldiers on it. The soldiers were equipped with bows and other weapons. They were definitely a force to be reckoned with in Golden Court Lake.


    "Doesn''t matter if it is politicking or working, the worst thing to do is to create a big commotion right at the start. With my current status, a hundred men and two ships are ample. Anyway, we wouldn''t encounter pirates throughout the whole journey and they can only have at most five hundred to a thousand of its people on those small islands. Plus, since they are mostly comprised of the elderly, the women and the young, we would definitely be able to bust them all!"


    Xu Ting was not an empty strategist, he was fully confident in his plans and envisioned, "By leading a troop of hundred, I am certain that I can conquer them all, and my power would snowball further afterwards!"


    Furthermore, every time the pirates were cleaned up with his efforts, he could claim his merits from the imperial court and be promoted to receive greater power and authority.


    Hence, when he finally conquered all the pirates in Golden Court Lake, his rank would be comparable to others.


    "Call all the sergeants and above to come to the meeting!"


    Xu Ting then issued his command as his watched the glistening waters.


    The military system of Da Chu was formed on the basis that five men formed a team led by a corporal and ten men formed a team led by a sergeant.


    Be it a corporal or a sergeant, both ranks were below that of a ninth grade official. However, they formed the backbone of troops and were future candidates for officers.


    As he met the sergeants, Xu Ting stroked his sword and thought about how he could fully earn the loyalty of his men through leading them with both care and authority.


    In this tumultuous world, one has to be fully prepared at all times, and it was even more important to have a firm grasp of one''s own military power.


    Such a belief was not due to distrust, it was simply due to the temperament of water dragons!

 297 Eradicating Pirates

    "The ''Pirates of Golden Court Lake'' is merely a collective title for the numerous different small groups of pirates in Golden Court Lake. The different groups do not work together, they even compete and clash with each other for land, wealth and women¡­"


    Inside the small cabin, Xu Ting looked at the map and spoke with fervour.


    The Xu family was rooted in Golden Lake Prefecture for ten over years, it was unsurprising that they had such intelligence in their hands.


    "These pirates are mostly refugees from other areas that gather on the islands. Some of them do reclaim the land, but however, most of them rely on plundering! Some of them have even built up stockaded villages!"


    In reality, due to limited resources, terrain and reclamation limitations, such stockaded villages were not large in scale and housed at most a thousand people.


    Furthermore, the natural resources on the island combined with the plundered materials were still insufficient for large groups of pirates, and hence they had to branch off from one another.


    "This time around, we will be conquering the pirates on Heiguan Island. These pirates have pillaged Black Lake District before, killing 27 people in the process and even raided a large family¡­"


    Xu Ting frowned.


    When the pirates were ashore, it was natural that they killed and raided. However, since they could break in these large families'' estates that were fenced and fortified with tall, huge walls, it meant that the pirates were either very brave, or there were very capable people within them.


    "Come, bring Hu San over!"


    Immediately after he clapped his hands, two soldiers brought a man over.


    From the man''s frail and ragged looking appearance, it was evident that he was the poorest of the poor.


    Of course, as those around were all soldiers, from the man''s savage looking eyes and his body odour that reeked of seawater, they could immediately decipher his identity.


    "A pirate?"


    A few sergeants exchanged glances, and their face lit up.


    "Haha¡­, not bad, he is indeed a pirate. A pirate from Heiguan Island to be exact!"


    Xu Ting stroked his steel ring and mentioned, "Explain everything you know and then guide the way for us! If you heed our orders, you will be greatly rewarded and your criminal records would be expunged! How about that?"


    Even though pirates were usually refugees, there were some exceptions.


    Hu San was from Black Lake District, however after he committed crimes, he was wanted by the authorities. Hence, he had no other choice than to join the pirates.


    Once Xu Ting assumed his post and caught wind of the matter, he immediately tasked his clan members to help him and after observing for a period of time, sure enough, Hu San was caught.


    With incriminating evidence held against him, Hu San was surprisingly not stubborn, he lifted his head, and with a slightly hopeful look, said, "Are you¡­ for real?"


    "Hehe¡­ our master is an official of the prefecture minister, why would he lie to a scoundrel like you?"


    Before Xu Ting could speak, a bodyguard at the side sneered.


    As the eldest son of the family, safety was of utmost importance. This group of bodyguards were the cream of the crop, they were all skilled in combat and defence. Also, instead of leather armour, they were donned in chainmail.


    The chainmail was made from metal rings looped together and was lightweight and flexible. In spite of that, its defence was much better than that of normal armour. It was costly to make such armour and was only possible for bodyguards of ninth grade officials and above to have it.


    However, the chainmail was a common sight here.


    As the commander''s bodyguard, such treatment was expected.


    Just with the five well-armed bodyguards alone, it might even be enough to kill hundreds of people!


    Thus, Xu Ting did not have many worries for this conquest.


    Nevertheless, preparations for the war were required. It was necessary to fully ready their tactics.


    "Prefecture minister¡­ Xu?"


    Hu San took a deep breath, "Alright¡­, I will believe you this time!"


    With fire in his eyes, Hu San explained again, "Our boss is called Lu Jia. We occupied Heiguan Island and built a stockaded village on it. There are seven to eight hundred people and three ships! There are hundred and twenty strong men called the Twelfth Jia¡­, and also, I know the way there and can bring you all there!"


    "Good, dismiss him and give him some meat and wine!"


    Xu Ting was delighted upon hearing that.


    Although they had a map of the waterway, it was reassuring that an experienced person held the task of navigating the directions.


    On the vast lake, there were no reference objects to navigate with. Without an experienced navigator, a small mistake could steer the ship off by a huge margin. Thus, this was also the reason why the pirates remained uncaught till now.


    ...


    Hu San was indeed cooperative, after a day of him pointing directions, a small island appeared in front of Xu Ting.


    "Hmm, looks clean, shouldn''t be some kind of snake island¡­"


    Xu Ting happily said as he shielded his eyes from the sun, looked far away and also smelled the air.


    There were thousands of island on Golden Court Lake, some of the islands were dead empty, while other had many species of animals. Reportedly, there were some islands that only had numerous species of snakes; it was truly horrifying and dangerous.


    However, the island ahead did not look like such and also did not have the kind of unique stench.


    "Sir!"


    At that moment, a few sergeants came over, "There are a few ships berthed at the other side of the island. What Hu San said should be true! what should we do? Secretly disembark and detour over to launch a surprise attack?"


    "Wait a minute!"


    Xu Ting frowned, "Send the scout over first to see how many ships are there!"


    At that moment, the daoist priest on the ship was put in to great use.


    A white bird flew from the daoist priest''s shoulder, circled the sky, landed back and started chirping away.


    "Sir, there are three ships!"


    The daoist priest reported moments later.


    "Very good, your efforts will be remembered!"


    Xu Ting was elated.


    Although the daoist priest did not have many techniques under his belt, he understood animal language. Even though he only had a common kind of white bird, it always worked flawlessly in scouting. Hence, Xu Ting''s father had always thought highly of the daoist priest and treated him very well.


    Thus, this time around, Xu Ting brought along the daoist priest to help out himself.


    And that was exactly how noble families worked.


    With those, as long as the commander was not too incompetent, there was no reason to fail.


    "So how Sir, should we launch a sneak attack?"


    A few sergeants eagerly wanted to try.


    "What sneak attack?"


    Xu Ting took a few steps and made up his mind, "Our soldiers are so much more superior, we have plenty of weapons and armours, and our ship is fortified with iron! Whereas, they only have three lousy ships, do you think they even stand a chance? Also, all of us are unfamiliar with the island''s terrain, it would not be wise to solely trust one person!"


    "We are soldiers, they are thieves! We don''t need any devious plans, we just have to raise our flag up high and charge forward¡­ With their three ships, where else can they run after we occupy the pier?"


    While the plan seemed simple, it was one that was meticulously devised.


    "In this first war, I rather win it clumsily than to lose skillfully. If my plan is infallible, that would be the best!"


    Xu Ting quietly told himself.


    "Raise the official flag!"


    "Prepare the spearguns!"


    "Speed up and charge forward!"


    ...


    After listening to Xu Ting''s arrangements, the sergeants were not against it.


    After all, they were also clear that the pirates did not have much power to defend the pier. The pirates were no match for them.


    Furthermore, they were backed by bodyguards and the daoist priest.


    Truthfully, it was sufficient to fully suppress the pirates just with this elite force.


    With such an overwhelming strength, the morale was high.


    "Charge!"


    The two warships instantly charged towards the pier aggressively, alarming its people.


    Frankly, the pier was actually just a few shoddy structures built on a natural harbour. The ships could barely be berthed there.


    Three old and dilapidated fishing boats parked at the side of the shore. They appeared modified of sorts and had numerous fishermen climbing up and down, fixing the sails and tidying the ship.


    A ruckus erupted when they saw the two ships carrying the official flag charged towards them.


    Not only were their boats difficult to operate, it took a very long time for them to gear up and be prepared to fight back. Furthermore, they lacked shipmen.


    When Xu Ting charged towards them, he saw them scrambling to start up the ship. He could not help but laugh as he saw many of them running away and also those who were having difficulty hoisting the sails.


    Ultimately, they were thieves against officials, the circumstances were against them. Naturally, their first reaction was to run.


    Those who really fought back without hesitation were truly stupid or ready to die.


    "Seize their ships! Even if they sink, do not leave them with any!"


    Xu Ting wanted to capture them all in one fell swoop and immediately commanded.


    "Spearguns¡­ fire!"


    A loud boom could be heard as the warship began to roar.


    The spearguns were actually crossbows mounted on the ship that shot explosive spears.


    "Boom!"


    On the opposite side, the spear hit the wooden ship and pierced through a few pirates. Blood spewed everywhere as shrieks of terror could be heard.


    "Boom!"


    Another official vessel launched another spear. This time, it was slightly off and pierced through the sail, leaving behind a huge hole.


    "Truth be told, this kind of speargun can only be used to scare off the opponents. It couldn''t even hit a still boat accurately! What if we were on rough seas?"


    Xu Ting shook his head at that sight, "Let''s not even mention those crossbows or what not, they can''t even be used for long. With such dampness and humidity, they would be obsolete after a while¡­"


    He was naturally talented in the battlefield. This time, not only was he collected in commanding, he even had the leisure to think about his own weaknesses.


    "Charge!"


    Once the ship reached the pier, the soldiers were prepared to jump down the official ship.


    As their ship was huge, the deck was high above the ground and gave a dominant vantage point.


    "Archers!" a sergeant hollered.


    Twenty-something archers then drew their bow and shot at the armed pirates on their deck.


    Fully armed soldiers then seized the opportunity and began jumping down the ship to fight.


    "Those damned government troops are here, those who don''t want their whole family to die, fight with them!"


    Amongst the pirates, the very brave ones slashed forward with their swords.


    "Form up and stab!"


    The soldiers formed up, launched their spears together and the pirates turned into a bloody mess.


    "Even with courage, this is all that is left¡­"


    Xu Ting curled his lips as he looked at the scene.


    These pirates'' equipment were no match for the soldiers. Some of them were like beggars who used wooden spears.


    Most importantly, many of them suffered from hunger and were skinny to the bones.


    They could only rely on weapons with no gunpowder, and furthermore, they did not even have enough to eat, how would they have the energy to kill their enemies?


    Hence, through the ages, none of the refugees who rebelled ever succeeded.


    As Xu Ting silently made up his mind, he was no longer undecided on what would be the outcome of these pirates.

 298 The Pacification

    "Kill them all!"


    The soldiers assumed their positions in groups of 5 and complemented each other. Furthermore, with their leather armour for protection, they were able to cut through the defence easily.


    A large group of pirates were immediately killed, their fresh blood staining the floorboards. Some of them panicked and jumped into the water to escape.


    When the second ship fell into the hands of the soldiers, a leader of the pirates immediately shouted. "Things are not looking good! Let''s go...retreat and fortify the stockade village!"


    He had a well-built figure with a booming voice and his skills were not too shoddy. With a swing of his sword, he sliced through a soldier''s leather armour, causing the soldier to scream as his arm was severed.


    "The two of you, kill him!"


    Upon witnessing the scene, Xu Ting ordered his two bodyguards behind him without a moment of hesitation.


    "Understood!"


    The bodyguards replied before rushing forward, their faces bearing cruel smiles as they swung the Hundred Refined Goose Plume Swords. "Die!"


    "Crack!"


    The leader of the pirates raised his sword to parry. The two swords clashed and sparks flew.


    A wave of power surged forth which caused him to retreat as his arms turned numb. He felt as though his sword was going to fly out from his hand and his expression changed. "This is... an elite troop!"


    He could not comprehend the situation. These bodyguards, who could easily take on 10 people at once, were assigned only to generals. Why would they appear in this area to defeat a few pirates?


    However, he could think no further.


    The two bodyguards were well coordinated. One of them met the leader head-on while the other advanced slowly as he waited for the opportunity to strike. With a sudden lunge and a flash of steel, the other bodyguard buried his sword into the waist of the leader which caused fresh blood to gush out from the waist of the leader.


    With a cold laugh, the bodyguard severed the head of the leader with a stroke of his sword.


    "This is a military warfare. Only a fool will play by your rules!"


    In a military warfare, everything was fair play as long as the objective was met. So what if there was a small loss of reputation by using a sneak attack to kill the enemy?


    It would truly be a joke if they were to talk about rules of the brave and the chivalrous with honour!


    "It is almost done!"


    When he saw the last will to rebel crushed, Xu Ting revealed a smile and nodded his head.


    "Listen well, your leader is dead! Why are you all not surrendering?"


    A bodyguard raised the severed head of the leader and hollered, "If you all still go against the soldiers of the imperial court, your whole family will be executed!"


    "Sir, please spare our lives, we are willing to surrender!"


    It was natural for the soldiers to capture the bandits. With the leaders gone, the remaining pirates did not have much will to fight. They threw down their weapons and knelt down to surrender.


    "Good! Prepare the ship, rope in the captives and account for the weapons and the injured..."


    As he looked at the archers slowly killing off the pirates who jumped into the water to escape and a large group of pirates being held captive, Xu Ting gave the orders as his heart was filled with joy.


    Not long after, the results were back.


    "My lord, this time, we have killed 37 people and captured 50 people. The military power of the Heiguan Island has been wiped out..."


    A sergeant reported, his face full of joy.


    "My lord, I have located the stockade village. Those pirates that escaped previously have gathered within the village. It looks like they are trying to defend there..."


    The Daoist priest came forward and spoke.


    There was no real solution. Afterall, no troops would stay for long for just for a small stockade village. Once there were no real benefits left, the troops would withdraw.


    "Oh!"


    Xu Ting did not speak for a while. Instead, he stood on the floorboard and looked at the lake water that was stained red. There was a corpse floating in it with an arrow lodged in the body. He asked, "How many of our men were wounded or killed?"


    "3 people were killed while 5 people were heavily wounded. There were others who had sustain light injuries. They would not affect the operation as they would be able to join in after they are patched up!"


    As he was the son of an official, the troops were highly skilled and there was an experienced doctor who saved the lives once at the battle ground, the troops were in high morale.


    "They have already discovered us. Do we attack?"


    No matter how short and poorly constructed the walls and the ditches were, the offensive side would suffer great loss should they attack the fortified area.


    "Why bother, this battle is already over!"


    Xu Ting tied up the pirates and laughed.


    After a simple interrogation and multiple reports, they discovered that there were around 600 to 700 people left in the village, with most of them being the elderly, women or young children. The leader, Lu Jia was there as well.


    Furthermore, the leader of the pirates who was previously beheaded was the second-in-command of Heiguan Island. He was naturally courageous. Of course, he was reduced to a severed head as a token of his bravery.


    After hearing the reports, Xu Ting ordered the troops to reorganize and rest. He left around 20 people to guard the pier while he brought the remaining troops and captives before the stockade village.


    At that moment, the village was in an uproar. Women and the elderlies could be seen standing atop the wall with worried looks upon their faces.


    Afterall, Xu Ting''s troops were from the army and as such, represented a sense of righteousness.


    Furthermore, they have previously defeated the pirates and killed off many of them.


    "Lu Jia is indeed a talent!"


    Xu Ting came forward and took a look at the village. The walls were not very high. They were slightly over 3 metres and were dilapidated. Before the village, there was a ditch. Although it was freshly dug and unfinished, it was sufficient to serve its purpose.


    With these, if the troops were to assault the village, they would have to pay a certain price.


    "It''s a shame...he had lost his opportunity!"


    If the elite of the pirates were still guarding the village, a hundred ordinary imperial soldiers would not be able to occupy the village.


    Even if Xu Ting were to order his bodyguards to spearhead the assault, the losses would still be great. Once there were discontent amongst the ranks, he would have to massacre the entire village to pacify the soldiers. By then, he would not be able to conscript the pirates.


    However, the family members of these villagers were in his hands. As such, he had a trump card which gave him an advantage.


    "Sir, do we attack?"


    His assistant came forward and asked as he witness the last remaining military power of the valiant pirates that came to the wall. There were only slightly more than a dozen pirates left.


    The officer''s 5 bodyguards were highly skilled and were able to kill off the leader quickly. By doing so, the stand-off would come to an end.


    "Why bother risking our troops?"


    Xu Ting waved his hand. "Bring out the captives! Advise the village to surrender. Tell them...if they do not surrender, I will use the captives to fill the ditches!"


    "Sss..."


    The officer pondered awhile before he let out his breath. He felt a chill in his heart before he praised Xu Ting. "You are indeed wise. The pirates will have no choice but to surrender!"


    It was simply human nature. How many would act against their loved ones?


    Even Lu Jia could not afford to make this mistake as it would incur the fury of the masses! Truth be told, his fate was sealed when the pier was attacked and the route of escape was cut off.


    This was a calculated victory!


    The officer might not be old, but he was well-versed in the arts of war. As such, he was an asset to Xu Ting.


    The assistant pondered silently as he came up with a certain idea.


    ...


    After the demand was made, there was more disturbance within the stockade. Shortly after, the door creaked open, revealing a dozen people carrying chaste berries. Upon seeing Xu Ting, they immediately knelt down. "Greetings!"


    "Hmmmm, get up!"


    Xu Ting looked at the leader of the pirates of Heiguan Island.


    He was only around 30 years old. However, he looked weather-beaten and his hair had started to turn white.


    Xu Ting knew that the person before him was unwilling, but what else could Liu Jia do? He could not afford to offend the villagers and be labelled as a betrayer. As such, there was nothing he could do but to surrender.


    Of course, saving his own skin was most crucial!


    Afterall, based on how the imperial courts handled the pirates in the past, there was faith that only the leader of the pirates would be executed while the other pirates were relocated.


    The hair on Lu Jia''s back stood up as he rose uneasily and looked towards the surrounding fierce soldiers.


    "You gathered a group of pirates and broke the law. You even looted a district town and robbed a large family. Your crime is unpardonable...."


    Xu Ting carried on. His light tone caused Lu Jia''s legs to tremble as he knelt down once more. "My lord, please spare my life! Please spare my life! I am only trying to make a living...food on the island is scarce and many had died of hunger..."


    "Thud Thud!"


    Not long after, Lu Jia''s forehead was red with blood.


    Xu Ting was satisfied upon witnessing this scene. "...however, I empathise with you. As such, I am willing to remove your records if you enlist in my army and eradicate the other pirates!"


    Lu Jia was very capable and was of use to Xu Ting. However, he required more training to correct his boorish character.


    As for how to make use of Lu Jia, Xu Ting had already made up his mind.


    "Thank you my lord! Thank you!"


    Even though the person standing in front of him was just a youth, Lu Jia still repeatedly thank him.


    "Hmmm, Guo Kuixing, bring along 50 people to inspect the stockade and sort out the register..."


    Although Xu Ting knew that there would not be much resistance, he could not set his mind at ease and as such, ordered his subordinates to enter the village with the captives.


    He only managed to smile after all the families were brought out and the stocks accounted for.


    He ordered the soldiers to start cooking in a huge pot, putting in wild herbs, sausages and the likes. They also added in a few salted fish to form a mixed porridge. The porridge were distributed and the soldiers took turn to eat and rest.


    The disturbance within the families started to die out as they received a portion of the food as well.


    While the others were resting, Xu Ting was kept busy to the point where he did not even have the time to drink water. He listened to Guo Kuixing''s report of the stock. "We have captured around 750 people, 70 swords, spears and other types of weapons, 3 sets of leather armour, 500 taels of gold and silver, and a few chests of copper coins...However, there are very little ration. Medicine and cloth are lacking as well!"


    "Hmm, all those male pirates above the age of 15 shall be conscripted into the army and sternly looked after. Group the rest of the families into 5 families per group for mutual monitoring. Punish those who try to flee!"


    Xu Ting walked a few steps before he spoke. "After you all are done with your meal, board the ship and burn down this stockade village!"


    "As for the soldiers, reward them immediately. Those who took part in the battle would be rewarded with 1 silver tael. Those who kill the leaders of pirates will be awarded 10 silver taels. The reward for the main leader is calculated separately...I will not forget the officers who commanded the troops as well."


    "My lord, you are wise indeed!"


    Guo Kuixing and the other officers were joyous upon hearing the news.


    Xu Ting could only laugh bitterly to himself.


    Truth be told, there were more losses than gains as the troops had to consume a lot of resources to launch an attack on this small island.


    ''They do not know that the real rewards are these captives!''


    Xu Ting looked at the hundreds of captives, his face revealing a bright smile.


    [1] Referring to Xu Ting and his elite troops

 299 Evildoer

    Half a month later, Quicksand Island.


    A stockaded village was on fire and thick clouds of black smoke billowed towards the skies.


    Xu Ting gazed at the refugees under his charge and singled out the strong men before rearranging them into new groups. He was satisfied with how it all went smoothly.


    With Lu Jia, the spy, by his side, Xu Ting led a sweeping operation across the surrounding islands. There was an overwhelming amount of gold and silver. Most importantly, the ex-pirates of Heiguan Island clashed with members of their old brethren in a bid to prove their new loyalties.


    To date, the refugees numbered 2,000 with more than 300 able-bodied men among them.


    These men were not in the best of shapes but they were fearless. With enough food and the right amount of training, they could become a formidable force.


    Also, having killed a few rebellious refugee leaders, Xu Ting had managed to inspire fear among the men. They would not cause any trouble for now.


    "My lord¡­"


    Guo Kuixing stood behind him and spoke gingerly.


    "My lord is merciful for sparing the refugees. But we do not have enough supplies to support all of them!"


    "I know!"


    Xu Ting nodded to himself. He understood that things had reached a limit.


    It was indeed a large burden for the Golden Lake Prefecture to support thousands more.


    Besides, the goods offered by Lu Jia and his surrendered band of pirate leaders were running out too.


    The pirate headquarters was a location of utmost importance. The pirates would not give it up so easily.


    Also, the pirates might relocate their headquarters if they receive news of the army invasion. This would make things even more troublesome.


    "This operation to wipe out the pirates of the Golden Court Lake might be tedious, but I see it as an opportunity to train my soldiers!"


    Xu Ting was exhausted but there was fire in his eyes.


    "I am the only commander in this vast lake. I call the shots. I get to decide who lives and who dies¡­.when the purge is complete, my reputation will reach new heights."


    Of course, at this point, both the men and equipment were at their breaking points. They all needed rest.


    Thus, Xu Ting spoke to his second-in-command.


    "Don''t worry, I understand the gravity of the situation. Tell the boats to retreat!"


    Xu Ting''s forces had seized many boats and he had to send them in batches, but the distance they had to travel was not too far. It was all manageable.


    Xu Ting noticed that his subordinates still looked worried.


    "...Father promised me that he would give us land, housing and supplies. I think it will be enough to help all these people settle down!"


    Having heard that the arrangements had received the blessings of the Prefecture Minister, the men were somewhat assuaged.


    Who knew that Xu Ting was, in fact, laughing coldly to himself. The families of the surrendered pirates were going to be hostages. He would never have to worry about them going against him.


    This military operation had given him a better understanding of the situation. He had also become more well-versed in naval warfare.


    The next time, he would definitely put in more effort and request for reinforcements from his clan. He would have to win a watershed victory and gain unparalleled influence in the area!


    "Time waits for no man indeed¡­"


    Xu Ting gave a deep sigh and gazed at the setting sun.


    ...


    In the capital city of Da Chu.


    An imperial manor.


    This was not a prince''s manor, but its gates were large and imposing, its gardens vast and deep. Guards patrolled the manor grounds in a solemn manner. It was comparable to any of the princes'' manors.


    In the whole of Da Chu, only one clan wielded such power. It was the family of the Prime Minister of Chu, Wang Qiao.


    Wang Qiao was born to a prominent clan and was bright from a young age. He had joined the civil service as a junior official and in the span of 20 years, rose to his position as the premier official.


    The late emperor had been a despot who immersed himself in wine and woman. He had died at a relatively young age, and Wang Qiao became the regent for his successor.


    Wang Qiao dropped his image as a loyal subject when he ascended to the regency and had built up a court faction loyal to himself. He had also colluded with the corrupt eunuchs and ladies of the harem so as to secure his grip on power.


    At the beginning of the year, the royal court had decreed that Wang Qiao was exempt from the full rites of greeting the emperor and could carry a sword to court. This was an exceptional privilege and was a testament to his unparalleled influence.


    "Haha...drink up beauty!"


    In the back garden, a band was playing a soothing melody. A lady with skin as fair as white jade and a slim waist was performing a song and dance. It was a very precious sight indeed.


    She was draped in only translucent silk, which accentuated her perfect figure. Her features conveyed various expressions of love and longing. Even the serving ladies standing around were intoxicated.


    Wang Qiao sat in the prime seat and raised a wine cup.


    He looked to be in his fifties and had a graceful and unusual aura about him. His eyes were lit up as he watched the performance.


    "Thank you, My Lord!"


    The beauty stepped forward elegantly and received the cup with her slender fingers. She then drained the cup in a swift movement. Some of the wine escaped her lips and formed a titillating streak by her mouth.


    Wang Qiao was enthralled.


    "My life becomes much more colourful with such a beauty like you by my side, Beauty She!"


    Wang Qiao was about to continue with his frivolous activities when his housekeeper rushed in.


    "My lord!"


    Seeing that Wang Qiao''s expression had turned unpleasant, the housekeeper fell to the floor in a hurry.


    "Sorry for dampening your spirits, My Lord, but there is something very important that I need to report!"


    The housekeeper produced a written report.


    As Wang Qiao read it, his face turned a turbulent shade and he slammed a fist on the table.


    "How dare this Imperial Censor!"


    The Imperial Censors had supervisory roles and could report directly to the emperor. The role was officially not a high-ranking one, but in truth, the Imperial Censors had much authority.


    This particular Imperial Censor was named Hai Qing and had submitted a report detailing the eight major crimes of Wang Qiao. The accusations were very well substantiated and Wang Qiao was actually afraid. His fear quickly turned into rage.


    However, the report would never reach the emperor because Wang Qiao had intercepted it.


    Wang Qiao was angry indeed and he thirsted for blood.


    Wang Qiao might not be a king, but his wrath was a thing to behold. The servants all fell to the ground and prostrated before him. Even Beauty She was trembling.


    "Hehe...Hai Qing? An eloquent writer indeed!"


    As Wang Qiao calmed himself down, he broke out into a laugh.


    "Men, send my personal guards to detain him and throw him into prison. Cut out his ligaments and tear out his tongue¡­"


    "My Lord!"


    The housekeeper was shaken. He was a loyal and fairly capable adviser to Wang Qiao and spoke up.


    "Throughout history, the Imperial Censors have never been punished for their reports. If you want to deal with him, you should grant him another appointment and relocate him so that he will no longer enjoy the immunity of his position. When the time comes, you can deal with him any way you want!"


    "You have a point, but am I to listen to you?"


    Wang Qiao knew that his previous order was an impulsive one and he had intended to correct it. However, hearing the housekeeper offer him the exact plan he had in mind, and being under the gaze of the various ladies surrounding him, he was not about to back down.


    The housekeeper broke out into a cold sweat.


    "No My Lord! I will carry out your orders!"


    ''This housekeeper thinks that I will tolerate his insolence just because he is old¡­''


    As he watched the housekeeper retreat into the distance, an idea came into Wang Qiao''s mind.


    ''I could use take this chance to test the waters. I want to know how many would dare to cross me!"


    In Fang Yuan''s previous life, there was the famous Zhao Gao incident of fact distortion. Throughout history, the strategies of power consolidation remained largely similar to each other. Wang Qiao was planning to use an old trick from the book as well.


    After receiving the report, Wang Qiao was no longer in the mood for merrymaking, and he retired to his study.


    The musicians had already disbanded and went their separate ways, but Beauty She continued to stroll in the garden. Before long, she arrived at the edge of a lonely bamboo forest.


    There was a pavilion made entirely out of bamboo stalks. The workmanship was extremely fine and the pavilion remained cool even with the heat of summer.


    However, at this point, the pavilion was cold, and there was no one else in the surrounding area.


    Beauty She talked to the air. Her behaviour was secretive.


    "You are bold to sneak in here...are you not afraid of the repercussions from people dao and fate energy?"


    A soft ghostly voice broke out from nowhere.


    "Hehe...Wang Qiao is an unscrupulous person who is running out of luck. Why would I be afraid of him?"


    Beauty She laughed when she heard the reply.


    "What a stubborn person. If you are not afraid, why don''t you reveal yourself?"


    The presence in the air was silent for a moment.


    "The rise of people dao is a major development. The holy beings of the demon race are beginning to understand the thread of thought...this is why you demons can reincarnate at the cost of their powers and longevity, and infiltrate the countries of men. This is to bring about the fall of humanity and prevent them from taking up the heaven''s mandate."


    "The previous mission involving the late emperor was a job well done. What about Wang Qiao this time?"


    Beauty She replied with a serious look.


    "For the sake of the demon race, I am willing to do anything. Wang Qiao is obsessed with wine and women. I think he will end up like the late emperor...it''s funny how he isn''t content with me alone and went to hook up with the empress...her race is well known for their cosmetics skills and even I am in awe of it!"


    "Excellent, but he is still useful and you should keep him alive for now¡­"


    The voice in thin air continued to speak.


    "Now we should focus our efforts on goading Wang Qiao to usurp the throne. This would definitely trigger a huge civil war in Chu and lead to the destruction of humanity!!"


    "Yes, I know!"


    There was a shudder in the air, and the presence was gone. Beauty She sighed in relief.


    These days, heaven''s will had become more obvious.


    The tribulations of the demon race had increased, and the thunderclaps from the skies had grown more powerful. A band of gods from people dao and some traitorous demons were in collusion. It was a difficult time.


    The holy beings of the demon race had tried to read the fates and decided that it was unwise to go against them. Resistance was futile. Thus, the beings had come up with this plan to create internal conflict and destroy humanity from within.


    When demons reincarnated, they could become human. However, this came at the cost of half their cultivation and they would lose their demonic magic. Their longevity would also suffer.


    To achieve their goals and hide from their destiny, even the holy beings from the demon race had sacrificed much of their cultivation.


    This was the true master plan of the demon race. Not only in Chu, but Qi and Liang as well!

 300 Map Delivery

    Before a nation perishes, there were bound to be omens!


    Beauty She twisted a piece of bamboo leaf and thought to herself, "The late emperor could have lived for ten plus years more but he got ruined by Sister Dowager. Now, the minister Wang Qiao has too become a puppet of us demons. It is not hard for an internal conflict to happen in Da Chu¡­"


    However, she had some doubts.


    After paying such a huge price, many amongst the demons were still too worried and were preparing to have two strings to one''s bow.


    Other than the current land, the demons were already searching for new islands and lands in the vast seas. They were preparing to sow a batch of seeds of the demons on these new lands to preserve their elemental energy.


    One obvious plan and one clandestine plan, this was how the demons planned to strike back.


    As for those demons who harmed humans, they were merely defeatists who have given up.


    "The heavenly trend cannot be opposed!"


    As Beauty She thought of how despondently the Saint said that with a tinge of savagery, she unknowingly felt her heart became heavier.


    "My demon race has dominated for centuries! Used to and still is! The world will still be in our hands in the future!"


    "Provoking massive outbreaks of chaos is to eradicate all the brilliant human minds, whenever a human rise up, we will suppress him. All in all, we must stir internal conflict amongst the humans and cause them to deplete their own elemental energy!"


    Beauty She''s expression turned cold and her eyes sparkled with a blue-green essence, "Mere humans, how dare they vie for the throne of master of all races!"


    Moments later, she stood up and left, leaving behind two evenly dissected pieces of bamboo leaves that were slowly falling.


    ...


    At the Pier in Black Lake District.


    "Sir, latest intelligence from the capital!"


    Xu Ting had only rested for less than half a day before he got interrupted. After reading a few lines of the letter, an uneasy look appeared on his face.


    "Minister plans to rebel!"


    Although it was a few simple words, it was utterly shocking for Xu Ting.


    "Initially, I thought troubled times were ahead of us, looks like I am already in a troubled world now¡­"


    Xu Ting gave a wry smile, with his intellect, he could already predict the chain of events that would happen thereafter.


    "I thought I was fast enough, I guess I''m too slow now! Way too slow!"


    Once Wang Qiao usurped the throne, he could make use of clearing rebels as a reason to eradicate anyone he deemed disloyal to him and the burden of righteousness could literally be thrown aside.


    With how smoothly things went, Xu Ting felt as though he was in a dream.


    "There''s no problem with Golden Lake Prefecture, however, there is more than one prefecture around Golden Court Lake! For our family to rise, we still require more strength and we have to continue with capturing the pirates, but however, at a much faster pace!"


    He gritted his teeth, "We have to continue with the plans of hiding troops in the lake, just that¡­"


    Even though he had the support of his family, it was demanding to support thousands of people. Furthermore, the supply of troops ahead of him was never-ending.


    Also, it was too conspicuous to have it carried out in Golden Lake Prefecture.


    "I definitely have to look for a more suitable place to allocate the remaining big group of troops¡­, the leaders of the pirates and their family members definitely have to be placed ashore to control them with ease, while the rest do not have to and can be placed in the lake, in the lake¡­, in the lake.¡­"


    Xu Ting tugged his hair in frustration.


    He finally understood that no matter how good a plan was, once executed, numerous unexpected issues would arise. Such situations tested the abilities of commanders.


    "Small islands in the lake are too scattered! If they were so spread out, how could I rule them together?"


    Xu Ting pondered.


    In order to hide the troops in the lake, the most crucial problem to solve was where would the base be.


    If they were to use those larger islands, it would be easily discovered by the fishermen who fish in the lake daily and also the numerous pirates in the area.


    Unless¡­


    "Sir!"


    As he was deep in thoughts and scribbled on his desk, time past unknowingly and it was already dark outside.


    A lovely maid carrying an oil lamp and meal boxes came forward.


    "Luan''er?"


    Xu Ting''s gaze softened as he saw her, "What brought you over personally?"


    "I was told to specially come take care of you since you worked so hard on eradicating the pirates!"


    Li Luan lit up the room, opened the meal boxes and laid out the dishes. There was a plate of roast chicken, a plate of drool-inducing braised pork leg, two plates vegetables and one bottle of wine. They were all Xu Ting''s favourites.


    "Haha, Luan''er knows me the best!"


    After receiving a pair of chopsticks from Li Luan, Xu Ting took a bite and sang praises immediately, "Your skills have improved¡­ I better eat more today! Eh, how come there''s no fish?"


    On the shores of Golden Court Lake, fish was the most common dish.


    Since he started eradicating the pirates, he seized countless dried fish. Hence, he asked curiously.


    "Fish¡­"


    Li Luan smiled unconvincingly, "Sir, you wanted fish?"


    "No! I''m already of sick of it¡­"


    Xu Ting seemed like he remembered something and shook his hands.


    In spite of that, Li Luan''s face was still pale, it was as though dark clouds were looming over her.


    As a thoughtful person, Xu Ting immediately realised the change in atmosphere. "Do you have something that is troubling you¡­?"


    "Indeed!"


    Li Luan pulled herself together. "Sir, do you still remember the person who visited your father?"


    "I do!"


    The plan to hide the troops in the lake was given by that young man. It left such a strong impression on him, how could he not remember?


    After further investigations, that man was apparently Black Dragon General, a people dao deity. It was truly inconceivable, and naturally, the misunderstandings dispelled.


    However, when Xu Ting heard Li Luan mentioned him again, he felt slightly uncomfortable. "What is the matter?"


    Li Luan answered, "He met your father again and delivered this map!"


    She took out a scroll and slowly unravelled it.


    "Eh..."


    Looking at the contents of the scroll, Xu Ting''s eyes opened wide. "This is¡­. the water map?"


    Having fought with the pirates for so many days, he studied the water map daily and naturally, he could recognise it, "Not only is this a simple water map, it encompassed the whole Golden Court Lake, such detail¡­"


    Beside him, Li Luan silently heaved a sigh of relief as he saw the sparkle in Xu Ting''s eyes.


    The map had great utility, furthermore the fact that they could have it meant that Fang Yuan had the support of Golden Court Dragon God. Such rapid progress was shocking.


    However, compared to Fang Yuan, Xu Ting was¡­


    At that moment, Li Luan was gratified as he saw how contented Xu Ting was, she then added, "Sir, not only that¡­ look!"


    She lightly caressed the water map and a layer of vapour appeared. It was as though the map came to life.


    Sparkling red dots appeared on the map; they could be seen clearly on the map moving.


    "These are the pirates'' hideouts, the brighter the red dot, the more powerful they are¡­" Li Luan explained.


    "This is¡­ a valuable treasure!"


    Xu Ting stood up, his face beamed with joy.


    With this map, it was akin to having the entire Golden Court Lake! With the help of the deity!


    "Such valuable treasure could only be made by Golden Court Dragon God. Congratulations Sir!"


    Li Luan then pointed at the map and continued, "There''s a big island here, we can reclaim 5,000 acres of farmland there! There''s also a deep-water harbour for us to build a pier. It is a great location to place our base in!"


    "This place¡­"


    Xu Ting was puzzled and looked carefully, there was indeed an island. He then asked, "Why hasn''t it been discovered?"


    "Because there are a lot of undercurrents and whirlpools nearby which makes it difficult for ships to traverse through. However, there''s a safe route on the map¡­"


    As Li Luan explained, in her heart, she was clear of something.


    The island was actually inhabited by water dwellers.


    Although many of the water dwellers lived inside the waters, on special occasions, they would come up on land to mate.


    On the whole Golden Court Lake, there were a few of such islands which were all forbidden land for humans.


    However, for Xu Ting''s sake, one of the islands was cleared out.


    In his heart, Xu Ting was even more in awe of the heavenly trend and Fang Yuan''s power.


    "Such a valuable treasure... what a valuable treasure¡­"


    Xu Ting felt slightly uneasy as he held the scroll. However, his hands were still tight. He then enquired, "Then how did Black Dragon General got hold of it? Was he tasked by the Dragon God?"


    "I do not know if he was tasked by the Dragon God or not. However, I am sure the Dragon God is on our side. We should provide some offerings!" Li Luan reminded.


    "Hmm¡­ that''s true!"


    Xu Ting nodded his head. This time, with the help of the deity, his wishes came true and it made him felt as though fate was in his favour.


    ...


    Outside the prefecture, Fang Yuan suddenly smiled as he was looking at the scenery. "With the support of the Dragon God, Xu Ting''s strength has multiplied¡­ looks like there wouldn''t be any more problems with uniting the pirates of Golden Court Lake."


    In reality, it was a win-win situation.


    With the Dragon God''s backing, it was natural to return the favour by multitudes once they succeeded.


    Most importantly, it was for Xu Ting reach that level of success where he could return the favour.


    Fang Yuan opened the bottle gourd on his waist and drank the dragon palace''s rare spiritual wine. As he drank and gazed at the sky, he felt awe-inspiring.


    At that moment, as soon as Xu Ting got the information, Fang Yuan naturally got it too.


    "A minister trying to usurp, what a coincidental timing! When the nations are in chaos, the demons would definitely interfere and add fuel to the oil, causing the humans to be in a perpetual internal conflict!"


    Although he did not know that there were already demons causing chaos in the nation, he could easily guess it as it was obvious for them to attack their enemies at such timings.


    As he saw Li Luan fell deeper and deeper, Fang Yuan had an even greater understanding and fear of this realm''s heavenly trend.


    "The heavens make a fool of people, such a phrase is indeed true¡­ even if Li Luan wholeheartedly wanted to support the Dragon God, she would inevitably be deluded and the outcome would be unpredictable¡­"


    "If that could happen to her, what about those demons who hated the humans to the core?"


    Even though there were techniques to pry into heavenly secrets in this realm, most of the results were muddled or gave partial revelations that misled people.


    "Some of the demons were too smart for their own good!"


    "After all, the uprising of humans was the heavenly trend, there is no place for demons to rule!"


    Fang Yuan chose not to be too close to the Xu family due to that exact reason.


    Even for the delivery of the water map, Fang Yuan had made use of Li Luan as a middleman to let her benefit, just for the sake of maintaining distance from them. By maintaining a distance from the Xu family, if the situation were to turn awry in the future, he could cut ties with them quickly.


    The heavenly trend was hard to predict! One could only tread as though he was on thin ice and be on guard against the unknown at all times!

 301 Two Swords

    4th Year of Yong An, Da Chu.


    Loading Island, Golden Court Lake.


    A noble and virtuous character is capable of great things!


    Originally, the island was unnamed, however, once it was occupied by Xu Ting to load goods, it was named as such. Such a name reflected his ambitions.


    At that moment, a few big ships were slowly approaching the pier.


    A group of refugee families disembarked orderly, while the soldiers, evidently experienced, maintained a basic formation at the sides.


    The terrain of the island was rather flat, there was a flat piece of land after a short distance away from the pier. On top of it, furrows were already ploughed and there were a few farmsteads.


    The farmsteads and furrows were neatly built and evoked the beauty of a well-planned land.


    "Sir!"


    At that moment, a few scholarly looking men came forward.


    "Hmm¡­ doing well! How''s the situation now?"


    These men were all outstanding scholars in the family, they were literate and knew how to calculate. With them, they formed the backbone of the clan.


    Xu Ting looked at the farmlands and took a deep breath, "This is what I call foundation!"


    "We seek your approval in enforcing the Baojia neighbourhood administrative system here. Five families would form one unit, with one leader. Duties would also be clearly allocated. If anyone tried to escape, the whole unit would be implicated. We can currently form hundred of such units and reclaim 3,000 acres of land. Each family has to send out one fit man to join the troop and they would both work on the farm and undergo military training. As the people have both land and sufficient supplies of goods, they are contented and would rarely try to escape¡­" one of the scholars reported.


    "Very good!"


    Xu Ting nodded his head, "This time, I have conquered the pirates of 13 Chain Wall. There are 3,000 of them to be deported here, will there be any issue?"


    As the place was under military jurisdiction, it was easier to organise and collect information. Hence, after a few moments, the scholar replied with conviction, "The wooden houses are all built, they are just waiting for people to move in. Also, we can reclaim 5000 acres of farmland on the flatlands and at least 800 acres of terraced fields on the hills. When the paddies are harvested, we will be able to feed thousands of fit men!"


    This scholar was also a member of the Xu family, as he spoke, his eyes were filled with fervour.


    In actual fact, the fit men were elite troops to be!


    It was remarkable for them to be able to deploy thousands of troops and even attack other prefectures through the waterway.


    Xu Ting was very pleased upon hearing such news.


    In all honesty, it was a way for the troops to be stationed there. During peacetime, they worked as farmers, while during wartime, they fought as soldiers. Under military jurisdiction, they did not have to rely on unreasonable borrowing terms from magnates. Even with half the tax rates, it was a good policy and managed to greatly increase the authorities'' reserves.


    Furthermore, since paddies were harvested there, the yield was plentiful and it was sufficient to feed even more mouths.


    As such, he had the capital to rise to power.


    "The 13 Chain Wall was the last resistance alliance of the pirates. After this war, there would no more pirates of such scale in Golden Court Lake. Even if small groups of pirates were to appear, we can eradicate them sporadically¡­"


    As Xu Ting entered the conference room, he continued, "Since I trust all of you all, I will say this directly. The world is in an ailing and chaos state right now, wicked ministers are in governance and military occupied towns are appearing everywhere. Our clan does not seek power or riches, we just want to be content with our lives, but to achieve this, we must have strength."


    "This Loading Island is our clan''s last base. When the situation is not in our favour, we can retreat here. With the protection of the undercurrents and reefs, we would be safe for at least a while here!"


    "To rapidly expand the island''s strength, there will be no issue even if there aren''t any more pirates. We can go to each district and recruit their refugees, they don''t even have to be from our prefecture!"


    ...


    Through eradicating the pirates and having control of the troops, the entire island was already under Xu Ting''s control, thus, he was not shy to share some classified secrets.


    However, the real core and ambition would never be mentioned.


    "Brilliant, Sir!"


    However, with just those rationale, the crowd was overwhelmed with emotions.


    After all, everyone could see how tumultuous the world was in. Since Loading Island was under the protection of natural hazards surrounding it and also had fertile lands, once it could be self-sufficient, people would be contented.


    "Nowadays¡­, Wang Qiao''s eagerness is growing even stronger. He even began scheming who would be his ministers, he simply could not be bothered to hide his plans to usurp¡­. The world is in chaos, however, with this base and troop, it doesn''t mean that there''s no hope for my clan to further progress!" Xu Ting thought.


    Xu Ting gazed into the distance as his heart burnt with fiery.


    ...


    "The uprising of people dao has been progressing quickly¡­, especially within the different nations, there seems to be a presence of demons¡­" Fang Yuan thought as he looked attentively at Loading Island from the water.


    "In Da Qi and Da Liang, either the princes are fighting for the throne, or they have manipulating ministers in the country. Furthermore, the emperors are all not in good health. How could this be a coincidence? Hehe¡­ the demons are truly easily predictable, just that with how much effort they are putting in, it is just for the good of others'' causes!"


    With the current situation, he could guess that there were already demons wreaking havoc within the high positions of each country, and these demons wanted the people dao''s fate energy to diminish.


    However, the heavens had made a fool of them!


    These three countries were originally not favoured by the heavenly fate and were bound to decline and descent into chaos. It was a survival of the fittest!


    When the demons interfered, it had the opposite effect of speeding up the process. Even the demons'' higher beings and saints who predicted the heavenly secrets were muddled and had their skandhas messed up. The heaven made a total fool out of the demons and utterly misdirected them to such an extreme extent!


    "I guess the heavenly trend in this realm is more powerful than what I have imagined¡­"


    Fang Yuan''s face became solemn as he turned his head away from Loading Island. He then arrived at a cave under the waters.


    The horned dragon shook his tail and took on the magical clone of a human. He sat cross-legged and had two swords, one green and the other purple, floating in front of him. Both swords had a dazzling shine and were intimidating looking, evidently different from normal swords.


    "Go!"


    The moment he pointed his fingers, two surges of magical powers appeared and simultaneously turned into flames as it started to crazily form the two swords.


    "These spiritual swords were no small matter! Previously, as it was limited by karma, it was close to being formed!"


    At that moment, under the flames of magic, both swords floated unsteadily and continued to dazzle brightly. Sharp noises could be heard from the sword and it was as though the swords were giving their last-ditch of effort in resisting.


    "Hehe¡­ the last struggle at the point of death!"


    As Fang Yuan laughed, powerful magic surged, and along with karma, it finally removed the remaining few traces of imprints in the spiritual swords completely.


    "Swoosh!"


    The two swords lost all its radiance and revealed a modest looking body. On top of the swords, there were many primitive patterns.


    "Good swords! Indeed, they are such great swords, however, they aren''t as simple as other rare treasures. In fact, it seems as though there''s a faint sense of fate energy converging on it. It looks like it has to go through a round of killer tribulations¡­"


    No matter how good a rare treasure was, as long as it could not be kept in the actualised dream world, it was not really valuable for Fang Yuan as he could only use it for a while in his current realm.


    Of course, if Xuan Zhen Sect was to find out, they would be enraged.


    "After such a long period of investigation, Xuan Zhen Sect should know my background by now? Also, I''m sure they would be back for their spiritual swords¡­"


    Fang Yuan sneered as he made up his mind.


    With a wave of his hands, the two swords landed on his hands.


    After the swords lost its radiance, the inscriptions on the sword could be seen clearly. There were ancient characters on it. One was named Purple Suo and the other was named Green Qiu.


    "Both men and swords have killer tribulations¡­, the reason why Xuan Zhen Sect forged these two swords was to use it in numerous battles to kill numerous people in order to pass its own tribulation¡­"


    Naturally, Fang Yuan could easily guess the origins of the two swords. Suddenly, he had an idea. His hand beamed with magic and the Purple Suo sword changed its appearance. The Purple Suo sword became a primitive longsword in a scabbard, it was 40 inches long and had an indistinct purple glow. It was evident that the longsword was an extremely sharp and powerful weapon.


    "Demons were their opponents, while their counterparts were their enemies¡­, does Xuan Zhen Sect really still want to support Xu family?" he thought.


    Fang Yuan suddenly came over to the waters near Loading Island and disguised himself under the appearance of a normal young man. A layer of mist appeared as Fang Yuan instantaneously turned invisible, crossed the guards surrounding the island and reached the depths of the island.


    ...


    "Eat more¡­ my birds!"


    Inside the dense forest, the daoist priest who fought along Xu Ting was seen feeding his white birds. A tinge of desolation appeared on his face.


    Although he was a daoist priest, he had no official sect and did not have any legitimate ancestry. His name was Kong Luo. During a rare encounter with a wandering daoist priest when he was young, he got accepted into his master''s sect as a disciple.


    Except, such a descent still meant that he had no official inheritance of skills nor denomination. He only possessed the Quelling Bait Technique and the unique ability to raise white birds.


    Such lone practitioners often had little or no disciples to pass down their skills and such techniques would become extinct a few generations later.


    However, if a rare encounter were to be chance upon, his sect could still rise and be ranked amongst the sects.


    Kong Luo spent half of his life wandering with his master before finally settling down at Golden Lake Prefecture. Before his master passed away, by pure coincidence, his master managed to get hold of some heavenly secrets and instructed him to seek refuge with the Xu family. By doing so, he could hone his skills under the protection of fate energy and then further look for opportunities to bring glory to his sect.


    At that moment, inside Kong Luo''s heart, he was in deep thoughts.


    "It''s great to practice inside here! With the support of Xu family, my Quelling Bait Technique has already finessed to 2nd Grade. Even master could not go beyond that grade¡­ Nowadays, Xu Ting''s fate energy has been prospering. Furthermore, since he is training his group of elite troops, his ambitions must not be small. If I can support him and gain some of his fate energy, my dao powers will greatly improve!"


    "There are so many uniquely talented people in this world, my limited skills are actually nothing much¡­"


    Originally, he was heavily favoured and utilised by Xu Ting. However, as time past, Xuan Zhen Sect began investing more and more in Xu family, especially with their own daoist priests, and hence, Kong Luo was edged out and became dispensable.


    As Kong Luo felt that his position was threatened, a despondent and worried look appeared on his face naturally.


    "Hiss!"


    Suddenly, a scent of blood filled the air and noises could be heard from the bushes. A black-coloured giant snake leapt out. Its eyes were filled with savagery and it pounced towards Kong Luo.


    "What? Such a big snake? What a monstrous fiend!"


    Kong Luo was terrified. The island was cleared before, hence, it should not have any beasts still living in it. Why was there still such a huge snake?


    Kong Luo jumped away immediately and summoned a talisman, "Haste!"


    "Puff!"


    Sparks flashed as the black snake flinched for a moment before it immediately struck its tail at Kong Luo. Kong Luo was knocked back and began vomiting blood.


    "Quick, call somebody!"


    The white bird on his shoulder flew towards the village while it made ailing shrills.


    Kong Luo did not hesitate even for a moment and fled for his life.


    "Am I going to die? No! I still have to revive my sect!"


    As he thought of his master''s last will, Kong Luo mustered all his remaining strength and scrambled down the hill.


    As the hill was not far from the village and since the area was under military jurisdiction, a group of soldiers quickly ran over.


    "Save me!"


    As Kong Luo saw the soldiers approaching, he immediately used his last breath to shout out loud.

 302 Acquisition

    "I''m so dead!"


    The scent of blood filled the air and the snake almost got a taste of Kong Luo''s neck.


    In a state of panic, Kong Luo tripped and fell.


    "Don''t you dare hurt him, you fiend!"


    The group of people who came over ran towards Kong Luo at the speed of light and quickly formed up with their knives, ready to annihilate the snake.


    As a fight was about to emerge, it made Kong Luo felt relieved. "Are these¡­ Xu Ting''s bodyguards? I''m saved!"


    He took a good look at these people and noticed that Xu Ting was leading them; he felt like he was in luck.


    Knowing that Xu Ting''s side was filled with skilful people, Kong Luo knew his life was saved.


    "Swoosh!"


    Sparks flew as blades hit the snake''s scales.


    Kong Luo scrambled to Xu Ting''s side; he finally managed to stand up and looked at the black snake.


    The snake was extremely thick and was about 10 yards long. It had fierce serpentine eyes, shiny scales and a flicking forked tongue that was waiting to devour a human.


    "Such a humongous black snake, no, black python! What a monstrous fiend!"


    Xu Ting''s eyes shined brightly. As he saw the big python, he immediately hollered, "We must kill it, else it would harm our troops and farms!"


    "Yes, Sir!"


    As the two men fighting could not defeat the snake, a few more martial arts experts amongst his numerous skilled subordinates leapt out with their weapons.


    Not only that, a few accompanying daoist priests began chanting curses and the fighters were imbued with magical powers. Their strength and vital elemental energy were greatly boosted.


    "Black Tiger Claw!"


    "Elemental Splitting Palm!"


    "Kill it!''


    Swords flung as gale like punches were thrown.


    Blood spewed out from the black python as numerous attacks landed on it at the same time.


    "Thud!"


    Amongst the numerous attacks, an arrow flashed past and accurately hit the fatal spot on the python''s heart.


    "Hhiii...iisss¡­"


    After a few struggles, the python finally succumbed and collapsed.


    "Sir, great archery skills!"


    After the people around began congratulating, Kong Luo then realised that Xu Ting was wielding a large purple bow. The bowstring was still vibrating when Kong Luo realised it.


    "Eh¡­"


    Xu Ting moved closer to the black python but chose to not go too close.


    Although the black python''s heart was shot and its body was severed into many pieces, due to its humongous body, its vitality was still strong even if it seemed like it could not fight back.


    "This snake looks not bad. Pythons are not poisonous and we can use it to stew soup for our people¡­"


    As Xu Ting looked at the snake''s carcass, he seemed to have thought of something and smiled.


    "Yes, Sir!"


    The soldiers replied excitedly. "The soup stewed from this snake''s meat along with some meat from an old hen and a few eggs would be so nourishing¡­"


    A few people went up to the snake and began prepping it.


    "Eh? There''s something in the snake''s tail!"


    As a warrior was cutting open the snake''s skin, he saw a purple glow in the corner of his eyes. Out of curiosity, he sliced open the snake''s tail and acquired a sword.


    "Sir¡­, there''s a sword hidden in the snake''s tail!"


    Being quick-witted, he immediately carried the sword with both hands, kneeled in front of Xu Ting and presented the sword to him, "Looks like this is what the heaven is granting you, Sir! Your life is fated to build a military!"


    In this realm, heavenly visions would appear before heroes.


    The acquiring of a sword from a black python was indeed a strange and wonderful occurrence.


    The sword would be put to great use in the future, it could fight thousands of soldiers!


    "Oh?"


    Xu Ting was both surprised and delighted.


    It was because such a happening was very auspicious and also the fact that the man had a way with his words.


    By building a military, he could either be the ruler who unites countries or be the minister who supports; there were lots of leeway for him.


    However, if the warrior had talked about how it was pure fate, Xu Ting would have killed him instead.


    Hence, he received the sword cheerily, "Not bad, really not bad!"


    Many of the surrounding people felt jealous of his praises but could only hide their feelings and proceeded to celebrate.


    "Congratulations, Sir, for acquiring the sword!"


    "Swish!"


    Xu Ting had practised swordsmanship before. As he casually swung the sword, a cool purple glow appeared.


    The 40-inch long blade was clear as snow and could clearly reflect his face on it. There was also a tinge of purple that Xu Ting liked. He then ordered someone to duel with him, only to hear a "clang" as the opponent''s sword broke in half. The sword was indeed extremely sharp.


    "Haha¡­ what a good sword!"


    Xu Ting was ecstatic. He observed the sword and noticed the ancient inscription of "Purple Suo" on it.


    The more he looked at it, the more he liked it. Immediately, he equipped the sword on his waist.


    "In the past, there was a king who killed a water dragon and then ruled the world, now¡­ from how I had acquired this sword, could this be a sign from the heavens too?"


    Xu Ting pondered. Regardless, he was not going to bestow this sword to anyone else and was determined to keep the sword for his own good use.


    "We will hold a feast tonight!"


    As he gave out his instruction with glee, he naturally did not notice a certain daoist priest''s panic-stricken look.


    "No one''s caring about me¡­"


    As Kong Luo saw the big group left, he felt gloomy as he dusted the dirt off his body.


    Compared to the countless martial arts experts and other powerful daoist priests, Kong Luo knew he was no match for them and could only take a backseat.


    But as he thought of another daoist priest''s expression just now, he felt odd. "Why did daoist Qing Xuan have such a furtive look on his face? He seems to know the origins of that sword? But such treasures from such beasts were meant to be powerful in the first place!"


    As he watched the crowd rush to attend the feast, he could only think of how powerless he was.


    "This time around, I can at least take a backseat at the feast, but what about next year or the year after? As the newcomers laugh, who could hear the old-timer weep¡­"


    His interest waned and he felt as though he did not want to appear at the feast to further embarrass himself.


    At that moment, as he looked at the trail of blood from the black python, he suddenly had an idea.


    "From daoist Qing Xuan''s gaze, this snake must not be normal. Such a beast would not have appeared for no reason¡­"


    He proceeded to walk in the opposite direction and arrived at the hill where he was feeding his birds. He then began searching carefully.


    Sure enough, the moment he prised open the bushes, he saw a pathway the snake must have taken. After following it, he reached a cave that had a faint stench.


    "Nothing ventured, nothing gained! I will take the risk!"


    Kong Luo bravely entered the cave only to realise the cave was clean and had no signs of snakeskin left behind.


    Except, at the end of the cave, there was a green light emitted from a small sword.


    On the cave walls, there was a chant for a formula inscribed on it. The inscription was not long as there were only a few hundred words, but however, they were beautifully expressed. Upon seeing such, Kong Luo was shocked.


    There was no time to waste for Kong Luo to wonder about why no one had ever discovered this place. He immediately began to recite it by heart.


    "This is a powerful magical formula, and the spiritual treasure too¡­ they are really gifts from the heavens! The revival of my sect is truly pure fate of the heavens..."


    He immediately kept the spiritual sword according to the magical formula and felt stronger at once.


    The spiritual sword was a treasure for killing. Thus, his magical techniques did not improve, but obviously, his lethality was vastly superior to before. With this, he could have the confidence and strength to fight alongside other daoists in front of Xu Ting.


    "Hmm¡­ that Daoist Qing Xuan¡­"


    Before he strode out the cave, he waved his arms and a green sword essence appeared. The cave walls were scratched beyond recognition at once.


    ...


    "Very well¡­"


    After Kong Luo left the cave, Fang Yuan appeared outside the cave and watched his back view leaving. Fang Yuan was satisfied and thought to himself. "He does seem decisive, looks like he has the potential!"


    The two swords had some fate energy converging on it, or to put it in another way, it contained parts of the turning point for Xuan Zhen Sect. Hence, Fang Yuan could not keep them for long, else it would be detrimental to his fate energy. Not only would Xuan Zhen Sect chase after him, some of the swords'' tribulations might even pass over to him.


    By gifting the swords, it reflected Fang Yuan''s intelligence.


    Firstly, these two swords had already been cultivated. By gifting it away, the favour would be returned to him in the future.


    Also, it was the perfect plan to give the swords to Xu Ting and a daoist priest from the same clan.


    With how invested Xuan Zhen Sect was in Xu family, would they dare to demand the return of the Purple Suo sword from Xu Ting?


    Since Kong Luo was also part of Xu family, and the fact that he was now under the protection of the spiritual sword, Xuan Zhen Sect would not dare to start a conflict with him.


    After doing these things, Xu Ting felt energised.


    He opened his spiritual eyes and saw karma slowly descending from the skies. He could not contain his joy as he knew he reached a key point.


    This time, he managed to seize a decent amount of Xuan Zhen Sect''s fate energy karma.


    "Not only are there people dao karma, there''s also heavenly karma! I shall use it to increase my cultivation!"


    Fang Yuan made up his mind.


    On top of his head, streaks of golden essence gathered and formed the shape of seven shiny golden flowers.


    Whereas, the green balls of energy, through mysterious ways, turned in to the realm''s energy and swarmed into the actualised dream world.


    In the 8 Gates Sword Array, the fire and water swords shined brightly, while on the east gate, lightning struck and the Thunder Sword formed more than half as it emitted electrifying illuminations.


    The 3 swords'' luminance rushed to skies and the power of the 3 talents could be vaguely seen.


    "More than half of the Sundering Thunder Sword has been formed?"


    Fang Yuan looked at his stats board:


    "Name: Fang Yuan


    Race: Horned Dragon


    Essence: 36


    Spirit: 36


    Magic: 45


    Profession: ???


    Cultivation: ???


    Technique: [9 Steps of Dragon Transformation Formula (7th Transformation)], [Weather Controlling Technique (Grade 1)], [Natural Magical Strength (Grade 3)], [8 Gates Sword Array (3rd Sword) (55%)]


    Skill: [Medicine (Level 3)], [Botany (Level 5)]"


    "The further I progress in the 8 Gates Sword Array, the harder it is to form the swords. However, its might is even more unimaginable¡­"


    A look of joy appeared on Fang Yuan''s face as he thought, "Hmm¡­, by helping Xu family this time, it was simply an early investment. The karma I received wasn''t a lot too¡­ Only during chaos where Xu family rises to power is when I will truly gain the most from!"


    At that moment, as Xu family still did not officially reign an area, its influence was naturally not as great.


    However, once the world entered a state of chaos and undergone big changes, even if Xu Ting were to become a just a duke, he could still influence millions of commoners. Hence, the karma Fang Yuan would receive from it would be exceedingly bountiful.


    Fang Yuan was eagerly anticipating for it to happen.


    "Nevertheless¡­ even with my strength now, I am still a formidable force to be reckoned with...Seems like some issues in the past can be settled already too¡­" he pondered as he looked towards the direction of Qi Lake.

 303 Evolution

    Imperial palace, Qi Country.


    After the death of the late emperor, the Third Prince emerged from intense rivalry and was succeeding the throne in the wake.


    Inside the palace, there was a hint of bloodiness and officials of all ranks shivered in uneasiness. This was especially so for those who were originally from Taihe Hall, as the hall''s servants and maids, alongside their in-charge, Senior Eunuch Su, were put to death. Thus, rumours were rife.


    "No matter what¡­ I have finally won this time!"


    Originally the Third Prince, he now ascended the throne and became the Emperor of Qi. Donned in his royal crown with his hand wielding a pearl ornament, he looked at his officials worshipping below. Though he appeared calm on the outside, he was extremely perturbed on the inside.


    "Majority of the guards of the imperial palace and the troops of the imperial city have already submitted to me, the situation should be stable for me now. Since the Seventh Prince and those loyal to him seems unwilling and grudging, I better severely punish them! Hmm, since they did not show up during this ceremony, it would be the best excuse to do so!" he thought.


    Unfilial acts and disloyalty were sins he could not tolerate.


    The new emperor took a glimpse of the late emperor in his dragon casket. Its ashen face and ghastly stiff palm sent a chill down the emperor''s face. Immediately, he turned around and prayed silently. "Father¡­, I knew you have always favoured the Seventh Prince, but since I succeeded the throne, I will definitely lead Da Qi to power and riches. I will also unite the three countries in this unprecedented rulership! Also, the imperial astronomer told me just now that the north star, Polaris, shined extremely brightly. This is a sign that I am going to be a great emperor!"


    "Our Majesty!"


    At that moment, all the officials kowtowed nine times and completed the ceremony.


    "Ah, rise!"


    As the Emperor of Qi strutted, he suddenly asked, "Where is the Seventh Prince and the Ninth Prince? Our father passed away and they dare not arrive yet? It pains my heart!"


    "Your Majesty, the Seventh Prince was punished to reflect in isolation while the Ninth Prince is still on his journey, he is currently near the borders now." a senior minister reported.


    "Hehe¡­. such great excuses, are they questioning my abilities?"


    The Emperor of Qi gave a sardonic smile and immediately ordered, "These two treacherous princes violated the virtue of filial piety, even though I could not bear to hurt our relationship as brothers, I have no other choice now. Immediately send the guards to bring these two over to the wake! I will have to question them thoroughly!"


    As an elder brother, he could not order violence against his younger brothers, but however, as long as he could arrest and enact soft detention on them, he could have his ways with them.


    A few imperial guards heeded the orders and dashed out only to stop suddenly.


    "Bang!"


    Under the loud noises, the ground tremored and violent bawls could be heard. Not far from the gates, fires could be seen and black smoke rose into the air, bringing a sense of inauspiciousness.


    "What''s happening?"


    As the commotion was so huge, it could even be heard from Jinluan Hall. The Qi Emperor''s expression changed at once.


    An imperial guard immediately reported, "Your Majesty, the Seventh Prince and Ninth Prince are leading a troop in and they claim that they want to eradicate the emperor''s disloyal followers! The eastern gate has already surrendered and they are storming towards the imperial palace now!"


    "What?"


    The Emperor of Qi felt ill at once and almost vomited blood.


    Naturally, there were elite troops and royal guards garrisoned around Qi Country''s imperial capital.


    The late emperor favoured the Seventh Prince and the Ninth Prince heavily and assigned them to numerous posts, hence they managed to attract many henchmen under them.


    The Third Prince''s power was honestly much weaker than theirs. It was unexpected for him to succeed the throne and the reason why he could was due to the fact that he bribed the late emperor''s loyal follower. It was truly a very risky move.


    He did not expect the other two princes to be so resolute and decisive that they dared to led troops to revolt, and not to mention, influence the guards at the eastern gates to surrender their defences and side with them.


    "The Seventh Prince decrees, this military advance will not harm the innocent!"


    "The Ninth Prince decrees, however, those who did bad deeds and committed offences will be prosecuted by military law!"


    ...


    The troop marched over with almost no resistance and surrounded the imperial palace.


    The Emperor of Qi''s face turned pale. He forced himself up the palace walls and saw the sea of troops below. His legs turned soft and he immediately ordered, "Traitors! Zhang Jin, kill them all for me!"


    At that moment, the imperial guard could only reluctantly obey his commands to protect the imperial palace.


    However, the Emperor of Qi was still deeply unsettled.


    He knew that even if he were to win today, a revolt that occurred immediately once he ascended the throne would severely impact his prestige and might. Furthermore, his followers had already become anxious and terrified; they were bound to not last for long.


    "All to listen up, the reason for this uprising is to seek justice for the mysterious death of our late emperor. As his sons and ministers, we have to seek justice!"


    A deafening sound could be heard, it was as though spells were used.


    All the officials could not help but keep quiet. The actions of the two princes were no different to accusing the Third Prince of poisoning the late emperor and distorting the imperial edict.


    "I succeeded the throne justly and honourably. The imperial edict left by the late emperor before his death serves as evidence! How dare they besmirch me!" the Emperor of Qi hollered with extreme wrath.


    "If you don''t surrender in half an hour, we will not hesitate to storm in!"


    However, the two princes outside had reached their point of no return. Even if the imperial edict was real, it had to be denounced as fake. Hence, after a few shouts, they immediately commanded their troops to attack.


    "Charge!"


    "Launch the catapult!"


    "Prepare the scaling ladder!"


    In an instant, the magnificent imperial palace became a bloody battlefield.


    Blood spewed as smoke rose.


    Fear spread through the commoners in the imperial capital as they quickly shut their doors. Even though the imperial capital of Qi Country was an ancient city with thousands of years of history, it ultimately could not withstand the destruction of war.


    The defences of the imperial palace were penetrated through within half a day and the troops swarmed it.


    The Third Prince was dishevelled, he had a longsword wielded while his robe was stained with blood. At that moment, he was searching through each palace hall in panic, "Beauties¡­, my beauties, quick, leave with me! I am still the emperor, even if we escape out of the capital, I can still gather all my loyal ministers to fight back!"


    As he barged into one of the palaces, he scared away many of the servants. However, inside the hall, the melodious sound of a guqin[1] surrounded the entire hall.


    The person playing the guqin was an absolutely gorgeous lady. She was donned in a concubine''s dress and appeared elegantly prim and proper.


    "Qing''er, quick, leave with me!"


    The Third Prince''s eyes filled with lust; he used to love listening to Qing''er play the guqin as he casually relaxed.


    However, ever since he began crafting his big plans, he never heard the melodious guqin music again.


    "Why should I leave?"


    Qing''er smiled gently.


    "Eh?"


    The Third Prince was startled and he felt as though she had totally changed.


    "Sun Xingyu, I''ve played with you for so long, I''m already bored of you, time to change to another prince to play with¡­" Qing''er said calmly.


    "What? You want to side with the Seventh Prince and Ninth Prince? You sl*t!"


    The Third Prince was enraged upon grasping what she meant.


    "I want to kill you!"


    With bloodshot eyes, he charged forward with his sword.


    "Boring!"


    Qing''er yawned. Suddenly, a black shadow appeared and bit off the Third Prince''s hand.


    "Ahh...demon!"


    The black shadow was actually a horrifying looking gigantic rat with eyes as large as copper coins and it emitted a green glow.


    "Indeed, it''s my fellow demon!"


    Qing''er sighed faintly, "After scheming for ten plus years, the plan has finally succeeded. Even though you are the emperor, you have no power and the current situation is against you! How much fate energy would you have left by now? Just die in peace¡­., don''t worry, your brothers will join you soon!"


    Although she spoke calmly and expressionlessly, the Third Prince was horror-stricken, "How dare you demons try to ruin the Da Qi Country!"


    As long as either the Seventh Prince or the Ninth Prince succeeded the throne, the throne would still be in the hands of the Sun''s. But now, the Emperor of Qi had smelled a rat and knew a grand conspiracy was underway.


    "Hehe¡­, after today, the news of the two princes revolting and causing the death of the emperor would spread throughout the world¡­"


    Qing''er seemed to enjoy such a situation and even as the noise of the battlefield outside got closer, she placidly expressed, "After the event unfolds, Da Qi''s sovereignty would drop and be severely undermined, war will erupt and who knows how many more people will be killed! The more deaths there would be, the happier I am!"


    "De...demon!"


    The Emperor of Qi was incensed and the rat demon sank its teeth into his throat.


    "Bang!"


    Lightning and thunder struck the skies and the giant rat let out a loud shriek. Its body turned black while Qing''er''s face turned pale and even retched up a mouthful of blood.


    "He was clearly on his deathbed, how could he still have such fate energy protecting him? People dao''s fate energy is truly remarkable! Looks like this reflects their uprising¡­"


    Her face turned solemn, she then stood up and toppled the oil lamp.


    Fire engulfed the entire palace hall in an instance as black smoke billowed.


    In one night, the news of the two princes revolting and attacking the imperial palace causing the death of Da Qi''s new emperor spread throughout the world. Immediately, war broke out and the entire Qi Country descended into chaos.


    Similar to its situation was its neighbouring country, Da Liang.


    Yutong Prefecture.


    Alongside the din of battle, huge amounts of troops entered the city and started killing mercilessly.


    After besieging the city for months, they suffered great losses as they were unable to successfully breakthrough, hence, they finally vented their anger through slaughtering.


    Outside the city, a ferocious looking general was surveying the scene in the city, his aide then respectfully congratulated, "Congratulations, General Huo, for annihilating this rebel town!"


    "Send my command, massacre the entire city!"


    General Huo gave a wry smile and immediately commanded, "Anyway, this city is the hub of the Wu rebels. Its commoners greatly benefitted from them and hence, they might not be loyal! It will be better for us to wipe them out!"


    With his commands, the troops were roused. However, the officials at his side remained silent.


    General Huo was talented in leading troops and wars, however, he was vicious and bloodthirsty.


    He was sent to annihilate the rebels and their town, and with this success, it was a great achievement under his belt. However, it seemed like the way he did things was a bit overboard.


    Of course, since he had the support to back his behaviour, no one dared to do anything about him.


    Few brave and just souls dared to confront him just for the lives of commoners.


    At that moment, Huo Qing''s eyes turned blood red. As he listened to the unending screams coming from the city, he almost could not suppress his true form and thought, "Us demons would not only ruin the three countries'' fate energy, we will not let any heroes emerge from the human race. The military governor of this town was an all-rounder and was also home to dragon energy which I have finally destroyed¡­"


    [1] The guqin is a Chinese musical instrument.

 304 Right Timing

    Da Chu.


    "Congratulations, minister, for your promotion to Prince of Chu!"


    Inside the minister''s manor, many of his henchmen gathered as joy and laughter filled the air.


    While Qi Country and Liang Country were in chaos, Wang Qiao had no leisure to care about the neighbouring countries. He finally seized the rare opportunity to force the emperor to grant him the title of Prince with perpetual title heritability[1].


    Furthermore, by using "Chu" as his prince title, it obviously reflected his rapacious ambitions.


    However, Wang Qiao had no fears.


    "The garrison guards of the imperial capital are already within my command and these 200,000 troops are extremely skilful elites, no one would be able to defeat them! Furthermore, even the provincial military commanders and imperial guards have pledged their loyalty to me and there''s no one left that can compete with me!" He thought as he squinted his eyes.


    He knew that even if military occupied towns were to rise in revolt against him, by having the largest lands and the most elite large troops, he would be able to wipe each of them out.


    "How many troops have risen in revolt currently?"


    Wang Qiao asked suddenly as he sat up straight with a strong demeanour.


    "There are three military occupied towns that have sent their troops. Liyang Prefecture''s military governor Zhu Tong, Xinan Prefecture''s military governor Li Chun and Wujiang Prefecture''s military governor Wang Yujun have risen in revolt and started attacking other prefectures under the accusation that you were planning to overthrow the emperor. Based on my humble opinion, that was merely an excuse for them to expand their strength. These governors are all smart men! They knew if they did not seize the opportunity to rise to power now, when we rise to power, they would have no more chance!"


    His adjutant immediately answered.


    Wang Qiao clapped his hands and announced, "I will immediately report these three governors'' plans to the emperor and an imperial decree will be issued immediately. This will list out their crimes clearly and we can then send troops to suppress them!"


    At that moment, since he had not forced the emperor to abdicate and hand the throne over to him yet, he knew he still required the emperor for his plans to succeed.


    "Brilliant, Prince!"


    His audiences were all impressed.


    "Haha... instead of being afraid, I am happy that they are rising up! The power distribution in the imperial capital is very complicated. Since I don''t have much wealth nor land to reward you all, if you all defeat these three prefectures, you all will be promoted to nobility, with perpetual title heritability!" Wang Qiao laughed.


    Usually, it was hard to gather loyal followers for usurps that did not undergo mass killings as the power distribution in the country were complicated and there were insufficient resources to reward them.


    However, since the three military governors revolted, it gave him an excuse to do so.


    Once the audiences heard it, especially the military officials, their eyes lit up as though it was on fire.


    With Wang Qiao''s speech, it undoubtedly promised the reward of nobility and at the same time, hinted that once the military occupied towns were suppressed, he would immediately force the emperor to relinquish his throne.


    Only the emperor could grant titles of nobility with perpetual title heritability and such a hint was already very obvious.


    "Reporting!"


    Just as the atmosphere was warm, an anxious-looking imperial guard suddenly rushed over. "Prince, a disaster is imminent!"


    "Tell me about it!"


    A feeling of uneasiness immediately overwhelmed Wang Qiao and made him stood up. He then asked, "What exactly happened?"


    "The emperor has suddenly fallen very ill after dinner¡­, the imperial physician does not dare to prescribe medication!"


    "What?"


    Wang Qiao''s face turned unpleasant at once.


    Even though he has already decided to have him dead once he ascended the throne, he still needed his name and authority as the Emperor of Chu, especially at the moment where he was about to send the troops to suppress the rebels. How could he be on his deathbed?


    "Prince¡­"


    At that moment, another horse rushed over, "The emperor¡­ has passed away!"


    Wang Qiao''s face turned pale at once, he suddenly opened his mouth and blood spewed everywhere.


    "Prince!!!"


    ...


    5th Year of Yong An. News of Wang Qiao becoming the Prince of Chu and the death of the young emperor spread like wildfire across the world. There were now 7 troops that had rose in revolt.


    After Da Qi and Da Liang, Da Chu has descended into chaos too.


    Loading Island, Golden Court Lake.


    Twenty large ships were berthed neatly at the pier. Thousands of soldiers remained silent as they gathered to watch the ceremony.


    Once Xu Ting heard the news about the death of the emperor, he gathered the troop to commemorate the late emperor and held a rally to pledge loyalty before going to war.


    "This Wang Qiao! How ferocious! He murdered the emperor to usurp the throne, what an unpardonable sin! Even though I am not a genius, I still have a 40-inch long sword and thousands of soldiers! I will punish this traitor and fight with him to death! To seek revenge for the late emperor!"


    As Xu Ting stood high above on the platform and raised the Purple Suo sword, his voice could be heard clearly.


    "Punish the traitor!"


    "Punish the traitor!"


    The crowds'' yells were deafening and could be heard from afar.


    "Send down my command! We will deploy at once!"


    As Xu Ting gave his commands, the warships steered out of the pier towards the prefectures near Golden Court Lake.


    These prefectures were not ruled by military governors; they were still under the governance of the imperial court. Even if there were any power-hungry ambitionists, they dared not openly raise their troops.


    However, now that they had such a cause, that might no longer be the case.


    Hence, Xu Ting decisively deployed at once so as to grab hold of the surrounding prefectures near Golden Court Lake and increase his power while the rest were still scrambling.


    While the rest had no plans, he had plans, warships and an elite troop. Xu Ting was very confident.


    On the shore, daoist Qing Xuan looked at the scene peacefully. His eyes glistened and thought, "The truculence and aggressiveness of the troops are like an inferno¡­, Xu Ting''s fate energy changes thrice in a day, it is about to prosper and the heavenly trend is starting!"


    In reality, the heavenly trend was merely a seed.


    Without the right timing, the right conditions and the right people as soil and rain for the seed, the heavenly trend would not sprout and grow. Instead, it would brew disaster.


    But however, at that moment, the three factors were all right; success was imminent!


    "The original magistrate of Golden Lake Prefecture relinquished his position due to his illness. Hence, once Xu Ren took over the position, he garnered the support of all the districts. After ten plus years of gradual influence, things are falling into places and he can now support Xu Ting in his war! With their combined powers, the nearby prefectures will be of no match, and after seizing the entire Golden Court Lake, they would have their foundation to gather sufficient people dao fate energy to succeed. However, my sect is not gaining much from it, many opportunities have been snatched¡­, d*mn demons!"


    When he thought of Xu Ting''s Purple Suo sword, his expression turned even gloomier.


    The sword was an auspicious sign. Of course, Xu Ting sent people to spread the news to bolster his strength.


    The sword was like a treasure that signified the heavenly trends. For daoist Qing Xuan to ask for it back from Xu Ting was like courting death.


    "Also, that Kong Luo was merely an unknown lone practitioner that was not very good. Now, since he had gotten the Green Qiu sword, his power has tremendously improved and he even defeated many of my sect''s people. Xu Ting greatly favours him now and they even deployed together¡­"


    Xu Ting could not be touched and neither could Kong Luo.


    Xu Ting would be a fool to allow his compatriot to be killed for the sword. Thankfully, Qing Xuan could still benefit from the fate energy gained. However, if he were to anger the dragon energy, he would really be totally dead.


    As Qing Xuan mumbled to himself, he felt as though there was a giant invisible net that was enveloping Xuan Zhen Sect.


    Originally, it was still possible to gift these two swords as a form of investment.


    But now, they had spent too much effort helping others with no benefit for themselves gained. Even the head of the sect became worried and despondent after hearing the rumours.


    "The uprising of the humans is a heavenly trend and this Xu Ting has dragon energy within him¡­ but now, with the steps Xuan Zhen Sect have taken, it seems like we have made the wrong moves¡­"


    As Qing Xuan thought of how the heavenly trend was hard to predict, he was awe-inspired.


    With the uprising of humans, killer tribulations became rife. As such, many were left dead in the process. Although Xuan Zhen Sect had treasures to suppress fate energy, there were usually no tribulations happening, but as for killer tribulations, how much effect these treasures would still have was really an unknown.


    ...


    Dragon Palace, Golden Court Lake.


    Fang Yuan sat opposite Golden Court Dragon God and in front of them was a chessboard. A water screen appeared out of nothing, and the scene of numerous warships departing was depicted.


    "Your magical powers are truly an eye-opener!"


    As Fang Yuan noticed Xu Ting''s prospering fate energy, the Purple Suo sword on his waist and Kong Luo, he could not contain his smile.


    "The Golden Court Lake is under my jurisdiction, hence, the water reflective technique could be used. If they leave Golden Court Lake or if his fate energy were to further increase, this technique of mine would be unable monitor them from afar."


    The Dragon God smiled and straightforwardly placed a piece on the chessboard, "You are very observant and have planned well from the start. The way you handled the two swords was especially creative, I am very impressed."


    Since the Dragon God was very mighty and resourceful, he easily knew about the two swords.


    Furthermore, Fang Yuan and the Dragon God were truly on the same side. Compared to those people dao cultivators, especially those who aimed to monopolise fate energy, the Dragon God did not have a favourable impression of them.


    With the Dragon God''s intelligence, he could easily guess that once Xuan Zhen Sect rose in power, they would go around destroying temples and force these deities to submit to them and have contractual agreements to be their servants.


    Even as people dao deities, dragons were haughty as it was part of their natural temperament.


    As for his dragon descendant going against Xuan Zhen Sect, the Dragon God was glad to see such.


    "With Xu Ting''s fate energy, there would be no problem uniting the Golden Court Lake''s nearby prefectures under his rule. These prefectures have numerous resources and its people are settled peacefully, it is truly a great place¡­"


    Fang Yuan placed a chess piece in response and started to mention another area, "After Wang Qiao usurps, it will still take some time for him to quell the rebel towns. If Xu Ting wants to grow further, he has to go along An River and conquer those prefectures all the way up to Qi Lake. Only then would he occupy half the country and be considered extremely powerful."


    There were many river systems in the Water Realm.


    In Chu Country, Qi Lake, An River and Golden Court Lake were connected and those prefectures near it made up half the country! That made up one-sixth of the human population!


    "The An River Dragon God''s original form was a poisonous water dragon who loves blood sacrifices. He would definitely not sit back and allow the uprising of humans¡­, not sure if you are interested in the position of An River Dragon God?"


    "The position of An River Dragon God?"


    The Golden Court Dragon God thought for a moment and suddenly smiled, "With your extravagance, what requests do you have?


    "I was born in Qi Lake, how about Qi Lake?"


    Fang Yuan was not shy as he laid out his conditions directly, "We will help out one another and fight against the sects, it is also for us demons to obtain a lifeline against this heavenly trend!"


    "A lifeline?"


    The Golden Court Dragon God was puzzled.


    "The uprising of the humans is a heavenly trend, however, all races are equal. Even if us demons are downfalling, it does not mean that we should be extinct. Even if the land was meant for the people dao, does it mean that there is absolutely no space for us demons?"


    Fang Yuan smiled as he explained; the Dragon God was moved at once.


    "That makes sense!"


    The Dragon God stood up and looked into the water screen. Large troops attacked and plundered, gathering large amounts of fate energy. This made Fang Yuan''s intentions harder to be comprehended by the Dragon God, the Dragon God could not help but to sigh. "We have always given in to the heavens and the people, and are always misunderstood by the demons. But now, we are in the same boat. This is all I can do and I will let history be the judge! I will not think too much now and after a thousand years, I will see what history has to say!"


    [1] Perpetual title heritability allows the title to be passed down to future generation without downgrading of rank.

 305 The Return

    "Kill!"


    Xu Ting''s army was unstoppable and consecutively took down both the Seventh Dawn and the Thousand Scarlet Prefectures.


    Originally, prefectures and district towns were not allowed to have a large number of troops and only have a few thousand soldiers at most. As such, there was not much resistance against Xu Ting who had plotted for a very long time and had the backing of the pirates and his private soldiers.


    Of course, the scenario would be drastically different if it were to drag on for half a year where the big, influential families would have the time to build their own army.


    As of now, Xu Ting seized the opportunity and managed to successively take over the towns.


    By the 8th month, he had already conscripted 2,000 new soldiers. His originally five thousand-strong troops were rumoured to have 10,000 soldiers now. News had spread to all places that the soldiers had surrounded the Lanze Prefecture City.


    The sight of soldiers clad in armour was frightening to behold.


    Xu Ting stood on the high ground. With a beckon, around 10 soldiers with loud voices came forward. "Listen well, Wang Qiao is a tyrant. It is my general''s calling to take him down. If you surrender immediately, you will not lose your riches and honour. If not, we will destroy everything and it will be too late to regret your decision by then!"


    "How audacious!"


    A person who looked like an official appeared on the wall. He was clad in magistrate''s clothing and scolded them immediately. "Xu Ting, you are just a candidate who had just become a patrol officer, and yet, you call yourself a general. You even attack your fellow countrymen. If this is not a traitorous act, then what is a traitorous act? I, a palace graduate [1] favoured by the imperial court, will defend against you and not let you prevail!"


    There was a slight disturbance within the ranks, especially amongst the new soldiers when the magistrate scolded Xu Ting. However, nothing else happened.


    Xu Ting could not help but laugh coldly.


    He knew that the elites among his troops were his own private soldiers and pirates. Their strength was absolute. There would be no problem even if his own troops were to revolt against him.


    Furthermore, in the name of seeking revenge for the young emperor, the soldiers were still dignified regardless of the position of the person who was scolding them.


    It would have been dangerous if his troops were made up of normal soldiers and if they did not have a cause to fight.


    ''However...this magistrate is up to no good as well. On the surface, he appears to be loyal and devoted. However, I have received information that he secretly wanted to set up a regime and had started to amass his troops to stamp out the dissidents...''


    His face took on a cold expression. He waved his hand. "Attack! Take note of this magistrate. Once we have broken into the city, kill his entire family!"


    "Understood!"


    His army was composed of pirates who were not afraid of anything. They had no qualms about attacking the city and started to push their weapons forward.


    When a few catapults were lined up before the city, the magistrate on the wall turned deathly pale and had to be assisted down from the wall.


    "Kill!""Kill!""Kill!"


    The troops shouted in unison. The attack on the city could take place at any moment.


    "If we really attack head-on, even if there are not many soldiers within the prefecture city, the citizens can still be mobilized against me, which put me at a disadvantage! Is the preparation within the city ready?"


    Xu Ting asked after he tested out the defense of the city.


    "My lord, it has been arranged!"


    Kong Luo was dressed in green robes and appeared elegant. There were faint traces of sword essence on his body. "Huang and Zhang Families have agreed to open up the gates once night falls!"


    "Good!"


    Xu Ting was very pleased.


    The people within the prefecture city were not made of metal and as such, could be bribed.


    Otherwise, in ancient times, without the use of proper equipment to besiege the city, it would take many years to breach the defenses of the city even when the supply of food runs out.


    "Hmm, you shall lead the army this time. I will provide assistance!"


    Of course, things were different due to the existence of divine techniques.


    Xu Ting ordered after he moved.


    "Understood!"


    Kong Luo agreed after he opened his spiritual eye and realized that Xu Ting was not going to experience any tribulations this time based on his fate energy.


    Xu Ting was amongst the troops now and his fate energy was closely linked to the generals. If there were any changes, the changes would show themselves. Everything was smooth-sailing as of now.


    ''Damn!''


    As the soldiers praised Xu Ting, a few people from the Xuan Zhen Sect were unhappy as they thought to themselves, ''Instigating these two families were originally our sect''s effort, why do we need to split the spoils of war?''


    However, who would dare to go against the general''s order?


    Even if they were to vomit blood, they could only nod their head in agreement.


    ...


    Night fell. Huang and Zhang Families each sent out 200 soldiers, coordinated with the outside effort and betrayed the Lanze Prefecture city. The city''s defense fell, the magistrate committed suicide by hanging himself and his who family was executed.


    Furthermore, those officials who resisted were executed regardless of their backgrounds. The whole prefecture was shaken by the executions and the people quickly surrendered.


    At this moment, many influential families realized that military might was the most important amidst the chaos. It was not time to talk about relationships, feelings, families and the likes with a shining knife dangling above their heads, threatening their lives.


    In the 9th month, the magistrate of the Luosong Prefecture, the last remaining prefecture around the Golden Court Lake, brought a few hundred officials to surrender after realizing that the tables had turned.


    Xu Ting was pleased. After reporting to Xu Ren, he was appointed as a prefecture magistrate. However, he planted a few trusted aides within the troops everywhere he went.


    Till now, from the demise of the young emperor to the declaration of the crusade, he managed to turn the 4 prefectures into military-occupied towns of the Chu Country. The speed at which the operation was carried out was enough to cause onlookers to be dumbfounded.


    At this moment, the greatest battle of Chu Country was happening between the allied forces of 10 military-occupied towns and the Chu imperial guards under the command of Wang Qiao. This gave Xu Ting the opportunity to expand his military might.


    10th month, 5th year of Yong An.


    Xu Ren appointed himself as the ''Glorious Grandmaster'' and set up multiple appointments such as registrar and officials to handle the affairs of the prefectures. He also appointed Xu Ting as the Guerrilla Warfare General who was in charge of military affairs.


    The officials originated from the feudal states and the system evolved from the ideas of the scholar-officials. They were feudal lords that once possessed acres of land, private soldiers, control the law and are able to impose taxes. They later became members of the emperor''s inner ministerial circle and were split into different categories such as Zhong Daifu, Grand Daifu and Jian Daifu [2].There was no fixed number of officials. They had no fixed duties and were amongst the most distinguished in Chu Country.


    It was evident that Xu Ren chose this position as he regarded it to be important. Furthermore, it was civil service post which helped him paved a way for Xu Ting.


    "Auspicious energy, gather like clouds!"


    On the day the prefectures were set up, almost all the realm energy practitioners came forward to witness the new regime.


    "At this moment, the Glorious Grandmaster controls 5 prefectures. Even though he kept the system of prefecture magistrates and district magistrates, it is actually the minor officials who handle the affairs, effectively making the magistrates mere figureheads. The treatment of the magistrates remains the same. This is indeed a stroke of genius!''"


    Kong Luo could not help but sigh.


    The positions of prefecture magistrates and district magistrates were used to recruit the surrendered enemies.


    The influential families surrendered against their wills as they were not firm or they had no other options. As such, they could not be given such a heavy responsibility at the start. Of course, they could not be brushed aside as that would breed hostility.


    At this moment, they were regarded as if they were clay buddhas, where their salaries and treatment remained unchanged to show the sincerity while the actual tasks were handled by capable minor officials who lacked the qualification and backgrounds. Due to the integrated system, they were able to cut back on the resources needed.


    In the future, when those officials who surrendered were accustomed to the system, the minor officials could be relocated to new areas where they could be quickly promoted.


    As Xu Ting alone had the authority over the army, the 5 prefectures were united which was difficult to achieve for a new regime.


    "Throughout history, there is always a system to handle matters...It is not strange for the 5 prefectures to operate normally!"


    Kong Luo felt a surge of karma which brought along spiritual energy with it. He could not help but feel as though he was floating and exclaimed, "General Xu is vying for the heaven''s fate energy and gathered the fate energies of 2 million soldiers and civilians in the 5 prefectures. Even if I were only able to obtain just a bit of the fate energy, I would be able to benefit greatly from it!"


    With the help of the Dao Magical Formula, it would not be difficult for his Breathing Technique, which was currently in the 3rd tier, to break through to the 4th tier in a short amount of time.


    According to tradition, those who had reached the 4th tier would be given the title of ''Venerable'' and would possess the qualifications to set up Dao orthodoxy as well as a small sect.


    It might even be possible for him to make use fate energy as a mean to perfect 5 or 6 levels of Dao Foundation!


    "This is an opportunity for my sect to rise. No one, not even Xuan Zhen Sect, can get in my way!"


    Kong Luo muttered as his eyes flashed a steely green.


    ...


    "Golden Lake, Thousand Scarlet, Luosong, Seventh Dawn and the Lanze Prefectures...have a population of 500,000 households and 2,000,000 civilians and soldiers. If they were properly integrated, the Xu family''s father and son would be able to properly manage 50,000 soldiers without a problem..."


    Fang Yuan transformed into a horned dragon and ceaselessly advanced in a stream of water.


    At this moment, he naturally felt the benefits of being a horned dragon. The most direct benefit was that the horned dragon was continuously growing as he grew from 38 inches originally to over 3 yards long. A golden-green light flickered on his body and he was increasingly awe-inspiring.


    "Crash!"


    He pushed through everything in his way as not one water dweller dared to offend him. When he revealed a small portion of his dragon''s might, many spirits pledged their allegiance to him and hundreds of fishes followed him. His fame was unmatched.


    Even though he was just a young horned dragon, he was still a dragon and as such, he was naturally different from the other water spirits!


    "Xu Ting is very smart. After taking over the 5 prefectures, he immediately reorganized his troops and aggressively develop the navy as he prepares to make use of the An River to bring the battle to Qi Lake. If he does not grasp this opportunity to expand his army and wait for Wang Qiao and the allied forces to finish their battle, things will be different..."


    Once he entered An River, Fang Yuan immediately felt at ease as a large amount of spiritual energy in the water surge forth.


    "This An River Dragon God failed to understand the right timing...as a demon race, he went against a greater power and had already lost half the battle. Although he had the right conditions, I come here with the Xu Family''s dragon energy. He was unlucky, for I have met my benefactor."


    In order to reach Qi Lake, Xu Ting had to dispatch his troops through the waterways and as such, the Golden Lake Navy would have to enter An River.


    If the Dragon God opposed it, he would be fighting against the heavenly trend and would be killed.


    One would be able to receive a lot of help when the fate energy is on his side. If the fate energy was not on his side, not even the hero would be able to save himself.


    Now that power was on his side, he should make full use of the opportunity.


    "Ah¡­..where do you come from?"


    A few guards poked their heads out. Upon seeing Fang Yuan, they did not dare to offend him and quickly bowed. "Please enter the dragon palace to visit the Dragon God!"


    "Haha¡­..I will not pay the An River Dragon God a visit. Help me convey to him the message to not oppose Heaven''s will. If not, it will be too late when all hell breaks loose!"


    Fang Yuan would be foolish if he were to battle the Dragon God and give his life up for Xu Ting. He immediately transformed into a streak of golden light and escaped far away.


    After travelling for many days, the Dragon God was no longer able to catch him. A big lake filled with spiritual energy appeared before his eyes.


    "Qi Lake, I am back!!"


    Fang Yuan dove in, his heart filled with emotions.


    [1] Successful candidate in the highest imperial civil service examination.


    [2] Different ranking of officials in the imperial court.

 306 Rescue

    In the 150-mile radius of Qi Lake, mist covered the vast surface of the lake.


    Fang Yuan hid his dragon might and transformed into a carp. As he swam, he felt overwhelmed with emotions.


    The Carp Transformation Technique was a must know for dragons, akin to an innate ability. If dragon gods were met with trouble, they would usually transform into a carp.


    At that moment, Fang Yuan transformed into a black carp and swam around as if he was on a rampage.


    "Speaking of which¡­, I am still under the Qi Lake Water God''s warrant for arrest, but who could ever imagine a carp would have transformed into a dragon in merely ten years?"


    The Qi Lake Water God, called Bai Guan, was a python that cultivated into a Water God through the imperial order. He could make waves and form rain. His aides included two powerful demon kings, an alligator snapping turtle and a water buffalo.


    Nevertheless, since he could not transform into a dragon, he could not be called a Dragon God and was merely a Water God.


    "For a python to transform into a dragon, it must undergo huge tribulations!"


    As Fang Yuan thought of that, he gave a wry smile at once, "With the heavenly trend, humans are rising up and demons are not favoured. The number of tribulations the Water God must pass to transform into a dragon is huge and it would be impossible for him do so!"


    He could not transform into a dragon without overcoming heavenly tribulations and thus would remain a snake demon!


    If only he did not possess the heavenly imperial order nor had the help of his demon kings, Fang Yuan could have settled him by himself.


    "Hmm¡­ and that Li Luan, if Xu Ting''s power grows further, she would definitely not let off her father''s killer!"


    Once he thought of Qi Lake Water God, he could not help but to thought of Li Luan.


    Li Luan was the previous Water God''s daughter. In order to seek revenge, she stole An River Dragon God''s pearl. It was an extremely daring move and reflected how resolute she was.


    However, once she met Xu Ting, she fell in love with him. Not only did she gift away the Dragon Pearl, she sent herself in. It truly made Fang Yuan felt how the heavens made a fool of demons.


    It was like how the Golden Court Dragon God got too close to the people dao for too long and relied on their beliefs for its own fate energy. Hence, he naturally got affected too.


    This was why Fang Yuan chose not to get too close to people.


    "I wonder how are those spirits at Lotus Pond are doing¡­"


    Fang Yuan thought of his old haunt and rushed towards to Lotus Pond.


    Vivid memories of the reserved Gui Zhong, the cute Luo Zhu and the unlucky crocodile appeared on his mind.


    When he arrived near Lotus Pond, he realised something was amiss.


    Many water dwellers have fled and groups of water guardians seemed to be searching for something.


    "Eh? This seems weird!"


    Fang Yuan was shocked as he saw that, "Could it be that another powerful demon has appeared in Lotus Pond? Is it being hunted down by the Water God? If not, what are they doing?"


    When he was a black carp, he lived there. It was a remote spot in Qi Lake that did not have much spiritual energy nor powerful spirits. Fang Yuan could not think of why there was such a huge commotion.


    Unless, they realised he was arriving and intentionally wanted to capture him. However, that was absurd and baseless.


    "Hey! That black fish there! The Water God is trying to capture someone, you better leave quickly!"


    One of the water guardians immediately hollered when it saw Fang Yuan approaching and its fierce aura spread across.


    "Capturing someone? Who are you all capturing?"


    Fang Yuan smiled, and slightly made use of his ability to satiate his curiosity.


    "Of course it''s that scallop who stole the deity position! The Water God has ordered, whichever water guardian captures that lady and presents the deity position would be promoted to general¡­"


    The water guardian was ferocious looking and wielded a giant steel fork, but spoke uninhibitedly.


    After it told Fang Yuan everything it knew, it then suddenly scratched its head, "Why did I tell you so much¡­ wait a minute, you look very familiar!"


    "Oh, you don''t recognise me?"


    Fang Yuan laughed.


    The black carp he was currently transformed as was noticeably different from his original transformation; it had shinier scales and a dragon beard.


    "I recognise you now, you are the Water God''s wanted criminal! You are even more wanted than that shell lady!"


    The water guardian suddenly recognised him and was elated, "After I catch you, the Water God would definitely promote me to a deity!"


    It was overwhelmed with greed and without thinking of why such a black carp would suddenly appear there, it charged forward with its fork.


    "Looks like it''s a transformed water dweller too, its spiritual awareness¡­ is worrying!"


    Fang Yuan thought for a moment, the surrounding lake water immediately froze into ice and trapped the water guardian in it.


    "Those who don''t want to die, scram!"


    With his spiritual will, it was as though a hurricane swept across with a tinge of dragon might.


    Against the dragon''s might, many of the water dwellers fled in terror.


    "That scallop, could it be Luo Zhu?"


    An unusual premonition appeared in Fang Yuan''s mind and made him sped up.


    ...


    Further inside the lake, there were many water guardians making its rounds. They were holding a magical equipment that looked like a bright pearl.


    Leading it was a crab general. His whole body was golden in colour and he had four limbs. He was donned in metal armour and looked ferocious and strong.


    "The Water God has instructed that we cannot let the shell lady escape or else we would be punished! We have already sealed off the entire Lotus Pond, she cannot run away! Search for her carefully!"


    "Yes, Sir!"


    Under the possibility of heavy rewards or heavy punishments, the water guardians were flustered and began searching more carefully.


    As their search areas shrunk, suddenly, a dazzling red glow effused from a pearl which was spotted.


    "It must be here!"


    The water guardian who spotted it was overjoyed. The lakebed tremored as silt flew everywhere. Under the strong currents, a giant shell could be discerned.


    "Bam!"


    The shell was the size of a house. However, when the water guardian attempted to smash it, he let out a blood-curdling scream as his bones got smashed instead.


    "Pew! Pew!"


    The giant shell started expelling water currents in an attempt to escape, as though it was an undefeatable fortress rushing forward.


    However, the crab general had chased after it for a long time, he already knew the shell lady''s tricks. With a wave for his arm, a group of water spiders appeared and sprayed colorful nettings over her.


    The nettings intertwined to form a huge net enveloping the entire shell.


    "Pull!"


    "Pull!"


    The huge group began tugging and pulling the net.


    With this huge strength, it finally stopped the giant shell from escaping as the water currents could not carry itself further.


    "Go!"


    The crab general waved its arm yet again and the group started to smash the shell repeatedly.


    "How long would this take?"


    At that moment, the shell opened slightly, a silhouette of an anxious-looking young lady carrying a pearl could be seen.


    The crab general gave an irritated roar as he swung numerous large hammers on to the shell.


    "Bam! Bam!"


    The sound echoed like the muffled noise of thunder.


    A crack appeared on the shell and the face of the shell lady inside turned pale at once. She raised her pearl and squealed, "Stop!"


    Immediately, a divine light appeared and swept away the water dwellers, however, it got blocked by the light from the crab general''s body.


    "Hehe¡­, you and I are both Qi Lake''s deities. We are both under the jurisdiction of my master, Qi Lake Water God, how dare you think you have a technique that I do not know of?"


    The crab general laughed out loud, "Follow me back obediently and who knows the Water God might even pardon your crimes!"


    "Dream on!"


    The young lady bawled out, "Grandpa Gui Zhong died because he obeyed you all!"


    "Stubborn fool!"


    The crab general snorted, although she was right and he indeed intended to do so, he was still slightly disgruntled being called out.


    He immediately raised his hammer and gave yet another powerful smash.


    "Bam!"


    The lake tremored again as cracks spread across the shell.


    "Haha¡­ foolish girl, let''s see where can you run to?"


    The crab general gave a wicked grin as she saw the young lady gave a panic-stricken look.


    However, just as he raised his hammer again, he felt a sudden change in the surrounding currents.


    The originally calm lake bottom turned into a vortex as a whirlpool that kept sucking in the crustacean army appeared.


    "This is¡­ demonic magic? Who is saving this girl?"


    The crab general''s heart turned stone cold as he stared at the vortex.


    Sure enough, in the eye of the vortex, there was a black fish swimming leisurely.


    "Carp spirit? This seems very familiar!"


    The crab general paused for a moment before he immediately questioned, "Aren''t you the carp who stole the Water God''s treasure?"


    At the same time, the shell lady trapped in the lake exclaimed, "Brother Fang Yuan?"


    "It is Luo Zhu!"


    As expected, Fang Yuan was the one who came over.


    Fang Yuan was surprised as he saw the shell and its shell lady had grown a lot.


    "To cultivate till this level, it must be due to what I taught her, but then, what is with the divine light?"


    Although Fang Yuan was bewildered, he did not begin recounting past events.


    This was because the crab general''s hammer was approaching his head.


    "Haha¡­ such is fate, I can''t believe this black carp just walked into the trap willingly!"


    The crab general''s four arms began smashing in a flurry.


    "He is merely a water general?"


    Fang Yuan was disappointed at such, "I still thought it would be a demon king¡­"


    He swung its tail and, "Bam!"


    Under the loud noise, two hammers flew out.


    "Ah¡­ you!"


    At that moment, the crab general then realised the black carp in front of him was different, its strange energy made him thought of running away.


    Unfortunately, Fang Yuan''s actions were much faster than his. Just as he was about to turn around, a fiery red sword essence pierced through his head and he burst into flames.


    Flaming!


    Under the flames, the initially golden crab cooked through and turned red.


    "Oh, this crab looks delicious!"


    Fang Yuan did not bother about the cooked crab general anymore and went to the shell. He summoned the sword essence and cut the colourful net into pieces as Luo Zhu appeared from inside.


    "It''s been so long since I met you, you have grown so much!"


    As he gazed at Luo Zhu, he smiled and lightly knocked her head like he used to.


    Luo Zhu was stunned from the events, tears welled up in the corner of her eyes and turned into pearls as they fell, "You¡­ are really big brother, sobs¡­, grandpa Gui Zhong has passed away¡­"


    "What exactly happened? Also, why did you become a water deity?"


    As Fang Yuan looked at the divine light on her body, he was astonished, he looked at the surrounding and added, "This is not where we should be talking, let''s go!"


    He then grabbed a slightly golden talisman from the crab''s cooked body.


    "Yea, I will listen to you!"


    Luo Zhu nodded obediently and gave unconditional trust to Fang Yuan.

 307 Entrus

    The lotus leaves swept away and the blue waves splashed.


    Under a fragrant aroma, a small boat floated on the lake. Fang Yuan and Luo Zhu sat facing each other and in front of them was a brewing pot of tea.


    "This spot is protected by my abilities. The Qi Lake Water God would not be able to discover us here. It has been ten plus years since we met, how have you been?"


    Fang Yuan raised his teacup and smiled.


    Although Bai Guan was the Qi Lake Water God, he could not meticulously search through every big and small detail in the 150-mile radius of Qi Lake.


    Hence, all the powerful demons had abilities to conceal themselves and unless they were really nearby him, it was extremely hard for them to be detected.


    "Umm¡­"


    Luo Zhu''s eyes welled with tears and began narrating, "After big brother left, many fierce water dwellers came over to Lotus Pond. After searching through many times with no results, they left and never came back¡­ I followed your techniques and cultivated. My pearl gradually became rounder and fuller, while my body grew too. Most of the past ten years were very carefree and worriless for me, except a few months ago where grandpa Gui Zhong suddenly appeared in my dreams. He told me that the Water God was after his life and he was going to die soon, he also said since he and I were fated, he entrusted me with the deity position¡­ Ever since then, those fierce water dwellers appeared¡­"


    After hearing her, Fang Yuan was speechless, "That old green-haired tortoise? Nevermind, I will take a look myself! Don''t move nor resist!"


    As Fang Yuan spoke, he placed his finger on the area between her eyebrows.


    Luo Zhu was dressed in a thin silk gown and radiated with the purity of a deity, her beauty was indescribable.


    Facing Fang Yuan, she opened up herself to him.


    After all, demons were simple-minded, the two of them had such a strong relationship before and hence, it was natural for her to open up to Fang Yuan.


    "Hmm¡­, crystal clear, strong foundation, the magic is pure¡­."


    Since she was cooperative, Fang Yuan could easily and clearly view such.


    Fang Yuan nodded as he viewed, he then shifted his gaze to an imperial order talisman in Luo Zhu''s sea of consciousness.


    The talisman shined in a mixture of green and red light, and there was a tinge of heavenly energy from it. It was noticeably unique. Furthermore, the imperial order Fang Yuan just obtained from the crab general and the other imperial orders he had seen before paled in comparison; this talisman was vastly superior.


    "This deity position seems like it was not formed from people dao''s beliefs, it seems to be formed from pure heavenly energy¡­"


    There were huge differences between a people dao deity and a natural heavenly deity. The latter could easily adjust the spiritual energy in its divine territory and its might could not be compared to the formers''.


    "No wonder I felt this old green-haired tortoise was hiding something, I can''t believe he was secretly accumulating for his deity position¡­"


    Fang Yuan sensed a bit and detected the imperial order deity''s territory, "Hmm¡­, its Lotus Pond and a nearby estuary¡­, hehe, this essentially means that part of the Qi Lake Water God''s area of power has been cut off! Of course there was animosity! That old tortoise was timid and chose to play safe, who knows, he might even have coveted the Water God''s position and got discovered and hence, put to death!"


    Then why did he appear in Luo Zhu''s dreams and gave her the deity position?


    This was because she was the most powerful in Lotus Pond, hence, after the old tortoise, there was no other choice than her since she was the most qualified to inherit the deity position.


    "Of course¡­, he seems to have some plans!" Fang Yuan thought.


    Since he saw the imperial order was so close to being cultivated, Fang Yuan gathered his spiritual will and instructed, "Sister Luo Zhu, I want to help you to cultivate your deity position. Remember not to resist no matter what happens in your sea of consciousness, understood?"


    "Yea! Just do it Big Brother!"


    As Luo Zhu heard how dignified Fang Yuan instructed, she nodded her head solemnly.


    "Hah!"


    Fang pointed his fingers and three swords emerged with red, blue and green glows, surrounding the imperial order.


    Even as the swords glowed, their sword radiance was well kept and there were no signs of sword essence dissipating. It showed that the swords were controlled powerfully.


    For a dream master, it was like an innate ability to have such fine controls in the sea of consciousness.


    The three swords displayed the power of their three talents, and sealed off the imperial order at once.


    Seeing such, Fang Yuan finally stopped holding his breath and laughed, "Old tortoise! You have hidden really deeply! Just that¡­ a small trace of your spiritual will was left behind in the deity position! To steal my sister''s body, you have to pass through me first!"


    The imperial order vibrated slightly, however, it did not move.


    Fang Yuan then gave a mirthless smile and pointed his finger. A delicate 3 Talents Sword Array appeared immediately and isolated it.


    Surges of sword essence emerged in the array and pierced towards the imperial order.


    "Fang Yuan!"


    The imperial order suddenly moved. Under Luo Zhu''s screams of terror, it dazzled brightly and a green-robed elder appeared. It was that green-haired tortoise demon, Gui Zhong.


    Gui Zhong was visibly distraught as he looked towards Fang Yuan and asked, "Why do you want to be so ruthless?"


    "It is not that I am stone-hearted, it is because you are immoral!"


    Fang Yuan scorned, "Originally, I could not be bothered about you cultivating your deity position, but since you planted your elemental clone right before your death, and wanted to replace her soul with yours, I will not let you off for harming my sister!"


    "Swoosh!"


    The fire and water swords converged as thunder sparked in the middle, it was a force that could not even be resisted by the imperial order''s power.


    Gui Zhong''s body has long died and his elemental clone has already largely disappeared. At that moment, it was just a shadow. No matter how well it had hidden itself, it was not very powerful even if it was discovered.


    Suddenly, the shadow dissipated, its face turned aggressive and said, "Ahh¡­, unless you really want to fight till one of us perishes? This is that lass'' sea of consciousness, if I detonate the imperial order, she would die and her soul would be gone forever, unable to reincarnate! This is my bad, as long as you let me off this time, I swear I will immediately leave her body and look for another one, how about that?


    "How about no! You want to self-detonate? Why don''t you try it? I''m sure only you would die!"


    Dream masters were the most competent in manipulating the sea of consciousness, when Fang Yuan used his 3 Talents Sword Array, it was all for this. He grinned and said, "I will accept the gift you have sent on behalf of sister Luo Zhu! Go!"


    "Swish!"


    Lightning flashed.


    Although Gui Zhong wanted to detonate the deity position and perish together, suddenly, lightning struck this old tortoise''s forehead as Luo Zhu let out a scream.


    He was stunned. He then exploded and turned into streaks of black vapour.


    "I will just help you completely cultivate this!" Fang Yuan thought as the 3 Talents Sword Array shined mysteriously and slashed the imperial order.


    The imperial order totally dissipated and turned into large amounts of golden red runes. Each of them contained heavenly axioms, encompassing some kind of natural power.


    "Ah¡­, in actual fact, all roads lead to Rome, in the end, we are all learning about the rules along the way!"


    Fang Yuan pondered, he then waved his hands and the streaks of black vapour originally from Gui Zhong surrounded his hand, as fragmented pieces of memories appeared.


    "Big brother.., what are you doing¡­, I¡­ I''m scared, it felt like I almost died just now!"


    After completing, little Luo Zhu''s voice could then be heard.


    "Don''t worry, come out now and accept your deity position!"


    Fang Yuan smiled and dispelled the sword array. As he saw Luo Zhu''s Yin spirit, he reached out his hand and dispersed the runes on her body.


    "Woong!"


    A divine light flashed and immediately, many magical inscriptions appeared on Luo Zhu''s body. They were divine techniques granted by the heavens, it could harness the spiritual energy of Lotus Pond and the estuary.


    "I¡­ think I just suddenly gained knowledge of many things!"


    Luo Zhu paused for a moment. The divine light on her body grew stronger.


    "Yea, familiarise yourself with it!"


    Seeing such, Fang Yuan exited her sea of consciousness. He saw the Luo Zhu in front of him had aged a few years but did not bother her as her eyes were shut and she was deep in thoughts. The streaks of black vapour on his hand dissipated, signifying that Gui Zhong''s last remaining imprints in this realm had totally disappeared.


    "This Gui Zhong¡­ I can''t believe that there were traces of true dragon blood in him, he was really secretive!"


    As he thought of the scenes during cultivation, he mused, "This demon has carefully and profoundly schemed to be a true heavenly deity for a long time and he almost succeeded¡­ Just that the timing was not right and he was found out by the Qi Lake Water God. Hence, he was ultimately met with inexorable tribulations."


    Fang Yuan was not very interested in his background, just that he had greatly benefited from a deeper understanding of god dao.


    "The real heavenly imperial order was formed by rules, its unique power was sourced from the heavens and earth, hence, there are so many different types of deities!"


    "Whereas, for people dao deities, although they made use of the beliefs of people, it was not exactly the same as a heavenly deity. However, they can also ascend to a heavenly deity, as long as they do good deeds and accumulate heavenly karma!"


    "When Gui Zhong was cultivating his deity position, he had already used up most of his fate energy, hence, not only was the timing not right, he was met with tribulations and ultimately died¡­"


    "Pitter patter!"


    Suddenly, mist appeared on the surface of the lake as moments later, dense raindrops splashed on to the surface of the lake.


    "Thank you, big brother, for helping me to cultivate my deity position and removing the hidden danger!"


    Luo Zhu opened her eyes and thanked with radiance.


    She just realised how dangerous it was just now.


    If not for Fang Yuan, the moment she finally cultivated her deity position, Gui Zhong would have snatched her soul and all her efforts would have gone down the drain.


    "Now that you have your heavenly deity position, you automatically mastered how to control the weather! This is your fate!"


    Fang Yuan was very gratified seeing how she now had her own abilities, "Just remember, in the future, as long as you do more good deeds, do your duties dutifully and don''t go against the heavenly trend, there would be no harms nor tribulations!"


    "Just that¡­ Qi Lake Water God would definitely not do nothing about this deity position of mine!"


    After cultivating her deity position, Luo Zhu understood many things, hence her expression turned slightly sorrow.


    The Lotus Pond and the estuary were all part of Qi Lake, which were under the jurisdiction of the Water God. The Water God would definitely not be happy about part of his authority being carved out!


    Furthermore, Fang Yuan knew how Luo Zhu was different from that crab general.


    The deities under the Water God had the relationship akin to ministers and emperors, it was just a relationship of authority, and hence, these deities were easily commanded and controlled.


    Whereas, Luo Zhu''s deity position was accumulated from the heavens, it was akin to a military governor having its own rule. Which emperor would allow such?


    Hence, the two parties would definitely fight with each other!


    "Hehe¡­, don''t worry, I will definitely help you with this matter. After all, this Water God is a nemesis of mine!"


    Fang Yuan laughed and then looked above his head.


    He saw green and golden streaks gathering and turning into flowers. They rippled as they bloomed auspiciously, revealing its extraordinariness.


    Xu family''s dragon energy was prospering. The family had occupied five prefectures and their troop was 200 million large. Naturally, the karma gained from it was extraordinary.


    Such great progress meant that it was the time for revenge!

 308 Tribulation

    "Name: Fang Yuan


    Race: Horned Dragon


    Essence: 36


    Spirit: 36


    Magic: 50


    Profession: ???


    Cultivation: ???


    Technique: [9 Steps of Dragon Transformation Formula (7th Transformation)], [Weather Controlling Technique (Grade 1)], [Natural Magical Strength (Grade 3)], [8 Gates Sword Array (4th Sword) (1%)]


    Skill: [Medicine (Level 3)], [Botany (Level 5)]"


    "After this round of harvest, I have fully formed the three swords. Since the thunder sword has been completed, I can now use the 3 Talents Sword Array!"


    In the actualised dream world, the thunder sword flashed with lightning, it had a dignified and vicious might.


    Also, soon enough, the fourth sword was slowly formed. It was pale green in colour, signifying the ultimate haste.


    "The fourth sword, the Modest Wind Sword?"


    Fang Yuan mumbled to himself solemnly.


    As a dream master at the Illusionary Divine stage, every three tiers was a huge stage. If the fourth sword was formed, not only could he harness the power of wind, thunder, water and fire to cast the 4 Emblems Sword Array, each magical soldier would have its own sword spirit! Once the magical soldier got their spirituality, their power would be way stronger than before! Not only would it not require control and could attack enemies on its own, it could even become like the Fiery Dragon Child!


    "At the 4th Tier of Illusionary Divine, it would allow one to actualise spiritual properties in objects!"


    "At the 7th Tier of Illusionary Divine, it would allow one to actualise a race of beasts and a spiritual land. Its power could even defeat that of True Elementals and True Divines!"


    "I am already at the 3rd Tier of Illusionary Divine and it''s only a small distance away from the 4th Tier of Illusionary Divine¡­"


    Fang Yuan''s eyes gleamed, "But of course, before that, I have to settle the foreign evil forces that tainted my dream elemental force¡­"


    If he did not settle the matter and ascended the tier, he would fall into a ploy!


    "Let''s go!"


    He stopped thinking and took a look at Luo Zhu who was beside him, "Let''s visit that Qi Lake Water God, Bai Guan!"


    The moment he spoke, a loud, thunderous noise suddenly erupted.


    Grey clouds loomed while lightning and thunder struck, all the water dwellers in Qi Lake were alarmed. One after another, they floated up to the surface of the lake to look at the unusual scene.


    "Hmm¡­, why does this scene looks so familiar to the one that happened ten plus years ago?"


    Luo Zhu was unbelievably shocked, "A dragon transformation tribulation?"


    "It is¡­ the tribulation to transform into a dragon!"


    Fang Yuan was puzzled. He then looked at the spiritual energy swarming into Qi Lake and sighed, "It''s Qi Lake Water God¡­ he is about to undergo a tribulation. I can''t believe we are involved in his people tribulation! Is this a taste of his own medicine?"


    There was no doubt that the Water God Bai Guan''s fate energy has dropped to its lowest point.


    Just as Fang Yuan made up his mind to look for trouble with him, he had brought about his own Heavenly Tribulations for his dragon transformation.


    As Fang Yuan had experienced it before, Fang Yuan knew how horrifying it was. Although the Qi Lake Water God had the help of his deity position, even if he made it out alive, he would be seriously injured.


    Furthermore, with Fang Yuan in his people tribulation, the Water God would definitely not be able to survive it!


    "Unknowingly, I''ve become the heavenly trend''s pawn!" Fang Yuan thought.


    He sighed as his fear of this unpredictable heavenly trend grew.


    ...


    On one area of the lake''s surface.


    In the mackerel sky, indistinct flashes of purple lightning appeared.


    Below it, the concentration of spiritual energy that swarmed in was so dense that it looked like a physical entity. The white smog formed shrouded the centre and in it, only a shadow of a gigantic snake could be discerned. One of its scale and one of its eyes could be vaguely seen and it had a majestic and divine aura.


    "Brother buffalo, what do you think are the chances of brother Bai Guan passing the tribulations this time?"


    On the side, two demons kept a distance from the white smog as they only dared to view from far.


    The Heavenly Tribulation was no joke, if they were to help him pass the tribulation, they would definitely be counterattacked!


    If they helped, the tribulations would become even more dangerous and in the end, they would all suffer from baleful consequences! Even though they were birds of a feather and were very close, it was not to this extent!


    "Brother Bai Guan''s power is extraordinary! He used his secret techniques to forcefully delay the tribulations till now. He has already fully cultivated his Water God imperial order. With the spiritual energy from the 150-mile radius of Qi Lake, there should be a 60% chance!"


    What the water buffalo said made the alligator snapping turtle pause for a moment before he gestured, "60%?"


    The alligator snapping turtle was in disbelief, "The Qi Lake Water God is one of the rare deities amongst us demons! He would have at least a 90% chance of passing the tribulations!"


    "That was last time! With the heavenly trend now? I doubt so!"


    The water buffalo then continued, "Us demons are downfalling while the humans are rising! The saints in my race have either died or experienced a severe reduction in their cultivation. Now that a demon is at his tribulation stage, it would definitely suffer from the wrath and envy of the heavens!"


    This realm''s Heavenly Tribulation was a way for the heavenly trend to maintain balance.


    As the demons were meant to downfall, these few years, the tribulations the demons underwent were more and more brutal. Out of ten, only one could survive!


    Anyway, Heavenly Tribulations could not be delayed easily.


    It was already a feat for Bai Guan to forcefully delay it till now.


    "If brother Bai Guan becomes a dragon, he will lose all his snake characteristics and be able to control the weather. Furthermore, since he is a deity, even if demons are downfalling, he can still protect our Qi Lake at the very least¡­" the alligator snapping turtle muttered.


    As the heavenly trend brought about the rise of humans, the demons reacted differently. There were some who resisted, some who gave up and some who escaped faraway to preserve their elemental energy. However, for the few of them, they just wanted to be a ruler of their area, Qi Lake.


    "Hmm¡­ those d*amn humans, if I see any of them, I will eat them up!"


    The water buffalo snorted out white fumes as his eyes turned blood red in anger.


    "Hehe¡­, that''s right, nevermind about the land near Qi Lake, the waters belong to us water dwellers, don''t the humans dare try to occupy it!"


    The alligator snapping turtle further added, "Let''s not talk about others, now that brother Bai Guan has ten thousands of soldiers and tens of generals, no matter what ships the humans bring over, we will topple them over!"


    "As long as brother Bai Guan passes this tribulation, carefree days are ahead of us!"


    The water buffalo clenched his teeth.


    Suddenly, lightning flashed and thunder roared. The mighty thunder demonstrated its power to determine life or death and even the two demons were extremely frightened.


    The Heavenly Tribulation had started!


    "Kaboom!"


    Numerous lightning and thunder merged together, forming a beam of purple light striking down.


    The white smog dispersed at once and within it, a large red-eyed snake appeared.


    He roared to the skies, its scales were burnt and blood was oozing out from it.


    "Unbelievable! This is only the first thunderbolt, and its power is so strong?"


    The water buffalo and alligator snapping turtle''s expression changed at once, "Is this a heavenly punishment? By using secret techniques to change the timing of the Heavenly Tribulations, he is indeed being punished for it!"


    "Boom! Boom! Boom!"


    The Heavenly Tribulation was merciless as it continued without any delay.


    At that instance, three purple thunderbolts struck one after another.


    "Ahh¡­ as the Qi Lake Water God, help me, heavenly energy!"


    Bai Guan hollered, a divine light appeared and shrouded its body, alongside the white smog, forming a layer of defence. However, it only lasted for a fleeting moment before it got destroyed.


    After the three thunderbolts, Bai Guan was severely injured, his body turned black from the burns and his wounds were ripped. However, his might became stronger and there was a lump on his head and lower abdomen.


    "Ah¡­, brother Bai Guan!"


    The water buffalo and alligator snapping turtle were elated at such. "It was amazing how he could persevere on under such circumstances! He must be transforming into a dragon now!"


    "Swish!"


    Suddenly, at that moment, a giant shell appeared from far, inside it was a young lady, "Hehe¡­, I play a part in the jurisdiction of Qi Lake too! Scram!"


    She looked pure and holy, with a command of hers, part of the lake''s spiritual energy dispersed immediately.


    "Ahh¡­, it''s that old tortoise demon''s b*stard!"


    "How dare you!"


    The water buffalo and alligator snapping turtle immediately charged at her without hesitation.


    Not only did the Heavenly Tribulation consisted of thunder, people tribulation was part of it too!


    In this realm, no matter how horrible a powerful demon''s reputation was, they always had one or two friends on their side who served as protectors!


    "You are just a shell lady who obtained the deity position by luck, how dare you disrupt the Water God ascending? Die!"


    The water buffalo roared, he then summoned his black cloud and stepped on it.


    "Boom!"


    It was as though the sky had crashed and fell! A black hoof suddenly appeared in mid-air, compressing the air around it. It made Luo Zhu felt like she could not escape.


    Even though Luo Zhu has already become a deity, she still seemed tender and inexperienced facing such a powerful demon.


    However, Luo Zhu smiled, there was no hint of fear in her face, "Stupid buffalo, you have fallen into my trap!"


    "Swish! Swoosh! Slash!"


    Just as she finished saying that, three sword radiance flew out from the giant shell. The three sword radiance had the properties of water, fire and thunder. It charged towards the water buffalo in mid-air and the beam of light formed a triangular shape. It was an array that trapped the water buffalo in it.


    In the beam of light, three magical soldiers appeared and displayed its prowess.


    The water, fire and thunder sword essence charged to full after a short while, and the water buffalo''s shrieks of terror could be heard from within.


    The 8 Gates Sword Array of a dream soldier master finally displayed its cruel side in this realm.


    "Bang!"


    A gigantic corpse of the water buffalo fell from mid-air and blood splattered everywhere.


    After the 3 Talents Sword Array has been formed, no matter how powerful a demon would be, once it was trapped in it, it would be killed immediately!


    "Aaahh!"


    After witnessing the death of the water buffalo, the alligator snapping turtle ran away as fast as he could immediately.


    "You want to run? It''s too late!"


    Fang Yuan guffawed as he wielded the thunder sword and behind him, the silhouette of a horned dragon appeared. Under the divine light, he leapt towards the alligator snapping turtle and captured him."


    "Ahh¡­ you are a dragon? Why do you want to kill me?" the alligator snapping turtle asked.


    He was terrified by the dragon''s might and its demonic strength dropped at once.


    "You don''t need to know!"


    Although those three demons have met Fang Yuan before, the Fang Yuan then was merely a black carp. Who would have linked it together with the Fang Yuan now?


    "Have a taste of my sword!"


    Fang Yuan was furious at his enemy. With a move of his right hand, a thunder sword essence struck the alligator snapping turtles back heavily.


    "Kaboom!"


    With a flash of lightning, numerous burnt marks appeared on his shell. The alligator snapping turtle still clenched its teeth and tried to escape.


    Since the alligator snapping turtle had some dragon bloodline in him too, he naturally knew how powerful such a dragon was. Furthermore, the dragon was even equipped with the thunder sword!


    The alligator snapping turtle had strong defences, his shell was extremely tough from years of cultivation, it could even survive attacks from humans'' magical weapons.


    However, under the thunder sword, his shell cracked apart and blood oozed out.


    "Good! This thunder sword enacts punishments for the heavens and is the nemesis of all evil demons!"


    Seeing such, Fang Yuan was ecstatic.

 309 Dragon God

    Most of the demons in this realm were extremely afraid of tribulations by lightning.


    Since Fang Yuan had the thunder sword, it was the number one weapon in punishing them. Hence, demons retreated in fear!


    "Your turtle shell is not bad, I will gladly keep it!"


    Fang Yuan was confident, with a few strikes of the thunder sword, it destroyed all the alligator snapping turtle''s demonic magic and magical equipment.


    Turtles were tenacious by nature and the alligator snapping turtle kept trying to escape. To Fang Yuan''s surprise, the wounds on the turtle''s body were being healed by his own vital elemental energy. Fang Yuan was slightly envious as he exclaimed, "What a regenerating body! Such a body could quickly restore wounds, but what if the damage you received in an instant is more than the limit?"


    "3 Talents Sword Array! Go!"


    Compared to the water buffalo demon, the alligator snapping turtle''s speed was way too slow. It was like a living target for Fang Yuan.


    Fang Yuan was done fooling around. He immediately cast his three divine swords and formed the 3 Talents Sword Array.


    "Kaboom!"


    "Swoosh!"


    In the array, flashing thunder, searing flames and frosty ice turned into sword essence and launched at the alligator snapping turtle continuously.


    The astonishing sword radiance was like a tempest. Nearing the end, it condensed into a single point and a loud boom could be heard.


    "Back!"


    The three divine sword turned into a stream of light and was kept inside Fang Yuan''s cuff.


    Water from the surrounding filled back the originally exposed lake bed and blood dispersed. There was only a turtle shell left behind, although it had numerous wounds on it, it still remained intact.


    "Not bad indeed¡­"


    Fang Yuan smiled slightly and kept the turtle shell.


    Luo Zhu was stunned at such a scene, she was left speechless. She was shocked at Fang Yuan''s ease in annihilating these two powerful demons. With such power, he must have many enemies!


    "Kaboom!"


    At that moment, accompanied with suffocating pressure, the last thunderbolt finally struck.


    The snake was severely wounded by then.


    However, he was no longer a snake.


    He had a jade horn on its head and two small claws below his abdomen. While his dragon tail was still unadorned and plain, his body was filled with the characteristics of a dragon. It was evident he had become a white-coloured water dragon!


    "The Water God is indeed powerful! He even managed to skip the young dragon period and transformed into a water dragon immediately!"


    As Fang Yuan came over to the side and took a look, he was in awe. He knew Bai Guan''s current position was higher than his since he was only a horned dragon.


    At that moment, the water dragon roared. He had used up all the tricks in his sleeve and he could only exhaust all his remaining effort to face the lightning tribulations with his body.


    "Kaboom!"


    Lightning struck and water splashed everywhere.


    The dark clouds dispersed and the warm and sunny sunlight appeared.


    After the lightning tribulations, what was left behind was a white-coloured water dragon that was nearly cut in half.


    Fang Yuan and Luo Zhu went forward and looked into the water dragon''s frightened eyes.


    "The two of you¡­"


    The water dragon was severely injured, he had used up all his accumulated fate energy and was at his weakest point.


    The water dragon almost did not have enough energy to speak, he finally muttered slowly, "...This is unfair¡­! To transform into a dragon, I had spent so long plotting and it had cost me so much¡­"


    Such a thought caused pearl-like tears to emerge from the dragon''s eyes.


    "Big brother¡­"


    As Luo Zhu was inexperienced and naive, she was slightly moved by the scene.


    "Haha¡­, don''t be deceived by him. Qi Lake Water God, if you still want to live, then hand over the Qi Lake imperial order and your Water Dragon Pearl as vouch!"


    Fang Yuan chuckled.


    "Never!"


    The water dragon''s eyes filled with rage and enmity at once, "The Water God position might be discussable, but my life, the Dragon Pearl? Impossible! If I give you my Dragon Pearl, wouldn''t I be under your manipulation forever?"


    The water dragon hurled his tail and sent menacing waves across the lake. He was trying to escape by creating confusion.


    "Even though he is on his last breath, he is still the Qi Lake Water God. Inside his area, he will recover by a small amount with every second delayed!"


    Fang Yuan transformed into a horned dragon and plunged into the waters, "Be still!"


    Fang Yuan''s Weather Controlling Technique and Water Controlling Technique did not lose to the water dragon''s.


    "Ah¡­, I''ll fight you!"


    The water dragon snorted, he gave up his original plan of escaping through the waters and charged towards Fang Yuan viciously.


    "Hehe!"


    Fang Yuan gave a wry smile and he suddenly opened his mouth. A beam of lightning appeared and struck the water dragon''s body as the thunder sword travelled through the beam and pierced the water dragon in an instance.


    "Boom!"


    Sparks flew, scales and blood splattered everywhere.


    Seizing the opportunity, Fang Yuan used his horn and lunged towards the water dragon''s wound caused by the lightning tribulations.


    The water dragon let out a scream and grabbed Fang Yuan with his claws.


    "Haha¡­, you think I don''t have claws?"


    Fang Yuan laughed, the water and fire sword essences appeared at his abdomen and formed the shape of sharp claws, "Water-Fire Dual Sword Array, charge!"


    "Glub! Glub!"


    Bubbles and blood rose to the surface of the lake and dyed half of the lake''s surface into a golden red colour.


    Luo Zhu was stunned at such a scene, but she could not interfere.


    "Hruuuuuu, hhruuuuuuu!"


    The sunny skies abruptly turned into a sea of dark clouds. Gale winds raged and a storm erupted at once!


    "When dragons emerge, the waters are calm; when dragons die, the heavens and earth weep!"


    For no reason, Luo Zhu suddenly thought of that sentence and blurted it out loud.


    Under the turbulent waves, the severed water dragon was washed ashore. Streams of golden red blood flowed continuously, revealing the pale colour of his flesh.


    Bai Guan was literally almost bled dry.


    "Nooo!"


    Bai Guan''s face was ashen as he stammered, "As Qi Lake Water God, I have led ten thousands of water dwellers, why have I fallen into such depths of despair!"


    "Although you have never gone against the heavens, you have forsaken your morals for your own benefits!"


    The horned dragon emerged from the waters and transformed into a young man donned in a robe. He sighed and continued, "When you killed the previous Water God, have you not thought about how he was so close to transforming into a dragon? Although he was a green snake, his ancestors were true dragons and he was naturally protected by fate energy. After you killed him, you opened a can of worms for yourself. The loss of the Dragon Pearl and the tribulation this time both resulted from that!"


    Bai Guan was stunned at what Fang Yuan said. After a long while, he finally said, "Not bad! Indeed!"


    He looked at Fang Yuan curiously, "No one else knew about the green dragon''s Dragon Pearl, were you that black carp?"


    "That''s right, I am!"


    "Haha¡­ I guess karma always finds a way!"


    Bai Guan laughed, with a shiver of his body, his breath stopped at once. A Yin spirit appeared with a divine light and escaped at the speed of light.


    "At such a moment, you still do not understand the order of nature¡­"


    Fang Yuan shook his head and sighed, he then pointed his finger.


    A thunder sword essence emerged and caught up the escaping light immediately. Before it could say anything, it was annihilated into pieces.


    "If you obediently handed over the imperial order, I might have even gifted you some true aura for you to reincarnate. But since you tried to deceive me with words and then seize the opportunity to escape with your elemental clone to stage a comeback next time, I did not hesitate to annihilate you!"


    As long as such heavenly deities had a small amount of elemental clone left, there would be a chance for them to make a comeback.


    For example, the Golden Court Dragon God also lost its dragon body in a tribulation, however, since many commoners believed in him and he received lots of offerings from them, he formed his golden body. The golden body was comparable to the dragon body and hence, it was a silver lining for him.


    After Bai Guan''s elemental clone dissipated, an imperial order was left behind. It was made of pure gold and had a slight green glow from within. The runes were even hundred times more profound and mysterious than that of Luo Zhu''s.


    At that moment, the imperial order turned into a beam of light and went to Fang Yuan''s hands.


    "Eh?"


    Fang Yuan kept it and pondered, "Since the past, the Water God position of such great rivers and great lakes had to be dragons. This was because dragons had the innate ability to control weather and were heavenly deities!"


    "Thus, even if I gave the imperial order to Luo Zhu, with her cultivation and karma now, it might even harm her! Whereas, for me, it is suitable!"


    He originally had some qualms about people dao''s deities.


    But now, he had a deeper understanding and his mindset had changed, especially towards the Qi Lake Water God''s deity position, where it was formed from the natural order of the heavens and earth, which was very beneficial for a dream master''s cultivation.


    Furthermore, he was just at the horned dragon transformation. If things were to go awry, he could quickly escape.


    "I will try being a Dragon God then!"


    The golden green imperial order exploded and turned into an abundance of runes which seeped into Fang Yuan''s body.


    "Kaboom!"


    Suddenly, a mighty aura descended as the winds and rain got stronger.


    Fang Yuan solemnly emerged from the divine light, he was shiny and ripples of water shrouded his entire body. It could be discerned that he was linked to the entire Qi Lake''s spiritual energy.


    Luo Zhu was astonished at such a scene.


    Last time, as Bai Guan was a white snake, it was still possible for her to harness Lotus Pond''s spiritual energy.


    But now, as Fang Yuan was a horned dragon, he was a Dragon God, and hence, she could not possibly resist his power.


    On the lake, lots of fishes appeared to pay respects and worship him.


    "I, Lotus Pond Water God, Luo Zhu, pay my respects to Dragon God!"


    Seeing the dignified Fang Yuan, Luo Zhu immediately composed herself and greeted him.


    "I now grant you the title of Lotus Pond Water God. You are now my aide!" Fang Yuan announced placidly.


    Luo Zhu paused for a moment and felt the uneasy imperial order in her body had calmed down at once. She was elated, "Thank you, Dragon God!"


    As Bai Guan was a water snake, even when he became a heavenly deity, he could only be called a Water God.


    However, as Fang Yuan was a dragon, he was immediately called a Dragon God. His status had rose immediately.


    "Follow me to the Dragon Palace!"


    Fang Yuan turned into a horned dragon and swam to the Dragon Palace.


    "Great to meet you, Dragon God!"


    The demons were afraid of those who were powerful.


    When all the water dwellers saw Fang Yuan''s divine light and his might as a true dragon, they immediately paid their respects to him.


    "I will retreat for three years, any matters in Qi Lake would be handled by the tortoise guard and Luo Zhu. Unless as a last resort, do not disturb me!"


    Inside the crystal-like Dragon Palace, Fang Yuan immediately designated a tortoise guard and passed down the command.


    "Yes, Dragon God, I will obey your commands!"


    None of the water dwellers dared to disobey him.


    "Ok, all of you may leave now, I am sealing the Dragon Palace!"


    Fang Yuan waved his arms coolly.


    After Bai Guan obtained the imperial order, it took him ten plus years to forcefully cultivate it. As a Dragon God, Fang Yuan still required three years as Qi Lake was still considerably large.

 310 Three Years

    Time flew by in the Dragon Palace.


    Three years passed in a blink of an eye.


    In the palace hall, Fang Yuan sat on his throne and gradually opened his eyes, "I have finally fully cultivated the imperial order!"


    The Qi Lake Water Dragon was a heavenly deity with control over the spiritual energy of the entire 150-mile radius of Qi Lake, a manifestation of its abilities.


    Each and every rune and inscription on the imperial order were all sacred texts! It contained arcane and unpredictable powers, and were reflections of the laws that governed the realm.


    By wielding knowledge of such laws, one could then possess great abilities and be able to harness the spiritual energy of the entire Qi Lake.


    "Although it is just a position and not my own power, it is already very beneficial for my understanding of the laws."


    Fang Yuan suddenly thought of the powers the royals held in Da Qian Empire.


    Prominent Divine dream masters were naturally of no match to True Elemental spiritual knights and True Divine martial artists. However, if he had the blessing of the heavens in this realm as a dragon, he would be able to fight them.


    In actual fact, this was also one of the uses of the imperial order in a larger extent.


    Going against such kind of blessings was like opposing the realm it came from and its laws. With Da Qian Empire''s natural source, even the Prominent Divine dream masters had to be fearful of such blessings.


    "Perhaps¡­, the purpose of dream masters exploring other realms was not only to search for the source! It was to occupy and control a realm powerful enough to fight with Da Qian?"


    Fang Yuan closed his eyes, the situation of the entire Qi Lake appeared in his mind.


    However, there were a few spots covered in mist. It meant that those areas were under the protection of powerful forces or arrays, and were most likely occupied by powerful demons. Thus, they appeared as eye-catching as fireflies in the night skies.


    "I guess being able to understand the big picture from a look is part of my power as a heavenly deity?"


    Fang Yuan flicked his fingers.


    "Wooonnggg!"


    A force spread across the entire Dragon Palace and lit up the place. The seals used to seal the palace disappeared at once too.


    Drums and bells rang as the doors opened to receive the worship of the commoners.


    "Sir!"


    The tortoise guard and Luo Zhu immediately rushed over and paid respects to Fang Yuan.


    "Tortoise guard, bring over the shells ladies and the water dwellers'' elite troops to fill the Dragon Palace! As the Dragon God, I will meet my people later! It has to be very dignified!"


    Fang Yuan instructed in a majestic and imposing way while holding a jade ornament.


    "Yes, Sir!"


    The tortoise guard immediately proceeded to do what he was told.


    "What''s the situation now? What about the spirits?"


    Fang Yuan turned and looked at Luo Zhu.


    "After you killed the three demons, other spirits were naturally fearful of you! They have already prepared celebratory gifts for you as a sign of allegiance!"


    Luo Zhu answered respectfully.


    In reality, the moment Fang Yuan obtained the divine position, all these were expected.


    Whereas, Luo Zhu did not pay close attention to the matters regarding the humans.


    "Xu family''s fate energy and mine are intertwined. In the past three years, I could still sense that they were growing well. They have been strengthening their territory till now, and I guess it''s time for war¡­" Fang Yuan thought as his eyes sparkled.


    It was the right timing for Xu Ting''s troops to be dispatched.


    He then calmly ordered, "After this homage, I will be hosting a feast for the officials and the powerful demons! Invite them over!"


    "Yes, Sir!"


    As the Qi Lake Water God, Fang Yuan''s words were all mandates. Hence, they were all immediately obeyed and properly carried out.


    As the lake housed numerous kinds of spirits, it made him realise a certain difference. "Oh¡­, even as the water dwellers in Qi Lake reproduce, there are very few demons. There are only around 20,000 demons, and more than half of them are my army¡­"


    As Fang Yuan realised this, he understood something.


    Beasts were beasts and demons were demons, they were two different things!


    In this realm, although there were many different species of animals, plants and even water dwellers, those who could become spiritually aware and cultivate into demons were the extreme few.


    Unless both parents were powerful demons, their offsprings would be born as beasts and had to slowly learn, even if they were to have an innate disposition to be demons.


    Due to their restricted population size, their foundation would not be as strong and thus, their position as rulers would naturally decline.


    This was the heavenly trend and could not be changed!


    Whereas for humans, just in one prefecture, there would be tens of thousands of them! Although most were stupid, they could be trained with basic combatant skills, and with a large enough foundation, the potential for cultivation would grow too.


    Hence, humans were the rulers of all; They could grasp the heavenly fate energy and were favoured by the heavenly trend!


    "Greetings, Dragon God! May you enjoy boundless longevity!"


    At that moment, a group of servants and guards arrived and stood at attention.


    Large numbers of water dwellers then came forward and worshipped the new Dragon God. They were slightly uneasy at the sight of the Dragon God.


    The two previous Water God''s of Qi Lake were both snake demons but this time, it was finally a dragon.


    Also, the way the Dragon God killed the three demons made them fearful of him.


    "As long as you all do not commit any offences under my rule, you all will enjoy a peaceful and happy life!"


    Fang Yuan smiled, "Come, follow me to review the troops!"


    Outside the Dragon Palace, 8,000 soldiers gathered. They had a hint of demonic energy and yet had some divine light too.


    They were amassed by Bai Guan and his predecessor and maintained by the tortoise guard. With the 8,000 of them, it was beneficial for Fang Yuan.


    As they felt the new Dragon God''s might and divine light, the crustacean army did not hesitate to worship, "Greetings, Sir! I pledge my life to you!"


    The tidy formation represented a strong force in the lake. Such a display made other powerful spirits'' expressions change at once.


    "All of you will be rewarded for your loyalty and protection of the Dragon Palace! Enjoy the feast!"


    Fang Yuan appeared elated as he gave his instructions. He then gathered the officers to enter the Dragon Palace to enjoy the feast.


    The melodious drums echoed around the palace.


    During the feast, numerous servants joyously presented the delicacies and as they caroused, words of respect could be heard continuously.


    Fang Yuan sat on his dragon throne with a golden cup in his hands while he smiled looking at the scene.


    It was a lively celebration!


    This was the Dragon God''s enjoyment!


    ...


    At Da Chu, although Wang Qiao had ascended the throne, none of the military occupied towns recognised him as the emperor, and hence, the regnal dating system of the previous emperor continued. It was now the 8th year of Yong An.


    Inside Golden Lake Prefecture.


    Xu Ting was just in his early twenties, but he already had a strong and vigorous appearance. He had also married his wife, who was a lady from a noble family. She was cultured and refined, a perfect match for him.


    Furthermore, they had a son and a daughter.


    Compared to his wife, Li Luan was still a titleless maid, which also caused gossip to spread.


    Xu Ting also had a moustache. He looked towards Li Luan and thought for a while but then stopped immediately.


    The world was in chaos and there was no time for such relationships!


    Xu Ting walked into the room and paid respects to Xu Ren, "Father!"


    "Oh, my son has come over, have a seat!"


    Xu Ren was very satisfied with this son of his.


    "I have followed your orders and finished organizing the troops. They are currently separated into 10 battalions and each battalion has 3,000 soldiers. There are also 20,000 marines and one hundred warships!"


    The five prefectures near Golden Court Lakes produced plenty of goods and were not prone to natural disasters. Thus, with slight organisation, their strength easily took shape.


    "Hmm, in this three years, we have managed to train the troops and form close relationships with the officials. Now, our officers are already well trained and would be able to hold their own ground."


    Xu Ren stroked his beard delightfully, "With such a large troop, we can win a war! Xu He, what do you think?"


    A middle-aged man walked forward, he was an officer appointed by Xu Ren to be in charge of commerce. In actual fact, he was the leader of their spies. He paid respects to Xu Ren and Xu Ting, and then reported, "Sir! General! The fake king Wang Qiao was ambushed and killed at Luolong Hillside, and his army of 10,000 men has fallen apart!"


    "What?"


    The news was earth-shattering, Xu Ting immediately stood up in shock at first, but the expression on his face turned into joy immediately, "Wang Qiao is dead? Heaven is really helping our family!"


    Although the battle was very fierce, Wang Qiao still had an advantage as he had control of the imperial court and the imperial guards. In the past three years, he had already annihilated five military occupied towns. But now, just as he was about to fully succeed, he was met with a sudden death.


    With his death, the imperial court had no leader, and with the opposition from the royalties of the original emperor, Wang Qiao''s followers were bound to be completely purged.


    The five remaining military occupied towns also suffered severe losses to their strength as many of their soldiers were heavily injured or dead. It was a total mess for them to recuperate, occupy more territories and attack the capital at the same time.


    If this was not the perfect opportunity, then when would it be?!


    "I can''t believe it, Wang Qiao just died like that¡­"


    As Xu Ting''s biggest enemy and obstruction just died, it made him slightly worried, "Who was the one who planned it?"


    Wang Qiao was so close to completing his grand plans but died suddenly. After Xu Ting''s initial joy, he felt a chill down his spine as he sensed there was something sinister.


    "Although the five military occupied towns proclaimed allegiance to each other, but in reality, the one in charge was still Xinfeng army''s military governor, Baili Xuandu!"


    "Xinfeng army, Baili Xuandu!"


    As Xu Ting uttered his name, he knew he was his biggest foe.


    "If I was Baili Xuandu, I would have immediately charged to the capital and forced the imperial court to hand me the title of the emperor!"


    Xu Ting took a few steps, his eyes radiating with sharpness.


    "That''s a good guess, my son!"


    Xu Ren sighed as he passed an intelligence report to Xu Ting.


    After Xu Ting read through it, he realised Xinfeng army''s movements were indeed as he predicted. Furthermore, they had received the backing of two other military occupied towns. It was an urgent matter, Xu Ting said, "This is not good, if our family still wants to rise to power, we have to use two methods! Firstly, I will quickly lead the troops along An River to Qi Lake and conquer all the prefectures along the way, thus, occupying half the country! Also, we have to send spies to the capitals to influence or divide them, as long as Baili Xuandu does not easily conquer the capital!"


    "That''s right!"


    Xu Ren said, "Since you have the will, just do it! Three days later, we will dispatch the troop!"


    "Yes, father!"


    Xu Ting replied, and his voice was like a warcry.


    Inside Golden Court Lake, a shadow emerged to gaze at the spiritual energy ashore and he sighed, "After three years, is it finally happening?"


    The shadow was Golden Court Dragon God, he appeared puzzled and thought, "How did Wang Qiao just die like that? Demons must have interfered!"

 311 Green Fish

    Night fell.


    The Golden Court Lake sparkled under the moonlight. There were only a few boats berthed ashore that had lamps still lit up.


    There was no wind, however, a small boat was floating by itself on the lake. It was a unique sight.


    On the boat, there was a gorgeous young lady clad in chiffon. However, her expression was cold as ice and she seemed different from normal people.


    "Since I came over personally, why does the Dragon God not want to meet me?"


    The lady let out a quiet sigh at an empty spot.


    After a long pause, a voice could be heard from beneath the lake, "Divine Demon Queen, ruler of all demons on Da Chu''s land, what brought you here personally?"


    A shadow appeared underneath the lake. It was the Golden Court Dragon God. He then emerged from the waters and sat opposite the Divine Demon Queen.


    "You really do not know? Or are you acting like you do not know¡­?"


    The Divine Demon Queen''s eyes reflected the lights from the moon and the nearby lamps. With a cold and emotionless voice, she continued, "The heavenly trend is like a sharp knife! Even if us demons ruled for centuries, we can only tread on eggshells now to stand a chance of survival! I have already sacrificed some of my favourite granddaughters, else, why would Da Chu be in chaos and why would Wang Qiao be dead?"


    "Sigh¡­, the heavenly trend has long been hard to understand, why would you seek trouble? Although us demons are downfalling, we can still survive in a faraway land in this vast world!"


    The Golden Court Dragon God sighed.


    "You have indeed become a people dao deity, you don''t even any remaining fellowship as demons left!"


    The Divine Demon Queen laughed, "Why must humans be the protagonists while us demons have to be at their mercy? Last time¡­, I saw you let the small carp go near Xu Ting, and I still thought you were being considerate for us demons. But now, after three years, I finally realised you all were befuddled by fate energy and willingly chose to forsake yourself!"


    As they spoke, the Golden Court Dragon God''s god dao golden body could not be concealed.


    Furthermore, she knew each and every movement Xu family made.


    However, either because she was apprehensive of the Dragon God''s arrangements or she was too focused on Da Chu''s capital, she did not do much about Xu Ting. But now, she was extremely disappointed at such.


    Although Li Luan had abandoned her demon form and her cultivation to reincarnate into a human, she was still ignored by Xu Ting.


    Hence, from that, it could be told that even if demons gave up their powers and compromised, their outcome would still be the same.


    After all, different species had different goals in mind!


    The Golden Court Dragon God remained silent. As they were both powerful demons and had supreme intelligence, they could understand each other without speaking.


    Li Luan getting close to the dragon energy was actually part of the Golden Court Dragon God''s probe too.


    However, as Xu Ting married his wife and neglected Li Luan, he lost a lot of fate energy, especially those related to the demons.


    "But this is the heavenly trend, what can I do about it?"


    The Dragon God finally replied, "Even if Xu Ting were to fail miserably and die, another true hero would still rise amongst the humans! His strength might even be greater!"


    "That is why I have already schemed! On one hand, I will create chaos, on the other hand, I will kill any potential heroes from emerging. Even though us demons are dwindling, we must make the humans'' population dwindle too!"


    The Divine Demon Queen indifferently added, "Both Wang Qiao and the previous emperor of Chu had great amounts of fate energy. Now that they are dead, their fate energy has dispersed! Thus, it will be harder to unite the countries and this would be very beneficial to us!"


    "I guess you are determined to kill Xu Ting this time?"


    The Golden Court Dragon God''s eyes turned golden at once.


    "The Golden Court Lake is my territory, if it was like the last time, I could still contend with you in my territory! But now, you are going against the heavenly trend and your elemental energy is greatly affected! How much strength would you even have left?"


    "Of course I wouldn''t strike this time!"


    The Divine Demon Queen smiled, "Just that¡­, out of this Golden Court Lake, how long can you still protect the humans? For the sake of us demons, would you not interfere?"


    "I am afraid I cannot obey you!"


    After the Golden Court Dragon God answered, he then waved his hand, causing spiritual energy to gather, thus sealing the lake''s surface.


    "Ahh¡­, after knowing each other for hundreds of years, I can''t believe we have reached such a situation!"


    Seeing how the Dragon God fell out, the Divine Demon Queen could only let out a sigh.


    If it was her, she would have definitely made her move and seized such a good opportunity. Since he was already her enemy, she was no longer bound by their fellowship.


    Under the heavenly will, one had to fight for every opportunity to survive!


    "What a pity¡­"


    The Divine Demon Queen suddenly grinned as she slowly disappeared into thin air.


    "An illusion?"


    The Golden Court Dragon God reached out to grab her, only to grab a handful of water.


    "What an impressive Celestial Fox Technique!"


    The Dragon God''s expression turned solemn at once, "The demons are already determined to kill the water dragon! Xu Ting is in danger!"


    ...


    An River.


    Xu Ting was fully geared as he stood on the deck of an ironclad warship with an overpowering aura.


    During this deployment, he sent a total of 50,000 soldiers. Out of the 50,000, 20,000 of them were marines. There was also 100 ships and countless of small vessels.


    The vast troop travelled through An River with an imposing appearance.


    The districts along the way were all terrified of Xu Ting''s troops and they immediately surrendered. Xu Ting''s force was unstoppable.


    "Sir!"


    A daoist priest suddenly asked, "Since we are passing the An River Dragon God''s area, should we host a ritual and provide some offerings?"


    "An River Dragon God?"


    Xu Ting thought for a moment and remembered, "This deity is vicious and bloodthirsty, why would I host a ritual for him? Am I foolish?"


    "General!"


    The priest was appalled, "The An River is the An River Dragon God''s area, if we pass through his area without paying respects, we will be harassed!"


    "Harassed?"


    Xu Ting laughed and pointed at the warships, "I have ten thousands of soldiers, hundreds of warships and our troops are so strong! Do you think I am scared of a water dragon? Even if he comes to obstruct us, we will kill him! You think my military law is a joke?"


    Although he replied stately, there was something different in his laughter.


    It was because he was not the one who came up with this idea. He was reminded by what daoist Qing Xuan and some other daoists recommended.


    People dao were strong and self-reliant, they did not have to rely on deities! Furthermore, deities absorbed their fate energy and were detrimental to their progress!


    Xu Ting then further added, "Besides, don''t I have the help from all you daoists?"


    "Sir, not to worry!"


    The daoist priest''s face turned ashen while Kong Luo suddenly replied, "With us, you will be fully protected!"


    "With you and other daoists from Xuan Zhen Sect, there''s nothing I am afraid of!"


    Xu Ting chortled; he had left out the daoist who questioned him at the start.


    That daoist''s expression turned even worse as Kong Luo could only glance at him with pity.


    Kong Luo understood Xu Ting''s temperament, he knew this daoist would be shunned and if he was not cautious with his manners again, he would definitely be killed.


    "One less competing daoist!" Kong Luo thought.


    Kong Luo then sighed as he turned to look at Qing Xuan.


    Daoist Qing Xuan worked hard for three years and was gradually favoured again. After all, this was because Xuan Zhen Sect was a powerful and extensive sect, and thus, there were many areas daoist Qing Xuan could help out in.


    However, not only did these daoist from Xuan Zhen Sect marginalised others, they were ardently against deities too. This made Kong Luo bewildered.


    Suddenly, the crisp noise of a sword rang from his dantian.


    "Eh? There''s demonic energy spying on us?"


    Kong Luo raised his eyebrows and strode to the side of the ship. With a wave of his hand, a few green sword essences plunged into the waters.


    "Glub! Glub!"


    Streams of bubbles and blood rose to the surface.


    The carcasses of a few water guardians and spirits floated to the top.


    "Eh, just a few water guardians¡­ not to bother, continue forward!" Xu Ting instructed.


    Xu family rose from purging evil gods and their temples, thus, Xu Ting held no regards for the Water God.


    The warships ran over the carcasses with no qualms.


    ...


    "Dead, dead, dead¡­"


    Kong Luo did not realise that his sword essence had missed out a fish!


    A large green fish had dodged the sword essence by luck. He was utterly astonished and terrified when he saw his companions'' carcasses, he then immediately swam for his life and arrived at a water palace.


    "Stop! How dare you trespass the Dragon Palace!"


    In front of the colossal doors, the two rows of crustacean army immediately hollered.


    One of them, named Prawn Thirteen, curiously asked, "Eh? Aren''t you the big green fish under the patrolling water guardian? Where''s your general? Do you have anything urgent to report?"


    "Dead, dead, dead¡­"


    The big green fish swam around frantically, his spiritual will was in chaos.


    "What¡­ this fish is so dense, how could he become a soldier? What an embarrassment to us and the Dragon God!"


    A crab general at the side sneered immediately.


    "General, please pardon him, although this big green fish seems dense, he is hardworking and he has cultivated really quickly¡­"


    Prawn Thirteen went forward to pacify the big green fish. Finally, the big green fish managed to stammer a few words, "Dead¡­ dead¡­ so many humans¡­ so many ships! General¡­ is dead¡­"


    "What?"


    The crustacean army was surprised and angered, "Who dares to kill the patrolling water guardian! How insolent! Just wait, I will report this to the Dragon God now!"


    "No need!" the voice of a dragon resounded.


    A middle-aged man donned in a black crown stepped out and behind him were a group of tortoise guards and shell ladies.


    "I know everything that''s happening in the river, this Xu Ting, hehe¡­"


    Although he had a human-like appearance, there was a black horn on his head. As he sniggered, his mighty aura spread across the area, causing the crustacean army to immediately kneel on the ground and tremble in unease.


    "Dead, dead, dead¡­"


    The big green fish was terrified too, however, he quickly swam away and started swimming in circles.


    "This fish¡­"


    The An River Dragon God was surprised at such too, "Although he is unintelligent, his loyalty and bravery are commendable!"


    The Dragon God pointed his finger and a beam of golden light landed on the big green fish''s body.


    The big green fish stumbled on the ground and transformed into a strong man. He had green clothes on his body, thick brows, large eyes and an honest looking appearance.


    The nearby soldiers were envious of him.


    The Dragon God''s transformation technique was naturally different from that of water guardian.


    Normal transformation techniques merely gave life, the demons formed were disabled and their spiritual awareness was incapacitated.


    Whereas the Dragon God''s transformation techniques had no repercussion, instead, it increased their intelligence and their bodies would not be deformed. It was a benevolent gift bestowed by the Dragon God.

 312 Black Water Dragon

    An Dragon Prefecture.


    This was a huge prefecture surrounding the An River. The magistrate was long influenced and at the sight of the arrival of a huge navy, he paid his respects and provided a campsite for the naval forces to occupy.


    Outside the campsite, two persons emerged as ripples formed on the surface of the lake. It was Fang Yuan and the Golden Court Dragon God.


    "What do you think about this, Dragon God?"


    Fang Yuan had good eyesight and enquired as soon as he noticed the huge naval troops.


    "It is fate from the heavens that we dragons do not associate ourselves with the demons. What can we do?"


    Hearing him, the Golden Court Dragon God let out a bitter laugh.


    In reality, although the An River Dragon God was powerful, both of them did not take him as a threat.


    The unpredictable nature of the people dao was more dangerous.


    "This must be the doings of Xuan Zhen Sect... the hidden dragon deserves this tribulation!"


    Fang Yuan looked ahead and spoke calmly.


    "Eh? Are you not afraid that we will get nothing out of it the moment the hidden dragon dies?"


    The Golden Court Dragon God was confused. In terms of investment, this young god had invested more in Xu Ting than himself.


    "This is just another battle. Even if we lose, we will at most lose some karma points. I can still return to Qi Lake and cultivate in seclusion... We are gods!"


    Fang Yuan''s eyes glittered. "Brother Dragon God, don''t get yourself manipulated by the people dao''s fate and become a pawn!"


    Although he had set his sights on the dragon energy, he was ready to give it up and had the determination to do so!


    Only with such a mindset would he be able to be unmoved and make sound judgements.


    "Ah..."


    The Dragon God shook as he felt a chill down his spine. He quickly bowed towards Fang Yuan. "I''ve made a fool of myself. Thank you for your advice..."


    With another laugh, he added. "Who would''ve known that fate energy would be so powerful! I''ve only gotten myself slightly involved in it and have almost become trapped in it..."


    "To us, it is simply a matter if we notice the problem, that''s all!"


    Fang Yuan smiled. "As for the other weaker demons, as long as they get themselves involved, they would reach a point of no return. Look at Li Luan... Why, are you intending to help Xu Ting in this?"


    "Forget it!"


    The Golden Court Dragon God regained his composure. "You''re right, he deserves this retribution!"


    After all, he was once a demon and now, he was a god. Regardless, he was never a human!


    As he came to his realisation and shook off the influence of fate energy, he could quickly regain his composure and calm self.


    "Hmm, we have swum the entire river. Almost half of the An River is within the An River Dragon God''s control. However, if we combine forces, the An River Dragon God will not be able to defend against us. The true enemy would be the Divine Demon Queen which you have previously mentioned..."


    Fang Yuan took a quick glance around and laughed. "It has begun!"


    Amidst the strong current, weird-looking heads popped out from the surface of the river. They were the various species of water dwellers and there were thousands of them.


    There was silence everywhere as they made their way towards the big ships.


    Of course, with the presence of two Dragon Gods, a small technique was all that was needed to shroud the spiritual sense of the weaker demons, making them unable to detect the Dragon Gods'' presence.


    ...


    Although they were in the campsite, guards were still required to look over the ships.


    The river was choppy and the cabins on the ships were stuffy. Therefore, it was not an easy job and therefore, the guards were rotated based on their shifts and were rewarded with more food and wine. Of course, those on duty were not allowed to drink but they could keep it for consumption after they had completed their guard duties.


    "Based on my combat prowess, who would dare to attack us in this area?"


    A sailor walked on the deck and complained to his fellow sailor. "Why do we have to do this?"


    "Old Xue, if you were smart enough, you would have been a Lieutenant long ago!"


    Most of these sailors were pirates previously and had grudges. Even though they were ruled with fear by Xu Ting, they were secretly unhappy with the higher-ups.


    "What are you doing? Go for your rounds!"


    As they were laughing and joking around, an officer came out of his cabin with a stern look. "Whoever makes any more noise would be punished to scrub the decks tomorrow!"


    "Hehe... Don''t be angry, we won''t dare to slack!"


    The few sailors chuckled as they walked towards the edge of the deck.


    "Sigh¡­... Although these sailors are courageous, it is still a headache to discipline them!"


    Witnessing this scene, the officer let out a sigh.


    The moonlight illuminated the deck, giving it a touching glow. Unknowingly, the officer took a few steps forward. "What a bright moonlight... The moon is the same everywhere. Sigh... I wonder how is Xing''er doing?"


    As he was deep in his thoughts, from the corner of his eye, he could see a glitter.


    ''What''s that?''


    He was about to say something, but it was a pity he could not begin to speak.


    "Whoosh!"


    A spear flew from mid-air and pierced through his chest. It had a reverse hook on its tip and with a tug, the young officer flipped overboard, causing a huge splash.


    After a few moments, a deep red hue appeared, dyeing the river red.


    "Lieutenant sir?"


    The few sailors were in shock. They rushed to the railings and with a few ropes, they tied themselves securely and lowered themselves down.


    Beneath them, many figures appeared. They were all in shock as they screamed. "Water ghosts! Water ghosts!"


    "Splash!"


    Rows of crustacean army floated up and climbed onto the decks as they started a killing spree.


    Outside the campsite, the river was pitch black. A huge wave appeared and a whirlwind formed, which was a miraculous sight resembling a dragon spitting out water.


    "Kill!"


    "Kill all these humans!"


    "The Dragon God has given an order! We cannot let a single one live, and we need to destroy their ships!"


    A few crustacean generals smiled ferociously and as they stood before their army, the moonlight reflected off their shiny shells, revealing a mysterious shine.


    "How dare you demons infiltrate my ships!"


    The general on duty hollered. "Kill them all!"


    With the wave of his hands, a few highly-skilled soldiers appeared. All of them appeared mighty and they were all clad in armour. They wielded Hundred Casted Longknives and with two swipes, a crustacean soldier was beheaded as his head rolled on the deck.


    "Alright... Let''s not fear them. They are merely beasts with weird appearances equipped with a layer of armour!"


    The Naval Officer screamed. "Defend the ship with all your might... don''t forget to send someone to inform General Xu Ting about it!"


    "Dong! Dong!"


    At this point in time, there was a mysterious tremor coming from beneath the deck.


    "That''s not good... Sir, they''re taking the ship apart!"


    Seeing this, the Assistant General''s expression changed.


    The Naval Officer had a similar expression as well.


    They were already helpless against the crustacean army on the decks. If the ship was destroyed, what would happen if they were to fall into the river, where the enemy would have the geographical advantage?


    "As the officer on duty, I must die with the ship!"


    With a ferocious look, he plucked his sword out. "Kill! Kill all these freaks!"


    ...


    "What''s happening?"


    The commotion at the pier was big enough that those on land were aware of what was happening.


    After all, Xu Ting had fate energy. Even though the magistrate offered him a banquet, he was determined to rest within the campsite.


    As soon as he fell asleep, he was abruptly woken up. After getting dressed, he saw 10 over daoist priest rushing over. Kong Luo was leading them.


    "General!"


    Kong Luo greeted Xu Ting. "The An River Dragon God is frenzied! He has sent his crustacean army to attack ours!"


    At this point in time, cries were heard from the ship and there were flames burning brilliantly on the deck.


    As the warship was taken apart, it slowly sank. All of these happenings angered Xu Ting. "Daoist Qing Xuan! Kong Luo! What are the both of you doing? Get there and make the demons retreat!!!"


    After all, he had risen through the ranks due to the navy. Since they did not fight back, Xu Ting was enraged.


    "How is this possible?"


    Qing Xuan could not believe his eyes as well. "Has the An River God gone crazy? All the soldiers from his crustacean army came from the past hundred years of training. Why would he deploy all of them here? Is he not worried that the demons in An River might stage a rebellion?"


    The uprising of the people dao meant that such an attack would be detrimental to the demons.


    At least, they would increase the chances and intensity of their tribulations in the future.


    Strictly speaking, most of the water dwellers who attacked the ship were mostly injured and it was a huge price to pay.


    However, this thought only lasted for a while before going away.


    "Since the demons are undergoing tribulations, they must have come to an agreement. The water demons must have talked to the demons on land about this before the Dragon God would decide to take such a risky move!"


    Daoist Qing Xuan broke into cold sweat and knew that they were in a very dangerous predicament.


    Because of Xu Ting''s stubbornness, they had disrespected the An River Dragon God and caused all the troubles that had just happened. He might just have to shoulder all the responsibilities for the day''s happenings.


    All the fighting had reached a climax as soon as they realised a tornado brewing outside the campsite. "Everything''s over!"


    "Over!"


    Xu Ting was in a daze and did not move a single muscle. It was as though someone had removed his spine.


    If the tornado were to enter the campsite, his efforts for the past three years would go down the drain.


    "Indeed an evil dragon. Once angered, it would not care about the consequences to come!"


    Outside the havoc, Fang Yuan and the Golden Court Dragon God witnessed the scene and heaved. "If the An River Dragon God were to accomplish what he had set out to do, it would be certain that the next tribulation would take his life!"


    "Although the hidden dragon would be met with troubles, it should not encounter such a huge tribulation... After all, it is where the dragon energy is concentrated in the people dao..."


    Seeing this scene, the Golden Court Dragon God felt that he should not allow Xu Ting''s navy to be destroyed. "How about we help him out?"


    "Alright!"


    Fang Yuan nodded his head and both of them took a step forward. They transformed into dragons and circled above the campsite.


    "Roar! Roar!"


    The Golden Court Dragon God only had the illusionary shape of a dragon, but had no physical body; On the other hand, Fang Yuan''s dragon body had physical flesh. As they released their dragon''s might, the reckless water dwellers shook in fear and became weaker. Those humans who were quicker took the opportunity to escape. Those who were slower merely became a bloodied mess.


    "How dare the both of you stop me!"


    Amidst the tornado, a black water dragon appeared. Swinging its claws about, it had a ferocious look and there was a red glow in its eyes.


    "What an evil water dragon!"


    Fang Yuan sighed as soon as he saw it.


    Horned Dragons were merely young dragons with the body resembling a snake and a horn on its head.


    Water Dragons, on the other hand, had horns and dragon claws as well.


    Previously, Bai Guan attempted to transform into a dragon and had 2 dragon claws. However, this black water dragon was a Dragon God for many years and had already grown 4 dragon claws! It was only a step away from becoming a true dragon!

 313 Slaying the Dragon

    "Whooo!"


    As the tornado ensued, the winds raged on. Suddenly, a flagstaff broke and the flag was blown up into the air.


    In the epicentre of the tornado, a black water dragon was glaring at a horned dragon and a golden dragon on the opposite side.


    "This is..."


    "Thank you for your blessings, Dragon God!"


    Beneath, the leftover sailors, regardless of their rank, were all kneeling down and worshipping the dragons.


    "Where did these dragon gods come from?"


    Xu Ting witnessed the scene before him, as he clenched his fists, tensed.


    "It seems that one of them is the Golden Court Dragon God. I don''t seem to recognise the other one, but he seems as powerful!"


    Spiritual light spilt out of Kong Luo''s eyes as he shook his head. "It is your fate that you have the protection from these two dragon gods!" He congratulated Xu Ting.


    "It''s too early to conclude! Go forth and assist the naval officers to slay the demons!"


    Xu Ting laid out a few other commands. "Also... As for these two dragon gods, remember to give them offerings in the future to show our gratitude..."


    He had to put up a show!


    At this point in time, the destructive tornado was still out there!


    After all, he had already completely forgotten about the Xuan Zhen Sect''s involvement with demons.


    "Yes Sir!"


    10 over daoist acknowledged the order, arrived on the ship and executed their spiritual techniques.


    "Spring Returning Spell!"


    "Fire from the Heavenly Order, strike!"


    "Watch out for my sword, you beast!"


    ...


    With the continuous spiritual spells and sword radiance, Kong Luo leapt around with a lethal green-coloured sword essence around him. Although his strikes were powerful, there was no joy on his face.


    He was clear that they were mere distractions; the only ones who would be able to influence the outcome of the battle were the dragon gods.


    "The two of you... are traitors! You bring shame to us demons!"


    The black water dragon roared. "I am the An River Water God! The spiritual energy of the An River, hear my command, gather!"


    A mysterious glow appeared on the black water dragon''s body as the winds started to pick up. A huge illusionary shadow of a river appeared behind him, blessing him with unparalleled power.


    The advantage goes to whoever was on their home ground!


    "Indeed a righteous god! What a pity... you''re a tyrant!"


    Fang Yuan shook his head and glanced at the Golden Court Dragon God. "Let''s do it!"


    "Listen to my command, the spiritual energy shall disperse!"


    At that moment, two mysterious glows appeared on their backs as well, revealing the imagery of a vast lake. With a roar, the An River became affected and the spiritual energy quickly dispersed.


    "It''s the Qi Lake Dragon God and the Golden Court Lake Dragon God!"


    These two lakes were neighbouring the An River and could affect it greatly. Therefore, as the two dragon gods of the lakes combined their forces, the spiritual energy of the An River was mostly dissipated!


    The greatest power a god could ever have was stripped off him in an instant.


    Furthermore, under the pressure from both lakes, the illusionary shadow of the An River started to shrink. Finally, it could no longer hold on under the pressure. A black fog appeared and in it the hue of blood and an inauspicious omen.


    After the closer look, many restless souls were seen within the black fog. These restless souls came from the live offerings given to the An River as well as the humans being killed by this attack. All of them were dressed in white robes and had blood oozing out of their eyes.


    As the An River Dragon God, he had to bear the responsibility if the gods under him were to partake in unethical acts like accepting live offerings.


    The restless souls accumulated over all these years had amounted to a scarily huge number. Being released all at once and the fact that the An River Dragon God had to deal with the other two dragon gods as well, he was being cornered with nowhere to go.


    "Karma will always come back at the right time!"


    Seeing this, Fang Yuan mumbled to himself as he gained a new level of understanding for the realm.


    "If you follow the heavenly trend, things would be easier!"


    The Golden Court Dragon God sighed and took a step forward. He stretched both his palms out. "Disperse!"


    "Whoooo!"


    A strong gust of wind started to oppose the tornado, weakening it.


    As the people on the ground witnessed the fight, they were all shocked and surprised. A huge calamity like this was so simply put out by the gods.


    "Ahh... You two, remember what you''ve done!"


    There were bloody flames burning on the black water dragon''s body. As he roared in pain, he released a glow from his scales in an attempt to fight the flames as he tried to escape.


    With such a golden opportunity, how would Fang Yuan let it go to waste? "Thunder Sword! Strike!"


    "Rumble!"


    Thunder roared in the skies and a bolt of lightning struck across. Immediately, it blocked the path of the escaping black water dragon. "Water and Fire are heartless, and the Thunder Sword shall act as the heavenly tribulation. 3 Talents Sword Array, rise!"


    "Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!"


    3 streaks of swords struck towards the skies from the ground. Icy, fiery and electrifying, they exploded in a split second.


    "Young god... What an impressive move!"


    Seeing this scene, the Golden Court Dragon God''s eyelid started to twitch. If he was the one being trapped by the sword array, he had no confidence in escaping as well.


    "Although this array is powerful, it is still not powerful enough to kill a dragon god!"


    Fang Yuan appeared calm. "Golden Court Dragon God, please restrict it with your imperial order for me to deliver the final blow!"


    "Alright!"


    "Bang!"


    In the next moment, the 3 Talents Sword Array exploded, revealing a heavily wounded and charred black water dragon.


    "Restrict!"


    The Golden Court Dragon God appeared solemn. With both his hands, he pressed downwards an immediately, a colourful imagery of believers giving their offerings appeared behind his back. In a split second, the imagery turned into a golden wheel.


    This was the Golden Wheel of Offerings, and it had the power of tens of thousands of believers in it.


    In terms of people dao, the black water dragon only had heaps of grievances compared to the Golden Wheel of Offerings.


    As the Golden Wheel of Offerings slowly pressed downwards against the black water dragon, the black water dragon let out a shriek. The imperial order from within its body appeared; it was golden with a hue of green. On it, there was a spinning glow. As the runes shook, it felt as though something big was about to happen.


    This was how easy it would be when going with the heavenly trend.


    "Alright!"


    The horned dragon shook and took on the form of a human.


    With a finger, Fang Yuan directed his 3 magical swords to combine into a single entity, forming a gigantic sword radiance.


    In mid-air, it was as though a huge sword had appeared.


    The huge sword had an icy body, but there were flames and streaks of electricity on its surface. It felt as though it was worthy of providing a heavenly tribulation.


    "Slice!"


    Fang Yuan held the sword in his hands and sliced down at the black water dragon.


    "Whoosh!"


    As a huge glow appeared, the heavens and the earth came together in an instant. Dark clouds formed above and a storm broke out.


    As blood spewed everywhere, a water dragon''s head rolled onto the floor and landed directly in front of Xu Ting with its eyes opened wide!


    "With a single slice, the water dragon is killed!"


    Kong Luo stared into blank space and his face was pale.


    He realised that this dragon god''s cultivation in sword skills was a thousand folds more than his! The dragon god was at a whole new level!


    Xu Ting was more shocked than Kong Luo.


    "Is that... The Black Dragon General?!"


    Looking at his human form, he could recognise Fang Yuan''s youthful look.


    The only difference was that previously, he was in plainclothes but now, he was decked in a royal outfit and had a majestic look. After delivering the killer blow, he seemed even more powerful than before.


    Everything that had just happened made him feel as though he was in a dream.


    "Didn''t Father mention that he was a black snake, a water god? How did he become a dragon god so quickly?"


    Of course, the gigantic water dragon''s severed head, the rain of blood and fight made him realise that everything was real, including Fang Yuan''s power.


    Without thinking, Xu Ting quickly paid his respects. "I am Xu Ting from the Golden Court Prefecture. Thank you dragon gods for your assistance!"


    Golden Court Dragon God did not care about Xu Ting.


    He was entirely focused on restraining the An River imperial order.


    The An River Dragon God was as powerful as him. If not for Fang Yuan''s assistance and the fact that they could make use of their geographical advantage, the Golden Court Dragon God had no chance of subduing the An River Dragon God.


    The An River imperial order shimmered as though it was unwilling to be restrained. However, as soon as it detected the karma and traces of people dao from the Golden Court Dragon God, it slowly calmed down.


    "Thank you, brother!"


    With the imperial order, Golden Court Dragon God was elated as he gave his thanks to Fang Yuan.


    Although the Golden Court Dragon God had no clue how long it would take for him to absorb this imperial order, he knew that if he could do it, his power would increase by folds.


    It was no small matter to be able to increase his power by such a margin.


    "This was our agreement, so you''re most welcome!"


    As he replied, his hands worked as he kept the corpse of the black water dragon.


    Seeing this, the Golden Court Dragon God was stunned but did not comment.


    Since he had already taken the imperial order for himself, he was in no position to comment if Fang Yuan were to take the corpse. Even if Fang Yuan wanted to loot the entire An River Dragon Palace, he would still allow for it.


    "Both dragon gods!"


    At this point in time, they finally took notice of the ants beneath them.


    Kong Luo and a few other daoist were heard. "Our general is eternally grateful for your assistance. He would prepare a banquet and wants to invite both of you to join in!"


    "Alright, let''s take a look!"


    Fang Yuan exchanged glances with the Golden Court Dragon God and both of them laughed.


    Other than the An River Dragon God, there were no other gods worthy of posing a threat to them in the entire Da Chu. This called for a celebration.


    In reality, the demons had miscalculated. If there was only a Golden Court Dragon God backing Xu Ting, the An River demons would still be able to kill Xu Ting.


    They had no idea that Fang Yuan would get himself involved and destroy the black water dragon to turn the tables!


    With a wrong move, the entire fight was lost.


    At this point in time, even if the Divine Demon Queen were to leave her stronghold and come for the both of them, both dragon gods had nothing to fear.


    It was a night of celebration.


    On the second day, Xu Ting sent both dragon gods off and immediately called his subordinates together for a meeting.


    "Reporting! Yesterday, we lost 20 ships, 2,000 Naval Officers and 1,000 other men... We have 17 officers of Lieutenant rank and above found dead!"


    A Naval Officer stood out and reported the numbers.


    They had incurred losses even before the war. However, considering that they did not lose their entire army, this outcome was still acceptable.


    Xu Ting was pale. "The remaining arrangements shall be made by this provincial military commander. Also, I think that... We should build temples for the Qi Lake Dragon God and Golden Court Lake Dragon God in all prefectures!"


    "Yes, Sir!"


    Kong Luo took a step out and glanced at the few daoist from Xuan Zhen Sect.


    "General, I am willing to fork out 1,000 taels of gold and 1,000 catties of ration to assist the army!"


    Qing Xuan''s face twitched and had no choice but to report.


    "Mmm, I shall accept your generosity!"


    Xu Ting replied in an official tone. That feeling of animosity shook Qing Xuan, and he could do nothing but let out a bitter smile.


    He knew that considering all that his sect had done to fight the demons and gods in the past, it was now hard to salvage the situation.


    "Furthermore..."


    After all the other subordinates were dismissed, Kong Luo was requested to stay behind.


    The young general had a look of uncertainty on his face. "Secretly send some of our guys to the Golden Lake Prefecture... Fetch Lady Li Luan here!"


    After all that had happened last night, Xu Ting had figured out that this woman represented a portion of fate energy of the demons. He had to accept and marry her.


    "Yes, Sir!"


    Kong Luo agreed, and his heart shook.


    After many years of cultivation, he also knew about the heavenly trend.


    The downfall of demons and uprising of humans had to be accepted.


    Xu Ting had a weak foundation. It would be beneficial for him if he could absorb the fate energy of the demons.

 314 Surrounding the Capital

    "My Lord!"


    Li Luan had a pale look. As soon as she entered the room, she saw Xu Ting and softly exclaimed.


    "Mmm..."


    Xu Ting acknowledged, but his mind was complicated.


    After all, their feelings for each other were real when they were younger. However, since they were not suited for each other and coupled with the fact that the daoist priests from Xuan Zhen Sect had repeatedly warned him about Li Luan, he had neglected her for the past few years.


    However, hope was not lost.


    Immediately, he walked towards her and spoke in a soothing voice. "It has been hard on you for the past few years. I have already written a letter to my father, informing him of my intention to marry you after the war is over..."


    "Thank you, my Lord!"


    This was a dream come true for her. However, Li Luan was confused as she felt a chill down her spine.


    Although the man standing before her was the same man whom she had given the dragon pearl to, it felt as though he was worn out.


    Of course, on the surface, she did not display her thoughts on her face. Even Xu Ting could not know what she was thinking and therefore did not suspect anything.


    "Very well, you have an old friend that wants to see you. I shall not hold you further!"


    Xu Ting waved his hands.


    Confused, Li Luan walked out. Following the servants, she arrived at a backyard.


    At the pond, there was a small pavilion. In the pavilion, there was a huge green fish jumping about, and it seems as though the fish had a demonic trait.


    Of course, what had surprised her was not the green fish, but the person playing with the fish.


    "You''re here?"


    Fang Yuan turned around and smiled.


    "You..."


    Of course, Li Luan could recognise Fang Yuan. However, the young man gave off a very different vibe compared to last time.


    He not only had the vibes of a majestic dragon, he had a powerful spiritual aura. Uncontrollably, tears welled up in Li Luan''s eyes. "Is this... the Qi Lake Water God?"


    "That''s right! I have killed the 3 demons in the Qi Lake and inherited the appointment as Water God!"


    Fang Yuan admitted to his doings without hiding anything. With the wave of his hands, the green fish rolled onto the floor and transformed into a well-built man in green robes.


    "Come to think of it, the 3 of us had gathered on Xu Ren''s ship in the middle of An River. Everything is still the same, but we have all changed. Interesting..."


    As he calmly spoke, mysterious dragon vibes were felt from his body. Li Luan could detect that Fang Yuan was now more powerful than her own father was when he was alive as the Qi Lake Water God.


    "Also... The An River Dragon God had obstructed the navy and was therefore killed by the Golden Court Dragon God and I. Therefore, the tribulation on you has been reduced!"


    Fang Yuan revealed some news.


    Li Luan was originally the daughter of the Qi Lake Water God and had bad blood with Bai Guan. In order to take her revenge, she had willingly served under the An River Dragon God and had endured humiliation in order to steal a pearl from the water dragon.


    However, she was blinded by fate energy and made a rash decision to gift the pearl to Xu Ting.


    Therefore, it was not inexplicable that the An River Dragon God had attacked Xu Ting; both parties were unaware that they were already linked by the pearl.


    "Thank you, Dragon God!"


    Li Luan could not hold her tears back as she paid her respects to Fang Yuan. "Thank you Dragon God for avenging my father on my behalf and severing my ties with the dragon pearl. I shall swear from today onwards to cut off all ties with Qi Lake, and that shall apply to my family for generations to come!"


    "Very good! I like smart people! Alright, that''s all!"


    Fang Yuan smiled and nodded his head.


    The previous Qi Lake Water God was that big green snake with little karma. Therefore, the chances that his future generations could rise up to power once more was slim.


    Therefore, Fang Yuan took precautions to ensure that he would not use up his fate energy in all that had happened.


    Of course, Li Luan was only a small part of his plan. The crux had yet to unfold.


    After dismissing Li Luan, he looked at the huge green fish. "Hey... Little Green, do you remember me?"


    "That year... on that ship... black snake... d*mn it!"


    Although the huge green fish was dense, it had a good memory and could recall what had happened many years ago.


    "Mmm... The 3 of us are fated, but not just by how we met before!"


    Fang Yuan continued after heaving a sigh. "The previous Qi Lake Water God had little karma. Although he died in the tribulation, he had a chance of revival. Unknowingly, even after meeting each other face to face, the father and his daughter no longer recognise each other. What a pity."


    After absorbing an entire imperial order, Fang Yuan''s body was extremely sensitive. Together with his spiritual sense as a dream master, there was no way he could guess wrong.


    This green fish was the reincarnation of the previous Qi Lake Water God! In other words, his soul was now possessing this green fish''s body!


    Of course, the power of being a god was already transferred to Fang Yuan. Even if he were to regain all his memories of his past life or even restore his cultivation, there was nothing he could do. Regardless, he would still be trouble.


    Also, Fang Yuan had taken the dragon pearl which he had prepared as a backup as well. This was how the both of them were related.


    "You, get over here!"


    Thinking about this, he hesitated no more and called for the fish.


    "You''re... calling for me?"


    The well-built man in green robes hesitated before walking towards Fang Yuan.


    "Very good!"


    Fang Yuan flipped his palm, revealing 9 drops of dark-red blood. In the blood, there was a hint of gold with a dragon''s might.


    After disintegrating the water dragon''s corpse, all that was left was this dragon''s property and the blood of a water dragon.


    "Take it!"


    He smiled and executed a technique as he pressed the dragon''s blood on the forehead of the well-built man.


    "Whoosh!"


    The 9 drops of blood combined to form the shape of a small water dragon before flying into his forehead.


    "Bang!"


    The well-built man''s eyes turned white as he fainted and fell to the ground.


    "I have obtained the dragon pearl and imperial order based on my own merits and have nothing to do with you. Today, I shall trade this dragon''s property and dragon''s blood to cut off all ties with you! We no longer owe each other anything!"


    Seeing the unconscious well-built man, Fang Yuan mumbled to himself.


    In reality, this was not only severing ties with him but a plan for something greater.


    Once this huge green fish obtained the dragon''s blood and dragon''s property, it would be able to cultivate at an increased speed and there was hope for it to transform into a dragon in the future. This was how Fang Yuan wanted to end things. If the green fish were to regain its memory of its past life and plot against Fang Yuan for the position of Qi Lake Water God, then Fang Yuan would have no choice but to kill it!


    As for the greater plan, it was a plan against the Golden Court Dragon God.


    Although he had established a good relationship with the Golden Court Dragon God, Fang Yuan would not trust him entirely and would prefer to guard against him nevertheless.


    Now that the Golden Court Dragon God had both the An River and the Golden Court Lake, he might get greedy and set his sights on Qi Lake!


    By then, Li Luan, this green fish and other related water dwellers would become the Golden Court Dragon God''s pawn; the chances that this green fish would be manipulated by the dragon god was the highest.


    But now, the green fish would be considered related to the Qi Lake Water God as well as the water dwellers in An River for it had absorbed the blood of the An River Dragon God. Therefore, it would be considered related to the An River Dragon God as well!


    If the Golden Court Dragon God were to remain unaware of this relationship and continue to manipulate the green fish... the Golden Court Dragon God might lead himself to his own downfall.


    Of course, this was only a plan and none of it had happened.


    At this point in time, the well-built man on the floor transformed back into a green fish. However, now, its scales had a black pattern. This was the power of the water dragon''s blood! Even if Fang Yuan were to personally help the green fish in absorbing the blood, the green fish would still ultimately change its personality and traits due to the dragon''s blood.


    ''This is how the plot will twist. If you become a black fish, you would instead become more acquainted with the An River...''


    Fang Yuan''s eyes glittered. As he walked to the riverbank, he released the half-green and half-black fish with a smirk on his face.


    This was controlling one''s fate and riding on the heavenly trend to plan for the future!


    ...


    At the same time, in the royal capital of Da Chu.


    The Xinfeng Army''s military governor, Baili Xuandu, had led an army of 60,000 to start attacking the city.


    He was 30 years old and started out as a small corporal. After rendering his meritorious service, he had gained the admiration of the more experienced military governors and was therefore promoted. They had even betrothed their daughters to him.


    This time, 10 military governors came together to fight against Wang Qiao. The most experienced of the military governors died on the battlefield. Baili Xuandu was tasked to assassinate Wang Qiao. As he was successful, he had gotten his revenge and had gained the support of two towns. With his 10,000-strong army, he had surrounded the royal capital and the morale was high.


    "Da Chu had no more troops. Against my 60,000-strong army, I believe I can force the Imperial Court to surrender and become the emperor!"


    Baili Xuandu''s eyes were burning with passion. Seeing the royal family standing atop the city walls, he ordered the machinery to advance. The three generals shouted once more as they did a last-ditch attempt to convince the Imperial Court to surrender.


    "Empress Dowager?"


    On the city walls, many officials glanced at the young Empress Dowager as they remained silent.


    "Hey... After taking care of all of you for the past hundred years, do you guys really want to come together to force us to a corner?"


    The Empress Dowager snickered.


    Although she was fuming mad, she was still a beauty, which made many of the younger ministers'' hearts sway.


    ''We have been ordered to defend this place with our lives. Baili Xuandu is here for the dragon energy. I must not let him have Da Chu and have his way!''


    The young Empress Dowager hugged the young King and thought to herself.


    She was originally a demon. After becoming Wang Qiao''s mistress, she had hidden from the public. After the arrival of the young king, Wang Qiao had given her an official title. Because of her baby, she was promoted and from then onwards, she had become the Empress Dowager, the true owner of the palace.


    Now that she had displayed her anger, the ministers knelt down in unison. "We don''t dare!"


    "Since you don''t dare to disobey, what are you still doing? Protect the city! Wang Xu, I''ll leave the city''s defences to you!"


    The Empress Dowager scanned her surroundings and picked a general. It was someone of the same ethnicity as Wang Qiao.


    "Yes, Ma''am! We will obey your orders!"


    This person had the control over Wang Qiao''s remaining fighting force, which was rather powerful. Of course, most importantly, they would not surrender and would fight to their deaths.


    This was because if Baili Xuandu were to enter the city, they would let off everyone except the ethnic people of Wang Qiao in the name of righteousness!


    Wang Xu agreed and scanned his surroundings. With a killer look, the rest of them were motivated to defend.


    "It seems that we still need to invade the city!"


    Outside the city, Baili Xuandu took in a deep breath. "Pass down my command. Whoever reaches the top of the city walls first will be promoted 3 ranks and rewarded 1,000 taels!"


    Even though the city walls were tall and hard to infiltrate, they could do so as long as they had the determination and courage!


    "Kill!"


    In history, those who ascended the city walls first would promote a rank or had an insignificant reward. Now that they would potentially promote 3 ranks, most of the soldiers were motivated to try their best.


    As the catapults swung rocks at the walls, arrows rained towards the walls. The army charged forward and at that moment, they had forgotten the risks of dying.


    Beili Xuandu remained calm. He clenched his fists tightly. ''Even if they don''t surrender, they would suffer from a high casualty rate. This is the perfect opportunity and I must make full use of it!''


    The sunset spilt golden rays on the earth.


    ''It has only been a day but I have lost over a thousand of my soldiers. However, if we persist for another day, I''m sure we will be able to break through!''


    Baili Xuandu''s eyes were bloodshot. In the next moment, he could feel a chill down his spine.


    "Military governor, look¡­... at¡­... north!"


    A group of messengers rushed to him and could not even articulate properly.


    From a tall platform, Baili Xuandu looked across and noticed a black line charging towards them from the horizon. They were not soldiers or calvaries, but wolves, tigers, leopards and other beasts forming a battalion of beasts! "Demonic beasts!?"

 315 King Sun

    Fenghe Prefecture, Da Chu.


    In this prefecture, there was a famous mountain called Xuanping Mountain that housed the Xuan Zhen Sect''s headquarters.


    Forests on the mountains were lush while dense, fluffy clouds covered the mountains.


    On a certain mountain peak, a gust of wind blew away the clouds and a building could be seen. The building housed numerous pavilions and terraces; it was brilliantly structured. Caws of celestial cranes could be heard and spirit monkeys could be seen plucking fruits. It had the look of a grand celestial manor.


    "Chirp! Chirp!"


    Suddenly, a green bird cut across the sky and flew into the hall of the building. Its shrills were sorrowful and pierced the silence.


    The hall was built from pure copper and there were a few altars used to worship deities inside the hall. In front, there were a few elders seating on cushions.


    "A message from the green bird? Moreover, it''s the most urgent secret information?"


    The head of Xuan Zhen Sect was stunned for a moment. He then immediately waved his hand and a clear gust of wind reached the green bird.


    The green bird''s eyes shined brightly, it was extremely human-like. It then began rapidly reciting, "Elders, disaster! Xinfeng army''s military governor Baili Xuandu was met with resistance from the Empress Dowager at the capital. After he refused to surrender, he was attacked by the Demonic Beast Swarm! The 60,000 men strong army toppled in a day and he almost died!"


    Although it was only a few sentences, the information and meaning in them were astounding. The elders'' expression changed at once, "Demonic Beast Swarm? The demons have always schemed behind the scenes! This time, they finally displayed their powers in front of everyone?"


    "Divine Predictor Elder, what do you think?"


    After the initial commotion, Xuan Zhen Sect Head enquired a person.


    This person''s beard was so long it touched the ground and his face was full of wrinkles. He appeared haggard and looked like a skeleton, as though he was about to die.


    "Cough¡­... cough¡­..."


    The Divine Predictor coughed twice before speaking weakly and breathlessly, "I have already investigated each countries'' dragon energy. Disregarding Da Qi and Da Liang, inside Da Chu, there are only two rising dragon energies. One is Xu Ting while the other is Baili Xuandu!"


    "Although there are some others with slight potential, since they have not risen to power till now, they have missed the right timing, the right conditions and the right people. They can be considered useless now..."


    "Although our sect originally favoured Xu Ting and invested in him early on, ever since Xu family have gotten too close with the demons, their fate energy has changed. In this three years, we have gradually favoured Baili Xuandu, but alas, just before we could sever ties with Xu Family and invest in Baili Xuandu, he was defeated! He has fully lost the right timing and there would be no chance for him to rise again!"


    "The demons are determined to have us dead!"


    A female elder loathingly said, "But there are no other hidden dragons that have not been noticed and killed... what should we do from now on? Fully invest in Xu family or seal the mountain and retreat?


    "We absolutely cannot seal the mountain!"


    The Sect Head shook his head, "We are at the peak of the turmoil now and can only move forward with it. If we were to retreat, we will lose out on people dao fate energy, and our sect will slowly decline even if we have the support of our rare treasures..."


    "Looks like the Sect Head has favoured Xu Ting, but not only is he not getting closer to us, he is getting more inclined towards the lone practitioners and demons!"


    Another elder shook his head, "Previously, Qing Xuan relayed that the Golden Court Dragon God and Qi Lake Dragon God were the ones who saved Xu Ting''s troops when he was attacked by An River Dragon God. This shows that they have deep ties..."


    "That''s not true!"


    Xuan Zhen Sect Head laughed, "Too much of a good thing can actually be worse! Although these two Dragon Gods played a huge role, Xu Ting would still be fearful of them. Xu Ting is merely ingratiating them as he needs them for his war, but what happens when the war is over?"


    "Brilliant and insightful!"


    A few other daoists nodded their head in agreement, "Especially now, there are no more heroes in Da Chu''s capital. Even the demons have used up everything! The two sides suffered severe losses. if Xu Ting can quickly send his troops over, he will definitely be able to occupy it!"


    "Such a situation will be an easy task for Xu Ting, hence, the chances of him relying on the Dragon Gods would be even smaller! Thus, we must suppress them with every opportunity we have!"


    "True!"


    Xuan Zhen Sect Head nodded his head, "Since that is the case, go ahead!"


    "All of you may leave now!"


    The daoists kowtowed before leaving the hall one by one. Only the Sect Head stayed behind to ponder as he looked at the rising smoke from the incense and its quivering flame.


    ...


    "What?"


    he news spread around fast and not before long, Fang Yuan, who was in Qi Lake, caught wind of it too.


    "I can''t believe it! I really can''t believe the demons were so daring to ambush the hidden dragon." Fang Yuan mumbled to himself.


    From his source of intelligence, although Baili Xuandu''s army was wiped out, the demons suffered great losses as well.


    After all, Baili Xuandu was a powerful military governor; he had numerous talented people under him. Moreover, he had the support of his dragon energy.


    After the bloody battle, the Demonic Beast Swarm was severely desecrated too. Apparently, outside Da Chu''s capital, there was a mountain tall pile of corpses. It was an utterly revolting mixture of humans'' and beasts'' corpses and carcasses.


    "This Xu Ting is really lucky. Perhaps his fate energy has greatly increased since he received the support from the Golden Court Dragon God and me?"


    Fang Yuan stroked his chin.


    Upon hearing the news, Xu Ting immediately gave up on reorganising his troops. He promptly led his troops towards Qi Lake.


    At that moment, the numerous military occupied towns were in chaos after they lost their leader. They either surrendered or were conquered instantly. In just a short period, Xu Ting occupied more than ten prefectures in the vicinity of An River and Qi Lake; he had already occupied half the country!


    "If he can stop the demons from interfering and conquer the capital, he would naturally be able to rule the entire Da Chu thereafter!"


    The fight for Da Chu was getting clearer.


    Inside Da Chu, there was no doubt that Xu family was the strongest force to be reckoned with. Moreover, they were even stronger than the imperial family.


    Furthermore, Da Qi and Da Liang were in internal chaos too. If Xu Ting could unite and rule Da Chu, he could even unite the countries under his rule!


    "Hence, Xu Ting would become the number one hated target amongst all demons... this would spell trouble for him..."


    Fang Yuan shook his head and looked towards a direction as he pondered. After a moment, he cast a magical formula and a water mirror appeared.


    "A group of daoist has just joined Xu Ting, looks like they are from Xuan Zhen Sect... How did I not know that there were so many cultivators in this realm?"


    As the Qi Lake Dragon God, he could understand the situation of the nearby prefectures.


    As he saw such a scene, he felt solemn.


    The reason humans were rising was not only because they were favoured by the heavenly trend, they had also surpassed a certain threshold. Thus, talented people and heroes could continually emerge amongst the humans.


    At that moment, Xu Ting was only left with becoming the ruler of the entire Da Chu. Thus, he had the support of many people which made him even more powerful!


    Rome was not built in a day! Every contribution mattered!


    Once Xu Ting had the support of millions of people, even the Divine Demon Queen would be rather fearful of his force!


    "Since his soldiers were severely fatigued from the battles this year, he must strike next year!"


    Fang Yuan contemplated, "Xu Ting has two ways to achieve a breakthrough. One is the capital of Da Chu, the other is to continue conquering the remaining military occupied towns... this is all clear!"


    Xu family''s strength was already sufficient to officially rule the entire Da Chu.


    "At such a stage, I guess some people can only be forced to invest more?"


    Fang Yuan looked towards the water mirror with a sly smile.


    ...


    At that moment, Xu Ting was in plain clothes and was hiking with a few of his confidants.


    "Qiwei Prefecture is the core of the 5 prefectures near Qi Lake. Since Golden Court Lake is too far from here, Father has already prepared to move his office here. He will personally officiate this prefecture and monitor the frontlines..."


    They felt relaxed as they hiked higher up the mountains.


    Xu Ting casually mentioned, "During the spring of next year, after we finish reorganising the troops, we definitely must launch our attacks and rapidly unite Da Chu."


    "Just that¡­ there is still an issue!"


    He raised his eyebrows and continued, "Although my father is the Glorious Grandmaster, such a title is still a ministerial position! A minister as a head of state, that is not appropriate!"


    "You are right, General, it is time to promote his title!"


    The confidants immediately chimed in.


    To be the ruler of a country was an opportunity many wanted.


    Furthermore, since Xu Ting already planned to attack the capital, the title of ''Minister'' was really not apt.


    "The Glorious Grandmaster''s hard work allowed us to occupy half the country! Promoting his title to King would be very suitable!" one of his followers suggested.


    Realistically, with the lands he had occupied, the title of Emperor would be too forced.


    "King?"


    Xu Ting was moved at once.


    Nearby, as daoist Qing Xuan watched the scene, he was reminded of his Sect Head. "Xuan Zhen Sect suffered losses after losses and our progress has been severely hindered... Now, the elders do not even mind utilising our sect''s rare treasures to tide this through! This is not for our sect but for the heavenly trend!"


    Qing Xuan stood quietly as he waited for his chance.


    As they were tired from their hike, Xu Ting took a look at the sun and said, "Time to find a place to rest! After lunch, we will head down the mountain!"


    "General!"


    Daoist Qing Xuan suddenly called out, "This peak is called King Sun''s Mountain, we can visit the King Sun''s Court up there to rest!"


    "Okay, let''s go there!"


    Hearing such, Xu Ting was intrigued. Upon reaching the peak, there was indeed a small court. It was styled in a temple-like fashion, it was also rustic and elegant looking, while still retaining a sense of solemnity.


    In front of the court, there was a rock tablet. It introduced the life of King Sun and had a poem inscribed on it. "Although the temple has resided in this mountain for a long time, many have not heard of King Sun. He fought the rebels of Qi Lake, leaving behind his great legacy. A hero of the past enshrined in history, a name not known by many. Although new deeds could not be inscribed, respects could be paid."


    "So it''s a temple for a king!"


    After Xu Ting thought for a moment, he ordered someone to pass him the incense. He then ceremoniously worshipped.


    This King Sun was the second prince of the previous dynasty. He was both scholarly and skilled in martial arts. He had even led troops to suppress rebels in Qi Lake. After the eldest prince died, many supported him to be the crown prince. However, he was framed by others and ultimately did not become the emperor. He was only bestowed upon the title of King Sun and not long after, he mysteriously "drowned".


    Of course, Xu Ting did not trust what was written in the historical records. He felt a cold sweat as he thought, "The fight for the throne is deadly, even the descendants of emperors died fighting for the throne. What can I even be proud of at my current stage?"


    Xu Ting self-reflected as he prayed a few more times.


    "Eh?"


    Suddenly, the nearby Kong Luo''s expression changed. He opened his spiritual eyes and saw streaks of fate energy gathering above the court and entering Xu Ting''s head as he worshipped. It signified Xu Ting was meant to be a king!

 316 Following the Trend

    The 9th Year of Yong An, the First Day of the year.


    Xu Ren had arrived at Qiwei Prefecture. He had ordered for a Heavenly Temple to be built and had taken up the appointment of King, with the title of ''Wu''. He was now King Wu. On that night, there was a banquet and a ceremony to declare his wife as the Queen. Xu Ting was appointed the Head General and was in charge of military affairs.


    On the same day, one of the district leaders had presented a 5 Coloured Lingzhi, which was subsequently recorded in the books.


    On the 3rd Month, Xu Ting had officially led his troop of 10,000 soldiers to attack the capital city of Da Chu!


    Outside of the capital city, there were miles of charred land and occasionally, bones were seen lying around. It was a horrific sight to behold.


    Xu Ting whipped his horse as they advanced towards the capital city. Seeing that the city was just right before his eyes, he could not hold back but chuckle. "Baili Xuandu has returned to his own town and is no longer a threat! The priority now is to take down the capital city of Da Chu and make our occupation official!"


    With almost half of Da Chu''s territory in their hands, they had the freedom to choose which direction they would want to attack the capital city from.


    They could either strike the capital city of Da Chu, or attack from the Xinfeng Army.


    Based on Xu Ting''s judgement, although Baili Xuandu had control over 6 prefectures in the north, they were but empty shells and was no threat. Therefore, he would choose to surround the royal capital.


    After all, the royal capital was where the headquarters were and therefore, he had to treat it seriously.


    Is Wang Xu in charge of the defence of the capital city of Da Chu? He is of the same ethnicity as Wang Qiao. Who would''ve thought that he would be able to work with the Empress Dowager so closely!"


    Xu Ting rubbed his chin and recalled a few rumours that he had heard in the past. "There must be a reason for everything. The royal palace of Da Chu must be hiding some dirty secrets within!"


    "Pass down my command, we shall set up our campsite here and officially invade the city tomorrow!"


    Thinking about it, he quickly passed down his command.


    Although there were a few prefecture districts neighbouring the capital city of Da Chu, these districts were long destroyed and would surrender instantly if they were to set foot in them. It was an easy task to conquer those districts.


    At this point in time, his 10,000-soldier army were surrounding the capital city of Da Chu. With a strong backing, this invasion was much different compared to that led by Baili Xuandu. They could afford to surround and contain the capital city and were not afraid to drag the invasion.


    With the heavenly trend in place, they did not have to resort to using underhand means to successfully invade the capital city. By dragging the invasion, it was advantageous for the Xu Family.


    This was because the way they had executed the invasion was slow but steady. It exemplified the true meaning of the art of war.


    "Yes Sir!"


    Without hesitation, the instruction was relayed and the campsite was set up promptly. Due to their past experience with demons, they had fortified and strengthened their tents and even had soldiers doing patrol duties. They would boil their water before consumption and were on their guards at all times.


    "Previously, the demons had suffered losses as well. Furthermore, I am not Baili Xuandu and I am in no hurry to take down the capital city. Therefore, it is unlikely that there would be any loopholes in our invasion for we are not hasty. The chances of us being attacked are minimal!"


    Even so, Xu Ting still sent out a troop of 500 cavalries to perform reconnaissance to make sure that the surroundings were clear of any threats. They were made to report to him every 6 hourly so that they could eliminate any potential threats.


    It was nightfall.


    There was complete silence in the campsite. Not long after, the only light source was being put out.


    "Brother Golden Court, what do you feel about this army?"


    From afar, on a plateau, Fang Yuan and Golden Court Dragon God had arrived.


    "They are steady like a mountain and are not hasty. They are well-disciplined too! An impressive troop!"


    Golden Court Dragon God shook before continuing. "Even you and I are affected by the energy given off by this army. Other demons would surely not dare to approach them!"


    "Not just this, but I have seen the energy given off by Xu Ting as well. He has a ring of auspicious energy around him and with the assistance of the water dragon''s pearl, he is starting to reveal his dragon entity! He will be a king in the future! In comparison, his father''s energy pales!"


    Fang Yuan replied. "Xuan Zhen Sect would throw in everything they have!"


    "This is where I am confused. After conquering the capital city of Da Chu, Xu Ting would be able to unify the entire Da Chu. By then, what should we do? Should we... leave before things get out of hand?"


    Golden Court Dragon God broke the silence.


    Hearing him, Fang Yuan nodded his head in agreement.


    This dragon god was indeed wise to be able to think of such a step. When the humans rule, everything else would have to give way for them.


    After the country is being rebuilt, the brave and courageous generals would have to be contained and nullified. Otherwise, any small trigger might cause a big trouble! It would be a display of might, similar to how Zhu Yuanzhang killed the ministers who had worked hard.


    Although there were big changes everywhere, the basic principle of how things work would always remain the same!


    Furthermore, there was something more threatening to them! Ministers and generals would require the support of the government and they could be controlled. However, the few gods like them harness power in themselves! If the king could not control them, he would fear them even more!


    "With Xuan Zhen Sect sowing discord, we should really think about how to take our leave..."


    Fang Yuan did not rebut. Instead, he let out a cold laugh. "Does Xuan Zhen Sect really think that they can expand their influence? Dream on! After clearing out demons and gods like us, the king would target the daoists next."


    "Mmm, as long as Xu Ting can successfully invade the capital city of Da Chu, he would be credited for it. Even if we were to take our leave, it would not affect anything. Instead, we might benefit from it..."


    The Golden Court Dragon God nodded his head and replied.


    As a king, Xu Re would be able to gather dragon energy. They could not only cover up their weaknesses with the dragon energy, they might even strengthen themselves.


    "Mm... As demons and gods, we are ultimately not human. However, as long as we understand something, we can still survive!"


    Fang Yuan appeared serious as he continued. "The uprising of the humans is the heavenly trend. Humans with dragon energy would rise everywhere in the realm and Xu Ting is just one of them. Although many would pin their hopes on him, he is still not irreplaceable! We need to go with the flow, which is to simply eradicate the evil demons!"


    "As long as we can achieve that, we would have followed the heavenly trend. If the people dao''s dragon energy decide to wipe us out, we can simply retaliate!"


    "You''re right, young god!"


    Hearing Fang Yuan, the Golden Court Dragon God''s heart wavered as though he had understood something important.


    Xu Ting was merely a pawn in the heavenly trend and was not representative of the entire people dao. As long as Fang Yuan and the Golden Court Dragon God follow the heavenly trend, nobody could do anything to them.


    Furthermore, they would be allowed to strike back if anyone were to touch them.


    After all, there would be no more problems once the humans rise up and the true dragons appear among the humans.


    "Therefore, this operation would be extremely crucial!"


    Fang Yuan continued. "Invading the capital city of Da Chu was initially a mere contest among the humans. However, if any demons were to get themselves involved in the invasion, then we will have to take action! Since we have brought along all our water dwellers with us, it is only a small matter if we have to sacrifice all of them. If the Divine Demon Queen were to stop us, we will still put up our best fight!"


    Although the soldiers in the dragon palaces were only good in battles underwater, they could still hold their ground on land; they would merely be a little weaker than they used to be.


    However, to Fang Yuan, none of this mattered.


    Instead, if the casualty rate of his water dwellers were high, the power of Qi Lake would be weakened. This would be aligned with the heavenly trend and therefore, there was nothing to be pity about!


    This was breaking things up into two steps. Firstly, he would continually do good deeds to gain heavenly dao karma. As for the people dao, as long as he did not oppose the heavenly trend, he would not be at risk of anything.


    After all, the heavens were cruel. No one could say for sure if the true dragon would come from the Xu Family.


    Seeing how Fang Yuan''s eyes were glistening, the Golden Court Dragon God shook.


    Being so decisive and meticulous as to deal with issues separately in terms of heavenly dao and people dao and having such a deep understanding of the people dao meant that there was no way they could fail!


    "With such a potential person among us demons, I have no worries!"


    The Golden Court Dragon God let out a sigh and released a signal.


    From a big river, troops of water dwellers appeared, forming a military formation.


    "Some of the Golden Court Army and An River Army have left behind to take care of the lake and river. I have 12,000 of them reporting here today, and I''ll let you command them!!!"


    A golden glow appeared on the Golden Court Dragon God''s hand and transformed into a dragon scale. With that, he passed the scale to Fang Yuan.


    "Do not worry. Just remember, we are here to attack the demons who are opposing the heavenly trend. We will not touch a single human regardless of the situation. I''ll leave all those problems to Xu Ting!"


    Fang Yuan glanced at the outline of the capital city and laughed. "Let''s go!"


    ...


    On the city walls of the capital city of Da Chu.


    The Divine Demon Queen was sitting atop the city walls, looking pitiful. However, the guards beside her were ignoring everything. It was weird.


    Upon closer look, the guards had a demonic glow in their eyes. As the torches illuminated their faces, black streaks were seen on their faces.


    "Reporting, Queen!"


    A lieutenant walked up and paid his greetings. "All the soldiers who are willing to listen to your command have arrived! We have obtained more than half of the defences of the city!"


    He was indeed a powerful demon to be able to take up the form of a human! An independent powerful demon!


    Of course, with the Empress Dowager''s assistance and the few demon spies around Wang Xu, it was possible to possess people in the royal palace.


    "Alright, this time, we shall make use of the city walls to destroy and wipe out Xu Ting''s army. It would be even better if we can capture him!"


    The Divine Demon Queen commanded.


    "Yes, Ma''am!"


    With a cunning laugh, the lieutenant''s eyes glistened.


    As soon as the demon lieutenant was dismissed, the Divine Demon Queen looked down at the sea of black beneath the city walls and let out a sigh.


    The previous fight with Baili Xuandu had weakened the dragon energy, but her demons had suffered a high casualty rate. She had even lost some of her elite demons.


    Humans were able to reproduce and get their numbers up quickly. In a few years, a huge troop of soldiers were arriving once more.


    Furthermore, this time, there were many elite and capable people assisting the soldiers.


    Looking at her own demons, she realised that comparatively, her demons reproduce slower. Even if she were to multiply their numbers by 10 or even 100, she would still lose out in terms of numbers!


    "For the demons, I''ll have to make do!"


    "The good thing is that I have received news that we have located a few islands far from here. These islands have an abundance of spiritual energy. I have already instructed the weaker demons to relocate there. With this, I can at least preserve some of our species..."


    The Divine Demon Queen looked towards the direction of Xu Ting''s campsite and gave a cunning laugh. "Even if I have to sacrifice all my demons, I must ensure that I destroy the people dao''s dragon energy completely and ensure that chaos will break out for the next hundred years to come!"


    She had made up her mind.


    "Kill!"


    At this point in time, there were shoutings and warcries. The Divine Demon Queen turned pale. "Jerk, traitors!"


    Beneath the city walls, 20,000 water dwellers formed neat rows.


    Witnessing this, the Divine Demon Queen was enraged.


    She had initially planned to sacrifice all her demons to destroy the people dao''s dragon energy and create chaos.


    However, if she were to start a war with the water dwellers, regardless of who would win the war, it was their own internal conflict and the humans would be the one who would benefit from their own conflict!


    "Roar! Roar!"


    Amidst dragon roars, the silhouette of two water dragons appeared. Fang Yuan transformed into a man with a crown. Together with the Golden Court Dragon God, they looked towards the city walls.


    "Qi Lake Dragon God, as a dragon, you are an asset to the demons. Why do you want to seek refuge with the humans?"


    The Divine Demon Queen had already lost all hope for the Golden Court Dragon God. Looking at Fang Yuan, she was in disbelief.


    "Since this is the heavenly trend, how can I oppose it?"


    Fang Yuan waved his hands. "This conversation is meaningless! Attack the city!"

 317 Vicissitudes

    Zhang Han[1] was originally an unemployed young adult who loafed and idled around the capital of Da Chu. He came from a poor family and did not amount to much after he grew up, thus, he relied on shady acts for survival.


    However, these few years, life in the capital became worse. The capital became emptier and he lost his livelihood. Coincidentally, the imperial army was recruiting and had very low requirements, hence, Zhang Han enlisted.


    Zhang Han was doing guard duty at night.


    "Recently, many of the lieutenants and generals have changed...Their eyes have a green glow, so creepy looking!"


    The cold wind blew and Zhang Han still felt extremely chilly despite wearing his coat. As he shivered in the cold, he thought of the ladies in Chunfeng Brothel.


    "Charge!"


    Suddenly, shouts could be heard outside the city gates. Zhang Han came out of his trance and was alarmed by the noises.


    "There are rebels attacking our city, quickly defend!"


    Under the lieutenant''s command, Zhang Han wielded his spear and rushed to the city gates. His hands were trembling in fear.


    After he climbed up the city walls and looked down, he was utterly panic-stricken.


    From the light of the flames, silhouettes of those below could be discerned. However, they were definitely not humans, each of them was oddly shaped and fully armoured. Some of them even had huge pincers as hands and were extremely vicious looking.


    "What are you all waiting for? Kill them!"


    The lieutenant hollered and a rain of arrows hit the crustacean soldiers'' bodies. However, they were useless as only small sparks could be seen when the arrows bounced off their armour.


    "The bow is useless, we have to use crossbows, logs and huge rocks!"


    "Boom!"


    Huge rocks were thrown from the tall city walls and blood splattered everywhere when these rocks landed.


    Even though the crustacean army had scale armours, they could not withstand the logs and rocks crushing them.


    "These... these are not humans, they are demons! I quit!"


    Beside Zhang Han, a soldier was terrified by the scene and attempted to escape.


    "Splurt!"


    Blood spewed everywhere as Zhang Han''s lieutenant smiled ferociously. With just a slash of his knife, the soldier''s head rolled onto the ground.


    "Those who try to escape will be killed immediately!"


    The lieutenant licked the blood off his knife with enjoyment as he appeared extremely satisfied. The green glow in his eyes sparkled as he further commanded, "What are you waiting for? Continue!"


    "Yes, Sir!"


    Zhang Han immediately turned his head away as the scene reminded him of the hungry wolf he had seen before when he was young.


    The look on the lieutenant''s eyes was exactly the same as that wolf''s, it was sly and savage looking.


    "Kill them all!"


    If the 20,000 strong troops were humans, they would have all died when they attacked the city at night.


    However, this time around, it was different. The ones attacking were the water dwellers.


    With the support of the two Dragon Gods, the water dwellers bravely rushed forward against the raining arrows and logs. Their hands turned into giant pincers or sharp claws as they arrived at the bottom of the city walls and began climbing up.


    "Kill!"


    One of the crab generals reached the top of the walls and began hammering the wall with his huge pincers. Moments later, part of the wall crumbled and made way for the water dwellers.


    The water dwellers immediately rushed forward.


    "Die!"


    The lieutenant lunged forward and a black glow appeared on his knife, "Demon Wolf Technique, Moon Sword Flurry!"


    "Swoosh!"


    The knife was as radiant and as sharp as a waxing moon as it sliced the crab general. A large gap appeared on the crab general''s chest at once, tons of blood gushed out and he collapsed onto the floor, revealing his original form which was a tiny crab.


    "Hahaha!"


    The lieutenant''s eyes turned red from savagery as he howled to the moon. Black fur grew out from his face like an evil wolf.


    "I''m right, a demon!"


    Zhang Han''s limbs turned weak. As he looked around, he saw many of them savagely howling. They transformed into dholes, wolves, tigers and leopards and fought against the crustacean army. As he watched the bizarre and motley beasts fought, he thought he was dreaming.


    "Ah... haha, that''s right, I must be dreaming!"


    Even though Zhang Han had seen before the Demonic Beast Swarm that fought against Baili Xuandu''s troops, he began to laugh crazily.


    Zhang Han then threw his spear onto the ground and walked around aimlessly. Suddenly, a strong man with tiger stripes pounced on him and sank its teeth into his neck. Blood spewed everywhere!


    ...


    While the capital was in chaos, Fang Yuan remained leisurely.


    "There are indeed demons in the capital, but how many demons can the Queen possibly gather? 3,000? 5,000? We have 20,000 water dwellers, even if all of them were killed, it is not a pity!"


    At that moment, many of the crustacean soldiers were severely injured or had died already. While the Golden Court Dragon God was worried, Fang Yuan was laughing beside him.


    "What a cold-blooded and heartless young Dragon God!"


    The Divine Demon Queen remained silent as she watched the events unfold.


    Although she had powerful abilities, her elemental energy had been severely weakened as she had gone against the heavenly trend. Furthermore, she could not stand a chance against the two Dragon Gods.


    "I will remember what happened today! Just you wait!"


    Moments later, as she saw more demons were being killed, she could not bear it anymore, she finally let out a sharp shrill.


    The demons were alarmed by the shrill and immediately transformed into black vapour as they retreated.


    "Heh! The pettiness of women!"


    Fang Yuan smirked as he saw such.


    If a general could not view the soldiers under him as expendables and became irresolute during the key moment, he had failed as a general.


    However, perhaps it was because demons were the ones dying in the brawl, there was no other choice for the Divine Demon Queen.


    Nevertheless, Fang Yuan would not let this opportunity slip.


    On one side, they had numerous considerations. Whereas, on the other side, they had none. Thus, this showed that victory was already established from the start.


    "Send down my command, chase after and kill all the remaining demons! Leave the humans alone and just chase them away will do!"


    "Boom!"


    As the demons retreated, the defences on the city wall fell immediately. A few crab general pushed open the city gates and a huge amount of water dwellers easily swarmed in.


    The night in the capital would definitely not be peaceful.


    The ruckus near the city walls was loud, lots of soldiers entered the city. They began searching for the demons and small brawls erupted everywhere.


    Occasionally, some of the bold and daring families peeked from their windows and saw some odd sights.


    For example, tigers and leopards could be seen dashing away as black vapour shrouded them. Many water dwellers were marching on the streets. It was a truly bizarre sight to behold, a sight that one might not even be able to dream of.


    There were scholars who immediately recorded, "King Wu''s army attacked the capital at night, the capital descended into chaos. Spirits and ghosts paraded the city walls... the commoners dare not leave their house. During midnight, they came into the streets, their presence was vivid, their smell was strong! Fishes, prawns, tigers and leopards could be seen!"


    "You... are so vicious!"


    The Divine Demon Queen was devastated at such and she almost retched up a stream of blood.


    "Wipe out the enemy cleanly, leave no chance for them, the heavenly trend cannot be resisted, such are the vicissitudes of life!" Fang Yuan thought of a poem.


    Fang Yuan decisively hollered as a beam of lightning appeared on his hand, "Divine Demon Queen! As you went against the heavenly trend, you must be punished!"


    "Kaboom!"


    Thunder could be heard as a flash of lightning cut across the sky. A large amount of electrifying lightning immediately surrounded the Divine Demon Queen. They then transformed into a sword and pierced towards her at the speed of light.


    "Poof!"


    Just when the lightning pierced her, it was as though it had pierced a soap bubble.


    The silhouette of the Divine Demon Queen burst and disappeared without a trace.


    "An illusion?"


    Fang Yuan thought to himself, "After I have spent so much effort preparing for this opportunity, she managed to hide! This demon''s cultivation is unpredictably strong!"


    "The heavenly trend cannot be resisted, such is the vicissitudes of life..." the Golden Court Dragon God mumbled beside Fang Yuan.


    After a while, the Golden Court Dragon God then added, "You should know better!"


    Fang Yuan did not hesitate and rushed towards the imperial palace.


    Da Chu Imperial Palace.


    "Ahhhh!"


    The young emperor woke up from his nightmare and shouted, "Grandma! Grandma!"


    "What''s wrong, my grandson?"


    At that moment, it was as though the entire palace was empty, the curtains swayed and evoked a sense of uneasiness.


    The shadow of a lady donned in a crown appeared and slowly walked into the palace hall. It was the fox demon transformed as the Empress Dowager.


    "Greetings, Empress Dowager!"


    The young emperor stood up and paid respects. He was only around 6 to 7 years old, his supple little lips were red and his teeth was flawlessly white. He was extremely cute and lovable.


    "Ah... my grandson..."


    The Empress Dowager went forward and carried the young emperor. Her eyes turned teary as she said, "We are not related by blood, and yet I feel so close to you after spending time with you. I have never felt this way before, even with the previous two emperors!"


    The young emperor kept quiet as he sensed what the Empress Dowager said was very important.


    "Sigh... although I was instructed to wreak the imperial palace completely... I can''t bear to do so!"


    The Empress Dowager caressed the young emperor''s cheeks as she continued with mixed emotions, "Being so close to a human... is a sin, sigh... my innocent child! I have already killed and sinned so many times, I really don''t wish to sin again!"


    "Empress Dowager, what''s wrong? Don''t scare me..."


    The young emperor was frightened and started crying. He immediately screamed for help.


    Outside the palace hall, it was totally silent. There was not a single soul.


    "Krong! Kong!"


    Suddenly, the dignified noise of a dragon could be heard.


    "Sigh..."


    The Empress Dowager could only give a cold smile as hugged the young emperor, "My baby, you must depend on yourself from now on!"


    "Empress Dowager?"


    After they hugged, the young emperor called her softly. However, there was no response.


    He pushed her away slightly and her whole body fell over. Her body was stiff and she had passed away!


    Beside the Empress Dowager''s corpse, a white glow emerged and transformed into a white-coloured fox. The fox turned back and look, its eyes were filled with emotions. Suddenly, a flash of lightning struck through the palace hall. The white fox immediately collapsed onto the floor, its fur was burnt and it had evidently died.


    "Ahhhh!!!"


    The young emperor''s eyes turned white and fainted.


    ...


    Fifth Month, 9th year of Yong An.


    Xu Ting led his troops and surrounded the capital. On the second day, hundreds of officials in the capital urged the emperor to surrender!


    It was a new page in the official historical records. As for other bizarre events, it was only detailed in non-official records of history, it was barely mentioned in the official historical records.


    In the Sixth Month, Xu Ren moved his imperial court to the capital to prepare for the abdication.


    In the Seventh Month, due to uncertain causes, Xu Ren suddenly fell very ill. Three days later, he passed away. Xu Ting then succeeded the position of king. In the Twelfth Month, the young emperor was forced to abdicate. Xu Ting succeeded the throne and formed the Wu Country. He honoured the late Xu Ren as the founding father of the empire and rewarded his officials and generals. He continued to bolster his troops in preparation to conquer the northern part of Da Chu and thus, defeat the last military occupied town of Da Chu. Hence, he would rule the entire Da Chu and step closer to ruling the world.


    [1] This "Zhang Han'' is a different person from the one who appeared in Chapter 288.

 318 Fall Ou

    The Year of Hong Wu.


    The previous capital city of Da Chu had now been renamed to Wu Xing.


    Although they had a lot of rebuilding to do, the city was after all a royal capital. With their new Emperor, the lively atmosphere was restored and more and more people came to the city and roamed the streets.


    In the royal palace.


    The original young Emperor was casually given an appointment of a lord and could no longer remain in the palace. He was relocated to a specific holding in the palace and would spend the rest of his life there.


    In the royal garden, Li Luan stared at a plum blossom quietly.


    With the accession of Xu Ting, Li Luan was given the title of a spiritual concubine. She was ranked after the Queen and the Royal Concubine, but her servants were comparable to those serving the Royal Concubine. Therefore, the treatment which she received was still rather good.


    What shocked her was the fact that Xu Ting had become a completely different man after the passing of his father, Xu Ren.


    Although he was still courageous and brave, he became increasingly unpredictable.


    "Lady!"


    A eunuch rushed towards her in baby steps. "Previously, the Emperor had agreed to accompany you to enjoy the plum blossoms, but now that he is in a bad mood, he will not be coming!"


    "I''ll respect that decision!"


    Li Luan bowed before signalling to a servant. The servant brought over a piece of gold ingot.


    Such a heavy ingot made the eunuch grin from ear to ear.


    In such a big palace, everyone had to fight for their own survival and to survive, they had to earn gold or silver.


    Although Li Luan felt sorrowful inside, she did not display her emotions. "What is affecting the Emperor''s mood?"


    The eunuch thought for a while. After all, it was no secret. Without further hesitation, he answered. "I did not get the full story, but it seems like the messenger who was sent to convince the Xinfeng Army to surrender has returned..."


    "Baili Xuandu only has 6 prefectures under him. How dare he go against us, with more than half of the country in our possession?"


    Li Luan was shocked but did not probe further; the eunuch could not possibly know more.


    "There''s nothing else!"


    After dismissing the eunuch, there was a look of worry on Li Luan''s face.


    Indeed, not long after, more news came in.


    The military governor of the Xinfeng Army, Baili Xuandu, had rejected the offer to surrender. Instead, he had directly contacted the stronger districts in Qi Country and Liang Country [1] with the intention to borrow their troops!


    Of course, this had angered Xu Ting. He had decided to muster is 10,000 soldiers to settle this once and for all!


    This would be the final war for Wu Country!


    "Although there is chaos in Qi Country and Liang Country, if they were to unite with the Xinfeng Army, they would be a force to be reckoned with... I should advise the Emperor!"


    Li Luan had a solemn look on her face as she mumbled to herself.


    However, Xu Ting was the reason why the other countries could possibly unite!


    He had enlisted in his small prefecture when he was 10. But now, he was only in his 20s and yet, he had already managed to establish Wu Country! No one in history could match up to his achievements!


    If they did not combine forces, this person would take over the entire world!


    With this common objective, they were easily swayed by Baili Xuandu''s words. In addition, they might have been affected by demons casting spells on them.


    Thinking about demons, Li Luan appeared down.


    Although she was the concubine of the Emperor, there were many restrictions and therefore, she felt more restrained than she was before. She could only dream of looking for the two dragon gods to discuss their plans.


    "In history, demons only appear when the country is weakened! Now, Wu Country is prospering with the auspicious vibes. With the assistance from the powerful daoists from Xuan Zhen Sect, there are restrictions everywhere in the royal palace. All dao techniques are banned and I am not even allowed to send a letter. The dragon gods would naturally not risk their lives to come here..."


    Deep in her thoughts, Li Luan took out a squarish napkin and wrote a few lines of words before handing it over to a servant. "Leave the palace and throw this in any river will do!"


    "Yes Ma''am!"


    The servant respectfully took her leave. Looking at her back view, Li Luan felt uneasy.


    ...


    In the royal study.


    Xu Ting now had a moustache and an awe-inspiring look. He looked different than he was before.


    At this point in time, in the study, there were a few other daoist talking. "... Therefore, the uprising of the humans is just merely part of the heavenly trend. Emperor, by following the heavenly trend, you can start a new empire!"


    "Are the demons really experiencing a downfall?"


    Xu Ting was hesitant.


    After all, he could only achieve all that he had through the help of demons. This explained his hesitation and scepticism.


    Seeing this, the head of Xuan Zhen Sect continued. "Daoist are still human. We are still passionate and loyal. However, we must always be on guard against the cunning schemes of the demons..."


    Although the demons had invested fate energy on Xu Ting, the increasingly concentrated people dao''s dragon energy had become more prominent. Together with the energy from Emperor Sun, Xu Ting was confident.


    Now, he wanted to end the source of all his power!


    "Let me think about it..."


    Xu Ting was still indecisive.


    The head of Xuan Zhen Sect saw this, and his eyes glistened.


    He only approached the Emperor because he had the confidence to convince him and the fact that the Divine Predictor Elder had planned everything out for him.


    "Emperor!"


    At this point in time, a guard requested to see the Emperor as he presented a squarish napkin.


    Seeing it, Xu Ting''s face was filled with anger. "What audacity! How dare she spy on our secrets and help the outsiders! Dragon gods indeed, demons indeed!"


    The sect head of Xuan Zhen Sect could not help but laugh inside.


    He knew that the spiritual concubine might not have any ulterior motives for delivering the letter, but even so, it was a fact that she was communicating and colluding with outsiders!


    Furthermore, she was communicating with a dragon god! This was even more severe.


    After all, the previous country, Da Chu, was a prime example of how things could go wrong.


    "Pass down my command..."


    Xu Ting paced. After a while, he calmly gave his command. "By infringing the rules of the palace, the spiritual concubine will now be demoted to become a servant. Relocate her to Chunnuan Court so that she can reflect on her wrongdoings!"


    This was, in fact, throwing her into isolation.


    The sect head of Xuan Zhen Sect was secretly elated upon hearing this news.


    "Also... Instruct those that are constructing dragon temples across the prefecture to stop their construction. Xuan Zhen, you shall be the messenger. I want the Qi Lake Dragon God and the Golden Court Dragon God to start eradicating all the evil gods and demons!"


    Through advice from the daoist, Xu Ting now knew that in order to deal with the gods, he had to first curb the faith towards these gods.


    Furthermore, as Emperor, he had the protection of Emperor energy and it would be extremely hard to harm him. Therefore, he had nothing to fear.


    "Yes... Yes, Emperor!"


    Xuan Zhen [2] kneeled down and was overjoyed.


    In his consciousness, he could see the silhouette of Kong Luo flashing by.


    This daoist was already submissive. He could take the Green Qiu Sword back after forcing the dragon gods into submission.


    ...


    The Fourth Month of the Year of Hong Wu.


    Xu Ting had mustered his 10,000-strong troop and was advancing towards Xinfeng Army.


    Baili Xuandu could only hastily defend. Even if he were to receive aid from Qi Country and Liang Country, his mental instability would mean that he could not mount a proper defence. At most, he could only gather 50,000 to defend with all their might.


    At the same time, the sect head of Xuan Zhen Sect had led a group of elite elders and had arrived at Qi Lake.


    "We must take revenge for our late elders!"


    As the few elder daoists gathered, their eyes burned with rage as they glared at the imperial decree on Xuan Zhen''s hands.


    The decree was 3 inches long and 1 inch wide. It was a pure yellow and there were dragon engravings on the scroll of the decree. Around there dragons were decorative clouds, giving the decree a majestic vibe from a dragon.


    "We are tasked by the Emperor to do this and therefore will be strengthened by the blessings of the Imperial Court. The soldiers of the Qi Lake are severely injured from the previous battle, so this is our chance!"


    Divine Predictor Elder stroked his beard. "I have already shielded us from the detection of the two dragon gods. This is the time to strike!"


    "Alright! Let us reduce him to ashes!"


    The few elders exchanged glances with a look of hatred on their faces.


    "Reduce them to ashes? That''s too good of a deal for them. We need to make them agree to become our servants for the next thousand years to come before we shall kill them to eat and make use of..."


    "Let''s go!"


    The few daoists transformed into streaks of light and disappeared from the surface of the lake.


    ...


    Fang Yuan could not detect anything.


    At this point in time, he was looking at the big turtle ahead of him and was speechless. "Even though my water soldiers are dead, I am still the Qi Lake Dragon God, an official one nonetheless... How dare you guys go against me?"


    There were numerous living things in Qi Lake and there were about 20,000 of them worthy to be regarded as demons!


    Among the 20,000, half of them were working in the dragon palace. The other half were lone demons who would not submit to the dragon god.


    Seeing that the dragon god''s water soldiers were wiped out, these lone demons came out to cause trouble and were vying for the position of water god as well!


    Seeing this, Fang Yuan was speechless but secretly, he was ecstatic.


    This was the perfect excuse for him to wipe out those who were unwilling to submit to him!


    There were too many demons in Qi Lake. Even if he were to kill 8,000 of them, there would be 10,000 remaining. Therefore, he could afford to go on a killing spree. At least, he would have to kill the leader of the rebellious group of demons.


    "You... the heavens are blind!"


    The turtle retracted its head and 4 limbs as a voice travelled from the shell. "As the dragon god, why are you helping the humans and sacrificing 8,000 of our demons on the battlefield? Do you think you are worthy of the position?"


    "Keke... Is this the reason for your rebellion?"


    Fang Yuan appeared calm as the Sundering Thunder Sword appeared in his hands. "Will you ever understand the reasons behind my actions?"


    The battle at the capital city resulted in 20,000 water dwellers being killed. However, amidst all the bloodshed, he had gained huge amounts of karma.


    With recognition from the heavens, he could undoubtedly continue to be the dragon god!


    The rebellion of the water dwellers only gave him a reason to continue his killing of evil demons.


    As soon as he swung his sword out, a streak of lightning struck through the shell. There was a shriek coming from inside the shell and a flash which disappeared immediately.


    "To think about it, all of these is enough..."


    After killing them, Fang Yuan looked at the glow above him and smiled. However, his expression quickly changed. "However... It is worrying as to what is happening to Xu Ting!"


    He had progressed too quickly. He should have experienced another setback, but that has yet to actualise. This must be due to the fact that he had the protection of the dragon energy!


    To those who invest fate energy in him, it was a depressing thing.


    "Does he really think that the whole world is his just because he is an emperor of a mere country?"


    Fang Yuan snickered. "I need to let you experience retribution so that you''ll understand my power!"


    As his spiritual will shook, he became a streak of light and arrived at the lakeside.


    A few daoists were standing in a group with scheming looks on their faces. One of them suddenly raised the imperial decree towards the sky and shouted. "This is the command of the Emperor. Qi Lake Dragon God, kneel down before the decree!"


    As soon as he spoke, all of them could feel a huge pressure and an unbelievable might.


    This was the power of dragon energy, harnessed from half of the entire territory of Da Chu and the citizens living in it!


    [1]: Qi Country and Liang Country were previously mentioned as Da Qi and Da Liang.


    [2]: Xuan Zhen is the sect head of Xuan Zhen Sect

 319 Retribution

    "The emperor decrees, "As the emperor, all lands are mine and everyone is under me! As spirits, you should respect the dragon energy! Hence, I specially command both of you, Qi Lake Dragon God and Golden Court Dragon God, to immediately assist Xuan Zhen Sect to banish the evil gods'' temples!"


    The head of Xuan Zhen Sect looked at Fang Yuan and read the imperial decree out loud. He raised the decree and smirked at Fang Yuan, "So how... are you going to oppose the decree?"


    "He thinks I am a tool? He wants me to clear the evil gods and the demons but doesn''t provide any returns for me? Furthermore, he wants me to submit under Xuan Zhen Sect, does he thinks I am a fool?" Fang Yuan thought.


    Fang Yuan could not contain his laughter after hearing such and guffawed out loud.


    "How dare you disobey the imperial decree! Die!"


    Xuan Zhen and his daoists immediately hollered.


    "Roar!"


    The roar of a dragon could be vaguely heard. Streaks of green and violet energy gathered in the imperial decree and formed the shape of a golden green dragon. Its might was daunting.


    It was the people dao true dragon energy, it could overpower all kinds of power!


    Such an energy even made Fang Yuan''s god dao divine light dimmed a little.


    "Cast arrays!"


    Xuan Zhen and his daoists were allowed to cast their arrays as the ban was lifted. Their power was uninhibited and they formed an array surrounding Fang Yuan, trapping him inside.


    "Humans will rise as per the heavenly trend while demons will fall! Demon, you shall be suppressed!"


    The elderly daoist was very solemn. He then loudly chanted, "The 33rd head of Xuan Zhen Sect invites the fate energy of our rare treasures and ancestors to assist!"


    "Woong, woooong!"


    After a flash of black light, a small stone pagoda appeared on his right palm.


    The pagoda had seven layers, it was carved from black stones and delicately designed. Each side of the pagoda shined mysteriously and was inscribed with runes. It could suppress fate energy!


    "Demon Suppressing Pagoda?"


    Fang Yuan drooped his eyelids, "You all have even brought out this item! Aren''t you all afraid your sect''s foundation will be damaged and your sect will then perish?"


    That item was Xuan Zhen Sect''s secret weapon, it was a rare treasure that could suppress fate energy!


    The moment they brought out this item, it meant that they were willing to use their all for Fang Yuan to die.


    "We are boosted by the dragon energy and the Demon Suppressing Pagoda, which are also complemented by the 4 Emblems Spirit Locking Array! Whereas, you have gone against the orders and lost your crustacean army, you have no chance of defeating us!"


    The Divine Predictor Elder sneered, "Isolate! Seal off! Start!"


    Xuan Zhen immediately threw the Demon Suppressing Pagoda.


    The Demon Suppressing Pagoda magnified when it reached the peak of the array. It radiated brightly from all sides, streaks of light formed into chains and entered the array as it went for Fang Yuan.


    "Oh!"


    Fang Yuan''s body quivered for a moment. Inside the array, he felt his energy from Qi Lake was isolated away.


    The dragon energy suppressed his divine position, the Demon Suppressing Pagoda targeted its body, while the 4 Emblems Spirit Locking Array sealed off his heavenly energy and energy from Qi Lake!


    "Should I inflict retribution?"


    Fang Yuan mumbled to himself; he had a greater understanding of fate energy.


    People dao were strong on their own and self-reliant, whatever Fang Yuan did previously was a form of support! However, once he crossed a threshold, he would immediately be attacked!


    Of course, such a predicament was also due to Xu Ting''s character and Xuan Zhen Sect''s influence. However, these were already trifle reasons.


    Nevertheless, as he kept to the baseline and planned beforehand, he would not suffer great losses! He might even survive!


    "But... how can I make this the way I want it to be!" Fang Yuan thought.


    With such a thought, his gaze turned piercingly cold, "I will not use this opportunity to save my life, I will fully use it to inflict retribution! Anyway, my main reason for coming to this realm this time was to reap as much as I can, why should I care about what happens afterwards!"


    "Quickly!"


    Although the Divine Predictor Elder and the head of Xuan Zhen Sect did not know what the Dragon God was thinking of, they felt uneasy and hollered to hurry up.


    "Haha... it''s too late!"


    Fang Yuan''s eyes burnt like fire and green energy from his head formed into a beam of clear light, causing the array to falter as the beam seeped out. He sent a command through it, "Fate energy, return! Quick!"


    "Kaboom!"


    Suddenly, the sky darkened. Lightning flashed and thunder roared!


    ...


    Xinfeng Prefecture.


    Xinfeng Prefecture was Baili Xuandu''s hometown. At that moment, Xu Ting''s 10,000-strong army stormed into the prefecture. Numerous district towns surrendered before the battle even started, their power was fearsome.


    Inside a tent at the military camp.


    "Your Majesty, two more districts have surrendered to us!"


    "Your Majesty, numerous generals in Xinfeng Army have secretly contacted me! They are willing to surrender!


    ...


    Good news kept coming up continuously, however, that was normal as Wu Country held the biggest power.


    As Baili Xuan still stubbornly held on to six remote prefectures, he slowly lost his followers.


    "Great! With this two prefectures conquered, the capital of Xinfeng Prefecture would be a piece of cake!"


    Xu Ting was overjoyed.


    The capital was Baili Xuandu''s nucleus area, the moment it was conquered, Baili Xuandu would have no chance of rising back to power.


    "Pass down my command... reward the whole army with meat! With the soldiers full, our strength is even greater and we will annihilate Xinfeng army!"


    "Very wise, your Majesty!"


    The officials below greatly respected Xu Ting and were elated, they worshipped him at once.


    "Kill them!"


    Suddenly, the trotting noise of a horse and shouts could be heard from the northwestern side of the military camp.


    "Reporting!"


    One of the bodyguards quickly reported, "2,000 cavalry soldiers were spotted 3 miles outside the military camp! They seem to be charging towards us!"


    "2,000 cavalry soldiers? That''s almost Baili Xuandu''s entire strength!"


    The officials were astonished. However, Xu Ting remained still and commanded, "This Baili Xuandu loves to employ sly tricks, however¡­.. the good always triumphs over the evil! Send down my command, each battalion stay at where they are and prepare for battle! Anyone who steps out of the military camp will be killed, regardless if he is a general or a soldier!"


    "Also, disarm and detain all the newly surrendered soldiers, in case they were pretending to surrender!"


    "Yes, your Majesty!"


    After Xu Ting''s commands were relayed, the whole military camp became quiet. Some of the battalions that had some commotion calmed down at once.


    "Very wise, your Majesty!"


    Some of the generals were very convinced and immediately went out to deploy the defences.


    Such an attack was meant to confuse the unprepared troops. However, now that the 10,000 men strong army was not reacting, the 2,000 men strong cavalry could at most attack a few tents before their whole cavalry would be annihilated. Unless another few tens of thousands of cavalry soldiers came over, there stood no chance of defeating this securely defended military camp. They were basically courting death.


    To Xu Ting, Baili Xuandu was his wit''s end, it was his desperate last attempt.


    "Your Highness, look..."


    On a hill outside the military camp, the Divine Demon Queen looked at the scene with a few of her foxes.


    After the camp was on guard, they saw the 2,000 men strong cavalry let out a roar and charged forward fearlessly instead of retreating.


    "Baili Xuandu had already lost his dragon energy, this is his last attempt! If it doesn''t succeed, he will die for his cause!"


    The Divine Demon Queen''s face turned grim and said, "I will cast an array and use the 10,000 Demon Blood Sacrifice to obtain the help!"


    "Your Highness!"


    The demons were absolutely dismayed.


    The 10,000 Demon Blood Sacrifice spell was a taboo amongst demons, it could not be frivolously used. The user would definitely suffer from severe rebound and retribution, with the Divine Demon Queen''s current health, she would definitely die!


    "I am not doing it to help the humans, but for the demons!"


    The Divine Demon Queen sighed and continued, "Us demons are experiencing a downfall; I am finally clear of the heavenly trend. The rise of humans cannot be stopped, whatever we have done merely added fuel to the fire... the heavens makes a fool out of demons!"


    As she lectured, her expression turned even more sorrowful, "But, I rather suffer beyond redemption than let the humans have an easy life... This Xu Ting has one of the strongest dragon energy amongst the humans, if he is defeated, the chaos would continue at least ten years. This will give enough time for us demons to survive and relocate far away! I have already decided, say no more!"


    "Your Highness!"


    Numerous demons wailed bitterly.


    The Divine Demon Queen''s face was expressionless, she cast an array and sprinkled some of her vital blood on it.


    "I have already collected the resentment of 10,000 demons from Chu Country''s capital, now I just need a lead... which is me! After this battle, whether victory or defeat, you all shall quickly retreat. Bring the young ones and escape to a faraway land..."


    She sighed and stepped into the array.


    Flaming!


    Immediately, blood red flames mixed with horrifying streaks of black vapour soared and engulfed the Divine Demon Queen.


    Under the cries of the many demons, a blood red beam of light shot up the sky.


    In an instant, dark clouds loomed and a raging tempest brewed.


    "Huuuuuuu! Hruuuuuuuu!"


    The strong gale howled and swept along sands and stones. The wind was blowing from the northwest and brought along numerous dark clouds which covered the entire sky.


    Baili Xuandu was immediately delighted, "Heaven is helping me! Charge!"


    "Kill them all!"


    2,000 cavalry soldiers charged into the military camp with a strong might and a massacre erupted. Whereas the opposing Wu army was blinded by the sandstorm and panic-stricken, they immediately fell apart!


    "Demonic Wind! Demonic Wind!"


    Inside the main tent, Xu Ting''s face turned red and spat out blood as he saw the tempest.


    After he spat out that mouthful of blood, his heart felt empty at once. It was as though he had lost something of extreme importance.


    "Reporting! Baili Xuandu''s army is aided by the raging tempest, our troops are in chaos!"


    "Reporting! The northern camp is falling, they seem to be calling for help! They are charging towards our main body of soldiers, General An Jie is currently trying to suppress them!"


    "Your Majesty..."


    One of his bodyguards came forward and asked, "Should the generals accompany your Majesty to retreat?"


    "No way!''


    Xu Ting clenched his teeth, "I am the heart of this army, I will never retreat! We will be defeated once I retreat! Send down my command, it is still the same, each battalion stays at where they are! Concentrate on fighting the opponents!"


    He thought clearly, even if they had the help of the Demonic Wind, his troops would at most be confounded for at most a while. Afterwards, they would be back to their usual form and be able to defeat the cavalry.


    However, Xu Ting had not realised, at the corner of the tent, Kong Luo kept his head down and was in an emotional turmoil. It seemed that he had activated a certain talisman.


    "I am not close to Xu Ting, once Xuan Zhen Sect returns to power, I will definitely be killed! Although I am not close to him anymore, he still puts me at his side, he is testing my loyalty! Now, let''s see what Baili Xuandu can do!" Kong Luo thought.


    Kong Luo wiped his face with his sleeve, and it was as though his eyes burnt with fire.


    "Kill!"


    Suddenly, the shouts came closer and closer. It was as though the enemies had eyes that could see through, they were charging directly to the emperor''s tent!


    "Impossible... how could they be so accurate?"


    Xu Ting walked out of his tent. When he saw the shadows of the cavalry and the flames, he almost fell to the ground.


    Inside the military camp, all the tents were similar and it was like a maze. How could they easily recognise which tent Xu Ting was in?


    However, the enemies had accomplished such! His stubbornness to leave was now a joke!!!

 320 The Escape

    The 2,000 elite soldiers troop went straight for his tent with the aid of the raging tempest.


    If Fang Yuan was here, he would surely comment. "This is like the Battle of Okehazama in Japan!"


    In the period of war in Japan, the Tokaidos'' warrior Imagawa Yoshimoto led 45,000 soldiers to invade the Owari Province. The leader of Owari Province, Oda Nobunaga, only had 4,000 troops and was dealing with internal conflicts when the invasion began.


    At that time, Oda Nobunaga led his elite forces to the Battle of Okehazama and with the help of a storm, they managed to take Imagawa Yoshimoto''s head amidst the chaos. From then on, the ruler of Tokaido, Imagawa Yoshimoto, disappeared from the face of the earth, giving Oda Nobunaga his reputation!


    In all of these, the most important event was taking the enemy leader''s head!


    Comparing with history, they had similar elite troops, similar aid from nature and similarly, everything laid on Xu Ting.


    In the Battle of Okehazama, if Imagawa Yoshimoto did not die, then Oda Nobunaga would have worsened the situation.


    It was the same now!


    If Xu Ting could survive this counterattack, disregarding Wu Country''s reserved army, he could simply make use of his 10,000-strong army here to wipe out Baili Xuandu and company!


    "Emperor, quickly leave!"


    His personal guard, Xu Jian, shouted with haste. "I''ll block them!"


    The remaining few guards ran out. However, in a short while, their cries could be heard. After a few slices, their body parts flew everywhere.


    Witnessing what just happened, Xu Ting was at a loss.


    Xu Jian was part of the Xu Family. He was always loyal and would willingly sacrifice himself to protect Xu Ting over the years. He had survived many wars and he thought that he would be enjoying his life after this final war. No one knew that he would die here.


    "Kill!"


    Seeing that the Emperor of Wu was here, all the cavalry units were dumbfounded. Baili Xuandu led his soldiers to break through the defence and surrounded the tent. "Xu Ting... It''s been a long time!"


    "You''re right... It''s been a long time!"


    Seeing his ministers and servants getting killed one by one, Xu Ting finally snapped out of his trance. "Who would''ve thought... that you would be the one to kill me!"


    Even Emperors were still human and vulnerable!


    Even though he might have 10,000 soldiers outside, they would not be able to save him in time!


    Xu Ting looked around. He then saw Kong Luo getting up to his feet and killing a few daoists from Xuan Zhen Sect. Although He sort of understood Kong Luo''s actions, he was in no position to say anything.


    He could only sigh. "Who would''ve known that I, Xu Ting, would die here!!"


    As he saw the armoured guards walking towards him, he broke into laughter. "I am the Emperor! How could I die under your hands, you useless people!"


    In that instant, he plucked out his Purple Suo Sword and sliced his neck!"


    "Splatter!"


    Blood spurted out from his neck as he fell to the ground. His body twitched a little and finally, he was put to an eternal rest.


    "Rumble!"


    As a purple streak of lightning flashed across, thunder crackled in the skies and a storm started to brew...


    ...


    Qi Lake.


    Amidst the thunder, a dragon''s roar could be heard coming from the North. Streaks of green and purple formed the shape of a dragon which rushed towards the 4 Emblems Spirit Locking Array.


    "Is this... dragon energy?"


    As the Divine Predictor Elder screamed, the Demon Suppressing Pagoda shook and started to crumble.


    A few old daoists started to spit out mouthfuls of blood. Looking at the Qi Lake Dragon God within, they were shocked.


    ''Who could know... the retribution would be so intense to the point that Xu Ting has died?''


    Fang Yuan caught wind of the news too and was shocked. "Ah, there''s intervention from demons!"


    If demons did not intervene, Xu Ting would at most suffer a defeat and could likely preserve his life. However, now that the demons did interfere, there was no way he could live!


    "To me, this is disadvantageous!"


    Fang Yuan let out a bitter laugh.


    He could still deal with it using his heavenly karma if he only weakened Xu Ting''s fate energy.


    However, although unintentional, he had led to the destruction of the people dao''s dragon energy. Even if he used up all his karma, he would not be able to redeem himself.


    "This evil demon... what did you do?"


    Seeing the dragon energy circling Fang Yuan as streaks of lightning ripped across the sky, the head of Xuan Zhen Sect started to shiver in fear and almost spat out blood.


    "This is not good... The dragon energy of Emperor Wu is destroyed. Although we are not the ones who caused it, we are still linked to it. The fate energy of our sect will be affected as well, and we might need to undergo a tribulation!"


    As he attempted to predict the future, Divine Predictor Elder spat out a mouthful of black blood.


    The head of Xuan Zhen Sect started to feel dizzy.


    He had just gone all out to use the treasures of his sect to subdue Fang Yuan, but now, everything had gone to waste! And, in fact, they had to undergo a tribulation!


    Did all of these happen just because they wanted to pressurize this dragon god? Everything felt unreal.


    At this point in time, there were changes happening to Fang Yuan''s body.


    "This concentrated dragon energy is extremely pure... Regardless, after reaping the dragon energy from Xu Ting, I''d have gotten more than I can ask for..."


    Fang Yuan''s thoughts wandered as he thought of other things.


    "Now, I can either try to spend all that I have gained to reduce my sins and I might even escape alive from the heavenly tribulation, but what for?"


    He broke into laughter as he transformed into his horned dragon form. As he opened his mouth, he swallowed the purple-coloured dragon energy.


    This dragon energy was the result of condensing fate energy of the people dao. However, in reality, it was a form of energy in the realm.


    With the assistance of the dragon energy, his horned dragon body started to expand with unsightly bulges appearing on his body. With an explosion, 4 dragon claws with 3 talons each appeared!


    A horned dragon was the younger version of a dragon with no claws and a single horn on its head.


    However, now that 4 claws had emerged, Fang Yuan had successfully transformed from a horned dragon to a water dragon!


    The 8th Transformation of the 9 Steps of Dragon Transformation Formula! The Water Dragon Transformation!


    "Why should I be afraid to stack up my sins in this realm? I shall reap a whole lot before leaving and end everything!"


    The water dragon was green with hints of gold. As it roared, it flew up into the sky and came before the head of Xuan Zhen Sect. Swiping its claws, it shouted. "Die!"


    This was a real dragon''s claw. With the power of the dragon energy, he could overpower all kinds of power. This was in addition to his original powers.


    No matter how powerful the head of Xuan Zhen Sevt was, he could only place all his faith in the Demon Suppressing Pagoda.


    "Buzz! Buzz!"


    The small black pagoda on his head started to move and released a glow of protection around it. As the dragon roared, the protection shattered like glass breaking.


    "Crash!"


    Without reservation, the dragon claw swiped at the forehead of the head of Xuan Zhen Sect. The huge power of the dragon struck at that single moment, destroying the soul of the sect head!


    "Sect Head?"


    Two elders rushed forward. With the flick of his dragon claws, the sword essence of the Water Sword and Fire Sword appeared, transforming them into a block of ice and a pillar of fire.


    "Where do you think you''re going?"


    There were sparks of electricity around his body as he came before the Divine Predictor Elder.


    "Evil demon!"


    The Divine Predictor Elder shouted. "I will perish with you!"


    With a flash appearing on his hand, he had created a few magical talismans which were shimmering as though they were about to explode.


    "Whoosh!"


    Fang Yuan was quicker than him. With the Thunder Sword flying out, a single lunge through his forehead was all it took to end it all.


    "After attaining the Water Dragon Transformation and with my 8 Gates Sword Array, I only have a few worthy threats in this realm and can be considered a divine demon!"


    After his killing spree, Fang Yuan started to become worried as he looked at his own stats window:


    "Name: Fang Yuan


    Race: Water Dragon


    Essence: 42


    Spirit: 42


    Magic: 50


    Profession: ???


    Cultivation: ???


    Technique: [9 Steps of Dragon Transformation Formula (8th Transformation)], [Weather Controlling Technique (Grade 2)], [Natural Magical Strength (Grade 4)], [8 Gates Sword Array (4th Sword) (1%)]


    Skill: [Medicine (Level 3)], [Botany (Level 5)]"


    Amidst the destruction, the vibes of a tribulation were felt as it filled the air. "Looking at all the sins I have committed, it seems like I won''t be able to redeem myself even after killing the sect head! I''m afraid I have to escape!"


    Of course, Xuan Zhen Sect''s involvement in Xu Ting''s death was minimal and yet, they had suffered such a destructive ending. Fang Yuan, the cause of everything, would surely experience something more intense.


    As he was killing the daoists, many huge scales appeared, covering the sky. Although the tribulation was imminent, it could not strike at this moment.


    Fang Yuan''s hair stood on its ends.


    After committing such a sin and not using his karma to redeem himself, he would surely experience a tribulation.


    Dark clouds started to gather in the skies. This was due to the fact that he had just attained a breakthrough in his transformation and it was the heavens merely responding to it to destroy his spirit.


    "Of course... I am stronger than the Xuan Zhen Sect. They cannot run and escape, but I can!"


    He had planned to retrieve the dragon energy back to reap the rewards for it. As for the outcome? He had long planned for it.


    As thunder crackled in the skies above him, he laughed and drew a circle with his hands. Not long after, a tunnel seemed to have appeared.


    "If I leave now, it would be such a waste to let my dragon''s body be destroyed!"


    The Yin Spirit of the water dragon appeared as he snapped his fingers.


    A streak of fire landed on the body of the water dragon and flames broke out. A golden-green imperial order and a water dragon pearl appeared. This was the essence of a water dragon.


    "I cannot remove other imperial orders and other dragon pearls from this world... However, these two objects are strongly related to me... I can attempt to bring them with me!"


    As the space in mid-air started to distort, an invisible tunnel appeared.


    Thinking about it, Fang Yuan placed his people dao karma atop the imperial order and the water dragon pearl, forming a golden portal.


    The water dragon pearl was translucent and it was as though there was a small golden-green dragon within it. It was awe-inspiring and with a single touch, it quickly flew into the portal.


    "Rumble!"


    As the earth trembled, a streak of purple lightning struck down!


    "The heavens are enraged!"


    The dragon pearl could smoothly enter the portal, but the imperial order was met with resistance.


    After all, it was created by this realm and therefore, it could not simply leave the realm.


    "That''s alright!"


    Fang Yuan''s Yin Spirit stretched out his hands and grabbed the imperial order. With a swing, it flew into the sky.


    "Kaboom!"


    A golden-green screen appeared as it deflected the lightning strikes from the skies.


    "Crackle!"


    As the streak of lightning struck on the screen, there was only a small crack; the whole screen was still intact.


    "This is indeed the power of an imperial order! It seems like it can withstand 2 to 3 more strikes!"


    With a sigh, Fang Yuan hesitated no more as he stepped into the golden portal.


    "Buzz!"


    With a glow, the golden portal disappeared.


    "Rumble!"


    In the next moment, streaks of lightning rained down, destroying the screen created by the imperial order effortlessly.


    Furthermore, there was a mysterious vibration spreading across the realm and towards the direction which Fang Yuan had left.


    ...


    Da Qian Empire.


    Within a cave in the Changli Mountain Hollow.


    "Crumble!"


    Shattered rocks started to fly about. Fang Yuan looked up into the sky and squinted his eyes.


    "Indeed... the seal has yet to be broken. I''ve guessed correctly!"


    He had been very fortunate in his journey in the Water Realm. He had reaped a lot from the realm even when encountering a tribulation.


    Of course, the most important was the fact that after spending 10 over years in the Water Realm, only a few days passed in Da Qian Empire. He could still make it!


    "They want to sacrifice us and explore the Changli Mountain Hollow for themselves!"


    Fang Yuan snickered. "I''ll make sure you fail!"


    His expression changed as he felt dizziness in his Yin Spirit. "I did not expect such a backlash from the Water Realm... Indeed, by reaping all these energies from these realms, I would either make it or break it!"

 321 The Beginning

    There was a thick layer of fog surrounding the dense vegetation.


    Although it was a hollow, it was no different from the outside world.


    Seeing the environment around him, Fang Yuan was a little stunned. He went on to pluck a few wild mushrooms, lighted a bonfire and started to roast them. The mushrooms gave off a mouth-watering fragrance.


    As he ate the mushrooms, he entered his actualised dream world.


    The 8 Gates Sword Array was standing tall and protecting the actualised dream world. 3 swords were already formed, and the 3 swords were arranged in the 3 Talents Sword Array. The actualised dream world had grown in size once more.


    Of course, all of these were expected. What had pleased him the most was the green radiance in the middle of the 8 Gates Sword Array, as well as the water dragon pearl.


    "This green radiance is the energy of the realm. It is the accumulated heavenly karma which I had obtained from the Water Realm... And the water dragon pearl contains all the dragon essence within it... Most importantly, my previous water dragon body had already fully absorbed the previous dragon pearl which I had stolen from the old Qi Lake Water God. This water dragon pearl is concentrated with dragon properties, so much so that it might even be considered a legitimate dragon pearl!"


    Looking at the sealed green radiance in the center, Fang Yuan was extremely satisfied. "With this, I am only a step away from forming the Modest Wind Sword and achieving the 4th Tier of Illusionary Divine!"


    This risk of being destroyed by the heavenly tribulation and the hasty progress which he made in the Water Realm had paid off!


    "What a pity... If all of that did not happen, I could slowly plan and might reap even more benefits if I were to become successful in supporting a true dragon to rule the world..."


    With this thought, Fang Yuan became slightly depressed.


    As he waved his sleeves, the green radiance started to dissipate as the 8 Gates Sword Array started to absorb its energy. Immediately, a green and long sword started to form.


    In his stats window, the progress of his 4th Sword started to increase! From 2%, it jumped to 10%! Then to 20%! To 50%! And finally, to 99%!


    As soon as he reached this point, he quickly stopped.


    It was not because he had not enough energy from the green radiance. He knew that if he were to achieve the breakthrough, he would attain the 4th Tier of the Illusionary Divine stage and awaken the spiritual property of the magical soldiers. If that happened, the mysterious dream elemental force in his body might act up against him, which was something unfavourable to him.


    Furthermore, if he were to progress so quickly, he would arouse suspicion. It was better to lay low.


    "Seal!"


    With a single thought, the four types of forces, namely Wind, Thunder, Water and Fire came together... In that instant, the green radiance was once again sealed in the centre of the 8 Gates Sword Array.


    "It might be a good idea to remain at this cultivation level and having the freedom to achieve the breakthrough anytime!"


    Fang Yuan nodded his head in satisfaction and took a quick glance at this stats window:


    "Name: Fang Yuan


    Essence: 42


    Spirit: 42


    Magic: 59


    Profession: Dream Soldier Master


    Cultivation: Illusionary Divine (3rd Tier), Wu Zong (4th Meridian)


    Technique: [Giant Eagle Metal Body Technique (Grade 5) (1%)], [Hundred Poison Golden Body (1st Refining)], [8 Gates Sword Array (4th Sword) (99%)]


    Skill: [Medicine (Level 3)], [Botany (Level 5)]"


    "Since the stats window can retain my original cultivation level, my current Essence and Spirit have matched up to the level which I had attained while I was a water dragon. The increment in Magic, on the other hand, is due to the progress in forming the 4th Sword..."


    "With such stats, I am already at the peak of the 3rd Tier of Illusionary Divine! Even Feng Xinzi is only at this stage... Furthermore, this is the highest cultivation I can attain in which the hollows would still grant me entry!"


    In the cave, Fang Yuan ate his roasted mushrooms as he felt a little bored. "Am I just... waiting for things to happen?"


    Looking at his stats window, he was lost in his thought. "Hmm... I might be able to make use of this time to train my martial arts!"


    As long as his progress bar was there, he could continually train up to improve his martial arts cultivation level. Therefore, he could make full use of his time while waiting.


    ...


    Time was like flowing water. In the blink of an eye, a month had passed.


    In the forest, Fang Yuan regulated his breathing while meditating. With every breath, the 4 spiritual meridians on his back would glow and become more and more defined. Additionally, another meridian was vaguely visible and appeared illusionary.


    "Even in martial arts, I would experience a slower progress the higher my cultivation becomes!"


    After a long while, Fang Yuan concluded his training. Seeing the small increment in his experience bar, he let out a sigh.


    However, after seeing Venerable Longhu and understanding the power of a True Divine, he would not give up on training his martial arts.


    "Dream masters would focus on their Essence and Magic while training, while martial artists would strengthen their bodies. Both would focus on different aspects, and in training both, these two vastly different aspects would complement each other!"


    Fang Yuan had vaguely figured out the path for his cultivation.


    "Whooo! Whoo!"


    At this point in time, he could detect that the fog around him was moving. It was thinning out.


    "Is the strength of the seal weakening?"


    Seeing this, a solemn look appeared on Fang Yuan''s face. "The Changli Mountain Hollow is about to become activated!"


    On Tianmu Mountain, within a cave.


    "The time has finally arrived!"


    Elder Smelter, Old Mother of Tianmu and Old Xue were gathering around a sandbox with excited looks on their faces.


    In the middle of the sandbox, there was a screen revealing a miniature version of the hollow.


    "Let''s begin to remove the seal!"


    Seeing this, Old Mother of Tianmu quickly gave her instructions. "With the dream masters inside as blood sacrifice and our attack from the outside world, we can surely find a weakness of this seemingly-perfect defensive seal."


    "Of course, we must be alert at the moment of the hollow opening, for the Hidden Dragon Guards might attack at that moment!"


    Although Old Mother of Tianmu was standing still, the surrounding space around her seemed to have opened up, allowing rays of light to flood in.


    "Don''t worry! The highly skilled dream masters of our Divine Lotus Cult and Evil Divine Sect are already in the Jade Capital to keep the fighting force of Da Qian under control!"


    A gentle voice was heard. At the same time, two strong forces were suddenly felt in the sandbox.


    With such an interference, the fog within the screen started to disperse, revealing the rugged surface of the mountainous range.


    ...


    "The seal is open!"


    Fang Yuan climbed up a branch of a dried tree and mumbled to himself as he stared at the retreating fog.


    At this moment, from the corner of his eye, he could see a few streaks of light as he silently cursed. He knew that the Old Mother of Tianmu had her ulterior motive for planting him so close to the other dream masters.


    "Rumble!"


    At this moment, the ground shook. The edge of the forest became visible to the naked eye, and an even larger piece of area appeared before him.


    At the same time, Old Mother of Tianmu''s spiritual will could be heard rumbling. "Through this test, we can only allow 11 survivors. The remaining would become a sacrifice to the forest!"


    "It''s time!"


    Hearing her, Fang Yuan''s was stunned for a moment.


    He knew that he had been tricked my Elder Smelter with a simple mission being tasked to him.


    Elder Smelter had evil intentions indeed!


    With this thought, Fang Yuan rolled his eyes.


    "Brother..."


    As soon as the fog dispersed, two dream masters started to approach him. It was a man and a woman. The man was handsome and had distinct facial features. The woman was elegant and seemed like a deity from the heavens.


    They approached him with friendly smiles as though they did not hear the announcement from Old Mother of Tianmu. "Where are you from? This place is dangerous! To survive, we have to stick together and work together!"


    In response, Fang Yuan smiled and shook his head. "Even if I want to form an alliance, I wouldn''t pick the two of you to be part of my alliance... After all, I don''t deserve to be friends with dream masters from the Evil Divine Sect and the Divine Lotus Cult!"


    "Sister Qing, we have been seen through!"


    The young dream master snickered and shrugged his shoulders. In an instant, he had transformed into a person who gave off cunning vibes.


    "Our combined Evil Lotus Divine Technique did not affect him a single bit! He must be at the peak of the 3rd Tier of Illusionary Divine, with plentiful Magic proficiency points!"


    Interestingly, Sister Qing''s expression changed. She took a bow. "I am Qing Meng. This is Ouyang Shu. May we know who you are... Wait a minute, you''re Fang Yuan from the Realm Alliance!"


    It was as though she had recalled something. "This is impossible... How did you achieve such progress in such a short time?"


    "It seems like I''m famous to the point that you can recognise me!"


    Fang Yuan touched his own face as he mulled. "Mmm... You recognise me? No worries, this is normal. Are you a reserved Divine Lady of the Divine Lotus Cult? Did Liu Mengmei come as well?"


    In reality, Fang Yuan had already made a guess.


    Those that were sent here were either hopeless dream masters who would take the risk or had weak backings.


    Even if Qing Meng were to be a reserved Divine Lady, she was most likely an insignificant one who had come forth to try her luck.


    "Fang Yuan from the Realm Alliance?"


    Ouyang Shu was startled as though he had recalled something as well.


    "Well well... who would''ve guessed that the first two people that I would encounter would be dream masters from the two evil sects!"


    Fang Yuan remained calm. "Initially, I had my reservations in killing people. However, I don''t think I would hold back against the both of you!"


    "Hmph! Watch your words!"


    Ouyang Shu''s face was flushed with fury. "Sister Qing, let''s take him down together! After all, he is alone and is a low-tiered Illusionary Divine dream master like us. What can he possibly do?"


    "You''re an idiot!"


    Seeing this, Fang Yuan sighed.


    In the next moment, he rushed towards them like the wind. With an electric spark appearing in his palm, a Sundering Thunder Sword appeared.


    The presence of the wind represented an extreme speed. Although the Modest Wind Sword was not completely formed, it was already powerful enough to stir wind.


    Furthermore, thunder could counter most techniques and was the preferred choice against evil!


    "Chi!"


    Before he could react, there was already a wound in Ouyang Shu''s chest. Slowly, he collapsed to the ground.


    In a single move, this 2nd Tier Illusionary Divine dream master was defeated!


    ''Although he is not an elite dream master from the Evil Divine Sect, I can still make use of him to roughly gauge my abilities!''


    Fang Yuan pressed the Thunder Sword on Ouyang Shu''s neck as he started to think to himself. "Based on my current cultivation level, I am already more powerful than Feng Xinzi. Furthermore, any 3rd Tier Illusionary Divine dream masters would also not be my match. Of course, if Feng Xinzi were to achieve a breakthrough to the 4th Tier, then everything would be different..."


    The 4th Tier and 7th Tier of Illusionary Divine were extremely difficult tiers to break through. It was akin to the fish leaping over the dragon''s gate.


    "You..."


    Ouyang Shu was not yet dead. However, as soon as he started mumbling, the tendons in his limbs were already severed.


    "Don''t you dare harbour any evil intentions before me!"


    Fang Yuan warned him sternly and moved his attention to Qing Meng.


    This woman had attempted to influence him with her evil techniques. However, even though Fang Yuan''s actualised dream world had expanded and the 8 Gates Sword Array was rumbling, he silenced it.


    "Do you know someone... called Tian Xiezi?"


    As he questioned Ouyang Shu, he was stepping on him.


    Dream masters had many techniques to seal or mix up their own memories. Therefore, it was better to directly question him.


    "That person is my senior... this is all I know about him!"


    Since dream masters were capable of telling if someone was telling the truth, Ouyang Shu had no choice but to spill out what he knew. After all, he was in a dire circumstance.


    "Since this is so, then you are useless!"


    Fang Yuan quickly made sure that what he said was the truth before thrusting his sword downwards, ending this young man''s life.


    Since he was useless, what was the point of keeping him alive?

 322 The Village

    "Shing!"


    Blood spewed everywhere.


    Upon the death of Ouyang Shu, the normal-looking forest started to undergo a transformation.


    The ground started to ripple and the roots of the trees started to stretch and climb all over Ouyang Shu''s corpse, consuming him.


    Fang Yuan could detect the arrival of a force from the hollow. This force sealed the space around the corpse and did not even let his soul free.


    "This is how the hollow would consume corpse. Indeed a sacrifice!"


    Witnessing this, Fang Yuan was stunned.


    "Lord Fang Yuan... I have no bad blood with you!"


    As soon as she saw him take notice of her, she forced a smile. "Furthermore... I can help you turn the tables regarding the grudge you have with my sect!"


    "Keke... although you are the reserved Divine Lady, I don''t think you have any strong backing considering the fact that you are sent here! How dare you be so full of yourself!"


    Fang Yuan snickered and struck another sword.


    "Rumble!"


    Thunder rumbled as the sword landed. However, a Divine Lotus Print appeared on her body, shielding her from the blow.


    However, the print started to fade as soon as the sword struck down on it.


    "Die!"


    A cold look flashed across Fang Yuan''s eyes as he took another step forward. Streaks of electricity were buzzing around the sword.


    "You..."


    Qing Meng appeared desolate. An unactivated talisman in her hands was destroyed by the streaks of electricity from the sword. Slowly, she fell to the ground and blood oozed out of her eyes, nose, mouth and ears. Without hesitation, she was consumed by the space around her.


    "Although she had a magical equipment with her, she is still very weak compared to Meng Lian. She doesn''t even have the protection of a powerful dream master''s magical clone..."


    Fang Yuan kept his sword and shook his head. "Are all of these people really sacrificial goats?"


    Scanning his surroundings, he chuckled.


    A few spiritual wills started to scramble and retreat. "We have been discovered! This person is powerful, let''s retreat!"


    "At the 3rd Tier of Illusionary Divine, he is indeed powerful! Not someone I would want to deal with!"


    "Oh sh*t, he''s a killer! We should not anger him!"


    ...


    A few silhouettes in hiding disappeared in an instant. Only a few who feared him and respected him remained.


    Seeing this, Fang Yuan could not help it but laugh.


    When he just entered the hollow, he was only at the 2nd Tier and had yet to form his Sundering Thunder Sword. If he were to encounter this pair then, he would have to use all that he had. Even if he could defeat the both of them, he would not be able to survive the surrounding dream masters who were watching the fight.


    However, now, the Sundering Thunder Sword struck fear in all that witnessed him using it.


    "I have unintentionally killed. However, the few of you, don''t anger me. Otherwise, you will meet your doom! Hmph!"


    Fang Yuan flicked his sword and snickered as his voice travelled far and wide.


    If he were to do this before he would just be considered crazy. However, now that he had killed two dream masters, his words struck fear.


    Seeing the surrounding dream masters take their leave, he paid no attention to them as he rushed towards a building at the end of the forest. "The centre of the hollow would be scrutinised by the 7th Tier Illusionary Divine dream masters. I should not forcefully go there, and should instead explore the boundaries and make this journey worth it!"


    After unintentionally killing the dream masters, he was pumped with adrenaline.


    However, he knew that he was still no match for Elder Smelter. Therefore, he could only let off steam through other means.


    "Hehe¡­.. This is really awe-inspiring! Phew!"


    In the dense forest, a female dream master had an expression of shock. As she fell to the ground, a man in green appeared behind her. He seemed extremely young and his fingertips were stained with blood. However, he had an intoxicated look on his face. "After finishing this mission, I must pit myself against you!"


    ...


    "Fang Yuan from the Realm Alliance?"


    In another location, a pair of twin sisters were combining forces and executing their techniques. Streaks of colourful butterflies were fluttering around them as they barely kept up with their defense. As soon as they heard Fang Yuan''s voice, they were elated. "It''s a fellow alliance member!"


    "Sister!"


    The butterflies were colourful and were extremely powerful in defence. They could shield against physical and spiritual attacks.


    As soon as the sisters got themselves out of the fight, the younger looking sister asked. "What should we do next? Should we look for that powerful alliance member for help?"


    "Let me think about it!"


    The older sister was a little more matured, but she could not come to a decision.


    The sisters'' backing was long gone and they were already ill-treated in the alliance. They were forced to enter this death trial and since then, they were wary of even dream masters from their own alliance and were hesitant to ask alliance members for help.


    "It is too low a chance, considering that only 11 can survive among the 31 dream masters..."


    The older sister gritted her teeth and hugged her younger sister as her eyes glistened. "Regardless, I must protect you, even if it... costs my life!"


    ...


    At another location, Fang Yuan sped off like the wind with a shocking speed. After a few leaps, he had already left the area which he was previously in, leaving all the other dream masters behind.


    "They would be fools to kill others just to complete the mission!"


    His eyes glistened. "This massacre is the most dangerous. In the end, the weak would be killed and the strong would eventually fight each other. It is indeed a good plan for me to show off my skills first and avoid the chaos... Should I look for a fellow alliance member in the future? Otherwise, I would still be easily outnumbered and it would be extremely troublesome for me..."


    Now that he had left the forest, an empty plain appeared before him.


    There were endless rows of plantations; it was a sea of gold, which seemed to be a bountiful harvest.


    At the edge of the plantation, there was a glittering building which was golden; it was different from anywhere else in the vicinity.


    "Is this... Yellow Grain Rice?!"


    Fang Yuan arrived at the plantation and was shocked and surprised.


    The grain that was growing in the plantation was a yellow and translucent spiritual rice. The stem of the plant was sturdy and there was an alluring aura coming from the grain. It was the Yellow Grain Rice which he had painstakingly attempted to find!


    "This rice had a concentrated spiritual energy. More importantly, it aids in a dream master''s cultivation and is extremely rare! I''m afraid that only the 5 Grand Organisations in Da Qian and the Da Qian royal family will be able to plant them in huge batches! Who would''ve thought that there is an abundance of it in the Changli Mountain Hollow!"


    Food was everything!


    Even for Prominent Divine stage dream masters who created their own world into a hollow, they could not leave out food as a staple!


    Looking at the abundance of rice here, he gained a further understanding of the cultivation of a dream master.


    "If there are farms here, there must be people living here as well. They might have relocated from the outside world to here, or they could be a race of wisdom created by this almighty dream master!"


    A dream master at the 7th Tier of the Illusionary Divine stage would be able to create a race of beasts, while dream masters in the realm of the Prominent Divine stage would be able to create a race of wisdom; a race that would be able to start a civilisation and reproduce for generations to come!


    Furthermore, they were not restricted to creating a human race. These race of wisdom might be living things with a single horn, or wings... they could adopt any form and anything was possible.


    What else was there to say?


    Fang Yuan widened his eyes. As he released his elemental force to form a huge hand, he started to harvest the Yellow Grain Rice and stored it in his Mountain River Pearl.


    "With these seeds, I can plant them for myself and consume them in the future. Who knows, they might even evolve special traits!"


    Others might worry if they would be able to germinate these seeds. However, with his special ability, Fang Yuan had nothing to worry. "The only thing is... I need to look for a piece of spiritual land."


    After a short while, he rushed towards the building but soon, he could sense that something was not right.


    It was a continuous stretch of a palace with strong defences, covered with shimmering spiritual prints. However, there were sectors demarcated in it and there were simple carvings on the walls. With an ancient vibe, it was as though the place was full of life.


    "This should not be the house of someone wealthy, but... an entire village?!"


    Fang Yuan seemed to have understood something. "The continuous spiritual glow around the palace is a huge spiritual array... no! A huge magical equipment! As soon as it is activated, it will become a huge war beast!"


    "Whoosh!"


    As he was examining the surroundings, spiritual glow started to shimmer at the top of the palace. An icy arrow appeared and shot 100 feet away from him. It was a warning shot.


    "There are indeed inhabitants! Did they get the warning and therefore are all hiding in the building?"


    Seeing the arrow, Fang Yuan could not help it but laugh.


    He would not strike without first knowing his enemies'' ability. After giving it some thought, he decided to stay put and stood where he was and waited patiently.


    After a few moments, a few streaks of light finally caught up to him. As soon as they saw the Yellow Grain Rice, they were all envious and quickly started to harvest the rice as well. Their actions had enraged many of the onlookers who were staring at them from the palace.


    "Have they stopped fighting? It seems like these few dream masters are not entirely stupid..."


    Fang Yuan smiled.


    The weak dream masters would die at the beginning. Those that were able to survive until now were rather capable.


    Furthermore, they would want to satisfy their own greed.


    No one would dare to entirely betray their sects and go against the 7th Tier Illusionary Divine dream masters.


    However, after a prolonged period, before the powerful dream masters would enter to reap the most out of the hollows, it was only natural and human nature for everyone to reap as much as they can to benefit themselves.


    "Greetings Brother Fang, I am Ye Shuhua!"


    Everyone in the hollow knew of Fang Yuan''s prowess; no one would stupidly challenge him.


    Two identical dream masters who were twins approached Fang Yuan. The older sister paid her greetings first. "My sister, Shumin, and I are both from the Realm Alliance..."


    "Oh!"


    Fang Yuan casually replied them and started to examine the pair of twins.


    In terms of the vibes they gave off, these two ladies were only average and could not even compare to Qing Meng. However, they were elegant and their features were on point.


    Upon closer look, the older sister was taller and had a determined look on her face. On the other hand, the younger sister seemed gentler and submissive.


    ''Sigh... the Realm Alliance is really wasteful. How can they send such beauties here as sacrifice... However, to dream masters, they can get any beauty that they can dream of!''


    Of course, Fang Yuan would not be simply left at the sight of these two beauties and returned the greeting. "Greetings, the both of you... may I know what you are seeking me for?"


    Ye Shuhua started to clench her teeth.


    Fang Yuan''s polite and calm expression gave her the chills. She realised that their beautiful appearance did not waver Fang Yuan a single bit.


    Now that they were surrounded by other dream masters staring at them, her hair started to stand on its ends. "Please save the both of us!"


    "Save the both of you? What do I get out of this?"


    Fang Yuan examined the palace in front and calmly replied.


    "During this death trial, we sisters will listen to all your commands! Although your magical swords are powerful, you might face troubles, right? Although we sisters are weak and are only at the 1st and 2nd Tier of the Illusionary Divine stage, we can combine forces and execute the Dream Butterfly Defence to stall time for you!"


    "All of these are not enough!"


    Fang Yuan shook his head and started to pressure them. "Agree with my condition!"


    ''Could he...''


    Shuhua felt a chill down her spine. However, she stood firm but blushed a little. "Alright! If you can save us, I shall... let you do anything you want to me! However, leave my sister alone!"


    "What are you thinking about?"


    Fang Yuan started to laugh. "Am I such a person?"


    He was unaware that her sister, Shumin, had heard the conversation and started to blush as well. She was utterly embarrassed and did not dare to let out her breath.


    Although the dream masters who were silently watching from the shadows were unaware of their exchange, they could vaguely deduce the content of their conversation. Fang Yuan was speechless.

 323 Horned Wing Tribe

    "My conditions are simple. Don''t worry, I am not asking you to sell your body to me. Just take it that both of you owe me a favour. If the both of you can survive and leave this place, then think about repaying the favour!"


    Fang Yuan gave it some thought before revealing his condition.


    No matter how forlorn the two sisters were, they would surely have a better treatment in the Realm Alliance compared to Fang Yuan.


    "This of course..."


    Ye Shuhua was elated. However, she started to look at Fang Yuan with suspicion in her eyes. "Are you sure you don''t need..."


    She did not believe that there were people who would not be wavered by seduction.


    ''No! He might be thinking of having us both! I need to protect sister. She is too naive and might be tricked by others... Sigh... It''s a pity that our family is weak. Otherwise, we wouldn''t have ended up here. However, this person seems to have a friendly disposition. He might just be telling the truth...''


    Fang Yuan had no idea that Yu Shuhua was thinking about all these. With a gentle smile, he continued. "Since it is required in the alliance''s agreement, I will temporarily offer protection to the both of you!"


    "However, let''s set things straight. If we were to meet with troubles which I cannot defend against, then every man would be for themselves!"


    "This of course!"


    Ye Shuhua nodded her head. "If this is really the case, then we shall just resign to fate!"


    The 3 of them came to an agreement. However, in the eyes of the other dream masters, Fang Yuan was merely a person full of lust. ''Fang Yuan is indeed greedy... to take both sisters at the same time!''


    "Hmph!"


    Ye Shumin could feel that many pairs of eyes were glaring at them. In embarrassment, she looked down and blushed. On the other hand, Ye Shuhua bravely exchanged glares with the other dream masters like a rebellious kid.


    "This is... Hey, keep a low profile and don''t get us more enemies!"


    Fang Yuan rolled his eyes. "Also, tell me everything about the Realm Alliance!"


    "Yes..."


    As soon as Fang Yuan mentioned about the alliance, there was a look of sorrow on Ye Shuhua''s face. However, she did not dare to conceal anything. "The Ye Family is a longstanding family in the Realm Alliance and had joined since the commencement of the alliance. Furthermore, we once had a 6th Tier Illusionary Divine stage dream master. Unfortunately, he had passed on from a failure in attempting to break through to the 7th Tier. From then on, it was a downfall of the Ye Family... Our father had the cultivation level of a 4th Tier Illusionary Divine stage and was our protection. However, he had also passed on 3 years ago..."


    Fang Yuan listened to them and remained silent.


    This was in fact what was happening to many families made up of dream masters.


    Although the lifespan of a dream master was extremely long, there were many natural disasters as well. No one could be assured of a smooth-sailing life.


    Considering how hard it would be to become a dream master, if a family were to not have any descendants capable of becoming dream masters, they would surely experience a downfall. From then on, they would become commoners and would have a minute chance to rise once again.


    "The Ye Family of the Realm Alliance?"


    Fang Yuan sighed for a moment. "I''ve heard of this name before. It seems like they have a rich history..."


    Although this family might seem to be at its lowest point, their connections with others still remain. If he could use them to pull strings, he might be able to get help in settling down in Da Qian.


    Of course, the easiest way to integrate with the family is to marry the sisters.


    However, he was a righteous man. Why would he resort to such a thing? Furthermore, after all these, all he would gain would be the acceptance into the Realm Alliance as one of their own.


    Judging by the sisters'' temperament, he could easily guess that something like that must have happened before. In fact, it did not end up well. Otherwise, these two sisters would not have ended up in the hollow.


    "In fact, dream masters are rather liberal about this. I don''t think Shuhua is a woman of chastity. In fact, she might have ended up here because someone else tried to have both her body and her fortune and therefore ended up in a conflict?"


    Ye Shuhua followed behind Fang Yuan. She had no idea what Fang Yuan was thinking about. Otherwise, she might be infuriated to the point where she might kill Fang Yuan.


    Now, she was only focusing on executing her duties properly. Suddenly, she spoke with a gentle voice. "My lord, please be careful. All these survivors are rather skilled to be able to survive until now. The one you should pay attention to is Sun Jue from the Source Seeking Sect. He is naturally gifted and has already reached the 3rd Tier of Illusionary Divine at a young age of 23! In fact, he was not forced to join this death trial, but instead, he volunteered himself!"


    "Other than him, there is also Yi Xie from the Evil Divine Sect. He is 59 this year and is the cruelest among all. As for dream masters without an organisation, there is one called Liu Ru. She is a lady but her Magical Binding Technique is shockingly powerful!"


    "Mmm!"


    Fang Yuan nodded his head and glanced towards the direction of Sun Jue.


    If what Ye Shuhua had said was true, then Sun Jue must really be talented, or at least stronger than him if he did not have the ability to use the stats window.


    ''Of course, this person might have a strong backing. His background might be as interesting as mine. Otherwise, it is really hard to explain how he would have such a progress.''


    On the other hand, Yi Xie was a handsome middle-aged man with white hair. There was an evil vibe coming from him, which made Fang Yuan subconsciously take more notice of him.


    However, as soon as Fang Yuan looked over, Yi Xie could detect it and respond by looking over as well, with a mysterious glare in his eyes.


    "Haha... why not come over and have a conversation?"


    Yi Xie started to burst out laughing. "I don''t think any of us should set our sights on the treasures in the centre of the hollow. However, there must be some treasures in this palace. Why not work together and split the treasures afterwards?"


    "Brother Yi of the Evil Divine Sect, I agree with your words!"


    Among the lone cultivators, Liu Ru was clad in green robes. With a willow branch in her hands, she nodded her head in agreement.


    Although she might appear weak, she must have the ability to be able to survive to this stage. The situation was at a tensed balance, and any slight commotion would surely result in a chaotic massacre.


    "That''s right!"


    Although there was a huge reward in the centre of the hollow, most other dream masters agreed with Yi Xie. However, everyone looked at each other with much suspicion, as though everyone was thieves.


    "If all of us have a common consensus, then why are we wasting time?"


    Sun Jue took a step forward. "Those hiding inside, listen up. I''ll advise you to obediently open up the palace and give up your treasures, and we will spare your lives. Otherwise... we might just wipe out all of you!"


    "The demons from the outside world!"


    In mid-air above the palace, a silhouette of a human appeared. He had the appearance of a person from Da Qian, but he had a small horn on his forehead and a pair of green wings. "This is the territory of the Horned Wing Tribe. Please retreat!"


    As he flapped his wings, strong gusts of wind started to pick up. He had an extremely strong spiritual will and seemed comparable to an Elemental Opening spiritual knight.


    "What''s this..."


    Fang Yuan was stunned as he looked up.


    He had once seen a dream person created by a dream master. However, such races of dream people were extremely rare.


    "Brother Fang, are you shocked? Among the dream people, although most of them have the appearance of a human, some Prominent Divine dream masters would interestingly create a different type of human, for instance, crossing beasts with humans..."


    Ye Shuhua started to explain.


    Although her family was down and out, her knowledge and experience were still with her.


    "Interesting!"


    Seeing this, Fang Yuan stroked his chin. "We might even see other species of humans in this hollow!"


    No one really paid any attention to the warning of this Horned Wing Tribe member.


    In the cruel world, it was the survival of the fittest. Who would care about ethics?


    Even though these dream masters might look like animals fighting each other, it would be the same situation, or even worse, if the 7th Tier Illusionary Divine dream masters were to be in their place.


    "You don''t seem like you want to accept our gracious offer!"


    Sun Jue laughed. Without waiting for Fang Yuan and the rest, he struck first. "Die!"


    An invisible wave spread from Sun Jue. The Horned Wing Tribe member was stunned in mid-air. As his eyes turned pale, he started to fall to the ground and infuriated those within the palace.


    "How dare you harm our tribe member! We shall kill you!"


    "Quickly activate the array!"


    "Let''s fight these crazy demons with our lives!


    ...


    In the palace, many silhouettes started to fly around. The males were handsome while the females were beautiful. Some of them even have mysterious tattoos on their face which gave off a spiritual light. Even Fang Yuan had to admit that there was an alluring vibe coming from the people of this tribe.


    "Horned Spiritual Hall, activate!"


    At this point in time, many Horned Wing Tribe members were exclaiming as they flooded the palace. Harnessing the power of the array, they collectively formed a gigantic white horn and charged towards Sun Jue.


    "Buzz! Buzz!"


    As soon as the white horn was formed, a huge restrictive force was felt. Fang Yuan and the other dream masters suddenly felt as though the air around them had transformed into a thick paste of glue and their movements were restricted.


    Sun Jue had the same feeling as well.


    Against an array created by a race created by a Prominent Divine dream master, the only thing Sun Jue could do was to roar and equip himself with a dark-scaled armour. Transforming into a human beast, he struck his claws forward.


    "Rumble!"


    After a huge explosion, the white horn crumbled and became sparkles. Sun Jue remained where he was. Although there was black blood flowing from a huge wound on his chest, he continued to laugh. "Although the palace itself is a huge magical equipment, the people in it are useless! This is its maximum power! If all of you don''t strike now, when will you strike?"


    Since he had already initiated the fight, 10 over dream masters started to join in without hesitation. They started to gather elemental energy from the heavens and earth, creating a colourful glow which struck the palace.


    Even though most of the dream masters were holding back and not using their powers to its fullest potential, the combined force was still shockingly powerful.


    With continuous streaks of fire and lightning striking the palace, it was as though the palace was about to face its destruction.


    "Freeze!"


    At this moment, the runes inscribed all around the palace started to glow once more, forming a thick layer of ice as a defensive wall.


    "Is this a... dream beast master?"


    Fang Yuan casually released two streaks of Fire Sword. Looking at the crazed Sun Jue, his eyes widened. "Indeed... those from the Source Seeking Sect are all crazy!"


    In the cultivation of a dream beast master, they would undergo many transformations in the initial stages. In the first 3 Tiers of the Illusionary Divine stage, they would be able to transform into different beasts and would experience an increase in their powers. At the 4th Tier, they would be able to transform into a magical beast!


    Of course, the most feared stage of their cultivation was still at the 7th Tier. If they were to achieve the 7th Tier of the Illusionary Divine stage, they would be able to call upon a thousand animals as troops, and fighting against 10,000 soldiers would be a piece of cake.


    "Kacha!"


    10 streaks of light landed on the icy defensive wall, shattering it.


    After another huge explosion, cracks started to appear on the walls of the palace. The array started to become inactive. As soon as it became completely inactive, there were exclamations of shock.


    With a roar, Sun Jue continued attacking in the form of a black scaled beast. He leapt onto the roof of the palace like a meteorite, smashing a hole. With that, his killing spree commenced.


    The other dream masters started to enter the palace as streaks of light with bloodshot eyes. Other than looking for treasures in the palace, they were also looking for opportunities to kill each other.


    As flames broke out in the palace, the troubled Horned Wing Tribe members started to wail in despair.


    Seeing this scene, Fang Yuan remained silent and refused to take any action.

 324 Retaliate

    "Lord, are you not going?"


    Yu Shuhua''s eyes glistened. "Don''t let them have all the treasures!"


    "Sister!"


    Yu Shumin tugged at her sleeves, revealing an unpleasant look.


    She was young and had matured under the protection of her sister. Therefore, she was still rather naive.


    Thoughts ran through Fang Yuan''s mind as he revealed a smile. "I''m not greedy. However, I feel that something is not right!"


    "Is something wrong?"


    Ye Shuhua blinked her eyes.


    "That''s right... In the world, there are the heavens and fate... Similarly, in the hollow, there should be a higher being''s spirit. If that is so, then the Horned Wing Tribe would be the natives and we would be the demons from the outside world!"


    Fang Yuan smiled as he recalled his experience in the Water Realm.


    "As the invasive species, never mind if we are pillaging off their resources. If we become cocky and go on a killing spree, we would attract too much attention! That''s it... You could argue that we are Illusionary Divine dream masters with unparalleled abilities and strong backings from the outside world. However, now that the seal over the hollow is still intact, the stronger dream masters cannot yet enter the hollow, but instead, we are already inside! Notwithstanding the fact that there might be a higher being here, do you not think that there might be other highly-skilled people in this hollow, which has an area as large as 2 regions in Da Qian?"


    As soon as he spoke, Ye Shuhua broke out in cold sweat. "Then what about them..."


    "They either think that their backing is strong enough, or they are just letting off steam. Their actions might even be part of their own grand scheme of things... Of course, if we don''t join them now, we might have to face their combined powers afterward!"


    Fang Yuan snickered.


    "Then what should we do?"


    Ye Shuhua was frantic. She could neither hold up against being a sacrifice for the hollow or go against the other dream masters if they were to combine forces.


    "What else can we do? Let''s just leave!"


    Fang Yuan shrugged his shoulders and looked beyond the horizon. "It might be too late even if we were to set off now!"


    "Eh? Why is that..."


    Ye Shuhua glanced at the horizon. A few black dots started to appear and were rushing towards them. They were all members of the Horned Wing Tribe. However, they had 2 pairs of wings on their backs. As they collectively flapped their wings, an intense gust of wind started to form and an invisible wave of energy started to spread outwards.


    "Demons from the outside world... how dare you!"


    Seeing the damaged palace, the raging flames and the countless corpse of their own tribe members, their eyes became bloodshot. "All of you... die!"


    "Whooo!"


    As the strong winds ensued, a current of green-coloured wind descended from the skies.


    "It''s the reinforcements from the Horned Wing Tribe. Timely!"


    "They''re not just fast but strong as well! They seem to be comparable to a 5th Meridian Wu Zong, and their bodies are covered in runes, granting them natural abilities to control wind! They might just be as powerful as a 5th Tier spiritual knight! Collectively, they might be on par with a 4th Tier Illusionary Divine dream master!"


    Seeing this, Fang Yuan sighed once more. "Let''s not delay. Move!"


    The 3 of them were further from the scene of destruction. However, the dream masters within the palace were stunned.


    "Reinforcements from the Horned Wing Tribe? All of us thought that the palace might have hidden treasures for it seemed luxurious. What a pity... we cannot continue our search..."


    Yi Xie looked up and without hesitation, he disappeared underground in a black glow.


    "Let''s kill them to avenge our tribe members!"


    Only Yi Xie had such an ability; the other dream masters were left behind, not knowing what to do.


    Against the wind current, all of them could only defend. As soon as they realised what was happening, the roof of the palace was already blown apart. A few 4-winged Horned Wing Tribe members were looking down from above with menacing glares.


    ''D*mn it... this spiritual aura!''


    A few dream masters quickly composed themselves. "4th Tier of Illusionary Divine? If all of us combine forces, we might just be able to take them down!"


    However, a few dream masters with quicker reactions had already executed their own techniques to escape. How would there be enough dream masters to combine forces together?


    The remaining few dream masters were surrounded and attacked. Their bodies were torn apart.


    Some of them cried out loud before their demise. "I am from Baize Mountain. How dare you do this to me! Are you not afraid that your tribe might be wiped out?"


    However, all effort was futile in front of an enraged group of Horned Wing Tribe members. They were still killed.


    As they died, their blood and corpse were quickly absorbed by the space around them, which made the entire place appear red.


    ...


    "We have 20 sacrifices, and that''s enough!"


    Old Mother of Tianmu, Elder Smelter, and Old Xue glanced at the blood-red sandbox and were elated. "Let''s combine forces to break the seal!"


    "Rumble!"


    An invisible force broke through from mid-air and descended. Even the hollow was shaking from the intense force.


    "The sacrifice is complete. It is only a matter of time that we will be able to reap the rewards from the hollow and destroy the seal. However, we still need some time. In fact, about half a day''s time..."


    The few highly-skilled dream masters remained neutral.


    The hollow was the ultimate goal! How much can the weak dream masters reap from the hollow in half a day''s time? It was insignificant!


    "The only thing we need to be cautious of is the Hidden Dragon Guards!"


    A spiritual will spread across the mountains. "The Divine Lotus Cult and the Evil Divine Sect have passed down news! Although they have successfully created chaos, they were quickly suppressed. It was as though the royal family knew what was happening!"


    "Tianmu Mountain is the fruit of my labour. I have put in place 38,000 Green Wood Magical Seals. Even the Hidden Dragon Guards will take a long time to break through all those seals and locate us..."


    Before she could complete her sentence, there was a rumbling sound! The entire cave shook.


    "What''s that?"


    Her expression quickly changed. From mid-air, a few black silhouettes appeared. "Greetings... all of you!"


    "D*mn it!"


    Old Xue exclaimed as an illusionary shadow of Sen Luo Hell descended upon the cave.


    Tongues of flames were everywhere, and the ground was filled with bones!


    In a moment, the cave had transformed into hell! This was something only a 7th Tier Illusionary Divine dream master could achieve!


    "Indeed, the Changli Mountain Hollow!"


    As the few silhouettes surrounded the sandbox, they broke out into laughter. "Our master has always been meticulous. Do you think you could hide from him using your childish tricks...? Have you asked us for permission?"


    Amidst the laughter, the space in mid-air suddenly opened up, allowing a huge black hand filled with curses written all over it to stretch in.


    "Ghostly Magical Palm?!"


    Elder Smelter exclaimed, and there was fear in his words. "Who would''ve thought that you Hidden Dragon Guards would invest so much!"


    As he spoke, his body glowed and immediately, 9 fiery dragons appeared and flew towards the weird-looking hand.


    "Rumble!"


    As the flames landed on the weird-looking hand, it started to catch fire. The temperature started to rise and the rocks around the cave started to melt.


    However, the large hand was unaffected by the heat. Instead, it continued to stretch forward.


    "Kacha! Kacha!"


    Amidst the hellish environment, be in flames or bones, everything was crushed as the hand surged forward.


    Finally, the 9 fiery dragons revealed their true physical form. Clutched by the hand, they exploded one by one and turned into a green smoke.


    "How dare you!"


    Seeing that the weird-looking hand was going for the sandbox, Old Mother of Tianmu roared. A sun appeared behind her and its rays shot down towards the hand.


    "Chi! Chi!"


    Like how hot oil would sizzle when in contact with water, the weird-looking hand stopped in its tracks. The curses all over the hand started to disappear and the flesh of the hand started to melt, revealing a pale-white skeleton.


    "You dream masters have already become the lackeys of the Imperial Court and deserve to die!"


    Behind Old Mother of Tianmu, many void spaces started to open up, revealing a hidden force within the spaces. In an instant, they transformed into a chain and held the huge hand before ripping it apart.


    "Crrrrk!"


    This was akin to many dream masters combining forces. Even though everyone only contributed a little, the end result was devastating.


    The weird-looking hand split and disintegrated into ash.


    "Hehe... Don''t try to hide from me, the few of you! Changli was, after all, a Prominent Divine dream master! Furthermore, he has done a lot of research regarding the realms of dream masters. How will we, the royal family, let the few of you take his hollow for yourselves?"


    A silhouette spoke with a hoarse voice as it glared at all of them.


    Behind the silhouettes, the space started to become unstable. The Green Wood Magical Seal started to break down, as though something mysterious was ''squeezing'' its way through.


    "The Head of the Hidden Dragon Guards?"


    Old Mother of Tianmu appeared stunned. "The Imperial Court knew about everything! There must be a spy among us!"


    ...


    "Eh? This hollow..."


    Although Fang Yuan did not know what was happening outside, he could vaguely feel that something was wrong.


    The Ye Family sisters raised their heads. The originally clear skies were now tainted with a hue of red. Not just that, there was the vague rumbling of thunder. The sky started to vibrate continuously as though it was about to be ripped apart.


    "This must be due to something big happening outside... but it is none of our business!"


    Fang Yuan continued casually. "Instead of wasting our energy looking at the sky, why not start to collect some resources for ourselves!"


    As his sword light shimmered, streaks of lightning responded around him in a second.


    "This direction..."


    However, Ye Shuhua noticed something different and became curious. "That is the direction in which the 4-winged Horned Wing Tribe members came from. Are you intending to ambush their nest?"


    That''s right!"


    Fang Yuan laughed. "If that small village could arouse the greed of Sun Jue, what do you think would lie at their nest?"


    After rushing for a few hours, new plots of plantation appeared before them. In the middle of it all, there was a huge palace. It had the same vibes as the palace before but was many times large. It could be considered a town.


    Considering the fact that they had deliberately concealed their tracks, they were still undetected by the Horned Wing Tribe and could even see some of the tribe members farming in their plantations.


    "Now that the seal has yet to be lifted, the both of us have a secret technique, with the help of a magical equipment, which will allow us to detect the spiritual aura of the area around us!"


    Ye Shuhua turned around and commented.


    "Oh?"


    Fang Yuan''s heart wavered a little as soon as he heard her. Their rich family heritage indeed left valuable techniques behind for them. Even the value of such a technique would be quite high. "Then I''ll have to trouble the both of you!"


    "No worries, it''s something we ought to do!"


    Ye Shuhua placed her left palm together with Ye Shumin''s palm. On her right hand, her thumb and index finger came together, forming a rune which shimmered as though it was a butterfly flapping its wings.


    As the same time, a mysterious wave of energy spread out and slowly, it died out.


    "Congratulations!"


    After a moment, Ye Shuhua opened her eyes. "The strongest member of the Horned Wing Tribe in the vicinity is comparable to the 3rd Tier of the Illusionary Divine stage. However, they are quite a number of them, 15 to be exact! 10 of them are stationed around the palace, guarding at their posts!"


    As she shook her finger, an average-looking flat image of the hall appeared in Fang Yuan''s eyes


    "What''s this?"


    Of course, Fang Yuan did not entirely believed her and used his own methods to gather information. Although he could not receive information as detailed as the sisters, he could still roughly sense the situation. "Alright, let''s go there!"

 325 Ancestral God

    In the side hall.


    10 2-Winged Horned Wing Tribe members sat in a circle, guarding the centre of the hall. All of them had looks of worry on their faces. "Ancestral God had warned us about the invasion of demons from the outside world. How do you think things would turn out, now that our tribe leader had led reinforcements to aid the other tribe members?"


    "Our role is to guard the Ancestral God Hall! With this hall left behind by our Ancestral God and the array in place... Even if any evil demons were to attack us now, we would still be able to hold up until tribe leader and the rest return."


    ...


    The 2-Winged Horned Wing Tribe members communicated with each other through telepathy and most of them were, in fact, composed.


    To them, since they had already lived in their own world for the past 1,000 years, they would assume that this would be their way of life for the future.


    Furthermore, they had the protection of the Ancestral God.


    "Whooo!"


    However, at this point in time, a thin fog started to appear within the hall.


    A few Horned Wing Tribe members were stunned, while a few others started to pass out.


    The techniques of dream masters were targeted at sentient living things. Therefore, these tribe members would also be affected by it.


    "Rumble!"


    Suddenly, there was a huge rumbling in the hall and a golden glow started to appear.


    As soon as the fog came in contact with the golden glow, it dispersed quickly like how snow would melt under sunlight.


    "This is not good... we''re being ambushed!"


    One of the Horned Wing Tribe members shouted hysterically and roared. However, it was already too late.


    "Whoosh!"


    A streak of sword radiance suddenly appeared before him. As it shimmered, it sliced down, bringing with it an intense wind and streaks of electricity!


    "Bang!"


    With a single slice, this tribe member had its wing sliced into two as it exclaimed and retreated.


    "Is this an elder?"


    "It''s an enemy!"


    "It''s one of the demons! Quickly activate the array!"


    The remaining Horned Wing Tribe members were frantically running about. Seeing this, Fang Yuan smiled and flicked his finger. "3 Talents Sword Array, rise!"


    "Rumble!"


    A huge sword array appeared and 3 streaks of pillars with sword energy rose up towards the sky. There were inscriptions on each pillar, and there were essences of water, fire and thunder in all of them.


    This array could be used to trap one person, as well as a whole group of people!


    In the sword array, 7 to 8 guards of the Horned Wing Tribe were trapped as they hollered.


    "Even 3 dream masters at the 3rd Tier of the Illusionary Divine stage would need some time before they can break out of my 3 Talents Sword Array!"


    Without looking at them, Fang Yuan barged into the hall.


    "Bang!"


    As the door gave way, the interior of the building came into view.


    This palace was extremely big. There was an altar full of offerings in the middle, and on the altar, there was a tablet erected for a god. There were curtains draped around the altar, but that was all he could see. In the surroundings of the hall, there were a few large doors which seemed like storerooms.


    "How dare you, demon! How dare you show disrespect to our Ancestral God!"


    The remaining Horned Wing Tribe members were frenzied as they rushed towards Fang Yuan. Even those who were heavily injured did the same.


    "Ancestral God? I''m not interested!"


    Fang Yuan let out a sigh as 4 spiritual meridians started to form behind his back. As he shouted, the level 7 elemental power in him exploded from his body. "Scram!"


    With his cultivation level as a dream master at the 3rd Tier of the Illusionary Divine stage and a martial artist at the 4th Meridian, the entire space around him came to a brief halt at the moment where he released his power. A vague and illusionary fist appeared before 2 of the tribe members. In the blink of an eye, both of them had flown backwards and blood spewed from them.


    "I can only take them down because of the element of surprise. However, I can at most hold on for another 30 minutes. Once the 3 Talents Sword Array is broken, I will have to be on my way!"


    As thoughts whizzed through his mind, Fang Yuan took no notice of the statues in the centre of the hall as he rushed straight to the storerooms.


    There might be treasures there! However, Fang Yuan knew for himself that he did not have the ability to take too many risks. Therefore, it was wise to quickly reap some treasures for himself.


    "Bang!"


    Although there were protective runes all over the door, Fang Yuan paid no attention to it. As his hands shook, the level 7 elemental power in him exploded, decimating the door.


    "Eh? This seems like a storeroom which stores Yellow Grain Rice. This amount is enough for a few hundred people to consume over a year... For a normal dream master, this supply would be able to last him for a few hundred years... I''ll take them all away!"


    As the Mountain River Pearl glittered, sacks of Yellow Grain Rice were transferred into the pearl. There was a great feeling of satisfaction in his heart.


    Although he was quick, he had already spent 15 minutes in the storeroom with rice. He could sense a crashing sound from the 3 Talents Sword Array outside and straight away, he knew that the Horned Wing Tribe members had already realised that they could not defeat him one on one. Now, they were combining forces to destroy the 3 Talents Sword Array, accelerating its rate of destruction.


    "Des¡­...troy!"


    Without hesitation, Fang Yuan broke through another storeroom door. Inside, it glittered everywhere. There were piles and piles of elemental crystals, thrown onto the ground like miscellaneous items. There were a few rows of wooden shelves as well, and the crystals on the wooden shelves gave off a mysterious glow and seemed to be vibrating a little.


    "They''re all good stuff! I''ll take them!"


    With the wave of his hands, the few wooden shelves disappeared. After which, he started to collect the elemental crystals.


    The spiritual energy within the hollow was concentrated and therefore, the quality of elemental crystals here was rather good.


    However, Fang Yuan was only halfway done in collecting all these treasures when 3 streaks of light flew towards him and entered his body. They were his 3 magical swords.


    "My 3 Talents Sword Array is already broken? They are indeed comparable to 10 dream masters in the Illusionary Divine stage combining forces! I cannot belittle them!"


    He quickly stopped his looting and rushed out.


    "Water and Fire, be heartless! Thunder, kill! Explode, my Level 7 Elemental Power!"


    "Rumble!"


    With the combination of his martial arts and sword essence, an intense explosion immediately blew a hole in the roof of the palace. A green current of wind started to circle Fang Yuan and soon after, it shot up into the sky as well.


    "Ancestral God..."


    The Horned Wing Tribe members who were late to the commotion broke down immediately. "Please punish this sinner!"


    "Mmm?"


    Amidst their prayers, the curtains around the altar were lifted, revealing a silhouette of a human.


    A golden glow started to descend and slowly started to transform into flames.


    Fang Yuan glanced at the statue and was utterly stunned.


    The statue was donned in a golden armour and had a dragon''s head, but a human body. It was awe-inspiring but very different from the Sage Changli that he had imagined!


    "Who is this statue? Why does he look like a dragon? Wait a minute... no one said that Sage Changli had to be a human..."


    "Roar! Roar!"


    The might of the statue exploded and with it were the godly powers which governed the hollow! It was a dragon''s might!


    "How can such a mere statue have such a might! Even the true dragons in the Water Realm cannot compare to this!"


    Fang Yuan quickly retreated. Suddenly, he realised that 10 members of the Horned Wing Tribe had started to activate a certain array. In mid-air, a golden glow transformed into a golden dragon''s claw with 5 digits. The claw swiftly struck at him.


    "This is a real dragon''s claw!"


    In a moment, Fang Yuan felt that his entire surroundings froze. There was a chattering sound heard, and his expression quickly changed.


    At this point in time, in his actualised dream world, an object had responded as it let out a faint dragon''s roar.


    "Eh?"


    In a split second, Fang Yuan quickly reacted and retrieved the water dragon pearl from his actualised dream world before shielding himself with it.


    "Roar! Roar!"


    Dragon roars were heard as the illusionary shadow of a small golden-green water dragon appeared. It had a small horn on its head and had 4 dragon claws from its body. Every claw had 3 digits and the dragon''s tail was dull-looking. This was the figure of a true water dragon.


    As soon as the energy of the water dragon appeared, the golden dragon claw hesitated in mid-air before lightly striking at Fang Yuan.


    Amidst the golden glow, Fang Yuan flew backwards.


    "This dragon god..."


    In a green hurricane, Fang Yuan wiped the blood stains from his mouth. He was in his actualised dream world.


    The water dragon pearl was still there. However, the water dragon in it had become smaller and there were a few visible cracks on the surface of the pearl.


    This was the result of his opponent giving him mercy!


    "Dragon God or Ancestral God... which one was it?"


    Fang Yuan remained confused. "Sage Changli has already passed on, and this is a fact. Could the Ancestral God be the spirit of the hollow, since it could possess such a might? Or could it be a spiritual object which the Sage might have collected when he was still alive? Anything could be possible... Such a powerful being like the Sage might be able to leave his consciousness around even after his death to continue to harness his power and might..."


    "However... it is already a fact that he had become a true dragon. Fortunately for me, I have a water dragon pearl which seems to come from the same source. With that split-second of hesitation, I was able to escape with slight injuries... From this, I am sure that this Ancestral God is only a consciousness and does not have a mind of its own..."


    Without further ado, he quickly made his way to the meeting point to rendezvous with the Ye Family sisters.


    ...


    Shortly after they had met up, there was a soft voice in the winds.


    "Hehe... Both of you girls should follow me. What does that youngster know? Does he know how to treat the both of you right?"


    It was Yi Xie''s voice.


    No one knew what special technique he had executed for him to be able to track them all the way here and intercept them.


    Transforming into a black fog, he surrounded the sisters and started to speak in a lustful voice. "Although Fang Yuan''s magical swords are powerful, he has recklessly attacked the headquarters of the Horned Wing Tribe. By now, he should have been heavily injured. Why would I fear him? Hehe... All these headquarters would surely have the protection of their own gods. This is a top-secret piece of information and I''m sure the both of you are clueless about it! This is the difference between a long heritage and a strong foundation... I believe that even your Ye Family would meet your ultimate downfall!"


    "Stupid Yi, you seem gentlemanly, but do you really think the both of us are clueless as to your cultivation methods?"


    A glittering butterfly started to flap its wings amidst the black fog, protecting the two girls. With a voice filled with hatred, Ye Shuhua shouted. "Even if we have to die, we will not submit to you!"


    "If you are rejecting my kind offer, then I shall have to force you!"


    Yi Xie''s eyes glistened. "Even though the both of you might still be virgins... let''s see how long can the both of you last after experiencing my Colourful Lustful Fog!"


    As he spoke, his black fog quickly transformed into a colourful glow.


    In the colourful fog, the girls'' expression started to change. Tears started to well up in their eyes as their breathing became rapid. Their faces slowly became flushed, as though they were intoxicated.


    "How dare you!"


    Seeing this, Fang Yuan was enraged as he quickly sliced the Sundering Thunder Sword towards the fog.


    "Whoosh!"


    With a few streaks of lightning, the fog dispersed.


    "Eh... how could you have retreated with no injuries?"


    Yi Xie was still the handsome middle-aged man he always was. Seeing that something was not right, he continued to execute his technique and in addition, he pointed a finger at Fang Yuan. "Rise!"


    "Rumble!"


    The black fog started to thicken and black statues began appearing around Fang Yuan. They were ferocious looking and their eyes were bloodshot.


    "Roar! Roar!"


    Amidst the roaring of beasts, a mysterious array was formed.


    "Forming an array with his thoughts! A dream array master?"


    Fang Yuan still had to spend effort in arranging the swords into the array. However, with the snap of his fingers, Yi Xie had created an array without any effort in making arrangements. This was the special ability of dream array masters!


    "That''s right... My 4 Evils Ultimate Array can undergo 72 changes. Even if you might break it, I still have the 8 Ghosts Sealing Array and the 9 Child Ghost Mother Array waiting for you. How long do you think you can last?"


    Yi Xie was indeed powerful, and he let out a cold laugh. "I can feel that you seem to be hiding a lot of things. I shall kill you before slowly searching your body..."

 326 Evil Force

    "There''s something with me that attracts you?"


    Fang Yuan''s expression changed as he summoned, "3 Talents Sword Array, arise!"


    "Chi! Chi!"


    The water, fire and thunder swords emerged as a sword array was summoned within the 4 Evils Ultimate Array.


    The sword essence was piercingly fierce and threatened the evil spirits. The black-coloured beast was enveloped in it at once and turned into powder.


    "Using an array to defeat an array?"


    Yi Xie was slightly amused and sneered, "Such a half-baked array and you dare to display it?"


    "Heeheehee!"


    "Hahaha!"


    On Yi Xie''s body, 9 streams of black energy appeared and turned into ghostly spirits of babies which laughed eerily non-stop. The 9 spirits dived into the black fog.


    Immediately, another powerful array was cast, it was the 9 Child Ghost Mother Array!


    Although Yi Xie was belittling Fang Yuan, he was actually wary of him and immediately displayed his killer move!


    "Be careful..." Ye Shuhua warned.


    Within the colourful butterflies, Ye Shuhua''s determined voice could be heard, "This array is very sinister and powerful, it is formed from 9 tainted spirits! It can severely corrode and damage magical equipment!"


    "There''s no point talking now!"


    Yi Xie chortled, streaks of black-green energy appeared and corroded the sword essence. It had even spread to the sword''s body itself.


    "Thunder sword!"


    Fang Yuan made use of his spiritual will and the thunder sword coruscated with lightning. The black-green energy was purified from the thunder sword. However, the water and fire swords were not able to withstand the black-green energy.


    "Last time, when the 3 Talents Sword Array was broken, the body of the divine swords were also damaged? Thus, if I explode the sword essence, these filths would be gone at once..."


    Fang Yuan knew that the swords were powerful as they had previously fought against 10 Illusionary Divine dream masters and were also attacked by dragon claws before. However, Fang Yuan had a sense that the swords'' powers were no longer at their strongest.


    The most obvious clue was the fact that the dream elemental force in his actualised dream world was depleting at an alarming rate. It had already dropped to a very critical level.


    "Doesn''t matter if it''s a normal dream master, a dream master at the Illusionary Divine stage or a dream master at the Prominent Divine stage, their main cultivation was to forge magical energy through harnessing dream elemental force from the dream realm to create numerous things... At this moment, I can''t believe my dream elemental force has become insufficient!" Fang Yuan thought.


    Since he had fought with so many similarly powerful people, this naturally happened.


    "If I explode the three swords now, I still can break out of this 9 Child Ghost Mother Array and escape with the power of the Modest Wind Sword... Whereas, for the Ye sisters, they can only rely on themselves!" Fang Yuan came to the conclusion of escaping after pondering for a moment.


    "Once I recover, Yi Xie will be no match for me!"


    He waved his right hand and an illusionary green-coloured windy sword essence appeared. It was agile and nimble.


    "3 Talents Sword, explode!"


    If they were normal magical soldiers, Fang Yuan would have greatly cherished and valued them.


    However, for dream soldier masters, once they were successfully formed, even if they were damaged, they could easily be recovered with dream elemental force. Thus, Fang Yuan was naturally not parsimonious and used this move readily.


    "Kaboom!"


    "Kaboom!"


    "Kaboom!"


    The three swords exploded and a shocking red and blue light mixed with lightning dazzled as they spread


    "Ahh... I will fight till the end, 9 Child Ghost Mother, appear!"


    Yi Xie''s hair was in a mess. He bit his tongue and spat out a mouthful of vital blood.


    In the array, 9 ghastly green ghost babies appeared and combined into one, forming a horrifying and disturbing shape which surrounded Fang Yuan.


    "Heeheeee!"


    Once the Ghost Mother appeared, a destructive and baleful force could be felt. The astounding sword essence shot to the skies.


    Flame, frost, lightning...


    An agglomeration of ripples spread across the surroundings and even ripped a layer off the ground.


    A mushroom cloud rose and once the dust settled, a large crater was left at the original spot.


    Although the Ye sisters'' butterflies were powerful and they were not at the centre of the explosion, they were still flung far away. Their butterfly defence was broken and both of them were unconscious.


    "Dead? Unlikely!"


    Fang Yuan tensed his lips, walked forward two steps and looked at the centre of the crater.


    "Bang!"


    The upper layer of soil blasted off and Yi Xie emerged from it. The corner of his lips was bleeding and his shirt was broken, he was extremely ravaged.


    "Things are bad..."


    Fang Yuan became tense as he saw Yi Xie.


    Although Yi Xie appeared ravaged, it was merely minor injuries for him. Whereas, Fang Yuan had already used up all his moves.


    "Time to leave!" Fang Yuan thought as a green-coloured wind appeared beside to bring him away.


    "Don''t think about escaping!"


    Yi Xie''s eyes were bloodshot, he turned into a stream of light and charged forward. With a wave of his hands, a black rope appeared. Yi Xie was relentless; he was determined to have Fang Yuan dead.


    "If we were to fight, even though my dream elemental force is almost fully depleted, my Giant Eagle Metal Body Technique has not been used at all yet..."


    Fang Yuan squinted his eyes and challenged, "Since you are courting death, I will let you die!"


    Even if he was forced into such a predicament, he could still breakthrough to the 4th Tier of Illusionary Divine in the middle of the battle by using the heavenly energy which he kept in his actualised dream world!


    This was his last card up his sleeve, it was not supposed to be easily used.


    But since Yi Xie was courting death, Fang Yuan decided to kill him.


    "Hand it over!"


    Yi Xie roared, "I feel... there''s something I want in your body! It''s even clearer now! Once I have it, I will definitely be able to advance to the 4th Tier of Illusionary Divine!"


    "Advance to the 4th Tier of Illusionary Divine... could it be..."


    Fang Yuan felt uneasy and looked at his own body.


    He just realised there was a layer of dark red glow on his body.


    In his actualised dream world, as the dream elemental force was almost fully depleted, streaks of evil forces appeared and became stronger. They had a dream-like power.


    "The evil force from the Illusionary World of the Three World Mountain!"


    Fang Yuan''s expression turned awful at once, "After I depleted my dream elemental force and lost the power of my divine swords, this happens?"


    "Smack!"


    Fang Yuan could not spend so long thinking, his eagle claw grabbed the black rope and his palm was scalding hot. It was as though it was being seared by flames.


    "Hand over the thing now!"


    Yi Xie screamed crazily as he whipped the black rope.


    An evil devouring force reached his palm and was incredibly corrosive.


    "What an evil weapon!"


    At that moment, even Fang Yuan''s martial art elemental force could not protect Fang Yuan''s palm. Under the corrosive force of the black rope, both his palms rotted and blood oozed out.


    "Heehee... this Soul Devouring Rope is powered by my dream elemental force. Once it sticks to its prey, the prey will definitely die!"


    Yin Xie laughed wickedly, "If you don''t want to turn into a pile of pus, quickly hand over the thing I want!"


    "You want it? Fine, I will give it to you!"


    A ruthless energy grew from the bottom of Fang Yuan''s heart which caused him to gave up on trying to escape. He suppressed his thoughts of breaking through and the blood-red glow on his body became even stronger.


    "This evil force is like a nuisance to me, but since you want it so much, I shall give it to you!" Fang Yuan guffawed as his voice turned darker.


    In an instant, a layer of bloody glow emerged from Fang Yuan''s palm and Yi Xie''s dream elemental force disintegrated at once. The blood-red glow spread along the black rope and reached Yi Xie''s palms.


    "This is... heavenly evil force! You have Heavenly Evil Dream Elements in your body?! Ahhh..."


    Yi Xie let out a bloodcurdling scream as both his hands wizened at once, it was as though his blood and flesh disappeared in an instant.


    "Let go... quickly let go!" Yi Xie shrieked as he was panic-stricken.


    Whereas Fang Yuan had accurately felt this evil force''s joy, it was as though it finally found its delicious prey and was greedily devouring the opponent''s everything.


    "Spare me... spare my life..."


    Yi Xie''s eyes were filled with terror. He could not let go of both of his hands as he instead became the Soul Devouring Rope''s sacrificial offering. Slowly, his arms, shoulders, chest, et cetera wizened.


    Once the flesh on his cheeks disappeared, he became a blood red skeleton.


    "Crackle Crackle!"


    A bright red blaze engulfed his corpse. Immediately, the entire dream master was gone. Even the hollow could not snatch it in time.


    "Heavenly evil force? Heavenly Evil Dream Element has become stronger?"


    Before Yi Xie perished, Fang Yuan wanted to stop. However, the evil force was so strong and adherent that it could not be let go.


    At that moment, once the flames extinguished, Fang Yuan felt that an evil force stronger than before had returned to him. Furthermore, it felt extremely filling.


    The evil force entered his actualised dream world and settled down. Streaks of mercury-like dream elemental force appeared and the dark red streaks could no longer be seen.


    "Horrifying!"


    Although it defeated his powerful opponent and even recovered his injuries, Fang Yuan was not even slightly happy at it.


    "This elemental force is indeed a type of dream elemental force. Heavenly evil force? Too bad Yi Xie has already died, if not, I could have asked him..."


    He felt that this force did not rely on his actions and had its own will.


    Obviously, Fang Yuan could not allow such an uncontrollable force to be present in his dream world, especially one that came from a dead person!"


    "Once I leave, this hidden danger must be settled immediately!"


    He glanced at the battlefield. Yi Xie was long gone, his flesh and elemental force were fully devoured and there was not even a piece of cloth left behind. The only thing left behind was the black rope.


    At the side of the battlefield, the Ye sisters were still unconscious. The elder sister held on tightly to a piece of jade. The jade had a layer of clear glow to it which forcefully protected the sisters.


    "Unconscious until now? It is a form of blessing!"


    Upon a closer look, Fang Yuan realised they were really in a coma. He sighed as his intentions to kill them faded.


    What happened earlier on was too bizarre. If these two ladies saw it, he would have to kill them both. However, since they were unconscious, he no longer had to.


    "Hmm... the two of them are fine, just that their sea of consciousness were disturbed when I exploded my magical soldiers just now. If they were outside, I can just leave them to sleep and recover, but inside here..."


    Fang Yuan took the jade and formed two flowers made of water. He sprinkled the water onto the two sisters as two streams of dream elemental force transferred to them.


    The two ladies were not severely injured and these were enough.


    "Ahh!"


    Ye Shuhua shrieked and opened her eyes, she scratched her head and said, "My head hurts... where''s Yi Xie?"


    "Sister!"


    Ye Shumin hugged herself and said, "Why am I wet? It''s so cold!"


    "You..."


    Ye Shuhua rolled her eyes at Fang Yuan. She realised both of them were revealed to Fang Yuan. She quickly blocked her sister''s body and shrieked, "No looking!"

 327 Hidden Dragon

    Ye Shuhua didn''t say anything at first, hence Fang Yuan didn''t really notice much.


    However, after taking a good look, he couldn''t help but nod to himself, "Not bad, not bad, they''re of a decent size. Especially the sister¡­...I never thought..."


    "You..."


    This time, Ye Shuhua was so angry to the point that she didn''t bother hiding her skills. She started to circulate her energy to dry her clothes outright. When her gaze turned to her surroundings, which were in a bad state, she was shocked, "You chased Yi Xie away?"


    "Not chased away, killed!"


    Fang Yuan revealed the black rope in his hands.


    "I never thought... I really never thought..."


    Ye Shuhua''s eyes were filled with shock, "This Yi Xie is rather famous among those in the 3rd Tier of Illusionary Divine Stage. He can form arrays with his mind and also has the assistance of 9 Child Ghost Mother. In the past, he fought against someone in Illusionary Divine Tier 4 and managed to retreat successfully. Who knew that he would die in your hands!"


    "I was just lucky!"


    Fang Yuan waved it off, " we''ll leave as soon as possible once you''ve partially recovered. There has been too big a commotion here. It''s too dangerous!"


    "Ok!"


    Although Ye Shuhua didn''t know that they had already fulfilled the required numbers for the blood ritual, she could remember the mutual deception they had gone through. Hence, she had no trust for dream masters, possibly even less than for members of the Horned Wing Tribe!


    "This time I managed to get a great haul so it''s still good enough. After this, I''ll find some cave to hide in and quietly wait for a powerful being to take control of this Hallow!"


    "Pui!"


    Right after Fang Yuan finished his sentence, Ye Shuhua couldn''t stop herself from saying, "Find a cave... to hide in?"


    "In front of powerful beings, we are all just ants. In order to live, so what if I hide in a cave? I''m only afraid that when the time comes I can''t even hide in one!"


    Once he was done, Fang Yuan swiftly left with a disappointed expression on his face.


    On the other hand, the hairs on Ye Shuhua''s arms instantly stood up and she gazed towards the skies.


    The blood-red hue had already covered most of the sky while small black cracks began to appear and spread outwards.


    "This... This isn''t taking control of this Hollow; it''s tearing the place apart right?"


    Her lips slowly parted and disbelief appeared on her face, "Why is this happening?"


    "I''m afraid it can''t be helped!"


    Fang Yuan remembered that Tianmu Mountain was just nearby and a serious look flashed in his eyes.


    ...


    Da Qian World, Tianmu Mountain.


    The originally grand peak had already been split through the centre, almost as though as something had squeezed it to the point of breaking.


    In the skies, cracks started to appear and spread, reflecting the situation in the Hollow in it.


    "The sky is cracking! The sky is cracking!"


    At the nearby large city, people said their goodbyes and left, gazing towards the sky. Some knelt and prayed while others fled towards the Jade Capital with fear written all over their face.


    Cultivators were also among them.


    Everyone knew that cultivators were much more knowledgeable, but at this point in time, they were even more afraid.


    With this sort of situation, some higher powers must have clashed with each other. One did not have to look far for the horrific example of what happened to the Divine Lotus Cult, hence who would dare to gamble with their lives?


    Thus, they brought their whole families, including all young and old, to flee to the Jade Capital.


    Three beams of light appeared above the clouds and they looked towards a large, grand, and almost demonic figure with expressions of fear on their faces, "Lord Hidden Dragon? Are you going to start an all-out war with us?"


    The Old Mother of Tianmu asked with an ugly look on her face.


    "Just the likes of you can''t represent the Five Great Alliances!"


    Lord Hidden Dragon only appeared as a shadow but it could cover the entire sky and sun and had an oppressing aura. Its voice had an unusual charisma about it, "For someone at my cultivation level, what''s the purpose of lying to you? Your five great factions only begrudgingly joined forces for this Hollow, and the Prominent Divine Stage dream masters will only sit in the back lines at the very most, not even coming to the front lines!"


    "Indeed... After you defected to the Imperial Court, you''ve become more shameless than before!"


    Elder Smelter and Old Xue looked at each other, speechless.


    Lord Hidden Dragon, the Head of the Hidden Dragon Guards, was a true Prominent Divine Stage powerful being! To others, he could be called the creator! A Sage!


    However, for a Hollow, he actually sent a magical clone over.


    If they knew about this in advance, they would have asked the top experts in their ranks to attack!


    But now it was too late!


    ''Although I have the ability to cross worlds, I cannot be disturbed while doing so... Now that Lord Hidden Dragon has personally come forward, releasing energy from a distance has become impossible!''


    Elder Smelter''s mind moved quickly, "It''s just a Hollow, so why does it seem like the Imperial Palace will stop at nothing to obtain it?!"


    Producing a Prominent Divine Stage expert required aptitude, determination, and luck. It would already be very good to be able to produce a dream master at the 7th Tier of Illusionary Divine Stage even with the complete inheritance of Sage Changli, much less if one only had a Hollow.


    At this moment, Old Mother of Tianmu and co. looked at each other and reached the same conclusion, "No matter what, the Imperial Court must not obtain this Hollow! Even if we destroy it!"


    "I''m afraid that there are secrets that I have not decrypted in this Changi Hollow!"


    Elder Smelter roared, "Let''s attack together. Our opponent is just a magical clone. I don''t believe that he would come here personally!"


    "You guys¡­... really want to fight me? Are you not afraid that you will die here?"


    Lord Hidden Dragon grinned, "Don''t forget, we''re close to the Jade Capital! Even if you ask your alliance for help now, which of our sides will arrive faster?"


    This was the geographical advantage.


    Old Mother of Tian Mu and co. were stunned. They couldn''t think of anything else other than hate on the appearance of the Changli Hollow at this location


    "Dao Friend Hidden Dragon... Why do you have to appear in person for this small fight between the young ones? Wouldn''t that be a little embarrassing?"


    At this moment, a crisp voice echoed down from the heavens. Rainbow coloured clouds appeared with the silhouette of a green imperial chariot above them.


    Dragons and phoenixes danced and two rows of servant boys and girls played the drums and blew reed pipes. Purple energy shot towards the heavens, reaching thousands of metres high.


    "It''s another magical clone of a Sage!"


    Elder Smelting and Old Xue stared at one another with a suspecting look in their eyes.


    "So it''s Lord Yin!"


    Lord Hidden Dragon chuckled, "My imperial court might have large territories and great industries, but its expenditure is great as well, so I can''t do things as extravagantly as you do and have to be a little more prudent... You want to fight over this sort of small benefits with me?"


    "Originally... I was going to pass on this Hollow to give you some face. However, great intelligence may appear to be stupidity. On the surface, you seemed to be insulting yourself, but actually, you were insulting others, so I must come to fight with you over it!"


    When Sages hatch schemes, while they did not know the past and future completely, they could get a clear idea of the general flow of events.


    The ploy of baiting one''s opponents with a show of weakness wouldn''t work at all.


    Lord Hidden Dragon remained silent, this being the first time he felt that things were steering beyond his control.


    "Lord?"


    Two figures behind him asked. Despite being at the 7th Tier of Illusionary Divine Stage, they were just insignificant servant boys.


    "Inform King Qian to assemble the men and get ready for an all-out war!"


    Lord Hidden Dragon directly sent out the message, "This Hollow is extremely important. Even though all dream masters research into the mystery of the source, Sage Changli, who has not reveal his knowledge in this area, is possibly the person closest to the truth. This previous information must not be obtained by the enemy!"


    "Source... The source of dream masters'' powers, that world of the legends?! Sage Changli actually found traces of it?"


    The two figures only then realised what was going on, and a chill ran down their spine, "We understand!"


    ...


    Rumble!


    Mountains collapsed and the ground split open; floodwaters clashed against molten lava!


    Inside the Changli Hollow, the ground cracked, earthquakes, hurricanes, volcanoes... All sorts of natural disasters burst forth in an instant, giving everyone the impression that the end of the world had come.


    In reality, to this small Hollow, it was really armageddon!


    "Go!"


    A rock the size of a small hill landed and the Ye family sisters stared at it blankly without daring to make a single step.


    In that crucial moment, Fang Yuan''s body turned into lightning and he grabbed the both of them while flying out of the affected area.


    Rumble!


    Behind him, a loud noise rang out. Shards of rocks flew everywhere, each of them not weaker than the hundred kilogram rocks used for sieging a city.


    "Kill!"


    Fang Yuan''s eyes turned cold as he calculated where to step. Waving his hands, two streams of fire and water sword essence were produced, which cut the giant rock into two.


    Crack!


    Web-like cracks appeared on the surface of the ground, and underneath them, dark red lava bubbled as though as it was a frothing river.


    Suddenly, a pillar of fire shot into the sky, bringing with it a fountain of lava. This ignited the plants around, causing a giant forest fire.


    "This¡­...What is going on?"


    Once the three of them fled to the edge of a large lake, Yu Shuhua asked in a shocked state.


    "The Hollow is collapsing. Can''t you notice something this obvious?"


    Fang Yuan was frustrated as he retorted with a question of his own.


    "Impossible!"


    Ye Shuhua shook her head, "Even if others started fighting with the royal family outside, the many lords don''t have the power to destroy the Hollow...Unless..."


    "Unless it''s a creator, a Sage that made a move!"


    Fang Yuan coldly replied.


    "Elder sister... I''m so afraid!"


    At the side, Ye Shumin grabbed her elder sister''s sleeves tightly while she was distraught.


    "Since the Hollow is collapsing, these calamities are simply an appetiser¡­...The true test has yet to come! Regardless whether it''s the wind of destruction or the spatial tears, we''ll die if we meet either of them!"


    Giving out a long breath, Fang Yuan added on, "Now our only hope is that the Prominent Divine Stage powerful being''s side will emerge victorious quickly and take control of the Hollow completely, then perhaps we might have the chance to live!"


    "Impossible!"


    Ye Shuhua gazed at the frothing surface of the lake while smiling bitterly, "This Changli Hollow is very close to the Jade Capital so the Imperial Court has the geographical advantage while out Five Great Alliance can''t even maintain an appearance of peace for long. Perhaps they are even in conflicts with each other, hence it''s impossible for them to be united. Otherwise, would there still be any issues with the Imperial Court?"


    "That''s bad!"


    Fang Yuan guffawed, "The Sage is like a giant crocodile and if it swallows this piece of fat meat by taking control of the Hollow, we will be reduced to powder!"


    "This is the worst case scenario, so what we experience shouldn''t be that bad right?"


    Ye Shuhua meekly asked. Even she did not have much confidence in her question.


    ¡­...


    "Demon!"


    At the center of the Hollow, in a cluster of buildings that were over a hundred times more majestic and beautiful than anything that existed before, six Horned Wing Tribe members were jolted awake. They gazed at the breaking sky, roaring in rage.


    Their figures were tall and perfect with four pairs of wings on their back. The feathers on their wings had a slight tinge of gold and their horns looked like they were made of pure gold.


    As the sound waves propagated, a terrifying amount of energy spread outwards, stabilising the palace of many kilometres in radius.


    "The Hallow is shattering. The grand tribulation that the Sage prophesied has come!"


    They looked at each other, and all of them were very determined, "The treasures that the Sage left behind must not be taken by the demons from the outside!"

 328 Influence

    "There''s no other choice, we can only awaken the Ancestral God as our last form of resistance! Once the hollow falls apart, we shall each escape with a portion of the treasures!"


    As the key leaders of the hollow, these members of the Golden Horned Wing Tribe immediately understood what was happening and planned accordingly.


    "Kaboom!"


    A gigantic hexagram appeared on the ground, its centre was the palace''s Ancestral God Hall.


    Immediately, a serene aura could be felt. It was as though something that was in 10,000 years of deep sleep had suddenly awoken.


    "Ancestral God, please complete your last duties!"


    Six members of the Golden Horn Winged Tribe kneeled down as tears flowed down their faces. In an instant, they turned into six streams of meteors and flew into the horizons.


    "Don''t think about leaving!"


    Suddenly, the world paused for a moment.


    Even the destruction of the hollows seemed to stop for a moment.


    In the skies, numerous cracks merged together and formed into the shape of a door.


    A dainty jade hand emerged from this gigantic indescribable door.


    Just with this palm, the door seemed to collapse as it could not withstand it.


    The jade white hand pointed lightly and one of the golden meteors was stopped. The Golden Horned Wing Tribe member in it bellowed, "Demon!"


    As it bellowed, numerous golden flames blazed from its body which formed a small sphere.


    However, in an instant, the jade white hand broke space-time and appeared beside the Golden Horned Wing. Even as it tried to escape or defend, it was all useless, the jade white hand touched the area between its eyebrows.


    "Kacha! Kacha!"


    He floated in the mid-air and suddenly, his body cracked like it was made out of porcelain. Between the cracks, a golden liquid slowly seeped out.


    "Boom!"


    Under the explosion, this Golden Horned Wing Tribe member turned into powder.


    A bit of light emerged from its body and was grabbed by the jade white hand immediately. The jade white hand was elated and went for the other golden coloured meteors at once.


    "Where do you think you all are going!"


    A green lightning split the skies as a similar green-coloured arm emerged from it. The green arm grabbed one of the meteors and crushed it into pieces.


    "Ancestral God!!!"


    The remaining four meteors let out a sorrowful wail.


    "Roar!"


    The palace below crumbled as a bedazzling and bright golden light shot up to the skies and turned into a golden dragon.


    Its antlers resembled those of a stag, its neck that of a snake, its belly that of a clam and its scales those of a carp. There were four claws on its abdomen and each claw had five toes. There was an inverse scale below its neck, it was indeed a five-clawed true dragon!


    As it saw the hollow crumbling and turning into ashes, coupled with the grisly sight of the two dead members of the Golden Horned Wing Tribe, it let out a loud roar.


    "Woong! Wooong!"


    Large amounts of power from the hollows gathered around its body which formed large heavenly clouds.


    The dragon was interconnected with the surroundings!


    Once the five-clawed golden dragon appeared, the whole hollow momentarily went back to normal. It displayed its shocking might.


    At that moment, the true dragon''s eyes had a hint of blood-red in it as he looked at the owner of the two huge hands.


    "Eh... just a transformed spirit of the hollow! What''s there to be afraid of?"


    The two huge hands sent out a wave of force, it obviously did not undermine the true dragon.


    The spirit of the hollow had complete authority over the hollow, it could harness the energy of the hollow to suppress outsiders. Even Illusionary Divine dream masters at the 7th Tier would be wary inside the spirit''s home ground.


    "The spirit of the hollow''s power is only limited to inside the hollow, the hollow is crumbling, what''s there left?"


    A fearsome force from the outside was tearing apart the hollow, Changli Mountain Hollow was collapsing at an even faster pace.


    "Roar!"


    The true dragon was majestic, its body was protected by the heavenly clouds. It blocked the two huge hands and allowed the remaining Horned Wing Tribe members to evacuate.


    "Ancestral God... hollow... tribe members..."


    The four remaining Golden Horned Wing Tribe contained their tears as they could only fly farther.


    "Kaboom!"


    Suddenly, black fog gathered at one point of the horizon and turned into a huge black-coloured hand. Its fingers were like mountains and grasped one of the Golden Horned Wing Tribe member, "The two of you are too slow! Since I am here, I have to rip this hollow apart!"


    "Kaboom!"


    The moment the voice spoke finished, a tremendous force from outside caused part of the hollow to immediately disintegrate, it was as though it was bitten off.


    "Roar!"


    One of the heavenly clouds on the five-clawed golden dragon''s body disappeared.


    As it faced the three humongous hands that covered the skies, his power slightly weakened.


    "Haha... small dragon, you better obediently surrender and call me master! I may even spare your pathetic life!"


    A terrorising thought emerged and viciously suppressed the true dragon.


    Suddenly, the five-clawed golden dragon''s eyes fully turned blood-red. He turned in a circle and encircled the three huge hands, there was a destructive atmosphere in the air.


    "D*mn it! This spirit of the hollow would rather self-destruct for his cause!"


    A slightly exasperated voice could be heard. Immediately, a shocking explosion happened.


    The explosion shot to the skies, the wave of destruction was extensive and cracks appeared in space. Only a few meteors were intentionally protected as they were sent out of the area to beyond the horizons.


    As the hollows trembled, blood rain fell from the skies signifying the sorrows of the land.


    Immediately, it was as though the hollow lost its core strength that kept it together. Large fissures emerged as the entire hollow began to break apart and disintegrate.


    ...


    "This... What''s happening?"


    Even Fang Yuan and the Ye sisters experienced the impactful force.


    The blood rain also brought about a feeling of inauspiciousness.


    "Blood rain falls from the sky evoking the sorrows of the land... the spirit of the hollow has died..."


    Ye Shuhua''s face turned ashen at once, "If he was merely subdued, this wouldn''t happen... Indeed, it was a brawl between the sages..."


    Those below the Prominent Divine dream masters were merely nobodies, she obviously had no confidence in surviving.


    "You forgot the most important thing! Once the spirit dies, what will happen?"


    Fang Yuan clenched his teeth.


    "The hollow will disintegrate?!"


    Once Ye Shuhua spoke, an earthquake more than ten times stronger than the previous ones could be felt.


    Furthermore, this time around, not only did the lands crumbled, space too!


    The obliterating storm began to brew in the hollow.


    Space was shattered into pieces as pieces of land was being thrown into the storm of chaos.


    "Dead, we are so dead!"


    Ye Shuhua despaired as she looked at such a scene.


    "There is actually a solution..."


    Fang Yuan stared into the fathomless void and he had an idea, "We can''t wait for this entire land to be ripped apart by this space obliterating storm! We have to jump out first!"


    "You are saying... true form dream traverse?"


    Ye Shuhua was clever, she immediately understood.


    "Indeed... if this was like the usual, once we dream traverse with our true form, if there were no coordinates of other realms nor protection from rare treasures, we would be turned into powder! Whereas this Changli Mountain Hollow is different since it is not a realm but a part of Da Qian Empire, there is a huge possibility that we would be sent to Da Qian. I think there''s a 70% chance of success that is worth a gamble!" Fang Yuan rapidly suggested.


    The hollow was crumbling, they would have died if they stayed there. If they took the risk, they still had a chance of survival.


    "I guess that''s the only way!"


    Ye Shuhua clenched her teeth, "We''ll do it together!"


    "Of course..."


    With the protection of the sword essence, Fang Yuan also fully utilised his Golden Metal Body as they went against storm and arrived at the verge of the land.


    At that moment, the boiling lava had already disappeared. What was left was only the silver coloured storm.


    Rocks, water currents and even living things were all sucked into the storm. The destruction left behind an eerie silence.


    "We must avoid the closest storm and throw ourselves into the calmer void further away!"


    Ye Shuhua hugged her sister and clenched her teeth.


    As she was talking, a loud boom could be heard as the land they were on tremored heavily and separated away towards the void.


    "There''s no more time, hurry!"


    Fang Yuan whipped out his sword and carved out a piece of rock. He and the Ye sisters rode on top of it.


    "Huuu! Hruuuu!"


    Pieces of this huge rock melted away as it met the storm.


    Fang Yuan held the sisters tightly as he suddenly jumped and turned into a stream of sword radiance. He dashed across the storm quickly and entered the dark space.


    Immediately, a terrifying force surged and torn apart the three of them. It was like a powerful torrent which caused them to be unable to control their own bodies.


    In an instant, the three of them were separated inside the turbulence.


    "The void''s turbulence is indeed horrifying, it is a totally different feeling from what an elemental clone would experience..."


    Fang Yuan felt the weightlessness and as he felt powerless inside the void, it made him clenched his fist and thought, "One day... I will make sure even this void cannot restrict me!"


    Moments later, a powerful force could be felt.


    He opened his eyes wide and saw a golden meteor entered the void rapidly.


    "That''s..."


    Inside the golden radiance, there was a Golden Horned Wing Tribe member which had four pairs of golden wings.


    "Two pairs of wings was equivalent to an Illusionary Divine dream master at the 4th Tier... then this winged beast?"


    Fang Yuan''s hair stood at once.


    However, this member of the Golden Horned Wing Tribe did not bother about Fang Yuan at all. It was using all its strength to flap its wings and fly away, it was as though it was escaping from being killed.


    "You... can''t escape!"


    All of a sudden, Fang Yuan saw a jade white finger chased into the void too.


    There was only one finger, however, it was akin to a sculpture that was beautifully carved out of jade. Its might was fearsome, it even caused the void''s turbulence to retreat.


    This was evidently one of the jade white hand''s finger. However, he did not know why only one finger was left.


    "The treasures left behind by the sage cannot be taken by the evil demons!"


    As the Golden Horned Wing Tribe member hollered, its facial expression was even more resolute and determined.


    "It''s useless!"


    The jade white finger shook lightly and appeared right in front of it.


    "Die!"


    Even the void''s turbulence moved aside as the powerful force resonated.


    "Ahh... I will fight till the end!"


    The Golden Horned Wing Tribe member howled. The horn on his head was lit in golden flames and its whole body turned translucent as a beam of light emerged.


    "You..."


    Suddenly, a shocking explosion could be felt.


    Even though Fang Yuan was not at the epicentre, he spat out a mouthful of blood at once, "Perish together? Wait a minute..."


    He thought of something and immediately took out the water dragon''s pearl. As he focused his elemental force into it, a green coloured water dragon appeared.


    After the explosion, a mysterious glow that appeared tried to escape out of the void. However, due to the influence of the pearl, it entered the water dragon''s pearl and stayed there.


    "It''s successful!"


    Fang Yuan was relieved, however, he was immediately thrown deeper into the void''s turbulence¡­...

 329 The He Family Caravan

    The sun was setting and the wind was chilly.


    As the surroundings became dim, the crows cawed upon a tree as they glared at a person beneath the tree, as though they were waiting for him to rot so that they could feast on him.


    The person flipped over. Although there were blood stains on his face, he appeared young. Suddenly, he opened his eyes and released a streak of white energy from his mouth.


    "Whoosh!"


    "Caw! Caw!"


    The crows shook and a few feathers fell off. They quickly flew away in shock and would not dare to return.


    "Mmm... Although I am injured, I am rather lucky not to have died!"


    This person was Fang Yuan. As he examined himself, he realised that he was severely injured.


    "The 3 magical swords are long destroyed and I will need a lot of dream elemental force to rebuild them. My physical martial artist body has been injured as I travelled through space. I can''t even move a muscle now!"


    He gathered the last of his energy and started to absorb the elemental energy from his surroundings, initiating his recovery.


    "Forget about the 8 Gates Sword Array. This is not the time to use my reserved heavenly energy to achieve a breakthrough. I can slowly recover in the near future. This place seems not too far from civilization. I should prioritize the recovery of my physical body and regain some energy to move before thinking of anything else..."


    Although the hollow was dependent on Da Qian Empire, the disruption and chaos within the hollow would mean that he could possibly end up somewhere else other than Da Qian Empire.


    However, from the spiritual energy around and the geographical features which he could see, the chances that he was in Da Qian Empire was very high.


    "The problem is that I don''t know where I am, and I don''t know about the fight at Changli Mountain Hollow..."


    With this thought, he recalled the ultimatum between the Golden Horned Wing Tribe and the finger of the jade white hand and how he had benefited from it.


    "That mysterious glow might just be the essence of the entire hollow. It was really lucky for me to have absorbed it... Both parties had fought to their deaths and in all that chaos, even the Prominent Divine dream masters would not be able to know. And if anyone attempt to predict what had happened, it would be laughable. The technique of a dream future master would require extreme details before they would be able to make an accurate prediction. Now that everything is in a mess, they would be extremely lucky if they could even start the prediction in the right direction..."


    "Of course, to ensure my safety, the only way is to quickly increase my cultivation level!"


    With a high level of cultivation, one would be able to resist the predictions of dream future masters even without the use of secret techniques or magical weapons. Furthermore, logically speaking, if one had a high level of cultivation and if the dream future master were to attempt to predict one, he would instead experience a backlash!


    "Gallop!"


    On a path, galloping of horses was heard. A caravan slowly made its way towards Fang Yuan.


    "Head, a person is lying beside the road!"


    A front scout quickly came over and shouted his findings. "He still has a breath. With all these abrasions on him, could he have fallen off a cliff?"


    "He is just a mere vagrant. No need to pay any attention to him!"


    The head of the caravan came over and glared at Fang Yuan as though he was a dead man.


    Fang Yuan felt indifferent towards him.


    After all, in this world, there were very few good and bad people. The majority were neutral. Since they were strangers, the head of the caravan had no obligation to help him and would, therefore, prefer to avoid trouble. This was only logical.


    ''I cannot remain here, lying by the roadside...''


    Fang Yuan thought to himself as there was a mysterious look in his eyes. He was prepared to drop hints to make the person before him change his mind.


    "Wait up!"


    As a carriage approached, a young man around 15 years old came out of it. He was wearing a silk robe and his face was full of life. It was evident that he came from a rich family and was brought up with a silver spoon.


    Seeing Fang Yuan, he quickly exclaimed. "We should save him. After all, we are saving a human life. Just take it that our family is accumulating good karma!"


    "What a kind heart, my master!"


    As soon as their Young Master spoke, no one would go against him. Two men started to approach Fang Yuan. "Oh... he''s still able to move?"


    "I''m afraid that my internal organs are damaged and I cannot move at the moment!"


    Fang Yuan replied with a bitter smile.


    "Let''s free up a carriage for him to lie down! We''ll let Old Zhang take a look at him!"


    The consultant instructed a few men to carry out his instructions as he had a worried look on his face.


    As the caravan took a short rest, they quickly resumed their journey. Fang Yuan laid in the carriage and felt a little dizzy from the suffocating confined space. As he focused, he could vaguely hear the conversation that was taking place outside the carriage.


    "Young Master, you''re rather reckless this time.... If he was a passer-by who fell and injured himself, then all is fine. However, Old Zhang had concluded that his limbs were fine and that he had sustained internal injuries! This means that he is likely to be a martial artist! Although we have a Wu Zong in our family, it is ultimately unwise to get ourselves into unnecessary trouble..."


    The consultant spoke in an extremely soft voice. He could never imagine that Fang Yuan would be able to hear what he had just said.


    "Uncle He, I''ve thought of this as well... However, it must be fate that we encounter him! Who can explain fate? Who knows, we might need his help in the future!"


    The young man''s voice was heard. He did not rescue Fang Yuan out of kindness, but although he might be thinking of making use of Fang Yuan''s help in the future, his act was good enough. Fang Yuan remained indifferent and continued to focus on his breathing.


    "Since I am being rescued, I don''t have to recover in a rush. I should slowly restore my foundations first to get rid of any hidden injuries which I might not have detected..."


    From all the fighting that he had gotten himself involved, to the chaotic scene before the hollow collapsed, all of these were insignificant to Fang Yuan. He had only sustained all these injuries because of the ultimatum between the two parties and the pressure that he had undergone from forcefully re-entering Da Qian Empire.


    "Lord, it''s time to eat!"


    After half a day, the carriage doors opened. A servant with a bun on her head served a box of food. "I''m Little Ju! Young Master has instructed for me to bring you food!"


    As he opened the box, the fragrance of food filled the air. It was porridge with minced meat, and just the smell of it was enough to make anyone salivate.


    "Are you... really unable to move your hands?"


    Little Ju looked at Fang Yuan and was on her guard.


    "It''s not that. I just feel an excruciating pain whenever I move my hands, and I would feel pain in my entire body as well..."


    Fang Yuan appeared helpless.


    "Alright then!"


    Hering him, Little Ju had no choice but to assist him. She picked up the spoon, scooped up the porridge, blew at it to cool it down before feeding it to Fang Yuan.


    "Thank you!"


    Although it was forced, Fang Yuan smiled. He could not tell her that all he needed was elemental energy from the surroundings and did not require food. However, he still needed physical food for his physical body to recuperate and therefore, he had no choice but to eat.


    ''Although this is normal rice and not spiritual rice, the meat is extremely nourishing and it is not too bad...''


    After two bowls of porridge, he could feel warmth in his stomach. He started to feel more comfortable. "Anything else?"


    "Hehe... this meat is the flesh of a spiritual beast and was specially prepared for Young Master. You''ve already benefited, so what more do you want?"


    Little Ju started to keep the cutlery and took a towel to wipe Fang Yuan''s face. After cleansing him, her face was red with embarrassment. "Who would''ve thought that... you would look so charming?"


    ''Is this servant thinking too much?''


    Fang Yuan secretly rolled his eyes. His appearance was average but he was young. Furthermore, he had experienced a lot and therefore seemed mature for his age. It was not something that Young Master could have.


    "What a pity..."


    Little Ju seemed to have recalled something. With a sigh, she took the food box and left.


    ''Is it a pity that I am not your Young Master? That''s true too... Servants would want to have the opportunity to get in bed with their young masters and help them give birth to a few children so that they could rely on their children once they become old...''


    Fang Yuan felt that it was rather interesting to think about how the servant''s emotion had changed.


    Since the time when he had learnt martial arts and started on the path to becoming a dream master, he had distanced himself from the lifestyle of normal humans.


    "Hey... Let me tell you guys. The person which Young Master rescued is quite decent-looking..."


    "Could you have fallen for him, Little Ju!"


    "Pui! That''s not true... I think you''re thinking too much!"


    Outside the carriage, chatterings were heard. The few servants sounded bold, which made Fang Yuan speechless.


    ...


    It was nighttime and the caravan was silent.


    Fang Yuan laid lifelessly on the carriage. Suddenly, he could feel the elemental energy in his dantian gathering, making him feel elated. "I just need another day for me to restore enough energy for everything to become as they were before!"


    Suddenly, a hoarse voice was heard. Fang Yuan froze before he started to snicker.


    As the doors to the carriage opened, a black figure entered. It had the appearance resembling a monkey and seemed to be in his thirties.


    The figure was moving about at first. However, as soon as his eyes came into contact with Fang Yuan''s eyes, he froze.


    ''I wanted to steal from him while he is still paralyzed. Brother Zhang has told me that although his clothing seemed tattered, he has a lot of valuables with him... Who would''ve thought that he is awake?''


    After a while, the black figure smiled. "What now? Why not you try moving? Or shouting? Our caravan deserves a reward for rescuing you. It is only reasonable for me to take my share..."


    As he threatened Fang Yuan, the black figure stretched out his hands towards Fang Yuan.


    "You''re courting death!"


    Fang Yuan let out a gentle laugh. Was he really incapable of doing anything considering that his physical body was paralyzed?


    The cultivation of a dream master focused on the mind. If the caravan had ill intentions towards him, in the end, he would not be at the losing end.


    At this point in time, two streaks of glow shot out from his eyes and entered the eyes of the skinny person in front of him.


    The person was stunned and had an unpleasant look on his face.


    Against the bewildering technique of a dream master, even if it was at the most elementary stage, normal people would still become stunned and vulnerable.


    "Your name?"


    "Sun Ergou!"


    "How old are you?"


    "33!"


    "Who is the owner of this caravan? Where is your destination? And... which region are we in?"


    ...


    Since a lab rat came to him voluntarily, Fang Yuan generously accepted Sun Ergou''s assistance as he continued to grill him for answers.


    With a straight face, Sun Ergou spit out everything.


    After a while, Fang Yuan waved his hands and allowed Sun Ergou to leave, as he smiled to himself. "Indeed, we are back in Da Qian!"


    Through the information he had obtained, Fang Yuan now knew that he was in the Cloud Region of Da Qian. It was already thousands of miles away from the Jade Capital. He was fortunate enough to have not ended up in the oceans or vast deserts.


    Furthermore, this was the He Family''s caravan. The true purpose of the caravan was to send their young master to learn martial arts. They had performed a few trades along the way and were headed for the Golden Sun City.


    "Did the young master of He Family... display traits and potential of becoming a dream master?"


    This would surely be a big thing in their family. The entire family had shown their support. This caravan and a few shops in Golden Sun City would chip in to pay for their young master''s training.


    Fang Yuan remained silent. He did not pay particular attention to the young master''s potential previously.


    "In conclusion... there''s nothing much!"


    As he sighed, he recalled the crumbling hollow.


    "The pieces of the crumbled hollow are beneficial to the dream masters at the 7th Tier of the Illusionary Divine stage. Of course... that intense destruction does not seem to be them dividing their share equally, but seemed to be more of a self-destruction by the hollow! Even Sages might not be able to completely contain the hollow... With the pieces of the crumbled hollow exploding in all directions, there might be a few pieces entering Da Qian, and they might form spiritual lands or perilous lands or of their own. I wonder which fortunate or unfortunate person would stumble across these lands..."

 330 Compensation

    "Demon! Die!"


    A member of the Horned Wing Tribe exclaimed as he rushed down.


    "I''ll kill you!"


    On the brink of death, Ruan Junxian gave a cold look as he left his left arm in a vulnerable spot.


    From his right hand, spiritual soldiers started to appear and entered the tribe member''s chest.


    "Chi!"


    Blood spurted everywhere.


    "It seems like you mutated people can bleed as well, and your blood is also red!"


    Ruan Junxian was breathing heavily. The member of the Horned Wing Tribe fell and with its dying breath, it mumbled something. "Demon... I curse all of you!"


    "It''s the survival of the fittest! If you have the ability to curse me, I''ll die with no regrets!"


    Hearing the tribe member cursing at him, Ruan Junxian took in a deep breath. With another slice of his sword, he had beheaded the member of the Horned Wing Tribe.


    "I believe this is the 3rd day since I have entered this secret place!"


    Looking at the surroundings, he let out a sigh.


    After becoming a Wu Zong, he had left Longhu Mountain. However, he did not return to his family, but instead, roamed the land in search of opportunities.


    After leaving a region, he arrived at this county and had encountered something big.


    The White Sun Star had fallen onto the surface of the region, directly altering the geographical features of it! A thousand miles of flatland had instantaneously transformed into a mountain range! In addition, there were scattered plots of spiritual land!


    Naturally, the cultivators among the county would gather around the mountain range. They had engaged in a frantic search for resources and territory within the mountains.


    He was competing with them as well. However, along the way, he started to encounter the mutated race.


    "Or should I say... dream people! A new race created by a dream master in the Prominent Divine stage..."


    Ruan Junxian''s eyes widened. "Based on my investigations, the division ahead is defending a Divine Tree. The ''Qinghua Spiritual Fruit'' which had grown on the tree was rumoured to be able to increase one''s intellectual powers and increase one''s magical proficiency. It is a well-known treasure of the dream masters! If I can obtain that fruit, I would be able to cultivate as a dream master!"


    After seeing Elder Smelter''s might, he started to doubt the path of cultivation of martial artists and spiritual knights.


    In order to make a name for himself in Da Qian and to protect his family, there was only one thing he could do: become an all-mighty dream master!


    No matter how high the cultivation some spiritual knights might be, the nature of their powers would still remain the same.


    "In the past 3 days, I have caused chaos in the surroundings and have gone on a killing spree against this mutated race. They must be the most highly skilled things in the entire division... After their entire defence have been weakened, I will be able to take them on!"


    Although he was injured, there was a burning passion in his eyes.


    "4 days! I can spend another 4 days at most! Once the powerful organisations find this place and send their highly-skilled people, I would not be able to take anything for myself... I shouldn''t be too greedy. After getting the spiritual fruit, I will leave immediately!"


    Thoughts ran through his mind as a look of determination appeared on his face.


    ...


    In the Dream Realm.


    After recuperating, Fang Yuan started to communicate with the realm.


    His figure appeared on the streets. It was illusionary and appeared weak.


    "In the Dream Realm, one''s appearance would be dependent on one''s mental strength and spiritual will..."


    He sighed silently before looking at his inscription plate.


    On it, many messages were blinking. Most of the messages came from 3 sources: The Realm Alliance, The Ye Family sisters, and Liu Mengmei!


    "The Ye Family sisters are fine? It seems that they are rather fortunate as well..."


    After replying to their messages, he took a look at Liu Mengmei''s messages. This lady was indeed conscientious. She claimed that she had already slowly reduced the Divine Lotus Sect''s grudge against him and had already exchanged for the complete version of the 9 Smelting Technique. All that was left was for Fang Yuan to meet up with her to collect the recording.


    Fang Yuan sighed as he thought about how she had helped him.


    All that was left were messages from the Realm Alliance.


    "Hehe..."


    At the thought of the alliance, Fang Yuan chuckled.


    Previously, Elder Smelter had sent him as a sacrifice by using a delivery mission as an excuse. This was infuriating for Fang Yuan.


    "If they do not offer me any compensation of sorts, then it is not worth it to continue staying in the Realm Alliance!"


    Although the agreement was to train him up and that he had benefited quite a lot from the hollow, the alliance was still too overboard in doing this to him.


    As soon as he saw the person contacting him, he was surprised. "Who would''ve thought that he would represent the Realm Alliance to contact me!"


    After a moment of silence, he replied to the message.


    "Haha... Brother, you have finally returned! I''ve been worrying about you!"


    Not long alter, a middle-aged man in green robes appeared. His body was surrounded by a colourful pill''s essence. It was Feng Xinzi.


    "Haha, I want to congratulate Brother Feng for finally achieving what you have wished for, which is the 4th Tier of Illusionary Divine!"


    Fang Yuan greeted Feng Xinzi.


    The person in front of him was Feng Xinzi, who had placed himself in isolation.


    His spiritual aura had become much more mysterious than before, and the pill energy around him had a hint of spiritual property. It was obvious that he had already achieved a breakthrough and had entered the 4th Tier!


    The 4th Tier of Illusionary Divine meant that one would be able to create spirituality and was a significant stage on its own.


    After crossing this stage, Feng Xinzi would become one of the most powerful dream alchemy masters in Da Qian.


    "Furthermore... he had achieved his breakthrough in a peaceful environment. However, I would need to risk my life outside. This is the difference in our predicaments..."


    Fang Yuan silently sighed to himself.


    There was a surging energy at Feng Xinzi''s forehead. It seemed like after his breakthrough, he had an equivalent rise in his rank within the Realm Alliance. He not only had the increase in his level of rights but also had some unofficial rewards.


    "I owe this to you!"


    As Feng Xinzi spoke, he walked with Fang Yuan and both of them arrived at the Realm Alliance Mountain. Casually, he opened a small hall, boiled some water, prepared tea and invited Fang Yuan to sit. "All thanks to the alliance, I have advanced to become a 5th Leaf Cultivator and with that comes added convenience!"


    Even if he did not reveal this to Fang Yuan, Fang Yuan would have found it out on his own and therefore, there was no need to hide.


    As he poured a cup of tea for Fang Yuan, he smiled. "I was previously unaware of what happened at Changli Mountain Hollow. Fortunately, you are a lucky person. Not just that... you seem to have luck in other areas as well! The two beautiful sisters of Ye Family seem to be very interested in news regarding your whereabouts!"


    Feng Xinzi smiled, teasing Fang Yuan.


    Very quickly, his expression changed again. "To speak the truth... the Ye Family is a powerful family with a heritage stretching back to many years ago. Although they have fallen and have encountered difficulties, the two sisters are still worthy of being your wife. Which of them would you prefer?"


    ''Indeed... As one rises up the hierarchy, one would always talk about worthy of marriage. Are they for real...''


    Fang Yuan remained calm. "I only helped them because they are also members of the alliance. I have no feelings for both of them. As for what had happened, what does the alliance intend to do?"


    Hearing him, Feng Xinzi sighed.


    At this stage, all of them would only talk about their interests and would not pay any attention to all that didn''t matter. If he were to continue being hypocritical, Fang Yuan might just leave.


    To make matters worse, Elder Smelter had also assigned him a mission of his own. This meant that Feng Xinzi was conflicted.


    "Take this... as a rare opportunity! Of course... whatever is yours will be given to you by the alliance! The alliance will credit you with 1,000 contribution points and increase your level of rights by 1, advancing you to become a 3rd Leaf Cultivator. How''s that?"


    Feng Xinzi remained silent for a while before laying out the conditions.


    "Alright!"


    Fang Yuan nodded his head.


    To think about it, what else could he do? If he were to remain unsatisfied and complain, he would turn the relationship with the alliance sour and his reward might even be reduced. He knew that there was a darker side to the alliance!


    The only thing he could do was to remember this day and take his revenge in the future!


    "Very well!"


    Feng Xinzi let out a heavy breath. It was already considered good for him to treat Fang Yuan like this.


    As for what would happen in the future, Feng Xinzi did not give any thoughts about it. Even if the person before him was a talent, he would still have to train for a long time before achieving the 4th Tier of the Illusionary Divine stage! To take things further, it would not be as simple as being talented for him to achieve the 7th Tier.


    With the wave of his hands, a streak of message appeared in mid-air. It quickly flew into Fang Yuan''s inscription plate and the transaction was automatically completed.


    ''Are you showing off?''


    Seeing this, Fang Yuan rolled his eyes.


    "Another thing..."


    Feng Xinzi took a sip of tea from his cup and took quite a while before he could speak. "Brother, did you gain anything from the hollow while you were in it?"


    "Hmm?"


    Fang Yuan squinted his eyes. "Don''t tell me the alliance wants a share of it..."


    "This..."


    Feng Xinzi let out a bitter laugh.


    According to the plan, Elder Smelter would not care about the rice that Fang Yuan had taken.


    However, no one knew that the tables would turn. With the involvement of the Imperial Court and a whole bunch of Sages taking things into their own hands to split up the treasures in the hollow, together with the self-destruction, the few elders including the Old Mother of Tianmu, Elder Smelter and the rest ended up with scraps of leftovers.


    With this, they became jealous of the rewards that the alliance members had reaped from the hollow.


    Although Elder Smelter did not care about the rewards which Fang Yuan gained, his faction had many other disciples jealous of the reward!


    "Brother, please be assured that the Realm Alliance would not be so unreasonable!"


    Feng Xinzi blushed with embarrassment, but he had to speak the truth. "Elder has stated that this time, how much you would like to trade would be up to you. However, a few disciples in the realm require their share of Yellow Grain Rice... Your goodwill will not be forgotten."


    "If it is a trade, what am I trading it for?"


    Fang Yuan rubbed his chin and appeared calm.


    "They are all here!"


    Feng Xinzi took out a piece of paper. After reading through a few lines, Fang Yuan started to snicker. "I don''t seem to see the sincerity... if this is all, then I think there is nothing left to be discussed!"


    "Brother, please don''t be angry!"


    Feng Xinzi knew that the people from the alliance were trying to take advantage of Fang Yuan. "You can lay out your conditions!"


    "I will need a piece of spiritual land larger than 60 hectares and the spiritual energy there would have to be more concentrated than normal... Also, after finishing this mission, I would not want to be forced to accept another mission from the alliance for the next 10 years to come!"


    After thinking about it, Fang Yuan quickly laid out his conditions.


    "Spiritual land? Missions?"


    Feng Xinzi was stunned for a moment before he started to smile. "If you dare to request all these, you must have quite a lot of rewards, right?"


    "Not too much, but still acceptable..."


    Fang Yuan reported a number.


    "Alright!"


    Feng Xinzi gritted his teeth. "We can give you the spiritual land, but it is too unreasonable for you not to accept any missions for 10 years, and the alliance would lose its reputation. I have a solution to this. I can assign you a guarding mission. These type of missions are extremely easy to fulfil and can earn you quite a lot. You can do this mission for 10 years while you cultivate in peace..."


    "Alright!"


    Fang Yuan''s heart wavered. He did not see a mission of such a nature on the Realm Alliance''s rock tablet before. It seemed like it was an under-the-table mission. "I am at Cloud Region. Assign me a nearby mission, as well as a nearby spiritual land!"


    "Alright!"


    Feng Xinzi quickly agreed. Fang Yuan nodded his head and went offline.


    After a moment, Elder Smelter entered the hall. "How was it?"


    "This person is rather smart. The number that he reported was close to our estimate. At most, he would keep a few catties for himself, and that is only human nature..."


    Feng Xinzi took a bow as he reported.

 331 Guardian of the Prosperous Land

    Golden Sun City.


    The caravan entered the city and stopped in front of a mansion. With a few shouts, the goods were being shifted. A few consultants were staring at the helpers as they shifted the goods.


    "Lord Fang, are you feeling better?"


    A few days before they had arrived, Fang Yuan had already regained the ability to move. He occasionally left the carriage to take a walk and talk with the people of the caravan. By now, he was already rather familiar with the head of the caravan.


    The Young Master of the He Family was He Qing. He had a young mindset but was also shrewd for his age. However, that was all.


    "Hmm, thank you, Lord He, for your assistance. I must leave today. Your kindness will be rewarded in the future..."


    Fang Yuan smiled.


    To him, He Qing did not save his life, but rather, assisted him in times of difficulty. Although his intentions were slightly ill, he did not let his heart rule his head. Therefore, Fang Yuan would still repay him for his efforts.


    "Lord, are you leaving?"


    He Qing was shocked. "Did we treat you with disrespect?"


    Based on his observations for the past few days, he realised that Fang Yuan was not a normal person. Sun Ergou''s encounter was the best evidence. Therefore, he had plotted to establish good relations with Fang Yuan.


    Although Fang Yuan was young, he was matured. His foresight, demeanour and the way he spoke was vastly different from a normal young man. Therefore, He Qing had unknowingly gained respect for him.


    "Fate cannot be forced upon. Furthermore, I cannot trouble you for any period longer than this... This Golden Sun City seems rather hospitable. I am deciding to stay here for a period of time. After I have settled down, I will write a letter to you... With this, I shall wish you all the best in joining the Three Suns Sect!"


    "Thank you for your well wishes!"


    He Qing respectfully sent him off. As he looked at Fang Yuan''s back view, he felt as though he had lost something important.


    "Young Master?"


    A consultant approached him. "The various goods have been shifted into the storeroom. The checks have been completed. Together with the few times that we have traded along the way, we have a total of 50,000 elemental crystals. This is the accumulated amount that your family have given you. We have already prepared the gifts for your future fellow disciples, master and those that you might need to establish relations with!"


    "Mmm, alright!"


    He Qing snapped out of his trance and had a cold look in his eyes. "And... what about Sun Ergou?"


    "I have followed your orders to chop off one of his limbs, as a punishment to warn the others!"


    The consultant immediately replied and broke into cold sweat.


    Based on his Young Master, the person which they had rescued was likely to be a spiritual knight. Therefore, they could not afford to show him any disrespect.


    "Also, Little Ju has been promoted to become the head of the servants. Her pay has been increased to 10 taels per month!"


    He Qing heaved a huge sigh. "Although he might not remember us, we should still remain hopeful... there is nothing wrong with being prepared!"


    "Young Master, you''re wise!"


    Consultant He took a bow and gained respect for this young master.


    The He Family had risen 7 generations ago. Although they were not considered the most senior of families, it was already considered a gamble for them to send their young master to seek a dream master as a master.


    Seeing the conscientious young master was like seeing hope for the family.


    As long as he manages to become a dream master, their family would be able to progress by leaps and bounds!


    ...


    "Three Suns Sect in the Golden Sun City... He Qing is rather fated to have met me!"


    As Fang Yuan went on his way, there was a mysterious smile on his face.


    Although the Three Suns Sect was well-known in the city, it was, in reality, only a small sect with a thousand followers. They had 10 Wu Zongs and 5 spiritual knights in the upper management and a dream master as the sect head. This dream master was likely to be a dream master at the 5th Tier of the Illusionary Divine stage.


    Among big sects across the regions, it was only common for these sects to have at least a True Divine, True Elemental, or a dream master at the 7th Tier of the Illusionary Divine stage before the sect could be considered stable.


    Of course, being a small family, it was already quite a thing for the He Family to be able to attempt to join the Three Suns Sect. They would rather be the weakling amongst the strong than be the strong among the weaklings.


    "He Qing was aiming at joining the direct disciples of the sect. It would be meaningless for him to become an outer disciple, inner disciple or even a core disciple... He would have wasted his potential in becoming a dream master..."


    "However... the head of Three Suns Sect is also a member of the Realm Alliance. The Three Suns Sect can be seen as the exterior influence of the Realm Alliance... I shall spend some effort and help him out as a form of repaying him for his kindness!"


    As soon as he found himself an inn, he entered the Dream Realm.


    "I am heartened to hear that you, my husband, are alright! I have bought the 9 Smelting Techniques and have hidden it in the Dream Realm for you to retrieve..."


    As soon as he looked at his inscription plate, he saw Liu Mengmei''s reply and an indication of a certain location.


    After all, she was still a reserved Divine Lady of the Divine Lotus Cult and had to consider the fact that onlookers would be looking if she were to meet Fang Yuan face to face. However, she had described a path to the location of the 9 Smelting Techniques and had assured him that it was completely safe.


    After receiving the information, Fang Yuan did not think further and rushed on the streets. Soon after, he turned into an alley.


    The buildings in the Dream Realm were districts which were split up by the Realm Spirit based on how much contribution points they were paid for. This dark alley was extremely deserted and at the end of the alley, there was a wall. At the corner, there was a dark-coloured mark.


    "This is the so-called black market. If it is as such in the realm of dream masters, I can safely assume that the goods being traded on the black market are nothing proper..."


    As he pressed against the dark-coloured mark, the wall in front of him started to cave in, revealing a hidden pathway.


    The pathway was extremely short. As soon as he walked to the end of it, he saw a small shop. There was no signboard and the door was aged, as though it would crumble at any moment.


    Without hesitation, Fang Yuan took a step in and looked at the counter.


    This shop was like a grocery store as it displayed many items on the shelves. However, none of the items had a description of its usage, and it was up to one to deduce the purpose and function of these items.


    As Fang Yuan scanned across, his attention was drawn to a crystal box on a small purple carriage.


    "I''ve seen this in the recordings before. It is known as the Purple Blood Carriage and can fly in the skies at an extreme speed... However, the process of making it is extremely inhumane. If I remember correctly, one of the ingredients includes the blood from 49 pregnant mothers. Furthermore, these pregnant mothers need to have a certain level of cultivation and be suited before the blood is drawn from them..."


    It was obvious that this shop not only sold improper goods but restricted goods as well.


    "Keke... here comes another customer!"


    An old man slumped on the tabletop of the counter and exclaimed weakly.


    His skin was pale and he had countless wrinkles. From the looks of it, he seemed to be in his nineties. His white hair was long and appeared lifeless.


    As soon as he saw Fang Yuan entered, there was a green glow in his eyes. However, he did not seem any more interested.


    "I''m here for something!"


    Fang Yuan took out his inscription plate.


    "Ah, I see it''s you!"


    The spiritual aura coming from the inscription plate made the old man shake. He stood up lazily from the counter. "Give me a moment!"


    He casually walked into the storeroom behind. Not long later, he carried a red box out. "This is the item that your friend had left behind. The seal on it is still there, you can take a look!"


    On the surface of the box, there was a red talisman. The spiritual aura on the talisman was extremely familiar. It was indeed from Liu Mengmei!


    If someone else other than Liu Mengmei and himself were to open the box, they would burn and die. Only 7th Tier Illusionary Divine dream masters would be able to resist the backlash from breaking the talisman.


    "Your friend has already paid for the service to safe keep this item!"


    The lifeless-looking old man pushed the box towards Fang Yuan before lying on the table top and drifting off into a deep sleep.


    "Many thanks!"


    Without another word, Fang Yuan took the box and left.


    Although the old man appeared lifeless as though he would die the next moment, Fang Yuan could detect his spiritual aura and knew that his cultivation level was even higher than that of Feng Xinzi!


    How could any normal dream master open such a black market?


    Before he became stronger, the most he would do was to make use of such black markets. It was unwise to dig up more information about such black markets.


    ...


    As he walked along the streets, he realised that other dream masters had colourful protections around them. Looking at the fog around him, he smiled. "I''m really fearful of death... Unfortunately, I''m not strong enough to do without this protection yet!"


    He quickly found a corner before tearing the talisman on the box. With a tear, the talisman burst into flames.


    In the box, there was a fragrant-smelling napkin with the embroidery of mandarin ducks on it. Following a certain technique, Fang Yuan could access the technique within the napkin using his spiritual will.


    "Considering my level of rights in the Realm Alliance, it is extremely hard for me to obtain the complete version of the 9 Smelting Techniques..."


    After reading the first few sentences, Fang Yuan nodded his head in satisfaction.


    The techniques recorded in the 9 Smelting Techniques were exquisite beyond words. Not only could they get rid of foreign entities within elemental forces, they also had the effect of purifying one''s elemental force.


    Of course, this was only limited to the elemental force of martial arts and spiritual knights. As for dream elemental force of the dream masters, it had little effect.


    "It''s rumoured that there is a continuation to this recordings. It is known as Red Night. I am still in the process of helping you get it..."


    Behind the recordings, there was a line of writings, which made Fang Yuan sighed. "She is really treating me very well... I would not have such a treatment at the Realm Alliance... Of course, if the world were to be void of all love and feelings, I''m sure she would not hesitate to take a knife and kill me!"


    After remembering the technique recorded in the recordings, Fang Yuan destroyed the napkin in an attempt to destroy all evidence. Soon after, he arrived at Realm Alliance Mountain.


    "Brother, you''ve arrived!"


    The treatment which Feng Xinzi had received was obviously improved. He now had a standing for himself in the hall of the Realm Alliance. "I have settled the mission which we have talked about previously. Also, take a look at this spiritual land!"


    Immediately, he waved and a golden glow appeared. The glow came together to form a leaf with runes on its surface. Rows of words started to form, and there was a huge overload of information.


    "Mmm... The guardian of Golden Sun Prosperous Land?"


    Seeing this, Fang Yuan''s expression changed.


    He did not tell Feng Xinzi his exact location. Never would he have thought that he would receive a mission so close to his actual location. It was such a coincidence.


    "The alliance assigns you to be the new guardian of the Golden Sun Prosperous Land. Now, go forth and take over from the previous guardian to protect this piece of prosperous land for... 10 years!"


    Feng Xinzi smiled and gave a look of ''you''ve-earned-such-a-good-deal'' to Fang Yuan.


    "Prosperous land?"


    As Fang Yuan gave it a deep thought, he heaved a heavy sigh as his eyes glistened. "Does this mean that other than dispatching batches of resources every year as instructed by the alliance, I will be in charge of everything else? And that in addition to all that, I would have another 60 hectares of spiritual land to myself?"


    "Hmmm... you can put it that way!"


    Feng Xinzi nodded his head. "After 10 years, whatever you''ve gained from this 60 hectares of spiritual land will be yours. You can do all the farming by yourself or you can assign it to the guardian of the prosperous farm. However, you''ll have to pay him base on how much work he would do."


    "This is not too bad!"


    Fang Yuan nodded his head. "Alright, prepare to receive the resources!"


    In truth, the Realm Alliance would not try to take advantage of him over this. Otherwise, the alliance would lose its credibility and cohesiveness.


    Furthermore, Fang Yuan still had other people that he could rely on. He could even ask the Ye Family sisters about anything regarding the alliance.


    "That''s good!"


    There was a look of happiness on Feng Xinzi''s face. "After taking over, you shall assume your duty. As long as you do not disregard your responsibilities as the guardian, you can do whatever you like..."


    ''Are you allowing me to take all of that for myself? To do anything I want with it? No wonder you said that it was a well-paying job!''


    Fang Yuan thought to himself.


    All he needed to prove his new identity was this golden leaf with the inscriptions on it and the inscription plate he had in the Dream Realm. With these two objects, he could do away with all the hassle.

 332 Hindrance

    "Although I have the evidence as a license to take over my new role, I better recuperate first..."


    The handing and taking over was officially endorsed by the Realm Alliance, the possibility of something going wrong was very small. Therefore, Fang Yuan decided to recuperate his strength first as power was the only way one could gain a footing in Da Qian Empire!


    Inside the inn, Fang Yuan occupied his own room and courtyard. He sat on the floor cross-legged and absorbed elemental energy from the heavens and earth to recuperate his body.


    In his actualised dream world, streaks of magical energy spread across and dug into the dark spots for an awesome energy, as they then turned into a mercury-like dream elemental force. The dream elemental began to restore the 3 swords in the 8 Gates Sword Array.


    "After the 3 swords self-detonated, it required a huge amount of dream elemental force as a foundation for its restoration. Luckily, I no longer have the difficulting of gathering dream elemental energy unlike previous times, if not I would have vomited blood..."


    Fang Yuan looked at the green energy in the core of the 8 Gates Sword Array and shook his head.


    Although he could immediately recover if he utilised this source, that was a reserve for him to breakthrough to the 4th Tier of Illusionary Divine. It could not be easily used.


    Unless he was met with a critical life and death situation, it could not be used, else it would be a reckless waste.


    His eyes twinkled and he then looked at his stats board:


    "Name: Fang Yuan


    Essence: 20 (42)


    Spirit: 20 (42)


    Magic: 33 (59)


    Profession: Dream Soldier Master


    Cultivation: Illusionary Divine (3rd Tier), Wu Zong (4th Meridian)


    Technique: [Giant Eagle Metal Body Technique (Grade 5) (50%)], [Hundred Poison Golden Body (1st Refining)], [8 Gates Sword Array (4th Sword) (99%)]


    Skill: [Medicine (Level 3)], [Botany (Level 5)]"


    "My stats have dropped really hard due to my injuries, but a portion of it has already been recovered. It will now be faster for me to fully recover. Furthermore... the training these few days and the void''s turbulence seemed to improve my Giant Eagle Metal Body Technique..."


    For his injuries to recover so quickly, perhaps his fixed stats played a part too.


    Fang Yuan spiritual will moved as he knew that there was a huge potential in his stats.


    He did not care about that for now and looked at the water dragon''s pearl.


    The resources he dealt with the Realm Alliance previously were actually nothing much. This was the real gains!


    "Furthermore... although Yellow Grain Rice is difficult to grow, that might not be the case for me!"


    Fang Yuan started from botany in the past, although it was not very useful in Da Qian since he had his own spiritual land now, he could further improve himself!


    Also, what was so special about that item the Golden Horned Wing Tribe member was protecting with its life?"


    Fang Yuan gazed into the water dragon pearl.


    Although the pearl was an essence of its dragon form, Fang Yuan felt he could not fully control the pearl at that moment.


    Inside the pearl, the golden-green water dragon was squeezed to a side. The foggy grey glow occupied most of the space.


    "What exactly is the treasure left behind by Sage Changli? A technique? An inheritance? A treasure map?"


    Through contacting the water dragon within, Fang Yuan could sense that there was a vast sea of knowledge. However, he could not have a share of it currently.


    "With my current spiritual will and cultivation, I would be crazy to read the Prominent Divine dream master''s knowledge memory! Furthermore, I could even be encroached and become schizophrenic..."


    It was not overboard to value and regard a Prominent Divine dream master so highly.


    However, leaving such a delicious piece of meat untouched was not Fang Yuan''s style too.


    Fang Yuan thought, "Thankfully, this Sage Changli was close to dragons and his knowledge was attracted to my water dragon pearl. I can use the energy of the water dragon inside to absorb a bit of the knowledge every day. With this layer of protection, I will start from the outside and slowly dive deeper... This is equivalent to having a teacher teaching me daily..."


    Fang Yuan''s path as a dream master mostly relied on self-study. With this rare collection, he was elated as he could improve his shortcomings.


    ...


    Three Suns Sect.


    "Smack!"


    A masculine looking youth with thick eyebrows and white clothes threw the valuable treasures onto the floor and sneered, "You think you can enter my sect just with your pathetic background? Dream on!"


    Opposite him, He Qing''s face swelled with anger, he was infuriated and clenched his teeth.


    This youth was the eldest disciple of the Sect Head and was an Elemental Opening spiritual knight! He Qing''s current position and standing was no match for him.


    Furthermore, He Qing could see there was a hint of jealousy hidden deep inside this youth''s eye.


    "As he is a spiritual knight, he cannot succeed the legacy of the head of Three Suns Sect. Thus, he is being a hindrance and a prick to me since I came over to be apprenticed... detestable!" He Qing thought.


    Although He Qing was furious, he remained silent and did not utter a single word. He bowed to him and left.


    "What a pity... if he provokes me again, I''ll make sure I''ll give him an unforgettable surprise!"


    As the youth watched He Qing left, he felt sullen.


    Although he was talented, he could not become a dream master and therefore, he could not succeed his master''s legacy.


    As he saw someone who was qualified to do so came over, he naturally felt unhappy and intentionally hindered He Qing.


    "After all... I am Master''s nephew by blood, even if I go overboard once in a while, it''s nothing much... Although this He Qing is intelligent, his foundation is not strong enough. This is also my way of testing him on behalf of Master."


    As the youth mumbled to himself and gazed into the darkness, he justified himself in his thoughts.


    In a quiet room deep within Three Suns Sect.


    A screen of light appeared in front of a daoist which displayed whatever was happening.


    The daoist had red cheeks and three long strands of beard which swayed with the wind. He was closely observing whatever was happening outside and whatever was inside his nephew''s mind.


    "Legacy... hehe, dream masters live a long life and it''s not something you can understand! Perhaps I might even be the one that attends your funeral!"


    For dream masters, whether they were accepting disciples or whatever this nephew of his was struggling about were merely inconsequential matters to them.


    This was their feeling as they sat high above them and watched these nobodies fought.


    Despite so, the daoist felt slightly unhappy.


    Just because the eldest disciple was the master''s nephew, he tended to go overboard in handling matters...


    ...


    "Young Master, what should we do next?" Consultant He asked worriedly as the He family walked out the Three Suns Sect.


    Dream masters were secretive and did not meet people easily, they would barely communicate with commoners. The Three Sun Sect was a contact that the He family arduously obtained.


    However, due to the hindrance from one of their disciples, they could not even meet Three Suns Daoist. Thus, they were naturally perturbed.


    "What else can we do? We just have to slowly wait for another opportunity! That youth is just one man, Three Suns Sect is not a one-man show! Once I can meet the head of the sect, I still stand a chance!"


    He Qing gave a mirthless smile.


    He did not think of looking for other masters.


    Dream masters were not so easily found and they did not accept disciples so easily. Even if He Qing could not enter a sect, there were still many things he could do due to his talents.


    The group of them despondently returned to their manor in Golden Sun City.


    "Young Master!"


    Little Ju was waiting at the gates and excitedly went forward when she saw them arriving. However, just as she saw about to speak, she saw the group''s sullen faces and decided not to say anything.


    "What''s the matter?" He Qing composed himself and asked.


    "It is about Fang Yuan! He settled down at Green Cloud Inn and wrote us a letter!"


    "It''s him?!"


    Although He Qing was in a bad mood, he was slightly moved at once, "Ok, prepare some gifts and I will go meet him! Two brains are better than one, maybe he will have some ideas!"


    Although He Qing thought Fang Yuan was a spiritual knight but was not certain of his cultivation, he knew Fang Yuan could open some doors for him.


    Furthermore, Fang Yuan was wise and experienced, perhaps he could give him some other opinions?


    ...


    In a courtyard inside Green Cloud Inn.


    A lush fig tree stood tall inside the courtyard.


    Fang Yuan wore linen clothes and was enjoying his tea happily under the tree.


    "Lord, you are indeed relaxed, I am so envious!"


    With the aroma of the tea, He Qing''s previous vexation, fear and numerous negative feelings were dispelled at once.


    He was even more respectful towards Fang Yuan now and called him Lord.


    "It''s nothing much..."


    Fang Yuan sipped his teeth and smiled.


    As a dream master, one had to pay attention to his own soul and self-cultivation. Dabbling in literature, wine, tea and such were ways to purify one''s own thoughts.


    Meditative tea ceremonies had the same effect too.


    Furthermore, that was his own method of training himself. Compared to other dream masters'' ways, that was more appropriate for himself.


    "Just that¡­.. this person in front of me is a commoner, I don''t have to give him the Questioning Heart Tea..." Fang Yuan thought as he raised his teacup.


    In Da Qian Empire, spiritual items that could increase magical energy were very rare. Although Fang Yuan was not afraid to reveal, it would be troublesome for him to suddenly reveal his identity.


    "Of course... just the Questioning Heart Tea alone would not be very useful. It must be accompanied by a meditative tea ceremony to maximise its effects!" Fang Yuan thought.


    As numerous thoughts flashed passed Fang Yuan''s mind, he smiled and asked, "Things didn''t go successfully at Three Suns Sect?"


    "Indeed... although my family had paved the way for me, we were hindered by their master''s eldest disciple, Yang Zhantang!"


    He Qing sighed as he recounted the unlucky events that happened just now.


    "Although I will not interfere with your personal matters since we are fated, I shall help you persuade them!"


    Fang Yuan had his own way of settling things.


    Spiritual items could not be easily gifted away, however, relaying a message for others was different as it only required him to be thick-skinned. Furthermore, it could help him familiarise with the strength of the dream masters in Cloud Region.


    "Ah! Thank you very much, mister!"


    He Qing was extremely grateful and bowed to Fang Yuan.


    "It''s okay, it''s just fate..."


    Fang Yuan closed his eyes and his magic-splitting arrived in the Realm Alliance Mountain in his actualised dream world.


    "Searching for... Three Suns Daoist!"


    "Ting! He is a member of our alliance. He is a 3rd Leaf Cultivator, you are able to contact him!"


    A response was received on the stone tablet immediately.


    "Three Suns Daoist?"


    "Yea, you are?"


    Using his identity inscription plate, a spiritual will immediately responded.


    "My name is Fang Yuan. After a recommendation from Elder Smelter, I am the new guardian of Golden Sun Prosperous Land!"


    Fang Yuan did not hesitate to make use of Elder Smelter''s name. After all, these were some of the benefits of joining the alliance.


    "Oh so its Fang Yuan, we will be close neighbours!"


    The spiritual will felt more intimate at once.


    "Ah, it''s just that, I have a matter..."


    Fang Yuan told him everything. After a brief pause, he responded, "Since it''s a recommendation from my fellow alliance friend, I will meet him!"


    "Great!"


    Inside the Inn, Fang Yuan waved his hands and told He Qing, "Settled! If you request to meet him again, your wish will be fulfilled!"

 333 Taking Over

    "Ah... Is it completed?"


    He Qing was stunned. He had only just asked for assistance moments ago. All Fang Yuan did was close his eyes for a few moments before telling He Qing that everything was done and that he could directly visit the Three Suns Sect once more.


    ''Is he trying to trick me?''


    He Qing was speechless. Seeing how awe-inspiring Fang Yuan was as he waved his hands, He Qing did not dare to utter a single word as he walked out, confused.


    Thoughts ran wild in his mind. In a few moments, he came to a conclusion. "Regardless, I must try a few more times to show my sincerity... As for this place, I shall dispatch a few servants to serve him and we''ll see what to do next after knowing the outcome..."


    With that, he ordered his housekeeper to prepare gifts once more and headed to the mountain again.


    ...


    Three Suns Sect.


    "Zhantang, go to the gates. If you see He Qing, bring him to me!"


    Three Suns Daoist, who was in meditation, opened his eyes and mumbled.


    "Master?"


    Yang Zhantang was confused. He did not know what had just happened.


    This person has a backing. It is the request of the guardian of Golden Sun Prosperous Land for me to meet him. Furthermore... we''ve received quite a lot of gifts from them. If he has the potential, we can allow him to join us!"


    Three Suns Daoist stroked his beard as his eyes glistened. "Why... are you unwilling?"


    "I don''t dare!"


    Yang Zhantang shuddered. He knew that his master had found out about his doings. Uncontrollably, he knelt down and asked for forgiveness.


    "I know what you are thinking. Do you really think I will hand everything down to an outsider?"


    Three Suns Daoist shook his head with an impatient look. "The appointment as head of the Three Suns Sect is yours sooner or later. However, looking at your attitude and personality, you still need to undergo training. If you are so unforgiving of others, how can you achieve great things in the future?"


    "Master... Uncle!"


    Yang Zhantang was relieved and shocked at the same time as he almost teared up. "I''ll go out this instant to invite my junior!"


    With that promise, he knew he had to change for the better and assume the role of a senior.


    "Keke..."


    Seeing his silhouette leaving, Three Suns Daoist revealed a mysterious smile.


    He was speaking the truth, However, it would be after his death. Seeing how things were, if Three Suns Daoists'' nephew disciple could not achieve the 4th Tier of a spiritual knight, he would have to spend his whole life as a disciple, serving his master.


    "There''s no other choice... a dream master lives for far too long, and I was fortunate enough to have obtained a large amount of Life Redeeming Pills... Everyone wants to take over me, but no one knows that I will live longer than all my disciples. Therefore, I am not lying to you... However, Fang Yuan seems to be hinting that this is the intention of the Smelter''s faction! Regardless, I shall just agree to his request for the sake of the alliance..."


    To him, it was perfectly alright to have another disciple. This was how carefree a dream master could be.


    Furthermore, he would have the chance to squeeze his new disciple dry. After accepting He Qing for the sake of Fang Yuan, he could thereafter reap benefits from him.


    This was what he was planning for all this while.


    Everything was merely returning to the original plan.


    ...


    "After helping He Qing this time, it''s time I should go and take over my plot of land..."


    By requesting a favour for He Qing, it was enough to repay all that he had done for Fang Yuan.


    Furthermore, at this point in time, his physical body had recovered completely and the 3 swords in his actualised dream world were fully restored. He had restored his peak condition and was about to leave to claim his rewards.


    Throwing a gold ingot on the counter, Fang Yuan left the inn.


    Outside, a few servants were looking about. Ignoring them, Fang Yuan walked straight out.


    They were like blind people. Although they had opened their eyes wide, they still could not see Fang Yuan and were still attempting to look into the inn.


    Golden Sun City was in the centre of Cloud Region. People from all around the region came here to trade and it was a bustling city.


    In the vicinity, there were a few mountains and valleys. According to the Fengshui of this place, it was a favourable location to gather auspicious energy.


    Therefore, the Three Suns Sect has chosen this place to set up the sect. Similarly, other sects had followed suit.


    Golden Sun Mountain.


    In the dense vegetation, Fang Yuan rushed inwards like the wind. As he entered the depths of the forest, he arrived at a place where no hunters or herb pluckers would ever dare to venture.


    In the deep mountains, there was an unpleasant stench. Mutated beasts roamed the area and many species of flowers and grass were competing to grow. The entire place was an indescribable danger.


    "The Realm Alliance, Baize Mountain, Divine Lotus Cult, Evil Divine Sect and Source Seeking Sect... Even the 5 most powerful organisations of the dream masters are but empty shells, feeding on a foundation and a source of energy. Where does the foundation come from? The Hidden Dragon Guards of the Da Qian depend on the royal family, and on that note, the 5 Grand Organisations would have lost out. However, they can create their own prosperous land filled with spiritual energy... Of course, most importantly, they will have to feed on the spiritual lands created by 7th Tier Illusionary Divine dream masters or the hollows created by the Prominent Divine dream masters! These scattered prosperous lands and spiritual lands are thus created in the process, but are meaningless to them!"


    As he continued on his way, Fang Yuan slowly digested the information which he had previously obtained from the Realm Alliance.


    "Of course, the great powers would belong to their own factions. As soon as the hollows or spiritual lands are created, they would first use it to benefit members of their own factions and this is only normal... To new members like us, it would be extremely hard even to help them manage these publicly-available prosperous lands!"


    Since he was not a direct descendant of a powerful being, it would be even more difficult for him to access such a land. However, things were different now that he had traded for one such piece of land.


    Arriving at a valley, the fog started to thicken. However, as a dream master, he could quickly tell that this fog was not made out of water droplets, but instead, created by a dream master.


    "This is indeed the location of the Golden Sun Prosperous Land..."


    With a smile, Fang Yuan walked into the valley.


    "Buzz!"


    As soon as he entered the valley, the surroundings started to change. The white fog slowly ascended up and transformed into a bewildering fog. Amidst the fog, a colourful talisman flashed, revealing the fact that this was an extremely powerful array.


    "Where have you come from? This is the Realm Alliance''s Golden Sun Prosperous Land. If you are an outsider, please take your leave!"


    A thunderous voice was heard coming from the inside of the valley.


    "Mmm, is this the 99 Golden Suns Gigantic Array? It is able to protect the prosperous land, nourish the energy in it and has the effect of misleading and trapping trespassers. Of course, most importantly, it is being strengthened by the main array. Although you might have the rights to control the array, you cannot be considered the owner of the prosperous land, but a mere manager."


    Fang Yuan nodded his head and took out a piece of golden leaf.


    "Buzz!"


    As the golden leaf glowed brilliantly, the fog started to disperse. A string of messages appeared and flew into the array.


    Within moments, the fog had dispersed completely, revealing a piece of prosperous land. In the middle, there was a small mountain which had a faint glow coming from it. Nothing seemed normal here.


    "Oh, it''s the new guardian!"


    A streak of light shot down from a building and an old man with a long beard appeared. He started to examine Fang Yuan.


    The missions to become guardians were all lucrative missions. Furthermore, this person was allocated 60 hectares of spiritual land for his private use. He seemed to have a strong backing, but the old man could not guess which faction he was from.


    "Greetings, Brother Jin!"


    Fang Yuan held the golden leaf in his heads. As soon as he saw him, he could roughly guess that he was a dream master at the 3rd Tier of the Illusionary Divine stage. Compared to himself, his old man was much weaker. If he did not have the protection of the array, he would become very vulnerable.


    "Haha... Brother Fang, please give me a moment. I shall bring my manager over to facilitate the process of handing over!"


    The previous guardian was Jin Xing. He was aged and had a friendly disposition. However, as a fellow 3rd Tier Illusionary Divine dream master, Fang Yuan could tell that he was unwilling to go.


    After all, this mission was a lucrative one. Now that he had to hand over, he would have no idea what the alliance would assign him next.


    However, this was none of his business. Fang Yuan came straight to the main hall and ordered for the commencement of the banquet.


    "I am about to hand over. This is your new guardian and your new head. Hurry and pay your respects!"


    Jin Xing clapped his hands and a group of people entered the hall to pay their greetings. "Greetings, master!"


    "This life... is indeed luxurious! Are there over a hundred people here? To have all of them serving me would make me feel like a king..."


    With that, the servants started to serve up delicious wine and food. Dancers draped in loose clothing revealed their voluptuous figures as they danced around the hall.


    "Here! Let''s toast to your achievements!"


    Jin Xing raised his cup and toasted Fang Yuan.


    "Thank you!"


    Fang Yuan drank a cup of wine and smiled. "We''ve finished the wine and the banquet. Should we discuss how to take over things, especially the stocktaking of the storeroom?"


    Jin Xing went pale.


    Although this dream master was young, he was not foolish.


    In history, when handing over, the storeroom would always be the utmost priority. If there were any miscalculations, the records would go wrong in the future.


    Seeing his expression, Fang Yuan smiled to himself. He knew that this old man had taken a lot for himself. However, he was alright with this. As long as it did not affect him, he would not pursue the matter. However, what would matter would be the old man''s attitude.


    "Of course, naturally..."


    After a brief silence, Jin Xing smiled and ordered for the records to be brought over. "Golden Sun Prosperous Land was discovered by our alliance 500 years ago. Since then, they have set up a gigantic array to protect it and have transformed the surroundings into 900 hectares of spiritual farm. Of course, among these 900 hectares, 60 hectares are now yours. We also have 127 servants and 562 other people living here. All these people here are literate and practice martial arts. We have 300 of them who had obtained inner force and 2 Wu Zongs..."


    As for spiritual knights, Jin Xing would naturally bring them along with him.


    "This prosperous land mainly produces aged gold on the mountain peak. Every year, we would be able to produce 500 catties of it. As for the spiritual farm, we would produce 20,000 catties of spiritual rice annually, together with spiritual fruits and spiritual vegetables... We have already transferred the produce to the alliance this year. Right now, we have 3,000 catties of spiritual rice and 20 catties of aged gold in the storeroom. You can have everything else for yourself, Brother Fang!"


    "Mmm!"


    Fang Yuan received the records. Although he was doubtful, he silently nodded his head.


    This previous guardian was rather considerate not to have created a mess for Fang Yuan to deal with. Of course, this might be due to the fact that Fang Yuan''s backing was powerful. Otherwise, no one knew if he would give the same treatment to someone else.


    "Although there are some mistakes in the records, no worries! Let''s just leave things as such!"


    After a short moment, although Fang Yuan had spotted some errors in the records, he did not pursue it.


    After all, these insignificant resources were not enough to arouse his interest. Seeing that the previous guardian did not leave a mess for him to settle, he decided not to pursue and press him further.


    "Alright!"


    Jin Xing was elated. In reality, this was an important mission. Although he had kept some of the resources for himself, Fang Yuan did not pay any attention to all that he had taken.


    Seeing how magnanimous Fang Yuan was, he admired him in his heart. "Although I have a few connections and wealth stashed away, I still cannot compare to this direct descendant who is indeed generous!"

 334 The Deal

    The bigger scheme of things had been settled. All that was left were but the small details.


    With Jin Xing by his side, Fang Yuan patrolled the spiritual lands and warehouse. He left the message on the other party''s inscription plate and the deal was thus formalised.


    The whole 99 Golden Suns Gigantic Array roared on. The level of rights had shifted, and the transition from old to new was completed nevertheless.


    Jin Xing did not stay long and left after saying goodbye.


    After all, he was the previous master and staying on would make him feel awkward.


    "Would I be calling the shots on this prosperous land within 10 years?"


    Fang Yuan sat in the hall and suddenly remembered his spiritual land on the Green Peak.


    "Now that I''m here at Da Qian, I need a temporary place to settle down in!"


    "Greetings master!"


    At this point, the whole management team entered and fell to the ground in a deep bow. They looked frightened.


    After all, the guardian had complete control over them and they had no means of retaliation. The guardian could easily suppress their combined strength of around five hundred.


    "Mm, you may all rise!"


    Five hundred men were probably not enough to farm a thousand hectares of land and to work a gold mine. But it was different if the five hundred men included three hundred martial artists who had broken through the cultivation levels and two Wu Zongs.


    Only the dream masters of Da Qian would employ martial artists to become miners and farmers.


    "The servants Meng Tian and Meng Guang, at master''s service!"


    The two Wu Zongs stood up straight with their hands clasped, their eyes staring ahead unflinchingly.


    On the Yuanwu mainland, the both of them would undoubtedly become overlords. Even in the Da Qian world, they could obtain significant wealth. However, in this situation, they were but servants who took orders without question. This was indeed very strange and a huge pity.


    "The spiritual energy in Da Qian has always been dense to the extreme. The Golden Sun Prosperous Land is so, with elemental energy so thick that it might fall as spiritual rain. Living in the prosperous land would increase one''s longevity and even lead to a higher probability of achieving breakthroughs¡­"


    Fang Yuan glanced about and pointed casually.


    "Since it has always been you two in charge, you shall stay in your appointments!"


    "Thank you, Master!"


    The two Wu Zongs were pleased and bowed repeatedly.


    After all, they had gained the approval of their new master, and their authority had been cemented.


    Meng Tian was in charge of agricultural affairs while Meng Guang was in charge of the mines.


    "Mining will carry on as per normal. What about the spiritual fields?"


    Fang Yuan knocked on the armrest of his chair.


    "What kind of spiritual rice are we growing these days?"


    Meng Tian immediately replied.


    "Master, it is the Qinghua Rice!"


    The Qinghua Rice was a spiritual plant of the Mystery Grade and regular consumption would build up one''s elemental energy. It was good for spiritual knights.


    But it was still a lesser crop compared to the Yellow Grain Rice.


    "Mm, I do not care about the other fields, but set aside one hundred mu of land from my own one thousand mu for the cultivation of Yellow Grain Rice!"


    Fang Yuan rubbed his chin as he gave his orders.


    "Yellow...Yellow Grain Rice? Master, I''m afraid that this cannot be done!"


    Meng Tian was flustered.


    "The Yellow Grain Rice requires farmlands of very high fertility, and the Golden Sun Prosperous Land does not satisfy the requirements. Also, Yellow Jade Fertiliser will have to be used monthly, and we are lacking in this resource, not to mention the technical expertise¡­"


    Meng Tian was an honest man who did not mince his words, and several of his colleagues standing by rolled their eyes at him.


    "I know all of these...but this is my private land, and your concerns are uncalled for!"


    Fang Yuan might have been suppressing dissent, but in truth, if the Yellow Grain Rice could be cultivated casually, the Realm Alliance would have no need to put in their trade requests.


    Perhaps only the master of the Hollow had the means to satisfy the various criteria.


    But Fang Yuan himself was different!


    He had advanced botany skills, and this was his chance to innovate. Besides, he might even be able breed plant types of a higher quality.


    "Your servant knows his mistake!"


    Meng Tian had broken out into a cold sweat after hearing Fang Yuan''s reply and apologised profusely.


    "Never mind...the arrangements of the tenants can go on as usual. But I will convert my 6 hectares of land into an experimental field!"


    "Yes, Master!"


    Meng Tian and the other workers were perplexed. Was master intending to go down into the fields himself? But¡­


    ...


    A tea room in the Realm.


    "Many thanks for helping us out in the Hollow, Brother Fang!"


    The Ye sisters sat down with their legs crossed.


    "How can we ever hope to repay your kindness? Let us offer you some tea as a form of gratitude!"


    Fang Yuan glanced at Ye Shuhua. She was dressed like a martial artist while her younger sister Ye Shumin was in her lady clothing. They both looked stunning in their own ways.


    "That day, when you got lost in the void, I was worried that Brother Fang might have gotten into trouble. But I also know that luck is on your side and that you will always be able to turn things to your favour."


    Ye Shuhua''s features were gentle and she gazed at Fang Yuan with an expression laced with complex emotions.


    "Hehe...I am indeed fortunate!"


    Fang Yuan rubbed his nose.


    "Have you found the things that I need?"


    "The information that you require about the Golden Sun Prosperous Land and other things are all here!"


    Ye Shuhua smiled and passed him a jade disc. Although the Ye family was in dire straits, they were still able to gather information easily. However, she could not resist giving him a caveat.


    "The cultivation of the Yellow Grain Rice has stringent requirements. Unless you grow them in the Hollow, you will sustain losses. Only the Da Qian royals can afford to bear that kind of expenditure...I would suggest that you make other plans!"


    "But...this should be worth a try anyway!"


    Fang Yuan naturally would not admit that he was confident of succeeding. He had revealed the fact that he knew the secret technique to growing the Yellow Grain Rice.


    Ye Shuhua forced a smile.


    "Then I wish Brother Fang all the best in your endeavours!"


    Cultivating Yellow Grain Rice was not an impossible task. Dozens of dream masters had tried to before. But the effort required was more than the potential returns. Nevertheless, Ye Shuhua saw that Fang Yuan had made up his mind, and she let him be.


    ''He is a proud man and needs to suffer before he comes to his senses¡­''


    The three of them walked out of the tea room. Ye Shuhua kept the smile plastered on her face.


    "Guardian of the Prosperous Land is indeed a good appointment. But to stay in the position requires one to take note of several things. The rock tablet of the Realm Alliance also records relevant learning experiences. You have to check it out!"


    Engaged in pleasant conversation, they arrived before the rock tablet of the Realm Alliance.


    "Hmph!"


    Fang Yuan immediately noticed the jealous stare of a young man in nice clothes. The fact that he did not rush forward immediately showed that he was still rational.


    "Hmm?"


    Fang Yuan looked around and settled his gaze on Ye Shuhua.


    "Have you gotten yourself into some kind of trouble?"


    ''Yes¡­''


    Ye Shuhua leaned in closer to Fang Yuan and contacted him mentally.


    ''Help us!''


    It was then Fang Yuan realised that the sisters each held onto one of his arms. Their grips were tight and he could feel their soft and warm bodies.


    ''What can I get out of you two using me as a shield? I''ll get angry if there isn''t a good deal. Don''t think that I wouldn''t dare to slap the two of you in public. If I do that, everything would be resolved."


    Fang Yuan adopted a cold countenance.


    ''What do you want?''


    Ye Shuhua clenched her teeth in silence. She had not thought Fang Yuan to be this ungentlemanly.


    "Get the Red Night 9 Smelting Technique for me, and I''ll deal with him for you, regardless of whoever is backing him up!"


    The young dream master was not even at the illusionary divine stage of training, but the Ye sisters were still so wary of him. He probably had a powerful backer.


    But Fang Yuan had a backer too.


    When power is not made use of, it expires. Fang Yuan was not on the best of terms with the Elder Smelter, and he needed another plan.


    "The Red Night 9 Smelting Technique?"


    Ye Shuhua was shocked by his demand but she gave in anyway.


    "Fine!"


    "Sign the Realm Spirit Contract or I won''t believe you!"


    "Fine!"


    After Ye Shuhua agreed to his demands, Fang Yuan immediately pulled the Ye sisters close to his body and shot a challenging stare at the young man.


    "You¡­"


    The young man''s face turned as red as a beetroot. He looked as though he had suffered all the injustice in the world and turned around to leave.


    "You can let go now!"


    Ye Shuhua''s cheeks were flushed and she exclaimed hurriedly.


    She did feel a slight attraction to Fang Yuan but it was extremely awkward to be in this situation with him, especially with her sister present as well.


    "Haha...maybe you can tell me about his background now?"


    Fang Yuan breathed his question into Ye Shuhua''s ear. Although he did it unthinkingly, he was making her nervous.


    "His name is Li Bai. His grandfather is a dream master of the 4th Tier of the Illusionary Divine stage and has some power in the Alliance, that''s all...he thinks that with the amount of influence he has, he can possess us¡­"


    Ye Shuhua glared at Fang Yuan before continuing.


    "Don''t worry, you won''t be killed!"


    "But it is still a troublesome matter! Remember to send me the payment¡­"


    Fang Yuan then let go of the Ye sisters with a gentle smile on his face. It was as if he had become a different person.


    "This fellow¡­"


    As she watched Fang Yuan walk into the distance, Ye Shuhua did not know what to feel.


    "This is a wily person. He becomes a monster when self-interest is involved. A pity, but he is not a good match for us¡­"


    As she heaved a sigh, she noticed that her sister was blushing and she became flustered.


    "Sister, don''t tell me that you''ve fallen for him? Don''t be naive. Just because he saved your life once. You will regret this¡­"


    Ye Shimin bit her lip and questioned her sister instead.


    "But sister...isn''t he the only person who can help us regain the honour of our family?"


    "You¡­"


    Ye Shuhua was surprised and a strange look came over her face.


    To think that her sister, a lady sheltered from young, had grown up so quickly following the incident in the Hollow.


    ...


    "Seems like there is another way to mastering the Red Night 9 Smelting Technique. To think that the Ye Family is this resourceful...she actually agreed so readily. I was expecting bargaining to be involved¡­"


    In truth, although Liu Mengmei was already conducting a search, Fang Yuan wanted an additional form of assurance.


    The heavenly evil force in his dream elements was no simple matter. No matter the potential opportunities contained within, to him, a force that cannot be controlled should be destroyed immediately.


    "Also...we can''t let Liu Mengmei do everything. Too large a goal would lead to too much activity. If we expose anything, everything will be for nought¡­"


    Fang Yuan''s body dissipated, and he returned to the real world.


    When he walked out of the hall, the fragrance of the spiritual fields interacted with his senses. In the mist, he could see some of the farmers working hard.


    Fang Yuan overlooked the scene and exhaled contentedly.

 335 Yellow Grain Rice

    Within the Golden Sun Prosperous Land.


    A protective array rose up into the skies, enveloping the entire 6 hectares of private farmland.


    Elemental energy started to fall towards the farm in the form of spiritual rain, nourishing the ground.


    This was the Spiritual Gathering Array, personally cast by Fang Yuan. He had only cast this array over his own private farmland, but since he was the guardian of the prosperous land, no one could say anything.


    Of course, Fang Yuan knew the reality.


    Although the array might seem like it was gathering spiritual energy, it had a hidden effect of sealing the area as well. After all, he was preparing the farm to sow the seeds of the Yellow Grain Rice and therefore, it had to receive different treatment from the other farms.


    "With this array, if any of my servants dare to trespass my private farm, I shall kill them instantly. This is only reasonable, for I had already given all of them a warning!"


    Fang Yuan thought to himself silently. "This farm is dedicated to collected the plants which would evolve special traits. When I obtain the complete plot of spiritual land, I''ll then attempt to plant it in large scales.


    "At my current stage, it is sufficient to eat Yellow Grain Rice alone!"


    Although he had given up most of his Yellow Grain Rice to the alliance, he had nothing to worry about for he still had the seeds!


    "The remaining Yellow Grain Rice that I have now can be used to sow in the 6 hectares of the farm as well as provide for a few of my meals! This way, I can try them first!"


    As Fang Yuan arrived at the kitchen, he ordered for the servants to leave before cooking an entire pot of Yellow Grain Rice for himself.


    Once the rice had been thoroughly cooked, the fragrance of it made him twitch his nose uncontrollably.


    "It is recorded in : The Yellow Grain Rice is large and thicker than usual rice. Harvest is little and it cannot withstand dry conditions. Therefore, it is extremely rare. It is fragrant when cooked as is regarded as food for the deities! In reality, since it has dream properties, it is best suited for dream masters to consume!"


    He filled his entire jade bowl with the rice, used his chopsticks and at a mouthful of it.


    "Fragrant and of good texture!"


    Considering all that he had gone through before, Fang Yuan had already tried most delicacies! Therefore, his palate was not something that could be easily satisfied!


    But now, as he swallowed the Yellow Grain Rice, an indescribable soothing feeling started to rise from his stomach, making its way to his heart.


    "This rice is soothing and is perfect for me to replenish my elemental energy..."


    Fang Yun silently allowed himself to experience the warm and soothing feeling in his dantian. As the warmth gathered, it was like a stream of hot spring water flowing through his entire body. Finally, it became a stream of energy which flowed along his spine all the way up, entering a whole new dimension in his body which he had never known about.


    "It is indeed rare to come across spiritual objects which would aid in the increase in magical energy... Most importantly, it is neither of Heaven Grade or Earth Grade, which would allow me to produce them in large quantities. This makes it even more valuable!"


    In his actualised dream world, streaks of yellow glow appeared. It was as though something had triggered within the actualised dream world. His magical energy was swiftly restored and mighty force within started to calm down.


    In the yellow glow, his magical energy started to combine with his mighty force, resulting in a mercury-like dream elemental force which quickly started to fill up in the actualised dream world.


    "Mmm... If I can consume Yellow Grain Rice every day, I can restore my dream elemental force 3 times quicker than before!"


    As his True Spirit witnessed the restoration of his dream elemental force, he was relieved and nodded his head. "Needless to say, there is still the benefit of absorbing hints of dream property from the rice. It will be rather significant if I absorb large quantities of dream property... this is great!"


    In the outside world, he did not hold back. The appetite of a 4th Meridian Wu Zong was huge. Instantly, he cleared the entire pot of spiritual rice before rubbing his tummy in satisfaction. He was now prepared to head to the farm and move about to aid in the digestion of the rice he just ate.


    Once he had left, his spiritual will shook. He realised that 2 servants were rushing into the kitchen. They were greedily sniffing the air and fighting over the metal pot.


    "Are they really fighting over the water used to wash the pot...''


    With that thought, his mind shook. He looked away and arrived at the farm.


    "Mmm... The ground is nourished enough. This is much better than any plots of spiritual land in the mainland!"


    He grabbed a fistful of soil. The soil was black and loose. It was shimmering as though one would be able to squeeze oil out of it if they decided to do so. Furthermore, there was a thin white layer above the black soil.


    This was not a white layer of snow frozen from liquid water. Instead, it was actualised from elemental force. This was comparable to fragments of elemental crystals and was formed from his very own Spiritual Gathering Array.


    "This soil might just be comparable to that in the hollow..."


    Thinking about the environment in this prosperous land, he started to think about the environment in Changli Mountain Hollow and shook his head. "Even after the passing of the Sage, the environment there is still much more superior compared to the outside world."


    Considering the well-nourished soil in the Golden Sun Prosperous Land, it was possible to plant the Yellow Grain Rice. However, it was inevitable that he would use more resources to produce the harvest of Yellow Grain Rice, much more than he could have harvested. Therefore, a loss was inevitable.


    "Taking into consideration the current environmental conditions, I must produce a variant of Yellow Grain Rice which has the least requirements to grow."


    Fang Yuan''s idea was simple. This 6 hectares of the farm was an experimental farm. He would surely be able to produce Yellow Grain Rice. However, he was gambling on the chances that such a variant would be evolved.


    If he could create an evolved variant with a higher grade, that would be even better. However, it was not a must to create it. All that he would look for was variant which could adapt to the current environment.


    Once he had the seeds of this variant, he would be able to produce the rice in large quantities in the future when he would obtain the entire plot of his private farm.


    "Furthermore, if things did not go as smoothly and if the Yellow Grain Rice is extremely hard to evolve any special traits, considering my level in Botany, it is still possible for me to successfully produce a new batch of Yellow Grain Rice. At least, I would still harvest back whatever I had sowed..."


    He took a glance at his stats window:


    "Botany [Level 5] ----- You''re now a master in the Botany Realm! Any plants planted by you would not only awaken but also develop special traits, the maturity period would also shorten based on the conditions!"


    With that, he grabbed his how and started to sow the seeds of the Yellow Grain Rice.


    Because of this secret, he could not ask someone else to do it. Furthermore, in order for there to be any chances of special traits evolving, he had to do it personally.


    He would harvest whatever he had sowed. This was always the law of nature.


    ...


    "Fang Yuan! Fang Yuan!"


    In Realm Alliance Mountain, within a side hall, Li Bo clenched his teeth. As he read the intelligence he had gathered, he started to grit his teeth. "He is just a half-*ssed dream master who had gotten lucky to become a dream master in the Illusionary Divine stage. How does he dare to belittle me... Yes! It''s true that I can do nothing about it! However, although my family might not be as influential as the Ye Family, we were still loyal to the Realm Alliance for 3 generations. Surely, you don''t have the rights to bully us!"


    His face was flushed with anger. As he arrived at the main hall, he knelt down. "Grandfather! You must upload justice for me!"


    "What do you have!"


    In the centre of the main hall, on a bed of clouds, a silhouette appeared restless.


    Their family was weak. No matter how much effort they had put in, there was only one person among the descendants that had successfully become a dream master. Although he was a lowly-skilled dream master, it was already a huge step ahead for the family. They were now on a different level from the average humans. With such a descendant, their position in the Realm Alliance had been cemented. Therefore, many families were jealous of them.


    However, looking at things now, it seems as though it was something the family could not settle.


    "Grandfather... I was merely following your orders and therefore went after the sisters of the Ye Family. Although you are the head of our family, we have little heritage to speak of. If we can form a relationship with the Ye Family, our standing in the alliance would be assured!"


    Li Bo was not a dense person. "Now, the sisters of the Ye Family are closer to Fang Yuan... Of course, I am not going after them because of their appearances. However, it is a known fact that the resources in the alliance are limited. With the uprising of a family, it would lead to the downfall of another. With the talented Fang Yuan getting involved, if he were to marry the sisters, the position of our family in the alliance would be under threat..."


    "This... you make sense!"


    The silhouette nodded its head before revealing his body. It was a graceful middle-aged man. He was the grandfather of Li Bo, a 4th Tier Illusionary Divine dream master of the Realm Alliance - Li Qin.


    "Realm Spirit, give me information regarding Fang Yuan..."


    Considering that he was in the Realm Alliance Mountain in the Dream Realm and that he was a 4th Leaf Cultivator, his level of rights were rather high. With a single thought, he had already gained the basic information about Fang Yuan, which was still more detailed than what Li Bo had described.


    "He is only in his twenties and is already a 3rd Tier Illusionary Divine dream master? Indeed, a talent!"


    After reading a few lines, Li Qin nodded his head as though he had seen his younger self. "With the uprising of a new member, the few like us with weak foundations will have to do something, for our position will be under threat. Never mind about the fact that he is from a powerful faction... Is he now the guardian of the Golden Sun Prosperous Land? Who would''ve thought that he would have relied on Feng Xinzi and would have Elder Smelter as his backing..."


    "Grandfather... Is Elder Smelter that powerful? We have many up and coming dream masters who are talented as well. Who would pay attention to Elder Smelter? Also, don''t we have the backing of Elder Green Wood?"


    Li Bo hurriedly answered.


    "Although you are right, Feng Xinzi has a close relationship with Fang Yuan. Feng Xinzi is a newly-advanced 4th Tier Illusionary Divine dream master and is a powerful dream alchemy master now. His level of rights in the alliance has also been promoted to a 5th Leaf Cultivator!"


    Li Qin spoke with a calm voice but in his heart, he felt a little displeasure.


    Many years ago, he had joined the Realm Alliance and was willing to do whatever the alliance had requested of him. However, he was unfortunate enough to have lost everything in his generation. Now that he had accumulated enough resources and had achieved a breakthrough to the 4th Tier of Illusionary Divine, he had helped his family secure a standing in the alliance. Even so, he was still considered an outsider and therefore, he remained a 4th Leaf Cultivator.


    On the other hand, Feng Xinzi was a direct disciple and was promoted to a 5th Leaf Cultivator immediately after he had achieved a breakthrough to the 4th Tier of the Illusionary Divine stage and was 1 level higher than Li Qin.


    Officially, the alliance would explain that this was as such due to the fact that Feng Xinzi was an alchemy master and would be able to contribute much to the alliance. However, no one knew the truth. This was exactly preferential treatment given to the direct disciples!


    Outsiders could only look with jealousy. If they were to have any complaints, they would encounter countless troubles within the alliance.


    There is still the problem of Fang Yuan...


    Although Fang Yuan''s background was similar to Li Qin, Li Qin had zero empathy for him.


    He had experienced hardships before. Therefore, in his warped mind, he would want to see others experience similar hardships like him before he would be satisfied.


    Although Fang Yuan had it tough when he had just joined the alliance, with his current position now, he would have to look out for himself. Notwithstanding the hatred they had between each other, Li Qin would still be perturbed to see how Fang Yuan had advanced to a 3rd Leaf Cultivator in such a short period of time.


    With that, he concluded. "After all, Feng Xinzi is not Fang Yuan. Feng Xizi is newly promoted and has limited influence. Therefore, he might not put in all his effort to help Fang Yuan... Grandson, just you wait. I will set things right for you!"


    Within the same alliance, it was not possible for them to have internal conflict. It would do both parties no good if they were to get into a conflict.


    However, Li Qin was extremely familiar about the loopholes in the rules of the alliance and knew how to go about dealing with Fang Yuan. After all, he had personally experienced it for himself and had earned this experience through blood, sweat and tears.


    ''Since the ancient times, high-ranking officials would pressure those of lower ranks. Even though the Realm Alliance might be less uptight over rules, the same phenomenon still applies. It is too simple for me to deal with him without leaving any traces behind... Hehe, after all, he is a new member and deserves to undergo some hardships. If he is not put under pressure, he would not develop and improve. This is my effort in training you!''


    Li Qin laughed to himself and was filled was satisfaction at the fact that he was about to take revenge for his grandson.

 336 Meaning in Cultivation

    Dream Realm.


    Fang Yuan strolled along the streets of the Dream Realm. The public area formed by the gigantic Kun beast was bustling as always.


    Numerous dream masters had a mysterious light shining from them to conceal their body. They walked along the busy streets and gathered at the four-sided stone tablet in the centre to trade or to browse through their missions.


    "The dream master who conceptualised and built this Dream Realm is really a genius!"


    As Fang Yuan looked at the streets, he sighed and thought, "Absolute power corrupts absolutely! With great power, people would vie for greater authority and status... The Dream Realm enables every dream master in the entire Da Qian to progress rapidly and form groups. Naturally, they would then vie for the absolute power of the whole world! This has nothing to do with being good or evil, it is a natural instinct!"


    Although there was a neutral Realm Alliance and a good Baize Mountain within the 5 Grand Organisations, Fang Yuan gained new understandings from the event at Changli Mountain Hollows.


    "In the end, doesn''t matter if good or evil, we are all dream masters... Thus, we cannot tolerate betrayers. Just from the way the 5 Grand Organisations publicised about the Hidden Dragon Guards, it can be told that they share the same bitter hatred against the common enemy. If only there weren''t some internal disputes regarding the benefits that couldn''t be resolved, I guess Da Qian would have descended into chaos?"


    Fang Yuan went to the Realm Alliance Mountain instead of the public square.


    Ever since he received the level of rights, although he could set Realm Alliance Mountain as his main location to be transported to, Fang Yuan still preferred to be transported into the public area.


    "After the rank of 4th Leaf Cultivator, one could set a Green Bronze Hall as his location to conduct all sorts of training and experiments..."


    In reality, there were still many benefits in joining the Realm Alliance.


    The Realm Alliance greatly helped Fang Yuan. Examples included the help he received to fight against the Divine Lotus Cult and also the position of Golden Sun Prosperous Land''s guardian.


    "Therefore, I still have to stay in Realm Alliance! Dream masters without an organisation usually do not live for long... especially during such a period where conflicts are becoming more intense!"


    Fang Yuan had a premonition that the conflict between dream masters and Da Qian''s royalties were becoming more and more intense, as though it was about to explode!


    Perhaps the recent events at Changli Mountain Hollows were merely just a presage and the real tragedies awaited.


    As Fang Yuan came near the rock tablet of the Realm Alliance, he found a pavilion and sat down. He then sent a message, "Ye Sisters, I have reached!"


    "Please wait a moment, brother Fang Yuan..."


    The inscription plate glowed and not before long, the two sisters arrived hand in hand. The elder sister was forthright as usual and sat down immediately. Whereas, the younger sister''s cheeks were slightly red and she was shyly looking around.


    "Seems like there''s something wrong, her attitude is different..." Fang Yuan thought for a moment.


    He did not care further and then asked, "You contacted me and said you have found the technique?"


    "Indeed! Here''s the Red Night 9 Smelting Technique!"


    Ye Shuhua took out a blood-red coloured crystal and said, "This technique is created by a dream master at the 7th Tier of Illusionary Divine. It can banish evil forces and is extremely expensive... however, as my family is still rather reputable, it was found in a family friend''s hidden library!"


    "Many thanks!"


    Fang Yuan received the crystal. As he peeked into the blood-red crystal, he saw a paragraph of wondrous words.


    Furthermore, as he compared it to the 9 Smelting Technique Liu Mengmei sent over, he saw that the two were perfectly linked together. Hence, he believed the sisters and assured, "Since I have already received the deposit, rest assured that I will handle that Li Bai and even the Li Qin behind him!"


    This was because Fang Yuan also had backings behind him, which were Elder Smelter and Feng Xinzi.


    Although it is said that relationships were meant to be cultivated, in actual facts, such favours should be used quickly or else it would bring about greater troubles and resentment.


    This time around, with how Ye Shuhua quickly found the technique and closed the deal, it was also a way to put an end to their relationship.


    From then on, the two parties no longer owed each other anything.


    This was natural for Fang Yuan.


    Ye Shuhua stood up slowly and bowed to him. She then dragged her sister who seemed like she wanted to speak and yet did not.


    Fang Yuan remained seated and appeared to be waiting for someone.


    Indeed, not long after, a middle-aged man came over. He was handsome and had a tall hat; he was calm and at ease. Behind him was an arrogant and haughty looking Li Bai that made Fang Yuan thought of a big cock.


    The middle-aged man walked forward and sat in front Fang Yuan. He then spoke in a straightforward manner and sincere voice. He did not sound like he was showing off.


    "My name is Li Qin, a dream master at the 4th Tier of Illusionary Divine! A 4th Leaf Cultivator in the alliance!"


    "Eh... so what?"


    Fang Yuan gave a wry smile.


    Fang Yuan had to do his utmost since he made the deal. Just because the man said all those did not mean that Fang Yuan had to respectfully step down.


    "Similar... so similar!"


    Li Qin lamented, "Seeing you is like seeing the young me! I used to be like you, so witty and sharp, just like a sharp sword out of its sheath! But as someone who used to be like that, I have to advise you to know your place and limits... don''t be too brash, else you would have lots of troubles ahead of you! This is coming from an experienced man!"


    This man was interesting. He did not mention the Ye sisters nor did he abuse Fang Yuan with his position. Instead, he was like an old grandfather that shared his life experiences and gave warm pieces of advice.


    However, Fang Yuan''s gaze changed at once and he began laughing, "Old fogey... you are out of date!"


    "Eh? What did you say?"


    Li Qin''s eyes flashed with a cold light; it was as though cracking noises could be heard from the surrounding.


    Behind Li Qin, Li Bai covered his mouth in shock. He felt Fang Yuan was extremely insolent and thought to himself. How dare he criticised his grandfather, was he tired of living?


    "You want to advise me and say that I am haughty? That I should be more reserved and less sharp-tongued?"


    Fang Yuan chortled, "That I should be like you? Like a pebble that has been smoothened? Like a person that made zero improvements in over ten years? Why would I be like a dead tree or a rotten skeleton? If you are really experienced, you would have known that us dream masters can only move forward and not backwards! Why would you be stuck at the 4th Tier of the Illusionary Divine stage for over ten years? I will not hesitate to make enemies with people like you!"


    "Insolent kid!"


    Li Qin was enraged and wanted to kill this kid.


    He would have never imagined that such a fearless blockhead would exist in this world. Furthermore, this kid had cultivated to the 3rd Tier of the Illusionary Divine stage! The heavens were blind!


    "What? You want to fight me?"


    Fang Yuan smirked and stared back at Li Qin, "Come on then, old fogey! Let me tell you, the issue regarding the Ye Sisters is now my issue too! If your useless grandson pesters further, he will have to suffer the consequences!"


    "You..."


    Li Qin''s image was totally gone. As he saw the dream masters nearby gathering, commenting, bantering and staring, he dared not touch Fang Yuan.


    Fang Yuan was not afraid as there would be no harm to his body even if his magical clone was destroyed. Most importantly, there were rules governing the Realm Alliance. It was unacceptable If alliance mates fought each other for no good reasons.


    Furthermore, it would be even worse if it was a senior bullying a junior.


    "This Li Qin doesn''t even dare to go against the alliance''s rules and he dares to make enemies with me? He even wanted to destroy my meaning in cultivation?" Fang Yuan thought.


    Fang Yuan could only give a wry smile at such a scene.


    Although Li Qin initially appeared warm, he actually harboured malicious intentions and had ulterior motives. The most important thing for a dream master was the cultivation of his own soul in order to be resolute in his chosen path.


    If Fang Yuan believed Li Qin''s blarney and his ways of dealing with people, that would have been a real suicide! Not only would his cultivation stop improving and stagnate, it might even regress!


    That was what it meant to destroy one''s "meaning in cultivation"!


    Hence, Fang Yuan brazenly attacked him with words. By making use of the Realm Alliance''s rules, Fang Yuan knew Li Qin could not fight him even if he wanted to. Thus, things did not go the way Li Qin wanted and his actions could not match his intentions. Li Qin might even vomit blood when he went back!


    Thus, not only was Fang Yuan''s meaning in cultivation not destroyed, he managed to disrupt Li Qin''s state of mind!


    Although swords nor weapons were seen in this exchange of words, the dangers hidden within it was comparable to a fight for death.


    Fang Yuan was brought up by Master Heartless. He faced numerous challenges all by himself; even as the world was in chaos, he relied on his own ways and stayed true to himself. It was ridiculous for Li Qin to attack him for his personality.


    Furthermore, the world was experiencing a massive turmoil and chaos was imminent. If Fang Yuan cared about being humble and docile in such a time, it would be as though he surrendered himself to his enemy.


    "Old fogey... you are so pathetic!"


    Even if Li Qin used to be a genius, he had already lost his drive and spirit. If he were to fight in a fierce battle, his outcome would be disastrous.


    Fang Yuan had already viewed Li Qin as a dead person. Fang Yuan calmly stood up and gave Li Qin a look of pity before turning away immediately.


    He did not even bat an eye at that Li Bai who was convulsing in anger.


    Although Li Bai was a dream master, 80% was due to external resources that helped him. Li Bai''s character and temperament were utterly horrible and Fang Yuan would be stooping down to his level if he cared about him.


    "Fang Yuan!"


    "Fang Yuan!!"


    "Fang Yuan!!!"


    Li Qin was fuming mad. If that image of his was not formed by his spiritual will, he would have really vomited blood. Even so, a gleam of light shined across Li Qin and he became wobbly and unstable.


    "Grandpa!"


    Li Bai was shocked and immediately went forward to support Li Qin''s body. However, Li Qin gave him a slap and shouted, "Scram! I don''t need your pity!"


    Li Qin''s expression turned gloomy. He looked at Fang Yuan''s back view leaving and thought, "If this kid doesn''t die, my heart will not be at ease!"


    ...


    As Fang Yuan had bafflingly just gained another enemy, it made him sigh too.


    In actual fact, dream masters lived a very long life and had numerous powers. If they fought about women, it could be easily resolved usually.


    However, Li Qin had an ulterior motive, he wanted to destroy Fang Yuan''s meaning in cultivation! That meant Li Qin had the intent to kill!


    Fang Yuan had no regrets in brazenly retorting him.


    Fang Yuan only regretted not having enough power and that it happened in the Dream Realm. Thus, it was not perfect for him as he could not kill his whole family and display their chopped-off heads.


    "Clap! Clap!"


    Suddenly, a stream of pill essence gathered beside Fang Yuan and turned in the silhouette of Feng Xinzi. Feng Xinzi clapped his hands and praised, "So mighty! So savage! Whatever you said just now was so true! Just that you have now offended Li QIn and bunch of useless elders in the alliance!"


    "Luckily I have you to support me!"


    Fang Yuan expression changed and said, "It''s just a few words out of my mouths! They can''t possibly be rushing over to kill me immediately!"


    "The Realm Alliance forbids members from killing each other. For Illusionary Divine dream masters at the same tier, they could still report it to the elders to fight on the Stage of Life and Death. You don''t meet this condition and furthermore, amongst the 3rd Tier Illusionary Divine dream masters, no one is confident to take you down! Thus, there''s nothing to be afraid of for you!"


    Feng Xinzi did not know whether to smile or not and continued, "Just that this Li QIn does have some power with him, especially since he is good friends with the treasurer of the prosperous lands in Cloud Region. You might be in for some small troubles..."

 337 9 Smelting Technique

    "If I plant one in the spring, I will get back 10,000 in autumn..."


    Within the Golden Sun Prosperous Land.


    Looking at the golden stalks of rice, his face was filled with anticipation to harvest them.


    "Even if the Yellow Grain Rice does not evolve any special traits, the fact that I am able to shorten its maturity period meant that the resources required would be greatly reduced. As long as I am able to harvest them after maturity, I would have already earned!"


    After farming for half a day, Fang Yuan walked out of the array and arrived at the main hall.


    Beautiful servants with blushed cheeks served Fang Yuan all kinds of spiritual food and started to brew a pot of tea for him.


    In the past few days, he had spent half the day farming and the other half practising his martial arts. In his free time, he would read up on ancient recordings or conduct research on martial arts techniques. Occasionally, he would try and understand the mysterious glow from the water dragon pearl. Therefore, his lifestyle was rather regulated.


    As time passed, Fang Yuan started to give off a mature vibe. He no longer had the haste of pushing his progress forward.


    This was a sign of his strengthening foundation.


    "Whooo!"


    After finishing his meal, he teased 2 servants and thoroughly enjoyed himself. With a laugh, he arrived at a square, released a breath of white energy and began his training in martial arts.


    "Chi! Chi!"


    Behind his back, 4 spiritual meridians formed a vague figure. A 5th spiritual meridian was faint, but with time, it slowly formed. Finally, it glowed with brilliance, and the entire illusionary vague figure shook.


    "The 5th Meridian of Wu Zong is formed!"


    Fang Yuan composed himself before revealing a look of satisfaction on his face. "The 9 Smelting Technique to purify one''s elemental force is indeed effective!"


    In the past few weeks, he had accumulated experience to fill up his proficiency points. In addition, he had also started to practice the 9 Smelting Technique. It was the simplified version of the Red Night Recordings, but it was enough to purify his martial arts elemental force.


    Previously, he had hastily achieved his breakthroughs without a strong foundation. Now that he had practised the 9 Smelting Technique, although it had resulted in a dip in his elemental force, his foundations were slowly being perfected.


    Finally, he had achieved a breakthrough today, further progressing on his path as a Wu Zong.


    Fang Yuan took a glance at his stats window:


    "Name: Fang Yuan


    Essence: 48


    Spirit: 48


    Magic: 59


    Profession: Dream Soldier Master


    Cultivation: Illusionary Divine (3rd Tier), Wu Zong (5th Meridian)


    Technique: [Giant Eagle Metal Body Technique (Grade 6) (1%)], [Hundred Poison Golden Body (1st Refining)], [8 Gates Sword Array (4th Sword) (99%)]


    Skill: [Medicine (Level 3)], [Botany (Level 5)]"


    "The Giant Eagle Metal Body Technique, although fused with the Qian Kun Giant Spiritual Technique from the Yang Family, can only attain the 8th Meridian at most. Although I can form the Divine Body, it is still imperfect..."


    From the corner of his eye, he could see the stats for his Hundred Poison Golden Body as he rubbed his chin. "Now that I''ve settled down, I should improve this technique of mine... Furthermore, these two martial arts techniques that I have can complement each other to form a new technique. This is the path for me to enter the realm of true martial arts!"


    He took a look at both his arms.


    Even without channelling his elemental force, he could turn his skin into a golden colour with a mere thought.


    He had already thought of achieving such a stage, but could only finally achieve it after training in this plot of prosperous land.


    This was not only due to the fact that the environment was stable. More importantly, he had obtained information which was once in the water dragon pearl and now had the information that a dream master at the Prominent Divine stage would have.


    "That mysterious glow is indeed a library of information. If there are already so many secrets on the surface of the glow, I wonder what I can discover in the core of the glow..."


    Up till now, he had achieved the peak condition and had improved as well. Fang Yuan arrived at a meditation room. With the flip of his palms, a blood-red crystal appeared.


    "I shall familiarise myself with the 9 Smelting Technique before I shall attempt the techniques in the Red Night Recordings. This way, although slow, I would be able to succeed with low risks..."


    Fang Yuan sighed.


    The reason why he was so cautious was the fact that through various means, he had gathered more information regarding the evil force in him. Therefore, he would rather deal with it conscientiously.


    "This evil force, also known as Heavenly Evil Dream Element, is a unique variant of dream elemental force which comes from the Evil Divine Sect... Dream masters with this variant of evil force in them are mostly dream masters at the 4th Tier of the Illusionary Divine stage. Furthermore... Most of them will experience a gruesome death. However, if they manage to survive, they would become accomplished and might even have the chance to achieve a breakthrough to the 7th Tier of the Illusionary Divine stage!"


    "However, to me, I can achieve the same outcome with an equal probability if I slowly progress in cultivating the 8 Gates Sword Array. Therefore, I have no need for such an evil force in me!"


    "Although others would not dare to claim that this evil force came from the Evil Divine Sect, it is most likely that this was the case! They can use this to control or train up dream masters. Ultimately, they would be in control of everything!"


    ...


    With experience, Fang Yuan would not hesitate to assume to worse of his enemy.


    Since he knew that this was a trap, he would be a fool to jump right into it.


    "Fortunately, I am different from the dream masters of Evil Divine Sect. This evil force is different from my foundations as a dream master. I would only experience a mere disturbance if I were to achieve a breakthrough. However, I could still attempt to get rid of it even at that stage!"


    Fang Yuan closed his eyes. Sentences of the recordings from the Red Night Recordings appeared in his mind, and every single word was glowing.


    "Red means fire! The Red Night 9 Smelting Technique is basically bringing in an external fire to burn one''s foundation and get rid of foreign forces. It might result in both the evil force and one''s foundation to be destroyed... However, right now, my cultivation is pure and I have foundations in martial arts. I can still afford to experience some damage to my foundation!"


    With a single thought, a small flame appeared in his actualised dream world.


    This flame was not a normal flame. It was also different compared to the flames from the Fire Sword. It was red like blood. In an instant, it covered his entire actualised dream world and started to burn.


    "Rumble!"


    The 8 Gates Sword Array started to shake. Large amounts of dream elemental force started to evaporate, revealing the physical bodies of the 3 magical swords.


    Furthermore, the physical bodies of the magical soldiers started to undergo changes as the red flames raged on. It seemed as though it was being purified.


    "Bloop! Bloop!"


    Of course, dream elemental force was not as hardy as the magical swords and could not hold on for long.


    Under the red flames, mercury-like dream elemental force started to evaporate rapidly. In a few moments, the entire actualised dream world was almost bone-dry.


    Fang Yuan felt a wave of dizziness and started to feel weak in his limbs.


    He did not feel such weakness even when battling Yi Xie of the Evil Divine Sect while he was in the hollow, or when he had escaped from the hollow with all the physical injuries.


    "This flames can burn my magical energy..."


    Fang Yuan turned pale. The energy in his eyes started to dim.


    "Chi! Chi!"


    Finally, as the last drop of dream elemental force evaporated, the ground of the actualised dream world suddenly shook. An evil and demonic red dream elemental force started to appear from beneath.


    In the next moment, the dim red evil force started to clash with the red flames.


    "Buzz!"


    The actualised dream world shook. Fang Yuan shook as well, and there was blood flowing out from his mouth, nose, eyes and even ears.


    "8 Gates Sword Array, defend the 4 directions!"


    He did not care about himself. All he was focused at was defending the foundations of his actualised dream world, allowing the fire to freely burn the evil force.


    "Buzz! Buzz!"


    Suddenly, the evil force filled his entire body. In the meditation room, a red glow was emitted from his body, giving off an evil vibe in the process.


    As the flames raged on, the weakened evil force had nothing else to feed on. It retreated and started to sizzle.


    After a long while, everything settled down. Only Fang Yuan''s hoarse voice could be heard. "Haha... This is indeed effective. Although the process is painful and that I can only remove 1% of it every time, I have the Yellow Grain Rice to replenish my elemental energy. I have all the time in the world. Slowly, but surely, I will be able to cleanse myself of this evil force and remove all troubles that would come with it!"


    This process would consume a lot of his energy and might even result in this cultivation level to drop.


    However, with the ability to fix his stats and the resources to replenish his energy, he could recuperate in a short period of time. What would he have to fear?


    After his excitement died down, he started to become suspicious. "The things is... did I have that shocking feeling because my heart is pumping? Or could it be a powerful being performing a prediction on me? The only one who can do this to me now should be the owner of the evil force, right? Or could it be the inheritance left behind by Sage Changli? Tian Xiezi has already passed on. Therefore, does this mean that it is more probable for Sage Changli''s inheritance to have caused this feeling? Hehe... As I was purging the evil force, I felt a concentration of spiritual aura around me. That is actually the best form of disguise! Could this be fate?"


    ...


    In an unknown place in mid-air.


    A few strong spiritual wills had gathered together. With their combined powers, the space around them shook. "Who would''ve thought... Dragon Changli has spent so many resources and successfully found clues about the source... If not for the fact that Lord Yin had helped us, the Imperial Court might have snatched it away!"


    "I respect Sage Changli for his knowledge and findings. However, there are 6 portions to the entire secret. If we do not gather all portions together, we cannot deduce the findings. Although we had tried out best, we only managed to obtain 2 portions!"


    "The Imperial Court might have obtained 1 to 2 portions as well. However, the locations of the other portions are unknown!"


    The few spiritual wills started to suspect each other.


    Even a dream master of the Prominent Divine stage had to put in so much effort to find out the source of all dream masters. If anyone were to manage to discover the source, they would obtain an unparalleled mighty force!


    With such a lure, no one in the right mind would peacefully work with one another.


    Unless they were to find the source publicly, otherwise, everyone would rather keep the source for themselves.


    Lord Yin remained silent. She began to suspect that among these Prominent Divine stage dream masters, one of them had kept the portions for themselves. ''On the day of the self-destruction of the hollow, one of my magical clones was after a portion. As she entered the chaos, she was destroyed. I do not know where that portion of inheritance went to!''


    As a sage, Lord Yin would receive an answer with a single thought.


    Even if she did not specialise as a dream future master to perform predictions, she would also be able to get an answer. ''Is the missing portion related to an evil force? Evil Divine Sect!?''


    Lord Yin started to glare at another spiritual will. ''You hide really well! You almost had me fooled...''


    Of course, without evidence, she would not accuse anyone of anything. Furthermore, as sages, they would surely erase all traces that they had done it. She could only let it go. With that, she had decided that in the future, she would test him before giving him what he deserved!


    ''Something feels weird. Did something happen in the sect?''


    A silent spiritual will seemed to have recalled something but slowly became suspicious as well. However, it replied without hesitation. "Although we cannot combine the 6 portions, we can still come to a decision with all the information that we currently have! If we don''t remove the Imperial Court of Da Qian, it will always be in our way!"


    As a sage from the Evil Divine Sect, he was not against the Imperial Court.


    "I agree!"


    The Divine Lotus Cult showed its support.


    "I agree! We cannot let the Imperial Court benefit from the efforts of Sage Changli!"


    The sage of Source Seeking Sect agreed as well.


    "The Realm Alliance... agrees!"


    "Baize Mountain... forfeits the vote!"


    In a streak of divine light, there was a weak voice.


    "Haha... great! Ever since the creation of the Dream Realm, this is the first time that we 5 organisations have arrived at a consensus!"


    The spiritual will of the Evil Divine Sect was elated. As soon as the 5 sages came to a consensus, thunder started to rumble outside and a storm broke out!

 338 Suppression

    Within the meditation room in Golden Sun Prosperous Land.


    Fang Yuan was emitting the intense red glow of the evil force in him. Slowly, it contracted and became a sinister looking red droplet.


    "Rumble!"


    As the fire within his actualised dream world raged on, the dark red hint of evil force was being forced to a corner.


    "This is the time... get out!!!"


    With the flick of his fingers, the dark red evil force started to crystallize and was flung out. As it landed on a wall, a huge hole exploded and the boundaries of the hole started to corrode, releasing a black fog.


    "Phew..."


    As soon as Fang Yuan had forced the red crystal out of him, he immediately felt more comfortable. Even though he was still weak, it was as though he had put down a huge burden, and the sense of danger that he used to have was now gone.


    "In the past two months, I have continuously executed the Red Night 9 Smelting Technique for 81 times. Finally, I have cleared all traces of the evil force from my actualised dream world..."


    If he was a normal dream master, even if he was at the 4th Tier of Illusionary Divine, his elemental energy would be adversely affected and he might even experience a drop in his cultivation level, considering the intensity of him executing the smelting technique.


    However, Fang Yuan had daily replenishment of energy in the form of food and could maintain his cultivation level at the 3rd Tier of the Illusionary Divine stage. Furthermore, the technique that he had executed had also purified his dream elemental force and martial arts elemental force.


    "This is the best condition that I have ever been. Once I recover from this weakness, I will be able to attempt breaking through to the 4th Tier of Illusionary Divine stage..."


    The 4th Tier of the Illusionary Divine stage would allow one to trigger spiritual properties within objects and was a significant milestone.


    Regardless of whichever path a dream master might choose, as long as one would achieve the 4th Tier of the Illusionary Divine stage, one''s power would increase by folds and would become much more powerful than before.


    This was especially so for the 8 Gates Sword Array.


    Once the 4th Sword would be formed, Fang Yuan would be able to cast the 4 Emblems Sword Array. Furthermore, his magical soldiers would gain spirituality and each of their powers would be individually magnified! It would be hard to imagine what power the swords could collectively achieve.


    Of course, if he ever revealed the 4 Emblems Sword Array, he would have sealed his identity as Master Heartless'' disciple.


    Therefore, he would either not cast the array, or he had to kill the person if he were to use the array.


    "I have unknowingly arrived at this stage..."


    Fang Yuan mumbled to himself as his eyes glistened. "I will take revenge for Master!!!"


    A dream master at the 7th Tier of Illusionary Divine was extremely powerful and had limitless powers! How would someone with such powerful die? Master Heartless must have been injured before arriving at the mainland and was already nearing his death.


    After all that Master Heartless had done for him, he had to repay his kindness and therefore take revenge for him!


    "Of course... In order to keep this secret safe, I should not even mention it!"


    The enemy was too strong and Fang Yuan could not afford to be careless!


    ...


    In the Realm Alliance.


    Li Qin looked desolate as he walked through a corridor and arrived at a hall.


    "Haha... Li Qin, who would''ve thought that you would be thoroughly embarrassed!"


    A sinister but gentle voice was heard from the centre of the hall. In the seat at the centre, a sinister-looking scholar slowly formed his physical body and smiled.


    "I''ve got to admit that Fang Yuan is indeed a talent and a formidable opponent!"


    Li Qin had sadness written all over his face. "Now... I''m afraid that he has become the demon in my mind. If he doesn''t die, I''m afraid I will be stuck at my current cultivation level forever!"


    Dream masters had to have a clear mind in doing things and would fear ''obstacles'' in their minds!


    As long as their minds were cluttered, they would never be able to achieve their true potential!


    "Sigh... an enemy?"


    The scholar took in a deep breath. "Are you seeking for my help?"


    "Yes. He is now the guardian of Golden Sun Prosperous Land and will be in isolation for 10 years. If he doesn''t come out of the prosperous land, I''m afraid that his achievement in the coming 10 years will be too scary for me to imagine..."


    A sinister look flashed across Li Qin''s eyes. "As the treasurer of Cloud Region, do you have any solution to this? The resources from every prosperous land will have to go through you! Let him personally bring his resources to you for a few times! Is that possible?"


    This was a tactic to weaken his enemy, or rather, to prevent his enemy from becoming stronger.


    As members of the Realm Alliance, they would often take ownership of their own decision. The only thing that the alliance could request of the members was to do missions.


    However, since Fang Yuan would be occupied for 10 years and would not be required to take up any missions, Li Qin could not stand it. The best idea he had would be to relinquish him of his appointment and force Fang Yuan to continue taking up missions from the Realm Alliance.


    By then, considering Li Qin''s level of rights and rank within the alliance, he could plot against Fang Yuan.


    Although he could not brazenly assign Fang Yuan to do risky missions, the fact that he had to do missions means that he could not cultivate in peace. As long as Fang Yuan would be unable to advance in his rank, Li Qin could use many ways to deal with him, making him unbearable.


    "The portion coming from Golden Sun Prosperous Land has already been submitted for this year..."


    The treasurer of Cloud Region smiled. "However... Brother, you''re in luck! There''s an opportunity here. Take a look at what the alliance just announced!"


    As he spoke, a mysterious glow flew from his hand and landed on Li Qin''s palm.


    "Oh? The reallocation of resources across regions? What a lucrative job!"


    As an experienced dream master in the Illusionary Divine stage, Li Qin could tell that something was fishy. "The armies are still not deployed and the resources are already on the move. Is something big happening in the alliance?"


    "There could be an impending war, or they could be gathering resources to invade a few other realms. Who would know? However, as long as they delegate this mission, we will be at liberty to do whatever we want!"


    The scholar let out a sinister smile once more as his expression changed.


    "Brother, as the treasurer of a region, you can decide how much resources you require. Even if you increase the amount by a little, no one could say anything..."


    Li Qin commented.


    "However, Fang Yuan is still a force to be reckoned with... Not only is he gifted and would likely become as powerful as us, he is also good friends with Feng Xinzi and is under Elder Smelter''s faction!"


    "Smelter and Green Wood have been long-standing enemies. There is nothing more to say!"


    Li Qin sighed. He knew that although they were good friends, he would only help if he would benefit from it. Unwillingly, Li Qin took out something. "This Mysterious Elemental Crystal has always been a treasure of mine. I shall give it to you today!"


    "Haha... great!"


    Seeing this, the scholar''s eyes glistened and knew that Li Qin was giving it his all. "Alright! Leave this to me! Even if that small kid were to create trouble, I can still keep him in place considering that I am a 4th Leaf Cultivator as well. No one would be able to say anything!"


    "I''ll leave this to you!"


    Seeing this, Li Qin was decided. As he turned around to leave the hall, he revealed a sinister smile. ''How dare you embarrass me. I shall let you know how powerful I am!;


    ...


    Within the Spiritual Gathering Array.


    As he walked lazily across the farm and gazed at the huge grains of Yellow Grain Rice, Fang Yuan could not control himself but let out a big smile.


    "If outsiders were to see this, they would surely be shocked beyond words, but it''s a pity... It''s always safer to keep such treasures a secret."


    With the ability to evolve special traits, the Yellow Grain Rice was ready to be harvest in merely a few months.


    Even though he did not produce a lot of spiritual rice, he could harvest around 100 catties of spiritual rice from the 600 square-metres the farm. Therefore, he was able to accumulate over 7,500 catties of spiritual rice, enough for a dream master to consume for 10 years!


    With so many resources to nourish himself, his intense training in the Red Night 9 Smelting Techniques for 81 times was nothing.


    "Eh?"


    After walking around, he discovered a small surprise.


    A few stalks of Yellow Grain Rice resembled a small horned dragon.


    "Is this another type of special trait being evolved? This is great! However, I don''t know what special trait is it..."


    With a flash from his Mountain River Pearl, the seeds of the evolved variant were absorbed into storage.


    Considering how large-scale his farming was, it was only natural that there were a few variants being evolved here and there. Although it might not evolve into how he would have wanted it to, it was always good to have improved variants.


    He now felt like a wealthy overlord.


    "Lord!"


    As soon as he exited the Spiritual Gathering Array, he noticed both Meng Tian and Meng Guang frantically running towards him. "Something bad has happened! A messenger arrived, claiming that the contribution requirement has increased!"


    "Oh?"


    Fang Yuan frowned. Quickly, he sent a magical clone into the Dream Realm to investigate. "This is a piece of legitimate news. However, they have allowed each region to decide the increments for themselves. I''ll just go take a look..."


    In the main hall.


    "Why is the guardian not here yet? Is he showing disrespect on purpose?"


    Fang Yuan arrived outside the main hall and heard an arrogant voice followed by a distinct slap. "How dare you useless bum serve me? Get lost!"


    Amidst cries, two servants held their red faces and ran out, crying. Seeing Fang Yuan, they quickly greeted him.


    "Forget it, please carry on!"


    Fang Yuan suspected that something was not right. As he stepped into the main hall, he could see a dream master dressed in black. A table was flipped and wine was spilt across the floor. Everything was in a mess.


    "Are you the guardian of Golden Sun Prosperous Land? I am Zhou Hun, the messenger of the treasurer! There is a new order!"


    Seeing Fang Yuan''s arrival, Zhou Hun snickered. He raised an official document towards the ceiling. There were prints of spiritual light coming from the document.


    "You are just a dream-building dream master, yet to achieve the Illusionary Divine stage. How dare you? Where are your manners?"


    Fang Yuan chuckled.


    If it was a normal mission, they could directly inform him about it in the Dream Realm. Seeing how this messenger reacted, he could guess that the treasurer of Cloud Region must have colluded with Li Qin. Therefore, there was no reason for Fang Yuan to hold back.


    "You..."


    The messenger was stunned. As his attention was diverted, the official document in his hands disappeared and in an instant, he flew backwards and felt a sharp pain in his face.


    "Pa! Pa!"


    In a few moments, there were two fresh palm prints on his face.


    Zhou Hun, being groggy, took a while before realising what had happened. He was infuriated. "How dare you?"


    "You''re such a dog, how would I not dare?"


    Fang Yuan continued. "Looking at your cultivation, you must be lowly-ranked in the alliance! How dare you show me attitude? If you dare to go against me, I''ll kill you this instant. I will at most be punished by the alliance. Do you want to try me?"


    The official document was written in the name of the alliance. Regardless if it was fake or not, Fang Yuan had already decided to shoulder any consequences that might come.


    However, after taking the official document from Zhou Hun, he would no longer be a messenger but a normal member of the alliance. Therefore, things were different.


    All of these were within the rules and no one could argue against it.


    "You..."


    Zhou Hun was startled and did not dare to speak a single word.


    To think about it, the person in front of him was a rogue dream master and would likely kill him if he was enraged. If that really happened, who would be able to help him?


    ''I wanted to embarrass this person and please the treasurer. However, looking at how things are, I don''t think I should take the risk... No wonder none of them was willing to take up this job!''

 339 Breakthrough

    "Get lost!"


    Fang Yuan hollered.


    "Hmph! Please, know your place and don''t get in the way of the alliance!"


    Zhou Hun knew that he was at his wits'' end. He stood up, paid his respects and left, depressed.


    Although he was still responsible for investigating Fang Yuan''s background, the fact that the entire Golden Sun Prosperous Land was under the protection of the 99 Golden Suns Gigantic Array as well as Fang Yuan''s own additional array meant that unless he had to ability to completely destroy the prosperous land, there was nothing he could do. Of course, he wouldn''t be so dumb as to court his own death.


    "Lord..."


    Witnessing this scene, both Meng Tian and Meng Guang were stunned.


    Even the previous guardian would show some respect whenever a messenger would come. Why was their new guardian, Fang Yuan, so daring?


    "Relax... he is just an insignificant person. There won''t be any severe consequences!"


    Fang Yuan flipped the scroll. Without looking, he could already guess that the figure they were demanding would be an astronomical value.


    "What... 3,000,000 catties of spiritual rice and 800 catties of aged gold?"


    Meng Tian squinted his eyes and examined the scroll as well. "Are they crazy? Why would the treasurer do this to us?"


    As he looked at Meng Guang, both of them could roughly guess that this was likely to be related to the fact that Fang Yuan was now the guardian of the prosperous land.


    "This... I will settle it. Carry on with your duties!"


    Seeing that these two servants were struck with fear, he laughed inside as he waved his hand and dismissed them.


    To think about it, he could tide over this relatively easy. He just had to fork out resources from his own storage.


    However, only a fool would use their own resources to cover up for official resources!


    Furthermore, by acceding to their demand and revealing his wealth, he would attract more unwanted attention and pressure from onlookers. Next time, the treasurer would then be able to demand 30,000,000 catties of spiritual rice and 8,000 catties of aged gold!


    "However... I would also be a fool to resign and put myself against the alliance just because of this unreasonable demand!"


    Fang Yuan sighed as he suddenly realised the power of such an organisation.


    It was true that an official would be able to oppress the weak!


    "Against such a problem, no matter how talented one would be, if one does not have a backing, one would still be toyed around like a fool and remain trapped by the rules! This is like dancing while being chained up!!!"


    Fang Yuan rubbed his chin, closed his eyes and arrived at the Dream Realm.


    "It seems... a little different!"


    As arrived at the rock tablet of the Realm Alliance before walking out on the public streets. "The dream masters are all rushing about. Every mission''s payout is now 10 times more, and the prices of war supplies seem to have gone up... is a war about to break out?"


    Before the advancement of troops, their rations would have to go first.


    Even dream masters were not spared from such ideologies.


    From the tense atmosphere, Fang Yuan could sense that something was about to go wrong.


    "The alliance is forcing us to take up even more missions! Furthermore, most of them are assassination missions..."


    Fang Yuan licked his lips. "I''m fortunate... If it was a little later, I''m afraid I would not have a chance to get this appointment as guardian!"


    With this appointment, he could officially be inactive. Even if there were no more resources for him to loot, he would still not give up this appointment!


    "No wonder the treasurer is demanding me for my supplies. Of course, the alliance wouldn''t be against his decision! It seems like my appointment has gotten some jealousy..."


    Fang Yuan''s eyes glistened as he contacted Feng Xinzi.


    However, he was informed that Feng Xinzi was in isolation. With that, Fang Yuan had come to a conclusion. "I''ve used up my friendship with him... Or should I say, he has deemed that our friendship is over. Unless I can perform and show him that I am valuable to him, I would no longer receive preferential treatment from him!"


    With this thought, he disappeared from the Dream Realm.


    Since he could not rely on others, he had to prepare himself!


    "Elder!"


    Feng Xinzi got up and walked to the hall. "Fang Yuan has attempted to contact me, but I had rejected him!"


    "Mmm, the compensation that we''ve given him is enough. We should not spend any more effort on him!"


    There was a serious look on Elder Smelter''s face. "This kid is indeed lucky... In fact, I don''t even think I might be able to smoothly get the appointment of a guardian for myself!"


    "Is it... really about to start?"


    Feng Xinzi shuddered.


    "Mmm... as the alchemy master of our realm, you have an important role to play. Give it your best!"


    Elder Smelter continued. "I have already ensured that higher authorities would not be able to get involved and personally deal with Fang Yuan. As for the internal conflicts, whatever he can guard will be his, and if he fails to do so, it is none of our business..."


    "Yes, Sir!"


    Feng Xinzi took a bow.


    Thinking about the heavy responsibility of producing large quantities of spiritual pills and comparing it with those who could enjoy their lives behind the scenes, it was understandable why Feng Xinzi would be jealous of Fang Yuan.


    "This is indeed a challenge for you, Fang Yuan. How do you plan to deal with it?"


    Feng Xinzi suddenly felt a hint of worry. Before the impending war, even he had started to feel the jitters.


    ...


    In the Golden Sun Prosperous Land.


    "If others are unwilling to help me, I can only rely on myself!"


    In his meditation room, Fang Yuan was sitting cross-legged. It seemed like he had understood something. "It seems... my role as guardian is a lucrative job in peacetime, but in troubled times, it becomes a piece of meat that everyone is jealous of and would want... there is an impending chaos! Could the Changli Mountain Hollow be the cause of all this?"


    Although his appointment was something small, it was a haven of peace!


    "All the more I should not accede to their demand! Although the Realm Alliance is nothing, at least I can gain protection there and benefit from it..."


    "It''s time to achieve another breakthrough!"


    All of this had made him determined!


    Within his actualised dream world.


    Mercury-like dream elemental force was flowing about. It seemed heavy and dense, giving him a sense of security.


    After completely eradicating the evil force, the entire actualised dream world felt as though the shackles on it were removed. With that, it expanded once more.


    "Ultimately, this place will become a real hollow in the real world!"


    Fang Yuan''s glistening eyes could not conceal his greed. With that, he looked at this 8 Gates Sword Arry.


    4 pillars of sword rose up towards the sky. The fire was blazing, the ice was freezing and the thunder was grand... The elements were fighting. As the 3 magical swords glowed, a hint of spiritual wind was in the centre.


    On the green sword pillar, the tip of the sword was still lacking and the sword could not form completely.


    However, this was done intentionally by Fang Yuan.


    "Breakthrough!"


    With this thought, the green ball of energy in the centre of the 8 Gates Sword Array, which was untouched throughout the many times he had fought, started to spread out.


    This was energy from the source of a realm and was exchanged using karma from the Water Realm. It was extremely beneficial to the cultivation of dream masters.


    Furthermore, this amount of energy was already enough for Fang Yuan to become a dream masters in the 4th Tier of the Illusionary Divine stage, but it was forcefully contained.


    After all, if Fang Yuan could not rid the evil force from his body and went on with the breakthrough, there might be repercussions in the future. However, now that the evil force was gone, there was nothing holding him back.


    "Buzz! Buzz!"


    Huge amounts of green glow gathered around the green sword pillar. The lightweight Modest Wind Sword started to form. Green runes glittered on the surface of the sword and finally, they were engraved on the sword.


    The Wind Sword! Formed!


    "Rumble!"


    In an instant, 4 sword pillars glowed and their radiance shot up into the sky!


    Red, blue, purple and green... They represented the power of fire, ice, thunder and wind. As a stable foundation formed in the centre, the actualised dream world started to expand.


    The actualised dream world shook and trembled as though the ground was splitting. Fog rose up into the air, and the entire space was now increased to twice the size!


    "Fire, water, wind and thunder... the 4 Emblems are finally formed!"


    Seeing this, Fang Yuan was filled with satisfaction. "Although it is still incomparable to the most basic earth, fire, wind and water, it is still alright, for I will not be able to harness such power. Instead, with these 4 Emblems coming together, it will be something I can manage and something that is suitable for me! This is the best!"


    With this, his stats started to change:


    "Name: Fang Yuan


    Essence: 48


    Spirit: 48


    Magic: 60


    Profession: Dream Soldier Master


    Cultivation: Illusionary Divine (4th Tier), Wu Zong (5th Meridian)


    Technique: [Giant Eagle Metal Body Technique (Grade 6) (1%)], [Hundred Poison Golden Body (1st Refining)], [8 Gates Sword Array (5th Sword) (1%)]


    Skill: [Medicine (Level 3)], [Botany (Level 5)]"


    "Finally... the 4th Tier of the Illusionary Divine stage!"


    Fang Yuan heaved a sigh.


    Being at the 4th Tier of the Illusionary Divine stage meant that he would be able to create spirituality. He was now a dream master to be reckoned with, even in the Realm Alliance.


    In fact, the dream master who had troubled him, Li Qin, and even the treasurer of Cloud Region was only at this stage.


    In terms of combat power, he would be on par with them, if not even stronger!


    "Activate your spiritual property!"


    Using his magical energy, he could control the space in mid-air. Immediately, he could feel a mighty force in him as though the heavens had bestowed him with power.


    With the point of his finger, an illusionary figure appeared on the Leaving Fire Sword. It was blurred and appeared confused but curious. "Master?"


    "Is it intellectually similar to that of a 9-year old kid?"


    Fang Yuan sighed. As he waved his hands once more, vibes of intellectual waves were given off from the 3 other spiritual swords.


    "The ability of a dream master in the 4th Tier of Illusionary Divine to create spirituality is extremely limited... Of course, it is enough for the sword spirits to be able to have such an intellectual level! In the future when my cultivation improves, the spirituality and wisdom of the sword spirits will improve as well. Once I reach the 7th Tier of the Illusionary Divine stage, I should be able to create the Fire Sword Child, Water Sword Child and more..."


    In reality, as a sword spirit, they did not need to be very wise. It would be enough as long as they could kill enemies!


    "Who should I look for to test out the 4 Emblems Sword Array?"


    With a new powerful weapon in his hands, Fang Yuan wanted to kill.


    With a snicker, he looked at his sword array.


    The 4 Emblems Sword Array appeared sturdy. At the west of the array, a mysterious black sword was beginning to form. Spiritual aura began to disperse as the black sword complemented the array like a puzzle piece.


    "This is the Lake Sword. It is graceful on the outside but brute on the inside. It is most suitable to be the heart of the array as it would be able to amplify the power of all the other 4 swords..."


    As the 4 Emblems Sword Array formed outside, the next would be to form the array within.


    Heaven, Earth, Mountain and Lake, followed by Water, Fire, Wind and Thunder!


    "At Master''s peak, he should have formed the Heaven Sword at the 8th Tier of Illusionary Divine..."


    Fang Yuan knew the power of the 8 Gates Sword Array, and his fear for his master''s enemy started to build up. "This is similar to martial arts. After the 7th Tier of the Illusionary Divine stage, I would have the chance to achieve a breakthrough to the Prominent Divine stage. Master must have been close to invincible as a Prominent Divine stage dream master! However, he was not a sage!"


    "In the 8 Gates Sword Array, could there be... a 9th Tier of the Illusionary Divine stage?"


    Suddenly, he realised what his Master''s resolution and regret. Thinking about it, his heart shook.

 340 Retaliation

    "Fang Yuan...you...mm?"


    In the Dream Realm, Feng Xinzi stared at Fang Yuan and the sword essence that surrounded his hands. His eyes suddenly widened.


    "You...you have ascended to The 4th Tier?"


    Fang Yuan was toying with a ray of sword radiance, which swam in the air like a little snake. It seemed as though it was alive.


    To be able to exert such a degree of control over sword essence was incredible. Feng Xinzi was entirely aware that this was the cultivation of the 4th Tier of the Illusionary Divine stage, a state where one''s spirituality would be triggered.


    "That''s right!"


    Fang Yuan acknowledged with a smile.


    In truth, this was impossible to hide. Although there was an increase in strength, but the increase in rank had not yet arrived. To face off with an enemy was unwise, and there was a need for Fang Yuan to search for a backer and prove his worth.


    "Congratulations...I am being honest!"


    Feng Xinzi was experiencing a flood of emotions. He remembered how he had been painfully stuck at the 4th Tier for years, and how he had only managed to achieve a breakthrough recently. He had sacrificed so much in the process. Now looking at Fang Yuan, he had this intense feeling of having led a wasted life.


    Unknowingly, a sliver of jealousy and depression had been born.


    Of course, the dream master of the 4th Tier of the Illusionary Divine stage was undoubtedly powerful. Feng Xinzi maintained his smile anyway.


    "I''ll help you to inform the Elder Smelter! Our line has gained another talent. The Elder will be pleased!"


    Feng Xinzi left immediately after speaking.


    Fang Yuan looked on silently.


    Even though Feng Xinzi had not given away anything, all the more it betrayed his true feelings! Anyone would have felt envy upon seeing his achievements. Suppressing it to such an extent could only mean that he was a dangerous person.


    Fang Yuan''s endless strings of breakthroughs had ultimately led to cracks in his friendship with Feng Xinzi!


    ...


    In the hall.


    "What? That Fang fellow has already reached the 4th Tier?"


    The Elder Smelter appeared at the master seat in the form of a fire dragon. He was alarmed.


    "Such a qualification would at least bring him into the top 10 list of pugilists in the Alliance...no, for a dream master to rank up, there are considerations other than qualifications. Resources matter as well. Either he has inherited the generous legacy of the forebears, or dream-traversing the different worlds has done him much good!"


    "This person has immense talent. I cannot compare to him!"


    Feng Xinzi was hunched as he spoke.


    "Also...it seems like he carries a secret, and his inheritance is an uncommon one. Elder, you must decide what to do with him!"


    "But to be fair, has there been anyone who reached the illusionary divine stage without possessing secrets of their own?"


    The Elder Smelter was not overly concerned. He was a dream master of the 7th Tier of the Illusionary Divine stage, more powerful than True Divine martial artists and True Elemental spiritual knights. He was a man of great ability and did not lack for opportunities.


    He was at an elevated position and was not particularly impressed by a legacy of the 4th Tier of the Illusionary Divine stage.


    However, Feng Xinzi''s words had attracted his attention, and he stared at Feng Xinzi.


    "So...what do you think should be done?"


    Feng Xinzi felt his blood ran cold. He knew that the Elder Smelter had already picked out the jealousy in his voice, and he fell to his knees immediately.


    "Hear me out Elder. Our line has produced yet another talent, and I am elated. Even if I might not be entirely reconciled to this fact, I will not allow these feelings to get in the way!"


    The Elder Smelter was approving of Feng Xinzi''s frankness and nodded.


    "You may continue!"


    Feng Xinzi heaved a mental sigh. He knew that he had the Elder''s trust.


    "Now that Fang Yuan is at the 4th Tier, his abilities would be recognised by the Alliance sooner or later and they would give him a higher level of rights. To mend whatever hard feelings there might be between you and him, why not give it to him right now?"


    "This person must have been carrying some secrets to be able to rank up this quickly. But our line has a strong foundation and we can offer him so much more. As long as we continue with our subtle recruitment efforts, he will join us one day. Aggressive behaviour might turn him away instead. But it''s a good thing that you have grasped the big picture!"


    The Elder continued.


    "A dream master at the 4th Tier of the Illusionary Divine stage can at least gain the level of rights as a 4th Leaf Cultivator. We should give it to him ourselves or he''ll owe the favour to someone else. But he is not a core member after all and we will have to place him under probation! Tell him to come in and I''ll see him personally, and give him a higher level of rights!"


    "Yes sir!"


    Feng Xinzi bowed. He was filled with a sort of anticipation.


    The Elder had given him an assurance. Yes, although Fang Yuan and he were both of the illusionary divine stage 4, but he himself was around from the start and was a core member while Fang Yuan was only joining in halfway.


    Fang Yuan had to undergo a series of tests and training before he could be useful to the organisation.


    ''Breaking through stage 4 would exhaust all of one''s foundational strength, which would have to be accumulated again...we will now start from the same point. I have an advantage because I am a core member. He won''t overtake me."


    Feng Xinzi''s thoughts had given him more confidence and he swaggered off.


    Behind him, the Elder Smelter smiled quietly.


    Having gained two dream masters the 4th Tier of the Illusionary Divine stage under his wing would give him more authority in the Realm Alliance. This was especially important given that there was impending war.


    ...


    Not long after. The Realm Alliance Mountain.


    The residential hall of the Cloud Region''s Treasurer.


    The Treasurer had a scholarly air about him and was listening to Zhou Hun''s reports gloomily.


    "My lord¡­"


    Zhou Hun was on his knees. His face was streaked with tears and he had a palm print on his cheek that he had put on deliberately.


    "That Guardian is an arrogant prick. He humiliated me, which is akin to not giving you respect!"


    "Jerk!"


    The Treasurer had a dangerous glint in his eye.


    "I already knew that this person was excessively proud, but I had no idea that he was violent and temperamental as well... he hasn''t stepped out of line yet though. I cannot deal with him."


    He laughed coldly to himself.


    ''Since he has already been assigned a task, the amount of land available for use in the Golden Sun Prosperous Land must be lacking. He would have to put in much effort to maintain his appointment and avoid war at all costs! All the more we should ruin his plans!''


    The Treasurer then turned to Zhou Hun.


    "Go to him again in a month''s time and if he has completed his assignment, issue him another one with a workload that is twice as heavy as his current one!"


    "Ah...my lord, this defies logic!"


    Zhou Hun was stunned.


    Although he wanted to take revenge very much, he did not want to put himself in unnecessary danger.


    "So, there is only him! If the Golden Sun Prosperous Land is given a larger share, the Cloud Region and other places will have less to do. This is a good thing, and no one would object other than the Guardian of the Golden Sun Prefecture."


    The Treasurer laughed with mirth.


    "As for him? Hmph...just a 3rd Leaf Cultivator. If he disobeys orders, it means that he is disregarding the big picture. I could report that to the leaders, who would remove him from his post and send him to the battlefield!"


    "My lord is brilliant!"


    Zhou Hun felt a chill in his bones.


    He could not imagine himself being the one involved in this situation. His lordship''s greed could never be satisfied. But these feelings were soon replaced with a sense of satisfaction.


    ''Haha...to think that this day would come. This must be your retribution for hitting me back then...eh?"


    At this moment, he glanced a figure charging into the residential hall from his peripherals.


    "Who is that?"


    The Treasurer was equally perplexed.


    He did not know who the intruder was yet, but it was surely a person with the same level of rights as he. A 4th Leaf cultivator of the Realm Alliance, a force to reckon with.


    "Get lost!"


    Fang Yuan kicked out casually, and Zhou Hun flew out by several yards with a scream.


    "Ahh...are you the Guardian of the Golden Sun Prosperous Land? Fang Yuan?"


    The Treasurer was startled.


    "You? Have you attained the 4th Tier of the Illusionary Divine stage? Do you have the 4th Leaf level of rights?


    The rapidness of his promotion was astounding. He was a prodigy.


    "You are the Cloud Region''s Treasurer?"


    Fang Yuan sized him up defiantly. He considered the Treasurer his equal, which was the truth in terms of power and authority.


    "I am Zhou Tian. What do you want?"


    The Treasurer frowned.


    "What do I want?"


    Fang Yuan roared with laughter.


    "Zhou Tian! We both know it very well. You dared to interfere in my conflict with Li Qin. Are you bent on challenging me on the Stage of Life and Death?"


    "You¡­"


    Zhou Tian choked and was silent for a moment.


    The Stage of Life and Death was a method of resolving conflicts between dream masters in the Realm Alliance. They would fight each other to the death on a platform.


    The rule was that only dream masters of the same level of cultivation could fight each other, and they had to receive the blessings of the elders. All their weapons and magical tools would be taken from them to ensure fairness.


    Zhou Tian had not expected Fang Yuan to make such a huge fuss. He had only antagonised Fang Yuan slightly, and now Fang Yuan was challenging him to a death match. Had all his training been for nought?


    Even if he was 90% confident that he would win, a death match was still a worrying prospect.


    As a dream master, he was almost immortal. He could expect to live on for a long time. How could he take part in a death match so readily?


    The key thing was, how had he offended Fang Yuan? It was not worth it for him to risk his life for a Mysterious Elemental Crystal. He was not stupid.


    ''Damn it! How did I forget that this person is a mad bull! For the sake of the Ye sisters, he actually dared to challenge Li Qin at only stage 3¡­"


    Zhou Tian was becoming more afraid and beads of perspiration lined his forehead. He decided to smile obsequiously.


    "Brother Fang, you need to calm down. Perhaps there has been a misunderstanding!"


    "Misunderstanding?"


    Fang Yuan smirked.


    "How do you explain the issue with the quotas?"


    "This was all the fault of my subordinate...this Zhou Hun has made a blunder and I will punish him! As for the stated quota, it will definitely be changed! Changed!"


    Zhou Tian took on a fierce look immediately and waved his hand. Zhou Hun gave a shriek and his spiritual will disappeared into thin air.


    Fang Yuan giggled to himself as he observed the scene. This was the fate of a servant.


    At the same time, he was himself a newbie. To protect his interests, he had to either find a powerful backer, or become so belligerent that his enemies would think twice about crossing him.


    Unless they had good reason to kill him, his foes would leave him alone.


    There was an immediate shift in Fang Yuan''s mood and he gave a gentle smile this time.


    "Oh, it must be a misunderstanding then. Treasurer Zhou, although we have the same level of rights, but based on appointment, you are my superior. Please do look out for me!"


    "Yes...yes¡­"


    Zhou Tian''s face began to spasm.


    "This person is very mercurial. He is a scheming character indeed!"


    Knowing that Fang Yuan was no push over, Zhou Tian realised that many of his plans were unfeasible. He was suddenly annoyed at Li Qin.

 341 Chaos

    "Are you unwilling?"


    Within the Green Bronze Hall, Li Qin gazed at the silhouette beneath him and frowned.


    "Grandfather..."


    Li Bai knelt down and was pale. "I have only just become a dream master. It is extremely risky for me to take up a mission now! How can the few elders in the Realm Alliance be so selfish as to sacrifice us to protect their direct disciples!"


    "What rubbish!"


    Li Qin frowned once more and had a serious look on his face. "Don''t spout such nonsense... even before me! Keep these thoughts to yourself, otherwise... I will personally send you to the battlefield with the highest casualty rates to show my loyalty to the alliance. Do you understand?"


    "Under... understood!"


    Li Bai could see a chilly look in his grandfather''s eyes as he acknowledged while shivering in fear. Following, he became silent for a while before hesitating to ask again. "Can I not go? The secluded 9 Extremes Mountain is among the top ten most dangerous places in Da Qian... Even if I have support from outside, it is still too dangerous!"


    "... There are no more other suitable places for you to go. You can sit out of this one, but if anything happens, you will be sent out to the frontline!"


    Li Qin paused for a while before continuing. "Although that place is dangerous, if you do accept to go there, you are entitled to reject any other requests. This is the best I can do for you. Appreciate what I am doing for you. At your age, I killed many and stained my hands with blood before returning alive. People would fight to go there, but here you are, unwilling!"


    It was not a sudden decision to start a war with Da Qian. The dream masters would have to ascertain their base camp before they could start eliminating those that didn''t matter before the war. These were people without sects and backing of any organisations and could be Wu Zongs, spiritual knights or even lone dream masters. Everyone had to choose a side; no one would be allowed to stay neutral!


    By that time, since the Realm Alliance had the least requirements to enter, there would surely be a lot of dream masters begging to join!


    Unfortunately, Li Bai could not understand his grandfather''s goodwill.


    "But..."


    Li Bai hesitated. "How did Fang Yuan become the guardian of the prosperous land?"


    Li Qin''s face went black. "He was fortunate enough to have settled that deal before all of these began. He had just taken over as guardian before everything changed. What can we do?"


    However, inside him, Li Qin felt unjust as he gritted his teeth with hatred.


    The job of a guardian was a lucrative one to begin with. It would become much more valuable during wartime and it would be impossible for there to be any vacancies.


    "Don''t worry. Wait at the 9 Extremes Mountain. As long as you don''t enter the secret realm, you would not be in any true danger. In the future, you would surely have the opportunity to become the guardian of a prosperous land!"


    Li Qin gave a cold look as he mulled.


    Zhou Tian''s plan against Fang Yuan should have worked out by now. Fang Yuan would be pressurised and surely cannot retaliate!


    After getting rid of Fang Yuan, the appointment of a guardian would be made available once more and therefore, Li Qin would be able to help his grandson become the next guardian.


    "Is this true?"


    Hearing this, Li Bai''s worried look become one of happiness. "Grandfather, you must help me!"


    "Whoosh!"


    At this moment, a fiery glow shot into the Green Bronze Hall. It was a small sword with a piece of beautiful jade attached to it. The jade was filled with essences of elemental force.


    "This..."


    Li Qin''s expression changed as though he had a bad premonition about something. With his index finger, he touched the surface of the sword.


    "My old friend, Li Qin!"


    From the small sword, Zhou Tian''s voice was heard. "Regarding the issue about Fang Yuan, I have decided not to get myself involved. I shall return you the Mysterious Elemental Crystal in its original state... Let me warn you that this person has already attained the 4th Tier of the Illusionary Divine stage and his level of rights has been increased to that of a 4th Leaf Cultivator. He is now as powerful as the both of us and is an extremely dangerous person. It is going to be hard to deal with him!"


    "What? 4th Tier?"


    Li Qin let out a gush of spiritual aura which exploded in mid-air, as though he had lost control of something. "That brat... How could he advance so quickly?"


    "A 4th Leaf Cultivator?"


    Li Bai was stunned as well.


    This meant that Fang Yuan was one of the more powerful dream masters in the alliance and would be accorded certain rights. To Li Bai, this was a powerful person which should be given utmost respect.


    "Brat!"


    Li Qin''s eyes were filled with fury. "Fang... Fang Yuan!"


    If Fang Yuan''s first words to him were akin to planting seeds of phobia within his mind, then Fang Yuan''s rapid advancement would be akin to slapping him in the face!


    "What a world! What a cruel world!"


    Most importantly, the source of the news was from a higher up and therefore, Li Qin could not deny this fact.


    In times of chaos, everyone had to give way to those who would rise to power quickly.


    Previously, Li Qin had also gotten help to achieve a breakthrough to the 4th Tier of the Illusionary Divine stage. However, since then, his progress seemed to come to a halt.


    How long ago was it since he had attempted the extremely-dangerous dream-traversing?


    Li Qin appeared depressed. "I''ve used up a lot of resources to achieve my breakthrough many years ago, as well as owing many others favours! Even my progression in terms of my level of rights is halted, and yet you can catch up within a day. You''re good..."


    "Grandfather, don''t be angry..."


    Li Bai tried to appease Li Qin and felt that his grandfather was on the verge of becoming crazy.


    "Don''t worry, I''m fine!"


    Li Qin waved his hands. "It''s just that it has been a while since I fought, and I don''t want others to look down on me! Take your leave, I shall remain in isolation!"


    The impending war and the threat from a newcomer both gave him a sense of danger!


    Under such stimulation, this old dream master would finally resume his training!


    ...


    In the Golden Sun Prosperous Land.


    Fang Yuan called Meng Tian and Meng Guang over to tell them about the change in the quantity requested for the resources. Both of them were overjoyed. "Congratulations, Lord! You no longer have to worry about it!"


    "Mmm, carry on with your work!"


    Fang Yuan waved his hands. Although he was not hopeful for the two of them to begin with, he was completely convinced that he should not waste effort in training them up.


    "Eh... sometimes, animals are more loyal than humans... I wonder how are the Flower Fox Ferret and company doing?"


    Fang Yuan was lost in his own thoughts. "If I can improve my cultivation in the future, I might be able to return to the mainland and the Green Peak spiritual land to visit them..."


    Of course, Fang Yuan knew that he owed nothing to both the Wu Zongs. In such a short time, he knew that it was impossible for them to die for him. Even the previous guardian might have a higher chance of getting the both of them to be loyal to him.


    "I''ve settled everything at Zhou Tian''s side and my level of rights has now increased to that of a 4th Leaf Cultivator. I''m afraid there''s not a lot Li Qin can do to me now... The older we get, the more afraid of death we will be. Even if I do not pay him a visit, he would surely train himself up and prepare himself for a death match with me..."


    Fang Yuan''s eyes glistened.


    He knew that since Zhou Tian had nothing to gain from their conflict, he would be easily scared by the thought of a death match. However, it was different for Li Qin!


    If Fang Yuan were to visit him, he might just agree to the death match.


    Although Fang Yuan had a chance of winning, ultimately, Li Qin was an experienced dream master in the 4th Tier of the Illusionary Divine stage and would have many tricks up his sleeves. Li Qin might even be able to force Fang Yuan to reveal his secret 4 Emblems Sword Array.


    Now that he had scared Zhou Tian, Fang Yuan should not press further and should cowardly hide within the prosperous land to train up.


    "Since time is on my side and that I''ve settled Zhou Tian, let''s see what else can Li Qin do!"


    With the speed of his cultivation, Fang Yuan was not afraid of Li Qin!


    If he could quickly advance and attain the 7th Tier of Illusionary Divine, killing Li Qin would be a simple task!


    "Furthermore... Is a war really breaking out? The alliance would have to kill the lone cultivators..."


    As a 4th Leaf Cultivator, he had a high level of rights in the alliance and was entitled to some classified secrets.


    With a casual browse, Fang Yuan was able to obtain all these information.


    For instance, the alliance had stocked up on war supplies and resources and was now prepared to wipe out the small organisations. Furthermore, the alliance had secretly raised the requirements for entry and no longer accepted lone cultivators readily.


    "If the current Feng Xinzi were to approach me then, I would not dare to join the realm alliance - I might be sacrificed in the war!"


    Fang Yuan felt a little fearful. "What if I want to remain as a lone cultivator? I''ll have to get approval from the other organisations as well? This is tough..."


    All of these are in preparation for the impending war!


    There were only a few lone cultivators in the entire world that were worthy of the alliance to take notice of them.


    "This war is either among the 5 Grand Organisations or against Da Qian!"


    With that thought, Fang Yuan closed his eyes...


    ...


    Gold Region.


    This region was North of the Jade Capital and was famous for the 10 over gold mines scattered around the region.


    Although gold was not as valuable as they used to be in Fang Yuan''s past life, they still worthed a fortune to the average person.


    More importantly, there were mysterious treasures around the gold mines; treasures that even dream masters require.


    Therefore, this region was extremely well-to-do. There were many sects, and the leading sect was Golden Peak Sect.


    At Chaoyang Sect, Maple Town.


    "Die!"


    With a crackling noise, the entire gate of Chaoyang Sect crumbled.


    "Ahhhh... How dare you?"


    The sect head of Chaoyang Sect was a 4th Tier spiritual knight. He was devastated as soon as he witnessed this. "Who is this? What hatred do you have with us?"


    "You don''t need to know all these!"


    The black figure snickered. With the wave of his hands, a black fog appeared and started to spread.


    "It''s a dream master!"


    In the black fog came the shocking voice of the sect head. "The Golden Peak Sect will avenge us!"


    "Hehe... You spiritual knights and Wu Zongs have occupied Gold Region for long and have enjoyed the treasures here long enough. Yet, all of you contributed nothing! My sect has endured this for long. Let me tell you, even the Golden Peak Sect cannot run away from us!"


    A voice as sharp as a nightingale was heard. There were hints of cruelty and evil in the voice.


    Not long after, the black fog dispersed, revealing a broken gate.


    The sect head of Chaoyang Sect stared at the rubble and leaned against the wall. In his chest, there was a big hole and his organs were lying outside the body. He died a gruesome death.


    "Chaoyang Sect is destroyed!"


    As the black fog intensified, 10 silhouettes appeared. "After this, we shall go for Green Bamboo Sect... After wiping them out one by one, we shall finally eradicate Golden Peak Sect! By then, the elder in our sect will help us as well! Hehe, the Golden Peak Sect has made use of the Imperial Court''s support and discriminated against us in Gold Region. Finally, it''s their retribution!"

 342 The Alliance

    The Golden Peak Sect had declared hegemony over at Gold Region. Their power was not to be underestimated.


    In the Sect, there was a True Elemental spiritual knight and two True Divines. The three of them ran the organisation and called the shots.


    The other sects in the Gold Region had all pledged allegiance to the Golden Peak Sect, and there was an intricate web of communication going on within this alliance.


    Such a powerful organisation was making the dream masters uncomfortable, especially given that they seemed like they were about to collude with the imperial forces.


    Of course, their differences were not so obvious previously and most of the disagreements could be resolved on the negotiation table by both parties. But now, they no longer had time for such niceties!


    However, even as they fought each other, there were strategies to follow. It was not realistic to act on the core leaders of the Golden Peak Sect immediately, and it was far more effective to take out their associates first.


    The dream masters were bold and destroyed the affiliates of the Golden Peak Sect one by one. They even placed some of the sects under siege so as to draw out their reinforcements, and subsequently massacred all of them. The entire Gold Region was engulfed in blood and gore.


    The Giant Rock Sect.


    It was one of the most powerful factions in town, but had been destroyed because of its association with the Golden Peak Sect.


    "Junxian! What is your opinion upon seeing this?"


    Underneath, the carnage went on. The dream masters made use of their powers of illusion to kill their enemies in their sleep.


    The occasional scream in the dead silence brought a chill to their bones.


    Ruan Junxian climbed up a tower to get a better view. He was shaken.


    In front of him, an old man in a scholar''s attire ate and drank with relish. There was a jug of fine wine and a few dishes on the table.


    The sharp contrast between the sumptuous meal and the massacre evoked a nauseous reaction from Ruan Junxian.


    Of course, he did not dare to show it, and refilled the old man''s cup with wine. "The Giant Rock Sect is unscrupulous and have suppressed the people for a long time. Although their activities do not compromise ours, if we are intent on destroying them, they can do nothing about it. In this world, it''s always the strong preying on the weak¡­"


    Ruan Junxian seemed to speak from personal experience.


    "The strong prey on the weak, well said! This is the law of nature...dream masters like us practise natural arts, how can we turn our backs on the orthodox ways?"


    The old man roared with laughter. With a glint in his eye, he scanned Ruan Junxian from head to toe.


    "You were lacking in natural gifts and did not have the potential to become a dream master. However, after consuming spiritual foods to boost your foundations, you did manage it somewhat...but can you bear to lose your progress in martial arts? It is still possible for you to become a spiritual knight. To give it all up for a small probability of becoming a dream master?"


    "I won''t have any regrets. Please recruit me, sir!"


    Ruan Junxian kowtowed to the old man after speaking. He knocked his forehead on the floor until it was a bloody mess.


    "Hold!"


    The old man stroked his beard.


    "Although you have missed the optimum window for cultivation, but it is your good fortune to have met me. There will be side effects, but my efforts will be sufficient to push you up the path of the dream disciple...as for the other aspects, I cannot say. It will depend on your luck."


    "Yes, thank you master!"


    Ruan Junxian stood up with determination in his eyes.


    "Haha¡­bear with this!"


    The old man gulped down the contents of a wine cup and pressed a finger to Ruan Junxian''s brow.


    "Ahh!!"


    A sharp pain that seemed to cut deep into his bones and true aura made him scream out involuntarily. His veins swelled like fat worms on his body.


    It felt like tens of thousands of ants were assailing his limbs, his bones, his organs¡­


    Following this pain, his flesh felt as though it was withering. At his core, he felt his elemental force die off.


    "Enter dreams with martial power, breakthrough today, enter the way!"


    As he laughed, the old man drew back his finger and Ruan Junxian collapsed onto the ground. He was drenched in sweat and felt as though he had undergone the most horrific torture.


    "Thank...thank you for your help, master!"


    Although he was covered in perspiration, his eyes were shining and he bowed eagerly in gratitude.


    "Mm, from now on, you are a man of Baize Mountain."


    The old man held up his beard.


    "Now that you have entered the sect, it may or may not be a good thing. Now that there is continuous war, rewards will be given out freely. If you can make use of the spoils of war to support the war effort, you will be able to progress faster than dream masters are able to in years¡­"


    "Alright...we don''t have to talk too much of this. Just follow me, kill and destroy!"


    The old man turned around and saw that a group of soldiers had appeared over the horizon.


    "Yes sir!"


    Ruan Junxian was exhausted, but he did not dare to take his time. He followed behind with his mind set in stone.


    ''I am already at the start line. The next step will involve passing the test and accumulating dream elemental force so that I can become a dream master!''


    ''Baize Mountain is one of the 5 Grand Organisations. With their protection, the family will be safe...also, the enmity between Father and his old masters¡­''


    ...


    The Golden Sun Prosperous Land.


    "My Lord, as per your instructions, all the children in the Prosperous Land aged 10 to 13 are over here¡­"


    In the hall, more than 20 children were gathered. Some were curious and others were nervous.


    "Mm...since I am the Guardian, I have a responsibility to make this place prosper. As my subjects, you are all allowed to enter the libraries and learn how to read and write. You shall learn the martial arts too¡­"


    Fang Yuan decreed casually.


    The older personnel had their own independent motivations and there was no point in grooming them. But the young ones were impressionable and should undergo training.


    Fang Yuan did not dare to hope for a potential dream master among them, but it would be a good thing if a few spiritual knights and Wu Zongs emerged.


    After all, if he was to be stationed here for ten years, he needed to plan for the long term.


    "Hurry, greet our lord!"


    Meng Tian and Meng Guang made the kids bow down to Fang Yuan.


    "My lord!"


    Their voices rang out brightly but were out of sync. It was funny.


    "Mm, the both of you will plan out their curriculum and assign teachers to their education. I will check on their progress regularly¡­"


    Fang Yuan was in fact assembling a squad.


    This was not uncommon though. The previous Guardians had all done it before, albeit through different methods.


    Meng Tian and Meng Guang looked on at the kids with envy.


    They would probably never become the confidantes of dream masters, but the younger generation could, and it would bring glory to them all the same! If the children were found to possess talent, they would be taken in by Fang Yuan as his disciples. That would be a great leap and a great honour.


    Of course, Fang Yuan''s original plan was to recruit a few loyal followers.


    Additional helpers and back up plans were always welcome.


    "This peace won''t stay for much longer¡­"


    Fang Yuan could feel the stirrings of the war to come and he was troubled.


    "Hmm?"


    Fang Yuan looked towards the entrance to the Prosperous Land suddenly.


    "Buzz"


    A large movement, followed by the gathering of fog, then a golden beam. The 99 Golden Sun Gigantic Array! It was not too overwhelming, however, which showed that whoever had arrived was holding back.


    "The Three Suns Daoist, together with his disciple He Qing, is here to visit!"


    A shining spiritual talisman hovered in the air, and a voice rang out when Fang Yuan reached out for it.


    "Ah, it''s a friend! Give me a moment!"


    Fang Yuan walked over to the entrance of the 99 Golden Sun Gigantic Array, and he did see two people waiting there


    One of the daoists wore long flowing robes and had a long beard to match. He was in the pink of health and from one look, Fang Yuan knew that his cultivation had reached the 4th Tier of the Illusionary Divine stage.


    The man beside him was familiar to Fang Yuan. It was He Qing, the young master of the He family.


    "Greetings sir!"


    He Qing fell to his knees when he saw Fang Yuan approach.


    "It is thanks to your recommendation that my master decided to take me in, sir!"


    "You have your own good fortune to thank!"


    Fang Yuan smiled and shook his head. He did not intend to have any further dealings with this person, and he turned to the Three Suns Daoist instead.


    "Your arrival has brought me happiness. Please do enter for tea!"


    "l will!"


    The Three Suns Daoist agreed spontaneously and followed Fang Yuan up the Gengjin Mountain.


    "The scenery in the Prosperous Land is excellent, and the many spiritual fields provide nourishment to the land. You are a lucky man indeed! I have brought you a gift to congratulate you on your promotion!"


    The Three Suns Daoist gazed at the surrounding fields and smiled.


    In truth, he did not think much of these spiritual fields, but after the Guardian Fang Yuan had broken through to the 4th Tier of the Illusionary Divine stage, this area had become a significant power base and had to be taken more seriously.


    "Thanks!"


    Fang Yuan was more than aware that if he had not achieved the breakthrough, these powerful personalities would not have visited him personally.


    Equality in interactions comes with equality in power. This was something he understood clearly.


    The two of them did not enter the hall but found a spot under the trees to rest. In the shade, they began to brew tea.


    "You are dismissed for now!"


    The Three Suns Daoist said to He Qing after they had downed a cup of tea.


    "Yes master!"


    Although he was reluctant to do so, He Qing did not dare to disobey his master and took his leave respectfully.


    Fang Yuan stirred slightly. The Three Suns Daoist was about to move on to serious matters.


    "Sigh...there has been a recent flurry of activity in the Alliance. What are your thoughts?"


    The Three Suns Daoist was straightforward indeed.


    "If there is going to be unrest, it will be difficult for us to go about it alone!"


    Fang Yuan put on a solemn look.


    Although he had received a guarantee from the Elder Smelter, if the war continued to rage on and his services were required, he would have to leave his fields behind.


    "You are right, my friend. These are my exact sentiments!"


    The Three Suns Daoist gave a bitter laugh.


    "Although we have not yet been activated, it is but a matter of time. You might be able to get out of it but it is different for me...if anything happens to me, might I trouble you to manage the Three Suns Sect for me¡­"


    "You worry too much, my friend¡­"


    Fang Yuan had realised that the Daoist was here to seek an ally, and he spoke.


    "If we could go at it together, we would have a better chance of making it through these difficult times!''


    "I agree!"


    The Three Suns Daoist displayed a wide smile.

 343 Search

    Several months passed in a flash.


    Fang Yuan formed a small alliance half-willingly the previous time Three Suns Daoist came to visit him.


    Many dream masters in the 4th Tier of the Illusionary Divine Stage from the sects in the Cloud Region gathered one after another in a short span of few days to aid each other.


    Thanks to them, Fang Yuan was able to obtain several pieces of classified information. As such, he knew that there were conflicts in all parts of the world as 5 Grand Organisations demonstrated their prowess with provocative acts. The Da Qian Royal Family had started to pull back and retaliate. The whole Cultivation World was in disarray.


    "Judging from the current situation, a majority of the martial artists and spiritual knights are siding with Da Qian...Needless to say, the dream masters have always been arrogant and it is no surprise that they have offended almost everyone?"


    Fang Yuan looked at the report and was speechless.


    However, in this world, an individual could possess the power to overwhelm everything. The dream masters possessed remarkable abilities. Even if all the Wu Zongs and the spiritual knights side with the royal family, it would only cause a little additional trouble as the dream masters would have to kill more people.


    "Truth be told...it is not the case where the dream masters do not want to integrate and mingle with the Wu Zongs and spiritual knights. However, they could only be servants here at best...over at Da Qian, they would be able to reap all sorts of benefits... After all, it is a people dao Kingdom. There are some resources which we are unable to give up so easily..."


    He pondered, "The royal family gathered the power of the masses and drew out the power that could be drawn out. It is a pity that it would not be able to block the power of the 5 Grand Organisations if the organisations were to wholeheartedly combine their power..."


    The war-torn Cultivation World was no new or miraculous experience for Fang Yuan.


    Of course, the most direct observation was that the missions in the different paradises became increasingly serious. These missions were dispatched by the alliance and were not meant to go against the Cultivation World. Not even Zhou Tian could change the mission.


    Meng Tian and Meng Guang grumbled incessantly that even if they were to deploy their land to its full capabilities, they would only manage to hold out for a year.


    However, Fang Yuan had made some plans. Now that peace and quiet were hard to come by, it was only natural for him to make use of his resources for as long as possible. The most crucial point was to increase his level of cultivation!


    So what if the world is in turmoil and the 5 Grand Organisations would not combine their power? Fang Yuan still had the confidence to overcome them!


    "Now that there is time, it is better to cultivate. If not, there might not be another chance once the war breaks out and I would even miss out countless of opportunities!"


    There were both dangers and opportunities when the world was in chaos.


    With the world in chaos, Fang Yuan naturally chose to undergo cultivation. It would be the perfect opportunity to strike when things quieten down next time!


    Without the need for many words, Fang Yuan arrived at a side palace hall.


    "Rumble! Rumble!"


    The green water rolled around ceaselessly and bubbled within the pond, emitting a black aura.


    "Hiss hiss!"


    The black aura took on the shapes of centipedes, scorpions, venomous snakes of the 5 poison types. It was indeed formidable and had the ability to erode souls and melt bones!


    "The Hundred Poison Golden Body is a technique which specifically trains the physical body. With the scarce resources from the mainland, I managed to reach the 1st Refining Stage. However, Da Qian has plenty of resources and as such, I have a great room for improvement ...Furthermore, I am a dream master. Things will be different with the aid of the Dream Realm!"


    The sect which inherited this Hundred Poison Golden Body Technique was but a small martial arts sect. The user had to traverse the world in search of suitable poisonous objects. As such, it was very challenging.


    However, Fang Yuan was different!


    As a dream master, with sufficient contribution points or resources, it was only a matter of time before he would be able to procure ancient or precious poisons given the opportunities to trade within the Dream Realm. The poisons obtained from the trade were enough to reach the pinnacle of this technique!


    "Since the ancient time, trading life in exchange for cultivation was the only right way!"


    Fang Yuan jumped into the pond with a splash, his body releasing a golden light. The raging poisonous fog was nothing but a gentle breeze to him. He spread his arms and leaned against the side of the pond as if he was taking having a soak in a hot spring. His face revealed a look of enjoyment. "There is a school of thought among the dream masters to concentrate on training up their magical energy and form their Yin Spirit. Their bodies are but shells which could easily be replaced and in the end, they will cultivate to reach the level of ghost and deities. However, I do not subscribe to that school of thought!"


    "M...Master, your... soup!"


    After a moment, Fang Yuan clapped his hands as Meng Tian and Meng Guang entered the room with a look of nervousness. Even though they had already taken the pill to counter the poison, they were still deathly pale as they looked at the Five Poison Fog. ''Be obedient...if we inhale even a tiny bit of this poisonous fog, I am afraid that we would immediately be poisoned to death and our flesh will melt, revealing our bones...''


    They held their breath as they looked at Fang Yuan, who appeared to be serene and enjoying as if he was taking a soak in a hot spring. "This is the soup made from Intestine-breaking Grass and every blade is worth 500 years. There is also the Heart-eroding Flower Pulp with a 1000-year poisonous property which is sufficient to poison a water dragon to its death!"


    "Hmmmm, put down the items and leave!"


    Fang Yuan waved them away when he saw the terrified expressions on both their faces. He reached for the bowl of soup without seeming to mind and drank it all in 1 gulp. "I should train my physique and my organs. I cannot afford to be careless..."


    He took the Heart-eroding Flower Pulp and ate it like an apple.


    "Understood!"


    Meng Tian and Meng Guang quickly retreated as though they had received a pardon and walked a great distance before they finally let go of their breath when they saw the clear sky. One would have the misconception that they had climbed back out from the gates of Hell.


    ''Master''s technique is indeed impressive...''


    ...


    "They are indeed mediocre..."


    Within the poisonous pool, Fang Yuan shook his head and could not be bothered. After he ate his food, he shut his eyes, as though he was taking a nap, as his spiritual will entered the Dream Realm.


    "Friend! Were you satisfied with the Five Poisons Flower you bought previously? I treat everyone fairly. Find me regardless of who you want to poison..."


    "My friend, do you still have Yellow Grain Rice? I am willing to pay a high price for it, regardless if it is spiritual ingredients, techniques or information, whatever you ask for..."


    "Senior, I have 2 top-grade cauldrons, both of which are of outstanding quality. How about I trade them for 200 catties of Yellow Grain Rice?"


    ...


    Once he entered the Dream World, the messages on the inscription plate started to flash.


    "It seems like the Yellow Grain Rice is in high demand!"


    Fang Yuan stroked his chin and was very pleased. "Yellow Grain Rice was originally a top-grade resource for the dream masters. With then big war, the future consumption would be huge. As an item that can preserve lives, it would never be enough..."


    Even an alchemy pill, unless it is of the highest grade, could not be used as a staple. However, the Yellow Grain Rice could be consumed as a staple.


    He would naturally have to pay the price in order to collect all sorts of precious poisonous objects. As he had a use for his contribution points, he decided to put up a batch of Yellow Grain Rice instead as it would fetch the highest price for its quality.


    He did not expect that the market price for the Yellow Grain Rice would be so good.


    "It is not considered a feat for a dream master to produce Yellow Grain Rice. However, the crucial part would be to hide the proportion of resources needed to produce the Yellow Grain Rice as well as the type of spiritual seeds used...By keeping these 2 secrets close to me, given my current status, I would be able to curb the small talks about it."


    Fang Yuan scanned the objects available a few times but was unable to find what he wanted. He was too lazy to reply the sellers and headed to the stone tablets to search for the ingredients he required as well as the locations of several strange poisons.


    With a look, he discovered a stalk of ''Jade Flame Gold Flower'' which was a required poison to reach the 10th Refining Stage. He was joyous as he contacted the seller. "How much for the Jade Flame Gold Flower?"


    "500 contribution points!"


    The other party had a haughty expression.


    "I will use the Yellow Grain Rice to replace the contribution points!"


    "Ah...where are you, I will come over immediately for the deal!"


    In a flash of fiery light, a red shadow condensed as the other party rushed forward and asked. "You have Yellow Grain Rice? My Jade Flame Gold Flower is of the top grade and there is only 1 portion. I will trade it for 400 catties of Yellow Grain Rice..."


    One would sneer if one were to witness such a change in attitude. However, Fang Yuan had his fair share of experience recently.


    Truth be told, after witnessing the change in attitude, Fang Yuan felt somewhat sorrowful.


    Those lower-levelled dream masters were like duckweed which could only drift with the wind and flow with the waves.


    After completing the transaction, he bade farewell to the seller and contacted the other dream masters he was familiar with.


    Liu Mengmei was extremely busy. As the main force of the offense, the Divine Lotus Cult and the Evil Divine Sect managed to accomplish their tasks well. Even though she was a reserve, she had no choice but to take part in the battle to exterminate the enemies.


    On the contrary, the sisters of the Ye Family revealed their intentions to draw closer to Fang Yuan. They appeared regretful especially after Fang Yuan rose to the 4th Tier. Afterall, with the incoming war, it would be better to maintain a close relationship with someone of power. However, Fang Yuan had set his mind to further his cultivation and could not be bothered with the two of them. He merely contacted them and exchanged reports.


    "Beautiful ladies are the cause of trouble, especially these two sisters who would inherit the Ye family''s name and their grudges. Only a fool will go for them..."


    Fang Yuan arrived at the Realm Alliance Mountains and did not want to be bothered by the pair of sisters.


    "Only a person favoured by the heavens and destined to play the lead role would purposely take on and solve the problems, at the same time offending many highly skilled experts in the process before overcoming them in the end. I would save myself the trouble and avoid this game..."


    The missions on the Realm Alliance stone tablet were able to fetch a higher price compared to the common regions. The ingredients available were more valuable as well. Fang Yuan was reserved as he made his payment in contribution points in exchange for a few types of poison before he retreated to a side to rest and ponder.


    "After breaking through to the 4th tier, I have already exhausted the benefits from the water realm. As for the martial arts and the Golden Body, I can only train step-by-step every day. It would be even more difficult to achieve a breakthrough in the Illusionary Divine Stage. In order to progress rapidly, I must take the shortcut!"


    Where is the shortcut? The shortcut is in the other realms!


    "I have only experienced 2 realms till now. However, the heavens and earth in the water realm hate me. I will receive heaven''s tribulations the moment I set foot there. It is dangerous to even pass by there. I think it is time to find a new realm...."


    Even though obtaining the coordinates of the realms are hard, the difficulty in obtaining the coordinates also depended on the person seeking them.


    There were plenty of missions and specific ones in the Realm Alliance.


    Truth be told, most of the information held by the 5 Grand Organisations were hidden in other realms.


    How could the small benefits be compared to unearthing the realm''s treasures?


    "These coordinates are from the core of each of the 5 organisations...a normal dream master would not be able to obtain the coordinates. However, I am a 4th Tier Illusionary Divine dream master with sufficient authority. Even though a previously explored realm does not hold great benefits, the benefits obtained from exploring these realms are still considerable..."


    With his thoughts, the identity inscription plate flashed and interacted with the stone tablet as it quickly searched for the information on other realms.


    "Given my current authority, I can only access 3 realms? It is not bad considering I had to give up nothing...Hmm? This world..."


    He carefully analysed the information before he suddenly drew back as if he had seen something that appeared inconceivable.

 344 A New Realm

    In the sky, there was a huge sun.


    As the burning sun rays glared upon the land, Fang Yuan squinted his eyes and shielded them with his outstretched right hand, forming a shadow.


    In the surroundings, there were flowers everywhere and birds'' chirping could be heard. There was a mild fragrance in the air.


    Beneath his body, it was soft. Fang Yuan realised that his new body was lying on a patch of grass.


    "Yuan!"


    A voice started to approach him. Following which, the silhouette of a young lady appeared.


    She wore a cloth made from animal hide and grass and could only cover half of her body, revealing her arms and leg. Since her limbs were exposed most of the time, they had a healthy tan. She was like a female leopard: fierce, graceful, sexy and dangerous.


    "Yuan? Is she calling for me?"


    Fang Yuan stood up and a string of memories appeared in his consciousness.


    "Divisions... my race... warrior... Yuan! Is this my new identity?"


    As his spiritual will shook, Fang Yuan could see himself from the corner of his eye.


    He was a 20-year old young man with big eyes and a tall build. He was wearing animal hide as well and hung a bronze sword by his waist.


    Mmm, this realm seemed young and underdeveloped. Most of the people lived in divisions and their craftsmanship was extremely rudimentary. Although Fang Yuan only had a bronze sword, it was already a symbol of his status. Only strong warriors in the division were worthy of such a sword.


    "You''re lazing away here again!"


    The female leopard-like young lady climbed up the knoll and twitched her nose as though she was unhappy.


    "Ah ha..."


    Fang Yuan stretched himself and stood up. "What''s up? Wei?"


    Most of the people in this realm had single-word names. It indeed felt rather ancient.


    "The leader of the division has called for a meeting. Hurry up!"


    The lady called Wei was rushing Fang Yuan. "Because of the flood, we will have to migrate for the 3rd time..."


    "Flood? Alright, I''ll come!"


    As a warrior, Fang Yuan had the duty to protect his division. He quickly wiped the grass off his hair and walked with big steps. "Let''s go!"


    The young lady followed and the both of them rushed like the wind. Their physical fitness was unbelievable, which shocked Fang Yuan.


    The physical quality of the people in Da Qian was already impressive enough, but that of people in this realm was even better. Everyone was skilled enough to kill tigers and leopards. This was not because their realm was more superior, but merely their adaptation to survive due to the harsh conditions in the realm.


    ''This is comparable to how one would initially have a life expectancy of 150 years, but due to the extreme conditions in forcing their bodies to undergo intensities of more than 3 times, they would be fortunate if they could even live up to 50!''


    Looking at the vibrant body of Wei, Fang Yuan was confused. "Are they just started out? With such clothing and undeveloped fire... Unfortunately, they have to encounter us just when they are slowly becoming developed. Who knows if this is good or bad for them..."


    At the foot of the knoll laid their division - Shang Yang Division.


    The houses were built from rattan and stones and seemed as though they would crumble in the slightest wind. Scattered houses formed the image of a village. Around the village, there were farms, planting rice. They were still using the most rudimentary equipment and methods of farming.


    The men would go out and hunt and the women would tend to the farms. Kids would play in the farms or help out, and there were extremely few old people. This further confirmed Fang Yuan''s guess.


    "Yuan! We''re waiting for you!"


    As soon as a middle-aged man saw Fang Yuan, his eyes glistened as he started to sound the drum in his hands.


    Not long after, 30 over people started to gather around and sat within the division leader''s house.


    The division leader had a heavy responsibility. Since he was a public figure, he did not have many personal valuables and his house was only bigger because he had to facilitate gatherings and discussion. Everyone was seated on the ground and a small bonfire was lit in the middle. On the walls, ropes were hung around and had knots in them. There were many carvings of what seemed to be words, which made up the decoration of the room.


    Fang Yuan knew that all of these were merely methods to record information.


    It was a known fact that the ancient people use knots to record information. Over here, they were a little more advanced and used words as well, but there were many more methods recorded in the history books.


    "Since everyone is here, I''m sure all of you know the purpose of this meeting..."


    A middle-aged man walked to the centre. He was the division leader of the Yang people, Yang!


    He was a 30-year old man with a tanned skin. He was covered in scars and had a dim red glow from his skin, displaying his might and potential at his peak.


    As the leader of the people, he had to have strong combat power and experience to be able to lead everyone to survive in such harsh conditions!


    Yang started to speak. "In recent days... the river nearest to us has overflowed a few times. I''ve sent our best swimmer to investigate. He has reported that the water level has already risen to as high as the average man. If we do not migrate, the overflowing river water will flood our land and destroy our division by next year!"


    "Is there a need to migrate?"


    Although there were both men and women around, all of them were either warriors or group leaders of the division and were the people with power. Even so, they hesitated as they spoke. "It''s not simple to find a suitable place to stay, where there are no ferocious wild beasts and other divisions!"


    "We will spend a lot of effort and resources to migrate once more!"


    "But what can we do if we do not migrate? Stare at the river as it destroys our houses and wash away our loved ones?"


    ...


    The division was democratic. Therefore, even the division leader could not veto the decision. With that, the people under him started to argue.


    "Cough cough..."


    Seeing this, Yang waved his hands and stopped the fierce argument. "Also... The strongest division in the plains, Xia Division, will be sending their messenger here to discuss the flooding problem. Yuan! I''ll leave it to you to receive the messenger!"


    "Alright!"


    Fang Yuan felt shocked that his name was mentioned out of the blue. However, he agreed to it without hesitation.


    "Let''s come to a conclusion regarding whether to migrate or not after seeing the messenger. Everyone, please return!"


    ...


    Outside the straw house, there was a fence. In the house, other than a few hides and piles of hay, there was nothing else.


    Seeing this, Fang Yuan let out a bitter smile. "Am I... a poor bloke now?"


    He could not care about this for now. He took out his allocated food. There was half a rabbit and a few fruits. He immediately started eating the fruits, started a fire and roasted the rabbit.


    "This realm..."


    As he ate, relevant information regarding the realm appeared:


    "This realm is named ''Ancient Realm'' by the Realm Alliance. It is known to be filled with concentrated realm energy within it and is only second to Da Qian Empire... Furthermore, it was rumoured that the alliance leader of the Realm Alliance, a sage, has benefited greatly from this realm for him to become a sage! Of course... this is only a rumour."


    "However, this became more interesting. It was rumoured that when the sage descended into this realm, he had possessed the division leader, ''Gu'' and started a war with the witches of Jiuli Division. The people of Jiuli Divisions were extremely brave. Their leader, ''Wu'', had 3 heads and 6 arms, a bronze head and metal forehead. He was impenetrable and ate metals for survival. He had an unparalleled ability. Furthermore, there were other witches in the division, including Wind and Rain Masters who could manipulate the weather."


    "Initially, the Shangyang Division was about to be wiped out. At that time, Sage was still not at the Prominent Divine stage but was still incredibly powerful. He could alter nature and create dragons and fire spirits to aid him in killing the Wind and Rain Masters before beheading Wu himself... Without a head, the blood which flowed out from Wu became a forest of maple trees. He swung his bronze sword for another 7 days without his head before dying..."


    After such a though, Fang Yuan appeared solemn.


    It was recorded in . "... Chi You attacked the King. In retaliation, the King brought the fight to the Ji Region. Chi You invited the Wind and Rain Masters to whip up a storm. The King then invited a deity called ''Drought Demon'' to stop the rain and kill Chi You!"


    "Is this similarity due to the fact that all civilisations are like that, or that dreams are merely reality and reality is a dream?"


    With such a striking similarity, Fang Yuan started to think about something. "Could it be... a high-tech radiation leading to its mutation?"


    Of course, this was not all that the information had to offer.


    Gu managed to successfully defeat Wu and become the leader of the realm. He then passed on his appointment as the leader and roamed the skies with much freedom.


    From then on, the appointment as leader was passed down for another 7 times before it was Xia''s turn.


    Now, the entire realm was plagued with floods and the people were suffering. Therefore, Xia started to study the rivers and controlled all the demons in the world. With this, he managed to expand his influence everywhere and was nominated as the king of the region. Afterwards, he accepted the gold from the 9 Regions and 9 cauldrons as a symbol that all of this was heaven''s fate for him.


    Xia was merely a possessed person, possessed by the Sage of Realm Alliance!


    This meant that after Gu left, this Sage returned to the realm once more to reap more energy from it!


    "This is a realm where many have harvested and visited before..."


    Fang Yuan seemed a little lost.


    To put it simply, the prize of this realm had long been taken away and therefore, there was not much left to take.


    "This seems to be the case... is it not?"


    Fang Yuan felt a tinge of disappointment in his heart.


    He quickly finished his roasted rabbit and walked out of the division.


    "Stats!"


    As his spiritual will shook, new stats appeared:


    "Name: Fang Yuan


    Essence: 2 (48)


    Spirit: 2 (48)


    Magic: 30 (60)


    Profession: Dream Soldier Master


    Cultivation: Illusionary Divine (???), Wu Zong (???)


    Technique: [Giant Eagle Metal Body Technique (???)], [Hundred Poison Golden Body (???)], [8 Gates Sword Array (???)]


    Skill: [Medicine (Level 3)], [Botany (Level 5)]"


    "This realm has already been conquered and would benefit dream masters of the Realm Alliance. It is interesting how I can preserve half of my magical energy!"


    "With the help of my fixed stats, it is a matter of 1 or 2 days for me to restore the other stats..."


    Fang Yuan arrived at a forest and gazed deep into it.


    "Roar! Roar!"


    At this point in time, the grass shook. With the roar of a tiger, a Sword Toothed Tiger leapt out.


    "My next meal is here!!"


    Seeing this, Fang Yuan was not shocked, but elated.

 345 History

    In front of Fang Yuan was a living, breathing Sword Toothed Tiger.


    It was larger than the average tiger and had two fangs as sharp as swords. It was the undisputed king of the predators.


    However, as the Sword Toothed Tiger glared at Fang Yuan, it hesitated for a while before feeling a little fearful.


    Although it had eaten many humans before, it still felt a sense of danger from Fang Yuan.


    "This is timely...


    Fang Yuan wielded the short sword by his waist. "I''ll test this new body... Hey, pussycat! You''ll only have one try!"


    "Roar! Roar!"


    Although it could not understand human language, Fang Yuan''s posture had agitated it. With a roar, it leapt forward. Any strong villager would still feel extreme fear facing this beast.


    "You''re ultimately still a beast!"


    Fang Yuan twisted his body to one side and lunged his sword out.


    "Ping!"


    The sword in his hands was extremely short. It was almost as long as only 2 daggers. Although it was sharpened, the sword still snapped as it came into contact with the skin of the Sword Toothed Tiger!


    It snapped...


    "Is this weapon trying to play games with me?"


    After using his magical soldiers for quite some time, Fang Yuan could not get used to such a weapon.


    If not for his speed and agility, Fang Yuan might have already been bitten by the Sword Toothed Tiger.


    As a dream master at the 4th Tier of the Illusionary Divine stage, it would be a waste if he were to be bitten by a tiger.


    "Die!"


    As his eyes glistened, the red sword essence in his hands was on the brink of explosion.


    "Yuan!"


    At this point in time, a young lady ran over. Seeing that the Sword Toothed Tiger was about to attack Fang Yuan, she was shocked. Swiftly, she pulled her bow and shot an arrow out.


    "Whoosh!"


    Wei''s archery skills were rather remarkable as the arrow flew straight into the right eye of the tiger. With a roar, it turned around and left.


    "Don''t you escape!"


    Fang Yuan leapt forward, grabbed on to the arrowhead and pressed it down. As he pressed it in, a concentrated amount of sword essence exploded within the tiger''s head, turning it into a gruesome mess.


    "Pa!"


    The Sword Toothed Tiger fell to the ground and a layer of dust was stirred up.


    "Yuan, are you alright?"


    Wei came forward with a worried look, unlike her brave and determined self just a few moments ago.


    "I''m alright, thanks!"


    On the surface, he was being rescued by a woman...


    Fang Yuan was a little unhappy about it, but he did not let it show. "Come, let''s carry this Sword Toothed Tiger back together. We shall have more meat for dinner tonight!"


    "Alright!"


    Wei replied happily. "I''ve heard from the people of our division that there is a cunning Sword Toothed Tiger lurking around. I''ve always wanted to kill it!"


    ''Mmm... This is still the ancient times and people still do not regard females as housewives and mothers. They can be strong warriors as well, or even division leaders with thousands of soldiers under her command... Enough to make us men embarrassed!''


    ...


    3 days later, Fang Yuan brought along 2 other warriors as they received the messenger from Da Xia.


    "Guest from afar, we welcome you. I am a warrior of the division, Yuan!"


    Fang Yuan examined the group of people who had just arrived. They were all well-built and carried spears in their hands. They also had bows on their backs and their clothing was sewn with proper cloth. In all aspects, they were stronger and more superior than the people of Yang.


    "Mmm, my name is Qi. You can call me Xia Qi!"


    The messenger in front seemed like he was in his 20s and his skin was extremely white. He had a piece of jade on his waist. After seeing Fang Yuan, he smiled and twitched his eyes at him while transferring a message. ''Are you the newcomer from the alliance?''


    "Eh?"


    Fang Yuan focused on the person in front of the group and used a similar method of transferring messages to reply him. "You are..."


    "No need for suspicion. I am following orders - All is well and peaceful here!"


    "I am Fang Yuan! I am here after receiving a mission to provide assistance!"


    After confirming their identities, Fang Yuan introduced himself.


    The alliance would not allow any dream master to enter an explored realm like this for free. Dream masters would either have to use their contribution points to purchase coordinates or take up missions to gain entry.


    Fang Yuan had spent his contribution points in cultivating his 10th Refining Stage and therefore had to save up on his contribution points. Therefore, he had chosen to enter the realm by taking up missions.


    "It''s indeed you, the newly promoted dream master in the 4th Tier of the Illusionary Divine stage! You are the talent of our alliance!"


    Xia Qi''s eyes glistened. "In recent days, I''ve been overloaded with work to do. Now that you are here, you can share my workload with me and everybody will have an easier time!"


    "Eh? Isn''t it rumoured that after the uprising of Da Xia, the entire world has been developing peacefully? Why would you reach the stage of requesting for assistance?"


    Fang Yuan asked curiously.


    "Hmm... Actually, I''m not supposed to share about this. However, since you are one of our own, I can tell you about it!"


    Xia Qi continued. "Last time, when the Sage of our alliance entered this realm, he killed Wu of the Jiuli Division, started a civilisation, protected the human dao and gained karma. Because of this, there were legends that he could fly to the heavens. However, he had no choice but to reincarnate as Xia and re-enter the realm. This is why the coordinates of this world had leaked out!"


    "The coordinates have leaked out? To which organisation?"


    Fang Yuan was shocked. He knew that if anyone else knew the coordinates, they would be able to dream-traverse and enter the realm as well. This was a threat.


    "It''s Da Qian! The Hidden Dragon Guards!"


    Xia Qi continued with a cold voice. "There was a traitor in the alliance. Although the traitor had already gotten what he deserved, the trouble which he created was rather significant. Sage''s original division was destroyed. The Hidden Dragon Guards had transformed into water demons and triggered tribulations all around the realm, causing the world to flood and killing many people! There are two more famous people among them and you might have an impression of them."


    "You are saying..."


    Fang Yuan quickly scanned through Yuan''s memories, recalled a few legends and gave off a mysterious look. "Wu Zhiqi? And Xiang Liu?"


    Wu Zhiqi had fiery eyes and the look of a monkey. He was extremely powerful and could control the elements!


    Xiang Liu was a snake with 9 heads. He had eaten countless humans and anywhere he went would be wiped out. His blood was extremely poisonous and he could regenerate a severed head!


    These two were the greatest demons in the legends of this realm. Although Xia had managed to escape many times, he was still captured by these two demons.


    "It''s these two!"


    Xia Qi smiled. "If they were normal demons, do you think they could stop a Sage? These two demons are two leaders among the Hidden Dragon Guards. They intentionally wanted to disrupt our alliance leader''s plans and therefore entered the realm. Even if they were killed, they would only experience a little backlash and could re-enter the realm once they recover and restore their cultivation. This was how the legends described Wu Zhiqi as indestructible and Xiang Liu as able to revive upon will..."


    "I see!"


    Hearing this, Fang Yuan understood what had happened.


    This was the history of this realm. Interestingly, the consciousness of the realm did nothing and allowed the intruders from the Hidden Dragon Guards to wreak havoc in the realm.


    "Wait a minute! The leader of the Hidden Dragon Guards? Does this mean that the head of Hidden Dragon Guards is here?"


    Fang Yuan took it one step further. "Is our mission related to them?"


    "Nope!"


    Xia Qi denied. "The reason for the arrival of all the Hidden Dragon Guards is due to the fact that our alliance leader had accomplished a lot in this realm. I''ve heard that even the head of the Hidden Dragon Guards was involved. However, in the end, it was still our alliance leader that prevailed! From then on, the forces of the Imperial Court have since left this realm. Even if they are still lurking around, they would only do it secretly and would maintain a low profile."


    After all, the greatest reward from this realm had already been taken away. Since there were no other rewards, it was not logical for the Imperial Court to allocate so much manpower to go head on with the Realm Alliance.


    "However, the situation is different now!"


    Xia Qi continued with a solemn look. "The 5 Grand Organisations have agreed to come together to wipe out all organisations that are loyal to the Imperial Court. Do you think that the Imperial Court would be fools to not retaliate?"


    "They would retaliate by gathering all other Wu Zongs and spiritual knights, as well as attack us in the other realms. Don''t worry, the strongest that they''ve got this time is a dream master in the 7th Tier of the Illusionary Divine stage. Therefore, our Elder would be the one going against him. We just have to give him encouragement and assistance!"


    Since they were dream-traversing to other realms, even if they were to die, they could start again. Therefore, Xia Qi seemed rather relaxed.


    ''He''s thinking about it too simply. If we go against a strong adversary or die too many times, our actual bodies in Da Qian would still be affected as well...''


    Thinking about it, Fang Yuan replied. "How do you want me to help you guys?"


    "It''s very simple. I''ve brought along the order of Xi, the newest leader of Xia Country. We will contain the entire water system in the 9 regions and are gathering helpers from all divisions. By then, you can officially come over!"


    "Contain the water system in the 9 regions?"


    Fang Yuan rolled his eyes. "This means... the Hidden Dragon Guards are still in the form of water demons? They lack creativity!"


    "All that matters is that their plan still works. Furthermore... This realm is still our home ground and has been defined as so because of the Sage! Therefore, if the Hidden Dragon Guards want to possess a body to enter the realm, it will be extremely difficult for them to possess humans. They can only try to possess animals!"


    As Xia Qi proudly remarked, it was as though he was satisfied by the fact that they will be possessing animal bodies.


    ''This also means that... Sage has changed the rules of this realm. Other than dream masters from the Realm Alliance, any other dream masters who enter will be noticed by the heavens? And they will experience tribulations if they were to attack humans?''


    Fang Yuan was stunned. This was the first time he had witnessed the godly powers of a Sage.


    As soon as the Sage defined his homeground, if anyone else wanted to come in, they would have to do so as beasts!


    ''However... How huge is this realm? This is not a simple hollow. Otherwise, Sage could directly deny entry to the evil dream masters!''


    Fang Yuan thought to himself silently.


    There was no question about the power of a dream master in the Prominent Divine stage. However, it was still a dream to be able to take entire control over a huge realm!


    Now, they were merely making use of the fate energy of humans and the 9 cauldrons system to gain the upper hand, forcing the Hidden Dragon Guards to have to make their way from the boundaries.


    ''These Hidden Dragon Guards love to take up the form of demons, flood the world and eat humans. This is because the people of this realm is the external influence of the Realm Alliance, and the Imperial Court wants to weaken the alliance!''


    As the both of them talked, they arrived at the Yang Tribe.


    "I am the leader of the tribe - Yang! Welcome, the messenger from afar!"


    Yang was long waiting at the entrance of the village and had instructed for a banquet to be prepared. "Please enjoy. Let''s discuss anything else tomorrow!"

 346 Witchcraf

    In the Ancient World, deep at night in the wilderness.


    A huge monkey was crawling about. It had long arms and legs and was covered in black fur. However, its eyes were darting about actively. A glowing essence from the moon started to descend, turning its fur white. Suddenly, an opening appeared on its forehead as it formed a third eye!


    Average monkey could only at most attain spirituality. However, in a single night, this monkey had become a demon!


    "Ah... I''ve become a demon. This is interesting and weird!"


    The monkey scratched his ears and groaned like a human, as though it was depressed.


    "You''re lucky to be able to possess a monkey. At least there are some similarities..."


    Beside him, there was a silver flash. A white fox with 3 tails appeared and it was as though it was dragging along 3 streaks of silver glow. "Those who would possess pigs, horses, cows or even goats would be the most unfortunate. I''ve seen someone possessing a pig that was about to be butchered and was killed before he could cultivate anything. That''s the worse!"


    "Hey! No one would have a say in this..."


    The 3 Eyed Monkey shook its head. "The Sage of Realm Alliance has already possessed the human dao and put in place the 9 cauldrons. Therefore, we will be going against the trend of this realm. Anything we do will have consequences and fate energy will be going against us!"


    "That is not entirely true!"


    The 3 Tailed Spiritual Fox started to sound mysterious. "If the Sage can possess the heavenly dao, then we will have no place here. But now, the Realm Alliance only possessed the majority of the people dao and is recognised by the heavenly trend. Therefore, we still have our chance! As for the lack of fate energy, as long as we cultivate ourselves and strengthened up, we will be able to use our physical body to go against fate energy!"


    "That''s true..."


    The 3 Eyed Monkey started to laugh. "Since the Realm Alliance now possesses the people dao, we must create natural disasters and tribulations to destroy their foundation!"


    The consciousness of the realm could be classified into two, namely the people dao and the heavenly dao.


    Although the people dao could make decisions on its own, it still had to follow the heavenly dao to a certain extent.


    The Sage of Realm Alliance had used his identity as the King of Xia to preach to thousands of people. Therefore, he had possessed a majority of the people dao. Only with such a possession could he influence part of the heavenly dao.


    However, heavenly dao is still too vast! Therefore, the Sage was unable to totally restrict dream masters from entering.


    If the people dao was destroyed, especially the Xia Tribe, then his influence would be reduced by more than half.


    "If the Sage is still here, then we wouldn''t even dare to set foot here. However, he has long passed on. King Xi is nothing and our leader will deal with him..."


    The 3 Tailed Spiritual Fox started to giggle. "Furthermore, our head has already made arrangements. Even if we lose, we will still manage to plant our spies among them. If we really manipulated the people dao to affect the heavenly dao, do you think there will be no consequences?"


    "What is our mission?"


    The monkey crossed its legs and sat down, striking an uncanny resemblance of a human.


    "Firstly, we have to free the body of the two leaders, which were sealed years ago!"


    The 3 Tailed Spiritual Fox spat out a streak of light, which transformed into a huge screen and displayed an image.


    It was the image of an underwater location. From a dim glow emitting from a huge black figure, they could vaguely see a ferocious monkey with golden eyes, a white head and a green body. It had golden bells strung on its nose and was restrained by thick and heavy chains.


    "This was the final body which our Leader had possessed. After his plan to stop Xia had failed, he could only preserve his own body. Now, he has authorised us to use it. After all, it is something left behind by a dream master in the 7th Tier of the Illusionary Divine stage. Even if we are weak, we can still hold up for quite some time with its assistance!"


    The 3 Tailed Spiritual Fox let out a cunning laugh.


    "Great... This is great!"


    The monkey started to scratch his ears happily. "This is a powerful demon''s body and will be much better than his monkey!"


    "I''m sorry, it''s not for you!"


    The 3 Tailed Spiritual Fox shook its head. "This is my mission. Your mission is to enter the mountains to search for the descendants of the Jiuli Division!"


    "You mean... the people of Wu?"


    The monkey seemed a little unwilling at first, followed by a worried look.


    "Indeed... In reality, they should be the people of this realm. However, due to the fact that the Sage had descended and changed the fate of the realm... The people of Wu still have the protection of the heavens and therefore will not go extinct. To fight with the Realm Alliance in this realm, we will have to make use of the fate of the Wu!"


    "The descendants of the ancient army leader, Chi?"


    The monkey laughed. "The witchcraft dao aims to strengthen one''s physical body and harness the power in the blood to release power capable of controlling the element. The army leader, Chi, fought with the Sage. Even though the Sage was not a Sage at that time, this was enough to prove their might! Alright, I''ll go!"


    He was rather interested in the mysterious and weird witchcraft dao.


    "Considering that we have called in reinforcements, the Realm Alliance will be likely to do so as well. Be careful..."


    The 3 Tailed Spiritual Fox''s voice could still be heard, but both of them were long gone.


    ...


    Division Leader Yang personally sent them off. "Yuan! You are the bravest warrior in our division. Give your best to King Xi!"


    "I will!"


    Fang Yuan carried a cloth bag, changed a new sword and gave his promise respectfully.


    Xia Qi gave an excuse to manage the rivers to request the Yang Tribe to sent people to provide assistance. Of course, Yang would not reject his request and sent 10 of his strongest warriors, with Fang Yuan as their leader.


    Something worth mentioning was that the lady, Wei, was among the 10 being sent off.


    "To rectify the problem of flooding, the crux lies in making the water flow smoothly in the river. Therefore, we will have to deal with the powerful demons living in the water..."


    Xia Qi had a graceful demeanour as he briefed them.


    Fang Yuan acted as though he was listening intently. However, in reality, he was thinking to himself. ''What can I gain... from this world?''


    Although the Realm Alliance would reward him for the mission, Fang Yuan was not enticed by it.


    Every realm is a treasure in itself! Even if it might have been harvested before, there will still be valuables that Fang Yuan could reap.


    ''To preach to the people dao and become king... Sage has already done all of these. It is not practical for me to do it again, and I would make myself too high profile! This is courting death! I''ll have to give this thought up!''


    ''Other than that, this realm has a unique system of cultivation. I can borrow this idea! Also, I can actualise treasures from this realm...''


    The Realm Alliance had already done enough research regarding this realm.


    ''The last thing would be spirits and bloodline...''


    This realm was still ancient and gods might have lived with them. Even in the most average person, there might be the blood of mysterious beasts or gods, which would strengthen them or awaken any special ability that they could potentially have. They might also be able to change their appearances, which was an extremely useful ability to have.


    Through the research done by the Realm Alliance, they realised that energy from such a bloodline could be purified and brought into one''s actualised dream world. To a certain extent, this would also be possible for the souls of certain powerful demons!


    "Of course... this is the cycle of the heavenly dao and there would be retribution...In order for me to take something from this world, I must contribute something. This is the true meaning of karma!"


    Although this world was not based on karma and one would not be able to directly benefit from gaining people dao karma and heavenly karma, indirect results could still be seen from one''s actions.


    "Of course... Even if the realm''s consciousness is not awakened, it can still control the realm subconsciously and will not allow any random dream master to enter and remove treasures from it... How different is this from robbery? There would surely be tribulations!"


    "Therefore, if I want any treasure, I must find a geographically advantageous location and get the protection from the heavens. From there, I will have to trade for the treasure with my contributions to the realm... Of course, I can try snatching it by brute force, but whether I will be successful or not depends on my ability and luck. If I am unlucky, I will be struck by lightning and my soul might even be destroyed!"


    Even a Sage could not be stronger than an entire world. If he were to go against the realm, he would surely be severely injured.


    "To follow the heavenly dao and observe. This must be what the Sage has done..."


    Fang Yuan mumbled to himself before sending a message to Xia Qi. "How''s the energy system in this realm?"


    "Extremely powerful!"


    Xia Qi''s eyes appeared solemn. "Have you realised it too? The quality of our physical bodies here is better than our own bodies back in Da Qian... Among the people here, there is another type of energy, called ''Witchcraft''. It is a method to bring out the fullest potential of one''s body and discover one''s bloodline. An example of a successful person is the army leader, Chi. He was able to go against our sage and even survive without a head for 7 days!"


    "Other than that, there is also the existence of demons. Any types of spirits can become demons and their powers are extraordinary. There are also many spiritual treasures scattered around the realm, and all of their abilities are out of this world!"


    "As for the god dao, although the people here believe in a god, they have never encountered one. Therefore, this is most probably an effect of the heavenly dao on them..."


    "Witchcraft? To ring out the fullest potential of one''s body? The powers of a bloodline?"


    Fang Yuan was struck with curiosity.


    He also had a technique to train his physical body and therefore, he could benefit from both.


    Of course, more importantly, he was in another world now and had to follow the rules of the other world.


    "Who knows... I must research the power of witchcraft for myself!"


    Looking at the advancing group of people, his eyes glistened.


    "Qi! Here''s an oracle bone!"


    Suddenly, the group stopped moving. A person from the Xia Tribe quickly rushed towards them and presented a tortoise shell. "The people of the tribe have burnt this tortoise shell and predicted that someone has destroyed the seal on Wu Chiqi in the South. He has released the demon and King Xi had ordered for all of you to alter your planned track to stop it!"


    "Alright!"


    Xia Qi took the oracle bone. It had burnt marks, revealing the cracks on the tortoise shell.


    The people here predicted happenings using this method and would record the findings on the oracle bones.


    ''What in the world...''


    Seeing this scene, Fang Yuan was speechless. ''Isn''t this just insider information from the Realm Alliance that the Hidden Dragon Guards are here? Why do they have to inform us using these weird tricks?''


    Indeed, the next moment, Xia Qi''s voice was heard. ''We have a little trouble. The Hidden Dragon Guards are removing the seal on Wu Zhiqi''s body. In that body lies the power of a 7th Tier Illusionary Divine stage dream master and it is devastating... From previous patrols, we can confirm that the location of the body is at the Huai River Tortoise Mountain. Let''s make our way there to stop them!''

 347 Tortoise Mountain

    Huai River was one of the major rivers in the region. It flowed over a thousand miles across land and was not far from the division of the Yang Tribe.


    ''We''ve searched for the possessed body of the head of the Hidden Dragon Guards. It''s hidden at the Tortoise Mountain within the Huai River!''


    As they journeyed, Xia Qi used a sceptical tone and sent a message to Fang Yuan. "Within a 100-mile region from here, all of these floods is likely to be caused by Wu Zhiqi''s consciousness... This is proof that the demon is being freed. The power of the 7th Tier of the Illusionary Divine stage is unbelievable!"


    Being the ones who would be discriminated against by the people dao, the Hidden Dragon Guards would face a tough time as they attempt to descend into this realm. They would have to slowly accumulate elemental energy from the heavens and earth and would have to constantly be on guard against the Realm Alliance''s attempts to fish them out.


    Normal dream masters would not be able to accumulate a lot of power in the realm even after many years, but this would be different for the magical clone of a 7th Tier Illusionary Divine stage dream master!


    ''Wu Zhiqi is a powerful demon which sealed himself. Therefore, he would spend minimal energy preserving himself and the demonic power that he would be able to accumulate would be likely to be able to support the arrival of a 7th Tier Illusionary Divine dream master and be harnessed immediately!''


    Their stats would be reduced by half as soon as they entered the realm, and this was leniency given by the Realm Alliance. If it was the Imperial Court, they would be fortunate if they could even preserve a hint of their stats.


    These other dream masters were not Fang Yuan and did not have the special ability to used fixed stats to restore their cultivation. They would have to cultivate for many years before they could even restore anything.


    Fang Yuan''s eyes glistened. "Xia Qi¡­.. Are you not afraid?"


    "Don''t worry... the alliance has confirmed that there is only the arrival of a 7th Tier Illusionary Divine stage dream master from the Hidden Dragon Guards! With King Xi controlling this area, it would not show up here."


    Xia Qi replied with much confidence. "It is not possible for someone to come here to possess Wu Zhiqi''s body. It is most probably left there for other dream masters to make use of. If this is the case, this would mean that the dream master we will be dealing with will be around the 5th Tier of the Illusionary Divine stage. It''s still not an easy fight!"


    He sounded confident and Fang Yuan could understand why.


    After all, the Hidden Dragon Guards were against all the 5 Grand Organisations. They would be lucky if they could remain status quo.


    The Realm Alliance had continually sent reinforcements, while the Hidden Dragon Guards only had a dream master in the 7th Tier of the Illusionary Divine stage. Therefore, it would be wise for them to find a secluded place and cultivate themselves.


    Although the possessed body was hidden well, it was only a matter of time before it would be located. However, the Sage preferred to risk more to get more rewards. Although the chances of locating the possessed body were extremely small, if he was able to find it, then the body would be undoubtedly destroyed. Therefore, the head of the Hidden Dragon Guards would not take this risk!


    "Let''s hope that it will be as such..."


    Fang Yuan sighed. As he looked at the group of people ahead of him, he had a bad premonition. ''I feel like... things are not as simple as they seem...''


    ...


    On Tortoise Mountain.


    The mountain was located at one of the river streams which flowed from the Huai River. This stream had the appearance of a huge tortoise lying down, stabilising the entire river.


    The gushing water would slow down the moment it flowed to this point. As the riverbed expanded, nutrients were deposited along the river banks, forming a huge piece of fertile land just next to the river.


    The Shangzhang Tribe, Doulu Tribe, Lilou Tribe... 10 over divisions settled down here and their collective power was strong.


    "Eh... I have been instructed to explore the 9 Regions and search for the d*mned Hidden Dragon Guards. In the 3 times that I''ve passed by here, I always feel a tinge of temptation..."


    Witnessing this scene, Xia Qi sighed. "After all, Wu Zhiqi is a water demon and anywhere he goes would be flooded. Who would''ve guessed that he would seal himself in such a prosperous and bustling location? He might even have bribed the people in the divisions and obtained protection from their tribal energy! I will request to see the leader of the division later on. If you detect any of them, just go for the kill and don''t hold back! Oh yes, how much of your cultivation have you restored? Do you have at least half of what you used to have?"


    Half the power of a dream master in the 4th Tier of the Illusionary Divine stage was too sufficient to destroy a few divisions.


    "Don''t worry!"


    Fang Yuan glanced at his own stats window:


    "Name: Fang Yuan


    Essence: 48


    Spirit: 48


    Magic: 60


    Profession: Dream Soldier Master


    Cultivation: Illusionary Divine (4th Tier), Wu Zong (5th Meridian)


    Technique: [Giant Eagle Metal Body Technique (Grade 6) (1%)], [Hundred Poison Golden Body (1st Refining)], [8 Gates Sword Array (5th Sword) (1%)]


    Skill: [Medicine (Level 3)], [Botany (Level 5)]"


    Nobody could guess that he could restore his entire cultivation level in the span of a few days!


    Due to the differences in realms, even dream masters from the Realm Alliance would experience a reduction of more than half of their usual cultivation. They could only at most increase their cultivation to 80% of what they usually had.


    Even restoring to 80% would require them to cultivate for a long period of time.


    However, this was not a worry that Fang Yuan would have. Regardless of where he was, he could very quickly restore his original cultivation. This was his true ability and advantage over the others when dream-traversing to other realms.


    "That''s good. With the both of us combining forces, even if they have 10,000 people against us, we can still prevail!"


    Xia Qi seemed relieved. As he walked to a certain division, he instructed his subordinate to inform them. "I am the messenger of Xia, and I have arrived to manage the river according to the instructions of King Xi!"


    With this piece of information, they could quickly arrive at the heart of the divisions.


    This division was Shangzhang Division. It had a population of 10,000 and their leader was known as Zhang. With this news, Zhang hesitated.


    "Father..."


    Beside him, a young man tried to speak but stopped halfway. Finally, he stood out. "Xia Country is the rightful alliance leader that all of us have agreed to! Years ago, we had conferred Xia as the King. Since his messenger is here, we should welcome them!"


    As soon as he said his piece, a few elders exchanged glances and had mysterious looks on their faces.


    "That''s right!"


    Zhang took a few steps forward, determined. "You shall represent me to receive them. Inform the people of the division to prepare the best wine and invite the most beautiful of the girls to treat the guests properly!"


    "Leader!"


    As the young man happily walked out, a skinny-looking priest in black robes spoke. "What should we do?"


    Although the people of the division were clueless, these higher-ups were extremely clear that for Shangzhang Division''s status in Tortoise Mountain was due to the protection they had from a powerful demon.


    "Let''s hear what they have to say first. They might not have discovered it!"


    In determining the fate of the division, Zhang hesitated. "Instruct the warriors of our tribe to prepare! Also... Quickly inform the leaders of Doulu and Lilou Tribe! Although they might have conflicts with us from time to time, we have to stand together and stay united in times like this."


    "Managing the river? Hehe..."


    The priest and the elders nodded their heads and snickered.


    The surroundings of Tortoise Mountain was not flooded, so what was there to manage? The arrival of the messenger from Xia must have an ulterior motive.


    They were officially an alliance, but it was only a name to it.


    If the messenger were to bring news that would lead to a conflict of interests, then they would kill him! They would fight as long as they were unhappy!


    In recent days, there were signs that the water god was returning. As long as they could wait for it to awaken, they would have its protection and would fear nothing!


    ...


    "Welcome, messenger from Xia! I am Fa from the Shangzhang Tribe!"


    Outside the division, Fang Yuan and company waited for a moment before noticing a young man coming out to invite them. "My father, Zhang, the leader of the division, cordially invites all of you to enter!"


    "Thank you!"


    Xia Qi nodded his head reservedly as he followed Fa into the division.


    Along the way, there were curious glares from the surrounding straw huts. They should be the women and children of the division.


    Seeing all these, Fang Yuan was lost in his thoughts. ''In reality, the divisions on the plains in Tortoise Mountain cannot even be compared to a town to the Xia Tribe. Leader Zhang has ultimate control over his people, his own laws, army and although he has acknowledged Xia as the leader of the alliance, he can go against Xia anytime!''


    If they were to go against Xie, the Shangzhang Tribe could effortlessly wipe out their 100-men group - if they did not consider the presence of the 2 dream masters.


    The sun started to set and in the middle of a square, there was a huge bonfire.


    Ladies came out to welcome the group and brought along plates of roasted meat and fruits for the guests to enjoy.


    "Welcome, the messenger from the noble Xia Tribe!"


    In front of them was a tall and skinny middle-aged man. With open arms, he continued. "I am the leader of Shangzhang Tribe, Zhang. What do we have from King of Xia?"


    "I am following the orders of the alliance leader, King Xi, to bring you a piece of news!"


    Xia Qi raised a piece of jade above his head and appeared solemn. "According to the predictions by my priest, the powerful demon which had once plagued the 9 Regions and disrupted the water systems - Wu Zhiqi, is hidden here. We want to find him and kill him!"


    With this, Fang Yuan could feel that the higher-ups of the division were all in shock.


    Although they could conceal their emotions well, it was almost impossible to hide their true feelings before these 2 dream masters.


    "So it''s Wu Zhiqi..."


    Zhang froze before giving a gentle smile. "With the Tortoise Mountain to stabilise the river, we have not experienced a flood in 100 years... This piece of information is hard to believe. However, since you said it, we will surely support you. Let''s not talk about this tonight, come... have a drink!"


    As he clapped his hands, seductive ladies surrounded all of them. They pulled Fang Yuan to his seat, held his hands and smiled as they poured wine for him.


    "Eh?"


    Fang Yuan tasted the wine. "This wine is not as concentrated and is similar to a fruit wine... How do they have wine? Did they adapt it from the Xia Tribe?"


    After all, this was not actual history before the Qin dynasty. With the Realm Alliance bringing many dream masters into this realm, it was unsurprising that things did not seem in place.


    The body Fang Yuan possessed was well-built and while appearing generous, Fang Yuan seemed like the most eligible bachelor among all of them.


    Within moments, the ladies around Fang Yuan started to blush in embarrassment and could not leave him.


    Even in such an ancient time, it was already a sin to be lustful.


    "Hmph!"


    Fang Yuan did not care about the girls. However, soon after, he could hear a voice from behind as he felt a chill down his spine.


    With a bitter smile, he turned around and saw an infuriated Wei. She seemed like an angry predator as though her prey was being snatched away, and was giving off a dangerous vibe.

 348 Conflic

    The sky darkened.


    The warriors of Xia and Yang Tribe were enjoying the delicacies. With the companion of the young and beautiful ladies, they soon fell into a deep sleep.


    The stars were glittering and illuminated the entire mountain.


    Amidst the silence, one of the huts in Shangzhang Division was still lit.


    "It''s Lu of Doulu Tribe and Kang of Lilou Tribe! I am comforted to be able to see both of you leaders!"


    Zhang smiled as his eyes glistened.


    "The messenger of Xia is about to unveil our secret. How can we not come?"


    Lu was a plump person with two thin moustaches above his lips. In such harsh environments, only those in power could have the ability and luxury to become so plump.


    "I''ve brought along my elite warriors this time!"


    Kang of Lilou Tribe laughed. "The Xia Tribe has already offended us for even having the intention to kill our water god. The water god will not spare him..."


    "All of this is for the water god!"


    Even though they might have their own internal conflicts from time to time, these 3 leaders could finally combine forces to go against an external adversary. "We have to give it our all to defend this piece of fertile land given to us by the water god, even if it means going against Xia!"


    "Fight! Fight!"


    As the 3 leaders walked out, they could see rows of warriors standing neatly under the moonlight. They were all equipped with bronze knives and arrows carved from bones, and their eyes were burning with a passion to fight.


    "The warriors of Xia are mostly drunk, and this will be as simple as slaughtering pigs!"


    As the leader, Zhang picked up a bronze knife for himself as well. "It will be a simple task to kill all of them!"


    "Alright! Let''s go!"


    Kang and Lu laughed too as they picked up their weapons.


    To be the leader of the people, they had to have wisdom as well as combat power and the bravery to kill during a war!


    Even Lu had to force himself to be like this.


    Otherwise, how would his people trust him to lead them to survival in this harsh world?


    "Hmm... They can survive, so why are they courting death?"


    At this point in time, 2 people walked out from the shadows.


    Xia Qi wielded a long spear and sighed.


    "It''s him!"


    Zhang scrutinised Xia Qi and exclaimed loudly. "He is the messenger of Xia. Kill him!"


    Regardless whether their plan was exposed or not, they had no other choice but to attack.


    "Kill!"


    At this point in time, 3 elite warriors were surrounding Xia Qi. They were all like ferocious tigers and leopards. With a roar, they came closer to him.


    "Haha... I am a noble tribe member of Xia and have the blood of the gods in me. How will the few of you be my match?"


    Xia Qi laughed. As he lunged his spear out, he killed his way into the soldiers.


    "Whoosh! Whoosh!"


    As the spear struck the bronze knives, sparks flew and one of the warriors was flung backwards with his blood spewing everywhere.


    ''Is this... acting?''


    Seeing how Xia Qi was acting to be a normal tribe member, he was speechless before he came to a realization. ''In a foreign realm, we will have to follow the rules of the realm. To the rest of them, Xia Qi is just a messenger. He would have to explain his powerful might if he were to reveal his true identity by recklessly using his powers as a dream master, the realm would also take notice and go against him!''


    With this thought, Fang Yuan held back.


    If such an experienced dream master in the Illusionary Divine stage had to be so careful, even though Fang Yuan had restored all his powers, how could he afford to be arrogant?


    "Ah... Where is Yu Xi?"


    Witnessing this scene, Lu exclaimed as another warrior rushed towards Xia Qi.


    Xia Qi raised his spear and countered. Yu Xi did not dodge but stood firm.


    "Clang!"


    As the long spear pierced onto Yu Xi''s body, there was a metallic clang. The spear started to bend before snapping.


    "Impenetrable? With strengthened magical abilities? You''re a witch?!"


    Xia Qi was shocked for a moment before looking at Lu and Kang. "It''s another sin for you guys to collaborate with witches!"


    "Hmph! The laws of Da Xia does not apply to us!"


    Seeing this scene, Kang looked to the corner of his eye and clapped his hands as well. Two priests walked forward and green and yellow runes started to glow all over their bodies.


    "Rumble!"


    As the ground shook, a few dirt walls emerged.


    Following, a few vines covered in black thorns appeared from the ground. Like a python, these vines struck towards Xia Qi.


    "Divine Technique? Techniques from bloodline?"


    Xia Qi wielded a bronze dagger and defended himself. "Yuan, come on!"


    "Kill!"


    Fang Yuan roared. As he killed his way into the soldiers, he held a warrior in his right hand and used him as a human hammer. Spinning him around, there were many cries heard from the warriors.


    "Zhang... don''t you leave!"


    As he located the direction of the 3 leaders, Fang Yuan started to rush towards them.


    "Why is there another one?"


    Seeing how Fang Yuan used the warriors as a human hammer and shield and killing his way into the soldiers like a thousand-men-strong army, the 3 of them were startled and froze with fear.


    Such a person was comparable to a 10,000-man army. It was extremely rare and there would usually be only one such person in a huge division. Most of the time, that person would already be the leader!


    In such a small group of people, it was extremely abnormal for there to be two persons who were so powerful.


    "Did the Xia Division already detected something fishy and have sent their army over?"


    Kang screamed.


    "It''s useless to think about all of these now... Head Priest!"


    Gazing at Fang Yuan and Xia Qi, Zhang seemed depressed.


    "Leader... based on our current combat power, we can only manage one of them!"


    The Head Priest of Shangzhang Tribe had white hair and his face was filled with wrinkles. He was almost bald and his hands were as skinny as that of chickens. It was unbelievable that he could live to such an age of about 80 years old.


    "He shall be the one!"


    Zhang pointed at Fang Yuan.


    "Keke..."


    The Head Priest let out a weird laughter, revealing his unpleasant-looking teeth. As he retrieved a figurine made of grass, he faced Fang Yuan and started to mumble his chant.


    A black fog appeared, gathering around the straw figurine. The straw figurine started to change, and its appearance started to become more and more like Fang Yuan.


    ''Eh? Is this... stealing my spiritual aura? Is this one of the curses in witchcraft? Interesting!''


    Fang Yuan started to intentionally slow down his actions to allow the priest to execute his curse. Suddenly, the priest started to shake his limbs. As he opened his mouth, a white streak of light shot out and landed on Fang Yuan''s shadow.


    ''Sand Shadow Technique?''


    Fang Yuan felt a little confused. Suddenly, his body froze.


    "Kill him!"


    The surrounding warriors became energetic as they crowded around Fang Yuan.


    "All of you are seeking death!"


    With a laugh, flames started to flicker on Fang Yuan''s bronze sword. With a few slices, 6 warriors around him immediately laid dead on the floor.


    "This person... he''s extremely strong!"


    The Head Priest shrieked. He quickly took out a metal nail, bit his own tongue, smeared the nail in blood and nailed it in the straw figurine.


    "Buzz! Buzz!"


    In mid-air, there was an extremely strong and invisible force targeted towards Fang Yuan as it shot into his forehead.


    Outside his actualised dream world.


    Black runes started to appear in mid-air and began to attempt entering the actualised dream world.


    As the 8 Gates Sword Array shook, the power of wind, thunder, water and fire swept across the actualised dream world, completely destroying the black runes.


    ''What''s this? 7 Arrows Nail Striking Witchcraft? What a pity... the true aura of a dream master is within the actualised dream world and is constantly under protection...''


    Fang Yuan snickered as he looked at the Head Priest.


    "Ah... How are you alright?"


    The Head Priest was in shock. Within seconds, the straw figurine in his hands started to burn and turned into ash.


    From the ashes, a black fog appeared which formed a ferocious looking face. The fog face screamed as it leapt towards the Head Priest.


    "Ahh!"


    The Head Priest let out a blood-curdling scream. He had a startled expression as he started to claw his own face, creating a bloodied mess. Not long after, he spat out a mouthful of blood as fog and fell to the ground, lifeless.


    "Head Priest..."


    Zhang''s face was filled with fear. How could the Head Priest with witchcraft just die like that? Furthermore, it was a gruesome death!


    With such a scene, although Zhang experienced many gruesome events before, he still felt a chill down his spine.


    "Let''s... retreat first!"


    Seeing the ferocious Fang Yuan, Zhang and the few other leaders all had the intention to retreat.


    ''He''s killed by the backlash from intruding my actualised dream world? How boring!''


    Seeing this, Fang Yuan''s eyes glistened as his skin turned into a metallic hue.


    With that, he pounced towards the 3 leaders and was indifferent to the weapons around him. "Don''t leave!"


    "Clang! Clang!"


    As the bone arrows and bronze knives landed on his skin, they could only produce a metallic sound as though he was made up of metal.


    "Are you a witch as well?"


    Zhang screamed as he countered with a strike of a sword.


    Fang Yuan grabbed the sword with his right hand and snapped it effortlessly. With a casual fling, Zhang fell to the ground.


    "Ahh... Let''s do it or die!"


    Lu and Kang exchanged glances as they picked up their weapons. However, to Fang Yuan, they were mere disturbances and were similarly defeated by Fang Yuan.


    "Your leaders are in my hands. Surrender now!"


    Fang Yuan held the bronze sword to their necks as he hollered loudly.


    "Haha... die!"


    From the side, Xia Qi had also managed to break out of the crowd and killed two other witches who were executing witchcraft. Snatching a bronze sword from one of the warriors, he sliced the right arm of Yu Xi.


    Seeing that their most powerful warrior had been defeated and their leaders captured, the remaining warriors looked at each other in disbelief. One of them released their weapon and his bronze spear fell to the ground.


    "What happened?"


    The commotion had already awakened the entire division. Wei led a group of warriors with weapons and rushed to the scene.


    "Zhang, Lu, Kang... these three leaders have gone against the agreement of the alliance and depended on the demons!"


    Xia Qi raised his bronze sword high up and exclaimed.


    "Kill them!"


    "Kill them!"


    The warriors of Xia realised =they were tricked from the start. Embarrassed and angry, they chanted loudly.


    "This is not possible... my father will not do such a thing..."


    In the crowd, there was a desolated cry from a young man.


    ''F*ck! Why do they think we can kill them so easily. This is not the way to seek death¡­.. They are indeed dumb!''


    Xia Qi sent a message to Fang Yuan in secret. ''You''ve done well to use some of your abilities and not reveal too. Remember that you can at most use your martial arts. Don''t reveal too much...''

 349 Fiery Eyes

    "Wu Zhiqi is a water demon! It had caused floods in the 9 regions and brought us suffering!"


    Xia Qi exclaimed as he signalled to Wei and the rest of the warriors to tie the 3 leaders up. With a menacing glare, he looked at Fa.


    "Fa! I believe your father is being misled..."


    "That''s right!"


    The young man had a pure heart and could not bear to do evil. This was why his father did not let him join in the decision-making process.


    Uncontrollably, Fa nodded his head as though Xia Qi was willing to spare his father.


    "My father must be misled by the water demons!!"


    "Mm, very well!"


    Xia Qi smiled, "Therefore... you must prove your loyalty to your people, Fa! Are you willing to lead your warriors to take on the water demon?"


    It sounded as though Xia Qi was deluding Fa.


    "As long as you can accomplish that, I can not only release your father, I will also ensure that the Xia Tribe will support you in ascending to the appointment of division leader!"


    Currently, the leader of the division was nominated by the previous leader and was a cycle by itself.


    Of course, in the Xia Tribe, there was already a system where the father would pass down the appointment of leader to his son. Therefore, people already regarded the tribe as Xia Country.


    However, among the divisions in Tortoise Mountain, they still chose their leader through nomination by the previous leader.


    As soon as the young Fa heard Xia Qi, his eyes glistened.


    "Dear noble messenger from Xia, I am willing to assist you in taking down the water demon to prove my loyalty to my people!"


    As he knelt down, he gave up the bronze sword in his hands.


    "No..."


    Zhang wanted to say something, but before he could do so, Fang Yuan quickly went up to them and stuffed a ball of cloth in their mouths, rendering them mute.


    "We are willing to follow you, young leader!"


    The warriors of Shangzhang Tribe looked at each other. However, seeing that their leader was captured, they followed suit. They knelt down and presented their weapons as a sign of willingness to follow.


    "Alright!"


    Xia Qi laughed. "This will be the same for Douli Tribe and Lilou Tribe. Yuan! Lead the warriors together with Fa, and let them know our might! If they are willing to surrender, then allow them to follow us!"


    "Yes!"


    Fang Yuan agreed, and his mind was clear.


    Capturing the leaders was just a method to convince the rest of the warriors to follow them.


    They were still too weak to face the water demon. Furthermore, these warriors might suddenly go against them if one of their leaders managed to escape. Therefore, they had to move immediately and take down the other two tribes, while sowing discord between these divisions of Tortoise Mountain in the meantime. Afterwards, they could do anything they wanted!


    As long as they quickly accomplished this, even if the leaders of the 3 divisions were to escape, they could no longer turn the tables.


    Hearing this, Lu and Kang appeared desolate. They made a few mumbling noises but could not speak.


    After all, they had already brought along their elite soldiers with them. Their divisions were now defenceless and if they were ambushed, they would surely lose and experience losses.


    ''This strategy can only be thought of by a dream master from the outside world. These people here are simple-minded and I''m afraid they will have to suffer!''


    Xia Qi remained at Shangzhang Tribe to guard beside the few captured leaders, while Fang Yuan started to allocate the manpower he had to prepare for the attack. He silently sighed to himself, "In an instant, an army of 10,000 failed to stop us and instead became our helping hand. We are really in control of everything!''


    "Yuan, if we manage to take down the other two divisions, remember to share the loots with Yang Tribe!"


    Wei carried a huge bow behind her bag as her eyes glistened with excitement, which made Fang Yuan speechless.


    Where was the demure girl as written in the books?


    ...


    The sun rose.


    The Shangzhang Division was bustling with activity.


    Groups of warriors walked on the streets and their knives were still stained with blood. They carried severed heads by their sides which were proofs of their efforts.


    Behind them, women were strung up with grass ropes. There were also meat and jars filled with treasures. These were all the valuables that they had looted.


    It was a normal thing in this realm to attack other divisions and kidnap their people, to the point where the kidnapped women would be obedient to their kidnappers as though they were used to it.


    "Messenger, this time, we have ambushed Douli and Lilou Divisions. It was a resounding victory and we''ve killed more than 100 of them, kidnapped over a thousand and reduced their houses to ashes!"


    In front of others, Fang Yuan acted normal and reported to Xia Qi respectfully.


    "Very well, let''s split the rewards with our people, namely the women and the staples!"


    The enemy''s base was rather empty, whereas the attacking force was made up of elites and was even led by a dream master. There was no such thing as a failed mission and therefore, Xia Qi was decisive. "Also, let those warriors who are submissive join us. Sent messengers out to inform the other divisions in Tortoise Mountain... With this, the smaller divisions would not dare to come! By then, we can activate tens of thousands of people to help out in searching the Hui River and locate Wu Zhiqi!"


    "That sounds good!"


    Gazing at the satisfied Fa, Fang Yuan felt a little pity for him.


    Although this young man had a little power, the only way he could hold on to it was to show his loyalty to the Xia Tribe and would likely have to resort to abusing his authority in order to maintain stability within his tribe.


    Of course, all of this was none of his business.


    On the spot, Xia Qi initiated the splitting of rewards fairly and everyone was satisfied.


    "Yuan, do you think this cloth looks nice on me?"


    Wei did not care about the other treasures. She was extremely happy with a few bronze swords and a piece of dyed cloth.


    "It''s very beautiful!"


    Fang Yuan was speechless. Women were similarly vain in any time period and any realm.


    "We are still some time away from informing the various divisions to gather their people..."


    After splitting the rewards, Fang Yuan went to a straw hut and started to account for his treasures.


    He was not interested in the many bottles of medicine. However, he had snatched a basket of oracle bones and ropes from a few temples as he knew these divisions had the inheritances of witches. Now that he observed his loot, there was nothing that he could understand.


    "Although it might seem like a huge basket of oracle bones, the information in this basket might not even be as much as a few pieces of paper... This is creepy. If there were carvings on the oracle bones, I might be able to interpret them. However, these knots are hand-tied and I can''t understand it at all. It seems like I will have to ask Xia Qi to let me have a few priest disciples to assist me in interpreting these..."


    He casually picked up a grey piece of bone. There were a few markings made on it which resembled a human opening up his arms and walking towards the sun.


    "This resembles something... Of course, more importantly, there is energy from this realm trapped within the cracks of the oracle bone..."


    Fang Yuan ran his finger through the cracks of the tortoise shell and felt an ancient spiritual aura in it.


    "The cultivation of witchcraft begins from one''s physical body. These recordings are just a trigger to enable one to harness energy from nature to activate the bloodline in these people... From there, their abilities will appear on the physical bodies and they would become more powerful!"


    "From how things are, it seems like all of these people in this realm are qualified to become witches. Of course, the people of Jiuli Division are the most suitable... After their defeat in the hands of the Sage, the entire Jiuli Division was wiped out and the survivors were either split from each other and reproduced with other people which diluted their bloodline, or they could still be hiding in the wilderness trying to survive the harsh conditions... If I have the chance, I must take a look at the inheritance of these witches!"


    Fang Yuan flipped the oracle bones in the basket. Finally, as he picked up a red oracle bone, the energy in his body started to react.


    "This must be the word for ''Fire''!"


    Seeing how the engraved symbol resembled a ball of fire, Fang Yuan started to think to himself. "The quality of this body is unsatisfactory. However, with the increase in my magical energy, I am able to detect abnormalities in my blood. This is the foundation of being a witch. It seems like on Yuan''s body, there are hints of fire-type witch''s bloodline. If I can cultivate it to the peak level, can I become Zhurong, the Fire God?"


    Zhurong the Fire God was a god from the South. She was rumoured to have the head of a beast and the body of a human and was covered in red scales. There were fire snakes in her ears and fire dragons beneath her feet.


    "Of course, looking at my current cultivation, I believe I am too far off!"


    The cracks in this oracle bone only had the spiritual aura of a fire witch and should not be used to generalise other witches.


    However, Fang Yuan was a dream master! As long as he could initiate the cultivation and master the basics, he would be able to use his spiritual will to absorb the fire-type elemental energy from the surroundings to supplement his body.


    With the supplemented elemental energy, the hint of witch bloodline in him started to strengthen and turn into a golden-red hue, shimmering under the sunlight.


    "The bloodline is strengthened!"


    After a long while, Fang Yuan stood up and felt that although there were changes to his body, he could not feel the changes.


    As he walked to a water vat, he could see the reflection of a young man with big eyes and thick eyebrows. He had a muscular build and gave off a faint red glow.


    On the sides of his eyebrows, there were streaks of red in the form of runes, and his eyes glistened as though flames were about to emerge from them.


    "It seems like my bloodline and physical body has been strengthened, and I have gained some witchcraft abilities! Of course, my foundations are too powerful to begin with and this small boost from witchcraft should not affect me much..."


    He twitched his eyebrows and took a glance at this stats window:


    "Name: Fang Yuan


    Essence: 48


    Spirit: 48


    Magic: 60


    Profession: Dream Soldier Master


    Cultivation: Illusionary Divine (4th Tier), Wu Zong (5th Meridian)


    Technique: [Giant Eagle Metal Body Technique (Grade 6) (1%)], [Hundred Poison Golden Body (1st Refining)], [8 Gates Sword Array (5th Sword) (1%)]


    Skill: [Medicine (Level 3)], [Botany (Level 5)], [Fiery Eyes (Level 1)]"


    A new skill, Fiery Eyes? Could I possibly train it to become the Fiery Golden Eyes?"


    Fang Yuan thought for a while as he focused on this new skill of his. With that, he obtained more information about it:


    "Fiery Eyes (Level 1): The ability from the bloodline of a Fire Witch. It is able to nullify basic illusionary spells, traps and elemental energy. Currently, at Level 1, you will be able to form fire-type spiritual inscriptions."


    "Fire-type spiritual inscriptions..."


    He subconsciously felt his red eyebrows. "Are they talking about this?"


    He quickly left the house and looked for Xia Qi.


    "Eh? How did you start to cultivate in witchcraft so quickly? Is this the red eyebrows Fiery Eyes? It seems like the Zhurong Blood in this body is rather concentrated!"


    Xia Qi was a little startled, but he did not mention the downsides of practising witchcraft.


    Others would see it as a sin for him to possess witchcraft, but to him, there was nothing wrong with it.

 350 Earth

    "Those 3 tribes'' leaders were all defeated? Trash!"


    Near Shangzhang Division, a 3 Tailed Spiritual Fox was hiding inside a bush. It was watching the events unfold with its long and narrow blue eyes.


    "There must be a dream master from the Realm Alliance hidden amongst the Xia messengers! Once they gather the nearby divisions and send tens of thousands of people to search the Tortoise Mountain, Wu Zhiqi''s seal would be discovered! No way! I need to make my move quickly!"


    As the fox thought, it turned into a stream of white light and disappeared in the bushes.


    Tortoise Mountain.


    The mountain was shaped like a tortoise prone on the ground. It suppressed the water currents and gathered auspicious energy.


    Near the position of one of the tortoise''s leg, the waters were black. A whirlpool was formed there.


    The white fox came to the side of the water and jumped in without hesitation.


    With a splash, water splattered all over the surface of the river and waves were formed. Even the black water whirlpool immediately subsided.


    Deep within the river, there was a mouth of a spring.


    Streaks of dim golden lights gathered and cast light on the silhouette of a gigantic ape. It had a white head, a green body, a pair of fiery golden eyes and a golden bell on its nose. It had a fearsome look and was shackled by numerous iron chains.


    Although both its eyes were shut, streaks of mysterious and mercurial like spiritual aura automatically gathered around its body and formed ripples. It was a natural water spirit body.


    Such a demon was truly terrifying!


    "Wu Zhiqi''s divine body..."


    An air bubble emerged. Inside the bubble, the 3 Tailed Spiritual Fox was carrying a black crystal in his mouth.


    The black crystal was extremely condensed. Inside it, there were sparkling gold runes that radiated a layer of mysterious light.


    With the crystal, the mysterious water energy and the strong water pressure in the surrounding dispelled at once which allowed the fox to went closer.


    "Wu Zhiqi is a powerful ancient water demon! His body is filled with mysterious water-type inscriptions, he is extremely powerful and his magic is boundless..."


    The 3 Tailed Spiritual Fox sprawled on Wu Zhiqi''s shoulders and mumbled, "Furthermore..., this is the powerful being''s possessed body, it has accumulated over hundred years worth of demonic strength. Once it is released and controlled by me, it can even easily defeat dream masters at the 6th Tier of Illusionary Divine stage! Sadly..., there''s only one chance!"


    Even dream masters from the Realm Alliance had their cultivation weakened in this realm and could not restore to their full power.


    The fox''s own demon body had its advantages, it could control water currents in this realm.


    "The leaders were afraid our demon body would be discovered. They had already altered it such that once it is abandoned, it would die immediately. Such a pity!" the fox thought.


    The 3 Tailed Spiritual Fox turned a few rounds and finally made up its mind, "Although there''s only one chance in this body, to be able to experience another realm and sense water currents and water-type spiritual inscriptions were the benefits of this body!"


    With such a thought, the 3 Tailed Spiritual Fox immediately abandoned its demon body.


    The white fox quivered. Its pulse and blood flow stopped immediately as it died.


    A translucent Yin Spirit emerged from it. It appeared to be a female dream master in a colourful skirt and a girdle with a jade pendant. There was a three coloured mysterious light glowing from her and hence, her figure could not be discerned clearly.


    She held the black crystal and went towards Wu Zhiqi''s nostril.


    "Woong! Woooong!"


    As she got closer, the golden bell began shaking and emitted a golden light. When the golden bell touched the black crystal, it stopped shaking at once and a passage appeared. The Yin Spirit entered the passage and there was a momentary silence.


    Moments later, cracking noises could be heard. Cracks appeared on the chains and the golden bell which soon fell off.


    Wu Zhiqi opened his eyes. There was a fiery looking glow from his eyeballs.


    "Kaboom!"


    Outside, on top of Tortoise Mountain, grey clouds covered the skies. A storm erupted!


    ...


    "Clang!"


    Xia Qi accidentally dropped a ceramic bowl on to the floor.


    He could not be bothered about it. He walked outside to look at the torrential rain and asked, "Why is it so fast?"


    "Pitter patter!"


    The river waters turned black and overflowed. It surged over Tortoise Mountain and was flowing towards the plains.


    No matter how strong a warrior was, at the sight of such a catastrophic disaster, their expression changed at once as they froze in fear.


    "Looks like Wu Zhiqi''s seal has been broken earlier than we expected!" Fang Yuan calmly spoke as he watched, while his eyes shined with a fiery light.


    "In actual fact, this is very normal. After defeating their supporters, we were about to search through the entire Tortoise Mountain, the seal would definitely be found! Since they didn''t want to wait to be discovered, they definitely broke the seal first!" Fang Yuan thought.


    "Yuan! You''ll follow me!" Xia Qi turned around and said.


    Only the two of them had divine techniques and could defeat the water demon. The other warriors were panic-stricken and confused, what use would they have?


    "No, I want to follow you!"


    Wei held his bow and followed Fang Yuan.


    "No! You all have to stay here and protect this division! Rely on the walls as defence!"


    Fang Yuan shook his head and pointed outside.


    Wei was astonished. She just realised within the rising waters, there were silhouettes of all sorts of demons.


    Wood fiends, water spirits, mountain demons, stone monsters and numerous other unimaginable spirits appeared in large amounts. There were over a thousand of them charging towards the division.


    "These are all Wu Zhiqi''s kind... kill them all!"


    Xia Qi hollered and looked at Fang Yuan. The two of them carried bow and arrows on their back and a copper dagger on their hands. They then charged out as though they were fierce tigers.


    "Yuan!"


    Wei could only scream loudly as she saw the two of them going away quickly. She clenched her teeth and looked at the spirits that were coming over to attack them. She then fiercely shouted at the young Fa who was beside her, "Fa! If you don''t want your division to be defeated by these demons and have all your tribe members eaten up, you better be truthful and activate all your people to resist them with us!"


    ...


    "Oh... actually, this is pretty good too! Since Wu Zhiqi willingly appeared, we don''t have to waste time searching for him!"


    "Furthermore, there are fewer restrictions since no one else is around!"


    Xia Qi moved his fingers gracefully as though he was playing a musical instrument. The demons in the surrounding 10 yards froze immediately and were ripped apart from between their eyebrows, turning into black coloured sand.


    Such savagery, there was no tinge of panic left!


    Fang Yuan was very understanding of how Xia Qi had to balance his true identity and his identity in this realm. He asked him, "You are so confident that this is not a powerful ability of a 7th Tier Illusionary Divine dream master?"


    "I am! If it was a powerful being, there would be no changes to the weather! The winds and waters would be calm, there would be no lightning or thunder. That would be the scariest!"


    Xia Qi laughed and continued, "Of course... it''s okay even if I guessed wrong. If such an Illusionary Divine dream master that we cannot defeat really comes into this realm, we can still preserve our true aura and get out of this realm to report it to the Realm Alliance! It would still be a big accomplishment!"


    "Nevertheless, the most likely scenario is that it''s a Hidden Dragon Guard that is making use of Wu Zhiqi''s possessed body. Hence, we have to suppress it!"


    "I understand now!"


    As Fang Yuan listened, he was greatly enlightened.


    Although such a possessed body was strong, it was an obvious target. Even if the seal was discovered, it might even be a trap that had been set up beforehand.


    If it was a bait set up by the Sage, even a dream master at the 7th Tier of Illusionary Divine would die if they fell into such a trap!


    7th Tier of Illusionary Divine dream masters were powerful beings too, even the Imperial Court could not force them to come over. Even if they were to come, they would lay low and slowly progress!


    With this premise, Xia Qi was naturally not afraid.


    Even if they were so unlucky and met such a dream master, they would just face the music.


    "Of course... at such a stage, we should no longer conceal our true selves! We should unleash all our abilities and destroy that Wu Zhiqi! Even if we have to return immediately, it is still a big accomplishment!"


    Xia Qi''s eyes burned fierily as he turned into a beam of light and reached the peak of Tortoise Mountain with Fang Yuan.


    As they looked down, they saw the originally calm waters of Huai River had become strong waves and currents. A whirlpool was becoming larger and larger and it occupied almost the entire width of the river. Inside it, a black shadow could be vaguely seen.


    Suddenly, thunder roared and the river water exploded. A humongous ape emerged from the whirlpool and stared downwards viciously.


    "Wow! Winds and lightning rage, trees and rocks rustle! The realm is in chaos as Wu Zhiqi emerged! What a powerful demon!"


    Fang Yuan sighed and continued, "The water-type spiritual inscriptions on his body shows that he is from the witchcraft dao. If I can understand these inscriptions, it will be extremely beneficial to me!"


    "There are two dream masters from the Realm Alliance?"


    A woman''s voice could be heard from the ugly monkey face of Wu Zhiqi.


    "No wonder Shangzhang they all lost so badly!"


    "Indeed, a Hidden Dragon Guard! It''s not a powerful being possessing the body!"


    Xia Qi was relieved at such. However, his expression turned solemn again, "This Wu Zhiqi would be equivalent to a dream master at the 5th Tier of Illusionary Divine stage in Da Qian Empire. However, in this realm, dream masters at the 6th Tier of Illusionary Divine stage were restricted! There was a possibility that Wu Zhiqi could not be defeated!"


    "Defeat me?"


    Wu Zhiqi paused for a moment before he guffawed. It was as though he heard an incredulous joke, "Although my cultivation is not that strong, this possessed body is a remnant of the powerful being! It cannot be penetrated by any weapon and it is extremely powerful! Your Xi is not coming and you are thinking of defeating me? Scram and get out of this realm!"


    "Roar!"


    The ape bellowed. Its roar was extremely menacing and earthshaking.


    The water levels in Huai River rose sharply immediately and formed a waterspout that flooded the Tortoise Mountain.


    "Splash!"


    Under this extremely powerful force, the entire Tortoise Mountain tremored and a sorrowful cry could be heard from within it. Unbelievably, cracks started forming from the foot of the mountain!


    Wu Zhiqi''s might could indeed topple mountains and wreak havoc on the seas!


    "Heh!"


    Accompanied by a roar from Xia Qi, an earth mountain rose from the vast seas and Xia Qi transformed into an enormous giant.


    The giant was taller than Wu Zhiqi, it had a human body and a snake tail. There was also a winged snake that coiled around its entire body. The winged snake was spitting a yellow coloured spiritual light that was connected to the surrounding lands.


    "Dream beast master?"


    As Fang Yuan watched, he thought of Sun Jue from Source Seeking Sect.


    Of course, Xia Qi''s power was much stronger than Sun Jue''s.


    "In the cultivation of a dream beast master, they would mostly undergo numerous transformations in the initial stages. In the first 3 Tiers of the Illusionary Divine stage, they could only transform into different beasts to obtain their power. After the 4th Tier of the Illusionary Divine stage, they could actualise spirituality and transform into magical beasts with powerful abilities. After the 7th Tier of the Illusionary Divine Stage, they could easy summon a large army of beasts that were undefeatable!"


    "The giant Xia Qi transformed into was an Earth Witchcraft body! Evidently, his body already contained the bloodline of an Earth Witch. This time around, by utilising this transformation, he is making use of twice the power of Earth Witchcraft! Its power is not to be belittled!"


    "Trying to fight water with earth?"


    Wu Zhiqi hollered, the voice was that of a woman which was rather queer.


    "With just that pathetic amount of energy from your bloodline, you think you can defeat a powerful being that has cultivated for hundreds of years? Die!"


    "Rumble!"


    Layers of water-type spiritual inscriptions on the ape''s body glowed. All the water currents in the realm reacted and started gushing fiercely!

 351 Waves of Destruction

    "Whoosh!"


    Water gushed around Wu Zhiqi.


    As spiritual inscriptions appeared on Wu Zhiqi''s body, a godlike might seemed to appear.


    Wu Zhiqi seemed like a real god as the illusionary figure of the entire Huai River appeared behind it. The force of the flowing river slowly strengthened the beast behind it.


    "A lot of spiritual inscriptions indeed!"


    Seeing the water-type spiritual inscriptions all over Wu Zhiqi''s monkey body formed something like an armour around him, Fang Yuan sighed.


    "The power of the Huai River, enter my body and explode!"


    Wu Zhiqi roared as water flowed into the sky, forming streaks of water lightning that struck the surface of the earth.


    "Bang! Bang!"


    The ground behind Xia Qi was struck, forming a huge indentation and a few cracks all around it. The surface appeared charred. However, in a moment, the ground began to heal itself.


    This was the power of the Earth Witch! As long as he stood on the ground, he could have a boundless source of energy!


    This was the perfect counter to Wu Zhiqi''s river strike.


    "An impressive Earth Witch indeed!"


    From the monkey face of Wu Zhiqi, there was a female voice heard; it was indeed a weird sight to behold. "How can the earth block an entire river? Even if you become a complete witch, how can you compare with the 100 years of cultivation in this demon''s body? Thousand miles of river!!"


    As it roared, the water in Huai River exploded and started to flood out to a thousand miles.


    "No!"


    Fa, who had sworn to fight against the water god, realised that a tsunami was approaching him. The water from the river covered the entire sky and crashed into the division, flooding it entirely.


    "Although earth might be the counter for water, I am using pure demonic strength to turn the surroundings to an underwater river city. This is my homeground, not yours!"


    Wu Zhiqi laughed heartily. "Water thunder! Strike!"


    "Rumble!"


    108 balls of water appeared in the sky before turning into bolts of water lightning.


    "Bang! Bang!"


    The Earth Giant hollered as the earth rose around him. A layer of earth shielded him from 70 over water lightnings before the shield of earth gave way and crumbled.


    "Rumble!"


    The remaining bolts of lightning struck with its full might on Xia Qi''s body.


    As he shrieked, many scars appeared on his body. This time, they did not immediately heal. Instead, Xia Qi quickly screamed. "Fang Yuan... Quickly help me!"


    "3 Talents Sword Array, go!"


    Fang Yuan let out a sigh as a green hurricane appeared around him which covered him. 3 streaks of sword pillars flew towards the sky, trapping Wu Zhiqi in it.


    The power of ice, fire and thunder appeared. Together, they compressed inwards.


    "Chi! Chi!"


    In a huge explosion, the sword array disintegrated. The 3 magical swords appeared and glittered with spiritual light. They were flying with their own will and gathered their spiritual auras by themselves, increasing their power by 100 times before striking towards Wu Zhiqi.


    "Chi!"


    Under such an attack, even Wu Zhiqi''s impenetrable body started to sustain injuries and open wounds.


    "Magical soldiers? A dream soldier master?"


    Wu Zhiqi roared as it swung its monkey claws out. "Die!"


    "Bang!"


    A streak of water lightning appeared, striking towards where Fang Yuan stood.


    However, Fang Yuan was being carried by the green hurricane and rose towards the sky.


    "Master!"


    The 3 other magical swords could feel a sense of danger as they quickly flew back to protect Fang Yuan.


    "This demon is extremely powerful! If I don''t use my 4 Emblems Sword Array, I might not be able to take it down!"


    Fang Yuan waved his hands and the 3 Talents Sword Array appeared once more. His eyes glistened.


    The 4 Emblems Sword Array would infuse the power of water, fire, wind and thunder and its power would be intensified. However, among the dream masters, there was only one family of dream masters who were capable of such an array. If he were to use it, he would leak his heritage and this might cause trouble for him. Of course, he wouldn''t sacrifice himself for someone else.


    "Actually, with the strengthening of the 3 Talents Sword Array due to the swords having their own spirituality, it is already comparable to the power of a dream master in the 4th Tier of the Illusionary Divine stage!"


    Fang Yuan had decided to conceal his final move.


    Xia Qi did not suspect anything. He was pleasantly surprised that this newly advanced 4th Tier Illusionary Divine stage dream master could have such a combat power.


    "Alright! Let''s do this together to take down Wu Zhiqi!"


    The Earth Witch roared and the earth around them shook. "Also, let''s conveniently seal up this traitor as well, haha... I shall let a lady like you remain trapped in this ugly monkey for hundreds to thousands of years! This is even better than killing you!"


    If the soul were to die here, the true spirit of the dream master would return to Da Qian. However, there is the existence of a sealing technique. If successful, one''s true spirit could be sealed in the realm and the dream master''s body in Da Qian would become a vegetable.


    "You... you''ve angered me!"


    Facing this threat, Wu Zhiqi remained calm.


    "Since both of you are courting death, I shall help you!"


    As it waved its hands, two steaks of spiritual aura, black and white, flew out. They spun around each other, forming the shape of a Tai Chi.


    "Buzz!"


    The image of the Tai Chi started to expand outwards. In a few moments, it had expanded over a hundred miles and continued to expand into the earth and above the skies.


    "Eh?"


    Fang Yuan shuddered in fear as though something bad was about to happen.


    "Ah... This is a Heavenly Spiritual Image. It can separate us from our real bodies while dream-traversing!"


    Xia Qi started to scream and appeared panicky. He was no longer the calm man he once was. "Be careful! If we die within this image, it will be a real death for us! Our True Spirit will remain here! This is Sage''s treasure. Why is it with you?"


    "A seal?"


    Fang Yuan''s eyebrows twitched as he seemed to have understood something. "We have segregated from our bodies? Does this mean that there''s no running away?"


    "Yes, this Image is extremely valuable and normal dream masters in the 4th Tier of the Illusionary Divine stage would not be allowed to hold it. However, this is given to me by the Sage, so naturally, I will have it!"


    Wu Zhiqi laughed, "Although you 5 Grand Organisations are in control, do you think my head will sit around and do nothing? We have made many arrangements and are using all the treasures that we have. We will have a fierce fight with you dream masters from the Realm Alliance!"


    She sounded much calmer as though the two of them were already dead, and revealed a piece of classified information.


    At this point in time, Xia Qi turned pale.


    His prediction that there was only one powerful being in the Ancient Realm was wrong!


    "Do you know why I am revealing so much? This is because with the Heavenly Spiritual Image separating everything, the both of you can no longer bring out any information with you. Furthermore, today, the both of you will die here!"


    Wu Zhiqi exclaimed as it tore both its arms. Blood flowed out from the arms, forming a specific print of a rune. "Heavenly Demon Body Destruction, One Single Blow!"


    "Rumble!"


    A huge force erupted, sealing the skies and earth around them.


    "Is this... the power of a dream master in the 7th Tier of the Illusionary Divine stage?"


    Fang Yuan appeared confused. "How is this possible?"


    "This must be the print left behind by the head of the Hidden Dragon Guards many years ago... Although it has been over a hundred years, his possessed body managed to keep it active. Gathering energy from all around, this is equivalent to the strike of a 7th Tier Illusionary Divine dream master!"


    Xia Qi exclaimed. "I understand now! This possessed body was not planned to be used for long, but it was prepared to self-destruct at the moment of sealing!!!"


    This was, in fact, accumulating all the power that it once had to deliver one final blow, achieving the intensity similar to that of a 7th Tier Illusionary Divine dream master!


    Although it was only a single blow, if properly planned, it was a significant thing.


    "Both of you deserve to die!"


    Wu Zhiqi continued to roar. Initially, it should not have used this single blow here. However, since it was discovered, it had to eradicate these two dream masters, even though the dream master controlling Wu Zhiqi would have to face punishment later on.


    ''This was actually for King Xi. To use it on the both of you is wasting it...''


    Fang Yuan''s eyes glistened as he gritted his teeth. ''The alliance would not care about all these. If we die, then we would lose everything!''


    With that thought, the green hurricane around him thickened and a green magical sword appeared from it. "Master!"


    "The 4 spirits of the 4 swords, form the 4 Emblems Sword Array! Go!"


    As the power of water, fire, wind and thunder combined, a mysterious change was happening. The sword array started to shrink around Fang Yuan, keeping him in the centre.


    Beside him, Xia Qi roared as well, covering himself with layers and layers of soil.


    Just as the both of them had completed their defence, a green-coloured sun exploded.


    "Rumble!"


    Waves crashed about and the earth shook. The green sun started to spread outwards. The defence which Xia Qi had created with his witchcraft cultivation quickly disappeared.


    Furthermore, even the clouds in the sky were being punched through by the expanding green sun, revealing a clear sky behind.


    Water started to evaporate into steam, forming a white mushroom cloud.


    After a long while, everything started to slowly settle down.


    Wu Zhiqi stood on the water surface. Suddenly, cracks started to appear on its face. Like a spider web, it slowly spread around.


    "Splash!"


    With that, the huge demon body started to crack and fell into the water.


    A white flash appeared nearby, revealing a Yin Spirit which quickly flew into the body of a white fox.


    "It''s dead? To think about it... who can withstand such power? It''s a pity that this possessed body is wasted... However, it''s worth it that I managed to kill 2 dream masters in the 4th Tier of the Illusionary Divine stage..."


    The white fox mumbled to itself as it looked towards where the both of them originally stood.


    It was empty there, as though everything which Xia Qi had created was evaporated by the explosion. Satisfied, the fox giggled to itself. "Hehe... Nobody asked the both of you to look for me. You''re seeking your own deaths!"


    "Is that so?"


    "Chi! Chi!"


    The ground exploded, revealing a sword array. From it came Fang Yuan''s voice.


    "How is this possible?"


    The white fox was stunned. "How can you survive that blow! It''s impossible!"


    "Nothing is impossible in this world!"


    Fang Yuan waved his hands as the 4 Emblems Array expanded, trapping the white fox within it.


    Initially, Fang Yuan had doubts about his decision. ''The 4 Emblems Sword Array did not disappoint me. Of course, I can feel that that immense force is really powerful. However, without an owner to control it, it can only achieve the power of a 6th Tier Illusionary Divine dream master. Close to the 7th Tier, but it is ultimately not! This difference is the difference between life and death!''


    "Water, fire, wind and thunder? The 4 Emblems... This sword array is much more powerful than what an average dream soldier master can harness. Where have I seen this before?"


    The white fox started to grow suspicious. As it saw Fang Yuan approaching, it started to shudder in fear. "I am a member of the Imperial Court and I have a very powerful backing!"


    "That''s right..."


    Fang Yuan laughed sneakily. What a pity... This place is already sealed by your Heavenly Spiritual Image. Xia Qi''s death is undoubtedly real... What about yours?"


    The white fox froze.


    Never would she have thought that her killer move to seal the both of them here would trap herself!

 352 Meeting the King

    The Heavenly Spiritual Image was the treasure of the Sage. Although it could only be used once, it could seal the entire world, trapping all True Spirits within it.


    Within the spiritual image, if a dream master were to die, they would die in their own world as well!


    "You¡­.. you cannot kill me!"


    The 3 Tailed Spiritual Fox could feel the murderous vibe on Fang Yuan''s body as it shuddered in fear. "Even though you care nothing about my backing, don''t you want to know what the Hidden Dragon Guards have planned in this realm? Even King Xi doesn''t deserve to know the plan..."


    "That''s right! Then be honest about it!"


    Fang Yuan was tempted to know.


    Seeing this, the white fox was elated. "As long as you are willing to release me, I am willing to tell you everything... ah! What are you doing?"


    "Whoosh!"


    With the glitter of a sword radiance, a streak of lightning came down which struck the 3 Tailed Spiritual Fox and charred it. As Fang Yuan stretched his hands out, he grabbed hold of a Yin Spirit before chaining it up with 4 streaks of sword essence.


    "You have too many tricks up your sleeve... Furthermore, I only need to know what the Hidden Dragon Guards intent to do. I wouldn''t believe anything else you say!"


    Fang Yuan appeared calm. As the 4 streaks of sword essence began to entangle with each other, the Yin Spirit let out a scream before disappearing in a puff of green smoke.


    "This is what you get for failing to get my trust..."


    After dispersing the 4 Emblems Sword Array, Fang Yuan looked at the receding river water and sighed. "Furthermore... I cannot let you spread the news about my 4 Emblems Sword Array. Therefore, you''re dead meat!"


    If he had hesitated, the fox might secretly remove the restriction of the Heavenly Spiritual Image and killed itself. That would spell even more trouble for Fang Yuan.


    He had no choice but to be ruthless.


    "After such a big fight, the foot of the Tortoise Mountain is now submerged and 10,000 people are killed just like that... sigh..."


    A green hurricane appeared which carried Fang Yuan in it and transported him to where Shangzhang Division once was.


    As the flood receded, a damaged division was revealed. Corpses laid everywhere and their eyes and stomach were bloated. It was a gruesome sight to behold.


    "I''m afraid that the divisions of Tortoise Mountain will become history!"


    Fang Yuan continued walking and saw Fa.


    Fa had an aggressive look on his face as his hands were outstretched. His skin was pale and he appeared as though he was fighting for survival.


    "Such an establishment is destroyed in a few moments!"


    Fang Yuan sighed and continued walking. Ahead, there were a few warriors of the Yang Tribe. They were dead as well, either from drowning or being killed in battle.


    "Eh?"


    Suddenly, he thought of something and turned to another spot.


    In a pile of mud, there was a huge severed trunk. Beneath the trunk, a young lady was trapped. Her nails were ingrained deeply into the trunk, but she was still breathing. It seemed as though she had merely fainted, and her eyes were shut.


    Around them, a few water demons started to approach as though they had found their prey.


    "Die!"


    With his mind, Fang Yuan summoned a green sword essence which flew out like a gust of wind. The few water demons froze before turning into ash.


    "Wei!"


    Fang Yuan walked up to the trunk and placed his finger on Wei''s forehead to transfer her some elemental energy.


    "Yuan? Am I dreaming?"


    After a moment, she sighed and woke up, appearing confused. "I dreamt of the flood! Demons! You ran out quickly..."


    "This is not a dream!"


    Fang Yuan helped her up before she saw the mess that was once the division.


    "Wu Zhiqi was released and flooded everything here. I have already killed him!"


    Fang Yuan continued to explain. "I''m afraid that there are no other survivors here..."


    "Ti, Gao, Li..."


    Wei mumbled the names of the few other warriors that came with them as tears welled up in her eyes. "Yuan, what should we do? Return to our division?"


    "No! I want to go to the heart of Xia Country - Yang City!"


    Fang Yuan spoke with determination. "Even though the messenger of Xia is dead, I have to fulfil the order of our leader to report to King Xi about it!"


    "I want to go with you!"


    Wei bit her lips. "I''ll follow you wherever you go!"


    Fang Yuan examined this lady before him.


    After all that had happened, it seemed that she had matured quite a bit, and became stronger than before.


    However, there was a mysterious feeling about her, which made Fang Yuan confused. ''Does she have the protection of the realm? Looking at things... Wu Zhiqi''s flood killed everyone except her. Either she is extremely lucky, or she has the protection of the realm! This is interesting!''


    "Alright! Then let''s go together!"


    ...


    Yang City.


    After successfully managing the river, the leader of Xia was crowned the king. Construction started in Yang Mountain, and the 9 cauldrons were smelted and placed in the centre of the city square. From then on, Yang City became the capital of the Xia Tribe, the headquarters of the entire plains!


    The city was rather primitive. The city walls were made of soil and were 30 feet tall and 5 feet thick. It stretched around the city for 15 miles. Although this was nothing to Da Qian Empire, it was the most advanced capital in this realm, with everything built without machinery!


    As soon as Wei entered Xia Country, she was mesmerized by the fertile farms, intricate pottery and dyed fabrics. Entering Yang City was even more of an eye-opener, she was like a villager entering a modernised city.


    "Yuan... look at this! They''re all wearing cloth! At that stall over there, they''re selling bronze and even iron equipment!"


    Looking around, Wei felt a little embarrassed as she was only draped in animal hide. She froze and could no longer move.


    "If you like it, we can get a few iron swords after seeing King Xia. They''re more useful than bronze swords anyway..."


    Fang Yuan did not feel out of place.


    This kind of city was like a town. Of course, it took up a lot of space and the architecture in the city had an ancient feel to it.


    "They are more useful than bronze swords?"


    Looking at the black iron sword, Wei hesitated. It seemed as though she wanted to slice it with her bronze sword to test it out.


    Fang Yuan smiled and remained silent.


    Although they had long discovered iron, they knew that it would rust and would take too much effort to be made into weapons. Therefore, they were not as common as bronze weapons.


    One reason for that was that the smelting process of iron was extremely complicated.


    In Xia Country, with the help of dream masters, it would be effortless to get iron equipment.


    ''However, it seems like it is not popularized... the dream masters of the Realm Alliance are indeed very careful...''


    Fang Yuan brought Wei to the palace. "I am Yuan from the Yang Tribe. I have brought along with me the belongings of Qi and is requesting to see King Xi!"


    He raised the jade piece which Xia Qi left behind and shouted.


    One of the guards glanced at him and immediately, one of them rushed into the palace. "Wait here!"


    After a while, he ran out. "King Xi wishes to see you! Follow me!"


    The guard pointed at Wei, "You are not allowed to enter!"


    "Why so?"


    Wei was enraged and almost took out the bronze knife by her waist. However, she was stopped by Fang Yuan. "Wait for me here!"


    With that, he followed the guard into the palace.


    The palace did not seem luxurious. The only thing special about it was that it was huge.


    After a short walk, they arrived at a square. In a hall behind the square, there were 9 huge cauldrons. There were carvings of famous treasures and mysterious beasts on the surface of these cauldrons which would strike fear on whoever laid their eyes on these engravings.


    ''The 9 Cauldrons of Xia! Where the fate of the people dao lie!''


    Fang Yuan mumbled to himself as he felt a huge invisible force on him.


    The 9 Cauldrons served the purpose of stabilizing the entire region. It was created by the Sage many years ago and was representative of the traditions of the people dao!


    ''This is not dragon energy. It is more powerful than dragon energy and is able to stabilize the region and restrict evil spells!''


    As he remained silent, he could feel the passion of the ancestors of the people dao boiling within the cauldrons. The energy from the cauldrons rose up into the skies.


    Even if a Realm Alliance dream master in the 7th Tier of the Illusionary Divine stage would be no match to King Xi in Yang City, for the king would be strengthened by the energy from the cauldrons!


    He focused on the task at hand and followed the servant as they entered the main hall.


    "I am Yuan. Greetings, King Xia!"


    Since this was the ancient times, this form of greeting was not considered disrespectful. After their greetings, he arrived at a table and sat down with two other ministers which made Fang Yuan feel respected.


    "Yuan from the Shangyang Division, tell me about Qi''s and your encounter with Wu Zhiqi!"


    And King Xi spoke, his deep voice was heard.


    "Yes!"


    Fang Yuan composed himself, glanced at the two ministers standing by the side before explaining everything.


    Of course, secretly, he was sending a message to the elder.


    Along the way to the palace, Fang Yuan had already decided on what to say. He had mostly said the truth but only changed the last part, claiming that Wu Zhiqi and Xia Qi had fought to their deaths before Fang Yuan stood in to deliver the final blow.


    ''It''s a good deed that you and Qi managed to kill the unsealed Wu Zhiqi!''


    After a while, the loud voice of King Xi was heard from above.


    "I am only doing my part to eliminate the evil!"


    Fang Yuan thanked King Xi before look at him.


    King Xi of Xia Country was an elder of the Realm Alliance. He was dressed in robes and had a composed look. His thick eyebrows gave off the vibe that he was extremely dependable.


    "You deserve to be rewarded if you do a good deed, and deserve to be punished if you do a bad deed. This is only normal!"


    King Xi waved his hands. "Yuan of Shangyang Division killed Wu Zhiqi and is therefore deserving of a reward! I shall change the name of the North Sea Secluded Capital to Fang Mountain, and that piece of land is now yours. The priest will record this down!"


    "Thank you, King Xia!"


    Since he was also part of the Realm Alliance, there was no reason for Fang Yuan to return to his division. Of course, he had to take orders from the Xia Tribe.


    Fang Yuan accepted the reward without hesitation.


    "Mmm, since you are now the Lord of the Fang Mountain, your descendants shall take the surname Fang. From today onwards, you will be Fang Yuan! That is all!"


    King Xi smiled as Fang Yuan felt a little humoured.


    ''In the ancient times, there was a person named Shang Yang. However, since he was part of Wei Country, his named was changed to Wei Yang. Afterwards, as he became the king of Qin Country, his land was known as Shang and his name was changed to Shang Yang or King Shang. Who would''ve thought that I would now experience the same thing...''


    Regardless, Fang Yuan appreciated the fact that he could use his real name from now onwards. Without hesitation, he paid his respects and left the palace.


    "All of you, leave too! Ju, stay behind!"


    King Xi dismissed the other ministers, leaving behind Ju, who was also a dream master from the Realm Alliance.


    "Elder... Is Chen Qi really dead? And... do you think Fang Yuan would trick us?"


    Ju asked.


    "Since even the Heavenly Spiritual Image is out, we can do nothing about it..."


    King Xi''s voice was calm. "After thinking about what he said, I believe that most of it were true. The Hidden Dragon Guards are plotting for something big, and we have to be well prepared!"

 353 Essence of the Blood

    Fang Yuan was made Lord over his plot of land! He could command ministers, collect taxes and even set up an army!


    To Fang Yuan, the process of making him a Lord felt more similar to the western version of being knighted.


    As time passed, history had shown that the kings would slowly lose power. Finally, it would only be a status.


    In the west, they could truly knight someone and confer him all that he deserved. However, in the east, power was everything!


    However, now, Fang Yuan not only had power, but land and even riches as well!


    He would be considered to have attained a high status among the people of this realm for going this far, and even had the potential to start his own country!


    ''Both Elder and I are not from this realm. Therefore, we would not pay as much attention to all of these. I''m sure that Elder is intending to make use of me...''


    This was only an excuse for Fang Yuan to remain in Xia Country. As soon as he left the palace, he told Wei about what happened.


    The young lady opened her eyes wide. "Yuan... you are now the Lord of Xia Country? Does that mean you are not returning to the division anymore?"


    "Yeah, I''m not going back!"


    Fang Yuan gazed afar. "Look at all these... This place is prosperous and is the heart of this world! I''ve decided to stay in the Xia Tribe and make a name for myself!"


    He now seemed like a greedy person who would abandon his home and his people for riches.


    "Alright!"


    Wei clapped her hands. "I like this place too. Let''s stay here!"


    "... Cough cough..."


    ...


    Although Fang Yuan was declared a lord, he had to go through a ceremony of sorts, even if it was a simple one.


    At the very least, a simple ceremony was still required.


    Furthermore, he had other rewards which he sent some servants to collect for him.


    There were servants in this era! There were still cruel people outside of Xia Country who would bring all their servants to their graves after their death. The more servants, the more prestigious the person would be!


    In an instant, there were representations of both civilised and barbaric practices.


    With the status of a lord, Fang Yuan was directly under the command of King Xi and did not have to worry about where to stay.


    Furthermore, during the night, Fang Yuan would be required to secretly pay a visit to the Elder of the Realm Alliance and the other dream masters of the Realm Alliance.


    "Ahh... I have no idea if the people in Fang Mountain are wealthy or not, and I am clueless as to how many people reside in the mountain!"


    Beside him, Wei childishly started to count using her fingers, which amused Fang Yuan.


    ...


    It was nightfall.


    Fang Yuan woke up, silently left his house and arrived at the palace.


    "Greetings, Elder!"


    The white palace was empty and the guards who were supposed to be guarding the doors fainted.


    King Xi sat on the throne, similar to how he did in the daytime. However, this time, there were a few dream masters from the Realm Alliance around him.


    Although there were fewer people now, the spiritual aura in the surroundings felt much more threatening.


    "Fang Yuan?"


    King Xi smiled. "You are indeed the talent of our alliance. I am Xi Chen. These few dream masters are Dan Ju, Wu Li and Song Cai... you all will get along in the future!"


    The Realm Alliance had invaded countless realms. To think that in this Ancient Realm, there would be a dream master in the 7th Tier of the Illusionary Divine stage and a few other 4th Tier Illusionary Divine dream masters showed the importance of this realm.


    Of course, there could be other dream masters in the Illusionary Divine stage. However, their statuses were too lowly and thus, they did not have the rights to join in this conversation.


    "Yes, Sir!"


    In front of his elder, Fang Yuan and the few other dream masters could only pay their greetings.


    "Fang Yuan, please describe what you previously said, but in more detail!"


    Fang Yuan started to mention the details regarding the Tortoise Mountain.


    "Based on what you have said, the Hidden Dragon Guards are plotting for something big here. We must be on our guards!"


    Elder Xi Chen appeared solemn. "Although our Sage has already gotten control of the people dao in this realm, he has mentioned before that the source of energy in this realm is extremely concentrated. There might even be changes in the future. If we can succeed, then this would be the best opportunity to explore and understand the heavenly dao!"


    "Yes, Sir!"


    The other dream masters agreed and Fang Yuan was lost in his own thoughts. ''Heavenly dao... could this be the path after attaining the Prominent Divine stage?''


    The means of cultivation in Da Qian was split into spiritual and martial arts. In terms of martial arts, martial artists would have to go through the 12th Golden Gates before obtaining elemental force as a Wu Zong. From there, they could further advance to form the 9th Meridian and form the Divine Body, thus entering the realm of True Divine.


    As for spiritual knights, cultivators would have to begin as a spiritual disciple before they would obtain elemental force as a spiritual knight. From then on, they could go on and attain the 9th Tier of the Elemental Opening Realm before reaching the realm of True Elemental!


    Dream masters were largely similar to spiritual knights. They would start off as dream disciples before they would obtain elemental force as a dream master. From there, they could achieve the 9th Tier of the Illusionary Divine stage, gain spirituality and finally reach the Prominent Divine stage!


    The only difference was that dream masters would have an unparalleled combat power. A 7th Tier Illusionary Divine dream master could go head on with a True Divine or a True Elemental. A dream master in the Prominent Divine stage would be even more powerful and would be regarded as a Sage. No one would be able to challenge the Sage except for the True Elementals and True Divines who obtained the blessing and strengthening from Da Qian Imperial Court!


    "Martial artists, Wu Zong, Meridian Opening, True Divine! Spiritual Disciple, spiritual knight, Elemental Opening, True Elemental! Dream disciple, dream master, Illusionary Divine, Prominent Divine!... Who would''ve guessed that there would be a path after the Prominent Divine stage? Is this related to the fate of this realm?"


    Fang Yuan was drowned in his thoughts.


    The few dream masters in the Illusionary Divine stage started to discuss among themselves. Unfortunately, they had too little information and in the end, there was no productive conclusion. They could only remain calm and compose themselves.


    Fang Yuan knew that as a newcomer, he should not speak too much. Therefore, for most of the discussion, he was silently listening to the exchanges at one side.


    "Alright! After all, the Xia Tribe has control over the fate of the people dao. As long as we do not do anything evil, with the presence of the 9 Cauldrons, we will remain safe!"


    Near the end, Xi Chen started to wrap things up. "At hand, we will have to settle two big issues. The problem of flooding and the survivors of Jiuli! Fang Yuan! You have done well to kill Wu Zhiqi. The alliance will reward you handsomely. You have completed your mission. If you decide to join in future missions, there will be more rewards!"


    Fang Yuan stood out and thanked Elder Chen Xi.


    "Also... It''s the Fiery Eyes that you have activated, right?"


    Looking at Fang Yuan''s eyes, Chen Xi smiled. "Let''s not talk about the rewards from the alliance. As the King of Xia Country, I want to present you with a gift!"


    "Buzz!"


    As soon as he finished speaking, a fiery-looking crystal floated towards Fang Yuan.


    "After my observations, I believe you have activated the bloodline of a Fire Witch. It seems that you want to improve your cultivation in witchcraft... This drop of blood essence was obtained when I killed a powerful witch. That witch is also a Fire Witch and was able to harness the power of Zhurong the Fire God. He was as powerful as a dream master in the 4th Tier of the Illusionary Divine stage. I shall give this to you!"


    "Thank you for your reward, Elder!"


    As soon as the crystal landed on his hands, Fang Yuan could feel a warm fuzzy feeling. It was as though flames were burning within the crystal and it looked special.


    Elated, Fang Yuan quickly thanked Chen Xi.


    "Alright, that is all. Everyone, please return!"


    Chen Xi waved his hands. "After settling the issue of the flood, the witches will rise once again. We need to be prepared to leave anytime to deal with them!"


    "Yes, Sir!"


    The Illusionary Divine dream masters obeyed the instructions.


    ...


    "He is indeed a powerful 7th Tier Illusionary Divine dream master to be so generous!"


    Fang Yuan strutted out of the palace, arrived at an empty spot and crossed his legs. He looked at the drop of blood essence in his hands and gave a look of satisfaction.


    As a person who has cultivated in fire-type witchcraft, Fang Yuan could tell that this drop of blood was indeed filled with the essence of a Fire Witch.


    Needless to say, since this body was not his own, he was not afraid that the Elder would do anything to him.


    With that thought, he opened his mouth and swallowed the drop of blood.


    "Rumble!"


    As he swallowed the drop of blood, Fang Yuan could feel as though there was a ball of fire in his stomach.


    "Fire!"


    He forcefully focused himself in absorbing the drop of blood. Thinking about the fire-type inscriptions on the oracle bones, he recalled a technique to transfer the energy to his entire body.


    A burning sensation started to spread from his stomach to his limbs.


    "This is indeed a blood from a Fire Witch!"


    Fang Yuan could feel that he was being replenished.


    He could see a red glow within him, seeping through his bones, blood and muscles. Part of it rose upwards and gathered in his eyes.


    "Stats!"


    After a while, as he fully absorbed the essence of the blood, Fang Yuan felt his eyes and exclaimed:


    "Name: Fang Yuan


    Essence: 48


    Spirit: 48


    Magic: 60


    Profession: Dream Soldier Master


    Cultivation: Illusionary Divine (4th Tier), Wu Zong (5th Meridian)


    Technique: [Giant Eagle Metal Body Technique (Grade 6) (1%)], [Hundred Poison Golden Body (1st Refining)], [8 Gates Sword Array (5th Sword) (1%)]


    Skill: [Medicine (Level 3)], [Botany (Level 5)], [Fiery Eyes (Level 2)], [Fire Controlling Technique (Level 1)]"


    "Fiery Eyes (Level 2): The increased ability from the activated bloodline of a Fire Witch. It is able to nullify fire-type elemental energy and traps. Currently at Level 2!"


    "Fire Controlling Technique (Level 1): An activated ability from the bloodline of a Fire Witch, granting you the basic ability to control fire!"


    ...


    "The cultivation of witchcraft is simply the activation of the witch''s bloodline. It can produce a natural magical ability! Controlling fire..."


    Fang Yuan snapped his fingers. With that, a small flame appeared above his right hand. It was greenish-yellow and flickering, giving out light and warmth.


    "This skill is rather useless now... To quickly increase my cultivation, I''m afraid that I have to gather the blood essences of the witches?"


    Thinking about it, Fang Yuan let out a bitter laugh. "In this realm, the people with the most concentrated witch bloodline are the people of Jiuli Division. Elder Chen Xi has really planned it well!"


    "Of course, I am not a native to this realm. I will not hesitate to kill the people of Jiuli Division to take their blood... This is logical thinking..."


    Fang Yuan''s eyes glistened.


    This was an era before the Qin Dynasty. All the stories which he once heard made him think.


    "What I want the most is the secret as to how this world changes!"


    Why would such a normal realm develop such an ancient vibe? Why are most of the folklore and stories here similar to that of his own world?


    Could this be an effect of the influence of a certain cultivation?


    Or could this be a result of the doing of someone from a higher dimension?


    If any of this was the cause, and if Fang Yuan was able to find out about it, this meant that he would be able to travel to their dimension and world, right?


    As Fang Yuan licked his lips, he had come to a conclusion.

 354 Black Water

    North Sea, Secluded Capital Mountain. It was now known as Fang Mountain.


    "Lord, Fang Mountain and its surrounding 35 miles of land are all under your control!"


    An elderly man kneeled before Fang Yuan and reported respectfully.


    "Oh? Then tell me, how much wealth do I have here?"


    Fang Yuan fiddled with a black steel dagger as he asked nonchalantly.


    Wei stood beside Fang Yuan with a steel spear on her hand. She was now donned in cloth. Behind her, there were hundred over slaves.


    Although they were slaves, they were specially chosen by Fang Yuan from prisoners of war from each division. They were well built and skilled in fighting; with just some slight training, they would be extremely useful.


    They were able to purchase all these thanks to King Xi''s rewards.


    After Fang Yuan was granted the title of Lord, King Xi rewarded them with riches. Even these slaves had to be approved by the higher authorities or else they could not be easily amassed.


    The nobles in Xia Country felt King Xi treated this outsider extremely well.


    In actual fact, this was very normal. Furthermore, Fang Yuan had received instructions from Xi to build an army to prepare to fight with the survivors of Jiuli in the mountain ranges in the southern area.


    To this Realm Alliance''s Elder, Fang Yuan, who was a dream master from the Realm Alliance too, was his real ally.


    Since that was the case, what else could be said?


    "Reporting, my Lord!"


    The elderly man quivered as he felt pressured. His voice trembled as he reported, "Near this mountain, we have three small divisions with a total population of 10,000. There are 2,500 acres of farmland and over 1,000 soldiers that can be trained!"


    Realistically, everyone was a soldier. If not for agriculture needs, 3,000 to 4,000 soldiers could be trained, however, that was unnecessary.


    "2,500 acres of farmland? That seems like a very low yield... at least its supplemented by hunting..." Fang Yuan thought to himself.


    Fang Yuan stroked his chin and ordered, "Bring over the leaders of the three divisions to accept my authority as their head. Order them to offer me prey and fresh flowers as a symbol of submission! If they don''t agree, I will enslave their whole division!"


    "Yes, Lord! Your orders will definitely be fulfilled!"


    The elderly man clenched his teeth and answered.


    "Yuan... this entire mountain and its surrounding areas are all ours?"


    Wei was excited at such a sight and her face turned red. She continued, "Such a big piece of land granted to us! We can even relocate the entire Xiangyang Tribe here..."


    "Relocating a tribe is not so easy! Of course, if the tribe here does not surrender to me, I guess I will have to do that!"


    Fang Yuan intentionally said that out loud such that word would spread which would put pressure on the three divisions.


    Fang Yuan walked a few rounds and chose a spot beside a small river on the flat ground, he then said, "We shall camp here tonight, also... prepare to determine a few plots of land for us to lay foundations to build rows of wooden houses! Oh, right... we have to make some bricks! We can''t always rely on straw huts!"


    Fang Yuan felt it was very novel as it was as though he was playing some sort of primitive civilisation game.


    Not before long, the elderly man brought three men over.


    "My dear Lord, we are the division leaders of White Mountain, Black Water and Xuan Du, here to pledge our loyalty!"


    The three uncivilised looking division leaders brought along animal hides, fresh flowers and other gifts to display their sincerity.


    "Hmm, as your Lord, from today onwards, all items that you hand over to Xia Country will be collected by me... Also, I want each of you all to bring over 300 men from your division to be placed under my command!"


    As told by Xi, there was an upheaval in southern Jiuli. Hence, Fang Yuan had to quickly build up an army in order to suppress them.


    "This..."


    In one division, there were only a few thousand people, 300 men would be one-tenth of its population. Furthermore, they had to be strong men, thus, the three division leaders were naturally hesitant.


    "Rest assured, under my military training, food and weapons will be provided by me!"


    Fang Yuan waved his hands.


    "Since that''s the case, we will be willing!"


    As that was the new Lord''s first command, the three division leaders could only clench their teeth and accept it.


    "Very good... follow me and survey this Fang Mountain!"


    Fang Yuan nodded his head and walked towards the mountain, "What are the specialities that could be found near here? Or are there any dangers around here?"


    "Of course there is!"


    One of the division leaders replied, "Inside the Secluded Capital Mountain, there are all sorts of black coloured feline beasts, they are extremely strong and vicious! They always attack our divisions and devour our people!"


    "Black coloured... beasts?"


    Fang Yuan thought about it after he heard what the division leader said.


    As the group of them continued, they arrived at the periphery of one of the divisions.


    There was a large plot of farmland which was enclosed by a fence. Inside it was some small beasts. Evidently, they were influenced by Xia Country and the people in this division learnt how to rear animals too.


    "Lord, this is White Mountain Division!" One of the division leaders stepped out and proudly exclaimed.


    "Leader!"


    Suddenly, a young hunter ran out from the forests. His body was stained with blood and he exclaimed, "We encountered a black leopard! It chased after us and ate many of our people!"


    "What? Quickly prepare to guard against it!"


    The division leader was appalled and grabbed his weapon tightly. He then looked towards Fang Yuan.


    "A black leopard, interesting! I will take a look!"


    Fang Yuan nodded his head and pointed at the hunter, "Follow me!"


    "No!"


    Although the young hunter was a warrior in this division, he was panic-stricken and flustered, "Don''t go! It will kill you!"


    "Huuuu!"


    Suddenly, the bush rustled and a gigantic black shadow emerged from it.


    It was a giant leopard that was twice the height of a human. Its pure black fur radiated with a mysterious glow under the sunlight and its mouth was dripping with blood. As it saw the White Mountain Division, a greedy look could be seen in his eyes.


    "Gather the tribe! We will fight this beast!"


    The division leader of White Mountain clenched his teeth and shouted, "We can''t let it enter our division!"


    "Let me settle it!"


    Fang Yuan calmly took a few steps and appeared in front of the black leopard, "Scram, kitty!"


    "Woosh!"


    Fang Yuan''s hand glowed with a dark light and the black leopard was stunned at once. Moments later, its huge head fell off and blood gushed out.


    "This... this..."


    The three division leaders were astonished.


    For them, such a ferocious beast had to be trapped by all the warriors in their divisions before it could even be killed. Also, they would have suffered tremendous losses during the process. But now, the new Lord had easily sliced off its head with a wave of his arm.


    Such powerful martial art skills made them speechless.


    "Haha... speechless right? Yuan is the number one warrior who killed the powerful demon Wu Zhiqi, this black leopard is no match for him!"


    Wei laughed and looked at Fang Yuan proudly.


    "Lord!"


    Moments later, the three division leaders were fully convinced and paid their respects to Fang Yuan.


    "Eh, distribute its meat amongst the people in the division!"


    As Fang Yuan looked at the black leopard''s carcass, an idea appeared in his mind, "I want to enter the mountain to take a look!"


    The three division leaders wanted to warn Fang Yuan against it as the mountain was very dangerous, but as they thought of Fang Yuan''s powerful martial arts skills, they did not say anything.


    ...


    Inside Fang Mountain.


    Fang Yuan swept some vines out of the way and asked, "Other than black beasts, what else is inside this mountain?"


    "There''s black water that runs through the cracks of the ground which corrodes the earth! Wherever it passes through, nothing would grow!"


    The leader of Black Water Division answered.


    "Eh? Bring me there!"


    As they arrived at a location with mudcracks, indeed, within the low-lying grounds, black water could be seen flowing through it. It was as though the black water seeped out from deep within the earth and it was extremely eerie.


    "Ok, let''s go back!"


    After witnessing it for himself, Fang Yuan did not stay any longer and went back immediately.


    Only Wei who was nearest to Fang Yuan could hear him repeatedly mumbling to himself, "It is recorded in : Within the North Sea, there is a mountain named Secluded Capital Mountain. There were black water, mysterious birds, mysterious snakes, mysterious leopards, mysterious tigers, mysterious foxes."


    "Yuan, what are you saying?"


    Wei was confused at what he was saying and asked him.


    "Nothing much... Black Water Division leader!"


    Fang Yuan laughed and continued, "From now on, the offerings from your division shall just be this black water! It shouldn''t be a difficult task to collect it, right?"


    "It''s not difficult, of course it''s not difficult!"


    The division leader was stunned for a moment before he quickly replied.


    "This black water looks so dirty, what do you need it for?"


    Wei was bewildered at such and asked Fang Yuan after the three division leaders left.


    "I''m preparing... to make weapons out of it!"


    Fang Yuan smiled sinisterly, "If there were no witches here, this Secluded Capital, which is the Fang Mountain now, might even be the foundation of an empire!"


    Fang Yuan had already confirmed that this black water was in actual fact, crude oil!


    Of course, without an industrial system, it was useless even if they had a huge oil field. However, there were no problems utilising it for basic uses.


    Regarding this aspect, Fang Yuan was not hesitant to follow in the footsteps of people in the past, for example... the Byzantine people!


    Wei was even more confused as he listened to Fang Yuan.


    "Gather some brass, wooden tubes and craftsmen over! I will tell them how to manufacture Greek fire!" Fang Yuan instructed.


    Not bad!


    This time around, he wanted to produce Greek fire.


    Greek fire was a type of incendiary liquid made out of crude oil, it was also known as liquid fire as it could spit fire. Most importantly, it could not be extinguished by water!


    "Although there are still some problems in producing the Greek fire, with the divine techniques in this realm and the Fire Controlling Technique I possess, these problems can be solved... In actual fact, if I was in any other mundane realm, such a power would allow me to rise up. Nevertheless, now that I can allow normal people in this realm to control flames, it would be a killer move during battles! By utilising it well, it can definitely bring us victory!" Fang Yuan pondered.


    The Greek fire was not useful to Fang Yuan, however, it was extremely useful for the normal people under him.


    Although it was a primitive incendiary weapon, it was already extremely powerful in wars in this early Qin dynasty time period.


    Furthermore, not every person in Jiuli Division possessed divine techniques, there were many normal people amongst them too. Thus, such a weapon would be put to great use against them.

 355 Jiuli Division

    There were many mountains in the South.


    In the lush and sprawling primitive forests, there were numerous ancient and towering trees that formed a canopy which blocked out the sun. Colourful clouds enveloped the area too which was a beautiful sight to behold. However, it was actually a dangerous trap in disguise as they were actually poisonous miasma.


    In such a harsh environment, even the people in the realm would find it hard to survive here. There was little life and even Xia could not exert his influence here.


    At this point in time, in a huge mountain.


    "Revenge! Revenge! Revenge!"


    Rows of people from the Jiuli Tribe gathered. Their eyes were burning with passion and their skin was tanned. The average tribe member here was about 8 feet tall and they were all like mini giants. They smeared colourful paint on their faces and shouted as they waved their weapons in the air.


    In the centre, there was a huge platform surrounded by 4 red vibrant flags. The flag of their Army Leader, Chi, was flying in the air as though he was alive and roaring in the wind.


    Flames were burning everywhere, leaving charred marks on the ground.


    On the platform, two of the strongest witches were engaging in a deathmatch.


    "Dong! Dong!"


    One of them had ferocious eyes and wielded an axe in one hand and a shield in another. Every time their weapons met, a dull sound could be heard which shook the entire place.


    "Bang!"


    In another clash, the giant axe mercilessly shattered the bronze hammer the opponent was wielding. Not long after, his opponent was sliced in half.


    "Splatter!"


    Fresh blood spewed everywhere from the platform and started to glow brilliantly. Suddenly, it started to flow together, forming the shape of what seemed to be a snake. Finally, it slithered to the winner and imprinted inscriptions on his body.


    "Roar! Roar!"


    The witch roared loudly as the surrounding warriors knelt down, showing their submission.


    "I am... Xing!!! I have already defeated 80 warriors from all the different tribes! From today onwards, I shall be the leader of Jiuli Division. Are there any objections?"


    "Xing!"


    "Xing!"


    "Xing!"


    Many warriors of Jiuli Division started to chant Xing''s name. "You are our leader. You shall lead us to get our revenge with Xia Tribe!"


    Beneath the platform, there were a few priests clad in colourful robes. They exchanged glances and nodded their heads as well.


    "Xing, you have passed through the ceremony to take over the leadership of the division. From today, Xing will be the leader of all of us here in Jiuli Division!"


    Secretly, a few other priests were satisfied too. ''Through the ceremony, Xing''s body has gathered the purest bloodline from the entire Jiuli Division. He is at the peak of forming the Ultimate Witch Body and might even attract the soul of Army Leader Chi!''


    ''The Xia Tribe is merciless and have pushed us to our limits, forcing us to live in the mountains. Every year, countless of our people would die to the poisons and the ferocious beasts from the area. We need to avenge them!''


    ''We have 50,000 warriors in the division. We have also mined for minerals in the quarries and smelted weapons. Under the leadership of our new leader, we will surely succeed!''


    As everyone was satisfied with their new leader, the atmosphere was energetic.


    Amidst the fiery flames around, the flag of Army Leader Chi quickly caught fire. Black smoke filled the air, which seemed to form a ferocious looking face which was looking downwards...


    ...


    "Is it true that Army Leader Chi''s soul is still around?"


    Somewhere far, on the top of a hill, the onlooking Hidden Dragon Guard in the form of a 3 Eyed Monkey started to shiver in fear.


    As the illusionary shadow of the face appeared for a brief moment, it was as though a strong magical will was felt, causing the demonic force in him to feel unstable.


    "He is indeed the mighty Army Leader Chi, who was worthy to fight against the Sage before he had achieved the Prominent Divine stage!"


    The 3 Eyed Monkey mumbled to itself as it started to kneel beneath a tree. "Head! Look..."


    "Whoosh!"


    The tree had many branches and leaves. As it shook, a pair of eyes appeared on one of its branches. A slit appeared beneath, which revealed wooden teeth. The tree instantly took the form of a human face.


    Seeing this scene, it sighed. "This is not only his soul but the fate energy of his tribe as well!"


    "Fate energy?"


    The 3 Eyed Monkey looked confused. "He was defeated and his tribe was forced to suffer. What fate energy is there to talk about?"


    "After all, this world revolves around the people dao..."


    The face on the tree started to smile mysteriously. "Even against a Sage, these people would still have a chance of survival and would not be wiped out... Now that they are ready to strike back, this must be the doing of the heavens!"


    The 3 Eyed Monkey seemed to have understood something.


    Suddenly, it could also feel a mysterious but fleeting strong force blessing and strengthening the people of Jiuli Division.


    "The Sage is, after all, an outsider. He is ultimately no match for the entire realm, especially against such a realm with a concentrated energy source!"


    The face on the tree smiled once more. "Let''s follow the will of the heavens. You shall pay Xing a visit to represent the demons in forming an alliance with them. From there, you will be protected by his fate energy!"


    "King Xia is the leader of all alliances. Do you think they do not hate him? As long as the Jiuli Division is ready to strike, they will be able to do so with the assistance of the water demons. From there, we will have a chance to kill him!"


    "After such a long planning, we only have a chance?"


    The 3 Eyed Monkey agreed and appeared a little helpless.


    "It''s rather good to have a fifty-fifty chance. After all, this is the realm designed by the Sage! It will still be dependent on the restrictions imposed by Da Qian. The Realm Alliance would not be so crazy as to bring it a lot of reinforcements..."


    The face on the tree calmly spoke. "However... Even if we lose, it will not matter. Head''s plan is much more than you can imagine..."


    "Whoosh!"


    As soon as the tree finished speaking, it shut its eyes and reverted back to a plain-looking tree, and had no more spiritual aura.


    "That''s true too. Our leader already has many unbelievable plans, so I should expect even more from the Head!"


    The 3 Eyed Monkey was lost in its thoughts. After a while, it started climbing and made its way to Jiuli Division.


    "Who''s there?"


    Two witch guards shouted as water-type and fire type runes appeared on their bodies. They mustered their magical energy and seemed as though they were going for the kill.


    "I am a messenger from the demons!"


    The 3 Eyed Monkey took in a deep breath and shouted. "I bring with me the goodwill of the demons and the latest news regarding Xia Country!"


    ...


    Fang Mountain.


    Many wooden houses were built on what was once an empty plot of land. In the middle of the buildings, there was a majestic mansion, which was Fang Yuan''s intention. It stood out among the other buildings.


    In this era, he had no intention to be on an equal standing with the rest. As the lord of this place, he had the responsibility to protect his people. However, having the influence meant that he could enjoy everything that was on his piece of land, and he would be stupid if he had harboured thoughts of being equal with the rest.


    In his newly-built city, the most eye-catching architecture was not Fang Yuan''s mansion, but a majestic looking altar in the centre of everything.


    "We can make use of the people in these divisions, but we cannot rely on them... Most importantly, we have to strengthen ourselves!"


    Fang Yuan brought Wei along with him as he patrolled in the vicinity.


    "Firstly... we need to impose a hierarchy on the 100 slaves that were brought here. Their rights would be dependent on their ranks. As long as they work hard and show their contribution, they would be promoted from being slaves to being civilians, and might even be rewarded with women!"


    As he casually spoke, he paid no attention to Wei, who was beside him. In this era, everything which he just said was perfectly normal.


    "If there are a hundred slaves, we will need a hundred women..."


    Indeed, Wei did not get angry. Instead, she thought of other considerations. "This means that we will need to get a lot of resources!"


    "Don''t worry about it... What I want to buy most are children!"


    Fang Yuan smiled.


    "Children?"


    Wei was a little confused. Old people, children and weak women were the people that would most likely die in this era. Therefore, people did not give any importance to them.


    "That''s right. As a single person, the lord of this place, our power is too weak! Too weak!! Therefore, it is hard to stand firm here. Your previous recommendation to shift the entire Shangyang Tribe is impractical. Therefore, I want to buy children slaves and teach them to be loyal from a young age!"


    Actually, it was practical to shift the entire tribe to his new piece of land. However, there were leaders and elders there. If they were to shift here, who would be the one making the decisions?


    Fang Yuan would rather start anew and preferred not to be controlled by others.


    "Once we have our own armed forces and base, we can form an organisation and slowly take over the 3 neighbouring divisions, allowing them to join our division... Although this might seem hard and impossible to be accomplished within a single generation, after many generations and reproduction, we will be able to form a new division in Fang Mountain. By then, we might be able to form a country..."


    "Form a country? On a scale as large as the Xia Country?"


    Wei''s eyes glistened with excitement.


    "Mmm, as large as Xia Country!"


    Fang Yuan nodded his head, "A unified division must have a unified mindset and culture. Therefore, I have constructed this altar, making this the religion of our division. We will have to build schools in the future. Anyone from anywhere will be allowed to come here to learn from the priests and warriors."


    "What do we have to pray to?"


    Wei examined the altar.


    The altar was constructed from soil and was 30 feet wide and 10 feet tall. Considering the ability of the people in this era, this was an impressive feat.


    "We should not pray to evil ghosts, and we shall not pray to the mountains and rivers. These are too small and unworthy for our division to pray to..."


    As a person from a different realm, Fang Yuan could speak with confidence. "We shall pray to the heavens and the earth, that will be enough!"


    The heavens were above and the earth was below. The people dao was between both entities.


    "Lord!"


    At this point in time, an old man in a priest outfit came forward. "Everything is ready!"


    "Mmm, let''s commence the session!"


    Fang Yuan nodded his head. The priests started to light fire torches and performed a mysterious-looking dance.


    These few priests were actually new members of the tribe. Based on his current influence, he was still unable to convince priests to join him. This old man was similarly bought from the slave market.


    Although he had invaded a division and enslaved everyone, the priests and leaders were treated differently.


    They were old people and would be killed.


    However, this old man had concealed himself. Furthermore, he was not a real priest but merely at the disciple level. Therefore, he had escaped death, but not Fang Yuan''s eyes.


    After buying him, Fang Yuan forced him into submission and turned him into his puppet.


    As the leader of a place, how could Fang Yuan not have control over the religious aspect of the divisions?

 356 Hule Division

    "Bow!"


    In front of the altar, Fang Yuan led Wei and the other slaves to pray.


    The deities they prayed to were faceless and there was no need for idols or statues.


    Fang Yuan''s actions were systematic and well rehearsed, but his mind was going wild.


    "Huff!"


    A flash of fire flew up into the skies, and there was a gentle breeze.


    This was the precise time when the afternoon light gave way to dusk. Just as the ceremony ended, Fang Yuan squinted towards the south and was slightly moved.


    ''It seems like something has changed!"


    "Yuan, look!"


    Wei tugged at his wrist and shook it.


    "The sky¡­"


    "Hmm?"


    Fang Yuan raised his head and saw a clump of red clouds. They looked like a fantasy and were beautiful. It seemed as though they were about to fall.


    "The heavens have acknowledged our offerings!"


    The master of ceremonies'' face was flushed, and he roared.


    "This is our tribe''s honour!"


    "Many thanks to the heavens and earth!"


    Everyone bowed once more, especially the leaders and warriors from the other tribes. Their faces of disbelief showed that they had also been awed by the sight.


    "No way!"


    Seeing the amazement and joy in their eyes, Fang Yuan was speechless.


    ''It was all supposed to be an act...how did it become real? No! Impossible. If I had ten thousand people and led them in praying to the heavens and earth, it might have been more believable. But this is child''s play, how could it be real?"


    "Unless, there are other forces at work...a great shift in the south?"


    Fang Yuan rubbed his chin, and pointed at the master of ceremonies.


    "This is a sign from the heavens. I order you to divine the fortunes!"


    "Yes my lord!"


    The old man dropped his exaggerated gestures and conducted the proceedings with a greater degree of seriousness. He threw some tortoise shells into the fire and began to chant.


    The heaven was circular and the earth was square. The hump of the tortoise shell represented the skies, and its flat abdomen represented the land. Thus, it was a sacred object that could connect heaven and earth, and was used for divination.


    When the fire was down to its last embers, the master of ceremonies picked out the tortoise shell and read the patterns on it.


    "My lord, lord of the tribes!"


    The old man prostrated himself before Fang Yuan.


    "According to the heavens, there will be a calamity in the south! We, on the other hand, will prosper!"


    ''Shit!''


    Fang Yuan widened his eyes.


    "Great! You have become the official master of ceremonies?"


    "Yes, my great lord!"


    The old man remained on the floor, his forehead to the ground. His eyes were full of tears.


    "While I prayed to the heavens and earth, I felt an overwhelming radiance emanating from above, and acquired the powers of our forefathers...the all-knowing ones told me that you are our destined leader, and will lead us towards a golden age!"


    "Yuan!"


    "Yuan!"


    "Yuan!"


    All the slaves and warriors which even included the White Mountain, Black Water and Xuan Du tribesmen were cheering.


    Amidst these developments, the leaders of the three tribes had terrible looks on their faces. But they managed to squeeze out smiles.


    "Great Leader Yuan, we will pledge our allegiance to you. The three hundred warriors that you required will be sent to you shortly!"


    "Alright!"


    Fang Yuan agreed but he was slightly troubled.


    ''What does this mean? A pretender that became legitimate?''


    ¡­...


    After the successful ritual, the people were once again in awe of the heavens, and this would lead Fang Yuan''s reign to stability.


    The different tribes sent three hundred men each as promised on the second day. From this pool, one thousand men were chosen to undergo military training.


    The impending military threat pressured everyone to work hard, and barbarians came from all over to join in the war effort. Thus, Fang Mountain became a hive of activity.


    Fang Yuan only played a supervisory role. Micromanaging was not his style. He tasked the young lady Wei to run the show.


    After all, running this little fief was but a game to him. It did not provide him with much real power.


    As time passed, news from the south came in a never-ending stream.


    "The Jiuli Division has raised an army of fifty thousand with Xing at its fore. They destroyed the Zhuri Division in 3 days?"


    "The Xia borders are not stable. The Kuayi Division to the west, Sangjie Division to the east, and the Hule Division to the north have all revolted?"


    "The demonic tribes have all risen, and are definitely major threats. However, are they only targeting the Xia?"


    ¡­...


    Fang Yuan picked some blueberries and put them into his mouth. When he bit down, he tasted both sweet and sour. It was a delicious mixture of pulp and juice.


    "Everything is going wrong!"


    If the other territories had to deal with these external troubles, in addition to their internal conflicts, they would most certainly be torn apart.


    But to Xia, it was but a tiny problem, as long as the Hidden Dragon Guards stayed out of it.


    "Yuan! You''re still in the mood to eat!"


    Wei stomped in.


    "As one of the Xia lords, you will definitely be summoned when war breaks out!"


    "Yeah!"


    Fang Yuan picked up a string of red berries.


    "How''s the training going along for our soldiers? Also...is the Greek fire ready?"


    "Yes sir, everything is going according to your plan. One section will consist of five men. There will be a five-troop commander and ten-troop commander, who will be nominated by the soldiers. They will report to their ten hundred-troop commanders, who will in turn answer to us directly, all with different responsibilities¡­...and the Greek fire has already been tested. It can burn on water and it is extremely difficult to put it out. We need to train a team of one hundred to specialise in utilising this weapon!"


    It was apparent that Wei was looking forward to trying it out.


    "My lord! The Xia envoy is here!"


    An attendant led the envoy in. The envoy was dressed in black, and appeared to be quite agitated. As soon as he saw Fang Yuan, he presented the bone tablet in his hand to him. Fang Yuan read it.


    "Ah...so King Xi has ordered me to mobilise the troops and rendezvous with the northern army. We must defeat the Hule Division and send reinforcements to Yang City! Of course...I will be the commander-in-chief!"


    In truth, the message included one strand of spiritual will from the dream masters, who had given him more information and missions.


    "Although the one thousand soldiers we have are fresh out of training, we have no time left. Order them to form up, and prepare to march off!"


    Wei raised his hands and shouted.


    "Mmm, I''ll go too! Me too!"


    "Alright, you shall go, but only as far as the Hule Division. Don''t go to Yang City!"


    Fang Yuan nodded his head and made his decision.


    ¡­...


    North of Xia.


    The land was vast and flat for as far as the eye could see.


    On the great plains, a tribe of about a hundred thousand was moving south.


    "We, the Hule Division, were once an ally of the Xia. And yet after peace had returned to the Nine Regions, we were only given the poor lands of the northern plains for our trouble!"


    "Crops cannot be cultivated here, and many of us die every winter from the cold! This is all the fault of the Xia!"


    "That''s right, this is why we are moving to the south, to take everything from them!"


    ¡­...


    "Hehe, Great Leader Mu. Look, your people are facing the south!"


    At the front of the herd, a man in black robes gave a deep laugh. His eyes stood out from his cowl like two greenish flames.


    "Don''t worry. Since we, the Hule Division, have agreed to the Alliance, we would not renege on our promise!"


    Mu, the leader of the Hule Division, looked to be in his forties. His sideburns were slightly grey, but his complexion was a healthy pink.


    "Rest assured Leader Mu. If you settle your part of the deal, the lands to the north of Yang City will all be yours!"


    The man in black robes was overjoyed.


    Immediately after, Mu waved his hand and rushed forward on his steed. Another steed caught up with his, with an old man mounted on it.


    "Mu...I''ve never doubted your decisions. But moving the whole division to the south and challenging the Xia people...it''s too risky!"


    "Our shaman has consulted the heavens and received blessings¡­what is there to worry about?"


    Having said that, Mu smiled wolfishly.


    "I know, whether it is the Jiuli, Xia, Sangjie or other tribes, they are all our enemies...hehe...they can give us all the lands north of Yang City, but we don''t need that! We, the Hule people, were raised on horseback. The grasslands are ours!"


    As an ambitious leader, he was aware of the great cultural disparity, and had no intent to submit to Xia rule. All he wanted was to maintain the status quo, to protect something very precious.


    "Then why are we still moving south?"


    The old man did not understand.


    "How do the hunters of the grasslands hunt? They move forward relentlessly and force their prey to spend all of their energy on surviving. And when that happens, they will sweep up their prey effortlessly. This is our strategy!"


    Mu bit off the cover of the leather pouch in his hand and gulped down the wine.


    "We have to pillage all we can during our time in the south so that we can make it through winter on the grasslands. If we do succeed in weakening Xia this time, then we will harass them every year. One day, I want the King of Xia to acknowledge my status as Lord of the plains!"


    There was something else too, but he kept it in his heart.


    Once the Hule had consolidated its power, and when the Xia had fallen into a war on multiple fronts, they would be able to build a nation. The Hule might even assimilate the culture of the central plains and lord over them!"


    Although it might take a long time for Mu to achieve his dreams, he had the determination of the wolf!


    "Alright!"


    The old man sighed.


    "I thought you had been taken in by that envoy, but it seems like you are still our greatest leader! Don''t worry, your generals and the shaman are behind you!"


    "Excellent!"


    Mu was overcome with happiness.


    "I, Mu, hereby vow that I will lead our people towards a brighter future!"


    Or even become the Lord of the Nine Regions!"


    Mu steeled himself.

 357 Preparing for War

    On the plains, the two armies of Da Xia joined forces.


    "As appointed by King Xi, I am Yuan, the commander-in-chief of the northern warzones!"


    Fang Yuan raised the oracle and announced pretentiously.


    "I am the leader of the northern army, Tong! I pledge my loyalty to you, Lord Yuan!"


    A valiant looking man along with 1,500 of his men bowed and paid respects to Fang Yuan.


    "We were ambushed by Hule Division previously! This is all we have left!"


    In reality, the reason the two groups could merge seamlessly and why Fang Yuan could quickly hold authority over them was because Tong was also a dream master from the Realm Alliance!


    Of course, Tong was of a much lower tier compared to Fang Yuan. He just entered the Illusionary Divine stage and was just defeated in a battle, hence, he was submissive to Fang Yuan.


    "There''s only so few people in the entire northern army?"


    Fang Yuan furrowed his eyebrows.


    Secretly, he sent a message to Tong, "Within Hule Division, are there any powerful person?"


    "Lord, in the entire Hule Division, not including the other tribe members, there are already ten thousands of archers... Of course, to us, these normal people are no match for us. However, their shamans are pretty powerful, there are powerful demons helping them!"


    Tong sounded like he was trying to please Fang Yuan and continued, "Looks like we have to activate the whole army and send our best people in order to suppress these rebels!"


    "No need! Pass down my command, we will be deploying to the frontline immediately... No! Wait! Prepare our defences first!"


    "You are saying?"


    Tong was shocked, "The people of Hule Division are so daring that they dare to charge into our land?"


    "Furthermore, other than that, your men have already lost their willpower to fight! Let''s retreat and reconsolidate them!"


    Just after Fang Yuan sent his command and the 1,000 soldiers finished arranging themselves, a black line appeared on the horizon. There were thousands of cavalry soldiers shouting and charging towards them.


    "D*mn it! Another attack!"


    Tong clenched his teeth at such a sight.


    Obviously, Tong''s badly defeated army would be conquered by this thousand plus strong cavalry.


    Even the army trained by Fang Yuan was in a commotion after they saw this huge group of cavalry charging towards them.


    "In ancient times, cavalries were unstoppable in the battlefield... Of course, currently, these people could not really be called cavalries, they were at most infanteers that rode horses!"


    Fang Yuan easily recognised the difference with just a quick glance.


    Saddles, horseshoes and such were still not invented yet. Their horse riding skills were extremely barbaric as they solely relied on the strength of their thighs. Those who were able to shoot arrows on top of the horses were the elite warriors amongst them.


    Amongst this 1,000 plus men, there were at most 50 of such skilled warriors!


    "Furthermore... they were not armoured! Even the horses were not armoured at all!"


    Fang Yuan was very clear, if such cavalry dared to charge into the battlefield, once they hit against something, they would be smashed like eggshells! Hence, he was not bothered by them and hollered, "Prepare for war!"


    "Defend!"


    Wei commanded loudly.


    "Defend!"


    The Fang Mountain army was very disciplined. As the new soldiers saw the five-trooped commanders and ten-trooped commander were still calm and collected, the commotion quickly died down and they held their weapons tightly.


    Indeed, when the 1,000 men strong cavalry saw the opposing army remained at their location, they stopped miles away from them. They then came down from their horses and began preparing their weapons for war.


    Although the two sides were equally numbered, the cavalry rode on horses on their journey here, hence, they were still energetic. Naturally, they seemed like they could easily achieve victory.


    Not only that, one group of hundred over cavalry soldiers left their big group and charged towards the rows of soldiers commanded by Fang Yuan.


    "Woosh!"


    The ten few people that led the pack shot numerous arrows towards the northern army.


    More than ten long arrows flew towards Fang Yuan''s army and hit a few of his soldiers. They immediately collapsed onto the floor and screamed in pain.


    "There are only ten over horse archers? They must be the elites amongst the enemies'' cavalry!"


    Fang Yuan snorted and picked up his own large bow.


    His bow was brought from Yang City. The body of the bow was very long and had a lustrous shine to it. The head of the arrow was crafted from steel while its tail was made from the tail feathers of geese. It was far more mightier looking than the bows used by the opponents!


    As the horses galloped, the noise of the arrows shuffling was deafening!


    The sound of the bowstring vibrating continuously was like that of a thunder! The cavalry soldiers on the opposite side fell off their horses one by one! Each shot of the arrow was extremely accurate!


    After nine cavalry soldiers were shot dead, the cavalry shouted and dispersed as they returned back to their large group at the back.


    "Lord, your archery is impeccable!"


    As Tong watched, he clapped his hands and praised, "We have killed at least a few of their men!"


    "No need for useless talk, fight!"


    Fang Yuan raised his long sword and commanded, "Also, you, bring those warriors who are still brave enough to the frontline to fight!"


    No matter how inexperienced Tong was, he was still a dream master. He could still defeat hundreds to thousands of enemies in a normal army.


    "Yes, my Lord!"


    Tong roared as he raised his weapons and charged towards the frontline with a group of soldiers.


    "Kill them all!"


    The two groups of armies got closer and closer. Suddenly, howls of agony could be heard from the opposite side.


    "Clop! Clop!"


    Dust flew everywhere as the horses trampled the earth.


    Hundreds of horses were freed from their halters. After they were viciously whipped, the leading horse led the herd of horses towards the northern army. Their strength was unstoppable, it was like a mighty flood!


    "Great!"


    Fang Yuan could not help but to clap his hands at such a sight.


    The horses were no longer protected and most of their cavalry soldiers were either severely injured or had died. By using the horses as a direct formation that charged towards them, once such a formation was defeated, Fang Yuan''s army would immediately emerge victorious!


    Such a formation was similar to military tactics recorded in history, particularly Tian Dan''s Fire Cattle Columns and South Asia''s elephant cavalry!


    "Sadly... their attempt was pathetic!"


    Fang Yuan waved his arms and instructed, "Bring on the fire-spitting soldiers!"


    "Yes, my Lord!"


    100 soldiers carrying wooden tubes came forward and as they pressed the trigger, large amounts of flames were spat out.


    Greek fire! Liquid fire! The hidden weapon of the ancient Byzantine people was displayed for the first time in this realm!


    "Swooosh! Swwwooosshh!"


    The horses neighed and scattered away messily.


    The glow of the fire, the loud noises and the burning flames made the horses uncomfortable and panicky.


    Furthermore, these ancient horses were not as mature as horses used in wars in the future. They were not tamed and were easily disturbed, they could not remain calm in all sorts of situations.


    As the horses were terrified, not a single horse dared to continue charging towards the flames. Most of them fled away to the sides and some even galloped back directly towards the front of Hule Division''s army.


    "Kill them all!"


    The people of Hule Division were not stupid, they immediately commanded their soldiers to utilise all their weapons.


    Bows, arrows, copper swords, dagger-axes, et cetera... they wielded all sorts of weapons as they commanded their horses.


    However, the horses had already lost their sanity after being scared by the flames. They charged forward crazily with great momentum and inertia, wreaking havoc all over the battlefield. Blood and flesh splattered everywhere, it could not even be discerned whether they were from humans or horses.


    "Charge!"


    Fang Yuan naturally did not let such an amazing opportunity slip, he immediately commanded his army to charge forward. The 100 soldiers who carried the wooden tubes seared anyone they came across even as they tried to escape.


    "Kill them all!"


    In the army, five to ten soldiers formed a section which viciously murdered the Hule soldiers.


    Compared to the Hule Division, their soldiers were scattered all over the place. Each of their soldiers fought alone bravely, the difference in militant skills between the two sides was evident.


    "After all, this is still the barbaric period and their soldiers valued bravery. But, that''s useless...! Times are changing, if they don''t keep up with the trend, they can only be left behind mercilessly!" Fang Yuan thought as he sighed.


    Fang Yuan then grabbed his iron sword tightly and strode forward.


    The enemies'' soldiers were mostly defeated, it was now the time for Fang Yuan to strike!


    "Die!"


    Opposite him, a few shamans chanted as they shook the blood-red coloured spiritual drums with their hands.


    An unpleasant gust of air swept across the corpses on the floor. Blood and water gathered and formed monsters immediately. These monsters rampaged all over the battlefield.


    "Kill them all!"


    Fang Yuan strode forward and swung his sword. There was a fiery glow that sparkled on his forehead, in the area above his brows.


    "Wuuuu! Wuuuuu!"


    These bloody beasts collapsed at once and turned into black blood. Fang Yuan continued forward and arrived in front of the shamans.


    "Protect the shamans!"


    A few soldiers from the Hule Division shouted. However, under Fang Yuan''s swords, they were severed into two pieces.


    "Leader Mu would seek vengeance for us!"


    Two of the young looking shamans stared at Fang Yuan with extreme enmity and hatred, as though they wanted to bite Fang Yuan.


    Fang Yuan did not hesitate and annihilated them with his sword.


    "The shamans have died!"


    Seeing such, the Hule Division soldiers who were still defiantly resisting just now immediately fell apart. They fought against each other for the horses and began fleeing away.


    "No need to chase them!!!"


    Fang Yuan immediately ordered, "Clean up the battlefield, set up the tents, build up the defences and prepare for the big war!"


    "Lord? What you meant is...?"


    Tong came over to stood beside Fang Yuan. Although his body was stained with blood, his expression seemed happy.


    "Their frontline soldiers have already arrived here, their main body will definitely reach here in two days!"


    Fang Yuan shook his head slowly, "If they know we have thousands of people, what will they do?"


    "Of course they would destroy this remaining strength of ours! From then on, the north of Da Xia would be free rein to them! They would then charge towards Yang City!"


    "Hence... we will be preparing for war right here!"


    Fang Yuan directly commanded, "At least we still possess some firsthand advantage here. We can dig more trenches, store more food, build our earth walls higher..."


    "1,000 against 10,000?"


    Tong was speechless, he rolled his eyes and continued, "Are you confident?"


    "No, it''s 2,500 against 9000!"


    Fang Yuan corrected Tong''s mistake and replied, "Unless you think you still can escape?"


    "Haha! Great, I will take this gamble with you then!"


    If it was any other normal general, he would not be able to convince a subordinate he just newly met even if he was extremely charming or had an impressive character, especially to one that almost died just moments ago.


    However, Tong was not any normal person too! As a dream master, even if the army was fully defeated, there was still a chance for him to escape.


    Furthermore, dying in this realm was like losing in a round, it was nothing much actually.


    Two days later.


    Near 10,000 cavalry soldiers charged to the battlefield and saw numerous structures made out of earth. There were even trenches that surrounded the entire area.

 358 Ambushing the Campsite

    Thick smoke filled the air.


    Around 10,000 soldiers surrounded the tiny city made from earth. They had already tried to invade for 3 days but to no avail.


    "Mu has instructed that the first person who can successfully scale and infiltrate the walls will be promoted to a commoner, followed by a promotion to a chief. As a chief, you will receive 100 slaves as a reward!"


    A cavalry unit galloped about, spreading the news to the army.


    It was not worth it for the chiefs to risk their lives invading the city. However, to the commoners and slaves, it was a chance for them to change their lives. With that, they were encouraged once more as they attempted another attack.


    "Fire!"


    On the walls, a sharp voice was heard as arrows flew towards the invading soldiers.


    "Chi! Chi!"


    Blood spewed everywhere and the commoners without armour fell to the ground. Some of them were even trampled to death by their own fellow soldiers!


    During the construction of the earth wall, Fang Yuan had included the design of a fort to ensure that from whichever direction the enemy attacked from, they would be in the line of fire. Coupled with the fact that these invaders had almost no defences, it was just a simple massacre.


    "Don''t be afraid! Let''s charge!"


    Of course, this realm was different from what Fang Yuan had imagined it to be.


    A few exclamations were heard as 10 strong warriors stood together, waving the wooden shield in their hands. They were exceptionally nimble and avoided the arrows. In no time, they arrived at the foot of the wall and started their ascent.


    "Burn them!"


    These were the elite warriors of Hule Division. As soon as they scaled the walls, they raised their knives and sliced haphazardly. Normal soldiers could not even come close to them.


    Wei shouted a command as the soldiers trained in Greek fire rushed forward and shot out flames from their tubes.


    No matter how skilled the warriors were, against fire, they still turned into a burning inferno and were pushed down the city walls as they cried in pain.


    "Ah... Shamans, quickly bless us!"


    Beneath them, a daring shaman risked himself and chanted a few curses. With that, he summoned a stream of water.


    "Splash!"


    Unfortunately for them, the Greek fire floated on the water and continued to rage on mercilessly with no signs of weakening.


    A few other warriors attempted to use witchcraft to infiltrate the walls. However, they were quickly spotted by the soldiers of Tong and Fang Yuan and were killed.


    After the last few burning men fell from the city walls, the motivated soldiers of Hule Division started to feel discouraged and retreated.


    "D*mn it!"


    Seeing this, Mu exclaimed. "Capture those who ran the fastest. Regardless if he is a chief or a commoner, kill him!"


    "Leader Mu... Please spare me!"


    "Leader Mu... No!"


    After a few cries, over 10 heads fell to the ground and the remaining soldiers shuddered in fear.


    Mu nodded his head, he then instructed the nearby soldiers to clean up the mess and return to their camps to rest.


    "D*mn it... when did Xia Country have such a heavenly fire and such soldiers?"


    After 3 days, over 2,000 soldiers died. If not for the reinforcements, the Hule Division would be in an even more dire state.


    Not just that, many of the chiefs were no longer willing to fight for the war and wanted to leave to pillage other divisions.


    "How would these stupid people know? If we do not wipe out the last army of Xia Country in the North, if we abruptly enter like that, we will be ambushed on both sides!"


    Mu gazed at the blood-stained ground and appeared depressed.


    At this stage, it was already impossible for him to retreat his forces.


    There was no room for a coward to lead on the plains! If he were to retreat, someone might overthrow him on his way back!


    "Get Hei here!"


    After a long while, he finally called for a man in black robes.


    "Greetings, my noble Leader Mu!"


    The man in black let our a weird laughter.


    "Do you know how to deal with that liquid fire?" Mu enquired.


    "Naturally... The reason for the shamans'' failure was because they had used the wrong method and there were too few of them..."


    The voice of the man in black sounded a little dry. "Therefore, in order to deal with the group of fire-sprayers, we need to send all the shamans we have... However, both you and I are aware that they also have their highly skilled people. If our group of shamans go too close, they would be ambushed as well!"


    Mu bit his lips.


    He was aware that the general, Yuan, was the one who killed Wu Zhiqi!


    Such a person was surely a powerful and highly-skilled warrior. If he were to make his way into the group of shamans, the result would be too painful to imagine.


    "What else can we do?"


    Mu raised his eyebrows.


    "My noble Leader Mu, if you are willing to wait for a little longer, my reinforcements will be here in no time!"


    The man in black bowed and reported.


    "I''ll have to wait a little longer?"


    Mu clenched his teeth as though he was about to laugh.


    He knew what the demons were preparing. Rather than getting help from afar, he should just attack Yang City directly!


    After all, only Hule Division was involved in the fighting up in the North.


    Furthermore, if the two parties were to result in casualties, some other parties would get to benefit.


    ...


    "It''s been three days. That''s about it!"


    On the walls made of earth, Fang Yuan stood with Tong and was filled with emotions.


    "The enemy has attempted to invade for 3 days straight and have tired themselves out. Together with the high casualty rate, I''m sure their morale will be extremely low by now...."


    Most of the soldiers were simple-minded and brute and had no thoughts about getting organised. Therefore, they were not comparable to the soldiers of Xia Country.


    Previously, they were weak and only got the upper hand from executing an ambush.


    As soon as everything was prepared, their weaknesses were showing.


    "Pass the order to prepare for a counter-attack!"


    Fang Yuan waved his hands.


    "Yes!"


    Tong bowed respectfully and went down the wall.


    If it was 3 days ago, they would be crazy to use their almost 3,000-men strong army to attack Hule Division''s 10,000-soldier strong army.


    There were no highly skilled people among the enemy. However, even a dream master in the 4th Tier of the Illusionary Divine stage would find it troublesome if trapped among the shamans.


    However, the situation was different now.


    The enemy was now fatigued and most of their highly skilled warriors were killed. They had a chance to counter-attack.


    ''Who would''ve thought... this lord is very well-versed in the art of war!''


    Tong thought to himself as he felt more respect for Fang Yuan.


    It was nightfall.


    Dark clouds covered the moon and the stars twinkled dimly.


    A layer of fog appeared across the battlefield, engulfing it.


    A part of the wall was being destroyed and rows of soldiers silently walked out.


    In front of them was Fang Yuan, Tong, Wei and a group of highly-skilled warriors who were adept at riding horses.


    "We must succeed in tonight''s ambush! Kill!"


    Fang Yuan shouted and rushed forward.


    At the opposing end, in the camp of Hule Division.


    Hule Division was clueless as to how to properly pitch their tents in formation. They treated it like a normal plain and casually pitched their tents. After 3 days of intense fighting, they could finally rest. They were tired to the extent that nothing would be able to wake them up.


    "Kill!"


    Fang Yuan shouted and ran into their territory. From his horse, he fired a few arrows, killing a few commoners.


    Within minutes, the soldiers rushed into the tents. They started to kill anyone that they saw and burnt down any tent they came across. After a few moments, hundreds of soldiers arrived at the scene as well and everything was out of control.


    "Is the enemy ambushing us at night?"


    Mu sat up from his bed and quickly rushed out of his tent. He could see flames everywhere and chaos in the campsite. "Chiefs, hurry up and appease the commoners. The shaman group, go forth and stop the chaos!"


    The enemy only had a thousand soldiers and therefore, only a hundred would be capable of creating this ambush! It was impossible for them to create such a huge commotion. The only other explanation was that their commoners were contributing to the chaos as well.


    There was no other choice but to use brute force to keep the commoners under control.


    "Capture and kill Leader Mu! Destroy Hule Division!"


    Amidst a few shouts, 10 soldiers on horse spotted the golden tent and made their way towards it.


    "Protect Leader Mu!"


    A few shamans went ahead and chanted a few curses.


    "Die!"


    Flames appeared in Fang Yuan''s eyes. The fire-type sword essence gathered in his eyes, giving his eyebrows a brilliant red hue. Two streaks of flame shot out from his eyes.


    "Chi!"


    The flames flickered and burned, nullifying the witchcraft spells.


    "Haha... die!"


    He whipped his horse, making it gallop forward. Soon after, he arrived at the golden tent as well. Fang Yuan was the epitome of a highly-skilled martial artist. With the illusionary shadow of a sword in his hands, Fang Yuan waved them and the heads of the two shamen flew up high into the sky.


    "Let''s go!"


    Mu was in a shock and could only think about leaving.


    "It''s Yuan!"


    The man in black was even more stunned and his voice changed. "You have disrupted my plans. You deserve to die!"


    "You have demonic energy around you?"


    Fang Yuan was stunned for a moment. Shortly after, he pulled his bow, aimed at the retreating Mu and fired an arrow.


    "Whoosh!"


    The arrow had a little flame on its tip. It pierced through two other guards before finally piercing through Mu''s back.


    "I..."


    Mu had a face of disbelief, "I am the leader of the plains. How can I die here?"


    Fang Yuan had already done something to the arrow as a fiery force started to burn Mu''s insides. No one could save him and in a few moments, he fell to the ground, dead.


    "Leader Mu is dead! Leader Mu is dead!"


    The last resisting force of Hule Division was astonished at this scene and broke down, fleeing as fast as they could.


    "Don''t you run!"


    Fang Yuan identified the man in black and gave chase, running out of the campsite.


    "Hmph!"


    With the wave of his hands, a hurricane appeared. The illusionary shadow of a sword appeared in the hurricane and flew towards the man in black robes.


    The man in black fell to the ground and groaned in pain. Just as it was about to use its demonic spells to escape, it noticed a small green sword floating in mid-air. The sword had a shockingly powerful sword essence and the man in black no longer dared to move.


    "Previously, it is a war among humans and therefore, I had my reservations. As for you... Hehe..."


    Fang Yuan stripped the black robe off, revealing a shivering weasel.


    "A dream master from the Hidden Dragon Guards? Why is your cultivation so low?"


    It was obvious that this weasel had not yet attained the Illusionary Divine stage.


    "I am only a small demon. Please spare my life!"


    The weasel started to beg.


    It was only a dream master in the Dream-building stage and was barely qualified to dream-traverse. If he were to die, his own body would be severely injured and the backlash he would experience would be much worse compared to a dream master in the Illusionary Divine stage. It was a life and death situation.


    "What a pity... I know that you have been a sacrificial pawn all along. What value will you even have?"


    Fang Yuan sighed. The green Modest Wind Sword seemed to understand its master''s intention. With a strike, the weasel disintegrated into dust. At that moment, a True Spirit appeared and was being chased out of the realm.


    "This True Spirit..."


    He gazed towards the horizon. ''It seems like something about this was mentioned in Sage Changli''s inheritance...''

 359 Swelling Earth

    The sky became lit.


    The campsite of Hule Division was a big mess.


    The soldiers emerged from the walls of earth as they guarded the fugitives, swept the battlefield for survivors and looted from the campsite.


    "Lord..."


    Tong''s face was filled with happiness as soon as he saw Fang Yuan making his way over. Without hesitation, he presented a piece of oracle bone. "After predictions, it is confirmed that we have killed over 3,000 soldiers. We have actually only killed 1,000, but the other 2,000 were killings among themselves during the chaos. We have captured 4,000 of them, taken possession of 5,000 weapons. The rations and bronze are still unaccounted for. In addition, we have more than 2,000 horses now!"


    "That''s not too bad!"


    Deep down, Fang Yuan knew that the credit for his victory and rewards belonged to the internal chaos in Hule Division.


    "After this, all the elite soldiers in Hule Division are wiped out. With this piece of news, people would return to the North to continue living in the plains. We have finally settled the mess in the North!"


    Fang Yuan casually added. "I want at least half of all that we have looted. Split the remaining half as you wish, but don''t forget the contribution to Yang City! Hmm, I want more horses as well!"


    With these horses, Fang Yuan could train up his cavalry units for the future.


    Based on the method of training which he adopted, the cavalry which he would train up would surely be stronger than that of the Hule Division.


    "Of course!"


    Tong had no intention to vie for the rewards and respectfully replied.


    "Since all of this is over, we shall rest for one day before heading to Yang City to provide our assistance!"


    Fang Yuan''s eyes widened. "Wei, you shall escort our loot back!"


    "Hmph!"


    The young woman heaved a heavy breath and agreed. She knew that she could not go against Yuan''s orders and could only clench her teeth and carry out his orders.


    ...


    Yang City.


    The capital of Xia Country was now in a desolate state.


    With the Jiuli Division army attacking and the assistance from the divisions from the East and West, they were formidable. Under the leadership of Xing, they killed their way to the vicinity of Yang City.


    "Kill them! Kill all these Xia people to take revenge for the people of Jiuli!"


    In one of the divisions, Xing roared as the blood inscriptions on his body glowed dimly. He waved his axe about and wielded a huge shield. Ferociously, he struck at the head of another division''s leader.


    "Ah... You cannot kill me! I am..."


    This division leader was a dream master from the Realm Alliance. However, he could not finish his sentence as his expression turned to one of fear. "Die!"


    "Rumble!"


    Above him, many small array flags appeared, forming an array. It was a killer array of a dream array master!


    "Hmph... You are one of those mutants!"


    Xing grinned from ear to ear. "It''s a pity... Who would even care about such a small spell?"


    "How dare you call my Evil 7 Extremes Array a small spell?"


    The dream master was infuriated. "7 Evil Ghost Generals, kill!"


    "Hehe!"


    "Keke!"


    From all directions, armoured ghost generals and soldiers emerged from a layer of fog. They had sinister smiles on their faces and fangs poked out of their mouths, dripping blood. Together, they floated towards Xing.


    "You are the one to die!"


    Xing exclaimed as the illusionary figure of a giant appeared behind him. The figure stretched out its huge hands and slammed down.


    "Pa!"


    It was as though the hand was slapping a fly. With that, the glow from the array dimmed and blood trickled from the nose of the dream master. The dream master took a few steps backwards; it was evident that he had just experienced a backlash.


    Xing continued to advance and sliced his axe forward.


    "Bang!"


    As the axe made its way down, the dream master immediately became a bloodied mess and died in a gruesome fashion.


    "Leader... Our leader is dead!"


    As soon as the people of the division witnessed the death of their leader, they immediately ran for their lives.


    "Haha... Go forth! Kill their men and capture their women. Kill those children taller than the length of a bronze sword, and keep the remaining as slaves!"


    As Xing gave his command, the warriors behind him let out bloodshot eyes. However, these were all understandable.


    If they didn''t do this, how else could they vent out their years of hatred for the people of Xia?


    With this, the division started to undergo destruction.


    Outside the division, a person was witnessing everything. A slit appeared on his forehead, revealing a third eye.


    ''Xing is becoming too... scary! The peak of the Ultimate Witch Body would allow one to nullify most types of spells and would grant one immense power like a godly demon. This would make one comparable to a True Divine martial artist in the main world... To be able to kill a dream master in the 4th Tier of the Illusionary Divine stage in one move would mean that he must be as powerful as Army Leader Chi years ago!''


    "Monkey!"


    Xing walked out with flames of passion burning in his eyes. "I will be able to see the walls of Yang City in another day. Where are your promised allies?"


    "This..."


    This monkey was naturally the 3 Eyed Monkey. After being questioned, he became slightly embarrassed. "Xing... Your army is advancing too quickly. The Sangjie and Kuayi Divisions from the East and West have already started to make their way, but they are facing resistance from the other divisions. They will need another 10 days before they can arrive at Yang City... As for the Hule Division in the North, they are already defeated!"


    "Bunch of useless people!"


    Xing scoffed and let out a heavy breath. "This is especially so for Hule Division. Who was the one who defeated them?"


    "It''s the lord of Xia Country - Yuan! The hero who killed Wu Zhiqi!"


    As the monkey replied, it shuddered in fear at the thought of it.


    Only he knew the true meaning behind what he had just said.


    "He killed Wu Zhiqi?"


    Xing smiled. "In a few days, I shall personally behead him! Hopefully, he will not be as useless as the other leaders to die in a single move of mine..."


    "Yes! Yes of course!"


    The monkey was a little sceptical. However, he quickly composed himself. "Although we cannot depend on the other 3 divisions, you can trust that the demons are already taking action to cause floods in Xia Country and especially so for Yang City. You will be able to witness our friendship and power."


    "Very well, I shall look forward to it!"


    Xing smiled widely and replied. As soon as the monkey left, his expression turned to a cold one. "Another mutant! All demons in this world are mutants! They are the ones who had harmed our people. Only the people of Jiuli Division are the true owners of this world. This is predicted by the priests and will never be wrong!"


    "Yang City is also occupied by a bunch of mutants. Since I can still make use of the demons, I shall do so. Otherwise..."


    ...


    Within the palace in Yang City.


    "King Xi, Xing had already destroyed Tianlan Division with 50,000 soldiers. He will be able to arrive at our city walls in a day!"


    "King Xi, the water demons have been wreaking havoc for the past few days and have destroyed many things. As of now, they are hidden in Yang River, which is next to Yang City..."


    On the throne, Xi sat calmly like a piece of rock.


    His composure brought peace to those who were worried within the tense atmosphere of the hall.


    "Reporting!"


    At this point in time, another priest requested to see the king. "King Xi, we have news from the North. Tong has combined forces with Yuan and they have defeated Hule Division. They are now rushing back!"


    "That''s great!"


    Hearing this news, Xi finally bit his lips. "How many soldiers do we have left in Yang City?"


    "Our people have caught wind of news that Jiuli is invading us. They have loyally pledged their lives to us. If we use the soldiers in the reserves, we can rack up 30,000 armed soldiers!"


    One of the ministers stood out and reported. "However, the Yang River is overflowing! That is a more pressing problem!"


    "This is easy to resolve. Ju!"


    Xi calmly spoke. "Retrieve the Swelling Earth and stop the disaster!"


    "Yes, King!"


    Ju dismissed himself, walked out of the main hall and arrived at a spot in the palace. "The King has instructed me to retrieve the Swelling Earth!"


    The guard of the treasury was also a dream master and was long aware of the instructions. With an outstretched hand, he disabled the seal on the treasury.


    Ju entered the treasury and noticed spiritual glows everywhere.


    ''All the treasures of the Xia Empire is here. It''s a pity... none of these can be brought out!''


    Xia Country ruled over the 9 Regions and therefore had many treasures.


    However, those spiritual treasures which could turn illusionary and be brought out of the realm were only for the Sage and the dream masters in the 7th Tier of the Illusionary Divine stage. How could they enjoy these treasures? Even if they could get their hands on these treasures, they would not have enough karma to bring them away!


    Ju arrived at a corner of the treasury. On an elevated platform, a bunch of black soil was wrapped in cogon grass. It appeared normal.


    "Sir, please be careful. If the Swelling Earth is not contained by the cogon grass and if it were to land on the ground, it will start to expand immediately!"


    Although both of them were aware of the ability of this treasure, the guard of the treasury had the responsibility. After all, there was no harm in reminding his fellow dream master.


    "I know about it. This treasure has the essence of the heaven and is full of life. In past years, the Sage has used it for himself to manage the floods as well!"


    Ju bit his lip and carefully held the bag of Swelling Earth in his hands. "Of course, this treasure has its own limit as well. It can only expand to 800 feet wide before coming to a halt! This is only a temporary measure to manage the flood!"


    With that, he carried the Swelling Earth and brought it to the top of the city wall of Yang City.


    "Sir, look!"


    Beneath them, the Yang River surged as water crashed onto the city walls. It was a threatening scene to behold.


    Furthermore, within the murky waters of the river, there were many black silhouettes.


    "Go!"


    Ju mustered his magical energy and scattered the Swelling Earth. With that, the soil fell into the river.


    "Buzz! Buzz!"


    The ground shook. Within a few moments, the Swelling Earth started to expand and blocked the mouth of the river. However, it continued to grow.


    Although the water was gushing with might and the water level was rising continuously, it was finally blocked.


    The soldiers on the city wall witnessed this scene and cheers erupted.


    However, Ju silently sighed to himself. ''We can only temporarily keep the demons at bay. However, if the water erupts from it in the near future, the consequences would be worse! What is Elder Xi Chen thinking?''


    Of course, it was a sin to doubt his leader in such a tumultuous period.


    Ju forcefully wiped this thought of his from his mind!


    "Elder Xi Chen is the disciple of Sage and is powerful. He will have his own arrangements. Why do I have to care so much? I just have to follow the plan..."


    "After all... this world is manipulated by Sage. Who would dare to show disrespect here?" Ju mumbled to himself.


    If things were to fall out of control, Sages would get involved to correct it!


    If that was the case, what do they have to fear?


    Thinking about how Elder Xi Chen could keep his composure amidst all the chaos, Ju felt impressed and was full of admiration for him. "This is what the mind of a powerful being can do!"

 360 The Big War

    "We''ve finally arrived!"


    Fang Yuan could not help but sigh as he saw the city walls of Yang City.


    Immediately, the Swelling Earth flourishing on the riverbanks caught Fang Yuan''s attention.


    "This is Swelling Earth? Amazing indeed!"


    "Lor... Lord!"


    Tong''s teeth were chattering. As they were rushing for time, only the two of them made use of their techniques to arrive so quickly.


    As Tong thought about the trouble ahead of them, he felt anxious and uneasy.


    "50,000 tribe members from Jiuli Division and a Xing that''s comparable to an army leader! If we brought along that few thousand men of ours, they would surely die to them!"


    Fang Yuan gestured, "By leaving the entire army there, they can continue to suppress the north... That said, you dare to not come here?"


    "... I dare not!"


    Tong could only force a smile and reply him.


    After all, Tong was a dream master in the Realm Alliance. If he did not want to be killed after he returned to Da Qian, he could only obediently come to Yang City and await his next order even if he knew his chances of survival would be very low.


    "Another idiot blinded by ''righteousness''!" Fang Yuan thought of Tong''s plight with disdain. Moments later, he felt fearful.


    Although Fang Yuan was confident he could survive in this realm, he still had to enter this realm even though he knew this realm was extremely dangerous!


    Of course, if this was not a dream realm, Fang Yuan would not have willingly chosen to face such dangers. He would even rather commit treason than willingly put himself in such dangers in the real world.


    Royal Palace.


    "Greetings, King Xi!"


    Fang Yuan and Tong paid their respects to Elder Xi Chen.


    "Yuan, Tong... it''s great that you all could settle the Hule Division in the north!"


    Xi was still solemn and stern as always, he continued, "Just that I can only reward the two of you after we defeat the Jiuli Division! Now, follow me to fight them!"


    Xi stood up immediately after he finished speaking. He was donned in a body armour.


    "Yes, your Majesty!"


    Fang Yuan and Tong took a step back and joined the rest of the ministers and lords. They then gathered at the top of the heavily guarded city walls of Yang City.


    "Revenge!"


    "Revenge!"


    "Revenge!"


    The Jiuli Division army was already near the city walls. The 50,000 witches were like a black coloured torrent and were shouting loudly, their voices spreading far and wide. However, the ministers on top of the city walls remained unfazed.


    "This is..."


    The dream masters and priests saw much more.


    As Fang Yuan surveyed the group of Jiuli Division army, he saw black coloured and red coloured vapours rising to the sky above their heads. It seemed as though there were immense hatred and cursings coming from them.


    "The hatred from an entire country and the cursings from an entire tribe.... This is accumulated and brewed over hundreds of years..."


    Fang Yuan could see even more as the corner of his eyes twitched and his Fiery Eyes shined brightly.


    The black and red vapours were even denser and they mixed together. There was even a tinge of purple in it!


    "The heavenly trend?!"


    The purple colour disappeared in an instant. Even though Fang Yuan only caught a few glimpses of it, his eyes began to hurt and were on the verge of tears.


    He was greatly enlightened, "That''s it! In this realm, even though the Xia Tribe is doing very well, they will still not be favoured as much by the heavens!"


    "Furthermore, if the Sage did not enter this realm last time, Jiuli Division would have been the ones leading the people dao!"


    "Hence, although Chi was destroyed, the Jiuli Division still survived. Now, they have engaged their whole tribe to fight us and are even blessed by the heavenly trend!"


    With the heavenly trend on their side, they would be protected by the heavenly energy too! If they were killed, their attacker would be punished with the wrath of the heavens and suffer tribulations! It would be truly horrifying.


    Amongst the Jiuli tribe, there was an extremely muscular man. He had a dark red light glowing from him and his body was god-like. He stood forward and hollered loudly, "... The orthodox of Xia has long oppressed the tribe of Jiuli! Today, I will seek vengeance and enact punishment! Attack!"


    At this stage, all the spying, peace talks and even schemes were useless. Only absolute power could suppress all!


    "Kill them all!"


    50,000 Jiuli tribe members roared and charged forward. The black and red coloured energies on their head combined and turned purple before falling onto their heads, blessing them.


    Even dream masters felt suffocated at the sight of such mighty powers.


    "Summoning the people dao!"


    Xi waved his hands coldly and a picture scroll appeared from thin air. It first depicted the scenes of ancestors engaging in slash-and-burn agriculture, their harsh lives and numerous other scenes of civilisation starting.


    Afterwards, the souls of those outstanding humans in the people dao formed a long river stream.


    This was the people dao torrent! Once it appeared, the Xia Tribe were boosted by their tribal energy. Similarly, it even affected the heavens as they too gained purple-coloured fate energy.


    "People dao is part of the heavenly dao. Xia Tribe has the 9 cauldrons that could suppress fate energy and offset the heavenly trend''s boost on Jiuli Division..... The Xia Tribe may even have a slight advantage!" Fang Yuan contemplated as he watched.


    "Fight!"


    Xi bawled loudly.


    "Fight!"


    "Fight!"


    The warriors of Xia Tribe roared towards the skies.


    Even though they were the tribe with the best standards of living in the 9 Regions, they did not lose their bravery and righteousness!


    "Bang!"


    Under the loud noises, the two groups of armies clashed together.


    Although the soldiers of Jiuli Division were brave, they were disadvantaged by their weapons and the city walls. Immediately, there was a stalemate. Xia Country''s city walls became a meat grinder that was continuously taking away lives from the two sides.


    "Kill them all!"


    Xing hollered and a colossal giant emerged from behind him. With a punch, he rushed towards the city walls. In that instant, the realm tremored!


    That was a punch from the witch! It was comparable to a True Divine! It could not be dodged! Almost no one could block it!


    If it landed on the city walls, the walls would have definitely given way.


    "Xing!"


    On top of the city walls, a sun appeared behind Elder Xi Chen''s back. As its corona extended, its spiritual territory spread across the area.


    "Dream masters at the 7th Tier of Illusionary Divine stage can actualise spiritual lands and wield power over the land! Furthermore... they can create spirituality and even actualise a tribe, but not humans..." Fang Yuan thought.


    Fang Yuan stared intently at this scene.


    Such high-levelled battles were extremely uncommon.


    "Roar!"


    The sun shined brightly high in the sky.


    Under the corona''s territory, it was as though the entire city walls were blessed. The Xia Tribe soldiers standing on it were energised while the Jiuli soldiers were badly scorched and injured.


    Furthermore, in front of the city gates, two 100 feet tall beasts emerged from the cracks in the earth. One was in the form of a dragon while the other was in the form of a tiger and their eyes brimmed with intelligence. They then roared loudly as they pounced towards the punching giant.


    "Bang!"


    A loud bang could be heard and the tiger and dragon erupted. Large amounts of rocks scattered down and a bloody scent filled the air. The punching giant also disappeared without a trace left.


    "The head of Xia Tribe, Xi?!"


    As Xing watched, a bloodthirsty glow emitted from his eyes, it was as though he had found his most wanted prey. He ferociously sprang forward so quickly as though he travelled through time and arrived below the city walls in two steps.


    Xing raised his giant axe high up and dared, "I dare you to come down and fight!"


    "Why would I dare not?"


    Xi leapt down lightly and a long sword appeared on his hand.


    The sword was straight and well built while its blade had four sides to it. One side was carved with the sun, the moon and the stars. Another side was carved with mountains, rivers, trees and grass. Another side was inscribed with agricultural techniques. The last side was inscribed with military tactics to rule the world. The sword had a mighty meaning to it and was a heavenly sword!


    "Amazing sword!" Fang Yuan thought.


    Fang Yuan''s eyes sparkled at the sight of the sword as he thought, "People dao fate energy is condensed on this sword, even if I reach the 7th Tier, my magical soldiers may not even be comparable to this!"


    "Kill them all!"


    Xing swung his axe as he shouted.


    The axe swung wildly. Although it was barbaric, it was filled with an indescribable intrinsicality, it was as though it could create a world.


    Xi Chen parried with his sword.


    "Clang!"


    An intense vibration spread across immediately. The eardrums of the soldiers in the nearby 100 feet radius ruptured at once and they collapsed onto the floor screaming in pain.


    A 7th Tier Illusionary Divine dream master could actualise a group of beasts and utilise the power of its spiritual territory, it was natural that he could strengthen his body!


    Although Xi rarely demonstrated his skills, his body still contained numerous divine techniques. Additionally, with the blessings from the spiritual land, his body was comparable to a martial artist Divine Body!


    "Haha! Good, again!"


    The inscriptions that covered Xing''s entire body were like metal armour. His voice was filled with excitement as they were both equally matched, he continued, "You are the king of Xia Tribe, I will kill you fair and square! I will take away your everything!"


    "Breach the city walls and massacre Yang City!"


    As the two powerful leaders fought, large numbers of black shadows appeared outside Yang City which turned into numerous kinds of demons. Especially inside the waters, the black shadows repeatedly attacked the seal on the Swelling Earth.


    "Quickly suppress them!"


    Ju stood high above and ordered all the dream masters, officials and priests of Xia Tribe to fight against the demons and those who possessed divine techniques in Jiuli Division.


    Fang Yuan fought dutifully. As he was a dream master at the 4th Tier of Illusionary Divine stage, he picked a similarly powerful demon, a black water dragon, to fight against. He fought against the demon slowly and used his sword spirit from time to time.


    The black water dragon was one of the more skilled ones amongst the Hidden Dragon Guards. Although it cultivated for many years, it was no match for Fang Yuan''s 3 Talents Sword Array''s sword spirits. Thus, Fang Yuan could still observe the battlefield while fighting against it.


    "The two sides are evenly matched..."


    After scanning the surrounding with his spiritual will, Fang Yuan thought to himself, "Just that... the Hidden Dragon Guards have placed a powerful being leader into this realm. After the Realm Alliance was alerted to it, we have also sent more members here as reinforcements. Now we just have to wait and see who will make the first move!"


    A powerful being''s patience should not be underestimated.


    In order to emerge victorious, it was nothing for them to lose tens of thousands of lives in Yang City!


    "However... in terms of contributions to people dao, fate energy and their intrinsic qualities, Xia Tribe is still way ahead of Jiuli Tribe! Even if Xia Tribe is defeated this time around, there will still be chances for them to rise again. Whereas if Jiuli Division is defeated this time around, their entire tribe would be doomed!" Fang Yuan thought.


    Fang Yuan moved his spiritual will.


    Indeed, moments later, the 9 cauldrons in the royal palace resonated and turned into 9 powerful beams of golden light. They soared through the skies and dug down to the earth before joining the battle.


    "Bang! Bang!"


    Although Xing had already cultivated his witchcraft dao Divine Body, he could not withstand the 9 cauldrons which suppressed people dao fate energy. Xing kept moving backwards while squeaking noises could be heard from his body.


    "The Jiuli has been defeated! Us Xia Tribe form the people dao with our 9 cauldrons and obtain fate energy by ourselves!


    Xi Chen''s voice could still be heard, "Today... I will use the 9 cauldrons to cultivate that last resistance of yours!"


    As he spoke, flames erupted from the 9 cauldrons and seared Xing''s Divine Body.


    "Boom!"


    It was as though hot oil just touched water. Originally, the inscriptions on Xing''s body were impenetrable. But now, he could only scream bloody murder as the flames of the people dao seared him. Streaks of black vapour appeared as the inscriptions on his body disintegrated continuously.

 361 Resurrection

    "Flaming!"


    The divine flames of people dao had a golden radiance to it. It was as though it sang praises to the culture and the magnificence of the civilisation. It symbolised the wishes of the humans and was filled with hope and beauty.


    However, the divine flames were Xing''s witchcraft dao Divine Body''s nemesis! The moment the flames touched his body, the spiritual inscriptions on his body disintegrated immediately!


    "Holy!"


    Numerous souls of past heroes appeared and surrounded Xi. They began chanting and shined brightly as though Xi was a god.


    Xi''s eyes glistened. He raised his heavenly sword and sliced towards Xing''s neck!


    "Sigh¡­..."


    A low pitched sigh could be heard rumbling. An earthquake erupted and a gigantic red coloured snake rose from the cracks on the ground.


    The gigantic snake''s body was totally red. It had a human face, a snake body and only one eye. When its snake-like eye was shut, the entire skies turned dark at once; once the snake opened its eye, the skies were bright again at once, as though the sun was red and shining brightly!


    "Xi Chen!"


    The snake roared and it''s sun-like radiance shined on Xi''s body.


    "Back off!"


    After the snake appeared, the ground was tattered and in pieces. Even parts of the city walls of Yang City were destroyed.


    Both the armies of Xia Tribe and Jiuli Tribe suffered from the natural disaster as many of their soldiers were buried under piles of rocks and stones.


    "This is the... Torch Dragon?"


    Fang Yuan was surrounded by his sword essences. A green coloured beam of light flew out and shattered a huge piece of rock in front of him. He no longer cared about the black water dragon he was fighting against and he quickly moved backwards.


    It was recorded in , "...There is a god-human here with a human face and a snake''s body, and he is scarlet. He has vertical eyes that are in a straight seam. When this deity closes his eyes, there is darkness. When the deity looks with his eyes, there is light. He neither eats, nor sleeps, nor breathes. The wind and the rain are at his beck and call. This deity shines his torch over the ninefold darkness. This deity is Torch Dragon!"


    The giant snake that just appeared was exactly the same as the Torch Dragon.


    Except, the legend of the Torch Dragon stated that it was a thousand leagues long, however, this Torch Dragon was only at most half a mile long. Nevertheless, its might was already earth-shattering.


    "It has hidden well deep within the earth! Once it appears, it moves as rapidly as lightning and thunder! A possessed body cultivated by a leader of the Hidden Dragon Guards indeed!"


    Evidently, the Torch Dragon was the possessed body of a powerful being at the 7th Tier of Illusionary Divine. Furthermore, it had cultivated for extremely long to accumulate such a terrifying power!


    "Haha... Jiu Yinzi, you finally appeared!"


    No one could move closer to the battle between the powerful beings. But suddenly, a rough voice could be heard.


    "Huuuuu! Huuuuuu!"


    High above the skies, the originally pristine and white clouds turned red at once. A dragon head that was spitting flames emerged from the clouds and directly blocked the Torch Dragon''s radiance.


    "This voice!"


    Fang Yuan raised his head and saw the clouds dispersing. A 6 Headed Fiery Dragon brandished its claws and leapt down. Its target was the Torch Dragon.


    "Elder Smelter! Can''t believe the reinforcement sent here is him!"


    As the reinforcement was a familiar person, Fang Yuan had no thoughts of going forward to acquaint each other. Instead, he moved away immediately.


    Just from the reverberation formed between the battle of two powerful beings at the 7th Stage of Illusionary Divine would severely injure people! Only fools would charge forward!


    "Smelter!"


    The Torch Dragon and the 6 Headed Fiery Dragon coiled around each other. A sinister smile appeared on the Torch Dragon''s human face as he sniggered, "You are the person I wanted to lure over!"


    "What?"


    Xi Chen was shocked. He utilised his spiritual will and thought of something immediately, "The Hidden Dragon Guards still have further assistance? Impossible! Our leader has already confirmed, other than Jiu Yinzi, the rest are in other realms!"


    A powerful being''s heart had been forged through numerous experiences, it was extremely resolute.


    Even though he was flustered, his jade-like hands were still resolute as ever as he sliced Xing''s neck.


    "Bam!"


    The witchcraft inscriptions on Xing''s body were already burnt by the divine flames of people dao. Now, with a slash from a powerful being''s heavenly sword, his head flew up and warm blood spewed everywhere.


    "Hate! Hate! Hate!"


    Although Xing was already decapitated, his body still stood still. He used his fingers and wrote the word "hate" thrice with blood.


    "Kaboom!"


    An ominous stream of air filled with grievances shot up the skies and absorbed the dark red clouds before returning moments later.


    "I, Xing of Jiuli Tribe, sacrifice my own body for the heavens! No regrets in death! Only to seek vengeance!"


    "Kaboom!"


    A purple coloured lightning flashed and struck Xing''s headless corpse.


    A strange transformation began at once.


    A pair of eyes appeared on Xing''s bare chest and his belly button turned into a mouth. It then roared and its voice was that of an ancient person, "I am... back!!!"


    "Kaboom!"


    Dark clouds loomed and purple bolts of lightning flashed. An enormous headless apparition appeared and merged with Xing''s body.


    An indescribable and petrifying atmosphere loomed at once!


    "This is... revival with a drop of blood? No, it''s possession! This is not Xing, this is Chi!" Xi Chen exclaimed.


    "Ancient survivors? Demons from outside? Die!"


    The eyes on Chi''s chest stared intently at Xi. He moved his right arm and the glow of an axe struck at once.


    At the same time, the nine black coloured blood dragons on his body emerged and roared. They easily broke free from the 9 Cauldrons'' suppression.


    "Clang!"


    The axe and the sword clashed against each other and Xi moved back immediately. Cracks formed on the people dao heavenly sword at once.


    "Chi is powerful indeed! He fought against the Sage before! In terms of power, he is even more powerful than Xing!"


    Xi Chen''s stare intensified as he continued, "Also... he seems to be boosted by tribal energy and the grievances of the heavens and earth. He is enacting punishment for the heavens and cannot be suppressed by the 9 Cauldrons!"


    "Kill! Kill! Kill!"


    The headless Chi strode forward and the land tremored along, it even trampled the spiritual territory! With yet another swing of his axe, he roared, "Evil demons from outside, die! War!!!"


    The moment the word "war" came out of his mouth, the atmosphere changed at once. It was as though the energy from the entire realm''s wars gathered and condensed on his giant axe.


    In the surrounding, scenes of wars and battles appeared which pushed away the other spiritual territories. Even the Torch Dragon and the Fiery Dragon were pushed aside.


    Furthermore, a purple lightning struck down and merged with the giant axe.


    "Ah! Assist me, Green Wood!"


    It was the first time Xi lost his composure. He sent out a spiritual will.


    "The lush green forest thrives! Even if wildfires burn it down, it will regrow the next Spring!"


    Inside the royal palace, a skinny elder in a green rope appeared. With every step he took, the surroundings turned into lush greenery that flourished luxuriantly.


    "Fire from wood! Haste!"


    A spiritual territory filled with greenery extended forward and complemented Xi Chen''s sun. The situation was stabilised as they withstood the war energy from the battles in the 9 Regions.


    "Such a pity..." Xi Chen thought.


    Xi Chen watched and shook his head as he thought, "After all, this spiritual territory of mine is not purely true fire-type. If the two elders, Green Wood and Smelter, can cooperate with each other, their power would better complement each other. Sadly, the two of them hold grudges against each other and it would be impossible for them to join forces!"


    "Another one!"


    Army Leader Chi remained unfazed and unafraid as he strode forward into the overlapped spiritual territories.


    "Die!"


    Behind him, the silhouette of the 9 Regions appeared. On top of it, scenes of countless of soldiers battling were depicted. Other than the northern areas, fierce battles could be seen in the eastern, western and southern areas.


    Even the overlapped spiritual territories near Chi''s body were weakened.


    "Chi built up himself through numerous wars. Now that the 9 Regions are in war, he is conforming to the heavenly trend!"


    Green Wood''s expression turned solemn and he spoke to Xi Chen, "Elder Xi Chen, it''s time to use our all!"


    "That''s right!"


    After Xi Chen agreed, all the giant trees in the spiritual territory opened their eyes and transformed into giant battle tree men. Faeries that resembled fire phoenixes also appeared and they formed a large army that charged towards Chi.


    These were all faeries actualised by the two powerful beings during their spare time. They were meticulously trained and their power was comparable to Illusionary Divine dream masters. Furthermore, they could travel out of the spiritual territory alone to fight as they had their own foundation and elemental energy.


    However, they were willing to sacrifice all of them now just to deplete some of Chi''s strength.


    As Army Leader Chi had resurrected and was boosted by the realm''s war energy, even though the two powerful beings joined hands, they did not know how to defeat him.


    ...


    At another area of the battle, the Torch Dragon was fighting against the 6 Headed Fiery Dragon. Jiu Yinzi then sneered, "Hehe... can''t believe they sent three elders here! Your Realm Alliance doesn''t care about or want the other realms or even Da Qian anymore?"


    There were only 7 powerful being elders in the Realm Alliance. They were putting all their eggs in the same basket by sending almost half of them here!


    "Three elders?!"


    Far away, Fang Yuan had a similar reaction.


    As there were three dream masters at the 7th Tier of Illusionary Divine here, it was no wonder Xi Chen was so confident.


    With their power, even though army leader Chi resurrected, they could still defeat him!


    "Just that..."


    A curious look appeared on Fang Yuan''s face as he thought, "I don''t think the Hidden Dragon Guards have fully revealed all their hidden cards up their sleeve!"


    When Fang Yuan killed Wu Zhiqi last time, Wu Zhiqi purposefully hid something. As the Hidden Dragon Guards had yet to utilise it now, Fang Yuan immediately knew they still had some tricks up their sleeve.


    "It is too dangerous for me to go to the epicentre of the battle now... Why don''t I..."


    The corner of Fang Yuan''s eyes glistened and he turned into a gust of wind immediately that floated out of Yang City.


    ...


    Deep in the mountains, a loud bang was heard suddenly.


    A black coloured head fell from the sky and smashed the ground violently, forming a small crater.


    However, although the head was severed, there was no blood flowing from it. It was extremely strange.


    "Huu..."


    Moments later, it even opened its eyes.


    "I am not Chi, I am Xing!"


    "By sacrificing my body and my blood, I resurrected the mighty ancestor, Chi! This is enough..., I should now think for myself! Witchcraft divine technique, Revival Technique!"


    A bloody glow shined from his eyes and large amounts of blood flowed down his neck which slowly formed the shape of a human. Bones, blood vessels and muscles appeared one by one.


    Lastly, a gust of black air floated over and engulfed him.


    Moments later, a deity-like man with a body that glowed like jade walked out of the crater. It kept caressing its face and body while exclaiming, "Great! Although I sacrificed my flesh body, I inherited Chi''s legacy! It was not in vain... Just that it''s such a pity, this witchcraft divine technique was created by the Army Leader years after his death from all his grievances. Else, he could have recovered his Divine Body back then and fought for the world with Gu!"


    At that moment, he closed his eyes slightly and furrowed his brows, "I have lost half its divine techniques and strength. Based on Army Leader''s instructions, I need to leave immediately with the seeds of Jiuli Division to preserve our last remaining bloodline!"


    Xing touched the area between his eyebrows and a red line could be partly felt.


    That was the witch''s vital blood, it was a gift from Chi.


    Although Xing was weak now, he only needed some time before he could fully recover.


    "Army Leader... you have to win!"


    As Xing gazed towards Yang City, tears flowed down his face.


    Suddenly, he turned around. His eyes glared viciously as he shouted, "Who''s that?"

 362 Surreptitious

    "I thought the witches were reckless and simple-minded people. Who would have thought there would be smart ones among them that thought ahead and thought about their future?"


    Fang Yuan walked out of the forest and applauded. "Don''t go about looking for the priests. I have already dealt with them!"


    The other dream masters hid as soon as they realised that the powerful dream masters were fighting against one another. None of them would have imagined Fang Yuan would be so daring to leave the city and enter the enemy''s territory.


    Therefore, Fang Yuan managed to obtain a great opportunity.


    If the demise of Xing was Army Leader Chi''s plan to revive, what would it mean for Xing to become a leader?


    "Is the ability to split one''s head and body a witchcraft ability?"


    Fang Yuan waved his hands and 4 magical swords appeared. Harnessing the power of water, fire, wind and thunder, he quickly captured Xing within.


    "Your original form is indeed powerful. However, in order to let Chi revive, you had to sacrifice a huge amount of energy and use up your magical bloodline to execute the revival technique. How much do you have left in you?"


    Without hesitation, he released his most powerful 4 Emblems Sword Array as he wanted his enemy to lose all hope of winning and end the fight as quickly as possible.


    "Master has instructed us to kill the witches!"


    The 4 magical swords had spirituality and their concentrated sword essences gathered in the centre.


    Furthermore, it felt like an entire realm on its own as it started to constrict.


    "Is this... another realm? No, this is just a miniature version of another realm!"


    Seeing this, Xing exclaimed loudly. "If my original body was still here, I can turn you into a pile of bloodied meat with a swing of my axe. Who are you, you despicable foreign demon?"


    "I am... Yuan! However, don''t bother remembering my name, for a dead person does not need to know all these! 4 Emblems Sword Array, kill!"


    The completed 4 Emblems Sword Array could form a miniature version of a realm and was vastly different from other arrays.


    This was the secret of the 8 Gates Sword Array. If dream masters from the main world were to see it, they would be able to identify it.


    However, Xing was a native of the Ancient Realm and could never spread this piece of information out.


    "Chi! Chi!"


    Red, blue, purple and green streaks of light gathered. With the power of the different elements, a huge net was formed, covering all possible escape routes.


    "Oh, so you''re Yuan!"


    Xing roared as he smashed his fists outwards.


    "Buzz!"


    The entire array shook, but the net formed from sword essence continued to float towards him.


    "Chi!"


    Xing quickly retreated and realised that his fists were full of blood. His eyes turned bloodshot. "I hate this! Foreign demon, you will get your retribution!"


    "You speak too much nonsense! Die!"


    With his thoughts, Fang Yuan fused the net on Xing, resulting in a fog of blood spewing out.


    This fog of blood was extremely concentrated and had a black hue. In it, there seemed to be countless faces of witches cursing and struggling.


    "Purify!"


    Seeing what Xing did previously, Fang Yuan was still a little fearful of the Revival Technique. Therefore, he commanded the array to turn into flames and purify Xing''s blood.


    "I''m afraid that Xing is not even 1% of what he used to be. However, his physical body is still here. The fact that the 4 Emblems Sword Array is able to kill him means that there is no doubt about its power!"


    Fang Yuan had a look of satisfaction on his face. The flames raged on as he finally purified the last drop of blood and grieving soul from Xing''s body.


    Finally, all that was left was a drop of blood essence. Like an earthworm, it started to wriggle with spirituality.


    "It is indeed the blood of a powerful being to be able to survive all this. However, none of this would matter! Thunder Sword!"


    Within the 4 Emblems Sword Array, Fang Yuan was God!


    With the wave of his hand, the Thunder Sword appeared in his hands and was shimmering.


    "Ah!!!"


    A vengeful shriek was heard, which even shook Fang Yuan.


    This was all that was left of Xing in this realm, and yet it was destroyed by Fang Yuan.


    Without a consciousness, the drop of blood finally stopped moving. It was completely purified and was now a drop of dull-red blood crystal.


    "Although Xi had given me a drop of blood from a powerful witch before, that was nothing compared to this!"


    Fang Yuan had a look of happiness on his face. Suddenly, his hair stood on end.


    Being decisive, he kept the sword array and quickly left.


    "This is..."


    He could feel a sense of worry in him, which was a familiar feeling. "Is this how the realm discriminates against us? Even the 9 Cauldrons of the people dao cannot overpower it?"


    Dream masters were ultimately people from the outside world. This was similar to the previous Hui Realm and Water Realm. If one were to go against the heavens, there would be tribulations!


    There were exceptions in the Ancient Realm due to the fact that the Realm Alliance had control over the people dao and could manage it using the 9 Cauldrons!


    Now, the 9 Cauldrons were no longer in power and it was a fact that Fang Yuan had destroyed the bloodline of a witch. This was the backlash that he was about to experience!


    "Could there be heavenly streaks of lightning?"


    Fang Yuan gazed up at the cloudy sky and was feeling extremely tensed up.


    After he left, peace was restored in the mountains.


    A few moments later, a few streaks of light flew into the mountains. There were a few exclamations and their voices were filled with hatred and despair.


    ...


    On Fang Mountain.


    Wei strapped a bow behind her back and as she was patrolling, she kicked a piece of rock. "D*mn you, Yuan... Don''t you know how I feel towards you? Why did you not bring me along! Please, let nothing bad happen to you!"


    Thoughts ran wild in her mind. Suddenly, a black shadow flew across her head.


    "Lord Wei!"


    The warriors around her exclaimed. "These are the mysterious beasts from the Secluded Capital Mountain. They''re here once more!"


    Although the name of the mountain had long been changed, they were still more used to its old name.


    "I see it!"


    The black shadow was a huge black bird. It resembled a phoenix and had a long tail and was covered in golden-black feathers. Wei adored it the moment she saw it. "This is my prey!"


    Without thinking, she pulled her bow and fired an arrow.


    "Whoosh!"


    Her archery skills were impressive all along. Now that she was equipped with the best bow of the Xia Tribe, she was even more accurate and deadly than before. Regardless, with the flap of its wings, the bird was able to avoid the arrow.


    Startled, the black bird did not dare to linger around any longer and flew straight towards Fang Mountain.


    "After it!"


    Without thinking, Wei chased it into Fang mountain. "I want to gather its feathers and give it to Yuan as his victory gift!"


    She was extremely fast. In a few moments, the warriors behind her could no longer catch up as she entered the depths of the mountains.


    "Chirp! Chirp!"


    Following the high-pitched chirping of the bird, Wei bashed her way through the dense vegetation and soon arrived at a cliff.


    As soon as she arrived, she could see the bird lying on the ground. Seeing her arrival, the bird quickly spread its wings and flew into the sky. In a moment, it became a black dot and disappeared.


    On the ground where it once laid, there was a huge and round egg. There was still steam coming from the egg.


    "This egg..."


    Wei took a step forward and knocked the egg with her knuckles. There was a look of suspicion in her eyes. "... it''s edible, right?"


    ...


    "Eh? What happened?"


    Fang Yuan made his way to Yang City. In that instant, the feeling of worry which was bugging him was gone.


    Not just that, he felt as though he was integrated into the world.


    ''This feeling... it is similar to how I used Realm Evidence to enter the Water Realm previously. However, I can feel it more this time... Has this realm completely accepted me?''


    Fang Yuan remained stunned as thoughts ran through his mind. ''Could it be... that the prayers of my tribe are working? That my division has the blessing of the heavens?''


    At this point in time, there were a few developments on the battlefield.


    Above the battlefield, there was a huge sun. Beneath it, there was a huge green wooden trunk which rose towards the sky.


    By combining forces, the 2 powerful dream masters finally managed to contain the energy of the 9 Regions'' soldiers. Even Army Leader Chi''s voice was starting to soften.


    "You have killed so many young people... and now you still want to make so much noise? Jiu Yinzi, how would you like to die?"


    From the fiery dragon next to him came the mocking voice of Elder Smelter.


    "I want to see all of you dead! Keke..."


    Jiu Yinzi, in the form of a Torch Dragon, gave a sinister laugh.


    "Whoosh!"


    Suddenly, there was a loud rumbling noise. The earth gave way and a headless illusionary figure covered in wounds appeared from a glow.


    "Kill!"


    Xi Chen exchanged glances with Green Wood before channelling their power to oppose Chi''s body.


    Whoosh!"


    The witchcraft dao Divine Body of Chi immediately cracked. The skies started to rain blood, and a fresh-red heart suddenly appeared in mid-air, pounding with life.


    "Roar! Roar!"


    As the clouds gave way, the ferocious-looking head of a leader appeared.


    The heart started to combine with the head. Blood started to spew everywhere as a huge body was being formed.


    "I am Chi! I am invincible!"


    A strong spiritual will was felt from his body. "Every death I undergo will only strengthen me!"


    "We must kill him for good!"


    Two strong forces started to pound towards Chi, but they were held back by layers of black fog.


    Xi Chen looked at Green Wood once more and had a worried look on his face. "Has his power as a witch increased once more? Could he really absorb vengeance from the realm just before his death?"


    "Hiss! Hiss!"


    At this point in time, from the riverbed of Yang River, a long and slithering silhouette appeared.


    "Whoosh!"


    As a splash emerged from the river, a huge demon was revealed.


    This was a snake demon. However, it had 9 heads and each of its head had corrosive and poisonous venom.


    With the flick of its tail, the seal formed by the Swelling Earth immediately shattered.


    "Rumble!"


    As soon as the seal broke, terrifying waves of the river crashed out, smashing into the already weakened city walls.


    "Bang!"


    The entire wall cracked as the river water started to flood into Yang City mercilessly, carrying with it everything that was in its way.


    Against such a calamity, normal warriors stood no chance and were all killed, regardless if they were from Xia Tribe or Jiuli Tribe.


    "It''s Xiang Liu!"


    The powerful dream masters of Realm Alliance heaved a sigh of relief. "This is not its actual soul and therefore, its powers are limited!"


    "Hiss! Hiss! Burn the demonic body to deliver one single powerful blow!"


    At this point in time, there was a mysterious glow on the 9 heads of Xiang Liu. As the blood in its body burned, waves of energy started to spread. "Venerable elders, I am here to help you!"


    At that moment, the green sun exploded towards Chi, who was forming the Divine Body!


    Even though Chi was becoming increasingly powerful, against the 3 powerful dream masters, the black fog around him gave way, revealing his true body.


    "Chi!"


    Blood spewed everywhere as the green sun exploded towards Chi''s body. It imprinted black runes on his body, which gave off a mysterious vibe.


    "Never trust them! They are demons from the outside world!"


    Chi raged angrily.


    "Haha.... It''s too late. You would truly die once we destroy your witch bloodline. I wonder how will the world change if we were to offer you as a piece of offering to the heavens?"


    Xiang Liu laughed before collapsing and losing its breath.

 363 Heavenly Trend

    Xiang Liu!


    How could the secret move of the Hidden Dragon Guards, the strike of a 7th Tier Illusionary Divine dream master, be exhausted on Chi?


    Xi Chen and Green Wood began to suspect something. Now that everything was on the edge, they exerted their powers as well, expelling everything on Army Leader Chi''s Divine Body.


    "Buzz! Buzz!"


    The dark runes on Chi''s Ultimate Witch Body turned into flames and surprisingly started to burn him alive.


    "In today''s defeat, our ancestral bloodline will forever be lost. There is so much hate! Hate! Hate! You demons are disgusting!"


    Chi''s head continued to roar and tears seemed to be welling up in his eyes. With that, his head started to burn.


    In mid-air, blood-red fate energy started to disperse quickly.


    "This is the tribal energy of Jiuli Tribe, and Chi was merely the body which the tribal energy had chosen to enter... After this episode, there will no more Jiuli Tribe!"


    Xi Chen sighed as he looked at the Torch Dragon. "What is the intention of the Hidden Dragon Guards?"


    "What intention? You''ll know very soon!"


    The Torch Dragon broke into laughter. Quickly, it lost its breath and fell to the ground.


    "Crash!"


    The huge corpse of the Torch Dragon fell into the gushing water. In a few moments, it was entirely consumed by the river and disappeared.


    Considering that they were all powerful dream masters in a foreign realm, if anyone of them wanted to die to leave the realm, no one would be able to stop them, even if 3 powerful dream masters were to come together to combine forces!


    "What does he intend to do?"


    Elder Smelter gazed down and could see that everywhere was flooded. The normal Jiuli Tribe members and Xia Tribe members were long dead.


    Just a scene of death gave him an uncomfortable feeling. "This is not good..."


    "Rumble!!!"


    In the next moment, the entire world shook and many clouds resembling fish scales started to cover the sky. Streaks of lightning danced around.


    The power of tribulations came from the source of energy of the realm.


    By harnessing the power directly from the source of energy, tribulations would be terrifying!


    "Why is this happening? The Xia people are the main people of the people dao, and we have the 9 Cauldrons to control our fate energy..."


    Xi Chen froze and subsequently gazed down.


    The water from the river flooded the entire place, turning the whole Yang City into a lake city. Other than a few survivors, everyone was killed and corpses floated around.


    Furthermore, the water continued to gush towards the palace, flooding the entire place and covering the 9 Cauldrons as well.


    "Rippp!"


    A streak of lightning struck down towards the cauldrons and immediately, cracks appeared on the surfaces of the cauldrons. There was a tremor felt. As the water continued to flow, the 9 Cauldrons were being carried away.


    "The 9 Cauldrons are made from normal materials. What makes it such a strong treasure is the fact that it is filled with the fate energy of the people dao..."


    Xi Chen witnessed the entire scene and suddenly came to a realisation. "The people of Jiuli are the original natives of this world. Therefore, they still had a portion of fate energy with them. Now that we have destroyed their bloodline, the heavens have noticed it and are angry!"


    "Initially, this shouldn''t trouble us at all. Even if there were tribulations, we could still defend ourselves with the 9 Cauldrons... However, now that the Xia people are mostly dead, the people dao is weakened and we have lost the fate energy!"


    Without the Xia people to manipulate the people dao, they could no longer affect the heavenly dao!


    This was why there were tribulations now!


    "Someone secretly altered the fate of the Xia people and even prevented us from detecting it!"


    Green Wood started to predict before letting out a shriek. "The 3 of us are dream masters in the 7th Tier of the Illusionary Divine stage. Only a dream master in the Prominent Divine stage could do this! It''s the Head of the Hidden Dragon Guards!"


    "D*mn it!"


    Elder Smelter gazed into the sky as the green streak of lightning started to turn purple. "The source of energy of the Ancient Realm is extremely concentrated. If we are to bear the brunt of it, we will have no chance of survival..."


    Even Sages could only create hollows which depended on the main world.


    Now that an entire realm was enraged, which dream master would be able to bear the tribulation and survive?


    "Rumble!"


    As the entire realm shook, a huge force was felt upon the few dream masters. Blood rain started to fall.


    Everyone was fearful, dream masters of the Realm Alliance and demons alike. "Heavenly tribulation! Heavenly Tribulation! Our True Spirits cannot escape!"


    "What? I thought there isn''t any Heavenly Spiritual Image?!... This is the world sealing us in it!"


    Xi Chen quickly reacted and could feel the immense force. "After a certain limit, anything foreign within the area would be killed by the tribulation! This realm is trying to kill us all! Furthermore, I have not seen this type of seal before!"


    No matter how powerful the 3 of them were, they could still feel fear as the realm raged upon them!


    "Rumble!"


    As the blood rain fell, purple streaks of lightning struck down. Two demons and a few dream masters of the Realm Alliance were pulverized!


    ...


    Outside the Ancient Realm.


    A huge hand floated in mid-air and paused for a moment at the boundary of the Ancient Realm. On it, there was a mysterious colourful glow.


    With the mysterious glow, the solidified wall of defence at the boundary of the realm started to melt, revealing a realm in turmoil.


    ''The world is starting to awaken and is discriminating against the foreigners! Head of Hidden Dragon Guards, I will settle this score with you!''


    From the huge hand, there was an anxious voice heard.


    "Haha... since you want to settle the score with me, let''s fight!"


    Outside the realm, another huge green hand appeared. It flew up and pressed down against the entire realm. "Ancient! You shall decide if you want to save your own people or fight against me!"


    The giant hand which had arrived first was stunned. With that, it used its nails to carve an opening from the boundary''s membrane.


    "Bang!"


    In the next moment, the giant green hand flew towards the other hand, grabbing on three of its fingers and pulled it towards the ground.


    As the space around them vibrated, there was silence for a while before a spiritual will was heard. "Head of Hidden Dragon Guards! Good! You''re good!"


    "Of course I''m good. This Ancient Realm was named after you and used to be your home ground. But now, we''re even!"


    The spiritual will of the Head of Hidden Dragon Guards laughed. "The consciousness of the realm is waking up and it will choose whoever it wants to take over the 9 Regions! In this period, you will have to consume a lot of energy before you can arrive... I know, you''ve always wanted to reap rewards from this world for the third time and advance to the Prominent Divine stage. Hehe... look what happened now! Since you are a Sage and have once made your way through to conquer this realm, you can try to do it again!"


    The Ancient Realm''s consciousness was asleep and was only functioning on its subconsciousness. Therefore, The Ancient One was able to conquer the realm and use the 9 Cauldrons to control fate energy, therefore affecting the heavenly dao through the people dao.


    However, the Head of Hidden Dragon Guards had subtly awakened the consciousness of the realm and had made use of eliminating the bloodline of Jiuli Tribe to anger the consciousness of the realm so as to allow it to cleanse the realm of foreigners.


    Even a Sage would have to put in a lot of effort to go against the consciousness of a realm.


    Time would pass and there would be another favoured tribe in the future. The Xia Tribe would slowly be written in the history books.


    The Head of Hidden Dragon Guards had only meticulously made use of everything that was in place to achieve his objective. With that, everything that The Ancient One had left in the realm was all gone, and the dream masters which the Realm Alliance had sent into the realm were also sacrificed!


    The Realm Alliance had invested 3 dream masters of the 7th Tier of Illusionary Divine stage to guard the realm only because they had been warned, and countless other dream masters were sacrificed as well.


    What about the Hidden Dragon Guards? They only had a powerful dream master in the form of a Torch Dragon, which had taken his leave earlier on.


    Therefore, even if the Ancient World were to sort the foreigners out, The Ancient One would be the only one desperate, for his disciples were all trapped in the realm!


    ...


    Within the Ancient Realm.


    "Eh?"


    Xi Chen could feel that the realm was not as restrictive as before and was elated. "Master must have helped us to weaken the realm''s defence. Let''s go!"


    Without thinking, he slammed his palm on his forehead. With that, his head exploded and his True Spirit quickly flew out and disappeared.


    "This is a good opportunity!"


    Elder Green Wood sighed. "We can take our leave quickly, but as for the weaker dream masters, they''ll have to depend on their luck! Go!"


    "It''s a pity that hundreds of years of preparation is now destroyed!"


    Elder Smelter sighed and closed his eyes. The fiery dragon lost its breath and fell to the ground.


    "Go!"


    Seeing all that had happened, Fang Yuan remained emotionless and went into a daze.


    Beside him, Tong gritted his teeth and killed himself, escaping the realm. Ju was a little unfortunate. It seemed as though he had insufficient fate energy since his True Spirit was unable to escape after his death. It froze in the air as though the realm had detected it and prevented it from escaping. With a bolt of lightning, his True Spirit was reduced to ashes.


    Fang Yuan stretched his hands out and within a few moments, a puddle of blood was collected on his hands.


    His clothes were drenched in blood as well and he became a bloodied man.


    Other than that, there was nothing much.


    It seemed as though Fang Yuan had understood what had happened in the past few moments. "The realm is discriminating against the foreigners, but it has forgotten about me? What''s this about..."


    He started to think to himself.


    The power of the realm was immense and it was probably even more powerful than a Sage!


    But now, all the dream masters were being dealt with except himself. What a chance this was!


    ''If we compare this to the analogy of a game, this game has turned from a public game to a private game!''


    Fang Yuan''s heart started to burn with excitement. Seeing the desperate faces of the dream masters around him, Fang Yuan thought to himself. ''But... at the very least, I still have to put on an act. After all, I have the coordinates of this realm. I can secretly return in the future!''


    With that determination, he killed his own body as his True Spirit started to leave.


    However, he was different from the other dream masters who were desperately making use of this opportunity to escape while the defence of the realm was weakened. Fang Yuan was not targeted by the realm and therefore, his escape was smooth.


    ...


    Fang Mountain.


    "Ah! It''s pain!"


    In a room, Wei laid on a bed and shrieked. "Quicky! Send over the witch doctor and priest!"


    "Yes! However..."


    The two female servants looked at her bulging stomach as though she had been pregnant for 10 months.


    ''If I''d knew earlier, I wouldn''t have eaten that egg!''


    The greedy woman was filled with regret. Suddenly, she could feel a kick in her stomach. With that, she started to scream. "No... I don''t want to be a mother!"


    "Get a few experienced women here!"


    The priest arrived outside the house and appeared solemn. He allowed a few old ladies to enter before walking towards the altar and started his predictions.


    "Rumble!"


    Dark clouds started to gather and a streak of lightning struck down.


    With that, the distinct cries of a baby were heard.


    At the same time, he held onto the oracle bone and started to read into the pattern on it. With his solemn face, he seemed to have interpreted the prediction. "Giving birth to a child after eating an egg! It is a prosperous thing!"

 364 Tes

    Golden Sun Prosperous Land, Da Qian Empire.


    "Life is like a dream!"


    Fang Yuan stretched his body, walked out of the meditation room and shook the golden bell.


    "Sir, you are awake?"


    The maids waiting outside the room were pleasantly surprised and went inside the room to help Fang Yuan wash up.


    Moments later, a female cook served him food.


    The jade bowl was filled with Yellow Grain Rice and there were also a few side dishes made from spiritual fruits and vegetables. The plain tasting meal really suited Fang Yuan''s palate as he had isolated himself for a long time.


    "Not bad..."


    Fang Yuan ate the rice with his spoon and felt warmth in his body as his dream elemental force recovered. He was very satisfied.


    "You all are dismissed!"


    After finishing his meal, he dismissed his servants and sat cross-legged.


    "Stats!"


    A screen that could only be seen by him appeared.


    "Name: Fang Yuan


    Essence: 48


    Spirit: 48


    Magic: 60


    Profession: Dream Soldier Master


    Cultivation: Illusionary Divine (4th Tier), Wu Zong (5th Meridian)


    Technique: [Giant Eagle Metal Body Technique (Grade 6) (1%)], [Hundred Poison Golden Body (1st Refining)], [8 Gates Sword Array (5th Sword) (1%)]


    Skill: [Medicine (Level 3)], [Botany (Level 5)]"


    "After abandoning that body, the witchcraft abilities I cultivated are gone..."


    Fang Yuan expected it to happen. Using his spiritual will, he looked into his actualised dream world and saw that red drop of witch''s vital blood. He smiled and thought, "With this, the dream traversing this time around was still worth it. Of course, what makes me even happier is the changes happening in Ancient Realm that caused it to purge foreigners. It has become my own realm..."


    He sensed that the originally vast realm had already shrunk itself. Concentrated amounts of heavenly energy had already formed a crystal wall with a hive-like structure that surrounded the realm, preventing it from being explored.


    It would be extremely difficult for dream masters to enter this realm from now on.


    "The realm shrank and it was now turbid like an egg. Such an extent... even if the Sage were to descend in the realm, it would require a lot of effort too? Furthermore, he will be suppressed and won''t be as powerful..."


    Originally, with the help of the 9 Cauldrons of people dao, dream masters who entered the realm would at most have their strength halved and could recover their strength quickly.


    But now, even the Sage would not obtain his power so quickly if he entered the realm.


    "The Hidden Dragon Guards must have caused such changes! The Sage was so smart to stay outside the realm..."


    Fang Yuan let out a breath of air, "The Realm Alliance must have suffered great losses this time!"


    The method of escaping from the Ancient Realm this time was different from the usual method of leaving the realm. In order to escape as quickly as possible, many dream masters used a suicidal method to escape. Even dream masters at the 7th Tier of Illusionary Divine stage suffered losses.


    Furthermore, with the realm''s seal, there was only a fifty-fifty chance of escaping!


    Fang Yuan closed his eyes and his spiritual will linked with the Dream Realm as he arrived at Realm Alliance Mountain.


    Although the place remained the same, there were fewer people around. Many dream masters had a sombre look on their faces and it was as though something big was about to happen.


    "Looks like the Realm Alliance suffered great losses this time around..." Fang Yuan thought.


    It was truly extremely unlucky that the Hidden Dragon Guards set a ploy that misled and lured the Realm Alliance to send in more reinforcements.


    As Fang Yuan was in the Realm Alliance, it was natural that he knew about the situation as he had ties to the alliance.


    "Brother Fang!"


    A few messages appeared on his inscription plate. The first message was from the Ye sisters, "We are very relieved to know that you are alright, little sister was very worried for you!"


    "There were some setbacks, but luckily I''m alright!"


    Fang Yuan replied, "What''s the situation like in the alliance?"


    "What else can it be like? Many were either injured or died! Only at most 40% of the dream masters returned from Ancient Realm, the rest died... The three elders were injured but their injuries were not too serious and they have already appeared to appease the people!"


    "That''s great!"


    In actual fact, even the powers of 10 dream masters at the 4th Tier of Illusionary Divine combined would not be comparable to that of a single dream master at the 7th Tier of Illusionary Divine.


    As long as those three elders were alright, the Realm Alliance would be alright.


    Of course, at such a moment, some of their strategies were affected by the losses.


    "Also..."


    Ye Shuhua hesitated for a moment before sending over another message, "Li Qin died... He was also one of the reinforcements this time!"


    "Li Qin?!"


    This enemy of his, the old-fashioned dream master at the 4th Tier of Illusionary Devine, died in the Ancient Realm too?


    Fang Yuan thought hard, other than the period the last reinforcements were sent, he was at the north the whole time. He had no impressions of him and could not help but to sigh.


    Although Fang Yuan still had some issues to settle with him, Fang Yuan never imagined he would just die like that.


    The realm was merciless. Fang Yuan only escaped due to his luck, but what about next time? Would he still have such amazing luck?


    ...


    Fang Yuan walked into Green Bronze Hall and saw Feng Xinzi just moments later.


    "Brother!"


    Feng Xinzi was dressed in a five-coloured robe and pill essence surrounded him exuberantly. His spirituality was astounding. Although he seemed tired, a happy expression appeared on his face the moment he saw Fang Yuan.


    "I heard you went to the Ancient Realm and was so worried for you! Now that I see you are all fine, my heart is relieved at once!"


    Realistically, only Feng Xinzi himself knew how he really felt inside his heart. Just that dreams masters were the masters of manipulating their emotions and soul, no one would be able to tell they were faking.


    "I was just lucky!"


    Fang Yuan could not tell too. As Fang Yuan was cautious by nature, he replied cautiously and ensured nothing was leaked, thus blocking Feng Xinzi''s attempt to probe.


    "Sigh... times are difficult!"


    Feng Xinzi sighed and continued, "Many died in the alliance this time, it is now a period of bereavement. Also, many positions are now empty and they have to be replaced or removed.... You have done well this time and earned your merits! When you visit Elder Smelter later, your level of rights can be raised to 5th Leaf!"


    If Fang Yuan had received the 5th Leaf level of rights in the alliance, his level of rights would be equal to Feng Xinzi. Thus, this could not be decided so easily and Fang Yuan had to pass through the elder first.


    Feng Xinzi was slightly gloomy but he did not reveal it on his face and continued, "Just that, from the 5th Leaf onwards, you would be at the mid-high level and you have to pass through a test first!"


    Fang Yuan was speechless, he knew this was another attempt at systemic exploitation by the alliance.


    "A test?"


    Fang Yuan stared at Feng Xinzi deeply and laughed all of a sudden, "What if I choose not to raise my level of rights?"


    "What?"


    Feng Xinzi''s jaw dropped, he almost could not believe what he heard, "This... although there is no set rule, why would you choose not to accept a reward?"


    "Haha... I''m just kidding. Let''s talk about it once I meet the elder and obtain more information about the test!"


    Fang Yuan clasped his hands and walked out the door.


    "Hng..."


    Many moments later, after there was no one else left in the Green Bronze Hall, Feng Xinzi''s smile turned stiff and his expression turned sullen.


    ...


    "Heh... whatever 1st Leaf or 2nd Leaf level of rights is merely a status, it doesn''t provide me with great authority in the alliance, the practical benefits are minute! I would be a fool to risk my life for such a thing!"


    Fang Yuan joined the Realm Alliance initially to resist the pressure from Divine Lotus Cult.


    Now, it was to avoid the effects of the big war once it started. He did not care much about his level of rights.


    As long as Fang Yuan himself was powerful as a dream master was all that mattered.


    At the 7th Tier of Illusionary Divine, he would be able to actualise spiritual lands and tribes.


    When he finally reached that stage, he would be truly powerful and relevant! What would that mere status matter?


    "Of course... now, I still need the Realm Alliance''s protection. In these kinds of organisations, a lowly member would dare not disobey an order, even if it was an unspoken rule! There were ways for the organisation to force them! Hence, I still need to put up a facade... although I cannot disobey, I can drag and delay it!"


    Delaying the test required some tricks too.


    Mentioning that he did not want to up his level of rights was just a way to prevent them from repeatedly forcing him to take the test.


    His own attitude would then slowly soften and his decision would flip back and forth. Overall, it was for him to have a battle of words with them!


    The time gained from delaying would then be used to cultivate and strengthen himself.


    Once his power passed through a certain threshold, things would go his way. The test would no longer be a difficulty to him.


    Fang Yuan was all set in his plan and went ahead to meet Elder Smelter.


    ...


    A few days later, Golden Sun Prosperous Land.


    "After a few arguments, I managed to find out the baseline... I can still retain my Golden Sun Prosperous Land and the pact for me to not participate in other mandatory missions for 10 years. Just that I had to accept one mission!" Fang Yuan thought.


    In actual fact, he had no other choice.


    After the events in the Ancient Realm, three elders were injured and many alliance members died. The original arrangements were barely sufficient and new bloods had to replace these empty positions.


    Furthermore, it was not only him. Even Zhou Hun and other members of the alliance who worked behind the scenes were deployed too.


    "Also¡­...I can only at most drag for half a year! In half a year, I need to strengthen myself!"


    Secretly entering Ancient Realm was the best way for Fang Yuan to strengthen himself.


    Although that realm was extremely defensive, it did not purge Fang Yuan. But now, after such events, it was very likely many higher beings were paying extra attention to him now. He would be caught if he were to enter the realm! Furthermore, the realm was in havoc now, it was obvious that the heavenly trend was changing. If he riskily entered the realm, even if he could reap great benefits, he would most likely garner hatred. Hence, Fang Yuan would not enter the realm and he still had to slowly plan first.


    "Other than the Ancient Realm, the other coordinates I can contact are limited. Furthermore, they are small realms which were attacked numerous times and they would have nothing left..."


    Fang Yuan sighed, "Looks like I still have to cultivate more over a period of time first."


    Luckily, he did not come back empty-handed from Ancient World.


    Inside his actualised dream world, a drop of blood-red coloured crystal vibrated slightly. It had a mysterious glow on it and was being repeatedly analysed, emitting bits and pieces of witchcraft dao''s legacy.


    "Witches valued the body the most. This complements the Hundred Poison Golden Body technique I have been refining... If I can absorb this blood and fully analyse its divine techniques, my martial arts and body will greatly improve."


    "Other than that, I still have the inheritance from Sage Changli which I will be learning continuously from. At the 4th Tier of Illusionary Divine, I can now see and analyse even more content!"


    "The most important things in this half a year would be this two!"

 365 Fiery Golden Eyes

    A few months later, at the Golden Sun Prosperous Land.


    Fang Yuan laid in a pool of hundred types of poison and both his hands were resting on the sides of the pool as though he was soaking in a hot spring tub. He had a look of enjoyment on his face.


    "I''m afraid that I might just achieve the 10th Refining Stage today!"


    He opened his eyes and seemed excited.


    Fang Yuan had wholeheartedly accepted the fact that he would have to undergo a test.


    He could not avoid the chaos in Da Qian. Even if he were to hide in an isolated place, he would still have to enter the Dream Realm and interact with the other dream masters, right?


    Anywhere with the existence of people would have civilisation!


    It would be the same for every organisation. Most of the players in the game of chess had made their way from being pawns. The only difference which set them apart was that the players had spent more time in the organisation than the pawns.


    Taking this time as an example, Fang Yuan could only accept what was given to him since it was the rules of the alliance.


    In his actualised dream world, a dragon pearl floated up and down and emitted a mysterious glow from it. Pieces of information started to flow out from it, which was subsequently classified according to the type of information.


    "I am only a middle-ranked dream master and yet, I have access to all these information..."


    Fang Yuan started to read a recording which detailed the tips for a dream master to take note when dream-traversing. The information provided on this recording was much more detailed than that provided in the Dream Realm.


    Even 6th to 7th Leaf Cultivators might not be able to obtain these pieces of information.


    Now, all of these were his to enjoy.


    "Sage Changli seems to be an expert in dream-traversing... I have never heard of all his methods. He must be incredibly talented... I wonder what secrets are there in the heart of all of this information?"


    Fang Yuan retrieved a recording which detailed a technique in it. This technique was about retaining the True Spirits of dream masters in other realms to deny them of any chance of escaping. This piqued his interest as he continued to read in detail.


    Unknowingly, a few hours had passed and the pool of poisonous water had slowly cleared up. He climbed out of the pool, shook off the water droplets from his body and channelled a force throughout his entire body, clearing any residue from it.


    Water started to evaporate from his body as steam, revealing a clear-looking skin beneath. On the skin, there was a layer of metallic-gold hue.


    "I have finally completed the 10th Refining Stage of the Hundred Poison Golden Body!"


    Fang Yuan let out a heavy breath and clenched his fists, cracking his knuckles in the process.


    "I can now use my physical body to fight against Meridian Opening Wu Zongs! Only such a body is strong enough to accept the blood essence of a witch!"


    Since he was unable to dream-traverse and reap rewards from other realms, the only way he could increase his cultivation in such a short period would be to absorb the blood essence of the witch.


    Although this was a good treasure, Fang Yuan still needed a good foundation before he could accept it. If he was a normal Wu Zong or even a Meridian Opening Wu Zong, he might destroy his own physical body if he were to absorb this blood essence.


    Fang Yuan had done multiple experiments and finally determined that the minimum strength he had to have before he could absorb the blood essence was that of the 10th Refining Body!


    The physical body was the source of one''s essence, which was completely different from the strength of a Wu Zong.


    However, it didn''t matter. Fang Yuan already had a technique to strengthen his own physical body.


    With a single thought, the blood-red crystal in his actualised dream world exploded, turning into streaks of energy which entered his body.


    "Mmmm..."


    Fang Yuan gritted his teeth as his face turned ferocious.


    Beneath his skin, his green veins started to pop out and wriggle about like small snakes. His muscles started to grow and his physical body started to expand, turning him into a small giant.


    "The blood essence of a witch is indeed powerful... This is too strong!"


    He mumbled to himself as he felt as though his body was on the verge of breaking down. However, his strong spiritual will remained steadfast and unaffected by external factors, keeping him composed.


    "Buzz! Buzz!"


    A layer of metallic-gold started to cover him. He did not explode into a bloodied mess purely because he had the foundation of a 10th Refining Body.


    However, that was not enough.


    As the blood of the witch entered his body, Fang Yuan felt as though there were countless untamed dragons surging about in his arteries.


    The huge force in his blood felt like magma, destroying anything in its path.


    Even with the protection of his Golden Body, there were countless bruises forming beneath his pores.


    "What''s this... my original blood is being forced out? The blood essence of the witch is indeed demanding. Is it trying to change my entire body? What a pity... the only thing I want from you is your power!"


    Fang Yuan quickly summoned the sword essences of wind, thunder, water and fire around him. With the 4 elements, he formed a miniature realm around him, which started to strengthen his physical body.


    In his dantian, Fang Yuan''s martial arts elemental force started to surge as it tried to take control of the force of the witch''s blood.


    Although the barbaric force of the witch''s blood was like an uncontrolled dragon, Fang Yuan''s martial arts elemental force flowed continuously. Gaining an upper hand with an immense volume, it started to gain control over the blood essence of the witch with every passing day.


    300 days!


    600 days!


    1,000 days!


    ...


    Time had passed. Suddenly, Fang Yuan''s body shook and his elemental force surged. After all this while, he had finally absorbed more than half of the blood essence.


    Like scalding hot water, the burning sensation started to spread to his limbs. It was a numb and itchy feeling which alternated with a cold and hot feeling.


    "This time... It is not my blood that is changing. Instead, it is my blood trying to control the witch''s blood which caused all these problems!"


    Fang Yuan knew that his physical body belonged to Da Qian and he was not prepared to visit the Ancient Realm regularly. Therefore, he did not want to change his blood entirely.


    Furthermore, the world in which he lived in might not accept the blood essence from a powerful being from an alternate realm. He might be restricted in certain ways if he were to change his blood.


    Therefore, the best way for him to make use of the witch''s blood was to use it to strengthen his own.


    "I have long destroyed Xing''s spirit. Now, I just have to merely tame the blood, for Xing''s imprints still linger in it. Let''s do this!"


    Fang Yuan''s spiritual will shook.


    "Rumble!"


    His actualised dream world started to shake and information regarding witchcraft started to overflow.


    In his dantian, the last bits of resistance from the witch''s blood started to die down and his inflated body started to shrink.


    "Whoosh!"


    As his eyebrows twitched, with the wave of his hands, a dim red scab fell from his body as though a snake was shedding its skin.


    "I can use this opportunity to expel the poison in me..."


    Fang Yuan frowned as he quickly ripped apart the blood leeches on his body. Looking at his bronze skin, he remained speechless.


    After completely absorbing the witch''s blood essence, there were huge changes to his body.


    He clenched his right fist and immediately, there was a shattering sound as though the air in his fist was contracted.


    "Is this... my physical strength? It seems like this is not all..."


    He could clearly feel warmth in his eyes, which he could activate at will. "A magical ability? I get to use this ability which was once exclusive to only those with the martial arts divine body?"


    As he waved his hands, a mirror made out of water appeared, reflecting his godlike appearance.


    Fang Yuan examined himself. The young man in the mirror was handsome and energetic. He had beautiful eyes and as his eyes moved, they turned into a golden colour, like tiny flames in the eyes.


    "Is this the ability of a spiritual eye?"


    He gazed outwards and realised that he could now see through the walls of the hall and even through arrays. He could see the natural elemental energy in the surroundings.


    "I seem more suited to develop abilities that make use of my eyes!"


    After all of these, Fang Yuan seemed more matured and gentle. He smiled to himself. "Is this the complete version of the Fiery Eyes, the Fiery Golden Eyes?"


    With this, he called for this stats window and observed a huge change:


    "Name: Fang Yuan


    Essence: 96


    Spirit: 48


    Magic: 60


    Profession: Dream Soldier Master


    Cultivation: Illusionary Divine (4th Tier), Wu Zong (5th Meridian)


    Technique: [Giant Eagle Metal Body Technique (Grade 6) (1%)], [Hundred Poison Golden Body (10th Refining)], [8 Gates Sword Array (5th Sword) (1%)]


    Skill: [Medicine (Level 3)], [Botany (Level 5)], [Fiery Golden Eyes (Level 1)]"


    "Fiery Golden Eyes: The ability of a witch, formed from Level 5 of Fiery Eyes. It allows one to observe the future and perform predictions, and can nullify most spells! Currently at Level 1!"


    "This is indeed the power of a witch''s blood essence to be able to double my physical strength!"


    Seeing that his Essence was about to reach 100, Fang Yuan took in a cold breath. "I think that I am not far from forming the martial arts divine body! With such a foundation, I am now scarily strong!"


    Other than obtaining the skill of Fiery Golden Eyes, there was nothing much. However, the foundation that it had laid out for Fang Yuan''s physical body was unimaginable!


    "I would be stronger than any martial artist who is not a True Divine!"


    Fang Yuan slowly experienced his strengthened body and was feeling extremely satisfied. "Of course, it''s still most important to continue my cultivation! Now that my Essence is greatly improved, I can attempt to open my meridians. No matter how much brute force I use to achieve the next breakthrough, my physical body will be able to handle the stress, and my martial arts can be improved by leaps and bounds!"


    The foundation of a martial artist would be their physical body.


    Now that Fang Yuan''s physical body was strengthened, his previous path towards forming the Divine Body was now replaced with a more straightforward and foolproof path. The only thing that would limit his progress now was time.


    "Breathe in... breathe out..."


    Thinking about this, he quickly walked out of his hall and started to breathe.


    "Whooo! Whooo!"


    Suddenly, in the middle of Golden Sun Prosperous Land, there was a tornado. Spiritual energy from the surroundings was slowly being sucked in.


    The tornado started to become more intense as time passed!


    Huge amounts of elemental energy from the surroundings were being absorbed as well, and even the 99 Golden Suns Gigantic Array started to shake.


    "What magical technique... is Lord cultivating this time..."


    At the farms, Meng Tian and Meng Guang raised their heads to such a terrifying scene. Even though they were Wu Zongs, their legs started to turn jelly. The servants around them could not hold on any longer and went down on their knees.


    Fang Yuan could not care so much about them.


    Seeing that the foundation for his physical body was improved and that the experience bar for his Giant Eagle Metal Body Technique was slowly filling up, he felt excited.


    50% - 75% - 100%!


    In a moment, the 6th spiritual meridian was formed.


    Furthermore, Fang Yuan''s body did not stop there as it continued to scale further.

 366 Aid

    "Whoosh!"


    A blurred silhouette rushed through the forest, across a few areas with perilous dangers and finally arrived at the boundary of Golden Sun Prosperous Land.


    As the silhouette came to a stop, the person was revealed to be Zhou Tian in a scholarly disguise.


    "Who would''ve thought that a simple command from the alliance would send all of us scrambling about!"


    He gazed at the opening of a cave and let out a bitter laugh. "This kid has extreme potential and is able to improve his cultivation very quickly. His level of rights is also increasing at a shocking rate. It only took a while for him to reach the level of rights of a 5th Leaf Cultivator. To think about it, he is now my superior!"


    There was no limit for cultivation.


    It was perfectly normal for juniors to overtake their seniors in terms of cultivation.


    However, the fact that Fang Yuan was able to do it in such a short time considering the fact that things were made difficult for him made Zhou Tian feel that things were a little mysterious.


    Now that Zhou Tian had arrived, he walked into the cave and raised an order plate. "I am Zhou Tian of the Realm Alliance and I am requesting to see Lord Fang!"


    Since there was a certain level of rights inscribed in the order plate, the 99 Golden Suns Gigantic Array shook and his message was delivered through.


    "Haha... It''s Brother Zhou! Why do you make it sound like we are strangers?"


    Not long after, the array split and Fang Yuan walked out to welcome Zhou Tian.


    "I wouldn''t dare!"


    Zhou Tian bent over slightly and appeared humble. "In this mission, we are no longer related based on our appointments as treasurer and guardian. Instead, you are now my superior!"


    He solemnly gazed at the order plate. "... According to the elders of the alliance, we are both required to head to 9 Extremes Mountain for official business!"


    To think about it, the alliance could have just sent a message to Fang Yuan through the Dream Realm. By sending another dream master to inform him showed their sincerity as well as the importance of this mission, making it hard for Fang Yuan to reject.


    ''It seems like I''ll have to leave for at least half a year!''


    Fang Yuan smiled, for this was what he had expected as well. "After settling some minute stuff, I will be able to join you!"


    "Alright!"


    On small matters like this, Zhou Tian would naturally let Fang Yuan have his way.


    On the contrary, seeing how Fang Yuan treated him so kindly, he shuddered. ''This kid gave me a sense of extreme danger like a ferocious beast. Could he have cultivated a powerful technique for himself?!''


    Although he was shocked, a part of him was relieved. ''With him around, we would have a higher chance of completing the mission at 9 Extremes Mountain.''


    After a while, a spiritual boat flew out of the prosperous land. Meng Tian, Meng Guang, and the other servants followed behind to send their lord off.


    High up in the air, the wind was strong. There was glowing sphere surrounding the spiritual boat, which separated it from the surroundings outside.


    Fang Yuan stood at the bow of the boat and was shocked. "It''s rare to see such a magical boat!"


    "This is merely a mode of transportation. Brother Fang, have you seen the Imperial Court''s Kunpeng? That is a city in the sky, the ruler of the heavens!"


    Zhou Tian let out a bitter laugh once more. "We will need to pick up a few other dream masters along the way. I have prepared tea and some snacks in the room. Brother Fang, do you want to have some?"


    "Thank you for your good intentions, but I am good for now!"


    Fang Yuan appeared serious. He removed the protection around and allowed the strong gusts of wind to land on his body.


    "Whooo!"


    His body became somewhat like a black hole, sucking the energy of everything around it.


    ''I''m afraid that even 9 Meridians Wu Zong will not be able to compare to this body of mine?''


    After all this time, Fang Yuan had gained full control of his powerful physical body. With that, his strong body was now like the 4 Emblems Sword Array, something he could depend on to save his life. Furthermore, he had fewer restrictions to use the strength from his new physical body compared to the 4 Emblems Sword Array.


    With a strong foundation, the experience bar of the Giant Eagle Metal Body Technique quickly increased as well. As of now, Fang Yuan had already formed the 7th spiritual meridian and had achieved the lowest cultivation required for one to achieve the True Divine!


    ''The more spiritual meridians I have, the stronger I will become when I achieve True Divine. It''s a pity that the Giant Eagle Metal Body Technique is limited to the 8th spiritual meridian! If I want to achieve any more breakthroughs, I will have to depend on my Hundred Poison Golden Body!''


    Fang Yuan long had the idea to combine these two techniques into one. Now that his physical body had been enhanced, this gave him an even stronger foundation to do so.


    As he looked at his stats, he could not help it but smile. "With the strengthening of my physical body, the Spirit in me is increasing rapidly as well!"


    There were a few changes in the window:


    "Name: Fang Yuan


    Essence: 96


    Spirit: 70


    Magic: 60


    Profession: Dream Soldier Master


    Cultivation: Illusionary Divine (4th Tier), Wu Zong (7th Meridian)


    Technique: [Giant Eagle Metal Body Technique (Grade 8) (5%)], [Hundred Poison Golden Body (10th Refining)], [8 Gates Sword Array (5th Sword) (1%)]


    Skill: [Medicine (Level 3)], [Botany (Level 5)], [Fiery Golden Eyes (Level 1)]"


    With such a strong physical body as a foundation and the fact that Fang Yuan had spent most of his time practicing his martial arts and had nourished himself with nutrients and supplements, he managed to achieve consecutive breakthroughs in his martial arts.


    Furthermore, he had the utmost confidence that he could push his Giant Eagle Metal Body Technique to the limit of the 8th Meridian.


    However, if he were to complete the breakthrough, he would not have achieved his fullest potential. Therefore, he still required the aid of his Hundred Poison Golden Body.


    Something to note was that after reading through the cultivation experiences of Sage Changli and the recordings on witchcraft, Fang Yuan had begun to set his sights on other worlds and had a clearer path of martial arts.


    ''However... Just my physical body alone is already a powerful weapon in itself.''


    Fang Yuan was deep in his thoughts. ''This will be especially so while I''m in 9 Extremes Mountain!''


    With that thought, a flash appeared on his hands and a jade inscription plate appeared. The details regarding this mission started to flow into his consciousness.


    9 Extremes Mountain!


    This mountain was among the 10 Perilous Places in Da Qian. It had a popular legend behind it. Legend had it that an unknown Sage had passed away there, causing its hollow to merge with the world!


    Even Sages were vulnerable and could similarly experience death!


    With their passing, their hollows would either slowly disintegrate, be sealed away and left for their descendants, or be shattered to merge with the real world, resulting in the formation of either spiritual lands or perilous lands.


    9 Extremes Mountain was a mountain range with stretched out for 1,000 miles. In it, there were many unique types of flowers and grass, and countless weird-looking beasts. There were many unknown secrets in it as well, and it was these secrets which attracted many dream masters to explore the mountain.


    Unfortunately, there were many dangers in the mountain. Not only did it have many wild and ferocious beasts, a ban was also placed on the mountain by the late Sage. Finally, the mountain had a special property known as ''The Ultimate Segregation'', which would separate anyone in the mountain from the outside. Even natural elemental energy and dream elemental energy would be affected!


    It was because of all these unique traits of the mountain which gave it the name ''9 Extremes Mountain''!


    "Of course... although it is a perilous land, the potential for opportunities is there. Among the many dream masters who had explored the mountain, a few of them had discoveries of their own and became powerful later on!"


    "It was rumoured that the ban imposed on the mountain was incomplete due to the fact that the hollow had been shattered. Therefore, in specific periods of time, the ban would be at its weakest. That would be the best time to conduct any explorations!"


    After the shattering of the hollow, it would merge with the real world and even Sages would not be able to isolate it.


    Of course, they could forcefully isolate it from the real world, but they would also anger the heavens in the process and it would not be worth it.


    Although the 9 Extremes Mountain was extremely dangerous and was a hollow left behind by a Sage, it was still able to attract many dream masters in the Prominent Divine stage.


    "In fact, there might be Sages who had already explored it, but we are just merely unaware of it!"


    Fang Yuan was lost in his thoughts as he thought about this mission. "... We are tasked to enter 9 Extremes Mountain! Even at the boundaries of the mountain, the other 4 Grand Organisations are already coming together to combine forces. This shows that the mountain is indeed special!"


    Because of the Realm Alliance''s previous failure, the alliance had been maintaining a low profile since then. However, the alliance had still sent out dream masters to the 9 Extremes Mountain, and this was the same for all 5 Grand Organisations, making the mountain seem extraordinary!"


    "Wait a minute..."


    Fang Yuan''s expression changed as though he had recalled something. "The 9 Extremes Mountain... I seem to have read about this description in the inheritance of Sage Changli. It was an important node..."


    Unfortunately, he had only read the brief description of it and he had only obtained one-sixth of the full inheritance. Therefore, he was still confused.


    ...


    The 1,000 miles of 9 Extremes Mountain was mostly shrouded in fog. There was a colourful glow covering the entire mountain and lone cultivators who would wander into the glow would all die a gruesome death.


    There were a few rare weaker spots. There were either created by fate when the hollow shattered, or they might be weakened by powerful dream masters. These weak spots were perfect for others to enter. Therefore, these spots were determined as gathering points, or strongholds, for dream masters.


    Although the 9 Extremes Mountain was filled with danger, the treasures were extremely worth it. Naturally, it could attract and play on the greed of many dream masters.


    However, the dream masters of the 5 Grand Organisations had guarded these entrances fiercely, denying entry to any members of the Imperial Court or lone cultivators.


    At this point in time, at the stronghold of the Realm Alliance.


    A few flying boats appeared in mid-air in the form of streaks of light. They quickly gathered above the stronghold.


    From the stronghold emerged many dream masters. They were alert and had a look of anticipation on their faces.


    "Mmm, we have communicated with them before. The mark is right. They are one of us!"


    One of the dream masters nodded his head. "Let them in!"


    An invisible vibration started to spread and the dream masters around started to let their guard down. This was especially so for those in a nearby tall building. Their fierce spiritual auras slowly disappeared.


    "Whoosh! Whoosh!"


    3 flying boats slowly landed, creating an air current as they landed. 10 over dream masters alighted from the boat and looked around in curiosity.


    ''Just 15 of them?''


    Beneath them, the leader of the dream masters gave a depressed look before smiling and approaching the newcomers. "I am Xing Yunzi, the guardian of this land. Welcome!"


    "Alright!"


    Fang Yuan and the rest of them returned their greetings.


    Xing Yunzi had an unpredictable spiritual aura. He was a dream master in the 6th Tier of the Illusionary Divine stage, one step away from being a 7th Tier dream master!


    Although he was only one step away, he was still very different from a dream master in the 7th Tier of the Illusionary Divine stage, but ultimately, he still had a chance.


    "Haha... no need for formalities. I have prepared a banquet and hope that all of you will join me. We shall rest for 3 days before entering 9 Extremes Mountain!"


    Xing Yunzi was a decisive person.


    With that, he started to examine the newcomers. Finally, he took notice of Fang Yuan, Zhou Tian and another dream master in the 4th Tier of the Illusionary Divine stage.


    These 3 dream masters were all that the Realm Alliance had sent to help out.


    "Please!"


    As his heart wavered, he walked up and invited Zhou Tian and the other Illusionary Divine dream master to join in the banquet. With that, he gazed at Fang Yuan. "You must be Fang Yuan, right? You''re young but you have already attained the 4th Tier of the Illusionary Divine stage and are a 5th Leaf Cultivator. You''re indeed a young hero! You are the future of our alliance, and I am relieved!"


    Fang Yuan smiled as he followed Xing Yunzi into the main hall.


    As they got seated, female servants started to serve wine. He slowly examined his surroundings and noticed another familiar face. With that, Fang Yuan let out a sinister smile.


    Across the hall, Li Bai held his head down and wished he was an ostrich at that moment. His entire body was shaking in fear.


    After losing his grandfather as his backing, it was as though he had lost his spine.

 367 Node

    In Fang Yuan eyes, Li Bai was merely a worthless stalk of weed. As long as Li Bai did not come close to Fang Yuan, Fang Yuan could not be bothered about him.


    After the banquet, the dream masters returned to their rooms. Fang Yuan sat cross-legged and began detailedly searching inside the inheritance of Sage Changli.


    In his actualised dream world, a dragon pearl shined brightly. It was hazy inside the pearl and a golden-green dragon was pulling out streaks from it to be analysed.


    "This is the Sage''s legacy. As I am only a dream master at the 4th Tier of Illusionary Divine, I can only at most see the middle levels and not its core... However, they are already enough!"


    Based on his memory, Fang Yuan picked out a grey spot and analysed it. It turned into a magnificent map of the world.


    The vast Da Qian Empire was in the centre with 99 regions in it and it occupied a large portion of fate energy. On it, there were many tiny stars littered around.


    "Evidence of fate and breaths of the earth could be found in the world. This was especially so for breaths of the earth, they had meridians which could be found and nodes on the earth¡­.."


    Areas with numerous nodes gathered would form natural prosperous lands and spiritual lands. Some of these areas were hubs of earth meridians and were key positions that would attract numerous people.


    It was obvious that there was such an area inside the 9 Extremes Mountain!


    "Sage Changli had calculated that there are over a thousand nodes in the entire Da Qian Empire. However, this map is slightly tattered and there are only 365 nodes shown on it, which is the number of days in a year... If arrangements are made on these nodes and they are tweaked during crucial moments, the direction of the breaths of the earth can even be manipulated. This would be a big hit to the imperial court of Da Qian!"


    Fang Yuan faced turned serious as he continued to ponder, "But it seems like Sage Changli''s arrangements are not so simple, there''s more to it!"


    Fang Yuan had one-sixth of Sage''s heredity while all other dream masters and Da Qian royalties solely relied on information from Changli''s investigations. Thus, Fang Yuan could naturally read more than what meets the eyes.


    "It is not so simple to be just about disrupting the foundation... But I still have to wait and see what would truly happen..."


    Amongst the thousand plus earth meridian nodes in Da Qian, some were big while some were small. The one in 9 Extremes Mountain was definitely an extremely important one.


    Of course, Fang Yuan himself was clear of that and the Realm Alliance was clear of that too. But no one knew what Da Qian and the Hidden Dragon Guards would do.


    ...


    Three days later.


    An opening in 9 Extremes Mountain.


    In the dense forest, a thick white fog sealed off the opening. It was a powerful restriction that seemed to segregate the mountain from everything else.


    During noon, the white fog slowly dispersed and a passageway could be seen.


    "When the 9 Extremes Mountain was discovered, it resulted in a calamity. It caused the demise of an ancient kingdom..."


    Xing Yunzi stroked his beard and continued, "It''s such a shame that its restrictions have lived for thousands of years and have never been broken before. Especially with The Ultimate Segregation array, once you enter the mountain, not only would your elemental energy be isolated, even your dream elemental energy would be isolated! You must be careful!"


    Behind him were Fang Yuan, Zhou Tian and a dream master also at the 4th Tier of Illusionary Divine called Peng Xuan. Peng Xuan was very ethereal as he held a horsetail whisk in his hand and was donned in an airy green robe.


    No matter what realm or world was it, power decided a person''s standing.


    Xing Yunzi was leading them and behind him were the three 4th Tier Illusionary Divine dream masters. Further behind them were the other Illusionary Divine dream masters. For those like Li Bai, they could only stand the furthest away and listen to the orders quietly.


    Peng Xuan smiled and said, "Rest assured, Sir... we are well aware of the dangers of 9 Extremes Mountain. This is why we brought along a few strong men to use!"


    As 9 Extremes Mountain was segregated from the outside, dream masters and spiritual knights would not be able to use their techniques freely. Hence, they could only rely on their martial artists as they would be the least restraint.


    Fang Yuan looked around and saw numerous submissive looking powerful martial artists as expected. Fang Yuan could not help but to silently judge.


    There were no True Divines amongst them which was very normal.


    True Divine martial artists had already forged their Divine Body and were not bound by their flesh. They also have extremely powerful divine techniques. If they pledged loyalty to Da Qian, they would get to enjoy a rich and wealthy life, why would they degrade themselves down here?


    Only powerful beings at the Prominent Divine stage could possibly have True Divines as slaves under them. But this was definitely not the case for these dream masters here.


    "Fang Yuan¡­.. You don''t have anyone to order about, do you want me to lend you two?"


    Zhou Tian walked forward and spoke in a scornful way.


    "No need!"


    Fang Yuan took a glance at those behind Zhou Tian and saw a few strong men with bronze skin and divine light shining from them. They were definitely Wu Zongs at the 5th or 6th Meridian!


    Such loyal subordinates had to follow their masters closely even in life and death situations. They must be groomed from young and slowly influenced which Fang Yuan would not be able to.


    However, he did not felt deprived and instead clenched his fists and smiled inside his heart secretly.


    Although dream masters could also refine their body, not many could endure the pain from it. Also, they would not even be comparable to Fang Yuan''s 10th Refining Body, what about his current powerful body? Hehe...


    "Good, let''s go!"


    Xing Yunzi spoke no further and ordered two strong men to protect him on his left and right side as he stepped into 9 Extremes Mountain.


    "Rumble!"


    Fang Yuan and the rest followed behind immediately and felt as though they crossed a layer of the boundary of the spiritual territory.


    Their expressions change at once!


    "Indeed, there is a layer of restriction that suppresses us. The channel in which I absorb dream elemental force has been isolated, wait, no! I can''t say its fully isolated, it is just restricted, like it used to be like a large river and now it is like a small stream. The elemental force which I have already accumulated is not affected. Is this The Ultimate Segregation?"


    Anyone who cultivates would utilise magical energy!


    Magical energy would combine with the person''s'' own mental strength, which would allow them to absorb elemental force from the surroundings to improve their body and hence, form divine techniques.


    This was the case for spiritual knights! Dream masters too!


    Just that the elemental force dream masters absorb were dream energy from a higher dimension, which is the dream elemental force. Dream elemental force had numerous powerful uses and could suppress everything!


    Thus, to become a dream master, there would be a higher requirement for one''s magical energy. Not everyone could become a dream master and those who could are gifted!


    In Da Qian, the most talented and intelligent ones were dream masters! After dream masters, it was the spiritual array masters, the medicine master, the spiritual knights, the martial artists, et cetera!


    Furthermore, there would be no problems absorbing dream elemental force in other worlds.


    However, this was not the case in 9 Extremes Mountain!


    "In this mountain, once dream elemental force is depleted, it would be extremely difficult to replenish it! Hence, refrain from using spells! Have a sufficient supply!"


    Xing Yunzi voice could be heard by the whole group.


    "Elemental energy from the surroundings have been reduced by 99% too, there''s practically nothing left... The martial artists are still fine as even if elemental force was hard to recover, they still have their powerful bodies!"


    Fang Yuan glanced around a saw terrified expressions on most of the dream masters'' faces.


    "This is not even a situation where all their powers are isolated, they can still slightly use them...." Fang Yuan thought.


    Fang Yuan could not help but sigh as he thought, "Dream masters can actualised divine techniques, but in reality, these were all gifted by the heavens from the world with the natural source¡­... The Ultimate Segregation array is a good point that proves this. Unless a dream master cultivates until he does not require forces outside him, he would remain affected!!!"


    By not requiring outside forces, it meant that one''s own body contained everlasting powers. Even Sages could not achieve that!


    After all, even their hollows needed to be rooted in a world to grow!


    "Thankfully, other than inside 9 Extremes Mountain, no one else in Da Qian could cast such a powerful The Ultimate Segregation array. Else... martial arts would prosper in this world!"


    Fang Yuan looked at the two martial artists in front of him.


    These Wu Zongs were merely slaves in their dream masters eyes and were derogatorily called "strong men". There were also different levels of Wu Zongs amongst them.


    For example, Zhou Tian''s Wu Zongs were around 5th to 6th Meridian and so were Peng Xuan''s. Whereas, dream masters behind them only had normal or average Wu Zongs and some were even alone as they had none.


    The two Wu Zongs beside Xing Yunzi were at least at the 7th Meridian and it could be felt as though they were about to forget their martial artist Divine Body!


    Once they forge it successfully, they would be a True Divine martial artist and their status would rise exponentially! Even Xing Yunzi would not be able to order them around.


    "Of course... martial arts is easy at the start and tough at the end. Even with the 12 Golden Gates, Wu Zongs who could go beyond the 7th Meridian were extremely rare. Even amongst 100 qualified Wu Zongs, there might not even be one who can successfully forge the Divine Body." Fang Yuan thought.


    Fang Yuan secretly sized up the two Wu Zongs beside Xing Yunzi. They appeared to be middle-aged but their bodies had a waning aura, it was evident that they were not young anymore. They might even have consumed pills that extended their life.


    Martial arts cultivation was extremely tough, it required one to repeatedly exhaust his own body''s potential and even abuse their body for short-sighted gains. Even if the Wu Zongs were nourished with elemental force, they also had to break through their Meridian and hence, their vitals would be damaged and their lifespan would be much shorter than spiritual knights and dream masters.


    Unless they forged the martial arts Divine Body, transformed into this new body and thus cleansed their body, else, their lifespan would remain as short.


    Except, such a leap was extraordinarily difficult, not many people could pass it.


    "This current mission does not require us to do much, we just have to build a stronghold at the periphery of 9 Extremes Mountain and then guard it!"


    Fang Yuan pondered about the current mission.


    In actual fact, if there was no interference from the royalties of Da Qian and the Hidden Dragon Guards, they only had to face the dangers of the mountain itself which were relatively simple as of now.


    The forests were abundantly dense and the fog was especially thick. The entire group was silent and only the shuffling of feet could be heard.


    "So quiet! No... it''s too quiet, I am afraid there''s something wrong!"


    Immediately, Xing Yunzi''s yell could be heard from in front, "We have a situation on our hands!"


    "Woosh!"


    Numerous green arrow-like shadows appeared from all sides of the surroundings.


    Upon closer look, there were numerous small snakes spitting out their red tongues that were hiding inside the thick fog. They were perfectly blended in the background before they appeared and even Illusionary Divine dream masters did not detect them with their spiritual will. As they suddenly surfaced, it was as though thousands of arrows were suddenly launched at once!


    "Puff!"


    One of the dream masters who stood further away did not manage to evade fast enough. A layer of protective fluorescent armour appeared over his body but blood splurged out as the green shadow penetrated right through it with no signs of it slowing down!


    "Elemental Piercing Snake? This kind of snake is extremely fast and its body is like metal and can pierce through elemental defence! Be careful!"


    Peng Xuan immediately warned everyone. He then shook his whisk and thousands of silver lines appeared and sliced the green snake at once which caused droplets of blood to spew everywhere.


    After all, it was just a normal ferocious animal that launched a surprise attack, else mediocre dream masters would be able to manage it too.


    "Kill!"


    The strong men finally reacted and whipped out their weapons to fight and protect the dream masters.


    Even so, a few shrieks could be heard as some dream masters were still attacked.


    "Hiss! Hiss!"


    Suddenly, a huge hole was torn from the ground. A green light emerged from it which charged towards Fang Yuan at the speed of light!

 368 Blood Mosquitoes

    "Hehe, you''re seeking death!"


    Fang Yuan''s eyes glistened as a streak of wind and thunder sword essence appeared, slicing the snake into half.


    Wind and thunder were extremely quick! One slice was all it took to behead the snake, as blood started to spurt out.


    As he stretched his hands out, the head of the snake landed on his head and was still squirming about.


    "The Elemental Piercing Snake has extremely sharp fangs and poisonous venom!"


    Beside him, Zhou Tian gave a friendly reminder.


    "Thank you for your reminder!"


    Fang Yuan placed his palms together and kept the snake''s head in his sleeves before examining the surroundings.


    The dream masters around were all powerful dream masters of the Realm Alliance. They could quickly gain their composure after the ambush, eradicated all the green snakes and started to account for their losses.


    "Lord Xing Yunzi, we have 5 deaths. Among these 5 are 2 dream masters, Li Bai and Xia Ruo!"


    Very quickly, they accounted for the deaths, and the news shocked Fang Yuan.


    "Li Bai!"


    Fang Yuan took a few steps forward. Indeed, there was the corpse of a young man with the wound of a fang on his forehead. He had an expression of willingness as his face appeared unnatural.


    "Gather the corpses and bury them!"


    Xing Yunzi did not even twitch his eyebrow.


    These experienced dream masters were extremely acquainted with death and did not react too much to it.


    This was especially so because Li Bai''s backing had already died. Now that Li Bai himself had died here, the Li Family would surely go down, for they had no one else who would give power to the family. Therefore, they casually buried him and left everything behind.


    There was a look of worry on Xing Yunzi''s face, for his team had suffered such a loss as soon as they entered the mountains.


    "Sigh... You, settle Li Bai''s corpse. I will inform the rest..."


    Seeing this, Zhou Tian sighed as he instructed a servant to clean up the mess.


    Noticing the Fang Yuan had glanced over, Zhou Tian tried to explain. "After all, I have a little friendship with his father, Li Qin. But that is all..."


    What Zhou Tian meant was that he was not willing to become enemies with Fang Yuan.


    "They are all dead. Why would I care? Brother Zhou, you''re thinking too much!"


    Fang Yuan smiled magnanimously.


    After all, the Li Family depended on Li Qin and pinned their hopes on Li Bai. Although both of them were gone, the Li Family still had plenty of resources. Many people would still try to establish relations with the family. By then, Zhou Tian''s unofficial relationship with the family would not aid him in any way. In fact, if the family wasn''t careful, they would end up becoming weaker and weaker.


    Therefore, he did not care about much and continued to chat with Zhou Tian.


    "There used to be many treasures in 9 Extremes Mountain. By now, many dream masters have already explored it and the number of treasures that are usable is getting lesser and lesser. Therefore, the number of dream masters coming here to explore is also reducing... The two biggest dangers are the wild animals and the restriction on the mountain! With regards to the restriction, the alliance has already investigated and have found a way to bypass it by using a map and exploiting the weak points. However, the locations of the beasts are always changing, and that is the most troubling thing..."


    Xing Yunzi calmly explained.


    These beasts were not normal beasts. They were mutated beasts created by a powerful person! They harnessed many unique and special abilities. Coupled with the dangers in 9 Extremes Mountain, even a careless dream master might succumb to the dangers.


    However, after this incident, the remaining dream masters were now more alert. They had no more encounters and finally, they had arrived at a lakeside.


    "It''s this region!"


    Xing Yunzi held a round-looking magical equipment and started to confirm his suspicions. "The node which my alliance is looking for his here! Once we locate the crypt, we will need to map its location. I''ll have to trouble everyone to inspect every corner of this lake."


    With that, he started to give out similar-looking magical equipment to Fang Yuan and the few other dream masters in the 4th Tier of the Illusionary Divine stage. "By having the few of us to lead the groups, we will eliminate the chances of encountering a danger. Pick a direction and start working!"


    "It''s this item!"


    Fang Yuan examined the ancient coin in his hands.


    The coin was circular in shape and was made from pure gold. It was used as a form of currency by normal people and gave off the vibe of royalty.


    "This is royal money made into a magical equipment by infusing people dao dragon energy and pure gold. Therefore, it can sense objects beneath the ground..."


    After benefitting from Sage Changli''s inheritance, Fang Yuan''s experience and knowledge was much more than the average dream master, and had an even greater understanding of this place compared to even Xing Yunzi.


    "This node is recorded in Sage Changli''s inheritance. However, this piece of inheritance is with me. It seems like the Realm Alliance has predicted this node from the location of the other nodes, and have yet to ascertain the exact location of the node!"


    Fang Yuan''s eyes glistened.


    Xing Yunzi had deployed him to the East, which was where the node laid!


    "Since I am fortunate enough, I shall explore it!"


    With that, he led a group of servants and started his exploration.


    Although there were many mutated beasts in 9 Extremes Mountain and many restrictions in place, the dream masters were in total control!


    Along the lake, Fang Yuan and company had walked towards the East for a few miles. The fog from the surroundings started to thicken, restricting their visibility.


    "Lord! There seems to be a restriction ahead!"


    The other dream masters were only in the 3rd Tier of the Illusionary Divine stage. Therefore, Fang Yuan was the undisputed leader. One of the dream masters had a look of anticipation on his face.


    "Let''s take a look!"


    Fang Yuan took a few steps forward and the fog started to disperse, revealing a messy stone array. Besides the array, there was nothing else but a large patch of empty space. There was a faint yellow glow in mid-air, which meant that there were restrictions in place here.


    "There should be something sealed within here. However, it looks like someone has already taken it away!"


    Another dream master took a step forward and his face was filled with regret.


    "It''s been taken away?"


    Fang Yuan focused as a hint of gold flashed across in his eyes.


    The other dream masters thought of nothing after seeing Fang Yuan execute his special ability. After all, dream masters would traverse to many worlds and would have seen many different types of weird techniques. This was obvious just a simple sight technique.


    Through his Fiery Golden Eyes, Fang Yuan could see much more.


    As he felt his eyes heating up, he could see through the fog. A ripple appeared on the scattered rock array and the truth was revealed.


    On the empty space, a few holes were now revealed. Black fog started to disperse out from it, which worried Fang Yuan. On the stone array outside, there was now an ancient-looking seal on it. The yellow glow formed many runes which gathered together to form a chain, restricting the black fog in within.


    "There are good and bad breaths of the earth. If the breath of the earth is good, then the place will be a prosperous land. If the breath is evil, does it make the place a perilous land?"


    This node made Fang Yuan feel uneasy and he could guess that the breath of the earth here must have been evil.


    "Lord? Do you have any findings?"


    A female dream master walked forward and gave a look of concern.


    She was rather pretty and started to tear up in her eyes. Her gentle voice was therapeutic.


    ''D*mn! What does Pink Deity intend to do...''


    The other dream masters were left speechless, and some of them were jealous of her.


    After all, in such troubled times, one could ensure one''s safety if one could win over the hearts of the powerful!


    One''s life would still be more important than honour and humiliation!


    "Mmm, I can see the restriction. All of you, combine your powers and remove the restriction. Be careful!"


    Fang Yuan acted and looked towards the ground. The ancient coin had some unnatural movements here. This might just be the location of the node!"


    "I see! We''ll do it!"


    With his command, the other dream masters had to exert their dream elemental force and strike on the restriction above the stone array.


    "Rumble!"


    Even though they had held back and only used part of their dream elemental force, their combined force was enough to make the restriction vibrate, revealing a crypt which was emitting black fog.


    "Lord, you''re spot on!"


    Pink Deity blinked and complemented Fang Yuan.


    "Although we''ve broken the restriction, we still need to deliver one final blow!"


    Fang Yuan could tell that although the restriction was passive, its defence was extremely strong, as though it was almost impossible to break through it.


    Although the dream masters had combined their forces to break it down, it could quickly recover itself, forming a stalemate - These situations which would challenge the endurance of dream masters was the type that dream masters would want to avoid.


    ''The Ultimate Segregation and a depletion restriction? What a great pair!''


    Fang Yuan thought to himself. As he waved his hands, the Water, Fire and Thunder swords appeared. With the power of the 3 Talents Array, Fang Yuan delivered a powerful strike towards the restriction.


    "Rumble!"


    As the entire place shook, the faint yellow glow shattered and smoke started to rise.


    ''He is indeed a powerful dream master in the 4th Tier of the Illusionary Divine stage. However, by using up so much of his dream elemental energy, is he not worried that he might encounter danger later?''


    The dream masters, including Pink Deity, were all shocked. Shortly after, an evil force was felt, which sent chills down their spines.


    At the same time, the ancient coin in Fang Yuan''s hand started to make a loud buzzing noise as though it had identified the location of the node.


    "Buzz!"


    "Buzz!"


    "What sound is that?"


    Amidst the smoke and fog, there was a buzzing sound and vibrations were felt, as though many birds were flapping their wings all at once.


    Pink Deity was stunned. Within moments, she could see a dark-red cloud floating from the crypt, which started to spread out.


    "What''s that?"


    Fang Yuan had an exceptional eyesight and could see immediately that the red cloud was a group of blood mosquitoes, and each of them were as big as a thumb. Their bodies were translucent as though they were carved from jade, and their proboscises were huge and scary. It was evident that this blood mosquito was a mutated variant.


    At this point in time, the mosquitos gathered together and flew towards the group of dream masters.


    "A dream of clouds and smoke!"


    Pink Deity was the closest to the mosquitoes. With the wave of her hand, she summoned a pink fluffy cloud to shield herself.


    "Pa! Pa!"


    As the mosquitoes collided with the cloud, the cloud vibrated violently and the mosquitoes exploded into a mist of blood.


    As the mist of blood became more and more concentrated, the defensive fog around Pink Deity started to thin out. Her face became pale with fear.


    "Ah!"


    The dream masters were managing well. However, the Wu Zongs accompanying them fell to the ground as they cried out loud. In a few moments, they had become a dried corpse!!


    It was a gruesome death for them to die with their corpse completely dry, their bones wrapped in a thin layer of skin.


    "Wow..."


    Seeing this, Fang Yuan was speechless. "The Elemental Piercing Snake is able to pierce through the elemental force defence of dream masters and spiritual knights. Now, there are Blood Mosquitoes which can pollute elemental force and break through the defence of Wu Zongs... How many mutated beasts did this Sage create?"


    With the flick of his finger, a streak of Thunder Sword essence flew out, slicing the air.


    The Blood Mosquitoes which were around him disappeared in an instant, and even the mosquitos in the vicinity were all gone. With that, he had saved Pink Deity''s life in the process.


    "Thank you for saving my life, Lord!"


    Pink Deity had yet to compose herself as she quickly hid behind Fang Yuan before expressing her gratitude.


    It was a good position to hide. After all, the mosquitos which came near were sliced by the lightning streaks around and turned into ash. The other male dream masters started to feel jealous of her. However, they could only clench their teeth and suck it up for the fact that they were male.

 369 Corpse Refining Technique

    "What are you staring at? Quickly send the signal and get Lord Xing here!"


    Although Fang Yuan could deal with the mosquitoes himself, he would rather not. With that, he shouted at the startled Pink Deity.


    "I understand!"


    Pink Deity snapped out of her trance and quickly activated her piece of jade. "Guardian Xing, I am Pink Deity. We have discovered a node at the East of the lake! We are now under mutant beasts attack, so please send help!"


    "Oh? You''ve found it!?"


    Xing Yunzi''s excited voice was heard from her piece of jade. "Hold it a little longer, I''ll be there in a jiffy!"


    ''There shouldn''t be any problem!''


    Fang Yuan glanced at the dream masters in his group.


    Other than Pink Deity who had such an encounter, the rest who died were mostly Wu Zongs.


    These Blood Mosquitoes seemed to prefer martial artists. Therefore, without the protection from the dream masters, these martial artists suffered severe injuries from the mosquitoes.


    "Buzz! Buzz!"


    Seeing that they were unable to penetrate any further, the Blood Mosquitoes started to fly into a different formation, forming a twisted shape which vaguely resembled a human''s face. It had a sinister look and suddenly, the face let out a shrilling voice.


    "Ah! Ah!"


    A piercing female voice was heard; it was akin to the scratching sound of a fingernail on a piece of glass. Everyone''s hair stood on their ends and all of them started to have goosebumps.


    "What''s this..."


    As soon as Fang Yuan focused, he could see an invisible vibration spreading out. Accompanying the vibration was a powerful force, and the nearby dream masters were all affected. Their eyes turned white and blood started to flow out of their ears. Some of them even fell straight to the ground, and it was unknown if they were dead or not.


    More importantly, their defences were immediately crippled as soon as the powerful force reached out to them!


    "Buzz! Buzz!"


    At that moment, the lady''s face started to disperse. Groups of mosquitoes started to spread out towards their defenceless preys, as though a hungry wolf had found a piece of meat in front of it.


    "Thunder, strike!"


    Fang Yuan shook his head. As he waved his hands, streaks of lightning appeared everywhere, striking the air. Ashes began to fall to the ground.


    "Chi! Chi!"


    As the mists of blood exploded, his depleted dream elemental energy was quickly restored.


    "This is not bad... I''m afraid that even normal dream masters in the 4th Tier of Illusionary Divine will not be able to take them down!"


    Fang Yuan commented before striking another sword out. "Wind Sword, go!"


    "Whooo! Whoo!"


    A hurricane started to pick up speed and the Blood Mosquitoes around him were blown about, losing all control.


    In fact, these mosquitoes were likely to find out that this enemy they were facing was not an ordinary enemy. They would have no chance to suck his blood and might even risk their proboscises. However, even so, Fang Yuan would not want to reveal his unusually strong physical body.


    Just as the tables were being turned, a few streaks of light appeared. It was the arrival of Xing Yunzi, Zhou Tian and a few others.


    "Who would know that there would be so many Blood Pitched Mosquitoes?"


    Xing Yunzi stood in front. As he evaluated the scene before him, he stretched his palms out.


    An invisible force started to increase in strength and Fang Yuan suddenly felt as though his body had become heavier.


    "Bang!"


    "Pa! Pa!"


    With that, the Blood Mosquitoes in the surroundings started to fall to the ground like raindrops.


    "Ha!"


    Xing Yunzi shouted as his head started to transform into that of a beast. He now had a sharp and pointed mouth with a long and red tongue. With that, he swung his tongue out.


    "Whoosh!"


    The Blood Mosquitoes on the floor were swept clean.


    "Is this... an anteater?"


    Fang Yuan was speechless.


    There was the Ultimate Segregation Array in the 9 Extremes Mountain. Therefore, anyone who wishes to enter would be required to have an extremely strong physical body. It was normal for the guardian of this place to be a dream beast master.


    After all, even if they were to deplete all their dream elemental force, he could still rely on his transformed beast form to survive for long periods.


    What Xing Yunzi had displayed was a partial transformation, which was an extremely high-levelled technique.


    After all, the magical beast which he was to transform to had to have the ability to eat up all these blood mosquitoes. In order for him to manage the Blood Mosquitos in his stomach, he needed to transform his stomach to that of another magical beast - Wenkong!


    Of course, Fang Yuan felt uneasy as he looked at Xing Yunzi.


    "Elder Xing, you''re finally here!"


    However, he could only keep his thoughts to himself. After all, Xing Yunzi was the strongest dream master here that was from the Realm Alliance. Therefore, Fang Yuan had to be humble in front of him.


    "Hmm! Who would''ve thought that there would be a nest of Blood Mosquitoes here!"


    Xing Yunzi transformed his head back into that of a human as he licked his lips. "Who are the casualties?"


    "We have about 6 to 7 dead, and the rest are injured by the high-pitched vibration..."


    Fang Yuan reported honestly.


    "The more Blood Pitched Mosquitoes there are, the more powerful their high-pitched sound will be. We can do nothing about it!"


    Looking at the crypt, Xing Yunzi nodded his head. "Who would''ve thought that there would be such a restriction over this node. Zhou Tian, Peng Xuan, Fang Yuan, follow me as we enter this crypt. As for the rest of you, prepare a campsite here and form a protective array!"


    Now that all the Blood Pitched Mosquitoes were gone, the crypt became visible to everyone as it laid in the middle of the messy stone array.


    The black fog which spewed continuously from the crypt resembled the mouth of a weird looking beast, as though it was prepared to swallow a person whole.


    "This is giving off a sinister vibe!"


    As Zhou Tian arrived at the side of the crypt, he examined the wide opening and was speechless. "I''m afraid that normal humans or even dream masters might be affected after coming into contact with this corrosive black fog!"


    "Let''s go!"


    With a long face, Xing Yunzi activated a layer of yellow scales around his body in an attempt to protect his vital parts. He led the group of them as they walked towards the crypt.


    The crypt was extremely large and the tunnel ran deep. After a few yards, everything became pitch-black.


    At the same time, glows appeared on the ancient coins in their hands, illuminating the entire place. This was a sign that they were getting closer and closer to the node.


    The wall was not made of soil or rock. Instead, it was a wall of crystals, and in these crystals, there were red glitters.


    "This is..."


    Fang Yuan took a few steps towards the wall and started to examine it.


    "Hehe... I see that you realised what it is. This is the larvae of the Blood Pitched Mosquitoes. This entire tunnel is, in fact, the nest of the Blood Mosquitoes... No wonder we can feel a sinister vibe everywhere."


    Zhou Tian sighed. At this point in time, the thick black fog started to surround them and now, there was already a visible layer of fog.


    What surprised Fang Yuan was the fact that there were no longer any dangers along the way in the tunnel. The 4 of them made it to the end smoothly as they arrived at a huge pool. In the middle of the pool, there was a pitch-black liquid which bubbled continuously.


    "Ahh, this node is indeed within an extremely perilous land!"


    Xing Yunzi shook his head and started to examine the surroundings.


    On the other hand, Fang Yuan started at the pool of black water and was lost in his thoughts.


    His physical body was already as close as the level of the 100th Refining Stage and he should be fine even if he were to take a swim in this pool. On the other hand, in the refining process, he might require a few poisons which can only be obtained in crypts like this for him to attain the 100th Refining Stage.


    "What are you thinking about? Are you interested in this poisonous water, Fang Yuan?"


    Peng Xuan gazed over with a look of anticipation as though he had found someone with similar interest. " This pool of black water is one of the most poisonous waters in the world, and even elemental force would corrode in it. However, it would be a good resource to use to refine corpses! Even if I were to throw in a most normal corpse, I might be able to get a Yaksa[1] in return!"


    "Refine a corpse?"


    Zhou Tian seemed to have understood something as he tugged at Fang Yuan''s sleeves. "I remember something. This Daoist Peng Xuan has a nickname, the ''King of Corpses''. It was rumoured that he had stumbled upon an extremely powerful corpse refining technique in one of the small realms. Obsessed with this, he went on to modify it and refined a few Iron Corpses and Golden Corpses as his bodyguards, but unfortunately..."


    Fang Yuan knew why Zhou Tian sighed at the end.


    The Bronze Corpse and Iron Corpse were powerful and impenetrable. However, the same could be achieved with highly-skilled martial artists. In fact, martial artists were even agiler than the corpses.


    With the Wu Zongs as servants, who would need to refine corpses?


    "That''s not true! Not true!"


    Peng Xuan waved his whisk. "The technique of refining corpses is a study on its own. Even the refining of the Golden Corpse is only elementary. If I can really refine a Yaksa, then I will really be skilled. After all, the Golden Corpse has a simple mind but the Yaksa has the mind comparable to a normal human being. If I am lucky and I am able to refine and create the Drought Beast, then keke... it will cause a drought in a 3,000-mile radius, and I''m not lying!"


    "Dream on!"


    Zhou Tian rolled his eyes. "What Drought Beast do you think you are talking about? That is only in the novels..."


    "That''s not true! The Drought Beast exists..."


    Peng Xuan started to look serious. "I don''t think I''ll ever achieve the 7th Tier of the Illusionary Divine stage in my life. However, if I am able to reincarnate into a Drought Beast, I will be able to lengthen my lifespan to live even longer than a Sage!"


    "Forget about it! You''ve told this story to almost everyone you meet, and you''re just finding new people to trick!"


    Zhou Tian immediately rebutted. "Fang Yuan, don''t take his word. Everything he said was imaginary. In our world, we can at most refine a Golden Corpse!"


    "Previously it is because I have limited resources!"


    Peng Xuan gazed at the pool of black water and his eyes glistened. "If I can make use of this treasured place, I can surely refine the Yaksa!"


    "Alright!"


    Xing Yunzi, who was examining the entire place, turned his head around. "Don''t make too much noise... As long as we succeed this time, in the future, no matter how long you guys like to stay here, you will be able to do so!"


    With that, he flicked a purple-coloured ancient coin into the pool.


    The ancient coin was made of gold, but this particular one was even more unique. It was translucent like a crystal and as soon as it fell into the pool of black water, it disappeared in a splash.


    As Fang Yuan focused, he could see a purple figure floating about at the bottom of the pool. After a while, it stopped at a particular spot.


    "It''s here!"


    Xing Yunzi seemed extremely excited. "Let''s go!"


    With the wave of his hands, a purple streak of light appeared. In the streak of light, there was a long needle. The needle flew into the water and through the hole in the middle of the coin which laid at the bottom of the pool.


    "Rumble!"


    It felt like hallucination as the entire crypt shook at the moment where the needle entered the hole!


    ''This is using the Dragon Searching Acupuncture Technique to search for the core of the node in the earth meridian...''


    Fang Yuan started to think to himself. ''After this, we should be building an altar directly above this place to keep it under control and to detect anything from it, right?''


    ...


    At the same time.


    Outside the 9 Extremes Mountain, in an isolated room.


    The room was extremely spacious and there was a bronze cauldron in the middle of the room. On the cauldron were 8 golden dragons facing in different directions.


    "Pa!"


    At this point in time, one of the dragons opened its mouth, spitting out a golden pearl which landed in the mouth of a golden toad below.


    "Are the earth meridians changing?"


    One of the old daoist guarding the place opened his eyes and moved his fingers in an attempt to predict something. "It''s from the 9 Extremes Mountain... Since the dragon meridian is injured we will have to remedy it within 9 days. Otherwise, all hope would be lost!"


    [1]: A Yaksa is a type of human-eating ghost.

 370 Peace

    Inside the messy stone array, 9 Extremes Mountain.


    A boxy looking altar was already built above the entrance of the crypt.


    Nearby it, the rites of numerous arrays surrounded the altar with numerous runes swirling around. There was a fierce and mighty aura to it.


    Inside the altar, Xing Yunzi sat right in the centre. He was expressionless and spoke, "The altar has been built, now we just need to guard it for nine days and the mission will be completed. After that, we just have to leave a few men to check on it occasionally!"


    Fang Yuan and Zhou Tian looked at each other and nodded.


    There was no need for Fang Yuan and Zhou Tian to give excuses or fight to stay. From the looks in Peng Xuan''s eyes, he was determined to be the one staying behind.


    "Anyway, within these nine days, we might be ambushed by Da Qian''s dream masters! We can''t let our guard down..." Xing Yunzi gravely reminded. He then assigned Fang Yuan and the rest to take turns to keep watch while the others rest.


    "No, wait... this 9 Extremes Mountain is the 5 Grand Organisation''s land. Where are the people of Divine Lotus Cult and Evil Divine Sect?"


    As Fang Yuan walked out the altar, a thought flashed in his mind, "Looks like... either there''s more than one node in 9 Extremes Mountain or they are hiding in the dark, preparing to ambush the Imperial Court?"


    The Realm Alliance suffered great losses due to the Hidden Dragon Guards previously, they would definitely want to seek vengeance.


    Ne one knew if this was a bait.


    Fang Yuan had never been afraid to judge those in the higher authorities with the worst intentions.


    "Sirs, we have already finished building some houses nearby! Come on in and rest!"


    Pink Deity was outside the altar and the moment he saw Fang Yuan and the rest, her eyes lit up. She went forward immediately to invite them to the houses and at the same time, gazed at Fang Yuan numerous times unintentionally.


    "Haha... great!"


    Zhou Tian laughed and gave Fang Yuan a look before walking away. Dream masters were powerful and there were no problems for them to be more easygoing in their private lives. Furthermore, Fang Yuan was young and virile, cough cough...


    "Great!"


    Beside the altar, a row of small houses was built with bricks. Fang Yuan entered his house and sat crossed legged as he looked at Pink Deity who followed in, "I understand your thoughts and I know you want me to protect you, but as someone who''s painfully cultivating, I''m not interested in romance nor sensual pleasures. As long as you listen to me in 9 Extremes Mountain, I will protect you to a certain extent!"


    "Yes, Sir!"


    Pink Deity''s cheeks turned slightly red as she replied, "I will pay diligently investigate and look for information to report to you daily!"


    "She''s smart at least!" Fang Yuan thought.


    In actual facts, lust was not forbidden to Fang Yuan. It was just because he had indulged enough in Mainland and was already tired of carnal pleasures.


    Now, it was not because he was not attracted to Pink Deity, but because after all, she was still a dream master. It was not good to be too involved with another dream master, especially during such times where war was imminent. Why would Fang Yuan have the spare thoughts to be involved with her?


    "Very well, I will not treat my own people shabbily!"


    Fang Yuan smiled and poured open his Mountain River Pearl. A few bags of Yellow Grain Rice came out from it and Fang Yuan then continued, "I''m not used to eating rough grains, you can cook and send these over to me for my daily meals and keep the rest!"


    "Yellow Grain Rice?"


    Pink Deity heaved a cold breath of air and almost fainted.


    Although the Mountain River Pearl and Yellow Grain Rice were rare, it still matched Fang Yuan''s position and status. Thus, Pink Deity would not have any negative thoughts about it.


    Just that when she saw how rich Fang Yuan was, her intentions to seek refuge with him grew even more.


    Fang Yuan was a young man with wealth and powerful cultivation, Pink Deity would be a fool to not keep close to him... Just that it was a pity that he was not very interested in her beauty.


    Hence, Pink Deity was slightly vexed at such.


    ¡­...


    7 days later.


    It was totally calm near the altar, there were not even many beast attacks. This made the dream masters felt relieved.


    Inside the meditation room, Fang Yuan sat crossed leg and analysed the earth meridian map left behind by Sage Changli in his sea of consciousness.


    "There are over a thousand nodes in Da Qian and the 5 Grand Organisations have already made arrangements at many of them. It might be possible that Da Qian did not care about this node..."


    After many days of peace, it made Fang Yuan felt that way.


    "Just that... I don''t think the Realm Alliance is simply disrupting this earth meridian..."


    Fang Yuan''s face turned serious as he saw one of Sage Changli''s manuscript.


    "Dream masters are very powerful and can actualise many things. This is all possible due to the world where the natural source of dreams is from. Even a powerful being dream master at the Prominent Divine stage cannot set himself free from this... Hence, centuries of dream masters have been continuously chasing after this dream source world. However, none of them has ever succeeded before and thus, there are Sages who conclude that there is an "invisible net" in Da Qian world. This is because the fate and breaths of the earth in Da Qian were too strong and hindered the dream masters'' search... In actual facts, this was only one reason and not the main reason!"


    Sage Changli''s manuscripts were all written in an ancient text that was more similar to talismans. After Fang Yuan spent lots of contributions points to buy a book from the Realm Alliance which could analyse the texts, he finally understood it in his own words.


    "According to Sage Changli''s deductions, Da Qian world''s interference was only one small reason. Most importantly, that source world was simply too far away, it might not even be in the same dimension! Even Prominent Divine powerful beings can only passively receive its radiation and would not be able to find its source as their powers were not strong enough!"


    "Hence, discovering the source of dream masters and breaking free from the "invisible net" were merely the most basic reasons. The most important thing was to obtain powers from the natural source which could break through everything!"


    Fang Yuan''s expression turned cold as he then thought of the arrangements the Realm Alliance made at the earth meridian.


    Previously, he would have thought it was to simply destroy the earth meridian in order to destroy Da Qian. But now, with the numerous Sages'' calculations, it was truly unpredictable.


    "An energy sufficient to break through dimension?"


    Fang Yuan pondered, "I guess taking other realms'' natural source is not even enough, but... if it''s Da Qian itself''s natural source, it might be enough..."


    Da Qian world was the strongest world Fang Yuan had ever seen, the energy of its natural source was dense and incomparable and even Ancient Realm was lacklustre compared to it.


    Looks like the five powerful Sages amongst dream masters would definitely not miss this treasure, especially since they would want to progress further.


    "Chaos is really bound to descend... in this world..."


    As Fang Yuan was no longer confused, he immediately felt the deep and cold meaning behind all these.


    Dream masters were high above others, they conquered and plundered numerous worlds and realms. In their eyes, even Da Qian was merely just a temporary stop for them.


    In order to progress further and also seek for the natural source, they would not be hesitant in sacrificing an entire world!


    Those crazies from Source Seeking Sect would definitely do that!


    Even the Sage from Baize Mountain might not even oppose it.


    In the eyes of the heavens, all lives were equal. In the eyes of the Sages, all commoners were equal.


    Since they were all equal and since other worlds and realms could be sacrificed, then why not Da Qian?


    "Unknowingly, I am now on the opposing side..."


    Fang Yuan gave a wry smile and his eyes glistened, "Even so, the real methods are in the core of the inheritance... If I can fully master Sage Changli''s secret inheritance, I might even be able to surpass all!"


    ...


    "Sir?"


    Suddenly, there was a knock on the door. It was Pink Deity.


    "Come in!"


    Fang Yuan expression turned gentle as saw the lady carrying a meal box with an expression meant to please.


    "Sir, enjoy your meal!"


    As she looked at Fang Yuan using the spoon and drinking it, she began to report on the situation, "Early in the morning today, the small group who went out to patrol was attacked by an Elemental Piercing Snake. One dream master and three strong men died..."


    "Qing Yuan and a few other master masters secretly sneaked out to explore the movements of the nearby restrictions and I heard they found something. Although it was just a few of them, they were still part of the team, but even though Xing Yunzi seemed to notice it, he did not say anything..."


    "Ok, I get it!"


    As Fang Yuan calmly acknowledged, another cold thought appeared in his mind.


    Such behaviour of doing personal work while on official duty was technically counted as neglecting one''s duty, but since Xing Yunzi was surprisingly not disapproving of it, it explained why they did it.


    "This mission is not only an obvious conquest, it is also a bait to lure the Hidden Dragon Guards and Imperial Court to react? In order to let the other four organisations ambush and destroy them?" Fang Yuan thought.


    The real plans were unknown. In the entire team, only Xing Yunzi would know the real rationale and plan.


    "Although I don''t even have many expectations left, such behaviours are still... disappointing!" Fang Yuan thought to himself.


    Seeing such, Pink Deity felt coldness in her heart as even though she was exposed to many things, amongst the dream masters at the 4th Tier of Illusionary Divine, only Fang Yuan felt the most mysterious and unpredictable to her.


    ....


    "Haha... Brother Fang Yuan!"


    At that moment, Zhou Tian''s voice could be heard from outside. He then teased, "Am I interrupting?"


    "No, come on in, Brother!"


    Fang Yuan moved his hands and an invisible force opened the door. Zhou Tian walked in and took a quick glance at Pink Deity before he gave a facial expression all men could understand.


    "I will take my leave!"


    Pink Deity''s cheeks turned pink as she bowed and left.


    "Haha, did I interrupt you and your lady?" Zhou Tian asked teasingly.


    "What, don''t you know there''s nothing between me and her?"


    Fang Yuan rolled his eyes and continued, "So what have you discovered that brings you here?"


    Indeed, other than those lower tiered dream masters, Zhou Tian was one of those who sneaked out too.


    "I shall tell you everything!"


    Zhou Tian sat crossed legged as his expression turned solemn, "Two strong men and I were searching the surrounding areas these few days and we found the remnant of a restriction! I need your help!"


    Zhou Tian was roping Fang Yuan in to share the rewards.


    Whereas for Peng Xuan?


    Ever since Xing Yunzi allowed him, this King of Corpses had been inside the crypt for days, unseen by others outside.


    "Sure!" Fang Yuan thought for a while and agreed.


    He then looked at Zhou Tian and contemplated, "In this current mission, other than Xing Yunzi and a few others, the rest were all those not as reliable ones like us or the weak ones. The motive of making use of others to get rid of adversaries was not too obvious... Feng Xinzi, Elder Smelter!"


    Although Fang Yuan knew this situation was most likely brought about due to Feng Xinzi''s jealousy, if the Elders did not approve, it would not be like that now.


    Fang Yuan''s gaze deepened as he fiercely made up his mind.

 371 Elemental Refining Frui

    Half a day passed, in a location about a 100 miles from the messy stone array.


    Fang Yuan walked alongside Zhou Tian as 2 other Wu Zongs followed behind.


    "This is the place. I previously sent a Treasure Seeking Mouse out, and here is where it found traces of the Elemental Refining Fruit!"


    Zhou Tian bashed through a few trees as he spoke.


    As soon as they heard the name of the fruit, all of their hearts wavered.


    The Elemental Refining Fruit was an Earth Grade treasure. However, it was not suitable for dream masters in the cultivation. Instead, it was a spiritual object used to strengthen one''s martial arts.


    This was especially useful to Wu Zongs in the Elemental Opening Realm for it would be able to assist them in triggering a breakthrough.


    "According to the report from the Treasure Seeking Mouse, there are quite a lot of Elemental Refining Fruits there. It should be enough to assist Ah Long and Ah Hu to achieve a breakthrough and advance to the 7th Meridian!"


    The powers of a Wu Zong in the 6th Meridian were vastly different from that of a Wu Zong in the 7th Meridian. At least, the minimum requirement to form the Divine Body would be attained.


    Taking a quick glance at Ah Long and Ah Hu, Fang Yuan realised that their spiritual auras were indeed different. Their elemental forces were strong, and this would go to show that Zhou Tian did invest quite a lot in them. If they were to achieve a breakthrough, they might have a slight hope of attaining True Divine in the future.


    However, there was a confusion bugging Zhou Tian. "I''ve seen the map. The location of the Elemental Refining Fruit is no longer in the safe zone. Therefore, we might encounter more restrictions and dangers along the way!"


    "This is why we need your help, Brother Fang!"


    Zhou Tian patted his chest. "Of course, after we get the fruits, I will not forget your gratitude."


    "Mmm, you can give me fewer Elemental Refining Fruits, but I will want to take its spiritual roots!"


    Fang Yuan laid out his conditions.


    "You want this spiritual plant? Of course, there''s no problem in that!"


    Zhou Tian immediately agreed, for he was not interested in these spiritual plants which would take over a hundred years to mature.


    "That''s a deal!"


    Fang Yuan was elated. With his skill in Botany, he knew that he could reduce the maturity period of the spiritual plant. With that, he would have an endless supply of Elemental Refining Fruit!


    Even if he would no longer require it in the future, he could still make use of the fruits to train up his servants.


    The fog started to thicken.


    As the few of them traversed through a small valley, strong gusts of wind blew from both sides. Spiritual light was glowing about, covering the entire sky and giving off a creepy vibe.


    "Squeak!"


    Zhou Tian fished out a mouse-looking spiritual beast. "It''s up to you, Treasure Seeking Mouse!"


    Fang Yuan closely examined the beast and realised that it was as big as his palm. It had a red nose, green eyes, glittery fur and a few streaks of purple on its back.


    After eating a few acorns, the mouse immediately laid on the ground, twitched its nose before scooting off in a particular direction.


    "Let''s go!"


    Zhou Tian was excited as he waved his hands.


    Among his servants, the one known as Ah Long, the 6th Meridian Wu Zong, led the way. The two dream masters followed behind, and Ah Hu guarded the back.


    The 4 of them continued their way and arrived at the depths of the valley. They could see a calm-looking lake. The lake was small at about 400 square yards. However, it seemed extremely deep, and the surface of the lake was black.


    On the walls of the lake, there were vines stretched all over. On these vines, there were green fruits the size of an apple and it gave off an aromatic fragrance.


    "This is indeed the Elemental Refining Fruit!"


    Zhou Tian was elated. "It is our fortune to be able to find this!"


    "However, according to the laws of nature, there must be spiritual beasts guarding in the vicinity. Everyone, be on your guard!"


    Fang Yuan appeared solemn as he gazed at the deep lake.


    He could sense that something was hiding within.


    "Ah Long!"


    Zhou Tian licked his lips.


    Ah Long gingerly made his way forward, arrived by the lakeside and stretched out his arm in an attempt to pluck the fruit.


    "Splash!"


    The water in the lake started to tremor as a huge splash emerged. From it came a black silhouette which swift flew out before striking down.


    "Bang!"


    Ah Long was already prepared. Without hesitation, he retreated. Surprisingly nimble, he leapt into the safe zone behind.


    "Your lightness skill is not bad!"


    Fang Yuan complimented him before turning his attention to the black silhouette once more.


    It was a python as thick as a bucket and was about 20 yards long. It had many small scales which resembled black jade, and there was a faint purple glow around it. As it raised its head, its silvery eyes peered down coldly.


    Furthermore, there was a tumour growing on its head which somewhat resembled a horn.


    "Is this... the Silver Eyed Black Snake? How did it grow to such a massive size... and the tumour on its head..."


    "It seems like the Elemental Refining Fruit is its forbidden fruit." Zhou Tian quipped.


    "Hiss! Hisss!"


    The massive snake had no reason to show them mercy. With the previous ambush attempt failed, it now turned aggressive and swung its tail out.


    "Hmph! Water, rise!"


    Zhou Tian exclaimed and the water in the lake started to rise, forming a wall of water in mid-air which blocked the giant python''s path.


    "Pa!"


    With the flick of its tail, a hole broke through the water wall as the python started to slither through the hole.


    "It is indeed a powerful wild beast... ice!"


    Zhou Tian exclaimed once more. The temperature in the surroundings started to fall and the water froze into ice!


    "Whoooo!"


    A chill breeze blew across, freezing the water wall into any ice wall and at the same time trapping the snake in within.


    ''Spiritual spells with a single thought. A dream spells master?''


    Fang Yuan''s eyes glistened as he discovered Zhou Tian''s background. It was the most common of all Illusionary Divine dream masters, the dream spells master.


    It was rumoured that such dream masters would be able to actualise any spiritual spell which they had seen before, and they would be able to use it to alter reality. Every dream spells master would have mastered all 5 types of spiritual spells and would be powerful spell masters. Even spiritual knights in the Elemental Opening Realm would have to concede to them. Only True Elemental spiritual knights would be able to defeat a dream spells master. Otherwise, there would be no question of the outcome of a fight between a dream spells master and a spiritual knight.


    "Hmm, this snake is ferocious. It seems to have the power of a 7th Meridian Wu Zong!"


    Zhou Tian smiled calmly. "Ah Long and Ah Hu came on their own, they might not be able to defeat it!"


    As cracks appeared on the layer of ice, instead of being worried, Zhou Tian was excited. "Brother Fang, how about some roasted snake meat for dinner?"


    As he flipped his hands, flames emerged in the strong wind. Just as they black snake had freed itself from the ice, it began to burn in the flames. With that, it transformed into a huge flaming torch as it squirmed about in pain.


    Zhou Tian could control the elements with the flip of his palm!


    Even in the 9 Extremes Mountain, a dream master in the 4th Tier of Illusionary Divine was still powerful.


    Seeing how Zhou Tian handled the snake, Ah Long and Ah Hu could only lower their heads in respect and they were once again reminded of how powerful their master was.


    Even if they were to become a 7th Meridian Wu Zong, they would still remain as Zhou Tian''s lackeys!


    Seeing this, Zhou Tian felt satisfied. As the black snake fell to the ground, he started to give his orders. "What are you doing? Quickly harvest the Elemental Refining Fruits! Also, Brother Fang has requested for the spiritual roots of this plant. Be careful not to damage it!"


    "Yes, Sir!"


    The 2 Wu Zongs quickly agreed and went on to complete their assigned task.


    "How... how do I deserve this..."


    Fang Yuan sounded humble. After all, it was Zhou Tian and his subordinates which put in all the effort in getting the Elemental Refining Fruit, and Fang Yuan did nothing to help them.


    "Haha¡­.. Why not?"


    Zhou Tian was generous. After all, Fang Yuan could attain the 4th Tier of the Illusionary Divine stage at such a young age and was even a 5th Leaf Cultivator. Therefore, it was worth it to establish good relations with him.


    At this point in time, something happened!


    As Ah Long and Ah Hu arrived at the walls of the lake and were about to pluck the fruits, a purple streak of light flashed past.


    Ah Hu quickly retreated far away and was in a daze.


    "Brother?"


    Seeing his dazed look, Ah Long was worried and approached him.


    "Ho ho!"


    At this moment, Ah Hu''s eyes started to turn bloodshot and purple veins started to grow on his face. As he shouted "Ho ho!", he struck his fist out with all his might.


    The tables had turned!


    Ah Long could only block with his hands. With that, he flew backwards and spat out a mouthful of blood, suffering a few fractured bones.


    "Eh? What is this evil thing?"


    Based on Fang Yuan''s exceptional eyesight, he could see that the streak of purple light had entered Ah Hu''s body before taking control over him.


    Firstly, it was shocking that Ah Hu was so easily manipulated, considering that the both of them were 6th Meridian Wu Zongs which had the protection of their own elemental force and spiritual meridians.


    Secondly, the foreign entity could immediately make use of Ah Hu''s elemental force as soon as it took control of him. It was not simply taking over him and controlling his actions like a puppet.


    "The Puppet Snake? Ah Hu is already dead! Quickly cremate him!"


    It seemed as though Zhou Tian had recalled something as his expression changed. With the wave of his hand, two flaming tornadoes appeared. As the wind intensified the flames, the fire started to spread.


    "Ho ho!"


    Ah Hu continued to shout with a deep voice. Suddenly, the 6 spiritual meridians started to form around his body, forming a spiritual armour around him. With that, he started to charge towards Zhou Tian.


    "Whoosh!"


    He was extremely quick and created a strong gust of wind. As he ran swiftly, he split the flames and formed a long pathway.


    "D*mn it! I have limited dream elemental force now..."


    Zhou Tian seemed troubled.


    He had tried to show off as he killed the huge snake. With that, he had over-depleted his dream elemental force. It was not a simple task to restore one''s dream elemental force under the Ultimate Segregation of the 9 Extremes Mountain.


    "Leave this to me!"


    Fang Yuan took a step forward. With an expressionless look, he flicked his fingers and a Thunder Sword flew out!


    "Whoosh!"


    As sparks of electricity dazzled around the sword, Ah Hu shouted. Spiritual light started to gather around his right fist. With that, he smashed down.


    "Bang!"


    The Thunder Sword trembled and veered a little off course. However, Ah Hu''s hand was now charred and his bones were already showing.


    "After all, this is not your own body. No wonder you wouldn''t care about it..."


    Fang Yuan flicked his finger once more as the Wind Sword was formed. "Wind and Thunder, kill!"


    "Chi! Chi!"


    The sword essences were released as the Wind and Thunder Swords formed two illusionary shadows which were green and purple. They started to circle Ah Hu, piercing and slicing him.


    After a moment, the two swords came to a halt. Ah Hu, who was in the middle, was motionless. Suddenly, a piece of his meat fell off from his body.


    "Whoosh!"


    From the bloodied mess, a streak of purple light flew out.


    "I''m waiting for you!"


    Fang Yuan smiled as the Fire Sword appeared in his hands. With that, he struck the sword forward.


    "Chi!"


    With the glow of the fire sword, a thin-looking purple snake fell to the ground, split into two.


    "It is indeed the puppet snake. This one has already cultivated to purple! Even we might succumb to its control if affected...."


    Zhou Tian had an uneasy look on his face. Ah Hu was dead and Ah Long was severely injured. This expedition to look for the treasured Elemental Refining Fruit had cost him dearly.


    However, he still had to force a smile on his face. "Thank you for your help, Brother Fang."


    "It''s nothing much!"


    Fang Yuan walked forward, kept a few Elemental Refining Fruits and even plucked out the roots of the spiritual plant. With that, he kept everything in the Mountain River Pearl before examining Ah Long''s injury.


    This man was ambushed by his brother and was severely injured. He had to be sent back to camp to recuperate.


    However, something happened in this instant!

 372 The Might of the Body

    "Rumble!"


    A vibration was felt which seemed to come from the direction of the altar!


    "What''s that..."


    Zhou Tian had felt the same thing as well and his expression changed. "Is the base under attack? Should we quickly return to help them out?"


    "Are you joking?"


    Fang Yuan looked at Zhou Tian with scepticism. "We are so far and yet we can feel the vibration. Who do you think is involved in the fight? A True Divine martial artist? Or a True Elemental spiritual knight? Or could it be a dream master in the 7th Tier of the Illusionary Divine stage?"


    "How is this possible? This is only a normal mission..."


    Zhou Tian was confused. "Why would such powerful people get involved?"


    ''Because we are mere baits! The alliance has decided to use us to lure the Imperial Court to come for us, and we might even have the assistance of the other 4 Grand Organisations!''


    Fang Yuan thought to himself, but did not intend on telling the truth to Zhou Tian.


    "Against such a situation, we would be of no help. We should wait until the commotion is over before returning there to assess the situation.


    He would not admit that he had only followed Zhou Tian out because he wanted to avoid the impending clash at the node.


    Even if he were to be punished by the alliance, it would still be better than going head-on against the enemy and losing his life!


    "Hmm, you make sense!"


    Zhou Tian''s expression changed once more. Finally, he weighed the options and realised that staying alive was more important. With that, he agreed to Fang Yuan''s suggestion.


    "Relax! The Imperial Court will at most destroy the altar and leave. After all, there are still other nodes around!"


    Seeing how worried Zhou Tian looked, Fang Yuan tried to calm him down.


    In fact, if Fang Yuan had predicted correctly, if the Imperial Court had decided to go down hard on them, the Realm Alliance would suffer great losses.


    "Hmm?"


    At this point in time, Fang Yuan and Zhou Tian suddenly felt something as they looked at the entrance of the valley.


    A few silhouettes appeared. Their spiritual auras were strong as they started to surround them. It seemed as though they had bad intentions.


    "The people from the Imperial Court?"


    Fang Yuan sighed. Never would he have thought that he would still encounter them, even though they were so far away from the altar. However, these people were only the supporting forces and therefore, Fang Yuan and company would gain a little advantage over them.


    "Fang Yuan, Zhou Tian. Both of you are dream masters in the 4th Tier of the Illusionary Divine stage. Especially for you, Fang Yuan! You''re young and yet you are already a 5th Leaf Cultivator. Not bad! Not bad at all!"


    A few of them started to approach Fang Yuan and Zhou Tian. Their spiritual auras were vastly different. There were 3 martial artists and 1 spiritual knight. All of them wore the same uniform and had a murderous look in their eyes.


    "Who would''ve thought that the lake and the weird snake here would deplete quite a substantial amount of elemental force from you... I am Wang Chan from the Imperial Court, and together with me are 3 Wu Zongs. We are instructed to destroy you crazy traitors!"


    The spiritual knight in front seemed to detest dream masters. Vaguely, 9 spiritual points appeared on his body. With a shout, a shocking spiritual pressure was felt.


    9 spiritual meridians formed on each of the martial artists'' backs, forming the illusionary figure of a giant behind them. Spiritual inscriptions appeared all over their bodies which resembled a battle armour.


    "A 9th Tier spiritual knight? A 9th Meridian Wu Zong?"


    Zhou Tian took in a cold breath as he slowly realised the power of the Da Qian Imperial Court.


    These few people had the chance to attain True Divine and True Elemental, but they had no qualms in serving the Imperial Court to be deployed. This showed their hatred towards dream masters!


    ''What should we do?''


    Zhou Tian glanced at Ah Long. ''I can take on this 9th Tier spiritual knight. However, under the influence of the Ultimate Segregation, I''m afraid that only dream masters in the 6th Tier of the Illusionary Divine stage would be able to take on the 3 9th Meridian Wu Zongs. However, Fang Yuan and I have already depleted most of our dream elemental force previously!''


    "What else do we have to say to these traitors? Kill them!"


    One of the martial artists took a confident step forward. "You dream masters have been troubling the people and always do whatever you wished. Now that we have the order to kill you, just cooperate and concede to us!"


    The few martial artists had bloodshot eyes. It was evident that they had an immense hatred for dream masters, which made Fang Yuan laugh inside.


    What the martial artist just said was true.


    With such powers, dream masters had been in control over the past few thousand years. The resentment the people had for dream masters would have accumulated, but they were always kept under control forcefully by the more powerful dream masters.


    Now that they had an opportunity to strike back, they would strike back hard like the eruption of a volcano.


    "Fang Yuan, I''m afraid that the both of us will have to die here today!"


    Seeing how the 4 of them could seal of their escape paths with much chemistry, Zhou Tian could only laugh helplessly.


    "That may not be the case..."


    Fang Yuan stripped his robes and cracking sounds were heard from his body. His martial arts spiritual aura started to explode.


    "Eh? A 7th Meridian Wu Zong?"


    One of the martial artists was stunned before breaking into a laughter. "Do you think you can escape with such a weak cultivation? Dream on! Kill!"


    With a roar, the martial artist leapt forward. The spiritual aura from his spiritual meridian exploded and he seemed to harness the force of an entire mountain.


    A 9th Meridian Wu Zong would have reached the peak of the Elemental Opening Realm and would be a single step away from forming the Divine Body!


    Although it was one step away from the Divine Body, a 9th Meridian Wu Zong was, without a doubt, sufficient to deal with a 7th Meridian Wu Zong.


    "Seven Murderous Ferocious Tiger Fist! Die!"


    This martial artist was shockingly powerful. As his arms rotated, his fists struck out like cannonballs. Every fist had an immense amount of force and power. As he flew through the air, there was a faint roaring of a tiger.


    "With the long knife, I will kill your soul!"


    As the first martial artist started to pounce towards Fang Yuan, his companion also reacted. A Hundred Casted Knife appeared in his hands and there was a skull engraved on the handle of the knife. There was frost on the blade of the knife and as it sliced through the air, the glitter from the knife sealed Fang Yuan''s escape path. The two martial artists'' coordination was seamless.


    Zhou Tian felt uneasy as his breathing hastened.


    In the 9 Extremes Mountain, the dream masters would be at a disadvantage and their power would be reduced by a lot.


    Now that they were in such a situation, even if Xing Yunzi was here, all of them would still suffer great losses!


    It was not known as to where the Imperial Court sourced these Wu Zongs. All of them were highly-skilled and murderous and would not give any chance the moment they attacked.


    "Restrict!"


    He could not think so much.


    Just as two 9th Meridian Wu Zongs were attacking Fang Yuan, Wang Chan started to execute his technique. A streak of spiritual light flew out and covered the entire surroundings. It was colourful and glittery as it formed the word ''restrict''.


    Zhou Tian could feel the energy in the surroundings slowly being depleted. The original dream elemental force which he had in him also came to a halt. With that, his expression changed.


    He knew that Wang Chan was using spiritual spells to force himself to fight with all that he had. Wang Chan wanted to deplete Zhou Tian of his elemental force to force him into submission!


    Just as he was being restricted, the final Wu Zong rushed forward and leapt towards Zhou Tian like a tiger. He arrived about 4 yards from Zhou Tian, raised his right palm up and activated all 9 of his spiritual meridians. Like an enraged dragon, his force travelled from his arm to his palm, and from his palm to his fingers. With that, his fingers struck down!


    "Ah, I''ll go all out!"


    Zhou Tian''s eyes turned bloodshot as he spat out a mouth of blood.


    From his body, a piece of jade flew out. As soon as the jade came into contact with the blood, the golden runes on the jade started to glow and expand, forming a layer of defence around him.


    "Metal blood, destroy!"


    As the Wu Zong laughed, he exclaimed as his metallic claws strengthened by the spiritual meridian struck on the golden glow of protection.


    "Bzzzzz!"


    The golden glow shook before crumbling into sparkles and disappeared.


    That was all Zhou Tian needed to retreat half a step back and avoid the killer move. As he felt the wind which was created from the swift claws, his face turned pale and he continuously retreated. "Disgusting..."


    If this was outside, he would have restored at least half of his dream elemental energy and would be able to retaliate!


    "Hmph, you''re lucky to have survived the first strike. What about the next?"


    The Wu Zong pressed forward and pressured Zhou Tian.


    Suddenly, there were cries coming from the other side which attracted their attention.


    "What''s happening?"


    Wang Chan thought that he had things under his control. Now that he gazed over to the direction where Fang Yuan was, he was devastated.


    Fang Yuan was standing still and beneath his foot, there was a Hundred Casted Knife. The Wu Zong which wielded the knife was exhausted, but he could not pull the knife form Fang Yuan''s foot.


    The other Wu Zong was lying dead on the ground and his arms were bloodied as though a giant beast had trampled over his arms.


    "Hmph, how dare you show off when you are so weak!"


    Fang Yuan kept his fists and smiled.


    He had 70 proficiency points for his Spirit! What kind of concept was that? It was overflowing with elemental force, much more than the limit of a 7th Meridian Wu Zong! Furthermore, he had a strengthened physical body!


    The Wu Zongs did not know what they got themselves into. It was like throwing an egg on a rock, and the outcome as extremely predictable.


    Just previously, Fang yuan had simply stepped on the Hundred Casted Knife. Everything was held beneath his feet. With a simple punch, the arms of the 9th Meridian Wu Zong had exploded and his bones shattered. It was a gruesome death!


    "Big brother! Quickly leave!"


    The Wu Zong suddenly released the handle of the Hundred Casted Knife and rolled forward. Using his palms as a knife, he sliced towards Fang Yuan''s waist.


    "Dong! Dong!"


    There was a loud but dull sound coming from Fang Yuan''s body. His shirt was torn, revealing a muscular body with a bronze hue. Peering down, Fang Yuan quipped, "Are you scratching my itch?"


    "This is impossible... the martial arts Divine Body?"


    The Wu Zong shuddered and momentarily forgot what he was doing.


    In the next moment, a huge hand landed on his head with a great force.


    "Bang!"


    His head exploded like a watermelon. With that, Fang Yuan kept his fists and took in a deep breath. ''A simple fist and strong force within my blood is the true essence of martial arts!''


    "Second brother, third brother?"


    The remaining Wu Zong no longer cared about killing Zhou Tian as his eyes turned red.


    "Quickly leave... this person is too powerful and we are no match for him!"


    Wang Chan quickly snapped out of his trance and executed a few techniques in one go. "Stabilize! Bind! Seal! Kill!"


    4 spiritual spells appeared which continuously struck towards Fang Yuan. Wang Chan wanted to buy himself some time to escape.


    "It''s no use! No use! No use!"


    Fang Yuan walked up to him and paid no attention to the spiritual light as it struck his body. With a little vibration, the spiritual spells were nullified.


    "Die now!"


    Without any fancy techniques, Fang Yuan came to Wang Chan and struck out a simple fist.


    "You!"


    How scary was it to deal with Fang Yuan, who had a strengthened physical body? Even before Wang Chan could finish his sentence, his body exploded!


    It exploded! All of his defences were useless. His body exploded into a mist of blood and he turned into a bloodied mess.


    "Keke... No one would''ve thought that you had attained such a level in martial arts. The three of us brothers are utterly impressed!"


    Witnessing this scene, the final Wu Zong felt a chill down his spine and tears started to well up in his eyes. "Heaven... why are you so kind towards these traitors? I can''t believe it!"


    "Chi!"


    He was a reckless person. Knowing that Fang Yuan would not let him go, the Wu Zong bit his tongue, spat out a mouthful of blood and killed himself.

 373 Killing Spree

    "This..."


    As the mountain breeze blew across the valley, Zhou Tian gazed at the few corpses before him, speechless.


    How did the highly-skilled people of the Imperial Court, a 9th Tier spiritual knight and 3 9th Meridian Wu Zongs, die in front of his eyes so easily?


    "Fang... Brother Fang!"


    Looking at Fang Yuan, he started to stumble on his words. "Have you really formed the Divine Body and attained True Divine?"


    Looking at Fang Yuan''s power, there had to be only one explanation.


    "True Divine? I''m not that powerful yet!"


    Fang Yuan turned around and smiled sheepishly. However, the fact that he had killed the 4 of them so easily just now still made Zhou Tian unable to speak a single word.


    ''Through the encounter just now, I now know his martial arts ability as well!''


    Fang Yuan clenched his fists. ''Even in the outside world, without the effects of the Ultimate Segregation, I am still able to win anyone that''s not a True Divine!''


    Furthermore, after refining his blood with that of the witch''s, his physical body was also comparable to that of a True Divine and he would stand a chance against any True Divine as well!


    ''Unknowingly, my martial arts has improved tremendously and it is slowly becoming as powerful as my dream master''s ability... Or it might even be more powerful already.''


    ''This kid...''


    Zhou Tian looked down. He could feel that the commotion from afar was beginning to settle down as well, and thoughts ran wild in his mind.


    ''The alliance might have intentionally placed us here as bait for us to be ambushed, but this Fang Yuan... he has the ability all along and yet chooses to conceal it. He is indeed dangerous and unpredictable!''


    "Sir, what should we do next?"


    Zhou Tian humbly enquired. He already regarded Fang Yuan as a True Divine.


    At least, in the harsh environments of the 9 Extremes Mountain, Fang Yuan was comparable to having half the power of a True Divine!


    "It''s the same plan. We shall observe... Now that we have killed these few leaders, we can continue to patrol and wait to see if anyone else will approach us. It will be a big accomplishment for us to kill them.


    Fang Yuan chose the option which favoured him.


    "This is... good!"


    Zhou Tian promptly agreed.


    Fang Yuan''s future was limitless. With that understanding, he knew he had to establish good relations with him.


    ...


    At the base near the messy stone array.


    Smoke billowed in the air as the entire altar shattered into many pieces, revealing a pitch-black underground hole.


    In the surroundings, a few dream masters and Wu Zongs laid on the floor and their blood stained the ground.


    "Kill!"


    Groups of martial artists in black robes appeared. They were all in the Meridian Opening Realm as they forced their way into the base.


    "Strike!"


    A dream master waved his hands and a layer of fog appeared. In the fog, a few icicles appeared as well.


    A few martial artists succumbed to the attack and a few holes were pierced through their bodies, spewing blood all around.


    "Hmph... the few of you are just servants. How dare you fight against your master?"


    This dream master laughed. Suddenly, a big hole appeared beneath him. A Wu Zong draped in yellow robes appeared. Wielding a sword and swinging it around, it resembled the tongue of a snake. With that, he went straight for the dream master''s throat.


    "You..."


    A layer of icy armour appeared over the dream master''s body. However, it was too thin and the sword managed to pierce through it, making its way to the throat and piercing through it as well.


    ''What a pity... If this was outside, how would this even happen?''


    The dream master''s mind was filled with thoughts of unwillingness before he fell squarely to the ground.


    If this was outside, he could quickly restore his elemental force and the icy armour would be able to at least withstand the piercing of a thin sword.


    "Great! You''re indeed the powerful Sword Burrower, Wang Tong!"


    The few Wu Zongs around started to cheer.


    "If not for the Anti-dust Robe given to me by the Imperial Court, I will not be able to succeed so easily!"


    Wang Tong gave a humble smile before gripping tightly on the thin sword in his hands, which resembled a spiritual snake. "Dream masters are overbearing! They have created chaos everywhere they go and treat martial artists like us as servants. We need to let them get their just desserts!"


    "You''re right!"


    The few Wu Zongs cheered in unison as they started to cry tears of hatred.


    However, it was inaccurate to say that dream masters were evil and overbearing. It was simply the fact that with dream masters around, other professions would never get to shine.


    Furthermore, being more powerful, dream masters would be able to get their hands on more resources.


    Therefore, considering the rarity of spiritual lands and prosperous lands, how would the other martial artists and spiritual knights survive if all of these rare resources belonged to dream masters?


    Therefore, they started to develop a hatred for dream masters and all of them came out once they caught wind that the Imperial Court was about to wage war on dream masters.


    "Die!"


    A few martial artists roared as the spiritual meridians on their bodies started to glow. In a flurry, their enemies were sliced and diced into many pieces, revealing the dream master which was being protected in the centre. "Please spare me..."


    "Chi! Chi!"


    The swords did not stop. With a few slices, the dream master was sliced into 5 pieces.


    "Are these people from the Imperial Court?"


    The group of Wu Zongs made their way into the crypt and created a commotion as they entered. With that, Peng Xuan came out. With the wave of his right hand, a handful of golden-coloured sand flew into the air and transformed into streaks of lightning. It was a powerful move indeed.


    This was his famed magical equipment, the ''Golden Steel Thunder Sand''. It was made from 12,900 grains of black sand and refined by elemental force. Afterwards, it would go on to seal each and every lightning in it to become gold in colour. If thrown at the enemy, the streaks of lightning would be released at the same time. Although it would not be as powerful as a heavenly tribulation, it was powerful in its own way and hard for anyone to even defend against it.


    "How timely it is for Lord Xing to leave and for Fang Yuan and Zhou Tian to have yet to return!"


    Although he was obsessed with the technique of refining corpses, he was not stupid and could detect that something was amiss.


    At the moment where he released his Golden Steel Thunder Sand, 3 Golden Corpses emerged from the crypt. They had ferocious looks on their faces and was entirely gold in colour. They were impenetrable as they advanced out of the crypt.


    "Eh? A dream master in the 4th Tier of the Illusionary Divine stage?"


    Such a combat power immediately piqued the interest of the few 9th Meridian Wu Zongs and spiritual knights around.


    "Aw! Aw!"


    The Golden Corpses shrieked. They were unafraid of death and their nails were sharp and poisonous. Effortlessly, they managed to kill and formed a path in their wake.


    However, as soon as they reached the end, 2 of the 3 Golden Corpses were already beheaded.


    "Hmph... The Imperial Court of Da Qian, just you watch out. How dare you destroy my Golden Corpse! I will take revenge for them!"


    Peng Xuan heaved a sigh before throwing out a feather. "The Thousand Feather Burrowing Technique..."


    The feather was a pristine white and had a translucent spiritual glow to it. It was obvious that there was some sort of escaping burrowing technique sealed in the feather. With his chant, the feather was about to be activated.


    "Hmph! Are you thinking of fleeing?"


    A tall figure appeared behind Peng Xuan.


    This person was shockingly skilled to be able to sneak up to a dream master in the 4th Tier of the Illusionary Divine stage.


    "Aw! Aw!"


    The remaining Golden Corpse was filled with fear. With a weird voice, it leapt forward but was being punched away. His entire head was punched into its thoracic cavity as it fell to the ground, motionless.


    "Chi!"


    Peng Xuan was stunned. Looking at the bloodied hand which appeared before his chest, he gave a pitiful look. "A True Divine martial artist? A captain from Yanwu Court? What a pity... strike!"


    "Whoosh!"


    As the glow of the feather descended on Peng Xuan, it covered him inside. Instantly, he became a streak of light and flew away.


    "Hmmm? The burrowing technique of a dream master in the 7th Tier of the Illusionary Divine stage?"


    The tall figure was stunned. As he gazed at the disappearing Peng Xuan and the black heart which was squelching in his hand, he revealed a sinister smile. "This is interesting... Did he transform himself into a zombie? No wonder it is able to survive after my punch... What a lucky fellow!"


    "Pa!"


    As he tightened the grip on his hand, the heart exploded into a mist of blood.


    "Capital leader!"


    The other martial artists and spiritual knights quickly settled their respective targets before bowing respectfully. "We have cleared this entire base. In total, we''ve killed 15 dream masters and 37 Wu Zongs!"


    "What a pity. Xing Yunzi is a sly fox and has already left long ago. There are another 3 dream masters in the 4th Tier of the Illusionary Divine stage, but none of them is here... It is rumoured that the Realm Alliance are lax in their rules, and that is indeed true! Quickly destroy this place! Let''s leave!"


    The capital leader used a clean cloth to wipe his hands as he calmly gave out his orders.


    The Imperial Court had long known that the 9 Extremes Mountain was all along a trap. However, with the competent Hidden Dragon Guards and other skilled personnel, they could afford to take the bait and escape.


    However, little did they know that the dream masters of the Realm Alliance were all sly. Although they had accomplished their mission, they only killed a few non-essential personnel and were therefore unsatisfied.


    "Yes, Sir!"


    The Wu Zongs knew that he was powerful and therefore quickly agreed before making their way down the crypt.


    Not long after, there was a faint roar of a dragon. The entire crypt started to crumble and within moments, it was buried underground. There were flames burning all around the base.


    ...


    "Wow... This is such a pitiful loss. I can''t even bear to witness it..."


    After a long while, Zhou Tian and Fang Yuan finally returned and destruction was all they saw.


    Many of the dream masters and Wu Zongs had their heads severed and stacked up, forming a small hill. It was a sign of taunt.


    "There were all accomplished people, but now, all that''s left of them are bones..."


    Fang Yuan examined the unjust looks on their faces but did not manage to find the heads of Peng Xuan and Xing Yunzi. With that, he shook his head.


    They were all smart and cunning people to begin with. Therefore, they would not blindly sacrifice themselves, especially for the sly Xing Yunzi.


    Looking at things, it seemed as though these two powerful dream masters were tipped-off and had already escaped long ago to leave the remaining dream masters to fend for themselves.


    "Fang Yuan! Zhou Tian!"


    A few streaks of light suddenly appeared. They carried familiar spiritual auras with them. As they arrived at the base, they transformed into a few dream masters with desolate faces.


    Taking a closer look, Fang Yuan realised that Xing Yunzi was leading them and accompanying him was Feng Xinzi.


    "Where were you when the Imperial Court attacked?"


    Xing Yunzi asked coldly. "While we were fighting with all our lives, where were you?"


    "Of course in a fight as well!"


    Fang Yuan retorted with confidence. "While I was patrolling with Zhou Tian, we had detected traces of Wu Zongs. We chased them to over 30 miles from here and we finally killed the 4 of them! Their heads are here!"


    Zhou Tian retrieved 3 heads. They were the heads of 9th Meridian Wu Zongs and their spiritual auras were indeed terrifying.


    They could not lie about this, for there were techniques in this world which would allow one to retrieve information from a severed head.


    "9th Meridian Wu Zongs?"


    Feng Xinzi examined the heads and exclaimed.


    "What? All three of them?"


    Xing Yunzi''s expression changed. If these three Wu Zongs were to combine forces and attack him together, he knew that he would not be able to escape.


    "Not just that, there was another 9th Tier spiritual knight as well. However, it was a pity that his head was smashed beyond recognition..."


    Zhou Tian remarked.


    He was clear that he would stand by Fang Yuan''s side. Therefore, he had to cover up for Fang Yuan and help him as much as possible.


    After all, chasing after enemies and leaving one''s position of duty were very different things.


    "Keke... Not bad!"


    Feng Xinzi forced a smile. "To think about it, both of you have accomplished something during this mission. I will report it to the alliance on your behalf..."

 374 Cleaning Up

    "Why are you here, Feng Xinzi?"


    Fang Yuan turned his attention to Feng Xinzi and smiled.


    "I am instructed by the alliance to meet you..."


    However, in reality, the 5 Grand Organisations had laid a trap and Feng Xinzi was the representative of the Realm Alliance. He had specially journeyed here to see how Fang Yuan would have ended up but instead, he was faced with a surprising outcome.


    "Oh, thank you!"


    Fang Yuan smiled as though he had taken Feng Xinzi''s word for it. "Since that is so, now that our mission is complete, I shall take my leave and return to the prosperous land, right?!"


    "That''s right! That''s right!"


    Zhou Tian added on without hesitation.


    The dangers which he had experienced in his mission had led him to reminisce about the peaceful times he enjoyed before all of this happened.


    "I''m afraid that we will have to discuss this!"


    Feng Xinzi rebutted as Xing Yunzi stood out. "Cough cough... although the both of you have killed the highly-skilled enemies, the fact is that the crypt has been destroyed and the altar has been gone to waste. Therefore, the mission is still incomplete."


    "What?"


    There was a look of anger on Zhou Tian''s face. "We have killed 3 9th Meridian Wu Zongs and a 9th Tier spiritual knight. We are now exhausted and our energy and dream elemental forces are depleted. How will we be able to stop this destruction? Aren''t you a little harsh, Lord Xing?"


    "Since this is the mission objective, what can I say?"


    Xing Yunzi waved his hands with a cunning look in his eyes.


    "Feng Xinzi, what about you? What do you have to say about this?"


    Fang Yuan paid no attention to what Xing Yunzi said as he directly pressured Feng Xinzi to answer.


    "My views regarding this... is that we should follow the rules set by the Realm Alliance. Therefore, we shall go ahead with Xing Yunzi''s suggestion."


    Feng Xinzi calmly replied. Unknowingly, he felt a little fear as he looked at the severed heads on the floor and Fang Yuan''s composed look.


    "Alright, since this is the case, we shall wait for the alliance to decide!"


    Fang Yuan was straightforward. As soon as he forced Feng Xinzi to make a stand, he waved his hands and together with Zhou Tian, they transformed into two streaks of light and flew into the clouds.


    There was an awkward silence.


    After a long while, Xing Yunzi spoke. "This person is able to kill a few 9th Meridian Wu Zongs. His ability is much stronger than mine and he is becoming as powerful as an elder... My nephew, it is not worth it to go against him!"


    "I know!"


    Gazing at the severed heads on the ground, Feng Xinzi laughed. "I cannot control my jealousy. After all... I have gained wisdom at 3 and started to cultivate as a dream master at 5. All I ask for is an uncluttered mind. I thought that I have already achieved it but now, I am being haunted by jealousy once more."


    "When I first met him, he was only a newly advanced dream master in the Illusionary Divine stage. I even thought about helping him. Now that he had already reached the 4th Tier of the Illusionary Divine stage, I am only filled with jealousy for him and even more so now..."


    It was not an easy thing to witness a junior overtaking him in terms of cultivation.


    "Furthermore... I am against him for the sake of the sect, and not for my own personal agenda!"


    As he continued to reason, his voice became increasingly louder. "The alliance needs capable people. This person is obviously capable but he has chosen to deny responsibilities. He even left his position of duty, which shows that he is not a loyal person!"


    He, however, did not mention how he had planned for Fang Yuan to be deployed here as a bait.


    "With such unethical actions, the more powerful he is, the more we cannot allow!"


    Feng Xinzi''s eyes glistened as he spoke with a vibe of righteousness.


    Beside him, Xing Yunzi was speechless.


    He was indeed a talent to be able to twist facts to such an extent!


    ...


    On the other side.


    Two streaks of light flew out from a valley.


    As soon as they left the region of 9 Extremes Mountain, Zhou Tian let out a satisfactory exclamation as though he was freed of shackles.


    He would never want to experience the inability to use his abilities under the Ultimate Segregation ever again.


    "Zhou Tian, let''s part ways. What do you think?"


    Fang Yuan took in a deep breath as dream elemental force was slowly restored in his actualised dream world. Slowly, his 8 Gates Sword Array started to shimmer once more.


    "This... Alright, Sir, please be assured that I will not reveal anything about your secret!"


    Zhou Tian sounded solemn as he begun to swear to the heavens.


    Dream masters were superstitious about these things and they knew that they would be bounded by the oath they made in certain ways.


    "It''s up to you..."


    Fang Yuan was speechless. If he really wanted him to swear upon an oath, or if he were to decide to do anything to Zhou Tian, he would have done it in the 9 Extremes Mountain.


    Since he had already spared Zhou Tian''s life, he was not worried that Zhou Tian would go around spouting nonsense.


    It also meant something if Zhou Tian could keep the secret of Fang Yuan killing the 3 9th Meridian Wu Zongs and the 9th Tier spiritual knight.


    However, there was no more meaning in acting weak.


    Sometimes, it would be better for Fang Yuan to reveal his true power so as to instil fear in others.


    After all, now that the war was beginning to heat up, if the alliance were to treat him like a normal dream master in the 4th Tier of the Illusionary Divine stage, he might be randomly deployed to dangerous places as bait again.


    He had previously concealed his true ability in order to protect himself. Now that he had revealed some of this true ability, it was also to protect himself.


    At least by doing this, Feng Xinzi would not treat him lightly any more. He would have to undergo an open discussion with the elders and this would buy Fang Yuan some time.


    After all, with regards to Fang Yuan''s martial arts, he was already considered half a True Divine. His prowess was already among the strongest few in the Realm Alliance.


    ''With rights come obligations! With martial arts comes respect! Anyway, since I have the appointment as guardian and a mission, and considering that I have revealed some of my true ability, I''m sure the alliance would not touch me without any good reason... This is also one of the rules of the organisation! How can they deal with their members without any good reason? Are they not worried that people would regard them as unethical?''


    ''Now that I have displayed some of my power and have fallen out with Feng Xinzi, I will be able to cause Elder Smelter to worry... If he continues to plot against me, I can look for other factions, for instance, Green Wood!''


    With that, he would have the foundation and reason to leave the faction.


    He could also make use of this opportunity to improve his cultivation further while the alliance would remain clueless about his actual cultivation.


    This was not his maximum potential. He could attempt to form the martial arts Divine Body and attain True Divine!


    "I''m afraid that other Wu Zongs, even those with the 9th Meridian, would find it extremely hard to form the Divine Body because they do not have enough resources. However, if I cannot form the Divine Body, I''m sure no other martial artists would be able to do so."


    His own body was only a little weaker than the martial arts Divine Body. Additionally, after receiving the inheritance from the witches, he had the resources and knowledge and it was extremely feasible for him to form the Divine Body.


    By then, as a True Divine, he could go head-on against Elder Smelter. Only at that stage would he be able to ensure his survival in the impending tumultuous period and be the biggest winner!


    ...


    "What? Are you saying that that kid is close to attaining True Divine?"


    Within the Dream Realm, Feng Xinzi knelt on the ground and explained everything. Finally, he lowered his head. "I am not lying. Based on the severed heads and the evidence found from the place they fought, that person is indeed close to attaining True Divine. Furthermore, he might even stand a chance if he were to go against a True Divine in the 9 Extremes Mountain!"


    Fang Yuan''s strong physical body meant that he did not require the support of martial arts elemental force. This would mean that he would gain the upper hand in the 9 Extremes Mountain. With regards to this, even other normal True Divines would be disadvantaged.


    "If this is true... this is troubling!"


    Elder Smelter twitched his eyebrows. His started to gaze at him with an unfriendly look.


    To think about things with a calm mind, it was logical for Elder Smelter to be closer to Feng Xinzi because of their familial ties. However, now was a time of war and every fighter was equally important, and even more so for highly-skilled fighters! This would affect the outcome of the war!


    However, they had already missed the opportunity. They had thought that Fang Yuan was a normal dream master in the 4th Tier of Illusionary Divine and even wanted to squeeze him dry.


    Now that he had displayed such power, it would mean that within the alliance, only the elders would be able to deal with him. If they continued to pressure him, he might just join the enemy!


    If Fang Yuan were to leave the Realm Alliance, he would be hunted down by all the dream masters of the alliance. Therefore, he would not be so stupid as to do it. However, he could just simply look for another faction and another elder.


    It would be the fortune of other factions to easily gain such a powerful dream master.


    If that really happened, Elder Green Wood and the rest might just mock Elder Smelter.


    "Regarding this incident... you''ve handled it poorly!"


    Although Elder Smelter sounded calm, in the ears of Feng Xinzi, it was as shocking as thunder. His limbs turned to jelly.


    Feng Xinzi knew that if this elder were to act up, he might gladly sacrifice himself in exchange for Fang Yuan.


    An alchemy master at the 4th Tier of the Illusionary Divine stage was indeed valuable.


    However, how could it compare to a dream master who was about to attain the True Divine?


    ''This... I can''t believe it!''


    Feng Xinzi could predict that this was an extremely possible outcome. With that, he started to panic. "Elder... Fang Yuan has unparalleled martial skill and he refused to display it all this while. This goes to show that he has been having his reservations! Furthermore... he has been cowardly hiding in the prosperous land and is all this while unwilling to help Elder in the war!"


    What Feng Xinzi was trying to convey was that although Fang Yuan was powerful, he had his own plans and ulterior motives and therefore could not compare with Feng Xinzi''s loyalty and willingness to serve.


    "Hmmm... you''re right!"


    Elder Smelter stroked his beard. "Pass a message to him and make it sound a little more respectful. Tell him that I want to meet him!"


    "Yes!"


    Feng Xinzi left the hall, disappointed. He knew that he had failed to convince Elder Smelter with his reasoning.


    At the same time, a deep-seated jealousy started to take over him.


    ...


    Outside the 9 Extremes Mountain, Fang Yuan did not leave. He found a hiding spot for himself and settled down, surviving on Elemental Refining Fruits and practising his martial arts. At the same time, he was hearing out for news.


    "Based on Liu Mengmei, the 5 Grand Organisations have come together and used us as a bait to trick the Imperial Court. However, that plan did not succeed... Although they have managed to destroy the messy stone array, all the highly skilled dream masters have escaped and they failed to capture even one dream master in the 4th Tier of the Illusionary Divine stage. Instead, they had suffered heavy losses as well... However, the Imperial Court seemed to have won a few battles outside the 9 Extremes Mountain, and that made up for their lost in the 9 Extremes Mountain!"


    As he took a large bite from the spiritual fruit, he gazed at the 9 Extremes Mountain with a fire in his eyes. "This is a perilous territory to dream masters, and a dangerous place to spiritual knights and Wu Zongs. However, it seems like it is a huge plot of prosperous land for me!"


    Everyone was afraid of the Ultimate Segregation in the mountains. However, Fang Yuan''s physical body was extremely strong and required no external sustenance. Therefore, he would not feel any restrictions at all in the mountains.

 375 An Agreemen

    "This Elemental Refining Fruit is indeed a treasure for Wu Zongs! It is highly beneficial for one cultivating in the Meridian Opening Realm!"


    After consuming the spiritual fruit and cultivating for a few days, Fang Yuan''s martial arts progress had skyrocketed.


    After all, he had a strong foundation in martial arts to begin with and had the special ability to view his stats and experience bar. Together with the spiritual fruit, his cultivation in martial arts quickly advanced and not long after, he was already about to form the 8th spiritual meridian.


    "The spiritual fruit and the experience bar are just assisting in my cultivation. The most important factor is my extremely strong physical body. With it, there would be no more bottlenecks and cultivation will become extremely smooth!"


    Fang Yuan knew that his strong physical body was already comparable to that of a True Divine. His journey of cultivation from then on was a smooth one.


    He had quickly advanced through the various meridians in the Meridian Opening Realm.


    As soon as he noticed that the experience bar for his Giant Eagle Metal Body Technique was 90% filled, he became hasty and as his eyes glistened, he quickly ate an Elemental Refining Fruit.


    "Burp!"


    As soon as he finished his last spiritual fruit, he could feel an immense warmth filling up his dantian. The energy which gathered there felt like a river which was about to overflow.


    Normal Wu Zongs, when faced with such a situation, would not be able to withstand it for their dantians would not be able to hold up against such stress. This was even so for 8th and 9th Meridian Wu Zongs. If they were to forcefully let it happen, their bodies would explode.


    However, to Fang Yuan, his body was extremely hardy. He would at most experience the popping of his veins before everything would revert back to normal.


    "Chirp! Chirp!"


    On his back, the 8th spiritual meridian was completely formed. Together with the other meridians, they formed a mysterious illusionary figure.


    This figure was extremely large like a giant. However, it had a weird shape as it had a pair of wings on its arms, as though it was about to fly.


    Furthermore, there were faint grey inscriptions forming all around his body like feathers, giving his physical body a layer of spiritual armour.


    "The Giant Eagle Metal Body Technique is now at its peak!"


    Fang Yuan clenched his fist and immediately, the illusionary figure behind him did the same. "I can feel that as long as I am willing, I will be able to form the Giant Spiritual Divine Body and enter the realm of True Divine!"


    The Giant Eagle Metal Body Technique has its foundations in the Yang Family''s Qian Kun Giant Spiritual Technique. It had the potential to form 8 spiritual meridians and form the Giant Spiritual Divine Body!


    Both martial artists and spiritual knights alike would be able to attempt to breakthrough to True Divine or True Elemental respectively once they had formed the 7th Meridian or at the 7th Tier. However, the potential of the prematurely-formed Divine Body would be much lower than if they were to attempt the breakthrough with the 8th Meridian or 8th Tier. Most importantly, the chances of forming the Divine Body prematurely were extremely low!


    "With a strong foundation, it is only a matter of time one will be able to attain True Divine... However, the Giant Spiritual Divine Body does not seem satisfactory enough..."


    Fang Yuan took a quick glance at his stats window:


    "Name: Fang Yuan


    Essence: 96


    Spirit: 76


    Magic: 60


    Profession: Dream Soldier Master


    Cultivation: Illusionary Divine (4th Tier), Wu Zong (8th Meridian)


    Technique: [Giant Eagle Metal Body Technique (Grade 8) (100%)], [Hundred Poison Golden Body (10th Refining)], [8 Gates Sword Array (5th Sword) (1%)]


    Skill: [Medicine (Level 3)], [Botany (Level 5)], [Fiery Golden Eyes (Level 1)]"


    "I must form the strongest possible Divine Body by advancing only when I have formed the 9th Meridian!"


    He came to a conclusion as soon as he glanced at the stats of his Giant Eagle Metal Body Technique and Hundred Poison Golden Body technique.


    After combining Sage Changli''s inheritance and the theory of witchcraft, Fang Yuan had gained enough knowledge to understand his path to breakthrough the limitations of the Giant Eagle Metal Body Technique.


    "The next step... I shall gather some resources from the Dream Realm before attempting to combine these two techniques to push it to the 9th Meridian!"


    Fang Yuan sat on a piece of rock, shut his eyes and arrived at the Dream Realm in an instant.


    "Cultivator Fang!"


    As soon as he entered, his inscription plate started to flash continuously as it received countless messages. The first was from Feng Xinzi. "I''m sorry for what happened previously. However, Elder Smelter would like to see you to discuss about future plans!"


    "Elder Smelter... It seems like my treatment is getting better!"


    Fang Yuan smiled and quickly arrived at Realm Alliance Mountain and stood outside of Elder Smelter''s hall. "I''m Fang Yuan, requesting to see Elder!"


    "Please enter!"


    As soon as Fang Yuan made his request, two children in red robes came out of the hall and greeted him with smiles. "As soon as my master knows you''re here, he immediately started to meditate to enter the Dream Realm!"


    "I''m sorry to trouble him!"


    Fang Yuan replied before entering the hall.


    "Buzz! Buzz!"


    A flash of fiery glow gathered, forming Elder Smelter''s body. A few Fiery Dragon Children were standing around.


    "Greetings, Elder!"


    Fang Yuan properly paid his respects, not allowing anyone to fault him for disrespect.


    "It is the good fortune of our alliance to have such a talent like you!"


    Elder Smelter smiled as Fang Yuan humbly denied the compliments.


    After all, Fang Yuan knew where he stood. Although he was not afraid to take on a True Divine, he would still lose in the war if he was all by himself.


    This Elder from the Realm Alliance was a dream master in the 7th Tier of the Illusionary Divine and had once fought with Venerable Longhu, the True Divine!


    Of course, although Fang Yuan seemed respectful , he had no fear for Elder Smelter.


    After all, his existence in the Dream Realm was only his mind. If he were to anger this Elder, his actual physical body could immediately escape into the 9 Extremes Mountain!


    Within the area affected by the Ultimate Segregation, even Elder Smelter might not be his match!


    "Considering your cultivation level, I shall come straight to the point and be honest with you. As long as you wish, I can immediately increase your level of rights to that of a 7th Leaf Cultivator, which is only one level lower than us few elders. You can also deal with Feng Xinzi however you like!"


    Elder Smelter''s eyes glistened as he calmly spoke.


    Upon hearing this, Fang Yuan remained silent.


    This seemed like a favourable deal, but if he were to accept it, he knew that he would have to put his life on the line and get himself involved in the war.


    "I only want to know how much I will earn from the previous mission and the status of my appointment as the guardian of Golden Sun Prosperous Land."


    After a while, Fang Yuan smiled and enquired.


    "The guardian of Golden Sun Prosperous Land?"


    Elder Smelter gave a weird look. "This job is too lowly for you. You can at least be appointed as the baron of a land!"


    "Hmmm..."


    Fang Yuan shook his head and looked at Elder Smelter.


    Elder Smelter''s face started to turn red. He knew that Fang Yuan was still asking about the promise of not being required to take up missions for the next 10 years to come.


    With that, he started to regret.


    Previously, Fang Yuan was only a dream master in the 3rd Tier of the Illusionary Divine stage and there was no war going on. Therefore, Elder Smelter had allowed Feng Xinzi to promise Fang Yuan of this privilege.


    Never would he have thought that Fang Yuan''s progress would be so quick!


    How could they afford to waste such a powerful person? Even Elder Smelter himself would have to get his hands dirty if the war would continue.


    ''This kid... He''s smart!''


    Feng Xinzi''s attempt to convince Elder Smelter was starting to work. A thought began to grow in Elder Smelter''s mind.


    "This mission at 9 Extremes Mountain was a complete failure. However, you have accomplished much and that is notable... However, it is still a fact that the mission remains incomplete!"


    Elder Smelter had contemplated, but still decided to deny Fang Yuan anyway.


    "Oh? Then what would you like me to do, Elder?"


    Fang Yuan''s eyes glistened.


    To speak the truth, although the Golden Sun Prosperous Land was good, Fang Yuan was not insistent on it. Since he had already decided to test Elder Smelter on his stance with regards to this, he would naturally have a response to rebut him.


    "Hmmm... I have a few minute stuff to settle in 9 Extremes Mountain. If you complete those, we can consider this mission completed. I''ll let you keep the Golden Sun Prosperous Land!"


    Elder Smelter held himself back as he proposed the plan to Fang Yuan.


    "Alright!"


    Fang Yuan nodded his head and took his leave.


    Although the 9 Extremes Mountain was a dangerous place for other dream masters to go, it was merely a walk in the park for Fang Yuan.


    ...


    In the Green Bronze hall, as soon as Fang Yuan took his leave, Elder Smelter remained motionless as though he was lost in his thoughts.


    "Elder?"


    After a while, Feng Xinzi entered and knelt down.


    "Mmm, you''ve heard our conversation. If there is nothing else, this will be how things are!"


    Elder Smelter waved his hands.


    "Yes, Sir!"


    Feng Xinzi gritted his teeth, unwilling to resign to what had happened.


    "Don''t harbour any evil thoughts..."


    Seeing Feng Xinzi''s expression, Elder Smelter laughed. "Although it is only our minds that enter the Dream Realm, I have already used to a secret technique to test the kid out. He has a strong Essence and Spirit and has a red glow of spiritual light around him. This means that his physical body is extremely strong and even normal dream masters in the 6th Tier of the Illusionary Divine stage are no match for him! Don''t be too hard on yourself."


    "I wouldn''t dare!"


    Feng Xinzi turned pale and lowered his head. "I just cannot believe it! Although this person is talented, he was obviously much weaker than me before..."


    "Hehe... By dream-traversing to different realms, anything can happen!"


    Elder Smelter seemed as though he was not surprised at Fang Yuan''s progress. After all, the Sage of Realm Alliance had once gained plenty of rewards from the Ancient Realm to finally become a Sage!


    Compared to such an encounter, Fang Yuan''s situation was nothing.


    "As for you... Your stubbornness in cultivation and the dao of alchemy will get you nowhere!"


    Elder Smelter chided Feng Xinzi before stroking his beard in confusion. "However... this kid''s previous mission seems to be the Ancient Realm¡­.. It seems like he had benefited from the final chaos! Could he have collected large amounts of witch blood? Hmm, this seems possible."


    At that point in time, the situation was chaotic. Many highly-skilled dream masters of the Realm Alliance were killed, and similarly, the people of the Jiuli Tribe including Chi, Xing and many other highly skilled witches were killed as well. The opportunities were boundless.


    If Fang Yuan were to collect a lot of their blood essence and used it to refine his own blood, then it would be logical for his martial arts to improve by leaps and bounds.


    Elder Smelter was a cunning man. With a few guesses and predictions, he could roughly understand the reason behind Fang Yuan''s great improvement.


    Never would he know that Fang Yuan paid no attention to the blood essence of the normal witches. Instead, Fang Yuan went for the leader of the Jiuli Tribe - Xing! With that, he had obtained the purest form of the witch''s blood essence and even the inheritance of the study of witchcraft from the Jiuli Tribe!


    ....


    "Who would know that there are still things to settle in the 9 Extremes Mountain!"


    In the Da Qian world, Fang Yuan''s mind returned from the Dream Realm as he woke up.


    Regardless if it was the Dragon Searching Acupuncture Technique or just destroying things, there was no point of return.


    "Wait a minute... The 9 Extremes Mountain stretches over 350 miles and yet my map has only charted the mountain up to 130 miles and is therefore incomplete. Could there be other nodes?"


    Fang Yuan''s eyes glittered. He had no fear.


    After all, the 9 Extremes Mountain was his homeground! In the outside world, against a powerful being, Fang Yuan could only hold on for a few moments but would ultimately lose the fight. However, under the influence of the Ultimate Segregation in the 9 Extremes Mountain, a dream master in the 7th Tier of the Illusionary Divine stage could still be exhausted and be killed!


    "Hmm, maybe I should apply to be the guardian of this place and replace Xing Yunzi."

 376 Mystical Technique

    Within the 9 Extremes Mountain, the surroundings remained misty.


    Numerous restrictions covered the land, forming an area of extreme danger.


    Although many dream masters had explored the mountain, a few treasures still remain, but the traces of dream masters had slowly reduced.


    In a certain location, an altar was erected. Arrays shimmered around it as many dream masters gathered within the protection of the array. With fear, they scanned the surroundings and were on guard.


    "Our 5 Grand Organisations have formed an alliance. The one in charge of this place should be a powerful dream master from the Realm Alliance. Why is he not here yet?"


    A man in yellow robes glanced at his array plate and gave a worried look. "Could there be changes?"


    "Hmph! When did Baizi Mountain produce such cowardly dream masters?"


    As soon as he finished his piece, a young man with a pale skin and an evil vibe scoffed.


    "Lu Xuanzhi, since your Evil Divine Sect is so powerful, why not you go out and take a look?"


    The man in yellow robes rolled his eyes and rebutted.


    "Keke..."


    With a chuckle, Lu Xuanzhi remained silent.


    Previously, the base of the Realm Alliance was being attacked. Although none of the powerful dream masters was injured, most of the normal dream masters were killed. Furthermore, the plan for the other 4 Grand Organisations to attack the reinforcements of the Imperial Court did not go smoothly and many dream masters were killed in the process as well. All of these factors had already struck fear in these low-tiered dream masters.


    Although they had already confirmed that the Imperial Court had retreated, it was still possible for one or two of them to linger about in the premises of the 9 Extremes Mountain!


    All of them were assigned missions to guard the altar. It would be seeking death if they were to leave the place!


    "Hehe... Why are we having internal conflicts?"


    Suddenly, with a chime and a whiff of fragrance, a beautiful figure floated and came in between the both of them. "As alliance members, let''s not fight each other, alright? On my account, shake your hands and reconcile."


    This lady smiled, giving off a shockingly alluring vibe.


    "Since it''s the Divine Lady''s request, I''ll respect that!"


    Lu Xuanzhi dismounted from his donkey. However, the man in yellow robes revealed a look of uneasiness.


    Although this lady was not a powerful dream master, she was a Reserved Divine Lady of the Divine Lotus Cult. With that, she had many followers and backings in the base. The man in yellow robes was a dream master of Baize Mountain and therefore found it hard to communicate with members of the two evil sects.


    He remained speechless. After all, if he were to establish any relations with these two dream masters, he would only bring trouble to himself.


    ''Fortunately, the guardian of this place is a member of the Realm Alliance. The dream masters of the Realm Alliance are neutral and therefore have a good relationship with the dream masters of Baize Mountain!''


    The man in yellow robes felt a little relieved. He had gotten news that the newly-deployed dream master should have been Xin Yunzi, but the Realm Alliance had swapped him out in the last minute.


    It was extremely rare for such swaps to happen, which would, more often than not, make the rest worry.


    Lu Xuanzhi was about to speak but suddenly, the 3 dream master could detect something coming from afar.


    The silhouette of a human appeared. With every step he took, he would leap over 30 yards. In no time, he had already arrived before them.


    "Who''s that?"


    This person had a shocking spiritual aura of a martial artist, bringing discomfort to everyone in the base.


    "Strike!"


    Lu Xuanzhi quickly executed a defensive technique and a yellow glow appeared outside the array.


    "I am the guardian of this place. Why is there none of you out here to welcome me?"


    The silhouette had an extremely pressurising spiritual aura as it casually took out a piece of order plate.


    "Buzz! Buzz!"


    The glow from the array shook and as it interacted with the order plate an opening was revealed.


    "It is indeed an order plate from the Realm Alliance!"


    The man in yellow robes heaved a sigh of relief. Together with Lu Xuanzhi and the Divine Lady, they paid their respects. "We are Huang Long, Lu Xuanzhi, Meng Lian. Greetings, senior!"


    "Meng Lian?"


    The silhouette entered the array. He appeared young but had a mysterious and unpredictable spiritual aura. Mockingly, it examined Meng Lian.


    "What... It''s you! Fang Yuan!"


    Meng Lian raised her head and gazed at the face she so hated. Uncontrollably, she spoke. "It''s not possible that you are the powerful dream master assisting us!"


    "Oh?"


    Lu Xuanzhi exchanged glances with Huang Long. Looking at the pale Meng Lian, both of them were thinking that Meng Lian and Fang Yuan had met before.


    "Why can''t it be me?"


    Fang Yuan rubbed his nose and felt entertaining as he looked at the woman in front of him.


    After such a long time, this woman had improved in her cultivation and had already attained the Illusionary Divine stage. However, compared to him, her improvements were nothing.


    To make things worse, she was now Fang Yuan''s subordinate and Fang Yuan had the rights to give her orders.


    Fate was making a fool of everyone.


    "Meng Lian pays my greetings to you, Lord. Please forgive me for any past wrongdoings!"


    Being smart, she immediately paid her greetings humbly.


    "Forget it, please rise!"


    Fang Yuan tried to control his laughter as he waved his hands. "From today onwards, we have to work together to accomplish the mission of our alliance. That is the most important!"


    Although he was the leader among them, he could not brazenly kill this woman, especially so after the dream masters around had learnt of their past encounters. However, Fang Yuan was decided that if they were to encounter another ambush by the people of Da Qian, he would do nothing to help her and leave her to die!


    "I shall take a rest first. I''ll get to know every one of you during the dinner later on!"


    With a composed look, Fang Yuan waved his sleeves and entered the centre of the base. A few dream masters of the Realm Alliance were already waiting for him to serve him.


    The 3 dream masters remained at their spots, speechless.


    "What?"


    Lu Xuanzhi gazed at Meng Lian with a look of curiosity. "Sister Meng Lian, how did you know of Senior Fang?"


    "Fate!"


    Meng Lian gritted her teeth aggressively as fear filled her heart. She started to shudder. "I know that this person has only joined the Realm Alliance for a few years. Most importantly, when I first met him, he was not even in the 4th Tier of the Illusionary Divine stage."


    "He needs to be at least in the 5th or 6th Tier of the Illusionary Divine stage to be our guardian, right?"


    Huang Long felt confused. "How can his improve so quickly? Even if he was blessed with opportunities, he had to be a one-in-a-million talent!"


    Exchanging glances with Lu Xuanzhi, both of them were overcome with shock.


    "Sister Meng Lian, I recall that I have just finished a batch of spiritual pills. I have to manage the fire in the furnace. See you!"


    Lu Xuanzhi took his leave. Seeing this, Huang Long left as well without saying a single word.


    Their direct superior was now Fang Yuan. Even if Meng Lian had a powerful backing, it would not be able to arrive on time to save her should the need arise. Wouldn''t it be a pity if any of them were to be caught in their crossfire and get injured?


    "D*mn it!"


    Of course, Meng Lian could understand them. With that, her face turned pale. "Now, the war is everything. Even my father cannot change this mission. To think that I will have to serve under him..."


    With that thought, she was filled with regret.


    ...


    "This place is indeed a node!"


    After being brought into a stone hall, Fang Yuan did not immediately take his rest. Instead, he entered the earth meridian to investigate the node.


    In the middle of a calm pool of water, there was a fleeting purple glow which gave off a faint roar of a dragon.


    "This is indeed the Dragon Piercing Needle! What about all these..."


    A golden hue flashed across his eyes as Fang Yuan mumbled to himself.


    In this period of time, Fang Yuan had studied the inheritance of Sage Changli and was already extremely familiar with these arrangements. Furthermore, he had now further understood the greed of the 5 Grand Organisations.


    "The Imperial Court must have felt it oo. However, they are at a disadvantage! So what if they destroyed a few nodes? It would not affect the final outcome..."


    Fang Yuan sighed.


    Dream masters were indeed powerful. In previous years, the Evil Divine Sect and the Divine Lotus Sect had combined forces, and that was already enough to hold the Hidden Dragon Guards to a stalemate. The only reason why they did not eradicate the royal family was that there were conflicts of interest between the dream masters from the two sects.


    However, now that the 5 Grand Organisations had decided to combine forces, the Imperial Court would not be likely to hold up.


    "However, the arrangement here is not just simply restricting the earth energy at the correct time..."


    Fang Yuan sighed. With that, he returned to this room and started his cultivation.


    His path as a dream master had come to a halt. Without anything else to aid him, it was extremely difficult for him to increase his cultivation level. On the other hand, his progress in martial arts was extremely smooth sailing. Therefore, he had decided to focus all his effort on the cultivation and training of his martial arts.


    After all, if he were to achieve a breakthrough and form the Divine Body, he would immediately become a True Divine, comparable to the power of a dream master in the 7th Tier of the Illusionary Divine stage!


    "I have maximised the potential of the Giant Eagle Metal Body Technique. However, I can still fuse it with the Hundred Poison Golden Body Technique to achieve a breakthrough to the 9th Meridian!"


    This technique of fusing techniques was something Fang Yuan had thought about after reading through the recordings of witchcraft. Comparing it against the experiences of Sage Changli, Fang Yuan felt that it was extremely plausible to execute it.


    "After all, in these two techniques, one of the technique focuses on my Spirit, while the other one focuses on my Essence. Both of them are not conflicting and instead, they can complement each other. Considering my strong physical body, I should be able to handle the stress!"


    "Based on my predictions, once this new technique achieves a breakthrough to the 9th Meridian, I will be able to form the Divine Body immediately. After all, my foundations are already strong enough!"


    Fang Yuan stood still. Suddenly, he started to walk about the room and occasionally struck a few claws.


    Considering his current martial arts cultivation level, if he were to use his full force, he would destroy the entire base.


    Now, he was silently executing his moves.


    "After my experimentation, the Giant Eagle Metal Body Technique is still considered a rough technique and has the properties of iron. However, the Hundred Poison Golden Body has the properties of gold!"


    Taking a few steps forward, his body started to glitter. Together with an eagle''s chirp, a later of metallic black appeared on his skin.


    This was the appearance of the 8th Grade Giant Eagle Metal Body Technique.


    Behind him, the spiritual meridians came together, forming a giant eagle which raised its head towards the sky and chirped.


    Within moments, a golden hue appeared. It started to mix with the black-coloured hue. This was the defensive element of the Hundred Poison Golden Body, and it was being forcefully fused into Fang Yuan''s technique.


    "Chirp! Chirp!"


    As the eagle let out a loud chirp, the illusionary figure of the giant started to blur.


    On Fang Yuan''s body, the gold started to mix with the metallic colour, forming a new dark-gold hue.


    "Hmm, since this technique is formed from fusing two great techniques to allow me to attain the 9th Meridian, I shall call it the ''Nine Transference Mystical Technique'' which will allow one to form the Golden Metal Body!"


    With a thought, the stats on Fang Yuan''s stats window started to change.


    Under Techniques, the label of Giant Eagle Metal Body Technique and the Hundred Poison Golden Body Technique started to come together and transformed into the words of ''Nine Transference Mystical Technique''. However, there was a row of question marks behind the technique.


    "This stats window is indeed showing me what I know."


    Seeing this, Fang Yuan was lost in his thoughts.

 377 8 Dragons Bearer

    Late at night.


    Fang Yuan suddenly stopped while practising his martial arts, his eyes turned as he wondered, "Finally here?"


    "Meng Lian... seeks permission to meet Lord!"


    Moments later, a gentle voice could be heard outside the door which brought about an uneasy feeling.


    "Come in!"


    Fang Yuan waved his hands and the door opened, revealing Meng Lian''s alluring figure.


    It seemed that Meng Lian had specially dressed up, her lips were scarlet red and she was dressed in thin silk which showed her clear, pale skin.


    As she stepped in with the moonlight shining on her back, it was as though she was a faerie from the moon.


    "I was foolish to offend you last time, please forgive me, my magnanimous Lord..."


    Once she entered the house, she shyly bowed down to Fang Yuan and begged, "If Lord wants to put blame, I will willingly bear the blame..."


    "You will bear the blame?"


    Fang Yuan stroked his chin and his eyes burned with lust as he leered her entire body again and again.


    "Yes, I will do anything to bear the blame!" Meng Lian replied gently.


    Meng Lian coyly looked downwards as her skin blushed slightly.


    "Hehe..."


    Fang Yuan gave a mirthless laugh when he heard her reply.


    He knew what she was hinting, however, a lady from Divine Lotus Cult should not be played with.


    From his experience with Liu Mengmei, Fang Yuan obviously understood this kind of Divine Ladies were the best at clandestinely seducing men, especially when the men were smitten by them.


    Furthermore, Meng Lian was a Reserved Divine Lady, her tactics were even more powerful. If she willingly gave her body, she could definitely enslave the heart of a powerful dream master in the Realm Alliance and benefit so much from it.


    "That''s great!"


    After Fang Yuan finished sniggering, he directly demanded, "First of all... to prove your sincerity, I want you to give me all your Dream Realm contribution points!"


    "You..."


    The smile on Meng Lian''s face turned stiff at once as she forced herself to reply cordially, "Lord, you are joking right?"


    "What do you think?"


    From Fang Yuan''s pondering gaze, she finally woke up and understood that he was absolutely not wavered by her beauty and seduction. She could not help but blush, however, it was due to anger, not shame!


    "Fang Yuan!"


    Meng Lian stood up as though she was a kitty brandishing her claws, "What exactly do you want?"


    "Look at what you are saying, you were the one who offended me first! Just moments after you came over to seek forgiveness, you are now asking me what exactly do I want?"


    Fang Yuan sat cross-legged as he watched her fume with rage. His eyes glistened and continued, "Furthermore... I am in charge of this place, how dare you spout nonsense at me with no respect for authority nor rules! Is that what Divine Ladies from Divine Lotus Cult are like? Eh?"


    "Rumble!"


    As Fang Yuan harangued, a giant shadow emerged behind him. It had a golden and metal-like glow to it and it affected the atmosphere, causing a powerful gust of spiritual pressure to land on Meng Lian''s body.


    Meng Lian''s expression changed at once as she was moved back a few steps.


    Now, she could only admit that the person she was facing had long surpassed her and was one of the truly powerful ones in the 5 Grand Organisations.


    Meng Lian''s face turned pale and she rolled her eyes around before she recovered and finally replied in an odd manner, "Ok! I still have 1,000 plus contribution points, I will give it all to you!"


    "Oh, I still have other conditions! But I have not thought of them now, I will tell you once I think of them."


    Fang Yuan waved his hands, "Now... take your leave and don''t disturb my meditation."


    "Meng Lian takes her leave!"


    If looks could kill, Fang Yuan guessed he would have died thousands of times by now.


    Once Meng Lian left, a sly smile appeared on his face as he thought, "She wants to reconcile? And she uses such a trick at the start? She clearly does not mean it!"


    Fang Yuan was suddenly eagerly anticipating for the Imperial Court to attack them.


    During the chaos, so what if a few of them died?


    ...


    However, his wishes did not come true.


    Half a month passed in a blink of an eye.


    Perhaps it was either because they suffered too great of a loss previously or because they were afraid of the 5 Grand Organisations'' retaliation, the Imperial Court and the Hidden Dragon Guards did not attack them. They did not even reconnoitre the area which made Fang Yuan slightly gloomy.


    "Seems like I can only let Meng Lian have it easy this time..." Fang Yuan thought.


    Standing inside the crypt, Fang Yuan observed the earth meridian which was scintillating with a purple light and ruminated, "Also... this array, after reading through Sage Changli''s inheritance, I finally sort of understood it. There must be an ulterior motive behind the 5 Grand Organisations, their ambitions are pretty wild..."


    "However, that is already like an obvious plan, there''s no use if I get it now... The only thing I can anticipate now is the day when the Jade Capital is turned upside down!"


    As Fang Yuan thought to himself, he waved his hand and streams of light entered and immediately disappeared into the earth meridian.


    "Lord!"


    Back to the surface, a few dream masters paid their respects to Fang Yuan and offered spiritual tea and spiritual fruits.


    Fang Yuan carefreely consumed a few before he returned to his room to cultivate.


    Everything was fake, only one''s own power was real.


    His whole body radiated with a golden metal-like glow as his Nine Transference Mystical Technique was close to completion.


    "Once I fully form it, I can attain my 9th spiritual meridian and breakthrough the bottleneck and forge my body directly!"


    Although forging the martial artist Divine Body was a huge checkpoint for 9th Meridian Wu Zongs, it was nothing much in Fang Yuan''s eyes.


    Fang Yuan took a look at his stats:


    "Name: Fang Yuan


    Essence: 96


    Spirit: 76


    Magic: 61


    Profession: Dream Soldier Master


    Cultivation: Illusionary Divine (4th Tier), Wu Zong (8th Meridian)


    Technique: [Nine Transference Mystical Technique (? ? ?)], [8 Gates Sword Array (5th Sword) (10%)]


    Skill: [Medicine (Level 3)], [Botany (Level 5)], [Fiery Golden Eyes (Level 1)]"


    "I just need my last shot in the goalpost for my Nine Transference Mystical Technique!"


    Cultivating martial arts gave Fang Yuan a kind of bottlenecked feeling, as though he just needed one more step to breakthrough, but he just could not take that step.


    This was because taking that step was not as simple as attaining the 9th Meridian, it was about forging the martial arts Divine Body directly!


    "I can''t believe my martial arts have finally reached such a stage!"


    Fang Yuan could not help but smile as he saw the progress of his 8 Gates Sword Array.


    It was an unexpected progress for Fang Yuan but a good one. After all, the 8 Gates Sword Array was a secret array which could not be easily revealed in front of others before he enacted his grand revenge. However, there were no qualms for Fang Yuan to reveal his martial arts prowess.


    "Furthermore... once I forge my Divine Body, I would be a True Divine martial artist. Thus, once Da Qian descends into absolute chaos, there would be many formidable and powerful men and I would also be qualified to try to enact revenge!"


    Fang Yuan was extremely grateful for his master and their relationship remained strong. Fang Yuan had not forgotten about his thirst for vengeance at all.


    However, those powerful beings were naturally intelligent, wise and they could also predict the future. Hence, Fang Yuan could never mention his intentions at all.


    But once Fang Yuan became a True Divine, his martial arts would surpass many and he would be able to automatically shield himself from others trying to predict him.


    "Also, although I would not be able to set up many escape ways, it is still better than having none!"


    ...


    Inside a secret chamber outside the 9 Extreme Mountain.


    A daoist elder who was sitting cross-legged stood up and looked at the copper pot with eight golden dragons on it. His face appeared stupefied as he watched.


    On the floor, the big mouth of the copper toad was filled with many copper balls and brought about an inauspicious meaning.


    "I control the earth dragon of Da Qian but however, both Da Qian''s fate and breaths of the earth cannot defeat dream masters'' fate energy..."


    The daoist elder clenched his fist so tightly that it turned white and a few streaks of blood appeared in his eyes. He was almost about to retch out a mouthful of blood.


    "There are over thousands of earth meridian nodes in Da Qian. As of now, more than half of them have already fallen into the enemies'' hands. Although the repercussions of it are still not obvious now, the dream masters would definitely hasten their next move!"


    The daoist elder wiped away the redness on the corners of his mouth and paced back and forth in the chamber as he muttered, "Dream masters are despicable... although we have already trained up the Hidden Dragon Guards to fight against them, they can only fight against one of the powerful organisations at most. The rest have to be fought by the Imperial Court''s True Divines and True Elemetnals!"


    Other than the Head of Hidden Dragon Guards, the Imperial Court only rely on their True Divines and True Elementals to fight against a Prominent Divine powerful being.


    However, although normal True Divines and True Elementals were also called powerful beings, they were only comparable to high-tiered Illusionary Divine dream masters. The most powerful ones of them were equally as powerful as dream masters at the 9th Tier of Illusionary Divine.


    Nevertheless, Da Qian was still favoured by heaven''s fate and the royalties possessed secret techniques to gather fate and breaths of the earth onto the bodies of Wu Zongs and spiritual knights. This was the blessing of the heavens and inside Da Qian Empire, if they could freely consume it, they would be as powerful as Sages!


    This was the capital which allowed Da Qian to hold its standing till now!


    Nevertheless, at this stage, dream masters had already totally broken off all relationships with Da Qian. They dared to go against the heavens and disrupt the earth meridians. Even though the elder and the Imperial Court had fought against such numerous times, it was all futile.


    This was the result of their overall strength being lacklustre compared to the dream masters; no amounts of schemes could change that.


    "Shang Hou, how is it?"


    Inside the chamber, a slender shadow appeared. It was as though scenes of stars being formed and dying could be seen inside his eyes; it was the Head of Hidden Dragon Guards!


    "Things are not going well..."


    The daoist elder, Shang Hou, shook his head and continued, "I am the dragon son of Da Qian and have cultivated the techniques of dream masters. By luck, I cultivated to the 7th Tier of the Illusionary Divine stage and hold the position of 8 Dragons Bearer, where I monitor all the nodes for the Imperial Court. However, I am now at a loss! I have seen before the array the dream masters are casting in Sage Changli''s inheritance, it is the 6 Extremes Earth Shattering Array! There are 1,275 nodes in Da Qian and their presence allow the heavens and earth to thrive and flourish and as long as half the nodes remain, they are still effective!"


    "When we attacked them previously, we only destroyed a few of their arrangements and instead caused them to hasten their progress. Now, the array has been formed and there''s nothing we can do... you don''t have to deploy people to ambush them anymore, just prepare for the imminent war! The world is going to be in chaos soon! Cough cough..."


    Shang Hou was coughing continuously and blood stained his shirt.


    The Head of Hidden Dragon Guards could only remain quiet as the elder coughed.


    Bodies of Illusionary Divine dream masters were strong, they would not fall sick easily and naturally, they were not as weak. However, this elder was in charge of monitoring all the earth meridians and the current situation was not in his favour as numerous nodes had fallen. Thus, all his pent-up resentment finally erupted inside him at once, which he could not withstand.


    His lifespan might even be cut short from it.


    "Shang Hou, you can cultivate in peace! There''s still a few imperial advisors and me to take care of this empire!"


    The Head of Hidden Dragon Guards consoled Shang Hou, "Ahh... as the grandson of the emperor, I cannot escape this war!"


    Elder Shang Hou smiled and suddenly grabbed the Head of Hidden Dragon Guards'' palm, "The dream masters are after me this time all because of Changli''s inheritance. I saw the core chapter, although it was just remnants of it, the secrets I uncovered from it is sufficient enough for us to use it as an advantage! We might not be able to resist against the dream masters and recover our fate energy, but we can perish together with them! Lord, would you help me?"


    "You are saying..."


    The Head of Hidden Dragon Guard waved his hand and a powerful restriction appeared at once. His eyes glistened blindingly.

 378 Destroying the Sec

    Gold Region.


    At the gates of Golden Peak Sect.


    Smoke billowed into the skies and people rushed about. A huge array covered the entire Golden Peak Sect as heavenly fire continuously struck the gates.


    The long invasion of Gold Region had finally reached the end.


    "This is how powerful a dream master can be. To think that they can directly burn the entire Golden Peak Sect together with the mountain and force everyone out..."


    Ruan Junxian was a small infantry trooper tasked to rally the people. Witnessing the destruction of the sect from the foot of the mountain, his heart shook.


    "Roar! Roar!"


    On the peak of Golden Peak Mountain, a streak of terrifying spiritual spell appeared. It had a golden glow to it and it stretched out like a river. Suddenly, it flicked in the air and transformed into a huge golden roc. The roc had flaming-golden feathers and an awe-inspiring look. With the flap of its wings, it flew up towards the array.


    "This is... a spiritual spell!"


    Witnessing this scene, Ruan Junxian was stunned and his mouth was wide opened. "The feeling I get is... even though I am separated from it by such a huge array..."


    "Hehe... This is the power of a True Elemental spiritual knight!"


    A dream master beside Ruan Junxian laughed. "This must be the sect master of Golden Peak Sect - Venerable Golden Peak personally fighting! However, with us ambushing and trapping them, the True Elemental spiritual knight and the two True Divine Wu Zongs will not be able to escape!"


    "These three powerful people will turn to dust?"


    Ruan Junxian mumbled to himself.


    At this point in time, Ruan Junxian had already obtained elemental force and was officially a dream master. However, he was still in admiration for these powerful beings.


    In his previous sect, in the entire sect, there was only one such powerful being, Venerable Longhu!


    But now, his new sect, Baize Mountain, paid no attention and directly struck against these 3 powerful people all at once!


    The difference was too huge for one to imagine.


    "A True Elemental spiritual knight will have an almost unlimited supply of spiritual strength. Most importantly, his spiritual spells will have true spirits. Even his most lowly spells would turn magical through his hands. Take this golden roc for example. It definitely has about a third of the power of an ancient beast... However, it''s a pity for him, for the array is cast by 3 dream masters in the 7th Tier of the Illusionary Divine stage!"


    The dream master chuckled and felt proud.


    "Chirp!"


    The golden roc flapped its wings and finally crashed into the array.


    "Rumble!"


    There was a shattering sound followed by the roar as the entire peak of Golden Peak Mountain shook.


    On the array, a translucent layer slowly became visible and was rather thick like a wall. With the crash, the shook and cracks began to form.


    In mid-air, three dream masters appeared. There were glows emitting from their bodies and the illusionary image of a plot of spiritual land appeared behind their backs. With that, the invisible plot of land crashed down.


    "Buzz! Buzz!"


    The array shook and in an instant, the cracks were repaired. It remained sturdy like a crystal rock, sealing up any last hope of escape.


    "Venerable Golden Peak, why are you going against fate?"


    The 3 Illusionary Divine elders crossed their legs and sat down. All of them looked composed. "The Imperial Court is overbearing and our actions are only in retaliation! If the Golden Peak Sect refuses to change, then everything within the array will be reduced to dust. If you want a chance of survival, submit to us and allow us to control you. If you agree, you might even be able to preserve your heritage!"


    "Dream on!"


    A voice was heard from the Golden Peak Mountain. "I''ve sworn to the heavens that I will forever go against you thieves!"


    "Roar! Roar!"


    As soon as he had finished his sentence, 5 streaks of spiritual spells appeared once more, transforming into different elemental water dragons in mid-air. Forming an array on its own, he commanded the dragon array to crash onto the array above.


    "Bang!"


    The water dragon array exploded, but the huge array merely shook. On the other hand, the flames and chilly ice scattered across the mountains, causing the entire Golden Peak Mountain to be stricken with disasters.


    "Why are you forcing yourself even after knowing that all that you do will be of no use?"


    The 3 powerful dream masters sighed. The huge array remained intact and a translucent-looking flame started to brew in the centre of the array.


    Anything in the mountain, be it the rocks, grass or the panicky disciples turned into flames as soon as they came in contact with the translucent flame. Slowly, they melted.


    The final defences of the Golden Peak Sect started to weaken under the burning of the translucent flames. It was only a matter of time before everything would turn into ashes.


    It seemed that the dream masters of Baize Mountain were absolute this time and were insistent to wipe out everything on the mountain, be it the mountain itself, the disciples or even the sect head!


    Within the peak in the Golden Peak Grandmaster''s Hall.


    Venerable Golden Peak witnessed the raging inferno and knew what the outcome of the fight would be. With a heavy heart, he almost spat out a mouthful of blood. "Baize Mountain... You guys are ruthless! How dare you guys claim that you are the good guys!"


    "It is only normal that we had previously combined forces with the Hidden Dragon Guards to ambush against one of your elders!"


    Beside Venerable Golden Peak, a middle-aged martial artist with a tall built stood straight.


    "We have now fallen into their trap. It seems like there is no way of escaping..."


    Venerable Golden Peak looked at his True Divine brother and gave a bitter laugh. "We have implicated the entire sect as well... Fortunately, Brother Cang has managed to escape and we can still preserve our heritage!"


    The Golden Peak Sect was led by a True Elemental spiritual knight and two other True Divine Wu Zongs.


    Although they were tricked this time, their sect would not be entirely wiped out. With one of them outside the array, the sect still had a hope of a future.


    Venerable Golden Peak would not even think about whether the Imperial Court would send reinforcements to help them out.


    With such a commotion over at the Golden Peak Mountain, it was obvious that the 5 Grand Organisations were taunting the Imperial Court to attack them. Considering the resources that the Imperial Court had, it was not wise to go head-on with the 5 Grand Organisations especially at this juncture.


    "Haha... Sect head, don''t be disheartened. We have our chance!"


    The middle-aged martial artist broke out into laughter as he held a gourd in his hands. Biting the cap off, he drank heartily like a luxurious person.


    "Chance? Let''s bet on it!"


    Venerable Golden Peak laughed as well.


    "Well said! Rather than waiting here to be crushed by the array, let''s fight our way to death!"


    The middle-aged martial artist threw the gourd of wine on the ground and rushed out. "I am True Divine Xuan Wu. Who dares to challenge?"


    "Challenge!"


    "Challenge!!"


    "Challenge!!!"


    His last words were loud and striking, spread out far and wide into the clouds. His energy was like a tiny sun, vibrating and ready to explode.


    With that, the illusionary figure of a giant appeared.


    The giant was entirely black and had the shell of a tortoise on its back. A huge snake coiled around its body. With a ferocious roar, the giant struck a punch into the sky towards the array.


    "Rumble!"


    At the foot of the mountain, Run Junxian almost lost his balance. "True Divine?"


    In his eyes, the giant which suddenly appeared had extremely toned muscles as though it had walked out from a fable.


    Such martial arts was indeed scary and even Venerable Longhu might not be able to match up to it!


    Furthermore, he had started to re-evaluate if his choice in becoming a dream master was a right one.


    "Hmph, it''s just a small trick!"


    In mid-air, the three powerful dream masters exchanged glances and shook their heads.


    If they were to be ambushed this giant, they would have to fear it.


    However, now, the giant was trapped in an array which was given by a Sage. Its indisputable might would surely be able to contain this giant.


    Under such circumstances, why would they be afraid of the taunt of a True Divine martial artist?


    With this, the dream masters executed their techniques. The translucent flames started to gather, forming something which resembled a tiny sun. As soon as the tiny sun was formed, it started to descend.


    "Aw! Aw!"


    The giant started to beat its chest and roared. As its body was covered in flames, even the body of the True Divine was beginning to melt.


    "Ah... F*ck it! Blood river!"


    With the exclamation of a True Divine, the giant started to crumble. Where its heart was supposed to be, there was a huge hole. An emerald glow started to intensify, and with the energy of the True Divine''s blood, it struck towards the array.


    "Eh?"


    "This is... the blood energy of a martial artist? His giving it his all!"


    "He is indeed a powerful True Divine to be able to use his powerful blood energy to such an extent!"


    The three dream masters quickly discussed how to deal with him, but none of them dared to go head-on with the True Divine''s final blow. The only thing they could do was to continuously strengthen the array.


    "Chila!"


    As the emerald glow struck upon the array, it sizzled and exploded just like how boiling oil would react when in contact with water. The three elders shook as blood started to flow from their noses.


    Even a Sage''s array would come to a halt against such a powerful force. A huge hole emerged on the surface of the array.


    "This is the time. Sect head, go!"


    "Brother?!"


    Venerable Golden Peak''s eyes turned red. He quickly transformed into a streak of light, carried a few disciples with him and tunnelled his way out of the array. Within seconds, he disappeared into the horizon.


    "Haha... My sect will live on!"


    The middle-aged martial artist laughed as he started to bleed from his eyes, nose, ears and even his mouth. He was badly injured and there was no chance of survival.


    This person had just sacrificed himself to fight for a chance of survival for his sect head and fellow disciples.


    "This is pitiful, this is... amusing!"


    Seeing this, the three dream masters remained in their seating posture and did not look defeated.


    The streak of golden light was extremely quick. As it arrived at the horizon, it gazed back with a tinge of unwillingness before disappearing beyond the horizon.


    "Rumble!"


    At this point in time, the space in the air cracked as a giant hand stretched out, grabbing the golden glow.


    Venerable Golden Peak''s faint voice could be heard.


    "Is this... the hand of a Sage?"


    On the mountain, as the middle-aged martial artist witnessed the re-capture of his sect head, tears welled up in his eyes. "Hate! So much hate!"


    "Hmph, we have spent so much effort to use you guys as bait knowing that the Imperial Court would cower in their palace. We can only take it out on you guys to appease us!"


    One of the elders laughed as he commanded the translucent fire to burn the True Divine into ashes.


    "Burn! Burn everything!"


    "Rumble!"


    The fire raged on for another day. The thousand over disciples of Golden Peak Sect were reduced to ashes, and even the mountain was reduced to a flat ground.


    "This... Is this the power of a powerful being? Casually burning up places into hell..."


    At the foot of the mountain, Ruan Junxian was in a daze.


    As a small trooper in charged of rallying the people, he had the opportunity to witness the entire process. With this, his willingness to become a dream master became stronger.


    On the second day, news of the destruction of Golden Peak Sect had spread, and all 99 regions of Da Qian remained solemn.


    Any sect in the empire would now fear dream masters and would begin to establish good relations with powerful beings as backings.


    Now, the Imperial Court had decided to prepare its army and war was imminent!

 379 Misfortune

    "Baize Mountain and the alliance of dream masters, I, Cang Xuansheng will fight against you for my entire life!"


    In a random corner of the Jade Capital, within a huge room, a Wu Zong was reading a letter. He shrieked as he crushed the paper in his hands into powder.


    At this point in time, his face turned red. He opened his mouth and spat out a mouthful of blood.


    The dark red blood stained the white walls like spots of plum blossom flowers.


    "Lord Xuansheng?"


    Outside, there was a cry. A dream master discovered what had happened and quickly spread the information.


    Not long after, an old man came in.


    He had a peaceful look and was wearing a long black robe. His hair was a pure silver colour but he appeared extremely energetic. As he gazed at the wall, he frowned. "Xuansheng, although you have escaped, you have still succumbed to the ''Seven Emotions Devouring Formula''. You must keep your thoughts under control. Know that being happy, angry or sad would harm your soul. Just this time, you have already shortened your lifespan by ten years!"


    The Seven Emotions Devouring Formula was created by a powerful being from the Evil Divine Sect. Even the Imperial Court could not do anything to undo it.


    "I know... But what meaning does life have if I cannot avenge by sect? Furthermore, I am a martial artist!"


    Martial artists hold pride in gaining through brute force. If he held himself back, how would he then be able to cultivate to the realm of True Divine?


    Cang Xuansheng took in a few deep breaths and composed himself down. "Tell me, how long do I have left?"


    "Cough cough... if you become useless, what is the purpose of living a long life?"


    The old man''s eyes briefly glistened. "However, looking at your current state, if you are willing to recuperate and ignore worldly affairs, together with the help of herbs, you should be able to live for another hundred years."


    "However, in this period of time, you cannot fill yourself with emotions and must restrain yourself from fighting with others!"


    Cang Xuansheng laughed. "If this is so, how am I different from a dead person? I would rather have a quick death."


    He glanced at the old man. Suddenly, his voice became cold. "I believe the royal family will find it meaningless to take care of a useless person, right? Since I have already found an heir and have already recorded by martial arts into the royal family''s martial arts treasury, I no longer have any value..."


    "Cough cough..."


    The old man''s expression changed. "Xuansheng, don''t think too much. You have helped the Imperial Court and we will take care of you for your entire life..."


    "What if I don''t want to be taken care of! I am almost crippled and would rather make the most of my life. Staying alive might even irritate you all..."


    Cang Xuansheng was clear that such promises made by the Imperial Court were not worthy. They might last for a year or two but as time passed, any major contribution made in the past would be swept off the table.


    Furthermore, what meaning would there be to lead a meaningless life?


    "Make the most of your life? What are you intending to do?"


    As the Divine Hand of the royal family, you can revive dead people and restore flesh to bones. How long do you think you can keep this Seven Emotions Devouring Formula under control? Don''t tell me that you have no idea. There are so many people in the Imperial Court, and there must be a time where you have encountered something like this, right?"


    Cang Xuansheng asked coldly.


    "You''re right... The Evil Divine Sect has always been at odds with the Imperial Court. Therefore, it is only normal that I have seen this formula elsewhere before. Although there is no cure for it, there is a ''Seven Perilous Earth Dragon Pill'' which, in essence, make use of the fact that a poison can counter another. It can restore your martial arts for up to 7 days and you will be able to live normally. However, as soon as the 7 days pass, you will die and there will be no way of bringing you back to life!"


    The old man stroked his beard as though he was already prepared. "How do you intend to take your revenge... within the next 7 days? Although the Imperial Court and the Hidden Dragon Guards will assist you, the main group will still have to remain in the Jade Capital to defend it. You will not be able to get enough reinforcements!"


    "I am only a True Divine martial artist and will not be able to trouble the 5 Grand Organisations too much. I''ll just kill as many of them as I can!"


    Cang Xuansheng had a mysterious look. "Do you have the records of all the powerful dream masters in the 5 Grand Organisations that are below the 7th Tier of the Illusionary Divine stage? I want all of their information and their whereabouts! Although I cannot touch the powerful dream masters, I can kill their disciples and weaken their army."


    "Alright!"


    The old man bowed. "Don''t worry, I will send all this information in an instant!"


    It was indeed in an instant.


    Within a few moments, a Hidden Dragon Guard entered with a solemn look and presented a tray to Cang Xuansheng.


    On the tray was a translucent jade bottle. Within it, there was a black pill. Beside the bottle was a stack of papers.


    "This Seven Perilous Earth Dragon Pill is made from 7 types of extreme poisons and infused with dragon energy before being made. It is used as a poison to counter another poison. As soon as you consume it, there will be no turning back."


    The old man''s gentle voice was heard. "This stack of information has all the names of the talented dream masters in the 5 Grand Organisations. Most of them are at the 4th Tier or higher and are roaming out there..."


    A powerful being would take almost no effort to wipe out these talents. He would be able to quickly finish every fight with every one of the dream masters and able to weaken the future potential of dream masters as well.


    "I understand. By being able to kill a few more of them in the next 7 days, it is already making the most of my remaining life!"


    Can Xuansheng remained expressionless as he took the tray from the Hidden Dragon Guard.


    "After this, both the Imperial Court and the Hidden Dragon Guards will no longer look out for you. Please take care of yourself!"


    The old man took another deep bow.


    He could only secretly kill the disciples of the powerful dream masters, for even the Imperial Court would not be willing to take such a risk and do it openly.


    After all, if the Imperial Court were to claim responsibility, the 5 Grand Organisations would surely strike back 10 times as hard.


    To look at things from another angle, Cang Xuansheng was a member of the Golden Peak Sect, which was just wiped from existence.


    It was therefore logical for him to take the risk and kill the talented dream masters.


    Even if the dream masters of the 5 Grand Organisations were to strike back 10 times as hard, they could do nothing since the Golden Peak Sect was already destroyed.


    "Alright!"


    Cang Xuansheng picked up the stack of papers, scanned across and revealed a look of vengeance in his eyes.


    ...


    "Elder Smelter is still rather smart about this..."


    Within the 9 Extremes Mountain, Fang Yuan wiped his robe and stood up.


    To think about it, this additional mission was extremely relaxed.


    After the previous happenings, the scout of the Imperial Court did not linger in the 9 Extremes Mountain any longer. Therefore, Fang Yuan could easily complete this mission. All he had to do was to wait for another representative from the Realm Alliance to take over from him so that he could return to Golden Sun Prosperous Land to remain in isolation.


    However, he still felt a tinge of pity for he did not get a chance to indirectly kill Meng Lian.


    "Lord!"


    At this point in time, a dream master from the Realm Alliance requested to see Fang Yuan, claiming that he had bad news. "The 5 Grand Organisations have spread the news that a True Divine martial artist is on a killing rampage. He has already killed dream masters from Baizi Mountain, Evil Divine Sect and the Divine Lotus Cult. We have to be on our guard!"


    "True Divine? How would he dare?"


    Fang Yuan was confused as he touched his cheek.


    Mmm, even if he were to ignore Fang Yuan''s cultivation in martial arts, the fact that Fang Yuan had achieved the 4th Tier of the Illusionary Divine stage would mean that this True Divine would be likely to be looking out for Fang Yuan.


    "Of course he would dare!"


    The dream master from the Realm Alliance laughed. "This person is Cang Xuansheng. He was an elder of the Golden Peak Sect in Gold Region... Their sect was just destroyed and there were no survivors!"


    Since Cang Xuansheng had no more worries, he could recklessly go about on his killing spree.


    Fang Yuan was speechless. "What in the world... How can the powerful dream masters miss out on such a dangerous person!"


    Knowing that this True Divine was crazy, it would be unfortunate if anyone were to encounter him.


    "Do we know his whereabouts?"


    "Nope. The few elders have been looking out. However, this person is extremely sly. It is simple for a True Divine to cover his own tracks. Unless facing a True Divine, it would be extremely hard to detect one. Furthermore, they can cover over 350 miles in a day, so it is tedious to determine their location!"


    The dream master gave a look of uneasiness as he glanced at Fang Yuan.


    "Mmm... If he wants to maximise his powers, it is very likely that he would enter perilous lands like the 9 Extremes Mountain..."


    Fang Yuan was speechless for a while. "Pass the order for the defences to be tightened up!"


    "Yes, Lord!"


    This dream master was extremely careful as he took his leave, for he was afraid that Fang Yuan might be in a bad mood and would take it out on him.


    "Really..."


    Witnessing his reaction, Fang Yuan felt a little depressed. "Am I really a person who would take it out on others? Furthermore... the other talented dream masters might be looking for ways to protect themselves, but for me, I think I would be a good opportunity to test out my martial arts."


    Now that his Nine Transference Mystical Technique had reached a peak, he required an opportunity to achieve the breakthrough.


    ...


    Very quickly, 3 days had passed. A few dream masters had arrived to take over from Fang Yuan.


    Unfortunately, Fang Yuan did not manage to encounter the True Divine.


    Seeing how the other dream masters like Huang Long, Lu Xuanzhi and even Meng Lian heaving sighs of relief, Fang Yuan felt even more disappointed. "Could Cang Xuansheng be already captured by the powerful dream masters? Otherwise, considering the geographical advantage in the 9 Extremes Mountain, why would he not come?"


    If the other dream masters were to know what Fang Yuan was thinking, they would surely be speechless.


    Most of them were afraid that the powerful enemy would approach them and no one would think that anyone would be looking forward to seeing the enemy.


    "Alright, the takeover is complete. Have a good journey, Lord!"


    The dream master who led the group of them to take over was only at the 4th Tier of the Illusionary Divine stage. With a smiling face, he attempted to establish good relations with Fang Yuan.


    After all this while, the arrangements on the node will be able to activate itself and will no longer be easily destroyed. Therefore, from now onwards, they would only need to send a few people to occasionally take a look.


    "Alright!"


    After receiving proof that their mission was completed, the few dream masters had no intentions of staying behind. All of them quickly left as though this place was hell.


    "Such a prosperous land... it''s a pity that it''s hidden!"


    Fang Yuan followed the dream masters as he thought to himself.


    Perhaps, he could start planning to get the appointment of the guardian of the 9 Extremes Mountain after a few more years.


    To him, this was the best prosperous land he could ever ask for, especially in troubled times like this. It was a safe haven.


    With him leading the way, the group of dream masters quickly arrived at the exit.


    "Alright, after passing this place, we will be out of 9 Extremes Mountain. Take care of yourselves!"


    Fang Yuan waved his hands. His spiritual will shook as he smirked.


    "Lord, please take care!"


    Lu Xuanzhi and Huang Long paid their respects while Meng Lian had some thoughts to herself as she chuckled inside. ''The faster you climb, the harder you''ll fall. We must quickly leave this place and leave you for you will be the source of trouble. It is no laughing matter if we get involved in the True Divine''s killing rampage.''

 380 The Figh

    "Sigh..."


    It seemed as though Fang Yuan had already detected Meng Lian''s evil thoughts.


    "Lord, why are you sighing?"


    Lu Xuanzhi asked curiously.


    Out of the 9 Extremes Mountain, they did not have any more official relationship. Although Lu Xuanzhi still respected Fang Yuan, he sounded more casual now.


    "I feel that with the mountains and the rivers, this place is the best prosperous land anyone can ask for..."


    Fang Yuan sighed once more. "It is worthy to be of someone''s place of burial!"


    "What do you mean?"


    Meng Lian was on high alert as she sprinted away, thinking that Fang Yuan would strike her.


    "That''s right. This place is indeed perfect to be your place of burial!"


    But this time, it was a deep voice.


    The dream masters were shocked.


    With all of their spiritual wills, they would still be able to detect a 9th Meridian Wu Zong. The only person they would not be able to detect would be a True Divine, capable of concealing their spiritual auras!


    "This is not good... Run!"


    Huang Long''s expression changed as he burrowed away in a streak of yellow light resembling a water dragon.


    "Bang!"


    After a few yards, the yellow water dragon came to a halt as though something was blocking it and blood spewed everywhere.


    "Is this wind from the fist of a True Divine?!"


    Lu Xuanzhi shuddered in fear as he gazed at Cang Xuansheng who seemed to have appeared from mid-air.


    Cang Xuansheng was wearing green robes and had sharp facial features. He had a handsome look for a middle-aged man, but to the dream masters, he was the cruellest demon of all!


    "Hehe!"


    "Hehe!"


    "Cang Xuansheng, your enemy is Baize Mountain. It is none of our business. Since you have already killed Huang Long, why are you still not taking your leave? Do you know that you are already wanted by the 5 Grand Organisations? Any powerful dream master might appear anytime to kill you!"


    The dream masters were shivering in fear as Lu Xuanzhi clenched his teeth to exclaim.


    Cang Xuansheng held his hands behind his back and examined the crowd. "Baize Mountain should be destroyed, but it is the same for all of you here! Are you Fang Yuan? The talent from the Realm Alliance?"


    He ignored Lu Xuanzhi as though he was part of the background and instead, started to examine Fang Yuan.


    "Great! Great! Great! You have strong energy from your blood and your martial arts is shocking. Your physical body is indeed hardy, and I believe you have already formed the 7th Meridian? You''re indeed a talent. It''s a pity..."


    Cang Xuansheng was indeed a powerful True Divine martial artist for he could figure out Fang Yuan''s cultivation level in one look. With that, he shook his head and sighed. "You have great potential, but it''s a pity that you have turned to the dark side!"


    "Oh? May I know how I was being described in the information?"


    Fang Yuan asked with curiosity.


    "Fang Yuan, unknown heritage, 5th Leaf Cultivator in the Realm Alliance, under the age of 30, at the 4th Tier of the Illusionary Divine stage, has unparalleled potential..."


    Cang Xuansheng recited a portion of the information. "Although you are a hero among your people, you are my enemy. I cannot let you walk out of here alive! Of course... before that..."


    "Whoosh!"


    As his shadow flickered, he floated swiftly towards Meng Lian. With the flick of his fingers, the protective fog around her was dispersed, revealing a pale Meng Lian. With his claws, he grappled on the piece of jade on her neck. "Too many tricks!"


    "Cang Xuansheng, if you dare to kill my daughter, I will..."


    The jade shook violently as a desperate voice was heard. In the jade, there was a faint glow and the illusionary figure of a person as well.


    "Even if you send you magical clone here, what can you do?"


    Cang Xuansheng laughed. Tightening his grip, the jade was reduced to powder and the mysterious and unwilling voice disappeared.


    "Senior¡­.. You..."


    Meng Lian''s expression changed once more and she could only force herself to say a few words.


    "Bang!"


    A bloodied hole appeared on her forehead as she fell gently to the ground.


    "A pretty corpse but all this vengeance... After your death, everything is fleeting!"


    The True Divine sighed as he looked around. "Why are there so little smart people in this world?"


    "Rumble!"


    In the next moment, fear was written on every dream master''s face. An expanding and hot sun started to emerge.


    From Cang Xuansheng, the sun started to expand, spreading its glow and heat, enveloping all the dream masters within it.


    In the next moment, Lu Xuanzhi''s expression changed as he felt the dream elemental force in him came to a halt. The only thing he could see was a flash of sword radiance before him. Within seconds, his body was perfectly sliced into two.


    "Go!"


    Although his physical body was destroyed, his Yin Spirit was still intact. Possessing a piece of black talisman, he hastily attempted to escape into the air.


    He was quick, but Cang Xuansheng was quicker!


    After slicing through him, the sword radiance became strengthened. Curling backwards, the light turned into a glow resembling a furnace, trapping the black talisman inside.


    "Ah!"


    The sword radiance slowly shrank. A shriek was heard coming from it. This dream master from the Evil Divine Sect was completely wiped out of existence.


    "Using a knife as a net? An interesting and powerful knife technique!"


    Fang Yuan realised that every time the True Divine waved his hands, there would be a streak of sword radiance emerging out. Even if the dream masters were to sacrifice their physical bodies to allow their Yin Spirit to escape, they would still end up being trapped in the sword radiance.


    Needless to say, the strong blood energy of this True Divine was enveloping the entire place. It was specialised to counter illusions and spiritual spells and this person had a lot of experience in dealing with dream masters. With regards to martial arts, of course, the dream masters would still fall behind.


    "You''re smart..."


    After a while, Cang Xuansheng stood still. "You don''t have any tricks up your sleeves. However, it''s a pity that you are a member of the Realm Alliance. I can offer you a better deal for you to kill yourself!"


    "Kill myself?"


    Fang Yuan bit his lip. "I''m afraid I cannot accede to your request!"


    "Then you''re just courting death!"


    With sparks, the True Divine quickly made his way towards Fang Yuan and struck a palm out.


    Although it seemed like a casual palm, it was extremely swift. Fang Yuan could not react in time as his subconscious martial arts defence was only beginning to form. The palm landed squarely on his chest and Fang Yuan flew out like a cannonball.


    "Hmm?"


    His strike was successful, but Cang Xuansheng felt that something was not right as he looked at his own palm.


    "This is a powerful True Divine strike indeed!"


    From the ashes, Fang Yuan''s figure walked out. He dusted his chest. Now that his shirt was tattered, his golden metallic skin was revealed and there was the print of a palm on his chest, but he had sustained no injuries.


    "The martial arts Divine Body? No! You have not reached the realm of True Divine. How can you cultivate such a strong physical body? This is unbelievable!"


    Cang Xuansheng''s eyes glistened. He knew that he had underestimated this opponent.


    "There are many more unbelievable things that you do not know of!"


    Fang Yuan twisted his head, creating loud cracking noises from his joints. With that, his entire figure seemed to have grown taller. "I have started my path of cultivation as a martial artist. I can finally put what I have learnt all these years in today''s fight!"


    "Rumble!"


    In the next moment, the Nine Transference Mystical Technique was activated and 8 spiritual meridians formed behind Fang Yuan''s back, forming a blurred figure.


    "How can an 8th Meridian Wu Zong have such power?"


    Cang Xuansheng glared at Fang Yuan and walked forward, turning his palms into the shape of a knife. "The Overbearing Sun Knife! Seven Death Ultimate Strike!"


    "Chi! Chi!"


    The devastating sword radiance appeared once more like how a sun would rise over the horizon. Its flames started to cover Fang Yuan in the sun.


    The sword energy started to strike across.


    The earth shook and cracks started to form on the ground as though someone had run an iron plough through it.


    "Bang! Bang!"


    Fang Yuan''s body was smashed into the ground, forming a huge crater. He flipped himself up and sighed. "My martial arts is still too weak compared to a True Divine..."


    "This is impossible!"


    Witnessing this scene, Cang Xuansheng''s heart shook.


    Although he was using his bare hands, he had trained his sword energy for many years and had formed it by absorbing energy from the sun. With it, he had killed many powerful people before and had overpowered many powerful weapons as well. However, he could do nothing to damage this hardy physical body in front of him.


    "Considering your potential, if you take up the path of a martial artist, you will surely overtake me in terms of cultivation. However, as a dream master from the Realm Alliance, I cannot let you walk out of here alive!"


    Cang Xuansheng gazed at Fang Yuan and took a deep breath as though he can come to a conclusion.


    "Roar! Roar!"


    His body started to expand and within moments, he had grown to a much large build.


    Behind him, clouds gathered, forming an illusionary figure of a martial artist. It was a person with a tortoise''s back holding a snake and seemed like a legendary ancient martial artist.


    "The Xuan Wu Divine Body?"


    Seeing this, a hint of excitement flashed across Fang Yuan''s eyes. "Watch out for my eagle claw!"


    He flew forward. A strong surge of energy flowed from his chest to his arms, from his arms to his claws. With that, he struck 13 claw consecutively and his powerful claws seemed to even rip the air apart.


    "Bang! Bang!"


    Deafening scratching sounds landed on Cang Xuansheng''s body, but they did not seem to be able to harm him.


    "My Xuan Wu Divine Body specialises in defence. You cannot do anything to me..."


    Cang Xuansheng''s Xuan Wu Giant mumbled something before landed a punch on Fang Yuan''s head.


    "Bang!"


    How intense would the punch of a True Divine be?


    Where Fang Yuan stood, there was another huge crater. Cracks appeared and started to spread out from the crater.


    "Great! Strike me again!"


    Fang Yuan crawled on the ground and stood up. Shaking his head, he laughed hysterically and leapt forward once more.


    "Hmm? This is the pure brute force of the physical body... How can a human''s body be so strong?"


    Cang Xuansheng began to suspect something. Without holding back, he landed another punch on Fang Yuan''s chest, fusing the elements of tremor, shatter and tearing into his punch. At that moment, all of these exploded in Fang Yuan''s body.


    Unfortunately, Fang Yuan''s body reacted in the same way it did previously. Without stopping, Fang Yuan made his way towards Cang Xuansheng once more.


    "You''re a freak!"


    Cang Xuansheng exclaimed. Although he was utterly shocked, he did not hesitate. Varying his punches, he landed multiple strikes on Fang Yuan''s body.


    There were continuous shocking explosions heard.


    Under the attack of a True Divine, although Fang Yuan had a strong physical body, he could not retaliate. In an instant, he had become a sandbag as he was being punched continuously.


    The Ultimate Witch Body was an impressive body to begin with. Immense strikes which would shatter the bones of normal humans would only do so much as to scratch the surface of the Ultimate Witch Body. With the continuous strikes, Fang Yuan began to gain experience and now, he could slowly retaliate one strike in every ten strikes. His combat experience started to increase in real time.


    "Alright... come again!"


    Fang Yuan broke into laughter as he struck once more. Although his mouth was full of blood, he was enjoying himself.


    The punch of a True Divine was like a smash from an iron hammer. With the strikes, Fang Yuan''s martial arts elemental energy started to transform into gold!

 381 True Divine

    "Ka-baa-boom!"


    The ground tremored and space shook.


    In the centre of it was a total mayhem, two monsters could be seen brawling.


    Fang Yuan and Cang Xuansheng both had shockingly strong defences and their attacks did not do much on each other. Thus, they only focused on attacking with their flurry of punches as though they were two not very skilled men with only brawns and no brain.


    In actual fact, the unskilled appearances were just masking their intelligence. Each and every technique and attacks contained strength powerful enough to split a mountain. A normal human or even Wu Zongs at the 7th or 8th Meridian would become a pile of minced meat if they were hit.


    "Bang!"


    "Heavenly Eagle 13 Chain Strike!"


    "Overbearing Sun Knife!"


    After yet another round of injuries sustained on both of them, the two of them briskly moved apart and stood on their own.


    Cang Xuansheng wiped off the blood on the corner of his mouth and looked at the more injured Fang Yuan and shook his head, "You lost! Although your body is strong, after all, you are not a True Divine. You are the one losing out fighting with me!"


    "That''s right!"


    Opposite him, Fang Yuan''s hair was dishevelled and his shirt was torn. There were even numerous wounds on his body.


    Fang Yuan obviously knew the limits to his body.


    Although he was already severely wounded, a manic expression appeared on his face as he retorted, "But I still have to thank you! If you did not fight, how would I have entered the 9th Meridian!"


    Fang Yuan looked at his stats.


    Beside the "Nine Transference Mystical Technique", the mist covering the brackets finally fully dispersed, the words "9th Meridian" could be clearly seen!


    Behind Fang Yuan, a spiritual meridian was formed and quickly entered into his body.


    With the support of this spiritual meridian, things were going well for Fang Yuan and some sort of change was occurring.


    "9th Meridian Wu Zong?"


    Cang Xuansheng frowned slightly. To him, even if Fang Yuan suddenly broke through, it was nothing to be afraid of.


    However, the next moment, his eyeballs were popping as he stared.


    He saw the blurry figure behind Fang Yuan condensed and fully seeped into his body.


    Immediately, a savage and explosive aura could be felt from Fang Yuan''s body. Not only that, the deep wounds on his body were miraculously being healed rapidly.


    "Woong! Woong!"


    Outside, astonishing amounts of heavenly elemental energy gathered and formed a gigantic vortex with five colours, red, yellow, green, white and blue. It was being continuously funnelled into Fang Yuan''s body.


    Fang Yuan''s body was like a bottomless pit that kept sucking in the unlimited supply of elemental energy.


    "This is... the phenomenon of a True Divine?"


    Cang Xuansheng composed himself and muttered, "You actually broke through two stages at once! After forming the 9th Meridian, you broke through the bottleneck and forged your Divine Body directly!"


    As Cang Xuansheng was a True Divine that successfully forged his Divine Body too, he of course knew how difficult such a bottleneck was and how much resources it required.


    However, unknowingly, a feeling of danger emerged in his mind immediately.


    His intuitions as a martial artist made Cang Xuansheng knew that Fang Yuan would be successful if he broke through this time.


    "I cannot let him succeed!"


    Cang Xuansheng hollered and a red coloured sun appeared in the skies. Streaks of golden coloured light fell from the skies and gathered on his hands, "Golden Sun Knife, kill!"


    "Swoosh!"


    A knife was formed and with a strike of the knife, the knife flared brightly as though it harnessed the flames of the entire world''s suns!


    Cang Xuansheng exhausted all his strength to launch that knife!


    Once the Golden Sun Knife was launched, the surroundings dimmed at once as the blazing knife condensed and turned into a thin line of light that shot towards the eye of the vortex where Fang Yuan was.


    "Too late!"


    Fang Yuan snorted and took a deep breath akin to a vortex that sucked in all the five coloured elemental energy in the surroundings. The golden metal light glowed on his body and turned into a jade-like shine. A few kinds of glow sparkled simultaneously from his body before merging together, forming a greenish purple colour.


    "Tccc! Tccccc!"


    He reached out his right hand and grabbed the knife''s light with ease, the beam of light was like an earthworm that kept wriggling and giving out sparks. However, it was useless against Fang Yuan.


    With slightly more strength, the knife''s light was annihilated at once.


    Even as the power of the sun exploded, it did not affect Fang Yuan''s body at all.


    "This martial art body of mine is built from the foundation of the Ultimate Witch Body and combined the powers of my Giant Eagle Metal Body Technique and Hundred Poison Golden Body! I call it Pangu Eagle Body!!!"


    In front of Fang Yuan, his stats window shined brightly as it changed:


    "Name: Fang Yuan


    Essence: 100


    Spirit: 100


    Magic: 61


    Profession: Dream Soldier Master


    Cultivation: Illusionary Divine (4th Tier), True Divine


    Technique: [Pangu Eagle Body (? ? ?)], [8 Gates Sword Array (5th Sword) (10%)]


    Skill: [Medicine (Level 3)], [Botany (Level 5)], [Fiery Golden Eyes (Level 1)]"


    "Strength!"


    Fang Yuan clenched his fist and felt the surging elemental force in his body and his body''s limitless strength. He had an enlightenment, "Powerful beings are called as such because either one of their essence, spirit or magic stat had reached 100 or above. Perhaps it was unique for dream masters as they were skilled in powerful magical abilities..."


    "Both my essence and spirit have reached 100 which means that I am a True Divine! For Prominent Divine dream master, their magic must be 100 or above!"


    Of course, Fang Yuan''s breakthrough was a double stats breakthrough. He was much more superior than Cang Xuansheng who only had a single stat breakthrough in spirit.


    "Pangu Eagle Body?!"


    Cang Xuansheng face turned extremely solemn as he looked at the muddled glow on Fang Yuan''s body, "I have been devoted in martial arts and I know each and every martial arts technique in the world. Inside Da Qian''s ranks of martial arts Divine Bodies, there isn''t even such a kind of Divine Body! I can''t believe you actually self-created such technique and broke through to True Divine! What a lunatic!"


    Of course, if one became psychotic while cultivating and hence died, he would be like a lunatic.


    But now, since Fang Yuan succeeded, he was a grandmaster that created his own path!


    Winners were crowned while losers were vilified, it was that simple!


    "Speaking of which... I can only breakthrough this time all thanks to your provocation!"


    Fang Yuan felt all his injuries on his bodied had recovered and his power had surpassed his peak to reach a new height. He brandished his smile at Cang Xuansheng, revealing his sparkling white teeth, "In return, I will make you the first one to die from my newly acquired martial art prowess!"


    "Shameless!"


    Cang Xuansheng felt a dangerous omen but revealed a wry smile on his face.


    To Cang Xuansheng, although he was inferior to Fang Yuan, it was not difficult for him to escape.


    However, the next moment, Cang Xuansheng''s expression totally changed.


    This was because Fang Yuan was already throwing a punch in front of him.


    "Bang!"


    The True Divine body combined with Fang Yuan''s originally strong body brought about breakthroughs in both his essence and spirit which was not as simple as one plus one.


    "Boom!!!"


    With just one punch, Cang Xuansheng''s entire body was thrown back and sounds of bones cracking could be heard.


    "Impossible... how could he be so brutally strong!" Cang Xuansheng thought.


    Cang Xuansheng''s mind was in disarray, only one thought kept appearing in his mind, "How could my Xuan Wu Divine Body be so weak..."


    Such a powerful punch caused blood to well in his eyes which subsequently flowed down his cheeks.


    If he could see from his eyes, he would have seen an extremely tall, well-built and muscular Pangu Giant appearing from the purple image behind Fang Yuan. The giant was at least ten times larger than Cang Xuansheng''s Xuan Wu figure. As the giant looked from high above, it brought about the powers akin to heaven being formed and earth being created. Its might was overpowering.


    In front of Fang Yuan, Cang Xuansheng''s figure was no different from a toddler.


    "Nevermind... anyway, I have already killed many talented dream masters, that''s enough..."


    Under immense pain, blood spewed out from Cang Xuansheng''s mouth and nose. However, his lips curled into a sinister smile as he thought, "I have no regrets in life being able to witness such martial arts before I die! In this world, martial arts would bound to prosper and flourish!"


    Moments later, he saw Fang Yuan''s perfect Divine Body pounce towards him. He let out a blood-curdling shriek before he died...


    "A True Divine has just been beaten to death by me?"


    Fang Yuan kept his bloodied fists and breathed slowly to pacify his boiling blood and elemental force.


    "I have finally entered the echelons of powerful beings! Though as the most inferior one, martial arts powerful being..."


    True Divine martial artist, True Elemental spiritual knights and dream masters above the 7th Tier of Illusionary Divine were the overlords of Da Qian Empire as they were extremely powerful.


    At this point in time, Fang Yuan was not even 30 years old and he had already stepped into this overlord tier!


    Fang Yuan heaved a sigh and waved his hands. The soils on two sides moved together and formed the shape of a tomb.


    "Although you view me as your enemy, you are still a True Divine. I shall erect a tomb for you!"


    Fang Yuan silently pondered before he turned around and left.


    Once Fang Yuan''s cultivation passed this limit, there were many things he could do.


    The core of Sage Changli''s inheritance could be analysed.


    He could start seeking revenge for his master, Master Heartless.


    Furthermore, he could protect himself from being others'' cat''s paw in the imminent war!


    "Of course... what I need to do now is to take a good rest..."


    Fang Yuan laughed unamusedly before he disappeared.


    It was total silence in what was left of the battleground.


    Moments later, two persons appeared. It was a scholar and an attractive lady.


    "Meng Lian''s spiritual aura was around this area!"


    The middle-aged scholar''s facial expression was very awful. He quickly scanned the surroundings and found the battleground where Cang Xuansheng fought in and also his daughter''s corpse.


    "D*mn it... Cang Xuansheng, I will kill you!"


    As he saw the bloody hole on Meng Lian''s forehead, the middle-aged men''s blood boiled.


    "Sigh... I guess all these dream masters have died!"


    The accompanying lady was 30 something years old, which was the age where charisma of youth and maturity merged. As her beautiful eyes turned, she understood the big picture, "That Cang Xuansheng''s target must have been Realm Alliance''s Fang Yuan. I heard this guy is very talented and he even broke through numerous tiers of the Illusionary Divine stage in a row! He is really different from the rest!"


    "Huh! No matter how talented a genius is, after such a genius dies, there''s nothing worthy left..."


    The middle-aged scholar snorted and his expression changed, "But, I heard he is not so simple, even if he is against Cang Xuansheng, he should still be able to sort of handle him... He should be around here, let''s find him..."


    Soon enough, as they followed the traces left behind by the battle, they saw the numerous large holes in the ground and the tomb.


    "Cang Xuansheng... died?"


    As the middle-aged men stared intently at the tombstone, he felt it was unbelievable.


    "How could it be possible? Who could kill him?"


    "I saw the battle, it should be two True Divine martial artist brawling and not any of our people..."


    A grim look appeared on the lady''s face as she continued, "I am afraid it''s that Realm Alliance''s Fang Yuan!"


    "He... can kill a True Divine?"


    The middle-aged scholar repeated himself, "Doesn''t that mean, he is also a..."


    "True Divine martial artist!!!"


    The lady heaved a long sigh and her gaze turned gloomy.

 382 The Ultimate Plan

    In the Dream Realm, Green Bronze Hall.


    "What? Fang Yuan has become a True Divine?"


    Elder Smelter held a message talisman in his hands as a look of shock filled his face. "Although I already know that this will happen, I never thought that it would be this quick and even kill Cang Xuansheng!"


    Cang Xuansheng was famous in Da Qian for being a True Divine martial artist of the Golden Peak Sect.


    Now that he was killed by a newly advanced True Divine martial artist, Fang Yuan''s name would spread far and wide.


    "Green Wood and the other elders must be so anxious now, hehe..."


    Elder Smelter stroked his chin. He felt a little proud but speechless at the same time. "Who would''ve thought that the talented dream master of the Realm Alliance would have the cultivation of his martial arts stronger than his cultivation as a dream master..."


    "Elder, Feng Xinzi requests to see you!"


    A dream master arrived at the door of the hall; it was Feng Xinzi.


    "Come in!"


    Elder Smelter waved his hands. With a composed look, he opened the doors to the Green Bronze Hall.


    "Greetings, Elder!"


    Feng Xinzi walked in and took a bow respectfully. It was only recently when he became much more respectful and cowardly in front of Elder Smelter. Could it be out of fear?


    "Hmmm, do you know that Fang Yuan has already formed the Divine Body and is now a True Divine, sitting among us powerful beings?"


    Seeing Feng Xinzi, Elder Smelter scoffed.


    No matter how respectful Feng Xinzi was, compared to the combat power a True Divine would bring, everyone knew the obvious choice.


    "What?"


    This news was shocking and Feng Xinzi was stunned. "How is this possible?"


    "This news has been verified by two elders of the Divine Lotus Cult and is proven to be true... it''s a pity that you were once close with Fang Yuan but now, both of you have fallen out..."


    Elder Smelter shook his head.


    "Elder!"


    Hearing the news, it was as though Elder Smelter had poured a bucket of cold water over him. He was shuddering in fear and suddenly he looked up towards Elder Smelter. "Elder... give me a chance! Give me another chance!"


    "You deserve this!"


    Elder Smelter shook his head. "The Elders have discussed this. We will demote your level of rights to become a 3rd Leaf Cultivator and will banish you to the Chilly Cave to serve for 50 years!"


    "Elder!"


    Feng Xingzi was startled. "I am loyal to you and the alliance. You cannot do this to me!"


    "You''re crazy!"


    Elder Smelter appeared serious and gave off a murderous vibe.


    He knew that Feng Xinzi had secretly tried to deal with Fang Yuan himself. However, since he was doing it secretly, as long as he was not exposed, Elder Smelter would leave him to be.


    However, Fang Yuan had now become a True Divine! Furthermore, this was a period of tension and only those with the ability to fight would be favoured. Although Feng Xinzi could still leverage on his past relationship with Fang Yuan, Elder Smelter doubted that it would be of much use.


    ''This is a pity... If only Feng Xinzi could hold his jealousy back and establish good relations with Fang Yuan, then this wouldn''t have happened! Furthermore, he could potentially get assistance from Fang Yuan to improve his own cultivation. Now that things are at this stage, what else can he do?''


    "Take your leave!"


    Looking at the cowardly Feng Xinzi, Elder Smelter waved his hands with an expressionless look.


    Feng Xinzi was in a daze. As he walked out of the Green Bronze Hall, he disappeared.


    "Where are the children?"


    Elder Smelter passed down his order.


    "Master!"


    A Fiery Dragon Child came out an paid his respects.


    "Bring a gift with you under my name and proceed to the Golden Sun Prosperous Land and congratulate him!"


    No matter what, Fang Yuan was still part of his faction. Now that they had gained a True Divine, their faction would be strengthened and therefore, it was worth it to establish good ties with Fang Yuan.


    The first step would be to banish Feng Xinzi, and the second would be to congratulate Fang Yuan.


    "Yes, Master!"


    The Fiery Dragon Child took his leave and disappeared.


    ...


    Within the Golden Sun Prosperous Land.


    Seeing that Fang Yuan had returned safely, Meng Tian and Meng Guang were elated.


    After all, Fang Yuan had treated them well and had regularly sent spiritual rice back to the prosperous land. He had even guided them on their martial arts. It was rare for such a good superior like Fang Yuan to come by.


    The Golden Sun Prosperous Land was an insignificant piece of spiritual land and did not attract the attention of the Imperial Court. Therefore, amidst the chaos, it remained relatively peaceful.


    Furthermore, as Fang Yuan entered the array, he had a shocking discovery.


    The 6 hectares of Yellow Grain Rice had matured once more and was ready to harvest.


    Presently, Fang Yuan''s mindset was now different.


    After attaining the realm of True Divine, he was now considered a powerful being in Da Qian. Therefore, he would be able to keep the secret of his Yellow Grain Rice safe.


    With that, he immediately ordered for the array to be deactivated and instructed Meng Tian to start the harvest process.


    This well-built man stared at the 6 hectares of Yellow Grain Rice in disbelief and Fang Yuan smiled, thinking about their foolish looks.


    If these two Wu Zongs were to realise that he had formed the Divine Body, who knows what expression they would reveal.


    "The True Divine, especially my Pangu Eagle Body, makes me one of the most powerful people in Da Qian Empire. I will now be able to conceal myself from the predictions of others and many more!"


    Fang Yuan''s eyes glistened.


    His master''s enemy was powerful. If he were to attract too much attention and be predicted by a dream future master, the enemy might make his way here to kill Fang Yuan.


    Previously, he did not even dare to think about avenging his master.


    However, after becoming a True Divine, he could finally think about doing it.


    "Becoming a powerful being would mean that even a dream future master in the 9th Tier of the Illusionary Divine stage would only obtain blurred predictions about me... Needless to say, I have yet to even encounter a dream future master in the 9th Tier of the Illusionary Divine stage. Furthermore, I have not heard any dream future master breakthrough to become a Sage..."


    Fang Yuan crossed his legs. A glow appeared on his hand as a water dragon pearl appeared.


    The pearl was translucent and there was a dim mysterious glow in it. However, the fog around the glow was now much lesser than before.


    This was Sage Changli''s inheritance. Previously, his cultivation was too low and he was restricted to only the information outside.


    "Now, based on my identity as a True Divine, I should be able to break through the restrictions!"


    Fang Yuan turned serious and a purple hue flashed across his face.


    "Roar! Roar!"


    Behind him, the illusionary figure of a giant appeared. Its muscles were defined and it had the print of an eagle on its skin. The energy from the giant felt as though it was able to split the heavens.


    A green fog appeared and gathered together, forming the shape of an axe. The giant lifted the axe and struck towards the water dragon pearl.


    "Kacha!"


    After the sound of shattering glass was heard, the dim glow in the pearl exploded and an information overflowed in the form of golden runes.


    "This is the time!"


    Fang Yuan''s eyes glistened. A shockingly powerful spiritual will formed a bridge, guiding the golden runes across.


    "Roar! Roar!"


    In the water dragon pearl, a small golden-green water dragon appeared and seemed like it was helping out with the process as well.


    Finally, with pressure from both sides, the numerous golden runes which seemed uncooperative at first started to form a small golden river, flowing towards Fang Yuan''s forehead.


    "Ahhhh!"


    Fang Yuan shrieked as he felt his head trembling.


    May pieces of information flowed into Fang Yuan''s mind. Every piece of information had power on its own. If not for the fact that Fang Yuan had already formed the Divine Body, his overflowed brain might just turn crazy.


    "Da Qian... The natural source of dream masters.... The 6 Extremes Earth Shattering Array... the system of the invisible net..."


    The transference of information was extremely slow and only completed after half a day.


    In a daze, Fang Yuan went straight into meditation. After 3 days and 3 nights, he finally sorted out all the new information and prioritized the ones he was interested in.


    "Now I know that the array the Realm Alliance has cast is the 6 Extremes Earth Shattering Array. It is able to last for eternity and can contain immense power! Its most basic purpose is to sacrifice, instead of dealing with the Imperial Court of Da Qian! It will firstly recreate the entire consciousness of the Da Qian World before taking in energy to create the strongest force in the world, allowing the dream master''s source world to enter!"


    Fang Yuan appeared solemn and mumbled to himself. "Such effort! So much effort indeed!"


    With that, Fang Yuan shuddered in fear as though the heavens had taken notice of him.


    "Even though we are the children of this world, if we do this to our own world, we will still be hated upon and killed... of course, due to the fact that the higher beings are natives protected by their own spiritual auras, they are still not being noticed at the moment. However, the heavens of Da Qian will ultimately support the Imperial Court of Da Qian!"


    Fang Yuan seemed to have understood a lot more.


    It was no wonder that even though the dream masters of the 5 Grand Organisations had formed an alliance, they were still unable to defeat the Imperial Court.


    The Imperial Court and Hidden Dragon Guards were merely representatives. The real enemy of the dream masters was the world itself! The world of Da Qian!


    "This is even scarier than the Ancient Realm. This is the strongest world I''ve seen so far!"


    Fang Yuan began to mumble to himself. "If not for the fact that we are all natives of this realm, we would have been struck by lightning long ago and even the Sage''s Hollow would be destroyed!"


    "Even if we do not take any action now, once our plan begins, it will be our ultimatum against the world. We will surely lose!"


    "Dream masters are indeed crazy people!"


    Although they were all dream-traversers, Fang Yuan still had affection for this world in which he lived and matured in.


    However, the leader of the 5 Grand Organisations, the Sage, was intending to live on forever by destroying the entire world!


    His actions were heartless and Fang Yuan knew that he could never be like him.


    "The next part is the crucial part!"


    He rubbed his chin and revealed a sneaky smile. "Do I really want to join the dream masters and go crazy? Or should I help the world? I have a premonition that if I go against the dream masters now, I will be able to gain the protection of the world and might even produce some energy souls!"


    Putting this issue aside, Fang Yuan walked out of the meditation room.


    "Lord!"


    Meng Tian and Meng Guang were waiting outside for a long time. "There are many messengers outside... they claim that they are here to congratulate you in attaining True Divine!"


    Both of them swallowed their salivation and were still in disbelief.


    After all, they were talking about becoming a True Divine!


    It was one of the peak cultivation levels of Da Qian. How could their own guardian so easily achieve it?


    Both of them thought that Fang Yuan was only an ordinary middle-tiered dream master.


    "Messengers?"


    Conducting a sweep with his spiritual will, Fang Yuan detected a few other spiritual auras in the vicinity of the 99 Golden Suns Gigantic Array. These people were indeed instructed by a powerful being, but the higher being was not here. Instead, they were only a bunch of servants.


    After all, in the ongoing war, who would have so much free time to personally pay a visit? Furthermore, it was a good deal for Fang Yuan to have such treatment considering that he had yet to advanced to the 7th Tier of the Illusionary Divine stage.

 383 The Pas

    After a few days.


    The messengers who had come to congratulate Fang Yuan took their leave. Only a few elders of the Realm Alliance stayed behind.


    In the main hall, there was a huge round table. Children of different spiritual auras were seated around the table.


    "Alright! Fang Yuan, let me introduce them to you. These are the 7 Elders of the Realm Alliance. I''m sure you''ve met Xi Chen and Green Wood. Next up, we have Black Water, Thick Earth, Sharp Gold and Extreme Darkness!"


    Elder Smelter''s Fiery Child started to introduce all of them. Although he had an aged voice, he sounded proud.


    "I am junior Fang Yuan. Please accept my greetings, Elders!"


    A hint of gold flashed across Fang Yuan''s eyes.


    All these children had different spiritual auras as though they were wearing different masks. For instance, on Fiery Dragon Child, there was the illusionary image of Elder Smelter''s face on it.


    Knowing that all 7 elders had sent part of their soul within these messengers, Fang Yuan paid his respects.


    He had seen Xi Chen before. Although he had only seen him in the form of the King Xia in the Ancient Realm, his real appearance was rather similar. Seeing Xi Chen looking at him, he returned a friendly smile.


    On the other hand, Elder Green Wood''s expression was a little unnatural.


    Fang Yuan could only guess that this was because Green Wood''s opposing faction now had the addition of a True Divine.


    The other elders had their own special abilities and their spiritual auras were all extremely powerful. This was especially so for Elder Extreme Darkness. As the only female, she covered herself with a layer of black fog and made Fang Yuan feel the most threatened out of all the other elders. She also struck fear in the other elders and sat a distance away from everyone else.


    "Mmm, you''re not bad! No one would think that you can form the Divine Body so quickly. After discussion among the elders, we have decided to increase your level of rights to that of a 7th Leaf Cultivator. You are now the law enforcer of the alliance!"


    Elder Xi Chen nodded his head and spoke in a gentle voice.


    However, with Fang Yuan''s shockingly powerful spiritual will and his Fiery Golden Eyes, he could observe Xi Chen''s weakness straight away. It was the same for Elder Green Wood.


    They were severely injured from the previous encounter in the Ancient World as they could not escape in time.


    "... Haha, that''s right! Fang Yuan, you need to put in even more effort now! It''s a pity that you have achieved a breakthrough in martial arts. Therefore, we are unable to promote you to the position of an elder. However, I believe that is a small issue. Considering your potential, I''m sure our alliance will soon gain a new elder!"


    Elder Green Wood initially appeared depressed but now, he had a cheerful smile.


    With this, Elder Smelter appeared a little embarrassed.


    Fang Yuan observed them and appeared fearful. "I have only just achieved a breakthrough and have already used up most of my energy. How would I be able to think of another breakthrough? On a separate note, is the alliance leader here? Since I''ve joined the Realm Alliance, I believe I should pay my greetings to him."


    Fang Yuan could detect that each of these 7 Illusionary Divine elders was competing with each other in terms of spiritual aura.


    Elder Extreme Darkness was the strongest among all. Fang Yuan made a guess that she had the cultivation level of a 9th Tier Illusionary Divine dream master. A dark energy continuously spiralled around her and Fang Yuan felt as though he was staring into a cold night and a bright moon as soon as he noticed her.


    Next up, it was Xi Chen. This elder seemed to have the cultivation level of an 8th Tier Illusionary Divine dream master. Being the direct disciple of a Sage, he was special.


    The other elders were all around the 7th Tier of the Illusionary Divine stage and were all comparable to Smelter and Green Wood. However, their internal conflict had left Fang Yuan speechless.


    "Alliance leader has important matters to see to. However, as the newest potential of the alliance, he will surely be glad to see you!"


    It is only normal for a new up and coming member to pay respects to the alliance leader.


    Xi Chen was stunned for a while before answering Fang Yuan.


    ''It seems like the plan against Da Qian has reached a crucial point where they now require a dream master in the Prominent Divine stage?''


    Fang Yuan mulled for a while as he extracted information from Xi Chen''s words.


    "Alright, since you are now the law enforcer of the alliance, you need to be given responsibilities. Since you like the Golden Sun Prosperous Land, we have decided to give all of its rights to you. We shall also reduce the time period for you to not take up any missions to half a year. What do you think?"


    The few elders exchanged glances as Extreme Darkness said her piece.


    Her distinct female voice was mysterious and sinister, as though it could freeze one''s soul.


    "Since this is the request of the elders, I can only accept it."


    Fang Yuan sighed to himself.


    He was already prepared that something like that would happen. With the war, all of the elders would also be busy. How would they allow him to get away scot-free without helping out?


    By reducing the time period to half a year, it was the greatest compromise the alliance could come to.


    If not for the fact that he had become a True Divine and was now renowned for killing Cang Xuansheng, it was still a question if he would even be offered such a deal.


    ''Half a year... It seems like the war is about to break out soon... No, it has already begun. Half a year later will be the final battle!''


    Fang Yuan''s eyes glistened as though he had understood something.


    "That''s great!"


    The few elders exchanged glances once more. After settling everything, they took their leave from the children.


    "Greetings, Lord!"


    The children were all confused. After paying their respects to Fang Yuan, they took their leave as well.


    "This type of magical transference technique... Firstly, they would need something to possess, for instance, these children which they would surely have done something to. Secondly, they cannot transfer too much ability to these children.¡­ Previously, although those elders had powerful spiritual auras, they would be at most dream masters in the 6th Tier of the Illusionary Divine stage. I will be able to destroy all of them!"


    Fang Yuan started to plan ahead. "Alright... With this half a year, I shall return to master''s hometown to pay a visit. I wonder how his old friends are..."


    ...


    Leaf Region, Cloud Jade Mountain.


    The region was a small one and there were few people living here. However, the spiritual tea produced from Cloud Jade Mountain was famous and they were even patronised by the royal family of Da Qian. Therefore, they could survive on trading tea leaves and could build a small town surrounding Cloud Jade Mountain.


    Many cultivators had also gathered here to settle down and live a peaceful life.


    On the streets, a bull carriage was on the move. Fang Yuan wore a set of comfortable robes and a bamboo hat on his head. He laid back, appearing relaxed and lazy.


    He had already obtained the full inheritance from his Master, Master Wenxin. Other than the secret 8 Gates Sword Array of a dream soldier master, there was a simple description of his hometown in the inheritance.


    ''My nickname is ''Heartless'' and I am from Cloud Jade Mountain, Leaf Region in Da Qian Empire. I am from the Ye Family and have cultivated in swordplay from young. The elders have given me the name of ''Li''... I have achieved a breakthrough in Wu Zong at the age of 15 and have made a small name for myself. As I roamed across regions, I stumbled across the inheritance of a dream master at the age of 18. From then, I had officially become a dream master and was recruited into the Imperial Court as a Hidden Dragon Guard.''


    Master Heartless was a Hidden Dragon Guard, a law enforcer of the Da Qian Imperial Court!


    Unfortunately, Fang Yuan did not want to follow his master''s steps with regards to this. Furthermore, he was only forced to find a backing only because he had offended the Divine Lotus Cult and from there resolve the conflict through the Realm Alliance.


    If Fang Yuan were to join the Imperial Court, he would find himself in more trouble as the Imperial Court was all the while against the Divine Lotus Cult.


    "As a Hidden Dragon Guard, Master has the resources from the Imperial Court to cultivate himself. He was extremely powerful and under his 8 Gates Sword Array, he had killed countless people and from then created animosity with the two evil sects... After forming the entire 8 Gates Sword Array, he was only inferior to dream masters in the Prominent Divine stage. He had even killed a few direct disciples of Sages and was heartless. From then on, he was nicknamed ''Heartless''..."


    Fang Yuan sighed as he recalled the information which he had once read from the inheritance:


    "Even with the protection of the Imperial Court, I have made too many enemies. Together with some crazy dream masters, they have caused the Misfortune of Cloud Jade Mountain. They had killed my master''s disciples in one night and even severely injured my masters'' physical body. Fortunately, Master managed to escape but his cultivation was greatly affected. With that, the Imperial Court started to give him a cold treatment... Because of this, Master has given up hope on the Hidden Dragon Guards. After creating chaos for them, he left and arrived at the mainland where he adopted me..."


    Leaning on the carriage, Fang Yun was in a daze as he recalled all that had happened in the mainland.


    Because of this, if Fang Yuan were to reveal the 8 Gates Sword Array, he would make the entire world turn against him!


    "The dream master which had killed Master''s disciples was the sect head of Source Seeking Sect. He was the renowned Demon Killing Divine Pen, Li Qingmian. Li Qingmian was a dream master in the Prominent Divine stage! He had the power to create things at will! With a pen, he can create the world. With a flower, he can create heaven!"


    This opponent was still too strong, even though Fang Yuan had already become a True Divine.


    "Of course, I cannot do anything to Source Seeking Sect. However, during the impending war between the 5 Grand Organisations and Da Qian Imperial Court, I might be able to take his opportunity..."


    Fang Yuan sighed. "As of now, I need to hide and visit the few places that Master has mentioned..."


    To hide and strike when the opportunity arose was a theory which all dream masters understood.


    The family members of the Ye Family which Master Heartless had come from had already escaped. They had used secret techniques to prevent predictions and even changed their names just to avoid trouble.


    From then till now, there should still be a few survivors carrying the blood of the Ye Family.


    As the bull carriage moved forward, Fang Yuan arrived at a large city in no time.


    This was Cloud Jade City, where the Ye Family once lived.


    Fang Yuan dressed up as a businessman. Moving his muscles about, he altered his appearance and took up the look of a spiritual tea trader who had arrived from other regions. After walking around the streets aimlessly, he arrived at the East side of the city.


    This area was largely different from the rest. It had been geographically altered before and had a few connected lakes. There were many types of vegetation being planted here as well. Looking at the pleasing sight of greenery and the lack of people, this sight was something the other areas of the city could not offer.


    "This place... It should be where the Ye Family''s mansion once stood¡­..."


    Looking at the crystal-clear lake, Fang Yuan was overwhelmed with emotions.


    Realising that there was a small tea shop nearby, he quickly went there and ordered a pot of tea.


    Although it was not spiritual tea, the fact that they were close to Cloud Jade Mountain explained the quality and fragrance of the tea.


    "This is good tea!"


    Fang Yuan acted surprised and glistened his eyes.


    "Haha... Although my tea cannot be compared with spiritual tea, it is one of the best among the normal teas. This skill of mine was obtained years ago when I served in a tea shop of the Ye Family. Among all the tea masters and chefs, I was among one of the best..."


    The shop owner had a head full of white hair. He gazed afar as though he was reminiscing. "Unfortunately... The Ye Family was destroyed in one night and the tea forest was burnt down. Even half of Cloud Jade City was destroyed. That was one of the worst nights..."


    Fang Yuan silently listened as he drank his tea with a calm look.


    After a while, he placed a silver coin on the table and left.

 384 Siblings

    30 miles to the west of Jade Cloud Mountain stood a huge lake with ends stretching beyond the horizon. Reflecting the sunset on the surface of the lake, it was a majestic sight to behold. It was almost 200 squared miles in area and was named Leaf Lake.


    Although it was a huge lake, there were not many spiritual objects. It was an area lacking in resources. Because there were only a few cultivators here, the few not-so-well-to-do martial artists here began to occupy plots of land and the strongest of them was only a Wu Zong in the Meridian Opening Realm.


    "Master''s last descendant must have lived here, right? Master had once used a secret technique and even changed his bloodline. Therefore, even the predictions of dream masters or the curses on his bloodline will not affect anything here!"


    Fang Yuan changed his ride to a horse and wore green martial artist robes. He hung a long knife around his waist and adopted the most common of appearances of lone cultivators.


    "I previously did not dare to come here due to my background and I feared that the crazy dream masters from Source Seeking Sect would trace me all the way here. But now, I have reached the peak of martial artists and attained True Divine. Now that I can cover up my traces and become undetectable, I can finally come here without any worries.


    In the eyes of a high-tiered dream future master, the river of life and fate could be sorted out like how a comb would be able to straighten hair.


    Once one becomes a powerful being, one would become like a black hole, absorbing the strings of life and fate. Therefore, one would be able to avoid being predicted.


    "It has only been 10 over years. There shouldn''t be many changes!"


    Fang Yuan cracked his horsewhip. As his horse neighed loudly, it started to gallop faster.


    Four Elements City.


    This city was much smaller than Cloud Jade City. The walls were short and parts of it were broken. The armour of the guards were old and tattered, but everything from the city gave off a murderous and evil vibe.


    Because of the need to survive, they were forced to their limits to work with whatever resources they had, which was why they were living their lives like scavenging wolves.


    Harsh environments would nurture strong people.


    "Hold up, the entry fee is one tael of silver!"


    Fang Yuan was being halted as soon as he arrived at the city gates.


    The greedy look of the officer in charge scanned around from his clothing, horse, a bag of valuables and finally the long knife on his waist. Signalling his intention, the guard by the door quickly stood before Fang Yuan and shouted.


    "Here it is!"


    Fang Yuan smirked and tossed a piece of silver.


    "Get out of my way!"


    The officer nodded his head and ordered for the path to be cleared.


    It was not that he could not ask for more money. The officer knew from experience that these types of lone cultivators with weapons were not to be trifled with.


    Since there were so many others which he could pick on, why would he risk himself to anger this person and put his own life in danger?


    In the city, there were very few people. The whole atmosphere felt as though the entire place was in chaos.


    "Oh, that''s right, the chaos in this empire is already beginning to pick up..."


    Fang Yuan suddenly realised that after living in the prosperous land and 9 Extremes Mountain for long, he had forgotten how it felt like to roam about like a nomad.


    After the alliance of the 5 Grand Organisations, the world of cultivators fell into a turmoil. The 99 regions in Da Qian were not spared either and cities with non-cultivators were also facing tumultuous times.


    15 years ago, Wu Yue of Yong Region had led 3,000 armoured soldiers to revolt. They had attacked city after city and as of now, he already had control over 2 regions and was known as King Yong!


    In the same year, there were rebels from the South as well. They had gathered 20,000 sailors which controlled ships, killing the soldiers from Da Qian. The leader was Zhang Jin. He was known as ''The Heavenly General'', with 18 cities and the rivers in the South under his control, restricting traffic and trade through these rivers.


    Most importantly, near the Jade Capital, there was a rebellion as well and the fight was even brought to the centre of Middle Region, affecting the Jade Capital!


    These 3 were the most powerful rebels of the empire. There were 10 other smaller rebellion groups inciting rebellions in various regions. Although their influence was limited, they were still able to create trouble and make it hard for the villagers to live peacefully.


    "To think about it... the successful rebellion groups are all supported by dream masters..."


    Finding himself a restaurant, Fang Yuan settled down, ordered a plate of beef and another plate of vegetables and two vats of wine before enjoying his meal.


    "The chaos which is happening everywhere is within the 6 Extremes Earth Shattering Array. Da Qian is unable to keep the earth dragon under control, resulting in the dispersing of the breath of the earth... The instability of the dragon meridian will lead to further complications, including the uprising of dragons and snakes."


    Although this world was not particular about Fengshui, Fang Yuan could still use the explanation from the Karma World and the pieces of the puzzle would still fall into place. This showed that even though worlds and realms differ, they were ultimately the same.


    The location of the restaurant was extremely central and it was the best place to obtain information.


    Their culinary skills were commendable as well. The beef was marinated and was charred on the surface. However, the fibres of the meat were chewy and the dish was fragrant. After eating a few pieces of meat, Fang Yuan placed his chopsticks down and sipped on his wine as he gathered his information.


    Considering his powerful spiritual will, nothing in the restaurant could hide from him.


    "This world is already in chaos. Just yesterday, a relative of mine escaped from Liyang. He claimed that there were already soldiers there, and they belonged to The Heavenly General..."


    "Sigh. The battle at Lan River resulted in the death of all the Naval Officers from the Imperial Court. No one else from the South can block the army of The Heavenly General... I''m afraid that Da Qian Empire is doomed!"


    "Who cares what would happen to Da Qian. Even if the king were to change, as long as we villagers listen to them and pay taxes, the new king would not force us to death. Why bother ourselves with such troubles? Let''s drink!"


    ...


    Most of the people in the restaurant were discussing the current affairs and were speaking softly. After a few sentences, they would stop talking and start drinking, which disappointed Fang Yuan.


    At this point in time, two cultivators in the disguise of martial artists walked in, arousing Fang Yuan''s interest.


    It was a pair of young men. They had long swords with them and were decent looking. They gave off the vibe of young heroes as they had requested for a private table and ordered plenty of food and wine.


    "Brother, the fight between the head of Sha Sect and master of Thunderclap Palm, Elder Han, is going to be interesting!"


    The younger of the both of them wore green robes and seemed excited. "Years ago, Elder Han had brought his entire family to Four Elements City and ruled the city with his Giant Thunderclap Palm before becoming established. In these 10 years, Elder is still fit as a fiddle and is not any weaker than he was years ago! However, the Sha Sect seemed fierce and determined. They are also an experienced sect. Now that the sect head of Sha Sect is eyeing on the assets of Han Family, a fight is inevitable!"


    "Brother, that is logical!"


    The elder brother sounded more matured and seemed around 15 years old. He was wearing blue. As he held his cup of wine, he smiled unnaturally. "Master has instructed us to descend the mountain and train but did not ask us to get involved in all these. Know what we are supposed to do, and remember it! Throughout the journey, you have caused many problems for me already. If you carry on, I will be sure to tell master about it."


    Hearing his tone, it was as though he was already aware of his brother''s antics and was giving out a warning.


    "Ah, brother, forgive me! I will never do it again!"


    The young man in green seemed to have come to his senses as though he was extremely fearful of his master.


    "Alright, after this meal, let''s look for the Han Family and watch the show!"


    The man in blue quipped. "The sect head of Sha Sect, Sha Lifei and Elder Han of the Han Family are experienced Wu Zongs. Although they have not reached the Meridian Opening Stage, they have a wealth of experience and this fight will be interesting..."


    "But both of them are not your match!"


    The young man in green laughed.


    "That''s hard to say. After all, since we are at the same cultivation level, our techniques, secret moves and combat experience will all come into play..."


    The young man in blue smiled and sounded confident. "However, if it was one-on-one, I am still rather confident."


    "Hmph, you''re too confident!"


    Upon hearing the man in blue, a pair of siblings sitting at another table were enraged. The elder brother immediately slapped the table. "What are you saying? You''re young and you don''t know anything. How will you know the power of my family''s Thunderclap Palm ?"


    "You''re from the Han Family?"


    The man in green robes examined them before revealing a sly look. "Brother, I did not cause this."


    "Yes, we are!"


    The man in blue rolled his eyes. Never would he expect to offend the Han Family with a single sentence.


    However, the Han Family had already lived here for 10 over years and their influence had already spread far and wide. Therefore, it was only normal to bump into the people of Han Family.


    "Hmph! I am Han Jingfei of the Han Family. Apologise, or..."


    This young man from the Han Family stretched out his right hand and smacked the table. As he mustered his strength, the perfectly sturdy table immediately broke into half, demonstrating his strength. From the looks of it, Fang Yuan predicted that he was in the realm of the 4 Heavenly Gates and was an ordinary martial artist.


    After all, Fang Yuan was at a stage where he had already killed countless Wu Zongs. Those under the realm of elemental force was nothing to him!


    However...


    Looking at the siblings of the Han Family, Fang Yuan then proceeded to examine the two young men. One of them was a Wu Zong and the other one was at the peak of the 12th Gate. Fang Yuan was speechless. ''The people of Master''s race seem to be ignorant and too full of themselves!''


    "Brother!"


    A young lady tugged at Han Jingfei''s sleeves. "Let''s go home, otherwise Father is going to be angry."


    "Ling''er, wait here. I have to teach these two fools a lesson!"


    Han Jingfei exclaimed.


    The shopkeeper of the restaurant could recognise Han Jingfei and knew him as the one who would always cause trouble. However, he stood by the side and smiled, with no intention of stopping the fight.


    "Aiya... I''m really afraid!"


    The young man in green picked up a piece of wood. As he tightened his grip, wood shavings began to slip through his fingers.


    "Eh?"


    Han Jingfei was stunned.


    Although he was reckless, he knew a powerful martial artist when he saw one. With this simple demonstration, he already knew that his opponent was much stronger than him and therefore, he could only feel helpless.


    ''These two young men are around the same age as me, so who would think that their cultivation would be so much higher than mine? If the younger brother is already so powerful, is his elder brother a Wu Zong?''


    Sweat started to trickle from Han Jingfei''s forehead. He was unwilling to concede. With a flushed face, the situation came to a stalemate.


    "Brother!"


    Han Ling''er''s face turned pale as she pleaded her brother to look at his surroundings.


    Resembling a helpless rabbit, the young man in green robes was elated. "Forget it... I shall not pursue the fact that you have shown us disrespect. As long as you get your sister to serve us three cups of wine as an apology, we can forget everything that has happened. How''s that?"


    "Mmm!"


    Han Jingfei remained silent. The man in blue lowered his head and felt that his younger brother had finally matured.

 385 Assistance

    "You scoundrel!"


    Han Jingfei was enraged as they provoked his younger sister. He smacked out his palm which was burning red.


    This was Han Family''s "Giant Thunderclap Palm" which was a powerful martial arts technique. There would be no problem for one who possessed such a technique to cultivate into a Wu Zong and there was even a possibility for him to reach the Meridian Opening Realm.


    Of course, although Han Jingfei was impetuous, he was not an idiot. While he hollered, he had already secretly hinted his servants outside to return home quickly to ask for help before he fought against the two brothers.


    "Thunderclap contains the strength of both thunder and fire! Your Thunderclap Palm only has fire strength while its thunder strength is not even formed and you dare to embarrass yourself with such a half-baked skill?"


    The youth in green shirt smirked and extended his right hand too. "Look at the prowess of my Mystic Jade Technique!"


    As he extended his arms, his skin was changing along and turned into crystal clear jade-like skin, as though it was beautifully carved from jade. The green shirt youth was intentionally showing off as he channelled 90% of his strength to display his technique. He wanted Han Jingfei to suffer under him.


    As Fang Yuan watched the scene unfold, his eyebrows frowned slightly.


    The green shirt youth was vicious. If no one stopped him, Han Jingfei would be severely injured.


    "Bang!"


    The two palms clashed and their energy could be felt.


    A choking noise could be heard as one of them was thrown back and smashed into the wall. Lots of wine and dishes spilt on his body; he was ravaged and kept shrieking in pain.


    "Eh?"


    The pupil of the youth in blue shirt shrunk as he smashed the wine cup in his hands, "Junior?"


    He ran forward to the green shirt youth''s side and saw his brother crying in pain while holding his right hand. Part of his arm''s bone was jutted out and exposed as blood flowed down continuously. It was as though his arm was run over by some sort of beast.


    "Senior..."


    Tears dripped from the green shirt youth''s eyes as he whined, "His....his palm strength is so weird! You have to seek revenge for me!"


    "Rest assured!"


    The blue shirt youth''s hands grabbed on to his junior''s arm bone with lightning fast speed and pushed it back. Under the crisp sound of bones being aligned, the green shirt youth''s eyes turned white as he fainted.


    The blue shirt youth''s hands did not stop moving as he dexterously applied spiritual medicine on his wound and bandaged it. From how fast his fingers moved, it was evident that he was very experienced in doing it.


    Moments later, the blue shirt youth stood up and looked at Han Jingfei. He had a serious expression never seen before on his face as he said, "I, Lan Feihong from Mystic Jade Sect, pay my respects to Brother Han. My junior was impudent in his words and was a little disrespectful, but why did you have to be so heavy-handed?"


    The blue shirt youth now viewed Han Jingfei as some sort of hidden young skilled martial artist. Inside his heart, it was burning with anger.


    Furthermore, even he himself could not realise that Han Jingfei was so skilled in martial arts, which meant that Han Jingfei was much more powerful than he imagined.


    "I..."


    Han Jingfei was still stunned as he stood still at his spot, "I don''t know anything..."


    "Wait a minute, the two of them might not be as powerful as I thought. It might just be some sort of trickery when they crushed the wood into powder..."


    As these thoughts flashed through his mind, Han Jingfei became braver and shouted at the two of them, "Humph! You two useless thugs dare to come to Four Elements City and brag shamelessly but did not even bother to check whose territory is this! I am just teaching you a lesson!"


    "Ok!"


    Lan Feihong heaved a long breath and his eyes glistened, "Can Brothen Han teach my humble self a few techniques?"


    "Humph! How dare you quacks try to be cocky..."


    Han Jingfei was sniggering, but suddenly, his eyes turned round and mouth turned agape like a toad.


    This was because, in front of him, Lan Feihong was secretly channelling his technique. Around Lan Feihong''s body, a green light was sparkling and turned into the shape of a jade rod which he held tightly in his hand.


    At the same time, he was continuously exuding a fearsome might that seemed to be linked to the heavens and earth.


    "Projecting elemental energy? Giving elemental energy from the outside of one''s body? He is a ... Wu Zong..."


    Han Ling''er who was at the side covered her mouth in shock.


    She had only seen before such a projection and fearsome might from her grandfather''s body, who was a Wu Zong.


    "It... it is fake¡­...but no quack would be able to imitate a Wu Zong! Could what he said be true..."


    Han Jingfei mouth''s felt intensely bitter as though he just drank the most concentrated bitter wine and almost could not speak.


    Han Jingfei had only just broken through the 4 Heavenly Gates and cultivated his Yin and Yang. He did not even reach the stage of an Earth Gate martial artist nor cultivated his miniature elemental force yet and would, therefore, be a piece of cake for a Wu Zong!


    "Please engage!"


    Opposite him, Lan Feihong did not seem to believe Han Jingfei was just a weak martial artist and viewed him as someone who was playing dumb to gain an advantage.


    Han Jingfei''s gaze intensified as he thought, "Till now, I can''t even detect anything abnormal from him, his hidden martial arts techniques must be extremely powerful! I cannot be careless!"


    With such a thought, Lan Jingfei moved his hands mightily as he revealed his esteemed technique, "Cloud Rod 8 Strike!"


    Immediately, Han Jingfei saw the Wu Zong charge towards him with both his hands transforming elemental force into jade rods. The shadow of the two rods reflected their unlimited power.


    Furthermore, a powerful thought had already viciously invaded his mind as he could not move and remained still like a small rabbit that met a ferocious tiger.


    "Brother!"


    Under the shadow of the rods, only a girl''s screams of terror could be heard.


    "Boom!"


    Suddenly, a loud boom erupted and the elemental energy projection dispersed at once. Han Jingfei stood still at the same spot and stared at his own finger in astonishment.


    Opposite him, Lan Feihong looked at the bloody hole in his chest and could not believe what just happened.


    Moments before, the Han Jingfei who had no ability to retaliate suddenly raised his hands and shot out a sword essence that annihilated the rods'' shadow and left a gaping hole on Lan Feihong''s chest.


    "What a powerful sword essence! I concede defeat!"


    Lan Feihong let out a wailing laughter before a hateful look appeared on his face, "Just that the way you do things... is too unscrupulous..."


    "What... what did I do? How come I don''t know what''s happening..."


    Han Jingfei was on the verge of tears.


    He was frightened by how he raised his hands and released the sword essence just now.


    "Hmph! My skills are inferior to yours! What else is there to say?"


    Lan Feihong looked below and saw numerous people had already arrived outside. Leading that group was a tall and well-built elder with a long beard and mighty look.


    "Who dares to harm my grandson?"


    "Humph!"


    Lan Feihong clenched his teeth and carried his green shirt junior in one hand while breaking through a window with the other. He leapt out of the restaurant and fled far away like a bird.


    "Impressive Lightness Skill! A Wu Zong indeed!"


    Han Family''s Elder then went up the restaurant and lightly patted Han Jingfei''s face, "Grandson... it''s fine now, with grandpa here, no one dares to harm you!"


    "Grandpa!"


    Han Ling''er tugged Grandpa Han''s sleeve and said, "Others didn''t bully us, it was big brother who was bullying others!"


    "Eh?"


    Grandpa Han''s eyes widened at once, "Although that guy is young, he is no doubt a Wu Zong! You all were bullying him?"


    "Grandpa... I was!"


    Han Jingfei squeezed out an expression even uglier than a crying expression as he said, "They claimed to be from Mystic Jade Sect and were beaten by me! I... I brought trouble to Han Family!"


    "Mystic Jade Sect? One of the three big sects in Leaf Lake? The Mystic Jade Sect with a Wu Zong in the Meridian Opening Realm as their head?"


    Grandpa Han almost choked to death as he heard what his grandson said. He immediately opened his eyes wide and scanned the surroundings.


    As Grandpa Han was older and wiser, he had much more worldly experiences than his grandson. He knew that even if ten Han Jingfei fought against one Wu Zong, the Wu Zong would still defeat them with ease unless someone was secretly providing assistance.


    The restaurant was in a total wreck and many of the customers had already run off as they feared trouble. Only the shopkeeper and a waiter were hiding in a corner.


    Nevertheless, there was still a table that remained unscathed. The customer on it was even happily enjoying his wine which was very odd looking compared to the surroundings.


    "Greetings, friend!"


    Grandpa Han went forward and greeted this young man while sizing up him with his eyes.


    The man was very young and appeared to be 20 years old only. However, he had sword-like brows, star-like eyes and appeared solemn and out of the ordinary. He was dressed like a normal martial artist. He slightly lifted his head to reveal a bright smile as he greeted, "Since you have come, why not have a drink, Elder!"


    "That sounds good!"


    As Grandpa Han tried to probe, he could not figure out what this young man''s cultivation was and felt uneasy. Nevertheless, he still amiably sat down and lifted his wine cup, "I, Han Xiaotian, toast you! Can I ask what is your name?"


    "Fate caused us to meet, why bother to ask if we met before..."


    Fang Yuan smiled, "My nickname is Crazy Knife. Pardon me for teaching those two young ones a lesson for being arrogant!"


    "Indeed!"


    Han Xiaotian had a look of realisation on his face.


    Han Jingfei and Han Ling''er who stood beside Han Xiaotian finally realised their benefactor was right there. Their curious eyes kept looking at Fang Yuan as they sized him up.


    It was especially so for Han Ling''er as her face turned slightly red.


    "Wow! Looks like there''s some advantage to having a beautiful face!" Fang Yuan thought to himself.


    Fang Yuan was speechless at such a scene as he caressed his cheeks.


    As Fang Yuan changed his appearance, he slightly improved his looks to fit the beauty standards. His current face was already much better than his previous one and he could be deemed as a pretty boy.


    "Furthermore, this pair of brother and sister look like nice people and I guess fate brought us together which is why I decided to help them against such bullies!"


    "Thank you very much..."


    Han Xiaotian was very much speechless.


    This was originally a small issue as his grandson would have just learned his lesson after being defeated. However, with Fang Yuan''s so-called assistance, they had now offended Mystic Jade Sect! It was truly unlucky for the Han Family.


    "Helping them my a*s!" Han Xiaotian thought.


    Inside Han Xiaotian''s heart, he was definitely very frustrated and vexed.


    Nonetheless, since they had already offended Mystic Jade Sect, they could not bear to offend another person. Han Xiaotian still forced a smile and appeared cheery.


    "Great, since this trouble was caused by me, I will settle it!"


    Fang Yuan had already completed more than half of his goal and he immediately heroically continued, "I just finished cultivating in the mountains and I''m looking forward to testing my skills! If Mystic Jade Sect comes after you all again, I will settle them myself!"


    "I was waiting for you to say this!" Han Xiaotian thought.


    Han Xiaotian''s eyes sparkled as he could not contain his smile and thanked Fang Yuan profusely. He even warmly invited Fang Yuan to stay with Han Family.


    "How... how could I trouble you!"


    Fang Yuan acted like he was rejecting the offer which made Han Xiaotian anxiously use up all his pleasantries to make Fang Yuan accept the invite.

 386 Killing Chickens

    Although Han Family had moved into Four Elements City for less than 30 years, with Han Xiaotian as an elder that led the family, their family thrived well. Their mansion was sprawling and opulent, which evoked a wealthy feeling.


    "Morning, Mr Crazy Knife!"


    Early in the morning, Fang Yuan just woke up and was extravagantly served by eight young maids. As he walked to the courtyard, he saw Han Jingfei and his sister waiting over there. There were a few drops of sweat on their body which meant they had been waiting for quite some time.


    Han Jingfei felt the most uneasy inside him.


    At the banquet last night, Fang Yuan saw him in a totally different light and praised him as being "sturdy and well built while also talented and intelligent", which meant that he was suitable to train in Crazy Knife''s martial arts.


    When Han Xiaotian heard it, he was absolutely speechless as he was very clear what kind of person his grandson was.


    But at that time, due to a certain purpose, he still let Han Jingfei and his sister get closer to Fang Yuan.


    "In actual facts... this Han Xiaotian is a nephew of Master. Thus, I would be two generations above this pair of siblings... but for no reason, my seniority was dropped by two levels! That''s so sad!" Fang Yuan thought.


    After Fang Yuan made his observations yesterday, he had already largely confirmed that this Han Family was one branch of his Master''s family.


    They had even changed their surnames, it was evident that they were hiding from troubles.


    "Hmm, since both of you can come, that''s great!"


    Fang Yuan nodded his head and acted like some sort of hero, "Although both your builds are rather average, both of you are still suitable to learn my line of martial arts and secret techniques! If the two of you train well, you all might be accomplished next time."


    "Ah... please teach us, teacher!"


    Han Jingfei was a ditz, he was very excited the moment he heard what Fang Yuan said. After Han Ling''er tugged his sleeves, he then realised something and laughed dumbly while scratching his head, "Of course, I still have to seek approval from grandpa!"


    "Humph! This line of martial arts of mine only has one disciple per generation and there are also special rules to be adhered to!"


    Fang Yuan looked at Han Ling''er and smiled sinisterly.


    "What rules?"


    Han Jingfei asked curiously before he suddenly remembered this Crazy Knife was a loner and that he might even be someone from an evil sect, which explained why he was so extreme in dealing with things. Hence, Han Jingfei was secretly afraid.


    "This line of martial arts can only be passed down to one person per generation..."


    Fang Yuan shook his head and continued, "Before this, I already one have one disciple under me. If you want to learn, I have to go back and kill that disciple first before I can accept you as my disciple!"


    "Hehe... you must be joking..."


    Fear struck in Han Jingfei''s heart as he secretly confirmed Fang Yuan must be a skilled martial artist from an evil sect inside his mind. Now, he could only smile awkwardly to hide his thoughts.


    "But one or two techniques should be no problem! Catch it..."


    Fang Yuan loosened the long knife on his waist and threw it forward.


    "Bang!"


    The knife was brought randomly from the street side and its blade was extremely mediocre. However, it was now different after Fang Yuan trained with it once and secretly planted his Mind Imprint on it.


    Han Jingfei was almost breathless just from holding the handle of the knife.


    A tinge of blood appeared in his eyes as though he saw the scenes of early civilisation, where hundreds of tribes fought against each other on the vast lands. There was a barbarian wielding a long knife slicing through everything while battling against all sorts of wild beasts.


    "This sword is called Demon Knife and its technique is called Demon Knife Technique. This knife can kill deities and snatch their souls, each slice of this knife is heartless..."


    As Fang Yuan''s deep and serene voice be heard, Han Jingfei snapped out of his trance and his forehead was drenched with sweat.


    "You must remember, the essence of this knife technique is, ''humans must resist the knife'' and it is not ''the knife must resist humans''! If your mind is not strong enough, you might be led astray and never recover from the tribulations!"


    In actual facts, the 12 Demon Knife Styles were just an improvisation made by Fang Yuan from one of the techniques in the witches'' inheritance combined with modern martial arts.


    Although the knife technique was only slightly above average, it was vicious, strong and was forged through numerous experiences. Accompanied by the hint of barbarism on the knife, the might of the person who wields it would increase tremendously and there would be hope for him to become a Wu Zong one day!


    Hence, seeing how useless Han Jingfei was, Fang Yuan thought he had to harden him through some training for him to become accomplished.


    "Big brother... this demon knife is so dangerous, let''s not learn it?"


    Han Ling''er tugged Han Jingfei''s arms and was so scared she almost cried out.


    "Not learn it? No way!"


    Han Jingfei clenched his teeth. He missed that feeling of world domination he felt when he was in his short moment of trance just now, which made him determined to learn it.


    Furthermore, Han Jingfei knew that with his own innate talents, there was only a 50% chance of him becoming a Wu Zong in his entire lifetime.


    However, if he had that knife, he could win against all martial artists who passed the 4 Heavenly Gates and his chances of becoming a Wu Zong would multiply like crazy!


    There was nothing else to be said and the choice of obvious.


    "Hmm, not bad, each slice of the knife does not come with regret! Every time you draw your knife, you must draw blood! You must, must remember this!"


    Inside the garden, Fang Yuan sat inside the pavilion as he watched Han Jingfei obsessively and repeatedly practised his knife techniques.


    Opposite Fang Yuan, Han Ling''er was very concerned but forced herself to remain composed as she brewed tea for Fang Yuan.


    She was skilled and dainty in preparing the tea and watching her brew tea was like watching a butterfly fluttering beautifully. It also made Fang Yuan smelt a familiar scent.


    "Great tea!"


    As Fang Yuan drank the tea, its taste lingered in his mind. Fang Yuan was slightly dazed by the tea.


    The tea and her skills were passed down within a family, which made Fang Yuan noticed the slight similarities between it and meditative tea ceremony.


    After a long pause, Fang Yuan finally slowly said, "Your basics are passable, you don''t have to learn any martial arts. I have some medical skills and a mind-cleansing formula which I can teach you. If you master it, even if your brother goes crazy and even demonic next time, you will still be able to save him from it. Are you willing to learn?"


    Actually, the Demon Knife Fang Yuan gave only appeared scary. It was at most better at killing and with Han Jingfei''s calibre, it would be extremely difficult for him to become demonic.


    Nevertheless, Han Ling''er was still scared of it and immediately exclaimed, "I am willing!"


    "Great, very good!"


    Fang Yuan nodded his head, "But before that, you have to learn how to brew tea!"


    "Brew tea?"


    From her eyes, it could be told that the young girl was slightly perplexed.


    "That''s right..."


    Fang Yuan felt extremely emotional inside his heart. Master Heartless accepted him as a disciple last time and now, he was teaching two descendants of the Ye Family. There was a subtle sense of the amazingness of fate in how this came about.


    "Such a pity, after I saw the members of Han Family yesterday, many of them are not worthy to be cultivated. By helping too many of them, it will only bring about more troubles. They would be better off living their lives peacefully as normal people..."


    As Fang Yuan reminisced the scenes, his eyes glistened.


    ...


    Many days later.


    Somewhere in Four Elements City.


    The head of Sha Sect, Sha Lifei was holding an iron ball on each hand as he stared at the elder who came to visit. With a solemn expression, he asked, "You are?"


    "I am Cheng Miao!"


    Cheng Miao was donned in a white robe and had a celestial appearance.


    The moment Sha Lifei heard his name, he was immediately taken aback and paid his respects, "So it''s Mystic Jade Sect''s head who came to visit personally, my apologies for the discourtesy!"


    "Eh, you want to go against Han Family?"


    Cheng Miao eyed Sha Lifei and his powerful might as a Wu Zong at the Meridian Opening Realm could be felt like a giant rock that smashed down.


    "That''s right... I guess you are also preparing to deal with him?"


    Sha Lifei was secretly pleased with such but did not reveal it on his face. As the overlord who was determined to crush Han Family, how would he not know about any big matters that happened in Four Elements City? Sha Lifei obviously knew about the matter where Mystic Jade Sect''s people were defeated by Han Family''s people.


    "Very good, let''s begin earlier! You will visit them personally tomorrow and I want to see who was the one who dared to offend my Mystic Jade Sect?"


    A furious expression flashed across Cheng Miao''s face.


    After all, Lan Feihong was his favourite disciple. Cheng Miao was enraged when he saw Lan Feihong returned with serious injuries with no clear reasons.


    Sha Lifei was elated, with the lead of a Wu Zong at the Meridian Opening Realm, he was very confident and immediately reassured, "Please be assured, Sir! My people have already been spying on Han Family and we know that that person lives with Han Family. He had not gone out for many days which meant he must still be there!"


    "Very good, I want to see who was the one who dared to offend us!"


    Perhaps Cheng Miao stayed in this impoverished region for too long that he had already become too arrogant and conceited.


    "Offend you? Who do you think you are?"


    Suddenly, a youth''s laughter could be heard from the door.


    "Who''s that?"


    Sha Lifei and Cheng Miao were shocked. They immediately saw the shine of a knife slicing about as two disciples of Sha Sect shrieked in pain while the doors were smashed into pieces at once. The shadow of a man in black shirt wielding a knife slowly walked in.


    "Eh? You are... Han Family''s Han Jingfei?"


    Sha Lifei''s eyes twitched as he saw his two guards dying on the ground. "Why do you seem like a different person now?"


    "Humph, the two of you are in cahoots to scheme against my family. Since you all have met me now, I will give you a taste of my strength!"


    Han Jingfei brandished his knife and his menace was dominating.


    However, inside his heart, he wanted to cry but could not, "Teacher Crazy Knife... don''t play anymore!"


    "Don''t worry, just let go and do it! Think about it, even though your cultivation has not reached the realms of elemental force, you are about to kill two Wu Zongs today! Also, one of them is at the Meridian Opening Realm, your name would spread far and wide!" A soft voice rang inside his heart.


    "I don''t want this kind of fame at all!" Han Jingfei whined inside his heart.


    "Eh, young man, you are so good in martial arts at such a young age, very good! I am looking highly of you, ok...."


    Under Fang Yuan''s taunt, Han Jingfei could not help but charge forward with his Demon Knife Technique which totally enveloped Sha Lifei and Cheng Miao.


    "No way, there''s something weird about this guy!"


    Cheng Miao stepped back a few steps. As he felt the viciousness of the Demon Knife, his expression turned awry.


    "I don''t care if there''s something weird, the two of us are both Wu Zongs, he would be a piece of cake!"


    Sha Lifei roared and whipped out a long whip with spikes from his waist that moved like a python, "Boundless Yellow Sands!"


    "Heaven and Earth Jade Quake!"


    Cheng Miao nodded his head and clasped both his hands. He projected elemental energy and his hands turned into a squarish piece of white jade seal that smashed towards Han Jingfei.


    "Two Wu Zongs fighting against me, I''m so dead! Save me, teacher!" Han Jingfei was scared soulless and screamed inside his heart.


    "Hmm, look carefully!" Fang Yuan''s thoughts replied and Han Jingfei immediately moved and struck out his long knife. The knife''s light split and immediately formed a purgatory that welcomed the two Wu Zongs.


    "Huu! Huuuu!"


    Large amounts of elemental energy from the heavens and earth gathered and turned into a black shadow of a ghost that roared on the knife''s body.


    With one slice, the evil ghost descended and sought for blood!


    "Elemental force? Aren''t you..."


    Under the light of the knife, Cheng Miao''s horrified voice could be heard. Two streams of blood erupted at once.


    "Boom! Boom!"


    Two corpses smashed on to the floor. Han Jingfei stared at the long sword on his hand and still could not believe what just happened, "Two Wu Zongs just died like that? Why was it easier than killing two chicken?"

 387 The End

    "Is this person... really, Sha Lifei?"


    Han Jingfei looked at the person he just killed in disbelief.


    The person who had troubled his family for so many days had just been killed by himself!


    He was a Wu Zong!


    "Not just him... Cheng Miao is dead as well. He is the sect head of Mystic Jade Sect and he''s also a Wu Zong in the Meridian Opening Realm... As soon as news of his death spreads, the entire Mystic Jade Sect will be likely to crumble..."


    Fang Yuan walked out casually and commented. "As for the few loyal ones remaining, you should be able to deal with them as long as you put in the effort to practice the knife technique that I have taught you. Let this be a pressure to motivate you..."


    "Thank you, Mr!"


    Among all the corpses, Han Jingfei seemed to have matured.


    He forced himself to forget how helpless he felt under Fang Yuan''s control as he respectfully bowed to Fang Yuan. "If not for your help, the Han Family might be troubled!"


    "Hmmm, let''s return!"


    Fang Yuan shook his head.


    To speak the truth, in this short period of time, it was not enough for him to pass down his techniques to this disciple.


    However, Fang Yuan was a dream master and therefore had his own means to transfer his techniques to these pair of siblings for them to master their respective techniques quickly.


    Without another word, they quickly left the headquarters of Sha Sect and returned to the Han Family.


    "Grandfather!"


    Seeing Han Xiaotian waiting in the main hall, Han Jingfei quickly knelt down and paid his respects. "Mr Crazy Knife and I have gone forth to kill both sect heads of Sha Sect and Mystic Jade Sect!"


    "Is that so?"


    Han Xiaotian turned pale and had a look of suspicion on his face. However, he forcefully smiled and invited Fang Yuan in. "Thank you for your assistance. Please enter the hall to enjoy the banquet."


    "Alright..."


    Fang Yuan took a quick glance at the old man before walking in.


    "Jingfei... Bring your sister along to the back hall to help out!"


    Seeing how Han Jingfei was following Fang Yuan, Han Xiaotian shouted at him with a fierce tone.


    "Yes!"


    Han Jingfei turned pale as though he had detected that something was out of place. With that, he rushed to the backyard.


    ...


    "Come, Mr Crazy Knife, let me toast you!"


    In the main hall, a sumptuous meal was prepared. The meat was spiritual meat and the fruits were spiritual fruits. There were spiritual wine and spiritual tea as well. It was a meal which would take up the resources of over 100 families and they were all that the Han Family could fork out after much effort.


    "Thank you, thank you..."


    Fang Yuan did not hesitate as he downed a cup of wine.


    The wine was smooth and fragrant.


    "This is the meat of the Shaluo Beast. It is rare in this area, so you should enjoy more of it!"


    "I, Elder Han, toast you, Mr Crazy Knife!"


    "Please, have some spiritual fruit!"


    ...


    Seated around the table were all elders. Han Xiaotian introduced them one by one and there were a total of 4 of them.


    Now then all of them were drinking and feasting, everyone appeared flushed.


    Fang Yuan acted as though he was unaware of it continued feasting.


    "Mr Crazy Knife, your tolerance for alcohol is indeed good!"


    After a few rounds of wine and feasting, Han Xiaotian''s expression turned cold. "However... I am unsure if I should ask you about something."


    "Shoot it. There''s nothing for me to hide!"


    Fang Yuan held his wine cup and smiled.


    "According to my useless grandson, you have used the techniques of a dream master to control him the other day in the restaurant, right?"


    Han Xiaotian glared at Fang Yuan.


    "That''s right!"


    Fang Yuan nodded his head.


    "Great! Great! Great! You''ve finally found us!"


    Han Xiaotian''s legs turned to jelly and it was as though his energy had been sapped from him. With a look of hatred, he glared at Fang Yuan.


    "Elder brother, let''s fight it out with him. With uncle''s layout in place, what do we have to fear?"


    An elder with white hair spoke up with a fierce tone as though he wanted a piece of Fang Yuan''s flesh.


    "Hmm... It seems like your layout is complete, right?"


    Fang Yuan continued. "Next up, are you going to send 300 people with axes to fight me?"


    "300 people with axes?"


    Han Xiaotian shook his head. "I would think that 3 of them would be too much. You do know that there is no poison in this food and wine. However, together with the array in the hall, there will be an intoxicating spiritual aura formed. Even dream masters will feel decapitated and will be unable to move... This is personally put in place by our uncle, and is even capable of killing powerful beings so that we can deal with you d*mned dream masters! Try using your dream elemental force now!"


    "Brother, why bother speaking so much to him?"


    An elder flushed with anger whipped out a black axe. "Let''s chop him before anything else!"


    Fang Yuan remained speechless. These people were extremely hospitable with guests but were also decisive in starting a fight.


    Furthermore, what his master had recorded in his inheritance was true. Master Heartless had already offended all the dream masters in the area and he had no friends or allies. Therefore, as soon as his family encountered a dream master, they would logically assume that it was because of revenge.


    "Whooo!"


    Without hesitation, the elder swung the axe at Fang Yuan''s head.


    "Clang!"


    A loud clang was heard. The terrifying reaction force broke the axe, swinging its parts far away. The elder flew backwards as well and collided with a pillar, causing the entire hall to shake.


    "This is impossible!"


    Han Xiaotian observed the dented axe and the immovable Fang Yuan who was unharmed. Breathless, he finally spoke. "True Divine...."


    These two words were extremely powerful as the elders around revealed looks of helplessness.


    "Who would know that you are not only a dream master but a True Divine...."


    Han Xiaotian signalled to the rest of them. "To trouble you to take our lives is our honour..."


    "Didn''t all of you rush to establish good ties with me previously..."


    Fang Yuan drank another mouthful of wine and remained speechless. "I have only admitted that I am a dream master. Why do all of you think that I am here to seek revenge?"


    "Uncle has told us that he had offended too many dream masters in the past and have no friends... we have to kill any dream master that comes here!"


    Han Xiaotian spoke with a calm voice.


    Fang Yuan rolled his eyes as he felt that this was Master Heartless''s true personality.


    Could Master Heartless have experienced all these before turning to the benevolent Master Wenxin which Fang Yuan knew?


    "Alright..."


    Fang Yuan shook his hands and felt that if he were to continue his act, he would scare the hell out of these elders. That way, he would have taken revenge instead of repaying his gratitude for his master.


    With that, he revealed the truth. "I believe that all of you have mistaken my identity. I am not seeking revenge, but I am the disciple of Master Ye Li..."


    Upon hearing about his revelation, Han Xiaotian''s eyes glistened before shaking his head. "This is impossible... my uncle has never taken in any disciples before!"


    "He does not have to take in disciples while he was in Da Qian... Furthermore, why should I lie to you?"


    Fang Yuan snickered. "If I were to fight all of you, I can wipe out everybody in an instant!"


    "That''s true..."


    Seeing how Fang Yuan sat in his chair with a majestic vibe, he was in disbelief. "Cough... do you have any evidence?"


    "Evidence? Does this count?"


    With the wave of his hands, the 4 magical swords of Wind, Thunder, Water and Fire appeared, forming the 4 Emblems Sword Array and a miniature spiritual territory.


    "The 4 Emblems Sword Array and a miniature spiritual territory. This is indeed uncle''s 8 Gates Sword Array!"


    Han Xiaotian started to tear and apologised. "Brother, please forgive us for our disrespect. How is uncle doing?"


    The few elders sat around with embarrassed looks, especially the one who struck the axe at Fang Yuan. How he wished he could burrow underground to hide!


    "Master has passed away..."


    Fang Yuan sighed as he summarized all that had happened to Master Heartless.


    "Sigh... we are unfilial to be unable to serve uncle. Thank you, brother, for doing it on our behalf!"


    Han Xiaotian and the other elders appeared weary and paid their gratitude to Fang Yuan.


    "Hmm. This time, I have returned to take a look to see how Master''s family is doing and offer some protection if necessary. Seeing how things are, it seems like everyone is doing fine... I don''t have to worry about you all..."


    Fang Yuan smiled. "Although I am now a powerful being, Master still has too many enemies. For safety reasons, I will continue to lay low..."


    "We understand!"


    Han Xiaotian and the other elders smiled. Suddenly, it was as though he had recalled something as he stood up. "We have the possession of one of Uncle''s property. Please take a look!"


    With that, he shifted the banquet table to one side, flipped a stone tile beneath and retrieved a leather pouch from under the tile.


    "Eh?"


    Fang Yuan was stunned.


    From the beginning, his spiritual will had already swept across the entire place countless times, but he did not detect the stone tile.


    It seemed as though this leather pouch had the unique ability to conceal itself from being detected by spiritual wills.


    Han Xiaotian flipped the leather pouch around and took out a yellow piece of jade. With a smile, he explained. "This is left behind by Uncle. He had instructed us that if any of our descendants have the flair to be a dream master, he shall be bestowed this jade upon attaining the Illusionary Divine stage. However, we are all useless and our bloodline is weak. We don''t even have a spiritual knight among us..."


    "Hmmm!"


    Fang Yuan retrieved the jade piece and was filled with curiosity. With his spiritual will, he seemed to have understood it. "This is the inheritance for the 8 Gates Sword Array. If any of you were to become a dream master, the person will be able to follow the path to a dream soldier master... eh?"


    Fang Yuan already had his own copy of this inheritance and therefore, it was nothing much to him.


    However, at the back of the jade, Fang Yuan''s spiritual will detected a large chunk of information after the description of the 8 Gates Sword Array. With that, he committed the information to memory.


    "This object... still has some use. I shall record it down!"


    He generously returned the jade to Han Xiantian. With another thought, he took out a piece of blood-red jade. "In this jade, there is a version of my martial arts known as the Qian Kun Giant Spiritual Technique. It has the potential to open 8 spiritual meridians and form the Giant Spiritual Divine Body and is one of the better techniques in Da Qian. Furthermore, the way I have obtained it is not through illegal means, so you will have no worries about accepting it!"


    Since the demise of the Yang Family, the Qian Kun Giant Spiritual Technique had already spread far and wide and was even on sale in the Dream Realm. Therefore, it was nothing much.


    "Thank you, Sir!"


    Han Xiaotian was ecstatic. Although his Giant Thunderclap Palm was powerful, it did not have the potential to form the Divine Body. Now that he had this Giant Spiritual Technique, he had obtained the foundation required for the Han Family to rise once again.


    "Mmm, since all of this is settled, I shall take my leave!"


    Fang Yuan bowed and a layer of fog appeared around him. The people in the hall appeared dazed.


    "I''m sorry. To play safe, I will have to change some of your memories..."

 388 Heavenly Array

    After a few days, a shocking news came from Four Elements City.


    The powerful and overbearing Sha Sect was wiped out from existence as the disciples of the sect fleed. None of them had the courage to honour the agreement and fight.


    Furthermore, even their powerful sect head, who was a Wu Zong, had disappeared. It was unknown how he had died, and the powerful and influential organisations in Four Elements City started to worry and show their support for Han Family to redeem themselves for their indecisiveness to pledge their loyalty.


    However, this shocking news was nothing compared to the disbanding of the Mystic Jade Sect, which was one of the 3 powerful sects in Leaf Lake.


    According to Mystic Jade Sect, a few days ago, a mysterious highly-skilled person had visited the sect. The elders of the Mystic Jade Sect, under the leadership of the sect head, we no match for the mysterious martial artist. Therefore, they were all forced to swear that they would disband the sect and would never use the name of Mystic Jade Sect ever again.


    In truth, the Han Family knew that it was a cover-up by the sect after discovering that the sect head was killed.


    Without a Wu Zong in the Meridian Opening Realm to lead them, considering the resources that Mystic Jade Sect owned, they would attract a lot of attention which would in turn cause trouble to all the disciples of the sect.


    Elder Han was an experienced person. He knew that he should not ride on the situation to make things difficult for the Mystic Jade Sect. Instead, he had become even more low-profile as he started to let go of control in Four Elements City, beginning his plan to move into seclusion.


    After all, trouble times ensued. If he were to attract too much attention, the family could get into trouble.


    If he were to move the family into seclusion, even if the soldiers were to wreak havoc in the city, the Han Family would still stay safe and live on for generations. Of course, these were all ifs.


    ...


    Just as the powers in Four Elements City were changing, Fang Yuan had already left Leaf Region.


    As he journeyed, he started to investigate the jade which he had just obtained from his Master''s family.


    "Master has already taught me everything that he could. In this piece of jade left in his own family, he has not only recorded the 8 Gates Sword Array but also some secret information regarding the Imperial Court and the Hidden Dragon Guards as well... He thought that these pieces of information would be useless to me but useful to the family. However, he never thought that it would be extremely hard for dream masters to continue existing..."


    Fang Yuan sighed. "However, after this, there might be some changes."


    He taught Han Ling''er the Meditative Tea Ceremony and even left some Heart Questioning Tea for her.


    Considering the amount of tea that he had given her, if the family was fortunate enough, one of them might walk on the path of becoming a dream master! Even if that was not possible, they might still become spiritual knights.


    This was the opportunity for their family to rise once again.


    To Fang Yuan, since the people of the Han Family were not the immediate family members of Master Heartless, they were already fortunate enough to have obtained these.


    Moving on, Fang Yuan had to put down his worries and plan for his own path.


    "I have a few months remaining of the 6 months. In this period of time, I can increase my cultivation once more through dream-traversing..."


    Although he had attained the True Divine to be qualified to fight in the war, Fang Yuan wanted to have more confidence to be able to go against a group of powerful beings including Sages so as to benefit from them.


    Therefore, he was still lacking such an ability.


    His path of martial arts had come to an end. After all, other than the few imperial advisors who were strengthened by the heavenly energy of Da Qian, there were no other newly promoted True Divines.


    Fang Yuan knew that he was no match against all of them. Therefore, he had shifted his attention to other aspects of his cultivation.


    With this, dream-traversing to increase his power as a dream master became a priority.


    "The coordinates of those realms rich in source energy are with the highly-skilled people of the influential organisations. I have no way of getting it from them... the only exception is the Ancient Realm!"


    Fang Yuan felt a tinge of regret.


    He had tried before in his realm and was disappointed.


    Although the realm did not discriminate against him, the entire realm seemed to have fallen into a mysterious turmoil, as though it was undergoing a certain change.


    The feeling that time was not consistent in the Ancient Realm led Fang Yuan to suspect that if he were to enter it once more, it might be possible that a day in the Ancient Realm would result in a year to pass in Da Qian! By then, he would have lost the opportunity to cultivate in both Da Qian and the Ancient Realm.


    "However, as a 7th Leaf Cultivator, my level of rights is rather high. I should deserve some special treatment, right?"


    With that, Fang Yuan had come to a conclusion. Within a few moments, he had entered the Dream Realm and sourced for a suitable realm from the Data Treasury of the Realm Alliance.


    ...


    Middle Region, Yingchou City.


    This city was the North entrance to Middle Region. Leveraging on the geographical features of the Yingchou valley, the 20,000 rebels of Shi Longtu were kept at bay outside of the region.


    At this point in time, the entire city had become a fort, ready to engage in war. The city walls were glittering with spiritual light. The runes sparkled and spiritual cannons and spiritual bows were all ready to fire.


    "Leader!"


    Two leaders from the Hidden Dragon Guards sat in a building as their strong spiritual will covered the entire city continuously.


    With that, a few Hidden Dragon Guards entered the building and paid their respects. "According to leader''s tip-off, we have discovered the hiding spot of a group of rebels during today''s patrol! They were from the Divine Lotus Cult and we have killed all of them."


    "Mmmm..."


    The powerful being who seemed as though he was in the 7th Tier of the Illusionary Divine stage nodded his head before looking around the room. These are only the small soldiers. What is most important in killing the rebels are your combat powers!"


    "Hmph, Shi Longtu was favoured by the king and was once a soldier under the king. Who would''ve thought that he would rebel!"


    As soon as a Hidden Dragon Guard heard the leader, he gritted his teeth and remarked.


    Shi Longtu was originally the region governor of Tall Region. He had a distinct look when he was younger and was famous in his village. As he matured, he was assisted by the local minister and was enlisted into the military. With his successes in war, he was favoured by the king and his career was smooth sailing.


    As the next king, King Zhao Ming, took over, Shi Longtu was further promoted to the appointment of region governor. No one would think that this person would rebel against the Imperial Court.


    "There was no other outcome... we have traced his family to 3 generations ago and understood more about the Shi Family... They were originally the spies of the Divine Lotus Cult. Shi Longtu was the incarnation of an elder from the Divine Lotus Cult. He had sealed his own memories and therefore, he was undetectable. It is only now that he is taking action..."


    These spies could only do so much and therefore, there was not many of them. However, if any of them could climb up to a high appointment, they could cause destruction.


    "Zhang Jin from the South and Wu Yue from Yong Region are nothing to be feared. However, Shi Longtu is indeed troubling. After all, his subordinates are all officers in the military!"


    One of the leaders sighed.


    Since the ancient times, the farmers would be at the frontline of a volunteer corps. However, they had insufficient food and weapons and were not sufficiently trained.


    Facing such a volunteer corps, the government could use 1,000 soldiers to fight against 10,000 of them! Or even 100,000!


    Only the armies with resources, military discipline and training would be able to pose a threat to the Imperial Court.


    In the Da Qian Empire, such a difference in the quality of soldiers would be magnified.


    How many normal civilians would have the chance to become Wu Zongs, spiritual knights or even dream masters?


    Therefore, those in power would be much more powerful and those lowly civilians would have no hope if they rebel.


    If there were natural disasters or threats from rebels, a district leader with a high level of cultivation would be able to gain positive control over the district regardless of the number of rebels from the volunteer corps.


    Although there seemed to be a lot of rebellion going on in Da Qian, if the Hidden Dragon Guards were to strike, most of them would be wiped out and they could restore peace within a month!


    Even if they were up against 20,00 soldiers who were properly trained, it would only take 2 Hidden Dragon Guards to clean up everyone.


    Unfortunately, the rebels were also protected by dream masters. That would be the greatest cause for concern.


    The leaders of both sides already had an unspoken agreement to not get involved in the conflict and would solely depend on their army to get their intended outcome.


    Considering the current situation of Da Qian, this was their desperate attempt to keep the entire Empire under control.


    "Within Yingchou City, we only have 50,000 soldiers. It should be no problem to guard the city for half a year!"


    The other leader replied. "Head has already instructed that we would be given credit as long as we can defend this place for half a year!"


    "After Yingchou city, it is a vast piece of grassy plains. If we fail to defend the city, the rebels will be able to smoothly make their way to the Jade Capital..."


    The other leader started to shake his head. "Does Head intend to delay things for half a year to change the situation? Difficult! Difficult! Difficult, I say!!!"


    "The 5 Grand Organisations have already cast the 6 Extremes Earth Shattering Array to disrupt the breath of the earth. The power of Da Qian will slowly be weakened. However, that is not how fate should be, and things might change!"


    The two leaders exchanged glances and their eyes glistened.


    ...


    Jade Capital City.


    Within the city, powerful beings were in total control. The buildings were grand and the Dragon Meridian here was under control. It was the strongest looking city in the world.


    "Cough cough...."


    In a particular corner of the city, an old daoist was coughing, staining his handkerchief with blood. "The enemy has the support of many dream future masters and they have disrupted the fate of the world. I cannot do anything but push against fate, making it jumbled out. If I do so, we will not be able to predict anything, but our enemies will also be helpless..."


    This war at such a scale had already begun long ago.


    Both sides were disrupting each other''s fate, resulting in the fate of the realm to be jumbled up. Even a powerful dream future master would not be able to obtain a definite prediction and would predict many outcomes wrongly.


    Otherwise, the outcome of Fang Yuan obtaining Sage Changli''s inheritance and even become a True Divine would have been predicted countless times which would reveal Fang Yuan''s true intentions.


    "Very well, this is enough. Thank you for your efforts. Leave everything to me!"


    Beside the old daoist, it was the Head of Hidden Dragon Guards speaking with a deep voice.


    "Cough cough... I don''t have long to live and I have no cure... Needless to say, you will feel less pressured with one new helper..."


    Old Daoist Shang Hou smiled and examined his surroundings.


    He was in something which resembled an altar. It was ancient looking and was constructed with colourful bricks. Standing at 30 yards tall, it was a grand structure and offerings were already prepared on the altar.


    "Hmmm, alright then...."


    The Head of Hidden Dragon Guards lit the offerings ablaze and threw a jade rock and a spiritual tortoise''s shell into the flames as well. Green smoke started to fill the air, covering the skies.


    "The earth dragon is only manipulated by the rebels because it lies underground... The 6 Extremes Earth Shattering Array is completed. We cannot stop it from forming anymore. The only thing we can do is to build an equally strong array to go against it. The opponents are using an Earth Array, so we shall form a Heavenly Array!"


    The will of heaven was invisible and intangible. Therefore the array created would have no tangible weakness.


    Previously, it would be absurd for even the Head of Hidden Dragon Guards to cast a Heavenly Array.


    Now, everything was different!


    Shang Hou could sense that the will of the Da Qian world was supporting them!


    That would form the foundation of the Heavenly Array!

 389 New Realm

    "Kaboom!"


    There were originally no clouds in the vast skies, however, a piece of cloud appeared suddenly.


    Immediately, a lightning bolt flashed across the skies.


    Moments later in the direction of Middle Region, a fogbow appeared and shined brightly, as though it pierced through the skies. The dark cloud was dispersed at once to reveal the clear blue skies.


    "Eh?"


    Fang Yuan looked towards the sky and the corner of his mouth raised in amusement, "This feeling... this is a crazy idea mentioned in Sage Changli''s inheritance, the 9 Heavenly Sky Net Array? I can''t believe the Da Qian royalties are so determined..."


    The reason Fang Yuan was so certain it was them was because he was clear that for the array to be formed, the dream master''s cultivation was merely one factor, the most important thing was still whether the heavenly fate favoured the one who cast it or not.


    Obviously, the 5 Grand Organisation''s dream masters would already count themselves lucky if they were not met with a heavenly punishment. Thus, it was not possible for them to be aided by fate!


    Therefore, other than the Imperial Court, there would be no other possibilities!


    "Once this array is formed, it will envelop the whole Da Qian World like the sky. Very scary..."


    Fang Yuan frowned and his body felt slightly uncomfortable.


    Under the skies, he felt uneasy as though he was spied.


    "Only the eye of the array is cast as of now? Although the starting is always tough, with Heaven''s eye as the foundation, it will supplement and form the whole array. It should take at least half a year though..."


    Fang Yuan ruminated, "The power of the array''s current state is not even 30-40% of its fully developed state! But it is already so terrifying..."


    Fang Yuan was very clear, once the entire 9 Heavenly Sky Net Array is formed, Da Qian would wield the power of the heavens and enact punishments for the heavens. They might even let the dream masters from the 5 Grand Organisation get struck by lightning every day.


    "The 9 Sky 6 Earth arrays were originally essences obtained by Sage Changli. Now that this array is cast, looks like the Imperial Court isn''t full of stupid people as they have already planned how to fight back!"


    Truthfully, the 5 Grand Organisations'' dream masters'' plans did not bode well for Fang Yuan.


    The source of dream masters was uncertain and many Prominent Divine powerful beings could not find it. Although Sage Changli had some clues, who could be sure that it would be successful?


    Not only that, once a large portion of Da Qian World''s natural source was sacrificed, the entire Da Qian World would experience a severe decline. Although it would not perish immediately, it would slowly wane and perish ultimately. Even if the entire process took millions of years, it would still be a sin against the world by these natives!


    "Furthermore... even if the source of dream masters was found, does it really meant something was ''obtained''?"


    Fang Yuan was very sceptical about such.


    Fang Yuan felt it would be impossible for a world that continuously gave out radiation and granted powers to dream masters, which also allowed them to actualise numerous things, would really be a perpetual motion machine that would never be depleted? And it would only benefit others and never itself?


    "This is very illogical... but of course, dream masters firmly believe that is where paradise is! Where everything begins and ends! Where immortality is transcended?"


    As such a worry began to show on Fang Yuan''s face, he suddenly could not help but laugh, "What a pity, even if I am already a True Divine, I''m still a small fry in the eyes of other Prominent Divine dream masters. I can''t influence the direction the dream masters and the world is heading towards..."


    Realm Alliance Mountain, Dream Realm.


    Fang Yuan appeared directly in a magnificent and grand hall which was not in any way inferior to where an elder stayed.


    "This is one of the benefits of having my level of rights raised to 7th Leaf!"


    Fang Yuan was not apprehensive at all as he went straight for the main stone chair and sat on it. As both his hands touched the stone armrests, his mind was connected to the realm alliance''s rock tablet immediately, "Searching for... realms to dream-traverse!"


    "Woosh!"


    As the screen pulled down, information of more than ten realms appeared in front of his eyes.


    The topmost realm was Ancient Realm which was marked in red texts, which meant that it was extremely dangerous.


    "This realm''s consciousness prevents dream masters from entering it, chances of successful dream-traverse is only 0.01%. The realm is undergoing tumultuous changes, its flow of time is extremely chaotic, exceptionally dangerous!"


    Fang Yuan touched the option lightly and a large chunk of message appeared, "Can''t believe there are still discovery missions for this realm, they are even posted by The Ancient One? Hehe... indeed, a sage never gives up!"


    "In this world, there were moral ones like the Sages and immoral ones like the bandits."


    Unknowingly, Fang Yuan thought of this quote.


    Fang Yuan knew the severity of the Ancient Realm but did not express it on his face. Even if he was in Dream Realm, it might not be the safest place.


    "This world used to be amazing, but now, its flow of time is too strange! I give up on it!"


    Fang Yuan shook his head and continued moving his fingers. He then saw more realms appearing on the screen.


    "Icy Realm..."


    "Flaming Lizard Realm..."


    "Giant Wood Realm..."


    "Tsk tsk... these realm''s natural source are not very strong and what''s left are scraps, just scraps..."


    As Fang Yuan read many options, he kept shaking his head.


    "Now, it''s best if I find a realm with a strong natural source and a flow of time suitable for me... Sadly, only those powerful being elders would have the coordinates for these kinds of realms for themselves to slowly reap from it. It would be their private collection and they would never release it! Just like how I obtained the coordinates to Water Realm last time..."


    As Fang Yuan pondered, he continued to search and sighed.


    "Eh... I will pick this Western Fantasy Realm! Its heavenly energy is pretty strong and I will have ample time! Also, it looks quite interesting!"


    Fang Yuan finally picked one with his finger.


    "Ting!"


    Suddenly, a new option appeared at the bottom of the screen.


    "Eh? Is this the most newly added realm?"


    Fang Yuan was intrigued at once. Not only was the realm''s natural source very strong, it was also marked in red which meant there were significant dangers.


    "''No. Alpha 3 Realm: intense natural source, mainly inhabited by humans, rate of time flow ¡ª 3 days in Da Qian to 1 year in No. Alpha 3 Realm...'' Wow, perfect!"


    While glancing through, Fang Yuan''s eyes lit up.


    The realm was very interesting and was the most recent one that appeared, which meant that its level of exploitation was not very high yet. Hence, there were great benefits to be reaped.


    "The first to explore this realm was Elder Extreme Darkness... this used to be Elder Extreme Darkness'' private collection, but she has now made it available..."


    As Fang Yuan read further, he was shocked to see such.


    Although there were great rewards for submitting a realm''s coordinates to the alliance, those powerful being elders would rarely do it unless there were special situations. It was either the realm was fully exploited, or the difficulty was too hard and they had no choice but to give up.


    Elder Extreme Darkness'' situation was more likely to be the latter case.


    "No. Alpha 3 Realm has a powerful natural source which is only slightly below that of the Ancient Realm''s. However, the realm''s laws are harsh. Whatever sort of unworldly forces would be grievously restricted, even including martial artists'' elemental energy. Dream masters who entered had their cultivation zeroed... There are some changes happening in the realm lately, only those above 4th Tier of Illusionary Divine are recommended to explore this realm."


    This description made Fang Yuan realise how scary this realm was.


    This realm was exceptionally belligerent towards unnatural forces.


    Even dream masters who entered the realm could not maintain 1% of their cultivation.


    Furthermore, although its heavenly energy is intense, elemental energy is extremely scarce inside this realm. Any path of cultivators would find it difficult to make accomplishments in this realm. Even if they were accomplished, they were still easily crushed another path of cultivators.


    "This realm..."


    Fang Yuan was curious about this realm but did not enter it immediately. Instead, he carefully chose to contact Elder Extreme Darkness, "Greetings Elder Extreme Darkness, did that No. Alpha 3 Realm use to be a private collection of yours?"


    Through the meeting with the Realm Alliance''s elders previously, Fang Yuan already had the contact information of the other six elders. It was very fast for him to message them directly with his inscription plate.


    Also, with his status, Fang Yuan would receive their replies swiftly.


    "It was!"


    Almost instantaneously, Elder Extreme Darkness replied, "Fang Yuan, you are interested in that realm?"


    "Of course, a realm that is not fully discovered meant that there are still lots of benefits to gain from it!"


    Fang Yuan''s eyes sparkled.


    "From my experiences, I can give you some word of caution. That realm is run by ''steam technology'', which is very hard to be influenced by foreign forces. Of course, there are some changes lately, the resurgence of a mysterious force piqued my curiosity but sadly, my body in the realm grew too slowly and was crushed by the realm''s newly created mysterious entity..."


    There was some coldness in Elder Extreme Darkness'' voice which made Fang Yuan understood why she would list the realm up now.


    After dying once during such a discovery with one''s true aura, it would be detrimental to the dream master.


    As the big war was imminent, Elder Extreme Darkness had no choice but to sell the realm to the Realm Alliance in exchange for large amounts of resources to recuperate.


    Else, half a year later, if she was discovered with huge injuries on her body, she would definitely be targeted at and would most likely die.


    "Thank you very much, Elder Extreme Darkness, but I would still like to try!"


    Fang Yuan was secretly excited.


    This was the first ever technological realm dream masters had found. It was understandable that they felt helpless against the laws of the realm.


    But Fang Yuan was different!


    With the memory of his previous realms, he might be smooth sailing in this realm. He would be more at ease compared to other dream masters and thus, there would be more space for him to showcase himself.


    "Up to you..." Elder Darkness replied coldly and broke off the messaging decisively.


    "This world it is then!"


    Fang Yuan kept his inscription plate and clenched his fist tightly as he thought, "This is a realm that is built specially for me... also, no one has ever harvested from it before. Its natural source is so strong..."


    "Just that, what in the world is that mysterious force that was just awakened?"


    Although he had some queries, he did not hesitate to spend his contribution points in exchange for the realm''s coordinates.


    "This time, I will not do any missions. I will just freely discover it by myself!"


    ...


    Da Qian World.


    "Kaboom!"


    In a cave somewhere in the wilderness.


    Fang Yuan smashed large amounts of rocks with his fist and sealed off the entrance to the cave.


    Immediately, a small array that concealed spiritual aura was cast.


    "I tried my best to run for days and chose a place with a thin supply of elemental energy, I don''t even know where I am now. Also, with the array concealing, the chances of my original body being discovered is very low..."


    Fang Yuan then dug out lots of rare materials to cast an array.


    "That realm is too far from Da Qian, even if I dream-traverse with Sage Changli''s realm locating method, I still require external help!"


    Moments later, within the array''s formation, Fang Yuan sat cross-legged with both his eyes shut. With a flick of his finger, the array was activated.


    As light spun, the space in front of him was warped and a black vortex emerged.


    Some true aura flew out and entered the mysterious black vortex, before disappearing completely...

 390 Restrictions

    The feeling of dream-traversing was a mysterious one.


    Fang Yuan had already dream-traversed to 3 other worlds and was considered rather experienced.


    However, even the previous dream-traversing expedition to the Ancient Realm didn''t feel as long as this time.


    The transference of one''s True Spirit should happen in a moment.


    However, due to the fact that this new realm was too far away, the time taken to transfer his True Spirit felt extremely long.


    His True Spirit floated in a dark space, unable to interact with the surroundings and even time seemed to have come to a stop. That feeling was a hundred times more torturous compared to being trapped in a small dark room and it was a feeling which could potentially turn someone crazy.


    The long journey was also depleting the energy of Fang Yuan''s True Spirit.


    Just as his True Spirit was about to be completely depleted, Fang Yuan felt as though he was about to return without any rewards from this expedition.


    "Rumble!"


    The space around him shook and a streak of lightning tore the black space apart, allowing light to flood in.


    "Whooo!"


    Fang Yuan sweated profusely. He felt as though he was a drowning person who was just being rescued. Standing up, he took in a deep breath.


    In the sky, the glaring sunlight caused heatwaves to be spread across the land.


    Subconsciously, Fang Yuan stretched his right hand out to shield himself from the sunlight. With that, he took notice of his dirty and small hands. He was a skinny boy who seemed around 12 years old.


    "Am I now a kid?"


    Fang Yuan let out a bitter smile and observed the surroundings.


    On a white birch tree, there were many chirps.


    His small body was wearing a white shirt and a green pair of long pants. They were of good quality but were pale from being washed many times. There were holes in his shoes.


    In his sight, he could see a cemented building. It was a short building and was at most two storeys high.


    The field was surrounded with a cemented wall painted in red paint. There were taglines painted on the walls. On an antenna by the side of the field, there was a huge loudspeaker blasting loud music. Occasionally, there was the energetic voice of the broadcaster.


    "Television, broadcast?"


    Fang Yuan felt that everything was a little weird. "Didn''t she say that it was steam technology?"


    All of this gave him a weird sense of familiarity. It was as though the faded pictures of his past life had actualised into the world.


    Racking his brains, he finally recalled some bits and pieces of memories.


    Although he was only a kid, he had undergone education and Fang Yuan was able to deduce the details of the world from his incomplete memories.


    This realm was spherical and was known as Planet Earth. In outer space, there was a sun, a moon, and other planets, forming a solar system. However, there was only one such planet in the entire system that was suitable for humans to live on.


    70% of the surface of this planet was covered in oceans and there were 3 main continents. Over a 100 countries were spread across these continents. There were more than 1,000 races of people and these races were constantly in conflict. In fact, a devastating world war had just ended.


    With the advancement of technology came the improvements in the quality of life, but there were troubles as well.


    After the world war, over 10 countries were wiped from the surface of Planet Earth. A few billion people were killed. However, at the same time, there were countries which benefited from the war and grew stronger.


    For instance, in the country he was in - Chinese Country, the country had successfully taken the opportunity to unify a few countries in the vicinity, forming an alliance across an entire land mass across a continent. The country now had a coast which stretched over ten thousands of miles. Because the people of these unified countries were similar and once had strong ties, their cultures were smoothly integrated and their combined powers were rather substantial. After the war, the unified country became one of the superpowers with substantial influence in the world.


    Mmmm, this realm only had 3 continents, split into the East Continent, Middle Continent and West Continent. The people of the West Continent had fairer skins, blond hairs and green eyes. The people of the East Continent were mixed, while the people of the Middle Continent were people with yellow skin.


    Fang Yuan was now in an orphanage in Chinese Country.


    After all, this was the year 999. It was only 5 years after World War 1. Therefore, many kids were orphaned and taken care of by the country. The body which he was possessing was one of the unfortunate children.


    "Fortunately... I am still known as Fang Yuan. I won''t have to change my name that way!"


    Fang Yuan took in a deep breath, closed his eyes and focused.


    After a while, Fang Yuan revealed a desperate look. "It is indeed impossible! This realm is not hospitable to supernatural forces! The rules of reality are too harsh."


    Just previously, he had tried to detect natural elemental energy. However, he had gotten nothing from it, as though this realm was a desert for natural energy.


    Fang Yuan knew that the source of energy of this realm was bountiful and that this was not the end. The only explanation would be that his system was not compatible with this world.


    "How hard would it be to cultivate in another technique? Let''s forget that idea for now... In terms of martial arts, as soon as it involves elemental force, it will no longer work. I can only preserve the most basic martial arts to strengthen my physical body."


    He shook his head and exclaimed. "Stats!"


    With that, a screen appeared. Although it was hard to read the figures, Fang Yuan could still vaguely make out the words:


    "Name: Fang Yuan


    Essence: 0.5


    Spirit: 0.1


    Magic: 0.9


    Profession: ???


    Cultivation: ???


    Technique: ???


    Skill: [Medicine (Level 3)], [Botany (Level 5)], [Fiery Golden Eyes (Level 1)]"


    "Everything has been cleared indeed! This is even scarier than the Water Realm!"


    Fang Yuan had a premonition that even though he had the special ability of fixed stats, it would still be extremely hard for him to restore his cultivation in this realm.


    "However, it is surprising that my skills are still with me! Maybe... In such a long period of time, I will have to rely on my skills."


    With the ability of fixed stats, Fang Yuan could be assured the fact that he would be able to reach the peak of his cultivation even after dream-traversing.


    This was akin to a bottle. Regardless of which realm he was in, the bottle would always be the same volume and would not be reduced.


    However, it was one thing to have his fixed stats remaining and another thing for his cultivation to be restored. Ultimately, he would still have to fill the bottle with liquid.


    In the previous 3 realms, there was natural elemental energy for Fang Yuan to easily fulfil this.


    However, in this realm, there was almost no elemental energy. There might be other forms of energy but they were not as easy to absorb. Therefore, it would be extremely hard to restore his cultivation and his peak condition.


    "Since it is already so hard for me, wouldn''t it be even harder for Extreme Darkness? No wonder she would give up on this realm... this difficulty level is almost like hell..."


    Fang Yuan stood up, looked for a pond, examined his own reflection and laughed.


    In the reflection, there was a 12-year-old boy with a messy hair and yellow skin. He was skinny and appeared malnourished.


    Such a boy would lose his life if he were to merely fall sick!


    "This is such a difficult start... The only thing good about this place is that the time flows faster here and I will have around 50 years to explore the realm..."


    Fang Yuan rubbed his rumbling tummy as though he had recalled something. With that, he scooted off to the canteen.


    This was his lunch break. If he did not get some food now, he would have to endure his hunger.


    As he ran to the canteen, he noticed a row of young boys and girls seated on a bench. Big ceramic bowls were placed in front of them.


    "Fang Yuan, why are you late?"


    An old woman wearing a black-framed glasses appeared displeased.


    It was evident that she was angry.


    "I... I had a stomach ache!"


    Fang Yuan made up an excuse.


    "Report!"


    At this point in time, a young girl with braids wearing a pink shirt raised her hand. With a clear voice, she shouted. "Reporting, teacher! I saw Fang Yuan lazing around at the field, taking a break from his voluntary work!"


    "Mmm, Wei Xiaohong, good!"


    The old lady gave off a sinister vibe. "Fang Yuan, after lunch, see me at my office. Reflect on your behaviour! Now, please get yourself seated."


    "Yes!"


    Fang Yuan tiredly made his way to his sit as he glared at the young girl. He hated those who would snitch on their friends.


    "Hmph!"


    The young girl seemed fearless as she glared back with pride and a look of justice on her face.


    Fang Yuan was speechless and paid no attention to such a snitch.


    More importantly, the chef of the canteen had arrived and served them bowls of porridge.


    It was real porridge and the soup was clear to the point where Fang Yuan could see the bottom of the bowl.


    Scratching his head, he seemed to have recalled something.


    Since the independence of Chinese Country, there were many administrative issues to be sorted out. As a drought struck, resources were scarce and therefore tightly rationed among the people.


    Even on the streets, a typical man would only be given a few scoops of rice per day. Therefore, as orphans, they would not expect much.


    It was already fortunate enough if these orphans did not die of hunger.


    "This cannot go on!"


    Fang Yuan quickly slurped down his porridge, but his hunger was not satisfied. Instead, it only made him more hungry.


    "This cannot go on. If I were to go hungry every day, what else can I do?"


    Fang Yuan thought to himself.


    "After lunch, all of you will have a one hour break. Afterwards, report to your respective classes!"


    This orphanage was huge and there were more than a thousand orphans here. They were split according to their age and gender and had to go through a daily curriculum.


    A female teacher with the vibe of a disciplinary mistress raised her glasses. "Also... We have a physical test tomorrow. Everyone is to take part, and no one is to be absent! This is tasked by the province!"


    Through her glasses, the teacher glared at the few troublemakers, giving her stern warning.


    Fang Yuan was one of them.


    "Why do we need to go through the physical test? Didn''t we already did it this year?"


    One of the orphans beside him quipped.


    "Mmm, that''s right!"


    Guo Jianjun added.


    Fang Yuan shook as though he had understood something. "That''s right. We have already done it this year and it seems like the norm already... Could this be related to the mysterious force described by Elder Extreme Darkness?"

 391 Physical Tes

    It was nightfall and the bunk was stuffy and hot.


    Fang Yuan was sleeping in a double-decker bed. In a big room, 23 orphans were sleeping together. Snores and scratching sounds were normal and there was the occasional gritting of teeth. All of these led to Fang Yuan recalling what the female teacher had rambled on and on for the whole afternoon: Ideological Education.


    "I can''t sleep, I can''t sleep..."


    He crawled out of his bed and squinted his eyes.


    In that instant, the dark room became instantly bright.


    "It''s great that I can still keep my Fiery Golden Eyes..."


    This was a form of consolation for Fang Yuan. With more focus, Fang Yuan could observe the effects of an X-Ray as he scanned across the skeletons lying on the beds. It was a scary scene.


    "Hmm, it seems like my skill is evolving. Are my Fiery Golden Eyes able to see through things now?"


    In his field of vision, he could see that every child was full of life and energy, glowing like fireflies.


    "Eh?"


    At this point in time, from the window outside, there was a small glow which attracted Fang Yuan''s attention.


    "Is there someone?! It''s so huge! Could it be the teacher doing her rounds?"


    He climbed down his bed nimbly and at that moment, he could see a suspicious-looking skeleton flipping over the railing and wall outside. Looking at how experienced the skeleton was, this would mean that this was not its first time doing it.


    "Eh? How can a child have a stronger life energy than an adult?"


    Fang Yuan stuffed a pillow on his bed and covered it with a blanket. With a piece of metal wire, he poked the lock of the door.


    "Kacha!"


    With the help of his X-Ray Vision, the locked door gave way and Fang Yuan darted out.


    The night breeze was cooling and Fang Yuan felt free.


    "Ha..."


    His eyes focused on the suspicious shadow as he followed behind it.


    Outside the orphanage, there was a small river stream. The small figure held a bamboo stick in his hand, stood by the river and observed it.


    Suddenly, as he released his hand, the bamboo pierced into the river and through a big green fish.


    Fang Yuan was startled. Such speed and force were rare even among adults. Although the green fish was being pierced through, its scales were shimmering and its tail was still flicking around.


    The figure exclaimed in excitement. As it was about to retrieve the fish, it heard a voice from behind. "Hey, Zhao Daniu, what are you doing?"


    "Ah!"


    The figure shuddered and turned around slowly. With that, he gazed into the shadows as Fang Yuan emerged. Shocked, the fish in his hands slipped and fell to the ground.


    "I... I... It was not on purpose, and I am not here to steal anything..."


    Zhao Daniu had big eyes and seemed like an honest bloke but now, he was panicking to the brink of crying.


    ''He is only a pure child and would never think of killing me just because I found out what he was doing¡­...;''


    Fang Yuan sighed before explaining himself. "I am not here for the fish, but for you. I''ve seen what you just did. Your strength is superb and your speed is remarkable! You don''t seem like a normal person..."


    "I... I am not a monster!"


    Whatever Fang Yuan had just mentioned seemed to be his weakness. With that, Zhao Daniu shuddered and cried out.


    "Hey, you''re not a monster. You''re a superhuman, a superhuman who would contribute to Chinese Country!"


    Fang Yuan smiled. "Therefore... I want to give you up to the country!"


    "Huh!?"


    Zhao Daniu blinked furiously and gave a look of confusion.


    Can they remain as friends? Their friendship was on the brink.


    ...


    After a few minutes, in a bomb shelter.


    This was originally built for the war but now, it was left alone. It was a mini base which Zhao Daniu had discovered for himself.


    Fang Yuan lit a bonfire, descaled the fish, took out its organs and started smoking it over the fire.


    Although he did not have salt and oil, the method of smoking was still able to remove the fishy smell from the fish. The fragrance of the smoked fish filled the air and made Zhao Daniu salivate.


    "It''s done! Let''s share it!"


    After roasting the fish, Fang Yuan split it into two pieces. He gave one to Zhao Daniu and started eating the other one.


    Sigh... Without enough nutrients, his body would be extremely weak.


    "Whooo... It''s great! Delicious!"


    Zhao Daniu did not care about the fact that the fish was still burning hot as he munched on it happily. "If I knew that roasted fish would be so nice, I wouldn''t have eaten it raw last time..."


    Fang Yuan was speechless. What kind of life did Zhao Daniu lead in the past?


    Of course, after threatening to hand Zhao Daniu over to the country, Zhao Daniu had to come to an agreement with Fang Yuan and promise to share any fish with him in the future.


    This secret had stayed long with Zhao Daniu and he felt relieved the moment he opened up to Fang Yuan.


    "When I was 8, my appetite grew and I became stronger. My eyes have also evolved to be able to see many things..."


    "Booohoooo... I am not a monster. I am only out here looking for food because there isn''t enough food in the canteen..."


    "All the kids don''t want to play with me, and they even bullied me... I dare not retaliate... boohoooo..."


    ¡­..


    "Alright, you are also a pitiful person!"


    Looking at the sobbing Zhao Daniu, Fang Yuan was speechless.


    However, he had no intentions of protecting him. "Come over and let me take a look!"


    It was rare to see someone with powers. How could Fang Yuan let this chance slip by?


    "Hmmm... Your body is normal and seems like everyone else''s. Your muscles are slightly larger and you are much stronger than an adult. However, you don''t seem to have any additional organs..."


    With his skill in Medicine and his Fiery Golden Eyes, Fang Yuan gave him a detailed checkup before remaining silent. "Other than the fact that your mindset is slightly more mature than that of the people in your age group and that you are stronger, you don''t seem any more different than the others... It seems like the magnitude of your evolution is not big enough?"


    The only explanation was that this was a special case in itself.


    To Fang Yuan, it was simply because Zhao Daniu was too mature for his age which was why he was frightening himself.


    "I can''t even detect any problems with him. I''m afraid that we will not be able to see any results during tomorrow''s physical test..."


    After eating, he brought Zhao Daniu back to the orphanage. Fang Yuan laid on his bed and was deep in his thoughts. "Furthermore... I can''t even detect any abnormalities. It seems like I need to learn the science of this realm... I''ll have to show my knowledge off and learn as much as I can."


    ...


    "Children, put in your best effort in this physical test and make our orphanage proud!"


    On the second day, thousands of children gathered around the field. Everyone looked at the proud-looking principal trying his best to shout into the microphone. From this scene, Fang Yuan knew that he was oversimplifying things.


    "... This physical test is in place to select the best few to join a special organization of the government. All of you must perform well. If you are selected, you will be able to eat buns, meat, noodles and barbequed pork every day!"


    In front of them, the teacher-in-charge used a microphone as well.


    "Rumble!"


    Everyone was swallowing their saliva.


    Barbequed pork was very tempting in such times of hunger. In fact, even the simplest buns were enough to tempt not only children but adults as well.


    "Alright! The test is beginning soon. Everyone, please queue up according to your classes. Please come forward if I read out your name!"


    "We will first measure your height and weight followed by your physical fitness!"


    ...


    On the few, doctors draped in their cloaks surrounded a few trucks as they meticulously started setting up their medical equipment.


    It was extremely organised which made Fang Yuan suspect something. "Could this be the military? ... Furthermore, in this era, everyone would be made to draw blood for blood testing. The price for one such equipment is already not cheap. It seems like the country is determined..."


    Fang Yuan generously walked forward to allowed his blood to be drawn. During the eyesight test, Fang Yuan had effortlessly outperformed everybody to get a perfect score of 2.0, which would qualify him to be a pilot in the military.


    "Alright, next up will be the physical fitness test!"


    Of course, these doctors seemed to know that their test would not have any results and they seemed to have a final deciding factor.


    "1-kilometre run, 100-metres sprint, high jump, weightlifting, push-ups, sit-ups... everyone needs to do it!"


    "If your performance is good, you will be selected to join the Special Group and the Gifted Group. You will get better treatment there!"


    "If anyone of you can enter these groups, you would have done the orphanage proud. Children, do your best!"


    ...


    "Fang Yuan, we''ve got news!"


    Beside him, the two children, Wang Aiguo and Guo Jianjun gave him a suspicious look and spoke in a serious tone. "Teacher has said... The country is choosing athletes. We can even join the Olympics in the future and do the country proud!"


    "Yes!"


    Fang Yuan rolled his eyes and examined the children around him.


    Under the temptation of material gains, honour and glory, although he knew that he was different from, how could he hide his desire for such gains?


    He gazed over to look for Zhao Daniu, only to find him standing in front of a shot put with a look of unwillingness.


    In a few moments, Zhao Daniu''s expression changed. He mustered all his strength and threw it to around 400 metres?


    ''Alright... his acting skills resembles mine...''


    Fang Yuan broke out in sweat.


    "Whoosh!"


    Suddenly, from the track, there were exclamations.


    "11.7 seconds! 11.7 seconds!"


    A doctor in a white cloak screamed. "Are you Liu Fei? Do it another time!"


    On the track, a tanned and skinny boy ran like the wind and ran past the finish line for the second time.


    "11.6 seconds!"


    With this, there was a huge commotion among the doctors. All of them started to surround Liu Fei. "You''re good... This is the standard of the national sprinters! He''s only 13 and this is unbelievable!"


    "Alright! Liu Fei, you''re doing good!"


    Zhang Haiman rubbed the child''s head, her face flushed with excitement.


    Fang Yuan had a feeling that Liu Fei was about to be brought somewhere else.

 392 Three Years

    "Fang Yuan is once again the top student. Let us congratulate him! Everyone, follow his as the role model and work hard!"


    Teacher Zhang Haiman was full of emotions as she announced the results on stage. With that, she pinned a small red flower on Fang Yuan''s chest.


    In her eyes, Fang Yuan was a delinquent who had understood the teachings and finally found his way. Now, he was a model student who was obedient and hardworking. By achieving the position of top student every year, he was a role model for all of them to emulate.


    Teacher Zhang Haiman was filled with a sense of accomplishment as she felt that she was successful in turning Fang Yuan into a changed boy.


    Hmm, if Fang Yuan, who was once a troublemaker, was able to change for the better, everyone could do the same!


    Teacher Zhang had a look of excitement on her face, and Fang Yuan''s friends shudder as their hair stood on its ends.


    "Pa! Pa!"


    Amidst the applause, Fang Yuan took a deep bow and returned to his seat with a composed look.


    Really! He was already a matured adult and yet he was here, bullying the children and students by becoming the top student. How different was this to snatching sweets from children? It was despicable!


    The good thing was that in these few years, he had become increasingly thick-skinned and paid no attention to Wei Xiaohong''s murderous look.


    Mmm, it was important to mention the fact that the child who had snitched on Fang Yuan three years ago used to be the top student.


    It was unknown if she felt a tinge of regret for creating such a strong opponent for herself after that incident.


    Three years had already passed since the physical test.


    Fang Yuan and his friends had grown to become youths and they were now studying in junior high school.


    Of course, the impressive ''Liu Fei'' was being transferred to somewhere else the day after the physical test. He was being brought to the city, which was the dream of the many orphans in the orphanage. He was living the life that they could never imagine.


    Fang Yuan had a new best brother, Zhao Daniu. Because he had an additional meal every night, his build became bigger. He grew taller and his chest became wider. Coupled with the fact that he was a good basketball player and had good results as well, he was the most attractive male in the school and had received many love letters from young girls.


    The good thing was that Fang Yuan was resolute and therefore, he did not taint his reputation.


    "Alright, students, let''s open our history textbooks and revise our Modern History..."


    As the school bell rang, the history teacher took out her pointer. "Fang Yuan, summarise about Modern History!"


    "Yes!"


    Fang Yuan stood up, cleared his thoughts and started to recall the history of this realm. "Historians agree that the exploration of the oceans is completed. We have 3 continents, and there is a consensus that Modern History begins from the moment the world map was charted out. That year is known as 1."


    "In the next 1,000 years, countries started to develop their navies. Civilisation slowly wiped out ignorance and barbaric practices, pushing the world to greater heights! However, due to the inconvenience of ancient ships with sails and the slow rate of production, the progress of the world came to the lowest point. This was known as the dark ages and lasted for 750 years..."


    "In the year 782, Professor Thomas Newcomen from the West Continent, Golden Eagle Federation discovered the power of the steam and coal. From there, he created the first ever steam-powered engine and used the force generated by steam to leapfrog on the world stage. The Industrial Revolution happened and in the span of a hundred years, civilisation had progressed more than the collective progress of the past one thousand years!"


    "In the year 867, a citizen of the Golden Eagle Federation, Mr Wheatstone perfected the first steam-powered generator, welcoming a new age with the introduction of electricity. With the steam-powered engine and electricity, the industries of the world took off and the world had the power to change..."


    At this point, Fang Yuan was a little shocked.


    Although this realm had petroleum as well, they did not have as much. Instead, they had an abundance of coal. The efficiency from combusting this coal was much higher than the type that Fang Yuan had seen before. Together with technological advancements, the improved steam-powered generator was now comparable to an internal combustion engine, which allowed the steam-powered generator to remain relevant and coexist with the introduction of electricity.


    The present day was the combination of the discoveries from the first and second Industrial Revolution.


    "The Golden Eagle Federation started to colonise countries through their sturdy ships and strong cannons. They became the most advanced country in the world. With the uprising of their economy and their banks, together with conflicts among the higher powers, finally..."


    In the year 994, a world war broke out!"


    "The leader of the Golden Eagle Federation was usurped and the federation now started to trade with the people of the Middle Continent and East Continent. They were the Golden Eagle Federation of West Continent, Chinese Country of Middle Continent and Blue Star Alliance of East Continent. Around these three big countries, there were many other smaller countries with their own resources and own technologies. Some of them were much poorer and less developed, and these are basically the countries on Planet Earth..."


    "Very good!"


    The teacher gave him an applause. "Fang Yuan is very familiar with Modern History. Students, take note of the important points for they will be tested in the upcoming test..."


    As soon as the teacher finished her sentence, there were scribbling sounds everywhere.


    Even the few troublemakers seemed serious.


    "It''s the promotional examinations!"


    Fang Yuan sat down and remained speechless. "Who would know... even after dream-traversing, I still cannot escape this!"


    ...


    It was nightfall.


    Everyone around him had fallen asleep. Like an agile cat, Fang Yuan slipped out of the orphanage and arrived at the bomb shelter.


    "Fang Yuan... I''m lucky today, I''ve caught a few fishes!"


    Zhou Daniu sat next to the bonfire. He pierced a wooden branch through the fishes and roasted them over the fire.


    In a short span of 3 years, this child had grown quite a lot. He was still an honest bloke. Along with him were bottles of salt and condiments and he would occasionally rub them on the fishes.


    After the development of Chinese Country, the standard of living of the people had improved considerably and there was no more need to sneak out and catch fish to supplement their protein.


    The roasting and catching of fishes now were more for entertainment, especially now that they had salt and other spices.


    Zhao Daniu was still reminiscing for Fang Yuan''s roasted fish. Unfortunately for him, Fang Yuan, being a lazy person, had not roasted another fish ever since he taught Zhao Daniu how to roast it.


    "Mmmm, Daniu, your culinary skills are getting better and better. You can open a stall and sell roast fish for a living!"


    Fang Yuan munched on the fish and smiled before whipping out a bottle of alcohol. "Don''t say that I am lazy, for I am taking out my prized possession."


    "Ahh... there''s alcohol!"


    Zhao Daniu''s eyes glistened and he quickly scrambled to find cups.


    Since they were still young, their tolerance for alcohol was not that high. After a few cups, Zhao Daniu''s tanned face became flushed. "The promotional examinations are about to begin. Fang Yuan, your results are good and you will surely be sent overseas to further your studies. It won''t be too good for me. I''ve heard that those who fail will have to make a living for themselves outside..."


    This was normal, for the orphanage could not possibly take care of them for their whole life.


    However, it was still shocking for them to leave this place, which they had already regarded as their home.


    "What''s so good about it?"


    Fang Yuan sipped on his alcohol and smiled. "Do you need to worry about this? Just look for the teacher and tell her that you want to be like Liu Fei. Looking at your physical test, I''m sure you will have no problem in becoming an athlete... The previous time Liu Fei came back to visit us, he had a luxurious treatment and even had a personal car to send him here!"


    2 years ago, Liu Fei returned to the orphanage to visit all of them. It was a big thing for the orphanage and it even made some young girls cry as they appealed for another new physical test to be conducted. However... they were disappointed.


    Fang Yuan knew that Zhao Daniu had the potential.


    After all, he had the strength of about 3 adults which could be trained further. It could be attributed to his natural talent.


    "However... After 3 years of observation, the mysterious force in this world still confuses me..."


    Fang Yuan shook his head in disappointment.


    Since Fang Yuan had a matured mind and Zhao Daniu was a simple guy, it was only normal that Zhao Daniu treated Fang Yuan as his best friend. There was nothing he would not share with Fang Yuan.


    With a look of uneasiness, Zhao Daniu spoke. "My father once told me that I cannot accept free things!"


    "Wow! Who would''ve thought that you would stick by your principles so firmly..."


    Fang Yuan felt interested. "Then why are you drinking the alcohol that I have offered?"


    "It''s different! I''ve traded it with fish!"


    Zhao Daniu had his own logic and was extremely stubborn. Fang Yuan could only roll his eyes and could do nothing about it.


    "What about you? What do you intend to do in the future?"


    In Zhao Daniu''s mind, Fang Yuan was a remarkable person. Although he could not explain why Fang Yuan was remarkable, he could just feel it that way.


    "Mmm, I want to be a noble doctor and cure thousands of people of their illnesses!"


    Fang Yuan clenched his fists and gave a look of nobility.


    In reality, he only wanted to investigate the human body and understand the differences between the bodies of humans here and the bodies of humans in other realms before searching for a path to become superhuman.


    For that, he had to study hard and dominate his junior high school. Ah... A highly-skilled person was destined to be lonely.


    "Mmm, Fang Yuan, you can do it!"


    Zhao Daniu nodded his head furiously.


    "However, I prefer Traditional Chinese Medicine more. Now it''s your time to contribute. Stretch out your hand for me!"


    Fang Yuan smiled and took out a few silver needles.


    "Can I pass?"


    Zhao Daniu gave a look of uneasiness. He was afraid of nothing but Fang Yuan''s attitude. Unwillingly, he stretched out his arm.


    "Relax, I am very accurate in acupuncture!"


    Fang Yuan heated the needles and smiled. "It will not be like the previous time where I almost paralysed you for half a day..."


    ''Who would believe you!''


    With a single needle, Zhao Daniu''s face became stale. His eyes turned white. Before he could express himself, he had lost all strength and fell to the ground.

 393 Investigations

    "The body composition of the humans in this world is indeed different from that of other worlds, albeit it being minute differences..."


    As Fang Yuan executed his acupuncture, he mulled to himself.


    Although he had lost all his cultivation, he still had his experiences from other worlds. Together with his skills in Medicine, he should be doing quite alright in this realm.


    However, before he could do anything, he realised the hostility of this realm.


    Although his acupuncture technique was good, the pressure points of the bodies here were already different, rendering his skills useless!


    Therefore, in the past few years, he had sourced for bodies during his free time to practice. Finally, he had improved his skills and re-learnt the different locations of the pressure points of the humans in this realm and in the process, integrating into the realm.


    Zhao Daniu, the guinea pig, was the unfortunate one. There were many instances where he was paralysed for almost half a day, causing him to fear needles the moment he sees them.


    Of course, he did not sacrifice his body for nothing.


    At least, with the help of Fang Yuan, he now knew how to control his strength and therefore, no one realised that he was a bit special.


    "I am finally restoring my special traits! However, I have already looked after him for 3 years before finally getting a grasp of Medicine in this realm, sigh¡­.. As a dream-traverser, I am really a failure..."


    Fang Yuan secretly did something to make Zhao Daniu fall asleep.


    With that, he closed his eyes and used the needles and his mind to finally detect traces of Zhao Daniu absorbing energy.


    These traces were very small. Even with Fang Yuan''s current spiritual will, he found it extremely hard to detect and he could only make use of his possessed body to try and sense it.


    However, as long as there were traces, it would be akin to finding an oasis in the desert and it was still good news.


    "Although this world is the desert of energy sources, there are these kinds of droplets... Although extremely rare, from how Zhao Daniu has matured, I can confirm its existence and the fact that it is slowly strengthening... Regardless, it is still very weak."


    Without any other consideration, Fang Yuan named this source of energy ''Spiritual Droplets''!


    This had to be the mysterious force that Elder Extreme Darkness was talking about.


    However, based on what Fang Yuan had learnt, such spiritual droplets were limited.


    The weapons of this realm were highly developed. Although Zhao Daniu had a strong body which was even further strengthened by Fang Yuan, against a machine gun, he would still die.


    Even if one was highly skilled in martial arts, one would still fear a knife. After 10 years of training, one would still die under a single shot from a gun!


    This was the reality of this realm!


    "Notwithstanding others, if I were to don an armour on him and equip him with a weapon, after some training, it would be different... at least normal security guards will not be able to take him down..."


    Fang Yuan''s hands were swift as the needles flew about. In a moment, Zhao Daniu''s entire body was covered in needles.


    If Zhao Daniu were to wake up now, he would realise that he had become a ''Needle Man'' and would take it out on Fang Yuan - Not that he could win Fang Yuan in a fight, that was.


    "I''ve finally succeeded after so long and have discovered a quicker way to absorb the spiritual droplets!"


    Fang Yuan''s eyes glistened.


    On Zhao Daniu''s body, he had done all that he could. He had not only allowed Zhao Daniu to have full control of his strength, he had pushed him to the possibility of gaining full autonomy of his own body.


    After many failures, it seemed like there was finally an outcome.


    To speak the truth, although Fang Yuan had devised this acupuncture activating technique for a year, he was still not sure of its effectiveness.


    Until now, that is. There was no more doubt.


    "Hmmm... Without my help, Zhao Daniu''s strength will be comparable to two adults. Although I''ve only increased his strength by another 0.5, it is still stronger than what he was. I wonder if I can execute this technique on other normal humans."


    Fang Yuan kept his needles. He knew that Zhao Daniu would only wake up after another hour and therefore, brought himself out to take a shower under the moonlight.


    "Home is where the heart is... Unfortunately, everything is mixed up now!"


    He heaved a huge breath, crossed his legs and faced the sky.


    Retrieving his own silver needles, he started to pierce at his own acupuncture points. With the guidance of external forces, he started to force his body to react with the spiritual droplets in the air.


    "It''s a good thing that I have experience of cultivation from other realms. This means that I will at least be able to achieve an initial breakthrough!"


    Fang Yuan was clear about one thing.


    According to how Immortal Cultivators cultivate, Zhao Daniu had a favourable body to begin with as it could absorb spiritual droplets by itself. However, Fang Yuan was possessing a normal body and it would be difficult for him to achieve a breakthrough to begin absorbing the spiritual droplets.


    However, with his strong mind, he gritted his teeth and pierced another needle in his Baihui Acupuncture Point.


    Within seconds, blood started to gather at his forehead, forming a red hue there.


    "Whoo... I feel like I''m burning all over!"


    Fang Yuan used his skills in Medicine to allow his blood to gather. Focused, he forcefully increased his Essence and Spirit. If he were to fail, he would become crippled!


    Under an intense pressure, every minute felt like an eternity. Finally, after a long time...


    "Chila!"


    Fang Yuan heard a crisp sound coming from his forehead.


    A strong mind power made Fang Yuan feel as though a river with clear spring water was flowing through his forehead.


    "Haha..."


    Although the number of spiritual droplets was negligible, Fang Yuan still smiled. "Finally... It''s done!"


    With this step, Fang Yuan had officially entered the world of cultivation for this realm. Although he was still far behind those with favourable bodies, he could slowly catch up through his cultivation in the future.


    His journey of becoming supernormal began here!


    ...


    "This is... energy sense!"


    Fang Yuan took in a deep breath. As he focused on the inside of his body, he could feel a warm stream of energy flowing about.


    This force, compared to the elemental force of Da Qian, was but a firefly''s glow and was insignificant.


    However, in this world where physics governed the rules of reality, it was already hard to cultivate this force.


    "Since I''ve started on my journey of cultivation, there should be changes in my stats!"


    Full of emotions, Fang Yuan gazed at his stats window:


    "Name: Fang Yuan


    Essence: 0.8


    Spirit: 0.2


    Magic: 1.0


    Profession: ???


    Cultivation: ???


    Technique: [Elemental Spiritual Energy Cultivation Spell (Grade 1 (1%))]


    Skill: [Medicine (Level 3)], [Botany (Level 5)], [Fiery Golden Eyes (Level 1)]"


    "Elemental Spiritual Energy Cultivation Spell - Using the Guiding Skill as a foundation, together with acupuncture and breathing techniques, you will be able to change your physical body and increase the rate of absorption of spiritual droplets. Currently at Grade 1!"


    It was a very normal and general explanation.


    In fact, even the name ''spiritual droplet'' was coined by Fang Yuan himself.


    Basically, it meant that Fang Yuan would use some complicated means to cover up for his weaknesses by absorbing energy from the spiritual droplets. After a prolonged period, he might be able to cultivate something.


    "At such a stage, Grade 1 is already considered complete. At most I would have restored more than half of my Medicine Skills, right?"


    Fang Yuan thought to himself before he woke Zhao Daoniu up.


    "Ah..."


    He forcefully supported himself up and was drenched in sweat. "I had a nightmare, a nightmare that I was in the operating theatre and many needles were poking me!"


    "That is your own hallucination! Imagination!"


    Fang Yuan didn''t even blink. "Also... Why are you still worried that others might discover your special ability? Didn''t I go through this with you before? Even if you were to be taken away by the government, you will be fine. Look at Liu Fei. Look at how luxurious his life is!"


    Taking the orphanage as an example, in a thousand people, only two of them had awakened their special abilities. It was a 1 in 500 chance! What did this mean?


    This might even be an overestimation, and the real probability might be 1 in a 1,000 or even 1 in 10,000... Looking at the population of Chinese Country, the outcome would still be a scarily big number of mutants.


    These mutants would form the foundation of the society. However, no one would risk trying to deal with them unless they feel that their power is under threat.


    Therefore, Fang Yuan predicted that in the future, it would be likely that others would try to establish good ties with these mutants and forcefully deal with those who would cause trouble.


    Although there would be an increasing amount of experimentation done on these people, it would not result in the loss of their personal freedom as would not be as direct as wheeling them into the operation theatre.


    What special abilities would these people be displaying?


    Would they run faster? Would they lift heavier? Although it would be hard to believe, how would normal people understand the concept of the limits of the human body? They would be convinced with any simple explanation that the scientists could cook up.


    Looking at the trend of the world, Fang Yuan could generally guess what the people in power would be dealing with.


    "In the new era, humans are evolving... It is such an ideal situation! As long as these mutants remain and the stage there are at in the present day and do not display any surprising traits... they would be able to integrate with the normal humans without being detected and from there, unleash the potential of the human body."


    Zhao Daniu''s reaction of shock was only an exception and could not be taken into account for Fang Yuan was partly responsible for him as well.


    "But..."


    At this point, Fang Yuan smiled. "Such a mutation... or should I say evolution... will it stop here?"


    According to Fang Yuan''s theory, although there was a scarcity of spiritual droplets in this realm, there seemed to be a trend pointing towards the increase in the concentration of spiritual droplets.


    ...


    In the mountains not far from Mountain Ocean City.


    At the foot of the mountain within the depths of the forest, many buildings were concentrated in an area, forming a base.


    In an office, A middle-aged man wearing white robes had the vibes of a military personnel. He was reading a report intently. "... In conclusion, I believe that these ''evolvers'' will not have a substantial impact on the society. Therefore, our actions need not be too extreme and we should remain in observation as much as possible."


    "The transformation of their genes is something very hard to predict... For instance, that witch-lady who is indestructible during the war..."


    An old man raised his glasses.


    The middle-aged investigator froze.


    The records of that witch-lady were in the top-secret files of every country. Only the people of authority would have access to these files.


    "This is the main point of our investigation... Furthermore, I cannot give assurance of the stability of these evolvers because according to a 3-year-long study on 100 of them, it seems like they are getting stronger and stronger..."


    The middle-aged investigator turned solemn. "Therefore, I hope that this plan will be approved!"


    He took a step forward and carefully placed a document on the desk.


    Under the glare of the desk light, the huge words ofwere illuminated, making it feel mysterious.

 394 The Gifted

    After the promotional examinations, Fang Yuan''s batch of students was allowed to do whatever they liked.


    Those who always had good results were doing their own self-revision, striving towards their goal of a better life in the future.


    As for the majority with average results, they were constantly worrying and trying their best to establish ties in the outside world so that they would be able to find a job and make a living for themselves.


    Finally, those with consistently poor results had already given up on themselves and were ready to enter society in whatever state they were in as soon as the results were back.


    Amidst all this chaos, Fang Yuan remained calm.


    Other than training himself every day, he also read some history books.


    At this point, he was reading a fantasy Wuxia novel about a protagonist fighting against ghosts and demons.


    In the history of Chinese Country, there were accounts of Daoist Swordsmen and Mages. They were all-mighty and awe-inspiring.


    However, they soon disappeared from the face of Planet Earth, which was known as ''The End''.


    "Hmmm... It seems like there were traces of spiritual droplets since the early years. However, it seemed to have weakened and now, it is making comeback... Is this the fixed cycle in this realm?"


    Fang Yuan knocked his own forehead with his palm. "Looking at how things are... It is rather obvious that every country has their own secret inheritances. From there, I would be able to find traces of these supernormal forces..."


    Unfortunately, it would not be applicable to him.


    The body which Fang Yuan was possessing was a normal person. Even if he were to find any secret manual for cultivation, it would still be unable to cultivate anything from it.


    On the other hand, Zhao Daniu was a prime example of a person with the potential to perform cultivation. If he were to do it, he might even be able to cultivate a special skill.


    "My Elemental Spiritual Energy Cultivation Spell is exactly for times like this...''


    Fang Yuan thought to himself silently. ''After achieving Grade 1, my physical body should be no different from that of the evolvers and I can be considered as a cultivator. I will then be able to benefit from the spiritual droplets and alter my spiritual body. After which, I should start searching for the secret techniques of cultivation in this realm and quickly improve myself...''


    His Elemental Spiritual Energy Cultivation Spell was a foundation to change his body''s potential. Fang Yuan placed more emphasis on the techniques to harness the power of the spiritual droplets using the cultivation techniques of this realm.


    Only with these two aspects would Fang Yuan be able to achieve something and increase his cultivation.


    "Fang Yuan!"


    At this point in time, Wei Xiaohong walked towards him.


    "What''s up?"


    Fang Yuan casually pushed the history book aside and replied.


    "Teacher Zhang is looking for you!"


    Wei Xiaohong had an uneasy look. Suddenly, she spouted something. "I am preparing to be a specialist, after which I will be able to enter the workforce directly!"


    "Oh!"


    Fang Yuan casually replied as he gazed at this lady, who had a complicated look on her face. "That''s very good! Which kind of specialisation are you intending to go for?"


    "Hmmm... Nursing!"


    The young lady softly replied which made Fang Yuan feel that something was wrong.


    Everyone knew that Fang Yuan wanted to be a doctor in the future. What would it mean for Wei Xiaohong to tell him all these?


    Now that he paid more attention to her, Fang Yuan realised that Wei Xiaohong had already matured. She had a tanned skin, energetic look and was a beauty.


    "What... what are you looking at?"


    Wei Xiaohong was embarrassed to the point where she almost fainted.


    "Nothing much, let''s go!"


    Fang Yuan stood up, approached her and whispered into her ear. "I''m sorry that I didn''t say this earlier... I am more interested in Traditional Chinese Medicine!"


    Wei Xiaohong was in a daze. Satisfied at his little joke, Fang Yuan made his way to the office.


    "Good day, Teacher Zhang!"


    Politely, he greeted Teacher Zhang before realising that there were a few other teachers in the office.


    There was another teacher in a green shirt. He was middle-aged and wore glasses, making him seem gentle and elegant. Another two teachers stood by Teacher Zhang and appeared solemn and serious, making the entire atmosphere tensed.


    "Ah, it''s Fang Yuan. Come in!"


    Seeing her model student, Teacher Zhang Haiman was all smiles. "Teacher He, he is Fang Yuan!"


    At the same time, she introduced Fang Yuan to Teacher He. "This is Teacher He Tianming from the capital! He is a professor from the most prestigious school and is in charge of the selection throughout the country. He is spearheading a project to start a gifted class in a university!"


    "Good day, Professor He!"


    Fang Yuan politely greeted him and faced him squarely.


    "Hmm... Your results are not bad. However, the students I need for my class are the smartest of the smartest. These students would advance 3 levels and would start on the university curriculum. The workload will be very heavy!"


    Professor He raised his glasses. "Your results topped the entire Mountain Ocean City, but they are not enough!"


    "If I were to enter university directly, there should be requirements for Senior High School. I shall start my self-study..."


    Fang Yuan smiled.


    "Oh?"


    He Tianming''s eyes glistened. "Which levels are you intending to self-study?"


    "I have already completed the self-study for the next 3 levels. You can test me on anything within the syllabus. Furthermore, I have already begun in Calculus and other topics taught in university!"


    Fang Yuan spoke calmly.


    It was too slow to follow the flow and sometimes, risks would need to be taken.


    Furthermore, why should he constantly remind others that he would want to become a doctor in the future? It was all in preparation for the future so that he would be able to join the government to conduct research on the human body!


    It was too slow for him to conduct experiments on his own. How could it compare to having the assistance of the entire country in conducting the experiments and research?


    Since he had arrived at this realm filled with technology, it would only be wise for him to leverage on it as well as the support of the country.


    It was a wise choice to enter the government.


    "Self-study? The modules in university?"


    Zhang Haiman was stunned but soon after, she smiled. "Although I know that you have the habit of picking up used books from the rubbish bin, I am still stunned that you are able to reach such a stage."


    "We need to prove it. I will now prepare a test for you!"


    He Tianming raised his glasses and smirked.


    Those who knew him would know that this was his reaction whenever he was interested in something.


    In a few moments, within the office, Fang Yuan scribbled writings as he rushed to revise. His ears twitched and the conversation from the other room was distinctly heard in his ears. With that, he revealed a sneaky smile.


    Although the teachers were very far and they were separated by walls, Fang Yuan was still able to hear all of it.


    ...


    "Director, what do you think?"


    In an office with sealed windows, He Tianming held a few documents in his hands and frowned. "This Fang Yuan... He was once the troublemaker in the orphanage. Now, he has suddenly turned hardworking and consistently topped the class. This does not seem normal..."


    "Through the few physical tests, we have found out that other than his brain which we cannot directly measure and test, everything about him is normal!"


    A cadre which was attached to the director flipped a few documents and retorted.


    With the control the country had over its people, as soon as they took notice of Fang Yuan, the government was able to fish out all the documents and information regarding Fang Yuan''s past.


    "He might be simply a gifted child or an evolver with a highly developed brain. Why would all this matter? What we need is his contribution to the country! After all, he will still be raised through a university education and we will be able to know more about him in a few years time to come. If he is really gifted, then we can allow him to join the government. Otherwise, we can still let him become a normal technology developer to build the foundation for our country!"


    Director Zhou made a decision.


    "Hmmm, then let''s make a decision after seeing his results for this test!"


    With this sentence, He Tianming was filled with even more anticipation. "After going about through more than ten cities, the number of gifted people can be counted with my fingers. Hopefully, this one will not disappoint me..."


    "Director Zhou, Professor He!"


    A teacher knocked on the door. "Fang Yuan has already completed the test and wants to submit his script!"


    "What?"


    He Tianming shook his head. "How is this possible? I gave him two hours but only 10 minutes have passed!"


    "Could he have failed to complete the test and leave a few questions blank?"


    Director Zhou witnessed He Tianming while he was setting the paper, and knew that even university students would not be able to answer some of the questions.


    With that, He Tianming laughed. "In the previous few cities, the few gifted students who are boastful, aren''t they all like that?"


    "Let''s take a look!"


    He Tianming sighed as he entered the office.


    "Good day, Professor He!"


    Fang Yuan handed his script and his writing filled the entire paper. However, they were neat and tidy, and as He Tianming read through, he nodded his head.


    Even if the answers were not correct, the tidiness of his handwriting and presentation had already left a good impression on He Tianming.


    With that, he took the script and started marking. His expression started to change. "Your logic is clear and your methods are correct... full marks... Fang Yuan, did you do all these?"


    "I believe this invigilator will be able to testify for me!"


    Fang Yuan replied without any reservations.


    With his colleague''s affirmation, He Tianming''s face was filled with happiness. "I''m sorry, what I meant was that you are only fifteen, right? Considering your age, this is unbelievable!"


    "Most of them are content from the textbook. Only a few questions would require me to do some additional interpretation, but that is all!"


    Fang Yuan placed his hands in his pocket. "How''s that? Have I passed?"


    "Of course... I believe that Xijing University will be very pleased to have you as their gifted student!"


    He Tianming exchanged glances with Director Zhou and was elated. "What about you? Do you have any requests? We can consider acceding to them..."


    "I prefer to study Medicine, especially the combined theory of ancient and present-day study of the human body...."


    Fang Yuan thought for a while. "Also, I would like to recommend a few of my friends for their preferred jobs!"


    "Medicine?"


    He Tianming took out a notebook and quickly recorded it down with his ballpoint pen. "Also, to help your friends get their jobs... that''s fine, we can do all of that."


    "If there''s nothing else, when can I report to Xijing University?"


    Fang Yuan came straight to the point.


    "September of Year 02. That is when the new school term starts! Call us before you board the train. We will send someone to pick you up from the station. Don''t worry about your accommodation and your necessities!"


    Director Zhou finally spoke and sounded amicable.


    Regardless, he admired Fang Yuan for the fact that he remembered about his friends.


    Anyone would feel at ease when interacting with someone with a good personality.


    "Alright, Fang Yuan, I''ll see you at the university!"


    He Tianming stood up, shook his hands with Fang Yuan and left the school.


    "Alright!"


    From behind, Teacher Zhang Haiman approached Fang Yuan with tears in her eyes. "It''s Xijing University, the most prestigious university in Chinese Country. Fang Yuan, you are the pride of our orphanage! I have decided to start an assembly this afternoon and you shall prepare a speech... and be a role model for your juniors!"


    Fang Yuan remained speechless.

 395 Antiques Deal

    "Choo! Choo!"


    Accompanied by the rhythmic noise of the steam engine and the billowing white smoke, the train slowly arrived at the capital''s station.


    Once the train doors opened, an ocean of green and grey swarmed out the train carriages. Large amounts of passengers dragged their luggage and carried their bags as they squeezed towards the exit.


    Outside the train station, it was bustling with activity. There were numerous stalls selling snacks and maps and the hawkers were enthusiastic touting away at each passenger. All sorts of dialects could be heard and the area was filled with life.


    Fang Yuan carried a haversack and still appeared like a child. As he saw the boisterous scene in front of him, he felt slightly lost as he felt he could not fit in.


    Soon enough, he saw a guy in a large military coat and red scarf raising a piece of cardboard and walked towards him.


    "Are you schoolmate Fang Yuan?"


    The guy warmly introduced himself, "I am Sun Jian, Professor He''s student!"


    "Hello!"


    Fang Yuan shook his hand. Immediately, Sun Jian''s face turned slightly surprised, "You came over by yourself? Where''s your luggage?"


    "This is sufficient, let''s go!" Fang Yuan replied while patting his backpack.


    "Oh, great! There''s also another schoolmate, he arrived earlier!"


    Sun Jian was very friendly. He then brought Fang Yuan to a green coloured jeep at the carpark.


    "The capital is very big, there are many fun places to go! Once you all settle down, I will bring you all around!"


    "Thank you!"


    Fang Yuan sat at the back and saw another teenager seating beside him as expected.


    The teenager''s skin was abnormally pale, he was skinny and his face was ice cold, as though he did not want anyone to get close to him.


    "Hello, I am Fang Yuan!"


    Fang Yuan reached out his hand.


    "Lin Xing!"


    Lin Xing had his arms crossed and an "I don''t want to talk" look on his face.


    "Lin Xing has very good hands-on skills! The machines he upgraded even won the top prize in a national level award!" Sun Jian added cheerily.


    "Well... geniuses are haughty I guess!" Fang Yuan thought to himself and rolled his eyes.


    Fang Yuan then began looking at the buildings and scenery outside.


    Although there were no modern skyscrapers, there was still a unique charm to the Chinese courtyard houses mixed with cement buildings.


    One and a half hour later, the jeep drove into Xijing University, the number one institute in Chinese Country.


    As it was the start of the new school year, many new students could be seen busily doing their stuff in the beautiful school campus.


    "Here we are!"


    The jeep parked below a dormitory. Once Fang Yuan and Lin Xing got out of the car, they were welcomed by He Tianming, "The dorm is already prepared and it is a double bedroom! As you all are still young, the school specially granted you all exemption from military training! I will be your class'' form teacher."


    "Greetings, Teacher He!"


    Fang Yuan immediately greeted He Tianming after he got out of the car.


    "It''s great that both of you are here! There''s no lesson these few days, you all can take this time to get used to the new environment!"


    He Tianming handed them a stash of meal coupons and cash as he continued, "Both of you are independent since young, I hope you all will remain disciplined here! Don''t let down the school''s contribution to you all!"


    "Yes!"


    Fang Yuan solemnly promised, while Lin Xing nonchalantly agreed, which made He Tianming feel speechless. In Fang Yuan''s eyes, Lin Xing was like a rebellious teenager.


    "Also, technically, your Gifted Class will not be split into faculties during Year 1. You all will be taking culture classes together to build up your foundations! For Fang Yuan, I have already spoken to them and you will be allowed to listen in classes from the Biology Faculty and Medicine Faculty!"


    "Thank you!"


    If not for these conditions, Fang Yuan would not have come here.


    From now, Fang Yuan would amass knowledge for two years and complete his own knowledge base before amazing others with his next move.


    ¡­...


    First of all, they went to the canteen to have a meal together. As He Tianming had some urgent matter to attend to, he quickly left first.


    Fang Yuan was taking big bites out his steamed buns and swallowed the whole bowl of pork vermicelli quickly. His massive appetite and kiddish appearance attracted the looks of many seniors.


    Whereas Lin Xing had already hidden at a corner as though he felt ashamed to be associated with Fang Yuan.


    Fang Yuan ate his last steamed bun, rubbed his stomach contentedly and looked towards Lin Xing, "Do you want to tour around outside?"


    "No need!"


    With a cold expression on his face, Lin Xing left immediately.


    "Sigh... kids should be cheerful and smile more..."


    Fang Yuan sighed begrudgingly like an old man which made Sun Jian laugh, "Fang Yuan, aren''t you only just 15 too?"


    As Sun Jian spoke, a tinge of pity could be seen in his eyes, "... Also, you were not well fed last time? Don''t worry, many university students who just entered were like that too, you will get used to it!"


    "I wasn''t mistreated or abused last time..." Fang Yuan thought to himself as he secretly rolled his eyes.


    Fang Yuan then immediately steered the conversation towards sightseeing.


    "Haha... Fang Yuan, you are so energetic, where do you want to go?" Sun Jian was a bit surprised and asked.


    "I heard there are three antique markets here! Let''s not talk about the Glaze Factory market and Pan Family Gardens market first, let''s go take a look at Sambhogakaya Monastery first!"


    Fang Yuan wiped his mouth.


    "Oh, didn''t think you would be interested in antiques! Are you interested in majoring archaeology too?" Sun Jian smiled.


    "It''s just that I heard it''s bustling and since the jeep doesn''t have to be returned so quickly, we can still utilise it... Sorry for the trouble, senior! I will treat you to mutton hotpot at night!"


    "That''s great!" Sun Jian merrily agreed.


    Sambhogakaya Monastery was a renowned Zen Buddhist temple in the past. After Chinese Country was formed, the temple underwent restoration and was not only a famous cultural attraction now, there were also many stalls selling numerous stuff.


    Although there were rare antiques, there were also many counterfeit goods. The environment was very good too.


    As Fang Yuan arrived, he saw many grand trees providing shade and large groups of people walking along the corridors of the inner courtyards. There were also hundreds of small and large stalls that sold all sorts of rare or weird items. The accents from every part of the country could be heard too.


    "We are just taking a look this time, right... eh? Fang Yuan, you are really interested in buying?"


    Right after Sun Jian sighed, he saw Fang Yuan squatting at one of the stalls and was flipping through the stuff sold. Fang Yuan appeared very interested in the items.


    "Eh... this looks interesting!"


    Fang Yuan picked up a ceramic doll and a strange smile could be seen on his face.


    The ceramic doll had a large head and round feet, which was similar to a roly-poly toy. It was painted with colourful oil paint and had a simple look. Sun Jian could easily tell it was definitely not some sort of antique, but a toy used to cheat children.


    However, as he saw Fang Yuan was so intrigued by it, he was momentarily speechless.


    "My friend, your taste is so good, my ancestors have lived in the Imperial Palace in the past dynasties before... this..."


    The stall owner was a smooth talker and immediately started to persuade Fang Yuan after he saw him came to his stall. He tried to convince Fang Yuan further, "This is an item played by those ministers in the past, it''s exactly the same! It would be so joyous if you buy back a pair!"


    "I will sell it to you for ten dollars!"


    "Forget it!" Sun Jian could not stand it anymore, "If you go to West Industrial Zone, you can buy back a whole cart of it with ten dollars!"


    "Haha!"


    As the stall owner was met with someone who knew the real deals, he laughed and retorted, "It''s not the same! Not the same! My goods are specially made from machines! Look at the paint, its added with many of that... chemical compounds!"


    "What!"


    Sun Jian could not contain his laughter after hearing such but felt sad after a while.


    The notion that such machine-made products were better than handmade products and the idea that added chemical compounds meant that it was good was truly ridiculously stupid and laughable but also made Sun Jian felt at a loss.


    Fang Yuan could not help but laugh too, "Nevermind, give me three! I will give you three dollars, how about that?"


    Fang Yuan eyes sparkled and he quickly picked three of them.


    Although the dolls were rather simple and crude, a mysterious charm could be felt from the area between their eyebrows, which meant they were not possibly made from machine moulds but were definitely handmade.


    "Three dollars is too low..."


    The stall owner''s expression changed slightly, "These are passed down from my ancestors..."


    "Wait a minute, didn''t you just say they were made from machines?"


    Sun Jian pulled Fang Yuan and said, "Nevermind, let''s go to other stalls!"


    "Ah... wait!"


    The stall owner immediately shouted, "Nevermind, I will take it as I''m blind today, three dollars will do!"


    "Three dollars is still too pricey!"


    Fang Yuan was still slightly undecided and he randomly picked up another ancient book from the stall, "I like to read, so if you add this on, I will buy for three dollars!"


    "Deal!"


    The stall owner quickly glanced at the book and saw the book was grey and drab and there were also many small holes on it. The book did not have an appealing appearance even compared to the other random miscellaneous items he was selling. Furthermore, even the cover of the book was stained with dirt and half of it could not be seen clearly already, thus the stall owner readily accepted the deal.


    "Sigh... Fang Yuan, you are too wasteful."


    As Fang Yuan spent his own money, Sun Jian could not say anything else and could only sigh.


    "Money can''t buy happiness! I will treat you to mutton, senior!''


    Fang Yuan could not contain his smile as he looked at his ceramic dolls carefully.


    WIth Fang Yuan''s Fiery Golden Eyes, it was super easy for him to make a small fortune.


    Although the dolls appeared normal on the surface, their insides contained many precious materials. He already saw a piece of agarwood and a few pieces of jewels inside the doll.


    Fang Yuan should be able to fetch a decent price with the current market prices.


    After all, Fang Yuan just started cultivating, he had to earn some extra income to supplement his consumption.


    The ancient book in his pocket was an even more surprising gain.


    "This ancient book has a secret layer in it... Furthermore, just from the words on the outside, hints of magic are hidden in it, it is not so simple... Just with that, I can confirm the majority of what''s hidden inside must be something related to cultivating in the past. Looks like the stall owner did not lie, his ancestors must have mixed in the Imperial Palace before and got many good things out from it..."


    Fang Yuan turned around and looked at the large building of Sambhogakaya Monastery and suddenly pondered, "Let''s not talk about the rest... this place is a worthy investment! With my the power of my eyes, I will be really profitable next time! The resources I need for cultivation are settled..."

 396 Fist Technique

    "?"


    After dinner and parting ways with Sun Jian, Fang Yuan returned to the university, found a quiet corner and started to examine his loots.


    The ancient scriptures in his hands were torn and dirty, but he could vaguely tell where it came from.


    "I''ve read about it in the history books before. Thiswas recorded by a cultivator in the ancient times known as ''Yellowstone Duke''. In the scripture, he described the dao of Fengshui and Yin and Yang... Looking at this handwriting, it seems like it was written by a person skilled in calligraphy and this must be rather valuable..."


    Without paying too much attention to the handwriting, Fang Yuan opened the scripture and flipped to a few pages which felt abnormal.


    "Hehe..."


    These pages were thin like a dragonfly''s wings. They were smooth and words cluttered on the page, describing the scripture.


    "Just the words alone, I can tell that every word is full of meaning and energy. By looking at it often, I will be able to cultivate my energy..."


    Fang Yuan flipped open the abnormal pages and the words offilled his vision.


    "Is this... a scripture on Medicine?"


    Examining it, Fang Yuan was pleasantly surprised.


    Thewas a recording of the dao of Fengshui and the dao of Yin and Yang and there were a few ancient cultivation techniques within it. Thiswas a developed version of thepenned down by a reverend doctor as he used it to cure patients and lengthen his lifespan!


    "Or should I say that... this is a combination of Medicine and cultivation? This is rather suitable for me..."


    The foundation of Fang Yuan''s physical body was still on the Elemental Spiritual Energy Cultivation Spell. However, the Green Capsule Scripture Additional Recordings placed emphasis on the technique and the usage, which could complement his body.


    "However, it is still a pity... Although I can now absorb spiritual droplets, my progress is still too slow and I can only awaken my energy sense. It is still too hard for me to perform acupuncture solely based on the energy of a body!"


    Fang Yuan took a quick glance at his stats window:


    "Name: Fang Yuan


    Essence: 0.8


    Spirit: 0.3


    Magic: 1.0


    Profession: ???


    Cultivation: ???


    Technique: [Elemental Spiritual Energy Cultivation Spell (Grade 1 (13%))]


    Skill: [Medicine (Level 3)], [Botany (Level 5)], [Fiery Golden Eyes (Level 1)]"


    "I still have a lot to learn about the absorption and manipulation of spiritual droplets!"


    Fang Yuan clenched his fists and sighed.


    He had made progress in his 3 years of training and familiarisation. Considering his knowledge in warfighting, he would still be able to defeat 2 Zhao Danius at the same time.


    Unfortunately, that would only place him at the level of a special forces soldier in the military.


    "Bang!"


    Without consider, he smashed a ceramic doll, revealing the treasures hidden inside.


    In the ceramic doll, there was a figurine of Aquilaria Maitreya[1]. The materials used to make it were already valuable, and Fang Yuan could tell that the workmanship to craft the figurine was top-notch. Together, it made the figurine a real treasure and Fang Yuan could earn many times more than what he spent to buy the ceramic doll.


    In the other two dolls, gold and jade were stuffed in them. There were also coins from other countries and it seemed that they were the backup of the government during the tumultuous times of developmental years of Chinese Country.


    However, it was a pity that the inheritance did not pass on. The descendants of the founding fathers had long forgotten about all these fortunes, which in turn benefited Fang Yuan.


    "I shall keep this Aquilaria Maitreya first... As for the foreign coins, I shall sell them directly in the black market and gather capital for my cultivation..."


    Since the time where Fang Yuan had begun to absorb spiritual droplets, he realised that his appetite had grown.


    The resources which He Tianming had given him was not enough, and it would not be nice to trouble him further.


    "It is a rewarding day to be able to reap all these treasures! What else can I be unsatisfied about?"


    Fang Yuan took in a deep breath. He kept his treasures in his bag and started his training.


    A technique which resembled a Guiding Skill was slowly being executed.


    At the same time, the weak energy sense in his body started to trigger, activating the few acupuncture points and meridians to increase the rate of absorption of spiritual droplets.


    As he progressed, he could feel that his technique and his physical body was slowly being strengthened. All of these were satisfactory.


    "Sha! Sha!"


    After a long while, Fang Yuan finally opened his eyes and breathed out a heavy deep breath. His ears twitched. "Is there someone around?"


    He raised his head and gazed at the sky. The bright moon had already risen up into the dark sky. "It is already so late. Why would anyone come here at this time? They are also not making out..."


    The place which Fang Yuan had chosen was a secluded lakeside of the university, within a forest.


    If it was a couple coming here at this timing, then it would be logical.


    However, Fang Yuan could clearly detect that there was only one person.


    "This person must be crazy!"


    After coming to a conclusion, Fang Yuan grabbed his bag, hid behind a tree and appeared excited.


    "Whooo! Whoo!"


    A regulated breathing sound was heard as a university student ran across the forest. He seemed like he was in his twenties and was cleanly shaved. He did not seem to be afraid of the cold as he was running half-naked, revealing his muscles. He seemed like a leopard.


    "The training in daytime is not enough..."


    The young man mumbled to himself. As he readied himself, he started to practise his martial arts as though there was no one around.


    "Whoo! Whoo!"


    His feet were quick and in his punches, there were vague roars of beasts, which would surely startle anyone who would hear it.


    "He is a normal person, but this is... martial arts?"


    Fang Yuan knew that he was a normal person from a single look. However, his muscles were well-toned and it seemed like he had learnt martial arts since young and at this point in time, he seemed as though he was stuck at a certain stage.


    In the dark forest, there were roars of tigers and lions, chirps of cranes and screams of monkeys. After a long while, there was a sigh.


    "This is still not enough!"


    "My Five Beasts Fist is still lacking something. I cannot focus the strength in my entire body together to achieve the ''Strength Opening'' Realm... Grandfather told me that all the highly-skilled youths are in the university. Why haven''t I met a single one of them?"


    As the moonlight poured down, the young man gazed up with a look of determination. His facial features were distinct and his appearance made him seem like a person with animal instincts.


    "I, Chen Bo, did not come to the university to study! From tomorrow onwards, I shall challenge the martial artists of the capital and make my family''s Five Beasts Fist famous!"


    ''What age is this already? Why is his thinking still so archaic?''


    Fang Yuan stood by the side and remained dumbfounded. ''This young man had read too much Wuxia novels and no one can save him. However, this Five Beasts Fist is still rather interesting.''


    With Fang Yuan''s Fiery Golden Eyes, Fang Yuan could not only observe his martial arts technique, but also the flow of his strength in his body.


    This young man was clueless. Now that he had performed his martial arts in front of Fang Yuan, he would have unknowingly taught Fang Yuan the entire Five Beasts Fist.


    ''Are the martial arts from these martial arts family still useful?''


    Fang Yuan observed and could identify the foundation of the Five Beasts Fist. It was a technique focused on imitating five types of beasts found in the natural environment. It was a technique which would allow one to strengthen one''s bones, harness blood energy and breakthrough one''s physical limits.


    ''Of course, without the nourishment from spiritual droplets, he would only abuse his own blood energy and will still not be able to breakthrough for his whole life. Furthermore, after 40 years old, the condition of his body will start to deteriorate... No wonder these ancient martial arts are not being passed down. Looking at things, Chen Bo seems to have caught this prime time...''


    Although the Strength Opening Realm was nothing in Fang Yuan''s eyes, he could still predict the future path of this set of martial arts.


    At the peak of cultivation for the Five Beasts Fist, one would have the potential to harness energy from the external surroundings and absorb spiritual droplets to start one''s journey to become supernormal.


    "Of course, anyone in the Strength Opening Realm would already be considered highly-skilled. The stage which I have predicted would require one to be the master of the arts and is extremely difficult! Difficult!! Difficult!!!"


    Fang Yuan shook his head. "Even if one were to attain True Strength and would be able to absorb spiritual droplets to begin the journey to become supernormal, they would only be at the initial stage of the Elemental Spiritual Energy Cultivation Spell. To put in bluntly, it is a low-levelled version of cultivation. Of course, I''ll have to admit that it is still rather useful in strengthening one''s physical body..."


    Chen Bo was clueless that by simply performing his martial arts, he had exposed his heritage and that even the secret parts of the technique which his grandfather was unaware of were already being discovered.


    ''Hmm... It seems like I have fate with this capital, or it might be an accumulative 3 years of good karma that is expended in a single day...''


    He had benefited from buying the ceramic dolls and scripture and now, he had the chance to witness an impressive martial arts technique. All of this made Fang Yuan felt satisfied.


    ''Since I''ve benefited from looking at your family''s martial arts, I shall help you!''


    Thinking about it, Fang Yuan folded his collar up, shielding half of his face. As his leg became slightly bent, he bolted out like a cannon.


    "Who''s that?"


    As soon as Fang Yuan moved, Chen Bo could immediately detect it and was utterly shocked.


    As a martial artist, his reaction was to counter-attack. His fists became claws as he struck towards the small black silhouette with a tiger''s roar.


    It was a cardinal sin among martial artists to peep at someone else practising their martial arts and was even considered reasonable to cripple the peeping tom.


    However, the black figure didn''t dodge but returned with a fist.


    "Roar! Roar!"


    In that instant, an explosion came from the small silhouette. As his fist flew in the air, roars of lions and tigers could be heard.


    ''Five Beasts Fist! The voices of the tendons and bones! The unified lion and tiger roar! Strength Opening! This is impossible!''


    Chen Bo''s eyes were wide open as he was stunned.


    Such a scene would mean that this person would have already combined the strength of his entire body and releasing it out in a single punch. The power of the punch would increase by folds. Even before an elder of the martial arts world, such a punch would mean that the person was worthy enough to be regarded as highly-skilled.


    "Bang!"


    Without a doubt, Chen Bo flew backwards.


    Although he was only a step away from the Strength Opening Realm, it was a huge step for him!


    "Why do you know my family''s secret martial arts technique, the Five Beasts Fist!"


    Even though his body felt like shattering apart, he knew that he had to ask the question as he thought hard about who this person before him could be.


    Unfortunately, the moonlight in the forest was too dim and the person had intentionally covered half of his face. With a hoarse voice, Fang Yuan spoke. "The Strength Opening Realm of the Five Beasts Fist would require one to tame the dragon of the spine and have delicate control over one''s blood energy in the forehead. Be careful not to go on the wrong path... and focus on training your Crane Form!"


    The voice echoed in the forest. In an instant, the silhouette disappeared.


    Chen Bo was still in a trance as though streaks of lightning struck his head. "Crane Form? Dragon of the spine? Forehead?"


    "Who is this person? Why is he so familiar with the Chen Family''s Five Beasts Fist? Could he be an elder of the family?"


    He laid on the floor in an ungraceful position for a long while before forcing himself up. He did not know whether to laugh or cry. "Grandfather is right. These highly-skilled people are everywhere!"


    [1]: Aquilaria Maitreya is a type of Buddha.

 397 Opening a Shop

    After military training, university education officially started.


    Fang Yuan''s life in Xijing University was very happening.


    The faculties which Fang Yuan were in were not surprised at his arrival. They were at most curious about his age, but that was all.


    Fang Yuan had long heard stories about encountering beautiful girls as well as people from wealthy families. However, he had seen none of these and was a little disappointed.


    "To think about it... those of them here are the smartest in their cities and would compete with each other in their academics. Why would they think of other distractions... As for any events that they would organise, they would surely not look for me... I am too young..."


    Fang Yuan felt a little depressed. With that, he paid attention during his lecture and took down notes... he would look for his class during their self-revision time.


    Professor He was indeed influential enough to get a special classroom for the gifted class so that he could provide supplementary lessons for those who were weaker in their foundation.


    Because Fang Yuan had been verified of his knowledge of the Senior High School syllabus, Fang Yuan was one of the rare ones who was not required to attend the supplementary lessons. As soon as he entered the classroom, he rolled his eyes.


    ''Hmph... this is how a class should look like... otherwise, it would be too boring...''


    "Hey! Lin Xing!"


    Fang Yuan went about his own business and sat across Lin Xing. Looking at a piece of electronic gadget he was fiddling about in his hands, Fang Yuan quipped. "Do you find the history and geography they teach in Senior High School hard? Do you need my help?"


    As soon as Fang Yuan mentioned this, Lin Xing''s face became black.


    Although he was capable in many aspects, he was the perfect example of someone with high IQ but low EQ. Therefore, he had difficulties in handling humanities subjects, not to mention pure literature.


    "Haha..."


    Seeing Lin Xing in this state, Fang Yuan''s mood was lifted.


    Looking at Professor He lecturing in front, Fang Yuan felt a little pity for him.


    Sigh... gifted children, to put in bluntly, were problem kids. It was hard on him to be able to put all these problem kids together and have everything under control.


    "Professor He!"


    "Fang Yuan! What''s the matter?"


    He Tianming had a few more strands of white hair. However, as he looked towards Fang Yuan, he forced a smile out.


    Compared to the other gifted children who were troublemakers, Fang Yuan gave him the least problems.


    "I feel that the content I am learning now is still too general. I hope that I can enter more faculties... The best would be for me to enter the laboratory to start experimentations straight away!"


    Fang Yuan laid out his request.


    "Pfftt!"


    He Tianming was drinking a cup of tea but almost spat it out. "The content taught in the university is too general? Are you looking at directly becoming a professor?"


    "If that is possible..."


    Fang Yuan nodded his head.


    "... I cannot promise you anything now. It is unlikely that you will be allowed to observe other professor''s experiments in the laboratories. However, I can allow you to join more faculties. I can even get you a special identity card which will allow you to borrow books and resources from the library. You will be unrestricted by the borrowing limit and the duration of borrow as well!"


    After much thought, He Tianming replied Fang Yuan.


    "This is great, thank you, teacher!"


    Fang Yuan knew for himself that he still did not have the rights to become a laboratory assistant and that his deal was already rather good. With that, he took a bow.


    "This child..."


    As soon as he left, He Tianming stared at his cup of tea before wiping his fogged-up glasses with a handkerchief.


    Among all the gifted children, Fang Yuan was the smartest and the one which he had to worry about the least.


    Additionally, there were many physical tests as soon as all of them entered the university, but there were no special findings.


    This was a normal accelerated development of his brain, which could be commonly seen in many scientists alike.


    However, this student gave He Tianming a feeling of mystery...


    ...


    After settling all of these, Fang Yuan was not interested in revising the Senior High School syllabus with these children and left the room.


    The clear breeze brought a chilly vibe. There was a thin layer of fog and as the sun rose, there was a feeling of serenity.


    At the lakeside of the university campus, there were many people training their physical fitness and taking a stroll. Majority of them were young students, but there were a few white-haired professors or even residents who lived nearby.


    A few old men and women were practising martial arts in their white robes. They slowly lunged their swords in the air and were one with the movement of the sword, forming a beautiful scene like a painting.


    ''Unfortunately... how long can days like this last?''


    Fang Yuan clenched his fist.


    He could finally feel that his cultivation was accelerating.


    "After a few hundred years of scarcity, are the spiritual droplets finally becoming increasingly concentrated?"


    As he thought to himself, Fang Yuan found an empty spot and started to execute his Guiding Skill.


    With the memories of the Five Beasts Fist from Chen Bo and the Green Capsule Scripture Additional Recording, Fang Yuan felt enlightened. His became more and more familiar with his Guiding Skill, and there was the occasional spreading of crane''s wings and the posture of a lion.


    ''I might be able to alter this Guiding Skill and name it Five Beasts Guiding Skill... By practising it, I will be able to lengthen my lifespan and it is better than any other physical exercise...''


    Fang Yuan focused on his dantian. As he completed the executing of his Guiding Skill, he realised that an old professor was staring at him for a long time.


    "Student... your Guiding Skill is interesting!"


    Seeing that Fang Yuan had glanced over, the old professor chuckled. "Could this be a set of martial arts passed down by your family?"


    "Haha... Professor Tian, this is only a normal Guiding Skill which I have learnt from the history books. Now, I am only casually executing it..."


    "Oh? You know me?"


    Professor Tian was around 60 years old and his head was filled with white hair. His seemed energetic and lively. Now that he examined Fang Yuan, he felt that Fang Yuan was vaguely familiar.


    "Mmm, I have attended some of your lectures on Traditional Chinese Medicine and have learnt a lot from you!"


    Fang Yuan smiled.


    "Oh, I see"!


    Professor Tian nodded his head. "Nowadays, there are only a handful of students who are still interested in Traditional Chinese Medicine. Are you from He Tianming''s gifted class? Although his intentions are good, how could he ever think of letting a group of kids study in a university? Sigh... This is a little too extreme..."


    The study of Traditional Chinese Medicine tended to follow the natural flow of things. Therefore, Professor Tian was against what He Tianming had done.


    However, Professor Tian had a different impression of Fang Yuan and felt as though they understood each other after the exchanges. "Fang Yuan, does your family specialise in Traditional Chinese Medicine?"


    "Hehe... I am from Mountain Ocean City Orphanage. I''ve learnt all these from reading books and practising it myself!"


    Fang Yuan rubbed his nose.


    "Oh, I see... I''m sorry... It''s a pity. Considering your abilities, you can be a researcher. However, on the path of Traditional Chinese Medicine, you would face difficulties for the first ten years, and is extremely hard to hone your skills..."


    The study of Traditional Chinese Medicine was one which relied heavily on experience. Experienced doctors would always be more skilled than the inexperienced ones and there was no two way about it.


    Professor Tian took a few steps forward and gave a look of pity. "It''s a pity... I currently do not have any research topics in my hands. Otherwise, I would surely ask you to be my assistant."


    In this age, it was already the norm for lecturers to conduct researches and hire assistants, paying them the salary of assistants.


    Upon hearing this, Fang Yuan thought to himself, smiled and remained silent.


    Seeing how humble Fang Yuan was, Professor Tian''s eyes glistened. They spoke for a while more before parting ways. He had decided for himself that he would invest all he could in this child.


    "I should leave!"


    Fang Yuan walked around the perimeter of the lake. Unintentionally, he bumped into a teary-eyed Chen Bo.


    Ever since Fang Yuan had advised him, Chen Bo''s martial arts took a huge leap forward. In a few days time, he would surely be able to achieve a breakthrough in the Strength Opening Realm.


    Of course, as a young man, he could not swallow his pride. Coupled with the fact that his family''s secret martial arts were possibly leaked, Chen Bo was certain that the person who assaulted him was in the compound of the university and therefore, he remained here to look out for the person.


    Even if Fang Yuan were to walk under his nose, this teary-eyed Chen Bo would not be able to tell that it was him. Chen Bo was only letting his efforts go to waste.


    ...


    "Junior, this pavilion shall be yours in the future..."


    In Sambhogakaya Monastery, Sun Jian and Fang Yuan walked into a shop and there was a hint of envy in Sun Jian''s voice. "Now that Chinese Country is being developed and that the economy is booming, even if we just collect rent from this shop, we will be able to earn a lot..."


    "It''s a waste to just collect rent. How about we open a shop to try things out!"


    Fang Yuan caressed the glass cabinets and smiled. "To speak the truth... Never would I have thought that that Suet Jade would be so valuable..."


    Other than the Aquilaria Maitreya, Fang Yuan had sold all of the treasures he obtained from the ceramic dolls.


    The silver coins and gold ingots were normal and Fang Yuan used them to tip waiters in restaurants. As for the Suet Jade, it was a crystal clear jade piece which fetched a high price since it was considered an antique.


    In good times, the value of antiques would go up while in troubled times, people would prefer the stability of the value of gold. At this point in time, the price of antique skyrocketed and even though Fang Yuan had sold it in exchange for this shop, he still felt that there was more value to it.


    Ultimately, it was just a simple trade and he would do whatever he wished.


    After all, he still had an extremely valuable Aquilaria Maitreya with him.


    "Open a shop? An antique shop? There''s a lot that we don''t know about!"


    Sun Jian felt that he no longer understood this junior of his.


    "I''ve attended a few lectures on antiques and believe that my taste is good... Furthermore, we have the most valuable treasure of all, right?"


    In any antique shops, there had to be at least one or two real antiques to attract people. To Fang Yuan, the Aquilaria Maitreya seemed like a suitable antique.


    Furthermore, he felt that on this wooden-carved figurine, there was a mysterious spiritual aura. He could possibly use it as a bait to bait something bigger.


    "Senior, I would like to hire one or two people to look after the shop. Do you have any idea how I can go about doing it?"


    Thinking about it, Fang Yuan laughed.


    "Oh, why not look of university students? In the city, there are still quite a number of students who would work part-time while studying to support themselves."


    Sun Jian replied.


    "Mmm, I will pay them 30 dollars per month, and they can rest on the weekends. On weekdays, they are only required to come for half a day... I will only need two people!"


    Fang Yuan waved his hands like a rich boss.


    "Hehe... Such a good deal! Even I feel tempted to help you. Don''t worry, I will surely find you two honest helpers."


    Sun Jian nodded his head. Even the salary of a highly-skilled manufacturing job could not compare to this. Therefore, he promptly accepted the job of looking for helpers for he could also benefit from it.

 398 Laying Foundation

    Seasons came and went by; it was now the Year 1003.


    The chilly winter was not fully over yet. In the middle of the night, even the most hardworking student would not be able to withstand the coldness and would have climbed into their warm beds.


    Fang Yuan had long convinced Professor He Tianming to allow him to move out of the dormitory.


    Currently, he was at a random spot in a small forest as he prepared to check his progress this past year.


    For Fang Yuan to change his normal body to one with the properties of spiritual droplets, in the words of Wuxia novels, it would be like a normal person giving birth to a "spiritual root" from nothing. It was extremely difficult.


    Furthermore, the laws of this realm were too harsh. Although the concentration of spiritual droplets was recovering, it was still as rare as a spring in the desert. Even Fang Yuan had to spend a year plus to complete his foundation-laying process.


    That was even after the increased concentration of spiritual droplets in the past one year. Else, Fang Yuan estimated it would have taken him at least three years instead to completely form his first grade of Elemental Spiritual Energy Cultivation Spell.


    "Breathe..."


    Accompanied by Fang Yuan''s deep breaths, even the moonlight in the skies blurred slightly for a while as they were warped and sucked into Fang Yuan''s dantian.


    A clear stream moved around Fang Yuan''s body and immediately, on his stats window, the 99.99% behind his Elemental Spiritual Energy Cultivation Spell increased by one point and was fully completed.


    "Rumble!"


    Instantaneously, Fang Yuan felt his body vibrate as a mysterious change occurred inside his body and a circulation was formed at once.


    His blood flow became faster, his face turned red and large amounts of sweat were squeezed out from his pores along with a smelly impurity.


    "I guess this... is the same as the ancient method of marrow cleansing as recorded in the Classic of Changes?"


    Fang Yuan took out his shirt quickly and jumped into the small river without any fear of cold. He then washed away the filth on his body.


    Moments later, he climbed up and wiped dry his body before looking at his stats:


    "Name: Fang Yuan


    Essence: 1.0


    Spirit: 1.0


    Magic: 1.0


    Profession: ???


    Cultivation: ???


    Technique: [Elemental Spiritual Energy Cultivation Spell (Grade 1 (Completed))]


    Skill: [Medicine (Level 3)], [Botany (Level 5)], [Fiery Golden Eyes (Level 1)]"


    "1st Grade of Elemental Spiritual Energy Cultivation Spell completed ¡ª body transformation completed, transformed into Spiritual Droplets Affined Body! Energy sense increased!"


    "Spiritual Droplets Affined Body, this actually means I''m an evolver now..."


    Fang Yuan closed his eyes slightly. He no longer needed guiding needles to guide him, with just a thought, he could sense the spiritual droplets in the air. Unfortunately, there were way too little spiritual droplets, they were as rare as an oasis in the desert.


    "At least I have managed to cultivate some spiritual energy which I could use. My medicine skills have recovered by more than half!"


    Fang Yuan tilted his head and thought. He then suddenly waved his hand.


    "Swoosh!"


    Silver light shined, a row of silver needles flew out and struck the surface of the pine tree neatly and impressively.


    Within a few yards, this hidden weapon technique that was impossible to guard against was even already better than firearms. Other skilled martial artists in this realm would all die to this technique.


    At this stage, Fang Yuan had some ability to defend himself.


    Fang Yuan could not help but gave a wry smile at such.


    The reason why Fang Yuan initially moved out of the dormitory was because he felt he was tailed and spied on a few times. Thus, he could only bear patiently for a few months before the monitoring became less tight. But till now, the monitoring was not completely gone.


    To put it nicely, it was a form of caring and prevention. After all, Fang Yuan was just a 16 years old teenager that had to be slightly looked after.


    This was a necessary price he had to pay after being allowed to move out of the dormitory.


    "Nevertheless... it''s about time!"


    Fang Yuan tried to figure out his body''s transformation, "I have already accumulated sufficient knowledge! If I do or say something unexpected, although it would be eye-catching, at least it would not shock the world nor arouse suspicions..."


    "If I don''t attract attention, how would I be favoured by the superiors? How would I be able to enter the core research laboratory?"


    In this past one year, Fang Yuan managed to be on a few projects through Professor Tian''s connections and earned some extra income through being their assistants. He even had the chance to use the laboratory equipment occasionally. However, he was still thousands of miles away from his aims.


    Last time, Fang Yuan had to be more reserved and restrained, but now, since the first grade of his Elemental Spiritual Energy Cultivation Spell was completed, he had fewer scruples.


    ...


    Sambhogakaya Monastery.


    After a night of martial arts training, Fang Yuan mixed into the group of people who were doing morning exercises. He then bought a cup of soy milk and a few donkey sandwiches before going to his own shop.


    "Morning, Little Boss!"


    Fang Yuan''s antique stall, named "Heart Questioning House", had already opened for business. One of the shop assistants was a 20 something years old student. When she saw Fang Yuan, she immediately greeted him brightly.


    "Didn''t I say before, call me Fang Yuan or boss..."


    Fang Yuan rolled his eyes and went into the shop and was very satisfied as he saw how clean and spotless the shop was.


    Sun Jian recommended Fang Yuan two stall assistants, Ding Qiuyu who worked the morning shift and Zhao Lihong who worked the afternoon shift. Both of them were students from the nearby universities who wanted to earn some extra income. As they did shift work, they only worked for less than half a day which was not very tiring.


    Ding Qiuyu was a northerner and had the bright and forthright attitude of a northern girl. As Fang Yuan was younger than her, she liked to tease him and Fang Yuan was used to it after a while.


    "Why are you free to come to the shop today, Little Boss?"


    Ding Qiuyu held the broom and asked while smiling.


    She was curious about this young boss who was not only specially invited to enter Xijing University, he also opened a shop in the capital. Furthermore, she heard he used to be an orphan.


    Just that point alone made her very respectfully of Fang Yuan, as the soft spots in her hearts felt moved.


    "I was just having my morning exercises nearby, I brought you some donkey sandwich!"


    Fang Yuan smiled and placed the sandwiches on the table, "Eat first and continue later!"


    "I''ll finish up before I eat, anyway it''s nothing much!"


    Ding Qiuyu was deft in her work and her mouth could not stop moving too, "Lately, there aren''t many customers visiting. There were a few who wanted to buy the Aquilaria Maitreya though, but once they heard the price, they rolled their eyes and walked away. Boss, do you want to drop the price?"


    She felt this Little Boss was not good at doing business.


    Although the shop was opened, after one whole year of hard work, there was not much profit left after deducting the capital costs and labour costs. Fang Yuan might as well rent the shop out which he would earn similar amounts from the rent.


    "No need, remain at that price! They''ll buy if they want to buy!" Fang Yuan replied with a smile.


    Fang Yuan drank the soy milk and felt the smooth and rich taste glide pass his throat.


    Fang Yuan obviously knew the market value for the Aquilaria Maitreya, just based on its price as an antique, it was worth around 20,000 to 30,000 dollars. With how Fang Yuan priced it at 300,000, it was obvious he did not want to sell it.


    Firstly, it was a display meant to attract customers.


    Secondly, due to the spiritual aura on the Aquilaria Maitreya which even Fang Yuan could not understand, Fang Yuan was displaying it as a bait to catch those who could see it.


    Of course, the stall assistants did not have to know about these reasons.


    "Qiuyu, are you busy?"


    At that moment, a youth walked into the stall and his eyes lit up the moment he saw Ding Qiuyu, "I''ll help you!"


    "It''s ok, no need! My boss is here!"


    Ding Qiuyu was a bit shy, which was rare for her, and she smiled while hitting the youth, "This is my friend from the same village, Chen Bo! Boss, it''s your first time meeting him right?"


    "I guess not."


    Fang Yuan smiled and greeted, "I never expected... our school''s boxing champion to come to my humble shop!"


    This Chen Bo was the one with the Five Beasts Technique whom Fang Yuan spied on previously.


    Fang Yuan observed the way he walked and could tell he had already reached the Strength Opening Realm and was one of the more highly skilled masters in the capital.


    "Oh, both of you are from Xijing University, no wonder all of you know each other!" Ding Qiuyu realised.


    "My junior!"


    In front of the woman he loved, Chen Bo did not have any hint of fierceness left in him unlike when he was practising his martial arts. He smiled in a friendly and loving manner and said, "Qiuyu and I are good friends. I heard about you from her many times, thanks for taking care of her!"


    "It''s nothing!"


    Fang Yuan smiled and then placed a few medicine bottles on the table, "Eh... some business matters. I made some Opening Point Incense, you can burn one every day to observe its effects and sell the rest."


    "Opening Point Incense?"


    Ding Qiuyu picked up one bottle, opened the lid and took a sniff, "The aroma... is so unique!"


    "This incense is specially made by me, it can invigorate and keep the mind awake, and also balance your energy and blood flow! There''s definitely a market for it!" Fang Yuan narrated.


    In reality, for Fang Yuan to really earn money, it was sufficient for him to just tour around the Sambhogakaya Monastery every day.


    This stall, the Aquilaria Maitreya, the Opening Point Incense and such were all baits.


    Furthermore, being called a "boss" felt quite good to Fang Yuan, although the title of "self-employed person" still did not sound as nice.


    "Ok, I should leave now..."


    Chen Bo felt weird acting all friendly in front of the stall''s boss and left first.


    Shortly after that, Fang Yuan also left Heart Questioning House too and he went back to his house.


    Fang Yuan was now residing in a small courtyard house which was not far from Xijing University. The house was large enough and had a small yard.


    The moment he stepped into his front yard, he could smell a herbal aroma from the herbs he planted.


    The ingredients of Opening Point Incense were all from here.


    With the special ability of botany, these medicinal herbs had decent medicinal properties which were comparable to wild herbs grown deep within the forests and mountains. Furthermore, the formula was found in an ancient book, people who understood the goods would naturally be attracted.


    "After preparing for one year, I should finally do something."


    Fang Yuan packed his stuff and went to Xijing University to look for He Tianming.


    "What? You are preparing to apply for graduation?"


    He Tianming looked at Fang Yuan and his forehead frowned into numerous creases.


    "Come, take a seat first!"


    The request gave He Tianming a headache and he asked Fang Yuan to sit down first.


    "How come you are thinking of graduating? I was preparing to send you straight for a direct master''s degree!"


    "I have already heard most of the graduate school''s lessons and learnt most of it myself."


    Fang Yuan placed his hands on his kneecaps and calmly replied.


    "But a master''s degree is different! Although an undergraduate degree can land you a job, the difference between an undergraduate degree and a graduate degree''s treatment and future potential for progress is night and day..."


    He Tianming tried to convince and persuade Fang Yuan but Fang Yuan would not budge at all. He Tianming had no choice and shook his head, "Fine... have you thought about your thesis?"


    "Yes, I will be writing about Traditional Chinese Medicine and modern medicine!" Fang Yuan answered.


    "Ok, I will give a call to arrange you to join this term''s thesis defence!"


    He Tianming nodded his head and sent Fang Yuan off. He then went back to the sofa and ruminated.


    Half an hour later, He Tianming finally made up his mind and picked up his phone.

 399 Stalking

    "Let us celebrate for our national athlete, Liu Fei has clinched the gold medal once again and broke the world record at the same time..."


    "Yesterday, the mayor visited our school and gave a speech to encourage all the students and teachers of the university..."


    "Next up, let us enjoy the song ..."


    ...


    The sweet voice of a lady blasted through the loudspeaker in the school campus.


    Fang Yuan laid on the field and squinted his eyes.


    "Hey... I''ve heard that you have applied to graduate!"


    Turning his head around, he realised that Lin Xing was next to him with a look of unpleasantness.


    "Yeah..."


    After a period of interaction, Fang Yuan knew that Lin Xing was not a snobbish person but was merely less sociable.


    "It''s a pity..."


    Lin Xing laid on the field as well and was in a daze.


    "Don''t think about it too much. Although you have never beaten me in school, you might just do so when we work outside..."


    Fang Yuan chuckled.


    To think about it, the students who were studying in Xijing University were unfortunate.


    If you think that you were a smart person, the university was filled with gifted people! There were even smarter ones above the smartest! To those who were less confident, this would be a heavy blow.


    "Go f*ck yourself..."


    Lin Xin rolled his eyes and left.


    "Fang Yuan... why are you still here!"


    Sun Jian rushed his way towards the field. "Quickly return to your shop. Someone is willing to buy your treasure!"


    "Oh!"


    Fang Yuan lazily stood up and stretched himself.


    "How can you be so composed?"


    Sun Jian was stunned. "This is a business of 300,000 dollars!"


    "What else can I do?"


    Fang Yuan replied in a calm voice. "You ran all the way here? You''re too nervous. You should calm your nerves whenever something big happens."


    "I... I tried to calm down, but it''s 300,000! Just by thinking about it alone would give me the shudders..."


    Sun Jian''s voice shook as he spoke.


    "Alright, I''ll go now!"


    Fang Yuan shook his head and arrived at Sambhogakaya Monastery with Sun Jian.


    His originally empty Heart Questioning House was now surrounded by a group of people, clogging up the entrance to the shop. Most of them were crowding around to see what was inside.


    "Come, move aside, the boss is here!"


    Sun Jian cleared a path for Fang Yuan. Some of them recognised him as the boss and automatically gave way.


    "Boss, you''re back!"


    Ding Qiuyu ran towards Fang Yuan. "A foreigner came in and was attracted to the Aquilaria Maitreya. He insisted on buying it!"


    "I know, it''s been hard on you!"


    Fang Yuan entered the shop and noticed a blond-haired foreigner peering through a magnifying glass. He wore white gloves on his hands as he was examining the Aquilaria Maitreya with a serious look.


    Behind him, there were two bodyguards in black western attire. There was another female translator as well.


    Coincidently, Chen Bo was also there. He now had the responsibility to ensure the security of the place as he glared at the bodyguards.


    He had to be careful! If the wooden figure was broken or stolen, his girlfriend would not be able to pay for it. Therefore, he had to get himself involved.


    In the Heart Questioning House, Fang Yuan prepared a wooden chair and sat on it. With that, Ding Qiuyu served him his tea.


    The old foreigner noticed Fang Yuan and mumbled something to the translator.


    "Mr Thomas asks, are you the owner of this shop? He wants to talk to the real owner of this wooden figurine."


    The female translator translated it word for word, but her sentence structure was too rigid and she did not feel local.


    ''Overseas Chinese? Or another yellow-skinned race?''


    Fang Yuan squinted his eyes and the surroundings became translucent and illusionary.


    Everyone looked normal except for Chen Bo who had a mild glow in him, signifying that he had the cultivation at the Strength Opening Realm.


    The body of the female translator was normal. However, she had black streaks around her body and her lively face started to appear pale and green. A black fog gathered around her forehead.


    ''From the angle of a cultivator, this lady is either living with an evil being or that she herself has cultivated in evil spells...''


    The female translator lowered her head and mumbled a foreign language to her boss. With that, she smiled. "You are lucky. Mr Thomas said that he is willing to buy your Aquilaria Maitreya for 200,000 Chinese Dollars."


    "Oh!"


    Fang Yuan dug his ear with his fingers and gave a look of suspicion. "Why did I hear that his highest offer was around 50,000 Dollars from the forex?"


    Forex meant that through the foreign exchange rate, Mr Thomas was willing to pay a price equivalent to 500,000 Chinese Dollars in his foreign currency.


    Of course, the price of this Aquilaria Maitreya could potentially skyrocket in the black market.


    "Cough..."


    The female translator choked. "Do you know our language?"


    "Mmm... I''ve learnt it through a few lectures!"


    Fang Yuan gave a wide grin and revealed his white teeth, replying with a fluent Federation language.


    Of course, the female translator wanted to kill him so badly at that moment.


    "Gentleman, you surprise me! Could you have stayed at boarding school overseas before?"


    Mr Thomas was shocked to be able to hear such fluent Federation language in Chinese Country and even suspected that Fang Yuan had grown up in his hometown.


    "Nope, I have only learnt it from a lecturer who was from the Golden Eagle Federation..."


    Fang Yuan waved his hands. "Mr Thomas, it is unfortunate that you have revealed to me your best offer. Therefore, my price will change to 50,000 from the forex. After all, your assistant had lowered your quote by 50%!"


    Hearing this, the face of the female translator turned black and her fierce glare seemed as though it was able to set Fang Yuan in flames.


    "Hehe... Ms Night is only joking with you! However, I will agree to the price of 50,000 from the forex!"


    Thomas smiled and glared at his translator. With that, he ordered his bodyguards to bring a case forward. From the case, he took out wads of cash. He knew that he had to get his hands on the Aquilaria Maitreya. Glancing at the incense burner at the side, he spoke once more. "Chinese Country is an amazing country. Look at this incense... I have smelled a similar fragrance from a soul master in my country. This fragrance is able to calm one''s mind."


    "Is that so?"


    Thinking about it, Fang Yuan''s heart wavered. After talking to Thomas, he gifted him a bottle of Opening Point Incense.


    "Haha... I will have to take my leave now!"


    Looking at the increasingly crowded shop, Thomas stood up and gave an unusual smile. "Fang, you are a gifted child. May our paths cross again!"


    "See you again!"


    Fang Yuan sat in his chair while Thomas took his leave, walking with a cane. As he walked out, he was surrounded by other passionate stall owners who were looking to clear their stock.


    It was impossible for Fang Yuan not to extort such a rich person!


    As Ms Night took her leave, she glared fiercely at Fang Yuan.


    "Let''s close the shop!"


    Looking at the passionate and greedy stall owners gathering around Thomas, Fang Yuan shook his head. "Chen Bo, stay behind with Sun Jian."


    "Hehe..."


    After closing the shop, Sun Jian stared at the stack of cash on the table before looking at Fang Yuan with a look of suspicion. "Junior, when did you pick up their language?"


    "I learnt it after hearing it a few times. It''s normal!"


    Fang Yuan gave a look as though he was a genius kid and could do anything he wanted, which made Chen Bo depressed.


    They were already the top students of the society to be able to enrol into Xijing University. However, they would still need at least a month or two to master a new language from scratch.


    This kid in front of them managed the same feat after a few lessons and was even more fluent than the translator.


    Although everyone knew that there were gifted people in the society who would make the others question their own existence, one would only feel fear when standing in front of an actual gifted child.


    "Alright, let''s split the profits. This should be considered doing justice for our country!"


    Fang Yuan smiled and split the stack of cash into four piles, handing over a pile each to Ding Qiuyu, Chen Bo and Sun Jian. "Thank you for your help today. This is a small reward!"


    "This..."


    Each stack was at least a thousand dollars and Sun Jian could not believe his eyes.


    "Little Boss... How can I take your money?"


    Ding Qiuyu quickly replied.


    "This is your performance bonus! Since this is your bonus, just take it!"


    Fang Yuan forced the wad of cash into her hands. "The two of you as well, please don''t be afraid to accept this money! I am a rich man now!"


    "Yes... compared to you, we are still poor!"


    Sun Jian was filled with regret.


    If he knew that there was so much potential in selling antiques, he would have chosen to specialise in archaeology.


    ...


    It was nightfall.


    Like a nimble cat, Fang Yuan flipped over the walls and left the school compound, smiling cheekily to himself.


    Fang Yuan had done something to the figure of Aquilaria Maitreya, making it traceable.


    Otherwise, why would Fang Yuan stupidly place such a valuable treasure in the shop with a single shopkeeper to look after it?


    "Are there still stalkers? Is my behaviour out of the norm?"


    He flipped over another wall, crossed an alley and lifted a piece of roof tile. With that, he noticed a middle-aged person leaning on the window outside, observing Fang Yuan''s door diligently.


    However, he appeared tired and bored as he yawned continuously.


    ''After all, I am only a student and not an evil murder. I also did not reveal any special ability and it would, therefore, be a waste of resources if they were to send a soldier from the special forces to stalk me. Where did this person come from?''


    Thinking about it, Fang Yuan flicked his finger and a puff of powder was scattered into the house.


    The well-built man started to shut his heavy eyelids. Not long after, he started to lean against the wall and snored loudly.


    All it took was just a little sleeping powder.


    After settling the stalker, Fang Yuan arrived at his own shop. Twitching his nose, he could detect a clear fragrance.


    "Little pals, it''s up to you guys now!"


    Fang Yuan opened a bamboo container, releasing a few bees.


    These bees were larger-sized than normal bees and were a little confused at first. After a while, they became focused and flew in a pattern in mid-air. With that, they headed towards a certain direction.


    "It''s working!"


    With an excited look, Fang Yuan quickly followed the bees.

 400 Earthbinding Spiri

    It was nightfall.


    The huge city was silent except for a few lampposts giving off a warm orange glow.


    In a guest room of a hotel, a window remained lit.


    "Hmph... such detailed carvings... and such an invigorating fragrance..."


    Thomas caressed the Aquilaria Maitreya in his hands and commented. "Chinese Country... such a magical place. I believe prophet will be extremely interested in this place..."


    After admiring it for a long while, he finally kept the wooden figurine in his safe before taking out another ceramic bottle. "This incense as well... Night, do you have any explanation for what had happened today?"


    "Very sorry, Mister, I was only thinking of securing the best price for you!"


    Night took a deep bow and bent over 90 degrees.


    "You do know... I hate it when my subordinates take their own initiatives. Make sure this is the last time it''ll ever happen!"


    Thomas rubbed his forehead. "Now... get out! I want to sleep!"


    "Yes, Mister. Good night and sweet dreams!"


    Night took another bow and took her leave.


    Seeing her leaving the room, Thomas frowned. He initially requested a Chinese translator. What was the company thinking to send such a person? If not for her pretty face, he would have fired her on the spot.


    "Stupid white person! How dare he order me around!"


    After returning to her own room, Night''s voice suddenly sounded ferocious. Her forehead became black and there was a red glow in her eyes. "It''s a magical equipment! That Aquilaria Maitreya must be a magical equipment! It is mine! Mine!"


    As she exclaimed, her voice became hoarse as though she was an entirely different person. It was an eerie sight which would shock anyone who witnessed it.


    "Hehe... and that despicable Chinese as well. How dare he offend me, a Yin Yang Master with noble blood! I will personally ensure his death!"


    Night snickered eerily and retrieved a black leather box from the closet.


    The leather box was locked. Unlocking it revealed many mysterious looking talismans and bottles, as well as a black-coloured notebook.


    Night caressed her white fingers across the objects in the box and finally took a purple bottle with a long neck. Opening it released a stench of bloody smell with a blend of mysterious fragrance.


    "Hehe..."


    Night''s original pale face was now flushed red with excitement. She took a purple brush, dipped the blood-red ink from the bottle and started to draw a pentagon-shaped array on the clipboard.


    "Sh*t... The disturbance in this world is too strong!"


    As she drew, there were a few times where the pen came to a halt. With a depressed look, she had to take out her knife and slice a wound on her arm every time that happened, dripping fresh blood on the paper.


    It was a weird thing for every time she dripped her fresh blood, her pen would move again and with much difficulty, she finally finished her final stroke.


    "As Little Night of the Plains, I am calling for the spiritual body which lies between hell and reality... Come out, my God!"


    Little Night of the Plains placed her palms together and the light in her room dimmed.


    On the ground, a Pentagon Array emitted a soft purple glow. On each of its five corners, there was a ball of white fire burning.


    "Whooo! Whooo..."


    A sinister wind blew across and there was a faint cry in the wind.


    ...


    In Thomas''s room.


    As the night breeze blew, an agile black silhouette climbed to his window. Unknowingly, it managed to open the window.


    Like a nimble black cat, the silhouette''s glaring eyes started to examine the room. "How did grandmaster''s treasure end up in the hands of a foreigner... It''s a pity that I''ve led my life honourably but now, I have to resort to being a thief... Eh?"


    With his senses, he managed to find the safe. Looking at the passcode lock, he was puzzled.


    "Who''s that?"


    With a chilling vibe, the old daoist leapt away from the safe and froze. He could see the door to the bedroom slowly opening.


    "Thomas... no, he''s being possessed!"


    Thomas was in a weird state as though he was half-awake and half-asleep. He had a scary expression and it was as though he was dream walking.


    Walking towards the safe, Thomas was oblivious to the surroundings. He entered the passcode and with a ''kacha'', the locked safe which troubled the daoist was unlocked.


    A hint of fragrance filled the room as the Aquilaria Maitreya appeared. Wads of cash were stuffed around the figure in a neat fashion.


    "As a daoist, I am not after riches. I shall just take the magical equipment!"


    The old daoist stretched out his hands and with that, the Aquilaria Maitreya landed in his palms.


    "Aw! Aw!"


    Seeing this, Thomas''s eyes started to glow green. He leapt towards the old daoist as though he was a crazed corpse.


    "Hmph! Such a small manipulative spell... how dare you show off in front of me!"


    Without a second thought, the old daoist took out a yellow talisman and pasted it on Thomas''s forehead.


    "Bang!"


    With a yellow glow, the foreigner stood there motionless as a grey fog was forced out of his head.


    "Boss!"


    All the commotion in the room finally attracted the attention of the bodyguards outside. After a few knocks, two big-sized bodyguards barged in. "Who the hell are you!"


    "The older I get, the more unlucky I become! Run!"


    The old daoist made his move.


    Through the old daoist''s spiritual eye, the grey fog started to come together, forming an illusionary shadow which leapt at him.


    Such an Earthbinding Spirit would be filled with emotions and aggression to seek vengeance.


    Now, it was being summoned out. Since it was within the vicinity of where Thomas died, it still had supernatural powers and was almost indestructible. Even if it was injured, it could recover quickly.


    Alas, the old daoist was still too slow. As the Earthbinding Spirit leapt on him, he could feel a chill all over his body and could no longer move.


    "How dare you attack boss! Call for backup!"


    The two bodyguards leapt forward and used the most basic martial arts to pin the daoist on the ground. "Jobson, I''ve got him!"


    ''I''ve been fighting against these lowly-skilled people for over 30 years and yet, I am caught by one of them today!''


    The old daoist was helpless as the other bodyguard shouted and went to look for the switch to on the lights.


    The thought of being sent to jail as a thief and a trespasser made the daoist even consider the option of death.


    "Chila!"


    At this point in time, the lights flooded the room before blowing out, throwing the entire room into darkness.


    "What''s happening!"


    "It''s a power trip!"


    "Oh, sh*t!"


    "Call the cops and look for torchlights!"


    ...


    The entire hotel was in chaos. Very quickly, a few torchlights were shining, illuminating the room.


    "Hmm? What''s happening?"


    In the other room, Little Night of the Plains shuddered. A hemp rope in her hands started to burn without reason, signalling that there was an incoming danger.


    "Wuu! Wuuu!"


    A white fox with bloodshot eyes appeared.


    "Is someone intruding my array?"


    Little Night squinted her eyes. "If it isn''t that daoist, who else could it be?!"


    "Whoosh!"


    In the darkness, there were a few sliver flashes.


    "Wuu! Wuuuuu!"


    The white fox exclaimed and its spiritual body was shaken.


    "Who are you exactly?"


    Little Night quickly retreated. In the corner of her eye, she could see a black silhouette approaching. There were cracking noises coming from the silhouette''s body and as it struck a fist towards Little Night, there was a frightening roar of a lion and a tiger.


    "A highly-skilled martial artist?"


    She nimbly dodged the fist and struck her leg covered in poison silently.


    "Bang!"


    Unfortunately for her, the black silhouette was prepared. With its left palm, it sliced downwards.


    "Kacha!"


    The distinct sound of bone fracture was heard and Little Night turned pale and fell to the ground. "Strength Opening?"


    "Bang!"


    With that, another fist slammed into her face and her nose started to bleed. She fainted in that instant.


    "Buy one get one free! With an Aquilaria Maitreya, I have attracted a Yin Yang Master and another daoist. It''s a good deal!"


    Fang Yuan smiled and kept his silver needles. Rummaging through the leather box, he became irritated. "There is indeed nothing good here. The only thing valuable might be the notebook which I can take some reference from!"


    Without hesitation, he took the notebook and scrubbed the Pentagon Array with his shoe.


    In the other room.


    The Earthbinding Spirit started to lose its power and slowly disappeared.


    The old daoist exclaimed and golden rays came out of his eyes. At that moment, the bodyguard felt that he was no longer pinning down a person, but a few bulls!


    "Bang!"


    With a humongous force, the bodyguard flew out. In a flash, the old daoist quickly escaped through the window and disappeared on the streets.


    Of course, the chaos in the hotel was none of Fang Yuan''s and his business.


    "Alright... you''ve stalked me for quite a while. How about you show me who you are!"


    The old daoist weaved in and out on the streets and finally entered a park before stopping by a brightly-lit lakeside.


    "Who would''ve thought... that I would encounter another cultivator in the city. And that the cultivator had robbed a hotel! Hehe..."


    Fang Yuan walked out of the shadows. His young looks shocked the daoist.


    At this point in time, the daoist''s appearance was also revealed under the moonlight.


    He had handsome facial features, a tall nose and distinct eyebrows. With small lips and a black-framed glasses, he seemed scholarly.


    No matter how Fang Yuan looked, the daoist could only remind him of the lecturer which taught political science in the university and looked nothing like a daoist.


    "I am Guo Jing. Thank you for your assistance!"


    Guo Jing gave an ancient greeting.


    Of course, if not for his shattered glasses and his swollen nose, he would still resemble a highly-skilled cultivator.


    "You''re welcome! I am Fang Yuan..."


    Fang Yuan waved his hands. "The Aquilaria Maitreya in your hands was bought from my shop..."


    "What?"


    As soon as he heard Fang Yuan, Guo Jing''s mouth was gaping. With an embarrassing smile, he continued. "I see, I have been reckless. Sigh... Little Master, why did you sell this to the foreigner?"


    Would Fang Yuan say that he had sold it to bait Guo Jing?


    Fang Yuan rolled his eyes and sounded unjust. "I don''t have enough money!!"


    It was a strong reason and there was no reason why Guo Jing should doubt him, making Guo Jing speechless.

 401 Medicinal Herbs

    "Knock! Knock!"


    Morning, the next day.


    The sun just rose and a violent knocking noise could already be heard from outside the door.


    "Who is it?"


    Fang Yuan opened the door groggily and saw two policemen in peak caps, "What''s the matter, officers?"


    "Are you Fang Yuan?"


    A tall policeman flipped through his records and continued asking, "Eh, Sambhogakaya Monastery Heart Questioning House''s owner? You even sold an Aquilaria Maitreya yesterday?"


    "Yes, I have already instructed my shop assistants to pay the taxes!"


    Fang Yuan asked confusedly, "Is there any other matter?"


    "Yesterday night, where were you between 12am to 3am?"


    The other policemen questioned him sternly. As the policemen represented the law''s sense of righteousness, they could easily cause those who were not firm in their thoughts to waver and let the cat out of the bag.


    "The weather was so cold and it was so late at night, I was, of course, sleeping at home..." Fang Yuan answered naturally.


    "Is there any witness or alibi? The Aquilaria Maitreya brought by Mr Thomas for 500,000 dollars was stolen in the hotel last night!" The policemen questioned Fang Yuan and immediately observed his reactions detailedly.


    "Stolen? What the..."


    However, Fang Yuan had the acting chops of an award-winning actor. A surprised yet shocked look appeared on his face and the policemen could not observe anything abnormal.


    "Ok, if you thought of anything else, please inform us immediately!"


    After a round of questioning, the two policemen bowed and left.


    "Indeed, they came just to try to scare me¡­.." Fang Yuan thought.


    Fang Yuan closed his courtyard doors. He then watered the medicinal herbs in his garden as usual with a slight smile on his face as he thought, "What a pity... I had a witness who was absent! And it was your own guy!"


    The stalker last night would most likely say that Fang Yuan was at home if not, he would then be admitting he was derelict in his duties.


    With him as a witness, Fang Yuan was naturally not worried at all.


    After he finished tending his garden, he rode his bicycle to a breakfast stall.


    There were not many people at the breakfast stall yet. The steaming hot buns in the bamboo steamers gave out a tantalising and salivating aroma.


    Fang Yuan immediately ordered his food and began slowly eating some buns and a bowl of spicy soup.


    Suddenly, Fang Yuan noticed Guo Jing enjoying his fried dough and porridge opposite him. Fang Yuan did not know when he appeared. Guo Jing was wearing a pair of sunglasses which was rather odd looking.


    After they finished their breakfast, the two of them mixed into the big group of people doing their morning exercise at the park.


    "Little Master... you have to treat my injury! Or else I can''t even go to work today!"


    They then went to a secluded spot in the forest. After ensuring there was no one following them, Guo Jing took off his sunglasses with a bitter smile to reveal a racoon eye which was strangely smaller than it was last night.


    "Old Guo, you are a security guard, there''s nothing wrong for you to get in a few brawls!"


    After Fang Yuan spoke to him last night, Fang Yuan knew more about him. Although Guo Jing was a cultivator, he was not officially a daoist. Instead, he worked as a security guard at a factory. It was the perfect example of being hidden in plain sight.


    "I am a nice old man deemed as a mister goody two shoes by the neighbour committee! If those middle-aged women found out I was involved in a fight, they would definitely annoy the hell out of me..." Guo Jing replied.


    "Eh, don''t worry! Take a seat!"


    Fang Yuan pricked the area between Guo Jing''s eyebrow with a silver needle and used his technique. A stream of spiritual energy was immediately transferred over to Guo Jing.


    Moments later, all the remaining bruises on Guo Jing''s body disappeared. He was no different from usual.


    "Ah... amazing!"


    Guo Jing took out a small mirror and looked at himself. He was satisfied and nodded, "Little Master, your magical needles skills are really perfect, it really reminds me of the Magical Needler Xue..."


    "I merely learnt it from some ancient books, I was lucky to cultivate till such..."


    Fang Yuan waved his arms and sat on a piece of rock, "Old Guo... do you think there are many people like us?"


    "I''m afraid not!"


    Guo Jing gave a bitter smile, "I have lived for so long and only met one, which is you... but lately, things are a bit different! Even though no one in my master''s sect has ever managed to cultivate the divine techniques in the , which I inherited from my master''s master, after fumbling with it these few years, I managed to achieve some results! I can now open my spiritual eye and draw talismans to mess with people!"


    "Doesn''t that means those people with lineage should have realised it by now and are secretly cultivating?"


    Fang Yuan stroked his chin and smile radiantly, "Old Guo, you don''t have to belittle yourself... your 6 Ding 6 Jia Talisman last night was really good. Also, with your spiritual eye techniques, next time, you can just wear a daoist robe and be a master exorcist!"


    "Although that 6 Ding 6 Jia God possession technique is powerful, it consumes too much elemental energy. If I didn''t meet you last night and you didn''t protect my elemental energy with your silver needles, my old bones would definitely not be able to get out of bed today! I would definitely be bedridden for 7 days and 7 nights to recover..."


    Guo Jing shook his head and took out a cloth bag, "This magical equipment... I should return it to its owner!"


    "No need!"


    Fang Yuan shook his head, "I have already sold this magical equipment, if you want to return it to its owner, you have to return it to Mr Thomas. Or you can keep it with yourself, anyway, I have nothing to do with it now."


    "Sigh... although this is a magical equipment, after yesterday night''s events, it''s a piece of trouble!"


    Guo Jing kept the sculpture with a bitter smile on his face, "I reckon the pickpockets in this city would definitely be super unlucky in the next few days..."


    "These thieves should be cleaned up!"


    Fang Yuan then asked interestedly, "What exactly is this magical equipment? Do you know?"


    "This... I only realised it yesterday when I went to look at the commotion!"


    Guo Jing awkwardly continued, "But this is definitely a magical equipment, it is also no doubt related to the Way of Brahma... Brahman magical equipment mostly can calm a person''s spirit and cleanse the psychological barriers in their hearts. This item should have similar effects... Whereas for other effects, I''m not really sure..."


    "It''s okay, you can keep it and slowly analyse it. If you have any new discoveries, just inform me..."


    Fang Yuan stood up and said, "I have to go to school now! I still have to rush my thesis!"


    In actual fact, Fang Yuan''s gains this time around was counted not bad already. Not only did he obtain a Yin Yang Master''s notebook, he met a real cultivator.


    Okay... although this cultivator seemed like an amateur, his background was real. He even allowed Fang Yuan to experiment on him, which was greatly beneficial to Fang Yuan''s process in perfecting his theories.


    ...


    "Write my thesis! Write my thesis! This time¡­.. I must really set the Thames on fire!"


    Inside Xijing University''s library, Fang Yuan sat in front a pile of books while biting his pen and thought, "Looks like I have to put in something substantial..."


    Fang Yuan''s pen could not stop moving and a stream of dragon-and-phoenix-like words appeared. In that instant, it was as though the surroundings became absolutely silent, all sorts of noise, commotion, ruckus and hullabaloo turned into silence and emptiness under the tip of his pen.


    After Fang Yuan wrote a few lines of words, he raised his head and saw the library was as per normal. Golden sun rays shined through the window and lighted up the fine dust particles in the air. Under the piles of books, there were many bookworms like Fang Yuan who had large round spectacles and were also busy studying.


    "After all, this realm has harsh laws and is realm purely based on physics. If I want to sense the heavens or what not, I better get to bed early!" Fang Yuan thought.


    Fang Yuan blew at his papers and stared at the tile of his thesis, !


    "It''s already not bad if the professors don''t think I''m an idiot after seeing such a thesis title! But the truth always rests with the minority!"


    Fang Yuan looked at the huge history books in front of him and a smile appeared on his face, "Spiritual King Comet? Interesting!"


    "Of course... just these pieces of evidence aren''t enough, I still need some human data. Else, the professors might really chuck my thesis into the bin... In Chinese Country, it is super embarrassing if someone can''t even pass the thesis defence..."


    Fang Yuan solemnly memorised the resources he obtained. After registering the books, Fang Yuan left the library and went to the Faculty of Traditional Chinese Medicine.


    "Fang Yuan, you''re here!"


    The faculty''s Professor Tian''s eyes lit up immediately when he saw Fang Yuan, "Did you complete your germination experiment? Are you bringing me some good medicines..."


    "No, I just came to prepare the resources for my thesis... I still need to contact the Traditional Chinese Medicine clinic for some medical cases!"


    "You still need the agreement of the patient and the patient''s family! Also, this is a bit too risky!"


    Professor Tian was not very happy about Fang Yuan''s thesis, "Fang Yuan, don''t be too ambitious. I''m not criticising you, but as long as you systematically and scientifically write down your experiences in cultivating the medicinal herbs in your thesis, even if other professors do not pass it, we can still save you a spot in our master''s degree programme!"


    "Think about it, artificially cultivated herbs that are as good as wild herbs'' medicinal properties! There is such a huge economic value in this, think about all the contributions you can bring to our motherland..."


    As Professor Tian tried to convince Fang Yuan, seeing Fang Yuan''s unwavering smile, he felt slightly gloomy.


    Prescriptions in Traditional Chinese Medicine had two aspects, it was symptomatic and based on medicinal herbs. Of course, after so many years, many wild medicinal herbs became extremely rare and could only be replaced by those grown artificially.


    However, many of these artificially cultivated medicinal herbs were always lousier than their counterparts found in the wild, even if they were of the same age.


    Furthermore, such minute differences could not even be detected by equipment. Professor Tian was extremely shocked when he discovered the medicinal herbs Fang Yuan grew were not in the tiniest bit lousier than those found in the wild.


    Nevertheless, Fang Yuan cooperatively participated in the research. They even did a control experiment with two medicinal herbs that were exactly the same and were both the same age. Although the equipment could not detect any difference, the effects of Fang Yuan''s medicinal herb was 30% better, which made Professor Tian completely baffled.


    "I''m still more interested in treating patients and saving lives!" Fang Yuan replied resolutely.


    In actual fact, the results were produced after Fang Yuan restrained his special ability already.


    The slightly stronger medicinal property could be attributed to good or secret cultivation skills and tips, but if the greatly shortened growth cycle and even the variations were found out, the herbs would be treated like monsters and would definitely be investigated.


    Although Fang Yuan was not afraid to reveal some more, what was the point?

 402 Healing the Wounded

    The Xijing University Chinese Hospital.


    Although it was not Fang Yuan''s first time here, he still hated the atmosphere of the hospital.


    It was depressing and boring and everyone here felt desolated... It was suffocating.


    "Haha... Professor Tian, what brings you here?"


    Both Fang Yuan and Professor Tian wore white robes and arrived at the office of the hospital. A plump and half-bald dean came out and gave an inviting and warm smile.


    "Old Wang, this is Fang Yuan, the one I''ve mentioned to you about!"


    Professor Tian chuckled as he pushed Fang Yuan forward. "He is prepared to perform a new Traditional Chinese Medicine technique and is looking for a few patients here to try on..."


    "I see..."


    Dean Wang''s eyebrows twitched but he slowly became relaxed. "No problem... head to the outpatient walk-in area, I will be fully responsible for you!"


    He was only so forthcoming because Professor Tian was an important figure in the Traditional Chinese Medicine community.


    "Do I seem like such a person? Don''t worry, Little Fang is extremely professional!"


    Professor Tian glared at Dean Wang.


    "Oh, I see!"


    Dean Wang smiled. "Is he your student? Like teacher, like student!"


    With that, he knew that he did not have to bother about the probation period and job experience. "What are your intentions?"


    "Dean Wang, I am here to solve the untreatable cases. You can hand any medical case deemed hopeless to me!"


    Fang Yuan chuckled.


    "Oh?"


    Dean Wang was stunned. "Why is that so?"


    "I am primarily looking for cases where the patients and their family members are in despair so they would readily agree to this, reducing the chances of conflicts between them and us in the future... Furthermore, I want representatives from the young, middle-aged and old. The best would be to have these representative suffer from the same illnesses so that I can compare them!"


    Fang Yuan stated all his conditions at one go and also hinted that he would donate to the hospital in his personal capacity.


    "Alright, I''ll prepare!"


    Dean Wang was stunned for a moment before agreeing to Fang Yuan.


    After all, Traditional Chinese Medicine was always not as attractive as western medicine. Even the Xijing University Chinese Hospital had ran into economic problems.


    "You kid... how did you convince Dean Wang?"


    After ensuring that no one else was near them, Professor Tian enquired.


    "I only agreed to sponsor the hospital... Of course, I will not do it publicly!"


    Fang Yuan smiled. "In my personal capacity, I will buy medical equipment and donate it to the Traditional Chinese Medicine faculty before letting you donate it using the school''s name. Everything is clear, so what is there for us to fear?"


    "Sigh... young people these days!"


    Professor Tian remained speechless and did not know if he should feel happy or sad.


    After a short while, Dean Wang returned with a few doctors following him. "Doctor Little Fang, nice to meet you. I have already chosen a few medical cases according to your requirements."


    With that, one of the doctors handed him three sets of documents. "Lu Wei, 65 years old, multiple organ failure. Zhao Guoping, 37 years old, the final stage of stomach cancer. Sun Xiaohong, 15 years old, paralysed. These cases are similar to each other. What do you think?"


    "Alright, tell them and their family members that I will pay for their medical bills!"


    Fang Yuan flipped through the documents and realised that all three of them were middle-income families and could no longer support the burden of the medical bills. Therefore, the chances that they would agree to Fang Yuan''s offer was high.


    "The few of you will draft the document and settle the agreement. I will follow up after they have signed the agreement!"


    Fang Yuan closed the document and there was a look of sorrow in his eyes.


    Why was there so much sadness and separation in this world?


    ...


    "Oh? Alright!"


    As the few doctors took their leave, they started to discuss softly among themselves. "How''s the new guy? Is he arrogant?"


    "After all, he is Professor Tian''s student. Even Dean Wang has to respect him!"


    "Even so, he cannot play around with the patients'' lives... However, by agreeing to foot their medical bills, he has resolved these 3 hard medical cases..."


    ...


    "Doctor Fang! The 3 patients and their family members have agreed to sign the agreement. Here are the documents!"


    After a while, a nurse entered and handed 3 documents to Fang Yuan.


    "Hmmm, alright, I''ll first take a look at Lu Wei!"


    Fang Yuan slowly stood up and the aura around him changed.


    His calm and composed disposition resembled that of a noble doctor, making the nurse dumbfounded.


    She had only seen such vibes from the few old professors before.


    Paying no attention to her, Fang Yuan entered the ward. "Are you Lu Wei? I am the doctor in charge of your treatment!"


    "It''s you?"


    The few middle-aged men and women gave looks of suspicion and started to mumble among themselves. "Regardless, the hospital has agreed to cover all his medical bills, right?"


    "That''s right!"


    Fang Yuan nodded his head.


    "Alright, then we shall hand him over to you. Remember to get a nurse to attend to him every day!"


    The few of them quickly took their leave. Looking at how they seem much more relaxed after knowing that the patient would not burden them further made Fang Yuan sigh.


    A bedridden elderly would eventually lose all his filial sons.


    On the bed, the old man opened his eyes and his wrinkled face was emotionless. Or rather, he had difficulty expressing his emotions.


    "We have temporarily suspended his previous treatment. Let me use my needles for now..."


    Fang Yuan sat down beside him and retrieved a silver needle.


    His needle was almost 4 inches long. However, it seemed soft and runny, which confused the nurses around.


    Such a long and thin needle was something that not all doctors were able to use. A slight deviation in the execution of the technique would result in the needle being bent even before entering the acupuncture point.


    ''Hmm... Life is as fragile as a candle in the wind, and the body is as weak as a rotten tree!''


    Executing the needle technique from the Green Capsule Scripture Additional Recording, Fang Yuan pierced his first needle.


    A stream of inner power entered through the needle. The old man felt more energetic and started to move his eyeballs.


    "Mr Lu... I am only a doctor and not a god. Therefore, my treatment can only alleviate your pain and let you feel comfortable in your final days!"


    Fang Yuan continued to pierce the other acupuncture points as he calmly spoke.


    "Patient... the patient is moving his mouth!"


    The nurse widened her eyes and shrieked.


    To her, this old man was a vegetable long ago and was holding on to his last breath. However, he seemed much more energetic and lively now as though there was no more pain?


    "Thank... thank you!"


    The old man forcefully moved his lips and spoke.


    "You''re welcome, it''s my responsibility!"


    Fang Yuan smiled and stood up before calling the nurse over. "From now onwards, you will be in charge of taking care of him. I''m sure I don''t have to repeat his dietary requirements, right?"


    "Oh, yes!"


    The nurse now regarded Fang Yuan as a mysterious person and did not dare to disobey his order.


    ...


    "No! I will not agree to it!"


    It was evening and Fang Yuan had completed his treatment for the second patient, Zhao Guoping. After comforting Zhao Guoping''s teary-eyed wife, Fang Yuan arrived at the final ward.


    In the ward, an agitated voice was heard. "Little Hong''s condition has just stabilised. How can you just change her doctor? I will not agree to it!"


    "Cough cough... Qin Wangqing, please mind your words. This is the dean''s decision. Furthermore, the patient''s family members have already agreed to it. Do you think you have any say in this?"


    A fellow colleague gave a piece of advice.


    "Doctor Qin, we know your good intentions. However, Little Hong still wants to stand on her feet. We do not want to miss any opportunity..."


    A pair of middle-aged parents spoke with tears welled up in their eyes.


    "..."


    Doctor Qin was speechless. She wanted to reveal to them that the patient''s leg had been put through examination and there was already an irreversible nerve damage. Even a miracle would not be able to make her stand again.


    Looking at the wide-eyed young girl leaning on her bed, Doctor Qin could not bring herself to say it. After a long while, he finally decided on what to say.


    "If he is a renowned doctor, then I have no worries... But Little Hong, you must know that he is only 16 years old!"


    "What?"


    "16 years old?"


    Sun Xiaohong''s parents were stunned. Although there were instances in western medicine where the young doctors could potentially become more capable than the older doctors, in Traditional Chinese Medicine, nothing like that had ever happened before. They started to feel a tinge of regret.


    "Cough cough... Doctor Qin, you are unethical to talk bad about others behind their backs!"


    Fang Yuan felt embarrassed as he eavesdropped on the conversation. With a cough, he entered the ward.


    "You are... Doctor Fang?"


    The patient''s parents'' eyes glistened as soon as they saw Fang Yuan.


    They had to admit that Fang Yuan''s matured appearance gave them confidence. He had a special vibe and people would even believe him if he were to claim that he was 20.


    "I stand fast on what I''ve said... If Professor Tian came personally, I would have no qualms, but you, I will never agree!"


    Qin Wanqing spoke with a cold tone.


    "It''s your business if you don''t agree. Since the patient''s parents have already agreed, don''t stand in my way!"


    Fang Yuan placed his hands in his pocket and walked forward.


    Although it was a rare sight to see a pretty female doctor in the hospital, in Fang Yuan''s eyes, she was no different from any other females.


    "Are you Xiaohong?"


    Fang Yuan approached the bed and examined the girl leaning on the bed.


    Sun Xiaohong and a long face and thick sideburns. She had big eyes and it was as though people could see a hint of hope in them.


    "That''s me! Are you 16? You''re only 1 year older than me!"


    Sun Xiaohong blinked her eyes.


    "Hehe... That''s true!"


    Fang Yuan nodded his head. "How? Would you like to stand on your feet again?"


    "Yes, of course"!


    Sun Xiaohong spoke with determination.


    "Believe in me, that is all I ask for!"


    Fang Yuan''s eyes glistened and he gave a reassuring smile.


    Never would he know that he would get an unexpected finding from these few medical cases.


    Through his Fiery Golden Eyes, Sun Xiaohong''s physical body was stronger than the average adult and it was as though Fang Yuan was looking at another Zhao Daniu.


    She was an evolver. Although she was only slightly evolved and was only slightly more energetic than other children, with the correct guidance, she could discover some abilities of her own, for instance, self-healing. Together with the techniques described in the Green Capsule Scripture Additional Recording, she had an extremely high chance of complete recovery.


    ''This is great! With her, it is even better than treating 10 or 100 normal patients!''


    Fang Yuan''s eyes glistened. However, Qin Wanqing interpreted his attitude towards Sun Xiaohong as a hostile one. "Fang Yuan, I warn you not to do anything stupid!"

 403 Thesis

    "Doctor Qin, please do not disturb me while I am performing my diagnosis!"


    "You..."


    Qin Wanqing was furious as she held herself back.


    "Let me look at your wound..."


    Fang Yuan could not afford to expose his special skill and had to act as though he was examining the wound on the thigh of the young girl.


    He could not avoid skin contact with the patient and therefore, Sun Xiaohong blushed in embarrassment. However, she quickly got used to it and composed herself.


    "Doctor Fang, how''s it?"


    The parents of Sun Xiaohang were concerned and came over to Fang Yuan as soon as he had completed his diagnosis.


    "Her situation is not that bad. If she is willing to cooperate for the treatment, she should have the hope of standing on her two feet again after half a year!"


    "It''s impossible! Don''t believe him!"


    Qin Wanqing looked at the parents as they almost knelt down in front of Fang Yuan. With that, she exploded. "Xiaohong can never walk on her feet again. Don''t trust him!"


    As soon as she finished her piece, she felt that she had said something wrong.


    "Doctor Qin, thank you for your care for the past few weeks. However, please leave!"


    Sun Xiaohong had a look of despair as her parents furiously retorted.


    "All of you will regret it!"


    Qin Wanqing gritted her teeth but did not feel any resentment towards the family. Instead, she felt like biting Fang Yuan''s flesh and was already plotting to expose Fang Yuan''s lie.


    "Wait a minute!"


    Fang Yuan shouted out. "Doctor Qin, since you are worried about Xiaohong, how about this... you shall be in charge of taking care of her daily. After all, I will only perform my acupuncture for a few minutes every time. You can also observe me! How''s that?"


    This female doctor had a good heart and was also rather skilled in Traditional Chinese Medicine. With a caring heart, Fang Yuan could make use of her to do the menial work.


    "Only acupuncture? Alright..."


    Qin Wanqing thought for a while before agreeing, for she felt that she had a duty to protect her patients. However, she could not control herself. "However, it is illogical for you to cure her paralysis by simply performing acupuncture, and this is according to Traditional Chinese Medicine... There have been no successful examples of it in history."


    "The theory is about to be formed and you shall witness the example!"


    Fang Yuan blinked his eyes. "After all, this is my graduation project!"


    "I knew it..."


    Qin Wanqing rolled her eyes and felt that the world was hopeless.


    "Let the truth speak for itself!"


    Fang Yuan forcefully calmed himself down, brought a spirit lamp and sanitized the silver needles.


    "You have lost all feeling in your legs, right? If you do feel anything later on, remember to tell me!"


    He gently reminded Sun Xiaohong before lightly piercing her acupuncture. Following the teachings of the Green Capsule Scripture Additional Recording, his inner energy flowed through the silver needle an entered Sun Xiaohong''s body.


    The human body was a world in itself and had its own circulatory system. This was the theory written in the Green Capsule Scripture Additional Recording.


    Measuring the energy flow, Fang Yuan could feel that there was a blockage as soon as the inner energy flowed towards the wound on the thigh.


    Encountering such a condition, anyone else would conclude that there was nothing that could be done to treat the legs.


    ''Hmm... even with my medical skills, if this patient was a normal person, I would need to spend at least a few years to stimulate the growth of the damaged nerves...''


    This was after taking Fang Yuan''s cultivation level into consideration.


    ''However, Sun Xiaohong is different. She is already slightly evolved and the source of her energy is comparable to a matured adult. As long as there is addition stimulation and guiding to guide her special ability to heal, she would be able to recover completely in half a year, providing yet another example to support my thesis...''


    Fang Yuan''s eyes twinkled with excitement.


    ''Of course, the subject of guiding one''s special ability to stimulate spiritual droplets into another special ability is an interesting one too!''


    Regardless of what Sun Xiaohong''s initial special ability was, Fang Yuan was prepared to alter it completely and forcefully, turning it into a self-healing ability.


    "How''s it? What do you feel?"


    After half an hour, Fang Yuan kept his needles and wiped off the sweat from his forehead.


    "I... I felt a warm sensation in my body as though there was a flow of energy towards my thigh..."


    Sun Xiaohong blushed in embarrassment and tears welled up in her eyes. "Just now... I felt an itch on my thigh!"


    "Impossible!"


    Qin Wanqing shook her head. "Xiaohong, you must be hallucinating. That must be it! This is impossible... It is just acupuncture. How can there be such a satisfactory result?"


    Amidst Sun Xiaohong''s parent''s joy, she appeared dazed and desolated.


    Fang Yuan gave a look of pity as he gazed at this female doctor.


    How could she be so unwilling to accept the fact? What if she were to witness supernatural happenings in the future? Would she accuse the whole world of being wrong and become a frenzied person?


    "Alright, Doctor Qin, I''ll leave her in your capable hands!"


    It was none of Fang Yuan''s business as to how others viewed him. With a casual flick of his bag, Fang Yuan walked out with style. "From today onwards, I will perform my acupuncture on her weekly. Everything else remains the same for her."


    "Alright, Doctor Fang!"


    Qin Wanqing was stunned as she replied, giving a complicated look.


    ...


    As the seasons went by, there was a commotion in Xijing University.


    The graduating students were about to graduate, vacating their spots for the freshmen.


    To every university student, the thesis was the hardest thing to do. They would most of the time prepare many months in advance, and after many comments and feedback from their teachers, they would correct it countless times. It was as though they would climb through hell and back.


    Interestingly, although those teachers would give them heartless comments and strict feedbacks, they would ultimately become lenient when it came to grading the thesis, allowing most of the students to graduate with a degree.


    Of course, Fang Yuan had this experience in his past life and was prepared to not follow this path again.


    It was Sunday.


    The sun was shining brightly and there was a cool breeze.


    Lecturer Wu from the Faculty of Social Sciences carried a huge stack of documents and ran towards the classrooms. As he opened the door, a room full of professors gazed towards him, making him embarrassed.


    He had entered the wrong classroom.


    "Mr Wu, are you here to listen as well?"


    Before he could turn around, a familiar face greeted him and even passionately offered a seat to him.


    "Yes... Haha..."


    Lecturer Wu laughed and awkwardly accepted the seat as he prepared to give an excuse to take his leave later on.


    ''This arrangement seems like... the questioning of a thesis, something''s not right...''


    Lecturer Wu was a little confused. "Which faculty is this student from?"


    "Don''t you know? He is from the gifted class, a kid under Old He!"


    Lecturer Wu got a prompt reply from his friend.


    "Oh, then he must be around 16 or 17? No wonder there are so many people listening to him!"


    Lecturer Wu seemed to understand the commotion. However, he slowly noticed more and more lecturers entering the classroom before his eyes became widened. "That is... Professor Tian from the Faculty of Traditional Chinese Medicine and Professor He from the Faculty of Biology... Oh my, why are the professors from the Faculty of Astronomy here as well? And the assessors too. What kind of thesis is so complicated? Inter-faculty as well?"


    "You''ll know after reading it..."


    With a complicated look, his friend passed him a printed copy of the thesis.


    "Oh? A discussion about the relationship between Traditional Chinese Medicine and the human body and their association with the movement of the celestial bodies? What a broad topic indeed..."


    Lecturer Wu had also done research in biology before. After flipping through a few pages and reading about a few examples, his expression changed. "This is interesting..."


    "Alright, the thesis defence will commence now!"


    Just as Lecturer Wu became absorbed into the thesis, a stern voice was heard.


    Shocked, he raised his head and realised that even the vice-principal was here and was sitting in front. ''There seems to be a lot of professional people for this thesis defence. Will the young man be stressed out?''


    "Good day, lecturers! I am Fang Yuan!"


    With this, a young man walked up to the podium. He was tall and was smiling widely.


    "Hmmm... The gifted are indeed more matured. If someone were to say that he was 20, I would still believe!"


    As the teachers discussed among themselves, Fang Yuan ignored their small talks and spoke with a confident voice. "The topic of my thesis is... The Relationship between Traditional Chinese Medicine, Human Evolution and the Revolution of Celestial Objects!"


    "As everyone knows, Traditional Chinese Medicine has its foundation on Yin, Yang and the Five Elements. The blood and veins are known as meridians, and the essence, energy and spirit make up the skeleton... However, the fact is that all of these are intertwined by energy! The human body is a world in itself and has its own natural circulatory system. Energy will flow within this system, and a small change within this circulation will be able to have a strong impact on the body. This is the basis for my theory of the Big Circulation!"


    "There are many treasures within the human body, and the body is a world in itself. The Big Circulation allows energy to transcend the different parts of the body, activating the process of replacing old cells with new cells as well as the recovery process, if any... Please refer to the annexes for examples as to how treatment can be performed according to this theory, as well as my 13 Needles Technique..."


    "The human body is a small world, and the universe is a large world. Both worlds can exchange energies, and this is the exchange between nature and the human body! The environment in the outside world will be affected by energy and will manifest in the small world of the human body. This is known as ''evolve''. I believe that we are in a prime time. As the energy in the universe becomes increasingly concentrated, humans will get closer and closer to a breakthrough!"


    "Rubbish!"


    At this point in time, a lecturer who was appointed an assessor could not hold it in any longer. "Rubbish! What the hell are you saying?"


    "Please note that all I am stating are facts. As a scientist, I have predicted all of these with sufficient evidence..."


    Fang Yuan remained composed. "You cannot deny its existence just because you have not seen it for yourself before!"


    "Alright, so where''s your evidence?"


    "My evidence is in this stack of the date of our country''s population as well as the fact that there is a new record being set in the Olympics..."


    Fang Yuan held a timeline in his hands. "We can see for ourselves that before the world war, the record has never been broken. However, in a short span of the past 10 years, we have continuously broken the record numerous times. The quality of life has also gone up to be much higher than the accumulative quality of life for the past 100 years..."


    "This is due to the improvements in technology and usage of them..."


    "However, there are such examples in the ancient times as well. Please refer to the attached recording regarding the records of the Spiritual King Comet!"


    Fang Yuan smiled. "In history, there were multiple encounters with the Spiritual King Comet. We have also observed its trend and predicted that it will visit our world every 100 years to bring change!"


    "In this history recording, after the appearance of Spiritual King Comet, many humans have sighted ghosts and deities and therefore, we are able to deduce something from this... For instance, in recent years, there were revolutions in every country which commence the era of sea exploration..."

 404 Inheritance

    The Spiritual King Comet was an unusual comet. It had a light green coloured comet tail and an orbital period of a thousand year. It roamed across the universe and flew by Planet Earth.


    But the unusual thing was, every time it flew pass Planet Earth in history, many events would occur, especially the appearance and increase in divine and supernatural forces.


    Of course, Fang Yuan did not mention these as they were too shocking and taboo.


    "Of course... the example I will be giving is not a retortion but part of my evidence!"


    Fang Yuan displayed large amounts of data and formulae, "We can look at this curve related to the evolution of the human physical body. I have divided it into four stages and each section represents 10 years. This coincides with the wave crest of Spiritual King Comet''s radiation¡­.. The first crest is at Year 994 which was the start of the World War. Hence, I predict, in the Year 1004 and Year 1014, human bodies would reach a new peak. 20 years later, in the Year 1024 when the Spiritual King Comet officially reaches the boundary of Planet Earth, it would bring about tremendous changes..."


    "In conclusion, the core of my thesis is that the human body is a small world where energy circulates. Energy in the body can sense and exchange with energy outside the body and the body is also affected by this energy. The peaks in energy are also closely related to the Spiritual king Comet. Thus, its next arrival would definitely bring about changes to the environment of Planet Earth and hence cause humans to undergo tremendous changes!"


    "Regarding the factuality of my thesis and the examples I have I given, we can look at three cases in the Traditional Chinese Medicine hospital."


    "Lu Wei has already lived two months longer than his expected life expectancy. Zhao Guoping''s late-stage stomach cancer has already been controlled. In particular, Sun Xiaohong has already recovered her knee-jerk reflex, her situation is very optimistic!"


    "I suggest, the last part about the start of the period of great evolution in humans can be judged next year!"


    Fang Yuan had an odd smile on his face and bowed down.


    After his presentation, there was absolute silence.


    Many old professors and judging professors had a dumbfounded expression on their face.


    "In actual fact¡­... by changing the name of spiritual droplets to energy, it should be the easiest way for these old researchers to understand what I am saying?" Fang Yuan thought as he stared in front silently.


    "Qigong has already been proven as pseudoscience! Student Fang Yuan, are you trying to reverse that verdict?"


    Biology Professor Ho raised his glasses and said, "Professor Zhang, what do you think?"


    "The orbital period of Spiritual King Comet is indeed very long. Also, surrounding it are some mysterious phenomenon that could not be explained until now..."


    Professor Zhang was a bit hesitant.


    "But just looking at the front part on Traditional Chinese Medicine with real medical cases as evidence, I think it is not bad!" Professor Tian immediately supported his own student.


    "I oppose, letting him pass the thesis defence is going against the rigour of science! How can you be so sure to confirm these with just a few conjectures and medical miracles..."


    The biology professor was moving his arms wildly while criticising Fang Yuan, which made Fang Yuan slightly pity him.


    The poor professor''s world view, philosophy of life and values were definitely on the verge of breaking apart.


    "I agree to pass him... Professor Zhang, how about you?"


    Professor Tian''s palms were sweaty as he looked at Professor Zhang, the last person to make the decision.


    "On principle, I agree, but, I reserve the rights to pursue this retrospectively. Just like what he said, we must be rigorous in our research and projects. We will wait and see next year!"


    Professor Zhang stood up and left his seat.


    As many teachers began to left, they still continued to discuss Fang Yuan''s thesis.


    Before He Tianming left, he patted Fang Yuan''s shoulder with a mixed emotion on his face, as though he was comforting Fang Yuan and yet seemed like he had other feelings.


    "Sigh... you!"


    Professor Tian waited for Fang Yuan to come down before he approached him with high hopes, "In the end, you still presented it... I already told you early on, just with your front portions, you would be a new pioneer in the field of Traditional Chinese Medicine and you can even skip having a postgraduate degree. But you chose to add in those paranormal content or what not at the back which dragged you down..."


    "Because truth... always rests with the minority!"


    Fang Yuan smiled and appeared confident.


    ...


    "Energy... Spiritual King Comet?"


    That night, Fang Yuan''s thesis was on top of a desk in a certain office.


    "He''s already reached this stage? What a genius!"


    Director Zhou who especially went to Mountain Ocean City to invite Fang Yuan last time was reading the thesis word for word. He felt a bit conflicted as he thought, "Just that it''s a pity... we cannot immediately verify whether his theory is correct or not. But just with the few medical cases, it should be of enough value..."


    At Director Zhou''s level, he could easily obtain the hospital''s patient information. He was very clear that whatever Fang Yuan said were all true.


    This was especially so for Zhao Guoping, he even controlled his condition and it was turning benign. Also, that Sun Xiaohong was also a miracle.


    "It''s a pity... that Fang''s 13 Needles Technique could only be done by one and a half person in the entire Faculty of Traditional Chinese Medicine currently."


    One was obviously Fang Yuan, while the other half a person was Professor Tian.


    There was no choice, even if Fang Yuan further simplified his guiding needle process and energy transferring process, if one did not know how to use the technique, he still would not know even if it was simplified.


    This was just like how that Qin Wanqing had no progress at all after learning for so long.


    Director Zhou thought for a while and placed the thesis in a file. He chopped the "Secret" stamp on it and called his secretary over, "Send this to Mailbox 27, Copper Bay immediately!"


    "Yes!"


    The secretary bowed and ran out of the office.


    In actual fact, that location was merely a layer of disguise. After the file was strictly inspected and passed around numerous times, it finally arrived at an underground military base.


    A middle-aged person who just finished watching an experiment returned to his office and was reading the thesis intently. He then mumbled to himself, "Fang Yuan? Interesting..."


    ...


    Autumn passed and it was now winter.


    Although the thesis defence was not very smooth sailing, Fang Yuan still passed in the end. It was now the time period where the University presented the degree certificates and arranged jobs for the graduates.


    However, it was as though Xijing University totally forgot about Fang Yuan. While other Year 4 students were already presented with job opportunities, there was absolutely no news for Fang Yuan.


    Of course, these were all on the surface.


    Fang Yuan also felt the level of security on him had already secretly increased, there were even traces that the medicinal herbs grown in his gardens were sampled for analysis.


    It was a pity as Fang Yuan was extremely cautious and would leave absolutely zero traces. No matter how many times they checked on it, they could only reach the same conclusion that these medicinal herbs were just normal medicinal herbs.


    Fang Yuan was also too lazy to be bothered by it and continued his usual routine of cultivating and going to the hospital.


    After half a year, Fang Yuan felt his Elemental Spiritual Energy Cultivation Spell was close to completion. He just needed a key opportunity for him to breakthrough.


    "It''s Doctor Fang!"


    The moment Fang Yuan walked into the hospital, another doctor walking towards him had his eyes lit up immediately as though he just saw a god.


    "Divine Doctor Little Fang!"


    "Master Fang!"


    The nearby patients and doctors erupted and swarmed towards Fang Yuan at once as though they were crazily chasing after a star.


    Ever since Zhao Guoping''s late-stage cancer became benign and he could even be discharged to go to work, the deserving title of "Divine Doctor" landed on Fang Yuan.


    There were many people who came over wanting to observe, interact with and even learn from Fang Yuan. Of course, there were even more patients with all sorts of cancer that begged for Fang Yuan, some of their connections could not even be rejected by Dean Wang.


    Seeing such, Fang Yuan could only keep repeating his cautions that his medical treatments were only an experiment and there would be sequelae and all sorts of uncertainty. Fang Yuan just kept trying to belittle himself and with a certain unknown force protecting him, he managed to have some peace.


    Of course, there were still some instances every two or three days. Due to the rage in Qigong recently, many people wanted to cultivate too and came over to request Fang Yuan to accept them as disciples. There was even a youth that knelt in front of the hospital for three days straight, which made Fang Yuan want to roll his eyes.


    Congratulations, youth, you were so close!


    "Professor Tian, Dean Wang!"


    Inside the hospital, Professor Tian and Dean Wang led a group of researchers who were staring intently at Fang Yuan.


    "Sigh... after Old Lu persevered till now, he was in a critical condition a few times this morning..." One of the doctors said with his eyes red.


    "His days are numbered, what can we do..."


    Fang Yuan shook his head, "I''ll go take a look at him!"


    Naturally, a human''s energy was not unlimited. At the stage of multiple organ failures, it was certain that his days were numbered, and one could only try his best to care for him.


    The group of people arrived at the intensive care unit. There were numerous equipment and instruments surrounding Lu Wei, who was lying down on the bed in an unconscious state.


    "He is in a deep coma, we have tried all sorts of method to wake him up but to no avail..." Dean Wang spoke softly.


    "Bring me the needles!"


    Fang Yuan furrowed his brows as he watched.


    Professor Tian personally brought over a case of needles.


    Fang Yuan picked up one needle and slightly squinted his eyes.


    The surrounding doctors immediately stood still and kept quiet. One of them even took out a camera and began recording.


    "Swoosh!"


    Fang Yuan could not be bothered about what was happening behind him. The moment he picked up the needle, he was in an extremely calm state of mind. Suddenly, Fang Yuan moved; his right hand moved like the wind.


    "Woosh! Woosh!"


    In an instant, Old Lu was pricked 13 times and he jerked slightly.


    When Fang Yuan poked his second needle, Old Lu''s eyelids twitched before he woke up.


    "Amazing!"


    Dean Wang played back the scene and shook his head in awe at the same time, "This Fang''s 13 Needles Technique requires one to prick 13 acupuncture points in a row at the start within 3 seconds. There is only a margin of error of 0.01 second between each needle! In the entire Faculty of Traditional Chinese Medicine, only Professor Tian could barely achieve it... however..."


    Dean Wang had already witnessed the effectiveness of this needle technique, but due to limitations and conditions, the technique could not be popularised. Thus, Dean Wang was naturally disappointed.


    "Doctor Fang... I guess I can''t make it to the next day!"


    Lu Wei opened his mouth and smiled while talking with no tinge of fear in him, "Lastly, thank you... I have a courtyard house in Wangfujing, I shall give it to you! Cough cough... this is my gratitude to you!"


    "What? The old man still has a courtyard house under him?"


    Outside the ward, the children of Old Lu were enraged, "Dad! You can''t be biased..."


    "How can you leave such a good thing to an outsider!"


    "Exactly..."


    The group of middle-aged men and women stared angrily at their father''s lifesaver, Fang Yuan, as though they immediately regarded him as an enemy.


    "Cough cough... all of you unfilial sons and daughters, I am sick and none of you even wanted to bear the medical fees... I... I don''t have such children! Doctor Fang, you must accept it!"


    Old Lu''s face was red.


    "Mister Lu, I don''t need this, but if you don''t want to leave it for your children, you can give it to the country!"


    Fang Yuan had a righteous expression on his face as he continued, "Treating you is my contribution to the field of medicine and definitely not for any personal gains."

 405 A New Era

    "Since that''s what you have requested... cough cough... I''ll donate it to the country!"


    Old Lu mumbled under his breath.


    "Mmm... Dean Wang, please help him see to it!"


    Without paying any attention to the glares of the unfilial sons and daughters, Fang Yuan left the hospital and arrived outside.


    It was winter and the sky was turning dark.


    Snowflakes drifted from the sky, covering the ground with a glossy layer.


    "Life... is this brittle!"


    Fang Yuan closed his eyes and could feel the flickering flame of life.


    "Hehe... Brother Fang, what are you looking at?"


    Sun Xiaohong ran towards Fang Yuan and her face became flushed. She was gasping for air. "It''s snowing. Why are you not carrying an umbrella? It''s cold outside..."


    "Just some random thoughts... Let''s return to the wards!"


    Fang Yuan stroked Sun Xiaohong''s head and she squinted her eyes in comfort. Like a lazy cat, she almost purred.


    "You can be discharged after a few more days of observation! Why are you not happy?"


    Fang Yuan continued to probe. "You told me that you wouldn''t want to spend an extra moment in the ward..."


    "I''m happy..."


    Sun Xiaohong twitched her nose and her eyes were filled with anticipation. "Can I come here to look for you next time?"


    "Of course you can!"


    Fang Yuan flicked the snowflakes from his clothing and brought Sun Xiaohong back to the ward. "Today is the last time I will perform acupuncture for you! Doctor Qin, you''re here too!"


    "Doctor Fang..."


    Qin Wanqing bit her lip. With a complicated look, she took a deep and apologetic bow. "I''m sorry for misunderstanding you last time! Also... please accept me as your disciple! I am willing to take all kinds of hardship."


    "It''s nothing much... What happened previously was only normal and I''m sure other doctors would react the same way as you did... As for accepting you as a disciple, I don''t have that practice..."


    Fang Yuan rubbed his head. "However, you can approach me if you do have any questions regarding Traditional Chinese Medicine!"


    "That''s great! Thank you, Doctor Fang!"


    No matter how bad Fang Yuan''s name was in Xijing University, in Qin Wanqing''s eyes, Fang Yuan would always be the noble doctor worthy of her respect.


    With that, her face turned red in embarrassment. "We''re about to usher in the new year... Doctor Fang, if you don''t mind, please come over to my house to have a meal!"


    After finishing her piece, Qin Wanqing started to scold herself inside as she did not know why she would do that.


    The fact was that there were many male doctors who were wooing her. Therefore, it was an unexpected thing that she would personally invite another male doctor to her house for a meal.


    "It is simply a meal to thank you!"


    Looking at Fang Yuan''s handsome face, her face became even redder as she tried to explain herself.


    "It''s the new year... In an instant, it''s going to be the year 1004..."


    Fang Yuan was filled with emotions. "It''s alright... In fact, this year, I am preparing not to accept any invitations... I have already decided to be alone and settle down."


    "That''s a pity..."


    Qin Wanqing forced a smile and thought of an excuse to take her leave.


    ...


    "Phew..."


    After a long morning of work, Fang Yuan returned to Xijing University and heaved a huge sigh. "I''m finally done with the day''s work..."


    The three medical cases in the hospital were concluded and Fang Yuan was too lazy to return there.


    He only attended a few lectures where he could not reject the invitations.


    "The new year will be here in a few days time..."


    The ground was covered in snow. Because of the winter break, many students had returned to their homes, but there were still a few students lingering around in the university.


    The empty school felt much more peaceful and vast.


    The remaining students who stayed behind in school were full of energy and built a few snowmen on the field.


    Fang Yuan had made a name for himself in the university. Those who could recognise him started to point fingers and talked about him.


    This was especially after they had realised his thesis, which sounded like a joke.


    Of course, there were a few of them who looked at him with pity. Those who didn''t know had thought that he had failed his thesis and had to retain another year because of the lack of job prospects.


    "Relax..."


    Witnessing this scene, Fang Yuan remained emotionless. "Time will pass very quickly..."


    ...


    The harsh and cold winter did little to dampen the festivities.


    After settling some stuff on hand, Fang Yuan returned to his hostel and waited for the day to arrive.


    "Pa!"


    Eye-catching fireworks exploded in the night sky.


    As the thunderous fireworks exploded, celebratory music was broadcasted throughout the entire nation.


    There were many people who knew that Fang Yuan was an orphan. Now that he had a different status, he had attracted the attention of many. For instance, Professor Tian had invited Fang Yuan to his house to usher in the new year and had unknowingly mentioned about his own granddaughter many times, making Fang Yuan speechless.


    The good thing was that there were no phones installed in Fang Yuan''s hostel and therefore no disturbance.


    Fang Yuan crossed his legs and sat down as he waited for 12 midnight and the new year.


    "It''s about to begin!"


    With the change of his expression, he could feel that the spiritual droplets in the surroundings became much more concentrated as the concentration increased by folds in an instant!


    "Rumble!"


    The changes which the spiritual droplets brought about were immense.


    In the next moment, with the inflow of spiritual droplets, Fang Yuan''s body became a blackhole, sucking all the spiritual energy from the heavens and earth.


    With this inflow of spiritual droplets, his Elemental Spiritual Energy Cultivation Spell which was at a bottleneck instantly achieved a breakthrough to the 2nd Grade and began its climb on towards the 3rd Grade.


    "After completion of the 1st Grade of the Elemental Spiritual Energy Cultivation Spell, my physical body should be similar to that of the evolvers. By making use of the spike in spiritual droplets and actively absorbing it, I will be able to benefit more compared to them who are passively absorbing it!"


    Fang Yuan''s eyes glistened as he looked at his own stats:


    "Name: Fang Yuan


    Essence: 3.0


    Spirit: 3.0


    Magic: 3.0


    Profession: ???


    Cultivation: ???


    Technique: [Elemental Spiritual Energy Cultivation Spell (Grade 3 (57%))]


    Skill: [Medicine (Level 3)], [Botany (Level 5)], [Fiery Golden Eyes (Level 1)]"


    "1st Grade of Elemental Spiritual Energy Cultivation Spell: Spiritual Droplets Affined Body transformed! Energy sense increased! 2nd Grade of Elemental Spiritual Energy Cultivation Spell: New ability to release spiritual energy!"


    "I have not only achieved a breakthrough to the 2nd Grade, but I have also completed almost half of the 3rd Grade? Furthermore... The ability to release spiritual energy in the 2nd Grade..."


    Previously, Fang Yuan was able to absorb spiritual droplets and turn them into spiritual energy. However, his physical limitation limited him to require the use of silver needles to transfer the spiritual energy.


    However, after gaining the ability to release spiritual energy now, everything would be different.


    "Furthermore... I will be able to use all sorts of talismans, daoist techniques and even control magical equipment... After removing this limitation, it is as though I am able to cast anything I want. Since I already have an idea of the different types of spiritual techniques, it will mean that my cultivation has already overtaken that of people like Guo Jing..."


    Although the rules of reality in this realm was different from Fang Yuan''s own realm, after gaining the ability to cast spells, Fang Yuan would merely have to alter the spiritual spells to follow the rules of this realm.


    Fang Yuan tilted his head as he thought hard to himself. With the snap of his finger, an orange ball of flame appeared.


    Seeing this, Fang Yuan started to smile. "This world... will be different!"


    ...


    At the same time, in Mountain Ocean City.


    "Hit him! Hit him!"


    10 over gangsters surrounded Zhao Daniu and started to beat him up. "Let''s see if you will still dare to open your roast fish stall and steal our business! Don''t you have an idea as to who is in charge of this street?"


    "Wreck his stall! Destroy it!"


    "Clang!"


    Amidst all the shattering, Zhao Daniu clenched his fist and his eyes turned bloodshot as he witnessed all his effort being wasted.


    "F*ck you for not giving me peace even on the night of new years!"


    One of the gangsters spat a mouthful of spit on Zhao Daniu''s face. "What a pity... you are still useless even though you''re well built!"


    "Bang!"


    As soon as the gangster finished his piece, a fist slammed into his face, causing his teeth and blood to fly. It was as though he was crushed by a car. Even if he were to survive, he would still suffer a concussion.


    "Ho! Ho!"


    Zhao Daniu''s eyes were bloodshot and he was breathing heavily. This honest bloke had finally exploded!


    "Bang! Bang bang!!"


    After all, he was also an evolver and had a physical body many times stronger than a normal human. He could even be considered a small superman.


    As his wrath was incurred, the 10 over gangsters were no match for him. Within seconds, all of them were lying on the floor.


    "You b*stard, go f*ck yourself!"


    It was a fact that fighting would make one reckless and irrational.


    A gangster shouted as he took out a knife and stabbed it towards Zhao Daniu''s thigh.


    "Kacha!"


    With a distinct sound, the blade of the knife snapped into two.


    "Mon... monster!"


    As the gangster shrieked, a huge fist was coming his way.


    Blood was spewing everywhere!


    "What... what did I do?"


    After a long while, Zhao Daniu came to his senses and had a look of confusion as he examined the mess around him.


    He looked at his own pair of hands.


    The skin on the back of his hand had a green hue and felt like a rock, as though it was indestructible.


    "What in the world... what is this, wait a moment... I think I have hit someone..."


    He lowered his head and examined the few gangsters which had attacked him earlier on.


    The few who had suffered from fractures were a small issue, for the few gangsters had a punch in their chest and it was obvious that they would not be able to survive it.


    A police siren was heard approaching.


    "I... I killed!"


    This man finally recalled all that had happened. Instead of fleeing, he knelt on the floor and started to cry...


    ...


    At the same time, in the capital.


    Sun Xiaohong was preparing dishes. Suddenly, she accidentally sliced her own finger.


    "Boohoo... it''s pain..."


    As her fleshed turned pale, crimson red blood started to seep out of the wound and she was on the brink of crying.


    However, before Sun Xiaohong could put a plaster on the wound, the deep cut had disappeared already.


    "Eh? This is weird..."


    She examined the wound for a long time before acknowledging the fact that it had recovered. With that, she was utterly confused.


    ...


    In a particular guest room.


    Guo Jing''s expression changed as he examined the spiritual light flashing on the magical equipment and talismans. He was filled with emotions. "This is not an illusion! Everything is real... The era of energy depletion... is over!"

 406 Ambush

    In an underground base.


    Telephones were ringing non-stop and even on new year''s day, every employee from top to bottom was present.


    On top of that, they seemed to be even busier than usual days.


    "Reporting! There is news from different locations with sightings of unusual bodies!"


    "There is an inferno man appearing in Musical City. He has caused widespread fire and there are 23 casualties as of now..."


    "Citizens from Black River City have reported sightings of an iceman walking on the surface of water..."


    The police of Mountain Ocean City have caught a mass murderer with skin as hard as rock. He is impenetrable and in a single fight, he had killed 1 and injured 13 others..."


    ...


    News of unusual sightings poured in, making everyone feel vexed.


    In the headquarters, a middle-aged man frowned as he looked at a screen before him.


    On a static screen, a normal looking young man started to hold his throat and cough vigorously.


    "Rumble!"


    A ball of flames shot out from his mouth as though he was a fire-spitting dragon.


    The middle-aged man was stunned and expressionless. Slowly, he looked at the other screens. Finally, he froze on his chair and started to read a printed copy of a thesis on his table:


    Before the arrival of the Spiritual King Comet, there were 4 instances of spikes in the radiation of spiritual energy. I shall call them occurrences!"


    "I the year 994, the first world war began and that was the first occurrence!"


    "The second occurrence will come in the year 1004 and will bring about many changes to humans, including the concept of life itself... It is not simply the strengthening of one''s physical body, but the improved usage of energy..."


    ...


    As the middle-aged man read through the thesis, he had a solemn look and went through every single word in detail.


    After a long while, he seemed to have snapped out of his trance as he plucked the telephone from the desk. "... That''s right! It''s me! I order you! Immediately protect this scientist! At all costs! That''s right, now!" Also... Immediately seal the information on the thesis and guard against it from being stolen or leaked out. Everything on the thesis is now classified!"


    After passing down his orders, he hung up and pressed his palm on his forehead, depressed. "D*mn it... Without sealing up all these information timely, I''m sure that some of it would have leaked out... Those subordinates are too slow when performing their duties..."


    However, he knew that his subordinates had treated the thesis as a joke. If not for Director Zhou''s report, this thesis would not have landed in his hands.


    At this point, the middle-aged man finally smiled. "Old Zhou... He is still talented in scouting the gifted."


    ...


    In the night, there was hardly any peace.


    "Baka!"


    In a normal-looking Chinese courtyard house, a dim light covered the four corners.


    This was a form of protection as it would sound an alarm as soon as there were trespassers.


    The middle-aged couple living here were but an act. In an underground room, the owner of the house peered through his presbyopic glasses and examined the thesis on his hands. He had a ferocious but passionate look on his face. "How could someone even predict this? What a genius... Mr Fang, why are you not our countrymen!"


    Even in the Middle Continent, Chinese Country had its competitors.


    Although living in seclusion, this country was still strong.


    "Director, what should we do next?"


    A woman stood straight and enquired respectfully. If Fang Yuan was here, he would find this woman familiar, for she was Thomas''s translator - Little Night of the Plains.


    "It''s already too late to mobilize him!"


    The director rubbed his eyebrows and revealed a demonic look. "Activate all our spies to invite him to our country..."


    "Must we... must we do this?"


    Little Night shuddered. This would mean that all their arrangements in the capital would be for nought.


    "He... he is worth this. He might be the hope that our country needs to rise up once again. Everyone has the duty to sacrifice themselves for the country. I can even give up my own life without hesitation!"


    The middle-aged man retorted.


    "I understand!"


    Little Night knelt down and kowtowed. "Please pass any instructions you have for me!"


    "No! You and the other ''Nightingales'' will not have to participate in tomorrow''s activation. Conversely... I want the few of you to stay in ambush. If our plan were to fail, the few of you will be the backup plan!"


    The middle-aged director was solemn. "We need to try all means and ambush that young man or even the people around him who are informed of the classified information. Even if we have to complete this mission like a dog, we will still do so!"


    "May our country live forever!"


    A burning fire of passion raged in Little Night''s eyes.


    ...


    "The whole night was filled with the sirens of the police. It seems like this city was not so peaceful last night..."


    Fang Yuan sat up on his bed and stretched himself.


    The evolution brought about by the spike in spiritual droplets was not something normal people were able to control.


    Those naturally-born evolvers would not be able to control themselves and therefore create chaos. This was the problem of the realm!


    If there was the existence of the internet, the headlines would be filled with news of these evolvers.


    It was not simply becoming stronger, but there was the development of completely new special abilities.


    Even in this era, the speed at which information was transmitted was still extremely quick. In such a rapidly-evolving age, it was already impossible to cover up news.


    ''However...''


    Fang Yuan opened his door and gazed at the people outside. "What are you guys intending to do?"


    "Comrade Fang Yuan!"


    A female soldier in her uniform gave Fang Yuan a military salute and handed to him a document. "You have been assigned a job. Please follow us!"


    "... An investigator from the Research Centre of Supernormal Humans...."


    Fang Yuan looked at them and was speechless. "Alright... Although you guys did not go through the university and delivered this personally to my hostel, I still very thankful for it. However, why do we have to leave now? I have only just woken up and have yet to brush my teeth..."


    "We can settle these issues along the way! My name is Ye Yingzi and I am in charge of your safety!"


    With a stern voice, Ye Yingzi spoke once more. "Is there anything else that you need to pack?"


    "Just my clothing."


    "Do we really need... to resort to this?" Fang Yuan knew the answer, but he asked anyway.


    "Yes we do. Comrade Fang Yuan, you are now different. Your wisdom is the country''s greatest asset and therefore, your personal safety is of paramount importance!"


    Ye Yingzi quickly called for a few soldiers to enter and help Fang Yuan to pack up. She was a little confused. "Are there any documents that we have to bring along?"


    "Nope, they''re all right here!"


    Fang Yuan knocked on his head and walked out of his hostel.


    Along the road outside, 6 jeeps were parked and guards equipped with rifles were standing in their positions, extremely still.


    "..."


    Seeing this, Fang Yuan let out a bitter smile. "Did you guys waited for an entire night here?"


    "2 hours and 37 minutes!"


    "Alright... It seems like I will never return here in the future!"


    Fang Yuan shrugged his shoulders. "The aunties from the neighbourhood committee must think that I am a dangerous fugitive to be able to activate so many soldiers to capture me on new year''s day!"


    "If you think that this is a problem, we can explain to the neighbourhood committee...."


    "Forget it!"


    Fang Yuan climbed up the jeep parked in the middle.


    The jeep was specially manufactured and the windows behind were completely tinted and unable to see through.


    "I''m sorry... This was an urgent order from the headquarters!"


    Ye Yingzi sat beside Fang Yuan. A fragrance smell filled the jeep as she took out a few bags. "This is your breakfast..."


    "Oh, thank you very much!"


    Fang Yuan opened the bag, revealing dough fritters, soup dumplings and roasted donkey meat. It was the standard breakfast which he had gotten used to.


    As he ate the breakfast, he felt a sense of familiarity but was not surprised.


    With the country''s power, he could never hide his background and they would be able to get all the information about him, even the breakfast which he liked.


    "Where are we going now?"


    "The research base!"


    "Do we really need so much security? Are we overdoing things?"


    "This is according to the requirements of the headquarters, so we are not overdoing things!"


    ...


    After a full meal, Fang Yuan probed further and started to understand more about his predicament.


    The jeep drove steadily. Although Fang Yuan could not see the surroundings outside clearly, he knew that he had already left the city and was in the countryside.


    "Rumble!"


    Suddenly, there was an explosion and flames broke out in front.


    The huge vibration broke the neat line of jeeps and even flipped Fang Yuan''s jeep.


    "Da da! Da da!"


    Amidst gunshots, Fang Yuan and Ye Yingzi climbed out and were surrounded by blood and fire.


    They were in a wilderness and the remaining soldiers formed a defensive circle around Fang Yuan.


    The illusionary silhouette of the enemies appeared from all directions. Accompanying roars from a few wild beasts, a few black dogs the size of bulls rushed forward, fearing nothing.


    "It''s an ambush!"


    From her earpiece, she had just received news of an ambush. Ye Yingzi''s expression changed. Gritting her teeth, she plucked out the gun from her waist, held Fang Yuan in her other hand and slowly shifted her position.


    "The enemy''s firepower is very strong and they seemed to be controlled by a puppet master from Japan... D*mn it, what are the brothers at immigration doing? How could they let so many dangerous spies enter our country?"


    Ye Yingzi held Fang Yuan and retreated.


    "We finally meet... The power of this heat weapon..."


    Fang Yuan was extremely nimble and could still pay attention to his surroundings.


    "Such firepower... if we were in a undulating terrain, we will still have a chance to escape by casting spells. However, face to face, we would be shot and our bodies would be full of holes!"


    "Let''s go!"


    Ye Yingzi knew that they were disadvantaged as well and brought Fang Yuan to hide in a forest. "This is our home ground. Reinforcements will arrive shortly. Comrade Fang Yuan?"


    "Mmm, I''m fine!"


    Fang Yuan lightly slapped himself as though he was a normal human in shock.


    However, he was observing Ye Yingzi who had a face of justice. He wondered if she would still risk her life for him if he were to be abducted away.

 407 Investigations

    Fortunately, such a test of her loyalty did not happen.


    The reinforcements came promptly. With a few huge explosions, machine guns filled the place and the tables were turned.


    Even the few weird looking huge dogs turned into a bloodied mess under the rapid fire of the machine guns.


    In a few moments, a party or rescuers entered the forest and successfully located Ye Yingzi.


    After ensuring that the surroundings were safe, Ye Yingzi then brought Fang Yuan out to see the massacre.


    Gun wounds were not simply thumb-sized holes in the body. Instead, it was a bloodied mess and the internal organs were ripped apart. The entire place seemed like and execution square and even the experienced soldiers became nauseous just by looking at the scene.


    "Let''s go!"


    It seemed as though tears were welling up in Ye Yingzi''s eyes. Bringing Fang Yuan to a new care, they travelled for a long period before finally reaching a particular base.


    "I am the in-charge of the Research Centre of Supernormal Humans - Xi Menjian. Welcome, comrade Fang Yuan!"


    A seemingly unstable middle-aged man personally walked out to welcome Fang Yuan and gave him a friendly pat on his shoulder. "I''ve heard that you encountered a few troubles on your way here. I hope you''re ok!"


    "It''s alright, it''s just a little unexpected that... is it worth it to do all these? After all, I am only a student."


    Fang Yuan forced a smile.


    "Of course it''s worth it!"


    Xi Menjian''s expression turned to a solemn one. "Do you know that for this operation, Japan has sacrificed most of their spies and their arrangements in the capital, putting 10 over years of effort to waste... If we came a little later, we would be able to host the United Nations Conference at your hostel!"


    Xi Menjian joked and waved his hands. "Alright! We don''t have enough time to give you a welcome party. Send the order, we shall commence the meeting!"


    ...


    In the underground base.


    Seated in the huge conference room, everyone looked serious as they watched a clip.


    The two groups of people here were very distinct. One group was made up of investigators who were mostly scientists. The other group was made up of stern-looking military personnel who sat upright.


    "This is the situation report which we have received 6:00 am in the morning today. Furthermore, more problems are arising as we speak... All of these happenings only prove that Comrade Fang Yuan''s theory of the spike in energy due to the arrival of the Spiritual King Comet, the theory of the Big Circulation and the evolving human body are all true!"


    Xi Menjian quickly took the attendance of those who had arrived and Fang Yuan immediately felt as though everyone in the room was staring at him, trying to understand his thoughts.


    "Because of this, the country has pledged more resources to our research centre to assist in investigations. I have already passed a military order in the presence of the chief. We will come up with a solution to the crisis as soon as possible, placing our priority on protecting the lives of the people and their properties!"


    After speaking in a strict tone, Xi Menjian looked towards Fang Yuan. "Comrade Fang Yuan, do you have anything to add?"


    "Hmm, there is indeed something for me to add!"


    Fang Yuan nodded his head and felt inadequate for not having glasses to push up. "The spike in energy will not only benefit those evolvers. We need to pay attention to those who have inherited some sort of skill from their ancestors... For instance, martial arts, daoist techniques et cetera. We need to understand that even a normal human with potential will be able to become supernormal unders such circumstances. They might be even harder to deal with compared to those evolvers."


    The revival of any ancient supernormal influence would bring about a great disruption to any present society.


    Xi Menjian maintained his solemn face. "This is indeed true. We have already thought about this point and regarding it... I shall read out a new nomination here!"


    "Pa!"


    Everyone in the conference room stood up.


    "... To deal with the current situation, the Religious Bureau have appointed Comrade Xi Menjian as the Chief of Bureau, Comrade Zhou Ming as the Assistant Chief of Bureau. Their job scopes would be to manage supernatural events, take charge of a quick response team and head the Office of Truth Investigation... Furthermore, Comrade Fang Yuan shall be invited as the special consultant!"


    "Pa! Pa!"


    There was a rousing applause.


    Fang Yuan felt a little conflicted. ''Isn''t it just a bureau to investigate supernatural happenings? They have gone to such lengths to even think about classifying it under religion...''


    "Alright, please carry out your tasks according to your allocations. Dismissed!"


    Xi Menjian was a decisive person and quickly ended the meeting. "Comrade Fang Yuan, please stay!"


    "Chief of Bureau!"


    Fang Yuan took a bow. "What instructions do you have for me?"


    "Mmm, Comrade Little Fang, you are about to join a whole new working environment. What requests do you have? Please let me know!"


    Against a real talent, Xi Menjian was still extremely respectful. "The Assistant Chief of Bureau, Zhou Ming is He Tianming''s boss! He was the one that sent you to the gifted class, Director Zhou!"


    "Oh, so it''s him!"


    Fang Yuan displayed an expression of shock.


    "Mmm... The future of the world is changing and the country needs more talents... By telling you all these, I am hoping that you will not have any more confusion. Do you have any more requests?"


    Xi Menjian asked with a straight face.


    "Although I have to keep mum about my job, I''m sure I still have my personal freedom, right?"


    Fang Yuan thought about it for a while before asking.


    "The uniqueness of this job as an investigator will have a certain degree of secrecy. However, we will not restrict your personal freedom. The only thing you will have to do is to report whenever you are leaving or staying in the base, and everything will have to be subject to my approval. This is to ensure that the security department can ensure your safety!"


    Xi Menjian replied.


    "Alright, I have no further questions for now. I request to start my job immediately!"


    Fang Yuan shouted.


    "Alright!"


    Xi Menjian was evidently satisfied. "Please let me know if you have any other needs. As long as they are required for experimentation, you don''t have to hold back!"


    He sounded serious, and Fang Yuan knew that he was.


    After saying their goodbyes, Fang Yuan silently left the conference room.


    "Good day, Consultant Fang!"


    Ye Yingzi stood by the door as though she had waited for quite a while. "I am your orderly from now on! Let me bring you to your bedroom!"


    "Orderly?"


    Fang Yuan seemed confused.


    "Yes! Although you still need to go through an officiating ceremony, in the database, you are already a major!"


    Ye Yingzi gave Fang Yuan a military salute.


    "Alright..."


    Fang Yuan started to examine the weird-looking surroundings. "This place is not too bad!"


    Although it was an underground laboratory, the facilities here were top-notch and the scientists were treated well.


    Of course, the majority of the scientists were in their 70s or 80s. Only a young face could stand out among them. "Are you Fang Yuan? I am Li Zilong, a professor in Biology. I have already read through your thesis about evolvers umpteen times and it is still unbelievable..."


    The 30-year-old young man shook Fang Yuan''s hand passionately. "With your addition, our team will be more efficient than ever!"


    "It is already..."


    Fang Yuan had to act humble.


    Li Zilong had a prestigious background and his energetic eyes made Fang Yuan feel as though he was dangerous.


    Using his Fiery Golden Eyes, Fang Yuan could see that this person''s life energy was extremely concentrated, especially at the portion of the brain. He was an evolver who had an evolved brain, a talent among the talents.


    "I''ll have to add something. I am an evolver with an evolved brain, and my evolution is already 20% completed! I have only just awakened the force of my mind yesterday!"


    Li Zilong raised his glasses and his handshake was full of energy. "Of course, my abilities are only basic and they still have to be trained!"


    "Hmm?!"


    Fang Yuan was surprised at Li Zilong''s honesty and started to think to himself.


    Fang Yuan was all along acting as a gifted person with a super brain, right?


    Since Li Zilong had no reservations about hiding anything, he must have received special treatment from the higher-ups.


    To any organisation especially one involved in scientific research, the more of such talents they could have, the better.


    "I have always been smarter than the average person. However, how do you measure the rate of development of the brain?"


    Fang Yuan piqued.


    "It was impossible last time, but things are different now!"


    Li Zilong''s eyes were burning with passion. "Are you interested in going for the test?"


    "It would be disrespectful to reject your offer!"


    Fang Yuan smiled and followed Li Zilong into a laboratory.


    "I would like to inquire about something. Where do we get the subjects to research on?"


    Unknowingly, Fang Yuan asked.


    "This... Most of them are volunteers from the army. I occasionally volunteer myself as well..."


    Li Zilong answered without hesitation. "Of course... there are a few evil convicts as well... However, we do not perform destructive experiments and therefore, no one has to worry about being cut up..."


    ''Who would''ve thought that.... Li Zilong would be so distasteful in his jokes...''


    Fang Yuan sat on a cushioned chair and remained speechless. Wires were being attached to his head.


    "This is the latest instrument which I have developed, the Brainwave Scanner. It is able to retrieve information from the human brain and from there predict the development level of the brain... However, it''s a pity that there is only one such instrument in existence!"


    Li Xilong started to touch the screen beside the instrument. His fingers started to work quickly and in no time, a scanned image appeared.


    The polygraph printer beside the screen started to whir into life, sketching lines on a piece of paper.


    10 minutes later, Li Zilong raised his glasses and read the report.


    "Indeed what I''ve guessed! Your brain is 15% developed! You are even smarter than the top scientists in the world!"


    "Only 15%?"


    Fang Yuan calmly sat upright, wore his clothes and did not seem disappointed.


    "Mmm, an average person would have a development level of around 1% to 5%, and the smartest scientists would at most achieve a development level of 10%..."


    There were flames of passion in Li Zilong''s eyes. "You are similar to me! Did you awaken any special ability last night?"


    "Does my acupuncture technique count?"


    Fang Yuan tilted his head and threw out the excuse which he had long prepared. "I can feel that the ''energy'' in my body is increasing. If I were to perform acupuncture now, I''m sure I will be able to achieve what I cannot previously!"


    "We have long noticed your magical acupuncture technique, Major Fang Yuan! Needless to say, you have already exceeded the standards of the world in terms of healing..."


    Li Zilong continued. "Fang Yuan, are you heading towards the direction of performing research on evolvers?"


    "Actually, I always had a thought in my mind..."


    With a serious look, Fang Yuan continued. "The destructive power of evolvers are too much. Even if we are able to come up with a temporary solution to keep them under control, we will still not be able to control them in the future. Therefore, I have thought of a unique idea which might be able to help such a situation..."

 408 Demon Restraining Cuffs

    In an enclosed environment within the underground laboratory, time passed very quickly.


    A month had passed.


    Xi Menjian rubbed his forehead as he left a meeting.


    Everyone was worried about the outbreak of evolvers around the world and the strict security protocols that were put in place to deal with the situation.


    ''Fortunately.... The probability of such an obvious special ability is extremely low among the evolvers... However, considering the slow increase in energy as well as the 3rd occurrence which is about to happen...''


    Xi Menjian started to have a headache. ''Finally, the information about the old cultivators... Sigh, could this world be plagued with demons in the future?''


    "Chief of Bureau!"


    At this point in time, a secretary came running in. "There''s news from the research centre. Experiment No. 2 was a success!"


    "What?"


    Elated, Xi Menjing peered out. "It''s Comrade Fang Yuan, one of the two evolvers with evolved brains! Great! Let''s return now, for this is a rare piece of good news!"


    At this point in time, within the underground base.


    Fang Yuan gazed at the screen and saw a familiar face.


    The subject was tall and skinny and had a tanned skin. It was his friend from the orphanage, the national athlete who did the country proud - Liu Fei.


    "Let''s begin the experiment now!"


    "The subject of the experiment is Liu Fei, a speed evolver. After the second occurrence, nothing happened. His previous record for the 100m sprint still stands at 8.9 seconds!"


    ...


    The assistant by the side used a robotic voice to report the details.


    Fang Yuan nodded his head. Even among the first few evolvers, there was only a handful who were able to awaken their special ability under the influence of the second occurrence.


    However, they were normal humans who became supernormal overnight as well! This was the potential of the evolvers!


    "Ready... go!"


    Liu Fei had volunteered himself to become the subject of experimentation and contribute to his country.


    Without emotions, Fang Yuan coldly gave the order.


    "Whoosh!"


    On the screen, Liu Fei sped towards the finish line like the wind.


    "The data obtained during experimentation is a new record! 8.5 seconds!"


    The researcher exclaimed.


    This result was able to shatter the world record once more.


    ''It seems like the second occurrence is still effective!''


    Fang Yuan nodded his head and commanded. "Let''s commence the control experiment!"


    "Yes!"


    In the screen, a researcher made Liu Fei wear a metal bracelet.


    "Kacha!"


    As soon as the bracelet was fixed on Liu Fei''s arm, his expression changed.


    "Let''s begin!"


    "Whoosh!"


    It was another 100m sprint, and the new results came out. "13.02 seconds!"


    "After a body checkup, we found out that the energy in his body was restricted and the muscles in his legs are stiffened..."


    "Let''s change the subject!"


    Fang Yuan nodded his head and changed the subject.


    "This is a volunteer from the army, Qian Yingming. He had awakened his special ability to spit fire after the second occurrence. The fire which he spits out can reach 1,000 degrees Celsius and he has no control over it..."


    The screen changed and now displayed a charred interior of a laboratory.


    A young man was coughing and sneezing inside. Every time he did so, sparks would come out from his nose, charring the entire room.


    With that, he was being made to wear a metal necklace around his neck. With a look of confusion, he started to sneeze and cough with all his might but there were no longer any sparks.


    "Send in the 3rd group!"


    "4th group!"


    ...


    "Hmm, the experiment on subject No. 2 is still the most successful!"


    After comparing 10 groups together, Fang Yuan rubbed his chin.


    "Congratulations!"


    Li Zilong walked in. "The metal cuffs made from special gold are smelted with your hidden needles, which will pierce through their acupunctures, disrupting the flow of their internal energy and from there, disrupt the balance in their small worlds! This is a genius idea... But only you will be able to think of it!"


    "How? Have you thought of a name for it?"


    "Let''s call it the ''Demon Restraining Cuffs''!"


    Fang Yuan rubbed his chin and a playful thought came to his mind.


    "Mmm... no matter how powerful and evil the evolver may be, as long as he is wearing the Demon Restraining Cuffs, he will have to obediently face the law... This is great!"


    Xi Menjian walked in and shook Fang Yuan''s hand. "Comrade Fang, your design is going to help us so much!"


    "Chief, please be patient. There are still a few things to be improved. Firstly, we have to consider the rarity of this gold. Furthermore, the detailed smelting will have to go through rounds of discussion, for the hidden needles and engravings in the cuffs will have to be extremely accurate and be manufactured according to the standards of the human anatomy..."


    "Of course, the most important thing is to concede that these cuffs will still have their limitations. If the evolver has too much energy in them, they might be able to free themselves by using brute force!"


    Fang Yuan calmly analysed the potential problems and raised his glasses.


    Since he had joined the scientific community, how could he not get a pair of glasses to display his maturity?


    Although his eyesight was perfect, he had made a degreeless glasses which could cover up the appearance of his Fiery Golden Eyes if he were to use them.


    "Don''t worry, these problems are not problems!"


    Xi Menjian patted his chest with confidence. "We have a huge population compared to other countries and we can use brute force to solve all these problems with all the brains we have. With that, we can create an equipment which the criminals will have to worry about!"


    ...


    Since the country was in favour of it, the production process quickly commenced.


    In a few days, the first factory was built to produce the special gold and engineers were gathered for a meeting.


    "We have a military order from the higher-ups. Regardless of price and resources, we have to smelt as many special gold ingots as possible. We have to meet both the quality and quantity required... Don''t even mention any potential difficulties. Just resolve these difficulties and raise requests if any of you might have any requirements. The higher-ups have already sent someone to the factory to manage all of you, and he is sent here to resolve your problems. Comrades, this is the task of the government. We must complete it!"


    At the same time.


    From all locations, the most highly-skilled people were called forth.


    Even though they might be the backbone of their own factories, they could only put down whatever they had on their hands and gather at a specific place to become part of a larger project.


    Mountain Ocean City, Red Star Machinery Factory.


    "Leader... we cannot let Master Guo leave. He is the support of the entire factory. Without him, a lot of machines in our factory will no longer be able to operate!"


    The plump factory manager held the phone, nodded his head and had an uneasy expression.


    "We cannot change to someone else. This is a tasking from the government and this request was directly from the manpower branch... Furthermore, this is a contribution to the country! Why should we be against it?"


    "Yes, yes!"


    The factory manager stood up straight. "However, the productivity of our factory..."


    "Don''t worry about it. We have thought about it as well as we assure you that we will not make your current load heavier. Tell Master Guo not to worry about anything and just do his best... Didn''t you praise him for his craftsmanship before? If he is unable to deliver, he will make our factory lose face! As long as he completes the tasking, everyone will remember him!"


    "Yes, I''ll promise that he will complete the tasking!"


    The factory manager was filled with excitement. "I''m not self-praising, but Master Guo is a highly talented craftsman. Nothing can trouble him!!"


    After a long while, the factory manager hung up and gazed towards a middle-aged man. "Master Guo... look, the country has chosen you specifically..."


    "Since that is so, I shall make a move now!"


    Master Guo smiled. Although he was only a middle-aged man, his hands were already full of calluses, which was evidence of his rich experience. "Since the higher-ups value me, I cannot be disrespectful..."


    ...


    The entire Chinese Country was extremely happening as the country''s machinery was running to complete the taskings.


    Within the research centre.


    Xi Menjian looked at Fang Yuan and felt a little conflicted. "Comrade Fang Yuan, I will surely approve if you would like to go for a break. However, your personal safety is important, extremely important!"


    "I know, but I do have self-defence capabilities to some extent..."


    Fang Yuan smiled. "Furthermore... I am very interested in the quick response team of the Religious Bureau... After all, I can only progress well if I am able to obtain first-hand data about the Demon Restraining Cuffs..."


    "Don''t even think about it!"


    Xi Menjian shook his head. "I rather give you a long break than let you out to fight!"


    It was crazy to let a scientist carry a gun to fight a war outside.


    "The times have changed..."


    Fang Yuan did not give a direct reply and instead, gave a mysterious smile.


    "Alright, I''ll approve of your break in advance. However, I will need to add a few more guards for you and you cannot leave the capital..."


    Xi Menjian looked at Fang Yuan and knew that Fang Yuan was an extremely determined person. He could not convince Fang Yuan otherwise as he held his head, conflicted.


    "Alright!"


    Fang Yuan took a bow, left the room and closed the door.


    ...


    After returning to his room, he received a pleasant surprise.


    "I am the new guard, Zhao Daniu, reporting for duty!"


    Zhao Daniu appeared much stronger than before. Donning a military uniform, he saluted Fang Yuan and had a look of happiness in his eyes.


    "Haha... it''s you!"


    Fang Yuan smiled, walked forward and gave a friendly punch to Zhao Daniu. "What happened?"


    "This was all your idea... Initially, the orphanage had sent me to a factory to work. I could not stand it when then factory manager started to touch the girls and take advantage of them. Therefore, I punched him and left to start my own stall, selling barbecued fish..."


    Seeing a familiar face, Zhao Daniu became much more relaxed. "My business picked up and I had done the calculations. In a year, I would be able to year at least 10,000 dollars. However, at the end of the year, I met a few gangsters. I accidentally killed one of them and was captured by the police. However, I was fortunate enough to have met Officer Han who had given me the option to redeem myself by working for him..."


    "Cough cough!"


    Ye Yingzi coughed. "Comrade Zhao Daniu, watch your image. Also, Comrade Fang Yuan is the leader, so mind your language..."


    "Hehe... I''m stupid and I''ve almost forgotten about it!"


    Zhao Daniu smiled sheepishly as he scratched his head.


    "Haha... Daniu, don''t you worry. Since you are now following me, I will make sure that you are well taken care of... let''s go for a roast meat feast in the canteen! I also secretly brought along two bottles of alcohol..."


    Fang Yuan paid no attention to what Ye Yingzi said as he placed his arms around Zhao Daniu and spoke with authority.


    Even Ye Yingzi was speechless when she saw such an attitude from Fang Yuan...

 409 Illness

    Heart Questioning House.


    "Sorry... our boss is really not around! There''s no more stock left for Opening Point Incense..."


    Both Ding Qiuyu and Zhao Lihong smiled while accompanying their last customer away. As they looked at the "deposit" he insisted on leaving behind, they could only give an awkward smile.


    "Dear... I think there are at least 10,000 dollars in this stack of cash!"


    Ding Qiuyu counted the cash and was at a slight loss of words, "Little Boss is such a capable person, can''t believe the Opening Point Incense he casually made would sell so well! I guess you can''t even earn as much by selling antiques?"


    "I know right!"


    Zhao Lihong was a youthful university student too, with a mischievous smile on her face, she said, "If you can get a guy like Little Boss, you would have no worries for the rest of your life... Sister Ding, you have to work hard!"


    "Rude lass, it''s not like you don''t know my situation..."


    Ding Qiuyu rolled her eyes and continued, "Lately, Chen Bo has been acting all weird. He keeps saying he wants to breakthrough and reach a new height, it''s like he''s crazily obsessed... He even asked me for Opening Point Incense and he was prepared to buy a batch of it!"


    "There are so many weird things happening lately!"


    Zhao Lihong''s expression turned mysterious and she continued, "There are rumours that some people saw a ghost on the path behind our school!"


    "Also, the fire at 2nd West Street, some people swore they saw the God of Fire..."


    "Furthermore, many people also had odd sightings at the old pagoda trees at the west of the city and the Dragon King Well at the east of the city... This can''t be good too, the world is changing, I better go to General''s Temple on Green Phoenix Mountain to ask for an effective talisman to ward off evil!"


    ...


    Zhao Lihong was making a big deal out of the events as she counted with her fingers.


    "Miss Zhao, please... you are a modern university student, how can your brains be so feudal and filled with trash?"


    Ding Qiuyu rolled her eyes and then asked curiously, "Eh? General''s Temple on Green Phoenix Mountain, this name sounds familiar..."


    "It was originally a normal temple, but lately, I heard there''s a new daoist elder there, he''s amazing! He can do palm reading, stop your misfortunes, and if you ask for a son, he will grant you a son!"


    "Cough cough..."


    Ding Qiuyu was even more speechless, "Ask for a son? This seems like the duty of the Goddess of Fertility, there''s no link to the name of General''s Temple at all?"


    "Doesn''t matter if the name has a link or not, as long as it''s effective... Think about it, Boss was gone for so long and we have no news of him at all, we should go and pray for his safety! What if Boss was really met with some danger? At least we can still burn more paper money for him..."


    As Zhao Lihong saw Ding Qiuyu slightly wavered, she immediately persuaded her.


    "That''s true... we should go together one day, I heard the sceneries on Green Phoenix Mountain is not bad!"


    Indeed, Ding Qiuyu had a change of mind.


    "Cough cough... I''m not dead yet, burn paper money for me?"


    Fang Yuan stepped into the store with a sour face.


    He was very disappointed to hear those words the moment he returned to the capital.


    "You are fine, Little Boss! That''s great!"


    Ding Qiuyu went forward as though she wanted to take a good look at Fang Yuan. However, she suddenly saw Ye Yingzi and Zhao Daniu standing beside him and was alarmed, "The two of them are..."


    "My bodyguards!"


    Fang Yuan scratched his head, "Zhao Daniu, Ye Yingzi!"


    "Wow! Boss, you are really rich! You even have bodyguards, just like in the movies..."


    Zhao Lihong''s eyes lit up. She was not interested in Ye Yingzi at all and instead, she was very interested in Zhao Daniu. Her eyes kept looking at Zhao Daniu.


    "If I said these were just the bodyguards they could see and that I have eight more hidden around me, I wonder what will they expressions be like..." Fang Yuan thought to himself secretly.


    Fang Yuan was then curious, "Why are both of you around?"


    "Oh, it''s because business in the shop has been too good lately! Many are attracted by the Opening Point Incense!"


    Ding Qiuyu took out the ledger, "Boss, the stock you kept has all been sold out! Just now, there was even a customer who wanted to buy it for 1,000 dollars per tael! He even left tens of thousands of dollars as deposit!"


    "Ah, you all have worked hard! You all can split the cash as your bonuses!" Fang Yuan said nonchalantly.


    People nowadays were pure and honest.


    If it was in Fang Yuan''s previous realms, when the Boss disappeared for a few months and there was so much money left behind, it would not be out of the norm for anything to happen.


    Of course, these two women might have to count themselves lucky for not having any ill-intentions with the money.


    Else, Fang Yuan aside, the force represented by Ye Yingzi would definitely teach them a good lesson.


    "It''s most likely those cultivators who discovered the use of my Opening Point Incense..." Fang Yuan thought.


    With the support of the country, Fang Yuan was no longer interested in these people.


    "From now on, we will stop selling the Opening Point Incense and don''t accept any more deposits. For those we have accepted, they can count themselves lucky! I will ask someone to bring over the stock!"


    Fang Yuan looked around the shop and was very satisfied as the shop was running well. He then left the shop.


    On the journey, Ye Yingzi left for a short while before returning and said, "Major Fang, we investigated the surroundings of your Heart Questioning House and discovered traces of spy activities. It can be confirmed that at least half of those customers purchasing Opening Point Incense were intelligence officers from other countries... Also, the other half are cultivators from nearby! The social relationships are very complex!"


    "I know, hence, this is the last time!"


    Fang Yuan went back to the courtyard house he rented and asked Zhao Daniu to harvest the fully grown medicinal herbs and deliver them to Heart Questioning House. Fang Yuan then prepared to visit each of his friends one by one to return the favours.


    He Tianming was obviously the first stop. Teacher He vaguely knew about Fang Yuan''s whereabouts and when he met him, he was very glad and said many words of encouragements and blessings to Fang Yuan.


    After Fang Yuan knew the other people in the Gifted Class were already in their new jobs, Fang Yuan did not ask about them further and left for Professor Tian''s house.


    Tian Family was not far from Xijing University and had their own decently sized courtyard house.


    Fang Yuan visited the house once before and thus, he knew the way there.


    As usual, Ye Yingzi was the one who went forward to knock on the door.


    "Who is it?" An old granny came out and asked.


    "It''s me!"


    Fang Yuan walked forward two steps, "I came to see Professor Tian!"


    "Little Fang!"


    The moment Professor Tian''s wife saw Fang Yuan, she forced a smile on her face and said, "You came at the wrong time, my husband is in the hospital. Sigh... I was just about to leave the house before you came."


    "Eh, what happened?"


    Fang Yuan furrowed his eyebrows.


    "Sigh... my poor granddaughter..."


    The old granny''s eyes turned red at once and she began sobbing.


    Fang Yuan glanced at Ye Yingzi and she immediately went forward to help the old granny enter the house.


    "Something happened to Tian Ai!"


    Fang Yuan squinted his eyes slightly and the sight of an energetic young girl appeared in front of his eyes.


    She was two years older than Fang Yuan and was in her university studies. She was Professor Tian''s family''s apple of the eye.


    Of course, Professor Tian even shamelessly tried to have Fang Yuan date his daughter, just that he was firmly rejected by Fang Yuan.


    "Which hospital is it, I will visit them!"


    Now that they were in trouble, Fang Yuan had to do something about it. He immediately went to the hospital.


    "Professor Tian!"


    "Fang Yuan!"


    Inside the ward, Fang Yuan saw Professor Tian and his family members.


    Professor Tian used to be full of vigour, but now, he was as skinny as a skeleton. It was as though he had just aged ten plus years. His eyes lit up the moment he saw Fang Yuan and exclaimed, "Quick, come take a look at my granddaughter!"


    "Mister Tian..."


    Beside him, two doctors helplessly persuaded, "Your granddaughter has a problem in her mind. Her biological markers are all perfectly normal!"


    "Doctor Xu!"


    At that moment, another female doctor looked at Fang Yuan. She seemed to recognise something and whispered to the other doctor.


    This Doctor Xu then glanced at Fang Yuan surprisedly and stopped what he was doing.


    "Problem in her mind?"


    Fang Yuan went forward and opened Tian Ai''s eyelids. As he looked at her pupils, he said, "Hmm... indeed, it''s Soul Leaving Illness! When did it begin!"


    "Three days ago! She has been like this since she returned from Green Phoenix Mountain!"


    Professor Tian forced a smile on his face, "The onset was so sudden, if I did not possess your 13 Needles Technique, I''m afraid I might even have to send her off at then..."


    "Green Phoenix Mountain again!"


    Fang Yuan gave a look and Ye Yingzi immediately went out to collect details and information about the mountain.


    "I''ll try!"


    Fang Yuan picked up the needles and pricked the acupuncture points on Tian Ai''s temple.


    "Cough cough... Doctor Fang, although I admire your new found knowledge in Traditional Chinese Medicine, but..." Doctor Xu who was at the side coughed and wanted to continue speaking, but suddenly, his pupils dilated in awe.


    On the bed, Tian Ai who was unconscious at first suddenly opened her eyes and looked around. She was a bit dazed and asked, "Where is... this?"


    "Wha¡­...aattt! This is not scientific!"


    Doctor Xu could not even speak coherently, "Impossible..."


    Doctor Xu exhausted all his efforts and did all sorts of checks, but he still could not treat this odd illness. However, Fang Yuan managed to solve it with just a needle?


    This was simply mind blowing to Doctor Xu and shattered his world view!


    "Granddaughter!"


    "Daughter!"


    Professor Tian and his family members could not hold their tears and thanked Fang Yuan profusely.


    Fang Yuan then humbly left the ward. He gave a mirthless smile and asked, "Did you discover anything?"


    "Yes!"


    Ye Yingzi immediately softened her volume, "The General''s Temple on top of Green Phoenix mountain was built before our country was founded. It was destroyed once and was rebuilt afterwards. The current residing daoist priest is called Ma Kunyuan and he is not officially registered... Before that, it was all normal but once the new year began, there were weird and magical news regarding the temple and rumours that he was very effective..."


    "Furthermore, we have checked with the hospitals in the capital and discovered 6 other teenage girls with the same illness as Tian Ai. All of them have also visited Green Phoenix Mountain before...."


    "Hehe..."


    Fang Yuan remained composed and quiet for a moment before he gave a cold laughter, "Looks like all sorts of bull ghosts and snake gods have really emerged!"


    ...


    Inside General''s Temple, Green Phoenix Mountain.


    The temple was not big and was old looking. At the front, there was an altar set up for a ferocious looking war deity, which was Green Phoenix General.


    At that moment, at the house behind the temple.


    Inside a secret room, a daoist priest sat cross-legged with his arms resting. He was looking at the 7 small flags in front of him and a joyful look appeared on his face, "Ancestral Master, bless and protect me! There''s hope for me! As long as I finish cultivating my Xuan Yin 7 Evil Flags... my powers would increase by another tier! Eh? Who dares to destroy my spell?"


    His face changed at once and an ominous atmosphere brewed at once.


    A "bang" could be heard as a black flag originally in the array exploded suddenly. It began burning without any wind¡­...

 410 Old Daoist Ma

    In the huge conference room.


    Xi Menjian''s voice echoed within the room. "Comrades... although we were caught off-guard by the arrival of the new era, we still did our best. However, they are a few of them who think that by possessing some powers, they can harm others, spread malicious thoughts like a cult and even occupy a mountain to call themselves king. This is an insult to us!"


    "In conclusion... After taking into account the chaos, we have been approved to go ahead with an inter-departmental mission with the quick response team of the Religious Bureau as the backbone. The policemen and the armed forces will support and the codename for this activation is ''Typhoon''. The purpose of this activation is to wipe out all the self-proclaimed gods! By doing that, we will be protecting our people''s lives and properties, ensuring peace and stability in the society... On the ground, I will give the command to commence the activation..."


    ...


    Xi Menjian ended the meeting. Just as he was about to take a sip of tea, a piece of news came and his expression changed. "What? A volunteer? How is this not fooling around? Get him..."


    His eyeballs rolled as his attention shifted. "Send Group 2 and Group 3 out. We need to ensure his safety... Let''s treat anything else as a drill for Operation Typhoon..."


    ...


    Green Phoenix Mountain.


    The surroundings were beautiful and the undulating terrain was filled with flora and fauna.


    On the rugged mountain path, there were occasional passers-by heading towards General''s Temple.


    "I''ve heard from the villages around that this temple is extremely effective especially when asking favours from the General! He will always accede to your request! Daoist Ma is a magical person, for he is able to use the water mixed with burnt talismans to treat illnesses..."


    "Hmph..."


    Hearing this, Fang Yuan remained speechless and was deep in his thoughts.


    The loosening up of the rules which governed this world led to the uprising of the god dao, and not the cultivators or the evolvers!


    Even Fang Yuan was a humble cultivator and had to gather spiritual force by himself.


    However, it was different for gods. As long as enough people worshipped them, they could quickly become more powerful and their physical body would be strengthened.


    Considering how many people were there last time compared to the world population now, the resources which the god dao could feed on was almost unlimited!


    "Of course... The concentration of spiritual droplets in this realm is still not enough to create a real god. However, the influence it is able to gather is still substantial enough..."


    Fang Yuan thought silently to himself. At this point in time, Ye Yingzi started running towards him. "Chief of Bureau has approved your plan... however... let us ensure your safety!"


    "Please wait for a while, Group 2 and Group 3 are arriving!"


    ''It seems... Xi Menjian wants to see my hidden power!''


    Fang Yuan smiled. His objective had no conflict with the country''s interests. Therefore, Xi Menjian could offer him full support. ''I''ll let them see what I can do!''


    Fang Yuan''s trip to Green Phoenix Mountain was in fact, an experiment.


    It proved that Ye Yingzi did not take extreme measures, which allowed them to trust each other even more.


    "Good day, Chief!"


    On the top of the mountain, a group of policemen were rushing towards Fang Yuan. "We are here to take orders!"


    "Disperse the crowd first. I will talk to him!"


    Fang Yuan nodded his head and arrived at the General''s Temple.


    "Creak!"


    The door opened by itself and a gust of wind blew the leaves on the ground. "My fellow followers, I have an important guest to meet today. Please come again another day!"


    A loud voice was heard from the hall.


    "Since it is your instructions, we will follow!"


    The rest of the villagers were true believers. After hearing this instruction, they obediently left the mountain without any complaints.


    "This person... he seems like he is a cultivator! His influence here is indeed strong!"


    Ye Yingzi slid her hand to her waist and was on guard.


    "Furthermore... He is trying to scare us away!"


    Fang Yuan led Zhao Daniu and Ye Yingzi into the main hall of the temple.


    Under a ferocious-looking statue, an old daoist was seated with his legs crossed. He had a long face and appeared shaken, giving off a unique vibe. "I am Daoist Ma Kunyuan. I believe all of you are from the government, right?"


    "That''s right... do you know why we''re looking for you?"


    Fang Yuan got himself a prayer mat and sat in front of the old daoist.


    "Let me guess! You are suspecting my methods of using boiled talisman water to treat patients!"


    Ma Kunyuan stroked his beard. "It''s a pity... My vision is to follow the dao. These small tricks mean nothing!"


    He retrieved a thin branch from a peach tree and inserted it into a jade bottle.


    "Buzz!"


    Following a brilliant green glow, the branch started to grow and flowers bloomed from it into beautiful peach blossoms.


    Such an ability to recreate life stunned Ye Yingzi and Zhao Daniu and both of them were in a daze.


    Seeing their reactions, Ma Kunyuan was elated.


    "Oh, so what should we do to learn these tricks?"


    Fang Yuan appeared friendly and asked.


    "The cycle of life and karma means that you will need to pay with gold and silver to exchange for spiritual talismans and spiritual water... I can provide assistance to the government, but the rates will be different... Also, I am lacking in a few disciples for I am intending to start a sect in Green Phoenix Mountain!"


    Ma Kunyuan stated his thoughts as though he had already prepared what to say.


    "Pa! Pa!"


    Fang Yuan clapped. "Daoist Ma, you''ve planned everything well. You first intend to display your might before offering your services. Are you planning to blackmail the country and the organisation?!"


    Fang Yuan had to admit that this cultivator was indeed smart. Ma Kunyuan knew that it was unwise to go against the country and therefore seek to cooperate.


    However, he was only requesting to be treated normally and was secretly hinting for the government to grant him the entire Green Phoenix Mountain.


    If someone else came to confront Daoist Ma, he would probably be threatened enough to grant Daoist Ma the position he had asked for. From then, Daoist Ma would be able to get all the resources he wanted without restrictions and become powerful among the powerful.


    "I wouldn''t dare!"


    Ma Kunyuan gave a solemn look. "However, I do have some good karma for protecting this place. Are you guys intending to take action on me for no reason?"


    "Good karma?"


    Fang Yuan snickered. "Let me ask you. If you are an official daoist, have you registered yourself with the government? Nope! Did you build this General Temple? Do you have the rights to this property? Nope! And you talk about protecting a place? Hehe... Let''s not talk about your talisman water for now. Don''t you think I have no idea about your antics!"


    "Adding everything up, you have not only committed obscene acts on women, you have also spread malicious cultist thoughts. All of these are enough to sentence you!"


    "Sigh! Ma Kunyuan, give up today! Lock him up!"


    With a sense of justice, Fang Yuan waved his hands and two soldiers came forward.


    "D*mn you!"


    Daoist Ma leapt out a few feet and his expression changed.


    Fang Yuan''s prediction was extremely accurate and exposed Daoist Ma had done.


    There was an ancient saying which described that if one did not follow the king, one would not be able to accomplish anything.


    Daoist Ma knew that he had committed illegal acts as was intending to come up with some tricks to redeem himself and from there enter the government to get a position which would grant him immunity.


    Who would''ve thought that such a weird person like Fang Yuan would appear to expose him?


    As he waved his hands, two streaks of black fog appeared and the two soldiers beside Fang Yuan fell to the ground.


    "HA!"


    Zhao Daniu knew that something was going wrong. With a deep breath, he expanded in size and his body was covered in a green hue.


    "Natural Rock Skin Technique?"


    The old daoist became shocked before smiling calmly. "It''s a pity, you are only a dumb person who knows how to show off.... Let me show you something you''ve never seen before. Strike!"


    "Sha! Sha!"


    Beneath Zhao Daniu''s feet, a layer of sand appeared and started to spread out, devouring almost half of Zhao Daniu.


    "I am treating you with respect but it seems like it is not working..."


    Ma Kunyuan placed his hands behind his back and sighed. "Forget it. I shall make all of you convinced of my power before requesting for your leader to talk to me!"


    "How arrogant!"


    Such an arrogant attitude of his angered Ye Yingzi.


    If he was truly a respectable and capable daoist, they would not have such an extreme reaction. However, prior investigations had revealed that this person had past criminal records and was even more extreme in his actions after obtaining powers.


    If this kind of person were to enter the government, it would be an insult to the government!


    Without hesitation, Ye Yingzi pointed her gun forward and shot three times.


    "Too slow! Too slow!"


    Daoist Ma dodged the bullets. "Although the gun is powerful, you must consider who is wielding it... Although I am not faster than the gun, I am faster than you!"


    "Whoosh!"


    Like a leopard pouncing on its prey, Daoist Ma''s right hand turned into a claw and struck towards Fang Yuan.


    After all, although this child seemed young, it was obvious that he was their leader, and he might just be a descendant of a powerful person.


    "Protect chief!"


    With a scream, Ye Yingzi and a few other soldiers leapt forward but felt helpless.


    Since this person was able to resist the quick response team''s ambush and was unafraid of guns, he was indeed a threat to the country.


    If they could not suppress him this time, he would get out of control in the future and claim this land for himself for good.


    "I will never let that happen!"


    Ye Yingzi roared and leapt forward like a female leopard.


    "Hehe... Your courage is admirable... After my sect is formed, I will surely hire you as my servant!"


    Unfortunately, Daoist Ma was way much stronger than Ye Yingzi. With a finger, he transformed into numerous shadows.


    Ye Yingzi turned cold, weak, and fell to the ground.


    "Haha... kid, did you see that? I wanted to show my loyalty to the government and yet you have to force me to such lengths... Next time, my offer would not be so simple. Furthermore, I don''t care who your backing is. I promise that you will be in deep trouble!"


    With confidence, Daoist Ma exclaimed.


    With such an easy victory, his confidence surged.


    His power would mean that he should not be restricted to just this place and he deserved much more.


    However, the child in front of him remained calm and unpredictable.


    "Are you done?"


    With a calm look, Fang Yuan stood up. "If you are, then you can die now! Although I will do the same thing as you in your shoes, it is unfortunate that you encounter me today!"

 411 Arres

    "Reporting, the target has entered General''s Temple! 10 minutes have passed and there''s still no movement!"


    "Received hints from Ye Yingzi, negotiation has failed! Be ready!"


    "Take note, the top priority of this mission is to protect the personnel''s safety..."


    ...


    Outside General''s Temple.


    There were slight commotions at a few spots. Snipers had their scopes aimed at the General''s Temple and there were even many armed personnel prepared to raid the temple at any time.


    "Boom!"


    But suddenly, accompanied by a huge flash, it was as though someone threw a grenade into the temple. The entire temple exploded and its walls toppled.


    A strange gas dome appeared. Ye Yingzi and others were behind Fang Yuan and all of them were perfectly fine.


    However, Ma Kunyuan who was opposite them was in a mess. His hair was dishevelled and he was retching up blood as he said, "Daoist technique? I can''t believe... there''s someone in this world with daoist techniques that are more profound than mine!"


    Ma Kunyuan stood straight in front of the altar.


    Also, there was something very odd. While the surroundings were ravaged, the statue of the deity was not damaged at all. It''s emotionless eyes continued to stare downwards.


    "It''s such a pity you chose here! Haha..."


    Ma Kunyuan guffawed, "Even if your cultivation is above mine, but with the support of the god, Green Phoenix Mountain is my home ground! Stay here!"


    "Woong! Woong!"


    Although it was in bright daylight, they could see a golden glow radiating from the deity''s statue with their own eyes. The golden glow had some hints of black colour and they entered Ma Kunyuan''s body.


    With that, it was as though Ma Kunyuan just consumed a cure-all panacea and he was immediately full of energy.


    "As expected... there''s no god... just a messy and jumbled mix of forces..."


    Seeing such, Fang Yuan gave a faint sigh, "You kept forcing yourself to cultivate god dao techniques with your human body, have you gone crazy from thinking about becoming a deity?"


    "What do you even know! My sect has all sorts of secret techniques, they are not something you can understand!"


    Ma Kunyuan laughed and 6 small flags appeared on his palm, "Xuan Yin 7 Evil, die!"


    "Rumble!"


    6 beams of black-green coloured light appeared and formed an array which surrounded and trapped Fang Yuan and others.


    "Target spotted, snipe!"


    Although all these that were happening were very shocking and mind-blowing, the ambush team still completed their duties well as they shot at Ma Kunyuan.


    "Bang!"


    After one shot, Daoist Ma moved aside slightly and was not hit at all. He even faced their scopes with a scornful smile and exclaimed, "On top of Green Phoenix Mountain, I am... god!"


    "Idiot!"


    "Kaboom!"


    In the skies, a layer of clouds gathered and a bolt of lightning struck downwards.


    The 6 tattered array flags could not withstand the flash of lightning and turned into ashes immediately.


    "You think you can kill me just with some crippled ''god'' forces you absorbed and your crippled array? What a joke!"


    Fang Yuan raised his right hand and continued, "The mighty force brought about by the surge in spiritual droplets is a powerful force from the heavens and earth! Your muddled ''god'' forces are nothing compared to it!"


    "Lightning from the mighty skies, listen to my command! Turn into a divine sword and punish the evil demons!"


    As Fang Yuan''s palm moved, the bolts of lightning in the skies were drawn together too as they combined and turned into a gigantic divine sword with fearsome purple coloured flashes.


    In an instant, everyone including Ma Kunyuan was stunned as they looked at the scene.


    The tremendous might of the lightning in the skies could be controlled by the single hand of a person?


    "Kaboom!"


    Fang Yuan did not hesitate nor pause at all as he directly pointed at where Ma Kunyuan was at.


    "No!"


    Daoist Ma''s hair stood on its ends and he had never in his life felt such a life-threatening danger so clearly, as though he was about to die. After he let out a strange wail, he immediately ran towards the outside in an attempt to escape.


    "Kaboom!"


    Nevertheless, no matter how fast he moved, he could not escape the wrath of the heavenly lightning.


    A purple flash landed on him and the ground he stood on exploded, leaving behind a 3-foot deep pitch black hole. Old Daoist Ma disappeared in an instant.


    "So scary..."


    Ye Yingzi went forward and let out a heave of cold air, "If every supernormal person is like him, I can''t imagine what our future will be like!"


    "No need to worry. Most likely, this Daoist Ma has cultivated in the past. By making use of the surge in spiritual droplets, he managed to breakthrough. In the entire country or even world, his cultivation level should be amongst the top few, else, why would he even dare to establish a sect near the capital?"


    Fang Yuan suddenly smiled, "Also... this is not settled yet!"


    ....


    In the obstetrics department of a certain hospital in the capital.


    Accompanied by loud cries, a new life just came into this world.


    "Congratulations, it''s a boy!"


    Suddenly, accompanied by the congratulatory words of the doctors, there were many noises coming from the outside of the ward.


    The newborn had its umbilical cord snipped and was bathed. Wrapped in a white piece of towel, the newborn''s black eyes had no tinge of innocence in it. Instead, his eyes were filled with cunningness and madness, "Damn it! When did such a powerful freak appear! That 5 Lightning Righteous Technique was just like a heavenly punishment... Luckily, I riskily tried my Corpse Liberation Reincarnation Technique and it succeeded! Revenge is a dish best served cold... just you wait..."


    Just that, did he still have the courage to fight against Fang Yuan, someone who was so powerful that could destroy everything with his heavenly lightning technique?


    The old daoist''s heart trembled in fear. As a newborn''s brain could not think too much, he immediately fell into a deep sleep.


    "Hello, Little Ma Kunyuan!!"


    When the newborn opened his eyes, his whole body trembled. A demon-like face was right in front of his eyes.


    Daoist Ma was groaning inside his heart but could only force himself to put up an innocent look as he looked at the surroundings.


    After all, he was inside the hospital with a group of people surrounding him, and these people were all on their toes.


    "Cut the act! You are the one I am looking for!"


    Fang Yuan coughed twice and took out an arrest warrant, "Criminal Ma Kunyuan, you are arrested for illegally reincarnating without the approval of the relevant authorities! You have the rights to remain silent but every word you say will be used against you in court!"


    "Uuuuuwaaaa!"


    Daoist Ma really cried this time around. His cry was piercing and filled with grief.


    He was already forced to reincarnate, and they still did not let him off!


    "Bring him away!"


    Fang Yuan contained his laughter, "He can''t resist against us anymore..."


    "No worries!"


    Beside Fang Yuan, a person who looked like a political officer smiled and said, "I have already planned 16 years of education for him, starting from the infant''s ideological education. We will revamp his ideologies in coordination with the revamp of labour. He shall be used as the specimen for future criminals and he would be a good example."


    "I wish you success!"


    Fang Yuan then returned to the base.


    Fang Yuan''s treatment was obviously different now. Many people clustered around him and escorted him to Xi Menjian''s office.


    "Comrade Fang Yuan, seems like every time we meet, you bring me new surprises!"


    Xi Menjian gave a mirthless laughter.


    "I said before last time, I have some self-defence abilities!"


    Fang Yuan laughed mischievously.


    Previously, Fang Yuan concealed his abilities in order to gain entry into this base to obtain more research data.


    But now, after so long, with Fang Yuan''s level, and especially with the authority he gained from completing the Demon Restraining Cuffs, he had already looked through most of the data he wanted to see. Thus, he was naturally not afraid anymore.


    After all, what Fang Yuan needed was the most fundamental experimental data from the large amounts of samples.


    With these, Fang Yuan could better compare the differences between the realms and improve those higher order things in his mind, akin to improving the template of spiritual techniques.


    Hence, the Fang Yuan now could have such abilities and even have the technique to control lightning and annihilate powerful opponents.


    Else, if it was the Fang Yuan who just entered the base against Ma Kunyuan, Fang Yuan might have even died.


    "Cough cough..."


    Xi Menjian almost choked on his own saliva, "You still need self-defence when you can control lightning and punish evildoers?"


    "Originally, I can continue to conceal, but why did I choose to expose it?"


    Fang Yuan''s expression turned solemn, "Because I can''t stand to see those people with special abilities or spiritual techniques freely abuse their powers and bring trouble to this world!"


    "Is that so? I have misunderstood you!"


    Xi Menjian stood up and bowed to Fang Yuan solemnly, "Thank you! Comrade Fang Yuan, thank you for all that you have done for us!"


    In actual fact, ever since Fang Yuan attracted more attention to himself, investigations regarding him had never stopped.


    There were specially assigned people that were collecting and analysing his details, including those since he was young to each and every of his action in the orphanage. They even formed a mental model based on him.


    ''Target does not have any antisocial inclination, he is rather insecure about his safety and is good at hiding and protecting himself. However, he does not bully the weak and he even occasionally kindly help out others!''


    ''From this aspect, he concealed himself just to protect himself, similar to how Zhao Daniu was like... Now, he even proactively wants to contribute to the country.''


    ''Such a morally righteous comrade, what''s there for me to be worried about!''


    Xi Menjian''s expression turned very gentle, "Just that... don''t be so reckless next time! We rather send our troops to destroy Green Phoenix Mountain than to see anything bad happen to you!"


    Fang Yuan was capable of becoming a powerful leader in the bureau in the future.


    Furthermore, his research ability was very outstanding, he was really an exceptional and rare talent.


    "Yes! I promise I will never commit similar mistakes again!"


    Fang Yuan stood at attention.


    Fang Yuan was who this realm required, a person who did not have any conflict of interest with Chinese Country.


    Furthermore, the real exact details about his background would never be told to anyone. Other than that, anything else could be revealed, even the Green Capsule Scripture Additional Recording!


    "I wouldn''t be so foolish like Elder Extreme Darkness to go against a country on the battlefield!" Fang Yuan thought.


    Records about Elder Extreme Darkness were also kept in the research centre, which Fang Yuan had read before.


    Elder Extreme Darkness'' potential then was comparable to Fang Yuan''s current potential and that was during the period of the first occurrence! During that period, spiritual energy was thin and it was truly horrifying!


    But so what? The result of forcefully entering the World War and going against a powerful country was a missile that totally obliterated her.


    Past experiences were lessons learnt, Fang Yuan did not want to follow in the footsteps of Elder Extreme Darkness.


    It was too shallow to confine one to the national level. This realm''s true value was still the realm itself!

 412 Grading

    "You already saw what I can do!"


    In front of Xi Menjian, Fang Yuan remained resolute. "This is only the beginning of the second occurrence. We still have time to resolve the problems... If we delay any longer and allow the cultivators and mutants to gain the upper hands, then it would be too late!"


    "This is why have Operation Typhoon!"


    Xi Menjian nodded his head.


    "Pardon me for being straightforward, but with only a group of volunteers, the Demon Restraining Cuffs and some firepower, we can only deal with a group of criminal mutants. However, we are still incapable of dealing with the powerful ones among them."


    Fang Yuan shook his head. "Take for instance Ma Kunyuan. Although he is an isolated case, those a little weaker than him are still causing problems for us!"


    "..."


    Xi Menjian frowned and remained silent.


    He was extremely clear of the capabilities of his soldiers.


    Although he had a few strong mutants and a group of cultivators, it was still not enough to deal with a Ma Kunyaun.


    "So, what are you intending to do?"


    "As your special consultant, I request to lead a small team to reinforce the quick response team... If they still cannot resolve the problem, I will handle it personally!"


    Fang Yuan exclaimed with confidence.


    ''The stronger the mutant or entity, the more it exemplifies the supernatural rules of this world... I must defeat them, capture them, study them, and even... absorb them! Only by doing this will I be able to increase my power!''


    "An emergency team? Alright, I''ll approve of it!"


    After thinking for a long time, Xi Menjian finally agreed to it. "What will it be called?"


    "Let''s call it the ''Dragon Team''!"


    Fang Yuan snickered.


    ...


    In the following months, the entire world fell into chaos.


    The second occurrence came and the concentration of spiritual droplets multiplied. This brought about a change in the laws of physics for the entire world.


    This was different from the first occurrence which caused physical bodies to change. This time, it led to discoveries of special ability! People now harnessed the ability to produce fire, ice or even lightning... Or they could be impenetrable, have the ability to fly and other weird abilities. The country could no longer keep the news from the public, resulting in a worldwide chaos.


    In the Middle Region, the scientifically-endorsed Qigong was slowly gaining popularity once again. ''Martial Artists'' started to appear in these regions. Some were living in the secluded forests and others were living on mountains. They had sworn that they had seen a deity with a sword and therefore, many others were trying to track down the deity in an attempt to become fated and meet her.


    In the Blue Star Alliance, the long-gone vampire and werewolf appeared once more. Churches started to spread their faith and preached everywhere, making use of their new and effective magical spells to gain popularity far and wide.


    As for the Golden Eagle Federation, although there were only a few cultivators there, the increasing number of mutants were the greatest among the all the regions.


    The mutants misused their ability to disrupt peace and even formed an alliance among themselves, claiming that they would create a country for mutants, creating a big problem for the Federation.


    Considering the chaos in other regions, Chinese Country already had one of the most favourable situations.


    The decisive stance to clamp down on the evolvers and the strong-willed Xi Menjian led to a large-scale cleansing operation throughout the entire country.


    Those who had just obtained their special abilities and were not accustomed to it yet were paid a visit by the people from the Office of Supernatural Studies.


    The criminals who were disruptive were attacked and clamped down fiercely by the quick response team.


    Within a month, the mildly chaotic society started to regain its peace. The few mutants who were left out even surrendered themselves, succumbing to the investigation by the people of the Office of Truth Investigation.


    ...


    "It''s really peaceful..."


    Little Night of the Plains carried a basket and walked home.


    "You''re back!"


    The lady who was staying with Little Night was Little Vegetable. She was a small lady with black hair and claimed to be a foreign student.


    "Mmm, I''ve bought carrots, vegetables and a slab of pork. We can cook soup tonight!"


    Little Night placed the groceries in the kitchen. While she was doing it, she secretly sensed the enchantment in the surroundings. "Hmm, it is not yet destroyed... You can say your piece in peace!"


    "There''s meat! This is wonderful!"


    Little Vegetable was elated and was filled with emotions. "A few countries within Middle Region have already declared war. No one would''ve thought that Chinese Country can still maintain such peace and stability. The security in their city is much better and I''ve heard that the criminal mutants are all captured. With that, the situation became under control!"


    "Yeah, it''s really strong!"


    Little Night let out a bitter smile. Even their home country was troubled with these mutants.


    Comparatively, she now knew the power of Chinese Country!


    "How''s the intelligence?"


    Both of them knelt down before a small table and Little Vegetable became tensed.


    "The headquarters of the Religious Bureau is in a military base and it is extremely hard for us to infiltrate... However, we are familiar with their departments and the situation in the bureau, especially their Demon Restraining Cuffs. We have verified that these cuffs will affect the spiritual force of Yin Yang Masters!"


    Little Night took in a deep breath.


    "The instruction from the higher-ups is to prioritize and obtain their little invention!"


    Little Vegetable appeared solemn. "Without it, we will need to sacrifice a lot of warriors before we will be able to capture one mutant. Furthermore, we cannot ensure that we will be able to contain the mutant for a period of time! Prioritize the capture of its designer, Mr Fang Yuan, as well! That is our final goal!"


    At this point, her expression changed as she glanced towards Little Night. "You''ve met him before. How is he?"


    "How is he?"


    Little Night of the Plains thought about the scene at Heart Questioning House and was in a daze. "I could not see through him. Although I felt that everything was under control then, now that I recall, it seems like the entire place was shrouded in fog... It''s a pity that they no longer sell the Opening Point Incense..."


    The incense was extremely beneficial to Yin Yang Masters. They had secretly performed tests on it after shipping it back to Japan and could create it from its composition. However, they were still unable to achieve its desired effect.


    The need for resources and the fact that Fang Yuan''s prediction through his thesis made Fang Yuan the top priority for spies from many countries.


    "It''s a pity..."


    Little Vegetable sighed.


    As a top mutated scientist, he would surely be protected by maximum security and it would be almost impossible for anyone to go near him.


    Although spies from all over the world were hungry to get to him, they could only patrol around Fang Yuan''s old lodging and school... all these places were places which he could possibly leave his DNA for the spies to collect.


    "I have gotten in contact with the Nightingale and have gotten a piece of intelligence!"


    Little Night of the Plains appeared solemn and continued. "This is related to the thunder-type mutant from the legends as well as the Grading system described by Mr Fang Yuan!"


    Fang Yuan''s actions at the Green Phoenix Mountain was too much of a commotion to be placed under wraps.


    Xi Menjian had thought long and hard and could only create a ''God of Thunder'' in the database in an attempt to cover up for Fang Yuan.


    Of course, it was not entirely covering up for Fang Yuan.


    This was because the God of Thunder was indeed the leader of the Dragon Team. The team leader had resolved many problems regarding criminal mutants and was well-known throughout the world.


    However, no one would link such a powerful warrior with Fang Yuan the scientist and therefore, it was as good as covering up for him.


    "Be clear about it!"


    Little Vegetable became excited and straightened her back.


    "Those with improved physical qualities after the first occurrence are graded ''Mortal''! Those elementary martial artists and illusionary souls with only the ability to scare others are also in this grade."


    Little Night of the Plains continued. "Above the Mortal Grade is the Ghost Grade! This people have a certain special ability and can disrupt the order of society... According to this classification, I am under this grade."


    "After Ghost Grade would be the Murderous Grade! There are extremely few mutants in this grade. Those in this grade are able to defend themselves against a group of mutants or even a country''s forces... The daoist in Green Phoenix Mountain is classified under this grade. Of course, he is the top in this grade!"


    "After Murderous Grade, it would be Calamity Grade!"


    Little Night gave a suspicious look. "This is only a hypothetical grade and our sources have yet to get information regarding mutants in this grade. We only know that there must be the existence of such mutants in the Calamity Grade. If any of them were to appear, there would surely be a calamity! I suspect the God of Thunder belongs to this grade."


    "There seems to be an official way to test mutants and see which grade they belong to. Professor Fang has designed an instrument to test the circulatory system within one''s body based on the concentration of spiritual energy and from there conclude a general grade..."


    "It''s Mr Fang Yuan again?"


    Little Vegetable became silent. "Chinese Country is too fortunate... to have such a talent and such a powerful mutant like the God of Thunder."


    "Whoosh! Whoosh!"


    With a white flash, an origami crane flapped its wings and floated through the window.


    "How could they even think of such a method to send information?"


    Little Night and Little Vegetable froze. "Is there any emergency?"


    Little Night stretched out her hand and the paper crane landed on her palm. She bit her tongue and spat a mouthful of blood on it.


    "Buzz!"


    With a red glow, a row of red words appeared.


    This was an encrypted message. If Little Night did not spit out the mouthful of blood, the paper crane would self-destruct.


    "It is truly an emergency! There are sightings of a Murderous Grade mutant in Mountain Ocean City. It has broken free of the ambush by the quick response team and the Religious Bureau is sending in more reinforcements!"


    Little Night became overly excited and a little dizzy. "There are many scientists involved in this, including Fang Yuan!"


    "To be able to get close enough to obtain intelligence about the Murderous Grade mutant and Mr Fang Yuan himself..."


    Little Vegetable spoke in a serious tone. "This is the best opportunity and we must make full use of it!"

 413 The Willow Tree

    There was silence in the airplane cabin, except for the continuous whirring of machinery.


    Through a small window, the blue sky was visible and there were fluffy white clouds beneath.


    "Professor Fang, in another half an hour, we will reach Mountain Ocean City!"


    Beside him, there was a scientist, Old Li. He laughed as he spoke. "That is Professor Fang''s hometown, right?"


    "That''s right... many years have passed since then!"


    Fang Yuan was donned in a lab coat, wore glasses and gave off a scholarly vibe. No one would be able to associate him with the team leader of Dragon Team, the God of Thunder.


    It was an ancient trick for martial artists with cultivation to make use of their muscles and internal energy to alter their appearances. This was nothing difficult for Fang Yuan.


    As for his appointment as a professor? Since the completion of the design for the Demon Restraining Cuffs, Fang Yuan had been approved to be a professor with almost no resistance.


    Now, he gazed deeply out of the window and was lost in his thoughts.


    ''Is Professor Fang thinking about your hometown?''


    This colleagues looked at him and gave friendly smiles without interrupting him.


    They were clueless that Fang Yuan was actually reading through his stats window:


    "Name: Fang Yuan


    Essence: 3.5


    Spirit: 9.9


    Magic: 9.9


    Profession: ???


    Cultivation: ???


    Technique: [Elemental Spiritual Energy Cultivation Spell (Grade 3 (99%))]


    Skill: [Medicine (Level 3)], [Botany (Level 5)], [Fiery Golden Eyes (Level 1)]"


    ''The improvements brought to my body after killing Ma Kunyuan''s possessed body and absorbing the spiritual energy from Green Phoenix Mountain is too great...''


    Seeing this, he was extremely satisfied.


    With his special ability to have fixed stats and his own strong physical body, he almost had no limits in this world, which was something that others could never imagine.


    After removing the restrictions on his own body and assimilating into the world, he would be able to increase his cultivation as long as he was given energy to absorb!


    ''It''s a pity... The Green Phoenix Mountain was mainly covered in the strength of the god dao and most of it is being wasted... Hopefully, Mountain Ocean City will not let me down...''


    "Whoosh! Whoosh!"


    The plane flew through the clouds and descended. On the horizon, a huge airport appeared.


    Fang Yuan and his colleagues alighted from the plane and a group of people hurriedly rushed towards them. The one leading the group of people was a middle-aged soldier in military uniform. "Hello guys, I am the person-in-charge here and my name is Wu Tie. We''ve waited for quite a while!"


    "Hello!"


    Fang Yuan stretched his hand out. "We have brought the best botanist from the base and hope that we will be of help to the situation!"


    "You are... Comrade Fang Yuan! This is great!"


    Wu Tie was initially suspicious after seeing Fang Yuan''s young looks as he led the group of scientist. However, after realising that it was Fang Yuan, he was overjoyed. "Great... our city is finally saved!"


    "Oh? Has it reached such a stage already?"


    Fang Yuan raised his glasses. "Let''s get on the car. Tell us about it along the way."


    "Rumble!"


    The jeeps roared to life and a line of 10 jeeps drove on the roads.


    They were on the outskirts of Mountain Ocean City. After 10 minutes, the silhouette of a city appeared on the horizon and Fang Yuan could see a few familiar looking buildings.


    At the same time, the accompanying Zhao Daniu shrieked.


    This was because a layer of fog was slowly spreading, engulfing almost half of the city.


    "Is this the power of the Thousand Year Willow?"


    Closing his eyes, Fang Yuan could feel an immense amount of spiritual droplets gathering around the city, forming a swirl.


    In the middle of the white fog, there was the silhouette of a jade-green tree covering half the sky. It was full of energy and life.


    "That''s right... After the second occurrence, other than the increased appearance of mutants, there are also natural changes and mutated plants..."


    Wu Tie had an uneasy look on his face. "Some animals are even better adapted than us in absorbing spiritual energy... Of course, the biggest winner is nature!"


    After the second occurrence, there seemed to be the appearance of a few mysterious plots of land on earth.


    Some of these lands were originally dangerous. Together with the increase of spiritual droplets, they became perilous plots of lands which had to be avoided at all costs.


    Other plots of lands only became dangerous after the second occurrence. From then on, these lands began to spread far and wide.


    It was unfortunate that one of these lands was in the middle of a city.


    "Its index number is M-95 and it is a willow tree. It was originally an old tree in the North Park of Mountain Ocean City and it was rumoured to be more than 1,000 years old. After investigations, it was found out that although it had already withered, after the first occurence, the tree started to revive and recover. Therefore, it was not removed from the park and appeared completely normal. Who would''ve known that after the second occurrence, this willow would start to spread out? Within a short period of time, its roots had already spread throughout the entire North Park. It also began to release a thick fog which was unable to be dispersed. In the fog, there is an intoxicating agent and the fog has already covered half of the city..."


    "Before this, we have already sent people in hopes that the willow tree could be destroyed. However, our efforts were futile and even the fire-type mutants could do nothing about it... Until now, we have already evacuated over 300,000 people from their homes. The destruction this willow had caused to our economy and our properties are too much to calculate!"


    With an uneasy look, Wu Tie shared everything he knew about the situation. "We are suspecting that this willow has a simple mind on its own and its branches are like hands which are able to move, making it extremely hard to destroy..."


    "I understand!"


    Fang Yuan nodded his head. "When we arrive at the base, we will need to start collecting some data! If we still cannot succeed, we will have to use our final plan!"


    "..."


    Wu Tie remained silent and there was pain in his eyes.


    The final plan would surely be to bomb the place, wiping the willow tree of its existence!


    If the final plan were to be executed, the entire Mountain Ocean City would be destroyed as well. This was an outcome no one would want to see.


    Notwithstanding anything else, the problem of hundreds of thousands of refugees created from bombing the city would have to be dealt with or it would cause a greater societal problem.


    Therefore, they had to solve the problem caused by the Thousand Year Willow!


    If not for this, Xi Menjian would not have sent his most precious asset, Fang Yuan, here.


    After driving for a while, a huge camp appeared before Fang Yuan and company. Many green and huge tents lined the camp, making the entire place feel organised.


    Outside the camp, there were concertina wires surrounding the boundaries and red warning signs were posted everywhere.


    "Lecturer Fang..."


    After alighting from the keep, Wu Tie could no longer hold himself back. "Chief of Bureau, Xi Menjian, has promised us to send reinforcements. Where are the highly skilled people in the Dragon Team? Where are they?"


    "You must know that the intoxicating agent is extremely potent. Even if we are properly equipped with anti-poison clothing, we will not be able to last for 10 minutes. Only the mutants will be able to fight in the fog!"


    Thinking about how they would know about the properties of the fog, Wu Tie''s eyes started to redden. It must have been a painful lesson for them.


    "Don''t worry. The Dragon Team is already on its way. However, the God of Thunder likes to travel alone and will not be with us for now!"


    Fang Yuan smiled.


    "That''s good..."


    Wu Tie''s eyes were filled with uneasiness.


    Any superior would not feel at ease if their subordinate were to travel and do things on their own.


    Being a composed person, he quickly regained his composure and did not display and displeasure. "Since that is so, I hope that they will remain safe. In the surroundings of this camp, I have already detected the traces of a few spies from the Golden Eagle Federation!"


    "This unique situation will be attractive enough to attract them here..."


    Fang Yuan sighed before instructing Zhao Daniu and Ye Yingzi to open the packages and start to build many instruments.


    "I need to get close to the white fog and conduct a field research on the concentration of spiritual energy there!"


    Fang Yuan casually took a gas mask and wore it.


    "Mmm, I shall send a party to escort you!"


    Wu Tie was impressed at Fang Yuan''s decisiveness and how he was willing to risk his own life for research.


    ...


    Very quickly, Fang Yuan, Zhao Daniu and a group of soldiers entered Mountain Ocean City and were on the main street.


    "Sigh..."


    Zhao Daniu looked at the empty streets and the tattered newspapers flying in the wind as he began to be filled with emotions.


    After all, he was different from Fang Yuan and did not have the opportunity to study abroad. He had grown up here and therefore had a feeling of affection for the city.


    Now that he had observed the desolate and lifeless scene, there was a tinge of sadness in his heart.


    "This place gives me the goosebumps!"


    Ye Yingzi held her gun tightly and scanned the surroundings on full alert.


    She had never imagined that an empty and lifeless city would give her the creeps.


    "This is only normal. After all, we are comparing it to the capital!"


    Fang Yuan walked down an alley and a layer of white fog appeared before him. It was different from the fog of dream masters and was even more pale, giving off an ominous vibe.


    "Professor, be careful. The intoxicating properties of this fog are extremely strong and there seem to be other dangers lurking in the fog as well!"


    Beside him was a group leader wearing a chemical warfare suit and a gas mask. Because his voice was amplified through the mask, it sounded extremely depressing.


    "Don''t worry, I''ve got it!"


    For safety reasons, Fang Yuan and Ye Yingzi were also wearing gas masks. Only Zhao Daniu did not require any protection and was unobstructed by the fog, making the rest around him jealous.


    "This place... this place is alright. Let''s set it up!"


    Fang Yuan placed a metal rack on the ground and created a path for himself.


    Ye Yingzi and Zhao Daoniu went forward to help him. They seemed experienced and not long after, a small radar-looking instrument was assembled and the wok-looking sensor was pointed towards the white fog.


    "Let''s fix the location! React as soon as a high concentration of spiritual droplets is detected!"


    Fang Yuan looked at the needle as he started to read off some numbers. "Hmmm... There is a reading of 10 for the spiritual droplets. It should be a branch or root. Follow it... We''ve found it!"


    "Ascertain that this is the trunk of the willow!"


    "Dooo! Doooo!"


    There was a vibration in the fog as though something was detected.


    With that, the instrument started to give off a chime.


    "Hmm, the readings at the core are hitting 999, more than what we can detect! It is confirmed..."


    With a solemn face, Fang Yuan announced. "This is a Murderous Grade disaster, and its destructive force is above what we had encountered at the Green Phoenix Mountain!"

 414 Parasitic

    Since there were Murderous Grade supernormal people, naturally there would be Murderous Grade disasters.


    Such a thing that destroyed a city, affected hundreds of thousands of people and could not be annihilated except if it was extensively bombed would be a Murderous Grade natural disaster.


    "This willow tree does not know how to conceal itself... if it maintained its previous state and waited for the third occurrence... it would most likely rise to Calamity Grade! Humans would not be able to do anything to it."


    A Murderous Grade natural disaster affected an area, whereas the range of a Calamity Grade natural disaster would be the entire country or even realm!


    "Tzz! Tzz!"


    "Tzz! Tzz!"


    Suddenly, the instrument pointed towards the white fog and was emitting an ear-piercing noise in the silent environment.


    "It''s the willow? It has discovered we are probing it, retreat!"


    Fang Yuan swiftly kept the instrument and was the first to run away.


    After all, the order this team received was to protect Fang Yuan''s safety with their lives. If Fang Yuan did not leave first, none of them could leave unless they were a deserter.


    "Retreat! Retreat!"


    The team leader at his side took out his gun. His voice was rather frightened as he said, "I have already requested for aid from the headquarters, they will be coming soon!"


    "Boom!"


    Near the boundary of the white fog, the cement roads ruptured and numerous spiderweb-like cracks appeared.


    Not only that, the cracks kept extending like a black coloured centipede. The cracks were charging towards where Fang Yuan and team were at.


    "Boom! Boom! Boom!"


    The ground continued to rupture and a giant black shadow emerged from the cracks. It was like a long whip that swung crazily.


    "Smack!"


    As the ground tremored, a few soldiers who could not dodge it fast enough were smashed into pieces.


    Furthermore, it was as though the black shadows were alive as they kept sweeping towards the remaining of them.


    "The willow tree''s rhizomes? Can they spread till here? No... no way, this is just a... parasitic body!"


    Fang Yuan''s eyes sparkled and he shouted, "Daniu! Go!"


    "Haaa!"


    Zhao Daniu''s entire body swelled and his skin turned into a green and rock-like colour. He extended both his arms forward and grabbed it.


    "Smack!"


    The root was like an iron whip and smacked Daniu''s arms, producing an extremely dull noise as though it hit something tough.


    "Gotcha!" Zhao Daniu exclaimed delightedly and he then pulled backwards continuously.


    "Rumble!"


    A spot on the ground rose up and formed a big bulge. There was even a chattering noise from within it, as though there was a living animal inside it.


    The nearby rhizomes were provoked at once and they immediately let go of the others and aimed Zhao Daniu.


    "Smack! Smack!"


    Although the rhizomes could rupture the ground and break bones, they had no effects on Zhao Daniu. When they landed on his body, his skin turned white momentarily and there were no marks nor injuries left on it.


    "Haha... come out!"


    Zhao Daniu laughed. The veins on his arms bulged out as he strongly exerted his force.


    "Bang!"


    The bulge erupted and a strange living creature appeared in front of everyone''s eyes.


    "Chi chi! Chi chi!"


    The creature had the appearance of a gigantic white rat which was almost as large as a buffalo. Its snow-white fur had hints of grey and there were large amounts of rhizomes emerging from underneath its skin. It was truly disgusting and horrifying.


    "This... why does this look like it is parasitised!"


    Fang Yuan stroked his chin, "Unless these rhizomes are the true mutated organisms... Do willow trees have spores? No... it seems like... willow catkins!"


    "Professor Fang, be careful!"


    A panicky voice could be heard from the communication device, "That is the willow tree''s parasitised mutated body! Based on our observations and research, it should be infected by those white coloured catkins¡­.. As long as a living object is parasitised, it would immediately become a terrifying biological weapon!"


    "I was right, it is the willow catkins!"


    In Fang Yuan''s eyes, large amounts of fine willow catkins had already covered the entirety of this rat''s body.


    Furthermore, the catkins even covered the rhizomes and were like insects crawling towards Zhao Daniu.


    "Burn it!"


    The soldiers in the team could finally react. They took out their flamethrowers and started burning the rhizomes.


    "Flaming!"


    Under the searing flames, large amounts of white coloured willow catkins ignited at once. The roots rustled and let out a wail and numerous burnt patches appeared along with large amounts of fluids blasting out.


    "Snap!"


    The giant white rat immediately broke off its rhizomes and tried to turn around to burrow into the ground as it saw the situation was not in its favour.


    "Attack!"


    "Ta! Ta! Ta! Ta!"


    However, at that moment, more than ten blazes of fire were shot and landed on the rat''s body in an instant. There were many holes in its body as though it was a honeycomb.


    "Dead?"


    Fang Yuan slowly walked forward and thought, "Normally, such parasitic species were at most Mortal Grade mutants and 80% of them would stand no chance against me. However, against Ghosts Grade mutants, even if my stats were not restricted, it would be super troublesome to fight against them!"


    "Professor, such an organism is extremely dangerous! Even if the parasitic body has died, there are still copious amounts of microorganisms inside its body!"


    One of the soldiers immediately went forward to stop Fang Yuan.


    "It''s okay..."


    Fang Yuan took out a pair of tweezers and searched inside the rat''s pool of blood. He then picked up a strand of willow catkin.


    Its body was thinner than a strand of hair and it was still wriggling about, as though it had a life of its own.


    "Once such infection spreads, it would be harder to deal with it than the willow tree... However, there seem to be some limitations..." Fang Yuan looked at the white fog and ruminated.


    "Professor! The responders have arrived and they are requesting to escort us to leave immediately!"


    Ye Yingzi took a step forward.


    "Oh, let''s go!"


    Fang Yuan placed the strand of willow catkin into a test tube. He then tilted his head to one side and looked somewhere before he finally turned around and left.


    After the group of them left, the white fog rolled and was soon back to its calm state.


    On top of a residential building near the area, a few black shadows appeared, "Such a pity... if they went deeper it, it would have been the best opportunity for us!"


    "Don''t be foolish, Professor Fang Yuan is Chinese Country''s most important mutant researcher, it would be impossible for them to let him be in danger!" A gorgeous lady at the side laughed.


    She had a hot body and was donned in a black leather suit that showcased her seductive curves. She had blonde hair, blue eyes and was the quintessential western beauty. She then continued, "Instead of being so secretive, why not let me give it a try... Chinese Country''s scientist, I''m interested!"


    "Narissa, you Black Widow! Why is your brain filled with the thoughts of white fluids... What we need is his intelligence, not his corpse!" A tall blond dude beside her replied.


    This Narissa awakened a very bizarre mutant type. She could strengthen herself by absorbing males'' vitality and she had already caused some panic in Golden Eagle Federation.


    Once a person has his vitality drawn out, it would be very difficult for him to survive even if he was a mutant.


    If her teammates did not know that her ability to syphon vitality had its limitations as it had to be done through a specific method, there would be no males willing to be in the same team as her.


    "Fine, I know!"


    Narissa stuck out her tongue and licked her thick and supple red lips, which made all the men on the spot felt warmth flowing near their nether region.


    "Ok, we have three objectives for this mission. The first is to observe this willow tree''s ability and assess its danger! The second would be to monitor the strength of the mutants in Chinese Country! The third objective is this Professor Fang Yuan!" The team leader explained slowly. When the team leader was serious, even Narissa did not dare to retort.


    "Furthermore... this time around, we have the assistance of another power!"


    "Woong! Woong!"


    Above the rooftop, two origami cranes appeared. It then exploded suddenly and cast the image of two persons kneeling and greeting, "Greetings, ladies and gentlemen!"


    The two persons were like ancient ladies. They had a thick layer of white powder on their faces and bright red lips. They were also dressed colourfully and thinly.


    "Japan''s paper shikigami?"


    Narissa smiled and said, "Indeed, a group of people who like to hide themselves and do things indirectly!"


    "As our true bodies are not around, we can only meet you all with such means. Apologies!"


    The two shikigamis each had three fingers on the ground as they bowed again, "Also... Fang Yuan is our main target this time around and I hope you all can satisfy this small wish of ours. We will do our best to cooperate with you all in other areas!"


    "Your target is Fang Yuan?"


    The team leader smiled nonchalantly, "No matter how good a scientist is, without the best equipment and fellow researchers, he would not amount to anything... Our Golden Eagle Federation is the hub of modern cutting-edge technology! My main goal this time is also that God of Thunder! He is a Calamity Grade mutant and should not waste his time here... his ability would be put to the best use only if he comes to our Golden Eagle Federation!"


    "Understood, we will do our best to help you all!"


    As the two shikigamis spoke, their bodies sinisterly began to burn from their bottom and turned into two piles of ashes moments later.


    "What a strange usage... looks like some of the supernormal cultivators in Middle Continent and East Continent are pretty interesting too..."


    A mutant walked forward and looked at the piles of ashes on the ground. His eyes suddenly let out a bloodthirsty glow as he said, "I wonder how their blood taste like..."


    "Jax! There will be opportunities!"


    The team leader''s voice was firm and filled with perseverance like a piece of aged granite, "In this world, only power can crush everything!"


    ...


    The atmosphere inside a conference room in the large military base was tense and solemn.


    Presentations and results of data analysis played which reflected their despair.


    "In conclusion... we can deduce that this demonic willow tree is at the peak of Murderous Grade! There is a possibility that it might enter the Calamity Grade in the future!"


    Fang Yuan kept his presentation pointing stick and continued, "Regarding the effective methods to combat it... Professor Chen!"


    "Cough cough..."


    An old professor coughed a few times and presented, "I have already created its life model. According to the deductions, even missiles could only at most seriously injure it and cannot completely annihilate it. It must be paired with napalm bombs... However, the resulting pollution cannot be estimated..."


    "Hence, the best way to destroy it would be to send a group of soldiers to carry and place large amounts of bombs and napalms at the core of the willow tree. Thus, this can destroy the tree and yet protect the entire city!"


    Wu Tie''s expression changed as he asked, "When is God of Thunder arriving?"


    "Tonight!"


    "Looks like... this is our only method?"


    Wu Tie''s face turned ashen as though he just aged ten years. He then muttered the meeting was dispersed.


    "I''m preparing to engage in a thorough research, don''t let anyone disturb me!"


    Fang Yuan asked for a laboratory as an excuse for the God of Thunder to appear later on.


    As long as he had the cooperation of Ye Yingzi and Zhao Daniu, he could continue to keep up the act.

 415 Infiltration

    "It''s done!"


    Fang Yuan wore a black suit and looked at Ye Yingzi and Zhao Daniu.


    Only two of them knew the true identity of the God of Thunder.


    "Execute according to plan. I will destroy the willow tree and the both of you shall stay here to be my alibi!"


    "Rumble!"


    As he spoke, he started to grow in height and his facial features began to change. He now had sharp eyebrows and grey sideburns.


    To put it in another way, he had transformed from a young scientist to a middle-aged handsome lad.


    "Alright!"


    Ye Yingzi acknowledged but had a complicated look on her face.


    No matter how many times she had seen Fang Yuan do this before, she would still be stunned.


    "Whooosh!"


    With a smile, Fang Yuan disappeared with the wind.


    ...


    Outside the base in the wilderness.


    "Is our leader not here yet?"


    A young man with a yellow-dyed hair and earrings who seemed flippant started to complain.


    "Searing Flames, how dare you say such things here..."


    In front of him was a 30-year-old beauty with a mysterious seductive vibe coming from her.


    "Red Sister, we are just joking!"


    The young man called ''Searing Flames'' seemed to fear this lady as he tried to make up for what he had said previously.


    "Look at Old Guo. He is much more patient than you!"


    Red Sister crossed her legs and sat down, glancing towards Guo Jing who was fiddling with a magical equipment. "Am I right?"


    "Hehe... Red, don''t you mock me!"


    Guo Jing stood up and shook his limbs. "I''m old already and I can''t compare to you youngsters!"


    "Your daoist techniques still leave our leader in awe. You were personally invited by him to join the team, so how can you only have those few moves?"


    Searing Flames rolled his eyes.


    Speaking of this, Guo Jing felt depressed.


    He was minding his business to begin with and was well hidden within the city. However, one fine day, a government official came knocking on his door.


    He had no intentions to kill a government personnel and go against the entire government and had to obediently allow them to recruit him.


    After unknowingly making his way into the Dragon Team, he then realised that it was the God of Thunder''s intention to recruit him in and therefore he could only allow it.


    "Enough about me..."


    Guo Jing looked at Searing Flames and Red Sister as his eyes glistened. "Although you guys have special abilities and are strengthened after the second occurrence, the way you guys are using it is wasting your natural talent... How about becoming my disciple? Considering your foundation and potential, both of you have the opportunity to breakthrough to the highest realm in the daoist books!"


    "It''s boring!"


    Searing Flames rolled his eyes. "If I become your disciple, I will have to stare at the ugly-looking talismans the entire day. I''m too lazy to even go to school. Do you think I will join you?"


    "Then why not consider the Golden Eagle Federation from the West? Their process of strengthening their bodies are much more simplified. All they have to do is to take some medication and an injection. Convenient!"


    At the same time, Red Sister took out her make-up and started to touch up.


    "Sigh... The Violet Seal Script is a rare heritage. Many cultivators don''t even have the chance to see it, let alone having the chance to learn..."


    Guo Jing revealed a face of regret. "Even our leader has requested to see my techniques and perform investigations on it..."


    "That is the leader, not us!"


    Red Sister smiled. "Leader is a talent. Furthermore, have we all not been forced to try out daoist techniques? This proves that not all mutants are able to cultivate in daoist techniques... The best would still be to follow your own body and awaken your own special ability which suits you this most. This is what Professor Fang said."


    "Sigh... eh?"


    Guo Jing sighed before twitching his eyebrows and retrieving an array flag which was in his possession. "My array has been alarmed. Our leader must be here!"


    "Rippppp!"


    With the streak of a lightning, Fang Yuan''s middle-aged persona arrived.


    "Boss!"


    Seeing their leader''s arrival, even the rebellious young punk did not dare to show any disrespect and properly greeting Fang Yuan.


    He only displayed so much respect because he was once taught a lesson by Fang Yuan.


    The codenamed Searing Fire and Red Sister were rebellious children who posed problems even for Xi Menjian. Troubled, he assigned both of them to Fang Yuan.


    "Hmm, there are only the 4 of us here. We must complete the mission!"


    Fang Yuan''s eyes glistened with excitement.


    He knew that he had to get the willow tree no matter what happened.


    Although everyone regarded him as a Calamity Grade mutant, he knew himself the best and gauged that he should only be around the Ghost or Murderous Grade.


    He could only release so much power previously because of the face that he made use of the high concentration of spiritual droplets and channelled them completely to create spells.


    ''Therefore... If Guo Jing were to attain the highest cultivation possible of the Violet Seal Script, he should more or less know that I am not a mutant, but... just well-versed in thunder-type techniques!''


    Fang Yuan laughed to himself.


    Regardless of where the power came from, if he could harness it, it would be considered his!


    "This willow is intriguing. It not only has a huge storage of spiritual droplets, it also lies above a node... If it was in the world of Da Qian, it would surely become a hollow... If I were to absorb it completely, I would be able to advance many grades at once!"


    This was something only possible for Fang Yuan for he had the ability of have fixed stats. Therefore, he would be able to absorb in energy and simply improve his cultivation.


    If Elder Extreme Darkness were to have such an ability, she would probably have ruled the entire world and would not end up being killed by a bomb.


    "We have no worries for you are here, leader!"


    Searing Flames exclaimed loudly.


    "In this operation, we will split into two groups. After meeting up with the officer at the camp, the few of you will bring the bomb with you, while I will deal with all those who are watching!"


    Fang Yuan''s cold voice sounded murderous and Searing Flames uncontrollably shuddered.


    ...


    "Good day, officer!"


    Within the camp.


    The 4 members of the Dragon Team revealed themselves and therefore, the entire group was invited to Wu Tie.


    After settling their identifications, Wu Tie heaved a sigh of relief. "The future of Mountain Ocean City lies in your hands!"


    "Don''t worry, we will accomplish the mission!"


    Fang Yuan laughed and followed Wu Tie to the back end of the camp.


    "This is the poison jointly developed by Professor Fang Yuan and I. It might be useful!"


    The previous Professor Chen came out and brought them to a huge warehouse.


    "Also, we have completed preparations for the specially made bomb and napalm. You guys can leave anything!"


    "Very well, prepare a few vehicles and we shall be on the move!"


    Fang Yuan was decisive.


    "Rumble!"


    Not long after, a row of cars drove along a road and went straight into the fog-covered Mountain Ocean City.


    As the fog became denser, the visibility started to worsen.


    There were weird sounds coming from the surroundings.


    "You guys should be clear of the location of the park where the willow tree is... There is only one mission, and that is to deliver the bomb safely to the perimeter of the park!"


    Fang Yuan''s spiritual will shook and in a bolt of lightning, he was gone.


    ...


    In a base outside the city.


    At where the Dragon Team once was, a staff officer made his way to the table and grabbed the used cups.


    "What are you doing?"


    Suddenly, the tent was lit up and Wu Tie was standing at the opening with a stern look. "These are the objects used by the Dragon Team. Are you trying to obtain their biological samples?"


    "Hehe... This is so boring. How could I be discovered so quickly!"


    The staff officer laughed. The chime of a bell was heard and everyone who heard it felt creeped out.


    "I''ve said it before... we should have attacked them directly for it is the best opportunity... Even the God of Thunder is trapped within the fog now. The entire base is filled with valuable scientists to capture!"


    Suddenly, the staff officer smiled and transformed into a thin piece of paper which then started to burn.


    "Rumble!"


    Outside, a huge explosion was heard and there were screams. "Call the police! The base has been infiltrated!"


    "Let''s start the war!"


    Wu Tie scoffed. "Recall the Dragon Team back and protect these scientists at all costs!"


    "Reporting!"


    A messenger was shouting into a phone but soon after, he turned pale. "Our communications... have been cut!"


    "Pa! Pa!"


    There were flapping sounds everywhere. A piece of dark cloud floated above the base and covered the entire sky.


    Bats flew down from the sky and formed the figure of Narissa. Like a model doing catwalk, a red bat landed on her hand. "Hehe... there are only so few people? There seems to be too little!"


    "A mutant from the Golden Eagle Federation?"


    Wu Tie screamed and with that, his body was covered in a gold hue as though he had transformed into an iron man.


    "Bang! Bang!"


    Following which, there were countless gunshots and in a few moments, many blood holes were formed on Narissa''s body.


    "Firepower? This is irritating!"


    With a smile, a red glow appeared on her body and her wound quickly recovered. Squeezing out the last bit of bullet from her body, her glowing and perfect skin was restored.


    "Superspeed regeneration?"


    Wu Tie''s eyelid twitched. "Murderous Grade? Don''t stop shooting! Even though she can regenerate, there will surely be a limit as to how much she can handle!"


    "That''s right... If you hit me a few more times, I might not be able to keep up with the regeneration!"


    Narissa stuck out her tongue and her body exploded into countless bats which started to spread out.


    "Ahh!"


    There were cries as many soldiers had their necks bitten and their blood sucked dry.


    "Narissa, what''s the point of you sucking their blood? Your regenerative powers will not be strengthened anyway..."


    A furry-looking silhouette broke into the camp and turned into a 3-metre tall werewolf. The fur on him seemed extremely hardy as normal bullets could only cause sparks when shot at the werewolf.


    The werewolf let out a disgruntled howl.


    "Hehe... even so, I will not let you have them!"


    Narissa''s voice came from every bat all around.


    "You people... are you not afraid of war by doing this?"


    Wu Tie grabbed a bat and tightened his grip, smashing it into a bloodied mess.


    "Although you know that we are the spies of the federation, the federation will never acknowledge our existence..."


    The humongous werewolf howled and appeared frenzied. "Where is that scientist?!"

 416 Tempes

    "Answer me!"


    The giant werewolf roared inside the camp.


    Wu Tie''s expression remained the same. Accompanied by commands, a few tanks and armoured vehicles drove as though they were going to surround the werewolf.


    ''Vampire Bat Narissa and Werewolf Jax...both of them are the top mutants in Golden Eagle Federation, why are they here?''


    Wu Tie watched the scenes unfold emotionless while thoughts flashed through his mind rapidly.


    "Haha... Big Dog! You better be careful! If you fall here, I wouldn''t save you!"


    Narissa laughed. The bats flew around everyone and could barely be stopped.


    "D*mn it, b*tch!"


    The giant werewolf roared. With his arms strength, he flipped over a vehicle.


    "Bang!"


    Immediately, a blinding spark exploded on his shoulder and the werewolf whimpered and moved back. There was a fleshy and bloody mess on his wound.


    "This is only a Murderous Grade mutant!"


    Wu Tie watched and sighed secretly as he felt the entire world had already undergone tremendous changes.


    He could no longer be bothered as he roared and turned into a beam of iron light and charged towards the werewolf.


    "Bang!"


    The wolf''s claws and the iron fists clashed, and the two of them were evenly matched.


    ...


    At a certain spot in the campsite, Ye Yingzi and Zhao Daniu heard the commotion outside and became tensed.


    "I was ordered to relocate Professor Fang Yuan, where is he?" A blood-stained soldier leading a small group of soldiers rushed forward and asked.


    "Professor is..."


    Ye Yingzi suddenly paused for a moment. As she was about to say the truth that Fang Yuan was not around, Zhao Daniu was suspicious and suddenly went forward to give him a punch.


    "Poof!"


    In an instant, the soldier became a thin piece of paper that broke into two.


    "We have been discovered?"


    "Since there are mutants protecting the area that have yet retreated under such circumstances, Fang Yuan must be inside!" The voices of two women could be heard from the remaining soldiers.


    "Ahh... who are you all?"


    The remaining of them finally realised something was amiss. They did not know when their fellow soldiers and officer were replaced by paper shikigamis!


    "Heehee!"


    "Haha!"


    The shikigamis who were as tall as humans laughed strangely. Suddenly, they leapt forward and stuck themselves on to the remaining soldiers as if they were glue.


    A bunch of origami cranes flapped their wings and landed on the ground before turning into the appearance of two female ninjas, "We came to invite Sir Fang Yuan to leave with us, please do not resist meaninglessly!"


    "Scram!"


    Zhao Daniu hollered and turned into a stone human. As he strode forward, he threw yet another punch.


    "Bang!"


    The ground tremored and a large crater appeared. However, the two female ninjas sinisterly continued to stand on top of their origami cranes, "Shikigami - Binding Spirit!"


    "Hissssss!"


    On the ground, tons of black coloured strands of hair appeared as they twined with each other and turned into numerous black pythons. They were as thick as a person''s arm and quickly coiled around Zhao Daniu.


    "Ahhh!"


    Although Zhao Daniu magical strength was astonishing, it was as though this kind of black pythons existed both physically and mentally. Not only was Zhao Daniu''s body restrained, his mind was affected too.


    After Zhao Daniu struggled a few times, the black pythons coiled tighter and tighter which made him kneel on the ground.


    "Secret Technique - Seal!"


    "Poof!"


    A puff of white smoke appeared and the black pythons on Zhao Daniu''s body turned into black coloured chains that linked to the ground, which was like some sort of array.


    "We just came to bring Sir Fang Yuan away, why must you resist?"


    Little Vegetable spoke with her innocent voice and immediately saw Ye Yingzi clench her teeth and whip out her gun from her waist.


    "Say no more, just kill them!" Little Night of the Plains said blissfully.


    Little Night of the Plains and Little Vegetable cultivated in Yin Yang magic since they were young. They were originally talented and had profound expertise in spiritual spells, with the two occurrences, their powers had even further increased. Whereas, Zhao Daniu who just entered the Ghost Grade and the surrounding soldiers were no match for the two of them.


    If the two of them reached the Murderous Grade, they could directly annihilate them and their powers would be unmatched.


    Thus, with such a foundation, they could naturally cause changes in the minds of normal people and even cultivators.


    "Hehe... two little sisters, do you need big sister''s help!"


    Suddenly, a group of blood-red bats flew over and turned into the appearance of Narissa. Her gaze towards Zhao Daniu was filled with satisfaction as though she saw a delectable prey, "Although I prefer that iron man just now, this stone man is bigger, not bad too!"


    "No need to trouble you!" Little Vegetable replied respectfully, "As per our agreement, we just want this scientist from Chinese Country! The rest is all yours!"


    "Yes, that was the agreement!"


    Narissa walked two steps forward slowly which made Little Night and Little Vegetable alarmed and they then pulled out their katanas.


    "But... our Boss told us... weaklings have no rights to request us to keep to our promises!"


    Narissa chuckled maniacally. She extended her arm and a huge swarm of blood-red bats flew out and enveloped the surroundings.


    Ye Yingzi and Zhao Daniu were enveloped in it too.


    "Kaboom!"


    Lightning flashed!


    Above the ground, the blood-red bats, the paper shikigamis and even the black chains binding Zhao Daniu turned into ashes in an instant.


    "That is... lightning and thunder!"


    Large amounts of burnt bats merged into one and transformed into a ravaged Narissa. She could not believe her attack was so easily destroyed.


    However, Fang Yuan''s thunder was a key weapon of the heavens and earth. It controlled the changes in Yin and Yang and it was extremely mighty.


    Narissa raised her head and saw a human silhouette in black shirt standing on top of the tent. She exclaimed, "God of Thunder?! Didn''t you enter the fog already? I am certain I cut off and isolated all forms of communications here..."


    "It''s the God of Thunder... the legendary leader of Dragon Team, a Calamity Grade mutant!"


    Little Night and Little Vegetable looked at each other with fear in their eyes. This was especially since the magic they cultivated were mostly ghostly Yin illusionary spells which were heavily suppressed now.


    From what they sensed, Fang Yuan was like a ball of light that continuously emitted a blinding light. If they even glanced at it, their soul would be severely injured.


    "You all assumed... I wouldn''t notice all those sentries and hideouts you all set up around the area?"


    Fang Yuan waved his arm and two streaks of lightning emerged and struck the origami cranes flying in the skies at the speed of light.


    "Kaboom!"


    The origami cranes were ignited by the lightning and burnt to ashes.


    As Fang Yuan was cautious by nature, he naturally did not want any third party or even "fourth party" to interfere when fighting against the willow tree deep in the fog. Thus, he purposely lured them out first.


    Anyway, since Xi Menjian also hinted at Fang Yuan to make use of his identity to kill a bunch of foreign spies and agents, Fang Yuan managed to kill two birds with one stone this time around.


    "Sir..."


    The two female ninjas trembled as though they were forced to almost grovel on their knees, "We have no intentions to make enemies with you!"


    The immense wave-like pressure from Fang Yuan''s body crept onto the two of them and caused them to feel as though their souls were crushed.


    "Haha... this is the God of Thunder?"


    Compared to the two of them, Narissa''s face turned red and she looked at Fang Yuan with maniacal eyes, "Such a powerful person... I really want to... suck dry his vitality. If I suck him dry, I can definitely form an immortal body!"


    "Suck me dry? You?"


    Fang Yuan glanced at her and casually waved his hand.


    "Kaboom!"


    The dark clouds in the skies loomed and a bolt of lightning split into three bolts in an instant.


    Without a doubt, Little Night and Little Vegetable were struck and knocked out. However, a whirlwind appeared beside Narissa and carried her away.


    "Wruuuuu! Wwrruuuuuu!"


    Gale winds raged and swept away the sands and rocks, causing the atmosphere to become dimmer and more chaotic.


    "Pprrrraatt!"


    A tent was torn and blew into the sky.


    A terrifying tornado appeared and ravaged a path through the campsite. A blonde-haired, blue-eyed Caucasian slowly walked out from it with a solemn look on his face.


    "What a powerful mutant... he''s much stronger than Ma Kunyuan!"


    Fang Yuan watched and felt a sense of disappointment in his heart, "Just that it''s such a pity... his way does not match mine!"


    After all, Ma Kunyuan was a cultivator and the Thousand Year Willow also accumulated sufficient spiritual energy. Whereas, the mutant in front of him had already fully transformed spiritual force into wind attributes.


    Unless Fang Yuan wanted to specialise in wind-type spiritual spells and abandon his identity as the God of Thunder to become the God of Wind in the future, else, Fang Yuan could not fully utilise this person''s energy.


    "Just that..."


    Fang Yuan raised his head and looked towards the sky, "Tempest Jani! Your powers are already so close to Calamity Grade, just that it''s a pity you still cannot reach that stage!"


    "The most honourable!"


    The blond-haired, blue-eyed Jani touched his chest and saluted like a graceful Caucasian aristocrat, "We have no intentions to make enemies with you, we just hope that you can come to Golden Eagle Federation. Our evolvers need your powers and leadership!"


    "Your group of western evolvers will accept me, a Middle Continent person?"


    Fang Yuan snickered, "Furthermore, aren''t you all Golden Eagle Federation''s secret agents? How come you all defected to the mutants'' side?"


    "Mister God of Thunder, you are too narrow-minded..."


    Seeing such, Jani could not help but to shake his head, "Us evolvers are already a brand new type of species! We are brothers and sisters, why care about race and skin colour?"


    "Furthermore... don''t you know the latest developments? The Federation has already formally established a contract with Black Man Society. A great era that truly belongs to evolvers has arrived! If you come to the Federation, you will receive unimaginable freedom and everything..."


    "Not only that..."


    Fang Yuan shook his head, "You are a terrible persuader! I reject!"


    "That''s a shame!"


    Jani waved his arm and an invisible gale of wind swept Narissa off the ground and carried her out of the campsite.


    Just when he was about to send off the pair of Japanese ninja, Fang Yuan moved.


    "Kacha!"


    Fang Yuan took a step and immediately, lightning flashed and thunder roared in the skies crazily which rivalled the tornado.


    "Come, lightning!"


    A green coloured bolt of lightning landed on Fang Yuan''s body and turned into a golden armour. Fang Yuan''s speed was greatly escalated and in a blink of the eye, he appeared in front of Jani like a bolt of lightning.

 417 Under the Tree

    "Boom!"


    Fang Yuan pushed out his palm and a flash of lightning shot out, carrying with it what seemed to be all the wrath of heaven!


    "Wind!"


    Jani had a solemn look on his face and raised both his hands. A green wall of wind materialised around him.


    "Bump!"


    The lightning bolt and whirlwind collided and decimated each other with a bang. Except, the whirlwind fell apart faster than the lightning bolt did.


    Seeing this, there was a drastic change in Jani''s expression, and he tried to retreat promptly.


    "Too weak! Too weak!"


    "Zap!"


    Fang Yuan strode forward with lightning flashing all around him. All the electricity fed the Lightning Armour he was wearing and caused it to increase in size until finally, a giant figure made out of electricity was created.


    "Roar!"


    The electric giant moved as though it was alive and waved his hand. In response, storm clouds began to gather and grow so much that they swallowed up the tornadoes summoned by Jani.


    "Ah¡­"


    Jani then fled without looking back.


    To be able to control the regional weather all by himself! Jani finally realised the gulf between him and Fang Yuan.


    The electric giant bellowed and swung out a palm towards Jani''s back.


    "Bang!"


    The green shield protecting Jani was shattered and the bolts of lightning scorched his back.


    "Impossible... how could there be a mutant this powerful in the world!"


    Jani shrieked, and blood spurted from his mouth and nose. He ran past the boundary and out of the camp.


    "Boss!"


    In the near distance, the humongous werewolf had overturned a tank. It howled and ran on all fours to Jani''s side.


    "Let''s go!"


    Narissa transformed into a vampire bat and screamed.


    "This God of Thunder... we are no match for him as of now!"


    "I don''t believe it. How can an amateur yellow monkey overcome us?"


    The humongous wolf was not the brightest and seemed like it was going to continue challenging Fang Yuan.


    ''This is quite interesting. If Jani evolves one more time, he would be a good experimental subject... and this little wolf is about to die!''


    Fang Yuan thoughts ended there and he waved his hand.


    "Thunder, come!"


    "Zap!"


    A bolt of lightning fell from the sky and turn into a longsword that the electric giant armed itself with. The giant lunged forward.


    "I am Jax, the most powerful of the werewolves!!!"


    Jax shouted with all his might. His eyes were bloodshot and the hair on his skin was standing on edge. He seemed to went crazy at that moment and rushed forward aggressively.


    "Poof!"


    A flash of red.


    The electric sword had impaled the werewolf and all his internal organs were fried in that instance.


    "Bump!"


    The werewolf fell to the ground and all its hair retracted to reveal a white-skinned man.


    His eyes were filled with hatred, but all the energy had gone out of him and his hands went limp.


    "God of Thunder...¡­"


    Wu Tie came to Fang Yuan''s side. His iron skin peeled back until he looked normal again.


    "Jani has already left!"


    Fang Yuan closed his eyes. He could no longer sense the presence of the other party.


    After all, nothing could really stand in the way of wind-type mutants if they were intent on running away, unless Fang Yuan had pursued them doggedly at the very start.


    "Besides this, the camp has two captives. They are probably spies from Japan. They will be under your charge!"


    "Alright!"


    Wu Tie did not know what else to say.


    He had always found the giant werewolf very difficult to handle.


    But with the coming of the God of Thunder, not only was the werewolf slain, but even the more powerful Jani and Narissa were forced to run away. Fang Yuan was truly incredible.


    "By the way, God of Thunder, haven''t you already gone deep into the fog?"


    Wu Tie ordered his men to dispose of the werewolf corpse and asked his question.


    "It''s okay... if we rush over now, we can make it!"


    Fang Yuan smiled charmingly in his disguise as a middle-aged handsome man. He then transformed into a lightning bolt and surged into the distance.


    "So this is how powerful the Dragon Team Leader is?"


    Wu Tie suddenly felt a wave of confidence. He then proceeded to clear up the damaged campsite and prepare for what was to come.


    ¡­...


    "Hmm?"


    As Fang Yuan rushed into the fog another time, he immediately sensed a difference.


    "The density of the air... has decreased? Was it because of my duel with Jani that led it to contract? If this is the case, the tree is self-aware and can be considered a demon."


    Fang Yuan kept his Lightning Armour on. Not even the white fog could penetrate it, much less the willow catkins. He travelled like a hurricane and arrived at the park.


    He could hear the sound of fighting coming from ahead.


    There were a number of monsters with tentacles, along with a disgusting enchanted tree tumour. It was a motley crew, and they began to attack the travelling cars.


    A shimmering water curtain surrounded the cars and it was their only defence.


    Another batch of creatures came in for the kill.


    They were all humanoids, but they were very tall and muscular. They had living roots extending from their bodies, and they punched the water curtain repeatedly. The array shook every time they hit it.


    "We can''t hold on for much longer... these parasitic humanoids are too aggressive!"


    At the heart of the array, the Daoist Guo Jing turned pale. He held a little flag in his hand and nearly spat out a mouthful of blood.


    "Where''s the team leader? This is going to kill us!"


    Red Sister called out agitatedly, and a blue mist emanated from her hands.


    "Crack!"


    Outside of the water curtain, a few parasitic humanoids instantly froze and turned into ice statues.


    "Crack! Crack!"


    After a few breaths, cracks began to appear on the ice, flesh and blood then exploded outwards. All that was left were skeletal structures made out of roots, they then quickly disappeared into the ground.


    The Daoist Guo Jing was extremely disturbed by the sight.


    ''These demonic creatures... they seemed to have replaced the skeletal and nervous structures of their hosts with their own. The procedure of parasitism must be terribly painful... but its success would make them uncommonly strong!"


    "Fire!"


    At the side, Searing Flames screamed and spewed a stream of fire. All the parasitic humanoids that came into contact with it turned into fiery torches.


    Most of the warriors got into formation with their guns and set up a line of defence with their firearms.


    Even so, the alarming number of parasitic humanoids coming at them was threatening to overwhelm them.


    Shortly after, the rows and rows of parasitic humanoids formed a thick wall surrounding the array and the travelling cars.


    "If Boss still doesn''t arrive, we are all going to die!"


    Searing Flames began to cough violently after spewing several jets of fire in a row. He was also beginning to tire.


    "The mutants outside are not to be underestimated. We must hold on¡­..."


    The Daoist Guo Jing muttered ominously.


    "Kachak!"


    Suddenly, there was a flash of light.


    A great electric field appeared and the outburst of energy caused many of the parasitic humanoids to fall.


    "Boss!"


    Seating Flames actually wept tears of joy.


    "You are finally here!"


    "I sensed that there was danger here."


    Fang Yuan strolled forward, the lightning crackling all over his body.


    "Bang!"


    A layer of mud on the ground exploded outwards without warning and a large python charged towards Fang Yuan.


    When it was 3 metres away from him, a bolt of lightning appeared and struck out at the python.


    "Crack!"


    The large snake trembled and spontaneously combusted until it turned to ash.


    "This willow tree is strong in terms of its reach and survivability. It is also a model for the parasitic humanoids. However, its individual strength is nothing special!"


    Fang Yuan shook his head. But he was aware that it had more to do with his arrival.


    Anyone else would have died in the face of an attack by the parasitic humanoid army.


    "Boss!"


    As Fang Yuan entered the array, three of his followers surrounded him happily.


    "How are the casualties?"


    "Manageable. The most pressing issue is that the ammunition does not work on those parasitic humanoids. A few of the warriors are dead and some were victims of parasitism. We''ve already injected them with medicine¡­"


    Although Professor Chen had prescribed poison, victims of parasitism might keep their lives if they were injected with it shortly after.


    Of course, if they had not been victims of parasitism, they would die within ten seconds of coming into contact with it.


    "Mm, let''s go!"


    Fang Yuan commanded the travelling cars to stay together and led the way. The group managed to smash open the big door and steered into the park slowly.


    When the fog cleared slightly, Guo Jing and company saw a great willow tree that had virtually blocked out the sun. Its overflowing branches looked like dragons and its trunk stretched up into the heavens. The willow branches draped down like curtains and the catkins danced about in the wind.


    "Wow... so this is the thousand year old willow tree? It is huge!"


    "Damn it, all our electrical devices are not working!"


    A warrior shouted.


    "Does this mean that we cannot use the remote-controlled explosives, but can only demolish it at close range?"


    Searing Flames looked up at what seemed like infinite catskins and he felt his scalp go numb.


    "Tsktsk... if I could acquire the core of the tree, I would definitely be able to carve out a magic tool!"


    Guo Jing was fantasising about this magic tool when his facial expression suddenly changed.


    "What is that?"


    From the foundations of the tree, translucent figures began to emerge. There were men and women, old and young. The fog was dense and they had blank looks on their faces. Suddenly, they looked over.


    Their focused gazes were immensely unsettling.


    "This is... the people who had once inhabited this area... spirits? Demons?"


    Red Sister felt a chill in her bones.


    "This demonic tree can even enslave spirits?"


    Fang Yuan immediately chided his men.


    "What are you guys yammering about? These so-called spirits are but manifestations of electric waves and magnetic fields... the willow tree acts as a medium that allows the magnetic fields to appear, that''s all!"


    Fang Yuan went on.


    "The failure of our electrical devices has everything to do with the large magnetic field of the willow tree. From now on, I want everyone to remain calm, because when we enter enemy territory, our senses might be assailed by all sorts of illusions¡­"


    As Fang Yuan spoke, he stamped a foot on the ground.


    "Crack!"


    A hole was blown into the ground.


    Following that, they could see a large parasitic rat head that had been charred by the explosion.


    Guo Jing and company could not help but let out cold breaths of air.


    The implications were clear. To come into contact with the tree, they all had to face illusions and evil spirits, not to mention possible ambushes from the parasitic beasts!


    The difficulty of their mission was insane!

 418 Ignite the Explosives

    "This place is indeed a node for spiritual energy!"


    As soon as Fang Yuan saw the willow tree, he was ecstatic.


    He could sense that the willow was like a black hole, sucking in spiritual energy from the natural environment around it and releasing a vibration of a specific wavelength.


    Of course, from a scientific point of view, this was merely the magnetic field emitted by a living thing.


    Under the usage of such a magnetic field, all living things with a consciousness started to ''revive'' and hallucinations were flooding their minds.


    ''If this was the ancient times, they would call this a demonic tree which has the ability to recover souls... It''s a pity that it is trying to confuse me with such an illusion...''


    With a fiery glow in his eyes, everything became clear to Fang Yuan.


    Unfortunately, around him, even the strongest-willed soldier succumbed to the overflow of hallucinations and fell to the ground.


    Under the influence of the magnetic field, even his 3 subordinates seemed like they could not hold on for any longer.


    This was especially so for Searing Flames and Red Sister. They did not have the proper training to strengthen their willpowers and in this aspect, they were like normal humans and were much weaker than Guo Jing. In no time, they started to waver.


    "Sigh... my subordinates are all useless!"


    With a sorrowful thought, Fang Yuan sent a message to Guo Jing. "Old Guo... your responsibility is to protect everyone and prepare to retreat!"


    "Roar! Roar!"


    "Creak!"


    From the surroundings, parasites started to gather. With the help of the illusionary effect, it was extremely easy to kill a cultivator as powerful as Guo Jing.


    "Understood, boss!"


    With a change in his expression, Guo Jing took out a jade bottle and smashed it on the floor. "Nine days of dew, reveal the sacred god! Strike!"


    "Bang!"


    Steam started to form and turned into balls of white fog which then flowed into everyone''s forehead.


    "Whooo!"


    Red Sister and Searing Flames were gasping for air but quickly regained their composure. The other warriors started to awaken and retreated out of the park.


    "Puppet, rise!"


    Fang Yuan waved an a streak of lightning appeared. The car filled with explosives started to move and followed behind him.


    "Rpppppp!"


    Streaks of lightning ripped across the park, vaporizing all the parasites and reducing them to ash.


    If Fang Yuan did not attract all the firepower to himself, Guo Jing and the rest would have no chance of escaping.


    "Thousand Year Willow... don''t resist any more... I''ve seen through you and your antics!"


    Fang Yuan laughed and raised his hands.


    "Ripppppp! Ripppppp!"


    Streaks of lightning struck from above and the willow branches that were as strong as metal rods started to break and fall to the ground. Some of them burst into flames.


    "You are good at altering the environment to aid in your attack and are even more well-versed in fighting an entire army. However, I am a super powerful single entity... you cannot stop me!"


    Fang Yuan took a huge step forward and a row of cars followed behind him.


    With every step he took, he could feel the magnetic field caused by the willow tree intensify. Many lone souls and spirits roared and dashed towards Fang Yuan fearlessly as though they wanted to flood him by their sheer numbers.


    All of these were useless!


    A blue streak of lightning surrounded Fang Yuan, vaporizing all the spirits and souls which got close to him.


    "Ripppppp!"


    Behind him, the military truck was damaged and its tires exploded. However, it was still being dragged forward by an invisible force and continued to make its way.


    Not long after, Fang Yuan arrived at the root of the willow tree and with his outstretched hand, he could touch the emerald-green tree bark.


    "It''s a pity... even if your magnetic field reaches an extreme, it will still not have any effect on me!"


    Fang Yuan caressed the bark of the tree and sighed. "After all... this is only the miniature version of harnessing the power of the environment around you. You have yet to gain full control over it!"


    Even a Calamity Grade mutant could only harness the power of a ''place''. By creating a magnetic field, they would be able to affect a location.


    However, since the power belonged to the magnetic field, it could be neutralised, reduced or even avoided!


    Only by harnessing the power of an ''area'' could the mutant be invincible!


    If the willow tree were to continue to develop to be able to harness the power of an area, Fang Yuan would surely retreat... After all, the power of an area was the power which only belonged to a 7th Tier Illusionary Divine dream master in Da Qian!


    Without such power, these dream masters could never match up against a True Divine or True Elemental.


    "If I let you continue to grow, there is a possibility that after the third or fourth occurrence... you might be able to develop the power of an area?"


    Looking at the willow tree, Fang Yuan''s eyes glistened.


    This realm was a realm most concentrated with energy compared to the few realms Fang Yuan had visited before and could therefore support the existence of powerful beings.


    Previously, the laws which governed the realm did not allow for that to happen.


    Now, things were changing.


    "If I can be one of the first few to harness the power of an area, even if I cannot bring it back with me, I can learn more about achieving a breakthrough to the 7th Tier of the Illusionary Divine stage..."


    Fang Yuan suddenly felt inspired all of a sudden.


    His natural talent and the fact that he had the advantage of having fixed stats meant that he could traverse many worlds and retain his cultivation. As long as he were to break through a certain stage, he could do so very simply in another realm so long he had the ability to do so.


    However, the difficulty of achieving breakthroughs would vary from realm to realm!


    "The higher the classification of the realm, the harder it would be to achieve a breakthrough! This world is only beginning to change... The laws are muddled at the moment and I might have the chance to obtain the power of an area!"


    Fang Yuan''s eyes widened with excitement.


    Although the Area Beings here could not compare to a 7th Tier Illusionary Divine dream master in Da Qian, it was still powerful in its own area!


    If he were to reach that stage, he could retain it in his fixed stats and return to Da Qian without having to go through the same bottleneck again!


    This was sort of cheating and playing the game out of limits!


    Even other dream masters would not be able to do this for they did not have Fang Yuan''s special ability.


    ''In other words, if other dream masters were to achieve a breakthrough here, they would still drop in their cultivation as soon as they return to Da Qian. However, for me, it will be forever and I will never have the same bottleneck in any world that I go to! All bottlenecks can only restrict me once!''


    "Therefore... for my ambitions, please sacrifice yourself!"


    Fang Yuan laughed heartily and stretched out his right hand to grab the tree.


    "Rumble!"


    Lightning erupted and the Thousand Year Willow shook frantically. Its branches wavered erratically as they diverted their attention from the fleeing Guo Jing and company to Fang Yuan.


    Not just that, the earth beneath the entire park split and countless roots emerged from below. Like arms, they waved in the air like possessed demons.


    "They have begun fighting. Let''s go!"


    Seeing this scene, the 3 other members of the Dragon Team started to flee. "According to Leader''s personality, he will surely explode the willow tree as soon as possible!"


    "Rumble!"


    Indeed, not long after, a shocking explosion was seen from the park.


    A mushroom cloud floated up and was visible to almost half of the entire city and Wu Tie was among the ones witnessing it.


    At the moment of the explosion, the park was destroyed and razed to the ground. The surrounding houses shook and their windows shattered. The soil and mud started to curl up, forming a weird-looking image.


    "Buzz! Buzz!"


    This was only the beginning.


    After a few moments, the tremendous shockwave started to spread out.


    The earth shook under the shockwave as though a tsunami was crashing through it.


    Although Guo Jing and company had already tried their best to flee, they were still caught by the shockwave as a layer of soil rose above them before trapping them beneath.


    ...


    "Spit!"


    After a long while, Searing Flames wriggled out of the soul and spat out a mouthful of dirt from his mouth. As he coughed violently, he struggled to speak. "We... we were almost buried alive!"


    "This is only a small problem..."


    With a yellow glow, Guo Jing appeared but was in a much better state than Searing Flames. "With my Burrowing Talisman, you will not die..."


    "How''s our leader?"


    Red Sister looked around, only to witness the complete destruction of the surroundings.


    The park which once housed the willow tree was razed to the ground and a big crater emerged in the centre of where the park once was.


    "Leader... he''s not dead, is he?"


    Seeing the dystopian scene, Searing Flames swallowed his saliva and sounded unconfident.


    "In such a destructive explosion, it should be quite hard for Leader to survive..."


    Guo Jing stroked his beard and rolled his eyes. "The willow tree cannot run but Leader can. I''m sure the both of you have seen how fast he can go..."


    "I wonder how much of the willow tree is left after such an explosion..."


    ...


    In the middle of the crater.


    The broken branches of the willow tree laid everywhere and were ablaze.


    With the streak of a lightning, Fang Yuan appeared with a shocked look. "Wow... Considering the power of such a magnitude, If I was in the epicentre of the explosion, I would be reduced to ashes too..."


    The widely-spread willow tree branches were no more and a big and empty trunk stood in the middle.


    Countless roots emerged from the ground only to be burnt by the flames.


    A few other stumps emerged. They seemed to be drained of energy but were all out in protecting the core tree trunk.


    Green lines started to flow across the trunk and roots of the tree as though it had a life of its own.


    "Hehe... This is indeed a plant with a strong will to live!"


    Fang Yuan landed on the hot ground and waved his hand.


    "Whoooo!"


    Invisible knives formed by wind appeared and the severely damaged tree trunk was sliced, revealing an emerald-green core.


    Streaks of green lines started to spread towards the roots, transferring energy and life to them.


    "Give me everything of yours!"


    Seeing this, Fang Yuan''s eyes glistened and he stretched his right hand out.


    Without obstruction, the lighting-covered hand broke the green arteries of the tree before grabbing on to the core of the tree.


    Just as Fang Yuan''s hand landed on the core of the tree, there was an explosion!


    Amidst the cries of wronged souls, an extremely powerful source of energy erupted!


    "Finally! Is this your final move?"


    Fang Yuan revealed a cunning smile. "Attacking with your spirit? This is what I fear the least!"


    Fang Yuan was different from other mutants. After dream-traversing to many worlds before, his mind was steadfast and the mind attack coming from the willow tree was nothing to him!

 419 The Driver

    Ultimately, the Thousand Year Willow was a plant. Even though it had developed a lot from the occurrences and had a mind of its own from absorbing the spiritual droplets, it was still simple-minded for the past 20 years and was at most on par with a smart beast.


    Even though it might have a strong mind power, it was nothing to Fang Yuan.


    Fang Yuan stood where he was, closed his eyes and allowed the willow tree''s mind to attack him before striking back with his mind and enjoying the process of absorbing the tree''s spiritual energy.


    "Kacha!"


    In his body, the 2nd Grade of the Elemental Spiritual Energy Cultivation Spell was broken through.


    The progress bar continued to fill up and in an instant, half of it was filled.


    The process of absorption lasted for quite a while. As soon as Fang Yuan came to his sense, all that remained of the stump of the willow tree was a dried up piece of wood which crumbled into powder upon touch.


    In his hands, he now had an emerald-green tree core which was around the size of an egg. It was translucent and let out a glow even more dazzling than that of a diamond and it seemed to be brimming with life.


    "This is where the essence of the willow tree lies. However, to me, this is similar to Jani''s power of the wind. All of these are external forces. Although I can absorb it, the disadvantage would outweigh the advantage. I''ll just treat it as a treasure which would aid in recovery in the future!"


    Examining it in close detail, Fang Yuan realised that the pure spiritual energy of the willow tree had long been absorbed by him moments ago and these were the leftovers.


    Of course, to the average human, this would be a treasure which could potentially bring the dead back to life.


    At this moment, Fang Yuan gazed at his stats window and noticed a huge change:


    "Name: Fang Yuan


    Essence: 5.0


    Spirit: 20.0


    Magic: 20.0


    Profession: ???


    Cultivation: ???


    Technique: [Elemental Spiritual Energy Cultivation Spell (Grade 4 (55%))]


    Skill: [Medicine (Level 3)], [Botany (Level 5)], [Fiery Golden Eyes (Level 1)]"


    "Elemental Spiritual Energy Cultivation Spell: The 1st Grade would grant you the Spiritual Droplets Affined Body and an increase in your energy sense! 2nd Grade of Elemental Spiritual Energy Cultivation Spell would grant you the ability to release spiritual energy! The 3rd Grade of Elemental Spiritual Energy Cultivation Spell is complete! You now have the ability to spiritualise!"


    "The ability to spiritualise... Is this my Murderous Grade skill?"


    Fang Yuan was lost in his thoughts.


    In actual fact, up until now, his abilities were no different compared to the Murderous Grade mutants. However, due to the fact that he was able to make full use of his ability and had too many unpredictable techniques, he created the illusion that he was a Calamity Grade mutant. All of these were just an illusion.


    "The different grades of the Elemental Spiritual Energy Cultivation Spell is in fact the grading of the mutants. After all, this is a technique which I have created to suit the laws of this realm..."


    Thoughts ran wild in Fang Yuan''s mind.


    If he was a normal person, the completion of the 1st Grade would allow him to form the Spiritual Droplets Affined Body and an increase in his energy sense. This would make him a Mortal Grade mutant.


    The completion of the 2nd Grade would give him the ability to release spiritual energy and this would make him similar to Daoist Guo and Little Night before the second occurrence. He would be a Ghost Grade mutant with the ability to execute spells.


    Only now at the 3rd Grade, with the ability to spiritualise, would Fang Yuan be able to have the ability to go against an entire army and the combined forces of other mutants, putting him up at the Murderous Grade.


    "Spiritualise!"


    With his spiritual will, Fang Yuan commanded and in an instant, he disappeared.


    No! He did not disappear. There was a shadow where he once stood.


    "I am here and I am not here at the same time... to make things simple, I would be able to become illusionary for a short instant and therefore dodge powerful firepower and attacks... Only with this technique of spiritualising would I be able to go against an entire country''s army and have the potential to rule the world!"


    If a normal person were to cultivate to such a stage, they would be able to go head-on against powerful mutants like Jani.


    Since this was Fang Yuan, it would mean that his power would be multiplied and this meant even more destructive force!


    "If I were to go down the line, the 4th Grade of the Elemental Spiritual Energy Cultivation Spell should be the power of a Calamity Grade mutant... I still don''t know how far I have to go before I can harness the power of an area..."


    "However, I am already the most powerful in the entire world to be able to reach this stage! Comparatively, nobody can ever become more powerful than me, be it beasts or mutants!"


    Fang Yuan clenched his fists but remained composed. "Next up... is to clear things up, right? Clear up all the nodes in the world and push my limits to the maximum before peacefully waiting for the arrival of the third occurrence!"


    According to his theory, the concentration of spiritual droplets would be 4 times higher more compared to now.


    At the fourth occurrence, the Spiritual King Comet would arrive and join the orbit of the Earth.


    Therefore, his final chance would be at the third occurrence!


    "However... in Chinese Country, I have already checked out every corner. It seems impossible to locate anything else more drastic than the mutation of this Thousand Year Willow..."


    The bottleneck of every subsequent stage of the Elemental Spiritual Energy Cultivation Spell would be many times more difficult than the previous stage.


    With another 45% to go, Fang Yuan knew that it was still insufficient even if he absorbed another Thousand Year Willow.


    With a sigh, he gazed towards the West. "Next up... I''ll have to venture overseas?"


    Considering Fang Yuan''s identity, Xi Menjian would never allow Fang Yuan to leave the country, but Fang Yuan couldn''t care less.


    He had joined the research centre to gather information about the human body and sense for himself the rules of the world to perfect his theory and his cultivation.


    Now, he was leaving for the same reason, which was to achieve a higher cultivation.


    The path of cultivation laid in the ability for one to do whatever one wished!


    Since he could leave the country with his abilities, what was there left to hold him back?


    ...


    After a few days.


    Golden Eagle Federation, Purple Finch City.


    The sky was a brilliant blue and there were occasional fluffy clouds floating around.


    In the outskirts of the city, on a large empty field, a huge airship was landing.


    Although aeroplanes were already invented, they were still the latest technology and the price to fly an aeroplane was still much more expensive compared to that of an airship.


    Therefore, if there was no rush for time, the main mode of transport for people and goods were still the usage of airships.


    The airport at Purple Finch City was one of the largest in Golden Eagle Federation and there were more than 10,000 passengers and 10,000 tons of goods flowing through the airport daily.


    At this point in time, an airship landed and people of all nationalities started to disembark before gazing at the architecture in this foreign country.


    As the birthplace of revolutionary technology, even though it had been weakened after the world war, the Golden Eagle Federation was still standing strong and was dubbed the ''Lighthouse of the West'' in terms of culture. This attracted people from all over the world to either come here to explore and learn more about the country or even migrate here for good.


    "Respectable guests, welcome to Purple Finch City. Please take your leave from the exits of the station in an orderly manner and cooperate with the customs officers. The foreign exchange and the taxis are at..."


    From a loudspeaker, there was a female voice speaking in the language of the Federation.


    Fang Yuan took his sunglasses down and examined the place curiously.


    He had to admit that the Golden Eagle Federation was rather well-developed and was filled with a modern vibe. However, that was all to it.


    "Hopefully, I will be able to find what I am looking for!"


    Fang Yuan mumbled to himself as he walked towards the customs.


    "Sir, please cooperate with the customs officers!"


    As two white people took notice of Fang Yuan''s skin colour, they gave a dissatisfied look and started to despise him. "Also... show us your travel document!"


    "Alright!"


    Fang Yuan replied in a fluent Federation language before presenting his passport.


    Of course, the passport was fake. Although the Golden Eagle Federation would surely welcome Professor Fang with hospitality and that Fang Yuan would not need a passport and would likely be granted citizenship, he knew that with his special identity, if he were to reveal his true identity, he would no longer be allowed to leave the country.


    Therefore, he had to fake his passport.


    However, after glancing at the passport, the two customs officers rudely returned the passport to Fang Yuan before signalling him to quickly take his leave.


    The citizens of Golden Eagle Federation were snobbish people.


    They were the heart of civilisation. No matter how much they were weakened, they were still the most powerful country in the west, and one of the proudest in the world.


    "Hmph..."


    Fang Yuan carried his luggage and left the airport, snickering to himself.


    If not for the fact that he had to keep a low profile, he would have taught those two snobbish people a lesson.


    ''Although I cannot physically let them look bad, it is worse now that I have released inauspicious energy in them. They would surely suffer from illnesses and diseases in the future...''


    After taking his revenge, he regained his composure and walked to the road outside.


    "Hey! Brother, are you from the Middle Continent?"


    A white driver noticed Fang Yuan and his eyes glistened. "I am John! Are you looking for a hired car?"


    To him, Fang Yuan was a fat sheep ready to be slaughtered for his money, for Fang Yuan appeared young and lost in this big city. Most importantly, looking at how Fang Yuan dressed, he might have quite some cash with him!


    "That''s right!"


    Looking at the driver''s sneaky expression, Fang Yuan thought about his previous life where those taxi drivers were out to scam others of their money.


    Of course, what caught his attention more was the bloody stench coming from John.


    "I want to go to Chinatown. Do you know the way there?" Fang Yuan smiled sheepishly, acting like a dumb customer.


    "Of course... I grew up in the estate next to Chinatown. Take my car and I will bring you there for a discounted price of 15 dollars!"


    John professionally came over and took the luggage from Fang Yuan. "Let''s go... we''ll be there in no time!"


    "Alright!"


    Fang Yuan went into an old-looking steam car and John smiled widely as he closed the door for him. "Brother... welcome to Purple Finch City!"


    "Rumble!"


    At the steam-powered car roared to life, Fang Yuan''s sensitive ears could pick up some other voices.


    ''Hehe... Ratty John has picked up another business!''


    ''What an unfortunate foreigner!''


    ''Hope the Lord blesses him...''


    ....


    ''It seems like... this person is not as simple as a driver who is out to scam me!''


    Fang Yuan lowered his hat and revealed a sinister smile.


    As the black car honked and swerved along the road, they soon arrived at a deserted industrial estate. There were abandoned factories everywhere and old-looking warehouses.


    "Is this Chinatown? Why does it seems like we are further and further away from the city?"


    Fang Yuan examined the surroundings and casually asked.


    "Of course, of course..."


    John snickered and had a sinister look on his face as though Fang Yuan was his prey.

 420 Investigation

    "Get down here!"


    The carriage stopped in front of an abandoned warehouse. John turned off the engine and pulled open the car door. He cackled.


    "My brothers, look what I''ve brought you."


    "Oh! God''s gift!"


    A few people walked out of the old warehouse. They were all in their hippie getups, hair dyed in multiple colours, tattoos on their necks and wrists, wearing skull-themed chains and rings. They all had black eyeliner on and armed themselves with baseball bats and steel pipes. They approached the car menacingly.


    "Get down now, yellow skin monkey from the Middle Continent!"


    A red-haired white-skinned youth dragged Fang Yuan forward and eyed him with bloodlust.


    "Mm, not bad... this coolie looks healthy. Buyers will like him!"


    "Lock him up, and don''t forget to scrub him from top to toe!"


    "Tsk tsk... before he is sold, let''s not waste this opportunity!"


    An effeminate hippie smiled and stuck out his tongue, which had a pearl piercing. There was an evil glint in his eyes.


    "My god!"


    Fang Yuan put on a cool face.


    "I don''t want to play with you all any longer! By capturing me, do you intend to sell me as a slave?"


    He had long heard that during the period of unrest in the Middle Continent, many yellow-skinned people were taken in by the Golden Eagle Federation''s sweet-talking advertisements for job opportunities abroad. They had packed up all their belongings and stowed away on illegal immigrant ships, only to find out that they had been sold into slavery. They had become workers of the lowest level and suffered even more than they had in the Middle Continent.


    Those that managed to make a name for themselves were the few fortunate ones.


    "No no! There isn''t any factory or mine around here that still needs workers from the Chinese country. We have a better idea. Isn''t that right... Ratty John?"


    "Boss Bond, let''s take his luggage first. There should be quite a lot of money inside... these Chinese people are like rats; they like to stuff cash and all sorts of resources in their nests!"


    John continued to smile as he looked at Fang Yuan.


    "Yellow skin monkey, it is unfortunate that you have fallen into our hands. Boss Bond is right, everything you have, both your kidneys, your liver, your heart, your blood... we will sell them all at a good price."


    "The black market for organs?"


    Fang Yuan furrowed his brows. As one of the top doctors in the Chinese country, he was naturally aware of the progress made in medicine by the other countries.


    "The medical expertise of the Golden Eagle Federation has progressed to such a level?"


    "No... this isn''t right, there is another possibility!"


    Fang Yuan''s eyes gleamed.


    "Even if there is insufficient medical skill, the rejection effect from transplantation can be alleviated through the introduction of mutations¡­"


    "What are you talking about?"


    A change came over Bond''s face and he immediately waved a hand.


    "Get him!"


    His surrounding henchmen pounced forward at the same time, and one of them even pulled out a spring knife.


    "Alright, scumbags!"


    Fang Yuan loosened up his body.


    "I don''t know how many people have suffered under you all, but it is your misfortune to have met me!"


    "Asshole!"


    A hippie screamed and came charging at Fang Yuan with a baseball bat.


    It was a quick and heavy weapon which could deal severe damage with one blow.


    "Thwack!"


    The bat was stopped in mid-air by a swift grab from Fang Yuan.


    The hippie was unwilling to let go of the bat and was thus swung backwards where he landed on the floor several metres away.


    "Kill him!"


    Bond called out loudly to his men. Beads of cold sweat lined his brows as he retreated.


    Fang Yuan''s performance was making him very uneasy.


    "Argh!"


    An obese man lunged towards Fan Yuan with a steel pipe while a hippie danced about with a knife and approached him from the other side.


    Ratty John rolled his eyes but stayed behind with his boss instead of joining the attack.


    "Bing bang!"


    Fang Yuan surged forward, grabbed the steel pipe and tossed it aside with the obese man still holding onto it.


    "Oof!"


    The knife in the hippie''s hand entered the obese man''s stomach as he received a crushing blow to the head from the obese man''s pipe.


    "Dogshit! Mutant!"


    Seeing that Fang Yuan had turned around to face them, Bond and John turned tail and ran away.


    Fang Yuan chased them into the old warehouse and with a throw of the steel pipe, Ratty John screamed and fell to the floor holding his thigh.


    "Ahh... don''t kill me! I''m just his henchman!"


    Ratty John crawled backwards pathetically as Fang Yuan walked over.


    "Do you know... where is the doctor in charge of harvesting organs?"


    Fang Yuan asked casually.


    "I don''t... don''t know. The boss communicates directly with him!"


    "What a pity. You are no longer of any use to me!"


    Fang Yuan grabbed him by the head and yanked it sideways.


    "Crack!"


    There was a piercing sound of splintering bones and Ratty John''s head turned a full 180 degrees. Fresh blood spurted from where his head still hung partially on his neck.


    "Dogshit! Dogshit!"


    Fang Yuan could sense that Boss Bond went deep into the warehouse instead of escaping. He kicked over a couple of crates before snatching up a hand pistol among a large pile of cash.


    As Fang Yuan approached, Bond immediately raised his pistol and took aim.


    "Alright... mister, all this has been a damned misunderstanding!"


    "See, there''s lots of money here... you can choose to take it all, or fight me to the death¡­"


    Bond''s voice was quivering slightly.


    "The Brother''s Sect can tap on the influence of the Black Man Society. Even though you are a mutant, you are still a foreigner... as long as you let me leave, everything will be kept under wraps... believe me!"


    "Black Man Society?"


    Having heard about the largest mutant association in the Golden Eagle Federation, Fang Yuan threw out a coarse laugh.


    "If your death can bring them to me, that would be best. But right now... I don''t need your money yet, nor your life!"


    "Zoom!"


    With a flash, Fang Yuan snatched Bond''s pistol away from in front of him and broke his index finger for good measure.


    "Bring me to your base camp, and find me the doctor!"


    Fang Yuan toyed with the pistol casually and brought it to Bond''s forehead.


    "You want to meet our leader? Alright, I''ll bring you to him!"


    Bond nodded as cold sweat appeared on his brows.


    "Get on the car!"


    Fang Yuan dragged Bond up the car.


    "If I even sense that anything is going wrong, I''ll fire immediately... you can try me!"


    "Of course not!"


    Bond grimaced and started the engine.


    ''This... is a city filled with blood and sin!''


    Fang Yuan gazed out of the car windows and was slowly absorbed into his surroundings.


    This trip was an impromptu one. The God of Thunder''s mysterious disappearance after duelling with the Thousand Year-old Willow Tree was news that would shake up the mutant community.


    There would be chaos in every ministry in the country.


    Of course, Fang Yuan could scarcely be bothered by these things.


    He chose the Golden Eagle Federation over the Blue Star Alliance because the vampires and werewolves had the power of their bloodline. He was not interested in the god dao of the Curia.


    Also, there was something else that led him to choose the Golden Eagle Federation.


    Fang Yuan opened his luggage and took out an idol of the Aquilaria Maitreya.


    This artefact was originally in the possession of Guo Jing, and the second inspection he conducted managed to yield some answers.


    This idol was, in fact, a key, or rather, half a key.


    From the information Fang Yuan had gathered, the other half was with a collector in the Golden Eagle Federation.


    The unrest in the Middle Continent was a blow to the collector community. Many prized treasures and artefacts were taken overseas.


    Fang Yuan was extremely interested in this mysterious idol as well and thus wanted to get to the bottom of things once and for all.


    "Your heart rate is 88 beats per minute, 17 breaths per minute... you better keep things within this range, or I''ll shoot!"


    Fang Yuan had noticed that Bond kept stealing glances at him from the front, and decided to reveal the barrel to him as a gentle reminder.


    ''Devil... he''s the devil from the Middle Continent!"


    Bond laughed bitterly and extinguished the ideas he was entertaining in his mind. It was safer to just follow orders and drive on.


    ¡­...


    While Fang Yuan was on his killing spree at the Brother''s Sect hideout.


    On a docked airship, in one of the offices.


    The two white inspectors who had interrogated Fang Yuan before were called into the office, and they stared back at several solemn-looking men in black windbreakers.


    "Chief!"


    "So you are the two idiots who let him go?"


    One of the men in black had a bad temper and gave them a hard kick each.


    "What is happening?"


    The security officer standing by took out his handkerchief and mopped the cold sweat off his brows.


    "We are the Federal Special Investigation Bureau. We have reason to suspect that a dangerous person has entered our borders through this place! You are both to be questioned!"


    A man in black windbreaker flashed his identity card.


    "No way... please provide proof that you are from the Immigration authorities¡­"


    Just as the security officer gave his weak retort, he received a punch on his face.


    "Idiot. Do you know the gravity of your mistake? You superior won''t be able to protect you. Follow me to the Investigation room, or I''ll arrest you for not complying with the military law!"


    The man in black with a pale face was looking more threatening than ever.


    "Okay... fine!"


    In truth, even though news regarding the existence of mutants had already spread all over the world, but it was still very difficult for most people to accept it.


    Especially for the Special Investigation Bureau, newly set up but nearly unlimited in power. They would have to cooperate with and adapt to the system.


    Still, it was not a surprise that investigators of the bureau liked to throw their weight around.


    Under violence and intimidation, the investigators got what they wanted shortly, that is a video recording.


    "It''s him!"


    A few of the men in black widened their eyes and scrutinised Fang Yuan''s disguise on the screen.


    Of course, the video proved that was no identity proof on the passport, just one single word: "Idiot!"


    "Ping!"


    The chief officer in black smashed his fist onto the table. His eyes were bloodshot.


    "Impudent yellow skin monkey, I''ll definitely catch you one day!"

 421 A Shocking Commotion

    Ear-piercing metal music and a stench of alcohol filled the streets as they made their way through the small alleys.


    Under Bond''s guidance, Fang Yuan quickly arrived at a pub in Purple Finch City.


    "Bond?"


    Two well-built white people gazed at Bond before looking at a cool-looking Fang Yuan wearing sunglasses and felt that something was not right.


    "He is a big buyer. I''ve brought him here!"


    Although Fang Yuan''s hands were both in his own pockets, Bond was not willing to risk his own life and could only lie. "Is Boss in the pub?"


    "You''re lucky, Boss is in a good mood today!"


    The well-built bodyguard smiled and opened the door.


    "Rumble!"


    The noisy atmosphere became much louder and was deafening and pressurising.


    In the pub, colourful lights were illuminated everywhere and weirdly-dressed male and females were mixed in a few metal cages. The dancers wore skimpy clothing and were performing seductive dances.


    Bond made his way into the crowd and thought about escaping.


    However, at that moment, a firm hand gripped on to his shoulder and the tight grip which caused him immense pain made him plead. "No... no! I''ll bring you to the ''doctor''!"


    "Are you still playing tricks with me?"


    Fang Yuan immediately tightened his grip and crushed a few bones.


    Before he could say ''doctor'', a few people could sense that something was wrong and were looking towards Bond nervously.


    ''How can he be still so nimble in such an environment? Could they be mutants?''


    Releasing his spiritual will, Fang Yuan shook his head. "2 Mortal Grade mutants and 2 Ghost Grade mutants? Hmm... There is another Ghost Grade mutant in the secret room behind and its ability is similar to Sun Xiaohong, which should be related to quick recovery."


    "Ah..."


    Under the immense pain from the shattered bones, Bond started to kneel on the ground and broke into cold sweat.


    "Hey! The handsome fella from the East... do you wanna dance?"


    Fang Yuan could detect that a Ghost Grade mutant was approaching him. It was a pretty lady in her 20s, and she threw a seductive look at Bond.


    Bond stood up and no longer felt the pain as he was in a daze.


    ''Is this casting an illusion?''


    Seeing this, Fang Yuan sort of knew what was happening as he followed the lady to a corner with a sofa.


    "Listen up... dude! I don''t care who you are, but the White Pigeon Society will deal with the Brother''s Sect!"


    Sitting on the sofa was an old man with two bodyguards by his side. Fang Yuan could detect that there were a total of 4 mutants here.


    "The White Pigeon Society?"


    Fang Yuan sat on the sofa without any reservations and got himself a cocktail. "I''ve never heard of it!"


    "We are a peacekeeping organisation, kid!"


    The old man gave a compassionate smile. "The Lord has given us various special abilities, but not for us to misuse them. Mutants are ultimately still humans and therefore, we should live in peace with normal humans..."


    "That''s a great speech..." Fang Yuan gave a long whistle. "After that... are you guys prepared to maintain world peace? How is this related to me?"


    "The Brother''s Sect is not simple. It is involved in a secret plan of the Black Man Society... Therefore, we cannot be reckless!"


    The lady which brought Fang Yuan here retorted.


    "I''m sorry... We have yet to introduce ourselves. I am Paul and this is Lucy..."


    Paul chuckled. "Lucy has a bad temper..."


    "No matter who it is, anyone who has dealt with these alcoholics every day will have a bad temper..."


    Lucy scoffed. "Old man... How long are you intending to collect information?"


    "Soon. I''ve received information that there will be a representative from the Black Man Society who will meet up with someone from the Brother''s Sect!"


    Paul gave an apologetic smile.


    "Wait a minute... Haven''t the Black Man Society reconciled with the Federation?"


    Fang Yuan twitched his eyebrows.


    "They have only colluded with a few of the generals in the Federation Armed Forces! They are collectively working on the invention of a new weapon... Furthermore, the society leader of our White Pigeon Society knows the society leader of the Black Man Society. We know that they are insistent on forming a mutant country!" Paul sighed.


    "I see! But what has all this got to do with me?"


    Fang Yuan stood up. "Since the Brother''s Sect has offended me, I will destroy it completely! It''s that simple!"


    "Hey! Are you not listening to me? Sit down!"


    Lucy glared at Fang Yuan and started to spread her mind power in an attempt to hypnotise Fang Yuan.


    "Little girl, you must know that this is not how you should use mind power!"


    Fang Yuan took his sunglasses down and had a mocking look in his eyes.


    "You..."


    Lucy''s expression changed as she felt as though she had entered a scary world. At that moment, that insubstantial mind power of hers was consumed, and a dreadful force started to come her way, pulling her into a bottomless hell.


    "Phew..."


    It only took a few moments before this white lady turned pale. She fell to the sofa, weakened as she breathed heavily.


    This was after Fang Yuan had controlled his powers. Otherwise, Lucy might just turn into his slave or even an idiot, and that was within Fang Yuan''s control.


    "A mind power mutant?"


    Paul was shocked. "Who would''ve known that you are one of the rare types of mutants..."


    "Hmmm, another one is here. It seems like he is from the Black Man Society!"


    Fang Yuan looked towards the secret room and released his senses. With that, he could detect the traces of a Murderous Grade mutant.


    With a look of pity, Fang Yuan glared at the old man before him.


    If not for the fact that Fang Yuan was here, how could the old man possibly think of capturing all of them with their collective powers? They would be considered fortunate if the people of the Black Man Society did not counterattack and capture them instead.


    "No one can stop me from what I want to do!"


    Fang Yuan announced his intention and walked towards the secret room.


    "Stop! This is private property!"


    10 over bodyguards formed a human wall and some of them even reached out for their guns.


    "Scram!"


    With a shout, an invisible force spread out. The glass windows shattered, the tiles on the floor flew up and a path of destruction was formed.


    "Rumble!"


    Such a huge commotion created chaos in the pub. All the youngsters started to scream and run towards the exits.


    "Force of the mind?"


    Paul looked at Lucy, not knowing what to do. "Are you okay?"


    "Be careful, he is extremely powerful! He might be a 3rd Tier mutant!"


    Chinese Country classified the mutants into Mortal, Ghost, Murderous and Calamity Grades. After receiving intelligence, other countries started to grade their mutants as well. Of course, they wanted to seem original and changed the naming convention.


    The 3rd Tier mutants of the Golden Eagle Federation were the Murderous Grade mutants of Chinese Country. Every one of these mutants was extremely powerful and normal mutants or police forces could do nothing to stop them.


    "A 3rd Tier mutant? When did such a powerful mutant appear in Purple Finch City?"


    Paul gave a sigh of hopelessness. Suddenly, a wall of sand appeared around them, separating them from everyone else. "Inform the headquarters that this place is out of our control..."


    ...


    "Doctor, it seems like you have caused some trouble!"


    In the secret room, two silhouettes walked out. The first one was a middle-aged man with green eyes. He was wearing a suit and as he walked out, he gave a cunning smile.


    "After all, by doing the investment, I have already left too many traces!"


    Behind him, a doctor in white robes raised his glasses. "Did the society send you here to settle all these?"


    "That''s right!"


    The man in a suit walked forward and appeared proud. "I am Roger of the Black Man Society! Are you from the White Pigeon Society?"


    "Nope... I am merely a tourist! However, doctor, your Brother''s Sect had offended me!"


    Fang Yuan replied with a smile and leapt towards Roger. "Get lost!"


    "Bang!"


    With his fist striking out, he slammed into Roger''s face. Like a cannonball, Roger flew backwards and was struck into the wall behind him before becoming buried by the falling bricks.


    "Brother''s Sect? No! This must be a misunderstanding..."


    Seeing how Roger flew out in a single punch, the doctor''s expression changed and his arms waved frantically. "My special ability is in healing and I can be useful to you. I can make lots of money for you, so don''t kill me..."


    This doctor was a mutant who had the ability to regenerate himself. Seeing how Fang Yuan was approaching him, he knelt down.


    "Bang!"


    Beside them, the fallen bricks exploded and Roger''s silhouette appeared. "Kid... you''ve angered me!"


    At this point in time, Roger''s body was crystal-like as though he was covered in a layer of thick ice. There were crack marks on his face.


    "It''s Roger the Iceman!"


    Within the sand wall, Lucy shrieked. "D*mn it! It''s another 3rd Tier mutant... old thing, you almost got us killed!"


    "Die!"


    Roger paid no attention to Paul and his company. He rushed towards Fang Yuan and struck his fist out.


    "Cccrrrrrr!"


    In mid-air, a cone of ice started to grow out, forming an icicle.


    "Hehe!"


    At this point in time, the kneeling doctor suddenly revealed a surgery knife in his hands. Like a snake, his arms slithered as he aimed towards Fang Yuan''s throat.


    As the leader of the Brother''s Sect, how could he not know any self-defence techniques?


    "Bind!"


    Without changing his expression, Fang Yuan muttered one word.


    At that moment, the doctor froze in his comedic posture as though he was being restrained by thousands of invisible chains.


    Roger''s attack also slowed down and Fang Yuan easily dodged it before returning another punch towards Roger''s heart.


    "Bang!"


    The iceman flew back once more as though he was being hit by an oncoming train. Quickly, he leapt out from the rubble once more. "It''s useless... with my defence, even bullets cannot penetrate me!"


    "Idiot... Why do I want to destroy your defence?"


    Seeing this, Fang Yuan shook his head and sighed. "Do you not know that there is a technique in Chinese Country known as ''hitting the bull across the mountain''? Oh... I''m sorry. You''re an uneducated swine and must not have read much..."


    "What?"


    Roger had a look of confusion before his expression started to change. He held onto his chest tightly. "You..."


    "Bang!!"


    A dull explosion was heard.


    With a shriek, Roger spat out a mouthful of blood and many pieces of ruptured organs before falling to the ground. His eyes were wide open and his death was certain.

 422 Roth

    "Iceman Roger... is dead?"


    Inside the sand wall, Lucy, Paul and two bodyguards were stunned and stupefied as they watched the scenes unfold.


    "Impossible... Roger is a 3rd Tier mutant! A powerful general in Black Man Society! He even fought back against one whole troop before..." Lucy muttered.


    "Nothing is impossible... that is indeed Roger!"


    Paul the old guy sighed, "Chinese Country... is really a magical country."


    "Doctor... I can''t help but say, your acting skills are subpar!"


    Fang Yuan faced away from Roger''s corpse and turned around to take the doctor''s surgery knife. He pressed the knife on the doctor''s eye and taunted, "Tell me... how do you want to die?"


    "Wait a minute!"


    Paul could not hold it anymore, "This mister... is very important to us! Please hand him over to us!"


    "What you are trying to say is that, I actually have no authority to judge them?"


    Fang Yuan turned around and gave a slight grin.


    If Fang Yuan did not display his shocking powers, the four of them from White Pigeon Society would have swarmed to him already,


    "No... It''s purely a request!"


    Paul felt a chill down his spine but remained composed and replied with a calm voice.


    "Since it is a request, that mean means I can accept it and I can also reject it too?"


    Fang Yuan casually glided the surgery knife across the immobile doctor''s face, creating numerous lines of blood.


    As he still had his healing special ability, the cuts on his face healed rapidly. Nevertheless, it was not a pleasant thing for the doctor when Fang Yuan repeatedly cut his face.


    "This guy is a lunatic!" The doctor thought.


    The doctor was struck with fear as he looked at the smiling Fang Yuan. However, he suddenly shouted, "White Pigeon Society''s Paul? I know! Quick, save me... I know everything about Black Man Society''s Demon Weapon Plan! I was the one who provided the capital and the preliminary experimental data!"


    "Indeed... Demon Weapon Plan?!"


    Lucy and Paul glanced at each other and walked forward firmly. At the same time, the two bodyguards behind with no presence whipped out two very sci-fi looking silver-coloured guns.


    The two bodyguards had strong bodies and underwent strict training before. Even skilled soldiers, assassins and such were no match for them. But now, they were like backdrops and useless.


    "Well, I can technically hand him over to you all!"


    Fang Yuan chuckled, "But, what can I get in return?"


    Paul heaved a sigh of relief,"You will receive White Pigeon Society''s friendship... and of course, you will have our assistance in anything you do inside Golden Eagle Federation..."


    "That doesn''t sound very sincere..."


    Fang Yuan threw his hand and the doctor was thrown out, "But, that shall be it! I accept it!"


    "Thank you!"


    Paul''s expression was slightly awkward and he immediately ordered his subordinate to restrain the doctor with a pair of handcuffs. That pair of handcuffs looked very familiar to Fang Yuan as it was the Demon Restraining Cuffs he designed.


    "These Demon Restraining Cuffs were designed by a prominent scientist from your country called Professor Fang Yuan! I must say he is really a creative genius, any mutants who are 2nd Tier and below would immediately lose their abilities once they are cuffed..." Paul explained as he did not recognise Fang Yuan''s disguise.


    At that moment, news of mutants attacking the pub had already spread far and wide. A piercing police siren could be heard from outside too.


    "Okay... we cannot clash with the police, let''s leave now!"


    Paul looked at Fang Yuan.


    "Okay!"


    Fang Yuan shrugged his shoulders. He then found a suitcase and casually stuffed large amounts of cash into it.


    "Heh... greedy yellow skin man!"


    Although Lucy had suffered from Fang Yuan just now, her rebellious teenage girl nature still made her sneer.


    ...


    After they left, many policemen arrived at the pub and cordoned off the area. There were also a few forensic scientists who went to collect evidence.


    Half an hour later, members dressed in black windbreakers from the Federal Special Investigation Bureau arrived too.


    "Intelligence shows that... this is Brother''s Sect''s lair! They are one of Black Man Society''s subordinate forces!"


    A man in a windbreaker with a cigarette in his mouth gave a gloating smile, "A battle between mutants? I love such scenes where these wild dogs bite each other..."


    "Then you definitely would not want to see the next scene!"


    One of his companions took out an old-fashioned monitor and scanned Roger who was on the floor. He then immediately exclaimed, "This is... Iceman Roger!?"


    "What? The Iceman who is in one of Black Man Society''s high-level cadre? The one who has defences impenetrable to bullets and who could manipulate ice? Impossible!"


    A few men in windbreakers walked forward and surrounded the monitor. They were speechless when they saw the face on the ground was exactly the same as the face on the monitor.


    "D*mn it! We were just tracking down a foreign mutant, why are we embroiled in this kind of matter now..."


    The officer of the men in windbreakers felt extremely uneasy.


    Such a matter would give his superior''s superior or even any chief of the bureau a massive headache.


    After all, they were the ones who were clearest about Black Man Society''s strength. The Black Man Society was a powerful organisation in the legal grey areas with numerous connections, which included many congressmen and powerful generals.


    "Sh*t!" He viciously shouted, "Immediately report the intelligence and request for support!"


    "Yes, Sir!" His subordinate immediately obeyed the orders and dialled his phone.


    The response was unimaginably fast. 10 minutes later, a group of men in black suits arrived.


    "You are all... people from Black Man Society?"


    The officer from the investigation bureau frowned as he saw the group of them in their black suits.


    "Yea... you don''t have to investigate this matter here anymore, we will fully take over!"


    A golden lion looking well-built Caucasian man spoke slowly with a deep voice that sounded naturally pressurising.


    He then walked to Roger and took off his hat.


    "Although Roger is the weakest one amongst our 13 high-levelled cadres, Black Man Society''s name absolutely cannot be tarnished by others!"


    "This does not abide by the laws... you all are just a grassroots organisation!" The officer from the bureau replied with a slight shiver in his voice and cold sweats appeared on his forehead as he remembered that man''s identity.


    "Ring...!"


    The brick phone on the officer''s hand rang, which made him involuntarily stood straight. He then picked up his call, "Officer! ... Yes, Sir! I understood!"


    After he hung up his phone, he faced the man in front of him with mixed emotions and said, "According to my superior''s order, from now onwards, our investigation bureau will assist you all and provide you all with intelligence and leads!"


    "That should be the way!" One of the men in black suit behind the golden lion laughed and sneered in a sarcastic manner.


    The faces of the personnel from the investigation bureau were red with anger but they could only bear and tolerate with it.


    "Officer, the sketch is done!"


    A man in a windbreaker ran out while holding a piece of facial sketch on his hand, "According to the survivors'' descriptions and comparisons, the person who was here was that yellow-skinned mutant who just entered our country!"


    "Let me see!"


    The golden lion looking man grabbed the sketch and looked at it.


    The sketch was in the image of Fang Yuan''s disguise and it looked like a shy and reserved teenager.


    "Such a person killed Roger and kidnapped the doctor?"


    The man roared, "He''s dead meat... I, Golden Lion Barton, will rip apart all his limbs and make him wail his way down to hell!"


    ¡­...


    "Demon Weapon Plan, what does that mean?"


    At that moment, inside a long sedan car, Fang Yuan questioned Lucy.


    "Tell him!"


    Paul who was sitting in front sighed.


    "We roughly know it''s some sort of human experiment. The crazy scientists from Black Man Society want to artificially create special abilities and thus a mutant in order to utilise it as a weapon... and therefore, breakthrough some sort of limitations!"


    Lucy continued, "That''s all we know, further information has to be interrogated from the doctor!"


    At that moment, the eyes of the mutant with healing abilities were still and lifeless, it was evident that he was already hypnotised by Lucy.


    Lucy had also seemingly regained her confidence through what she did to the doctor. Although she still did not dare to provoke Fang Yuan, she at least recovered from her setbacks.


    "Artificially created special abilities?"


    Fang Yuan stroked his chin, "As expected..."


    "What did you say?"


    "Nothing..."


    "Okay... Mister, we still do not know your name and your objectives?"


    Paul turned around and stared at Fang Yuan inquisitively.


    "My name is... Lei[1]! I came to Golden Eagle Federation to look for the whereabouts of an artwork." Fang Yuan replied calmly.


    "That simple?"


    Lucy did not believe what Fang Yuan said at all, "For them to send you, a 3rd Tier mutant, to come all the way here? Is that artwork a national treasure from the Middle Continent?"


    Even an extremely expensive national treasure would not be of much military use. In the eyes of those in authority, it would not even be as valuable as a 3rd Tier mutant.


    "By handing over the doctor to you all, it means that I would need you all to mobilise all your strength to look for that collector!" Fang Yuan said straightforwardly.


    "Fine... if that is your only objective, I think we can do our best to help you!"


    Paul thought for a moment and asked, "Who is the collector you are looking for?"


    "Eric Roth!"


    "The Roth family?"


    Lucy wrapped her head and rolled her eyes, "I knew it wouldn''t be so simple!"


    "I know he has a lot of power, looks like it''s pretty substantial..."


    Fang Yuan shrugged his shoulders.


    "Of course... the Roth family is a renowned big family in Flor State! They have had 5 four-star generals and 3 vice presidents! They have already established the Roth Financial Group! The Eric Roth person you mentioned is its current helm!"


    Paul looked at Fang Yuan with sympathy, "Lei! Give up!"


    In Golden Eagle Federation, offending a financial group was even more horrifying than offending any other normal official.


    Furthermore, not only could such a large family utilise the whole Federation''s strength, there would be many mutants working for them too.


    Even the White Pigeon Society would not dare to have a conflict with them so easily!


    "Sorry! I must have it!"


    Fang Yuan crossed his arms and coldly rejected Paul''s suggestion.


    [1] Same word as "thunder" in Chinese

 423 Threa

    "Lei... he is an interesting person..."


    Very quickly, the higher-ups of White Pigeon Society received news from Paul. "Going to the Flor State to find trouble for the Roth Family?"


    Within a small office, a few holographic silhouettes sat around a table and looked towards Old Paul who sat in the middle.


    "That''s right... he claims to be after a piece of artwork, but did not reveal the name of the artwork. Eric Roth is a well-known collector and he has over 3,000 pieces of artwork from Middle Continent alone..."


    "A 3rd Tier mutant... this is unfortunate!"


    Another old man rested his chin on both of his hands. "If Lei is willing to tell us about the artwork, we can probably be the middleman... Even for Roth Financial Group, it would be a good deal for them to establish good relations with a 3rd Tier mutant in exchange for a treasured artwork of theirs."


    "I''m sorry... Lei is resolute in his decision... Furthermore, we know the traits of these tycoons. Once we get involved with them, we would have never-ending troubles..."


    Another silhouette shook his head.


    "That Lei..."


    At this point in time, a white shirt man sitting in the centre started to speak. "Do we have information about him?"


    "Nope! Just as we first encountered him, we have already sent our hackers to fish for information from the customs'' database. Unfortunately, Lei used a fake identity..."


    Paul shook his head. "Also, our representatives in Middle Continent told us that they do not have information on this mutant!"


    "Any 3rd Tier mutant with a force of the mind like this would forever be on the radar once it reveals itself... Since every country does not have information on it, does this mean that he is a newly-mutated mutant?"


    The man in white shirt waved his hands. "Forget it... we shall place our priority on observing him. We shall provide him with information regarding the Roth Family, but will not stand on his side openly!"


    "I understand!"


    Paul nodded his head before disappearing.


    "Lorita! How''s the questioning session going on?"


    The man in white shirt glanced towards the silhouette on his right.


    It was a 13 years old young lady in a black princess dress. With her appearance resembling a doll, anyone who would see her would not be able to hold themselves back from giving her a pinch on the cheeks.


    "Yawn... It''s boring..."


    Lazily, Lorita yawned. "I only scared him a little before being able to get him to reveal everything. It''s so boring!"


    "This means the Demon Weapon Plan is true!"


    "Yes!"


    Lorita took out her lollipop and started to lick on it. Squinting her eyes, she continued. "Even yourself and the head of Black Man Society are only at the peak of the 3rd Tier. The theorized Demon Weapon will have the ability to break through the limits and is indeed worthy to be the final weapon!"


    "Although we are very behind Chinese Country in terms of research about mutants, anything as dangerous as the Demon Weapon should not belong in this world. Furthermore, it is immoral to perform experiments on mutants!"


    The society leader of White Pigeon Society came to a conclusion.


    "We have no choice... Those generals in the Ministry of Defence keep harping on the fact that Chinese Country has a 4th Tier mutant, which makes the Golden Eagle Federation under serious threat..."


    Another man on the left sighed. "Because of the fact that Jani had failed the previous time, we are now solely focusing on commencing the Demon Weapon Plan, even if it means cooperating with Black Man Society!"


    "Where is the location of the laboratory?"


    "It''s in Flor State, beneath the Flor Reservoir!"


    The society leader of White Pigeon Society remained silent. "Flor State... could this be a coincidence?"


    ...


    Flor State, Ivy City.


    The was the greenest city in Flor State. Gardens decked the city and complemented the many mansions and buildings here.


    Although Flor State was known for its manufacturing industry, there were not many factories in sight and was one of the safest cities in the entire Federation.


    Therefore, many tycoons would prefer to stay here. Even those who stayed elsewhere would buy a few mansions here to spend their perfect getaway in this charming city.


    Around these rich tycoons'' mansions were many bodyguards, drivers, nannies and maids, all of them in service of the tycoon''s families.


    A poor man''s hell was a rich man''s heaven. This was such a place.


    "In Ivy City, you can buy anything as long as you have the money!"


    A gold-plated car stopped outside a five-star hotel. A young white lady walked out proudly and stood out from the rest.


    The bellboys who stood at the door took a bow and their foreheads almost touched the ground.


    A red carpet was rolled from the door to the car.


    The young lady walked out and stretched her hand out.


    ''That must be an important figure from an influential family or a tycoon...''


    Under the plain sight of everyone, a yellow Chinese in a western suit walked out from the other side of the car.


    Everyone was utterly stunned.


    ''Could they have seen wrongly? How was this possible? How can a yellow Chinese have such a socio-economic status?''


    Unfortunately, amidst their inner cries, their strict training made them pay equal respects to this guest and they were perfectly hospitable.


    "Is this how it feels to be rich? It''s great!"


    When they finally entered their suite, Lucy exclaimed loudly before starting to roll on the bed. Her face was filled with satisfaction.


    "It''s a pity... they are still too racist."


    Fang Yuan shook his head. "To them, they believe that a yellow Chinese cannot have such a status and are not worthy of riches and respectable treatment... Also, why are you following me?"


    He looked at Lucy and rolled his eyes.


    After gaining satisfaction from rolling on the bed, Lucy pitifully took out a document. "Eric is the head of the Roth Family. At any moment, he will be protected by a 3rd Tier mutant beside him. You must be careful... oh, wait, the one who has to be careful will never be you!"


    After all, she had witnessed Fang Yuan destroying Iceman Roger with brute force and still had not gotten over it.


    "If I get physical, will you stop me?"


    Fang Yuan spoke in a mocking tone.


    "Unless your destruction is too much to the point that you will harm other civilians!"


    Lucy spoke solemnly. "Also, according to the order from our society leader, I will only provide you will information and will not directly help you..."


    "Ding dong!"


    The doorbell rang.


    "Room service? I don''t think we requested for it, right?"


    With suspicion, Lucy picked the receiver up and her expression changed. "It''s the people from the Roth Family looking for Lei... I did not betray you!"


    She broke into cold sweat and knew that it surely had to be a member of the White Pigeon Society that let the cat out of the bag.


    "Alright! I know it''s not you!"


    Fang Yuan shrugged his shoulders and squinted his eyes before opening the door. "Please enter!"


    "Hello!"


    A man in a suit wearing a pair of gold-rimmed glasses entered respectfully. "I am a lawyer and my name is Cyril. I serve under the Roth Financial Group and I welcome you to Ivy City, Mr Lei from the Middle Continent!"


    "What''s up?"


    Fang Yuan sat on the sofa calmly and asked.


    "I bring with me the good intentions of Mr Eric Roth!"


    Cyril raised his glasses. "Mr Lei, you''re here for one of Mr Eric Roth''s artwork, right? Mr Eric is a generous person. As long as you are willing to sign this agreement, he will be willing to give you any artwork you like!"


    Cyril passed the document over.


    "Oh? To hire me as a special consultant, help him once and be rewarded with 10 million dollars, and on top of that get a yearly bonus... He is indeed very generous!"


    Fang Yuan flipped through the document and was clear about the agreement. However, what he said next shocked Cyril. "What if... I don''t agree?"


    "Why not!"


    This was the first time Lawyer Cyril had lost his composure. He was a skilled lawyer of a tycoon and represented an unimaginable amount of fortune and status.


    For a person like him, it would take him a lifetime before he would even have a chance to achieve such fortune but for the person in front of him, it was a simple matter of agreeing to the terms.


    Cyril could not think of any reason as to why Fang Yuan would reject the agreement.


    "Blame it on my... stubbornness!"


    Fang Yuan shook his head. "It seems like the deal is over. What plans does Mr Eric have?"


    "He does not have any plans for we are law-abiding citizens. It is regretful!"


    Cyril packed up his briefcase. "However... I heard that you have used unlawful means to enter the country and that you are under the scrutiny and investigation of the people from Black Man Society?"


    "It''s a threat, I see!"


    Fang Yuan shook his head. "In the end, you are only a timid mouse capable of using other people to achieve your objective. I overestimated you... Let''s go!"


    "Where are we going?"


    Cyril froze.


    "To where Eric keeps his collection!"


    Fang Yuan smiled.


    Among the few thousand artworks Eric had, Fang Yuan did not specify which artwork he was after. If Eric wanted to transfer the artworks to another place, it would be a troublesome process. Therefore, the artwork was likely still in its original place.


    "Alright!"


    Cyril was desolated as he led the way.


    "This is... my Hypnotising Spell!


    Seeing this scene, Lucy held her mouth and was stunned. "How is this possible? Are you not a mutant with the force of the mind?"


    "My lady!"


    Fang Yuan scoffed. "Who told you that a person cannot have two special abilities? Furthermore... Why do you think that I cannot do this with the force of the mind?"


    "All of these are not important. What''s important is that you are trying to rob the Roth Family now, is that right? In the land of Golden Eagle Federation?"


    Lucy''s tongue was tied and could only react after a few moments. "Lord... Either I am crazy or the world is crazy!"


    "He is only a mere tycoon and nothing much..."


    Fang Yuan wore his suit and appeared as casual as a man who was about to leave for dinner. "Let''s go... the quicker we get what we are after, the quicker we can leave!"


    "D*mn it!"


    Lucy shuddered in fear, but nevertheless, she followed unknowingly.


    Regardless, she had to finish her task. Considering Fang Yuan''s power, she knew that they would at least have the ability to defend themselves should anything happen.


    However, from the looks of it, this task seemed impossible.

 424 Metalbender

    "Mad! You must be a madman!"


    Lucy got in the car. Cyril turned on the engine dejectedly and began to drive towards the Roth family''s location. He looked as though he was about to crumble.


    "One person against the Roth tycoons? No person in the right mind would do that!"


    "Maybe¡­..."


    Fang Yuan seemed calm, but was very alert. He continued to scan the roads.


    If he had not guessed wrong, Cyril was not alone. There were spies in every corner. They might have to deal with an attack anytime.


    "Give it up! If we leave now, we might still be able to escape the wrath of the Federation and Black Man Society!"


    Lucy tried her best to convince Fang Yuan for the last time.


    "It''s they who should be worried!"


    Fang Yuan looked out of the window. The black car accelerated and arrived at the Ivy City suburbs.


    This was where all the most opulent villas could be found. Every residential building in the area was a castle built on vast grounds. The surrounding walls were covered in green vines, which gave the place a medieval feel.


    "Woo woo! Woo woo!"


    Not long after, ear-splitting siren noises heralded a large assembly of police cars chasing them from behind.


    A loudhailer rang out.


    "The car in front, do take note! Pull over immediately and let us conduct a thorough check!"


    Bright dots appeared overhead in the night sky. They were police helicopters.


    "Oh! Damn it... how did the Federal police get alerted so quickly!"


    Lucy was exasperated.


    "I won''t hurt normal humans!"


    "Please... they are the ones who want to hurt us!"


    Fang Yuan shrugged his shoulders and spied a European-style castle in the distance. It was situated on lovely lands.


    "Is that the Roth castle? Where Eric''s treasure lies?"


    "Yes... master! Eric himself can also be found there!"


    Cyril drove steadily and answered Fang Yuan in a dull voice.


    "Oh... should we say that he is confident, or just foolish?"


    Fang Yuan''s lips curled up slightly at the corners.


    "Private property, no trespassing!"


    At this point, the car gave no heed to the cautionary sign and maximised its horsepower, zooming right into the Roth territories.


    "Shwoop!"


    A blinding light emerged from the castle and climbed the sky rapidly with sparks trailing behind it. Its trajectory seemed to be preset.


    "What the heck! RPG!!"


    Lucy could not stop screaming.


    "Lei... we''re all going to die because of you!"


    "It''s just a bazooka!"


    Fang Yuan grabbed her and flew out of the car.


    "Kaboom!"


    Seconds later, there were intense fireworks behind them. The force of the explosion even smashed the windscreens of the surrounding police cars.


    "Suspects in front! Squat down with your hands behind your head, now! Or we''ll shoot!"


    A bunch of plump Federal policemen were shouting and took aim at them with their pistols.


    "You won''t hurt normal humans?"


    Lucy looked at Fang Yuan.


    "If they don''t piss me off first... pity¡­..."


    Fang Yuan shrugged and flung out his right hand.


    "Bang!"


    A whole slab of the ground was lifted up into the air. It was thick enough to be a wall, and it flew towards the policemen.


    "Ping! Ping!"


    Gunshots rang out continuously, but they were obviously of no help against this overpowering attack.


    The slab fell on them and drowned out their screams as they were buried alive.


    "Force of mind... makes this possible?"


    Lucy was scared out of her wits upon witnessing such a thing.


    Suddenly, she snapped out of her trance.


    "Wait a minute... why did you save me? You even swaggered out to appear in front of the police. God... I don''t want to be a wanted criminal!"


    "You have no choice!"


    Fang Yuan giggled.


    "Everyone who is taking note of these events would think that it''s your White Pigeon Society working in cahoots with me! Especially after I enter the castle and hypnotise a few fellas¡­..."


    "Devil!"


    Lucy glared at him.


    "You are the devil from the Middle Continent!"


    "Thanks for the compliment. I''ll accept it reluctantly!"


    Before the castle, Fang Yuan waved his hand. The two great iron doors broke off from their hinges and flew away from the castle, kicking up a storm of dust in the process.


    "It''s a piece of art... it doesn''t have to be like this¡­"


    Lucy was stunned.


    "You are going against the order of the Federation! No... the whole world''s order! Why are you doing this?"


    "Maybe... because it makes me happy!"


    Fang Yuan strolled into the premises and immediately noticed that a team of well-trained guards were running out to confront them. They were of an even high level than elite soldiers and were all mutants. They all carried machine guns and began to spray bullets at Fang Yuan and Lucy.


    "Ratatatatat!"


    "Ratatatatat!"


    Their concentrated firepower made it virtually impossible for targets to escape unless they had the ability to teleport.


    Without warning, Lucy saw that Fang Yuan had put both his hands in the air and at that moment, a translucent water shield materialised.


    Thousands of bronze pellets hammered on the shield but only caused it to wobble slightly. The bullets were caught in the shield like insects in a net, and they levitated strangely in the air.


    "Go back!"


    Fang Yuan flicked a bullet at one of the guards.


    "Boom!"


    A guard fell to the floor, his chest exploding in a red mist.


    "Boom! Boom!"


    The bullets were shot back at an even greater speed than they had emerged at from the machine gun barrels. A bloodbath thus ensued.


    Deep in the castle, in a safe room, the bloodbath played out on several display screens.


    "Ping!"


    "Damn it"


    A silver-haired old man smashed a fist on his office table.


    He was quite dispirited.


    After all, he thought that the terms he had offered were more than reasonable. He was actually willing to compromise some more. He did not expect the other party to exhibit such advanced insanity and to reject negotiation entirely.


    "He thinks that the Roth family doesn''t have any bargaining power¡­"


    The old man muttered under his breath and lit a cigar. His face darkened, and he was suddenly determined.


    "This is a challenge! A declaration of war against the Roth family. Such belligerence must be countered with all the power we can muster! I swear it on the honour of the Roth family! William!"


    "Boss!"


    A cheery mutant stood out from behind the old man.


    "Deal with him for me!"


    "Your wish is my command. But I don''t think I can manage him alone. I can only try my best to fend him off until the Golden Lion Barton arrives. Also... there is the issue of your safety, Boss!"


    "You don''t have to worry about that!"


    Eric smiled grimly.


    "No one can hurt me in here... no one!"


    "Alright!"


    William bowed and left the room.


    ¡­...


    In the castle.


    The elegant structure had suddenly transformed into some sort of monster.


    Traps and secret mechanisms were sprung everywhere in the building, and a large number of mercenaries were fighting Fang Yuan to the death.


    Although they were no match for Fang Yuan, the intensity of the situation still made Lucy sweat profusely.


    "Aren''t you done yet? Don''t you want the artefact?"


    She saw how Fang Yuan destroyed the walls with a wave of his hand, and how the mercenaries were crushed beneath the falling concrete.


    The rosewood furniture was not spared either, they were all smashed up together with the expensive vases on them.


    Not only that, but a nauseating amount of blood and gore had been spilt in the halls. Even the wall paintings were drenched in dark red.


    "Destroying everything in your path like that... you won''t get anything by doing this...¡­"


    "The thing that I''m looking for lies somewhere deep within the castle!"


    Fang Yuan''s eyes gleamed.


    From the idol of the Aquilaria Maitreya, Fang Yuan could sense that the other half of the key was close by.


    "In the underground vault... there are other objects giving out electromagnetic oscillations as well... seems like this collector is someone to reckon with...¡­"


    Fang Yuan closed his eyes.


    "Kaboom!"


    He could hear Lucy screaming as the ground they stood on gave way and they fell down to the floor below.


    "Interesting¡­..."


    William walked into the messy hall, wearing a white suit with a red rose tucked in his front pocket. He began to clap slowly.


    "Such a powerful force of mind... I don''t think even the 2nd in command of the Black Man Society, the King of Myriad Thoughts, could beat you! Allow me to introduce myself... I am William, a metalbender... Mr Lei of the Middle Continent, I have no wish to take you on, but you leave me with no choice!"


    "You are a mutant of the 3rd Tier working for the Roth family?"


    Fang Yuan frowned.


    "Metalbender William!"


    Lucy let out another scream.


    "He is one of the top mutants of the 3rd Tier. He could even trade blows with our leader in the White Pigeon Society. Roger the Iceman is a far cry from this William!"


    The gap between each tier increased exponentially as a mutant went up the tiers.


    At the 3rd Tier, a mutant could crush a beginner like an ant.


    The leader of the Black Man Society once quelled an unrest organised by 10 mutants of the 3rd Tier single-handedly. As a result, he was recognised as the most powerful pugilist in the Federation!"


    Of course, both he and the leader of the White Pigeon Society had not broken through to the 4th Tier yet.


    Thus, in the world of mutant experimentation, it was said that before the third occurrence, no mutant would be able to break through to the 4th Tier. Although this was quickly drowned out by news from the Middle Continent regarding the God of Thunder, they stuck to their view. It was not entirely wrong.


    After all, Fang Yuan was only at the 3rd Tier himself, and was newly minted.


    Well, in contrast to others, he was a normal person and naturally had to work harder so as to rise up to the 3rd Tier.


    "Shwoo!"


    Even as Lucy spoke, William acted.


    He waved his right hand in one fluid movement, and a smile plastered on his face.


    "Psh! Psh!"


    Pieces of metal, big and small, rose from the waste pile and were manipulated such that they compressed against one another to form a large steel ball.


    "Not bad, he already has a well grasp of his element!"


    But Fang Yuan knew something more.


    This William had stripped the metal pieces down to the atom and had fused them with spiritual droplets so that they became his fluid and ever-changing weapon.


    If such a person were to go back in time to the ancient Middle Continent, he would become the ultimate metalbending demon!

 425 Compromise

    "To be able to restitute metal meant that he has already reached the essence of his special ability and he is very close to fully mastering it... Unfortunately, he still limits himself to the way of metal..."


    Fang Yuan shook his head.


    "Swoosh!"


    Just as Fang Yuan was observing, William, who was opposite him, had already made his move.


    "Pop! Pop!"


    The steel beads that were even scarier than a machine gun rattling were similarly stopped in mid-air by the layer of water membrane. The steel beads caused ripples to form on the water but ultimately could not penetrate it at all.


    "Indeed... Lei! You are very strong!"


    William appeared excited and continued, "Ever since I fought against the leader of White Pigeon Society, it has been very long since I met such a worthy opponent like you... hope you don''t disappoint me!"


    "Putt! Putt!"


    Under William''s control, large amounts of steel beads retreated. A bizarre change soon began as the tip of the beads became sharp and even formed spiral-like threads. The beads then surrounded and flew around Fang Yuan.


    "Ding! Ding!"


    As though they were searching for a weak spot, the large amounts of steel needles appeared from the skies, the ground and all directions as they flew quickly and attempted to pierce through Fang Yuan''s water membrane. The surface of the steel needles even turned orange-red due to their high speed and intense rotation. There was also an irritating smell of rust.


    As Lucy watched, her pupils shrunk and she could not help but stand closer to Fang Yuan.


    She was clear if this mysterious Lei could not withstand the attack of those silver needles, her outcome would not be hopeful too. She would become like a beehive after being pierced by all those needles and there would be no chance for her to survive.


    "Boring... same old tricks! They''re useless against me!"


    Fang Yuan bragged arrogantly, as though he was a powerful antagonist.


    Fang Yuan waved his arm.


    "Rumble!"


    William was hung upside down by an invisible force and then viciously smashed onto a brick wall.


    Under the loud crashing noise, almost the entire wall crumbled.


    "Crash!"


    As the masonry flew apart, William was pulled again. He was then wildly smashed against the ceiling, the walls and the floor, as though a giant was grabbing onto his leg and using it as a hammer.


    "Bang! Bang!"


    The loud bangs even made Lucy cringe and tremor in fear.


    However, immediately, she noticed something was amiss, "If I was the one under the brunt of such intense attack, I would have long become a pile of minced meat..."


    The next moment, the invisible force grabbed William and smashed him into a sharp staircase corner.


    "Ding!"


    A crisp noise could be heard, as though steel was being hit against.


    The strong and sturdy staircase which was built from antique wood collapsed immediately. However, William patted away the dust on his body and stood up slowly.


    William''s body was covered with a layer of iron sheet, his defence was astounding.


    "Such a close shave! If I haven''t fought with Black Man''s Society''s King of Myriad Thoughts before, I guess I wouldn''t be able to withstand such a sudden attack..."


    As William recounted with trepidation, the iron sheet continued to spread across his body, including onto his brows, eyes, nose, mouth and ears.


    As a 3rd Tier mutant, William''s body and fitness were naturally strong. Holding his breath was nothing to him.


    However, moments later, he was shocked.


    Around Fang Yuan, wooden planks, bricks... and many other things were forcefully pressed together by an invisible force, as though they were flattened by a million ton compressor. A gigantic obstruction was formed and smashed towards William.


    "A force of the mind at such a level?"


    Even though William was protected by his iron sheet, he still ran away quickly.


    Such a tremendous force would definitely severely injure him if it landed on him!


    "Impossible... this is White Pigeon Society leader''s level of strength!"


    As William tried to escape, his face was filled with disbelief, "How could a mutant who just suddenly appeared be so strong?"


    "Boom!"


    However, he no longer had time to ponder about it.


    A "block" was viciously smashed in front of the gates and blocked everything, sealing off his escape route.


    "Boom! Boom!"


    Immediately, more blocks crashed down and buried William alive.


    "What a lucky guy... if I didn''t have to conceal my identity and disguise myself as a mutant with a mind force special ability... a thunder spell would have easily annihilated you!" Fang Yuan thought.


    As Fang Yuan thought silently, he could still feel William''s spiritual aura around. Fang Yuan was lazy to execute him and his eyes glowed, "Rise!"


    "Rumble!"


    The ground rose and large amounts of soil were excavated. After excavating for an unknown depth, an underground warehouse appeared.


    "No matter how sturdy a safe its, it would be useless once its entirety is stolen!"


    Fang Yuan reached out his both hands and secretly executed his Underground Burrow Technique, "Rise!"


    "Earthquake!"


    "Earthquake!"


    Outside, there were even more policemen gathered around. They immediately felt the earth tremoring and shouted. They then evacuated the servants escaping from the castle.


    "Rumble!"


    In an instant, there was yet another loud noise.


    Under the astonished looks of many, the ancient castle that represented Roth family''s long history and heritage completely crumbled and caused dust clouds to billow everywhere.


    Under the debris, a large warehouse made of golden alloy emerged from the ground.


    "Clang! Clang!"


    Fang Yuan went in front of the gold warehouse and casually lifted off the warehouse door. Numerous rare and precious artworks could then be seen inside the warehouse.


    "Interesting!"


    Fang Yuan walked into the warehouse with his hands behind his back. He was not interested in the mountain tall pile of gold bars and jewellery at all. His right hand then reached out and grabbed a sculpture made of aquilaria wood in the corner.


    The sculpture was of an Asura with three heads and six arms. Each face had a different expression which was very vivid.


    Lucy, who was at Fang Yuan''s side, took a look and could no longer move her eyes away.


    "Ehh... the things inside this warehouse are all pretty precious and valuable..."


    Fang Yuan closed his eyes and lightly moved his hand. Two more items in the warehouse then flew to his hands.


    One was in the shape of a pyramid while the other was a golden sceptre that had a blue gem embedded on it. The blue crystal was the size of an infant''s fist.


    "This gem... interesting..."


    Fang Yuan lightly touched the gem and a hint of excitement appeared on his face, "Seems like I can use it to find another spiritual energy node..."


    The reason Fang Yuan came to the West was to look for a place like that willow tree in order to absorb its strength.


    "Young man! Put those things down!"


    Suddenly, the door on the other side of the warehouse opened. Eric strode in with a shotgun in his hand.


    "Eh? Money over life? That doesn''t seem like the demeanour of the helm of a large financial group?"


    Fang Yuan furrowed his brows and glanced beside him.


    "Bang!"


    Behind him, Metalbender William had already crawled out from the ruins. Although he was ravaged, they were all just superficial injuries. He then charged into the warehouse.


    However, Fang Yuan knew this old Caucasian was not relying on this William.


    "No! No!"


    Eric held his shotgun firmly and pointed the barrel at Fang Yuan. His eyes were filled with some sadness, "From the moment you forcibly attacked the noble Roth family, it was no longer about some collections! Instead, it is the declaration of a fight to the death!"


    Evidently, this old guy was very calm and had a great foresight.


    As one of the alpha leaders in Golden Eagle Federation, if the Roth Family were to display any weakness, they would immediately be challenged by many and might even be devoured by the rest!


    Hence, even if they suffered tremendous losses, numerous deaths and injuries, and even if they knew it would bring no good to the family, they would never settle before achieving victory.


    "Looks like... you are very confident in settling me?"


    Fang Yuan smiled slightly.


    Even if Eric was holding a rocket launcher, Lucy felt he could do absolutely zero damage to the scary Lei.


    "Of course... do you think with Roth family''s heritage, we would only have one William?"


    Eric''s face suddenly flushed red with excitement, "I will let you have a taste of my darling, Angel!"


    Behind him, a little girl sitting on a wheelchair slowly wheeled out.


    She looked like she was only 11 or 12 years old. She had skin as white and silky as milk, golden blonde curly hair and a pair of eyes as blue as the ocean. It was as though she was an exquisite doll.


    "Angel?! She is... Oh no!"


    Lucy thought of something, "If the rumours are true, there are such mutants... her special ability is to erase others'' special abilities!"


    "Erase special abilities?"


    Fang Yuan sensed for a while and indeed, realised the girl was like a jammer that kept dispersing the spiritual droplets in the surroundings, forming a vacuum.


    Moreover, such an interference even reached Fang Yuan''s body as it attempted to interfere with the flow of his spiritual droplets.


    If he was not a cultivator and was instead a normal mutant that did not understand how things worked, he would not be able to resist such and his special ability would be erased.


    In front of the warehouse door, William had already quickly left. The iron sheet on his body dissipated at once and tiny beads of sand-like iron dropped onto the ground.


    "Erasing of special abilities? Interesting!"


    Fang Yuan walked forward. His Elemental Spiritual Energy Cultivation Spell was used and the spiritual droplets in his body were like a mountain and were totally unaffected.


    "Die... you monster!"


    Eric''s face was filled with exhilaration as he pulled the trigger.


    "Bang!"


    A bullet was shot out but it stopped in front of Fang Yuan.


    "Impossible..."


    Eric looked at the expressionless Angel and then at Fang Yuan. Eric was having an emotional breakdown, "Even Black Man Society''s leader cannot counteract Angel''s power... unless..."


    "4th Tier?"


    Lucy was gasping as she uttered that phrase, she looked at Fang Yuan and continued, "You are a 4th Tier mutant?"


    "You''re called Angel?"


    Fang Yuan totally ignored them and instead, went forward to the girl in the wheelchair.


    "Follow me, okay?"


    The girl had a dazed expression, it seemed as though she was born like that.


    "Eh... her body is very weak, she''s just a normal person. Also, she''s severely paralysed and intellectually disabled too..."


    After Fang Yuan analysed her detailedly, he did not hesitate to carry Angel.


    "You..."


    The expression on Eric''s face had already changed. In the end, he gave a bitter laugh and then a deep bow, "Apologies... Mister Lei, I represent Roth family and wholeheartedly surrender to you. Everything in this warehouse belongs to you..."


    "No need, I am only interested in her!"


    Fang Yuan looked at the Angel in his arms.


    "Okay..."


    Eric gave a bitter laughter and dared not have any other opinions.


    Now, Fang Yuan was like a powerful person who could defeat an entire country. Once someone''s power surpassed the norm by too much, any person in authority who could not annihilate him must compromise!

 426 Tragedy

    Eric was the leader of the Roth Financial Group and was extremely influential.


    With just a few phone calls, the police surrounding the castle left in an instant.


    Furthermore, many groups of construction workers promptly arrived and began restoration works for the castle. They quickly erected the tent outside the partially destroyed castle and invited Fang Yuan and Lucy to have some tea.


    "This Angel..."


    The rich tycoons were indeed luxurious and Lucy could not stop herself from enjoying all the delicacies.


    Fang Yuan paid no attention to the food and focussed on the little girl, whose powers were to erase other''s special abilities.


    ''It seems like her ability cannot be controlled by her own will and is always active... Furthermore, the area affected is a radius of about 200 to 300 metres. The nearer a mutant gets to her, the stronger the disturbance.


    "Respectable Mister Lei..."


    Eric''s voice was shaking. "When I first found Angel, she was already in this state..."


    Eric was afraid that Fang Yuan would wrongly assume that he had tortured this girl.


    "I know..."


    Fang Yuan casually picked up a piece of cake. As the girl sniffed the fragrant cake, she delightfully gobbled it up.


    "Such level of maturity... She is only like a 4 to 5 years old kid. Could it be due to the fact that her special ability is too strong and is hindering her growth?"


    Thinking to himself, Fang Yuan began to formulate a few plans to allow him to aid Angel in growing up properly.


    ''This is great... I am interested in researching on such a rare special ability.''


    "There''s another thing!"


    Eric picked up a phone call and had an embarrassed look on his face. "The police of Ivy City will no longer find trouble with you. However, there is a group of people from the Black Man Society. They have just landed at the airport and are rushing down now. The one leading them is Golden Lion Barton!"


    As soon as Eric mentioned the name, William, who was standing behind him all the while, twitched. One could tell that he had once suffered under Barton before.


    Of course, now, both Eric and Lucy were not worried a single bit.


    After all, to them, Fang Yuan was an almighty 4th Tier mutant. Together with Angel, the weakness of all mutants, even if the entire Black Man Society were to combine forces with White Pigeon Society, they could do nothing to harm Fang Yuan.


    "Alright... I''ve troubled you for quite a while. It''s time for me to take my leave!"


    Fang Yuan toyed around with a golden sceptre in his hands. "I have one last question... Where did this blue gem come from?"


    "This is... the tears of the River of West Flor?"


    Eric was stunned. "This is my latest collection. The gem on it is rumoured to have been found from the River of West Flor..."


    The River of West Flor was a huge river in the Golden Eagle Federation as well as Flor State. The people specially built a reservoir around it, turning it into a popular tourist destination, so popular that even Fang Yuan had heard of its name before.


    "I see! It''s the River of West Flor, right?"


    Fang Yuan lowered his head and gave a mysterious smile.


    ...


    "We''re here... Roth''s Castle!"


    Not long after, a black sedan car arrived at the castle and an explosive Barton came out of the car. "No matter who it is, whoever dares to step on the toes of the Black Man Society will have to die!"


    "Black Bird!"


    "Don''t worry, boss!"


    A lack pigeon landed and transformed into a human shape. "Although I am afraid of going too near, I can ascertain that the other party is still in the garden and has yet to leave!"


    "Very good!"


    Barton stripped his windbreaker from his body, revealing his golden muscles. "Although I don''t know why they have reconciled, even if the Roth Family wants to protect him, no matter how powerful that William and his metalbending skills are, he is no match for my defence!"


    In the Black Man Society, Barton was in the top five most powerful mutants. Because of his special ability, he was able to perfectly counter William''s ability.


    "Bang!"


    However, at this point in time, a huge armoured vehicle roared to life and rushed out of the garden.


    "Boss... Those people are Barton and his men from the Black Man Society!"


    Lucy drove the car and her voice was shaking.


    "Roll over them!"


    Fang Yuan carried Angel in his arms and casually commanded Lucy to squash Barton over like how he would squash a worm.


    "That''s Lei, he''s in the car!"


    A few investigators held their monocles up and were certain.


    "Fire!"


    "Bang! Bang!"


    Bullets landed on the car but were deflected by a layer of water membrane and did little damage.


    "Hehe..."


    Barton scoffed and the hair around his body started to grow, forming a golden armour around him. Without fear, he rushed towards the armoured vehicle. "Stop!"


    His defence was not only tougher than a diamond, he had already flipped the heaviest tank in the Federation before. He was like a fearless giant as he rushed towards the Humvee.


    "This is... such a tragedy..."


    Lucy closed her eyes and did not dare to witness what was about to come.


    "Bang!"


    Blood splattered everywhere, staining the car windows.


    The defeated Barton flew out like a broken gunny sack. Rolling on the floor, he was subsequently crushed by the Humvee into a pile of bloodied mess.


    "Is this a joke?"


    "Oh Lord!"


    Across the street, the entire group of men from the Black Man Society were stunned and their jaws were almost dislocated from their mouths. "Barton has been crushed to death? Is this an April Fool''s joke?"


    "Don''t slow down, rush towards them!"


    Fang Yuan waved his hands and an invisible force started to clear the bullets and obstacles ahead of the Humvee.


    Lucy followed his command and sped all the way up to 80 miles an hour.


    "Bang!"


    "Bang! Bang!"


    Lucy''s hands shook and she felt as though she was playing bumper cars.


    As blood spewed everywhere, Lucy had to activate the windscreen wipers to clean up the windshield. At this point in time, another mutant was helplessly ran over. One by one, the rest of them were slowly being squashed under the car.


    "This is... this feeling..."


    Lucy blushed and as her body shook, there was a wet stain on her pants.


    "This woman..."


    Fang Yuan was observing her all this while and was now speechless. ''Is this a newly discovered weird ability of hers?''


    "Lord..."


    In the castle, Eric witnessed everything before quickly passing down instructions to his subordinates. "Get the helicopter here to evacuate me!"


    No matter how much he could explain, the fact that so many members of the Black Man Society died at his castle would bring him much trouble and therefore, he had to hide.


    ...


    After a few hours.


    A few black dots appeared in the sky and slowly landed towards the ground.


    They were wearing protective suits and appeared different from the rest.


    As they examined the mess lying all around, one would still be able to see their disgusted faces through the protective glass layer of the suit.


    "Barton..."


    One of the higher-ups spat a mouthful of saliva as he looked at the bloodied mess. "Who would''ve known that he would die just like that, like a shattered watermelon... That d*mn girl..."


    "No one would know that she would end up in the hands of the Roth Family..."


    Another man in a black suit sighed.


    When Angel was first discovered, there was an uproar in the mutant community. Many organisations were after her, but the outcome would always be a massacre.


    They would never know that all that had happened before were only an illusion and that the Roth Family was the ultimate winner.


    Of course, Eric was extremely cunning and careful as well. Even though he was a tycoon, he knew that he was nothing if the Federation were to combine forces with the Black Shirt Society. Therefore, he had diligently kept the fact that he had Angel and even William was unaware of it.


    "Even with this secret weapon, the Roth Financial Group is still defeated..."


    "However, we have some findings. Although Angel''s ability is devastating, it cannot be replicated. Furthermore... As long as one has this Separation Suit or is a 4th Tier mutant, one would be assured that one''s special ability would not be affected..."


    At this point in time, another member of the Black Man Society took out his satellite phone. "Society leader... What should we do next? That Lei... he seems to have broken through to the 4th Tier!"


    "In this world, no one would be able to break through to the 4th Tier before the third occurrence!"


    The black figure in the screen was composed. "Other than our newest weapon! Lei''s ability had indeed exceeded my expectations... Regardless if we are dealing with him or Angel, we have to quicken our plan!"


    "Deliver all the remains of our members and their DNA into the Flor Reservoir! One Barton will be very useful to us!"


    "It''s for the Demon Weapon, right? I know!"


    The man in black took a bow and his heart shook in fear.


    "Sigh... I''ve heard so many secrets! Didn''t you say that the stand of the Black Man Society is that all mutants are brothers-in-arms? And now, you want to use your own member''s body for experimentation..."


    Suddenly, a childish voice was heard from the side.


    Lorita stood out of the shadows. She was wearing a black princess dress, red leather shoes and held an umbrella in her hands. Like a little princess on a field trip, she licked her lips and her eyes turned bloodshot. "This is... disgusting!"


    "It''s the second-in-command of the White Pigeon Society, Blood Lady!"


    A few higher-ups of the Black Man Society had a change in their expressions. "King of Myriad Thoughts, bring everyone and leave!"


    "Understood!"


    One of them snapped their fingers and a huge force was felt.


    In an instant, the few of them and even the broken bones and flesh on the ground started to levitate.


    "Why are you in a rush? Let''s play a game!"


    Lorita smiled sweetly and the shadow behind her started to grow in size. As it started to spread out, it was like a beast opening its mouth and attempting to swallow the entire sky.


    "Kacha!"


    After a loud snap, everything reverted to normal.


    "Old man... why did you stop me?"


    Lorita turned around and saw a displeased old and frail looking society leader of the White Pigeon Society.


    "We are not prepared. Starting the war prematurely is not something both sides would want... furthermore¡­..."


    He gazed into the direction which Fang Yuan had left and his face was filled with worry.


    "Interesting... hehe... this is really interesting!"


    Seeing this, Lorita felt as though she had found a new toy. "Do you feel fear from Lei''s powers? That stupid man... Hmph, how dare he take away my Lucy from me. I will not let him go!"

 427 Secretive

    River of West Flor, Flor State


    A steam yacht slowly travelled along the river. The bright and sweet voice of the tour guide lady could be heard, "Passengers... in one hour, we will reach the next famous tourist attraction, Flor Reservoir!! This is the first man-made reservoir in our Federation, it utilises 42 levels of steam valves to control the system, its water capacity..."


    Fang Yuan laid on the recliners and enjoyed the views from both sides.


    The river''s sceneries were beautiful. Furthermore, fishes were abundant in the river.


    From time to time, a few teenage girls excitedly screamed and took photos of the big fishes leaping from the waters.


    "I''m right indeed! The spiritual aura of this gem is from this river stream... a certain spiritual energy node is underneath the waters?"


    Fang Yuan pondered as he stroked the gem on the sceptre.


    Beside him, Lucy had to dismally take up the role of a nanny as she took care of the clueless Angel.


    Ever since the massacre that time, Angel did not know why she still stayed at Fang Yuan''s side. Perhaps it was because she feared the troubles going back would bring about or it was because this "Lei" was too mysterious, which made her unknowingly curious.


    Unnecessary curiosity usually led to the downfall of a woman!


    "Sir, there''s a situation!"


    Suddenly, Lucy''s face tensed up. A digital ringing noise rang from her body, she quickly hid in a corner to pick up the call and her expression changed even more as she listened.


    "I received a request for aid, it was from Paul and Amun, the third in command! They are currently rushing towards us... But at the same time, the society has declared them to be traitors, any member who sees them must kill them immediately!"


    "White Pigeon Society''s third in command defected?"


    Fang Yuan sipped his fruit juice and continued, "Didn''t y''all White Pigeon Society say that you all were a peace-loving organisation? How come there are such ideological disputes?"


    Those in the forefront leadership positions of a large organisation would have largely similar interests. As long as they were smart, they would maintain a competitive yet harmonious situation, unless they had fundamental differences and disagreements in ideologies.


    "I don''t know too..."


    Lucy was at a lost.


    This period of time where she was with Fang Yuan was her most unrestrained and liberated moments. At the same time, her beliefs in White Pigeon Society''s original ideologies wavered too.


    Lucy shook her head and tried to force herself to forget about all these thoughts. However, she then asked curiously, "Sir... should we save them?"


    "Why should I save them?" Fang Yuan answered indifferently.


    "They must have obtained some important intelligence! Or perhaps White Pigeon Society is planning to go against you?" Lucy tried to test the waters and asked.


    "So what?"


    Fang Yuan carefreely stood up and stretched, "Why would humans be bothered about the hostility of a few ants?"


    "That''s true too..."


    Lucy pinched Angel''s cheeks and smiled suddenly.


    "With this powerful killing machine, even if the two society leaders from the black and white societies gathered, they would be killed..." This lass was too clueless, she did not know about the existence of separation materials.


    Moments later, Fang Yuan looked towards the tail of the yacht and shook his head, "They''re here!"


    "Oh! Quick, look!"


    "Evolvers!"


    "Mutants!"


    "They can fly!"


    ...


    A ruckus erupted on the yacht soon enough. Numerous tourists who wished for even more chaos quickly whipped out their cameras and took photos of the silhouettes chasing after the tail of the yacht.


    "Oh, they are crashing onto us, Lord!"


    Lucy glanced towards the back and saw Paul controlling sand.


    He ingeniously formed a speedboat with sand and was speedily escaping while chasing after the large yacht.


    In the mid-air, there were three birdmen with wings that were repeatedly shooting their guns.


    "Bang! Bang!"


    Under the rain of bullets, Paul remained steadfast and suddenly pressed the bottom of his boat with both his hands.


    "Huuu! Huuuu!"


    Two large hands made out of sand extended and grabbed onto the yacht which was in front as Paul flipped aggressively.


    "Zoom!"


    Paul turned into a stream of black shadow at once, forming a beautiful arc as he was about to land on the deck of the yacht steadily.


    Unfortunately, he sadly forgot about something, and that was Angel''s presence.


    Once he went past a certain boundary, his mighty sand hands crumbled immediately and turned into a rain of fine sand grains.


    Paul let out a shriek as he fell from 10 plus metre above and landed on the floor. Although he had supernormal physical qualities, he was still badly smashed onto the floor and many of his bones broke.


    "Paul..."


    Lucy went forward nervously, "How did you become like this?"


    "There''s no time! I have something to tell Mister Lei immediately!"


    Paul gave a bitter laughter and he replied, "Of course... most importantly, I must settle these pursuers chasing after me first..."


    In actual fact, there was no need to settle them.


    As they entered the boundary, one of the birdmen immediately lost its wings and screamed as he fell downwards.


    Fortunately for that birdman, the two birdmen behind threw out their hooks in time and managed to save him from becoming a pile of minced meat.


    After they confirmed the yacht, the three birdmen immediately turned around and flew back.


    Without any protection suit, exposing oneself to Angel''s special ability would be courting death!


    The life of a mutant was extremely precious, how could they possibly throw their lives at such?


    "What exactly is happening? Also... why did third elder, Amun, defect?"


    Lucy was falling apart.


    "Eh, just say!"


    Fang Yuan waved his hand, "Don''t worry about me!"


    "No! I specially came to notify you all..."


    Paul had mixed emotions as he continued, "Mister Lei... your immense power has already crossed the limits, it even drove those people from Federal Special Investigation Bureau and Black Man Society crazy. Also, your actions caused them to hasten the Demon Weapon Plan at all cost!"


    "That mutant weapon thing?"


    Fang Yuan was confused, "They want to quickly create it in order to deal with me?"


    "Yes! Furthermore, they have already begun to undermine and disregard us mutants'' human rights. They have already begun to conduct large amounts of human experimentation... No! Those aren''t even considered experiments anymore, they are just using human lives to create the Demon Weapon!"


    Paul broke down in tears and continued, "Even our White Pigeon Society''s leader, Holy Light Charlie, has already silently consented to such practices! Elder Amun swore to stop it and fell out with him, thus, Elder Amun escaped!"


    "..."


    Fang Yuan remained silent for awhile and then suddenly asked, "Although the process is rather bloody and cruel, if the Demon Weapon could be created, the results might not be bad, so why are y''all opposed to it?"


    "That''s because you don''t understand how horrifying the Demon Weapon is... It cannot be controlled at all, any means of controlling it was not created from the start! Such a monster created through this way would ultimately become a lunatic that destroys the world... Elder Amun is already rushing to the test site at Flor Reservoir to stop them, we can still rush over to them in time..."


    "Wait a minute!"


    Fang Yuan knocked his head, "Based on what you said, the place where that ultimate weapon would be created is at Flor Reservoir?"


    If Fang Yuan''s estimation was correct, that should be where a spiritual energy node was located too.


    Looks like the abnormalities in the area were already discovered and utilised.


    "What? You didn''t know?"


    Paul''s mouth was agape in utter shock.


    "What the? Did you know your actions have driven so many people mad? And yet you didn''t know about this experimentation lab and test site?"


    "So what exactly was the point for them to hasten the experimentations and thus willingly sacrifice the lives of mutants for it?"


    "Okay, since this is already the case, tell me everything that has happened fully!" Fang Yuan was all ears.


    Paul was like a lost soul and told Fang Yuan all the top secrets he knew.


    The so-called Demon Weapon Plan actually had a long history, it could be traced to the start of the World War.


    Due to the appearance of that Unkillable Witch, although she even obliterated an entire army, she was ultimately annihilated by a missile. However, she still attracted the attention of the high-levelled authorities in the Federation and thus they began to explore the possibility of a "Strongest Body Weapon".


    Although Elder Extreme Darkness did die that time as she was bombed into dust, the timeline of her life was still dug out by the secret agents of the Federation. During the period of time when strange occurrences increased, all the activities she did and resources she collected became extremely valuable research data.


    During the raid of the witch''s lair, they even discovered some flesh compositions that were suspected to be from the witch''s body. This made the Federation''s scientists extremely overjoyed.


    Hence, they specially chose Flor Reservoir''s Federation laboratory to cultivate and clone it.


    Whereas, the reason why they chose here?


    According to Paul, it was because there was a special energy field underneath the reservoir. After altering it, it could tremendously accelerate the growth and maturity of living matter.


    Furthermore, it brought about numerous benefits to experimentations regarding mutated bodies and strengthening of different special abilities. Thus, the laboratory was specially built due to this.


    Based on Fang Yuan''s views, these were the benefits brought about by the partial leakage of the node.


    At this moment, the final "perfect body" had already reached the last stage of adjustments. Thus, this was an important reason why the test site could not be moved elsewhere.


    "But... the big boss is Elder Extreme Darkness'' corpse... this is really..." Fang Yuan thought.


    Fang Yuan stroked his chin, "Then? Is the clone very strong?"


    "No! Other than its strong restoration power, there''s nothing worthy of mention!"


    Paul gave a bitter laugh, "But, she has a very strange characteristic, that is her body''s ''vessel'' is very strong! It can devour and absorb all sorts of mutants'' genes! Especially after finding another experimental body in the Federation with the special ability of ''replication'', her powers have become even stronger! She can absorb almost every special ability and use them perfectly!"


    "Thus, the Federation''s scientists intend to use her as a carrier for all sorts of special abilities, creating an ultimate human weapon!"


    "This is the so-called Demon Weapon Plan!"


    ...


    "So that is what it is!"


    Fang Yuan nodded his head, he finally understood everything.


    "Is its acceptance tolerance very high?"


    Normal people, including even 3rd Tier mutants, would have their genes collapse if they were injected with other special ability genes and forced to absorb their power.


    Even the mutant with the special ability to replicate special abilities could only replicate one special ability. If it wanted to replicate other''s special ability, it had to ''clear'' the previous records first.


    However, those like Fang Yuan and Elder Extreme Darkness had very high tolerance, they could totally absorb it.

 428 Amun

    "At the end of the day... the people of this world are too weak¡­.. Or could it be that Extreme Darkness and I are too strong?"


    Fang Yuan gazed at the continuous stream of the river and paid no attention to those excited, emotional, fearful and stunned tourists. Filled with curiosity, he thought to himself, "Using the genes of Extreme Darkness to create a weapon in the shape of a human... The higher-ups of the Golden Eagle Federation are indeed creative! However, if Elder Extreme Darkness were to find out about them cloning her into a weapon, would she destroy this realm or destroy this realm?"


    Even though they only had little of her tissues, the cloned body would still resemble her to a certain extent.


    If it was Fang Yuan who realised that someone were to clone something from his tissues, he would kill all of them regardless of who they were.


    "After the 3 birdmen left, the enemy''s target is now this cruise ship. It will only get more and more dangerous!"


    Fang Yuan came to a conclusion. "Let''s get to shore before splitting up. Lucy, bring Angel to a hiding spot!"


    He had his final ability to spiritualise and could even survive an atomic bomb. However, the people around him would have died in vain.


    "Mister Lei... What about you?"


    Lucy asked, worried about him.


    "I will have to head to the laboratory at the reservoir, of course!"


    Fang Yuan scoffed.


    He was not interested in the conflict between the Federation and the Black Man Society. However, the laboratory was built next to a node. What if the people were to create trouble out of nothing and destroy the accumulation of spiritual energy there?


    "Alright, let''s go!"


    He was a person of action. Now that Fang Yuan had decided what to do, he quickly brought along the 3 other people and left the cruise ship to arrive at shore.


    "It will be dangerous to stay near me, for I will attract all the bombs. Paul, follow me to the reservoir!"


    Fang Yuan instructed them.


    Furthermore, he had placed a secret mark on Lucy and Angel.


    Although he could sort of trust Lucy''s loyalty, he was still cautious and had to be sure.


    Just as they left, a sharp whizzing sound was heard and bombs with fire trails behind them flew towards the cruise, accurately hitting it.


    "Rumble!"


    After the explosion, there were second and third waves of bombs striking the cruise ship and its surroundings, as though they were afraid that they were unable to kill Fang Yuan.


    "They are still too slow!"


    Sensing the vibration and flames behind him, Fang Yuan paid no attention to it and continued forward.


    "Considering such an attack, with my speed and the ability to spiritualise, I can escape from the epicentre of the explosion in an instant... Elder Extreme Darkness must have died because she was over-confident and wanted to test her physical body..."


    "How could they do this..."


    Witnessing the explosion, Lucy and Paul were both dumbfounded. "That is a luxurious cruise ship of the Federation. There are still a few hundred passengers on it!"


    "Hehe... It seems that even the White Pigeon Society will change in desperate times under the influence of potential gains!"


    Fang Yuan was not surprised at all by the attack. Bringing Paul with him, he flew into the sky and disappeared in a black dot.


    ...


    The Flor Reservoir.


    Beneath the concrete bottom of the reservoir, in an underground location of unknown depth.


    An extremely packed and modernised laboratory appeared.


    Around the packed laboratory, there were many cages. Captured in these cages were various mutants and half of the cages were already empty.


    "Professor, how''s it?"


    The higher-up of Black Man Society and a few generals of the Federation were in the control station as they looked at the professor in front of them.


    This professor had a weird appearance. His brain was 2 times larger than the average human and resembled a large basketball. He did not have any hair and there were many red veins around his skull, making it seemed as though his brain was exposed.


    He was the most talented scientist in the Federation and was a mutant with exceptional brain power. His codename was X and it was rumoured that his brain had already developed over 50%, surpassing all other brain-developed mutants in the Middle and East Continent. He was a fiercely-guarded secret of the Federation.


    "It''s not too bad... After a long selection process, we finally found a suitable body! This is all thanks to you guys for bringing back Barton''s flesh and tissue... Although we can clone her in other bodies, we have found out that it is best to clone her in her own body! We can accelerate its growth as though this was its special ability... This might make it a unique soul on its own!"


    The professor raised his glasses. In the screen before them, there was a circular tank.


    In the tank, there was the silhouette of a small girl. She was a yellow Chinese with black hair. Her eyes were completely shut and she felt like the perfect creation.


    "I shall call her ''The Angel''! She is like my angel!"


    The professor''s eyes glistened. "Although her appearance is human, she is totally different from us. She has unlimited potential..."


    "We don''t need potential now. What we need is the combat power of a 4th Tier mutant!"


    A white man in a general uniform spouted unhappily.


    "Of course... only by using her own body will she be able to exploit the full potential of the third occurrence... D*mn it... The theory of the increasing spiritual energy and the traces of the comet... I don''t believe that Professor Fang Yuan of the Middle Continent can outsmart me! If not for the fact that I have devoted most of my time to the Demon Weapon, I would have been the one to propose the theory!"


    The big-brained professor was dismayed as he cursed to himself before giving out orders.


    "Kacha! Kacha!"


    Outside the laboratory, a huge mechanical arm started to move and grabbed a particular cage. The mutant who was cuffed by the Demon Restraining Cuffs in the cage started to wail, cry and plead. Regardless, the outcome was inevitable as he was being tossed into a pool in the middle of the laboratory. Within seconds, he dissolved and disappeared.


    The whirring of machinery was heard and the small girl within the water tank was visibly growing in size, as though she had absorbed a certain energy from the mutant.


    "I can feel the power of her soul. Although she is still in hibernation, I can feel that she is like a powerful dragon!"


    The society leader of the Black Man Society, Sauron was a middle-aged bald man. He closed his eyes and revealed an intoxicated look. "She is the future of the mutants!"


    "She is the property of the country!"


    A disgruntled general corrected him on the spot.


    "How is the progress of the programme to control her?"


    "Don''t worry. The chip to forcefully take control of her is already inserted into her brain. Furthermore, we have 10 other backups!"


    The professor cackled. "This is a weapon which is entirely under our control. There will be no risks of losing control!"


    "I don''t think so!"


    Charlie and Lorita calmly walked down from upstairs. "This Demon Weapon is too dangerous. We need to plan for its usage properly..."


    "Haha... Charlie!"


    It was as though Sauron had met an old friend as he affectionately opened his arms. "This is why we need your power! Even if our final weapon falls out of our control, by combining the powers of the Black Man Society and the White Pigeon Society, we can still keep things under control, can''t we?"


    "I am here because of this. However, I have a piece of unfortunate news..."


    A look of sorrow filled Charlie''s face. "The third-in-command within our society, Amun, is not agreeable to what I am doing and has already left the society! At this point, I believe that he is trying his best to infiltrate this place and inform Lei about it!"


    "I feel that Lei is the perfect candidate to be the Demon Weapon''s first opponent!"


    The big-brained professor interrupted them. "I stand firm on my view. Before the environment changes, no one will be able to breakthrough to the 4th Tier! No one!"


    "Rumble!"


    Just as he spoke, the entire metal shelf shook.


    "Someone had intruded the laboratory!"


    A general of the Federation shouted a command. "Activate the strongest defence! Professor, how long will it take to completely accelerate the growth of the body for it to mature?"


    "We are already at the final testing period and we can awaken it anytime, as long as we are willing to transfer it all the energy it needs without any reservations..."


    The professor answered.


    "Those mutants are already useless. Destroy them and nourish the Demon Weapon!"


    "That will be no problem!"


    As soon as he replied, everyone in the cages was desolated and felt hopeless.


    "Ahwoooooo!!!"


    With a wolf''s howl, a metal gate was forcefully opened and a huge black wolf appeared.


    It was as tall as a few humans and had a horn on its forehead. The fur on its body was smooth and hardy at the same time and there seemed to be a force field around it. Bullets or projectiles were deflected away as soon as they came close to the wolf.


    "This is not Lei... It''s Amun!"


    Lorita raised her finger and smiled sarcastically. "Such a naughty boy. Society leader, you need to remain here to protect this place from any accidents. I shall go out and play with it!"


    A huge shadow started to spread from behind her. The shadow carried her towards the wolf.


    "Lorita... Don''t stop me!"


    The huge black wolf started to speak human language. "We need to stop this wrongdoing!"


    "I don''t care about all those..."


    Lorita bit her lip and smiled. "I only want you to... play with me!"


    "Whoosh! Whoosh!"


    Many shadows stretched out from behind her like hands, surrounding the huge wolf.


    "Don''t force me!"


    The one-horned wolf howled, opened its mouth and bit down.


    "Crunch!"


    Something shocking happened!


    Even something as illusionary as a shadow could break from a wolf''s bite.


    "Charlie, your subordinate is very powerful!"


    Sauron stood on an elevated platform and watched the fight between Lorita and the wolf as his eyes glistened.


    "Amun is a peace-loving person. His special ability is one of the strongest among those who can transform. I suspect that he has directly transformed to a legendary fabled beast... No, it should be the other way round where the fabled beasts are all transformations of mutants..."


    After a long silence, Charlie continued with a tone filled with sorrow. "He always had a good temper and I have never seen him raged like this before. It seems like he is now hating me to the core..."


    "This is because he doesn''t know anything!"


    Sauron gazed at the screen, observing the growing Demon Weapon. His eyes were filled with a burning passion. "We are the future of the mutants, and we will forever be on the correct path!"

 429 Half Plane

    "Charlie, don''t make mistakes after mistakes!"


    The Armageddon Horned Wolf Amun was currently transformed and was extremely ferocious. With a swipe of his claws, a large group of mutant soldiers and elites from Black Man Society and White Pigeon Society were thrown back.


    "Give up now!"


    "It''s too late..."


    Charlie''s mouth just started moving and before he could speak, Sauron laughed and replied, "Can you see the screen in the centre? The Demon Weapon has already fully matured, she''s about to wake up!"


    "Sauron, you deserve to die!"


    Amun roared. Suddenly, it was as though he leapt through spacetime and arrived on the metal platform. The giant wolf then opened his mouth, "Twisted Devour!"


    "Hruuu! Hruuuuu!"


    A twisted black hole appeared and absorbed everything in an instant.


    The commanders of the military, even Professor X, immediately disappeared without a sound. The metal platform disappeared too.


    "Distorted space?"


    "Woosh!"


    At this moment, a ball of darkness appeared. From it, Sauron and Charlie walked out with an excited look on their faces, "Unfortunately, your space cannot devour my darkness... and Charlie''s light!"


    Compared to Lorita''s mastery of the shadows, Black Man Society''s leader Sauron''s special ability was different. His special ability was to manipulate the power of darkness!


    "No..."


    Charlie was radiating a milky-white coloured holy light. However, his expression was very conflicted, "Amun''s special ability can completely devour light... it''s just that you chose not to fight me. Amun, at this stage now, you are still a peacemaker!"


    "I guarantee you, after the Demon Weapon is activated this time to suppress that Lei, we will immediately archive all data..."


    Charlie was doing his last ditch of effort to convince Amun, "Sauron promised me..."


    "Hehe... the last time, I promised you. But now, it''s impossible!"


    Sauron gave a mirthless laughter, "After the death of one four-star general, two lieutenant generals, six major generals and a brainy professor, Amun is now a public enemy of the Federation! Furthermore, he has displayed to the world what a mutant''s fighting power would be like if it goes crazy! What do you think those higher authorities in the Federation will do regarding such an uncontrollable factor of mutants?"


    Such a crazed subordinate definitely had to be killed as soon as possible.


    If their power was not strong enough, they could make up for it with the Demon Weapon.


    Furthermore, even if they knew doing such was like drinking poison to quench thirst which spared no thoughts about the consequences, they had to do it.


    "Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep!"


    Suddenly, bright red warning lights were lit up throughout the entire laboratory.


    "Level X danger factor detected, annihilating it at all cost!"


    A clear robotic voice resonated throughout the laboratory. Seconds later, numerous traps and cages were set free and horrifying experimental bodies were released.


    "Beep!"


    The ceilings opened up and revealed hundreds of guns, flamethrowers, bullets, poisons, flames, lightning... All of those items dropped down at once, it was like an attack.


    "This is the base''s intelligence system, Queen Bee! It has already marked us as enemies, it is even recording us and relaying it to the president of the Federation..."


    A shroud of darkness appeared around Sauron which began to envelop and devour everything around it.


    "What the¡­..."


    Charlie hollered, "Sauron, can''t you shut down it?"


    "I have no way of shutting it down too... only the generals and the brainy professor could do it... Your little doggy subordinate had already eaten up all of them..."


    Sauron shrugged his shoulder with a nonchalant and powerless expression.


    Charlie was suddenly horrified and shocked, "Your real motive is just to release the Demon Weapon... you treat her as the same species!"


    "That''s right!"


    Sauron looked at the screen in the laboratory with burning passion and continued, "Just Black Man Society''s powers alone are not enough to build a country of mutants! But, as long as we have her, the power of a 4th Tier Mutant, we will definitely succeed!"


    "You''re insane!"


    Charlie looked at Sauron, it was as though he longer recognised this old friend of his, "You are totally out of your mind! You are just a complete lunatic!"


    "No, I''m just preparing to grant her freedom... just that!"


    Sauron guffawed and opened his arms, "Awaken... my darling!"


    "Rumble!"


    Darkness spread, engulfed and broke the surrounding walls. Under the intense tremors, spider web looking cracks formed on the tank the Demon Weapon was in.


    "Leader!"


    Amun was no longer attacking. With his strong body, he stood in the epicentre and shouted, "Let''s join hands and stop this mistake!"


    "At this stage, you still accept me as your leader?"


    Charlie was slightly touched and shook his head. He then calmly analysed, "There''s no use, once the Demon Weapon awakens, she can most likely breakthrough to the 4th Tier. Just leave me and Sauron here will do, you and Lorita leave immediately! Don''t ever come back... Also, contact the higher authorities of the Federation, if the Demon Weapon really loses control and Sauron and I cannot control her, immediately launch the nuclear bombs and obliterate here..."


    "This..."


    The giant wolf''s brain was slightly dazed.


    This place was a large reservoir, if it was bombed, half the Federation would be affected as the rivers overflowed and flooded. The damages and losses would be astounding.


    "Compared to the destruction of the Federation, I believe those higher authorities would make the right choice."


    Charlie gave a slight smile and did not care about what Amun was going to reply anymore. A white coloured holy light swept the giant wolf and Lorita into it and they disappeared in an instant.


    "Well, my old friend!"


    Three pairs of pristine white wings grew out from Charlie''s back and he turned into a holy and angelic birdman, "I hope your risky endeavours does not fail, else we have to bear unimaginable consequences!"


    "Rest assured!"


    With burning passion, Sauron went forward to the tank and reached out his both arms, "She is so perfect, isn''t it?"


    "I just hope all you did would not turn into utter mistakes!"


    Charlie had a cold expression on his face. As he went closer to observe, he could not help but to feel despondent.


    Even he had to admit that this Demon Weapon girl was absolutely perfect, it was simply like a marvellous creation of God.


    Moments later.


    The tempered glass broke and large amounts of cultivation fluid flowed out.


    Inside the tank, the girl who was originally asleep suddenly opened her eyes!


    ...


    "Heh... after all, they are the Federation''s scientist, they only know it is like that but they do not know why it is like that..."


    Above Flor Reservoir, Fang Yuan closed his eyes and a smile appeared on his face, "They only discovered the node and thus, built a laboratory nearby to make use of the energy vapourised near it. But, they didn''t know how to truly utilise it, they are really blind... Of course, if they weren''t like this, I wouldn''t have the opportunity."


    "Hey bro, can you help us take a photo!"


    "Okay! One, two, three... say cheese!"


    Fang Yuan pressed the shutter and photographed this person and a black lady. He then returned the camera and advised, "If I were you, I would leave immediately because there''s a horrifying calamity about to happen here!"


    "Calamity? Are you a wizard? Or a fortune teller?"


    The black guy laughed exaggeratedly, "Or is it some newly mutated mutant... eh, all the movies are showing such nowadays!"


    Since they met by chance, Fang Yuan casually gave them an advice.


    Fang Yuan took out his golden sceptre and plucked out its large gem. He then threw it forward into the reservoir.


    "Ploop!"


    The blue gemstone landed in the waters and formed a white coloured ripple wave immediately.


    "Hey... bro, are you alright?"


    The black guy was a bit shocked. After all, the golden sceptre looked really alluring, especially with that large gemstone which appeared really expensive.


    "Glub! Glub!"


    Suddenly, a whirlpool appeared at where the gemstone landed and it was becoming bigger and bigger.


    Fang Yuan smiled and jumped into it.


    "Oh my!"


    "There''s someone suiciding!"


    "God, quick, call the police and ambulance!"


    A commotion erupted above the reservoir and the black guy''s expression changed as he thought of something, "Jenny... I just remembered something, we forgot to turn off our newly bought bread machine! Let''s go back home quickly!"


    He did not care about his girlfriend''s shock and carried her and ran to the shore immediately.


    "Swoosh!"


    The waters were raging.


    Flor Reservoir was the largest reservoir in the Federation, it was extremely deep.


    As Fang Yuan went deeper and deeper, a strange feeling began to grow in Fang Yuan''s heart, "Indeed... space is folded, a half plane?"


    The location of that node was both inside the reservoir and not inside the reservoir. It had opened a half plane similar to the hollows in Da Qian.


    Hence, it was no wonder why scientists could not confirm its location after looking for it for ten years. Therefore, they could only build a laboratory at the bottom of the reservoir to indirectly make use of the highly condensed spiritual energy leaked and vapourised from the node.


    "The gemstone is a key, but the most important thing is to rely on my own strength to push open the doors!"


    Fang Yuan dove deeper quickly and saw an unreal looking door that had a blue glow shining from it.


    The style of the door was very antiquated. It seemed as though it had only appeared after it was drawn out by the glow of the gemstone. Also, it had a strange property, it could only be seen by the eye and could not be detected by any instruments.


    "It''s becoming more and more interesting... Open!"


    Fang Yuan''s eyes sparkled and he viciously released a wave of force. Accompanied by spiritual energy, it landed on the door.


    "Woong!"


    Lights flashed and after Fang Yuan reappeared, the surroundings had already completely changed.


    "Eh... a half plane after all. It''s so small, it''s not even comparable to Golden Sun Prosperous Land..."


    Fang Yuan observed this half plane that was like a void bubble.


    Large amounts of currents gathered and formed the most perfect and purest spiritual force fluid. The concentration of spiritual energy reached its peak here and even formed a spiritual fog.


    The entire half plane was like a small island on a pond, its land was very small.


    Also, a grand and magnificent building occupied more than half of the area.


    "A prehistoric civilisation?"


    Fang Yuan looked at the decrepit marble palace and a few skeletons on the sides and thought silently.


    The upper half of these skeletons was human while the bottom half was fish. It was exactly the same as the mermaids from the legends.


    "The products of the advent of the Spiritual King Comet in the last millennium? Or even the last last millennium?"

 430 Calamity

    This realm was extremely weird.


    The laws of physics were extremely strict and it would hinder any supernormal abilities.


    Only in a thousand years with the arrival of the Spiritual King Comet, the spiritual droplets in the entire world would increase in concentration, creating many fabled beings.


    The immortal cultivators in the Middle Continent, the vampires and werewolves in the East Continent and the mermaids in the West Continent were all examples.


    To Fang Yuan, this was the true source of art.


    Although these supernormal beings could rule the world for a moment, they would become weaker as the concentration of spiritual droplets go down and they would inevitably meet their downfall.


    In a few years time, the scientists would no longer believe in the miraculous existence of spiritual droplets and would classify them as either nonsense or myths.


    "This small realm filled with mostly water might be the sanctuary for the mermaids... Were they hoping to avoid the impending weakening of spiritual droplets?"


    Fang Yuan shook his head. "It''s a pity... The duration between arrivals is a thousand years old! They would just experience exhaustion to death just by simply growing... Until recent times, with the restoration of spiritual droplets in the atmosphere, the small spiritual array here is activated once more! Therefore, it is able to accumulate all this spiritual energy, forming this node!"


    Even though it was only a mere prediction, Fang Yuan had already more or less guessed what had happened here in the past.


    "Such a pitiful race, such a pitiful civilisation..."


    Although the palace was already abandoned, the supernatural carvings and prints on its walls, together with some drawings and poetry would be able to tempt archaeologists from the outside world. However, Fang Yuan paid little attention to it.


    The only thing that mattered to him was the accumulation of spiritual energy in this node ever since the first occurrence!


    "Let''s begin!"


    Fang Yuan mumbled to himself and instantly became the eye of a storm.


    The 10 years of accumulative spiritual energy started to flow into Fang Yuan''s body in a spiral.


    "This body is still too weak and small. I need it to change!"


    Fang Yuan could sense that a huge and immense force was flowing through his body, causing the cultivation of his Elemental Spiritual Energy Cultivation Spell to increase exponentially.


    Unfortunately, at the 99.99% of the 4th Grade, he could no longer progress.


    This was the limit of the outside world, the limit which western scientists were researching about.


    Fang Yuan''s spiritual will shook and his body instantly spiritualised. With that, he started to store huge amounts of spiritual droplets in every single cell of his body.


    "This world might have its limits on the people here, or in fact, a limit on the entire environment... However, all of these are useless to me! As long as I have my fixed stats, I will be able to use brute force to advance my cultivation!"


    Fang Yuan glanced at his stats window.


    As his cells started to store the spiritual droplets, the value for his Essence, Spirit and Magic started to increase exponentially and did not seem to have any limit at all.


    Furthermore, his Spirit started to increase to many multiples of what it was before and had already reached the value of 40.


    With his huge increments in Essence, Spirit and Magic, a huge force was slowly being formed, stimulating the bottleneck of the 5th Grade and forcefully breaking through.


    "Kacha!"


    After a long while, a distinct sound was heard coming from his soul.


    His Elemental Spiritual Energy Cultivation Spell broke through the bottleneck of the 4th Grade and entered an entirely new realm of circulation of the spiritual energy. From there, he started to radiate spiritual energy, spreading it out constantly. Fang Yuan''s senses and control over his power was slowly strengthened as well.


    There was a huge change in his stats:


    "Name: Fang Yuan


    Essence: 10.0


    Spirit: 40.0


    Magic: 40.0


    Profession: ???


    Cultivation: ???


    Technique: [Elemental Spiritual Energy Cultivation Spell (Grade 5 (1%))]


    Skill: [Medicine (Level 3)], [Botany (Level 5)], [Fiery Golden Eyes (Level 1)]"


    "Elemental Spiritual Energy Cultivation Spell: The 1st Grade would grant you the Spiritual Droplets Affined Body and an increase in your energy sense! 2nd Grade of Elemental Spiritual Energy Cultivation Spell would grant you the ability to release spiritual energy! The 3rd Grade of Elemental Spiritual Energy Cultivation Spell would grant you the ability to spiritualise! The 4th Grade is completed! You now have the possession of the Spiritual Arena!"


    "My stats have multiplied, but my abilities are more than multiplied! Also... this Spiritual Arena..."


    Fang Yuan shut his eyes and could feel the power of the arena. This power was extremely concentrated and immense, as though it could affect an entire country.


    If this was the ancient times, Fang Yuan would be a God!


    "Every living being has an arena. The arena is also one''s force, just like how the Earth is covered in a magnetic field... In actual fact, this is the miniature version of the power of an area!"


    Comparatively, the power of the arena was much weaker, but still substantial.


    The secret art of how the 8 Gates Sword Array was able to manipulate the 4 Emblems Sword Array into a miniature version of the power of an area and was already an impressive art on its own.


    If any dream master in the Da Qian World were to display such powers, they would surely be recruited as a potential 7th Tier Illusionary Divine dream master into the core team and would be trained up at all costs.


    "This is... being advanced by an entire generation!"


    Fang Yuan sighed.


    He initially thought that he was only able to achieve the peak of the 4th Grade. Never would he have thought that his special ability to have fixed stats would allow him to break through the limit of having the power of an arena and entering into the 5th Grade.


    "I have to admit that I am the most non-scientific existence in this realm..."


    Fang Yuan sighed once more.


    "Kacha! Kacha!"


    With this, the entire place shook and large cracks formed everywhere. There was a faint storm brewing from within.


    "This is a long abandoned place. With the simple act of absorbing its energy, have I pushed it to its limits and destruction?"


    His spiritual will shook and his Spiritual Arena appeared, stabilizing the entire place and preventing it from its impending destruction.


    "It''s a pity... I am still not a 7th Tier Illusionary Divine dream master who is able to create a prosperous land! The Spiritual Arena can only maintain the place status quo and cannot repair it. As soon as I leave, the destruction of this place is irreversible."


    Fang Yuan shook his head and did a final scan of the place. Other than discovering a few suspected mermaid eggs which had no hope of hatching, there was nothing else.


    As soon as he left, the cracks started to fill the entire space and the entire place crumbled.


    "Rumble!"


    Amidst the storm, the final place of respite for the mermaids could no longer hold on and crumbled into nothing.


    ...


    "Bloop!"


    A huge bubble popped.


    Fang Yuan soon arrived at the bottom of the reservoir.


    At this point in time, the power of the Spiritual Arena expanded outwards, separating the water around him and creating a space.


    "The vibration from the destruction of the place would be felt in the real world, creating an even stronger trembling... and the direction it would head towards..."


    He gazed towards the reservoir and shook his head.


    At this point in time, the Spiritual Arena received a few pieces of information which piqued Fang Yuan''s interest.


    He quickly flew up and landed on a water dam.


    As he arrived, he saw Paul screaming. He was accompanied by a black wolf with a horn on its forehead and a young girl in a princess gown.


    "The people of the White Pigeon Society?"


    Fang Yuan remained still in mid-air before walking towards them, fixing his gaze on Lorita.


    "You are Lei!"


    Lorita held her dress and paid her greetings like a demure princess. "I am the second-in-command of White Pigeon Society, Lorita! You are the one who snatched my Lucy baby from me, right?"


    "Lucy... baby?"


    Fang Yuan rolled his eyes and paid no attention to her. Looking at Paul and the huge wolf, he asked, "How are the both of you?"


    "I''m alright! However, the Demon Weapon is now activated. Boss is combining forces with Sauron and both of them are doing the final arrangements... Mister Lei, this world needs all of our powers!"


    The huge wolf respectfully spoke.


    "Rumble!"


    In the next moment, there was a violent tremor.


    They were unsure if it was due to the changes in the underground laboratory, or the destruction of the space above it or both. On the water dam above the Flor reservoir, it felt like an earthquake of magnitude 8.


    It was as though the entire concrete dam was jumping around, and the entire place was covered in silence. Even the excited tourists who were taking pictures of Fang Yuan and the wolf realised what was happening and were screaming for their lives as they fled.


    "Rumble! Rumble!"


    After a few seconds, a sonic boom was felt. Like a bolt of lightning, it struck hard on the dam, breaking it.


    Cracks started to appear on the road above the dam and started to widen.


    "Help!"


    "God..."


    "Please help us!"


    It was doomsday and the entire dam fell into chaos.


    "Save them!"


    The huge wolf Amun bit a few tourists on their backs and swung them far away.


    Paul and Lorita were also trying their best to save the tourists around as they rushed towards different directions.


    "Too slow!"


    Fang Yuan opened his arms and a layer of earth was separated from the dam. Many people who were trapped in the layer of earth were safely delivered to a higher ground.


    "Oh! Old woman, let''s take a look at God!"


    A black man who had just escaped from the danger zone gazed back and examine Fang Yuan. "Save our selfies, for they will be very valuable!"


    "Creak!"


    Cracks started to spread on the other side of the dam as well.


    Finally, a hole appeared and water spewed out. A second hole and a third appeared, forming streams of water and finally, the dam crumbled.


    "Rumble!"


    It was as though an entire mountain had collapsed.


    The entire dam was destroyed and water spewed in all directions, covering the field of sight for those still on the dam.


    This was a calamity!


    A few unlucky citizens of the Federation laid on the ground as they witnessed the calamity unfolding.


    "This outcome is too exaggerated considering the shaking of space, right? How could it so coincidentally destroy entire Flor Reservoir?"


    Fang Yuan gazed at the overflowing reservoir and realised something. "It seems like there is an ally helping us... It is likely that the entire laboratory has exploded!"


    "Hmm? I''ve found it."


    Releasing his Spiritual Arena, Fang Yuan''s eyebrows twitched as he flew towards a particular direction.


    "Wait for me!"


    Amun and the other mutants quickly followed. Soon after, they saw two people hugging as they flew out of the water. They were Charlie and Sauron.


    "We have failed..."


    Both of them looked extremely pitiful. Charlie had lost both of his legs and Sauron was missing a right arm.


    "We have lost control of the Demon Weapon and even the backup chip in her brain is not working..."


    Sauron let out a bitter smile.

 431 Departure

    "Not only that¡­..."


    Charles'' face was a deathly pale, but the wound on his thigh was bleeding less now.


    "She even ate some of Sauron''s and my flesh so as to gain our abilities¡­"


    "What the heck!"


    Amun shouted.


    "I''ve said it before. The Demon Weapon Plan was a terrible mistake to begin with!"


    Charlie and Sauron turned to Fang Yuan awkwardly.


    "Haha... maybe you brought this upon yourself?"


    Fang Yuan laughed cruelly and turned to walk away.


    "Mr Lei¡­..."


    Old Man Paul called out to Fang Yuan.


    "What are you doing?"


    "Leaving this place, of course!"


    Fang Yuan answered self righteously.


    "You people created a monster to deal with me... and now that you''ve lost control of it, you expect me to clear up your mess for you... Please, do I look like an idiot to you?"


    "But... but..."


    Charlie became incoherent.


    "I couldn''t sense her soul. It is a selfish and destructive monster that we are facing... if you let it have its way, the world will burn."


    "Don''t worry, Planet Earth isn''t as weak as you think... at the most, only the Golden Eagle Federation will be weakened!"


    Fang Yuan couldn''t care less.


    "Then why did you come to the Reservoir?"


    Lorita looked around.


    "Were you not interested in the Demon Weapon?"


    "Don''t get smart with me, young lady, or I''ll have you strung up and whipped!"


    Fang Yuan glared at her with a most fearsome look.


    The little girl was terrified and sat down hard onto the floor. Tears welled up in her eyes.


    "You big bully..."


    "Acting cute and spoilt won''t help you in any way... hmm?"


    "Glug! Glug!"


    In the vast and mighty flow of the river, a large number of bubbles suddenly appeared and a swirl emerged.


    "It''s her... she''s here!"


    Charlie''s voice was trembling. Even Sauron gave an involuntary shiver. They were obviously afraid of the Demon Weapon.


    "This feeling..."


    Fang Yuan closed his eyes.


    "An arena? No, it is somewhat incomplete...what is that? A deformed 4th Tier mutant? A Calamity Grade mutant?"


    Even so, looking at it was a psychological torture, it was also very effective on the other mutants.


    Fang Yuan maintained his cool, but Lorita reacted to the swirl like she was dealing with a tiger that had just escaped from its cage. She was extremely frightened.


    An elegant figure rose up slowly from the eye of the swirl.


    The lady was dark-haired and had jade-white skin. She had a face of unearthly beauty and resembled a goddess.


    Of course, what drew Fang Yuan''s attention was her affinity towards nature, namely her disclination to wear any form of clothing. She had no shame, which was to Fang Yuan''s benefit.


    "Damn¡­..."


    Fang Yuan wiped his forehead.


    ''If I told Elder Extreme Darkness what happened over here, will she hack me to death?"


    This clone actually shared a 70% resemblance with Elder Extreme Darkness.


    But as this sort of possession had repercussions, especially as one grows and increases their strength. The possessor''s appearance would be affected and they would revert back to their original body.


    Fang Yuan''s current body was virtually similar to his body in Da Qian.


    At this point, the Demon Weapon looked over with the innocence of a child and also with a hint of thirst.


    "Thirst¡­..."


    Fang Yuan looked at the terrified Charlie and Sauron, he then understood immediately.


    "She thirsts for the blood of more powerful mutants¡­..."


    From another perspective, the other party was newly born and was like a clean sheet of paper in every aspect.


    Of course, she had drawn blood from the two society leaders. She already had a taste and was looking for more.


    At this point, Fang Yuan could see hunger in her eyes.


    "These idiots from the Federation... they actually managed to create such an impressive specimen!"


    Fang Yuan pouted and turned to walk away.


    "This isn''t my problem. I''ll only act against her if she ever threatens the Middle Continent¡­..."


    "Big brother... please don''t leave Lorita behind!"


    The little girl clung onto Fang Yuan''s thigh with all her strength.


    The Demon Weapon opposite was giving her immense pressure.


    She understood that if she were to stay here any longer, she would die!


    "Amun, bring Paul along with you!"


    Charlie extended three pairs of winds and became an angel.


    "Wrong, we have to stay here and fix it!"


    "Charlie, don''t drag me down if you have a death wish"


    Sauron''s face was pale, and he looked at his arm.


    "We won''t be her match and we will only be devoured by her. Have you not learnt your lesson?"


    "As long as we hang in there, we can do it!"


    Charlie gave an embittered laugh and light emanated from his body.


    "So this is your plan¡­..."


    A change came over Sauron''s face as he stretched out a palm.


    "Darken!"


    The powers of light and darkness clashed with each other and gradually affected the surroundings. It was like a yin-yang symbol coming to life.


    "..."


    Opposite, the Demon Weapon young lady was triggered by the battle between black and white. She had the same two special abilities of light and darkness, and in fact, her abilities were more pronounced.


    ''When the light and darkness becomes one, a prototype arena is created? Such a fast learner... and¡­...''


    Fang Yuan looked up towards the skies.


    The spiritual arena was large and he understood that there was a missile-carrying fighter jet speeding over right at that moment.


    "Is this the ultimate plan? If I stay behind, I''ll be within the targeted zone¡­"


    He gave a silent smirk and was even more determined to leave.


    "Swoop!"


    Fang Yuan''s departure led to an instant chain reaction.


    In front of Charlie and Sauron, the two colours of black and white gathered and formed a sort of giant wheel. The wheel then rolled towards the Demon Weapon.


    The young lady was surrounded by an aura made up of a combination of light and darkness. It radiated a unique power that seemed to consume the world around them.


    Within this huge arena, the giant black and white wheel was worn off until it became no more.


    A benign smile appeared on the young lady''s face and she stepped forward until she was right in front of Sauron. Her right hand reached out for him.


    "Give me¡­"


    "Die, you monster!"


    Needless to say, the Demon Weapon was scaring even its creator, Sauron.


    Sauron cursed and five rays of dark energy exploded from his fingers. The darkness solidified into sharp edges that were capable of cutting down everything in his path.


    "Ding! Ding!"


    But when he reached the young lady, he was met with her head of hair that flowed like a waterfall.


    Her hair was fragrant and formed a tough black wall. Sauron''s attack only managed to create some sparks on her hair, which restored itself swiftly after.


    "This is... the ability of the Golden Lion Barton!"


    Sauron promptly regretted his move and flew backwards.


    "Holy Light - Purify!"


    Just as Sauron fell into certain danger, his old friend decided to step out.


    A hot ball of holy light, carrying with it the power of purification, fell on the young lady.


    Immediately after, a warp appeared in space and swallowed up the ball of light.


    The young lady''s eyes lit up and she laughed innocently.


    "I still... still want¡­..."


    "This is the Devouring ability... from the White Pigeon Society! What the hell!"


    Charlie could not help but swear loudly.


    "How many special abilities did you guys load into her?"


    "What we can do now is to play for time!"


    Sauron maintained his solemn gaze.


    "Chains of Darkness!"


    "Swoop!"


    The ground opened up gave way to numerous black chains. They twisted about like snakes and coiled around the young lady.


    "Holy Light - Barricade!"


    Charlie turned bright red and began to bleed from his orifices. Still, he fought on. A stripe of light enclosed the young lady and kept her in check.


    "We have to give our all in exchange for what little time we can get!"


    "Ying ying?"


    Within the light barrier, the young lady tilted her head and produced a weird sound.


    "This... oh no! An illusion!"


    Sauron was stunned momentarily but regained his senses quickly. Still, he was too late. The young lady broke free from her prison and placed a jade-white palm on his chest with a chaste smile on her face.


    "No¡­"


    Sauron gave a final scream before he was reduced into a stream of light and absorbed into the young lady''s palm.


    "Old friend¡­"


    Charlie laughed bitterly and saw that the young lady had arrived before him with a look of satisfaction.


    "I''ll join you now!"


    "Kaboom!"


    There was an explosion of light. It was like a small sun had died.


    "Sir...¡­"


    Amun turned around suddenly.


    "No way. I can''t just leave like that. I have to go back and help them!"


    But seconds later, he froze and transformed into a giant wolf.


    Lorita''s teeth were chattering.


    "She''s... she''s here!"


    "Tsktsk... up another level? Not bad!"


    Fang Yuan turned around to see a figure floating in mid-air. It was the Demon Weapon young lady.


    Except that she now had a pair of wings, one black and one white, and they gave out darkness and light respectively. The colours were contradictory and balanced at the same time. It was truly an odd sight and evoked strange feelings from the onlookers.


    "A demon angel?"


    Fang Yuan thought out loud.


    "Light on one side and darkness on the other... she has devoured two society leaders of the 3rd tier. Now, what does she want from me?"


    "What now?


    Old Man Paul was the weakest among them all and had a strong urge to wet his pants.


    "We''ll die, we''re going to die!


    "Ying ying¡­..."


    The demon angel''s lips parted and shouted out something unintelligible.


    "Buzz!"


    Ripples were set into motion. Amun and Lorita both went blind and became completely helpless.


    The angelic young lady spread her wings and moved such that she was before Fang Yuan. She looked thirstier than ever.


    "Give me...¡­"

 432 Cleaning Up The Mess

    "I''ll give you nothing!"


    With a simple thought, the power of the arena in the surroundings spiked, creating a vibration which flung the young girl backwards.


    "Sigh... I did not want to fight you, as long as you don''t disturb me! It''s a pity..."


    Even if Elder Extreme Darkness were to arrive in this world, Fang Yuan would not be afraid of her. This was only a cloned version of her.


    Although she had absorbed many different types of special abilities to become what she was now, to Fang Yuan, she was merely a stronger mutant.


    Without a deeper understanding of the nature of spiritual droplets and the theory of the ''arena'', she would always be a partial 4th Tier mutant.


    Fang Yuan took a step forward, stretched his right hand out and pulled at the young girl''s hair before giving it a strong tug towards the ground.


    "Rumble!"


    Amidst tremors, a huge crater appeared on the ground and crack lines started to spread outwards. There were flames and magma in the centre of the crater.


    "No... How is this possible!"


    When Amun and company came to their sense and witnessed the fight, they were all speechless. "It''s the Demon Weapon... It''s the Demon Weapon!"


    To them, this Demon Weapon who had just killed both society leaders had the power to destroy the world. How could it be like a weak chicken in front of this man?


    "Eh? Your head''s very strong, huh?"


    With another casual flick, her hair started to break. Just before Fang Yuan could deal more damage to her, she quickly activated her diamond defence. Although she was embarrassingly defeated, she did not suffer from much damage.


    "Howl! Howl!"


    At the same time, on the shoulders of the Demon Weapon, a tumour started to grow before forming the shape of a wolf''s head. The head opened its jaws wide and bit the air.


    "This is crazy... That''s my powers!"


    Seeing this, Amun was speechless. "When did boss take my genes and tissue from me?"


    "You''re a disobedient child. I''ll have to teach you a lesson!"


    Fang Yuan paid no attention to the wolf head. Stretching out his left hand, he held the jaws of the wolf tightly and it could no longer open it.


    "Bang!"


    Another fist landed on the young girl. Even with the diamond defence, the wolf head exploded into a bloodied mess.


    "Too weak! You''re too weak!"


    Fang Yuan shook his head. "Even if you have the special ability to regenerate, your foundations are still too weak!"


    A halo appeared in mid-air and the Demon Weapon in Fang Yuan''s hands slipped out and floated in the air, taking up the appearance of an angel.


    "Bang!"


    White and black wings were spread out and the force of light and darkness was released at that moment, gathering on the palm of the young girl.


    "It''s useless! With an incomplete arena, you will never be my match!"


    Fang Yuan waved his hands and the invisible power of an arena gathered, which was followed by a shattering sound.


    "Bang!!!"


    The glow on the young girl''s palm exploded and even her body was being controlled by an invisible force. She floated towards Fang Yuan.


    "I''ve said it. Don''t disturb me!"


    Fang Yuan gently stretched his hand out and effortlessly penetrated through the diamond defence before grabbing on to her heart.


    Amidst her warm blood, a thumping heart landing in Fang Yuan''s grip. Tightening his grip, the heart exploded!


    "Ying ying...."


    There was pain written all over the young girl''s face as she quickly retreated.


    Within the hole in her chest, blood vessels started to grow back, forming another small heart.


    Such a regenerative ability made it an unkillable monster.


    However, she was screaming and flapping her wings this time, ready to flee.


    "..."


    Witnessing this scene, Lorita and Paul were speechless.


    If they knew that the Demon Weapon would be so easily defeated by this mysterious Lei, it would mean that all that they had done was for nought!


    Of course, Fang Yuan did not know that his actions would make those observing him rethink about their own lives. Through the detection from the Spiritual Arena, Fang Yuan had already located the aircraft filled with explosives.


    It was flying towards him and had already targeted both him and the Demon Weapon as its prey.


    "Whoosh!"


    The fighter jet flew past and a bomb was launched.


    It was a miniature version of an atomic bomb and even Fang Yuan could sense danger from it.


    "Hmph!"


    With the wave of his hands, the fighter jet exploded in mid-air.


    Following which, the Demon Weapon became under Fang Yuan''s control as it leapt towards the atomic bomb.


    "Now, those that still want to live, run for your lives!"


    Fang Yuan spiritualised himself in an instant and smiled towards the other 3 mutants. "The three of you should know your boss''s plan, right?"


    "Oh, sh*t! D*mn it!"


    Lorita''s expression changed. A shadow appeared behind her. Like a hand, it grabbed her and flew out.


    Not long after, behind them.


    "Rumble! Ruble!"


    A small mushroom cloud appeared and a bright light illuminated the entire place.


    "D*mn it!"


    Although they were already a distance from the atomic bomb, the sonic boom from the explosion still tripped all of them, causing them to tumble on the ground.


    Lorita crawled up from the ground. "D*mn our society leader... Why did he plan this? Is he trying to kill us?"


    "Don''t hold any grudges against him..."


    Amun transformed into a wolf and his fur started to regenerate quickly. "The two of them are monsters! I believe that even though they were struck by the atomic bomb, they would still survive!"


    "You''re right!"


    From the side, Fang Yuan''s silhouette appeared. He slowly turned from appearing illusionary to lifelike and his clothing was not even affected by the explosion. "That immature Demon Weapon might not die. The federation will be plagued with troubles..."


    Fang Yuan laughed.


    Amun remained silent.


    He knew that what Fang Yuan said was true. Just the small explosion and earthquake at the Flor Reservoir was enough to affect half of the Federation.


    What more if they added a 4th Tier mutant who was out of control? Even the members of parliament in the government would be panicking.


    At this point in time, Lorita received news and her expression changed. "The people of our society have sent us a message. This incident has been classified as a military ambush, and all our names are on the wanted list!"


    "Sh*t"


    Amun cursed and Old Man Paul almost fainted beside him.


    Paul knew that with his limited abilities, he stood no chance against the entire country.


    "Big brother!"


    Lorita shifted her focus as she held on to Fang Yuan''s arm. "I have nowhere to go now, I am so pitiful..."


    "Are you... begging me to take you in?"


    Fang Yuan gave a helpless smile.


    "Of course!"


    Lorita blinked her eyes. "I can no longer stay in the Golden Eagle Federation. Why not I follow you back, Big Brother?"


    Although her appearance was a young girl, she was actually very smart.


    Considering Fang Yuan''s status, he would surely be very influential in other countries.


    Even if he was not influential, with his abilities, he would still be capable of protecting a few fugitives and allow them to lead peaceful and comfortable lives.


    "This... this is possible!"


    Fang Yuan rubbed his chin. "Alright... I am preparing to adopt a young child. If you can take care of her, I don''t mind."


    "No problem!"


    Lorita gave a pleasant smile. She was like an obedient pet.


    ...


    In the President''s office of the Golden Eagle Federation.


    "I have already calculated the losses of the disaster at the Flor Reservoir..."


    A secretary scratched his head and presented the information to the President.


    "8 states were affected, 5,000,000 people need to be evacuated and over 10 million people are injured... A few hundred insurance companies have declared bankrupt, this is great!"


    The President whistled. "Just let me resign already."


    This was not a mess for him to clear, but the endgame.


    "Mister President!"


    An advisor raised his glasses. "We do have good news. The Roth Family, Durk Family and a few other big financial groups are willing to contribute manpower and resources to mitigate the situation..."


    The government of the Golden Eagle Federation were actually limited in resources. Even the control of the country''s economic resources was under a few tycoons.


    In other words, if the tycoons did not agree, the President would not be able to fork out a single cent to help the disaster.


    "This is the only good news..."


    The President laid on a reclining chair. "Tell me all the other pieces of bad news!"


    "Mister President!"


    A black man wearing a western suit walked in. "Regarding the creation of the person responsible for the disaster... I would like to present to you a detailed report."


    "I don''t want to hear of it!"


    The President rubbed his forehead and forcefully composed himself. "... Alright... tell me about it. Are the two d*mn monsters dead yet?"


    "I''m afraid not..."


    The black man shrugged his shoulders and stretched both of his arms out, resting them on his thigh. "However, we have already cleared the remaining scientists involved in the Demon Weapon Plan and are ready to keep the Demon Weapon. As for ''Lei''..."


    With a serious look, he presented another document to the President. "According to the latest news, the leader of the Dragon Team in Chinese Country is a fabled 4th Tier mutant - God of Thunder. He has rarely appeared in recent times. According to our spies, he has essentially vanished..."


    "Both of them are 4th Tier and are both people from the Middle Continent. Their names are extremely similar as well..."


    The President was deep in his own thoughts. "What are you trying to say? That all these are the conspiracy of the Chinese Country? To begin World War Two? Hey... This is a genius thought! The weapon suppliers would thank you for it!"


    "This is only a guess. Undoubtedly, the Lei which appeared on our soil is more dangerous and more out of control!"


    The black man continued with a solemn tone. "I suggest we establish an office dedicated to deal with this problem. They would collect information, conduct predictions and conduct 24-hour surveillance on him..."


    "All these are useless. I only want to know one thing. Can we catch or kill him?"


    The President quipped with anticipation.


    "I''m afraid that''s impossible!"


    The black man was emotionless.


    "Sh*t!"


    The President started to curse. "Oh Lord, what has this world turned into?"

 433 Settlemen

    Word of the disastrous explosion at the Flor Reservoir soon shocked the entire world.


    After all, a calamity of such a scale was rare in the entire history of Earth. After the calamity, development of the Golden Eagle Federation came to a halt.


    In a moment, the international society grieved for the Golden Eagle Federation and even Chinese Country had approved of donating resources and monetary aid to the federation.


    Of course, the deeper secret behind the disaster brought the federation to the attention of the other countries.


    At least with the disappearance of the two society leaders, the power of the mutants in the Golden Eagle Federation was much weaker. Also, the secret of the Demon Weapon started to spread out.


    After all, the usage of the atomic bomb meant that the federation could not hide anything from the other countries.


    Needless to say, according to the latest investigations from the spies of the Golden Eagle Federation, who went into the epicentre of destruction without any protection and any worry of being affected, they had a shocking discovery. The Demon Weapon was not killed by the explosion.


    This was a year of disaster for the Golden Eagle Federation.


    However, most of it was not related to Fang Yuan.


    After getting what he wanted, he brought along the two girls and discreetly arrived at the East Continent, investigating the secrets of the other nodes of spiritual energy.


    With his 4th Tier abilities, he was the most powerful being in the entire world and therefore, their journey was extremely smooth. The rate at which he improved was as much as an entire generation. As soon as he absorbed the energy from another node, he discreetly returned to his own country.


    Of course, to avoid trouble, he could no longer use his identity as Fang Yuan.


    With his Soul Searching Spell, Fang Yuan could create a new identity for himself as an overseas Chinese after spending some time in a few other countries.


    With his passport and his investments in properties, the customs would let him in without much hindrance.


    With all these conveniences and a slight alteration in his appearance, even if he were to tour the capital, Xi Menjian would not even recognise him.


    He had gone through all these troubles because he did not want to fight.


    Therefore, Fang Yuan picked Banyan Tree City, a small city which a distance away from the capital and discreetly settled down.


    In a Chinese courtyard house.


    Grapevines crawled on a wooden rack, forming a natural shade. Grapes hung from the vines and anyone who would see these grapes would surely salivate.


    Fang Yuan lazily laid in the shade. There were tea and dim sum on the table beside him. He held a fan in his hands and was extremely relaxed.


    "Ahh... I cannot take this any longer!"


    From the room, Lorita held her dress and ran out with a face of devastation. "That Angel is an idiot! Can you imagine that she still pees on the bed even at this age? How can you make me change her diapers for her? I object to this, for this is child labour!"


    "Objection overruled!"


    Fang Yuan casually ate a grape hanging from the vines and squinted his eyes, "Lorita, remember to address her as Sister. Both of you are my adopted daughters..."


    "Why don''t we settle down at Blue Star Alliance instead?"


    Lorita appeared desperate. "I cannot stand everything here! This place is so underdeveloped and Angel is especially troublesome... I cannot stand her any longer, so quickly hire a nanny to take care of her!"


    "Look at your personality. How will I be able to hire a nanny without any worries?"


    Fang Yuan rolled his eyes.


    "Regardless, I cannot live with her. It is too uncomfortable to lose all my special abilities when I am with her..."


    Lorita bit her lip.


    "Hehe..."


    Fang Yuan picked up his teapot and blew at it gently. "If that is so... Lorita, are you thinking of going against our agreement?"


    "Going against the agreement?"


    Tears welled up in Lorita''s eyes as she wanted to claim that she was being duped to follow Fang Yuan.


    However, thinking about how this ''demonic father'' had held her and spanked her ass for being disobedient, there was fear in her eyes. Tears welled up and she was on the brink of crying. "You''re bullying me!"


    "Alright, don''t you show me your attitude... Looking at you, even if we migrate to the Blue Star Alliance, we would still encounter troubles. Do you really want to sacrifice our peaceful and comfortable lifestyle now?"


    Fang Yuan calmly replied.


    Lorita was speechless.


    According to her news, Amun from the White Pigeon Society had escaped to the Northernmost Point of the North Pole on an icy island but was still being located by the spies of the Federation. After a long fight, he was captured and his outcome was unimaginable.


    If not for the fact that this place was Chinese Country and that she was protected by the mysterious ''Lei'', Lorita would surely end up like Amun.


    "But... I..."


    Lorita''s tears started to flow. If an outsider were to see this scene, they would think that Fang Yuan had bullied this little girl.


    However, Fang Yuan knew that although Lorita appeared young, she only seemed so and her actual age was already many times more than she appeared to be.


    On the other hand, Angel was truly only 3 years old.


    "Alright, Angel is also pitiful... Also, after my treatment, she has the potential to recover completely..."


    Fang Yuan entered the house.


    In a wooden cot, Angel laid in the centre and smiled happily. "Hug..."


    "See, at least she recognises me now!"


    Fang Yuan pinched Angel''s cheeks, took out his needle and performed treatment for her daily.


    Needless to say, the treatment which this little girl had received was one that many Chinese would dream of.


    After Fang Yuan''s mysterious disappearance, his mysterious magical needle technique was lost and only Old Tian could use it to half of its full potential.


    Many rich and wealthy people with ailing health were searching for Fang Yuan and even did unthinkable things.


    Lorita stood there and observed Fang Yuan. Her eyeballs darted around and no one knew what she was thinking.


    ...


    After the daily treatment, Angel would fall asleep.


    Lorita would get a moment of peace and would use the time wisely and do her own things.


    Fang Yuan came to an isolated room, sighed and opened a safe.


    The safe was hidden in the wall and was cemented to the sides of the wall. It appeared extremely sturdy. As soon as Fang Yuan entered the passcode, the door opened with a soft ''Kacha'', revealing the treasures inside.


    There were gems, gold, foreign currency. Fang Yuan took out a big box and opened it. There were two Aquilaria figurines carved with extreme detail.


    "The Aquilaria Maitreya and the Three Headed Six Arms Asura..."


    Fang Yuan sighed before releasing a streak of spiritual energy.


    "Buzz! Buzz!"


    Both figurines started to emit a purple glow which combined to release a faint energy.


    "Although I have brought both keys together, they can only combine at the correct timing..."


    Fang Yuan fiddled with the figurines and was a little disappointed.


    According to his prediction, the Aquilaria Maitreya and the Asura would combine to create a key which would be able to open space. It would be likely to open up space leading to a place similar to that of the mermaid tomb plane.


    Whatever which would lie in the small plane would be likely to be the inheritances of the supernormal beings from Chinese Country. They might even be stronger than the mermaids and would be considered gods of the ancient time!


    Unfortunately, even if he had the key, he could only helplessly get information of the time and the location.


    "This secret plane in Banyan City will only be activated after the third occurrence... I need to enter at the correct location, correct time with the correct keys. This is unfortunate..."


    According to his prediction, the higher being who had set this secret plane in place had to be more powerful than the mermaids and once harnessed power even more powerful than the power of an arena. As long as the higher being wanted to conceal the plane, it would be able to do so with ease and would only allow the plane to appear when the time is up.


    "This is also related to the concentration of spiritual droplets... Must I wait for enough spiritual droplets to be around before I can open a certain door?"


    Fang Yuan appeared solemn.


    Through his travels around the world, he had collected a lot of information and data.


    For instance, the religions in Blue Star Alliance were an interesting influence.


    At least, their ''God'' had once existed. Even though all the faith that remained now was already diluted, after the third occurrence, the ''God'' might develop a consciousness and attain the 4th Tier immediately, becoming a being capable of destruction!


    The immortals in other parts of the world were similar to this.


    "Other than Elder Extreme Darkness and I, who would not be bounded by the laws of this realm, the natives in the realm would be restricted... Before the arrival of the third occurrence, they would have zero chance of breaking through."


    Fang Yuan had a premonition.


    The arrival of the third occurrence would throw the entire world into chaos.


    "However... that is still nothing. Considering my current cultivation, I have already become more powerful than all of them and will forever be the most powerful in the world¡­.."


    Fang Yuan smiled and looked at his own stats"


    "Name: Fang Yuan


    Essence: 17.0


    Spirit: 45.0


    Magic: 45.0


    Profession: ???


    Cultivation: ???


    Technique: [Elemental Spiritual Energy Cultivation Spell (Grade 5 (33%))]


    Skill: [Medicine (Level 3)], [Botany (Level 5)], [Fiery Golden Eyes (Level 1)]"


    After entering the 5th Grade, even after absorbing an entire node, Fang Yuan could only push his cultivation up by a third.


    "Even if I were to put in all my effort in cultivation, I would only reach the bottleneck at the peak of the 5th Grade. I can only attempt a breakthrough with the help of the third occurrence..."


    This was Fang Yuan''s plan. It was simple but he would forever be ahead of the rest and would have the ability to suppress everyone.


    "Furthermore... I am more and more interested in this world."


    Fang Yuan rubbed his chin and revealed a mysterious smile.


    In a world with harsh laws of physics and spikes in spiritual energy after a thousand years, it was indeed mysterious.


    Perhaps, he could find the answer to all these happenings from the inheritances of powerful beings in the ancient times.


    Even if he could not find the explanation to the happenings in this world, it still had a lot of value in experimentation.


    "Of course, other than that, there is just one small problem..."


    A Chinese bringing two western daughters would surely attract attention.


    Fang Yuan could detect that he was already being observed and being scanned through by a supernormal force. However, it was still the same. All of these did not matter to him.

 434 Ten Years

    Lorita''s identity was suspicious.


    As a 3rd Tier mutant and a higher-up of the White Pigeon Society, her sudden arrival in China Country would surely garner attention from everyone.


    However, compared to the most powerful mutant in the world who had almost destroyed the Golden Eagle Federation, she was nothing.


    At the Calamity Grade, a mutant would be akin to a walking atomic bomb. Even the 3 strongest countries would not be able to do offend such a mutant for they would not be able to bear the consequences.


    Fang Yuan had the appearance of a Chinese man and did not break the laws of the country. It seemed like the country could establish good ties with him.


    After testing him for a few times, both parties had come to an agreement.


    Fang Yuan would not disrupt the few spies observing him, but the spies would not be so dumb as to invade his privacy.


    In such a delicate balance, Fang Yuan led a simple life and observed the world and the countries changing.


    Unknowingly, it was the Year 1013 and the third occurrence was about to arrive.


    Within Banyan Tree City, a small shop had already opened its doors.


    The shop was little and was in a secluded location. Upon entering, rows of wooden carvings lined the shelves, giving the entire place and artsy feel.


    Although Fang Yuan had only used to dabble in the stock market and his earnings were enough for him to lead a comfortable life, he felt that it was too boring to just focus on his cultivation every single day.


    Therefore, through his boredom, he opened this wooden carving shop.


    The sales of the shop were only average and could just cover up the costs of operating the shop.


    ''Furthermore... Those people are smart!''


    Releasing his spiritual will, Fang Yuan smiled to himself as he detected a few spiritual auras in the vicinity.


    Considering his status, he gave a rude shock to Xi Menjian the moment he settled down in the country. Therefore, Xi Menjian had sent some spies to observe him, suspecting that he was Fang Yuan.


    Even so, what could he do?


    After displaying his ability to spiritualise and therefore attack and defend at the same time, even Xi Menjian would not dare to offend him and take him down. Xi Menjian could only continue to observe in the dark until now.


    "Good afternoon, Boss!"


    A young boy wearing a school uniform and scarf walked into the shop. "Are you slacking around?"


    "This is adult''s business. How can you call it slacking?"


    Fang Yuan raised his head up from the pile of books on the counter. "Little Ming, I''ve told you many times that we do not loan out the carvings in the shop!"


    "But... Boss, I really like these toys. Do you want me to work for you during my holidays?"


    Lin Ming''s eyes glistened as he spoke.


    "No need!"


    Fang Yuan lowered his head.


    He had personally carved all these carvings, giving them a mysterious vibe. It was the epitome of artworks.


    Needless to say, Fang Yuan would always add a ''surprise'' to the carvings depending on his mood. Whoever who would be so lucky or unlucky to receive the surprise would be none of his business.


    "Eh? Where are the two sisters?"


    Lin Ming was rather acquainted with them. After their short exchange, he started to ask about the sisters.


    "Piak!"


    Fang Yuan rolled up the book in his hands and smacked Lin Ming''s head. "Why don''t you focus on your studies!"


    "I am instructed by my teacher to tell them not to forget about the year-end examinations..."


    Lin Ming held his head and gave a look of pity as though he was wronged.


    "Oh, I''ve got it!"


    After Fang Yuan''s treatment, Angel had restored her level of maturity to that of a young girl. Coupled with the fact that Lorita was doing nothing every day, Fang Yuan decided to just send the both of them to the nearest school to study.


    The appearance of two westerners caused an uproar and a commotion in the school which only subsided after the involvement of the people from the Religious Bureau.


    "Both my adopted daughters are naturally gifted and I am tired of them getting number 1..."


    Fang Yuan gazed at Lin Ming. "As for you, you should study hard. At least you would be able to do something well so that you can look for a job in the future!"


    "No!"


    Lin Ming clenched his fist. "I want to awaken and become a mutant to join the Dragon Team of Chinese Country!"


    "Piak!"


    Before he could finish his sentence, his endured another hit on his head. "Ahh... Pain..."


    "You''re young but you''re already thinking of impractical thoughts. How is your progress in your 9th Stance Exercise?"


    Fang Yuan rolled his eyes.


    The occurrences and the presence of mutants were already long accepted by humans.


    In fact, there were already huge changes in every aspect of society.


    For instance, 10 years ago, the 9th Stance Exercise was first formulated by Fang Yuan and was an exercise which many students hated the most. The initial idea of the exercise was to commence cultivation training in each and every student, but now, it was used as a test to measure the potential of every student.


    Compared to the previous general exercise, the 9th Stance Exercise which Fang Yuan had designed was psychopathic. It was 10 times more complicated than the previous general exercise and would require the perfect combination of breathing techniques and mindsets.


    Obviously, such an arduous exercise only eliminated a lot of people from the beginning.


    "I have already practised it up to the 8th Stance. I need a few more days before I can complete the 9th Stance..."


    Lin Ming clenched his fists tightly.


    "Oh? This progress is rather quick! Is your family nourishing you?"


    Fang Yuan casually looked away and smiled.


    "Mmm, I have servings of spiritual rice every day, and 4 servings of spiritual meat every week..."


    Lin Ming had a look of worry in his eyes. To his family, it was not easy to provide so much spiritual food to him.


    "Alright, you are an ambitious boy. I wish you all the best for your year-end examinations..."


    Fang Yuan smiled and grabbed a wooden carving before tossing it over. "Take this as a gift. Hopefully, you won''t miss the final chance!"


    If he could not complete the 9th Stance Exercise in High School, chances of him completing it in the future would be slimmer. To Lin Ming, this was the final opportunity to change his fate.


    "Cough... Thank you!"


    Lin Ming was in a daze. "Boss, I remember you as a stingy person! Why are you so generous this time? I''m not used to it!"


    "Not used to it? Then return it to me!"


    Fang Yuan shrugged his shoulders.


    "Nope!"


    Lin Ming held on to the wooden carving tightly. Unknowingly, he felt a certain connection with the carving as soon as it landed into his hands.


    ''Take it as my parting gift to you, for I am going to leave soon.''


    Fang Yuan thought to himself before giving a serious look. "Quickly go back, your parents must be waiting for you."


    "Mm, goodbye Boss!"


    Seeing how Fang Yuan had turned serious, Lin Ming felt a little afraid and politely took his leave.


    "Haha! Father!"


    As soon as Lin Ming left the shop, he knocked into a girl and fell to the floor in a daze.


    It was a tall and blonde young girl with a voluptuous figure her thick uniform could not conceal.


    Lin Ming remained dazed as he recalled the fact that he had come into contact with her just moments ago.


    "Alright Angel, where have you been?"


    Fang Yuan gave a look of hopelessness.


    After his skilled acupuncture, Angel not only restored her ability to walk but her IQ also slowly increased.


    Of course, IQ was different from real-life experiences.


    Although Angel was already 20 years old, she was still studying in High School and was considered one of the slow learners.


    However, Lorita was worse off than her. Because of her small size, she was diagnosed with ''Dwarfism'' and had been demoted from being Angel''s elder sister to her younger sister.


    "Nothing much, I had a date with the beautiful winter and built a few snowmen!"


    Angel replied happily and had an energetic disposition.


    "Mmm, Lin Ming has especially come here to inform you about the year-end examinations.


    Fang Yuan nodded his head.


    "Oh, I see. Thank you, Lin Ming!"


    Angel stretched her hand out and helped Lin Ming back to his feet. Although he had already stood up, he still kept his hand outstretched as he remained in his daze thinking about the soft and white hands which helped him up.


    "Cough cough..."


    Fang Yuan could no longer stand it anymore. With a cough, Lin Ming snapped out of his trance and left in disappointment.


    "Hehe... Father, he is rather charming!"


    Angel snickered and turned around.


    "Mmm, where''s Lorita?"


    Fang Yuan shrugged his shoulders and changed the topic.


    "She¡­.. has always been hanging out with the weird mutants. I''ve heard that she had just joined an official society of Chinese Country and wants to help them to complete a mission..."


    Angel exposed Lorita without any reservations. "She has even tried to recruit me!"


    "This child will surely get herself into trouble one day..."


    Fang Yuan shook his head.


    However, he had placed more importance on Angel. After many years of experimentation and research, Fang Yuan had learnt a lot more and it was already worth it.


    "However, I feel that Lorita is not doing anything wrong. After all, we live in Chinese Country..."


    Angel quickly added. "Also, Father, the third occurrence is coming!"


    "Why? Are you worried about me?"


    Fang Yuan smiled.


    Ever since she had become more matured, she had cemented their relationship as father and daughter either because she was full of gratitude for Fang Yuan or that she had already become closer to him after all these years. However, the way she addressed Fang Yuan was still a little unusual.


    "What have you detected?"


    He asked as he displayed his interest.


    "Not just for me! Every mutant could feel that the bottleneck which has always been restricting them is beginning to shake... According to Professor Fang''s theory on the spikes in spiritual energy, this is the symptom of the impending arrival of the third occurrence!"


    Angel spoke in a serious tone.


    With many supporting pieces of evidence, Fang Yuan''s theories on the theory of the Big Circulation and the spikes in spiritual energy were all undisputed classics now and were continued to be researched upon by scientists.


    The thesis which almost got him expelled from school was now the most widely referenced thesis. Mutant scientists would have to take it as a compulsory subject and this was something Fang Yuan did not expect in the beginning.

 435 Occurrence

    Nearing the end of Year 1014, the lives of many were not peaceful.


    The third occurrence had already been proven by the spiritual energy peak theory, many mutants and cultivators were eagerly waiting for it.


    Moreover, in East Continent and West Continent, end of the world rumours were rife due to the tremendous changes occurring.


    Underground base, Chinese Country capital.


    "Please spread yourselves out and focus on monitoring those mutants and cultivators originally registered as Murderous Grade... Each major city must be under control to prevent normal people from suddenly obtaining powers and causing accidents!"


    Xi Menjian had aged a lot and white hairs could be seen on his head. Nevertheless, the might and prestige exuded from his body were even more solemn.


    In order to respond to this occurrence, the country had decentralised its authority. Thus, the Religious Bureau was a massive organisation now, not only did they receive the full cooperation of local police forces and authorities, the Religious Bureau could even command the army.


    With such a huge authority, its responsibilities were naturally very huge too.


    "Especially in the capital, screen through everyone again! Other than our own people, even Ghost Grade mutants are not allowed to stay!"


    Xi Menjian thought for a while before adding another command.


    After all, after Ghost Grade was Murderous Grade, the destruction they could cause would be very huge too.


    Of course, with the capital''s population, it would be almost impossible to thoroughly screen everyone.


    If there was a Murderous Grade mutant hidden in the capital which made use of this opportunity to breakthrough and the control was not strict enough to prevent him from using his powers... Xi Menjian dared not imagine what would happen next.


    "Sigh... this matter is not what a human can control! I shall retire after finishing this term!"


    Xi Menjian pondered and silently resigned. He then rubbed the area between his eyebrows and asked, "How''s the Dragon Team?"


    "They have already been dispatched to ensure the safety of a few chiefs..." One of the meeting attendees replied.


    Even though Fang Yuan had already left, the Dragon Team was still the bureau''s trump card.


    "Just that... after losing the God of Thunder, we lost a force of deterrence amongst those very powerful..."


    "Also, regarding the process of making the spiritual droplets detector more miniature and portable... Professor Fang Yuan easily developed it in a few months when he was here, but now, it has been years and the research department still cannot complete it..."


    A few department supervisors sighed, "If only the God of Thunder and Professor Fang Yuan were still around..."


    "Don''t talk about these already, aren''t the newly developed ones good to use too?"


    Xi Menjian was having a piercing headache and he felt a bit helpless too.


    Although he had some vague guesses, after being reminded of that powerful person living in Banyan Tree City, he was afraid to use any radical or risky tactics.


    Nevertheless, Xi Menjian was very clear what an exceedingly powerful mutant was capable of.


    At that moment, the people and technology under Xi Menjian were not lacking at all, however, he just did not have a flagship person like Fang Yuan.


    After all, before the third occurrence, no mutants would be able to break through the 4th Tier and this was the law of this realm.


    "Also, that Banyan Tree City..."


    Xi Menjian thought for a moment and asked a person in charge, "How''s the situation there?"


    "Due to the agreement with ''that person'', the strength we deployed there is the weakest. Currently, the mutant group is led by Comrade Zhao Daniu and the military side is helmed by Comrade Ye Yingzi!"


    A middle-aged man raised his spectacles and continued, "Just that, there are some changes happening recently, we have detected the activities of a few foreign powers. Their rationales are unknown... should we deploy more men?"


    Xi Menjian considered for a while before finally making his decision.


    "No need! Continue with the current state! Meeting over!"


    ...


    Not only in Chinese Country, other countries were also making their arrangements in full swing.


    Accompanied by the bells of the new year, the defences were at its peak.


    Blue Star Alliance.


    Blue Star Alliance was an alliance formed by a few small countries scattered inside East Continent. Their aim was to have a complete integration of politics and economies and thus becoming a large force that could compete with Golden Eagle Federation and Chinese Country.


    There were only four or five member countries originally, but now, the alliance expanded to include 47 countries.


    Currently, near the surroundings of Holy Mountain, Holy Blue Lion Empire.


    Many people gathered for the new year pilgrimage. They were holding candles and there were at least 300,000 of them.


    These were the core believers of the Curia. Inside the Platinum Palace on top of the Holy Mountain, the Pope and many archbishops in red robes silently watched the scenes outside.


    "The third occurrence... this is God''s prophecy, it is the time He returns!"


    A bishop in a red robe spoke. His hair was all grey, he had deep wrinkles on his face and his body was continuously emanating a holy energy.


    This was different from the energy of mutants and cultivators, it was a kind of mutation of spiritual energy.


    From the faith of billions of believers combined with spiritual energy, the muddled holy energy formed flooded the entire Holy Mountain. The power of the bishops and pastors came from the radiation of this bundle of energy.


    Fang Yuan investigated this means before, however, as the fundamental quality of this form of energy was still from a mutated energy from people''s beliefs, he did not provoke it at all.


    "God came from the void, divided the mountains, oceans and land, brought about light and agriculture to this world..."


    The Pope narrated in a very pious way, "After He left, he prophesied, after 3,000 years later, the Heaven above Holy Mountain would open and God will reappear!"


    "If things go well, it will be this time!" An archbishop added.


    The Church had also done research on the energy from religious faith.


    Previously, the concentration of spiritual droplets was too low, even though faith still existed, there was no medium for propagating it. It could not be stored too and thus, it could not accomplish anything.


    But now, accompanied by the resurgence of spiritual energy, the devout pastors'' holy spells began to awaken. This brought about tremendous changes to the development of the Church.


    "Dang! Dang!"


    "Dang! Dang!"


    The moon slowly rose up the night skies. As midnight was approaching, the ceremony was becoming more and more ceremonious. The believers were extremely enthusiastic and fervent, it even caused a holy wave.


    Ripples of holy light could be seen with the naked eye emanating from their bodies. They continuously merged and turned into a vibrant stream of waves that washed the entire Holy Mountain.


    "Praise the God, you are the bringer of light! The one and only Lord!"


    The Pope and a few archbishops appeared and led the followers to begin praying.


    "Rumble!"


    Under the numerous praises, the milky white coloured holy light gathered and rushed to the peak of the mountain. Immediately, it opened a certain half plane and an angel-like human silhouette with three pairs of wings descended from it. It then landed on Holy Mountain, at the core of the energy from faith.


    "Angel!"


    "What''s that? Heaven?"


    "Lord.¡­.."


    Lots of believers were hyped up. As they looked at the giant Heaven vaguely emerging above the mountain peak, they were extremely excited.


    In the dark, those powerful forces monitoring it had a disapproving look on their faces.


    "Indeed, the Curia had something hidden!"


    A man in black shirt watched the changes happening on his screen and scolded at the same time.


    "A living angel? It better not be another man-made weapon created by Golden Eagle Federation..." A staff on the side guessed.


    "No! I''m afraid this is real!"


    There were a few companions nearby in the same ceremonious costumes who seemed to be from the nobility, their faces turned white, their eyes were bloodshot and they shook their heads, "Of course... a living angel is already a God!"


    "Why would such an angel appear, this is not scientific!"


    The investigators from Blue Star Alliance were at a slight loss.


    "No, this is very scientific!"


    A handsome youth dressed in the same ceremonious costume retorted in a sing-song way, "In the first 1,000 years, God created the world and left behind light and seeds. In the second 1,000 years, He built a beautiful palace in the skies and also left behind the prophecy of his return in the third 1,000 years... These are all recorded down by my family, they can also be found in other religious texts."


    "So that means, God... has returned?"


    The in-charge was furious, "You want me to type and send up such a report? Are you trying to get me fired?"


    "Since mutants and cultivators have already appeared, what''s so odd about a God appearing?"


    The youth smiled nonchalantly, "Even if it is a God, it is just a powerful living thing... Looks like due to the low concentration of spiritual energy previously, He chose to seal himself in the heavens above the peak of Holy Mountain. Now, since religious faith and spiritual energy have increased again, He chose to awaken now and fulfill his will!"


    "A God''s... will, what exactly does He want to do?"


    The in-charge mumbled and felt as though his mind and thoughts were about to fall apart.


    ...


    Banyan Tree City, Middle Continent


    Fang Yuan arrived at a desolated mountain.


    After moving aside a huge stone, an entrance appeared at the mountainside. Inside it, the spiritual energy was extremely condensed.


    "Hmm... looks like this Spiritual Gathering Array is quite useful after all!"


    This was a rare opportunity. Fang Yuan immediately sat cross-legged and began to absorb with all his strength.


    As time passed, a turning point suddenly arrived.


    "Rumble!"


    The earth shook and the array in the cave ran at its full power. White fog condensed and looked it was about to turn into dewdrops.


    "The third occurrence meant yet another set of locks are unlocked..."


    Fang Yuan turned into a black hole and greedily devoured everything. He also looked at his stats board at the same time.


    After these few years of dedicated cultivation, the 5th Grade of his Elemental Spiritual Energy Cultivation Spell had already increased and improved tremendously even though it was only slightly above 50% at first.


    However, he ultimately had to stop at the bottleneck of 99.99%.


    "If my calculations are correct, after arena, it would be area! If I can complete my area in this realm and bring back some of its properties, I would have no bottlenecks when breaking through to the 7th Tier of Illusionary Divine in Da Qian!"


    Fang Yuan looked at his stats:


    "Name: Fang Yuan


    Essence: 20.0


    Spirit: 49.0


    Magic: 49.0


    Profession: ???


    Cultivation: ???


    Technique: [Elemental Spiritual Energy Cultivation Spell (Grade 5 (99.99%))]


    Skill: [Medicine (Level 3)], [Botany (Level 5)], [Fiery Golden Eyes (Level 1)]"


    "Such a pity, it''s so close!"


    Fang Yuan walked out of the cave and went outside.


    The moon was bright and slightly hazy too as streaks of Emperor Flow Serum-like substance fell from the skies and entered the mountain streams and rivers, enlightening all living matters.


    "Oh, this is really the beginning of a mythical era¡­..."


    Fang Yuan greedily took a deep breath.


    Currently, in this realm, spiritual energy was already crazily abundant. If it continued, any flowers or grass, foxes, rats, snakes or ants would all become spiritually aware and become spirits!


    "Chaotic times have arrived!"

 436 Treasure Hunting

    The arrival of the occurrences and the spikes in the spiritual energy did not only affect the humans.


    If the big willow tree which almost destroyed Mountain Ocean City during the second occurrence was a standalone case, the third occurrence would not only commence the cultivation for humans. Trees, grasses, and animals alike would also be able to start on their cultivation!


    A few years ago, a few exceptions had invaded the cities from the forests but now, this would only be a common sight.


    Fang Yuan would no longer be surprised at the appearance of wild beasts attacking the cities.


    "It''s going to be soon... In another 10 years, we will know the final secret of this realm!"


    Fang Yuan gazed afar and his eyes were filled with thirst.


    As a dream-traverser, how would he stop before finding out the final secret of the realm?


    "Of course... I have a final treasure in my hands."


    Fang Yuan returned to the Chinese courtyard house and realised that there were two military personnel waiting in their uniform, a male and a female.


    "Good morning, the both of you."


    He smiled and looked at his old friend. "Are you here this early to wish me a happy new year?"


    "That''s right!"


    Zhao Daniu exchanged glances with Ye Yingzi and smiled.


    After many years in the service, even the honest bloke Zhao Daniu would have some accomplishments by now.


    Although they had long suspected that this Lei was Fang Yuan, since Fang Yuan did not admit to being Lei, they could only continue the act and treat him like an outsider.


    "Angel, prepare some tea!"


    After entering the Chinese courtyard house, Fang Yuan instructed a blonde to pour tea for the two guests.


    After observation, Fang Yuan could tell that the special ability of his adoptive daughter had improved, but she had not reached the 4th Tier.


    As for her cultivation? Fang Yuan had long given up on it.


    After all, considering her special ability in disrupting the flow of spiritual droplets, it would be almost impossible for her to absorb spiritual droplets in the air to improve her cultivation.


    Even if Fang Yuan were to bring her to the Spiritual Gathering Array last night, almost half of the spiritual energy would be dispersed.


    "Thank you!"


    Ye Yingzi received the cup of tea from Angel and took out a red packet. On the other hand, Zhao Daniu''s expression turned to one of uneasiness and Fang Yuan could tell that his special ability has been hindered.


    "Alright, why are the both of you here?"


    Fang Yuan took a sip of tea and knew that they would not be here for no reason.


    "This... Mister Lei, are you aware of what your other daughter, Lorita, is up to?"


    Looking at Zhao Daniu, Ye Yingzi gave up and directly asked.


    "Why? Has she caused trouble again?"


    Fang Yuan rubbed his forehead. "This is troubling. You can do whatever you want to her and I would have no qualms about it!"


    "It''s not that..."


    Embarrassed, Ye Yingzi quickly replied and rolled her eyes.


    She was a higher-up of the White Pigeon Society, the Shadow Demon Lorita. She would be considered one of the most powerful mutants in the world, so who would dare to educate her?


    "Not only did she not cause trouble, she has also worked with the humans to maintain peace in Banyan Tree City. We have even brought the Letter of Commendation and award for her!"


    Ye Yingzi composed herself and continued. "However, in a recent investigation, we have realised that Lorita might be in a little bit of trouble. Therefore, we are here to inform you about it."


    With that, she passed a stack of documents to Fang Yuan.


    "Lorita should be locating a secret cave in Bull''s Head Mountain, right? Unknowingly, that place has also attracted foreigners... Initially, the foreigners were nothing much."


    Zhao Daniu added. "However, according to the insider news we have received this morning... The Curia of the East Continent had hurriedly sent out a group of elites to the mountain, led by the archbishop... Because of this, the Golden Eagle Federation and the Blue Star Alliance have also reacted and since Lorita is involved, we believe that she might be in danger."


    "People from the Curia?"


    Fang Yuan frowned.


    Because of the fact that Fang Yuan had created a huge commotion in the Golden Eagle Federation, he chose to maintain a low profile while he was in the East Continent. However, the Curia was the largest group of mutants in the Blue Star Alliance and were against mutants such as the werewolves and vampires, and Fang Yuan was aware of all these.


    "Previously, under the attack of the Curia, the evil forces had been weakened. The Curia had also formed an alliance with the Blue Star Government, sharing their intelligence with each other. One of our people sent us this!"


    Zhao Daniu placed a leather box on the table. After opening it, a screen was revealed.


    After a few flickers, the image of what had happened on Holy Mountain appeared on the screen.


    Believers covered the entire mountain like ants. Everything that happened, including the brief appearance of Heaven, were captured.


    However, after the appearance of Heaven and the arrival of The Angel, the screen went blank.


    "What views do you have on this, Mister Lei?"


    "There might be a half plane on the top of the Holy Mountain. It seems like something powerful was residing in it before being awakened last night..."


    Fang Yuan rubbed his chin.


    This was nothing surprising under such circumstances.


    After all, there was already the existence of mutants and supernatural cultivators in this planet. If even the mermaids could have such a plan of creating a plane, why couldn''t other species do the same thing?


    There was the inheritance of cultivators in the Middle Continent and therefore, a few Heavens and Hells in the East Continent would not be surprising.


    However, their technology was much more advanced than the mermaids for it to hold on for a thousand years before successfully returning to the earth at the moment of the next occurrence.


    "Furthermore... The activation of such half planes seems to be related to the concentration of spiritual droplets in the world..."


    "You''re indeed the mighty Mister Lei to have such knowledge in this aspect!"


    Ye Yingzi''s eyes glistened as though she was hinting at something.


    "Only a little, only a little!"


    Fang Yuan took a sip of tea. "What do you think the intention of the Curia is, now that they have entered the Middle Continent?"


    "We feel threatened exactly because we don''t know what they are after..."


    Ye Yingzi sounded helpless. "In the wee hours of the morning today, there were warnings in almost every location. Not just about mutants, but there were a few cases of normal wild animals harming humans. Some other secluded villages even had their communication with the city cut. To speak the truth, the chief of bureau is already panicking over this and it is impossible for him to deploy troops here..."


    She had a desolate look on her face.


    Fang Yuan felt a little pity for her. The entire Banyan Tree City was a rather secluded city and the man in charge, Zhao Daniu, was merely a Murderous Grade mutant who had limited powers.


    He could not even deal with a Lorita, let alone the foreign forces.


    "Mmm, I understand now. I will pay more attention to this."


    Fang Yuan nodded his head and sent his guests off as his eyes glistened.


    He was the clearest about news regarding the cave at Bull''s Head Mountain.


    After all, the location which the Aquilaria Maitreya and the Asura pointed to was towards Bull''s Head Mountain!


    "This is a thousand year seal. I wonder what the ancient cultivators have left for me?"


    His heart was filled with anticipation.


    "Brother Fang!"


    Ye Yingzi stood up. Zhao Daniu fidgeted and his eyes turned red. "Come back... The chief of bureau and ourselves cannot hold on much longer."


    "Brother Fang?"


    Fang Yuan appeared stunned. "Who is that? Was he your old friend?"


    "Enough, Comrade Zhao Daniu! Where''s your discipline!"


    Ye Yingzi remained solemn and secretly observed Fang Yuan''s expression. Disappointed, she pulled Zhao Daniu and took their leave.


    ...


    "Adoptive Father!"


    When the both of them had left, Angel asked with curiosity. "Are they your old friends? Does this count as revealing your true emotions?"


    Her eyeballs darted around and Fang Yuan did not know what she was thinking.


    "Aiyo... what are you doing?"


    Fang Yuan rapped her head, making her cry.


    "Don''t let your thoughts run wild. Also, take out the two figurines from my safe in the room!"


    Fang Yuan instructed.


    "Oh."


    Angel leaped playfully into the house and within a few moments, she retrieved the Aquilaria Maitreya and the Asura.


    Now, even she could detect that something was unusual with the two figurines.


    A faint purple glow appeared on the surface of both figurines but did not show any signs of fading.


    "Hmm..."


    Fang Yuan glanced at Angel with a mysterious look. "If not for the fact that you are around, I''m afraid these two figurines would have been activated and shocked the world."


    Under such a huge disturbance of spiritual energy, these two figurines could still emit the purple glow, proving that they were special figurines.


    "Does this mean... these two are treasures? I know, they must be the magical equipment written in the legends!"


    Angel''s eyes glistened with excitement.


    "You''re wrong. They are merely a key!"


    Fang Yuan stretched his hands out and shattered both figurines.


    "Buzz! Buzz!"


    From the crumbled pieces, a faint purple glow started to fuse together, forming the shape of a gem. There was a visible vibration of purple energy within the gem.


    "Oh! Oh! Are we going to look for treasure?"


    Angel became increasingly excited. "I''ll prepare."


    "No need for preparations. After all, it is just outside our house and we will reach it in a few steps!"


    Fang Yuan shook his head. Controlling Angel, he made her fly up as they rushed towards Bull''s Head Mountain.


    ...


    Bull''s Head Mountain.


    "Roar! Roar!"


    "Aw! Aw!"


    Wild beasts of every species appeared. They were all huge in size and none of them feared death as they charged towards a particular party of people.


    "Such cute pigs and monkeys..."


    Seeing the animals, Lorita smiled and a shadow appeared around her. Like a black arm, she grabbed on to an aggressive monkey and forced it to kneel before her. "Be a good boy and I will buy a banana for you..."


    She stroked the monkey''s fur on its head but had a serious look on her face. ''This type of monkey was just a normal monkey yesterday. However, today, it has transformed into a monster. Its ability makes it as powerful as a Ghost Grade mutant already."


    "Ah!"


    "Help!"


    With a slight hesitation, a member of her party was being coiled up by a python and was stunned.


    "Leader Cai, quickly save him!"


    One of the group members wailed as a middle-aged man fused a small fireball before him before smashing it on the huge snake.


    "Hiss..."


    The huge snake was in pain and tightened its grip even more, causing the unlucky fellow to roll suffer even more and was on the brink of death.


    "Hehe... Leader Cai, you will harm him instead!"


    Lorita chuckled. A shadow appeared behind her and struck down like a sharp knife.


    With a flash, the python was beheaded.

 437 Predicamen

    "You''re great!"


    The huge corpse of the snake fell to the ground and a group of people quickly rushed forward to provide their assistance to the wounded.


    One female party member made her way towards Leader Cai. "Leader, where did you get this western girl from? She''s not just powerful, but also speaks fluent Chinese language!"


    "I''m not too sure myself. She seems to be the adoptive daughter of a Chinese and grew up in Chinese Country..."


    Leader Cai wiped his sweat from his forehead. "Regardless, since she was recommended by Brother Zhao, I can depend on her!"


    Zhao Daniu was in charge of the mutants in Banyan Tree City and had a high social status. After hearing Leader Cai, the female member could only nod her head in agreement.


    "Yawn..."


    Lorita walked a few steps forward and covered her mouth with her tiny hand. "I''m so sleepy... Leader, have we not located the cave yet?"


    "Relax, we''re about there!"


    Leader Cai was a little disappointed. "It was supposed to be a peaceful New Year''s night and yet we have to encounter something like this to keep all of us on our toes.... We have no choice. I''m sure all of you have seen the beasts here. They are extremely powerful and especially so after last night. If we don''t find the source of all these troubles, the people living in the city below will have to leave for their safety."


    "Furthermore, this is a task given to us by the government. Once we complete it, we can inform Chief Zhao. Wouldn''t we benefit then?"


    If not for these reasons, the group of them would not have come out at such a timing.


    Of course, Lorita did not care about any of these.


    As the group of them walked for a short distance, they finally arrived at a valley. In the depths of the valley, there was a huge hole.


    "Hmm..."


    Leader Cai took out a talisman and waved it in the air.


    "Whoosh!"


    The talisman caught fire and was reduced to ashes.


    "This is a Spiritual Sensing Talisman which I have painstakingly requested from the Taoists. Since the talisman broke into flames just outside the cave, it will mean that the cave is filled with spiritual energy. This might just be the source of all mutations.


    Leader Cai spoke with much excitement in his voice.


    "There might be some sort of danger in here..."


    The other party members started to hesitate.


    They were unfortunate during their journey into the mountain as they had encountered attacks from many wild beasts. Even some of the party members were injured and the majority of them were already holding grudges.


    "It will surely be dangerous. However, we are meant to deal with such dangers as a group, right?"


    Leader Cai was indeed an experienced leader. "Those who are injured will get twice the reward while those who would die would get compensation. I would not take a single cent of reward this time!"


    "You''re too noble, Leader Cai!"


    "Alright, I''ll give it to you!"


    With his words of encouragement, he had managed to bring up the morale of the group. Lorita stood by the side and rolled her eyes.


    She knew that Leader Cai was putting in so much effort, not for the reward but to establish good ties with the higher-ups. Even if he were to come up with his own money to pay the compensation, he would still benefit in the long run.


    "This cave seems to be a dead end..."


    A female party member, Wang Xin, stood at the entrance of the cave, closed her eyes and reported.


    He special ability was unique. Like a bat, she was able to use sonar to detect her surroundings.


    "Something''s not right. There''s movement!"


    Wang Xin''s expression changed. "It detected me! It''s extremely quick!"


    "Roar! Roar!"


    In the next moment, accompanying a tiger''s roar, there was a strong gust of wind coming from the cave.


    To everyone''s shock, a 3-metre long white mutated tiger appeared from the cave. It had a bloodied stench coming from it as it struck its paws towards Wang Xin.


    If its paw were to land on her, she would undoubtedly turn into a pile of gruesome flesh and blood.


    "Shadow Shield!"


    Lorita flicked her finger and a shadow shield appeared before Wang Xin.


    "Bang!"


    The tiger paw landed on the shield, creating a noise of impact which was uncomfortable to the ears.


    "Great!"


    Leader Cai cheered on and with the wave of his hands, a fireball flew towards the white tiger.


    "Roar! Roar!"


    The white tiger continued to roar and emitted a green soundwave from its mouth. Like a sharp blade, it sliced the fireball into two.


    "Shing!"


    The fireball was extinguished and Leader Cai took a few steps back. "Spiritual beast?"


    A normal mutated best would at most have increased strength and speed, which was nothing much.


    However, such an evolved beast which could use spiritual spells could already be considered as a demonic beast or spiritual beast and its wisdom could be compared to that of a human.


    "Mmm, that''s right!"


    Seeing the white tiger, Lorita''s eyes glistened. "What a coincidence! I''m looking to keep a white cat as a pet."


    "Roar! Roar!"


    Hearing Lorita''s words, there seemed to be anger in the white tiger''s eyes as it fiercely pounced towards Lorita.


    "Shadow Bind!"


    Lorita smiled as a huge shadow appeared behind her. Like a majestic dragon, the shadow slithered in the air above her before binding all four limbs of the tiger, trapping it in mid-air.


    "This is impossible..."


    Witnessing this scene, Wang Xin was shocked. "I''m afraid that such ability would be the fabled Murderous Grade, right? Leader, what kind of person did Chief Zhao introduce you to?"


    "He only mentioned that she was a daughter of a friend..."


    Leader Cai was relieved and afraid at the same time. "Chief Zhao is indeed influential. The friends he makes is on a totally different level from us."


    "Hey big cat! I''ve you''re still going to be naughty, my father will kill you for your meat..."


    Lorita appeared vexed. "My younger sister is also troubling too... can you imagine that she wants to be the elder sister now... she will surely torture you if she was here."


    Lorita mumbled to herself as she approached the tiger. Although she had an innocent smile on her face, it struck fear in those who were watching her, especially so for the tiger. In an instant, the tiger''s fur stood on its ends.


    "Therefore... you must be a good boy alright..."


    Lorita patted the white tiger on its head and did not seem as though she feared the tiger from leaping on her to releasing the sharp vibrations. Suddenly, the shadow behind Lorita started to shoot sharp shadow projectiles.


    "Whoosh!"


    The shadow projectiles flew through an old tree trunk before blood was seen spewing everywhere.


    "Mmm? Someone is stalking us, be alert!"


    Seeing this scene, Leader Cai shouted and kept everyone on their toes.


    What had changed the most in the past ten years since the second occurrence would be the danger of the wilderness and the conflicts within the group.


    Leader Cai knew that in the wilderness, if two groups with bad blood were to meet, they would try and kill each other and no one would know about it.


    Although he was all along a peace-loving person, he knew that he still had to keep his guard up.


    "Rumble!"


    The tree trunk fell to the ground, revealing a corpse behind which was sliced into two. It was a westerner with distinct facial features.


    "A westerner?!"


    Wang Xin screamed before glaring at Lorita.


    ''Could this be because of Lorita?''


    Witnessing this scene, Leader Cai was beginning to suspect something as well. However, he could not dismiss any of the group members for no good reason and with that, he started to feel conflicted.


    "Whoosh! Whoosh!"


    At this point in time, a fleeting silhouette came before them.


    "God loves the people of the earth!"


    The person in front was a person wearing a red bishop gown. He was an old westerner who wore a silver pendant by his neck.


    "This person seems like the red-robed archbishop from the East Continent."


    Lorita gazed at the group of people who seemed to come from a church. "Why are you people here?"


    "We are instructed by God to come here, for the future of the humans."


    The red-robed archbishop gave a vague and mysterious response.


    "Hehe... Why is the God of the East Continent getting involved with the issues of other continents?"


    Lorita snickered.


    "God... is everywhere!"


    The archbishop took a step forward and gave a solemn look.


    "Rumble!"


    A thick holy light started to emit from his body, giving the people standing around him a sense of pressure as though a mountain was leaning on them.


    "I admire your courage!"


    Leader Cai was about to go on his knees but Lorita seemed unaffected. "How dare you enter the country illegally and still be this boastful in Chinese Country..."


    "For the glory of the God, we can sacrifice our lives!"


    The archbishop spoke in a singing tone and the holy light from his body started to intensify, forming the silhouette which resembled an angel.


    "D*mn this holy strength..."


    Lorita started to display signs of discomfort and took a step back.


    If they were comparing combat power alone, she would be much more powerful than the old man in front of her. However, the spiritual aura of the holy light was the perfect counter to shadow and darkness type special abilities, which made her powers restricted.


    "D*mn you old man, what do you want exactly?"


    "I am instructed by the Lord to retrieve something..."


    The archbishop came towards the cave and had a look of suspicion. "Why is this place open?"


    "What open? Are you confused? It was always here!"


    Lorita scoffed.


    "It seems like you don''t know about it as well!"


    There was a condescending look on the archbishop''s face. "Since it is as such, we need to remain here to wait for it to naturally activate itself. The few of you will have to remain here as well and will not be allowed to spread the news out."


    Leader Cai looked back and frowned, preventing his group members from voicing our their objections.


    He could feel a sense of danger in these crazed believers, and all of them were highly-skilled.


    To achieve their goals, these believers might kill everyone they encounter.


    "Old fogey, you think too highly of yourself!"


    Lorita smiled sheepishly and threw here shadow hand in mid-air.


    "Roar! Roar!"


    The white tiger started to roar as it was being flung towards the group of believers from the church.


    "Shadow Ambush!"


    Under Lorita''s control, long black needles started to appear in every believer''s shadow before flying towards them.


    "Whoosh! Whoosh!"


    Two well-built men on horses grunted as they fell towards the ground.


    However, that was all.


    As soon as the thin needles approached the old archbishop, it melted like a sandcastle being engulfed by the waves.


    After seeing his followers fall to the ground, the archbishop was infuriated. "How dare you ambush the judge of the church? I, Ingres, shall find you... guilty!"


    "Holy spells?"


    Lorita paid no attention to the rambling old man. However, as soon as Ingres ''found'' her guilty, she could feel that the air around her came to a halt in that instant. A powerful pressure landed on her body and all she could recall was the Church''s holy spells mentioned by Fang Yuan in the past and embodied the power of mantra.


    "Since you are a non-believer, you need to be cleansed!"


    The archbishop remained expressionless. He took a step forward and stuck out a finger.


    "Rumble!"


    On his fingertip, a fireball started to grow in size and it was as though it could melt through anything.


    The white tiger seemed to have sensed danger as it started to kneel on the ground, afraid to twitch a single muscle.

 438 Secre

    The fearsome might of the platinum-coloured holy flames incinerated the shadow immediately and arrived in front of Lorita.


    "Fwooo!"


    A spark of holy flame caught onto Lorita. Lorita''s silhouette ignited like a piece of paper at once as the flames burnt.


    Seeing such, the red-robed archbishop remained rather emotionless. Instead, he had a slightly ugly expression on his face.


    "Tsk tsk... what a nasty old fellow who wants to burn such a cute girl like me alive..."


    At a shadow beside it, Lorita walked out of the shadow and patted her chest. She looked like she was still rather shook and continued, "Luckily... I learned some tricks from my daddy."


    Unfortunately, that was all she managed to learn.


    After spending close to 10 years, she finally forcefully managed to understand and utilise some properties of shadows. She could create a few shadow clones of sorts.


    In Fang Yuan''s eyes, she did not have much potential and was not very capable.


    "Ahhh!"


    As Lorita evaded the holy flames, she launched her counterattack at the same time.


    Large amounts of shadows gathered from the shadows of those from the Church and turned into all sorts of attacks.


    The screams of those from the Church could be heard and a few of them collapsed.


    "Sinner!"


    Such a scene obviously made the archbishop enraged.


    A cross-shaped glow appeared in his eyes and the shape of the angel behind him became clearer as he reached out his palm.


    "Holy! The mighty God of Light, you created the world and gave light to it!"


    In the surroundings, faint voices of hymns could be heard and a platinum coloured light shined as though it was subduing space.


    "Ahh!"


    In the shadows, a few Lorita''s that looked exactly the same were squeezed out and exploded, leaving behind only the real body.


    "Impossible..."


    Lorita was forced to a corner and beads of sweat appeared on her face.


    "A red-robed archbishop from the Curia is so strong?"


    Last time, when she was with Lei at the Blue Star Alliance, she provoked the Curia once and dealt several staggering blows to them.


    "I come with God''s will!"


    The old guy muttered again and swiped his hand with no hesitation.


    In the skies, the angel did the exact same action. The platinum-coloured holy light solidified into a cage, as though it was a piece of amber that trapped insects.


    "Wind!"


    Just as a look of despair appeared on Lorita''s face, a green coloured tempest appeared beside her. It turned into a dense storm of wind blades and with just one whirl, the giant hand of the platinum angel largely disappeared.


    "Heresy! Another one?"


    The red-robed archbishop eyes darted right past Leader Cai; he did not regard him as a human at all.


    "Archbishop Ingres! It has been a while since we have met!"


    Another group of people arrived and they were all dressed as mercenaries. The person leading them was a well-built Caucasian man with a gust of strong wind surrounding him.


    "Golden Eagle Federation''s secret agent, Tempest Jani?"


    Ingres furrowed his brows, "Mere mortals, how dare you all covet the treasures left behind by God? Be careful of the flames of greed, for they might scorch your soul and burn it to nothing!"


    "No matter what, this lady, Lorita, is not someone you can touch."


    The person who came was indeed the Jani who was defeated by Fang Yuan last time. However, compared to 10 years ago, Jani now appeared much more matured, there was also an indescribable quality that could be sensed from his body.


    "Hey! Tempest Jani... you will be no match for him!"


    Lorita pouted her mouth and reminded Jani snappily.


    "Of course, I know the Archbishop''s strength, but what if it''s like this..."


    Jani clapped his hands. Behind him, numerous mercenaries took out their instruments and aimed them at Ingres.


    "God''s energy, the power of faith, actually still requires spiritual droplets as a medium to propagate through electromagnetic waves... these jammers are the federation''s latest technologies."


    "Toot! Toot!"


    Indeed, under the blinding red lights, Ingres'' expression changed at once. The angel behind him become much more illusory.


    "Tempest!"


    Seeing such, Jani raised two fingers and snapped them slightly.


    "Hruuu! Hruuuuu!"


    Strong winds raged and they were as sharp as a blade. The illusory angel was swept into it at once.


    "Hehe... little brother Jani, can''t believe you have such surprises after not seeing you for a few years..."


    Lorita''s expression did not relax much at all. After all, Jani was from the government of the federation. She did not have much ties with him and she even fiercely fought with him a few times before.


    "After gathering all the prominent scientists in the federation, ten years was like a day, there were bound to be results and rewards!"


    Jani shrugged his shoulders and added, "Miss Lorita, it has been a really long time since I saw you I wonder how Mister Lei is feeling lately?"


    "That pervert hasn''t died yet, that''s it!"


    Lorita rolled her eyes and continued, "You saved me because of him, right?"


    "Of course, I must show some respect to the number one mutant in the world," Jani replied in a justified tone.


    Leader Cai and Wang Xin who were beside were stupefied after listening to them.


    "The world''s number one mutant?"


    "Even the federation has to be respectful?"


    As Wang Xin mumbled, she glanced at Lorita with disbelief, "Her adoptive father is such a big deal?"


    "Even the federation''s secret agent has to respect him, looks like it''s true..."


    Leader Cai''s eyes lit up and then turned dark, "Unfortunately... I missed the best opportunity."


    "Rumble!"


    Suddenly, the situation changed again.


    Under the loud noise, the angel managed to escape. Ingres walked forward with a solemn expression on his face, "You all from the Golden Eagle Federation, what is your purpose of coming here?"


    "You are able to forcefully break free from my tornado?"


    Jani laid his eyes on the pendant hanging on the archbishop''s chest.


    "You have stored some holy energy from faith in your holy equipment in advance? The Curia is really giving their all this time around."


    Faith was gathered from the beliefs of many and accumulated on the God. God then gifted the energies to the servants under him.


    Even though it was a religion, they were just especially loved by their God in this area. Thus, their real strengths were actually not from their own bodies.


    The federation''s instruments obviously had the use of blocking such a channel.


    However, red-robed archbishop Ingres was different.


    The holy equipment on his chest had already stored insurmountable amounts of energies from faith. Currently, it could surge out directly and he was now enveloped by a layer of pure and holy light. The angel above his head was materialised even more and emanated a grand and solemn might.


    "Miss Lorita, let''s join hands!"


    Jani assessed the situation and immediately made such a decision.


    "No need..."


    Lorita looked at the skies and suddenly grinned ear to ear.


    "Eh?"


    Jani raised his head and saw two black spots reaching above his head in an instant. They turned into the silhouettes of two persons and slowly landed from the skies.


    "Crackle!"


    Immediately, all the mutant''s expression changed for the worse.


    They felt the special abilities in their bodies disappear and they panickedly discovered they had totally become a normal person.


    Furthermore, even the angel in mid-air let out a shriek and exploded at once, turning into specks of light.


    "Impossible!"


    Ingres'' expression changed drastically.


    If Jani''s actions just now were just blocking the channel of faith, now, all the holy energy in Ingres'' body were being dissipated. It was extremely overbearing and forceful!


    "That special ability... is that from Angel?" Jani thought.


    Jani looked at Fang Yuan and the teenage girl descending from the sky. Accompanied with a smile on his face, he welcomed, "So it''s Mister Lei and Miss Angel! I represent the federation and send my regards."


    "Golden Eagle Federation''s secret agent?"


    Fang Yuan looked at Jani with an odd look on his face.


    Jani appeared really respectful and did not have any tinge of awkwardness in his expressions.


    Fang Yuan could not believe Jani was not suspecting his identity.


    At the battle in Mountain Ocean City''s willow tree previously, these secret agents were badly defeated and even lost one of their men. But now, Jani seemed to have forgotten about all these past events.


    Whether Jani really did not realise Fang Yuan''s real identity or was acting like he did not know him, Fang Yuan felt Jani''s character was not bad and he might be better than Lorita in the future.


    "People from Golden Eagle Federation and Blue Star Alliance..."


    Fang Yuan had his arms behind his back, surveyed the entire surroundings and thought, "They arrived so quickly! Did they rush over with jet planes immediately after receiving the news yesterday night?"


    Even Chinese Country was inferior in having such an ability to travel through continents so quickly.


    "Ingres, can you tell me what exactly is your Church after?"


    Fang Yuan looked at the archbishop with a hint of expectation in his eyes.


    "This question... shall be answered by me!"


    Suddenly, red-robed archbishop Ingres'' eyes lost his gaze at once. A golden light was emitted from his eyes instead.


    "Rumble!"


    Holy light descended again. That dense and holy energy was even more intense than just now.


    Angel''s face turned ashen at once and she felt her spell-restricting field was broken. A powerful will had descended directly on Ingres'' body.


    "You are the Church''s God? Or should I say... the Seraph of Light awakened from the Heaven yesterday?"


    Fang Yuan looked at Ingres and instead saw an angel with three pairs of wings.


    "It''s me!"


    The seraph nodded his head slightly, "You can call me... Farquhar!"


    Angel''s special ability was to restrict spell and expulse all spiritual droplets. Even cultivators from the Middle Continent that had techniques that were subpar would become a totally useless person in front of her.


    However, this Farquhar was evidently different.


    He had the same power of the arena of a 4th Tier mutant and he forcefully broke free from the spell restrictions.


    With such capabilities, he would be a legitimate deity in the ancient times!


    "Farquhar! My name is Lei!"


    Fang Yuan blinked and continued, "I''m not sure why you, who have just awakened, would rush here so quickly!"


    "In order to inherit the inheritance of other deities!"


    Farquhar was very cautious facing a powerful person at the same tier, "The return of the Spiritual King Comet also has its cycle. Why would I want to lose all my powers and become a mere mortal? Why would I seal myself and wait for the next 1,000 years to arrive?"


    "Oh? What you mean is?"


    Fang Yuan blinked his eyes and was interested.


    "I found it..."


    Farquhar scanned the people around him in the surroundings. Immediately, all the mutants below the Calamity Grade lost the gaze in their eyes and could no longer hear anything.


    "I found the way to maintain the peak amount of spiritual energy forever! Not only me, the other deities in Middle Continent and West Continent had also researched about it. I have awakened in order to gather the power of everyone to complete all these and make the entire world belong to us forever!"


    Seraph Farquhar spoke in a calm manner, revealing a shocking secret.

 439 White Jade Capital

    Thousands of years ago in Planet Earth, spiritual energy already ebbed and flowed.


    From this cycle, supernormal beings were born, and they managed to study their origins in great detail, including the existence of the Spiritual King Comet.


    "It belongs to us?''


    Fang Yuan smiled playfully.


    "Who exactly does "us" refer to?"


    "The deities of each region, of course!"


    Farquhar answered without hesitation.


    "More than a thousand years ago, the deities of the world foresaw calamity and decided to seal themselves. Now that I''m awake, I expect them to gradually revive themselves too."


    Fang Yuan could only think about the half plane of merpeople.


    Although the merpeople had failed as a race, the world was huge, and there might be remnants.


    ''A pity...regardless of how much is Devoured, no breakthrough can be achieved...even with the help of the 3rd occurrence¡­"


    Fang Yuan sighed quietly and looked towards Farquhar.


    "So what you mean is that in this half plane, there are elders from the Middle Continent?"


    "Half plane? This is a nice term. We usually call it ''Heaven''. Staying here will greatly reduce the outflow of life energy...you Immortal Cultivators from the Middle Continent like to call it the ''Hollow and Prosperous Land''. A few might actually awaken, but definitely not here!"


    Farquhar was confident.


    "This line of cultivators have already made another choice, and have collectively risen to a higher realm."


    ''Ah, so it''s a person who can''t wait to lay his hands on the inheritance.''


    Fang Yuan was disdainful.


    ''A bunch of trash. No wonder they are deities of the Curia¡­''


    "Mister Lei. The inheritance in here is extremely important to us. What do you think of our suggestion?"


    Farquhar looked at Fang Yuan, his expression unchanging.


    "How do you people intend to preserve the world''s spiritual energy?"


    Fang Yuan asked after a period of silence.


    "Simple. Since our spiritual energy come from the Spiritual King Comet, we just have to bring it to Planet Earth and keep it here forever. I call it ''Operation Grabstar'', and the crux of the plan involves seizing the comet and making it our second moon. Or we could bring it down to the ground."


    Farquhar made it sound like a walk in the park.


    "Bring it to the ground? You intend to destroy half of the civilisation?"


    Fang Yuan shook his head.


    "Even if it becomes a satellite, there would be severe repercussions. Millions of lives would be lost."


    "For the sake of a glorious future, we must suffer temporary loss. When the devotees do die, I will fulfill my promise and send their souls to Heaven."


    Farquhar said it all with a straight face.


    "So...there is something you need in the Hollow and Prosperous Land?"


    "Yes, that bloodline specialises in the array techniques of the Middle Continent, and would greatly complement Operation Grabstar...tell me your answer right now."


    The seraph looked into Fang Yuan''s eyes.


    "The true way cannot be taught!"


    Fang Yuan''s lips curled up slightly at the corners.


    It was Farquhar''s turn to be surprised.


    "What does that mean?"


    "I neither support it nor object to it¡­"


    Fang Yuan continued to smile.


    "I won''t help you all, but I won''t ruin your plans either. I do want to witness the fourth occurrence. I want to see for myself what will happen to Planet Earth after Operation Grabstar."


    "Many thanks!"


    Farquhar was silent for a minute. For a being of his level, he spoke from his heart and had no need to lie.


    "But...the Hollow and Prosperous Land is mine!"


    Having said that, Fang Yuan twirled the jade key about his hand.


    "I see...the key was always in your hands!"


    Farquhar nodded.


    "Since you''ve agreed to not interfere with my plans, I can compromise¡­"


    After all, this belonged to the Middle Continent. Farquhar had rushed over here in the hope of lucking out while the other beings were still asleep and sealed up.


    But now that he had met Fang Yuan, a cultivator of the Magic-splitting stage, he decided to give in.


    It was not worth it to go against a being of the same level for a slight chance of inheriting an array technique.


    "Also, after everything is in order, I would like you to come to visit the Holy Mountain...my plan will benefit all supernormal beings."


    Farquhar was self-assured.


    After he had said his piece, Farquhar disappeared with a burst of golden light.


    "This¡­"


    The crowd began to regain their senses. They looked around disorientedly.


    "Your holiness!?"


    The members of the Church were terrified and they tried to help the fallen archbishop to his feet.


    "Sir...I''ll take my leave!"


    The archbishop stood up laboriously and bowed to Fang Yuan before walking away purposefully. He seemed to have received an order from Farquhar.


    "What? You people from the Golden Eagle Federation are also interested in the treasures of the Middle Continent?"


    When the Church members had all left, Fang Yuan glanced at Jani with a raised eyebrow.


    "Of course...not!"


    Jani laughed awkwardly and took a few steps back.


    With Angel present, he was no stronger than a normal person. He would most certainly be killed if he said anything wrong.


    "If that''s the case, get lost!"


    Fang Yuan''s expression was ice cold.


    "You¡­"


    Behind Jani, several indignant mutants raised their firearms. However, before they could do anything else, their heads exploded into clouds of red.


    "I don''t want to repeat myself."


    Fang Yuan enunciated his words slowly and chillingly.


    "Alright, we''ll leave now!"


    Jani was sweating profusely and gritted his teeth. He gave the order to retreat.


    "At his word, the Church and Federation retreated¡­"


    Leader Cai swallowed. Upon noticing that Fang Yuan had looked over, he began to stutter.


    "This...great...great sir, we shall leave immediately!"


    "How can other countries covet the prized treasures of the Chinese country?"


    Fang Yuan grinned.


    "If you people have nothing to do, guard the frontiers for me. Rewards will be given according!"


    "We will do our best for you, Sir!"


    Leader Cai responded promptly.


    "Excellent!"


    Fang Yuan beckoned to the white tiger, and it went over to him obediently. It had become a tame cat.


    "Both of you sisters, stay outside!"


    He came to the mouth of the cave and commanded the white tiger to lead the way. Then he strode in.


    The passage was a short one and before long, they had come to the other end of the cave. A patch of dried grass lay on the floor, with the imprint of a pot''s bottom on it. Lying around were scraps of half-eaten food.


    "Open!"


    Fang Yuan could not be bothered with these minor details and after casting another sweeping gaze, he took out the jade key.


    "Kaboom!"


    The surrounding walls began to shake and a small depression appeared in the stone. When Fang Yuan pressed the jade key into the hollow, it fused into the stone and radiated purple light that swam all over the walls.


    Layers of stone fell off from the walls to reveal a glittering amethyst surface.


    "Another half plane!"


    Fang Yuan nodded and used his spiritual will to check for danger before stepping forward.


    "Buzz!"


    Heaven and earth collided and space-time was warped.


    When he scanned his surroundings once more, everything around him had changed.


    A palace of gold and jade stood before him. Surrounding it was a mist that seeped into the vast grounds and turned it all into spiritual fields. Everything came together to create the basic structure of a Hollow and Prosperous Land.


    On the palace walls of white jade, Fang Yuan could see the name of this place.


    "White Jade Capital?"


    In this world, there were myths and legends of the White Jade Capital too. It was similar to talks of Heaven in the Western world. These were places where supernormal beings inhabited.


    Except that this great building and the vast fields did not seem to have any signs of life.


    "Just as I thought...no one here at all, not even the remains¡­"


    Fang Yuan explored several of the meditation rooms and alchemical chambers. He found that the equipment was arranged nicely and there were no hints of unrest. He began to understand.


    "They''ve all broken into the void and left?"


    To answer his questions, he headed straight to the main palace. He broke through the 36 restrictions guarding the place and found the heart of the structure.


    "It should be here¡­"


    Even after thousands of years, the restrictions could still repair themselves and Fang Yuan had to continue to keep an eye on them. He was sure that this Sect had managed to produce cultivators of the 4th tier and above.


    When he had destroyed the last piece of restriction, he walked into the great hall.


    99 dragon carvings curled around the shimmering purple gold pillars and illuminated the hall. Still, there was no one.


    A lone white scroll levitated silently in midair.


    Fang Yuan muttered some words under his breath and a string of his mind power made its way up to the scroll.


    "We, the Jade Palace Faction¡­"


    In the next moment, a large amount of mental information assailed his consciousness.


    A normal person would have suffered a terrible headache from such a huge input, but Fang Yuan was experienced and immediately began to sort out and categorise the information. A message caught his eye.


    "The person who is leaving this message behind is the Son of the Jade Palace, the leader of the Jade Palace Faction. In one of the reincarnations of the past thousand years, their elders awoke from their sealed state and opened up the sect to the world. The Jade Palace Faction soon became immensely influential and produced countless legendary pugilists. However, following the fading of spiritual energy, several of the elders were unwilling to seal themselves up again and were greatly weakened as a result. Thus, the entire organisation voted to break into the void and leave this world¡­"


    Fang Yuan did not know what to feel.


    This sort of departure involved physical teleportation. They had no fixed destination and could only drift about in the void. This was an extreme form of exile and there was but a small chance of making it out alive.


    "Also...it seems like the Jade Palace Faction had already investigated the fading of spiritual energy and were unwilling to support Operation Grabstar. They decided to leave instead, but why?"


    Although the scroll left behind many detailed legacies, Fang Yuan was still intrigued by this fundamental question.


    At his level of power, formulae were of no interest to him. Only the ideas of physical teleportation and breaking into the void were worthy of his consideration.

 440 Eschaton

    How did spiritual energy come about?


    Originally, Fang Yuan attributed it to the Spiritual King Comet.


    However, after Fang Yuan received the array inheritance from Jade Palace Faction and saw the path they chose, he wavered.


    "Who knows, maybe the Spiritual King Comet is just a harbinger or an omen... I''m afraid the truth behinds the scene might be beyond my imagination..."


    Fang Yuan mumbled to himself and unknowingly tightened his grip on the silk book.


    Actually, the array Jade Palace Faction developed to target the Spiritual King Comet felt familiar to Fang Yuan.


    And that peculiarity was shockingly from Sage Changli''s 6 and 9 Array.


    "The 6 Extremes Earth Shattering Array and 9 Heavenly Sky Net Array were the fruits of Sage Changli''s lifelong labour and he has never visited this realm before, I guess all roads lead to Rome?"


    "Spiritual energy... realm, really interesting!"


    Fang Yuan sat on the seat of the head of the Jade Palace Faction. After ruminating for a long time, a smile finally appeared on his face.


    Outside the secret cave, Bull''s Head Mountain.


    "Adoptive father?!"


    Light shined and Fang Yuan appeared. Lorita and Angel immediately went beside him and hugged his arms.


    "Eh, this hollow is the White Jade Capital in the skies, where the Jade Palace Faction based themselves in last time..."


    Fang Yuan waved his hand and a door of light appeared.


    "You all can go in and look for your own opportunities!"


    At such a level of cultivation, Fang Yuan did not have many desires. Even the source of spiritual energy inside the hollow was dispensable to him.


    If Fang Yuan did not break through to the 5th Grade of his Elemental Spiritual Energy Cultivation Spell, form his area and then devour more spiritual energy, the ultimate outcome of his body would be that it would explode and die.


    "What?"


    Leader Cai and Wang Xin were delighted after hearing such, "We are included too?"


    "Of course, after all, this cave was left behind by the ancestors of our Chinese Country for us descendants..."


    Fang Yuan smiled and answered them, he felt as though he had awakened his talent of being a wealth granting child.


    In actual fact, not only did he not take any of the treasures inside the cave, he even left behind many things. The things he left behind were all the wild thoughts about spiritual energy techniques he silently came up with these few years.


    If any fated person were to pick it up, the outcome would be... Hehe...


    "Also, regarding the mutation of the spiritual beasts here, they are most probably due to the vapourisation of spiritual energy from inside this cave. It would be no problem after I seal it again..."


    Fang Yuan continued, "Although I cannot resolve the danger of beasts injuring people, your mission is completed."


    "Thank you very much, Sir!"


    Leader Cai thanked profusely and was slightly puzzled, "Why can''t the dangers be completely removed even after removing its source?"


    "This is naturally due to the spread of the original influence..."


    Fang Yuan gave a cold laughter, "Previously, the increase of ferocious beasts in this area was due to the spiritual energy vapourising from the cave. But from this year onwards, the concentration of spiritual energy on our planet, on land, in the skies and around us has spiked. Thus, more and more beasts would appear and that small village at the foot of the mountain would be gone sooner or later..."


    In actual fact, the situation was worse than that.


    Concentrated amounts of spiritual droplets could even interfere with firearms. More seriously, it could even influence nuclear reactions.


    If the powers of technology continued to decline, supernormal beings would rise above and gain the powers to crush everything.


    Fang Yuan''s gaze deepened as he thought of what Farquhar said.


    Such a realm where spiritual energy was resurging was like a feast to them. But to the normal people or even normal organisation forces, it was truly like a calamity.


    ¡­...


    Golden Eagle Federation, West Continent.


    On the blue seas, a naval fleet was cutting across the waves in high-spirits like a sharp sword.


    Even though the federation was met with a rare massive flood that flooded over half the country, the people of the federation who were at the peak of civilisation still rebuilt their country in ten years with their strong, pioneering and relentless spirits. Now, the Golden Eagle Federation was prospering. Not only did they fully recovered from the disaster, they were now making use of the third occurrence and the changes in spiritual energy to increase their influence and powers by forcefully deploying troops to aid smaller countries.


    On the deck of a battleship, the navy Commanding Officer''s chest was emblazoned with shiny insignias. He was holding a telescope and looking at the calm seas.


    "Commanding Officer!"


    Suddenly, an orderly soldier went forward and saluted him, "From the latest news, Westpost Country has already agreed to accept all of our federation''s conditions. From today onwards, they will hand over Panda Harbour for our navy to set up our forward operating base. They will also bear all our military fees and their only request would be to assist them in annihilating the wild beasts on their soils! Currently, the president''s orders have already been passed down."


    "No problem!"


    The white-haired Commanding Officer''s face was red with glee, "Immediately send down my command, our entire fleet will rush over to Panda Harbour at full speed... those mixed-blood mutts can''t even keep their own countries'' soil and it''s good that they handed them to our Golden Eagle Federation, haha..."


    At this moment, he even sincerely thanked God for allowing the spiritual energy calamity to continue. He was even hoping for the day when other middle-tiered countries in West Continent could not withstand it anymore too. They would have to resort to begging the Golden Eagle Federation for aid and thus, they would willingly sign unfair contracts that ceded their land to the federation.


    "With the current situation continuing, only three years is needed... No, in two years, Golden Eagle Federation would be able to unite the powers of the entire West Continent and become the sole overlord of the entire world?"


    The Commanding Officer was very pleased and was thinking if he should host a banquet that night to celebrate with some champagne and steak.


    "Warning!"


    Suddenly, a piercing alarm rang, "Our radar has picked up a giant lifeform ahead!"


    "A whale? Just chase it away or give it two charges of the naval mine..."


    The Commanding Officer instructed as per usual. However, he suddenly realised, "Wait... if it is a normal whale, why is there a warning?"


    "Rumble!"


    Suddenly, a loud noise suddenly erupted from a cruiser near the outer edge of the fleet. It then exploded while sparks and flames flew.


    "What happened to White Pigeon Cruiser?"


    "We were attacked by an unknown force!"


    "Was it a marine beast?"


    The Commanding Officer grabbed onto a pole tightly and muttered.


    Although mutants with special abilities had already appeared for more than ten years, the biggest trouble this invincible naval fleet had ever met on the seas was merely an enormous whale that was over 300 feet long. In the end, the whale was still blasted by a cannon.


    "D*mned marine creature! Use the water mine and kill it!"


    The Commanding Officer ordered angrily. Immediately, an intense tremor suddenly spread from the deck and almost caused him to fall.


    "Putt! Putt!"


    Two black coloured octopuses with tentacles 300 feet long emerged from the seas. The tentacles were humongous and they were like the palms of the God of Sea.


    "Rumble!"


    Their tentacles were full of suction cups and they grabbed onto a battleship and began to shake it violently.


    As the tall waves crashed, a gigantic black shadow could be vaguely be seen hidden in the sea. It was as though their numerous tentacles were demons that came from hell as they continuously caused death.


    "A giant octopus that is over hundreds of yards long... Oh Lord..."


    The Commanding Officer shouted in shock as he felt as though the entire ocean had changed and he no longer recognised it.


    "Hiss hiss..."


    However, things beyond his imagination had only just started.


    Accompanied by a hissing sound, a 300-yard long giant sea snake sprang out from the waters and immediately coiled tightly around one of the battleships. Large amounts of gas vapourised from its scales and in a few seconds, everyone on the ship had lost their fighting strength.


    "Bang!"


    There was yet another banging noise. Another destroyer was surrounded and attacked by a group of tiger sharks. The tiger sharks were over 30 feet long. Moments later, the entire ship was torn into shreds and blood dyed the ocean surface red.


    "What exactly is happening? Why did the seas become so dangerous all of a sudden?"


    The Commanding Officer rolled his eyes, "No... These are not beasts, they have intelligence! They were hiding deep inside the ocean for over ten years and only reappeared now!


    To humans, this was an unfortunate news.


    As for the Commanding Officer of the ace battleship, he had the luck to withstand to the last moments of the fleet to witness the appearance of a sea dragon from deep within the ocean!


    "Roar! Roar!"


    This was a monster that was similar to the dragon from Middle Continent''s mythology. It was about 300 feet long and the scales on its body were like blue gemstones that shined brightly. It had huge claws on its body and a single horn on its forehead.


    The ferocious and evil marine beasts immediately gave way to the dragon after it appeared as a sign of submission.


    It straightened its body and its anthropomorphic dragon eyes flashed with a hint of disdain. It opened its dragon mouth and spat out a beam of blue coloured light.


    "Kaboom!"


    No matter how sturdy the deck was, under the beam of light, the deck exploded and drove the entire battleship to desolation.


    "The king of marine beasts? It is accumulating its strength, is it preparing to attack land? Haha... how ironic..."


    The Commanding Officer laughed crazily, "I have never lost to a human in a naval war, but now, I''m dying to a monster instead..."


    Under the immense sparks and flames, the entire battleship was obliterated and the Commanding Officer''s body disappeared.


    "Roar!"


    As the giant blue sea dragon watched, he let out a satisfied roar. Other giant marine beasts also immediately followed it towards a harbour at Golden Eagle Federation.


    Behind them, there were countless marine beasts with bloodthirsty looks in their eyes...


    ...


    Blue Star Alliance.


    "Due to the insurrection of marine beasts, all ocean routes are stopped?"


    On top of Holy Mountain, the Pope looked at the intelligence on his hands and remained silent.


    "Reports of beast attacks keep popping up everywhere. There are even cities that have lost contact?"


    "Raphael!"


    A holy light descended and turned into a seraph.


    "Lord!"


    The Pope immediately kneeled down and saluted.


    "The counterattack of nature has already begun... let our believers stay far away from the forests and seas. Stock up on food and let them prepare to tide through this worldly calamity. This is a test given by God, only those who are the most staunch and resolute can go to Heaven..."


    "Understood, my Lord!"


    Farquhar words were holy prophecies. The Pope stood up with a solemn expression. "Everybody... send down Lord''s decree to the pastors and believers!"


    As the Pope watched the bishops leave respectfully, his face appeared calm. However, he secretly sighed inside his heart.


    God''s words made him feel a tinge of uneasiness.


    To humans, such a crisis was almost doomsday.

 441 Relocation

    "Something''s wrong!"


    Leader Cai and his team had also discovered something was amiss after happily returning from Bull''s Head Mountain.


    "Woong! Woong!"


    "Woong! Woong!"


    Noises of wings fluttering rapidly could be heard from the small town in front. Large amounts of black dots gathered and they looked like dark clouds.


    Faint screams were also heard from the town, it was evident that the town had already become a living hell.


    "Moo! Moo!"


    Suddenly, a building collapsed and a gigantic cow charged out of the house.


    Originally, the cow''s body was rather normal. However, after it roared angrily, its body enlarged greatly. Even its hide became much thicker and there was a layer of sparkling substance on it. Evidently, its special ability was awakened.


    In spite of that, part of the "dark clouds" in the skies still flew towards the cow and landed on its back.


    The giant cow shrieked numerous times and lost its footing, falling to the ground. It then rapidly became emaciated and almost became a set of skeleton in a blink of the eye.


    "Those are... mosquitoes?"


    Lorita''s face turned ghastly as she saw such a scene, "Those are mutated blood-sucking mosquitoes!"


    "Can''t believe nature has evolved so quickly in one night..."


    Fang Yuan remembered that the last two occurrences caused many normal animals to accumulate sufficient resources to undergo mutation. Thus, before the third occurrence, they were just one step away from mutating and this explained why ultimately, after last night, many demons appeared.


    ''It''s already this bad on land... what about the deep oceans that even I feared?"


    As Fang Yuan thought of such, he could not help but sigh.


    Evidently, the third occurrence brought about the evolution of all living matters on Planet Earth. However, such a thing was not something to be happy about for humans.


    "Woong! Woong!"


    After that clump of dark clouds sucked dry the mutated cow, they saw Fang Yuan and his group. It was as though they discovered their new targets and immediately darted over.


    Upon closer look, the group realised those mosquitoes were the size of a thumb. Some of them were even as large as a fist. Their bellies were full and swollen, akin to a blood-red crystal.


    "Detestable!"


    Leader Cai shouted in anger as he opened his palms and threw a huge fireball towards the dark clouds. The fireball exploded and amber flames raged, burning numerous mosquitoes into ashes.


    "Woong! Woong!"


    Even though Leader Cai had such a special ability, it did not do much against the humongous cloud of mosquitoes. The dark clouds above the town split as a whole clump of them swarmed over, enveloping the skies above the group of them and causing them to feel nervous and fearful.


    "Quick! Let''s go!"


    A single mosquito could be killed with a slap by a normal person. However, such a large torrential swarm of mosquitoes even struck fear in Lorita and she exclaimed, "Daddy! Save me!"


    "You are acting, right?"


    Fang Yuan rolled his eyes and reassured, "Don''t be scared, just walk right through it!"


    Fang Yuan opened up his Spiritual Arena. Any mosquitoes within 10,000 feet of it would fall to the ground immediately and die.


    Not before long, a layer of carcass piled on the group. The thick and dense layer of black specks and blood mixed together was very nauseating.


    "Woong! Woong!"


    After the cloud of mosquitoes lost many of their fellow mosquitoes, the swarm of mosquitoes immediately retreated back to its main cloud of mosquitoes above the small town. They then moved towards to east slowly as they obviously did not want to suffer any more losses.


    "Thank you very much, mister!"


    Leader Cai immediately thanked Fang Yuan. He then wiped the cold sweat of his face, "This is the second time you have saved us..."


    "Leader!"


    Suddenly, Wang Xin tugged Leader Cai''s sleeve. Her ashen face was looking towards where the cloud of mosquitoes was leaving to.


    "That is... towards Banyan Tree City''s downtown!"


    "Oh no!"


    Leader Cai bid farewell and immediately left urgently with his teammates.


    They were rushing to relocate and protect their families. Although before they left, they still looked at Fang Yuan as though they wanted to say something to him. However, they did not say anything in the end.


    "Hmm, still rather smart of them!"


    Fang Yuan raised his head slightly as he watched them.


    "If they requested anything more from me, I would have broken their legs and left them here!"


    "Daddy, you''re so bad!"


    Lorita''s eyeballs turned and she then smiled sweetly, "This mosquito swarm isn''t moving that fast, with their speed, they still can reach in time to relocate their families!"


    "Yea, it''s time for us to return too!"


    Fang Yuan snapped his fingers and the three of them lifted off the ground and rushed to the skies with astonishing speed at once. They then flew towards Banyan Tree City.


    "Hmm¡­.. looks like Zhao Daniu isn''t dumb, he has already begun to prepare to fight back and relocate..."


    As they flew over the city''s downtown, they could see a long line of traffic slowly leaving Banyan Tree City. Furthermore, at the side closer to the blood-sucking mosquitoes, there were soldiers and artilleries stationed there, ready to shoot down the mosquitoes.


    "Eh?"


    At the courtyard house they stayed at, there was a person there that made Angel exclaim.


    "Lin Ming?"


    Angel slowly descended from the skies and looked at the high school student that had red eyes.


    "It''s me..."


    Lin Ming''s mouth was agape like a toad, "I... I saw the emergency warning and came over to tell you all to relocate quickly... Also, I finally completed the 9th Stance... You are a mutant?"


    When he saw the mysterious shop owner and her two daughters descend from the skies, Lin Ming had already guessed his identity. At the same time, he felt a tinge of anguish in his heart.


    If a person completed the 9th Stance, it meant that he was rather talented and could possibly awaken his own special ability or cultivate Daoist spells. However, it would still not be comparable to a mutant that had already awakened.


    "Thank you, Ming! Do you have anything else? Your parents must be worried?" Angel smiled and replied.


    "Also... my parents found a contact! We can follow behind the army and evacuate together... But looks like you all would not need it!"


    Lin Ming scratched his head and awkwardly muttered a few sentences. Then, an expensive car arrived and began honking irritably.


    "Sigh... sister-in-law, Little Ming really doesn''t understand the urgency of the situation. If he still doesn''t want to leave now, is he staying to become a dried up corpse? I received news that the first swarm of blood-sucking mosquitoes is reaching the downtown in two hours!"


    A man that seemed like an official and who was fat as a pig with a big belly came out from the car. The moment he saw Angel, his eyes lit up and he said, "You must be Miss Angel? If you don''t want to die, hurry up and evacuate this place, don''t delay everyone''s time."


    "Uncle, they are..."


    Lin Ming''s face was anxious as he watched his uncle.


    Lin Ming had already seen and realised this family was a group of powerful mutants, but his uncle did not know that!


    Although his uncle was very haughty as he had connections to the government, he was nothing compared to the mutants. Nevertheless, he did not want his own family to suffer.


    "I don''t care who they are! It''s almost doomsday, there''s no time to protect our international friends?"


    The obese uncle smiled and his eyes glistened. It was evident that he was not a stupid person.


    "Miss Angel is a smart lady, she would naturally know how to make the right choice. Although my Lin Family is nothing much in Banyan Tree City, we are still the relatives of some soldiers..."


    "Sorry, mister!"


    Angel grinned and continued, "I don''t really understand what you mean..."


    "You..."


    Unspoken rules were called unspoken rules as they were not meant to be said out loud.


    The fatty''s face flashed with a hint of anger as he saw how this Caucasian lady was so impudent. However, he then felt rather uncertain and uneasy.


    Although communications between countries had already broken off, how the future would be like was still hard to tell. Thus, the uncle did not want to accidentally offend someone he did not know well.


    "Toot! Toot!"


    At this moment, a whole row of ten over military trucks stopped outside. Zhao Daniu and Ye Yingzi stepped out from the truck and walked towards the courtyard house.


    "Eh? They are... Chief Zhao? And Colonel Commandant Ye?"


    The fatty''s eyes lit up at once and immediately went forward to suck up to them, "I am Little Niu, we met before once at Purple God Hotel..."


    Although the fatty uncle had some connections, the two of them were the real bosses of Banyan Tree City that held great authority. Especially faced with such a situation, they were even more crucial and held greater powers.


    "You are Lin Niu?"


    Zhao Daniu scratched his head and finally remembered his name.


    "Eh... why are you here?"


    "Oh, this nephew of mine and Miss Angel are classmates, we wanted to bring her and her family along to evacuate..."


    Lin Niu was rather shocked and taken aback. More importantly, he was secretly relieved that he did not fall out with them just now.


    He never imagined how well connected Angel''s family was. If he really fell out with them just now, the outcome would not be something he would ever want to see. With such a though, he almost began to drip beads of cold sweat.


    "Mister Lei does not need anyone to protect him, you can retreat immediately!"


    Zhao Daniu went forward to the door as though he was a door guard and held Lorita''s suitcase. He then placed the suitcase in the back of the truck and said, "Mister, please!"


    "Oh, just nice, I have something to ask you all!"


    Fang Yuan nodded and followed Zhao Daniu and Ye Yingzi into the truck. The motorcade then horned as they began their journey.


    Afterwards, Lin Niu could finally wipe off the cold sweat on his face. He stared at Lin Ming seriously, "You... I couldn''t even tell! Tell me truthfully, what is your relationship with this family?"


    "I..."


    Lin Ming had a conflicted expression, "I don''t know too. This boss is the shop owner of the wood carving shop I frequently visit... Why did he suddenly become the VIP of the authorities?"


    Lin Ming touched the carving inside his school bag and appeared low-spirited.


    As Angel had such a background, the possibility of him successfully courting her was probably close to zero?


    "So it''s like that¡­.."


    Lin Niu smacked Lin Ming''s shoulder so hard that he almost staggered as he said, "Don''t worry and just chase after her boldly! I will support you!"


    Lin Niu was very clear that this world was really descending into chaos.


    In such a chaotic time, only military power and special abilities were the true powers!


    Whether if they wanted to settle down or progress rapidly, such a foundation was needed. The appearance of Fang Yuan and his family made Lin Niu saw a glimmer of hope!


    "My brother and sister-in-law... this is related to our life and death! You have to think carefully!"


    Lin Niu looked at the middle-aged couple and solemnly advised.


    "Rest assured, brother! We know!"


    The couple agreed and completely disregarded their rule of not allowing romantic relationships at such a young age.

 442 Xing Hezi

    Chapter


    "Tell me... what exactly happened?"


    The long row of cars drove steadily on the road. Even though they were military vehicles, there were still soldiers ahead clearing the way for them as they blazed through at breakneck speed.


    Fang Yuan laid on the seat and closed his eyes, appearing relaxed.


    "Just last night, there was a surge in the number of wild beasts in the entire country... It was as though the many demonic beasts and spiritual beasts had received a mysterious guidance to attack the big cities and villages at the same time... Even though we were prepared, we still suffered many casualties and after an emergency meeting, we have decided on Plan B."


    Ye Yingzi had a serious look on her face with a slight hint of panic and her eyes were teary. "That is to give up all other cities and villages in the country and transfer the people to the 72 biggest cities so as to minimise any more losses!"


    Such a large-scale retreat would result in too many sacrifices and troubles. Furthermore, the stress of overpopulating the existing cities due to the lack of security and resources could cause more problems.


    Of course, before all these, the fact that half the population of the country could survive such an attack was already a blessing.


    "It''s doomsday..."


    Fang Yuan opened his eyes and sighed.


    "The Banyan Tree City isn''t one of the big cities. We are therefore relocating to the nearest big city 279 kilometres from here, Huiming City!"


    Zhao Daniu started to speak as well. "According to the evacuation plan, the priority is given to... the military personnel, researchers, highly-skilled workers, and students. We will leave a platoon of soldiers to form a defence outside the city so as to delay some time for us to evacuate everybody."


    Regardless, the plan would surely not be smooth-sailing and there would surely be problems arising.


    Fang Yuan remained silent for a moment before inquiring further. "How about overseas? Are there any news from overseas?"


    Zhao Daniu exchanged glances with Ye Yingzi before answering in unison. "Yes!"


    They opened a safe and adeptly typed in the password. With that, rows of information appeared on the screen:


    "The Pacific Fleet of the Golden Eagle Federation was attacked by a sea dragon and were all capsized. The marine beasts had infiltrated the port and caused thousands of deaths..."


    "In the Blue Star Alliance, there was a widespread disaster and countless corpses were revive into zombies. These zombies then attacked humans and started to spread a plague! Suspected to be related to the awakening of a fabled being from the Dark Ages."


    "As for other smaller countries, many of them had already lost contact with the international community. Sea lines of communication have been disrupted and even aeroplanes were attacked by flying beasts. Every country is fighting a war of itself... These are the information that we can gather while our communication services are still up."


    Ye Yingzi explained before laying out a few pictures.


    "The widespread disaster in Blue Star Alliance?"


    Fang Yuan rubbed his chin. "Farquhar will resolve that. Looking at the Golden Eagle Federation, it seems like they have plagued with troubles... the Sea Dragon King?"


    Examining the pictures, Fang Yuan could see a particular sea dragon attacking a port.


    Its body was about 100 metres long and its scales shimmered a brilliant blue. The single horn on its head and the sharp talons on its body all struck fear in others.


    "According to the report, this sea dragon had displayed abilities to gather power among the marine beasts. It is suspected to have a high IQ and had once controlled a storm, wiping out an armed battalion of soldiers from the federation... According to Professor Fang''s grading system, we should classify it as a Calamity Grade mutated beast!"


    Ye Yingzi spoke in a strict tone.


    "Oh? The Golden Eagle Federation is still surviving and even have the ability to use its nuclear weapons?"


    Fang Yuan asked with curiosity.


    "It''s not that... After unleashing havoc on seven other ports, the sea dragon was being put to a stop by the Mutant Bureau of the federation. They have used this weapon!"


    Zhao Daniu took out another photograph.


    Although this photograph was blurred, a vague silhouette of an angel with white and black wings could be deciphered as it faced the sea dragon.


    "It''s her..."


    Fang Yuan smiled. "It seems that as the Golden Eagle Federation was filled with chaos, they have finally discovered a weakness of her. Could they have used the chance to keep her under control?"


    If the real Elder Extreme Darkness had returned to the realm, she would be able to wreak havoc with her powers.


    However, the Demon Weapon was only a newborn young girl and was still rather immature. Therefore, she could still be dealt with.


    However, with the looks of it, the Golden Eagle Federation had barely kept it under control and used it in the final battle against the sea dragon.


    It was unknown as to how much the Demon Weapon had grown since the past few years and the third occurrence.


    "In conclusion, this is no longer a country''s problem, but the doomsday of the world..."


    Ye Yingzi concluded with a final sentence. "The doomsday of humans! We need to stand together to prevent our extinction! At this point, we should put down all our differences and work together. What do you think, Mister Lei?"


    Her sharp eyes glared towards Fang Yuan and her intentions were simple.


    At this stage, the country was already in dire straits. To have any hope of survival, they would surely be willing to work with a person who had once betrayed his own country. Furthermore, Fang Yuan had only gone missing and could not be considered betraying his country.


    She could not make such a decision herself, and not even Xi Menjian could instruct her. This had to be the intention of the higher-ups of the country.


    "I am full of admiration for Professor Fang Yuan..."


    Fang Yuan smiled. "I believe that at such a crucial point in time, all humans need to work together to face the disaster! Who knows, Professor Fang Yuan might just appear anytime!"


    "That''s great!"


    Zhao Daniu held Ye Yingzi''s hands tightly and brimmed with tears of joy.


    "F*ck...''


    Witnessing this scene, Fang Yuan rolled his eyes. "When did the two of them... finally get along with each other? They must be being rewarded for being close to me!''


    In reality, even before this exchange, Fang Yuan had already planned for the return of ''Professor Fang''.


    In the White Jade Capital, although Fang Yuan had learned the essence of arrays from the Jade Palace Faction, most of the arrays would require the efforts of many people and resources so as to be cast across the entire Chinese Country.


    If he wanted to try out the 6 and 9 arrays of Sage Changli, he would have to spread the extent of the array to cover an entire world.


    Therefore, it was still rather advantageous to make use of the influence of the country to carry on with his preparations.


    ...


    Huiming City.


    This was a big city of Chinese Country. Since ten years ago when Fang Yuan had proposed the theory of the four occurrences, the entire manufacturing industry of the country started to accelerate and professionals started to chart out the way ahead to be prepared for the future. The arrival of such a doomsday had led to certain changes in the industry.


    The roads were widened and buildings were expanded in size. Many huge warehouses were built in locations that were geographically easy to defend and hard to invade. Furthermore, defences were being upgraded and essentially, the entire city had undergone a transformation, becoming a huge Doomsday Base.


    On the arrival of the third occurrence, Chinese Country had increased the number of soldiers in this city and they had successfully defended a few waves of attacks from wild beasts. From then on, the city had the mission to start accepting refugees from other cities and villages.


    If one were to observe from the sky, one would realise that Huiming City resembled a big black hole, constantly taking in refugees and vehicles in all directions.


    "There are wild flying beasts ahead, they are the mutated species of eagles!"


    In the row of vehicles from Banyan Tree City, a horn started to blast. "Ready all defences, be alert against ambushes!"


    In an instant, machine guns started to point towards the sky ahead. The survivors in the area, be in soldiers or civilians, had already trained themselves to be able to hide without a noise within the bunkers. All of them held on to their firearms tightly.


    "Chirp! Chirp!"


    After 10 minutes, a flock of black flying beasts flew across the sky, covering the ground.


    They had already detected the group of vehicles ahead. However, they quickly left and everyone heaved a sigh of relief. It was unknown if they had left because of fear or the fact that they had sighted another target.


    "They''ve finally left... let''s move on!"


    Zhao Daniu wiped the sweat from his forehead and commanded the vehicles.


    "Looking at the direction in which they are flying towards, it seems that they have just escaped Huiming City..."


    Ye Yingzi started to guess. "Furthermore, I have observed that some of them among the flock were injured. They must have lost their previous fight in the city and were therefore fearful of attacking large groups of humans."


    "This seems to be the case!"


    Fang Yuan altered his looks to his original look as he gazed towards the leaving flock of birds. His expression started to change.


    From the mutated huge eagles, he did not detect wounds from bullets or cannons. Instead, he had detected traces of spiritual force.


    "This feeling... could it be the power of the arena?"


    In a single thought, his expression changed once more. "The spiritual energy is getting more and more concentrated. Are more and more beings gaining the power of the arena?"


    This was not possible.


    According to his predictions, the only possibility was that an old powerful being had just awakened.


    How difficult would it be to breakthrough from the 3rd Tier to the 4th Tier? Lorita would be a prime example to illustrate the difficulty in doing so.


    Fang Yuan guessed that if both society leaders of the Black Man Society and the White Pigeon Society were still alive, they would probably have a chance of achieving a breakthrough.


    "Professor!"


    Ye Yingzi placed her phone down. "We have established communications with Huiming City. They will send their people out to receive us!"


    If they were normal refugees, it would already be lucky if the city would accept them.


    However, this was a group of important people from Banyan Tree City. Coupled with the fact that Fang Yuan, who was such an important person, they had to give them special treatment.


    "Is that so? I''m looking forward to it!"


    Fang Yuan rubbed his ears.


    After restoring his original looks, Lorita and Angel were stunned beyond words.


    The most depressed would be Xi Menjian. He would surely give him a good scolding over the phone and capture him before transporting him back to the laboratory and keeping him there for life - if only he was just a mere Professor Fang Yuan.


    However, his identity as the God of Thunder and the world''s number one mutant was enough to strike fear in anybody.


    "They''re here!"


    From the horizon, the silhouette of a city appeared and refugees and vehicles were flooding into the city. Fang Yuan gazed towards Huiming City.


    From there, a silhouette of a human flew from the sky and after a chirp, it flew straight towards them.


    "Who is Brother Fang Yuan?"


    As the silhouette arrived above the vehicles, Fang Yuan could roughly make out an old Taoist holding a whisk. This Taoist seemed like a revered Taoist. "I am Taoist Xing Hezi!"


    "I see, it''s Brother Xing Hezi!"


    Fang Yuan flew up as well and glanced down at the group of people observing them before smiling. "Let''s look for a private place to talk, shall we?"


    "That''s great!"


    This 4th Tier cultivator was obviously waiting for Fang Yuan in the city. As soon as he heard Fang Yuan''s request, he immediately agreed to it.

 443 Flying Star

    From the air, it seemed like the whole Huiming City had become an army camp.


    Most of the structures were lined up in rows. The layout of the buildings reminded one of collective dormitories. The living conditions were probably not the best.


    But this organisation made the most sense, considering that there were millions gathered in the city.


    The good thing was that the hierarchy remained intact.


    Xing Hezi was a Calamity-grade cultivator of the 4th tier, and was also appointed as one of the national consultants. Thus, he was given a villa to stay in.


    Outside, a small stream gurgled underneath a little bridge.


    "Please take a seat!"


    Xing Hezi showed Fang Yuan to a stone chair underneath a pine tree, and poured a cup of clear tea for him.


    "My friend, would you care for some of the Cloudy Mountain Tea that I''ve brewed?"


    "Many thanks!"


    Fang Yuan picked up his patterned teacup and took a small sip. His eyes lit up instantly.


    "Fragrant and refreshing. The aftertaste lingers and carries a sort of worldliness¡­"


    "Worldliness...well said!"


    Xiang Hezi stared at the pond, and suddenly laughed bitterly.


    "A dream that lasts a thousand years. The next time I wake up, I will be the only person left in the whole Flying Star Sect. Even now, in this country, I''ve managed to contact only a few...sigh, friends and enemies of the past are long gone. This feels so strange! But I''m thankful for you. I am heartened to know that I have a successor¡­"


    He was experienced enough to tell that Fang Yuan was not simply a talented chap, but a legend who attained all that he had through hard work.


    Fang Yuan achieved the unthinkable without proper guidance and in an environment lacking in spiritual energy. He was one of a kind, a prodigy that only appeared once in a hundred thousand years.


    "You flatter me¡­"


    Fang Yuan took another sip of the spiritual tea and exchanged more niceties with Xing Hezi. Through conversation, he managed to learn more about Xing Hezi''s background.


    Xing Hezi was the founder of the Flying Star Sect. In the last thousand year cycle where spiritual energy ceased to flow, he sealed himself up in ice and moved to his Sect''s Prosperous Land.


    The Flying Star Sect''s external influence had not declined and was developing even up till the present. It was still a force to be reckoned with.


    Through his social connections, he was able to communicate with the government hierarchs and was given the position of national consultant.


    Of course, it was but a case of mutual benefits.


    "Are there many people like you in the Chinese country, my friend?"


    Fang Yuan asked his question after a moment of silence.


    "To unlock the Prosperous Land, one has to be able to expend an enormous amount of energy. During my time, not many people could do that...of all the factions and organisations in the pugilistic world, there was only a handful. Even among those who did make it to the Prosperous Land, only a few made it¡­"


    Xing Hezi looked slightly lonely.


    "Only about three to five individuals are truly formidable in the Middle Continent...it''s the same for the West."


    He went on to explain in great detail the layout of the world.


    True experts of the Divine Refining Grade were Area Beings with mutations of the 5th Grade.


    As for Fang Yuan and Xing Hezi, they were both at the peak of Divine Returning Grade, the 4th Calamity Grade.


    The layout of the Western world was no different to that of he Middle Continent. Common deities were of 4th grade, and more powerful deities were of the 5th!


    ''So it seems that Farquhar was once of the 5th grade...but his faith suffered a declined after having been sealed up for years, and now, he has barely made it into the 4th grade¡­''


    There was a glint in Fang Yuan''s eye as he turned to look at Xing Hezi.


    Who knew, but Xing Hezi might actually be concealing his true abilities. He could have been a master of the Divine Refining Grade once, but fell to the Divine Returning Grade because he had been weakened by his seal.


    In this world, there were only theoretical realms that will remain myths forever.


    "Right...have you obtained the array techniques of the Jade Palace faction?


    Xing Hezi breached the question in the middle of their hearty conversation.


    "Yes...Farquhar told you?"


    Fang Yuan glanced at him.


    "In terms of maintaining the world order, we share a common objective with him!"


    Xing Hezi replied blandly, which made him hard to read.


    "Of course, we are in charge of operations over here in the Middle Continent! The Jade Palace Faction is one of the most prominent sects around. How can its succession fall into the hands of an outsider. If you take over, it would be your destiny."


    "Oh, so this is how it is."


    Fang Yuan gave a flicker of a smile.


    "Of course, this is the only arrangement. We need your help!"


    Xing Hezi snapped his fingers, and an array that enveloped everything materialised in the courtyard.


    Fang Yuan became more serious after seeing this secretive attitude from Xing Hezi.


    "Please go on!"


    "Farquhar has told you about Operation Grabstar?"


    Xing Hezi smiled.


    "They have assigned their people in the Eastern and Western Continents. As for the Middle Continent, it is up to us...I have designed a 9 Halls Flying Star Array, and all you have to do is to help me revise it!"


    Xing Hezi then produced a piece of jade.


    Fang Yuan received it and pressed it to his forehead. He saw a map of the Middle Continent that had shimmering dots and connecting lines drawn all over it. It was all very mysterious."


    ''It is exactly as we thought¡­''


    When he inspected the dots in greater detail, he gave a sour laugh.


    ''The 72 cities of the Chinese country were all included. Had it been part of the plan all along? Offering to help out with the defence systems and secretly hiding the arrays within...wait a minute, they began work 10 years ago. Seems like these people had a level of influence that was deeply entrenched. They were playing the long game!''


    It took no guessing. He knew the people who were responsible for all of these. It must be the work of the cultivators and supernormal beings.


    These people were willing to pay any price in order to bring spiritual energy levels to what they were in mythical times!


    "What do you think, my friend?"


    Xing Hezi asked with a smile.


    "Very interesting. I''ll have to go back and study it in greater detail before I can give you an answer!"


    Fang Yuna replied earnestly.


    "Yes, yes. Please do!"


    Xing Hezi was satisfied and waved his hand happily.


    This had implications for the entire world. Harnessing the power of the comet and designing an array that would be compatible with those of the other two continents. This was an enormous yet intricate task. Fang Yuan did not want to jump to an opinion quickly for fear of giving the wrong advice.


    He had to go back and do some further research to demonstrate his sincerity.


    Of course, Xing Hezi had never doubted Fang Yuan''s loyalty to the plan.


    After all, if Operation Grabstar fails and spiritual energy levels fall, the world would become a lifeless place again. The experts of the Divine Returning and Divine Refining grades would have to go into a deep sleep, or they would age rapidly and die. By maintaining the current situation, all the supernormal beings could live like kings.


    One could betray their status, but not their interests!


    ________


    They were both experts of the 4th Calamity Grade, and were famous scientists, authorities on mutant research. Fang Yuan enjoyed a treatment that was even better than Xing Hezi''s.


    When he arrived at Huiming City, the authorities gave him a villa to stay in as well as guards that worked for him round the clock. They accommodated every request of his.


    If there was not a possibility of Fang Yuan being transferred to the capital, they would have built a research lab for him.


    "Wow! Father, have you thought through it?"


    Lorita examined the modernist villa and the servants around her. She nodded in satisfaction.


    "This is how the nobles live."


    "Sigh...how would we know if we are not one of them?"


    Fang Yuan shook his head and let Angel and Lorita choose their own rooms. He then walked over to the study and immersed himself in research.


    Armed with the knowledge of Sage Changli and the legacy of the Jade Palace Faction, Fang Yuan was the ultimate authority of array techniques in this world.


    "Interesting...all paths lead to Rome indeed!"


    After a sweeping glance, Fang Yuan could confirm that the 9 Halls Flying Star Array designed by Xing Hezi was similar to some of Sage Changli''s ideas.


    "The foundations of the array lie in the Middle Continent and there were 81 array eyes, 59 of them lying within the Chinese Country¡­"


    On the Middle Continent, although the Chinese Country was the hegemon, it was not the only country.


    There were some details that had to be address outside of the country.


    "There are no more major alterations to be made, just a few little tweaks here and there."


    Fang Yuan had discovered that the greatest limitation of the 9 Halls Flying Star Array was that it was unable to cooperate seamlessly with the arrangements in the other two continents and operate at its maximum potential.


    This chink could potentially lead to the failure of the entire plan.


    It was fortunate that Fang Yuan was talented and well-learned. He casually altered the array and offered a few suggestions. This was enough to impress Xing Hezi, who had nothing but praise for him.


    Before they knew it, five days had passed.


    During this time, refugees streamed continuously into Huiming City. It was said that half of the Chinese Country had fallen and become part of the wilderness.


    Of course, the Golden Eagle Federation suffered even more. The marine beasts had invaded the country via the rivers and allied themselves with the spiritual beasts on land. The government was broken and reduced to guarding a few key cities.


    The Blue Star Alliance was not doing well either. The 9 Headed Cerberus responsible for the spread of the plague had appeared. The government had joined forces with the Curia and sent out their elite soldiers, and even Farquhar himself turned up. But they only managed to injure it and were unable to prevent its escape. Now, it was taking revenge and laying waste to cities in the Eastern Continent.


    This information was provided by Zhao Daniu, and Fang Yuan remained indifferent.


    Today, however, Ye Yingzi and Zhao Daniu had brought him a special guest.

 444 Conflict of Interests

    "It has been ten years. How are you, chief?"


    Looking at the white-haired Xi Menjian holding a cup of tea before him, Fang Yuan asked him how he was doing. From the corner of his eye, he could see Zhao Daniu and Ye Yingzi furiously exchanging glances.


    "I''m blessed enough to be still surviving from all these exhaustion!"


    Xi Menjian blew gently at his cup of hot tea.


    Fang Yuan admired him for his determination and patience.


    At the arrival of the third occurrence, on such a doomsday like this, as the chief of the Religious Bureau, Xi Menjian had the control of all the mutants in Chinese Country and would, therefore, be extremely busy. The stress that he was facing was also more than anyone could imagine.


    Under such circumstances, he either had an ulterior motive or was crazy to take the time to visit his old subordinate.


    However, Xi Menjian didn''t seem like a crazy fellow, which means only one possibility was left.


    "Initially... why did you leave?"


    Xi Menjian gazed at Fang Yuan for a long while before opening his mouth.


    "Because of a discovery..."


    Fang Yuan started to spout some nonsense. "I detected a trace of a supernormal civilisation thousands of years ago, and located it at the Golden Eagle Federation! If I want to conduct experiments there myself, surely all of you would not allow me to do so. Therefore, I could only leave without telling you."


    It was a terrible excuse.


    However, as Xi Menjian recalled the traces of Lei and all the happenings in the Golden Eagle Federation, he could not deny that everything fitted perfectly like puzzle pieces.


    "... Regardless, welcome back to the organisation!"


    Xi Menjian had a complicated look on his face as he passed a document to Fang Yuan. "From today onwards, you will be the special consultant of the country and you shall enjoy the highest privileges... Hopefully, you will do the country and our people proud."


    "Oh?"


    Fang Yuan smiled. "It''s about this. I almost thought you would immediately assign me to another task or another research project."


    "We are not rushing for any research to be done right now, and even more for taskings..."


    Xi Menjian let out a bitter smile. "Everywhere in the country is in chaos! Everywhere will need all the help they can get! Even so, we cannot deal with everything!"


    Unless Fang Yuan could split himself into a few billion clones, he would also be helpless against a catastrophe as huge as doomsday. Therefore, he could only protect a few important nodes and forgo the rest.


    The two of them gazed at each other and remained silent for a long time.


    "The two of you, leave the room!"


    After a long while, Xi Menjian ordered for the two people behind him to take their leave.


    After Zhao Daniu and Ye Yingzi left, Xi Menjian started to fiddle with a contraption.


    ''Is this a jammer?''


    Seeing this, Fang Yuan twitched his eyebrows as Xi Menjian started to explain himself. "As a 4th Tier mutant... If you are unwilling to let others eavesdrop, they will not be able to hear our conversation, right?"


    Xi Menjian was being extremely cautious.


    "Don''t worry, no one would dare to..."


    Seeing this, Fang Yuan smiled. "Who are you guarding against? Xing Hezi? He has long left Huiming City... Even if he were to be still in the city, he would not try to eavesdrop us and make me unhappy."


    "Sigh..."


    Xi Menjian laughed. "That old demon who hibernated for a thousand years would only cause us distress. Comrade Fang Yuan, the organisation has a very important task for you!"


    "Important task?"


    Fang Yuan appeared confused. "I''ve been living in seclusion for the past 10 years and may no longer be loyal to the country. Why are you willing to task this to me?"


    "We have no choice, for you are the only suitable person to be able to do this!"


    Xi Menjian stood up and took a deep bow. "Please protect the humans!"


    "Protect the humans? What a heavy responsibility..."


    Fang Yuan turned solemn. "What have you guys discovered?"


    "A huge shadow has been lurking in the darkness. Even the chaotic development years of Chinese Country couldn''t destroy it. Instead, it started to recover at a quicker pace at has already infiltrated the government..."


    Xi Menjian spoke in a deep tone. "Now, even I wouldn''t trust my subordinates any more..."


    Fang Yuan could understand where he was coming from.


    The Black Hand was an organisation formed by the powerful sects in Middle Continent thousands of years ago. Most of the people in the organisation had the ability to cast spells or possessed certain special abilities. They would surely be the most powerful bunch of people as soon as the spiritual energy in the surroundings reaches a maximum. Since the Religious Bureau was recruiting members at that time, they would be foolish not to join the bureau to cause trouble from within.


    "This is at most fighting for their own rights. What''s there to say about protecting the humans?"


    Fang Yuan sighed before probing further.


    "What do you think? Those old demonic people have a totally different mindset from us, modern people! Who knows, that old fogey might just want to push us back into the dark ages and the developing years..."


    Xi Menjian continued. "If not for this worry, our leaders would not have been so decisive. However, after investigation, we realise that those high-tiered cultivators, including Xing Hezi, have attempted communications with those evil beasts. This is especially so for Xing Hezi who had once secretly met with the Sea Dragon King.


    Fang Yuan broke out in cold sweat.


    Needless to say, a country could potentially become very powerful if it were to utilise all its resources.


    Xing Hezi had looked down upon the mortals and was not careful in this aspect.


    "Therefore... I''ve especially come to plead you to investigate this matter thoroughly! As soon as you realise Xing Hezi performing acts of betrayal to the country, deal with him immediately! Stop his plan! If you require, you may tap on all the resources of the country!"


    Xi Menjian assured.


    "But... why me?"


    Fang Yuan remained silent for a while before posing his final question.


    "Because you are 100% local Chinese and is one of us. Therefore, our thinking will be similar!"


    Xi Menjian let out a bitter smile. "This is actually just the reason on the surface. What''s important is that you do not have a record and have never contacted the other species before. Furthermore, I do not have anyone else I can look for..."


    Looking at his back view as Xi Menjian took his leave, Fang Yuan was deep in his thoughts.


    This was where the conflict of interests between the two species laid.


    As a normal human, although they would benefit from the increasing spiritual energy, a doomsday scenario would have them prefer to return to the old days. Days where the streets were not as safe, but the humans would still be in control of the world due to scientific advancements. Now, it was the survival of the fittest, but a hell for all species.


    However, other supernatural beings, especially cultivators, would prefer a world rich in spiritual energy, for it would be their heaven.


    In the process, many normal humans would be sacrificed but that would merely be the natural way of how things would work.


    Facing the conflicts of interests, cultivators would stand together for a common objective of taking over the world. Therefore, Xing Hezi was not afraid that Fang Yuan would go against the cultivators.


    Therefore, from a certain angle, there were opportunities for peace talks with the Sea Dragon King and the 9 Headed Cerberus.


    "It was never a fair fight, to begin with... the alliance of supernatural beings are like giants, and the resistance of normal humans are like ants!"


    Fang Yuan sighed.


    It was easy to understand the situation. In such a doomsday scenario, those with the ability would be the ones in power.


    Even if one were to be the leader of the country, if one was not a mutant or a supernatural being, one would have limited ability to protect oneself. How would one be able to survive any disaster then?


    Furthermore, even without going head-on with the higher-ups, those tycoons and head of financial groups would want to survive as much as possible.


    If Xing Hezi was a little smarter, he could easily make these people get rid of the higher-ups.


    Therefore, Xi Menjian could conclude that there were no other people he could look for. To be a little more extreme, anyone in power within the country could no longer be trusted.


    "This is how pathetic normal humans are... They can only get sacrificed but cannot do anything about it. They don''t even have the rights to know what''s happening..."


    Fang Yuan walked towards the window and gazed at a few buildings in the vicinity as well as the group of humans which resembled ants. With that, he fell into silence.


    "Even ants will resist. Among the normal humans, there are still people like Xi Menjian and not all the leaders will succumb to the pressure. This is the final hope of humans..."


    Fang Yuan looked at his own palms.


    Just a few moments ago, Xi Menjian had placed this hope into Fang Yuan''s hands but did not even make Fang Yuan promise anything. With this, it was obvious how much hope he had this time.


    The circumstances were worse than most people could imagine.


    Even Xi Menjian had to put his life on the line!


    "Father!"


    Not long after, two girls ran towards Fang Yuan. "What did that uncle talk to you about?"


    "Nothing much, he just posed a difficult question to me!"


    Fang Yuan shook his head. "Also... I have been preparing to leave the country for awhile. Take care of the house!"


    "Leave the country? To where?"


    "Dancing Country!"


    ...


    Outside the huge city.


    Xing Hezi waved his whisk and the force of the stars started to descend, forming a huge hand which effortlessly smashed a Winged Tiger into a pile of bloodied mess.


    After accomplishing his feat, he did not stop. Amidst the cheers of him being the saviour of the world, he quickly took his leave and felt good.


    "It''s done!"


    After travelling out a huge distance, Xing Hezi was shrouded in a layer of fog and stopped at a cliff.


    "Kacha! Kacha!"


    One of the cliffs in the surroundings crumbled and a pair of eyes were revealed. They were staring right at Xing Hezi.


    "The array has been completed. Next would be the blood sacrifice activation. Occasionally, send a few people to attack the city. It doesn''t matter which direction you attack from."


    Xing Hezi started to give his instructions.


    "That person..."


    The eyes in the cliff gave of a tremor and a few images appeared in mid-air. They were of Xi Menjian and Fang Yuan.


    "What have you detected? Hehe..."


    He Xinzi laughed. "Is he trying to establish good ties with other highly-skilled people to deal with us? He would never understand that regarding this, all cultivators are united. Even Farquhar who would require the faith of others is also with us on this! What''s more, this person is a cultivator with the strength of his own! Even if Zheng Qizi were to revive, I''m afraid he would also be together with us on this."


    "He has gone to Dancing Country!"


    The giant pair of eyes paused for a moment before continuing.


    "That''s great! There are 3 array eyes in Dancing Country. Who would''ve thought that Brother Fang Yuan would be so proactive in this!"


    Xing Hezi laughed. "I know that Xi Menjian is secretly gathering people. However, this is not what he really wants. Now, secretly observe Fang Yuan in the dark to see if he is perfecting the array or destroying it. You can feel the Earth Meridian, right? Can''t you tell?"

 445 Blood Sacrifice

    Dancing Country.


    This country laid to the West of Chinese Country and was the second most powerful country in Middle Continent. The common religion of the country prayed to the God of Brahma.


    Unfortunately, at the arrival of the third occurrence, there were no signs of the awakening of the God of Brahma. Instead, there were a few disciples of Brahma who had cultivated special abilities of their own, leading the lives with the motto of ''Everyone can be Brahma''. With that, they were making preparations to become the God of Brahma themselves.


    However, before they could reach that stage, the world had already started to experiences disasters all around. Natural disasters and waves of attack from wild beasts were enough to wipe out almost 90% of the population. With the reduction in the number of believers, the act of becoming the God of Brahma became a joke.


    "The people of Dancing Country are really careless. This is an actual array eye and yet, they''ve polluted it with the corpses of 10,000 people!"


    From the air above a bay, Fang Yuan slowly appeared and shook his head as he witnessed the numerous corpses lying around. "Although the array eye requires blood sacrifice, it''s not in this form..."


    He slowly descended and started to investigate the breadth of the earth in the area.


    "Mmm... Xing Hezi''s initial preparations were rather good. This array eye is extremely suitable and the breadth of the earth here is thick and concentrated..."


    A fiery glow appeared in Fang Yuan''s eyes and with that, he had already peered through the earth and was observing the centre of the eye.


    "With water, the Earth will be formed... This place is even more suitable to cast the 6 Extremes Earth Shattering Array!"


    Without another thought, he released his invisible power of the arena, allowing it to seep through the earth. With that, he was able to slightly alter the flow of energy within the earth. In perfecting the array eye, he had also smuggled something of his own into it.


    "Bloop! Bloop!"


    Corpses floating in the nearby river started to bubble. A demonic-like alligator that was 10 metres long floated up to the surface of the river. It had a weird body shape, 8 legs and as it observed Fang Yuan, it remained calm.


    "This alligator... The peak of the Murderous Grade? Is this a guardian beast placed here by Xing Hezi and his company?"


    Since the alligator did not disturb him, Fang Yuan paid no attention to it. He crossed his legs and sat in mid-air as he increased the flow of energy into the earth.


    It was harder to alter the design of the array eye than to simply destroy it.


    The good thing was that to Fang Yuan, it was only a small problem.


    After a white, Fang Yuan''s face started to twitch as he suddenly gazed to the side. "Who''s that? How dare you peep at me?"


    "Rumble!"


    Fang Yuan had limitless powers and with a single thought, the earth beneath him split and a huge eye made of rock flew out.


    This eye was as brown as soil and seemed as though it was being carved by a single piece of rock, making it look mysterious.


    However, Fang Yuan could detect a certain spiritual will coming from it. Furthermore, it had the spiritual aura of life in it.


    "How can you detect me! This is impossible!"


    The spiritual will exclaimed and started to go crazy. "You are just a mere highly skilled person in the Divine Returning Grade. How can you detect my Thousand Rock Eye? You must have some secrets!"


    "Id*ot!"


    Fang Yuan''s reply to him was unforgiving streaks of lightning.


    "Kacha!"


    The skies gave way, unleashing purples streaks of lightning which struck onto the eye without mercy.


    The eye exclaimed and cracks started to form on its surface. "You cannot kill me!"


    The spiritual will coming from the eye was panicking. "My actual body will look for you to seek revenge! Furthermore... I am also a member of the Hidden Cultivators Sect and this is just a routine surveillance!"


    "The Hidden Cultivators Sect?"


    Hearing this name which struck fear in Xi Menjian''s heart, Fang Yuan snickered. "Why didn''t Xing Hezi mention about you to me?"


    "Why should we let you know about the Hidden Cultivators Sect''s secret?"


    The rock eye relentlessly countered the argument and Fang Yuan could guess that this person must be a person of status within the Hidden Cultivators Sect and could be a leader of sorts.


    "Is that so? It could be that you are too scared of me..."


    Fang Yuan smiled. "For instance... your physical body is too severely damaged or you are not yet fully awaken and only have a consciousness right now, is that so?"


    "So what if that''s true?"


    The rock eye realised that it could no longer hide itself after all that had happened and decided to give up. "Although my physical body is still asleep, it will surely be able to awaken. You are a member of the Hidden Cultivators Sect as well you have been doing your job. I have seen that you have been focusing on repairing the array and I now formally recognise you as one of us."


    "I never need any recognition from anybody for the things that I do!"


    Fang Yuan''s gaze turned cold. "Furthermore... I hate people who spy on me!"


    "This is not good!"


    Witnessing Fang Yuan''s attitude, the rock eye started to scream as though it was attempting to activate a certain spell to leave.


    No matter how fast he was, Fang Yuan was quicker.


    "Bang!"


    Fang Yuan took a small step forward and struck his fist out. Immediately, the rock eye crumbled into many pieces.


    "Ah... you!"


    A vengeful voice was heard from the rock which slowly faded away.


    ''If I don''t give him an excuse, how can I deal with him in the open?''


    Fang Yuan gave a sinister smile. "It''s your misfortune for you to meet me today."


    ...


    "Ah..."


    Just as the rock eye was crumbling, within a prosperous land, the mountains started to shake and cracks were forming.


    "Roar! Roar!"


    A deep grumble was heard from underground.


    "I can feel that part of my magical clone has disappeared!"


    Within the cracks, an infuriated voice started to roar. "Who dares to destroy my magical clone, you must be seeking death!"


    ...


    In the Golden Eagle Federation.


    Within one of the cities along the river, flames broke out as marine beasts and land beasts were gathered together, appearing submissive to a long and blue silhouette in the middle of the river.


    The entire city had already turned into a war zone filled with blood and corpses everywhere.


    Thousands of corpses were piled up into a small dark hill and red blood oozed down from the hill. There was a foul and nauseous stench coming from the mess in the city.


    "This is enough... A blood sacrifice of such a scale should be enough to lay the foundation for one of the array eyes..."


    Beside the blue dragon, a rock eye quipped with satisfaction but suddenly, its voice changed.


    "Kacha!"


    On the surface of the rock eye, cracks began to appear and streaks of blood filled the cracks.


    The rock eye was bleeding!


    "What''s happening to you?"


    The Sea Dragon King turned around and glared at the rock eye.


    "Nothing much, just one of the magical clones being destroyed!"


    The rock eye shook a little before stabilising. "In fact... If you are willing to, the array masters of the Hidden Cultivators Sect will very willingly help you!"


    "It''s alright. Compared to you guys, I trust my species more!"


    The Sea Dragon King curled his body up and had a mocking look in his eyes. "Even if the quality of our spiritual eye is unable to meet the expectations, killing more humans and sacrificing them will do the trick."


    "Very well!"


    The rock eye did not seem to have any objections against such a merciless ferocious beast who had no regard for human life. Instead, it was encouraging the dragon. "In the alliance at the east, Farquhar has already initiated Operation Grabstar. The power of the Flashing Words and Stars Array is also sufficient. With the 3 array eyes of the 3 big continents in place, our plan is halfway done. I''ll still have to trouble you to activate the one within the ocean, brother."


    "It''s a small thing!"


    The Sea Dragon King shook his head. "Even if we activate these arrays, we still need to let them run for another 10 years. We still have to guard against those who would try to disrupt them!"


    "Haha, don''t worry about this, Brother Dragon!"


    The rock eye''s spiritual will sounded happy. "With the completion of the array eyes, the array would constantly absorb natural energy from the surroundings and come together as one, making it almost impossible to destroy... As long as we can sustain it for a certain period of time, as long as all the array eyes on the earth are activated, these array eyes will then be able to restore itself even after destruction. It will still be able to work if more than half of it remains and will be immune to attacks from humans!"


    "This is great!"


    Before the Sea Dragon King could think of what do say next, he raised his head up and roared. "Roar! Roar!"


    The weather started to change. Although the Sea Dragon King was only a water dragon, with its current abilities, even a single roar would be able to make all the beasts in land and water submit to it.


    "This is..."


    The rock eye was stunned and as it gazed towards the sky, it quickly burrowed underground and disappeared.


    "It''s really quick... A human indeed!"


    Seeing this, the Sea Dragon King raised its head up proudly as it attempted to display its might.


    "Whoosh! Whoosh!"


    Without doing anything, the water in the river started to pick up and rise, creating tsunami waves of 10 metres in height and submerging the entire city in it.


    No, it was not accurate to say that it was submerging the city.


    To put things into perspective, the Sea Dragon King had manipulated the water to protect the array eye firmly.


    "Bang! Bang!"


    In the next moment, numerous nuclear bombs appeared in the sky, landing on where the city once was and flames started to break out.


    "Rumble!"


    From the explosion, even the air in the vicinity shook.


    However, no matter how powerful the explosion of the nuclear bomb might be, under the protection of the Sea Dragon King, the entire array eye was only slightly chipped and was not severely damaged.


    "This is... the lack of creativity!"


    The Sea Dragon King started to swim around on the surface of the ocean before spitting out a streak of blue energy.


    "Kacha! Kacha!"


    In an instant, a layer of white frost started to appear on its body before spreading towards the city, freezing everything within it.


    "The ice frozen from my dragon aura will be tougher than steel and will not be easily destroyed... Of course, the foolish people from the Golden Eagle Federation might not even have a clue as to what I am doing."


    The Sea Dragon King flew into the air and gazed towards somewhere far.


    Not long after, a black dot appeared at the horizon. In a shockingly fast speed, it flew towards the dragon with its black and white wings. It had the appearance of an angel.


    "Every time I see you, I am reminded of the birdman from Blue Star Alliance. You''re making me pissed off!"


    The Sea Dragon King hollered and his powerful energy wave started to spread out. With the swing of his head, a streak of blue light was shot out.


    "Buzz! Buzz!"


    Before the Demon Weapon, light and darkness fused together, forming an extremely powerful power of the arena.


    The blue streak of light flew into the mix and was being sucked in by a black hole in the middle of the glow. In an instant, it disappeared.


    "To speak the truth... I am also pissed of at the other birdmen from federation!"


    The Demon Weapon flew forward and a high pitched voice resembling an Oriole was heard, stunning the Sea Dragon King. "Not... Not right, you are different from what you were last time! Who are you exactly?"


    "I am still me!"


    The pretty face of the Demon Weapon smiled. "I have merely absorbed an external piece of my soul, regaining some memories which I used to have."


    "External soul? Is that legend true?"


    The Sea Dragon King froze. "That we are not the only world in the entire universe?"

 446 Otherworldly

    "This world... is not the only one of course!"


    The angelic girl replied with a sweet and innocent voice. She looked child-like and yet cunning, her beauty was truly paradoxical.


    Perhaps in some small realms, this truth could never be discovered. Even their most powerful beings could only live their lives muddle-headedly without ever knowing such.


    However, this realm was different!


    In terms of its natural source, this realm was only inferior to Ancient Realm which Fang Yuan had been to. It could support the existence of Area Beings, which was equivalent to 7th Tier Illusionary Divine dream masters.


    Area Beings could create prosperous lands and grasp the secrets of their environments. Thus, it was natural for them to easily realise the truth of their realm.


    In Ancient Realm, the witches discovered traces of otherworldly demons. Thus, in this realm, those who were extremely powerful naturally had some understanding on the real side of the realm.


    This sea dragon was the sole remaining member of the outer seas water dragon species. It had already cultivated and formed its water dragon body in the last millennium. It had survived till now by luck and was like an old monster, hence, it naturally knew more secrets.


    "Absorbed a soul fragment? That means... an otherworldly demon is trying to possess you?"


    The Sea Dragon King looked towards the angel of light and darkness with eyes full of caution.


    After all, regarding such matters deep within the soul level, unless she willingly opened up her sea of consciousness fully, the Sea Dragon King would never know the truth.


    "It''s all smoke and mirrors! Perhaps it''s absorption or perhaps it''s a merger of both sides to become a new character! Why are you being so serious?"


    The Demon Weapon young girl chuckled. Her laughter had a child-like innocence and was beguiling at the same time, it could really charm anyone.


    "I can recall some segments of that otherworldly demon''s memory. It seems like this body was her original body, this explains why I''m so harmonious with it..."


    The young girl patted her chest and continued, "Also, it was such a close shave... If I hadn''t devoured a very interesting mind special ability, I might have been fully possessed¡­.. Oh right, you don''t know the meaning of ''possess''? That means a soul forcefully occupies another body. Ever since I devoured that soul fragment, I am gaining a bunch of weird knowledge frequently."


    "In the past millennium, I had already taken on the shape of a human, travelled across the east and west and I was even admitted into a faction. I obviously do not need you to explain to me about this kind of matters."


    The Sea Dragon King was rather fearful and suspicious.


    Originally, this Demon Weapon young girl had the strength of a 4th Tier mutant and had multitudes of special abilities which even gave the Sea Dragon King a headache.


    But now, in her new body, the Demon Weapon was even more unpredictable and unknown.


    "Now that I have a new life, how about I call myself ''Extreme Darkness''? This is the name the otherworldly demon gave me!"


    Young Girl Extreme Darkness cackled, "I love this name too."


    "Cough cough... then I wonder what does Extreme Darkness want to do next?"


    The Sea Dragon King was extremely alert.


    From the previous nukes, it could be told that this young girl was still on the federation army''s side.


    "I want to..."


    Young Girl Extreme Darkness furrowed her brows as she hesitated, "I don''t know..."


    She knocked her brains frustratedly, "Ever since I absorbed that piece of soul, although I had already secretly escaped from the control of the federation and also became smarter, many of the memories are still in bits and pieces, only a few parts... Nevertheless, there''s a persistent thought that keeps resounding in my mind, it is ''let me harvest this world''! Do you know what this means?"


    "I don''t know... but it definitely isn''t anything good."


    The Sea Dragon King kept silent.


    An otherworldly demon that had to harvest the world in its mind constantly was definitely scarier than the doomsday now.


    Now, the Sea Dragon King was more believing of this young girl that she was not really an evil demon but it was just due to the spiritual awareness of her body.


    "Since you don''t know, go and think about it slowly!"


    Young Girl Extreme Darkness was not very bothered as she replied, "Before I fully understand it, I don''t want to leave the federation. After all, I don''t have to worry about my meals or anything, I can have whatever I want... They begged me to come over now just to drive you away only! Even if I don''t come, I guess you were preparing to leave too?"


    "Of course..."


    The Sea Dragon King smiled awkwardly, "However, does Miss Extreme Darkness know about the secret pact between the powerful ones of this world?"


    "Secret pact? Are you talking about this array eye?"


    Extreme Darkness pointed to the city frozen in ice below her.


    "You can tell?"


    The Sea Dragon King twitched and its tail involuntarily smacked about.


    "Smack! Smack!"


    Nearby, the transparent silhouette of a person immediately shattered into pieces. Its blood and flesh froze into ice before it shattered into tiny shards.


    "I can naturally tell, I knew it from the memory of that otherworldly demon too..."


    Extreme Darkness smiled gently, "Unfortunately, I only have a little impression of it, I can''t even remember much. Also... thanks for helping me get rid of this fly!"


    "You''re welcome! From now on, I recognise your authority inside the Golden Eagle Federation, as long as you are in-charge of taking care of this array eye, the marine beasts can immediately return to the deep ocean!"


    To these beings high above everyone else, everything and anything could be settled with just a talk.


    The dry land was nothing to the Sea Dragon King, thus, he immediately gifted Extreme Darkness such a big present.


    With such high stakes, even if the treachery was discovered by the federation, there was a lot of room for negotiation.


    "Plop!"


    After finishing that line, the Sea Dragon King plunged into the water and disappeared in an instant.


    Extreme Darkness stayed at her original spot and waited for a while.


    "Crackle!"


    Beside her, a layer of soil cracked open and a pair of rock eyes emerged, "Friend, I, Thousand Rock Lord, was wondering if you are interested in joining the Hidden Cultivators Sect?"


    "Hidden Cultivators Sect!?"


    The corners of Extreme Darkness'' lips immediately lifted to a slight smile, "I have no problems with it and I have lots of intelligence to tell you, but in return... you should tell me the truth behind this world''s spiritual energy!"


    "Haha... you are indeed quick and decisive!"


    The rock eyes shined as it agreed with no hesitation, "Deal!"


    ...


    "How did the so-called spiritual energy come about? It is definitely not explained by just a Spiritual King Comet..."


    After they reached an agreement, the rock eyes began to narrate, "To all of us, that Spiritual King Comet is merely an omen. The spiritual energy is a gift from a higher dimension world!"


    Extreme Darkness''s gaze wandered off as though she associated it with something.


    "That''s right, our world is not the only world! The dimensions have their own ways of functioning. On a certain day millenniums ago, two worlds began to overlap, or should I say, the dimensions began to infiltrate each other. Thus, spiritual energy began to spread to our world, causing all these magical things!"


    The Thousand Rock Lord spoke in a stern voice.


    "Infiltration of dimensions?"


    Extreme Darkness bit her lips.


    "Naturally, a higher dimensional world cannot coincide with a lower dimension world. However, it can radiate power to it... This spiritual energy is the basis to all! Thus, the common goal of the members of Hidden Cultivators Sect is to make use of the return of the Spiritual King Comet this time around to anchor on to that spiritual energy world. This will allow our world to be under the infiltration of higher dimension spiritual energy forever!"


    The Thousand Rock Lord spoke with fervour.


    "Dimension? Am I afraid this word should be changed to ''realm''? A realm beyond ours? Tr¨¡yastri??a?"


    Extreme Darkness immediately understood.


    In the Middle Continent of this realm, there had always been legends about realms beyond this realm. In actual fact, that was the description of a higher dimension world.


    "I never thought you would know all these!"


    Thousand Rock Lord was slightly surprised, "I originally wanted to say it a way more suitable for westerners, but I didn''t expect you to be so well-versed in cultivations."


    "But... this is just one-sided wishful thinking from you all..."


    Young Girl Extreme Darkness bit her lips as she thought of something.


    "It''s not wishful thinking! A realm beyond ours really exists!"


    Thousand Rock Lord''s expression turned extremely solemn at once as he continued, "Us leading cultivators, or should I say, us pioneering cultivators have more or less received the guidance and influence of the realm beyond ours before! Even some subsequent cultivators who cultivated to the peak also vaguely sensed the will of the realm beyond ours! As long as we can bring about the advent of this Spiritual Realm, we would gain boundless benefits! Eh?"


    Suddenly, the rock eyes'' spiritual will began to flicker and became unstable.


    "Thousand Rock Lord?"


    Young Girl Extreme Darkness was shocked and looked at the rock eyes.


    "Ahh... you dare?"


    The spiritual will of Thousand Rock Lord shrieked and suddenly exploded, disappearing without a trace left behind.


    "Sha! Sha! Sha! Sha!"


    On its spot, numerous cracks appeared on the pair of rock eyes and began to widen, it then turned to a pile of sandy soil in the end.


    "That is... He got destroyed?"


    Extreme Darkness grabbed a handful of rock dust with a very odd expression on her face, "What a useless old man who can''t even speak clearly..."


    ...


    "It should be here, right?"


    Time went slightly ahead.


    In Chinese Country, Fang Yuan was holding a shattered piece of the rock eyes and arrived at a picturesque spot.


    The place was secluded, birds sang in the area while flowers blossomed. There were even very little traces of ferocious beasts in the area. It was really a natural prosperous land.


    Fang Yuan smiled and arrived before a cliff. He held the rock with both his hands and raised it.


    "Open!!!"


    "Kaboom!"


    Dark clouds loomed in the skies, lightning flashed and thunder roared crazily.


    4th Tier powers began to gush out without reservation and immediately caused tremendous changes to happen on the face of the cliff in front of Fang Yuan.


    "What are you doing?"


    "Rumble!"


    On two sides, large amounts of crushed rocks rolled down and two divine statues of Green Rock Giants appeared. Their bodies were covered with moss and vines as they had guarded here for extremely long.


    "Scram!"


    Fang Yuan casually punched twice. Although his small figure was no match to the giant stature and build of the two of them, the two giants trembled under the punch and froze on their spot.


    Not before long, pieces of rocks crumbled from their body and numerous cracks appeared on their faces.


    "Crackle!"


    The rock wall cracked and revealed a door to the prosperous land.


    Fang Yuan took a step in and immediately arrived in a bizarre place.


    The ground was uneven and rugged, its surface was barren and covered with lots of rocks in all sorts of weird shapes.


    "Junior! How dare you bully me like that?"


    Under the earthquake, a thunder-like voice could be heard.


    A giant fissure appeared on the ground and numerous rocks piled together and formed a giant. The giant was over 100 feet tall and its body was covered with carvings of eyes. The arena''s immense power immediately engulfed the plane!

 447 Destruction

    "Thousand Rock Lord? I see you have possessed the rock!"


    Fang Yuan''s body shook and started to grow in size. His spiritual arena started to spread and his body remained in mid-air as he glared at the rock giant.


    Needless to say, this was the last-ditch attempt at preserving his own life.


    Everyone knew that legendary animals like the dragons and phoenixes would have a long lifespan.


    The Sea Dragon King did not hide in any secret place. He merely went into hibernation and had successfully woken up after a thousand years.


    However, the beings of elements would live even longer than these legendary animals.


    To these beings, a few tens of thousands of years would past in the blink of an eye. They only required the support of the element to be able to live on forever.


    The only catch was that such beings were extremely rare in this realm, even rarer than dragons.


    The Thousand Rock Lord was fortunate enough to have detected the life in this rock and successfully possessed it.


    However, everything was understandable. After all, the Thousand Rock Lord was a true ancestor and was even more senior than Xing Hezi. If he did not possess the rock, he would not have been able to live until now.


    "How does it feel like to become a rock? It''s terrible, isn''t it?"


    Fang Yuan started to mock the rock giant.


    After all, it was different from normal legendary beings. By having a life like the elements, the Thousand Rock Lord now had to live a life different from humans, and could no longer have the sense of touch.


    Even the strongest-willed cultivators would be tormented under such an experience.


    "You''re courting death!"


    The Thousand Rock Lord was enraged.


    As he roared, a rough-looking face appeared and a pair of ferocious rock eyes glared towards Fang Yuan. With the wave of its hands, a 10-ton rock started to smash down.


    "Break!"


    Fang Yuan slicked his finger out as though it was a sword.


    A flash of sword radiance flickered!


    This sword radiance was not strong. However, as soon as it came into contact with the rock, it started to fill up the cracks in the rock before slicing it into two neat pieces.


    This was neither the fastest strike not the strongest strike, it was merely just right!


    "Great swordplay!"


    Even the Thousand Rock Lord praised Fang Yuan for his techniques. "With such skills, even without spells, you could already be the most highly-skilled martial artist in the word! Who are you?"


    The sword technique appeared simple but was sophisticated in its own ways and was the product of years of experience. It could not be simply understood by the average person.


    The only possibility was that this person had stored wisdom!


    "Possessor? Or are you a demon from another world?"


    Possessors were highly-skilled natives who had reincarnated into another form, while a demon from another world simply meant that this person would be the enemy of the entire world!


    "Regardless of who I am, is there really any difference?"


    Fang Yuan scoffed. "Either way, you are going to die today!"


    "You don''t know what you''re saying!"


    The Thousand Rock Lord remained composed. Suddenly, all the eyes on its body started to shine as though they had all come alive at once. With that, they were then shut at the same time.


    "Whoosh!"


    In the next moment, as the Thousand Rock Eyes opened, golden rays started to fill the entire place.


    "Rumble!"


    Fang Yuan waved and streaks of flames appeared. As the flames came into contact with the golden rays, they froze for a while before solidifying and turning grey. The solidified rocks fell from mid-air and shattered as they smashed onto the ground.


    "Is this... Rock Transforming Glow? The potential of this rock is indeed great... unimaginable!"


    After all, this world was still a world with strict laws of physics. Even though the spiritual energy might increase, it would still only be for a short period of time. Technological advances could do little to make the elements last longer.


    Fang Yuan could not imagine how such a powerful rock giant could have come to life in the past.


    Of course, a more pressing issue would be the ever-growing golden glow.


    "Spiritualise!"


    With his spiritual will, Fang Yuan became an illusionary shadow.


    "Whoosh!"


    The Rock Transforming Glow pierced through the flames and landed on Fang Yuan''s body. It froze for a moment before illuminated straight through.


    "The spiritualisation of my body is a type of transformation to become an element. According to the people from the East, this is the combination of nature and man... Compared to my short moment of spiritualisation, the Thousand Rock Lord is constantly part of nature. If I allow it to grow stronger and restore its powers, the consequences are unimaginable."


    Fang Yuan froze in mid-air and appeared serious.


    The purpose of his visit was to kill and loot.


    However, the discovery of the Thousand Year Rock was indeed a huge problem for Fang Yuan.


    "If it already has so much power while it remains injured, would it be at the Divine Refining Grade at its peak?"


    Fang Yuan''s expression as he started to speak to the rock giant. "Who would''ve thought that a Divine Refining Grade powerful being had to abandon his body to become such a dumb thing? If you let your enemy know about this, I think he would be extremely shocked!"


    "Who are you? Who are you exactly?"


    The Thousand Rock Lord glared at Fang Yuan. It was as though its glare could burn through anything and was enough to give anyone the shivers.


    "I am Fang Yuan. You should have died long ago. Why are you still trying to pathetically survive until today?"


    Amidst his own laughter, Fang Yuan stretched out his hand. "Nine days of lightning, Hear my command! Strike!"


    "Rippppp!"


    Streaks of lightning started to dance in the sky. Suddenly, they came together and took up the shape of a majestic-looking lightning dragon which flew down.


    With a huge destructive force, the lightning struck mercilessly on the rock giant.


    "Pa! Pa!"


    Rock eyes started to explode one by one and terrifying screams were heard.


    The Thousand Rock Lord took a few steps back and his face was filled with disbelief. "Lightning? How can you control the lightning in my territory?"


    "Even though this place might be built by you, it is not your area and therefore, you have no control over its power!"


    Fang Yuan stretched out both his hands. "Come here, lightning!"


    "Ripppp!"


    9 lightning dragons appeared in the sky and fused together to form an elaborate array.


    "I have an array here. It is cast after years of experimentation. If you can survive under it, I shall let you off today!"


    The 9 Dragons Lightning Array isolated the Thousand Eyed Giant in it. After hearing Fang Yuan''s voice, the Thousand Rock Lord''s expression changed and he became panicky. "Five Elements Burrow, protect me!"


    "Rumble!"


    "Rumble!"


    Even though the Thousand Rock Lord had been severely injured, it was still ultimately the owner of this place.


    Together with the traits of a rock, it was a simple task for it to harness the energy from the rocks around.


    Within moments, four walls emerged from the ground, forming an extremely strong defence which protected the Thousand Rock Lord in it.


    This defensive layer was connected to the earth and was not only impregnable but could also be repaired within moments by absorbing energy from the ground. The only way to break through the defensive wall was to strip up the entire piece of land.


    "You''re a reckless boy. I would like to see how you will die later on!"


    Thousand Rock Lord hollered.


    However, in the next moment, it turned silent as though its neck was being gripped.


    "Strike!"


    Together with the activation of the 9 Dragons Lightning Array, an invisible force started to spread across the place.


    "Buzz!"


    A white glow flashed across and the strong force exploded. Although it was not a strong explosion, any wall, element or even spiritual energy disintegrated into nothing after coming into contact with it.


    "Whooosh!"


    Amidst the explosion, the rock wall crumbled, revealing a shocked Thousand Rock Lord.


    In the next moment, the 9 lightning dragons started to roar and rush towards it.


    "Rippppp!"


    The lightning streaks exploded and cracks appeared on the giant''s body, with the glow of lightning seeping out from these cracks.


    "This is... the power of an area..."


    The Thousand Rock Lord screamed. "No! I''m not convinced! This is not possible..."


    This voice became softer and softer. Finally, there was silence.


    Amidst a thick black smoke, pieces of rocks started to fall off the rock giant and the original size of the giant was slowly reduced.


    "Destruction from the 9 Dragons Lightning Array! It seems like the effect is not too bad, isn''t it?"


    Witnessing this scene, Fang Yuan snickered. "It is relatively powerful to be used in combat."


    Initially, with the protection of the land, the Thousand Rock Lord would not have been so easily defeated.


    However, Fang Yuan was not stupid. He started off with his killer move to chase away the spiritual droplets in the vicinity and thereby cutting off the support the Thousand Rock Lord would otherwise receive from the land. With that, he could deliver his strongest blow and the Thousand Rock Lord would have to receive the blow without any preparation.


    Such an array with the ability to chase away spiritual droplets was developed after studying Angel''s special ability.


    Although her ability was only as powerful as a 3rd Tier mutant, Fang Yuan had complemented it with an array, allowing it to even affect a being with the power of the arena.


    "Of course... it still has its limitations! Firstly, it is still unable to affect all special abilities. I had intentionally tweaked it to target ground-type abilities just now and supplemented it with lightning. Since lightning is able to counter earth, I managed to successfully pull it off just now..."


    "Also, as a cultivator with a special ability that relies on spiritual droplets in nature, considering the ability of the Thousand Rock Lord, if not for the fact that it was over-confident in its own defence, it could easily have avoided death if it remained alert, like how I did it before... Of course, this might be due to the fact that he had abandoned his human body!"


    If the Thousand Rock Lord was still a human cultivator, Angel''s special ability might not have affected it that much.


    However, it was now an incarnated being of element. Although it could now live for an extremely long time and was strengthened with the properties of rock, it had now become dependant on nature for its powers and therefore, it would be much more affected.


    "Rumble!"


    It was as though the sky was falling to the ground and the mountains were crashing down.


    A huge rock giant turned into powder after Fang Yuan''s attack and as it fell to the ground, there was a mini earthquake.


    From the tremor, a faint golden glow flickered before disappearing.


    "Whoosh!"


    As thunder roared, Fang Yun quickly made his way towards the glow and stretched his hands out. With that, a golden crystal landed in his hands.


    "How dare you run!"


    Looking at the human face in the crystal, Fang Yuan laughed.


    After their encounter, how could Fang Yuan let the Thousand Rock Lord leave so simply?


    "Ah... this is impossible. I am a Fate Soul and have a lot of fate energy. How can I die here?"


    Within the crystal, the face of Thousand Rock Lord started to scream. "I don''t believe this! I don''t believe it at all! The souls of the other worlds, I offer myself as sacrifice... Please enter!!!"

 448 Spiritual Realm

    "Spiritual Realm?"


    As Fang Yuan listened to the incantations from the crystal, his eyes moved but he did not stop it immediately.


    Fang Yuan had his suspicions earlier before.


    The advent of the Spiritual King Comet merely marked the peak in spiritual energy. It would be ludicrous if the Spiritual King Comet could really supply an entire realm with spiritual energy.


    Hence, the existence of a "Spiritual Realm" was certain and this "Spiritual Realm" was continuously providing this realm with spiritual droplets. This was extremely similar to the dream master''s source world which dream masters were painstakingly searching for!


    After realising such, Fang Yuan immediately confirmed to himself that this realm was of great value!


    This value was even greater than that of harvesting the source of this realm!


    "I can directly use this realm as an experiment to see how Da Qian World would be like in the future... Of course, the premise for all these would be the existence of a real ''Spiritual Realm''!"


    Fang Yuan lobbed the crystal and it floated in mid-air. The crystal was then pierced by a sword essence.


    "Ahh..."


    A hysterical scream could be heard, followed by an extremely reluctant and sad sounding wail, "There''s no use... the rite has already started, no one can stop it!"


    "So, you have no value left!"


    Fang Yuan waved his palm and flames spread, burning a certain grudging soul into ashes. Fang Yuan''s spiritual will even peeked out to greedily devour all of the opponent''s memories.


    The technique Fang Yuan used was a dream master technique which forcefully extracted Thousand Rock Lord''s life experiences.


    In an instant, numerous scenes flashed in Fang Yuan''s mind rapidly:


    In front of a motley door on a mountain, an honest and sincere looking youth had knelt for three days and three nights. He was in yellowish brown clothes and he had a small frame.


    "I must be accepted into Thick Earth Sect and become an immortal cultivator!"


    The scene then changed. The youth went through numerous hardships and was finally accepted into the sect. His cultivation progressed rapidly and in mere 50 years, he was already at the peak, high above many. His gaze locked as he thought, "The flourish of spiritual energy would at most last a hundred years, once the millennial tribulation arrives, all disciples must immediately hibernate in the prosperous land and be subjected to the heavenly fate!"


    In the next moment, after a millennium worth of vicissitudes, it was the beginning of a new era.


    However, at that moment, the Middle Continent was in a downfall. Whereas, the East Continent and West Continent were favoured by the heavenly fate as the age of discovery soon began.


    The middle-aged man was already gradually becoming older and weaker; he no longer had that energetic look in him as he thought, "No... although I had already broken through to the Divine Refining Grade and my cultivation is reaching the levels of the pioneers of the sect, under the tumultuous changes, everything would go down the drain? Even with 300 disciples and elders, I would be the only one left after 1,000 years and after yet another 1,000 years, who can still escape from mortality?"


    At that moment, the Thousand Rock Lord''s heart was filled with a fear of time.


    In order to achieve longevity, Thousand Rock Lord researched the classics in his sect and swept through the records of cultivators. He secretly turned into a ruthless person that wiped out all resources in order to look for the methods to escape the tribulation of death.


    "Haha... there''s always a way out!"


    Finally, in a declining small sect with a rich heritage, Thousand Rock Lord finally discovered the legend of the Spiritual Realm.


    "As long as the Spiritual Realm is anchored on and the two worlds overlap, Planet Earth will definitely become the paradise of cultivators! It will allow us to breakthrough and achieve longevity!"


    The Thousand Rock Lord was incredibly excited but was also filled with regret as it was too late. The Spiritual King Comet had long passed and the amounts of spiritual energy already began to drop. Thus, he no longer had the opportunity in this cycle.


    Whereas, with his lifespan, he could not even live until the next cycle.


    "Hate! Hate! Hate! Hate the heavens for being unjust! Hate the earth for being unfair!"


    The Thousand Rock Lord was enraged. In the end, he did not care about the consequences and began killing many as a blood sacrifice in hopes of achieving contact with the faraway Spiritual Realm.


    As he was closer to his deathbed, the Thousand Rock Lord''s means became even crueller and he did not care about his own body at all.


    He had some plans. Even if he was not successful in summoning the Spiritual Realm, he would not choose to seal and hibernate himself at his last phase of life. He would forcefully break the world''s membrane and fly into space in search of a lifeline in the space-time turbulence.


    At last, heaven helped those who helped themselves.


    Fang Yuan''s expression became tenser as he watched the scene.


    Space was broken and filled with the remains of living things, it was like the Asura hell. A giant mouth opened wide and greedily devoured everything.


    "Spiritual Realm?"


    Inside the Thousand Rock Lord''s burning gaze, a mighty will suddenly descend.


    As it was travelling across realms, this will did not stay for long. The will only left behind a message which said, "In order to open the two realms, everything must be obtained." The will was then immediately attacked by Planet Earth Realm and collapsed.


    Just at the moment as the will collapsed, space and time warped and a bit of yellowish-brown coloured spiritual light was transferred over and landed on the ground. It immediately absorbed the essence of the ground and turned into a sparkling gemstone.


    "This is... the core of the life of an elemental being? Haha!"


    The Thousand Rock Lord held the crystal tightly and laughed maniacally, "With this, what is mortality to me? I just have to wait for the next millennium and I can definitely complete the grand plan of drawing over this Spiritual Realm and directly become a Sage!"


    Afterwards, in order to complete his possession, the Thousand Rock Lord opened up a secret prosperous land with his Divine Refining Grade ability. This was because the process of possessing would cause him to become extremely weak and thus, he had to guard himself during this process.


    Nevertheless, the Thousand Rock Lord''s luck was pretty good. After he succeeded, he managed to live until now after all.


    Although his magical powers had greatly fallen and he only had the abilities of a Divine Returning Grade cultivator due to the 1,000 years seal and possession process, as long as he was given another 1,000 years, he could definitely regain his original level of cultivation.


    Hence, after the Thousand Rock Lord awakened his 4th Tier abilities, he could no longer bear it anymore. Thus, he sent his magical clones all over the world in preparation to receive the greatest reward from the Spiritual Realm.


    However, he never expected to meet Fang Yuan, his killer who badly defeated him.


    ...


    ''What an unlucky fellow!"


    The Thousand Rock Lord''s memory was like a huge treasure chest. However, Fang Yuan did not want to delve deeper into it anymore.


    This was because, in front of him, although the crystal was already pierced, it still completed some sort of sacrificial ritual due to what happened previously.


    "Bang!"


    The yellowish brown crystal exploded into powder. Concurrently, a giant crack in space appeared. It was pitch black inside and it was like hell as it devoured everything inside the small plane.


    "Submit to me!"


    "Offer the entire world to me and you will receive everything you want!"


    "Rumble!"


    At the same time, a mighty will suddenly descended! It was as though this will was extremely far away and separated by an unknown amount of light years. After it was transmitted here, it was still vast as ever and brought about a might so strong that it could crush everything.


    "Submit!"


    "Submit!"


    "Submit!"


    "Open up your heart and mind and accept the gift from the heavens!"


    ...


    Waves of wills repeatedly crashed into Fang Yuan''s heart.


    Inside Fang Yuan''s body, the originally immense spiritual force did not move at all. Instead, it was as though it was adding fuel to the fire.


    At such a moment, Fang Yuan could only rely on his own personal will and spiritual will!


    Thankfully, Fang Yuan was a dream master and traversed through numerous realms before. Therefore, he was very experienced in this area.


    No matter how intense and fierce this will was, Fang Yuan''s mind remained unwavering and still.


    ''It doesn''t matter if you are the heavenly fate of another realm! A realm''s will! By traversing across dimensions, your might will be greatly reduced! Furthermore, you will be counter-attacked by this realm!''


    Fang Yuan had some understanding of Planet Earth''s heavenly fate too.


    The physical laws of Planet Earth were harsh and thus, its fate was naturally hard to be discerned.


    After all, fate represented divinity! In order to maintain the doomsday world, nature could not blatantly interfere. This was like how a king enacted laws; after the laws were put in place and became rules, even the king himself could not easily violate these laws.


    However, just because it was not easy did not mean it could not be violated! It was a matter about whether the price was willing to be paid!


    Furthermore, even though the emergence of spiritual energy brought about all these magical powers, to Planet Earth Realm''s will, wasn''t it removing its shackles?


    Therefore, Fang Yuan was certain that since this Spiritual Realm''s heavenly fate had already invaded Planet Earth and had already agitated the will of Planet Earth Realm. Thus, Planet Earth Realm''s will become more vigilant and might even counterattack.


    As long as Fang Yuan could withstand it for a short period of time, he would be perfectly fine and unscathed.


    If Fang Yuan did not calculate and predict such, he would not have dared to suddenly attack Thunder Rock Lord and directly face this foreign will.


    ''But... there''s something I can finally confirm, and that is the existence of the Spiritual Realm! This realm that is at a higher energy level than that of the Planet Earth Realm... it might even be at a higher dimension!''


    Fang Yuan was extremely elated and excited inside his heart as he just unveiled the secrets of this realm.


    Outside, after the will which was roaring at Fang Yuan saw how he remained steadfast, it suddenly changed.


    Inside Fang Yuan''s sea of consciousness, all sorts of seductions appeared one after another.


    Mythical goddesses appeared and they were extremely gorgeous and captivating. Fang Yuan felt as though he became a God and was worshipped by thousands of deities. Suddenly, Fang Yuan then felt his body had achieved eternity as he was immortal.


    ''Since the violent ways didn''t work, it has turned to softer ways?''


    A slight smile appeared on his lips. "Unfortunately, I''m a lone wolf! I only eat the prey I catch by myself! No matter how much you are willing to offer me, I don''t want to lose my freedom!"


    "Rumble!"


    Moments later, everything in the surroundings disappeared.


    Fang Yuan scanned all around him and felt uneasy at once, "Oh no!"


    In what was originally the prosperous land, numerous cracks appeared in the skies and an annihilating storm raged. It was as though there was a wrathful and furious will outside that was breaking into the prosperous land and attacking the giant crack in the space inside.


    "Kaboom!"


    Under the roaring noises, a giant hole opened up in the prosperous land and revealed the dark clouds looming in the skies outside.


    Numerous purple coloured lightning gathered that flashed amongst the grey clouds. There were like pairs of purple eyes that kept merging together.


    Suddenly, the ground tremored and a green coloured flash of lightning landed.


    "Oh no... this is violet coloured! It''s violet lightning!"


    Fang Yuan felt a chill down his spine. Even if the lightning was not targeting him, he still felt an impending sense of great danger that made him immediately ran for his life as fast as possible.


    "Boom!"


    Numerous cracks appeared on the cliffs outside and they suddenly exploded.


    Under the loud explosion, Fang Yuan''s ravaged silhouette could be seen escaping from it.


    Fang Yuan turned back and saw the space quivering. He could vaguely see a hillside prosperous land that had countless holes in it. Green coloured lightning swept across crazily and was swarming towards that crack in mid-air.


    In the next moment, an invisible force calmed everything. It was as though what Fang Yuan had seen just now was just an illusion.


    "This realm''s will had made its move and directly destroyed that prosperous land and obliterated that foreign will!"


    Fang Yuan had some thoughts as he watched.


    Planet Earth Realm''s will had its homeground advantage while the opponent merely projected its will over. This projection was not even comparable to the true body of the will, thus, it would naturally be easily destroyed.


    But what would happen if the two realms coincide and there were no more advantages?

 449 The Encounter

    "What... What''s happening?"


    Fang Yuan crossed his legs and sat on the ground. After regulating his breath for a moment, he noticed a streak of fire rushing towards him from the horizon. Xing Hezi''s silhouette slowly appeared.


    As soon as he found Fang Yuan, he waved his whisk. The power of the arena started to spread out. Darkness covered the skies and stars started to appear. "Do you have any explanation for this?"


    "This person is spying on me and is trying to harm me. Therefore, I killed him! This is my explanation!"


    Fang Yuan flew up into mid-air and snickered.


    "Are you trying to oppose the Hidden Cultivators Sect?"


    Xing Hezi glared at Fang Yuan.


    "What do I have to gain if I oppose the Hidden Cultivators Sect? I am still supportive of Operation Grabstar."


    Fang Yuan shrugged his shoulders. "All of this is because of the personal feud I have with the Thousand Rock Lord!"


    After retrieving the Thousand Rock Lord''s memories, Fang Yuan was enlightened about the existence of the Spiritual Realm. To the powerful beings of this realm, this was no secret.


    Furthermore, those powerful beings who were able to attain the Divine Refining Grade were extremely rare. Most of them had, in one way or another, felt the will of the Spiritual Realm and might have even received assistance.


    Even Fang Yuan had to fear if he were to go against such a powerful organisation.


    "Personal feud?"


    Xing Hezi was suspicious of Fang Yuan''s excuse. However, his expression changed and the glitter from the stars around started to dim.


    "That''s right... I have discovered a shocking secret as well! This Thousand Rock Lord had another identity exactly one thousand years ago, and that is the Bloodied Demon!"


    Fang Yuan''s face was filled with a sense of justice. "This person has caused trouble then and is looking to create trouble now. I have killed him and he deserves it!"


    With the Thousand Rock Lord''s memories, it was extremely simple for Fang Yuan to accuse him of anything. Whatever Fang Yuan said would surely be the facts.


    "Tsk... It''s him!"


    Xing Hezi appeared shocked and bowed towards Fang Yuan. "This Bloodied Demon has once wiped out 13 families and sacrificed hundreds of innocent citizens. Never would I have thought that he would become the Thousand Rock Lord. Brother, for helping us kill him, you will surely gain good karma!"


    "It''s nothing much..."


    Fang Yuan acted humble but inside, he was chuckling.


    How would the powerful beings of the Hidden Cultivators Sect not know about the Thousand Rock Lord''s true identity?


    Since they were all powerful beings, they would know that his lifespan would slowly decrease and he would soon lose all his spiritual energy. Therefore, they did not care much about him.


    This was why Fang Yuan could bring this matter up in order to explain for his own actions.


    To speak the truth, no matter how important Thousand Rock Lord was in the past, he was but a dead person now.


    Would anyone be so dumb as to offend Fang Yuan, this Divine Refining Grade cultivator over a dead person? Hehe... Fang Yuan was, after all, a person who had just killed another Divine Refining Grade cultivator and himself, unharmed! Would Xing Hezi think of becoming the next to be killed under Fang Yuan''s hands?


    Xing Hezi had no thoughts of offending Fang Yuan. Instead, he agreed to everything Fang Yuan said and started to criticize everything the Thousand Rock Lord did in the past.


    "Brother Xing Hezi, don''t worry! The damage to the array due to the death of Thousand Rock Lord will be rectified by me!"


    There were no more problems as soon as Fang Yuan made this promise.


    Both of them were on good terms before taking their leaves. However, their thoughts were entirely different from their attitude towards each other.


    "Sigh... this is pitiful..."


    Fang Yuan stood in mid-air, gazed at the blue sky and sighed.


    Because of the traits of Planet Earth Realm, 99% of the powerful beings in the realm were ruthless and were ready to bring in a higher-tiered realm to coincide with their own realm without considering their own realm''s will.


    Planet Earth Realm''s will must have felt so helpless, right?


    To Fang Yuan, regardless whether the wills were strict or composed, they were all too predictable.


    To an epiphanic realm, the will would surely be offended and would conjure lightning strikes to deal with these delinquents. Even if it was not able to destroy these rebels, it would still be able to keep them under control and warn anyone else who would harbour the same intentions of going against the realm.


    However, Fang Yuan felt that Planet Earth''s will was helpless, even more helpless than the will of Da Qian.


    "It seems that the will of Planet Earth is stubborn... the powerful beings in the realm will not be dealt with if they do not explicitly display their intentions to oppose the will of the realm, and that is bad news for the realm... When they rebel and escape, I''m afraid it will be too late. What a pity..."


    With a heavy heart, Fang Yuan returned to Huiming City and went to meet up with Xi Menjian.


    "How''s it?"


    Xi Menjian wore a mysterious outfit of a servant and only came out to meet Fang Yuan at night.


    As soon as he saw Fang Yuan, he became increasingly nervous.


    He was still the weakest among all of them, to the extent where Xing Hezi would not even care about him. It could also be the fact that Xing Hezi was keeping him alive on Fang Yuan''s behalf. Otherwise, he would not even be able to survive until now.


    "I have visited most parts of Chinese Country. Life is scarce everywhere!"


    Fang Yuan arrived at a secret room and sighed. "I have also looked into the various shelters within the array. Most of them are built for a defensive purpose and most of them are adapted a little. Therefore, it should not be built to destroy the city!"


    Fang Yuan did not speak the entire truth.


    "Is that so? Then that''s good..."


    Even so, he was still frowning.


    He knew that although the array was not built for destructive purposes, it did not mean that it was entirely safe. In fact, Fang Yuan had already hinted to him about the usage of the array.


    "The transference is almost complete. The wild animals out there should not be able to infiltrate the city..."


    Xi Menjian mumbled to himself.


    The plan which took ten years centred around the usage of these huge cities as bases. Now that the plan was in progress, it was almost impossible for the country to undergo any changes in the plan.


    "Do you think we can only hope for them to be friendly towards us? Hehe... this is an irony!"


    Xi Menjian laughed.


    "We actually do have a plan!"


    Fang Yuan smiled and revealed a mysterious look.


    ...


    On the East Continent, in a church.


    "This feeling..."


    Sitting on a golden chair, Farquhar gazed towards the direction of the Middle Continent. "The will of the Spiritual Realm... is it here again?"


    He walked out of the hall and gazed downwards.


    Buildings were built around the Holy Mountain. It resembled a refugee camp as it was filled with people. Everything was chaotic.


    All these people were loyal believers who lived under the Holy Mountain to receive blessings. They came from every part of the East Continent.


    At the arrival of doomsday, even cults would be able to survive, what more for a Curia with a real god leading it?


    Not just that, the disease which the 9 Headed Cerberus had spread throughout the continent had pushed many to lean towards the Curia as they seek for a cure.


    At this point in time, governments were failing and the Curia had become the most powerful organisation of the East Continent. Even the Blue Star Alliance would have to rank second now.


    "Mortals... Life is fleeting. In times of danger, people would not dare to hold on to positions of power and authority and would rather become cowards..."


    Witnessing this scene, Farquhar was not too happy.


    Among the many powerful beings, he was also on the side of humans for he had many human believers. However, all these were useless.


    The reason for his existence was to increase the spiritual energy of Planet Earth.


    Without the existence of spiritual droplets, his faith would not be able to gather so many followers, which would translate to his godly powers.


    Therefore, even Farquhar ad to be supportive of Operation Grabstar to lead both worlds into an overlap.


    Of course, to the new powerful beings, Farquhar would not tell them the truth. He would only mention the Spiritual King Comet but would say nothing about the existence of the Spiritual Realm.


    "This is a sign of the Spiritual King Comet! It is also a new beginning!"


    "At the arrival of the fourth occurrence, where the Spiritual King Comet is the closest to Planet Earth, we can activate the array to commence the operation... This is only the first step. This is akin to aiming our harpoon at a whale in order to catch it. Next up, we will have to make use of the huge amount of energy which would arise from the occurrence of the Spiritual King Comet to break through the membrane in order to allow the Spiritual Realm to merge with Planet Earth... This is the true Operation Grabstar, the true aim of the Hidden Cultivators Sect!"


    Farquhar continued to mumble to himself. "After merging the two realms, Planet Earth will retain its current condition and the spiritual energy in here will never go down. We can make use of this accomplishment to gain recognition in order for the new realm to accept us!"


    To Gods, recognition was power! Recognition was authority!


    This was the reward the Spiritual Realm could give.


    The will of the Spiritual Realm was different compared to that of Planet Earth''s. It was much more flexible. If it were to recognise a powerful being, the being would become a god, the ultimate achievement rumoured in the legends from the East!


    "Now... the will of the Spiritual Realm is about to arrive at the Middle Continent!"


    Farquhar could feel that time was rushing.


    Behind him, 3 bright wings were radiating as they started to absorb holy light around him.


    Furthermore, the fourth pair of wings was illusionary and was about to form.


    3 pairs of wings meant that a god would have a 4th Tier special ability.


    4 pairs of wings meant that a powerful god would have the ability of a 5th Tier mutant!


    In the East, this would be considered the Divine Refining Realm. A person of such power would be able to create a prosperous land, and the collective way to address such a person would be an Area Being!


    "In crucial moments, the will of the Spiritual Realm would always appear to bring together the powerful beings of this realm... even the natives of this world, werewolves or even the 9 Headed Cerberus have once benefited from the powerful will of the Spiritual Realm. I wonder who is going to become stronger this time in the Middle Realm?"


    Farquhar was lost in his thoughts. Behind him, the illusionary pair of wings started to absorb the power of the faith. However, it still dissipated in the end. It was evident that Farquhar had yet to restore his full might.


    Even so, he was still undoubtedly the most powerful being on Holy Mountain and the leader of all.


    "I wonder who is here?"


    The holy light illuminated the entire mountain. Farquhar felt a slight sense of fear as he detected the presence of another Area Being.


    "You can call me... Extreme Darkness!"


    The space around the holy mountain started to distort and a young and beautiful girl emerged and arrived before Farquhar. The pair of white and black wings behind her and her captivating beauty caused Farquhar to be in a trance.


    In the next moment, Extreme Darkness spoke in a sweet voice. "I have brought my goodwill intentions as well as the friendship I have with the vampires and werewolves... Furthermore, I have a secret about this realm!"

 450 Approaching

    "A secret about this realm, this is interesting!"


    Farquhar looked at the wing of darkness on the young girl and continued, "I don''t have any animosity with the ancestors of those two races. The so-called battle between light and dark is merely a delusion of mortals..."


    Farquhar paused for a moment and changed the conversation topic. "Of course, we''re all at the same tier and I am still filled with respect. I wonder what are you going to tell me and what do you want in return for it?"


    "The two ancestors of vampires and werewolves are willing to help you suppress the 9 Headed Cerberus as a token of sincerity."


    Young Girl Extreme Darkness spoke in a very calm voice, "This is because the 9 Headed Cerberus is an agglomeration of utter chaos and destruction! Its existence will only bring trouble and impede the rest of us!"


    "I fully agree with this point!"


    Farquhar''s face turned sombre but he still nodded his head.


    Although they were all 4th Tier mutants too, after all, some living things could not be communicated with at all. They only knew how to cause destruction, wreak havoc and pursue death.


    Unfortunately, the 9 Headed Cerberus was one such fabled creature.


    Furthermore, its restoration and regeneration powers were extremely indomitable. Even if one of its head was chopped off, another head would grow out immediately. It caused a huge furore in the previous millennium and there were rumours that it created the Black Death which caused the death of countless people in East Continent.


    It was unexpected that this 9 Headed Cerberus could survive till now even after being sealed by many other powerful beings.


    Such a seal was to protect it, but to wear it down.


    The fact that the 9 Headed Cerberus could withstand the seal for 1,000 years even when there was a lack of spiritual energy in the atmosphere made many deities afraid of it.


    "And then... you all wouldn''t be helping me for no reason, right?"


    A golden glow was emitted from Farquhar''s pupils.


    "In return, I hope you can help me deal with someone in Middle Continent."


    A slightly complex gaze flashed pass Young Girl Extreme Darkness'' eyes as she spoke.


    "Who is it? Your enemy?"


    Farquhar was slightly interested.


    After all, He was very clear about the origins of this Demon Weapon. He knew she was just 10 years old and other than being defeated badly once, she did not have any bad blood with anyone else.


    "Sort of..."


    The young girl waved her arms and a light screen appeared in mid-air. On the screen, there was a silhouette of a teenager which suddenly split into two, turning into Fang Yuan and Lei.


    "The two of them are actually the same person, which is Fang Yuan!"


    She pointed to Fang Yuan who was in a white coat and continued, "I was once badly defeated by his transformation, Lei! Thus, I hope I can receive your aid!"


    "Although Middle Continent was downfalling in the recent millennium, it is still a continent with a rich history and heritage. This is especially so regarding their cultivators and cultivation. Many deities were born on this continent and there were even many powerful gods who created dimensions... Even if only a few of them have survived, their strength is still extremely frightening..."


    Farquhar continued, "One of their organisations, Hidden Cultivators Sect, is even trying to partner with the powerful beings of this entire world! I didn''t agree to them... but, we do not have any differences nor ideological clashes with them. We even cooperated with them during the construction of the array."


    "Even if the bunch of you are working towards the same goal, it is still important to have a clear leader among us!"


    Extreme Darkness continued with an ulterior meaning in her words, "Why don''t us non-cultivators form an alliance? Be it Operation Grabstar or the continued competition in the new world, we still need to be represented by an organisation for our voices to be heard!"


    "This suggestion is not bad!"


    Farquhar stroked a ring on his right finger as he thought.


    "Once the alliance is formed, we need to sacrifice a powerful being in order to send a warning to the rest! And there''s no better target for this than this person!" Extreme Darkness said gravely.


    "Oh? Why?"


    Farquhar seemed to be slightly surprised.


    "Based on the latest intelligence, he has some disagreements and differences with Hidden Cultivators Sect due to some matters. If we make our move on him now, he would not be able to react quick enough to counterattack!"


    The young girl smiled and added, "Furthermore... this Fang Yuan is not even 30 years old yet. He is the novice amongst novices and has no relationship with any godly or demonic level friends. His own strength is very weak."


    "Just these don''t provide enough reason why you are going after him."


    Farquhar lived for so many years and naturally accumulated extraordinary experiences and intelligence. "Also... the relationship between this Fang Yuan and Hidden Cultivators Sect is on the verge of breaking? But he isn''t being punished for it? This means he must be possessing extraordinary power! You didn''t tell me about this clearly."


    "Not bad..."


    The young girl gave a bitter laugh and replied, "This was because my information was not clear. I could not confirm it... but I know that he might have killed an important figure in Hidden Cultivators Sect."


    "To be able to cause the death of someone as powerful as me, his strength is indeed terrifying!"


    Farquhar shook his head and continued, "The cost of helping me seal the 9 Headed Cerberus is to face an even more terrifying presence. This is really not convincing at all."


    "Thus, this is why I''m adding on a secret about this realm into the deal!"


    A sly look suddenly appeared on Young Girl Extreme Darkness'' face. "I wonder how you feel about this realm? Since there''s a Spiritual Realm, could it be possible that there''s another world?"


    "Visitors from a foreign realm?"


    The holy light in Farquhar''s eyes almost condensed into solid as he scanned the young girl''s body numerous times.


    "Apologies, I cannot tell you more now. But that Fang Yuan is definitely not as simple as a normal genius... I wonder if you are interested to know more about it?"


    The young girl looked at the seraph with great expectations.


    "..."


    Farquhar remained silent for a while before answering, "This lady, thank you for coming by here. But please return and rest first, I still need to carefully think about your offer."


    "Okay!"


    Young Girl Extreme Darkness bowed and was respectfully escorted out by the archbishop.


    "Another new realm is discovered?"


    Farquhar''s eyes sparkled repeatedly.


    The existence of the Spiritual Realm meant that other foreign realms possibly existed.


    The unknown was very attractive to any intelligent living creature.


    Furthermore, having the knowledge of another realm or even the choice of another realm was like having more cards up one''s sleeve.


    Such a temptation would be too hard to reject even for a God!


    ...


    "Doesn''t matter if one is a deity or an immortal cultivator, as long as they have the most basic emotions, they would be easily tempted!"


    Inside a luxurious room, Young Girl Extreme Darkness gazed at the skies and suddenly smiled. "Unless... one becomes like the will of this realm which has no emotions and is at the state where its instincts are almost gone..."


    Although she had already revealed some information, she had concealed more.


    For example, the intelligence about that more powerful world in her memory!


    "Buzz!"


    Suddenly, a jade pendant on her hand suddenly shined brightly. A voice came from it and asked, "How was it?"


    "Everything went well!"


    Extreme Darkness flicked her fingers. A light and dark enchantment immediately appeared and enveloped the entire room.


    "Very good... I can''t believe you have such luck to obtain the inheritance of something from other worlds! When the opportunity arises in the future, please teach me about it!"


    This voice was transferring over a thought which could not be misinterpreted.


    "I merely received some foreign spirituality. From this angle, both of us are the same kind of person, only that Fang Yuan is the one that is truly different!"


    Extreme Darkness replied in a solemn manner.


    "Of course, those who are not our kin are sure to be different!"


    The voice from the jade pendant was sharp and decisive, "You all can take the plunge and do whatever you all want, I will help you keep everything stable at Hidden Cultivators Sect''s side."


    Moments later, the communication disconnected. A cold smile appeared on Extreme Darkness'' face as she thought, "Yet another shady guy, greed will be your cardinal sin!"


    ...


    Huiming City.


    "The overall plans are already laid out! We can only silently wait for the arrival of the Spiritual King Comet!"


    Fang Yuan laid on a chair and watched the skies quietly. "Even I... eagerly wish to see all of this unfold. Just that..."


    As a dream master, a sudden warning suddenly emerged inside his heart that kept lingering inside his mind which represented some sort of immense danger.


    "Although the Hidden Cultivators Sect does not have a good impression of me, after settling it with Xing Hezi, no one would go after me... the amount of benefits they would gain for the amount of effort needed to take me down is just not worth it."


    "Whereas, for the other two continents, I don''t really have any nemeses..."


    "Am I targeted by the will of Spiritual Realm? No, it can''t even target me! The time is not ripe yet. If it forcefully comes for me, it would be attacked by this world''s realm..."


    "Then... where exactly is the danger from?"


    Fang Yuan stroked his chin and began to eliminate the options.


    At his position and strength, there were not many people in this entire realm that could pose a threat to him. After Fang Yuan eliminated them one by one, the most inconspicuous ones became the largest possibility.


    "Other dream masters? Or could it be Elder Extreme Darkness?"


    The coordinates of this realm were directly displayed on the Realm Alliance''s mission board. As long as one''s level of rights and position was high enough, any dream master could obtain it and come over to this realm.


    Of course, with a big war impending and with the dangers of this realm, not many dream masters would dare to traverse to this realm.


    Therefore, the most likely dream master would then be Elder Extreme Darkness!


    After suffering such great losses the previous time, how could she not come back for revenge?


    Even if she was not back to take her revenge, she could still silently observe to prepare for her comeback.


    Perhaps she might not come over personally, but she could still easily post new missions and command her disciples to come over.


    "Lorita!"


    As Fang Yuan thought of such, he did not hesitate anymore and immediately stood up.


    "Adoptive father! What''s the matter?"


    Lorita came over and bowed.


    "Immediately mobilise your people in Golden Eagle Federation to collect and send over all information about that Demon Weapon! Especially the recent ones !"


    When Fang Yuan spared the life of the Demon Weapon that time, it was for him to have a clear target this time!


    After all, the Demon Weapon was a cloned body and had sufficient powers. If Elder Extreme Darkness were to really come to this realm, it would definitely choose to possess that body to save a lot of trouble.


    Fang Yuan had sent people to spy on it. As long as he were to compare the current Demon Weapon to the past, he would have a clue.


    "Understood!"


    Seeing Fang Yuan''s serious expression, Lorita did not behave cheekily anymore and immediately agreed with a serious tone.


    Fang Yuan''s gaze deepened as he watched Lorita leaving.


    The experiment in this realm was related to the future of Da Qian. It was a preview! Thus, Fang Yuan paid close attention to it and would not hesitate to eliminate any interference, even including Elder Extreme Darkness!

 451 Combined Ambush

    Considering one''s resources, Fang Yuan could only be considered average.


    However, his early preparations with the support of Chinese Country and the fact that he had only focused his efforts on spying on the Demon Weapon resulted in him getting quite a lot of information regarding the Demon Weapon.


    At this point in time, he held a few photographs in his hands. They were the images of the Demon Weapon''s encounter with the Sea Dragon King. There was also news that she had visited East Continent and her whereabouts were unknown.


    According to the spies from Golden Eagle Federation, The Demon Weapon''s intelligence had shot up and was already out of control. It was now an unstable factor.


    "Hmm... It seems that even if communication is being cut, the big countries will still be able to communicate with each other!"


    Reading the documents in his hands, Fang Yuan scoffed. "Ye Yingzi and Zhao Daniu are unable to obtain this information because their authorities are too low!"


    "Furthermore... It seems like someone has taken up the bait. Is it Elder Extreme Darkness?"


    Fang Yuan was unsure of this.


    After all, any dream masters from his own world would be free to possess the Demon Weapon. This is seen in the Ancient Realm where the water demon Wu Zhiqi could be possessed by Xiang Liu. As long as Extreme Darkness approved of it, anyone would be able to control her body.


    "Regardless, everyone has their own style of doing things. Since there are changes now, even the dumb ones would be able to tell that something has changed..."


    Although the dream masters from the Realm Alliance were considered to be on the same side as Fang Yuan, no one could be absolutely sure.


    "I''ve plotted for this for such a long time. How can someone else come in and disrupt everything just like that? Even if Elder were to re-enter the realm, I wouldn''t think that she will be able to disrupt my plans... Furthermore, if dream masters are to enter the realm, they should actively try and communicate with me. Such suspicious actions will only make me suspect their intentions!"


    Fang Yuan sighed before smiling. "The enemy is in the dark and I am in the open. The situation is disadvantageous to me and the solution would be to turn the tables around!"


    ...


    After a few days, on the surface of the ocean in the East.


    There were a few spots of glitter which swiftly transformed into the silhouette of Farquhar and two other people.


    Farquhar had his 6 wings behind him while the two others beside him had mysterious spiritual auras. One of them had a pale skin, purple hair and bloodshot eyes. He had the vibes of a leader of a particular tribe. The other person was a well-built man with a rough spiritual aura resembling a wild beast.


    "Chinese Country... It is an unbelievable country!"


    The golden sparks gathered together as Farquhar closed his eyes. With that, he could sense the current situation in Middle Continent before speaking with excitement. "The adaptability of this country is much stronger than other countries! It is still able to preserve some of its elemental energy!"


    Golden Eagle Federation was barely surviving while the Blue Star Alliance had already announced their disbanding. Comparatively, Chinese Country was doing good.


    "That''s right... I can sense the blood of the people here. They are good food for us..."


    The pale and respectable looking man had his purple and gold hair stretching to his waist. He struck fear in those who heard him speak.


    "Curtly, don''t think of spreading your seeds here. After all, this place is the territory of the Hidden Cultivators Sect!"


    The beastly man beside him exclaimed.


    "Jon is right. As of now, we cannot offend the Hidden Cultivators Sect!"


    Farquhar spoke solemnly before starting to raise suspicion. "I wonder... What did Extreme Darkness give the both of you to get you two to help out?"


    "Hehe..."


    Both of them exchanged glances and remained silent.


    Even though they were allies now and even worked together to capture the 9 Headed Cerberus, they were still Dark First Ancestors and could not coexist with Farquhar.


    How would they tell him such an important piece of news?


    "It''s nothing much. Lady Demon Weapon has admired us and gifted to us a technique on harnessing the essence of the sun and the moon..."


    After a long silence, Curtly spoke. "You know about it... We are always interested in the cultivation techniques of the Middle Continent. However, those crazy people from the Hidden Cultivators Sect could not provide us with a suitable technique to train. Who would''ve thought that a lady like her could help us solve our problem."


    "After all, she has the knowledge of another world, even though it might be incomplete."


    The werewolf beside them licked his lips. "Now, we have to help Extreme Darkness to kill Fang Yuan. This person is not like Extreme Darkness. He is an otherworldly demon and we might even be able to obtain coordinates of another world from him..."


    Although both of them were clear about Operation Grabstar, they were even clearer about the risks of this operation.


    After all, not every plan would be able to have a 100% success rate.


    Even though they would be able to increase the spiritual energy of Planet Earth to maintain its level at the peak throughout, they did not mind looking for a backup plan.


    For instance... the coordinates of another world!


    With that, even if they were to encounter any disasters, they would be able to learn from the Jade Palace Faction to live in the fabric of the space-time continuum.


    Furthermore, with the coordinates, it would serve as a lighthouse in the dark, guiding them forward and allowing them to proceed on feeling much safer.


    "I have once seen Fang Yuan before and it was just after the third occurrence... At that time, he was still in his other form, ''Lei'', and was the number one mutant in the world! Needless to say, this person gives me a mysterious vibe... It seems as though I am able to see through him and at the same time unable to understand his thoughts. He is like an ancient book. With every page, I will discover more information and will seem to wander further and further from understanding his true self."


    Farquhar felt a little confused.


    In their discussion, the three of them transformed into asteroids as they infiltrated Chinese Country.


    "This is great!"


    Curtly scanned the surroundings and felt pleased. "We have not been stopped since we entered the country. It seems like they have kept their promise and that we have indeed gained the recognition from the Hidden Cultivators Sect!"


    "Hehe... it is but a small bunch of people!"


    The werewolf started to lick his white fangs. "The few of them are surely at odds with Lei but they want to act aloof and ride on our power."


    "Most importantly, they want to obtain the secret as to how Lei managed to improve his cultivation in such a short period of time!"


    Farquhar added on.


    Everyone would suspect a normal person who would be able to become so powerful in such a short period of time.


    This is especially so for someone who was able to achieve the Divine Returning Grade after the second occurrence to have the ability of a 4th Tier mutant and to be known as the number one mutant in the world.


    Such a progress could not be explained by the mere possession of an otherworldly demon.


    If it was as such, if the outside world were to keep releasing their demons, Planet Earth would be incapable of any resistance.


    "Hehe... It seems like in this operation, we not only have to be wary of Extreme Darkness and the Golden Eagle Federation, the greatest problem could be from the old demons of the Hidden Cultivators Sect!"


    From the Vampire''s First Ancestor''s laughter, a stronghold appeared before them.


    The stronghold was built from metal and was as tall as 10 metres. The top of the wall was filled with machine guns and cannons and the entire stronghold resembled a huge armour.


    "Look at this stronghold. It seems like preparations to build it have begun 10 years ago?"


    Witnessing this, Farquhar sighed. "If the government of the alliance have such efficiency, I believe that so many lives in the Blue Star Alliance could be saved."


    "Extreme Darkness! How''s it?"


    The three of them stopped and shouted as a beautiful young lady appeared before them. The black and white wings were glowing brilliantly.


    "I have snuck into the city and have confirmed his location."


    As Extreme Darkness spoke, she had an uneasy look. "However, something feels weird. He is always in his bungalow and rarely left it..."


    "Isn''t this good?"


    The Werewolf''s First Ancestor, Jon, started to reveal a layer of white hair as he slowly transformed into a wolf. He could not wait to take action.


    However, Farquhar and Curtly started to hesitate. "Considering his ability, even if you use your most skilful ability to traverse through space, he should still be able to detect you. If this is how things are, then it seems that something is wrong."


    "Who cares? No matter how scheming a plan would be, under absolute strength and power, any plan would crumble... our collective power should be able to overpower Fang Yuan, for he is a lone person. Even if he managed to kill Thousand Rock Lord, he could only at most deal with two of us. We will still have the advantage!"


    At this point in time, Farquhar was resolute.


    "That''s right... if we let him off, we might be giving him more opportunities to do whatever he wants!"


    Extreme Darkness was also clear on this. "I only have scattered memories from a foreign world. However, that otherworldly demon is completely foreign. After a period of time, he will surely grow stronger."


    After the 4 powerful beings had come to a conclusion, it seemed as though a disaster was about to strike Huiming City.


    "Squeak! Squeak!"


    The first one to take action was the Vampire''s First Ancestor. Under his control, the clear skies became covered with red-hued clouds. Black bats started to descend and circle the bungalow as they hungrily searched for their prey.


    "Rumble!"


    In the next moment, a holy light descended from the heavens. Angels were singing hymns and a huge cross appeared in the sky. Like a holy sword, it struck towards the bungalow.


    There was a faint howl of a wolf as well, and a streak of white light struck down like an asteroid.


    "Enraging Dark Winds, rage on!"


    Compared to all of them, Extreme Darkness was much more well-versed in her skills.


    Compared to how she had blindly used all her new abilities in the beginning, the current Extreme Darkness now knew how to harness her power properly. With a simple wave of her hand, dark winds started to form and the faint cries of grieving souls could be heard.


    The ground shook and water gushed from the cracks on the ground, forming a strong current of water which swept everything into it.


    Such a combined attack which complemented the three other attacks would push their destructive power to a maximum.


    The combination of wind and water displayed her versatility in controlling her powers.


    "Rumble!"


    Under all the attacks, the bungalow could not even hold on for a single second. With that, it crumbled almost instantaneously.


    The vibrations from the explosion and crumbling spread far and wide, and many other buildings were affected as well.


    "Ahwooooo!"


    Jon transformed into a white-haired wolf. His body broke the sound barrier as he pounced forward towards a particular silhouette.


    "Chiii!"


    The silhouette did not resist at all. It started to crumble and disintegrated, which disappointed Extreme Darkness. "Indeed..."

 452 The Chase

    A truly powerful being would not be destroyed in a single werewolf swipe.


    "Magical clone? Illusionary shadow?"


    In mid-air, Curtly''s voice spread throughout the entire city before he remained silent. "This is troubling..."


    Although they were all powerful beings, it was not an easy task to locate someone in their vast world.


    "This technique of magical clone is extremely powerful!"


    Farquhar saw the other side of it. "His demonic prowess is indeed powerful to be able to go undetected under the Hidden Cultivators Sect and even under you, Extreme Darkness!"


    "Ahwooo!"


    As the howl of a wolf was heard, Jon''s hair retracted and he transformed back into a well-built man. He gazed at Extreme Darkness with an impatient look. "All of this is due to your inaccuracy!"


    "That''s right, even I cannot distinguish between him and his magical clone..."


    Extreme Darkness let out a bitter laugh.


    At that moment, all of them were sure that Fang Yuan was in the bungalow.


    If not, why would all of them use their killer moves? However, gazing at the Huiming City which was destroyed, the 4 powerful beings remained silent.


    "What about..."


    The Vampire''s First Ancestor, Curtly spoke. "Do you think it will work if we capture his family members and friends to threaten him? I''ve heard that he has two adopted daughters..."


    "Or we could announce our challenge to him. If he doesn''t appear, we can kill our way city by city!"


    The werewolf gazed at the bloodied city and was already in a state of excitement.


    "That''s impossible!"


    Extreme Darkness thought for a while before shaking her head. "Since he has already escaped, it must mean that he has already expected us. By now, he would have moved his family members or even cut ties with them. Even if we torture his daughters in front of him, he would not waver the slightest bit."


    "It is even more impossible to kill entire cities!"


    Farquhar raised his objection. "If we were to repeat what we have done previously, we will surely attract the attention of the Hidden Cultivators Sect."


    "Who''s that?"


    "Evacuate the people and activate the army!"


    ...


    At this point in time, the people started to become aware of the commotion. A few mutants rose up into the air and appeared as though they were willing to fight with their lives.


    They knew that they were up against powerful beings who could destroy entire cities and that they did not stand any chance against these beings!


    However, for their families and friends, or even for their faiths, they had to fight.


    "Don''t overdo it!"


    Seeing this, Farquhar''s expression changed. "After all, the array is still here!"


    "Hehe... don''t worry!"


    Curtly was displeased at the fact that they had used all their powers but to no avail. With a chuckle, a dark-red cloud hovered in the sky before descending down, trapping a few unlucky ones in it. Not long after, cries of sorrow were heard.


    "Rumble!"


    Soon after, a few black dots appeared on the horizon. They were fighter jets flying towards the city at full speed.


    "Could they be carrying atomic bombs with them?"


    Witnessing this scene, Jon''s eyes turned bloodshot and his expression turned into a ferocious one. "I''ve always wanted to test the limits of my regenerative powers!"


    "It''s impossible!"


    Extreme Darkness shook her head. "Not everyone is as crazy as you to test their limits. They would not abruptly attack us, even after considering about the citizens in the city!"


    "What should we do?"


    Farquhar frowned.


    The four of them had combined forces this time, but none of them would have considered that they would end up in such an awkward situation.


    In fact, they were all highly skilled in skills, predictions or even techniques to search people.


    However, Fang Yuan was too cautious and did not leave any traces behind for them to search for him.


    Now that he had covered all his traces up, the four of them had no luck even after performing their spells and techniques.


    "Extreme Darkness... Since things have developed to such a stage, we shall leave first!"


    After a long while, Farquhar gazed at the three of them and spoke.


    This lady had once helped them to capture the 9 Headed Cerberus and had constantly provided them with benefits, which made them agree to help her out for once.


    However, none of them had expected that their enemy would disappear just like that.


    "Beautiful lady, don''t you worry. We will stick to our promises!"


    Curtly continued. "As long as you discover traces of the enemy, you just need to inform us and we will arrive in the quickest possible time!"


    "Whoosh!"


    As soon as he finished his sentence, he exploded into countless blood-hued bats which flew into the sky towards the East.


    "I''m sorry, I cannot leave the Holy Mountain for too long as well!"


    Seeing this, Farquhar shrugged his shoulders and left with Werewolf Jon.


    "D*mn!"


    Witnessing their departure, Extreme Darkness gritted her teeth.


    She continued to wait in her spot in anticipation, even until the sun had set. Only then did she unwillingly left. Before leaving, she gazed in a certain direction as though she was warning somebody.


    "Hehe..."


    In a few moments, Xing Hezi''s silhouette appeared as he shook his head. "Four highly skilled cultivators in the Divine Returning Grade and they are still no match to a puppet. This is a joke... It''s a pity that the fight did not start. Also, it seems that that lady is still too inexperienced..."


    By waiting, Extreme Darkness must have been trying to bait Fang Yuan out.


    The 3 of them, being cunning, would surely be hiding somewhere and were creating an act to lure Fang Yuan out to deliver a killer blow to him if he were to appear.


    It was obvious that this plan had failed since Fang Yuan had decided to be a coward.


    "This lady doll is ruthless..."


    Xing Hezi sighed as he gazed at the destructive scene. "Fortunately, they did not destroy the foundation of the array. After this blood sacrifice, we have enough grieving souls to allow the array to regenerate itself if it was destroyed. The array eye will mature without any complications."


    "However... this Fang Yuan..."


    Even Xing Hezi himself had a fear for Fang Yuan.


    His secret identity as a suspected otherworldly demon was only one of the worries.


    More importantly, Fang Yuan had displayed his attitude of not conforming to any rules.


    Thousand Rock Lord had only spied on him once but was killed soon after. This time, against 4 powerful beings, Fang Yuan knew how to hide and react to anything that would happen.


    Such a person was akin to a poisonous snake! If the snake was not killed in a single blow, complications would arise!


    ''Since this is so, I shall not go after the two adopted daughters. I shall leave this to others!''


    Xing Hezi thought to himself for a moment before whipping his whisk. With that, night came and the stars glittered brilliantly in the night sky.


    "The mortals are stupid and I am here to save the world!"


    With a cold laugh, his executed a special technique before stretching forward.


    "Rumble!"


    The power of the stars descended and everywhere shook.


    ...


    "This is weird!"


    In the prosperous land of the Jade Palace Faction, Fang Yuan opened his eyes and started to suspect something. "It seems like... it is not Elder Extreme Darkness!"


    Although Fang Yuan was confident of his own ability to conceal himself, he was wary of the fact that his enemy might be an elder in the Illusionary Divine stage. Her powers were limitless and if she was desperate enough, she could surely find her way to Fang Yuan.


    Therefore, Fang Yuan had chosen the prosperous land as the place for the final showdown.


    With the foundation laid out by the Jade Palace Faction, Fang Yuan had adapted it to create a few powerful arrays. If he were to activate all of them at one go, the enemy would surely be caught off guard.


    Furthermore, there was also a secret tunnel which he could control at will to use it to attack or defend.


    "But now... none of them are here. What in the world is happening?"


    Fang Yuan was dissatisfied at the fact that all his planning had come to a nought.


    "The Spying Eye outside did not detect anything as well. It seems like this Extreme Darkness is not actively looking for others, but is unable to find me..."


    Fang Yuan rubbed his chin and felt at a loss. "Could Elder really be this weak? Or could it be... that I am scaring myself, and that she did not even dream-traverse here in the first place?"


    "If that is the case..."


    To this point, he came to a decision. Swiftly, he left the prosperous land and rushed towards the West Continent at full speed.


    ...


    After a few months.


    On the ocean surface just next to the Golden Eagle Federation, two streaks of light were flying at top speed.


    "She is indeed not Extreme Darkness!"


    Fang Yuan turned into a streak of lightning and his intent to kill was locked on the silhouette in front of him.


    He had secretly arrived at Golden Eagle Federation and snuck into the government to wait. With a little patience and spells, he finally found traces of the Demon Weapon.


    With that, his next cause of action was to directly strike her with a bolt of lightning.


    Never would he have thought that as soon as he appeared, the other party would start to flee. This did not feel like Elder Extreme Darkness at all.


    "Fang Yuan, I know... You are that otherworldly demon which everyone in our world hates!"


    Extreme Darkness fled as she continued to speak. "I have already notified the alliance members of the Demon Alliance. They will come here as soon as they can. Once you are being surrounded, you will surely be killed."


    Regardless of how she threatened Fang Yuan, Fang Yuan continued to chase her without giving her even a moment to breathe.


    "You know my identity and you are skilled in a few weird secret spells. It seems like you are still the Demon Weapon I know. However, you have obtained a few memories and benefits after all these years... To speak the truth, I admire you for the fact that you are able to fight back."


    Fang Yuan was starting to feel interested towards this young girl.


    It would be a feat for Extreme Darkness to re-enter the realm, execute her plan and turn out victorious.


    Furthermore, after destroying her spirit, Fang Yuan would be able to absorb some of the Demon Weapon''s memories. Even if Extreme Darkness were to seal some of these memories, they would be parts where Fang Yuan would be interested in.


    Furthermore, this young lady had the clone body of Extreme Darkness and even parts of Extreme Darkness''s soul. What would this mean? This would mean that she would be almost identical to the actual Elder Extreme Darkness, like a magical clone out of control!


    If Fang Yuan could control this magical clone, he would be able to obtain a lot of valuable information and secrets! If he were to bring these pieces of information back to Da Qian, he could even have the chips to bargain and deal with Elder Extreme Darkness.


    "The bait which I have put in place has worked now that I have attracted such a huge fish."


    As waves of spiritual energy rolled across the surface of the ocean, Fang Yuan was filled with satisfaction.


    "Roar! Roar!"


    At this point in time, a dragon''s roar was heard from a distance ahead, and Extreme Darkness appeared relieved.

 453 Capture

    "Sea Dragon King?"


    Under the extreme speed, Fang Yuan could already feel an enormous spiritual aura in front of him.


    Winds raged and clouds loomed as the contemptuous aura of a king could be felt.


    Such a feeling was very familiar to Fang Yuan.


    The emergence of a water dragon would bring about crazed winds and rain!


    The support that was rushing over towards Fang Yuan was the king of the deep seas, Sea Dragon King!


    "Even if every member of the Demon Alliance is present, I will still not let you off!"


    Nevertheless, the glow in Fang Yuan''s eyes became more resolute. He then suddenly stepped forward violently.


    "Hruuu! Hruuuuu!"


    Spiritual energy swept across as though it became a windstorm.


    Extreme Darkness turned around and felt as though she saw a black hole.


    "Rumble!"


    Suddenly, the black hole broke apart and a giant silhouette stepped out.


    He was extremely tall, huge and had strong muscles. It was as though he came from the wilderness as he was very rough looking and his body was violet in colour. He suddenly hollered, "Zha!"


    Sonic waves swept across!


    This one word of his was like the first voice that created the heavens and earth; it was extremely terrifying.


    The rough waves on the seas calmed down at once. Even the clouds in the skies scattered as though they were scared.


    Enormous! Pangu Eagle Body!


    This was of course not the real body of a True Divine martial artist, but with Fang Yuan''s strength now, it was already extremely close to his original body in his own world. Such a body being displayed was still incredibly awe-inspiring and formidable.


    "No! The unity of light and dark, Mandala Enchantment, seal it!"


    Young Girl Extreme Darkness saw the giant extend his hand and his fingers were like five mountains that crushed her. An extremely horrified and panic-stricken look appeared on her face and she immediately bit the tip of her tongue. Her face became red and she started casting her spell.


    On her right hand, a holy light mandala appeared which was radiating a pure and holy white-coloured glow. On her other hand, it was extraordinarily dark and gloomy as it formed a queen of the night flower that looked like it came from hell.


    Suddenly, the two light and dark flowers merged together and gave birth to something chaotic. The two forces from the extremes clashed together and immediately opened up an inexplicable and indescribably powerful enchantment that was enveloping towards the giant hand.


    "Very good!"


    Fang Yuan chuckled.


    Extreme Darkness did not while away time. After she conquered this otherworldly body, it was as though her misfortune turned into good luck as she gained substantial benefits.


    Furthermore, just with the large amounts of techniques and experiences left behind by Elder Extreme Darkness were enough for her to progress tremendously.


    However, the body she possessed would seal off and destroy its important memories if it was defeated. Hence, this young girl did not obtain much and this explained why the enchantment appeared rather incomplete and deformed.


    "If she really continues to grow further, she would be unstoppable since her body''s physique was already not bad and she was further supplemented by the experiences from another world."


    As Fang Yuan thought, his expression became extremely stern. The giant he transformed as then roared furiously again, "Roar!"


    "Smack!"


    In the enchantment of light and dark, even if the Five Fingers Mountain descended from the heavens, it would be sealed in the void too.


    However, moments later, Young Girl Extreme Darkness'' face changed drastically.


    After she harnessed all of her strength, the attack merely sealed off one of the opponent''s¡­.. palm? Furthermore, the feeling it gave her was like as though she was catching a great white shark with a normal fishing net as the opponent could easily break free from it.


    "Run!"


    In that instant, the young girl made up her mind and fled towards the Sea Dragon King. She was very regretful.


    If she knew Fang Yuan was so powerful, she would not have made enemies with him.


    ''Aren''t people from other worlds who visit our world suppressed and restrained? Also... from the memories, this Fang Yuan isn''t really someone to be afraid of...''


    ''Why... is it still like this?''


    The young girl was incredibly puzzled.


    "Kaboom!"


    However, Fang Yuan gave her no chances.


    Accompanied by a raging roar, lightning flashed crazily in the skies and struck all at once, tearing apart the light and dark enchantment.


    The lightning bolts surrounded the giant hands like two dragons swimming around it. The giant hand then grabbed the lightning bolts again.


    The enchantment broke and along with the power of the lightning escaping from it, it immediately caused Young Girl Extreme Darkness'' face to turn ashen at once. Fresh, red blood then spewed out from her face as if she was a plum.


    "Stop!"


    "Sploosh!"


    At last, the seas raged and a 100-yard-long blue water dragon charged out from it.


    "No one can stop me from doing what I want to do! Scram!"


    The Pangu Giant hollered and struck out his other fist.


    "Splash!"


    Water splashed everywhere as a fist landed on the seas. Its strength was like an entire mountain and brought about an indomitable might.


    "Bang!"


    Under the fist, even the 100-yard-long water dragon was sent flying back. The layers of water on its body were shattered one by one.


    "No!"


    Extreme Darkness'' gaze was filled with despair. The giant lightning hand went for her without hesitation and sealed off the void at the same time. She could not even teleport away and was grabbed by the hand tightly.


    "Kaboom!"


    In the next instant, lightning flashed and brought about great pain and anguish to the young girl. Her body was now covered in large patches of burnt marks and even her bones and internal organs could be seen. She was then continuously restoring and regenerating her own body.


    "Seal!"


    After such great destruction, all the lightning bolts gathered and condensed into a lightning chain that entered the young girl''s body. It then turned into a seal and immediately disappeared.


    The young girl immediately lost her consciousness.


    "You... humans! You have really enraged me!"


    "Roar!"


    The surface of the sea which was filled with rough waves immediately turned pitch black.


    The currents moved continuously and brought about huge waves that were more than 10 yards tall. On the crest of the wave, the blue water dragon emerged from it. It had a single horn on its forehead, dragon claws on its abdomen and a plain looking dragon tail. It then began stirring waves.


    "Hehe... a cross-bred water dragon dares to call itself the Sea Dragon King?"


    Fang Yuan scanned the dragon with his eyes and revealed a disdainful look.


    As Fang Yuan was a water dragon before, he could naturally feel that although this blue-coloured water dragon''s power might have been higher than his own, its bloodline was not pure. Thus, it was not even comparable to his golden water dragon transformation and not to mention, a true dragon.


    Such a dragon that dared to call itself the Sea Dragon King would be killed and shredded into pieces if it really met a true dragon.


    A dragon''s temperament was haughty.


    As it saw Fang Yuan''s disdainful look, the Sea Dragon King seethed with anger even more. It then violently opened its mouth.


    "Whoosh!"


    A beam of cold blue coloured light gathered in front of its body and immediately landed on the giant''s body.


    Freezing weather! Snow during summer!


    In an instant, an extremely frosty feeling swarmed the area. The vast ocean turned into solid ice and encased the giant in it, becoming an ice statue.


    The blue water dragon swam about and turned into a stream of blue light. It then arrived in front of the giant and swung its tail.


    The water dragon had never hoped to freeze the giant to death directly, it only wanted to restrict the giant''s movement for a more convenient attack.


    "Smack!"


    A divine dragon tail''s smack would be nothing short of a thousand tonnes!


    However, even though the shockingly immense strength landed on the giant''s body, it only made the ice in front of its chest shatter. The giant''s broad and sturdy chest was revealed and he did not even move back a single step nor flinch.


    "How could it be?"


    Seeing such, the Sea Dragon King finally let exclaimed in shock, "How could your body be so strong?"


    As a mutated beast, its advantage against humans was its body that was tougher than steel. As the apex of mutated beasts in the ocean, the Sea Dragon King was very confident of its dragon body. It would never have imagined such an attack of his would be so useless and it could even feel slight pain from its dragon tail.


    "Hmph, you''re ignorant!"


    Fang Yuan sneered.


    The most powerful thing Fang Yuan had currently was his martial artist divine body of Pangu Eagle Body. Even though he was only showcasing a small bit of it, it could rival any ferocious beasts in this realm.


    Under the attack just now, he even had the strength to protect the fainted Extreme Darkness who was inside his hand.


    "Oh? Looks like the reinforcements are here!"


    Fang Yuan looked at the prey in his hand. He then announced loudly, "I am a very fair person. Since you attacked me once just now, I will counterattack you once! If you can block it, you live! If you can''t, you die!"


    "How brazen!"


    Sea Dragon King was fuming. Layers of sturdy ice appeared on its body and transformed into a solid defence.


    At the next moment, it saw a fist smashing towards it.


    What kind of tyrannical punch was that?


    It was as though the punch opened the skies and split the earth, separated the good and bad, and crushed everything in front it. Against this fist, it was like going against an entire world!


    This was a punch that was exceedingly close to the power of an area!


    "Ahh!"


    As the Sea Dragon King roared, blood oozed out from each and every scale on its body. The gigantic bloodied dragon dived into the sturdy ice which formed the strongest defence.


    "Rumble!"


    In the next instant.


    The fist landed and the sturdy ice was crushed. It even forced apart the seawaters and revealed unseen pieces of land that were submerged for aeons.


    How could the might of a fist be this powerful?!


    ...


    Moments later, a stream of holy light and a stream of bloody light arrived. As they looked at the ravaged surroundings, they had the same astonished looks on their face.


    "Could Area Beings be... fighting here before?"


    Farquhar mumbled.


    Faced with such a scene, anyone would have thought of that possibility.


    "Where''s blue dragon? It can''t be dead, right?"


    Curtly looked at the large pool of fresh blood on the ocean and was salivating. He almost could not stop himself from guzzling it.


    "Such precious dragon blood shouldn''t be wasted!"


    Curtly''s eyes turned blood-red like a shiny crystal and a force of his mind emerged.


    Streaks of blood were drawn out from the waters as he easily separated the seawaters from it. The streaks of blood then gathered in front of him and formed a large ball of blood. Its surface was uneven and a tinge of gold colour could be seen too.


    "Tsk tsk... what unadulterated dragon blood! Such a beautiful wine should be enjoyed during the grandest feast..."


    The vampires'' first ancestor muttered.


    "Curtly! If you dare to do that, I guarantee you I will eat you up! I swear!"


    "Sploosh!"


    A portion of the sea split apart and the blue dragon king emerged from it.


    However, it was now miserable and wretched looking. Not only were its scales broken and its dragon claws cracked, there was even a giant hole near its waist that went through its body. It was almost severed it into two halves.


    "We received the call for help from Extreme Darkness and immediately rushed over! It was Fang Yuan, right?"


    Farquhar waved his hand. A streak of holy light descended and sped up the healing of the water dragon''s wounds.


    "It''s him indeed! That person... that person..."


    The blue dragon king muttered and a look of fear appeared inside his giant dragon eyes.


    "Not only are his spiritual techniques powerful, his physical body is not like that of a normal person too... He had already captured and brought away Extreme Darkness."


    Although Farquhar and Curtly had already guessed and expected such, hearing it still caused them to heave a chilly sigh.


    "You all can do whatever you all want to do by yourselves! I wouldn''t be interfering anymore!"


    The Sea Dragon King hollered. Its body then shrank into an appearance similar to that of a fish before it dove into the deep seas and disappeared.

 454 Magical Clone

    "Where is... this?"


    As soon as the young Extreme Darkness came to, she realised that she was already in a palace-looking building.


    There were four white tall pillars around. Chains stretched from the pillars and restrained her in the middle.


    "Don''t try to struggle!"


    Before her, Fang Yuan stood calmly. "I have already cast an array which will deplete the spiritual droplets around you, and another array outside. Even a Divine Returning Grade being will find it hard to escape."


    "What do you want to do with me?"


    Extreme Darkness quickly evaluated the situation she was in and calmly spoke to Fang Yuan in an attempt to discuss the conditions. "I know... you are not a powerful being in your own world. In my consciousness, I have a lot of memories and I can trade them with you... no! As long as you don''t kill me, I can give all of these to you!"


    "I am indeed interested in all these information. However, I can obtain all these information from you myself. Why do I have to trade with you?"


    Fang Yuan snickered and stretched out his palm.


    "Mmmmm!"


    His palm was as smooth as jade and felt cold to the touch as he placed it on Extreme Darkness''s forehead.


    With that, the young girl''s face was filled with an agonising pain as a weird look flashed across in her eyes.


    The feeling of being searched through the soul was akin to someone smashing her skull open to forcefully open it before stirring the contents with a metal spoon.


    "I know..."


    After a few moments, Fang Yuan finally spoke. "You must have a ruthless strategy which can damage Extreme Darkness''s soul. Therefore, you assume that I will let you live, right?"


    "This is not good!"


    A hue of silver flashed in the young Extreme Darkness''s eyes.


    At that moment, her consciousness started to shake and her mind started to expand, making her 10 times more powerful than her usual ability!


    This was her killer move. It was a special ability which she did not know where she had absorbed it from. The effect of this ability would be to make her 10 times more powerful than usual by rendering her weak for the next three days. Although the effects would only last for a few minutes, it would be enough for her to do whatever she wanted.


    Although this ability could only amplify the powers of the original mutant who had it by a little, it was a killer move for the Demon Weapon to protect her own consciousness.


    This was one of the plans she had while she was fleeing from Fang Yuan.


    Why could she still use this ability even after being restricted by the array?


    This was because after receiving Extreme Darkness''s memories and techniques, she had achieved a breakthrough in the limits of her special ability and began on her path of cultivation.


    Although she was extremely weak now, she was still able to activate this small special ability of hers.


    However, it was a pity that because of what Fang Yuan said, she could no longer stick to the original plan and unknowingly activated it at this point in time.


    "Rumble!"


    As a powerful 4th Tier mutant, even though Fang Yuan had a steadfast will with a clear mind, under such a powerful mind influence from the Demon Weapon, Fang Yuan''s will collapse without a fight and left his consciousness.


    Seeing this, Extreme Darkness appeared confused.


    Her initial plan was to take the opportunity to counter-attack and channel all her mind powers into Fang Yuan''s consciousness to destroy him!


    However, since Fang Yuan was prepared, he would surely temporarily cut off ties with his mind. After the powerful blow, she would become helpless against Fang Yuan''s attack.


    Even so, she still glared ever so fiercely at Fang Yuan as though she was a female wolf looking at her prey.


    "The resemblance... is uncanny!"


    After Fang Yuan''s ploy to make Extreme Darkness execute her killer move had worked, he gazed at the pale face before him and was stunned. "This look resembles Elder Extreme Darkness to a tee... Little girl, do you know what caused this?"


    "Caused this?"


    The young Extreme Darkness started to turn frenzy.


    Suddenly, in her collection of memories, a figure appeared which slowly became increasingly clear.


    That was...


    Tears welled up in her eyes as fear filled her face. "No... save me!"


    "Cough..."


    Witnessing this scene, Fang Yuan was utterly speechless. "Even such a weak magical clone of Elder Extreme Darkness is not something which can be easily defeated... even if I were to become careless and fall into your trap, I can still survive in your consciousness... But now that you are helpless, do you feel that your memories are becoming clearer and clearer? Don''t think about it. The more you think about her, the easier that will would be able to reproduce on you!"


    The more Fang Yuan mentioned about it, the worse the situation became.


    As he mentioned the memories, the young girl would involuntarily think about it. She would think about the beautiful and captivating deity-like lady.


    Furthermore, the scattered memories started to come together as though they had come to life. They were all fighting to control her as they made the silhouette of the lady clearer and clearer.


    "No... I don''t want to turn into another person, save me!"


    Two streaks of tears rolled down her face and splattered as they fell to the ground.


    With that, the young girl shut her eyes forcefully. In the next moment, as soon as she opened them, her expression changed. She now appeared calm and composed, which would strike fear in anyone who saw her.


    "Fang Yuan!"


    Her cold but composed voice made it feel as though the young girl in front of Fang Yuan was a changed person.


    She was no longer the Demon Weapon, but the actual high-tiered Illusionary Divine dream master in the Da Qian world, Elder Extreme Darkness!"


    "Let me go!"


    With that, Elder Extreme Darkness spoke calmly as she demanded her release.


    "I''m sorry... I cannot do it!"


    Fang Yuan hugged himself and snickered.


    "How dare you! Are you intending to be disrespectful?"


    Elder Extreme Darkness gazed at Fang Yuan with an intent to kill. "Members of the Realm Alliance cannot kill each other. It seems like you are intending to betray the alliance! Do you want the Sage to go after you?"


    "Hehe..."


    Seeing this, Fang Yuan remained unmoved and even had a mocking expression on his face.


    "Fang Yuan... If you release me, I shall owe you a favour. Once we return, I shall make it up to you. How''s that?"


    Seeing how Fang Yuan reacted, Elder Extreme Darkness changed her tone.


    "Are you... really Elder Extreme Darkness?"


    Fang Yuan finally said something which made Elder Extreme Darkness change her expression. "As dream masters, we dream-traverse and if our possessed bodies are harmed, our True Spirits would be damaged but we would immediately return to our own bodies. I''ve never heard of instances where one can leave their magical clone behind."


    "This is a unique occurrence and I am trapped by this body. Fortunately, I was able to hold on to a shred of my own consciousness to remain aware of everything..."


    As Elder Extreme Darkness continued, her voice became increasingly low-pitched as though she knew that even a kid would not believe her. With that, she became impatient. "Tell me, what do you want? No matter how weak I am, I am still a magical clone of my true self. Do you still want to harm me? Are you not afraid that my true self will realise it and deal with you afterwards?"


    "Oh, is that so? I''m so afraid!"


    Fang Yuan snapped his fingers and the array started to increase in its power.


    Elder Extreme Darkness, who was trapped in the middle, felt even more stress on her shoulders as she started to kneel down. "What do you want?"


    She had no idea how important this world was to Fang Yuan. Fang Yuan had already decided to himself that he would kill anyone who would interfere with his plans, even if a Sage were to enter the realm!


    "I''m afraid that... you''re just unlucky!"


    Even though Fang Yuan had her under complete control, he was still cautious.


    This was an actual magical clone of Elder Extreme Darkness and was different from the previous young girl. She would know all of Elder Extreme Darkness''s secret spells and Fang Yuan had to make sure that nothing would go wrong.


    To think about it, it was Elder Extreme Darkness''s misfortune.


    With her ability, she could possess anyone in the realm and would still stay safe.


    However, her impatience made her tempted to choose the clone body of herself which was extremely suitable for her to possess.


    After all, because of the restrictions of this realm, even a Sage would have to start his cultivation from the bottom, which was an extremely arduous process. Not everyone had Fang Yuan''s special ability to possess fixed stats and therefore achieve breakthroughs without considerations.


    Elder Extreme Darkness had already suffered a blow to her True Spirit once. Now, she was possessing a 4th Tier mutant. Even so, Elder Extreme Darkness could still pull it off and survive.


    However, never would she have thought that after the Demon Weapon had absorbed all sorts of special ability, it would obtain an ability to increase its own mind power to turn the tables around.


    This second blow would cause even more damage to her True Spirit and therefore, she would naturally return to her own body in Da Qian.


    However, her soul was being trapped within the Demon Weapon. Since she was unwilling to let the Demon Weapon benefit from her knowledge, she entered into a deep slumber.


    Now that the Demon Weapon was weakened, she could finally take control of it to create trouble.


    "A cloned magical clone with a piece of soul from the owner and scattered memories... the result is an uncontrollable magical clone, is that right? Elder Extreme Darkness?"


    Fang Yuan placed emphasis on the last few words as he mocked her.


    Dream-traversing was still extremely dangerous.


    Even a person as powerful as an Illusionary Divine dream master could fail twice and create an uncontrollable magical clone.


    As soon as the magical clone matured, it would surely find ways to enter Da Qian world to absorb the true owner and become one with it!


    "I am confused... if I destroy your magical clone, will your true self hate me or be thankful?"


    Fang Yuan smiled before stretching out his palm. "Now, it''s time for you to convince me. What value do you have?"


    "..."


    After an awkward silence, Extreme Darkness''s magical clone finally spoke. "Although my true self had programmed for me to destroy my memories as soon as possession fails, I am still a magical clone of her and you can even consider me as a part of her. Therefore, my memories are not wiped out and I still have most of it... I have the secrets of Da Qian, powerful secret techniques and even the plans of the Realm Alliance. I can tell you all of these."


    "Very well!"


    Fang Yuan clapped his hands. "You know how to adapt when the tables have turned! Finally, how do you intend on allowing me to trust you?"

 455 A New Beginning

    Time passed quickly.


    In the blink of an eye, 10 years had passed.


    Since the battle 10 years ago, Fang Yuan had disappeared from the face of Planet Earth. The Hidden Cultivators Sect from the Middle Continent and the Demon Alliance of the East and West Continents had searched the entire planet but to no avail.


    In this 10 years, due to the changing concentration of spiritual energy, there were many shocking changes in the world. The surviving countries started to break down. There were traffic jams everywhere and wild beasts were flooding the cities. Mutants and cultivators took hold of this opportunity to rise to power as the authority of governments started to erode. Alliances began to replace the governments.


    It was already the end of the Year 1023, and the fourth occurrence was about to come!


    Just like before, the Spiritual King Comet would appear in the sky, which would represent the peaking of spiritual energy in the atmosphere. With that peak, the concentration of spiritual energy would go down soon after.


    The period in which the spiritual energy would be concentrated would only be around a hundred years. After this period, the entire planet would enter a new cycle of another 1,000 years.


    However, this time, the powerful beings of the Demon Alliance and the Hidden Cultivators Sect had already made their preparations. They would no longer resign to fate and would give their all to execute their plan!


    ...


    Huiming City.


    The half-destroyed city was slowly being rebuilt and it was becoming increasingly prosperous by the day.


    Tens of thousands of people now resided in the city, which meant that the city would be extremely congested and chaotic. From the outside, the entire city resembled a huge reunion of families.


    The silver city walls, the scientific-looking weapons and the mysterious-looking arrays gave the city a unique vibe of its own.


    Entering the city would give one the impression of arriving at a refugee camp.


    One-storey houses were built beside each other. Rubbish and waste filled the air with an unbearable stench. Similarly, fightings, robberies and rapes were common here. Those with strength would have the power and rights to talk and there was almost no existence of laws in this place.


    Further in the slumps, through another set of walls, one would arrive at the Elite Area. High-rise buildings were built from metal and the streets were clean. Police would regularly patrol the streets to maintain order. With the thick wall separating the slumps from this part of the city, the difference was vast, as though this place was heaven and the slump outside was hell.


    Some mutants, military personnel and low-tiered scientists were designated to live here to enjoy a little peace and stability.


    Those with merit and money would be able to upgrade themselves to live in the Elite Area. This was the dream for many living outside.


    However, most of them were unaware that there was also a small Core Area in the centre of the city.


    This place enjoyed treatment as to how Planet Earth was before all the chaos. Because of the arrival of doomsday, this place had become even more complicated and backwards than before.


    This was the place that only the people at the top could live in. The people living here were mutants at the 3rd Tier and above and this place was the safest and most luxurious place in the entire Huiming City.


    Considering their land sizes, the Core Area would be the smallest, followed by the Elite Area and finally, the Slump Area, which covered over 70% of the entire city.


    This was the reality of doomsday!


    "Chirp! Chirp!"


    Suddenly, in the skies outside of the city, there was a group of black dots.


    It was a flock of red-feathered vultures. They were ferocious and ugly-looking. Their wingspan was about 3 metres long and their sharp talons swiped the air around as they flew.


    "Pa! Pa!"


    On the top of the city walls, the various types of high-technology weapons were fired at the many ferocious vultures in a multi-coloured display of streaks of light.


    A few occasional vultures would make it through the rain of ammunition firing at them but would crash into the protective array to become a pile of bloodied mess.


    "It''s another flock of Blood Vultures. It seems like we need to send the Risk Party to the cliff in the west to clear them up."


    On the city walls, a few officers gazed at the scene coldly and thought to themselves.


    At the same time, an entourage of vehicles arrived from outside which attracted their attention.


    In such times, even the Risk Party would have to travel on foot. To be able to enjoy the luxury of a car meant that this person was a person of status!


    "We have received the message. This person is an ambassador from outside. He has been cleared. Open the doors!"


    An officer verified the information through a phone before ordering for the city doors to be opened.


    "Kacha! Kacha!"


    Under the whirring sound of machinery and gears interlocking, torque was created to slowly open the doors.


    "Aha!"


    "Finally home!"


    "Haha... It''s a new life!"


    Similarly, a Risk Taker in tattered clothes witnessed this scene and exclaimed in excitement.


    "Are those people... the previous Risk Takers? How fortunate it is for them to encounter the vehicles to return to the city together!"


    The officer commanded without any expression. "Pass down the order to be stricter during the checks. Also, the Guard of Honour shall follow me to receive them!"


    After 10 years of development in Huiming City, a unique culture and practices had been formed.


    Technology was fused with special abilities, which created a new era of technology. Limitations were broken and now, it was possible to produce cheap manufactured food to meet the demands of the city. Although the food did not taste too pleasant, it was still good enough to ensure the survival of the people.


    Furthermore, a few normal cultivation techniques were being spread around, which formed the basis of the Risk Takers.


    They were the most active group of people in the city and were always dreaming about activating special abilities, achieving a high tier in the cultivation or even entering the rat race to earn money and food. With these goals, they would accept missions in Huiming City and would periodically clean up the ferocious wild beasts around the city to provide stability.


    After every mission, the system in the city would record down the Risk Taker who had completed the mission. Once the Risk Taker would accumulate enough points, they would be promoted to a 4-star Risk Taker or even higher, which would give them the chance to reside in the Elite Area, a huge step from where they once were.


    "Uncle Yu!"


    At this point in time, a young Risk Taker was observing the entourage of vehicles with jealousy as the vehicles rolled into the city. "Who are these people..."


    "It should be the ambassador of another city, right?"


    Another well-built man in tattered clothing rubbed his chin. "Who knows what he is here for..."


    "Someday, I want to become somebody like him!"


    The young man watched as the vehicles drove out of sight. His uncle had to painstakingly convince the guards at the door to grant them entry into the city. Comparing the differences in their treatment, the young man clenched his fists tightly.


    "I am Captain Sun Xingchen of Huiming City. Welcome, ambassador from afar!"


    The entourage vehicles entered a car park and were parked before Zhao Daniu walked out of one of the cars. Looking at the changed city, his face was filled with mixed emotions. "Finally... we''re back."


    There was a look of pain in his eyes, for he could not forget what had happened 10 years ago.


    When the city was under attack, almost half of the entire city was destroyed. With Xing Hezi of the Hidden Cultivators Sect taking over the helm of the city, Huiming City was the first city to slip out of the control of the government as it started on a new path of self-sustenance.


    Till today, the intention to isolate this city was all too obvious.


    "Welcome, Ambassador Zhao. Please enter my car and allow me to escort you to the Core Area!"


    Sun Xingchen bowed and gave a military salute.


    "Thank you!"


    After 10 years of training, Zhao Daniu now had the look of a middle-aged man. He had grey sideburns. Controlling his emotions, he entered a black limousine.


    "Welcome, Sir!"


    In the limousine, there were already two ladies wearing seductive clothing waiting for him. As soon as he arrived, they started to surround him. These two ladies had similar looks and might even be blood-related.


    Reclining in his chair, wine was served. "Do you want to drink with us?"


    Zhao Daniu''s heart wavered for a while. However, as soon as he thought of Ye Yingzi, he became resolute. "Don''t get too close to me! Give me a cup of wine!"


    Raising a glass of wine, he twirled the red wine in the glass.


    He started to observe the surroundings outside. There were dark skies and uneven buildings outsides. As soon as the people on the streets saw the symbol on the entourage of vehicles, they quickly made way in fear as they admired the car from afar. Zhao Daniu had mixed feelings looking at them.


    Finally, he understood parts of it as soon as he entered the Elite Area.


    Looking at the greened area and the various departmental stores around, Zhao Daniu felt as though he had travelled through time.


    Such peace and quiet were rare in this period and it was worth it to protect with all their lives.


    However, as soon as he thought about the situation outside, he felt a little unjust for the unfortunate people.


    "Pa!"


    Finally, as they entered the Core Area, Zhao Daniu could no longer hold in his anger. With a strong fist, he smashed the body of the car he was in.


    The car was made from a special gold alloy and was claimed to be able to deflect guided missiles and special abilities of 3rd Tier mutants. However, in a single punch, there was already a distinct dent in its body.


    The car continued to drive on and finally stopped in front of a bungalow which resembled a palace.


    Sun Xingchen personally opened the door for Zhao Daniu. "You are indeed the powerful Rockman! Please!"


    Zhao Daniu took in a deep breath as he walked along the red carpet and entered the palace.


    White jade, silver and gold were embedded into the walls. The chandeliers hanging from the ceilings completed the luxurious scene.


    Although the price of gold and metals had already drastically fallen in such times, the resources and manpower required to build such a palace were also worth a fortune.


    With a single thought, Zhao Daniu felt a sharp pain in his chest as though there was a heavy rock.


    "Hehe... I welcome you, my friend from afar!"


    An old man walked out supported by two younger ladies. "Or should I say... the Ambassador from the capital, Mister Zhao Daniu!"


    "Hello, Mister Li!"


    After exchanging their greetings, Zhao Daniu quickly recalled information regarding the other party.


    Li Rulong, together with 4 other old men, formed the authority and power of Huiming City - the Five Elders Association.


    Of course, they were secretly under the control and influence of Xing Hezi from the Hidden Cultivators Sect.


    "I am here because of the doomsday. That moment is about to arrive!"


    Zhao Daniu went straight to the point. "We are both different from normal people and we know what this means."


    The ignorant ones would think that this would be a period of affluence, with technology and cultivation working hand in hand, allowing anyone to become supernormal. If the city were to continue down such a path, a new unparalleled culture would be created.


    However, Zhao Daniu was extremely clear that judgement day was about to arrive!


    This would be a disaster of a worldwide scale and no one would be able to escape!


    "Ambassador, I am clear of the purpose of your visit!"


    Old Li revealed a bitter laugh. "But now... I will have to invite you to the banquet prepared especially for you!"

 456 A New End

    On the top of the building in the Core Area, through a translucent glass, the entire Huiming City was in view.


    Zhao Daniu stretched his hand out as though he was about to grab something before shaking his head in despair. "Even I would not bear to destroy such a city!"


    "Mister Zhao!"


    Li Rulong held on to his crutch and unknowingly arrived beside him to enjoy the view of the city together.


    "Next up will be out private conversation! No hidden microphones or recorders!"


    Old Li chuckled and slammed his crutch once.


    "Clang!"


    The top of the crutch opened up, revealing a small piece of gold foil.


    "This is the most advanced 3rd Generation foil disruptor and even a cultivator''s spiritual will will not be able to infiltrate this place..." Zhao Daniu became increasingly tensed. "Mister, what are you intending to say?"


    "I know that you represent your country''s intentions. However, the Five Elders Association will not be able to help you..."


    A tinge of sorrow flashed in Old Li''s eyes. "The few of us old men are only puppets. The real people controlling us is the Hidden Cultivators Sect."


    "Do you know what the Hidden Cultivators Sect are preparing?"


    Zhao Daniu could no longer hold it in and was almost shouting. "This is a crime against the people! If the planet gets destroyed because of this, the all of you will be responsible!"


    "No... that won''t happen. It is only a comet."


    Old Li appeared a little pale but forcefully stood in his place. "Furthermore, the comet will land in the deepest part of the oceans."


    "That''s right, a ''comet'' with a diameter of over 10 kilometres. As soon as it crashes onto land, even the crater would stretch over a hundred miles, creating earthquakes and tsunamis. There would be natural disasters enough to wipe out half of all lifeforms on Planet Earth. This is your plan..."


    Zhao Daniu scoffed as he remarked with sarcasm.


    "We know that this is a gamble, but we have no choice..."


    Li Rulong appeared dazed as he mumbled. "Almost all of the high-tiered cultivators and mutants are supportive of this plan. In doomsday, they are the people with power. Even the few of us old men can only wish that the spiritual energy would become more concentrated so that we have a path of cultivation to walk on, or that the Hidden Cultivators Sect would reward us with a longevity pill or something as a reward."


    "Therefore, the 5 of you are willing to gamble the future of mankind?"


    Zhao Daniu''s eyes turned red.


    Even though cultivation was now widespread, the ratio of supernormal humans to normal humans was only about 20%. Although this was already a shocking number compared to previously, it was still unbelievable and illogical to sacrifice 80% of the human population for their plan.


    "Since things are at this stage now, the only we can do is to pray, right?"


    Old Li took in a deep breath. The tired attitude of his made Zhao Daniu speechless.


    ...


    The next day, the entourage of vehicles left Huiming City.


    "Chief of Bureau, the mission has failed. Huiming City has rejected the possibility of a cooperation!"


    In the car, Zhao Daniu took out his phone and contacted the old Xi Menjian.


    "Sigh..."


    Receiving this news, Xi Menjian shook his head in the screen. "They are all traitors! How can they sacrifice the entire plan for the possibility of rewards."


    With Fang Yuan''s assistance and 10 years of investigation, they were clear of the Hidden Cultivators Sect''s plan.


    However, things were already at such a stage and were unlikely to be able to be salvaged.


    "However... as long as we press on, there is still hope. I believe that Li Rulong of the Five Elders Association has a conscience in him. He even hinted to me that he will be providing us with information and assistance."


    Zhao Daniu continued to report.


    "Hehe..."


    Xi Menjian was highly experienced by now as he chuckled. "He is just afraid and was merely trying to be on good terms with both sides... However, the fact that he is willing to help us would be better than nothing."


    He sighed once more and appeared even more frail looking. "We have lesser and lesser allies now."


    Transportation came to a halt everywhere in the world and people were only caring about their own cities.


    The Hidden Cultivators Sect took this opportunity to expand as high-tiered mutants and cultivators snatched power in local areas and there was nothing others could do.


    If not for the fact that only 10 years had passed since the invasion of the wild beasts, even the important military installations might just fall into the hands of the Hidden Cultivators Sect. By then, nothing could be done.


    "The interview in Huiming City is completed. Next up, we still need to visit Yinduo City and Gucheng City... Let''s hope for a positive result. We don''t have much time left..."


    Zhao Daniu sighed. "If the professor was here, everything would be fine."


    He was always feeling guilty and felt that if Xi Menjian did not beg Fang Yuan to investigate the problem of the array, Fang Yuan would not have been attacked by a group of powerful beings and become missing since then.


    "Don''t worry, Professor Fang will be alright! In this 10 years, didn''t he attempted to contact us through various means?"


    There was a burning fire of passion in Xi Menjian''s eyes. "If not for the information he provided, we cannot even achieve what we have today! We must be confident in the Professor!"


    "That''s right..."


    Zhao Daniu sighed.


    Suddenly, his pupils dilated as his skin became rock-hard.


    "Rumble!"


    In the next moment, there was a huge explosion and numerous guided missiles struck the cars, creating flames from the explosions.


    "Someone is ambushing us!"


    The survivors of the explosion retaliated with their own guns. A few of them released their magical equipment while some others even activated their special abilities.


    "Who are you people?"


    Zhao Daniu roared as he walked out of the flames. With a single punch, two mutants in the form of wild beasts flew out and broke a few bones.


    "Alright! You''re the powerful Rockman Niu indeed! A 3rd Tier mutant!"


    A man in black clapped his hands and walked out. He had a ruthless look in his eyes. "It''s a pity... you will not be able to live past today!"


    "Are you people... from the Hidden Cultivators Sect?"


    Wild thoughts ran through Zhao Daniu''s mind as he soon understood everything.


    "That''s right..."


    The man in black did not even bother to wear a mask. He had a pale face with a cocky look. "The Li Family will be wiped out as well. The Hidden Cultivators Sect will not require people who are disloyal!"


    "You people are traitors of the country! Traitors of humanity! Traitors of the planet!"


    Zhao Daniu was enraged to the point that he was shaking.


    Never would he have thought that there would be such people in the world!


    "Traitors of the planet? Hehe..."


    The man in black snickered. "I climbed to where I am today with my own merits. What has it got to do with the planet? The path of cultivation would mean that as long as I become God, I will be able to enjoy longevity and become the ruler of all. By then, who would be willing to revert back to becoming a normal human?"


    "I want the people of this planet to... become supernormal! All of them! Everyone should have their own path to becoming supernormal and not return to the bleak past... we are the true... path!"


    "Whoosh!"


    As he spoke, a sense of ''justice'' surrounded him. With his outstretched hands, 5 streaks of dark glow shot out.


    "Rock Crumbling Strike!"


    Zhao Daniu hollered as he returned a punch. Even if machine guns were to land bullets on him, the bullets would merely deflect and cause sparks.


    However, in the next moment, as soon as the dark glow landed on Zhao Daniu, blood started to spew everywhere.


    "Wooooo..."


    Zhao Daniu was stunned. Looking at the wounds on his body, he slowly knelt to the ground.


    "You''re outdated to be reliant on your special ability!"


    The man in black took a step forward and the dark glows transformed into small knives which swam about between his hands like small fish.


    "In times like this, the fusion of special abilities and cultivation techniques are the main thing. You''re phased out!"


    From above, the man in black spoke in a mocking tone. "Remember... the one that killed you is Feng Han of the Hidden Cultivators Sect!"


    "I know about this... all along!"


    Zhao Daniu spat out a mouthful of blood. Suddenly, he roared as he whipped out a huge gun from his waist. "Die!"


    "Bang!"


    Sparks flew.


    A bullet flew out of the gun and in an instant, made it through Feng Han''s forehead.


    "Pa!"


    Feng Han''s brain fluid spewed everywhere as his head exploded like a huge watermelon. A tortoise shell fell to the ground and in the shell, there was a hole.


    This genius could not even rebut a single word before dying.


    Only a few people could see what had happened in the previous instant. Just as the bullet was about to hit Feng Han, he had already activated his tortoise shell magical weapon to receive the bullet.


    However, it was no use. As the bullet landed on the tortoise shell, it struck through effortlessly and took Feng Han''s life.


    "Hehe!"


    Zhao Daniu blew at the barrel of the gun and coughed. "This is the newest generation of Demon Restraining Gun. It is already worth it for me to be able to kill one person with it!"


    There was something else which Zhao Daniu did not mention. Although the gun was being manufactured, the resources required to make it were rare and it could not be mass produced. Most importantly, it could only fire one bullet and was a weapon which should only be used in the most critical moment to save a life.


    With a single use, the gun would be rendered useless.


    "Kill him!"


    At the death of their leader, the henchmen were in chaos but they could gather their thoughts together to come to a decision.


    To such a powerful organisation, the loss of a small leader was nothing and could be easily replaced.


    "Yingzi... I''m sorry..."


    Gazing at the surrounding attackers, Zhao Daniu shut his eyes painfully as his right hand held tightly onto a golden pendant frame hung on his neck.


    "Hehe!"


    After a long while, his expected pain did not arrive. Instead, there was a familiar snicker.


    With suspicion, Zhao Daniu opened his eyes and was in disbelief. "It''s really... It''s really you!"


    "It''s me!"


    Fang Yuan laughed as he stood before Zhao Daniu. "Daniu... It has been so many years. Why are you still as unlucky as before?"


    "Fang... Fang Yuan!"


    Zhao Daniu started to stutter and was elated as he examined Fang Yuan who appeared 20 years old. "You''re finally back!"


    "That''s right! I''ve finally finished what I have to secretly do in the two other continents and the ocean!"


    Fang Yuan replied before looking to the side.


    A young female with a pair of black and white wings started to strike mercilessly, killing everyone in the vicinity.


    "This is... the Demon Weapon!"


    Zhao Daniu swallowed his saliva. "The rumours are true! Are you able to control it now?"


    "It''s merely working together!"


    Fang Yuan changed the topic. "I''m back here to settle everything once and for all."

 457 It Has Begun

    Huiming City.


    Within an underground mansion not known to many in the Core Area, Xing Hezi looked the same as he held on to his whisk.


    Suddenly, he stood up and his eyes glistened. "He has finally appeared... I knew that he would never give up on such an opportunity."


    At this point in time, a talisman on his body started to burn up in flames. However, he did not pay any attention to it as he quickly retrieved a piece of jade rock to send a message. "Brothers, we have located traces of that demon!"


    "Great!"


    "We will rush here!"


    From the jade, there were a few excited voices.


    Xing Hezi stood up, examined his surroundings and activated a few arrays around before having a sigh of relief.


    After the fight that year, the news of Fang Yuan being an otherworldly demon had spread. He was being investigated by the Demon Alliance and the Hidden Cultivators Sect and had to disappear without a trace.


    To think about it, Xing Hezi had some feud with him and therefore had to put in more effort to trace him.


    Through the talisman, he knew that Fang Yuan had also taken control over the Demon Weapon and was on alert. ''Considering my powers, I am no match for any single one of them. However, if I rely on this array and our previous set-up, I should be able to wait out until my reinforcements arrive.''


    In the past 10 years, a few other seniors of the Hidden Cultivators Sect had also woken up.


    However, most of them were still heavily injured and could not restore their original power due to the fact that the spiritual energy in the planet was not at its peak yet.


    Once all the old demons were to gather together with the members of the Demon Alliance from the East and West Continents, what threat could a small thief possibly bring about?


    Unfortunately, his thoughts only lasted for a while.


    In the next moment, the defensive array over the entire city was being destroyed by an immense force. The defensive weapons were of no use and an ear-deafening alarm was being sounded.


    "Ah!"


    Xing Hezi exclaimed loudly as though the skies were being ripped apart.


    From the tremor, his underground mansion started to collapse. The ceiling flew apart, revealing two weird-looking silhouettes outside.


    "Fang Yuan! Do you really dare to take action?"


    Xing Hezi shouted with vigour as the power of stars started to descend, forming an array around. Numerous blue glows started to gather together, forming a protective membrane. A few silhouettes of dragons were flying about on the surface of the membrane, roaring with life.


    "The Xinghe 4 Spirits Array?"


    Fang Yuan stood in mid-air and scoffed. "Old thing, who would think that you would reveal your killer move..."


    "Fang Yuan, you otherworldly demon! How dare you go against the strongest force on the planet!"


    Seeing how Fang Yuan was about to strike without hesitation, Xing Hezi''s eyelid twitched.


    As they spoke, the city had realised that something was wrong. All types of guided missiles and special abilities erupted into the air like fireworks.


    "Go against you guys? Do you think you are worth it?"


    Fang Yuan scoffed once again. He knew that his ultimate plan was to go against the world to perform a high-dimensional experiment.


    How would such a lowly being understand his lofty goals? Ambitions? It was wasting his own effort to explain these to others.


    With this, Fang Yuan struck his right fist out. A green-coloured illusionary shadow of a giant appeared as it roared loudly before landing a fist.


    "Bang!!!"


    Amidst the explosive force, the original membrane of the array started to flicker and the dragons on the membrane slowly dispersed as though they were being attacked.


    "Rumble!"


    After the first fist, there was a huge crater on the ground. Xing Hezi turned into a streak of starlight and retreated with embarrassment. "Fang Yuan, don''t push it!"


    "So what if I''m pushing it? Previously, you people from the Hidden Cultivators Sect had combined forces with the Demon Alliance to ambush me many times. Do you think I will let you guys go?"


    Fang Yuan took a step forward and streaks of lightning landed on him. Suddenly, the streaks of lightning transformed into a lightning dragon which slithered around the giant''s body. With that, the giant struck his palm out with the force of a mountain.


    "Thousand Stars and Spirit, protect me!"


    Xing Hezi roared as he transformed the day into night. The stars in the night sky scattered their light down towards him, blessing him with increased powers.


    However, Fang Yuan did not care what Xing Hezi was doing. He was simply delivering punches like a reckless person.


    "Crackle!"


    The glow of lightning flashed across and all the stars disappeared.


    "Rumble!"


    Under a single punch, the night scene was being destroyed, revealing the actual clear skies.


    Fang Yuan held his hands behind his back and stood by the side. Xing Hezi''s clothing was filled with blood as he crawled on the floor with embarrassment. He appeared extremely pitiful.


    "You... The Hidden Cultivators Sect will never let you go. I have already called for reinforcements..."


    Xing Hezi attempted to struggle for the final time.


    "Is that so?"


    Fang Yuan appeared calm as though he didn''t care. "Where are your reinforcements? What do you think they will do if news of your defeat were to spread..."


    As soon as Fang Yuan spoke, Xing Hezi''s expression changed.


    "People only do things for their personal interests. Now that the plan is about to be completed, how many will be willing to put their lives on the line and sacrifice their optimistic future?"


    Fang Yuan continued in a calm and composed manner. "Let''s not talk about the fact that they would need to sacrifice a lot to take me down. Are you guys not afraid that I would escape once more and threatened the other array eyes like your worst nightmare? Look at the recent years! Even the Demon Alliance has given up on chasing me."


    "What do you want exactly?"


    Xing Hezi grunted.


    "Don''t worry, I will not disrupt your plans. I only want to see where you all will end up..."


    Fang Yuan replied with much composure.


    "Haha... Professor!"


    At this point in time, there was a commotion in the Core Area.


    Zhao Daniu made his way towards Fang Yuan and his face was filled with happiness. "We have worked together to capture all the members of the Five Elders Association. Now, we are in the process of taking over their military. This city is now back under the control of the country. What do we do next?"


    "What do we do next? We shall wait!"


    Fang Yuan closed his eyes as he sensed the increasing concentration of spiritual droplets in the air. "The fourth occurrence might just come tonight!"


    "What?"


    Zhao Daniu''s eyes widened. "It''s not right, there''s still some time until the end of the year!"


    "Who told you... that the occurrence will only happen at the end of the year?" Fang Yuan gazed at Zhao Daniu with a look of pity in his eyes. "This is according to nature. Isn''t it normal to have deviations once in a while?"


    However, it was not at all normal for the occurrence to arrive so early!


    Even Fang Yuan had only just detected it. It felt as though someone was impatient and wanted to rush things, accelerate the process and catch him by surprise.


    "D*mn it!"


    Zhao Daniu was panicking. "We have many arrangements that have yet to be completed. I have not even talked to the other two cities!"


    "It''s too late!"


    Fang Yuan gazed at the horizon with a look of anticipation.


    ...


    "Xing Hezi has been captured!"


    In an unknown space, a few holographic images of powerful beings were gathered together as though it was a meeting between international parties.


    One of the black shadows spoke first. "We have already found out the killer. It is Fang Yuan and the Demon Weapon, Extreme Darkness!"


    Gazing at the screen in mid-air, the few holographic images remained silent.


    "The few of you from the East, what do you think of this?"


    An old man sitting in the centre broke the silence. His voice sounded mysterious.


    "The Sea Dragon King has already declared that he will not be involved in this. Furthermore, we do not have any agreement with you guys on this..."


    Among the people from the west, the imagery which represented Farquhar spoke. "Furthermore... Can the few from Hidden Cultivators Sect ensure that the array will continue to remain active?"


    "More than half of the array eyes have already been operational for the past 10 years. Even if we want to destroy it now, I''m afraid that will be impossible!"


    An elder of the Hidden Cultivators Sect shook his head. "Huiming City has been invaded, but that is a small issue. The few of us elders will personally guard the important array eyes. After all, according to our detection of the heaven''s will, the fourth occurrence will arrive earlier than expected. This is a change that has not happened since thousands of years ago! We do not know what it means!"


    Everyone remained silent for a little longer. They all knew that they had given up on Xing Hezi.


    At the beginning of the new era, during the darkest hours before dawn, no one wanted to be left out.


    What about the otherworldly demon?


    As long as the two worlds coincided, everyone around would experience an increase in their cultivation to a whole new level. By then, dealing with the otherworldly demon would be as simple as squishing an ant.


    "Eh?"


    Suddenly, all the holographic images shook as though they had felt a powerful will of the world.


    "Is it brought forward once again?"


    One of them spoke. "Tonight?"


    "Why would the will of the spiritual will change so suddenly?"


    Curtly spoke solemnly. "Everybody... We should stop playing guessing games with each other. Just previously, I had detected the will of the Spiritual Realm. Not only did it remind me that the occurrence would be brought forward, it also wanted me to remove a threat for it."


    "Why is it so coincidental to happen now, just when Fang Yuan invaded Huiming City... could Fang Yuan have done something?"


    "To speak the truth, I have also received the same will and I have vaguely detected that the arrangements in Huiming City seem to be out of place. It seems like this trouble is created by Fang Yuan."


    ...


    As the 4th Tier powerful beings exchanged glances, finally, it was the person in the centre who made the decision. "Since this is so, let us do this together! This will be the first operation where the Hidden Cultivators Sect will work with the Demon Alliance. At midnight, we shall gather around Huiming City and attack all at once to remove the threat."


    "Alright!"


    Those around felt that this was a good idea.


    After such a huge incident, they could no longer trust each other. Even when they were gathered, they were all observing each other to see if anyone were up to any tricks.


    Furthermore, that otherworldly demon seemed suspicious. Since they were in this together, they would be able to remove the threat with their combined powers.


    Among them, they could possibly even be a 5th Tier powerful being around. After tonight, their full powers would be restored!


    With such a powerful alliance, how would a single otherworldly demon be able to fight back?

 458 The Arrival

    "Today''s night sky is really... bright!"


    In the night, Within the Elite Area of Huiming City, Lin Ming stood on the balcony and admired the stars in the sky.


    Looking at a carved figurine in his hands, he remained silent.


    He was once a playful kid but now, he was a matured person with an established career. He now had a beautiful wife as well as a three-year-old kid.


    Although the price to pay was for him to become a Risk Taker, he never once regretted his decision.


    ''Although I don''t have any special ability, I can still cultivate myself to become stronger and bring peace and prosperity to my family!!''


    Lin Ming clenched the carved figurine in his hands tightly as his eyes glistened.


    This was a present given to him by Fang Yuan and was the thing which ensured his survive until today. He was in gratitude to the owner of the antique shop. Of course, the memory of the beautiful adopted daughter of the boss would forever be etched in his mind.


    "Sigh... What''s happening today? I can''t seem to focus, for I keep thinking about the past!"


    Lin Ming raised his head and gazed at the stars with much confusion.


    Previously, while he was in training, he could feel his blood gushing about in his body and he found it difficult to compose himself. This was why he had come out to the balcony to relax.


    As he stood on the balcony, he realised that he was not the only cultivator who was experiencing the weird feeling.


    "What''s happening? Could it be because something is changing? This is a problem for the boss of the Core Area and we are too far from it..."


    As a high-tiered Risk Taker, even his body started to shake in fear and he could feel his pores on his skin starting to close up.


    Within moments, he could feel that an immense change was about to happen.


    "Quickly! In the sky!"


    At this point in time, on the balcony opposite of him, another cultivator shouted loudly and pointed up.


    "That is..."


    Lin Ming turned his attention towards the direction where the other cultivator had pointed and was utterly stunned.


    In his field of vision, he could see a green comet with a long tail. Like a giant broom, it was flying towards the planet and its glow started to intensify.


    "Comet king... The Spiritual Comet King!"


    As a cultivator, after Fang Yuan had published his theory on the occurrences, the name and appearance of this particular comet were already well-known facts.


    Lin Ming could never imagine that the Spiritual King Comet would appear before him tonight without giving him any time to prepare. "It''s impossible... there should still be a period of time before its arrival!"


    Lin Ming held his head and turned frenzied.


    He had already long planned to use the remaining time before the arrival of the comet to undergo a final task so as to gather as many resources as he could. Leveraging on the array, he would then attempt a breakthrough.


    However, it seemed like his plans could not be adapted to the current situation already.


    His personal problems were nothing compared to the chaos which the government and organisations were facing.


    "What''s happening?"


    Xi Menjian grabbed on the collar of a researcher and appeared ferocious. "Didn''t we predict that it would appear at the end of this year? Why was there such a huge discrepancy?"


    "Chief of bureau..."


    After a group of researchers had gathered to discuss the situation, they had quickly come up with a solution. "Although it sounds impossible, it seems that the arrival of the comet has been quickened!"


    "Such a baseless conclusion! Do you want me to believe that a certain higher power is behind this?"


    Xi Menjian glared fiercely at the researcher before turning around to enter the command room. "Contact the leaders of the other countries! We shall begin the plan earlier and take action as soon as the ''sign'' is spotted!"


    "Yes, Sir!"


    The command room was filled with military personnel in their military uniforms. They stood up straight, ready to receive their commands.


    Looking at the silhouette of the researchers rushing about, Xi Menjian closed his eyes.


    He did not know if his decision would be the right one and if he would cause even more deaths today. However, he knew something with certainty.


    As the leader, he had to place the future of the humans as the priority to ensure their existence!


    ...


    The powerful beings like Fang Yuan were the ones who were most affected by the change in the concentration of spiritual droplets.


    In the sky above Huiming City, Fang Yuan stood in mid-air and placed his hands behind his back. He gazed towards the emerald-green comet in the sky and paid no attention to others around him.


    "I am Long Lizi, while these two are Venerable Moonchaser and Evil Killing Dhuta. We were originally relieved that there was a powerful being taking care of the Middle Continent. No one would have thought that you would be an otherworldly demon!"


    The 3 Venerables stood around Fang Yuan as the wind blew at their sleeves.


    Beside them, Farquhar, Curtly and Jon were also around. There were a few other unknown 4th Tier mutants surrounding all of them and observing from afar.


    Needless to say, it would be unwise for Fang Yuan to go head-on with all of these powerful beings and the only choice he had would be to flee.


    "Hmm... It seemed like something big has happened for all of you to illogically combine forces to deal with me!"


    Fang Yuan continued to act composed. An illusionary shadow of a giant slowly appeared behind his back as it brought a great sense of threat. "However, is any of you willing to kill me and pay the price for it?"


    Fang Yuan could roughly guess that the will of the Spiritual Realm had gathered all these powerful beings together!


    Only the power of the entire Spiritual Realm would be able to accelerate the arrival of the Spiritual King Comet and gather the group of ''Rebels''.


    "You''re already one step into the coffin and yet you dare to sound so high and mighty!"


    Long Lizi spoke with an emotionless tone.


    "Let''s not talk about who is the one who is halfway into the coffin. I can assure you that whoever would be the first to attack would also be the first to die!"


    Fang Yuan displayed a pose as though he was willing to fight with all his life. As he scanned his surroundings, he made everyone feel conflicted as to who should attack first.


    "Amitabha, what use will it be even if you can delay your death?"


    Evil Killing Dhuta placed his palms together. " It seems like your actions are directed at disrupting the plan of the Spiritual King Comet but now, nothing will ever change!"


    "Is that so?"


    Fang Yuan smiled.


    "Everyone, strike!"


    Long Lizi spoke in a calm tone. "Let''s active the array first to trap the demon before guiding the comet to enter the planet!"


    It was an extremely rare opportunity for the Spiritual King Comet to descend on the planet! Once the prime time was over and if the plan were to fail, all the powerful beings would surely be devastated.


    Therefore, everyone would help out as soon as they spot the Spiritual King Comet.


    "3 Emblems Giant Array!"


    "Dark Blood Demonic Technique!"


    "Holy Light!"


    ...


    The powers of the beings were combined as it formed something which resembled a huge cage, covering Fang Yuan and his giant silhouette in it.


    "Farquhar!"


    Long Lizi gazed towards the Seraph of Light.


    "Don''t worry, the arrays in the East Continent are just fine!"


    Farquhar replied respectfully.


    "There are no problems in the West Continent as well. How about the Middle Continent?"


    "Although we have lost the professional array master Xing Hezi, any one of us will be able to manipulate the 9 Halls Flying Star Array, and the Sea Dragon King is supporting us from the oceans!"


    As the landing point of the Spiritual King Comet, the ocean was of paramount importance. These powerful beings were not willing to risk it and accidentally destroy Planet Earth in the process.


    Therefore, this time, regardless of the commotion on land, the Sea Dragon King would remain and guard the oceans to focus on receiving the comet.


    "Great!"


    Long Lizi turned his attention away from the array. With a look of excitement in his eyes, he crushed a jade talisman in his possession.


    "Buzz! Buzz!"


    In an instant, there were huge changes in the surroundings.


    Within Huiming City, Lin Ming could feel his knees go weak as he slowly knelt towards the ground.


    On the surface of the roads, runes started to appear and connect with one another, forming a huge array.


    This was one of the 81 array eyes of the 9 Halls Flying Star Array!


    This array was the hidden power of the Hidden Cultivators Sect. It was slowly being developed over the course of a thousand years and was a hidden backup plan placed here before the construction of the city even began.


    From the point of the universe in outer space, one would be able to see another 80 array eyes scattered around the Middle Continent, all glowing with their own brilliance.


    The situation was similar for the East and West Continents. The nodes lighted up and brightness fused perfectly with darkness.


    Furthermore, the brightness from the nodes started to spread out over the ocean and in a few moments, the entire planet was being covered.


    An overwhelming power formed an ultimate array with an irresistible attractive force being exerted on the Spiritual Comet King.


    "Rumble!"


    The earth shook.


    The comet which appeared as though it was about to fly past suddenly slowed down as though it had flown into a bucket of glue. Its path was also being altered and it was now flying straight into the ocean.


    Spiritual droplets shook violently around and in that instant, almost all cultivators could feel the spiritual droplets in the body vibrating in excitement.


    ...


    In an underground base.


    Xi Menjian witnessed the entire scene and smashed his fists on the electronic screen. "They have revealed their fox tail! I command to activate the final attack!"


    "Approved!"


    "Approved!"


    "You have the highest approval to go ahead!"


    ...


    In a secluded countryside, a few camouflage hills opened up, revealing many atomic bombs ready to be fired.


    "The target is the comet. The countdown begins..."


    "Pa!"


    Suddenly, the entire base was flung into darkness.


    "This is impossible! We have 9 backup sources of power in our base and an intranet of our own..."


    Xi Menjian was devastated. "Who is it? A rebel who has taken on the form of a human?"


    The base was extremely well-equipped. Within a few seconds, the power came back. However, the firing equipment was already being tampered with and Xi Menjian was about to vomit blood. "Execute our backup plan to destroy... all array nodes!"


    He closed his eyes and forced himself to speak.


    However, in the next moment, a huge explosion occurred in the underground base.


    Everywhere was brightly lit and the heat from the explosion seemed to be destroying everything in its way.


    The ground shook and a mushroom cloud slowly rose above the base.


    This also happened in the East and West Continents.


    The final effort of the humans could only destroy tens of array nodes. Compared to the hundred and thousands of nodes around the entire planet, it was nothing.


    "This is the latest news. All resistance forces have been destroyed and only 3 minutes have passed... Do you see it now? Fang Yuan... this is the outcome of your efforts!"


    Long Lizi gazed at the descending comet and transferred his voice to Fang Yuan, who was being captured in the array. He wanted to make him feel disheartened as he announced this piece of news. "We are the real victors of the war!"


    In the next moment, a spectacular view filled the eyes of the powerful beings who were watching the comet.


    A comet with the radius of 5 kilometres across carried a brilliant emerald tail as it broke through the atmosphere and flew down towards the planet! Into the East Ocean!


    "Rumble!"


    There was a huge collision!

 459 Devour

    The arrival of the comet was miraculous!


    Fang Yuan finally understood how the destruction of a realm tasted like.


    "Poof!"


    The moment the Spiritual King Comet crashed into the East Sea, almost every cultivator turned unconscious momentarily. They then immediately spat out a mouthful of blood due to the interference from the chaotic surge in spiritual energy.


    "Kababoom!"


    The earth cracked while the mountains and rivers roared!


    Under the starry skies, one could see a gigantic white hole appearing far in the ocean. Land submerged for an extremely long time was uncovered and it was even expanding outwards continuously.


    The resultant mega-earthquakes and tsunamis impacted the entire realm mercilessly and all big three continents were affected.


    ''In actual fact... with Planet Earth''s endurance, a mere 10 kilometres wide comet would be nothing much. But to the ecology on its surface, it would be a catastrophe...''


    "Kacha!"


    The array cracked immediately. Fang Yuan stood firmly but did not do anything. As he felt the tremendous changes in the spiritual droplets in the surroundings, he sighed, "With this surge, I''m afraid there would definitely be great changes to the ecology and environment of the entire realm. The chances of normal people surviving this are extremely low..."


    Long Lizi and Venerable Moonchaser felt slightly alarmed.


    Previously, they thought Fang Yuan would have malicious intentions and would obstruct their grand scheme. But now, Fang Yuan did not even stop them nor did he appear exasperated too, which made them felt rather suspicious.


    "Nevermind... haha! We have succeeded!"


    Long Lizi suddenly exclaimed in a deafening voice.


    As long as the Spiritual Realm could be connected, the amount of spiritual energy in Planet Earth would remain high. A mere otherworldly demon would then be of no threat!


    However, Farquhar''s face was solemn and the holy light on his body quivered.


    Farquhar''s life relied on religious faith. Faced with such a catastrophe, many of his believers were praying and there were even more believers who died. All these were like weapons which damaged the faith.


    "Of course!"


    Venerable Moonchaser replied and waved his magical weapon. A light screen then appeared which depicted the model of Planet Earth.


    Through this model, the nodes of the array in the three big continents could be seen shining brightly. They kept converging in the vast ocean and with the Spiritual King Comet as their main body, they emitted a dazzling yet blinding light.


    Within it, the slender silhouette of a blue dragon could be seen swimming around it. It had the purpose of mediating it.


    "Now''s the time!"


    Long Lizi suddenly said that odd line.


    "Such an array isn''t even necessary to bring over the Spiritual King Comet..."


    Fang Yuan stood up with his hands behind his back and exclaimed, "What''s next is your real motive, am I right?"


    "That''s right!"


    At the next moment, Long Lizi, Venerable Moonchaser, Evil Killing Dhuta and several other high-tiered cultivators suddenly bit the tip of their tongues to activate the array with their blood.


    "Sacrificing the natural source to connect with the Spiritual Realm!"


    "Kacha! Kacha!"


    The moment after they spoke, grey clouds loomed in the sky. Thunder and lightning flashed rapidly, the purple coloured storm eye of heavenly tribulations appeared and brought about violet lightning bolts!


    This was the heavenly punishment! It was from the anger of the natural source of this realm! It was enraged as it was betrayed by its own people!


    "I... Farquhar!"


    "I... Curtly! Jon!"


    The powerful beings at 4th tier from all over the East Continent and West Continent swore their oath, "With our holy names, we sacrifice the natural source of the East and West Continent to contact the Spiritual Realm!"


    "Rumble!"


    Under the influence of the array, earthquakes kept happening in the three big continents.


    The numerous nodes formed a giant network which was like a giant invisible net that enveloped everything. It then suddenly condensed and dove deep into the earth and began extracting streaks of that mysterious natural source of the realm. The streaks of energy then gathered atop the Spiritual King Comet.


    By making use of the large impact caused by the crash of the comet, the will of Planet Earth was severely damaged. Furthermore, by sacrificing its natural source, the lightning in the skies became weaker at once and was barely striking down.


    "How ruthless indeed! They first severely damaged the will of the realm before extracting its natural source! They are so familiar with their ploy!"


    Fang Yuan''s eyes widened as he saw such and he was also continuously collecting data from the surroundings.


    It would be very foolish for Fang Yuan to strike back against all these powerful beings who joined hands. Thus, it was wiser for him to silently observe first.


    "Kacha!"


    "Kaboom!"


    Nevertheless, although the realm''s will was already severely damaged and weakened, a few heavenly punishments still struck down mercilessly.


    However, it was no longer the violet coloured lightning just now! It was now the purple-gold thunderbolt of heavenly punishment!


    Although the lightning''s grade was now slightly lower than before, even Long Lizi still fearfully whipped out his magical equipment and scapegoats as he began to cautiously tide through the tribulation.


    "Crackle! Kaboom!"


    This time, they had certainly crossed the line and enraged the realm. Purple-gold coloured thunderbolts struck continuously and it even struck nine times in a row at the start. The weakest 4th tier cultivator was severely injured and blood gushed out from his orifices.


    "Great opportunity!"


    Fang Yuan''s eyes lit up and he immediately turned into a stream of light before arriving in front of this cultivator at once. Fang Yuan''s giant Pangu Eagle Body appeared behind his back as he violently punched this cultivator.


    "Bang!"


    A giant mist of blood erupted in mid-air. This unfamiliar 4th tier cultivator turned into dust at once as its body and soul ceased to exist after being attacked by the lightning and Fang Yuan''s fist.


    "You are courting death!"


    Long Lizi and others were furious. However, they had a more important task on hand and obviously had no time to kill Fang Yuan!


    Fang Yuan moved backwards and slowly appreciated the feeling he was currently feeling.


    Originally, when the heavenly punishments struck, since Fang Yuan was an otherworldly demon, he felt numbness on his head and skin as though he was stared intently by the will of this realm.


    However, since Fang Yuan had never harmed this realm before and even killed its enemy which displayed his loyalty to this realm, he was let off by the lightning at last.


    ...


    Deep within the seas.


    The blue dragon king''s body was surrounded by glowing light. His body had already expanded to over 1000 yards long.


    At that moment, the waters nearby him had already become a sea of blood. Broken limbs and bones could be seen everywhere.


    These were all the dragon king''s loyal subordinates. As their cultivation was insufficient, they were killed by the collision of the Spiritual King Comet forcefully brought about by the array.


    "Giant tsunamis are crashing onto the continents, I guess not even 10% of living things can survive?"


    As the blue dragon king pondered, he did not seem very bothered by it and instead, he rushed towards the Spiritual King Comet.


    "Has it succeeded?"


    A bizarre spiritual aura suddenly appeared on that spot. It brought about an indescribable sense of attraction that made the dragon king want to go after it even if it risked its life.


    The closer he got to the crater, the spiritual energy in the surroundings became even denser. It almost became a liquid that filled the entire ocean.


    Just by submerging in it, the Sea Dragon King felt as though it could break through the bottleneck of his water dragon body and begin transforming into a true dragon. He was excited. "Indeed... only the Spiritual Realm is the real home for us!"


    As the dragon king hollered, it went to the core of the giant crater like a piercing arrow.


    At that spot, the strange position of the Spiritual King Comet could be seen. Half of it was above the ground and streaks of green coloured vessels extended from it which fused with the gigantic array of the three big continents. It was like humans'' blood vessel systems as it continuously pulsed and absorbed energy.


    The space surrounding the comet became misty. This was the aftereffects of such a powerful impact, whereby the space surrounding was on the brink of collapsing.


    "Kacha!"


    At last.


    After absorbing an unknown amount of energy from the natural source, a stream of green coloured light appeared on top of the Spiritual King Comet. The stream of light then shot up the skies and broke through space like an extremely sharp sword.


    The sound of glass shattering could be heard.


    Lots of cracks appeared in the surroundings and they suddenly shattered at once. It was as though a funnel was broken and large amounts of spiritual energy surged over.


    "This is... breaking the boundaries of a higher dimension!"


    Tears began to well in the blue dragon king''s eyes as it watched, "Spiritual Realm! The Spiritual Realm... is arriving!"


    In the shattered space, the image of a world appeared.


    This was a vast and blue-green coloured world. Its sun, moon, stars, mountains, valleys, grass and trees all had spiritual properties. Suddenly, a corner appeared and extended from this image which then connected with this realm.


    "Rumble!"


    Rocks and soil appeared out of thin air and with the Spiritual King Comet as its core, an island was formed in this realm. The island was continuously expanding and becoming larger as time passes.


    In this realm, even a 5th Tier Divine Refining Grade powerful being could only create a prosperous land at most.


    To be able to appear in this realm and create the intersecting points of this two realm was already way beyond the Sea Dragon King''s imagination.


    "Kacha!"


    The moment this island appeared, Planet Earth Realm was livid.


    The surroundings stagnated at once and hundreds of purple-gold coloured lightning struck at the same time. It was as though it was trying to annihilate this entire island.


    "It''s too late!"


    A mighty and horrifying thought emerged from the Spiritual King Island. Accompanied by a holler, large amounts of green coloured lightning appeared on top of the island and struck together with the purple-gold lightning bolts. At last, they even spread to the outsides of the island.


    "The might of the heavenly tribulation is weakened..."


    The Sea Dragon King was elated. "Indeed, once the two worlds coincide, the will of the Spiritual Realm will have an overwhelming advantage! Thus, we are not traitors but pioneers of new land!"


    The dragon king did not hesitate any longer and charged towards the island, "The Sea Dragon King pays his respects to the Spiritual Realm''s will! We obeyed the will of the heavens and spent a thousand year planning for it! It has finally succeeded today..."


    "Kacha!"


    What answered the dragon king was a blue-green coloured bolt of lightning.


    Under this flash of lightning, even the Sea Dragon King could not dodge it. The dragon corpse was severed into two halves and landed on the island with blood gushing out. It was then immediately devoured by the island.


    "Why... I''m a... pioneer..."


    A soul appeared and the Sea Dragon King''s dumbfounded expression could be seen.


    However, at the next moment, another bolt of lightning struck mercilessly and turned the soul into ashes.


    After it devoured the Sea Dragon King, it was as though the Spiritual King Island just ate an extremely nourishing pill as it began to expand.


    The humongous island devoured the seawaters, space and everything in this Planet Earth Realm as it rapidly expanded outwards.


    "Impossible!"


    "How could it be?"


    High above the skies of Huiming City, after the Spiritual King Realm really appeared and severely injured the will of Planet Earth, the heavenly tribulations were greatly weakened and slowly disappeared.


    As Long Lizi and others watched the scene where the Sea Dragon King died, they all had the same stunned expression on their faces. There was no grief as great as despair.


    "Just as I expected. In order to take, one must first give..."


    On the other hand, Fang Yuan''s eyes sparkled as he appeared cheery, "No matter how abundant spiritual energy is inside the Spiritual Realm, it would not easily give it to others nor allow others to take it easily. By providing this realm with spiritual energy, it was merely casting a bait. Now that the bait is taken up, it would obviously harvest it all! The natural source and powerful beings of this realm are merely just... food in the eyes of this Spiritual Realm!!!"

 460 Truth

    "This so-called resurgence in spiritual energy is actually the invasion of a lower dimension realm by a higher dimension realm!"


    Fang Yuan looked at the lifeless expression on the faces of Long Lizi, Farquhar and others, it was as though their parents had just died. Whereas, Fang Yuan had a sudden realisation.


    Even if the Spiritual Realm had boundless amounts of spiritual energy, it was still brought about by its natural source, so why would it give them away for no apparent reason?


    This was what the phrase "in order to take, one must first give" meant.


    That Spiritual King Comet might have been a powerful invader at first, but after it was counteracted and repelled by Planet Earth, it could only adopt a more indirect method. Every millennium, it would increase its investments on Planet Earth by increasing the spiritual energy in Planet Earth and thus, attracted the "Leading Party".


    Due to the unique and rigid nature of Planet Earth''s will, it could not reject such great foreign benefits. Hence, Planet Earth was successfully changed peacefully.


    After a few cycles, a large number of members were accumulated into the Leading Party before the heavenly will announced its "truth". As they sought after longevity or breakthroughs or simply because they wanted to continue to satiate their desires of being high above everyone else, naturally, these people willingly betrayed this realm!


    "This is the truth behind why the Spiritual Realm is invading this realm!"


    Fang Yuan was enlightened at once. He then felt a chilly and ominous feeling, "If Planet Earth Realm is like this, what about Da Qian?"


    This was similar to the transmission of dream master''s energy and how it cultivated the powerful dream masters.


    Furthermore, how would the high-tiered dream masters'' ideas be any different from Long Lizi''s bunch''s ideas?


    At most, the dream masters were stronger, had wilder ambitions and more experienced.


    Or perhaps, the dream masters had long guessed it and they did not mind if Da Qian World were to be devoured by the dream master''s source world. However, they would definitely care about their own life and death!


    But, from how the Spiritual King Realm was looking like now, the outcomes of these Leading Party members would be tragic!


    "Kill!"


    "The Lord of Heaven commands to kill every single living thing in this world! Don''t leave even a single one!"


    "This is a battle between worlds, devour their everything!"


    At that moment, changes occurred yet again on Spiritual King Island.


    Several white jade doors appeared out of thin air and it was as though they were conveying arrays.


    Accompanied by shining lights, numerous divine and sage-like immortal cultivators emerged and swarmed the surroundings like a swarm of locust.


    "In order to hook this world up as a bait, the Spiritual Realm had already lost 10% of its natural source. It must be recovered!"


    "How could these low-class pariahs enjoy the purest spiritual energy from the superior spiritual meridian?"


    "Pillage them! Massacre them! Plunder this world''s everything! Their powerful beings devoured large amounts of spiritual energy, they would make great tonics! Make all of them into human-like spiritual pills using demonic pill-making techniques!"


    ¡­...


    Lots of spiritual wills and shouts could be heard which made everywhere felt uneasy.


    "Why is this happening?"


    Long Lizi''s face turned ashen and all his thoughts disappeared. It was as though he was going crazy, "We sacrificed the entire world, shouldn''t we become the heroes of the Spiritual Realm?"


    These powerful beings present had already expected the destruction of Planet Earth.


    However, they would have never imagined that even they themselves would be the Spiritual Realm''s targets.


    The locust-like army of immortal cultivators were all elites that were at the 3rd Tier or above. The ones leading them all had 4th Tier cultivations and the generals all had the power of an area. Ling Lizi''s bunch were totally no match to them.


    "Haha... no wonder I can''t find the two pieces of land, it is here!"


    Moments later, the dull noise of thunder crackled.


    A red cloud floated up at lightning speed from the depths of the oceans and quickly covered the entire sky above Huiming City.


    The red cloud''s scary and deep spiritual aura along with the vague sight of a small plane in the depths of it brought about an overbearing might. It immediately obliterated everyone''s power of the arena below it.


    "I am Ancestor Red Cloud! You all should be honoured to die by my hand and become my food!"


    Within the red clouds, a red-haired elder sat with his legs crossed and calmly made his move.


    "Rumble!"


    A giant scarlet coloured palm extended from the red clouds and its target was evidently the Evil Killing Dhuta.


    The Dhuta shouted and whipped out his magical weapon. A swastika symbol facing the giant palm immediately appeared.


    "Bam!"


    The moment the giant palm swiped, cracks appeared on the black-coloured swastika. It then grabbed the Evil Killing Dhuta with no hesitation.


    "The kind of people I hate the most are donkey monks like you!"


    Ancestor Red Cloud chuckled strangely and streaks of scarlet red spiritual aura entered the Evil Killing Dhuta''s body which began to continuously extract something.


    After three breaths, lots of blood red streaks finally dispersed, revealing an extremely old and feeble Evil Killing Dhuta.


    "You..."


    All of the Evil Killing Dhuta''s divine techniques and magical powers disappeared. Even his Essence, Spirit and Magic were sucked dry too. He was now incredibly aged and weak, and if not for the red cloud below his feet, he would have collapsed and died.


    The Evil Killing Dhuta then raised his trembling right hand and pointed at Ancestor Red Cloud. Suddenly, his eyes dilated as he stared at Ancestor Red Cloud and his breath stopped.


    "A 5th Tier Divine Refining Grade immortal cultivator?"


    Long Lizi closed his eyes, he already knew how frightening Ancestor Red Cloud was.


    "What a powerful Essence Theft Technique to be able to suck this Dhuta dry and cause him to die from old age!"


    Whereas, Fang Yuan saw another side of Ancestor Red Cloud.


    Fang Yuan was very sure that this Evil Killing Dhuta had died from an old age. Even if his body was checked again, it would still be the same pile of useless bones and rotten flesh.


    All the vital elemental energy, spiritual energy and such that used to be inside the Dhuta''s body had all been sucked out and used up by Ancestor Red Cloud. Ancestor Red Cloud left the Dhuta with a measly life, which meant that he would not trigger a killer tribulation nor bring about attention from the heaven! It was such an ingenious trick!


    "Sir!"


    Seeing how the Evil Killing Dhuta''s life got sucked away so easily by Ancestor Red Cloud, Venerable Moonchaser lost his composure too.


    "We followed the heavenly will and opened up the world! We are meritorious! Meritorious!"


    "Venerable Red Cloud, all of us are elites of this world, we are willing to submit to you!"


    Long Lizi immediately shouted as his thought changed immediately when he saw a glimmer of hope for survival.


    "Submit to me? Hehe!"


    Ancestor Red Cloud sniggered coldly. The red clouds in the surrounding kept on expanding. Suddenly, the red clouds swept the two of them to the side and devoured them as they tried to flee.


    "Such a pity... I can''t leave you all alive, this is the heavenly will too!''


    Ancestor Red Cloud pointed to the skies and the smile on his face turned sinister.


    "Firstly, you all are the elites of this world and are Energy Souls, but all of you have traces of this world! Even if your blood is changed, such traces cannot be erased!"


    "Secondly, after you all devoured large amounts of spiritual energy, you are all extremely nourishing spiritual pills in my eyes!"


    "Thirdly, you all are indeed meritorious for sacrificing one entire world, but, the natural source of the Spiritual Realm is precious, how could it be shared with others so easily? Now that the two worlds coincide, the heavenly will is not around and it is the perfect time to clean up you all!"


    "See, with all these reasons, how could I keep you all?"


    Ancestor Red Cloud''s gaze turned extremely savage.


    Actually, there was something he did not mention.


    The outcomes of the members of such Leading Party would usually not be good. Unless they had an agreement with the powerful forces in the Spiritual Realm beforehand, even if they were favoured by the realm''s will, they would still be annihilated by the Spiritual Realm''s powerful beings during the special period when the two realms were merging whereby the Spiritual Realm''s will was in chaos.


    Nevertheless, there was one point which was well said.


    Such a Leading Party comprised of the elites of this entire realm and they possessed great fate energy in them. Their qualifications would be above anyone else and they could become powerful beings even in the new realm.


    If the natural source of the Spiritual Realm could not even supply sufficient spiritual energy to the sects and powerful beings of its own realm, how could it supply it to others so easily?


    Hence, those who conquered other realms would definitely kill such powerful beings they face in the other realm in order to remove any possible future threats.


    However, if these powerful beings could survive this period of time and wait for its realm to be entirely devoured by the Spiritual Realm, they could become immortal cultivators and receive rewards from the Spiritual Realm''s heaven.


    In the Spiritual Realm, there were a few such powerful beings. They way they rose up were through numerous victories in bloody battles.


    At this stage, all the powerful beings in the Spiritual Realm already had a common agreement to work together and attack other realms. Furthermore, they agreed to maintain the stability of the upper management and would not easily allow others to vie for their authority.


    "Since that''s the case..."


    Fang Yuan suddenly opened his mouth and spoke, "The natural source of the Spiritual Realm is deficient too? This explains why it must devour other realms to nourish it? Furthermore, the normal people at your side cannot easily absorb spiritual energy too? Is this just the privilege of sect members?"


    "You are rather smart, eh? Even if it''s true, so what?"


    Ancestor Red Cloud answered in a slightly surprised tone as he stared at Fang Yuan.


    Even the Spiritual Realm would be short of spiritual energy?


    Although it sounded absurd, it was actually reasonable.


    After all, the sects and powerful beings it supplied to were very horrifying, they were like swarms of locusts and it was a heavy burden.


    Thus, the Spiritual Realm had to devour Planet Earth Realm''s rich natural source to replenish its own elemental energy.


    All the spiritual energy the Spiritual Realm supplied over to this realm were heavy expenditures that were painfully squeezed out from the big sects and the elders.


    "Sigh..."


    After Fang Yuan received the answer, he sighed and was rather desolated. "I can''t believe even the deities and divine beings of a higher dimension Spiritual Realm cannot achieve immortality and live forever!"


    "Little kid, you are smart! If you are from the Spiritual Realm, I would not mind accepting you as my disciple, but unfortunately..."


    Ancestor Red Cloud waved his arm and a small world pressed down from the red cloud.


    All the powerful beings in this realm felt as though there was a 1000 ton thing crushing them at once. Under the suppression of such a high-tiered power, they could not use any of their techniques.


    Just with his own power, he could suppress numerous 4th Tiers; this was the mighty and ferocious power a 5th Tier powerful being! The difference between one tier was worlds apart!


    "Slow down, Ancestor Red Cloud!"


    "How could such great benefits be reaped by you yourself only?"


    ...


    Loud noises came from two other sides. It was obvious that other Divine Refining Grade powerful beings were rushing over quickly.


    "I''m so dead!"


    At this stage, even Long Lizi gave up on the hope of resisting and closed his eyes.


    "Cough cough! Everybody!"


    Suddenly, a whisper could be heard in their ears. The source of the whisper was Fang Yuan.


    Even under the area, Fang Yuan still stood firmly and stared at Ancestor Red Cloud, who was on top of the clouds, with no fear.


    "If you don''t want to die, immediately hand over the command of the arrays of the entire Planet Earth to me!"


    Fang Yuan secretly sent out his spiritual will to urge them.


    "There''s no use!"


    Long Lizi smiled miserably, "Once the array is activated, there''s no possibility of turning back¡­... Also, those array eyes have already automatically combined together, no one can destroy it..."


    "Who says... I am going to stop the array?"


    Fang Yuan returned a surreptitious smile.

 461 Appearance

    "You want the command to the array?"


    Venerable Moonchaser''s expression changed, "Sure enough... you secretly tampered the 9 Halls Flying Star Array, right?"


    "Impossible!"


    Long Lizi immediately denied such a possibility and continued, "Although the 9 Halls Flying Star Array and the arrays in East and West Continent are planned by me, they are mostly still guided and enlightened by the Spiritual Realm''s heavenly will... it''s impossible for them to go wrong!"


    "So, how is it? This is now your final chance."


    Fang Yuan stood with his hands behind his back and gazed towards the skies.


    He saw the red clouds tumbling and gathering together with the oncoming green flashes and lightning. It was evident that there were a few powerful Area Beings who rushed over and they were reaching an agreement.


    "Fang Yuan, I am willing to trust you!"


    Farquhar was the first to pronounce his trust. He then passed a golden coloured feather to Fang Yuan and said, "I have fully handed over the command of the arrays in East Continent to you!"


    "Us too!"


    After Farquhar pronounced, the first ancestors of the vampires and the werewolves immediately agreed too.


    "No matter what happens next, it wouldn''t be worse than now!"


    Under the flashing lights, Long Lizi and Venerable Moonchaser finished contemplating and finally handed over their command too.


    Most cultivators were a bunch of unprincipled and disloyal people. Even though Fang Yuan was their arch-enemy just moments ago and even killed one of their Hidden Cultivators Sect''s member previously, in order to survive, they decided to make peace at once.


    "Hmm..."


    Fang Yuan closed his eyes and started to feel how all the arrays were linking together.


    He could sense thousands of nodes forming a powerful array that was continuously extracting Planet Earth Realm''s source and transferring it to Spiritual King Island.


    Currently, the island had already expanded at an unimaginable speed and was close to becoming a continent of its own.


    ''Although I had secretly made some alterations to the array which I can make use of during key moments, now that I have obtained the command, it''s even better!''


    At first, Fang Yuan had his own plans too.


    Even if these high-tiered cultivators were all drawn over to the Spiritual Realm, Fang Yuan could still seize the command of these arrays through his alterations to turn the tables.


    But of course, it was even better now.


    The transfer of command and negotiations between these supernormal beings were very fast as they were through the communication of spiritual wills.


    As these people on the ground finished settling their agreements, the three powerful beings on top seemed to have come to terms already too. The fearsome gaze from their eyes immediately landed on these people below them.


    "Crackle!"


    Above the skies, ominous dark clouds loomed and all sorts of lightning and thunder flashed crazily and kept on merging together.


    "Quickly stop that person!"


    For some unknown reason, Ancestor Red Cloud and his bunch immediately shouted as they felt fear and anxiety when they saw Fang Yuan.


    Unfortunately, it was too late.


    On Fang Yuan''s forehead, a strange four-pointed magical inscription appeared. It was the image that represented the complete command over the arrays of the three big continents and the ocean.


    "It''s possible..."


    Fang Yuan sensed a mighty and vast will constantly infiltrating into this realm. It was deep within the arrays and controlled each and every array eye.


    Due to the undying nature of these array eyes, even if Fang Yuan wanted to stop them, it would be extremely troublesome.


    However, he had never thought of stopping them.


    Instead, with another thought, within Huiming City, the entire array immediately sped up by more than 10 times of the previous speed. It began to operate even more rapidly.


    "What is... happening?"


    Lin Ming stood on the balcony and his limbs felt weak and numb.


    Currently, everything that was happening in the skies was already way beyond his imagination.


    Lin Ming did not know what was happening to this realm.


    He laid on the floor and watched the changes happening to the array. Inside his mind, he was finally clear that some sort of change had occurred to the array.


    At the next moment, an extremely strong suction force that was 10 times stronger than before suddenly appeared below Lin Ming''s body and he immediately fainted.


    "6 Extremes Earth Shattering Array, rise!"


    Fang Yuan chanted and changes occurred to all the array eyes at the same time.


    The original function of the existing array was to extract and sacrifice this realm''s natural source, and this was similar to some of Sage Changli''s plans. Currently, Fang Yuan was not forcefully trying to stop it or alter it, he was just giving the array a slight push during in its process.


    An analogy would be, what Fang Yuan was doing was not stepping on the brake of a speeding car. He merely nudged the steering wheel gently, greatly changed the course of the car at once.


    "Gak!"


    Even such a level of change caused Fang Yuan to immediately feel a strong backlash which almost made him cough out blood.


    Also, the originally silent will of the Spiritual Realm was suddenly enraged.


    "It would be too difficult to go against the heavenly will with just my strength!"


    Fang Yuan wiped away the blood on the corner of his lips and suddenly laughed, "Planet Earth''s will... you are close to being perished, if you still want to live on, you can only cooperate with me and complete this sacrifice!"


    Although Fang Yuan was an otherworldly demon, his stand was clear from the start. He even killed a key member of Hidden Cultivators Sect recently which displayed his loyalty and was unusually eye-catching compared to the other high-tiered traitors.


    After Fang Yuan screamed such, the lightning and clouds in the skies reacted immediately. Purple-gold coloured lightning bolts landed and formed an electrical cage which surrounded and protected Fang Yuan. This obstructed the attacks from the three Area Beings.


    At the same time, a slightly weakened will joined the contest for the nodes of the arrays.


    "Since both sides are extracting the natural source, why not put up a desperate fight!"


    The four-pointed rune on Fang Yuan''s forehead changed into the shape of a six-pointed star.


    "Within Sage Changli''s inheritance, it mentioned about sacrificing an entire world to connect with the source world of dream masters. Today, I shall thoroughly experiment this!"


    A violet ball of light was thrown out and immediately, the skies and earth changed.


    Large amounts of this realm''s natural source were extracted and sacrificed to a certain world in the dark.


    "That is... his original world?"


    Long Lizi and others did not know what Fang Yuan''s ambitions were. They only thought that he was trying to draw over his own world to grab some benefits for his own world, while Planet Earth Realm would be happy as it reaps the benefits as the two sides battled.


    "Sacrificing the natural source for Da Qian World? They think I''m dumb?" Fang Yuan secretly thought as he stood in the epicentre of the storm.


    There were too many powerful beings in Da Qian and they had access to the coordinates of this realm. Once they discovered Fang Yuan was doing such a thing, they would immediately come over and strike brutally. In the end, Fang Yuan would gain nothing. Although he could free himself from the trouble, it was not in line with his fundament interest!


    Therefore, Fang Yuan directly used this rare opportunity to add fuel to the fire, which forced Planet Earth''s will to be backed into a corner. Thus, Planet Earth''s will could only cooperate with Fang Yuan and his experiment on Sage Changli''s inheritance!


    Although the natural source of this Planet Earth Realm was not as rich as Da Qian''s and the 6 Extremes Earth Shattering Array was only an incomplete version, it still met the minimum requirements.


    "The legendary dream master''s source world... come forth!"


    Fang Yuan raised both his arms up high.


    Instantly, with Fang Yuan as the core, all the continents in Planet Earth roared.


    Horrifying breaths of the earth gathered and formed the shape of the 6 Extremes Array at a spot above Huiming City. It then suddenly rushed to the skies.


    "This is... another world?"


    "This is not good! Quickly stop it!"


    "Do not let him succeed, else we would be offending the heaven!"


    In the skies, Ancestor Red Cloud and two other Area Beings glared furiously and bellowed. They then immediately whipped out all sorts of magical equipment and divine techniques.


    Unfortunately, Planet Earth''s will was now very clear that if they were no changes, it could not escape the catastrophe today. Hence, it firmly guarded Fang Yuan and the entire array operated smoothly.


    ''The might of Sage Changli''s array is truly unimaginable...''


    The six-pointed star on Fang Yuan''s forehead was now shining and flashing at maximum intensity. It had already exhausted all its energy for the operation of the array.


    ''This array was meant for those who are at least at the 7th Tier of Illusionary Divine. Although my strength is still insufficient currently... luckily, I have the full cooperation from Planet Earth''s will! Else, I''m afraid I would really be defeated!"


    Fang Yuan heaved a long sigh. Six giant yellowish-brown dragons rose to the skies and chased after the violet ball of light Fang Yuan threw out just now.


    Fang Yuan obtained this ball of light from Sage Changli''s inheritance. It was an ever-changing beacon of data.


    Although the real location of the source world of dream masters could not be discovered, as long as an immense natural source was sacrificed, it would immediately attract the attention of the dream masters'' source world. Thus, the dream master'' source world might even abnormally advent.


    "Roar! Roar! Roar! Roar! Roar! Roar!"


    After six loud roars, the giant yellowish-brown dragons charged to the ball of light and disappeared at once.


    At that spot above the skies, a giant gloomy and black coloured hole appeared.


    "D*mn it! It has been summoned by him!"


    "Is that another world?"


    Ancestor Red Cloud''s face was filled with uncertainty, "If that is a very weak world, perhaps we can conquer yet another world!"


    However, would the world Fang Yuan summon be really such a weak and small world?


    Such a ridiculous thought was so unbelievable even to their opponents.


    Ancestor Red Cloud was merely putting up a front. After he saw the black hole was formed, he immediately had thoughts about retreating.


    "Rumble!"


    At that moment, a mighty will suddenly descended.


    This will was misty and grand, it also brought about changes to the spiritual energy. The moment it appeared, it strongly pushed aside the will of Planet Earth.


    There were even streaks of chaotic and violet coloured lightning bolts that surged about in the air and struck towards the black hole.


    "Even the heavenly will cannot hold it any longer and is forced to strike!"


    As Ancestor Red Cloud watched such a scene, he could not wait to escape and flee away. However, now that the Spiritual Realm''s will had descended, it was as though the emperor was personally commanding the army. The generals at the frontline would not be able to flee.


    Ancestor Red Cloud and the other Area Beings could only bite the bullet and remain at the frontline. Their minds were racing as they thought, "What kind of world is that... It could even alarm our Spiritual Realm''s will?"


    In the higher dimension, the Spiritual Realm was a very powerful world. It could even break free from dimensional restrictions and prey on other realms.


    What else could cause the Spiritual Realm''s will to feel alarmed and even fear?


    That''s right, it was fear!


    As a 5th Tier Area Being, Ancestor Red Cloud could clearly sense the fear the will of the Spiritual Realm was feeling. It was as though... it saw its predator!


    Under the eyes of many, the black hole grew larger and larger.


    Immediately, streaks of nebulous dream-like spiritual aura began to dissipate from the black hole.


    Fang Yuan was affected by this spiritual aura and instantly felt that his dream elemental force was recovering swiftly. It then began to suppress the spiritual energy inside his body.


    "This is really... the dream master''s source world?"


    At the moment, after Fang Yuan made use of Planet Earth''s natural source and the support from the array, he could really feel the source world of dream masters which was in an even higher dimension! That world was incredible and it was like the home of dream masters!

 462 Three Kills

    "Indeed... the dream master''s source world really exists!"


    At that moment, Fang Yuan was feeling extremely emotional.


    Fang Yuan was the first to contact this profound mystery that countless of dream masters from Da Qian failed to reach.


    "Actually, I was just lucky!"


    In order to break through the dimensional restrictions and link with the dream masters'' world, a beacon would first be required.


    Before Sage Changli''s hidden inheritance was exposed, the research of other sages in Da Qian never reached such a stage.


    After the profound mystery was exposed, numerous parties had parts of the research data. Unfortunately, they did not have a place to conduct the experiments.


    After all, there were not many realms that had a natural source as rich Planet Earth Realm''s.


    Previously, there was still the Ancient Realm. Even though its Sage, The Ancient One, controlled the people dao of that realm, it could not go against the heavenly will to sacrifice its natural source as an experiment.


    If he had done that, people dao would experience a backlash immediately! Afterwards, the Ancient Realm even expelled the Sage and sealed off itself, which made it even harder to conduct the experiment there.


    In terms of the richness of natural source, after Ancient Realm, it was Planet Earth Realm.


    However, this realm was like a sinkhole from the start and even Elder Extreme Darkness was severely defeated here. Thus, not many sages dared to take this risk.


    Furthermore, all their thoughts and efforts were on Da Qian. As long as they succeeded in their plans this time and directly brought over the dream master''s source world, similar to how the Spiritual Realm was brought over to this realm, what else would they have to do?


    Only Fang Yuan made use of this opportunity whereby the Spiritual Realm was invading Planet Earth Realm to drive Planet Earth Realm''s will into a corner and thus, allowed him to summon the dream master''s source world.


    Due to the numerous coincidences and Fang Yuan''s hard work in devising all these plans, there was finally an accomplishment now!


    Fang Yuan roared to the skies. The six-pointed star on his forehead was flashing intensely.


    "Roar!"


    Behind Fang Yuan''s body, the giant Pangu Eagle Body completely materialised before it roared and charged into Fang Yuan''s body.


    "Crackle!"


    Under the support of countless energy sources, Fang Yuan''s cultivation restored in an instant and it was even going higher and higher.


    In Fang Yuan''s sight, his stats board flashed and the values changed completely:


    "Name: Fang Yuan


    Essence: 100


    Spirit: 100


    Magic: 70


    Profession: Dream Soldier Master


    Cultivation: Illusionary Divine (4th Tier), True Divine


    Technique: [Pangu Eagle Body (? ? ?)], [8 Gates Sword Array (5th Sword) (10%)], [Elemental Spiritual Energy Cultivation Spell (Grade 5 (99.99%))]


    Skill: [Medicine (Level 3)], [Botany (Level 5)], [Fiery Golden Eyes (Level 1)]"


    "There were breakthroughs in my magical energy and my actualised dream world is restored too... Indeed, dream elemental force is the true source of energy for dream masters!"


    Fang Yuan waved his arm and the wind, thunder, water, fire sword appeared around him, forming an emblem. They then turned into a miniature area that stacked together with his own Spiritual Arena, and the resultant area could even contend with the power of a spiritual territory.


    "Ok, I can finally go all out!"


    Fang Yuan rubbed his neck and looked at the three Area Beings with eyes filled with eagerness.


    They were equivalent to three 7th Tier Illusionary Divine powerful beings in Da Qian!


    Fang Yuan now had the support of the realm''s will and he was undefeatable, how could he not have a good match with them and gain some experience?


    "Dream..."


    "Demonic Heart!!!"


    At the next moment, something that was unimaginable to Fang Yuan happened.


    The fierce battle he expected to happen did not occur.


    On the contrary, after the black hole opened up and dream elemental force came into Planet Earth Realm, the Spiritual Realm''s will was unsettled and sent out an extremely frightened spiritual will before it suddenly retracted at once and disappeared without a trace.


    "It..."


    Fang Yuan was stunned for a moment. He then immediately felt the will of the Spiritual Realm returning to the Spiritual King Island. It even began to close the link between the two realms at all cost. It was as though the will was abandoning everything and completely severing the ties between the two realms.


    "This world... could it be..."


    Meanwhile, Ancestor Red Cloud suddenly remembered a description recorded in one of his sect''s text.


    "A world higher than our Spiritual Realm? Such that even the will of the realm is retreating?"


    "Quickly retreat!!"


    Immediately, the three Area Beings rapidly fled away like a stream of light. In the blink of an eye, they turned into black spots and were close to disappearing.


    "What¡­.. is that... world?"


    Below, Long Lizi, Venerable Moonchaser and others looked at Fang Yuan with awe.


    To them, the Spiritual Realm was already like a legendary divine world. However, this new world could even cause the Spiritual Realm''s will to flee without putting up a fight! What exactly was it?


    "Stop!"


    How could Fang Yuan let go of his prey so easily?


    The Spiritual Realm''s will was not something he could stop from leaving. However, Fang Yuan would never let go of these three Area Beings.


    "Rumble!"


    Under the noise, clouds tumbled in the skies and thousands of lightning bolts suddenly struck!


    Countless purple-gold lightning bolts struck like a giant net as they kept retracting closer before finally cornering Ancestor Red Cloud.


    "A Fate Soul?"


    Ancestor Red Cloud looked at Fang Yuan cautiously.


    When a realm or a plane was under invasion, its natural source would carefully create a powerful being, which would be known as a Fate Soul. This Fate Soul would take up the role as the leader of the resistance.


    After all, there were many boundaries which the will of the realm could not cross. However, this would be different for Fate Souls.


    Below Fate Souls, there were Energy Souls who were more ordinary. They would occasionally appear when revolutions occur in the realm.


    However, Fang Yuan was now way beyond the concept of a Fate Soul. Now, he could be considered a Realm Agent!


    Moreover, what he represented now was not just a mere Planet Earth Realm!


    "Die!"


    The 4 Emblems Sword Array immediately flew out at once and trapped Ancestor Red Cloud.


    "A mere miniature area!"


    Ancestor Red Cloud hollered and the red clouds behind him tumbled. A small plane then appeared as he continued, "The power of divinity, bless my body!"


    Ancestor Red Cloud was a substantial elder. Even if he was placed in Da Qian World, he would be at the 7th Tier of the Illusionary Divine stage and his power was boundless.


    As he hollered, the entire 4 Emblems Sword Array shook. It was as though a ferocious tiger was trapped in a wooden cage, with the cage at its breaking point.


    "Hmph!"


    In spite of that, being the Realm Agent of Planet Earth, Fang Yuan remained awe-inspiring and fearless.


    As he exclaimed, four lightning bolts landed on the sword array and immediately completed the area of the 4 Emblems.


    Furthermore, the dream spiritual aura that was continuously emitted from the black hole in mid-air began to suppress all other forms of techniques. As miraculous changes occurred, it then began to invade into the red cloud plane behind Ancestor Red Cloud which made his expression change, "This is..."


    Streaks of dream elemental force entered the red cloud plane and immediately dispersed.


    Through the red cloud, living things could be seen falling into deep sleep one by one. At last, the entire plane became still.


    Furthermore, in the haze, changes began to happen on the bodies of all the living things. A layer of dark shadow superposed on them and their looks began to turn savage.


    "4 Emblems Sword Array, unite!"


    Fang Yuan pointed his finger and the wind, thunder, water and fire swords merged together before landing on the stunned Ancestor Red Cloud.


    "Poof!"


    The magical equipment on Ancestor Red Cloud''s body automatically appeared to protect its owner. His shirt bedazzled in an array of colours and it was a magical equipment that was exceptionally defensive.


    Nevertheless, all these were useless.


    Upon being touched by the 4 Emblems Sword Array which was boosted by the realm''s will, the equipment dismantled at once. The four magical swords immediately pierced into Ancestor Red Cloud''s body. Blood spewed everywhere and his soul was annihilated.


    This was the might of a sword!


    In front of such a mighty sword, those bystanders were all stunned and in awe. Even Fang Yuan felt amazed inside his heart.


    ''After being boosted by Planet Earth''s will, my 4 Emblems Sword Array can defeat Area Beings... What''s more important is the influence of the Dream Realm... Is this the real dream elemental force? Just a little bit of it was enough to make this 5th Tier Immortal Cultivator become tranced and have his heart and mind messed up until to the point where he becomes so easily slaughtered?''


    "Ahhh... this is the Demonic Heart Realm! You are from the Demonic Heart Realm!"


    Seeing such, the two other Area Beings shrieked and ran towards the lightning bolts.


    Even though they were forced to retreat by the lightning bolts just now, the moment they thought of the Demonic Heart Realm, they immediately fled despite knowing they would be severely injured by the heavenly punishments.


    "Demonic Heart Realm? What an apt name!"


    Fang Yuan smiled and took a step forward. It was as though he teleported right in front one of the powerful being.


    "Die!"


    "Roar!"


    Behind Fang Yuan, the giant hollered and struck out a giant green coloured fist.


    This was the full strength punch of a martial artist cultivation True Divine. Originally, it was comparable to the attack of a 7th Tier Illusionary Divine powerful being. Now, with the boost from this realm''s will and with how the dream realm was weakening the opponents, this punch was truly unstoppable and matchless.


    The expression of the man in a purple robe in front of Fang Yuan changed immediately. At that instant, before he could even block the punch, it landed on his chest.


    "Bang!"


    A gigantic explosion was formed.


    This 5th Tier powerful being was fully obliterated in one punch. He could not even beg for mercy in time.


    "No... let me off!"


    At that moment, Fang Yuan took another step and arrived in front of a woman in a skirt.


    She was scared pale and was begging for mercy non-stop.


    "How much do you know about the Demonic Heart Realm?" Fang Yuan said calmly.


    Fang Yuan''s voice had a strong will which made this woman involuntarily speak the truth, "I don''t know, I only know through ancient texts that the Spiritual Realm met the Demonic Heart Realm before and had suffered great losses... Sir, please spare my life, I can do everything you want..."


    This woman had beautiful eyes and eyebrows. Her body was graceful and demeanour was charming, she was a rare beauty. As she pleaded, it invoked a rather moving and touching feeling.


    "When you invaded other realms, have you ever spared anyone''s life?"


    To Fang Yuan, it was just fleeting beauty.


    Fang Yuan then punched forward before flicking his finger. The thunder sword received the might of the heavens and its sword essence was overbearing. It was not lacklustre at all compared to the fist.


    "Bang!"


    With one punch, the defensive magical equipment on this woman''s body shattered at once. The thunder sword then pierced through her head with no obstructions the next moment.


    "Swoosh!"


    A white stream of light flew out which was grabbed by Fang Yuan.


    "Refine!"


    These three Area Beings were all powerful beings of the Spiritual Realm. The spiritual energies in their bodies were extraordinarily pure.


    After Fang Yuan killed them and obtained their essence, a bottleneck in his body began to loosen up.


    "Kacha!"


    A crisp noise was heard!


    Fang Yuan elatedly looked inside him and saw that the 5th Grade of his Elemental Spiritual Energy Cultivation Spell was breaking through the bottleneck. This spell which he specially created for this realm was finally close to completion!

 463 Retrea

    Planet Earth Realm was a realm with harsh physical laws and even Sages would be rendered powerless here.


    With the invasion of the Spiritual Realm in the form of the Spiritual King Comet, the introduction of spiritual energy in the realm slowly led to the existences of mutants and special techniques.


    Therefore, the Elemental Spiritual Energy Cultivation Spell which Fang Yuan had created was more suited for the Spiritual Realm than for Planet Earth Realm. Therefore, it would require the supplement of spiritual droplets.


    If not for the fact that Fang Yuan had absorbed a few spiritual energy nodes previously, he would not have been able to advance in his cultivation so quickly.


    This was also the same for Long Lizi, Venerable Moonchaser and Farquhar.


    Before the fourth occurrence, no one would be able to attain the 5th Tier. This was why all of them were being defeated by Ancestor Red Cloud so easily.


    They were unlike Fang Yuan who could achieve whatever level of cultivation as long as he had the resources without being restricted by bottlenecks.


    Cultivators of the East had to train in seclusion while mutants from the west will have to increase their abilities over time. Both processes would take a long period of time.


    However, things were different for Fang Yuan!


    With the nourishment from the surroundings and the fact that he had just defeated 3 Area Beings and absorbed their spiritual energy, it was as though he had just consumed 3 nutritious pills and his cultivation in Elemental Spiritual Energy Cultivation Spell had started to surge!


    In his stats window, the proficiency bar transformed from 99.99% to 100%! There were huge changes in the window now:


    "Name: Fang Yuan


    Essence: 100


    Spirit: 100


    Magic: 100


    Profession: Dream Soldier Master


    Cultivation: Illusionary Divine (4th Tier), True Divine, Area Being (???)


    Technique: [Pangu Eagle Body (? ? ?)], [8 Gates Sword Array (5th Sword) (10%)], [Elemental Spiritual Energy Cultivation Spell (Grade 5 (Completed))]


    Skill: [Medicine (Level 3)], [Botany (Level 5)], [Fiery Golden Eyes (Level 1)]"


    "Elemental Spiritual Energy Cultivation Spell: The 1st Grade would grant you the Spiritual Droplets Affined Body and an increase in your energy sense! 2nd Grade of Elemental Spiritual Energy Cultivation Spell would grant you the ability to release spiritual energy! The 3rd Grade of Elemental Spiritual Energy Cultivation Spell would grant you the ability to spiritualise! The 4th Grade would grant you the possession of the Spiritual Arena! The 5th Grade is completed! The Spiritual Arena has been promoted to a Spiritual Territory!"


    The previously small arena started to unfold as though a scroll as being opened.


    Within the Area, Fang Yuan could feel as though he was in control of everything.


    This was the power of the Area!


    "Although the Area Beings here are still weaker than those in Da Qian due to the fact that the worlds are different, as long as I have the opportunity, I will be able to achieve a breakthrough easily back in Da Qian!"


    He could feel that his Elemental Spiritual Energy Cultivation Spell was totally different from before. With the advancement of his Arena to an Area, Fang Yuan was extremely satisfied.


    "I am not only a True Divine but also an Area Being in terms of my mind! I have achieved breakthroughs in all three aspects! Even Elder Extreme Darkness is no match for me now!"


    "Rumble!"


    At this point in time, everyone could feel that the huge Spiritual King Island on the ocean was undergoing a certain change.


    After a huge explosion, the space around started to vibrate violently and even Fang Yuan himself could feel the departure of a certain powerful realm.


    That was the Spiritual Realm''s will doing all it could to sever all ties with this realm. Furthermore, it no longer cared about the spiritual energy it had once invested in this realm as well as the cultivators it had brought along with it to invade the realm. Everything was being given up.


    Such determination from the Spiritual Realm''s will shocked even Fang Yuan and it gave everyone the shudders.


    ''Initially, I thought that the realm of dream masters would be more powerful than the Spiritual Realm but... who would''ve thought... the disparity is too huge...''


    Only a hint of spiritual aura from the dream masters'' realm was needed to send the Spiritual Realm scrambling back. Even Fang Yuan was stunned and shocked.


    ...


    In the Spiritual Realm.


    The rivers were flowing in the mountains and a few powerful beings descended with a grand entrance.


    "I can feel the urgency of the will of the realm!"


    As soon as they arrived at the ocean, they gazed towards the huge island where the two realms had collided and remained speechless. "From previous observations, that realm should have minimal ability to fight back!"


    "Things must have changed to result in what had happened today!"


    The will of a powerful being was heard from the side. "If not for the fact that we are afraid of being targeted by the realm''s will, none of us would have left such an important mission to our subordinates!"


    "Crackle!"


    At this moment, the skies turned dark and streaks of lightning appeared, striking the island in the middle.


    "Rumble!"


    As the lightning struck, the island disintegrated and the intersection of the realms started to crack, opening up a void in the middle.


    "Oh no, the transference array has failed!"


    Another powerful being started to predict the happenings. "Our subordinates are still in that realm!"


    "How can the will of our realm be so determined to sacrifice them?!"


    A few others exchanged glances and felt that something had gone wrong.


    With that, they released their spiritual will and could detect a hint of spiritual aura.


    "That is..."


    "The Demonic Heart Realm!!! This is bad! Quickly seal off the connection and segregate the two worlds!"


    Even the powerful being who had lost most of his subordinates was actively trying to execute techniques to seal the connection.


    He no longer cared about how many disciples or concubines he had left behind in the other realm.


    This was because the Demonic Heart Realm was rumoured to be the most vicious realm in the entire universe!


    The Spiritual Realm had once collided with the Demonic Heart Realm and the price to pay was the death of most of its population.


    This was because the strongest spiritual aura of the Demonic Heart Realm was like a plague which could be spread through any type of medium. It preferred cultivators and would most likely spread to these people.


    The mighty and powerful Demonic Heart Realm left a lasting impression in the hearts of the powerful beings of the Spiritual Realm.


    "May the will of the realm assist me!"


    "Purple Lightning, 9 Dragons Extreme Array!"


    "East Green Wood, Sky Blocking Canopies!"


    Every powerful being was strengthening the seal and cutting of the connection between the realms.


    The will of the Spiritual Realm was continuously transferring energy to help out the process and finally, it had come to an end.


    The illusionary shadow of the devastated island drifted further and further away and soon disappeared.


    "Phew... We are fortunate!"


    "No one knew that there would be such a desperate person in that other realm who will be willing to sacrifice everything!"


    "These are the dangers of realm hunting. We are fortunate enough to have stopped it in time and prevent any disaster!"


    The few powerful beings gathered together and were deep in their thoughts.


    What about those people who were left behind in Planet Earth Realm? No one would care about them any more.


    ...


    "The collision of the two realms has been reverted... What a good move!"


    On Planet Earth Realm, Fang Yuan witnessed everything but did not interfere with the process.


    After all, even though he was at the level of a powerful being in terms of his spiritual and martial arts, he was still a long way from becoming a Sage. Previously, he had leveraged on the will of Planet Earth to help him fend off the invaders and therefore, he would not stupidly give chase.


    "With this, my efforts are not in vain!"


    He gazed at his right palm. In it, there was an illusionary green glow which took the form of a green tree branch.


    "I now have the coordinates of the Spiritual Realm and I will be sure to visit it someday in the future!"


    The Spiritual Realm had already given up on the invasion and therefore, these few fighters would lose their source of energy. With enough time, these cultivators would slowly be digested by the realm. To Planet Earth, this time, not only had it escaped the invasion of another realm, it had instead increased in spiritual energy in the form of these fighters.


    This was taking into account that they could settle another problem.


    "The Demonic Heart Realm!"


    Fang Yuan raised his head up and could see an expanding black hole above him.


    Strictly speaking, although Fang Yuan had communicated with the dream masters'' realm, he did not initiate the collision of the realms. After all, considering the foundations of Planet Earth, it was impossible for it to a complete collision with another realm.


    However, just the spiritual aura and the strength from the Demonic Heart Realm was enough to send the Spiritual Realm fleeing and this was something no one had expected.


    Although they had used the tiger to chase the wolf away, they now had to deal with the tiger.


    ''This was originally a crippled array. The foundations of Planet Earth is weak and I have only communicated with the dream masters'' realm and used up a little bit of power. This should not be enough for me to form a stable connection to allow anything to enter...''


    Fang Yuan gazed at the black hole and started to collect his thoughts.


    Furthermore, his actualised dream world was activated as well as he continuously absorbed the purest form of dream elemental energy from the Demonic Heart Realm.


    ''In conclusion, this was something bad and something good. The good thing is that Planet Earth will now be similar to Da Qian since both are now covered in the radiation of dream elemental energy. From today onwards, there will be dream masters on Planet Earth and this place will be the playground for dream masters... but the bad thing...''


    "Rumble!"


    From the black hole, the space warped as though a certain being was forcing its way through the boundaries of the realms. Unfortunately, due to the restrictions of the realms, it was unsuccessful.


    Everyone felt fear at that moment.


    "Is this a... higher-tiered realm? This is too captivating..."


    Below, the Werewolf''s First Ancestor, Jon, gazed at the black hole and was in a trance. He did not notice that streaks of silver dream elemental force had already seeped into his hair.


    "Crack! Crack!"


    In that instant, his shoulders had crumbled and from both sides of his body, there were two heads growing out. A pair of bat wings were also growing from his back and in that instant, he had transformed into a monster!


    "Jon... you!"


    Curtly sounded different this time. Within moments, he was being sliced into two pieces by the claws of the wolf and his head fell into the wolf''s mouth.


    "Oh, sh*t!"


    Fang Yuan witnessed the scene and understood everything. "The pure dream elemental force has resulted in the over-mutation of Jon..."


    The dream masters of Da Qian would make use of their magical energy to control the dream elemental force. After processing the dream elemental force, they would be able to transfer it to their actualised dream world.


    Now, because of the illusionary connection, although physical bodies could not pass, pure dream elemental force could flow through without any resistance.


    These cultivators who had only experienced spiritual energy could not handle the purest form of dream elemental force and therefore were overwhelmed by it.


    A few of them even lost control of their minds after falling into their dream worlds, turning into dream slaves for eternity.


    "One''s accomplishment is dependent on one''s ability... None of you are qualified enough to absorb the power from the Demonic Heart Realm!"


    Fang Yuan scoffed but became alert. With that, he absorbed the dream elemental force and transferred it to his actualised dream world before containing it with his 8 Gates Sword Array.


    "The monsters that have evolved from the dream elemental force will, unfortunately, be controlled by a more powerful dream master... if that is so..."


    Fang Yuan gazed at the black hole. Indeed, through the air, he could see a black shadow which he could not find words to describe.


    After attempting to break through the realms and failing, the black shadow vibrated and a voice was heard in everyone''s mind. "I am Hades! You weak beings... Give me all of you!"


    This voice was filled with evil and after hearing it, Fang Yuan felt giddy and nauseous.


    Long Lizi and the rest stood where they were, stunned. Suddenly, a stream of dream elemental force started to flow through their bodies and all of them were undergoing weird mutations in that instant.

 464 Cleaning Up the Mess

    Chapter


    "Are they related?!"


    As Fang Yuan looked at Long Lizi and the few others mutate, he seemed to have thought of something.


    It was rumoured that a higher being would be able to influence and radiate energy by just merely existing and therefore able to alter the environment and biodiversity, turning everything into its slave.


    The prime examples would be The Dragon, The Kobold and The Lizard.


    Although Fang Yuan did not visit these worlds before, he had read about them in the information bank before.


    Even dragons could only create dependants from their blood.


    Against this higher-order demonic king, it was even scarier. Just by seeing and hearing it, one would be affected by its dream elemental force!


    If not for the fact that Fang Yuan was a high-tiered dream master and had developed a resistance against dream elemental force, he might also lose control of himself upon hearing the voice and enter a nightmare for an eternity before his body would be manipulated by the higher being.


    "The most powerful beings of Planet Earth are already gathered here and yet, everyone is being captured in one fell swoop..."


    Fang Yuan examined his surroundings before frowning. "No wonder... these were already beings manipulated by the Spiritual Realm. In addition to what had happened today, it is no surprise that they would be easily manipulated once more!"


    "Kill!"


    In a single thought, Fang Yuan released his Area and quickly arrived in front of Long Lizi to land a punch on him.


    "Ah... you!"


    At this point in time, half of Long Lizi''s face was covered in a black smog. One of his eyes were bloodshot and the other half was normal. With a ferocious look, it was obvious that he was putting up a strong fight.


    Seeing how Fang Yuan had made his way before him, his expression changed as he stopped resisting the mutation, for the only chance he had for survival was to be completely mutated to become stronger.


    Unfortunately, Fang Yuan''s right fist had already struck out towards his head.


    "Once these monsters have complete their mutation, they will be the slaves of Demonic Heart Realm. By then, I cannot do anything to them and therefore I should strike first! I shall take this opportunity to kill them as they resist the mutation in them and remain oblivious to their surroundings.


    These people were Energy Souls of a single generation and their actions would directly affect the future of the 3 continents.


    Any native of Planet Earth would surely find it hard to kill these people.


    However, Fang Yuan had none of these considerations. After killing Long Lizi, he flew towards Venerable Moonchaser, grabbed her hands and pulled them apart.


    Blood spewed everywhere and her ladylike demure was gone in an instant.


    "Hehe!"


    Farquhar was the first among them to complete the mutation. The 3 pairs of wings on his back transformed into eagle wings and his head turned into an eagle head as well. With outstretched wings, he was about to escape with the three-headed wolf.


    "Are you thinking of escaping?"


    Fang Yuan contracted his spiritual territory and pulled the two monsters towards him.


    The claws and talons of the wolf and the eagle struck on Fang Yuan''s body but to no avail. Fang Yuan tightened the grip on his right hand and in an instant, the weird-looking bird head exploded and the bird-man fell to the ground.


    "Ahwhoooo!"


    The three-headed wolf opened his jaws wide and bit on Fang Yuan''s arm. A purple hue glowed and Fang Yuan''s arm remained unharmed.


    "Die!"


    With a shout, Fang Yuan forcefully opened the jaws of the wolf.


    Behind him, the Pangu Eagle Body shouted as well as its gigantic hands came together.


    "Ahwhoooo~~~"


    The giant wolf continued to howl as it was being battered into a bloodied mess.


    "Mortal!"


    At this point in time, an anonymous voice was heard coming from the black hole. "You... you''ve enraged me! You will feel Hades'' wrath!"


    "I''m sorry..."


    Fang Yuan shook his head. "It''s time you disappear!"


    Since Fang Yuan had already prepared to test his ideas out in this realm, how would he not think about his own safety?


    In allowing the Dream Realm to enter for both worlds to suffer huge losses, his plan was far from perfection.


    What was most important was the array covering the entire Planet Earth!


    After stalling so much time since the retreat of the Spiritual Realm, if Planet Earth''s will was still unable to regain autonomy of the realm, then it would deserve to be absorbed by other realms!


    "Rumble!"


    Indeed, in the next moment, the four-pointed magical inscription on Fang Yuan''s forehead shook and started to disperse its strength.


    "The original array was in place to guide the Spiritual Realm to enter. However, it has been altered by me to become the 6 Extremes Earth Shattering Array and therefore its powers have been restricted... In fact, considering Planet Earth''s foundation, it is not even qualified to break through higher dimensions and guide the Demonic Heart Realm to descend here!"


    Fang Yuan was unwilling to allow the dream masters'' realm to descend, resulting in him having nowhere else to go.


    He would rather see such a situation where both realms did not dare to push on and invade.


    The situation was now in his favour, for he did not know that the Spiritual Realm would retreat so quickly after even detecting a tinge of Demonic Heart Realm''s spiritual aura.


    Otherwise, if the Spiritual Realm was determined, it would realise that the connection between the Demonic Heart Realm and Planet Earth Realm was too unstable to support any powerful being in descending to the realm.


    In other words, the Spiritual Realm was being scared away.


    "Planet Earth''s will, please assist me one final time!"


    Fang Yuan hollered as the spiritual aura in him started to surge.


    The original giant yellowish-brown dragons appeared once again and exhausted all their energy to fly up into the sky.


    "The dragons have no leader. 6 Extremes Earth Combination, create the heavens!"


    As Fang Yuan recited the mantra, a streak of emerald glow shot up into the sky and disappeared.


    A mysterious vibration was felt everywhere, forming a huge extreme array with the skies as the foundation - the 9 Heavenly Sky Net Array!


    This was a real Heavenly Array! Humans will never be able to do it on their own accord and it could only be made possible with the help of the will of the realm! Now that Planet Earth''s will and Fang Yuan were on the same side, Fang Yuan''s plan was extremely smooth-sailing.


    "May the Heaven and Earth combine! Separate!"


    As the 9 Heavenly Sky Net Array slowly took in the energy from the 6 dragons, it had pushed itself to the maximum potential as described by Sage Changli. The 6 Earths and 9 Heavens had combined to create an immense force which struck towards the black hole in mid-air.


    "Crackle!"


    "Crackle!"


    The entire array across the planet shook and the process of taking in the planet''s energy came to a momentary halt.


    At that moment, the immense force formed a blade which glittered under the sun.


    Even the black hole and the space around it started to break down as the giant blade struck it.


    "You..."


    Through the void, Fang Yuan could detect the anger of a certain powerful being in it. However, he remained fearless.


    Fang Yuan was now a powerful being in both martial arts and spiritual techniques. Furthermore, the powerful being in the black hole was light years away from him.


    With all these to help him, if Fang Yuan were to still lose the fight, he could only blame himself.


    "Seal!"


    After ensuring that the connection between the realms was broken, Fang Yuan''s hands started to glow, creating countless seals which continuously sealed and healed the cracks formed from the appearance of the void and black hole.


    He did not want any repercussions and was wary of allowing the Demonic Heart Realm to be able to squeeze through any voids which he might have left out.


    After a long while, the entire realm started to settle down in silence.


    "Buzz!"


    The sun started to rise from the East, bringing warmth to the surface of the planet.


    It was unknown as to when the will of the planet had left, leaving Fang Yuan weakened to the level of a normal powerful being.


    Even so, Fang Yuan''s cultivation would leave him as the most powerful being in the realm and he even had the power to unify the entire planet!


    After all, in a single night, the strongest opposition had already died in his hands for various reasons and the remaining survivors were easy to deal with.


    "It feels good to be able to control the realm''s will and the power of the entire realm!"


    Fang Yuan placed his hands behind his back and smiled in silence as he gazed towards Huiming City, which had just narrowly avoided a calamity.


    This experiment allowed Fang Yuan to understand more secrets and ideas through the source of dream masters, the Demonic Heart Realm. He now had a better understanding of wars between realms as well.


    Secondly, he finally broke through to the stage of harnessing the power of an Area. With this property, he would no longer experience a bottleneck if he were to advance to the 7th Tier of the Illusionary Divine stage back in Da Qian.


    Thirdly, the planet and its people would feel grateful to him for saving the entire planet. Planet Earth''s will would surely reward him handsomely for Fang Yuan had directly killed all those who were a threat to the planet. Since the other cultivators would start to flee or go into hiding, the realm would surely not dare to go against Fang Yuan. After all, Fang Yuan could recklessly kill people if he wanted to, but the realm''s will could not strike anyone it wanted to with tribulations.


    "Other than this, I still have Elder Extreme Darkness''s magical clone... The benefits are plenty!"


    Fang Yuan closed his eyes and was lost in his thoughts. "Is the spiritual energy reaching its normal level now? This speed of restoration is unheard of..."


    The spike in spiritual energy was the bait which the Spiritual Realm had cast. Now that they had withdrawn all investments and that Planet Earth had been actively absorbing in the spiritual energy as well, it was no surprise that the spiritual droplets in the air would drastically drop.


    "Of course, something else is different!"


    Fang Yuan shut his eyes and felt his own actualised dream world.


    "Because of the fact that I have connected myself with the Demonic Heart Realm, even though the connection has been severed, I can no longer segregate myself completely with the realm... In this realm, if anyone can attain the required standards of Essence, Spirit and Magic, they can still potentially take in the dream elemental force from the surroundings and start on their journey of cultivation to become a dream master of their own!"


    This would be the same system as the Spiritual Realm. Although Planet Earth had gotten rid of a hunter, it was now being targeted by yet another hunter.


    "After this incident, Planet Earth should have learnt its lesson and relieve the planet of most of its restrictions and harsh physical laws to cultivate their own group of pioneer cultivators. It can even journey towards being supernormal and give up on science?"


    Fang Yuan was extremely interested in the future development of this realm.


    At this point in time, the realm shook once more.


    The sun was high up in the sky and a purple fog started to spread from the East which shrouded around Fang Yuan.


    The pure energy from the source of the realm left Fang Yuan a little intoxicated. He quickly snapped out of his trance and pulled the force into his actualised dream world.


    It was the reward for his accomplishment.


    He had to thank the will of the realm for being stubborn, unlike the Spiritual Realm''s will which would deal with any otherworldly demon harshly.


    However, Fang Yuan had already thought about this point. After all that had happened, there were no more supernormal beings on the planet and there were no other organisations which could possibly threaten him.


    This could be a reason as to why the realm''s will could quickly keep its promise to Fang Yuan.


    "Alright, with all these energies from the source of the realm, I can accelerate my cultivation as a dream master when I return to Da Qian!"


    Fang Yuan clenched his fists and was excited.


    The war in Da Qian was about to begin and he needed to strengthen up to protect himself and gain from the war.


    However, the will of Planet Earth started to send another thought to Fang Yuan, which made his expression change. "... You want me to deal with the remaining crippled cultivators of your realm?"

 465 Departure

    The descending of the Spiritual Realm brought an everlasting impact on Planet Earth.


    Firstly, the collision of the Spiritual King Comet resulted in a terrifying earthquake and tsunami which destroyed almost half a continent. Billions of civilians were killed in this disaster.


    If not for the fact that Planet Earth''s will had forcefully interfered to restore the biodiversity of the planet, they might be a destructive cycle of life.


    Even so, this huge disaster was an opportunity for the planet to start anew and the survivors were barely surviving.


    However, there was still another problem - the remaining Immortal Cultivators!


    The Spiritual Realm had escaped in time but had left its Immortal Cultivators on Planet Earth. It could be due to the fact that it did not have enough time to rescue these Immortal Cultivators or it could be that it was worried these Immortal Cultivators might have been infected with the spiritual aura of the Demonic Heart Realm and would potentially become coordinates for the realm. Therefore, it was willing to sacrifice them like how a lizard would sacrifice its tail in times of danger. Until now, there were still too many Immortal Cultivators from the Spiritual Realm left on Earth.


    These people were being sacrificed. To speak the truth, they could still help in the development of this realm, for instance, by increasing the gene pool.


    However, to completely assimilate them into the realm, their leader must go.


    This was especially so for the leaders at the 5th Tier. They had to die in order for their followers to obediently assimilate into the new realm.


    However, what was embarrassing was that there were no natives strong enough to take out the leaders and Planet Earth had to once again seek Fang Yuan for help.


    Fang Yuan had no qualms about taking up this task.


    After all, Ancestor Red Cloud and the 3 other Area Beings should be the most powerful among them all and the remaining were all at the 4th Tier. Even if an Area Being were to hide among them, Fang Yuan was confident of taking them out.


    ...


    In the East Ocean.


    "Master has orders to gather all the spiritual materials and rebuild our sect on the remains of Spiritual King Island!"


    A group of Immortal Cultivators flew across the ocean as they wielded their swords and there were looks of worry and despair in their eyes. They were the ones being left behind and had nowhere else to go, which explained their worries.


    "Brothers and sisters! This is only a temporary retreat by the Spiritual Realm. The realm will never give up on us!"


    Seeing this, a young man in white robes started to encourage everyone. "There have always been dangers in exploring worlds and it is only normal for the leading warriors to be trapped in other realms. Take for instance the leading warriors of Star Moon Sect. They were once trapped in a foreign realm and were only rescued 80 years later!"


    The Spirit Realm had deployed a single army for this invasion and everyone in the group were familiar with each other. With this thought, all of them felt less worried and nodded their heads in agreement.


    "Although the source of this realm is rich in energy, they do not have enough spiritual energy."


    One of the female Immortal Cultivators twitched her eyebrows. "After observing through the Heavenly Spiritual Scope, I realised that the spiritual energy in this realm is dropping at an alarming rate. I''m afraid that our future will be doomed..."


    "The few leaders have requested of us to gather the materials to cast the Spiritual Capturing Array on the Spiritual King Island! Using it as the core and complement it with other arrays like the 4 Emblems Spiritual Lock and the 8 Directions Spiritual Gatherer, and we should be able to last for another 10 years..."


    The young man let out a sigh.


    Although the Spiritual King Island was destroyed, it had formed an archipelago of islands.


    These were made from the essence of the Spiritual Realm and had natural spiritual energy in them. Using these islands as a foundation and together with the arrays, even if the will of Planet Earth were to continuously absorb spiritual energy, they would still be able to last and survive for a period of time.


    Who knows, the Spiritual Realm might just descend upon Planet Earth Realm even before the 10 years was up.


    This was their final hope!


    ''It''s a pity... these are merely hopes...''


    As the young man looked at his increasingly excited brothers and sisters, he did not dare to reveal the truth to them.


    ''The few leaders have already used up their Realm Breaking Talismans to establish a connection with the Spiritual Realm. This realm, Planet Earth, has already been deemed plagued by the Demonic Heart Realm and for the safety of everyone, the Spiritual Realm will never establish a connection with this realm for eternity... All of us are stuck here forever!''


    With that single thought, the young man was almost brought to tears.


    At this point in time, a streak of light flashed past and arrived on the Spiritual King Island in the middle of the ocean.


    "Whoosh!"


    From afar, the skies became darker and thunder roared. There were shockingly loud winds and glitter of sword essence.


    "This... is someone invading our camp?"


    The young man and a few others witnessed the scene and were utterly shocked. "Who dares to invade us?"


    On the island, an illusionary shadow slowly materialised, forming the image of outer space with 12 glittering stars, illuminating the entire island like how a full moon would.


    "Is this... the 12 Stars Universal Array?"


    Witnessing this scene, the young man remained in shock. "The adversary must be someone of the level of an ancestor for all 12 leaders to attack at once! No wonder they didn''t need our help."


    To an Area Being, any Immortal Cultivator of the 3rd Tier and below were merely sacrifices. Only those at the 4th Tier and above with the power of the arena could put up any meaningful resistance.


    However, only another Immortal Cultivator of the 5th Tier would be able to stand any chance against these Area Beings.


    "We do not have bad blood with each other. Why are you still pushing us to a dead end?!"


    At this point in time, one of the stars in the array started to glow brilliantly as it sent out an angry and desperate spiritual will.


    "The few of you are mere lackeys. Do you think I would give you a chance to regain your powers and not deal with you now while you are weak?"


    From mid-air, an illusionary silhouette of a human started to laugh hysterically as streaks of lightning crackled across the night sky.


    "Hmph!"


    All of a sudden, a muscular giant appeared behind this silhouette as though he had just walked out of a fairytale. The giant struck a single punch at the array.


    "Whoosh"!


    The array started to crack!


    With a single punch, the flow of the universe started to rewind and dissipate swiftly. What remained were the 12 stars, of which all of them were feeling desolated.


    "No! Don''t kill me!"


    The stars quickly transformed into deities with pleading looks on their faces, making the low-tiered Immortal Cultivators who were witnessing the scene lose faith in these deities.


    "The few of you are invaders of the realm and therefore you should know the outcome of trespassing!"


    Fang Yuan paid little attention as he unfolded his spiritual territory, ensuring that no one would be able to escape. With that, the Pangu Giant behind him started to clear things up.


    "Die!"


    As the giant landed its fist, a female Immortal Cultivator was grounded into a pile of meat and flesh.


    "Pfft! Don''t you dare harm my ancestor!"


    On the Spiritual King Island, a group of Immortal Cultivators could no longer hold it in. They rushed out and the thousand of them quickly formed a deity war array. "Defensive Aggressive Sword Array, Kill!"


    Streaks of sword radiance landed on the giant but even sparks did not appear.


    "There are quite clever to know how to form such a deity array. Unfortunately... If they are not Area Beings, they will all be ants to me!"


    Fang Yuan laughed heartily and expanded his spiritual territory.


    In that instant, the entire war array froze and the Immortal Cultivators turned to shock. "Our powers... are sealed up!"


    "Save us!"


    As soon as their magical equipment turned useless, thousands of Immortal Cultivators started to fall from mid-air and were splattered into a bloodied mess as soon as they landed on the ground. It was a gruesome sight to behold.


    Those who were lucky landed in the ocean and could, therefore, survive the fall. However, those who were less fortunate landed directly on the rocks and turned into a pile of dead bloodied flesh.


    "Thunder, strike!"


    Fang Yuan remained focused on his task at hand.


    After killing about a hundred of them, Fang Yuan spread his arms out as the giant looked to the skies and shouted.


    11 streaks of purple-gold lightning struck down, targeting the remaining 11 leaders.


    "So this is the Area... In the Area, I am in control of everything! I can even strengthen the power of the bolts of lightning!"


    At this point in time, in Fang Yuan''s consciousness, he could not only control the purple-gold lightning with extreme accuracy but could also increase their intensity, giving the streaks of lightning a green hue.


    This was not emerald green, but purple-green!


    "It seems like even the heavens want them dead!"


    To Fang Yuan, these 11 Immortal Cultivators could do nothing against this tribulation and could only accept their deaths.


    "The leaders are... dead!"


    From afar, the young man and a group of Immortal Cultivators floated in mid-air and were devastated as they witnessed the massacre.


    A few of them could not accept the fact and seem suicidal.


    "After killing these 12 leaders, it''s good enough to say that I''ve cleared all of them up!"


    Sweeping the place with his spiritual will, Fang Yuan could detect that the Immortal Cultivators within 10 miles of him were all shaking in fear.


    However, Fang Yuan did not continue his massacre. Instead, he quickly took his leave in a streak of light before disappearing at the horizon.


    It was enough to eliminate all the 4th Tier Immortal Cultivators. The realm could slowly deal with these insignificant threats by itself.


    Fang Yuan was not a serial killer and would not attack the low-tiered Immortal Cultivators.


    "I wonder how will this realm turn out in the future? It will be interesting!"


    After accomplishing his tasks, although Fang Yuan could immediately leave, he chose to stay for a few years.


    In the Middle Continent, he had secretly met up with Zhao Daniu. By now, this old friend of his had already married Ye Yingzi and they even had their own children. After the disaster, the country was already in the process of rebuilding itself.


    In the East Continent, after the death of most of the powerful beings, it was unfortunate that the 9 Headed Cerberus had escaped once again and was almost on the verge of destroying the world. However, Fang Yuan had managed to capture it and sent it back to isolation.


    In the West Continent, although the Golden Eagle Federation had been disbanded, Fang Yuan''s two adopted children had returned to their homeland and were preparing to rebuild the country and its civilisation.


    Furthermore, on Spiritual King Island, after the big fight, a few Immortal Cultivators had escaped but the remaining chose to remain behind to form their own sects and were leading peaceful lives on the island.


    Fang Yuan explored the world and examined everything in silence.


    "The future of this world will be very different... Although the spiritual energy is dipping, it will still remain existent in the surroundings. Coupled with the fact that there might be the appearance of dream masters and other technological advancements, the future is interesting..."


    "If I have the chance in the future, I will surely return to visit!"


    ...


    After 10 years.


    On the surface of the ocean, a steam-powered mutated ship was slipping off from a port. It carried a new species of humans and was ready to embark on a maiden voyage since the doomsday event across the 3 continents years ago.


    At this point in time, the people on the ship seemed to be in shock.


    In their field of sight, on the surface of the ocean, a person was floating in mid-air. This person was gazing up towards the starry night sky.


    "A mutant?"


    "No... that person seems familiar. He must be the rumoured most powerful mutant in the world!"


    Many reporters screamed in excitement as they rushed forward.


    Fang Yuan turned around and smiled sheepishly. As his silhouette merged with the space around him, he disappeared...

 466 Breakthrough

    In the world of Da Qian.


    Fang Yuan slowly woke up from his deep slumber.


    The surroundings were pitch-black and squeezy but it gave one a sense of security.


    Previously, as he dream-traversed, he sealed himself in a mountainous cave in the wilderness. Indeed, no one came to disturb him.


    "I have already spent 50 years in Planet Earth Realm. Converting the time to Da Qian, it should be around 5 months!"


    Fang Yuan did a quick mental calculation and finally understood how time flowed. "By now, the 9 Heavenly Sky Net Array should have been almost completed and the war is about to begin!"


    Strictly speaking, he had cast the incomplete versions of the two arrays on Planet Earth, but the results of the arrays would speak for themselves.


    Now, with the complete version of the arrays, the final outcome would surely shock many.


    "There''s one thing... what can I gain from all these? This realm is different from Planet Earth. Not only are there plenty 7th Tier Illusionary Divine dream masters, they are even the existence of Sages!"


    Sages were dream masters who had attained the Prominent Divine stage and were almost unparalleled in the realm. Only the True Divines and True Elementals favoured by the heavenly will would be able to stand a chance against these sages.


    Comparing dream masters with spiritual knights and martial artists of the same tier, dream masters would be stronger.


    Previously, Fang Yuan was still clueless about the source of dream masters. However, now he had a new understanding of the Demonic Heart Realm.


    "The Demonic Heart Realm is a realm of higher dimension compared to the Spiritual Realm. Therefore, by cultivating on the basis of dream elemental force from the Demonic Heart Realm, one would be able to become more powerful than another person in the same tier cultivating using spiritual energy from the Spiritual Realm!"


    At this point in time, he took a quick glance at his stats:


    "Name: Fang Yuan


    Essence: 100


    Spirit: 100


    Magic: 61 (100)


    Profession: Dream Soldier Master


    Cultivation: Illusionary Divine (4th Tier), True Divine, Area Being (False)


    Technique: [Pangu Eagle Body (? ? ?)], [8 Gates Sword Array (5th Sword) (10%)], [Elemental Spiritual Energy Cultivation Spell (Grade 5 (Completed))]


    Skill: [Medicine (Level 3)], [Botany (Level 5)], [Fiery Golden Eyes (Level 1)]"


    ...


    "The limit of my magical energy has been increased to 100. However, I have only restored to how much I had left off. Also, about this ''false'' Area Being..."


    Fang Yuan rubbed his chin and was deep in his thoughts.


    Across different realms, there would be different limitations on foreign types of energies. Fang Yuan was already used to it.


    The good thing was that he had the unique ability of fixed stats. Regardless of whichever realm he had achieved a breakthrough, his body would remember the new limit automatically. No matter which realm he would go to in the future, as long as he had enough resources, he would be able to restore his peak condition.


    Previously, this unique ability of his had allowed him to traverse to different realms and restore his ability in the shortest amount of time possible.


    However, the opposite had just happened. He would be able to bring his breakthrough from a foreign realm back to Da Qian!


    "Therefore, I can increase my cultivations without any difficulty and achieve the 7th Tier in no time!"


    Fang Yuan''s consciousness entered his actualised dream world.


    The 8 sword pillars stood sturdy and in the middle, there was a big purple fog which gave off a mysterious spiritual aura. This was the natural source of Planet Earth Realm. Although it was nothing compared to what the Spiritual Realm had taken, it was already enough for Fang Yuan to become a divine immortal!


    It was not enough for him to become a Prominent Divine dream master, but sufficient for him to attain the 7th Tier of the Illusionary Divine stage!


    Other than that, in the corner of his actualised dream world, there was another mysterious and suspicious spiritual aura.


    A stone carving of a lady figurine stood there. The lady figurine had a pair of wings and it was the magical clone of Extreme Darkness which he had met in the realm.


    "This is great! I was only trying my luck only to find out that I can really absorb her into my actualised dream world and even bring her back... Could it be because she is related to Extreme Darkness considering that she is a magical clone and that Planet Earth does not consider her to be native?"


    Fang Yuan stared at the young girl intently for a moment.


    This magical clone would surely be a hidden move which he could use against Extreme Darkness. Of course, if he really had to use her, it would mean that by then, the Realm Alliance would already be breaking apart.


    "Being a mere True Divine is not enough to ensure my survival during the war!"


    Fang Yuan flicked his finger and the purple fog started to dissipate.


    In his consciousness, the 8 Gates Sword Array came to life and the sword pillars shot up to the sky. The blades of the swords were extremely sharp and the Wind, Thunder, Water and Fire Sword made the appearance. They had spirituality and could exclaim as though they were calling out for their friends.


    "Lake Sword! Form!"


    Streaks of purple fog gathered around the illusionary Lake Sword. With continuous stimulation, the progress of the Lake Sword started to surge and reached 100% in an instant!


    "The Lake Sword is the mediating sword. With this sword, the casting of sword arrays will now be smoother and in addition, I can now use the 5 Elements Sword Array!"


    Fang Yuan flicked his finger casually, giving the Lake Sword spiritual property.


    "Mas... Master!"


    The dark glow of the Lake Sword shimmered and a youthful voice was heard.


    "Great!"


    Fang Yuan was extremely satisfied.


    The formation of the 5th Sword meant that his cultivation as a dream master would once again increase to the 5th Tier, and the spiritual properties he was able to bless the swords with would increase as well.


    The cultivation of a dream master would begin with dream-accessing, followed by dream-building and then the Illusionary Divine stage.


    At the 4th Tier of the Illusionary Divine stage, a dream master would be able to spiritualise objects. However, a dream master would only be able to create prosperous lands and herds of animals after attaining the 7th Tier.


    The creation of a complete human or living thing with wisdom could only be accomplished by a Sage at the Prominent Divine stage.


    "However, I still feel that something is not right..."


    Thinking about his previous encounter with the Demonic Heart Realm, Fang Yuan became increasingly tensed. "Although our foundation is in dream elemental force, we dream masters seem to have created our own cultivation path and is different from the cultivators of the Demonic Heart Realm..."


    Although the starting point could be the same, the ending point could be vastly different. All the Demonic Heart Realm had radiated was simply dream elemental force, but there could be many uses to this dream elemental force.


    For instance, Planet Earth was now being targeted by the Demonic Heart Realm. Those with potential would be able to explore the usage of dream elemental force to create their own cultivation paths.


    They could either focus on creating the illusionary to hypnotise others, or they could be the infectious type to enslave others, similar to what Hades did.


    "The path of dream masters in Da Qian is all about being illusionary and creating reality from nothing. This is a totally new concept which might not even be explored by the demon kings of the Demonic Heart Realm..."


    Fang Yuan had a premonition.


    "The harvesting of a realm might not be the destruction of it or the complete absorption of its source... it could be to transfer elemental force to allow the realm to explore unexplored paths before learning from them in order to perfect their own foundation."


    "Of course, it''s useless to think about all these! If I cannot become a powerful being, I can''t even join the final war!"


    Fang Yuan''s eyes lit up as he continued to put pressure on the 8 Gates Sword Array.


    At the North-east, a yellow glow started to shine brilliantly and a dense spiritual aura started to spread out.


    A seemingly thick and heavy giant sword started to appear.


    This was the 6th sword of the 8 Gates Sword Array! The Mountain Sword! It was huge and its spiritual aura was overbearing. It was a masterpiece indeed!


    "Form!"


    With a single thought, the entire Mountain Sword started to form slowly but steadily.


    Compared to previously, the purple fog was now being consumed at an even faster rate as the Mountain Sword swiftly took shape.


    The karma of saving an entire realm converted to pure energy would be unimaginable to think!


    Fang Yuan knew that he had enough resources to allow him to attain the 7th Tier. Without fear, Fang Yuan continued to channel the purple fog and was not concerned about the rate of consumption at all.


    "Rumble!"


    Finally, after a long while, the Mountain Sword actualised and a small child wearing yellow robes appeared on the sword''s body. "Master!"


    "Master!"


    Being a 6th Tier Illusionary Divine dream master meant that Fang Yuan would be able to bless his swords with even more spirituality. On all the other swords, there were illusionary figures of children slowly appearing.


    Unfortunately, they were only illusionary figures.


    Only in the realm of a 7th Tier Illusionary Divine dream master would one be able to create spirituality from nothing, combining these swords with the spirits to form a physical body. This would be similar to the Fiery Dragon Child who had a physical body and would be able to do things. At this stage, Fang Yuan would even be able to be reborn from another body and the potential was limitless.


    "I need to feel confident!"


    Gazing at the remaining purple fog, Fang Yuan''s eyes were burning with passion. "I shall directly form the 7th Sword and become a powerful being!"


    It was an extremely crucial stage for dream masters to attain the 7th Tier of the Illusionary Divine stage.


    Once attained, one would be able to stand a chance against a True Divine or True Elemental to be considered a powerful being.


    In the Realm Alliance, one would be able to directly become an Elder and the benefits were plenty.


    Normal dream masters would have to stumble for many years before even trying to have a glimpse of hope in attaining the 7th Tier. However, at this point in time, Fang Yuan was extremely confident.


    "In the 8 Gates Sword Array, the formation of the Earth Sword is an important milestone. I will be able to form the 7 Constellations Sword Array. This array will be able to bring out the pure power of Earth, Fire, Wind and Water and in the process create a purple Area, making me invincible among the other 7th Tier Illusionary Divine dream masters and I might even have the chance to promote as well."


    Fang Yuan could never imagine how difficult it would be to form the Earth Sword.


    After all, this was a sky-high step. With this single step, everything would change!


    Of course, Fang Yuan only dared to be so daring because he had something to rely on.


    "Come out, my spiritual territory!"


    He stretched his right hand out and a spiritual glow appeared.


    This was the property of the spiritual territory which he had brought over from Planet Earth Realm. Although it remained illusionary in Da Qian, it was the key to a whole new world!


    With this, Fang Yuan would experience no difficulty in achieving a breakthrough to the 7th Tier of the Illusionary Divine stage.


    All that he had to do was to provide enough resources to form the Earth Sword.


    "Whoosh!"


    As the spiritual glow glittered, it flew into the illusionary figure of the Earth Sword.


    The Earth Sword which was previously putting up a resistance started to stabilise and absorb the purple fog without any reservations. Slowly, it started to grow in size.


    "Let me see... the secrets of a 7th Tier Illusionary Divine dream master of this world!"


    Fang Yuan closed his eyes and entered a state of nirvana.


    ...


    Outside.


    Dark clouds started to gather in the originally clear skies.


    In the mountains where Fang Yuan had remained, animals were scrambling in fear as though they could sense an impending disaster.


    From somewhere near, two streaks of light quickly made their way into the forest.


    "Eh?"


    The fleeing streak of light could detect that something was wrong and stopped for a moment. "Are these¡­..signs of a breakthrough?! Is someone about to breakthrough to the 7th Tier of the Illusionary Divine stage?"


    A 7th Tier Illusionary Divine dream master was different from a True Divine or a True Elemental. Since the former would now be able to create spirituality and form intellectual beings, although these beings would not be able to reproduce, the dream master would have already intervened with the natural cycle of life.


    Because of that, every time there was a breakthrough to the 7th Tier of the Illusionary Divine stage, there would surely be a heavenly tribulation!


    "Yingchou City is being invaded and the Imperial Court is in so much trouble now. Which dream master would have such fortune to achieve the breakthrough?"


    As the glow dissipated, a face of fortitude was revealed. It was the Leader of Hidden Dragon Guards!

 467 Viole

    "Someone is breaking through to the 7th Tier of the Illusionary Divine stage! Where is this dream master from?"


    Behind the Leader of Hidden Dragon Guards, the streak of light came to a halt and a confused look surfaced. "Is he a friend or a foe? Or could he be a... lone cultivator?!"


    If any dream master from the Hidden Dragon Guards or the 5 Grand Organisations were to prepare for a breakthrough to the 7th Tier, they would surely put up all precautions to attempt the breakthrough in isolation. Even Sages would be deployed to look out for the cultivator undergoing the breakthrough.


    After all, the war was about to break out and in such a tense and sensitive period of time, the addition of a 7th Tier Illusionary Divine dream master would mean a paramount increase in the combat power of the organisation the dream master belonged to. It would be hard to imagine just how much power the said organisation would attain.


    Therefore, it was only reasonable for dream masters of other organisations to disrupt such a breakthrough.


    However, this dream master was like a fool to have chosen to breakthrough just like that in the woods. He must be crazy.


    "Regardless, he cannot be from the 5 Grand Organisations!"


    The Leader of the Hidden Dragon Guards clenched his teeth and hurriedly made his way to the barren mountain.


    He knew that the will of the realm would surely be against the 5 Grand Organisations!


    In fact, after he had put the 6 Extremes Earth Shattering Array in place, no dream master from the 5 Grand Organisations dared to be reckless.


    The dream masters from the 5 Grand Organisations were already going against the will of the realm and would surely not give the heavens any opportunity to deal with them.


    It would be crucial to note that the natural source of The Ancient Realm was nothing compared to that of Da Qian. However, it was already powerful enough to seal out even a Sage after it was awakened.


    If the will of Da Qian was willing, unrestricted, it would unquestionably be able to destroy even a Sage!


    Therefore, this dream master who was about to experience a breakthrough would be likely to join the Imperial Court if he wasn''t part of it already...


    The Leader of the Hidden Dragon Guards sensed that something was not right as his eyes darted around before he came to a halt. "Something''s not right!"


    "Rumble!"


    Dark clouds rumbled from above and 7 streaks of lightning struck down mercilessly and continuously. Their power was indeed mighty and it was as though the heavens were going all out to kill the dream master experiencing the breakthrough.


    "This..."


    The Leader of the Hidden Dragon Guards was shocked. "The 7 Continuous Bolts of Lightning?! Anyone who deserves such a tribulation would have sinned too much and would still be dealt with even if he doesn''t undergo the breakthrough, this is terrible..."


    "Haha!"


    The dream master at the back appeared extremely excited. "Mu Hezi, you''re digging your own grave!"


    However, in his heart, he felt even more confused. "Could this dream master... be part of us, the 5 Grand Organisations?"


    "Rumble!"


    During their exchange, the streaks of lightning struck down mercilessly and split the barren mountain into two, revealing a silhouette in a mountain cave.


    "Rise!"


    The silhouette gazed up towards the sky and seemed confused as he waved his hands.


    "Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!"


    7 glittering magical swords appeared before taking up the forms of 7 oddly-shaped children. Some of them were cute, some of them appeared weird while some others appeared matured. At this point in time, they were delegating jobs to among each other as they controlled a massive amount of sword essence each to defend against the incoming lightning strikes.


    "Boohooo... Master, this streak of lightning hurts."


    "Each of us is only up against one streak of lightning. It will not hurt us and we can continue fighting!"


    "Little Water, Little Fire and Little Lake are not counters to lightning. Little Thunder and Little Wind are better counters!"


    ...


    The few children communicated through their spiritual wills and split the job. Furthermore, the children who were formed later seemed to be more mature.


    For instance, Earth Sword Child had taken up the role of leader without Fang Yuan''s explicit instructions and was, in fact, doing the job quite well.


    "Hmmm... The 7 of them, after combining forces, are able to deal with even a 6th Tier Illusionary Divine dream master. In the future, I will have these helpers to help me out!"


    Fang Yuan witnessed this scene before him and felt satisfied.


    This children which he had spiritualised were not only loyal but powerful as well. Even if these children were to die, they could be revived in Fang Yuan''s actualised dream world and there were no better helpers than the 7 of them.


    "The only thing is that... this tribulation seems a little boring!"


    Fang Yuan gazed up towards the sky as the dark clouds started to disperse, leaving him speechless.


    After all, Fang Yuan did not do his research about the breakthrough to the 7th Tier of the Illusionary Divine stage and was caught off guard.


    "The will of the realm can only deal with me if I have done something wrong, and not deal with me because it feels that I am opposing it... All my previous actions are assisting the 5 Grand Organisations and I am even involved in casting the 6 Extremes Earth Shattering Array in the 9 Extremes Mountain. Therefore, as soon as it has the chance, it will surely try to kill me... Of course, at the ending, it seems as though it was giving me a second chance. Could it be that it had sensed that I was about to break through to the 7th Tier, or could it be the fact that I am not a Sage and therefore insignificant?"


    Fang Yuan thought to himself for a moment before forming a layer of fog around him. With that, he flew up into the sky and glared at the two uninvited guests. "Who are you guys?"


    "How can you so easily deal with the lightning tribulation of the heavens?"


    The two powerful beings were indeed a little shocked after witnessing how Fang Yuan survived after the tribulation.


    Mu Hezi''s eyes were wide open. He knew that this newly promoted powerful being was more powerful than an average 7th Tier Illusionary Divine dream master. Additionally, the fact that every single magical sword of his could so easily deflect each streak of lightning meant that this dream master had inherited an impressive inheritance from a powerful dream soldier master.


    ''The only thing is... I seem to have heard of such a sword technique somewhere!''


    "I am Feng Buer of the Source Seeking Sect! Brother, as long as you assist me in trapping the Leader of Hidden Dragon Guards, Mu Hezi, I will not only owe you a favour, the entire 5 Grand Organisations will also be willing to do you a favour!"


    From behind, Feng Buer spoke with confidence.


    At this point in time, the 5 Grand Organisations had claimed multiple victories and the Imperial Court was experiencing losses. Even if Fang Yuan was not from the 5 Grand Organisations, he should be able to make a sensible choice.


    "Source Seeking Sect... Feng Buer?"


    Fang Yuan smiled as a killer look flashed across his eyes. "Wind, Thunder, Water and Fire!"


    "We''re here, Master!"


    4 children flew into the air and the illusionary figure of the swords which they represent appeared vaguely behind them. With that, they formed the 4 Emblems array which sealed and contained Mu Hezi in within.


    "This is..."


    Mu Hezi gazed at the array as though he had thought of something.


    "Haha... I knew that brother would be a reasonable person!"


    Feng Buer was ecstatic as he rushed towards the array. "Mu Hezi, you are always against the 5 Grand Organisations. Now that you are losing, I want you to die here today!"


    "4 Emblems, rise!"


    Unexpectedly, as soon as Feng Buer approached the array, the 4 Emblems Array expanded and contained him inside as well.


    "Friend... what do you mean by this?"


    Feng Buer''s expression changed. With the wave of his hands, 3 huge dragons appeared around him, protecting him.


    These 3 huge dragons were gigantic dragons from the west, something which Fang Yuan seemed to recall from his past life. Their bodies were huge lizard bodies with two additional wings made of flesh. The most unique point was that they had a ferocious looking horn on their heads.


    "The 4 Emblems of the 8 Gates... you are... the descendant of Master Heartless?"


    Mu Hezi gazed towards Fang Yuan and his expression changed once more. He was dumbfounded.


    Although Master Heartless was ruthless in the past and had openly stood on the side of the Imperial Court, in the end, the unreasonable doings of the Imperial Court made Master Heartless revolt. Now, someone else with the inheritance of Master Heartless who was also at the 7th Tier of the Illusionary Divine stage made Mu Hezi at loss as to what to do.


    "Heartless?"


    Compared to Mu Hezi, Feng Buer''s reaction was greater. "Is that old dude not dead yet? Haha... It would still be a meritorious act to be able to capture his disciple!"


    He gazed towards Fang Yuan as though he wanted to strike anytime.


    However, Fang Yuan shook his head before stretching his hands out.


    "Whoosh!"


    Two balls of fires were extinguished immediately, revealing two tattered talismans within.


    "Although this is only a 4 Emblems Array, the both of you are already within my spiritual territory. Do you think you can perform all these behind my back?"


    Fang Yuan sighed once again. "Do you think that you can bully me just because I am a newly promoted 7th Tier dream master?"


    "Hmph!"


    Feng Buer snickered. "You can only defend and protect yourself now. You are already dead... as the disciple of Master Heartless, your appearance will only result in being hunted down by the 5 Grand Organisations. No one can save you!"


    "Hehe... Do you know who am I, or what my true appearance is?"


    Fang Yuan rebutted and Feng Buer was rendered speechless.


    Fang Yuan silently thought to himself. ''Master, how many people did you offend? Why is it that an entire group of Sages and powerful beings are still unwilling to let things slide even until today?''


    "Kill him at all costs!"


    With a command, Lake, Mountain and Earth Sword Children entered the 4 Emblems Array as well.


    The 7 magical swords revealed their true form and the children who were illusionary stood in their positions before executing their techniques. "On the 7 stars, we form the Big Dipper... 7 swords, combine to form the Violet spiritual territory and kill!"


    "Rumble!"


    Thunder, Lake and Mountain flew up into the air to assume the positions of the 3 Talents Array, sealing the top of the array.


    The spiritual territory started to spread out as though it was the beginning of the world. Earth, Fire, Wind and Water started to appear, turning everything a pure violet.


    Witnessing this scene, Mu Hezi''s pupils contracted. Even though he was not the one under attack, he felt desperate enough to escape to the walls of the array. "I see... This is the legendary and secret 8 Gates Sword Array of the dream soldier masters... The Sages have mentioned the creation of a violet spiritual territory by combining Earth, Fire, Wind and Water. This is an array which only Sages and above can defend against!"


    "Buzz! Buzz!"


    It seemed as though it was the destruction of the entire world as the few huge dragons disintegrated within the spiritual territory.


    Following which, the violet spiritual territory started to seal Feng Buer in within and a violet surge of energy started to descend in an attempt to completely annihilate this 7th Tier dream master from the Source Seeking Sect.


    This was Fang Yuan''s maiden fight as a 7th Tier Illusionary Divine dream master and he was already attempting to destroy someone of the same tier. Such aggression and ruthlessness only stunned Mu Hezi, who was witnessing everything from the sidelines. ''It is rumoured that Master Heartless and his disciples are all lunatics. This is really true! This person is already attempting to kill someone of the same tier as him as soon as they met. Years ago, Master Heartless even attempted to attack a Sage!"


    "This is truly a violet spiritual territory!"


    Feng Buer gazed at the continuously descending violet energy and expressions of admiration, jealousy and frenzy flashed across his face. Suddenly, he composed himself and glared at Fang Yuan. "You are dead... Lord Demon Killing Divine Pen will never let you off!"

 468 Massacre

    "Even if he doesn''t look for me, I''ll get back at him one day!"


    Fang Yuan levitated in the air and executed the Chaotic Sword Array.


    "But today, you will die!"


    Although his 7 Constellations Sword Array could not compare to the chaotic beginning on the world, it was more than enough to destroy a 7th Tier Illusionary Divine dream master.


    The greenish chaotic torrents flowed on and wiped out everything in its path. Every piece of magical equipment thrown out by Feng Buer was swept up and destroyed by the river.


    "Ah! My prosperous land!"


    A mirage of a prosperous land appeared behind Feng Buer.


    This was the heritage of a 7th Tier Illusionary Divine dream master, and his last hideout!


    "The dream world of a 7th Tier Illusionary Divine dream master can become reality. It can act as a mobile hollow and when it settles, it becomes a large tract of prosperous land¡­..."


    Fang Yuan came to a realisation as he witnessed this sight.


    At this point, the final stage, Feng Buer put aside all of his considerations and took out his trump card.


    Within the blurry illusion of the prosperous land, huge and powerful-looking figures appeared. Some of them looked like they had achieved the 6th tier of the illusionary divine stage.


    "Ah... it''s the Ancestral God!"


    "He is fighting a war with the otherworldly demons!"


    "Sir... let me help you!"


    ...


    The figures materialised and rushed out. They were supported by the power of the prosperous land and were able to resist the chaotic green aura in the surroundings.


    "These are... people?"


    Fang Yuan was momentarily stunned, then he understood.


    "Although the 7th Tier of the Illusionary Divine stage does not allow one to create beings out of nothing, one can move intelligent beings into their dream worlds and multiply them. Isn''t this Feng Buer''s speciality? He is a sect by himself!"


    The ability of the 7th Tier of the Illusionary Divine Stage to create beings was flawed.


    One could not possess powers of proliferation if they decided to pursue knowledge. There was the example of the Fiery Dragon Child, as well as the various Sword Children.


    Likewise, one had to give up on the pursuit of knowledge if they wanted to acquire powers of proliferation. At the most, they would only be able to create numerous barbaric and savage beasts.


    Only a true dream master of the Prominent Divine stage could create a truly civilised race with the best of both worlds.


    However, the dream world of a 7th Tier Illusionary Divine dream master was no different from a prosperous land. If wild beasts could proliferate over there, people could live in there too!


    Thus, even without the power to create, one could still migration people into their prosperous land. Most 7th Tier Illusionary Divine dream masters would bring their families, friends and disciples into the dream worlds where they would be safe.


    However, as all dream masters were facing danger now, this so-called safety had become a joke.


    Boom!


    The 3 Talents Sword Array locked out heaven and earth. In the middle, the vast chaotic torrents flowed on. Anyone with a level of cultivation below the 7th Tier of the Illusionary Divine stage was insignificant.


    Rushing into the chaotic torrents would reduce one to ashes. All would be broken into the simplest substances and returned to the earth.


    "Head back, all of you. Defend the array and go through with the demonic tribulation!"


    Feng Buer was straining with the effort of resisting the immense power of the chaotic torrents.


    "It''s no use¡­.. .you will be destroyed here today!"


    Fang Yuan floated down.


    "Your willpower can neither connect with the sages nor escape...even if you plant the seeds of revival, a clone would be revived, not you! Your cultivation at the 7th Tier and your memories would all be wiped out!"


    To unleash the chaos again was no joke.


    Under such a lock, no information could be transmitted. Even a revival would have its limits!


    As Fang Yuan spoke, the green chaotic torrents in the void flowed into the actualised dream world. A major tribulation would take place now.


    Whoosh!


    The green chaotic torrents surged and smashed into heaven and earth. All the elements were agitated.


    In the actualised dream world and all that lived within it were decimated and broken down into the simplest substances.


    The actualised dream world had been destroyed. His clan was gone, and so were his powers.


    Feng Buer looked like a wreck and finally, he seemed fearful.


    "You can''t kill me! I still have a mark of a sage on me. If it falls, the sages will arrive!"


    "How dare you argue back in the face of certain death! I will only fear if the sage turns up! Otherwise, why would I fear a magical clone?"


    Fang Yuan remained calm and waved a hand.


    Boom!


    The green chaotic torrents rushed down and crushed the defences surrounding Feng Buer. Several large chunks of flesh and bone were torn off from Feng Buer himself.


    "You dare kill me?"


    Feng Buer felt intensely the life-and-death gravity of the situation and tore open his shirt to reveal a mark of a brush.


    "All hail the arrival of the sage!"


    Buzz!


    A shining light, then a large crystal brush materialised before the chaotic torrents. It looked illusionary and shot towards Fang Yuan with the intention to kill.


    "This is...the brush of the sages! It can kill higher beings!"


    Mu Hezi could feel his body hair standing on its ends. He felt a chill in his heart for he knew that if he was dealt a blow, he would be seriously injured, if not, dead!


    "Even the magical clones of the sages won''t be able to save you!"


    Fang Yuan roared and punched a fist squarely into the tip of the brush.


    Boom!


    The void around them shuddered as the tremendous force caused the sacred brush to fly backwards.


    The giant brush gave a sorrowful wail as it floated in the air and fell apart. The broken pieces dropped into the chaotic torrents and turned into powder.


    "Impossible!"


    Feng Buer and Mu Hezi were unable to believe their eyes.


    "This is the mark of a sage. How can it be destroyed so easily?"


    "Die!"


    Fang Yuan could not be bothered to say any more and threw Feng Buer into the chaotic torrents.


    In fact, there were several factors that contributed to the solid execution of Fang Yuan''s legendary blow.


    First, there was the 7 Constellations Sword Array, which locked up heaven and earth and agitated the elements. This served to isolate everything and even the sages could not get into the array or transmit energy into it.


    Next, Fang Yuan''s level of cultivation was extremely high. He was virtually a powerful being.


    At this point, in the context of unleashing the chaotic torrents, everything had fallen into place and allowed Fang Yuan to make that devastating blow.


    "No!"


    "I am Feng Buer, an elder of the Source Seeking Sect, a sage of the future. How can I perish here?"


    The chaotic torrents raged on and engulfed Feng Buer. His body was torn up, leaving behind his skeleton. Still, flames of hatred emitted from his sockets, until they finally ebbed into a pleading gaze.


    "Spare me! I have many more years to live and I don''t want to die here... I''m willing to submit to the Imperial Court and the Hidden Dragon Guards as long as you let me live. I have many treasures and secrets of the Source Seeking Sect. I can give them all to you!"


    "It''s a pity I don''t believe a word of all that you''ve said!"


    Fang Yuan stepped forward slowly. He looked like the giant Pangu about to split the world up. A chaotic aura surrounding him as he pressed his palm to Feng Buer''s skull.


    He was slightly touched by this person''s sincerity.


    It was unfortunate that Fang Yuan''s cultivation levels were insufficient, and was unable to control a dream master at the 7th Tier of the Illusionary Divine stage. To prevent trouble in the future, it was better to kill him off.


    Ping!


    Feng Buer''s skull was smashed into dust and absorbed by the chaotic torrents.


    "I...am not satisfied¡­"


    Even if the body was destroyed in the void, the willpower would put up a powerful struggle and rocket back and forth.


    Dream masters have insane levels of willpower. They can survive without their bodies for a long time. The souls would stay intact and could even possess other bodies.


    "You are about to die. Don''t create trouble anymore, hmph!"


    Fang Yuan exuded calmness and controlled the chaotic torrents.


    Even the powerful beings were not immortals. The chaotic torrents were enough to curb their power.


    From time to time, images could be glimpsed from the chaotic torrents. There was a Feng Buer in every one of them. Ferocious looking, screaming, cursing, begging. Mu Hezi found it a most unfortunate sight.


    In the end, the dust settled, and there was nothing left there anymore.


    "Master!"


    The Earth, Fire, Air and Water Sword Children appeared and reported to Fang Yuan. The rest of the 3 Talents Sword Array remained locked on and targeted at Mu Hezi.


    "This fella doesn''t look like a good person. Shall we take him on?"


    The Children were raring to lay their hands on him.


    "Wait! I''m a good man! A very good man!"


    Mu Hezi turned bright red, but his ego had to be placed aside in this matter of life and death. He greeted Fang Yuan.


    "I am Mu Hezi, Leader of the Hidden Dragon Guards. Thank you very much for your help!"


    "I''m not very fond of the dream masters of the Source Seeking Sect. It is merely coincidental that I''m helping you!"


    Fang Yuan adjusted his sleeves.


    "I recently emerged from my closed-door cultivation and was cut off from the rest of the world for a period of time. Has there been any major developments?"


    "Sigh...it''s a long story!"


    Mu Hezi laughed bitterly and proceeded to give a summary.


    "Zhang Jin and Wu Yue have been advancing rapidly. The Imperial Court is powerless in stopping them. The largest threat right now is still Shi Longtu. This bandit has already captured Yingchou City. In no more than seven days, he will march on to the Jade Capital!"


    "Tsk tsk...this means that the Imperial Court is finished?"


    Fang Yuan remained expressionless. There was no hint of worry on his face.


    Mu Hezi probably knew why too and gave another bitter laugh.


    "I am indebted to my lord and the Imperial Court, and will return to the Hidden Dragon Guards to live and die with them...my friend, in what way are you related to Master Heartless?"


    "Master Heartless is my teacher!"


    Fang Yuan did not bother to hide this fact. After all, he was making use of the Seven Constellations Sword Array and had not yet revealed his face. There was probably no one who could guess that he was the Fang Yuan of the Realm Alliance.


    "Indeed...Master Heartless was an elder in the Hidden Dragon Guards. Our master will be comforted to know that he has someone to carry on his legacy!"


    Mu Hezi became thoughtful, but could not help but ask his question.


    "My friend, what is your opinion of the Imperial Court?"


    Although there was a glimmer of hope, Master Heartless and the 5 Grand Organisations had a deep enmity. With this fact, both parties did have a basis for collaboration.


    War was coming. He had to gather all sorts of forces to his side.

 469 Conceal

    "Imperial Court... Hehe..."


    Fang Yuan shook his head and sniggered.


    Although Mu Hezi did not know what that snigger meant, the disdainful tone was enough for him to change his expression.


    In actual fact, Mu Hezi felt rather awkward. He knew that Master Heartless did not let down the Imperial Court, it was the Imperial Court and the Hidden Dragon Guards who had let Master Heartless down.


    Nevertheless, after hearing such a reply from Fang Yuan, Mu Hezi still felt very dispirited, and even slightly angry. As the people of Da Qian, how could he be so deceiving?


    As the Leader of Hidden Dragon Guards, Mu Hezi motto in life was "if the emperor wants him to die, he has to die". Even if he felt wronged, he still had to bear with it and obey the orders!


    At this moment, such dissatisfaction of his was still well hidden. He thought for a while and asked, "Unless... you don''t intend to correct your master''s reputation?"


    "Reputations are all made up, they are nothing!"


    Fang Yuan shook his head and continued, "I will join in the war at Jade Capital, just that all of you have to pay the price to satisfy me... Da Qian is vast and there are many special and unique people, there must be something that will satisfy me."


    "Deal!"


    Mu Hezi''s face turned pale and he took out an emerald-green coloured piece of leaf.


    "This is the Ten Thousand Mile Messenger Talisman, you can communicate through it without passing through the Dream Realm. It''s very safe!"


    "I''ll keep it!"


    Fang Yuan received the item. He immediately scanned the item with his spiritual will numerous time to confirm that there were no hidden tricks on it.


    Even if there were, it would be no problem. Fang Yuan could just throw it at any remote wilderness and use it when he felt like it.


    Anyway, the person who would feel impatient would definitely not be him.


    "Since that''s the case, I shall take my leave!"


    To be frank, Mu Hezi felt extremely uncomfortable standing in front of Fang Yuan and especially so inside of the sword array. He never wanted to experience such a feeling whereby his life was under the hands of another person ever again.


    "Of course, please!"


    Fang Yuan nodded upwards slightly and three sword-wielding children released the array. Mu Hezi immediately turned into a stream of green light and flew out.


    "The Extreme Wood spiritual troop on his body has indeed been exhausted. If I wanted to kill him, it should be easier than killing Feng Buer..."


    Fang Yuan watched Mu Hezi leave and remained silent as he pondered.


    "Just that... there wouldn''t be much meaning in doing so."


    Fang Yuan killed Feng Buer as Feng Buer was a dream master from Source Seeking Sect, which was his master''s enemy.


    Previously, he did not have such powerful strength and he could only tread carefully.


    Now that Fang Yuan had great accomplishments in his divine powers, although he could not kill Demon Killing Divine Pen, he had still killed a 7th Tier Illusionary Divine elder. Even if he was mocked for bullying the weak and being afraid of the strong, he was still glad that he killed Feng Buer.


    Separating the weak and the strong and defeating them separately was an art of war. Only fools would fight them recklessly.


    "5 months... that''s almost half a year. I made it just in time for the big war!"


    After the decisive battle, the world would undergo tumultuous changes and Fang Yuan''s identity would no longer be important.


    Now, the two sides were busy preparing for the big war. Secrets would be obscured and plus the fact that Fang Yuan was a 7th Tier Illusionary Divine dream master and True Divine, even sages would not be able to discover his identity.


    "With these, it will be enough!"


    After Fang Yuan watched Mu Hezi disappear in the horizons, he looked at his own stats board:


    "Name: Fang Yuan


    Essence: 100


    Spirit: 100


    Magic: 100


    Profession: Dream Soldier Master


    Cultivation: Illusionary Divine (7th Tier), True Divine, Area Being


    Technique: [Pangu Eagle Body (? ? ?)], [8 Gates Sword Array (8th Sword) (1%)], [Elemental Spiritual Energy Cultivation Spell (Grade 5 (Completed))]


    Skill: [Medicine (Level 3)], [Botany (Level 5)], [Fiery Golden Eyes (Level 1)]"


    With cultivations in both dream techniques and martial arts, at such a stage, Fang Yuan felt that his essence, spirit and magic were all resonating at a special frequency which brought about a rather harmonious feeling.


    "I wonder how many people are there in the entire Da Qian World that become powerful beings who are accomplished in both dream techniques and martial arts?"


    Fang Yuan looked at his stats board and pondered.


    In his 8 Gates Sword Array, only the last sword, the Sky Sword, was incomplete. Once Fang Yuan completed it, he would be able to become an 8th Tier Illusionary Divine dream master and get closer to Master Heartless'' level.


    Fang Yuan''s cultivation in martial arts had already reached completion, now that he was a True Divine.


    Thus, the only path left was to breakthrough to the Prominent Divine stage!!


    A Prominent Divine dream master would be at the same tier as a True Divine martial artist and a True Elemental spiritual knight. However, a Prominent Divine dream master would have numerous divine techniques that were unimaginable and they could also create living things. Thus, a Prominent Divine dream master would command the authority of the entire Da Qian tightly.


    A single Prominent Divine dream master usually represented a force, an entire group! Not only would his influence affect the entire Da Qian World, it would even affect the numerous planes nearby.


    "In actual fact, the 7th Tier of the Illusionary Divine stage is the lowest criterion for breaking through to the Prominent Divine stage... But, this is similar to the breakthrough of a Wu Zong. Last time, if I directly broke through to True Divine at the 7th or 8th Meridian, my martial arts Divine Body would definitely not be as strong as it is now!"


    Fang Yuan''s eyes glistened. If he wanted to break through, he definitely had to do it perfectly.


    This was the case for his martial arts and was also the case for his dream master cultivation too.


    Although the secretive 8 Gates Sword Array was powerful and was regarded as a powerful technique amongst Prominent Divine dream masters, it still only had 8 Tiers!


    The profound mystery of the last tier still had to be completed by Fang Yuan himself.


    "Actually, it''s already enough that I broke through to the 7th Tier of Illusionary Divine stage... As the saying goes, the higher you climb, the harder you fall... The natural source of dream masters, Demonic Heart Realm, doesn''t look very kind."


    The experimentation in Planet Earth Realm had great effects on Fang Yuan.


    At least, Fang Yuan knew that the Demonic Heart Realm was definitely not some sort of beautiful world. He was 80% sure that it was a realm like the Spiritual Realm which preyed on the weak and that it was coveting for something in Da Qian World.


    "Strictly speaking, only martial arts and spiritual spells are native to Da Qian. Dream masters are actually foreign products and they only existed after Da Qian World was eyed by Demonic Heart Realm... Of course, the talented people of Da Qian created the cultivation of dream masters, cultivating truths from falsehoods and this point might be out of Demonic Heart Realm''s expectation. Thus, it feels rather optimistic..."


    Fang Yuan looked at both his hands and thought, "After I took on the path as a dream master, there is no turning back. Thus, I can only give it my all. At least, now that I am at the 7th Tier of the Illusionary Divine stage, I still have some power to fight back. Once the Demonic Heart Realm advents, those ignorant dream masters might not even be able to fight back."


    Once a person had some dream elemental force, he would be marked and imprinted. Thus, he could be harvested anytime.


    Such a change was at the soul level. Even if the person were to forsake his cultivation, it would be useless.


    Therefore, at such a stage, even Fang Yuan could only seek short-term benefits and thus, rushed to become a 7th Tier Illusionary Divine dream master. Thereafter, he would have to react accordingly.


    Fang Yuan gazed at the horizons. He then turned into a beam of light and disappeared.


    ...


    Moments later, space cracked. A person with a tall figure, perfect body and a face like that of a deity walked out and scanned the surroundings. It was the Head of Hidden Dragon Guards!


    "He''s gone?"


    The Head of Hidden Dragon Guards thought for a while and then looked at the space in front of him, "Li Qingmian, come out!"


    "Hidden Dragon! How dare a magical clone of yours come here! Aren''t you afraid it would be killed by me?"


    Ripples appeared in the space as though a curtain was unveiled and a person slowly emerged.


    This person was middle-aged, his hair was slightly white and his facial structures were pronounced. He looked like he had been through a lot and his skin was crystal clear like jade. He was definitely a gorgeous man when he was young.


    He was holding a long, sparkling and crystal-clear pen. It was as though he was an artist ready to source for materials.


    "I am a magical clone and you are a magical clone too, what''s there to be afraid about even if we fight?"


    The Head of Hidden Dragon Guards laughed, "Just that, I sensed that a trace of your imprint seemed to have died here... Could it be, you are here for that?"


    "Cut the act, ever since Buer died and this trace of imprint dispersed, I already knew that the 8 Gates Sword Array has definitely returned... Hmph, only that 7 Constellations Sword Array can cut off and prevent me from sensing here!"


    Li Qingmian humphed and the look on his face was both sad and happy at the same time. He then continued, "When Master Heartless'' faction was close to being exterminated, you did nothing about it. Do you think he has no hatred for you? The people of Heartless'' faction are all lunatics! Is the Imperial Court still shielding its descendants!"


    "I don''t wish to mention about past events anymore, but I believe his descendant''s hatred against all of you are definitely greater than his hatred against the Imperial Court... Else, this person would not have killed Feng Buer but let off Mu Hezi."


    The Head of Hidden Dragon Guards spoke in a very captivating way, "Thus... not only will I not arrest him, I will instead pull him over to my side."


    "If the world isn''t in chaos now, this person would have shown his cloven hoof! Nevermind... I shall see how long the Imperial Court can remain happy!"


    Li Qingmian sneered and disappeared.


    Naturally, Li Qingmian was very clear about what the Head of Hidden Dragon Guards was thinking of.


    If the Head of Hidden Dragon Guards were to chase after the successor of that 8 Gates Sword Array, not only would he have spent a lot of effort and exhaust part of his strength, if he succeeded, it would not matter much anyway. However, if he were to fail, he would be driving away such a powerful person from the Imperial Court.


    Master Heartless had enemies all over the world. The Head of Hidden Dragon Guards did not have to worry about whether this person would side with the enemies or not.


    Hence, the Head of Hidden Dragon Guards was unfazed and merely said those few lines.


    However, Source Seeking Sect enmity and hatred against this person was as deep as the sea. It was definitely something that would not be resolved so easily.


    ...


    At this moment, Fang Yuan was marked by two sages and in the future, there would be even more sages after him. The Fang Yuan whose identity was unknown restored his original appearance and headed towards Yingchou City.


    This was how he was acting ironically.


    All the dream masters would have thought that the successor of Master Heartless would be a coward and go into hiding, who would have known that he would have such an obvious identity and would be so blatantly heading towards Yingchou City?


    Furthermore, Fang Yuan''s martial artist True Divine identity would be his best cover-up.


    Such a genius who could breakthrough to True Divine in such a short period of time was already extremely shocking and would be like a freak.


    But nobody would have ever imagined that he could even directly breakthrough to the 7th Tier of the Illusionary Divine stage!


    "If I want to go back and continue being me, Fang Yuan, there are two problems..."


    Fang Yuan quickly thought through as he made his way, "Firstly, there will be other dream master observers who would discover some traces inside Planet Earth Realm. Luckily, this is already solved as Planet Earth''s will had already increased its strength in repelling and resisting all foreign souls and powers. Additionally, the physical laws in that realms are getting harsher and harsher, anyone who enters that realm will definitely die."


    "The second problem is regarding how I can conceal my cultivation!"

 470 Cleansing

    The essence of the path of dream masters was that they could cultivate truths from falsehoods.


    As dream masters were very involved in dream techniques, they were the group of people that were the most well versed in disguising themselves and also, distinguishing between real and fake.


    The more advanced a dream master was, the more would he conceal himself in layers of mist which made others unable to discern him clearly.


    Previously, Fang Yuan killed Feng Buer unexpectedly as he was rushing towards Yingchou City and the two of them revealed all the cards up their sleeves.


    Otherwise, it would not be such an easy task for Fang Yuan to plan to kill a 7th Tier Illusionary Divine dream master.


    How good a dream master was at concealing himself was directly proportional to his cultivation.


    With Fang Yuan''s current cultivation, within a bunch of 6th Tier Illusionary Divine dream masters, no one would be able to recognise him even if he was disguised as an average person. This was the skill gap.


    However, not only were there many 7th Tier Illusionary Divine dream masters at the Yingchou City he was heading to, they might even be sages there!


    The chances of such a weak concealment being exposed would be very high.


    "Speaking of concealment techniques, there''s one such technique in Master''s 8 Gates Sword Array secret inheritance. If I use it now, I can only at most hide from normal 7th Tier Illusionary Divine dream masters. If Elder Extreme Darkness and others become suspicious, they will definitely discover my loopholes. It would be even more dangerous in front of the sages..."


    Inside a cave, Fang Yuan was sitting cross-legged. A streak of dark silver coloured dream elemental force appeared on his hand.


    "Now... if I want to strengthen my concealment abilities, I must look for it from the source of all dream masters powers!"


    Fang Yuan ruminated as he looked at the dream elemental force on his hand.


    This was the pure and unadulterated dream energy obtained in Planet Earth Realm. It was introduced into Planet Earth Realm after the black hole opened up a passage for the Demonic Heart Realm to introduce it.


    Compared to the dream elemental force of normal dream masters, it was stronger, purer, and much more evil!


    "Technically, Planet Earth Realm has a closer contact with the Demonic Heart Realm than Da Qian as of now. After all, a passage was opened up. Although physical objects could not be passed through, large amounts of dream elemental force had gushed down through it!"


    The swarm in dream elemental force and the few syllables from Hades caused a huge group of strong people that were comparable to 5th to 6th Tier Illusionary Divine dream masters to become demonic. Until now, Fang Yuan could still clearly remember that scene.


    "The dream masters of Da Qian World communicates with the mysterious dream masters'' realm through their spiritual will. Thus, they can obtain some of the radiated elemental force from it which combines with the elemental energy of this world to form a unique dream elemental force. However, Planet Earth Realm was different. Ever since the void passage opened for a while and the Demonic Heart Realm was connected once, large amounts of pure dream elemental force were introduced into Planet Earth Realm! Real dream elemental force!"


    Fang Yuan looked at his own actualised dream world.


    Inside the now large expanse, a corner seemed to be forgotten and was securely sealed off.


    Inside the seal, there was a small lake filled with dark silver coloured dream elemental force which was emitting a misty glow. It was pure yet evil.


    "I have kept 30% of the dream elemental force from Demonic Heart Realm..."


    Fang Yuan was very confident in his estimation, "Currently, in the entire Da Qian, I''m afraid no other dream master would be comparable to me..."


    To Fang Yuan, the invasion of the Demonic Heart Realm could be roughly split into three stages.


    The first stage would begin when the prey enters the field of vision. In this stage, any living thing in the eyed realm that had above average mind power would be able to sense the presence of dream elemental force and thus receive all sorts of special abilities.


    At the second stage, a passage would be opened and it would continuously expand. The passage Fang Yuan opened that time was a pure energy and mind power passage. Hence, dream elemental could pass through it but Hades could only wait on the other side.


    If the passage was not closed and continued to expand, the third stage would be reached. It would be similar to the advent of the Spiritual Realm whereby a real dimensional passage would be opened which allowed physical objects to pass through and the harvesting of the realm would begin!


    Planet Earth Realm was originally bound to fall into such a trap. However, Fang Yuan planned beforehand and pushed back when the harvesting would begin.


    However, it was different this time. Many sages had already gathered and the 5 Grand Organisations had unprecedentedly put aside their differences. Evidently, the reason for them to do that was not as simple as to open a temporary passage.


    They wanted to truly go beyond the dimension and bring about the advent of the Demonic Heart Realm so as to obtain everything they wanted!


    Humans would neglect the dangers in front of them for the sake of their benefits! And they thought they could control everything!


    Even in another realm, this was the case.


    The high tiered cultivators in Planet Earth Realm were like that. Currently, the majority of the powerful dream masters in Da Qian had the same thoughts.


    "There''s really no one who knows the dangers of the Demonic Heart Realm?"


    A cold smile appeared on Fang Yuan''s face as he thought, "I''m afraid many would know, but to them, so what if the entire Da Qian World is annihilated? Dream masters only want to head to the real source world to obtain even greater gains!"


    Those dream masters in Da Qian at the peak of all dream masters had already stayed there for too long. They were trapped in front of their bottlenecks for too long and had even become numb.


    Only a new world, the source world of dream masters, could make them feel like there was hope for them and that they would no longer be a pool of stagnant water.


    But what about the consequences? Who would have thought about the consequences?


    Perhaps lower tiered dream masters might have thought about this problem, but those higher tiered ones would have never worried about such.


    With powers at the 7th Tier Illusionary Divine stage, and with their actualised dream world, prosperous lands, hollows... even if the world was destroyed, they could still survive well while they floated around in the space void.


    This was why they were so confident!


    "Dream masters bring about great harm to the world... Of course, what does this have to do with me?"


    Fang Yuan stared at the streak of dream elemental force on his hand and suddenly made up his mind. He began to refine the dream elemental force.


    Only such purest form of dream elemental force could increase his illusionary ability for him to conceal himself even under the noses of sages.


    "The powers of dream masters come from dream energy that has been diluted, thus, they are easier to be controlled and also easier to build up a resistance against it... However, once the two worlds really link up, the large amounts of dream elemental force that will swarm over will be both opportunities and poison for all dream masters!"


    Fang Yuan thought of his first time entering a dream and how difficult the process was to tame the dream elemental force. He also thought about his realisations in Planet Earth Realm.


    When the two worlds finally coincide, all the dream masters would have to undergo yet another taming process. Furthermore, the process would not be smooth sailing, they would have to suffer from the most horrifying full body cleansing right at the start.


    "Therefore, being familiar with all this beforehand would be very good."


    Fang Yuan looked at the streak of dark-silver coloured elemental force enter his palm. It immediately spread to his limbs and bones, and even messed up his thoughts and caused him to hallucinate.


    "Da Qian World''s foundation is in elemental force, whereas Demonic Heart Realm''s foundation is dream elemental force. In terms of their grade, dream elemental force is obviously much higher than elemental force. But after dream elemental force, is there another force that is of an even higher grade?"


    At the next moment, Fang Yuan''s vision dimmed and he fell into a dreamy trance.


    From being a dream disciple to becoming a dream master, it was a very long process.


    One had to overcome the dream world and truly grasp the power of dream elemental force before he could be a real dream master.


    Every dream master had gone through this step.


    However, Fang Yuan suddenly realised that his own understanding might have been biased.


    After he opened up himself to receive and accept this real dream elemental force from the Demonic Heart Realm, he truly felt his inner demons overwhelm him.


    It was as though the sealed memories had reincarnated.


    Inside a dream world, Fang Yuan turned into a newborn. Quickly, he grew up carefreely and forgotten about dream masters, his Master, the 8 Gates Sword Array, and also everything about himself.


    Luckily, a bit of mindfulness in his magical will finally caused him to be awakened the day he turned 20 years old and made him recover himself.


    However, he was only awake for a few moments before he immediately fell into another dream world.


    ¡­...


    "It seems like a dream but it is not a dream! It''s the way of the inner demons! The demonic heart!"


    In the trance, Fang Yuan did not know how much he had been through. However, his heart was becoming sturdier and clearer like a diamond. A voice that sounded like a giant bell resounded beside his ear.


    "The Demonic Heart way? After reaching the highest point, as long as there is still Sattva in the world, one would not die and cannot be destroyed?"


    Suddenly, an enlightenment was formed at the bottom of Fang Yuan''s heart.


    This Sattva did not require humans. It did not even require living things.


    Mountains, rivers, grass, trees, stars and worlds all had their own thoughts!


    With thoughts, there would be feelings! Once there were feelings, there would be inner demons!


    As long as inner demons did not die, the Demonic Heart Realm would not die!


    "What a supreme path indeed! Unfortunately, it is not what I ask for!"


    Fang Yuan''s entire body shook and he opened his eyes.


    Currently, he was still sitting in a cave perfectly fine. Not a lot of time had passed either.


    "Inner demons are not what I wish for. Compared to the ''orthodox'' of Demonic Heart Realm, I rather walk the path of dream masters!"


    The dream elemental force in Fang Yuan''s sea of consciousness rippled slightly. It was not much different than previously, but there seemed to be a slight unclear and uncertain change that occurred.


    "I have finally cleared this barrier!"


    Fang Yuan thoughts moved and the sealed dark silver lake seethed at once. Large amounts of Demonic Heart Realm dream elemental force was absorbed rapidly and turned into pure dream energy.


    That''s right!


    The dream elemental force that had been mutated once suddenly began to absorb the pure Demonic Heart Realm elemental force. It even began to digest it.


    "Woong! Woong!"


    At the same time, a layer of misty glow appeared on Fang Yuan''s body and instantly covered his whole body.


    "The cleansing of my foundation has been completed."


    Fang Yuan touched his face. He then suddenly waved his hand and a water screen emerged.


    Inside the water screen, the reflection of a youth in a white robe could be seen. His face was normal looking and it seemed that he had become even more handsome.


    "I dared to take such a huge risk and now, the transformed dream elemental force in my body is already half a grade higher than all other dream masters and even sages..."


    This was Fang Yuan''s gains from his experiment in Planet Earth Realm and other sages did not have such an opportunity. As they never had contact with Demonic Heart Realm before, the quality of their dream elemental force would definitely be inferior.


    "By utilising this brand new dream elemental force as the foundation to create new illusionary techniques, I can conceal myself even in front of 9th Tier Illusionary Divine dream masters. Even for Prominent Divine dream masters, as long as they don''t specially investigate, they cannot discover any flaws or loopholes!"


    As Fang Yuan thought, his entire demeanour changed again.


    The originally ethereal demeanour of a dream master disappeared in a blink of an eye.


    Instead, on his body, muscles bulged out and he looked strong and masculine. Fang Yuan was now filled with the demeanour of a martial artist.


    "I shall just anyhow reveal myself to be a 4th to 5th Tier dream master. Anyway, I have my martial arts to conceal me as well..."


    Fang Yuan stood up and looked towards Yingchou City confidently. "I can''t wait for the battle at Jade Capital!"

 471 Paying a Visi

    Yingchou City.


    The lofty and majestic looking city seemed rather bleak in the sunset.


    There were all sorts of markings on the steel-like city walls caused by swords and axes. Miles and miles of ground were covered in a deep red colour. Rumours were that there was too much bloodshed which caused the ground to be dyed red.


    This stronghold of the Imperial Court was the last hurdle before the Jade Capital. Now, it had already fully fallen into the hands of Shi Longtu.


    Not only were there large amounts of armies gathered, there were also many dream masters from the 5 Grand Organisations. They were guarding against any sudden attacks from the Imperial Court and their level of alertness was higher than ever before.


    Fang Yuan merely strolled forward and immediately felt the immense power of an array scanning pass him.


    This was the array that enveloped ten miles over Yingchou City, it was like a radar and was specially used to detect any invaders. Although Fang Yuan could sneak right through it, he chose not to avoid it instead and directly revealed himself.


    "Who are you?"


    Soon enough, a group of dream masters rushed over. They appeared extremely cautious.


    After all, from the feedback of the array, Fang Yuan had a profound cultivation which was truly terrifying. If there were not any allied soldiers who reacted, it might even alarm a few elders.


    "Fang Yuan from Realm Alliance!"


    Fang Yuan casually showed his proof of identity.


    "Oh, a law enforcer from the Realm Alliance! I am Su Lu from Baize Mountain. Greetings, Sir!"


    The leader of this small group was a 5th Tier Illusionary Divine dream master. However, he immediately bowed to Fang Yuan and was obviously rather ingratiating.


    ''Fang Yuan?''


    ''That genius who''s less than 30 years old but broke through to True Divine?''


    ''Not only that, he''s also at the 4th Tier of the Illusionary Divine stage! Such talentedness, he''s simply a rare freak!''


    Behind Su Lu, a few Illusionary Divine dream masters were exchanging glances and secretly communicating through their spiritual wills.


    However, with Fang Yuan''s current strength, all these could not be hidden from him and he heard everything.


    "How''s the current situation of the battle?"


    Fang Yuan waved his arms and asked straightforwardly.


    Currently, the 5 Grand Organisations had joined forces. They were very sincere in cooperating and working with each other before the fall of Da Qian.


    "Shi Longtu had already assembled 30,000 soldiers and they are prepared to charge directly to Jade Capital City!"


    Su Lu spoke calmly. He knew that without the help of the 5 Grand Organisations, even if 30,000 soldiers were gathered, they would be defeated.


    "Looks like it has finally caught up, who''s the elder from Realm Alliance that''s taking charge here?"


    Fang Yuan asked.


    "It is Elder Extreme Darkness!" Su Lu quickly answered. Inside his mind, he further confirmed the rumours he always heard about Fang Yuan, that Fang Yuan was a cultivator who would be too engrossed in his own cultivation that he wouldn''t know about what had happened in the outside world.


    "Okay! Bring me to her!"


    Fang Yuan was very calm. He waved his hand and allowed Su Lu to lead his way.


    Inside Fang Yuan''s actualised dream world, numerous seals were formed on the outside that protected the stone figure of a young girl, ensuring that it would not be revealed.


    ....


    It was now a huge military camp both inside and outside Yingchou City.


    The best spots in the city had totally nothing to do with Shi Longtu nor his men. Instead, they were occupied by the dream masters from the 5 Grand Organisations.


    As the Realm Alliance''s highest in-charge of Yingchou City, Extreme Darkness naturally had the best mansion. It was said that this mansion used to belong to the deputy city master and it occupied huge amounts of land. The pavilions, gardens and the cloisters were still perfectly preserved and they were unusually exquisite.


    "Fang Yuan requests to see Elder Extreme Darkness!"


    Fang Yuan arrived outside the mansion and requested.


    "Come in!"


    A voice was heard and It sounded calm and rather chilly. Fang Yuan was used to it, whereas Su Lu laughed bitterly, "You can go ahead, I shall leave first!"


    Su Lu quickly left. Evidently, their impressions of Extreme Darkness were not very good.


    Fang Yuan was slightly speechless. He walked into the mansion and followed his feeling towards the garden at the back.


    Although the mansion was opulent and was like a palace, there was no trace of humans living here at all. The further he walked, the chilly feeling in the air felt even stronger.


    "Tsk tsk..."


    Fang Yuan shook his head and took a step into the garden.


    The precious flowers and plants on both sides were half-dead and half-alive, half-withered and half-living. The leaves were covered in slight frost and looked really eerie.


    All these were not intentional. They were naturally caused as they were in an environment under the influence of such a powerful presence.


    If normal people were here instead, they would not even be able to survive more than three days. Even Illusionary Divine dream masters would suffer severe injuries to their elemental energy.


    Fang Yuan nodded his head. He knew why Elder Extreme Darkness always appeared as though she was fated to be lonely forever.


    "You have come, that''s great!"


    Inside a small pavilion in the middle of the garden, Elder Extreme Darkness sat cross-legged. As she saw Fang Yuan arrive, her expressions remained calm-looking. Only the slight glint in her eyes betrayed her.


    Although Fang Yuan did not have deep ties with Elder Extreme Darkness, he still imprisoned a magical clone of hers in Planet Earth Realm. As the magical clone was imprisoned for 10 years, all sorts of intelligence were dug out naturally. Hence, Fang Yuan could confirm that she was secretly examining him.


    "Great!"


    Elder Extreme Darkness looked at Fang Yuan''s body and praised, "You are already at the 5th Tier of Illusionary Divine, right? Looks like this half a year did not go to waste after all!"


    "After all, it''s a battle of life and death, why would I dare to slack off?"


    Fang Yuan shook his head and entered the small pavilion. He then sat cross-legged opposite Extreme Darkness.


    Elder Extreme Darkness'' appearance was exactly the same as her magical clone. However, that magical clone did not have such a chilly disposition. Along with the outside environment, she was just like a cold beauty in the moon palace as she kept people far away from her and yet tempted them to think of her.


    "Not... not only did I not waste the time, I have huge gains too!"


    Elder Extreme Darkness stared at Fang Yuan as though she could not wait to see right through him, "Can you tell me what you have gained? To be truthful, I still felt exasperated afterwards and went into the realm another time. However, I was targeted by the realm''s will and the natives and could not really enter the realm... And now, the entire realm has changed drastically, it seems to be like the Ancient Realm now and is resisting our intrusion."


    Fang Yuan remained silent as he thought.


    Although he believed what Extreme Darkness said was true, just because she could not enter the realm did not mean that she could not send other dream masters on to a mission into the realm.


    Although other dream masters would be extremely weak once they enter Planet Earth Realm, they could still send intelligence back.


    In the last 10 years inside the realm, Fang Yuan was still a widely renowned powerhouse. It would not be hard to hear about him.


    In actual fact, there was no use even if Fang Yuan changed his name and appearance. After all, dream masters would seek for their own kind, and Fang Yuan would still be discovered too easily.


    At this stage, Planet Earth Realm began to seal off itself. Thus, the secrets of the last battle could not be transmitted out, which was an advantage for Fang Yuan.


    "I have quite the gains! I met the war between two realms!"


    Fang Yuan replied with his half-truths and did not mention anything about the Demonic Heart Realm at all, "I took the opportunity to reap some benefits!"


    "Oh! So that was it!"


    Extreme Darkness nodded her head. Fang Yuan did not know whether she believed him or not.


    In actual fact, Fang Yuan guessed that she was definitely feeling suspicious, just that she did not say it out.


    After all, exploring foreign realms were dream masters'' personal matters. They did not have to turn over any rewards gained unless they were on a mission.


    Although Extreme Darkness sent a dream mater to go observe during the later periods, the laws of Planet Earth Realm were too harsh. Even though this dream master had stayed for 10 years, not much of his strength was restored and thus, he could not have any contact with the top level information.


    Furthermore, the big war was impending in Da Qian, who would spend the effort to send a powerful person down to such a dangerous realm?


    They would not have special abilities like Fang Yuan. Even if a sage was sent down, he would have to start from being a normal mortal and would be tortured by the laws of Planet Earth Realm.


    Therefore, what Elder Extreme Darkness said just now was 30% truth and 70% guesses, as she wanted to try to deceive Fang Yuan and whether it succeeded or failed did not matter.


    However, as she saw how calm Fang Yuan was, her expressionless face began to move finally.


    She frowned slightly and asked, "To be frank... I sensed a body that was very suitable for me to enter in Planet Earth Realm. It was a young girl with black and white wings, do you have any impression of it?"


    "Of course!"


    A tinge of awkwardness appeared on Fang Yuan''s face as he explained everything about the Golden Eagle Federation''s Demon Weapon Plan, "... During the last battle, that Demon Weapon was battered into powder. I''m afraid it''s long dead."


    "Battered into powder?"


    Extreme Darkness took a quick glance at Fang Yuan and did not say much, "Okay... Golden Eagle Federation. Hehe... once Da Qian is settled, I will personally enter this realm again!"


    The savagery in her voice even made Fang Yuan shudder.


    Although Elder Extreme Darkness might have suspected Fang Yuan, that body was just a clone. Even though it was killed, it would not be wise for her to be on unfriendly terms with a True Divine on the same side as her.


    Since Planet Earth Realm was enraged, Fang Yuan reckoned that if Extreme Darkness were to really enter the realm, with her temper, there would be quite the bloodshed.


    "Okay, let''s not talk about the topic of exploring realms anymore!"


    After Elder Extreme Darkness decided, she regained her composure very quickly and continued, "During this big war, the 5 Grand Organisations are brothers and sisters! All missions are shared and you can check them out in the Dream Realm!"


    "Since you''re here, just join the huge army at our side and head towards Jade Capital City together!"


    "That''s exactly what I intended to do!"


    Naturally, Fang Yuan had no qualms about such and immediately agreed.


    Afterwards, Elder Extreme Darkness closed her eyes and waved her hand.


    Fang Yuan understood her and took his leave. He looked for a member of the Realm Alliance and asked for the second best mansion. He then entered the mansion and rested.


    Inside the meditation room.


    Fang Yuan sat cross-legged. An enchantment appeared that separated what was inside from the outside.


    "During the face-to-face conversation, Extreme Darkness only thought I was at the 5th Tier of the Illusionary Divine stage. Looks like the concealment of this dream elemental force is very effective. I wonder how effective it would be in front of a sage?"


    Fang Yuan recollected the entire meeting with Extreme Darkness and made up his mind, "To be safe, I shall refrain from meeting with sages."


    Fang Yuan then entered the Dream Realm with his spiritual will.


    Fang Yuan''s figure appeared at once Inside Green Bronze Hall, Realm Alliance Mountain. He began looking through the rock tablet.


    "Indeed... all missions are shared and all pieces of intelligence are shared too. Originally, it was the 5 Grand Organisations who created the Dream Realm. Once mobilised, the entire Dream Realm would be the biggest intelligence and logistics base. The Imperial Court can only forsake this place and set up another system, or else all their secrets would be leaked!"


    Although the Dream Realm was dictated by the Kun Spirit to ensure absolute fairness, Fang Yuan believed that the 5 Grand Organisations definitely secretly tampered with it. Thus, they could join hands and dominate the command of the Dream Realm and manipulate the Kun Spirit.


    Therefore, if the Imperial Court dared to use the Dream Realm again, they would be courting death!


    This point could be seen previously when Mu Hezi gave out the secret method to contact the Hidden Dragon Guards.

 472 Discourse

    Beginning of the 16th Year of Zhao Ming.


    Shi Longtu led a huge army of 300,000 soldiers and charged towards Jape Capital City.


    Flags were raised and there were lots of humans and horses. Their camp was set up and it was sprawling like large pieces of white clouds.


    "So... unimaginable!"


    Amongst the group of dream masters, Ruan Junxian was donned in Baize Mountain''s uniform. As he looked towards the majestic capital, he still felt rather unbelievable.


    Although he knew dream masters were very strong, he never knew that once the 5 Grand Organisations joined hands, changing the world was in the palm of their hands.


    In just a few years, the Imperial Court, which used to be insurmountable in the eyes of the Ruan family, was about to collapse?


    As Ruan Junxian thought about the few cities along the way that surrendered without putting up a fight, he felt that it would not be surprising even if Emperor Zhao Ming were to come out and surrender right now.


    Such a dumbfounded and unrealistic feeling Ruan Juanxian was currently feeling was the same feeling he felt when he saw how his enemy absurdly rose through the ranks.


    ''Fang Yuan!''


    As Ruan Junxian quietly muttered his enemy''s name, this man who cast a great shadow over his family and sect had already suddenly broken through to become a True Divine!


    Last time, this man bullied the weak as a dream master, but now, he had already become a powerful martial artist.


    Whereas, Ruan Junxian himself had lost his confidence and took on the path of a dream master instead. It was as though they were on a crossroad and the two of them took the opposite paths.


    Now, one of them was famous and renowned while the other was unknown and unheard of. Who could understand his torment?


    When Ruan Junxian first met Fang Yuan in the army, he had to pay respects to him as a lower ranked soldier and he felt like killing himself doing so.


    Now, he was already numb.


    "Such a big shot... I guess to him, I''m already invisible?"


    Ruan Junxian gazed at the lofty city walls and felt rather uneasy.


    If the Imperial Court did not surrender, the attack on Jade Capital would not be so easy.


    The Hidden Dragon Guards'' strength was still considerable, while the Imperial Court and royal family were still as unpredictable as ever. Even if Ruan Junxian''s master was here, he might still die in this war! Whereas for Ruan Junxian, he would merely be an ant and was only slightly stronger than a normal soldier!


    Although a dream-building master was like a god in the eyes of normal soldiers, he was still a mere ant in the eyes of those powerful beings.


    As Ruan Junxian thought, he suddenly felt a prestigious presence flash pass him and he immediately bowed, "Another powerful being has come over!"


    "The siege of Jade Capital City is the last battle! Even the Sage himself have to personally take part! What''s there to be surprised of?"


    Whereas, a Baize Mountain senior beside him felt unamused.


    "You''re right, senior!"


    Ruan Junxian had to reply with a smile and as he was about to suck up to the senior, that senior saw someone and immediately pressed his head, "Quickly bow, another powerful being is passing by!"


    Ruan Junxian lowered his head drearily and took a quick glance with his eyes. All the blood in his body almost flowed backwards at once when he saw this person.


    In front of him, Fang Yuan casually walked by him. Fang Yuan''s face was calm and he seemed to be thinking about something.


    After his back view was finally completely gone, the Baize Mountain senior finally relaxed himself, "Be more alert next time when you are patrolling outside! Other True Divines might not matter, but this person is Realm Alliance''s number one genius, he might be a 7th Tier Illusionary Divine dream master in the future."


    "That was... that was..."


    Ruan Junxian smiled along, but secretly, he was clenching his fists.


    ...


    "That soldier just now..."


    Fang Yuan returned to his tent and thought, "I''ve seen him before... Oh, it''s him! Ruan family''s Ruan Junxian, I can''t believe this kid has taken on the path of a dream master."


    In actual fact, Ruan Junxian was from a small family and did not have much fate with him. He was indeed invisible in Fang Yuan''s eyes.


    Unless Ruan Junxian opened his cheats!


    "Unfortunately, he is still only a dream-building master! Even if he is a Fate Soul, he has already missed the right timing!"


    Fang Yuan shook his head. He then strode out of the military camp and arrived on a mountain.


    Deep within the dense forest, Fang Yuan suddenly dug out the core of a tree and retrieved an emerald-green coloured piece of leaf.


    "Woong! Woong!"


    After dream elemental force surged into the leaf, the leaf immediately radiated with a vibrant glow before it transformed into the silhouette of a person, "Where have you been, I was waiting so anxiously for you!"


    "Better to be safe than sorry!"


    Fang Yuan was covered in mist and his voice was changed too, "Jade Capital is about to be sieged and you all have the mood to look for me?"


    "Things are already at this stage, we can only be loyal to the country!"


    Mu Hezi was back to his usual bearing as he sounded resolute and decisive, "Previously, Demon Killing Divine Pen Li Qingmian wanted to personally hunt you down, Head and I were so nervous for you! Luckily, the heavens help the good!"


    "Source Seeking Sect... hehe..."


    Fang Yuan snickered. He knew that his master hatred for Source Seeking Sect was as deep as the sea, and this had to be settled once and for all sooner or later.


    "Okay, since you are willing to contact us, looks like you have made the choice to side with the Imperial Court!"


    Mu Hezi''s expression appeared rather unwilling, "As per Head''s request, I am granting you the rights to Hidden Dragon Mountain!"


    Hidden Dragon Mountain was the headquarters of the Hidden Dragon Guards and was very renowned; even Fang Yuan had heard about it before. When Fang Yuan heard that, an extremely interested expression immediately appeared on his face, "I heard the location of this mountain is a top secret of the Hidden Dragon Guards... Wait a minute... rights?"


    Fang Yuan''s expression changed at once.


    "Haha... you are smart indeed. I already passed the key to Hidden Dragon Mountain to you last time, just that it was not recognised by us and you could not enter the mountain yet."


    Mu Hezi chuckled and immediately cast a magical formula.


    On the leaf, numerous golden runes appeared. They were like a chain which formed a certain core.


    A summoning appeared faintly. Fang Yuan was very familiar with it.


    "It''s a spiritual space similar to the Dream Realm!"


    Fang Yuan came to a sudden realisation, "Turns out the so-called Hidden Dragon Mountain is like the Dream Realm, it doesn''t even exist."


    "Haha... that''s right! Although Kun beasts are extremely rare, but with Da Qian''s wealth, how could we not find one?"


    Mu Hezi laughed. His illusory silhouette then dispersed at once, "Our Head has been waiting for you for very long."


    "That''s unexpected..."


    The dense forest was silent once again. Fang Yuan looked at the golden green leaf on his hand and suddenly smiled, "Well, that''s good too. Even if sages made their moves in Dream Realm, it would not damage the foundation."


    Fang Yuan stopped for a while. His entire body then sunk and buried into the ground and he disappeared.


    Immediately, a layer of soil appeared along with some grass and wildflowers. The two sides combined and covered the traces on the ground perfectly at once.


    ...


    This was a mountain, an extremely vast and imposing mountain that was multiple times larger than Dream Realm''s Realm Alliance Mountain.


    On the two sides of the foot of the mountain, there was a dragon statue and a tiger statue. The statues were lofty and mighty looking, even their bodies were modified and had all sorts of buildings and passages.


    "Hidden Dragon Mountain?"


    Fang Yuan''s figure appeared. His body was still in a misty white state as he stood on top of the dragon peak with his hands behind him.


    "That''s right!"


    Space trembled and the Head of Hidden Dragon Guards'' figure slowly emerged from it. He looked towards Fang Yuan with a gentle gaze as though he was a senior who just met his long lost junior, "Those days... I was so close with Master Heartless. We travelled together, drank together, talked together..."


    Fang Yuan carefully scrutinised this Head of Hidden Dragon Guards.


    Even though it was just a magical clone of his thoughts, its body''s spiritual aura was still astounding. It was as though he was the entire sky! The entire land!


    As the Head of Hidden Dragon Guards spoke continuously, it was as though he was very nostalgic. He then said to Fang Yuan, "You chose the Imperial Court, very good! You will not regret your choice in the future and you will even benefit tremendously from it."


    ''Something''s not right!''


    After Fang Yuan listened to what he said, an alarming thought appeared in his mind, ''The Head of Hidden Dragon Guards has not given up, what kind of cards is the Imperial Court still hiding up their sleeves?"


    In actual fact, Fang Yuan also felt that it was really unexplainable how the Imperial Court was so badly defeated.


    After all, they were the ruler of the world. Furthermore, their existence was supported by the heavenly will!


    Such a colossal Da Qian Imperial Court would be an eternal dynasty with perpetual stability if there were no dream masters! How could they fall like a sand castle and immediately crumble under the attack of a finger?


    "Oh? From what I know, Shi Longtu still could not achieve victory in the siege of Jade Capital after a long battle. He''s already burning incense and praying to invite the 5 Sages to advent. I wonder how would you react to it?"


    Fang Yuan''s eyes gleamed and he asked suddenly.


    "This is the Imperial Court''s top secret!''


    The Head of Hidden Dragon Guards'' face turned solemn.


    Just now, his voice was gentle, but with his solemn expression now, an imposing might immediately appeared. It was as though the surroundings had turned into a battlefield, "For such top secrets, the fewer who know, the better! If they are people like you who cover up their original identity, they must be after something!"


    "I have too many enemies, I had to do it to be safe than sorry!"


    Fang Yuan had a thought, he knew that there were still too little 7th Tier Illusionary Divine dream masters in this world.


    As Fang Yuan suddenly appeared, it was too suspicious. Furthermore, as he was too shady, he most likely had a well known true identity.


    With these suspicions and with Imperial Court''s strength, they could quickly find out who he was!


    Of course, Fang Yuan was not intending to hide his identity for so long. As long as he survived this war and the world had reshuffled, there was nothing wrong even if he had two identities!


    "I heard you killed Source Seeking Sect''s Feng Buer and asked for rewards from Mu Hezi?"


    The Head of Hidden Dragon Guards did not go on about Fang Yuan''s identity and asked him about another area.


    "One has to be fully prepared, isn''t that normal?"


    Fang Yuan shrugged.


    "If you were part of my Hidden Dragon Guards, you would immediately be rewarded accordingly..."


    The Head of Hidden Dragon Guards seemed to be in a difficult spot, "I wonder if you are interested?"


    "Last time, my master''s name was tarnished and protecting him would be declaring war against the 5 Grand Organisations. Thus, he was given up on... Now, the two sides are already at war, but this matter is just thrown aside?"


    Fang Yuan laughed and continued, "Unfortunately... I am not!"


    "Sure enough, you still have resentment inside your heart!"


    The Head of Hidden Dragon Guards sighed and did not say much. He then threw out two crystals, "These two Realm Elemental Crystals shall serve as compensation."


    "Realm Elemental Crystals?"


    Fang Yuan received the crystals. The power of the crystals was very similar to the natural sources he harvested from realms.


    "The heavens have energy and the realms have natural sources. We explore numerous realms and reap these..."


    The Head of Hidden Dragon Guards smiled, "This is my personal collection. They are your rewards for killing Feng Buer, they should be sufficient."

 473 The Beginning

    ''These are indeed Source Crystals!''


    Fang Yuan flipped his hands and kept the crystals safely.


    These two Source Crystals were neither too big nor too small. However, if it were to be used, it could transform a normal human being with no cultivation to a 6th Tier Illusionary Divine dream master.


    Such energy would still be useful to even a 7th Tier Illusionary Divine dream master.


    "Thank you head! I have a few pieces of intelligence with me which I am willing to share with you."


    Fang Yuan smiled as he unreservedly revealed everything he had heard from the higher-ups of the 5 Grand Organisations.


    After all, he did not believe that the Imperial Court would not plant spies within the 5 Grand Organisations. After all, the pieces of information which he was providing were not crucial and more importantly, he could gain the trust of the Head.


    "That''s great!"


    Indeed, after listening to Fang Yuan, the Head of Hidden Dragon Guards felt appreciative. "Since you are unwilling to join the Hidden Dragon Guards, you can remain as our Guest Minister. Now is the perfect time for the Imperial Court to strike back... You are in a favourable position within the core team of the 5 Grand Organisations. I have a few missions in mind and you seem to be the best candidate for these missions."


    "Please enlighten me!"


    Fang Yuan''s expression changed. "Considering the fact that I want to wipe out the Source Seeking Sect, I believe that the both of us have the basis and foundation to work together."


    "You are indeed the disciple of Master Heartless to have the determination to wipe out the Source Seeking Sect, huh?"


    The Head of the Hidden Dragon Guards gazed at Fang Yuan and his smile became wider before he started to laugh hysterically. "Great! This is great! We can work together to wipe out Source Seeking Sect as soon as this war is over!"


    ...


    As soon as Fang Yuan returned to the military base, he could feel that the atmosphere was different.


    "Lord Fang Yuan!"


    Before his designated tentage, a dream master from the Realm Alliance seemed to have waited for him for a long time. "The Sage and a few other elders have arrived!"


    "Sage?"


    Fang Yuan was shocked. "The Sage of the Realm Alliance have arrived? How many elders have come over?"


    "Just now, Alliance Leader, Lord Demon Killing Divine Pen and a few elders have arrived." The reporting dream master seemed to be in his forties and his submissive look made it obvious that he was full of admiration to the Sage and the few other elders.


    "Bring me there!"


    Fang Yuan took in a deep breath as he followed the dream master to a huge tent in the centre of the military base.


    "Fang Yuan requests to see the Sage!"


    He bowed slightly towards the tent.


    "Come in!"


    A loud voice was heard in his spiritual will.


    Fang Yuan opened the flaps of the tent and in that instant, he was being transported to another world.


    The sun and the moon were high up in the sky. Grass filled the ground and flowers were in full bloom.


    "A hollow? No wonder I cannot detect anything from outside!"


    Fang Yuan immediately took a deep bow. "Greetings, Sage!"


    "Very well, please rise!"


    A loud voice commanded and Fang Yuan rose. Quickly, he scanned the surroundings.


    In the centre of this new world, a being was sitting on a cloud bed with his legs crossed and was the centre of attraction.


    Even light was being absorbed into the silhouette of the godly being.


    On his head, a streak of white energy shot up, forming clouds which held up the entire sky.


    ''This is still within the tent, and this hollow is merely created by the Sage with a single thought!''


    Fang Yuan was certain that the person before him was The Ancient One!


    "Your physical body is in good form, Hmm... and you are already at the 5th Tier of Illusionary Divine as a dream master? Not bad, not bad at all!"


    The Ancient One peered through Fang Yuan and waved his hands. "The 8 of you are the strongest fighting force of the Realm Alliance. We have already waited for this moment long ago..."


    "We will serve the Alliance Leader with our lives!"


    Within the small hollow, Xi Chen, Green Wood, Black Water, Thick Earth, Sharp Gold, Extreme Darkness and Smelter were all there as they bowed together with Fang Yuan.


    "Very well... I hope that none of you will disappoint me!"


    The Ancient One clapped his hands lightly. "Xi Chen and Extreme Darkness, please remain. The rest of you, please take your leave!"


    "Yes, Sir!"


    Fang Yuan and Elder Smelter took their bows before leaving. As they left the tent, they exchanged glances before arriving at where Elder Smelter was staying.


    "When did Alliance Leader come out of isolation?"


    Fang Yuan appeared confused. "Didn''t he say that he had an important task at hand?"


    "The attack on the Jade Capital is of utmost importance. Alliance Leader and Lord Demon Killing Divine Pen have personally came here and other Sages had already taken over their tasks. Furthermore, before the final war, the remaining Sages will also arrive!"


    Elder Smelter let out a mysterious chuckle.


    This was not a piece of important information anyway. Therefore, he revealed it without any consideration to convince Fang Yuan to stay within the alliance.


    Regardless, Fang Yuan was once from his faction and was already imprinted with Elder Smelter''s print. Even though Feng Xinzi''s incident had happened, Elder Smelter would still be credited for his contributions to the alliance.


    "The arrival of two Sages and the fact that other Sages are ready to strike anytime... We also have more than half of the elders of the 5 Grand Organisations..."


    Fang Yuan was lost in his thoughts. "If this is so, the war is about to happen?"


    "Of course... War is always dangerous and even I myself don''t know how long my old bag of bones can last..."


    Elder Smelter sighed.


    Fang Yuan gritted his teeth and was lost in his own thoughts.


    ...


    At the same time, in Hidden Dragon Mountain.


    "Head..."


    On the top of the huge dragon statue, Mu Hezi''s silhouette appeared. "This disciple of Heartless has an unpredictable cultivation and thinking... If we trust him blindly, it might affect our grand plan."


    "If we do not trust him, then we shall not ask for his assistance. Since we have asked him for his assistance, we shall trust him. The fact that he is in possession of the 8 Gates Sword Array means that he can no longer be treated well by the 5 Grand Organisations... Even if he has an official position with them, he will still be despised."


    The Head of Hidden Dragon Guards continued calmly. "We must continue to investigate. Although Baize Mountain has plenty of dream masters, we can still find leads some way or another."


    "Yes Sir, I shall activate the 2nd Grade spies!" Mu Hezi took a bow. "However... The information might not be able to make it back in time!"


    "Don''t worry about this!"


    Head of Hidden Dragon Guards was full of confidence. "As long as the two Source Crystals are with him, he does not have the rights to make the decision."


    "You''re wise, Head!"


    Mu Hezi took another bow and his eyes were filled with excitement.


    His predictions were correct. The Head of Hidden Dragon Guards had already secretly made alterations to the two pieces of Source Crystals.


    No matter how much he would miss his old friend, when compared to the interests of the Imperial Court, the Head of Hidden Dragon Guards would still choose to sacrifice others to protect the Imperial Court. This was the motto of the Hidden Dragon Guards!


    ...


    "The path of a Sage is to create an entire world!"


    Within the base of the 5 Grand Organisation alliance, Fang Yuan gazed towards the two most plain-looking tents in the centre and sighed to himself.


    How would any mere mortal be worthy enough to witness the power of a Sage?


    A thin tent was all it took to separate worlds and even Fang Yuan could not detect it from outside.


    "In the alliance of dream masters, there are a total of 5 Sages. Now, 2 have already arrived. They are The Ancient One of the Realm Alliance and Li Qingmian of the Source Seeking Sect! There are another 3 of them secretly altering the 6 Extremes Earth Shattering Array. As soon as the array is activated, they will be able to arrive to provide support!"


    "Whereas for the Imperial Court, the only Prominent Divine fighting force would be the Head of the Hidden Dragon Guards and two other Imperial Advisors!"


    One of them was a True Elemental while the other was a True Divine. Both of them were at the peaks of their cultivation and were supported by the Imperial Court. Therefore, their actions would have an unbelievable power and they would be powerful enough to fight against two Sages!


    However, that was all.


    Unless a miracle happened, in Fang Yuan''s eyes, there was no way the Imperial Court would be able to win.


    At this stage, any plan would not be able to work, for it was simply the challenge between brute force!


    Unfortunately, the 5 Grand Organisations had already destroyed the Imperial Court''s foundations.


    "Even if I were to satisfy the requests of the Head of the Hidden Dragon Guards, nothing will seem to change..."


    Fang Yuan thought about the 2 Source Crystals which he had received and started to smile.


    Regardless if the two crystals were detrimental or not, Fang Yuan had already decided not to use them.


    Any normal dream master would surely use them without hesitation as they would be overcome by greed and would take any risk to absorb the energy from them. However, Fang Yuan was different.


    With the special ability of fixed stats, Fang Yuan could always dream-traverse and return with plenty of rewards! This was especially so for his latest experience on Planet Earth Realm, and Fang Yuan even felt a little full from absorbing so much energy from it.


    ''Under such circumstances, if the Imperial Court wants to fight back, what will they do?''


    Fang Yuan put himself in the shoes of the Imperial Court and started to think. "The small details will no longer matter. Now, only the Sages would matter! Nothing will change... unless..."


    Fang Yuan''s eyes glistened.


    "Wuuuu! Wuuuuu!"


    At this point in time, the cold military bugle was sounded.


    Soldiers walked out of their tents and formed neat rows in their platoons. The entire process was extremely silent.


    With such a high quality of discipline, these soldiers would be considered elite anywhere they were to go.


    Unfortunately, they would be the first wave of sacrifice in this war.


    The 3 battalions of soldiers gathered and formed a tall platform outside the Jade Capital. It was about 35 yards tall. Shi Longtu sat above, donned in military armour. "Surrender!"


    This was a mere formality and no one believed that it would work.


    Indeed, the Jade Capital quickly sent out a message. The defending soldiers had rejected the offer to surrender. Furthermore, there were chants of "Long Live the Emperor" just beyond the city walls. A battalion of soldiers soon lined the top of the city walls. The soldier leading the pack held an umbrella with a yellow dragon on top.


    "Is it Emperor Zhao Ming?"


    Fang Yuan''s exceptional eyesight allowed him to see the Emperor of Da Qian from afar.


    To speak the truth, the emperor was just a matured looking middle-aged man. Even the servants around him seemed stronger than him.


    Of course, this was only the impression of the emperor from a dream master who treated mortals like nothing.


    To the average human being, the Emperor of Da Qian was a rightful Fate Soul!


    With his appearance, the soldiers of Jade Capital started to chant loudly and felt energized.


    Not just that, even the elite soldiers of Shi Longtu started to appear a little disorganised. Although they quickly composed themselves, Shi Longtu still felt a little discouraged.


    He could never hide the fact that he was a rebel.


    At that moment, Fang Yuan started to feel pity for Shi Longtu.


    Even though Shi Longtu had ulterior motives, he would never lead the pack and sacrifice himself in front.


    Unfortunately, under the pressure of the 5 Grand Organisations, all resistance was futile and no one would be able to change the mind of a Sage!


    "Today, we shall charge all the way. Attack!"


    Shi Longtu took in a deep breath before commanding the soldiers. With that, he wielded his sword and rushed forward.


    "Charge!"


    The 3 battalions roared and a bloodied fight ensued.

 474 The Trade

    "Kill!"


    An officer of the alliance rushed up the 35-yard city wall as he waved his sword in his hands. "Let there be blood!"


    "Screech!"


    The blood-tainted sword complemented the Hundred Casted Knife perfectly as both weapons sliced through the general''s armour effortlessly. The surrounding officers and soldiers flew backwards uncontrollably as their blood spewed from their necks.


    Only a Meridian Opening Wu Zong would be able to create such a devastating effect!


    "Die!"


    At this point in time, this officer had already caught the attention of the guards on the city walls. A platoon of guards donned in gold armour and equipped with long spears started to holler as they attempted to lunge at the officer.


    "Whoosh!"


    In mid-air, he could deflect three spear lunges, but that was all he could do.


    In the next moment, the 4 other spears heading towards him sunk into his armour without hesitation, releasing blood from his body.


    Although he might be a Meridian Opening Wu Zong, as long as he was a vulnerable human being, he would still die in such a scene!


    "Ha!"


    The 4 soldiers who successfully penetrated the officer with their spears pulled their spears apart, splitting the corpse and revealing the innards of the dead officer.


    "The officer is dead!"


    Witnessing this scene, many advancing soldiers felt disheartened as they retreated like the tides of the ocean.


    "Fire!"


    As the soldiers from the city walls were about the advance, out of a sudden, they heard a loud noise.


    "Rumble!"


    Rocks weighing tonnes fell from the sky and smashed down on the city walls, turning all the soldiers on the walls into a bloodied pile of mess.


    On the rocks, there were streaks of purple talismans carrying with them an enraged spiritual aura.


    "Is this... The Thunderous Rocks?"


    As soon as the leader of the speared soldiers witnessed this scene, he was devastated. "Retreat!"


    "Rumble!"


    It was all too late. All life forms were disintegrated and even the city walls were crumbled, revealing the inner structure which was strengthened by pieces of metal. In the walls, glittering talismans forming a protective array were revealed.


    The killings lasted for a long while and the blood from both sides dyed the entire city wall red.


    Finally, there was a bugle call.


    The attacking soldiers slowly retreated. The sunset spilt red glows across the land, bringing the feeling of sorrow to everyone on the battlefield.


    ...


    "Only the mountains will remain to witness the next sunset!"


    Among the allied forces, Fang Yuan stood on a high ground and witnessed everything.


    A chaos of such intensity had already lasted for 7 days. Both sides continuously surprised each other and it was the perfect demonstration of the art of war in this world, but in such a short period of time, all the tactics were already exhausted.


    Fang Yuan was unaware of the state of the Jade Capital. However, in the allied forces, other than the powerful beings and the sages, even dream masters in the 5th Tier of the Illusionary Divine stage were being recruited to fight alongside the soldiers as an elite platoon by themselves. These elite platoons were tasked to ambush the city during nightfall. They were most of the time successful in breaking through but would always encounter resistance from the Hidden Dragon Guards and the Wu Zongs and spiritual knights of the Imperial Court.


    "By now, everyone''s limit should have been reached, right?"


    After 7 days of high-intensity battles, what was left of a 30,000 strong army was 25,000. Almost 20% of the soldiers had died and the remaining soldiers felt unmotivated to carry on.


    If this went on, there was no need for any war. The allied forces would have lost already.


    "We don''t want to end up with no more attacking forces after breaking through into the Jade Capital. We need to deploy our best troops for tomorrow''s war..."


    Fang Yuan took in a deep breath and gazed towards the tents in the centre of the base. Thinking about the discussion among the military personnel previously, Fang Yuan seemed to be lost in his own thoughts.


    The task the Head of the Hidden Dragon Guards had given him was extremely simple. He only had to confirm the number of Sages among the allied forces and revolt during the crucial moment.


    "To speak the truth... Although I cannot trust the alliance of dream masters, this does not mean that I can trust the Imperial Court!"


    Fang Yuan entered another tent and started to laugh to himself.


    He was not only a 7th Tier Illusionary Divine dream master now, but he had also purified his dream elemental force. He was harnessing pure energy from the Demonic Heart Realm and would, therefore, be a tier higher than the native dream masters. He was not only skilled in illusionary tactics and concealment, but could also accurately identify others.


    Although the two Source Crystals which the Head of the Hidden Dragon Guards had given him seemed to be normal, it still gave Fang Yuan a mysterious vibe which ultimately led him to conclude that these crystals might cause harm.


    Since they could possibly cause harm, it would only be wise to settle them as soon as possible.


    At this point in time, the force of a spiritual territory appeared. With the brilliance of the burning flames, the majestic spiritual territory could still segregate Fang Yuan from the outside world, albeit not as complete as how a Sage could create a hollow as a separate world in itself.


    "Elder Fang Yuan, why are you looking for me?"


    Fiery Dragon Child appeared and from him came the voice of Elder Smelter. "This is a reminder that we should do things with privacy."


    The creations of these Illusionary Divine dream masters would be their most loyal subordinates. For instance, Fang Yuan could possess any Sword Child he liked and if the Sword Child were to be killed, he could revive himself in the Sword Child.


    "I am only looking to trade!"


    Fang Yuan smiled before retrieving a crystal.


    "This is..."


    Fiery Dragon Child''s eyes widened. "Oh my, such a huge Source Crystal! This will be enough for you to breakthrough to the 6th Tier of the Illusionary Divine stage! Why are you willing to trade it away?"


    "I am already a True Divine. Since the war is coming, does it matter if I increase my cultivation as an Illusionary Divine dream master? Unless it can allow me to breakthrough to the 7th Tier..."


    Fang Yuan shrugged his shoulders. "Therefore, I want to change for something more useful to me!"


    "Alright, just name it, I''ll give you anything as long as I have it!"


    Fiery Dragon Child could not take his eyes off the crystal as though he was gazing at a beautiful lady.


    "I won''t take advantage of you. I just want War Credits!"


    Fang Yuan smiled and stated his request.


    "War Credits?"


    This request was unexpected but reasonable.


    Since the 5 Grand Organisations came together, they had created a War Credits Rewards. They would assign missions to dream masters and reward them for their accomplishments. The 5 Grand Organisations had taken out many valuables for the dream masters to exchange with their War Credits, including their unique techniques, secret spells or even treasures.


    Unfortunately, Fang Yuan had not contributed much to the war and therefore did not have much War Credits.


    However, things were different for Elder Smelter.


    Such an aggressive person would have fought at the frontline and had earned himself a considerable amount of War Credits.


    "Alright, it''s a deal!"


    Elder Smelter clenched his teeth and agreed to Fang Yuan''s terms.


    He knew that although Fang Yuan would ask for an astronomical amount of War Credits, the fact that Source Crystals were extremely valuable to the point that even Sages would use it for themselves made the trade worth it. Furthermore, Source Crystals were not available on the War Credits Rewards.


    If Elder Smelter were to miss this opportunity, he might not come across it in the future.


    "Great!"


    Fang Yuan nodded his head and tossed the crystal across.


    "Hehe!"


    After the trade, Elder Smelter started to examine the valuable Source Crystal in his hands and fell in love with it. "It seems like you have reaped quite a lot of rewards from your previous dream-traversing experience... I wonder what could have attracted your attention on the War Credits Rewards?"


    Looking at Elder Smelter, it seemed like he was now interested in Planet Earth Realm and might just hop into it if not for the war.


    Without fear, Fang Yuan replied. "I''m collecting!"


    "Collecting?"


    "Mmm, among the rewards on the War Credit Rewards, the price of the treasures which could be used to restore one''s energy or recuperate one''s injury are spiking. On the other hand, records or long-term techniques or even research information are dirt cheap due to the low demand. Some of these techniques are secret techniques... It is only human nature to have the lack of foresight. In this war, the allied forces will surely be victorious and in the near future, the price of all that I have just mentioned will surely spike!"


    Fang Yuan calmly explained himself.


    "Oh? Interesting, interesting indeed!"


    Elder Smelter seemed a little interested as he nodded his head. However, he started to shake his head. "Although this is a path for you to get rich, looking at the intensity of the war, which low-tiered cultivator will be able to assure himself that he will be able to survive? Therefore, as soon as one gets War Credits, it will only be wise to exchange for treasure which will be able to ensure one''s survival. If any of the treasures were to attract my attention, I will already exchange for it to use it. Also, you need to have a lot of War Credits with you, otherwise the profits you will be getting will be insignificant..."


    The group of elders were extremely experienced and Elder Smelter could immediately think of the pros and cons of Fang Yuan''s plan.


    "Fang Yuan, you have a strong foundation and great foresight. I admire you for that."


    Fiery Dragon Child paid his farewell. "If you have trades of such nature in the future, please look for me and I will make sure that you are satisfied."


    "Thank you!"


    Fang Yuan took his leave and left the tent. Looking at the War Credits on his inscription plate, he started to snicker to himself. ''After all that, Elder Smelter must be laughing at me for initiating such a trade. However, it doesn''t matter to me. It is already a bargain for me to gain all these War Credits by trading away a possibly problematic Source Crystal.''


    With the help of the Dream Realm, it would only take a single thought for the exchange of information, research materials or even secret techniques.


    Fang Yuan did all of these in preparation to leave the 5 Grand Organisations.


    After the war, regardless if others were to find out about Planet Earth Realm or the 8 Gates Sword Array, Fang Yuan would most likely have to stay hidden and therefore, he had to prepare for that.


    ''Before thinking about victory, I need to consider defeat... In the worst scenario, if the allied forces are to be victorious and if they realise my secret, I will need to disappear as far as I can go... Of course, a more probable outcome is that I will be hunted down by a sage and if that is the case, all preparations will be futile.''


    Fang Yuan casually thought about the possible outcomes as he unknowingly entered another area.


    In there, a deity-like young lady was already waiting.


    "Elder Extreme Darkness..."


    Fang Yuan smiled sneakily. "Do you want to engage in a trade?"


    ...


    It was nightfall.


    Fang Yuan, who had just reaped a huge amount of War Credits from both elders was now wandering in the Dream Realm, quickly browsing through the War Credit Rewards.


    "In becoming a True Divine and a 7th Tier Illusionary Divine dream master, I have already consumed most of my resources..."


    He gazed at the streaks of information and started to exchange for those he felt interested in.


    "For any building to be built, the foundation is the most important! I shall not think about the path after True Divine. More importantly, I shall perfect my cultivation as a dream soldier master and my knowledge of arrays. From there, I can perfect the 8 Gates Sword Array, and create the 9th Tier of the Illusionary Divine stage!"


    Fang Yuan quickly exchanged for the relevant information and paid most attention to information regarding arrays.


    After all, this not only concerned his future cultivation but also his survival!


    The theory proposed by Sage Changli on the 9 Heavens and 6 Earths stemmed from the creation of arrays. The battle among sages was also through these two gigantic arrays and therefore, Fang Yuan knew that he had to pay close attention to it.


    "I still need to find out some insider information about the happenings in the royal family..."


    Fortunately, time passed at a different rate in the Dream Realm as compared to the outside world. Also, Fang Yuan could top his War Credits up with his contribution points and therefore, without any reservations, Fang Yuan spent everything.

 475 Beast Swarm

    On the second day, war drums roared.


    Fang Yuan stood on top of a tall platform along with other elders as he defended the few 7th Tier Illusionary Divine dream masters beside him.


    ''According to Sages'' arrangements, the 7th Tier Illusionary Divine dream masters should be making their moves today... The first wave of attack should be from the dream beast masters from the different organisations!"


    Fang Yuan was currently standing side by side with Elder Smelter as they guarded Elder Thick Earth who was behind them.


    This honest and sincere looking middle-aged looking elder was a rare dream beast master in the Realm Alliance! He had even cultivated to the 7th Tier of Illusionary Divine stage!


    "Before the 7th Tier of Illusionary Divine stage, dream beast masters placed greater emphasis on the transformation of their own body. After reaching the 7th Tier of Illusionary Divine stage, dream beast masters will possess their own prosperous land and thus, they will be able to develop their beasts. However, this development is costly and consumes too much, even powerful beings will be exhausted. Therefore, only huge organisations can provide the support for them! Furthermore, compared to other powerful beings, they have the weakest self-defence and required bodyguards!"


    Fang Yuan quickly calculated the pros and cons of such dream beast masters.


    Although they could transform into magical beasts, it was still too weak for these powerful beings.


    Of course, if they were given sufficient time, dream beast masters would be undefeatable in massacring normal people and conquering lands.


    "Rest assured, Thick Earth! With us here, no enemy can disrupt you!"


    Elder Smelter assured.


    "Of course I am assured."


    Thick Earth rolled his eyes, "The two armies are battling it out now and behind me is the Sage, unless the Head of Hidden Dragon Guards is so impetuous, who could kill until here?"


    Although Thick Earth was afraid of decapitating war tactics, after all, he was still a 7th Tier Illusionary Divine dream master. Once he transformed into a magical beast, normal 6th Tier Illusionary Divine dream masters would all die to him. Thus, he naturally had some haughtiness to him.


    "I''m starting!"


    Behind Elder Thick Earth, the illusory image of a prosperous land appeared and began to become more real. A grassland bordered with reality and opened up some sort of gigantic space passage.


    Large amounts of dense black dots rushed out from the prosperous land as though they were guided by something.


    ''Prosperous land...''


    Fang Yuan felt rather emotional as he watched.


    Since he had also cultivated to the 7th Tier of Illusionary Divine stage, he also had the ability to open up a prosperous land. However, such a huge investment was the prime example of high expenditure, high returns, but slow results. With the big war impending, only fools would slowly tend to their prosperous land.


    "There are many benefits to prosperous lands, not only is it a completely safe logistics base, it also acts as a protection for family members and loved ones. It also provides good returns... Furthermore, the greater the prosperous land, the stronger the spiritual territory''s power is. It can even save one''s life in key moments!"


    Previously when Fang Yuan fought with Feng Buer, he would not have won so easily if his 7 Constellations Sword Array and torrential array did not happen to suppress Feng Buer''s prosperous land and hollow.


    ''That Feng Buer is a dream spells master, which is the most common path, of course his prosperous land is nothing much. But this Elder Thick Earth is different..."


    Fang Yuan carefully stared at the door to the prosperous land. It appeared as though golden flames were sparkling in his eyes.


    Elder Thick Earth did live up to his name. The prosperous land was vast and its breath of the earth was abundant. It was much better tended to compared to Feng Buer''s.


    "Chi! Chi!"


    "Chi! Chi!"


    Immediately, the sea of black dots swarmed out from the door of the prosperous land. They were all humanoids that were 9 feet tall and covered in black fur. They had tusks and their eyes were bloodshot.


    "Iron-armed Spiritual Monkeys?"


    As Fang Yuan looked at their thick and solid claws, he immediately thought of a certain creature, "I heard such Iron-armed Spiritual Monkeys have extremely powerful arms and their skin and fur are as tough as iron. They have explosive temperaments and even a group of Wu Zongs at the Meridian Opening Realm would be battered dead by them."


    Over 10,000 ferocious beasts had appeared!


    Large amounts of Iron-armed Spiritual Monkeys formed an orderly wave as they roared and rushed towards the city walls of the Jade Capital without caring about the nearby allied soldiers at all.


    Although the city walls were tall, thick and shiny, it was child''s play for the spiritual monkeys'' sharp claws.


    "Victory! Victory! Victory!"


    The allied forces chanted and they were filled with confidence.


    This swarm of 100,000 Iron-armed Spiritual Monkeys was merely a prequel. At the same time, from another direction, other dream beast masters began their performance.


    "Chirp! Chirp!"


    A prosperous land door opened and a dark cloud emerged that covered almost half the sky. Immediately, big savage looking birds with black feathers that covered their entire body emerged and charged towards the Jade Capital City.


    "Putt! Putt!"


    As they flapped their wings, black feathers flew down immediately which pierced down like nails.


    "Nail Feather Vultures..."


    Fang Yuan mumbled. He then heard something again.


    The soil was moving up and down while the sound of sand moving about could be heard. This wave motion even reached the base of the city walls and caused strong tremors as though an earthquake was happening.


    "There is a swarm of beasts below the ground too! They are Steel-toothed Giant Ants! This dream master is so devious, he wants to directly dig under the Jade Capital until it collapses!"


    Fang Yuan nodded his head slightly.


    Dream beast masters could summon hundreds of thousands of beasts with a wave of their hands! This was their strength and fundamentals!


    In actual fact, from Elder Thick Earth''s performance, these Iron-armed Spiritual Monkeys were merely just cannon fodder.


    Only the dream beast masters themselves knew which of their beasts were the true elites!


    As they had the ability to create living things, no one could predict what kind of ferocious beasts they could create in their prosperous land.


    With just these, it was already enough for the soldiers of the Jade Capital to tremble in fear.


    "Shoot!"


    On top of the city walls, a general''s command could be heard loud and clear. Evidently, he was a Wu Zong at the highest level of the Meridian Opening Realm, he might even be a True Divine!


    At this stage, Da Qian Imperial Court could no longer hide their strength. All their Wu Zong''s and spiritual knights appeared one by one.


    "Pew! Pew! Pew! Pew!"


    On top of the city walls, numerous weird looking arcuballistas were used to fire arrows. They had a strange design and each of its core was a black coloured rectangular box. Every time it was launched, countless fire arrows flew out from the topmost layer of the box.


    In the blink of an eye, millions of arrows landed on the swarm of monkeys.


    "Kababoom!"


    Tens of thousands of arrows were shot at the same time and formed a fire net. After each arrowhead struck its target, it immediately exploded which resulted in additional damage.


    Sparks and flames covered the skies. It was as though it was a hurricane of arrows and thousands of Iron-armed Spiritual Monkeys were turned into ashes.


    "Change the arrows!"


    After the command from the top of the city walls, the machinery noise of the arcuballistas could be heard. The black coloured box was dismounted and another giant box was loaded up. It was then ignited and launched in an instant.


    It''s launching speed was astonishing fast and so was its arrow consumption. Soon enough, three giant boxes had been used up.


    Its effect and results were astoundingly good too. After a few rounds, the 100,000 strong monkey swarm was close to being completely annihilated. Broken limbs and remains were scattered all over the battlefield. There was also a nauseating and repulsive stench from the blood and burnt flesh mixing together.


    Seeing such a scene, the allied soldiers quivered in fear. Even Shi Longtu was drenched in cold sweat as he knew that if his troop was faced with such a deadly weapon, they would turn into ashes in just a day!


    "Eh?"


    However, Fang Yuan saw something different from it, "Shouldn''t such powerful weapons be used at the very last as the killing move? The best way to handle a powerful dream beast master would be with another powerful dream beast master... Looks like, the Imperial Court does not have such an expert!"


    "That''s natural... The Imperial Court''s dream masters are within the Hidden Dragon Guards!"


    As Elder Smelter mentioned that, he was rather infuriated, "But how many dream masters could they have? They would at most have the same number of dream master as our alliance, of course they would not have enough manpower."


    On top of the city walls.


    The Head of Hidden Dragon Guards calmly looked at the scene in front of him and ordered, "Since they are already used, there''s no need to hide them anymore. Anyway, this Exploding Flames Divine Fire Arrow is only useful against lower tiered cultivators. The allied forces would also find a way to suppress it by tomorrow! Just use up all the remaining stock."


    "Yes, Head!"


    On top of the four-sided city walls, the arcuballistas shot towards the skies. Large amounts of Nail Feather Vulture shrieked in pain as they exploded and landed on the ground. Feathers and blood covered the ground as though a black and red coloured storm had just past.


    In the blink of an eye, the tables have turned.


    Two out of the three swarms of beasts had already been obliterated by the Imperial Court''s powerful weapon which they had stored for years.


    "The Imperial Court still indeed has its strength!"


    Seeing such, Fang Yuan and Elder Smelter did not say anything. Elder Thick Earth''s face turned red as he summoned another beast swarm.


    "Chi! Chi!"


    "Chi! Chi!"


    This time around, the beast swarm which appeared was still made up of monkeys. However, there were only 10,000 of them this time. Each of them was strong and capable looking, their fur was of a shiny silver colour and each of them had a pair of wings. Fang Yuan could not think of their name at all.


    "This seems like a mutated form of Iron-armed Spiritual Monkeys. Rumour has it that their monkey king has pure golden fur. Silver fur and with wings... what kind of monkeys are they?"


    As Fang Yuan muttered, he purposely made sure Elder Thick Earth could hear him.


    "Truth be told¡­.."


    Elder Thick Earth looked slightly excited as he explained, "This is a brand new species I created after spending years on it. I expedited the growth of a group of iron-armed monkeys until they are silver coloured and are at the elite level before I combined them with the wings of the East Sea Feathered Tribe. Initially, while I was creating them, I failed thousands of times! I''m naming them as Winged Monkeys. They have wings on their backs and can fly, hehe..."


    Elder Thick Earth was filled with excitement which made Fang Yuan thought of the crazy scientists in the previous realms.


    7th Tier Illusionary Divine dream masters could create beasts but they could not just create whatever they wanted. Instead, it was like an experiment. If it was too out of the norm, it would lead to the collapse of the genes and the resultant creature would not be able to successfully reproduce!


    This was just like how Elder Thick Earth had to obtain his resources from Da Qian World and how he had to try his best to adhere to conventions in order to create this new species of monkey. Even so, he only succeeded after he failed so many times.


    "Rumble! Rumble!"


    The ground shook stronger and stronger. Numerous Winged Monkeys roared as they flapped their wings and flew to the sky.


    "This is... the Steel-toothed Giant Ants?"


    Fang Yuan looked at the slowly sinking foundation and immediately knew what was going on, "Because the city walls are protected by arrays and cannot be broken through, we are thus going downwards and preparing to sink its foundation?"


    ...


    On top of the city walls, even the person under the giant yellow umbrella could feel the slight tremors.


    "Your Majesty!"


    The Head of Hidden Dragon Guards walked to Emperor Zhao Ming and slightly nodded his head, "It can''t be avoided anymore, please command the grand secretaries of Spiritual Light Hall to make their move now!"


    Although his demeanour was not respectful, no one felt displeased about it at all. Even the emperor himself felt it should be this way too, "Pass down my orders, the grand secretaries of Spiritual Light Hall are to assist Head in clearing the rebels!"

 476 Prominent Divine

    Dream masters were proud of being the strongest in the world. Normal Wu Zongs or spiritual knights could only be servants.


    The Imperial Court had the backing of the Head of the Hidden Dragon Guards and therefore attracted these Wu Zongs and spiritual knights.


    The Spiritual Light Hall was built for these high-tiered spiritual knights and only True Elementals were allowed in. These spiritual knights were conferred with a high status and were not required to bow down to the emperor.


    "I have received your orders!"


    At the same time, next to Emperor Zhao Ming, 7 ministers wearing purple robes with a crane sewn across their chests walked out to pay their respects.


    They were all old-looking and appeared solemn like antiques. However, as soon as they walked out of the emperor''s field of vision, there were visible changes and all of them became mysterious in their own ways. Spiritual light gathered around them and they all had an inconceivable amount of spiritual property.


    "Lord Xue and Lord Zhang, I shall leave the problem of the ants to you!"


    The Head of the Hidden Dragon Guards gazed towards the military formation from afar and sounded composed. "If we allow the city walls to shake one more time and startle the emperor, it will be our fault!"


    "Head, don''t worry!"


    The two officers exchanged looks as a surge of spiritual force started to gather from the ground silently.


    "Ground Shaking Spell? Fire Tunneling Spell?"


    Through his Fiery Golden Eyes, Fang Yuan could see a lot more and started to feel excited.


    These two spiritual spells were extremely ordinary and even spiritual knights below the level of Elemental Opening Realm would be able to cast them.


    However, through these two True Elementals, Fang Yuan could see something magical happening from these two ordinary spells.


    Fang Yuan could detect that after executing these two spells, a domino effect seemed to have started to spread out downwards, all the way beneath the Jade Capital.


    "Rumble!"


    An immense vibration came in contact with the attacking ants and the ground above was levelled.


    The Fire Tunnelling Spell spread flames across the land and seeped through the cracks caused by the tremor.


    "Rumble! Rumble!"


    In a few moments, a dark hue of red appeared. It was raging magma which started to sweep across the ground towards the incoming ants.


    "Whooosh!"


    White smoke filled the air and the intense magma swallowed everything in its path. Furthermore, it started to flow through the tunnels which the ants had burrowed.


    In an instant, tens of thousands of ants were wiped out and on the outside, there were cries coming from the base of the allied forces. Flames were spreading everywhere.


    Although the fire was quickly dealt with, it had already embarrassed the dream masters in the base of the allied forces.


    "Alright, is this the power of a True Elemental? Every spiritual spell is cast to perfection, blended with nature... Most importantly, a True Elemental is able to bring out the extraordinary in the ordinary. Even the most rudimentary spiritual spell will be able to create a devastating outcome!"


    Fang Yuan examined how the various spiritual knights executed their spells and was deep in thought.


    "Wind!"


    On the city walls, a grand secretary of Spiritual Light Hall stood firmly. With the wave of his hands, a green tornado appeared and slowly picked up speed to resist against the Winged Monkeys.


    "Fire!"


    Beside him, another grand secretary with a long beard shouted and a flame appeared in his hands before disappearing into the tornado.


    "Roar! Roar!"


    In an instant, two humongous fire dragons emerged and each of them was about 2 miles long. They were almost as awe-inspiring as a real dragon and with a single roar, they split into hundred and thousands of dragons in the sky which flew down towards the Winged Monkeys.


    The fire would become stronger in the wind!!!


    At this point in time, every single fire dragon was full of life like it was almost real. They could even split up and were comparable to the beasts on the ground. Within moments, they burnt many Winged Monkeys alive.


    Fang Yuan used to like using such tactics but looking at how powerful it could become, Fang Yuan felt a little ashamed.


    They were indeed True Elementals to be able to push these two simple spiritual spells to its maximum potential.


    To such a stage, there was no such thing as a low-tiered spiritual spell or a high-tiered spiritual spell. Every single spiritual spell being cast had its own spiritual property! The fire dragons being created not only had wisdom but were also not afraid of death. In fact, they were better than the Winged Monkeys in all aspects.


    "Haha... It''s Red Dragon!"


    Witnessing this scene, Elder Smelter let out a weird laughter, licked his lips and revealed a murderous look in his eyes.


    "Huh? Elder Smelter, do you know this person?"


    Fang Yuan asked, full of curiosity.


    "Of course I know him. He was always the loser and was once chased to the ends of the world by me. I thought that he had changed his name to live in seclusion. Who would know that he has now been recruited by the Imperial Court!"


    Elder Smelter chuckled. "Let''s settle this once and for all!"


    Although it seemed like that had a lot of hatred for each other, Elder Smelter did not abruptly attack. He controlled himself as he gazed towards the soldiers.


    On an elevated platform, Shi Longtu stood up and his face was full of respect as he severed the two cloud beds in the centre.


    The Ancient One and Li Qingmian crossed their legs and appeared emotionless as the witnessed everything.


    The two powerful spiritual wills started to converse in mid-air:


    ''Is the Head of Hidden Dragon Guards looking for an ultimatum with this move?!''


    ''If he really wants it, so be it. Considering our full might, the Imperial Court will only be trampled by us!''


    Even though the Imperial Court had planted spies, the fact that they were on the losing end in terms of the number of powerful beings would explain that it was the 5 Grand Organisations attacking the Imperial Court now and not the other way round.


    As the two sages spoke to each other, they completely treated the 7th Tier Illusionary Divine dream masters as pawns. They were prepared to sacrifice anyone and everyone, even though their family members might be among those ready to be sacrificed.


    ''Something is not right! I''m afraid that the Imperial Court has an ulterior motive!''


    The Ancient One was not supportive of the ultimatum. ''We should wait for our three brothers to fully activate the 6 Extremes Earth Shattering Array. By then, we will have the upper hand. For now, we should just manage and let things continue as per how they are!''


    ''Alright!''


    As the leader of the Source Seeking Sect, The Demon Killing Divine Pen Li Qingmian was well-known among the sages to be ruthless. Therefore, his willingness to agree to The Ancient One was a surprise.


    ...


    "Rumble!"


    "Rumble!"


    Just went both sides thought that there was no conclusion to the war, a slight tremor started to rumble from the depths of the earth.


    "This is..."


    Fang Yuan shuddered as he looked up into the sky.


    The sunset was beautiful but it was not meant to last. As the last ray of the sun slowly retreated into the horizon, the sky was tinted a beautiful golden hue.


    The full moon was already hanging in the sky, forming a majestic sight of both the moon and the sun in the same scene.


    "This..."


    The Head of Hidden Dragon Guards witnessed this and his emotionless face finally twitched. "Send my command down... All leaders, grand secretaries of Spiritual Light Hall and generals of Martial Arts Court are to gather at the city walls to wait for instructions!"


    "Yes, Sir!"


    Behind him, a silhouette slowly appeared. Taking a bow, it swiftly disappeared.


    "The 6 Extremes Earth Dragons..."


    The Head of Hidden Dragon Guards started to become filled with emotions as he witnessed everything. "How could it be completed so quickly?"


    "Rumble!"


    "Rumble!"


    The small vibrations slowly picked up and within moments, it became an obvious earthquake which stunned the soldiers on both sides.


    "6 Extremes Earth Shattering..."


    Fang Yuan closed his eyes. With his imagination, he could vaguely see the nodes of the array being ignited throughout the entire piece of land. The energy was being transferred throughout the array in the form of vibrations.


    Throughout the entire world of Da Qian, the 6 Earth Dragons raised their heads and roared in unison towards the Jade Capital!


    "Da Qian has already lost this round! Did Zhang Jin or Wu Yue claim victory to disrupt the breath of the earth here?"


    Fang Yuan mulled to himself. This was also the thought the Head of Hidden Dragon Guards had in his mind.


    Not long after, the news started to spread among the armies.


    While Shi Longtu was painstakingly trying to invade the Jade Capital, Wu Yue and Zhang Jin were continuously invading the Yong Region and the South at the same time.


    Just as the 30,000 soldiers surrounded the Jade Capital, the Imperial Court was forced to send their elites and highly skilled people to the Jade Capital to protect the emperor and the city. On the other hand, both Wu Yue and Zhang Jin had received reinforcements.


    Two hours ago, both the North and the South had already erupted into war. Since both Wu Yue and Zhang Jin had the assistance of dream masters, they could naturally win their wars effortlessly.


    In a single breath, Wu Yue had managed to take down 6 regions.


    In the South, Zhang Jin had attacked down the river and 10 over regions had surrendered. His combat power had multiplied by folds as the armies in the invaded regions had changed their loyalty to Zhang Jin. Now, he was the leader of 3 rebel leaders!


    After this invasion, Da Qian was heavily crippled and finally lost control of the dragon energy in the realm. The disruption of the breath of the earth finally led to the earlier formation of the 6 Extremes Earth Shattering Array.


    "This is using what they have against them!"


    After reading about the latest development of the war, Fang Yuan sighed to himself.


    They had a surplus of dream masters. Even if they were to split their combat power, they still had sufficient strength to win all three wars.


    On the other hand, Da Qian did not have as many resources as the 5 Grand Organisations. Coupled with the fact that the Jade Capital was under attack, the Imperial Court could do nothing but retreat its forces from the North and the South to protect the city even though they knew that this was a ploy by the 5 Grand Organisations. With that, they had lost both wars in the North and South!


    This was the difference in outcome due to the difference in ability between both sides. No tactics or ploys could be used to reverse the outcome!


    "Roar! Roar!"


    Accompanying the increasingly loud dragon roars, the tremors started to increase in intensity. The sky darkened and it was as though 6 Earth Dragons appeared on the ground. All 6 of them were roaring towards the Jade Capital.


    "Rumble!"


    There was chaos everywhere!


    An earthquake of extreme magnitude exploded in an instant. The dream masters and the soldiers of Da Qian were out of control, but the higher-tiered dream masters had long prepared for this scenario. They started to activate their arrays to protect the main base of the allied forces.


    Dust spewed everywhere, covering the sun rays.


    When the dust settled, everyone took in a deep breath.


    The city walls which lasted 7 days without crumbling were now filled with holes. Cracks appeared on many parts of the walls as well.


    Stretches of city wall crumbled in that instant, revealing the Jade Capital behind it.


    "This is fate!"


    Witnessing this scene, Shi Longtu hollered. "Fate is with me!!!"


    Fang Yuan and the other elders paid no attention to him. Instead, they paid their respects towards mid-air. "Greetings, Sages!"


    "Buzz! Buzz!"


    A huge presence started to descend and 3 illusionary silhouettes appeared in mid-air. These 3 silhouettes gave off an awe-inspiring vibe and each of them had a huge cloud stemming from their heads.


    "I''m sorry for the wait!"


    These were not magical clones or spiritual wills, but the actual sages themselves. Without a sound, they descended before everyone!


    Although they did not give any warning, the vibe and pressure which came along with them could be felt by everyone. The entire Jade Capital was thrown into a dead silence.


    These 3 sages were waiting for the final opportunity to secure a resounding victory. The Imperial Court could do nothing, and not even the Head of Hidden Dragon Guards could fend off such an attack!

 477 The Pen and the Sword

    5 Sages appeared at the same time!


    Colourful clouds released their glow at the same time, each representing a powerful presence.


    It was as though the air around them had solidified in an instant. Everyone around, even True Divines and True Elementals, were being pressured by an invisible and immense force.


    "Ha!"


    At this moment, from the royal city, there was a loud exclamation.


    It sounded like the roar of a dragon. The mighty roar seemed to have as much energy as the sun, being able to support even the weight of the skies.


    "Phew¡­.."


    Countless cultivators heaved their sighs.


    If they hesitated, they could be suffocated by the immense pressure which came from the presence of the sages.


    "The annoying fogeys are here!"


    The 5 Prominent Divine dream masters appeared solemn as they gazed towards an approaching storm originating from the royal family.


    It was approaching neither swiftly nor slowly. Casually, but within a few moments, a silhouette had arrived on the city walls.


    With every action of his, the clouds would lumber and slowly, they formed an eye of a tornado which followed him closely.


    He was one with nature!


    All of his actions represented the heavens! With the blessings and strength from the heavens, this person''s powers were immensely boosted.


    "Superior Wu Zun!"


    Fang Yuan mumbled the name of this Da Qian True Divine.


    It was this person who neutralised the combined attack from the 5 sages with a single shout.


    If Fang Yuan were to close his eyes to imagine, he would visualise a huge star as huge as an entire sun standing on the city walls!


    No! Not just a star, but more like a black hole.


    If Fang Yuan''s spiritual will were to approach this person, it would be disintegrated immediately and he would not be able to detect anything. Therefore, he could only use his naked eyes to observe.


    "Haha... It is my good fortune to be able to go head-on against 5 Prominent Divine dream masters! This is a happy occasion!"


    Superior Wu Zun seemed like a normal looking middle-aged man with a squarish face and big ears. However, his ear-shattering laughter could shake even the strongest cultivators all the way back in the base of the allied forces.


    "This is an extremely powerful martial artist willpower!"


    Fang Yuan was a martial artist himself and knew how scarily powerful this martial artist was. "This person''s willpower is like an entire mountain made out of metal. He can use it to disrupt reality like how the mind could affect matter! If any 5th or 6th Tier Illusionary Divine dream master were to encounter him, they would die from merely hearing his shout and will be unable to use any of their illusionary techniques."


    "Is this how powerful a fated True Divine will be? What about a fated True Elemental?"


    With a single thought, a fiery glow appeared in Fang Yuan''s eyes as he started to observe the arrival of another storm.


    The other party floated in mid-air and was a majestic looking young man. However, this young man''s eyes were filled with sorrow as though he had given up on love. With that, he seemed wise and mature.


    On his arrival, elemental force started to flow towards him like a river in a continuous cycle, spreading his vibe more than a 100 miles across!


    "Accompanying the wind, I shall take command of all objects!"


    This fated True Elemental was different from Superior Wu Zun. All elemental force in the realm and even objects had already recognised him as their owner, allowing him to manipulate anything at will.


    "It seemed as though he has control over the entire world!"


    Fang Yuan swallowed some saliva and knew that if he were to pit himself against any of them using his status as a True Divine or a powerful dream master, he would still undoubtedly lose. He might not even be able to escape alive.


    "Qian Guiyi!"


    Beside Fang Yuan, Elder Smelter was already shaking in fear as he revealed the name of this fated True Elemental.


    These two spiritual knight and Wu Zong were the rare talents among all True Divines and True Elementals. They were already recorded in history books as they continued to impress everyone wherever they go.


    After becoming the imperial advisor of Da Qian and receiving the blessings from the heavens, their cultivations were pushed one step further, breaking through their original limits to allow them to pit against Prominent Divine dream masters!


    As they made their appearance, 10 other silhouettes started to appear on the city walls as well.


    They all had mysterious spiritual auras or aggressive vibes and were all powerful beings, be it True Divines or True Elementals. Together, they were equally impressive as a bunch of sages!!


    This was all the combat force from the Martial Arts Court, Tai Temple and the Spiritual Light Hall and was as powerful as the Hidden Dragon Guards. They were the pinnacle of the Imperial Court!


    "Phew..."


    Witnessing this scene before him, Fang Yuan took a deep breath.


    Even Extreme Darkness, who was an Illusionary Divine dream master, appeared vexed as she bit her lip.


    All of them knew that if they were to go head-on, considering the number of powerful beings the Imperial Court had, even a 9th Tier Illusionary Divine dream master could not be confident of ensuring its own survival.


    "The 6 Extremes Earth Shattering Array should be completed. However, they have not activated it yet. The 5 sages are indeed mysterious in their ways!"


    Fang Yuan gazed at the 5 sages in mid-air.


    Although the Imperial Court had revealed their most powerful assets, the 5 clouds from the sages seemed unaffected.


    The sages knew that they had control over the 6 Extremes Earth Shattering Array.


    As soon as the array was activated, the source of the realm would directly be sacrificed and a high-dimension passage connecting to the Demonic Heart Realm would be formed.


    The previous earthquake and crumbling of the city walls was nothing. The sages merely released the repercussion of activating the array and coincidently awakened the Earth Dragons.


    "Hidden Dragon! Qian Guiyi! Superior Wu Zun! The 6 Extremes Earth Shattering Array is already completed. If you continue with your futile resistance, you will all turn into dust and will never be able to be reborn!"


    From the 5 sages, a powerful spiritual will was heard.


    "We are only following the trend of the heavens. Da Qian has never let anyone down. You guys are crazy to think about destroying our world and sacrificing it..."


    Superior Wu Zun hollered with a thunderous voice. "We shall correct everything even if we have one man left!"


    "Stubborn!"


    The 5 sages roared together as their clouds floated up, breaking through the skies.


    "Haha... I am already intending to take on the 5 of you!"


    The sages tore the skies apart, revealing outer space as the battlefield.


    Witnessing this scene, Superior Wu Zun laughed out loud and jumped into the battlefield without any reservations.


    After all, if they fought in the Jade Capital, a single blow from any of the sages might just kill all the low-tiered cultivators in the vicinity.


    Therefore, they had to fight somewhere else.


    These 5 sages collectively opened up another void above the Jade Capital, which was the most suitable place for the fight to occur.


    Only when the 5 of them combined forces against the 3 powerful beings from the Imperial Court could they guard their surroundings at the same time.


    This was not to protect themselves. In fact, it was because the Jade Capital was also an important array eye of the array and it was best not to destroy it before the sacrifice.


    The 5 sages appeared composed as they created the battlefield. They had the advantage but the 3 powerful beings from the Imperial Court could only enter the battlefield unwillingly, for they did not want to risk the destruction of the Jade Capital.


    Although the Head of Hidden Dragon Guards had a lot of other considerations, he did not have much choice.


    "Move the mountains!"


    Superior Wu Zun hollered as he released his energy. The surroundings around the Jade Capital shook as mountains were being plucked from the ground before flying towards the 5 sages.


    His strength was enough to move mountains!


    As a fated True Divine, his first move was an extreme one.


    "Great!"


    Qian Guiyi took a step out and entered the battlefield. At the same time, across a radius of a thousand miles, a storm started to pick up as though all the elemental force of the world had gathered in a singularity.


    "Leaders of Hidden Dragon Guards, listen up! Protect the Jade Capital and never retreat!"


    Head of Hidden Dragon Guards took a quick glance towards the base of the allied forces before taking a step into the battlefield.


    Fang Yuan raised his head.


    The ability of the sages to create a void and a separate space from earth was impressive. It was as though another dimension had opened up above the Jade Capital. In the dimension, stars covered the background and silver-coloured storms were raging everywhere.


    The 8 powerful beings each took up a spot and held their ground. Even the storm within the dimension started to calm down.


    Before the stars, Superior Wu Zun''s act of tossing mountains was a mere joke. As soon as the battle commenced, the mountain was swiftly disintegrated by the silver storm.


    "Kill!"


    The cultivators exchanged glances before roaring together.


    Spiritual territories were released and the space around the battlefield was warped. The entire place turned into chaos. Anyone who was not a powerful being would die without a question if they were to enter the spiritual territory.


    "Haha¡­.. Red Dragon, let''s see who can save you today!"


    Elder Smelter had already long targeted this True Elemental spiritual knight. With a roar, 6 fiery dragons appeared beside him before flying towards the city walls.


    "Hmph, you have destroyed my entire sect and I shall avenge them today!"


    A hint of fear flashed across Red Dragon''s face. Suddenly, he transformed into a 3-headed fiery dragon with 6 talons and flew forward into the battlefield.


    "Hehe..."


    Witnessing the scene, Fang Yuan snickered to himself. "From the sages'' plans, everyone will be sacrificed... Indeed, anyone weaker than a sage is a mere ant!"


    Considering the fact that Fang Yuan was well-known, many other powerful beings were already plotting to kill this ''talent''.


    Behind Fang Yuan, Elder Thick Earth transfigured into a 6-legged beast and burrowed into the ground, disappearing in an instant.


    This elder knew that on the battlefield, be it him, the dream beast master or Fang Yuan, the talent, both of them would be targeted by the enemies. Since even Elder Smelter had already made up an excuse to leave the battlefield, if Fang Yuan and Elder Thick Earth were to remain together, they would surely be surrounded.


    Instead of sacrificing oneself in the name of brotherhood, it was wiser to escape.


    After all, a dream beast master needed a safe environment to be able to continuously summon a beast army.


    "They are the best teammates I can ever ask for!"


    Looking at the fleeing Thick Earth, Fang Yuan chuckled. In the next instant, he could feel that his life was in danger.

 478 Chaos in War

    Shadows flickered about.


    Fang Yuan knew that today was the first time he had seen so many powerful beings come together.


    The final showdown between the two sides had seen the best of the best pitting against one another. Among the Imperial Court, True Elementals and True Divines gathered and shouted as they advanced.


    In such a war, normal soldiers were expendable.


    Even Shi Longtu himself could only flee with embarrassment and couldn''t care less about his own army.


    "Rumble!"


    Fists and palms were flying about, and so were spiritual spells and dream soldiers... Everyone displayed their powers beneath the wall of the Jade Capital and in no time, the already tattered wall became even more damaged.


    At this stage, the forces of the Imperial Court were continuously retreating, giving up more and more land to the powerful beings to fight with each other.


    The soldiers who were unable to escape from the battlefield, be it from Da Qian or from the allied forces all died a gruesome death and had no way to escape.


    It was from this chaos which Fang Yuan could detect a murderous intent coming for him from somewhere.


    This murderous intent was extremely strong, like the sun rays coming from a huge sun. If anyone else were to be targeted, he would have no chance of escaping alive.


    "Is a True Divine trying to ambush me?"


    Fang Yuan leapt up and quickly retreated. In an instant, he had already moved 35 yards backwards.


    "Hmph! As a True Divine, how can you allow yourself to be the lackeys of dream masters!"


    "You deserve to die!"


    Two spiritual wills were heard in Fang Yuan''s consciousness.


    From afar, two majestic looking silhouettes appeared. They were both True Divines.


    Seeing that their ambush had failed, they quickly adapted and started to strike towards Fang Yuan in quick succession.


    This was similar to if a dream master were to encounter another dream master from the Hidden Dragon Guards. They would treat the latter as a traitor. Therefore, the True Divines and True Elementals of the Imperial Court would treat Fang Yuan as a traitor since he was with the allied forces.


    Traitors were always more hated than normal enemies and this was the perfect representation.


    The Imperial Court was the base of martial arts and spiritual spells. It was no surprise when these two True Divines had a murderous intent towards Fang Yuan whom they assume to have defected from the Imperial Court.


    "The information about me in the Imperial Court should only include that I am a dream master and a talented martial artist, my cultivation as a dream master is at the 4th or 5th Tier of the Illusionary Divine stage and that I have just achieved a breakthrough to become a True Divine. I am the perfect weak person for them to pick on..."


    In a flash, Fang Yuan understood everything. "These two True Divines are combining forces to deal with me to ensure that they will be victorious. Furthermore, they can use me as an excuse to avoid the stronger enemies. They are really scheming!"


    However, Fang Yuan felt pleased.


    Although these two True Divines were looking to use Fang Yuan to avoid the other powerful beings, they had no idea that Fang Yuan was thinking about the same thing, which was to make use of the both of them.


    In such a chaotic war, the wise ones would be those who remain a low profile.


    With a sidestep, Fang Yuan attempted to escape to the sidelines of the battlefield.


    "Don''t think of escaping! Today, the Lefty and Righty Ambassadors will take your life!"


    The two True Divines hollered in unison as though they were up against their nemesis.


    A True Divine would be extremely quick in his footsteps!


    In a few moments, the 3 of them had already ran a few miles and had arrived at the sidelines.


    "This place is scenic and is most suitable to be your place of burial!"


    Fang Yuan examined the both of them with his hands behind his back. With a smile, he glared at the both of them who were already catching up.


    "You''re overconfident!"


    These two True Divines were well trained in combat. Without resting, they immediately struck their opening moves.


    "Thousand Crane Claw!"


    "Tiger God Searching Palm!"


    The both of them bellowed. Their martial arts were not only at the peak but could also complement each other to deliver the perfect blow.


    Martial arts willpower gathered from the surroundings to form the illusionary shape of a ferocious tiger and a white crane. Together with the wind, the strikes went for Fang Yuan''s weak points.


    These two people were True Divines and both of them had already formed the martial artist Divine Body. However, they held back and did not reveal them. Instead, they were purely harnessing their physical strength, but it was already enough to even split mountains and oceans.


    "You shall know in a moment if I am overconfident!"


    Fang Yuan took in a deep breath. Similarly, he did not release his Pangu Eagle Body and only leveraged on his physical body to receive the hits. "Eagle Claw!"


    "Bang! Bang!"


    He struck towards the left and the right to deflect the incoming attacks. As soon as the martial arts willpower settled into Fang Yuan''s consciousness, it was destroyed in an instant. A loud gong was heard as soon as the energy of the illusionary tiger and crane landed on Fang Yuan''s body.


    "Metal Body Technique?!"


    Lefty and Righty Ambassador were shocked. Having such a level of cultivation in this technique meant that Fang Yuan was as skilled as those highly-skilled generals in their army.


    After shock came embarrassment.


    Both of them were experienced True Divines and they could not even take down a junior in a single hit. Instead, both of them were being counterattacked.


    How could they accept such a fact?


    "Brother, let''s go all out!"


    Lefty Ambassador roared as his physical body started to expand in size. Energy started to flow on his back as he turned into a giant with the prints of a ferocious tiger on his skin.


    "Alright!"


    Beside him, another Divine Body was being formed. It was long like a crane from the heavens. With outstretched wings, it started to fly.


    "So, it''s the Tiger and Crane Divines!"


    Fang Yuan laughed as he recognised the both of them.


    "30 years ago, in the South of Da Qian, there was the Divine Dragon Sect. The Sect Head, Lord Divine Dragon was a True Elemental. He had two ambassadors under his charge and another 5 lone cultivators. All of them were True Divines. However, your sect had offended the Source Seeking Sect and Lord Divine Dragon was killed. The 5 lone cultivators had surrendered to them while the both of you were missing. I see, so you guys have turned to the Imperial Court!"


    "We shall avenge both our sect and our country today!"


    The Tiger and Crane Divines roared and manipulated their divine bodies to attack.


    "Tiger Crane Double Kill!"


    The two True Divines combined forces and since they were in close proximity with each other, coupled with the fact that the two brothers had exceptional chemistry with each other, they could easily kill even a True Elemental!


    "Whooo..."


    Fang Yuan released a long breath and his skin started to turn into a natural violet hue.


    "Whoosh!"


    The spiritual aura which he exhaled was long and sharp like an arrow. Swiftly, it flew towards the two of them.


    "Pangu Eagle Body!"


    Fang Yuan started a chant and an empty plot of land appeared behind his back. A muscular giant started to emerge from the land.


    Although Fang Yuan had already restrained himself, the divine body which he had just released was still much taller than the Tiger and Crane divine bodies on the other end. It was as though he was bullying two kids.


    "Kill!"


    The 3 silhouettes quickly came together and fought at a speed unable to be observed by the naked eye. As the fight progressed, space around started to warp and the ground beneath them turned into an irreversible mess.


    "This is impossible! He is merely a new True Divine. How can he even keep up with us combining forces?"


    In an instant, the 3 of them had already fought over a thousand times and the Tiger and Crane divine bodies started to retreat.


    "This person seems to have cultivated a perfect version of martial arts and he must have only broken through after reaching his limits. This is perfection!"


    Lefty Ambassador appeared pale and started to feel an indescribable sense of jealousy. "You are indeed a talented and a powerful True Divine.... Why do you want to join the dream masters?"


    "We have 5 sages in the allied forces and our victory is unquestionable. It is the both of you who are confused as to which side you should choose!"


    Fang Yuan laughed heartily and his heart sank as he gazed and the both of them who remained silent.


    As Fang Yuan gathered his spiritual will, he could vaguely observe the 9 Heavenly Sky Net Array. Although it would be hard to imagine a fight among sages, it was almost impossible for the 5 Prominent Divine dream masters to lose this war.


    Suddenly, Fang Yuan struck his hand out and the Pangu Giant behind him started to roar. With an open palm, it started to grab towards the two True Divines.


    ''After all, I am not looking for recognition in this war. I am only hoping that I do not offend anybody... I have already done my part to hold these two True Divines back, considering the cultivation level which I have revealed...''


    After engulfing the two True Divines with his energy, Fang Yuan could still look around and observe the other fights between the other powerful beings.


    The situation now was tensed.


    However, something was not right!


    ''How could the Imperial Court gather so many powerful beings? Why are all the powerful beings so loyal to the Imperial Court?''


    Fang Yuan felt that all of these were unbelievable. ''Everyone can see that as soon as the 5 Prominent Divine stage dream masters win the fight in the battlefield in outer space, even if the other powerful beings win here, their victories would not matter.''


    Although Da Qian had dream masters, they had more True Divines and True Elementals and these martial artists and spiritual knights were willing to put their lives on the line. Not only were they able to resist against so many 7th Tier Illusionary Divine dream masters, they had slowly gained the upper hand and everything was unbelievable.


    ...


    On another battlefield, Elder Black Water had black water gushing about him. As the black water flowed, it corroded everything in its path.


    "3,000 gallons of black water shall corrode everything!''"


    "Whoosh!"


    From the black water, a few thick Xuan Snakes appeared. Sticking out their tongue, they targeted a spiritual knight and two other True Divines within. It was as though a spider had trapped its prey in its spiderweb and was about to slowly enjoy consuming it.


    "How dare you 3 servants dare to fight against your master?"


    Elder Black Water controlled the black water towards the 3 of them and appeared satisfied. "Or would you prefer to be corroded by my Black Water Array?"


    "Let''s give it our all!"


    The two True Divines shrieked as they walked on the black water. They were surrounded by a dense layer of elemental force.


    "Hiss! Hiss!"


    Two Xuan Snakes appeared and blocked their path.


    "Kill it!"


    "Buzz! Buzz!"


    The two True Divine immediately revealed their divine bodies. With a ferocious punch, they smashed the snakes'' head and continued walking. They were making their way towards Elder Black Water!


    As they ran, white smoke started to form beneath their legs. Thick layers of elemental forces started to corrode and even their feet were beginning to bleed. The black water started to cover them and corroded through their flesh, revealing parts of their bone.


    "How dare you kill my Black Water Xuan Snakes!"


    Elder Black Water was infuriated as he unleashed a tsunami. "Even if you manage to find our the weakness of my array, I can alter it immediately to kill the both of you in an instant!"


    Before Elder Black Water could alter the array, a silhouette appeared behind him and a spiritual will entered his consciousness. "Calm!"


    Elder Black Water froze as he glared at the silhouette approaching him with a sharp knife. He appeared stunned for a moment before his head exploded and blood spewed everywhere.


    "Whoosh!"


    At the side, a Black Water Xuan Snake appeared. Its forehead started to split, revealing Elder Black Water''s face. "This is the Head of Hidden Dragon Guards'' bodyguard... Shadow Dragon Guard?!"


    The ambush had gone undetected. Fortunately, Elder Black Water had prepared a few bodies for himself and with some time, he would be able to restore his powers.


    "Kill!"


    At this moment, the True Divines had let loose and came before the black snake. With their bloodshot eyes, they hollered in unison. "Die!"


    "Roar! Roar!"


    As the two divine bodies sandwiched the snake in their palms, a gruesome explosion happened. A soul emerged from the snake which was subsequently stabbed by Shadow Dragon Guard before dissipating.


    The 7th Tier Illusionary Divine dream master of the Realm Alliance, Elder Black Water, was dead!

 479 Battle

    This Elder Black Water was really unlucky.


    Dream masters at the 7th Tier of the Illusionary Divine stage had lots of survival tactics. Even if their original body was killed, they could transmigrate themselves to a temporarily prepared body.


    What Elder Smelter spiritualised was the Fiery Dragon Child whereas what Elder Black Water created were the Black Water Xuan Snakes.


    However, such possession-cum-reincarnation technique could only be used once in a short period of time.


    As Elder Black Water was fighting against 4 others all alone, the spiritual knight he was fighting against discovered the flaw in his array. The two True Divines persevered through the black waters to kill him and in the key moment, there was even a sneak attack from a 7th Tier Illusionary Divine dream master, Shadow Dragon Guard!


    Under the combined attack from the four of them, not only did Elder Black Water die, even his temporary magical clone did not manage to escape too and died aggrievedly.


    This was the reality of such a chaotic war!


    Even if one could defeat three and was mightily fierce, he would still die a tragic death under such crossfires!


    The moment Elder Black Water''s corpse landed on the ground, it immediately disappeared. It was as though this piece of land had become alive and was consciously devouring the soul, blood and flesh on top of itself.


    "Splash!"


    The Black Water Array disappeared at once. A few Black Water Xuan Snakes appeared and were killed at once too.


    "Thanks for the help, leader!"


    The trapped True Elemental spiritual knight walked forward with large steps and thanked Shadow Dragon Guard.


    "We are all working for the Imperial Court, you''re welcome!"


    Shadow Dragon Guard''s figure disappeared at once as he faded into the shadows. Even his spiritual aura was gone without a trace.


    "Are you two okay? These Clear Spirit Jade Pills have a magical effect on healing wounds, you all can use it..."


    The True Elemental spiritual knight took out two bottles and poured the medication on their wounds, "Bear the pain!"


    "No problem, to be able to kill a 7th Tier Illusionary Divine dream master, it''s all worth it even if we die!"


    The two True Divines chuckled.


    Elder Black Water could cast his array with just a thought. The torrential black waters were overwhelming and could submerge everything and anything. Furthermore, it was extremely noxious and caustic.


    There were no other ways of going against such black waters other than resisting it with their True Divine bodies.


    "Abominable, die!"


    Before the three of them could fully recover, a lightning bolt struck from mid-air. Elder Extreme Darkness appeared with a cold look on her face, "How dare you all kill an elder of my Realm Alliance! Tell me, how do you all want to die!?"


    "She is Extreme Darkness from Realm Alliance, be careful of her eyes... she..."


    As the True Elemental spiritual knight exclaimed, he immediately felt an appalling and biting sense of chilliness enter his body. It immediately made him shiver in cold and a layer of frost covered his face at once.


    "You killed General Han Nuo and the Grand Secretary of Wind?"


    The two True Divines looked at the two heads Extreme Darkness was carrying and their expressions changed at once, "We must avenge them!"


    "I''ve killed countless of people before! You want to look for me for revenge? I''m afraid you all have to wait until aeons later!"


    Extreme Darkness suddenly smirked and added, "But now, I don''t mind fulfilling your wishes! Extreme Darkness Chilly Territory!"


    "Swoosh!"


    The power of a prosperous land expanded and formed a spiritual territory. The skies changed at once and the moon rose from the mountains. An astonishing sense of chilliness came along as the moon rose and even froze the void around it, forcing a shadow to appear.


    "All of you... have to die!"


    Extreme Darkness said calmly. A tinge of bloodiness appeared in her eyes too.


    "Be careful, this woman is at the 9th Tier of Illusionary Divine stage! She''s only below the Sage in Realm Alliance!"


    As Shadow Dragon Guard hollered, the four powerful beings immediately gathered together and stared at Extreme Darkness.


    "Haha... Old fogey Red Dragon, you finally died in my hands!"


    On the other side, the sky was covered in red clouds. Elder Smelter rode on the fiery dragon and emerged from the clouds with a head on his hand. The moment he saw the four powerful beings trapped by Extreme Darkness, his eyes lit up, "Elder Extreme Darkness, I''ll come and help you!"


    "Scram!"


    Extreme Darkness'' spiritual will could be felt. Her intention to kill was so strong that even Elder Smelter was shocked. He knew that if he were to take advantage of the situation, she would have dared to deal with him too! Because she was a lunatic!


    "Till now, Extreme Darkness'' character has not changed at all..."


    Elder Smelter sighed, "I can''t believe Black Water actually died? It''s all caused by being too high profile... Hehe, I wonder how''s my young friend doing?"


    As Elder Smelter looked down and took a few glances, he quickly noticed Fang Yuan who was at the edge of the battlefield. He then appeared shocked, "He''s at such a stage?"


    ...


    On the edge of the battlefield.


    A primaeval giant was fighting against two giants with tiger and crane tattoos respectively. This primaeval giant was at a huge advantage and pushed its opponents to their limits.


    "Impossible..."


    The Tiger and Crane Divines looked baffled as they could not believe how they were being defeated by a new True Divine!


    "There''s nothing impossible in this world! Old fogeys, the time is up for both of you!"


    Fang Yuan guffawed. At the same time, he was constantly paying attention to the entire battlefield.


    Currently, numerous True Divine martial artists, True Elemental spiritual knights and even 7th Tier Illusionary Divine dream masters had already died. The moment their corpses landed on the ground, they were quietly devoured by the breath of the earth. It was a rather shocking sight to behold.


    ''They are even using the powerful beings as blood sacrifices!''


    Fang Yuan felt a chill inside his heart, ''Most importantly... even Da Qian side is allowing it to happen and not stopping it. It means they must be confident everything will be still under their control, or they had already grasped the counter to the 6 Extremes Earth Shattering Array! Is the 9 Heavenly Sky Net Array ready?''


    This 9 Heavenly Sky Net Array was built from the heavenly will as its foundation. The one Fang Yuan cast in Planet Earth Realm was just an incomplete version of it which only had one array eye.


    However, Da Qian Imperial Court had been preparing for half a year! Its ambitions would be imaginable!


    ''The complete version of this sky net array can quietly envelop the heavens and earth. Even if it''s activated, we will have no clue that it''s activated already...''


    Suddenly, the mists surrounding the battle inside the void in mid-air dispersed. Indeed, the five Prominent Divine dream masters had already forced the three other sages into a corner and victory was imminent.


    "Now!"


    Fang Yuan quickly seized this opportunity as the Tiger and Crane Divines was realising what was happening in the battle between the sages. At this time, their thoughts were not focused and Fang Yuan suddenly made his move.


    "Chaos Divine Fist! Kill!"


    Fang Yuan roared and both his fists struck out with insurmountable force, as though it was creating the world and splitting apart the heavens and earth.


    This was a creative move Fang Yuan obtained from the 7 Constellations Sword Array. Although it could not really break the world and reconfigure earth, fire, wind and water, it still bore some meaning related to the mythology of Pangu creating the universe.


    "Oh no!"


    Facing such deadly fists, the Tiger and Crane Divines finally realised the lethal mistake they committed.


    Even though they tried their best to overestimate Fang Yuan''s power, they could not imagine he was hiding his martial arts skills up till just now!


    "Bang!"


    The giant of Pangu Eagle Body roared and struck a punch too.


    This earth-shattering punch landed on the body of the tiger giant and immediately caused it to disintegrate and turn into sparks of light scattering.


    "Blergh!"


    Lefty Tiger Ambassador''s expression changed at once as he retched up a stream of blood.


    "Big brother!"


    After Righty Crane Ambassador saw how severely injured his brother was, he stopped for a moment and looked backwards.


    And just at that instant, he no longer had the chance to escape.


    "You, stop too!"


    Fang Yuan opened up his arms and the Pangu giant behind him made the same action and surrounded the crane giant before giving it a tight hug!


    "Bang!"


    The martial artist Divine Body exploded. The minds of two True Divines connected with each other as they fell to the ground with severe injuries and their lives hanging on a thread.


    Fang Yuan took a few steps forward. Suddenly, he frowned and immediately struck three punches to the left, "Who dares to ambush me?"


    Light rays distorted and a midget looking old man emerged. His body was still retreating backwards rapidly, "Oh my god! How come the youngsters nowadays are more and more per-ver-ted!"


    "Old fogey, how dare you!?"


    Fang Yuan bellowed in anger, "Just a mere True Divine that learnt some assassination tactics and you think you are Shadow Dragon Guard? Chaos Divine Fist! Die!"


    Fang Yuan''s angry roar condensed and forcefully penetrated into this old man''s sea of consciousness.


    Although Fang Yuan was not as powerful as Superior Wu Zun who could turn his will into a physical object, his murderous aura and mind power were still the strongest amongst these powerful beings.


    Whereas, this old man was a once famous True Divine who was well versed in assassination tactics. Although he was mighty looking, he was not good at face-to-face fights. With just a move from Fang Yuan, he was already as good as crippled.


    After he regained his sense, he suddenly saw the fist coming for him in front of him.


    This was an earth-shattering fist!


    "Bang!"


    The old man tried to block the fist with his arms and he flew backwards. Nevertheless, he could not escape from the punch. Immediately, a mist of blood covered the skies.


    WIth just a fist, this nameless True Divine died in an instant!


    "Chi! Chi!"


    Blood landed on the ground and immediately disappeared in the blink of an eye. It was as though it was met with a greedy big mouth which quickly devoured it.


    Seeing such, Fang Yuan''s face turned slightly gloomy. He then arrived in front of the Tiger and Crane Divines.


    "No... don''t kill me..."


    The more powerful a person was, the more afraid he was of death.


    As True Divines, the two of them were already at the peak of the world. Faced with death, they trembled with fear.


    "Tell me... what is the Imperial Court''s trump card?"


    Fang Yuan''s voice was low as he asked, "Why are you all so loyal and fearless?"


    "Trump card? We don''t know!"


    Righty Crane Ambassador had a puzzled look on his face as he answered.


    "He really doesn''t know. He still subconsciously thinks he is the Imperial Court''s man and wants to fight against us dream masters!"


    Seeing such, Fang Yuan felt cold in his heart.


    As a 7th Tier Illusionary Divine dream master, Fang Yuan naturally had the ability to differentiate things. After he sensed for a while, he came to a conclusion, "Something''s not right! Really not right!"


    "You all still have a chance to survive now! If the two of you defect to the Realm Alliance and become my slaves, I will spare your lives!"


    Fang Yuan thought for a while and laid down his conditions.


    "Dream on!"


    "We will never work with dream masters!"


    The Tiger and Crane Divines became enraged.


    "Bang! Bang!"


    Fang Yuan struck out both his fists, one for each True Divine, and their heads exploded at once. As Fang Yuan watched their corpses disappear into the earth, he remained silent.


    The two of them refused to surrender, thus, they could only be killed. If Fang Yuan waited any longer, the opposition support would have arrived.


    Such unyielding resolute was unbelievable!


    ''Could it be... mind control? However, this requires the person to be wholeheartedly willing, like how I planted he Eternal Love Tribulations Imprint on Liu Mengmei... It also requires fate and coincidences and cannot be replicated... Impossible!''


    Fang Yuan thought through rather bewilderedly.


    "Kababoom!"


    Suddenly, high in the skies, the void battlefield shattered.


    Three meteors landed on top of Jade Capital city walls before revealing the figure of the Head of Hidden Dragon Guards and others.


    Five streams of lights then landed orderly. They appeared unfazed and overbearing.


    Seeing such, it was evident that the three sages of the Imperial Court were at a disadvantaged position in the battle.


    "Whizz!"


    After the sages battled it out, it was as though a signal was sent out and the powerful beings on both sides that were still fighting with each other immediately retreated. Once again, it was now a situation whereby both sides were awaiting confrontation.

 480 The Appearance

    "Does the three of you really intend to continue this?"


    The 5 pressurizing spiritual wills smashed across the crippled city walls like a huge tsunami wave. The pressure started to grow and finally, it became unbearable.


    "We will remain loyal forever!"


    Superior Wu Zun started to laugh to himself. Even though they were on the losing end, together with Qian Huanyi and the Head of Hidden Dragon Guards, there were no visible injuries on them.


    "Since that is so, it is only fate that the three of you will be reduced to ashes today!"


    The Sage from the Evil Divine Sect heaved a huge sigh and swept the surroundings with his spiritual will. "We have enough blood sacrifice now. How about activating the array?"


    "Since the Imperial Court is brazenly resisting our attacks, they must have something planned out!"


    The Sage from the Divine Lotus Cult was the only female there. Unknowingly, she began to examine the Sage from the Evil Divine Sect.


    "If that is so, then what should we do?"


    The Sage from the Evil Divine Sect felt a little affected. Ever since the episode at the Changli Hollows, he constantly felt as though this lady was picking on him or testing him. Perhaps, she was suspecting that he might have hidden a secret inheritance from the hollows.


    He was unfortunate! Until now, there were only 5 portions of Sage Changli''s inheritance and none of it was in his possession!


    "From my observations, I believe that the Imperial Court is not totally against us opening the passage to the Demonic Heart Realm. They must have something in place already, for instance, the heavenly array described in Sage Changli''s inheritance..."


    The Ancient One joined the conversation. "It''s a pity that we do not have the complete inheritance. Otherwise, we will be able to perfect Sage Changli''s 6 and 9 Arrays!"


    "Although we might not be able to perfect it, it is still almost impossible for them to stop us."


    Li Qingmian continued. "Let''s not bother about the Imperial Court. As soon as we open the doors, we shall leave everything to fate. By then, do you think the Imperial Court will be able to go against us? What do you think, Sage Baize?"


    "Alright!"


    Sage Baize who remained silent all the while finally spoke as he nodded his head.


    "Alright!"


    "Alright!"


    In an instant, 4 Sages had come to a consensus. Lord Yin of the Divine Lotus Cult sighed and remained silent.


    ...


    "It''s beginning!"


    Fang Yuan shuddered and his hair stood on its ends.


    In the sky, dark clouds started to gather and purple streaks of lightning flashed across the sky.


    This was a sign that the will of the realm was awakening; it was ready to strike anytime.


    "The heavens are enraged! The three Sages of Da Qian, if any of you are looking to go all out to prevent the arrival of the Demonic Heart Realm, this is your chance!"


    Under the rage of the heavens, even a 7th Tier Illusionary Divine dream master could only step aside. Everyone made way for the 8 Sages.


    "Rumble! Rumble!"


    The skies turned a dark violet. The streaks of lightning blended in with the clouds before unleashing a heavenly bolt of lightning with the power to split the earth!


    This was true power with the potential to destroy worlds!


    Before such a destructive power, the secret technique of the 8 Gates Sword Array was nothing.


    "The heavenly will of Da Qian is... too strong!"


    Fang Yuan''s pupils contracted as he remained dazed.


    Such a powerful will of the realm was born from the collective lifeforms living in the realm, akin to being programmed in a specific way like an artificial intelligence and there was nothing one could do about it.


    For instance, the will of Planet Earth Realm could not even activate its own tribulations to deal with the high-tiered cultivators when they turned rebellious against the realm.


    However, it seemed as though the will of Da Qian had already broken through these limitations and was much more adaptable than what it was expected to be.


    "Kacha!"


    As soon as the will of the realm struck, a devastating violet streak of lightning with a green hue struck towards the 5 dream masters of the allied forces.


    "It''s too early for the realm to fight back!"


    The Ancient One started to predict and frowned at the same time. "Lord Yin, Baize, Evil Divine... Continue the activation of the array. Demon Killing Divine Pen and I should be enough to deal with this!"


    "Rumble!"


    As soon as he finished his sentence, the two clouds above the sages started to grow, covering the entire sky, including the violet streak of lightning.


    "Kacha!"


    5 streaks of lightning landed on the protective clouds, forcing them to dissipate. With a loud exclamation, the 2 Sages continued to transfer colourful energy to restore the clouds. In that instant, they had momentarily held off the attack, dispersing the bolts of lightning in the process.


    "Hehe... the both of them are indeed powerful sages to be able to hold of such a powerful strike without getting injured!"


    Fang Yuan continuously retreated as he stared at Lord Yin and the 2 other Sages.


    Beneath the clouds they were sitting on, the roar of dragons emerged from the earth meridians. There was a fearful force coming from the roars.


    "6 Extremes Earth Shattering, rise!"


    With that shout, a mysterious glow of light flew out from the hands of the 3 Sages, fusing together above the Jade Capital.


    "Roar! Roar!"


    The earth dragons flipped around and an earthquake of 10 on the Richter Scale rumbled. The nodes of the realm shook violently and took up the form of 6 giant earthly dragons. The dragons roared before rushing out from the surface of the earth, gathering above the Jade Capital.


    "Kacha!"


    "Rumble!"


    Streaks of lightning zipped around the sky and blood rain started to pour.


    The heavens were enraged enough for blood to pour from the skies!


    Even more lightning erupted from the skies and heavenly violet lightning struck down. Even the protective clouds could not recover in time and was being forced away.


    Fang Yuan shuddered at the sight of such exasperation from the will of the realm. He knew that other than Sages, if anyone were to be caught in such a situation, they would undoubtedly be killed.


    "Roar! Roar!"


    The 6 dragons stretched over 20 miles. After diving into the ground, they all gained the vibes of a true dragon. All 6 of them swiped their claws in mid-air as though they had caught something.


    A mysterious and huge force seemed to have been pulled out from the Jade Capital. The force had a purple hue as it gathered above the capital.


    "This is... the natural source of the realm!"


    Fang Yuan''s expression changed.


    The 6 Extremes Earth Shattering Array was completed!


    "They are indeed powerful sages! 3 of them are activating the array while 2 others are resisting the heavenly tribulations. In fact, they were still able to watch over the actions of the Imperial Court while doing all these..."


    As the only person on the battlefield who had experience manipulating the 6 and 9 Arrays, Fang Yuan was still overwhelmed with emotions after witnessing all these.


    The vibes given off by these Sages and their method of operation was much more perfect than what Fang Yuan had once done. Needless to say, this complete version of the array was much more powerful than his incomplete version by many folds.


    "Why are the 3 sages of the Imperial Court not fighting back?"


    There were lightning streaks from the skies and the dragons from the ground, but Fang Yuan shifted his attention to the 3 sages on the city walls.


    Ever since the 5 sages had activated the array, the 3 of them had since stood on the city walls like figurines, frozen on the spot.


    "Is it because they are already aware that the allied forces have something like this, or could it be that they are all heavily injured from the previous fight?"


    Thoughts ran through Fang Yuan''s mind. Suddenly, he noticed the 6 dragons chasing the mysterious light above the Jade Capital. As the light sunk underground, the dragons smashed themselves into the ground as well.


    "Rumble!"


    The space around the dragons shattered and was undergoing a form of destruction!


    With the energy from the natural source of the realm, the violet streaks of lightning were being pushed away. The mysterious glow was directing itself towards an empty space of higher dimension and suddenly, it broke through space.


    "Whoosh!"


    Air currents started to form around the space and as a black hole opened, a silvery-white door was revealed!


    A mysterious spiritual aura started to disperse and all dream masters on scene could feel that the dream elemental force within them was tingling with excitement. Everyone was full of anticipation.


    The source of dream masters, the Demonic Heart Realm! It was finally here!


    "This is the second stage, the opening of the energy passage. Physical bodies cannot pass through it yet..."


    Fang Yuan was extremely familiar with this. However, all the dream masters around him, including the elders, were all filled with emotions.


    "This is the true Dream Master''s Realm!"


    "I can feel the dream elemental force calling out for me!"


    "This is the right feeling!"


    ...


    Many 7th Tier Illusionary Divine dream masters were overcome with their own emotions and could no longer care about the fight among the sages. Without hesitation, they leapt towards the black hole and in that instant, they had already forgotten all the hatred they had for each other, as well as the mission at hand. They were purely looking for their dao.


    Even Elder Smelter and Elder Extreme Darkness wavered under such an influence.


    However, Fang Yuan had already experienced this before and had more resistance to such an influence. Therefore, he was able to remain composed.


    To others, their lifelong pursuit was presented before them. Therefore, they could neglect all risks. This was akin to religious people encountering their Gods, and they would do anything to go for it.


    ...


    "This is indeed... the Dream Master''s Realm!"


    On the walls of the Jade Capital, Head of Hidden Dragon Guards was watching all these and his eyes twitched. "After years of planning and preparation, it is finally completed today and our wishes will come through."


    "That''s right!"


    Superior Wu Zun and Qian Huanyi laughed to themselves and had the same expression.


    "This is not enough... It is only an energy passage. We want the Dream Master''s Realm to completely descend into our realm for both realms to be completely connected!"


    As soon as the 6 Extremes Earth Shattering Array started to absorb energy from the natural source of the realm, the intensity of the heavenly tribulations would start to reduce.


    The 5 sages bellowed together as they attempted to create the eternal gateway between the realms.


    As soon as they succeed, the two realms would be completely connected and physical objects would be able to pass through.


    Previously, on Planet Earth Realm, Fang Yuan had secretly altered the arrays and the natural source of the realm was not enough. Therefore, only an energy passage could be created.


    However, things were different for the realm of Da Qian!


    This was a realm capable of the existence of sages!


    The sacrifice of its natural source would surely be able to attract the Demonic Heart Realm!


    "It''s about to begin!"


    Head of Hidden Dragon Guards gazed at the gathering dragons and calmly commented.


    "I have waited for this day for too long!"


    Behind him, a skinny and tall daoist appeared. It was Shang Hou!


    However, now, he was as skinny as a wooden plank and his face was filled with wrinkles. He no longer had any teeth and his eye sockets were deep. He resembled a walking skeleton.


    "Although the 9 Heavenly Sky Net Array is completed, we still need a blood sacrifice!"


    He gazed into the skies and shook his head.


    "We have prepared the sacrifice!"


    Superior Wu Zun disappeared for a moment before reappearing. There was a person in his hands and the person was shivering in a dragon robe. It was the emperor of Da Qian, Emperor Zhao Ming!


    "It is sufficient to sacrifice him! Great!"


    Shang Hou nodded his head.


    "No..."


    Fear was written all over Emperor Zhao Ming''s face. "Great Ancestor... my 3 sages, ever since I have taken up the role as emperor, I have only contributed to Da Qian for my entire life..."


    "Hehe... My grandson, if we do not sacrifice you just because you have made contributions to the empire, wouldn''t the world be in chaos?"


    Shang Hou giggled. "As the emperor, you have indeed done a good job. To make the heavens respond, who else would be a better person to sacrifice than you? Your death will be meaningful."


    Emperor Zhao Ming wanted to rebut but in the next moment, Superior Wu Zun had struck a palm out.


    In that instant, he had turned into a blood-red essence which shot up into the sky!


    "Rumble!"


    In the next instant, an unimaginable huge array had appeared!

 481 Steel Seal

    "Eh?"


    Fang Yuan''s eyes glistened as he saw a blood-coloured true dragon leap out from within Jade Capital City and charge towards the skies. It then opened up some sort of gigantic and invisible array.


    "9 Heavenly Sky Net Array?"


    As Fang Yuan thought, his heart was pounding, "Wow... I previously thought the dream master alliance''s act of blood sacrificing numerous powerful beings to activate the 6 Extremes Earth Shattering Array was rare and costly enough, but now, Da Qian Imperial Court is even sacrificing the emperor... This blood-coloured true dragon is no doubt Emperor Zhao Ming!"


    Emperor Zhao Ming had ruled for 10 over years. He was adroit and had a strong foundation. He was even the true dragon recognised by the heaven and earth.


    Now that he was used as the key to activate the heavenly array, they were definitely after something big!


    However, what Fang Yuan was curious about now was not about the backlash Da Qian would face. Instead, he was curious about who was the one who made the decision; who could possibly make the emperor Da Qian become a sacrificial offering?


    ...


    "Kababoom!"


    Sudden changes were occurring in the skies!


    After the 9 Heavenly Sky Net Array was activated, not only did the heavenly violet lightning stop, even the dark clouds dispersed slowly to reveal a sky full of stars.


    Although the dream masters were no longer the threat of heavenly tribulations, all of them felt extremely uneasy as they had a premonition that disaster was impending.


    "The emperor is sacrificed? The emperor has dragon energy, there might be changes!"


    The 5 Sages also immediately noticed the situation.


    "It is indeed the 9 Heavenly Sky Net Array! Why would Sage Changli leave behind this two mutually conflicting arrays in his inheritance?"


    "The one who''s giving the orders in Imperial Court is Shang Hou?"


    The Ancient One noticed something else instead, "Shang Hou is a distant relative of the royal family, he only entered the echelon of powerful beings through sheer luck and was ordered to manage all the dragon energy in this world. How could he have such prestige and might?"


    "Hehe..."


    Lord Yin laughed coldly, "I think this Shang Hou is really familiar looking, he is similar to an acquaintance I know!"


    "Indeed, he is really similar to an old acquaintance!"


    Evil Divine nodded his head and spat out the words one by one, "Great Ancestor of Da Qian! I can''t believe you aren''t dead!"


    This powerful being who established the Da Qian dynasty was naturally a hero and an Energy Soul. Unfortunately for him, he did not reign for long.


    From the conversation between these few sages, there seemed to be some hidden information withheld about the past events.


    "During that time, three of us joined hands and killed the Great Ancestor of Da Qian. By right, his body and soul should have been totally annihilated... For that, we suffered from backlash and could not topple Da Qian in time and thus, we quickly secluded ourselves..."


    Li Qingmian recounted rather hesitantly.


    "Looks like a tinge of this person''s spiritual will was not destroyed. It then absconded and reincarnated before entering the royal family again?"


    "What a scourge indeed!"


    Numerous spiritual wills had confirmed this Shang Hou''s identity already. The old guy Shang Hou did not bother to hide it anymore as he carefreely floated out, "My old friends, long time no see! I''m so happy I can finally seek vengeance!"


    "Sure enough, it''s you, Great Ancestor of Da Qian!"


    It was the first time Evil Divine lost the calm and indifferent look on his face, "This reincarnation technique of yours is really not bad! Even your mind and spiritual aura have changed! You are a totally different person now, no wonder we couldn''t deduce it!"


    "It''s all smoke and mirrors!"


    The Great Ancestor of Da Qian chortled, "What''s the point of delving in this?"


    "Heh... don''t make it sound so nice, you think we don''t know your ins and outs?"


    Lord Yin''s spiritual will suddenly spread across as it intended to divulge some secrets to the powerful beings at the Imperial Court''s side, "This Great Ancestor of Da Qian of yours was originally a Prominent Divine dream master too. He is well-versed in enslavement techniques and the ''Spiritual Will Steel Seal'' he created can enslave anybody to become his loyal slave!"


    The moment Lord Yin divulged it, only a few lower-tiered cultivators appeared shocked. The rest of the powerful beings appeared expressionless as they looked at Lord Yin.


    "Impossible!"


    Lord Yin''s face turned ashen, "They are all¡­.. Steel Seal Puppets!?"


    The other 4 sages were horrified too.


    It was reasonable that the Imperial Court gained the liking of the commoners and managed to garner True Divines and True Elementals to their side.


    However, it now seemed like these powerful beings were all long controlled by the Spiritual Will Steel Seal! This included all the grand secretaries, generals and priests!


    "Spiritual Will Steel Seal?"


    Fang Yuan pondered quickly. He then suddenly remembered a recording he saw on a secret text he purchased, "This seems to be briefly mentioned on a secret text I read before. This Spiritual Will Steel Seal Technique can segment spiritual will and turn one spiritual will into nine, forming nine child seals. The holder of the parent seal can do anything to those inflicted by the child seal. It is the most supreme controlling technique... However, not only is this technique extremely hard to cultivate, it has a limit too. It can only segment nine times and the victim has to be willing. At its peak, It controlled nine powerful beings and led to some blood brawls."


    "But now..."


    Fang Yuan looked at the powerful beings at Jade Capital City and felt his head went numb.


    "Haha... I must thank you all for it!"


    Shang Hou moved back a few steps. Numerous powerful beings defended him closely and fully surrounded him.


    "If the three of you did not chase after me and almost annihilated me, how could I have made a breakthrough while I was between life and death and improved and turned my 9 Times Steel Will into 9 Times 9, 81 Times?"


    "Superior Wu Zun, Qian Guiyi, Head of Hidden Dragon Guards... does the three of you still want to hold a candle for the devil?"


    The Ancient One sneered and was immediately faced with three pairs of eyes filled with enmity and hatred. It was as though The Ancient One fell into an icy pit as he exclaimed, "Impossible!"


    "Even the sages... are..."


    Lord Yin''s voice sounded dry as she suddenly realised something wrong had happened to this world.


    "The three of us willingly submit to His Majesty, The Great Ancestor!"


    The Head of Hidden Dragon Guards slowly spoke, "His Majesty, The Great Ancestor, is a brilliant hero, he is the only one who can bring back peace to the entire world! We are loyal to him and that is a matter of course, how can you treacherous rebels understand you?"


    "Impossible!"


    Seeing such, Fang Yuan shook his head, "If this Shang Hou could really enslave sages, what''s there to fight? Da Qian Imperial Court would have long united and ruled everything."


    "In the past, you created this spiritual will technique and quickly rose up during the turbulent times and established Da Qian. You are the true Fate Soul and we are not..."


    Lord Yin spoke slowly to Shang Hou, "But, your greed knows no bound! You even unscrupulously enslaved other dream masters! After news of your deeds spread, we then chased after your life! If you wanted to seek vengeance, you would have long done it! Thus, there must still be some limitations now!"


    "To enslave a sage, the sage has to fully cooperate and the consumption is too much, right?"


    After all, the five of them were sages. After they momentarily lost their composure, they quickly regained it and started deducing.


    "Hehe... since all of you are my old friends, I shall tell the truth. To control a sage, not only does the sage have to fully cooperate, one sage would already consume ten portions of my spiritual will. Also, it''s a great burden on me..."


    Shang Hou''s eyes glistened, "After enslaving so many people, my soul is barely supporting it. Do you all want to try?"


    Instantly, all the dream masters of the allied forces unconsciously kept a distance from each other. Even the sages began to suspect one another.


    This Spiritual Will Steel Seal was the most deadly and powerful enslavement technique. Even though it only had 81 portions, it was already extremely terrifying and threatening.


    After all, Imperial Court''s side did not use up all its shares even with their three sages included. It was extremely possible that there were puppets under their control inside the 5 Grand Organisations!


    "Originally, when you all wanted to topple Da Qian, I was still quite opposing of it."


    Suddenly, Sage Baize slowly spoke, "But looks like you must die now or else there would be no peaceful day in this entire world forever!"


    "Holy! How can such a horrifying technique exist in this world?"


    Fang Yuan tensed up and looked at Elder Xi Chen who was at his side. He then immediately asked, "If such a divine technique spreads, wouldn''t there be no peace in this world forever?"


    "I''m not sure regarding its details..."


    Even though the energy passage to the Dream Masters'' Realm had opened up, such an unforeseen event attracted the full attention of the dream masters.


    Elder Xi Chen sent back a message with a solemn look on his face, "I''ve only heard about it from my master. This Great Ancestor of Da Qian''s talent is extremely unusual. After he reached the Prominent Divine stage, he even opened his own path. That''s why he can cultivate this Spiritual Will Steel Seal. The cost of it is that, he has the weakest fighting power amongst sages and he has no hollows! From my deductions, he gambled everything that was gifted to him from the Dream Masters'' Realm and also his ability to create living things on his Spiritual Will Steel Seal Technique."


    "Even if that''s the case, it is still extremely horrifying."


    Fang Yuan looked towards the Head of Hidden Dragon Guards and immediately felt his skin crawl.


    Even if one was afflicted by this Spiritual Will Steel Seal, his actions and even personality and thinking would still be the same as before. The only thing added was the thought of full-fledged loyalty to its owner. This itself was enough to make anyone shiver in fear.


    After losing one''s most precious freedom of soul, even if he looked like a human, in actual fact, he was only a puppet.


    "Great!"


    Shang Hou suddenly laughed from within the layers of defence, "Now that the opening of the Dream Masters'' Realm is impending, do you all want to settle me first or connect the two worlds and obtain the gifts from that realm first?"


    "Roar! Roar!"


    Fang Yuan raised his head and looked to the skies.


    He could see a translucent sky which was covering almost the entire world. A blood dragon was also soaring in it.


    Shang Hou intentionally revealed his identity in order to drag time to allow the entire 9 Heavenly Sky Net Array to be fully activated!


    "Now, you all shall receive my gift!"


    Shang Hou chuckled oddly.


    Suddenly, a fearful thought could be felt which made Fang Yuan immediately move back.


    "Smelter! Extreme Darkness! What are you all doing?"


    Within the dream masters'' base, seven to eight powerful beings were emitting a red glow. Their faces changed drastically as they began to viciously attack their companions.


    This included Elder Smelter and Elder Extreme Darkness!


    "Head of Hidden Dragon Guards!"


    As Fang Yuan was far away from them, he was not affected by it much. However, his expression appeared extremely unsettled.


    "After being enslaved and controlled, unless the controller is killed, the seal cannot be removed!"


    In mid-air, the 5 Sages looked at each other and suddenly turned into five light walls. They then trapped the eight powerful beings who renegaded like an ice mountain.


    "Hehe, there''s no use! Don''t you all want to fully connect with the Dream Masters'' Realm? I shall help you all!"


    "Roar!"


    The blood dragon fell from the void and opened up a strong connection with these eight powerful beings.


    Furthermore, six earth dragons emerged and chased after the true dragon energy. They then changed directions and arrived on top of the allied forces'' base before suddenly crashing on to it.


    "The true dragon as the lead, the blood sacrifices as support! The two worlds converge and the door to the realm is everlasting!"


    Under the curses, the blood dragoon and the six earth dragons suddenly merged into one and crashed onto the ground, setting off tons of smoke and dust.


    "Rumble!!!"

 482 Demonic Shadow

    How big would a force need to be to be able to break through dimensions in order to allow two realms to collide?


    Even at the sidelines where Fang Yuan had already started to distance himself from the epicentre, he felt like a small boat riding a tsunami. Many others around him were already severely injured by the violet storm happening in the space around them as they spat out mouthfuls of blood.


    "Ruthless!"


    He quickly retreated away as thoughts flooded his mind. "The sacrifice of 8 powerful beings and using a true dragon as a bait will bring the power of the 6 Extremes Earth Shattering Array to the side of the allied forces..."


    This diversion technique was indeed well thought out.


    After making his way out of the path of destruction, Fang Yuan finally turned around and could only see a hue of violet on the ground behind.


    The 30,000 strong army, together with Shi Longtu had already ceased to exist.


    A hundred-mile radius from where everything happened, the ground was being pulled apart by a mysterious force.


    It would be expected for normal human beings to die under such circumstances. However, many elementary dream masters or even some powerful beings were not able to escape as well. Under such an all-round attack, they could only accept their fate and simply die as though they were grass being cut.


    In order to achieve their objective, the remnants of vibration were enough to wipe out half of the Jade Capital.


    The mere activation of the array had resulted in the destruction of 10,000 soldiers, 1,000,000 civilians and even a 10 powerful dream masters of the Realm Alliance! All the low-tiered dream masters were long dead!


    This was too much of a price to pay!


    In the history of the war between the Imperial Court and the allied forces, none of the conflicts even came close to an outcome like that, with such an unbelievably high casualty rate.


    "The power of the 6 Extremes Earth Shattering Array comes from the collision of the 2 realms. If Sages were to receive the blow directly, they would also be severely injured... If any powerful being were to remain in the epicentre of the collision, they will have no chance of survival..."


    Fang Yuan flew up into the sky and looked down upon the Jade Capital.


    Everywhere was a brilliant violet hue and the ground started to turn dark red. The rocks were slowly being melted into magma and were flowing about.


    The 6 earth dragons coiled up on the ground, revealing an array which resembled the skeleton of a dragon.


    Coming together with the black hole in mid-air, a huge Bone Door appeared!


    This was the true gate between the realms, created from true bones and formed from the blood and flesh of the sacrificed powerful beings! Linking Da Qian with the Dream Realm, it had unbelievable power!


    "Buzz! Buzz!"


    A white light flashed by and the 5 sages appeared. The space before them opened up, revealing a few lucky survivors.


    During the collision, due to the fact that the 5 Sages had the control over the 6 Extremes Earth Shattering Array, they were able to ensure their own survival as well as protect a few of their beloved disciples.


    However, that was all they could do.


    Compared to before, what was left of the originally strong dream masters allied forces were but a few lone survivals.


    "Haha! How''s that?"


    Shang Hou stood behind the Head of Hidden Dragon Guards and the 2 other powerful beings as he laughed heartily. "Don''t you want to open up the passage to the Dream Master''s Realm? I have helped you with that and there''s no need to thank me!"


    The sages and powerful beings no longer paid any attention to his sarcastic remarks.


    With a creak, a slit appeared on the Bone Door.


    The Dream Master''s Realm which they had always been after was finally here!


    "You have finally descended, Dream Master''s Realm!"


    Evil Divine gazed at the Bone Door. His eyes were filled with a burning fire of passion. On the other hand, Lord Yin appeared uneasy.


    "Shang Hou is crazy and unpredictable. Now that he has helped us complete our array, I''m afraid..."


    Just as Sage Baize completed his sentence, the Bone Door opened all of a sudden and a bright glow started to spill out of the door.


    "Rumble!"


    Silvery dream elemental force overflowed into Da Qian. This was a rite of passage for all realms who had opened the passage to the Demonic Heart Realm.


    This gate was not just an energy passage, but a door capable of allowing physical objects to transcend dimensions!


    "Ah!"


    In that instant, a few 7th Tier Illusionary Divine dream masters shrieked.


    The dream elemental force from a higher dimension forcefully flowed into their bodies, forcing out the original dream elemental force in them.


    Although they would be able to achieve a peak in cultivation after accepting the pure dream elemental force, they were now in extreme pain as though they were being haunted by something in their minds.


    Fortunately, those who survived the war moments ago were the true highly skilled ones. If any low-tiered dream masters were here, they might go crazy or even get possessed by the Demonic Heart Realm after being overwhelmed by the pure dream elemental force.


    "Kill!"


    Taking this opportunity, the highly skilled people of the Imperial Court shouted as they advanced.


    These were all True Divines and True Elementals, natives of Da Qian. Therefore, they were unaffected by the overflowing dream elemental force. Up against the 7th Tier Illusionary Divine dream masters who were still being overwhelmed by the dream elemental force, it was a much simpler task to take them out. Another round of killing ensued.


    "Is this true pure dream elemental force?"


    The 5 Sages took in deep breaths and forced their spiritual auras to adapt. In an instant, the entire process was completed for them. Within moments, they were up against 4 other sages.


    At this point in time, Shang Hou was also greedily absorbing the dream elemental force as he forcefully attempted to reduce his age. Within moments, he became a middle-aged man full of energy. "Since the Demonic Heart Realm is now open, all of you are criminals of the realm! Killing all of you will only be just!"


    "This is not right!"


    Sage Baize gazed towards Head of Hidden Dragon Guards and Shang Hou with a hint of fear in his eyes. "You are already aware of all these!"


    At this point in time, all dream masters from Da Qian had to undergo a process of change in their bodies to adapt to the pure dream elemental force and this applied to sages as well. The hollows of the 5 Sages started to appear unstable.


    However, on the other side, Shang Hou appeared adapted and something was not right.


    "Great Ancestor of Da Qian has always been a mystery to us. Even after our in-depth investigations, we are still not able to find out everything about him..."


    Lord Yin interrupted. "Looking at how things are now, you seem to originate from this Dream Master''s Realm, the Demonic Heart Realm!"


    "Keke... Although the Divine Lotus Cult is filled with a bunch of stupid ladies, I''m surprised that you are a smart lady, Lord Yin!"


    Gazing at the Bone Door, Shang Hou revealed a perplexed expression.


    It seemed as though he was reminiscing, hating and even fearing what was behind the door.


    "That''s right. Since all of you can traverse to different worlds, why can''t I do the same?"


    Shang Hou admitted to his identity as a foreigner. "However, the Demonic Heart Realm is not a kind-loving realm as you would expect. Only a bunch of fools like you guys will go all out after it... Hehe, if you continue to allow this Bone Door to open, I''m afraid the entire Da Qian will soon become a living hell."


    With the wave of his hands, the 4 sages started to attack from all directions.


    The 5 Sages from the allied forces bellowed as they revealed each of their hollows to create resistance.


    However, at this point in time, the crystal walls of the hollows started to crumble. The dim and silvery pure dream elemental force started to seep in and the 5 hollows started to weaken.


    "Keke!"


    "Haha!"


    The Bone Door hollered once more before releasing billions of spiritual bodies into Da Qian.


    These spiritual bodies were like locusts. As soon as they entered the realm, they started to screech and fly in all directions.


    "This is the You Spirit. It is not a strong spirit but is known as the Demonic Heart in most other realms. This is because it is able to possess other living things, absorb their energy and cause it to mutate... Although it begins as small, it is the source of mutating! Can you see the excitement in them? This is because they finally have a huge realm in which they can start their killing spree."


    Shang Hou spoke with a reminiscent tone.


    "Since you know that the realm will be turned into a living hell after opening the Bone Door, why are you still doing it?"


    12 huge demonic illusionary shadows started to appear around The Ancient One. Every shadow had the cultivation level of a powerful being as they gathered to form an array, protecting him in within. "Are you thinking of returning to the Demonic Heart Realm. After sacrificing an entire world, the Demonic Realm will surely adore you and reward you with whatever you want! All that we have done is actually in your favour!"


    "That''s right... so what?"


    Shang Hou laughed. "I don''t want to be the adored by the Demonic Heart Realm!"


    "Rumble!"


    The Bone Door hollered for the third time.


    The space around the door shattered, releasing a fearful spiritual aura.


    A huge shadow appeared on the other side of the door as though it was attempting to break through the space to enter Da Qian.


    Just its spiritual aura was enough to strike fear in the hearts of all the sages around, as though they were now up against their nemesis. "This... this is..."


    "This is my original form. Are you shocked?"


    Shang Hou stood before the Bone Door and scanned around, unsatisfied. "You 5 are merely frogs in a well and you still dare to call yourselves sages! Keke... a powerful being with the power to create worlds? Do you think you understand all of these? You are merely a little unique and were lucky enough to ride the waves of power from the Demonic Heart Realm."


    "Roar! Roar!"


    The huge black silhouette on the other side started to force itself through and even the Bone Door started to crack.


    "You are not attempting to return to the Demonic Heart Realm, but escape from there!"


    Sage Baize seemed to have understood it. You are now a mere magical clone and are interested in Da Qian. Therefore, you want to completely leave the Demonic Heart Realm, bringing along your true body with you!"


    "That''s right!"


    Shang Hou smiled. "Now that the few of you have given up this world and since I am its only protector, it can only choose me! I''ll have to thank the few of you for this!"


    The few sages from the allied forces appeared devastated.


    All the while, they had wrongly thought that the Imperial Court was in the way of the dream masters, preventing the dream masters from finding the Demonic Heart Realm.


    Never would they have thought that they were just looking at things on the surface.


    In fact, every single action of their''s was already part of Shang Hou''s plan. This time, they had failed miserably!


    "The Demonic Heart Realm is not someplace you would want to live in. I never wanted to stay there..."


    Looking at his physical body slowly making its way into Da Qian, Shang Hou could not hold back. "... Afterwards, I have created a magical clone which was being brought away by the currents during a war in the Demonic Heart Realm. I had lost all hope but never would I have thought that I would be able to find such a perfect realm... When my physical body arrives, I will destroy the Bone Door and separate the two worlds! After the purification of dream elemental forces and the alterations done by the Demonic Heart Realm, the realm of Da Qian is now extremely suitable for me to live in, and it now has everything the Demonic Heart Realm has to offer. Hehe... this is great!"


    "Rumble!"


    Everything shook.


    Just as the black silhouette was continuously trying to break through the Bone Door, in the Demonic Heart Realm, an invisible force seemed to be pulling the silhouette back. A dark-red streak of lightning struck on the Bone Door, turning it into powder.


    "Indeed..."


    Witnessing this scene, Shang Hou remained composed. "I need to provide enough sacrifices before they will let me go!"

 483 Demon Lord

    The 5 sages remained silent


    Now, everything was clear.


    Shang Hou was merely a magical clone of a demonic king in the Demonic Heart Realm and had arrived in Da Qian by accident before maturing here.


    Compared to the harsh environment of the Demonic Heart Realm, Da Qian was like heaven.


    Therefore, after inspecting the plan of the 5 sages, Shang Hou devised a plan to help himself by bringing his true body over after opening the gate of the realm and in the meantime force the environment of Da Qian to adapt to become his personal playground!


    Therefore, his plan was to open the passage for a short while before destroying it!


    Compared to the 5 sages who were willing to sacrifice Da Qian, this foreigner chose Da Qian instead! Shang Hou even had the plan to protect Da Qian.


    Da Qian was still able to gain the support of the heavens to manipulate the 9 Heavenly Sky Net Array because it had no choice!


    The natives of Da Qian had already chosen to betray it. Therefore, it could only rely on a foreigner.


    "We have... done wrong!?"


    Lord Yin and the other sages gazed towards the demonic shadow in the Demonic Heart Realm as well as the weakened Bone Door with their wavering hearts.


    It was true that they would be able to increase their cultivation as soon as the passage to the Demonic Heart Realm was formed. At least, they would be able to purify their dream elemental force. The quality of their dream elemental force was now increased and they now understood the Demonic Heart Realm. If they were to cultivate in isolation, the sages might be able to achieve yet another breakthrough.


    However, all of these was assuming that the passage to the Demonic Heart Realm was to remain open. As soon as the two realms break off, everything to revert back to how it once was before the collision of realms!


    Therefore, it was an all-in to sacrifice Da Qian for the Demonic Heart Realm.


    Would Shang Hou let them have their way?


    If the Demonic Heart Realm was a friendly place, why would this demon try all means to bring its true body to Da Qian?


    Even if the sages had decided to enter the Demonic Heart Realm for good, Shang Hou''s true body was in the way and recklessly entering the door would only be sacrificing oneself.


    Unknowingly, the 5 sages had realised they had arrived at the desperate situation which Shang Hou had plotted for them!


    "The will of Da Qian has no other choice!"


    Shang Hou laughed as he looked towards the 5 sages. "I need 3 sages as a sacrifice. The remaining 2 shall remain as my loyal servants and will be able to ensure your survival if you allow me to imprint my Spiritual Will Steel Seal on you. The opportunity is here and it is up to the few of you if you want to take it!"


    "Don''t fall into his trap!"


    Sage Baize sounded hoarse. Although the 5 sages did not break up immediately, the clouds above them started to separate and everything was clear.


    "The heavens are just while the sages are selfish... Keke!"


    Seeing this, Shang Hou let out a weird laugh as he stood before the Bone Door.


    Behind him, his true body started to solidify, revealing a tall demonic shadow - it had purple skin and black tattoos all around. There were two small horns on his head and his eyes were bloodshot. He had fangs like Asura and a ghostly claw covered with a layer of magma on it. The other hand was strangled in chains and fire.


    "Rumble!"


    At this point in time, dim red streaks of lightning from the Demonic Heart Realm started to strike down, preventing this Asura from leaving its realm.


    Although it was a devastating demon, it still found it hard to progress under the might of the Demonic Heart Realm!


    "Asura..."


    The purple demon roared and started to holler a chant which could not be understood. At the same time, one of its hands, the ghostly claw, managed to go through the Bone Door, entering the realm of Da Qian!


    "Demonic Heart Realm..."


    Shang Hou appeared serious and started to shout towards the skies. "I shall offer these sacrifices as a price to pay for my departure!"


    "This is not good!"


    In that instant, the 5 sages felt a sense of danger and felt like their lives could be taken from them anytime.


    They finally understood Shang Hou''s plan. Shang Hou wanted to use them as a sacrifice in exchange for Asura''s entry into Da Qian!


    "Sigh... things have escalated to such a stage and the only solution is to sacrifice..."


    The Ancient One sighed and gazed towards the attacking Head of Hidden Dragon Guards, Superior Wu Zun and Qian Huanyi before shaking his head. "Hollow... annihilate!"


    "Rumble!"


    The space behind him started to vibrate. The hollow which was originally still resisting the pure dream elemental force started to crumble. The mountains, trees, birds, animals and even cultivators in the hollow turned to dust in an instant, through flames, turned into the natural source of the realm.


    "The 12 Witches Magical Array! Rise!"


    Beside The Ancient One, 12 weird-looking witches appeared with ferocious looks on their faces. They gave off an ancient vibe and roared as they formed the array, summoning an unknown giant which struck an axe out!


    "Where... does such power come from? What kind of magical body is this?"


    Superior Wu Zun''s eyes glistened as he struck his fist out in retaliation. "Superior magical fist!"


    "Bang!"


    The giant axe shook before falling to the ground. Superior Wu Zun''s arm was severed. Where the axe landed, space was torn apart and everything there was destroyed!


    "The Ancient One... is indeed decisive!"


    The remaining 4 sages sighed.


    After their hollows were all being refined by the Demonic Heart Realm, although they were all temporarily weakened, after the ordeal, there were countless benefits.


    However, now, they did not have the time. They could only resort to desperate means and retrieve the natural source of their realms to fight! This was the decisive ultimatum of a sage!


    Under the threat of death, the remaining Sage Baize, Evil Divine, Lord Yin and Li Qingmian started to refine their hollows as well, filling their bodies with an unimaginable amount of energy from their natural sources.


    "Flowers from the Dream Pen!"


    The pen in Li Qingmian''s hands shook and a colourful lotus flower started to bloom at its tip. In every flower, there would be another world and in every strand of grass, there would be another heaven. In the next instant, the flower started to wither and energy capable of destroying a world was created. Without hesitation, he directed the energy at Qian Huanyi.


    "Heavenly Divine Force!"


    "Fine Deity Lady!"


    "Baize Magical Beast!"


    ...


    Within moments, the 5 sages had all unleashed their killer moves. The clouds above them started to spread out, separating the heavens from the earth.


    On Evil Divine''s body, there was a mysterious variant of dream elemental force and Fang Yuan could feel a sense of familiarity. It was the heavenly evil force which Fang Yuan had once experienced.


    Under the influence of the heavenly evil force, powerful beings of the Evil Divine Sect appeared. They all had ancient looks and extremely realistic. They were a bizarre variation of puppets.


    Beside Lord Yin, thousands of heavenly ladies danced around, intoxicating and seducing anyone looking at it.


    Comparatively, Sage Baize only called out the true physical body of a magical beast.


    This magical beast had the body of a goat, the claws of a dragon and a horn on its head. It was a legendary auspicious creature - the Baize.


    This was different from the animals created by dream beast masters. This magical beast had true ancient blood and even a breakthrough in its own cultivation.


    With an exclamation, its hooved feet crashed into the ground.


    The spirits of the entire world were seemingly summoned for this fight and powerful fighting forces formed an army of powerful spirits!


    It was once recorded that the Baize was an ancient magical beast which led many ghosts and spirits.


    The Baize which the Sage had summoned had another powerful ability. He would be able to summon any ghostly spirit which he knew about! With that, he would be able to call out tens of thousands of spirits!


    With the 5 sages combining forces and putting their all in this, they would even be able to destroy a small realm or even kill a sage!


    With the tremor from the Baize, Head of Hidden Dragon Guards and the 2 other powerful beings shook together with the space around them. The energy from their natural sources slowly dissipated and it was evident that they were now severely injured.


    "Die!"


    After forcing the 3 powerful beings to a corner, the 5 sages quick shifted their attention to Shang Hou, who was standing before the Bone Door!


    Shang Hou was now standing on the ghostly claw and appeared awe-inspiring. Even against the 5 sages, he maintained his composure.


    "Asura!!!"


    With a roar which seemingly came from the Demonic Heart Realm, the purple ghostly claw struck forward and the black tattoos on its arm became obvious. This claw seemed as though it had come from the depths of hell, gripping tightly on this realm.


    "Rumble... Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!"


    After 5 distinct sounds, a shocking scene started to unfold.


    The awe-inspiring sages were suddenly silenced by the arrival of the cursed ghostly claw, as though their influenced had been wiped out of existence!


    "Your power comes from the Demonic Heart Realm. How will it be possible to use it against an even more powerful being from the realm?"


    5 streaks of light struck through the skies as the clouds appeared above the sages. Seeing this, Shang Hou snickered.


    "Kacha!"


    "Kacha!"


    Shang Hou froze as he gazed at his ghostly claw.


    The 5 fingers on the claw started to crack before falling to the ground, turning into powder. With that, the claw lost all signs of life.


    Furthermore, the solidification started to spread upwards towards the palm.


    "I''ve looked down on the few of you..."


    Seeing this, Shang Hou seemed devastated. "To think that the few of you can harm my physical body. You guys are indeed sages... and the fact that we are in a foreign realm! However, all resistance is futile... All of you will have to die today! You will become the sacrifice for my departure!"


    "Asura!!!"


    With another roar, the Asura behind the Bone Door stretched out its other hand, which was being restrained by chains. Without restrictions, it entered the realm of Da Qian just like that.


    "Sha! Sha!"


    Blood-red chains stretched into the realm like spider webs and in an instant, it seemed to have caught a prey.


    "Kacha!"


    Lord Yin of the Divine Lotus Cult realised that her limbs were being chained. Shocked, she was being pulled towards the Bone Door. Within moments, the chains started to burst into flames.


    All the other heavenly ladies started to scream and turned into a green smoke.


    Lord Yin had a look of disbelief on her face. In an instant, she was being pulled across the Bone Door.


    "No!!!"


    Her final shriek was heartbreaking.


    Although all of them had always wanted to enter the source of dream masters, none of them had envisioned that it would be through such a means!


    In that instant, all the sages were dumbfounded. "What kind of chain is that to be able to trap a sage?"


    "As soon as she enters the Bone Door to arrive at the Demonic Heart Realm, she will surely die to my true physical body!"


    "Let''s give it our all to seal up the door!"


    The situation had changed!


    The 4 sages who had originally wanted to open the passage to the Demonic Heart Realm were now risking it all to seal up the door!


    Although it might seem like a joke, everything was logical!


    Under such a life-and-death circumstance, anyone would change their stance to ensure their own survival!

 484 The Realms Final Blow

    "Things have finally escalated to such a stage!"


    From afar, Fang Yuan witnessed everything and smiled to himself.


    He had actively purified his dream elemental force before all of these happened and therefore was the least affected by the opening of the Bone Door.


    Under the attack of the True Divines and True Elementals, Fang Yuan still had enough energy to fend them off.


    "Now... is the crucial part!"


    Although Shang Hou would seal up the Bone Door, he would only do so after welcoming his true physical body into Da Qian, gaining control of everything!


    The preparation he had put in place to break the two realms apart was the 9 Heavenly Sky Net Array. Therefore, the array was the source of all problems!


    "The 9 Heavenly Sky Net Array has its foundations on the will of the realm! Previously, the 5 sages had rebelled against their own realm and Shang Hou had taken the opportunity. The will of Da Qian had no choice but to support Shang Hou! However, things are different now... The 4 sages are regretting their actions and the will of the realm will surely prefer its own children when compared to a foreigner... As long as they make use of this fact, they will be able to survive through today''s ordeal!"


    Fang Yuan''s eyes glistened as he gazed at the Bone Door with a cold smile. "I shall help out!"


    "Where are my Sword Children?"


    With a clear command, 3 streaks of sword radiance surrounded Fang Yuan, forming the 7 Constellations Sword Array. "Master!"


    "3 Talents, you guys shall seal from above. Chaos Sword Array, kill!"


    The 3 Talents Sword Array flew up, sealing all escape routes. Fang Yuan''s spiritual territory started to expand with the power of Earth, Fire, Wind and Water.


    The True Divines and True Elementals were stunned beyond words. "7th Tier of the Illusionary Divine stage?"


    "You''re right, but there''s no prize for a correct guess!"


    The silhouette of the swords quickly overwhelmed one of the spiritual knights within the spiritual territory.


    With a single step, Fang Yuan transformed into the Pangu Giant, drawing a few striking similarities with the 12 witches of The Ancient One. With a single punch, he hollered, "Chaos Divine Fist, split the heavens and earth!"


    "Rumble!"


    Together with the power of the spiritual territory harnessing the energy of Earth, Fire, Wind and Water, this powerful punch turned one of the True Divines into a pile of flesh.


    As a powerful being well versed in both spiritual spells and martial arts, Fang Yuan''s combat power was only weaker than that of the sages! Even Elder Extreme Darkness might not be his match!


    "There are 6 Extremes on Earth and 9 Heavens in the sky! Go!"


    Fang Yuan made his way out, came to the vicinity of the Bone Door and commanded his spiritual will to split towards the heavens and the earth, entering the arrays.


    "Rumble!"


    The Earth Dragons started to rumble and roar. A screen of light appeared in the skies, harnessing the power of the realm''s will.


    "Little thief, how dare you!"


    Witnessing Fang Yuan''s interference, Shang Hou was shocked.


    "Is this... the 9 Heavenly Sky Net Array?"


    Although The Ancient One was shocked at Fang Yuan''s level of cultivation, he quickly reacted to the situation. "This array was put in place by Shang Hou to separate the realms. Quickly activate it!"


    "As long as we seal off both realms, his physical body will not be able to enter. We will then be able to deal with his magical clone!"


    The 4 sages quickly worked together. The clouds above their heads shot up and expanded as they duelled with Shang Hou for the control over the array.


    "I know it now..."


    Fang Yuan could feel 4 powerful spiritual wills forcing their way into the array to contest Shang Hou''s spiritual will. Therefore, he forced himself to a corner of the array.


    "The 9 Heavenly Sky Net Array is ultimately the will of the realm! Now, the 4 sages and I are intending to close the doors to the realm, but Shang Hou is still insistent in allowing his physical body to enter... Therefore, the tables have turned and the will of the realm will favour us now. This is the basis for us to contest Shang Hou for the control over the array!"


    "Ah, Head of Hidden Dragon Guards, Superior Wu Zun... quickly help me!!"


    With a ferocious look, Shang Hou started to sweat profusely as he shouted.


    "Buzz! Buzz! Buzz!"


    3 other spiritual wills as powerful as the sun entered the battlefield, pushing Fang Yuan''s spiritual will to its limits.


    At this point in time, Fang Yuan left the fight without any hesitation.


    Although he was powerful, it was necessary for Fang Yuan to put his life under such risks by involving himself in the battle among the sages.


    Naturally, he would have to pull out.


    "You''re a mere rabbit!"


    Shang Hou cursed Fang Yuan. If not for the fact that his subordinates were weaker than Fang Yuan, he would have ordered them to kill Fang Yuan.


    "Master... this person seems to be the disciple of Heartless. It seems like he had given the two source crystals to others and is therefore not under control."


    Head of Hidden Dragon Guards commented.


    "It is indeed him..."


    The 8 powerful beings were in a tense battle of their spiritual wills as they put in their all to contest for the control of the array. Therefore, they paid no attention to Fang Yuan.


    Even Shang Hou could only order a few powerful puppets to deal with Fang Yuan. However, Fang Yuan treated them like nothing as he effortlessly dealt with them.


    "This array... It is indeed put in place by Shang Hou to seal up the Demonic Heart Realm! This is his great plan!"


    Evil Divine and the other sages finally understood everything. "For your own selfish gains, you placed the entire realm in danger. You are also a criminal!"


    "Haha... This world is all about the survival of the fittest!"


    Shang Hou laughed heartily. "That kid is smart enough to figure this out, but so what? Even if the heavens are not helping me now, with the restrictions of the 6 Extremes Earth Shattering Array, I don''t think any of you will be able to do anything."


    The 6 Extremes Earth Shattering Array would continuously suck the natural source of the realm. This was the source which supported the existence of the Bone Door!


    Even if the 4 sages were to understand everything now, the will of the realm could only muster so much energy from its natural source to support them.


    "You have forgotten than the few of us are Prominent Divine stage dream masters!"


    The 4 sages exclaimed as their clouds shot up into the skies. Together with the will of the realm, the clouds rushed towards the ground.


    Although they knew that Fang Yuan''s actions had forced them to fight it out with Shang Hou, they already had the intention to do so.


    The spiritual wills of the 4 Prominent Divine dream masters glared like the burning sun. With the assistance from the heavens, a single blow was enough to injure Superior Wu Zun and Qian Huanyi, kicking them out of the battlefield.


    Following which, the Head of Hidden Dragon Guards was now outnumbered. With the immense pressure, his spiritual will was soon kicked out as well.


    Finally, the 4 Prominent Divine dream masters cornered Shang Hou''s spiritual will with much confidence.


    The fight between spiritual wills could not be described easily. To outsiders, it would seem that the 4 sages came out victorious within a short moment. With the control over the array, they quickly activated it.


    "Invisible net, seal!"


    "Rumble!"


    The 4 sages worked together as the 9 Heavenly Sky Net Array started to screech. Finally, it became visible, forming a heavenly net which landed directly on the Bone Door.


    "Kacha! Kacha!"


    The Bone Door shook and an ear-piercing screech was heard.


    Previously, the realm was stable and it would be hard to destroy the Bone Door. However, the 9 Heavenly Sky Net Array was specially designed by Shang Hou to seal off realms and therefore, it was extremely effective in serving its purpose.


    The enter Bone Door turned grey and a realm had seemingly left.


    "Noooooo!"


    Shang Hou was enraged and the body behind the door started to roar in anger as well. However, there was nothing that could be done.


    How big would a force be to be able to separate realms?


    Just as the stone door solidified, a pitiful cry was heard.


    Shang Hou''s physical body was quickly trying to withdraw its hand. It had already lost 5 fingers on one hand and the palm which was cemented was too slow. The entire arm was being severed by the door as it came crashing down.


    "Roar!"


    A shocking roar was heard. Even the Prominent Divine dream masters were stunned at such a roar and almost puked blood.


    "This is a magical demon''s arm!"


    Fang Yuan gazed at the decapitated arm which was as big as a hill and was lost in his own thoughts.


    Although the sages were like ants in the battlefield, in a fight among the powerful beings, the sages would be like giant crocodiles, ferocious in attack and not giving others the chance to strike back.


    "Keke... They deserved it, the sages..."


    Seeing how everything had changed, Fang Yuan snickered. "These sages are almighty and are already used to plotting against others. Never would they have thought that they would be like ants, manipulated by others! Even though they might be like ants, they will still fight back, regardless if the will of the realm is with or against them!"


    The protagonist had not yet arrived and these supporting casts were already heavily injured!


    "Kacha! Kacha!"


    Indeed, in the next moment, as the Bone Door solidified, the 6 Extremes Earth Shattering Array came to a halt. A fearsome will was felt as it expressed its anger!


    Streaks of heavenly violet lightning struck down towards the Bone Door with the intention of destruction.


    "Rumble!"


    The original 6 Extremes Earth Shattering Array and the 9 Heavenly Sky Net Array started to reject other sages and instead started to accept the will of the realm.


    Which sage would be more powerful than the will of the realm of Da Qian?


    "What''s happening?"


    Sage Baize understood everything. "This is the realm trying to take over the two arrays!"


    "The heavenly array was created with the assistance of the heavenly realm and it is only normal for the will of the realm to regain control of it. As for the 6 Extremes Earth Shattering Array, it is already affected for it had continuously absorbed energy form the natural source of the realm. It would be good if the array could be controlled. If control is lost, it will be able to control whoever trying to control it in the first place!"


    Li Qingmian continued. "We have corrected our actions at the end and the will of the realm cannot do anything to us... After all, it still needs us to deal with Shang Hou!"


    As he spoke, he took a quick glance at Fang Yuan, making Fang Yuan shudder in fear.


    The earth shook and the skies gradually became dark.


    In an instant, from the skies above, Da Qian would resemble a giant violet web, seemingly resisting against another realm.


    Furthermore, the force of the net became like a sharp knife, severing a certain connection.


    "This is..."


    Shang Hou''s expression changed. "The invisible net! This is not good! The realm is about to sever its relationship with the Demonic Heart Realm!"


    Shang Hou wanted to bring his physical body in and at the same time alter Da Qian to suit his own needs. Therefore, it would be disadvantageous to him if the radiation of dream elemental force was removed.


    "Will of the realm... why are you so extreme?"


    The Ancient One and the other sages were also shocked.


    What would it mean to sever all ties with the Demonic Heart Realm?


    From then on, the absorption of dream elemental force would become extremely arduous and even Prominent Divine dream masters would experience a reduction in their cultivation level to a level even below that of a True Divine!


    They would never be able to allow something like that to happen!

 485 Deprivation

    This chaotic war between the sages brought about great sufferings to Da Qian World.


    Even its right-hand men, Shang Hou and his fellows, revealed their untrustworthy nature in the key moments.


    As Da Qian''s will, it naturally had to choose the option that is the most in line with its own benefits!


    Undoubtedly, the best way to maintain stability would be to strike down on the dream masters and revoke such immense powers. This was the way to ensure progress!


    Therefore, once Da Qian''s will, which suffered greatly this time, was to finally escape, it would immediately take control of the 6 and 9 Arrays to completely sever ties with Demonic Heart Realm!


    Even the sages were shocked by how resolute this will was.


    "It... it... it dares to do so?"


    As the sages were suddenly retaliated by the world, they were all stupefied for a moment.


    The big war this time was a total bloodbath for the dream masters. Before and after the Bone Door opened, numerous lower tiered dream masters were severely injured and died. At the last few stages, all of them were annihilated. Even 7th Tier Illusionary Divine dream masters were not spared as many of them died and became blood sacrifices.


    Now, Da Qian''s will was about to make its move to completely eradicate this dream masters'' source of trouble!


    "There''s no use... even if there''s complete segregation, the large amounts of dream elemental force from Demonic Heart Realm that entered our world this time around is sufficient to support us in restoring our hollows! It might even be enough for us to seek revenge and break ourselves free from this world!"


    The Ancient One clenched his teeth and smiled coldly.


    Due to the opening of the Bone Door just now and the large amount of energy from the Demonic Heart Realm, the current Da Qian World was extremely abundant in dream elemental force. It was sufficient enough to support for a period of time for the dream masters to search for other countermeasures.


    "Hehe..."


    However, Fang Yuan already expected such a long time ago.


    After he experienced the experiment in Planet Earth realm, he was very clear about such worlds'' baseline. He was also very clear about the way they operated.


    With these few close shaves with the complete destruction of the world, the will of the world could use it to rationalise itself to breakthrough some sort of limitation and make great changes to the world.


    "But would this crisis really pass so easily?"


    Fang Yuan was very doubtful of such. After all, Da Qian World was much bigger than Planet Earth realm and its natural source was rich and dense. Furthermore, a physical door was already opened!


    "Wooo! Wooooo!"


    At the next moment, a fearful feeling appeared in everyone''s mind. Even Prominent Divine dream masters felt chills all over their body and all their hair stood up at once.


    "What is... that?"


    Numerous bolts of heavenly violet lightning flashed crazily in the skies and struck on the already petrified Bone Door like a waterfall.


    However, there was suddenly a demonic glow of light shining on the door as it slowly opened.


    "That is..."


    An extremely aghast and frightened look appeared on Shang Hou''s face as he then immediately ran for his life without turning back. It was as though he saw his nemesis.


    "Knock! Knock!"


    A few knocks could be heard. It was as though there was a certain ''presence'' opposite the door that was trying to test out how strong or weak the world on this side was.


    At the same time the door was about to break apart, all the living things inside Da Qian World immediately felt uneasy and irritated. It was as though they had a hunch that death was imminent!


    At first, Shang Hou''s original demonic body should have been stuck opposite that Bone Door. However, none of his spiritual aurae was around anymore now.


    "That..."


    The Ancient One and the other sages felt their skin crawl as they sensed the unknown terror and chaos behind that door. That was...


    "How could... there be such a thing..."


    Sage Baize lost the soul in his eyes and was rather dispirited, "If I knew this was the case earlier, I would have never wanted to connect with such a world!"


    "Creak!"


    The Bone Door opened slightly and there was now a small gap.


    At that instant, all the living things in Da Qian World were suffocated. Even the world''s will was quivering.


    ''The other party is too strong... The current me is still too weak. I can''t even abandon my flesh body and dream-traverse to other realms to survive...''


    Fang Yuan held his breath and looked at the Bone Door that was slowly opening. His eyes were filled with stubbornness and perseverance.


    Fang Yuan''s stats and abilities shook and immediately made him felt like a sage as he barely gained some mental capability for action. He then immediately began to plan his escape route.


    "What exactly is behind the door?"


    Under the eyes of everyone, the Bone Door opened for the fourth time.


    "Rumble!!!"


    An unimaginable and indescribable presence descended.


    Even Prominent Divine dream masters could not move at all under such a mighty presence. They were just like ants now.


    Immediately, Fang Yuan felt a line of sight, or should he say, a will that was projected from the door. It immediately scanned through the world and was elated as though it was a predator that had finally seen its delicious prey.


    ''This is... the true horror of Demonic Heart Realm?''


    A bead of cold sweat rolled down Fang Yuan''s forehead, ''Previously, it was just a pure energy passage as Planet Earth Realm was too small and could only attract a Hades... But now, what kind of horrifying presence is descending?''


    Suddenly, a neverending voice rang inside every dream master''s heart.


    This voice was constantly changing and its pitch was fluctuating high and low. For a while, it was sharp and piercing and moments later, it was warm and gentle sounding. It was singing an unknown note which formed a meaning.


    "I am taking away your path!"


    ''Taking away... path, what does it mean?''


    Fang Yuan frowned and his expression changed at once.


    Inside his actualised dream world.


    The original actualised dream world of his that was like a small paradise suddenly began to shrink. A mysterious energy was continuously being pulled out and made the sword children degenerate. One by one, they lost their spiritual awareness/spiritually aware and even their bodies were gone as they turned into the most basic long sword.


    Furthermore, even the actualised divine swords began to debase and corrode as though they had been through millions of years.


    "Ouch!"


    An intense pain stemming from the soul suddenly struck Fang Yuan as though it wanted to tear apart the entire person. Even with Fang Yuan''s steel-like will, he could not help but to groan in pain.


    Pain!


    Such an immense pain that was as if the person''s veins and bones were being pulled out alive was suddenly felt by all dream masters in Da Qian!


    Some lower-tiered dream-accessing masters and Illusionary Divine dream masters even died from such an intense pain!


    Fang Yuan forced himself to raise his head and saw the four sages had fallen to the ground too. Their lips and eyebrows were twitching and it was evident they were not spared too.


    At the same time, the spiritual aura on their bodies was quickly dissipating too.


    Soon enough, from being Prominent Divine powerful beings, they fell to the 9th Tier, then the 8th Tier... the 7th Tier, their cultivations were falling like the roller coaster.


    On Fang Yuan''s own body, it was the same too.


    His cultivation at the 7th Tier of Illusionary Divine stage fell drastically and slowly maintained at the beginning tier of Illusionary Divine stage. Furthermore, Fang Yuan felt empty inside his heart as though he had lost something very important.


    "Dissipation of cultivation?"


    A phrase suddenly appeared inside Fang Yuan''s mind. He then immediately shook his head, "No... it''s the deprivation above all rules..."


    Even if Fang Yuan lost his dream master abilities, he was still a True Divine martial artist! Fang Yuan stood straight and though quickly. He then immediately knew what he lost, "The ability to spiritualise at the 7th Tier Illusionary Divine stage, and also... the ability to actualise!"


    Illusionary Divine dream masters could actualise spiritual spells and magical soldiers. They had thousands of paths which were profound and marvellous. They were incomparable.


    After the 7th Tier of the Illusionary Divine stage, dream masters had the ability to spiritualise and they could open prosperous lands and create living things!


    Prominent Divine dream masters were known as the creator gods! They could create another race of humans! They could also civilise them!


    This was how dream masters went up the tiers and it was a path unique to Da Qian; it was very different from the Demonic Heart Realm. Furthermore... it was more lively and more promising!


    But now, this path was snatched away by the Demonic Heart Realm!


    The other party really acted like how they said they would. They completely took away the hopes of the newly thriving dream masters in Da Qian!


    Such a divine technique was truly unimaginable! It was above and beyond any law!


    "Thud!"


    The Bone Door closed as if it obtained what it wanted. The entire door turned light grey and was immediately bombarded by the heavenly violet lightning into ashes.


    ''Let me think about it...''


    Fang Yuan''s face was extremely cold as he quickly ruminated, "Stripping away the path... such an event is truly shocking and horrific. But since it''s the Demonic Heart Ream, anything could have happened... Strictly speaking, the path of us dream master dao lies, the dream dao, is rooted from the oddity of dream elemental force. Since the foundation is in the hands of others, there is naturally the possibility of it being taken away by others."


    If the path of dream masters was described as the most eye-catching fruit on a fruit tree, then dream elemental force would be its soil!


    Demonic Heart Realm would then be the land. Since it controlled the land, it could naturally do anything it wants to the crop on top of itself!


    "But... what exactly is that presence just now? Could that be the Demonic Heart Realm''s heavenly will?"


    Fang Yuan thought hard, "Da Qian World was clearly rich in heavenly energy, why didn''t it directly harvest it? Wait a minute, who said this wasn''t harvesting?"


    Fang Yuan was enlightened at once, "The Demonic Heart Realm was like the apex predator! If it meets a normal realm, it would naturally annihilate everything and devour its natural source as it only cared about the short-term benefits. However, although our Da Qian World was eyed and infiltrated with dream elemental force, we have countless powerful and capable people. We created the unique path of dream master and thus, it used another method of harvesting. It is akin to how the Demonic Heart Realm is planting a fruit tree and it will periodically harvest its fruit but will not destroy the tree as it anticipates future harvests... That means, the Demonic Heart Realm valued Da Qian greatly."


    This self-created system of dream masters could also greatly patch up Demonic Heart Realm''s foundation!


    Hence, the other party directly snatched away such a path but did not destroy it. Perhaps, it was even anticipating the next round of benefits!


    "This is a higher levelled form of harvesting that''s beyond just harvesting the natural source? By spreading its seeds and allowing it to grow freely before snatching away such an excellent path to complete its own foundation?"


    Fang Yuan pondered silently as he clenched his fists.


    With his current state, he was just like those magicians who lost their magic tricks. Even though he still had his dream elemental force, without the system, his mind could no longer affect matter and his consciousness could no longer affect reality. Thus, he could not unleash sufficient power.


    This was the case for sages too!


    "Of course, luckily I broke through beyond the 7th Tier of Illusionary Divine before and have contact with the ability to create living things before. Sooner or later, I will be able to start from the most basic uses of dream elemental force and discover some stuff... Sages might be more powerful than me, but even if they recover, they might not be as strong as their old selves."


    Fang Yuan immediately recognised this point, "Previously, I hastened my cultivation at all cost because I had slight worries regarding this area. However, I thought at the very most, only dream elemental force would be segregated and would become harder to obtain. I never thought the result would be so drastic!"


    Such a detachment from laws could even spoil the foundation of lower tiered dream masters and cause them to die!


    Fang Yuan heaved a long breath and looked to the skies as he felt an extremely inauspicious omen.

 486 Retribution

    "Are the glory days of dream masters over?"


    With the Demonic Heart Realm snatching away the dao of dream masters and the internal pressure from the will of Da Qian, Fang Yuan was pessimistic about the future of dream masters.


    In the past, dream masters had much animosity with the others and could only gain the upper hand by brute force.


    Without their powers, dream masters would now be dealt with by the rest!


    "Right now, I can control as much dream elemental force as a 7th Tier Illusionary Divine dream master. However, without the technique of a dream master, it will be akin to a magician not having any magic tricks. My ability will be reduced drastically and I would be as weak as when I first achieved a breakthrough into the Illusionary Divine stage! This will be the same for the other sages and they can only depend on their rich dream elemental force to maintain a cultivation level of a 5th Tier Illusionary Divine stage dream master. The normal dream masters will have it worse off as they will now be a mere normal human being!"


    In the world of Da Qian, there were other paths to become supernormal.


    The True Divines and True Elementals who were once treated as slaves by the dream masters would still be as powerful as they once were!


    The shift of powers meant that something exciting was about to happen.


    "This means that... it''s my time to shine!"


    Fang Yuan disappeared in a streak of light and blocked the path of the fleeing Shang Hou. "Don''t think of leaving! Old thief, you shall die!"


    If it was a few moments before when this Great Ancestor of Da Qian was still a sage, Fang Yuan would never have dreamt of doing this.


    However, now was his best chance!


    "Take this punch!"


    With an exclamation, the Chaos Giant appeared behind his back and struck out a devastating punch. It was all out to kill the Great Ancestor of Da Qian!


    ''If dream masters were to really lose their status in Da Qian and even if the Great Ancestor of Da Qian were to lose his ability of Spiritual Will Steel Seal, he would still be a problem. Furthermore, he still has control over the Imperial Court! He knows a lot of secrets!''


    Thoughts ran through Fang Yuan''s mind as he released all his strength.


    Other dream masters froze as they witnessed this scene. ''This person must be crazy to attack a sage!''


    The 4 sages of the allied forces were still able to compose themselves. However, as they became weaker, their bodies started to shake.


    "Save the emperor!"


    Shang Hou''s face started to twitch as his voice shook the heavens.


    His magical clone was also a dream master. Although his Spiritual Will Steel Seal technique became another variant after he had become an Illusionary Divine dream master, he was still a similar dream master compared to the many others in Da Qian. Now that everything was gone, he could at most preserve his cultivation level at the 5th Tier of the Illusionary Divine stage. He might have the knowledge of techniques from the Demonic Heart Realm in his consciousness, there was no way he could re-cultivate all of it in an instant.


    At a disadvantage, he could only forcefully receive the punch from the True Divine. His defences immediately broke through as he started to spit blood. Unwilling to give up, he relentlessly called for help.


    "Old thief!!!"


    The True Divines and True Elementals from the Imperial Court all gave perplexed looks.


    Suddenly, a True Elemental started to holler and his voice was filled with hatred. "You killed my entire family, wiped out my people and even use your evil spells to put me under your control! I will have to take revenge today no matter what!"


    "Demon Slaying, seal him off!"


    With a shout, he started to manipulate the earth energy around him, transforming himself into a 6-headed demon. Mustering up all his strength, he swung black chains out of his arms, sealing of all of Shang Hou''s escape routes.


    With a shriek, Shang Hou started to avoid the black chains. Although he was extremely nimble, he was still unable to escape as he ran into Fang Yuan''s fist. His chest became indented and many ribs were fractured. Blood spewed everywhere.


    "Huh?"


    The dream masters witnessed this scene and knew what it meant for them. However, the other True Elementals and True Divines started to think to themselves. ''Could a True Divine and a True Elemental really take down a sage? Hmm...''


    Gazing at the expressions of the other dream masters, there was the chilly vibe.


    "Kill!"


    "Shang Hou has enslaved us for too long!"


    "Kill him to take our revenge!"


    ...


    The True Divines and True Elementals who were on the Imperial Court''s side shouted as they made their way towards the Great Ancestor of Da Qian.


    Witnessing this scene, Head of Hidden Dragon Guards laughed and looked at the two beside him. "What do you guys think?"


    He could feel the will of the realm over Superior Wu Zun and Qian Huanyi weakening. This proved that the will of Da Qian was desperate to wipe out all dream masters.


    After all, there was no longer the threat of Prominent Divine stage dream masters. Therefore, there was no need to continue strengthening these two in maintaining their status as temporal sages.


    Even so, these two people were the strongest True Divine and True Elemental of the realm, if they did not consider that other person.


    Head of Hidden Dragon Guards gazed at that person in mid-air as the Chaos Giant raged on.


    "Without the control, it feels like everything was just a dream!"


    Superior Wu Zun spoke first. "We are passionate and yet this is how the Imperial Court treat us, hehe..."


    "Lord, are you still thinking of saving that person? Cough..."


    Qian Huanyi shook his head. "We have been heavily injured through all the fighting and even if we want to help, we are too weak now!"


    "Sigh..."


    Head of Hidden Dragon Guards let out a sigh. "It has been a thousand years since something big like this has happened. As the leader of the spiritual knights and martial artists, your actions and words will be extremely influential. It will be wise to be more cautious.


    "There is still animosity between dream masters and spiritual knights and Wu Zongs. You think too much of us."


    Superior Wu Zun remained silent while Qian Huanyi continued.


    "In reality, this is the best time to reconcile all conflicts!"


    Head of the Hidden Dragon Guards gazed towards the 4 sages and had a murderous look on his face. "These sages are responsible for the hatred between us! Kill them here and everything will be settled, wouldn''t it be? I am also a Prominent Divine stage dream master and I can tell you that as of now, all sages have lost the dream dao. They are now only as powerful as a 6th Tier Illusionary Divine dream master!"


    "Hidden Dragon! Do you really want to see us being wiped from existence?"


    "Those from the Evil Divine Sect, quickly protect me!"


    "All dream masters, retreat!"


    The 4 sages were stunned as they quickly gathered their remaining people.


    Unfortunately, all the dream masters were extremely weak now and could only put up a weak resistance.


    "Ah!"


    A shriek was heard. It was from a 7th Tier Illusionary Divine dream master who had the protection of a sage, which ensured his survival up to now. However, the protection was quickly taken down by a simple spiritual spell, killing the dream master inside just like that!


    "Haha! The overbearing dream masters are finally getting their just desserts!"


    "Head of Hidden Dragon Guards is right! This world is ours now!"


    "Pui! Why are you still calling him the Head? He is a mere dog without his powers. What do we have to fear?"


    Chaos!


    As soon as the Demonic Heart Realm was sealed off and the will of Da Qian taking things into its own hands, there was only chaos!


    All the True Divines and True Elementals in the battlefield started a killing spree against all the dream masters.


    Furthermore, even the Head of Hidden Dragon Guards was being targeted.


    "If the sages don''t die, we will be taken advantage of! Kill him!"


    "Hmph!"


    Head of Hidden Dragon Guards quickly executed a technique. "True Elemental Needle Rain!"


    "Whoosh! Whoosh!"


    Needles started to appear everywhere around him and their illusionary glow was mesmerising.


    A True Divine shrieked as thousands of needles pierced through him, turning him into a blood mist.


    "A True Elemental?"


    Qian Huanyi was shocked.


    "Hmph, other than pursuing the dream dao, I have once cultivated as a spiritual knight and have achieved a breakthrough to become a True Elemental. It was once a mere entertainment for me and never would I have thought that I would use it one day!"


    Head of Hidden Dragon Guards scanned his surroundings. "You can kill me, but I will pull a few of you down the grave with me. Who is willing to sacrifice themselves?"


    As a dream master, he was among the talented bunch of people in Da Qian and it was normal for him to have cultivation as a spiritual knight or martial artist.


    Considering that the dream dao was the most powerful of them all, how many of them would be willing to be like Fang Yuan, putting in effort in both his martial arts and his cultivation as a dream master?


    Unknowingly, those with cultivations as spiritual knights or martial artists were beginning to see the benefits now.


    The True Divines and True Elementals of the Imperial Court were all unwilling to sacrifice themselves. Therefore, all of them left the Head of Hidden Dragon Guards alone and instead went for the 4 sages.


    "Sigh... Let''s find a place to rest!"


    Superior Wu Zun and Qian Huanyi exchanged glances and calmly left the battlefield.


    Considering that they had fought for a long time already and they had lost the strength given to them by the realm''s will, the priority for them would be to look for a place to rest before they can plan something.


    "Since the two of you are leaving, how about bringing me along?"


    Head of Hidden Dragon Guards looked at them and laughed.


    Although he was a True Elemental, it was still extremely dangerous for him to remain here. However, if the 3 powerful beings were to support each other, they would be able to leave easily.


    "Alright!"


    Superior Wu Zun and Qian Huanyi exchanged glances once again before nodding their heads.


    Just as the 3 of them were on the sidelines of the battlefield, there was a huge explosion coming from another conflict.


    "Ah! My true physical body will never let the few of you go!"


    A voice of hatred was heard, which resembled the dying cry of a wild animal.


    "It''s His Majesty, the Great Ancestor!"


    Head of Hidden Dragon Guards froze in his steps.


    "That person is still extremely powerful and his true physical body is too mysterious for anyone to predict. Never would I have thought that that kid would really kill his magical clone..."


    Qian Huanyi shook his head but did not stop running. In an instant, the 3 of them left the battlefield.


    ...


    "Die!"


    Fang Yuan came before the bloody Shang Hou. Ignoring his cursing and his final struggle, Fang Yuan landed a heavy punch on his head.


    "Chaos Divine Fist!"


    In his fist, the shocking willpower of martial arts struck through Shang Hou''s consciousness, killing all hopes of survival.


    "Bang!"


    Even though Shang Hou might be the Great Ancestor of Da Qian, now, he was merely a dead man with a bloodied corpse too gruesome for anyone to look at.


    With a single thought, Fang Yuan quickly took out his Mountain River Pearl and kept Shang Hou''s corpse in it.


    "What are you doing?"


    Around him, the few True Divines and True Elementals started to become hostile. "Put it down!"


    After all, Shang Hou was the boss of all these and would surely have treasures on his body. How could they allow a single person to take it all away?


    "You want it? Exchange it with your life!"


    Fang Yuan continued to be overbearing as he forced his way out. None of them was willing to risk their lives for a reward they could not be sure of. Therefore, Fang Yuan managed to make his way towards the 4 sages.


    "Li Qingmian! Give me your life!"


    Behind him, the Pangu Giant roared and its power was overwhelming.


    Fang Yuan had killed Shang Hou because he was a threat to the entire realm and Fang Yuan knew he could reap some rewards from Shang Hou''s corpse. However, he was looking to kill Li Qingmian now purely for revenge!


    He could finally avenge Master Heartless today!

 487 To Settle

    "I just want Li Qingmian''s life today! Who wants to die with him?"


    Fang Yuan leapt across numerous people from the Imperial Court in an instant and arrived at the epicentre of the battle.


    "Fang Yuan, what are you doing?"


    "As a dream master, are you trying to betray us?"


    "You scoundrel! I knew you were so rapacious!"


    ...


    Numerous dream masters berated.


    All of them were the powerful beings of the 5 Grand Organisation. The reason they could survive till now was firstly due to their shocking powers and secondly due to the fact that they were protected by the sages. In the past, they were all formidable and talented dream masters. Surprisingly, the Old Mother of Tianmu, the one who guarded Changli Mountain Hollow, was also within the group of them.


    But now, although they appeared strong on the outside, they were very weak. To Fang Yuan, they were all weak chickens.


    The reason they could still survive against the attacks was due to their leftover equipment and scrolls. Additionally, it was also due to them having the sages in the centre as their command and the fact that the attacking True Divines and True Elementals were not willing to risk it.


    "Bunch of useless things!"


    Fang Yuan scanned the surroundings and took big steps forward.


    "Rumble!"


    A scroll was torn and turned into a lightning bolt that struck Fang Yuan''s body, causing a loud but dull noise.


    Green smoke rose. The Old Mother of Tianmu was aghast, "Impossible, this scroll of mine sealed a True Elemental spiritual knight''s full strength attack before!"


    "Courting death!"


    Fang Yuan charged forward aggressively and reached out his right hand before immediately grabbing Old Mother of Tianmu''s neck upwards as though he was grabbing a little chick.


    "Ah! What are you doing?"


    After her divine power was defeated, Old Mother of Tianmu lost her composure and let out a scream like that of a little girl.


    "Revenge is a dish best served cold!"


    Fang Yuan tightened his grip slightly and the piercing noise of bone cracking could be heard.


    This once powerful dream master, the one who forced Fang Yuan to enter Changli Mountain Hollow, was now dead as a doornail. Her neck was strangled into a very sinister arc.


    "Run!"


    After seeing how Fang Yuan killed a powerful being so easily like he was killing a chicken, the remaining dream masters were panic-stricken and shell-shocked. They immediately shouted and fled for their lives.


    Fang Yuan took a few steps forward again and stopped the four sages at once.


    "Fang Yuan! Don''t commit yet another mistake!"


    The Ancient One stood forward. His fingers moved as though he was strumming chords and the surrounding elemental energy moved along, forming a nebulous spiritual spell. The spiritual spell was as beautiful as a dream and turned into numerous colourful fluttering butterflies that surrounded them.


    Dream masters could also cultivate in martial arts and spiritual spells. Evidently, this sage was similar to the Head of Hidden Dragon Guards, he was a True Elemental!


    "I''ve said it once, those who hinder me shall die!"


    Fang Yuan hollered and his right fist punched out, "Pangu Eagle Body! Chaos Divine Fist!"


    "Hruuuu! Hruuuuu!"


    Gale winds raged. The blazing winds of the fist and the intense will of the martial artist immediately made the surviving disciples of the sages scram out.


    "Bang!"


    Like how flame exploded, the wings of numerous spiritual butterflies ignited and turned into ashes before falling onto the ground.


    The Ancient One quivered as he felt how strong and immense Fang Yuan''s intention to kill was. He immediately stopped and dared not do anything else.


    "You are the successor of that old devil Heartless, but did you know he was gravely wrong from the start?!"


    Li Qingmian was wielding his brush pen and stood forward. He appeared calm as he asked; it was unsurprising that his poise matched his title of sage.


    "I don''t care who is right or who is wrong! I only know master''s hatred was as deep as the ocean and this score has to be settled!"


    Fang Yuan raised his head slightly and his eyes sparkled at once as a fist landed on the sage''s chest.


    "Bang!"


    Although Li Qingmian was a sage, he did not cultivate in other divine techniques. He was no longer as mighty as before even though he used to be a dream dao powerful being.


    Demon Killing Divine Pen let out a shriek as his chest sunk in and was thrown backwards.


    "Smack!"


    Fang Yuan went forward and took the brush pen Li Qingmian was holding. He then flicked it with his fingers.


    A stream of light shot out and Li Qingmian''s expression froze. A bloody hole appeared on his forehead at once.


    After Shang Hou died, yet another Sage died!


    Fang Yuan was breathing heavily and fiercely, his body and aura were vigorous and virile. He was just like a sun that was emitting a burning light that ablated all the remaining spiritual wills nearby. Fang Yuan waved his arm and likewise kept the corpse.


    Although nothing was left behind, the corpse of a Prominent Divine dream master still had lots of research value, even if its power was stripped!


    "Fang Yuan!"


    The remaining dream masters were infuriated. They could not wait to chop Fang Yuan''s corpse into pieces.


    However, the moment Fang Yuan glanced around, all the hateful gazes disappeared immediately. Almost no one dared to look him in the eyes directly.


    "Cough cough..."


    The Ancient One walked forward and said, "Great! Now that you and Li Qingmian''s score has been settled, what now for the rest?"


    "What now?"


    Fang Yuan sighed as he suddenly felt some sort of void inside his heart.


    This feeling was the same as how a person would feel when he starts seeking vengeance after he becomes successful only to realise this enemy of his has died of old age.


    If Li Qingmian, this Prominent Divine dream master who was also the head of Source Seeking Sect, could not even stand a chance against this fist from Fang Yuan, how long could the remaining dream masters survive?


    Furthermore, wouldn''t live in this new Da Qian World be hell for the dream masters?


    "Die! Die!"


    Fang Yuan flicked his finger twice. Two 7th Tier Illusionary Divine dream masters immediately collapsed and their breath stopped.


    This was the last two remaining powerful beings from the Source Seeking Sect. After their deaths, everyone else remaining had nothing much to do with Fang Yuan.


    Fang Yuan then walked past the three sages. These sages were not their usual self as they did not even utter a single word.


    Furthermore, even the powerful beings from the Imperial Court who were surrounding them appeared fearful as they moved away and made way for Fang Yuan to leave.


    Although they were also True Divines, Fang Yuan and his fully opened Pangu Eagle Body struck great fear in their hearts.


    "Time to leave!"


    Since the score was settled and the current situation was too complicated, Fang Yuan needed somewhere quiet to organise today''s gains and losses.


    In the blink of an eye, his figure shook and he vanished in the horizons.


    The remaining powerful beings looked at each other blankly before suddenly cooperating with each other to massacre the remaining dream masters.


    An unfair battle immediately erupted!


    The once formidable dream masters had become the weak prey now. Many of them died and blood spewed everywhere.


    Such chaos was centred in Jade Capital City and was continuously expanding outwards. In the end, the chaos spread throughout the entire world.


    ...


    "What a... long day and night!"


    Fang Yuan straightened his back and immediately ran crazily once he walked out of Jade Capital City.


    Although a large part of dream masters'' ability was abolished, Fang Yuan was still a True Divine after all. He dashed like he was flying and one step of his covered thousands of feet. In a short period of time, he was already thousands of miles away. He then searched for a remote spot in the wilderness and soon found a cave. Fang Yuan hid inside the cave, sealed the cave entrance and cast some concealment spells.


    "Phew..."


    Only after all these steps were completed, Fang Yuan let out a long breath and sat on the ground lethargically. Cracking noises could be heard from his bones as he sat down.


    Even Fang Yuan exhausted almost all his energy after these rounds of battles and after being stripped of his path. If those remaining powerful beings from the Imperial Court wanted to stop him, he might not even have been able to walk out of Jade Capital alive today!


    Thankfully, Fang Yuan''s performance scared away all those with ill intentions.


    After all, no one was willing to sacrifice himself to test how strong Fang Yuan was.


    If those dream masters were smart, a few of them might be able to survive.


    "The Imperial Court... dream masters... both sides suffered greatly this time... Disunity is everywhere.... Of course, dream masters were truly badly defeated this time, they have completely lost."


    Fang Yuan closed his eyes and entered a deep state of regulation.


    ...


    This was a deep and primal state of chaos and disorderliness.


    Numerous dark green coloured energy currents gushed about turbulently. It was unknown how long had they existed for.


    There was no light, no darkness, no sounds and no touch.


    It was pure nothingness inside here.


    "Rumble!"


    Suddenly, a bolt of lightning flashed.


    Above the most centre point, a small spark of fire suddenly grew.


    Although this flame was weak, it was shining continuously within the numerous energy currents and lit up the surroundings.


    At the same time, accompanied with thinking, the first thought appeared.


    "Me!"


    "Why me?"


    "Who am I?"


    ¡­...


    Under continuously thinking, numerous thoughts appeared. They were like fuel which caused the spark of flame to become stronger and a greater area was lit up.


    Finally, after an unknown period of time had passed, the flame shook and understood everything, "I am Fang Yuan!"


    "Rumble!"


    The entire void shook as though it was enlightened, The flame turned into the figure of a human directly. It was the figure of Fang Yuan.


    "I can''t believe I lost myself and was questioned by my inner demons! Looks like I''m severely injured after my dream master cultivation was stripped away... Is this my sea of consciousness? Impossible, I am still a True Divine, after all, I''m not injured until such a stage..."


    However, this space was extremely familiar to Fang Yuan.


    Fang Yuan pulled himself together and observed closely. He saw what seemed to be the inside of a cosmic egg and there were numerous holes on the ground. This void was just like a tattered hut.


    In addition, this tattered hut was not sturdy at all. Outside it, there were even more streams of chaotic energy currents sweeping about that kept trying to invade into the hut as though it wanted to completely equalise this place.


    "An even more familiar feeling!"


    Fang Yuan took two steps and suddenly kicked something.


    He picked up the object and realised it was a long and rusty stick. There were lots of rusts and corrosion on it and it looked like it went through thousands of years of damage.


    "This is... the Mountain Sword?!"


    Fang Yuan looked at this long stick and his body quivered, "This is... my actualised dream world!!!"


    Fang Yuan was not surprised that this dream world was damaged until such a stage, he was surprised this actualised dream world still existed!


    "Impossible!"


    Fang Yuan clenched his teeth, "The Demonic Heart Realm has already snatched away the path of dream masters, the dream dao. But, for dream masters at the Illusionary Divine stage and beyond, the actualised dream world is the foundation and place for them to actualise! It is also the seed for the future prosperous lands and hollows! Even sages could not keep it!"


    "Unless..."


    Fang Yuan''s expressions changed and he began to explore.


    The current actualised dream world had already deteriorated to the extreme. Its range was not even 30 feet.


    The original 8 Gates Sword Array had already disappeared without a trace left behind. However, Fang Yuan found a few other corroded long swords but they no longer had any spiritual property in them. Furthermore, they looked like they would fall apart with one touch and it was extremely tragic to look at them.


    "This is really my dream world. Even at this stage, it can still survive!"


    Fang Yuan''s face was filled with joy. At another corner, he found Elder Extreme Darkness'' stone figure. He was immediately clear at once and shouted, "Get out!"

 488 Disaster

    "Whoosh!"


    There was a white flash.


    A stone figurine appeared within the mountain cave.


    Fang Yuan sighed as he knew that his actualised dream world has weakened once more and was on the verge of being destroyed.


    "I can still actualise... Of course, without a source of energy, the actualised dream world will only continue to weaken!"


    Although the surroundings were filled with dense dream elemental force from the collision on the two realms, the actualised dream world was unable to absorb any of it as though it was sealed away from the world.


    "It seems like I still have some abilities as a dream master?"


    Fang Yuan laughed to himself. "This is impossible. That being had transcended the rules of the reality of our realm and even sages were like ants before him. How will I be not affected by it? Unless..."


    With a single thought, his stats window appeared:


    "Name: Fang Yuan


    Essence: 100


    Spirit: 50 (100)


    Magic: 33 (100)


    Profession: ???


    Cultivation: True Divine, Area Being


    Technique: Pangu Eagle Body, [8 Gates Sword Array (???)], [Elemental Spiritual Energy Cultivation Spell (Grade 5 (Completed))]


    Skill: [Medicine (Level 3)], [Botany (Level 5)], [Fiery Golden Eyes (Level 1)]"


    Compared to before, the words on the stats window were now flashing about and seemed unstable, especially for the information regarding Fang Yuan''s cultivation as a dream master. There was a dark hue to the words as though they were being sealed away.


    "Indeed... my special ability is working!"


    Fang Yuan finally understood everything.


    This ability to have fixed stats would allow him to restore his cultivation without any more bottlenecks if he had already broken through it before.


    Even under such situations, his ability had allowed him to retain his foundations as a dream master.


    "If this is so... That being has not taken away the complete version of the dream dao! I am the remaining piece it will require! Will this mean that all dream masters in Da Qian still have hope?"


    Fang Yuan''s hair stood on its ends.


    Obviously, if that being were to find out what Fang Yuan had possessed, it would surely capture Fang Yuan and break him down into powder to absorb the remaining portion of the dream dao.


    "However... it will not be simple for him to know of the existence of this part of the dream dao. It will need to spend some time digesting the complete dao! Furthermore, it is almost impossible for a higher dimension to descend to our dimension on its own!"


    Since history, it had always been the lower dimension realm opening up the doors to the higher dimensions and not the other way round.


    Fang Yuan started to think to himself. Even the Demonic Heart Realm would have to fret over how it would be able to go against the flow and open up the doors to Da Qian on its own. This would, therefore, ensure the safety of Da Qian for the time being.


    Of course, this would also mean that if Fang Yuan were to increase his cultivation further, he would surely encounter this being in the future.


    This was the ultimate enemy and there was no turning back!


    "Unknowingly, I have another enemy now, an enemy which I cannot put up a resistance against..."


    Fang Yuan shook his head and laughed before revealing a determined look. "However, I will not give up on the dream dao!"


    Although the Demonic Heart Realm was the true source of dream elemental force, the dream dao was wholesome and even after exploring countless other realms, Fang Yuan had never come across any other daos more complete and perfect than the dream dao.


    Who would be able to give up on such a dao?


    "Kacha!"


    "Kacha!"


    Suddenly, cracks started to appear on the rock figurine, revealing a fair-skinned young girl.


    "You are... Fang Yuan!"


    The young girl was dazed as she struggled to get on her feet. Unsurprisingly, she fell and finally realised what was happening. "Where is this?"


    "Let me tell you a good news. This is Da Qian!"


    Fang Yuan gazed at the Demon Weapon before him and felt a tinge of regret for not being able to use her as planned.


    He had originally intended to use her against Extreme Darkness. Never would he have thought that before he could use her, Elder Extreme Darkness was already dead.


    "Da Qian?"


    The Demon Weapon suddenly appeared alert.


    Why would Fang Yuan be so kind-hearted as to release an enemy of his? The Demon Weapon was now, in fact, a normal young girl with no powers and helpless before Fang Yuan.


    "Are you intending to sell me to my true physical body?"


    The Demon Weapon chuckled and continued. "Or... Are you looking for some insider information?"


    Under threat, she had no thoughts about rebelling against Fang Yuan.


    "None of these..."


    Fang Yuan shook his head. "Elder Extreme Darkness''s true physical body is already dead. From today onwards, you will replace her as the true Elder Extreme Darkness!"


    "What?"


    The young girl shuddered.


    As a magical clone of Extreme Darkness and after experiencing so much in her realm, she now had all of Extreme Darkness''s memories and therefore knew how powerful her true physical body was.


    It was a powerful being at the level of the Divine Refining Grade! Close to attaining the most powerful grade!


    How could she die just like that?


    "Don''t you magical clones love to hear it when your true physical body is dead, now that you can take over her?"


    Fang Yuan continued calmly. "Of course... I saved you from your own realm and helped you. You need to repay me in the form of being my servant!"


    "Yes, Lord!"


    Extreme Darkness paid her greetings without a hint of embarrassment.


    "Mmmm!"


    Fang Yuan took out his robes and passed them to Extreme Darkness casually. "This realm is undergoing a huge change. For now, we shall look for a few people before securing a plot of land to settle down."


    "Changes?"


    Extreme Darkness took the robes over and covered her voluptuous figure, blushing in the process.


    "That''s right... Everything is changing and the realm is about to settle down in its new state now."


    Fang Yuan revealed a sneaky smile as he mumbled to himself.


    ...


    "Dream masters are overbearing and this is their fate!"


    The dream masters of Da Qian had gained their status in the past by exerting dominance through their powers.


    Now that the dream masters were weakened, their reputation started to crumble.


    Not just that, years of pent up anger from the oppressed would undoubtedly be released upon the weakened dream masters as the dream masters became the prey of many.


    Even those who had no grudge with dream masters would join in the fight in an attempt to take over the riches of the dream masters.


    Next to the Jade Capital, in Tianhe County.


    "Kill!"


    On Baize Mountain, flames erupted everywhere and smoke billowed above the horizon.


    "Haha... How do you feel now after oppressing us martial artists and enslaving us for so long?"


    A Wu Zong stepped on a deacon and his face was filled with the satisfaction of taking revenge.


    "You... The Sage will never let you off!"


    That old man originally had the cultivation of a 5th Tier Illusionary Divine dream master and could simply kill this Wu Zong if it was in the past. However, now, he had no strength to even put up a meaningful resistance and could only curse him.


    "Haha... What can the Sage do?"


    The martial artist started to laugh heartily. "Everything has changed. You dream masters are criminals and now, all of you have lost your powers! Even sages won''t be able to protect all of you! Brothers, attack!"


    A group of martial artists roared and cheered. Finally, they broke through the protective array and quickly started their killing spree.


    In an instant, they were killing, robbing and even raping the ladies. As they were taking their revenge, they resembled uncultured beasts.


    "What do you see?"


    The martial artist held the old man''s head up and sliced his eyelids off. Fiercely, he glared at the old man. "I want you to see this. See how you have destroyed families before. Now, look at us killing your descendants and snatching your wives, daughters and your everything!"


    "You thief!"


    The old man bit his tongue and spat a mouthful of blood towards the martial artist''s face. In anger, he had killed himself!


    "Pui! You''re indeed an evil man! Even your blood reeks!"


    The martial artist wiped his face and continued to shout. "Kill! Kill all dream masters and return peace to our land!"


    ...


    In the East of the city, within a mansion.


    All the servants of the family were donned in leather and metal armour. They were equipped with longswords and bows as they looked at the chaos happening.


    The fight against dream masters slowly escalated to a worldwide chaos as families joined in the conflicts.


    As the most hopeful family of the county, the Meng Family was on guard.


    "Jun''er, what are you doing?"


    The family head of Meng Family held two iron balls in his hands as he gazed towards the young man with a strict look.


    "Father... My Master is under attack. I need to save him!"


    His young man was rather handsome and was giving off a wealthy vibe.


    "Don''t spout nonsense! From today onwards, you shall not go anywhere! Reflect on your actions at home!"


    The family head of the Meng Family was angered. "Also... cut of all ties with dream masters!"


    "Why! I have done nothing wrong!"


    The young man turned angry as tears welled up in his eyes.


    It was not like this the last time.


    Ever since he had been tested as having the potential to become a dream master, his father had treated him very well and was even respectful of Baize Mountain.


    However, everything had changed.


    "Pa!"


    The family head of the Meng Family gave the young man a tight slap.


    "Young master is confused. Bring him away and lock him up!"


    The family head of Meng Family did not bother to explain as he ordered the servants around.


    If this young man had not displayed the potential of becoming a dream master, he would never have been treated as the young master in the first place.


    Now, he was nothing.


    If he was not clear of this, he would surely have it worse in the future.


    "Yes, sir!"


    Two guards held the young master and a housekeeper by the side walked up towards the family head. "Old master, the city is becoming chaotic. Do we want to leave?"


    "There''s no need!"


    The family head waved his hands. "I have already come to an agreement with them. We shall split the rewards. It''s going to be fine, so don''t worry! As long as we defend the mansion properly and don''t allow those troublemakers to enter the mansion, nothing is going to go wrong!"


    He gazed afar and seemed satisfied as he looked at the burning flames within the county city.


    After this ordeal, the Meng Family might even become more influential in the future.


    As the leader of the family, it was not a simple task to ensure the family''s safety throughout this ordeal.


    "Eh?"


    Two servants were examining the fight outside and realised that something was not right.


    One of the martial artist engaging in a fight just at the doorstep of the Meng Mansion suddenly shrieked. 8 legs started to grow out of his back and in an instant, he had transformed into a monster, giving off a murderous spiritual aura.


    "Hehe!"


    With a human body and spider legs, he made a weird noise before biting the necks of the people around. He started to greedily drink up all the fresh blood and a small spider started to climb out of his body.


    From somewhere not far from the spider creature, another scream was heard.


    "Monster!"


    "These monsters are eating people up!"


    ...


    The You Spirit Inner Demons released by the Bone Door had finally taken effect in this realm, causing a devastating disaster!

 489 Demon Spirits

    In the 16th year of rule under Emperor Zhao Ming, there was a great war in the Jade Capital. Sages fell from power and Inner Demons appeared in the realm.


    From then onwards, the entire Da Qian was thrown into chaos. The Imperial Court was brought down and the entire period was known as ''The Chaos of Demons''. Even the calendars named the period of time as the ''Year of the Demon''.


    "Demons are appearing in Tianhe County? Demon Spirits are feeding on humans and more than 10,000 humans have already been infected. It''s already spreading to the neighbouring counties already?"


    Within a carriage, Fang Yuan slowly read a letter in his hands and remained silent.


    Dream masters fell from power in just a single night and even lost the ability to enter the Dream Realm. Their usual mode of communication was destroyed and they could only make use of the most basic modes of communication.


    Even this letter was obtained from the local authorities and was already rather outdated.


    "Also... the royal family of Da Qian has been killed entirely. Is the Imperial Court already dead?"


    Fang Yuan felt like laughing.


    Sage Shang Hou was a scheming person and was able to deceive the 5 sages into believing that the Imperial Court was at its weakest. He was even almost successful in becoming victorious.


    Unfortunately, none of them had expected that the Demonic Heart Realm would harvest the dream dao from Da Qian, resulting in losses for both sides. Furthermore, the dream masters of Da Qian had suffered the risk of being wiped from the realm.


    The ineffectiveness of the Spiritual Will Steel Seal and the death of Shang Hou meant that the Imperial Court would have no one else to rely on. Therefore, it was not surprising that they were not able to fend off the attacks from the angered True Divines and True Elementals.


    "If we were to keep Shang Hou alive, things would be different. He is a sage and with time, he will surely be able to change his profession to become a True Elemental or even something else more powerful..."


    Fang Yuan rubbed the Mountain River Pearl and remained silent.


    The removal of the dream dao resulted in a devastating outcome for the dream masters. However, this world had much more potential compared to the others and with time, people would surely be able to accomplish much with other daos.


    Unfortunately, this was all that was lacking!


    Unless these people were to train in isolation like The Ancient One, most of them would surely need to take some time to adapt. Of course, these sages already had a headstart and might even be able to completely change their profession in a short span of a hundred days to become a powerful being of another kind.


    Even so, dream masters no longer belonged to this world.


    "The 3 sages of the allied forces will at most become 3 True Elementals and the remaining dream masters might cultivate in other professions to preserve their own combat power. However, this will only ensure the existence of dream masters. There would surely be a great number of casualties after all of these!"


    Fang Yuan sighed. He entered the Mountain River Pearl with his spiritual will, looking to scan Shang Hou''s corpse.


    "If there is any hope, it will be on this person''s body!"


    When Fang Yuan was on the battlefield, why did he target Shang Hou first even though his nemesis, Li Qingmian was right in front of him?


    This was because Shang Hou was a powerful magical clone of a person from the Demonic Heart Realm! He had to have other daos which made use of dream elemental force!


    Fang Yuan did not know how powerful his special ability was then and assumed that the dream dao was over. He even thought of changing his profession!


    With the foundations as a 7th Tier Illusionary Divine dream master, Fang Yuan would surely be able to quickly restore his cultivation with another dao that involved dream elemental force.


    Therefore, his first target was Shang Hou and he knew that he had to kill Shang Hou!


    Why did he not leave a hint of Shang Hou''s soul to grill it for answers?


    Fang Yuan wanted to mind his own business. Why would he pit himself against a monster from the Demonic Heart Realm? He didn''t want to risk his own life!


    He would rather kill Shang Hou and reap treasures off him, even if there might possibly be nothing for him to reap. At least, this option was the safer one.


    "If there is nothing on Shang Hou''s corpse, I shall then pay a visit to the secret treasury of the royal family one day... Unfortunately, by then, I would have been too exhausted to continue anything. Considering that the Imperial Court is destroyed and the royal family is killed, it is likely that the treasures have already been stolen..."


    Fang Yuan rubbed his forehead but did not feel regretful.


    After all, this was his final plan only if everything went wrong.


    Now that he had realised that still had his foundations as a dream master and could likely restore his cultivation, it was still better to continue on the dream dao.


    "Mmm?"


    After a short while, Fang Yuan''s eyebrows twitched. With the wave of his hands, there were a few more objects in his carriage.


    There were jade pendants, hairpins and a few rings. All of these items had mysterious spiritual auras coming from them.


    Even if Shang Hou were to have any protective magical equipment with him, they would all be destroyed by the attacks which had killed him. All of these leftovers were merely supportive treasures which would be able to assist him.


    "Is this the... Ten Thousand Year Soul Jade?!"


    Fang Yuan held the yellow jade in his hands and seemed to be filled with emotions. "With this jade, I can nourish my soul. Jades the size of a grain of rice is enough for dream masters to fight over and now, I have gotten my hands on such a big piece. He is indeed the Great Ancestor of Da Qian."


    After a thorough inspection, Fang Yuan realised that there was nothing wrong about it. After all, such jades could not be carved on or imprinted on by one''s spiritual will for it would be rendered useless.


    In jubilation, Fang Yuan quickly wore the jade on himself and in that instant, he could feel a soothing sensation in his consciousness.


    "This is indeed a great treasure!"


    After examining a few other treasures, Fang Yuan realised that something was wrong with the hairpin.


    "This hairpin is carved from Soul Resting Wood and there are no arrays or spiritual wills on it. However, the carvings on top..."


    The hairpin was a dark purple and there were gold streaks on it. Similarly, there was no spiritual force coming from it.


    However, Fang Yuan quickly activated his Fiery Golden Eyes and magnified the golden streaks. They were word carvings carved by hand and it was a majestic piece of work.


    If not for the fact that Fang Yuan had his Fiery Golden Eyes, even powerful beings would not be able to detect anything in it.


    "These words... what do they mean?"


    After another round of close examination, Fang Yuan exclaimed.


    For Shang Hou to protect such information with these means would mean that these pieces of information were extremely important. Unfortunately, Fang Yuan could not understand a single word on the hairpin.


    These golden words had a weird appearance and each character had many strokes. In fact, the words appeared 3-dimensional and after a long time, Fang Yuan started to feel a little dizzy.


    "Could this be the language of Demonic Heart! Words of the Demonic Heart Realm?"


    Fang Yuan was utterly speechless. He quickly scanned across a few other objects, classified them and kept them for the future.


    "Master!"


    Extreme Darkness sounded shocked. "There is a large group of refugees ahead!"


    "Mmm?!"


    Fang Yuan pulled the curtains apart and saw waves of people flooded around, as though he was flowing through a river. With a straight face, these people seemed to be in a great shock.


    "The disaster of the Inner Demons!"


    With a sigh, he gazed towards Extreme Darkness and realised that she was extremely fortunate.


    Since Fang Yuan could not understand the language of the Demonic Heart, if he were to discover any new techniques, he would surely test them on her.


    After all, this girl was the magical clone of Extreme Darkness. Now that her true physical body was dead, she would unknowingly inherit the fate energy of Extreme Darkness and her future would be limitless.


    But for now, she had just narrowly missed a disaster.


    "The county city ahead is plagued with Demon Spirits. Quickly run for your lives!"


    Extreme Darkness blocked the path of an old man which then impatiently cautioned her of the dangers ahead with a look of fear.


    The group of refugees gathered around the carriage and a few of them were martial artists equipped with weapons. They seemed hostile.


    "The opening of the Bone Door had not only brought in a lot of dream elemental force, it had also brought in the Demon Spirits from the Demonic Heart Realm!"


    Fang Yuan seemed to know what was happening ahead.


    The Demon Spirits of the Demonic Heart Realm would feed on sentient beings and be extremely hardy. They also had the ability to split into many physical entities.


    Even if Shang Hou would not admit, it would be the truth that these Demon Spirits were the foundation of the Demonic Heart Realm!


    This would mean that the powerful beings of the Demonic Hear Realm might have evolved from these Demon Spirits.


    Now that the Demon Spirits were released into Da Qian, it was akin to fishes being released into the water. Riding on the fact that Da Qian was already in chaos, the spread of this epidemic would be accelerated.


    ''To think about it, the destruction of the Imperial Court and the loss of order in society and even the uprising of power for Wu Yue and Zhang Jin were due to the fact that dream masters were powerful. Now that dream masters had fallen, everything that came with them would be destroyed... Armies would be destroyed and life would be slowly wiped out. This is the uprising of the Demon Spirits. If they are allowed to evolve from a few powerful beings, they would really cause chaos in Da Qian.''


    Fang Yuan sighed and knew what the world would become in the near future. "Is this doomsday?"


    If dream masters were still around, even if they were weakened, the sages would be able to lead the societies into a period of peace.


    However, now that there were no sages and even powerful beings were all either dead or severely injured, the realm had minimal resistance against such foreign attacks. The future was uncertain.


    "Let''s go!"


    Fang Yuan waved his hands.


    "Wait a minute! Leave the carriage and the lady behind!"


    The surrounding martial artists could no longer hold back. With a shout, they approached Fang Yuan. "Otherwise... Beware of my knife!"


    "Really..."


    Fang Yuan was speechless. Looking at the elegant but helpless Extreme Darkness, he held his forehead in confusion. "No... I must quickly improve her cultivation. Otherwise, I would really tire out by doing everything myself?"


    In reality, Fang Yuan only had himself to blame for all these. If he had allowed Extreme Darkness to keep some of her own powers, she would not have ended up so helpless.


    "Tell me! How would you like to die?"


    With a solemn look, Fang Yuan gazed at the martial artist.


    Suddenly, Fang Yuan could feel a vibration which made his expression change.


    "Kid, watch your words!"


    The martial artist hollered and suddenly, he froze in the air as he held on to his own throat.


    "Boss? Are you okay?"


    A martial artist rushed up to investigate what was going wrong.


    "Whoosh!"


    With a glow of blood, few of their heads started to roll on the ground.


    "Hehe!"


    This martial artist opened his mouth wide, revealing two tentacle-like arms. With a sticky green fluid around its tentacles, it started to sweep around.


    "Demon!"


    "He is possessed by the demons!"


    The refugees became unsettled and quickly fled in all directions.


    "Burp!"


    The tentacles started to stretch outwards, about 20 feet long before revealing a sharp tongue within it. With that, it swallowed the corpses on the ground whole.


    "Whoosh!"


    A small weird-looking egg emerged from the tentacles and it appeared to be looking for a place to hide.


    "The disaster of the Demon Spirits!"


    Fang Yuan witnessed the entire scene and became vexed.

 490 Pressured

    "Demon!"


    "Run quickly!"


    In an instant, the crowd around the carriage dispersed quickly with occasional shrieks coming from the martial artists, as though they were trying to avoid a plague.


    No! The effects of the Demon Spirit were scarier than a plague!


    "Ah!"


    A tentacle struck towards Extreme Darkness and a whisker started to grow out from the egg on the tip of the tentacle. With that, the screams of a girl were heard.


    "Pa!"


    Fang Yuan frowned. With a fist, he broke the tentacle in mid-air.


    The tentacles and the egg exploded, tainting the ground black. Within moments, the black fluid started to corrode into the ground, leaving many small holes. A thick white smoke started to billow from these holes.


    "Bloop! Bloop!"


    The mutated martial artist started to transform. His head slowly turned into that of a large octopus. As his tentacles continue to grow, he was looking for a way to escape.


    "Heavenly Eagle Claw!"


    With a casual flick, the elemental energy in the air gathered, forming a huge palm which pressed down on the martial artist.


    "Pa!"


    Like swatting a fly, this mutated martial artist was flattened into a pile of flesh.


    However, in mid-air, a grey and illusionary shadow started to appear. It had the shape of an octopus. With two bloodshot eyes gazing about, it seemed like it was merely a projected imagery.


    "Is this the Demon Spirit? Does it lie between being illusionary and real?"


    Fang Yuan closed his eyes. He could sense anger, fear, cruelty and other absurd emotions, but there was no much wisdom in this entity.


    "According to Shang Hou, this thing is only the most basic life form in the Demonic Heart Realm!"


    Playfully, Fang Yuan toyed around with the elemental force around the octopus, giving it no chance of escaping.


    "I''m afraid that normal knives will not be able to harm it! Even the elemental force from a Wu Zong might only be able to affect such a Demon Spirit by a little... This is indeed a higher dimensional life form!"


    After a round of experimenting, this octopus did not seem to fear Fang Yuan as it started to stretch its tentacles towards him.


    "Courting death!"


    With a frown, he struck his fist out.


    "Bang!"


    A huge hole appeared on the body of the octopus and there was a terrifying scream coming from its spiritual will.


    However, Fang Yuan did not appear satisfied with it. "Only the spiritual will of a True Divine will be able to injure or even kill it. Normal Meridian Opening Wu Zongs will only be able to defend themselves, let alone kill it!"


    Only powerful beings were able to deal with these demons. If normal martial artists were to encounter them, they would only be killed.


    "Could this be due to the fact that they have a source of energy with a higher quality than ours? They have the purest form of dream elemental force..."


    Fang Yuan sighed as he picked up a silver knife and stroked it.


    "Buzz! Buzz!"


    Immediately, a silvery glow started to appear on the knife.


    "Extreme Darkness, go ahead and chop it up!"


    He passed the knife to Extreme Darkness and instructed her firmly.


    "Yes!"


    Extreme Darkness gritted her teeth and walked up. With a single slice, she managed to chop off one of its tentacles.


    "Screech!"


    After its death, the entire Demon Spirit started to melt. The severed tentacle quickly disappeared, turning into dense dream elemental force which dissipated into the air.


    "Indeed..."


    Fang Yuan nodded his head and understood everything.


    These Demon Spirits were able to feed on the negative emotions of humans and were able to quickly split themselves. Furthermore, while possessing someone, their true Demon Spirit body would able to remain immune to attacks. Only a powerful being or someone with control over dream elemental force would be able to control these spirits.


    After all, the dream elemental force projected into Da Qian from the Demonic Heart Realm was of a higher quality than what Da Qian originally had!


    "It''s a pity that dream masters are now useless and are all in hiding. Not only are the dream masters much weaker now, they are not likely to be effective against dealing with these Demon Spirits..."


    "However, these Demon Spirits will not be able to turn illusionary after possessing a body. Therefore, normal humans will be able to deal with them. Even if an army of 100,000 of them were to enter Da Qian, only a few hundred of them would have the ability to turn illusionary."


    If not for Fang Yuan, these refugees would all be possessed taken over by the octopus Demon Spirit to become an army of demons.


    At this point in time, it was hard to say if any one of them would mutate into an octopus in the future.


    If such disaster were to continue on, Da Qian would be too chaotic and ultimately, the entire realm would be taken over! Everywhere would be living hell!


    Fang Yuan shook his head. He quickly returned to his carriage and ordered Extreme Darkness to continue the journey.


    "Master, where are we going now?"


    Extreme Darkness rode her horse as she asked with curiosity.


    "Divine Lotus Heavenly Pond! The headquarters of Divine Lotus!"


    ...


    Divine Lotus Mountain.


    This mountain was part of a huge mountainous ridge. It stretched into the skies and the peak of the mountain was covered in snow all year round.


    On the peak, there was a huge and clear lake. Gold and white lotus flowers bloom within the lake and it was a dreamy paradise.


    This was the Divine Lotus Heavenly Pond, where the headquarters of the Divine Lotus Cult was.


    In the legends, the Divine Lotus Heavenly Pond would continuously shift its position. If not for it, the headquarters would have been destroyed by the Hidden Dragon Guards during the ultimate war.


    The reality was close to what was heard about the pond. There was a shifting array in the middle of the pond and everything was extremely majestic.


    Unfortunately, only a Sage would be able to manipulate such an array.


    With the death of Lord Yin and the weakening of the few other powerful beings, no one was able to manipulate it ever since.


    This time, due to the war, Lord Yin had shifted the entire cult to a place somewhere close to the Middle Region. This was right in the centre of the demon disasters.


    "Roar! Roar!"


    "Keke!"


    At the foot of the mountain, black silhouettes of a beast army had gathered.


    There were 8-legged spiders and giant-eyed octopuses among them as they recklessly rushed towards the peak of the mountain.


    Above the beast army, a group of black silhouettes shrieked. They were covered with a black ghostly fire. With a long fiery tail, they continuously patrolled in the skies as they made their way towards the Heavenly Pond.


    "How dare you, beasts?"


    In the middle of the Heavenly Pond, gold lotus flowers started to bloom, releasing a colourful glow which started to spread in the skies above the pond. A building within the Heavenly Pond became well-protected under the colourful layer of protection.


    The building was built from bamboo and had an elegant vibe. It stood on a piece of huge lotus leaf and was a display of delicate workmanship.


    A deity-like lady wearing a white veil and a handsome and gentlemanly male disciple stood on the huge lotus leaf. Their faces were filled with fear.


    "What should we do? This place is surrounded by them!"


    "Sage is not here and we are unable to manipulate the 9 Turns Transferrences Array. We won''t last long if we were to depend on the 9 Lotus Divine Array to protect us!"


    One of the disciples screamed and was at lost.


    Previously, they were all Illusionary Divine dream masters and were once involved in attacking the Imperial Court. Such an attack from wild beasts used to mean nothing to them.


    But now, it was a life and death situation!


    "Where is Elder Green Lotus?"


    This elder was the last powerful being of the cult and had the cultivation of a 7th Tier Illusionary Divine dream master. Ever since the fall of dream masters, this elder had always been in isolation.


    "Elder is trying his best to restore his cultivation..."


    A few of them tried to explain.


    "Hmph... I''m sure all of you have heard that sound, right? If the piece of news is true and that even sages are unable to maintain their statuses, do you think an elder can do it?"


    A middle-aged lady started to laugh hysterically. "Haha... we will all die here! Die here, I say!"


    She appeared crazed and it was evident that she was too stressed and was pushed off her limits.


    Everyone on the lotus leaf remained silent.


    Suddenly, a female disciple started to sob and influenced the rest around her to do the same.


    Thinking about how they used to be the most powerful people in the realm, none of them could accept reality now!


    Needless to say, their servants were revolting against them as well and had already wreaked havoc in the headquarters. If not for the few arrays and magical equipment, none of them would be able to survive until today.


    Now, against such a large army of beasts, it was the final straw.


    "Sisters!"


    Amidst all the sobbing, Liu Mengmei stood out. "Be strong and never give up. We still have hope!"


    "Haha... hope?"


    The crazy lady started to scream. "Even Sage is dead and our friends from the alliance have abandoned us. What is the hope you speak of?"


    "Rumble!"


    Her words were like an atomic bomb. As soon as she finished her sentence, everyone started to wail in despair.


    "Lord Yin... Is she dead?"


    "That''s impossible!"


    The disciples were in disbelief and were on the brink of killing each other.


    "Rumble!"


    The army of beasts was already attacking the protective array and the wavering array finally caught the attention of the dream masters.


    "Who is manipulating the protective array now? Quickly assist her!"


    Liu Mengmei seemed serious. "As long as we are surviving, we will have hope! Even though we might not be dream masters now, we are still the ones with potential in this realm. Are we really afraid of not having a future?"


    "It''s me! I''ll add a few crystals to the array!"


    A deacon nodded her head and quickly ran towards the array eye.


    At this point of time, Liu Mengmei remained composed and started to delegate work. Finally, there was order and the other remaining disciples nodded their head, impressed at her composure.


    Many reserved Divine Ladies had already left the competition to become the Divine Lady. Liu Mengmei was all the while the last few.


    However, now that the few reserved Divine Ladies had left for the Jade Capital to fight the war, she had risen to the occasion, taking up the responsibility of being the one making the decisions!


    "Rumble!"


    At this point in time, a streak of spiritual light shot out from the main hall. It was a weird-looking carriage with wings that flew towards the array.


    "Buzz!"


    An order plate flew out and the array froze for a moment before revealing an opening.


    The flying carriage continued its way, bypassing the array through the opening.


    "It''s Elder Green Lotus! He is controlling the Heavenly Boat to flee!"


    One of the deacons pulled his moustache in anger. "Damn it, the Elder''s order plate is the only thing which can pause the 9 Lotus Divine Array!"


    "Jerk!"


    Liu Mengmei gritted her teeth. She knew that this elder was not thinking of a plan for the cult all the while in isolation. Instead, he was cultivating as a spiritual knight in seclusion. Now that he was able to control the flying carriage, he took the opportunity to flee.


    He not only fled but also paused the 9 Lotus Divine Array, exposing the entire cult to the dangers outside.


    "Keke!"


    Seeing the opening, many beasts started to flood into the Heavenly Pond, beginning their killing spree!

 491 Help

    "Lord, we are too late!"


    A horse carriage slowly approached the foot of the mountain. Extreme Darkness looked at the heavenly pond surrounded by demonic beasts and sighed.


    "No, it''s not too late!"


    The area between Fang Yuan''s eyebrows twitched and he then suddenly groaned. Countless of energy currents gathered behind his back and turned into the lofty Chaos Giant.


    "Roar!"


    The giant hollered and struck out its palm towards the space in front of him as though it was swatting a fly. The palm smacked down a stream of light.


    "Fwoosh!"


    Within the stream of light, a winged horse carriage cracked into pieces and a ravaged figure could be seen falling down from it.


    "You are from Divine Lotus Cult, right? How dare you escape secretly? Tell me, what''s the situation like inside?"


    Fang Yuan''s brows frowned. This middle-aged scholar person in front of him had the cultivation of a 4th or 5th Tier spiritual knight but that was all. If Fang Yuan did not control his strength just now, this person would have turned into a pile of minced meat.


    "You are... Fang Yuan!"


    The middle-aged scholar was astounded when he saw Fang Yuan''s face. There was even a glow hatred shining from the bottom of his eyes.


    "Oh? You know me?"


    Fang Yuan quickly recalled information about Divine Lotus Cult and suddenly smiled, "Oh I know, you are Elder Green Lotus! Reserved Divine Lady Meng Lian''s father?"


    That woman was narrow-minded and petty; she was long killed by Fang Yuan at 9 Extremes Mountain.


    As her father, Elder Green Lotus was definitely furious with Fang Yuan. If only he had the proof and that the big war was not happening, the two of them would have definitely fought against each other fiercely.


    "Why are you here?"


    Green Lotus looked at Fang Yuan with mixed emotions.


    Although this person was closely related to the death of his daughter and he even suspected that he was her killer, but now, he was no longer a 7th Tier Illusionary Divine powerful being. Whereas Fang Yuan was a martial artist True Divine, the tables had turned! He was now weaker and Fang Yuan was stronger.


    "Nothing, I''m just here to receive Divine Lotus Cult''s inheritance!"


    Within the two sects who lost their sages, Source Seeking Sect''s headquarters was uncertain. Fang Yuan made use of Liu Mengmei to find out where Divine Lotus Heavenly Pond was located and thus, he naturally came over here.


    The treasures of a sage''s cult were very attractive to Fang Yuan.


    "How dare you!"


    Although Elder Green Lotus was abandoning his sect in the last moments to flee away, he could not help but feel enraged when he heard Fang Yuan brazenly said that.


    "Oh, right, since you are abandoning your cult to flee, you must have brought along lots of good things! Take them out!"


    Fang Yuan glanced at Green Lotus and smiled suddenly.


    "How about we make a deal?!"


    Elder Green Lotus'' expression suddenly became calm, "You bring me away from here and I will hand over some of Divine Lotus Cult''s rare treasures and secret collections!"


    "Roar!"


    The attacking beast army had already discovered this unusual situation and sent over thousands of beasts.


    "Sounds like a good deal, but don''t you know I''m your enemy who killed your daughter?"


    Fang Yuan had a mocking look on his face.


    "Even if my daughter is dead, I can still have another one! So how? Are you agreeing or not?"


    Green Lotus''s face twitched.


    "Such a good deal, of course I am... not going to agree!"


    Fang Yuan shrugged his shoulders, "You could have obviously taken everything, why would you only take some of it. You think I''m dumb?"


    "Fang Yuan, you tyrant!"


    Elder Green Lotus hollered and a few rings on his fingers suddenly sparkled with an eye-catching green radiance.


    An invisible force landed on Fang Yuan''s body in the blink of an eye.


    Immediately, runes appeared one by one which represented the powers such as, ''imprison'', ''weaken'', ''pain'' et cetera.


    "You shall stay here and die then!"


    Elder Green Lotus quickly retreated. A pair of illusory wings appeared behind his robes as he suddenly soared to the skies.


    "Indeed, the Divine Lotus Cult has quite some hidden treasures!"


    Fang Yuan looked at the rune chains on his body and shook his head and body casually.


    "Crackle!"


    A firecracker-like noise erupted as the rune chains on his bodies exploded immediately.


    "Come down now!"


    Fang Yuan then reached out his right hand and the wings behind Elder Green Lotus exploded at once. Elder Green Lotus wailed and fell hard onto the ground. His head cracked and blood gushed out.


    "Impossible! How could you break free so fast! Even if you''re a True Divine, it''s impossible!"


    Elder Green Lotus shouted. His expression was filled with disbelief.


    "The weak will always question the world while the strong would only force the world to adapt to him!"


    Fang Yuan walked forward and touched the area between Green Lotus'' eyebrows with his finger.


    "Thud!"


    This powerful being elder quivered as he became soft and collapsed at once.


    After being deprived of their dao, even powerful beings like dream master sages turned into a pile of dog shit if they did not have any other cultivation.


    Fang Yuan had already slowly accustomed to such a situation. He then sighed and looked at the army of demonic monsters that were starting to surround them.


    "All of you want to die?"


    Fang Yuan coldly hollered and the Chaos Giant behind him immediately let out a loud roar.


    "Rumble!"


    True Divine levels of mind pressure spread to all sides of the surrounding from Fang Yuan as the centre.


    "Keke!"


    The attacking demonic beasts were a kind of ''human head spider body'' monster. As they were suppressed by such a strong mental pressure that was almost physical, one by one, their eyes turned white as they fainted and died.


    "Let''s go! To the heavenly pond!"


    Fang Yuan strode forward and Extreme Darkness followed closely.


    "This... this is a True Divine? Da Qian''s True Divine is so strong?"


    Waves of demonic monsters charged after them with no fear at all. However, the moment any of them entered Fang Yuan''s 1,000-mile radius, they would faint and die immediately with no exception. Extreme Darkness could not help but be very astonished as she watched.


    "Keke!"


    After a humongous beast died, a giant eye with eight wings emerged from its body. Its figure laid in between reality and the illusionary. It then fiercely charged towards Fang Yuan and Extreme Darkness.


    "Bang!"


    Fang Yuan casually struck a punch and the Chaos Giant behind him did the same action.


    Under the loud bang, this Demon Spirit erupted into a pile of smoke at once.


    "Squeak! Squeak!"


    Such a scene evidently scared the other Demon Spirits.


    When Fang Yuan moved forward again, a large pathway was cleared in front of him as no other Demon Spirit dared to block him again.


    Within the heavenly pond, Liu Mengmei felt the surrounding forces became slightly weaker.


    "There''s someone"


    "Someone''s here to save us!"


    A few female disciples could not help but to cheer as they saw a hole appear in the cluster of beasts and that a green coloured giant was slowly walking through it.


    "It''s him!"


    The moment Liu Mengmei saw that figure, she felt as though her heart almost jumped out of her chest.


    "How many of you all are left?"


    Fang Yuan arrived at the headquarters of Divine Lotus Cult and asked directly.


    "All of us! All here!"


    Liu Mengmei did not reveal she knew Fang Yuan. She went forward to talk to Fang Yuan as she was the chosen leader, "You are..."


    "I am Fang Yuan! Here to take over Divine Lotus Cult''s inheritance!"


    Fang Yuan smiled slightly. He did not have the hobby of saving others for no rewards.


    "You all have two choices right now! First is to seek refuge under me! Second is to become the monsters'' food!"


    "You came to... conscript us?"


    The disciples and deacons of Divine Lotus Cult had their mouths agape. They felt as though the world was collapsing and falling apart.


    Since when could a True Divine declare that he wants to conscript a sage''s sect? If this happened in the past, they would have felt ridiculous, but now...


    "As long as you can save us and get us out!"


    As Liu Mengmei was undercover, she immediately agreed.


    Seeing such, the other disciples wanted to say something but did not retort after all.


    In the face of death, their pride and sense of shame were close to disappearing.


    "Great!"


    Fang Yuan nodded his head, "Bring along your sect''s important texts and treasures and prepare to transfer them over to me!"


    "No way! Us Divine Lotus Cult rather die than to submit!"


    An old grey-haired female deacon held onto her walking stick with an intense attitude, "Liu Mengmei! How dare you side with an outsider?"


    "Bang!"


    At the next woman, this woman was grabbed by Fang Yuan tightly, "Since, you rather die than to submit, then you shall die! Who else is not submitting?"


    As the disciples watched this deacon''s skull roll on the floor, they became silent at once and none of them dared to resist as they cooperated and allowed Liu Mengmei to organise them.


    "The monsters are attacking again!"


    Suddenly, accompanied with a long screech, the beast army that stopped just now began to slowly inch forward again.


    "Hmph, how silly!"


    Fang Yuan took a deep breath and the Chaos Giant behind him became even more solid. He then suddenly opened his mouth and roared, "Zha!!!"


    "Rumble!"


    Invisible soundwaves spread everywhere. Large amounts of ripples formed throughout the entire heavenly pond


    "Thud! Thud!"


    Rows of monsters fell to the ground one by one immediately. They did not even have any time to defend themselves.


    "Pak!"


    A disciple of Divine Lotus Cult could no longer hold it anymore as she felt an immense pressure inside her heart. The Fang Yuan in front of her seemed to become larger and mightier than ever like a god which caused her to kneel down.


    "Pak! Pak!"


    Like domino tiles, more and more disciples chose to kneel down to express their submission.


    If they were still Illusionary Divine dream masters, they could naturally defend themselves against such mental pressure. Unfortunately, they were like fish meat now and were forcefully injected with the mental hint to submit due to Fang Yuan''s martial artist True Divine willpower.


    "Liu Mengmei!"


    "Yes, Lord!"


    Liu Mengmei looked at Fang Yuan and her gaze immediately became soft and gentle.


    "From today onwards, you are their leader! Now, do a headcount immediately and prepare to leave!"


    Fang Yuan ordered.


    With Fang Yuan''s prestige and their appointed mission, the remaining disciples quickly followed the orders. The results of the organisation were out, "We only have 100 plus people left and most of them are disciples who just entered the cult¡­..."


    Liu Mengmei reported despairingly, "Other deacons and disciples have either ran away or are dead..."


    "These are enough!"


    Fang Yuan wanted to build up his own force and was actually not interested in the higher echelons of Divine Lotus Cult. It was all perfect now, "Bring along as many texts and treasures and follow me to leave!"


    "Yes!"


    After all, the relocation of 100 people was not an easy task.


    After an hour, the group of people lugged their stuff and followed behind Fang Yuan trepidly as they entered the beast army.


    The nearby demonic monsters flexed their sharp claws and teeth but could not get near them at all. Occasionally, there were a few Demon Spirits who could not resist charging forward and they were exploded by Fang Yuan''s divine fist from afar.


    The impression of such strong martial arts was immediately imprinted in the hearts of these 100 plus people. Seeds of submission soon began to sprout.


    "Squeak!"


    Suddenly, a long screech could be heard from deep within the beast army.


    Accompanied by this noise, ten over Demon Spirits appeared and instantly charged towards Fang Yuan''s team.

 492 Demon Spiri

    Although the might of a True Divine could easily overpower normal demons, this did not include Demon Spirits!


    After the high-pitched exclamation, 10 odd-looking Demon Spirits appeared at once before targeting the group of them.


    "These beasts are being led by a sentient being!"


    With a laugh, Fang Yuan struck his fist out. "Chaos Divine Fist!"


    "Rumble!"


    The giant behind him struck its fist out as though it attempted to split the earth beneath its feet. An illusionary spiritual territory appeared, trapping 10 over Demon Spirits within it.


    After a huge explosion, the Demon Spirits disintegrated, turning into a current of air. Even the weakest of their wills were being crushed by Fang Yuan''s martial arts willpower, giving it no chance to revive.


    "I''ve found you!"


    Fang Yuan hurriedly made his way 300 yards into the swarm of Demon Spirits and disappeared among them.


    "Chirp! Chirp!"


    A sharp voice was heard once more and the demons around started to surround Fang Yuan without fear.


    "Get lost!"


    The Chaos Giant roared once more and the low-tiered demons were shocked to death.


    The earth beneath them sunk down and there was a visible crater.


    A few more unique-looking demons were surrounding what seemed to be a silhouette in them.


    Fang Yuan was confused for the simple fact that the leader of these beasts had the form of a human.


    "A demon in the form of a human?"


    He walked forward and in a single leap, he arrived before this demon.


    "Sikutumen, Moderik!"


    Seeing Fang Yuan making his way in, the human-formed demon opened his mouth and mumbled something which sounded like a curse.


    In an instant, two huge and black illusionary hands appeared in mid-air. Eyes lined the black hands and all of them were glaring at Fang Yuan.


    "Roar! Roar!"


    The two-headed demons guarding the human-form demon roared in anger. Flesh started to grow out from their back before exploding, revealing their true form: 3-headed 6-armed giants. Without hesitation, they rushed towards Fang Yuan.


    The human-form leader nimbly leapt onto a carpet with wings as though it was about to flee.


    "Screech!"


    The eyes on the hands opened up and shot out a streak of light, which had the ability to slow, poison and corrode any adversary.


    "This power... this makes him almost as powerful as a 9th Tier spiritual knight!"


    Streaks of light landed on Fang Yuan''s body but were swiftly deflected by a strong pulse of energy coming from Fang Yuan''s blood.


    With outstretched hands, Fang Yuan swung his claws out. "Heavenly Eagle Claw!"


    "Screech!"


    The giant hands fell to the ground in an instant.


    The two 3-headed 6-armed demons were trapped by the fallen hands and could no longer move.


    "Hadouken!"


    Witnessing this scene, that human-form demon started to sound even weirder.


    As he cursed, the flesh carpet started to flap its wings as it accelerated itself up into the sky.


    "Come down!"


    Fang Yuan brought his hands together and the Chaos Giant behind him mimicked his action. Full of energy, the two gigantic palms were forcefully clapped together.


    "Buzz!"


    The flesh carpet was caught in the giant''s palm and was subsequently pressed on the ground.


    "Are you still thinking of escaping?"


    Fang Yuan walked up and grabbed the human-form demon.


    The demon did not seem any different from a normal human being except for its dark skin and ruby-like eyes which glittered under the sun.


    As it noticed Fang Yuan grabbing its arm, it smiled before it began to inflate like a balloon.


    "Pop!"


    It had chosen to kill itself and a black streak of energy shot away.


    "I''ve said, no running away!"


    In a flash, the giant hands seemed to have stretched beyond the boundaries of what was true and what was illusionary. It had directly held the black streak of energy in its hands which then transfigured into a black shadow.


    Fang Yuan wiped off the sweat on his forehead. "It seems like you don''t understand human language!"


    He clenched his fist and struck squarely towards the black shadow''s face. Silvery dream elemental force started to stain Fang Yuan''s fist as the black shadow wailed in pain.


    "Moyana! Moyana!"


    "Human language, I say!"


    Fang Yuan continued to brutally assault it to the point where it was on the brink of death. "If you don''t speak human language, you shall die!"


    "St... stop!"


    A hoarse voice sounded in Fang Yuan''s spiritual will. It was a very simple tone as though a kid was still learning how to speak.


    "Look at you, if you''ve tried earlier all of these wouldn''t have happened!"


    Fang Yuan kept his fist and gazed at the black shadow. "Don''t try to run or I''ll give you another beating!"


    "I... I dare not!"


    This black shadow transformed into the form of a Demon Spirit. He was a skinny-looking boy with a pair of black wings. With fear, he gazed towards Fang Yuan and especially at Fang Yuan''s fist.


    "What is your name?"


    "I... I cannot say!"


    "You''re courting death!"


    Fang Yuan turned serious and swung his fist up.


    "Rumble! Rumble!"


    The ground shook and even Liu Mengmei and Extreme Darkness couldn''t bear to witness the scene.


    This was no longer a fight but a bullying session.


    Finally, before the Demon Spirit was about to dissipate, a weak voice was heard in Fang Yuan''s consciousness. "Motana Aligu Saya Todoker..."


    This name was extremely long with a more than 30 syllables. Reading the name was like reading a chant.


    As soon as Fang Yuan heard its name, he felt as though he was now able to control the life and death of this Demon Spirit, commanding it to do whatever he wished.


    "Now I know! It seems that you guys are similar to the evil demons in the legends. If anyone were to know your name, you will become enslaved to that person!"


    He gazed at the shuddering Demon Spirit and casually commanded it. "I''ll call you Ado. Why are you attacking this place?"


    "Because... there''s delicious food here..."


    Ado the Demon Spirit shuddered as he replied Fang Yuan. "Only by eating will we be able to become stronger..."


    It was evident that this demon was new. Although it had eaten quite a number of humans, it was still not fluent in the language of Da Qian.


    However, Fang Yuan was patient and after a few exchanges, he could finally understand what it was trying to say.


    According to Ado, it was originally a lowly You Spirit of the Demonic Heart Realm. At the opening of the Bone Door, it was sucked into this realm. It had gained the ability to think for itself and even had a name after eating quite a sizeable number of humans.


    As long as there was enough food for them, any You Spirit would be able to evolve into potentially anything.


    Therefore, after detecting all the ''delicious food'' here, Ado decided to lead the other Demon Spirits and formed a demon army to surround the Divine Lotus Heavenly Pond.


    To normal demons, the fear and flesh of normal humans were the best types of food. However, if any high-tiered Demon Spirit wanted to evolve, it would require food of even higher quality!


    For instance, a high-tiered cultivator!


    "Therefore, you started to eye this place. You are quite smart!"


    "Do we have a lot of beings like you in this world?" Fang Yuan went straight to the point.


    "With enough time and energy, any Demon Spirit will be able to achieve what I am and from there gain the ability to lead and control other low-tiered Demon Spirits!"


    According to Ado, the Demonic Heart Realm was a harsh realm and high-tiered demons would be able to do anything to low-tiered demons.


    After evolving, Ado had gained new knowledge and had newfound wisdom. Finally, he had achieved a higher status for himself.


    Unfortunately for him, he was now under Fang Yuan''s control.


    "In the Demonic Heart Realm, normal demons and Demon Spirits are expendable. What cultivation level are you at right now?"


    "Modor! If I were to translate it, it should be the level of ''elemental force'' in Da Qian."


    Ado was extremely careful with his words. It seemed that he had already consumed a few cultivators who had obtained elemental force.


    ''Is this the power of the Demonic Heart Realm? A small fry who had just achieved an increase in cultivation is already comparable to a powerful Elemental Opening spiritual knight or Meridian Opening Wu Zong?''


    Fang Yuan took in a deep breath as he mulled over the differences between the cultivators from the different realms.


    "A final question! Do you recognise this name?"


    Thinking about it, Fang Yuan started to draw in mid-air, forming a 3-dimensional rune which resembled a bunch of 3 flowers.


    "Eh?"


    Ado was shocked and quickly replied. "This is a character in the language of the Demonic Heart Realm. I have knowledge of this. This word means ''the heart of a flower''."


    "Very good! You''re quite useful. You shall follow me next time!"


    Fang Yuan nodded head and was elated. He knew that he could finally translate all the documents and scriptures which Shang Hou had left behind.


    "Yes... Master!"


    Ado gazed at the two ladies behind and licked his lips. "Can I eat them?"


    "No! Unless I allow, you are not to eat anybody! Otherwise, I will beat you to death!"


    Fang Yuan twitched his eyebrows. He knew that after scaring Ado, he had to use rewards to motivate him. "Of course... If you are obedient, I will supply you with the energy you need."


    "Yes, Master!"


    Ado nodded his head innocently as he bit his tongue while gazing at Liu Mengmei.


    Such an overbearing demon was only a form of entertainment in the eyes of the powerful.


    However, Fang Yuan did not let his guard down.


    ''Looking at how things are, powerful beings will ultimately evolve from a Demon Spirit if there is enough time. However, the bad thing is that they seem to populate too quickly and are widespread around Da Qian now. It seems like there is no way to get rid of them... The future of mankind seems bleak.''


    It was useless to think about all these. Fang Yuan quickly ordered Ado to regain control of the other demons and create a path for his group.


    Originally, it would be an arduous task to force a path. However, with Ado''s help, everything became simple.


    As long as Ado could command its army to surround them at all times, the group of them would be able to avoid a lot of problems while travelling.


    If no other demons were stronger than Ado, Ado would be able to easily control the entire army.


    "Master, your plan is extremely feasible!"


    After hearing Fang Yuan''s plan, Ado nodded his head but appeared a little worried. "I would like to create another body. Can I use that?"


    A demon bit a corpse in its mouth and dragged it over. It was the corpse of Elder Green Lotus.


    "Your taste is rather good. You may use him!"


    Fang Yuan nodded his head.


    After getting permission from Fang Yuan, Ado turned into a black streak of energy and seeped into Elder Green Lotus.


    "Crack!"


    A cracking sound was heard from the corpse. The dead corpse started to stand on its feet and its skin started to turn black.


    "Is this how Inner Demons possess?"


    Fang Yuan frowned as he tossed a bamboo hat over. "Your looks are too scary. From today onwards, follow me closely and never reveal your looks."


    "Yes, Master!"


    Ado replied with fear and a hint of unjust in his voice.

 493 Foundation

    "Roar!"


    "Keke!"


    Atop the vast barren lands, a demonic beast army swept across it like a black torrent.


    All the human sects and cultivators immediately retreated when they saw them as though they were escaping from a natural disaster.


    Thankfully, this army of demonic beasts seemed to have a clear goal in mind. Not only did it chose to travel through the remote wilderness, it did not bother about creating more casualties.


    Upon a closer look, beyond the defences of demonic beasts and You Spirits, they would realise that the core of this army was actually a group of carriages with around 100 people.


    The disciples of Divine Lotus Cult that were in-charge of reining were terrified and scared at first. But now, they had already slowly gotten used to it. It was as though there was an invisible boundary between the humans and the demonic beasts that ensured the safety.


    "Lord!"


    The young girl, Extreme Darkness, carried a meal box and entered the carriage. The moment she saw Fang Yuan, she immediately smiled and reported, "Although we were met with a demonic beast army, with Ado in front, they did not suspect us and directly allowed us to leave. With our current speed, we will reach our destination in half a month."


    "Great!"


    Fang Yuan nodded his head. Liu Mengmei, who was beside him, opened the meal box smilingly and took out a few dishes and the spiritual rice. She then glared at Extreme Darkness and said, "My husband, your servant is so thoughtful. Can you lend her to me for a few days?"


    Extreme Darkness rolled her eyes, "You are just one of Lord''s followers, how are you any different from me?"


    "You!"


    Liu Mengmei raised her eyebrows slightly before she immediately laughed, "Yea... sister, you used to be a respected elder of the Realm Alliance, but now, you have fallen to such a low. This is so indeed so saddening!"


    "The two of you, enough! Leave!"


    Fang Yuan was rather speechless as he saw such a scene.


    For some unknown reason, this two women did not get along the moment they met each other. Throughout the journey, they were fighting against each other.


    Luckily, the two of them knew their limits and did not provoke Fang Yuan.


    "Hmph!"


    The two women stared at each other, bowed and left. It was as though they were competing for love.


    Truth be told, Fang Yuan felt good receiving these acts of care along the journey.


    Fang Yuan smiled and quickly finished his meal. His hand glowed and a wooden hairpin appeared. The tiny golden inscriptions on it immediately became Demonic Heart Realm texts under his Fiery Golden Eyes.


    During this period of time where Fang Yuan was travelling, other than meditating and trying to explore and recover his actualised dream world, he spent all his time on studying and analysing the Demonic Heart Realm writings.


    Ater Fang Yuan''s teaching, Ado''s spiritual awareness had already become the same as a normal person. Ado also gained a real name and was doing his utmost in teaching Fang Yuan the writings.


    Currently, the texts on the entire wooden hairpin were already largely deciphered.


    "The Spiritual Will Steel Seal Technique!"


    Fang Yuan sighed and felt rather conflicted.


    This Spiritual Will Steel Seal was Shang Hou''s supreme divine technique. With it, he controlled three sages and ten over powerful beings. It was the secret controlling technique which led to the establishment of Da Qian dynasty.


    Unfortunately, it''s foundation still laid in the path of dream masters. Hence, after the path was deprived, it immediately returned to its original form.


    "Actually... the path of dream masters is nothing much, but this technique, it''s too powerful..."


    Fang Yuan pondered, "Shang Hou was a talented genius. He might have even added the theories of Demonic Heart Realm into his cultivation. His Illusionary Divine stage was different from others, he completely gave up on the power to create things and open up hollows. Instead, he gambled all his resources on this steel seal. Thus, at his peak, he could control sages!"


    Fang Yuan was left with a bit of his dream dao foundation and could totally start over.


    And this steel seal technique was the supreme divine technique in establishing a force. Unfortunately, he had to give up on the 8 Gates Sword Array in order to go on this disadvantaged single path. This made Fang Yuan extremely conflicted and undecided.


    "Nevermind... dream dao is about creating endless possibilities. How could I give up an entire forest for a stalk of grass?"


    Fang Yuan put down the wooden hairpin and felt as though his soul had just undergone another cleansing.


    ...


    Half a month later.


    "Lord, we''ve arrived at Golden Sun Prosperous Land!"


    Extreme Darkness respectfully drawn opened the carriage curtain.


    "Let Meng Tian and Meng Guang come and see me!"


    Fang Yuan laid on the soft chair and calmly instructed.


    "Lord, you are finally back!"


    A few hundred people were escorted by a group of demonic beasts and they trepidly came forward. After they saw Fang Yuan, the two Wu Zongs in front looked happy immediately.


    At first, they thought they were dead for sure after they realised they were surrounded by an army of over 10,000 demonic beasts. However, when this Lord suddenly appeared, it was as though they were brought from hell to heaven.


    "Abandon this prosperous land!"


    Fang Yuan calmly ordered, "Bring along all the resources and relocate with me!"


    Currently, Da Qian World was in chaos. There were refugees, rebel soldiers, martial artists, demonic beasts... Fang Yuan was too lazy to protect all his related people one by one; it was much more convenient to gather them together.


    "Yes, Lord!"


    Meng Tian and Meng Guang accepted with no hesitation. In actual fact, this period of time they spent on maintaining the prosperous land had already exhausted them.


    Recently, there was some news from Three Suns Sect which made them know that there would be no good outcome if they defended this prosperous land until the very last.


    With Fang Yuan''s order, everything was back to order.


    "Lord, where are we heading to next?"


    Liu Mengmei looked at the people moving and the growing size of the group and asked rather puzzledly.


    "9 Extremes Mountain!"


    Fang Yuan had already planned everything from the start, "I intend to build up a force there! There''s no better place to set up our base."


    ...


    All sorts of restrictions still shone brightly on 9 Extremes Mountain.


    With the current chaotic situation outside, such a powerful restriction represented some sort of safety instead.


    Until this day when Fang Yuan arrived.


    "With 9 Extremes Mountain''s characteristic, as long as we heavily guard a few entrances, it would a natural safe haven... If I can think of that, others can too!"


    Fang Yuan arrived at an entrance and immediately saw a defensive array.


    "Who''s that? This is the dream master alliance''s territory!"


    Within the array, a few figures appeared. There were dream masters from Realm Alliance, Baize Mountain and Evil Divine Sect.


    "What dream master alliance?"


    Fang Yuan laughed and the figures behind him rushed to the skies, "From today onwards, this is my territory!"


    "Roar!"


    Behind Fang Yuan, the army of demonic beasts appeared and they looked extremely terrifying.


    "Surrender? Or die?"


    Under the loud questioning, the dream masters within the array turned pale at once.


    ...


    In front of absolute power, this small and friable alliance immediately cracked like an egg.


    After Fang Yuan assumed complete control, he then knew some stuff. As their communications were cut off, the dream masters here had to join hands and they nominated three dream masters with other cultivations to become the temporary leaders. They then quickly decided to retreat into 9 Extremes Mountain.


    When they saw Fang Yuan, a powerful being, came over, they immediately surrendered and became one of Fang Yuan''s subordinates.


    Even though Fang Yuan proclaimed he already had no ties with Realm Alliance, he was still a True Divine after all!


    In such tumultuous times, there would only be hope for survival if one followed the strong.


    After Fang Yuan easily took over this place, he then found out the dream masters of the 5 Grand Organisations were living terrible lives.


    Those who still had their sage were still slightly better off as they still had their main backbone. Whereas, Source Seeking Sect had long disbanded and there was nothing else to say about Divine Lotus Cult as the last group of disciples of texts were all in his carriage.


    "The last correspondence was already one month ago?"


    Within 9 Extremes Mountain, Fang Yuan chose a giant peak. He displayed his True Divine cultivation and cleared off all hidden dangers in this place before he immediately began to revamp.


    The original core disciples of Divine Lotus Cult, the subordinates from Golden Sun Prosperous Land and the dream masters left behind from the 5 Grand Organisations all submitted to Fang Yuan due to his immense power. They began to build up a new force.


    However, when Liu Mengmei and Extreme Darkness asked what was the name of this new force, Fang Yuan''s nonchalant character showed once again as he just used 9 Extremes Mountain''s name directly. This made the two women roll their eyes greatly.


    Currently, the entire giant peak had been tidied up. Many palaces were built and they formed a dense group of building.


    On the door to the mountain, there were three big words, "9 Extremes Mountain". They were handwritten by Fang Yuan and each word was 10 feet large. They could be seen from afar and were strong and imposing looking.


    "Lord!"


    Extreme Darkness was like a secretary and was slowly reporting to Fang Yuan, "Currently, after 9 Extremes Mountain had been cleaned up, palaces which can accommodate 3,000 people have been built. We only have 1272 people currently and there is more than enough accommodation. Furthermore, the supplies we have brought along are sufficient for half a year. Resources are abundant nearby, just that it is quite dangerous to collect them..."


    "Regarding our defence, after the emergency sealing and blocking, only the three biggest entrance to 9 Extremes Mountain from the outside are left. We have dispatched skilled ones to guard those places. As per your command, Commander-in-Chief Ado is leading the army of demonic beasts to patrol around 9 Extremes Mountain. With Demon Spirits'' habits, this place would be regarded as their territory and there wouldn''t be any more demons from the outside coming over to cause trouble."


    Extreme Darkness looked rather emotional as she continued, "However, if this place is found out by others from the outside, I''m afraid there will be tons of refugees flooding over."


    "I am building up a force, not operating a refugee shelter that accepts anyone!"


    Fang Yuan had a cold look on his face as he replied, "You and Liu Mengmei take charge of this area. I only want useful people. We can provide such people with protection and provide their family with safety too."


    "Understood!"


    Extreme Darkness bowed slightly.


    Of course she knew the world outside was like a living hell now. There were conflicts and chaos between soldiers, humans and Demon Spirits. Even normal Wu Zongs and spiritual knights were having a tough time.


    With 9 Extremes Mountain''s current conditions, as long as a bit of it was revealed, there would definitely be tons of skilled people who were willing to come over to seek refuge.


    Thus, through gathering them, after the military and demon chaos was over, this force would perhaps immediately become the number one force to be reckoned with in Da Qian World.


    If one could occupy an important role within this...


    Extreme Darkness breathing intensifies as she silently made up her mind and was determined to complete Fang Yuan''s mission well.


    "Finally there''s a cleaner place!"


    Fang Yuan asked Extreme Darkness to leave. He stood on the 9 Extremes Peak and looked at the entire mountain range.


    Behind the palaces, he already ordered his people to set up a large plot of spiritual farm. Fang Yuan could currently see many people working on the farm.


    No matter how horrifying the catastrophe was, as long as one was not dead, one had to continue to live on.


    Such a weak yet resilient life even made Fang Yuan felt moved.

 494 Mountain Leader

    "This spiritual farm is quite good!"


    Fang Yuan patrolled around the spiritual farm and gazed at the rows of Yellow Grain Rice being planted together with other spiritual plants. He could not help it but smile.


    Considering the resources the Divine Lotus Cult had, it was still possible to create a spiritual farm on what was once a piece of barren land.


    There was already an abundance of resources in the 9 Extremes Mountain. Coupled with the fact that the environment of the mountain was unique, the land was a pure piece of land.


    Fang Yuan was no longer afraid of revealing his skill in Botany.


    After all, he was already one of the most powerful beings in Da Qian. Who would be daring enough to plot against him and make use of his Botany skills?


    "There is not enough foundation to start anything!"


    Fang Yuan arrived at the peak of the mountain and took out a seed.


    "After travelling to so many different places, this is the opportunity to finally use you."


    The seed in his hands was the seed which he had brought from the Mainland. It had once undergone a mutation and was now a suspected Heavenly Grade seed.


    Although Fang Yuan had once pinned high hopes on it, he was fortunate enough to continuously achieve breakthroughs in his cultivation all the way to where he was now and there was no chance for him to make use of this seed.


    Only recently did he browse through the recordings of the Divine Lotus Cult to obtain background information of this seed.


    "This is the legendary species of Jianmu, used to sort out earthly energy. I can use it to create a foundation for the 9 Extremes Mountain and it should suffice!"


    Fang Yuan placed his hands behind his back and gazed at Liu Mengmei, Extreme Darkness and the few others behind. "How''re the preparations for the array going on?"


    "We have prepared it according to your plan and the dream masters have perfected it through every single node!"


    Liu Mengmei smiled as she reported the progress of the preparations of the array.


    "Great."


    Fang Yuan glanced down at the crater which was dug. According to the plan, this would be the core of the entire array. With a flick of his fingers, the seed flew into the ground.


    "Quickly! Water it with the Ten Thousand Refined Mysterious Water!"


    As soon as the seed burrowed itself into the ground, the entire mountainous range shook.


    Extreme Darkness passed down her orders.


    A spiritual knight took out a gourd and poured a spring water into the crater.


    This spring water was milky in colour and gave off a clear fragrance of nature. It also had a dense spiritual aura coming from it. The water was rumoured to have been created from refining corpses and bones and every drop of it was priceless.


    "Bloop! Bloop!"


    The seed in the crater greedily slurped up all the spring water before revealing a green mysterious glow.


    "9 Days Swelling Earth, down!"


    Liu Mengmei personally took a bag of soil and started to cover the huge crater with it.


    "Rumble!"


    The soil was pitch black and as it covered the crater, the surface of it appeared extremely smooth.


    "Whoosh!"


    A slit opened up on the surface of the soil. As everyone watched on, a small tree sapling started to grow out and continued to grow at a crazy pace.


    "Rumble!"


    The ground shook as though the nodes were being pierced and connected by the roots of the plant.


    Within moments, a huge tree appeared. It had a beautiful crown of leaves which bent down slightly, giving off the vibes of peace and tranquillity.


    It only took a few moments for the small tree sapling to turn into a 700 feet tree. The shade of the tree was huge enough to even cover half of the entire palace.


    "Whoosh! Whoosh!"


    At this point in time, a green glow scattered in the vicinity, forming a layer of light which resembled a screen. The screen covered the entire mountain gate and the tree started to release fresh spiritual aura and unknowingly, everyone started to take in deep breaths.


    "It''s done!"


    Witnessing this, Fang Yuan nodded his head in satisfaction. "This Green Wood Sky Net Array which I have designed should be as powerful as the protective arrays of other sects."


    "Furthermore, with its protection, the breath of the earth and elemental force would be sorted out in this region. This mountain will, therefore, become some sort of prosperous or spiritual land!"


    The elemental energy in Da Qian was too disrupted and contaminated with dream elemental force. Together with the negative emotions of hatred and fear, the spiritual knights or Wu Zongs would be negatively affected if they were to use these energies for their cultivation. The chances of them getting out of control while training would increase exponentially.


    However, in the 9 Extremes Mountain, with the huge array sorting and purifying the energy within it, everything would be different.


    Fang Yuan would not just stop here!


    "A true Jianmu will not only continue growing but will also continue to spread its roots underground!"


    Fang Yuan smiled as he could feel the faint tremors beneath his feet.


    The 9 Extremes Mountain was among the 10 most dangerous places in Da Qian due to the existence of the many restrictions within it. This place was therefore plagued with many problems, resulting in many unnatural mutations and changes.


    Now, Fang Yuan was leveraging on the power of Jianmu to reset everything here, beginning from underground!


    In other words, wherever the roots of Jianmu were to stretch towards would be the boundaries of the array. As the roots stretched out underground, the restrictions would be broken through!


    "Jianmu will always grow continuously. As soon as its roots completely replace the soil beneath the 9 Extremes Mountain, this entire secret place will be reformed and it will truly be our base!"


    Fang Yuan seemed to be thinking about the future. "By then, the power of the Green Wood Sky Net Array should be comparable to that of the protective arrays which the dream masters of the allied forces once had."


    There was only one requirement of these protective arrays. They had to be able to defend against a powerful being! Even if a sage were to attack this place, the protective array will need to be able to withstand a single hit first!


    If not for the fact that everyone in the Divine Lotus Cult was worrying about who to manipulate their own protective array and the betrayal of Elder Green Lotus, they would not have been at the risk of destruction.


    "Gather all the deacons and disciples!"


    After casting the array, Fang Yuan arrived at the square before the main hall and passed down his order. "I want to see everyone is half an hour''s time!"


    Considering his status, Fang Yuan''s order was promptly passed down.


    Within moments, over a thousand people started to gather in the square.


    Fang Yuan still had the foundations of a dream master and could detect hints of fear, uneasiness and hope among his people.


    This was already different from before.


    ''This is the right time. Casting the array would mean that our foundations are firm and the hearts of the people will no longer waver.''


    Fang Yuan scanned around before beginning his announcement. "I hereby announce that the 9 Extremes Mountain Sect will be formed today! I will be the Mountain Leader. Extreme Darkness and Liu Mengmei will be the protectors. Meng Tian, Meng Guang and the few others will be the 5 Extreme Deacons. The remaining of you will be the First Generation of Disciples!"


    Any organisation would have a hierarchy! This was no different from the ranking of Leaf Cultivator in the Realm Alliance.


    "Greetings, Mountain Leader!"


    In an instant, thousands of followers performed a greeting.


    Although many of them were once the elites of the allied forces, they had since lost their cultivation, which was a heavy blow to their self-esteem. Now, they had to be accepting of everything if they wanted to survive.


    Furthermore, would they be able to walk out of the 9 Extremes Mountain alive if they did not want to comply?


    Even if they were to make it out of the mountains, wouldn''t they be soon captured by the huge army of demons?


    Therefore, these 1,000 of them had to accept their new fate which was planned out for them by Fang Yuan and there was no resistance among them.


    ''Even though they only appear compliant on the surface, it is already a good thing that they are able to come to a decision in such a short period of time!''


    Fang Yuan nodded his head.


    It was impossible to create such a hierarchy in such a short period of time.


    As long as they were to accept this fact, their daily lives in the sect would soon make them used to this. They would be able to work hard to increase their status within the sect and finally become powerful enough for Fang Yuan to make use of them. This was the benefits of having a hierarchy system.


    "The Leader of 9 Extremes Mountain?! This title is not bad at all."


    Fang Yuan waved his hands and ordered for a banquet. However, he only appeared for a short while before disappearing to his isolation room to train.


    Fang Yuan had created this organisation so as to have a group of people at his disposal in the future. Of course, he knew that the basis of his power and influence still laid in his martial arts!


    Without his powerful martial arts, he would not even be able to survive in the chaotic streets of Da Qian, not to mention accomplishing other things.


    "I shall leave the outside affairs to Liu Mengmei and Extreme Darkness!"


    Fang Yuan crossed his legs and gazed at the wooden hairpin in his hands with a perplexed look on his face.


    He did not expect to find the secrets of the Demonic Heart Realm on Shang Hou''s body. Instead, it was a pleasant surprise for him to find the Spiritual Will Steel Seal technique.


    "Shang Hou is indeed a genius. It''s a pity that such a secret technique is not suitable for me."


    Fang Yuan shook his head.


    Closing his eyes, he could feel the pure elemental force in the surroundings.


    "The 9 Extreme Mountain naturally keeps dream elemental force out and restricts supernatural powers in its vicinity. This is a good thing... At least everything in here will be least affected by what is happening in the outside world. Together with the Green Wood Sky Net Array''s purification abilities, we will become a paradise among a world plagued with problems."


    Fang Yuan heaved a sigh and started to think about the future of Da Qian.


    "I''m afraid the chaos outside will continue. Dream masters are now in hiding and a few volunteer armies are already destroyed by the waves of demons. There is also the demon disaster..."


    Even Fang Yuan was not confident that a powerful being would be able to set things right.


    After all, the most powerful of beings in Da Qian now were the True Divines and True Elementals. Although Fang Yuan was already more powerful than the average powerful being, he still had a limit.


    If he were to anger the masses outside, he could still be overwhelmed by their numbers.


    "Furthermore... This world is already under the scrutiny of the Demonic Heart Realm. Even the will of Da Qian was harmed and is already in hiding. Why should I steal all the attention?"


    Dream elemental force which flooded Da Qian from the Demonic Heart Realm had its pros and cons.


    Most importantly, everything was settling down and Da Qian was getting used to it.


    According to Fang Yuan''s prediction, the will of Da Qian had already suffered a huge loss of its natural source in the battle between the realms. Together with the plague of demons, the realm had to hibernate and for once give up on the happenings in the realm temporarily.


    This was a ''painful process'' which healing realms had to go through.


    "What about the dream masters? They must be devastated! All their possible paths are sealed... They even lost the ability to dream-traverse as a method to leave this realm."


    Even though dream masters had once taken over realms after realms, all of these had stemmed from the dream dao.


    Now that the dream dao was gone, all the dream masters had to painstakingly discover new ways to harness their dream elemental force. They might even find dream-accessing too arduous too attempt, so how would they even think about dream-traversing to other worlds?


    This was a strong blow to the dream masters.


    "This is a cultured catastrophe!"


    Fang Yuan mumbled to himself as he feared the future.


    Dream masters were indeed powerful, but even so, before the beings of the Demonic Heart Realm, the dream masters would not even be able to put up a meaningful resistance.


    "This is interesting. Isn''t this what I am after?"


    After a long silence, Fang Yuan revealed a smile and flames of passion started to burn in his eyes.

 495 Black Dragon

    "Elemental force is the foundation of everything!"


    In the isolation room, Fang Yuan sat on the ground with his legs crossed. The streak of silvery dream elemental force squirmed in his hands like a small silver snake.


    "The natural form of energy in Da Qian is the natural elemental force! On the other hand, the basic form of energy in the Demonic Heart Realm is dream elemental force! After the collision of the two realms, the environment of Da Qian will undergo certain changes and the surroundings are already filled with this evolved form of elemental force!"


    Previously, the dream masters of Da Qian were only able to sense the Demonic Heart Realm through their spiritual wills and therefore absorb radiation of dream elemental force. Only from there would they be able to refine the most elementary form of dream-type elemental force.


    Now, due to the fact that the Demonic Heart Realm had flooded Da Qian with a dream elemental force of a higher quality, it seemed like this new dream elemental force had much more unknown and mysterious usages.


    "This was Shang Hou''s plan, which was to reform Da Qian into an environment more suited for his true physical body to thrive in..."


    Fang Yuan shook his head.


    If dream masters still had the dream dao, they would be jubilant about having the reformed environment. However, now, only the demons were benefitting from this new environment.


    "According to Ado, they are consumers and creators. Every Demon Spirit or demon will turn into pure dream elemental force upon their deaths, returning the energy to the surroundings..."


    Fang Yuan started to fear about this quality of the demons.


    After prolonged periods, the entire Da Qian will be taken over by the Demonic Heart Realm and will actively reform into a place similar to Demonic Heart Realm.


    "This might not be bad news for me!"


    Fang Yuan took in a deep breath and he could feel an immense amount of energy flowing into his body. With that, he attempted to connect with his actualised dream world.


    "9 Extremes Mountain is under The Ultimate Segregation, which does not allow for supernatural forces to enter into its perimeters. However, with my Green Wood Sky Net Array, an opening is thus created. Upon entering through the opening, the elemental force from outside will be purified and the concentration of elemental force throughout the mountain will remain consistent to form different points of nodes."


    Fang Yuan would temporarily not release dream elemental force to the normal cultivators for he was afraid of affecting the conversion of their professions to spiritual knights or Wu Zongs. However, he had no fear in allowing the dream elemental force to flood over himself.


    In fact, he did not mind absorbing the corrupted elemental force from the outside world and digesting it on his own.


    "It''s too difficult... Although there is plenty of dream elemental force in the surroundings, it is extremely difficult to use it in my actualised dream world..."


    Fang Yuan took in a deep breath.


    Considering his cultivation as a True Divine, he had no difficulties in absorbing martial arts elemental force. Even the most corrupted of martial arts elemental force was absorbed by him without much difficulty.


    However, his actualised dream world was indeed pitiful.


    It was like a person dying of thirst, gazing at a river before him but unable to walk forward to take a drink.


    The lack of strength in such a situation could potentially drive someone crazy.


    "My actualised dream world..."


    Fang Yuan''s spiritual will entered his actualised dream world. He realised that it was now only about 40 inches wide and might just crumble anytime.


    "The actualised dream world represents my foundation as a dream master. I cannot let it crumble just like that! Wait a minute..."


    Fang Yuan froze. "I will not give up on the dream dao. However, there needs to be some sort of adaptation!"


    Although the dream masters of Da Qian were unique, their foundations were still based in the Demonic Heart Realm. Even the power to create objects was from the other realm. Due to the fact that dream masters were too reliant on the Demonic Heart Realm, all dream masters quickly became crippled as soon as the dream dao was taken away from them.


    If all of that were to happen again, dream masters would once again be rendered helpless against the beings of the Demonic Heart Realm.


    "The foundation of dream masters lies in dream elemental force. I cannot change this fact. However, I can alter the future path of dream masters to reduce reliance on the Demonic Heart Realm. Furthermore, I can also alter the very composition of dream elemental force.


    Fang Yuan''s eyes glistened as many ideas popped into his mind.


    Although many of his ideas were too impractical, the general direction in which he was exploring was correct.


    "Most importantly, we have to be independent!"


    "Rumble!"


    With that thought, his actualised dream world suddenly crumbled and was being compressed like a black hole, leaving behind a small singularity.


    "Whoosh!"


    Taking this opportunity, Fang Yuan removed the restrictions on the specific type of dream elemental force required in the actualised dream world.


    Silvery dream elemental force flowed towards the singularity and in a dramatic explosion, a void space started to expand from the singularity.


    Although the newly formed void seemed a little illusionary, a layer of silver dream elemental force was flowing in it. In fact, the elemental force could now be radiated outwards from Fang Yuan''s actualised dream world, affecting everything.


    "Although I am only at the 1st Tier of the Illusionary Divine stage, my ability as an Area Being is still with me..."


    With the wave of his hands, the surroundings of his actualised dream world became dreamy and illusionary as Fang Yuan tried to hold back his laughter. "What does this count as? A disguise? I may appear weak but I am able to secretly use the spiritual territory of a 7th Tier Illusionary Divine dream master?"


    In fact, Fang Yuan knew that after all that had happened, no other dream master would be able to compete with him in terms of foundations as a dream master.... There might only be a single Illusionary Divine dream master in the entire Da Qian now.


    "Even the hollows of sages could not hold up against the removal of the dream dao. I believe that these sages could not even retain their own actualised dream worlds..."


    Fang Yuan shook his head before taking a glance at his stats window:


    "Name: Fang Yuan


    Essence: 100


    Spirit: 100


    Magic: 43 (100)


    Profession: ???


    Cultivation: True Divine, Area Being, Illusionary Divine (1st Tier)


    Technique: Pangu Eagle Body, [8 Gates Sword Array (???)], [Elemental Spiritual Energy Cultivation Spell (Grade 5 (Completed))]


    Skill: [Medicine (Level 3)], [Botany (Level 5)], [Fiery Golden Eyes (Level 1)]"


    The newest changes to the stats window were the grey words describing Fang Yuan''s cultivation as a dream master. These words were now black again, as though Fang Yuan had broken through certain restrictions to allow himself to increase his cultivation once again.


    "My Botany has not improved even after planting the Jianmu. Could it be that it is not enough, or that I have yet to satisfy a certain condition?"


    Fang Yuan sighed.


    "With a paper, I will be able to paint. Therefore, I shouldn''t rush into restoring my 8 Gates Sword Array..."


    The 8 Gates Sword Array would allow one to achieve the 8th Tier of the Illusionary Divine stage at its peak and there was no 9th Tier. This was a major disadvantage and pity.


    Considering Fang Yuan''s abilities, it was unlikely that he would be able to create the 9th Tier all by himself.


    After all, the first 8 tiers were already fixed from the beginning. This would be akin to adding another storey onto a building which would pose many problems.


    Now that he had reset his cultivation, it was a great chance for him to resolve any issues he might once have with his foundations.


    "I have the recordings and treasures from the Divine Lotus Cult as well as the inheritances from Li Qingmian and Shang Hou. Together with the recordings I already have from the Realm Alliance... I have possession of almost 40% of all the recordings about the dream dao in Da Qian. By starting afresh, I will be able to create the strongest path to follow!"


    Fang Yuan felt extremely confident.


    Furthermore, taking this opportunity while the other dream masters were weakened, he could sort out everyone. The dream masters of Evil Divine Sect and Baize Mountain would likely submit themselves before Fang Yuan and provide him with their own doctrines and treasures.


    ...


    Just as everyone was beginning to settle down in 9 Extremes Mountain, enjoying their hard-fought peace, chaos continued in the outside world.


    The fighting resulted in hatred and suffering for everyone, which was the best food for the Demon Spirits. The demon disaster quickly spread from the Middle Region to everywhere else and everything was out of control.


    Those rebels who took the opportunity to take over armies quickly realised that the problem was not about gaining enough territory or reaping enough treasures and rewards, but simply surviving in such times of chaos!


    On Baize Mountain.


    "Roar! Roar!"


    Beasts roared as they guarded the back door of the mountain.


    On a closer look, one would realise that these were stone figurines which were full of life. These figurines were able to exert dominance as they fought against the invading demons.


    "Sage!"


    Sage Baize sat on a cloud in mid-air and there were a few other elders behind him. The surging energy around him meant that he had already broken through to become a True Elemental! He was now a True Elemental spiritual knight!


    After all, it was already about a hundred days since Fang Yuan had shifted and altered the 9 Extremes Mountain.


    By relying on his foundation as a sage, Sage Baize was able to alter his foundation and push his cultivation as a spiritual knight to the peak!


    "This plague of Demon Spirits is becoming increasingly scary as the days go by."


    Behind him, an elder sighed. "Now, they seem to be just as powerful as our Ten Thousand Spirits Array!"


    "Hmph, these are mere pests. If the Baize Magical Beast was still around, it will be able to lead all the spirits of this world to combine with the stone figurines. By then, even powerful beings will not be able to survive!"


    An elder sighed.


    Sage Baize remained emotionless but inside, he was enraged.


    He was a sage in the past and he could control anyone who was unwilling or was looking to rebel. However, he was merely a True Elemental now.


    On Baize Mountain, among the few elders, normal deacons and disciples, there were a few who had cultivated in both martial arts and spiritual spells and were as powerful as Sage Baize.


    Since he could not rule by power now, compromises had to be made.


    Therefore, even as a powerful being, his words did not hold as much weight as they use to now.


    "It''s useless to say all of these now!"


    Sage Baize spoke. "I can still try my best to manipulate the Ten Thousand Spirits Array. Even if the demons were to give it their all, they will still not be able to infiltrate. We need not be worried."


    "Roar! Roar!"


    As soon as he finished his sentence, a roar was heard among the invading demons.


    A dragon demon with a lizard''s body, huge wings and 3 ferocious-looking heads flew up from the swarm of demons. It gazed down and hollered. "Submit? Or die?"


    Its mind power was extremely strong and many elders of Baize Mountain could feel a chill down their spines. The weaker ones turned pale and many other disciples behind started to faint one by one.


    "This Demon Spirit seems to be as powerful as a powerful being!"


    Sage Baize had a solemn look on his face as he waved his sleeves. "Wind!"


    "Whooooo!"


    Strong winds raged on and quickly formed a tornado. The green tornado seemed to have a mind of its own as it weaved through all the obstructions, killing its way towards the 3-headed weird-looking dragon.


    The 3-headed dragon roared as the sharp wind sliced through its neck, beheading it. Its blood started to spew everywhere.


    "Roar! Roar!"


    With another roar, its wound started to expand quickly and black streaks of energy started to glister. Within moments, 3 smaller dragons appeared and roared in unison as they broke through the Ten Thousand Spirits Array before arriving in front of Sage Baize and the elders.


    "This is impossible!"


    An elder shrieked. "How can it maintain its spiritual aura even after splitting into 3 entities? What secret technique is this?"


    The 3-headed dragon split into 3 entities, creating 3 new powerful beings!


    This secret technique was mind-blowing and too powerful for anyone to conceive! Too powerful for anyone to handle!

 496 Trade Offer

    "Hmph!"


    Sage Baize''s reaction to such a change was a mere snicker.


    After all, he was once a sage and was powerful once. Against such weak beings, he could probably kill all of them effortlessly.


    Composed, he was confident of dealing with the situation.


    "Kill!"


    "Spiritual sword, go!"


    Behind him, two True Divines leapt out together with another True Elemental. Executing his techniques, a long sword essence emerged, striking fear in many.


    Looking at the strength of Baize Mountain, even though many dream masters were killed, Sage Baize could still gather 4 powerful beings together!


    With a whistle, the 4 of them formed a huge array, surrounding the 3 black dragons within it. Relentlessly, they dished out their attacks.


    "I sincerely thank the three of you for helping out!" Sage Baize secretly spoke in their minds. "When we return, I shall appoint the three of you as the Vice Sect Head. The few of you shall chair the elders and decide on important affairs!"


    "It''s nothing! We are always willing to serve you, Sage!"


    Although these 3 people were once Sage Baize''s disciples, even though they were receiving benefits now, all of them were still humble, but there was still competition among them. The good thing was that the situation in Baize Mountain had not escalated to the point where the sect would be on the brink of disbanding like the Divine Lotus Cult or the Source Seeking Sect and order was still maintained in the sect.


    "Rumble!"


    The array vibrated as it stood strong for about an hour.


    Finally, after a huge explosion, the black dragons roared as they killed their way out of the array. They came together to form a single entity. One of the black dragon''s head suddenly disappeared, leaving a big bloody wound on its neck.


    "Roar! Roar!"


    With a single roar, the Demon Spirits in the vicinity started to retreat. The 2-headed dragon transformed into a streak of light before disappearing beyond the horizon.


    "Who would''ve thought that it would have such a sacrificial move to allow one of its magical clone to explode so as to allow the other two to escape from the array!"


    The 4 powerful being revealed themselves as a True Divine sighed in disappointment.


    "This dragon is not simple. It not only has wisdom but is also proficient in this secret technique..."


    Sage Bazie stroked his beard. "To split itself into 3 without losing any power in each magical clone is the perfect ''3 Clones in a Single Breath'' technique in the legends. I suspect that its lost head will be able to regrow in no time."


    Up to this point, Sage Baize unknowingly glanced towards the True Elemental who was wielding a sword.


    If not for the fact that this True Elemental was selfish and was not willing to give it his all, they might be able to take down another dragon''s head.


    Unfortunately, Sage Baize was no longer in control of the situation. He had to compromise with the rest. Otherwise, Baize Mountain would not be able to hold up.


    "None of us could''ve done anything to help the situation!"


    The True Elemental who was wielding a sword was an old man in green robes. As he spoke, his eyes glistened. "These Demon Spirits evolve too quickly and it is getting hard to defend against them. Furthermore, they now have wisdom and might even combine forces! Sect Head, quickly make a decision!"


    "To relocate?"


    Sage Baize''s face twitched.


    Relocation was not as simple as activating the array and walking away. They would have to form a huge party to traverse through the disaster-plagued Da Qian.


    To most people, the act of relocation was a disaster in itself!


    However, it seemed as though Sage Baize was almost about to bear the consequences of being the one making the decision.


    "Cough cough... this is the last resort. As long as we have resupplies in the form of either manpower or resources, we can continue to maintain this stalemate... After all, even though we dream masters are no longer powerful, we can still injure these Demon Spirits with our limited usage of dream elemental force!"


    A True Divine displayed a different stance.


    "That''s right!"


    Another True Divine quickly concurred. "The allied forces of the 3 Grand Organisations should help each other out!"


    The Divine Lotus Cult was long swept by Fang Yuan and the Source Seeking Sect was split and therefore, these two organisations were no longer taken into consideration.


    In a short period of time, these two long-standing organisations led by sages fell just like this, and this was a huge blow to many dream masters in Da Qian.


    "Hmph! We cannot trust Evil Divine! He had used the heavenly evil force to control his elders previously, turning them into puppets. His disciples do not dare to talk about this issue. Now that chaos is everywhere, their sect is also troubled. Coupled with the invasive Demon Spirits, they are already troubled enough. Do you think they will come to our assistance?"


    Sage Baize''s expression changed. He had never thought about this before. "To make things worse... The good should not work with the evil. We have caused trouble for them before and therefore, we will never know if they truly want to help us or not."


    "Since we cannot rely on the Evil Divine Sect, on the other hand, the Realm Alliance has always been neutral and our relationships are alright..."


    An elder gazed towards the retreating demon army as the stone figurines returned to their places. The dazzling gems on them slowly dimmed. "Considering our prowess, we cannot hold on for long. Notwithstanding other issues, the pressing issue of the lack of spiritual rice and other basic necessities is enough to push us to desperation."


    At that moment, all the dream masters remained silent.


    Their resources had all been destroyed during the war. These dream masters were the most luxurious bunch and only knew how to obtain more resources from the realm in the past. How would they consider these problems before?


    Now that they were all weakened and defeated after the war, they finally knew the hardships of being an average human living in Da Qian.


    "Realm Alliance? Hmph!"


    This time, it was the True Elemental wielding the sword who raised an objection. They are but a group of dispersed individuals. With the war, I''m sure more than half of them would have fled, especially so for The Ancient One. Being ever-so scheming, he might have already cultivated himself into a True Divine or True Elemental on his own. According to our insider information, he has locked himself up in isolation since returning from the war. What do you think he might be planning? If you ask me, I would choose to believe that this person might be even more dangerous than Evil Divine!"


    In the war at the Jade Capital, the allied forces were defeated without a doubt. The sage of the Realm Alliance was already a True Elemental before the war and therefore, his losses were the least among the 5 sages.


    Furthermore, there was a small rebel coming from his alliance - Fang Yuan!


    All of these had already led to the dissatisfaction of many.


    "The Ancient One is indeed scheming!"


    Sage Baize had to agree with this. "Furthermore, he always seems calm and composed. He might not come to our help."


    Everyone remained silent once more.


    Dream masters were once the owners of the world. Other than the 5 Grand Organisations, it was impossible for them to seek help elsewhere considering the bad blood and the feud formed with every other organisation in Da Qian.


    Everyone felt a sense of pity as they quietly returned to the sect.


    "Sage! Elders!"


    At this point in time, a deacon quickly rushed in with a weird expression.


    "What happened?"


    Sage Baize glared at him.


    This deacon was once a 6th Tier Illusionary Divine dream master, the in-charge of a territory. Now that his cultivation was lost, he was demoted to become a runner, which was already considered rather good for other dream masters could not even obtain a role within the sect.


    "Someone delivered a letter to us, claiming that they want to engage in a trade!"


    The deacon''s expression was weird as he presented a piece of jade to Sage Baize.


    "Eh?"


    Sage Baize took the jade and swept through it with his spiritual will before revealing the same weird expression as the deacon. "Take a look!"


    He casually passed the jade to the elder wielding the sword.


    "Fang Yuan? 9 Extremes Mountain?"


    The elder wielding the sword took in a deep breath. "This person has disappeared after causing trouble at the Divine Lotus Cult. Who would''ve thought that he had established a sect for himself at the 9 Extremes Mountain!"


    To think about it, the environment of 9 Extremes Mountain was comparable to even Baize Mountain in these tumultuous times.


    "He is proposing a trade with us to use spiritual rice and elemental crystals in exchange for the recordings of dream masters'' recordings and valuable pieces of information. Furthermore, he is proposing that we assist each other in times of need. What do you guys think?"


    Sage Baize scanned around, looking at the reaction of the elders.


    "We don''t really have any bad blood with this person..."


    A True Divine spoke as he totally disregarded Fang Yuan''s relationship with Master Heartless.


    Years before, Master Heartless had made many enemies everywhere, including the dream masters of Baize Mountain. However, in such troubled times, those dream masters with bad blood against Master Heartless were long dead and the remaining few were too weak to even pose any resistance.


    In other words, the benefits which they were about to receive from Fang Yuan were able to shut any potential resistance among the elders.


    "The thing is... why is this person after dream masters'' recordings and valuable information?"


    Another True Divine among the elders was confused.


    If this was before the war, Fang Yuan''s act of eyeing on other sect''s dream masters'' recording would be scrutinised and soon after, he would be hated upon.


    However, now, these recordings were as useful as a bowl of vegetables.


    "Could it be that... the dream dao can be salvaged?"


    The True Elemental elder started to mumble to himself. Although he knew that it was impossible, he was still unwilling to lose all hope for the dream dao.


    The 3 of them gazed at Sage Baize.


    Sage Baize had already tried all means. He was once a sage and therefore, he knew more than anyone else that the dream dao was gone for good!


    Shaking his head, he looked towards the deacon. "Tell me more about it..."


    "Reporting!"


    With a helpless look, the deacon started to report. "We have already gathered over a hundred disciples with their cultivations ranging from a dream-accessing dream master to a 7th Tier Illusionary Divine dream master. We have tried different means and have confirmed that all of their actualised dream worlds have crumbled and can no longer be repaired... Those with their cultivations below the Illusionary Divine stage had turned into normal human beings. While the Illusionary Divine dream masters might still be able to use their dream elemental force, they can only do basic control, transference and release of it and at most use the illusionary traits of dream elemental force to confuse the enemy. However, they will no longer be able to actualise objects."


    The actualised dream world was the foundation of an Illusionary Divine dream master, the potential hollow! The key was in being able to actualised objects within it!


    Without this ability, dream masters would be no different from the rest in the Demonic Heart Realm in terms of the usage of dream elemental force.


    "Such usage of dream elemental force would make it similar to martial arts elemental force..."


    The 3 elders appeared desolated. "The usage of dream elemental force will still be more limited compared to martial arts elemental force even if we were to change our cultivation to become a dream martial artist."


    "At such a young age, Fang Yuan had already cultivated in both martial arts and the dream dao, pushing both of this cultivation levels to the level of a powerful being. He is a rare talent indeed and must be ambitious enough to find a new dao and restore the dream dao!"


    Sage Baize spoke his mind. "After reading this letter, I believe that all dream masters should put our differences aside and work together to find a solution to this problem!"


    "This is an ambitious goal. Unfortunately, it is too... naive!"


    The remaining dream masters sighed.


    Working together was the most optimum. However, dream masters were all scheming and selfish. Against a calamity, they would not completely trust each other.


    Ambitions would always remain as ambitions!

 497 Maximum Level

    "The Realm Alliance and the Evil Divine Sect have rejected my offer. Only Baize Mountain has agreed to trade with us. Are they only using their recordings and secret techniques in exchange for spiritual rice, elemental crystals and other resources?"


    In the 9 Extremes Mountain, Fang Yuan held a piece of jade and did not know whether to laugh or cry.


    "Yes, Mountain Leader!"


    Extreme Darkness bowed down. "Even Baize Mountain is against our act of forming an alliance. According to our investigations, there are internal conflicts in Evil Divine Sect. As for the Realm Alliance, they are still unhappy with you, Mountain Leader."


    "They are just stubborn people who are unaware of the situation at hand! In the future, they will surely come begging to work with us..."


    Fang Yuan scoffed.


    It was not easy to tide through this demon disaster.


    Furthermore, even if they were to survive the disaster, it was still not a good thing for dream masters.


    On the contrary, the very existence of the demon disaster gave dream masters breathing space since the other martial artists and spiritual knights would be busy fending off the demons!


    As soon as the disaster ends, True Elementals and True Divines from all over the world would combine forces and dream masters would be completely purged from the world.


    Now that the 2 sects were unwilling to cooperate, it was still possible to loot their recordings and secret techniques if their sects were destroyed in the future.


    Casually, Fang Yuan arrived at the spiritual farm and started to run this fingers through the small tree saplings.


    "Mountain Leader!"


    From aside, Liu Mengmei, together with a few nervous spiritual farmers, greeted Fang Yuan with respect.


    "Mmm. Do take note that you will have to trim this Spiritual Elemental Tree every day. Change its spiritual liquid once in three days. Also, for the Emerald Vines, take note not to water it..."


    Fang Yuan casually reminded the few important points regarding these spiritual plants and the farmers standing at one side were shocked. They felt as though his Mountain Leader knew everything.


    "The plants in this spiritual farm are growing quite well. You have put in the effort!"


    After patrolling a few plots of spiritual farms, Fang Yuan and Liu Mengmei walked through an array and arrived at the core of the spiritual farms.


    In here, there were no spiritual flowers or spiritual fruits. Instead, it was filled with the most commonly seen weed. The only advantage of these weeds was that they were extremely hardy and could survive in almost all types of conditions.


    Now, some of the weeds were displaying signs of evolution.


    Some of it had accelerated growth and was almost as tall as a human being while some of it had started to grow sharp jagged teeth. A few others had a brilliant emerald hue and had already evolved into a spiritual plant.


    Witnessing this scene, Liu Mengmei''s heart was filled with pride. ''Mountain Leader is willing to share these secrets with me...''


    Examining the plants, Fang Yuan did not seem satisfied.


    "Increased combat power? These wild grasses have a new row of teeth but are still unable to kill a rabbit! Useless!"


    "Able to bear fruits now? This is new, and I shall experiment if these fruits are edible..."


    "Evolved to become a spiritual plant? It''s still too weak, I''ll give up on it!"


    He casually inspected a few others and was desolate even when presented with evolved spiritual plants, which shocked Liu Mengmei.


    "EH?"


    After a few rounds around the farm, Fang Yuan stopped before a patch of grass. A golden hue flashed in his eyes as he started to appear excited.


    He squatted down, plucked the grass and placed them in his hands to examine them.


    "It is hardy and able to spread quickly.... More importantly, it is able to stabilise the elemental energy in the surroundings, allowing dream elemental force to fuse with the elemental force of Da Qian and therefore reduce the negative emotions of cultivators absorbing these elemental forces..."


    Fang Yuan could detect that these grasses were giving out a spiritual aura with a mediating trait, potentially allowing the mixed elemental force in the surroundings to settle down.


    "Such a mediating ability is seen in many different arrays already, but are they really practical? No matter how strong an array might be, it can only be used for protective purposes. Can it really affect the entire realm? The correct way will be to seek a solution that is easily replicable and cheap..."


    Fang Yuan gazed at the wild grass in his hands as though he had found treasure. "These weeds are able to make the elemental energy in the surroundings settle down. Although its effect is weak, it is ultimately a plant, which will allow me to artificially reproduce it in massive numbers... no! Not artificially, but I shall let it spread throughout the world by itself! My efforts of planting so many batches of weeds have not come in vain! I have finally obtained a suitable variant!"


    Fang Yuan was greedy. He had attempted to create such weed to salvage the entire realm and from there gain the favour of the will of the realm.


    "Hmm, I shall name this grass Green Elemental Grass. We can remove the other grass patches. Use this batch of Green Elemental Grass as a foundation, we shall first reproduce it for a few generations. If there are no problems with it, we shall introduce it into the ecosystem!"


    Fang Yuan stood up and there were flames of burning passion in his eyes. "After the Green Elemental Grass matures, I shall create a few variants of easily reproducible rice as well as spiritual rice. Now that the environment of the realm is changing, if spiritual farms outside do not have protection, the amount of harvest will be drastically reduced. Therefore, I will once again do good to the world."


    What karma would be the greatest? Of course, the karma he would get from salvaging the world and the human race.


    The world was represented by the heavens while the human dao was represented by the earth. Heavenly and earth karma will represent the natural source of the realm, which is everything the realm had!


    "After I create these few variants, even if the will of the realm were to assume that I am a foreign demon, it will still reward me... Furthermore, I am going with the heavenly trend and therefore I will be able to benefit a lot along the way."


    Fang Yuan gazed towards the sky and smiled.


    After harvesting from a few realms, he was experienced enough.


    One should only forcefully take the natural source of the realm in desperate times. The smart way was to follow the will of the realm, forcing it to reward one for helping it out!


    "I am conducting research in plants in order to stabilise the elemental energy in the realm and therefore salvage it from its impending doom. The will of the realm is well aware of this and will surely reward me!"


    Thinking up to his point, Fang Yuan started to pray loudly towards the skies.


    "Buzz! Buzz!"


    In an instant, Liu Mengmei started to feel something different.


    Although the surroundings remained intact, she could seemingly feel that an unknown consciousness had descended.


    The feeling of power and might unknowingly force her to her knees in an act of submission.


    In Fang Yuan''s eyes, he could see a colourful streak of energy appearing above the few acres of the spiritual farm. The energy started to fill up his own stats window.


    His Botany was originally at the peak of the 5th Level. Even after planting the Jianmu, he was still unable to increase his cultivation in Botany. However, now, the numbers started to blur out before becoming clear again. His Botany had increased to the 6th Level!


    Level 6 Botany!


    Seeing this, Fang Yuan started to laugh heartily.


    He knew that this act of his had caught the attention of the heavens, forcing the heavens to intervene and help him complete his breakthrough.


    He gazed towards his stats window and detailed information started to appear:


    "Botany (Level 6) (Maximum) - You are the grandmaster of Botany, a natural talent! You will now be able to communicate with plants, control its maturity period and its mutation!"


    "Indeed, the 6th Level of Botany will allow me to control the mutation of plants!"


    Fang Yuan let out a satisfactory sigh. "Furthermore... To attain the maximum level in Botany, I not only need to have enough experience, I also need heavenly karma! No... That feeling was the natural source of the realm!"


    Of course, the will of Da Qian had no idea about Fang Yuan''s own stats. However, it had presented Fang Yuan with heavenly karma in advance, which was in the form of the natural source of the realm. Coincidentally, it was all Fang Yuan needed to bring his Botany to the maximum level!


    With his newfound ability, Fang Yuan would no longer need to plant huge plots of weed to choose his preferred variant. Instead, he could directly alter the mutation of the weed!


    Such an ability would make him one of the most powerful beings in the realm!


    "Of course, I cannot immediately control the mutation of the plants!"


    Fang Yuan slowly experienced everything which was described in the information next to his Botany. "To complete this step, I will first need to communicate with the plants and in the process understand the state of the plants and its genetic information. From there, I will have to alter its mutation according to the end state which I am looking for. Furthermore, I will need to slowly cultivate it and strengthen it over time, otherwise, its genetic material might break down and everything will be in vain..."


    "Regardless, it is still better than now where I am relying on luck!"


    "Mountain Leader?"


    Liu Mengmei became confused as she looked at Fang Yuan.


    "Nothing much. These spiritual farms will need some alteration. Furthermore, get me a few variants of normal rice and spiritual rice with the highest rate of produce!"


    Fang Yuan causally commanded her.


    It was extremely easy to spread the Green Elemental Grass. As soon as it matured, Fang Yuan could simply toss it to the outside world and it would be dispersed by natural wind and animals to be introduced into the ecosystem.


    However, more effort would have to be put in place to spread the variants of rice.


    Of course, in these troubled times, this might be the most popular business and at the same time, Fang Yuan would be able to help ensure the survival of human beings at the same time. Although he would not directly stand to gain from it, in the long run, it would contribute greatly to his fate energy.


    From today onwards, the system within the 9 Extremes mountain would be settled.


    ...


    In the blink of an eye, another month had passed.


    In an isolation room, Fang Yuan crossed his legs and gazed at his own stats:


    "Name: Fang Yuan


    Essence: 100


    Spirit: 100


    Magic: 43 (100)


    Profession: ???


    Cultivation: True Divine, Area Being, Illusionary Divine Stage (1st Tier)


    Technique: Pangu Eagle Body, [8 Gates Sword Array (???)], [Elemental Spiritual Energy Cultivation Spell (Grade 5 (Completed))]


    Skill: [Medicine (Level 3)], [Botany (Level 6) (Maximum)], [Fiery Golden Eyes (Level 1)]"


    "Botany (Level 6) (Maximum) - You are the grandmaster of Botany, a natural talent! You will now be able to communicate with plants, control its maturity period and its mutation!"


    "With my maximum level Botany skills, I have already started to spread a few variants of seeds throughout the realm. I cannot rush through this. I can leave it to Extreme Darkness and Liu Mengmei to settle it for me... The rewards are not very visible as of now but I shall be patient. As time passes, my rewards shall be exponential!"


    Fang Yuan nodded his head but slowly, he started to frown. "I will need some time to see what will happen to Da Qian. I already have a few ideologies about the dream dao. Unfortunately, no matter how talented I might be, without the resources, I cannot do anything!"


    The only way to increase his own cultivation as a dream master was to harvest the natural source of the realm.


    He had already made his arrangements in Da Qian but the effects would not be instant.


    Therefore, the only way was to dream-traverse to other realms!


    "Other dream masters have already lost even their most basic abilities, but I am still able to locate other realms... I can accomplish a few of my ideologies about the dream dao in foreign realms!"


    Fang Yuan had come to a decision.

 498 Arrival

    The ability to dream-traverse was discovered by dream masters.


    By making use of their dream world, dream masters would be able to quickly locate other realms, allowing their True Spirits to descend and harvest the realm. This process allowed the dream masters to quickly advance and become more powerful.


    However, all these were gone together with the lost of the dream dao.


    "Strictly speaking, dream masters are not the only ones who can move through realms and locate other realms. Realms of higher dimensions are also able to do it to prey on other planes and harvest from them... However, the process of dream-traversing would consume the least energy and allow the dream traverser to gain more rewards, considering the energy exhausted."


    Fang Yuan quickly arranged an array and started to think to himself. "We have lost all means of communication with the conquered realms. Why does this feel like the weakening of the United Kingdom leading to the independence of its colonies... Of course, the coordinates will never change. If one is willing to pay the price to start from scratch, I''m sure one will be able to find a similar traversing technique while making use of elemental force native to Da Qian instead of using dream elemental force..."


    Previously, dream masters heavily guarded this technique to be able to increase their cultivation in a short period of time. Only the foolish would share such a valuable technique with their servants.


    Now, it was time to spread this technique.


    "Hehe... among all the recordings of the various dream masters, the coordinates of the realm is the most important thing in dream-traversing. I have indeed looted quite a lot from the Divine Lotus Cult this time!"


    He was the only one in Da Qian who was able to dream traverse and no one was competing with him. This situation was extremely in his favour.


    A tinge of excitement flashed in Fang Yuan''s eyes as he began to activate the array.


    "Rumble!"


    The space around the array shook and the surroundings started to change. It was as though Fang Yuan had arrived into outer space, floating in the universe. The milky way above him glittered brilliantly as each and every star shone brightly in the night sky.


    "Every star here represents a coordinate of a realm which the Divine Lotus Cult have discovered. Now, all of these are mine!"


    Fang Yuan lowered his head and stretched out his hand, attempting to touch the stars. Suddenly, something drastic happened!


    The originally glittering milky way started to dim as the stars began to lose its glow.


    "What''s happening?"


    Fang Yuan''s expression changed. Slowly, he realised that even the realms which he had visited before, including the Water Realm, Hui Realm and Planet Earth Realm slowly became unusable, as though he had lost the connection with these past realms.


    "What just happened... Did all the realms just disappear?"


    He shook his head. "This is impossible! Therefore, it is not that the coordinates are unusable, but my original location... it has relocated!"


    After opening the door which connected the Demonic Heart Realm to Da Qian and the changing of elemental force in Da Qian, everything else was possible.


    Even a small change might result in a huge difference to a realm!


    After all, the coordinates of the other realms were relative to the location of Da Qian. Now that Da Qian had shifted, the coordinates relative to Da Qian would change too.


    "I''m afraid that Da Qian is now attracted by the Demonic Heart Realm and is shifting towards it. It would either become a follower realm to the Demonic Heart Realm or it might just be consumed in the long run..."


    Fang Yuan finally understood everything. Although this might only happen in another thousand years, it was still unavoidable!


    "The adverse consequences of opening up the door to the Demonic Heart Realm is only showing up slowly..."


    Fang Yuan sighed as he started to locate his own realm''s location.


    Without the accurate relative coordinates, Fang Yuan had to start from scratch! If he wanted to connect Da Qian with the previous realms he had visited before, he would have to spend an extraordinary amount of effort.


    "If this is so, I might as well explore a new world! After all, if there are any changes to the dimensions around, this will mean that the neighbouring realms will also undergo changes! Regardless, there is potential everywhere!"


    The dream-traversing technique of dream masters included not only the ability to locate realms but also to search for new realms. Sage Changli had demonstrated this before and had once directly searched the coordinates of the Demonic Heart Realm!


    Unfortunately, it did not bring prosperity to Da Qian. Instead, it only brought disaster.


    "Neighbouring realms are likely to be radiated by dream elemental force... This is a good thing to me, for I will be able to test out a few of my new ideologies!"


    Fang Yuan''s eyes glistened with excitement.


    ...


    Another month had passed.


    Fang Yuan finally had a discovery after many in-depth investigations.


    "Indeed... The surroundings of Da Qian are undergoing some changes... To put it in another way, we are now among a new foreign group of realms..."


    The new realms confused Fang Yuan for they had the spiritual aura of the Demonic Heart Realm but seemed unaffected by it.


    These realms were probably planes which feed on the energy of the Demonic Heart Realm. They were similar to Da Qian and were fortunate enough not to be consumed by the Demonic Heart Realm. Instead, they were developing quite well.


    "It''s a pity... I can only accurate pinpoint the coordinates of one of these realms!"


    Fang Yuan activated the array and felt as though he had arrived in the centre of the universe. A cluster of stars was spread across the vast space.


    Unfortunately, these stars appeared illusionary and only had a hint of spiritual aura coming from them.


    Only one of them was releasing a dim purple glow in a corner of the universe, resembling a purple eye.


    "Do I really only have the coordinates of one realm?"


    Fang Yuan sighed.


    The exploration of new realms was like buying the lottery. Fang Yuan was fortunate enough to locate a coordinate within a single month.


    On the other hand, the 5 Grand Organisations had sent groups of people and spent years and even decades to find nothing. This was the norm!


    "This realm... is giving off an inauspicious vibe!"


    Just by detecting the spiritual aura of the realm, Fang Yuan felt disappointed. The Purple Eye Realm gave him an eerie feeling and the sense of chaos. In that deep corner...


    "No risks, no rewards. The more dangerous the realm is, the more my rewards will be! Furthermore... time passes extremely quick in this realm, which is suitable for me."


    Without hesitation, Fang Yuan announced to his servants that he would remain in isolation. With anticipation, he pressed his finger towards the purple star.


    "Rumble!"


    The array crumbled and the entire universe started to fade away.


    Fang Yuan crossed his legs. His True Spirit started to drift away and slowly disappeared...


    ...


    "This is... such a twisted and chaotic realm!"


    Fang Yuan had plenty of experience in dream-traversing.


    However, never had he ever felt that a realm was so weird.


    His True Spirit became a comet and flew through the membrane of the destination realm.


    With that, a twisted and chaotic will started to overwhelm him as though it was about to consume him whole.


    "This realm does not have a will... or could the realm be crazy?"


    In that instant, a single thought flashed through Fang Yuan''s mind.


    Twisted fragments flew across his True Spirit. Time started to warp and an image started to appear in his consciousness.


    It was a dark-purple bronze door that stood tall and mighty.


    Two ferocious ghost heads were biting on the frame of the door. The floating cravings on the surface of the doors were warped. They were the illustration of wronged souls crying in pain.


    A blurred silhouette approached the door, placed its hands squarely on the door and gave it a firm push.


    "Rumble!"


    The door opened and behind the door was...


    Darkness overwhelmed Fang Yuan. He was lost.


    ...


    "Rumble!"


    There was a torrential downpour and strong winds were blowing against the glass, making a screeching noise.


    In an ancient-looking mansion in the secluded mountains, a man started to laugh hysterically.


    "Haha... I''ve finally succeeded!"


    He ran into the delivery room and carried a bloodied baby in his hands. He started to smile ferociously like an evil ghost. "With it, we can now resist against the curse on the Tantai Family!"


    He was carrying a young boy in his hands. The baby stopped crying, opened its eyes and glared at the man carrying him as though he was looking at a stranger. In his eyes, there was a flicker of gold.


    The young man shuddered as he observed the cold and heartless look on the baby.


    "Juexin! Is it out yet?"


    In the front yard, a group of people were waiting. They did not appear happy. Instead, they were looking towards the delivery room with a look of... fear?!


    An old man holding crutches walked up and stroked the baby with his thin hands. The old man had a head full of white hair and a wrinkled face, as though he was on the brink of death. "He is naturally gifted indeed. Our collective efforts... and the descendant which we have created!"


    "Father! Look..."


    Tantai Juexin swaddled the baby and passed it to a female servant behind. "Think of a name for him!"


    "A name, let me think..."


    The old man spoke with composure. "The Taitai family has our rules. My generation name is ''Ghost'' and yours is ''Heartless''. His is ''Destruction''. Now that the skies are clear and the sun is bright, let''s name him ''Sun''! Tantai Mieming[1]!"


    "Tantai Mieming! Great!"


    Tantai Juexin remained emotionless as he waved his hands.


    The servants seemed to be prepared as they walked up to clean the baby.


    "Tantai... Mieming?"


    The swaddled baby remained silent as it scanned the old faces around him. "Is this going to be my name for life? It seems like my family is rather impressive!"


    "Is he... that thing?"


    "The trump card which the elders have put in their all to create in order to resist the curse?"


    "He represents... inauspiciousness!"


    "Don''t let Little Four and Little Five get close to this baby. I don''t want to die in his baby''s hands even before I die to the curse..."


    "Look at his eyes! He doesn''t even look like a baby!"


    ...


    The relatives of the family started to look at Fang Yuan, no! They started to look at Tantai Mieming''s eyes which were filled with hatred and fear.


    He was simply like... a demon!


    "Interesting!"


    Fang Yuan closed his eyes slowly. After all, he had just completed his dream-traversing and he needed to rest.


    "This world... hmm? The elemental force in the surroundings is extremely sparse. Could it be another realm with harsh laws of physics? However, it feels different. Also, this body of mine..."


    As the host of the body, Fang Yuan could feel that there was something wrong with it.


    "It is physically stronger than the average body. Could this be what they are looking for?"


    Recalling how his body''s grandfather had looked at him, he knew that he was not being seen as a grandson, but a ''tool''!


    In other words, they had completed a certain ceremony to call for the arrival of a certain being!


    [1]: Mieming means ''Destruction of the Sun'' in English.

 499 Family Heritage

    Purple Eye Realm.


    This was the name Fang Yuan had given this realm.


    Because he was an infant, no matter how gifted he might be, he had spent the last few months eating and sleeping. No one ever paid too much attention to him, allowing him to secretly gather a lot of information.


    This realm was mainly populated by humans and it was rather advanced in technology. Fang Yuan had seen before telephones, newspapers and the like.


    However, the Tantai family preferred to live in seclusion and had always been living in an ancient looking mansion in the outskirts of the city.


    This family was extremely wealthy and even had servants around. However, all the members of the Tantai Family always seem gloomy and depressed.


    Furthermore, something which did not add up was that there were very little elders among the family.


    Fang Yuan had only seen one elder, which was Tantai Juexin''s father. He was the elder of the entire Tantai Family, Tantai Guijing!


    ''This family seems to be knowledgeable in certain secret spells! This might be the secret behind how they become so wealthy.''


    In Fang Yuan''s memories, he could recall being carried to an array for a few times. During these times, he was part of a bloody ritual and was fed much weird stuff.


    As an infant, he could not put up any resistance and could only do as he was told.


    ''Sigh... I am speechless about the predicament I am in right now...''


    The small infant sighed softly.


    According to Fang Yuan''s predictions, the place which he had reincarnated was coincidently the location of the ''ceremony'' held by the Tantai Family! Therefore, his True Spirit must have subconsciously chosen the most suitable body which led to him possessing the infant.


    ''Comparatively, I would rather reincarnate as a normal human! Furthermore... This realm...''


    Fang Yuan glanced at his stats with a gloomy look:


    "Name: Fang Yuan (Tantai Mieming)


    Essence: 0.5 (100)


    Spirit: 0.5 (100)


    Magic: 2.0 (100)


    Profession: ???


    Cultivation: ???


    Technique: ???


    Skill: [Medicine (Sealed)], [Botany (Sealed)], [Fiery Golden Eyes (Sealed)]"


    "My stats are miserable and even my techniques are completely wiped off? Most importantly..."


    Fang Yuan realised that his Medicine and Botany had faded grey, similar to the previous encounter with the Demonic Heart Realm whereby his dream master related stats had faded grey when the dream dao was taken away.


    Of course, under Fang Yuan''s continuous efforts, the bracket containing the Fiery Golden Eyes started to shimmer and appeared unstable, allowing him to occasionally use it.


    "Something is wrong with this mansion! There is too much Yin Energy! Unfortunately... My present form is too weak!"


    Even though Fang Yuan''s stats in his window were sealed, he was confident that he would be able to restore his cultivation in Da Qian. However, all of these required time!


    In this mansion, everything gave him a sense of danger!


    This was not an observation through his Fiery Golden Eyes but rather, his detection from being physically in the mansion!


    Until now, Fang Yuan could be certain that his physical body was different from others! Notwithstanding his magical energy, how could a newborn have half the stats of a full-grown adult?


    Unless...


    "Creak!"


    The room door was opened. A large-breasted female in her thirties walked in.


    Fang Yuan could recognise that this was the female servant taking care of him. She was Xu Ma.


    All the servants serving in the mansion appeared pale and depressed too, and it seemed that it was because they had served in the family for a long period of time already. They rarely smiled and most of the time appeared gloomy.


    "No! Something''s not right!"


    Fang Yuan''s eyes glistened. "This lady... she is too emotionless."


    "Bang!"


    At this point in time, Xu Ma''s eyes turned blank as she fainted.


    Behind her, there was another silhouette. A pair of deadly eyes glared at Fang Yuan as the silhouette raised a pair of scissors in its hand.


    ''This lady... She seems like she is the wife of Tantai Juexin''s brother, my aunt. She should be either the Seventh Aunt or Eight Aunt, and her name is Qiu Liang...''


    Qiu Liang had a pleasant look. However, now, she was raising a pair of scissors, aiming its tip towards Fang Yuan''s heart. She had a ferocious and frenzied look on her face. "Di... Die! You shouldn''t even exist in this world, and it''s all because of you! Ashang is dead! You shall die too!"


    Fang Yuan laid there helplessly as the pair of scissors was swung downwards.


    ''This is none of my business... and yet you want to kill me...''


    Fang Yuan closed his eyes and concentrated.


    "Ah!"


    In an instant, there was a shriek, followed by the clanging of a metal pot which fell to the floor, spilling the water in it.


    "Help! Lady Qiu Liang is..."


    A female servant screamed at the top of her lungs but soon after, she shrieked.


    Fang Yuan''s ears twitched. He could hear the shuffling of feet. Relaxed, he heaved a sigh.


    In this world, he no longer knew if his old techniques would work and he would have a hard time explaining. It was still better to let others save him.


    "Qiu Liang, what are you doing?"


    Tantai Juexin rushed to the scene and a crisp slap was heard. "Are you crazy?"


    "Haha... I have been crazy all along! If not for him, would Ashang die?"


    Qiu Liang''s voice was filled with hatred and vengeance. As she tried to retaliate, she was once again hit to the ground.


    "Daughter-in-law... what is happening?"


    At this point in time, a large group of them had arrived in the baby''s room. The old man in front was Tantai Guijing. He had a cold look on his face and was awe-inspiring.


    "Are you guys blind? I am trying to kill him!"


    Qiu Liang was restrained. She appeared crazed for a moment before started to sob. "Ashang, Ashang was killed by him! All of you have seen how pitifully Ashang had died. His eyes were even dug out of his corpse! This child''s eyes are different! This is why Ashang''s eyes were dug out!"


    "Rubbish! Ashang was obviously..."


    Tantai Guijing sounded strict at first but as he spoke to the end of the sentence, his voice started to soften.


    "Forget about it. This woman is crazy. Bring her to the patriarchal hall and lock her up!"


    After a long while, another voice was heard.


    "All of you... will die!"


    Fang Yuan was being carried by another servant as he looked into Qiu Liang''s eyes.


    Her eyes were filled with hatred and vengeance, turning her otherwise beautiful look into a demonic one. The servant carrying Fang Yuan started to shake in fear.


    "Do you think he can really resist against the curse? No! That is impossible! The Tantai Family is a cursed one and there is nothing we can do about it. The introduction of a new force will only lead all of you to your deaths!"


    Qiu Liang frantically screamed and cursed everyone on the scene like a poisonous snake spitting its venom at its prey. "I hate you! I hate all of you! If not for Ashang, why would I even be married into your family, destroying my future?"


    "Something''s not right!"


    She started to struggle and grabbed the red pair of scissors on the floor. Seeing this, Tantai Guijing quickly screamed. "Stop her! She wants to..."


    "All of you, die!"


    As she screamed, Qiu Liang suddenly rushed towards the female servant carrying Fang Yuan with a great force.


    "Chi!"


    Blood spewed everywhere!


    The bloodstained Fang Yuan''s face, spreading a metallic smell everywhere.


    "How could... how could it be?"


    Qiu Liang gazed at the female servant who had the scissors pierced through her neck before looking down.


    At her chest, a sharp knife was protruding out, stained with the blood of her own.


    "Pa!"


    The female servant fell to the ground and Fang Yuan fell towards the ground as well before being caught firmly by another pair of hands.


    "Let''s get out of here! Get some servants to clear up the corpses."


    Fang Yuan realised that it was his own father, Tantai Juexin who had killed Qiu Liang from behind her! Composed, he kept his dagger and ordered the servants around.


    "Argh..."


    Qiu Liang, who was lying on the ground, was still trying to struggle. Blood flowed out from her mouth and it was an unforgettable scene for all of those who had witnessed her emotion-filled face.


    "Do I represent... inauspiciousness?"


    Fang Yuan was a little confused as he felt a chill vibe in his heart.


    Unknowingly, the red pair of scissors on Qiu Liang''s hands seem to be a bright red due to it being stained by blood.


    "Father, how should we deal with it?"


    After clearing the scene, Tantai Juexin looked towards Tantai Guijing.


    "As usual, but we have to strengthen the defences of the family. Otherwise, she will come into contact with that ''thing''!"


    Tantai Guijing bent over and forcefully pried open Qiu Liang''s fingers to pick up the scissors in her hands. "Nobody shall leak the events of today. Otherwise, I will deal with them according to the family rules. Is that understood."


    "Yes!"


    Everyone around nodded their heads. However, they still could not wipe off the fear in their eyes. They were all perplexed as they looked towards Fang Yuan.


    He was a true sign of inauspiciousness!


    As Fang Yuan was being carried away, he took one last look at the lady on the ground.


    It might be his own hallucination, but her fingers seemed to be... moving!


    ...


    The seasons went by.


    It had already been a few years.


    Fang Yuan was now 5 years old. He was like an invisible person in the Tantai Family.


    Although he was given the best food and accommodation and no one dared to oppose him, no other kids of the same age were willing to play with him.


    Even the servants feared him, even though Fang Yuan did nothing.


    His biological mother, Su Xin, had also intentionally distanced herself from Fang Yuan and they had a weak relationship.


    In the past 5 years, Fang Yuan had discovered many weird things.


    For instance, after a certain period of time, there would always be a member of this family who would inexplicably die, and the rest of the family would treat it as a norm.


    Every time he examined their corpses, he could tell that they did not die of natural causes.


    "Curse, so they say..."


    After gathering all his experiences for the past few years, Fang Yuan could roughly figure out what was going on with this family.


    "The Tantai Family has been cursed and everyone cannot escape from it... After a certain period of time, there will always be a death! No wonder this family had decided to live in seclusion. Otherwise, they would surely scare their neighbours."


    Although Fang Yuan had no forms of entertainment in the past 5 years, he could still bear it.


    Furthermore, he was not afraid of displaying his wisdom at a young age.


    Even though he might appear gloomy and depressed like a matured person, no one would suspect anything.


    After all, he was the greatest anomaly in the family!

 500 Ghost Garden

    Fang Yuan''s life was very organised, or should I say... monotonous!


    Ever since he displayed an intelligence on par with average 10-year-olds at the age of 3, he had more lessons every day.


    Specialised teachers were hired for all his lessons, from normal culture classes to physical education, and including his most interesting topic on the supernatural and the spiritual. The person who taught him spiritualism was his father, Tantai Juexin.


    "Father!"


    After Fang Yuan finished his dinner, he went to the study room.


    The ancient looking oil lamp flickered. Tantai Juexin sat behind the study table with a cold and harsh expression on his face.


    Fang Yuan called his father quietly without any emotion, it was as though he was calling any other person.


    "Let''s start our supernatural lesson now! Repeat to me what I have taught you yesterday!"


    Tantai Juexin was used to such coldness from his son. He then continued with an expressionless look on his face, "Tell me, what are ''ghosts''?"


    Fang Yuan concentrated and the knowledge inside his brain came out, "Ghosts are a spiritual presence. It is unknown when they appeared in this world... It is a phenomenon that cannot be easily explained by science and it''s filled with terror! Most importantly, all kinds of ghosts cannot be destroyed by humans! What we can do is to discover the patterns behind them and thus, avoid the dangers and save lives. This is our job as exorcists..."


    As Fang Yuan recited, he felt rather astonished secretly.


    Indeed, supernormal powers were present in this realm, they were ''ghosts''!


    However, such ghost spirits were very different from the impression Fang Yuan had inside his memory. They appeared in the form of spiritual bodies and only those ghosts at the lowest tier could be observed and described.


    In actual fact, Fang Yuan being gravitated to them was a curse, a meme! They could not be completely described and explained. Even exorcists'' conclusions were one-sided as they were things that could not be understood by humans!


    All ghosts could not be destroyed by humans. They possessed all sorts of inexplicable powerful abilities, such as messing with people''s heart and mind, reversing cause-and-effect, killing people in their dreams and even distorting space-time. When normal people were faced with them, they would sink into complete despair!


    When Fang Yuan heard all these, he was immediately greatly interested in this phenomenon of ghosts.


    After all, even dream master sages could not distort space-time nor cause-and-effect. This realm was indeed worthy to be explored!


    However, Tantai Juexin had also sternly warned Fang Yuan before. If any exorcist were met with such a ghost who could distort space-time and cause-and-effect, they must immediately hide far away from it and should never walk into such a situation. This was because even the most supreme exorcist would definitely die to such a ghost!


    Yes, Tantai Family was an exorcist family!


    This family''s bloodline possessed a special gene which caused all their descendants, regardless of gender, to possess extraordinary appearances and abilities! There were even some who could awaken some ''special traits''!


    These included the ability to see ghosts, temporarily dispel curses and even sense a person''s remaining lifespan!


    Due to such powers, Tantai Family could remain strong through the eras and they even amassed a great fortune.


    Unfortunately, such a family was ridden with an unbreakable curse!


    ''All members of Tantai Family! Would die a horrible death! In a certain period of their lives, they would definitely die of unnatural death!''


    The expression Tantai Juexin had when he said this was deeply ingrained in Fang Yuan''s sea of consciousness.


    The origin of this curse was unknown. However, it had spread throughout the bloodline of Tantai Family. Amongst all the family members, there were no exceptions!


    This was the reason why there were so little elderly in Tantai Family.


    Also, Fang Yuan was the ''tool'' created to resist this unbreakable curse.


    For his ''arrival'' ritual that time, not only were large amounts of things depleted from the storage, a few elders of the family even died of unnatural death. Lots of funerals kept happening in the family mansion; the price paid was too heavy.


    Of course, Tantai Juexin would never tell Fang Yuan such. This was silently observed and concluded by Fang Yuan himself.


    "Very good, you are almost done with learning the theory of exorcism..."


    Tantai Juexin looked at his son and felt emotional. His son''s learning speed was shocking, there was indeed... that sort of presence.


    "What''s next is the practical stage. Follow me!"


    Tantai Juexin stood up and brought Fang Yuan to the ancestral hall at the back of the mansion.


    This was an important place for the family. It was also extremely gloomy and frightening. Other kids would never dare to come here to play.


    Behind the ancestral hall, there was a plot of land.


    In the centre of the area, there was a black coloured hall. To the Tantai Family, this was even more important than the ancestral hall.


    "This is the ''Hall of Sacrifice''! It is taken care of by a few family elders."


    Tantai Juexin said calmly but did not go in. Instead, he went to the back of the hall.


    ''What is worthy to be sacrificed?''


    Fang Yuan''s heart jumped. He wanted to use his special ability to look inside it but felt a sense of danger and chose not to instead.


    One had to be able to live till an old age in Tantai Family to become a family elder, it was a very powerful role. Thus, the items offered inside this Hall of Sacrifice were definitely unusual and extraordinary!


    With a bit of regret, Fang Yuan arrived behind the Hall of Sacrifice.


    "This is..."


    Fang Yuan could clearly felt that the surroundings had changed, "Dimension fusion? Is this the secret of Tantai Family''s old mansion? What is exposed on the outside is already so scary, this is just the tip of the iceberg!"


    "Also, this realm is too unusual... even mere mortals can possess such powers. Although they don''t rely on themselves, they put quite a few Illusionary Divine dream masters to shame!"


    The knowledge about dimensional fusion was part of the study on spiritual territories. Only 7th Tier Illusionary Divine powerful beings were qualified enough to have some contact with such knowledge.


    However, now, a mortal family even made use of special environments to achieve such!


    "We require many medicines for exorcism rituals. These medicinal herbs can only be grown under special conditions and environments. For example..."


    Tantai Juexin voice was low and he raised his head to look at the moon.


    Under the moonlight, a garden appeared. The plants inside were all oddly and eerily shaped. Normal people who saw such would definitely have nightmares!


    Fang Yuan took a look and saw a stalk of Human Faced Sunflower. In its centre was a women''s face that was swaying along with the moonlight.


    On the ground, a broken arm crawled pass and left behind a trail of blood on the soil.


    "This is the Human Faced Sunflower and Broken Arm Grass. These are some of the basic materials needed for us to make spiritual medicine..."


    Tantai Juexin pushed Fang Yuan into the garden, "Today''s lesson will be for you to stay inside here until tomorrow morning! I will teach you how to identify these materials tomorrow..."


    "..."


    Fang Yuan looked at the surroundings. It was rife with all sorts of extremely sinister-looking, bloody and horrifying plants that were beyond human imagination.


    Normal kids would have been scared crazy if they were here.


    ''Something''s wrong... this garden is obviously hidden with dangers!''


    Fang Yuan suddenly had a thought, ''Perhaps... he wants me to die here!''


    Outside the garden, Tantai Juexin''s palm was trembling slightly.


    Tantai Juexin knew it was actually a plot of wilderness behind the Hall of Sacrifice! This garden did not exist in the human world!


    Even Tantai Juexin was feeling conflicted currently.


    He both hoped this tool which carried the family''s hope could create miracles and yet hoped he would just die like the others.


    "Su Xin... she must be very sad, right? That''s why she left him to be taken care by the wet nurse immediately after giving birth to him... She hates me, she hates this child!"


    Tantai Juexin sighed. His expression was extremely complicated.


    "This Ghost Garden is located in the netherworld and these plants can only grow in such an environment. Thus, it will occasionally attract some of those dangerous ''presence''. Hence, this is why it was built behind the Hall of Sacrifice and requires some family elders to periodically ''prune'' it... Even if no ghosts come, the Aggrieved Ghost Vines and Corpse Vines inside also requires living humans as their nutrient and would automatically look for their prey."


    Tantai Juexin was very clear that even a normal exorcist would go crazy or even die if they spent one night in such an environment!


    For a 5 years old child, even if it was Tantai Mieming, it was a very difficult mission to complete.


    However, at the next moment, his eyes opened wide and his mouth was agape. It was unbelievable.


    Vines that were like streaks of black hair twined around the 5 years old Tantai Mieming as though they were playing with him.


    Although this child was inside the Ghost Garden, he was like the king of all!


    ''Heart of Nature!''


    Even if Fang Yuan was met with powerful entities like the Demonic Heart Realm and had his abilities sealed, his stats and special abilities still remained. The seal that sealed his skills was long lifted.


    At this current moment, Fang Yuan was making use of his botany skills to subdue all the plants in the Ghost Garden!


    It was not technically subduing them, in actual fact, what Fang Yuan did was to listen attentively to the heartfelt thoughts of these plants.


    "It''s different from the usual spiritual grass, I can only hear pain and suffering!"


    Fang Yuan stroked the hair-like Corpse Vine in front of him. Suddenly, he exerted strength and plucked out the vine along with its roots.


    "Ying! Ying!"


    A women''s cry could be heard from the streaks of black hair. Fang Yuan was immediately sympathetic, "I will help you to... release your pain!"


    Fang Yuan''s finger moved. It was as though he pinched a key spot and all the black vines turned into ashes at once. On his palm, a few black coloured legumes were left behind.


    "Please teach me how to identify them now."


    Fang Yuan walked out of the ghost garden and stood in front of Tantai Juexin with an indifferent look on his face.


    "This person... this person..."


    Tantai Juexin''s face flashed with a tinge of shock and immediately changed to horror. Even he himself did not notice that his voice was slightly trembling, "These are the seeds of Corpse Vines, Corpse Vines requires the hair of drowned corpses as their nourishment. Its matured body needs to devour a living person every year and its seeds can be used to..."


    After a night, the father and son there were not like father and son returned to the old mansion in front.


    "Mieming, you go back first!"


    Tantai Guijing seemed to have waited for quite a while already. After he instructed Fang Yuan to leave first, the conversation between him and Tantai Juexin could be vaguely heard.


    "It is a bit too early to open the Ghost Garden to him now..."


    "I have my plans, Father!"


    "...Okay, looks like I underestimated his potential by too much. From now onwards, you will be fully in-charged of Mieming''s training. Also, one more thing... Jueqing is back!"

 501 Qiu Liang

    The Tantai Family had a high status in society.


    Since the mansion could not possibly fit the entire family, a few family members would do jobs outside and fund the family financially.


    Tantai Mieming''s aunt, Tantai Jueqing was one such person, an exorcist.


    She was a beautiful lady and preferred floral clothing. Her skin was fair and she had an elegant demeanour.


    Furthermore, Tantai Jueqing was the one and only family member of the Tantai Family who was on friendly terms with Fang Yuan. Sometimes, she even helped out the much-busier Tantai Juexin in teaching Fang Yuan the techniques of exorcism.


    Logically speaking, Fang Yuan should be rather close to this aunt of his.


    However, the overly-matured Fang Yuan could tell that this lady had ill intentions and was merely wearing a mask.


    Although she did not display any signs of any ulterior motives, Fang Yuan trusted his intuition!


    "I have nothing else to teach you regarding the identification of plants and pharmaceutics! You are a genius, Ming!"


    Tantai Jueqing squinted her eyes and smiled as she rubbed Fang Yuan''s head.


    "Aunt Jueqing, can you tell me about the outside world?"


    Fang Yuan displayed curiosity a 5-year-old had as he pestered his aunt for more stories about the outside world.


    Although he knew that Tantai Jueqing had ill intentions, this was nevertheless still a good opportunity to gather more information about the outside world!


    Tantai Jueqing seemed to be on a long break herself after the recent mission.


    "Alright!"


    Tantai Jueqing brought her hands together. "The outside world is very interesting! There are tall buildings all around! Every night, light from all the buildings come together, displaying a sight which is prettier than a rainbow. There are also a lot of delicacies and entertainment there! The chocolates and figurines which I gave you last time were only the most basic... Other than these, there are also planes which can fly in the sky, and these planes can fly across many other countries in just a single day..."


    ''This world is so technologically advanced?''


    Fang Yuan blinked as he listened intently as though he was longing to see it for himself. ''Also... Why would Tantai Jueqing attempt to make me interested in the outside world? Does she really have an ulterior motive?''


    Of course, he knew that Tantai Guijing and the fellow family members would never allow him to leave the mansion.


    ''However, it''s not a bad idea to leave this place...''


    Fang Yuan snickered to himself. ''I shall play along with you.''


    Although there are many secrets in the Tantai Family which were worth discovering, this was not the time!


    In other words, the secrets here were too much for him to handle. Fang Yuan would prefer to expose himself to the outside world first.


    Furthermore, Fang Yuan would have to worry about the monthly ''ritual''. It was obviously an attempt to keep things under control! The longer the ritual, the more effective it would be! Unfortunately, Fang Yuan had not restored most of his abilities and could not resist against it.


    Since he was underqualified to control the situation, it would only be wise to step out of it.


    "Aunt!"


    Fang Yuan tugged on Tantai Jueqing''s hand and started to sound cringy. "Next time when you leave, bring me along, will you?"


    "No way!" Tantai Jueqing smiled sheepishly. "You are a very important person and the Hall of Sacrifice requires you..."


    ''There she goes again, trying to end her sentence halfway to pique my interest.''


    Fang Yuan secretly rolled his eyes.


    He knew that he could not continue to plead. After all, the role which he was acting was an abnormal kid.


    "Cough cough!"


    A few coughs were heard as Tantai Juexin displayed a cold look. "Jueqing, you''ve said too much. Mieming, please leave with us!"


    "Yes!"


    Fang Yuan obediently packed up and left the room.


    However, as his ears twitched, his sensitive hearing ability allowed him to eavesdrop a little.


    "Keke... Brother, what are you afraid of? Are you afraid that he will learn the truth?"


    "Enough! This plan is the hope for the entire family. Those old fogeys must fear their death, right? It''s a pity that he''s too..." Tantai Jueqing''s voice sounded excited. "We... will all die!"


    "Sister, do you hate us for doing all these?" After a long and awkward silence, Tantai Juexin spoke once more.


    "Yes, I hate all of you and I hate this cursed family! I hate myself..."


    Tantai Jueqing sounded pitiful as though she was forcing herself to speak.


    "... Are you responsible for the missing pair of scissors?"


    "Scissors? The one which Qiu Liang used years ago? Haha... finally, the truth is out?"


    ...


    There was the faint noise of fighting and the information coming from the argument started to interest Fang Yuan. Unfortunately, he saw a few servants walking towards him and felt that it was inappropriate to continue eavesdropping and could only walk away.


    "A 20-year cycle? Could this be about the peak of the curse on the family? Also, that pair of scissors..."


    The pair of red scissors which Qiu Liang had used to attempt to kill Fang Yuan was ingrained in his memory and Fang Yuan felt an inexplicable vibe just be recalling it.


    Now that he thought about it, every single person in the family was not as simple as they seem and that pair of scissors might just be a piece of magical equipment.


    "Lost? This would mean that it has been guarded all these while. This is interesting..."


    Fang Yuan slowly walked away. Unfortunately, he was already too far from the room and could no longer hear what they were talking about.


    "Ah, it''s young master Mieming!"


    As he entered a garden, he noticed a few servants carrying a rack which was covered with a white cloth. A part of the white cloth was dyed red.


    All the servants in the family feared Fang Yuan. Now that they suddenly realised that he was in the garden, they shrieked and released their grip on the rack, allowing it to fall to the ground. A corpse rolled out from the rack.


    This female corpse was wearing a servant''s clothing and had a pale look. Her eyes were wide open and there was an obvious cut on her neck, as though she was being sliced by a sharp object.


    Just as Fang Yuan gazed towards the corpse, he could feel an indescribable chill down his spine.


    "What are you doing there! Quickly clear things up!"


    As the housekeeper lectured the servants, he forced a smile as he looked towards Fang Yuan. "Young master Mieming, this place is dirty. It will be best for you to return."


    "Oh!"


    Fang Yuan quickly agreed, turned around and took his leave.


    The housekeeper heaved a sigh of relief. "Did the two of you not take your meals?"


    It''s not that, Housekeeper Zhang. It''s just too scary! We have this recent death and immediately after, we see him..."


    "That''s right. When a normal child sees a corpse, he will surely feel scared, right? He doesn''t even have any reaction at all! The rumours are true..."


    "Ahong was fine yesterday and now, she''s found dead in her room. That room was locked from in the inside. Could it be... that thing?"


    ...


    Fang Yuan paid no attention to their gossip.


    From his birth till now, he had already heard enough of such stories. If he were to investigate every single incident, he would have been exhausted to death.


    Of course, the final piece of information was a little more interesting.


    "Could it be ghosts?"


    Fang Yuan returned to his room and chuckled. "Even this place is no longer safe. I should leave this haunted mansion as soon as possible."


    "Of course, the priority would be to improve my abilities!"


    At night, Fang Yuan rushed to the spot behind the Hall of Sacrifice as he waited for the appearance of the Ghost Garden.


    Ever since he had learnt all about it, he had already planned on using the Ghost Garden for himself.


    Now, he was prepared to create a few types of medicine.


    "This Hall of Sacrifice..."


    Under the dim moonlight, the dark building resembled a black hole which was seemingly trying to absorb everything.


    Fang Yuan could sense a pair of prying eyes coming from the Hall of Sacrifice.


    "Elder?"


    Fang Yuan paid no attention to it and waited for the moon to set before walking into the Ghost Garden.


    Oddly-shaped plants created an eerie shuffling nose as though they were welcoming him.


    "Human equipment cannot deal with ghosts. Even these plants do not belong to the humans..."


    Fang Yuan walked about in the garden. "In reality... the Tantai Family did not share with me their medicinal formulas for the more effective medicines. Now, I am merely creating the basic ones."


    "According to the matured plants here, there are only 2 concoctions I can create. One will be the Spiritual Eye Water which will allow normal humans to observe the traces of ghosts. The second will be a concoction which will mask the traits of a human body, making it harder for the ghosts to detect the person using it."


    Fang Yuan had his Fiery Golden Eyes and therefore would not need the Spiritual Eye Water. Therefore, he went straight into creating the other concoction.


    "It is a requirement for me to create the entire concoction while I am in the Ghost Garden!"


    Fang Yuan arrived at the Ghost Faced Sunflower and pressed on the forehead of the face.


    "Sniffle!"


    The pale face started to cry in a melodious tone and blood started to tear from her eyes.


    Fang Yuan collected the blood with a test tube before adding the powdered seeds of Corpse Vine in. Following which, he added a few more odd ingredients into the mix.


    In the test tube, the blood-coloured liquid suddenly turned transparent.


    "I''ve succeeded!"


    It was the norm to fail in creating these concoctions. Even elders in charge of making these concoctions would not have such a high probability of success as Fang Yuan had.


    "However, I don''t know how useful will this be..."


    Fang Yuan held his concoction and was about to leave. Suddenly, he felt a chill.


    A gold hue flashed in his eyes as he noticed a blurred silhouette.


    "Could ghost be more visible in this alternate dimension?"


    Fang Yuan revealed a smile on his face. "Am I... trapping myself? However, I must expose myself to... the threats of this world!"


    At this point, Fang Yuan drank the concoction in his hands without a second thought.


    A smelly and rotting stench filled his mouth but there were no visible changes to his body.


    Taking light breaths, Fang Yuan slowly walked about in the Ghost Garden.


    Finally, he could see it. A lady wearing red placed her hands on her hips and like a snake, she slithered on the ground with her shoulders.


    The face of the ghost was that of... Qiu Liang!

 502 Awakening

    Under the moonlight.


    The ghost in red clothes raised her head. She was Qiu Liang, the lady who had died years ago!


    She was emotionless and her eyes were wide opened as though she was stubborn. She was squirming on the ground as though she had lost the use of her limbs, turning her into something which resembled a large red snake.


    "I cannot do this!"


    Just by gazing at her, Fang Yuan was overwhelmed with fear. "If go against her now... I will die! She is not a normal spirit!"


    Thinking up to this point, Fang Yuan started to hold his breath and made his way towards the entrance of the Ghost Garden.


    He didn''t know how long the concoction which hid his human traits could last. His life would be in danger for every moment he spent in the Ghost Garden.


    He was getting nearer and nearer the entrance...


    As Fang Yuan arrived at the entrance, the red ghost suddenly raised its head and a murderous look flashed in its eyes!


    ...


    In the study room of the Tantai Family.


    A group of people gathered in the room. Tantai Juexin and Tantai Jueqing were among the group.


    Tantai Guijing appeared even more frail-looking than usual as though he was on the brink of death. In reality, his actual age was only about 50. However, he had such a look because of something which backfired on him in the past.


    He cleared his throat and began. "The 20-year cycle is about to rest. What opinions do you guys have with regards to this?"


    Other than Tantai Juexin and a few others, the rest were all old and frail looking as they displayed shock on their faces.


    It was a 20-year cycle! This was the curse of the Tantai Family! Everyone with the Tantai blood would not be able to escape. If this were to happen in a cycle of a few years, the Tantai Family would be wiped out and killed, especially the few elders who had already survived a few cycles.


    "Didn''t we discuss to using ''that'' to deal with the curse of the ''Door''? Juexin, do you think he''s fit for it?"


    A bald elder slowly spoke.


    "Second Granduncle..."


    Tantai Juexin stood up and appeared vexed. "That thing is the most gifted person I have ever seem. He is only 5 years old now and yet he is already as capable as most other exorcists. However... I did not realise that he was displaying signs of awakening!"


    "That''s impossible! Unless he has perfect control over it, otherwise, he will not be able to control his ''awakening''!"


    A few elders spoke with frustration.


    Most of them there were top-notch exorcists and knew the power of ghosts and curses.


    Even the strongest human cannot fight against a ghost! Only a curse would be able to deal with another curse!


    "This is not a lie and I''m sure all of you know that."


    Tantai Juexin replied coldly before returning to his seat.


    Everyone remained silent for a while. They all knew the terror which would come with ''awakening''. The calm period now was the most obvious sign of all.


    "Cough cough..."


    Tantai Guijing continued. "In order to break the curse on us, we need to find that ''Door''. All that we have prepared up till now is not enough! Mieming still needs to mature as well. Therefore, we should stick to our original plan... Of course, if we cannot resist this curse, the only thing we can do will be to sacrifice Mieming."


    Everyone remained silent.


    At the end, Tantai Guijing suddenly thought of something and asked, "Do we have a lead on the cursed scissors?"


    The Tantai Family was a family of exorcists and therefore it was only normal for the family to have a collection of weird objects.


    That red scissors was among the collection. It was cursed with a powerful spell which would enable it to harm spirits.


    "We do. That pair of scissors will curse whoever it kills, turning the person into a ghost. Only by finding another ghost will the first ghost be freed... We have used a female servant as a bait for the scissors to complete its curse on a new victim. In the next 7 days, it will not come out to harm others. Furthermore, we can use black magic to trace it."


    Tantai Juexin toyed around with the dagger in his hands as he calmly explained.


    "That''s good. Quickly recall it back. After all, it is still useful in dealing with curses."


    Tantai Guijing nodded his head. "The meeting is over!"


    ...


    If Fang Yuan were to eavesdrop on the exchanges during the meeting, he would be utterly shocked.


    The red pair of scissors cursed by black magic would curse whoever it kills! Qiu Liang did not die under the pair of scissors. Furthermore, the scissors now had a new target and therefore, there would be a safe period of 7 days!


    Therefore, the red scissors which he had seen was not the simple cursed red scissors, but ''something else''!


    If might just be the thing responsible for the curse over the entire Tantai Family!


    After all, Fang Yuan still had Tantai blood in his body.


    Although the curse would more likely seek out the elders, there could be exceptions, for instance, Tantai Jueshang!


    "Run!"


    But for now, Fang Yuan was still clueless.


    As soon as he exchanged glances with the female ghost, he knew right away that the ghost had already detected him.


    "Bang!"


    Decisively, he leapt out even further than a matured adult could and like a gust of wind, he arrived into the real world.


    Behind him, the female ghost had disappeared.


    Fang Yuan appeared pale and in pain. As he lifted his pants up, he could see a black palm print on his ankle.


    "Almost..."


    Even though Fang Yuan had already arrived back in his dimension, the sense of danger had not faded away.


    "To the Hall of Sacrifice!"


    His eyes darted around as he quickly ran towards the dark hall, pushing the door with all his might.


    "Who''s that? Eh? It''s you!"


    A skinny old man in black clothing appeared stern as soon as he spotted Fang Yuan. "This is not a place you are suppose to be in!"


    Although Fang Yuan only skimmed through the hall, he could already observe most of its interior.


    Lanterns lined the walls of the hall and equipment were laid out on the sacrificial table. There were many caskets as well as a single painting scroll hidden in the corner of the hall.


    On the painting scroll, the drawing was a... door!


    ''That is... exactly similar to the door that I saw in the memories of this realm!''


    Fang Yuan wanted to take a few more glances at the things around. Suddenly, he felt a sense of confusion.


    "What have you angered..."


    The old man noticed a red silhouette and his expression changed. Immediately, he plucked a black ring from his finger and threw it towards the ground.


    "Bang!"


    A layer of black fog appeared, engulfing the old man within. The old man took a few deep breaths and immediately, his body started to rot and within seconds, he became a zombie.


    Without a second thought, Fang Yuan turned around and ran for his life. After just a few steps, he could hear a pitiful shriek. It was from that old man!


    "What is that?"


    Fang Yuan did not slow down. As he arrived at the ancient mansion, he noticed the silhouette of a group of people.


    At the same time, the feeling of confusion in him finally disappeared.


    "Did that old man become my scapegoat?"


    Fang Yuan clenched his fist. He had finally encountered the threats of this realm and could not wait to restore his cultivation!


    "I don''t want to care anymore. No matter how eerie this realm might seem, I have to begin my experimentation on dream elemental force!"


    ...


    On the second day, Fang Yuan had received news of the death of the old man. Tantai Juexin had personally delivered this piece of news to Fang Yuan. Evidently, he was suspecting that Fang Yuan might have something to do with his death.


    From Tantai Jueqing, Fang Yuan had also obtained information about the scissors which was cursed with black magic.


    "What was ''that'' which I encountered last night?"


    Fang Yuan sat on his bed and started to recall what had happened last night with a look of confusion growing on his face. "Something is not right. To think about it, that female ghost''s face was a little blurred and did not seem to be Qiu Liang''s face... Could the ghost have taken advantage of my mind to cause me to hallucinate? All because I have imagined about Qiu Liang being cursed by the scissors, and that is why I have imagined her to be the ghost in red?"


    "Regardless, I am sure that the appearance of these ghosts have something to do with the Demonic Heart Realm!"


    "This realm is even more affected by the Demonic Heart Realm compared to Da Qian!"


    Fang Yuan clenched his fist. "In order to resist against such pollution and foreign entities from the Demonic Heart Realm, I must regain my ability to harness dream elemental force! Furthermore... it feels a little different here!"


    All along, Fang Yuan was already interested in the other paths of the Demonic Heart Realm.


    Although Shang Hou did not have the records of such paths on him, every path would have its foundations rooted in dream elemental force! After obtaining the many dream master records, Fang Yuan had his own theory.


    Of course, in a thousand of his ideas, 999 of them would be likely to be useless and could even result in him suffering an irreversible damage. The last idea might not be entirely safe as well. Therefore, dream masters had completely given up trying to explore the other paths.


    After experiencing the dream dao, why would the dream masters be interested in any other paths?


    Being in another realm was the best opportunity for Fang Yuan to pick off where his research had left off.


    Experimenting on himself would surely be more effective than using other dream masters as experimental products!


    The weirdness of this realm and the fact that it had been polluted by the Demonic Heart Realm further affirmed Fang Yuan''s thinking.


    "The first step is always the same, and that is to sense the dream elemental force."


    Fang Yuan closed his eyes and weird shapes started to appear in his consciousness.


    These shapes started to float around and gather together, forming an inverted triangle.


    The triangle was quickly formed which could be due to the fact that the realm had long been polluted by the Demonic Heart Realm. With that, streaks of evolved dream element force started to descend.


    "Purple?"


    Fang Yuan was stunned. "Isn''t the dream elemental force of the Demonic Heart Realm silver?"


    In that instant, an even more drastic change happened.


    His body started to absorb the dream elemental force greedily as though a desert had come across a flowing river.


    "This is..."


    Completely submerged in the process, Fang Yuan did not notice that his body was turning pale. Following which, the temperature of the room started to go down as well.


    This was not the physical temperature, but a higher-dimensional cold sensation only felt by the soul.


    "Ah!"


    A shriek had jolted Fang Yuan out from his trance.


    He quickly came out of the room and realised that a tray of food was scattered across the floor.


    "What happened?"


    Fang Yuan frowned as his eyes glistened.


    On the ground, there were fine prints which resembled the shape of a human!


    "This force... it is indeed representative of inauspiciousness!"

 503 Revelation

    "Name: Fang Yuan (Tantai Mieming)


    Essence: 1.0 (100)


    Spirit: 1.0 (100)


    Magic: 3.0 (100)


    Profession: ???


    Cultivation: ???


    Technique: ???


    Skill: [Medicine (Level 3)], [Botany (Level 6)], [Fiery Golden Eyes (Level 1)], Unknown Physical Property"


    ...


    Fang Yuan whipped his stats window out and observed the changes.


    With an Essence of 1, it would mean that Fang Yuan had the physical qualities comparable to that of a full-grown adult. This was shocking, considering that he was a 5-year-old child.


    In this realm, humans were extremely restricted and some of the stats in the stats window were sealed. Even Fang Yuan felt that it was difficult to improve himself.


    ''It would be reasonable if my stats are sealed up due to the existence of a powerful being from the Demonic Heart Realm¡­...''


    Fang Yuan once again corrected his understanding of this realm. "This realm must be hiding a huge secret! It might just be related to that ''door''!"


    The scene which Fang Yuan had observed while he was traversing to this realm and the abnormalities in this realm made him certain of this.


    If he could find the source which caused everything that is happening, he might just understand the greatest secret of the Demonic Heart Realm!


    "Also, what does it mean by ''Unknown Physical Property''? Why is it classified directly under my ''Skill'' section..."


    Fang Yuan predicted that the mutated dream elemental force which he had previously absorbed was like a key, unlocking the potential of his own body.


    "What''s happening?"


    It was obvious that someone was spying on Fang Yuan''s living quarters. Not long after, Tantai Juexin quickly rushed over with a look of anticipation and fear as he gazed upon the mess before him.


    "I don''t know!"


    Fang Yuan remained expressionless and spoke the truth.


    "Where is Cuihe?"


    "Missing!"


    "Head to the study!"


    Tantai Juexin had an unsettled look on his face as he chased Fang Yuan away before calling for Tantai Jueqing. "I cannot detect Cuihe''s energy. I''m afraid that she is dead... Your ability can be used here. Take a look."


    "I know."


    Tantai Jueqing bent over and caressed the mess on the ground. Suddenly, her eyes turned white.


    She had seen it. Cuihe was carrying a tray of food. As she arrived at Fang Yuan''s living quarters, she slowly opened the door.


    Behind the door, it was...


    "Ah!"


    A high-pitched shriek was heard. Tantai Jueqing fell to the ground as though she had fallen from a great height and her throat was in pain.


    Unknowingly, a dagger was pressed on her neck and stream of blood trickled down from the wound.


    "You... tried to kill me!"


    Tantai Juexin retorted as he calmly kept the dagger. "What did you exactly see?"


    "Keke... I didn''t see anything!"


    Tantai Jueqing smiled sheepishly which made Tantai Juexin feel a chill in his heart. "However, I am certain that Tantai Mieming''s physical property is awakened!"


    "Is that so? Finally..."


    Tantai Juexin gave off a weird expression and remained silent for a while. "I''ll tell Father about this!"


    "Right, those old fogeys fear him, right? After all, even the Uncle in-charge of guarding the Hall of Sacrifice is now dead. It''s good to know that he was once the one with the strongest self-defence!"


    Tantai Jueqing chuckled. "The both of us might just die this time! Therefore, the elders will surely go all out and go ahead with the plan now, right?"


    "You... you are mad!"


    Tantai Juexin glared at his sister and spoke with confidence.


    "That might be the case!"


    Tantai Jueqing toyed with her long hair and seemed unfazed. "Even normal human beings will turn mad if they were to be born in such a family!"


    ...


    "Unique Physical Property? What is that?"


    Fang Yuan felt confused as he gazed at the faded handprint on his ankle.


    This was the injury he had sustained from the ghost last night. Even after applying his family''s traditional concoction, his condition did not improve. However, as soon as he awakened his physical property, the entire handprint started to fade away and he quickly recovered from it.


    "I can even recover from an injury sustained from a ghost..."


    Fang Yuan intently focused on his own body and felt a little confused. "I can feel that my body is now able to absorb even the mutated dream elemental force, turning it into something I have yet to understand... It seems like the more dream elemental force I absorb, the stronger this physical property will become?"


    He soon arrived at the study and started to prepare for his lessons.


    At this point in time, Tantai Juexin walked over with a straight face. "Do your preparations properly. We will go through the ''ritual'' tonight!"


    "I understand!"


    Fang Yuan could detect his abnormal emotions. However, he still calmly replied his father.


    "Hehe... Little Ming." As soon as Fang Yuan returned to his room, he noticed Tantai Jueqing sitting on his bed. Her small feet were wearing a pair of bright-red leather shoes which were knocking on the side of his bed.


    "Aunt Jueqing!"


    Fang Yuan paid his greetings.


    "Are you going to go through the ''ritual'' tonight?"


    "That''s right."


    "Let me tell you, tonight will be different! Furthermore, do you know about your ''birth''?"


    Tantai Jueqing leaned towards Fang Yuan and started to whisper into his ear.


    Although the entire act was seductive, thinking about how Fang Yuan was still a 5-year-old kid made it seem inappropriate. Fang Yuan could only roll his eyes inside.


    "My birth?"


    He acted as though he was confused.


    "Your parents, they hate you! Especially your mother... pay her a visit."


    Tantai Jueqing chuckled. "Are you not confused as to why she does not visit you frequently? Go pay her a visit. You know the location of her house..."


    ''This woman!?''


    Fang Yuan''s pupils contracted and his face remained emotionless. ''Is she cursing me? To try to take control over me?''


    "It''s successful!"


    Gazing at the puppet-like Fang Yuan, Tantai Jueqing was elated. "Go! Go and pay Su Xin a visit and retrieve the red scissors for me!"


    "Pa!"


    In the next instant, her wrist was being held tightly by Fang Yuan. "Although I don''t know what you are trying to do, I''m sure you have ill intentions! Unfortunately, I don''t want to continue playing with you!"


    At this point in time, in his stats window, the words which represented his Unique Physical Property started to glow.


    "Screech!"


    Although her wrist was being held by a child''s hand, Tantai Jueqing''s face was filled with extreme pain.


    Dark purple streaks started to spread from her wrist as though she was experiencing frostbite.


    "Shing!"


    A knife flashed past as Tantai Jueqing severed her entire arm. At her wound, the blood froze up and did not drop a single bit.


    "It seems like... I''ve underestimated you!"


    Tantai Jueqing snickered. "What do you want to do? Kill me?"


    "I don''t have such a plan. I only want to leave this place..."


    Fang Yuan sighed.


    He was determined to leave this place since the encounter with the ghost.


    Such a scary ghost was not something he could deal with right now. Furthermore, looking at how things were, the ritual at night might be troublesome.


    Considering his current abilities, every outcome seemed like it would be disadvantageous to him. Therefore, leaving was the best plan.


    He could slowly explore the secrets of this family after he had grown up.


    "This has always been what you wanted from the start, right?"


    "That''s right! I wanted to screw up the preparations of the family and that''s why I''m convincing you to leave. Otherwise, it would also be good if you could encounter that thing in the Hall of Sacrifice as well! However, now, my mind is changed." Tantai Jueqing gazed at Fang Yuan. "I want to tell you the truth!"


    "Shut up!"


    The door was struck open. Tantai Juexin, Tantai Guijing and a few other elders rushed into the room. "Jueqing, what do you think you are doing?"


    "Keke... I''ve had enough of all of you. Why am I subjected to your control since birth? Like a mere puppet of the family?"


    Tantai Jueqing started to laugh hysterically. "Now, I want to screw all of these up, because... I want to! Tantai Mieming, do hear me carefully. You..."


    "Ding!"


    A knife struck towards Tantai Jueqing, only to be obstructed in mid-air.


    Fang Yuan had long observed Tantai Juexin''s knife techniques and started to speak with a cold tone. "Let her continue!"


    "As my elder brother, you don''t even care about me!"


    Tantai Jueqing spoke with a deadly tone. "The truth is that... you are not human! You are an ''existence'' created by the Tantai Family''s curse. Your birth resulted in the death of an innocent child''s soul! You possessed his body!"


    "So... this is the truth!"


    Fang Yuan mumbled under his breath. He had already thought about this and Tantai Jueqing had merely proved his predictions.


    The curse which the Tantai Family had been suffering from was indeed the more powerful amongst curses. To deal with ghosts, one could only use ghosts!


    Therefore, the Tantai Family had always been conducting secret experiments. Finally, when Tantai Juexin''s wife was about to give birth, a few elders of the family had sacrificed their lives to curse the unborn baby and thereby calling a true evil ghost into the baby''s body in an attempt to create a tool to resist against the curse on the family!


    The evil ghost would go on to possess the baby''s body as a ''human'' and exist in the world. From there, the ghost would be controlled by the family!


    The reason why Tantai Mieming''s mother, Su Xin had hated Fang Yuan and did not care for him was because Fang Yuan was not her son, but the murderer of her son!


    This was why Tantai Juexin had felt conflicted all along!


    Why was the Tantai Family so scared of Fang Yuan? Why would Qiu Liang want to kill Tantai Mieming with the cursed red scissors? This was because, in their eyes, Tantai Mieming was just a... ghost!


    "This is the truth, great!"


    Fang Yuan clapped his hands and revealed a wide grin.


    "You..."


    This expression was not what Tantai Jueqing had expected.


    "Do you expect me to break down and become crazy, or start a killing spree?"


    Calmly, Fang Yuan continued. "To me, this is a good thing. At least I don''t have to feel sorry!"


    If Fang Yuan had reincarnated as someone else''s child, there would be consequences.


    Now, even his parents were treating him like a powerful ghost and a murderer. They had no feelings for him and therefore, Fang Yuan felt less restricted to do what he wanted to do.


    He could also leave the family without hesitation.


    "But, where did the ghost which they had summoned go to? Has it escaped? Could something go wrong during the ritual? Or..."


    Fang Yuan thought about all the possibilities as a chill went down his spine.

 504 Spirit Sealing

    "I am a... ghost?! Or should I say, I have a ghost inside me? Could I be sharing my body with a ghost?"


    Fang Yuan''s thoughts were confused.


    "It''s impossible!"


    He tried to ignore the possibilities of a ghost in him. "If this is true, how can I not be aware of it?"


    The more he thought about it, the more he would think about the incident where the servant who was bringing food to his room had mysteriously disappeared and was once again uncertain about the facts.


    "Family head! What''s happening?"


    The few elders realised that Fang Yuan''s reaction was unexpected. "Is he really awakened?"


    It would be normal if Fang Yuan were to go on a killing spree if he was a real ghost. After all, a ghost would naturally hate the living.


    Therefore, Tantai Mieming''s reaction was not normal.


    This would mean that all their previous sacrifices were naught, which made them start to panic.


    "He must have awakened! Otherwise, how would he able to freeze Jueqing? We know how strong Jueqing is!"


    Tantai Guijing gazed at her severed hand and his eyelid started to twitch. "However, he is able to perfectly control his powers! This is unbelievable!"


    His face was filled with excitement as he glared at Fang Yuan. "Regardless, we have given you this body for you to inhabit! It feels good to be human once again, right? For this, shouldn''t you feel obliged to help us? After all, you are still a part of the Tantai Family and are still under the family curse! Helping us would also mean to help yourself!"


    Tantai Guijing was a sly fox. He had already planned for all these from the moment they had guided the ghost into this body.


    Whoever gets the blood of the Tantai Family would be cursed! Even if the person were to change a body in the future, the curse would still be there!


    If changing a body would allow them to break free from the curse, the Tantai Family would have done so long ago. This was an unbreakable curse!


    "In order to remove this curse, we need to go to the ''Door''. Tonight, we shall open the netherworld..."


    Tantai Guijing''s face became flushed with excitement.


    "I refuse!"


    Fang Yuan was decisive. "I want to leave this place. Of course, I will promise you that I will return in 20 years time to help you resolve this problem!"


    Of course, Fang Yuan was interested about the ''Door''. Furthermore, this would be the secret behind the curse on the Tantai Family.


    Although he knew that the family would reject his request, Fang Yuan would still nevertheless made his request known.


    "Leave? For 20 years?"


    All of their expressions changed. "That''s impossible. You are the tool which we created. You will have to listen to our orders!"


    "If that is so... I''m sorry, the discussion is over."


    Fang Yuan shrugged his shoulders.


    "It seems like we''ve been treating you too well, and you have forgotten something... We have allowed you to possessed our family member''s body for us to be able to control you!"


    An elder stood out with a cold look. "Leader... do it!"


    Without waiting for Guijing to speak, he immediately retrieved a bronze bell and shook it firmly.


    "Clang! Clang!"


    The bell appeared ancient-looking and there were many carvings on the outside. On the surface of the bell, there was a layer of green rust. With a firm shake, the bell gave off a distinct ring.


    "It''s not too bad. Continue sounding it!"


    Fang Yuan appeared indifferent.


    "How is this possible?"


    The elder opened his eyes wide. "I have poisoned you with 13 types of poisonous worms. How can you remain unaffected?"


    Fang Yuan snickered.


    Every month during the ritual, the Tantai Family had always wanted to deal with Fang Yuan. Of course, he would have to think of a solution to resist.


    These poisonous worms were of the lowest quality and were flushed out of Fang Yuan''s system as soon as the rituals were over.


    Although Fang Yuan did not display his might in the past, having the willpower of a True Divine would allow him to gain delicate control over his own body, up to the point where a normal human would not be able to imagine.


    ''The only problem is... I am able to purge the visible poisonous worms but not the invisible ones.''


    Fang Yuan thought to himself as his pair of hands started to shake.


    "It is still effective!"


    The few elders were absolutely sure of it as they took out their weird equipment. Some of them started to chant their own matras and one of the elders even started to shout loudly. "Head... If you don''t want to die, then do it!"


    "Sigh..."


    Tantai Guijing sighed before taking out a mirror and pointing it towards Fang Yuan.


    In the mirror, there was an image of a 5-year-old kid which resembled Fang Yuan. However, the child remained emotionless as he started to stretch his hands out towards Fang Yuan.


    In the real world, Fang Yuan remained motionless as though he was desolated.


    "This is indeed the powerful inherited treasure of the family head. The Ghost Calming Mirror will be able to stun even the most powerful ghost!"


    The rest of the elders were elated as they quickened their actions.


    A rune was printed on Fang Yuan''s body and it started to spread like an earthworm. Within moments, it had already covered more than half of Fang Yuan''s body.


    The Tantai Family were experts in dealing with ghosts and had many tricks up their sleeves.


    They were using their most powerful techniques against this one.


    Every month, they would smear fresh blood on Tantai Meiming in an attempt to curse him! It was an extremely dangerous act on its own and even elders would risk death doing it. Furthermore, it would attract all kinds of supernatural dangers.


    However, the effects were astonishing.


    Just as the rune was almost covering Fang Yuan''s entire face, there was a dim glow in his eye.


    "The best outcome would be to let him willingly help is. Unfortunately... we can only use our last resort, using him as the tool to allow us to complete our curse on the ''Door''!"


    Tantai Guijing sighed. "Prepare to... open the netherworld! Also, lock Jueqing up."


    All the elders were overwhelmed with emotions of all sorts.


    Outside, many members of the Tantai Family were already waiting. They were donned in a black attire and held tools in their hands as they appeared well-prepared for what was about to come next.


    As soon as they heard the order, they immediately took action.


    Tantai Guijing and the rest brought Fang Yuan to the Hall of Sacrifice.


    The place of connection to the netherworld was there!


    "Woooo!"


    A bewildering fog appeared in the surroundings. It covered the sky and light could only seep through the fog. It was as though they had arrived in another world.


    ''They... They don''t intend to remove the curse. Instead, they are treating me as a sacrifice to tide through this cycle!''


    Fang Yuan''s consciousness was still attempting to struggle in the final moments.


    The Tantai Family had a few intentions as they watched Fang Yuan grow. If Fang Yuan was able to mature, they would risk it all to attempt to remove the curse.


    However, this cycle seemed especially dangerous and even the head and the elders were not confident of tiding through it. Therefore, they had prepared to sacrifice him to mitigate the effects on themselves.


    ''I think that I will not be the only one entering the netherworld this time!''


    Fang Yuan could sense a huge danger approaching. ''If I cannot escape... I will die!''


    ''I have no other choice!''


    He had made up his mind. Absorbing the mutated dream elemental force, his willpower started to focus on the question marks in his stats window.


    "Buzz! Buzz!"


    The entire stats window started to shake violently. In an instant, the unknown fog started to dissipate and the question marks beside his techniques turned into a new number and more information flooded the stats window:


    ''Active Physical Property - Spirit Sealing Body!''


    ''Spirit Sealing Body (1st Grade): Your body is a weapon which is able to seal evil ghosts. You will able to seal any ghost that you come into contact with into your body! You have activated the 1st Grade, and the capacity for sealing evil ghosts: 1! You can choose to release the ghost!''


    "According to this realm, since souls and curses cannot be destroyed, this ability to seal ghosts in me might just be the most powerful..."


    Fang Yuan felt a little confused. "How did it appear?"


    The advent of evil ghosts would surely not bring with them the counter to their own kind. Fang Yuan knew himself and knew that this was not a skill of Tantai Mieming''s, but his own.


    "Could it be that... I have the blood of the Tantai Family?"


    The Tantai Family was a renowned family of exorcists. Their blood would have the unique gene which might activate certain abilities in their descendants.


    After eliminating all the possibilities, even though this explanation might sound absurd, it was the only one!


    "Initially, Tantai Juexin and Su Xin''s child would have the greatest potential among the people of the Tantai Family. He would be able to awaken the property to seal spirits, becoming the last hope of his family!"


    The blood of the Tantai Family already had the potential to mutate by itself. It was only normal for the ability to counter ghosts to be mutated from the people of the Tantai Family.


    Fang Yuan had even suspected that this child might just be a Fate Soul created by the realm''s last ditch attempt to save itself!


    Unfortunately, the Tantai Family was unaware of this and had decided to curse this child, using it as a tool to fight against the invasion of evil spirits!


    This would be akin to destroying their own hope! What an irony!


    "Although the true spirit of Tantai Mieming has already been killed by the fellow elders, the evil ghost which they have summoned must have been sealed by my physical property to my advantage?"


    Fang Yuan was about to figure out the complete truth to the secrets of his birth.


    It was the ''truth'' that even Tantai Guijing was unaware about!


    "The Fate Souls created by the realm would always be estranged. The will of this realm would either have been destroyed or have gone crazy..."


    "But now, my survival depends on it."


    "The control methods of the Tantai Family will be able to control me as a human being, but it will surely not be able to control the evil ghost which I am about to release!"


    Fang Yuan finally understood something. At that moment where he had awakened his own physical property, he must have likely to accidentally released the evil ghost, causing the unlucky servant''s death.


    "Spirit Sealing Body will allow be to seal the evil ghost in me and therefore allowing me to use its powers? Interesting!"


    In Fang Yuan''s consciousness, he released his tyrannical willpower. "Since this is so... I shall release you!"


    In the real world.


    The zombie-like Tantai Mieming suddenly stopped in his tracks. The black earthworm print started to subside from his skin.


    "This is not good!"


    Tantai Guijing was shocked. With that, he quickly took a glance at his own mirror.


    Blood started to gush out from his mirror. Tantai Mieming''s image was undergoing a certain change.


    The young kid was growing. He grew taller and stronger and finally... he became a mature young adult.


    His facial features were blurred and he was wearing a white shirt. His skin was dark-green as though he was frozen to death.


    "How is this possible? He is no longer a human, but a real... ghost!"


    Chill vibes began to fill his heart.


    This was true horror...

 505 Departure

    "Juexin, now!"


    Tantai Guijing quickly retreated as he hollered. His actions were nimble and unlike that of an old man.


    Tantai Juexin''s face was gloomy. A dagger covered in all sorts of inscriptions appeared on his hand and he charged towards Fang Yuan.


    This dagger was one of the top 5 magical weapons in the Tantai Family! It possessed extremely strong cursing powers. A normal ghost would be completely dispersed by it and would disappear for a long period of time.


    However, due to the indestructible characteristic of ghosts, they could not be completely killed.


    Of course, the stronger the curse was, the more dangerous it was.


    At this instant, Tantai Juexin''s right hand which was wielding the dagger had already turned into ghastly bones.


    "Slash!"


    The dagger glided across Tantai Mieming''s figure. However, there was no blood at all. A black shadow flashed past.


    "Eagle Claw, strike!"


    Tantai Juexin felt an immense pain at his abdomen. Even his strong and experienced body could not withstand such pain and he fell to the ground.


    At the same time, a small silhouette moved rapidly around like a snake and dodged a few arrows.


    ''Tantai Family''s tools are mainly used against ghosts. Of course, even if normal human experts meet such weapons, they will still immediately lose control of their mind and be slaughtered. But, I am different!''


    Fang Yuan had already understood most of Tantai Family''s exorcism techniques. Furthermore, his physical property was astounding. He could even use an evil ghost to attract the firepower!


    Fang Yuan swiftly climbed over a wall. His body was already as light and nimble as a swallow. After he climbed over the wall and turned his head back, he saw the figure of the man that appeared to be frozen to death moving about within the family elders.


    That man was different from Fang Yuan; he was really a ghost! Also, this man was definitely way beyond normal ghosts. Else, why would there be great expectations from the family for him to go against the curse of the door?


    "Woong! Woong!"


    An extremely chilly forcefield opened up. It was as though this realm had just turned into a world of ice and snow.


    "Elder Seven, Eighteen?"


    With just a breath, two family elders died at once. One of their body cracked into pieces while the other''s head fell down. The only similar thing was that purple-black frostbites appeared on both their bodies!


    If this evil ghost was not present to hinder these family elders, these family elders would have immediately activated the other tricks they planted beforehand and be able to cause great trouble to Fang Yuan.


    "This side... after climbing over this wall, it''s the kitchen area! It''s the least guarded!"


    Fang Yuan quickly climbed over the walls and alleys. He had already known the landscape of the family mansion in and out. Thus, he could directly avoid numerous dangers and quickly arrived at the outermost wall.


    "Eh?"


    Suddenly, a terrifying undulation erupted behind him.


    Fang Yuan turned around and looked towards the Hall of Sacrifice. A nebulous feeling kept spreading from there. Even the building began to turn illusionary.


    "The netherworld? The curse of the door has erupted in advance?"


    Even if Fang Yuan were to turn back and return now, he could not salvage the situation. Thus, he still decided to leave.


    "The outermost wall is the Tantai Family''s last barrier, or should I say, a layer of enchantment! I''m definitely what it''s guarding against!"


    Just by going near the wall, the cursed earthworm prints on Fang Yuan''s body began to activate. It was obvious that he was targeted.


    "Physical destruction is totally useless... it might even be transferred away directly... To destroy it, I can only rely on the power of a ghost."


    A cold smile appeared on Fang Yuan''s face. His pupils gleamed with a golden light.


    He could sense that the powerful ghost he released was already nearby!


    "The seal on the evil ghost released by my Spirit Sealing Body isn''t really removed. After a period of time, he will still be dragged back into my body..."


    Fang Yuan observed the surroundings intently, "Of course, such a release was very dangerous too. This is because the powerful ghost released will definitely want to kill me in order to obtain real freedom!"


    The usage of the Spirit Sealing Body was not without risks.


    Furthermore, every time an evil ghost was released, it was like walking on a tightrope!


    Of course, there was still some advantage in facing such an evil ghost that had been sealed before. For example, his sensing ability would be heightened.


    Additionally, with the special ability of Fiery Golden Eyes, Fang Yuan could immediately see the footprints coming from the east side of the ground.


    "His spiritual aura... has become weaker!"


    By linking together his thoughts, Fang Yuan was even more shocked.


    "He''s severely injured just from that short moment he had contact with the curse behind that door? What exactly is the curse of that door?"


    Suddenly, the footprints had already arrived in front of Fang Yuan.


    An immense sense of danger struck.


    "Here!"


    Fang Yuan immediately turned around. A swirl emerged in front of his chest as he reached out both his arms.


    A purple-black evil ghost appeared and was immediately devoured by the swirl in front of Fang Yuan''s chest.


    "It''s over!"


    Fang Yuan looked at his arms. A black coloured layer had appeared on his arms and his arms went stiff. It was as though he was frostbitten.


    "This physical property still has its dangers!"


    With no hesitation, Fang Yuan placed both his arms on the wall and climbed over it.


    "Bloop!"


    It was as though he crossed through a layer of water. Wilderness appeared before Fang Yuan''s eyes. There was a dense forest not far away and a small road could be vaguely seen there.


    "After making use of some of the evil ghost''s spiritual force, I indeed broke through the enchantment... Although the price I paid was to be frostbitten on both my arms!"


    Fang Yuan looked behind. The entire Tantai Old Mansion had turned illusionary at this moment.


    The faint silhouette of a door appeared in the centre of the mansion. It actually devoured the entire mansion!


    Where the mansion once stood was now flat grounds. There were no buildings on it at all.


    "It''s pulled into the netherworld? But with Tantai Family''s foundation and expertise, and this mansion''s defence, they could definitely survive for a while even though... many will die!"


    If Fang Yuan was powerful enough, he might have chosen to stay and explore with Tantai Family. But now, he still turned around and walked away without hesitation.


    "A new world, here I come..."


    Fang Yuan looked at the sun in the skies and his eyes glistened.


    ...


    Chen Residences.


    The owner of Chen Residences was Chen Xinbo. Chen Xinbo was a successful businessman and he was said to have a net worth of over 8 digits. However, he retired at the peak of his career and built the residences in the rural village. He also brought along his family to live in seclusion.


    Currently, Chen Xinbo, who was already 50 plus years old, had an uneasy look on his face as he looked at the person in front of him.


    "Detective Ma, I''ll leave everything to you!"


    "Rest assured! Mister Chen!"


    This Detective Ma was a 30 plus years old man. He was donned in a jacket shirt and he had a pair of glasses on his face. He was astute and sharp looking. He then continued, "My detective corporation is meant to handle such troubles. You can be assured that I will settle everything related to the paranormal!"


    There was a 6 years old girl beside him dressed in a cute princess dress. She had two braids and was licking a round lollipop. After hearing such, she rolled her eyes.


    Of course, that expression of hers was not noticed by Chen Xinbo. Even if he saw her doing that, he would not be bothered.


    Chen Xinbo grabbed Detective Ma''s hand shakily as though he saw his saviour, "Of course... I''ve heard about you from the newspaper! As long as you can settle the abnormalities in this area, the rewards would definitely satisfy you!"


    "Tell me about what happened first! The more detailed, the better!"


    Detective Ma raised his glasses.


    "Okay. About a month ago, the subordinates of my residences said they saw the figure of a woman in white clothes... I obviously did not believe at first, but recently, her appearances became more and more frequent. I even saw her with my own eyes last week. Ever since that day, one of my servants disappeared. Even the police could not find her..."


    Chen Xinbo sighed and rubbed his eyes.


    "From then on, everyone in the residences was living in fear. Even I couldn''t handle these ghost rumours... thus, I approached your detective corporation."


    "Female ghost in white clothes? Understood. What is the name of your missing servant? Can I take a look at her room later?"


    Detective Ma replied.


    "Of course you can!"


    A tinge of happiness appeared on Chen Xinbo''s face, "Detective Ma, you have travelled here from afar, please take a good rest and have lunch first before starting work!"


    Chen Xinbo left with his brows slightly loosened and hands behind his back.


    "Clang!"


    Detective Ma closed the door. He had an excited look on his face, "Haha... Xiaoling, you heard that? We are rich! That''s why I said, in such times, who would notice you if you don''t put up advertisements? This Chen Xinbo had obviously done bad deeds and is just scaring himself. Hehe... watch how I bleed his money!"


    "Yes, yes, yes..."


    The little girl stopped licking her lollipop and rolled her eyes, "You looked for people to make up stories on the newspaper just to attract such spendthrifts!"


    "Hehe... there''s no case in this world that can''t be solved by me!"


    Detective Ma was filled with pride. He then looked at the little girl ingratiatingly, "... As long as you help me! Xiaoling... you must help your father this time! Next time, I will give you 10 more lollipops every month!"


    "At least 20 more!"


    "I can''t, you must think about the cost required to run our corporation. At most 15 more!"


    "Deal!"


    Ma Xiaoling grinned from ear to ear. However, at the next moment, she became serious, "But, daddy, I''m afraid it wouldn''t be so simple here!"


    It was really suspicious for such a normal little girl to think so deeply. However, Detective Ma who knew her daughter was mature for her age was not bothered, "How is it not simple, isn''t it just someone acting as a ghost to scare people?"


    "No... I suspect there might be a real ''ghost'' here!"


    A tinge of terror flashed past Ma Xiaoling''s face.


    "What?"


    Detective Ma almost jumped up and his volume increased by folds as he circled around, "What a loss! If I knew there were really ghosts here, I should have asked for more rewards from him..."


    "Isn''t it too late to regret?"


    Ma Xiaoling shrugged her shoulders. Suddenly, a white shadow flashed past her eyes.


    It was the figure of a woman. Below her long hair was a pair of blood-red eyes.


    "AHH!!!"


    Ma Xiaoling screamed and hugged onto Detective Ma''s leg like a koala bear.


    "What''s wrong?"


    Detective Ma turned and saw nothing.


    "This place... this place is very dangerous! Let''s leave!"


    Ma Xiaoling grabbed tightly.


    "We can''t, I already promised him. We can''t destroy the reputation of our detective corporation here!"


    Detective Ma was troubled-looking as he continued, "Also, without this money, we can''t even pay the rent for our corporation. We will be homeless next month!"

 506 Investigations

    The missing servant was Xia He.


    Her room was neat and tidy. There was not a single speck of dust to be seen. Detective Ma examined a photo frame. The photo in it was a smiling young lady with two dimples by her cheeks. "What a pity..."


    After having a sumptuous lunch, he started on his detective works.


    The first stop was the servant''s room.


    "How is it? Did you find anything?"


    After examining every single thing in the room to its finest detail, Detective Ma gazed towards Xiaoling with anticipation.


    This daughter of his was rumoured to possess the Yin Yang Eye. She was able to see things others could not and was being utilized by Detective Ma as his own secret weapon.


    "Nope..."


    Ma Xiaoling spoke in a soft voice. She still seemed to be in shock after seeing that white shadow previously.


    Previously, she only used her Yin Yang Eye to help her father pick up clues in the crime scene, for she was able to examine things up to an incredible detail.


    This was the first time she had encountered a ghost!


    "If that is so, let''s walk around the building!"


    Detective Ma was in deep thoughts. "We could have some findings there... Interestingly, Mister Chen has a background. I found out that his jade business was rather large in the past. However, as his business peaked, he unknowingly pulled out and brought his family here to live in seclusion... Eh, why have we not seen his family members? Let''s ask him!"


    "You must be talking about Missus Chen and Young Mistress!"


    The housekeeper, Uncle Chen wore a tailored western suit and a tie. His hair was perfectly combed. As soon as he heard that Detective Ma was about to enquire about the whereabouts of Mister Chen''s family members, he quickly replied. "Because of this incident, the both of them are scared to their wits and have already returned to the city!"


    "Ah, I see!"


    Detective Ma nodded his head but inside, he was exclaiming to himself. ''This is suspicious indeed!''


    If a normal person were to encounter a haunted house like this, even if they were not superstitious, they would still shift elsewhere to live first, right? This had to be especially so for the rich.


    However, Mister Chen Xinbo had decided to stay behind. His act was even more suspicious after considering the fact that someone had just gone missing.


    "Sigh... Missus Chen had advised Mister Chen before she left. However, he was insistent in staying behind and claims that he wants to accompany Elder Mistress!"


    Uncle Chen added.


    "So, it seems like another mistress is unwilling to leave!"


    Detective Ma nodded his head. The reason for her unwillingness to leave was most likely that she was either brave or that she was showing an attitude.


    "Alright, we will like to take a look at your residences. Housekeeper, please lead the way for us."


    "No problem! Mister Chen has reminded us to provide assistance to you whenever possible!"


    Uncle Chen revealed a wide smile as he led the way for the duo to start their inspections.


    The residence was huge. Other than the main living room, the study and the bedrooms, there was also a backyard, a horse stable and a kitchen for the servants. There was even enough rooms for each servant to have their own.


    "Master is... too kind. He always fought for the best for us servants and was willing to fork out the money to expand this place so that we can have better living conditions."


    Uncle Chen sighed. After bringing Detective Ma around the garden, he brought him to the master bedroom.


    The corridors were paved with high-quality red sandalwood and art pieces decorated the shelves along the corridor. There were old paintings hung up on the walls as well and the entire residences had an artistic vibe to it. Chen Xinbo must have been a person who appreciated art.


    "This..."


    Detective Ma noticed the jade pieces displayed on a shelf. Through the glass panel, he could see the brilliant green hue of the jades. "Are these uncut? Straight from the emerald quarry?"


    "Keke... Detective Ma, you have good taste. This piece is one of Master''s most valued treasure!"


    Uncle Chen chuckled as he pointed towards one of the gems. "This rock variant is extremely valuable. It was mixed together with a few worthless rocks before Master identified and bought it. He had a friend who offered 8 million for it, but Master nevertheless rejected the offer."


    "8... 8 million?"


    Detective Ma''s mouth was agape. It took a few moments for him to snap out of his trance as he swallowed his saliva.


    If not for the fact that security was tight here, he might even think of stealing the rock.


    "Of course, that offer was only an estimate since the rock is still intact. Therefore, it''s value is still uncertain. Who knows, it might be filled with worthless rocks..."


    Uncle Chen laughed. "However, some people like this thrill! Detective Ma, do you have knowledge of emerald?"


    "Cough cough... Of course!"


    Detective Ma straightened his back and appeared serious. "The crystal emeralds have a unique power of the mind. The people of the West use it for divination."


    "Keke..."


    Uncle Chen forced a smile.


    The topic was on the value of the gems. Why would anyone talk about anything related to the supernatural?


    "Father..."


    At this point in time, Ma Xiaoling tugged at his pants. She had made a discovery.


    "What have you discovered?"


    Detective Ma whispered.


    "There..."


    Ma Xiaoling pointed to a door. The door was exquisitely designed and the ancient bronze handles had a brilliant glow to it.


    "Whose room does this belong to?"


    Detective Ma cleared his throat and enquired.


    "That room..." Uncle Chen appeared conflicted. "That is Elder Mistress''s room!"


    "Can we take a look?"


    "I''m sorry... Our Elder Mistress doesn''t like to see strangers!"


    "I see!"


    Detective Ma did not insist. However, he secretly made a decision.


    ...


    It was nightfall.


    "Father... I still don''t think this is a good idea. That is a girl''s room!"


    Ma Xiaoling had a conflicted look as she gazed at the tools which Detective Ma had prepared.


    "It''s alright! Since you feel that the room has a problem, there must be something dirty in there!"


    Detective Ma spoke loudly. "I shall do my investigations. This is for the sake of Elder Mistress too."


    "Is that so?"


    Ma Xiaoling seemed to have suspected something. "Are you thinking of laying your hands on the Chen Family''s assets and at the same time get a stepmother for me?"


    "Pui! Cough cough!"


    Detective Ma almost choked on his own saliva. "What nonsense are you spouting? I... Am I such a person?"


    As he spoke, he nervously touched his neck and tidied his clothes.


    "If this was a simple detective mission, you wouldn''t have changed your clothes intentionally..." Ma Xiaoling rolled her eyes.


    "Be good. Look after the house and I will get you some lollipops!"


    Detective Ma wiped his sweat off before flipping out of the window.


    As a detective, he had a few detective tricks up his sleeves. He traced the path which he had walked through in the daytime and arrived at a place near the master bedroom.


    At this point in time, another door creaked open. Chen Xinbo held a candle in his hands and arrived at this elder daughter''s room before whipping out a pair of keys. "Wei''er, I''ve come to see you!"


    "It''s already so late and yet he is still visiting his daughter. There must be something wrong!"


    Detective Ma cursed under his breath as though he had imagined a certain scene in his mind. "This is worth my time to investigate..."


    He made his way forward slowly and gingerly. However, he was unaware that a pale palm was following him behind...


    ...


    "Eh? Who are you?"


    At the same time, Ma Xiaoling examined the child before her suspiciously.


    He was about the same age as her. However, he was covered in mud and fallen leaves. His clothing was tattered as though he had just returned from the wilderness.


    Most importantly, his palms were purple and appeared frozen as though he was suffering from frostbite. However, he did not care a single bit as he began to pick up the dessert on the table and started munching on it.


    "Are you from the village? Are you being bullied?"


    Ma Xiaoling noticed the young boy''s hands. "Do you want me to apply medication for you?"


    "It''s alright, it will heal by itself!"


    Fang Yuan rubbed his tummy. "Ha... I am finally half-full. However, I still want some meat. Do you know where the kitchen is? Oh, wait, who are you? Do you belong in this house?"


    "No... No! I had followed my father here. He is a superb detective and he has come here to conduct a paranormal incident!"


    Ma Xiaoling was confused. Was it a good idea to reveal what her father was doing?


    "Paranormal?"


    Fang Yuan''s eyes glistened, revealing his excitement as he began to mumble to himself. "I was only looking for the biggest house here. Could it be so coincidental? This is great... I have yet to see ghosts in the outside world. The stuff in my old mansion is too creepy."


    After escaping from the Tantai Family, he had randomly chosen a direction and this was the first time he had found a settlement.


    Why didn''t the happenings in the Chen Residences attract the attention of the Tantai Family?


    It was likely that the Tantai Family was too focused on dealing with their own curse. Why would they bother themselves with other stuff?


    Furthermore, they were secretive about the location of their own mansion and would be worried of revealing their location if they came out too often to help families like the Chen Family.


    "Hey, are you sure its a ghost?"


    Fang Yuan glared at Ma Xiaoling.


    "That''s right... I''ve seen it for myself!"


    Ma Xiaoling bit her lips.


    "Your eyes..."


    Fang Yuan examined her eyes and nodded his head. "I believe you! However, let me tell you a piece of bad news. If you really encounter a ghost, your father might not be able to survive!"


    "You..."


    Ma Xiaoling was about to cry. "What should I do? Boohoo..."


    "Very simple! Hire me!"


    Fang Yuan patted his chest. "I can guarantee that your father will be safe!"


    A paranormal detective would be useful! To Fang Yuan, the normal case studies which a paranormal detective would take up would be good practice for him.


    ''Anyway, I don''t have anywhere else to go. I shall let this detective help me make a fake identity and allow me to stay with them before helping them deal with some paranormal stuff... eh? Why do I feel like there are ghosts everywhere I do?''


    At this point in time, Detective Ma had slowly arrived at the door. Through the seams of the door, he could hear Chen Xinbo speaking:


    "Daughter... Let me see you again!"


    He spoke with a soft voice and started to caress the long hair of a girl leaning against the door.


    "That is..."


    Detective Ma''s pupils contracted and his hair stood on its ends!

 507 Assistance

    "Kacha!"


    A shockingly loud sound made Chen Xinbo turn around. With a stern look, he shouted. "Who''s that?"


    "It''s me... me... Haha, Mister Chen, the moon is really bright today, haha..."


    Detective Ma stood out and nervously scratched his head.


    Chen Xinbo seemed to have used too much strength from the shock of discovering that someone was spying on him. The head of the girl suddenly rolled to the ground and tumbled around. It was a skeleton with hair!


    "Ah! Wei''er!"


    Chen Xinbo let out a cry and quickly carried the skull in his hands before wiping the dust away from it. "Did it hurt? Be good, don''t cry! The pain will go away."


    Looking at how Mister Chen was treating the skeleton, Detective Ma shuddered in fear.


    ...


    "Sigh..."


    It was nightfall and Uncle Chen was suffering from insomnia. He held a wine glass and sipped on wine as he reminisced about the past.


    "Elder Mistress''s death was a huge blow to Mister Chen... From that day onwards, he was desolate and gave up on all of his business. Furthermore, he believed that monk, that he could really recall Elder Mistress''s soul with jade! Everyone in the residences were in fear and Missus Chen had pleaded her husband, but Mister Chen was still unwilling to leave..."


    The Elder Mistress of the Chen Family was dead!


    However, Chen Xinbo refused to accept this fact. He had even ordered the people of the residences not to speak a word about her death and everyone had to act as though Elder Mistress was still alive. This was a requirement for the ''ritual''!


    He had spent almost half of his fortune buying rare and treasured jade rocks and was using them to create a spell capable of recalling a soul!


    This was the truth about the Chen Residences!


    "How can a dead person be revived? Master is crazy!"


    Uncle Chen''s face was flushed as he mumbled to himself. "Even if her soul returns, it will only be a ghost, right? Everyone in the residences is already scared to their wits. Sigh, I need to look for an opportunity to advice Master about this!"


    He did not realise that a pair of pale hands had landed on his shoulders. Suddenly, the pair of hands tugged up.


    "Pa!"


    The wine glass fell to the floor and shattered as Uncle Chen was lifted from the ground.


    "Haa...."


    His face was flushed from the alcohol and as he struggled, he could not force himself out of the pair of cold hands.


    "Elder Mistress... Elder Mistress''s soul... let me go!"


    His tears and mucus were flowing out as he spoke whatever he could think of.


    However, that pair of hands held relentlessly. Finally, with a twitch, Uncle Chen had lost his breath.


    "Bang!"


    His corpse fell to the ground and the reflection in his eyeballs were...


    ...


    "Detective Ma!"


    Finally, Chen Xinbo had pieced the skeleton together and spoke without turning his head to look at Detective Ma.


    "Ah... Mister Chen, yes!"


    Detective Ma let out an embarrassing smile. It was none of his business that Mister Chen had this quirk to keep corpses.


    However, if he wanted to be paid, he had to ensure that Chen Xinbo was happy.


    "The real reason I hired you is for you to assist me in looking for my daughter''s soul! I''ve seen her... However, she is unwilling to see me! If you can let me see her once more, I am willing to pay whatever price you ask for!"


    Chen Xinbo''s crazed look was a desperate one as well.


    "Cough cough... Don''t worry, Mister Chen! I will do my best to accomplish it!"


    Detective Ma adjusted his tie. Suddenly, he noticed a white shadow flashed by. "Gh... Ghost!"


    His legs turned jelly as he collapsed to the ground. A strong sense of fear paralysed him.


    "D*mn it d*mn it d*mn it... I have yet to repay my car loan. If I delay any longer, the bank will mortgage it, this is a huge loss..."


    Unknowingly, this was the only thought which surfaced in his mind.


    "Creak! Creak!"


    On the other side of the room, a pair of pale hands appeared on the railing. Following which, there was a head full of long black hair.


    A female ghost crawled into the room on all fours and there was a crackling sound as she made her way across the room.


    "Wei''er? Is that you?"


    Tears welled up in Chen Xinbo''s eyes as he rushed towards the ghost. "Are you here to visit Father?"


    The female ghost raised her head, revealing bloodshot eyes and a pale face.


    In that instant, Detective Ma felt a sense of familiarity looking at the face. If not for the eyes and the pale face, this lady might be beautiful.


    "No... You are not Wei''er!"


    Chen Xinbo slipped and fell to the ground. "You are.... Ahhhhhh!"


    "Bang! Bang! Bang!"


    Detective Ma realised what was happening. He quickly got up to his feet and ran like mad towards the stairs. "I''m doomed! My client is dead and I won''t get to earn anything!"


    With quick steps, he made his way downstairs.


    Initially, the lower level would be the living room which would link to the guest room.


    However, this time, Detective Ma was shivering in fear. He looked towards Elder Mistress''s room and noticed a big pool of blood seeping out. A pale pair of hands were firmly planted on the door, leaving a bloodied palm print.


    "This is none of my business!"


    He was on the verge of crying as he rushed down the stairs.


    When he arrived at the first floor, all he could see was the same corridor as upstairs. The ghost in white was advancing towards him.


    "No... Don''t come over!"


    Detective Ma shuddered as he looked towards the face of the female ghost.


    "Get lost!"


    At this point in time, an explosive exclamation was heard.


    "Bang!"


    Wood shavings flew about as a piece of the door was smashed on the female ghost. At the same time, Detective Ma seemingly heard his own daughter''s voice. "Father, let''s go!"


    He stumbled his way and finally arrived at the living room downstairs.


    Only now did he realise that his daughter, Ma Xiaoling was with another child. They were pulling Detective Ma''s hands, guiding him towards the exit.


    "There''s a ghost! A ghost!"


    Detective Ma started to scream at the top of his lungs.


    "There''s no use. Other than the 3 of us, there are no more living humans in this residences."


    Fang Yuan scoffed as he looked at his fist. "Is it... not strong enough?"


    It was impossible for any physical object to cause harm to a ghost.


    If Fang Yuan restored his cultivation as a True Divine to create the purest form of martial arts willpower, only then would he stand a chance of harming the ghost.


    "A ghost from the outside world is already much stronger than the Demon Spirits of the Demonic Heart Realm. This realm is haunted..."


    Fang Yuan took a quick look at his stats window.


    If he were to use his special ability, he would be able to seal this ghost in him. However, he was not planning to do so.


    "I am not desperate enough to rely on my special ability to survive. I will only use my Spirit Sealing Body when I am desperate... More importantly, I have to improve in my other abilities!"


    Although the Tantai Family believed that it was impossible to kill spirits from the realm, Fang Yuan thought otherwise and even hoped to test it out by himself.


    "What? There are no other survivors? Wait a minute, little child, who are you?"


    Detective Ma started to stare at Fang Yuan suspiciously. "Are you eyeing on my daughter? Let me tell you, if you don''t have a betrothal gift worth at least a million dollars, don''t ever think about it..."


    "Father!"


    Ma Xiaoling rolled her eyes. "Is this the time to have this conversation?"


    She realised that the female ghost had already come down from upstairs and were approaching them at a breakneck speed.


    "Che!"


    Fang Yuan scoffed and stopped in his tracks before staring at this man with a moustache. "Listen up, I am not interested in your daughter. I only saved you because your daughter has hired me for my services, and that is all! For saving you, the price you will have to pay will be to settle my identity issue and provide me with 3 meals and lodging!"


    "What?"


    Detective Ma scoffed in a high-pitched voice. "Dream on!"


    "Oh!"


    Fang Yuan shrugged his shoulders. "If that is so, then you''re on your own! I am confident that this ghost will surely catch up to you guys!"


    Detective Ma looked at Fang Yuan and the approaching ghost before breaking out in cold sweat. "Alright, I''ll promise you!"


    "Very well, I believe you will not go back on your words. This is because you should fear me more than the ghost!"


    Fang Yuan turned around and his joints started to crackle. "13 Successive Flying Eagle Strikes!"


    "Whoosh! Whoosh!"


    Gusts of wind started to rip even the floorboards apart. Wood shavings flew about as though a tornado was heading towards the female ghost.


    "D*mn it!"


    Witnessing this scene, Detective Ma rubbed his eyes in disbelief. "Where this this boy come from? With such a combat power, he must be even more powerful than the special forces, right?"


    It wouldn''t be as surprising if Detective Ma were to witness this in a matured adult.


    More importantly, how could such combat power be found in a young kid as old as his daughter?


    Detective Ma felt that his view on the world was becoming obsolete.


    "Whoosh! Whoosh!"


    Claw marks appeared on the pillars behind and the female ghost was nowhere to be in sight.


    "Is it still not powerful enough..."


    Fang Yuan composed himself as the wooden block in his hands crumbled into dust.


    His stats were now comparable to a young adult. However, his combat prowess were undoubtedly the best in this realm as he represented the most powerful of humans.


    Such rare martial arts was still rendered useless against the most ordinary of ghosts! How could the humans of this realm stand any chance against the ghost infestation?


    "Must I... really use the Spirit Sealing Body?"


    He knew that he could strengthen this physical property of his by sealing spirits.


    "However, the more spirits I seal, the more danger I expose myself to. If I cannot sustain, I will immediately experience backlash and become the most devastating... monster!"


    Fang Yuan''s eyes glistened. Suddenly, he rushed towards Ma Xiaoling and threw a test tube out.


    "Whoosh!"


    In mid-air, a pair of pale hands were drenched by the concoction from the test tube and started to smoke before retracting back.


    "Thank... Thank you!"


    Ma Xiaoling was stunned. If not for Fang Yuan, she would have been dead!


    "It''s too early to thank me. Let''s talk about this after we leave the residences... Let''s hope that this is a ghost which follows rules!"


    Fang Yuan gazed up at the sky. It was slowly brightening as daytime arrived.


    Although ghosts were scary, their behaviors were predictable. For instance, they only haunt a certain area and mostly strike at night, laying low in the daytime.


    This was not because they were restricted to do so, but it was merely their habits!


    If one knew the habits of a particular ghost, one would be able to effectively deal with it!


    An exorcist would be required to have good observation and judgemental skills. Of course, there were many who were overconfident with these qualities and were still killed by ghosts!

 508 Settling Down

    "Come! Everyone, take a sip!


    Fang Yuan took out a bottle of concoction and passed it to Ma Xiaoling and Detective Ma.


    "This is the same concoction which I used previously. After drinking it, you will be able to remain hidden before the ghost. If you use it directly, it will be able to keep the ghosts and bay for a short while..."


    "Blergh! This is smelly!"


    After hearing about its properties, Detective Ma quickly took the bottle from Fang Yuan and gulped it down with a frown.


    Seeing this, Ma Xiaoling prepared herself. She pinched her nose and licked a little before twitching. "This is disgusting... it tastes awful!"


    "Be glad that you can drink this! Head to the door!"


    Fang Yuan frowned. He was already prepared for his escape and therefore stole some seeds from the Ghost Garden. Even he was not confident of germinating the plants outside the Ghost Garden and therefore, his supply of the concoction was limited.


    ''Now that the both of them are hidden, I am the only living person in this place.''


    Fang Yuan slowed himself down and soaked his hands with the concoction. He remained alert of his surroundings.


    However, after that sneak attack, the female ghost seemed to have disappeared into thin air.


    "Phew... We are finally here. Will we be safe outside?"


    Detective Ma and Ma Xiaoling rain across the garden and arrived at the gate of the Chen Residences.


    "Something''s not right. Wait up!"


    A hue of gold flashed across Fang Yuan''s eyes. Suddenly, he rushed forward and pulled the both of them back.


    "Kacha!"


    Before them, the originally opened metal gate began to transform into the female ghost''s... mouth!


    The female ghost became extremely big in size as she opened her mouth and waited at the entrance.


    Ma Xiaoling screamed.


    If they had continued running, they would have ran into the female ghost''s stomach.


    "Get lost!"


    Fang Yuan rushed forward and struck his fist out.


    With the concoction-soaked fist, he finally managed to hit the body of the female ghost.


    It was chilly!


    A chill sensation started to spread from Fang Yuan''s fists. The sensation slowly turned to a burning hot one.


    The feeling of hitting a ghost was like hitting a metal person. Fang Yuan did not manage to harm her.


    "Get... lost!"


    Fang Yuan exclaimed. Using more force on both of his hands, he managed to push the female ghost away, revealing an opening.


    "This is the time... run!"


    Ma Xiaoling held her father and slipped through the opening. Finally, they ran out of the real gate and arrived outside.


    At the same time, the sun started to rise in the East, spilling its golden rays across the land.


    As they looked back, the Chen Residences remained sturdy. If not for the mess around, everything which happened last night only felt like a terrible nightmare.


    "Phew! We''re finally out."


    Detective Ma stroked his moustache. Suddenly, he started to wail. "It''s gone! Gone! My career... My task... all gone!"


    "Father... shouldn''t you be worried about the brother who saved us out?"


    Ma Xiaoling spoke with contempt.


    "I''ll let him die for all I care..."


    Detective Ma started to tear. "No, he should die!"


    "That''s right, then you won''t have to pay me anymore, right?"


    Fang Yuan stood at the side and snickered.


    "Ah!"


    Detective Ma leapt backwards and held his waist. "Are you human or ghost?"


    "Of course I''m human! However, if you are not going to pay up, you will have to face the consequences of ghosts!"


    Fang Yuan chuckled.


    "Oh no, paying up is a small issue. Now that everyone in the Chen Residences is dead, every single one of us is going to be a suspect! We will be caught!"


    Detective Ma knelt on the ground and held his head with both his hands.


    "You''re wrong. Only you will be caught!"


    Fang Yuan made a cute expression. "Who will believe that two kids can kill so many people?"


    With this blow, Detective Ma froze on the spot.


    "Alright, brother, what else do you need Father to help you out with? Save him once more!"


    Ma Xiaoling could not take it any further as she tugged at Fang Yuan''s sleeves, pleading him to help once more.


    "This is true... after all, you are still useful."


    Fang Yuan rubbed his chin. "Don''t be a crybaby just yet. As a detective, you must have your relationships in the police station, right? I can give you something so that they will visit the ghost themselves. Naturally, they will know that you are speaking the truth and at the same time, you will be able to publicize your reputation."


    "Thank you, brother!"


    Detective Ma quickly thanked Fang Yuan like a fish out of water. He held onto Fang Yuan''s hands tightly.


    "Your desperate look makes me think... Xiaoling, what is your father''s name?"


    "Ah, when my father was born, he had his fortune told by a blind person. The blind fortune teller said that he will become a talented person in the future and therefore called him..."


    "Ma Wencai!?"


    Fang Yuan sounded in disbelief.


    "No, it''s Ma Wencai[1]!"


    ...


    After a week, in the office of Detective Ma.


    Fang Yuan wore a checkered shirt and suspenders. Like a grown-up, he was eating breakfast as he browsed through the newspapers.


    ''The Ghost Killer in the Haunted Chen Residences!''


    ''The Government Heavily Rewards Professionals!''


    ''The Exclusive Interview of Ma Wencai, the Great Detective - How I Fought the Evil Ghost with Wits and Courage!''


    On the printed text, there was also the photograph on Ma Wencai smiling like a fool.


    "Xiaoling, your father is really ugly!"


    Fang Yuan commented as he set the newspaper aside and began to eat his eggs and toast.


    "My apologies. Credit goes to you!"


    Ma Xiaoling seemed humble.


    Fang Yuan paid no attention to her.


    All he needed now was time to mature and grow without much attention.


    "Wow... Ma Wencai the Great Detective is here!"


    The door opened and a delightful Ma Wencai in a suit walked into the restaurant before displaying a pose. "How''s this? Am I handsome?"


    The two kids were speechless.


    "Alright!"


    Ma Wencai realised that no one was paying any attention to him. Lazily, he took out a document and placed it before Fang Yuan. "Brother, your identity is settled. You are an orphan adopted by me. Your name will be Fang Yuan!"


    "Hmm, that''s great!"


    Fang Yuan scanned the document and nodded his head in satisfaction.


    He would be a fool if he continued to use his identity as Tantai Mieming. Furthermore, he was not used to that name and it was better for him to re-use his original name.


    "From today onwards, I will be part of the detective corporation!"


    Fang Yuan smiled. "The both of you will handle the normal cases. If both of you are unable to deal with it, then leave it to me!"


    "This is great!"


    Ma Wencai nodded his head and rewarded Fang Yuan with a piece of bacon. "...About that, the Chen Residences is already sealed up as a restricted area and the prices of property in the vicinity have also fallen. They are now recruiting people to deal with the powerful ghost. Brother, are you interested in this?"


    "Not at the moment!"


    Fang Yuan lazily picked up the piece of bacon graciously which made Ma Wencai suspect if he was merely a young master who had left his own family.


    "Take my advice. If you don''t want to die, don''t ever return to the Chen Residences! You were lucky the previous time to have encountered a restricted ghost who will only kill in the residences. However, it can still come out but it merely chooses not to. If you anger it, hehe..."


    "I understand."


    Ma Wencai shuddered in fear before stroking his moustache in confusion. "That female ghost seems to resemble the missing servant - Xia He. The newspapers have dug up the entire ancestry of the Chen Family. Although Chen Xinbo was a good father, his other hobbies were not that respectable. Even the housekeeper, Uncle Chen, was an accomplice! Could it be that Xia He has had enough of it and attempted suicide to become a ghost so as to take revenge? This does not make sense, the timeline is not right!"


    "It will not be a ghost if you are able to understand it!"


    After finishing his breakfast, Fang Yuan wiped his mouth with a piece of serviette. "That ghost might be Xia He or it might not be. The real Xia He might have been dead all along and a random ghost might have come along to impersonate her... It is even more unclear as to how the ghost had appeared and there is no reasonable explanation for it. According to my predictions, the most possible scenario is that Chen Xinbo had started a ritual to recall his daughter''s soul, which became the source of all trouble. The ritual, together with the suicidal servant, might have created the powerful ghost!"


    "If that is so..."


    Ma Xiaoling shook with fear. "Mister Chen is rather pitiful... He might have been killed by his own daughter''s soul..."


    "How can a dead person be revived?"


    Fang Yuan scoffed. "On the other hand, I am interested in that monk. We can investigate in this direction in the future."


    The corporation was rather huge. Other than the offices, guest lounge and information room, the living quarters of the Ma Family was behind the office. There was also a small gym.


    "This is not bad!"


    Fang Yuan examined the exercise equipment in the gym and the sandbag hung before him before nodding his head in satisfaction. "The current plan will be to raise my physical stats to the limit of this realm before I reach 20. Also, through the corporation, I will encounter all kinds of spirits and undergo my research."


    Fang Yuan had left the ghost in the Chen Residences in order to use it to train himself as well as act as a bait.


    If was rare for such a thing to occur, and even more so that the ghost was binded to the location. Therefore, Fang Yuan would not seal it up and instead, he would make full use of it by studying it.


    Furthermore, he could use it to test his own progress in martial arts as well as test the effectiveness of martial arts or spiritual spells in dealing with these ghosts.


    Finally, the bounty placed on the ghost by the government was also a bait. He might be able to bait other exorcists to the residences.


    "Alright, let''s begin!"


    Fang Yuan''s arms started to move slowly as he practised Jujitsu.


    To a 5-year-old kid, he could not attempt the most strenuous exercises.


    He still had to test out the possibility of using spiritual spells in this realm as well.


    Every day, he also had to experiment in growing the seeds which he had smuggled out from the Ghost Garden.


    Life ahead for Fang Yuan would be exciting.


    "It''s this type of realm again!"


    After training, Fang Yuan arrived at the window. Looking at the tall buildings, a reminiscent smile appeared on his face.


    [1]: Different tones for both names.

 509 The Photograph

    "We will all surely die!"


    In Silver Eagle University, in the private room of a cafe, a few people who seemed like students gathered together. They were all looking pale and panicky. "All of us have seen it. Lu Xia is dead. We cannot run! Everyone in the photograph will die!"


    One of the girls could no longer hold it in and started to cry.


    "Bai Ling, don''t cry. There must be a solution!"


    Beside the girl, a tall and handsome-looking boy comforted her as though he was her boyfriend.


    "I don''t care... I want to transfer out of this school and leave this place!"


    Another girl started to wail.


    "Rather than leaving, why don''t we look for a monk or a daoist? They might be able to help us. Right, Brother Yang?"


    The last guy wore spectacles. He was shorter and appeared decent. Under such circumstances, he was still able to keep his cool.


    "Wu Lu, don''t worry. Xiu Wen is right. There must be a solution to this!"


    Yang Guang spoke with confidence as though he was trying to encourage himself. "We will surely be able to escape from that d*mned curse, for sure! Speaking of this, I have gathered information and realised that there are many respectable people in this field that we can pay a visit to. Perhaps... we can let them examine the photograph!"


    As he spoke the word ''photograph'', he became subconsciously softer as though he was in fear of something.


    "Photograph?"


    The two girls shuddered in fear and Xiu Wen raised his glasses before retrieving a monochrome photograph from his pocket.


    On the photograph, there were 5 people and the background was an abandoned apartment.


    However, where Lu Xia once stood, it was now white and empty as though the film of the photograph was overexposed. The remaining 4 of them had weird expressions and Bai Ling''s face was beginning to blur up.


    "Will the next one be Bai Ling?"


    Xiu Wen mumbled to himself.


    He could not throw this photograph away, and it was indestructible, even after being soaked in water or being burnt by fire.


    Previously, before Lu Xia''s death, there were the same signs on the photograph.


    "No!"


    Bai Ling screamed. "I don''t want to die!"


    "Relax, we''ll protect you!"


    Yang Guang hugged Bai Ling tightly. Witnessing this scene, Wu Lu''s eyes began to tear up and Xiu Wen passed her a piece of napkin. "Lulu... Don''t worry, I will protect you."


    Wu Lu nodded her head and felt a tinge of sorrow in her heart.


    She had always held a torch for Lu Xia. Although she knew that Xiu Wen liked her, she never reciprocated. Never would she have known that this weak-looking boy would feel so reliable now!


    "We seem to have made a big mistake that time!"


    Yang Guang suddenly spoke. "All of us were scared to our wits! How could we have forgotten to take the camera? There might be clues on it!"


    "Are you crazy?"


    Bai Ling turned pale with fear. "Didn''t Lu Xia say that that was merely a second-hand camera? If we return to the apartment now, the ''ghost'' might be waiting for us!"


    "Of course I am not intending to go there alone! I am thinking of asking others to go, for instance, private investigators!"


    Yang Guang held a piece of newspaper article in his hand. "The Great Detective Ma Wencai is a famous paranormal investigator. He has solved countless paranormal cases and will surely be able to help us. Although his fees are high, I am already prepared to use all my pocket money and my earnings from my part-time job to pay for it."


    "Count me in!"


    Wu Lu clenched her teeth. "If we can settle that ghost once and for all, it would be avenging Lu Xia."


    In the newspaper article, Ma Wencai seemed to have grown plump. However, his face was still full of energy and the newspaper heading wrote: "Detective Ma breaks an impossible case once again..."


    Bai Ling wiped her tears and seemed to have recalled what had happened on that day.


    ...


    The afternoon sun of the hot summer made everyone groggy.


    It was a rare break during the weekends and Yang Guang had asked Bai Ling out for an afternoon tea.


    At this point in time, Lu Xia called Yang Guang over the phone. "Yang Guang? Do you want to explore? I''ve just bought a cheap camera and we can try to take some photographs!"


    Yang Guang was interested in photography since young and often saved up to buy expensive photography equipment. Unsurprisingly, he was interested in Lu Xia''s new buy.


    "Alright!"


    If Bai Ling could turn back time, she swore that she would have used every means to stop Yang Guang! Unfortunately, there was no such thing as ''ifs''.


    Their meeting spot was an abandoned apartment in the outskirts of the city.


    At the door of the apartment, Lu Xia, Wu Lu and Xiu Wen were already waiting there. As soon as they saw Yang Guang and Bai Ling arriving, they waved their hands in excitement.


    "Why would you ever think of coming here to take photos?"


    Yang Guang examined the apartment behind. It seemed to be built in the 90s. It was old and beyond repair, which gave it the creeps.


    "Don''t you know?"


    Lu Xia appeared shocked. "This is a famous haunted house! The person who sold me the camera told me that this camera has a special function which allows it to capture paranormal presence. I want to try it out for myself too! Let''s see if we can take any photo of ghosts or the likes."


    Lu Xia was different from Yang Guang, who was an avid photographer. On the other hand, Lu Xia was fond of paranormal activities and his room was entirely decorated with paranormal sightings.


    Yang Guang rolled his eyes. "But... those are rumours, right? I have never read any article about people dying in this apartment..."


    In this realm, the richer one was, the more superstitious one would be. For the normal people, if they did not encounter any paranormal sightings, they would not pay attention to any news reports regarding these sightings.


    Of course, Yang Guang was still right.


    If it was something like the Chen Residences, there would already be police patrolling outside the perimeters to stop anyone who was trying to peek into the residences. They would also send scientists to conduct investigations within the residences.


    Therefore, the claim that the apartment was haunted was most likely a baseless one.


    "Alright, since I''m a bro, I shall accompany you this time. However, let me take a look at the camera..."


    Yang Guang pointed at the black camera hung around Lu Xia''s neck.


    "No problem!"


    Lu Xia passed the camera to Yang Guang and in no time, Yang Guang became completely obsessed with it.


    This was an old school ''polaroid'' and they could print the photograph immediately after taking it. There was a small flash mounted on the top of the camera as well.


    "It''s not bad! It''s a really good deal!"


    Yang Guang even felt a little jealous of Lu Xia when Lu Xia revealed the price of the camera.


    "Haha, It''s my natural luck!"


    Lu Xia scratched his head. He was the most well-to-do among his friends. Even so, he had to think twice before making the purchase for the camera. However, after seeing the looks of admiration on his friends'' faces, he felt that the purchase was totally worth it.


    The group of them entered the apartment and it was exactly how they imagined it to be. Other than a few dark spots, there was trash everywhere and there was nothing special.


    "Sigh... This is boring! So much for my imagination."


    Lu Xia sighed as he gave a look of boredom.


    "Regardless, in order to commemorate today, let''s take a photo!"


    Xiu Wen suggested a location. "How about there?"


    "Hmm, alright!"


    Yang Guang positioned the camera properly and set a timer. "3, 2, 1... Cheese!"


    He quickly ran back to his friends to complete the group photograph.


    The picture was printed out in no time and Yang Guang took it from the camera. "Eh?"


    "What happened?"


    Lu Xia started to pay more attention as he held the photograph in his hand. "It is a little overexposed. Why did my face become like this? Is this the camera''s problem?"


    In the black and white photograph, there were only 4 faces among the 5 of them. Lu Xia''s face was blurred and even seemed a little ferocious, like an... evil ghost!


    "Ahhhh!"


    Yang Guang screamed as he threw the photograph onto the ground.


    "What happened? Brother Yang"


    Xiu Wen asked.


    "Lu Xia''s face smiled at me!"


    Yang Guang started to shudder in fear. The dark spots in the apartment started to instil even more fear in him. "This place gives me the chills. Let''s leave!"


    "How can we leave? We need to at least take another picture!"


    Lu Xia complained as he went to retrieve the camera which was positioned atop an old wooden box.


    "Pa!"


    At this point in time, a black hand appeared and slapped on the camera.


    "This is..."


    Yang Guang shivered and almost forgot to breathe. He saw... a charred silhouette climbing from the shadows, placing its hand on the camera!


    "It''s a ghost!"


    The two girls shrieked, breaking the silence. Yang Guang and Lu Xia held them both and quickly left the apartment.


    "Phew..."


    Under the sunlight outside, the 5 of them were catching their breaths. "It''s great that we are able to make it out!"


    "Phew..."


    Lu Xia took a deep breath and broke out into a cold sweat. "There... There''s a real ghost! What the hell!"


    Although he used to be obsessed with paranormal sightings, after seeing a real ghost, his heart was now filled with fear.


    "Ahhh!"


    Xiu Wen let out a piercing scream as he gazed at Lu Xia with a pale look. "Didn''t you throw that photograph away?"


    "I did!"


    Lu Xia nodded his head. However, Xiu Wen slowly took a photograph out from his pocket, which utterly shocked Lu Xia.


    "It... I didn''t pick it up..."


    Xiu Wen was on the verge of breaking down.


    "Jerk!"


    Yang Guang took a step forward, snatched the photograph and burnt the photograph to ashes with a lighter. "So what if its a ghost? The sun is shining brightly now..."


    "Ahhhh!"


    This time, it was Lu Xia who screamed. With a shivering hand, from his pocket, he took out another... black and white photograph! It was the group photo with the 5 of them!


    However, this time, his facial features were even more blurred and he shuddered at the sight of it.


    From that day onwards, the photograph became the ultimate nightmare for the 5 of them.


    No matter how they tried to get rid of it by burning or tearing it, the photograph would miraculously appear in the hands of the 5 of them. With every new photograph, Lu Xia''s body would slowly disappear and finally, all that was left was a white spot where he once stood.


    On the day where Lu Xia had completely disappeared from the photograph, Yang Guang and the others had received news.


    Lu Xia was dead!


    He was burnt alive and it was due to the malfunctioning of an electrical appliance!


    Their nightmares had arrived!

 510 The Next Death

    The curriculum in university was not that stressful; with all that had happened to them, the few of them decided to skip classes and paid a visit to the respectable people which Xiu Wen had recommended.


    "Andong Road... It is a very secluded street!"


    When the bus finally came, Bai Ling examined her surroundings. "We are about to reach the outskirts of the city. Xiu Wen, is the master you are recommending able to help us?"


    "Master Liu is a respectable man! At their status level, they will naturally stay away from the city, understand? It is already fortunate for us that he is not living in some cave in the mountains!"


    As Xiu Wen spoke, his voice became softer and softer as though he had lost his breath.


    "Regardless, let''s pay him a visit! He might have his own style of doing things!"


    Yang Guang was the basketball captain in university and was the leader among the few of them. Looking at the short buildings and smelly canals, he frowned.


    The 4 of them walked through a few alleys and even got lost for a few times before finally arriving at their destination.


    "Block 57, Andong Road, Unit no. 26. This is the place."


    Xiu Wen examined the apartment before him. Would a real master really stay in this dilapidated place?


    Mustering his courage, he looked for Unit no. 26 and knocked on the door. "Hello... Is Master Liu in?"


    "Who''s that?"


    The door opened and an awful stenched whiffed out of the unit. The two ladies quickly used their handkerchiefs to pinch their noses.


    The unit was in a mess and there were a few altars lying around in a mess.


    Of course, what had captured their attention was Liu Yuan.


    The first time Yang Guan laid eyes on him, he thought he was looking at a wall of meat!


    Liu Yuan was only wearing a pair of shorts. The fats on his body were folded in many layers as though he was a big fat pig!


    "Are you Liu Yuan, Daoist Liu?"


    Xiu Wen forced a smile.


    "Oh, I recall. You have contacted me before. Are you looking to exorcise a ghost?"


    The confused look on Liu Yuan''s face disappeared and he became much more energetic. "Please come in!"


    The few of them tiptoed into the apartment and opened a few windows before they could breathe normally.


    "Haha... My place is in a mess. Please, make yourselves at home!"


    Liu Yuan moved away a pile of dirty clothes from the sofa and invited them to sit.


    "No, it''s alright! We''ll just stand!"


    Wu Lu noticed the suspicious stains on the sofa and rejected the offer. Who would dare to sit on that sofa? Of course they would pass.


    "Alright! I wonder what kind of ritual the few of you are interested in? The Middle Eastern one? Or the Western one? The daoist one? Or the Buddhist one? Or a mixed ritual?"


    Liu Yuan rubbed his fists together and he resembled a butcher advertising his meat.


    "Aren''t you a daoist?"


    Yang Guang looked around in confusion and realised that the several altars lying around were extremely mixed. There were daoist gods, Buddhist gods and even gods from the West.


    "Sigh... This is for survival! I am well-versed in both Chinese and Western exorcism. Whatever type of service you are looking for, I will surely be able to satisfy you!"


    Liu Yuan slapped his chest with confidence as he gave his assurance, but his pair of eyes always wandered to the two girls.


    "Alright, if you are able to solve our problem, we will be willing to pay any price you ask for!"


    Yang Guang slotted himself in front of Bai Ling and explained what had happened before taking out the photograph. "What do you think, Master?"


    Although it was obvious that Liu Yuan was a conman, they were already too desperate. They were like drowning people. If they were to come across a strand of grass, they would still hold on to it tightly.


    "Hmm... This is troublesome!"


    Liu Yuan took the photograph over and examined it with a serious look.


    "Do you think we have any hope?"


    "The few of you... are being pestered by a ghost who was killed in a fire. In order to be saved, a Great Ritual Offering to the All-Embracing Heaven needs to be done!"


    Liu Yuan shook his head. "We do not have enough materials here. I can only execute my version of it, known as the Small Ritual Offering to the All-Embracing Heaven. However, it will be enough to ensure your peace and survival for the entire year."


    "Is that so? Quickly begin the ritual!"


    Xiu Wen was getting impatient.


    "No problem at all!"


    Although Liu Yuan''s room was dirty, it was still well-organised. Not long after, he was changed into a daoist costume and was wielding a wooden sword. The ritual began as he splattered water on the 4 of them:


    "Disaster will be averted, the evil ghosts shall retreat as I order!"


    "Rumble!"


    As Liu Yuan executed his ritual, the flames on the candles in front started to grow bigger. Yang Guang and company started to feel hopeful.


    "Master, how is it?"


    "Don''t worry!"


    After the first round of ritual, Liu Yuan was heavily exhausted and was sweating profusely. "I have already engraved a daoist exorcism talisman on all of you! That evil ghost will no longer dare to approach you. Next up, as soon as you burn this photograph, you will be able to ensure peace for the following year!"


    Liu Yuan gazed at the bronze basin before him and spoke in a serious tone.


    "That''s good!"


    Yang Guang held the photograph and threw it in the fire basin forcefully.


    "Whooo!"


    The tongues of flame started to burn the photograph.


    "It is finally over..."


    Bai Ling and Wu Lu were on the verge of crying, while Liu Yuan was wiping away his sweat as he smiled at them. "Now, shall we discuss about the price?"


    "Wait a minute!"


    Xiu Wen screamed. "Look!"


    Liu Yuan froze. Looking at the fire basin, the ashes slowly regrouped to form a new... photograph!


    "You''re a liar! Do you call this resolved?"


    Yang Guang was enraged as he held his fists up high.


    "Ghost... ghost!"


    Liu Yuan was weaker than he thought. As soon as he witnessed this creepy scene, he froze on the floor and started to pee in his pants.


    "Let''s go!"


    Bai Ling turned around. "He''s a cheat!"


    "Bang!"


    "Bang! Bang!"


    The door and windows slammed shut and the entire unit became dimmer.


    "Whooooo!"


    Under the glow of the candlelight, Bai Ling''s body on the photograph started to blur up.


    "Ah!"


    The two girls screamed.


    "Let''s go!"


    Yang Guang arrived at the door and realised that the doorknob was not working. Immediately, he started to kick at the door.


    "No... save me!"


    Behind him, Liu Yuan''s cries were heard.


    "Quick! Come on!"


    Bai Ling''s face was covered in tears and she was about to break down.


    According to the signs on the photograph, she was the next victim the ghost would kill!


    "Sha! Sha!"


    "Sha! Sha!"


    Behind, Liu Yuan''s cries became softer and softer. A suspicious shuffling noise was heard as though something was crawling on the ground.


    Wu Lu turned around. All she saw was a charred head reaching out from the darkness behind.


    "Bang!"


    Finally, after the two guys worked together, the door was kicked open, revealing a corridor.


    "Let''s go!"


    Yang Guang held Bai Ling''s hand and ran out of the unit before arriving at the stairs.


    "Yang Guang! Save me! I don''t want to die!"


    Bai Ling started to sob.


    "Don''t worry, I will surely save you!"


    The two of them held each other''s hands and ran down, ignoring the cries for help behind them.


    "Dong! Dong!"


    "Dong! Dong!"


    When they had arrived downstairs, they realised that it was no longer the entrance which they had come from, but an underground basement.


    "What''s happening?"


    Bei Ling tightened her grip on Yang Guang''s hand. "This was the path we took to come up!"


    Looking at the dim surroundings around, she became increasingly frightened as she held on to Yang Guang''s hand tightly and ran frantically.


    ...


    "What happened?"


    Xiu Wen, Wu Lu and Yang Guang ran out of the apartment and looked around.


    "Where''s Ling Ling? Where''s Ling Ling?"


    Yang Guang was starting to panic. When they first kicked the door down, Bai Ling became crazy as she ran out first with the rest following behind. However, they had lost her at the stairs.


    "She was in front all along and should have come out first!"


    Xiu Wen tried to comfort Wu Lu.


    "Bai Ling! Bai Ling!"


    Yang Guang shouted at the top of his lungs as his voice was filled with desolation.


    ...


    "Wait a minute!"


    Bai Ling could hear Yang Guang''s voice from afar and felt confused. "Guang.... Guang is outside? Then who am I holding on to right now?"


    After the brief period of confusion, she could feel a rough and burning sensation coming from her palm.


    "You... you..."


    Her body started to shiver as she tried to let go of the hand.


    However, the other hand started to exert more strength and held on to her wrist tightly like a pair of handcuffs.


    "No... Don''t..."


    Under extreme fear, Bai Ling turned around and all she could see was a charred corpse following closely behind her, holding her wrist tightly.


    "Ahhh!!!"


    ...


    "It''s Ling Ling screaming!"


    Outside, Yang Guang became mad. He ran up the stairs but soon after collapsed to the ground, paralyzed.


    "Ah!"


    Wu Lu and Xiu Wen followed closely behind. As they rounded the same corner, Wu Lu started to shriek and supported herself against the wall before gagging.


    At that corner, a charred corpse quietly sat there and hugged its own legs.


    From the appearance and the clothing of the corpse, it was Bai Ling!


    "Let''s go!"


    Xiu Wen pulled Yang Guang along. "We cannot let others see this..."


    They had already created a lot of commotion. If anyone were to come by to see this, they would surely call the cops!


    If they were to be arrested and brought to the police station, even if they were not suspected of murder, they would still die anyway!


    None of them felt that the police would be able to do anything against the ghost. If they were to be retained in the police station and were to encounter the ghost there, they would not be able to run away.


    "Yang Guang, if you do not leave, how will you be able to avenge Bai Ling?"


    Xiu Wen shouted in Yang Guang''s ears.


    "That''s right! Avenge her!"


    Flames of willpower erupted in Yang Guang''s eyes. "I will avenge both Bai Ling and Lu Xia!"


    He gritted his teeth as he stood up. "Let''s leave this place now!"


    "What do you intend to do?"


    Wu Lu gazed at Yang Guang with a worried look.


    "Will the next death be Wu Lu?"


    Yang Guang felt his pocket and took out a photograph. Bai Ling''s body was entirely white. Among the 3 of them remaining, Wu Lu''s face started to blur up.


    "The both of you, look for that detective!"


    Yang Guang gritted his teeth. "I will return to the apartment to look for the camera and destroy it! It is the cause of all these!"

 511 Seeking Help

    "Yang Guang..."


    Wu Lu wanted to advise Yang Guang but all of a sudden, she saw something.


    From upstairs, a pair of charred hands started to climb down towards them.


    "Quickly go!"


    Yang Guang shook Wu Lu off and pushed her away. "We''ll split up!"


    Even the sunlight outside could not provide them with any sense of security against the ghost.


    "Let''s go!"


    Wu Lu was tearing up as she fled with Xiu Wen.


    "How? How?"


    Wu Lu wanted to jog slowly at first. Slowly, the jog became a sprint and with a slip, she fell to the ground and her tears were flowing out. "I will die soon! I don''t want to end up like Bai Ling!"


    "Don''t worry Wu Lu, I will protect you!"


    Xiu Wen pulled her from the ground. "Let''s move quickly!"


    "Thank you! Thank you, Xiu Wen!"


    In that instant, Lu Xia''s impression in Wu Lu''s mind started to fade away and was slowly being replaced by Xiu Wen''s smiling face.


    "Driver! Stop the car!"


    The two of them ran to the main road. Wu Lu''s heart was about to jump out of her chest as she quickly hailed a cab.


    "Where are the two of you going?"


    "We''re going to... The Ma Paranormal Detective Corporation, where Ma Wencai is!"


    Wu Lu was at lost and could only recall what Yang Guang had once mentioned. "That detective... Yang Guang was already preparing to hire him for his services. We shall look for him and ask him to bring Yang Guang and the camera back from the apartment."


    "The Ma Paranormal Detective Corporation? Alright!"


    The driver stepped on the pedal and as the cab drove away, Wu Lu heaved a sigh of relief.


    ...


    Within the Ma Detective Corporation, Fang Yuan had specially requested for a greenhouse so that he could attempt growing the plants he had brought out from the Ghost Garden.


    He was now watering a green sunflower.


    Being 20 years old, Fang Yuan had a graceful demeanour and the act of him watering the plants would give one a sense of serenity.


    "Although its properties are weakened, at least I am able to grow them in the outside world now..."


    Fang Yuan nodded in satisfaction as he gazed at a tomato with a human face engraved on it. Even though he was skilled in botany, the difficulty of growing plants out of their natural habitat was still great for Fang Yuan.


    "The good thing is that I''ve finally succeeded... I have retained their properties and even altered their appearances so that they become more adapted to the outside world. At least normal people wouldn''t get a shock when they see them!"


    These plants had weird shapes at most, but they were not too shocking. Even Ma Xiaoling and Ma Wencai would occasionally come in to take a look at the plants.


    "Unfortunately, there is a restriction on supernatural powers in this realm. Even for me, after becoming 10 times more powerful than the average human, I am unable to progress any further!"


    Fang Yuan sighed.


    The restriction on his stats was one of his biggest discoveries of this realm.


    "The abnormal Purple Eye Realm, the restrictions on the stats window and the presence of ghosts are all related to each other... This realm is completely infiltrated by a high dimension energy from the Demonic Heart Realm! It is at least as high of a dimension as the being which robbed the dream dao from Da Qian!"


    Only such a being had the ability to temporarily restrict lower-levelled beings of their stats and abilities.


    "Furthermore... This form of energy is of a higher quality as compared to dream elemental force! Because of this, the ghosts here seems to be indestructible! They are harder to deal with as compared to Demon Spirits!"


    "The mutated source of which this energy comes from might be related to the hallucination I experienced when entering the realm!"


    Fang Yuan took a quick glance at his own stats:


    "Name: Fang Yuan (Tantai Mieming)


    Essence: 10.0 (100)


    Spirit: 10.0 (100)


    Magic: 10.0 (100)


    Profession: Exorcist


    Technique: Exorcism (Peak), Pharmacy (Peak), Eagle Claw Grappling Technique (Peak)


    Skill: [Medicine (Level 3)], [Botany (Level 6)], [Fiery Golden Eyes (Level 1)], [Spirit Sealing Body (1st Grade)]"


    ''Spirit Sealing Body (1st Grade): Your body is a weapon which is able to seal evil ghosts. You will able to seal any ghost that you come into contact with into your body! You have activated the 1st Grade, and the capacity for sealing evil ghosts: 1! You can choose to release the ghost!''


    "15 years of living in seclusion and this is all I''ve got."


    Exorcism and Pharmacy were secret techniques of the Tantai Family. Having the peak level of these techniques meant that even the elders in the Tantai family who specialised in these areas might not be better than Fang Yuan at it.


    As for the Eagle Claw Grappling Technique, Fang Yuan had developed it based on his own martial arts experience, combining it with the grappling techniques of this realm to create a whole new technique.


    With his physical abilities 10 times stronger than the average human, he could well be regarded as the superman of this realm!


    "Unfortunately, with my abilities, I am still only able to exorcise the low-levelled ghosts. It seems like it is time for me to improve my Spirit Sealing Body, huh?"


    Fang Yuan placed the watering can down and seemed a little vexed.


    To speak the truth, even though Ma Wencai''s reputation had gone up and even though there were many more cases now, paranormal cases were still the minority.


    Ma Xiaoling grew up with the natural gift of the Yin Yang Eye. With Fang Yuan''s guidance, she became an elite exorcist and most of the time, she could accomplish the task on her own without Fang Yuan''s help.


    The few times which she needed Fang Yuan''s help were the few times which benefited Fang Yuan a lot. These were the times Fang Yuan could conduct his research, confirm his predictions and collect data.


    "Ghosts which appear in the form of spirits are the low-levelled ghosts and I can exorcise them directly. Of course, this would not mean that they are killed off immediately. Because of the fact that ghosts are indestructible, in another 10 years up to a hundred years, they will be recreated. Even so, I will still need to do my best to exorcise them with the help of the exorcism technique and the concoctions from the Tantai Family."


    According to Fang Yuan''s own observations, he had classified ghosts into 4 levels, namely Spirit, Murderous, Strange and Wuyin[1]!


    The Spirit Level represented the lowest-levelled ghosts. They would appear and kill humans in the spirit form. However, they were not able to split themselves into more than a single entity and were bounded by many other restrictions.


    The Murderous Level would be a level higher. Ghosts in this level would be able to turn invisible or split themselves up. They would be able to alter a human''s memories as well and if a normal human were to encounter a ghost at the Murderous Level, they would only be played to death!


    The Strange Level would represent an even more terrorising presence. Ghosts at this level would be able to kill a human in many different ways. If such a ghost were to hear a person''s name, the person would be cursed and doomed. The ghost would warp time and space in an attempt to alter reality or even kill the person in their dreams! It would be able to kill the person while tricking the person into thinking that he or she was still alive!


    However, ghosts from both the Murderous Level or Strange Level would come from a source. Even if the source might reside in another space or dimension, as long the source existed, there would be hope in dealing with these ghosts!


    The final level would be the Wuyin Level. Ghosts at this level would leave the entire realm in despair! There was no way in dealing with these ghosts! No way to get rid of them! Furthermore, they do not come from any source! This would mean that there was no solution to wipe out these ghosts! These ghosts would be the curse of an entire realm!


    In Fang Yuan''s memories, only the cursed bronze door of the Tantai Family might be able to match up to the level of such a ghost!


    "A normal human would already stand little chance against a normal Spirit Level ghost and exorcists would already have to be careful. In encountering a Murderous Level ghost, even the Tantai Family will have to take it seriously. For a ghost of the Strange Level, anyone will have to avoid them at all costs..."


    As for the Wuyin Level, even Fang Yuan could not be certain if ghosts of such level existed. This was only his prediction. However, if a ghost of such a level would appear, it would mean the destruction of an entire realm!


    "According to the Tantai Family, 1 in 5 blood-related descendants of the Tantai Family will have an awakened ability to become a normal exorcist. His ability will allow him to deal with a Spirit Level ghost. Against a Murderous Level curse, a few elite exorcists will have to combine forces and even so, the outcome of the exorcism will still be uncertain. Only the most powerful of exorcists will stand a chance against the paranormal beings of the Strange Level! Unfortunately, most of them will end up dying against such a powerful paranormal presence!"


    Fang Yuan knew that his abilities were already much more powerful than any exorcist of the Tantai Family. However, he still felt that he was too weak to resolve the problem of the bronze door.


    "Indeed... The only way is to increase my cultivation of my Spirit Sealing Body!"


    He sighed once more as he realised that this was the plan the realm had for him. He was the realm''s final hope!


    "Eh?"


    Suddenly, Fang Yuan looked towards the office. "Finally, a troubling case!"


    ...


    In the office, Ma Xiaoling was tending to Wu Lu and Xiu Wen.


    "Please have a cup of coffee!"


    A tall and sweet-looking girl in a pink apron carried two cups of coffee into the office before knocking on the table. "Father... We have clients!"


    "Mmm..."


    Behind the table, Ma Wencai raised his head from the newspapers and wiped the saliva off his lips before yawning. "It''s two students? Didn''t I tell you that I, the Great Detective Ma Wencai, will not attend to these normal cases?!"


    "Father!"


    Ma Xiaoling playfully chopped Ma Wencai''s head with her hand before turning around to smile. "Please don''t mind him. I''m Detective Ma''s assistant and you can call me Xiaoling. Now... Let us begin!"


    She took her apron off, revealing a white suit inside. Unfazed, Ma Xiaoling took her notebook out.


    "Are you guys... up to it?"


    Wu Lu started to sweat profusely. Why did Ma Wencai resemble Li Yuan so much? Both of them didn''t seem too reliable.


    "Don''t worry, we are professional. Please ignore my father! In the corporation, he is the weakest among us."


    Ma Xiaoling smiled.


    "Ring!"


    At this point in time, Fang Yuan opened the door. "Why didn''t you call me?"


    "These two clients claimed to have been pestered by a ghost!"


    Ma Xiaoling appeared serious as Ma Wencai felt a chill going down his spine.


    Ma Wencai knew Fang Yuan''s abilities. The fact that Ma Xiaoling required Fang Yuan''s help this time meant that this case was an important one.


    "This time might be a real ghost and a curse! I was about to look for you!"


    Ma Xiaoling passed the photograph to Fang Yuan.


    "Mmm..."


    Fang Yuan scanned through the photograph quickly before tossing it on the table and stretching his leg out.


    "You..."


    Initially, Wu Lu was full of anticipation. Seeing how Fang Yuan reacted, Wu Lu became infuriated. "What kind of attitude is this?"


    "Sigh... If a normal person is unable to detect it, so be it. Xiaoling, you have the ability of the Yin Yang Eye and have already been my apprentice for so long. How can you not detect anything?"


    Fang Yuan gave a look of disappointment.


    "What should I be looking out for?"


    Xiaoling looked at the photograph, confused.


    "The photograph... There''s one more person!"


    [1]: Wuyin means ''Without a reason or cause''.

 512 The Source

    "Is there... one more person?"


    Hearing that, she focused on the photograph and took out a small bottle of liquid before scattering it on the photograph.


    "Sizzle!"


    A layer of fog appeared. Only then did she realise that the group photo only consisted of 4 people!


    The fifth ''person'' was a charred and ferocious looking - evil ghost!


    "This position..."


    Ma Xiaoling suddenly raised her head and splashed the concoction in her hands. "Miss Wu, be careful!"


    Wu Lu remained stunned as she gazed at Xiu Wen.


    The boy whom she had slowly grown in love with became emotionless and slowly turned black. Within moments, he had turned into an entire charred corpse!


    "Ahhhh!"


    With a shriek, the black corpse disappeared before them.


    "Why... why must it be him..."


    Wu Lu sobbed silently. Suddenly, her mind went blank before her real memories came flooding back.


    That''s right! There were only 4 of them who went to the apartment! Lu Xia, Yang Guang, Bai Ling and herself! It was weird for there to be another person.


    However, none of them even suspected anything!


    This was because this ghost had altered their memories, forcing a ''Xiu Wen'' into their minds.


    To think about it, the cursed photograph was brought out of the apartment by Xiu Wen!


    Furthermore, it was also Xiu Wen''s idea to visit Master Liu! He knew all along that Master Liu was a quack and would not be able to help with the situation. With that, it resulted in Bai Ling''s death!


    "No... It''s not like this... I remember seeing Xiu Wen and the ghost at the same time..."


    Wu Lu shook her head and was on the verge of breaking down.


    "It''s simple... He either forced you to hallucinate seeing both him and the ghost, or that he has the ability to split himself!"


    Fang Yuan turned serious as a gold hue flashed in his eyes.


    Such a ghost with the ability to split itself and alter one''s memories to toy with humans was already beyond the Spirit Level. It was a Murderous Level ghost!


    Even a strong exorcist would have to be careful when dealing with a ghost of such a level!


    "A Murderous Level ghost will be able to split itself into multiple entities. If we do not get hold of its source, we will not be able to deal with it! This ghost is harder to deal with compared to the one at the Chen Residences!"


    Fang Yuan licked his lips. "This is also a good thing... A ghost of such a level is worthy for me to seal!"


    His cultivation was already as high as the realm would allow it to be. If he wanted to become strong enough to deal with more powerful ghosts and curses, he had to increase his cultivation in his Spirit Sealing Body!


    After exploring, Fang Yuan realised that the only requirement he had to fulfil to increase the cultivation of his Spirit Sealing Body was that he had to seal powerful ghosts and curses!


    "Why..."


    Wu Lu sobbed on the sofa, motionless. "Why... why do you want to toy with us?"


    After experiencing a series of shocks, she had lost all hope for the world.


    "Do you think you can help the situation just by crying?"


    Fang Yuan glanced at her. "Let us discuss the price to pay for dealing with this ''ghost''! Because this ghost is already a 2nd Level ghost, we will require a higher price!"


    "Be it my money, my life or my everything, I am willing to give it to you!"


    Wu Lu shuddered before she gritted her teeth with determination. "As long as you will help me... take revenge!"


    "Such a realisation... is this her final struggle as a survivor?"


    Fang Yuan stood up and shrugged his shoulders. "Forget it... I understand. Leave the rest to me!"


    "Daughter!"


    At this point in time, Detective Ma finally snapped out of his trance as he cowardly hid behind his daughter. "You must protect Father and chase the ghost who dare to infiltrate our corporation out!"


    After becoming rich, Ma Wencai naturally bought the entire corporation and transformed it into his own business.


    What would happen if this place were to become haunted? It would be a disaster!


    Detective Ma, a money grubber, would rather die with all the wealth he could possibly have.


    "..."


    Ma Xiaoling rolled her eyes. She held a test tube in her hands and scanned her surroundings with alertness.


    This evil ghost was powerful enough to be able to escape detection from her Yin Yang Eye all along. Now that it had disappeared, she was unable to trace it. The ghost now gave her a grave sense of danger.


    "The real Murderous Level ghost will not need to appear in order to kill. It will be able to silence someone while remaining invisible... If humans were to encounter ghosts of such a level, they would stand almost no chance. However, this does not include me!"


    Fang Yuan walked in a circle and the gold hue in his eyes started to flash brilliantly.


    "Whoosh!"


    In an instant, Fang Yuan made his way behind Wu Lu and struck a punch out. "Heavenly Eagle Fist!"


    "Chirp! Chirp!"


    As Fang Yuan struck his fist out, the joints in his body started to crackle under an extreme force and his blood started to surge quickly, turning him into a human fireball with his core temperature rising up continuously. In an instant, the entire office turned into a furnace.


    Even though Fang Yuan was unable to restore his cultivation as a True Divine, there was still a hint of a True Divine''s willpower in his martial arts.


    "Bang!"


    A dull collision sound was heard as ''something'' was being smashed behind Wu Lu. The 3 others in the office did not detect anything before Fang Yuan had landed his fist.


    "That''s it!"


    As soon as the ghost was being hit by Fang Yuan, Ma Xiaoling could vaguely see an illusionary shadow. With that, she poured the concoction in her hands towards the shadow. "Reveal yourself!"


    A charred corpse appeared as soon as the concoction landed on it. It was the ferocious ghost which Wu Lu and company had seen in the apartment! On its fours, the corpse was crawling about.


    "Ahhh!"


    Ma Wencai and Wu Lu screamed at the top of their lungs.


    While they were still in shock, Fang Yuan took another step forward and forcefully stepped on the head of the charred corpse.


    "Bang!"


    The charred head exploded and the corpse disappeared once more.


    "Is it dead?"


    Ma Xiaoling remained dazed as she witnessed all that had happened.


    Even she feared for her life the moment she saw this ghost. How could Fang Yuan so simply kill it with a single stomp?


    Although she knew that Fang Yuan was powerful, she never knew that Fang Yuan was this powerful!


    "No... It''s not enough!"


    Fang Yuan shook his head. Taking a few more steps, he rushed towards a wall and struck his fist out once more.


    "Ohhh! No!!! That is my oil painting from the Renaissance period!"


    Under Ma Wecai''s shout, the painting and the wall behind it crumbled like sand. The charred corpse appeared once more and was being hit before it turned invisible again.


    "Anger? Hatred? In bringing desolation to the world, what exactly are you?"


    In the office, Fang Yuan whizzed about and was always fast enough to be able to catch the ghost. Every single time he encountered the ghost, he would use his brute force to smash it.


    The 3 of them looked at Fang Yuan fighting the ghost and were utterly stunned.


    "Being a split entity, this ghost will need time to restore its form..."


    Fang Yuan was extremely clear about this. Every time he had hit the ghost, the ghost would need increased time to restore its form and now, it was taking up to 20 minutes.


    "You''ve proved me wrong. You are not the end of the world. You are only a pile of mess!"


    With a flying leap, Fang Yuan arrived at the main door of the office and stretched his hands out, strangling the charred corpse by its neck. "Dissipate!"


    "Crackle!"


    This split entity of a powerful ghost was being split into two!


    Ma Xiaoling shivered. Quickly, the sinister vibes in the office faded away.


    "It''s done!"


    Fang Yuan dusted his hands and walked towards a stunned Wu Lu. "We have some time now. Bring me to the apartment! Let''s deal with its source once and for all!"


    "Al... Alright!"


    Wu Lu stared at Fang Yuan as though he was a God.


    Just as she was forced to desperation, such a saviour would deserve her admiration and respect as she became a crazed believer of Fang Yuan. "Thank you! Thank you, Master!"


    "Instead of saying all these, why not get moving? According to you, you have another friend who is heading to the apartment, right?"


    Fang Yuan glanced at her.


    Fang Yuan was merely joking when he mentioned the price to pay for his services.


    To Fang Yuan, the source of the Murderous Level ghost and the camera would be the real reward for helping her!


    "Right, there''s Yang Guang too!"


    Wu Lu revealed a look of uneasiness on her face.


    ...


    At the same time, outside the apartment.


    Yang Guang was determined to destroy the camera no matter what.


    However, the nearer he approached the apartment, the stronger the sinister vibes were. His determination quickly faded away and all the fear he had accumulated since the beginning seemed to have exploded inside him in an instant.


    Finally, he could see the apartment from afar.


    "Bai Ling..."


    Yang Guang clenched his teeth and walked into the apartment.


    In the dim environment, his muscles contracted and his heartbeat started to escalate. Unknowingly, his teeth started to chatter as well.


    He was getting nearer and nearer!


    As he arrived closer to where they had thrown the camera, his memories started to return.


    "Xiu Wen... Something is not right, there isn''t even a Xiu Wen to begin with!"


    Yang Guang felt dizzy all of a sudden. "He is... a ghost! He has been with us all this while! Was he the one who killed Bai Ling too?"


    Such a blow caused tears to well up in his eyes.


    "Wu Lu! Wu Lu is in danger!"


    As the person who was being targeted by the photograph and the fact that she was with the ghost all along, Wu Lu was like walking on a tightrope.


    "This is the best chance! If I destroy the camera, I might be able to save Wu Lu!"


    Since he was sure that the ghost was with Wu Lu all along, Yang Guang could now feel a burst of courage in him as he rushed into the room in the apartment.


    Everything was in the same place since the day they took the group photograph and the camera was still on the shelf.


    "That''s it!"


    Yang Guang scanned the surroundings before taking a step forward. He held the camera in his hands and flung it towards the wall!


    "Crack!"


    The camera shattered and parts of it flew in different directions. There was also a visible crack on the wall where the camera had hit.


    "It''s that simple?"


    Yang Guang was in disbelief. How could he have destroyed the camera so easily?


    "Regardless, the camera is now destroyed. The curse on the photograph should now be lifted, right?"


    Before he could leave, a distinct crackle was heard.


    Yang Guang froze in his steps. Forcefully, he turned his head around and saw... the wall which they had used as a background to take the photograph started to crumble, revealing a charred corpse in it!


    The real source of the curse was never from the normal-looking camera, but... in this wall!

 513 Seal the Spiri

    A Murderous Level ghost would be able to split itself.


    Fang Yuan had only destroyed one of its entities.


    This time, the ''truth'' behind the crumbled wall was the source of everything!


    "Ahhhh!"


    Yang Guang shrieked and ran away as fast as possible.


    "Rumble!"


    The surroundings started to change. From an abandoned apartment, it slowly turned into the scene of a fire outbreak.


    It was the same apartment but the furniture was all brand new. The scorching flames started to spread everywhere, even towards the corridors.


    The intense inferno and thick black smoke filled Yang Guang''s lungs as he began to feel discomfort. Immediately, he started to crouch on the floor and crawled towards safety.


    "Could this be... the fire which this apartment had once experienced before? Why was the corpse hidden in the wall? Could it be possible that the property developer was hiding the truth from the media by sealing the corpse up in order to increase the value of this apartment?"


    Yang Guang held his nose and carefully made his way around the apartment as he finally understood everything.


    The apartment was rented to foreigners. These foreigners did not have a strong backing or good relationships with the locals. Therefore, even if they were to disappear or die, no one would know or miss them!


    From all the signs, this was the most reasonable explanation.


    "So what if I''m able to deduce all these?"


    Yang Guang gazed at the raging inferno around him and felt that even his eyebrows were about to be burnt.


    "Mum..."


    "Save me..."


    ...


    He could hear the screams for help and the struggles coming from the burning inferno as Yang Guang started to shiver in fear. "Something''s not right... there might be more than 1 casualty in this fire!"


    Even though he could deduce this, there was nothing he could do.


    "The window... If I cannot escape by the door, I can try the windows!"


    Although he didn''t know how he had landed himself in the scene of a burning apartment, Yang Guang only had a single thought, and it was to survive!


    The intensifying flames were distracting him, affecting his consciousness.


    Finally, after crawling for a long while, a window appeared before him.


    "This is great!"


    He stood up and slammed the window hard to no avail, for it was locked.


    "Sh*t!"


    Behind him, there were all sorts of cries.


    Yang Guang covered his face with a cloth and ran straight into the window.


    "Crackle!"


    He was an athlete in university and was strong to begin with. With that headbutt, he shattered the window and flew out of the apartment.


    "Ahhh!"


    As he cried, he tried to pluck out the shards embedded in his arms before examining his surroundings.


    The flames were no longer there. It was as though all that had just happened was a mere illusion.


    "I have survived!"


    Yang Guang examined the apartment and shivered in fear before running away. "That camera is perfectly fine! The real source of trouble is this apartment and the wronged souls who were burnt to death here!"


    After knowing this piece of important information, he knew that if he were to look into this, he would be able to lift the curse and set things right by making the one responsible for the fire to bear the consequences!


    "Just that... why do I feel like I''ve become heavier?"


    Yang Guang recalled that there seemed to be something riding on his back while he was crawling on the ground just now!


    He shuddered and turned around as he came face to face with a charred face.


    "Ahhhhhh!"


    Yang Guang screamed hysterically. As soon as he woke up, he realised that he was being trapped in darkness.


    "Director, this isn''t too good! By hiding a corpse in the wall... it''s too unethical..."


    "Do you know how much the company has lost after this fire? We don''t even have enough money to compensate the affected families! Who would have the time to deal with these corpses?"


    "But... the police..."


    "There are just a few foreigners. There''s nothing much in sealing them up in the walls. Don''t worry, we have already bribed the news agencies. They will not report the true casualty rate!"


    ...


    "This is... the wall which the corpses are buried in?"


    Yang Guang wanted to struggle. However, the space around him was filled with cement and darkness and his movements were restricted.


    Furthermore, a feeling of breathlessness started to overwhelm him.


    "No... I am alive! Don''t bury me!"


    He tried to shout but nothing came out of his mouth.


    Finally, his eyes were shut and he fell into an abyss of darkness...


    ...


    "Yang Guang... is dead!"


    Fang Yuan and Wu Lu had arrived at the apartment.


    They arrived at the room and realised that the camera was destroyed. They also noticed the crumbled wall and the shape of a human body indented in the wall!


    "It is useless to deal with the split entities. We need to target its true source..."


    Fang Yuan stretched his right hand out to feel the indentation on the wall and could feel a burning sensation in it.


    "Is this where... the source once was?"


    He examined the surroundings. Suddenly, the space around them transformed into a burning inferno once again and thick smoke started to spread everywhere.


    "Ahhhh!"


    Wu Lu screamed as soon as she realised where she was.


    "Don''t worry. We are merely being pulled into an alternate dimension..."


    Fang Yuan snickered.


    If the ''ghost'' was hiding its source and was only sending out its split entities, it would be troublesome for Fang Yuan. It would take up too much effort for one to even locate the exact location of the alternate dimension.


    But now, it had intentionally pulled Fang Yuan and Wu Lu into its own dimension and therefore had unintentionally caused its own death.


    Oh wait, a ghost was already dead from the beginning, so there was no death it could cause to itself.


    "Cough cough... will I... die here?"


    Wu Lu held her chest in pain as she sat on the ground.


    In the alternate dimension, these flames were real flames. If they were engulfed by the smoke, they would truly die as well!


    Suddenly, from the flames, charred corpses began to appear. They varied in size but all of them had hatred in their eyes as they surrounded Fang Yuan and Wu Lu.


    "Was the powerful curse created from the hatred of these wronged souls who died in the fire?"


    Fang Yuan nodded his head and a streak of chilly energy started to surround him.


    A chill which would be able to freeze one''s soul started to spread out and within a few moments, it had covered the entire house.


    The flames disappeared in that instant and even the toxic fumes were slowly being dissipated.


    "Impressive!"


    Wu Lu stood up and was shocked. As she looked at Fang Yuan, she shuddered in fear.


    "Are you scared of me?"


    Fang Yuan glanced at her before taking a quick look at his own stats window.


    In the brackets behind his Spirit Sealing Body, a new status appeared: Spirit Sealing Body (Partially released!)


    "If I release the ghost entirely, I will likely lose control of it and thereby allow it to target me. If I were to release it partially, it would mean for me to release the seal by a little, harnessing the power of the ghost in me or even make use of its abilities! It feels like I''m borrowing my strength from something else."


    Fang Yuan could feel a chilly sensation spreading from his body as he started to smile.


    This technique was discovered by him after all these years.


    Looking at his personality, if he did not perform enough research on the Spirit Sealing Body, he would not have recklessly increased its cultivation.


    "There are still risks involved when I use my human body to control the power of a ghost! I not only have to deal with the risk of the ghost attempting to take over me, I will have to watch out for myself being harmed in the process as well... However, my body is already not as weak as a normal human, but as powerful as the realm allows me to be! If I will still be harmed by such physical conditions, I will just be a mere laughing stock even if I am the realm''s final hope!"


    Of course, Wu Lu did not know what Fang Yuan was thinking.


    Nervously, she gazed at Fang Yuan. The young man Fang Yuan once was started to turn pale and his face turned into a green-purple hue. His pair of eyes turned into a brilliant gold.


    Anyone would feel the chills if they were to look at Fang Yuan, for it would be as though they were looking at... a real ''ghost''!


    "I see you!"


    Fang Yuan revealed a sinister smile.


    By harnessing the power of the evil ghost sealed in and using his Fiery Golden Eyes, he could see through the alternate dimension, to where the source of the ghost was.


    "Scan... Locate¡­.. The next step will be to... capture!"


    His body turned illusionary in an instant and his arms turned greenish-purple as though he was a frozen corpse. With that, he stretched his arms into mid-air.


    In the depths of the alternate dimension.


    An indescribable and unknown presence was being captured!


    Even an exorcist could only deal with the simplest spirits!


    But now, Fang Yuan was able to capture the source of a... Murderous Level ghost!


    "Come out!"


    Fang Yuan exclaimed.


    Wu Lu''s eyes were wide opened as she witnessed Fang Yuan ''pulling'' out a charred corpse from mid-air.


    Even a single look at the charred corpse caused extreme pain in her eyes and fear began to overwhelm her.


    The true source of the ghost could not be described and did not have a definite shape.


    "Seal!"


    In Fang Yuan''s chest, a silver swirl appeared and the entire charred corpse was being swallowed into it.


    Of course, the Murderous Level ghost was struggling in Fang Yuan''s arms. Unfortunately, Fang Yuan remained emotionless as he absorbed the corpse. Slowly, the corpse became smaller and smaller and finally, it became a small black dot which completely disappeared in the swirl.


    "Phew..."


    Fang Yuan took in a deep breath and sealed the ghosts in him completely, reverting himself to the appearance of a normal human.


    The space around them started to warp, transforming itself into the abandoned apartment it once was.


    After sealing the ''source'', the curse on the apartment was completely lifted!


    Fang Yuan took a quick glance at this stats:


    "Name: Fang Yuan (Tantai Mieming)


    Essence: 15.0 (100)


    Spirit: 15.0 (100)


    Magic: 15.0 (100)


    Profession: Exorcist


    Technique: Exorcism (Peak), Pharmacy (Peak), Eagle Claw Grappling Technique (Peak)


    Skill: [Medicine (Level 3)], [Botany (Level 6)], [Fiery Golden Eyes (Level 1)], [Spirit Sealing Body (2nd Grade)]"


    ''Spirit Sealing Body (2nd Grade): Your body is a weapon which is able to seal evil ghosts. You will able to seal any ghost that you come into contact with into your body! You have activated the 2nd Grade, and the capacity for sealing evil ghosts: 2! You can choose to release the ghost!''


    "I am able to increase the physical limitations of my body just by sealing this ghost?"


    Fang Yuan was a little shocked. "I am truly the Fate Soul of this realm! My existence cannot be comprehended with normal logic!"

 514 Two People

    "It''s a pity... not every ghost deserves to be sealed by me!"


    Fang Yuan thought about the ghost in the Chen Residences.


    In the past few years, it had turned into Fang Yuan''s punching bag. The last time Fang Yuan had attacked it, it was too severely injured that it no longer appeared in recent years.


    "Of course, all of these experiences did serve me well."


    Fang Yuan gazed at Wu Lu and his eyes glistened. "Release!"


    Wu Lu involuntarily took a step back.


    From her point of view, 6 burn scars lined Fang Yuan''s face and his eyes turned bloodshot.


    "This Murderous Level ghost is... rather useful!"


    Under the red glow coming from the ghost, Wu Lu appeared dazed.


    "I am now able to infiltrate the mind of others and alter their memories... This is rather similar to that of a dream master!"


    Fang Yuan immediately released the ability of the Murderous Level ghost from this apartment.


    "Now, return to school and forget everything that has happened!"


    Fang Yuan was already well-versed in tampering with the memories of others as he directly altered them. "Yang Guang and the 2 others died from an accident!"


    "They... died from an accident!"


    Wu Lu mumbled to herself as she appeared dazed. Slowly, she walked out of the apartment like a zombie.


    "It isn''t good for her to keep these memories... sigh, I''m such a kind person!"


    Fang Yuan rubbed his chin. "However... the curse of the ''Door'' is still beyond my comprehension!"


    He raised his hands and his face was still that of the Murderous Level ghost from the apartment. A chilly vibe started to spread from his hands and his skin turned dark-purple.


    "I have no problem in releasing different abilities form different ghosts at the same time... Is the curse created by the Tantai Family so weak?"


    Fang Yuan had long detected the anomaly in the ghost within his body.


    The being which the Tantai Family had placed their hopes on needed to be at least a ''Strange'' Level and therefore of a certain power.


    However, this ghost was just too weak!


    "This is the result of being damaged by the ''Door''!"


    Fang Yuan subconsciously recalled the scene where he escaped from the Tantai Family.


    The 20-year cycle was about to return and the appearance of the ''Door'' would kill off all the descendants of the Tantai Family!


    "The ghost which I had released not only dealt with the elders of the Tantai Family, it was also being targeted by the Door. Therefore, it gave me time to escape"


    Fang Yuan appeared solemn.


    He knew that at that point in time, even if he was able to escape from the Tantai Family, the Door would never have let him passed. He was only able to smoothly escape because of the ghost. The ghost had become a scapegoat for Fang Yuan, giving him enough time to make his escape.


    "Even so, how could this ''Strange'' Level ghost end up as a mere ''Murderous'' Level ghost after being severely injured?"


    ''Strange'' meant that the ghost would be strange and unpredictable!


    This experience of toying with humans and altering their memories was only a child''s play.


    The truly strange and unpredictable act would be, for instance, warping time and space, messing around with karma and even making one think that he was alive even after killing him!


    Even a top-notch exorcist would die without knowing why it encountered a Strange Level ghost.


    "Anything that is Strange would affect the entire area. If it appears, it will affect hundreds or even thousands of people... and the effect might last for over a hundred years, affecting the descendants of those affected as well..."


    As for why there was so little information about such beings, Fang Yuan predicted that these Strange beings had the ability to control information over a large area. Therefore, they were able to alter all news, reports and even the attention of the humans within the area, allowing them to be unaware of these obvious ''anomalies''!


    "Such Strange beings... it will be rare to encounter them."


    Fang Yuan felt that if anyone else, even exorcists, were to hear his theory, they would most probably think that he was mad.


    These were things which others did not want to encounter. However, he wanted to actively seek for such a presence.


    "It''s a pity... I don''t know where to start. Do I really need to explore the entire world?"


    Fang Yuan sighed. "I could probably expand Ma Wencai''s reputation and even release some information regarding his identity... in an attempt to attract even more exorcists here!"


    To him, this was no longer a period of staying low.


    Before the 20-year cycle returned, he had to attempt to seal as many ghosts as possible to increase his own abilities! For the final showdown!


    For that, his initial plan of hiding in Ma Wencai''s office would no longer work out. He had to immerse himself into the community of exorcists of this world.


    Fang Yuan slowed mulled over his own future as he casually hailed a cab and returned to the Ma Paranormal Detective Corporation.


    "How did it go?"


    Ma Xiaoling welcomed Fang Yuan back as she gazed at her friend-cum-teacher nervously.


    "Don''t worry... it''s been settled!"


    Fang Yuan revealed a relaxed smile.


    "That''s great..."


    Ma Xiaoling patted her chest and heaved a deep breath. "That female student is such a poor thing..."


    "Instead of talking about her, why not think about what we should eat for dinner."


    Fang Yuan casually retorted and Ma Wencai nodded his head violently. It was obvious that he was hungry too.


    "Alright! I shall cook up a feast tonight!"


    Ma Xiaoling''s culinary skills were rather impressive, especially after Fang Yuan''s guidance. She could go out and become a chef and no one would suspect anything. As soon as she donned her apron, she seemed to have transformed into a different person. "I shall bake a cake first. If any of you are hungry, you can have that as an appetizer."


    ...


    Just as Fang Yuan was enjoying Xiaoling''s strawberry cake.


    A long train slowly came to a halt as it arrived at a station. A male in a brown jacket wearing a cap and carrying a suitcase walked out to the station platform.


    "My home... Never would I have thought that I will return here!"


    His right eye had an obvious knife scar which gave him a ferocious look. Fortunately, he did not go blind because of the scar.


    "Hey... Brother, Sister-in-law, it''s me! Bingqi!"


    He came to a public phone, tossed a coin in and dialled a number. "I heard about Xia''s death! He is still my nephew no matter what! Funeral? I won''t be going already. It isn''t a good thing if I were to meet up with you guys now! Didn''t I say that we have to cut all ties before?"


    Lu Bingqi cut the call even though there were sounds of crying on the other side. With that, his expression turned into a stern one. "Regardless if it is a person or a ''thing'', as long as you touch my nephew, I will make you pay! Even if it means costing my life!"


    "Ahh!"


    At this point in time, Lu Bingqi suddenly held his right eye as blood seeped through his fingers.


    "It''s... It''s coming again!"


    He lowered his palm, revealing his bloodied right eye. Scarily, this eye suddenly turned white.


    Lu Bingqi closed his left eye. With only his right eye, he could see a shadow flashing by across the public phone.


    "It''s... that thing! It has followed me all the way here!"


    In that instant, Lu Bingqi could see scratch marks as the entire public phone booth crumbled. Blood started to flow from it, turning the entire place into a pool of blood.


    "Run!"


    Calmly, he pushed the glass door of the booth open and fled.


    "This person..."


    "He''s crazy!"


    "Did he see a ghost?"


    ...


    The people who were queuing behind him could only see a weird man stumbling his way out of the telephone booth as though he was running for his life.


    "Rumble!"


    In the next moment, a huge truck out of control rammed into the telephone booth, crumbling it.


    The few who could not escape in time turned into a pile of bloodied mess. Their limbs flew about and blood spewed everywhere.


    "Weewoo Weewooo!"


    Not long after, the fire engine and ambulance had arrived at the scene and got to work immediately.


    From a corner not far away, Lu Bingqi witnessed everything as his right eye slowly turned to normal. "It has killed another 3 people... It is too reckless!"


    It was a shock for him to encounter such a scene as soon as he returned to his homeland.


    "Time passes very quickly. It has been 5 to 6 years since then... Never would I have thought that I will return home under such circumstances!"


    Lu Binqi zipped up his windbreaker and disappeared among the crowd.


    ...


    "Master..."


    At the same time, a person dressed up as a monk started to walk away from the station. As he witnessed the bloody scene, he closed his eyes and started to recite a mantra. "Many of you have died in inexplicable ways. However, I have instructions from my Master to resolve the issue at hand. If I am able to survive that, I will surely return to perform a ritual for all of you to find peace! Namo Amituofo!"


    "Hey... monk, where are you going?"


    A cab driver smiled. "I can bring you there!"


    "Please don''t. I have legs and it is already wrong for me to take the train this time... Since I have arrived at my destination, I need to complete the journey by walking!"


    "Keke, what a monk! You are as stupid as those Masters!"


    The cab driver smiled. "Where are you going? I can give you the general direction!"


    "I will be thankful for that! I am going to the Chen Residences of the Red River Village!"


    The young monk placed his hands together. "Do you happen to know where it is?"


    "Chen Residences? Are you after the bounty? If that is so, you''re late..."


    "Bounty?"


    The monk was stunned. "I have no idea about that. Please elaborate, if you will."


    In his heart, he was shocked. ''Master had gone down the wrong path and was confused by a curse. Since then, he had sinned too many times. As his disciple, I cannot follow his path and I can only try to make it up for his wrongdoings. The issue at the Chen Residences was taken over from Master as well... sigh, since the wrongdoing has already been committed, it is already too late to regret!"


    "Alright!"


    Since the cab driver was had no business, he did not mind a small chat. With that, he started to explain everything that happened in the Chen Residences and the young monk was in disbelief.


    "The ghost has been discovered? The government sealed up the residences? The paranormal issue in the residences had been resolved? The Ma Paranormal Detective Corporation?"

 515 The Monk

    The Chen Residences.


    Ever since news of the ghost appearing in the residences spread, the price of property around the residences plunged. Not long after, the government had intervened to seal up the place and there were a few strange scientists conducting investigations in the residences every now and then.


    Unfortunately, 3 to 4 years ago, the ghost had already disappeared. After many rounds of investigations, the researchers and scientists had to concur with the results. They had shifted most of their manpower away and only left 1 to security guards to guard the place.


    "Sigh... this is boring. When will days like this end?"


    In a police post before the Chen Residences, a young policeman yawned. "I''ve heard that this place was haunted! Is that so?"


    "Hehe... Don''t think about it!"


    Beside him, a middle-aged policeman took a deep breath on his cigar. "At that time... you wouldn''t know how scary it was inside. Whoever entered the residences will die a gruesome death... At that time, we would draw lots to decide who to take the shift here."


    "Could there be... a real ghost?"


    The young policeman took a quick look at the abandoned residences and shivered in fear


    "What else do you think there was?"


    The middle-aged policeman scoffed. "Our task now is much simpler. We just have to prevent all the reckless paranormal lovers from entering... Although there is no danger in the residences now, no one can be absolutely sure. In fact, we are only here to remind them of the possible dangers. If they are still stubborn, then there''s nothing we can do."


    "Wait up¡­.. I think I see one of them!"


    The young man rubbed his eyes as he looked at a person dressed up as a monk walking into the residences.


    "F*ck, are my eyes playing tricks on me? He''s walking really fast!"


    "No... This person seems real, I can see him too!"


    The middle-aged policeman nodded his head solemnly. "This person seems to be a true Master with some cultivation!"


    "What should we do? Should we follow him?"


    "We''ll go back to sleep!"


    The middle-aged policeman rolled his eyes. "This Master might not be afraid of ghosts, but we sure are! What if something happens inside? They will surely blame it on us! The only thing we should do now is to prepare a report!"


    "Chen Residences!"


    At this point in time, the young monk had arrived at the residences and a look of sorrow was displayed on his face. "That fateful year... my Master became evil and coincidently encountered Chen Xinbo who was grieving over his daughter''s death. Therefore, he made use of Chen Xinbo to nurture a ghost!"


    His Master was a powerful monk and a respectable one too. However, because of something bad that had happened to him, his personality changed and he turned evil.


    Of course, Chen Xinbo wouldn''t know all of these. Instead, he wholeheartedly trusted the monk and did not bury his daughter''s remains. Instead, he had put in place a ritual in hopes of recalling his daughter''s soul back.


    However, it was not long before another monk found out about this Master''s doings. This Master had unfortunately died and was not able to rectify all of these here, which resulted in a tragedy.


    "Amituofo... I am unable to complete the ritual to allow the wronged souls to seek peace. I can only recite the Rebirth in Pure Land Mantra 999 times to strengthen the seal... but now..."


    He examined the surroundings. Although everywhere was in a mess, there were no sinister vibes.


    "This is the place where the ritual to recall the soul was conducted, right?"


    Following his gut feelings, he arrived at the second floor before entering the room where the ritual was conducted.


    The room was already in a mess. Remains of the corpse or even their property were already taken away by the authorities for further investigation.


    "The ghost... it is indeed being dealt with already!"


    The young monk examined the surroundings and heaved a sigh of relief. "This is a good deed!" I shall engrave the words of the Mantra of Vajrasattva in the vicinity to allow this evil ghost to remain in hibernation for an even longer period of time... Could Ma Wencai be a monk who specialises in exorcism too?"


    He initially thought that this would be a perilous task. Never would he knew that he would accomplish it so easily.


    The monk was jubilant and started to appreciate Ma Wencai for what he had done.


    Buddhism was all about karma.


    This was something which his Master had caused and therefore it was something he had to return. If someone else helped him resolved the issue, although the problem at the Chen Residences would have been resolved, he would have to repay the favour.


    "Eh? That master is coming out!"


    In the police post, the two policemen wanted to chase after him. Suddenly, they were being attracted by the happenings in the Chen Family.


    In there, one of the walls suddenly started to glow in a brilliant gold hue as engraved runes filled the walls. In an instant, the glow dimmed and became no more.


    "A Master! A true Master indeed!"


    The young policeman gasped. Unfortunately, before he could go up to the monk, the monk was long gone.


    ...


    "It will be good to establish good ties with them!"


    The monk was extremely quick as he moved. However, he was able to retain his calm composure as he rushed his way, which was indeed impressive.


    "The issue at Chen Residences is settled. Next up will be to pay a visit to the Ma Paranormal Detective Corporation!"


    He mumbled to himself but soon after, he appeared confused. "Ma Wencai? I have never heard of him in The Exorcists Alliance! Sigh... since 15 years ago, the Tantai Family no longer came out and the entire world is slowly turning into a mess..."


    15 years ago, the Tantai Family was the most powerful among the exorcists in The Exorcists Alliance!


    Everyone who came from the Tantai Family had exceptional abilities. However, the entire family disappeared without a trace all of a sudden which made many of them feel that their absence was regretful.


    "However, before Master turned evil, he did mention that everyone in the Tantai Family is cursed... With this curse, it seems like they must have encountered some sort of danger..."


    Even he was unwilling to be pessimistic about it.


    After all, if the Tantai Family, the most powerful family of exorcists were to be wiped out, this would mean that all hope for mankind would be lost.


    "Buddha... If you are truly existent, please let this world become normal!"


    The monk sighed. Suddenly, he froze in his steps. "That is..."


    "Pa!"


    A man in a windbreaker knocked into him. At that moment, extreme fear filled the monk''s heart.


    "Amituofo..."


    He started to continuously chant his mantra as his hands shivered in fear. "Such a feeling... It seems as though I had seen the person who had turned Master evil... It is hell! Everyone, including the grandmasters, had done their best. Did it have no effect at all?


    According to his Master''s revelation just before he died, the monk knew that there was the existence of ''hell'' in the realm.


    Even his Master could be affected by the demon before turning evil to commit all the wrongdoings.


    For that, the few grandmasters who were living in isolation were shocked. They came down the mountain in anger and wanted to seal up this ''hell''.


    However, they never returned and the young monk always thought that the new grandmasters had combined forces and were annihilated together with the ''hell''. Never would he have thought that this being would still be in the realm, peering into the souls of humans without restraint!


    "This issue... I cannot ignore it! Also... I will have to investigate where my grandmasters ended up!"


    The young monk had come to a conclusion for himself and seemed determined.


    He came from the Golden Mountain Monastery and was once part of the exorcists. They were only second to the Tantai Family at that time.


    However, because of that so-called ''hell'', most of the powerful beings of the monastery were wiped out and what was left were a few weak monks.


    Until now, he was the only one who was powerful enough to start exploring the outside world!


    This was a vengeance for the entire Monastery and he had to avenge all of them!


    ''Although I do not know where it is, I remember Master telling me that this being has the ability to see through one''s weaknesses... Has it arrived here? I need to investigate further!''


    The young monk silently chanted a mantra and an invisible palm print landed on the body of the man in the windbreaker.


    ''Indeed... Our spiritual auras have merely come into contact and I can already feel so much fear...''


    He shook his head and did not follow that man. Instead, he stuck to his original plan and arrived at the Ma Paranormal Detective Corporation.


    "Amituofo! I wish to see the owner!"


    "Eh?"


    Ma Wencai was in his pyjamas and a toothbrush stuck out of his mouth. He revealed a disgusted expression. "We do not give donations here. We do not provide vegetarian food as well!"


    "Father! Is that how you treat guests?"


    Ma Xiaoling rolled her eyes. "Master, please take a seat. Have you encountered any troubles?"


    "No... I am here to thank all of you for what you''ve done at the Chen Residences!"


    The monk placed his palms together and displayed a look of disappointment as he looked at Ma Wencai. As he examined Ma Xiaoling, he nodded his head. "A comrade indeed!"


    "Comrade? Eh? Are you talking about me?"


    Ma Xiaoling pointed to herself.


    "Since you have the Yin Yang Eye, you are therefore a comrade. Are you not the one who resolved the issue at the Chen Residences?"


    The monk sounded a little confused.


    "It''s me... and it''s also not me! That is resolved by the colleagues here at the corporation, but it''s not just me!"


    Ma Xiaoling revealed a look of embarrassment. "I''ll help you call for him. Although Yuan has always been lazy and is mostly unwilling to meet strangers, he has become diligent recently. Oh, Master, what do I address you by?"


    "Amituofo¡­.. My Buddhist name is Jiese[1]!"


    "Pfft!"


    Before Ma Xiaoling could react, Ma Wencai spat the water from his mouth before laughing. "Jie... Jiese? Wahahaha... Why would you have such a name, little monk?"


    "Amituofo. Everything is fleeting, so why would a name matter?"


    Master Jiese spoke in a serious tone. However, his slightly flushed face showed that he still knew what his name meant.


    "Just admit it... you''re a lustful monk!"


    ...


    "Jiese?"


    In the backyard, Fang Yuan overheard their conversation and felt interested. "Alright! Just by this name alone, I feel that it''s worth to meet this monk!"


    He arrived at the living room and met Master Jiese.


    Master Jiese was very young. However, his muscles were bulging which showed that he was well-versed in his martial arts. Furthermore, there was a Buddhist vibe lingering around him, which was the rare sign that this person had a true cultivation in Buddhism.


    "I am Fang Yuan. Master Jiese, are you here regarding the issue at the Chen Residences?"


    "That''s right... My Master''s mistake resulted in a huge problem. As his disciple, I can only try my best to make up for it..."


    Jiese the Monk started to explain what had happened years ago and started to look at Fang Yuan in a different light.


    Ever since he had come down from the mountains, he had never come across a person which he was unable to see through.


    [1]: Jiese means ''To abstain from lust''

 516 Pawnshop

    "The Exorcists Alliance?"


    After probing, Fang Yuan received shocking information from Jiese the Monk. "There is such an organisation in the world?!"


    "Of course!"


    Jiese the Monk smiled but was utterly stunned.


    How could such a powerful exorcist not know the existence of The Exorcists Alliance? He was like a barbarian living in the woods!


    "What an organisation..."


    Upon hearing their conversation, Ma Xiaoling''s mouth was agape.


    "The Exorcists Alliance is an international organisation with many members from different countries. For instance, the Curse Magicians and Vermin Lords from Southeast Asia, as well as the Black Magicians and Pastors from the West... Everyone will exchange information with each other and help each other out... After all, against these threats, we humans are just too weak! Amituofo..."


    Jiese the Monk revealed a look of desolation and resembled a respectable monk in that instant.


    "If that is so... Master Jiese, you only know the existence of the Chen Residences after reading the scrolls left behind by your master, Master Yunhai..."


    Fang Yuan was speechless. "You must be really kind! It has already been so many years since that incident!"


    "That''s right!"


    This was a piece of memory etched into Ma Xiaoling''s mind. "If not for Brother Fang Yuan who saved us, my father and I would''ve died in there."


    "Amituofo... I''m really sorry to hear this!"


    Jiese the Monk placed his palms together in front of his chest. "I did not receive my Master''s belongings after his death. That piece of record was only passed to me by the elders after I had left the mountains after my training."


    "It seems like the elders are even afraid of you as well and had already lost all hope of bringing the Monastery back together..."


    Fang Yuan started to feel interested. "Monk, what are your plans after this?"


    "Since the issue at the Chen Residences has been settled, I will prepare to avenge my Master... The ''Hell'' which had tempted my Master to the dark side is still living in the world. I had only just come across one of its traders."


    Jiese the Monk spoke the truth.


    "Hell? I''m interested in this!"


    Fang Yuan raised his cup of coffee. "Can you tell me more about it in detail?"


    "I only heard about this from my elders as well as from the records. I do not know much about it. The only thing I know is that this ''Hell'' is a building in the alternate dimension. Therefore, it is able to appear in any part of the world and influence humans to do its bidding!"


    "That place seems like a breeding ground for all sorts of curses and ghosts. In the Recalling Spirit Ritual at the Chen Residences, I suspect that ''it'' had influenced Master Yunhai to do its bidding. After all, the Golden Mountain Monastery is only known for exorcism and peace-seeking rituals, not the Recalling Spirit Ritual."


    "Oh? Who would''ve guessed that this would be the truth?"


    Fang Yuan nodded his head. With a large affected area and a building in an alternate dimension, together with the ability to create curses, the source of this ghost might just be one at the ''Strange'' Level!


    ''Is my fate changing?''


    Fang Yuan was elated but he remained composed on the outside. "If there is really such a place, it will be the nightmare for mankind. I''ve decided to help Master in dealing with this Hell!"


    "Amituofo! You..."


    Jiese the Monk was stunned beyond words. This was the first time someone had volunteered themselves after hearing about the terrors of the Hell.


    "There''s nothing more to say. It''s my mission to protect the peace in this world!"


    Fang Yuan spoke with justice as Ma Xiaoling and Ma Wencai rolled their eyes.


    "Regardless, it is great that you are willing to help me!"


    Although he did not know why Fang Yuan would take the initiative to help him, it was still a good thing for him to gain such a powerful ally. Jiese the Monk quickly thanked Fang Yuan.


    "Oh and one thing... how does the building look like?"


    "Rumour has it that... it should be a pawnshop!"


    ...


    "Huff! Huff!"


    At the same time, in a small motel.


    Lu Bingqi was on all fours as he breathed heavily like a dog. It was as though he was being saved from drowning. "Finally... it has ended! This is the time, activate, pawnshop!"


    He took out something which resembled a black name card, bit on his own thumb and smeared the blood on it.


    In that instant, the dirty and stuffy room suddenly began to transform.


    A dark alternate dimension had transcended!


    "Whoooo! Whoooo!"


    There was a dark fog all around and a full moon was high in the night sky. A modern-looking pawnshop appeared before Lu Bingqi and the walls of the pawnshop were covered in green ghostly flames.


    "Paranormal Pawnshop!"


    Lu Bingqi clenched his teeth. He pushed the door open and walked down a familiar path into a room.


    In the room, there was only a chair. As he sat on the chair, a bright flash sparkled before him, forming a row of twisted-looking words:


    "Escaping from the life-threatening evil ghost alive, completed! You can initiate 1 trade!"


    "We''re back here!"


    Lu Bingqi rubbed his right eye and recalled the first time he had come to the Paranormal Pawnshop.


    He had the dream to explore the world when he was younger and had left his hometown to make a name for himself. Although reality gave him a tight slap, he was still able to survive in a foreign country.


    However, a sudden car crash destroyed all that he had.


    The impact of the car crash was still fresh in his mind. As soon as he woke up, he was already here! This was the true... Hell!


    ''You are already dead! Now, you have two choices. Firstly, you can leave here to complete your death! Secondly, you can sign a contract and pawn your dead soul in exchange for a revival!''


    This was the first offer he had come across in the pawnshop.


    Since he knew that he was already dead, nothing could be worse. Of course, Lu Bingqi would choose the second option.


    When he woke up again, he realised that he had returned to the real world, where the car crash was. He was uninjured, but no one was shocked at the accident. To put things into context, he had turned into a pile of bloodied mess just moments ago!


    Therefore, he now entirely trusted the powers of the pawnshop and knew that his dead soul would forever belong to the pawnshop!


    However, this first trade was only the beginning of a series of nightmares!


    "I have passed this year''s tribulation... Because I do not belong here, I will have to face the life-threatening evil ghost every year on my death day. I need to continuously trade with the pawnshop in order to stay alive!"


    The scar on Lu Bingqi''s face started to hurt.


    Of course, the pawnshop was not a charitable organisation. In exchange for an eye which was able to see paranormal activity, Lu Bingqi had to give up his entire right eye and had to face a ghost for 3 straight days in a graveyard! It was an experience which almost drove him crazy!


    "Sometimes, the pawnshop will request for our lifespan, and other times they will request us to complete a certain task. Most of the time, these tasks will involve endangering us under curses... It is almost like this pawnshop owner is a psychopath who will take joy from looking at us escape death. Finally, he will harvest our injured souls!"


    Similar to a conventional pawnshop, the Paranormal Pawnshop was like a vampire.


    They had already put in place traps during the first trade to revive. Those who were fortunate enough to revive would have to continue to trade in order to stay alive.


    If one were to be fortunate enough to survive the annual encounter with the life-threatening ghost, they would gain an opportunity to trade in the pawnshop and no one would give up such an opportunity.


    "To newcomers, the first encounter with the life-threatening ghost will be the most dangerous. However, once they survive it, they will be able to engage in a trade to strengthen themselves. Of course, since this will be their first trade since their revival, the pawnshop will give them a discount. They will not require them to complete any task but instead will just draw from their lifespan, joy or flesh to strengthen them. It is as though they want us to become stronger so they can further toy with us!"


    Lu Bingqi sighed as he felt extreme fatigue all over his body.


    However, through some ''Experienced Seniors'', he had gained some insider information.


    If he was able to pay the price, he would be able to redeem his own soul back!


    If not for this, most customers of the pawnshop would have given up hope.


    "It is rumoured that if I engage in more than 7 trades, the option to redeem my soul will appear!"


    Lu Bingqi didn''t know if this rumour was true. However, he could only choose to believe it.


    "The pawnshop is not a charitable organisation. In theory, you will be able to request anything from it as long as you are able to pay for it!"


    Lu Bingqi held his chest. "Pawnshop, How much will I have to pay if I want to avenge my nephew, Lu Xia?"


    "Rumble!"


    The green glow faded before him, but there were no new words.


    Lu Bingqi felt a sense of familiarity. "It is unable to complete. Could it be because I don''t have enough to trade? Could Xia have really died in an accident? No... I''ve checked before. There are 2 deaths and 1 missing person during that period. How can such a strange death be normal? If not for the fact that Wu Lu had lost her memory, I could''ve known even more about Xia''s death... As of now, it seems like it is related to a certain curse from a ghost?"


    Lu Qingqi had heard many experiences of his experienced seniors taking up such tasks.


    They either had to unseal a certain ghost or spread a certain curse. Regardless, all the tasks were evil and dangerous.


    "Pawnshop!"


    Thinking about this, Lu Bingqi clenched his teeth. "I shall change my request. I want to know the truth behind my nephew, Lu Xia''s death!"


    "Rumble!"


    Flames erupted before him and a streak of green words appeared:


    Pawnshop contract: To gain the truth behind Lu Xia''s death!


    Price: Unseal the ghost in the Chen Residences within 7 days from now. Stay in the residences for a night after unsealing the ghost!


    ...


    "It is not a request for my lifespan or flesh, but instead, a task to unseal a ghost!"


    Lu Bingqi sighed.


    As soon as the words glowed before him, it would that the contract would take effect immediately and he had to accomplish it! As long as he completed the task, he would be able to know the truth behind Lu Xia''s death!


    On this, the pawnshop was still worthy enough to be trusted.


    "However, this is a huge price to pay for just knowing the truth behind his death..."


    Lu Bingqi remained solemn. In the eyes of the pawnshop, an effective contract would mean that the things being traded were of equal value.


    "Is there something remarkable in the truth?"


    He mumbled to himself. This was the only explanation as to why the price to pay would be so high!

 517 Overcome

    "This is the trader from the Pawnshop?"


    While Lu Bingqi returned to reality and began to make preparations for the unleashing of the spirits, he had no idea that Fang Yuan and Jiese the Monk were watching him.


    "Amituofo, that''s right! I thought it was strange when I left the bus station, then when I met this person again, I was very sure that he was a trader from the Pawnshop!"


    Jiese the Monk clasped his hands together and shouted out the name of Buddha.


    Fang Yuan found that this little monk not only had a solid grounding in cultivation, but was also intelligent.


    This person had placed a tracking imprint on Fang Yuan upon meeting him for merely the first time. This was a clear indication of his devious nature.


    Nevertheless, in the current day and age, it was necessary to employ underhanded tactics in order to deal with more unscrupulous enemies.


    "Something is wrong!"


    Fang Yuan and Jiese covered up their tracks and began to travel back to where they came from. In the end, they still managed to make it to the Chen Residences.


    "Indeed¡­ the Spirit Recalling Ritual that my Master had imparted to Chen Xinbo is another one of the Pawnshop''s creations¡­"


    Lu Bingqi had already closed a few deals with the Pawnshop and was uncommonly skilled. He had dispatched of the two guards easily and strode into the Chen Residences unopposed.


    Jiese the Monk let out a sigh as he witnessed the scene.


    "This person has ill intentions. If he releases the evil spirits, the consequences will be dire. He must be stopped¡­"


    "Oh, are you talking about the ghost in the Chen Residences?"


    Fang Yuan grinned.


    "That''s nothing much to worry about. Let''s wait and see for now."


    Even if a paranormal entity like that appeared, Fang Yuan would destroy it all the same.


    ¡­...


    "Damn it!"


    Lu Bingqi wandered deep into the building and came to the elder daughter''s room. His right eye suddenly became bloodshot and his pupils dilated. He cast a sweeping glance and cursed loudly.


    "What the heck...why are there so many talismans placed here? Which bloody monk did this¡­"


    Although these talismans were not very effective against spirits, they could at least discourage evil spirits from convening in the area.


    Without hesitation, Lu Bingqi took out his little knife, black dog''s blood and other tools, and began to vandalise the walls so as to drown out the spiritual light emanating from it.


    It was dusk and the stars were out by the time he was finished.


    Lu Bingqi sucked in a deep breath and took out a piece of green jade. He then pressed it to a hollow on the floor.


    This was the original location in which Chen Xinbo devised the Spirit Recalling Ritual, and he had reactivated it!


    Since he was to release the spirit through the ritual, he had obviously brought along the necessary tools.


    The piece of jade was translucent and he could see veiny traces of red in it.


    In truth, the red lines were the products of hatred and blood, and when the jade was added into the array, it would become the key to releasing the evil spirit.


    "I cannot expect a malevolent spirit such as this to thank me upon its release. It is more likely to kill me!"


    Lu Bingqi gulped.


    But the agreement was already in place and he could not back out now.


    The Pawnshop had decreed that he stay here for a night after releasing the evil spirit. He had to do it!


    Or else, they would tag another evil spirit to him for the rest of his life, and he would suffer a terrible fate.


    To break a contract with the Pawnshop was to suffer a fate worse than death!


    This piece of advice was given to him by countless people, and he would never forget it.


    "Amituofo, I cannot bear to witness this any longer!"


    Jiese the Monk pounced on Lu Bingqi in a flash and snatched over the piece of blood jade.


    "I cannot let this spirit be revived and run amok as a menace!"


    "Where did you come from, monk? Don''t interfere in my business!"


    Lu Bingqi spoke coldly with every intention to kill.


    He was prepared to do anything just so he could survive. Also, he had done enough deals with the Pawnshop to acquire a few special abilities.


    For example, his right eye was able to detect paranormal activity and entities.


    "You have desecrated this place, a site set up by my Master...how can you say that this isn''t my business?"


    Jiese the Monk was simmering with anger and broke out into an attacking stance.


    He was not afraid, for he knew that the Buddha would look out for him and aid him in dealing with demonic creatures!


    "Hmph, seems like you are tired of living!"


    Lu Bingqi was aware of this monk''s background and knew that there was no way to resolve this peacefully. He glared at Jiese the Monk.


    "Don''t blame me if you die!"


    Out of his right eye, he could see the aura surrounding Jiese the Monk becoming thicker.


    At the same time, Jiese the Monk had a premonition of the other party extinguishing his aura, which would lead to dire consequences. He immediately flew forward and threw out his right palm.


    "Veda Palm!"


    Pak!


    Lu Bingqi sent his fist flying and retreated. It was clear that he was skilled in the martial arts and was quite the formidable fighter.


    In a blink, the two had traded multiple blows. It was a stalemate.


    "Wow...what a boring fight!"


    Fang Yuan yawned as he spectated the fight lazily.


    Finally, Jiese the Monk managed to disarm Lu Bingqi of his knife and palmed his right eye. A golden swastika appeared and sealed off the abilities of the right eye temporarily. He had been overcome.


    "You are finally done¡­"


    Fang Yuan stepped forward and examined the defeated Lu Bingqi.


    "You are a trader from the Pawnshop, is that right? You have been sent to release the spirit?"


    "You know about the Pawnshop?"


    Lu Bingqi was stunned but he shut his mouth and refused to say another word.


    "Would he die if he revealed information? Or does he simply not want to talk to us?"


    Fang Yuan turned around to face Jiese the Monk.


    "What should we do?"


    "Amituofo! When such a situation arises, we monks would beat the information out of them!"


    "Hmm, great suggestion! But I have a better idea!"


    Fang Yuan stood in front of Lu Bingqi with an indifferent look on his face, which gave Lu Bingqi the chills.


    "What are you going to do?"


    "Nothing?"


    Burn marks suddenly appeared on Fang Yuan''s face and his eyes turned blood red.


    "Wha¡­"


    Jiese the Monk had a more agitated response.


    Just as Fang Yuan released his inner demon, Jiese the Monk felt all his hairs stand on end and he retreated into the distance.


    "Are you¡­ even human?"


    "Of course I am! Long story, but I can do what spirits do¡­"


    Fang Yuan injected red rays of light into Lu Bingqi''s pupils and left him in a sluggish state while Fang Yuan riffled through his memories.


    "You are really human?"


    Jiese the Monk found it hard to believe. To him, Fang Yuan had become a terrifying spirit. He was spooked beyond measure.


    "He has the abilities of spirits...did he seal a spirit on his own body?"


    He was truly the successor to the Golden Mountain Monastery and had quickly come to an accurate conclusion.


    "Buddha used to say, ''If not me, then who?''. This young master has made a great sacrifice and is an inspiration to our generation!"


    Admiration aside, Jiese the Monk would never do that.


    He knew that if he sealed a spirit on his own body, he would most definitely die! The best case scenario would be a possession by an evil spirit, and he would live out his days like his master, in a demonic trance!"


    "Lu Xia''s uncle? Interesting!"


    Evil spirits could force mortal memories to reveal themselves. Fang Yuan learnt everything about Lu Bingqi after a short time.


    "You were forced to release the spirit, and intended to take revenge for your nephew as well? Hmm?"


    Although Lu Bingqi''s memories were laid bare for Fang Yuan to see, Fang Yuan also realised that there were many gaps.


    "The memories of the Pawnshop were blanked out! No...they were inaccessible to him! Indeed, there were mantras that were capable of countering the abilities of evil spirits¡­"


    Fang Yuan ceased using his divine technique and Lu Bingqi slowly regained his senses. He immediately felt a sharp iciness in his heart.


    "What...what did you do to me?"


    "Don''t be upset. We''re all professional exorcists and are here to help you out."


    Fang Yuan smiled and went on.


    "Do you not want to escape the control of the Pawnshop?"


    "You all want to deal with the Pawnshop?"


    Lu Bingqi shook his head.


    "That''s impossible! No one can destroy the Pawnshop. You have no idea about our desolation¡­ even the spirits of the lowest level cannot be defeated. This is the truth!"


    "Seems like you''re well aware of your situation. However, I am an exception¡­ Just a heads up. The evil spirit that killed your nephew Lu Xia was sealed up by yours truly."


    "What?"


    Lu Bingqi was more distressed than Fang Yuan expected. He went slack-jawed.


    "What did you say?"


    Fang Yuan continue blandly.


    "I know you are confused, but I can tell you the whole story!"


    When Fang Yuan was done explaining everything, Lu Bingqi was devastated.


    "So¡­ this is the truth? My god, I would have found out about the truth if I only waited a little longer. But I had to make a deal with the Pawnshop¡­ Haha¡­ I must be the dumbest person who has ever lived!"


    "What kind of deal? Explain!"


    Fang Yuan''s interest was piqued.


    "You explanation ties in with my investigations. I believe you. Since you have avenged my nephew, let me give you a caveat. The Pawnshop is worldly and has vast resources. You cannot hope to challenge them. Forget your plan and move on with your life!"


    "Don''t worry, I don''t do things that I don''t have confidence in!"


    Fang Yuan kept smiling.


    "Anyway, tell me everything you know about the Pawnshop, if there is nothing stopping you from doing so¡­"


    "Alright, if you insist!"


    Lu Bingqi began to share all that he knew, with Fang Yuan and Jiese the Monk listening intently beside him. As Lu Bingqi spoke on, their faces, Jiese''s especially, slowly morphed into stunned ones.


    "This is ridiculous. Such a thing actually exists in this world? So you''re saying that my Master was entranced by it?"

 518 An Idea

    "This means that if you do not unseal the ghost and fulfil the criteria of staying with it for one night, you will still die. This is the contents of the contract! It will not change because you have received the truth in advance!"


    After hearing Lu Bingqi''s description, Fang Yuan sighed. "Interesting... A pawnshop which secretly harvests the souls of humans and spreads curses around?"


    "None of this is interesting, okay?"


    Lu Bingqi rolled his eyes. "As soon as the pawnshop knows that I cannot pay the price, they will immediately confiscate the soul which I have pawned to them!"


    "Alright, alright, it''s just a ghost, right?"


    Fang Yuan causally threw the piece of Enmity Blood Jade into the array.


    "What are you doing?"


    Jiese the monk was shocked. With that, the three of them witnessed the blood streaks flowing out from the jade, staining the entire floor of the room a blood-red hue.


    "Bloop! Bloop!"


    The blood was being absorbed by the floor as though the entire room had come to live.


    Fang Yuan had a much easier time in initiating the array as compared to Lu Bingqi. In an instant, a sinister vibe filled the atmosphere.


    "Oh, Buddha... what have you done?"


    Jiese the Monk looked at Fang Yuan and was devastated.


    "Since he will die if he cannot complete the task, let''s try completing the task for him!"


    Fang Yuan shrugged his shoulders. To him, it would cost him almost no effort to seal the ghost back.


    "Even if you want to unseal the ghost, you have to let me be prepared!"


    Even Lu Bingqi had given up all hope. At least unseal my eye first... That ghost will surely target me first!"


    "There''s no need for that!"


    Fang Yuan raised his fist and smashed into mid-air.


    "Bang!"


    A female ghost in white appeared. As soon as she saw Fang Yuan, she shrieked, turned around and fled... fled...


    "Amituofo, oh Lord Buddha... what have you done to the female ghost?"


    Jiese the Monk mumbled to himself.


    "Whoosh!"


    Beside him, Fang Yuan had already turned into an illusionary shadow. In an instant, he appeared above the female ghost. Like a sun, he radiated heat and light and his shocking aura stunned the ghost. Quickly, he transformed into the shape of a giant eagle. "Heavenly Eagle Claw!"


    "Bang!"


    As the claw struck down, the female ghost disintegrated into powder.


    The sinister vibes which once filled the room quickly dissipated and was long gone.


    "Mmm? What did you guys say? I didn''t hear it too clearly..."


    Fang Yuan turned around and looked at the both of them.


    "No... Nothing much!"


    Lu Bingqi and Jiese the Monk were both utterly confused. Was that the terrorizing ghost which had toyed with them and forced them into desolation?


    Why did she seem like a piece of flimsy paper in front of Fang Yuan?


    "Amituofu... This is a miracle! This is the first time I have seen the power of an Arhat[1] in a human!"


    Jiese paid his greetings to Fang Yuan and treated him like a living Arhat.


    "You are able to use martial arts to destroy a ghost? I''m afraid that even the number one martial artist in the world is unable to do that, right?"


    Lu Bingqi''s eyes were wide open. "I now trust in your abilities. I hope that... you are able to seal that Hell up!"


    "This of course... We still have an entire night. You can repeat everything that you have said just now, but don''t miss out on a single detail!"


    Fang Yuan forcefully stomped on the ground, creating a hole in the floorboards. A white shadow seemed to have disintegrated once more.


    "If you are smart, leave us alone. Otherwise, I will destroy you!"


    The female ghost in white was destroyed by Fang Yuan too many times and could not restore its form in such a short time. Therefore, it was temporarily forced into hibernation.


    Indeed, she had obediently left them alone and no longer pestered them.


    "Take a look... Isn''t she reasonable?"


    Fang Yuan dusted his hands, crossed his legs and sat down while looking at the both of them.


    ''Compared to that female ghost, you''re more like the ghost!''


    Jiese the Monk and Lu Bingqi were speechless. Slowly, they accepted reality and their speechlessness turned into relieve and happiness.


    "Who would''ve thought that we will have such a powerful person among us humans that is able to counter ghosts with pure martial arts! This is unbelievable!"


    Jiese the Monk mumbled under his breath.


    "This is because of my unique physical stats!"


    Fang Yuan shook his head. For a normal person, having 2 to 3 times the stats of the average human would already be impressive enough.


    Such physical properties were still too weak against ghosts and curses. Therefore, most humans had already lost all hope in resisting.


    However, it was different for Fang Yuan. Although Fang Yuan''s stats were disrupted on his arrival, he was still able to break through the limit of the average human in this realm. Together with his Spirit Sealing Body complementing his combat power, Fang Yuan''s physical condition was 10 times the normal human and his strength was overbearing. Even if he were to be severely injured, he would not die and instead, he would be able to recover in no time.


    Such survivability and combat power would make Fang Yuan like a monster! He could be the only one powerful enough to deal with ghosts!


    ''Even if anyone were to become as strong as me through their martial arts, they will at most be able to destroy Spirit Level ghosts. Before a Murderous Level ghost, they will barely ensure their own survival. Against a Strange Level ghost, they have almost no chance of winning! No! They have zero chances of winning! They will be poor souls being toyed by these Strange Level ghosts... however, if they were to have the exorcism techniques and concoctions from the Tantai Family, they might just have a slim chance of survival!''


    Fang Yuan knew his own limits and did not dare to be reckless before a curse which was at the Strange Level.


    The only thing he could rely on now was his Spirit Sealing Body.


    He was not confident of entirely sealing up the Paranormal Pawnshop.


    After all, he had to find the source of the curse before he could entirely seal up the Strange Level curse. It would be useless to seal its split entities or other low-levelled curses.


    "Since the physical form of the Paranormal Pawnshop is in the alternate dimension, can you bring us there?"


    It was nightfall and a bonfire was lit in the middle of the Chen Residences. A fragrant and plump chicken was roasted over the fire. Jiese the Monk was salivating as he smeared seasoning all over the chicken. He was incredibly skilled at it and it seemed like he had secretly drunk alcohol and ate meat before.


    ''Jiese, oh Jiese. It seems like other than lust, this monk is after everything else...''


    Seeing this, Fang Yuan rolled his eyes. Although he knew that this was not what Jiese''s name meant, he could not help but think that way.


    Slowly, he shifted his attention to Lu Bingqi.


    "This... Even we the ''traders'' can only enter the pawnshop after smearing our blood on a name card after surviving our encounter with the life-threatening evil ghost. Only then will we be able to engage in a trade... Normally, we will not be able to enter the place."


    Lu Bingqi scratched his head. "Right... To think about it, I had already received the name card of this pawnshop before the accident happened. I had casually placed it in my wallet. Could this be a reason why I was chosen to enter the pawnshop?!"


    He smiled sheepishly.


    Obviously, if he knew the truth behind the pawnshop and how scary the pawnshop really was, he might not have made the same decision as he did previously.


    "Namecard? Let me take a look!"


    Fang Yuan glanced down and took a black name card from Lu Bingqi.


    There was a dim glow to the name card and the words were in gold. It had a luxurious appearance.


    "What''s written on it?


    Jiese the Monk took the name card from Fang Yuan and was filled with curiosity. However, he realised that could not read the words as well.


    "Paranormal Pawnshop!"


    Lu Bingqi spoke in a soft voice. "I''ve looked for normal humans and even exorcists to try reading the name card only to realise that only us traders are able to see the words on the card clearly!"


    "Hmm, it seems like there is a layer of protection being cast on it..."


    A gold hue flashed in Fang Yuan''s eyes as he suddenly gazed towards Lu Bingqi. "Hmmmmmm... We cannot remain passive. We need to actively seek them out."


    "Actively seek them out? What do you mean?"


    Lu Bingqi suddenly felt a chill down his spine as he could sense hostility from Fang Yuan''s glare.


    "Although we have unsealed the ghost, you still need to spend the night in the Chen Residences, right?"


    Fang Yuan smiled and looked at Lu Bingqi. "As soon as you leave the premises of the Chen Residences, the pawnshop will interfere and confiscate what you have mortgaged, right?"


    "Yes... that''s right..."


    Lu Bingqi sounded hoarse.


    He had mortgaged his soul! If the pawnshop were to confiscate it, he would die on the spot.


    "Are you still intending to struggle in this Hell all for that slim chance of hope?"


    Fang Yuan''s voice was tempting. "The rumour that you might redeem your soul might just be a hoax... You can test it out! In the real world, I have confidence that I am still able to retain your soul even if the pawnshop were to attempt to confiscate it."


    "Keke... forget it!"


    Lu Bingqi forced a smile.


    Compared to Fang Yuan who he knew nothing about, he would prefer to trust the pawnshop more. At least, the pawnshop would honour their promises.


    "Jiese, what do you think?"


    Fang Yuan looked towards the monk by his side.


    "Amituofo..."


    Jiese had already gobbled down an entire drumstick and was wiping the oil from his mouth before showing a straight face. "Since Mister Lu is already on the path of evil, if he continues to live, he will continue to engage in trades with the pawnshop and in the process release ghosts and curses to cause harm for the world. Considering the outcome, I cannot let all of these happen!"


    "F*ck! I knew that you are not a good monk from the beginning!"


    Lu Bingqi spoke with anger.


    His life was on the line. Of course he wanted to retaliate! However, after seeing Fang Yuan''s abilities from the previous fight, he knew that he did not have much of a choice.


    With that, he rolled his eyes in disgust. "What do you guys intend to do? Tell me!"


    "It''s simple. Break the deal, make the pawnshop interfere and from there, we shall test its abilities..."


    Fang Yuan looked around. "This place is very suitable... Of course, I will have to make some preparations. Monk, if you have any secret moves, use them now. I''m afraid you won''t have a chance later."


    "Amituofo, that is what I am thinking as well!"


    After a full meal, Jiese the Monk restored his calm and revered look. "It will be a good deed if we are able to settle this ''Hell'' once and for all!"


    [1]: Theravada Buddhism defines Arhat as one who has gained insight into the true nature of existence and has achieved nirvana.

 519 Punishmen

    Lu Bingqi found himself in an awkward position.


    From the beginning, he thought that Fang Yuan was his saviour.


    Now, he was clear that Fang Yuan was only treating him as a test subject!


    The most frustrating thing was that he was too weak to resist anything because he couldn''t even win a fight with Jiese the Monk!


    "Unsealing the ghost is only half of the task. The other half will require you to spend a night in the Chen Residences..."


    Fang Yuan dragged the regretful Lu Bingqi towards the entrance of the residences. "Monk, what''s up?"


    "Amituofo... I''ve already tried my best. However, we cannot be sure if the Buddha Array has any effect on the pawnshop..."


    Jiese the Monk spoke truthfully.


    "Wait up monk, isn''t there a Buddhist saying that saving a single life is more meritorious as compared to becoming Buddha? How can you do this to me?"


    Lu Bingqi screamed in desperation.


    "If killing one will allow me to save 10,000 others, even if I go to hell, I will do it!"


    Jiese the Monk retorted firmly.


    "You d*mned monk!"


    Lu Bingqi was already restless and could not resist as Fang Yuan dragged him out of the residences.


    "It''s over... I''m dead!"


    He mumbled to himself and shivered in fear as he recalled the outcomes of those who had gone back on their agreements.


    The real torture was not death itself, but the inability to die peacefully!


    In the Paranormal Pawnshop, there was a row of brains decorating the corridors which would send chills down the spine of whoever looked at it. Those were... the traders who had gone back on their words!


    Lu Bingqi knew that these traders were still alive and had been forced to stay alive for more than a hundred years.


    Their consciousnesses were locked up in a small dark room. Anything with wisdom would go crazy after a prolonged period in the room.


    This was intentional. The pawnshop had kept these brains alive to deter the rest from trying anything funny!


    Because of this, there were extremely few traders who dared to go against the pawnshop.


    But now, Lu Bingqi was being forced to do so.


    In the eyes of the pawnshop, there would be the same consequences regardless if one was forced or not!


    "It... It has come!"


    As soon as Lu Bingqi was being pulled out of the Chen Residences, he could feel a bad omen approaching as he wailed in despair.


    "Don''t worry! Of course, I know it''s coming!"


    Fang Yuan smiled and walked towards Lu Bingqi. Suddenly, with outstretched fingers, he poked them into Lu Bingqi''s eye sockets.


    "Ahhh!"


    Lu Bingqi''s right eye was being dug out and blood dripped everywhere as he screamed in pain.


    "I admire the lot of you who are daring enough to trade with the pawnshop in exchange for these strengthened abilities which are being tampered with... Although this Ghost Eye will allow you to see ghosts and give you strengthened abilities, if activated, they will explode inside you!"


    Fang Yuan scoffed as he examined the Ghost Eye in his hands.


    At that moment, the reflection of a soul appeared as it flew about in the eyeball.


    "Hmph, boring!"


    With a forceful clench of his fist, the entire eyeball exploded and even the powerful ghost within it disappeared in an instant.


    "Ah..."


    The one-eyed Lu Bingqi was rolling on the ground and wailed in pain. Suddenly, he held his head with both his hands. "It''s useless... When I signed the contract, they had already imprinted the mortgage seal on my soul! Now, it will be able to harvest my soul according to the contract..."


    "Amituofo, you don''t have to worry about this!"


    Jiese the Monk remained serious. "I have cast the Buddha Array so that your soul will be contained within you... Furthermore, even if your soul were to be pulled out of you, you don''t have to worry. Master Fang will pull your soul back."


    Lu Bingqi could slowly feel his soul being tugged out of his body. However, it only lasted for a few moments before another force pulled his soul back. The two forces pushed and pulled, leaving Lu Bingqi crawling on the ground like an exhausted dog.


    "Of course, our actions are likely to infuriate the pawnshop, making it retaliate."


    Fang Yuan nodded his head and examined the surroundings.


    A thick layer of black fog appeared and shrouded them.


    Amidst the green ghostly fire around, silhouettes appeared. These silhouettes turned into expressionless ghosts which began to flood towards them.


    "Since the curse and restrictions within Lu Bingqi are being lifted, they are now attacking from the outside?"


    Fang Yuan stood behind Lu Bingqi. His eyes turned golden as he swept his surroundings.


    Evidently, the pawnshop''s only target was Lu Bingqi.


    If it were to recklessly pull Lu Bingqi out, it would have to enter this alternate dimension, cutting itself off from its own source of curse energy!


    "Buddhas in 4 Directions, strengthen the fire! Om Mani Padme Hum! Om Mani Padme Hum!"


    Seeing the approaching swarm of ghosts, Jiese the Monk quickly strengthened the array. A golden pagoda slowly appeared and golden flames were burning on the sides of the pagoda.


    The swarm of ghosts arrived outside and remained emotionless but they remained outside and could not advance further.


    "Ha... Never would I have thought that the first time I will execute this array after leaving the mountains will be against so many wronged souls..."


    Jiese the Monk took in a cold breath. "Master Fang, don''t worry. I am still able to hold up!"


    "Is that so?"


    Fang Yuan pointed in a certain direction.


    A humongous female ghost appeared. Her size was almost as huge as the entire Chen Residences. With an opened mouth, she attempted to swallow the entire golden array. From her wide-opened mouth, countless ghosts floated out.


    "Rumble!"


    In an instant, the entire Buddha Array started to dim and cracks appeared on the ground beneath them.


    Jiese the Monk shook a little and spat out a mouthful of blood.


    "Sigh. At the end of everything, you are still too weak and you need me to help you!"


    Fang Yuan sighed before releasing the first ghost which he had sealed.


    "Whoooo!"


    A chilly breeze blew across them.


    The swarm of ghosts seemed to be shocked at something as they retreated.


    Even though this sealed ghost had dropped in its Level, it had still originated from a Strange Level curse! These common Spirit Level ghosts would surely be no match for it and therefore, they started to retreat.


    The humongous female ghost was relentless in her attacks. Sticking out her tongue, she started licking the array.


    Upon a closer look, they realised that this ''tongue'' was formed from countless human heads with bleeding eyes.


    "It''s another ''Murderous'' Level ghost!"


    Burnt marks started to appear on Fang Yuan''s face. He had activated the ability of the second Murderous ghost and flames erupted everywhere before overwhelming the female ghost.


    "This..."


    Jiese the Monk looked at Fang Yuan in shock. "How many ghostly souls have you sealed in your body?"


    "Not many, just two!"


    Fang Yuan remained calm and composed. "Although I had pushed that ghost into the alternate dimension, I cannot hold her there for long. She will be back soon."


    There was no way Jiese the Monk could deal with the Murderous Grade ghost. Fang Yuan had to deal with her himself!


    "Look after Lu Bingqi!"


    The scorched marks on Fang Yuan became increasingly obvious as it slowly covered over his original icy appearance.


    At this moment, a huge ghostly hand appeared in mid-air and crushed downwards.


    "Rumble!"


    The entire Buddha Array shattered in that instant and disintegrated into sparks.


    "Great!"


    Jiese the Monk took out a lace of Buddhist beads and wrapped them around Lu Bingqi before pulling him to safety.


    "Do you think you are powerful just because you are big in size?"


    Fang Yuan laughed as he shot towards the humongous female ghost.


    "Bang!"


    Like a bullet, Fang Yuan flew through the face of the female ghost. There were burn marks where he had flown through and her face started to disintegrate.


    "You are a mere Murderous Level ghost and there is no value in sealing you."


    Fang Yuan stood on the forehead of the female ghost and looked at her expressionless eyes.


    "I hate your expression!"


    As he mumbled under his breath, he struck his claw out and broke a test-tube of concoction before landing the claw in her eyes.


    With Fang Yuan''s abilities and the exorcism skills of the Tantai Family, he was able to inflict severe damage to the Murderous Level ghost.


    In that instant, the female ghost''s body started to warp and the faces on her tongue started to shriek in unison.


    "Heavenly Eagle... Slice!"


    Focusing his energy, Fang Yuan gripped his right hand tightly and a 10-metre-long energy sword appeared in his hands. With it, he sliced towards the female ghost.


    "Shiiingg!"


    The sword was quick.


    The female ghost was stunned. Slowly, her forehead started to break apart and her body became increasingly dim.


    "Amituofo... With the sword, you will be able to exterminate all sorts of ghosts!"


    Jiese the Monk was captivated at this scene and momentarily forgot that he was running away from the ghosts.


    "This is impossible!"


    Even Lu Bingqi could not believe his eyes.


    Even an experienced trader would not be able to survive if encountered with such a humongous female ghost!


    But what about this person before him?


    In a single slice, the most fearsome ghost which he had ever laid his eyes on disintegrated without a fight!


    How was this possible?


    These were the powerful ghosts which had forced him into desperation!


    At this moment, there was a turn of events!


    "Whoosh!"


    There was a quick flash and Lu Bingqi disappeared into thin air.


    "How is this possible?"


    Jiesi the Monk leapt towards Lu Bingqi, but all he caught was the lace of Buddhist beads.


    "Whoosh!"


    The lace broke and the Buddhist beads rolled on the ground, the sound resembling a mocking laughter.


    "Has Lu Bingqi been... pulled to the Paranormal Pawnshop?!"


    Fang Yuan walked over and seemed to be deep in his thoughts as he witnessed everything.


    "That''s right... It''s my fault that I''ve caused his death!"


    Jiese the Monk had a look of defeat on his face.


    In the surroundings, the swarm of ghosts and even the humongous female ghost were all gone.


    They were all here for Lu Bingqi. Now that he had been successfully pulled into the pawnshop, they would naturally disappear as though all that had happened was just an illusion.


    "Whatever!"


    Fang Yuan had a sneaky look on his face. "... Who said that we''ve lost?"


    ...


    "Bang!"


    Lu Bingqi fell onto the ground embarrassedly.


    The building of the Paranormal Pawnshop stood before him.


    The row of brains seemed to be focusing on him, hinting at him the possibility of experiencing mental torture.


    "No... I did not go against the agreement on purpose..."


    Lu Bingqi was desperate and fearful. "Let me off! Let me off this time!"

 520 Killing Through the Pawnshop

    "Ring! Ring!"


    Silhouettes of all sorts of shapes appeared around Lu Bingqi but all of them were motionless.


    He held his breath as he waited for the human form of the pawnshop to appear.


    One minute had passed, two minutes had passed... The expected punishment never came. Instead, the space around him shook as though it was chasing him away,


    "What''s happening? Had the pawnshop given up on punishing me?"


    Lu Bingqi was in shock.


    "Have you realised it? It is easy for you to get me here, but it''s going to be hard if you want to chase me away! Since I''m here now, it is not going to be easy to get rid of me!"


    A loud voice was heard coming from Lu Bingqi.


    "Are you... Mister Fang Yuan?!"


    Lu Bingqi was at lost. He knew that if Fang Yuan were to help him, he could still survive this ordeal.


    However, there was something even more shocking.


    His right eye was previously dug out. In his eye socket, blood started to gush out and a black silhouette emerged from it. It was a ghost!


    "Is this the Paranormal Pawnshop?"


    The ghost was scanning the building as Fang Yuan''s voice came out from it. "It is indeed hidden very well... Even my physical body is unable to detect this place!"


    Fang Yuan was merely a split entity!


    After sealing a ghost, he would be able to use its abilities.


    The previous Murderous Level ghost which Fang Yuan had just sealed had the abilities to alter memories, create split entities of itself and pull others into an alternate dimension.


    Before they had arrived at the Paranormal Pawnshop, Fang Yuan had secretly created a split entity of himself and entered Lu Bingqi''s body while he dealt the humongous female ghost by himself, therefore, putting the bait out.


    The Paranormal Pawnshop was indeed inflexible enough to have pulled Lu Bingqi straight into its own dimension to punish him.


    "Ring! Ring!"


    After realising that they were not able to chase Fang Yuan away, alarms started to shrill in the entire pawnshop. Instruments of torture flew in mid-air towards Fang Yuan.


    These instruments of torture were all cast with powerful curses which would allow them to deal with both humans and ghosts.


    A mere split entity at the Spirit Level could do little in the pawnshop against the powerful ghosts here. In an instant, Fang Yuan was forced to the corner.


    However, Fang Yuan left the split entity in Lu Bingqi not just to see the pawnshop. More importantly, it was to locate it.


    Although this was his last resort, he was still not desperate enough to go to such lengths.


    "It''s important to know that... the split entity of a Murderous Level ghost is only at the Spirit Level. However, this split entity is able to appear at will and always has the upper hand. This is because these split entities have a delicate connection to the actual body itself. It is even able to swap locations with the actual body in an instant!"


    "Buzz!"


    In the next moment, the original black ghost had disappeared and was replaced by Fang Yuan''s actual self!


    In the outside world, Jiese the Monk was utterly shocked at Fang Yuan turning into a ghost. However, Fang Yuan who was now in the pawnshop started to examine his surroundings in detail before nodding his head. "This place is indeed an alternate dimension! I can sense that... the source is here!"


    This was the source of a Strange Level paranormal presence! It was significant!


    In an instant, Fang Yuan turned into the most powerful form he could turn into. The abilities of two powerful ghosts stacked against each other and even his hands were partially ice and fire.


    "Kacha!"


    In the blink of an eye, the brutal instruments of torture were hit to the ground and turned into a pile of bent metal.


    At the same time, Fang Yuan could feel a huge pressure growing on him.


    It was the collective power of the paranormal presence here!


    The Strange Level curse had an area-wide effect which would last for thousands of years. It would mean a desolate world if placed upon the outside realm!


    How scary would it be for such a curse to explode to its full potential in this alternate dimension?


    At least Fang Yuan knew that if he did not release the abilities of the ghosts in him, his normal human body would not be able to withstand the curse for even a moment. He would have died in an instant!


    "The compressing void, the control of information, the vengeful curses... everything is collectively targeted at me now."


    The purple and black streaks on Fang Yuan''s body formed a unique pattern which started to expand all over his body.


    It was never a safe thing to release ghosts in the first place!


    If Fang Yuan previously only released 30% of the ghost''s abilities, now would be roughly 50%! It was close to the limit!


    If he really crossed the limit, there would only be two consequences.


    He could either force both ghosts out entirely and hope that they would go head-on with the Paranormal Pawnshop, resulting in both parties getting destroying each other leaving Fang Yuan alive to seal both of them back afterwards.


    Another option would be to allow the ghosts to completely take over his body to transform himself into a true evil ghost! There would be no turning back!


    Of course, considering Fang Yuan''s physical conditions, the limit in which he could release the ghost was relatively high!


    If he was a normal exorcist, he would already be close to his limit at 50%.


    "My physical condition exceeds the limitation the realm imposes on humans. Together with my True Spirit and strong willpower, I am not afraid of being overwhelmed by the ghosts. Therefore, for me, the limit of releasing the ghosts is 99%!"


    Fang Yuan quickly estimated his own limit by leveraging on his experience as a True Divine. With this, he was able to have so much confidence and delicate control.


    Against the pressure from the entire Paranormal Pawnshop, Fang Yuan had already released the ghosts'' abilities to 60%!


    "In fact... This is a competition to see who is better at controlling their abilities... This is a true fight among ghosts of the Strange Level, which involved the limits of control!"


    Fang Yuan''s face became increasingly ferocious and one of his eyes had already turned red. Together with his other gold eye, he looked extremely evil.


    "However... My opponent is ultimately a curse of the Strange Level... These two things which I have sealed might not be able to hold up for long!"


    A curse at the Strange Level was entirely more powerful than ghosts at the Murderous Level!


    Fang Yuan could only last so long because of his heightened physical conditions and the fact that the Paranormal Pawnshop was too inflexible in dealing with threats.


    Even so, without a strong foundation to resist the increasing pressure, Fang Yuan felt that his resistance was meaningless.


    "The only solution is to release the ghosts up to my limit. With that, I will be able to severely injure the curse of the pawnshop and quickly locate its source to seal it!"


    Fang Yuan''s eyes glistened with excitement. "Release!"


    "Rumble!"


    Unknowingly, Lu Bingqi who was watching the fight the whole time started to shiver even more violently.


    All he could see was two unknown evils appeared behind Fang Yuan, revealing their illusionary silhouettes.


    One of them was a charred corpse with bloodshot eyes.


    The other one was greenish-purple and gave of chilly vibes. A light blue glow was continuously pulsating from it!


    "Eh? Something''s not right..."


    The chilly vibes suddenly disappeared and Fang Yuan shuddered. "It''s the ghost at the beginning! It has regained all of its Strange Level abilities!"


    The first ghost which he had sealed was created a curse created by the collective effort of the Tantai Family. It was initially at the level of ''Strange'' but was injured by the ''Door'', sustaining an injury which lasted more than 10 years.


    However, in recent years, due to the fact that Fang Yuan had released it partially multiple times or the fact that it might be triggered by the pawnshop, it had restored its partial ability!


    "Strange Level curses have their own quirks but all of them are troublesome. However, I am fortunate. The curse of the pawnshop seems to be more of the preparatory type. If given time to prepare, it will be able to create ghost swarms and humongous ghosts which will then pose problems for me. However, my surprise invasion this time will allow me to kill my way to its source!"


    Fang Yuan focused and a streak of ice appeared before him which stretched into the sky.


    "Warping space? I know that too!"


    A tunnel was opened, revealing the other buildings within the pawnshop


    "Pa!"


    Fang Yuan stomped his feet on the ground. Like a cannonball, the wall in front crumbled, revealing the depths of the pawnshop.


    Lu Bingqi was utterly stunned and dumbfounded.


    "Ferocious! A ferocious being of the world! How could he forcefully tear down the pawnshop..."


    Lu Bingqi''s mouth was wide open but secretly, he was happy.


    If Fang Yuan succeeded, would he have a better chance of survival?


    "Wuuuu..."


    A sense of fear suddenly filled his heart and a green glow started to form words before him:


    "Emergency trade announcement!"


    "Kill the invader and gain the rights to redeem your soul! This trade is open to all!"


    ...


    All around the world, traders of the Paranormal Pawnshop twitched their eyebrows. Some of them were jubilant while others were deep in thought.


    "It''s panicking!"


    As a trader, Lu Bingqi knew what was happening now. "The pawnshop is panicking! This means that Mister Fang Yuan really has the ability to destroy the pawnshop!"


    At the same time, numerous traders started to appear before Fang Yuan. Some of them avoided him as soon as they arrived while others had a ferocious smile on their faces. "After killing you, I will be free!"


    "Idiots!"


    Without paying too much attention to them, Fang Yuan effortlessly wiped out all forms of resistance, turning them into a pile of bloodied mess.


    "A single trade is enough for me to redeem my soul?"


    In a flash, a pair of westerners appeared on the corridors of the pawnshop.


    The female had skin as white as milk and she seemed focused. "If I use my black magic, I might succeed!"


    "No, I wouldn''t recommend you to do so!"


    The big burly westerner pulled her to a corner.


    "Thomas, why are you getting in my way?"


    "I don''t want to see you die for nothing! You must know that... this person is the enemy of the pawnshop!"


    Thomas swallowed his saliva. "You know that I have the blood of a psychic. My predictions are always spot on. Be careful, he''s here!"


    In the blink of an eye, the female witch noticed a reckless silhouette coming towards them.


    Before Fang Yuan, another black magician appeared. The black magician quickly chanted a mantra and a black hexagram array formed a protection around the black magician.


    "It''s President of Darkness''s curse! Eh..."


    As soon as the female witch became excited, the easterner waved his hands as though he was swatting a fly. In an instant, the protective curse was disabled and the president was being flung towards the wall, turning into a pile of blood and flesh. She did not even have the time or opportunity to retaliate.


    "Thomas... You''re right. This person is not someone we can afford to anger..."

 521 The Beginning of an End

    In reality, the Paranormal Pawnshop was not weak at all!


    Its defences were even stronger inside the pawnshop.


    Fang Yuan was constantly under the increasing pressure from the curse of the pawnshop!


    If not for the fact that he had already released both ghosts in his body and was resisting the pawnshop''s curse with his ''Strange'' Level Frosted Ghost, he would''ve died long ago.


    Even if he could survive, he would be tossed out of the dimension, or his memories would be altered, or his soul would be harvested.


    But now, Fang Yuan was as courageous as he ever was. He was against the pawnshop''s curse head-on and the traders which the pawnshop had strengthened were no match against Fang Yuan!


    "I''ve found it!"


    Suddenly, his gold and red eyes glared at a particular wall. Both his hands started to turn light-blue. "Open... up!"


    The pawnshop would surely hide its source in the depths of the alternate dimension. It would be futile to use physical brute force to destroy the wall.


    The only thing which could stand a chance against a Strange Level curse would be another Strang Level ghost!


    Therefore, Fang Yuan unreservedly used the abilities of his ghost to lock on to the deeper dimension behind the wall!


    "Kacha! Kacha!"


    The wall turned into ice and the dimension behind it froze as well and could no longer move.


    "Bang!"


    With that, Fang Yuan struck a simple punch out and a huge hole was indented into the wall.


    Behind the hole, there was a larger room.


    This hall would never have been visible in the pawnshop''s actual building. This was where its real source laid, hidden in the depths of the alternate dimension.


    But now, it was being infiltrated by Fang Yuan!


    The dark hall was huge and there were black statues which decorated the room. Most of them were ferocious-looking beasts, but some of them resembled fallen angels.


    In the middle of all the statues, there was a black-coloured stone platform which seemed to be entirely made out of obsidian. On the platform, there was a scroll of parchment!


    "The source of the curse!"


    Fang Yuan''s eyes glistened. Quickly, he transformed into a shadow and leapt towards the parchment.


    "Creaaaak!"


    In that instant, the eyes of the statues lit up and looked towards Fang Yuan.


    In the surroundings, swarms of ghosts appeared. It was like an army of ghosts which guarded the obsidian fiercely.


    "Get lost!"


    As he roared, his hands turned into ice and fire. With a casual flick, the wronged souls disappeared.


    "Bang!"


    A black statue pounced forward. It was a three-headed bat which was emitting a screeching vibration.


    "Die!"


    With a casual grip, the chilly claws destroyed the heads of the statue effortlessly. Blood gushed out of the status as though it was a real living thing.


    "These statues¡­.. Every single one of them seems like a Murderous Level ghost and a curse in itself!"


    Fang Yuan''s eyes glistened. As soon as the blood touched Fang Yuan, it evaporated instantly.


    There were at least a hundred of these stone statue ghosts in the room! Together with the Strange Level curse on the parchment, Fang Yuan would really be troubled if all of these paranormal beings were to attack him at once!


    Even with the Spirit Sealing Body, Fang Yuan had a limit and could not seal so many ghosts at once!


    "Get lost!"


    Fang Yuan clenched his teeth and the dark purple hue started to spread on his body. With that, he released the ghosts in him to his limit.


    "Keke!"


    The powerful force of a curse started to spread from Fang Yuan''s body. It was a curse of the Strange Level and the swarm of ghosts were easily chased away. Even the statue ghosts of the Murderous Level did not dare to advance any further.


    The entire room quietened down. Only the parchment on the obsidian platform was still emitting its evil glow.


    "I see... Only a curse of the Strange Level will be able to resist it!"


    As Fang Yuan rushed towards the platform, he realised that a new statue was rising up, blocking his way to the platform.


    It had the shape of a normal human being. It stretched its hands forward as though it was trying to grab the parchment. He was donned in an archaic attire and had a ponytail as well. His expression of fear and desperateness was extremely lifelike.


    "Is this... the first trader who had signed the contract with the pawnshop?"


    In an instant, Fang Yuan understood everything. "His agreement to the contract started the curse of the pawnshop. However, he did not have it easy as well. His soul was confiscated from him and his body was being used to spread the curse!"


    At this point in time, cracks resembling spiderwebs started to spread on the statues, revealing a human''s skin.


    The 30-year-old man stood up. Although he had the same appearance as the statue and wore a black religious robe, he was expressionless and his eyes were completely black as though they had become black holes of the universe. His eyes began to absorb light from the surroundings as he stood in front of the obsidian platform.


    "The human form of a Strange Level curse?!"


    Fang Yuan licked his lips and swung his right hand forward. "Heavenly Eagle Claw!"


    "Chirp! Chirp!"


    A huge eagle appeared behind him and its feathers had a blue icy hue. It had an icy crown on its head as well as it swung its claws towards the man in black.


    Against a strike which could severely injure a Murderous Level ghost, the man in black did not appear fearful. Instead, he merely raised both of his hands.


    "Whooo!"


    His black-hole-like eyes seemed to sparkle and in an instant, the giant eagle disappeared.


    "Pa!"


    As Fang Yuan''s claws met with the palms before him, he could feel his hairs standing on its ends.


    "This human form... is indestructible and will not die. Most importantly, its eyes have the ability to absorb spirits. If I am a normal human, just by looking at its eyes, my soul would''ve been harvested..."


    "Whoosh!"


    At this point in time, black chains shot out of the man like spider webs as they attempted to restrain Fang Yuan in the centre.


    "Even I will die if I am being absorbed into him!"


    Fang Yuan clenched his teeth. "Complete release!"


    "Buzz!"


    Everything froze for a moment.


    If anyone was around, they would see a purple frozen corpse crawling out of Fang Yuan''s body.


    As soon as it appeared, the chains around it froze into ice.


    This was an evil ghost at the Strange Level. Although it still had not restored its full abilities, it was already as powerful as the human form of the pawnshop!


    "Shiing!"


    It was as though the metal chains had realised something.


    The purple corpse disappeared into thin air. Suddenly, it appeared above the man in black and pressed downwards.


    "Bang!"


    The human form which Fang Yuan had failed to injure the slightest bit was being forcefully pressed down and the two curses were engaged in a fierce fight.


    "This is the best chance!"


    Fang Yuan transformed into a charred Murderous Level ghost and flew towards the obsidian platform.


    On his body, spirits started to appear and stretched their hands towards the parchment as well.


    "Whoosh!"


    One of the spirits arrived at the obsidian platform. However, a black streak of lightning struck down, disintegrating it.


    The second spirit managed to retrieve the parchment but froze on the spot and disintegrated!


    "This is the true source of the Strange Level curse... Even ghosts at the Spirit Level will be disintegrated as soon as they come into contact with it!"


    A few test subjects had continuously failed. However, this made Fang Yuan even more confident. He leapt towards the obsidian platform and swung his hand out.


    "Pa!"


    The parchment was held in his hands.


    "Seal!"


    A swirl started to appear on his palm and the parchment was being absorbed into it.


    "Ahhh!"


    The pain of being forced into a spirit started to spread across Fang Yuan''s body.


    "Do I need to experience the power of the curse before I seal it?"


    Fang Yuan clenched his teeth. If not for the fact that his physical conditions were at 15 points, he would have died under this curse and his Spirit Sealing Body would do nothing to help him survive!


    He seemed to seemingly experience flashbacks as he went back in time to the beginning of the pawnshop.


    ¡­..


    In an ancient-looking pawnshop.


    A man in black was crying before a coffin and a tablet. It was his late wife, Lanxin.


    "Why... why wouldn''t the heavens let us be together..."


    The man shouted as he questioned the heavens. There was no reaction from the heavens, but Hell responded.


    The ground beneath him split and a huge black hand stretched out from the depths of hell. It pulled out a piece of parchment and presented it to the man.


    "You want my soul and my everything? No problem!"


    After the man read the terms, he started to laugh heartily. "As long as I can see my Lanxin... I will agree to any condition!"


    In the next moment, the man had bit his thumb and signed the contract.


    "Rumble!"


    As soon as his blood landed on the parchment, the skies turned dark and thunder roared.


    "Whiizzzz!"


    The entire pawnshop was being pulled into an alternate dimension and the walls were being covered by a dark liquid. The pawnshop was undergoing an overhaul.


    As the owner of the pawnshop, the man lost his vision and the curse started to flow into him. He became the human form which bore the power of the parchment and started to explore the world to harvest souls.


    Fang Yuan knew that at the moment of agreeing to the contract, the curse had already confiscated this man''s soul.


    Hell had kept its promise to allow the man to be reunited with his wife. However, the reunion was in the depths of hell and the both of them were now dead!


    ...


    "For a woman he loved, he recklessly released this harmful curse?"


    In his right hand, the parchment was already entirely absorbed into the swirl and had disappeared.


    At that instant, the man in black who was pressed towards the ground disintegrated into powder.


    The source of the Strange Level curse and the Paranormal Pawnshop was finally sealed up!


    In that instant, before Fang Yuan could take another breath, the frozen corpse had already arrived above him!


    A completely released ghost would surely attempt to attack its owner!


    This time, it was different!


    Previously, Fang Yuan was up against a ghost which was severely injured by the Door, only comparable to a ghost at the Murderous Level.


    This time, the frozen corpse had partially restored its Strange Level abilities!


    "Kacha! Kacha!"


    In an instant, Fang Yuan turned into a frozen statue. He could not even twitch his eyelid.


    Outside, the entire Paranormal Pawnshop started to self-destruct and all the traders outside were in shock.

 522 Control

    "Is the Paranormal Pawnshop...collapsing?"


    The fortunate Lu Bingqi who did not die looked at the surrounding walls and ceiling. On their surfaces, numerous holes appeared and kept on expanding. It was as though they were pieces of paper being burned as they quickly turned into ashes.


    The entire body of the pawnshop was rapidly turning into nothingness.


    "Is the curse... gone?"


    Similarly, Thomas and his female partner looked at the slowly disappearing pawnshop in awe. They could not help but weep tears of joy.


    "Woong! Woong!"


    At the next moment.


    A ball of light appeared. The surviving traders were then kicked out of this alternate dimension as though they were intruders.


    The entire plane of black fog collapsed from its edges and into its core.


    Inside the dark hall.


    An ice statue stood still and emanated a terrifying spiritual aura.


    "Crackle!"


    The cracks in space quickly extended like a monster''s sharp claw as they came for where the statue stood.


    Suddenly, large amounts of cracks appeared on the ice as it exploded violently, revealing Fang Yuan.


    "What a close shave..."


    As Fang Yuan looked at the cracks in the space around him swarming towards him, he let out a long breath and disappeared in an instant.


    Back in reality.


    "Amituofo!"


    Jiese the Monk placed his palms together.


    "Fang Yuan, you are finally out! I heard from Lu Bingqi that you managed to break the curse of the pawnshop! What a magnanimous deed!"


    "I was just lucky!"


    Fang Yuan let out a long breath. What he said was true.


    When he sealed the parchment scroll at the very last moment, it was extremely dangerous. Luckily, the ghost he sealed did not disappoint him after all.


    However, after sealing the parchment scroll, Fang Yuan never expected to suffer from the backlash of that Strange Level frozen corpse.


    Even though Fang Yuan managed to re-seal the ghost at the very last moment, the extreme sense of chilliness still froze and turn him into an ice statue.


    Even with Fang Yuan''s original stats, he might not even be able to survive from that extremely icy temperature.


    ''Luckily, after sealing the curse of the pawnshop, my body''s physical property increased tremendously. Else, I''m afraid I would have been really trapped there... After all, that is the full power of a ''Strange'' Level curse...''


    With a lingering fear inside his heart, Fang Yuan then looked at his stats:


    "Name: Fang Yuan (Tantai Mieming)


    Essence: 25.0 (100)


    Spirit: 25.0 (100)


    Magic: 25.0 (100)


    Profession: Exorcist


    Technique: Exorcism (Peak), Pharmacy (Peak), Eagle Claw Grappling Technique (Peak)


    Skill: [Medicine (Level 3)], [Botany (Level 6)], [Fiery Golden Eyes (Level 1)], [Spirit Sealing Body (3rd Grade)]


    Spirit Sealing Body (3rd Grade): Your body is a weapon which is able to seal evil ghosts. You will able to seal any ghost that you come into contact with into your body! You have activated the 3rd Grade, and the capacity for sealing evil ghosts: 3! You can choose to release the ghost!"


    The pawnshop was indeed a Strange Level curse indeed! After sealing it, his stats increased greatly by 10 points!


    Such an increase in stats definitely became harder and harder as time passed.


    Furthermore, this was also due to the suppression by the higher-dimensional force on this realm.


    Hence, this was why a Strange Level curse was so horrifying!


    "If not for this little power, I would have most likely been frozen by the ghost''s last resistance before it was sealed. I would then be sucked into the space-time turbulence and who knows what would happen next."


    Fang Yuan clenched his fists tightly.


    Currently, after Fang Yuan sealed his third evil ghost which was a Strange Level one, he felt his body was full of energy. He felt as though his condition was at its peak and could not be any better.


    "From now on... Murderous Level evil ghosts would be nothing to me... By stacking and releasing two Strange Level curses, ghosts below Strange Level would definitely retreat. I wouldn''t even be afraid of ghost swarms."


    After Fang Yuan pondered, he opened his mouth and asked, "Two of you... why don''t we return to the detective agency first?"


    "I... I have to go too?"


    Lu Bingqi was rather surprised and afraid. However, he did not dare to disobey what Fang Yuan said.


    After all, this was the powerful person who destroyed the undefeatable pawnshop!


    ...


    The three ravaged looking people entered the detective corporation. Ma Xiaoling was startled and took the first aid box to bandage Lu Bingqi.


    After all, the wound on his eye had to be thoroughly dealt with.


    As for Fang Yuan, he immediately went into the room and began to experiment with the abilities he received after sealing his third curse.


    "Release!"


    He first tried to release 10% of the curse and his entire body changed at once.


    A black-coloured magnificent missionary-like robe automatically covered Fang Yuan''s body. His skin turned pale and his eyes turned as black as the mysterious universe.


    "This is... the might of a Strange Level curse at its prime?"


    Fang Yuan''s thought about it and black chains appeared on his hands. The chains coiled around his whole body closely and were hidden under his black robe. It was like some sort of secret weapon.


    "After sealing the strange pawnshop, the abilities I obtained are largely classified into three areas. The first one is the most important one, the ability to propagate the curse!"


    The pawnshop would make use of the traders to allow humans to release or create ghosts. In actual fact, this was the process of propagating the curse.


    "Although it is unlikely that I can create Strange Level curses, I can produce as many Spirit Level and Murderous Level ghosts as I want! I can even control them!"


    In other words, as long as Fang Yuan had the time, he could create a ''ghost swarm''.


    "The second ability will be the ability to harvest souls. There are two methods for this ability, one is by forcefully harvesting souls while the more passive way is through contracts."


    The source of this soul harvesting ability came from this pair of eyes that were like black holes in the universe.


    "And the third ability is regarding the manipulation of information in a large area... Although this ability is listed the last, its effects are definitely unbelievably shocking!"


    In simpler words, this so-called manipulation of information would be the alteration of collective memories in a large scope! It could potentially be a deadly killer weapon to human societies.


    Furthermore, the manipulation of such Strange Level curse was not limited to such.


    "Everything destroyed in reality can be restored by the curse. It can also be turned into an accident to make things appear logical and explicable!"


    This was the reason why the phenomena caused by the Strange Level curses were never broadcasted by human media!


    Even if it were to destruct a street in reality, it could repair the street back to what it was before in an instant. It could then alter all the witnesses'' memories and then insert a bunch of false replacements such as images of gas pipeline explosions, a crossfire between villains et cetera. Anyway, it would hide all sorts of paranormal activity under the guise of reasonable things.


    "With this ability, my progress in searching for other strange beings would be greatly increased..."


    Fang Yuan let out a long sigh.


    In actual fact, after Fang Yuan obtained such an ability to manipulate information in such a large scope, the human society would no longer be any threat to him.


    "They are all such practical abilities!"


    Fang Yuan walked out of the room and saw Jiese the Monk silently chanting scriptures in the living room whereas Lu Bingqi was gone without a trace.


    "That guest... said he wants to look for a doctor himself!"


    Ma Xiaoling kept her first aid box and was rather indignant, "I even wanted to use those precious and expensive concoctions! He''s not even appreciative at all!"


    "He''s gone?"


    Fang Yuan furrowed his brows. This was unexpected but reasonable.


    "Rest assured, he can''t be too far off."


    At that instant, a cold smile appeared on Fang Yuan''s face.


    The ability to control was not limited to controlling those ghosts!


    As a trader of the pawnshop, how could his body not have any traces of the pawnshop left behind?


    Now, Fang Yuan was the new Paranormal Pawnshop. Furthermore, he took over all the previous contracts and held the utmost authority over all these souls!


    ...


    A few streets away.


    Lu Bingqi escaped wretchedly and entered a dingy alley.


    "That person... after he settled the pawnshop, he would definitely be exhausted and that''s why he quickly secluded himself. If I don''t run away now, when will I ever get the opportunity to run away again?"


    Lu Bingqi placed his hand on the wall as he could not stop panting.


    "As long as I run far away again, I will be totally carefree! Haha..."


    Unfortunately, he could no longer see his family here.


    Lu Bingqi clenched his teeth without caring about the immense pain from his right eye as he prepared to leave.


    "Eh?"


    Suddenly, as though a joke was being played, he suddenly felt a severe pain from his body. It was as though a knife was slicing around inside his body. He fell onto the ground and retched up a pool of fresh blood.


    Also, this pool of blood had its own life as it curled about on the ground and formed bloody words.


    After Lu Bingqi saw the words clearly, his face turned ashen at once. The words were, "Return to the detective corporation immediately, or else... death!"


    "Impossible... when did he..."


    Lu Bingqi was scared out of his wits but could only head back unwillingly.


    In such a situation where his life was under someone else''s hands, he could only obediently obey what Fang Yuan ordered him.


    Not before long, Lu Bingqi reached the detective corporation. However, in his eyes, this detective corporation was even more horrifying than any demon lair.


    "Eh? You''re back, Mr Lu?"


    Ma Xiaoling was carrying a water basin and was rather surprised as she looked at the Lu Bingqi who returned, "Is your eye bandaged already?"


    "Eh... not yet..."


    Lu Bingqi was rather embarrassed. He then saw Fang Yuan who was sitting down and felt his legs go jelly at once, "Mr Fang... please spare me!"


    "Are you very surprised that you are cursed?"


    Fang Yuan shook his head as he continued, "In actual fact, this curse is not placed by me, it''s the pawnshop''s method of controlling.... Of course, the control has already been fully handed over to me."


    Fang Yuan was totally qualified to say all these.


    Moreover, even if Lu Bingqi were to commit suicide now, after death, his soul could only obediently follow Fang Yuan no matter what path it wanted to follow beforehand.


    After all, Lu Bingqi already signed the contract from the start and betrayed his own soul!


    "What? You don''t believe?"


    Fang Yuan looked at Lu Bingqi and smiled. Suddenly, Fang Yuan reached out his hand and grabbed Lu Bingqi''s chest.


    Lu Bingqi''s face changed immediately but felt no pain in his chest at all. However, something even more important than his heart was already in Fang Yuan''s hand.


    "Bang!"


    Lu Bingqi''s vision turned black and he collapsed. Suddenly, his vision brightened up again and he saw himself on the ground!


    "How''s this? Can you get used to your soul''s visual perspective?"


    Fang Yuan''s laughter could be heard.


    Lu Bingqi finally realised that he had already become much more illusory-looking and was floating in mid-air. His soul was even coiled by a black chain and the other end was held tightly by Fang Yuan!

 523 Mr Presiden

    "Do you see it now? The chains on your spirit represent the restriction the pawnshop has on you!"


    Fang Yuan did not hide the truth. "Since the day you signed the agreement with the pawnshop, your soul was no longer yours. It is now the property of the pawnshop! Of course, it is now my reward!"


    "Sir! Let me go, Sir!"


    Lu Bingqi in his spirit form cried out loud. If not for the fact that he did not have a body now, he would have probably peed in his pants out of fear.


    "You should feel fortunate that I am a compassionate person. Therefore, I shall give you another chance!"


    Fang Yuan waved his hands and the spirit returned to its body. In an instant, the black chains around the spirit disappeared.


    Everyone knew that the chain was not gone, but merely in another dimension.


    "Thank you, Sir! Thank you!"


    Lu Bingqi started to kowtow desperately. Fang Yuan''s actions had struck fear in him.


    By toying around with his spirit, Fang Yuan was no different from the pawnshop.


    And this was the truth.


    Fang Yuan raised his right hands up. In an instant, he could detect thousands of traders spread out across the world, connected to him by the chain of the agreement.


    ''Their souls are now mine. I can harvest them anytime... Of course, this is not the most important. More importantly, they are a decent fighting force that I can make use of!''


    After being strengthened by the pawnshop, these traders had the ability to exorcist ghosts as well. A minority of them even became elite exorcists!


    With them as a considerable fighting force, Fang Yuan could go ahead with many of his own plans and save his own effort.


    For instance, he could easily search for Strange Level ghosts and curses.


    "Amituofo..."


    Witnessing this scene, Jiese the Monk silently chanted his mantra and remained silent as his eyelid twitched.


    After all, Fang Yuan was still an exorcist and therefore, they were still on the same side.


    More importantly, he knew that even if he were to stand out, he could do nothing to stop Fang Yuan.


    "Jiese the Monk!"


    After dealing with Lu Bingqi, Fang Yuan turned around and looked at the monk.


    "Do you have any instructions?"


    Jiese the Monk remained composed. He was an exorcist and a smart one as well.


    "I am interested in ghosts and curses. The stronger the better..."


    Fang Yuan smiled. "Therefore... Can you contact the Exorcists Alliance on behalf of me and gather some information? I will deal with the troublesome ghosts for you. Of course, I will take some commision as well!"


    "No problem!"


    Jiese the Monk was all smiles. In his eyes, Fang Yuan was much more powerful than any living exorcist. He was the hope of humanity!


    As long as he was willing to help fight against the ghosts which were troubling the Exorcists Alliance, Jiese the Monk would do anything for him.


    "Know that I''m not interested in dealing with the petty ghosts..."


    Fang Yuan pointed a finger out. "I only want to deal with the powerful ghosts and curses. Hmmm... Ghosts and curses as powerful as the pawnshop!"


    "Ssss..."


    Even though Jiese the Monk knew of Fang Yuan''s weird hobby, he still shuddered in fear. "Yes... I understand."


    "Very well, be dismissed, the both of you!"


    Fang Yuan waved his hands and chased the both of them away before looking at the nervous Ma Xiaoling. "After finding out that I am such a person, do you fear me now?"


    "Not at all..."


    Ma Xiaoling shook her head. Ever since she had learnt exorcism from Fang Yuan, she already knew what kind of person Fang Yuan was. "The thing is... are you leaving?"


    "You''ve guessed it?"


    Fang Yuan smiled. "That''s right... It''s time I leave!"


    It was fate that Fang Yuan could meet the father and daughter. He had saved them and dealt with the ghost on their behalf and in return, they had taken care of him for the past few years. It was fair.


    However, humans had emotions and after living together for such a long period of time, they had developed a bond with one another.


    After this, Fang Yuan would actively search for powerful ghosts and curses and his life would be filled with danger. Although he was not afraid, the people around surely would be.


    "No... I want to be together with you!"


    Ma Xiaoling bit on her lips.


    "Girl, be good!"


    Seeing as she was about to cry, Fang Yuan felt a little amused. He walked up to her and stroked her hair. "After this, I will explore the entire world and I don''t even know where I''m about to go next!"


    After a pause, he continued. "I shall hand the garden over to you. You have already learnt about the theory of mixing the concoctions. As long as you treat it seriously and learn it properly, you two will be safe!"


    Fang Yuan had long extracted the essence of those mutated plants and turned them into concoctions. It was suitable to leave behind the most basic plants for Ma Xiaoling.


    "When... when are you going to leave?"


    After hearing how Fang Yuan had already prepared his final words, Ma Xiaoling knew that he had already made up his mind. With that, she felt disappointed.


    "I''ll wait for news. It might be soon."


    Fang Yuan replied casually. Inside, he was worried about how much information regarding Strange Level ghosts and curses could the Exorcists Alliance possibly provide him.


    ...


    In a village in the mountains.


    "Whoooo..."


    The silhouette of a lady whisked past quickly. "I''ve discovered that... the ghost is in the well! Anyone who drinks from this well will be cursed!"


    She seemed to be in her twenties and was wearing tight clothing. Most of her legs were exposed and she did not seem like a demure village lady at all. Instead, she resembled more of a leader in the city.


    "Bloop! Bloop!"


    At this point in time, from the ancient-looking well behind her, water started to overflow from the mouth of the well. A white-shirt ghost with long black hair emerged and approached her at a neck breaking speed.


    "What a joke... I, Chen Xin, am still a qualified exorcist of The Exorcists Alliance. How will I possibly die here?"


    Chen Xin exclaimed and thew a test tube backwards.


    "Piang!"


    The glass shattered and a thick fog emerged.


    The white figure behind froze as though it was afraid.


    "Haha... This Exorcist Concoction cost me 20 contribution points! If you are able to follow me, I shall change my name to yours!"


    Unfortunately, before she could laugh, the black hair broke through the fog as though darkness was spreading towards her.


    "D*mn it... This isn''t an average ghost?"


    Chen Xin turned around and started to run. "I''ve been cheated! Cheated by the village head! If I knew about this, I would never have come here!"


    "Whoosh!"


    At this point in time, the black hair curled towards her like a carpet unrolling itself.


    Chen Xin did not avoid it and her ankle was being caught by the hair.


    "D*mn it!"


    The black hair was soft and sharp. It had already torn through her clothing and started to burn her skin.


    Quickly, she took out a dagger and as the runes on the dagger glowed, she swiped it towards her ankle.


    "Pa!"


    The hair did not break. Chen Xin started to hobble towards the entrance of the village. "Would I really die here? No..."


    Looking at the hair which started to stretch above her, she displayed a look of despair.


    "Whoosh!"


    In that instant, the hair which flew towards her like a tsunami suddenly retreated as though it had just witnessed something scary.


    "Eh?"


    Looking at a few illusionary silhouettes ahead, she was filled with joy. "President?!"


    "Sneaking out to play again?"


    A silhouette emerged. It was a young man in his thirties. He walked over and supported Chen Xin. "If not for the fact that Boss is here, you would''ve died!"


    "Mr President, I''m sorry... However, I''ve investigated that the ghost in the well is not a normal one!"


    Chen Xin ignored her brother and looked towards the leader of the group.


    He was tall and had smooth skin. However, he wore a ferocious-looking mask on his face, covering half of it.


    "I see it!"


    The President had a hoarse voice and it was as though his voicebox was injured before. However, his words sounded firm.


    Before him, in the middle of the hair, a white lady emerged.


    "Return!"


    Against this Murderous Level ghost, he sliced his palm and scattered his blood out.


    "He''s using his strongest move?"


    Chen Xin was shocked.


    The person who had saved her was the President of the Exorcists Association of Asia - Zhan Tianhu! Although the Exorcists Alliance was merely an organisation to gather and spread information, they would also require a skilled person to become the President of a region!


    He must have had dealt with a lot of ghosts before and was strong enough to survive until today!


    Chen Xin knew a not-so-confidential secret. The blood of President Zhan had a strong exorcism property which would allow him to even resist against powerful curses, giving many the time to escape to survive!


    Now, the ghost was powerful to the extent where he had to use it!


    "Hmmm... It seems that the lady ghost from the well is recorded as dangerous by the association..."


    Chen Xin thought to herself. Unsurprisingly, the waves of black long hair started to retreat and finally, even the lady ghost retreated back into the well.


    Zhang Tianhu walked up. Because of his mask, no one could see his expression. However, his ferocious-looking mask started to change and a sinister vibe started to spread out.


    Following which, he took out a grass doll dyed with blood and threw it into the well.


    In all of these, the ghost in the well seemed to be under a certain pressure and could not even come out.


    "It''s done! I''ve sealed the ghost in the well. We don''t have to worry about it for another 10 years..."


    Zhan Tianhu spoke calmly.


    "You''re indeed the capable president to be able to seal even a powerful ghost!"


    The rest of them started to sing praises for the president and Chen Xin''s eyes glittered in admiration for him.


    "Unfortunately... this is not the place!"


    Zhan Tianhu sighed and spoke in a soft voice.


    "Mr President!"


    At this point in time, one of his members appeared stood out and reported with a weird expression.


    "We have news that the curse of the pawnshop has been destroyed!"

 524 Turning into Reality

    "It''s impossible!"


    After hearing this piece of shocking news, Chen Xin and her brother exclaimed.


    After all, that was the paranormal pawnshop!


    Even the President would avoid it at all costs. He had once warned them that if they were to encounter it, they had to flee from that powerful curse!


    How could it be destroyed so easily?


    It was impossible! The Exorcists Alliance had made sacrifices and concluded that even the lowest level of ghosts in this world would be impossible to destroy!


    "Which elite exorcist is the one who managed to break the curse?"


    Chen Xin quickly asked.


    Speaking of this, Zhan Tianhu felt that it was weird. "This person has never registered himself in the Exorcists Alliance before. He is also not a known powerful person, but a mere paranormal detective... According to the information, he is only 20."


    "How is that possible?!"


    In that instant, everyone was in disbelief.


    "The person who sent this piece of information is one of the elder disciples of the Golden Mountain Monastery..."


    Zhan Tianhu let out a bitter laugh.


    The Golden Mountain Monastery was a well-known powerhouse member of the Exorcists Alliance. They would not lie about it!


    "Furthermore... This person is willing to deal with other powerful ghosts and curses and is now requesting information from us... The stronger the ghost, the better..."


    "Wow..."


    Everyone there was stunned.


    Even though they were all exorcists, they would stand almost no chance against a curse. They would also hope for weaker ghosts to deal with. Who would be so unwise to go against powerful adversaries?


    This person would either be a fool or have the utmost confidence in himself!


    "Who would''ve thought... that there would be such a talented person among us exorcists..."


    Zhan Tianhu concluded. "Let''s move. I can''t wait to see him."


    "Yes, President!"


    The few of them quickly agreed. Only Chen Xin stood at where she was and appeared unjust.


    Before they left the small village, Zhan Tianhu turned around and sighed. ''It''s not here... I will surely find the source of all these! For myself, for my family and for mankind!''


    ...


    Ma Paranormal Detective Corporation.


    Fang Yuan crossed his legs and sat down as he started to feel the power of the Strange Level curse inside him.


    ''This seems like the effect of the curse of the pawnshop... After sealing the 3rd ghost, My Spirit Sealing Body not only increased by a level, I can also sense that the first ghost in me is recovering even quicker than before.''


    To him, this was not the bad thing. It only meant that he had an additional Strange Level ghost to strengthen himself.


    As long as he did not cross the limit in completely releasing the curses, this additional curse would benefit him instead of harm him.


    Of course, if he was careless to release two Strange Level ghosts at once, he wouldn''t be able to manage it even with his current stats.


    ''Next time, as I seal more and more ghosts and curses, the Spirit Sealing Body will become an atomic bomb. Not only would I not dare to use it recklessly, the enemy would also hope that I survive. If I were to die, the complete release of so many curses and ghosts would become the most destructive force the world would ever face.''


    ''However... The curse of a Strange Level paranormal presence is indeed unique... I wonder what type of abilities would the first ghost sealed in me have?''


    Fang Yuan thought to himself. Suddenly, he could hear a lady''s shriek.


    "Hmmm?"


    He stood up like a rising sun. "What''s this? How dare a ghost trespass the detective corporation right in front of my nose? Or could it be the curse sealed in me being accidentally released?"


    He pushed the door open and a corpse laid in the living room. A pool of dark-red blood started to spread from the corpse.


    "A curse?"


    Fang Yuan frowned. His body turned dark-purple and his eyes turned golden as he scanned his surroundings. He became confused. "This fog... How could it possibly hide even from my Fiery Golden Eyes?"


    Such a curse would be as powerful as a Strange Level curse!


    "Interesting... This doesn''t seem like it''s from my Spirit Sealing Body, but a foreign curse!"


    Fang Yuan revealed a sinister smile.


    His Spirit Sealing Body was not like a sieve. Even if he were to accidentally release a ghost or curse after getting injured, he would be able to immediately seal it back.


    Obviously, this wasn''t the case now.


    "Get... lost!"


    In that instant, Fang Yuan had decided to release 50% of the power of the Icy Zombie in him!


    Under such pressure, all Murderous Level ghosts would have to retreat and even Strange Level ghosts would be exposed.


    "Ding!"


    The entire room shook and everything froze.


    "Save... save me..."


    The lady lying in the pool of blood stretched her hands out and it sounded like Ma Xiaoling.


    "I want to see what you actually are..."


    Fang Yuan looked on seriously as his right hand began to turn dark purple. It was as though a layer of armour was growing on him as he stretched his arm towards the lady in the pool of blood.


    The lady was wearing a dress and laid on the floor. As Fang Yuan reached out to grab her, she flipped around and revealed her face which was half destroyed.


    "Save... save me!"


    The half-faced lady screamed. Suddenly, she reached out towards Fang Yuan and pulled him into a black hole!


    "Bang!"


    Fang Yuan landed on the ground and was unharmed. As he examined his surroundings, he appeared stunned.


    "Is this... The Tantai Mansion?"


    He was in a small backyard and the plants here gave him a sense of familiarity. This was the place which he had lived in for the first 5 years of his life.


    Slowly, the patriarchal hall and Hall of Sacrifice slowly appeared in the background.


    "You... cannot escape!"


    Suddenly, a silhouette appeared before him and a voice echoed from afar.


    "Tantai Guijing?!"


    Fang Yuan looked at the family head of the Tantai Family. He had an expressionless look and continuously mumbled the same few words over and over again as blood flowed out of his eyes.


    "You... cannot escape!"


    Suddenly, a few more silhouettes appeared behind him. They were the family heads of the Tantai Family. However, they all appeared pale and were bleeding from their eyes. All of them resembled ghosts!


    "Tantai Mieming... Come back!"


    "Come back!"


    "Come!"


    ...


    The oppressing silhouettes almost overwhelmed Fang Yuan.


    In the patriarchal hall, a fearsome spiritual aura filled the skies and the surroundings started to turn into something which resembled a ''Door''.


    "It''s... it!"


    Fang Yuan appeared stunned. Finally, he knew the source of this paranormal presence. It was the curse which had plagued the Tantai Family for years!


    Now, it had only displayed a few illusionary silhouettes of ghosts, but it was already enough to invoke a sense of danger into Fang Yuan.


    "I cannot allow it to appear!"


    A black robe appeared and draped itself of Fang Yuan and his eyes turned into black holes. "Release both at once, combining both curses!"


    In that instant, he had released two types of Strange Level curses at once and had released them to the extent of his own limit!


    "Rumble!"


    The space around him shook and under the pressure from the curses, the silhouettes of ghosts disappeared.


    Even the illusionary buildings vanished as though they were part of a dream. Both Strange Level curses started to lash out at the huge door in front of them.


    "Gong! Gong!"


    The cries of wronged souls filled the air and almost half of the ghosts on the door vanished.


    "Kacha! Kacha!"


    Cracks started to form on the door and the entire dimension started to crumble.


    ...


    "Phew..."


    In the detective corporation.


    Fang Yuan in black robes abruptly opened his eyes. "That was close!"


    Although he was still in the office and everything felt like an illusion, Fang Yuan was aware that the curse which had plagued the Tantai Family for years had finally come for him!


    "To think about it... Although the curse will only strike hard every 20 years, during this 20 years, it will still have to kill someone every few years! Now that the Tantai Mansion is trapped in the Netherworld, it will only follow the bloodline and seek for me!"


    As a member of the Tantai Family, Fang Yuan would never be able to erase the curse from himself!


    It was already unexpected for Fang Yuan to be able to enjoy 15 years of peace.


    "I owe this to the scapegoats of the Tantai Family. Also, because of the fact that I had sealed the first ghost upon my birth, I''m sure the Door must be affected by it..."


    Fang Yuan quickly thought about the possibilities.


    "The curse had been activated this time, but I had used the power of two Strange Level paranormal presences to resist it. I''m confident that it will not be able to harm me a single bit even when the cycle completes in a few years time."


    The true Curse of the Green Bronze Door was the peak of all Strange Level paranormal presences and nothing could compare to it.


    However, Fang Yuan was not a weakling too!


    As long as Fang Yuan was not against the physical Green Bronze Door or that the Green Bronze Door was not at its maximum potential, Fang Yuan had nothing to be afraid of even if the curse were to attack him from afar.


    "Of course... Although I do not fear it, this does not mean that others do not fear it!"


    Fang Yuan sighed and walked out of the office.


    Two bodies laid on the ground. They were Ma Wencai and Ma Xiaoling.


    Ma Xiaoling was still in a good condition. Although she had fainted, she gripped on tightly to a protective talisman and a dim glow covered her and the neighbouring Ma Wencai.


    This plump-looking uncle seemed to be almost on the brink of death and was on his final breath.


    "Sigh... It seems like I have to leave now!"


    Fang Yuan felt a little apologetic for unintentionally causing this mess.


    Fortunately, the disaster was contained. With his superior medicinal skills and skills in making concoctions, as long as the two of them were still alive, he would still be able to save them.


    "Hmm? It seems like something bad has already happened..."


    While he was treating the both of them, he could sense something. As he looked towards the direction of the Tantai Mansion, he sighed.


    ...


    At the same time.


    In the deserted mountains where the Tantai Mansion was.


    Thunder roared and a layer of black fog appeared.


    Slowly, an ancient-looking mansion started to appear.


    After Fang Yuan had retaliated against eh curse, the survivors of the Tantai Family in the Netherworld took this opportunity to attempt a return to reality!


    In that instant, the Netherworld started to converge with reality. However, no matter how hard the Tantai Mansion tried to become real, it was still unable to do so.


    Finally, after a few moments, the black fog started to dissipate.


    The Tantai Mansion started to become illusionary once more.


    However, a silhouette had successfully turned into reality!


    "The elders have fought for this opportunity for me to return to reality... Tantai Mieming, you cannot escape!"


    The silhouette mumbled to itself and seemed to be filled with hatred!

 525 Family Member

    "Amituofo... Master Fang!"


    Jiese the Monk was stunned as he saw Fang Yuan who had came to look for a roof over his head.


    "Monk... the room that you have rented is a little too... lousy?"


    Fang Yuan tossed his luggage on the ground and commented on the room with dissatisfaction.


    "For a traveller, I am already satisfied to have a place to stay. Most importantly..."


    Jiese the Monk blushed. "I don''t have money!"


    "That''s true... According to you, this is the first time you have ever left your mountain..."


    Fang Yuan nodded his head. "Don''t worry. Looking at your skills, you will be able to get anything you want if you help any haunted house perform an exorcism..."


    "Amituofo, that is what I think too."


    Jiese the Monk did not hide his thoughts and spoke the truth.


    Even among the Exorcists Alliance, there were only a few exorcists who could really deal with ghosts. The members of the alliance spent most of their time telling the fortune for others or provide blessing services, which were totally unrelated form exorcism.


    To any exorcists, it was not as worth it to risk their lives against powerful ghosts and curses in order to earn a living. They would rather do other things to get rich!


    "But... Why are you here?"


    Jiese the Monk froze on the spot.


    He knew that Fang Yuan was ruthless. Although Fang Yuan had the skill to seal ghosts and seemed reliable, if he were to accidentally release the ghosts, Jiese the Monk would be the first to die!


    "Recently, I''ve felt danger all around me. I cannot rely on the both of them at the office, so I''ve come to look for someone I can rely on to help me!"


    Fang Yuan shrugged his shoulders and spoke the truth, which almost choked Jiese the Monk.


    Although he had successfully defended himself from the attack of the Door, it was still the strongest curse Fang Yuan had ever seen in his life. He wasn''t even sure if Jiese the Monk would be able to help him fight against such a strong curse.


    Furthermore, although Fang Yuan''s killer moves were the ghosts sealed in him, his Spirit Sealing Body was also a double-edged sword. If he was not careful enough, he might just harm the people around him, especially if he were to release two Strange Level curses at once!


    This was the reason why Fang Yuan wanted to move out as soon as possible to look for Jiese the Monk.


    "It''s alright... Considering your abilities and good karma, you will remain unharmed even if I were to accidentally release the ghosts in me!"


    Fang Yuan comforted Jiese the Monk. "If you want me to leave, then feed me with intelligence form the alliance. I will be able to start on my world tour then..."


    With the experience of fighting against the Curse of the Door, Fang Yuan had gained a deeper understanding of his own capabilities.


    The power of two Strange Level curses would not be enough to fight against the Green Bronze Door.


    In order to stand any chance against it, Fang Yuan had to find stronger curses to seal!


    In reality, other than the Exorcists Alliance, Fang Yuan also had a few followers under him. They were the traders of the pawnshop.


    For instance, Lu Bingqi had been tasked to search for another curse as powerful as the pawnshop.


    Fang Yuan had also promised him that if he were to find a Strange Level curse, Fang Yuan would help him remove the seal from his soul. With this, he would not have to worry about the traders not taking their tasks seriously.


    ''With so much control, I''m sure I will be able to find something, right?''


    Just as he was thinking to himself, Jiese the Monk was feeling the pressure from him. At this moment, Jiese the Monk excused himself to pick up a call before returning to Fang Yuan with joy written all over his face. "After the alliance had heard of your story, they are extremely interested in you. The leader of our area is already on a flight and is about to reach us soon!"


    "The leader of our area?"


    Fang Yuan replied casually. "Alright then, I shall pay him a visit."


    He picked his luggage up and walked out towards the door.


    "Eh?"


    Jiese the Monk appeared confused.


    "I''ve already bought the apartment next to yours. Do you really think I will want to squeeze with you?"


    Fang Yuan revealed a disgusted look and turned around. Jiese the Monk was lost as he stared blankly at his simple-looking apartment.


    ...


    "I''m finally... back here!"


    The plane gently landed on the runway and a row of passengers walked out of the plane.


    Zhan Tianhu looked towards the city and sighed.


    "Eh? President, have you been here before?"


    Chen Xin immediately became excited and started to pester Zhan Tianhu.


    "Alright sister, don''t disturb the president!"


    Chen Xin''s brother held her back.


    The weird thing was that although there were a lot of tourists, none of them felt that Zhan Tianhu''s mask was out of the norm. Surprisingly, he had safely made it through the customs.


    "Hehe... Actually, this is my hometown!"


    Zhan Tianhu chuckled.


    "Your hometown? If that is so, where is your house?"


    Chen Xin''s eyes were about to ignite with excitement.


    "House?"


    Zhan Tianhu was in a daze. "In the depths of the mountains, my house remains sealed there. We rarely interact with the outside world... Furthermore, I..."


    He shook his head and paused.


    Seeing this, no matter how insensitive Chen Xin was, she was still able to tell that this was a painful memory for the president. Therefore, she kept her mouth shut and did not press on.


    "Alright, let''s look for a place to stay first. It''s best if we can rent an entire apartment. After all, considering who we are, it''s not very appropriate to stay with others!"


    Zhan Tianhu spoke with an assertive voice.


    "Chen He, I''ll leave this to you. Chen Xin, contact Master Jiese!"


    "Alright!"


    As the president, he gave out his orders and his subordinates could only obediently follow his orders. Not long after, they quickly settled down in an apartment on the outskirts of the city.


    "President!"


    Although Chen Xin was a hopeless romantic, her culinary skills were rather good. She whipped up a meal with vegetables and buns with meat fillings. As they ate, she updated everyone on the current situation. "I have already contacted Mas... Master Jiese. He told me that that person is just beside him and will be able to meet us anytime. Right, his name is Fang Yuan!"


    "Fang Yuan? Fang Yuan! I''ve never heard of him!"


    Zhan Tianhu stuffed the last bun into his mouth. "It seems like he is anxious as well. Inform him that we shall meet him here tomorrow!"


    As the President, his subordinates were well-trained and he did not have to worry about security.


    Even though Fang Yuan could deal with the curse of the pawnshop, the President had nothing to worry about!


    After all, the methods which were effective in dealing with curses might not be as effective against humans. Furthermore, all of them had skills of their own and they had nothing to worry about even if Fang Yuan were to turn against them.


    Of course, the most expected outcome would be for all of them to combine forces and deal with curses.


    This world was already desperate enough and the remaining combat power of the humans should not be wasted on internal conflicts.


    ...


    "The President, Zhan Tianhu! He is an incredible person!"


    At the same time, Fang Yuan was discussing with Jiese the Monk about meeting the President.


    "This person had become an exorcist 30 years ago and had dealt with countless curses and ghosts. He is well-known and 10 years ago, he was being recommended to take over as the President! It''s rumoured that his blood has the ability to repel ghosts and is even more effective than any forms of holy water. However, his most powerful move would still be the half-ghost face mask he wears on his face."


    Before Fang Yuan, Jiese the Monk did not hide anything and revealed the entire truth.


    "Blood... and mask?"


    Fang Yuan remained silent.


    Unknowingly, as soon as he heard that the President''s blood could be used to repel ghosts, he started to think about the Tantai Family.


    He would not know about other families, but he knew best about the Tantai Family.


    This seemed to be like an elder awakening a special ability.


    "If this is true... Zhan Tianhu might just be a member of the Tantai Family? I wonder what he will think about me as soon as he hears about my parentage!"


    Fang Yuan sighed and revealed a weird expression.


    After many generations, there were now many forms of mutations and variants.


    Considering the size of the Tantai Family, it would only be normal for a few members of the family to turn against the entire family.


    Fang Yuan also felt that it was extremely possible for there to be members of the Tantai Family involved in activities in the outside world.


    The only thing that would make everything complicated would be their familial ties.


    ''However... I am now Fang Yuan. Even if he discovers my identity as Tantai Mieming, he can still choose to be a friend or foe. If he wants to report me to the family, I will just kill him!''


    After coming to a conclusion, Fang Yuan returned to his own apartment and sat on the floor with his legs crossed.


    At this point in time, the silhouette which appeared together with the Tantai Mansion had also arrived at the city.


    "By harnessing the power of the curses, I can sense that there are two members of the Tantai Family here!"


    The silhouette sniffed the surroundings and sounded confused. "It''s that rebel? Or could it be members of our family working in the outside world?"


    "I shall go... and look for him!"


    With a soft voice, the silhouette mumbled. "I shall bring Tantai Mieming... back!"


    "I know... I know..."


    The silhouette knelt on the ground and seemed to be in pain. "I will accomplish the task and bring Tantai Mieming back to the Netherworld, I swear I will!"


    He gritted his teeth. "He has to pay the price for giving us 15 years of living in the dark!"


    ...


    The sky was clear and the breeze was light.


    Fang Yuan followed Jiese the Monk to an apartment in the outskirts of the city.


    "You should know that we exorcists don''t really like to stay close to other humans. We are naturally like that and it is our habit as well..."


    Jiese the Monk sighed.


    Some exorcists were incredibly strong and would remain unharmed even after coming in contact with powerful ghosts, but normal humans would never be able to survive if they encountered these ghosts.


    If they didn''t want to lose their family members, they had to leave them.


    "Hi guys, it''s me!"


    Upon arrival, Jiese the Monk went up and knocked on the door. Very quickly, the red wooden door creaked open and a lady in a white collared shirt poked her head out. "It''s Master Jiese! I''m Chen Xin, and the President is already waiting for you guys. Is this Fang Yuan? Please enter!"


    She started to examine Fang Yuan but Fang Yuan paid no attention to her. Instead, he walked into the apartment casually.


    When he had approached the apartment, he had already sensed a familiar spiritual aura which confirmed his suspicions.


    After arriving at the living room, he noticed a person wearing a ghost mask sitting on the sofa. There was a group of people behind this person and this person was equally stunned as he looked towards Fang Yuan.


    "Zhan Tianhu?"


    Fang Yuan''s eyes glistened. He had confirmed that this person was a lost member of the Tantai Family!

 526 Confrontation

    "You... you''re Fang Yuan?"


    Zhan Tianhu stood up and looked at Fang Yuan. He could not conceal his shock at all.


    As a member of Tantai Family, he possessed a secret technique which allowed him to sense bloodlines which were the same as his.


    Although the sensing range was very small, under such a situation where he was face to face with Fang Yuan, he would be a fool if he could not discover such.


    "Looks like we have a lot to talk about!"


    Fang Yuan nonchalantly sat opposite the sofa and opened a can of soda.


    "You¡­..."


    To outsiders, Fang Yuan was a childish brat; how dared he seat on equal footings with the respected president? This made Chen Xin enraged at once.


    "Chen Xin!"


    Zhan Tianhu shouted, "Back off!"


    After he was done berating his subordinate, he turned around and looked at Fang Yuan.


    "At first, I thought it was just a rumour that you stopped the pawnshop. But after seeing you, I totally believe it! Not bad, there are a lot of things that we can discuss between us! Let''s go to the side room!"


    "President?"


    The expression on Chen He and others'' faces had changed. Now that they saw the two of them might have some sort of relationship, they could help but to start guessing about Fang Yuan''s background.


    "Who knows he might be President''s bastard child or what. As you all know, President has always been single..."


    A yellow-haired person suggested cheekily.


    "Scumbag Lin Qi, what are you talking about?"


    Chen Xin, who had a crush on the president, immediately retorted as though she was a wild cat with its hair all puffed up. "I dare you to repeat that?"


    "Hehe, I''m just joking..."


    Lin Qi touched his head.


    However, at the next moment, something strange suddenly happened!


    "Pak!"


    Lin Qi''s head just suddenly rolled down. The wound on his neck was gushing with blood like a fountain which almost dyed Chen Xin entirely red.


    "Ahhh!"


    Under the young girl''s shriek, the hairs of everyone in the entire apartment stood on its end as they looked around alertly.


    "What happened? A ghost invaded? Could it be that this apartment is cursed before?"


    Fang Yuan furrowed his brows.


    Whereas Zhan Tianhu felt very helpless at his own luck, "Before moving in, I''ve already checked through thoroughly. There shouldn''t be such a possibility."


    ''Yet another ghost that can hide from my Fiery Golden Eyes?''


    There was some sort of bad omen in Fang Yuan''s mind.


    ''This frequency is way too high! It definitely isn''t a coincidence!''


    Although invisible killing was a trick all Murderous Level ghosts knew, what kind were of people were here?


    Not only were there elites from the Exorcists Association here, Fang Yuan and Zhan Tianhu were here too.


    To be able to kill an elite member in such an environment meant that this ghost''s strength was already close to the Strange Level!


    "Looks like... our discussion has to be delayed!"


    Zhan Tianhu went back into the centre of his team members. It was evident that there was a tinge of alertness in his voice.


    "Ok, let''s settle this sudden enemy first¡­.."


    Fang Yuan replied with a slight smile, "You wouldn''t mind if I use some tricks to find the ghost, right?"


    "Of course I wouldn''t mind."


    Zhan Tianhu answered.


    "Great!"


    Fang Yuan nodded his head and reached out his right hand.


    At this moment, a gap suddenly emerged from his palm. Streaks of black hair extended out and immediately, an ashen and colourless face with a blank stare appeared.


    An evil ghost had just been created by Fang Yuan!


    This was an ability Fang Yuan obtained after sealing the Paranormal Pawnshop, the ability to derive curses and control lower-levelled ghosts!


    "What... what exactly are you?"


    Even though Jiese the Monk was prepared for Fang Yuan antics, this scene caused him and the other exorcists to be horrified.


    What did they just saw?


    A ghost that just crawled out from a person''s palm?


    "It must be you!"


    Chen Xin screamed, "President, Lin Qi''s death must be caused by him! He is not human, he is... the incarnation of a ghost!"


    After releasing part of the curse, Fang Yuan''s physical property was like that of a ghost. Those exorcists who were skilled in sensing would definitely treat him like a powerful ghost.


    "Go and find that ghost!"


    Fang Yuan did not care about her and immediately commanded. He then immediately extended his five fingers which turned into ghostly silhouettes.


    "Ahh! Don''t come over, you evil!"


    However, Chen Xin was obviously terrified. Seeing as Fang Yuan was going forward, she immediately whipped out a petite pistol, "Die!"


    "Swoosh!"


    The silhouette flashed past and Fang Yuan arrived in front of Chen Xin. He kicked away Chen He and grabbed Chen Xin''s wrist at once. He then took away her pistol.


    "President Zhan, is there something wrong with your subordinate''s brain?"


    Fang Yuan asked calmly as he looked at Zhan Tianhu who stood there with his palm already sliced open.


    "My apologies..."


    Zhan Tianhu remained silent for a while before he continued, "This subordinate of mine is still under shock from meeting a long-haired female ghost, she might have fully recovered from it yet!"


    "Amituofo, I can testify that while Fang Yuan''s tricks are strange, he is really a human!"


    Jiese the Monk quickly came forward too.


    "I believe the master!"


    Zhan Tianhu could only belief. Else, with the moves Fang Yuan revealed just now, he could easily kill everyone here!


    Before Zhan Tianhu met Fang Yuan, he would never believe that there was someone with such a fast response speed. But now, he totally believed.


    ''But... obtaining the abilities of ghosts using a human body... isn''t one of Tantai Family''s inheritance. Could this be that experiment by the elders?''


    With such a thought, Zhan Tinahu looked at Fang Yuan''s gaze and was immediately filled with mixed feelings.


    "Even with a reason, I hate it when someone points their gun at me. This is just a small lesson, if there''s a next time, you will be killed!"


    Fang Yuan used his strength slightly and a crisp sound could be heard.


    Chen Xin let out a wail. It was evident that her arms were twisted broken.


    After such, Fang Yuan turned around and headed towards a certain direction, "Found it!"


    The six ghosts disappeared into the void just now as they searched for the powerful ghost. But now, they relayed information back which made Fang Yuan immediately charge outside like a bomb.


    "Let''s follow!"


    Zhan Tianhu immediately tailed behind, "We must avenge Lin Qi''s death!"


    "In front!"


    "Turn left!"


    Fang Yuan was like a bolt of lightning. After he charged out the apartment, he dashed towards a small alley.


    All the ghosts he created were at the Murderous Level or Spirit level. Although it was difficult for humans to look for ghosts, it was much easier for ghosts to look for ghosts.


    At this moment, Fang Yuan could sense that the curse he created was continuously dissipating.


    Although ghosts could be re-formed after a period of time, such combat power was already almost at the Strange Level stage.


    Thankfully, Fang Yuan created six ghosts. Even if a few of the ghosts were destroyed, there would still be a few that stuck on to the enemy tightly which allowed Fang Yuan to obtain the location of the ghost.


    How astonishing was his speed? The surrounding sceneries moved backwards rapidly which made that thing unable to escape at all.


    "It discovered me! It purposely ran to the big street!"


    Fang Yuan dashed onto a road. His eyes locked onto a bus that was about to drive off.


    "Stop!"


    Fang Yuan picked up a motorcycle on the roadside and hurled it towards the bus like a rock.


    "Crash!"


    The windows on the bus cracked and sparks flew.


    Met with such a situation, cries and wails could be heard from the bus. The people on the bus could not leave even if they wanted to.


    "A Superman!"


    At the side, numerous pedestrians stared at Fang Yuan in awe. Some of them even took photographs of him.


    "What... the!"


    Behind him, Zhan Tianhu, Jiese the Monk and others arrived one by one and surrounded the scene.


    Seeing such, Chen He suddenly felt that the kick Fang Yuan gave him just now was definitely not with his full strength. Else, even his intestines would have definitely been punctured.


    "That... Jiese the Monk, is Fang Yuan''s actions always this rash?"


    As Zhan Tianhu looked at the growing crowd surrounding the scene and listened to the approaching police sirens, he felt as though he was collapsing inside.


    ''After today''s battle, will us exorcists be forced to reveal ourselves to the common people?''


    ''If tons of scary rumours spread, it''s not a good thing for humans!''


    "I''m not sure about this, perhaps Fang Yuan has his own plans?"


    Jiese the Monk was feeling very helpless too, especially after he saw how his bald head was attracting the looks of many. Numerous photographs were taken of him and there were even spectators that came to ask him for autographs.


    "Keke! I never imagined that you two betrayers would appear together!"


    With no other way to escape, the human silhouette which was being chased stood on the centre of the road and let out a strange laughter.


    "Two..."


    "Betrayers?"


    This piece of information was not huge. Fang Yuan and Zhan Tianhu remained still; however, Jiese the Monk could not help but feel suspicious as he scanned around.


    "No need to hide anymore! I should have met you before when I was in the family!"


    Fang Yuan said calmly.


    With astonishing memory, Fang Yuan instantly remembered this person, "You are... Tantai Juelie?"


    In terms of seniority, this person was Tantai Mieming''s uncle. However, his exorcism skills were not that good. It was hard to imagine how he could struggle free from the netherworld and was even confidently seeking vengeance.


    "That''s right, it''s me!"


    Tantai Juelie took off his face scarf and revealed a face filled with scars. Children who saw such a face would definitely be scared and cry immediately.


    "Tantai Mieming! Tantai Guihu! The two off you can''t run away anymore!"


    "Tantai Guihu?"


    Fang Yuan glanced at Zhan Tianhu. He knew that was his real name.


    "Sigh... Juelie, why has your face become like this?"


    Tantai Guihu sighed as he continued, "Also... the reason why I don''t return to the family is not that I betrayed the family. It''s just that I want to look for the source of all this! Believe me, I''m already very close to the truth."


    "Tantai Family?"


    Outside, Chen Xin mumbled, "How come president never told us that he is a member of Tantai Family before?"


    "Amituofo!"


    Whereas, Jiese the Monk felt that was reasonable. Only such a family would produce monsters like Fang Yuan!


    "Looks like you are filled with confidence, is it because of that ghost?"


    Fang Yuan looked at Tantai Juelie. His eyes glowed with a cold light, "How many times have I told you all, do not interfere with my decision! When the right time comes, I will definitely return and resolve all this!"

 527 Keeping a Ghos

    "Jerk!"


    Tantai Juelie roared and became increasingly ferocious-looking. "Do you know the pain and suffering we have endured in the netherworld? Do you know how much we''ve sacrificed for me to escape from that hell? Do you think you can deny your wrongdoings so easily? That''s impossible! My mission is to capture you and let you get the fate you deserve!"


    "The fate... I deserve?"


    Tantai Guihu looked towards Fang Yuan and his pupils contracted. ''He is indeed the planned creation! If that is so, is he the one responsible for all that had happened 15 years ago? This is unbelievable.''


    "Hmm?"


    However, Fang Yuan could detect in this instant that all the ghosts he had created were completely annihilated!


    A blurred-face ghost in black robes was wielding a sharp blade behind Tantai Juelie. It slowly crept into his body from behind.


    "Oh god!"


    "Ghost!"


    There were screams all around. The headlines for tomorrow would surely be about this paranormal sighting in the city.


    "That ghost!"


    Tantai Juelie shrieked. "Was it the one who killed Lin Qi? Are you using your body to breed ghosts?"


    "Breeding ghosts?"


    Thoughts raced through Fang Yuan''s mind as he thought about this restrictive spell exclusive only to the Tantai Family.


    It was different from his own Spirit Sealing Body. This restrictive spell would alter one''s body, allowing it to become suitable to breed a ghost. However, it had limited control over the ghosts in it!


    "Is this all you''ve got?"


    Fang Yuan looked towards Tantai Juelie. "Do you think you stand a chance against me with these few ghosts of yours?"


    His Spirit Sealing Body was a secret only known to himself. To the people of the Tantai Family, Fang Yuan was merely an incarnation from a Strange Level curse, but he was already strong enough on his own. Together with another top-notch exorcist, their collective combat power was powerful enough to the extent where only the most powerful group of elders in the Tantai Family would stand a chance in taking them down.


    "A few?"


    Hearing Fang Yuan''s comment, Tantai Juelie was a little confused. However, Tantai Guihu was utterly shocked. "Juelie¡­.. How many ghosts... did you keep in you? Are you crazy?"


    "Hehe... I''ve been crazy all along! I am willing to do anything to escape that hell for our family!"


    Tantai Juelie was frenzied. "You can never imagine all that I''ve suffered... the horror of it!"


    "Rippppp!"


    As he spoke, he tore his shirt apart.


    "Ah!"


    Screams were heard. Even Jiese the Monk could not bear to look as he shut his eyes and chanted his mantra silently.


    "One, two, three, four... Five! Hehe... You''re indeed ruthless to keep 5 ghosts in you. Have you not suffered the backlash of it? Could it be because you share the same bloodline with these ghosts, or is it their intention not to harm you?"


    A hint of gold flashed in Fang Yuan''s eyes as he examined Tantai Juelie.


    He noticed mysterious faces on his heart, shoulders, legs and even on his back. These faces were full of life and their eyeballs could even dart around.


    Most importantly, Fang Yuan recognised all 5 of these faces!


    "The elders of the Tantai Family!"


    Tantai Guihu held his head with both of his hands and almost teared as though he was looking at someone familiar. "Did you turn your own family members into ghosts?"


    If one was not careful, one would suffer the backlash of keeping so many ghosts in one''s body. Therefore, the best strategy would be for one to keep ghosts with the same bloodline as himself, gaining protection and immunity from the fact that they were once family!


    "I''m afraid that... they are all willing ghosts!"


    Fang Yuan looked deeper into Tantai Guijing. He knew that Tantai Guijing alone could not do anything to force these 5 elders into himself.


    Furthermore, if Tantai Guijing were to forcefully kill them to turn them into ghosts, these ghosts would only be filled with vengeance and would not hold back in dealing with whoever killed them. If Tantai Guijing were to kill his own relatives, these elders would surely deal with him in retaliation.


    Now that Fang Yuan understood the situation, he knew that all of these would only be possible if the 5 elders of the Tantai Family were willing.


    "Hehe... What a huge sacrifice to give up 5 elders of the Tantai Family!"


    Fang Yuan knew that these elders had long turned into ghosts and might even lose their memories. All that was left of them were hatred and vengeance!


    Hatred and vengeance towards Fang Yuan!


    At this point in time, these 5 elders were staring intently at Fang Yuan and their eyes turned bloodshot.


    "Phew..."


    Fang Yuan lightly exhaled and could feel the pressure from a certain being descending upon them. Surprisingly, he smiled. "This is merely the combined power of 5 powerful Murderous Level ghosts, it''s not enough! Not enough!"


    A black robe slowly appeared on Fang Yuan and the power of its curse started to spread out. Jiese the Monk and the rest started to feel fear in their hearts and were dizzy, as though a terrorizing presence had arrived.


    "Indeed... you are not human, but an evil ghost!"


    Witnessing this scene, Tantai Juelie''s pupils shrank.


    He had already expected that something like that would happen. However, this new ghost was very different from the ghost which he had seen 50 years ago and therefore, he was a little confused.


    ''No worries... As long as I use my killer move, I will be able to win!''


    A chilly look appeared in Tantai Juelie''s eyes. With a cunning smile, he took out a ceramic doll.


    This doll was only as large as a human''s palm. It was red and vein-like structures covered the doll. These veins were trembling.


    As soon as he took out the doll, Fang Yuan felt a sense of restriction and the original restriction seal appeared on him once again.


    "Haha... how do you feel?"


    Tantai Juelie laughed. "This is a curse doll refined by your blood once a month, years ago when you were younger!"


    With this curse doll, Tantai Juelie would be capable of dealing with even a Strange Level curse.


    Needless to say, this doll was covered in large amounts of Tantai Mieming''s blood years ago. If Fang Yuan was indeed a ghost, he would undoubtedly be controlled by this doll!


    This was Tantai Family''s last resort in case Fang Yuan went out of control!


    "Kill Tantai Guihu and capture Tantai Mieming!"


    Tantai Juelie started to laugh heartily as a face protruded out of his chest. Evil ghosts started to climb out of his body one by one.


    "We have to go all out!"


    Tantai Guihu slit his palm and scattered his blood all around. The mask on his face started to change and the power of a curse started to spread from him.


    This mask was the source of a curse, and it was obtained by Tantai Guihu in a small village after much effort.


    In the mask, there resides an evil ghost which loved to steal a human''s... face!


    If he could periodically feed the mask with what it wanted, he could temporarily harness its power!


    ''It''s a little troublesome for me to deal with 5 of them... Once I surpass the limit, the evil ghost in the mask will first come out and consume me!''


    Tantai Guihu felt fearful as he looked at the 5 ghosts casually crossing the protective boundary created by his own blood.


    These elders of the Tantai Family had unique powers in them and were powerful exorcists when they were alive. Now that they were dead, naturally, they would become powerful ghosts!


    Furthermore, because of their blood, the blood scattered by Tantai Guihu could do nothing to repel them.


    To the people of the Tantai Family, such powerful ghosts were only weaker if compared to the Green Bronze Door!


    "This cannot go on... When the time is up, I shall abandon the mask and run!"


    Tantai Guihu examined his surroundings and came to a decision.


    However, in that instant, he was dumbfounded as he witnessed something unbelievable.


    Fang Yuan, who was originally frozen in his spot, started to move.


    "Whoosh!"


    He was extremely quick. It was as though he was a stream of an air current. In an instant, he arrived before Tantai Juelie and grabbed at the ceramic doll.


    "Do you really think you can control me with this little toy made from my blood?"


    Fang Yuan snickered and applied a little force in his hands. In that instant, the ceramic doll was crushed into powder.


    "What about this!"


    Tantai Juelie flipped his wrist and held Fang Yuan''s hand firmly.


    With that, his palm started to turn purple and black runes started to cover his arm.


    This was no longer a human''s hand, but a ghost''s hand!


    Only such a palm would be able to make contact with Fang Yuan in his current state!


    "Idi*t!"


    Fang Yuan shook his wrist and held his fingers together, forming the shape of an eagle''s beak.


    "Chirp! Chirp!"


    The illusionary figure of a giant eagle appeared and ruthlessly pecked at Tantai Juelie''s wrist.


    "Pa!"


    His palm and wrist fell to the ground and he was stunned.


    "Oh, so you''ve been hiding your martial arts in you all along. You''ve also replaced your arm with that of a ghost''s. Do you think this is enough to deal with me?"


    Fang Yuan could not hide his mocking expression. Even though Tantai Juelie could conceal this ghost to the point where Fang Yuan could not detect it using his Golden Fiery Eyes, it was still not powerful enough to defeat Fang Yuan.


    "Buzz! Buzz!"


    The purple hand which landed on the ground started to buzz loudly and split open, revealing a ghostly face which leapt towards Fang Yuan.


    "It''s useless! Useless!"


    Beneath Fang Yuan''s black robes, chains flew out and restricted the ghost in an instant.


    Of course, this was not the power of the Spirit Sealing Body.


    He was making use of the power of the curse of the pawnshop.


    This was how he could previously create ghost swarms by making use of the curse of the pawnshop. With this ability, he could take in ghosts and curses and release them at appropriate times.


    A Strange Level curse could be this powerful!


    "You... you..."


    Tantai Juelie was shocked and slowly retreated.


    The 5 originally-ferocious ghosts turned around teleported themselves to surround Fang Yuan. With that, they swung their claws at him.


    "Whoosh! Whoosh!"


    The chains swung around. Like spider webs, they swirled around Fang Yuan and captured the 5 ghosts in an instant before pulling them into Fang Yuan''s black robe.


    "Too... Too much! That''s too much!"


    Even Tantai Guihu was stunned at this scene and was speechless. "Who''s the human and who''s the ghost here?"


    The ferocious ghosts which pushed him to the brink of fleeing were so simply captured. He could never imagine this.


    "This person... He might really be able to remove the curse on the Tantai Family!"


    Tantai Guihu looked towards Fang Yuan and was filled with confidence.


    "Don''t... don''t kill me!"


    Tantai Juelie, with one of his arms severed, realised that even his strongest move was being countered. Looking at the advancing Fang Yuan, he broke into tears and was about to mentally break down.


    "Don''t worry, I won''t kill you!"


    A golden hue flashed in Fang Yuan''s eyes.


    However, in this instant, something which even Fang Yuan did not expect happened!

 528 A Conversation

    Boom!


    The encompassing light rays fell through into another plane of existence.


    The power of the curse had been activated, and the surrounding buildings were covered in blood-red light. It seemed like a thousand years had passed at that moment and the city was in a state of ruin and decay.


    In the dimension, there were only the colours of black and white. The crowd had their mouths open in a perpetual state of horror. They had become statues.


    Only Jiese and the other exorcists could move.


    "Amituofo...our Lord Buddha. This is a terrible curse indeed¡­"


    Jiese stared at the scene and he could not help but mutter a prayer.


    "This¡­"


    The present members of the Tantai Family felt a sense of fear creeping up their veins.


    "The family curse..."


    "No...this is the netherworld pulling us in. I don''t want to go back there¡­"


    Tantai Juelie crawled towards Fang Yuan.


    "Save...me!"


    Swop!


    He had disappeared in a flash.


    "Has he been sucked into the netherworld?"


    Fang Yuan was bewildered. He did not feel any form of pulling force. It was as if the curse had given up on him and was focusing its efforts on the Tantai family members.


    "Tantai Guihu...can you hang in there?''


    He went over to Tantai Guihu and tied a chain around his waist.


    "Yes, I can!"


    Tantai Guihu''s face was pale.


    "This is the convergent point between the real world and the netherworld. If you cannot deal with the attractive force, you will be pulled down into the netherworld! Why are you not affected?"


    "Who knows? Maybe it''s because I''m still young!"


    Fang Yuan did not, in fact, know what he was saying but Tantai Guihu nodded.


    "That''s right...the Tantai family curse only comes into play on a twenty-year cycle. For now, It is mostly the older ones who are targeted. Now it seems like I''ll be in danger¡­..."


    Swop!


    Tantai Guihu had barely finished speaking before a black hole suddenly appeared behind him and swallowed him up.


    "Tsk¡­"


    Fang Yuan pulled the chain back towards himself.


    Ping!


    Two powerful forces were now in direct conflict with each other, and the chain was pulled taut.


    "You cannot beat me, nor hope to take away those under my protection!"


    An evil spirit resembling a frozen corpse materialised behind Fang Yuan. It took one side of the black hole while the formidable Paranormal Pawnshop took the other. Combining their forces, they inflicted curses on it.


    Buzz!


    The combined force of the two Strange Level curses caused a disturbance in the void and reduced the surrounding blood-red structures into ashes.


    "Come...back!"


    Following Fang Yuan''s roar, a bedraggled figure was dragged out of the black hole. It was Tantai Guihu.


    Ping!


    The alternate dimension tore apart and the rays on the sun fell upon them. They were back in the real world.


    "Finally...has it ended?"


    Tantai Guihu was sweating profusely. He knew that if it was not for Fang Yuan, he would be dead by now. He was sincerely grateful.


    "Mieming, thank you so much!"


    "It was nothing. By the way, you should call me Fang Yuan!"


    Fang Yuan shook his head and said.


    "Amituofo...should we discuss how we should go about clearing up the place?"


    Jiese walked forward and pointed at the devastation around them as the people around were taking photos. He laughed bitterly.


    "Even though the Exorcists Alliance is secretly powerful, we cannot suppress news of such a calamitous event!"


    "You don''t have to worry about this!"


    Fang Yuan shifted his gaze and began his large-scale operation to obliviate information.


    He had already thought of this before he embarked on the rescue, or he would not have made such a high profile news-grabbing move.


    It was thanks to this technique that the paranormal activity happening in the world remain largely unknown.


    The surrounding people had begun to disperse under the influence of invisible oscillating waves. It was as if the huge mess around them were nothing out of the blue. They also ignored Fang Yuan and company entirely.


    "Normal cameras are unable to capture spirits on photographs...don''t worry, any intact photographs will disintegrate and everyone who was present will leave this place with no memory of the things we did. As for this place, it is but the scene of a terrible traffic accident!"


    Fang Yuan shrugged.


    "This...is the Mist? Only the Killer type of curses can influence society on such a large scale."


    Tantai Guihu was dumbfounded.


    Chen He and the rest were equally shocked. They had realised that this young man had power beyond their imagination.


    "Alright! Let''s go!"


    Fang Yuan glanced at Tantai Guihu.


    "It seems like there are many things we need to talk about, isn''t that so?"


    _________


    When they had all returned to their apartment, Tantai Guihu led Fang Yuan to the living room.


    "All right, we need to speak frankly to each other!"


    Tantai Guihu took down his mask and revealed a face that did not look that old.


    "My name is Tantai Guihu. Although I belong to the ''Gui'' generation, I am not yet forty years of age¡­"


    "I am not interested in your age. Also, I am no longer Tantai Mieming!"


    Fang Yuan leaned on the couch and clasped his hands.


    "So, could you tell me everything regarding your betrayal of the family?"


    "The truth is, I did not betray the family. I just did not return when they summoned me!"


    Tantai Guihu''s face had turned red.


    To the Tantai family, a reasonably skilled family member who dared to defy a decree from the family was no different from a traitor, no matter how indignant Tantai Guihu might feel.


    Also, Fang Yuan was well aware of the methods used by the Tantai family to control its members. They had their unpleasant ways of guaranteeing the loyalties of their members.


    That Tantai Guihu could free himself from these bonds was a testament to his abilities.


    "Then why not go back? The tribulation that comes about every twenty years can only be overcome by working together with the family and by relying on the defences of the Tantai residence. Everyone would then have a higher chance of survival¡­"


    Fang Yuan was curious.


    "Because my research had reached a vital stage!"


    Tantai Guihu did not want to beat around the bush any longer.


    "You know it. Tantai family members are afflicted by a blood curse. It is like a leech and we all want to get rid of it for the sake of future generations."


    "Isn''t the origin of the curse that door? Shouldn''t you go into the netherworld if you want to investigate¡­"


    Fang Yuan asked.


    "No! I think that door isn''t in the netherworld, but in the real world!"


    Tantau Guihu went on confidently.


    "After all...the ancestors of the Tantai family was mortal. How could they have gone deep into the netherworld and gotten cursed by a door in there?"


    "You make sense!"


    Fang Yuan somewhat remembered the things he saw when he first crossed through the worlds. Although his memories were blurry, the surrounding area of the door did seem like the real world rather than the netherworld.


    "I''ve read through everything about the Tantai family, travelled the world and investigated all sorts of paranormal phenomena and curses. Now, I have come to a conclusion!"


    Tantai Guihu''s eyes gleamed.


    "Our world...was once free of spirits and curses!"


    "Oh?"


    He was intelligent to be able to figure this out.


    "Curses and spirits just suddenly appeared out of nowhere one day, and they have been spreading like a disease over the past few hundred years...Not only that, I have made a shocking discovery!"


    Tantai Guihu became even more serious.


    "The curse that afflicts the Tantai family, is probably from the earliest batch!"


    "The earliest batch?"


    Fang Yuan believed him instantly.


    After all, he was much more well-informed than Tantai Guihu.


    Additionally, he knew that the appearance of that door was the key and source as to how the whole world got cursed!


    "That''s right. I''ve been working hard to find out the location where our ancestor received the curse, and now, I do have a better idea where it is¡­"


    The Tantai family did not use to stay in their current residence but had migrated from a place far away.


    These events were ancient and the records were no longer complete. Tantai Guihu could only try his best to piece together the disembodied information and verify them one by one.


    "I now know that our ancestor came from a little village in the mountains and was cursed over there!"


    Tantai Guihu radiated self-belief.


    "If we deal with the source of the troubles over there, we might be able to release the family from the curse¡­"


    ''You''re too naive!''


    Fang Yuan looked upon Tantai Guihu with pity but was unwilling to tell him the truth.


    Even though the curse had an origin, once it had been activated, how could it still have chinks in its armour? How could it be stopped?


    This was Tantai Guihu''s last hope, and Fang Yuan did not want to destroy it.


    However, Fang Yuan''s interest had been aroused.


    "This village...interesting. Where is it?"


    "I have already travelled all over our country and marked out some potential spots. Now, I have already narrowed them down to a few."


    Tantai Guihu went on.


    "Before meeting you, I had just eliminated one spot and was going towards another."


    "Interesting!"


    Fang Yuan was silent for a moment before he spoke again.


    "I want to join your team. Let''s go look for the origin of the Tantai family together!"


    "It''ll be great if you are willing to join us!"


    Tantai Guihu could barely conceal his excitement and continued to explain.


    "Based on my conjecture, the village might contain some kind of threat...after all, why would our ancestors leave the place if a disaster had not happened?"


    "That is true. But to me, the greater the threat, the better!"


    Fang Yuan spoke with nonchalance. He went on to ask a question.


    "Right, so what is the name of this village?"


    "Ghost Sealing Village!"


    Tantai Guihu shivered involuntarily.

 529 The Village

    The Village


    Three months later.


    Fang Yuan, Tantai Guihu and their men first travelled by car, then rented donkeys and equipment before venturing deep into the mountains.


    "Old Tan, I hope you know your way."


    Fang Yuan was rather happy with Tantai Guihu.


    Although Tantai Guihu was knowledgeable and well-versed in the arts of exorcism, he was hopeless at navigation. After being led down the wrong paths several times, even Fang Yuan had become annoyed.


    As for why Fang Yuan addressed Tantai Guihu as Old Tan, it was because he did not want to acknowledge their ''generational gap''.


    "It''s definitely here. It can''t be wrong!"


    Tantai Guihu was assertive.


    "Of all the spots I have identified, it has come down to this one last place."


    As he spoke, he noticed how dishevelled everyone looked and could not help but feel a pang of guilt.


    "After all...it''s been a few hundred years. Time would have changed everything. The village would most probably have a different name by now."


    "The name Ghost Sealing Village sounds very inauspicious. It deserves to be renamed."


    Fang Yuan had to agree.


    "Amituofo¡­"


    Jiese was in the crew as well. His head, originally bald, was covered in a grey fuzz.


    "I did not expect a village in the mountains to be so hard to find, with not a person to guide us in sight."


    "This can''t be helped. This place is known for being barren and has a toxic atmosphere. Experienced hunters avoid this place. Only the natives who have adapted to the environment inhabit this place. If any trading is to occur at all, it will usually be done at the town on the natives'' initiative¡­"


    Tantai Guihu sounded helpless.


    "It still isn''t too bad over here. However, we might have to ditch our donkeys and walk on foot for the road ahead..."


    It was fortunate that all present were exorcists and were physically fit. They were all able to protect themselves through all sorts of spiritual means and were not worried about this small inconvenience.


    Fang Yuan, especially, had an inhuman level of physical fitness. Even though he was carrying a load worth hundreds of catties, he climbed the mountains as though they weighed nothing. It was truly an eye-opening sight for the other exorcists.


    "Ehh?"


    They had ditched their donkeys and scaled another hill before Fang Yuan gave an exclamation.


    "What is it?"


    Tantai Guihu did not dare to underestimate this junior of his.


    "The layout of this mountain range is kind of...strange!"


    Fang Yuan''s eyes gleamed and he voiced out blandly.


    "The layout of the mountain range...are you talking about geomancy[1]?"


    There was a glint in Tantai''s Guihu''s gaze.


    "Mmhm. The mountain range stretches out for miles and diverges into two at a fork like a dragon. There also happens to be a protected spot in the middle of the range. If it isn''t a prosperous land, then it would have to be a perilous land!"


    Fang Yuan took out the map and compared it to the view. He then understood.


    "I have a rough idea of the village''s exact location. It should be at the protected spot, the geomantic ''eye''..."


    All roads lead to Rome indeed.


    Even in a different world, basic geomantic knowledge still held true.


    "Come with me!"


    Fang Yuan could not help but feel a surge of excitement. He led the way ahead.


    "Ah...wait for us!"


    It was tough on some in the crew. Tantai Guihu was largely alright, but the Chen siblings had it worse. Jiese the monk, on the other hand, maintained his position at the front serenely.


    "The cycles going on between Heaven and Earth are perpetual. In places where wind and water congregate, there would be differences in whether the location is prosperous or perilous. In this case, where the dragon diverges, it is perilous!"


    Fang Yuan had his doubts about finding this geomantic ''eye'' and they trudged on for two days before they could see a village in the distance.


    "Wow...there actually is a village nestled among the mountains. Unbelievable!"


    Chen He climbed up to a higher point for a better view. He noticed that the village was surrounded by a circular band of peaks with an opening. That opening was the only way into the village.


    It was a quaint little village with a paved road and a water intake structure. It was oddly attractive.


    "How did they manage to bring building materials into this place?"


    Zhan Tianhu was quite astonished.


    "Won''t you find out when you explore the place?"


    As Fang Yuan stared at the village, he became less doubtful.


    The village was built within the geomantic ''eye'', a point where Yin and Yang clashed with each other. If utilised well, it would serve as a land more prosperous than any other prosperous lands. If not, it would be catastrophic.


    "Amituofo...the builder of the village is a careful person. Look at the arrangement of the buildings. They blend well with nature and possess a hidden energy. Its perimeter is protected by an octagonal formation..."


    Although Jiese was a monk, he was surprisingly well-versed in the Taoist arts as well. He then explained his understanding of the location to the crew.


    Chen Xin and company were elated.


    "If the village is so well-designed, it has to be the Ghost Sealing Village!"


    ________


    The crew climbed down from the mountains and walked towards the village.


    A large man carrying an axe and firewood on his back happened to pass by. He flashed a smile at them when he noticed them.


    "You are...visitors from the outside world?"


    Although the man had a strong accent, Fang Yuan and the rest could understand him.


    "Yes...we are people that have come together from all over the country so as to embark on this expedition!"


    Chen Xin stepped forward to converse with the man. She usually handed the human relations aspect of things for the group.


    "Sir, do you know of any nearby inn that we could stay at? We have travelled for many days and are exhausted¡­"


    "This village is so poor and out of the way, how could there be any inns here!"


    The large man smiled on.


    "But if you people want to stay on, I could bring you all to see the village chief. He will help you all to settle your accommodation."


    "Ah, thank you so much!"


    Chen Xin beamed and gave him a few banknotes.


    "Sir, please lead the way."


    "This woman is actually pretty useful."


    Fang Yuan observed this scene with interest.


    The big man led the five of them into the village and to an audience with the village chief.


    "Wow, there are actually people who managed to find their way in?"


    The village chief was a man who looked to be in his fifties or sixties. He wore a Zhongshan suit with a blue cap. He smoked a cigarette and had a sly look in his eyes.


    "Looking for an accommodation? No problem, the Donghua family has an empty house. Tidy up the place and bring them some fresh food. Get a pot too¡­"


    "No need for all that trouble. We brought our own rations!"


    Chen Xin declined their offers politely.


    "We''ll pay too. A thousand per night, how does it sound?"


    "Great, great!"


    The village chief broke out into the widest grin, which made Chen Xin wonder if she had made an excessively generous offer.


    "Right, what is the name of this village?"


    Tantai Guihu asked.


    "The entrance sign seems to say Five Ghosts Village? Was it changed from an older name?"


    "Eh? Lad, how do you know about this?"


    The village chief squatted on the floor and lit up another cigarette with a matchstick. He inhaled and exhaled contentedly.


    "It seems like you people did not just come here for a tour. Haha...relax, we won''t interfere in your affairs. In fact, we want to do business with you!"


    "Hmm?"


    Tantai Guihu was worried that the village chief might have misunderstood them, but a sudden thought rushed through his mind.


    "Are there many graves in the mountains?"


    "There are many. Many officials of days long past were buried here. Sometimes, when the rains are heavy, mud would slide off the mountains to reveal bones¡­"


    The village chief was slightly baffled.


    "Are you...grave robbers?"


    "Of course not!"


    Fang Yuan replied coldly.


    They were professional exorcists, with absolutely no ties with those petty graverobbers.


    "Oh!"


    The village chief nodded, but he did not look convinced.


    "Alright, we have climbed the mountains for the whole day and are tired. Could we retire to our lodgings?"


    Tantai Guihu had listened enough.


    "No problem. I''ll get Madam Donghua to come!"


    The village chief grinned, revealing his yellow teeth.


    "Oh, by the way, was the Five Ghosts Village previously named...Ghost Sealing Village?"


    As the prepared to leave, Tantai Guihu asked his question casually.


    "Lad...you ask too many questions!"


    The village chief had dropped his friendly countenance and regarded them coldly for a moment. He gave a dry laugh.


    "The village was renamed hundreds of years ago. How can you expect anyone to remember? Haha¡­"


    ''Something isn''t right!''


    Even the most superficial Chen Xin had noticed that there was a problem.


    __________


    "How is it? What do you think of this village?"


    Madam Donghua was a woman in her thirties with wrinkles at the corner of her eyes. She wore a flowery dress and was still a good-looking lady despite the test of time. She did not bother with the niceties and left after preparing the rooms and food.


    After she had left, Tantai Guihu gathered the rest to discuss all that they had seen.


    "Do you all think that there is anything wrong with this village?"


    "Amituofo¡­"


    Jiese began to speak.


    "I just feel that this village conceals many secrets, with meaning to be found in every corner. The array expertise displayed over here is too profound even for me. I don''t know where to start."


    "Mm, ever since we entered this place, I feel like we are in constant danger. It gives me the chills!"


    Tantai Guihu creased his brows.


    "It seems like this village is haunted."


    "Alright, let''s eat first!"


    He looked at the dishes laid out on the table and smile.


    "This may be a little village, but this is good food."


    Because the preparation was rushed, there were only two vegetable dishes and one meat dish. There was also a hotpot that gave off a pleasant and mouth-watering aroma.


    The Chen siblings prepared to dig in at the mention of food. However, Fang Yuan continued to sit there with an amused look on his face.


    "Is there something else?"


    Tantai Guihu asked gingerly.


    "Yes!"


    Fang Yuan had no intention of picking up his chopsticks.


    "There is something very wrong with this village indeed. Have you all not realised...everyone here is dead!"


    ...


    [1] Geomancy, also known as Feng Shui, is the art of using energy forces to harmonize individuals and buildings with their surrounding environment.

 530 Bizarre

    "These villagers...aren''t human?"


    Chen Xin broke out in cold sweat. She replayed the happenings of the day in her mind, meeting the woodcutter, the village chief and Madam Donghua. She could not help but feel faint.


    "How could they all be ghosts?"


    "Amituofo...I don''t feel any ghostly aura emanating from them either. Could it be that all of them are malevolent spirits?"


    Jiese was confused as well.


    "Fang Yuan''s opinion might sound ridiculous, but the unease I feel in my heart right now tells me that this may very well be the case!"


    Tantai Guihu continued to speak in a calm manner.


    "Ghost Sealing Village...it is now a ghost village inhabited only by ghosts!"


    "My god...we have fallen into a trap."


    Chen He spat out the chunk of meat he was chewing on and retched. He was cross.


    "Since we are aware that this place has a problem, why did we still come here?"


    "Wait up!"


    Fang Yuan shook his head.


    "I only said that they were dead. I didn''t say that they were ghosts."


    "My head hurts¡­"


    Chen He looked very distressed.


    "If they are dead, and can move about, what else can they be other than ghosts?"


    "I can''t say for sure¡­"


    Fang Yuan had gone silent. The people in the village were very strange indeed.


    All of them seemed like they were enveloped in a mist as if their days were numbered. At the same time, they looked active and not at all like ghosts.


    "We have a situation!"


    They had realised that something was up.


    "It is too quiet outside!"


    A mountain village like this would have no lack of livestock. But now, night had fallen and there was a deathly silence outside.


    It did not seem like it meant anything, but right now, they were feeling extremely uncomfortable.


    Whoosh!


    The oil lamps in the house flickered even though the flames were encased in glass. They all went out one by one.


    "Strange indeed. This is worth an investigation!"


    Tantai Guihu rubbed the mask he was wearing on his face.


    "What do you all think?"


    "No matter what, let''s look for this person before anything else."


    Fang Yuan got to his feet and walked out of the house.


    Dark clouds swam about in the night sky. A full moon was out and threw a cold light upon the landscape.


    "Ah!"


    As they inspected their surroundings, a piercing scream cut through the silence. It sounded like it was from a woman.


    "It came from Madam Donghua''s house!"


    Fang Yuan and Tantau Guihu rushed forward to the house and barged the door open.


    Ping!


    The few of them entered the house, holding an oil lamp between themselves and the darkness within.


    "Madam Donghua?"


    Chen Xin called out hesitantly, but no reply came.


    "What is going on? She was here just now¡­"


    She walked a few steps forward before the light from the oil lamp fell upon a figure. It was a little figure that hung above the ground.


    "A corpse? It looks like her son, Goudan!"


    Chen Xin could feel her voice begin to quiver.


    "Tsktsk...this is sorcery!"


    From the light of the oil lamp, Fang Yuan could clearly see that the child wearing red was hanging from the beam. He had been dead for some time and there was a pin stuck deep into his head.


    "Amituofo, I''ve seen this set up before. The South Sea Sorcerer once used this method to acquired souls!"


    Jiese rubbed his bald head.


    "Could this be...the origin of the curse?"


    Chen He was shocked.


    "A sorcerer harming an entire village. What could his motive be? To acquire souls, or to derive a curse?"


    Hey!


    Chen He suddenly felt himself go numb. The hanging dead child had opened its eyes and was smiling at him.


    "Ghost!"


    Although Chen He was afraid, he was after all an elite exorcist and quickly sprayed amulet water upwards.


    Ping!


    The rope broke and this body fell to the ground with a thud.


    "Boss, this child came alive for a moment!"


    Chen He took a few steps back tentatively.


    "I can''t sense anything¡­"


    Tantai Guihu had an awful look on his face. He proceeded to cut open his palm and let his blood drip over the area.


    "Go examine the boy''s body for clues."


    "Alright!"


    Chen He was confident in Tantai Guihu''s abilities and strode forward. He then turned the corpse over.


    "Uhm...the corpse is cold. It has been dead for a while. The red clothes were put on it after its death. The pin on its head was hammered in by a person with experience."


    He had some serious doubts. The killer must be human. If a spirit wanted to kill, it would not be such a sucker for details.


    "Still...the most important concern is whether this sorcery was successful¡­"


    Chen He stood up and dusted his hands.


    "This is indeed a corpse and not a ghost in disguise. Even if there were ghosts around, they would have run away when Boss decided to use his blood, am I right? Haha¡­"


    He had barely finished speaking when a stunned look came over his face. It was as if he had seen something incredible. Without any warning, he disappeared.


    "Chen He?"


    "Brother!"


    ...


    Jiese and Chen Xin has looks of disbelief on their faces while Tantai Guihu could only stare at his hands blankly.


    Blood continued to flow from the wound on his palm.


    "I have been careless...I have underestimated the ''ghosts'' here. They do not even look like they are affected in the least by my measures!"


    Tantai Guihu sighed deeply.


    "I didn''t manage to find any clues either¡­"


    Fang Yuan had lost the gleam in his eyes, but his excitement had not diminished.


    ''Another curse of the Strange Level?''


    "The boy...the boy is gone!"


    Chen Xin screamed.


    At this point, Jiese and the rest suddenly realised that the corpse on the floor had disappeared.


    "Brother¡­"


    Chen Xin fell to the floor, tears streaming down her cheeks.


    Everyone, especially Taitai Guihu, was aware of Chen He''s abilities. In the face of such a powerful curse, he had little or no chance of survival.


    "Sigh¡­"


    He thought for a moment before pulling Chen Xin''s palm closer to him. He then drew a talismanic symbol on it with his blood.


    ''Chen He is most probably dead. I cannot let his sister suffer the same fate."


    "The most important thing to do right now is to seek out other people, or ghosts. We can barely make sense of all that is happening and we need to get to the heart of the matter!"


    Just as he got to his feet, his sharp ears picked out a muted sound.


    "Come with me!"


    Ping!


    In the next moment, Fang Yuan had rushed out of the room with Tantai Guihu and Jiese following close behind. Chen Xin also dried her tears and ran after the rest.


    Behind the stove in the kitchen, among the firewood, Fang Yuan noticed a trembling figure in the dark.


    "Madam Donghua?"


    "Goudan is dead...I caused his death¡­"


    Madam Donghua looked at them with unseeing eyes and muttered to herself.


    "Back then...I should not have told him about that place and let him find out about that ''thing''!"


    "What ''thing''?"


    Chen Xin grabbed Madam Donghua''s wrist.


    "Tell us! Don''t you want to avenge your son?"


    "We can''t...hehe¡­"


    Madam Donghua peered at Chen Xin in a frightening manner, then reverted back to her dreamy state.


    "You will die! Everyone who knows about that ''thing'' will die!"


    "If we find out...we''ll die?"


    Tantai Guihu was alarmed. This was a Killer curse. It had far-reaching effects and was highly destructive. There was no way to counter it.


    "Interesting. Now...tell me. Let it curse me!"


    Fang Yuan stepped forward, warm blood surging through his veins. His gaze was tranquil and had a soothing effect.


    "Tell me¡­"


    "N...no!"


    Madam Donghua went through an internal struggle before her expression went slack once more.


    "...Don''t go...to the temple!"


    "Temple? Seems like that ''thing'' is being worshipped?"


    Having acquired this valuable piece of information, Fang Yuan attempted to ask for the location of the temple, but Madam Donghua would not speak anymore.


    "This is a small village. Looking for a temple shouldn''t be too hard."


    Tantai Guihu assured the rest.


    "Really? I don''t think it''ll be that easy¡­"


    Fang Yuan leapt onto the roof and began to scan the entire village. Every house in sight was enshrouded in darkness.


    The buildings all looked similar and there were not any places that merited a second look.


    "Be careful!"


    As Fang Yuan descended from the roof, he issued a warning to the rest.


    "It would be dangerous to split up now. Let''s go look around for that temple together...by the way, where is Madam Donghua?"


    "She...she was just here. She just suddenly disappeared."


    Chen Xin was palpitating.


    "President...boss, will I die here?"


    "No way, we''ll all be fine! And we''ll deactivate the curse too!"


    Tantai Guihu tried his best to be encouraging.


    "I''ve spent too much time and effort preparing for this. I won''t waste it all on dying."


    "Amituofo, me neither!"


    Jiese had a saintly air about him, and his body glowed.


    The four of them exited the Donghua house and walked about aimlessly in the village.


    It was disturbing that there was no one in sight. It was as if the entire village was devoid of life save for the four of them.


    "Ehh?"


    Jiese suddenly came to a halt. He had discovered something.


    "That is¡­"


    A building hidden behind the trees appeared before his eyes. Although it looked like most of the buildings in the area, there was no ignoring the chills it gave him.


    "Here...so this is the temple?"


    Jiese was so happy that he forgot himself and was poised to step forward before a cool hand pulled him back.


    "This¡­"


    Jiese then realised that the building ahead of him was but an illusion. If he had gone any further, he would have fallen into a ditch.


    This village was a nightmare. It would be a miracle if they could get out alive.


    "Thank you for saving me!"


    Jiese shuddered as he thought about the fate awaiting him if Fang Yuan had not held him back in time.

 531 Distortion

    "Sss¡­"


    Chen Xin drew a sharp breath of cold air.


    She had just seen Jiese, a most meticulous monk, walk towards a ditch like he was in a trance.


    If it had happened to her, she would not have been able to escape.


    "Seems like...we''re in trouble!"


    In the darkness of the night, Fang Yuan turned towards Tantai Guihu and company, who had most of the colour drained from their faces.


    "Be careful. I don''t want to injure any of you by accident!"


    Before any of them could respond, Fang Yuan unleashed his curse. With his black robes on, Fang Yuan looked like the Grim Reaper. Torrents of fresh blood flowed down from the inside of his sleeves and oozed across the floor.


    Black figures began to surface out of the bloodstream. They were spirits and frolicked all over the place with abandon.


    "Sw...swarm! It''s a ghost swarm!"


    Chen Xin nearly keeled over in fright.


    Even the most elite exorcist would find it challenging to survive a ghost swarm of this level.


    This young man was amazing. What exactly was he? Why was he even more mysterious than this village?


    "Go...turn over every nook and cranny in the village and report back to me. Don''t miss anything!"


    Fang Yuan''s eyes were now fully black. They looked even more gruesome in the light of the ghostly fire.


    He issued his decree like some kind of ghost lord and the spirits scattered in all directions.


    "Grrk! Grrk!"


    The night was silent once more and only the grinding of Chen Xin''s teeth could be heard.


    "Hmm?"


    Through the ghost swarm and the power of his curse, Fang Yuan felt his senses expand in reach until they encapsulated the entire village. He could now detect every single disturbance in the area.


    It was this sensory web that allowed him to capture the presence of a terrifying entity!


    "The origin...of the curse? It doesn''t seem to be of the real world¡­"


    Fang Yuan was silent for a moment. Suddenly, his expression changed.


    The ghost swarm he had sent out was being dispatched of with haste. Although many of the spirits were as good as cannon fodder, there were numerous elite Murderous grade ghosts as well!


    "Well done...you actually destroyed my ghost swarm in such a short time!"


    Fang Yuan gritted his teeth and forced out a laugh.


    "What? Was the ghost swarm destroyed in a moment?!"


    Tantai Guihu did not know what to feel.


    The curse of this village was well beyond what he was capable of dealing with, even as an elite exorcist. The only person they could rely on now was Fang Yuan!


    "If this is the case, then we should wait till daybreak...we can''t see very well in the dark. We''ll be able to find out more in the morning!"


    Tantai Guihu suggested after thinking for a bit.


    "Mm...we could do that!"


    Fang Yuan was fine with anything. After all, he had tested the waters and understood that the curse in the Ghost Sealing Village was of the Strange Level!


    Sealing up this curse would require great power and a good timing.


    ''The origin...could it be in the alternate dimension? No, with my abilities, not even the netherworld would be able to block out my senses...that feeling¡­''


    Fang Yuan was mulling over a major doubt, but he kept it to himself.


    ''If my guess is correct, this curse would be a pain to deal with¡­''


    ¡­...


    Dawn.


    As the first rays of sunlight broke through the horizon, they could see that the entire village was enveloped in a fog.


    "It is but a common fog!"


    Tantai Guihu concluded after examining the air.


    At this point, he seemed to realise something and looked around. The 4 of them had arrived at the village entrance unknowingly.


    A large man carrying an axe and firewood on his back happened to pass by. He flashed a smile at them when he noticed them.


    "You are...visitors from the outside world?"


    "Sir...didn''t we just meet only yesterday?"


    Chen Xin asked him with a puzzled look on her face.


    "Yesterday? I was chopping wood the whole day. Didn''t meet anyone from the outside world!"


    The big man scratched his head.


    "Are you people here to tour the place? Or are you archaeologists?"


    "How can you not recognise us?"


    Chen Xin forced a stiff smile from her lips and looked at the sky. The sun was leaning towards the west. It didn''t look anything like dawn.


    "Weird people!"


    The big man muttered to himself and walked away with his stack of firewood.


    Jiese was dumbfounded and experienced a myriad of emotions.


    "Time¡­"


    A curse of the Strange Level could reverse cause and effect, and even distort space and time!


    Fang Yuan was intrigued.


    Even the sages could not turn back time. But this curse could!


    Even though the phenomena was local, it was no small matter!


    "You are saying...that we have returned to the day before when we first entered the village?"


    Tantai Guihu pondered quietly and looked around him.


    "Then...where is Chen He?"


    "In an infinite time loop, a death caused by the curse is irreversible?"


    Fang Yuan nodded to himself. He understood more now.


    "Impossible, how can time turn back...why can''t my brother come back?"


    Chen Xin put her head in her hands. She looked as though she was about to suffer a breakdown.


    "Actually, it isn''t hard to figure this out. Our equipment and appearance have reverted back to the way they were on the day before¡­"


    Fang Yuan looked down at the belongings he was carrying with him. He then strode towards the village assertively.


    "The curse was activated the moment we entered this village. We won''t be able to leave the place unless we resolve it once and for all!"


    They knew their way around since it was their second day in the village.


    Jiese was especially alert after being reminded by Fang Yuan to beware. He found it weird that the villagers were largely expressionless with a vacant look in their eyes.


    "Haha¡­"


    A ball woven from reefs rolled into their path with a child following code behind. Chen Xin was taken aback.


    "It''s Goudan! And Madam Donghua!"


    However, the mother and son pair walked past them like they were invisible.


    "We have fallen into this time loop¡­"


    Chen Xin broke into tears as she spoke.


    "No...I don''t want to die. Why did I come here? I want to go home, I want to see my Brother! Boohoo¡­"


    "Alright!"


    Tantai Guihu passed her a paper handkerchief.


    "Relax...we will defeat this curse."


    "It''s...it''s all your fault! If it wasn''t for you, why would I be in this godforsaken place? And my brother wouldn''t have died!"


    She used to feel that her crush on Tantai Guihu made her willing to do anything for him.


    But at this point, with her life in danger and the curse hanging over all of them like an axe, she realised that she wanted to live more than anything else.


    "Xin''er¡­"


    Tantai Guihu was speechless.


    "I don''t want to see you ever again!"


    Chen Xin shouted at him and ran towards the village entrance.


    Fang Yuan could not help but shake his head at this scene. If the curse could be easily undone, wouldn''t it make everything that has happened a joke?"


    "I''ll go after her!"


    Tantai Guihu gritted his teeth. He knew that Chen Xin had no hope against the danger that they faced. He could not give up on her, especially seeing how her brother had died for him.


    "Fine. We''ll split into two groups. Jiese and I will go look for the village chief and the temple. Let''s meet at Madam Donghua''s house tonight!"


    Fang Yuan nodded.


    In truth, he had long considered Chen Xin a burden. If she wanted to look for trouble herself, she could go ahead.


    Also, now that they had found the Ghost Sealing Village, even Tantai Guihu was no longer of no use to him.


    After watching Tantai Guihu disappear into the distance, Fang Yuan turned away nonchalantly and proceeded to seek out the village chief.


    "Yes? Looking for accommodation, sure!"


    The village chief agreed readily.


    "Don''t worry, we will pay for our lodgings. Also, I am an archaeologist and would like to visit your temple. Can we?"


    Fang Yuan flashed a bright smile.


    "Temple?"


    The village chief changed his expression.


    "There''s nothing to see over there. If you want to examine our antiques, we do have quite a few¡­"


    "Full of rubbish. I won''t play this game with you."


    Fang Yuan kicked out at the village chief after saying his piece.


    Ping!


    The village chief had never met anyone this mercurial and screamed as he hit the wall at the far end.


    "We have a troublemaker in the village!"


    "Hit them! Kill them!"


    The villagers responded to the cries of the village chief''s wife. Armed with hoes and pitchforks, they surrounded Fang Yuan and Jiese angrily.


    "Scram!"


    Fang Yuan held up a rock and crushed it into powder with his bare hand. He then threw out the powder towards the mob.


    Poof!


    Mists of blood burst out among the mob and their shrieks filled the air.


    "Amituofo...these are real people!"


    Jiese was perplexed.


    "Have mercy! Don''t go on a senseless killing spree!"


    "What if I want to? Are you going to stop me?"


    Fang Yuan narrowed his eyes.


    "No, but at least allow me to recite the reincarnation mantra for them!"


    ...


    Fang Yuan did show mercy in the end and refrained from killing anyone.


    The village chief had decided to cooperate with Fang Yuan, albeit reluctantly, after seeing his superior martial arts display. They were led to the temple.


    "S...sir, you may take whatever you want to. Don''t hurt us, and we''ll do whatever you want us to!"


    The village chief pulled a long face and took out a bronze key laboriously. He used to key to open the door into a yard.


    This yard was hidden among buildings that all looked the same. If they did not have a good guide, they would have spent days looking for it.


    Fang Yuan strode across the yard and stopped in front of the main hall. He stared at the rows of tablets before him.


    "The memorial tablet of ancestor Gui Kao¡­"


    Jiese read out the inscriptions on a random tablet and turned sharply to the village chief.


    "Sir, what is your surname?"


    "My surname is Gui [1]"


    The village chief pulled an even longer face.


    "I''m telling the truth. It''s not a joke."


    "I see!"


    Jiese nodded.


    The Gui surname was indeed a surname with ancient origins.


    According to the village chief, most of the people living in the vicinity had the surname Gui, which gave rise to the name of this village they were stuck in: Five Ghosts Village.


    ¡­...


    [1] Gui is the pinyin of the Chinese character for ''ghost''.

 532 Name

    "How is it going? Any new discovery?"


    Jiese watched as Fang Yuan used his Fiery Golden Eyes to scan the surroundings.


    "No! It''s all clean!"


    Fang Yuan shook his head and turned to face the village chief.


    "Is this really the temple?"


    "Sir...my ancestors are all here? Why would I lie?"


    The village chief replied hurriedly upon noticing Fang Yuan''s scowl.


    Fang Yuan could tell from his reaction that he was telling the truth.


    "Is there nowhere else other than this place?"


    "Yes, there is nothing else!"


    "Strange!"


    Fang Yuan shook his head.


    "Let''s go! We''ll go look for Madam Donghua!"


    "Amituofo!"


    Jiese has a grave look on his face.


    "Could it be...that you want to receive that ''thing''''s curse and try to save Goudan''s life?"


    "Things probably can''t get any worse, am I right?"


    Fang Yuan nodded and took Jiese to Madam Donghua.


    "What is this about finding out about something and being cursed as a result?"


    The woman was bewildered.


    "What are you even talking about?"


    "We monks never say frivolous things!"


    Jiese looked very serious.


    "I can read fortunes. Your child has a black mark looming over him. He might experience a calamity tonight!"


    Since Madam Donghua did not appear to know anything, Jiese guessed that they probably came into contact with the curse after entering the village. He wanted to observe any new developments from up close.


    "You are crazy! How dare you curse our Goudan!"


    Madam Donghua would have stared daggers at Fang Yuan if not for his burgeoning notoriety in the village.


    "Alright, we are going to board at your house. From this very moment, you and your child will not leave my line of sight, is that clear?"


    Fang Yuan could not be bothered to listen to her protests and handed her a wad of banknotes upfront.


    "If you can follow my instructions, this money will be yours. If you don''t¡­"


    He pressed his palm on a nearby wall and gave it a little push.


    Boom!


    The entire wall fell backwards with a resounding crash. Goudan was so afraid that he burst into tears.


    "You people¡­"


    Madam Donghua lowered her head and look as though as she was about to cry


    "Are you kidnappers? No! Goudan is more important than anything in the world. Over my dead body!"


    "Enough, I''ve made myself clear enough. If you continue to make noise, I''ll tie up the two of you!"


    Fang Yuan''s gave her an icy stare.


    The villagers nearby were terrified and pretended to go about their business. Madam Donghua had no choice but to wipe her tears and agree.


    Fang Yuan and Jiese followed the arrangements of the previous day and moved into Madam Donghua''s house. All that was left to do was to wait for nightfall.


    This time, though, the mother and son pair would not leave their line of sight.


    "Amituofo¡­"


    Other than to utter the occasional chant, Jiese sat there silently without drinking or eating, and kept his eyes fixated on Goudan.


    According to their earlier investigations, this adorable boy was about to die.


    But he was confused all the same.


    The boy looked very much alive to him, as did the other villagers!


    ''I wonder how Mister Tantai and Miss Chen are? Given Mister Tantai''s abilities, he would have no problems linking up with us¡­''


    Jiese could only gaze at the rising moon and wonder.


    ....


    Meanwhile. Outside of the village.


    "Brother Tantai...what do we do?"


    Tantai Guihu had found Chen Xin. She had left in a fit of anger but still returned to him when he came looking for her.


    "This fog is unnatural!"


    Tantai Guihu''s mask had turned blood red and his voice was sombre.


    It was not that they did not want to link up with Fang Yuan. They had just realised that they were...lost!


    When they had walked out of the fog, they found that they were travelling along a mountain ridge.


    The cold wind blew on mercilessly.


    Tantai Guihu took off his outer jacket and pulled it over Chen Xin. He then focused his efforts on sizing up the terrain.


    "The footprints on the ground are disorderly. A large number of people must have walked past here not too long ago. We can''t be too far away from the village!"


    Tantai Guihu made his guesses and followed the footprints. He came to a cave shortly after. The ground around them had been turned over, leaving the soil from the lower layers and plant roots exposed.


    "Is this...a tomb?"


    Tantai Guihu thought back to the words of the village chief and understood.


    "There are many tombs in the vicinity of the village. This ancient tomb must have been exposed due to a landslide. The villagers must have gotten to it and taken away the buried treasures. No wonder the village chief wanted to show us antiques and even hinted to us that he wanted to do business. It seems like he wanted to dispose of the stolen goods!"


    Tantai Guihu did not think much of this discovery though.


    It was only right that inhabitants in this area rely on the mountains for their livelihood. It was not his responsibility to worry about the conservation of cultural relics.


    "Brother Tantai...I am scared!"


    Chen Xin shivered when she looked into the gaping entrance of the cave. It looked like the open mouth of a huge beast.


    "Mm, let''s get out of this place now. We''ll come back with Fang Yuan tomorrow."


    Tantai Guihu was not a reckless person and immediately turned around to leave.


    Crack!


    He had stepped on something crisp.


    "This...is the symbol of the Tantai family?"


    Tantai Guihu bent down to pick up a broken piece of tile. He looked amazed.


    "Indeed...this is the origin of the Tantai family! The ancestors of the Tantai family are buried in this tomb!"


    Whoosh!


    His words were cut short by him falling through the air.


    The ground beneath them had collapsed and the two of them were swallowed up into the black hole.


    ¡­...


    "Hehe¡­"


    "Ring ding ding!"


    The ball made out of reeds rolled about on the ground, the bell in it ringing for all it was worth.


    Goudan laughed and played on as if all was right with the world. Like there was no curse, no danger.


    Smack!


    The ball rolled to a stop beside Jiese''s foot. Goudan looked at his busy mother and could not make up his mind about what to do next.


    "Amituofo, take it back!"


    Jiese smiled at Goudan and handed him the ball.


    ''Strange...why isn''t anything happening?''


    Seeing Goudan receive the ball and thank him politely, Jiese became even more unsure of himself. He was inclined to believe that everything he had seen the previous night was an illusion.


    ''So weird¡­''


    Goudan was curious too. Why did this two formidable uncles insist on staying in his house to keep an eye on both his mother and himself?


    He had to admit that he was in awe of Fang Yuan.


    Raw power could usually win over little children. Every person would have dreamed of becoming a hero when they were younger.


    Never mind, off to dinner.


    Just as Goudan prepared to dig in, memories flooded in.


    It seemed to be from the afternoon of that same day.


    The emergence of the sun had cleared up all the puddles on the ground. He was walking along the mountain trail. There were many people, many footprints. Everyone was jostling for their turn to enter a dark cave, to get their hands on the many things in that cave.


    There were many toys in that cave.


    The most striking object in that area was the great blood-red monolith. It said something that he could not read, but the people around him were mocking it.


    "''Restricted Area, No Entry''? What a joke!"


    "The artefacts in the ancient tomb belong to our village!"


    "One would die if one finds out about it. The sealing of the tomb...what is this? A ghost story?"


    ....


    Madam Donghua held Goudan''s little hand tightly. The dimness of his surroundings had a frightening quality to it. The men around him were holding onto torches, and the light illuminated their faces in a hideous way. It made them look like savage ghosts.


    "Let''s go, Goudan, let''s hurry up and leave!"


    With a firm grip, Madam Donghua pulled Goudan towards the cave entrance.


    Except that at that moment, someone had already read ''it'' out loud!


    "Ahh!"


    In the real world, Goudan had burst out crying without any warning.


    ¡­..


    "Eh? How did this thing end up in my house?"


    The village chief scratched his head and looked at the bronze item hidden under his bed.


    It was a beautiful bronze statue with an archaic feel to it. Anyone could tell that this was a valuable treasure.


    "Wait a minute, I think I dug this out. From that ancient tomb¡­"


    At the same time, memories came flooding back.


    "Funny. It was an activity that took place in the morning involving the entire village. It''s the afternoon now. Where''s everyone?"


    Since he had discovered the ancient tomb on the mountain slopes, he had activated everyone in the village in the hopes of striking it rich.


    "I remember now. That tomb was built like a temple inside. There was a tablet that said the items within were cursed, and to stay away. Especially the name on the first memorial tablet. Finding out about it would result in... death!?"


    The village chief gave an involuntary shudder and tried to forget all of that by shaking his head violently.


    Not even Fang Yuan could find out about his memory loss. Now that the village chief had remembered everything, he would never forget it for as long as he lived.


    "That...that name!"


    "Tantai¡­"


    Poof!


    Streaks of red appeared on the village chief''s body and his entire person split apart sickeningly. There was blood everywhere.


    A spirit with a blank gaze rose slowly from the blood red puddles. It had taken on the face of the village chief!


    ¡­..


    "Cough cough¡­"


    Tantai Guihu helped the dishevelled Chen Xin up in the large pit.


    "Are you okay?"


    "I''m fine! It''s just that we seem to have fallen into a crypt¡­"


    Chen Xin let out a forced laugh.


    "Not only that, I have discovered something else. Look!"


    Tantai Guihu turned his torchlight on and the structures around them swam into view. Chen Xin was surprised.


    "Is this... a crypt? Why does it look more like a temple?"


    "...I think this might be the temple Madam Donghua was talking about!"


    Tantai Guihu and Chen Xin took a few steps forward and examined the rows of tablets carved from green stone.


    "My Tantai ancestors are buried here?"


    Tantai Guihu bowed to the tablets in reverence. When he looked up, he noticed that there was a lone tablet placed on the top row. It was surrounded by chains and was supposed to be covered by a curtain which had somehow fallen down, revealing a set of large characters.


    "The ancestor...Tantai Moye!?"


    Tantai Guihu was not sure why, but looking at this tablet made his hair stand on end and gave him a sense of impending doom.

 533 Impending

    "This place gives me the creeps. Let''s get out of here. We''ll come back with Fang Yuan tomorrow!"


    Shaking, Tantai Guihu pulled Chen Xin along with him and ran hard towards the exit.


    They were currently in the great hall of the crypt. They had fallen into its heart when the ground gave way, but by virtue of the exposed ceiling, the way out was laid bare ahead for them.


    "Ah! Brother Tantai, look!"


    The two of them had reached the mouth of the tunnel. Chen Xin pointed to the stone tablet in front of them, her face as white as a sheet.


    "My god!"


    Tantai Guihu broke out in cold sweat as he read the inscriptions on it.


    The words on the stone tablet were simple. They explained that the place sealed up a ''name'' that should not have existed in the world. The name belonged to an ancestor of the Tantai family. He had committed a heinous crime and as a result, he name was cursed.


    Everyone who saw or even heard of the name would die!


    If they had entered the crypt from the entrance, they would have seen the warning sign first and would have proceeded with caution.


    Unfortunately, Tantai Guihu and Chenxin had not, and hence did not see the warning.


    "What do we do now? I don''t want to die!"


    Tears streamed down Chen Xin''s face as she tried to forget about the inscriptions on the memorial tablet. But the more she interfered with the memory, the deeper it was imprinted upon her consciousness.


    "I finally understand...why the people of Five Ghosts Village are like that¡­"


    Tantai Guihu had come to a realisation.


    "They had intended to move the buried treasure away but saw the memorial tablet along the way, thus unleashing the curse on themselves...they have probably died more than once since then."


    Chen Xin understood too and trembled as she thought about it.


    A landslide had occurred in the mountains one fine day, revealing the entrance of the ancient tomb.


    The villagers of the Five Ghosts Village were overcome with greed and took part in the gold rush despite the written warnings, hence activating the unspeaking curse.


    Additionally, due to the distortion of time, death was not the end for them. They were cursed to die and die again every single day in an infinite time loop!


    Now, it was clear that the four of them had stumbled upon this neverending cyclical curse!


    ....


    In the meantime, in Ghost Sealing Village.


    "The unspeakable taboo is a name?"


    Fang Yuan looked at Madam Donghua, who had regained her memory, ponderously.


    Strange level curses had peculiar triggers. Sometimes it could be simply a name or even an image!


    "But if it was only the name, aren''t there plenty of people with the same name? Wouldn''t it have caused a mess worldwide? Hence, there must be other triggering factors as well, like perhaps...within a set location?


    This would probably explain why the Tantai family chose to migrate. They must have learnt a painful lesson.


    He looked at the mother and son pair in front of him with some pity.


    This curse. Death. Just how many times had they gone through it? They would never get used to it because their memories would reset every day, and they would relieve fear and desolation every single day.


    "Tell me!"


    Fang Yuan was direct.


    "Tell me about the name, about your fears, everything!"


    He did not know if he could handle a Strange level spacetime curse and was planning to try and in the process, find the source of the curse.


    "How can I do that? This is something harmful¡­"


    Madam Donghua was pale-faced. She had been frightened by her experience in the afternoon.


    "If you don''t tell us right now, your son might not be rescued in time!"


    Fang Yuan sneered.


    "It''s your choice to make!"


    The only thing stopping Madam Donghua from telling them was her conscience, but when measured up against Goudan, the scales tipped in the favour of her beloved son.


    "Fine...I''ll tell you, that name!"


    Madam Donghua gritted her teeth.


    "Monk, are you listening?"


    Fang Yuan turned to Jiese with an amused smile.


    "Amituofo, as the saying goes, ''If not me, then who?''"


    Jiese''s face was solemn.


    "Also...it is a fact that the curse already affects us, and there''s no escaping it."


    "Not bad. You''re speaking like a true disciple of the Lord Buddha."


    Fang Yuan nodded and turned back to Madam Donghua.


    "In that ancient tomb, there is a temple. The memorial tablet on the top row has the cursed name inscribed on it. It was originally chained up and covered up by a curtain, but the village chief thought that the tablet might lead to more treasures and ordered them removed¡­"


    Madam Donghua could remember the events of that fateful day clearly.


    "That name...I remember it, it is...Tantai...Moye!"


    ''It is indeed from the Tantai family¡­''


    Fang Yuan and Jiese looked at each other. They were not surprised.


    "Tantai Moye?"


    Fang Yuan chewed on the name. His sensory perceptions suddenly established a link with the true origin of the curse.


    ''The memorial tablet was but a catalyst, not the origin...the true origin of the curse is hidden in the space-time gaps.''


    He now understood why he had not managed to find the origin during his previous investigations.


    It was because the curse did not lie on the plane of existence, but along the spacetime axes!


    Once more, a deathly silence had fallen over the world outside.


    "It seems like everyone has had their memories reset again. The curse is taking place right now¡­"


    Fang Yuan sighed and put on his black robes. His eyes gave off a golden gleam and his hands had turned purplish-black. He was ready to fight.


    After all, he was dealing with a curse that could distort space-time, the most potent among Strange level curses.


    ''Also...what does this curse have to do with the Tantai family?''


    After a deep thought, Fang Yuan stepped forward and set black chains around Madam Donghua and Goudan.


    With their souls being kept in check, their expression shifted from one of consternation to one of passivity.


    ''No wonder I thought they were weird from the start! They had died and revived so many times that they are now neither human nor ghost!"


    That was another question answered, but it did not make Fang Yuan feel any better.


    His sixth sense and the various occurrences that took place after they had learnt the name told him that the arrival of a terrifying entity...was impending!


    "Amituofo, don''t worry Madam Donghua, Goudan will be...fine!"


    Jiese was attempting to comfort them when a sudden change came over his face.


    Madam Donghua had stabbed her hand into Jiese''s chest.


    "Oh Lord Buddha, Dragon of the heavens, explode!"


    Jiese''s eyes flew wide open and golden rays shot out. A protective band of light formed around his body.


    Ping! Ping!


    The two sets of chains were pulled taut, at the end of which were two malevolent ghosts!


    "Hmm?"


    Fang Yuan looked over and was surprised to see Madam Donghua''s and Goudan''s transformation. Their hands were a greenish-purple with very long fingernails. Their appearances were that of ghosts.


    "Humans one minute, ghosts the next? There was no sign at all...no, no. They had already died when the curse had hit them for the first time."


    Fang Yuan came to a conclusion quickly before turning to Jiese.


    "Monk...are you alright?"


    "I won''t die!"


    Jiese took out his medicine pouch and applied the ointment on his wound. The attack had apparently taken its toll on him for his breathing was weak.


    If Fang Yuan had not restrained them from the start, the two ghosts would have dug Jiese''s heart out.


    Wooooowooooo!


    At this moment, there was a commotion outside the house.


    When Fang Yuan went to check it out, he realised that there were dozens of ghosts wandering outside.


    They were all villagers by day but had transformed en masse into ghosts when night fell. With the village chief leading them on, they began to close in on the yard.


    "Ghost Sealing Village...this village is living up to its name!"


    Fang Yuan chuckled coldly.


    "Did you think I will worry about a ghost swarm of this level?"


    Shing! Shing!


    Rows and rows of chains extended from Fang Yuan''s body until they formed a giant defensive web.


    His eyes had simultaneously turned into black holes and rays of blinding light shot out from them.


    "Ghost...reaper!"


    A large black shadow carrying a sickle appeared behind him and swung it with brutal force!


    Expressions of fear appeared on the faces of the ghosts, which made them look human for a moment.


    The ghosts who had been hit disintegrated as though their bodies were made out of sand..... all that was left of them were skeletons.


    The spirit-like wisps that were left behind disappeared completely into the black holes.


    "Amituofo!"


    Jiese clasped his hands together and was preparing to recite the reincarnation mantras when a change came over the surroundings.


    A thick fog had formed around them and the disintegrated ghosts were materialising again. It was as if...time had been turned back!


    ....


    "Quick!"


    Tantai Guihu grabbed Chen Xin''s hand and sped in the direction of Ghost Sealing Village.


    "This curse will definitely not allow anyone to escape... It even made us lose our way so as to force us into seeing the name!"


    Tantai Guihu analysed their situation.


    "If we run towards the outside world, we will encounter dead ends no matter which path we take. Only by going back to Ghost Sealing Village will we have a chance to survive!"


    Indeed, as they sprinted along, they could see the silent Ghost Sealing Village edging closer to them under the moonlight.


    "As long as we find Fang Yuan, we will live!"


    Tantai Guihu shouted out loud. Suddenly, a crack appeared on his mask.


    "What?"


    He was shocked and came to a stop.


    "My...mask. Even my mask is gradually succumbing to the curse?"


    It was thanks to his mask that he and Chen Xin were able to make it this far without getting harmed.


    But now, their greatest protection was losing its power.


    "Don''t worry Chen Xin, I won''t let you die!"


    Tantai Guihu cut open his palm again. Even though he did not know just how effective his blood could be at this point in time, it was better than nothing.


    "Thank you Brother Tantai...I''ve always¡­"


    Having gone through so much together, Chen Xin was in tears again and was on the verge of saying something.


    Suddenly, the world went dark.


    She was horrified to realise that she had returned to the crypt, and Tantai Guihu was nowhere to be seen.


    The darkness was suffocating and she experienced a heavy feeling of despair.


    "No!!!"

 534 Backtracking

    Around them, the wind blew gently and the skies were clear.


    "Is this another timeline?"


    He looked around him and saw that Jiese and Tantai Guihu were nowhere to be seen.


    Just a short while ago, the curse had altered its nature when it was clear that the ghost swarm was no match for Fang Yuan.


    "Specifically, the curse has placed us in different timelines so that it can deal with us separately¡­"


    The village of a year ago, or even the village the day before would be an entirely different one from the village of the present. Any alliance, however strong, would be rendered useless if the curse were to isolate its members.


    Fang Yuan suspected that Chen He, who had disappeared right at the start, had been thrown into one of these alternate timelines. Given his abilities, he was probably dead by now.


    Except that with regards to this curse, death was not the way out. In fact, death would be the beginning of a nightmare!


    "I wonder which timeline I''m in¡­"


    In one swift motion, he arrived at the entrance of Ghost Sealing Village.


    "Papa...someone''s here!"


    A few bare-bottomed children were playing in the mud by the millstone. One of them caught sight of Fang Yuan and ran screaming towards the village.


    The children looked scrawny and were hollow-cheeked. Life must have been tough in this village.


    "This little rascal¡­"


    Fang Yuan narrowed his eyes.


    "Is this the village chief as a child?"


    Fang Yuan could see that the child bore an uncanny resemblance to the village chief. But the tell-tale sign was the unique quality of his soul.


    "There is indeed someone!"


    Before Long, a few large men hurried towards him. One of them resembled the village chief of the present day and scrutinised Fang Yuan with suspicion.


    "Who are you? Where did you come from?"


    "My name is Fang Yuan. I have questions that I need answers to."


    Fang Yuan placed his hands behind his back.


    "Of course, to prevent any unwise moves from your end, let me give you all a warning."


    Ping!


    He stamped his right foot on the ground and what followed was a deafening thud. It was as if the entire village fallen from the air.


    "The M...Mountain God?!"


    The mountain folks had never seen power like that and all of them fell to their knees.


    "Forgive us for not recognising you, My Lord. Have mercy on us!"


    ''...''


    Fang Yuan was speechless for a moment. He then pointed at the village chief''s father.


    "The name is Gui Shisan, My Lord¡­"


    His embittered smile had passed on to his son. Also, Fang Yuan could tell that they were father and son from the quality of his blood.


    "When did your branch of the Gui family arrive in this village, do you remember? Do you know what kind of people used to live here in the past?"


    Fang Yuan began to interrogate him.


    With everyone in the village taking him for the Mountain God, they told him everything he asked them about.


    From the respectful answers that the villagers had given to him, he learnt that the Gui family had already settled in the village for more than a hundred years.


    The people who had inhabited this place before them had migrated en masse to another place, and no one knew where exactly.


    "My Lord...when our ancestors came here, it was already uninhabited. We did not take over these lands by force¡­"


    The villagers were frightened and some of them were close to tears.


    "Don''t worry, I''m not here to punish anyone."


    Fang Yuan shook his head and disappeared in a flash. Gui Shisan was shocked and kowtowed immediately.


    "Tantai Moye!! Tantai Moye!!"


    Fang Yuan shouted the name as he sprinted through the forest.


    "No...although I can sense the origin of the curse, it feels distant, which means that it isn''t on this time axis¡­"


    He continued to speed on with no idea how far he had travelled.


    "Since this curse probably has area restrictions, I should leave this place and see if anything will try to stop and kill me¡­"


    Fang Yuan sometimes felt sorry for this curse, just like how he felt about the Pawnshop.


    Although the curse was afflicted on him, it did not have the power to kill him. It was like it had swallowed an iron anchor that it could neither vomit out nor digest.


    Beyond the village were mountain ranges. They were filled with lush greenery and were full of life.


    A fog suddenly materialised and when Fang Yuan dashed through it, he was unsettled to find that he had arrived at the entrance of Ghost Sealing Village once again.


    The village was quiet and deserted, with no trace of life. The buildings were dilapidated and looked as though they had been abandoned for a long time.


    "Indeed...the curse is preventing my escape. Seems like I ran away from the previous timeline only to end up in another timeline."


    Fang Yuan looked at Ghost Sealing Village quietly.


    "If that was the village of forty or fifty years ago, this will probably be the village of more than a hundred years ago...a pity that there is still nothing that I want here."


    He ran at the boundaries of the fog again, not knowing whether to laugh or cry.


    "Why do I feel a sense of d¨¦j¨¤ vu? Should I shout the cursed name out loud again?"


    Poof!


    He was prepared this time and when the fog assailed him and could feel the destructive power of the space-time curse.


    It was a pity that the curse was unable to harm him at all. It had swallowed him up entirely but could do nothing else.


    "The curse was going to kill me by making use of a shift in spacetime, but I am simply too strong. I''ll exploit it instead and use it to rewrite history!"


    Fang Yuan barged through the white fog and arrived at the Ghost Sealing Village once more.


    "Who goes there?"


    Fang Yuan immediately realised that two village guards were about to pounce on him. He waved a hand and the two bottles of substance thrown at him exploded in midair.


    "Exorcists from the Tantai family? They have been trained well!"


    Fang Yuan knew that his physical state was scaring them, and he withdrew the spell that gave him his ghostly appearance.


    ''The Tantai family has not moved out of the village in this timeline?''


    "Who are you?"


    Even though they were exorcists of the Tantai family, anyone would be nervous if they saw a ghost with black robes, a greenish-black face and with black holes for eyes transform into a person.


    "Hmm..."


    Fang Yuan gave a small smile and shot beams from his eyes into the heads of the two guards. He began to interfere with their memories.


    "You two did not see anyone here today!"


    The ability of obliviation from the Pawnshop was working effectively.


    The two elite exorcists scratched their heads and looked confused at their actions. They then went back to guarding the village entrance.


    "What''s happening?"


    A Tantai elder walked out. He did not seem to have noticed Fang Yuan.


    "Nothing!"


    The two exorcists were caught by surprise.


    "...Never mind, just watch the gates carefully. It hasn''t been peaceful lately!"


    The Tantai elder was on the verge of saying more but thought better of it and walked away.


    ''Indeed...ghostly abilities work better than human abilities!''


    Fang Yuan released his inner spirit again, which manipulate the surroundings such that no one would pay any attention to him. He was practically invisible, and strode casually behind the elder.


    The elder walked on until he reached the meeting hall of the Tantai family.


    "What happened?"


    Dozens of elite exorcists were gathered in the hall. They were all of Tantai blood. The leader of the Tantai clan sat at the head of the table and asked with a frown.


    "I went to take a look and the two guards told me nothing. But I still have this strange feeling...maybe ''it'' has arrived."


    The elder answered with a forced laugh.


    "That ''name''¡­"


    The Tantai elders were all silent.


    At the mention of this issue, all the elite exorcists became troubled.


    "Ever since that day, anyone in the clan who would mention the name of this ancestor would fall under the curse. If not for the curse of the Green Bronze Door, our family would have been wiped out long ago¡­"


    The Tantai clan leader let out a sigh.


    "To think that the Tantai family''s legacy of a thousand years will fall in one day. That person is truly a traitorous sinner!"


    "He''s dead. There''s nothing we can do anymore¡­"


    Another white-haired old man spoke calmly.


    "Although the curse of the Door can resist the curse of the unspeakable name, things won''t work out in the long term. We have to uproot the family and leave this place!"


    "...It''s a good thing that we have sealed up the name after discovering the source of the curse. Later, we shall let the clansmen who have not yet been sullied by that ''name'' leave for the south and establish the family elsewhere!"


    "We who have borne the brunt of the curses will stay here and see if we can seal up this curse...the Tantai clan will now decree that no family member will return to these lands! No! We should not even leave any word behind. Let us be forgotten by history!"


    "Indeed!"


    The Tantai clan leader punched a fist into the air.


    "I will pass on the clan leadership to Quan and stay here to fight alongside all of you elders here !"


    "Hmm? Who goes there?"


    Suddenly, his eyes gleamed with purple light and his face turned ash-gray. He stared intently at where Fang Yuan was standing.


    "Amulet water of the world!"


    "Ghost Locking Array!"


    Everyone present were elite exorcists. As soon as they were made aware of a ghostly infiltration, they jumped to action right away and tried to contain Fang Yuan with their special abilities.


    "Another ghost has come in?"


    One of the white-haired elders looked hesitantly in the direction of Fang Yuan.


    "Unless...there is another curse that we do not know of in this village?"


    "Even the most savage ghost will have to do a double take when facing our combined forces!"


    Another clan elder said encouragingly.


    In the next moment, a horrifying chill had invaded their hearts.


    Ping! Ping!


    Dozens of magical equipment were pulverised, alarming all the Tantai clan members present.


    "This ghost...how can this be?"


    As the dust settled, a figure emerged.


    Fang Yuan, with his black robes and golden eyes, had appeared.


    "Great! To think that you were able to detect my presence. The prowess of the Tantai family is quite impressive after all."


    "Hmm?"


    The Tantai clan leader''s eyes widened.


    "You are...a person?!"


    Although more than a hundred exorcists were present, all of them probably still saw Fang Yuan as a ghost. Only the Tantai clan leader could see that he was human!

 535 Guardian

    "Why have you infiltrated the headquarters of the Tantai family?"


    The Tantai clan leader had loosened up slightly upon discovering that Fang Yuan was human. He signalled for the other Tantai elders to retreat.


    ''Hmm? Seems like this person isn''t as ignorant as I thought...right, a leader would not be as reckless as to challenge a formidable stranger to a deathmatch, even if that stranger had offended him¡­''


    Fang Yuan shook off the spell that gave him his ghostly appearance and was human again.


    "Sss¡­!"


    The Tantai elders sucked in a collective breath of cold air.


    "This sort of magic...looks like it is based on sealing up spirits on the body and forcing them to do one''s bidding... marvellous! Truly marvellous!"


    An old man stared at Fang Yuan with his mouth agape and bowed deeply to him.


    "My name is Tantai Feng. Thank you for your demonstration. If I am able to advance my skills in the future, it will be thanks to you!"


    ''Tantai Feng? Isn''t he the creator of the ''Ghost Channelling'' taboo spell?


    Fang Yuan rolled his eyes and muttered to himself.


    ''So I was his inspiration? Wait, I still can''t be sure if this place belongs to my timeline. Or is it part of the multiverse? Or even a world that was created by the curse?''


    "Alright, you may take your leave, Elder Feng!"


    The Tantai clan leader had spoken again.


    "My friend, what is your purpose in coming here?"


    "To be honest, it was a coincidence. I had not intended to come here at all. You may all call me Fang Yuan!"


    Fang Yuan introduced himself in a booming voice.


    "Now that I am here, I would like to find out more about two things! Firstly, about the origin of the curse regarding that unspeakable name. Secondly, about the man with the unspeakable name and what he did to sully the name of the Tantai family."


    "My friend...you seem to know quite a bit about the Tantai family!"


    The Tantai clan leader was bemused.


    "So...which branch of the Tantai family are you from? Why have I not seen you before?"


    There was no way to fake the blood of the Tantai family and the special curse. There was also a sensory method to identify Tantai family members, and there was no way to hide.


    "Can you tell?"


    Fang Yuan scratched his head. He knew that they probably would not believe his story of having shuttled through different timelines.


    "I''m from one of the minor branches. I just want to know the origin of the 20-year cycle."


    "The origin?"


    The Tantai clan leader forced a laugh.


    "To be honest, Ghost Sealing Village is the place where everything began!"


    "So that means¡­"


    Fang Yuan''s eyes lit up.


    "That ''Door''. Did it appear here too?"


    "You...really know a lot!"


    The Tantai elder sighed and spoke.


    "Since we are family, I won''t beat around the bush. You''re right! That door used to be here, and the Tantai family has been it''s ''Guardian'' for generations. It''s been more than a thousand years since we took up the responsibility!"


    "Guardian?"


    Fang Yuan was astonished.


    "A cursed door needed protection for a thousand years...wait, this isn''t right!"


    "Who told you...that it was a cursed door?"


    The Tantai clan leader said with a hint of amusement.


    "Hmm?"


    Fang Yuan shuddered.


    "Is that Green Bronze Ghost Door the reason how this world got cursed?"


    "Of course not¡­"


    The Tantai clan leader had a strange look on his face and asked on.


    "Do you know about the netherworld?"


    "Yes. When people die, their souls go there. In my opinion, because it coexists with the human world, one on the outside and one on the inside, it can be known as the ''Inner World''!"


    Fang Yuan replied and sensed that the clan leader was about to reveal a great secret.


    "''Inner World''? Well said...between Heaven and Earth, everything goes through a cycle. The netherworld might be where darkness gathers, but it was never evil in nature, and was where souls achieved reincarnation...only by passing through the ''Door'' that the Tantai family guards can souls be reborn¡­"


    The Tantai clan leader continued.


    "Protecting the netherworld and reincarnation is the duty of everyone with the Tantai bloodline! We guardians would never dream of passing through the ''Door'' while we are alive, unless we are in a hurry to die!"


    "I see!"


    Fang Yuan lowered his head.


    From this perspective, the original ''Door'', with its responsibilities of receiving souls and facilitating the process of reincarnation, was a good thing to the worldly cycles.


    Of course, everything changed when that person had went on to do something wrong.


    "Then...something would have gone wrong over the course of a thousand-year duty, am I right?"


    "Yes...everything changed after that one ancestor with the unspeakable name was born! His great talent was apparent from a young age and was said to be wise beyond his years. At the age of eighteen, his abilities had exceeded everyone else in the Tantai family, and the rest saw him as the future leader and hope of the clan!"


    The Tantai clan leader''s revelation of the tale then took on an ominous tone.


    "Later, for unknown reasons, he committed a huge mistake... He had opened that ''Door'' with his human hands! The netherworld was changed forever and the human world was ravaged by calamities. The spirits came... and the curses as well!"


    The Tantai clan leader sighed.


    "The ''Door'' fell away completely into the netherworld and the Tantai family was cursed for betraying our duty!"


    "What about...the reason?"


    Fang Yuan enquired.


    "Why did he do that?"


    "Some say he did it because of his ambition, and others say he did it to revive a woman¡­"


    The Tantai clan leader smiled bitterly and shook his head.


    "Whatever it is, the Tantai family was burdened with the curse ever since that person and the ''Door'' disappeared. Recently, I''ve even realised that the ancestor''s name has become a part of the curse! I do not know what this represents but it makes me fearful."


    To have his name become a curse would mean that either Tantai Moye has become a very powerful source of the curse, or...that he has gotten what he wanted and has ascended to a higher plane of existence.


    In layman terms, he would have joined the ranks of Buddhas, gods and demon lords!


    "Is this the case? Sounds logical to me¡­"


    Fang Yuan nodded.


    "But¡­I don''t believe you!"


    "What? You are accusing me of lying to you!?"


    The Tantai clan leader was stunned.


    "You don''t have any reason to lie, but people are easily tricked and cannot be trusted even if they see things with their own eyes or hear it with their own ears."


    Fang Yuan replied blandly.


    He was, in fact, cursing to himself.


    ''Although I now have the facts and proof, the most important piece of the puzzle is still missing! I still need to find out about the effects of the Demonic Heart Realm!"


    In truth, even if the Tantai family had failed in their duty and brought disaster upon the world, there would definitely be a solution to this problem.


    The ''Door'' was probably not the only door of its kind in this world. There must be other portals to the netherworld, or the Tantai family would never be able to deal with the overwhelming stream of souls passing through the ''Door''!


    Also, it was not like Fang Yuan had never seen the common ghost before. Some of the other worlds were more in touch with the Dao and any random daoist on the streets could help spirits gain salvation. However, things were different in this world. Even the Imperial Advisor would not know what to in this case.


    ''So...the netherworld has been altered? What exactly did Tantai Moye do?''


    Fang Yuan thought to himself, then waved a hand at the Tantai clan leader.


    "Alright, I''ll be off. We will meet again!"


    Fang Yuan knew that he had learnt everything that the Tantai family could tell him, and did not want to stay any longer.


    "Wait!"


    The Tantai clan leader had turned livid.


    He had shared everything he knew with Fang Yuan because he had taken him for his word that he was a Tantai, and seemed like he did not know the true extent of his power. He had hoped to keep Fang Yuan by his side to aid the Tantai cause.


    But now, Fang Yuan was throwing them off after getting the information that he wanted? What a joke!


    "Lad, you dare defy the orders of the clan leader?"


    The surrounding Tantai elders were infuriated as well.


    "How impudent!"


    "Psh!"


    Fang Yuan could not be bothered by the commotion and rushed off like a bullet.


    "Prepare the magical equipment!"


    "No, he is human! The magical equipment only works on ghosts!"


    "Ah! Such powerful skills. I have practised my Iron Sand Palm technique for 30 years and have not yet met my match. Today, I''ll use it on you, haha. Take this¡­.Ah! My hand!!!"


    "Don''t hit my face!"


    ....


    Fang Yuan had forced his way out of the village by virtue of his superior skills in martial arts and did not even need to activate the spirits sealed up in his body.


    As Fang Yuan rushed into the fog, his smile widened.


    "The power of the curse feels so familiar... every time you open a new timeline for me, you give me an opportunity to understand you better so that I can break you eventually!"


    Fang Yuan readied himself.


    "Double curses! Superposition!"


    Boom!


    A strange fluctuation had begun to spread outwards. The fog had cleared up.


    The surrounding space undulated and the ground became nothingness.


    In this nothingness, Fang Yuan saw an ''origin'' that was not supposed to exist.


    "Indeed, it is hidden inside the spacetime gap¡­"


    Fang Yuan stretched out both of his arms and traced the singular locus as if he was grabbing at his destiny.


    "Seal it!"


    A swirl emerged from Fang Yuan''s chest and sucked the existence of the space-time gap into his body.


    "Oh!"


    In a blink, other than the explosiveness of the spacetime curse''s power, sporadic pieces of memories were rushing at Fang Yuan''s consciousness.


    "Is this...the final recoil?"


    Fang Yuan gritted his teeth and laughed coldly. Given his physical state, the explosion of this Strange level curse could not harm him at all.


    What had troubled him was the information he had gleaned from the origin.


    It was a purplish-black Green Bronze Door, and there were two ferocious ghosts guarding it. The image of a deadly spirit was embossed on it.


    A man had walked up to the door with a look of determination on his face, and proceeded to push it open slowly¡­


    Fang Yuan had watched this memory play in this head when he had first descended upon this world!

 536 Time

    As he sealed up the curse, Fang Yuan also analysed the sporadic pieces of memories that assailed his senses.


    The images flashing before his eyes tied in with the vision that he had seen when he had first crossed over to this world!


    "No! There is more information¡­"


    Fang Yuan''s spiritual will surged and he could see that the scenes lying about in the sea of memories were ever-changing.


    Time seemed to be backtracking in a strange manner and an image began to emerge steadily.


    It was that of a purple comet with a dazzling crystalline body. It had a long flaming tail, and fell into the Purple Eye Realm without warning!


    In other words, it had fallen right into the netherworld of the ''Inner World''!


    Boom!


    This chaotic and bizarre occurrence had changed the netherworld completely, and it was transformed into a twisted and evil high dimensional space.


    At this point, a man appeared.


    He was devilishly handsome and radiated extreme power. He also carried within him a strong sense of destiny.


    "The netherworld has gone through a large change. As the strongest member of the Tantai family, I have to get to the bottom of the matter!"


    Out of a vehement belief in his own abilities and intense love for his family, he broke the greatest law of all ¡ª passing through the ''Door'' alive into the netherworld!


    This man was...Tantai Moye!


    Unfortunately, things did not turn out the way he wanted.


    When he had first opened the Green Bronze Door with his mortal hands, a law had been broken simultaneously. The chaos and freakishness that had accumulated in the netherworld over the ages were released upon the world. A powerful curse was thus born!


    "I will take on the sole responsibility for all that plagues the world, but the matter of the origin in the netherworld must be resolved!"


    Determined, Tantai Moye fought his way through the netherworld, deep into the high dimensional space where the great purple crystalline body laid.


    ....


    The vision ended there and then, but Fang Yuan could guess what happened next.


    "This Tantai Moye... was a man destined for greatness. Perhaps he was representative of this world''s attempt at rebellion?"


    Evidently, Tantai Moye''s efforts had come to nought in the end.


    He had not only fallen in the netherworld, but his obsession with protecting his family and saving the world had morphed into a curse that had taken root in Ghost Sealing Village and eventually devastated the Tantai Family!


    It was a huge irony, to say the least.


    Not to mention that his actions were eventually misunderstood by his descendants, and his name had subsequently become taboo.


    "Let me think¡­"


    Fang Yuan''s mind was whirring.


    "From the beginning, it was the purple comet that crashed into the netherworld and changed the nature of the place. That was how all the chaos and curses were born and bred. Was Tantai Moye''s birth the world''s attempt at salvaging itself from the potential mess?"


    The World''s Will was a rigid entity. In the face of complex situations like these, it could only deal with them in this manner.


    Unfortunately, in utilising human beings, there would always be human error.


    Although Tantai Moye grew in strength quickly, it was not enough to counter that origin in question.


    Not only that, but he would have been exploited, and his opening of the ''Door'' was akin to opening a Pandora''s box of evil, a necessary step in cursing the Outer World!


    "Firstly, it was the act of opening the ''Door'' that subjected the Tantai family to the Curse of the Door. Next, Tantai Moye''s name itself gradually turned into an unspeakable curse... the survival of the Tantai family is truly miraculous!"


    Fang Yuan clenched his fists.


    "Now that I know what is behind that ''Door'', I will deal with it!"


    At this point, he had been expelled from the spacetime gap and had returned to the real world.


    "It has been sealed up... my fourth curse!"


    Fang Yuan muttered to himself.


    This Strange Level curse was rooted in Tantai Moye''s strength and determination and had been distorted by the power of the purple crystalline body. It had become a freakish entity that was capable of manipulating time and space with its ferocious power!


    The benefits Fang Yuan got out of sealing up the curse were excellent:


    "Name: Fang Yuan (Tantai Mieming)


    Essence: 50.0 (100)


    Spirit: 50.0 (100)


    Magic: 50.0 (100)


    Profession: Exorcist


    Techniques: Exorcism (Peak), Pharmacy (Peak), Eagle Claw Grappling Technique (Peak)


    Skill: [Medicine (Level 3)], [Botany (Level 6)], [Fiery Golden Eyes (Level 1)], [Spirit Sealing Body (4th Grade)]


    Spirit Sealing Body (3rd Grade): Your body is a weapon which is able to seal evil ghosts. You will able to seal any ghost that you come into contact with into your body! You have activated the 4th Grade, and the capacity for sealing evil ghosts: 4! You can choose to release the ghost!"


    "After this increase in my stats, will I still have the ability to manipulate spacetime?"


    Fang Yuan released the seal slightly.


    This unspeakable curse might be the strongest among the Strange Level curses, but only had a minimal effect on Fang Yuan when released. With that, his hair colour turned into a frosty silver.


    "The fusing of the 3 Strange Level curses is almost complete!"


    Fang Yuan was satisfied with his progress.


    "In five years time, even if I only seal one per year, I will be able to seal up that purple crystalline body completely when the 20-year cycle comes round again!"


    He strongly suspected that the purple crystalline body was something that a higher being left behind in this realm, which had been brought over from the Demonic Heart Realm.


    Only something left behind by a higher being that defied laws of nature could bring about such widespread desolation to the world.


    "This is... Ghost Sealing Village?"


    Fang Yuan looked around at the silent greenery and realised that the original village was in ruins.


    After Fang Yuan dealt with the cyclical curse, the spirits in the village would have disappeared. The timeline would have also switched back to when he first arrived at the village.


    "I wonder how Jiese and the rest are doing?"


    Fang Yuan frowned. He had already resolved the curse and as long as they could hang in there up till that moment, they would be safe.


    "Hmm? Who''s that?"


    Fang Yuan ran in pursuit of the disturbance.


    In the village, what was once Madam Donghua''s house had become a pile of rubble.


    "Amituofo... do accept my condolences, Miss Ma. Mr Fang has sacrificed himself to break the curse in this village and has salvaged dozens of souls in the process. He would have accumulated much karma and must have ascended to the lands of paradise after his death!"


    This was a familiar voice. It was definitely Jiese the Monk, but yet it sounded much deeper.


    "''No...I believe that Brother Fang Yuan wouldn''t have died so easily. He must be trapped somewhere!"


    This was another voice that Fang Yuan was familiar with as well. It was Ma Xiaoling.


    ''Why is she here? And...why is Jiese so certain that I''m dead?''


    Fang Yuan was suspicious and chose not to appear there and then.


    "I wish that was the case too. But I''ve spoken to many experts and they''ve all told me that since the curse is broken, all the survivors would definitely have returned by now.."


    Jiese let out a sigh and took out the incense burner that he had prepared. He lit it up and then proceeded to recite the reincarnation mantras.


    "No... no it can''t be. It has only been 5 years!"


    Taking a closer look, Fang Yuan realised that Ma Xiaoling had shed her adolescent appearance and had become a beautiful young woman.


    "That fellow won''t die so easily. I don''t believe it, even if it had been 10 years, or even 50 years!"


    "Sigh... foolish girl. 5 years without any news of him is definitely bad news... with him gone, many people are going to suffer¡­"


    Jiese had finished chanting his mantras and sighed again.


    "F... five years?!"


    Alarm bells were ringing in Fang Yuan''s mind.


    "I was gone for 5 years?"


    Fang Yuan calmed himself down and examined Jiese and Ma Xiaoling again. He finally knew why they looked so odd to him.


    Jiese and Ma Xiaoling looked more mature now, it was as though they had aged 5 years overnight!


    "Damn it!"


    Fang Yuan understood now.


    "It was that spacetime curse! Time was severely dilated in that spacetime gap and it was compounded by the sealing and digestion of that entity in the spacetime gap. Although I did not feel it, 5 years had gone by in the process! It must have been that curse''s doing!"


    That spacetime curse was unable to defeat him, but it had managed to steal five years of his life!


    This was indeed a huge loss to Fang Yuan.


    "Sigh... ever since Mr Fang passed on, curses have been activating all over the world. According to the information I have, the Tantai family is facing another 20-year cycle. Even Tantai Guihu could not escape this time. He has already departed for the Tantai residences and is preparing to enter the netherworld... there was a prophecy that if the Tantai family were to fall, true horror would befall the world! There would be hell on earth!"


    "My generation of exorcists will do everything we can to brave the netherworld and resolve the crisis!"


    A steely look of determination appeared on Jiese''s face.


    "If Mr Fang is watching over us in heaven, he will help us."


    "You are right, monk. I do intend to help you!"


    Fang Yuan had suddenly appeared behind the incense burner with a laugh.


    Jiese immediately retreated back several yards and adopted a defensive stance.


    "Hai! What kind of monster are you?"


    "Ah!"


    Ma Xiaoling screamed and threw the contents of a potion bottle towards Fang Yuan.


    "I say¡­"


    Fang Yuan waved his sleeves casually and deflected the potion from his body. He looked slightly annoyed.


    "You don''t believe that I''m dead and yet you throw potions at me upon seeing me. What do you want exactly?"


    "Amituofo, are you human or are you a ghost?"


    Jiese stood up ramrod straight and asked gingerly.


    After all, Fang Yuan was very formidable back when he was still alive. If he were to be dead, he might have become a more frightening entity than the spacetime curse!


    "Of course I''m human!"


    Fang Yuan rolled his eyes.


    "It was just that I spent quite a while in the spacetime gap dealing with the curse. Has it really been 5 years? Who are the other survivors?"


    "Are you really Mr Fang?... Back then, I was dragged into another space and was forced to deal with countless of ghost swarms. I was so close to meeting the Buddha¡­..."


    Jiese was unsure of whether to believe Fang Yuan and decided to tell his story.


    "Fortunately, the ghost swarms vanished at the last minute and I was taken back to my original position. Later, I met Tantai Guihu at the village entrance. By then, everyone else from the village had disappeared without a trace...For 3 months, the two of us stayed at where we were to wait for you, but to no avail. Finally, we gave up and left."

 537 The Netherworld

    "Afterwards... I''ve also got a few fortune tellers and all of them had confirmed your death... I only accepted this fact after 3 years!"


    Jiese the Monk explained.


    "Fortune telling..."


    Fang Yuan smirked. Looking at his Spirit Sealing Body, if the 4 curses in him were not considered inauspicious, what could possibly be?


    No matter how powerful or revered the fortune tellers were, it would be almost impossible for them to predict Fang Yuan''s predicament.


    After sealing the 4th curse, Fang Yuan now had the ability to ''detect his name''. That is, within a certain area, if anyone were to speak about him or anything which he had cursed, he would be alerted and be promptly apprised with the conversation! He could then strengthen the curse if he wished to do so!


    Such an ability would make him no different from a god!


    If Fang Yuan was willing, he could easily turn his name into a spoken curse to kill those who had heard of it before.


    "Strange Level curses have unique and unparalleled abilities..."


    Fang Yuan took a quick shut0eye and a scene started to appear in his imagination.


    It was a creepy looking front yard. Tantai Guijing and Tantai Juexin were all there and appeared frail. "If Tantai Mieming is still not around, I''m afraid none of us will be able to survive the next incoming 20-year cycle..."


    The imagery stopped. Fang Yuan could only continue to watch on if he decided to curse them with his curse.


    ''The power of a curse... It''s too strong. To be able to distort spacetime, search for souls, control the spread of information and sense such things... This sounds like a god in the legends indeed...''


    Fang Yuan silently thought to himself but on the surface, he continued to probe further. "Does this mean that in that expedition 5 years ago, the Chen siblings are confirmed to be dead?"


    "That''s right!"


    Jiese the Monk nodded his head solemnly. "I''ve gathered this accurate information."


    Fang Yuan nodded his head but did not respond.


    To speak the truth, they were fortunate enough to have 3 survivors after being plagued by a Strange Level curse.


    Of course, Fang Yuan speculated that if he did not find the source of the curse so quickly, Tantai Guihu and Jiese the Monk would not have survived too.


    ...


    "According to you, the 20-year cycle is about to repeat itself once more?"


    After understanding all that had happened in the past 5 years, Fang Yuan continued to gather more information from Jiese the Monk.


    "That''s right!" Jiese the Monk placed his palms together. "Furthermore... This time, the curse seems to be much more dangerous. Even Tantai Guihu took the initiative to enter the Netherworld. There''s a prophecy that as soon as the bloodline of the Tantai Family stops, calamity will strike the world!"


    "Although I don''t really believe in that, since this is so, I shall take a look in the Netherworld for myself!"


    Fang Yuan rubbed his own chest.


    His Tantai blood started to surge in him as he began to feel excited.


    ''Indeed... the cycle is about to repeat itself once more!''


    Fang Yuan''s eyes glistened with excitement. "20 years ago, I''ve run away from home. I wonder how the Tantai Family is now!"


    Regardless, Fang Yuan knew for himself that he was powerful! Very powerful! He was more powerful than any being in this world.


    Even so, Fang Yuan still did not feel confident about dealing with the Green Bronze Door and the source of all these troubles.


    "Jiese the Monk... Bring Xiaoling with you!"


    Fang Yuan tilted his head and was deep in his thoughts. "I shall enter the Netherworld now!"


    The Netherworld he was speaking of was the core of the real world, fused with all the darkness that ever existed in the world!


    To many, it was an arduous task to enter the Netherworld. However, to Fang Yuan, who had the ability to traverse spacetime, it was an easy task.


    Furthermore, by entering from the Ghost Sealing Spirit, it might possibly be even easier than usual.


    "Amituofo! Don''t worry!"


    Jiese the Monk nodded his head.


    "Noooo!"


    Hearing this, Ma Xiaoling shook her head in disagreement. "I want to follow you!"


    "Be good! Listen!"


    A red glow flashed across Fang Yuan''s eyes and Ma Xiaoling fell into a trance.


    Even though she had trained hard and had become an elite exorcist, she was still nothing in front of Fang Yuan.


    "Your actions are out of goodwill but it is a little too..."


    Jiese the Monk shook his head and seemed speechless.


    "Monk, take my advice. You don''t have to enter the Netherworld. The teachings of the Golden Mountain Monastery cannot end at your generation..."


    Fang Yuan smiled and paid no attention to Ma Xiaoling. Instead, he continued to advise Jiese the Monk. "Furthermore... since all of you are not top-notch exorcists, you will only burden me if you follow me. Wait for my good news here!"


    Fang Yuan was busy calculating his odds of being able to successfully deal with the unknown in the Netherworld.


    "3 Strange Level curses... they should be enough!"


    Previously, the Icy Zombie itself was powerful enough to stall time against the curse of the Green Bronze Door.


    Now, with the combined power of the 3 Strange Level curses, Fang Yuan had the ability to go head-on against the curse of the Green Bronze Door. With such a foundation, it would be much more convenient for Fang Yuan to do whatever he wanted to.


    "As long as I can touch the purple crystals, I will be confident of sealing it..."


    Fang Yuan started to mumble to himself. "Of course... If those purple crystals are the source of all these, then the final curse will not be the Wuyin level which I have predicted, because it ultimately has a source!"


    "Amituofo!"


    Jiese the Monk was clueless about Fang Yuan''s thoughts. He could only force a smile after hearing Fang Yuan''s rude comment. "I shall escort Miss Ma back and wait for your good news!"


    Although Jiese the Monk knew that he was rather powerful, after the few occasions of combining forces with Fang Yuan on their expeditions to deal with ghosts and curses, he no longer had the pride and self-esteem. He knew that Fang Yuan was chasing them away out of goodwill.


    "Alright!"


    Gazing at the silhouette of Jiese the Monk and Ma Xiaoling, Fang Yuan took another look at Ghost Sealing Village and remained silent.


    "The door to the Netherworld exists in the overworld all along! Furthermore... it lies in Ghost Sealing Village!"


    According to his memories, he promptly made his way to an open square in the village.


    "Last time... Tantai Moye broke the promise and entered the Netherworld with his mortal body. With that, he created chaos in the overworld and resulted in the occurrence of curses... From then on, the door to the Netherworld had changed and disappeared from sight... At the same time, it had left behind a curse on the descendants of the Tantai Family!"


    As Fang Yuan casually strolled in the square, a golden hue flashed in his eyes. "Previously, the door had disappeared from here... Entering the Netherworld from this point will make things easier. I might be able to gather a clue about that door at the same time!"


    Ghost Sealing Village was obviously a connection between the Netherworld and the overworld. In here, the spacetime gap between the two worlds was at its minimum. If not for this fact, the door of the Netherworld would not have existed here previously in the first place.


    Fang Yuan was prepared to take the shortest route to see if he could rush and make it in time for the final battle!


    "At most, I would fall into a void.... Powerful ghosts all have this ability! Furthermore, the Netherworld has become more accessible with the appearance of curses."


    Fang Yuan''s hair turned silver and the space around him started to vibrate. In an instant, holes started to appear and spread around him as though space was corroding.


    The holes merged together to form a huge glow, engulfing him in within.


    With that, Fang Yuan could detect the arrival of the Netherworld''s spiritual aura!


    ...


    In the Netherworld.


    Within a dark valley, an ancient looking mansion stood tall.


    Around the mansion were many black flowers in full bloom. They were growing in odd shapes but had a mystical aroma.


    Outside the mansion, a stream of light was flowing calmly.


    On closer inspection, one would realise that the glowing entities in the stream of light were spirits dressed in white!


    They were all emotionless and there were more than a billion of them. This scene was a suffocating one.


    "20 years is about to be up!"


    In the mansion, Tantai Guijing held a black crutch and sighed.


    He as skinny as a pile of bones wrapped in skin. With his white beard drifting through the wind, there were flames of passion burning in his eyes. "Did Tantai Juelie fail again?"


    "That''s right... From his Soul Lantern, his fire is about to be extinguished. He should be dead!"


    Tantai Juexin spoke softly. He slung a dagger by his waist.


    The elders of the Tantai Family appeared frail looking and there were only about 7 to 8 of them left.


    All of them seemed to be in bad condition.


    "The Netherworld... the home of the dead spirits!"


    Tantai Guijing chuckled. "Forget it... Let it come once more!"


    The elders seemed indifferent. All of them had a rotting stench coming from them and they seemed as though they couldn''t care less about the curse of the ''Door''.


    "Father... We still have a chance. We can escape from the Netherworld and return to the overworld!"


    Tantai Juexin clenched his teeth.


    He knew what laid in the Netherworld!


    Poisonous river water, bone-chilling air and all sorts of weird plants, coupled with spirits all around! All of these would be a living hell to a human!


    If not for the strong and hardy bloodline of the Tantai Family and the fact that they had supplemented themselves with food and clean water from the surroundings, the entire Tantai Family would have been dead.


    Even so, living here for 20 years had already resulted in changes to their bodies. None of them would consider themselves alive.


    "Escape?"


    Tantai Guijing coughed and his voice turned hoarse. "It''s useless... I''ve used the ''mirror'' to take a peek into the future. The outcome of this cycle would be catastrophic. In fact, none of us might make it out of here alive!"


    "The outcome of the 20-year cycle..."


    All of them remained silent.


    In the Netherworld, they had to go through industrial processes to purify and disinfect their food and water. The only real terror here was still the curse of the ''Door''!


    Initially, the Tantai Family''s worst experience was the first few days after arriving in the Netherworld.


    Now, 20 years had passed in the blink of an eye.


    The real terror was about to arrive!


    "Reporting! Elders, elders!"


    At this point in time, a member of the Tantai Family hurriedly rushed in. "There''s a trace of an¡­.. Exorcist!"

 538 The Current Situation

    "Finally... I''ve returned..."


    Tantai Guihu looked up towards the Tantai Mansion and was overwhelmed with emotions.


    Although it was no longer on the original piece of land it once stood on, the mansion was still the same old one. Within moments, his mind was filled with memories of his childhood.


    "Daoist, is this the Tantai Mansion?"


    Beside him stood a daoist and a monk.


    The daoist appeared well-groomed and his long beard swayed in the wind. Draped in a daoist robe, his energetic outlook made him seem like a deity.


    On the contrary, the monk standing next to him was skinny and had a sorrowful look on his face. He was wearing black monk robes.


    The daoist was Sanmu while the Monk was Kuhai. Both of them were top exorcists in the trade and were recruited by Tantai Guijing to enter the Netherworld.


    It was not the most accurate to say that Tantai Guijing had recruited them. They themselves had also sensed the seemingly approaching doomsday and had taken the initiative to help Tantai Guihu.


    "We''ve long heard that the Tantai Family was the most prominent among the exorcists... Never would I have thought that I would see the actual mansion of the family... in the Netherworld..."


    Master Kuhai gazed at the mansion and remained emotionless.


    Hearing this, Tantai Guihu felt a tinge of regret but did not respond.


    It was almost an impossible task for living humans to enter the Netherworld and there had been no cases of humans leaving the Netherworld alive in history. Therefore, the exorcists who dared to enter the Netherworld had already resigned to their fate.


    "Clang!"


    At this moment, the door of the Tantai Mansion opened. Tantai Guijing and a group of elders walked out to invite them.


    "It''s Daoist Sanmu and Master Kuhai!"


    It seemed that Tantai Guijing recognised these two exorcists. As soon as he noticed Tantai Guihu, he grunted.


    "Brother!"


    Tantai Guihu walked up and called out softly. He was wearing his mask and therefore, not many of them could recognise him.


    "Hehe... My greetings to you, family head!"


    Daoist Sanmu paid his respects. "20 years had gone by just like this. It is our fate to be able to meet here today..."


    The Netherworld was too huge. Even though the 3 of them had attempted to enter the Netherworld from the location where the Tantai Mansion once stood and had made use of Tantai Guihu''s bloodline to search for the mansion, they were lucky to complete the treacherous journey to the actual mansion.


    "Amituofo!"


    Master Kuhai maintained his sorrowful look even when greeting others. "The both of us have come here because Deity Yigua had made a prediction... If the bloodline of the Tantai Family were to disappear from the real world, the entire world will be destroyed!"


    "Deity Yigua? That quack?"


    Tantai Guijing scoffed as though he had a grudge against this person. "Why don''t he predict his own life? Hasn''t he died yet? How''s he doing?"


    "After making that prediction, he had died of exhaustion!"


    Daoist Sanmu calmly reported.


    "Dead?"


    Tantai Guijing seemed stunned. "Our generation is slowly dying off... Did the both of you make the trip here just because of this prediction?"


    "A few hundred years ago, the entire realm changed and was being cursed. We must put an end to this!"


    Master Kuhai spoke with a monotonous tone.


    With their seniority, they already understood most of what had happened to the realm and were extremely close to finding out the truth.


    "Even so... Why did you let him come back?"


    Tantai Guijing glared at Tantai Guihu. "If we allow the Tantai bloodline to remain out there and if we survive through this time, wouldn''t the prediction be false?"


    "It will be good if everything is so simple!"


    Tantai Guihu sighed and stretched his right hand out before rolling up his sleeves.


    On his arm, a dark palm print could be clearly seen.


    "I have an ominous feeling... This curse will not let any member of the Tantai Family go! Furthermore, by staying in the overworld, we will be scrutinised, just like what I experienced... I''ve been attacked once in the overworld. Even with Master Kuhai and Daoist Sanmu''s help, I only barely escaped! On the other hand, after entering the Netherworld, I feel less watched..."


    He concluded with a deep voice. "Therefore... We might stand a chance if we directly go against the curse. If we try to escape, we would undoubtedly die!"


    "Is the Tantai Family bloodline... really going to end here?"


    Tantai Guijing shut his eyes and the entire mansion was filled with desolation.


    This cycle was very different from the previous few! It was targeted at every single descendant of the Tantai Family!


    Tantai Guijing could vaguely sense that ever since their ancestor had made the mistake resulting in the curse, the entire world seemed to have entered a different phase!


    Regardless of the future of the world, the Tantai Family would not be fated to be part of it.


    As the both of them were at their wit''s end, none of them had recalled that there was still the existence of the mutant-like Fang Yuan.


    To Fang Yuan, in his current state, other than the Curse of the Door, any curse which could traverse space could do nothing against him. He was untouchable.


    However, since Fang Yuan promised to return, he would deliver his promise and return.


    After all, he knew that he was not totally helpless against the final curse.


    "Right, since the three of you have come from the overworld, have any of you gotten news of Tantai Mieming?"


    Tantai Juexin walked up and looked towards his uncle, who was around the same age as him.


    "Tantai Mieming?"


    With this, Tantai Guihi was stunned before nodding his head. "I''ve seen him! He is indeed a talent! Unfortunately... He had already died under the curse."


    "Died?"


    Tantai Guijing and Tantai Juexin exchanged looks and shook their heads. "It''s impossible!"


    "I''ve asked Deity Yigua about this. He was facing a huge calamity... At that time, he was trapped in a time loop for many years..."


    Tantai Guihu felt a little confused. As he spoke, his expression slowly changed. "Wait a minute... could it be... the family''s Soul Lantern?"


    "Hehe... He is such an important member of the family! How could we not make a Soul Lantern for him?"


    One of the elders interrupted. "His Soul Lantern is still burning brilliantly and shows no sign of being extinguished. It seems that this evil boy is still alive in the world!"


    Every single one of them in the Tantai Family had the right to feel a grudge for Fang Yuan.


    After all, to them, they had ''created'' Fang Yuan!


    However, at their weakest moment where did needed all the help they could get, Fang Yuan had betrayed them. He had betrayed his own family!


    If the Tantai Family hated Tantai Guihu with a score of 10, then they would hate Fang Yuan with a score of 100! Or even more! Nothing could ever make them forget the grudge.


    "If this is true, then Fang Yuan is still alive!"


    Tantai Guihu was jubilant. "Considering his personality, he will surely take the initiative to enter the Netherworld. We have hope!"


    "Has that brat become that powerful?"


    Hearing Tantai Guihu, Tantai Guijing''s eyes glistened.


    On the other hand, the other elders were raging. "D*mn it... Fang Yuan! He doesn''t even want his own surname! This person is guilty of betraying his family! The next time we see him, we shall take him under control and use him to shield against the Door!"


    Although they could not stop scolding him, all of the elders started to sound more energetic.


    After all, they had entered the Netherworld 20 years ago and the ones with weaker willpower had already died or committed suicide. The remaining once would do anything they could do to survive.


    Only Tantai Juexin felt conflicted among all of them.


    By now, it seemed like the fate of the entire family was in Fang Yuan''s hands!


    "Alright, please come in!"


    Tantai Guijing was all smiles as he invited both Daoist Sanmu and Master Kuhai into the mansion. He also seemed to have forgiven Tantai Guihu.


    After all, the members of the Tantai Family had to stand united if they wanted to survive. They could not afford to have any more internal conflicts.


    "Prepare some meat and drinks and serve the guests!"


    As soon as they entered the main hall, Tantai Guijing hobbled around with his crutches and members of the Tantai Family started to serve trays of food and drinks.


    "There is still food... in the Netherworld?"


    Tantai Guihu, Daoist Sanmu and Master Kuhai had a tough journey before they arrived here and their rations were almost depleted by now.


    Seeing the food on the trays, they could not hold back any longer and started to feast.


    "Although the Netherworld is a restricted place to living humans and is filled with ghosts and curses, we are fortunate enough to have the protection of this mansion. It is able to protect us just enough for us to survive... This meat is from the White Bone Bird. Only a small amount of meat is edible from a single bird. As for the water, the water from the rivers in the Netherworld is not potable. This water is purified from a poisonous spring nearby and is also extremely scarce..."


    Tantai Guijing smiled as he introduced the food and drinks that were served.


    As for Tantai Guihu, he felt a little uncomfortable to eat as he noticed the many pairs of eyes glaring at him.


    Years ago, they had sacrificed many members of the Tantai Family in the process of testing if the food and drinks were edible.


    "Initially... We have stored these reserves for almost half a year already as we prepare to tide through the disaster seasons of the Netherworld... But now, it seems like there is no need for it any more."


    Tantai Juexin commented.


    The Netherworld had harsh environmental conditions and normal humans would find it hard to even survive. Occasionally, they would even be black hurricanes which would destroy almost everything in its path.


    Facing such situations, even the Tantai Family could do nothing else but stock up on food supplies and rely on their hardy mansion to forcefully tide through it.


    "Sigh..."


    Tantai Guihu let out a long sigh.


    After knowing all the hardships his family had gone through all these years, he felt bad. "After spending 20 over years here, have you found traces of the ''Door''?"


    As soon as he mentioned the Door, every single member of the Tantai Family started to appear solemn.


    "We''ve found it..."


    Tantai Guihu''s voice became hoarse. "But... It''s not appropriate to say that we''ve found it. This is because we were not the ones to find it. Instead, it had taken the initiative to find us!"


    "Oh? Where is it?"


    Tantai Guihu was shaken.


    "Within the deep parts of this valley..."


    Tantai Guijing started to seem uneasy as he struggled to smile. "In fact... In the past 20 years, we''ve benefited from it! If not for the fact that it had deterred the ghosts, the Tantai Mansion would have been overwhelmed by ghost swarms!"


    "This is impossible..."


    Tantai Guihu was in shock.


    How could the Green Bronze Door help them if it had cursed the family all this while? This was a joke!

 539 Appearance

    "You are saying that... the ''Door'' is protecting us?"


    Tantai Guihu looked at Tantai Guijing incredulously.


    "Back then...the whole Tantai residence had been afflicted by the curse and was pulled down to the netherworld. It fell directly to somewhere near the Green Bronze Door and was met with the curse over there!"


    Tantai Guijing went on composedly.


    "Although many in the Tantai family have died, everything will go back to normal when the day comes...anyway, with the existence of the Green Bronze Door, no ghost swarm or powerful spirit would dare to come anywhere close to this valley. It protects us. Of course, no Tantai would dare to approach the Door either. Those who have tried are now dead!"


    "In my opinion, the ''Door'' did not save us. We are but the sacrificial animals it has chosen, or the prey that it has rounded in. Hence, it will not allow any other ''predators'' to come close¡­"


    "The whole Tantai family, are....sacrificial animals?"


    Tantai Guihu''s voice was quivering with resentment.


    "All this...it is all because of the Curse of the Door! And the rash actions of our ancestor¡­"


    Tantai Guijing shook his head. He still had no idea of the truth about Tantai Moye!


    "No matter what...we must face this curse! That Green Bronze Door¡­ can it be destroyed?"


    Tantai Guihu gritted his teeth.


    "Of course we''ve tried it before. Unfortunately, all the elders who have approached the Door triggered the curse and combusted spontaneously¡­ the area deep within the valley is now restricted to all of us."


    Tantai Juexin shook his head.


    "If only that person was still alive¡­"


    He thought about the last 20-year cycle and about how it was Tantai Mieming who managed to damage the Green Bronze Door, giving them valuable time to recharge their strength. If he was still around, they would no doubt have a chance at succeeding.


    "Immeasurable heavens!"


    The Daoist Sanmi and Master Kuhai had heard of Fang Yuan too. As they looked around at the bewildered faces of the Tantai elders, they did not know what to feel.


    This Tantai Mieming was more remarkable than they had expected!


    At the moment, however, they were stuck in a difficult situation.


    They did not know whether they should gather all of their forces and mount an assault on the Green Bronze Door, or defend passively and await reinforcements.


    Unfortunately, even with the protection of the Curse of the Door, they could not guarantee that Tantai Mieming would return in time or at all.


    "We are 3 days away from the activation of the curse! We can only wait till then!"


    Finally, it was Tantai Guijing who spoke up definitively.


    "If Tantai Mieming still cares about us, he will return!"


    Looking at him now, one would have thought that he was an elder who cared about the welfare of the younger generation. No one would have guessed that he had callously employed his own grandchild as a tool back then.


    "Knock knock!"


    At this moment, dull knocks suddenly rang out. The sound struck deep into everyone''s chest cavities and everyone could feel their hearts pounding with every blow.


    "It''s...it''s that ''Door''!"


    A Tantai elder announced in a quavering voice.


    "It...has come!"


    "How is that possible? It isn''t time yet¡­"


    Tantai Guijing and the rest walked out into the yard and saw the image of a huge door flickering over the horizon. They were all at a loss for words.


    When the curse had activated back then, it had left a deep impression on them.


    At that point, the netherworld was the home ground of the opposing forces. Without Tantai Mieming to restrain them, they were more powerful than ever!


    "Juexin, open the temple!''


    Tantai Guijing gritted his teeth.


    "We''ll fight!"


    "Yes, sir!"


    Tantai Juexin sped towards the temple purposefully.


    There were two important buildings in the rear premises of the Tantai residence. One was the sacrificial hall and the other one was the temple.


    The sacrificial hall was where the Tantais sealed up objects and worshipped supernatural beings while the temple was a resting place for the Tantai ancestors, many of whom were elite exorcists!


    The temple had defence mechanisms guarding it and Tantai Juexin took out a piece of jade which ensured his safe entry.


    When he pushed open the door, rows upon rows of memorial tablets greeted him.


    Behind the memorial tablets laid a hidden chamber.


    Tantai Juexin took a deep breath and entered the place just as he had many times before.


    It was a gloomy space peppered with the dim glows of spirit lamps. They illuminated the place like millions of fireflies.


    Rows of figures sat upon armchairs and stared down sternly from their positions on the altar.


    "My forefathers!"


    Tantai Juexin fell to the ground and kowtowed unhesitantly.


    "Your descendant Tantai Juexin prays for your help!"


    These seated figures were the ancestors of the Tantai family, some of them from the time of the migration. The founders of the Tantai residence were all skilled exorcists and were highly cultivated. Even in death, their bodies did not decompose nor reek.


    After doing his bow, Tantai Juexin got to feet and looked at the magical equipment lying on the altar.


    ''The ancestors are long gone and have no interest in our prayers...but rituals have to be observed anyway¡­''


    As Tantai Juexin caressed the magical equipment, he felt as though his ancestors had turned their heads and were now staring at him.


    "As long as they did not die as a result of being cursed, the ancestors would come here to pass away...this would allow them to consolidate their cultivation and spiritual will such that a powerful curse is created¡­ this is the final asset of the Tantai family! A slight divergence back then had created Tantai Mieming!"


    A slight divergence had created a Strange Level curse. If Fang Yuan found out about this, he would take a great interest in this place.


    Nevertheless, he was too young back then and given the naturally guarded behaviour of Tantai family members, he would not have found out much.


    In truth, this was a source of sorrow for the Tantai family too!


    To deal with the curses and ghosts, they were forced to create curses of their own in order to pass on their powers to their descendants so that they at least had a fighting chance.


    "Right now¡­ this can''t wait anymore!"


    Tantai Guihu gritted his teeth and picked up a little bronze knife and a magical bell from the altar.


    Woowoo!


    As he held onto these two tools, Tantai Juexin saw an ocean of blood before his eyes. He was experiencing a vivid illusion.


    Dozens of hands were grabbing onto the tools he held and transmitting power to them.


    "This is truly the ultimate weapon of the Tantai family! The power it has is unrivalled by any other magical tool!"


    As Tantai Juexin held onto the bronze knife, he suddenly understood how to utilise it. When he took a swipe at the air in front of him, a wormhole appeared.


    Tantai Juexin stepped in unflinchingly.


    Boom!


    His surroundings changed.


    The many Tantai elders were combating the great flickering vision of the Door with their skills in exorcism.


    What a door it was.


    A great door cast in bronze, it was a peculiar purplish-black in colour. On its sides were two huge ghostly figures guarding it.


    Key to its appearance was the vivid and intricate carvings embossed on it. They were of the many Tantai family members who had been killed by the curse, and their souls had been trapped by the Door.


    This was the embodiment of generations of Tantai sweat and tears, and now, it was biting them back.


    Even Tantai Guihu could not control his emotions upon seeing the Door before him.


    Gash!


    The mask with a crack on its face that Tantai Guihu was wearing suddenly split apart and fell to the ground. Fresh blood oozed out from its remains.


    Tantai Guihu screamed. He had been disfigured.


    "Impossible...the ghost mask could withstand the force of the spacetime curse...why did it fall apart this easily?"


    Tantai Guihu slashed open his palm and subsequently understood the difficulties of dealing with the Door.


    "This is only an image of the Door...how would we possibly deal with the real Door?"


    Buzz!


    The Green Bronze Door let out a roar as the two ghostly figures began to open it. A strange sound split the air.


    As the sound waves hit them, some of the Tantai family members grabbed at their necks as their blood vessels exploded. They had become profusely bleeding corpses.


    Simultaneously, wispy figures rose from their bodies and rushed collectively into the Green Bronze Door.


    As the Tantai people died, one could see that more carvings of figures with bloody tears had been added to the Door.


    "Immeasurable heavens!"


    "Amituofo!"


    In this critical moment, the daoist and the monk joined forces. A bolt of light rushed up into the skies.


    Purple symbols appeared in the void and entered the bodies of everyone present. The effects were beneficial to them.


    "It is the most powerful curse indeed!"


    Even though they had deflected the blow for the time being, Daoist Sanmu and Master Kuhai were troubled.


    "Dealing with the Door already creates this much trouble. What about the things that lie behind the door?"


    "Set!"


    Tantai Guihu had acted as well. The image of a mirror materialised and gave off a fiery light that enveloped the Door.


    In this light, the flickering image of the Door seemed to solidify.


    The real Green Bronze Door had appeared!


    This was the first thing that Tantai Juexin saw as he rushed over.


    "Help me, my forefathers. Slash!"


    Without hesitation, the bronze knife in his hands flew out and turned into a ray of light. Bringing with it the strength and conviction of a kamikaze warrior, it embedded itself firmly into the Door.


    "The generations of Tantai blood tears, and all that I am burdened with, is because of you!"


    Blood flowed out of Tantai Juexin''s nose and mouth. Wielding the bronze knife had not been an easy feat. Still, he was intent on resolving everything today!


    No matter how terrifying the curse might be, it would be a victory for the Tantai family if they even managed to damage the Door slightly.


    Then.


    Bang!!!

 540 Pinpointing

    Pinpointing


    The crisp ring seemed to carry with it the wails of a thousand ghosts.


    Sparks flew.


    The bronze knife exploded into rays of light that shot out in all directions.


    A deep gash slowly appeared on the Green Bronze Door.


    "Success!"


    Tantai Juexin clasped his hands firmly.


    He had given his all in order to deal this blow. So what if he was on the verge of dying from exhaustion and had lost a powerful magical weapon in the process?


    They had managed to inflict damage on the Door, which meant that it was entirely possible to destroy it!


    Ding Ring Ring!


    Tantai Juexin took out another magical tool: the magical bell.


    The loud and clear rings of the bell had a healing effect. Everyone found themselves regaining energy. Before long, most of them had their health restored.


    Pale white figures suddenly appeared. All of them dull expressions on their face, and looked like the preserved corpses of the Tantai ancestors in the hidden chamber.


    This was a curse that the Tantai family had been breeding for countless years through the generations with great effort. A curse that targeted the Green Bronze Door!


    At that very moment.


    The two ghostly figures guarding the Green Bronze Door had opened it slightly. They began to shriek again.


    A distorted and savage force field began to expand. In no time, the entire sky had become greyish white.


    "The power of this curse¡­"


    Every living human being in the vicinity had become hurt. The curse was attacking their bodies viciously.


    A dark red liquid gushed from the area surrounding the gash on the Green Bronze Door. It was like the blood of Green Bronze Door and the liquid patched up the gash as it flowed. The Door was whole again.


    The Tantai ancestors who had been summoned lined up with blank looks on their faces and walked up to the Green Bronze Door. One by one, they entered.


    Witnessing this sight had devastated Tantai Juexin and Tantai Guihu.


    "This curse...this curse¡­"


    Humans beings were not strong enough to challenge ghosts.


    Thus, the Tantai family had created this ungodly curse against all odds and turned the elite exorcists into malevolent ghosts temporarily in the hopes that they could destroy the Green Bronze Door.


    But this development had shown that the opposing forces were able to counter the curse devised by the Tantais!


    This Green Bronze Door was perhaps the source of all curses!


    To fight a curse with another curse was an impossible venture! It was like using a meat bun to hit a dog, defeating its purpose!


    Buzz!


    The Green Bronze Door let out another roar and became bigger every time it swallowed up the malevolent ghost of a Tantai ancestor. It gradually attained the size of a mountain and looked like a pillar between heaven and earth.


    "The Door...it grew by leeching off the Tantai bloodline...Tantai ghosts are even more beneficial to it!"


    Tantai Guihu''s blood ran cold.


    ''What if...this decision by the Tantais played right into the door''s hands?! Could all those years of sacrifice and struggle be in vain?''


    He was usually a cold-hearted man, but now, he could not help but be despondent.


    He had become even more mortified by the Door. It had played a psychological game with the Tantai family and had bewitched them such that the family had become its accomplices!


    Despair...was impending!


    Knock knock!


    Knock knock!


    Knocking sounds rang out again. Tantai family members fell to the ground with every knock.


    "The purge has begun! Haha¡­"


    Tantai Guijing laughed out loud and the mirror in his hand smashed to pieces.


    "If that is the case...you can have my old bones too!"


    He seemed to have a fervent death wish and sped towards the Green Bronze Door.


    Bang!


    "Dad!"


    "Mr Guijing!"


    The Daoist Sanmu and Master Kuhai were both shocked.


    Suddenly, a dark shadow flitted by and Tantai Guijing was thrown backwards forcefully. A new figure had appeared.


    "Seems like...I made it just in time!"


    Fang Yuan scanned his surroundings. His black robes flapped about in the wind and his hair was silvery-white.


    In a short time, the Tantai family members had mostly regained consciousness and found that the effects of the curse on their bodies were wearing off.


    "You are...Mieming?"


    Tantai Guijing''s stared at Fang Yuan with his clouded eyes. Suddenly, they gleamed.


    "Tantai Mieming?!"


    "Is he really back?"


    The Tantai family members were all experiencing mixed emotions, especially Tantai Juexin.


    "Amituofo...it''s Mr Tantai Mieming!"


    Master Kuhai and Daoist Sanmu were elated.


    "Guihu has told me a lot about you¡­"


    "I have an announcement to make. I have changed my name to Fang Yuan. From today onwards, I will have nothing to do with the Tantai family¡­"


    Fang Yuan gave a wide smile, revealing his gleaming white teeth.


    He had rushed here only for the sake of fulfilling the promise he had made before.


    "When I break the Curse of the Door for you people, I will cut my ties with the Tantai family and leave this all behind!"


    "Cut your ties with us?"


    Tantai Juexin looked aggrieved and nodded slowly.


    "So be it¡­"


    In his heart, he did not believe that this fellow could deal with the Curse of the Door.


    After all, the counter-curse of the Tantai family and their two prized magical weapons had been soundly defeated by the Door!


    "This curse was a splinter from the Tantai curse and has taken on a physical form¡­"


    Tantai Juexin looked on as Fang Yuan strolled towards the Green Bronze Door and felt a great pressure coming down on him. He was unable to move.


    "Against the reincarnation curse, I''m afraid that...."


    "Juexin¡­"


    Tantai Guihu let out a sigh.


    "Let me tell you this now...Something had happened during the cursed ritual back then. That curse might have succeeded, but it might also have failed¡­"


    "What?"


    Tantai Juexin''s expression changed.


    "If that''s the case...then he¡­"


    He shook his head.


    "Whatever the case, Suxin will never forgive me."


    Knock knock!


    Knock knock!


    Following Fang Yuan''s arrival, the knocking sounds from the Green Bronze Door became more frenzied.


    The Tantai family members felt their bodies go soft and they all fell to the ground once more.


    Even Daoist Sanmu and Master Kuhai were struggling hard to resist the curse and looked as if they had one foot in the grave.


    "We finally meet the original Door in the netherworld!"


    Fang Yuan pressed his hands together and a strange power radiated outwards. He had full control of his immediate surroundings and had cut off all of the Green Bronze Door''s possible escape routes.


    "You are the thoroughfare between life and death, the passageway for spirits...you are a gift from heaven to earth, untainted by the Inner World!


    By right, the Door guarded by the Tantai family was not an evil object, but a core entity of the world!


    When the purple comet had crashed down onto the earth, the whole Inner World was thrown into chaos. It was the ''Door'' that kept the mess from spreading to the Outer World.


    However, everything changed after Tantai Moye has broken the rules. From the moment a living man barged into the netherworld, the world would never be the same again!


    Curses had streamed endlessly into the Outer World, bringing along with them all the hatred, fear and bloodlust that would gradually befoul the Door.


    The Door eventually fell to the netherworld and its nature was changed forever!


    "If Tantai Moye had been able to destroy the purple crystal, he would have been worshipped as a martyr even if the evil forces had seeped out into the world! But he had failed! Not only that, but his gamble had resulted in dire consequences...thus, it would not be unfair to blame him for the curse afflicting the Tantai bloodline!


    Fang Tuan strode towards the Green Bronze Door.


    The Door roared on and its shape kept on flickering. It was...trying to escape?


    "You are no longer the original Door, and it is impossible for you to escape my grasp!"


    Fang Yuan said as a matter-of-factly and proceeded to step forward.


    Boom!


    The Door reverted back to its solid form.


    "Woowooo!"


    Numerous ghosts crying tears of blood surfaced from the Door. They were all dead Tantais and surged collectively towards Fang Yuan.


    The two ghostly guards opened up their jaws and let out unholy screams.


    "Hmph!"


    Fang Yuan stretched his fingers.


    Zoom!


    The world went quiet, and the power of fire and ice was unleashed.


    The Tantai ghosts barely had enough time to put on stunned expressions before they were incinerated by Fang Yuan''s curse.


    "Impossible¡­"


    "This Door¡­"


    "It can''t be real¡­"


    Tantai Juexin and company had their mouths agape as they watched Fang Yuan mow down the ghosts of the Green Bronze Door. They were all dumbfounded.


    "Maybe...we were all wrong!"


    Tantai Guijing sighed for the umpteenth time with a fiery look in his eyes.


    "Back then...if only we had treated him with more sincerity and given him 20 years, he would definitely be much more powerful than he is now. Mieming...he is the one real hope of the Tantai family!"


    Daoist Sanmu and Master Kuhai rolled their eyes.


    If only.


    Dong!


    The Green Bronze Door shook violently and the power of another one of its curses diffused outwards in black ripples.


    Even the top exorcists would have their flesh and bones melted down and die horribly within a hundred metre radius of this curse.


    Fang Yuan, however, was unfazed.


    After the storm of fire and ice that Fang Yuan had unleashed, the Green Bronze Door was frozen firmly to the spot together with its two ghostly guards.


    "I understand now¡­"


    Standing in front of the Door, Fang Yuan could feel a dense and familiar power lurking behind. He let out another sighed as he comprehended even more.


    "So that purple crystal did come from a higher power originating from the Demonic Heart Realm. Its radiation alone is able to wreak havoc in the netherworld¡­.however, a higher power can only exist in a higher plane. When Tantai Moye had opened the Door and let out the curses from within, the Door was tainted in the process and transformed into a protective shield for the purple crystal instead...from the Purple Eye Realm, a higher dimensional world of the same level as the Outer World was born! To become a power bearer!"


    This was not a spatial illusion conjured up by a ghost, but an entire world!


    "A little dose of energy radiated energy could achieve this?"


    Fang Yuan looked towards the great Door, his eyes gleaming.

 541 Origin

    "Is the thing behind the Door...finally going to mature?"


    Fang Yuan stood before the Green Bronze Door, deep in thought.


    Obviously, the change that the purple crystal had brought to the netherworld was only the beginning.


    Tantai Moye''s act which propagated the curses to the Outer World was only part of the process.


    But right now, the end was here!


    In other words, the contamination and transformation of the world had reached a threshold!


    "So...this is why the harvesting this time was so violent?"


    "To be able to alter the world using its own strength..."


    "If it had succeeded, the world would be plunged into an abyss of fear and sink into the sea of hopelessness...but technically, this was achieved unconsciously by the forces at work...or there might not even have been any consciousness involved at all!"


    "A power like that...is indeed interesting!"


    As Fang Yuan brooded, he placed his palms on the Door.


    The Green Bronze Door had the roughest of surfaces and a hard chill emanated from its body. The true horror was that the ghostly carvings were flocking towards Fang Yuan''s hands with their fangs bared and bit down savagely on them.


    Crack! Crack!


    Deafening metallic screeches filled the air but Fang Yuan''s hands were unscathed. If anything, they had become stronger.


    "Curse...unleash!"


    Right now, Fang Yuan''s power bar was fully charged at 50 points. This meant that in this world, he was practically invincible!


    Boom! Boom!


    With all the Tantais, Daoist Sanmu and Master Kuhai watching, the Green Bronze Door thundered and began to crack.


    Light!


    Light rays began to spill out from behind the door through the widening gaps. It was as if heaven lay behind that Door!


    Abruptly, the light rays retreated, as if there was a black hole behind the door that was swallowing them up.


    Jingle!


    The Door swung open and shut continuously. Fang Yuan had disappeared.


    At this moment, the survivors could feel their hairs standing on end. They could sense the presence of an indescribable and extraordinary entity.


    ...


    "This is...the world behind the Door?"


    Around him was nothingness. Bright light filled his surroundings. There did not even seem to be a notion of a ground.


    Fang Yuan was unperturbed and strolled about in the void with his hands behind his back.


    "A world in the process of being born? The product of a catalysis? Interesting!"


    Even the sages among the dream masters could only upgrade their prosperous lands to Hollows, which were far from being worlds themselves.


    Right now, before Fang Yuan was a complete little world, albeit one that looked slightly weird.


    In contrast with the light was the richness of the curse''s power, which rolled about in the void towards the unnerved Fang Yuan.


    "This sort of ever-changing dream elemental force, let''s call it cursed energy. It is the origin of everything...the invincibility of ghosts, their ability to create doppelg?ngers, alter memories, manipulate space and time, tamper with cause and effect, killing people in dreamworlds etcetera. They all stemmed from this origin!"


    Fang Yuan walked towards the place where the curse''s power was the densest.


    Around him, the rich curse energy spread outwards and forced him to slow down. The clothes on his body began to decay and fall apart, revealing his taut skin and muscular physique.


    Such...great power!"


    Burn marks began to appear on Fang Yuan''s face. It was like he had suffered a terrible sunburn.


    "This sort of power is definitely tied to the Demonic Heart Realm, but it isn''t dream elemental force!"


    Occupied with his thoughts, Fang Yuan continued to walk about until a black dot suddenly materialised before him.


    A suffocating sensation came over Fang Yuan.


    Using his Fiery Golden Eyes, Fang Yuan could see that there was a skeleton sitting cross-legged at about 100 metres ahead. An object that looked like a purple diamond was firmly grasped in its finger bones. Dream elemental force radiated outwards from it.


    The radiated dream elemental force was then absorbed by the skeleton. When the energy was released once more, it had already become the strange curse energy!


    "Power from a higher plane?"


    As Fang Yuan looked on, he let out a sigh. This was the truth behind the cursing of the world!


    "It is in this state now because it swallowed something it shouldn''t have. Even if this world still had the will to survive, it would be helpless..."


    "Fortunately...even if it is in another universe, it must surely have a source. It cannot come from nothing!"


    Fang Yuan took a few more glances at the skeleton.


    Even though he was seeing it for the first time, it gave him a feeling of familiarity.


    "It''s Tantai Moye!"


    Fang Yuan fell silent again.


    Back then, Tantai Moye had sensed that huge developments were underfoot in the netherworld and had forced his way in, breaking a taboo in the process.


    His unthinking act was the direct cause of the subsequent series of disasters that ravaged the Outer World.


    Had the skeleton converted the pure dream elemental force into cursed energy?


    Fang Yuan was beginning to understand.


    "Originally, this purple crystal belonged to the Demonic Heart Realm. But no matter how powerful it was, it could only be used as a tool...Tantai Moye''s arrival was the missing puzzle piece! It was either through Tantai Moye''s death or examination that the purple crystal gained the ability to spread fear and death...after all, it needed someone who understood fear in order to help it unleash the curse!"


    "Your centuries of waiting is almost ended!"


    Fang Yuan took a few big strides forward.


    "But it''s a pity that...you met me!"


    Swoop!


    Having finished speaking, Fang Yuan pounced like a leopard. He threw out a string of runes with each of his hands which blew open the void. The sound was deafening.


    Buzz!


    The skeleton shook slightly in the face of Fang Yuan''s assault.


    The purple diamond twinkled.


    Bang!


    Fang Yuan was thrown backwards at the speed of a cannonball.


    Starting from his fingers, his body looked as though it was about to crumble.


    It was the feeling of an egg being impacted by a stone. Fang Yuan felt a crushing pressure from above!


    He fell hard to the ground and forced himself to quickly get to his feet.


    "This is...this is but a stray source of power. How could it have done this?"


    Having tested the waters and finding out more about the power source, Fang Yuan was enraged!


    At the same time, he felt greedy.


    The nature of such a power was threatening to destroy him!


    Comparing the power of sages to it would yield a difference of that between the firefly and the sun. If dream elemental force was a cotton thread, this power would be on the level of steel wire!


    "Truly...this is worthy of investigation!"


    Fang Yuan laughed maniacally and strode forward.


    Kaboom!


    The area around the purple crystal began to glow up.


    "Shuk shuk!"


    The bright white lights and the cursed energy had disappeared completely.


    All around Fang Yuan was the colour purple!


    Purple light spilled out from the crystal like a waterfall and rushed over Fang Yuan''s body.


    This savage attack cut through Fang Yuan like a thousand knives and pain overwhelmed his senses. His flesh was disintegrating.


    Painful!


    Very painful!!


    Even so, Fang Yuan did not show the slightest emotion and walked towards the skeleton determinedly.


    90 metres! 50 metres!


    Closer! Even closer!


    The skin and flesh on Fang Yuan''s face had peeled apart, revealing his facial bones underneath.


    As he edged closer to the purple crystal, the purple light became even more blinding, which reduced him further into a skeletal form.


    ''If even my body is suffering in this way, Tantai Moye''s should have been broken down completely...that his body is still in this state probably meant that the purple crystal had chosen it to become its host.''


    ''If even a person of my physical prowess cannot approach the crystal, the world would be doomed!''


    Fang Yuan thought to himself as he walked on and left a trail of bloody footprints behind him.


    It was through struggling that he managed to close in on the white skeleton. He stretched out both of his hands.


    In the purple light, Fang Yuan had extended what seemed to be a pair of...white bone claws!


    Fang Yuan had turned into a skeletal figure with golden light shining from his eye sockets.


    "Triple curses, superimpose!"


    Three Strange Level curses were unleashed upon the world, dimming the purple light emitting from the crystal slightly.


    Seizing this opportunity, the white bone claws snatched over the purple crystal.


    Whoosh!


    The skeleton holding the purple crystal had turned into ash and vanished.


    Fang Yuan paid no attention to that for he was focusing all his energy on conquering the purple crystal.


    Sizzle!


    The searing light and heat melted the bone claws such that they dripped onto the ground into a viscous liquid.


    A purple band had encircled his arms and was coiling around his body.


    "Such a ferocious power. Any form of resistance seems to be futile!"


    In a blink, the purple light had climbed all over Fang Yuan''s skeletal structure.


    A golden light strobed in Fang Yuan''s skull.


    "This is the origin of all curses! The burden of a world? Spirit Sealing Body...the World''s Will. Even though you have all but disappeared, you must help me. Seal it up!"


    "Kaboom!"


    A swirl appeared and began to devour the purple crystal.


    Simultaneously, the purple light illuminating Fang Yuan''s body was swallowed up.


    After sealing up 4 evil spirits and 3 Strange Level curses, Fang Yuan''s Spirit Sealing Body technique had advanced to a level that went beyond his expectations.


    After all, such a spiritual body was not supposed to exist in this world. It was the World''s Will that created this child of destiny! It was this world''s last stand, with a mission to seal up the origin of curses!


    Now, Fang Yuan was representing this world in the fight against the alien Demonic Heart power!


    "What strong resistance...this has completely eclipsed the Strange Level!


    At this point, the purple crystal continued to emit a mysterious light and put up a violent resistance.


    Fang Yuan felt like he was using a hemp rope to trap a fiendish dragon. He was expecting a terrible struggle to happen any moment now!

 542 Original Energy

    Outside the Green Bronze Door.


    Tantai Guijing, Daoist Sanmu and Master Kuhai stared at the Door with doubt in their eyes.


    "The Door...is only a protective layer. The true core lies behind it?"


    Tantai Guijing''s eyes were open wide.


    "Just this Door alone was enough to nearly wipe out the Tantai family..."


    The more he found out, the more insignificant he felt in the grand scheme of things.


    He felt a wave of panic too.


    The Tantai strategies had always been targeted at the Green Bronze Door. Now, it was clear that even if the Door were to be destroyed, the Tantai family would not be safe. If anything, having to face that entity directly would plunge them into greater despair.


    "Amituofo...I''m ashamed at myself for not being of any help..."


    Master Kuhai shook his head sadly.


    Even though the Green Bronze Door had closed and lowered its defences, no one was powerful enough to approach it.


    This alone was enough for them to realise the huge disparity between their abilities and Fang Yuan''s.


    "It''s been so long. What in the world could be happening in there?"


    The Daoist Sanmu made use of his daoist techniques and divination skills, but he only ended up more confused than ever.


    "I can''t be sure..."


    Tantai Guijing shook his head.


    "With regards to that entity, the concept of Time would be of no concern. Years in the outside world might be the equivalent of a mere moment in there!"


    Buzz!


    Just as he spoke, the Green Bronze Door began to scream once more.


    "Woowoo!"


    The black chains slid off the Door and the two ghostly guards let out a whimper before they melted into a puddle of blood.


    The carved figures of people crying tears of blood had adopted serene expressions on their faces and were beginning to fade.


    "Amituofo...helping souls gain salvation is truly a noble deed!"


    Master Kuhai pressed both his palms together and recited mantras at the top of his voice.


    Crack! Crack!


    Web-like cracks appeared on the Door and began to extend like cracks on ice. Then the Door exploded into pieces.


    Another great black Door appeared in its place. It was like a rebirth.


    Although this Door still carried with it the smell of death and silence, it was peaceful. It no longer displayed the intent to brutalise.


    "This...this is the legendary Heaven''s Gate!"


    Tantai Guijing and Daoist Sanmu were awed.


    "This is the mythical core of the world. Crossing it would lead to immortality and sagacity!"


    At this point, a mysterious light emitted from the Door and cleansed the world.


    Before the Tantais, the monk and the daoist knew it, they were transported out of the netherworld and back to the human world.


    "This is...the human world!"


    "We''re...finally back!"


    At that moment, all the Tantais were shedding tears of joy.


    Tantai Guijing saw more.


    "The curse...it''s gone?"


    The 20-year cycle had been a part of the Tantai bloodline for as long as they could remember. Now, it was finally gone forever.


    "Could it be...that Tantai Mieming has succeeded?"


    Tantai Juexin had a mixed look of disbelief and elation on his face.


    "Everything wrong with the world...is right again?"


    Daoist Sanmu and Master Kuhai looked astonishedly at each other.


    "I did not think that our young Friend Fang Yuan was this formidable!"


    Unfortunately, from this day onwards, no one would hear from Fang Yuan again.


    In a blink, 30 years had gone by.


    Time passed in the original world as per its original track, as if nothing out of the ordinary had ever happened before.


    The widespread rumours of ghosts and curses were eventually proven to be fake.


    The professional exorcists also found that the supernatural abilities that they had inherited or cultivated with great effort were leaving them. They became no different from the man on the street.


    As more time passed, even within closed circles, talk of ghosts and curses became myths.


    Only a select few knew that their world had once fallen into a bottomless abyss.


    But the evil, fear, despair and struggle of days past were insignificant in the face of time''s passage.


    Years later, even the Tantai family had reintegrated into the masses. That person''s name was gradually lost in history.


    ...


    In the deepest recesses of the netherworld.


    On a black piece of land, a mound appeared, then a hand.


    "Whew¡­"


    Fang Yuan exhaled and looked up at the quiet glimmering of the stars in the night sky.


    "This is...the netherworld?"


    He scanned his surroundings. The darkness of the environment made it a good resting place for spirits. It was a tranquil and forgotten place.


    "This must be the true appearance of the netherworld. To think that the other world collapsed after the purple crystal was sealed up¡­"


    Fang Yuan looked down at his naked torso.


    A strange circular mark had appeared on his belly. The circle had a purple mark in the middle that it trapped.


    "After a stalemate that dragged on for so long, I emerged victorious!"


    Fang Yuan''s mouth began to twitch and he broke out into heavy laughter.


    That purple crystal was truly the highest form of energy in the Demonic Heart Realm. Sealing it had almost destroyed his body.


    Nevertheless, he was not of this world and his stats had broken the scale. His regenerative abilities were stunning, which led to a stalemate. He had also been quietly aided by the World''s Will, which had begun to awaken. After a protracted stalemate, he had finally managed to seal up the purple crystal.


    Still, he had been seriously injured and found that he was not even able to move at all. Thus, he fell into a deep sleep.


    When he had woken up, he had turned up right here.


    "This was...truly a close shave. It''s a good thing that I''ve reaped a great deal from this!"


    Fang Yuan rubbed the mark on his body and received information from the Spirit Sealing Body.


    "Original Energy?"


    Cultivators who wanted to unlock the path towards supernormality had to begin by cultivating elemental force.


    The martial artists had their own brand of elemental force, as did the spiritual knights. The same goes for the dream masters, who had dream elemental force!


    Although dream elemental force was extraordinary, it was more similar than different with regards to elemental energy for they were both forms of energy that had been emitted from the origin of the world.


    Original Energy was different. It was from the core, or even from a higher power!


    It was the substance that held the laws of nature together. It was the essence of the world. It was everything!


    Even though a small amount was left, it was enough to support the world. Not to mention that it continues to release lower forms of energy.


    That purple crystal was Original Energy!


    As long as it was still around, it would continue to give our dream elemental force. To Fang Yuan, this was an incredible thing.


    "This does not tie in with the law of conservation of energy...wait a minute, the laws of nature are immutable...doesn''t its existence prove that perpetuity is possible?"


    Fang Yuan''s eyes lit up.


    If a perpetual motion machine could exist, then immortality was possible too!


    Fang Yuan had finally come into contact with the edge of immortality.


    "This trickle of Original Energy beats all of the energy that I have harvested from the core of worlds so far...they are all of inferior quality¡­"


    Given Fang Yuan''s experience in the harvesting of worlds, he could definitely tell the difference.


    If energy from the other worlds could be seen as blood cells, then Original Energy was akin to the bone marrow!


    It was able to create and change the world because Original Energy was the foundation for world creation!


    "This energy is of the same level as the entity that stripped the path of dream masters in the Da Qian world!"


    Fang Yuan''s eyes gleamed brighter.


    "The propagation of just a small amount of that energy led to the creation of strange curses and invincible ghosts...it can manipulate spacetime, cause and effect, dream worlds...because it is the origin and the end of everything. Thus, we can call it ''Original Energy''!"


    If Fang Yuan could fully absorb the essence of this bit of Original Energy, he would undoubtedly be as powerful as the entity from the Demonic Heart Realm.


    However, although he had given his all, Fang Yuan had only managed to seal this trickle of Original Energy. Even his Spirit Sealing Body had undergone some major changes.


    Fang Yuan squinted and looked towards his stats board:


    "Name: Fang Yuan (Tantai Mieming)


    Essence: 100


    Spirit: 100


    Magic: 100


    Profession: Exorcist


    Technique: Exorcism (Peak), Pharmacy (Peak), Eagle Claw Grappling Technique (Peak)


    Skill: [Medicine (Level 3)], [Botany (Level 6)], [Fiery Golden Eyes (Level 1)], [Spirit Sealing Body (???)]"


    As he was focusing on the question marks on ''Spirit Sealing Body'', they disappeared and gave way to a full description:


    ''The Spirit Sealing Body has been maxed out and has changed in nature. It has transformed into a new speciality ¡ª Body Seal! ''


    "Body Seal ¡ª Your physique can tolerate everything. Right now, it cannot be activated because it has sealed up Original Energy!"


    "My skills have levelled up?"


    Fang Yuan was silent for a moment.


    "The evolution of Spirit Sealing Body into the Body Seal seems rather useless. Of course...this is because sealing up the Original Energy was a most horrifying experience. Also...I sense that the other 4 curses have been absorbed by the Original Energy!"


    The Original Energy from the Demonic Heart Realm was overbearing, but Fang Yuan had no regrets.


    After all, he had the source of these energy forms in his firm grasp.


    Besides, the Purple Eye Realm was weak to begin with. If it had been the Da Quan world, it would definitely be more difficult to break its laws.


    "When I recover fully, I will be able to challenge worlds!"


    Fang Yuan clenched his fists and realised that he had never felt better.


    The boundaries between the netherworld and the human world would no longer bother him. Just a thought and he would tear a hole in space and arrive in the human world.


    He closed his eyes and extended the tendrils of his spiritual will. Suddenly, he felt a wave of desolation sweep over him.


    "So...it''s been 30 years?"

 543 Returning

    The Da Qian World. Nine Extremes Mountain.


    The Green Wood Sky Net Array sparkled. It was powerful yet calm at the same time.


    Within the array, the Nine Extremes Mountain was covered in an abundance of greenery. Stalks of Yellow Grain Rice in the spiritual fields enjoyed rapid growth and brightened up the landscape.


    As Liu Mengmei walked about in the fields, she suddenly felt a sense of tranquillity.


    A human being''s most basic needs were survival and reproduction. Survival would be ensured as long as one had shelter and food. In times of chaos, these were precious commodities.


    People had begun to settle down comfortably on the Nine Extremes Mountain and there was no longer any talk of leaving.


    "After this season''s crop of Yellow Grain Rice is ready for the harvest, we would be more than self-sufficient. We would even be able to trade!"


    Liu Mengmei did her calculations. Dream masters were more adept in agricultural techniques than one would expect them to be. They had to be, for they had to make preparations for their prosperous land and Hollow in the future.


    From just a glance, she was able to estimate the yield of the fields. It was more than enough to fulfil her objectives.


    "I have to say, the Yellow Grain Rice is quite an unorthodox crop¡­"


    Meng Tian paced her from behind.


    "The yield and growth rates of this plant are extremely high...Of course, nothing beats the Nine Extremes Rice cultivated by the mountain leader! 10 stones per mu is quite a shocking statistic!"


    "I''ve heard that the mountain leader intends to spread the seeds of the Nine Extremes Rice plant all over the world. This would greatly benefit mankind!"


    Meng Tian inquired expectantly.


    "The Yellow Grain Rice may be great, but it is still the food of the dream masters. Can the average man afford to eat it?"


    Liu Mengmei picked a flower and held it to her nose wistfully. As Fang Yuan''s trusted subordinate, she knew things.


    She knew that he had massive ambitions and had set his sights on the big picture. The little benefits brought about by a small trade like that was of no concern to him.


    However, it would not hurt if he made use of the process of propagating the seeds to strengthen himself.


    "Are you saying...that the Nine Extremes Mountain has been seeing an influx of refugees lately, as well as cultivators?"


    Liu Mengmei raised a brow and suddenly had an idea.


    "Having set up our temple in the Nine Extremes Mountain, we have to maintain the security of the region. The areas protected by the Green Wood Sky Net Array will keep them out, but there are other pieces of land that are available for settlement. We will only provide them with food and seeds if they recognise our authority and pledge allegiance to us¡­"


    A large organisation would definitely have several subsidiaries. No matter how vulnerable and insignificant the mortals in the human establishments may seem, they provided the organisation with a constant supply of people and should not be discounted.


    "Also...the Realm Alliance, Baize Mountain and other factions have traded with us before, but can''t seem to stop putting on airs?"


    Liu Mengmei laughed coldly.


    "From today onwards, we will categorise our trade partners into tiers. A trade limit will be placed on reserved items and core products will only be made available to our most esteemed customers¡­"


    All these were things that Fang Yuan had mentioned before, and Liu Mengmei merely reiterated them.


    "The Dream Masters Alliance of the present day is virtually powerless and yet they continue to act tough! We need to assert our dominance over them!"


    "Your wish is my command!"


    Meng Tian nodded and bowed respectfully as he retreated.


    "Sigh¡­"


    Liu Mengmei was downhearted as she gazed at the Nine Extremes Mountain.


    "The mountain leader...when will he finally come out of his closed-door cultivation?"


    Suddenly, a noise came from the temple gates.


    "Has Extreme Darkness returned?"


    Liu Mengmei went over to receive the arrivals and saw that a group of people were indeed gathered at the temple gates.


    "Sister Extreme Darkness...how did the deal go?"


    She ran her fingers through her hair and approached them with a smile.


    "It was alright¡­"


    Extreme Darkness''s face stiffened. On the Nine Mountains, Liu Mengmei was in charge of the agricultural affairs while she was in charge of security. Extreme Darkness also had the added responsibility of settling external dealings. However, Liu Mengmei seemed to have something against her and always tried to antagonise her.


    "With the armed escort provided by the mountain leader as well as the protection of Ado''s Demon Army, those small fries wouldn''t dare to try anything funny."


    Extreme Darkness rolled her eyes.


    "What about you, Sister...still pining for the day the mountain leader comes out from his closed-door cultivation? Hehe¡­"


    She had wanted to say more, but two rays of green light suddenly flew into their arms.


    "The mountain leader has returned?"


    Liu Mengmei was overcome with happiness and rushed towards the main hall without a second look at Extreme Darkness.


    "Hmph! What a vixen!"


    Extreme Darkness looked on as Liu Mengmei ran off into the distance and laughed. Then she paused for a moment before laughing even harder.


    ...


    "What a dream!"


    In the bathroom, Fang Yuan let the warm water cascade down his body as he stared at his reflection in the mirror. He was stunned.


    "After passing through so many worlds, I sometimes wonder who I really am."


    Fang Yuan rubbed his face.


    The man in the mirror still retained his youthful looks and did not look a day past 30, yet he was already one of the most powerful men in Da Qian.


    Still, the present Da Qian was a shadow of its former self.


    Fang Yuan glanced at his belly.


    A black mark with a purple spot in its middle had appeared there.


    "All that I have gained in the Purple Eye Realm is here...why am I suddenly getting a sense of deja vu?"


    He rubbed his tummy with a troubled expression on his face.


    Saving a world was a phenomenal achievement. The energy from the core of worlds could potentially help him to break through to the 7th tier of the illusionary divine stage immediately!


    But the Purple Eye Realm was a relatively small world. If it had been a larger and more ancient world, Fang Yuan would have joined the ranks of the sages by now.


    Fang Yuan did not care for any more energy from the worlds though.


    What mattered most to him was the Body Seal ability as well as the trickle of Original Energy that he had managed to seal up!


    Thus, Fang Yuan had made use of the World''s Will''s desire to expel the Strange energies as well as utilise the gains he had made so as to send himself back to this world. He had even brought along with him the new Body Seal ability!


    If there had not been a world-destroying calamity, how would the World''s Will allow an outsider from another world to take on its heavenly mandate?


    In other words, Fang Yuan had baited the World''s Will with an expected return and forced it to hand over the mandate!


    Although the real son of heaven had died before he was even born, Fang Yuan knew that the key laid on the Body Seal ability. As long as one possessed that ability, he would receive the mandate of Heaven!


    "Having received this ability, everything else pales in comparison!"


    Fang Yuan laughed and looked at his stats board:


    Name: Fang Yuan (Tantai Mieming)


    Essence: 100


    Spirit: 100


    Magic: 50 (100)


    Profession: ???


    Cultivation: True Divine, Area Being, Illusionary Divine Stage (1st Tier)


    Technique: Pangu Eagle Body, [8 Gates Sword Array (???)], [Elemental Spiritual Energy Cultivation Spell (Grade 5 (Completed))]


    Skill: [Medicine (Level 3)], [Botany (Level 6)(Peak)], [Fiery Golden Eyes (Level 1)], [Body Seal (Ultimate form)]"


    The Body Seal ability from the Purple Eye Realm was supposed to be formidable even in Da Qian.


    However, even in its ultimate form, it merely shone with a dim light. It was obviously out of use.


    "This is the price to pay for sealing up that bit of Original Energy!"


    Fan Yuan put on his clothes and let out a sigh.


    In truth, he did feel burdened by the small amount of Original Energy that he had sealed up in his body.


    "I''m already on the right path...this bit of Original Energy is definitely of the same level as the entity that had stripped the path of dream masters in Da Qian. I will continue to move in this direction!"


    Fang Yuan had a hungry look in his eyes.


    In time to come, he would fully absorb the Original Energy and come into contact with that incredible realm.


    "Although there were some hiccups along the way, I''ve already milked the experience for all that it was worth!"


    After he had come out from his closed-door cultivation, he summoned a maid and found out that only a short time had passed. He then ordered his breakfast to be served and went to inspect his staff.


    In the main hall.


    Fang Yuan put down the jade bowl in his hand and peered at the 4 people who had entered.


    "Hmm...what''s the situation outside like?"


    "Please rest assured, my lord. All is well. But we''ve been seeing an influx of refugees lately and some of them are interested in joining our organisation¡­"


    Liu Mengmei was the first to report.


    "Also...Baize Mountain was very satisfied with the last trade we made with them. They are keen in dealing with us further and are especially interested in the spiritual rice...the Realm Alliance has been lying low but our sources report that representatives of the Evil Divine Sect have approached them for a deal of some kind. I smell a plot¡­"


    Extreme Darkness had memories of her previous life and was hence uncommonly wise.


    "A plot...what do you think they could be plotting?"


    Fang Yuan''s interest was piqued.


    "Probably to work more closely together and establish an alliance!"


    Extreme Darkness giggled softly.


    "Hmph...we dream masters are reviled figures these days. Why would they hasten their deaths by doing something so high profile?"


    Liu Mengmei was unhappy with Extreme Darkness and tried to refute her claim.


    "The dream masters can finally catch a breather because of the disaster brought about by the demon spirits¡­ after all, dream elemental force is very effective against demon spirits. If we don''t take this opportunity to regain our strength, we will be wiped out when the other forces in Da Qian come around¡­"


    Extreme Darkness stared incredulously at Liu Mengmei.


    "Sister, do you not understand something so simple?"


    "Alright!"


    Fan Yuan waved a hand. With him in charge, no one dared to say another word.


    "The two of you have contributed much to our organisation¡­"


    Fang Yuan''s voice was calm but his heart was far away, beyond the Green Wood Sky Net Array. He could feel the rolling fields of Green Elemental Grass and the happy vibes transmitted from around the world.


    With all these, he could regain his level of cultivation even without dream-traversing and strengthen the foundations of Nine Extremes Mountain.


    "You are too kind, my lord!"


    The two ladies acknowledged Fang Yuan''s praise humbly but their eyes sparkled with glee.


    "Don''t worry, you two will be rewarded...let''s not talk about internal matters first. Extreme Darkness, you are in charge of our external dealings. What is the situation in the current world?"


    After the chaos at the start, by now, the surviving powers of the land would have resurfaced.

 544 The Trend

    "The current world situation?"


    Extreme Darkness ran her fingers through her hair and smiled uncomfortably.


    "Not too good!"


    "It is to be expected that the world would descend into chaos following the occurrence of the Demon Spirit invasion. As the saying goes, ''tough people rise during tough times''. Truly powerful factions would take this opportunity to consolidate their strength."


    Fang Yuan wrung his hands.


    "Has there not been any reaction from anywhere in the world?"


    In truth, there were many underlying forces in Da Qian. While the power of the dream masters was declining, the spiritual knights and martial artists were waiting in the wings to replace them.


    If the full potential for conflict of the entire Da Qian empire was to be realised, it would shake up the world.


    Even though the Imperial Court and the dream masters were weak, they were still capable of putting up a good fight.


    "Do elaborate!"


    Fang Yuan said curtly.


    "Yes, my lord!"


    Extreme Darkness signalled for someone to fetch a map and her clear voice reverberated about the room.


    "...After the battle in the Jade Capital, the dream masters were dragged down from their altars while the Imperial Court was destroyed. It was a devastating blow indeed! The Demon Spirits had overrun all 99 regions of the Da Qian empire. The Jade Capital in the Middle Region was the worst hit! The regions around it are now deserted following the massacre of every living person! The whole area has become a playground for the Demon Spirits!"


    She picked up a pen and traced the outline of the nine regions in the middle of the map.


    "This area, once home Da Qian''s greatest cities, is now a huge graveyard...casualties number hundreds of millions. There is nothing left to be said¡­"


    "Beyond the 9 central regions, things are more complicated. Although they have also been affected by the invasion of the demon spirits, they are still accessible by the regional armies. However, a large number of Demon spirit troops remain stationed in the wilderness and attack the cities from time to time...the most famous incident involved Wu Yue and Zhang Jin, who had their entire army annihilated by the Demon spirit army and lost their lives¡­"


    "I am not surprised!"


    Fang Yuan clasped his hands together and nodded. These two people had been backed by dream masters and given that their backers had collapsed, they would have been dragged down from their horses by the martial artists and spiritual knights even if they hadn''t been killed by the demon spirits.


    Perhaps that was what happened.


    "Following the fall of the dream masters, a few factions emerged to fill in the power vacuum. They scrambled to acquire territory in the name of protecting the masses. Some of them have also engaged the demon spirit army in a few skirmishes, which reinforced their legitimacy!"


    Extreme Darkness continued.


    "Overall, the world now can be split into 4 parts. Let''s not talk about the lands taken over by the demon spirits. A Martial Alliance has emerged in the north, comprising all the sects in the area. The organisation has managed to gather several top Wu Zongs and is headed by a True Divine...the lands of the north are barren and sparsely populated. The Dream Masters Alliance had not bothered to interfere in northern affairs back in the day. The Martial Alliance is working towards realising the potential in the North¡­"


    Extreme Darkness spoke of this matter with disdain.


    After all, the Dream Masters Alliance had indeed left the place alone. They had thought that it was a sterile land with no valuable resources.


    "The Martial Alliance of the North?"


    Fang Yuan was silent for a moment. He had never heard of this organisation but the North reminded him of the Qin siblings of Dongyi County in the Sand Region.


    They were chess pieces that he had planted in the early days. Fang Yuan wondered at how they were doing, having been left alone for so long.


    Although the Qin family was an influential clan in Dongyi, they would be helpless in the face of such a catastrophe.


    "Hmm, we have two subordinates planted in Sand Region''s Dongyi County...send our people to check out how they''re getting along. If they''re fine, then let''s leave it at that. If not, ask them if they intend to move elsewhere!"


    Fang Yuan made an expansive arm gesture.


    The Nine Extremes Mountain was located on the southeastern part of Da Qian. Coming here from the north was a journey of tens of thousands of miles. Also, with the Demon spirits running amok, a large-scale migration was suicidal! Even if it was a small group, it would be extremely chancy.


    Whether the Qin siblings would or could come depended on their level of determination and fortune.


    Regardless, Fang Yuan felt that sending people to check on them was already a great display of benevolence. He saw no need to fetch them over personally.


    "Yes, my lord!"


    Liu Mengmei bowed and shot a challenging look at Extreme Darkness.


    "As for the west, with the Fan Region in the centre, is witnessing the rise of a faction known as the God Seeking Palace! There are many True Divines and True Elementals from the Imperial Court in there. It has also been rumoured that Qian Huanyi and the Superior Wu Zun has joined them. The local government is under their control, their influence extends to the surrounding regions and they have even managed to secure the loyalties of the local militias. As a result, they have become insufferably arrogant!


    Extreme Darkness could not be bothered to entertain Liu Mengmei and focused on reporting to Fang Yuan.


    "God Seeking Palace?"


    Fang Yuan was slightly bemused.


    "This place would be a perfect match for an old man on the brink of death who only knows how to sing ditties all day long."


    "On the brink of death?"


    Extreme Darkness was stunned. Although the folks from the Imperial Court were advanced in years, they had many more years to live by virtue of their solid cultivation.


    "Don''t mind me, go on¡­"


    Fang Yuan motioned for her to continue. He had become warier.


    God seeking! Their aim was probably to purge the world of their enemies. The ministers and generals of Da Qian did hate the royal family, but their enmity with the dream masters ran deep too.


    "In the east...there are several petty factions who vie with each other for hegemony. Many rise and fall within a short period of time. The Demon spirits have largely left the eastern lands alone because of their proximity to the seas and they are now hotbeds of anarchy. If our organisation does intend to expand, we can definitely consider going east!"


    Extreme Darkness offered a suggestion.


    "Hmm, are there any other spheres of influence in the world?"


    Fang Yuan clicked his tongue in disbelief.


    "The two organisations that we talked about have occupied several regions. They have a structured hierarchy, strict discipline among their personnel as well as capable people. But they are still regional powers¡­"


    Extreme Darkness shook her head.


    "Other than these, there are two alliances to note. They do not have headquarters and control scattered territory, but their collective power cannot be underestimated!"


    "One of them...is the old Dream Masters Alliance?"


    Fang Yuan fiddled with the cup in his hand.


    "That''s right...although the dream masters have fallen off their altar, we have excellent qualities. As long we work hard, we can trigger breakthroughs and regain power. We can also make use of the legacy of our forebears to become great again."


    "No matter what, it''s all in the past¡­"


    A faint smile played on Fang Yuan''s lips.


    If he chose to publicise his deductions, it would probably cause an uproar among the dream masters.


    He would keep his secret for a while longer.


    "What about the other one?"


    "The last one is a union of spiritual knights...the Heavenly Spirit Association!"


    Extreme Darkness was surprised even as she talked about it.


    "This organisation was around in the days when the dream masters were still in power. Their web of contacts extended throughout Da Qian and was based on communication between the spiritual knights. They were also involved in trading activities. After the invasion occurred and the dream masters fell, they decided to come out of the dark!"


    Fang Yuan tilted his head slightly. In terms of skill, the spiritual knights were second only to the dream masters.


    If there was any group of people who could challenge the leadership of the dream masters back in the day, it would be the spiritual knights.


    After all, there were many things that martial arts could not achieve. Spiritual spells, on the other hand, could accomplish results that rivalled the dream masters. They could even take on part of the research work.


    Fang Yuan sighed quietly and made a mental note about the Heavenly Spirit Association being the Da Qian version of a Magic Masters'' Association.


    ''In this case, the northern Martial Alliance would be a Warriors'' Alliance. What about the God Seeking Palace in the West? An alliance of assassins? An alliance of remnants of the empire?''


    Fang Yuan examined the map again.


    The Martial Alliance, God Seeking Palace and the scattered factions of the east formed a large triangle. In the middle was the Dream Masters Alliance and the Heavenly Spirit Association. The Nine Extremes Mountain sect was but a speck in their midst.


    Of course, these human factions took up less than half of the lands on the map.


    The rest of the map had sunk into the ocean of demon spirits.


    Human establishments might be able to surface in the lands of the enemy, but they would never amount to anything significant.


    "The Dream Masters must be feeling so indignant."


    Fang Yuan felt a wave of pity of them.


    "They were once the most formidable organisation in Da Qian. Now, they have fallen quite far behind and might even be on the brink of destruction! I''d love to see the look on the sages'' faces¡­"


    If the Dream Masters Alliance descended into internal conflict once more, they would end up no better than the petty factions on the eastern coast.


    "Looking at where the Nine Extreme Mountains are, the North is too far, the West is too cold and is currently being hampered by the demon spirits¡­"


    Fang Yuan looked at the map.


    "If we go to the middle we''ll never return...seems like we can only expand towards the east?"


    "Technically speaking, as long as we destroy the demon spirits wave after wave and settle the issue of the rations, we can expand anywhere we want¡­"


    Extreme Darkness replied and smiled bitterly.


    By now, the Demon Spirit army had swept across half of Da Qian like winter, causing all living beings to cower in fear of them.


    Every other faction was retracting their forces and making plans to get through the dark times. Only Fang Yuan was thinking of expanding his territory.


    "''No matter what, being prepared is half the battle won!"


    Fang Yuan gave a mysterious smile.


    He was confident in his botany skills.


    The entire Da Qian empire had crumbled in the face of the demon spirit invasion because of adaptability issues and the fact that the dream masters were not powerful enough.


    However, following the propagation of the Green Elemental Grass, the world could finally begin to fight back.


    Thus, Fang Yuan could take this opportunity to make some revolutionary moves!


    Fang Yuan shut his eyes momentarily and he could smell change in the air. He giggled silently.

 545 An Old Friend

    Fan Region, God Seeking Palace.


    A layer of fog circled the above the mountain cliff. Qian Huanyi sat cross-legged and controlled his breathing, resembling a deity in heaven.


    A flash appeared and Superior Wu Zun arrived with his hands behind his back, as though he had descended from above. "How''s it?"


    "I feel the same way too!"


    Qian Huanyi composed himself. "The disturbed elemental energy and dream elemental force is beginning to settle down. It seems like the world is on the verge of recovery."


    Both of them were among the best in their respective professions and had once been blessed by the realm''s will before. Even after losing their positions, their senses were still as good.


    "If that is so... The heavenly will is beginning to take action!"


    Superior Wu Zun was elated.


    "Even though the heavenly will is recovering, it is unlikely that the both of us will receive the blessings of the heavens once again! Are you still thinking of it?"


    Qian Huanyi looked towards Superior Wu Zun and shook his head.


    The both of them were blessed by the heavens previously because they had the support of the Imperial Court and the heavenly will felt that there was a need to keep the dream master sages under control.


    Both conditions had to be satisfied. Now that Da Qian and the dream masters were severely injured, there was no longer a need for the heavenly will to bless and strengthen them.


    "Hmph... It is always not wise to rely on others, for these benefits are only temporal, even if the entity we are relying on is the heavens!"


    Superior Wu Zun scoffed. "After being blessed, both of us are as powerful as sages. However, at that point in time, our breakthroughs as martial artists and spiritual knights were restricted... Now that the restriction is lifted, we are free. Hehe..."


    No matter what, the foundations of Da Qian would allow it to support the birth of countless sages!


    Even Superior Wu Zun and Qian Huanyi had the possibility of becoming a sage!


    Now that everything was settling down, they were tempted to try. Otherwise, they wouldn''t have joined the God Seeking Palace.


    "Among the energies of the realm, although dream elemental force is still the most powerful, it is unable to affect the other forms of elemental force. This is the time for martial arts and spiritual spells to become more powerful... Soon, we will be able to control our armies and attack the demon spirits."


    As long as there was fair competition, these organisations were not the least afraid of the demon spirits.


    After all, they were not stupid and were beginning to learn about the habits of the demons spirits.


    "Naturally! Even as of now, there are only a few demon generals who can fight against us. I am already intending to test my skills on them!"


    Superior Wu Zun clenched his fists and cracked his knuckles.


    "It would be best if we can take them under control. However, these demons spirits are too cunning, and especially so for the demon generals. They have countless clones of themselves and it is almost impossible to wipe out every single clone of theirs¡­.."


    Qian Huanyi''s eyes glistened.


    He had a different plan from Superior Wu Zun.


    ''Now that the realm is recovering, I should follow the heavenly trend. It will be favourable if I am able to achieve a breakthrough and become a sage. Otherwise, it is also fine if I am able to unify the lands and rule over them, thereby allowing the heavens to bless me once more!''


    Martial artists were all about brute force and overpowering others, while Spiritual knights were more sensitive to the environment, trying their best to be one with the realm. To Qian Huanyi, there was no difference in achieving a breakthrough or receiving blessings from the heavenly will.


    Of course, he felt no need to tell Superior Wu Zun about his plans.


    "Only..."


    He changed the topic of discussion. "The realm is recovering very quickly! There must be something fishy going on. We have to check it out!"


    They would be speechless if all of this was heaven''s work. However, if it was the doing of someone, then that person would be competing with them to get the blessings of the heavenly will. This would put them at a disadvantage and they would never allow for that to happen!


    "Hmmm, I find this weird too. Don''t worry, the God Seeking Palace has already sent people to investigate!"


    Superior Wu Zun scoffed. "These people don''t seem to trust me though..."


    "This is normal..." Qian Huanyi looked down. "Although they claim that they are serving us, they are merely using us as a deterrent factor. After all, it was a fact that we were once rather close to the Head of the Hidden Dragon Guards! However, it wouldn''t matter... Everyone is plotting against each other, and we shall see who will have the last laugh."


    ...


    In the heart of Da Qian, the Guang Region.


    Tens of thousands of Demon Spirits resembled a black ocean as they surrounded a particular mountain.


    "Leader, there is... There is the arrival of 8 Demon Generals, and even the 3-tailed Scorpion Lion is among them!"


    In the ancestral hall, an elder reported the news, flustered.


    "The Guangming Sect... have survived the oppression from the dream masters, and yet we cannot survive this?"


    The leader of the sect, a True Elemental spiritual knight, seemed disheartened.


    "Our location is not favourable. We are too close to the core of the demon army..."


    "It''s useless to say all this now. Gather reinforcements! After all, we are members of the Heavenly Spirit Association!"


    "Heavenly Spirit Association? I don''t think help will come in time... First of all, it will take time for us to get help. Secondly, all the members of the association have their own troubles to deal with! Who would be willing to help us?"


    ...


    The elders were engaged in a heated discussion.


    "Forget it!"


    Finally, the leader made the decision. "Request aid from all our allies. We shall guard this place with our lives. On a separate note, how''s the migration of the sect going?"


    "Ever since the invasion, we have been already been making progress. We are now at the last stage!


    All of them were not fools and could already predict the gloomy future, which explained their advanced preparations. "We have already made arrangements with the Martial Alliance in the North and the God Seeking Palace in the West. Of course, the focus is still on the East! However, although the invasion of demon spirits is not so intense there, they have their own troubles. We..."


    An elder hesitated and his intentions were obvious.


    Everyone would want to survive and would not sacrifice themselves at the expense of a certain ideal! Furthermore, in these troubled times, organisations would still require combat power!


    "Do everyone have the same sentiment?"


    The leader looked towards the few elders. "You''re right, we need people to take charge there. The few of you can leave... I shall guard the mountain, even if it means I have to die!"


    There were already at such a stage and yet, the leader of the sect was still resolute.


    "Leader..."


    The few elders exchanged looks and were speechless as they took their leave.


    After three days.


    In a bright glow, the entire mountain disintegrated into dust and even the army of demon spirits was severely injured.


    From afar, a few demon generals observed the scene.


    "A human True Elemental has sacrificed himself and his entire sect..."


    "Agusi is such a poor thing. Too bad he was unlucky to have led the army."


    "Nevertheless, he has many magical clones and all of them have the potential to assume his main body. Death doesn''t really matter to him..."


    These demon spirits would have numerous magical clones. Some of them were snakes, while others were in the form of humans with octopus tentacles, but all of them were equally weird and unnatural.


    "I feel that something is not right!"


    Suddenly, a huge black silhouette as large as a mountain appeared.


    It had the form of a black lion and had three scorpion tails coming out from its back. However, it had the head of a human.


    "Greetings, Three-Tailed Master! You were saying..."


    With its appearance, all the demon generals bowed down in respect.


    "This world has increased its resistance against us... Although this is inevitable, it has come too quickly..."


    The 3-Tailed Scorpion Lion roared and spat out a mouthful of grass from its mouth. "I''ve done my investigations and found this!"


    "Eh?"


    The demon generals gathered around and were all in shock. "This grass can indeed stabilise the natural elemental energy in the surroundings. Although it is harmless against us, it is putting us at a disadvantage, for it will strengthen them! Could this be a natural retaliation from the world?"


    Although these demon generals were not evolved from demon spirits, they were as mature and were full of experience and cultivation, making them similar to humans.


    "These type of grass have propagated quickly throughout the world and we cannot stop it in time. However, judging from how it had appeared, this seems like the work of man and not nature!"


    The 3-tailed Scorpion Lion heaved a puff of white smoke which formed the map of Da Qian, before marking out a certain point on the map. "From the way the grass is spreading, it seems like the source must be among these few regions... In the future, they will be the ones leading the resistance against us. We must destroy them!"


    "I agree!"


    "Agreed!"


    "This world will belong to us sooner or later! It belongs to the chaotic order!"


    The demon generals agreed in unison and quickly came to a decision.


    A new wave of demon spirits expansion had begun...


    ...


    Nine Extremes Mountain.


    Fang Yuan crossed his legs and started to explore the techniques of a dream master.


    "To speak the truth, the dream master dao is extraordinary. Regardless if it is the 8 Gates Sword Array or any other paths, the final destination will be the same. One will be able to create beings and become a creator with power!"


    After a few trades with the Dream Masters Alliance and understanding the information and secret techniques delivered from them, Fang Yuan began to grasp a new understanding of the dream master dao at an unprecedented rate.


    "The only thing is... The foundation to all these is not sturdy enough!"


    Initially, dream masters relied on dream elemental force and everything seemed lofty and unreliable. This was why the dream dao could be robbed off from Da Qian so easily.


    Now, Fang Yuan felt that even the purest form of dream elemental force from the Demonic Heart Realm could not satisfy his needs.


    Anyone who would encounter Original Energy would agree with Fang Yuan.


    "It''s a pity... If I were to use my Body Seal technique, I will bring trouble... I should not attract too much attention!"


    Fang Yuan had to admit the fact that if not for his Body Seal ability, he would never dare to think of harnessing Original Energy.


    "I can only use Original Energy as my goal in order to strengthen the foundations of dream masters."


    Fang Yuan started to seem depressed. "I did not manage to fully explore it the previous time. Must I really explore another world? Where should I go? Everything in the vicinity has been affected by the Demonic Heart Realm and have become unpredictable..."


    He felt that only he could have helped the Purple Eye Realm. If other normal dream masters had dream-traversed to the Purple Eye Realm, they would only die there. Even sages would be toyed with by the curses in the realm and would not have the chance to even encounter Original Energy!


    "I should remain low-profile and explore a few other worlds to further improve the foundations of the dream dao..."


    Fang Yuan felt troubled. It''s a pity that Da Qian had shifted, resulting in all the initial coordinates of other realms to become useless... Considering my current cultivation level, I will still need to put in a lot of effort to locate the coordinates of other realms..."


    "Mountain leader!"


    At this point in time, after Liu Mengmei had obtained permission, she entered the room and seemed worried. "Outside... There''s someone claiming to be your friend''s sister, and she''s here to see you!"

 546 News

    "Sisters?"


    Fang Yuan was slightly confused but recovered himself when he saw them.


    "It''s you two!"


    "Greetings to the mountain leader of Nine Extremes Mountain from Ye Shuhua and Ye Shumin!"


    The older Ye Sister smiled at Fang Yuan stiffly and bowed.


    "Please take us in on account of our friendship!"


    Fang Yuan had gotten acquainted with these two ladies back in the Changli Hollow. They had continued to keep in touch, with the sisters helping Fang Yuan to acquire the Nine Smelting Technique other resources.


    Fang Yuan blinked and the memories came flooding in. He sighed thoughtfully.


    In fact, the Ye Sisters were even more surprised.


    "It''s only been a few years since he entered the Realm Alliance and he has already achieved so much?"


    Ye Shuhua gazed at Fang Yuan.


    "If you would protect us in these dark times...we will no longer have anything to worry about¡­"


    She decided to put aside the last vestiges of her ego.


    "Protect you?"


    Fang Yuan was silent for a moment.


    "Why not go to the Realm Alliance?"


    "You must be joking, mountain leader¡­"


    Ye Shuhua smiled sadly.


    "In the Realm Alliance, there are many who hope to take advantage of us...besides, after all these major occurrences, our network of contacts have dwindled greatly¡­"


    ''Seems like the Realm Alliance holds great danger for them. Has their last backer fallen as well?


    This was to be expected after the savage battle of the Jade Capital!


    It was incredible that the Ye sisters could survive till today and even manage to make their way to the Nine Extreme Mountain.


    "I thought...we had agreed previously that we no longer owed each other anything?"


    Fang Yuan''s mental faculty was still very much in control even in the face of feminine beauty. He looked at Ye Shuhua.


    "You must be prepared to pay a price if I chose to protect you, for I will potentially have to challenge the Realm Alliance as a result."


    "How can you still fear the Realm Alliance with your level of prowess?"


    Seeing that Fang Yuan remained unmoved, Ye Shuhua could not help but feel dejected. She realised that he would not give in unless an offer was made.


    "After such an upheaval, we no longer have anything left. However, we have recently heard a piece of news that the Realm Alliance, Baize Mountain and the Evil Divine Sect have decided to form the Dream Masters Alliance with these three organisations heading it. The dream masters under their charge must follow their orders or die otherwise...how much is this piece of news worth?"


    "It is not uncommon for an organisation to assert its authority by using violence¡­"


    Fang Yuan shook his head.


    "You will have to do better!"


    "There''s something else...do you know why The Ancient One, the grand sage of the Realm Alliance, is content with mediocrity and has not made any attempt to accomplish anything?"


    "You have aroused my interest!"


    The Ancient One was a scheming fellow. He possessed the cultivation of a spiritual knight and had attained the level of a higher being, yet he was secretive to the extreme.


    The fact that he was lying low during a time of upheaval such as this did not make sense at all.


    Unless he was conserving his energy and preparing for a large-scale operation!


    "The Ancient One has been concealing himself because he has set his sights elsewhere...Fang Yuan, have you heard of the Ancient Realm? Where sages attain the highest level of consciousness?"


    Ye Shuhua had a complex look on her features. Revealing this information would set her up against the sages.


    Although there was probably only one True Elemental spiritual knight among the sages of the Realm Alliance, they had a powerful reputation that intimidated her.


    "Oh? Go on!"


    Fang Yuan was excited. He had designs on the Ancient Realm, even though the Heavenly energy of that world would be too strong for him to overcome. It was probably time for another try, now that Da Qian''s coordinates were shifting.


    "Ever since there had been changes in the Ancient Realm, the sages have been trying to access it. They were making progress until the battle of the Jade Capital happened, which forced them to start over. Thus, their plans were delayed!"


    Ye Shuhua had wanted to incite a conflict between Fang Yuan and the Realm Alliance. This might make him more willing to protect them.


    Fang Yuan believed her.


    Among the dream masters in this world, only a few knew that Da Qian was shifting. This fact reinforced Ye Shuhua''s credibility.


    "How did you come to know about these secrets?"


    The Ancient One making plans to conquer the Ancient Realm was not earth-shattering news, but the details would not be made available to every common member of the Realm Alliance.


    "The Ye family is one of the founding families. Our family inheritance contains much valuable information¡­"


    Ye Shuhua offered a rough explanation.


    "If that''s the case, you can pledge allegiance to the sage directly. No one would dare to cross the two of you by virtue of your status."


    Fang Yuan asked them sceptically.


    He was not a paranoid man but it always paid to be careful.


    "Hmph...if only we could even see the sage. The only person we got to see was a disciple of the sage and he was a wastrel. He had hidden away during the battle of the Jade Capital and only emerged after to deal with us in the hope of gaining wealth and our bodies. We were not going to let him have his way!"


    Ye Shumin answered angrily.


    "Hehe...I see!"


    Fang Yuan seemed to be expecting this answer, which made the Ye sisters blush.


    "Alright, since you two have approached me for help, I can at least guarantee you temporary respite. We''ll talk about the rest after I conduct my own investigations¡­"


    Fang Yuan had made his decision. He then asked the sisters a final question casually.


    "How far is the Ancient One into his research?"


    "He has already figured out the time travelling problem for the dream masters to the Ancient Realm and has almost completed his calculations of the coordinates!"


    "Tsk tsk...no wonder the Dream Masters Alliance is ranked among the 5 Grand Organisations. Even after they had been dealt such a huge blow, the sages did not give up on their research and are now back on track."


    Fang Yuan sighed repeatedly but was not surprised.


    After all, the Realm Alliance was more knowledgeable than he was.


    Besides, they had more than enough time to recover. After all, Fang Yuan himself had gone to and returned from the Ancient Realm in this span of time.


    "What a pity...if it wasn''t for the internal conflict within the Evil Divine Sect and if Baize Mountain hadn''t gone under attack, the sages might have been able to pool their resources together and break new grounds in research!"


    Fang Yuan waved his guests away. He had said his piece.


    Liu Mengmei understood and immediately took the Ye Sisters to their lodgings.


    "The Ancient Realm¡­"


    Fang Yuan sighed.


    That feeling that he had experienced the split moment before he left was one of a kind! He had felt like he was one with the realm.


    ''I''ve worked hard to gain the approval of the realm. I can''t let the Ancient One harvest the realm''s energy before I do¡­"


    Fang Yuan was somewhat emotionally attached to the world.


    For one, the Ancient Realm reminded him of the Former Qin era in his memories. On the other hand, it had accepted him.


    The world had treated him as one of its own. This was a privilege that did not extend to visitors or intruders.


    In other words, Fang Yuan saw the Ancient Realm as his right. Now that there was another hunter in the shadows, it was no wonder that Fang Yuan had become restless.


    "Just as well. The Dream Realm has collapsed, leaving the Dream Alliance with no choice but to set up a temporary headquarters in the real world...I have to check it out¡­"


    Fang Yuan was very interested in the dream-traversing techniques devised by the Ancient One for spiritual knights and the coordinates of the Ancient Realm indeed.


    ...


    The Ye Sisters had made up their minds to break away from the Realm Alliance and were willing to tell him anything. They had also tried to egg him on to teach the disciple of the sage a lesson. But what they did not know was that Fang Yuan was targeting the Ancient One himself.


    ''The Ancient One is a tough nut to crack. Seeking him out would be an unpredictable endeavour. I might as well challenge him to a fight to the death!"


    A plan was forming in Fang Yuan''s mind.


    Even the Lord Demon Killing Divine Pen of the Source Seeking Sect had been killed by him. He did not mind killing again.


    If Fang Yuan had not been severely injured during his time in the Jade Capital, he would have massacred all of the sages!


    After all, they would potentially become his enemies in the future! How could he let them off?


    ''The Realm Alliance isn''t like the Baize Mountain and the Evil Divine Sect. It didn''t use to have a headquarters, is loosely organised and does not have a strong defence system. It would be easy to deal with them!''


    Fang Yuan had become bloodthirsty.


    "The Realm Alliance''s makeshift headquarters is at the Heavenly Eye Lake at Jin Region...although it is two regions away, the journey is manageable albeit troublesome¡­"


    Fang Yuan''s mind was made up and he passed down some orders to his staff before setting off.


    "Every time this happens, I''ll miss those flying beasts...so much for the Divine Lotus Cult being one of the 5 Grand Organisations. They can''t even deploy flying spiritual beasts!"


    Fang Yuan grumbled as he bashed his way through the forest.


    He was not being fair to the Divine Lotus Cult. After all, they did not specialise in raising and training spiritual beasts.


    Besides, even if there were flying beasts, then they would be deployed to the Jade Capital as transportation and die horrible deaths in the process.


    All the high-levelled dream masters had already taken away all the items in the headquarters. Although Fang Yuan had taken all of the techniques along with him, Liu Mengmei had told him that it will take time to train the flying spiritual beasts!


    The flying spiritual beasts of the Divine Lotus Cult were not simple creatures. Their fighting prowess could rival even dream masters of the Illusionary Divine stage.


    "Hmm...it''ll take time to convert my knowledge of the Divine Lotus Cult''s techniques into practical power¡­"


    Fang Yuan sighed. He had made his move too late.


    "Hmm?"


    A disturbance ahead had caught his attention. It was the violent oscillation of a wave.


    "This vibration...it feels familiar."


    Fang Yuan had wanted to ignore it but the sense of familiarity intrigued him. He followed the signs of the disturbance and found himself on the edge of a battlefield.

 547 The Black Roc Beas

    This battlefield was seeing quite a bit of action.


    There was a magnificent beast the size of a small mountain. It looked like a creature from the legends.


    On its back was an inn-like building. It was, in fact, the Black Roc Beast that Fang Yuan had ridden on once before.


    However, the Black Roc Beast now was in a terrible state. One of its wings was broken and it was unable to fly away. It could only thrash about on the ground as it defended itself against a large group of armed men.


    "Black Roc! You won''t escape this time!"


    "If you surrender now, we might let you keep your wretched life!"


    ...


    Profane taunts and jeers filled the air.


    "Pui!"


    Black Roc''s exasperated voice floated out from the inn.


    "I''d rather die than fall into your dirty little hands!"


    ''It''s really him!''


    Fang Yuan smiled lightly as he had recognised the voice of the specialised provider of long-distance flights.


    ''Although the most powerful man surrounding the Black Roc Beast was but a low-level Elemental Opening spiritual knight, the Beast was outnumbered and Black Roc''s status as a former master of the illusionary divine stage was of no help. It was all thanks to the resistance of the Black Roc Beast that they were still alive!''


    However, the Black Roc Beast was a flight carrier, not a war animal.


    Still, it made use of the sheer size of its body to keep the bunch of spiritual knights and Wu Zong on their toes. They all scurried about like terrified rats.


    "It''s a pity that the Black Roc Beast has injured its wing or it would have escaped easily! But now, it is defending itself on the ground and will surely be overrun in time. There is something about the bird though..."


    Fang Yuan shook his head as he saw the attackers rush up the back of the Black Roc Beast and into the inn.


    Size equates to strength but would lead to clumsy movements. Now that the attackers had taken their chances, the Black Roc Beast was rendered helpless and could not oppose them.


    "Wood of the heavens, wooden dragon! Go!"


    The leader of the spiritual knights recited a magical formula which caused green light to surge from his body. Vines surfaced from the ground and twisted around each other to form a colossal green dragon that smashed its tail towards the inn.


    "Crash!"


    A deafening sound rang out as the windows of the inn were broken into pieces. Wooden splinters flew up into the air and large cracks swam across the walls. Still, the inn held on as it was protected by an array.


    "Haha... Black Roc, let''s see what other cards you have up your sleeve!"


    The spiritual knights were gleeful instead of feeling frustrated. They knew that their opponent had nearly reached the end of his line. The leader signalled for his underlings to lunge forward.


    "Charge! Tear this crappy inn down to the ground!"


    "Xue Jing, you are too much!"


    Black Roc''s fat physique appeared at the door to the Inn, his dark face clouded with anger.


    "We have no beef with each other. Why are you forcing me to a corner?"


    "The dream masters are scourges of the world and deserve to be eliminated!"


    Xu Jing waved a hand.


    "Back when you dream masters wielded power, we were treated like scum. We will now return the favour ten times over. This is the karmic cycle. If you have any grievances, you will have to take them to the grave!"


    "So you think you can do whatever you want as long as you are powerful?"


    Black Roc took note of Xu Jing''s words and he smiled deviously as the men advanced up the back of his Black Roc Beast.


    "In that case...all of you shall die! Beastie!"


    "Chirp!"


    The Black Roc Beast, previously looking spent, suddenly let out a thunderous caw that threatened to split the skies.


    A blood-red glow covered the Black Roc Beast''s body and the texture of its tough feathers became soft like mud. The huge bird was swallowing up the attackers through its skin.


    The reddish light illuminated the terrified faces of the Wu Zongs.


    "Haha...did you think that my last line of defence was simply the array I placed on the Inn? My real weapon is the Black Roc Beast!"


    Black Roc laughed devilishly.


    "You are all going to become food for my Black Roc Beast."


    As the attackers were melted away by the reddish light, the Black Roc Beast let out a satisfied call. The Black Roc was happy as well.


    His Black Roc Beast had undergone an evolution earlier and had developed several bizarre abilities as a result.


    The reddish glow was a protective layer around the Black Roc Beast''s body that broke through defences and struck fear into hearts. It created swirls on the surface of its body that sucked in any live being that came into contact with it.


    After this discovery, Black Roc put in much effort into training his beast secretly and turned it into his trump card.


    Now that this ability of his beast was activated, Black Roc saw for himself how effective it really was.


    "It''s a pity that Beastie''s ability requires prolonged contact on its body before it can be activated, or I wouldn''t have to try so hard to lure the attackers up its back to the inn¡­"


    Black Roc spat out a mouthful of blood and began to clear up the mess.


    "Sigh...the Da Qian now is no longer the Da Qian of old. Perhaps I should move elsewhere. There will definitely be a place in the world for me to settle down in!"


    Fang Yuan had watched the entire proceedings with much interest.


    In a short time, the tables had turned. Black Roc had played his cards well and had put on a great act to crush his enemies.


    "Who''s there?"


    Black Roc called out cautiously and looked towards where Fang Yuan was hidden in the bushes.


    "An old friend!"


    Fang Yuan emerged from his hiding place and leapt up onto the back of the Black Roc Beast smoothly with his hands behind his back.


    The reddish glow was activated once more but it surrounded Fang Yuan to no effect.


    "Black Roc hereby greets Your Excellency!"


    Black Roc had found this person familiar upon first sight but decided to kneel down all the same.


    This person was immune to the special ability of the Black Roc Beast, which definitely meant that he was powerful!


    The ferociousness on Black Roc''s face was replaced by reverence and watchfulness. He could not help but become worried that this person was another member of the anti-dream master faction. It was also a cause for concern that Black Roc could not remember where he had seen this man before even though he had a nagging sense of familiarity.


    "An old friend?"


    This young man with a confident grin carried himself with the airs of a grandmaster who had established a name for himself.


    ''I can''t help but feel like I''ve met him before!"


    After sifting through his memories, Black Roc finally had an inkling.


    "You are...the fellow from the Realm Alliance?"


    "That''s right. My name is Fang Yuan!"


    Fang Yuan replied beaming.


    "What?"


    The Black Roc had become wide-eyed.


    "You are that True Divine from the Realm Alliance?"


    Black Roc was actually aware of much more regarding Fang Yuan.


    For one, Fang Yuan had played a major role in the battle of the Jade Capital that had routed the dream masters. It was even rumoured that he had killed two sages by himself! He was supposed to be a formidable character, a living demon-king!


    Of course, Black Roc had always taken these rumours with a pinch of salt and only half-believed them.


    After all, the sages were the elites among dream masters.


    Still, as Black Roc gazed at the unfathomable Fang Yuan, he found that he had become more convinced of Fang Yuan''s prowess.


    "Are you afraid of me?"


    Fang Yuan''s smile widened.


    "I am a lowly person and cannot help but tremble in the presence of such a great man..."


    Black Roc tried his best to smile. He had years of experience entertaining guests in his inn and his smile was a convincing one.


    Black Roc had given up on all his potential schemes upon learning that Fang Yuan was a True Divine. He had also calmed down for he did not think that Fang Yuan, being a dream master as well, would make things difficult for him.


    ''Wait...this Fang Yuan has no care in the world. He had dared to kill even sages. What am I to him?''


    Black Roc could feel the bitterness in his heart threatening to overwhelm him.


    ''This must be the worst day of my life. Not only did I have to fend off a whole army of armed men, but I also have to deal with this devil now!''


    "Right, who were those men?"


    Fang Yuan asked casually.


    "You''re talking about Xue Jing. He was the leader of a nearby sect. He had recruited many people recently and was a rising force in the region¡­"


    Black Roc grimaced indignantly.


    "Even though he claimed to be affiliated with the Heavenly Spirit Association, who could verify that? He had taken the opportunity to ambush me. My poor Black Roc Beast¡­"


    "Enough of that...if you hadn''t let the Black Roc Beast pretended that its wing was injured, the men wouldn''t have climbed onto its back."


    Fang Yuan rolled his eyes.


    "Also...you are a bold man for having built the inn on such a precarious spot!"


    Even though the Black Roc Beast did not mean anything to him, Fang Yuan got goosebumps thinking about how he had spent nights on the back of such an erratic creature. There were so many ways things could have gone wrong!


    "Hehe¡­"


    Black Roc chuckled as beads of perspiration lined his forehead.


    "Alright, I had only come to investigate the commotion and have no intention of taking revenge for those people!"


    Fang Yuan was serious now.


    "It''s just as well that I am heading over to the Heavenly Eye Lake in the Jin Region. You can fetch me there!"


    It was a command. Fang Yuan did not think that Black Roc would dare to refuse him.


    Fang Yuan was right.


    "Heavenly Eye Lake in Jin Region? No problem, we shall set off at once!"


    Black Roc agreed readily and slapped the Black Roc Beast on its back.


    "Chirp!"


    The colossal bird flapped its wings. A reddish glow fell over the injury on its wing and it began to heal immediately.


    ''An ability that absorbs life force and saves it for self-regeneration...not bad at all!"


    Fang Yuan nodded in approval and watched the world rush by as the Black Roc Beast shot up into the skies.


    "It isn''t every day that I get to meet a dream master. Go prepare some dishes and we shall have a good chat over a meal!"


    Fang Yuan did not bother to stand on ceremony.


    "No problem!"


    Black Roc gave his trademark beam. He was an expert in the art of hospitality and had prepared an entire table''s worth of premium dishes in no time. Fang Yuan began to dig in with relish.


    "You are a good cook, fatty!"


    Fang Yuan said with a wink between mouthfuls of food.


    "Are you interested in coming to the Nine Extremes Mountain to become my cook?"


    "Nine Extremes Mountain?!"


    Black Roc was taken aback.


    "So what they say true...Your Excellency is the master of Nine Extremes Mountain!"


    "That''s right...tell me, what do they say about me?"


    Fang Yuan toyed with the wine cup in his hands.


    "Do tell...I won''t bite!"

 548 Escape

    "The things they say about you?"


    Black Roc''s smile stiffened.


    "About that...I''m not sure. All I''ve heard is that Your Excellency''s mastery of martial arts and dream dao is matchless. A prodigy that only turns up once every few thousand years!"


    "Is that so?"


    Fang Yuan stared at him, eyes twinkling.


    He was in fact very much aware of his own reputation. He had killed sages, which was an act of taboo as a dream master. He had also made a name for himself as a martial artist, which gave people a sense that he had been punching above his weight.


    The martial artists, on the other hand, were jealous of his spectacular achievements in the dream dao.


    Fang Yuan had virtually offended everyone and had thus achieved widespread notoriety.


    Fang Yuan had not made things difficult for Black Roc though.


    Black Roc was once a master of the illusionary divine stage but after his foundations had been destroyed, years of cultivation had all gone down the drain. He was left with only the cultivation of a dream-building master. It was a very long fall down indeed and his plight evoked sympathy.


    This was the current state of most dream masters.


    Unless they had a backer or switched to another discipline, they would have a very low chance of survival.


    ''Actually...the amount of dream elemental energy within Black Roc''s body has not changed. It just lacks the direction of the dao, which is why Black Roc has been unable to utilise its full power...his current skill level is similar to that of an illusionist.''


    Fang Yuan threw a glance at the Black Roc Beast and knew that if the creature had not been raised by Black Roc since young, he would not be able to control it given his current abilities.


    "Mountain leader, if you don''t mind, I am willing to pledge my allegiance to you!"


    Black Roc was nervous as Fang Yuan eyed him calmly.


    He would be an idiot if he did not choose to join Fang Yuan''s ranks.


    Back in the days when he was still in possession of his previous levels of cultivation, he could afford to become a lone ranger. But now, he would be courting death if he did not manage to find a backer for himself.


    "Hmm...fly to Nine Extremes Mountains after you drop me off at the Heavenly Eye Lake and my men will receive you!"


    Fang Yuan took out a jade token.


    Fate had arranged their meeting and Fang Yuan did not mind helping a friend in need.


    "I have travelled across the 99 regions and do know a thing or two about the world¡­"


    Black Roc was eager to display his loyalty.


    "Could I be of any help to Your Excellency?"


    "You?"


    Fang Yuan shot a glance at him and shook his head.


    "No need...you may leave after you drop me off. I don''t want to be held back!"


    The location of the temporary headquarters of the Realm Alliance remained a secret. Dream masters of Black Roc''s level would never be able to access it. Black Roc would never have thought that Fang Yuan was targeting the headquarters of one of the 5 Grand Organisations!


    Even though the dream masters were weakened, it was still an unthinkable venture!


    Nevertheless, Black Roc was a clever man and knew that given Fang Yuan''s status, the fact that he was dealing with this matter personally meant that it was a pressing issue indeed. Thus, he dropped the matter entirely when Fang Yuan said that he did not require help. Fang Yuan was impressed with Black Roc''s situational awareness.


    ...


    The Heavenly Eye Lake had its vast waters enveloped in a fog. The waters were deep and fathomless. It was one of the Great Lakes of the Jin Region.


    The headquarters of the Realm Alliance was hidden within. It was like looking for a needle in a haystack and there was no way that outsiders could trace it. Even the Black Roc felt lost when he had dropped Fang Yuan off.


    The Heavenly Eye Lake had not been known to have any treasures. Why did the great Fang Yuan choose to come here?


    But he understood the need for secrecy and knew better than to question Fang Yuan''s decisions. He was not looking for trouble after all and left immediately.


    "What a huge lake¡­"


    Fang Yuan boarded a little canoe, which cut smoothly across the water without the aid of the wind.


    "I would''ve gotten lost if the Ye sisters had not given me a specific address...what kind of story can I cook up for my purpose for this visit?"


    After all, he was once a member of the Realm Alliance.


    Even though the Realm Alliance has treated him harshly, it was not unreasonable for an organisation to haze newcomers.


    Fang Yuan had killed two sages and if he orchestrated another massacre over here, his traitorous name would spread further and wider.


    "Forget it, I shall conceal my identity and focus on eliminating the Ancient One...the world is in such a big mess. The demise of a True Elemental spiritual knight would not be unexpected. No one would suspect a thing."


    This was the main reason why he had taken Black Roc under his wing. He had placed a tracker on Black Roc. No harm would befall him if he followed Fang Yuan''s orders and flew back to Nine Extremes Mountain. Otherwise, Fang Yuan would see to his execution.


    Having decided to kill anyone who gave him away, Fang Yuan could not be bothered to put on a disguise.


    The operation was supposed to be undertaken secretly anyway. In the event he was discovered, he would fight! There was nothing to hide.


    The best outcome was for Fang Yuan to find out where exactly the Ancient One was conducting his closed-door cultivation. He would then kill his target and escape immediately.


    If he was harder to kill or had several lines of defence, then Fang Yuan would have no choice but to reveal himself.


    There was nothing personal about this. It was just inevitable that they would cross paths.


    The Ancient One wanted to utilise the power of the Ancient Realm to become one with the dao again. Fang Yuan, on the other hand, wanted to harvest the energy of the Realm to boost his own abilities. Their objectives were in conflict with each other and their conflict could only be settled in a death match.


    ''The Ancient One is a shrewd man. He knew that the Da Qian of today is not a good place to live in...he had begun to grow and expand his farmlands so that he can surprise everyone with his progress one day!


    After the sky turned dark, Fang Yuan put on white robes and came to one of the islands on the lake.


    On first sight, the island was no different from the rest. However, upon closer inspection, one could see buildings and spots of light lining the shore like stars in the night sky.


    "The array set up over here...it''s the Nine Skies Heaven and Earth Array. Although a superb and profound array, the person who set up the array did not have sufficient cultivation, resulting in the array not being able to keep higher beings out¡­"


    Fang Yuan saw a ray of light and shook his head. He broke out into a laugh and wriggled his way through the array.


    The protective arrays of Baize Mountain and the Evil Divine Sect were set up personally by the sages and maintained by many 7th tier masters of the illusionary divine stage. Those arrays would hold in the face of all sorts of disasters.


    The Realm Alliance, however, was not as organised and was not housed in a fixed location.


    Their array was a hastily set up one and was thus unable to unleash its full power despite its exquisite potential.


    Fang Yuan could pass through the boundaries of the array as and when he liked.


    "The Ancient One would be located at the core of the array. It would not be so easy to get to him!"


    Fang Yuan turned himself into a spectre and walked about within the array. The patrolling guards did not manage to detect him at all. Slowly but surely, Fang Yuan moved closer to the heart of the island.


    "The Dream Masters Alliance is planning a large-scale operation. It is currently gathering all the dream masters and consolidating all its resources. I doubt the Ancient One would want to miss this opportunity. I wonder what his choice would be."


    Fang Yuan''s level of cultivation was at the True Divine stage, making him one of the most powerful men alive. He had a 30% chance of succeeding in an invasion via brute force. Fang Yuan scanned his surroundings and locked onto a target.


    "Is the Ancient One in that hall?"


    An old bronze hall stood alone a short distance away. Closely woven runes formed chains that surrounded the building, which emitted a bright light.


    This was an array that could block out higher beings!


    "Whoosh!"


    Fang Yuan''s gaze hardened as he turned into a blast of wind and rushed into the array.


    "Sizzle!"


    This was the toughest part of the array and now that Fang Yuan had barged into it, a chain reaction went off.


    The entire array was now an enraged beast and began to roar. Lines of runes floated out and encircled Fang Yuan.


    "Kaboom!"


    There was a jolt in the void and a great weight came crashing down on Fang Yuan''s shoulders. The gravitational force in Fang Yuan''s surroundings had increased by 9 times!


    If it was not for Fang Yuan''s invulnerable physical condition, he would have died a horrible death.


    "Nice try¡­"


    Fang Yuan exhaled nonchalantly. The attack had barely taken anything out of him.


    "Crack!"


    The rune chain around his body shattered into pieces. It was as if they had been used to hold a ferocious tiger, who had broken free after a token struggle.


    "Who goes there?"


    "Who dares to break into the headquarters of the Realm Alliance?"


    "Where''s the patrolling team? The elders must be alerted immediately!"


    ...


    Fang Yuan''s actions had launched the whole island into an upheaval.


    Fang Yuan had already begun his assault and came before the bronze hall. He clenched his fists and threw out a heavy punch.


    "Bang!"


    The two great doors were blown apart, revealing an empty chamber.


    Within the silent and mysterious hall, arrays and rituals were set up all over the place. An armillary sphere was placed in the middle and gave off a blinding light.


    The Ancient One stood before the sphere and looked over at Fang Yuan with a stunned expression.


    "It''s you!"


    A steely determination suddenly came over his face. The Ancient One bit down on his tongue and spat out a mouthful of blood on the sphere.


    "Rotate!"


    "Buzz!"


    A ray of light sped up towards the heavens and tore open the dark skies.


    "Hmm?"


    In a flash, Fang Yuan had come to the side of the Ancient One and pressed a hand to his forehead.


    "His physical form is lifeless now? How resolute of him!"


    Fang Yuan was impressed by the Ancient One''s cold decisiveness.


    Upon seeing Fang Yuan, the Ancient One knew that he was going die today. Even with the entire Realm Alliance behind him, there was no escaping Fang Yuan given his abilities.


    Thus, the Ancient One had sent his true aura through the armillary sphere and into a portal.


    The dream-traversing of a dream master only involved a little of their true aura so that they would keep their physical form in the event they met with any harm. The Ancient One, however, had gone all in.


    "In other words...the Ancient One had become a new time traveller! Travelling to the Ancient Realm?"


    Fang Yuan rolled his eyes.


    It was obvious that the Ancient One had not planned to do that at first. Fang Yuan''s entrance into the hall was the triggering factor.


    "When did I become such an abhorred figure?"


    Fang Yuan rubbed his cheeks gingerly. His mere appearance had scared a sage into running away. Fang Yuan was speechless and slightly proud of himself.


    Truly, if the Ancient One had been any slower, Fang Yuan would have destroyed the very core of his being!

 549 The Armillary Sphere

    "Did someone break into Star Hall?"


    "It was probably a higher being, a Martial True Divine or a True Elemental Spiritual knight!"


    The island had descended into chaos as the all the dream masters in the Realm Alliance were activated.


    In the past, a True Divine or True Elemental spiritual knight would not be too hard to for the dream masters to deal with.


    For example, the Elder Smelter dared to challenge the Venerable Longhu all those years ago because of his latent power.


    However, times had changed!


    "Bang!"


    In the midst of all the commotion, a deafening sound rang out from the bronze hall.


    A gaping hole had been torn into the rear wall of the bronze hall. A dark shadowy figure had sped out at a blistering speed and there was no way anyone else could keep up.


    Of course, it was not like they wanted to or dared to chase after the shadowy figure either.


    "Given that he had broken through the Realm Alliance array, could this True Divine be targeting a sage?"


    The few remaining elders streamed into Star Hall and saw that the armillary sphere in the middle of the chamber had disappeared. A large hole lay in the place where it had once stood.


    Beside the hole lay a dried up corpse. It was that of an old man and the elders could see from the clothes it was wearing that it was the Ancient One!


    "The Ancient One...is dead?"


    A dream master fell to the floor in a daze.


    The dream masters being swept off from their altar was already a huge blow. Now that their foremost sage had fallen, the implications were unthinkable.


    "Pass down orders from the elders'' council. This hall is to be sealed up! No news is to be leaked out!"


    "Not even a word!"


    An elder who had recently been promoted sucked in a breath of cold air. He turned around with a stern look.


    "What we''re looking at right now is the shell that the great sage left behind. The great sage has gone to dream-traverse through the three thousand worlds!"


    "Yes! That''s right!"


    The other elders looked at each other furtively. They knew that if news of this matter got out, the Realm Alliance would fall apart.


    "Also...who''s the murderer?"


    The elder bent down to examine the Ancient One''s corpse suspiciously.


    "Not many people in the world could make it past the array placed on or perimeters. There are only a few left after eliminating those who have retreated¡­"


    He then thought to himself:


    ''Unfortunately...whoever it is, the Realm Alliance is not in the position to offend him."


    "Elder Song, what do you suggest we do? We are all behind you!"


    The core leaders among the dream masters exchanged a look with each other and agreed unanimously.


    "Excellent. The most important thing we should do right now is to stay united!"


    Elder Song''s eyes gleamed.


    "We shall spend this time on consolidation and keeping to ourselves. If this piece of news were to leak out, Baize Mountain and the Evil Divine Sect would take the chance to wipe us out!"


    Being on different parts of the hierarchy would beget different perspectives.


    To others, halting the Realm Alliance''s expansion of influence might be a bad move but Elder Song saw this as an opportunity.


    As long as he could reinforce his personal authority and gather all the forces of the Realm Alliance to his side, he would become a hegemon in his own right!


    Even if he could not do that, wielding some degree of power in the Realm Alliance would ensure that he was well-regarded no matter whom he chose to ally with in the future!


    If necessary, he would use the entire Realm Alliance as his bargaining chip.


    He had learnt a great many things from having clawed his way up from the bottom!


    ...


    "No one actually bothered to chase after me. The Realm Alliance has reached a new low¡­"


    Fang Yuan had reached the shores of the island and boarded the little canoe unhurriedly. He did not know what to feel as the lights of the island faded into the distance.


    The Realm Alliance was loosely organised and relied on the Ancient One together with his team of 7th Tier Illusionary Divine dream masters to maintain order.


    The Ancient One had held on to his power despite everything by virtue of his coolheadedness and his status as a True Divine spiritual knight. He was a wily man indeed.


    With their stabilising figure gone, it was inevitable that the Realm Alliance was going to fall into disarray.


    "My failure to kill the Ancient One will lead to many more problems in the future!"


    Fang Yuan decided to stop over at one of the deserted islands, where he found a cave to settle down in. He then took out a few crystals to illuminate his dark surroundings.


    Immediately after, he produced the Mountain River Pearl and tilted it gently.


    "Kaboom!"


    The world around Fang Yuan began to tremble as a simple looking armillary sphere fell to the ground with a dull thud.


    This armillary sphere had a bronze base and many runes were inscribed on it with intricacy and precision. There were three large rotating bands held together by a golden bearing.


    "Heaven and Earth will define spatial dimensions¡­"


    Fang Yuan muttered to himself as he ran his fingers along the armillary sphere.


    "The three rotating bands represent the three-dimensional world...the golden bearing is the long river of time that connects the past to the present...is this what the Realm Alliance had in mind when they designed the armillary sphere?"


    Fang Yuan had many achievements and becoming one of the great academics of his age was one of them. Now that Fang Yuan got to examine the latest product of the Realm Alliance''s research, he realised that it reinforced the accuracy of much of his knowledge. It was a beneficial experience for him.


    "This armillary sphere serves as a calculator of realm coordinates...through deduction, we can obtain the coordinates of the worlds beyond Da Qian!"


    Fang Yuan thought for a moment before placing his hand on the machine and exerting elemental energy on it.


    "The Da Qian world has shifted, thus rendering all the calculated coordinates useless. Even the Dream Master Astral Projection Technique had been compromised. But the Ancient One had managed to devise an alternative in such a short time!"


    With the sturdy injection of dream elemental energy, the whole armillary sphere began to glow up in a multitude of colours.


    "The Ye sisters had made an error though...the Realm Alliance had not created a new method for spiritual knights to dream-traverse They still have to use dream elemental energy as well as rely on specialised equipment¡­"


    As Fang Yuan stood thinking, the armillary sphere came to a halt. A dark gap had opened up in thin air where dim spots of light could be seen from within.


    Fang Yuan also felt a sense of closeness and belonging.


    "This feeling of familiarity can''t be wrong. It must be the Ancient Realm!"


    Lights had begun to dance in Fang Yuan''s eyes but he held back from travelling immediately.


    "This is the last coordinate that was set on the armillary sphere. It seems that the Ancient One''s intended destination was the Ancient Realm...he managed to secure access to the realm because he had gambled on it using his life essence. It was also because the arrays in Star Hall aided his efforts¡­"


    Fang Yuan could not match the Ancient One in terms of resources but Fang Yuan had his own strengths too.


    His level of cultivation was unaffected and he could simply make use of the traditional method of dream traversing as long as he had the correct coordinates.


    "But...the Heavenly Eye Lake has been seeing quite a lot of action lately. This entire place is within the territorial confines of the Realm Alliance. After causing such a huge commotion, there would probably be a thorough search conducted in the nearby islands. Wouldn''t I be looking for trouble then?"


    Thus, it was still necessary to find a suitable place in which he could settle his physical body.


    Fang Yuan did not even consider Nine Extremes Mountain an ideal location.


    Although the defences there were strong, it was a place that was not difficult to locate! It was a place that could capitulate if one had the resolve and resources to make it happen!


    "When a true BOSS goes into closed-door cultivation, he does not tell anyone nor stay at his old quarters. Otherwise, this might give others a chance to prey on him...many have died from their carelessness regarding this issue throughout history."


    Fang Yuan laughed coldly.


    He knew that he probably would not be too concerned if he came out of his closed-door cultivation to find that Nine Extreme Mountain had been destroyed.


    As long as there were people around him, he would be able to rally them to his side.


    "The Ancient One actually dared to make such a gamble. Could it be that he had made a new discovery?"


    The Ancient One had left Fang Yuan fuming at his actions.


    There was nothing wrong with dream masters engaging in dream-traversing but the Ancient One had betrayed Da Qian with his actions!


    Heaven''s Will would punish him in due course!


    To some extent, Fang Yuan had forced the Ancient One to make that gamble. However, Fang Yuan had a feeling that the Ancient One had already been entertaining the thought of it for a while. Fang Yuan merely provided the decisive push.


    "To be honest, I can''t say that it was a wrong decision¡­"


    Fang Yuan let out a long sigh.


    The Da Qian world had undoubtedly moved towards the Demonic Heart Realm. Fang Yuan had already done his best by growing Green Elemental Grass all over the place.


    The Purple Eye Realm had been salvaged from the world-ending crisis but there was no guarantee that there would not be a second time.


    As long as the source in the Demonic Heart Realm continued to exist, there was no running away!


    "Da Qian has been tainted by the Demonic Heart elemental energy and can no longer break free. However, there is still hope for the Ancient Realm! Especially...since the Ancient One had lost his sage title and became a True Elemental spiritual knight. He has nothing to lose."


    "He had taken this opportunity to escape Da Qian and the influence of the Demonic Heart Realm. He also managed to harvest some of the Ancient Realm''s energy. Who knows, he might even regain his sagacity."


    Fang Yuan had grasped the Ancient One''s plan and found it to be sound. It was a rather impressive attempt to start anew.


    No matter how powerful the higher beings or sages were, they would abandon ship if the ship they were on met with a mishap.


    "To think that I had forced the Ancient One to strengthen his resolve."


    Fang Yuan had mixed feelings about this.


    The fact that the Ancient One was willing to gamble probably meant that there was a good chance that he might succeed. He had given his everything to the Ancient Realm and had won its favour as a result. The Ancient Realm now treated him the same way it treated Fang Yuan.


    They were on level ground now.


    Their progress in the Ancient Realm would reflect their true abilities.


    It went without saying that Fang Yuan did not fear the Ancient One at all.


    The Ancient One was not even Fang Yuan''s match back in Da Qian, much less in the Ancient Realm.


    The key was to be quick!


    It was a race against the clock. The goal was to prevent the other party from harvesting the world''s energy by seeking out his physical body and destroying it first!


    Without hesitation, Fang Yuan kept the armillary sphere before disappearing into the night.

 550 The Last Witch

    The Ancient Realm.


    The feeling he got arriving at this place was very different from the last.


    The world''s defences were sturdy and had solidified into a tough wall that rejected all foreign visitors.


    ''The dream masters might be resourceful but they will find it extremely difficult to gain access to this world!''


    Fang Yuan''s willpower manifested into frost flowers that floated downwards in the air. His thoughts ran wild.


    He had long been accepted by this world, which was akin to having a green card that allowed him to come and go without resistance.


    ''The Ancient One probably wouldn''t be in the best state right now...of course, his gamble involved the abandonment of Da Qian in exchange for the Ancient Realm''s acceptance.''


    ''The other dream masters could only hope to achieve this by paying a most painful price!''


    ''The last time I was here, there was a big war fought between the Xia Tribe and the Jiuli Tribe. Both sides suffered huge losses - the Xia capital sank while the Jiuli Tribe was vanquished...I wonder what the world is like today. Do the tribes of Fang Mountain still exist?''


    The speed of cogitation was alarming.


    In a blink, Fang Yuan''s consciousness had fallen instinctively into another body.


    "My head hurts!"


    Fang Yuan flipped himself over and climbed out from a pile of corpses. He shook his head.


    His last memory was that of numerous flags against the sky and blood and steel on the battlefield.


    "Jie...is that the name of the body I''ve taken over?"


    As the last bit of his consciousness adapted to this body, Fang Yuan stood up with a slightly heavy heart.


    Bodies lay on the ground for as far as the eye could see and the ground ran red with blood. The setting sun cast shadows of a broken war chariot decorated by a half-burnt flag. The symbol on it was barely visible¡ªa black swallow!


    "Cuckoo! Cuckoo!"


    Countless of crows circled overhead, delighted by the ghastly feast beneath them.


    Dogs and jackals convened on the ground, their eyes darting about. They were uninvited guests.


    "This war isn''t over yet!"


    Fang Yuan picked up a spear and looked at the bronze blade as he drew his own conclusions.


    In this era, bronze was an essential resource in production and war. No matter how powerful the faction was, they would not be as wasteful as to leave their weapons lying around, not even the broken ones!


    Unless...the war had not ended and this was only one of the battlefields!


    "Bronze? Fine iron?"


    Fang Yuan could see bronze swords and iron swords lying about. He shook his head.


    "Seems like not much time had passed since the last time. At least iron hasn''t made bronze obsolete yet!"


    Regardless of whose body he had taken over, Fang Yuan had no intention of staying on. He took a cloak off one of the corpses and pulled it over himself. After Fang Yuan had retrieved a fine iron sword lying inside the chariot for himself, he quickly left the battlefield.


    Fang Yuan''s tall and muscular physique, coupled with the fact that he was armed, deterred the teeth-baring jackals from messing with him. Besides, there was more than enough food lying around.


    "We have to find a place to settle down...also...although this body was only knocked unconscious, it has many little wounds that require medical attention!"


    Fang Yuan rubbed his temples.


    At this moment, pieces of memories, as well as some dregs of feelings, assailed his senses. He had no desire to fight on.


    "The most important thing is to figure out the context of the war and which side this body belonged to. Otherwise, I might die without knowing anything¡­"


    Fang Yuan walked away from the battlefield with a smile playing on his lips.


    "Will intelligent species, no matter where and when, never be free from the shadows of war?"


    ...


    This battlefield was located in the middle of a valley. As Fang Yuan walked deeper into the mountains, he felt much more at ease.


    Although the area was teeming with venomous snakes and ferocious animals, there was no way a conventional army would be able to advance so deep in. His safety was largely assured.


    As for small-scale forces, Fang Yuan would be able to dispatch them with no trouble.


    "Splash!"


    Fang Yuan had come across a gurgling stream and began to wipe the blood stains off himself. He was thinking more clearly now and worked to organise the memories of this body that he was in.


    "Jie--a citizen of Shangyi, was part of a force tasked to invade Dongyi¡­"


    Fang Yuan had accessed the most important information regarding his body''s identity.


    "Shang Dynasty? According to Jie''s memories, Shangyi was a large city. Its founders were of godly blood. Later, Shang managed to defeat the last leader of Xia and claimed supremacy over all the tribes and cities in the land. Thus, it became the Shang Dynasty¡­"


    Fang Yuan looked slightly confused.


    "The Shang came after the Xia? Followed by a revolution led by King Wu? Wait a minute, among the 800 cities, there seemed to be one called Zhou¡­"


    Fang Yuan could feel the weight of history bearing down on him.


    "I wonder where the Ancient One ended up. He won''t recover his powers so quickly and would be planning his next move while concealed in the shadows."


    Fang Yuan became solemn as he thought about his target.


    "He has no idea that I''d be following so close behind. This is the best chance to catch him unaware!"


    The Ancient One had abandoned his old physical form so as to keep his life. He had thrown himself completely into the Ancient Realm and would never return.


    He had only done it because he was confident that Fang Yuan would not dare to match his bet.


    After all, even if Fang Yuan had acquired the armillary sphere as well as the coordinates of the Ancient Realm, he had to inject the entirety of his true aura like the Ancient One into the realm in order to avoid facing rejection.


    Any rational dream master would never do that!


    Hence, the Ancient One thought that he had lots of time to scheme behind the scenes.


    However, what the Ancient One did not know was that Fang Yuan had long gained the approval of the Ancient Realm and was able to access the world without any trouble.


    Both of them were now shrouded in darkness. Now they had to see who would emerge before the other.


    "The War of Dongyi¡­"


    Fang Yuan lapped up some of the mountain spring water as more memories surfaced in his head.


    The Shang had ruled the world for 500 years at this point and bubbles of unrest were beginning to form. A new Shang King had just ascended to the throne and was a hero of the times.


    The Yi in the southeast had revolted and the King had sent out his troops to deal with the turbulence.


    Jie had lived in Shangyi at the time of the call-up to war.


    Unfortunately, a flying rock had hit him on the back of his head on the very first battle of the war and he had keeled over.


    If Fang Yuan had not dream-traversed to take control of his senses, he would have been dead.


    "Strictly speaking, Jie has a rather good constitution!"


    Fang Yuan examined his reflection in the stream. It was that of a tanned young man with thicks brows and large eyes. A brown cloak was draped over his muscular body.


    What struck Fang Yuan most was the golden glint of light in his eyes.


    "The blood of the witches is active in this world. It is its world after all¡­"


    In actual fact, most of the higher-level bloodlines are intertwined with the soul. This gives rise to the possession of special abilities that are non-transferable, not even through blood transfusions or body switching.


    Their true auras had been marked!


    Thus, in the Purple Eye Realm, the Tantai family was unable to get rid of their curse through the possessor technique.


    In this world, although Fang Yuan had a different physical form, the blood of witches continued to define his being.


    "That''s right!"


    Fang Yuan cracked his knuckles.


    "With this bloodline, I''ll grow more rapidly than the other humans. I''ll be able to strengthen my abilities and revive the divine technique of the witches."


    Fang Yuan glanced at his stats board:


    Name: Fang Yuan


    Essence: 1.5 (100)


    Spirit: 0.9 (100)


    Magic: 5.0 (100)


    Profession: ???


    Cultivation: ???


    Technique: ???


    Skill: [Medicine (Level 3)], [Botany (Level 6)(Peak)], [Fiery Golden Eyes (Level 1)], [Body Seal (Ultimate form)]"


    "Hmm? Even the Body Seal is here?"


    Fang Yuan was slightly confused and looked at his belly.


    A black mark with a shining purple spot in the middle of it had appeared.


    "Is this the real thing...or is it an illusion?"


    Fang Yuan shook his head and removed his doubts.


    The Body Seal carried with it the original energy of the Demonic Heart. As with distinguished bloodlines, it was intertwined with his true aura.


    This meant that if the seal broke one day and unleashed the Original Energy, Fang Yuan would never be able to escape its wrath even if he possessed another body.


    No matter how many physical forms he took, he would die immediately with no exceptions!


    All his methods of self-preservation would be rendered useless.


    "Unless¡­"


    Fang Yuan thought hard and had an idea.


    "This sort of energy has a power that transcends the laws of nature! Is it an absolute truth? What kind of concept is this?"


    Fang Yuan was deep in thought for a moment before his ears suddenly pricked up. He picked up a stone and threw it outwards with all his strength.


    "Crack!"


    The stone whistled through the air and landed deep into the bushes.


    It had hit a dark figure at the back of its head and its collapsed onto the ground. Fang Yuan pulled it up by its ear.


    "I was just thinking about dinner and here it is."


    This unfortunate fellow was a grey rabbit. Its life was over the moment it had encountered Fang Yuan. Fang Yuan cut its throat to drained its blood and skinned it before he roasted it over on a spit.


    "There are a few cultivation methods in the Ancient Realm. It is not a good idea to tap on the methods of the Xia Tribe because they carry with them the marks of the other worlds. Hence, my only viable path is probably to use the witch path."


    After he had eaten his fill, Fang Yuan sat cross-legged and took in a deep breath.


    The blood of witches coursing through his veins was amazing. It was actually gaining strength.


    "After all, this is truly the blood of the witches. I will have to carry on their legacy¡­"


    Although the Jiuli Tribe in the Ancient Realm had gone extinct, their bloodline, albeit diluted, lives on. Hence, most of the tribes carried Jiuli blood in their bodies to some extent.


    From a cultural aspect, their civilisation had been assimilated. The tribe had been annihilated.


    Now, Fang Yuan, who carried the blood of the witches as well as the weight of their legacy, was the last witch of this world!

 551 The Yeomen

    "The way of the witches is rooted in the strengthening of the bloodline as well as¡­"


    Fang Yuan sat cross-legged and contemplated the differences between the present world and its past.


    The Ancient One had harvested a wave of energy from the old Ancient Realm, which left it gravely damaged. When the Realm Alliance and the Hidden Dragon Guards were involved in a violent conflict, the Ancient Realm had taken the opportunity to achieve independence. The Realm was determined to never return to its old state. It organised an internal purge while foreigners were denied entry.


    The marks of the Da Qian dream masters had been cleared away and all that was left was the dao that truly belonged to this world.


    "Every world has its own expansion pathways and power systems. One would not necessarily die if they propagated energy from elsewhere but they would most definitely face many obstacles while doing so and might even incur divine retribution!"


    "Of course...if one managed to succeed, it would be a peaceful evolution and would earn him much merit! It is still an invasion of the world though¡­"


    ...


    Dozens of thoughts surfaced in Fang Yuan''s mind.


    "In this realm...what should I do other than to pursue the Ancient One? How should I proceed with harvesting energy from the world?"


    After all, the Realm had been kind to him. Fang Yuan was unwilling to cut directly into the energy source of the world and then leave with the loot just like that.


    "Compromising the interests of other people will foster hatred. The best way to go about this is to offer benefits to everyone¡­"


    Fang Yuan had made up his mind.


    "No matter what, I will have to get to know this place better!"


    Although Jie was a citizen and could live within the city walls, he was too ignorant!


    Especially regarding secret histories and the legacies of power.


    "What I can do now is to leave this battlefield for the Shang capital¡­I could even go to Fang Mountain if it is close by¡­"


    Fang Yuan was also interested in visiting the tribe that he had founded on a whim. He wanted to know how they were doing.


    Regarding the punishment of deserters, Fang Yuan was not bothered by this issue at all.


    After all, Jie was a lone ranger with no kin left. There was nothing that held him back from living life on his own terms.


    Besides, Fang Yuan was prepared to give up on Jie''s past and start afresh in this world as a new person.


    "This world...shares some similarities with the Former Qin era in my memories and yet they are different...I just can''t put a finger on these differences¡­"


    Fang Yuan thought back to the strange occurrences in the Ancient Realm.


    "Could it be...that there is a higher-dimensional world of the same type as the Demonic Heart Realm exerting its influence on this realm?"


    This was the guiding principle that illustrated the effect that the Demonic Heart Realm had on its subsidiary realms which included Da Qian.


    "It''s happening on a higher level though...the Demonic Heart Realm projects power while that higher-dimensional world projects history and culture?"


    Fang Yuan had a sudden thought.


    "Now that I think about it...that higher-dimensional world is probably the same place that was featured in my dreams. Or could it be that the world in my dreams had been influenced by that higher-dimensional world?"


    Fang Yuan used to have recurring dreams of himself in another world back when he was still young.


    This could be due to his dream-traversing abilities or it might even have something to do with reincarnation, which caused these memories to surface.


    Thus, Fang Yuan had always considered that world in his dreams his homeland.


    "I now have some clues about my homeland..."


    Fang Yuan clenched his fists tightly.


    His main goal in life was to climb his way up to the top of the world and find out more about his homeland in the process.


    Now that he had made lots of progress in these aspects, it was a cause for celebration indeed.


    "Seems like I''m getting a better idea about why the Ancient Realm has accepted me¡­"


    Fang Yuan raised a brow suddenly. He had sensed a disturbance.


    "Sigh¡­"


    He exhaled and stood up with his iron sword firmly in his grip.


    The sword was about 3 feet long and had a hemp wrap on its hilt, giving it secure non-slip grip. Intricate carvings of strange beasts adorned its blade.


    "This must be the sword of a yeoman. It is not something that a commoner can possess!"


    Fang Yuan had drawn a conclusion upon seeing the sword for the first time.


    In this era, a man who could ride to war in a chariot was probably a man of status.


    At this moment, Fang Yuan maintained a good upright posture while holding his sword. He watched on as the bushes swayed and uncovered a few human figures.


    "Who are you?"


    The stranger wore black robes that were torn and tattered, revealing several bloody wounds. He was in an extremely miserable state and had probably followed the path of the stream to arrive here. Bumping into Fang Yuan had obviously surprised him.


    "A Shang citizen?"


    The two of them stared at each other and recognised that they were both from Shang.


    After all, the Dongyi people were barbaric and very much like the Jiuli tribesmen. They would not be wearing clothes nor have their hair tied up into a man bun.


    The man questioning Fang Yuan was undoubtedly of noble birth. He wore fine clothes and carried a jade pendant at his waist.


    "Hey! What an insolent person. This is a yeoman from the army. Salute him and report your name now!"


    Another man had jumped out of the bushes to accost Fang Yuan.


    "Yeoman?"


    Fang Yuan was slightly baffled.


    "Was this rank already in use back during the Shang era? Wait a minute...this world does not follow the Former Qin timeline. Having been influenced by foreign civilisations, the Xia Dynasty adopted feudalism and it would be no wonder that there were yeomen in the Shang period."


    The ''yeomen'' were the lowest ranked members of the ruling class. They were noblemen of the Shang Dynasty and lorded over commoners like Jie.


    Nevertheless, this social system was only supposed to be developed in the Zhou era and widely adopted during the Spring and Autumn period. Its current presence in the Shang period was way ahead of its time.


    "Has feudalism developed fully?"


    A thought entered Fang Yuan''s mind. Feudalism involved granting land to nobles in exchange for their services or labour.


    The knights of Europe and the samurai of Japan were the most basic units of the feudal system. In Shang, they had the yeoman!


    "The yeomen were exempted from conscription but would become commanders if they chose to pursue a military career. They had excellent prospects in academia too and would enjoy prestige wherever they chose to go ...above the yeoman in the social hierarchy were the gentlemen bureaucrats, the gentlemen ministers and the noble lords. The Shang King himself sat on the apex!"


    A relevant memory had materialised in Fang Yuan''s mind.


    ''Explains the attitude. This fellow is a nobleman!''


    "Never mind¡­"


    The yeoman was straightforward and waved a hand.


    "Our army has just suffered a great defeat and this soldier is new. We can excuse him for being absent-minded...my name is Meng Kuo, a centurion in the army. Who is your immediate superior? Hmm?"


    The man was about to sit down when he uttered an exclamation upon noticing the iron sword in Fang Yuan''s hand.


    "This is...my Brother Meng Guang''s sword. How did you get hold of it?"


    "How dare you!"


    The accompanying soldier shouted accusingly.


    "He must have stolen it!"


    "Enough...if my brother''s sword isn''t with him, he must have already fallen in battle...my heart! How it hurts!"


    Meng Kuo''s eyes had reddened and a look of anguish crossed his face. Still, he remained rational in spite of his pain and did not accuse Fang Yuan of killing his brother and taking the sword.


    At this point, it would have been appreciated if Fang Yuan decided to return the sword and offered his condolences.


    Unfortunately, Fang Yuan would never part with something that he had obtained through skill. He would only part with some words of comfort.


    "I had picked up this sword by chance. Your brother might still be alive. Don''t get too worked up¡­"


    ''This fellow¡­''


    Meng Kuo was a tolerant man but Fang Yuan''s attitude was making him feel uncomfortable.


    Anyone could see that Fang Yuan was being quite difficult.


    "You¡­"


    The accompanying soldier was preparing to rail at Fang Yuan when an object flew out of the forest and embedded itself in his neck. It was a dart.


    "Pshh...Poof!"


    Blood spurted out from the soldier''s neck wound as he collapsed onto the ground with a stunned look on his face.


    "There are pursuing soldiers?"


    Meng Kuo''s expression changed.


    "It''s the blowgunmen of Dongyi!"


    The Dongyi people were barbarians that were unversed in the art of smelting. However, they were adept users of the blowgun and utilised poisonous darts, making them formidable guerilla fighters.


    The Shang army had been undefeated right until they advanced right into the forest ambush of the Dongyi fighters, who had used the land to their advantage.


    The collapsed soldier''s face was blackening from the poison. He was not going to make it.


    The dart sticking out of his neck had a tail of colourful feathers that danced in the wind. It was a chilling sight.


    "The enemy...is catching up!"


    Meng Kuo was stupefied.


    More figures had emerged from the shadows of the forest. There was at least a dozen of them. On the contrary, there were only a few defenders. It was going to be a walkover.


    "At the start...I was the only deserter, which definitely wouldn''t warrant the pursuit of these agents...they are after the nobleman Meng Kuo...they must have been following him the whole time!"


    Fang Yuan scanned his surroundings.


    "How bothersome!"


    Fan Yuan flicked the blade of the iron sword impatiently.


    "We''ll fend them off. Let our lord leave first!"


    Meng Kuo''s subordinate had spoken. He seemed to imply that as a foot soldier, it was Fang Yuan''s duty to give up his life for the protection of the nobleman.


    "How can I leave my men behind? If we have to fight to the death today, so be it!"


    Meng Kuo drew his sword and roared.


    "Charge!"


    A flurry of poisonous darts flew out. Another two of Meng Kuo''s men fell dead to the ground.


    "It''s fine if you want a fight to the death, but have you considered that we might not want to join you?"


    Fang Yuan stood by with a cold look on his face. At this moment, a blowgunman shot a dart towards him.


    "You must be tired of living!"


    He brandished the iron sword and deflected the dart with ease.


    Meng Kuo, who was on the ground, watched with amazement as Fang Yuan displayed his technique.


    "I shall grant your death wishes!"


    Fang Yuan charged into the forest and whipped up a storm of blood as he swished his sword.


    Although Fang Yuan was still getting used to his new body, dealing with these attackers was elementary.


    Meng Kuo could not believe his eyes.


    "What a warrior! A warrior of the first class! Such abilities would be greatly regarded wherever he went. A yeoman rank would definitely be bestowed upon him together with money and gifts. No wonder he paid no heed to me when we first met!"

 552 Dongyi

    "Is this the strength of a typical person?"


    Within the jungle, swords shimmered and many surrounded him.


    Stretching his finger out casually, he caused their blood to spurt out. None of the blood managed to land on him.


    Although Meng Kuo did not suspect that he was mutated, he was in awe at Fang Yuan''s bravery and strength.


    "Whoosh!"


    Fang Yuan''s sword sliced the throat of the last fighter of Dongyi and the blood splattered everywhere. "This is definitely different from the Xia empire. I have new abilities now!"


    "Warrior! Hold up!"


    Meng Kuo leapt to his feet.


    "What now? Do you have something to say?"


    Fang Yuan looked towards Meng Kuo as his metal sword reflected the sunlight.


    Meng Kuo placed his hands on his chest and took a deep bow. "I am deeply thankful for your assistance in saving my life. Please, let me know your name!"


    "My name? I''m Jie!"


    Fang Yuan smiled. "You don''t have to repay me for what I''ve done. I''ll take this sword as my reward!"


    He was already walking away as he spoke.


    "Wait up!"


    Meng Kuo chased after Fang Yuan. "Where are you heading to? This is not the direction of our Shang Army camp..."


    "Who says I''m returning to the camp?"


    Fang Yuan casually responded. "Now that our army is defeated, I''m returning!"


    "We are not defeated!"


    As soon as Meng Kuo heard Fang Yuan, he raised his voice and continued to convince Fang Yuan. "This is but a small defeat. Compared to the large scale of things, what will this count as?"


    He looked towards Fang Yuan with passion in his eyes. "Jie! You have such powerful abilities as a warrior! Why are you leaving? This is the best opportunity to accomplish something! Are you unhappy with being a mere trooper? I can promote you! As long as you have accomplishments, you will be promoted to become a nobleman!"


    "..."


    Fang Yuan was speechless.


    If he was the actual Jie, he would''ve accepted the offer to become a nobleman for it would have been his lifelong dream.


    The tables had turned around and this resembled the democratic society of the West. Everyone would want to have such an opportunity to be promoted so easily.


    To Fang Yuan, he knew that this was but a useless title.


    "I''ve said that I no longer want to fight. Don''t you understand me?"


    Meng Kuo froze in his steps. He knew that if he were to say anything more, his brother''s sword might just plunge into his own chest.


    "Alright... Since you insist, I shall not try to persuade you to stay..."


    Meng Kuo felt a tinge of pity.


    Fang Yuan gave him a satisfied expression and casually asked Meng Kuo. "Do you know where is Fang Mountain? Which tribe is currently occupying that place?"


    "Fang Mountain?"


    Meng Kuo was stunned and he started to give a weird expression. "How can you not know!"


    "Why should I know?"


    Fang Yuan continued to probe further. It was already fortunate enough that the body he was possessing knew the general situation of the realm. How would it be able to know for certain the situation of specific tribes?


    "Fang Mountain is the old capital of Shang[1]!"


    Meng Kuo continued to mumble the details. "Long time ago, the Heavenly Bird gave birth to Shang. He then had a son named Qi, who was named the leader of the tribe. Afterwards, the son of Qi lead the people of Shang to the plains and defeated the last king of Xia, taking over as the king in the process. 400 years ago, the Shang Empire had shifted to the capital, but Fang Mountain was still regarded as holy ground. It contained the entire cultivation of the witch doctors and priests, and the past few kings were also buried there..."


    As he spoke, he came to a realisation that this person before him had the average look of a commoner but was much more powerful than he seemed. It was already a miracle if this person were to know what was happening around here, let alone the situation at Fang Mountain.


    "The Heavenly Bird gave birth to Shang?"


    To Fang Yuan, this was a piece of shocking news.


    "Also... Fang Mountain resulted in the Shang Empire? Does this mean I am responsible for the creation of the Empire?"


    Fang Yuan was stunned beyond words. "I am the ancestor of Shang? Alright... Although it is just a title, I still feel incredible..."


    Unknowingly, as soon as Fang Yuan heard the tale of the Heavenly Bird giving birth to Shang, he immediately thought of the reckless young girl. Could they be related?


    It was a pity that 500 years had passed by just like this. The young girl would have become a pile of ashes by now.


    "Jie... you?"


    Meng Kuo started to feel suspicious about Fang Yuan''s expression.


    "I wonder how''s the progress of our invasion towards Dongyi?"


    Fang Yuan snapped out of his trance and changed the topic.


    "This..."


    Meng Kuo smiled sheepishly. "How else can it be? It is but a minor setback and will not get in the way of the plan."


    He was brimming with confidence. After all, compared to the civilisation and culture of the realm now, ''Dongyi'' was just a mere belligerent tribe!


    With superior combat power, how could the Shang Empire possibly lose? They would at most take a little longer to overcome Dongyi.


    Even the name ''Dongyi'' was just a nickname given to them. On the vast plains, there were numerous rebellious tribes and they were not united. Therefore, they were given the title ''Dongyi''.


    Therefore, the conquest of the Shang Empire was but a routine daily invasion of the tribes.


    Even if the Shang Empire were to succeed, after retreating, these tribes would come out of hiding once more to create trouble.


    "Although we are encountering a minor setback, our pure combat power will be enough for us to claim victory. By then, we will return with glory!"


    Meng Kuo seemed conflicted.


    It was only normal for a man to thirst success. However, considering that the situation in Dongyi was war-torn and that Meng Kuo had lost his brother, it was natural for him to have thoughts about returning home.


    However, even if they were to deal with Dongyi successfully, they would have to return in another few years to ensure order. This was the price to pay if they wanted to rule over such vast lands!


    The uprising of rebels all around was in an attempt to contest for the supremacy of the king. The empire could only act harshly against them to restore order!


    Fang Yuan listened on and a smile started to spread across his face.


    ''Although I know that the Shang Empire is doing this to ensure that it stays in power and at the same time maintain peace and order, it is unwise to always fight battles like these which will not benefit the empire in any way. Even if the empire were to win these small wars, their army would be severely exhausted. Dongyi is now like quicksand, grabbing on tightly on the Shang Empire''s leg and self-sacrificing its own people to induce strong emotions in everyone!''


    ''When the people are displeased, the rebels will take the opportunity to strike back. No matter how powerful the Shang army is, they will still suffer great losses as they traverse through the entire Dongyi. By then, with a single command, everyone in the vicinity will gather in response to deal with the army united. With that, they might just stand a chance to take down the entire Shang army. If that really happens, the downfall of the Shang Empire will follow suit in no time.''


    All of these were nothing new.


    Giving it some thought, Fang Yuan could roughly figure out what would potentially happen.


    Furthermore, these were just dirty tricks the people of Dongyi could use. Considering how desperate the people of Dongyi were and how greedy the King of Shang could be amidst all these victories, it was extremely likely that Fang Yuan''s conjecture would happen.


    "Let''s go!"


    Fang Yuan turned around and tapped Meng Kuo''s shoulders.


    "To where?"


    Meng Kuo seemed confused.


    "To the base camp of the Shang army, of course!" Fang Yuan spoke with confidence. "Considering how sincere you are, I will help you, albeit unwillingly, to resolve the issue at Dongyi."


    "Thank you, warrior!"


    Meng Kuo was elated beyond words. Both of them walked along and left the forest in a hurry. In no time, they made it to the base camp.


    "It''s Meng Kuo!"


    "Meng Kuo is alright!"


    "Quickly open the gates!"


    Obviously, Meng Kuo was much highly-ranked that Fang Yuan had imagined. With his appearance, the entire camp was in cheers.


    "Is that really Kuo?"


    From the base camp came a few worried-looking people. "Meng Kuo, it''s fortunate that you are able to return unscathed!"


    "It was chaos and I had to take shelter in the forest. I''m fortunate enough to be rescued by this warrior!"


    Meng Kuo explained as he started to introduce Fang Yuan to the rest of them. "This warrior single-handedly killed 10 over men and he has the courage of a hundred soldiers! I had invited him back to our camp to introduce him to Senior Fang!"


    Senior Fang was the highest ranking officer around.


    "The bravery of a hundred men? Able to kill 10 people single-handedly?"


    Suspicious looks were seen from the people around, but soon, they turned into looks of admiration. "Since Meng Kuo has testified to it, it must be true. With the addition of such a warrior, we won''t have to be worried that we cannot take down Dongyi!"


    As soon as Meng Kuo entered the base camp, his expression turned to a solemn one. Occasionally, he would peer at Fang Yuan. It was obvious that he was worried Fang Yuan''s recklessness might offend the higher-ups.


    However, since Fang Yuan had decided to come to the base camp, he had kept his attitude to himself and was rather respectful to the people he met. Secretly, Meng Kuo was impressed.


    "Take a short break, I''ll inform Senior Fang of your arrival and prepare the celebrations for your victory!"


    Meng Kuo brought Fang Yuan to his own tent and called for a few servants. He instructed them to treat Fang Yuan with respect before hurriedly taking his leave.


    "Respectable guest, please enjoy!"


    As soon as Fang Yuan was seated, the servants approached him and started to serve him food and wine.


    The wine was served in bronze bowls and there was an antique vibe to everything here. The meat dishes included overcooked meat morsels and a few other varieties for Fang Yuan to choose from. All in all, this meal was nothing that Jia had ever enjoyed before as a soldier.


    ''Meng Kuo might be more highly ranked that I thought...''


    Without further ado, Fang Yuan started to feast on the meat and wine and was enjoying himself.


    As he ate, he asked the servants a few questions. These servants were under Meng Kuo and therefore did not dare to lie. Therefore, Fang Yuan managed to obtained answers for all his questions, thereby allowing him to gain more pieces of crucial information.


    For instance, the person in charge of this base camp was an Auxiliary Officer and had about 5,000 men under his charge.


    The army of the Shang Empire was divided into various battalions. This particular battalion was led by Senior Fang and he had many yeomen assisting him. As of now, they were merely testing the combat power of Dongyi and had successive victories. Today was the first time they had experienced a setback, albeit a minor one.

 553 Murderer

    "From how things look, the people of Shang are rather hardy!"


    Fang Yuan gulped the entire cup of sour wine and thought to himself.


    The wine he was drinking was low in alcohol content and could not make him drunk. It was more like a cocktail.


    Ever since he realised that the Shang people were created by him, he could feel a sense of familiarity with them.


    Of course, it was only a tiny bit.


    This sense of familiarity could at most make him help the Shang people out a little, but that was all.


    "Jie..."


    Meng Kuo entered the tent and had an uncomfortable expression on his face.


    "Is there a problem out there?"


    Fang Yuan wiped his mouth.


    "Sigh... Senior Fang is unwilling to see you and had declined the possibility of rewarding you!"


    Meng Kuo seemed jaded as he punched towards the table. "Someone is spreading untrue rumours against us in the dark. Senior Fang doesn''t believe what I''ve said. He thinks that we have killed those 10 men together when it is actually all your effort. Because of this, I''ve lost a few fighters..."


    "I see!"


    Fang Yuan nodded his head but did not continue.


    Why would he care about rewards from a lowly official?


    He had come here to see the Shang army for himself, and at the same time, find out if there were powerful men here.


    With such a large scale war, both sides would have to display their utmost might, right?


    Fang Yuan was a tough nut to crack. He stared at Meng Kuo for a moment. It was impossible for them to even think of manipulating Fang Yuan.


    However, if they really had such intentions, then it would be their mistake.


    The heightened sense of dream masters led Fang Yuan to realise that Meng Kuo was speaking the truth.


    On the next day, the people of Dongyi rode on their victorious momentum and arrived at the camp of the Shang army.


    The Shang army started to form a defensive formation outside the camp as they awaited for the enemy''s arrival.


    Fang Yuan followed behind Meng Kuo and observed the army.


    Things were evolving in this realm.


    Compared to the Xia reign, the Shang army was more organised and well-trained. What had caught Fang Yuan''s attention the most were the hundreds of chariots in the middle.


    As the star of this war, the collective appearance of these chariots gave the Shang army an immense boost to their military capabilities.


    Fang Yuan looked on with interest and realised that these chariots were crafted from bronze and wood. There were two carriages in front of each chariot which was able to accommodate 3 people. The one in the centre was the charioteer, while the ones on the left and right wielded a bow and a long dagger respectively. A few infanteers escorted every chariot.


    With a hundred of these chariots, normal troops would not even stand a chance.


    Meng Kuo was full of pride as he looked on. "The Shang Empire is the ruler of the lands with 10,000 chariots! Dongyi is a mere disturbance that will be easily dealt with!"


    Fang Yuan''s mind started to wander. ''10,000 chariots will mean that there are 30,000 people! Adding up the number of infanteers, this army will be about 100,000-men strong! Is this the strength of the strongest country in the realm?''


    Although the Shang Empire was the most powerful influence in the realm with King Shang as the only ruler of the empire, other countries still do exist, and each and every one of them had their own abilities. They seemed to only submit to the current king, but things might change when the king steps down.


    The invasion of Shang army into Dongyi was a demonstration of power to the other countries.


    Of course, this was only a small punishment for Dongyi. If the Shang Empire really wanted to wipe out the entire Dongyi, King Shang would have to personally lead the war.


    Even so, the sight of the numerous chariots and soldiers would give anyone the jitters.


    "Even though we suffered a minor setback yesterday, we are still superior to Dongyi... Those in front are but a few small divisions of Dongyi and they only amount to about 10,000 of them. Their weapons are also inferior to ours. How dare they go against our army? They''re clueless!"


    Meng Kuo had experience in weaponry and started to comment.


    "Indeed..."


    Fang Yuan observed the Dongyi army. They were not even organised and it was almost unbearable to look at.


    Furthermore, as they arrived closer, a loud commotion could be heard. It was as though this army would crumble with a simple coordinated attack.


    On the battlefield, victory was not dependent on how huge an army was.


    Although there were significantly lesser troops in the Shang army, the Shang army appeared confident and steadfast. On the opposite end, the Dongyi army seemed divided. Anyone could easily guess which side would emerge victorious.


    "Are the people of Dongyi that stupid?"


    Fang Yuan was a little shocked.


    The soldiers of Dongyi which he saw just yesterday in the forest were cunning men and were totally different from the Dongyi army today.


    "Dongyi can be classified into 30 big divisions, and 36 smaller divisions within each division. They are not unified and as of now, we are up against the combined forces of 3 smaller divisions..."


    Meng Kuo started to explain. "To be able to come up with these numbers is already no easy feat!"


    "Alright!"


    Fang Yuan was speechless. He gazed towards the battlefield.


    Among the opposition''s army, a single chariot slowly made its way forward and arrived before the Shang army. It was as though it was taunting the entire army.


    "Taunting us?"


    He was a little shocked. "Is this how things are right now? Oh! Something''s not right! This is the presence of supernormal forces in this realm! This is a warrior with supernatural strength. Naturally, they were comparable and this could be the benchmark to decide who would be victorious."


    "I am Guan Zhongbao from Dongyi. Who dares challenge me?"


    The brute man who came forward steered the carriage with a single hand. His other hand was waving a battleaxe as he demonstrated his shocking martial arts.


    ''Oh, this person is above the average warrior. Do I finally get to witness some impressive martial arts?''


    Fang Yuan''s eyes glistened as he watched on.


    No one could withstand such a taunt! Not long after, a chariot rolled out steadily from the Shang army with a warrior steering it from above. "Don''t be cocky you thief! Face our wrath!"


    "Rumble!"


    The two chariots advanced forward and passed by each other.


    Following a laughter from Guang Zhongbao, his axe was tainted with blood.


    The warrior who stood out against him had a huge wound before his chest and blood was dripping from it. He fell from his chariot and the Shang army became silent in an instant. It was as though the entire army was held by the throat.


    "This Guan Zhongbao is indeed one of the most powerful humans I''ve ever seen...''


    Fang Yuan''s eyes widened as he paid more attention to him.


    At this point in time, among the soldiers, Senior Fang was passing down certain orders and another chariot steadily rolled out.


    "Hmph! Lowly junior, face your death!"


    Guan Zhongbao was still excited from his previous victory. His eyes turned red and he swung his battleaxe without fear.


    "Whoosh!"


    Two other chariots quickly arrived next to him. They were close enough to see the ferocious and cunning expression of Guan Zhongbao.


    At this point in time, a warrior of the Shang army started to wield his sword.


    The sound of the metallic sword led to the change in expression of the enemies and allies alike.


    "Whoosh!"


    With a glitter, the sword started to grow in size, as though it was a slithering green snake.


    "Glittering sword?!"


    Fang Yuan thought of an apt name for the sword.


    As the two chariots rolled past each other once more, this time, it was Guan Zhongbao''s palm which started to bleed. Without another word, he turned around and left.


    "Thief, you shall die!"


    The warrior shouted and the sword in his hands turned into a black dragon which flew out of his hands. It pierced through Guan Zhonbao from his back and emerged from his chest, pinning him dead on his own chariot!


    This sword seemed to have heavenly powers!


    "Great!"


    Meng Kuo was stunned for a moment before starting to cheer. "That is Gentleman Jiu. I''ve heard that he had a unique encounter in the past and had learnt a unique set of swordplay skills. It''s impressive indeed!"


    "Gentleman... Jiu?"


    Fang Yuan gazed towards the young man with the sword and nodded his head.


    This person''s skills in swordplay were indeed extraordinary and had a dao of its own.


    However, it gave Fang Yuan a sense of familiarity. It reminded him of the martial arts in Da Qian.


    "Such swordplay skills are likely to have been passed down since the Xia Empire! Is it now native to this realm ever since Da Qian took control of the realm?"


    As Fang Yuan thought to himself, the Shang army started to cheer once more, irritating the Dongyi army in the process.


    With the neigh of a horse, a person rushed out of the crowd. Meng Kuo scoffed. "These people are indeed uncivilised brutes with no manners!"


    "If I were you, I would start to think about how to convince that Gentleman to our side..."


    Fang Yuan replied coldly.


    "What?"


    Meng Kuo was in shock. With that, he watched on as Gentleman Jiu remained unfazed against this sudden attack. Wielding his sword, he was ready again.


    The person riding the horse was extremely skilled in horse riding and wielded a long spear. He was conservative as the both of them tested each other out.


    "Go!"


    Suddenly, Gentleman Jiu repeated the same trick and the sword started to glitter.


    The person riding the horse quickly retreated.


    "Where do you think you''re going!"


    Gentleman Jiu''s face was flushed as he chased after the horse. The sword in his hand was about to fly out.


    "Hmph!"


    At this point in time, the horse turned around and neighed.


    "Whoosh!"


    The person blew out a streak of hot air towards Gentleman Jiu.


    "Thud!"


    This magical swordsman fell to the ground with almost no resistance and was swiftly captured by the people of Dongyi.


    "What?"


    Senior Fang witnessed everything and started to exclaim in shock. "How could Jiu be so easily dealt with? Quickly send our soldiers and rescue him back!"


    The position of a Gentleman was higher than that of a yeoman and Senior Fang had to prioritise the rescue.


    "Dong! Dong!"


    Drums were heard as the Shang army initiated the attack. Hundreds of chariots formed a single line and advanced in unison like a flowing river.


    Infanteers followed closely behind the chariots.


    "Kill!"


    At the same time, the Dongyi army gave the signal to charge as well.


    The person who captured Gentleman Jiu led the army and he started to continuously spew out white smoke. Whoever came against the horse would undoubtedly fall of the chariot and no one could come close to the horse.


    "Jie!"


    Meng Kuo was on a carriage as well. He was holding a bow in his hand as he looked towards Fang Yuan, seeking assistance.


    Fang Yuan was too lazy to even wield a dagger. With his empty hands, he looked towards the person with much interest.

 554 Captive

    "Spiritual technique? Divine technique?"


    Fang Yuan stared at the enemy general, who exhaled clouds of white mist, with interest.


    This person''s abilities reminded him of the witches.


    Even though the blood of the witches flowed in his veins, it had been greatly diluted. His natural talent in the divine technique was only because the spiritual technique that he practised enjoyed a chemistry with his constitution and bloodline.


    "General Heng and Ha*?"


    Fang Yuan had arrived at a silent conclusion.


    "He''s a realm energy practitioner!"


    Meng Kuo palmed his fist.


    "These Dongyi people have actually managed to enlist the help of realm energy practitioners?"


    ''Realm energy practitioners? Could this become a system to be developed by the world in the future?''


    Fang Yuan looked at Meng Kuo.


    "What are realm energy practitioners?"


    "Jie...this isn''t the right time to ask questions."


    Meng Kuo loosed a few arrows with his bow with a helpless look on his face.


    "After we win this battle, I''ll tell you everything!"


    "Alright, I''ll hold you to it!"


    Fang Yuan snatched the whip over from the charioteer and rushed towards the enemy general.


    The white mists enveloping the general were intimidating. None of the Shang men had dared to approach him, giving him free rein to wreak havoc.


    He laughed out coldly when he saw Meng Kuo''s approaching chariot.


    "Here comes someone with a death wish!"


    The enemy general manoeuvred his spear and thrust it towards the chariot.


    "Dang!"


    Fang Yuan parried the blow with his sword. A dark gleam rushed along the blade of the sword as it split the spear into two parts.


    "Impressive!"


    The enemy general was shocked but recovered himself quickly. He exhaled another cloud of white mist and pounced towards Fang Yuan.


    ''Actually...this person is merely an amateur. That trick he is doing with the white mist is but a simple trick of deception. Still, I cannot reveal my abilities yet¡­"


    Considering the power level of Fang Yuan''s divine soul and true aura, he could probably resist the combined efforts of the real Generals Heng and Ha to take him down.


    Nevertheless, Fang Yuan had to conceal his true powers. He quickly grabbed the charioteer over and used him as a human shield.


    "Thump!"


    The white mist had caused the charioteer to fall unconscious to the ground.


    At this point, Fang Yuan threw out his sword in a deadly piercing move.


    "Slash!"


    The enemy general barely avoided the full brunt of sword slash. A large gash had been torn into his shoulder. He fell off his horse and tried to make a run for it.


    "No one escapes me!"


    Fang Yuan drove the chariot after him and thrust the sword forward once more. This time, it sank into the face of the enemy general.


    "Ughh¡­"


    The enemy fell to the ground and was taken alive by Fang Yuan.


    "Jie has taken the enemy!"


    Meng Kuo lifted up his bow with a shout when he saw Fang Yuan''s catch.


    "Jie has taken the enemy!''


    The surrounding Shang soldiers who had witnessed the events echoed after Meng Kuo and broke out into cheers of jubilation. The morale of the soldiers had received a great boost.


    "Jie? A true warrior!"


    Senior Fang and the other officials watched on with a multitude of expressions but all of them were impressed.


    "The Guru has been captured!"


    "The Guru has been defeated!"


    In contrast to the Shang, consternation broke out within the ranks of the Dongyi warriors as they made a confused and hasty retreat.


    "Chase them down! Chase them down!"


    Upon seeing the rout of the Dongyi army, Senior Fang ordered the Shang soldiers to pursue them without hesitation.


    The Shang soldiers were more ferocious than the Dongyi soldiers to begin with. They had experienced losses earlier on because the Dongyi general had intimidated them with his brash confidence.


    Now that they were rid of this factor, the Shang soldiers began to mount their counter-attack.


    "Charge!"


    Fang Yuan and Meng Kuo both took a chariot and rode towards the enemy. As they drove the horses along, they mowed down the enemy soldiers in their way. Meng Kuo was especially awesome as he loosed streams of arrows at the enemy.


    "It''s a pity that there aren''t any other powerful figures!"


    Fang Yuan could not be bothered to count the number of Dongyi soldiers he had cut down. He was slightly disappointed that he had not managed to find another opponent who was capable of displaying a divine technique.


    The scorching sun illuminated the chaotic battlefield.


    The rout of the Dongyi army was a disastrous affair and the Shang soldiers had all but destroyed them.


    In the end, the Shang army had defeated the Bai, Yue and Shan Dongyi divisions. They had killed two thousand enemy soldiers and had captured another three thousand. It was an overwhelming victory.


    Later that night, the camp bathed in the soft glow of numerous lanterns as well as the aroma of roast beef and lamb. A large banquet had been thrown in the army camp to celebrate the victory, where the Shang soldiers made merry and revelled in food and wine.


    "Is this supposed to be the greatest army in the world?"


    Fang Yuan was speechless as he observed the party.


    "If the enemy could exploit the current laxness of the Shang army and launch a night attack, one thousand people would be sufficient to bring this army to its knees. Of course...we can''t expect much from the armies of the Shang era¡­"


    After all, this was the Pre-Qin period, where people were more simple and naive.


    Besides, these armies were not professional but were made up of slaves. The military training that they underwent was a cursory one and their main occupation was farming the land.


    "The standard of the Pre-Qin armies was comparable to the armies of the Europe Middle Ages...there was no such thing as military discipline. It was a time where armies simply won by being less incompetent than their rivals¡­"


    Fang Yuan shook his head and walked over to his tent.


    Ever since Fang Yuan had displayed his martial prowess on the battlefield, the Shang treated him respectfully and provided him with a splendid tent as well as servants. Fang Yuan entered his tent to see that there was bound captive in the corner.


    According to the Shang way, Fang Yuan''s captive belonged to him. It was up to Fang Yuan whether he wanted to kill the captive, sell the captive or even set him free.


    Fang Yuan sat down cross-legged behind his table and examined the bound captive.


    The captive looked to be in his forties. He was square-jawed, large-eared and had an upturned nose. His features were crude, even ugly. His eyes were tightly shut and he looked like he had not yet regained consciousness.


    "Alright, stop pretending!"


    Fang Yuan drained the content of his bronze wine vessel and spoke in an indifferent manner.


    "I know that you''re awake and are looking for a way to escape¡­"


    "Argh!"


    Fang Yuan had just finished speaking when the burly captive roared and snapped the ropes bounding him. At that moment, he looked like a leopard who had been rudely awoken and sprang towards Fang Yuan.


    "Hmph!"


    A sharp blast of air shot out from his nostrils and flew towards Fang Yuan like a dart.


    The burly man seemed so sure that Fang Yuan would not be able to escape his attack and would fall into his hands.


    However, in the next moment, the blast of air hit Fang Yuan and dissipated harmlessly. Fang Yuan raised his left hand and smacked the large man to the ground.


    "How was it? Do you want to try me again? Death will be the outcome of your next failed attempt!"


    Fang Yuan said in a calm voice.


    "Never mind. Having fallen into the hands of a realm energy practitioner, I, Hei Zhong, will accept my fate!"


    The burly man gritted his teeth.


    "Is it so? I can set you free. Just get all your masters to avenge you! I''ll take on every single one of them!"


    Fang Yuan said with a gleeful smile.


    "Hmph! Although I don''t understand what you''re playing at, do your worst!"


    "Hmm?"


    Fang Yuan was taken aback.


    "Are you not going to scare me with the name of your master, or try to get into my good books? Life is precious!"


    "I don''t have any masters. My divine technique was imparted to me by a stranger that I met in my youth."


    Hei Zhong was obviously not very bright and Fang Yuan managed to find out all about him within a short time.


    Hei Zhong has had an unusually large appetite since he was young and frequented the mountains in his quests for food.


    One time, he had encountered a ferocious tiger and had bumped into a figure in his escape. The figure had saved his life by chasing the tiger away and upon seeing that he had some talent, proceeded to teach him a technique.


    This technique was a little deceptive trick but was effective in hunting for small game and scaring away larger beasts. Hei Zhong developed his skills in the technique such that it became a formidable white mist that could rival divine techniques.


    However, since then, he had never seen his benefactor ever again.


    As his reputation grew, the Dongyi lured him to their camp with gifts and enlisted him to fight the Shang.


    ''Sigh¡­''


    Fang Yuan was unhappy now that he had found out all that he wanted to know. Fang Yuan had wanted to become acquainted with other realm energy practitioners and powerful beings through his captive.


    It was a pity that he had failed even before he had gotten started.


    "What a fool. I''ll probably either sell or kill you!"


    Fang Yuan''s expressions were cold.


    His interest in the systems of the realm energy practitioners had been piqued.


    It was thanks to Meng Kuo that Fang Yuan had a better understanding of the background of the realm energy practitioners now.


    "Five hundred years ago when the Xia still ruled the world, the prevailing cultivation technique was the Da Qian way. However, it was revised by the dream masters and became impure. The other supernormal force was witchcraft. Of course, there might be a small group of priests as well¡­"


    "The rise of realm energy practitioners followed centuries later. They believed that heaven and earth were made up of original essence, which turned into elemental force over time! Thus, the point of cultivation was to purify the elemental force into original essence so that one could trace its source and achieve immortality!


    He had to admit that this was similar to how Da Qian''s elemental force worked.


    In Fang Yuan''s opinion, this was the embryonic form of the celestial dao.


    "Unbelievable. The celestial dao has been developed in only five hundred years...of course, taking into account primeval rituals and methods of worship, there is also the god dao!"


    "Celestial dao, god dao and witchcraft dao...are these the native power systems that have been set up in this world? Wait a minute...perhaps there should be another addition - demon dao!"


    Fang Yuan could not help but remember the time he had to deal with Wu Zhiqi, Xiang Liu and company during the Great Flood. Although they were part of the Hidden Dragon Guards, they were of the demon race!


    Displayed on Fang Yuan''s face was a mix of emotions. Hei Zhong looked at Fang Yuan''s unreadable expression and was overcome by fear. He dropped his tough guy act and blurted out a plea for mercy.


    "Wait a minute. You could let someone redeem me or let me stay on as your slave. Please spare my life!"


    ______________________________


    * Two generals of the Shang Dynasty in chinese mythology

 555 Kui Ox

    "What a change. Weren''t you acting tough just now?"


    Fang Yuan shook his head at the sight of the grovelling Hei Zhong.


    "Never mind...I can see that you''re well built and would make a good slave. You would probably fetch a good price!"


    "No...you''re the only one I''m willing to serve. I won''t submit to anyone else!"


    Hei Zhong rolled his eyes and shouted out again.


    "I think...you must be hatching another scheme, am I right?"


    Fang Yuan could see through his little tricks and exposed them curtly.


    "Your life is in my hands and yet you want to bargain?"


    "I''m not a common slave. If you would use me, I will acknowledge you as my master! Your wish would be my command!"


    "Then you are going to learn my divine techniques secretly?"


    Hei Zhong''s face turned red after Fang Yuan uncovered his true motive.


    "You are a realm energy practitioner. I accept my loss and will become your slave with no regrets. I have no intention of learning anything without permission!"


    "Forget it...you are a fool that can''t even lie properly! You may rise!"


    Fang Yuan waved a hand.


    "Imparting martial arts to you isn''t out of the question. Fine, I''ll take you in as my slave."


    "Thank you so much, master!"


    Hei Zhong clambered to his feet happily. Ever since he had learnt that Fang Yuan was a realm energy practitioner, he had made up his mind to beg for this person''s acceptance. After all, this was a path towards immortality! It was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity!


    When Meng Kuo entered the tent, he was surprised to see Hei Zhong sitting down and chewing on a leg of lamb.


    "This¡­"


    Meng Kuo''s eyelids twitched as he looked towards Fang Yuan.


    "Jie...you''ve already taken him in?"


    "Mmhm. His name is Hei Zhong and he volunteered to serve me."


    Fang Yuan nodded his head.


    "Meng Kuo, what brings you here today?"


    "To bring you to go see Senior Fang!"


    Meng Kuo gave a grim smile.


    "You''ve made a major contribution. Whether Senior Fang likes it or not, he will have to reward you. You''ll definitely receive a noble title. In all likelihood, you will become a yeoman of the first class. After you return to the Shang capital with us to meet with the King, you might even get promoted to the rank of gentleman-bureaucrat of the third class."


    Meng Kuo was well aware of the great respect the feudal states accorded to people who were well-versed in mysterious techniques.


    Given Jie''s abilities, he could attain at least the rank of gentleman-bureaucrat with no trouble. After all, he was the man who had captured Hei Zhong.


    Meng Kuo felt a lump in his throat as he spoke and bowed slightly.


    "I did not know that you, Jie, had remarkable skills. Do forgive me for my ignorance."


    Meng Kuo, like the other nobles, was now acutely aware of Fang Yuan''s potential.


    "No need for that...to be honest, I still don''t have a good idea of how my divine technique works¡­"


    Fang Yuan waved a hand. He seemed unwilling to talk about it.


    Upon hearing this, Meng Kuo concluded that Fang Yuan was a lucky person who had acquired his skills through a chance encounter.


    "Anyway...the promotion will have to wait until we return to the Shang capital and meet with the King. It will have to be registered!"


    Meng Kuo spoke matter-of-factly and ordered some men to carry bronze, weapons and sundries into Fang Yuan''s tent.


    "These are the rewards for your meritorious service. You will be given twenty servants as well!"


    The yeomen, gentlemen-bureaucrats and the gentlemen-ministers were part of the nobility. They could own lands, recruit aides and even build their own army! They were no different from the lesser lords and had to be treated with respect.


    Even the lowest-ranked yeoman had to be registered with the royal court.


    The nobles stood out from the commoners from birth and their descendants would all be given at least a yeoman rank. They enjoyed higher starting positions in both the civil and military services. Thus, the admission of a person into the nobility brought honour and glory to his family.


    "The Shang capital? Yes, I would like to visit the place!"


    Fang Yuan''s eyes twinkled.


    Putting aside talk of celestial dao, the god dao relied on people dao to thrive. It would probably be incarnated in the lands surrounding the capital city.


    "I will accept these gifts and meet Senior Fang later. Please help me decline all the other invitations!"


    Fang Yuan waved a hand.


    Meng Kuo did not have any objections. In the past, even a warrior who could fend off a hundred men would incur the wrath of the nobles if he acted like a snob. However, things were different now.


    It was to be expected that a person with extraordinary talents would be restrained and arrogant.


    Meng Kuo bowed once more and left the tent respectfully.


    Fang Yuan regarded the scene calmly.


    ''Indeed...power speaks the loudest in every world¡­''


    ¡­...


    On the second day, the Shang army set off for the Shang capital city.


    Fang Yuan moved among the soldiers and quietly observed the passing landscape.


    The blood of the witches in his body was growing stronger by the day and supplied him with a continuous stream of power.


    "At this rate, I will be able to agglomerate the Ultimate Witch Body and regain much of my power by the time we reach the Shang capital¡­"


    Fang Yuan could not help but smile as he thought about it.


    The Shang men around him were all joyful as well.


    "Sigh...I wonder if the corn in the Shang capital has ripened yet¡­"


    Meng Kuo moved up to Fang Yuan''s side. He was in a pensive mood.


    The Shang army was not made up of professional soldiers and the men were primarily farmers. If they did not make it back to the Shang capital in time for the harvest, it would lead to a famine the following year.


    Meng Kuo''s words reminded Fang Yuan of the small pieces of land he owned as well as the few field-tending servants that he had. This was all that Jie had left behind in the world.


    ''Other than tending to their own fields, farmers now have the added responsibility of working in the communal fields as part of the well-field system...this is similar to the manorialism practised in Europe...''


    Fang Yuan was deep in thought for a moment.


    Of course, it was fortunate that he was a citizen who had land of his own as well as some political power.


    The peasants who lived beyond the city walls, and the slaves beneath them, were the ones who led hard lives.


    "Thump! Thump!"


    "Thump! Thump!"


    The ground shook suddenly and violently.


    A humongous black figure appeared from behind a mountain and trotted on.


    "Ah...what a gigantic beast!"


    Mayhem ensued among the troops. Meng Kuo and the other officers tried their best to maintain order and restrained soldiers who were acting rashly out of fear.


    "Thump! Thump!"


    An earthquake had been triggered. The black figure was approaching and Fang Yuan could see the purple patterns on its black hide.


    The beast had the head of an ox but had only one leg. Lightning and thunder broke out overhead as the beast advanced. It was like the god of thunder.


    "The Kui Ox?"


    Fang Yuan combed his memories and found a classic image.


    "Master, don''t make a sound!"


    Hei Zhong was flustered.


    "I''ve seen this beast before. It is gentle by nature and only attacks when provoked."


    "Thump! Thump!"


    Amidst the thunder and lightning, the Kui Ox glanced at the scattered army before moving away into the distance. Before long, the beast had disappeared beyond the horizon.


    Meng Kuo and the other officers mopped the sweat off their brows and began to gather their men for a headcount.


    After a few hours, the truth was out. A few hundred men had gone missing. Meng Kuo was alarmed but helpless.


    ''An appearance by the Kui Ox managed to inflict more losses than a defeat in battle. This is something!"


    Fang Yuan shook his head.


    The Shang era was a time where the supernatural coexisted with mankind. The borders that would one day keep supernormal forces away from the human world had not yet solidified. Not only could supernormal people impart knowledge to mortals like Hei Zhong, the beasts from mythology often appeared in the human world and could be hunted down by humans!


    ''Sounds like the early periods of human civilisations have similar myths...the legends from early Europe featured mortal men killing giant beasts and ascending to godhood too...of course, reports of these legendary occurrences faded over time, both in the East and the West."


    Fang Yuan had come to a conclusion.


    "Perhaps...civilisations that have come into contact with the radiation will have to go through this process?"


    "Move on!"


    The Shang army started off again.


    Fang Yuan summoned Hei Zhong and made him lay bare his white mist technique for Fang Yuan to study.


    "Divine technique...this is a simple technique! It is not divine at all! Was it because he was not fortunate enough, or was he not talented enough?"


    "I can learn quite a bit from this technique though. I can use it to derive other techniques¡­"


    Fang Yuan glanced at Hei Zhong from the corner of his eye. He was an excellent guinea pig. This was exactly the reason Fang Yuan had taken him in as a slave.


    Things tended to fall into place for Fang Yuan after all.


    "However...the movement of such a large Kui Ox would displace other beasts from their dens!"


    Fang Yuan examined Hei Zhong before turning to warn Meng Kuo.


    "Be careful. As the Kui Ox makes waves along its path of travel, it might have triggered other beasts."


    "Exactly...this is why we are trying so hard to leave this place quickly."


    Meng Kuo gave a bitter laugh.


    Just as he finished speaking, he heard the roar of a tiger coming from behind him.


    "What is happening?"


    Meng Kuo calmed himself down and looked towards the rear of the army.


    A white tiger had appeared and charged towards the soldiers. In a flash, it had snatched a slave over.


    "I was spot on. Am I a jinx?"


    Fang Yuan scrutinised the white tiger.


    It had a body that was more than 20 feet long and had jaws that could swallow a man whole.


    The white tiger moved like the wind and a white shimmering light protected its body. This was a monster who had gone through some degree of cultivation! It was here to feast on humans!


    The white tiger seemed confident that the army would scatter and leave the old and weak behind for it to savage.


    "How dare it! Surround the tiger and get your bows ready!"


    Senior Fang issued his order. He was ready to overwhelm the tiger.


    The appearance of the Kui Ox previously was a calamity and there was nothing that anyone could have done about it. However, this white tiger was far less threatening!

 556 White Foxes

    "Arrows ready! Arrows ready!"


    Dozens of archers drew their bows in the formation and loosed their arrows in unison.


    "Swish! Swish!"


    The arrows moved along a curved path in the air gracefully, much like the shape of Death''s scythe, and flew towards the white tiger steadily.


    "Roar! Roar!"


    The white tiger gave a ferocious roar as it jumped several yards away.


    The rain of arrows covered a large area. Even though there was much friendly fire, many of the arrows landed on the white tiger''s body.


    "Ding! Ding! Dang! Dang!"


    Metallic rings reverberated through the air as the arrows impacted the white light surrounding the white tiger''s body and fell to the ground.


    Even so, the white light flickered and looked as if it was fading.


    Beasts could prey on humans but humans could kill beasts too!


    Numerous soldiers sprang forth as the army officers called for a charge.


    "Roar! Roar!"


    The white tiger was a murderous creature and pounced on a chariot which shattered under its weight. It swept its tail, harder than any whip in the world, and let it crash into a Shang soldier.


    The ferociousness displayed by the white tiger stunned the Shang soldiers, who were previously fearless fighters.


    The white tiger sensed their vulnerability and pounced on a foot soldier. With its prey firmly in its grasp, the white tiger began to feed.


    The screams of the Shang soldier filled the air. Meng Kuo''s eyes widened as he witnessed the ghastly sight.


    "Demonic beast! I must kill you!"


    In a flash, Meng Kuo was in command of a chariot and drove it towards the frontlines.


    "It''s just a little demon which might not even have achieved full spiritual awareness¡­"


    Fang Yuan shook his head. A spiritually intelligent creature would have run away by now. On the contrary, this white tiger was becoming more aggressive even though the protective white light around its body was dimming. It obviously had a death wish.


    "Watch my arrows!"


    Meng Kuo roared as his arrows assailed the white light surrounding the tiger.


    He had discharged three arrows from his bow in one shot.


    "Ding!"


    The first and second arrows broke upon contact with the white light. The third arrow, however, was the straw that broke the camel''s back. The white light offered no resistance as the arrow popped the eye of the tiger.


    Poof!


    There was a burst of blood.


    The white tiger roared in pain and ran towards Meng Kuo in a fit of madness. Its remaining eye was filled with a crazed rage.


    "Hei Zhong...the white tiger is yours to handle!"


    Fang Yuan waved the sword in his hand and gave an order to Hei Zhong.


    "Yes, master!"


    Hei Zhong gave a battle cry and rushed over on foot with his trusty battleaxe.


    He was just in time, for Meng Kuo had been knocked off his chariot by the white tiger and was about to get torn apart.


    "Hey! Don''t even think about hurting him, beast!"


    Hei Zhong swung his axe up into the air and brought it down onto the tiger.


    "Roar! Roar!"


    The axe managed to cut into the front paws of the white tiger and blood was spilt. The tiger shrank away in pain and Hei Zhong took the opportunity to pull Meng Kuo to safety.


    "Hmph!"


    As Hei Zhong retreated, he exhaled a cloud of white mist. The white mist enveloped the white tiger and distracted it from Hei Zhong''s ensuing attack.


    Even though the large tiger was a demonic beast, it was at a loss as to what to do in the face of this seemingly divine technique.


    "Loose the arrows!"


    A severe voice rang out from behind and triggered a torrential hail of arrows.


    A dark gleam joined the trajectory of the arrows and shot towards the white tiger. Whether it was by chance or not, Hei Zhong was in its path too!


    "A flying sword!"


    Hei Zhong turned around and was startled to see a smiling youth. It was the recovered Gentleman Jiu!


    Gentleman Jiu had been humiliated by Hei Zhong and was saved by good fortune. Now, he was ready to avenge his honour by killing Hei Zhong. He was prepared to disguise the murder as collateral damage sustained in killing the white tiger!


    "Swish!"


    Another dark gleam flew overhead.


    This was another flying sword and it was actually able to knock Gentleman Jiu''s flying sword to the ground despite having been launched later.


    This other flying sword''s path of flight remained unchanged and approached Gentleman Jiu at an alarming speed.


    "How do you also know the flying sword technique?"


    Gentleman Jiu was stunned. The person who had launched the other flying sword was more skilful than he was. He could only fall backwards in a clumsy attempt to escape it.


    The sword sank into the ground less than a foot away from Gentleman Jiu. It would have killed him if he had not taken one more step backwards.


    "It''s that Jie!"


    He shot an uncertain look over at Fang Yuan and felt a seething hatred.


    ''Hmph! He doesn''t know what is good for him!''


    Fang Yuan could not be bothered to say anything.


    He knew that his move would cause Gentleman Jiu to hate him but he would never take it lying down if a subordinate of his was being attacked.


    No matter what Hei Zhong had done previously, he was Fang Yuan''s slave now. How could Fang Yuan let anyone kill him?


    Fang Yuan was perfectly fine with Gentleman Jiu hating him.


    If Gentleman Jiu wanted to cross Fang Yuan, Fang Yuan would kill him without regard to his status.


    Fang Yuan would kill even the Shang King if he made things difficult for Fang Yuan.


    "Roar! Roar!"


    The commotion with the flying swords happened in a flash and many of the soldiers were not aware of it.


    Most of them kept their attention on the white tiger.


    "Swish! Swish!"


    The white tiger had lost the protection of the white light and was struggling with the arrow wounds on its body. One of its paws had been maimed and it was finally going away.


    "Attack!"


    Meng Kuo did not intend to let the beast escape. On his orders, a dozen Shang spearmen closed in on the tiger.


    "Haha...I shall take your life!"


    Hei Zhong let out a coarse laugh and brought his axe down onto the white tiger''s neck!


    "Poof!"


    The tiger''s head had been cut halfway off its neck. Blood spouted out of the large gash in streams.


    "Roar! Roar!"


    The gigantic tiger put up a terminal struggle where it broke a few spears and mauled a few soldiers to death. Finally, it collapsed to the ground and stopped moving.


    Even in death, the tiger looked menacing.


    Its ferocious aura was keeping the soldiers away from its body.


    "Orders from Senior Fang: Our army has encountered a white tiger, which is a good omen. Skin it and present its fur to the King!"


    A soldier moved up to the front of the procession and read out Senior Fang''s decree.


    A military order was not to be defied. A few soldiers approached the tiger gingerly until they were sure that the tiger was truly dead.


    At last, someone cheered, and the others echoed their jubilation.


    Fang Yuan observed the proceedings with a glint in his eye.


    That night, the army set up camp and tiger meat was distributed to the men. It was a happy affair.


    Fang Yuan walked alone out of the camp with an iron sword hanging at his waist.


    The golden gleam in Fang Yuan''s eyes helped him to see the shimmering white marks on the ground that formed a path in the dark.


    "Indeed, there are two of these little fellows!"


    Fang Yuan retracted his spiritual aura, dimmed the light in his eyes and turned off his spiritual tracer. After walking on for a while, Fang Yuan arrived at a small valley.


    He could hear small chattering sounds coming from ahead.


    Fang Yuan quickly hid behind a tree and extended the tendrils of his spiritual sense.


    Although Fang Yuan had not recovered the entirety of his cultivation, he possessed a high level of magical energy that allowed him to scan his surroundings thoroughly within a radius of a few yards.


    The silent glow of the moon, the gentle mountain breeze and leaves whirling close to the ground all contributed to the beauty of the night.


    In the clearing ahead, two white foxes were bowing to the moon.


    The foxes had tiny bodies and large bushy tails. They did not have the stench of common animals and had a strange fragrance on their bodies. Their eyes darted about animatedly and their movements were intelligent. They were surely elves of the mountain.


    ''In terms of raw strength, even ten foxes would not be able to match the white tiger. However, not even a hundred white tigers will be able to match the foxes'' intelligence...is this what it means by a trade-off?''


    Fang Yuan watched the foxes silently.


    They had been snooping around the camp and were now bowing to the moon. The moonlight that had fallen on their bodies looked especially dense. They were obviously in the middle of a cultivation ritual.


    Moments later.


    The two white foxes had completed their cultivation and began to play with each other. They chittered away without a care in the world while Fang Yuan watched on in the distance.


    He could not understand the language of animals.


    "Forget it, it''s just two little demons!"


    Fang Yuan took a big step forward.


    "Hey!"


    "Swoosh!"


    The white foxes had not expected anyone to appear from behind the trees and were startled. They immediately sped off like two white arrows.


    "Swish! Swish!"


    Fang Yuan flicked two stones towards the foxes.


    The white foxes were hit and fell to the ground, their eyes glassy.


    "These little creatures have been bad!"


    Fang Yuan hoisted both foxes up by the scruff of their necks. Their fur was extremely smooth to the touch, which aroused in Fang Yuan a passing impulse to make a fur coat out of them. However, upon closer inspection, the two foxes barely had enough fur between them to make a pair of gloves.


    He released them and let them drop to the ground. Light returned to the foxes'' eyes but they did not move and pretended to be dead.


    "Enough of this...if you carry on with this act, I''ll kill and skin you two!"


    Fang Yuan intimidated them by baring his teeth.


    "Nng! Nng!"


    The two white foxes clasped their paws together and pleaded for mercy.


    "Enough, take on your human forms!"


    Fang Yuan pursed his lips.


    The two foxes shared a look and decided to accept their fate. They hung their heads in resignation.


    The foxes seemingly absorbed the essence of the moon and transformed into two white-robed servant girls.


    They hugged each other and looked at Fang Yuan fearfully as if he was a predatory beast.


    "Oh? Your cultivation has reached such a high level?"


    Fang Yuan was surprised.


    "This isn''t the conventional path of the demon race. This is more similar to the celestial dao!"


    "What...what do you want?"


    The two fox girls were bright-eyed and had white teeth. They were around 13 or 14 years of age and were nearly identical to each other. One of them had gathered enough courage to speak up but looked like she was going to burst into tears at any moment.


    "Nothing. I just wanted to know who was spying on the army camp!"


    Fang Yuan rubbed his nose. He was feeling somewhat guilty about bullying these kids.


    Nevertheless, Fang Yuan was thick-skinned and let the feeling pass.


    "Tell me honestly, what are your intentions?"


    "Boohoo...we only wanted to steal the fur of the White Mountain Lady...boohoo...we don''t mean any harm!"


    The two fox girls were terrified and Fang Yuan could not help but find it funny.

 557 Divine Technique

    "The White Mountain Lady refers to the white tiger? Did you two know her?"


    Fang Yuan asked the fox girls.


    "Sister Bai was very nice...she helped us chase many bad people away!"


    The younger girl said timidly.


    "Bad people like me?"


    Fang Yuan rubbed his face and joked, only to see that the two girls agreed with his statement. He could not help but feel slightly embarrassed.


    "Heh...a classic example of the fox hiding behind the might of the tiger. Birds of a feather flock together."


    Tigers eat meat, of course. The white tiger had treated the fox sisters well, but she was still a serial killer.


    After all, in her eyes, the Shang army was but a large group of walking pieces of meat.


    The white tiger had underestimated the Shang army though. She had attempted to prey on the Shang soldiers but ended up becoming their prey instead.


    In Fang Yuan''s opinion, this was natural selection. The laws of nature dictated that there was no right or wrong in the fight for survival.


    Only the fittest could survive in the long term.


    "Alright, tell me. How did you two learn these cultivation techniques?"


    Fang Yuan glared at the two girls sternly.


    The two foxes practised a cultivation technique that was entirely different from the one practised by the white tiger. The white tiger followed the orthodox demon methods of honing the demonic body, refining demonic pills etcetera. These two foxes, however, were abandoning their physical forms in favour of honing their divine souls. This was more reminiscent of the celestial dao practised by humans.


    "Grandfather Sang Qing taught it to us¡­"


    The two fox girls were wary at first but fell under the spell of the golden gleam emanating from Fang Yuan''s eyes. They ended up telling the whole truth.


    "Sang Qing? An old fox? Where is he?"


    Fang Yuan''s interest had been piqued.


    "We don''t know!"


    The two fox girls shook their heads.


    "Grandfather Sang Qing was only passing by and imparted some skills to us by chance...he told us that we could go look for him at the Tu Mountain when we had achieved success in our cultivation."


    "Tu Mountain?"


    Fang Yuan nodded. He questioned them further and found out that the two foxes were timid by nature. They had not dared to venture into the world despite having achieved a high level of cultivation. Later, they made friends with the white tiger and became her sworn sisters.


    The movements of the Kui Ox had displaced them from their old home and they had been forced to look for a new place to settle down in.


    The white tiger practised the demon dao and ate people whenever she felt hungry. In the end, she had suffered retribution for her savagery. Although the two foxes had no intention of avenging the white tiger''s death, they wanted to retrieve her remains on account of their sisterhood and all that she had done for them. Little did they know that they would run into Fang Yuan.


    "Another two unimportant characters. What a pity!"


    Fang Yuan shook his head and giggled.


    "It''s just as well. The two of you aren''t common foxes either...you shall join me from now on!"


    Fan Yuan told the fox girls to revert to their animal form.


    "Mm, the older sister will be called Big White and the younger sister will be called Little White! From today onwards, I will be your master! Obey me or you won''t get anything to eat, is that clear?"


    "Nng¡­"


    The two foxes blinked as tears began to fall.


    "Don''t even think about running away. I''ve already done something to your divine souls and there is no way that you can escape!"


    Fang Yuan gave the foxes a warning before carrying them back to his tent.


    "Huh? Master, have you just gone on a night hunting trip?"


    Hei Zhong was waiting alone in the tent and shook his head in dismay when he caught sight of the two foxes.


    "These two little lumps meat won''t even fill up our mouths!"


    "These are my beloved pets. Take good care of them. I''ll skin you alive if they get hurt in any way!"


    Fang Yuan had to warn him.


    After all, he was sure that Hei Zhong would barbeque the fox sisters if he was not told otherwise!


    "Nng! Nng!"


    The two foxes were terrified upon seeing the burly Hei Zhong and whimpered as the both of them curled up into a ball.


    "Haha!"


    Fang Yuan was greatly amused by the sight.


    ¡­..


    In the company of his two pets, Fang Yuan began to conduct research on Hei Zhong''s technique as well as the white foxes'' cultivation technique. He put in all his efforts into studying the world systems of the realm energy practitioners. He would then make Hei Zhong test out his hypotheses. In this way, Fang Yuan made wonderful progress.


    Time flew by quickly as Fang Yuan submerged himself in his research.


    On this day, they had arrived in the lands surrounding the Shang capital.


    "Is this it? The Shang capital?"


    Fang Yuan stood on the elevated ground and scanned his surroundings with a fiery gaze.


    His physique was more impressive than before and every movement of his had an indescribable majesty to it. There was an otherworldly quality to him now.


    This was the work of the witch blood flowing through his veins. His Ultimate Witch Body was growing stronger.


    Fang Yuan took a look at his stats board:


    "Name: Fang Yuan


    Essence: 50 (100)


    Spirit: 50 (100)


    Magic: 50 (100)


    Profession: ???


    Cultivation: ???


    Technique: Ultimate Witch Body (90%)


    Skill: [Medicine (Level 3)], [Botany (Level 6)(Peak)], [Fiery Golden Eyes (Level 1)], [Body Seal (Ultimate form)]"


    "Even though I want all my special abilities to be on my stats board, this is not the time to restore the Pangu Eagle Body technique. I have to stick to the power systems of this world and level up by utilising the native energy. It will be slower this way but I won''t encounter any bottlenecks before I reach the True Divine stage!"


    "Also, because of the purity of the old witchcraft dao, the Fiery Golden Eyes divine technique has levelled up!"


    Fang Yuan was looking at the runes of the Fiery Golden Eyes technique when a message surfaced:


    "[Fiery Golden Eyes (Level 2)]: Divine Technique of the Witches, converted to this technique from the Dacheng Fiery Eyes (Level 5). Unlocks astrological and geomantic abilities. Able to identify changes in the six energies and to expose future perils! Currently Level 2!"


    "Every world has its unique charm and culture. To suppress these would be to ruin something beautiful and might even lead to a backfire...since the Ancient Realm has already accepted me, I shall make use of its pathways...for the sake of smoothness and efficiency!"


    Fang Yuan''s face shone with happiness upon seeing that one of his skills had levelled up.


    The Fiery Golden Eyes technique was not just any simple divine technique. It had evolved from the Level 5 Dacheng Fiery Eyes technique, making it practically a Level 7 technique! This exceeded even his skill in Botany, which had already peaked!


    Fang Yuan had high hopes for his special abilities. After all, even the world could not suppress the imprint of his true aura!


    Later, Fang Yuan noticed a magnificent city standing in the distance.


    As the capital city of the Shang Dynasty, Shangyi had a breathtaking splendour that was unrivalled in the world.


    The huge walls, the imposing armed guards, the fluid crowds and the farming slaves were all unique features of the Pre-Qin canvas.


    Fang Yuan saw more than that.


    "Is this...tribal energy?"


    With his Fiery Golden Eyes, Fang Yuan could see plumes of black energy rising from the Shang capital. They stretched on for miles and were ever-changing, even vaguely forming the shape of a gigantic mysterious bird. Fang Yuan knew for sure that this was the tribal energy of the Shang! A skilled energy reader would be able to derive the foundations and destiny of the Shang by observing this sight!


    Except that it was not possible for common energy readers to see something like that, or there might be divine retribution!


    Nonetheless, Fang Yuan was able to see everything easily.


    "To identify changes in the six energies and to expose future perils...not so far-fetched after all!"


    Fang Yuan gave a small sigh. Suddenly, a look of uncertainty crept across his face.


    The skies above the Shang capital were filled with dark tribal energy that became bright and colourful when they descended onto the city. This was supposed to be normal.


    However, numerous purple energy rays were shooting upwards into the skies. One of the rays took the form of a blazing sword while another took the form of a shining scroll. They all moved independently and looked like they were pitting themselves against the Shang tribal energy.


    The last energy ray played it safe and concealed itself. Fang Yuan would not have noticed it if he did not have the Fiery Golden Eyes ability. Thus, he had become wary of this particular ray.


    "The purple energy is vast and mighty. This indicates that a sage is present!"


    Fang Yuan sighed internally.


    "The purple energy ray isn''t more than 6 miles in length, which means that the person it represents has not yet reached the level of a True Divine. Nevertheless, he is at least a ''Sir'' among the Hundred Schools of Thought, or perhaps a ''Sage''?"


    As Fang Yuan occupied himself with his thoughts, the army set up camp outside the city gates. Later, Senior Fang and the other officials were summoned into the palace by the Shang King.


    Fang Yuan inhaled sharply and calmed himself down as he followed the unit into the city. They were now in the heart of the Shang Dynasty.


    "I feel like...the crowd here is a little too small!"


    Meng Kuo scanned their surroundings tentatively.


    Nevertheless, he was a man of influence and went about asking questions. He returned cheerfully a short while later.


    "Jie...today is a day of festivity. The Sword Sage Sir Cao has set up a school in Shangyi and is accepting students. Nearly half the city has gone over to check out his school!"


    "Besides, I heard that the Legalists, Confucianists, Mohists and many other schools of thought have organised discussion forums to share their philosophies as well as to recruit disciples. We are lucky to have entered the city at this time!"


    "The Hundred Schools of Thought?!"


    There was a strange look on Fang Yuan''s face.


    "It''s too early...alright, I knew this isn''t the normal Pre-Qin era."


    There was indeed a hazy impression on Jie''s memories.


    Many of these schools were influential and world-renowned. They had disciples all over the empire and were recruiting aggressively, making them forces to be reckoned with.


    Fang Yuan was wary of their power and influence.


    In the previous world, the Hundred Schools of Thought only surfaced during the chaotic Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods where royal authority had declined severely. The various feudal states were competing for hegemony and needed intellectuals to serve as their advisers on matters of government, war and diplomacy. Thus, they encouraged the free discussion of a broad range of thoughts and ideas and created conditions that were ripe for the rise of the Hundred Schools of Thought.


    However, in this world, the Shang Dynasty reigned supreme. How could the King not worry about these powerful and unregulated organisations?


    "Throughout history...powerful organisations would definitely incur the paranoia and suspicion of the hegemon...the fact that these schools of thought could survive this long and grow in strength means that there is something fishy going."


    Fang Yuan laughed grimly.


    "There must be another organisation backing these schools up. Or they might even have garnered the support of the feudal states. The reason for this is simple...they want to usurp the Shang!"

 558 Sword Sage

    Transnational organisations like the Hundred Schools of Thought almost always appealed to self-interest.


    They could even be seen as political organisations. This made Fang Yuan extremely worried.


    "From the looks of the tribal energy...the Shang Dynasty is not stable¡­it is surrounded by over 800 feudal states, which greatly limits its potential for expansion. Less than thirty per cent of the world''s land is under the direct control of the Shang King."


    In Fang Yuan''s opinion, the reality in this Shang Dynasty was more similar to the Warring States era.


    "Jie...our King appreciates talented people and will definitely reward you handsomely. Shall we head over to Sir Cao''s school of swordsmanship after we meet with the King?"


    Meng Kuo had a kind smile on his face.


    "No thanks...please tell Senior Fang that I am a happy-go-lucky person and couldn''t care less for wealth and glory!"


    Fang Yuan smiled back and waved goodbye.


    "This is where we shall part!"


    Fang Yuan was a carefree soul and had no wish to prostrate himself before the King. Besides, he was only going to be given the lowly rank of ''yeoman''.


    It was only worth a second thought if he was going to be enfeoffed as a noble lord.


    "Hei Zhong, let''s go!"


    Fang Yuan turned around to leave.


    Hei Zhong hurried after him with the two white foxes.


    "What?"


    "How insolent! He dares to slight the King!"


    "Treason! Treason!"


    Meng Kuo was about to persuade Fang Yuan to reconsider when the other officials raged and tried to detain Fang Yuan.


    When the officials approached Fang Yuan, a mist appeared and obscured their vision.


    When the mist finally cleared, Fang Yuan and Hei Zhong were gone.


    "Carefreeness over glory?" Meng Kuo stared into the distance quietly before he heaved a long sigh.


    "What a strange man!"


    Meng Kuo decided to give up all hope of bringing Fang Yuan out of the mountains.


    "Master...where shall we go now?"


    Fang Yuan walked along the streets jauntily while Hei Zhong called after him hesitantly.


    Although Hei Zhong was a simple man, he was not a fool.


    Fang Yuan''s refusal to meet with the Shang King was a major affront. Someone was bound to complain and Hei Zhong expected them to get arrested any moment now.


    Even if they managed to evade arrest, they would no longer be welcome in the Shang capital.


    "Why worry about these things?"


    Fang Yuan narrowed his eyes.


    "How much progress have you made with the Great Yin Technique that I have imparted to you recently?"


    The so-called Great Yin Technique was, in fact, the same technique used by the fox sisters to absorb moon essence. Fang Yuan had revised it slightly by adding in parts of the white mist technique practised by Hei Zhong. There was no risk in cultivating this technique, albeit only in theory.


    "Cough cough¡­"


    Hei Zhong pulled a long face at the mention of this.


    "That technique is so difficult to learn! I get the deep chills every time I practise it in front of the moon¡­"


    "This is normal. You''ll just have to get over it!"


    Fang Yuan replied with a wide grin that Hei Zhong found unsettling.


    Both of them walked on and arrived at a busy part of the city before long.


    At the centre of the crowd was a school of swordsmanship. In front of the building was a raised platform on which two people were duelling with swords.


    One of the swordsmen was a black-robed young fellow with his hair tied into a bun and he wielded his sword steadily. The other fighter was a big man of about thirty years old. Although his technique was unorthodox, he was very strong and quick on his feet, making his swordplay very lethal indeed!


    "Uncle, what''s going on over here?"


    Hei Zhong approached a passing old man after Fang Yuan gestured for him to make enquiries about the event.


    "The Sword Sage Sir Cao has opened a school of swordsmanship in Shangyi and is accepting new students. This is his youngest disciple, Can. Anyone who can defeat him will receive a hundred pieces of gold!"


    The old man pointed to the pile of shining gold pieces lying in a corner of the stage. He grew more excited as he talked on.


    "Since yesterday, Can has beaten 18 contenders in a row and is unmatched at the moment. The current challenger is Tiger, a famous warrior in Shangyi. "


    "Ding!"


    At this point, a winner had emerged.


    Can, who had been forced to the corner, thrust his sword forward with lightning speed. His sword looked as though as it was crackling with electricity.


    "Poof!"


    Tiger the warrior shouted out in pain as the sword cut into his arm. His grip turned bloody and he was forced to let his long sword fall to the ground.


    "Thank you!"


    Can inverted his sword and bowed to his opponent. He exuded all the suaveness of a gentleman.


    "The youngest disciple of the Sword Sage Sir Cao?"


    Fang Yuan yawned as he suddenly remembered the purple energy rays and the blazing sword that he had seen.


    "Could one of the three purple energy rays be Cao Qiu?"


    The full name of Sir Cao was Cao Qiu!


    Fang Yuan smirked.


    "Hei Zhong...go win a hundred pieces of gold for us. It will help to settle our expenses as we travel around the world. Remember to use a sword!"


    "Yes, master!"


    Fang Yuan had never told him anything about travelling the world. Nevertheless, he hid his surprise and leapt onto the stage with a sword on Fang Yuan''s orders.


    "Hei Zhong, a son of Dongyi, will take up your challenge!"


    Hei Zhong looked so brutish that no one dared to object.


    "After you!"


    Can had regained his energy by taking a short break. He ascended the stage once more.


    "Hmph!"


    Hei Zhong exhaled. A cloud of white mist emanated from his nostrils and swept towards Can.


    Hei Zhong was a boor but he paid attention to the details. He knew that he would lose if he had to compete with Can purely in swordplay. He had to think of another way!


    Besides, he was brought up as a barbarian and was taught to achieve his goals through all means possible, unorthodox or not.


    "Hmm? A strange technique?"


    Can retreated immediately when he saw the white mist and held his sword in front of himself defensively.


    Can had been momentarily stunned by the white mist. Hei Zhong took the opportunity to rush forward and took a swipe at Can with his sword. It was a massive effort.


    "Snap!"


    Can''s sword snapped into two with a ring and he fell off the stage.


    "Ah!"


    There was a moment of silence among the spectators before mayhem ensued.


    "A special technique! This is a man with special talents!"


    "The swordsman Can has been defeated!"


    "What a warrior!"


    "A pity that his methods were¡­"


    ...


    As the spectators dithered away, Hei Zhong walked towards the gold pieces and proceeded to pick them up.


    He was thick-skinned and did not care about criticism. No one would remember who he was once they had left the Shang capital.


    "Bah! You hurt him through the use of underhand tactics. How shameless!"


    Another man leapt onto the stage. He was dressed in a similar manner to Can and had an angry look on his face.


    "Do you dare to take me, Ang, on?"


    "Hmph, wasn''t it said before that I could leave with the gold pieces after defeating Can? Are you going to disregard the deal?"


    Hei Zhong shouted out as he cast a sweeping glance at the spectators.


    "The deal mentioned that only swordplay could be used!"


    The swordsman Ang retorted.


    "Did I not use a sword to duel?"


    Hei Zhong rolled his eyes and argued some more.


    "You!"''


    Ang''s anger had turned his face into a dark shade of red and he looked like he was about to rush at Hei Zhong with his sword.


    In the Shang era, people lived and died by the sword. People valued their dignity more than anything else and would defend it with their lives.


    "Wait!"


    A clear voice rang out.


    "The warrior Hei Zhong makes sense. Ang, present the hundred pieces of gold to him before challenging him to a duel!"


    "Yes, master!"


    Ang cooled down immediately after hearing the voice and bowed to a man who had just walked out from the school building.


    This middle-aged man was small in stature and wearing a hemp robe. He had large hands and piercing eyes. His intense gaze distinguished him from the common man.


    "It''s Sir Cao!"


    "The Sword Sage!"


    The crowd went nuts.


    Fang Yuan chuckled silently. Hei Zhong had ruined their plans and Cao Qiu had to step out in order to salvage the pride of his school.


    Fang Yuan''s eyes gleamed. He would not miss this opportunity.


    "Hmm, the energy rays I''d seen rushing up towards the skies corresponds to the energy he exudes. It''s him alright! What is his motive in opening a school in Shangyi and recruiting students?"


    As Fang Yuan pondered, Hei Zhong and Ang had begun to duel.


    Ang''s swordplay technique was more impressive than Can''s and before long, he had forced Hei Zhong to the corner of the stage.


    "Hmph!"


    Hei Zhong unleashed his special technique again.


    Ang was prepared for it. In one swift motion, he crouched down and rolled away from the white mist quickly.


    "Poof!"


    Little did he know that the white mist would flip around in the air like a snake and descend upon his face.


    "Ah!"


    Ang screamed before he fell down unconscious onto the stage.


    "Ha...you are but a mortal man. How could you expect to resist my divine technique?"


    Hei Zhong laughed with glee as he savoured his victory.


    His white mist used to be a simple technique that could be avoided easily. However, after practising the Great Yin Technique taught to him by Fang Yuan, he now had a high degree of control over his white mist and could steer it in any direction he wanted. His training had paid off.


    "Ang has been defeated as well¡­"


    The surrounding crowd continued to chatter while the other disciples of the Sword Sage observed the proceedings glumly.


    However, most of them were about as skilful as Ang and knew that they were no match for Hei Zhong. They turned to look at their teacher.


    In their opinions, only their seniors were powerful enough to deal with this Hei Zhong fellow. Be that as it may, their seniors were busy travelling the world and making a name for themselves. They had no other choice but to trouble their master to handle this matter personally.


    "Whoosh!"


    Cao Qiu picked an ancient-looking sword and ascended the stage.


    "I, Cao Qiu, look forward to learning from you!"


    Cao Qiu''s disciples had been humiliated and it was up to him to salvage the reputation of his school.


    "If I were to win again¡­"


    Hei Zhong was in the midst of throwing out a boastful reply when his expression suddenly changed. He reversed his position.


    "The Sword Sage''s skill with the sword is legendary. I am far beneath your level and will admit defeat!"


    Hei Zhong had no choice but to throw in the towel. His master had spoken and he did not dare to disobey his master''s orders.


    Hei Zhong looked around and scratched his head. Was he the only one who had heard his master speak?

 559 Sword Duel

    With the ancient sword in his grip, Cao Qiu turned to look at the crowd.


    His eyes were like stars: blindingly bright. Those who met his gaze would inevitably tear up and look away.


    "May I know who you are? How are you related to the warrior Hei Zhong?"


    Cao Qiu had found Fang Yuan and stared at him with his eyes twinkling.


    He had ascended to a level where he was one with the sword and was far more skilful than Gentleman Jiu, who was experienced in sword dao himself. Thus, Cao Qiu had a heightened spiritual sense and was able to pick up on Fang Yuan''s silent transmission.


    "Greetings, Sir Cao. I am Jie and Hei Zhong is my servant. We have made fools of ourselves in front of you!"


    Fang Yuan replied smilingly.


    The crowd got worked up upon hearing Fang Yuan''s words. Even Cao Qiu''s face turned slightly greenish.


    A challenger that had defeated two of his disciples was a mere servant. The Cao school of swordsmanship had been severely disgraced.


    Cao Qiu regarded this Shang man with much uncertainty.


    Cao Qiu had prided himself on his high level of cultivation in sword dao. He had managed to defeat quite a number of people with special talents and no one had been able to offer resistance so far. In fact, he was sure that he would be able to handle Hei Zhong with no trouble at all.


    However, there was this Jie! Jie had met his piercing gaze blandly, which was a testament to his high level of cultivation. Jie''s prowess was probably very much higher than that of his servant.


    "If you are also a cultivator, would you mind teaching me a thing or two?"


    Cao Qiu bowed deeply to Fang Yuan with a solemn look on his face.


    Cao Qiu''s disciples, including Ang and Can, were stunned. Their master rarely attended to outsiders personally. The fact that Cao Qiu was interested in this youth meant that he was special.


    Besides, Cao Qiu''s respectful treatment towards him was quite shocking. After all, Cao Qiu was a man who had curtly rejected the Shang King''s offer to enfeoff him as a gentleman-bureaucrat of the first class!


    "I am not exactly a swordsman¡­"


    Fang Yuan shook his head.


    "But you have a sword with you!"


    Cao Qiu stared at the iron sword hanging at Fang Yuan''s waist.


    "How dare you!"


    Hei Zhong roared in anger. A white mist flowed out of his nostrils as he exhaled and swept towards Cao Qiu.


    Even though Fang Yuan had told him that he was no match for Cao Qiu, Hei Zhong felt that he had to teach Cao Qiu a lesson for being so pushy towards his master!


    "Swoosh!"


    His face unchanging, Cao Qiu thrust his ancient sword into the heart of the white mist.


    "Poof!"


    Something unimaginable had happened. The white mist had been split into two.


    How could something that was formless and substanceless be cut into two?


    Hei Zhong was shocked. He felt a sharp pain in his chest and spat out a mouthful of blood. This was the consequence of having his technique successfully countered by someone else.


    "Clap! Clap!"


    Fang Yuan watched on bright-eyed and applauded Cao Qiu.


    "A sword move that can counter ten thousand techniques. Very impressive!"


    Fang Yuan went up on stage and hit a few acupuncture points on Hei Zhong''s body. Hei Zhong immediately regained some colour in his cheeks.


    "I''ve told you before that your technique is merely a little trick. It won''t work on a powerful opponent. Now you''ve learnt it the hard way, am I right?"


    Fang Yuan admonished Hei Zhong, who was too embarrassed to speak. He turned to Cao Qiu when he was done.


    Cao Qiu was a man with a strong will, comparable to the True Divines among martial artists! He was able to project his will onto the sword and has countered every single one of his opponents'' techniques so far!


    ''A pity...that your foundations aren''t strong enough!''


    Fang Yuan''s eyes gleamed. He had found Cao Qiu''s weakness. Although Cao Qiu had a will as strong as the sword, his body was lacking in some characteristics. Hence, he was not a true sage!


    "A sword move that can counter ten thousand techniques?"


    There was a glint in Cao Qiu''s eyes.


    "No one has given a better description of my skill with the sword!"


    "Forget it. It seems like you won''t give me a break even if I refuse to duel you today!"


    Fang Yuan grinned and pulled out the black iron sword from his waist.


    Although the sword was only slightly longer than three feet, it was a rare blade.


    "However...to avoid compromising our harmonious relationship, let''s agree to duel in only three sword moves. What do you think?"


    "Fine!"


    Cao Qiu nodded and stepped forward.


    "The first sword move!"


    "Kaboom!"


    A storm had been whipped up.


    Cao Qiu''s first sword move seemed to carry with it heavenly powers. It was the scourge of all sorts of demons and monsters.


    The swordsman Can watched the duel with his mouth agape. He realised his cultivation of the storm sword technique was nowhere near his master''s. If he had mastered this technique, he would not have fallen to Hei Zhong''s deceptive trick.


    In the face of the impending blow from the storm sword, Fang Yuan simply placed his sword in front of his chest.


    "Dang!"


    A clear sound rang out for miles.


    The winds and thunder vanished. It was as if all that was left in the world was an immovable black mountain!


    Unbudgeable even as the storms raged around it!


    "Awesome swordplay¡­it is nearly at the level of sword dao!"


    Although Fang Yuan had parried the blow, he praised Cao Qiu.


    "A pity...nearly at the level of sword dao but not yet at the level sword dao after all¡­"


    Cao Qiu stared at Fang Yuan dumbfoundedly. A hint of desolation lingered in his gaze. He suddenly spoke.


    "Let the duel end here. I admit defeat!"


    "What?"


    The disciples of Cao Qiu had their mouths wide open. They had seen their god fall and their faith was collapsing.


    Who was Cao Qiu?


    He was the legendary and widely-travelled swordsman who had not yet met his match in the world! He was a man known as the Sword Sage with countless disciples. He was the idol of every swordsman.


    Now, in Shangyi, had he really been defeated by an unknown youth?


    "Impossible¡­"


    Can gripped his own arm so tightly that he drew blood with his fingernails.


    Ang and the other disciples had ashen-grey faces and trembled at where they were.


    "Thank you¡­"


    Fang Yuan exhaled and said nothing more before walking away.


    "Master¡­"


    Hei Zhong ran after him together with Big White and Little White.


    The people of Shang cleared out a path for him respectfully. After all, although the two men had only exchanged one blow, the shockwave had rendered everyone near the stage unconscious with blood pouring out from their ears.


    How could anyone not be awed by this level of martial arts?


    There was no doubt that people all over the Shang Dynasty were going to sing of the swordsman Jie''s victory over the Sword Sage Cao Qiu.


    ...


    Nightfall.


    In the moonlight, the silhouettes of two young ladies surfaced. They looked towards Fang Yuan deferentially.


    Although Hei Zhong had been shocked the first time he had witnessed the transformation of the fox girls, he had gotten used to it.


    "Big White and Little White, don''t you two recognise me?"


    Fang Yuan was amused by the awestruck look that the fox girls gave him.


    "That person''s sword moves...are very dangerous!"


    Big White spoke after a long silence had passed.


    "I know that if our Yin spirits came into contact with the sword, they would disintegrate...our Yin spirits had been suppressed in our bodies the whole day by the mere presence of that person!"


    "You have good spiritual sense!"


    Fan Yuan nodded.


    "Sir Cao''s swordplay can be described as ''a sword move that counters ten thousand techniques''. Your Yin spirits stand no chance against him."


    "But such a person has been defeated by you!"


    Big White''s eyes had grown brighter.


    "My sister and I would like to become your disciples and learn swordplay from you!"


    "Swordplay is but a simple skill!"


    Fang Yuan waved a hand dismissively.


    "Do you know why Cao Qiu admitted defeat after exchanging only one blow with me?"


    Upon hearing this, even Hei Zhong pricked up his ears.


    "Although his sword skills are far superior to mine, he would surely die in a duel to the death against me! This was confirmed in the first blow that we exchanged and he had chosen to pull out of the duel so as to avoid further humiliation."


    Fang Yuan explained blandly.


    Even though Cao Qiu was an honoured figure among the Hundred Schools of Thought, Fang Yuan had read him thoroughly. Cao Qiu was but a Wu Zong in the Meridian Opening Realm. Nevertheless, his cultivation in sword dao and mind power was at the level of a True Divine!


    Cao Qiu''s foundation was unstable while Fang Yuan''s was too powerful.


    Even though his Ultimate Witch Body had not grown to its full potential, Fang Yuan was more than capable of killing Cao Qiu with brute force!


    "Of course...Cao Qiu is only the sword dao representative of the Hundred Schools of Thought. It does not say anything about the highest level of martial arts in this world¡­"


    Fang Yuan was acutely aware that even though the Shang Dynasty had not fallen yet, these were tumultuous times!


    The brightest people from the various feudal states often interacted and exchanged ideas with each other. New talents were constantly emerging and impressing people with their achievements. Fang Yuan''s recent victory over Cao Qiu was destined to become another mere footnote in history.


    "The Ancient One is a wily fellow. He has definitely worked out a plan and would be stirring up the world somewhere in hiding...the troublesome thing is that these chaotic times would make it much harder for us to notice anything out of the ordinary¡­"


    500 years of Shang rule had passed and it was time for a new power to take over their mandate. Thus, as the world experienced major upheavals, strange occurrences would be seen as only part of the process.


    It was like how Fang Yuan had not managed to notice any traces left behind by the Ancient One.


    At this point, Fang Yuan suddenly frowned and looked towards the door.


    "Who is spying on us?"


    Fang Yuan was now residing in one of the inns constructed by the Shang for the envoys from the feudal states as well as travelling scholars. These state-run inns were built along the major routes and within major cities. It was as they said: "Within 3 miles of every wild road lies a cottage with food and drink", "there are halls in the city that are dedicated to receiving officials from the imperial court".


    Security was very tight in a state-run building and for someone to make it so far into the inn was not easy. This person was definitely skilled.


    In actual fact, Fang Yuan had thought about going back to Jie''s house to take a look but changed his mind upon realising that it might inconvenience Meng Kuo.


    Hei Zhong let out an enraged roar and his pounced towards the disturbance.


    "Ding!"


    A large youth wearing a hemp shirt and straw shoes was forced to appear before them. He carried a weathered bronze sword that looked like it was on the verge of breaking.


    The most striking feature about the youth was his fiery gaze.


    "Greetings, Sir! My name is Nie! I hope that you will take me in as your disciple!"


    "Your name is Nie?"


    Fang Yuan''s impatient look had turned into one of curiosity.


    "Don''t you have a surname?"


    The youth lowered his eyes a little.


    "I hail from the rural areas and never had a surname!"


    "You can adopt the Ge surname if you intend to make a name for yourself one day. Your name shall be Ge Nie from now on!"


    The bright-eyed youth fell to his knees in gratitude immediately.


    "Thank you for granting me this name, master. From today onwards, my name shall be Ge Nie!"

 560 Young Master

    "Master?"


    Fang Yuan froze for a moment. He scrutinised the youth and smiled.


    "Good...very well, I shall take you in as my disciple. A word of warning though. You shall place your life in my hands with no regrets!"


    "I won''t have any regrets as long as I get to learn swordplay from you!"


    Ge Nie shouted out his answer.


    "Alright!"


    Fang Yuan flicked his fingers. He was more than happy to have found another guinea pig and passed down an order to Hei Zhong.


    "Hei Zhong, help this person settle down and impart to him the first chapter of the Great Yin Technique!"


    "Yes, master!"


    Hei Zhong bowed to Fang Yuan and looked at Ge Nie with sympathy. At the same time, he felt a sense of kinship towards age Nie. After all, there was another person sharing his plight.


    "Thank you, master!"


    Ge Nie was elated at having been accepted as a disciple by Fang Yuan and kowtowed profusely. This hardy youth obviously had no idea of what Fang Yuan was capable of.


    "Alright, that''s one irritating insect settled!"


    Fang Yuan flicked a stone towards the wall.


    "Bang!"


    Under the astonished gaze of Ge Nie, the part of the wall that got hit suddenly moved. A large piece of cloth dropped to the ground to reveal a human figure.


    "Like him, I''m here to seek an audience with you, yet you treat me differently!"


    The new arrival was a man in his thirties with a flowing beard and a pair of dreamy purple eyes. He had a strange and mysterious air about him.


    "It is because he came in peace while you...are up to no good!"


    Fang Yuan had picked up his sword.


    The bearded man was startled upon seeing that and turned his palms outwards hurriedly.


    "Wait...we are on the same side! I''m only here to send you an invitation on behalf of my master!"


    "Who is your master?"


    Fang Yuan was prepared to draw his sword.


    ''You''ll find out when you get there!"


    The bearded man gave Fang Yuan a secretive smile and vanished into the ground.


    "The Five Elements Escape Technique? Could he be from the School of Naturalists?"


    Hei Zhong''s pupils constricted upon witnessing the bearded man''s exit.


    "Hmm¡­"


    Fang Yuan smiled coldly.


    This was a technique that could be countered even by the Sword Sage Cao Qiu in one sword move. Fang Yuan waved a hand and a bamboo slip fell into his hand.


    "Juxian House?"


    Fang Yuan looked at the date and venue written on the slip.


    "Looks like it is a place set up by one of the feudal states in Shangyi for the purpose of attracting talent...it is self-explanatory indeed. I shall head over there to find out more!"


    Supernormal forces existed in this world and there were 800 feudal states in the Shang Dynasty, which was too much for the Shang King to handle effectively. Thus, the flow of talent remained largely unregulated.


    This had led to the emergence of the phenomenon known as the Contention of the Hundred Schools of Thought. The various feudal states placed premiums on capable people with special talents and treated them respectfully.


    The more powerful feudal states even constructed buildings known as talent houses that received and housed talents from all over the world.


    "I wonder which feudal lord is backing this school¡­"


    Fang Yuan tightened his grip on the bamboo slip and crushed it before letting the powder sift through his fingers.


    ...


    The next day.


    Fang Yuan left Hei Zhong to watch over Ge Nie and the fox girls as he headed over to the talent house with an iron sword in hand.


    The talent house stood on a large plot of land in the city. Although the city was bustling, the immediate vicinity of the building was peaceful. There was the occasional passerby but they never ever went near the talent house.


    A few armed guards stood by the gates to the talent house. They were big-sized, muscular, bright-eyed and had callused hands. They radiated a ferocious aura from their bodies and were forces of nature.


    Upon noticing that Fang Yuan''s approach, the guards hardened their gazes and blocked his path with their swords.


    "Who goes there?"


    "Hmm?"


    Fang Yuan frowned.


    "This is a talent house and I see myself as a talent. Am I to be denied entry?"


    The right thing to do was for Fang Yuan to produce the bamboo slip invitation that he had received the day before. However, Fang Yuan had found something to be rather strange.


    No one in their right mind would place a whole gang of intimidating guards in front of a talent house.


    Besides, these armed men looked like they could take on multiple fighters each. Their abilities were wasted on guard duty. If men like them were assigned to every talent house, it would be terribly inefficient!


    ''So...is there someone important living in the talent house right now?''


    Fang Yuan did some silent guesswork.


    "It''s you, Mister Jie. My apologies¡­"


    At that moment, the man with the flowing beard walked out of the talent house and bowed to Fang Yuan.


    "''My name is Mo Ge and I have been waiting for you on the orders of my Young Master! After you, Mister Jie¡­"


    He then went on to admonish the guards.


    "Are you all blind? How can you not recognise Mister Jie, the man who defeated the Sword Sage? Apologise to him now!"


    "It''s Master Jie!"


    The stern expressions of the guards turned into looks of awe and astonishment.


    They were swordsmen themselves. How could they not have heard about the sensational events of the previous day?


    "What is the name of your Young Master?"


    Fang Yuan could not be bothered to take the guards to task and asked his question as he entered the compound.


    In the Shang Dynasty, the honorific of ''Young Master'' was reserved for the sons of feudal lords. This was indeed a man of importance.


    "Our Young Master is a man with a distinguished pedigree. He is the son of the Marquis of Western Zhou¡­ Young Master Wu!"


    Mo Ge announced loudly.


    "Marquis of Western Zhou? Young Master Wu!"


    Fang Yuan nodded but complained silently.


    ''You might as well be called the Marquis of Xibo, Ji Chang[1]¡­''


    From his conjecture, this world had been influenced by a more advanced civilisation. The general trend of development remained unchanged but it was only to be expected that many of the details were different.


    After all, any slight change experienced by these parallel worlds could potentially lead to a butterfly effect. Not to mention that the dream masters were actively messing with world affairs. It would be strange if everything remained the same.


    After Fang Yuan had entered the building and walked down two corridors, a young man dressed in a brocade robe appeared and greeted him.


    "So this is Mister Jie, the man who has defeated Sir Cao? Greetings, my name is Wu!"


    "You are too kind, Young Master Wu!"


    Fang Yuan returned his greeting and sized up the Young Master of Western Zhou.


    He looked to be younger than 20 and had good-looking facial features. His movements radiated elegance and regality and there was a rarefied air about him.


    Even if he had not been born with a silver spoon in his mouth, he would be more than capable of making a name for himself. His status as the young son of a feudal lord only served to increase his potential.


    "Haha...I love to be around heroes. Please dispense on ceremony. After you, Mister Jie!"


    Young Master Wu led Fang Yuan into a banquet hall and sat him down on the seat opposite his own. After the servant girls had brought food and wine to the tables, Young Master Wu offered Fang Yuan a toast.


    "Cheers!!"


    The nobles really did know how to enjoy themselves. They were entertained by music and dance as they feasted and Mo Ge, who was sitting beside Fang Yuan, remained chatty throughout the meal. Everyone was enjoying themselves.


    The banquet had gone on halfway when Young Master Wu asked a casual question.


    "From what I know, you are from Shangyi? You have also accomplished some startling feats in the recent battle against Dongyi?"


    "That''s right...I have no intention of becoming an official though. I''d prefer to live a carefree life."


    Fang Yuan waved his hands as he spoke. He knew that Young Master Wu was trying to find out more about his background. He suddenly gained a newfound respect for the intelligence gatherers of Western Zhou.


    Although he did give them his name, the spies had obviously done their homework overnight and had probably profiled him comprehensively.


    "Aiya¡­"


    Young Master Wu looked disappointed.


    "What a pity. Your talents would have been greatly appreciated in Western Zhou and you would have enjoyed prestige and wealth...even if you are not interested, do you happen to have anyone to recommend to my service? They will be highly valued!"


    Young Master Wu almost looked hungry in his pursuit of talent. However, what he truly wanted was to find out about the origin of Fang Yuan''s skills.


    "I''ll have to apologise¡­"


    Fang Yuan smiled.


    "My swordplay was imparted to me by the heavens, but I did accept a new disciple last night¡­"


    Mo Ge coughed upon hearing this while Young Master Wu''s smile stiffened.


    They were aware that Ge Nie had been newly accepted and had not yet learnt anything from Fang Yuan. It would be stupid to employ him gainfully.


    Nevertheless, Fang Yuan had not intended to let Ge Nie go and continued.


    "A pity that he is still rather amateurish. He isn''t ready to serve you, Young Master!"


    "No worries. Bring him to me whenever you feel that the time is ripe. I will be eternally grateful to you!"


    Young Master Wu was laughing when a servant girl rushed in and whispered words into his ear. A change came over his face.


    "What happened?"


    Fang Yuan raised the wine vessel to his lips. The show was about to begin.


    "Sigh...Mister Jie, you may be highly-skilled, but you have been backstabbed!"


    Young Master Wu let out a sigh.


    "I''ve received news that Gentleman Jiu has been slandering you before the Shang King, saying that you have been talking dismissively about the King. The King was enraged and has ordered your arrest!"


    "Oh?"


    Fang Yuan nodded.


    Gentleman Jiu might have the motivation to do such a thing but it would never escalate to such an extent.


    Young Master Wu was definitely exaggerating. Nevertheless, Fang Yuan was willing to play on.


    "What should I do? All the lands under heaven belong to the King!"


    "Haha¡­"


    Mo Ge broke out into laughter upon hearing Fang Yuan''s words.


    "Do forgive me, Mister Jie...You have lived in Shangyi your whole life. You might not have known that beyond the Shang lands are 800 feudal states."


    "The Marquis of Western Zhou is actively searching for talented men like you. He is also well-versed in the art of divination and can aid you in getting out of this situation¡­"


    What he meant was that there were not many people in the world who could help Fang Yuan after he had angered the Shang King.


    There was no better time than now to seek refuge in Western Zhou!


    "Let me...let me think about it¡­"


    Fang Yuan put on a troubled expression and got up to leave after making some excuses. ...


    Young Master Wu pulled a long face as he stared at Fang Yuan''s retreating figure.


    "This person doesn''t know what''s good for him!"


    Mo Ge looked at his master''s unhappy countenance and voiced out his own thoughts indignantly.


    He considered himself to be very proficient in his divine technique and yet he had never been regarded this highly by his master!


    Fang Yuan deserved death for taking this preferential treatment for granted!


    [1]: Founder of the Zhou Dynasty

 561 Arrestmen

    "Jie is a Shang citizen and if he falls in with them, it will be detrimental to my cause!"


    Young Master Wu had calmed down and he spoke coldly.


    "Ge Mo, I want you to bribe the personal guards of the King. Tell them to turn the arrest warrant into a death warrant. Turn the King and Jie against each other."


    "It shall be done, Young Master!"


    There was a glint in Mo Ge''s eyes as he retreated.


    Mo Ge could not help but laugh inwardly.


    "Jie...so what if you are a gifted swordsman? You have offended our Young Master and will suffer a terrible death. Your death will contribute to Western Zhou''s grand ambitions!"


    As long the Shang King fell for the calumny about Jie and fell out with him, Western Zhou would benefit no matter who won.


    ''This is how our Young Master conducts his affairs!"


    Mo Ge walked out of the hall and wiped the sweat off his brows.


    Young Master Wu was bright and ambitious, not to mention that he also had a vicious streak. Mo Ge was finding it increasingly difficult to serve him.


    Nevertheless, working under such a lord was the way to survive in these chaotic times and to accomplish the enterprise of overthrowing the Shang Dynasty!


    "Young Master Wu will become our future King! No one will stand in his path...much less a lowly swordsman¡­"


    Mo Ge muttered to himself.


    "Sir Zou!"


    Young Master Wu stood alone in the great hall with his arms placed behind his back. He suddenly posed a question to the air.


    "Having met this person, what are your thoughts?"


    "There are so many kinds of people in the world and I can never be sure about someone. One thing is for sure though. He is definitely not a simple man!"


    A white-haired old man emerged from behind the walls. He wore a large robe and had a long beard that touched the ground. He looked very sprightly for his age and wore a foot-long hat on his head. He was definitely a man with special talents.


    "A man who can defeat Sir Cao is obviously not a simple man!"


    Young Master Wu waved a hand dismissively.


    "What else?"


    "Also...this person has achieved a high level of cultivation. He is not a common swordsman, nor is he a realm energy practitioner. On the contrary, he looks like he is from the witch race¡­"


    The old man stroked his white beard.


    "Witch?"


    Young Master Wu looked perplexed.


    "Have you heard about the Jiuli Disturbance? The people of Jiuli were witches...the God of War, Chi, that they worshipped was also a witch¡­"


    Sir Zou let out a sigh.


    "Unfortunately, the world underwent a major upheaval 500 years ago and the witch race disappeared off the face of the earth. It is wholly unexpected that we were able to meet a member of the witch race today...besides, seeing how he had glanced directly at my hiding spot, he must have discovered my spying on him."


    "Really?"


    Young Master Wu did not know what to feel about that.


    ...


    "There was probably a fourth person present in the talent house!"


    As Fang Yuan left Juxian Hall, he turned his head around and caught sight of a touch of purple energy. He could not help but smile.


    When he had first arrived in Shangyi, he had felt the presences of three difficult people. The Sword Sage Sir Cao was one of them. The second person was right here.


    "I''m guessing that the third person is in the imperial palace. After all, a legacy of 500 years would probably result in a formidable Shang royal¡­"


    Fang Yuan was walking back to his lodgings when he suddenly frowned.


    A group of Shang soldiers had surrounded the building. They were obviously targetting Hei Zhong, Ge Nie and company!


    "They''ve made their move in so short a time?"


    Fang Yuan grumbled but he did not back down.


    "Jie...as a Shang citizen, you have committed treason by disrespecting the King. Surrender now!"


    An army commander stepped forward and railed at Fang Yuan. It was Gentleman Jiu. At his side were Meng Kuo and the other soldiers who had partaken in the operation against Dongyi.


    It was clear that Young Master Wu''s camp had gotten to them first.


    Of course, it was probably thanks to Meng Kuo and a few others that the soldiers had not yet rushed into the building to make their arrests.


    "Jie...sigh¡­"


    Meng Kuo stepped forward and bowed.


    "Do have a care for the general situation and follow me back to the palace to meet with the King. I will run the risk of getting punished and defend you...besides, now that you have the reputation of emerging victorious over Sir Cao, the King won''t make things difficult for you."


    Meng Kuo was unwilling to see Fang Yuan resist arrest for it was a path of no return.


    However, someone did not share his sentiments.


    "Men, make them put down their weapons and take them down!"


    Gentleman Jiu pointed at Fang Yuan and unsheathed his sword.


    Dozens of soldiers rushed forward menacingly with their spears.


    ''Resist!''


    Gentleman Jiu stared at Fang Yuan morbidly. To him, if Jie did not resist arrest, he would teach him a lesson that he would never forget. He would then kill Hei Zhong in revenge for having suffered humiliation at his hands.


    If Jie resisted, he would be a dead man!


    In the Shang capital, resisting the civil force was a capital crime. Even it was Sir Cao and all his disciples, the state would see to their deaths.


    "Really...you have no idea what you''re in for!"


    Fang Yuan flicked his sword and a metallic sound rang through the air.


    "Buzz!"


    As the sound rang out, Fang Yuan smashed his way through the surrounding Shang soldiers like a tornado, leaving them lying about like broken ragdolls.


    "Shield!"


    Gentleman Jie let out a roar and a dozen shield-bearing soldiers spread out in front of him. Another dozen bowmen emerged from behind the shield bearers.


    "Shields on!"


    The shield bearers slammed their shields on the ground firmly, forming an impenetrable iron wall.


    An iron wall with arrows at the ready. In war, any later and this formation would have been surrounded.


    Gentleman Jiu was confident that if Sir Cao had been here, he would have ended up like a porcupine with arrows sticking out from his body! Jie was more formidable but there had to be a limit to what he was capable of.


    "Ignorant!"


    However, in the next moment, he had seen the look in Fang Yuan''s eyes. It was a look of condescension and pity.


    "I have travelled nearly a thousand miles worth of battlefields and have mowed down thousands with my sword!"


    Fang Yuan bellowed out extendedly and appeared before the shield formation with his sword in hand.


    "Kaboom!"


    In the next moment, a storm raged!


    Fang Yuan had managed to channel the power of the winds and thunder into his sword thrust.


    The seemingly impregnable shield formation was ripped apart, revealing the frightened bowmen who were standing behind.


    "Loose the arrows! Loose the arrows!"


    Gentleman Jiu gripped tightly onto his sword but it brought no comfort to him.


    "Swish!"


    The arrows rained upon Fang Yuan with metallic clangs before they fell harmlessly to the ground.


    "Since you all want to die, I will fulfil your death wishes!"


    Fang Yuan strolled up to the bowmen leisurely and slashed his sword about, leaving all of the bowmen incapacitated.


    Fang Yuan then walked over to Gentleman Jiu, his sword dripping with blood.


    "No¡­"


    As Gentleman Jiu looked on despairingly, Fang Yuan slapped aside Gentleman Jiu''s sword with his own sword and plunged it into his throat.


    "Poof!"


    A red mist exploded from Gentleman Jiu''s wound as he collapsed lifelessly onto the ground.


    Meng Kuo was horrified. By massacring Gentleman Jiu and his men, he had definitely made an enemy of the Shang regime.


    The King had not only lost an important aide but he had also gained a powerful enemy!


    ''Sigh...it''s all Gentleman Jiu''s fault. The slanderous remarks made by the traitorous court officials are also to blame. The King himself is too much¡­''


    Meng Kuo tried to suppress what he considered to be treasonous thoughts and eyed Fang Yuan with a newfound hatred.


    Meng Kuo was sworn to the Shang King and since Fang Yuan had decided to fall out with the imperial court, he would take Fang Yuan down at all costs and stem the rise of this perceived evil.


    Fang Yuan was aware of what Meng Kuo was feeling at that moment.


    "What a pity...that this loyal official isn''t allegiant to me."


    Fang Yuan sighed.


    A man like Meng Kuo would have made a wonderful right-hand man. However, he could also become a most troublesome enemy.


    However, he was only human.


    ''If he dares to make any more trouble for me, I''ll kill him!''


    Fang Yuan had made his decision and exhaled deeply.


    "Whoosh!"


    The winds howled and whipped up the sands and stones. The skies darkened as a hurricane began to form on the spot.


    The Shang soldiers ran amok and screamed in panic.


    When the crazy occurrences finally died down and normality was resumed, Fang Yuan, Hei Zhong and company were long gone...


    ...


    The news arrived at the imperial palace an hour later.


    "Gentleman Jiu has passed away in an attempt to arrest to Jie?"


    The Shang King was named Xin. He was a large man and looked every inch a king. Back when he had been younger, he could lift cauldrons heavier than 1000 pounds and was known for his immense strength.


    Not only did he have a Herculean build, but he was also well versed in the art of war. He had scored military victories over the tribes of Dongyi, Jiumiao and more. Under his rule, the Shang empire had reached its greatest territorial extent. He was one of the brightest rulers in the history of the Shang Dynasty.


    However, in his middle age, he had become more inclined towards merrymaking and had developed a mercurial temper.


    When he heard that Fang Yuan had resisted arrest, King Xin flipped over the table in front of him in a fit of rage.


    "How dare he act like this in Shangyi. Does this capital city still belong to me?"


    The two servants at his side shared a quiet laugh with each other.


    They had taken bribes from Western Zhou and was prepared to slander Jie in front of the King, which would sabotage chances of reconciliation even if Jie had been willing to meet with the King peacefully.


    What they had not expected was that Jie was a maniac. They did not even have to sow discord.


    "Pass down my orders to lock up all the gates of the city and issue a national arrest warrant for him!"


    King Xin bellowed on.


    "When I get my hands on Jie, I will make sure that he experiences excruciating torture!"


    The wrath of the Shang King had left all the servants in the imperial court trembling.


    No one had noticed a figure glide away from the outside of the imperial palace to a princely palace. He then went on to relate what he had seen to a young man.


    "Jie?"


    This young man had piercing eyes and gave off an exalted aura. He had a more impressive countenance than Young Master Wu.


    After all, how could the upbringing of the Young Master of a feudal state compare to that of an imperial Prince?


    The appearance and fortune of people in the world were expressions of their strength and potential. These things did not happen by chance.


    "It is a great pity that we have fallen out with a master that has inflicted defeat upon the Sword Sage!"


    The young man drew his sword determinedly.


    "I will leave the palace and personally arrest Jie for Father''s sake...Mm, this is what you will tell the King if he asks, is that clear?"


    "Yes, my Prince!"


    His aides bowed deeply in reply. At that moment, they all shared a sense of helplessness.

 562 The Creator

    Just as the entire Shangyi was in a state of confusion after Fang Yuan''s actions, none of them would expect him to stroll casually in the capital instead of fleeing for his life.


    "Is this the Creator''s Temple?"


    Fang Yuan looked up towards the towering architecture. It was built around the mountainous terrain and had an ancient look to it. There was a solemn vibe coming from the temple.


    There was religion in the Shang Dynasty. However, there were only two main religions: The Tai God from the Heavens and the Creator from the Earth!


    Rumour had it that the Tai God was the one who created the realm, while the Creator was the god of the people.


    ''According to religion, the Tai God represents the Heavenly Will! It represents the rules of the realm! The dao! It does not take any form. However, it is useless if any humans were to worship it...''


    The Heavenly Will would be able to affect the large scale of things, but it helping individuals was unheard of. It was too high up and seemed almost irrelevant to most.


    However, it was different for The Creator.


    "If I were to do this, a God might just appear out of nowhere..."


    Fang Yuan stepped into the temple and arrived at the main hall. A statue greeted him.


    The statue of the female god had lifelike expressions and was a dainty looking god. It seemed compassionate, but the surprising thing was the fact that it had the body of a snake!


    "Has it finally became a god..."


    Fang Yuan''s eyes glittered as he immediately felt a connection between the statue. He felt connected to it in another realm.


    The actual body of The Creator was not in the Shang Capital. Rather, it was in another half plane.


    After all, this god was the guardian of mankind and not just the god of the Shang Empire. Obviously, she would not be here.


    "Religion creates higher beings... This is interesting..."


    Fang Yuan immersed himself in the atmosphere and was lost in his thoughts.


    The Tai God represented the Heavenly Will and was an enormous entity. It could not reincarnate into humans even if humans were to worship it.


    Furthermore, it would not be able to detect anything even if humans were to worship it. If an entire capital were to worship it, there might just be a slight chance for the Tai God to sense it.


    However, this was different for The Creator. It was more suited to humans and was widely worshipped everywhere. It also did not have the burden of the entire realm as it had the ability to take up human forms, becoming a true divine being!


    "It is harder to become a deity than to follow the god dao... It has already been 500 years, but realm energy practitioners would only undergo a few breakthroughs during this period of time. However, religions could be easily strengthened in such a short period of time... Could Army Leader Chi have reincarnated into another form as well?"


    Gazing at the half-human half-snake statue of The Creator, Fang Yuan could almost feel as though he was in contact with the purest and most powerful form of energy of the Ancient Realm.


    "Master!"


    Ge Nie''s uneasy voice was heard. "There''s a commotion outside. I''m afraid that the soldiers are here once again!"


    "Mmm..."


    Fang Yuan casually dismissed him and continued to gaze at the statue. Indeed, he could feel the lifelike emotions from it. It was as though the entire statue was carved from the purest white jade.


    ''Could they have carved it in such a way on purpose? King Shang might just compose a new poem after looking at this statue. Could this be the interplanar force? Could this be a side-effect of radiation from that source realm?''


    He felt lost as he thought deeper about it.


    Suddenly, a random thought came to his mind. ''What if... I am the one composing the poem? What would happen then?''


    "Rumble!"


    Outside, the peaceful sky suddenly turned dark and streaks of lightning crackled across the sky.


    "Kill!"


    A swarm of Shang soldiers rushed in and started to mindlessly slice everything they saw, dying the floor of the temple blood-red.


    ''Forget it... I have returned to this realm in an attempt to chase after The Ancient One. There is absolutely no need for me to go against the will of the realm...''


    Fang Yuan casually sliced his sword in the air and the oncoming soldiers fell to the ground in a pile of bloodied mess. He started to shake his head as he observed the whizzing arrows and the casualties around. There was even a with lying among the pool of blood. ''This is uncalled for... The Creator is a compassionate god. Now that blood has stained her temple and her followers are killed, the Shang soldiers have put themselves against her... Is this an act of defiance against the heavens?''


    Fang Yuan held his sword and made an escape path for himself. Suddenly, he picked up a green bronze sword and flung it outwards. One of the leading soldiers was struck and fell to the ground.


    "Gentleman is dead!"


    The soldiers were disorganised and Fang Yuan and company managed to escape from the mess.


    "Stop it!"


    At this point in time, a group of people rode horses and arrived at the temple. The one leading the group was a promising young man had his face was flushed with anger. "This is The Creator''s Temple. How dare all of you disrespect it?"


    He was filled with extreme anger as he directed his horse toward Fang Yuan.


    "I am Prince Pan! Jie, you better surrender!"


    Pan roared as he made his way towards Fang Yuan. Unfortunately, his horse stumbled and he fell to the ground. Effortlessly, Fang Yuan picked him up and placed his sword on Pan''s neck.


    ''Mister Jie, quickly make your escape. Take me as your hostage and you can order for the city gates to be opened!''


    Pan whispered softly in Fang Yuan''s ears.


    "Interesting!"


    Fang Yuan smiled and shouted towards the soldiers. "If you want your prince to live, get out of my way!"


    "Prince Pan?"


    Once the Shang soldiers realised that Prince Pan was being held hostage, they looked at each other in despair and retreated to form a path for Fang Yuan and company to arrive at the city gates with no obstruction.


    The guards at the gate did not dare to disrespect Prince Pan and Fang Yuan as well and promptly, albeit unwillingly, open the gates for them. They even provided them with a carriage for Fang Yuan and company.


    ...


    In the grasslands.


    As soon as Fang Yuan and company took over the carriage, they quickly fled from the city and not long after, they were miles away from Shangyi before taking a break at a nearby river.


    "Prince Pan, why did you rescue me?"


    Fang Yuan ordered Ge Nie and Hei Zhong to feed the horse before sitting down. He looked at Prince Pan with interest.


    ''The purple energy rays filled the sky above, and there are no signs of a weakened empire. It''s a pity that the fate of the people is interconnected with the fate of the empire... If the empire were to fall, the people will fall with it too.''


    "You are a talented person and I am unwilling to see you oppose the Shang Empire!"


    Prince Pan paid his greetings. "However, by the time I''ve heard the news about you, it was already too late. I can only help you leave Shangyi first. When I return, I will then try to convince my father to change his mind towards you."


    "Prince Pan, you are a worthy and virtuous son!"


    Fang Yuan smiled. "However, your father is arrogant and full of himself. He will have to go through this ordeal one way or another!"


    On first sight, Fang Yuan felt a sense of familiarity towards this prince. It was as though he was someone familiar.


    The vibe he was giving off was similar to those who belonged to the division which Fang Yuan had single-handedly created previously, which made him a little fond of this prince.


    "Ordeal?"


    The prince''s expression changed and he bowed once more. "Please enlighten me!"


    "It''s difficult! Difficult, difficult, I say! It had already begun and there is nothing we can do about it!"


    Fang Yuan shook his head.


    He had only just thought about it.


    Since this realm had already been infected with the radiation of energy from a higher realm, it would have to undergo a certain calamity. Something had to happen. It could very well not be the lustful poem which King Shang would compose. For instance, it could also be... the killings which happened earlier today!


    "It had begun?"


    Prince Pan shook and was in disbelief.


    "The Creator was a god of compassion. You led a group of soldiers to kill people in her temple, tainting it with blood. Your soldiers have also killed her followers. What do you think about this?"


    Fang Yuan spoke calmly.


    "Is it about The Creator? I shall return now and order people to sacrifice livestock in an attempt to apologise!"


    Prince Pan gritted his teeth.


    "It''s too late!"


    Fang Yuan shook his head. It was as though he had completely seen through Prince Pan.


    Suddenly, he burst out in laughter. "Forget it... Since we are fated to meet today, there must be an underlying reason to it... I will give you this incense. If you encounter any trouble in the future, you can light it and I shall arrive personally to help you!"


    Fang Yuan could not interfere with the country affairs for no reason.


    Therefore, he made use of this opportunity by disguising it as a repayment to Prince Pan for his kindness. As such, everything would be logical.


    ''This is great... If everything happens as how I have predicted it, the great war in Shangyi will still happen, and it will affect all 3 regions! The Ancient One will not miss this opportunity!''


    Fang Yuan thought to himself silently.


    As soon as The Ancient One were to show up, he would undoubtedly be met with lightning tribulation!


    ...


    This was a void.


    Incense filled the void and turned into golden streaks of religious force. Like a huge river, the streaks of religious force swirled around. It was a spectacular sight.


    In the middle of the void stood a temple. The path at the entrance of the temple was paved with gold and resembled a golden dragon. Thick streaks of religious force gathered above the temple, making the temple look even more majestic than it already was.


    In the middle of the main hall of the temple, on an altar, a seemingly sleeping god was awakened.


    The top half of her body was human, and the bottom half was that of a snake. Her face was elegant and compassionate. "My temple has been intruded... My followers are killed!"


    Before her, a streak of green fog rose up, forming a screen which showed the events that happened on that fateful day.


    As she watched on, her expression started to turn into a strict one. "What audacity! How dare the Shang people think so highly of themselves! They deserve retribution!"


    As she became enraged, the heavens and earth responded.


    The entire plane rumbled and revealed the mountains of the Da Qian world.


    Suddenly, it turned into the 800 feudal states and the Shang Empire in the centre, with black fog circling the top of the Shang Empire. At the Northwestern side, a streak of red light appeared.


    "Is this... the heavenly will?!"


    The Creator scoffed. "With just a simple thought, I have managed to create all these troubles..."


    She was only intending to give the Shang Empire a small warning and was ready to forgive them as soon as they repent.


    However, now, the heavenly will made use of her in an attempt to eradicate the Shang Empire!


    How much power was involved in this, and how many people would die because of this?


    "This is regretful... Although I am a god with godly powers, I do not have much control over his..."


    She sighed as though she was looking at the doomsday of the realm.


    Although she was god herself, she was still bounded by the laws of the realm. With a single thought, her actions would go out of control and it was too late!


    Instead of blaming her for creating the calamity, it was more accurate to say that the heavens had made use of her to do so.


    "Is the heavenly will active now?"


    After a long while, as everything settled down, a piece of information appeared before her and The Creator remained silent.

 563 Recreating the Dao

    "The Creator is half-human and half-snake... In reality, this means that she belongs to - the demons!"


    Fang Yuan rode on his horse and started to think about the statue he saw in the temple. A wide grin appeared on his face. "This also means... In this generation, The Creator is not only the god of the humans but the leader of all demons!"


    The influence of such a god would be too scary to imagine.


    In fact, she could possibly be the strongest being in this realm!


    "The Shang Empire is destined to fall, but its 500-year foundation is still nevertheless strong. Unless The Creator personally interferes, it is almost impossible to destroy the empire in such a short time..."


    "This is the heavenly will!"


    Fang Yuan was too clear about the limitations of the gods.


    Since gods gain their powers from their followers, they had to conform to the rules of the realm. They would still be under the control of the heavens.


    As soon as the heavens decide on the fate of the Shang Empire, The Creator would not hold back. Instead, she would be the one causing it, as seen from how the heavens could make use of her.


    "Unless she becomes an ancient god, she would never stand a chance in opposing the heavens... Therefore, she will likely be the one to cause the downfall of the Shang Empire."


    Thinking about Prince Pan who had just left, Fang Yuan sighed.


    The prince''s demeanour, humility and wisdom made him the perfect candidate to be king. If he were to be successful in taking the throne, the Shang Empire might stand a chance to survive.


    Unfortunately for him, the heavens were strict!


    "If I had persuaded him just now and decided to help him to become king, I''m afraid I will put myself at a risk. This is the heavenly will, his fate, and the trend of this realm..."


    Fang Yuan sighed.


    "Master, where are we going now?"


    Hei Zhong rode a tall horse and the foxes curled up on his shoulders, making him seem as though he was wearing a silver scarf. Ge Nie was struggling to maintain his balance on his own horse as he gripped the horse''s fur tightly, afraid that he would fall.


    "The western countries, naturally!"


    Fang Yuan had planned to journey towards the Northwest all along. "The strong powers are at Shang and the West. Of course, we''ll have to go there to take a look!"


    As a dream traverser, he had a huge advantage for having knowledge of all worlds he had visited before.


    Even a sage such as The Ancient One could only vaguely sense the changes in the realm and predict the downfall of the Shang Empire. However, he could not possibly have any idea as to what would cause it.


    However, Fang Yuan was different!


    With the memories of Jie and the understanding of this realm, Fang Yuan could easily deduce the cause of everything.


    "It''s a pity... I don''t have enough power! If I have a vast intelligence network, I will be able to transmit information quickly to find the likes of Jiang Ziya and Shen Gongbao..."


    "Also... This realm does not seem to discriminate against dream elemental force. I can attempt to try out the new dream master technique and restore my cultivation..."


    Fang Yuan whipped his horse and rode towards the horizon as his mind raced.


    After a day, the sun finally set and the moon rose over the horizon.


    Hei Zhong and Ge Nie pitched a tent near a river, caught a few sparrows and rabbits and prepared dinner for the 5 of them.


    The two foxes hugged their drumstick and ate it to the bones. After dinner, they faced the moon, released their Yin spirits and started to cultivate the essence of the moon.


    "The two of them are more hardworking than you!"


    Heng Zhong lashed out at Ge Nie. "Nie, Master has told me that if your progress is not satisfactory, he will kick you out!"


    "Yes senior!"


    Ge Nie crossed his leg and sat on a rock. He started to absorb the essence of the moon and shivered coldly. A layer of frost settled on his hair.


    However, he was a hardworking person. Even as his teeth chattered and his lips bled, he managed to attain the skill of absorption and entered a trance, his mind at peace.


    "Master... look! I''ve been strict on him and he has finally made it!"


    Hei Zhong reported to Fang Yuan, hoping to gain some credit for it.


    "You even dare to tell me about it? He is just a newcomer but his progress is almost catching up to yours..." Fang Yuan glared at him. "If he overtakes you, you will get it from me..."


    "Master, don''t worry!"


    Hei Zhong shuddered in fear and quickly located an empty plot of land to begin his cultivation.


    To him, the pain of cultivation was nothing compared to the torture which Fang Yuan could possibly give him.


    With this threat, he obediently followed Fang Yuan''s instructions.


    "Hmmm... Thewhich I have created is considered complete!"


    Looking at Hei Zhong and Ge Nie in their states of cultivation, Fang Yuan silently observed the flow of Yin Energy in their meridians and nodded his head.


    This technique was indeed created for demons. After his adaptation, Fang Yuan managed to make it suitable for humans. Of course, it was still not perfect yet, but good enough.


    Even for such a basic technique, Hei Zhong had to try many times before being able to use it to its full potential.


    "Now, mywill allow me to cultivate to a level equivalent to a 9th Tier spiritual knight... That''s the most it can do unless I am able to refer to the books the realm energy practitioners from this realm!"


    To speak the truth, in Shangyi, Fang Yuan had gathered information regarding realm energy practitioners.


    Unfortunately, these group of people were too mysterious. Furthermore, 500 years was too long for the average human but was merely a few generations for these realm energy practitioners. Therefore, the different cultivation levels of these realm energy practitioners were not well documented by humans. The most humans were able to gather were levels like the 3 Peak Flowers, the 5 Elemental Energy etcetera.


    After all, reality was not a game. Records of these realm levels differ from each other. For instance, the most factual Yin Spirit could be casually explained in many different ways.


    Fang Yuan could not be bothered to care about these minor details and named it as how he would usually refer to it as.


    ''In this realm, there are many branches of people skilled in many different ways. The majority of powerful beings are as powerful as 9th Tier spiritual knights and 9th Meridian Wu Zongs. There might be one or two Grandmasters who are able to peer into the realm of the sages! The demons would surely know about this. That is why in the god dao, there is a powerful being, The Creator. The Creator is already more powerful than True Divines and True Elementals...''


    Fang Yuan had a good grasp of the martial arts in The Ancient Realm.


    "Based on my current cultivation level, I can do whatever I want... If I can restore my cultivation level to the point before the war at the Jade capital, I would almost be the most powerful being in the realm."


    Fang Yuan crossed his legs and appeared dazed as he connected with his actualised dream world.


    His actualised dream world was rebuilt from the purest dream elemental force from the Demonic Heart Realm. Although it was merely a sea of purple, it was already as strong as a 3rd or 4th Tier Illusionary Divine stage dream master.


    "The dream dao was initially dependant on a weak foundation as it absorbs dream elemental force. Now, my foundation is strengthened, but..."


    After witnessing the source of original energy, Fang Yuan was no longer interested in the normal dream elemental force.


    Unfortunately, at his current cultivation level, it was impossible for him to absorb and harness original energy.


    Long periods of cultivation could only compress the original dream elemental force in his actualised dream world, resulting in a thick and viscous silver liquid which seemed as though it was on the brink of solidifying.


    "Can I name this physical state as dream elemental crystal?"


    Fang Yuan gazed at his own actualised dream world. It was a world made up of dream elemental crystals.


    "It''s a pity... Such thick and concentrated dream elemental force is still nothing compared to original energy!"


    A single drop of original energy would be enough to create an entire realm!


    Even the purest form of dream elemental crystal would not be able to do it. These two entities were on completely different levels!


    ''Original energy seems like a concept, an everlasting one that is able to continuously radiate lower forms of energy... I can never fully understand this as a dream master!''


    Since he knew that he would not be able to fully understand it, Fang Yuan did not dare to remove the restriction he had on his Body Seal.


    Otherwise, if the source energy were to explode, his true physical form and even his true soul would be disintegrated.


    "The current plan is to continue on the purified dream dao before even attempting to harness original energy... However, even after that, original energy will still remain as a mystery..."


    Fang Yuan was still unaware of the characteristics and traits of the purified dream dao simply by looking at its foundations.


    He was equally clueless as to when he would be qualified enough to harness original energy.


    However, he would never go wrong if he were to continue on his current cultivation.


    With a single thought, numerous dream elemental crystals gathered together within his actualised dream world, forming the shape of a divine sword!


    It was the Leaving Fire Sword!


    As soon as the sword appeared, the actualised dream world shook and an illusionary shadow of a sword descended from above. The entire sword quickly formed and was a brilliant red.


    "The imprint of the 8 Gates Sword Array is still in here. This makes it extremely simple to restore my cultivation..."


    Fang Yuan heaved a sigh of relief as he sensed the familiarity of the Leaving Fire Sword. It was as though the sword had become more divine through the previous ordeal, and this even gave Fang Yuan some inspiration about the path after the 8 swords were completed.


    "It''s a pity that I am no longer interested in this secret technique. Be it a dream soldier master, dream spells master or dream array master, the different professions only differ in how they make use of dream elemental force. Why should there be a distinction? The forming of these swords is a mere representation of my cultivation..."


    Until now, Fang Yuan had already understood how the professions of dream masters did not matter.


    Although he might be a dream soldier master on the surface, beneath him, he could still create countless spells with a single thought, or create arrays with a single thought.


    "The dream dao consists of only one path... creation! Now, I shall change the name of the 8 Gates Sword Array. It is a physical entity created by my knowledge on sword arrays. I shall rename it as ''Creation Sword Array!"


    Fang Yuan''s eyes glistened.


    With a single thought, his stats window started to change:


    "Name: Fang Yuan


    Essence: 50 (100)


    Spirit: 50 (100)


    Magic: 50 (100)


    Profession: Dream Master


    Cultivation: Illusionary Divine Stage (1st Tier)


    Technique: Ultimate Witch Body (90%), [Creation Sword Array (1st Sword (100%))]


    Skill: [Medicine (Level 3)], [Botany (Level 6)(Peak)], [Fiery Golden Eyes (Level 1)], [Body Seal (Ultimate form)]"

 564 Royal Mandate

    The state of Western Zhou.


    This was one of the 800 feudal states and sat in the northwest of Shangyi. The lands of Western Zhou were vast and shared borders with the lands of Xiyi and Quanrong.


    Generations of Western Zhou Marquises had been ambitious and worked on expanding their lands towards the West. They encouraged population growth and built up the state''s military forces. The combined efforts of these Marquises had turned Western Zhou into the most powerful Shang feudal state.


    The current Marquis of Western Zhou was said to be a sage descended from the heavens. According to a legend, his birth was marked by the appearance of colourful clouds that took the forms of tortoise shells and yarrow stalks, sacred items that were used in divination.


    The previous Marquis of Western Zhou was said to have been afraid of censure by the Shang and threw his newborn into the river. A large number of golden carps had surrounded the wooden basin that the infant had been placed in, in the formation of a golden lotus.


    Upon witnessing this miraculous sight, the old Marquis changed his mind. He named his son Li and saw to it that he was well brought up.


    When Li grew up, his genius became apparent. He had the gift of fortune-telling and was extremely accurate in his predictions. He conducted deep research into ancient texts and devised a new art of divination known as the Yi Dao. This had led to the creation of the School of Yi and Li was henceforth known as Sir Yi!


    Fang Yuan was impressed with these achievements and had even thought that Li was a son of destiny, a person destined to lead the way out of the chaos.


    "Master...once we make it past the mountain ahead of us, we will arrive in Western Zhou!"


    Hei Zhong shouted from atop his horse.


    "I''ve scouted the road ahead and found that not only have the roads been paved, but the inns are also larger than those found in Shang. It seems like this is a place where the people live and work in peace!"


    "Hehe¡­"


    Fang Yuan chuckled coldly upon hearing Hei Zhong''s words.


    Western Zhou was a mere feudal state with a land area smaller than that of Shang. How did it manage to spur on development to such an extent?


    Also, by enjoying a high standard of living in Western Zhou and attributing it to the Marquis''s greatness, where would that leave King Shang?


    To a unified empire like the Shang Dynasty, the supersedence of regional loyalties over national loyalties was a portent of calamity.


    "I''ve heard that the Western Zhou state has moved against the Quanrong and Xiyi states several times in recent years...once powerful, these two barbarian states have fallen into crises after Western Zhou had taken a great deal of food, metal, women from them. Meanwhile, the people of Western Zhou lived in comfort. The Marquis even devised policies such as the criminalisation of infanticide, compulsory marriage at 15 years of age as well as the material incentivisation of childbirths¡­."


    It was Ge Nie who had a good knowledge regarding the affairs of Western Zhou.


    "Even within Shangyi, there are people who actively spread the word about the virtuousness and accomplishments of the Marquis!"


    War usually began with the spreading of words.


    This was a lesson from later history that the people of this era had not yet grasped.


    "The Sage Sir Yi?"


    As Fang Yuan passed through the border of Western Zhou, his eyes flashed with a new light.


    "Alright, let me take a look at what you have achieved!"


    ...


    The capital city of Western Zhou.


    Colourful clouds converged high up in the heavens. The goddess Nuwa[1] stood among the clouds and looked down at the bustling city.


    "The heavenly mandate...is with Zhou! There are two obstacles that stand in the way of its ascension!"


    Nuwa looked towards the western lands of Western Zhou and saw a violent battle taking place.


    "The Quanrong and Xiyi states are the largest threats to Western Zhou''s development. They will have to be destroyed in order for Western Zhou to move on!"


    Nuwa pondered for a moment before waving her fair hand and sending some colourful clouds over to bless the Western Zhou troops.


    After she was done, she shifted her gaze to the southeast.


    ''The military strength of Western Zhou is barely half that of Shang. In order to fulfil Zhou''s destiny of overthrowing the Shang, the Dongyi and Jiumiao states will have to occupy the majority of the Shang army such that the imperial capital will be left undefended. In this way, Western Zhou would have a valuable opportunity!''


    Having made sense of the heavenly mandate, Nuwa disappeared into the clouds.


    A rock bathed in colourful lights fell out of the skies and descended upon Western Zhou.


    In the royal palace.


    The Marquis Li of Western Zhou had the look of a gentle old man and was occupied with his tortoise shells and hexagrams at that moment.


    He lifted the charred tortoise shells excitedly.


    "The frontlines have managed to break the Quanrong army? In such a short time?"


    Adrenaline rushed through his veins as he stood up and left the palace.


    "Kaboom!"


    The skies shook as a strange occurrence took place. With a blinding flash, an object surrounded by colourful lights fell to the earth.


    Soldiers standing all around had their mouths agape as they witnessed the sight. The servants fell to their knees in a fearful reverence.


    "Isn''t that the direction of...Qi Mountain?!"


    The Marquis of Western Zhou stared in the direction of which the rock was heading and passed down an order.


    "Get the horse carriages ready...we are going to Qi Mountain now!"


    ...


    "Master¡­"


    Fang Yuan and company had witnessed the fall of the colourful object as well.


    "Could it be that Western Zhou is favoured by the heavens?"


    Ge Nie may be knowledgeable but he was still a product of the ancient era. The occurrence of this strange event had dazed him.


    Fang Yuan gave him a hard whack with the hilt of his sword.


    "What are you waiting for? Go check it out!"


    Fang Yuan had arrived at a silent conclusion.


    ''My senses can''t be wrong. It must have been Nuwa''s doing. It seems like she has been working hard to propel the rise of the Marquis¡­''


    ''Also...I''m sure that such a sensational event would have caught the attention of the Ancient One!''


    A phenomenon of such a scale would definitely lead to repercussions all over the world!


    Not only would people around the world see it as an omen, but there would also be a large impact on the Cultivation World. Scholars and sages, hidden cultivators and higher beings, monsters and demons, as well as other authorities, would have noticed Western Zhou as a result. The Western Zhou state would no longer be able to remain out of sight.


    There was no escaping the wheels of history.


    "After it!"


    The three men immediately spurred their horses on and sped towards the landing point of the colourful rock.


    "That is the direction of...Qi Mountain?"


    "You are too slow. Find somewhere to wait for me at!"


    Fang Yuan aimed straight at the direction in which the colourful rock had fallen and stepped into the void. Flames erupted around his body as he flew towards the rock like a comet.


    The agglomerated Leaving Fire Sword was not only more stable than before but it also carried with it several special abilities.


    It was rather similar to the Sword Flying Technique but of a more basic form.


    "Kaboom!"


    The colourful rock smashed onto the ground and a deafening sound reverberated in the air.


    Fang Yuan had reached there just in time.


    When he arrived at Qi Mountain, he saw that the people living around the mountain had prostrated themselves in the direction of the mountain. Additionally, soldiers had encircled the mountain.


    A large crater had appeared in the side of the mountain. Colourful lights emanated from it and illuminated the surrounding air.


    "A treasure!"


    "A treasure from the heavens for the chosen ones!"


    "Take it! There is hope for the Great Dao now!"


    Dark energies were converging upon the mountain, carrying with it the figures of monsters and demon. The Western Zhou army, as well as Western Zhou''s more remarkable citizens, kept them from coming closer.


    "Hmm?"


    Fang Yuan rose up higher into the air where he got a clearer view.


    "It is fortunate that the first arrivals were only made up of petty cultivators or Western Zhou would be in big trouble...this treasure though...is it a Penta-coloured Rock?"


    The incredible view allowed him to view the crater in its entirety. Lying right in the middle of it was a crystalline rock that shone in five colours.


    A well-dressed old man approached the crater gingerly.


    "The Marquis of Western Zhou?! Was this treasure meant for him? Something fishy is going on¡­"


    Fang Yuan was so used to seeing things like this that he could no longer be bothered to complain.


    Of course, a Penta-coloured rock was not enough to pique his interest. Fang Yuan found a good hiding spot among the dark clouds and peeled out contentedly.


    "Great...I wonder which unlucky unorthodox cultivator will be the one to trigger the explosion!"


    The Marquis looked dazed as he stretched out his right hand towards the Penta-coloured rock. He was only a few inches away.


    "Roar! Roar!"


    A bone-chilling roar split the air. It was coming from the foot of the mountain.


    "Whoosh!"


    A strong gale swept across the ground and blocked out the skies.


    A large shadow was moving at an incredible speed along with the dark wind. It let out another roar and revealed itself: a huge black bear!


    This bear had stretch marks on its face and wings on its back. It was of a strange and wild species found in the ancient era. The bear moved at the speed of lightning and smashed through the human wall in its quest to ascend the mountain.


    "Roar! Roar!"


    Upon seeing the Penta-coloured rock, the bear''s eyes became bloodshot. It used its paws to slap the soldiers who attempted to confront it into the ground. Following which, the bear tried to pounce on the Marquis.


    ''It will be interesting if the Marquis really dies, but¡­''


    Fan Yuan shook his head lazily. He knew that the Marquis would not die before fulfilling his destiny.


    "Chirp! Chirp!"


    Indeed, help had arrived.


    A clear shriek filled the skies. The figure that emerged flapped its mighty purple wings, which sent the bear rolling until a phoenix claw pressed into its body and halted its tumble.


    "This is the...Purple Phoenix! Is it heaven''s will that a phoenix is flying around Qi Mountain?"


    Even the Marquis, who was well acquainted with the supernatural, had become agitated upon seeing the majestic bird.


    The Phoenix before him had purplish-black feathers and had very long tail feathers that were of five colours: black, white, red, yellow and green. Bright tassels hung from them and enhanced the grandness of the bird.


    The Marquis had immediately recognised the bird upon first sight. It was definitely a phoenix!


    The classics told of five types of Phoenix. The most common species was red in colour but there were the yellow, green, purple and white species as well.


    In the presence of the Purple Phoenix, the Marquis no longer hesitated and touched the Penta-coloured rock.


    "Whoosh!"


    Light burst forth from the pentagon-coloured rock and flowed over the Marquis''s body, eventually solidifying into a colourful armour and a sword!


    The Marquis now radiated a mysterious power and the surrounding soldiers fell to their knees in reverence.


    "The heavenly mandate!"


    The Marquis of Western Zhou raised his sword, accompanied by the fearsome shriek of the Phoenix. The unorthodox presences promptly retreated.


    At the moment, a soldier rushed to the Marquis''s side and offered the latest news on his knees.


    "Greetings my lord, I have urgent news from the front lines. We have achieved a great victory over the Quanrong and Xiyi armies. The Quanrong King has perished in battle while the Xiyi royals have agreed to become our vassals!"


    The combination of these events silenced even the most fervent doubters.


    Was the royal mandate really with Western Zhou?


    [1]: Henceforth, The Creator shall be referred to by its name, Nuwa.

 565 Confirmation

    "Impressive methods! Impressive calculations! The sword and armour, together with the publicity, will serve as solid proof of the royal mandate!"


    Fang Yuan watched on silently. He had no intention of making a move.


    The person who had orchestrated the whole thing must still be watching behind the scenes. Would they choose to appear now?


    "This Five Elements Purple Phoenix, however¡­"


    Fang Yuan examined the beast. His eyes gleamed.


    "Not only is it a divine beast with magical talents, but it has also mastered the five elements. Its power is only superseded by that of the True Divine. Perhaps we can call it a Secondary Divine. Could it be Kong Xuan[1]?"


    Of course, although the peacocks were descended from the phoenixes, they were distinct from each other. Fang Yuan could tell them apart easily.


    "The Five Elements Phoenix is a rare species. Not sure if it is a representative of a higher being, or is it here of its own accord in support of the Marquis ¡­"


    Fang Yuan''s stared at the Five Elements Purple Phoenix and frowned.


    For some reason, the Phoenix invoked in him a sense of familiarity.


    It looked like someone he was pursuing!


    "The Ancient One?! It may or may not be¡­"


    This person had abandoned his original body and had undergone reincarnation. It was only to be expected that his divine soul had changed. Besides, he was once a Sage and would have no lack of concealment methods.


    In truth, Fang Yuan did not recognise him on first sight.


    Even upon closer inspection, Fang Yuan had not managed to find any proof that the Phoenix was the Ancient One. It was only his spiritual sense that was doing the talking.


    ''Could it be that the Ancient One has become a Phoenix through reincarnation?''


    Fang Yuan was stumped for a moment.


    Under normal circumstances, Fang Yuan would have killed the Phoenix regardless of whether it was the Ancient One in disguise or not. It was better to be wrong than to have the Ancient One slip through his fingers again.


    However, there was a problem.


    The Five Elements Purple Phoenix had the power of a Secondary Divine. Fang Yuan''s Ultimate Witch Body was not fully developed and he would not be able to overwhelm the Phoenix yet.


    It would become much harder to get to the Phoenix when Nuwa arrived!


    Fang Yuan did not want to put himself at more risk than he had to.


    "I''ll continue to wait and see!"


    Fang Yuan kept his eyes trained on the Five Elements Purple Phoenix.


    At the same time, the Marquis seemed to have come to a decision and announced it loudly.


    "From today onwards, Western Zhou will adopt the Phoenix as a national symbol! The era name shall be changed to Auspicious Phoenix in commemoration of this event!"


    "Yes, my lord!"


    All the soldiers and peasants present broke out into loud cheers.


    Fang Yuan could see that puffs of tribal energy were gathering to form a dense mass.


    The energy of destiny surrounding the Marquis had stabilised completely and was rushing up into the sky like a pillar to the heavens.


    Another purplish-black Phoenix had appeared within the pillar. It bore a great resemblance to the Five Element Purple Phoenix.


    "Chirp! Chirp!"


    The Five Element Purple Phoenix let out a shriek and flew into the pillar of energy where it became one with the other Phoenix.


    "Has...has this Phoenix become the divine protector of the state?"


    Fang Yuan''s eyelid twitched.


    The Five Elements Purple Phoenix had intertwined itself with the fate of Western Zhou.


    This way, the Phoenix would perish if Western Zhou fell. On the other hand, the Phoenix would prosper if Western Zhou managed to overthrow the Shang Dynasty.


    This was a life-and-death gamble for the Phoenix and even Nuwa did not interfere.


    ''These methods...are pretty familiar¡­''


    Fang Yuan let out a sigh.


    At the very moment where the Five Elements Purple Phoenix had fused with the energy of destiny, a small bit of its true aura had escaped into the air and subsequently, into Fang Yuan''s grasp.


    Fang Yuan had been unsure previously. Now, he was dead sure that the Five Elements Purple Phoenix was the Ancient One!


    "Chirp! Chirp!"


    The Purple Phoenix let out an extended shriek. Colourful lights shone from its body as it displayed its majesty.


    Fang Yuan turned around to leave without hesitation.


    The Purple Phoenix had secured a breakthrough for itself when it chose to fuse its own fate with the tribal energy of Western Zhou. It was as powerful as a True Divine now!


    Besides, as long as Western Zhou remained strong, the Phoenix would thrive as well. It would even be able to come back to life in the event of its destruction!


    "What a pity...I was too late!"


    Fang Yuan sighed inwardly and quickly retreated.


    ...


    "Master?!"


    Hei Zhong and Ge Nie were just about to rest when they saw Fang Yuan appear in the burst of fire. They greeted him heartily.


    "Are we heading to Western Zhou''s capital city now?"


    "We''re leaving now!"


    Fang Yuan waved a hand gloomily.


    There was nothing more he could do in Western Zhou.


    ''The Five Elements Purple Phoenix, now the sacred beast of Western Zhou, is the Ancient One! He has regained his level of cultivation as a True Divine spiritual knight and is being backed up by Western Zhou''s tribal energy. Dealing with him will be very difficult¡­''


    ''However, the Ancient One is very ambitious. He wants to take this chance to regain his Sage status as well as to attain Dao using the five elements. He even covets Nuwa''s power. There must be an opportunity here somewhere for me to make my move!''


    Fang Yuan sat down with his legs crossed. The more he thought about it, the more he felt that the times were not favourable to him.


    ''I had wanted to give Western Zhou my blessings, but now¡­''


    ''What I can do is now is to rush back to Shang and help them to defeat Western Zhou. This is the only way to kill the Ancient One!''


    ''It''s a pity that I had never thought about this beforehand and only have a mild relationship with the Shang...it feels like I have been tricked by the Ancient World¡­''


    Fang Yuan sighed. He had understood what was going on.


    Although the Ancient World had accepted him, he and the Ancient One were receiving equal treatment.


    He would have chosen to fall in with the Shang if he had arrived during Shang''s golden age.


    However, at present, the tribal energy of the Shang was unstable. Things would inevitably go against him because he was the founder of the Shang Dynasty and wielded too much power.


    The many problems experienced by the Shang Dynasty so far were just the beginning. More would definitely follow if Fang Yuan chose to go to their aid.


    ''Well, I could vow to cut off all ties with the Shang Dynasty and never help them again. However, the Ancient One would become even more difficult to handle when Western Zhou emerges victorious over the Shang Dynasty¡­''


    Fang Yuan let out a long sigh.


    ''I''ll be boarding a sinking ship and trying my best to keep it afloat. I wonder how the legendary Grandmaster of Heaven[2] had once felt?''


    Hei Zhong and Ge Nie watched the expressions shift on Fang Yuan''s face. They did not dare to speak.


    The fox sisters lay quietly at the side as well. They did not even dare to move.


    ''Forget it. The heavens might have made their decision but I will try my best to resist their will¡­''


    Fang Yuan had made up his mind and broke out into a smile.


    "A huge mess is going on all around us¡­"


    At this point, the Shang state was still the most powerful state in the world with the largest army at its disposal. If Fang Yuan took over the Shang throne, he would make sure that Western Zhou never became a threat even after they had absorbed the Quanrong and Xiyi states.


    "I''ll have to make sure that...the heavenly will of this world has no way of directly turning the tides in their favour!"


    Fang Yuan considered the strengths of the parties involved and got a better idea of his chances.


    Not being able to directly turn the tides in their favour meaning that if Shang emerged victorious over Western Zhou, the Shang King would not be struck down by lightning, nor would the Shang army be destroyed by earthquakes or floods.


    If the heavenly will of this world was capable of doing all of that, Fang Yuan would leave without a second word.


    After all, the Ancient One had been forced out of the Da Qian World. Fang Yuan was fine with leaving this world empty-handed.


    Besides, Fang Yuan would have much more to work with if he could only make sure that the heavenly will of this world only provided marginal support to the heavenly mandate.


    ''To change the general trend or to assassinate the Marquis would be suicide...what I can do is to tweak the little details and watch the combined effect of these alterations destroy Western Zhou''s heavenly mandate!"


    After Fang Yuan was done with his calculations, he no longer felt inclined to tour Western Zhou and started back to where he and his companions had come from.


    ...


    The Shang capital.


    Prince Pan sheathed the iron sword he had been holding as one of his servants entered the room hurriedly. He frowned.


    "What has happened? Why are you in such a rush?"


    The messenger fell to his knees and delivered his message in a shaky voice.


    "The Dongyi army has launched an invasion on our lands!"


    "The Dongyi again?"


    Although Prince Pan considered the Dongyi to be troublesome opponents, they were loosely organised and had a primitive culture. They were easily driven back and only required the occasional invasion to be kept in check.


    However, they had been severely defeated in battle only recently and yet they were attacking again. It was unbelievable.


    "How many of them are there?"


    Prince Pan had identified the source of the messenger''s distress with his question.


    "Eight...eighty thousand!"


    The messenger replied in a trembling voice. Prince Pan widened his eyes.


    "Impossible!"


    "My Prince, it''s true! The Dongyi tribes have united as one and the leader of this alliance is the largest tribe among them all, the Jiuxiong Division. They have managed to raise an army of 80,000 and have crossed our borders¡­"


    The messenger was crying as he spoke. Prince Pan dropped his sword into the ground.


    "...This battle concerns the survival of the Shang Dynasty. The King has ordered a national drafting exercise and will lead the troops to battle personally!"


    The messenger continued to speak as Prince Pan experienced inner turmoil.


    ''How did the various Dongyi tribes manage to achieve unity in so short a time?''


    Thoughts swirled about in Prince Pan''s head and made him dizzy.


    ''Something is wrong!''


    Prince Pan shuddered.


    ''The most pressing issue right now is to dissuade Father from leading the troops himself!''


    Prince Pan knew very well that if the Shang King appeared on the battlefield, it would be akin to telling the world that the imperial capital was lightly defended.


    Besides, there was an inner voice telling him to take this opportunity and volunteer himself.


    After all, he was not the crown prince. However, if he managed to achieve glory on the battlefield, he would be a few steps closer to the throne.


    ''If I were King, the Shang Dynasty would achieve greater heights!''


    A fire began to burn in Prince Pan''s heart.


    No matter his destiny, he would take a gamble on it.


    If Fang Yuan had been present, he would have seen dark energy gather around Prince Pan''s body and forming the crooked shape of a bird. Even as the colourful lights of the void attempted to suppress its movements, the dark energy continued to resist them obstinately.


    [1]: A peacock spirit who became King Zhou''s (last king of Shang), general in Chinese mythology


    [2]: an evil deity who sided with Shang King Zhou in the losing war against the Zhou

 566 Divine Power

    Beyond the lands of Shangyi, peasants and slaves toiled on fields that had been partitioned in a disorderly but interesting manner.


    "The Ancient One has fallen in with Western Zhou and I can''t get rid of him. This is going to be tricky...I''ll have to go against the heavenly will if I am to counter Western Zhou''s tribal energy!"


    Fang Yuan was prepared to test the limits of the heavenly will.


    If Western Zhou managed to overthrow the Shang Dynasty, then so be it. Fang Yuan would accept the result and leave.


    However, if there were loopholes for Fang Yuan to exploit, then he would try his best to kill the Ancient One!


    If Fang Yuan did not manage to eliminate the Ancient One, there was no saying if he would come back to hurt Fang Yuan in the future. After all, the Ancient One used to be a powerful Sage.


    "It would be nearly impossible to go against the general trend but we can tweak the details...the Tai God was the agglomeration of the will of all lifeforms in the world. He was the lofty personification of the heavenly dao and it would probably be far beneath him to interfere in mortal affairs. Nevertheless, it is better to make sure!"


    Fang Yuan thought for a moment before instructing Hei Zhong and Ge Nie to sneak into the city and acquire the latest news. Fang Yuan then retreated to a quiet spot where he began to prepare for the looming battle through cultivation!


    Before long, Ge Nie had found about the mass conscription of male citizens and related the news to Fang Yuan.


    "The Dongyi tribes, led by the Jiuxiong Division, have launched an invasion on the Shang Dynasty with an 80,000-strong army? The Shang King himself will be leading the Shang army to war?"


    Fang Yuan stared into the distance with his eyes gleaming.


    The shape of the Black Bird that was looming over the city had become smaller and more misshapen.


    ''It is obvious that even if the Shang won, it would be a pyrrhic victory!''


    If the Shang Dynasty were to incur huge losses in the southern lands, Western Zhou would take the opportunity to advance into the Shang heartlands and take Shangyi, where they could then declare total victory over the Shang.


    "This is the general trend! The heavenly will! Although it seems very crude and simplistic, it would be extremely difficult to alter its course!"


    "If the battle between the Shang and Dongyi states is the general trend, would the generals involved as well as the casualty rate be considered the minor details?"


    Fang Yuan turned his gaze towards the imperial palace.


    The coming battle against the Dongyi would be a chance for him to test his hypotheses and obtain a better understanding of how the heavenly will in this world works. He would then be able to work within its limits.


    "Anyway, it seems that there is one more person in Shangyi that warrants attention!"


    ...


    Meanwhile.


    In a large house within the grounds of Juxian Hall.


    Young Master Wu read the news from Western Zhou with a look of contentment on his face.


    "The Quanrong and Xiyi states have been defeated. The Western Zhou state has been strengthened as a result. This calls for a celebration...additionally, Father has received the heavenly mandate as represented by the Penta-coloured rock, which subsequently transformed into a suit of armour and a sword. A divine beast had appeared as well?"


    "Yes, Young Master. The appearance of the Phoenix in Qi Mountain can only mean that the heavens favour Western Zhou and that the Marquis now holds the royal mandate!"


    Sir Zou looked slightly dazed.


    If it were not for his present commitments, he would already have returned to Western Zhou.


    "Western Zhou has received the heavenly mandate while the Shang has to deal with the Dongyi invasion¡­"


    Young Master Wu paced up and down. The light in his eyes was becoming brighter.


    "A pity...but I cannot leave now!"


    As the hegemon, the Shang Dynasty had its methods to limit the powers of its vassal states. These included the tributary system where the feudal lords had to offer annual gifts, swear their allegiance and even live in Shangyi for a period of time. In other words, the feudal lords were being exploited and held hostage.


    The Marquis of Western Zhou was already pushing the limits by only sending his heir to Shangyi. If even Young Master Wu left Shangyi, Western Zhou''s intent to rebel would be clear.


    If that happened, there was no saying if the Shang King Xin would react by attacking Western Zhou before dealing with the Dongyi tribes.


    "Sir Zou, return to Western Zhou and inform Father that I need to stay in Shangyi so as to gain the trust of the Shang King! In this way, I will be able to keep Father updated about the goings-on within Shang!"


    Young Master Wu gritted his teeth. There was a look of determination on his face.


    "Alright! The Marquis would be happy to hear that!"


    Sir Zou stroked his beard.


    "Nevertheless, when the Shang army leaves to engage the Dongyi army, Young Master, you will have to leave then!"


    This was a reminder to Young Master Wu, telling him that he had to escape when the Shang King let down his guard.


    "These contributions will strengthen your status as the heir upon your return to Western Zhou!"


    Suddenly, a voice came in from outside.


    "Young Master, your servant Mo Ge requests an audience!"


    A frown creased Young Master Wu''s brow for a moment before it disappeared.


    "Come in!"


    "Greetings, Young Master. Through bribing the palace guards, I''ve learnt that although the Shang King had intended to lead the troops to battle himself, he was dissuaded by Prince Pan and has postponed making his decision!"


    Mo Ge delivered his news hastily.


    "Activate our men and make sure that they persuade King Xin to leave for battle at all costs!"


    Young Master Wu made his decision without hesitation.


    "Also, it would be best if Prince Pan accompanied the King!"


    Among the sons of King Xin, Prince Pan was the oldest and most outstanding. Young Master Wu considered him to be a fierce rival.


    Moreover, it would not benefit Western Zhou to have a Prince Regent running the Shang Empire in the place of King Xin.


    The best case scenario was to have both King Xin and Prince Pan set off for the battlefield, and die in battle!


    As the future lord of Western Zhou, Young Master Wu did not lack in shrewdness.


    He was like a young dragon waiting for his chance to rush up into the heavens and fulfil his destiny. That is, to become a true dragon!


    ...


    In the Shang imperial palace, Fang Yuan walked among the servants undetected. It was as if they were blind.


    "Bad omens precede the fall of a state! As the Shang empire weakens, its energy becomes weaker as well, resulting in the protective spells around the palace becoming less effective, or at least not effective enough to expose me!"


    A layer of dream elemental energy enveloped Fang Yuan as he roamed the palace freely.


    "Of course...even if the Shang empire was at its peak, its tribal energy wouldn''t be able to keep me out all the same¡­"


    Fang Yuan walked on until he came to the ancestral temple of the Shang Dynasty.


    According to the rules, the royal family was allowed to build nine ancestral temples, the feudal lord families seven temples, the other noble-ranked families five temples and so on. This was a testament to the importance of rites and hierarchy in the Shang era.


    As the hegemon, the Shang royal family was the only family allowed to build nine ancestral temples.


    Fang Yuan could feel the tribal energy of the Shang ebbing away, which was similar to the dying of the light at sunset.


    Of course, Fang Yuan only noticed because he had been looking out for it. It was also thanks to his Fiery Golden Eyes.


    If it had been other energy readers, they would only see the strictness of the law and the calling of the Black Bird[1]. To them, the Shang would still be as unshakeable as before.


    "In truth...a 500-year reign is more than respectable. The empire that I will establish in the future probably would not even last half as long as the Shang Dynasty¡­"


    Fang Yuan let out a faint sigh. He was thinking about Fang Mountain, the tribes and more.


    He extended a hand.


    "Chirp! Chirp!"


    A dark energy emerged and revolved around his palm. It took the form of a Black Bird and was strangely endearing.


    A large amount of information assailed Fang Yuan''s senses and he understood everything in a flash.


    "I see!"


    When Fang Yuan had founded the tribes and worshipped heaven and earth, he had ended up worshipping the future Tai God and Lady Nuwa. Thus, his accumulated merit had allowed him to be favoured by destiny and create the tribal energy!


    The tribal energy of the Shang Dynasty was represented by the Black Bird. The Black Bird had delivered the heavenly mandate to the Shang a long time ago and had led the people of the Shang Dynasty towards prosperity.


    Strictly speaking, the tribal energy as represented by the Black Bird had been created by Fang Yuan and his mastery of it exceeded that of the Shang Kings!


    "The fate of the Shang Dynasty has a seventy per cent reliance on heavenly will and twenty per cent on human actions. Does the final ten per cent lie with me?"


    Fang Yuan did not know what to feel about this.


    "Who goes there? How dare you trespass on the ancestral temple?"


    A figure emerged from the temple and examined Fang Yuan tentatively.


    His hair was sparse and his face was heavily wrinkled. He wore a black robe that did not cover his chest fully, revealing his skinny torso. Strings of bone beads and feathers hung all over his body and his face was covered in greenish-purple patterns.


    "Are you...a witch?"


    Fang Yuan revealed himself and looked at the Black Bird perched on his arm.


    He would not have been discovered if the tribal energy had not gathered around him.


    For this person to be able to detect changes in the tribal energy, he had to be the head priest of the Shang Dynasty, also known as the Great Witch. This person had also detected the presence of the purple energy from the beginning.


    "Ah!"


    The Great Witch fell to his knees in terror upon seeing the Black Bird on Fang Yuan''s arm.


    "Which of the old Shang Kings are you? Your Majesty!"


    The Black Bird was synonymous with the dragon aura. It was the definitive mark of the Shang King.


    Needless to say, Fang Yuan had control over the true source of the energy, pure and dense. Upon seeing this, the witch had thought that the spirit of one of the dead Shang Kings had descended upon the world once more.


    Fang Yuan was the founder of the Shang Dynasty and the Great Witch was not wrong in calling him a King.


    "My King, you are powerful and resourceful. You have managed to break through the barriers and return to the mortal realm...there is hope for the Shang Dynasty after all!"


    The Great Witch began to tear up.


    The Great Witch was keenly aware of the crisis the Shang Dynasty had fallen into. Now that Fang Yuan had appeared, the Great Witch had taken him to be one of the dead Shang Kings who had returned to save the day.


    Nevertheless, the Great Witch found it strange that Fang Yuan''s appearance did not match any of the past Shang Kings.


    There was no issue, however, thanks to the presence of the Black Bird and tribal energy. Even Shang King Xin himself would have to address Fang Yuan respectfully.


    "I¡­"


    Fang Yuan had barely opened his mouth when he suddenly sensed danger.


    ''Did more limitations come with the mastery of the Shang tribal energy?''


    Fang Yuan was silent for a moment before uttering a few words quickly.


    "The King cannot lead the army to war personally!"


    The heavenly trend dictated that the Shang Dynasty had to go to war with the Dongyi state and there was no escaping it! However, the commander of the Shang army remained subject to change.


    Whether King Xin was virtuous or foolish, his fate was sealed when he had ascended the throne. Going to the south would not change anything for him.


    It was the princes who had fighting chances!


    Fang Yuan had found the critical point when he sensed danger and did what he could to change the course of events.


    "Yes!"


    The Great Witch bowed deeply.


    "The ancestor has decreed...that the King must not lead the army into battle personally! Be rest assured that I will inform the King!"


    ''It is done!''


    Fang Yuan concealed himself again and quickly left.


    His mastery of the tribal energy, as well as everything he said or did, gave him immense pressure.


    Still, it was enough.


    The only thing that could override royal power was divine power as well as the decrees of an ancestor! Fang Yuan was certain that the Great Witch would be able to convince the Shang King successfully.


    [1]: A mythical beast said to be the ancestor of the Shang

 567 A Chance of Survival

    "The Shang King intends to stay in Shangyi and let Prince Pan lead the army to war instead?"


    A savage look came over Young Master Wu''s face upon hearing this piece of news.


    "How did things turn out this way?"


    Mo Ge broke out into a cold sweat.


    He had never seen Young Master Wu fly into a rage before and fell to his knees.


    "Please have mercy on me, Young Master. I have followed your instructions and bribed the personal attendants of the King to convince him to lead the Shang army into battle himself. The Shang King was rather determined to do so until he met with the Great Witch¡­"


    "The Great Witch?"


    Young Master Wu looked apprehensive.


    "So, it seems that...they had received a warning from the ancestral temple?"


    "My sentiments exactly, Young Master. It is a pity that the Great Witch occupies a position of prestige and a mere common attendant would never be able to meet him¡­"


    Mo Ge talked on.


    Little did he know the full extent of Young Master Wu''s worries.


    ''Father has great ambitions and now that he has received the heavenly mandate, his powers grow by the day. However, Father is not ready yet. If the Shang King decides to launch an attack on Western Zhou, we would be ruined. We''ll have to hope that they won''t deviate from their plans to invade the Dongyi state¡­.the wise and brilliant Prince Pan is a great rival of mine. Neither is the Shang King a simple man. Leaving him in charge at Shangyi will definitely lead to a whole host of problems later on!''


    ''Of course, Prince Pan poses a greater threat!''


    Young Master Wu made up his mind.


    "Take my personal token with you and request an audience with Sir Cao!"


    "The Sword Sage Sir Cao?"


    Mo Ge was taken aback. He had not expected his Young Master to be acquainted with Cao Qiu and wondered just how much did he actually know about his Young Master.


    "The imperial palace is under the protection of the Great Witch and even Cao Qiu won''t be able to break through its defences. Nevertheless, Prince Pan, as the commander of the Shang army, will have to leave the palace...Follow the Shang army to Dongyi together with Cao Qiu and bring me Prince Pan''s head!"


    Young Master Wu waved his hands as he spoke. He had a malevolent look on his face.


    "Yes, Young Master!"


    Mo Ge shuddered involuntarily. He could imagine the bloody scenes of the Shang army falling apart following the death of their commander-in-chief.


    The Western Zhou army could then march on to Shangyi and try to secure a bloodless victory.


    For now, however, Mo Ge kept his mouth shut and retreated meekly out of the room.


    ...


    "King Xin has appointed Prince Pan as the commander of a 10000-strong army and tasked him to do battle with the Dongyi?"


    Fang Yuan was reassured upon hearing this piece of news.


    "Good...it seems like altering the details bit by bit is working pretty well!"


    Fang Yuan was more than aware of what he could and could not do within the limits of the heavenly will.


    Acts like imposing direct control on the Shang King or killing the Marquis of Western Zhou would result in divine retribution!


    On the other hand, giving the Shang Dynasty cheat codes and helping them to fly up the technology tree through things like introducing gunpowder to the regime, would result in retaliatory responses from the goddess Nuwa!


    "These trump cards should only be used as last resorts. As of now, it would still be better to go with the flow!"


    Fang Yuan turned to look his two disciples.


    "If there are too many implications resulting from my direct involvement in these affairs, I run the risk of having my plans backfire on myself. I should send my disciples to act on my behalf instead!"


    "I might not be able to directly assist Prince Pan in coming up with plans and strategies, but I can supply talent to him!"


    Fang Yuan knew that this world treated aliens like himself differently from its natives. If it was the native men who acted, the heavenly will and the goddess Nuwa would not have any excuses to interfere in their affairs.


    "What I can do now is to observe the proceedings and strengthen my powers!"


    Fang Yuan waved a hand. A sword of fire and a sword of water materialised.


    By focusing on his own recovery for the past few days, Fang Yuan had managed to create another divine sword. He was also beginning to realise that the Creation Sword Array was many times more powerful than the 9 Gates Sword Array!


    Besides, the divine swords were sentient and could attack of their own free will!


    "This is how it feels like to have gone past the 4th Tier of the Illusionary Divine Stage...I had not expected an Illusionary Divine dream master to become more powerful after having his foundations recast!"


    Fang Yuan reflected on what he had learnt.


    Now, by purely using dream elemental energy for his recuperation, Fang Yuan realised that the two swords had already attained a level of power that was at the 4th Tier of the Illusionary Divine stage!


    "What kind of power would I be looking at if I went on to the 7th Tier of the Illusionary Divine stage?"


    Fang Yuan felt a fire burning in his heart. He called his two disciples over.


    "Hei Zhong, Ge Nie!"


    "Yes, master!"


    The two men bowed and gazed at Fang Yuan''s handiwork with admiration.


    Fang Yuan manipulated the swords through the air. It was magical.


    "The both of you have become rather proficient in the Great Yin Technique. I will impart a chant to each of you, which will allow you to control these divine swords. Prince Pan is leading the Shang army eastwards. Go join his ranks!"


    Fang Yuan muttered a few words that he made up on the spot and passed them off as the chants that would control the swords. In truth, he had only needed to change the user permissions for the swords. He passed the sword of fire to Hei Zhong and the sword of water to Ge Nie.


    "Your mission will be to assist the Shang Dynasty in its endeavours and accumulate good karma. This will be very useful to your cultivation!"


    "Yes, master!"


    Ge Nie and Hei Zhong received their swords. They were slightly confused but bowed in acknowledgement to Fang Yuan''s words all the same.


    "Swish!"


    The light shining from the swords dimmed when they fell into Ge Nie''s and Hei Zhong''s hands. Nevertheless, a cold aura emanating from them. They were indeed divine in nature.


    The art of the Illusionary Divine was based on creating real objects from illusions. The swords of fire and water that Fang Yuan had created were very real and would last for hundreds of thousands of years.


    Of course, it did not matter even if the swords got damaged. The core of their being remained within Fang Yuan''s dream world and they could always be recast.


    Fang Yuan''s mind shared a mental link with the consciousness of the swords. This made it easy for him to manipulate his two disciples and allowed him to constantly adapt his plans to the changing circumstances.


    Nonetheless, there was no need to tell his two disciples these things.


    "...Hei Zhong and Ge Nie are skilled and brave warriors, but they are not exceptional thinkers...they know how to fight but what I need now is someone who can plan and come up with strategies!"


    After Fang Yuan had sent his two disciples away, he went on an aimless stroll around Shangyi with his foxes.


    Ever since he had regained part of his dream master abilities, the arrest warrant placed on his head had become something of a joke.


    "Prince Pan may have replaced the King in leading the army, but the danger remains. I need a backup plan!"


    Fang Yuan muttered under his breath.


    "The energy in the form of the Black Bird may have become misshapen, but it still has a chance of survival...this corresponds with my memories of civilisation in the previous world that I was in!"


    Although the Ancient One was a sly fellow and had fused his own destiny with that of Western Zhou, Fang Yuan still had the upper hand.


    This was because the Ancient One did retain the memories of the previous world that they were in and would have no idea about the progression of the general trend!


    "From what I remember about this history of the previous world, King Wu of Zhou took the opportunity to invade the Shang capital. The Shang King, taken by surprise, was eventually defeated and committed suicide. Thus, Western Zhou officially received the heavenly mandate and lorded over the world!"


    "This world had obviously been affected by the radiation from a high-dimensional civilisation, which explains the many similarities in its history! Even with the interference of the dream masters and the butterfly effects, the course of events would remain largely unchanged!"


    Perhaps it was because the extent radiation was different, which might account for the difference in the historical timelines of the two worlds. This would give Fang Yuan the chance to reflect and revise.


    "However, this war between Shang and Western Zhou did not result in an eternal victory for the Ji family[1]...in the history of the previous world, Zhou eventually declined, giving way to the Spring and Autumn era. Later, the Qin King Ying Zheng, a descendant of the Black Bird and a scion of the Shang, achieved reunification and became Emperor. The ancestor of the Qin monarchs is...Fei Lian?"


    Prince Pan was destined to fail and there was no way to avoid it. However, the bloodline of the Black Bird remained unbroken and even managed to establish a regime that achieved the reunification of the world! The descendants of the Black Bird were the final victors!


    After that, the glory of these semi-legendary clans disintegrated and gave way to the rise of mortal men.


    "The last chance of survival of the Shang lies here!"


    Fang Yuan was quiet for a moment.


    Fang Yuan planned to use the destiny of the Qin to boost the destiny of the Shang. This would shake the foundations of the general trend and yet not break any the rules.


    Fang Yuan arrived before a house and dropped his disguise.


    "The aura of the Black Bird is failing and the Shang families are suffering. This house might be in a poor state but upon closer inspection, I sense its budding potential! This must be it!"


    Fang Yuan entered the yard and saw that two strapping men were packing up some armour and weapons. There were slaves arming themselves as well. They were obviously preparing to follow Prince Pan into war.


    They were all startled when they saw Fang Yuan enter through the door.


    "Who are you?"


    The strapping young man roared and raised the bronze hammer that he was holding. The hammer looked like it weighed more than a hundred pounds and yet he waved it about like it was a toy.


    Fang Yuan had read about a certain Lian and his son, Er[2] from the classics in the previous world. These names suddenly came to his mind.


    Fang Yuan stared at him. A light flashed across his eyes.


    "Who are you?"


    "I am the son of Gentleman Lian, Er!


    Er brandished his hammer.


    "You are...Jie?" The swordsman who had defeated Sir Cao and is now wanted by the King? Why are you here?"


    ''Indeed, it is the two of you!''


    Fang Yuan was relieved. He knew that father and son were both generals of the Shang Dynasty and were about to set off for war.


    It was a pity that both of them would lose their lives in the Battle of Muye[3], according to Fang Yuan''s knowledge of the previous world''s history.


    After all, the Shang Dynasty was destined to fall.


    The next few generations of this family would lead difficult lives as horse breeders in the employment of the Zhou Kings. However, one of these horse breeders would finally be awarded the small fief of Qin, which would one day blossom into the Qin empire.


    "That''s right!"


    Fang Yuan nodded with a smile.


    "So what...are you going to haul me to the King and claim your reward?"


    "Er, wait!"


    A large middle-aged man stepped out.


    "You may leave...I, Lian, hold heroes in high regard. You are a Shang citizen like me. I hope that you will never antagonise the Shang again!"


    "Hehe¡­"


    Fang Yuan shook his head and looked towards the houses. A few little faces peeked out from the windows but quickly withdrew following admonishment from a woman.


    "I have brought a little gift for you all!"


    Fang Yuan nodded as he stretched out his hand and invoked the tribal energy of the Black Bird. The energy drifted and shifted before it diffused into the heads of Lian and his family members.


    ''I have no use for the tribal energy of the Shang and might as well give it away! Besides, if this doesn''t work, I could preserve my elemental energy and bide my time.''


    ___________


    [1]: Royal surname of the Zhou Dynasty


    [2]: The correct pinyin for this character''s name is supposed to be ''E'' but we changed it to ''Er'' to make it less strange


    {3}: The Final battle between the Shang and Zhou, which led to the Shang being replaced by the Zhou

 568 Breakthrough

    After giving away the tribal energy of the Black Bird, Fang Yuan felt as light as a feather. It was as if he had removed an entire layer of chains from his body. He had a vague feeling that he had experienced another breakthrough in his cultivation.


    "Does this feeling have anything to do with my bloodline?"


    Fang Yuan suddenly understood.


    "What did you...do to us?"


    Er and Lian were both shocked. Although they were mortal and could not see the tribal energy of the Shang, it was obvious that this Fang Yuan had done something to them.


    "Er...would you be willing to become my disciple?"


    Fang Yuan''s eyes shone with a strange light and asked his question suddenly.


    "Kaboom!"


    As Fang Yuan was speaking, his body began to sizzle. The wind blew his shirt up to reveal his toned physique.


    This was a sign that his Ultimate Witch Body was fully developed! If Fang Yuan had not deliberately suppressed its development, who knew how far ahead he could have been.


    Nevertheless, the aura that he gave off was extremely potent.


    Er was astounded. He felt like he was dealing with a huge beast and could not help but fall to his knees.


    "I would!"


    "Good!"


    Fang Yuan nodded and squeezed out a drop of blood from his fingernail. With a flick of his fingers, the drop of blood entered Er''s body.


    "Ah!"


    Er screamed and dropped to the ground. His whole body was now covered in blood.


    "Jie...you¡­"


    Gentleman Jiu was horrified and rushed forward but he faced unexpected resistance from a strong force.


    "Father... don''t worry about me. I''m fine!"


    After a short time, Er got to his feet and examined his hands with an incredulous look on his face.


    He had been a large man to begin with but now, he had grown taller by an entire head. His muscles bulged and had a golden sheen.


    "You were born with an uncommon strength and are suited for the cultivation of witch dao. I have given you a drop of witch blood, which has altered your physical form. From today onwards, your body will be impervious to weapons and the elements. You will also unlock several divine techniques¡­"


    Fang Yuan said matter-of-factly.


    "Thank you, Teacher!"


    Er bowed down to Fang Yuan immediately. Even Lian looked delighted. After all, the battlefield was an extremely dangerous place to be! There was no saying if he would survive the war with the Dongyi but he was comforted to know that Er would.


    "I''m leaving. Don''t tell anyone about what you have seen today...you will get through the war with the Dongyi safely but a tribulation awaits you in the future. I will look for you when the time comes¡­"


    Fang Yuan walked away after saying his piece, leaving Er and Lian behind with their unanswered questions.


    ...


    "I''ve fulfilled the requirements for the divine body?"


    After leaving the yard, Fang Yuan fled from Shangyi into the wilderness.


    "Kaboom!"


    Fang Yuan could no longer conceal the suppressed witch aura and let it shoot up into the skies. The clouds disintegrated and vaguely revealed the outlines of 12 savage and huge figures.


    "Name: Fang Yuan


    Essence: 100 (100)


    Spirit: 100 (100)


    Magic: 60 (100)


    Profession: Dream Master


    Cultivation: Illusionary Divine (2nd Tier), True Divine


    Technique: Ultimate Witch Body (100%), Creation Sword Array [Second Sword (100%)]


    Skill: [Medicine (Level 3)], [Botany (Level 6)(Peak)], [Fiery Golden Eyes (Level 3)], [Body Seal (Ultimate form)]"


    "I''ve regained my True Divine abilities!?"


    Fang Yuan glanced at his stats board.


    "Also...my mastery of the Fiery Golden Eyes divine technique has increased by one level?"


    This meant that his observational skills had become more powerful. These skills, when fully developed, would give him insight into the past and future as well as allow him to see the three worlds: the heavens, the human world and the netherworld.


    Fang Yuan had not yet attained these abilities but through the Fiery Golden Eyes, he sensed that something was watching him.


    It was prying at his bloodline and Fang Yuan traced its source to a deity.


    "The War God...Chi?"


    Although the two gods of heaven and earth made up the orthodox faith, the barbarian peoples prayed to lesser deities and devils as well, including Chi.


    Fang Yuan had sensed a supernatural force that was weirder in nature than Nuwa''s power.


    "Such a fast reaction...it must have detected the witch blood flowing through my veins. A pity¡­ that the Chi of today is entirely different from the Chi of his newly ascendant days."


    Fang Guan was not afraid of Chi at all.


    Chi''s powers were also limited by god dao and were much weaker than Nuwu in terms of strength. Fang Yuan had nothing to fear.


    The presence was merely spying and left immediately upon Fang Yuan''s detection of it. It was very decisive.


    Through the Fiery Golden Eyes, Fang Yuan had discovered that there was something more powerful looking at him. Its gaze penetrated the clouds and fell strongly on Fang Yuan. Fang Yuan quickly flew away.


    ''Strictly speaking, although it was through the killing of Xing that I acquired the blood of the witches, I am the only one who can inherit the legacy of the witches. Even the War God Chi would not allow me to die unless he wants to witness the extinction of the witch race!"


    The deities of the god dao, like those of the heavenly dao, had rules to follow.


    Take the Ancient One for example. Before the Tai God undergoes anthropomorphisation, the Ancient One would not be despised or ostracised by virtue of the abandonment of his own body in order to enter the Ancient World. He had even taken a gamble on Western Zhou''s destiny and fused his own destiny to the state''s.


    It was because he had seen the limits of the heavenly will!


    ''Besides, even when the heavenly will of the Ancient World becomes personified, it probably would not do anything to the Ancient One. Although the Ancient One had stolen some energy from its source, he had more than repaid this debt by giving himself up to the Ancient World...even if he ever becomes a Sage again, he would be a Sage of the Ancient World, subject to regulation by the heavenly dao!''


    The Sages of the Da Qian World and the Ancient World were different deals.


    The Ancient One was now a child of the Ancient World and would be treated well. He had been forgiven for his past transgressions.


    "What a pity. Although I am a True Divine, the Ancient One has attained the status of True Elemental and is about as powerful as I am. He is also under the protection of the Ancient World and even if I become a higher being, I still wouldn''t be able to deal with him!"


    Fang Yuan''s mood darkened whenever he thought about the Ancient One.


    Fang Yuan had only been a higher being at his peak. The goddess Nuwa was a Sage! Similar to the five great Sages of the dream masters, who had never fallen off the altar before! Fang Yuan was no match for her!


    Thus, Fang Yuan chose to retreat when he sensed Nuwa''s presence.


    "Nuwa seems to be on the side of Western Zhou and can be considered an ally of the Ancient One...I cannot challenge her directly!"


    Fang Yuan had not broken through to the Sage state yet. Challenging Nuwa would be suicide.


    Nevertheless, the more powerful the deity, the more they were bound by the rules of the heavenly dao. Thus, Fang Yuan still had quite a lot to work with and was free to test the limits of the heavenly will.


    At that point, Fang Yuan would attempt to replace the commander-in-chief of the Shang army and support the line of the Qin monarchs for the sake of the future.


    "Dongyi...Jiuxiong¡­"


    Fang Yuan gathered his spiritual aura about him and disappeared beyond the horizon with his eyes twinkling.


    "Perhaps...it is time that I meet with the War God¡­"


    ...


    "Buzz!"


    The mountain winds blew on for a long time. Suddenly, there was a moment of turbulence in the void, followed by the materialisation of a beautiful woman with the tail of a snake.


    "A higher being has achieved a breakthrough over here ¡­"


    Nuwa said with certainty.


    "Also...I sense Chi''s spiritual aura! Are you still unable to let go of the glorious memories of the witches?"


    Nuwa sighed and stared into the void.


    As a god, she had to detach herself from worldly affairs. Beings like her and Chi had no physical form to speak of and were the manifestation of the faith of humans. As a result, they faced restrictions on their behaviour.


    Nevertheless, Nuwa was worshipped all over the world and was the national religion. She had powers that were at the level of the Sage state.


    Chi, on the contrary, was doing badly. He was only being worshipped by a few tribes in the wilderness and was barely able to maintain his powers at the 7th Tier of the Illusionary Divine stage.


    Fang Yuan did not see Chi as a threat at all.


    "I know that you were very indignant about the destruction of the Jiuli tribe...however, there was nothing that anyone could have done if the heavenly will favoured the rise of the Shang."


    Nuwa thought she had heard a reply and went on with a sweet and serene voice.


    "Was that one of your descendants? I thought I smelt witch blood...a pity that the heavenly will has decreed that the Zhou will replace the Shang. Even if you are a god, you are powerless to alter this course!"


    Nuwa spoke solemnly.


    "I don''t want...to see the fall of my own kind again!"


    "Swish!"


    As if in reply to her words, dark red flames flared up in the void and died down just as quickly.


    Nuwa could feel Chi''s spiritual aura leaving into the distance until it disappeared entirely.


    "He''s gone¡­"


    Nuwa closed her eyes and interacted with the information in the void until she received a confirmation.


    Later, she stared up at the iridescence of the clouds with a helpless look on her face.


    "A descendant of the witches has managed to achieve a breakthrough at this time. Is the world going to be plunged into chaos?"


    Nuwa did not have a good feeling about the emergence of this person with the bloodline of the witches.


    However, this person was moving about carefully and covertly. He had managed to remain mostly undetected and there were barely any traces of his activities. Nuwa did not know what to make of this.


    Even if she had found him, she would not be able to act against him explicitly, like how she was not able to do anything about the annoying Purple Phoenix!


    Although she was well aware that the Purple Phoenix was a troublesome creature, it had fused its fate with that of Western Zhou. This greatly worried Nuwa.


    "Although it was heaven''s will that the Phoenix appeared over Qi Mountain, the Five Elements Purple Phoenix was supposed to play only a minor role!"


    Nuwa looked in the direction of Western Zhou.


    "Judging from the gamble that the Phoenix took, I''m sure that it has a big secret... it''s a pity that I can''t do anything about it!"


    "Hoot! Hoot!"


    The gates of Shangyi opened and an army of men in black uniforms streamed out. The host numbered in the thousands and looked vast and mighty.


    "The Shang army is setting off?"


    Nuwa flew up into the clouds to get a better view of the Shang army.


    "The Shang King isn''t at the head of the army. It''s Prince Pan instead. Also¡­"


    Nuwa could see that the Shang army had a stable aura. It was also being protected by the aura of two swords and two star-like presences.


    "According to the heavenly will, this will be one of the last battles that the Shang can win...still, why do I feel so uneasy about this!"


    As Nuwa watched the procession, she could not help but frown slightly.

 569 Negotiation

    Hei Zhong and Ge Nie carried their swords and observed the commanders'' meeting in progress coldly.


    They had both undergone Fang Yuan''s training programme and had become formidable warriors. Prince Pan had received them into his camp unhesitatingly and held them in high regard. They were even allowed to attend meetings at the highest level.


    Although they only had observer status in these meetings, many of the other officials envied them greatly.


    "The Dongyi alliance is being led by the Jiuli Division. Their fighters have unruly shocks of hair and painted faces. They are armed with bronze and are extremely ferocious in battle...the Jiuxiong is the largest among the Dongyi tribes and has contributed 30000 men to their war effort. Their leader has declared himself the King of Dongyi and Lord of the Tribes¡­"


    "The Dongyi army, numbering 80000, has crossed into Shang lands and has taken the two cities of Hui and Ye, where they have conducted massacres."


    "Our army has reached Huaishui. We will face the enemy in 3 days!"


    ...


    Prince Pan looked magnificent in his role as commander-in-chief.


    "Good! The Shang army is powerful and organised. The enemy soldiers must have become ill-disciplined after all the plundering and pillaging. All we need to do is to stick to our battle plan and we will defeat them in a head-to-head clash!"


    Many of the nobles nodded in agreement with Prince Pan''s words.


    The Shang Dynasty was definitely more powerful than the Dongyi alliance and there was no way that they would lose as long as they avoided risky manoeuvres.


    Even Hei Zhong and Ge Nie were impressed with the Shang''s orthodox battle strategy. It was simple and straightforward, yet effective and efficient.


    "While setting up camp, we have to make sure that the basics are covered and that the men are spread out...also, arrange for guard duty to be done throughout the night so that we can prevent ourselves from being caught unawares by the enemy!"


    Prince Pan had obviously done his homework beforehand and was explaining his ideas in detail. With assistance from the other officials, a comprehensive plan was drawn out in no time.


    "With Prince Pan in charge, a victory for the Shang army is more or less guaranteed...what was Master even worried about?"


    Ge Nie pondered as the discussion went on. Suddenly, he furrowed his brows.


    "Ding Ring Ring!"


    The blue sword in his arms let out a ring and startled everyone present.


    "There is someone here!"


    Ge Nie threw out his sword immediately.


    "Swish!"


    The chilling aura of the sword drilled into the ground and unleashed a fountain of blood.


    "Bump!"


    A human head flew out from beneath the ground and landed on the floor. Prince Pan and the other officials were shocked.


    "An assassin!"


    "Mister Ge Nie is unparalleled in swordplay. There is no one who can rival your skill in the immediate vicinity!"


    The faces of the officials had all turned pale. When they had all calmed down, they lavished Ge Nie with praise and were intent on naming him the best swordsman in the whole of the Shang empire.


    They did not know that Ge Nie was confused himself as he sheathed his sword.


    Ge Nie was very sure that he had not thrust out the sword of his own volition. The sword seemed to have a will of its own and had discovered the assassin by itself!


    ''Is this what Master means by the difference between ''the man wielding the sword'' and ''the sword wielding the man''?"


    Ge Nie reflected silently.


    "This must have been a Dongyi assassin!"


    One of the officials examined the black tattoos on the decapitated head and came to a conclusion.


    Hei Zhong and Ge Nie shared a solemn look.


    Although the dead man had been from Dongyi, this burrowing technique was extremely rare and seemed to have been deliberately utilised.


    ...


    Although Prince Pan was unharmed by the assassination attempt, the security of the entire army camp was on high alert.


    On the next day, the frontlines of the Shang army finally clashed with the Dongyi army.


    Plumes of black smoke rose from the small city lying in front of them. The air was thick with the smell of blood and fire. Screams and crying sounds were coming from the direction of the city.


    "Damn it! We were too late!"


    Gentleman Lian was now the commander of over a thousand men. He gritted his teeth as he saw the burning city lying ahead of them.


    "We will continue to advance and slaughter every Dongyi man in our path!"


    "Yes, sir!"


    The Shang host moved forward slowly and before long, an entire company of Dongyi soldiers rushed out from the city gates. They wore animals skins and had savage looks on their faces. They had tattoos all over their bodies and wielded a multitude of weapons. They were bloodthirsty wild beasts.


    "How dare you barbarians invade our country and massacre our people! We will butcher you for this!"


    Lian roared as hundreds of Dongyi soldiers rushed towards them.


    "Attack!"


    Lian was more rational than the Dongyi soldiers and did not let his rage get the better of him. For starters, he ordered his archers to fire a wave of arrows.


    "Swoosh! Swoosh!"


    Blood spilt everywhere among the ranks of the Dongyi soldiers as they fell to the ground with arrows sticking out of their bodies. The attack sobered them up as they realised that the Shang soldiers were different from the peasants they were so used to slaughtering.


    "Foot soldiers, forward!"


    Er led the charge and brandished his bronze hammer menacingly after the order was given.


    He could feel the divine power surging through his veins as he brought the wrath of the bronze hammer upon the Dongyi soldiers in a whirlwind, leaving broken bodies in his wake.


    "Haha!"


    Er let out a booming laugh as the Dongyi slashed his body with their bronze swords. He did not bother to defend himself as the blows ricocheted off his body harmlessly.


    "This is the kind of fight that I was looking for!"


    Er cackled as he ground the Dongyi soldier in front of him into a meat paste with his hammer.


    This unfortunate fellow seemed to have been the leader of this Dongyi unit, for the surviving Dongyi soldiers ran screaming back to the city upon his death.


    "This city is newly taken and the Dongyi units probably wouldn''t have had the time to resemble yet...I smell a great opportunity!"


    Lian''s eyes shone.


    "Chase them into the city and exterminate the Dongyi men!"


    "Kill! Kill! Kill!"


    Er understood his father''s intention. He was virtually invincible and could easily pass off as a demon lord. He chased the Dongyi soldiers all the way into the city and destroyed the collective composure that they had tried so hard to maintain.


    "Although the Dongyi soldiers beat our frontline soldiers in terms of numbers, they are motivated only by weapons, treasure and women. Just how powerful could they be?"


    Lian rushed into the city after these soldiers and put them to the sword!


    Lian was right. The Dongyi army was ill-disciplined to begin with and had become ungovernable after taking the city. There were Dongyi soldiers dressed in silk and others were carrying women and valuables. They crumbled in the face of the organised Shang army.


    By dusk, a flag embossed with a picture of the Black Bird hung from the city walls. The fires had been put out as well.


    "Father!"


    Er waved his arms excitedly.


    "Each of us here can fight ten Dongyi soldiers and together, we can destroy a 10000-strong unit! When we finally defeat the Dongyi army and reclaim our cities, you will be greatly rewarded for your efforts, Father!"


    "Hehe...my son, the commander-in-chief will decide who he wants to reward. It isn''t up to you!"


    Lian laughed in reply. He was in good spirits. Still, he noticed the torn and tattered appearance of Er''s clothes, caused by the swords and axes of the Dongyi soldiers, and frowned.


    "My son, you must be careful!"


    "Don''t worry, I have the powers imparted to me by Teacher and am untouchable. No one will be able to kill me in the whole wide world!"


    Er laughed madly, He was a reckless fellow alright.


    "Sigh¡­"


    Lian exhaled helplessly.


    ...


    "The Dongyi army has lost in the head on clash with the Shang army?"


    The news had spread and reached Mo Ge''s ears. He squatted in a cave with a severe look on his face.


    "No way! I can''t let the Shang army continue to enjoy success!"


    Mo Ge knew what his Young Master wanted.


    The Shang army was allowed to win, but it had to come at a great cost. It would be even better if the Shang army suffered serious losses, including the death of Prince Pan.


    However, it seemed like the Shang army had achieved this victory with barely any difficulty. This made Mo Ge extremely worried.


    "The assassin we sent had gotten killed before he had even achieved anything at all. Sneaking him into the Shang camp was a waste of my efforts!"


    Mo Ge got to his feet and exited the cave. He surveyed the Shang camp from afar.


    The layout of the Shang army camp was well organised and it looked as unassailable as the mountains. Mo Ge felt a chill in his heart and bowed to the man standing beside him.


    "I''ll have to trouble you to help us, Sword Sage!"


    This man had eyes that were bright like the stars and he carried an ancient sword in his hand. It was indeed the Sword Sage Cao Qiu!


    A light flashed across his eyes as he listened to Mo Ge.


    "I owe the Marquis of Western Zhou a great deal and will help him...but this will be the last time!"


    A man like him would never allow himself to be controlled like a puppet in the long term.


    "Of course...according to Young Master Wu, as long as you fetch him Prince Pan''s head, he will write off all of your debts!"


    "Fine!"


    Cao Qiu was silent for a long while before he spoke again.


    "However...you must come along with me!"


    "Of course!"


    Mo Ge gritted his teeth and agreed.


    Although he was well-versed in the Five Elements Escape Technique, breaking into the Shang army camp was no easy feat.


    Nevertheless, he had to say yes so as to increase the chances of success and to put Cao Qiu''s mind at ease.


    ''Considering how highly-skilled the Sword Sage is, as long as I manage to sneak him into the commander''s tent, Prince Pan will be dead meat.''


    Mo Ge gave himself some encouragement.


    As for how Cao Qiu was going to escape after he had killed the Prince, and how his disciples would have to deal with retaliation from the Shang Dynasty, Mo Ge did not care.


    ...


    It was not going to be a peaceful night.


    Just as when Mo Ge and Cao Qiu were preparing to strike, Fang Yuan had arrived at the frontlines to meet with someone.


    Not a person, but...a god!


    Although this was a normal forest that Fang Yuan was in, everything around him changed when the god descended.


    Fang Yuan found himself standing in the middle of a battlefield where he could hear the clanging of weapons and the screams of horses. The smell of blood filled the air.


    A large and formidable-looking warrior let out a roar as he clashed with enemy soldiers.


    "This is...a flashback of the war between the witches and the Xia people!"


    Fang Yuan seemed to understand as he saw how witch blood was being spilt on the battlefield and let out a cold laugh.


    "Are you still unable to let this go, my lord?"


    "Buzz! Buzz!"


    In a split second, flower petals fell from the skies and golden lotuses erupted from the ground.


    The battlefield had disappeared around Fang Yuan. All that was left was the materialisation of a human figure from the falling light.


    Fang Yuan had seen the true form of the War God Chi, but never his human form.


    A middle-aged man wearing golden armour stood in the distance. He had strong features on his face and a charismatic air about him. His eyes shone brightly as he looked over at Fang Yuan.

 570 Assassination

    "You are not from this world!"


    This was the first thing that the War God Chi said to Fang Yuan upon seeing him.


    "So what? This world has accepted me all the same! Just like how it had accepted the Five Elements Purple Phoenix!"


    In fact, this world probably held the Ancient One in higher regard. After all, the world would want to invest its efforts in someone that it expected to become a future Sage!


    "It is true that you are the founding ancestor of the Shang Dynasty. If it had been hundreds of years ago, the prestige of your status might have exceeded mine!"


    Chi replied in a calm voice.


    "Hmm?"


    His attitude made Fang Yuan speechless


    "You are not the real War God!"


    "I am the War God, but at the same time I am not the War God!"


    Chi smiled. It was incredible.


    After all, Chi was the manifestation of the collective resentment of the witch race! He was the agglomeration of all the hatred in the world!


    Nevertheless, Fang Yuan had understood immediately!


    The real Chi had been defeated and perished during the ascendancy of the Xia Dynasty. The entity that had been summoned during the final battle of the Xia Dynasty was but a remnant of his soul, and even that had been destroyed.


    The War God Chi standing before Fang Yuan right now was not the original Chi. He was a new god that had been created by the power of faith!


    Although he looked similar to Chi and even possessed some of Chi''s memories and personality traits, it would be more accurate to refer to him as simply the War God.


    This was the horror of god dao!


    It was subtly everchanging!


    The current War God Chi might possess some of the original Chi''s memories, but he was definitely not the former leader of the witch race!


    "This isn''t right..."


    Fang Yuan''s eyes flashed with a golden light as he steadied his gaze on the War God Chi''s body, where terrible dark red flames burned on.


    "Although most of your body is condensed from the faith of humans, it still contains traces of the witch race''s resentment. These traces must be dispelled!"


    Fang Yuan smirked confidently


    "This is probably why you had been paying attention to me and promptly appeared when I summoned you, am I right?"


    "Exactly!"


    Chi nodded and the dark red flames that had previously been obscured by the golden light instantly spread all over his body, giving him the appearance of a ferocious demon. Fang Yuan thought he could hear the angry screams of the witches.


    The witch race was the indigenous people of the Ancient World and saw themselves as the most important entity in the world. However, they constantly faced suppression from the dream masters and eventually had their legacy die out. This was the reason for their eternal hatred.


    These were the chains that bound Chi! He had to break free from them before he could ascend to a higher plane!


    "At our level, we shall dispense with the falsities ...the witch race has already bowed out from the stage of history and will never rise again! However, I can ensure that the bloodline lives on!"


    Fang Yuan waved his hand and a strange light appeared. Lying within it was Er''s image.


    "This person has received the blood of the witches from me and is now a member of the witch race. If he manages to start a family, the blood of the witches will be passed down through the generations. What do you think about this?"


    "It''s a pity that this person won''t live for long. Also, he will probably die childless!"


    Fortune-telling was one of Chi''s divine abilities.


    ''Of course, if I get you a virile fellow destined for a good life, where would that leave me? ''


    Fang Yuan rolled his eyes internally.


    "If nothing goes wrong, heaven''s will dictates that this man must die!"


    Chi looked at Fang Yuan unhappily.


    "With your abilities, along with my assistance, we would definitely be able to alter the fate of a mere mortal!"


    Fang Yuan smiled and spared no effort in trying to convince Chi


    "Besides...can you feel it too? The descendants of this person will one day receive the heavenly mandate and establish a dynasty of their own! If his descendants managed to achieve that, wouldn''t it fulfil your wishes?"


    At that point, the War God Chi''s two greatest desires were for the witch race to rule the world as well as revenge on his enemies!


    Once the descendants of Er mounted the throne, it would be half the battle won for Chi.


    "Going against the heavenly will would be hard! Hard! Hard!"


    The War God Chi thought for a moment and sighed while shaking his head.


    "Only Western Zhou stands in our way... also, don''t you recognise who the Five Elements Purple Phoenix truly is?"


    The first time the Ancient One harvested the world, he rose to power by defeating the witch race. At that time, the War God Chi was still in power!


    "Or... could it be that you don''t mind this person regaining his Sage status and become as powerful as the goddess Nuwa? As long as we join forces, we won''t even have to resist the heavenly will too much. All we have to do is to prevent Western Zhou from taking over the lordship of the world, and you will get the chance to take revenge!"


    Fang Yuan chuckled.


    "Whether we become enemies or allies depends on your decision!"


    "Whoosh!"


    The dark red flames on Chi''s body rose higher. "I did not dare to hope for this but it has always been my wish!"


    In other words, Chi was agreeable to joining forces with Fang Yuan. In fact, he had no reason to refuse this alliance.


    "Good!"


    Fang Yuan was overjoyed. He knew that although Chi did not have many devotees in the Central Plains, the barbarian tribes worshipped him with a zeal. This included the Dongyi tribes!


    With Chi''s involvement, the Shang Dynasty''s chances of victory would increase by 30 per cent.


    "While my priest and shaman enjoy some prestige among the Dongyi tribes, there is someone that we need to kill in order to fulfil your ambitions!"


    Chi spoke as though it was an ant they had to kill.


    "Is it the self-declared King of Dongyi, the leader of the Jiuxiong Division?"


    Fang Yuan immediately knew who Chi was talking about.


    "That''s right! This person is under the protection of the goddess Nuwa and I will incur her wrath if I touch him. The clash of kings must be self-determined by these kings!"


    Chi revealed something else.


    "If both divine parties do not interfere in these mortal affairs...the Shang Dynasty would definitely win!"


    Fang Yuan was very confident about this and he had found out another secret.


    The War God Chi was Fang Yuan''s natural ally. Not only was he the only one who could ensure the propagation of pure witch blood, but he was also very interested in taking revenge on the Ancient One.


    The source of enmity between the War God Chi and the goddess Nuwa lay in Nuwa''s involvement in Dongyi affairs.


    Any deity would have been offended if another deity encroached on their area of influence.


    Although the goddess Nuwa was extremely powerful, her intervention in Dongyi affairs was making Chi wary of her.


    "Alright!"


    The red fire on the War God Chi''s body was suddenly extinguished and he assumed the appearance of a heroic middle-aged man once more. With a wave of his hand, he sent a brilliant golden ray of light towards the Shang army camp.


    "Prince Pan will be going through a tribulation any moment now. Whether he can overcome it will depend on what you can do!"


    Chi stared hard at Fang Yuan for a moment before disappearing into thin air.


    The battlefield surrounding Fang Yuan suddenly fell apart and was replaced by the silent forest from before. It was like everything that had transpired was merely an illusion.


    Still, Fang Yuan was more than aware that it had all been real.


    The creation of the third divine sword in the real dream world was a key indicator.


    Through the mental connection that he shared with the swords of fire and water, he could see the drama taking place in the Shang camp at that very moment.


    ...


    "Great, Gentleman Lian has done very well in crushing the front lines of the Dongyi army! Er, who led the charge, has done well too!"


    The tent had become a lively place.


    Prince Pan raised his wine vessel and offered a toast.


    "Gentleman Lian, I will recommend a promotion for you to the King when we return!"


    "Thank you, my Prince!"


    Lian drained his wine vessel with a look of elation on his face.


    He was already a gentleman-bureaucrat of the first class. A promotion of one grade would make him a gentleman-minister, a member of the upper nobility.


    A feudal lordship was just above the rank of gentleman-minister. They no longer just owned townships and farmlands, but feudal states. "Gentleman Lian, drink up!"


    The revelry in the atmosphere had reached its peak. Hei Zhong and Ge Nie stood by in a corner and watched on coldly.


    Suddenly, the two swords of water and fire let out a reverberating sound and flew out of their arms. The two men were alarmed.


    "Sizzle!"


    The two swords of water and fire released auras that interacted with each other like Yin and Yang before they shot out of the tent.


    "Bang!"


    The tent had been torn apart. As the tattered pieces of cloth floated about in the air, a figure holding a sword slowly approached.


    "Who intends to kill me?"


    Prince Pan held his wine vessel with a steady hand and looked at the approaching man with interest.


    Prince Pan had been used to becoming master over life and death and commanding thousands of soldiers. Thus, he exuded an effortless majesty.


    Still, his pupils constricted when he saw who it was.


    "It''s you! The Sword Sage Cao Qiu!"


    "Greetings to you, my Prince!"


    Cao Qiu walked into what was left of the tent slowly and brandished his ancient sword. The surrounding warriors immediately screamed and flew backwards. Their suits of armour cracked and burst open, discharging torrents of blood from their bodies.


    "Crack!"


    The faces of the nobles remaining in the tent had turned pale and they dropped their wine vessels to the floor.


    The power of this person and his sword was enough to take down an entire army!


    "Sword Sage Cao Qiu...you actually dared to barge into this camp and make an attempt on our Prince''s life?"


    A courageous gentleman-bureaucrat stood up and spoke.


    "Are you not afraid of the Shang Dynasty destroying your school of swordsmanship? Spare a thought for your disciples in Shangyi..."


    "Swish!"


    Cao Qiu barely glanced at the speaker and thrust out his sword.


    The gentleman-bureaucrat shuddered as the wound on his forehead pooled with blood and fell face-down onto the floor.


    "Boom!"


    The whole banquet descended into chaos as the officials gazed fearfully at this demon-like figure.


    "I don''t think the Dongyi tribes have anything to offer you. Do you serve someone from Western Zhou?"


    Prince Pan adjusted his clothing and spoke in a calm voice.


    "Well... as the saying goes, a gentleman meets his doom with nonchalance. Prince Pan, you are an extraordinary person indeed!"


    Cao Qiu nodded.


    "Unfortunately...do forgive me for not being able to reveal who my employer is!"


    "How dare you!"


    Er roared as he lifted the wine table and hurled it towards Cao Qiu.


    Cao Qiu waved his sword casually and cut the table into pieces. A metallic sound rang out as Er flew backwards and his clothes split open.


    "Huh?"


    Cao Qiu looked at the reckless Er with surprise. Nevertheless, he strode towards Prince Pan purposefully.


    "Halt!"


    Hei Zhong and Ge Nie stepped forward with their swords of water and fire in hand.


    "Are you two going to stop me?"


    Cao Qiu glared at them and shook his head.


    "If your Master was here, I would probably leave immediately. However, with the likes of you two..."


    "All talk!"


    Ge Nie and Hei Zhong brandished their swords of water and fire furiously.


    "Swoosh!"


    The swords danced about and utilised the combined strength of fire and water to form a sword array that enveloped them.


    "Hmm?"


    Cao Qiu''s face changed.


    "The Thunder Sword!"


    "Kaboom!"


    The thrust of Cao Qiu''s sword carried with it the powers of the wind and thunder. There was an ear-splitting screech as these powers came into contact with the sword auras of fire and water.


    In the next moment, a crisp sound rang out from the battle''s epicentre!

 571 Vow of Alliance

    "No...impossible!"


    Cao Qiu lowered his head and stared incredulously at the two swords embedded in his chest.


    His own sword had been destroyed in the clash of the three swords. The two divine swords had thrust themselves into his body and were eroding his insides.


    "Cough cough¡­"


    He struggled and spit out a few mouthfuls of visceral blood. Suddenly, he thought he could see a human figure and immediately understood.


    "This...is not...your power! You will face retribution for utilising these unorthodox objects. You will never...attain the highest level of sword dao..."


    After Cao Qiu had spat out his curse, his eyes closed forever.


    Once the Sword Sage, one of the most famous swordsmen in the world, Cao Qiu now lay dead on the floor. Nevertheless, he had faced his end bravely.


    "The highest level of sword dao? Pooh!"


    Hei Zhong spat in indignance. He was a barbarian and had never intended to devote his life to sword dao. The more reactive the divine sword was, the happier he would be.


    Ge Nie, however, stared pensively at the sword of water, which radiated a blue chill from its blade.


    Not too far away, Mo Ge peeked out from the ground and looked at this scene with horror.


    ''Impossible...Cao Qiu is one of the foremost swordsmen of his generation and yet he couldn''t match the sword moves of these two servants?''


    At this point, he no longer dared to push through with the assassination attempt and left immediately.


    The Five Elements Escape Technique was his speciality and was a definite lifesaver in situations like these. Without Cao Qiu to drag him down, he shot away from the army camp to the outside world at the speed of lightning.


    "Kaboom!"


    Suddenly, Mo Ge felt a violent tremor. It was like a dragon had flipped on its back.


    A strong sense of danger assailed Mo Ge''s senses and cause him to shudder.


    All at once, the fluid soil layers around him had turned into steel plates. He could feel the pressure closing onto him from all directions, making him feel like an insect trapped in amber.


    ''Impossible... how could my Five Elements Escape Technique fail me? ''


    Although he could not move his mouth, he let out an internal scream.


    Unfortunately, no one would ever answer his question.


    Mo Ge was trapped in the darkness. He could no longer gauge the passage of time, nor see and hear anything from the outside world. He could not even move his hands and feet.


    This was the kind of torture that was more than capable of driving a person insane.


    Mo Ge would never get the chance to ask for mercy.


    "Step! Step!"


    Fang Yuan stamped his feet on the ground.


    "That''s another bug dealt with...even after hundreds and thousands of years, no one would ever know that there is a person buried here. Indeed, no matter how good you are at something, take burrowing for example, accidents do happen!"


    It was Fang Yuan who had intervened by activating the swords to save the life of Prince Pan.


    Hei Zhong and Ge Nie were a long way from being able to tap on the power of the swords of water and fire, much less face Cao Qiu in a fight.


    "This was supposed to be a close shave for Prince Pan, Nevertheless, thanks to assistance from the War God Chi, there was no doubt that he would have survived that!"


    Fang Yuan looked at the dark energy of destiny gathering within the Shang army camp. It was taking the shape of a flying bird with a body that shimmered like the stars.


    "The aura of the Shang army is skyrocketing. The Dongyi coalition is in trouble!"


    Fang Yuan nodded quietly as he observed the scene. Suddenly, he looked towards the northwest.


    Fang Yuan learnt a lot from just one look with his Fiery Golden Eyes.


    "Prince Pan must defeat the Dongyi tribes quickly and regain his strength. Otherwise... the imperial capital will be plunged into a crisis! Chaos would reign!"


    ...


    Western Zhou.


    The Marquis of Western Zhou was ruddy-faced and in high spirits. The sword formed from the penta-coloured rock hung from his waist as he received the feudal lords who had come forth to offer their congratulations.


    Ever since he had acquired the god-given sword and armour while the phoenix appeared over Qi Mountain, the Marquis had launched a successful propaganda campaign to spread the word about his miraculous encounter throughout the neighbouring states.


    Now, the Marquis planned to convince the feudal states to join his anti-Shang cause by invoking the heavenly will.


    The feudal lords sat on a high tower and watched the military procession take place below. Many of these lords grew uncomfortable as the chariots and soldiers moved past them.


    After all, the Marquis of Western Zhou had spared no expenses in putting up this show as a display of strength.


    Western Zhou''s military strength could only be matched by the Shang Dynasty''s. The other feudal lords shuddered to think about what might happen to their territories if they did not agree to an alliance with Western Zhou.


    "My lords, do you think my soldiers are strong?"


    The Marquis drained his wine vessel and asked suddenly.


    "They are!"


    The feudal lords feared his wrath and could only agree.


    "What about my weapons? Are they sharp?"


    "They are¡­"


    Some of the feudal lords had already guessed at the Marquis''s intentions and they felt a chill in their bones.


    Sure enough, the Marquis stood up and unsheathed his sword in the next moment.


    "The Shang Dynasty has become immoral, with the Shang King persisting in his cruel and lustful ways. The Shang King has also been oppressing the feudal lords and the populace have suffered under his rule for a long time. Now, the Western Zhou state has received the heavenly mandate and possesses a powerful army. The time has come for us to crusade against tyranny. My lords, will you join me in my fight against the despotic Shang Dynasty?"


    The Marquis had placed all his cards on the table!


    At that moment, nearly all of the feudal lords were regretting their decision to accept the Marquis''s invitation. They had all wanted to see the sword made out of the penta-coloured rock for themselves.


    Some of the feudal lords were trembling as they looked at the heavily armed soldiers around them.


    "Yes!"


    One of the feudal lords stepped out and bowed down to the Marquis.


    "I, Earl Lu, pledge my allegiance to the Marquis of Western Zhou!"


    "Please rise, Earl Lu!"


    The Marquis helped Earl Lu to his feet cheerfully.


    "Earl Lu, I am comforted to know that you are a defender of justice! Please take your seat and we shall proceed with the war rally later on!"


    ''Damn it...Earl Lu was obviously in cahoots with the Marquis all along¡­''


    The Lu state barely had an army. Their tiny force of 300 chariots and 5000 soldiers only served to make up the numbers in the coalition.


    The other feudal lords had realised that Earl Lu was an accomplice of the Marquis.


    Still, many of the feudal lords saw no other way out for themselves and fell to their knees before the Marquis.


    "Yes!"


    "Haha¡­"


    The Marquis burst into laughter.


    "I would like to invite all of you to join me in making a vow of allegiance to the anti-Shang cause. Please pass your military tallies to your aides. My men will escort them back to their respective states safely."


    Suddenly, a dark-skinned and skinny feudal lord made a run for it with his sword in hand.


    "It''s Earl Qi!"


    The feudal lords let out a collective gasp.


    Surrounded by his personal guards, Earl Qi moved quickly towards the exit. It looked like he was going to escape.


    ''Earl Qi was said to have learnt his swordplay techniques from the Sword Sage. Cao Qiu was even claimed to have said that Earl Qi was qualified to become his heir. He certainly looks the part¡­''


    A commotion erupted among the feudal lords.


    The Marquis of Western Zhou simply stood by and observed blankly.


    "Chirp! Chirp!"


    Just as Earl Qi and his men broke out of the encirclement, an ear-splitting shriek rang out from the heavens.


    A purple ray of light with a colourful tail descended from the skies.


    In a flash, it extended its claws and swooped in for the kill.


    Earl Qi screamed as he was crushed into the ground.


    "Is this...a phoenix?"


    The feudal lords kept their mouths shut upon witnessing the death of Earl Qi.


    "That''s right...Western Zhou has received the heavenly mandate and will rule over the world in the near future. We even have the protection of the Purple Phoenix. Who would dare to stand in our way?"


    The Marquis chuckled.


    "What do you all think, my lords?"


    "We pay our respects to the leader of the alliance!"


    The feudal lords were struck dumb by the sight of the large Five Elements Purple Phoenix and they fell to their knees.


    "Great! However, we have no place for spies in our alliance!"


    The Marquis turned his attention to three specific men and bellowed.


    "Zou, Wei, Qu...the three of you barons have always been close to the Shang Dynasty. The Shang King has even enfeoffed the three of you among the western feudal states so that you can all serve as his spies, am I right?"


    "Li, you are making groundless accusations!"


    The barons were minor feudal lords and were enraged by the Marquis''s words.


    "You forget that I am well-versed in the art of divination and am the founder of the Yi Dao. How could I be unaware of your activities?"


    The Marquis went on unblinkingly.


    "Drag them away and kill them!"


    "Yes, my lord!"


    A group of soldiers rushed forward and took the three barons away together with their aides. A moment later, the other feudal lords heard a few ghastly sounds. The soldiers reappeared with freshly decapitated heads.


    Many of the feudal lords felt nauseous upon seeing the companions that they had been talking to a while ago become reduced to bloody heads.


    "The Western Zhou state will overthrow the Shang Dynasty so as to enforce heaven''s will. We do not have designs on the other feudal states. My lords, you can divide the lands of Qi, Zou, Wei and Qu among yourselves! Western Zhou will not take these lands!"


    The Marquis calmed down. He knew that he had managed to cow the feudal lords.


    "Really?"


    A few of the feudal lords became bright-eyed when they learnt about the chance to expand their territories.


    "Of course, we will include this in the vow after we form our alliance!"


    The Marquis agreed readily.


    He did not care for minor benefits like these. What the Western Zhou state wanted was to become the provider of these benefits!


    After all, only the King had the authority to commission the feudal lords and task them with keeping the borderlands safe.


    "Yes!"


    The feudal lords included some who feared the military power of Western Zhou, some who were deeply respectful of heaven''s will and others who craved for more land and people. They shared looks among themselves before agreeing to the Marquis''s proposal.


    "Haha...men! Set up the altar so that we can pay our respects to the heavens! After the vow of alliance, we will plan our attack on the despotic Shang Dynasty!"


    The Marquis was overjoyed at how everything had turned out. He walked over to the altar with the feudal lords and offered three animals as sacrifice. After that, the Marquis drew blood from a cow''s ear and emptied a drop of blood each into the cups of the feudal lords.


    The person who had taken the knife to the cow was the leader of the alliance.


    "We pay our respects to the leader of the alliance!"


    The feudal lords drained the cups of blood wine and bowed to the Marquis on their knees.


    "Good!"


    The Marquis raised his sword.


    "Activate your people and declare war on the Shang Dynasty. The Shang capital will be empty considering how most the Shang army has marched off in the southward direction. We might be able to conquer it while the capital city is defenceless!"


    "Yes, my lord!"


    The feudal lords nodded their heads. One of the reasons they had submitted so quickly to Western Zhou was the apparent decline of the Shang Dynasty.


    At that moment, high up above the altar to the heavens, the clouds shifted about in a brilliant display of colours. This was a good omen and many of the feudal lords were left in awe at the sight. The Marquis was pleased. His resolve to set off for war had been strengthened!

 572 Victory

    The Shang army was in the south.


    After several times of probing and skirmishing with the enemy on the plains, Prince Pan had finally managed to force the King of Dongyi to activate his main host. The final battle had begun.


    There was a total of 20000 men on the battlefield and as they clashed, they became a fluid black mass.


    ''We have 10000 of the Shang Dynasty''s finest soldiers on one side and 60000 to 70000 scruffy barbarians on the other. Prince Pan does indeed have a good grasp of the art of war¡­''


    A green hurricane revolved around Fang Yuan as he floated high up in the air and looked down at the battle taking place beneath him.


    The 3rd sword of the Creation Sword Array that he had created was not the Sundering Thunder Sword, but the Modest Wind Sword!


    Fang Yuan had digested the secret manual for the 8 Gates Sword Array a long time ago. Thus, he only used the modus of the sword array to expound on the art of creation and did not bother to follow the original procedure.


    In fact, he had even greater ambitions!


    "Dream masters become many times more powerful after recasting their foundations...according to my estimations, a dream soldier master of the 2nd sword now is similar in prowess to a dream soldier master of the 3rd or 4th sword from the past! In that case, the level of the 4th sword might be comparable to that of the 7th Tier of the Illusionary Divine stage?"


    The levels of the 4th sword and 7th sword were the bottlenecks of the Illusionary Divine stage. Overcoming them would allow one to enter into a whole new world.


    Hence, Fang Guan had chosen to create the Modest Wind Sword as his 3rd sword. His 4th sword, which was in the midst of restoration, was the previous Earth Sword!


    Thus, as he neared the 4th Tier of the Illusionary Divine stage and the four classical elements of earth, fire, wind, water gathered, he would be able to exert the higher abilities of an Illusionary Divine of the 7th Tier and form the Chaos Sword Array!


    "The new path of dream masters is definitely stronger and more overbearing than before!"


    Fang Yuan based his cultivation method on his personal experiences. He incorporated the research findings of dream masters from every school and targeted Original Energy. After Fang Yuan made his deductions, the arrows pointed at something horrifying!


    "If we go on, the 7th Tier of the Illusionary Divine stage will be similar to the Sage state from before...what would happen if we go beyond that?"


    Fang Yuan was filled with renewed confidence in the future of the path of dream masters.


    "Attack!"


    Tens of thousands of Dongyi men roared and charged towards the Shang army.


    They were physically large and had savage looks on their faces, giving them the appearance of ferocious beasts.


    As the battle progressed, the aura of the Dongyi army rose into the air and took the form of a hydra.


    "The hydra probably represents the disunity among the Dongyi tribes. It seems that the Dongyi army has some hidden problems of their own¡­"


    Fang Yuan looked to the other side of the battlefield and saw that the Black Bird figure hovering above the Shang army had spread its wings and was several times larger than the hydra. At that point in time, the Black Bird was pecking at the snakeheads viciously. Fang Yuan smiled lightly.


    "We have a winner!"


    Unity makes strength, strife wastes!


    The organisation of the Dongyi army was never as good as that of the Shang army. The quality of their weapons and armour was a joke. They only thing that they could be proud of was the individual courage of the Dongyi soldiers.


    It was a pity that individual qualities were insignificant in the face of war!


    "Archers, fire!"


    Prince Pan raised his sword and yelled at his men.


    "Swish! Swish!"


    Dozens of archers loosed their arrows towards the skies in unison. The arrows rose then fell like a wave of locusts upon the Dongyi army.


    "Poof! Poof!"


    There were explosions of bloody mists as the frontline warriors of the Dongyi army became human porcupines.


    "Chariots! Move!"


    Prince Pan issued another order and the thousands of Shang chariots led by thousands of frisky war horses began to rumble across the plains. From afar, it looked like a dark mass was spreading across the plains and decimating everything in its path!


    "Over there!"


    Er stood on one of the chariots and egged the charioteer on. He wielded his dagger-axe like he was a windmill and roared.


    "Attack!"


    "Bang!"


    The speeding chariot mowed down all the Dongyi soldiers standing in its path without resistance, leaving a trail of screaming men and crushed body parts in its wake.


    "Die!"


    Er brandished his dagger-axe and tore open the defences of the Dongyi army. He became an arrow that pierced its way into the heart of the Dongyi army formation.


    "Hmm? Is that the King of Dongyi?"


    As Er butchered his way through the Dongyi soldiers, he caught sight of a retinue with a burly man at its head. He flew a flag adorned with feathers of five colours behind him.


    "The royal flag? The King of Dongyi?"


    Er could feel the warm blood surging through his veins as he yelled.


    "Traitor! Don''t even think about running away!"


    Er began to fight his way up to the retinue.


    "The King of Dongyi...will surely die today!"


    Fang Yuan observed the scene quietly as he rested among the clouds. He could feel the War God Chi beginning to act.


    Although the War God Chi had suffered a great deal, he retained his influence among the Dongyi tribes. Even though this King of Dongyi had unified all the tribes and had reduced the power of the tribal leaders, priests remained influential among the Dongyi people.


    At this point, it was the priests who were secretly holding the King of Dongyi back and slowing down his retinue so that Er and his men could reach him.


    "Die, you false king!"


    Er''s charioteer had been shot down by arrows and he had to take over the reins of the chariot. His mind whirred as he charged at the royal flag.


    "Ding! Ding!"


    Er was assailed by Dongyi archers and blowgunmen but the arrows and darts simply ignited sparks as they bounced harmlessly off his body.


    "That is...the power of the gods!"


    "This man is under the protection of the War God Chi. We cannot fight him!"


    Although personal guards of the King of Dongyi were soldiers from the Jiuxiong Division, they began to panic when faced with this incredible sight. The priests only exacerbated their fears with their pessimistic utterings.


    "Kill! Kill! Kill!"


    As Er charged forward, he threw a spear at the mount of the King of Dongyi.


    "Smack!"


    Er''s own war horse could no longer keep up with the dizzying pace at which it was running at and collapsed onto the ground. Er''s chariot was smashed into smithereens as well.


    Er did not seem to mind as he rolled on the ground before breaking into a run towards the King of Dongyi with a halberd in his hand.


    "Protect the King!"


    Dozens of Dongyi soldiers pounced onto Er and all kinds of weapons and poisonous arrows fell upon his body.


    "Ding! Ding! Dang! Dang!"


    The weapons all broke upon contact. The arrows and darts all fell away harmlessly.


    Er was going on a rampage as he sent several men flying off his back. Before long, he had arrived before the King of Dongyi.


    "Die, you barbarian!"


    "Smack!"


    Suddenly, there were brilliant flashes of colourful lights. Er was thrown to the ground forcefully and trapped by a large net that had appeared out of the blue.


    "Nuwa!!!"


    Fang Yuan could hear the frustrated roars of the War God Chi from where he was.


    A layer of blood-red clouds materialised in the sky.


    Seeing that things had taken an abrupt turn, the King of Dongyi took the opportunity to jump onto a getaway horse.


    "Die!"


    Er''s eyes bulged in anger as he saw the barbarian king making his escape. Using all his strength, Er managed to tear the net apart and hurled the halberd at the King of Dongyi.


    "Swoosh!"


    The halberd flew through the air in a flash of black and ran through the back of the Dongyi King before passing out from his chest and running deep into the ground in front of him.


    "Bump!"


    The horse ran for a distance before the dead body of the barbarian king fell off its back.


    "The King...is dead?!"


    The warriors of the Jiuxiong Division looked stunned. They could not believe their eyes.


    The soldiers from the other tribes were more decisive.


    Seeing that the King of Dongyi had fallen and egged on by the priests, the Dongyi soldiers simply abandoned the weapons and fled. Some of them even surrendered to the Shang army.


    A wave of panic spread throughout the Dongyi army and before long, the battlefield had descended into a rout for the barbarians.


    "The defeat of an army is like the collapse of a mountain¡­"


    Fang Yuan went over to the War God Chi and they faced the colourful lights shimmering before them together.


    "Nuwa...how dare you interfere in the affairs of my people!"


    The War God Chi roared with indignance. Nuwa had tested his limits by aiding the King of Dongyi several times.


    The colourful lights suddenly condensed into an elegantly dressed woman who was extremely beautiful and had a snake tail in the place of legs.


    "Is this the goddess Nuwa?"


    Fang Yuan looked at her with a dazed expression.


    Legend has it that while the Tai God had created heaven and earth, Nuwa was the creator of life!


    The status of a goddess like her exceeded those of the Sages among dream masters or even the Superior Wu Zun and Qian Huanyi from before the Battle of the Jade Capital!


    Nuwa did not speak but she took a hard look at Fang Yuan.


    Colourful lights flashed across her eyes.


    "Buzz!"


    The colourful lights suddenly dissipated and the goddess disappeared along with them.


    "Hmm?"


    Fang Yuan found it slightly strange. He had been prepared to face Nuwa together with the War God Chi and yet the goddess had simply walked away. It was as if she had appeared just to take a look at Fang Yuan.


    "She actually refrained from making her move!"


    Fang Yuan stared pensively into the real dream world where he was in the process of creating the Earth Sword.


    "Hmph! I had wanted her to make her move!"


    The War God Chi huffed coldly in disdain.


    Several thoughts whirred through Fang Yuan''s mind.


    ''That''s right...Nuwa might be more powerful than the Sages but she lacks the freedom enjoyed by the Sages among dream masters in the Da Qian world. This is because she is being worshipped throughout the world and is a goddess formed from the combined powers of heaven and earth. She could even be considered the most closely related entity to the incarnation of dao itself!''


    The Tai God was the incarnation of the heavenly dao.


    Although Nuwa possessed human traits, she was also a representative of the heavenly dao and her actions were thus restrained by it!


    The higher the level of the being, the greater the constraints placed on them!


    This was why Nuwa was speechless when she had been called out by the War God Chi for intervening in Dongyi affairs.


    If she had disregarded the rules and fought them, she would most likely lose her current elevated status and become demoted to a common deity! This explained why the War God Chi did not fear retaliation from Nuwa.


    "It seems that the battle of Shangyi is going to become very troublesome¡­"


    Fang Yuan could not help but let out a long sigh.


    "I agree."


    The War God Chi had become solemn.


    "Nuwa was more than capable of allowing the King of Dongyi to escape. She could even help the Dongyi army to win this battle...however, the heavenly will has decreed a Shang victory for this encounter and Nuwa does not have the power to go against it. We might have the upper hand for now but when the heavenly will finally favours her side, you will never meet any other deity with powers as terrifying as hers!"


    ''Well, in fact, I must have seen it all before. She is probably on the level of the Superior Wu Zun and Qian Huanyi!''


    Fang Yuan frowned as he settled into a thoughtful silence.

 573 Return of the Victors

    It was not apparent who the heavens had favoured in the Battle of Dongyi.


    According to what Fang Yuan knew about the general trend, the Shang Dynasty had exhausted all of its brilliance and luck to secure in this battle what would be the regime''s final victory.


    When the Western Zhou state begins its assault on the Shang Dynasty, the fall of the Shang would become irreversible.


    Fang Yuan and the War God Chi has planned to weaken the strength of the other party while it was not yet clear who the heavenly mandate was with. They had wanted to trick Nuwa into altering the course of nature personally, which would have resulted in divine retribution for Nuwa and increased their chances of victory in the future.


    However, Nuwa had only made a small move to test the firmness of heavenly will and did not act at all after that. Fang Yuan and the War God Chi felt like their efforts had all been for nothing.


    At the same time, they felt the chills.


    An enemy that practised self-restraint was formidable indeed!


    Nuwa''s inaction now meant that they would have to deal with Nuwa in her peak condition during the final battles between Zhou and Shang!


    "Of course...things don''t have to be this way. We should continue being passive observers no matter what. Let the mortals struggle for power and go along with the general trend. We''ll only intervene as a last resort and even so, we might not have to do it ourselves¡­"


    Fang Yuan pondered silently. He was beginning to come to a realisation about this sort of conflicts.


    "Conflicts between deities are but extensions of the conflicts between mortals...what I should be doing now is to rush Prince Pan into returning to the capital and strengthen Shang''s energy of destiny such the heavenly will might be changed!"


    Ever since Fang Yuan had begun to plot, although the general trend remained the same, many of the little details had undergone large changes.


    For example, not only had the Battle of Dongyi been a glorious victory for the Shang army, but the victors also did not suffer huge losses.


    If this large number of elite soldiers could make it back to the Shang capital in time and reinforce the strength of the Shang army involved in the coming war between the Shang and the Zhou, there was no saying what the result might be.


    Fang Yuan turned his gaze to the battlefield.


    ...


    The setting sun bathed the plains in a golden light. Corpses and other remains littered the battlefield.


    The Shang soldiers cheered their hearts out as they bundled their captives with rope.


    These captured soldiers were now their slaves, their loot, their personal property!


    The Shang army camp revelled in song and dance as a large amount of food and wine were being served to the tables. Prince Pan and his officials offered toasts to each other in the commander''s tent and made merry together.


    Suddenly, Ge Nie stepped forward on the pretext of offering Prince Pan a toast and whispered into his ear.


    "Prince Pan, according to my teacher, the Western Zhou state has already become a fully developed threat and is marching on the Shang Dynasty as we speak. He advises you to return to the Shang capital immediately or there will be dire consequences!"


    "What?''


    Prince Pan did a double take.


    "My lords!"


    He slammed a fist on the table and put down his wine vessel before turning to the officials present.


    "I propose...that we pack up and make our way back to the capital immediately!"


    "What?"


    The announcement caught everyone in the tent by surprise and they quietened down.


    "Pardon me for being rude!"


    A gentleman-minister frowned as he stood up to speak.


    "Why the sudden proposal, my Prince?"


    "I have information that the Western Zhou state has dishonourable intentions and has already launched an invasion on the Shang Dynasty!"


    Prince Pan gritted his teeth and shared the news with everyone present.


    "Impossible!"


    "No such news has arrived from Shangyi!"


    The officials were all engaged in frenzied discussions among themselves.


    "If these are Ge Nie''s words alone, we seriously doubt the credibility of this message!"


    Prince Pan could feel a rising anger as he observed the scene.


    He was more than aware of why these people were so unwilling to leave immediately for the capital.


    After all, the spoils of this victory included the lands surrounding the battlefield, the nearby city as well as the slaves.


    Prince Pan might be the commander-in-chief, but if he forced the army to give up their loot and rush back to the Shang capital, there was bound to be disobedience or even defection on a large scale!


    However, Prince Pan''s eyelids had twitched upon hearing Ge Nie''s warning. His sixth sense told him that Ge Nie''s information was reliable.


    ''Damn it... a bunch of fools! If Shangyi falls into trouble, of what use would all the gold and slaves in the world be?''


    Prince Pan was seething with rage but he knew that he could not fall out with his subordinates.


    If Fang Yuan had been present at that moment, he would have understood that the heavenly will had begun to take effect.


    The Battle of Dongyi was supposed to be the Shang Dynasty''s last victory. After this battle, they would immediately lose the heavenly mandate.


    The five aggregates of the nobles had been placed under a spell. They were all no longer able to make rational decisions in the face of greed.


    "The Prince has spoken and we will obey his orders!"


    A gentleman-bureaucrat slammed his table with a hand and shouted.


    "So many excuses. Are you people going to rebel?"


    It was Gentleman Lian who had spoken. Er stood behind him silently. He was holding a halberd and glared at everyone else in the tent.


    Although Lian was only a gentleman m-bureaucrat of the first class, he had contributed much to the Shang victory over the Dongyi tribes and would definitely receive a promotion to gentleman-minister upon his return. Additionally, his son Er had demonstrated tremendous courage in battle and had even killed the King of Dongyi personally.


    After Gentleman Lian had spoken, the selfish tendencies of the other officials somewhat cooled down.


    It was indeed a tough choice between the acquisition of wealth and avoiding potential dangers.


    "How about this?"


    Prince Pan had considered his options for a moment and arrived at a decision.


    "I will take 50000 men along with me. The remaining soldiers will focus on guarding the captives and reclaiming the lost lands. However, there will be no more advancement into the lands of the Dongyi. What do you all think of this!"


    Practically speaking, given the scale of defeat suffered by the Dongyi army, they were in no shape to resist a Shang invasion into their lands.


    However, Prince Pan wished for stability to be maintained before the Shang army made any further advancements.


    "So? Who is willing to follow me back to Shangyi?"


    Prince Pan had taken on a cold demeanour and flaunted the majesty of a royal prince, causing many of the officials to hang their heads.


    "I am!"


    Gentleman Lian was the first to step out, followed by Er and a few of the Prince''s personal aides.


    Upon seeing this, a few of the generals began to consider.


    "What about our battle merits and the slaves we''ve captured¡­"


    "Don''t worry. All of these things will be recorded. None of you will be shortchanged!"


    Prince Pan waved a hand.


    "I swear it by my name!"


    "If that''s the case, we will follow your orders!"


    These generals had made up their minds and bowed down to the Prince.


    "We are all at your service, my Prince!"


    Another gentleman-bureaucrat had stepped out and went on a long sycophantic rant. Prince Pan was growing more uncomfortable by the minute.


    ''Do they...think that I am going make use of my control of the army to usurp the throne? What¡­''


    Still, the sudden return of a general to the capital at the head of a large army was a big deal.


    Prince Pan suddenly got a chill to the bone.


    "If this turns out to be a false alarm and Shangyi is safe...I¡­"


    For a prince with military authority to end up in such a situation was political suicide. He would definitely face imprisonment by the Shang King and lose his claim to the throne!


    Prince Pan was beginning to reconsider his decision.


    ''Is this a counterstroke from the heavenly will? It is powerful indeed!''


    Fang Yuan entered the airspace directly over the camp and sighed as he watched the goings-on in the tent.


    "War God Chi...let''s see what you''ve got."


    The War God Chi did not speak but let a blood-red ray of light descend upon the earth.


    "Remember your promise!"


    He glanced at Fang Yuan as his figure faded a little. It was apparent that he had exerted a large amount of effort.


    "Don''t worry!"


    Fang Yuan nodded.


    The aforementioned promise was to let Er''s descendants attain the realm''s kingship.


    In actual fact, although the descendants of the Black Bird managed to regain the imperial throne, the Qin monarchs were descended from Er''s brother and not directly from Er in the original course of history.


    However, the War God Chi wanted the witch race to rule the world and supported Er''s ascension to the throne. For Chi to alter Er''s original fate, he had to join Fang Yuan''s side.


    At this moment, Prince Pan''s heart was beating rapidly.


    ''If news of the invasion turns out to be real, my rescue of the King would be a legendary accomplishment. If it is a false alarm, why shouldn''t I take the opportunity to launch a coup? Father''s reign has incurred much displeasure from the general populace. With me in charge, we would be able to put an end to the unrest so that we can strengthen the hold of the Shang Dynasty over the world!''


    An idea burned brightly within Prince Pan.


    Of course, this was his greatest secret. No one could ever know about this.


    Prince Pan waved a hand decisively.


    "Alright, pick out 50000 men and we will leave for Shangyi first thing in the morning!"


    ...


    "It is done!"


    Fang Yuan nodded and landed in the middle of a forest.


    Beneath a rotting tree, the two foxes looked slightly depressed instead of their usual lively selves.


    "Big White and Little White, what''s wrong?"


    Fang Yuan threw them a glance and asked.


    "Big brother¡­"


    The two foxes had grown attached to Fang Yuan after they had gotten to know him better over time.


    Crouching on the ground, the white foxes took on their human forms.


    "We have received a message saying that we members of the demon race must do our best to aid the Western Zhou state and accumulate merit. This is a decree from the Lady Nuwa!"


    "The demon race?"


    Fang Yuan nodded his head. Nuwa was the creator of life and it was not surprising that she had established a command over the demons of the world.


    Although the greater demons had decreased drastically in numbers after the final Xia war, the re-emergence of any one of them was enough to wreak havoc over the world.


    "The demons of this world have affinities with water...many of the floods during the Xia period were caused by them...I have to say that this brings me to an interesting thought."


    Fang Yuan turned to the direction of Shangyi with a strange look on his face.


    As recorded from the Battle of Muye: "In the Battle of Muye, the frontline Shang soldiers turned on the Shang army. Batons floated on blood."


    The battle had turned out to be so brutal that the aforementioned idiom was associated with it -- Batons floated on blood.


    The baton was a weapon used on the chariot and even if it was made out of wood, it would require blood to flow like a river before it could float. It was not supposed to be literal!


    However, what if one reinterpreted this saying?


    "With the help of the demon race, Western Zhou might cause a flood. In that case, it would be possible for the flood to be stained red with blood and for batons to float on the rushing water..."


    Fang Yuan had grasped the key ideas in an instant.


    "Will Western Zhou attack with water?"

 574 Muye

    In the imperial palace of Shangyi.


    The grandeur of the palace halls was enhanced by the faint sounds of bells and drums. It was the Shang King Xin luxuriating in the singing and dancing of beautiful performers.


    In the Shang ancestral temple.


    The old man who was the Great Witch of the Shang examined the burnt tortoise shells in his hands and jumped up in shock.


    "A crisis looms overhead. No, I must inform the King immediately!"


    The Great Witch jogged to the palace, ignoring the strange looks that people gave him as he passed them. Before long, he had arrived before the palace.


    "Halt!"


    Two gentleman-bureaucrats stopped the Great Witch at the gates to the palace.


    "The King is enjoying himself. Do not bother him!"


    "Get out of my way!"


    The Great Witch felt a rising anger and pushed the two men aside forcefully.


    "My King, the Great Witch from the ancestral temple requests an audience with you!"


    The Great Witch rushed into the palace hall and saw that musicians lined both sides of the hall while scantily-clad women gyrated to the music in the middle.


    His arrival had somewhat ruined this beautiful scene.


    "Ah, it''s the Great Witch¡­"


    The Shang King put down his wine cup and sat up straight. He held this man, who ran his ancestral temple and had the authority to reprimand him in the name of his ancestors, in high regard. At the same time, the Shang King was displeased with him, especially after the Great Witch had dissuaded him from personally leading the troops to war previously.


    "What brings you here, Great Witch?"


    "My King...there is trouble!"


    The Great Witch bowed and presented the tortoise shells to the King.


    "I have consulted the heavens about the future of the Shang Dynasty by burning these tortoise shells and ominous cracks have appeared on them. They tell of a threat approaching from the northwest that could destroy the Shang Dynasty and forever deny the past generations of Shang Kings their sacrifices and offerings!"


    "What?"


    The Shang King lost his temper.


    "How is this possible? The Great Shang is descended from the Black Bird and is favoured by the heavens. We have tens upon thousands of chariots. Who can overthrow me?"


    "Calm down, my King, calm down!"


    The two gentleman-bureaucrats who had been pushed aside by the Great Witch staggered their way into the palace hall while crying.


    "The Great Witch shows disregard for the rules and is spouting nonsense. Don''t be angry, my King!"


    "Get lost!"


    The King roared with anger when he saw that the two men were fanning the flames. He threw the aside the woman lying in his arms and swept the wine vessels and plates off his table in a fit of rage.


    "Plink! Plank!"


    The dinnerware fell to the floor and the sounds echoed throughout the hall.


    All the women and musicians fell to their knees. None of them dared to say a word.


    "Great Witch...you speak of a threat coming from the northwest. Of whom do you speak of?"


    King Xin turned his fiery gaze to the Great Witch.


    "If there is really a traitor, I will have his head. However, if the results of your divination are erroneous, I will have you roasted over a fire!"


    "It''s too late! Too late!"


    The Great Witch began to bawl his eyes out.


    "The trouble lay at Western Zhou but now, the evil star has reached Muye. It will be difficult for the Shang Dynasty to escape this calamity!"


    "Muye?!"


    King Xin was taken aback and remained sceptical.


    "Haha...Muye is only a short distance away from Shangyi. What haven''t I heard anything yet? Great Witch, you are too much of an alarmist!"


    At this moment, a soldier rushed into the hall and fell to his knees.


    "My King, we have urgent news from the northwest. Marquis Li of Western Zhou has formed an alliance of feudal lords and is marching on the Shang Dynasty with a host of 10000. Their army has already reached Muye!"


    "What?"


    King Xin suddenly felt faint and swayed slightly on his feet. He never would have expected the obsequious old Marquis to pull off something like that.


    "Li...you got me good!"


    A savage look came over his face.


    "Men...arrest Young Master Wu and cut him into pieces!"


    "My King...Young Master Wu has disappeared!"


    The soldier braced himself as he gave the reply.


    "My King...do you still not understand? You have been leading a hedonistic lifestyle and keeping despicable people by your side. People like Yu Zhong and Kun Guo will only tell you what you want to hear and conceal important news from you. They have even received bribes in return for helping Young Master Wu make his escape!"


    The Great Witch looked at the two gentleman-bureaucrats coldly.


    "Spare us, my King, spare us!"


    The two gentleman-bureaucrats were frightened out of their wits. They crawled over to King Xin piteously and tugged on his robe while pleading for their lives.


    The King would no longer show any mercy.


    "Argh¡­"


    King Xin roared as he aimed kicks at the two gentleman-bureaucrats, making them fly and crumple against the wall. Then, he unsheathed his sword and cut them down before bowing deeply to the Great Witch.


    "Thank you for enlightening me, Great Witch. I am deeply remorseful for all that I have done before!"


    The Great Witch took a long and hard look at the Shang King. As an old man who had lived his life in the palace, he could remember a time when King Xin was young and brave, humble and wise. Early in his reign, King Xin had been one of the most brilliant rulers the Shang Dynasty had ever seen.


    However, in his middle age, King Xin gave himself over to drinking and women. He placed his trust in unscrupulous officials and ignored almost all affairs of state.


    Now, King Xin looked like he was determined to turn over a new leaf.


    "Since the enemy has already reached Muye, we shall face them head on¡­"


    The Great Witch took in a deep breath.


    "How many people are there still left in the capital?"


    "..."


    King Xin was silent for a while. When he finally spoke, it was with anguish.


    "My son has taken with him the most elite soldiers as well as most of the able-bodied men in the city...if we have to deploy another army, the only conscripts available are the old folk, minors and slave¡­"


    "Within Shangyi, we have enough equipment to arm a 20000-strong army!"


    The Great Witch went on calmly.


    "My King, are you not going to mobilise the new army and send an urgent message to Prince Pan?"


    "That''s exactly what I''m going to do!"


    King Xin nodded as he turned to the Great Witch.


    "Can you be the one to send the message to my son, Great Witch?"


    In fact, they were all aware that the there was no way the large Shang army could return in time from their southern expedition unless they had won an overwhelming victory over the Dongyi army and was already on the way back.


    Having lost most of its elite soldiers, Shangyi was virtually defenceless and would most definitely lose!


    However, King Xin was intent on letting the Great Witch survive the onslaught so that he could go on to assist his son in the future. Thus, he had proposed that the Great Witch become his messenger.


    "I am old¡­"


    The Great Witch shook his head.


    "My disciples will assist Prince Pan to the best of their abilities."


    It seemed that the Great Witch had decided to stick it out with the Shang Dynasty!


    "Haha...Great Witch, you live up to your name indeed. I have taken you for granted all these years!"


    King Xin felt sober for the first time in a long time and adjusted his crown before sounding the large palace bell to mobilise the population.


    "Everyone¡­"


    King Xin looked at the officials who were rushing to gather before him. He had a fire burning in his eyes.


    "The Western Zhou state has launched an invasion on us and has already arrived at Muye...we will have to engage them in a fight to the death! By royal decree, induct the slaves into the army and arm them from the weapons vaults. We''ll fight that traitor until the end!"


    "Yes, my King!"


    The nobles of the Shang Dynasty had not yet been completely corrupted by wine and women, and they immediately went into action. There was a flurry of activity as they put on their suits of armour, armed themselves with their trusty weapons and committed their slaves to the fray.


    Before long, more than 10000 men had been conscripted.


    "Well done!"


    King Xin finally broke out into a smile.


    "Follow me! We shall face the enemy beyond the city walls!"


    Although the new army was made up of slaves, the old folk and other unfit personnel, it possessed a raw power of sorts and aroused a sense of pride in King Xin.


    It might even be able to resist the enemy and buy more time for the Shang Dynasty.


    "My King...we should focus on defending the city behind its walls!"


    The Great Witch advised King Xin earnestly.


    "Behind the city walls?"


    King Xin shook his head.


    "How can I appear to be weak?"


    The Great Witch sighed internally. He knew that this King of his was a proud and reckless one.


    Just as the Great Witch was about to offer another word of advice to the King, he felt a chill spreading throughout his entire body and saw colourful lights dancing before his eyes.


    ''What...kind of power is this?''


    The Great Witch was astounded at the expansiveness and strength of this power. Also, he had been frozen to the spot.


    At the same time, King Xin rode at the head of his army and led them on a charge out of the city gates towards Muye.


    "This is...the power of the heavenly will!"


    The Great Witch found that he was only able to move after the Shang army had left the city. He began to cry.


    "Indeed...has the heavenly mandate been passed on to a new regime?"


    The Great Witch finally understood that the warnings from the ancestors, the ominous results of his divination as well as the paralysis he had experienced earlier, all pointed to one conclusion.


    The Shang Dynasty has lost the heavenly mandate!


    The odds favoured the enemy now!


    The Shang tribe had been able to rise to its current place as hegemon of the world because luck had once been on their side! Now that the Shang Dynasty was no longer favoured by the fates, what kind of future lay in store for them?


    "The heavenly mandate! Heavenly mandate!"


    A change came over the Great Witch''s face as he ran after the Shang army.


    A real man dies along with his country!


    Since King Xin had made his decision, the Great Witch would not shun his destiny either!


    If Fang Yuan had been there, he would have seen a wretched Black Bird flapping northwards with all its strength, carrying with it the remaining energy in Shangyi...


    ...


    Muye.


    The army of the anti-Shang alliance looked vast and mighty.


    The Marquis of Western Zhou had donned his colourful suit of armour and carried a sword at his waist. He gave off an impressive aura.


    "Father!"


    Young Master Wu approached the Marquis and whispered into his ear.


    "Prince Pan has already defeated the Dongyi army and is in the midst of returning to the Shang capital!"


    "Where is the recce party?"


    The Marquis looked around him furtively and asked in a low voice.


    "I''ve detained them and kept them imprisoned in the camp!"


    "Kill them!"


    The Marquis issued the order coldly.


    After all, the leakage of this piece of news might affect their army''s morale in the face of such a major battle.


    The Marquis was well aware of the true strength of his army. At face value, the host was 10000 men strong, but about half of them were made up of the rabble. These hastily conscripted soldiers were barely trained and probably would not be able to handle a complex and protracted battle!


    "Yes, Father!"


    Young Master Wu retreated.


    A few feudal lords looked over at the Marquis questioningly.


    "Haha...my son has brought me some news. The Shang King is preparing to make a final stand with the leftover warriors and slaves in the city!"


    The Marquis took care to only reveal some of the acquired information.


    "Tell the men to take up their positions in the formation and prepare to face the Shang army! Don''t worry, the heavens told me that as long as we fight them at this very location, we will definitely win!"


    The feudal lords had been submissive to the Shang Dynasty for too long. There was no saying how their armies might match up against the Shang army.


    Still, the Marquis was confident that as long as the anti-Shang alliance conquered the Shang capital, the feudal lords would have no choice but to support his ascension to the throne!

 575 Flood

    Many things were happening at Muye.


    The soldiers of the anti-Shang alliance were standing in phalanxes. The main body was made up of the warriors of Western Zhou while thousands of chariots were lined up at the fore.


    These were the essentials of feudal wars. According to the messengers, most of Shang''s chariots had followed Prince Pan to battle in the lands of the Dongyi.


    The feudal lords were all reassured to know that.


    However, they took a collective double take when they caught sight of the Shang army.


    "Roar!"


    A flag depicting the Black Bird flew up high on its mast. A dark mass formed over the horizon and surged ahead like a wave. It was the Shang army with its soldiers all dressed in black. From the looks of it, they numbered more than 10000?


    "Dum! Dum!"


    The war drums let out thunder-like rumbles as the frontlines of the Shang army stirred.


    "The aura of the Shang Dynasty lives on even now...this is obvious from the way King Xin was able to arm 10000 citizens and slaves so easily!"


    The Marquis stood on a hill and gazed down upon the scene. He let out a sigh and broke out into laughter immediately after.


    "Father, what are you laughing about?"


    Young Master Wu felt his palms become sweaty as he observed the tight-knit formation of the Shang army.


    "I''m laughing because even though the Shang Dynasty possesses some energy remnants, the Shang King is going to ruin everything."


    The Marquis continued to chuckle.


    "If the Shang King had decided to defend Shangyi from behind the walls, we would actually have a hard time laying siege to the city. They might even be able to drag on the battle until reinforcements arrive. Now, however, the Shang army is courting destruction by bringing the battle to the open country!"


    There was a clear difference between trained soldiers and farmers as well as slaves!


    The Marquis knew that even though the slaves looked impressive in their tough suits of armour with sharp halberds in their hands, they mostly had blank looks on their faces.


    They might be able to win a straightforward clash but when battle strategies were factored in, they probably would not even stand a chance against a motley crew assembled from the anti-Shang alliance army.


    "Wu, pass on my orders. I want the Western Zhou soldiers to move up to higher ground at the rear of the formation. The other feudal lords will attack with their respective units!"


    The Marquis raised his sword and said authoritatively.


    "Yes, Father!"


    Young Master Wu went off to deliver his orders. Before long, the war drums from both sides boomed. Thousands of chariots from the anti-Shang alliance charged towards the Shang army like a spearhead.


    The Shang soldiers began to panic when they saw the enemy chariots approaching.


    "No one is to retreat! Anyone who attempts to retreat will die!"


    Kim Xin roared as he led a charge on a chariot.


    "Descendants of the Black Bird, charge!"


    The Great Witch followed close behind the Shang King. He slit his wrists with a knife and let his blood drip to the ground.


    "Warriors, receive my blessings! The energy remnants of the Shang Dynasty is with you!"


    The chants of the Great Witch imbued the Shang men with a sudden courage and even the most cowardly slaves shouted ferociously as they all prepared to clash with the enemy chariots.


    At the same time, the Great Witch began to age rapidly. He had transformed into a feeble old man in the blink of an eye and passed away while kneeling in prayer.


    Even though he was the Great Witch of the Shang Dynasty and had only used a simple psychological suggestion technique, the burden of utilising it in a battle with divine stakes had caused him to die immediately.


    Besides, there was no guarantee that the psychological suggestion technique would have worked. The key to its effect lay in the fact that the Shang soldiers had the intention to fight in the first place. Their morale was also boosted when they saw that their King was leading the charge personally.


    If these conditions had not been met, such an effect would not have been possible even if the Great Witch sacrificed himself.


    "Whoosh!"


    The wheels of the chariot thundered on as the two waves of soldiers clashed violently with each other.


    "Die!"


    King Xin hollered in a fury as he brandished his golden dagger-axe and decapitated the enemy soldier in front of him.


    As they watched the Shang King cut down all the soldiers that lay in his path, the Shang soldiers charged towards the chariot formation of the enemy with a renewed vigour. After a while, it actually looked like the Shang foot soldiers were gradually pushing the enemy chariots back. It was incredible.


    "Fighting in a war requires courage!"


    Fang Yuan stood among the clouds and observed the battle taking place below him. The Shang Dynasty was making its last stand.


    No matter what, the Shang King will die!


    This was a prerequisite for nature to run its course. Even Fang Yuan was powerless to alter the fate of the Shang King.


    ''To alter the course of nature is the same as dealing with a flood. Facing it head-on would cause one to be overwhelmed by its power. The only way was to discharge it layer by layer and to reduce its strength gradually until the course could be reversed!''


    Fang Yuan''s eyes shone with a golden light. It was as if he had been enlightened and had already seen the truth behind the fates.


    "Father!"


    Young Master Wu felt a chill as he watched the battle rage on.


    "Don''t worry!"


    The Marquis cast a sweeping glance at the battlefield with a cold smile.


    "The Shang Dynasty is immoral. I shall call upon divine retribution to help me punish them!"


    "Divine retribution?" Young Master Wu looked at his father warily. Had his father been possessed?


    "Kaboom!"


    In the next moment, a thunderous sound burst out from the edge of the battlefield. It sounded like the gallop of 10000 horses.


    "Whoosh!"


    A vast body of water had been released into the battlefield.


    King Xin, who had been busy butchering one of the enemy generals, was stunned by the sight.


    The flood crashed into the Shang army and the units of the feudal lords. Screams filled the air as even the bravest warriors were cowed by the forces of nature.


    The Shang army, who had gained the upper hand, was smashed into pieces.


    King Xin barely managed to escape with his life under the protection of his personal guards.


    Behind him, the Western Zhou soldiers who had avoided the flood by moving to higher ground walked along the path of the water flow and gave vicious bearings to Shang soldiers who had fallen into the water.


    "The heavens are out to get me!"


    King Xin spat out a mouthful of blood as he retreated back to Shangyi with a group of soaking and bedraggled Shang soldiers.


    "Tsk tsk...this is the work of humans and demons acting in collusion!"


    Fang Yuan could see that it was the Five Elements Purple Phoenix who had assembled a group of demons to manipulate the water source. This had caused the spectacular flood.


    "Charge into Shangyi and capture King Xin alive!"


    The Marquis unsheathed his sword and shouted out his command red-faced.


    "Charge into Shangyi and capture King Xin alive!"


    "Charge into Shangyi and capture King Xin alive!"


    The morale of the Western Zhou soldiers was greatly boosted and they charged towards Shangyi.


    Young Master Wu observed the events with his heart feeling as cold as the winter snow.


    ''The flood not only destroyed the Shang army but many of our allied soldiers drowned as well. Father had used them as bait and sacrificed them in order to reduce the future threat of the feudal lords...''


    The Western Zhou army was riding on the waves of their victory and advanced into the city of Shangyi virtually unopposed. They charged straight into the palace.


    Unfortunately, they were too late.


    Thick black smoke rose from the inside of the imperial palace. At his wits'' end, the Shang King had decided to self-immolate!


    The military discipline of the armies in the past paled in comparison to that of the modern armies.


    Whether it was the royal armies or rebel forces, they all had the tendency to loot conquered cities.


    It didn''t take long for plumes of smoke to rise from everywhere in the wealthy city of Shangyi. The city had become hell on earth.


    "Wu!"


    The Marquis had entered the city only to see the extent of the destruction. He frowned.


    "Restrain the soldiers immediately. The remnants of the Shang army have not been wiped out yet. How can we let our guard down?"


    What the Marquis meant was that even in looting and pillaging, there must be rules and discipline.


    "Yes, Father!"


    Young Master Wu bowed.


    "Also...bring me King Xin''s body. If you can''t find it, then at least give me a charred corpse so that I can offer a sacrifice to the heavens and officially receive the heavenly mandate!"


    The Marquis had somewhat changed his tone of speech.


    "Sigh¡­"


    Fang Yuan watched on silently.


    Amidst the thick smoke, the wretched Black Bird that had been guarding Shangyi with its last breath had finally faded away into green smoke.


    "The heavenly mandate¡­"


    Fang Yuan closed his eyes.


    Even though he had detached himself from these affairs, he felt a sense of loss.


    ...


    Southwards from Shangyi.


    "Father...Shangyi!"


    The Shang host of 50000 was approaching the city. Prince Pan immediately noticed the ruined state of the city and his eyes bulged.


    They had received a confirmation of Western Zhou''s invasion along the way back which had led in an acceleration of the return march. Still, they had been too late.


    "My Prince! It isn''t too late. Please launch a counterattack as soon as possible!"


    Ge Nie reminded the Prince.


    "One more thing...the Western Zhou army is aided by the demonic Phoenix. Other than my master, no one else can match its power!"


    "Alright!"


    Prince Pan wiped the tears from his face and ordered that the incense burner that Fang Yuan had given to him be lit up on the table.


    "Pan sincerely begs you to intervene, Mister Fang!"


    After that, without caring whether Fang Yuan had responded or not, Prince Pan looked towards Shangyi with bloodshot eyes.


    "Charge into Shangyi! Revenge! Revenge!"


    "Attack!"


    The 50000 soldiers he had brought along with him were the able-bodied men of Shangyi. Upon seeing their home up in flames, they went berserk.


    "Dum! Dum!"


    The war drums sounded and the world seemed to shake.


    Young Master Wu felt his heart sink and broke out into a cold sweat when he saw the approaching host.


    "Prince Pan and his army have returned from their southern expedition...in such a short time! Prepare for engagement now!"


    Unfortunately, his orders were disseminated too slowly.


    The Western Zhou army had expended its energy in the recent battle and had already splintered into a disorderly mess as they sacked the city.


    Even if Sun Tzu[1] came back to life to lead this army, he would have been of no help.


    "Kill! Kill! Kill!"


    The Shang army charged into Shangyi and went after the Western Zhou soldiers.


    The had lived in Shangyi all their lives and were familiar with every nook and cranny. They were also supported by the survivors in the city. As a result, they swept throughout the city virtually unopposed.


    "Father! We can''t hold them back any longer. Let''s retreat out of the city!"


    Young Master Wu ran back in a windblown state and saw that the Marquis was gripping tightly onto the railing of his chariot. His knuckles had turned white.


    "Impossible...the heavens were supposed to favour Western Zhou. Why is this happening¡­"


    The Marquis muttered and ground down on his teeth so hard that blood seeped out of his mouth.


    "Let''s leave now, or it''ll be too late!"


    Young Master Wu made a decision on the spot and led the bedraggled Western Zhou army out of the city.


    At the same time, the flag of the Black Bird flew up on the ragged city walls once more. The people of Shang cheered.


    "Great!"


    Fang Yuan was heartened at the sight.


    King Xin had paid for the previous crimes of the Shang Dynasty with his life.


    The course of nature could not be reversed but it could be altered slightly by making minute changes to the details.


    The death of King Xin represented the peak of Western Zhou power. Now, the only way for them was down.


    Prince Pan now possessed a powerful army, the support of the populace as well as the advantage of being in his home ground. If he still managed to fail at the end of the day, Fang Yuan would have nothing left to say.


    "I''ve won my gamble...the impact made on this world by the heavenly will is subtly ever changing. Nothing is definite!"


    Fang Yuan lifted his head to see that a new Black Bird had been reborn in the fire. The Black Bird let out a long shriek.


    ___________


    [1]: Ancient Chinese military strategist who wrote the Art of Wa

 576 Reverse

    "The Black Bird has been baptised in flames and will now rise from the ashes?"


    The Marquis of Western Zhou looked at the tortoise shell in his hand and muttered. Suddenly, he felt sick to his stomach and nearly fell into a swoon.


    "Father!"


    Young Master Wu held onto the Marquis immediately and steadied him.


    "We still have the army. We have not failed completely!"


    "You are right!"


    The Marquis looked around them.


    "What is the current strength of our army?"


    "The Shang army had swept in too rapidly and many of us did not manage to escape in time. We have around 20000 men left!"


    Most of the casualties of this onslaught were Western Zhou soldiers, the iron pillar of the anti-Shang coalition army. More than half of them had perished in Prince Pan''s counterattack, which pained Young Master Wu greatly.


    "20000...is enough!"


    The Marquis gritted his teeth.


    "Bring out the incense burner. I will summon our protector beast and call on it to destroy Shangyi!"


    "Yes, Father!"


    In fact, the incense burner was only an excuse.


    The Purple Phoenix had witnessed the Western Zhou defeat and could no longer hold back anymore. It rushed out of the clouds and flew towards the Shang territories.


    The Purple Phoenix was a large bird with bright and beautiful feathers. With a flap of its wings, a section of the Shangyi city walls collapsed.


    "The Phoenix called over Qi Mountain. Western Zhou is the rightful successor of the heavenly mandate!"


    Young Master Wu and the other soldiers looked on bright-eyed.


    The Phoenix seemed like it was not satisfied with the damage it was causing and screeched. This drew in a powerful wind that rushed towards and threatened to swallow up the citizens of Shangyi.


    Behind the Phoenix was a motley crew of demonic creatures. They were steering floodwater towards Shangyi in an attempt to drown the city.


    "Ancient One, you dare Attack the mortals?!"


    Fang Yuan had been waiting for this.


    "You are a demon but yet you dare to intervene in the affairs of humans and their civilisations. You must be tired of living!"


    "Swoosh!"


    With a wave of his hand, four rays of sword light representing the classical elements of earth, fire, air and water stretched between heaven and earth. They formed the boundaries of an enclosure that had the Phoenix trapped within.


    The Chaos Sword Array!


    After focusing on his training for a time, Fang Yuan had finally completed his cultivation in the 4th Tier of the Illusionary Divine stage. His skills were now comparable to the 7th Tier Illusionary Divine higher beings from before! He had regained his peak level of cultivation!


    Fang Yuan now displayed his alarming prowess as a higher being.


    The soldiers from both camps of Shang and Zhou were stunned. They saw a looming giant, who looked like he had just emerged from the wilderness, using the Chaos Sword Array to snare the Phoenix.


    "It''s you!"


    The Five Elements Phoenix let out a pained shriek. It sounded devastated.


    "You just won''t let me off!"


    The Phoenix knew that this was a matter of life and death. It shook its tail feathers which led to an explosion of colourful light that formed a wheel of light. It was an artistic conception of the Five Elements Cycle and managed to fend off the first wave of attack by the sword array.


    "He is at his full strength!"


    The Ancient One was finding it difficult to express the burgeoning despair in his heart.


    "This world was supposed to increase the intensity of its rejection and suppression after that watershed incident¡­"


    Although the Ancient World had once been a place suited for the development of dream masters, it was the work of the Ancient One. After the destruction of the Xia Dynasty, dream masters would no longer receive preferential treatment but would be handled in a harsher manner.


    The Purple Phoenix body of the Ancient One had been planted during the battle between the Xia and the witch race. Not even his closest disciples knew of it. This was similar to how the Leader of the Hidden Dragon Guards had left aside the physical forms of Xiang Liu and Wu Zhiqi for future utilisation.


    The Ancient One had taken a gamble by giving his body to this world and fusing his destiny with that of the future line of kings in the Ancient World. In this way, he had managed to recover his powers of a True Divine spiritual knight at a great cost.


    Even though the Ancient One had been a Sage among the dream masters, he had no idea how Fang Yuan had managed to regain his full strength.


    "You don''t have to know that. All you have to do is to die compliantly!"


    Fang Yuan let out a booming laugh. In his giant physical form, he manipulated the sword array and caused a huge disturbance.


    "Chaos Sword Array, reactivate the powers of the earth, fire, air and water!"


    "Whoosh!"


    Lights of the yellow, red, green and blue colours combined into a chaotic green mist that spread towards the Purple Phoenix.


    The defensive capabilities of the Five Elements Cycle failed in the face of this chaotic power and the Ancient One had no choice but to beat a hasty retreat.


    "Hmph...you deserve to die for choosing the evil side!"


    Fang Yuan would not let the Ancient One off, must less the demons trailing in his wake.


    "Kaboom!"


    The green mist descended upon the demons.


    "Whoosh!"


    Many of the demons turned to dust instantaneously upon contact with the mist.


    Some of these demons barely escaped the battlefield with their lives by disappearing into puffs of smoke.


    "Retreat!"


    The Marquis and Prince Pan looked at the penta-coloured circle in the skies as well as the chaotic sea beneath it and moved far away.


    It would be folly to go anywhere near these phenomena.


    They never would have thought that such a combination of beautiful colours could possess such terrifying powers!


    "Is this the power of divine beasts and Sages?"


    Prince Pan stared at the sight with his mouth agape. He suddenly turned to Ge Nie.


    "I''ve made my decision. If the Shang Dynasty makes it through this crisis, I will build temples dedicated to your master all over the world! He will be worshipped forever!"


    Prince Pan now regarded Fang Yuan as an ancient god.


    In truth, Fang Yuan''s strength was not that far off from that of ancient gods.


    At the same time, the War God Chi materialised on the other side of the battlefield.


    "The affairs of mortals are self-determined. The heavenly will merely exerts a subtle influence. The more beings at my level interfere in mortal affairs, the greater the chance they have of incurring divine retribution!"


    The War God Chi muttered as his gaze pierced through the heavens and allowed him to see the goddess Nuwa standing passively in the heavenly palace.


    "Even the goddess Nuwa is remaining inactive despite seeing the rout of the Western Zhou army. You were too careless, Ancient One, and now you will be played like a fool¡­"


    Still, Chi was aware that the Ancient One had no choice but to act in the way he did, for his fate was tied to that of Western Zhou.


    "Hehe...to think that such a fate would befall you one day!"


    Chi smirked as he witnessed the suffering of the Ancient One.


    Although he was a new incarnation of the War God, he had inherited Chi''s mark and possessed all of Chi''s memories and feelings.


    Chi had no friendly feelings towards the Ancient One, who had defeated him before and sabotaged the course of nature as dictated by the heavenly will.


    "However...did Nuwa manage to see through him as well?"


    The War God Chi gazed at the battlefield and smiled coldly.


    "This is a battle between the two aliens. Let them fight it out...besides, the Ancient One has based his powers on the Five Elements and obviously covets Nuwa''s status¡­it would be a surprise if Nuwa did not already expect this!"


    The Ancient One was still a True Divine spiritual knight. It would be very difficult for him to reattain his cultivation level at the Sage state.


    He was once a Sage and knew how difficult it was to achieve that feat.


    The only plan with a high chance of success was to for the Ancient One to make his move on Nuwa, whose powers were based on the five elements.


    They might be on the same side but Nuwa would be happy to see the Ancient One become weakened.


    The scariest thing was the other outsider Fang Yuan.


    He seemed to have a good understanding of how things worked in this world. He had acted with impunity under the constraints of the heavenly will and exercised the right amount of restraint when displaying his power.


    ''However, you will be helpless in the end. Nuwa will stand on the side of Western Zhou.''


    The War God Chi looked at Fang Yuan worriedly.


    "Earth, fire, air and water. The four swords, combine! Chaos...go!"


    Fang Yuan did not hold back on the battlefield.


    The four rays of sword light converged into one and unleashed the power of chaos. The ground gave way and formed a black hole that swallowed up everything.


    "Smash!"


    The Five Elements light wheel was unable to withstand the power of this attack and broke into pieces. Fang Yuan extended a giant hand and held the Purple Phoenix by the neck while his other giant hand grabbed onto the Phoenix''s wings. Fang Yuan pulled hard with his might!


    "Rip!"


    The Purple Phoenix, supposedly an auspicious creature to the people of the world, was split into two.


    The mortals felt their blood run cold as they witnessed the gruesome sight. Even Ge Nie and Hei Zhong found it to be too cruel.


    "Chirp! Chirp!"


    A clear shriek rang out suddenly.


    The torn remains of the Purple Phoenix exploded into colourful lights and gave rise to a perfectly whole Purple Phoenix.


    "Fang Yuan...you can''t kill me!"


    The Ancient One had not only made his secret preparations in this world, but he had also taken on the incarnation of the Purple Phoenix and intertwined his destiny with that of Western Zhou. Thus, he had gained the support of the fates.


    There were many limitations, but at least it was not all in vain.


    At the very least, Nuwa had no way of dealing with him. Until the Western Zhou state had been destroyed, his true aura would never be compromised no matter how many times he fell and he would always be revived.


    "Success or failure, it is all up to fate! The Western Zhou state is destined to receive the heavenly mandate! They will become the future overlords of heaven and earth!"


    Fang Yuan bellowed in reply.


    "However, the heavenly mandate isn''t set in stone...just how many times do you think the energy of Western Zhou''s fate can protect you?"


    The Ancient One immediately turned pale upon hearing Fang Yuan''s words.


    "Prince Pan, if you are not going to attack now and wipe out your enemies, then when?"


    Prince Pan heard a voice speak into his ear. He issued an order to his troops at once.


    "Destroy the despicable men of Western Zhou!"


    "Attack!"


    The 50000-strong army, led by Lian and Er, charged in the direction of Western Zhou. The time had come for them to avenge their losses!


    Upon clashing with the Shang army, the Western Zhou army suffered defeat after defeat.


    It was now apparent from the circumstances of mortal conflicts that the heavenly will could undergo changes.


    The Ancient One was taking it especially hard!


    The Western Zhou army was falling back. At the same time, the Five Elements Purple Phoenix was becoming weaker and its tail feathers fell off one by one. The aura surrounding its body was dimming. Fang Yuan did not even have to lift a finger.


    "No¡­"


    The Ancient One let out an anguished scream.


    "I''d spent so much time and effort to divine that Western Zhou would triumph and rule the world. Did I get it wrong?...No! Fang Yuan, you are ruthless!"


    "Bang!"


    Before the Ancient One had finished speaking, Fang Yuan threw a punch at him. The Purple Phoenix exploded.


    This time, the colourful lights struggled to no avail. Only a remnant of the Phoenix''s true aura was absorbed by the shaky heavenly pillar of Western Zhou.


    "My true opponent approaches!"


    Fang Yuan had an imposing look on his face.


    The divine retribution for his attempt to reverse the heavenly will had been unleashed!

 577 Be

    "Fang Yuan¡­"


    Nuwa observed the goings-on of the mortal realm up in the heavenly palace. She muttered to herself.


    "I can feel that the heavenly mandate is still with Zhou. Even though Zhou experienced a decline after conquering Shangyi and forcing King Xin to self-immolate, they are still capable of gaining the submission of the other feudal lords and feeding off the energy of these feudal states. They will live on for about 800 years!"


    As the premier deity, she was aware that the heavenly mandate followed its own laws!


    Heaven and earth were neutral entities. There was no way that a family would be fated to rule the world for 800 years! The fates could never afford to give such a thing.


    Whether it was the witch race, the Shang or Western Zhou, the so-called ''heavenly mandate'' was like starting capital that allowed a chosen family to rise quickly and place them in a good position to achieve dominion over the world. Only when they themselves work towards building up infrastructure and gaining popular support would they be able to ensure the longevity of their dynasty. A state that relied entirely on the grace of heaven to survive would be a complete joke!


    The witch race was an example of an entity that failed despite being favoured by the heavens.


    The Shang Dynasty performed better. It rose at a time when the Xia Dynasty was declining. Later, it won overlordship of the world following an epic battle with the Xia and sustained their power for 500 years by absorbing the energy of their vassals.


    Now, it was Western Zhou''s turn.


    If external forces had not interfered, Western Zhou would have been able to dominate the other feudal states and create a tributary system that would have kept them nourished for a long time.


    However, things were falling apart.


    In fact, if Western Zhou had lost the heavenly mandate, Nuwa would have washed her hands of their affairs.


    It was because Western Zhou remained in heaven''s favours that Nuwa had to stay on.


    Of course, this was a precarious situation.


    ''If the heavenly will was still on the side of Western Zhou, I would have been able to destroy King Xin openly when he received the help of external forces...now, however, it seems like I must proceed with caution!''


    Nuwa pondered on. Suddenly, her face took on a shocked expression.


    "Also...his enemy seems to be the Ancient One, which benefits me to some extent. Could it be...that everything that had happened had been part of his plan?"


    If this was the case, it would be truly horrifying.


    This meant that the other party was not only scheming but he also had a firm understanding of the workings of this world and how the heavenly will operated.


    "Most importantly...he is different from the Ancient One, who is easily manipulated. This person''s original body isn''t in this world. Even if he dies here, his true aura would most likely get away and become a future threat¡­"


    The current situation had been caused by the accumulation of minor alterations developing into a new trend. Even the goddess Nuwa was at a loss.


    "Be it as it may, I''ll have to do something!"


    Nuwa was the premier deity after all. Determined, she waved a hand and sent colourful lights shooting up into the skies.


    "Ding! Ding! Dang! Dang!"


    The soldiers of the retreating Western Zhou army found that layers of colourful lights had enveloped their bodies like suits of armour. They were rapidly regaining their energy.


    "Lady Nuwa is here!"


    The Marquis of Western Zhou and Young Master Wu were overjoyed.


    "Kill them! Counterattack!"


    "Sigh¡­"


    Fang Yuan exhaled. He knew that even though his methodology had been effective, it was unable to prevent Nuwa from intervening.


    ''In truth...even in my original plan, I had expected Nuwa to act anyway. This is already one of the better case scenarios!''


    Fang Yuan waved a hand. Sword essence descended to the ground and carved out a deep gully, putting a halt to the charge of the Western Zhou army.


    "Lady Nuwa, may we request an audience with you!"


    The War God Chi appeared beside Fang Yuan in a flash of flames. They levitated high up in the air and stared at the rich and colourful lights.


    "Buzz!"


    In a flash of light, elegantly-dressed and beautiful goddess Nuwa appeared.


    "Greetings, Lady Nuwa!"


    She was a Sage after all. Fang Yuan and the War God Chi respected her power and they bowed first.


    "Gentlemen, is there a need for this?"


    Nuwa returned their bows and asked in a perfectly neutral voice.


    "The battle between the Shang Dynasty and the Western Zhou state had been destined to happen anyway. Let us leave the mortals to settle it among themselves. What do you say?"


    Fang Yuan smiled. Western Zhou had lost their final chance to overthrow the Shang Dynasty. There was even a huge possibility that they might be defeated. Nuwa would never agree to this arrangement.


    "No way!"


    Fang Yuan had barely finished speaking when Nuwa rejected his suggestion with a frown.


    "In that case, I''ll compromise!"


    Fang Yuan could tell that even with her powers, Nuwa was unwilling to involve herself with human military conflicts -- they were rich in blood and hatred!


    Fang Yuan thought for a moment before speaking.


    "You, I and the War God Chi won''t intervene. If the Western Zhou army can overcome my array, they would be in a good position to defeat the Shang Dynasty! If not, then we will take it as heaven''s will! Whatever follows will be self-determined by the mortals!"


    "In that case...fine!"


    Nuwa rolled her eyes and agreed.


    The War God Chi sighed in relief.


    They would be lucky to survive a clash with Nuwa. This opportunity to settle their differences through a bet was greatly appreciated.


    Of course, Fang Yuan had begun to set this up a long time ago. His little preparations combined to form a major developmental trend!


    After all, even though Fang Yuan might have recovered his peak prowess and was now a higher being, having to face a Sage did not bode well for him.


    Fang Yuan and Nuwa took up their positions in their separate arrays.


    "Mister¡­"


    Prince Pan advanced uneasily. Even though he had already gained the upper hand, the prospect of fighting Nuwa was terrifying.


    "Don''t panic!"


    Fang Yuan waved his hands and explained the bet with Nuwa.


    "Go get Hei Zhong, Ge Nie, Er and Lian!"


    "With you around, the Shang Dynasty will be safe!"


    Prince Pan calmed himself down and tasked someone to fulfil Fang Yuan''s orders.


    "Greetings, teacher!"


    Fang Yuan examined the four men before him who were standing at attention, and spoke in a low voice.


    "I know of an array called the Chaos Sword Array! I will use four divine swords for the eyes of the array. No one beneath the Sage level will even stand a chance of countering the array!"


    "With this array, we will be fine!"


    Lian and Er were excited.


    "Mm, the four of you are worthy of being the wielders of these four swords!"


    Fang Yuan summoned the four swords. They materialised in the air and shimmered brightly.


    "Lian, take the Wind Sword. Er, take the Earth Sword...Hei Zhong and Ge Nie, take the Water and Fire Swords respectively!"


    The four swords had been given out.


    "Yes, teacher!"


    The four sword wielders bowed down with different looks on their faces.


    Ge Nie looked at the Water Sword in his hand. It had disappeared mysteriously and only reappeared now. He could not help but remember Cao Qiu''s words.


    ''External objects can''t be trusted indeed. When will I finally reach the peak of sword dao cultivation?''


    Fang Yuan knew what Ge Nie was thinking about and shook his head.


    The two opposing armies retreated and left a large piece of no man''s land between them.


    The four sword wielders appointed by Fang Yuan stepped forward to set up the array.


    "Swoosh!"


    In a short while, an imposing sword array appeared. Lights of four colours danced within it and evolved into a green energy. It was definitely not to be underestimated and even the clouds in the skies had been scattered by its power.


    "Very impressive! Very powerful!"


    Even the War God Chi had to take a step back.


    "This array...can be considered the fiercest array of the ancient era!"


    "My lady!"


    The Chaos Sword array had frightened both the Marquis and Young Master Wu. They fell to their knees before the cloud that Nuwa was mounted on.


    "Set your minds at ease. Although I won''t intervene personally, I will still help you! This array is based on the power of earth, fire, air and water, and will unleash a chaotic power when activated. To counter it, you will have to break through the four doors at the same time and take down the respective sword wielders!"


    "My lady...Western Zhou is a small and poor state. We don''t have many people with special talents!"


    Young Master Wu replied distressedly.


    "Don''t worry!"


    Nuwa''s eyes were on the four sword wielders that had been appointed by Fang Yuan.


    ''These are men who have risen to the occasion. I must take down at least two of them!''


    Nuwa spoke aloud.


    "The four people who will attempt to break into the array will be as follows, the Marquis, whom I have given a special sword and suit of armour to. Two greater demons that I have summoned. As for the last person¡­"


    She waved her hand and sent colourful lights shooting across the skies.


    The heavenly pillar of Western Zhou had appeared and the Five Elements Purple Phoenix within let out a long wail. It flew down to the ground and spoke.


    "Thank you for saving my life, Lady Nuwa!"


    ''Another troublesome fellow!''


    Nuwa''s facial expressions did not change.


    "In our attack against the array, you will bring up the rear."


    "Yes, my lady!"


    Although the Ancient One had once coveted the Sage status of Nuwa, he would not have been able to take on a physical form, much less keep his status as a True Divine spiritual knight if not for Nuwa''s help!


    He had to revise his plan.


    "Dum! Dum!"


    The war drums had sounded again. The four people tasked with destroying the array led soldiers through the four doors of the sword array.


    "Tsk tsk...it seems like Nuwa has the same idea as we do!"


    There was a gleam in Fang Yuan''s eyes as he looked at the men who were attempting to counter his array.


    His mindset had long changed. He now saw himself as a chess player and all the people in the world as his chess pieces.


    The bet with Nuwa had high stakes in the form of human civilisation. In fact, neither of them cared very much about the results.


    If they actually did, Nuwa and Fang Yuan would have battled it out personally and turned things into a bloodbath.


    Nuwa did not mind because as a Sage, she was invincible in this world!


    Fang Yuan did not mind because if he failed, he could always leave this world and come back whenever he felt he was ready.


    Since both of them had misgivings about the whole thing, compromise became a key part of their negotiations.


    Of course, as the weaker side, Fang Yuan did pay some prices. For one¡­the problem with the Ancient One had been a giant loophole!


    "If I had direct control over this operation, the Ancient One would have been soundly defeated by the Chaos Sword Array. However, things are slightly trickier now¡­"


    Fan Yuan looked at the Western Zhou army stream into the grounds of the array and chuckled coldly.


    "Of course...this is the only way to destroy this person completely!


    Actually, why did it matter to him whether or not the Shang Dynasty was overthrown? He was only their founder in name and after the aura of the


    Black Bird became severely weakened after 500 years, he had lost his sense of attachment to them.


    Fang Yuan''s main objective of coming to this world was still to seek out and kill the Ancient One!

 578 Overcoming the Array

    Within the Chaos Sword Array was a profusion of different atmospheres. Light reflected off the swords flashed majestically. The setup gave off an indescribable sense of danger.


    "Roar! Roar!"


    A three-headed demonic tiger roared as it entered the Earth Door of the array.


    The tiger''s body was covered in black fur and split into three human heads up his neck. The two heads at the side were that of an old man and a young boy while the head in the middle was that of a robust man. It was the head in the middle that spoke.


    "Lady Nuwa has ordered me to overcome this array. Where is the guardian?"


    The two heads at the side opened their mouths wide and spat out poisonous flames and fumes.


    "Hey! Quit the arrogance, demon! I''ll make you pay!"


    Er flew out and brandished the Earth Sword in his hand.


    "Buzz! Buzz!"


    In the next moment, there were flashes of light in the surroundings as the sword essence assailed the demonic tiger like countless needles.


    "Zap! Zap!"


    Blood spurted from the numerous wounds on the three-headed demonic tiger''s body as it collapsed in a heap.


    "Impossible...my demonic physique is supposed to be indestructible! How can I die here...roar! The divine souls of us heavenly demons will always stay intact when we reincarnate!"


    A mass of dark energy emanated from the body of the demonic tiger and diffused throughout the surroundings. It formed the vague outline of a huge tiger.


    "I intend to cultivate myself so that I can reach the level of Wu Zhiqi and Xiang Liu, or even become a Sage. How can I die here?"


    "You talk too much!"


    Although Er was not the true master of the sword array, he was one of the sword wielders and thus understood the powers of the Chaos Sword Array.


    Er threw out an attack with his sword.


    A spiritual territory had fallen and carried with it the stoicism of the earth.


    The divine soul of the demonic tiger which had been struggling was instantly suppressed and disintegrated when the sword radiance pierced through it.


    "This is a formidable sword array indeed!"


    Er let out a sigh. He had witnessed the quick death of a powerful demon. He turned his gaze to the other three directions.


    "I wonder how Father and the others are doing?"


    At the Fire Sword Door of the Array.


    A scholarly-looking old man strolled about in the array and exhaled nervously.


    "Sigh...I''ve never heard of this array before. I''m probably going to perish here today."


    "Haha...good that you know. Hurry and die at my hands so that you will add on to my battle merits!"


    Hei Zhong laughed and rushed forward with his Fire Sword in hand.


    "I intend to keep my life. Forgive me for not being able to agree to your demands!"


    The old man bared his teeth and transformed into a large six-tailed white fox.


    "Hmm!"


    Hei Zhong felt his eyelids twitch when he saw the transformation and attacked hastily.


    "Zap!"


    The sword essence of the Fire Sword grew in strength within the sword array and stabbed the white fox. The white fox crumpled to the ground.


    "You are a fox from Tu Mountain? Do you know a fox named Sang Qing?"


    "I am Sang Qing!"


    The old fox was stunned and spoke.


    "How do you know my name?"


    "It''s you!"


    Hei Zhong broke out into laughter.


    "Forget it¡­I''ll spare your life for the sake of Big White and Little White! Get lost!"


    Hei Zhong aimed a kick at Sang Qing and the old fox was sent flying out of the Chaos Sword Array.


    "This is so strange! Who are Big White and Little White?"


    The white fox reduced the size of its body to that of a mouse and proceeded to lick its wounds. When it had regained enough strength to move, it ran off with its tail between its legs, not daring to take one more look at the sword array behind him.


    Sang Qing was relieved beyond measure. He guessed that it was thanks to one of his past good deeds that he was able to keep his life this time around.


    ...


    At the Water Sword Door of the Array.


    Ge Nie looked on as the Marquis of Western Zhou led his army on a charge. He was unsure of what to do.


    "The Marquis is a mortal man. It would be rather unfair if I made use of a divine weapon and array to deal with him. Besides...the Sword Sage Cao Qiu once mentioned that a reliance on external items would deny one of the chance to attain the peak of sword dao one day¡­"


    "But still, this is an all-out battle. I have been entrusted with a heavy responsibility. How can I give it up?"


    While Ge Nie considered his dilemma, the Marquis was approaching him rapidly on his horse.


    Although the Marquis was already an old man, he was still fit and healthy. His skills had also been enhanced by the penta-coloured suit of armour that he wore. Ge Nie could feel an invasive energy coming in his direction. The Water Sword attempted to wriggle itself out of his hand.


    ''Oh no!"


    In a flash, Ge Nie suppressed his mixed emotions and parried the blow.


    "Zap!"


    The sword essence surged forth like frost and froze everything that it came into contact with.


    The soldiers following close behind the Marquis turned into ice statues instantly and exploded into bursts of white powder.


    "Bang!"


    Colourful lights danced on the Marquis''s body and fended off the cold energy. The Marquis struck out a blow with his sword.


    "Watch the sword!"


    "About time!"


    Ge Nie saw that the attack was well-executed and could not help but be impressed. It was apparent that the Marquis was a master swordsman.


    Nevertheless, they were fighting in Ge Nie''s element. No matter how good the Marquis''s swordplay was, Ge Nie would be able to counter it easily.


    Ge Nie attacked with some hesitation.


    The Marquis, seeing an opportunity, began to force Ge Nie backwards with his swordplay.


    "Watch my Zhou Yi Swordplay!"


    "Zhou Yi? A swordplay technique derived from the Classic of Changes?"


    Ge Nie''s eyes were gleaming. The Marquis was within his reach and Ge Nie could easily finish him off with a blow. However, Ge Nie felt inclined to let the Marquis finish displaying his skills so that he could see the swordplay technique in its entirety.


    With this in mind, Ge Nie hesitated to make his move once more, which was one of the largest taboos as a swordsman.


    The Marquis did not hold back.


    Although he had the protection of the penta-coloured armour and had resisted the power the sword essence so far, he could feel himself tiring out. There was no time to lose.


    Spotting Ge Nie''s indecisiveness, the Marquis quickly thrust his sword towards Ge Nie''s torso from an impossible angle.


    "Buzz!"


    Colourful lights exploded from the Marquis''s sword as it plunged deep into Ge Nie''s heart. Ge Nie''s eyes were wide open in shock.


    "Cough cough¡­"


    Ge Nie coughed out blood and fell onto the floor. He thought back to when Fang Yuan gave him his first lesson in swordplay. Fang Yuan had said: ''Sword dao involves the art of clearing the mind and swordsmen fear indecisiveness the most. Thus, swordsmen must kill anyone who tries to cloud their judgement!''


    "So...it seems that I''m not a real swordsman after all!"


    Ge Nie laughed bitterly. His eyes widened and he was no more.


    "Huff¡­"


    The Marquis exhaled and picked up the Water Sword lying on the ground like it was a rare treasure.


    "This sword is one of the eyes of the array. Now that I''ve taken it away, what is going to happen?"


    The Marquis could already feel a change coming over the sword array.


    At the Wind Sword Door of the Array.


    A gale surrounded Lian as he sparred with the Five Elements Purple Phoenix. Suddenly, there was a disturbance to the elemental energy of heaven and earth as it deteriorated from its previous state.


    "The array is not working properly. Could it be that one of the array eyes has been overcome?"


    A chill came over Lian as he thought about the dangers faced by the Shang Dynasty. He tried his utmost to activate the powers of the array.


    "The realm of the winds descends!"


    "Whoosh! Whoosh!"


    Another territory had fallen along with the rise of the green hurricane.


    "The Five Elements Cycle!"


    Colourful lights revolved continuously around the Ancient One. They provided a layer of defence against Lian''s wind attack.


    "If Fang Yuan was here, I''d probably stand back. You, however, are an insignificant mortal relying on the power of the sword array to fight me. How dare you pit yourself against me? You must be looking to die!"


    The Ancient One chortled and shook his tail feathers.


    As the colourful lights flashed on, the power of the hurricane began to die down. The huge figure of the phoenix loomed over Lian.


    "The Chaos Sword Array with its four array eyes intact is rather hard to deal with. However, now that an array eye is down, you are out of luck!"


    "Swish!"


    A phoenix claw clamped down onto Lian.


    Lian had a resolute expression on his face as he held up the Wind Sword in an attempt to stave off the attack.


    "Dang!"


    The Wind Sword flew out of his hands into the air.


    After all, Lian was only a mortal man. He had only been able to fight the Five Elements Purple Phoenix by relying on the power and protection of the Chaos Sword Array.


    Now that the sword array had been compromised, its strength was greatly reduced as a result. No matter how sharp the Wind Sword was, it would not help matters at all.


    "Thump!"


    The phoenix claw descended upon Lian and ended his life.


    The Five Elements Phoenix let out a jubilant shriek.


    Fang Yuan sat cross-legged outside of the sword array, his face expressionless. Suddenly, he felt a tug on his heartstrings.


    "Two of the sword wielders are dead. Ge Nie and Gentleman Lian? Fine!"


    Heaven and earth are indifferent and consider all creatures dispensable. The sages as well.


    Both he and Nuwa were chess masters. Whether it was the Shang King, the Marquis of Western Zhou, Er, Lian or even the humblest soldier, they were all the same. They were all weak and fragile and died easily.


    The people from the lower classes were dying incessantly as the war between the Shang and the Zhou raged on. Why shouldn''t people from the upper classes die as well?


    No one could live forever!


    "If the Shang King''s death served to atone for the past crimes of the Shang Dynasty, then Lian''s death would serve to usher in a new era¡­"


    Fang Yuan looked up into the clouds at Nuwa with a smile playing on his lips.


    "Kaboom!"


    Another change had come over the Chaos Sword Array.


    The four divine swords transformed into flowing rays of light and disappeared. The surrounding mist slowly dissipated. Following the convergence of space, a newer and larger sword array had been created.


    The Marquis, the Ancient One and company convened.


    "What''s going on? Haven''t we already overcome the Chaos Sword Array?"


    "No! I''m afraid that the array has adopted a different form!"


    The Ancient One shook his head and stared at Er and Hei Zhong.


    "As long as we can kill the both of them, we will achieve victory!"


    Ever since the Ancient One had killed the sword wielder, he felt a growing unease. Nevertheless, he tried his best to suppress it.


    "Father¡­"


    Er had noticed the mangled flesh and blood under the claw of the Five Elements Purple Phoenix. His eyes bulged with hatred.


    "I will kill you!"


    "Haha...a mortal man brags shamelessly!"


    The Ancient One chuckled as the colourful lights on his body grew brighter.


    "Chirp! Chirp!"


    At this moment, the Ancient One saw the energy of a Black Bird rise into the air from Er''s body. It looked to be full of vitality and carried with it a sort of enigmatic power.


    "The heavenly mandate? How can this be? Zhou is supposed to be the favoured one!"


    The Ancient One was shocked.


    "Something''s wrong...this doesn''t seem like the current heavenly mandate. It is a projection of the future! Have I been tricked?!"


    He suddenly came to his senses and flapped his wings in a frantic attempt to escape.


    Unfortunately, he was too late.


    "Kaboom!"


    The four rays of sword radiance rushed into the skies and converged, forming a green mist.


    The Black Bird screeched within the everchanging Chaos Sword Array. The world exploded and time passed in a blur until the dust settled upon a scene during the Warring States era.


    Suddenly, a mysterious energy surged forth aggressively from a country in the west!

 579 Deal

    "The King of Qin unified the realm and watched it succumb under his tiger-like glare. He clears the skies with a wave of his sword and the feudal lords pay homage to him in the west."


    Fang Yuan was outside of the sword array and recited these verses with a faint smile playing on his lips.


    The heavenly mandate of Western Zhou ran counter to the Shang Dynasty''s fate. Likewise, the heavenly mandate of Qin ran counter to Western Zhou''s fate. The Chaos Sword Array was trying to adjust the conditions within the array such that fate energy from the future would gather and make the Zhou state lose its heavenly mandate!


    "The Ancient One and the Western Zhou state are one. He is the heavenly mandate!"


    Fang Yuan''s gaze seemed to penetrate the sword array. He could see a dark energy coming together to form a majestic black figure who swung a sword.


    The Chaos Sword Array let out a deafening sound. The array''s power was concentrated on the sword.


    "Chirp!"


    The Ancient One, still in his form as the Five Elements Purple Phoenix, let out an aggrieved shriek before he was decapitated by the sword.


    "Very clever!"


    Nuwa had observed the entire proceedings among the clouds. She shook her head.


    "Making use of the future heavenly mandate of Qin to curb Zhou''s can indeed be quite effective. Still, what''s the point in that since the Ancient One can always come back to life after he dies?"


    "Kaboom!"


    Another change had taken place within the sword array.


    After the Five Elements Purple Phoenix had been destroyed, a pillar of energy rushed up into the skies. It was the heavenly mandate and fate energy of the Western Zhou state.


    Prince Pan suddenly experienced a pain in his chest and spat out a mouthful of fresh blood.


    "Chirp! Chirp!"


    The newly revived Black Bird, the representative of Shang''s heavenly mandate, flew in circles above Prince Pan and excreted a black substance from within its body. This substance gathered to form a heavenly pillar that was absorbed into the Chaos Sword Array.


    At this moment, in the chaos within the sword array stood three heavenly pillars. They were standing side by side and represented the respective destinies of Shang, Zhou and Qin.


    "What are you doing?"


    The War God Chi looked at Fang Yuan solemnly. Even Nuwa had an imposing look on her face.


    "The fates are supposed to be impartial towards all living creatures. If this should be the case, then why does the heavenly mandate favour the people of a chosen surname, a chosen family and a chosen state?"


    Fang Yuan chuckled.


    "I shall make a prayer for all living creatures. May the heavenly mandate be based on nothing else but accumulated virtue. Wouldn''t it be great if every living creature gets to experience free will?"


    "Kaboom!"


    As Fang Yuan spoke, the three heavenly pillars were encircled by the chaotic energy and came together as one. The resultant pillar of energy rushed up into the skies and exploded into hundreds of thousands of shooting stars that fell to the earth.


    "Every living creature will get to experience free will?!"


    Nuwa shuddered. She could almost visualise the future.


    "If the general population becomes enlightened, the regimes of the world would no longer be under hereditary rule nor would they continue to place their faith in deities. Is this what equality for mankind entails?"


    A deep fear came over Nuwa''s heart. She somehow knew that this was the trend of development for the future and that there was no way to alter its course.


    She looked at Fang Yuan with mixed emotions.


    This alien actually had a better understanding of how this world works than she did. His grasp of the past, present and future developments of the Ancient World even exceeded that of the Tai God!


    "Kaboom!"


    The sword array blew apart, leaving behind a company of dazed men which included the Marquis.


    "Now, whether it is Western Zhou, Shang or the future Qin, they have all lost their heavenly mandates¡­"


    Nuwa let out a sigh.


    With the heavenly mandates gone, the Ancient One would no longer be able to engineer the return of his true aura. He was most definitely dead.


    This was what Fang Yuan had planned to do!


    He had used the future fate energy of the future Qin to deal severe damage to Zhou''s heavenly mandate. Then, he had scattered the heavenly mandate all over the world. From now onwards, it would all be down to natural selection. Only the fittest would survive!


    "Dragons rise up all the time. Perhaps Western Zhou, Shang and Qin could be content with surviving as feudal states for now. If future members of these families prove to be competent, they might unify the world one day. Anyway, none of this matters anymore."


    Fang Yuan exhaled.


    Now that the Ancient One was dead, Fang Yuan''s mission in this world was nearly complete. He could leave with no regrets.


    "Lady Nuwa¡­please help me!"


    The Marquis bowed down before Nuwa.


    "If the sword array has been destroyed¡­the Shang Dynasty will fall!"


    "Yes! The Zhou can destroy the Shang and the Shang can destroy the Zhou as well. It is all up to evolution!"


    Nuwa nodded slightly and ascended to the heavens without looking back at the Marquis.


    Now that the heavenly mandate no longer existed, Nuwa was no longer compelled nor motivated to act. As the premier deity, why would she want to involve herself in mortal affairs?


    "Ah?"


    The Marquis was stunned.


    "Could it be that the sword array hasn''t been overcome yet¡­and that I''ve lost the bet?"


    The Marquis tried to divine the situation but ended up more confused than ever. He spat out some blood.


    "Crack!"


    Cracks extended across the penta-coloured suit of armour and sword that he carried before they shattered.


    "Father¡­"


    Young Master Wu felt like he had been plunged into freezing water.


    Even the Sage had abandoned them. At this point, if Western Zhou was to pit their military strength against the Shang Dynasty in a fair fight, they would most certainly lose!


    ...


    "Mister!"


    Prince Pan looked at Er. There was a sort of ambivalence on his face.


    Anyone who had witnessed the happenings of a moment before would definitely have much to mull over.


    "Are you going to ask me about my plans?"


    Fang Yuan smiled.


    In truth, after he had dealt with the Ancient One, he could not care less whether the Shang Dynasty survived nor if the Qin Dynasty managed to rise in the future.


    ''However¡­I have faith in the radiation and influence from that civilisation of a higher dimension!''


    It was obvious that Fang Yuan had achieved victory because of his superior grasp of the world''s developmental trends. In other words, he could see the embodiment of fate and destiny!


    ''The heavenly will of this world was but a puppet under the radiation from the high-dimensional civilisation!''


    This realisation gave Fang Yuan a jolt.


    The radiation and influence from the high-dimensional civilisation might have been let out unintentionally, but there was no disputing the effects that they had on the Ancient World.


    ''This entity must be of the same level as the fellow from the Demonic Heart Realm who had stripped the path of the dream masters! Is it at the level of Original Energy?''


    Fang Yuan was slightly troubled, yet he felt the elation that came with being able to see the path to a higher plane.


    "Yes!"


    Prince Pan had no idea of the thoughts that had gone through Fang Yuan''s mind in that split second. He bowed deeply to Fang Yuan.


    "Following the rise of several dragons, the Shang Dynasty will no longer be the legitimate regime."


    Prince Pan''s face turned as white as a sheet when he heard Fang Yuan''s words.


    "The heavenly mandate favours no one now and will only be guided along by accumulated merits! Your ancestors came from humble beginnings. Could it be that you are afraid of the challenges that lie ahead?"


    "No, I wouldn''t dare!"


    Prince Pan laughed bitterly. He knew that the Shang aristocracy had almost been completely corrupted by centuries of living opulently.


    "There is something else. You could work towards educating the people!"


    Fang Yuan smiled playfully.


    "When you win over the hearts of the people, you win the mandate to rule!"


    In fact, the Shang and Zhou Dynasties were the last golden ages of the royal bloodlines.


    During the Spring and Autumn and Warring State periods, the feudal lords hungered for talent and recruited officials from the peasantry. This led to a reduction in power of the blue-blooded nobles.


    In the end, the Qin state implemented legal and military reforms that marked a shift towards meritocracy and destroyed the hereditary reward system for the nobility. This allowed the Qin state to become an efficient war machine and finally conquer the world.


    Still, whether Prince Pan had the resolve to push through with this plan was another matter.


    These would be Fang Yuan''s parting words to him.


    ...


    Having said his piece, Fang Yuan took his leave.


    "I wonder what this place will look like a few centuries down the road¡­will the Spring and Autumn period still surface?"


    Fang Yuan stood among the clouds and looked down at the world with a sigh.


    He had gone against the heavenly will of the world and was lucky to have been able to kill the Ancient One. As for his harvesting of the world''s energy? Hehe¡­Fang Yuan would have to see if the Tai God and Nuwa agreed.


    "I should go!"


    Fang Yuan considered looking for a world without Sages so that he could harvest the world''s energy unhindered.


    "Wait up, Mister Fang!"


    A gentle voice flowed towards Fang Yuan. Colourful clouds materialised.


    "Ah, it''s Lady Nuwa!"


    Fang Yuan bowed.


    "What brings you here?"


    "You are knowledgeable and well-learned. I would like to consult you regarding a matter. I hope that you will agree to meet me!"


    The colourful lights gathered to form a passageway.


    "Sure!"


    Fang Yuan''s eyes flashed brightly as he stepped into the passageway fearlessly.


    "Buzz! Buzz!"


    The world around him fell away.


    Fang Yuan was surrounded by a chaotic void. The power of faith gathered and revolved around a divine palace like a golden river flow.


    Fang Yuan walked along a path of gold which led into the palace.


    "Do forgive me for not fetching you in personally, esteemed guest!"


    Nuwa appeared with an unfathomable look in her eyes.


    "It wasn''t solely your idea to ask me here, was it?"


    Fang Yuan became serious. He could feel another approaching presence.


    This presence did not have a physical form and was more of an idea. However, it was a vast entity, an assembly of conscious thoughts.


    "The Tai God?"


    Fang Yuan said the name grimly.


    The Tai God was the heavenly will of the Ancient World!


    Of course, it was extremely difficult for the heavenly will be personified. In all of Nuwa''s years of existence, the Tai God had remained a symbol, a faith.


    Nevertheless, the Tai God was capable of making independent decisions.


    "The Tai God has a question!"


    Nuwa spoke with a firm voice. She had become the representative of heavenly will.


    "Where did you come from?"


    Fang Yuan''s expression changed.


    T here was no reason that Nuwa would not know, given that the Ancient One had sold himself to the Ancient World a long time ago.


    They must have gotten suspicious.


    "I know that you two deities must have been wondering about my perception of the future¡­"


    Fang Yuan thought for a while and continued speaking.


    "I have been to a world that was very similar to this world. That world experienced the Xia, Shang,


    Zhou Dynasties as well as the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods as well!"The most convincing lies had their roots in truth.


    The heavenly will began to stir. Nuwa went on to ask her question patiently.


    "Where is this world that you speak of?"


    "I encountered it by coincidence. It will be hard for me to go back there again¡­"


    Fang Yuan shook his head. Suddenly, he broke into a grin.


    "Of course¡­I think we can make a deal, you and I!"


    He was making this proposal to the Tai God! The Tai God who was tired of being a puppet to the influence of the high-dimensional world!

 580 Besiege

    In Da Qian.


    Fang Yuan woke up from his state of isolation and looked in front of him.


    Jun Yianyi''s body was straight and emitted a kind of mysterious, starlike glow.


    "Time hasn''t passed too slowly," he silently muttered. He smiled a little then slowly breathed in.


    "Kaboom!"


    In the dreamland, the swords of the four elements -- Earth, Fire, Wind, and Water-- were rare artifacts. Their center contained a large violet ball of the realm''s energy. It was spectacular.


    Before leaving the world, Tai Yi the Celestial Ruler and Nu Wodi the Chief God jointly went to look for Fang Yuan. He naturally felt indifferent about the four swords and agreed to trade. He used all the history his memory contained as information to be exchanged for a large amount of realm energy from Tai Yi.


    Even though the Ancient Realm''s heavens knew that Fang Yuan had held back a lot, the thousand years of historical force that he had given up was enough in exchange for that much realm energy.


    "I want to know if in a situation where the heavens had time to prepare, would history still happen as it did? Especially concerning the Ultimate Sky and Earth connection..."


    Fang Yuan considered this silently. He viewed the Ancient Realm as something he needed to observe in the future.


    "Of course, with the help of the traits board, he was able to succeed. The Da Qian Empire had also recovered its full power."


    He glanced at the four magical swords again and nodded, satisfied.


    The state is the state. Power is power.


    When he reached full power, with the help of the realm power he had gotten from the Da Qian Heavens, he would recover fully once he was back.


    He was once a master of dreams. He had peaked at the 7th Tier of Illusionary Divinity. The Earth, Fire, Wind and Water swords that were reunited were now in a primeval state of chaos. They still possessed their great energy!


    "A new path for the dream master. The four swords are the same as the seven swords from before. If the 7th Tier of Illusionary Divinity is achieved, won''t I become a sacred dream master?"


    Fang Yuan glanced at his stats:


    "Name: Fang Yuan


    Essence: 110


    Spirit: 100


    Magic: 100


    Profession: Dream Master


    Cultivation: Illusionary Divine (4th Tier), True Divine, Power Obtainer


    Technique: Climb the Ancient Eagle''s Body [Strengthen Zuwu pulse (one tier)], Create Sword Spell [Four swords (100%)]


    Skill: [Medicine (Level 3)], [Botany (Level 6)(Peak)], [Fiery Golden Eyes (Level 3)], [Body Seal (Ultimate form)]"


    "Strengthened bloodline of a Fire Witch - Activate the original bloodline of a Fire Witch, achieve the effect of strengthening the body. Currently at the first tier!"


    "Aside from killing the ancient bodies, I didn''t think that I would have other results."


    Fang Yuan was a little surprised, "The improvements I make in every world are finally reflected in my stats? When I am finally able to travel to worlds like Heng Sha, I will become invincible..."


    He was overwhelmed by emotions. Redefining what constituted a master pathway, he created a new path. With the help of the trait board, he could possibly avenge the Demonic Heart Realm, which was deprived of the master pathway.


    "A master pathway is for creation! By assembling two swords, I will be able to break through the illusory stages. I can unveil my spiritual nature. By doing so, I will allow the four of them to become spiritual swords! This can parallel the original power we get from assembling the 7 swords!"


    "Come out, the children of the sword!"


    In the dreamland, the four magical swords transformed into boys. They wore clothing of various colors and all of them bowed, "Master!"


    "You will follow me back to the 9 Extremes Mountain!"


    With a wave of his hands, Fang Yuan tried to move the boys into reality. Suddenly, his face changed.


    "Dang! Dang!"


    In the Da Qian world, the four long swords fell from the air. The hard limestone was unable to prevent itself from fracturing. The sword pierced through the stone.


    "It didn''t work?"


    He furrowed his brows, then, understood everything, "That''s right! Aside from not being able to create a civilized race, the original 7th Tier Illusionary Divinity is not that different from a ''creator''. There is something unusual happening here!"


    "The source of the problem is still the master pathway that''s connected to the Demonic Heart Realm. That''s where I was granted the sword... However, since this pathway was confiscated, my grant is bound to have vanished. Even if there were other dream masters able to attain the 7th Tier Illusionary Divinity, I''m afraid that they would find out that their power will have largely reduced."


    If an object does not belong to you, it will depend on you after it is attained. If lost, it will instantly become trouble!


    "The dream masters from before knew what the object looked like but did not understand it!"


    Fang Yuan waved his hands and the four magic swords formed a U-shape in front of him. They were brightly aglow and their spiritual characteristics were extraordinary. "However, I need to know both the object''s appearance as well as its characteristics in order to create a strong foundation for the path when I create it!"


    He was already able to do so. Even within the dreamland, he was able to summon the swords'' children. He felt that its obscure meaning had to be broken down in order to be analyzed and achieve secret to the art of creation!


    "By using false comprehension, the dreamt master pathway used an illusion as a reflection of reality!"


    Fang Yuan kept the Earth, Fire, Wind, Water swords and the Armillary Sphere, then walked out of the cave without looking back.


    Fang Yuan urgently wanted to go to a deeper level of cultivation and research the secrets of the art of creation. Unfortunately, the deeper levels were closed to him.


    Only when he had researched them could his dream master cultivation be said to be stable.


    "The 7th Tier Illusionary Divinity''s energy symbolizes this land. I have tried my best to give it life and was able to do so even in the dreamland. The only thing that was lacking is a gradual increase in realism!"


    Thump!


    A large stone broke into pieces. Bright sunlight glowed from behind the vast stretch of uninterrupted mountains that extended before him.


    Fang Yuan did his closed-door cultivation in an area concealed deep within the wilderness. He was so powerful. He would be able to survive no matter how bad his surrounding environment was.


    "I should go back now. I wonder how the 9 Extremes Mountain are getting along... If ever I get trapped in other worlds again and get killed by someone, there is nothing I can do..."


    He thought for a while and brought an emerald green jade pendant to his eyes. When he saw that there were a lot more bright streaks of blood on it, he could not help but frown.


    "This is the ''Thousand Miles'' amulet. After the dream world collapsed, there was a limited quantity of spiritual objects that allowed long-distance communication. This caused more blood-like marks to appear. This means that someone has tried to contact me. The other piece of the amulet, I left at the 9 Extreme Mountains," he thought. Fang Yuan did not dare to neglect this and transferred an abundant of basic force into the jade pendant.


    Buzz!


    On the jade''s surface, 5 brilliant colors swirled together. A surprised voice interrupted, "Mountain master, you have finally contacted us!"


    "What happened?"


    As the distance between Fang Yuan and his correspondents was relatively far, the sound from the jade pendant was irregular, fuzzy and veiled in background noise. However, Fang Yuan was still able to hear the extremely dark voice.


    "It''s the demon spirits... We''re not sure why, but they suddenly had an interest in where we are. Even Ah Duo was unable to stop them!"


    Ah Duo was a demon spirit that Fang Yuan had caught. After taming it, he used it to control an army that protected the 9 Extremes Mountain.


    Normal demon spirits would retreat when they detect it. Even if it was a large demon spirit passing by the mountain, they would not kill their own kind in order to obtain a patch of territory. In theory, the mountain was in peace and nothing happened to it.


    Despite that, problems still surfaced.


    "The only way for demon spirits to go against their nature is if a demon spirit of a higher level... The 9 Extremes Mountain must have caught the eye of strong big demons! Why would they be interested in that place?"


    Fang Yuan frowned slightly and thought of his own Green Element Grass.


    It was obvious that the higher-level demon spirits were not fools. They had already started investigating the area and in the end, had found their way to the 9 Extremes Mountain.


    "What the mountain master said was true, Ah Duo''s big army had already been completely defeated. It had also escaped back to 9 Extremes Mountain and said that a demon general had attacked... Now, we can only depend on the mountain''s defenses as well as the Green-Wood Sky Net Array to deal with this opponent!"


    The extremely dark voice said wearily, "I understand. I will rush back!"


    Fang Yuan ended the connection and sighed once, "The current situation of the 9 Extremes Mountain is too delicate. Apart from me, there are no expert martial artists to protect it. It could be destroyed once faced with a stronger power. I should train a few of them to stop worrying.


    "Swoosh!"


    While pondering silently, he took out a magic sword, stood up, and just like a sword god, he drove the sword into the sky to fly. He became a shooting star and rushed towards 9 Extremes Mountain, as fast as lightning.


    ...


    The Nine Extremes Mountain.


    The demon spirit army had more than a million in its ranks. They blocked all of the exits.


    The 9 Extremes Mountain was very vast, and the defense that was left was very powerful as well. The demon generals were intelligent. They would not sacrifice their soldiers for nothing and hence only used them to seal the exits, as if they were sure it was a success.


    "I can feel it..."


    Within the black clouds, a 3-tailed Scorpion Lion roared, "The person who oppressed us is here! Attack them and destroy everything inside!"


    "Mister Three-tails, we understand your cause, but the defenses here are very powerful. The range of protection is also very troublesome..."


    A big snake spat, "Even if we are demon generals, it is also very challenging to break them. The humans inside are very smart. They even adopted a demon to create the illusion that this place had already been attacked to gain safety!"


    "Exactly, the humans here are very cunning!"


    The 3-tailed Scorpion Lion''s voice boomed, shaking the ground, "This does not mean that they will survive!"


    As it was talking, rich, black smoke rose from its body and almost enveloped the whole sky.


    "Most respected 3-tails, this is not the time for greats like you to fight, leave it to me!"


    A thin shadow appeared, peacefully warning, "Okay, be careful!"


    The 3-tailed Scorpion Lion looked at the green shimmer gathering at the mouth of the 9 Extremes Mountain and felt a little fearful.


    "I am the demon general, Ahmo Fanduo! You, all of you, will become our food"


    The mirage exploded and became an enormous giant. Its body was majestic despite the many octopus-like tentacles protruding from its neck.


    "Whoosh! Whoosh!"


    Its huge tentacles brought a storm that hit the green screen.


    "Kaboom!"


    All the Green-Wood Sky Net Array vibrated, scattered things that looked like little spores.


    "Hurry! Ask the others to move away! These are demon seeds!"


    Ah Duo, who was wearing a cape, stood in the center of the array to remind the others.


    Though the giant was trapped between the 9 Extremes Mountain and the invading army, and with the help of Fang Yuan, ate a lot of Demon Spirits, it was still far from becoming a demon general. After seeing how the army surrounded the mountain and attacked, it immediately abandoned its position and escaped into the 9 Extremes Mountain.


    If only Fang Yuan did not have his reputation to uphold, he might have had to surrender to the enemy.


    "Useless! With this parasite technique, the Green-Wood Sky Net Array is not that bad!"


    Liu Mengmei was not disconcerted by the idea of facing death. She operated the array in a way that invited the enemy in. Veins appeared to wind around the seeds and with a green flash, the black seeds vanished in a blink of an eye.

 581 Fiery Dragon

    "Miss Liu, the demon seeds are dangerous even when hidden. They can be easily triggered in a human''s body¡­"


    Ah Duo also reminded them, "After the big war has ended, it''s best for me to check everyone."


    "What can it hide?"


    Liu Mengmei face''s changed.


    "Yes¡­ We demon spirits have a special ability. While changing between illusion and reality, our aura may not be completely purified even though it remains very powerful¡­"


    Ah Duo looked at the shadows outside. His eyes were filled with envy, "Oh, demon general! I really want to eat them!"


    "If I were you, I would be happy they haven''t already eaten me!"


    The Extreme Darkness said coldly, "I have already contacted the mountain master. He promised to come back as soon as possible!"


    "What? That''s great!"


    Liu Mengmei looked happy. "Without the mountain master, the disciples and deacons here in the mountain are very uneasy¡­"


    Up to now, she had fully understood Fang Yuan''s role. It was as if he stabilized the ocean with a magic needle.


    With the mess they were in, his power was both a source of comfort and hope.


    "Jianmu has a lot of life force left. Additionally, the Green-Wood Sky Net Array seems to be able to stay strong. They should be able to hold out until the mountain master arrives!"


    She thought about it then blurted out, "As long as the frequency of that type of attack is low¡­"


    Outside, the Tentacle Giant outside roared and charged the mouth of the valley. It then tore the screen harshly with its sharp three-fingered claws.


    Buzz!


    The green light vibrated, causing the disciples to feel extremely uneasy.


    Suddenly, one disciple shouted as he grabbed his throat. His eyeballs exploded and a black tentacle crawled out from his mouth.


    "It''s a parasite!"


    Ah Duo lept towards him, stretching out his hands. He took something similar to a black octopus out from the disciple''s chest and swallowed it whole.


    The disciple had already lost his life force and was dead.


    "Quick!"


    Extreme Darkness witnessed the scene and immediately commanded, "Hand down the Magic Pendant Water and open the Pacify Heart Array. Disciples, remain calm and do not panic!"


    Demon spirits used various types of strong emotions as fuel. If there was panic anywhere near the demon seeds, something bad would happen.


    "Whoever discovered the unusual user, kill him immediately!"


    The chaos world had severe punishments. Extreme Darkness, who had plenty of experience with that world, would not be soft-hearted at all.


    ¡­


    "Looks like Extreme Darkness is responding well, I was worried for nothing!"


    At the center of the Green-Wood Sky Net Array, Fang Yuan sat cross-legged on the tree''s crown and nodded his head.


    After restoring his dream master''s cultivation, he drove the sword into the air and flew as fast as lightning. Naturally, he arrived early. No one likes a plot where the main character appears in the nick of time in order to save the day.


    On a whim, he stayed hidden to see how well the small team he had created could resist pressure. As he had the harnessed the array''s highest power, no one found him.


    For now, the situation looked good.


    "Extreme Darkness is very experienced and Mengmei has a knack for management. Even though the foundation of the 9 Extremes Mountain may be lacking and are unstable, the mountain is still usable as long as we have time to settle."


    Fang Yuan looked towards the side of the mountain currently being attacked by the Tentacle Giant. He took a step forward and said, "And¡­ this farce should also end!"


    Kaboom!


    The heavens and earth shook and another humongous giant appeared. It seemed like the black eagle-feathered beast had appeared out of thin air. It threw a punch at the Tentacle Giant.


    It was as if Pan Gu had split open heaven and earth. Infinite energy was concentrated into a force that immediately attacked the Tentacle Giant.


    Ping! Ping!


    An explosion rang into the air as the tentacles on its body broke off one by one. The Tentacle Giant shrilled, "This is¡­ energy from a demon''s heart! How are you able to borrow such a concentration of demonic heart energy?"


    The demon spirits were special. They were difficult to injure using average energy. Demons at the level of demon general were even more difficult to defeat.


    However, Fang Yuan was different.


    As a Tier 4 Illusionary Divine dream master, he was able to grasp the elemental force of dream. By simply using it and transferring it to his fist, he could seriously harm the demon generals.


    "Who''s there?"


    The Giant fell to the ground. A large number of tentacles spread out from its body. "Who¡­ dares harm the great Ahmo Fanduo?"


    These tentacles produced a thick, purple liquid that allowed the injury to heal quickly.


    "This is so disgusting!"


    As if he were smashing an egg to pieces, Fang Yuan countered the giant''s defense. An invisible power struck, cutting off the tentacles.


    This type of demon general might have been very troublesome for Fang Yuan''s True Divine, but for the dream master from the 7th Tier Illusionary Divine, it could be restrained.


    After all, they were all made out of dream energy.


    And for the demon general under his feet, it was very unlucky to meet Fang Yuan when he was at his peak.


    Thump!


    Suddenly, the Tentacle Giant exploded. An unbearable stench rose from the thick fluid into the air.


    From the explosion, a line of black light shot in the direction of the 3-tailed Scorpion Lion.


    "Wanna go? You have to ask me first!"


    Fang Yuan raised his hands and the power of the Modest Wind Sword emerged. His palm was extremely graceful, moving as if it went across space to the edge of the world. He was able to hold onto the black light in a flash.


    "Seal!"


    A dark silver elemental dream force surged violently. It became lines of fine, packed chains made from symbols. These surrounded the black light and became a firm seal.


    Only the elemental dream force could be used to deal with demon spirits!


    The sealing method was one of Fang Yuan''s recent innovations. He had used the research done by the dream masters of Da Qian Empire as his foundation and added the realization content obtained from the seal''s body. It was well done. As soon as it completely sealed, there was no chance of escaping it.


    "Ahmo Fanduo¡­"


    High in the air, the illusionary giant snake seemed sluggish. "It was so easily defeated?" it said.


    "That person is not weak!"


    The black fire surrounding 3-tailed Scorpion Lion burned and glared at Fang Yuan. "He is not only a sacred martial artist among the humans, but he also uses demonic heart energy. An average demon general is no match for the combination of these two!"


    "However¡­ humankind! You shouldn''t provoke me!"


    It roared and the black flames covered the sky. They set the day on fire.


    "Happiness, anger, and sadness¡­ It used emotions to fuel the fire?"


    Fang Yuan glanced in the fire''s direction and opened up his arms. "Territory!" he screamed.


    An invisible power appeared and immediately blew the black fire out. He kept moving forward until he was in front of the 3-tailed Scorpion Lion and threw a punch.


    Kaboom!


    It was as if the heavens and earth had been punched and broke, becoming a mess of earth, fire, wind, and water.


    "Chaos Divine Fist!"


    Fang Yuan stared at the leader of the Demon Spirit army, the 3-tailed Scorpion Lion, focused.


    "Bite of Nothingness!"


    The large, translucent snake sped forward and opened its mouth. It was like a black hole that was able to swallow the skies and devour the earth and met Fang Yuan''s fist.


    Kaboom!


    The sound traveled through the air. The four elements assembled and smothered the black hole. Without a decrease in power, they landed on the giant snake.


    Crack! Crack!


    Victim to the current of power, the torso of the giant snake cracked and broke into crystal-like pieces that danced in the air.


    "My apologies Mister Three-tails, the power of this human is too strong¡­ I cannot defeat it¡­"


    A light flashed and the creature''s breath quieted. Only its voice was left in its place.


    "It actually escaped! Its ability to stay alive is not that bad!"


    Fang Yuan commended this ability but was not bothered by it. "You are the controller of the demon spirits? Why are you attacking our mountain?"


    "Because you created a world that oppresses us!"


    The 3-tailed Scorpion Lion did not seem to be afraid as it spoke, "Human, although you are strong, in the Demonic Heart Realm, you are more insignificant than ants¡­ You will never know how strong we are¡­ Ah!"


    Before it finished talking, it retreated quickly as Fang Yuan''s fist landed on it.


    "You speak too much nonsense!"


    Kaboom!


    The ground shook and a deep pit appeared. Fang Yuan transformed into a giant. He moved casually, twisting his neck while saying with a clear voice, "I don''t need to know the situation in Demonic Heart Realm. I only know that I am stronger than you right now and that''s enough!"


    While he shouted, lines of fiery-red symbols spread over his body. They became one with the original lines, forming a tight-fitting armor.


    "God of Fire! God of Fire!"


    A shadowy body appeared behind the giant. It looked ferocious. Its earlobes were hooked with fire snakes and a fire dragon flew underneath it. Unexpectedly, it was an image of the Fire Witch!


    In his heart, Fang Yuan could feel that he had gained an extra power.


    "This is the benefit of increasing the bloodline of a Fire Witch?"


    As if the ability wasn''t out of the ordinary, Fang Yuan opened his mouth and the 9 Fiery Dragons hollered.


    Roar! Roar!


    Burning flames surrounded the 9 Fiery Dragons'' bodies. They distorted everything with fire. The flames were not normal ones, they were real magical flames!


    The normal demons in the spirit army at the bottom of the mountain had come into contact with some fire sparks and were immediately immolated. There was nothing left of them.


    In addition, the fiery red, strong flames became stronger and more powerful as they smothered the 3-tailed Scorpion Lion''s black fire.


    "My special technique isn''t the Fiery Dragons, but their flames!"


    Above Fang Yuan''s fist was a ring of raging fire. Amazed, he thought, "It can continuously transform by swallowing other spiritual fire types?"


    Originally, he had calculated that he would need to expose his trump card and place the Chaos Sword Array to drive away the 3-tailed Scorpion Lion. Looking at how things were going, it was probably unnecessary.


    The 9 Fiery Dragons roared and flew around. All of the sudden, they combined into one and turned into a sun which fell towards 3-tailed Scorpion Lion.


    "Ah¡­ Who are you exactly?"


    The 3-tailed Scorpion Lion roared as the black flame surrounding it became its sole defense, like an island surrounded by the ocean.


    Whoosh!


    That next moment, the two raging flames intertwined, swiftly swallowing each other. The skies on both sides were completely polluted.


    Countless sparks fell. The demon spirit army was composed of dead and injured bodies.


    After an unknown period of time, the ground was peaceful again.


    "It has escaped?"


    Fang Yuan held something that looked like a scorpion''s tail and recited something under his breath.


    The demon general was identical to the True Elementals and True Divines. The 3-tailed Scorpion Lion, on the other hand, was much more powerful. It was almost comparable to the 8th Tier of Illusionary Divine.


    For this kind of strength, there was a price to pay. A Chinese idiom, referring to a person who is stable when met with critical situations.Creator of universe in Chinese mythology

 582 Advanced

    "Mountain Master is back!"


    On top of the 9 Extremes Mountain, plenty of his disciples celebrated when they saw Fang Yuan unleash his power, repeatedly defeating the demon generals as well as driving away the demonic army.


    "Forget it!"


    Fang Yuan landed, and lightly waved his hands.


    Green Wood Sky Net Array faded away, and Extreme Darkness, Liu Mengmei and the others appeared behind her.


    "Greetings, Mountain Master!"


    Seeing that the heart of the mountain had returned, the people of the 9 Extremes Mountain greeted him in happiness.


    "Okay, the both of you have accomplished commendable protection for this situation. You were calm during the critical time, and had ways of dispatching the others¡­"


    Fang Yuan looked at both Extreme Darkness and Liu Mengmei and nodded. Then, he called out a person wearing a black robe, "Ah Duo!"


    "Master!"


    This Demon Spirit kneeled down while trembling in fear.


    Seeing how the demon generals, that were of a higher level, were easily defeated in the hands of his master, Ah Duo didn''t dare to think of doing anything.


    "You also did pretty well this time¡­"


    Fang Yuan raised the seal''s egg in his hands, "Aside from absorbing the emotions of spiritual beings, the Demon Spirits can also eat each other to increase their level right? I shall give this to you!"


    "Thank you, Master!"


    Ah Duo was elated at the results, "With this object, I''ll have a high chance of being promoted to the state of a Demon General!"


    "It''s not a ''high chance'', but an ''absolute''!"


    Fang Yuan said coldly, "After becoming a Demon General, open up and pass me all your memory once! If you''re unable to swallow, and got swallowed by the other party instead, do the same!"


    If this type of situation really happened, it was no big deal. He could just change to another servant.


    Since Ah Duo had Fang Yuan as support, and he was dealing with a demon general that had been sealed, he was able to slowly savor his food. Constant effort brings success; his chances of being successful was high.


    "Yes!"


    Ah Duo''s body shook, but still went over to receive the seal.


    "After breaking through, remember to clean up the surroundings of the 9 Extremes Mountain, and keep all the injured soldiers that the Demon Generals left behind!"


    Fang Yuan couldn''t be bothered to care about it, and commanded him.


    In actual fact, the body system of the Demon Spirits were very interesting. When he had time in the future, he would want to perform research on it. However, he was anxious to meditate to comprehend the pathway of the art of creation, and wasn''t bothered by other things.


    "Make preparations, I want to meditate!"


    Thinking of this, he instructed Liu Mengmei, who was at his side.


    "Yes!"


    As though she was familiar with Fang Yuan''s character, Liu Mengmei answered gently, the corner of her mouth however, seemed like it concealed bitterness.


    "Also¡­ While I was outside, was there any news from the outside world? Especially from God Seeking Palace, Martial Alliance, Heavenly Spirit Association and the Alliance of Dream Masters?"


    Fang Yuan pretended to be absentminded and asked.


    "There wasn''t¡­ I''m afraid that the biggest news on Da Qian Realm right now is the 9 Extremes Mountain being besieged by the Demon Spirits!"


    Extreme Darkness courteously bowed and added, "And¡­ the Ye family sisters that came forward to seek refuge had been dealt with accordingly."


    "Alright, that''s good!"


    As to why the news of The Ancient One''s death wasn''t made known, Fang Yuan could understand a little.


    After all, the Realm Alliance was without a leader now. If they lost another key pillar of the group, it would definitely fall into chaos.


    Hence, keeping his death a secret was also very important.


    Of course, they might not think that The Ancient One had really died as, after all, it was a complete sleepwalk.


    ¡­


    "Creation pathway¡­"


    Within the quiet room, it was able to cut out any external noises once the thick stone door had been closed.


    With a wave of his hands, the four magical swords appeared. Fang Yuan looked at them silently with a serious expression.


    "Illusionary Divine is based on the creation from nothingness!"


    "From my formation of the sword array, the second sword can actualise spiritual properties in objects. When the four swords activate the territory, the spiritual sword can transform into a person!"


    "Now, I have to research clearly the reason why the magic sword is able to transform in the real dream world and then copy it to the real world¡­"


    One by one, guesses and ideas surfaced in his mind.


    Accompanying his profound deductions, the spirituality in the magic swords in front of him also increased in number, more and more.


    "Life objects?


    "The world''s creation?


    "These questions are becoming more and more interesting as I research¡­"


    Fang Yuan casually lit up the fire sword causing it to roar. All of a sudden, the flame separated, the long flames transformed into bones and muscles to form a person.


    "There''s also the evolution of Demon Spirits that seem to have many hidden secrets. It''s a pity¡­ the only way to truly understand a world is to reopen Heaven and Earth. Otherwise, how can one know of all the large secrets?"


    The evolution of Demon Spirits could, however, remind him of the evil demon''s ilk from the previous world''s abyss legend.


    This was even to the extent that it was even more unusual than the evil demons.


    Unfortunately, this was the real trump card and secret of the Demonic Heart Realm. He was still under-qualified to understand it clearly.


    "Abyss, Evil Demons, Demon Spirits¡­"


    Fang Yuan muttered. However, a hazy idea indistinctly surfaced within the sea of knowledge in his mind.


    Kaboom!


    At that moment, a fluctuation travelled from the outside world and it brought about wails and moans from thousands of people.


    The strong and extreme negative emotions gathered, disturbing the dream elemental force, which resulted in the formation of a whirlpool of emotions.


    "Oh?"


    Fang Yuan''s eyes shone as he walked out of the quiet room. He gazed up at the sky, which had become a funnel, and strained his eyes, "Whilst I was meditating¡­ Ah Duo had finally swallowed that Demon General successfully, and advanced to have great abilities?"


    The Demon General in the Demon Spirit could already keep up with the True Divine Martial Artists and True Elemental Spiritual Knights. Its methods were secretive, as if there were some overlapping.


    "Mountain Master!"


    Outside, Liu Mengmei and Extreme Darkness got the news in an instance and rushed over. Liu Mengmei had prepared a copper basin of clean water and a towel out of respect, as if she was a daughter-in-law and wanted to personally serve him.


    "Thank you!"


    Fang Yuan cleaned his hands, "how long did I meditate for?"


    "One month has already passed since the day you returned!"


    Liu Mengmei expression was complicated, and had a hint of resentfulness.


    "For a months time, Ah Duo was able to overcome a Demon General. He isn''t bad!"


    This level of Demon Spirits advancement had nothing to do with natural endowments; it didn''t even have ranks. As long as there was enough accumulation, it would happen naturally. This made Fang Yuan envious.


    "Hoot! Hoot!"


    At this moment, the dream elemental force fluctuated heavily, and like a long stream and river, it rushed into nothingness.


    There, a pale face appeared. If it was seen closely, one would find out that the face was formed by pieces of pale, white face masks. Each of their forms were weird, but real.


    "My Thousand Illusionary Face! It''s the Master of Wielding Emotions!"


    Finally, before the dream elemental force was exhausted, the pale, white human face froze, and produced an ear-splitting roar.


    This roar brought a strong emotion. It caused people to have the impulse to unconsciously release all of their intense dark emotions and ideas.


    "Master!"


    However, in the next moment, the fake face that previously made a haughty roar fell onto the ground and became a black human form. It then bowed towards Fang Yuan.


    "Thousand Illusionary Face? Is this your new ability?"


    Fang Yuan looked at Ah Duo, who had a 180-degree change, and looked up and down at him with interest.


    "Yes¡­ I''ve advanced to become a Demon General. Only when I passed down the memory, did I know how to achieve this branch¡­ I can absorb the soul of a person, and bear the weight of the power from the different emotions when using the mask¡­"


    Ah Duo explained in-detail, "Monster Generals have many abilities. By choosing different pathways, the future development will also be very different¡­ Aside from being able to control the power of emotions well, the advancement path of this Thousand Illusionary Face can also control numerous demon armies. Ah Duo think that this ability may be very useful to Master now!"


    "Indeed, it isn''t bad!"


    Fang Yuan received the jade scroll from Ah Duo. It had the various memories of demon generals, and the numbers were as vast as the ocean.


    "Very well, based on your current power, it should be as easy as flipping your palm over to subdue the different demon armies and bring back peace to the nearby prefectures with demonic disasters¡­"


    He kept the jade scroll, and looked at Liu Mengmei and Extreme Darkness, "How is the news from the outside world recently?"


    "All is well, especially since the matter about how Mountain Master was able to force the Demon General to retreat has already been passed down by everyone''s lips. You''re now indistinctly Da Qian World''s best person!"


    Liu Mengmei smiled.


    "Oh?"


    However, Fang Yuan laughed bitterly, "what skills and conduct do I have to dare be called the best?"


    If he was at the state of a sage, then he might not be afraid of this. However, he was only at the state of a powerful being, it was too foolish to fight for the false title of being the best, or second best.


    "Mountain Master knows that fame follows merit!"


    Extreme Darkness tightly compressed her lips, but suddenly returned to being solemn, "there''s one more thing! The Alliance of Dream Masters is going to be rebuilt. Baize Mountain and Evil Divine Sect came to look for us in hopes of roping in the 9 Extremes Mountain but I used the excuse that Mountain Master was still meditating and rejected them."


    "Baize Mountain, Evil Divine Sect?"


    Fang Yuan shook his head and asked, "What about the Realm Alliance?"


    After mentioning this matter, which was heavily linked to her previous physical body, Extreme Darkness'' facial expression became complicated in an instant, "Realm Alliance is the same as before¡ªpeaceful. It even withdrew, and it was rumored that the Ancient Alliance Master went into meditation, and some elders are doing the management currently!"


    "Okay, looks like the Realm Alliance is quite strict in hiding the news?"


    After listening, Fang Yuan nodded in his heart.


    Of course, he didn''t think that it could stay hidden forever¡ªnor did he think that the others wouldn''t doubt him.


    After all, based on power, the time it happened, motive and whatnot, he was still the first party that would be suspected.


    It was hard to say, the besieging by the Demon General army this time might even be a probe that was arranged by the other party.


    ¡­


    At the same time, thousands of miles away.


    The ex-sage Baize had secretly gathered with the Evil Divine.


    "The Ancient One has died!"


    Ex-sage Baize was solemn, and said this once he opened his mouth.


    "I also received similar secret reports, it must be true then¡­" Evil Divine was gloomy about this, "Ancient friend was always the most experienced and astute among us few. He always hid his location, but no one expected him to get killed! Who might the culprit be?"


    "There are only a few possibilities!"


    Baize said worriedly, "I''m worried that the party killed The Ancient One in order to damage the Alliance''s formation!"


    "The Demon Spirits disaster had just been settled, and now we have these. There are too many disasters¡­"


    Evil Divine shook his head, "However, the 9 Extremes Mountain that we''ve prepared to rope in is a force that suddenly appeared among the Dream Masters. Fang Yuan is only a junior, however, he exploded suddenly, defeating three demon generals in one go. His strength cannot be underestimated."


    "Yes, he''s the biggest variable for our Alliance of Dream Masters!"


    Sage Baize felt the same way, "To add on¡­ I suspect that he has something to do with our ancient friend''s passing!"

 583 Please Mee

    In the East Ocean Prefectures.


    As they were near the ocean, the Demon Spirit armies came in fewer numbers, so the damage during the demon disaster was minimized.


    Of course, good and bad things always happen at the same time. Of the sect parties and forces that survived, many went to the coastal areas and fought each other for survival. The citizens there suffered a lot, and it was essentially no different from a demon disaster.


    "That''s a good base, it''d be a pity if it weren''t taken!"


    Above the clouds, Fang Yuan looked down at the giant city and sighed a little.


    "Master, if you command, Ah Duo will immediately get those prefectures for you!"


    On the side, the demon general, who wore a black cape, tapped his chest to show his loyalty.


    "Within the East Ocean Prefectures, I like the South Prefecture, Ocean Prefecture, and the Building Prefecture the most - they are the real essence within the essence! However, the bases are not enough to take them now."


    Due to the demon disasters, many large sects were killed, and those who were lucky enough to survive escaped everywhere. The East Ocean Prefectures were popular choices, so there might be talented individuals¡ªor maybe even higher beings¡ªin hiding there.


    Moreover, the Magic Masters'' Association and the Alliance of Dream Masters would not give up such great, big bases.


    After all, there was the Martial Alliance to the north, the God Seeking Palace to the west, and the demon disaster at the center. If the East Ocean Prefectures were not taken, there would be no way to become stronger and fight for the future.


    Although Fang Yuan was not afraid to fight solo, it would still be better if he looked at the forces he had.


    The 9 Extremes Mountain was just a newborn baby in that respect and could not even be compared to the Heavenly Spirit Association.


    "It''s not that I don''t like it, I just can''t do it! I need to wait for the Demon Spirits to avoid the ocean!"


    Ah Duo laughed coldly. "Once Master commands me, I will immediately move hundreds of thousands of demon armies and get the three prefectures for Master¡­"


    "Those three prefectures might become dead territories. Is there any difference if we take over or not?"


    Fang Yuan rolled his eyes. "The demon armies have already attacked and taken over the area by force. The governing is very unsightly, but there will always be a chance!"


    They turned a few times and went back to the 9 Extremes Mountain. Liu Mengmei welcomed them and said, "Mountain Master, the Evil Divine Sect and the Baize Mountain have come to see you!"


    "To be able to make you act like this, these visitors must be special¡­" Fang Yuan muttered. "Could they be two of the prime sages¡­"


    "They are indeed sages, but to use the word ''prime'' is a little¡­ I¡­" Liu Mengmei''s face flushed immediately, and she was at a loss for words.


    She was after all, from the Divine Lotus Cult and had drawn in all kinds of amazing powers from the sages since she was young. This had planted a deeply-rooted seed that had an immense effect on her.


    Even though the dark sage had passed away, he was still greatly revered by the others who used to be sages.


    "Oh, Mengmei, know that that ever since the moment you joined my 9 Extremes Mountain, you became a part of this family. You are even representing me in internal affairs¡­ Even if previous sages came, they can only talk to you in the same manner they talk to their peers!"


    Fang Yuan enjoined with a dominating aura.


    At his current state of cultivation, it was indeed unsure whether he or the sages were better and who was striving.


    What did those old monsters, abandoned by time, think they were?


    "Even so, they chose to abandon their posts and rush over here despite being preoccupied by daily state affairs. You should still see them!" The Extreme Darkness took a step forward and said gently, "I have arranged them to be at the hall."


    "Since this is it, I shall meet them then!"


    Leading the way, Fang Yuan walked straight into the 9 Extremes Mountain''s main hall.


    "I have seen you before, my friends!"


    He had met the Evil Divine and the Baize Sage during the war of the Jade Capital previously, so they were not strangers. Hence, he cupped his one hand in the other before his chest in a greeting gesture.


    "What matter requires the two of you to come here?"


    Fang Yuan went over to sit on the master''s seat without consulting anyone, and his tone was not polite at all. "Baize Mountain has just been besieged by Demon Spirits, and the Evil Divine Sect also has unsolved internal issues. What favor do want from me at this time?"


    "Great, Brother Fang is indeed a straightforward person!"


    Baize took the lead and said, "We have indeed come together to discuss something with you, my friend."


    While talking, his eyes were calculative as he looked at Fang Yuan. The Evil Divine was doing the same thing beside him.


    When there were numerous demon generals surrounding and attacking the 9 Extremes Mountain, no one had any good prospects towards Fang Yuan, and everyone thought that the best possible outcome would be his defeat and the disintegration of the organization he had built.


    However, they did not expect the situation to develop as thus.


    Fang Yuan was able to kill and defeat numerous demon generals with just his fist, sealing one of them and driving the others away. He was even able to win the fight against the leading demon spirit, the 3-tailed Scorpion Lion!


    Even Qian Huanyi and Superior Wu Zong would have found it difficult to achieve these results.


    At this point, the news of The Ancient One''s passing had leaked despite the Realm Alliance''s efforts to conceal the information, causing the two sages to be even more shocked.


    With the ability of a real sage, this feat is impossible unless this child recovered a part of the dream master''s capabilities


    They took a wild guess in their heart. However, no matter how they looked, they could not see how Fang Yuan''s body had changed. Unless they attacked with all their powers, they had no way of measuring his power.


    "Emergency! Please speak!"


    Fang Yuan waved his hands in a commanding position.


    Seeing this, Baize and Evil Divine made a face.


    Since ages ago, the two had always been highly respected sages,well received by the dream masters below them.


    However, now that they were being looked down upon by a junior, they were incredibly insulted.


    Despite their anger, they were reserved in their thoughts, and in a blink of an eye, they returned to normal. Baize took the lead and cupped his hand in the other as a polite gesture. "Mountain Master, have you ever heard of the Heavenly Spirit Association?"


    "Yes, I heard that they are an organization of spiritual warriors that mainly does business and exchanges information with other spiritual warriors on the side. They have a large force spread across the whole Da Qian!" Fang Yuan explained.


    "Yes¡­ The Heavenly Spirit Association has now been taken over by us dream masters, and we are full of ambition. Now, it is finally exposed completely¡­"


    They were frustrated, but the two sages still kept their arrogance. Even though they respected Fang Yuan''s abilities, deep down, they still viewed the spiritual knights and Wu Zong as inferiors.


    "If we had known earlier, we would have turned those spiritual warriors and Wu Zong all into ashes from the start to prevent today''s troubles from happening!"


    Evil Divine said angrily. When he saw how nonchalant Fang Yuan was and how he was not stirred by their instigation, he secretly scolded him before going back to the main topic. "The dream masters have now collapsed, so I hope that you will help us. How do you feel about rebuilding the Alliance of the Dream Masters?


    "Rebuilding?"


    Fang Yuan smiled. Rebuilding would, in fact, result in a reshuffling of powers.


    How fortunate was he to be able to benefit by being a part of the dream masters?


    "Yes¡­ In view of how the original the Divine Lotus Cult and the Source Seeking Sect have been destroyed, as well as how the Realm Alliance is in a defensive position¡­ it is also time for our organization''s structure to change. We can no longer defend the old prejudices among ourselves, and each family should give what they have and overcome this challenge together!"


    Baize Sage was very righteous, and the way he talked was extremely sincere. "I propose that the Evil Divine Sect, the Baize Mountain, and the 9 Extremes Mountain rebuild the Alliance of Dream Masters. All the higher beings who have maintained their cultivations will be Elders, and they will vote on a course of action when something big happens. How about that?"


    Sometimes, what seems to be fair is actually most unfair.


    If what he said was really done, the 9 Extremes Mountain would only have two votes at most and would definitely be controlled by these two sages. Fang Yuan would be a fool to agree to such terms.


    "With only the three of us, how would we form the entire Realm Alliance be?"


    Fang Yuan realized Baize''s words hid another motive and pretended to be suspicious and asked.


    "Would it be that it is still not known by the Mountain Master?"


    Suspicion flashed in Baize''s eyes. "The Ancient One of the Realm Alliance was attacked by a strong enemy and had met an unfortunate event, leaving him dead¡­"


    "What?" Fang Yuan''s voice dragged on. "From what I know, he left to dream-traverse through 3,000 worlds?"


    Fang Yuan would not admit that he had long since killed the Ancient One, but at the same time, he could not act as if he knew nothing about the Realm Alliance; that would be too fake! Hence, he decided to slip some truths to make his lies seem much more realistic.


    "Really?"


    Evil Divine and Baize made eye contact, exchanging looks filled with shock and suspicion. "Maybe my report was wrong. However, it is true that the Ancient One was addicted to exploring the world and was not one to be bothered by the problems from the outside world. From this viewpoint, it would still be the three of us that will lead!"


    "If our new dream master alliance is set up, where should our base be?"


    Fang Yuan did not answer directly and instead replied with another question.


    "The west, north and center have forces occupying them. Only the East Ocean Prefecture is unguarded!"


    This was no secret, and Baize said directly, "However, there is one challenge left. The Heavenly Spirit Association seemed to be more active and wants to conquer the East Ocean Prefecture. We should hurry up and take action!"


    The world was almost completely divided into territories, and the only piece of land that was not conquered was the East Ocean Prefectures.


    The Heavenly Spirit Association and the Alliance of Dream Masters were both eyeing it.


    Fang Yuan finally knew why these two sages abandoned their cults and rushed over to find him.


    "The Heavenly Spirit Association¡­ This is rather worrisome!"


    "I have already gotten accurate reports that the Heavenly Spirit Association is joining the forces in the East Ocean Prefectures. They are planning to organize an alliance meeting at Hailan City in the Haizhou district next month." Worried, the Evil Divine added. "The Heavenly Spirit Association''s actions were previously concealed, but they have countless ties with other forces. The original sects in the East Ocean Prefecture would answer their call to fight. They then would become successful after conquering everyone else!"


    Even though the Heavenly Spirit Association had become powerful, it was previously made up of small and friable alliances spread around the world.


    If they were able to obtain this big piece of land, their potential and ability would be vastly different.


    "Based off the structure and organization of the Heavenly Spirit Association, there are definitely powerful characters moving behind the scenes, right?"


    Fang Yuan thought about it for a while and asked suddenly.


    "As expected of the Mountain Master to be able to observe accurately and penetrate the underlying problem!" Baize complimented. "I have already instructed people to investigate this properly. The initiator of the alliance is a True Elemental spiritual knight from the Heaven Spirit Ancestors."


    "The Heaven Spirit Ancestors?!"


    Fang Yuan noted this down silently.


    "Even though his name sounds intimidating, he was actually a normal herb farmer within the Divine Lotus Cult previously. He was lucky to be alive and was thought highly of by Dark Divine, so he was promoted to a servant. He was given cultivation techniques, and as expected, he reared a tiger and court disaster!"


    Evil Divine said emotionally, conveniently exposing the Heaven Spirit Ancestor''s cover.


    "Well, this is¡­ unexpected."


    Fang Yuan rolled his eyes. The herb picker who was mentioned might be the gigolo of the Dark Divine. Otherwise, why would he be thought greatly of? Tsk tsk¡­

 584 Plan

    Hailan City.


    It was the largest coastal prefecture. It had magnificent, large streams that converged to form a giant harbor that could connect to the East Ocean.


    The water traffic within the city was intersected; the narrow, packed network of rivers split the city into tiny patches while numerous different types of boats passed through.


    Looking from above, it was a city that floated on water.


    At that moment, several large warships stopped at the large harbor as though they were fortresses moving across the water. Many people, who were wearing unusual uniforms, walked down.


    "Father!"


    One of the lines consisted of troops, wearing bright red uniforms, and ladies, whose auras were graceful and restrained.


    Among them was a young lady with an egg-shaped face. She grabbed her father''s arm nervously and said, "You must be careful on the journey this time!"


    "Don''t worry, we, the Red Cotton Sect were a well-known sect in the Red Prefecture before¡­ Even if we were forced to move, nothing would happen!"


    The middle-aged man comforted his daughter by patting the back of her hand, but his heart was filled with helplessness.


    A sect''s foundation was based on their ability to control a territory. Only when it had a territory could it receive various kinds of offerings and be able to take in disciples.


    Although it sounded vulgar, it was, in actual fact, the highest priority.


    The arrogant dream masters from before were able to rule Da Qian only because they had a paradise with a large amount of resources. They had almost caused chaos in the imperial court as well.


    After having power, one would naturally have greater ambitions, this is common knowledge.


    Dream Masters were able to produce resources themselves, providing for thousands upon thousands of the Spiritual Knights and Wuzongs. Naturally, they would ask for a higher power.


    Of course, with the turn of events, many Dream Masters died after the Demon Spirit disaster. This kind of power was also lost completely. The fight for the few spots with resources left in this secular world was, however, increasingly violent.


    This was even more true for the coastal prefectures, where they were, luckily, able to escape from the hands of the demons.


    Many leftover sects and small forces travelled there to escape from the disaster and began fighting for the resources with the local villains there. Just from the amount of bloodshed that the middle-aged man saw, there was definitely no less than 10.


    The Red Cotton Sect had no choice but to fight viciously with the enemies for over 10 battles before they were barely able to get one small town to stay in.


    "The Demon Spirit disaster has yet to end, yet humankind are killing each other for small territories. This is too ridiculous!"


    The middle-aged man tilted his head up to look at Hailan City, his eyes burned with a trace of hope, "Maybe¡­ Heavenly Spirit Association can change what''s happening now!"


    In order for the disputes to end, to accommodate and stabilize were all jokes. The best way to end the war was for a strong power to oppress everything, and even unify everyone.


    "After this alliance meeting, Heavenly Spirit Association would be completely under the East Ocean Prefectures. No one would dare to defy their orders, hence, this might be able to solve all the disputes!"


    The middle-aged man sighed and pulled his daughter''s arm, "Let''s go¡­ follow me and enter the city!"


    Looking at how the faces of his disciples still showed their childish nature, he was filled with determination. Even if Heavenly Spirit Association really unified the world and challenged the position of the Demon Spirits, he wouldn''t be afraid to depend on the association and give up some of his decision-making power.


    At this time, no matter what sect one belonged to, one had to be able to let go of it.


    Of course, this consensus was agreed only among the Spiritual Knights.


    Under the command of the Heavenly Spirit Association, there were still some misunderstandings between many Spiritual Knights and Wuzongs. Although they weren''t looked down upon like when the Dream Masters were in the commanding position, the problem between them was still gradually multiplying.


    This was especially so for the hate between Spiritual Knights and Dream Masters¡ªit was difficult to resolve.


    After several massacres, it didn''t matter who was right or wrong previously. They wouldn''t be able to coexist unless one party was completely defeated.


    At that moment, a small boat with a black awning also stopped at the harbor.


    Fang Yuan was dressed all-white, with a beautiful jade that hung on his waist, a silver hat on his head, and carried a fan in his hands as if he was a son from a wealthy family that was out on a solo trip. He leisurely walked to the harbor, looked up at the sky, and squinted his eyes.


    "Fate tends to move in one direction, this is how human thoughts are determined! If there''s no power interfering, then the Heavenly Spirit Association will succeed this time and even dominate the east side!"


    Ever since the Fiery Golden Eyes had increased to level three, he was able to witness many different phenomenons as long as he focused slightly. This was the case even when he was at the Da Qian Empire.


    For this, Fang Yuan could use fate to directly explain it and could still be confident in being successful. If he acted like a fortune teller, he might even be able to earn a name for himself.


    "The day of the alliance meeting is drawing near. There might be talents hidden in Hailan City¡­"


    He identified the phenomenon of the nothingness and had plans immediately, "The one seizing the unrivalled ability here must be connected to the Heavenly Spirit Association."


    After talking to the two ex-sages, Fang Yuan didn''t agree nor disagree. Instead, he casually dismissed Evil Divine and Baize before coming to Hailan City himself.


    "The world has been split into four now. If the Alliance of Dream Masters want to advance, becoming large and powerful, then it needs to take these coastal prefectures. The conflict with Heavenly Spirit Association, on the other hand, cannot be avoided¡­"


    The production of resources by dream masters were mainly dependent on themselves.


    Any one of the fertile lands would yield a large amount of production, the heavenly abode of the sages could even be compared to a small world.


    Hence, the Dream Master from before wasn''t very interested in having a spot with resources. However, this wouldn''t work anymore.


    The abode of the sages had collapsed, the fertile lands no longer existed, and there were all kinds of fights for survival. This caused the scramble for resources to become increasingly violent.


    "If there weren''t any accidents¡­ When the Demon Spirit disaster was about to start at any moment, was it the first time that human cultivators engaged in a large scale infighting?"


    Fang Yuan gazed at the sky, and suddenly looked towards the outside of the city and recited in a quiet voice.


    In that direction, he instantly saw a few black clouds nearby. They were familiar, and should be Dream Masters that had changed cultivations. They even had a mighty power to back them.


    The other party might have used some kind of secret method to hide their presence well as it seemed that they didn''t attract the attention of the Spiritual Knights in the city.


    However, when Fang Yuan took an alternative route, and was observing them using his detection technique, the other party looked as though they buried their heads in the sand¡ªvery obvious. It was hilarious.


    "I''m not in a hurry to meet with them now¡­ I can find out more about the Spiritual Knights first."


    In actual fact, it didn''t matter if they were those Spiritual Knights or the Dream Masters outside. To Fang Yuan, they were all precious possessions.


    To the world, heavenly energy was naturally the most precious. The second-in-line was the different talented individuals.


    "Da Qian Empire had met with a vast change, perhaps there might be a child of fate that will be born¡­"


    Fang Yuan shook his head. He didn''t have any thoughts of begging for a boon from a child of fate. Instead, he had thought highly of, not an individual, but the various culture of cultivation and practice that the Da Qian Empire had cultivated.


    It didn''t matter if it was a Dream Master, Spiritual Knights or Wuzongs, they all represented a special "way of life"!


    No matter how dazzling the way of life and civilization was, it needed people to bear the weight!


    Although the path of these Dream Masters had already been seized, it didn''t mean that there was no hope in recovering.


    Just by looking at the real cultivation and practice techniques of the Demonic Heart Realm would allow the Dream Master profession to rise and dazzle people again.


    Of course, even if Fang Yuan could do it, he wouldn''t spread it. Otherwise, the largest force would still be the old Dream Masters, especially the Sages!


    "In actual fact¡­ the day will be coming soon¡­ the continuous advancement of the Demon Spirits as well as the activation of the passed down memories that would eventually fall into the hands of the Dream Masters. Although Demon Spirit techniques are unsuitable for humankind, it''s only the issue of improvisation¡­"


    Due to this, Fang Yuan felt an urgency to expand.


    Having resources was a must even if the cultivation techniques were good.


    As long as that the forces developed and become large and powerful, then they would be able to occupy the territories first in the event that the Dream Masters were able to rise again.


    "So much so that it''s directly consolidating the world''s Dream Masters into my own forces!"


    Fang Yuan clenched his fists as his ambitions surfaced.


    The original Dream Masters had five, large forces; Divine Lotus Cult had been incorporated; Source Seeking Sect had already been oppressed, and had long been dispersed; the other Dream Masters cannot be traced.


    As for the Realm Alliance''s Sage, The Ancient One, he just died at his hands. If there were no accidents, then the whole Realm Alliance would be in chaos soon.


    Today, after finishing off the Evil Divine Sect and Baize Mountain, Dream Masters would be without a leader¡ªall he had to do was kill the two Sages!


    He ought to say that the idea was actually possible, making him a little convinced.


    This is especially the case when, with his current power, he could actually make it happen!


    "Of course¡­ I cannot do such things in broad daylight!"


    Fang Yuan once again focused on the growing large phenomenon within the nothingness, "maybe¡­ I should find the Heaven Spirit Ancestor and talk!"


    Based on this person''s nickname, one could know his status in the Heavenly Spirit Association. He was at least the same rank as its founding elder.


    With his help, it would be easier to scheme against the two Sages and have someone to take the blame for it in the future.


    "Hmm¡­ Let me see¡­ This city hides three True Elements, and two True Divines?"


    Fang Yuan squinted his eyes, "the strongest among them should be the Heaven Spirit Ancestor."


    "Aiya!"


    At this time, a lady looked at Fang Yuan, face deathly pale and screamed.


    "Hong Er, what happened?"


    Several people beside her panicked in an instant, "Did the brat do something to you?"


    They were feeling uneasy from the start since they were here to join the alliance meeting. Seeing that Fang Yuan was alone, they immediately surrounded him consciously.


    "Hmph!"


    Fang Yuan shot a side glance, and coldly snorted once, "You¡­ are you looking for death? Go away!"


    Currently, he was one of the few that was best in the aspect of sage techniques and magical powers, and was of high position. Under his killing aura and his commanding gaze, the surrounding cultivators felt like their breathing was oppressed even though he didn''t use his elemental force. Cold sweat started to form on their foreheads.


    Several people in front of Fang Yuan were shivering, they nearly suffocated and moved away unconsciously.


    "I¡­ I''m fine!"


    The teenager named Hong Er clenched her chest and looked at Fang Yuan with fear, "This has nothing to do with mister, I apologize¡­"


    "Be cautious next time!"


    Seeing how there were already people looking over, Fang Yuan left quickly to avoid attention.


    "Father¡­ This person is so scary! I thought I saw mountains of corpses and oceans of blood¡­"


    After his shadow disappeared, Hong Er then said, with lingering fear, to the middle-aged man beside her.


    "The ''Kun Ming Magic Manual'' that Hong Er cultivated and practised is mainly used to detect power and is sensitive to murderous intent. For him to be able to make you react this way¡­ that person has probably killed numerous people¡­"


    The middle-aged man was also afraid after awhile. He had almost provoked a monster.

 585 Peach Blossom

    Fang Yuan took a stroll to a wine shack.


    This wine shack, albeit noisy, was enveloped in silence as it was surrounded by a peach forest. The flowers were blossoming, dying the patch of land in pink.


    Occasionally, a breeze would pass by and the flower petals would drift into the stream, attracting small fishes to chase after them competitively.


    Beside the shack, there was a fisherman who was wearing a conical bamboo hat on his head and a straw raincoat on his body. He was holding onto a fishing rod that was made out of yellow bamboo. A translucent thin, thread hung down from it and into the water body. Suddenly, the line shook.


    "I''ve caught a fish!"


    The fisherman smiled and used his arm strength to pull the fish out. A huge carp with a bright red tail jumped out of the water, whipping up endless water droplets.


    He stood up and went into the wine shack. Then, he took off his raincoat, causing the eyes of the surrounding people to light up.


    This fisherman looked like he was at most thirty year-old. He was beautiful, his features were well-crafted, especially his pair of peach-shaped eyes, filled with raw emotions. At one look, it didn''t matter if it was a single or married lady, their heart rate would quicken uncontrollably.


    "Xiao Er, cook my fish, another chicken, and bring over two pots of your peach wine," the fisherman said slowly, his voice deep and attractive with an indescribable charm.


    Immediately, the customers in the wine shack, not only females, but also males, looked at him with a certain look.


    "Alright!" To this, Xiao Er was indifferent, and smiled. "Sir, you only drink one pot everyday, what happy event did you encounter today?"


    "There''s a special guest that''s coming from afar, this, in itself, is a happy event!"


    The youth with peach-shaped eyes smiled and looked towards the door of the shack. "Since you''re here, why not sit for a drink?"


    "Of course!"


    Fang Yuan''s white robe floated as he walked into the wine shack with long strides, and sat in front of the teenager.


    "This peach wine is a local product, please try it first!" The youth smiled as he poured a cup of wine for Fang Yuan. The smell of the wine spread far and wide, with it''s unique peach aroma, it tasted pretty good.


    Fang Yuan sipped a mouthful, and immediately smiled. "Not bad!"


    "Although the wine tastes good now, it''s even better when it''s accompanied with a carp fish!"


    The youth smiled and said, "This carp fish ate peach flowers, and its body has an unusual aroma. It''s good when it''s cooked into a side dish or cooked into a soup for sobering up."


    Just as he said that, he looked like he was recalling a treasured memory. "I was a regular customer ever since I was a teenager¡­ It''s a pity that things have changed¡­"


    "Sir, here''s your food!"


    At that moment, Xiao Er grinned while she served several plates of food; the chicken was stir-fried with vegetables; fresh fish was cut into thin pieces as sashimi, accompanied by seasonings, its freshness was incomparable.


    Fang Yuan flicked his finger and a type of membrane appeared in the surrounding. It wasn''t here nor there, and in the eyes of the other customers, there was nothing unusual about the table, it was still two people enjoying their drinks.


    "To split the world into two! How magical!" The peach-eyed youth felt slightly moved. "I thought that I hid extremely well, but I never would''ve thought that you would still able to find me¡­"


    "I''m Fang Yuan. Greetings, Ancestor!" Fang Yuan got straight to the point.


    "So it''s the 9 Extremes Mountain''s Mountain Master that continuously defeated the demon generals! I''m Zhang Tianling, I go by the name of ''Ancestor.'' However, outsider gossip cannot be taken seriously¡­"


    This peach-eyed youth was unexpectedly Fang Yuan''s target¡ªHeavenly Spirit Association''s honorable elder, Heaven Spirit Ancestor.


    Despite imparting divine''s techniques, his body''s technique was incredibly fine. It was a pity that he was seen through by Fang Yuan''s Fiery Golden Eyes.


    Although there were five honorable ability within this city, Fang Yuan went directly to the strongest phenomenon, and was able to hit the bull''s-eye.


    This time, however, Fang Yuan ought to admit that the other party''s abilities, demeanor, and aura was top-notch.


    "What do you have for me, Mountain master?" Zhang Tianling held a teacup in his hand and revealed a teasing smile.


    "Oh? Don''t you hate me? And you aren''t afraid of me?" Fang Yuan was slightly shocked. "After all¡­ I''m also a Dream Master? I''m also infamous somehow!"


    "Even Lord Demon Killing Divine Pen died at your hands, you truly are outstandingly vicious!" Zhang Tianling nodded his head. "However, there is good and evil amongst the Dream Masters, furthermore¡­ I''m a True Divine at the moment, which side would I count as? If it''s judged solely based on achievements then, you, the Slaughtering Divine, are the one with the most achievements!


    "Haha¡­" Fang Yuan bursted out laughing. "If the other Spiritual Knights and Wuzongs could be as optimistic as you are, then the world would be a better place¡­"


    "It''s no use!" Zhang Tianling''s peach-shaped eyes dimmed. "In the end, the hatred between Wuzongs, Dream Masters, and Spiritual Knights still results in a fight for personal interests. In this aspect, no one, not even me, can make the Heavenly Spirit Association give way!"


    Regardless of which organization it is, when it is created it must have its own will in order to fight for its own interests.


    Just like in the past, no matter how much a monarch ruled with an iron fist, it still had to give in to the power of the state.


    Even if Zhu Yuanzhang killed the ministers and disabled the prime minister, he would still have a cabinet of ministers in the end.


    Believe it or not, if Zhang Tianling was the association''s leader, the real person who was in control, it was also difficult to make the organization do what he wanted.


    "You thought¡­ that I''m here to force you to give way?" Fang Yuan smiled slightly and shook his head. "You''re wrong¡­ I''m here to assist you!"


    "Assist me?" Zhang Tianling was shocked, but promptly had something to say, "I''ve heard that Mountain Master was Master Heartless''s disciple? Is that why you went against the Dream Masters of the Five Major Sects?"


    "That''s right!"


    At this moment, the identity of Master Heartless could no longer affect Fang Yuan. He bluntly admitted it. "Also¡­ let me tell you some news¡­ The Ancient One of the Realm Alliance died at my hands!"


    "What?" The Zhang Tianling, who was light-hearted before, changed his expression suddenly, a crack even appeared on the cup in his hands.


    "Sorry¡­ I lost control! I''ll punish myself with this cup!" He finished the wine in one shot, but looked at Fang Yuan, alarmed and frightened.


    The Ancient One was a Sage once, and was also a True Elemental Spiritual Knight then. He had a lot of experience and was wise. If he were to fight for real, even Qian Huanyi might not have a chance of winning.


    However, this honorable ex-sage had died at the hands of the youth in front of him? When he told him that, why did it sound like it was a small matter, as if he had killed a chicken or dog?


    Zhang Tianling was unable to calm down within this short period of time and appeared to be at a loss.


    Witnessing this scene, Fang Yuan smirked in his heart. "His so-called elegance, attitude and what-not, was, in actual fact, based on the account of power. He probably thought that he had a trump card and that I couldn''t do anything to him. That''s why he was fearless and acted elegantly in front of me¡­ Now, however, he knows that I can kill him, just like how I killed the powerful Ancient One, which is why he became afraid!"


    Even though he had known that Fang Yuan defeated several demon generals, they were only higher beings. They still paled in comparison to an ex-sage.


    If it was just a coincidence that Fang Yuan was previously able to kill ''Demon Killing Divine Pen Li Qingmian'' in Jade City, then he had now proven himself after killing The Ancient One, that he had the ability to slaughter a Sage and was now the greatest in the world!


    "If the Sage doesn''t die, then I won''t stop!" Thinking about it, Fang Yuan casually said, "Did you know that your Heavenly Spirit Association intends to take over the East Ocean? And that this is also the case for the Alliance of Dream Masters? Baize Mountain and the Evil Divine Sect will go all-out, and I''m afraid that there will be a big war coming up!"


    "What do you have to say to me about it, Mountain Master?" It was obvious that Zhang Tianling had long expected that the day would come, and had prepared for it beforehand.


    In addition to that, Fang Yuan also discovered that as time passed, the other higher beings in the city were silently moving towards the location he was hiding at.


    Obviously, after feeling unsettled, Zhang Tiangling, who was seated opposite him, had used a secret technique to inform his comrades.


    However, Fang Yuan didn''t put the 5 higher beings in his sight. He would be able to walk away from them.


    It was clear that Zhang Tianling didn''t intend to fight as he only allowed the others to silently hide within their surroundings, to act as preventive measures. He recovered his light-hearted and fearless self before he began to fluently talk to Fang Yuan with ease.


    "Of course I''ll help you, in secret, to exterminate the two Sages!" Fang Yuan exposed his motive. "Of course¡­ this matter has no connection to the 9 Extremes Mountain, I''ll only do it secretly!"


    "If that''s the case then it''s enough. Thank you for your kindness, Mountain Master!" A hired thug had come to find him for no reason. Of course there wouldn''t be any reason to reject him. Zhang Tianling thought about it and immediately revealed a smile.


    "Fine!"


    Fang Yuan was leading.


    In truth, he didn''t have much hope that the Heavenly Spirit Association would be able to provide large forces, but he had ideas to incorporate the organization into his own.


    After all, it was a little forceful for the 9 Extremes Mountain''s current level of insight and manpower to take over the mountain range.


    It was impossible to unify the East Ocean Prefectures.


    At that moment, just as the enchantment dissipated, Xiao Er came over to serve a large pot of fish soup. "This carp soup is specially made by our shop''s chef, can the two of you taste it?


    "This soup is made from the fish''s tail and fin, it''s the best for dispersing the effects of the wine!"


    Zhang Tiangling smiled. "I''ll have to taste a bit then!"


    "Good! Good!" Fang Yuan smiled as well. The both of them bore ulterior motives but were very affectionate on the surface.


    ¡­


    "Sir!"


    After Fang Yuan left, Zhang Tianling walked out of the wine shack and travelled inside the peach forest at the back.


    Four motionless individuals were already waiting there.


    "The person who came in was the Mountain Master of the 9 Extremes Mountain. His cultivation is deep and cannot be measured¡­ it also surpasses me!" Zhang Tianling was honest about it. "However, he came to help us, and this makes things difficult for me¡­"


    "Ancestor is afraid that by rejecting him, he would come to oppose us?" One person said.


    "That''s right¡­ however, we''ve already long prepared for this." Zhang Tianling''s gaze was filled with a hint of hatred, "at that time, the Martial Alliance and God Seeking Palace will have people coming to attend the ceremony. Regarding the problem of facing Dream Masters, we''re all naturally people from the same alliance¡­ As long as we have them with us, then we won''t have to be afraid, even if the Dream Masters were thinking of going there with an evil plan."


    It was necessary for the so-called evil plan, to be formulated from their strength.


    Any magical plans would be useless in front of an overwhelming power.


    "Not bad, Dream Masters will have to ask for our opinions if they''re still thinking of climbing back up.


    "Overthrowing the Dream Masters is a benefit shared by every Spiritual Knight and Wuzong¡ªno, every Da Qian cultivator! it''s intolerable for them to struggle!"


    The remaining higher beings echoed this opinion immediately.


    No one, no matter who it was, was willing to return to the time where those Dream Masters were at the top, governing everything.


    Although the different major forces have clashed among themselves, they had the same attitude towards this matter!

 586 New World

    "After many years of searching for ways to stop myself from being burdened with worries, I can no longer determine how many times the seasons have cycled past. From when I saw the first blossoms till now, I have no doubts¡­"


    Outside Hailan City, Fang Yuan immediately went to find a quiet, secluded place. He opened up a cave and sat down, cross-legged. He recalled the peach blossoms and Heaven Spirit Ancestor from before and couldn''t help but silently sigh.


    That person gave him a good impression, his natural endowments were good, and so was his luck.


    It''s a pity that they weren''t the same type of people.


    After all, how could he be under someone when he had previously escaped from the hands of the Dark Sage?


    The more outstanding one was, the easier it was to spark fear.


    "Based on my current ability, I calculated that it''s possible for the other higher beings¡­ But to oppress the world, and force the entire Heavenly Spirit Association and Alliance of Dream Masters to yield would be the ravings of a madman¡­"


    Fang Yuan was still clear about his own abilities.


    No one was afraid to talk about fighting one-to-one in the current Da Qian Empire. But if one met Superior Wu Zun and Qian Huanyi¡ªthese types of higher beings individuals who were at the peak¡ªwho attacked people in a straightforward manner and used arrays, then one would have to harbor a grudge, even if it was him.


    Hence, he was clear about his position this time, which was to be a rod that stir s*** up¡ªto mess up everything!


    He couldn''t let the Heavenly Spirit Association succeed, nor could he let the Dream Masters obtain this territory.


    It was best to mess with everything constantly until he or the 9 Extremes Mountain had the power to suppress everything!


    "Sigh¡­ my power is still too insufficient to suppress everything. If I were to follow the original plan, then the most I could do would be to let both the Heavenly Spirit Association and Alliance of Dream Masters suffer, East Ocean would still be in a huge mess¡­" Fang Yuan recited in a low voice, his spiritual mind entered into the real dream world.


    His real dream world had opened up many spaces then and there, with sword pillars at the four sides for protection. He practised his Earth, Fire, Wind, and Water elements again, transforming them into chaos.


    In the center of the sword array, there was a large ball of purple energy.


    It was the heavenly energy that was harvested from the Ancient Realm.


    Although it looked like a large amount, it was actually only enough to support one large war, or to progress one or two cultivation levels.


    "Heaven Spirit Ancestor seems to be humble, but in truth, he''s also a sinister person in hiding¡­ The alliance meeting this time definitely won''t be easy¡­" Fang Yuan thought about it and hoisted his hand.


    Kaboom!


    At once, the 8 Gates Sword Array thundered as two swords appeared. Shockingly, they were the Lightning and Lake swords.


    The ball of heavenly energy quickly scattered and vanished in the end.


    "I wanted to use it as fuel in a large war¡­ but now that I see it, it''s more reliable to use it to increase my cultivation level."


    Fang Yuan nodded his head, and looked at his stats window:


    "Name: Fang Yuan


    Essence: 110


    Spirit: 100


    Magic: 120


    Profession: Dream Master


    Cultivation: Illusionary Divine (6th Tier), True Divine, Power Obtainer


    Technique: Climb the Ancient Eagle''s Body [Strengthen Zuwu pulse (1st Tier)], Create Sword Spell [Six swords (100%)]


    Specialization: [Medicine (Level 3)], [Botany (Level 6)(Peak)], [Fiery Golden Eyes (Level 3)], [Body Seal (Ultimate form)]"


    "Creating the sword array with six swords should be similar to the previous 9th Tier of the Illusionary Divine? It''s a pity¡­ I still can''t have the power to suppress the world if I''m not a Sage¡­" Fang Yuan shook his head and arranged a locating array technique.


    A sudden rise in magical energy allowed him to locate the unfamiliar worlds near Da Qian Empire.


    "Anyways, there''s still time before the alliance meeting. To grasp a stronger power, I have to dream-traverse once!"


    In actual fact, this was almost becoming Fang Yuan''s personal special ability.


    After all, the other Dream Masters had lost their magical powers and could no longer use the locate ability.


    On the other hand, The Ancient One, who had just created the Spiritual Knights Dream-Traverse technique, had died at his hands. Even if there were other similar forces that were researching the technique now, the difference between them wasn''t only one level, when compared to Fang Yuan.


    "Furthermore, I can prepare a small hidden hand and set a timer. When the time elapses, it would automatically call me so I wouldn''t be late for the alliance meeting¡­"


    Fang Yuan touched his chin. "I''ll have to choose a world with a much faster flow of time¡­"


    Kaboom!


    Accompanying the roar of the array, an imaginary shadow, that looked similar to the universe, appeared. Many worlds appeared like stars, shimmering.


    "Since the Da Qian Empire moved to an unfamiliar universe¡­ I''ve never gone to the nearby worlds before¡ªany one of them would have huge results for me!


    "Moreover¡­ The worlds here have been somewhat affected by the Demonic Heart Realm before. If I can observe and research them, one by one, then I might be able to find out the secrets of the Demonic Heart Realm."


    Fang Yuan''s hands flashed as a purple symbol appeared on the back of his hand.


    The symbol had only one ability; set a timer, or when there was someone forcefully charging into the array outside, it would call out to the dream-traverser''s True Spirit.


    "It shall be this world¡­"


    He looked at the expanded map of stars, casually picked a dark purple star which was a world that was probably deeply affected by the Demonic Heart Realm, and sent in his True Aura.


    The array roared as if it had opened up a black hole.


    In the next moment, the surroundings became dark and silent.


    ¡­


    In an unknown world.


    A church was in flames, burning. Its cross brutally fell, and the dust was dangerously swallowed by the flames.


    There was shouting and fighting in the surrounding area, the presence of blood and iron, as well as an unusually scary demon.


    "Hurry up and kill him!"


    "I don''t have my sacred gunpowder anymore!"


    "D*mn it, the opponent is a Demon Descendant, it''s evolving now!"


    "Hulk!"


    ¡­


    Many sounds rang in Fang Yuan''s ears, causing him to feel dizzy. "It''s this kind of suppressing feeling again¡­ How uncomfortable!"


    He looked around and saw a bunch of warriors, wearing windbreakers, waving their cross-shaped swords and guns as they fought a monster.


    "This is¡­ a battlefield?!"


    Fang Yuan''s thoughts changed abruptly as he felt a sharp pain in his chest area when he wanted to move. "Oh no¡­"


    Due to the lack of time, he didn''t use his infant form and, instead, directly possessed someone.


    The original owner of this body was probably dead which is why he could take over the empty shell. At that moment, there were all sorts of messy memories gushing out of his mind.


    "Alcala Mainland, Demon Hunter Hulk¡­ and¡­ Evil Demon?!"


    Obviously, this was a world with natural powers.


    Fang Yuan looked at the stylish leather windbreaker that he was wearing and saw that there were even golden buttons on it. He also had a large sword in his hand, and felt slightly surprised and bewildered. "A large sword and gunpowder? This seems to be the most common weapon for Demon Hunters¡­"


    Aw! Aw!


    At this moment, Fang Yuan couldn''t contemplate any longer.


    That was because the black silhouette that was being besieged madly roared as a bright light flashed. Six savage-looking, large dogs appeared and pounced towards different directions.


    One of them charged towards his direction.


    "This is¡­ a Demon Dog?"


    Fang Yuan clearly saw that the dog that pounced towards him was one-meter tall, its teeth sharp, and its eyes were bloodshot. It was evident that there were a few patches of burns on its black fur which made it look even more savage.


    "Get lost!"


    He swung the large sword and managed to keep the large dog''s first probing attack outside the cordon, but he felt a sharp pain in his chest again.


    "This is crazy¡­ Don''t tell me that I''ll die and return just as I traversed?" Fang Yuan secretly clenched his teeth.


    The body he possessed was useless. It was okay if it had injuries, but the key point was that this world was similar to the Purple Eye Realm and it was suppressing his power like crazy, making it hard to recover even if he had the unique ability to do so.


    "Thinking of killing me? Dream on!"


    At that moment, the Demon Dog roared and pounced over.


    Fang Yuan turned sideways, and harshly swatted it with his sword. The large dog fell to the ground immediately.


    It was as if it was by reflex, his right hand held the sword, but his left hand drifted to his own waist to take a out a single-hole flintlock. It was the kind that was fired by a spark, with a handle made out of redwood and yellow copper parts with ancient colours. Its shape was also a graceful line.


    Bump!


    Fire shot out from the mouth of the gun.


    A ball made out of a clump of metal shot out, reducing the giant dog''s head to a pulp.


    "Cough cough¡­"


    After finishing these movements smoothly, Fang Yuan didn''t even have any strength to hold onto his sword. He leaned on the large sword and coughed endlessly, the immense pain at his chest could actually make him faint from the pain.


    "Too weak! You''re too weak!" Fang Yuan was feeling pathetic, he wouldn''t be so battered and exhausted even if he had a healthy, normal body.


    This time, the fight before him had also come to an end.


    After summoning the demon dogs, the black silhouette, who was being besieged, decided to break out of the human wall around him at once.


    "For Justice!"


    A few old Demon Hunters wore solemn expressions and went towards the black silhouette to fight it, the swords in their hands seemed to radiate with divine light.


    "It''s useless¡­ This world would eventually be controlled by my master, Evil Demon!" The black silhouette shouted in a hoarse voice, both its hands were stretched forward.


    In that moment, his hands were covered with a layer of black scales and had become ghostly claws.


    Thump!


    The sword that emitted a creamy white radiance made a deep cut on the opponent''s arm. But the old Demon Hunter looked at the large hands that pierced into his chest, his eyes were filled with fear, and he collapsed onto the floor.


    "Demon Descendent?!"


    Only then, could Fang Yuan clearly see the presence that was surrounded by many Demon Hunters.


    It had the torso of a human and was tall and large¡ªaround 2 meters. Its skin was the colour of burning charcoal, as if there was fire burning inside its body.


    Not only that, there was also a pair of black horns on its head that was similar to that of a mountain goat. It seemed to be identical to the Evil Demon in the legends.


    Ping! Ping!


    Gunfire went on continuously.


    A wound that bursting with blood formed on the body of the Demon Descendent. It charged towards Fang Yuan''s direction, as if it went crazy. "Move away!"


    As if it were killing an ant, it stretched out its ghostly claw when it saw Fang Yuan, wanting to kill him due to its pain.


    "It''ll be good if I can walk away, but the fundamental problem is that my entire body¡ªespecially these two legs¡ªcannot move at all¡­"


    Fang Yuan''s heart sank. Using the last of his strength, he took out his large sword and pointed it at the demon''s form.


    "Die!"


    The tall Demon Descendent didn''t even bother to look at him and used its sharp claws to slash at Fang Yuan''s chest.


    Thump!


    Fang Yuan flew and landed on the ground, awkwardly rolling about once.


    At that moment, his large sword was covered with fresh blood, a monster''s head flew in mid-air, and rolled for half a day.


    "Hulk!"


    With Fang Yuan''s blurred vision, he saw a few people come over, surrounding him, their faces showed concern and astonishment.


    "I''m safe¡­" The thought surfaced in his mind before he immediately plunged into a sea of darkness¡­

 587 Master

    Alcala Mainland.


    Light and Darkness alternated, whilst civilization and the wild co-existed with each other.


    After the bell for the new generation rang, and the remains of the old generation still stubbornly stood rooted to the land.


    Whilst technology was progressively advancing, terrifying things that were unimaginable to an ordinary person continued to lurk in the darkness. Only the Demon Hunters amongst humankind could fight against them.


    ¡­


    Many memory fragments and pieces surfaced and were absorbed by Fang Yuan after being reorganized.


    After who-knows-how-long, his eyelids fluttered open as he woke up.


    He took in the pale yellow ceiling that had patches of mold. The mattress and blanket that he that was wrapped in and surrounded by, smelled of wine but were still soft and warm.


    To his body which had slept on the hard ground and laid his head on a large sword, numerous times, there was no doubt that this was heaven.


    The ground vibrated slightly as a large commotion came from the bar in front.


    "Axe Bar¡­"


    This was a gathering point for the Demon Hunters in this territory. It also had other services. In his memories, the smell of black oat wine and grilled sausages was still familiar.


    "Hulk, is that the previous name of this body?!"


    Fang Yuan was somewhat at loss for words. "If this body can provide the ability to transform into a giant, then the name and body would be a perfect match¡­"


    He then lowered his head slightly and saw that his chest was bandaged up. Although medicine might have been applied, he still felt an unusual pain and conflict within his body.


    "This time¡­ I''m really unlucky¡­"


    He didn''t move but, instead, continued lying down and sorting out the memories of the body he was possessing. He couldn''t help but laugh bitterly.


    On this Alcala Mainland, civilization was similar to the period when the Industrial Revolution happened for the first time. However, there was no unifying empire¡ªthe entire mainland was broken up into many kingdoms and federations, as well as regions that had no jurisdiction and were in chaos.


    Chaos, fighting, war, and starvation were seeping in and assaulting the originally fragile life of humankind all the time.


    Under the surface of this chaos was a much, deeper fear¡ªthe Night Family Clan!


    It was a general term for the mysterious species. They had terrifying forms, strange abilities, and either hid among humans or lived in the isolated wilderness. However, they were cruel and chaotic in nature, and they enjoyed hunting humans for food.


    The so-called Evil Demon were the elites of the Night Family Clan.


    Based on legends, the first Evil Demon in the world came from Hell. It was the powerful Mother of Reproduction, who was able to give birth to a series of family clans¡ªthe Night Family Clans in the mainland are its descendants.


    In the olden days, the Heirs of Darkness even ruled the entire mainland and had built a strong empire. They used violence and fear to order humans around like lambs.


    That was until the first Demon Hunter appeared and gave hope to the humans in the world.


    Through generations of sacrifice, and many battles and bloodshed, the Empire of the Heirs of Darkness finally crumbled. The fortunate survivors of humankind back then welcomed their new life''s freedom.


    However, the power of darkness wasn''t eliminated.


    This was especially true for the elites of the Heirs of Darkness¡ªEvil Demons. After healing their wounds and recovering in silence, they were hungering for a new society.


    "I swear to use the sword in my hands to safeguard the Sacred Light!


    "I swear to comply with the Demon Hunters'' seven ''Taboos'', and vanquish demonic entities forever!


    "I swear that I will have a firm will and never be bewitched¡­"


    ¡­


    The last of his memories was a solemn ceremony.


    An immature newbie going into his first operation after making that vow. He was seriously injured by a demon as he was too excited and died, unfortunately¡­


    Of course, only Fang Yuan knew about the last point as he had borrowed his body to live again.


    "Mother of Reproduction? Evil Demon? Heirs of Darkness¡­ Interesting!"


    Thinking about these reports, the corners of Fang Yuan''s mouth curled to reveal a smile.


    This world had also been affected by the Demonic Heart Realm. If he was correct, then the Mother of Reproduction was definitely connected to the Demonic Heart Realm.


    Even so, those demons might also be another form of Demon Spirits!


    "Only¡­" he looked at his chest and furrowed his brows.


    There were two powers occupying that space. They kept clashing with each other, making it feel difficult to move.


    "This should be the leftover power from that demon from before, which is clashing with this body''s vitality¡­" Fang Yuan thought about the way that Demon Hunters trained, and had to say that it was quite primitive¡ªthey stopped at muscles and techniques, having to depend on various kinds of weapons to fight with the demons.


    "Also, they were able to increase the body''s cell activity by drinking sacred water¡­ If there''s an opportunity, I can look at the production flow¡­"


    He vaguely felt that something was wrong.


    If Demon Hunters only had these power, how could they overturn the ancient Dark Empire and fight with the Evil Demons?


    "Ultimately, this Hulk is a Demon Hunter newbie¡­ It''s normal to lack a deep understanding. I''ll have to investigate this on my own. Of course, the main point is still to recover as soon as possible¡­"


    Fang Yuan shut his eyes and a blurred screen appeared in the darkness:


    "Name: Hulk (Fang Yuan)


    Essence: 1.2 (110)


    Spirit: 0.7 (100)


    Magic: 5.0 (100)


    Profession: Demon Hunter


    State: Weak


    Specialization: [Medicine (Level 3)], [Botany (Level 6)(Peak)], [Fiery Golden Eyes (Level 3)], [Body Seal (Ultimate form)]"


    "It''s this sensation again, I''m suppressed by the higher power of the Demonic Heart Realm¡­ it''s as if I''m at the Purple Eye Realm!"


    Fang Yuan opened his eyes. "I need some time and medicine to treat my body''s injuries!"


    With his medical skills, he had the confidence to treat himself.


    Furthermore, the demonic power that forcibly occupied his body roused his interest to research it.


    Creak!


    At that moment, the room''s door was pulled open, and a tall person came in with a tray.


    "Hulk¡­ You''re awake?"


    "Yes, Uncle Jock, was it you who saved me?"


    Fang Yuan pretended to be Hulk, his face showed a sincere, grateful look.


    "You only fainted back then, all I did was carry you back from the battlefield¡­ eat something first!"


    Jock was a 40 plus year-old man with sideburns. His ginger hair was in a mess. There was also thick and heavy eye bags and circles around his eyes, making him look very decadent.


    He managed to force a smile and went on to put down the tray. There was a bowl of mushroom soup that smells incredible, bread with a layer of butter on it, as well as grilled sausages.


    "Thank you!" Fang Yuan painfully raised one hand, picked up the fork, and ate slowly.


    Seeing his stubborn appearance, Old Jock wanted to say something.


    "What is it?"


    "Hulk¡­ Have you, ever thought of demobilizing?" Uncle Jock reluctantly said, "It''s just right, Axe Pub is in need of a waiter. You don''t have to do a very tiring job and you''ll soon get used to it."


    While talking, his amber eyes were filled with pity.


    "Oh¡­" Fang Yuan answered coldly and used a soup ladle to drink some soup. The thick buttery smell was rich, and the soup''s texture was smooth, it was delicious. "Is it because of my injury?"


    This attitude made Jock hesitate. "Yes¡­ I''ve already used treatment water on you but it cannot expel the demon power inside your body¡­"


    Treatment water was a magical object used by Demon Hunters. Even when one was seriously injured or even had a broken limb, one would be able to come back as long as it was used in time.


    He was basically hopeless if using it was also futile.


    "Treatment water? Isn''t that quite expensive? Could it be that Uncle who covered the cost?"


    Fang Yuan was clear that Hulk was at the extreme end of the poverty line. When he had a bit of money, he would purchase weapons and other materials; he couldn''t afford the cost of treatment water.


    Even if a strict portion of the treatment water was sold to the Demon Hunters at a discounted price, you would still need 10 items that cost the same as rubies before you could purchase it.


    "Haha¡­ just take it as Uncle lending a small amount of money to you!" Jock heroically slapped himself on the chest. "It doesn''t matter, you can return it to me in the future!"


    "That''s a must, I just don''t know how you would be able to face Auntie Sophia!" Fang Yuan smiled and thought of the hidden trait the former Demon Hunter in front of him had¡ªa henpecked male.


    "Cough cough¡­"


    At the mention of this, Jock became mute, coughing for what felt like an entire day before suddenly asking, "Are you unwilling?"


    "Of course I''m unwilling!" Fang Yuan made a worked up expression. "I''ve gone through thick and thin to finally become a Demon Hunter, so how can I give up now?"


    In his heart, he silently rolled his eyes. He didn''t traverse here in order to become a waiter.


    "Sigh¡­ you have such a stubborn temperament¡­ ever since you were young!" Uncle Jock sighed once.


    Hulk was an orphan who was taken care of by him from when he was at a young age.


    After contemplating, he continued, "I''m powerless when it comes to helping you recover from your injuries, but the others from the labor union might have a way¡­ You can go to the headquarters to try your luck!"


    He thought of something and said in a doubtful manner, "Also¡­ the rumored Master has many surprising abilities."


    "Master!?" Fang Yuan''s heart skipped a beat and thought of a memory.


    This world had no absolute light and darkness, there would always be a grey area.


    The so-called "Master" is one of the people in-between the light and darkness.


    The Night Family Clan saw humankind as food, however, in special circumstances, they would also produce heirs with humankind.


    If the will of its descendants were firm enough and were able to prevent themselves from becoming a demon by overcoming the effect of a chaotic will, then they would be able to retain their human form.


    With the domestication from several generations, the power from their blood would adapt and activate surprising abilities.


    These people were called "Masters," and were distinctly born from the Night Family Clan and a Demon Hunter. Hence, they were regarded to be in the middle. They could sometimes be the connection for both sides and act as a middleman to facilitate private trades.


    Of course, this wasn''t allowed on the surface.


    Moreover, the Masters'' emotions were usually extreme due to the effects of their blood and weren''t good traders. On occasions, they would even degenerate completely into a demon. Once they were discovered, they would become an existence that would be chased by Demon Hunters and eliminated.


    Then, Jock actually told Hulk to find a Master for help. It was obvious that he couldn''t think of any more ideas.


    "Masters are dangerous¡­ Some are much scarier than the Night Family Clan, this is only the last resort!" Jock said solemnly, "Don''t risk it¡­ Remember, my child, the doors of the Axe Bar will always be open to you!"


    "Thank you!" Fang Yuan nodded his head solemnly, but in his heart, his interest in the Masters had been rising more and more.

 588 Daughter

    "Aside from having good physical fitness, as well as being proficient in gun and fighting techniques, an outstanding Demon Hunter should at least possess a certain level of expertise when it comes to surviving in the wilderness, having the ability to treat themselves, and be able to understand the contents of secret documents as if it were the back of one''s hand¡ªinformation like the different clans and types of demons, or the classification of degenerates¡­"


    In his memories, a commander, who had a head full of white hair, and eyes like a hawk''s, loudly scolded him, "As a Demon Hunter, you''ll have to know how to maintain your weapon in good condition. It''s your comrade in wars, and a companion that''s closer to you than your lover!"


    Many fighting skills, gun skills, and wilderness survival memories, which formed the foundations of being a Demon Hunter, were discovered by Fang Yuan.


    It''s a pity that Hulk had an average aptitude and was only at a the level of a newbie even though he had trained so laboriously.


    At that moment, Fang Yuan looked at his large sword.


    It was an accurate depiction of a Demon Hunter''s large sword; it was one meter long, broad handled, and its body was silver due to the Secret Silver that was added in when it was forged.


    The Secret Silver in Alcala Mainland was a completely different substance from the Secret Silver that was in the legends of western fantasy from before.


    Although it was also very precious, its production was adequate enough to be used by low-level Demon Hunters.


    "Secret Silver and the Night Family Clan have the ability to burn, hence it was put in the weapons of all the Demon Hunters¡­ Of course, the Secret Silver itself is fragile, and it would be suicide if it was solely used to create weapons. It can only be used when casted with gold through the various other secret formulas that the casting masters each have respectively¡­"


    Fang Yuan stretched out his hands to hold onto his personal sword and felt as if he was connected to the sword¡ªthis was the result of endless training and practice. His own hands were very familiar with every inch of the sword.


    "Starry Night!"


    The sword''s hilt was wrapped in a layer of thinly packed silk, and there were a few characters at the end of it that carved out the name of the sword.


    "In the future¡­ you''ll come with me!"


    He put on the black leather jacket and used a belt to hold the sword in place, on his back.


    Starry Night was a heavy sword, weighing over 50 pounds. When it was placed horizontally, it was normal, but holding onto it now¡­ Fang Yuan felt like he was carrying a large mountain.


    "Phew¡­" Fang Yuan released a long breath and put away his lovely gun.


    The redwood handle of this flintlock already had a layer of gloss that gave it an indescribable beauty. However, Hulk gave it a terrible name¡ªHowling Grief!


    "This sword and gun will be ''Howling Grief under the Starry Night'' when they''re put together?"


    Fang Yuan was at a loss for words and looked into the mirror. "I can''t believe that you actually had such a bad sense of humor¡­"


    What appeared in the mirror was a youth''s face. It had a tall nose, sunken eyes, and snow-white skin like a pure westerner. However, the pupils were as black as a gemstone. His head was covered in wine-red hair that stood on end as if they were sharp thorns, seemingly full of life.


    "Time to leave."


    He pushed open the room''s door and arrived at the bar outside.


    In an instant, the noise and the smell of alcohol surrounded him.


    The bar was mostly filled with Demon Hunters from this area. They wore either leather jackets or windbreakers, a cap on their heads, and occasionally revealed weapons such as throwing knives. They were drinking wine and eating meat in a hurry.


    As Demon Hunters, it was common to be in a precarious state. No one would know when they would actually die in the battlefield the next day, hence, they had the typical attitude of enjoying the present.


    "Oh, look who it is?"


    At that moment, a Demon Hunter with gold hair saw Fang Yuan and raised his cup immediately. "Isn''t it lucky Hulk? We should applaud his ability to escape death!"


    "F*ck!"


    Many Demon Hunters either winked, smiled kindly, or loudly yelled out for the sake of finding an excuse to drink their beer, before finishing the beer in their cups in one go.


    "I heard that you had an intense fight with that demon, are you missing any body parts?"


    The gold-haired youth came closer harboring some evil intentions.


    "Becky, stop your nonsense!" Becky was reprimanded by Uncle Jock who had furrowed his brows while cleaning the glass cups behind the bar counter.


    "I''m not playing¡­ I''m only concerned about Hulk!" Becky suddenly hit his own forehead and said, "Could the rumor be true¡­ Hulk was seriously injured by the demon and has lost his ability to be a Demon Hunter?"


    He intentionally talked loudly, attracting gazes full of pity.


    If it were other teenagers that had poorer self-esteem, then he would''ve rushed out of the door.


    However, Fang Yuan had a rich history and only smiled after hearing what he said. He suddenly went dangerously close. "Even if I suffered from a minor injury, I can still use one hand to kill you. Do you believe that, Becky?"


    Despite currently not having the strength to even truss a chicken, he was still able to concentrate his loftiness and make Becky retreat several steps, to the point that he almost bumped into the bar counter.


    This type of formless confrontation caused the eyes of Jock and a few other old Demon Hunters to light up in an instant.


    "To think that Hulk has the stance of a strong man now, it''s a pity¡­" Jock shook his head slowly and looked at Fang Yuan, who was sitting in front of the bar counter. "You can''t drink!"


    "I know, give me a cup of soda and one serving of steak please!" Fang Yuan smiled and placed a few notes on the counter.


    "You''re being way too polite. Mary! Mary!"


    Jock was stumped for words before going on to keep the money and pour a cup of soda for Fang Yuan. "The steak will be served by Mary in a moment, eat more!"


    A young girl came out from the kitchen behind him. She looked about 20 plus years-old, she had a sexy figure that made several drunk men whistle.


    "Your steak!"


    Thump!


    She dumped the plate in front of Fang Yuan, and the table made a low thud.


    "Thank you!" Fang Yuan nodded his head, took up the knife and fork, and began to wolf down the food. The rich steak was very chewy, and with the taste of black pepper, they formed a spark in his mouth.


    Seeing how Becky was star-struck, he somehow knew why this young Demon Hunter couldn''t look him eye-to-eye.


    Being Uncle Jock''s lovely daughter, Mary had a high position among the young Demon Hunters. Her presence was basically a goddess to them.


    Of course, if it was only this, Becky wouldn''t hate Hulk that much.


    "Uncle Jock was an Elite Demon Hunter before he was demobilized. He had decent savings and also opened a bar like this¡­ He only has this one daughter, if one were to marry her, then they would have both the daughter and the wealth¡­ If it was only the daughter, he might not have lost control. However, with the wealth, especially since Uncle Jock thinks highly of me, I immediately became his greatest enemy!"


    Fang Yuan''s heart was like a mirror and was able to clearly reflect the state of the gold-haired Demon Hunter''s heart.


    "At the moment¡­ he showed his power and prestige by attacking me as if he was a male animal showing off his muscles to fight for the chance to mate with the female, how childish!"


    Of course, to idolize a strong person is also part of human nature.


    Mary''s attitude towards him had turned cold, and it was obvious what the reason was.


    This is the hypocrisy of the world, there are few people who can be unyielding from the beginning ''till the end.


    After eating his fill, Fang Yuan went in front of Jock and said, "Uncle¡­ I''m here to bid farewell this time!"


    "What? It seems like you still chose to go along with your childhood dreams!" Uncle Jock sighed. "Have you prepared to go to the Union''s headquarter? I can arrange the way for you¡­"


    "It''s alright, I would like to wander around first to try my luck!" Fang Yuan smiled.


    "Luck?!" A hint of suspicion flashed through Jock''s eyes. "Could it be that you''re thinking of¡­ No way, that''s too dangerous, you should at least nurse yourself back to full health before doing anything!"


    "My body is already at its limit by being able to recover to this point¡­ If I don''t solve that problem next, then I wouldn''t be able to recover fully!"


    No matter what Jock said to keep Fang Yuan back, Fang Yuan had already made the decision to leave home.


    How could he treat his wounds if he didn''t leave this place? Furthermore, he would need to keep the secret of advancing quickly from these familiar people?


    "Please don''t worry, I guarantee that I would never provoke those things if I didn''t have the confidence!"


    Fang Yuan half-rose out of his chair in a polite gesture and said, "Thank you for the care that you''ve always given to me!"


    He promptly left the pub without looking back.


    "Sigh¡­"


    Jock opened his mouth but didn''t say any words of persuasion.


    He went to the back of the kitchen, looked at Mary, who was pretending to be busy, and raged, "Why do you have to be like this? After all, he grew up with you."


    As an experienced old Demon Hunter, he could sense that his daughter''s cold attitude wasn''t only about the small matter today!


    "Why? It''s to kill his hope of course!" Mary proudly raised her head. "If he was still the Demon Hunter from before, then I might''ve followed father''s intentions and marry him, after all, he would only need to keep the family business going. However, it''s obvious that he cannot provide me with shelter now, why do I still have to act like before? Father¡­ you''ve done enough things for him. You can already pay his parents back solely based on the bottle of treatment water¡­"


    "Wait, who told you about that matter? Sophia?" A large crease formed between his brows as he was able to quickly guess the answer.


    At this moment, it was as if his bones were stripped away¡ªhe looked much older.


    "Sigh¡­ The affairs of youngsters, figure it out on your own!" Jock sighed and walked out slowly.


    He originally had the idea of letting Hulk into the family, but at this point in time, he had no idea anymore.


    After witnessing this scene, Mary didn''t know why but she felt that her heart turned cold as if she had done something very wrong.


    However, she promptly clenched her small fist. "I''m not in the wrong, I want to pursue my own happiness! To find a man that really loves me and can protect me!"


    ¡­


    The night breeze was cold.


    Amidst waves of laughter of either teasing or kindness, Fang Yuan left the alley that Axe Bar was in.


    "My encounter just now seems to be a version of a novel with a good-for-nothing protagonist; I was seriously injured, then, the engagement was dismissed. I would feel sorry if I didn''t rise up to prove myself¡­"


    Fang Yuan wrapped the windbreaker closer to himself, and thought about it, seeking happiness amidst sorrow.


    The gas lamps outside haven''t been lit yet. Then, after walking two streets out, his surroundings began to darken.


    Fang Yuan quivered, and solemnly held onto Starry Night.

 589 Vampire

    Crack! Crack!


    Within the darkness, the wind suddenly howled as if there was a giant monster flapping its wings.


    "Demon? Night Family Clan?"


    Fang Yuan creased his brows. "How is it possible that there are still traces of a demon appearing so close to Axe Bar?"


    The corners of his mouth rose to reveal a smile. "I thought it was Becky who couldn''t take it anymore and ran out."


    Chi! Chi!


    At that moment, strong winds spewed forth, as a large shadow attacked from the air like an eagle hunting for its prey. It had razor-sharp teeth and claws.


    Fang Yuan swung with both hands, his sword, Starry Night, radiated with a silver glow in the darkness as it abruptly struck the demon.


    Chi! Chi!


    An ear-piercing shriek was heard. With the help of the slight illumination, Fang Yuan could finally see who the attacker was.


    It was a giant bat that was the size of a large wolf. It was like an albatross when its two wings were spread out. Its bloodshot eyes were frenzied and wild.


    "A servant made by Vampires?"


    Fang Yuan was able to quickly identify the target in Hulk''s memories. Vampires were a large species from the Night Family Clan, and this giant bat-like monster was the cannon fodder that was casually made by them.


    "The Rook Area actually has Vampire activity? I don''t think it''s from a clan that moved here and is just a wanderer. It doesn''t have any restrictions and is extremely dangerous!"


    Fang Yuan leaned on the sword and panted slightly.


    Even though he had rested for a certain period of time, the clashing powers in his chest still caused him to have feelings of nausea and be moody.


    Luckily, it was evident that Secret Silver was fatal for the bat monster. It flapped its wings in mid-air but didn''t dare to land.


    "Ah!"


    At that moment, a familiar scream was heard from nearby.


    As if it was summoned, the bat monster immediately went towards the origin of the sound.


    "That voice is¡­ Becky?!


    Fang Yuan took out Howling Grief with a speed that was neither fast nor slow, loaded the bullet into position, put it on his left hand, and then slowly followed behind.


    After turning around a corner, a weak orange light gleamed¡ªthis was produced from a fallen portable lamp.


    Under the light, a gold-haired Demon Hunter lay on the ground, his neck had been bitten, and a large amount of fresh blood was pouring out. His pale face, dilated pupils, and frozen expression all said one thing¡ªhe was already dead.


    "D*mn¡­ He''s already dead, who can I give a slap on the face to in the future?"


    Fang Yuan dashed out and promptly looked at the culprit.


    "Vampire?"


    Among the many legends from previous generations, Vampires¡ªNo! The actions of Blood clans were graceful, and they had an attractive appearance. Furthermore, all of them were wealthy and even owned a castle¡ªthey were obviously prince-charming. Aside from having to drink something special, they were no different from any normal human being.


    However, Fang Yuan felt very grossed out after seeing the real vampire now.


    The Vampires in the Alcala Mainland were part of the Night Family Clan. They played a large role in spreading fear and plagues and were neither high-class nor elegant at all.


    Appearing in front of Fang Yuan was a Pure Vampire¡ªits skin was deathly white and had many folds piling together; it was naked and had no hair on its body or head; its nose was rotted, with only two disgusting nostrils left; with sharp ears, similar to that of a bat. Seeing it fully, it was like a wild beast in human form.


    At the moment, it was on Becky''s corpse, greedily sucking the fresh blood.


    No matter how brave a person was, they would probably have nightmares when they witness this scene.


    "It really is a wanderer, did it become confused due to its damaged will and its thirst for fresh blood? It even went against basic hunting rules¡­" Fang Yuan couldn''t help but sigh after seeing what had happened.


    Of course, when compared to it, Becky was an even more unfortunate person that was killed by the hungry Vampire and had no time for regrets.


    After all, compared to the Hulk from before, Becky was a newbie among newbies, or else he wouldn''t have needed to confirm that Hulk had suffered from serious injuries before jumping out to make things difficult for him.


    Bloop! Bloop!


    It seems that this wanderer was too hungry before and became violent. Even if a Demon Hunter was looking at it, it didn''t stop.


    In the silent night, its throat moved, the slurping sound of blood was extremely obvious, causing people to tremble with fear.


    "This is the Night Family Clan? It really does have research value!" Fang Yuan watched as his eyes lit up. "Although its appearance and behavior are completely different from that of a demon, this world¡­ might have the existence of something that is similar to the original energy of the Purple Eye Realm!"


    The characteristic of the original energy was its ability to radiate low-level energy like a perpetual motion machine.


    This characteristic immediately made Fang Yuan think of the Evil Demon''s earliest ancestor that was recorded in the legends¡ªMother of Reproduction!


    "It''s a pity¡­ to Demon Hunters, an Evil Demon is the most difficult energy to face. Let''s not talk about the Mother of Reproduction, it had long vanished for many years now¡­"


    Fang Yuan raised Howling Grief, wondering if he should shoot the Vampire in front of him.


    Chi! Chi!


    It seemed that his killing intent had startled the Vampire. It raised its head viciously, bright-red pupils filled with hatred.


    Crack! Crack!


    In the night, the wind beat in the air, and two of the bat monsters from before flew over to attack him.


    "I was only playing with you¡­ you thought I was serious!"


    Fang Yuan released his grip on Starry Night with his right hand as two silver throwing knives appeared abruptly, he threw them.


    Ping! Ping!


    Two silver lights formed a beautiful arc in the air and went straight for the two bat monsters'' foreheads, embedding themselves in them.


    Accompanying a large sound, the large bats fell to the ground.


    "Although my strength hasn''t fully recovered, I have above-average magical energy, and my meticulous operation is incomparable. With my Fiery Golden Eyes, I''ve long seen through the weakness of this type of demon¡­ Just by using a normal person''s strength to throw a dagger, it can be stopped and killed!" Fang Yuan thought silently in his heart and looked at the vampire in front of him again.


    The two large bats were only servants. Only this Vampire was the real member of the Night Family Clan, and a had high research value.


    "Demon¡­ Demon hunter?!"


    The vampire looked at Fang Yuan, and a hoarse sound came from its throat like a broken bellow. "Your blood¡­ give it to me!"


    As if it had just learned how to talk like a human, its pronunciation was unclear. Just when the words came out, like a wild beast, its whole body was already pouncing towards Fang Yuan.


    Based on its speed and strength, it had far exceeded the bat monsters from before.


    Swoosh!


    Fang Yuan threw a knife, and the vampire opposite him titled its head, causing the dagger to embed itself into its shoulder.


    "No way¡­ this body is still too weak, my attacks will be avoided¡­"


    He held Starry Night and tilted his body, the sword formed an amazing arc in the air before colliding straight into the Vampire''s arm.


    Ding!


    A low sound was heard as if the sword struck leather. Fang Yuan felt that the opponent''s arm was made of metal, and at the same time, it had high elasticity and was able to move away from his sword.


    "Vampire limbs are hard. It can even overcome gunfire, has immense strength, and can move quickly¡­ They''re a large species in the Night Family Clan¡­" Some knowledge appeared in his mind. "However, these vampires are still incomparable to the upper tiers in the Night Family Clan¡­"


    Fang Yuan moved constantly and used his techniques to dodge.


    Based on his current body''s aptitude, competing against it, toughness vs toughness, wouldn''t make him a match for the vampire naturally.


    However, the Secret Silver sword in his hands and the flintlock were enough to let the vampire opposite him have second thoughts.


    "Huff¡­"


    After they criss-crossed once again, Fang Yuan looked at the vampire which was on all fours, ready to pounce, and breathed heavily. "There''s only¡­ one chance!"


    His throwing knives and sword weren''t a match for the vampire. He could only gamble with the gun in his hands.


    This type of gun contained processed gunpowder and had considerable power to restrain the power of darkness. With the additional iron bullets that were coated with Secret Silver, it could definitely heavily injure the Vampire!


    "D*mn it, it''s actually a single-shot gun, Hulk was a really poor guy who can''t even buy the newest gun series with a repeater¡­" Fang Yuan felt sorry for him.


    Swoosh!


    At that moment, the Vampire opposite him aggressively pounced at him.


    Fang Yuan had long predicted this move and had moved to the side a little earlier.


    However, something happened at that moment!


    The Vampire opened its large mouth in the air and a scarlet red tongue, like a long snake, swept towards Fang Yuan.


    Whoosh!


    The tongue wrapped around the sword, emitting large amounts of smoke. However, this Vampire had no intention of releasing its grip. It viciously pulled, and Fang Yuan''s entire body was pulled towards it.


    Seeing that the Demon Hunter had lost his balance mid-air, a thirst for blood appeared in the Vampire''s eyes as it aggressively pounced.


    It was getting closer, and closer!


    Its sharp claws were already in front of him, almost able to touch the Demon Hunter''s neck.


    The pupils of the Vampire were extremely red as if it already saw the scene of broken skin and torn blood vessels with excessive amounts of blood pouring out.


    However, it promptly realized that there was a black gun barrel pointed at its forehead.


    Thump!


    Sparks flew, blood and brain juice splattered all over the floor.


    Under the attack of Howling Grief, the Vampire''s head was like a watermelon and exploded.


    Thump!


    Fang Yuan fell to the ground, exhausted, and panted. "The Vampire¡­ thought that I would forget about this?"


    He slowly crawled up, supporting his chest, and cursed in a low voice, "D*mn¡­ If it wasn''t for my injury, I wouldn''t have taken the risk. Just a meer Vampire¡­"


    Thinking about this, he took action immediately, cutting open the chest of the Vampire and digging out its bloody heart.


    "The most important ingredient of the vampire is the blood situated at the apex of its heart. It has a strong contagious effect and is good for treatment. Pharmacists remove the bacteria on it and use it as an active ingredient for treatment water¡ª''Demon Hunter Ingredient Study'', chapter 9, verse 4, the handling after killing a vampire.''"


    "Someone''s coming?"


    Fang Yuan looked at the direction of the Axe Bar. The drunk Demon Hunters were obviously startled by the gunfire and came out to look. They took a glance at the remains of the Vampire corpse with regret before quickly disappearing into the night.

 590 To Heal

    "It''s Becky!"


    Moments later, a group of armed Demon Hunters rushed over. They had an awful look on their faces when they saw the corpse of the gold-haired Demon Hunter.


    "His throat has been bitten in order to suck out the blood, a classic Vampire case¡­ And it didn''t follow the rules, a wanderer perhaps?"


    Both of Jock''s hands held onto a large hunter gun that had two barrels as he went to the front of the Vampire corpse. "Hmm, a shot killed it! Sacred gunpowder and a Secret Silver bullet was used¡ªWho''s the Demon Hunter that did this? This saved us a lot of trouble!"


    Vampires without any restrictions would easily go into a state of endless feeding, creating panic.


    At the same time, he was also worried. "Why is there a Vampire wanderer this close? Did anything happen in the Dark Realm? Where''s Hulk? How is he?"


    Compared to Becky, the injured Hulk worried him more. "If I''d known earlier, I wouldn''t have allowed him to leave. I wonder where he is now."


    "Wait a minute! Jock, I think you should come over and take a look at this!"


    A Demon Hunter, with a toothpick in between his lips, was squatting on the floor, checking the corpse of the giant bat monster.


    He used his right hand to pull out a silver throwing knife. There were carvings on it that formed what appeared to be "H.K."


    "This is¡­ Hulk''s throwing knife?" Jock rubbed his eyes. "He bought this knife from me¡­"


    "Hmm, it seems like you have a very powerful nephew!" The Demon Hunter with a toothpick in-between his lips laughed.


    "No way?" Jock was completely baffled. "He''s¡­ still injured. It''s definitely not fake¡ªI even checked it personally this morning¡­"


    "If he was still able to have this combat ability when he''s injured¡­" The Demon Hunter with a toothpick in-between his lips squinted his eyes. "Then, he might have the ability to become¡­ with his potential!"


    The Demon Hunter''s voice had a sense of yearning and was very envious, but lowered his tone when he spoke of the keyword.


    ¡­


    "The vampire''s heart has proven its worth¡­"


    At the moment, Fang Yuan was looking at the glass bottle in front of him. The heart was soaked in a transparent fluid and still seemed to be beating slightly, showing a shocking life force.


    "Only such an ingredient will have the ability to create treatment water?"


    He shook his head. "It''s a pity¡­ that I''m not a Pharmacist, or else, I would be able to produce one directly and return to Jock."


    The blood from the apex of the vampire''s heart couldn''t be used recklessly. Without a professional pharmacist''s help to remove the poison and bacteria, it was basically much more toxic than any other poisons.


    "Cough cough¡­"


    Fang Yuan coughed for a few moments and stroked his chest. "Of course¡­ the main focus now is to cure the injury on my chest!"


    He was under a bridge whilst using the power of the Fiery Golden Eyes. Even if his surroundings were pitch black, it was as bright as daytime for him.


    "This power has been pestering me for too long¡­ it ought to pay the price!"


    Fang Yuan tore open the bandage and saw the wound on his chest.


    There were three lines from a claw mark, the wound hadn''t scabbed over yet, with fresh blood oozing out instead.


    He felt scorching hot as something clashed and coiled in his chest.


    He closed his eyes slightly and recalled the scene from before:


    In front of the church, there was a demon with mountain goat-horns and seemed to have flames burning in its body. It aggressively pounced onto the newbie Demon Hunter and clawed at him!


    Accompanying a whistle, raging flames immediately appeared and branded his chest.


    "Phew¡­ The man who got encircled was a Demon Descendent! It serves the Evil Demons of the Night Family Clan¡­ The power that was left inside me belongs to the Evil Demon?


    "It''s such a shame to eliminate this power¡­"


    Fang Yuan looked at the burns surrounding the claw marks and laughed bitterly.


    Demon Hunters wouldn''t be repulsed from making use of the Dark Realm''s power. After catching Vampires, they would definitely get the heart''s blood to product treatment water.


    However, how skilled was he to make judgments?


    It was intentional that he didn''t eliminate that power for research purposes.


    At this moment, he already had some ideas on what to do and had no choice but to walk away. Otherwise, Jock and the others might think badly of him if they saw it.


    "This so-called power of the Evil Demon¡­"


    Fang Yuan took out a test tube and used his teeth to remove the cork. There was a translucent fluid inside.


    This is Sacred Water, a must-have ingredient for Demon Hunters'' training. It could recover one''s energy and mental power, as well as to trigger cell division.


    However, in his Fiery Golden Eyes, the so-called Sacred Water was actually the opposite of the power of Evil Demon.


    "I knew it. The power system of this world couldn''t go against the radiation from the Demonic Heart Realm. In order to go against Evil Demons, they could only find power from within the Evil Demons¡­"


    This was different from the treatment water. If it was made known to other Demon Hunters that their abilities, even the source of it, was related to Evil Demons, they would break down.


    "Hence¡­ the best way to treat myself would be to swallow this Evil Demon''s power directly!"


    During the period when he was nursing his wound, Fang Yuan had already thought of the solution.


    Of course, this process might create trouble and criticism, thus, it must be done on his own in order to prevent other Demon Hunters from finding out.


    "In the end¡­ it''s just accepting it!" Fang Yuan laughed malignantly and completely gave up resisting.


    Suddenly, the burns surrounding the claw marks spread, bringing with it the power of the Evil Demon.


    "Oh!"


    This power spread all around his body in an instant, causing his veins to pop out. His skin became a strange color and was even moving on its own as if there was a small mouse tunneling underneath it.


    His body emitted the strong presence of an Evil Demon.


    No matter which Demon Hunter saw this, they would think that he had become a degenerate!


    Even if it''s an average person, they might become a demon after getting infected by the Night Family Clan! It was even more so for an injured Demon Hunter!


    And this type of Demon Hunter would be killed without a doubt.


    "This is¡­ the chaotic will?"


    By allowing the Evil Demon''s power to flow within his body, Fang Yuan''s pupils emitted a purple glow, and he could feel a strong will inside him.


    He seemingly saw a shadow of an Evil Demon in front of him¡ªtall build, ferocious appearance, horns on its head, and flames burning around its body. This was no doubt the actual master that the Demon Descendants idolized!


    "Oh? Another Demon Hunter that degenerated? Good! Very good! Open your heart and body, and accept the embrace of the darkness. Then, you can get my, the great Flaming Evil Demon Seth''s, power!" The illusionary form of the Evil Demon looked at Fang Yuan and projected a voice that could shock a soul.


    "What did you say?"


    In front of the Flaming Evil Demon, Fang Yuan''s will prominently changed, and he transformed into a large giant that was at least a thousand times bigger than the Evil Demon. He then tilted his head down to looked at the Demon, towering over it.


    "¡­" The Flaming Evil Demon was speechless, it promptly retreated without a word.


    Unfortunately, it was too late.


    Fang Yuan''s will had become a giant and only needed to stretch his arm to grab the Evil Demon in his palm before crushing it.


    "It''s only a will that has condensed its power, how can it be compared to my will?


    "In the power of an Evil Demon, there will be a chaotic will and the Evil Demon''s thoughts¡­ To boldly use it would definitely cause an infection, and even the rotting of intellect, before becoming its true kind!"


    Fang Yuan looked at his own chest.


    At the moment, it was smooth as the original claw marks had long vanished.


    Furthermore, he had never felt so good after standing up to move around.


    "I have currently absorbed part of the Evil Demon''s power but didn''t get affected by him¡­ This is also a kind of significant profane act?"


    Fang Yuan looked at both his hands.


    His original skin has become much more fair and tender, the callouses from training had also disappeared, and there was even a gorgeous glow on the surface.


    "If I had completely accepted the Evil Demon''s power, then I would have become a master¡­ Only, I don''t have an eye for this Evil Demon''s power¡­ And won''t use it to confine myself."


    Fang Yuan gulped down a mouthful of Sacred Water without any hesitation.


    Kaboom!


    The medicine that had originally helped Demon Hunters had seemingly turned into flames and burned its way through his throat to his stomach.


    "The so-called Evil Demon''s power and the power within the Sacred Water are actually two sides of the same coin!


    "With the help of the Sacred Water to enhance my efficiency, and by pairing it with my magical energy, I can completely transform into a pure Demon Hunter''s power¡­"


    In a split second, his body seemed to burn with flames that had a creamy color.


    Before long, the original presence of an Evil Demon vanished, and there was only a fully recovered, healthy, young Demon Hunter at that location.


    Crack! Crack!


    Fang Yuan casually moved his body, and his joints made all sorts of cracking noises, "Not bad¡­ I can feel that the nature of this body has improved¡­"


    He took a glance at his own traits board, and there was a change in the statistics again:


    "Name: Hulk (Fang Yuan)


    Essence: 5.0 (110)


    Spirit: 5.0 (100)


    Magic: 5.0 (120)


    Profession: Demon Hunter


    State: Healthy


    Technique: Basic grapple (Proficient), Gun Fighting Skill (Normal), Secret Study (Normal)


    Specialization: [Medicine (Level 3)], [Botany (Level 6)(Peak)], [Fiery Golden Eyes (Level 3)], [Body Seal (Ultimate form)]"


    "So this is the form of a normal Demon Hunter? Very¡­ monotonous¡­" Fang Yuan stroked his chin. "This world''s power has been suppressed, maybe I can try to go with a Demon Hunter''s body system¡­ And the fastest way to be promoted is to keep hunting¡­ Kill the Night Family Clan and snatch their powers!"


    All of a sudden, his eyes moved and looked in a certain direction. "There''s a Demon Hunter in pursuit? Looks like I''ve underestimated the opponent¡­ It''s a pity that the presence of an Evil Demon in my body is too strong and I have the risk of being mistaken as a degenerate. It''s best not to come into contact with anyone!"


    His shadow moved and quickly vanished into the darkness.


    ¡­


    Before long, footsteps were heard, and the Demon Hunter with a toothpick in-between his lips came over to look under the bridge, staring at the place where Fang Yuan was previously lying with an awful expression on his face.


    "There''s a strong presence of an Evil Demon here¡­ I suspect that a demon rested here, or a degenerate was born here!"


    The Demon Hunter squinted his eyes. "Regarding these types of people who are poisoned by the Evil Demon, we need to eliminate them before he does even more damage!"

 591 Profiteer

    The area where Axe Bar was located was called Hurin area. Although it belonged to the Seita Empire by name, it was, in actual fact, an area that was unregulated due to the geographical location. Hence, it was also infamous for its crime rate.


    Criminals, exiles, the Night Family Clan, and, of course, the Demon Hunters gathered here.


    If it wasn''t for the deterrence from the Demon Hunters, the entire Hurin area would''ve become Hell within the mortal world, and would be a hunting ground for the Night Family Clan.


    Without a doubt, this chaotic place was a favorite for many dark organizations, and had unimaginable black markets and intelligence channels.


    Fang Yuan had now reached the western area, far away from Axe Bar, and was walking amidst a land filled with small shacks.


    Behind the creaking doors and wooden windows, there were many greedy eyes scheming against him, but retreated back, awed, when they saw his large sword and gun case.


    The residents of Hurin were mostly scum. When one became strong enough, they would show their petty and inferior side, and would be willing to kneel down to lick one''s boots clean. However, once the power protecting them was lost, they would transform into a wild beast and snatch everything away to use for their own benefits¡ªincluding one''s body itself!


    These words were from an experienced, old Demon Hunter, and Fang Yuan couldn''t agree more.


    He didn''t come here to live, but for intelligence!


    The Hurin area had the biggest black market nearby, and it would naturally also have the biggest intelligence chief!


    Although his wound had completely healed, he was still very interested in the Masters.


    "Moreover¡­ I need to continue learning. The things Hulk had cultivated before were only the basics for a Demon Hunter. He didn''t touch any high-end medication, forging knowledge, and advanced Demon Hunter techniques¡­"


    At that moment, Fang Yuan was finally annoyed at those unrestrained gazes.


    He glared at them, emitting a shocking murderous intent.


    Swoosh!


    In a split second, all of the gazes vanished without a trace, and the sound of someone falling over was heard. This kind of fear might follow them everywhere, giving them nightmares forever.


    "Hmm?"


    Regarding his actions, Fang Yuan was shocked. "Is this the effect of the Evil Demon''s presence? Causing me to become hot-tempered¡­"


    Although he had transformed the power of the Evil Demon in his body, his technique was all over the place. If it was done by another Demon Hunter, he would definitely become a Degenerate.


    Even if it was him, the remaining presence and effect couldn''t be eliminated immediately.


    "The Union''s Sacred Water, however, has no such problem. It''s obvious that they found a sophisticated way of producing it, and also made use of some sort of natural power¡­"


    The opponent was the Night Family Clan, if Demon Hunters only had limited means to fight against them, it''ll be an absolute joke.


    "One day, I''ll go to the headquarters of the Demon Hunter Union!" Fang Yuan pulled his collar up and covered half of his face before he walked into a dark alley.


    The alley was different from the chaos outside. Once he was in, Fang Yuan squinted his eyes slightly and felt that there was danger.


    It was apparent that the garrison''s power here greatly exceeded that of the outside.


    He wasn''t bothered by it and walked into a provisions shop at the end of the alleyway as if he didn''t realize it.


    This shop looked the same as a normal one. The only difference was the small door behind the counter.


    "Stand still!"


    When Fang Yuan wanted to pass through the door, two employed soldiers with rounded waists appeared immediately. "Who are you? Why are you here?"


    "I''m looking for Black Jack!" Fang Yuan lowered his voice and said, "The Nightangle from Tenglan introduced me to this place."


    "Alright!"


    It was obvious that the two soldiers, with murderous intent, had experienced hundreds of battles, and nodded their heads. "You know the rules, don''t mess with us!"


    Black Jack was an intelligence chief in the black market. Although he wasn''t the biggest one, his information was still considered to be reliable.


    Of course, the main point was that, based on Hulk''s resources, this was the only way.


    Fang Yuan naturally used this method.


    After all, the thing that he was looking for, or the secret he was searching for was restricted for Demon Hunters. Using the intelligence of the Union would make him no different from an idiot.


    After passing the small door, the inside was indeed like another world.


    It was a spacious room with a neat wooden shelf that had many precious or illegal objects resting on it. Fang Yuan even saw a repeater gun that Hulk wanted to buy for a long time but was short of cash. The gun''s silver body gave off a mysterious glow.


    Although Black Jack was a distinguished, fierce name, he was actually a white-haired old man that wore luxurious clothes.


    When Fang Yuan saw him, he was behind an office table, smoking from a pipe.


    "You''re Black Jack?" Fang Yuan furrowed his brows. Although this old man''s actions were elegant, it was also lethargic and was completely incompatible with the aura of a black market.


    "What? Disappointed? Because Black Jack''s such a terrible old man?" Old Jack knocked his pipe and said, "Speak¡­ young man, what do you need?"


    "Intelligence!" Fang Yuan continued without any hesitation, "I need to find information on one or a few clans. Their identities are unknown, they''re unsocial and hot-tempered, look like they''re nuts but are usually pretty wealthy¡­ Of course, they might possess a certain kind of mysterious power¡­"


    "Hmm?" Black Jack had a serious expression. "With these conditions, I can still find a few clans after screening¡­ but I can''t be sure that the person you''re looking for will be there."


    "No problem, you can just give the information to me!" Fang Yuan nodded his head. "Set the price!"


    "Hehe¡­"


    Black Jack wasn''t in a hurry and smiled. "These conditions¡­ are you looking for a Master clan? Young man, are you¡­ a Demon Hunter?"


    Seeing that Fang Yuan tightly knitted his brows, he rushed to explain, "Don''t panic¡­ to us, the existence of Demon Hunters and the Dark Realm isn''t a secret!"


    "Since you know about Masters too, everything is much simpler. Will there be any difficulties for you?"


    "Difficulty¡­ Naturally, there will be some, so we can talk about the matter of compensation now¡­" Black Jack revealed the smile of a profiteer and rubbed his fingers together.


    "Are you saying¡­" Fang Yuan forgot about the fact that he was poor, and his tone was unusually high.


    "To me, money is no longer worth anything¡­" Black Jack sighed once. "I have insider information about the Masters, and it''s definitely the latest intelligence. However, to get it, you have to pay a price! For instance¡­ a mission!"


    "You want to employ me?" Creases lined Fang Yuan''s forehead.


    "That''s right, I''ve been caught up in a little trouble recently¡­ and need a professional to resolve it!" Black Jack emphasized on the word "professional", "you''ll help me solve it, and I''ll give you the information you want! It''s a fair trade!"


    "I''m a Demon Hunter, not an employed soldier!" Fang Yuan said it intentionally.


    "Hehe¡­ That''s great because the trouble I have is from the Dark!" Jack shrugged. "Otherwise¡­ do you think that the wolves I have are just vegetarians?"


    As if he was afraid that this Demon Hunter might leave, Jack added on, "As long as you help me deal with this problem, I''ll even give you a monetary reward, you''ll absolutely be satisfied with the amount."


    "Give me the information first¡­ If I can confirm that they''re the Night Family Clan, I''ll accept!" Fang Yuan squinted his eyes. "Also¡­ I want to have part of the reward first!"


    "That''s impossible! The money will be given when the goods have been received, Black Jack will never go against this principle!" Black Jack almost jumped out of his seat.


    "This is my condition!" Fang Yuan squinted his eyes.


    His original plan was to use the gun and sword to pay, but judging at how the situation was close to a deadlock, the surrounding bodyguards'' hands were already touching their gun cases.


    "Al¡­ Alright!" Black Jack facial expression was dark, but it changed after a split second. "I''ll agree to your conditions. I hope that you can keep your promise!"


    "No problem, we Demon Hunters will definitely keep their promises!" Fang Yuan smiled brightly, revealing a row of white teeth.


    After leaving the black market, his face revealed a pensive smile while holding onto a scroll of goat-skin. "This Black Jack¡­ is interesting! Really interesting!"


    ¡­


    "All of you, go on!"


    In the black market, it was rare that Old Jack didn''t continue to smoke his favorite pipe and, instead, dismissed the bodyguards and servants to go alone to the secret cell.


    This quiet room was highly confidential, and the number of people around him that knew about it was less than three.


    It was filled with all kinds of gold, precious stones, and a huge safe. It looked like a small storage space for gold.


    Old Jock felt that way as well, hence, he decided to keep the room a secret.


    He dug out a gold pot from a mountain of gold accessories and lit the fire.


    "Master¡­ Your servant is here to call you!"


    Following a secret ceremony, the flame in the brazier became green as a face faintly appeared on it.


    If this was seen by Demon Hunters, then Black Jack would end up on their to-kill list.


    This is because he was unexpectedly an idolizer of the dark!


    What was called the Idolizers of the Dark were actually believers of the Night Family Clan. They were still humans, had proper identification, and had no history of any blood modification or infections by chaos. Even if they were in front of a Demon Hunter, they couldn''t be distinguished.


    However, they, in actual fact, act as servants and managers for the Night Family Clan, helping them manage their wealth and assets on the surface, and doing many things that are inconvenient for them.


    "Tell me about it!"


    The pale human face glowed among the flames, its eyes on Black Jack.


    "There''s a young Demon Hunter that''s looking for the whereabouts of the Master clan. I''ve already followed Master''s instructions and attracted him ''there.'' In addition, his identification is also in the database¡­"


    Jack kneeled down modestly as if he was an old dog flattering its owner.


    "Very good¡­ If there are still Demon Hunters, follow the plan!" The pale human face laughed. "Jack, my servant! If you continue to serve me, I will fulfill my promise and grant you eternal life!"


    "Thank you, my charitable and generous master!" Old Jack was happy; the older a person is, the more afraid he is of death! At his age, he was willing to pay whatever price, even becoming a monster, in order to continue living!Referring to his soldiers

 592 Branch

    "The Bay of Pigs¡­ has the Night Family Clan?" Fang Yuan looked at the goat-skin scroll in his hands and smiled.


    In his wallet was a bunch of new notes¡ªthe reward that Black Jack had paid in advance.


    The profiteer knew what Fang Yuan really wanted. Although he was silent about the information on Masters, he was generous in handing out cash.


    "He''s very certain¡­ that I''m a Demon Hunter!"


    Thinking about the other party''s behavior from before, Fang Yuan revealed a cold smile. "Furthermore¡­ halfway through, he was affected by another person''s will and suddenly changed his mind¡­"


    That change in attitude was truly subtle, even an old, experienced Demon Hunter might not be able to notice it.


    However, Fang Yuan was different.


    He was born a Dream Master. Toying with someone''s mind was a common ability as if it was a natural gift. Naturally, he could immediately tell that something was wrong.


    "However¡­ the Night Family Clan¡­"


    Towards these demons, Fang Yuan was still very interested in them. Of course, he wouldn''t do anything that would throw his life away.


    Especially under the situation where his cultivation hasn''t completely recovered, if the ability of the demon greatly exceeds his, he would be at a disadvantage if he threw himself into that situation.


    "Only¡­ Did Jack think that I''m an idiot? Or was he overly-confident about his own power?" The corners of Fang Yuan''s mouth twitched up slightly. "I''m a Demon Hunter with the backing of the Union. After encountering such an event, of course, I would report it to the organization."


    Previously, he found a businessman from the black market to keep it a secret.


    However, he actually found out about Black Jack''s other secrets. This made him postpone his previous goal, and change his focus to eliminating this cunning businessman.


    Regardless, he wasn''t afraid of being snitched on as he was righteous. Furthermore, a Demon Hunter''s job was to chase demons and then report about them.


    It didn''t matter if he had told an outsider that he was looking for the Master clan. As a Demon Hunter, he had the responsibility of eliminating the oppressors and supporting the weak. Looking for traces of the Master clan so as to eventually hunt them down and kill them to make the world a better place.


    Nevertheless, he didn''t do anything at that moment.


    "After all¡­ my body isn''t suited to meet other Demon Hunters right now!"


    Even though he had already transformed the demonic energy, the presence of an Evil Demon still remained. If he met up with other Demon Hunters, he might get found out by the experienced ones.


    However, it was alright; based on Fang Yuan''s strong magical energy and tuning ability, all traces would vanish after three to five days, and nothing would remain.


    ¡­


    Three days later.


    Fang Yuan stepped into the Demon Hunter branch.


    Axe Bar was the only place in this area for Demon Hunters to rest and kill time. The real Demon Hunter center lied here.


    Every year, there would be a large amount of new blood dispatched to each and every branch, to learn and train. With time, each youth would grow into a newbie Demon Hunter, and then they would accept large quantities of missions. Under the guidance of the old Demon Hunters, they would develop themselves while fighting with the Night Family Clan.


    This type of model had both a high drop-out and disability rate. The real elites would be selected and given the qualifications to cultivate and train in the Demon Hunter headquarter.


    At the branch''s front door were two obsidian sculptures with the appearance of a three-headed dog. Its eyes were made from black gemstones, shimmering in the light.


    If it was the previous Hulk, he might''ve thought of them as normal sculptures, but the Fang Yuan as of now had no such thoughts.


    "These should be a type of blood-source detector¡­ If the people entering the building have demonic blood in their body, then they would explode automatically!"


    Every day, Demon Hunters had to bring in large amounts of ingredients from "prey" into the branch, and the three-headed dog sculptures would eventually not make this type of ruckus. Hence, it would only focus on checking the live blood and pulse in a Demon Hunter''s body.


    "With this, they can guarantee that there won''t be a large number of demons blending into the branch despite the possibilities of some oversight¡­" Fang Yuan was confident in his own technique as he walked past the front of the sculptures and stepped into the branch. The dogs didn''t show any unusual movements.


    After entering the branch, he immediately felt like he was in a giant market.


    There were many Demon Hunters that wore solemn expressions, with either leather jackets or windbreakers, carrying swords or giant swords behind their backs, and guns on their waists. They formed a flowing tide, rushing everywhere.


    The main hall could fit 500 people. Its dome was transparent, and there were many words cast on one side of the wall.


    "Updates on demon information¡­"


    "Situation in Hurin area."


    "Newest mission¡­"


    "Group information¡­"


    ¡­


    A large number of words moved up endlessly and was broadcasted repeatedly.


    Fang Yuan looked at it before reaching the front of a counter.


    "Greetings, respected Demon Hunter. Please show me your nameplate!" Behind the counter was a lady that was dressed up nicely. Most of the ladies behind the counters had a strong connection with Demon Hunters, and it could be said that they were relatives of Demon Hunters or descendants that couldn''t meet the requirements of being a Demon Hunter. Hence, they could only serve Demon Hunters in order to maintain their livelihood.


    Occasionally, some newbies that were sent to train in rotations would be in the branch to do these jobs to the best of their abilities.


    In Hulk''s memories, it seemed like he stayed here to sweep the floor of the hall for a few months when he wasn''t training.


    "Okay!" Fang Yuan suppressed the fluctuation that he felt inside his heart and handed over the nameplate on his neck.


    The silver nameplate emitted the shine of Secret Silver, and also had exquisite patterns on it as if it was a piece of art. Creating a forgery of it wouldn''t be an easy job.


    "Demon Hunter Hulk, may I know if there''s anything that I can help you with?"


    Although he was only a low-ranking Demon Hunter, he had already stepped over the social ladder, the lady smiled broadly and asked.


    "I''ve recently received a mission, the employer entrusted it to me personally!" Fang Yuan spoke calmly.


    A Demon Hunters'' style was normally relaxed, and it was extremely common for them to get private missions.


    However, to say it out in broad daylight, in the branch, the woman''s face changed immediately. "Apologies¡­ Private missions wouldn''t be recognized by the Union and wouldn''t provide any assistance!"


    Regarding this kind of actions, any organization or force wouldn''t be nice about it.


    "My employer entrusted me to settle the Night Family Clan in the Bay of Pigs¡­ However, I feel that the monster there is too strong, hence, I was prepared to refer¡­"


    Fang Yuan''s face didn''t change, and he spoke leisurely, without any rush, before handing over a scroll of goat-skin.


    "The Bay of Pigs?" The face of the woman behind the counter changed once she heard the location''s name. Then, she looked at the scroll Fang Yuan handed over. Finally, she couldn''t help it and said, "Please wait¡­"


    She quickly stood up and ran to an office with the goat-skin scroll in her arms, revealing a nice rear view with black stockings on her legs.


    "Hmm? There really is a problem?" Fang Yuan laughed coldly in his heart when he witnessed the scene.


    It was obvious that the outcome wouldn''t be good if he had continued on with the mission without thinking.


    "Adding on to the sudden change in his behavior, I can confirm that Black Jack did it on purpose¡­ He dares to set up a Demon Hunter, such a bold move¡­"


    "Hulk, is it?" After a short while, the lady walked out, "the Vice President would like to invite you to his office."


    "Okay." Fang Yuan nodded his head thoughtfully and followed behind into a room.


    Golden rays of light from the sun passed through the windows and into the room, shining off of the dust in the air. There was a middle-aged Demon Hunter sitting still and upright behind a large red wooden table. His gaze was inspecting him, like a lazy lion that has had its fill.


    He was the vice president of the Demon Hunter branch¡ªFlock.


    "Vice President!"


    This person had previously trained Hulk and was regarded as his half-tutor. Hence, Fang Yuan bowed to show his respect.


    "Okay¡­ Where did you get a report that there''s Night Family Clan activity in the Bay of Pigs?" It was evident that the vice-president wouldn''t remember a mere Demon Hunter and asked directly.


    "Black Jack from the Hurin area!" Fang Yuan said, "I''m currently looking for traces of a demon, and have dragged in the Masters. Hence, I bought intelligence from the black market businessman. He gave me this mission, are there any problems?"


    Flock focused his gaze on Fang Yuan and kept looking at him up and down, seeming to judge if what he said was true.


    Finally, he nodded. "Indeed, there''s something wrong¡­ Someone discovered the first signs of something bad in the Bay of Pigs. Based on our speculation, there might be a Voodoo Corpse living there!"


    The so-called Voodoo Corpse was also part of the Night Family Clan. They were a completely messed up living being that had a shocking appetite.


    Moreover, it liked to swallow human limbs to repair its body. In the last stage of development, it would become an unbelievable giant meatball.


    Eliminating a basic Voodoo Corpse was also a mission for at least B-rank Demon Hunters in this branch.


    For Hulk, who was only able to get D or E ranked missions in the past, going there was suicide.


    "I see, I would explain to my employer and give up this mission!" Fang Yuan nodded his head.


    However, he was still determined to eliminate Black Jack in his heart. Even if it was a pure blooded Demon Hunter, he wouldn''t reject the opportunity to get revenge!


    "I''m only interested in the Bay of Pigs intelligence due to the traces of an Evil Demon follower¡­ and the branch was just preparing for a big operation."


    The vice president looked at Fang Yuan apologetically.


    "Hence, I''m being restricted in order to keep it a secret?" Fang Yuan shrugged. "Or maybe¡­ I''ll have to join this operation?"


    "As you expected¡­ before the start of the operation, you cannot leave this branch." Flock didn''t care about the newbie Demon Hunter in front of him and emphasized, "This is an enforced operation¡­ You have to accept it!"


    "Alright!" Fang Yuan focused on Flock''s eyes and confirmed the other party''s determination before spreading his arms. "Luckily I''m not being immediately confined, but I''m allowed to do some things in the branch right?"


    "What do you want to do?" Flock was a little surprised now. This young Demon Hunter was at the age where they would act recklessly. It was normal for him to cause a ruckus once he thought that the treatment towards him was unfair.


    For one to be able to keep his calm and fight for his rights was a rare sight.


    "Firstly¡­ I need a Pharmacist to deal with some vampire''s blood for me!" Fang Yuan counted the fingers on his hands. "And another thing¡­ I''d like to request to enter the higher level of the library!"


    There were definitely classes for Demon Hunters to advance in the Demon Hunter branch. But there were also collections of various information¡ªFang Yuan had been drooling about them for a long time.

 593 Medicament and Library

    "If it''s only these¡­ Alright!" Flock nodded his head. "The operation will start after a week. Remember to train your skills properly!"


    He was quite clear on how a new Demon Hunter faced a high risk in these kinds of large operations, even if he were to be standing guard in the surrounding area. The newbie was basically cannon fodder.


    Forcefully, the stars aligned, and Fang Yuan discovered a small secret. He had no choice but to follow the rules and forcefully go on with the mission. This was unfortunate.


    "It''s been a long time since I saw such a rational youth, I hope that he can survive."


    The vice president waved his hands and said, "Bring him out and find Master Soma. Allow him to deal with his belongings first and give him the rights to enter the library on the way!"


    "Understood!"


    The lady led Fang Yuan out of the office before laughing lightly. "I''m Lisa! If you have any questions in the branch, feel free to find me!"


    As she said that, she gave Fang Yuan a look with her seductive eyes, making herself appear intimidating and bold.


    Fang Yuan understood the hint instantly.


    After all, Demon Hunters lived a risky life and were very shallow in this aspect. One night stands or what-not were very much common.


    At this time, Fang Yuan thought carefully and realized that Lisa''s looks were average, but she had a hot figure, especially her long legs that were very attractive.


    "Of course!" Fang Yuan smiled and stuffed a note to her.


    It has been proven by facts, that some things are common in western and eastern cultures.


    After receiving the tip, Lisa was even more enthusiastic. She almost threw herself at Fan Yuan and even gave her room number to him.


    "Master Soma is the best Pharmacist in the branch. There are many Demon Hunters that sought for his assistance to produce medicine, but his daily schedule is always full¡­"


    After reaching an experimental lab, she had recovered to normal, except for her voice, which was still in a flirtatious state. "However, with Lord Flock''s instructions, your matter will be the priority!"


    Pharmaceutics was a pretty high-level knowledge among Demon Hunters.


    Just by only being able to produce treatment water, any pharmacist would be able to earn big bucks.


    The only people that could be compared to them were the Forging Masters and the Alchemists.


    "Lord Soma!" Arriving in front of the huge doors, Lisa shook the bell and used a sweet voice to say, "there''s an assignment, the vice president gave instructions to prioritize it first."


    Thump!


    After a moment, a large sound or the sound of something exploding burst out from within the room. Thick smoke poured out.


    Promptly, the head of an old man wearing a grey robe with oil stains, messy hair, and a pair of small gold glasses popped out, obviously in a bad mood. "D*rn it¡­ the experiment failed again. Who are you? What business do you have?"


    Looking at him, he didn''t hear what Lisa had said at all.


    "Master Soma!"


    It was also obvious that Lisa was clear about this master''s temperament, and she was still smiling, "This Demon Hunter brought over an ingredient, and the vice president gave instructions to entrust it to you so you can deal with it¡­"


    "Alright, alright¡­ You only know how to use the president to pressure me." Master Soma muttered to himself before making way and said, "Come in!"


    Fang Yuan stepped aside, into the room and looked around curiously.


    There was a layer of thick glass in the middle, separating the whole lab into two.


    The inner half was a large platform¡ªdifferent types of scales, test tubes, beakers, and unknown machines were placed there. It was as if the lab was one from the previous generations, only that there was a burned spot somewhere and was very disordered.


    At the other side of the glass were lines of wooden racks. As if it was a small garden, there were various plants with strange and unusual forms, their roots spread out in a transparent fluid. It seems like there was no soil being used. In addition, there was a fist-sized stone hanging in the air that emitted rays of light that were similar to sunlight.


    "Soil-free plantation, man-made sunlight¡­ To think that the pharmacists in this world are so advanced in the cultivation aspect¡­" Fang Yuan was slightly surprised and thought about it.


    "Why? Isn''t it unbelievable?"


    Master Soma''s face flushed, and boasted, "You cannot find a cultivation room just like this one in the entire Hurin area. This ''Day Halo Stone'' was dug up from the Demon Big Volcano by a group of elite Demon Hunters that I employed for a large fee."


    "It truly makes people gasp in wonder!" Fang Yuan nodded his head. "I''m very assured that Master can help me."


    "Hmm," Soma gave a reserved smile and said, "what ingredient do you want me to deal with?"


    "One vampire''s heart, I need it to make treatment water!" Fang Yuan took out the glass bottle and put it on the experiment stand.


    To the vice president and this Pharmacist, it was merely a vampire''s heart; just an ingredient. Its value wasn''t something that would make them go against their principles. Hence, Fang Yuan wasn''t worried at all.


    "Hmph¡­ and I thought it was some difficult task? It''s only to refine it into treatment water¡­"


    Master Soma coldly snorted and looked at Fang Yuan. "However, to be able to get the whole heart and keep it in a rather good condition must mean that the way you obtained the ingredient was decent. Rascal, do you know the rules?"


    "Of course¡ªif the refinement failed, you don''t have to take responsibility, and if it succeeded, I can choose to get monetary compensation or the medicament." Fang Yuan nodded his head because it was the seller''s market, the pharmacist was very protective!


    Using the same logic, those with high levels or those that were very proficient in alchemy and/or forging acted the same way.


    "Hmm¡­ Your vampire''s heart can produce three authentic portions of the treatment water¡­ When I do it, there won''t be any chance for failure, but I also don''t want your money. Instead, I want one authentic portion of the treatment water as compensation." Soma laid out his condition.


    "So that''s how it is!" Fang Yuan nodded his head. "so I can I say that I''m able to get two authentic portions of the treatment water from you by handing over the heart?"


    "You can also understand it this way!"


    Fang Yuan thought about it and said, "No problem¡­ but I have a small request!"


    "Tell me about it!"


    Soma was a little impatient.


    "I''m interested in pharmaceutics, I wonder if I can be present to observe the production of the treatment water."


    Demon Hunters weren''t only about combat.


    Making medicament, equipment, and even helping normal citizens slay demons were all part of the job and part of the power system.


    Moreover, with his current state, he needed to explore other pathways to ensure that he was safe.


    "You¡­ want to learn pharmaceutics?"


    Soma looked at Fang Yuan, opened his mouth widely, and burst out laughing. His beard fluttered as he looked like he was going to roll on the ground. "Demon Hunter¡­ what do you think pharmaceutics is? A child''s game that can be learned by taking a glance?"


    Although Pharmacists were related to Demon Hunters, a real Pharmacist ought to be nurtured from a young age, and wouldn''t participate in combat. Just based on the vast knowledge required, it was enough for him to learn it for the rest of his life.


    Needless to say, some new formulas and results required umpteen experiments. Furthermore, a large number of ingredients were required to practice normally in order to increase their proficiency rate and success rate.


    So as to say, it was basically a bottomless pit, a hole as vast as the sky!


    Otherwise, successful Pharmacists wouldn''t be as precious and arrogant.


    "When I''m refining medicament, I don''t like people around me. If you think that a mere vampire''s heart can convince me¡­" Master Soma raised his chin, pointing it to the door.


    "Apologies¡­ It was me who was rude!"


    Looking at his attitude and the hint in Lisa''s eyes, Fang Yuan could only sigh in his heart and leave with her by his side.


    "How can you do this?"


    Once they were out of the door, Lisa began to complain, "Master Soma has a very high position in the branch and wouldn''t accept any disciples¡­ If you provoke him, he wouldn''t give face¡ªeven to the president. When that happens, the only thing that you can do is cry."


    In her heart, she was also doubting what she saw.


    Although this Demon Hunter named Hulk had a decent appearance, he was someone that didn''t know his own boundaries.


    He was just a mere newbie Demon Hunter and wanted to become a pharmacist? If this was told to others, he would become a laughing stock.


    "I only wanted to study the master''s skills¡­" Fang Yuan shrugged. "now¡­ Aren''t you supposed to bring me to the library?"


    "Come with me!" Lisa coldly snorted and left him as she coldly glanced back.


    "Women¡­ So troublesome, is she actually angry?"


    Fang Yuan rubbed his chin.


    If he wanted to have a romantic night, he should chase after her and give her sweet talk.


    However, his attention right now was all focused on the precious collection in the library. He even thought of burning midnight oil here so as to not waste any time.


    Hence, Lisa made a cold face and walked off angrily after helping him complete the necessary procedures.


    "I really am an unromantic person!" Fang Yuan laughed at himself and promptly delved into the sea of books.


    Despite it being a branch, the library, or rather, the information room that was built also had three levels.


    Normal Demon Hunters could only wander around in the first level, to check the most basic information. However, Fang Yuan was able to go to the second level with Flock''s compensation.


    As for the third level, only a few presidents and key individuals can enter, as it contained highly confidential books and books about various kinds of powers.


    Based on the knowledge of the Hulk from before, he probably didn''t even read much of the foundation books from the first level.


    On the bookshelves were thick books that were neatly arranged. Their covers were thick and even had gold engravings and buttons, which spoke volumes about the value that they had.


    "Even in this era¡­ Knowledge is also very precious. The literacy rate among common civilians must be a tragedy¡­"


    Currently, there were a few people on the first level. Fang Yuan toured around the place and promptly opened a book "Illustrations of the Night Family Clan," and began to check each of the species with interest.


    "In actual fact, the library''s three levels are also categorized; the first is foundation; second about advancement; and third is about the real power inheritance, secrets that only a few can know of."


    After a while, he had an impression on the library, "Pharmacists and Forging Masters are only roughly mentioned in the profession introductions on the first level. There''s foundation knowledge on how to enter the two professions on the second level. However, the in-depth contents are all on the third floor!"

 594 Pharmaceutics

    "Compliments, Great Mother of Reproduction¡­


    "You came on your own in the chaos for the Evil Demon Ancestor. You are the asylum provider of the Dark Night, the reproducer of the land¡­


    "You gave birth to the Evil Demon King, Desire¡­


    "You are the eternal believer of the Darkness, the protector of the Everlasting Empire¡­"


    ¡­


    On the second level of the library, Fang Yuan was holding onto a book that was made out of pages of goat-skin, and was currently reading a poem complimenting the Mother of Reproduction.


    This goat-skinned book looked very ancient, and the words on it had a brownish-yellow color like that of dried blood. It even smelled like fresh blood when touched.


    "''R''lyeh Textbook'', seized from Kun Shi Sect¡­"


    After removing the book from the wooden shelf, there was a small paper slip that had the book''s source written on it.


    "Kun Shi Sect? It seems like an organization that believed in Evil Demons and was filled with messed up humans and the Night Family Clan. Their god is the most powerful Evil Demon King¡ªDesire!"


    Fang Yuan flipped through the pages, but unfortunately, the book stopped halfway as if someone had intentionally torn the rest of it.


    "That''s right¡­ This textbook is only for Demon Hunters to familiarize with the evil sects and forms. As for the information on how to proceed further to ceremonies, ingratiate Evil Demons, and how to achieve power by using objects, they would only entice people to join their ranks if they were put out there. The pages are either destroyed or secretly kept on the third level."


    He lifted his head slightly and saw a ladder.


    It was very easy to climb up the ladder, however, there were several demon statues and Demon Hunters protecting the second level. The protection for the third level would definitely be stronger than this.


    Fang Yuan stole a glance, his eyes shimmering with a golden glow before promptly stopping regrettably.


    "The system of the Night Family Clan originated from the Mother of Reproduction. Evil Demons are at the top, followed by Voodoo Corpses, Sons of Plague, and others that are high ranking descendants. Vampires, Werewolves, Corpse-eating ghosts, and many other clans with many breeds are next, followed by the mixed-bloods, cross-breeds and Mutated, and lastly the Masters and degenerated humankind."


    Fang Yuan sorted out the ranking among the Night Family Clan. It was based on the purity of their blood¡ªthe closer one was to the original ancestor, the larger one''s power was.


    Of course, a sudden transformation couldn''t be excluded, but it was a special case.


    "Talking about the research of blood, the path of a Dream Master isn''t too bad either!"


    Fang Yuan touched the space between his brows. He also accomplished a certain achievement in this aspect. He had completely cultivated the blood essence of the Witches; even being able to transform things like the branding that was engraved onto a True Spiritual. Furthermore, as long as the True Spiritual was present, he would still be able to use the power in his blood even if he was eliminated.


    At this step, he had already raised his blood to a higher level and didn''t need to restrain and adhere to the subject''s blood.


    "If I split them into high-class, middle-class, and low-class, the Vampire clans would belong to somewhere between the low and middle-class. The highly skilled ones definitely have middle-class blood, and the one that I met has a thin bloodline and belongs to the low-class. As for the Voodoo Corpses, it should have high-class blood¡­ As for those with supreme-blood, those are no doubt the Evil Demons!"


    Fang Yuan shook his head. "However¡­ as soon as the real Evil Demon appears, it would be an S-grade mission. Being the Demon Hunter that I am now, I won''t even have the qualifications to observe from the sidelines."


    After the Mother of Reproduction vanished, Evil Demons had become the top of the Night Family Clan.


    However, their activities were very secretive, and they barely show themselves in person¡ªeven their names were taboo!


    If their true names and nicknames were known, it was completely possible for Evil Demons to have a Doppelg?nger and cause the original to appear and grant a certain power. Even life forms could change.


    Of course, Demon Hunters loved to call this process "Degenerate"!


    "Currently, a high-class Voodoo Corpse requires the Demon Hunter branch to be on one''s guard. A Demon Hunter''s power, hehe¡­"


    Fang Yuan shook his head.


    Although the missions Demon Hunters received were separated into grades, it was very impractical.


    For example, the Becky from before was also an official Demon Hunter with an E-grade. However, he died instantly after meeting a Vampire.


    "Generally, D/E-grade Demon Hunters are similar to low-class blood Night Family Clan members, C-grade Demon Hunters are similar to middle-class blood, while the B and A-grade Demon Hunters are a match for the high-class blood. As for the S-grade Demon Hunters, they would need to hunt for the Evil Demons¡­


    "Of course, being in the same level doesn''t mean that their fighting powers are the same!" Fang Yuan made a face. "After all, Demon Hunters like to surround their prey. They would at least need three to five people within the same grade to be able to defeat a Night Family Clan member. Of course¡­ some gifted individuals are exceptions to this rule."


    This means, that as humans, Demon Hunters have the advantage of producing more hunters, so they were able to have multiple people attacking.


    As for the Night Family Clan, their reproduction skills had dipped to its lowest after the Mother of Reproduction. It didn''t matter if it was the power granted by Evil Demons or the initial support that the Blood Clans had, their ability to reproduce was far from the rate of producing new Demon Hunters.


    Otherwise, the Dark Empire wouldn''t have been destroyed then.


    "It''s said that¡­ this ''R''lyeh''s Textbook'' is a copy of the ''Dead Sea Ancient Scroll.'' Not only are all of the true names of the Evil Demons recorded in the real ''Dead Sea Ancient Scroll,'' but the ceremony on how to communicate with the Mother of Reproduction is also written down¡­ It''s a pity that it''s only a legend. Neither the Demon Hunters nor the Night Family Clan been able to receive any additional accurate news."


    However, Fang Yuan began to get interested in the last paragraph of "R''lyeh''s Textbook."


    He had a deep impression of the Mother of Reproduction.


    It was able to give birth to the existence of an entire clan! Judging by its level, he''s afraid that the Sages were quite far off from it.


    Nonetheless, its nature might be that of original energy.


    "It''s a pity¡­ Let''s not talk about the Mother of Reproduction, even the whereabouts of the Evil Demons is very secretive¡­ It''s like the Evil Demon King, the Master of Desire that was in the legends. I''ve never heard of any Evil God believers that are able to communicate with them through sacrifices¡­"


    The Mother of Reproduction was only the origin of the Heirs of Darkness, the Master of Desire was the real one with the unsurpassable power!


    "Every time the Evil Demon appears, it would bring famine, plague, and the chaos of war! Even the S-grade Demon Hunters might not be able to actually kill it, and the Demon Hunter Union has to count on the three Sacred Weapons it has under its control!"


    This secret information was unknown to the Hulk from before as it was seen in the reports on the second level.


    Legends said that the first Demon Hunter suddenly appeared in the Empire that the Heirs of Darkness controlled and brought hope and light to the human race.


    Since then, Demon Hunters suddenly appeared and toppled the violent rule of the Heirs of Darkness, and through the power of their Sacred Weapons, they were able to vanquish evil and finally made the human race this world''s dominant race.


    "Such a pity¡­ there''s no information about two of the three Sacred Weapons. The only one that can be confirmed is the Sacred Cup!"


    "The document exclusively recorded¡­ that the first Demon Hunter invited the warriors among the human race to taste the Sacred Water in the Sacred Cup. Then, he was able to produce more and more Demon Hunters. The so-called Sacred Cup is actually the creator of the Sacred Water!"


    Fang Yuan''s finger moved along the words, a fire burning in his eyes. "Furthermore, there were also imitations of the Sacred Cup divided amongst the Demon Hunters, and hence, they were able to provide Sacred Water. However, the difference is immense¡­ Thus, there''s cultivation in the headquarters. In addition, the headquarter of the Demon Hunter Union holds the most power to ensure that there won''t be any accidents."


    The person in charge of the three, real Sacred Weapons were all heads of the Demon Hunter Union who rarely revealed themselves in front of others.


    As for the power they held, it was said that they could shock the Evil Demons, and even destroy and kill them!


    "Sacred Weapons¡­ and imitation Sacred Weapons¡ªmaybe I can get two of them to observe and perform my research on¡­"


    Fang Yuan set aside his determination and promptly opened another book to read.


    "''Fundamentals of Pharmaceutics''?"


    He looked at the cover and his eyes lit up. "No wonder it''s on the second level of the library, there''s no way that this information and documents would be sold outside!"


    After flipping over the cover, a hint of the smell of ink wafted out into the air. It was also mixed with the fragrance of some herbs, making people jerk awake.


    "This book is only about the fundamental techniques of pharmaceutics. Please carefully learn about them. If there are any difficulties, ask your tutor!


    "This book requires the prerequisite subjects ''Identifying Herbs,'' ''Illustrations of the Night Family Clan,'' ''Foundation of Anthropotomy''¡­ if you have yet to finish these studies, then please finish them before reading this!"


    ¡­


    On the front page was a list of warnings written in jade-green words.


    "I have no tutor to ask, but as for the three books, coincidentally, I''ve read them!" Fang Yuan laughed. Based on his current comprehension abilities and strong soul, the speed he could learn was naturally shockingly fast.


    He didn''t care about the others and continued reading.


    "Pharmaceutics¡­ based on the world''s resources as the foundation. Accompanying the strange power of the Night Family Clan, it forms a special subject. We, Pharmacists, believe that there are three types of spiritual energy¡ªnatural spiritual energy, energetic spiritual energy, and animal spiritual energy. The combination of these three forms a true life form!


    "Natural spiritual energy is present within nature, whereas animal spiritual energy is within an animal''s body, including humans¡­ As for energetic spiritual energy, it is deemed as the most unstable one, it is ever-changing and especially loves the Night Family Clan!


    "The allocation of medicament by practician pharmacists is a process of using various means to purify the natural spiritual energy and energetic spiritual energy.


    "The true, finest medicament can directly supplement the two spiritual energies and balance out the animal spiritual energy in one''s body, achieving various curing goals."


    ¡­


    Within the study of the fundamentals of pharmaceutics, the author directly explained in detail about the world''s pharmaceutics and his philosophical view. Fang Yuan was amazed by it while he was reading.


    "Extracting natural spiritual energy from nature and energetic spiritual energy from within the body of the Night Family Clan to supplement the human body. This achieves various types of improved results¡ªthis is the foundation of pharmaceutics, three spiritual energies!


    "Although it is definitely fake science when placed into the world of harsh laws of physics, these teachings can be accepted since there''s also the presence of the Night Family Clan in the Alcala Mainland."

 595 Swordsmanship

    "The key to pharmaceutics is the balance of the three spirituals when they''re combined?"


    Fang Yuan''s reading and comprehension ability were very high. Amidst the sound of pages being turned, he had already finished reading the thick book, Fundamentals of Pharmaceutics, and shut his eyes so he could silently recall its contents.


    It was no easy task to extract and purify natural spiritual energy and energetic spiritual energy.


    The many different methods and techniques to accomplish this, occupied most of the book. Moreover, there was a tag behind every technique that stated that a lot of practice was required to ensure precision.


    It was a pity that Fang Yuan didn''t even have basic materials.


    "The nurturing of a Pharmacist is a very worrying thing, even to the wealthy and overbearing Demon Hunter Union¡­"


    Fang Yuan closed the book and pondered, "Looks like¡­ I''ll have to earn and obtain big bucks to build a plantation and experimental lab for myself."


    Another point to consider was that many of the medicament formulae were a secret to Pharmacists. Even when he looked everywhere on the second level, he could only find a few pieces of the most common formulae. There were no traces of the process for making high-end medicaments, such as treatment water.


    As for this situation, Fang Yuan could only sigh and resign his life to looking at other content.


    "Aside from Pharmacists, a Demon Hunters three duties include being an Alchemist and a Forging Master!"


    Forging Master was basically Casting masters. For example, one could use Secret Silver to make a Demon Hunter''s large sword, an axe, and other weapons. One could also make gunpowder, research on the repeater gun and so on. Casting masters can be said to be the logistics of Demon Hunters. If they were to disappear, the abilities of all Demon Hunters would drop drastically.


    As for alchemy, it was a subject similar to pharmaceutics. Both of them used the various types of strange ingredients¡ªamong them were ingredients mainly from the Night Family Clan, which were then refined to many different kinds of weapons with magical effects.


    They were different from that of a Forging Master. If it was said, that the things they produced were divine technology; then the things that the Alchemists made would be much more magical as they achieved various unbelievable results.


    Moreover, so as to remind the Demon Hunters about the dangers of these magical objects, they were referred to as Demon Weapons!


    "There''s also a grading amongst the Demon Weapons. The higher the level of the ingredients that are used, the more powerful the created Demon Weapons will be. It''s even said that Legendary Weapons have the amazing ability to copy Sacred Weapons!"


    Regarding Forging Masters, Fang Yuan had little interest. However, he showed a special interest in becoming an Alchemist.


    After all, it was similar to being a Pharmacist as both of them used the ingredients of the Night Family Clan and had an effect of complementing each other.


    Furthermore, in the future, he would definitely obtain many ingredients that are necessary for this aspect!


    "A person cannot become one of the top Pharmacists or Alchemists in a day or two. I''m going to accept the fierce mission of suppressing the Voodoo Corpse in the Bay of Pigs soon. If I don''t want to make a mistake, I should still quickly upgrade my abilities.


    This world seemed to have a power that was similar to the one in the Purple Eye Realm which caused the progress of Fang Yuan''s recovery abilities to slow down.


    Moreover, he was also quite interested in the path of becoming a Demon Hunter. Hence, he was preparing to improve his ability, in the aspect of becoming one.


    "In actual fact, Demon Hunters below S-grade can only use Sacred Water and training to trigger their physical fitness to become multiple times better than an ordinary person, like a minor superhero. Only with the help of the medicament, equipment, and Demon Weapons can one fight against the Night Family Clan in the middle-class and above¡­


    "As for S-grade Demon Hunters, they can totally become the president of a branch. They''re also big shots who have their own titles¡­ For example, the president of the branch I''m in has the title of being a talented Demon Hunter called ''Daybreak Sword.'' The only problem is that he''s often cultivating and doesn''t show himself often."


    "And above the Titled Demon Hunters are the Sacred Weapon holders! The true elites!"


    Fang Yuan was clear about his own ability. He had no problems dealing with the low-class Night Family Clan, but it would be pushing it if he were to deal with the middle-class. Based on the ability he had back then, Fang Yuan didn''t need to look at the high-class Night Family Clan members and, of course, the Evil Demons.


    Of course, there were also exceptions.


    For example, if the Evil Demon was reckless enough to spy on his True Spirit, then he wouldn''t even be afraid of the Evil Demon King in a spiritual battle!


    "And I thought that there were some special cultivation techniques or what-not¡­ I didn''t expect Demon Hunters to be so average. Aside from depending on Sacred Water and training their physical body to increase their physical fitness, they only have different types of techniques!"


    Fang Yuan walked back and forth and could somewhat find a few books that were similar to secret manuals at the front.


    "These are purely knife, sword, and gun techniques¡­ Through umpteen times of revision and modifications by Demon Hunters, they had become extremely condensed, and best suited to the body of a Demon Hunter."


    Although he had countless techniques inside, some would need to be accompanied by the activation of elemental force and weren''t a match for a Demon Hunter.


    Furthermore, some of these Demon Hunter''s techniques looked superfluous, however, this was done intentionally to match the type of a target demon. In a battlefield, one would discover that what seemed like a pointless attack path, would actually be very good for avoiding a demon''s attack and attacking it!


    Fang Yuan wouldn''t overlook the hard work of the aboriginals just because he believed that he had an abundance of modern knowledge.


    Of course, this didn''t imply that he needed to accept everything. He would need to extract the essence, remove the waste, and use his own experiences to undergo revision based on actual combat and find the techniques that suited him best.


    "Morning Stars Swordsmanship? Shady Flow Flying Claw? And Homan Chet''s gun skill advancement?"


    The entire second level contained many techniques that suited Demon Hunters. However, not many caught Fang Yuan''s eye. After filtering them, there were only three books left.


    "Homan Chet was a titled Demon Hunter in the past, and was called ''Gun God''. His gun skills were, of course, superb. Unfortunately¡­ my magical energy is higher than others and doesn''t require his technique in this aspect. Furthermore¡­ the glory of this Gun God is mostly due to his legendary demon gun¡ªMonster Sob. It''s not guaranteed that I''ll be able to get the same Demon Weapon. Overdependence on an object isn''t a good thing either¡­"


    Fang Yuan rubbed his chin and recalled the Gun God''s past. He had a good memory and had seen his information before.


    Originally, this Homan Chet was able to achieve boastful results during wars by killing Evil Demons with the help of the Monster Sob gun. Unfortunately, his own abilities were average, and he was easily killed by a disguised person from the Night Family Clan. Of course, it also took the legendary Demon Weapon.


    From then on, giant swords and daggers became the symbol of Demon Hunters.


    Even a Demon Hunter with fascinating gun skills would at least have skills to protect himself with a dagger to prevent the same thing from happening.


    For this technique, it had high requirements and a lot of preparation, hence, Fang Yuan quickly gave up.


    "Shady Flow Flying Claw is suitable for sneak attacks, and it''s able to achieve the result of being able to travel with fast movements on complicated terrain. However, I need to make a customized Flying Iron Claws, and it''s troublesome. This can be my second choice instead!"


    Fang Yuan didn''t have much hesitation and flipped open the Morning Stars Swordsmanship book straightaway.


    "Hmm?"


    He could tell the difference immediately. This swordsmanship technique was very refined. It had a few words and lots of images. Every picture was realistic. A body holding onto a sword was drawn with just a few strokes. Even if a Demon Hunter had little knowledge on the matter, one wouldn''t be able to make mistakes.


    "A moving technique would need to abandon the useless flashy movements in order to kill and injure something in the quickest and most ruthless way. In this aspect, the author seemed to have achieved the best results¡­" Fang Yuan nodded his head and continued to flip through the book, page by page.


    This Morning Stars Swordsmanship had no system at all. Instead, it used a collection of multiple different swordsmanship schools. It also had a special move to harm the different types of demons.


    Based on Fang Yuan''s view, they could be called "Werewolf Kill," "Vampire Kill," "Flying Demon Kill," "Interchangeable shielding moves," and so on.


    As for the "Method to Kill Evil Demons," sorry, there was nothing like that.


    "Even so, the ability of the author is decent, moreover¡­ who knows if he had continued improving?"


    Fang Yuan read on and reached the last page of the book.


    On this page, the style was completely different from the others. The drawings were abstract, and there was only one picture of a vast starry night.


    "Imagine yourself to be among the starry night. Any star is okay to be a sword!"


    Under the picture was a line of words that had a unique appeal.


    "Looks like¡­ I did underestimate the author a little."


    Fang Yuan froze in shock but promptly nodded his head. "I originally thought that this was only a collection of scattered moves, but, surprisingly, he simplified the complicated things and had a consistent method, founding his own ''path''! He completed his breakthrough. Is he one of the Titled Demon Hunters?"


    Fang Yuan continued to read and reached the last line, "Morning Stars Swordsmanship can be divided into three states¡ªMorning Stars, Old Moon, and Dawn. For someone who is able to be in the state of Old Moon, they can become my disciple¡ªSeres!"


    "Seres?"


    Fang Yuan was shocked. "The president of the branch? Daybreak Sword? This is swordsmanship left by him?


    "To become a legendary Demon Hunter, he is, of course, outstanding. Is he trying to find a disciple through this method?"


    Unfortunately, even a Sacred Weapon holder wasn''t suited to be Fang Yuan''s master.


    "However, there are lessons worth learning in his swordsmanship. I need to fight soon, so I''ll be able to quickly see the effect¡­"


    The swordsmanship of Daybreak Sword was very simple, allowing one to elaborate on it while fighting.


    "In actual fact, the most useful technique isn''t his last Starry Night State, but the simple techniques at the beginning, as well as the weak spots for the demons and evasion techniques¡­"


    Fang Yuan casually stabbed, and as if he was holding a sharp sword.


    "The strongest have their own aura and unique pathway. What''s the point of imitating them?


    "I can totally integrate the essence of his swordsmanship into my own, creating my own unique swordsmanship and pave my own path!"

 596 Probation

    "Oh? My treatment water is done?"


    Engrossed in the sea of books and martial techniques, Fang Yuan almost forgot about the time.


    He only recalled this matter when a resentful Lisa came forward to inform him.


    "Alright, I''ll head over there now!"


    Unless it was entrusted to someone beforehand, any precious medicament couldn''t be claimed by another person, either under false pretenses or on the behalf of others. Although the pharmacist''s fee was very high, they were still trustworthy in this regard.


    At that moment, Lisa had a surprised and bewildered expression as she looked at Fang Yuan as he walked.


    Through her sixth sense, she discovered that this man was somehow different from the one she saw a few days ago, but she was unable to see any changes when she looked up close.


    "Based on my current ability, I might be judged as a C-grade Demon Hunter. However, if I were to be assigned to be in the surroundings, it would be enough if I was just able to survive through this mission."


    Fang Yuan took a glance at his stats window:


    "Name: Hulk (Fang Yuan)


    Essence: 10.0 (110)


    Spirit: 10.0 (100)


    Magic: 10.0 (130)


    Profession: Demon Hunter


    State: Healthy


    Technique: Basic grapple (Proficient), Gun Fighting Skill (Normal), Secret Study (Normal), Pharmaceutics (Basic), Alchemy (Basic), Morning Stars Swordsmanship (Old Moon)


    Specialization: [Medicine (Level 3)], [Botany (Level 6)(Peak)], [Fiery Golden Eyes (Level 3)], [Body Seal (Ultimate form)]"


    It wasn''t hard to get into entry-level alchemy and pharmaceutics as it only meant that he had sufficient basic knowledge in these aspects.


    As for the advancement of Morning Stars Swordsmanship, it was even easier.


    "My technique can advance past the proficiency rate." Fang Yuan looked at the proficiency bar at the end of each technique and smiled without saying anything.


    Maybe cultivation techniques like Pangu Eagle''s Body and Creation Sword Array were quite high-level on their own. Fang Yuan had also advanced to the peak, and it would be difficult to progress further for even half a point. Hence, that small proficiency rate was naturally very minute for him.


    However, if he was able to level up those basic techniques, the results would have an immediate effect.


    Just by reading for these past few days and familiarizing himself with the swordsmanship, he was able to complete the Morning Stars part and promote himself to the state of Old Moon.


    With an improvement in techniques, his various traits had also grown.


    This was why Fang Yuan was able to promote his ability to a scary cultivation state within a few days time.


    However, the fact that these minor changes could be discovered by Lisa showed that her senses were quite frightening as well; perhaps she was gifted.


    Fang Yuan''s gaze focused on the Morning Stars Swordsmanship, causing more details to immediately appear:


    "Morning Stars Swordsmanship (Old Moon): A swordsmanship invented by Daybreak Sword. Through your revision and refinement, it has become more efficient for one''s body to perform. There are three levels in total. Currently, it''s in the Old Moon state! Evasion ability has been enhanced, and the damage to the Night Family Clan has increased!"


    "Increased evasion and damage? It''s a pity that I cannot quantify them directly¡­" Fang Yuan felt that it was normal. After all, reality isn''t a game, and it was impossible to have "Damage (+2), (+1)" appearing like in a game. Otherwise, he would''ve doubted the world.


    Even so, he had the confidence to be able to kill a Vampire with one slash if he happened to come across one again.


    ¡­


    Master Soma''s Experiment lab.


    "D*mn it, I''ve failed again!"


    After a loud bang, Master Soma popped his head out and muttered to himself. Seeing Fang Yuan, he said, "Oh, it''s you? Come in, take the treatment water medicament, and leave. Don''t disturb me!"


    Fang Yuan smiled and walked into the lab. With only one glance, he saw a black experiment stand with messy test tubes, as well as the other materials on it. His heart tightened.


    He was better at calculating the value now and sighed instantly¡ªbeing a Pharmacist was indeed a profession that required a large amount of money.


    "This is yours, two portions of treatment water!"


    Master Soma found a box in the storage room at the back. There were lots of pure white goose feathers and two test tubes stored within a pocket when it was opened. The test tubes were stored nicely.


    Fang Yuan took out a test tube and disturbed the water. Lines of golden brilliance appeared on the originally translucent treatment water as if there were countless gold threads in the water. He nodded his head and said, "Thank you!"


    "It''s able to treat most external wounds, especially broken limbs. If the broken area is treated reasonably and was reattached within 24 hours, there won''t be any side effects!"


    Master Soma announced proudly as he promptly waved his hands to gesture the guest out of the room.


    "I trust in the ability of Master Soma¡­"


    Clearly, Fang Yuan wouldn''t leave like this. To improve his pharmaceutics skills, he would need the necessary tools to practice and make medicament. Even the proficiency rate couldn''t rise without this limitation.


    He sniffed and smiled slightly. "Only¡­ Was Master trying to mix the bat-eared mouse?"


    "How did you know that?" Master Soma''s immediately revealed a shocked expression.


    "It''s because of the rose essence oil-like smell and the tendency to explode when the mixture failed. There are no other ingredients aside from those." Fang Yuan rubbed his nose.


    "Yes, it''s very challenging to allow the blood of this type of mouse to return to normal before extracting the energetic spiritual energy!"


    Master Soma nodded his head solemnly. "I remember that you¡­ said that you wanted to learn pharmaceutics before? Looks like you''ve worked hard, but it''s a pity that it''s not enough!"


    He definitely knew that to become a Pharmacist, one needed not only a gift but also nurturing.


    Without the investment of expensive tools and large amounts of materials to practice, it would still be a disaster when he went tried to apply it, despite the fact that he might thoroughly understand the theory.


    "I know, but I might be able to succeed in extracting the energetic spiritual energy from the body of the bat-eared mouse¡­"


    There was also a description of how to deal with the ingredient in the Fundamentals of Pharmaceutics book. Of course, it was one of the most difficult examples.


    This was because the Pharmacist required a ridiculous hand speed. The margin of error for each ingredient and the flames couldn''t be more than 0.1 seconds. What was even more difficult was the fact that the Pharmacist had to judge on his own and adjust the process based on how each portion of the mouse blood works. This experiment tested one''s patience, attentiveness, and luck.


    "You?" Master Soma looked at Fang Yuan suspiciously and doubted him.


    There seemed to be a voice in his heart that was persuading him to let the boy try. Anyway, the bat-eared mouse wasn''t anything precious before the energetic spiritual energy that was extracted. If he wanted to, many Demon Hunters would bring a dozen or more gallons of it over just from a phone call.


    Fang Yuan was sensitive enough to discover Soma''s hesitation and added on, "How about this, if I cannot succeed within three tries, then I will compensate you for all of the ingredients!"


    "Alright¡­ You''ll also have to pay compensation if you damaged any of my experiment instruments during the process!" Soma clenched his teeth.


    "No problem!" Fang Yuan nodded his head readily.


    "You¡­ you¡­" At this time, Lisa finally understood what was happening. "Hulk¡­ You id**t, you''re actually challenging an experiment that even Master Soma failed?"


    She was at a loss of words, he was simply dumb and bold to the point of no return!


    "Shut up!"


    At that moment, Master Soma glared at Lisa and scolded her when he saw Fang Yuan standing in from of the experimental stand and arranging the new instruments.


    "As a Pharmacist, his instruments are the weapons in his hands. He''s facing a completely different battlefield. Hence¡­ he needs to familiarize himself with every single inch of his weapons¡­"


    Master Soma mumbled. He would be very disappointed and would scoff if a Demon Hunter was to go into the process immediately.


    Looking at Fang Yuan''s movement then, the anticipation in his heart rose.


    "If it was just about making medicament, there''s no way that I can be compared to an experienced Pharmacist at the moment. However, it''s a different story when it comes to extracting the bat-eared mouse blood¡­ This experiment''s process has been set long ago and nothing needs to be changed, what it needs is only to carry it out!"


    In this aspect, Fang Yuan, who had powerful magical energy and was able to operate his body with precision, had an advantage that even titled Demon Hunters had to concede defeat.


    "First step: Settlement!"


    He opened the cork and poured the blood into a beaker. The crimson red blood was like amber as it had solidified.


    What was worse was that after making contact with the air, there would be some golden brilliance gathered in the crimson red blood, bringing with it an unstable smell.


    "Second step: Observe and analyze."


    Fang Yuan quickly put in a litmus paper and judged the nature of the blood according to the marked scale on the paper.


    These statistics would have the final call of whether the extraction would need to be heated for 0.1 seconds more or cooled 0.2 seconds earlier. A minor error would cause an immediate explosion.


    "It''s beginning!"


    He placed the beaker onto the metal stand and lit the flames to increase the temperature immediately.


    "This¡­" Master Soma was dumbfounded when he witnessed this scene.


    In his eyes, every movement of this young Demon Hunter was skilled and smooth as if he had long prepared for it a thousand times.


    It didn''t matter if it was the timing to add the ingredients, to increase or decrease the temperature, there was no hesitation. He was as stable as a robot.


    Of course, this was impossible. As the extraction experiment of the bat-eared mouse was infamous for being complicated and ever-changing. Any sudden situations may lead to him feeling anxious.


    "This young man might really have the potential to become a Master Pharmacist!" He thought about it silently. Even the sound of his breathing slowed down gradually as if he was worried about disturbing the other party''s movements.


    Fang Yuan quickly reached the last step of the extraction process.


    The blood that was originally amber-like had already been separated into different layers. This was the part that even Soma didn''t reach previously.


    "It''s almost done!" Soma was so emotional that his cheeks flushed.


    However, at that moment, Fang Yuan frowned and threw the beaker into the safety box at the side.


    Bang!


    A low sound was heard, and promptly, dense smoke emitted out from the box.


    "This is¡­ because he was bound to fail based on the failure rate?" Soma shook his head. "But he''s pretty good to be able to reach the last step."


    It was unexpected that Fang Yuan was able to find out the danger prior to it happening, judging the failure before putting it into the safety box to isolate and minimize damage.

 597 Investigation

    "As expected¡­ why would a newbie succeed?"


    Lisa, who was observing at the side, didn''t know the complicated emotions Master Soma was feeling inside and felt indescribable ease when she saw Fang Yuan failed.


    The overconfident look he had before had previously had led her to believe that he would definitely succeed.


    After regaining her senses, she felt that the situation was quite humorous. "How can a newbie Demon Hunter be a self-taught genius and become a Pharmacist?"


    However, she saw that Fang Yuan started the experiment a second time as if nothing had happened. There was no expression of being uneasiness or depression on his face.


    Settle, analyze, heat¡­


    Similarly, he didn''t make any mistakes, his hands were as stable as ever. He wasn''t unlucky enough to fail due to the success rate this time.


    After a while, a test tube which was the size of one''s pinkie was filled with a translucent fluid.


    "It''s done!"


    Fang Yuan didn''t stop moving and continued going as he started to purify the third set of ingredients. "Master Soma, how do you see this?"


    "Not bad, not bad at all!" Soma was speechless at that point. Even when he had personally done it, the success rate wasn''t as high as his which was over 60%.


    "Master is overestimating me!" Fang Yuan lowered his head as if he was embarrassed. "This was due to the fact that the experiment process was recorded in a book. I''m only confident because I have my somewhat natural talent, my sensitivity towards time, and my precise movements¡­ If you want me to make medicaments, I would be an amateur."


    "That''s more like it!" Master Soma nodded his head repeatedly and his heart felt at ease.


    He was able to do it because of his natural talent, there was nothing to be jealous about. Furthermore, there were few experiments that were similar to this crazy experiment of extracting bat-ear mouse with detailed operation required.


    "You''re¡­ Hulk, right?" Master Soma became serious. "You have a pretty decent gift and can develop your skills in pharmaceutics. You¡­ currently don''t have a tutor, right?"


    In his heart, this youth was pretty good.


    Most importantly, he had zero ability at making medicament but had a talent for handling ingredients. Wasn''t he the best possible assistant for his experiments that he was able to exploit?


    Before the other party became a master, Soma could throw him difficult tasks and would only need to design the experiments. There was nothing better than that in this world!


    "Yes, I don''t have a tutor¡­" Fang Yuan smiled. "but¡­ I''ll soon be participating in a challenging mission¡­ I might lose my life there."


    "Don''t spout nonsense!" Master Soma blew his beard and instantly widened his eyes. "Who arranged for you to go to such a mission? There are plenty of Demon Hunters like you, but how many Pharmacists do we have that''s like you? Who is it? I''ll personally talk to him!"


    How could he die worthlessly in a battlefield?


    "It''s Vice President Flock!" Fang Yuan spread his arms.


    "Wait a moment, I''ll go look for him!" Master Soma jumped up as his bottom was on fire and ran out anxiously.


    Witnessing this scene, the corner of Fang Yuan''s mouth curled up to reveal a slight smile.


    Voodoo Corpses are very close to the Evil Demons and had high-class blood. Even if Vice President Flock led a large bunch of Demon Hunters and surrounded it, it might not be 100% safe.


    Furthermore, he felt some sort of dark aura from Black Jack that made him feel much more alert.


    The Bay of Pigs was most likely a trap.


    Although an average hunter''s formation couldn''t confine the enemy, they weren''t average hunters. However, the abilities of Flock and the others weren''t on par with that of the enemy either.


    Hence, this hunt-kill operation was fated to be highly dangerous.


    He hasn''t even recovered half of his original capabilities yet, it would be best if he didn''t go.


    "In reality, the so-called ''rules'' are only set for the people with lower ranks¡­" he mocked silently, "even if I''m supposed to go, as a potential Pharmacist, I would receive attention and care after a Master Pharmacist especially requested it. Sometimes, this is the difference between life and death!"


    "Hi! Demon Hunter!"


    In the experiment lab, Lisa seemed to have recovered and gave a flirty smile as she half-leaned over. "Did you¡­ forget about my room number?"


    To her, her impression of Fang Yuan kept changing.


    From a handsome guy to an unromantic fool, to a Pharmacist with a bright future now!


    He was definitely a pearl and needed to be held onto properly.


    "I would never forget it, but I''m very worried about the mission right now and I''m not in the mood¡­" Fang Yuan squeezed out a sad face and gave her a roll of dollar notes. "I wonder where the source for the information the branch obtained about the Voodoo Corpse came from? And about Black Jack, has there been any news?"


    "Hehe¡­" Lisa was elated after feeling the thickness of the notes and completely understood the young Demon Hunter''s worries.


    Before a life and death battle, some Demon Hunters would drink and dream as much as possible as though they wanted to live their life to the fullest. Some Demon Hunters, on the other hand, would have a clear mind and have few desires. They would focus on concentrating their energy.


    It was obvious that this Demon Hunter was the latter.


    "The news about the Voodoo Corpse¡­ was intelligence we bought. The seller was also a black market businessman¡­ It made a ruckus in the Bay of Pigs and had killed many people. The news was, hence, not a secret¡­" Lisa added on, "that''s why the vice president didn''t make any moves on Black Jack."


    To the Demon Hunter branch, which wielded a lot of power, Black Jack is the kind of black market businessman that was a mouse in the drain, a vulture that ate rotting meat; he was still useful. If he wasn''t, he could be killed at any time so the branch wasn''t bothered about him.


    However, Fang Yuan was solemn.


    He trusted his instincts and feelings that Black Jack wasn''t a usual profiteer.


    "B*llsh*t! He didn''t know the value of a pharmacist disciple!"


    After a few moments, Master Soma came back with a disappointed face. "Apologies¡­ Hulk, Flock won''t agree to let you out of the operation, but don''t you worry, he promised to protect you."


    "Thank you, Master Soma!" Fang Yuan bowed slightly. "Fighting against evil is a wish of mine ever since I became a Demon Hunter! Moreover¡­ If I''m lucky enough to be able to return, I''ll be very willing to become your assistant and help you manage some ingredients."


    "Alright!" Master Soma was easily touched.


    For a youth that had gratitude, wasn''t he going overboard with his exploitation?


    "Wait a moment!"


    He seemed to have thought of something as he ran into the storage room and promptly took out a small box. "It''s a medicament to stop bleeding¡­ Although its ability to treat wounds isn''t comparable to treatment water, it''s still useful for small injuries. There''s also Sacred Light medicament, spread it on Secret Silver or pour the alcohol directly to increase the damage to Night Family Clan members¡­ And this, I''ll give them all to you!"


    He took out a leather belt that was clearly custom-made. It had a secret pocket that could hide small amounts of medicament.


    "This is a medicament belt made from eight-legged crocodile skin. It''s specially made for storing medicament, and its defense isn''t bad either¡­ It''s fighting style is suitable for Demon Hunters¡­"


    Although these things weren''t as valuable as the two portions of treatment water, Fang Yuan was filled with gratitude as he accepted them.


    He buckled the belt onto his waist and pressed the secret button. Indeed, it revealed a row of slots for test tubes. It was very convenient to use, and it would work even better during battles.


    "Eight-legged crocodile is derived from a demon. The leather of the crocodile king can even be made into a low-grade Demon Weapon. Of course¡­ this belt is nothing like that, but can it be considered an investment? Pharmacists really are wealthy. Their wealth is quite shocking even when they reveal just a little bit."


    With his new equipment, Fang Yuan and Lisa went to the Demon Hunter branch''s main hall. "That''s right, I need to launch an entrustment."


    Fang Yuan went to the counter and took out the box containing the treatment water. "I need a Demon Hunter to pass this onto the hands of Uncle Jock from the Axe Bar!"


    Although the healing effect of the treatment water was obvious and could be considered an additional life, Fang Yuan had medical skills of his own. Furthermore, he had more extra equipment. If he needed to save himself, then he would rather go back to where he came from.


    As for the treatment water that Jock gave him at the beginning, it was better to return the favor as quickly as possible.


    By compensating him with double the amount, it was also beneficial to him, a young Demon Hunter, when it was made known. At least, he would be able to build a lofty image.


    "Okay!"


    Lisa persuaded him, but looking at how determined Fang Yuan was, she couldn''t help but compliment him, "Hulk¡­ You really are a good guy!"


    "Haha¡­"


    Fang Yuan grinned and lowered his head, but in his heart, he was violently rolling his eyes, "Being friend-zoned by a girl, how lucky can I get?"


    ¡­


    After three days.


    The Bay of Pigs.


    This was a harbor that was located near the Hurin area. Due to the presence of a small dock, it had some ships that would stop there to load and unload their goods which formed a market.


    Moreover, due to the chaotic management, the entire marketplace and dock area was filled with dirt and a peculiar stench, as if it was a pigsty.


    Thus, its original name was quickly forgotten, and the name of "Bay of Pigs" was spread. In the end, it became the official name.


    "This is an important private harbor for the black market businessmen in the Hurin area. 30% of the hold in the Hurin area stores guns and gunpowder, as well as most of the illegal items!"


    Fang Yuan wrapped a black cape around himself and walked among the people.


    The residents here were mostly wrapped in either black or grey cloth and had an unkempt appearance. The messy stalls were almost blocking the road. One would wonder how horse carriages were able to travel in this kind of environment; the road was uneven and was filled with potholes and horse dung, everything was as if time stopped in the middle ages.


    "Investigate¡­ acquire evidence of a Voodoo Corpse¡­" Thinking about the task that he was assigned to, Fang Yuan recited in a low voice, "Voodoo Corpses like to move around at night. If I''m careful, this mission won''t be dangerous, have I really been taken care of?"


    He looked at the bustling marketplace and felt sympathetic.


    In the Bay of Pigs, it was a common sight for people to go missing every day. The activities of the Voodoo Corpse was covered up almost perfectly. To its eyes, this was a hunting ground and the humans here were its moving food!

 598 Robber

    "Voodoo Corpses¡­ They were rumored to be blood descendent demons born from the corpses of Evil Demons. They have low intelligence and act like wild beasts; they''re also active at night and have powerful recovery abilities such that they would plunder the blood and meat of other living beings to supplement their own body. A fully matured Voodoo Corpse is essentially a mountain of meat!"


    Fang Yuan silently recalled the message in the Night Family Clan Illustrations, "The Voodoo Corpse in the Bay of Pigs is clearly much more cunning! It only hunts a few people every day. In this crowded and packed dock, it was as if nothing unusual had happened¡­"


    After all, the Voodoo Corpse had low intelligence and, hence, was considered pretty decent to be able to have such awareness whilst hunting. However, it would of course not know how to differentiate between a resident and a foreigner.


    Due to this, the local workers gradually found out that their buddies were decreasing as time went by. After a few investigations, they finally discovered traces of the Voodoo Corpse.


    It''s a pity that, to them, finding a trace of the Night Family Clan meant that it was the start of a disaster.


    "In the Bay of Pigs, where are some of the places that a Voodoo Corpse can hide?"


    Fang Yuan silently strolled through the market, his gaze focused on many places with dark shadows. "Old houses, storehouses, and underground cellars¡­ all of these are possible."


    It was hard to imagine that there was actually such a monster in this flourishing dock.


    At this moment, was it hiding in a shadow somewhere greedily focusing on the food in its hunting ground?


    Fang Yuan suddenly jerked up.


    "In actual fact, based on the manpower and preparation that Flock had brought over, a mere Voodoo Corpse can be defeated¡­ The only thing I''m scared of is a sudden situation¡­


    "It''s such a pity¡­ that Flock didn''t listen to my suggestion to capture Black Jack and the others for interrogation. Otherwise, it would''ve been easier as we could at least have some evidence."


    Fang Yuan also understood Flock''s caution. Although the black market businessmen might have the roles of a mouse and vulture, this group of people was not to be underestimated.


    As people from the dark side amongst ordinary people, they even had connections with many of the Demon Hunter branches in order to provide them with large amounts of resources.


    Being in a high position, they would need to know how to handle things in a clean way.


    For example, if any clues were to be discovered during this operation, Flock would be able to get rid of all the black market profiteers in the Hurin area when he was back.


    "Unfortunately¡­ it would be too late when that time arrives." Fang Yuan shook his head. "If I can operate on own my own, I would like to go back and drag Black Jack out before doing anything else¡­"


    Through his methods, it would be a very simple task to force the truth out of the other party.


    "Hmm?" At this moment, he felt a weak, malicious intent crash into him from behind.


    "Sorry!"


    A young girl hugging a paper bag tripped and bumped into Fang Yuan, her crimson red hair, flew in the wind, the soapy fragrance that was trapped in it dispersed into the air.


    She blushed and seemed to not know what to do and bowed slightly before squeezing back into the crowd.


    "So a person like me actually has some luck in love as well?" Fang Yuan smiled slightly and silently turned into a corner.


    ¡­


    "Haha¡­ that foreigner looked like a good target from a glance. He was actually strolling around in the market, I would be sorry if I didn''t steal from him!"


    The young girl with crimson red hair ran around a corner and got rid of her act, she jumped high into the air, twirling the wallet in her hand. "I''ll have money for food tomorrow."


    She unzipped the wallet excitedly and was quickly dumbfounded. "So much?! Something''s wrong!"


    As a robber that had wandered in the Bay of Pigs from a very young age, her first thoughts of seeing a thick stack of money wasn''t that she was rich, but that there was huge danger!


    "The clothing of that pretty-faced boy didn''t seem luxurious, how is it possible that he has so much money? Unless he''s from a wealthy family somewhere? No! There will be several servants around a wealthy master when he''s out for a trip, that means¡­"


    "There''s also the possibility that I''m very powerful!" Fang Yuan jumped down from the wall. "You little mouse¡­ where are you thinking of running to?"


    "I¡­ I found this wallet on the streets and was just thinking of returning it to you!" The female robber smiled awkwardly and her cheeks flushed instantly. Even her large, twinkling eyes were filled with tears. "Mister¡­ you must believe me!"


    "You''re very smart for not trying to escape!" Fang Yuan walked forward without hurrying and took back his wallet. "Do you know why I let you off intentionally until you arrived here?"


    The female robber gulped, looked at the isolated alley and listened to the noises that seemed to be very far away. Her voice became uneven, "Because¡­ there is no¡­ no one here!"


    "Bingo! That''s correct!" Fang Yuan checked the female robber out; she had fair skin, purple eyes, and an exquisite face. Even if it was covered, he could also tell that she was reasonably pretty.


    "Just now¡­ If I had exposed you on the main straight, would you have done that? Don''t lie to me!" Fang Yuan asked coldly, a light emitting from his eyes.


    "I would¡­" The female robber looked down. "I would''ve torn my own skirt and shouted for help!"


    "That really is a good idea!" Fang Yuan nodded his head. "Second question, what''s your name?"


    "Almon, I''m Almon, my lord!"


    The female robber became as obedient as a kitten, this was also her survival philosophy¡ªshe would become obedient once she met an undefeatable power.


    "Very good, I like an honest kid!"


    Fang Yuan was astonished, this female robber had actually spoken the truth twice. It was unbelievable.


    After all, there were many robbers who would only confess over their dead bodies after stealing their prize.


    Unless¡­ she felt that something was amiss!


    "Did she predict danger? Or is it something else?" He stared at Almon''s purple pupils and pondered before talking in a loud voice immediately afterwards, "The third question¡­ Have there been any unusual things happening during the night here? For example, missing people or the discovery of a man-eating monster or something along those lines?!"


    "You¡­"


    Fang Yuan discovered that her pupils contracted once the question was asked and was elated.


    However the other party was panic-struck. "I know now¡­ You''re a demon hunter¡­ There really is a monster in the night at the Bay of Pigs!"


    "Tell me what you know and I''ll let you go!" Fang Yuan asked quickly.


    "I should''ve thought of it earlier, that it''s no longer safe here¡­ John and Jonna disappeared this way¡­" The female robber lost focus instantly and was muttering something. She looked heart-broken and seemed to be blaming herself, "I was too careless!"


    "So, what? Do you have any clues?" Fang Yuan asked with much interest.


    "Are you here to hunt it down? Demon hunter? Almon clenched her teeth. "I beg of you, kill it as soon as possible, or else there''ll be many innocent victims every day! I suspect that my two partners were killed by it, but I have no idea where it is."


    "Okay, but this demon likes to operate in the darkness. Be careful not to go to places that are too shady. Do you know any places here that are quite spacious and have little light during the day?"


    After perceiving the truth in the other party''s words, Fang Yuan shook his head regrettably and continued questioning her.


    "Dark places?" Almon was taken aback. "There''s an abandoned stretch of storehouses at the east side. There won''t be any sunlight in the storehouses for the whole day¡­"


    "Aside from that, are there any underground caves?"


    "How is that possible? The Bay of Pigs is a harbor. Any underground cave would be drowned by the water! Unless someone dug an underground chamber. It also wouldn''t be very large usually."


    "Okay, you can leave now!"


    Fang Yuan nodded his head, he kept his wallet but took out a bill again and gave it to her. "Here''s your tip."


    "Thank you, boss!"


    Almon was a little hesitant, but went on to stretch out her hand to receive it; looked like she was in need of money.


    "This Demon Hunter is a good person?"


    Looking at Fang Yuan''s leaving shadow, her emotions were very complicated¡­


    ¡­


    Pig''s Head Hotel.


    "I''m back!"


    Fang Yuan came to a big room and politely greeted Vice President Flock.


    "I''ve brought the map of the Bay of Pigs, as well as the locations that have a spreading dark aura." While he was saying that, he handed him a large piece of goat-skin paper.


    "Not bad!"


    Flock spread it out and was attracted by the detailed descriptions after taking a glance. "It''s unexpected that you have such skill in making a map. This''ll be much more convenient! Tonight we''ll set out secretly and patrol around the harbor after splitting into three groups! Hulk, you''ll stand guard in the hotel."


    "Understood!"


    Fang Yuan could only look on coldly. Flock had the ability of an A-grade Demon Hunter, and the other Demon Hunters were also almost as smart and efficient. What used to be a newbie Demon Hunter would, of course, be incomparable.


    He could only go with the flow and accept the arrangement given to him then.


    Others also knew that Hulk was only an unlucky chap with limited power that was sucked into this operation. They would have to take care of him if he went along and, hence, didn''t have any opinions about it.


    "Now, I''ll separate us into groups¡­"


    While Flock started to allocate the manpower, Fang Yuan saw the opportunity and discreetly retreated to begin preparing food for the others.


    The hotel''s dinner for today was potato with braised beef. The taste was decent, and every Demon Hunter had their fill by eating a large plate of it. They promptly went to either rest or to clean and try out their weapons.


    When night arrived, they disappeared from their rooms, one by one into the darkness, leaving Fang Yuan alone.


    "Knowing that my safety will be guaranteed under the condition that I don''t do anything is clearly not my style."


    In the middle of the night, Fang Yuan climbed out of his bed and looked at the powder in his hands and smiled.


    Today, he did something to the female robber, Almon.


    To him, that woman felt a little weird and seemed to be hiding something. Hence, he casually planted something for precaution.


    At that moment, Fang Yuan changed to his windbreaker, carried his sword, secured the gun onto his waist, and checked the medicament belt once before vanishing into the night.


    He went to the alley that he and Almon had met in the day and took out a bottle. He then removed the cork and sniffed. A stench drifted into his nose instantly.


    "D*mn it¡­ Who invented this tracking powder, gross!"


    Fang Yuan swung his head and sniffed the air again. A hint of fragrance entered his nostrils and wouldn''t fade away. It became a road marker.

 599 Flock

    "Sister Almon!"


    "Sister Almon!"


    In a shack with a low-ceiling, the female robber, Almon, was holding onto a bamboo basket with a kind smile on her face.


    After greeting her, a bunch of children surrounded her and looked at the basket which was steaming and gave off a nice aroma, they swallowed their saliva furiously.


    "Come, let''s eat!" Almon smiled while she pulled away the white cloth to reveal the soft and delicious white bread, jam¡­ and even half a turkey.


    "Oh!"


    The other filthy children cheered together.


    "Rayne, pass the food down. Little Peter''s been ill recently and can''t go out as he''s very weak. He needs to eat more¡­"


    Almon gave instructions and went to sit down at the doorstep with her back facing the children. Similarly, she took out her own dinner¡ªtwo pieces of black, charred bread. A single bite of it would definitely cause her teeth to fall out, and let''s not talk about the horrible texture; it was no different from eating wood.


    "Sister Almon!"


    Suddenly, a voice came from behind her. Almon jerked up and wrapped the bread with her handkerchief properly before turning and making eye contact with Rayne.


    "Yes?"


    "This¡­ is for you!"


    Rayne was the oldest amongst the teenagers. He was around 13-14 years old. Although his face was filthy, his eyes were bright and had a persistent and firm expression while he passed the white bread with jam spread on it to Almon.


    "I''ve already eaten!" Almon emphasized, "That''s your portion, eat it. I''m the oldest here so listen to me!"


    "Phew¡­" Rayne had a stubborn expression and let out a long breath, "I''m already 15 and can start to work. I want to be a robber on the streets!"


    "No way!" Almon expression turned into a stern one, something she never did. "Do you know that one''s finger would be chopped off if the robber is caught? Also¡­ without your protection, how will these sisters and brothers survive? Could it be that you''ve forgotten the lesson you learned from John and Jonna?"


    "Sorry!"


    At the mention of the pair of siblings, Rayne''s eyes turned red as well.


    "I didn''t take care of them properly."


    "It wasn''t your fault!"


    Almon was suddenly determined, "I''ve thought about it, we''ll leave tomorrow!"


    "Leave? Why?" Rayne didn''t understand.


    "Because it''s¡­ filled with danger here, even the Demon Hunters have been drawn here." Almon sighed in her heart.


    In actual fact, she had been searching like a lunatic ever since the siblings had vanished. She had originally thought that because of their appearance, they might''ve been kidnapped and sold off as slaves.


    Unfortunately, there seemed to be no news about them in the entire Bay of Pigs, it was as if they had vanished into thin air.


    Until the Demon Hunter appeared did it finally hit home.


    "What man-eating monster¡­" Almon rubbed her eyes.


    There was no famine or war at the moment, hence the allocation of food was enough for survival. In addition, the beggars and vagrants in the Bay of Pigs wouldn''t have done such a terrible thing. Hence, there was only one possibility left.


    "Thinking about it¡­ there seemed to be fewer and fewer vagrants, even the lazy dog guarding Grimm Street has vanished, I''m afraid that it''s been spread long ago¡­" She was extremely determined, "we need to leave this d*mn place as soon as possible!"


    As for John and Jonna, she could only entrust her hope to the other Demon Hunters.


    After all, she had to consider the other children and had to be realistic with her options.


    "It''s because it''s not safe here anymore. I''m prepared to go to the Hurin area, there are more people streaming in and out of the area, we''ll be able to earn more money!"


    Of course, Almon hid her own worries perfectly in front of Rayne.


    "Since it''s your decision, I''ll agree!" Rayne was silent for a moment before answering seriously.


    "Very good. Now, be obedient and go back to sleep!" Almon forced a smile onto her face.


    ¡­


    The still night was quickly enveloping everything.


    Inside the shack, many kids were already sleeping and were making quiet or loud snoring sounds.


    Almon, who was sleeping at the perimeter, had her eyes closed, however, her brows were tightly knitted as if she was having a nightmare.


    He was getting closer and closer!


    A large shadow, as big as a mountain range, blocked the sunlight and was towering over her. Within that shadow was a pair of scarlet, hungering eyes that were looking up and down at her.


    "Ah!" Almon shouted softly and woke up in shock with cold sweat all over her face, "Again?"


    Ever since who-knows-when, she had often been having nightmares. Moreover, the situation in the dreams was very similar; the large shadow with scarlet and hungering eyes jogged her memory.


    "What is¡­ that thing, exactly?"


    This sharp and natural ability to predict danger had helped her avoid problems countless times.


    At this moment, she felt absolutely terrified and couldn''t get back to sleep. Hence, she did a patrol around the inside of the house.


    The inside of the shack was very quiet. Many of the children had fallen into a deep sleep and even had innocent smiles on their faces.


    In this environment, Almon felt that she was gradually calming down.


    However, her expression froze promptly.


    "Peter?! Where''s Peter? Where did he go! Rayne!" Almon shouted and brought out a dagger in a flash.


    "What happened?" Rayne rubbed his eyes while ignorantly transitioning to a standing position.


    "We have trouble, look after the others¡­ Run away!" Almon was regretting in her heart. If she had known then she would''ve gotten the Demon Hunter''s address from the start.


    Kaboom!


    At that moment, the floor of a corner of the shack suddenly collapsed and two pale, white hands with suckers that were filled with fluid appeared. Like an octopus''s tentacles, it curled around two children, trapping them and dragging them into the hole.


    "Jerk!" Almon''s eye vessels burst as he leaped over quickly. "Give them back!"


    Zap! Zap!


    More tentacles stretched out and destroyed the entire shack until there was nothing left.


    While the air was filled with dust and fragments from the debris, a monster crawled out of the hole and moved its countless tentacles.


    It was huge, like a large lump of meat that was formed by connecting many human body parts together. The monster looked as if it was casually made by putting broken limbs together, there were seven to eight limbs on the floor, and many faces in the middle, most of the eyes looked soulless. Only one pair of eyes gave off a red glow, "I¡­ found¡­ it!"


    "Let me go!"


    Almon was suspended in the air, with her head at the bottom. She stabbed the dagger into the tentacles ruthlessly, but, unfortunately, there was no effect.


    "Eat¡­ I''ll eat you!"


    The tentacles lifted her up slowly to the front of the lump of meat.


    Crack! Crack!


    The whole lump of meat cracked in the middle to reveal a terrifying mouth filled with snow-white teeth. It could totally swallow a human whole.


    "Am I¡­ going to die?" The strong premonition of death made Almon tremble, and her limbs were frozen, "No! I don''t want to¡­"


    Bang!


    At that moment, a loud sound was heard.


    Following the sound of a gun being fired, a tentacle dropped to the ground instantly. Almon felt that she was pushed and moved back at lightning speed.


    "You''re¡­ Mr. Demon Hunter from earlier today!"


    Promptly, she saw Fang Yuan and hot tears filled her eyes instantly as if she saw her savior.


    "D*rn it¡­ I''m only here to look for clues and I actually met the Voodoo Corpse, what kind of luck is this?" Fang Yuan looked at the tentacles-filled lump of meat in front of him, but his expression showed that he was speechless.


    Bloop! Bloop!


    At that moment, the broken tentacle on the floor wriggled like a long worm, crawled its way back to the lump of meat and immediately combined into one. A pus-like fluid exploded at the wound area and a new tentacle grew out again.


    "Keke¡­ this recovery ability. If it was made into a medicament, it would be even better than the treatment water!"


    Fang Yuan was astonished and promptly went on to light up a firework without any hesitation, which then flew into the air.


    Whoosh¡­ Piak!


    In the dark, a line of dark red fireworks exploded, it was very eye-catching.


    "I would be a fool to fight against the Voodoo Corpse on my own. Vice President and the others are patrolling right now and should be here soon!"


    Fang Yuan grabbed Almon.


    "It''ll be enough if we just stall for a little more time!"


    "I beg of you!" At this moment, Almon was in tears. "I beg of you¡­ please save the children. I''ll give you whatever you want to repay you!"


    "Alright¡­ but there''s still a problem here!"


    Fang Yuan swung his head to look at the brats that were trapped among the many tentacles and felt a headache.


    If it was only him going on this operation, he would''ve been gone for good; what has the life of an outsider got to do with him?


    However, a Demon Hunter''s responsibility was to fight against evil and protect civilians!


    He had sworn to it when he had first become a Demon Hunter.


    Although Fang Yuan could ignore the oath that Hulk had made, he couldn''t appear to be too cold-blooded in the situation where a bunch of Demon Hunters would soon rush over.


    Otherwise, he would''ve destroyed the image that he had previously built.


    "Remember your promise!"


    Fang Yuan placed Almon down and took out Starry Night. The silver sword twinkled with a charming brilliance in the darkness.


    "It''s starting!"


    Bang!


    Fang Yuan stamped his feet and charged forward as if he was a cannon.


    Roar! Roar!


    The Voodoo Corpse in front made a beast-like roar and many of its tentacles curled towards him like long, iron whips.


    Kaboom!


    The tentacles streaked across Fang Yuan''s illusionary image and violently slammed into the ground, leaving a deep crack.


    "Morning Stars Swordsmanship¡ªOld Moon!"


    Fang Yuan moved his right hand, his Starry Night streaked past and glided in a delicate arc before chopping off a tentacle that a child was trapped in.


    Plop!


    A large amount of liquid was sprayed around and landed on the floor. Instantly, it emitted a large quantity of white smoke and decomposed the floor to form a deep hole.


    He caught the falling child mid-air and discovered that he was unconscious.


    "Poison!?" Fang Yuan held his breath immediately. Even the pores all over his body tightened as if he had worn a layer of protective gear. He then retreated swiftly.


    "It''s Rayne!" Almon saw from afar but couldn''t be bothered by anything at the moment and rushed over.


    "Take him away!" Fang Yuan threw Rayne to her and turned around promptly. He looked at the Voodoo Corpse, which seemed to be triggered by something. "She is¡­ what''s your objective?"


    Roar! Roar!


    Despite being a lump of meat, the Voodoo Corpse was fast and in the blink of an eye, it arrived in front of Fang Yuan, it''s many iron whip-like tentacles crashed down.


    "Protective technique!"


    Fang Yuan raised his sword to block the attack. Immediately, he felt that his arms were slightly numb and couldn''t help but move back, however, his face showed a relaxed smile.


    "Found it! It really is a Voodoo Corpse!"


    At that moment, a group of Demon Hunters was outside as they had rushed over. Shockingly, it was lead by Flock!

 600 Demon Weapons

    "Surround it!"


    "Second troop, prepare to attack the tentacles, and save the children if it''s possible!"


    Although he was surprised that Hulk disobeyed his orders, he clearly prioritized surrounding and attacking the Voodoo Corpse first. Flock was truly a very experienced veteran Demon Hunter as he organized his men within a split second.


    "I swear¡­ I will protect the good!"


    A few tall and sturdy Demon Hunters aggressively moved forward while waving their large swords and reciting their oath.


    Zap!


    The light reflecting from the swords danced in the air as many tentacles fell to the ground.


    Like a small mountain, the Voodoo Corpse retreated, many human faces that were contorted in agony were visible.


    "Be careful, its body fluids contain the effects of poison and anesthesia!"


    The Demon Hunters at the scene put on equipment that resembled metal masks and charged into the circle formed by the other Demon Hunters.


    "Now!" Fang Yuan''s eyes lit up, and with a fling of his right hand, the Sacred Light medicament from his belt automatically fell onto his large sword. With a speed as fast as lightning, he slashed forward.


    Poof!


    Another tentacle fell. He caught the kid on top of it and went on to leave the battleground quickly.


    "It''s Peter! He''s still alive!"


    Almon leaped forward and looked at Peter''s deathly pale face. Tears of joy streamed down her face. "Thank you, Mr. Demon Hunter!"


    "Okay, it''s very dangerous here, I''ll escort you out of here!"


    Fang Yuan looked at Peter, who was in the arms of Almon and made an unusual expression.


    Roar¡­ creak¡­ creak!


    At this moment, the injured Voodoo Corpse roared loudly. The numerous tentacles retracted while blood-curdling chewing sounds could be heard.


    After getting injured, it went on to eat other meat in order to supplement its body.


    "This monster¡­ I''ll kill it!"


    Almon, whose eyes were filled with tears, was escorted out of the area by Fang Yuan whilst covering Rayne''s eyes.


    "Prepare the Flaming Glue!"


    Behind them, Flock''s voice was energetic and powerful. It was obvious that he was long prepared and had planned many, "Plan B''s."


    Whoosh!


    Not long after that, a ball of fire began to burn, bringing joy to the Demon Hunters.


    "It''s just a mere Voodoo Corpse which doesn''t have much intelligence, as long as it''s focused down properly, it''s possible to take it down with minimum damage¡­" Fang Yuan thought as he analyzed what had happened. He saw that there were some alarmed residents on both sides of the street. They had opened their windows and looked at the fire, dumbstruck. Some even took out buckets, preparing to extinguish the fire.


    On the other hand, Almon was carrying Peter and was following Fang Yuan, running with a few kids beside her.


    "Didn''t we win? Why are we still running?"


    Rayne was panting hard but was determined to hold onto two of the children and asked curiously.


    "This question¡­ I''m afraid that I''ll have to ask you!" Fang Yuan looked at Almon, "So? Do you feel safe now?"


    "Nope!" Almon shook her head. "I keep getting the feeling that it''s very dangerous here. We have to leave immediately!"


    "I feel the same!" Fang Yuan solemnly nodded his head, but he reinforced his belief that Almon wasn''t an ordinary person.


    "The shack area is on fire!"


    "There''s a monster!"


    "Put out the flames!"


    ¡­


    A bunch of voices could be heard, making it very chaotic.


    All of a sudden, the glow from the fire spread with the accompaniment of a loud sound as if the entire Bay of Pigs was lit up.


    "This is¡­ Flock has lost control! Someone is intentionally creating chaos!" Fang Yuan looked at the scenes around him and an idea popped into his head.


    Chaos and massacres in a large area¡­ with live sacrifices. This was the ceremony that Evil Demons loved the most!


    "If there''s someone who''s serving the Evil Demons now¡­"


    Fang Yuan looked at their surroundings. Since all they thought about was to escape, they still ran out of the Bay of Pigs even with the burden of children. They looked at the orange-red glow and smokes rising from the harbor that lit up the entire sky.


    "Ah!"


    Suddenly, a scream was heard. Even though there were a lot of noises in the darkness, it was still very clear, "Mon¡ªmonster!"


    A gold light flashed through Fang Yuan''s eyes and he saw numerous black shadows immediately appearing in the night, they were recklessly performing mass murder at the harbor.


    Chi! Chi!


    In the air, a black shadow flashed past, and a large bat-monster promptly attacked in their direction, its teeth and claws were extremely sharp.


    "This is¡­ a Gargoyle?!" Fang Yuan swung his sword and lifted himself off the ground by jumping. He formed an arc in mid-air. "Morning Stars Swordsmanship¡ªBat Kill!"


    Zap!


    The sword, which was glowering with a silver light, avoided the Gargoyle''s claws and stabbed into its chest at a cunning angle, going straight into its heart.


    Chi! Chi!


    The large Gargoyle smashed into the ground and formed a crater. The original corpse transformed, becoming ash-colored and turning into stone with cracks at every part.


    A heart that had a golden glow and was the size of a quail egg was dug out by Fang Yuan. He held it in his hand.


    "Very¡­ Very powerful!"


    Rayne witnessed the whole thing, his small eyes were filled with envy.


    He had thought that everything was over when the Gargoyle attacked them. However, it was unexpected that even a Gargoyle like this could be defeated with only a single move from this young Demon Hunter!


    "Demon Hunter?"


    He suddenly looked at Fang Yuan and held his fist tightly. "I also want to become a Demon Hunter so that I''ll have the power to protect my family!"


    ¡­


    "What happened?"


    In the Bay of Pigs, Flock was a bundle of nerves. "The Voodoo Corpse hasn''t been dealt with yet. Where did these Gargoyle, Ghouls, and Werewolves come from?"


    "Sir!"


    A Demon Hunter beside him aggressively pulled out a brick and looked at the dark brown floor. It was as if a ritual procedure was drawn with fresh blood. His face revealed a panic-stricken and exhausted expression. "It''s a ceremony¡­ their real motive was to offer sacrifices and summon the Evil Demons!"


    "Call for reinforcements from the Union immediately!"


    Flock held his sword with both hands and stared at the mountain of meat, amongst the flames, that was in front of him and kept moving forward.


    Even though it was getting burned by the Flaming Glue, the wounds on this Voodoo Corpse kept recovering, exhibiting a shocking life force.


    The main point was that there were other Night Family Clan members in the surroundings who were staring at the area, harboring bad intentions. It looked like they wanted to surround the Demon Hunters.


    "This was a trap!" Flock''s forehead was dripping with cold sweat. "The elites of the branch can''t all die here¡­"


    The situation was very critical.


    There was a Voodoo Corpse within the circle of Demon Hunters which restricted half of the Demon Hunters'' power. On the outside, there was also a group of Night Family Clan members that were closing in.


    The most important thing was that the entire Bay of Pigs had become an enormous ceremony that was the start of the offerings to the Evil Demon!


    Every second that passed by meant the situation got worse and worse.


    "Which Evil Demon are these offerings being given to?" Flock asked loudly.


    "I''m translating¡­ it''s the Flaming Evil Demon within the flames, Evil Demon Seth!!!" One Demon Hunter shouted instantly.


    "D*mn it¡­ It''s that one again!" Flock clenched his teeth.


    Although this Evil Demon wasn''t the strongest, it was definitely the one that loved to create trouble the most.


    Its followers were all over the Alcala Mainland. Even the church event that had happened the previous time, with the degenerated demon descendants, was orchestrated by it.


    "Take some people to stop the ceremony now!" Flock commanded loudly and took out a silver dagger from his chest.


    "In the name of the Icy¡­ I''ll punish you!" He chanted the spell quickly to activate the Demon Weapon in his hand.


    Kaboom!


    A light blue fluorescent light appeared around his body. With a whistle, a tornado, filled with icy cold snow, was suddenly formed and moved towards the Voodoo Corpse.


    Smack!


    The surrounding temperature dropped drastically; water droplets turned to ice.


    Large amounts of snowflakes spread out, climbing onto the enormous lump of meat on top of the Voodoo Corpse, turning it into a white sculpture in an instant.


    "This is the Demon Weapon that the Vice President holds¡ªFrosting dagger? It''s the same as what was described in the rumors. It''s made from a Cold Evil Demon''s bucktooth, and its power was similar to an imitation Sacred Weapon."


    Witnessing this scene, the jaws of the other Demon Hunters dropped as they blurted out all kinds of compliments.


    "Hurry up and do your job!" However, Flock roared wildly, "My dagger can only be activated once a day, and it can''t hold the Voodoo Corpse for long¡­"


    At that moment, the Demon Hunters discovered lines of cracks that had extended over the ice sculpture. They couldn''t help but shiver with fear on the inside. They wouldn''t hold back anymore, they were going all in and charged towards the surrounding Night Family Clan members.


    A fierce war had been sparked!


    ¡­


    "The Vampires on the Alcala Mainland are extremely disgusting but their Ghouls have a similar appearance to a human!"


    Outside the Bay of Pigs, Fang Yuan kept his large sword and looked at the corpse of the Ghoul on the floor.


    The Night Family Clan that wandered around outside and had attacked them had the form of an ordinary human. It even wore clothing. The only difference was that its hands became sharp, savage claws after being activated and fangs appeared in its mouth as well.


    "!@# Ghouls have the appearance of a normal human and liked to blend into human society. Only when they''re hunting will they reveal their fangs and claws. At times, they will become friends with humans. After their relationships stabilize, they''ll then kill them. They enjoy the shock, struggle, and desperation of their prey just before death, this is called the cooking process¡ª''Night Family Clan Illustrations'', chapter 13, verse two; exploration of the Ghoul''s prey."


    Just now, the Ghoul had pretended to be an escapee and wanted to catch Fang Yuan off guard when it attacked.


    Unfortunately, its ability wasn''t good enough against his Fiery Golden Eyes.


    "The Ghoul''s fangs and claws are pretty good ingredients¡­"


    Fang Yuan used his sword to slice the parts he wanted from the corpse and put them into his pack.


    "These two claws don''t seem to be enough¡­ Should I try again and see if I can kill a few more, or shall I catch some werewolves¡­"


    He looked in the direction of the harbor and muttered to himself. Then, he turned around to look at Almon. "How are you?"


    "I''m¡­ I''m still okay!"


    Almon was hugging her arms, and she was shivering as she hadn''t recovered from the shock yet.


    Seeing this, a bright light flashed across Fang Yuan''s pupils.


    "Peter''s awake!"


    At this moment, Rayne cheered loudly and hugged the little boy who had just been saved. "Peter¡­ You''re fine, this is great!"


    "No¡­ Don''t¡­"


    At that moment, the fear in Almon''s heart exceeded its peak and couldn''t help but scream.

 601 Fire-practicing Demon

    Almon had a premonition of danger so why was she still uneasy then, even though she had escaped from the Bay of Pigs with Fang Yuan?¡ªit was because she brought the danger with her and it had been hiding by her side!


    Peter!


    That small weak boy that had deathly-pale skin, who had fallen ill and couldn''t go out under the sunlight, was the source of the danger!


    Rayne was shocked by Almon''s shout but out of habit wrapped both his hands around Peter.


    Creak! Creak!


    This little boy, Peter, was, however, expressionless and suddenly opened his mouth wide. A tentacle stretched out from within!


    The Voodoo Corpse''s tentacle split into two after it stretched out. It was like a large mouth with numerous fangs that could completely bite Rayne''s head off!


    "Noooooo!" Almon screamed as tears subconsciously streamed down her cheeks.


    "As expected, something was wrong!"


    At the exact moment that the tentacle was about to touch Rayne, Fang Yuan moved into action.


    Like a shooting star, Starry Night bolted upright into its forbidding mouth at the critical moment. "Demon Snake Kill!"


    A silver glow glimmered in the sky, and a swing caused half of the tentacle to drop onto the floor. A greenish-yellow fluid that seemed to be blood gushed out of it.


    "Ah!"


    At that moment, the other children screamed after they had somewhat realized what had happened.


    "Interesting!" Fang Yuan looked at Peter in front of him, his eyes emitted a golden glow. "Infected? Or is it a parasite?"


    Although the rumors about Voodoo Corpses said that it was a descendant born from an Evil Demon corpse, it also had its own ability to reproduce.


    This brat here had obviously been turned into a young Voodoo Corpse!


    "How is this possible?" Almon, who was badly shocked, almost fell to the ground as her legs wobbled. "Peter¡­ was long dead? Is this a monster that used his skin?"


    "If you want to understand it that way, sure!" Fang Yuan nodded his head. His interest in Almon had increased yet again.


    Clearly, the Voodoo Corpse had its own instincts despite being a trap placed intentionally by people.


    By hunting higher class food, it would be able to have better blood!


    It had spied on Almon several times previously and even placed a parasite in the kid at her side in order to achieve this goal!


    "It must be for the better blood!" Fang Yuan said in his heart. Hence, Almon''s outstanding danger sense could also be explained.


    "Only¡­ her blood is considered recessive. Neither I nor the Voodoo Corpse can confirm it at first glance¡­ did it come from an Evil Demon?"


    Voodoo Corpses had high-class blood. If it was spying on blood, it would naturally be from the Evil Demons themselves.


    Even the elites in Master clans could hardly inherit the blood of Evil Demons. Too strong a power would make it difficult to give birth to offsprings. Even if they were able to, they would be born as a monster. Moreover, if it was between two Evil Demons, it would be extremely difficult to reproduce, either that, or they could only give birth to demons.


    It ought to be said that Almon''s existence was definitely a miracle!


    "Eat¡­ I''ll eat you!" The broken, half tentacle retreated back, and Peter''s original eyes became blood red, looking at Almon with greed.


    But, suddenly, the red glow from his right eye disappeared and became a normal human''s eye. "Sister¡­ run away¡­"


    "Peter¡­" Almon was shocked. "Peter''s still in there?!"


    "Even if he is, he won''t be able to be there for long. A person''s will cannot be compared to a demon. Even more so for a child!" Fang Yuan struck back without hesitation.


    That large mountain of meat was definitely an A-grade mission that he wouldn''t be able to deal with currently.


    However, this parasite body had no fighting power. Furthermore, there was something wrong with the opponent''s state.


    Roar! Roar!


    At that moment, the struggle that was shown on Peter''s face vanished completely, and he suddenly let out a beastly roar. He became a black shadow and pounced towards him viciously.


    "Morning Stars Swordsmanship¡ªOld Moon!"


    As if he was dancing, Fang Yuan''s body became a dancing butterfly while the Starry Night in his hand drew an arc.


    Poof!


    With a strike, a small arm flew in the air, bringing with it a large amount of blood.


    Others screamed in shock, but Peter was indifferent. A thicker tentacle grew out of the wounded area and like an iron whip, it curled towards Fang Yuan.


    "The life force of a Voodoo Corpse¡­ is so troublesome!"


    Fang Yuan moved to avoid it and poured a large amount of medicament alcohol on his sword''s blade.


    "Ah¡­ Sister, my hand hurts¡­"


    At the scene, the skin half-kneeled on the ground, its face filled with agony. However, the tentacle on its right arm kept increasing in size and thickness¡­ As if there was no limit, it became a mad coil.


    Kaboom!


    The ground vibrated, and everything in the surrounding area, as if it was attacked, was destroyed. The ground cracked open as if a typhoon had gone past.


    Such terrifying strength, as expected from something with high-class blood!


    "You must be tired of living!" Fang Yuan shouted in frustration and charged forward. "Morning Stars Swordsmanship¡ªDemon Snake Kill!"


    Zap! Zap!


    The large tentacle was chopped into several pieces and fell to the ground. He then charged into the defensive circle and went in front of Peter. "Die!"


    Facing the Secret Silver sword, Peter showed a relieved smile instead. "Kill me! I don''t want to kill any humans, especially Sister Almon¡­"


    "It actually defeated the Voodoo Corpse''s strong desire? Unbelievable¡­" Fang Yuan felt extremely weirded-out.


    If it were him, even the Evil Demon King would be unable to move his will, but what cultivation did he have? The Peter in front of him was only a small child!


    "An average human that''s able to defeat the desire and will of a Voodoo Corpse¡ªits as though an ant defeated a dragon¡­" Fang Yuan''s interest increased as he thought of something, "Using an analogy¡­ with the help of my own will, I was able to refine my elemental force!"


    "No¡­ Don''t!"


    At this moment, Almon flew into the battleground and held onto Peter. "Mr. Demon Hunter¡­ Peter is a good child, he can still be saved. Please! Please don''t kill him!"


    "Sister¡­" Peter laughed with a hoarse voice and used his undamaged left hand to stroke Almon''s hair. "Don''t be sad¡­"


    "Peter!" Rayne walked over as well. "¡­ I won''t blame you. Carry on, you''ll only become uglier. But I''ll still continue to be friends with you."


    "Thank¡­ Thank you!" Tears flowed down from Peter''s eyes, and suddenly, he fainted.


    Swoosh!


    His wrecked right arm retracted back at once and became a fair and thin little boy''s arm.


    "He suppressed the¡­ evil!" Fang Yuan muttered, and a thought flashed across his mind. "There really is value in researching this!"


    Kaboom!


    At that moment, a fiery glow lit up the sky, the flames burning aggressively and swallowing everything to its heart content within the Bay of Pigs.


    "The Demon Hunters'' preventive operation has failed?" Fang Yuan became solemn upon witnessing the scene.


    Along with the raging flames and the large number of offerings, the presence of Evil Demons spread within the Bay of Pigs as a large dimension door appeared.


    Behind the door was an extremely terrifying, tall, and sturdy body, materializing as time went by.


    Flaming Evil Demon¡ªSeth!


    "Demon Hunters¡­ feel fear and desperation!"


    A sound similar to a heat storm was suddenly heard from the depths of people''s hearts.


    An average brat like Rayne fainted with fear and collapsed.


    Ordinary human beings would have no power to go against the Evil Demon. Even gazing at the Evil Demon would bring terror upon them, it was useless to try to push people forward to fight!


    "As expected from an Evil Demon, a target of an S-grade mission!" Fang Yuan leaned on his sword but didn''t feel anything. "On the other hand¡­ isn''t this brat the one that tried to lure me into degeneration? I should leave first!"


    Although he wasn''t afraid of the Evil Demon''s demeanor, it didn''t mean that he could win against it.


    Based on his ability now, he was bound to lose if he were to go against the best dark blood, the son of the Mother of Reproduction.


    "It''s you!!!"


    However, the Evil Demon, who was going through the dimension door suddenly looked at Fang Yuan, roared, and threw a ball of flame.


    "Under the great master''s command, I must kill you!"


    Whoosh!


    Among the raging flames, a demon, wrapped with flames, landed upright in front of Fang Yuan. Its body looked like a burning corpse with sharp claws and fangs.


    "Fire-practicing Demon!" Fang Yuan saw it and felt troubled at once. "An Evil Demon that holds such a grudge¡­ and with sensitive observation skills! It really is you who was staring into the abyss while the abyss was staring at you!"


    Fire-practising Demon also had high-class blood, a direct relative of the Evil Demon.


    They specialized in various kinds of flame demonic techniques, and their attacks and damage were very strong.


    However, they had their own weaknesses as they still weren''t the best. This type of Fire-practising Demon was like a sorcerer of the Night Family Clan; its body was weaker and didn''t have terrifying resurrection and recovery abilities, unlike the Voodoo Corpses.


    "Die!"


    Many messages appeared in his head, and, at that moment, Fang Yuan made a decision and leaped forward.


    At this moment, it was suicide to distance himself from the demon. The only way to survive was to kill this Fire-practising Demon directly!


    "Flaming Hands!"


    The Fire-practising Demon pushed its hands forward. A fan-shaped fire appeared in front of it. Its scorching hot temperature spread out, to the point that hair would begin to curl just by being close to it.


    "Morning Stars Swordsmanship¡ªOld Moon Slash!"


    Fang Yuan slashed with his sword, and a terrifying power actually formed a vigorous wind, which then created a pathway among the sea of flames to the front of the Fire-practising Demon.


    "Resisting Ring of Fire!"


    However, the Fire-practising Demon roared, and a ring of fire appeared around its body. It had a suppressive power, which formed a stable barrier.


    After all, its body was weak, naturally, it would thus have a way to keep itself alive.


    "Human-kind¡­ Eliminate all¡­"


    The Fire-practising Demon roared, the surrounding flames became wild as five enormous fireballs appeared.


    Zap! Zap!


    At that moment, an iron whip-like tentacle viciously crashed into the raging flames. Even if it was burned quickly, it healed quickly as well, and, in a short amount of time, the fireball withdrew quickly and exploded.


    "You can''t¡­" Peter stood up, staggering, his right arm transformed into a large tentacle again as he shouted loudly, "you''re not allowed to harm Sister Almon!"


    "Good job!"


    Fang Yuan laughed loudly and used the tentacle as a shield to break into the ring of fire. His sword glowed with a piercing light. "Die!"


    A silver light flashed!


    The head of the Fire-practising Demon rolled onto the ground immediately.

 602 Adop

    Within the Bay of Pigs.


    Roar! Roar!


    Spiderweb patterns kept spreading out before exploding suddenly.


    The Voodoo Corpse freed itself from the restriction easily, many of its tentacles were dancing crazily.


    "Ah!"


    A few Demon Hunters, who weren''t fast enough to get away, screamed as they were swallowed alive, becoming supplements for the Voodoo Corpse''s life force.


    The minor success at the outskirts wasn''t enough to counteract the harsh situation within the Bay of Pigs!


    "Stop!" Flock roared and charged in front with swords in both hands. However, he was promptly attacked by three tentacles at the same time and flew to the wall as if he was a cannonball. A dent appeared on the wall, and the painful sounds of bone fracturing came from all over his body.


    "D*mn it¡­ The Demon Weapon and medicament has been used up¡­"


    All he could see was blood red view, as he was beginning to fall unconscious. "Am I going to die¡­ As the vice president of the branch and the head operator of this mission, I''m afraid that I''ll become a classic, bad example¡­"


    "Haha¡­"


    Among the flames, the body of Evil Demon Seth had completely materialized. He stretched out his large burning wings and said some words in the Evil Demon language that rattled in everyone''s heart. Although it couldn''t be understood completely, every human could comprehend the meaning within the words.


    "Fear me¡­ Hate me¡­ All of your blood and meat will become food for an Evil Demon¡­ Your souls will be offered to a greater existence!"


    On the ground, the flame ceremony extended, turning the entire dock into a large slaughterhouse.


    Under the rampage of the Evil Demon, the lucky survivors could only struggle desperately.


    "I need to leave this place as soon as possible!"


    In the outskirts, Fang Yuan, who had just finished slicing up and collecting part of the Fire-practising Demon, was moving non-stop. "If I want to live, I''ll need to leave this slaughterhouse immediately!"


    Behind him, Almon piggybacked a passed-out Peter while Rayne was bringing the other smaller children. They were all looking in the direction of the Bay of Pigs, their faces were filled with terror.


    Although they had been exposed to the dark side of the world, they realized that the difficulties they had met with was nothing compared to the true brutal slaughters between the clans and species.


    "Luckily¡­ that Seth hasn''t been summoned completely yet. Furthermore, most of its attention has been directed towards the offering ceremony¡­" Fang Yuan felt at ease but promptly tensed up again.


    What kind of existence would an Evil Demon offer sacrifices to?


    There might be only one thing within the entire Alcala Mainland; the ancestor of all Evil Demons and the Night Family Clan¡ªMother of Reproduction!


    Even among Evil Demon Kings, the strongest one¡ªMaster of Desire, couldn''t surpass its position.


    "Unless¡­ this existence is coming back after vanishing for such a long time?" Fang Yuan thought of an idea. "Or maybe Seth found out something and needs to confirm it using this method?"


    Swoosh!


    As he was prepared to leave, a glow appeared in the eastern sky, tearing up the black sky.


    After experiencing a night of chaos, daybreak was finally arriving.


    "It seems that¡­ the reinforcements are here!"


    A golden light flashed across Fang Yuan''s eyes and he smiled.


    A small, soft sound kept increasing in volume until it became the sound of a sword!


    Under the morning light, a fast-moving figure appeared unexpectedly at the horizon. In a blink of an eye, it arrived at the Bay of Pigs.


    "Morning Stars Swordsmanship¡ªDawn!"


    A sound similar to two metals rubbing together echoed. Straight after the sound was heard, a human appeared in Fang Yuan''s mind, he was tall, had a firm expression, and the large sword in both his hands was extremely stable!


    Zap!


    Brilliant white light from the sword appeared as if it was the light of dawn, tearing through the night, drowning the entire Bay of Pigs in light.


    Bang!


    The original Voodoo Corpse, who was wreaking havoc, was shocked, its huge body was engulfed by the light emitted from the sword.


    At that moment, it was as if its entire body was dismembered before it exploded.


    With just a sword, the high-class blood demon became nothing instantly!


    "Mr. President!"


    Flock''s energy rose and became elated because the real savior had arrived!


    Daybreak sword Seres! Titled Demon Hunter! President of Demon Hunter branch, an existence that could compete with the Evil Demon face to face!


    "Seth, it''s you again!"


    Seres had a large build and was wearing a linen gown. He looked unusually simple¡ªeven the large sword in his hands was as plain as ever.


    However, when he became serious, he was like a sharp sword that would give off a razor-sharp aura. "Could it be that the slash I gave you wasn''t enough? Do you want a harsher lesson?


    "Seres!" The Flaming Evil Demon roared as the flames and sulfur around it became much stronger, "You Demon Hunters won''t be pleased for long¡­ the great Mother of Reproduction will soon awaken. This world, will eventually still belong to us, the great Night Family Clan!"


    "You speak too much nonsense!" Seres knitted his brows and moved forward slowly, taking his sword out.


    Buzz!


    In the surrounding area, the original flames solidified.


    In the sky, the glow of the stars expanded and fell, one by one, extinguishing the flames and stopped the array, forming a dazzling stage.


    On the stage, was a person¡ªa sword! Yet, it emitted such brilliance. "Starry Night!"


    Zap!


    A large sword that looked like it was formed by starlight appeared, emitting a diamond-like starlight and viciously slashing at the dimension door.


    "Ah!"


    The Flaming Evil Demon roared as a wound appeared on its chest.


    The entire dimension door became chaotic and started to collapse.


    "Next time¡­ my true body will appear in front of you! You human beings¡­ won''t be so lucky again¡­"


    Accompanying Seth''s unwilling roars, the dimension door collapsed completely and vanished, bringing its body with it.


    "Listen, Demon Hunters, kill the remaining Night Family Clan members immediately!" Seres sheathed his sword slowly, his face, like a thousand-year-old ice mountain, was constant and unchanging, his voice, like metal being struck, traveled far.


    "Coming in to save us in the most critical time, as expected from the Daybreak Sword!" Fang Yuan couldn''t help but exclaim after witnessing that. "So there''s actually a fourth state above Dawn for Morning Stars Swordsmanship. And that is Starry Night¡­ it''s equal to Obtain!"


    This Legendary Demon Hunter hadn''t only saved the entire Bay of Pigs, but he also gave Fang Yuan guidance for his future path, the benefits he gave was difficult to calculate.


    At this moment, he took a look at his own stats.


    He saw that the mark behind Morning Stars Swordsmanship, originally Old Moon, had unexpectedly changed¡ªto Dawn!


    The place he could increase his experience the fastest was to participate in a war. In addition to that, there was a hint from Seres''s own performance. It would be weird then if he couldn''t break through the previous state.


    "Morning Stars Swordsmanship (Dawn): A swordsmanship invented by Daybreak Sword. Through your revision and refinement, it has become more efficient for one''s body to perform. There are four levels in total, and currently, it''s in the (Dawn) state! With your high level, you can condense the air to deliver a powerful attack!"


    "The so-called state of Dawn was actually the trump card and last resort that could condense the spirit of the sword, just like the sunlight''s dawn that tore apart the dark sky?


    Fang Yuan looked at the description and nodded his head. "Nothing after the state of Starry Night is written in the secret manual. I based it on the damage Seres''s blow inflicted in order to calculate the power scale of that state!"


    A branch president, and also a Legendary Demon Hunter, equal to a Power Obtainer. It''s obvious that the limit of this world was high.


    It may even hold up against the standard of a Sage!


    "Let''s go quickly!"


    He looked towards Almon and Rayne, his tone filled with urgency.


    "Why do we have to go?"


    Almon was a little blur, "Mr. Demon Hunter, didn''t we win?"


    "Yes, we won!"


    Fang Yuan sighed, and pointed at Peter, "But what do you think will happen if the other Demon Hunters saw him?"


    In actual truth, even Almon herself was a descendant of a Master.


    Of course, she didn''t know it herself. That small traces of hidden Evil Demon bloodlines was hard to find, but the situation may differ in front of a Legendary Demon Hunter.


    "Understood!"


    Almon took a deep breath, "Rayne¡­ Let''s leave!"


    "Okay, Sister Almon!"


    Rayne answered her but had looked lost.


    After losing the Bay of Pigs, where can they, the orphans, go? The shock from tonight''s event was too huge.


    "If¡­ you guys have nowhere to go, I can provide some help!"


    Fang Yuan said slowly, "Moreover¡­ I might be able to do something about this little boy''s situation¡­ After all, he''s very dangerous, are you clear about this?"


    Almon nodded her head solemnly.


    She had long realized that aside from Rayne, the other children had consciously drifted away from Peter, their gazes filled with fear.


    As if¡­ they were looking at a monster!


    In this situation, to force them to live together was only being irresponsible towards both theirs and Peter''s life!


    "We¡­ shall prepare to go to the Hurin area!"


    One robber, bringing a bunch of deadweights didn''t have the ability to trek for long distances; that was their only option.


    However, being told about her plans made Fang Yuan satisfied as this represented a certain level of trust between them.


    He took out a memo and wrote down an address, "After getting to the Hurin area, you can either find me there or leave a message for me."


    After thinking for a moment, he took out a pile of coins and passed it to them with the memo, "Don''t resume your old job there or you''ll get into trouble!"


    Thieves, robbers, and even ambiguous businesses in any area had a strong territory there with its own set of rules.


    Sometimes, they were more effective than detectives and police when dealing with robbers that came from other areas.


    "Thank you!"


    It was clear that Almon understood the logic behind it. After struggling for a while, she went on to receive his aid.


    "What¡­ do you want from us?"


    After hesitating, she still said the words eventually.


    There is no love or hate in the world without a reason, there must be a reason why Fang Yuan was willing to assist her. All Almon hoped for was that compensation the Demon Hunter wanted to have in return wouldn''t be going overboard.


    "I like smart people. I''ll provide shelter, safe housing, and sufficient food, the price for that is¡­ I need you all to become my underlings!"


    Fang Yuan said it without batting an eye.


    After becoming his underlings, he would be able to manipulate them in any way that he wanted. How could he tell them to be his experiment subjects? That would definitely chase them away!

 603 Interrogation

    The pleasant early morning sunshine scattered across the floor, it was dazzlingly beautiful.


    A breeze blew past; if the ruined Bay of Pigs wasn''t in the picture, the weather was definitely enjoyable.


    Fang Yuan walked through the Bay of Pigs, his backpack full from the harvest from the previous night.


    After watching Almon and the other kids leave, he responded to Daybreak Sword''s call and attacked the Night Family Clan. The outcome was obvious.


    The bag full of his spoils of war said a lot about his harvest.


    The fire at the harbor had already been extinguished, only the spirals of smoke were still being fought off.


    The survivors had a lifeless look in their eyes as they looked at either the debris in front of them or the corpses on the floor. Someone cried out first, and promptly, it became a sea of howling grief.


    "At least 500 people died last night¡­ Most of them were killed by the fire¡­" Fang Yuan sighed silently and reached the military center.


    Demon Hunters gathered there and looked at the row of corpses covered by white cloth on the floor, they were silent as well.


    "The Demon Hunters suffered high casualties as well¡­ If it wasn''t for Seres, who was able to rush over in time, they might have been eliminated!"


    The atmosphere in this place was heavy.


    After all, the dead Demon Hunters were their good friends and relatives.


    "Today¡­ I stand here, deeply grieved, to remember these comrade-in-arms¡­


    "Daybreak Sword, Seres, stood in front of the crowd, his voice was deep, "Issac, Mendo, Chekhov¡­ They were all good men amongst the Demon Hunters, righteous comrades that fought against evil to the end, I''m proud of them!


    ¡­


    "Although Evil has taken away your lives, my respect, determination, and our longing for you will accompany you for life, never changing. Rest in peace, my closest comrades-in-arm!"


    During the eulogy, Fang Yuan was also solemn and stood at the side.


    These Demon Hunters had, of course, died horrible deaths, some of their corpses were even incomplete, or swallowed whole by the Voodoo Corpse. Only weapons and clothes could be used to represent them.


    "However, I believe that good and justice and will accompany us forever!"


    Till the end, all the Demon Hunters took out their weapons under Seres''s lead. "I swear, I must protect good and justice, and fight evil till the end!"


    During the oath, many Demon Hunters became brave and hot-blooded again. They finally alleviated the mournful atmosphere a little.


    After that, the mess was cleared up. Flock, who had his chest bandaged and looked like a mummy, was carried back miserably.


    However, Seres didn''t leave, instead, he glanced at Fang Yuan with a thoughtful look.


    "Young man, what is your name?"


    "Hulk! Sir!" Fang Yuan bowed slightly. He knew that his performance from the last night or the traces he left on the demon corpses had attracted this Legendary Demon Hunter''s attention.


    "Your swordsmanship is pretty decent¡­ If you have any question in the future, you can approach me!"


    Seres had an emotionless face, it was obvious that he wasn''t the type of person that showed his emotions.


    However, it was already astonishing to other Demon Hunters that he offered his goodwill, to the point that they were all envious.


    This was a Titled Demon Hunter, the best in the whole Hurin area, and he actually looked at a newbie in a different light?


    Fang Yuan immediately noticed that there were gazes on him, some were even filled with jealousy.


    "This is normal too, no matter how virtuous an organization is, there will be darkness lurking around¡­"


    Fang Yuan was nonchalant about it. After thanking Seres again, he went on to do his own things as if nothing had happened.


    In any case, although it was a little troublesome to have succeeded in gaining this favor, it would be much more convenient for him to do things when he was back.


    In regards to being formally accepted as an apprentice? Keke¡­


    This Seres was clearly a reserved person and only allowed Hulk to seek advice from him, he might have prepared a test or something in his heart.


    Unfortunately, to Fang Yuna, all this was the same as leering at a blind man.


    Regarding the comprehension of Morning Stars Swordsmanship, he was no longer below the other party, so why would he still ask advice from him? Unless¡­ there were other motives.


    Compared to that, he might as well think about how to deal with the ingredients he obtained as it was much more meaningful.


    "Six ghoul claws, a gargoyle heart, Fire-practising Demon ingredients¡­ this should be enough for an Alchemist to make a set of Demon Weapons?"


    Fang Yuan couldn''t forget about the "Shady Flow Flying Claws" series he found in the library.


    After all, that was a method to attack from a distance, it was also able to have the ability to move quickly on complicated terrain. To Demon Hunters, the latter was way more important.


    ¡­


    Hurin area, black market.


    "Hawk, please don''t worry, your request will be fulfilled promptly. You''ll be able to see the arms you''ve ordered lying in your storehouse tomorrow."


    Black Jack held his beloved pipe in his hands, sucking it and blowing out smoke.


    "This deal is very important to me, I''ll entrust everything to you!"


    In front of him, a businessman stood up, bowed, and left the secret room, as if relieved from a burden.


    "Let Rabid Dog escort these goods!"


    Black Jack looked at the fading shadow of the other party, his eyes glimmered with cunningness, "This person should be the second inheritor of the Christine Family? By buying so many weapons, it looks like he''s thinking of revolting¡­ Make Skylark contact the first inheritor of the Christine Family and sell this news to her. Tell her that if the selling price is less than 100,000, her tongue will be cut off!"


    "Understood!"


    A few subordinates bowed and left immediately.


    Black Jack, on the other hand, went on to stroke his beloved pipe with a satisfied expression on his face.


    Everyone knows that Black Jack would never cheat the old or young when he did business! He said that he would sell arms to the party, and he would definitely keep that promise.


    Of course, whether or not the information will leak will depend on the other party''s sincerity.


    Black Jack was confident in this aspect and could definitely squeeze the other party dry.


    "Calculating the time¡­ the matter regarding the Bay of Pigs should be almost finished?" Black Jack knocked his pipe on the counter and pondered silently.


    Compared to the benefits he had gotten, this was the most important thing.


    "However¡­ I''m not the only one who has the information, would the Demon Hunter branch dare to take us out?" Black Jack laughed coldly as he thought.


    He understood very clearly that many black market businessmen had traces of Demon Hunters backing them.


    After all, everyone, even Demon Hunters, would want to get a piece of such a large profit. They''re not fairies that didn''t need to eat, like everyone else, they have a family to take care of too.


    If there was a request, black market businessmen would seize every opportunity.


    This huge network would be able to guarantee that they wouldn''t be affected too much¡ªeven if the mission was a failure, and the other party was badly damaged.


    After all, the information they gave was accurate. The only thing they did was overlook a couple of things, was that not the case?


    "Ah!"


    At that moment, there was a scream coming from outside that made Black Jack''s hair stand on end, "Hunting Dog, go and find out what happened!"


    "Yes, boss!"


    An employed soldier that was big and tall, with a scar on his face, nodded and walked out steadily.


    As a black market businessman, Black Jack had naturally offended many people. Aside from observing them closely and finding a large backer, he was able to live undisturbed until now due to the group of employed soldiers he had beside him.


    Each of them had been selected from a large pool and were skilled in using all types of arms. They were even elites in using many types of cold weapons and combat techniques.


    Like this Hunting Dog, he single-handed killed 10 enemies that were fully armored!


    Ping! Ping!


    Outside the house, various gun sound could be heard before gradually coming to a stop. Everything became dead silent again.


    "No way¡­ that was fast¡­"


    Cold sweat dripped down from Black Jack''s face, he quickly stood up and ran towards the secret room.


    Behind him was a demon god-like black shadow, which was carrying a dead Hunting Dog, "Black Jack?!"


    "You''re¡­ that newbie Demon Hunter?!"


    Black Jack turned behind to look at him, his impression was deep.


    "Thanks to you, I''m really indebted to you for your hospitality from before!" Looking at how the other party was appalled and distraught, Fang Yuan knew that he didn''t find the wrong target. He walked up and grasped Black Jack''s neck, lifting him off the ground.


    "Spare¡­ spare me!"


    Without any delay, Black Jack''s old face turned purplish-black and was struggling to beg for his life.


    Bang!


    Just when he felt that he was going to faint, the enormous power that was grasping his neck was released, causing him to slip onto the ground, panting heavily.


    Black Jack swore that he had had never felt so blessed to be able to breathe freely!


    "You¡­ you''re so fearless? I have a great lord as my backer¡­"


    After panting several times, he trembled as he said out a few names, wanting to increase his survival rate.


    Unfortunately, Fang Yuan didn''t care about this.


    "I know that you black market businessmen have big connections. Everywhere you go, there''ll be someone who wants to bribe and support you, and, hence, had a power network¡­ but, an organization is an organization, a person is a person, I only want to deal with you alone!"


    Fang Yuan took out Starry Night and slashed downwards.


    Poof!


    A spray of blood flew out as Black Jack''s hand was nailed to the ground.


    "So¡­ do you understand?"


    When one abandoned all the restrictions one has, it''s normally extremely terrifying.


    The Fang Yuan was currently acting as a hot-headed man that was extremely furious after being cheated.


    "Under¡ªunderstood!"


    It was clear that Old Jack cherished his life more than other people, so he immediately shut his mouth and stopped talking.


    He knew that even if he mentioned the leader of the Demon Hunters and the Evil Demon King, he wouldn''t be able to move this young Demon Hunter even a millimeter.


    "Very good, first¡­ tell me¡ªWho was the one that told you to create this setup?"


    "I don''t know, the other party gave me a large amount of money¡­ Ah!" Just as Black Jack spoke, a silver light flashed and cut off his hand, causing him to scream in agony.


    "You have two more legs and one hand. You have three chances, think clearly before you answer!" Fang Yuan said coldly, there was no emotion in his eyes.

 604 Rank

    As a Dream Master, it was basic fundamentals to be able to control one''s emotions.


    Fang Yuan was able to come to the conclusion based on Black Jack''s facial expressions and his increased blood flow and heartbeat¡ªhe was lying!


    "I''ll talk! I''ll tell you everything!"


    Feeling the pain of losing his hand, Black Jack had an expression of agony and shouted all of a sudden, "It was my master who ordered me to do so!"


    "The setup in the Bay of Pigs was also done by him?" Fang Yuan asked, curious.


    If it was able to do that, then Black Jack''s backer would be Flaming Evil Demon Seth.


    "I don''t know¡­ All master did was instruct me to attract Demon Hunters there!" Black Jack spilled the beans, like an inverted bamboo tube that had beans falling out.


    "Then, how do you contact it?" Fang Yuan moved Starry Night over Black Jack''s other hand.


    "In the secret room¡ªthere''s a golden pot that allows me to link up with my master!"


    Cold sweat dripped down like crazy from Black Jack as he finally spat out his biggest secret.


    "Bring me there!" Fang Yuan instructed.


    Whoosh!


    In the secret room, a green flame burned, and a human face appeared from within.


    "As expected¡­ a Demon Hunter has come to find me?"


    The other party looked at Fang Yuan with interest but wasn''t shocked. It was obvious that it had abandoned Black Jack.


    "You purposely spread the news to attract Demon Hunters to the Bay of Pigs because you knew that there wasn''t only a Voodoo Corpse, but there was also Evil Demon follower activity¡­ You were planning on ruining their plans!"


    Fang Yuan looked at the human face and said with confirmation, "You''re not from the Night Family Clan¡­ but you''re in between humans and them¡ªMaster!"


    "Demon Hunter, your sensitivity is truly marvelous!" The human face within the flames smiled. "Even if it was Black Jack, he saw us as Evil Demon to serve and provide offerings to."


    It seemed that it was because of the long distance communication, the other party was at ease and even had the mood to look at Black Jack''s facial expression as the latter had a nervous breakdown.


    "Didn''t you Masters always stand in the middle? Why did you desire to ruin the Evil Demon''s plan?" Fang Yuan asked.


    In actual fact, his strong magical energy had begun to locate the other party secretly through the communication.


    "Because¡­''It,'' is coming back!" The human face within the flames said in a chanting tone, "The source of everything, the true mother of all Evil Demons, the presence that holds the great power of reproduction has begun to reveal its traces to the world!"


    "Mother of Reproduction?"


    The departing words of Flaming Evil Demon Seth rang in his ears, it was obvious that it didn''t say it blindly.


    "The Dead Sea Ancient Scroll appeared. Gaining possession of it would bring about the true names of the Evil Demons and the ability to summon the Mother of Reproduction¡­ One of the pages is already in the hands of the Evil Demons¡­" The Master slowly said, "Light and darkness needs to be balanced in order to have space for us Masters to live¡­ Hence, we chose to expose this information to the Demon Hunters and hope that you will all be able to destroy the Evil Demons'' plan of summoning the Mother of Reproduction¡­ Otherwise, this world will completely become hell and the abyss!"


    "I understand, and I''ll report this information to the superiors at the right time!" Fang Yuan nodded his head. "Can you represent the entirety of the Masters?"


    "Of course not¡­ the power and scale of Masters are beyond your imagination¡­ I represent a part of it¡ªthe Black Scales Club!"


    The human face laughed. "Take Black Jack''s wealth as a small greeting gift. We will have many opportunities to work together in the future!"


    Poof!


    The green flames burned ruthlessly soon afterward and flaming tongues spread, landing on Black Jack.


    "Ah!"


    Black Jack burned in the flame, screaming in misery. Within the raging flames, he became a pile of ash within a split second.


    At the same time, the flames in the gold pot extinguished, and the connection broke completely.


    Fang Yuan could notice that even the ripples of magic had also vanished completely, and it became a defective object.


    "It was rumored that the emotions of Masters are unpredictable. As expected, he acted the way he wanted¡­ What does this mean? A demonstration of his power? A provocation?"


    Fang Yuan looked at the ash on the floor and laughed bitterly. "Did¡­ it think that I wouldn''t be able to find them¡ªthese mice hiding in the sewers, just by breaking all contact?"


    The time in which they were connected from before was enough for him to start tracking them down, with it, he was able to narrow down the search area.


    In addition to that, the presence that the other party had left, the rippling of its spiritual mind and so on, made Fang Yuan confident in his ability to find them!


    "Black Scale Club? An association of Master''s? Interesting!"


    Fang Yuan looked around the secret room; there were a variety of treasures and even wads of cash lying around. He immediately packed them up without any reservations.


    After all, he wasn''t alone now. He had a large bunch of subordinates to feed, he was rather strapped for cash.


    Being able to seize the stockpile of a black market businessman was of some help to him.


    "Furthermore¡­ the territory that Black Jack left behind could be given to Almon and the others to use. Even if it''s a small plot of land, it can be satisfactory¡­"


    Fang Yuan had deep thoughts, "In order to accumulate such a large amount of wealth within a short amount of time¡ªas expected, he used many evil methods¡­"


    He then wore his cape and low-key left the black market, returning to the Demon Hunter branch.


    "Although this information is very vital, it may or may not be accepted¡­ I have to be more persuasive. However, the other Masters have to get in contact with Demon Hunters, I don''t have to be too anxious about it!"


    Fang Yuan was clear about his own position. He was only a small Demon Hunter, and he had a bunch of titled Demon Hunters and Sacred Weapon holders above him. Even if the Mother of Reproduction arrived, there was nothing for him to be afraid of.


    "However, if I met with any trouble, I can find Seres for help by using the excuse of seeking advice¡­ Even if I don''t do that, it can also act as a deterrence!"


    Being able to go straight to the highest channel, it was a matter of being bold. Fang Yuan could confirm that with this "amulet," at the very least, the latent rules wouldn''t be applied to him.


    "I have to cultivate again and learn, as well as practice more techniques when I go back to the Union this time! Especially medicament and alchemy, they''ll be good for researching Evil Demons and blood classes!"


    Fang Yuan took a glance at his attribute window:


    "Name: Hulk (Fang Yuan)


    Essence: 20.0 (110)


    Spirit: 20.0 (100)


    Magic: 20.0 (120)


    Profession: Demon Hunter


    State: Healthy


    Technique: Basic grapple (Proficient), Gun Fighting Skill (Normal), Secret Study (Normal), Pharmaceutics (Basic), Alchemy (Basic), Morning Stars Swordsmanship (Dawn)


    Specialization: [Medicine (Level 3)], [Botany (Level 6)(Peak)], [Fiery Golden Eyes (Level 3)], [Body Seal (Ultimate form)]"


    His breakthrough in Morning Stars Swordsmanship brought an increase in his personal attributes.


    However, Fang Yuan also knew that he was still far away from breaking through to the fourth level, the state of obtaining Starry Night.


    He knew that based on the huge difference in the attributes window.


    A True Power Obtainer would at least have over a hundred of the same attributes! The difference was immense.


    "This could actually represent that, in this world, the difference between an average Demon Hunter and Legendary Demon Hunter is heaven and earth¡­"


    Based on the power he currently has, Fang Yuan speculated that he was around the standard of a B-grade Demon Hunter and was 50 points off from being an A-grade Demon Hunter and still required double the levels!


    Just from being an A-grade Demon Hunter to having a breakthrough and becoming a titled legend was a transformation. It was daunting to countless numbers of demon hunters. Even if they used up half of their lifetime, they still wouldn''t be able to move to the other side.


    Hence, titled Demon Hunters had a highly respected position. By being appointed to a post outside the capital, they were at least a branch president!


    Using the same logic within the Night Family Clan, the Evil Demons with high-class blood could also easily go against a high, mid, and low-class blood Demon, kill them, and seize their lives.


    The reason for all this¡­ was power!


    "In the rumor, the Sacred Cup in the Union headquarters can increase the speed that a Demon Hunter takes to breakthrough their the bottleneck, I don''t even know if that''s true or false¡­"


    Fang Yuan looked at the technique board again.


    Through fumbling around these few days, he had a rough idea about the grades.


    "The technique grades of this world starts from (Basic), that means that the basic knowledge is known, and they possess a certain level of understanding. Following that is (Normal), that means that they have a certain grasp of the ability. And the (Proficient) level means that the technique has been fully grasped and there''s even the ability to create unique minor skills.


    "Above the (Proficient) grade, there are higher levels¡­ does that mean that the second highest level can also be referred to as (Master)? And also the peak would be (Great Master)?"


    Basic¡ªNormal¡ªProficient¡ªMaster¡ªGreat Master!


    Based on Fang Yuan''s calculations, A-grade Demon Hunters should have (Proficient) combat level¡ªeven Master Soma had (Proficient) Pharmacy level.


    The thing that was said to be (Master) level was the (Dawn) level in Morning Stars Swordsmanship!


    As for (Great Master), there was no doubt that only Power Obtainers and maybe Fang Yuan could obtain that.


    "I have a high level currently¡­ but my physical fitness and strength attribute is too low!"


    As he pondered silently, Fang Yuan arrived in front of Master Soma''s experiment lab and knocked on the door politely.


    "Who is it again?"


    Master Soma popped his head out, and the impatient look on his face was replaced with a smile when he saw that it was Fang Yuan. "Haha¡­ Hulk, are you okay? That''s great!"


    "It''s all thanks to the medicament and belt that Master gave me!"


    Fang Yuan thanked him sincerely, "Also¡­ I wish to become Master''s assistant, I wonder if I could have the honor to do so?"


    "Of course!" Soma readily agreed, he had previously invested so the other party could come back safe and sound so that he could become his cheap labor!


    "Don''t you worry. As for the remuneration¡­ I won''t take advantage of you!"


    After thinking for a while, Master Soma set out his conditions, "I''ll issue tasks so that you can stay in the experiment lab. I''ll base it on the missions you complete each month and provide you with pay! In addition to that, if you can satisfy me, I can open up part of my private library to you!"


    In actual fact, he felt that an assistant, that wasn''t his disciple and relied on self-learning, would take years to successfully produce his first medicament¡ªeven if has Hulk''s natural talent.


    This was also Soma''s motive. He would exploit the other party for two to three years before providing a way out. This was how most of Pharmacist disciples were treated.


    If they bumped into a black-hearted tutor, they would be seen as free labor and would be a disciple for the rest of their lives!

 605 Flying Claws

    After ten days.


    Inside the experiment lab.


    Fang Yuan, with a serious expression, was holding onto a test tube and looking at the bubbles in it, as if the red fluid was boiling.


    "Last step!"


    He dropped half a drop of a jade-green fluid into the test tube.


    In a split second, the whole fluid solidified, transforming into a semi-solid state, and it even emitted a striking smell.


    "The primary blood clotting paste is complete!"


    Fang Yuan looked at the test tube and then at his attribute board. He smiled as the (Basic) skill became (Normal) for pharmaceutics.


    "The pharmaceutics in the Alcala Mainland is based around combining the three spirits into a body! Luckily, I was able to obtain several ingredients at the Bay of Pigs previously, and, thus, there''s no problem in out-sourcing the energetic spiritual energy!"


    The pharmaceutics in this world not only depended on herbs but also a large number of ingredients from the Night Family Clan in order to extract the energetic spiritual energy.


    And any type of medicament needed a lot of practice to increase the success rate a tad bit.


    "For normal herbs, I have my botany skill, cultivating it won''t be a problem¡­ However, the ingredients of the Night Family Clan are slightly troublesome¡­"


    Fang Yuan held onto the test tube, a thoughtful look on his face.


    In actual fact, the (Normal) pharmaceutics skill level represented the ability to produce medicament on one''s own. One would be finished with his apprenticeship and would be able to become a true Pharmacist then.


    Soma had thought that he needed a few years'' time to be successful and produce his first medicament through self-study.


    In actual fact, to Fang Yuan, it was an easy task to breakthrough as long as there were enough ingredients and his proficiency rate increased.


    "I''ve also seen almost all of Soma''s collections¡­"


    Fang Yuan pondered silently, "His value is less now."


    He had now begun to gradually change his attention towards alchemy.


    "Both the studies involve the change in energetic spiritual energy and is deeply linked to the Night Family Clan¡­" A bright light flashed through Fang Yuan''s eyes, "Furthermore¡­ they''re also beneficial to my future!"


    "Sir Hulk!"


    At that moment, there was a light knock coming from the door.


    Even if he was a pharmaceutical disciple, no one was allowed to disturb him when he was managing the ingredients and trying to produce a medicament.


    Fang Yuan frowned and kept the medicament, "What business do you have?"


    "Master Locke had finished making the Demon Weapon and instructed me to inform you to pick it up!"


    A polite voice was heard from behind the door.


    "Oh, I''ve got it!"


    This Alchemist reluctantly agreed to help Fang Yuan only because it was through Soma''s connection.


    After all, the production of Demon Weapons was much more complicated and difficult when compared to making medicament.


    Once he heard that it was done, Fang Yuan was elated and went on to wear his jacket instantly before moving towards Master Locke''s studio.


    This Alchemist''s character was unsociable and eccentric, hence, his studio was at the other end of the branch. One had to almost go through the entire Union and main trading hall before seeing it.


    "Hi! Hulk!"


    "Come and drink with us when you''re free!"


    ¡­


    The other Demon Hunters, who were free, greeted Fang Yuan with a smile when they saw him.


    Some of them admired Fang Yuan''s performance in the Bay of Pigs battle, some of them did it purely out of respect for Daybreak Sword, the branch president, while some knew that he was learning pharmaceutics and might even become a Pharmacist in the future.


    In conclusion, these Demon Hunters were good enough to cover up the dissatisfaction and jealousy that they had in their hearts, their face showed kind smiles.


    However, Fang Yuan was clear that the result of believing that all of them were harmless would be very miserable.


    "Hey! Hulk, it really is you!"


    A young Demon Hunter came forward, "I heard them talking about what happened to you, I can''t believe it at all!"


    "David¡­ how have you been, recently?" Fang Yuan smiled as he recognized the young Demon Hunter, who was close to him.


    As he had an alcoholic father, he went to the Axe Bar often enough when he was a child to hang out with Mary and himself, often enough to become close.


    "I''m still alright! The only problem is that the activities of the Night Family b*st*rds are too frequent, and I have no opportunity to drink properly¡­" David smiled, but he promptly slapped his own forehead, "that''s right¡­ your two portions of treatment water were handed over to Uncle Jock successfully, he''s very touched!"


    "He''s already received it? That''s great, then!"


    Fang Yuan smiled slightly and looked at David, who looked like he had something to say, "Is there anything else?"


    "I heard¡­" the young Demon Hunter shook his head, his cheeks as red as an apple, "Mary¡­ seemed to have a little regret, furthermore, there''s a little information about the both of you spreading around¡­"


    "Don''t be bothered by her¡­"


    Fang Yuan gave a mirthless laugh when he heard his reply.


    Although it was necessary to repay Uncle Jock, he didn''t want to have anything to do with Mary.


    "That''s right! Since you''re here, I''ll go to the main counter to issue a mission for you to transport some money to Uncle Jock¡­"


    Fang Yuan didn''t mention anything about Mary, "After all¡­ he''s taken care of me for so many years. Now that I''m rich, I should repay him!"


    Even though he was only a pharmacist assistant, he could receive a decent income from managing some ingredients. After killing Black Jack, he had also taken the other party''s precious collection and wasn''t in need of money at all.


    Why did he want to issue a mission? Naturally, he had his considerations in doing so.


    Without the guarantee from the Demon Hunter Union, even an old friend might have second thoughts about the money. However, if it was a recorded mission, a Demon Hunter would have to be chased and killed if he intentionally sabotaged or went against the mission.


    David was smart and would know what to do.


    "Of course, Hulk, you''re always such a good rascal!" David spoke with a hidden meaning behind his words, "now that you''re rich, you should really be paired up with a wise and virtuous woman¡­"


    "Wise and virtuous woman?"


    Fang Yuan looked at the other party''s back as he left, then he shook his head and continued walking to Master Locke''s studio.


    It occupied a large space in the Demon Hunter branch. It even had a large number of ovens that burned with flames of different colors, causing the air to feel stuffy and hot.


    "Hulk, you''re late!"


    Locke, the alchemist, had a large build that made him looked like a bodybuilder. The hand holding onto the hammer was firm and strong, "The thing you needed is already done. It''s on the obsidian counter, so pick it up yourself!"


    His temperament was obviously cold. After saying a sentence, he went on to focus on hammering the metal piece in front of him and didn''t care about Fang Yuan again.


    "Thank you!"


    Fang Yuan let out a sigh in his heart.


    He had long tried to make indirect approaches to learn some alchemy techniques from Locke or even become his assistant or something.


    However, he rejected him firmly no matter how much talent Fang Yuan showed.


    It looked like he was stubborn enough to bring his skills to his grave.


    Meeting this kind of stubborn person, Fang Yuan could only roll his eyes in frustration.


    However, he was still able to teach himself the alchemy skill. The only issue was that he would need a longer time for it.


    He was totally able to afford this price!


    At the moment, he wasn''t bothered about anything and went to the front of the obsidian counter.


    On the stone table, that was emitting heat, was a box that had been placed there long ago. After opening it, a silver object with splendor appeared in his vision immediately.


    In the box was four silver Flying Claws with translucent ropes connected at the ends. Although it looked very thin, when Fang Yuan looked clearly, he noticed it was actually Demon Spider''s silk. There was no problem in carrying a 500-pound heavy object.


    "Demon Weapon, Flying Claws¡­ Finally done!"


    Seeing this, Fang Yuan smiled.


    He had seized a lot of ingredients from before. Aside from the ingredients from the Fire-practising Demon, he had given everything else to the Alchemist and entrusted him to make customized Shady Flow Flying Claw weapons.


    Although he might''ve wasted part of the ingredients, it looked like the results weren''t bad.


    "Especially the Demon Spider silk that I bought with a high price. It was used abundantly. If it failed a few more times, I would''ve vomited blood¡­"


    On the silver Flying Claws was a memo that recorded a detailed message about the Demon Weapon:


    [Flying Claw weapon¡ªGhoul''s Hold.]


    [Grade: Low-class Demon Weapon.]


    [Weight: 2.7kg.]


    [Ingredients: Ghoul''s claw, Demon Spider silk, gold granite.]


    [Special Effect: 1, Sharpness. 2, Flexibility to expand and contract.]


    [Maker: Jorke Lin.]


    ¡­


    Looking at the calligraphy words at the "Maker" row, it looked like this Alchemist had accomplishments.


    "As it was the Ghoul''s sharp claws that were used, it can easily dig into large trees, rocks, and even metal. The sharpness level is comparable to that of an sword¡­ Regarding the flexibility, it was because of the Demon Spider silk. You''re quite lucky that no serious problem arose when I was managing them."


    Jorke finally finished hitting his piece of metal and talked while walking over slowly, "Do you have any other questions?"


    "No!"


    Fang Yuan stretched out his right hand to stroke the Flying Claw. Soundly, he clawed.


    Swoosh!


    Numerous black forms pestered him and disappeared promptly. The weapon that was originally in the box had vanished without a trace.


    "Shady Flow Flying Claw?"


    Jorke was slightly shocked and promptly said, with melancholy, "Use it properly and live up to its great name!"


    After saying that, he made a "pleading" gesture to chase Fang Yuan out of the studio.


    "Forget it. Being able to get this Demon Weapon is already far better than what it''s worth¡­"


    Fang Yuan tested out the newly obtained weapon and felt somewhat satisfied.


    Regarding the true, superior ingredient, the Fire-practising Demon heart, he wasn''t prepared to hand it over.


    After all, it was an ingredient that came from a high-class Night Family Clan member that could be made into a middle or high-grade Demon Weapon!


    In his plans, his sword¡ªStarry Night, needed strengthening as well.


    And for this type of matter, it was best to do it himself!


    "Based on my alchemy level, it''s possible to strengthen Starry Night before integrating the ingredient from the Fire-practising Demon with it! This would not only upgrade the quality of the sword into a Demon Weapon, but it would also increase the sword''s fire attack!"


    For a Demon Hunter, equipment was very important.


    One or two superior-grade equipment and Demon Weapons could be a Demon Hunter''s trump card when they were lacking in power themselves. They could save a Demon Hunter''s life and even turn the tables around!

 606 Sacred Water

    "I swear to use the sword in my hands to safeguard the Sacred Light!


    "I swear to follow the Demon Hunters'' seven ''Taboos,'' and kill demonic entities forever!


    "I swear that I will have a firm will and never be bewitched¡­"


    ¡­


    Fang Yuan blended into a bunch of Demon Hunters and pledged with a solemn expression.


    This was a small church, the Demon Hunters were attending as if it was a religious service and would go through a fixed ceremony regularly after a certain period of time.


    However, in Fang Yuan''s eyes, this had another feeling, "In order to confirm one''s belief, there is such a meaning in Kotodama[1.Japanese belief that mystical powers dwell in words and names]? That''s right! As a group of people who come into contact with darkness the most¡ªDemon Hunters are individuals who can easily degenerate. There''s also the Sacred Cup and Sacred Water!"


    As his identity and position were different now, He didn''t need to force himself to wait with the newbie Demon Hunters outside. Instead, he was at the center of the church, observing the process of making Sacred Water.


    "Brothers, we shall share the Sacred Water. Give thanks to the power bestowed to us by our ancestors that allows us to have the power to fight against the darkness!"


    A Demon Hunter with white hair stepped forward, his hand was holding onto a simple and unsophisticated wooden cup.


    This was the vice president of the branch. His name was Roger, but he was different from Flock. As the holder of the Sacred Cup imitation, he usually wouldn''t walk out of the branch.


    "Sacred cup?" Fang Yuan focused on the other party''s movements, a gold glow flashed beneath his eyes.


    His shocking vision allowed him to see the model of the Sacred Cup clearly. In actual truth, the Sacred Weapon imitation in the Demon Hunter''s hand looked average and was the shape of a normal, wooden goblet. The wooden grains were very detailed and clear.


    At that moment, a tiny stream of water gushed out from within the cup when Roger turned it over, as though there was no limit. There was also a fragrance.


    "As expected of a Sacred Weapon imitation, a high-grade product made from alchemy!" Seeing that, Fang Yuan had a revelation, "In actual fact¡­ the entire Sacred Cup is an extremely exquisite alchemy medicament array. Its use is to purify and extract the energetic spiritual energy from the bodies of the Night Family Clan to produce Sacred Water?"


    As can be seen, there ought to be a large cell within the branch or a storeroom that guarantees the unending supply of the ingredients used to produce Sacred Water.


    "Let us share the Sacred Water to fight against evil!"


    Roger''s voice was old, but firm and filled with power. He raised the hand that was holding onto another ordinary cup filled with Sacred Water.


    "Long live the Demon Hunters!"


    Many Demon Hunters cheered and drank the Sacred Water.


    "Going against evil with the power of evil?" Fang Yuan laughed sarcastically but didn''t reject the power, drinking all of the Sacred Water given to him.


    "Phew¡­"


    The Sacred Water that was processed seemed to have none of the characteristics of the Night Family Clan''s original power. Instead, it had a virtuous presence, so there was no mystery as to why the Demon Hunters were deceived.


    In actual fact, if it wasn''t for Fang Yuan''s rich experience and how he didn''t hold onto his first impression, he most likely would''ve been deceived like the Pharmacist masters and Alchemists.


    "However¡­ the Sacred Water really is good for the human body, it''ll increase the fitness of Demon Hunters¡­ especially for me!"


    Other Demon Hunters could only increase a small amount of their strength, provided that they trained excessively after drinking Sacred Water.


    However, Fang Yuan was no longer stuck at a bottleneck, his state was extremely high. With the confidence he had regarding his body, he was able to feel the cells cheering, fighting to swallow the power within the Sacred Water.


    Not long afterward, his body''s attributes rose again:


    "Name: Hulk (Fang Yuan)


    Essence: 22.0 (110)


    Spirit: 22.0 (100)


    Magic: 22.0 (120)


    Profession: Demon Hunter


    State: Healthy


    Technique: Basic Grapple (Proficient), Gun Fighting Skill (Normal), Secret Study (Normal), Pharmaceutics (Normal), Alchemy (Basic), Morning Stars Swordsmanship (Dawn), Shady Flow Flying Claw (Black Claw)


    Specialization: [Medicine (Level 3)], [Botany (Level 6)(Peak)], [Fiery Golden Eyes (Level 3)], [Body Seal (Ultimate form)]"


    "Shady Flow Flying Claw: A technique invented by Shady Flow Master Jax, it needs to be accompanied by a customized claw Demon Weapon to advance. It''s suitable for various complicated environments, it''s divided into three levels: Black Claw, Sharp Claw, and Shady Claw!"


    "Shady Flow¡­ A martial art-like genre?"


    Fang Yuan paused at the description of Shady Flow Flying Claw and had thoughts about it. He promptly saw the increased attributes and was elated, "Sacred Water¡­ with enough of it, I might be able to recover my strength quickly¡­ Weird, why did the Sacred Water from before not give me this kind of feeling¡­ wait a minute!"


    After the core Demon Hunters at the scene used the Sacred Water, Fang Yuan looked at Roger in frustration. He mixed the water before handing them out to the Demon Hunters outside.


    "D*mn Demon Hunter branch, the Sacred Water that was given to Hulk wasn''t only a fake, but also diluted¡­" He spat out in his heart. Fang Yuan felt the harshness of the Demon Hunter hierarchy, more and more, which was very similar to the food chain pyramid.


    The newbie Demon Hunters outside had no qualifications to even enter the church and could only drink diluted Sacred Water. On the other hand, the elites could enjoy the gift of the pure Sacred Weapon imitations.


    However, when compared to the branch president, Seres, it was nothing.


    "The Sacred Water in the Sacred Weapon imitation has no effect to a Power Obtainer right? Hence, Seres would generally not appear for this occasion. The one he usually uses must be from the Demon Hunter headquarters, the original product from the real Sacred Cup¡­"


    In the rumors, the Sacred Cup could assist in the area of breaking through bottlenecks. Obviously, it was way better than a Sacred Weapon imitation for increasing attributes.


    "Maybe¡­ I should request for permission to cultivate in the headquarters?"


    A light flashed in Fang Yuan''s eyes, "In actual fact, the shared Sacred Water wouldn''t be too much if I have permission. After all, there are still a bunch of high-ranking personnel and branch presidents¡­ It''s better to teach a man to fish rather than give a man a fish!"


    Through the observation this time, he was very clear that even if it was a Sacred Cup imitation, there were definitely brilliant alchemy and pharmaceutic techniques hidden within it.


    He didn''t even have to talk about the real Sacred Cup.


    Unless he could wait until his two techniques reach (Proficient) or (Master) level before obtaining the real Sacred Cup to observe and research on it, he wouldn''t have any progress.


    ¡­


    After the end of the ceremony, Fang Yuan went back to the experiment lab and handed a pile of ingredients that he had finished managing to Master Soma, who was delighted. Then, he promptly took out a small bag and walked out of the Demon Hunter Union.


    In the west of the Hurin area, within a small villa.


    Almon, who was wearing an apron, was frying some eggs that she would add some flavor to at times. Clearly, she was very satisfied with her days there.


    Clang! Clang!


    At that moment, the doorbell rang. Rayne went forward to open the door and froze promptly. "Sir Hulk!"


    "Yeah, looks like I''m just on time!"


    Fang Yuan smiled and walked into the living room without any awkwardness before sitting in front of the table. "Count me in!"


    "Okay."


    Not long afterward, Almon, who was dressed as a female cook, laid out bacon and eggs, toasted bread, milk, butter, jam, and other food onto the table.


    There were only four people at the dining table. Peter, who was sitting silently, was very pale and had one arm in a cast as if he had fractured his arm.


    Originally, there were a few other orphans besides Almon. However, she didn''t dare to put Peter with the other children after remembering about his unusual state. All she could do was to either give them away or entrust them to someone else.


    As for Rayne, this half-matured teenager, he volunteered to stay for some unknown reason.


    "Sorry¡­ Sir Hulk, we didn''t know you were coming and didn''t prepare much!" Almon apologized.


    "No need to be polite, it''s already a huge feast."


    Fang Yuan was coincidentally hungry. He placed the bacon onto the bread and spread some jam and butter before adding two leaf pieces. It tasted pretty good.


    "I''m glad you like it!" Almon said carefully. After all, no matter if it was her, or Peter, and Rayne, they all needed his shelter and protection. Adding on to the fact that they were said to be his subordinates, she lowered her standing.


    "Peter¡­ are you getting used to your right hand?"


    After filling his stomach, Fang Yuan half-lied on the sofa, facing Peter.


    "It''s still alright¡­" Peter said depressingly, "I felt that it''s recovered a lot more after wearing the preventer."


    "You have to be careful, it''s not restricted by the preventer, but it chose to temporarily enter hibernation. I''ve brought over some medicament for suppression purposes. Once you notice that the beast inside has a tendency to break through the restraints, use it immediately!"


    Fang Yuan gave the bag to Almon, who was beside him and went back to look at Peter, who was removing the bandage on his right arm.


    After a large number of obstructions were removed, one could clearly see that it wasn''t a plaster cast on his hand, but a large metal arm case. There were also numerous shackles on the outside.


    "My alchemy skill is only enough to do this much, at this point in time¡­" Fang Yuan said, slightly regretful. He then stepped forward to check the seal, "very good¡­ the state is perfect. Remember to give me your blood later on and tell me about the state of your heart when you suppress it!"


    He paused for a moment before looking at Almon, "And you! I''ve come up with somewhat of a conclusion as to why Voodoo Corpses like you¡ªafter you gave me your fresh blood the other time."


    "That''s great¡­" Almon''s expression was very unnatural and seemed to be perturbed.


    "Lastly¡­ I''ve prepared to leave the Hurin area for a period of time. Hence, I Intentionally came here today to visit¡­"


    Fang Yuan put down a pile of cash, "With this, it should be enough to support all of you until I come back."


    "Sir Hulk!"


    At this moment, Rayne couldn''t help it anymore. "There''s still me¡­ I''m already old enough to do something for the adults."


    "Oh, there''s still you!"


    Fang Yuan hit his own forehead lightly. "Rayne¡­ you want to become a Demon Hunter, don''t you?


    "Yes, sir!"


    Rayne clenched his teeth and kneeled down on one knee as he knew that this was an opportunity to change his fate.


    "With my name as the referrer, I''ll send you to train with the other children at the branch. We''ll have to see how hardworking you are, in order to determine if you''re able to become a Demon Hunter in the future."


    To Fang Yuan, Almon and Peter were the most important ones.


    As for Rayne? He was only an extra. However, since he came forward helplessly, there was no reason to reject him.

 607 Female Horseman

    "Lulu!"


    With rhythmic sounds, eight horses were pulling an enormous carriage, moving forward on a broad road.


    The carriage was very spacious and had over ten people sitting inside, with two lights at the front. As a type of ancient bus, it toured on roads between towns and cities that were difficult to pass through.


    "We''ll reach John Town once we''re through the Black Forest!"


    Within the carriage, people sat close to each other, squeezing in. Everyone brought along either a thick bag or luggage and was alert as they stared at the strangers around them.


    It''s never a bad thing to be cautious when one travels.


    Amongst the bunch of tourists, Fang Yuan only carried a long luggage case that was very different.


    "Based on the ripples from before, the contact point of the Black Scale Club should be in John Town!"


    There was never a time when he relaxed during the investigation of the Masters clan. Instead, he confirmed the other party''s location through the tiny traces that he had gotten from Black Jack''s place.


    John Town was located within the deep mountains. The road to the town was bumpy and had many turns. Hence, the only way to travel was through the public horse carriage.


    "Even so¡­" Fang Yuan looked out of the small window, towards the outside.


    Although it was only the afternoon, the sky was already gloomy. Within the Black Forest, there were strange ancient trees growing without any restrictions on both sides of the roads, looking like oddly shaped arms.


    "John Town¡­ It''s said that the sun was concealed for almost half the time, every year. Furthermore, the wild animals in the surroundings are very ferocious¡­" Recalling the information that he had, Fang Yuan had a foundation in his heart of what it was going to be like.


    Of course, the Vampires in this world weren''t afraid of the sunlight, and there wouldn''t be any Vampire clans that lived in solitary in this gloomy, small town.


    To many Night Family Clans, the environment in John Town was actually pretty good.


    "Masters and Night Family Clan¡­ can they live in harmony?"


    Fang Yuan had read many ancient classics that clearly recorded how insane the Master clans were. They took the root of their blood as a deity to worship, some, who were even more paranoid, even performed more disturbing and extreme things in order to maintain the demonic power in their blood.


    These types of Master clans were usually more cruel and bloody when compared to the Night Family Clan.


    Even if Demon Hunters met them, they would also need to completely eradicate evil.


    Ahwhoooo!


    At that moment, there was a sudden desolate wolf howl that caused the horses to stop in fright.


    As the enormous public horse carriage stopped, the facial expressions of the passengers changed.


    "There are wolves?"


    "There''s a wolf pack in the Black Forest?"


    A granny looked like she was going to faint. "That''s impossible¡­ my daughter and son-in-law never told me about these things!"


    "Looks like there''s only one!"


    "Unless it''s a lone wolf?"


    A wolf is an animal that lives in packs, however, it''s also highly possible that there can be a lone wolf in the night as it might be a wolf that failed to snatch the title of the alpha. It can be said that it''s an ex-alpha!


    "Everyone, please mind your own safety!" At that moment, the driver at the front of the horse carriage, who had been driving the carriage, had a serious expression as he stood up and took out a hunting gun with a long barrel from underneath his seat. "Don''t leave the carriage! I''ll¡­ What are you doing?"


    Just as he warned them, he saw a youth with a cropped head haircut stepping down from the horse carriage without any consideration. He even went towards the forest with interest.


    Ahwhoooo!


    Within the black, dense forest, a silver light flashed, and a large form appeared. It was indeed a large wolf, and its movements were unusually strong and vigorous.


    "As expected¡­ it''s not a normal wild wolf!" Fang Yuan moved his fingers. "Little doggy¡­ come over here!"


    The driver and other passengers behind him felt as if they were going to faint soon. To them, Fang Yuan was basically insane and an idi*t!


    Ahwhoooo!


    Within the Black Forest, as expected, that enormous wolf was agitated, it leaped over with lightning speed. A normal person could only see a blurry white shadow.


    Bang!


    Sparks flew.


    Fang Yuan raised his head and looked in the direction of John Town.


    Opposite him, the wolf howled once and stopped in its steps, focusing on the horseman that had stepped forward.


    The other party was riding on a large black horse and ran like a breeze. With jeans, a jacket, a hunting cap, and amber long hair tied into a ponytail, she totally looked like a western cowgirl that was holding onto a gun now.


    "This isn''t a place you should be¡­


    "Go back to where you''re from. Otherwise, I swear, in the name of Forest Protector Florina, you shall be punished!"


    The female Forest Protector used a serious voice to speak. She looked around 20 plus years old, but her riding skills were very experienced. Before going to the public horse carriage, her gun was aimed at the large wolf.


    Ahwhoooo!


    The human and wolf looked eye to eye, but it was the white wolf that couldn''t take it. Soon, it turned and ran back into the woods.


    "I knew that you would come, Florina." The carriage driver let out a long breath before putting his hunting gun back into position. "Alright everyone, please continue on. I guarantee that this was only an accident¡­ That large wolf should be from other places¡­"


    Florina greeted the passengers, "We, John Town, not only have the best black oat wine and grilled meat, but we also have a group of excellent Forest Protectors. You definitely won''t be harmed."


    Her leather boots kicked the horse''s abdomen area and the black, big horse moved in front of Fang Yuan, its gaze watchful. "Who are you? Why did you come to John Town?"


    "I''m Hulk, a zoologist specializing in wild animals! I''m currently doing some traveling records!" Fang Yuan pulled his collar and made a gentleman bow. "Dear pretty lady, it would be nice if you could tell me where that enormous wolf came from¡­ its elegant form and beautiful fur are definitely from the king among all the dog species! As the first to discover and record this, I want to use my name to name it."


    "Sorry¡­ I''m not sure either." Florina shook her head and looked at Fang Yuan, a hint of surprise flashed across her eyes. "You''re a scholar?"


    "That''s right! Do you want to see my documents?" Fang Yuan stretched his hands into his chest. If he had worn a pair of glasses, he would''ve had the distinct qualities of a professor.


    "Alright, I''m not the police but a mere Forest Protector. Welcome to John Town, I hope that the journey wasn''t in vain!" Florina''s face flushed.


    She had to say that Hulk had a nice appearance: he had a large build, was brave, young, and handsome, but most importantly, with Fang Yuan possessing the body, there was an additional evil charm. To any girls that had yet to awaken their first love, he had a deadly charm.


    At the moment, she seemed as though she was completely bewitched and even took the initiative to talk more to Fang Yuan.


    Clang! Clang!


    However, after the horse carriage left, Florina stopped waving her both hands and smiled bitterly. "Zoologist? More like a big liar! Why did he come?"


    She could tell that the person wasn''t bothered by his own identity. It was completely a game for him.


    "An interesting fellow, let''s hope that he doesn''t die here!" Florina said and looked towards the forest again. "The Alpha Family''s commotion is becoming more and more frequent, this is already the third time they had gone across the ''border'', this is a declaration of war!"


    ¡­


    "My luck is pretty good!" Above the horse carriage, Fang Yuan hugged his hands, with the brim of his hat down, however, the corner of his mouth was slightly curled up. "Even though I''ve yet to reach my destination, I''ve found traces of a Werewolf, and that Florina seems to have traces of a secret power as well¡­"


    Werewolves were also a species of the Night Family Clan. They had the appearance of wolves but could stand and walk like a human. They were intelligent as well.


    The large wolf from before was a Werewolf! Of course, it was unable to turn into a human form no matter how round the moon was.


    "However, Masters that have the blood of a Werewolf have the ability to change into an enormous wolf¡­ Don''t tell me that this small town is where they''re living?"


    In a small town that was cold for most of the year. It didn''t have any Vampires; but instead, it had a possibility of having Werewolves. This was quite new to Fang Yuan.


    "We''ve reached¡­ John Town!"


    After an estimated time of half an hour, the public horse carriage stopped at a plaza. The door of the carriage opened, and, one by one, the passengers walked down while exhaling a long breath.


    "Phew¡­"


    Fang Yuan looked around. The small town was huge, and its buildings loosely organized. But the structures were firm. With casual reinforcement, most places would seem like fortresses. It even had high-rise buildings that were formed purely from bricks, which gave the impression it was indestructible.


    "I''m a scholar right now that''s researching wild animals. I should look for the town mayor!"


    In his hands was an introduction letter that spoke about his identity and history in detail. There was even a stamp from the city hall that mentioned that it wanted the mayor to receive him properly.


    Many times, would the Demon Hunters use this identity to undergo different kinds of investigations on the Night Family Clan. His history was flawless and was guaranteed by the amount of money Fang Yuan spent on it. There would be no flaws¡ªeven if someone went to the city hall to check on his student status.


    "3 Black Stone Street, this map is a little too simple¡­"


    Fang Yuan turned left and right in the town and almost got lost several times. Finally, he arrived at a 2-story wooden villa.


    Around the villa was a wall of fences that surrounded a large garden. There were cauliflower, cardamom, and other unknown wild flowers planted there. It looked heavily laden with fruit.


    Ding Ring Ring!


    Fang Yuan shook the bell in front of the door. After a moment, the main door of the villa opened and a bald middle-aged man walked out, examining Fang Yuan. "You are¡­"


    "I''m Hulk, may I know if you''re Mayor Beetho?" Fang Yuan passed the letter over, "I''m thinking of staying in John Town for a certain period of time. At the same time, I want to perform research on the environment of the animals around here¡­


    "Mmm¡­" After confirming whether the letter was real, Beetho shook his head awkwardly. "However¡­ we don''t have a motel in this town¡­ Looks like you can only stay in my house. I have a daughter, who''s an excellent Forest Protector. I believe that you''d be able to get along well with her."


    Step! Step!


    Just as he finished talking, Fang Yuan saw a female teenage horseman. She stopped in front of the fence, jumped from the horse''s back and whistled before revealing a teasing smile. "Wild scholar, we meet again!"

 608 Black Wolf

    "I''m a scholar researching wild animals; I''m not a wild scholar!"


    Fang Yuan shrugged and showed a wide smile. "I''ll be borrowing your house to live in, I hope that I won''t be intruding!"


    "You''re welcome here!" Female horseman Florina nodded her head but was viciously rolling her eyes in her heart as she felt that the newcomer had bad intentions.


    "Alright, let''s all go into the house. I''ll arrange a room for you." Town mayor Beetho instantly stepped forward to settle things when he saw the situation. "My place has just made a new batch of horse sausages, it tastes pretty good¡­''


    "Mayor! Mayor!"


    At that moment, someone shouted anxiously, "There''s trouble!"


    "What happened?"


    In such a small and isolated town, the mayor tends to have the responsibility to investigate and sentence one to a trial. So he may, hence, be called the highest-ranking officer of law and order. Beetho frowned and looked at the person who was approaching.


    "Old alcoholic¡­"


    It was a young fellow running over, panting. Seeing that there was a stranger¡ªFang Yuan, he stopped talking.


    "Continue¡­ This is Hulk, a scholar from the big city!" Beetho knitted his brows.


    "The old alcoholic¡­ is dead! His corpse was found at the border of the Black Forest!"


    The youngster finally said it out loud, and this resulted in a change of expression on both Beetho''s and Florina''s faces.


    "Homicide?"


    Fang Yuan looked at the father and daughter duo who wanted to set off immediately and volunteered, moving one step forward. "Why not bring me along, I''ve learned some forensics before!"


    "You¡­ Alright!" Beetho was a little hesitant but agreed after looking at his daughter.


    The person who was called an old alcoholic was true to his appearance; he was sloppy, with a brandy nose that was large and red. There was also a wine pot next to his hand, with large amounts of wine spilled all over the floor.


    Unfortunately, his mouth, that was wide open, could never taste the flavor of the wine anymore.


    This was because the old alcoholic had become a corpse now, his abdomen area was torn open. The internal organs were almost completely devoured.


    There was already a bunch of people surrounding the corpse, with a few mounted policemen maintaining the order.


    "Looks like a wild beast did this. Could it be the wolf from before?"


    Many observers were already whispering amongst themselves, the fear spreading.


    "It really is a wolf!" Florina stepped forward and observed the footprint on the floor carefully but frowned. "But¡­"


    "But it''s a different wolf from the one we saw previously. It''s a much larger and crueler one!" Fang Yuan added.


    "How do you know that?" The gaze of the female horseman was filled with surprise.


    "Don''t forget that I''m a zoologist specializing in wild animals!" Fang Yuan smiled, his gaze was grave.


    To animals, although internal organs are exceptionally delicious, the other parts are also forms of tasty meat that cannot be casually thrown away.


    Unless¡­ the party wasn''t in need of food. This also wasn''t a simple hunt, but a provocation!


    "How did it go?"


    Thinking to this point, Fang Yuan said to Beetho directly, "Do you want to employ me? I think I can provide some suggestions for dealing with this big guy."


    "There''s no need!" Without waiting for the mayor to reply, Florina said with determination, "John Town''s matters can only be solved by John Town''s people. I''ll definitely catch that vicious animal, it''s insulting all of us Forest Protectors!"


    "Okay¡­"


    A gold light flashed in Fang Yuan''s eyes, and the corner of his mouth curled up to reveal a smile as he stood aside to watch the show.


    Swoosh!


    Within the dense forest, a black shadow appeared and leaped out, sudden and quick like a thunderbolt. It was then accompanied by a large amount of screaming. It had a child in its mouth and vanished swiftly¡­


    With Fang Yuan''s sight, he could clearly see that the enormous wolf was over two meters tall, like a horse. Its fur had a hint of black brilliance, and there were three rows of claw marks on its right eye.


    "Be¡­ Beast!!!"


    Just when the Forest Protector''s promise still rang in their ears, the black wolf couldn''t wait and leaped out to give them a tight slap on the face. This caused Florina''s face to flush red. "Chase it! It cannot escape!"


    Instantly, with their hands on their weapons, a few forest protectors chased it into the Black Forest with lightning speed.


    "Florina¡­ Come back!" Beetho shouted anxiously. However, his daughter didn''t listen to him and disappeared in a split second.


    "Mister Hulk¡­ What should we do?" He looked at Fang Yuan anxiously and was panic-stricken, just like a normal person.


    "Hmm? That''s wrong, he''s a normal person, there aren''t many traces of mysterious power in his body¡­" Fang Yuan thought silently, "the daughter is someone that''s above average, yet the father isn''t. Does this mean that she inherited it from the maternal family?"


    At this point, he couldn''t help but look at the mayor in pity.


    No matter what family one belongs to, authority is always accompanied by the amount of power one has to speak out. Even if this mayor looked grand in front of outsiders, he most likely hasn''t had much of a position in the house with his wife back then, and now his daughter.


    "We''ll have to see what you decide¡­"


    Whatever happened to others didn''t concern Fang Yuan, he smiled at the mayor. "Your daughter seems to have rejected me."


    "Not a problem, I''ll employ you, I''m the mayor!" Beetho stuck his chest out proudly, but went on to look around in guilt and added, "Even if the town doesn''t agree, I''ll pay you out of my own pocket!"


    "Well, the contract is complete!" Fang Yuan smiled and similarly charged into the Black Forest.


    Even at that moment, he didn''t release the long suitcase he held in his hand.


    ¡­


    Within the Black Forest.


    Florina and the few other Forest Protector were fast and were able to keep their eyes glued to the black wolf ahead.


    "Things are getting more and more out of hand, this isn''t a wolf from the Alpha Family!"


    The few Forest Protectors had a firm look and had quick responses. Indistinctly, it appeared that Florina became the one leading them.


    "Indeed, we have an arrangement between us. Even if they want to provoke us, they wouldn''t do this!"


    Florina looked at her surroundings before suddenly deciding. "Chase it!"


    Once she finished her words, she increased her speed greatly, and bits of packed black scales appeared on her cheeks.


    Around her, the same transformation occurred on the other Forest Protectors as well, some even had a small black horn growing out of their forehead.


    After transforming, their strength and speed multiplied almost severalfold compared to before. They were able to start closing the distance instantly.


    Ahwhoooo!


    At that moment, the enormous wolf in front ruthlessly heaved, and a human form flew out, crashing towards a boulder.


    "Arthur, go and save him!"


    Florina''s expression remained unchanged and continued to chase.


    After abandoning its burden, it was clear that the other party''s speed went up a notch and was able to further distance itself. Even the other partners gradually broke away from the chase. Florina was the only one who was determined to continue chasing.


    "I''ve caught you!"


    At this moment, her eyes lit up and were elated when she saw that the black enormous wolf in front ran into a mountain valley.


    Being familiar with the area here, she knew that the valley didn''t have any exits. The other party was jumping into its own grave.


    "Which clan are you really from? Or are you purely just from the Night Family Clan?" The brave teenage girl shouted loudly as she didn''t care if there were any traps and rashly rushed in to surround it.


    However, Florina was shocked as she saw the scene in front of her, promptly dumbfounded.


    "As expected, a really ferocious large dog!"


    At the end of the mountain valley, Fang Yuan was standing on an empty piece of land, proudly, with four or five enormous wolves collapsed on the ground.


    "It''s a trap!" Florina thought in hindsight but was even more surprised after that. "How did this wild scholar run past me and¡­ how did he deal with so many wolves?"


    Ahwhoooo!


    Just as she was surprised, the black wolf with claw marks made a sad and shrill, long howl before charging towards Fang Yuan.


    Whoosh!


    Fang Yuan raised the suitcase to block it, and the bronze lock opened. Starry Night flew out from the inside and landed in his hand, drawing a subtle arc.


    "Morning Stars Swordsmanship¡ªWerewolf Kill!"


    Poof!


    The sword''s light easily struck the enormous wolf''s neck. A large wolf head flew off with blood gushing out.


    "You''re¡­ a Demon Hunter?!" Florina looked at the scene in a daze and suddenly confirmed it.


    "Hmm¡­ I''m not sure what explanation you have for this scene, Miss Black Scale Club Master?" Fang Yuan raised his head, his facial expression showed that he didn''t know whether to laugh or not.


    In actual truth, he had long forced out the information from the ambushed wolves. Otherwise, he wouldn''t have killed all of them so directly and efficiently.


    "What do you want? Are you here to ''hunt'' us?" Florina looked at Fang Yuan, vigilance in her eyes.


    Although most of the Masters chose to stand in the middle, they weren''t kind, but they were evil to the "pure-blooded" Demon Hunters. They liked to send all the Night Family Clan into hell, and even more so for those with Masters'' blood!


    "No¡­ It''s only an inspection." Fang Yuan shrugged, unfortunately, the blood on the Starry Night sword made his words unbelievable. "Oh¡­ also, your father has entrusted your safety to me!"


    "That old man!" Florina face turned a little red. She knew that she would be the one besieged by the wolf pack if it wasn''t for Fang Yuan.


    After cursing in a low tone, she then looked like she thought of something and dispersed the scales on her face. "You¡­ didn''t see anything!"


    Promptly, Miss Master added on viciously, "You don''t have permission to tell anyone!"


    "Looks like¡­ it''s a woman''s nature to look pretty no matter what world and clan she''s in¡­" Fang Yuan rolled his eyes in his heart. "I''ll consider it¡­ also, your scales are beautiful!"


    He had to say that Florina''s scales were very different from the other Forest Protectors'' weird scales. Hers were refined and small, the area wasn''t big either. It was like a symbol or tattoo that represented her different blood. Furthermore, she controlled it perfectly.


    "Thank you!" This time, the teenage Master truly appeared flushed.


    After all, she felt that no matter what, a teenaged girl with scales was ugly.


    To be able to gain compliments from the other party at that moment, especially from a young, male Demon Hunter, she felt shy and a little surprised at the same time.


    "Florina!"


    At that moment, a few shouts could be heard from behind. It was clear that the other Forest Protectors had rushed over.


    "I''ll go first. Remember to pack my room and prepare for dinner!"


    Fang Yuan kept Starry Night and carried the corpse of the largest black wolf. In the blink of an eye, he disappeared.


    This speed made Florina draw a sharp breath of cold air. She knew why the other party was able to overtake her and appear in front of her.

 609 Club Director

    On a red-colored wooden table, an oil lamp emitted a bright glow.


    Although it was much better than candles, Fang Yuan still couldn''t get used to it.


    He bent over the table to write something. After a long time, he put down his fountain pen and rubbed the space between his brows.


    Beneath his hands was a yellow goat-skinned book. Although it''s much more expensive than a book made from paper, it can be preserved for a much longer time after being specially processed. Furthermore, it won''t be infested by bugs.


    The words written in black ink could still be seen vaguely. It was written in the Da Qian language that had additional codes to ensure that no one could understand it even if it was leaked.


    "In a Master clan, it''s usually the female that''s the leader¡­ Its power distribution is similar to that of the Ancient Maternal clan, this makes it so people can''t help but think of the Mother of Reproduction.


    "In actual truth¡­ based on my observations, this also has a connection to the purity of their blood and the power they wield!


    "Let''s not talk about children with both parents who are extraordinary beings. If we consider only mixed-bloods, it would be totally different if the blood was from the paternal than if it was from the maternal side. A fetus that stays in the pregnant mother''s body for 10 months has an advantage as it''s able to produce purer blood¡­ Hence, within a Master clan, the position of the females are very influential, and they would usually get the rights to lead¡­


    "The Black Scale Club in John Town should be part of the ''Night Demon People'' in the Night Family Clan. They have high-class blood and also have human forms, as well as scales all over their body."


    ¡­


    Fang Yuan didn''t lie to Florina earlier.


    He was indeed a zoologist specialized in wild animals. However, his research subjects were of another species.


    Back then, he had also designated Florina as one of his observation targets.


    He was almost done taking notes; he still had a theory and proposition to write. To extend his notes, Fang Yuan wrote a large bulk of words about the nature of an average human''s domesticated blood!


    Masters got power from their blood. Although there was a risk of changing into a demon, people could overcome the various flaws after many generations. Their ability to make use of their blood was extreme. An outstanding person could be compared to the source, and this was naturally very valuable to study.


    Moreover, there was also the example of Peter.


    As a normal person, he could actually accept the Voodoo Corpse inhabiting him and even win against the chaotic will. It was very unbelievable.


    "Next¡­ My research focus should be on how a normal person can safely attain the blood of the Night Family Clan and produce batches of Masters!" Fang Yuan recited in a low voice.


    In actual truth, this was also a practice for the Creation pathway. Needless to say, the concept and technical operations from within the practice could inspire him to absorb and harness original energy.


    "With just the Black Scale Club, there isn''t enough samples¡­ I need a large amount of information on the Masters and their blood, as well as their direct descendant line for my research¡­"


    He shook his head as he felt that his thinking was a little insane.


    To achieve that, he wouldn''t be able to resist the bites of so many Master clans. It was better if it was the Demon Hunter Union instead.


    "Blood transplant¡­ there must be someone researching about this amongst the Master clans¡­" Fang Yuan was pondering this when he heard a sudden knock at the door. "Mr. Hulk, it''s time for dinner."


    "Alright, thank you!"


    He happily put away the notes and went to the dining room.


    Mayor Beetho''s wooden villa wasn''t bad. It was just as he said, there were only three people living in the huge house, which made it seem empty.


    "Come, taste the horse sausage that I made!" Beetho wore an apron and served a few serving trays. After opening a silver cover, a fragrance wafted into his nose¡­


    Fang Yuan took out his utensils and tried a piece of it and immediately felt that it was remarkably delicious. "Not bad!"


    "Haha¡­ I knew it!" Beetho drank mouthfuls of black oat beer.


    "In those days¡­ Florina''s mom loved my cooking, sigh¡­" He sighed once. Seeing how his daughter, who was usually very active and talkative, became silent, he turned his eyes away suddenly. "Scholar Hulk, look at my daughter, Florina, what do you think about her?"


    "Father!" The teenaged girl didn''t think that she would receive a surprise attack, and she almost spat out the milk in her mouth. "What are you planning?"


    "Florina''s a happy, active girl!" Fang Yuan laughed, with a teasing look.


    And under his gaze, Florina''s face became even redder. This made Beetho''s heart skip as hope bloomed.


    He grew white hair from worrying about his daughter''s marriage. Unfortunately, Florina was ambitious and had a slight problem of being unable to see anyone eye to eye.


    Although he knew that his daughter''s uniqueness was the same as her mother, and she even had a high position within a secret organization, Beetho was used to considering this problem from the perspective of a human father.


    "She always wasn''t interested in males of the same age. It''s rare for her to be shy, I must make Mr. Hulk stay for a few more days. Even if nothing happens, it can change Florina''s beliefs. That would be good enough." Beetho thought about it, his expression became more dubious.


    Bang!


    Finally, Florina couldn''t take it anymore and slapped the dining table violently, causing the cutlery to jump.


    "My apologies¡­" Looking at the gaze from her father and Fang Yuan, she flushed for some unknown reason again. She felt warm and almost thought about fleeing due to her panicked state.


    She pointed at Fang Yuan. "You¡­ remember to come out at night. Our club director wants to see you!"


    "It would be my honor!" Fany Yuan slowly said after he slowly savored the taste of the sausages and used a napkin to wipe his mouth as he listened to her.


    "I''m dead, I''m dead, how can a man look so good when he''s eating¡­" Florina silently scolded herself for being smitten and ran into her room so quickly that she left a trail of smoke. She then went to the front of her cupboard due to a devilish impulse to look for a dress with a dense flower pattern, one that had been missing long ago.


    In the end, she was still absent-minded when she was going out, muttering words, "That d*mn dress¡­"


    "What did you say?"


    Fang Yuan was wearing his hunter uniform and was carrying Starry Night that was wrapped in a strip of cloth. He looked like he was carrying a piece of wood.


    "Nothing, I''m just thinking about how to tell you some things regarding the Black Scale Club¡­" Florina said, a little flustered.


    "Oh? Then, I''m all ears!" Fang Yuan smiled.


    "We, the Black Scale Club have a few factions within it. My mom used to be the chief of a faction, a position that has the qualification to compete with the club director¡­ Under each and every faction, there are also ''Scales Servants,'' I''m one of them¡­ Wait a minute, why am I telling you all of this?"


    The teenage Master conditioned reflexes made her say that, and she promptly quivered. "Unless¡­ you cast a spell on me? I heard that there''s a ''pink book'' going around amongst the Demon Hunters, with many specialized ways to confuse females¡­"


    "I didn''t¡­" Fang Yuan almost laughed out loud. His impression of the female horseman changed thrice in a single day. From being resolute and daring; to becoming an innocent dumb blonde.


    "If all Masters are like this, maybe the world will become much more peaceful¡­"


    In the midst of talking and laughing, he followed Florina and reached the front of a remote estate outside the center of John Town.


    Aside from being located on a hill, it had a large area and even had a wall around it. If a trench was dug and fortifying works were performed on the building, it would look just like a small castle.


    "Here we are!"


    Florina went forward to the door and called out. As for Fang Yuan, he looked at the small castle, revealing a smile on his face.


    The spiritual mind that he was chasing and investigating was inside this castle!


    "Tsktsk¡­ it''s a Demon Hunter!"


    The two people walked through the main door. There were no torches or lamps. It was dark everywhere.


    However, in the darkness, a large bunch of shadows surrounded them.


    "Be careful¡­ He''s very powerful!"


    "I want to try the taste of a Demon Hunter¡­"


    "Haha¡­ All you do is talk, did you not see how Florina brought him in? He''s a person the Club Director wants to see!"


    Night Demon People had the ability to see in the dark, even though it was dark at the moment, they could see everything.


    The night was their best protection.


    No matter who they were in the day, no one could discover them at night.


    However, this was only the case for a normal person!


    "Hmph! Is this how the Black Scale Club treats their guest?" A golden glow flashed from Fang Yuan''s eyes, and a powerful presence was suddenly emitted, like a typhoon, sweeping from side to side.


    "Ah!"


    Among the screams, many Night Demon People collapsed as if they were cut wheat.


    Whoosh!


    At this moment, Fang Yuan lit up a few Molotov cocktails and threw them into the stone lamp at the side.


    The light from the fire instantly shone brightly, lighting up a disorganized square.


    Many Night Demon People screamed and retreated back into the dark shadows as if they could only feel safe there.


    Fang Yuan looked around and saw a few familiar faces. They were all people he saw from the town once.


    Of course, they were mutated then, with scales and black horns.


    "Demon Hunter¡­ You''ve broken the taboo here!"


    "There cannot be any flames here!"


    A Night Demon Person walked out, "You''re going to be punished¡­"


    "You dare?" Florina took a few steps forward and glared. "This is someone who the director wants to meet!"


    "Alright, all of you stand down!" Just when the atmosphere was so tense that they were going to start a fight, a middle-aged man''s voice traveled over.


    Florina froze and stopped immediately. She then made a hand gesture to Fang Yuan.


    "This time, it''s really us that neglected attending to you."


    A middle-aged man walked over from within a cluster of powerful presences, his face apologetic, "I apologize on their behalf, Daybreak Sword''s disciple!"


    He spoke with conviction. He was wearing a luxury silk gown and had fair skin. Many blood descendants surrounded him as if he was from a noble.


    "That Legendary Demon Hunter?"


    "The protector of the Hurin area?"


    All of the Night Demon People retreated, even the one who wanted to punish Fang Yuan was silent.


    "Oh¡­ Was it because he felt the Dawn state in my presence from before?"


    Fang Yuan laughed in his heart, "This truly is a wonderful understanding!"


    After meeting the Black Scale Club''s Director, he could confirm that he was Black Jack''s master!

 610 Defeated

    "I''m the Club Director of the Black Scale Club¡ªBlack Eye Carson!"


    Carson spread his arms wide open, examining Fang Yuan. "I wonder why you, the disciple of the Daybreak Sword, are here?"


    "I''m only curious about Masters. Furthermore, I also have a little interest in the Dead Sea Ancient scroll." Fang Yuan asked calmly, "Do you know its whereabouts!?"


    "Yes, I do know. One of its pages has fallen into the hands of the Flaming Evil Demon¡ªSeth."


    Carson laughed. "You seem unsatisfied with this answer?"


    "That''s right!" Fang Yuan said directly, "Tell me the information you''re hiding and open up your clan''s prominent collection room for classical items. Do that and I''ll let you off this once!"


    "What did you say?"


    The blood descendants at the scene went dead silent. Even Florina looked at Fang Yuan in shock as she almost thought that she was hallucinating.


    This young Demon Hunter was too bold! To threaten the Club Director of the Black Scale Club in the middle of the Master clan''s territory?


    After the sudden silence, it became a terrifying uproar, as if petrol was tossed into a fire spark¡ªthey raged, "Kill him!"


    "Leave the Demon Hunters some memories!"


    "People who insult the director and the Black Scale Club must die!"


    ¡­


    Facing a lot of criticism, Fang Yuan treated them with disdain, "I think you''ve misunderstood something¡­"


    Without waiting for the other Masters to show their contemptuous smiles, he added on, "I''m not pointing fingers at anyone, I''m just saying that all of you here¡­ are trash!"


    "Dead, dead¡­"


    Florina felt as if she was going to collapse as she looked at the ferocious people.


    She looked at the Demon Hunter that was still smiling and couldn''t think of why, in just a split second, there was such a drastic change.


    "Trash? You''re the first one that dares to say that here!"


    Carson had cooled down, "Do you think that with your relationship with Seres, we would fear you? Let me tell you, he can hardly save himself, but you¡­ you have no chance of going back to bury him. Kill him!"


    "Keke!"


    Many people appeared from the darkness, the scales on their bodies made them look half-beast, half-human. They viciously pounced.


    "Night Demon Kill!"


    The bag behind Fang Yuan exploded, and the tip of Starry Night appeared, transforming into a light wheel.


    Plop!


    Broken limbs and bones flew as blood spurted all over.


    "Too weak! Too weak! Do you all only have this meager transformation power?"


    Fang Yuan''s sword slashed, and the head of the Night Demon People that wanted to punish him flew high into the air like a fountain. This frightened the cowards, who retreated as they looked like they were going to faint.


    "Too careless¡­" Looking at the scene, Black Eye Carson was slightly regretful.


    The degree of unreasonableness this Demon Hunter had was far beyond his expectation. If he had known earlier, he would''ve definitely prepared more instead of using a prisoner cage made up of paper and glue to catch a dragon.


    Being able to reach the state of Dawn in Morning Stars Swordsmanship represented a type of control, not only in the body but also the various types of sword spirits and energy consumption.


    In addition, these few days, his physical fitness increased due to the consumption of Sacred Water, and he knew about the level of the Masters. Fang Yuan wouldn''t be afraid, even if a few high-class Night Family Clans arrived.


    Needless to say, these blood descendants only had the blood of Night Demons, they had no gifted people that were able to reach High-Class Bloods!


    Hence, the Fang Yuan right now, was like a tiger diving into a herd of sheep, recklessly moving without restraint. He made a bloody path towards Black Eye Carson.


    "Die!"


    At that moment, three people wearing black gowns charged forward from the opposite party''s side. Their speed and power were comparable to exceptional Night Demon People.


    Ping! Ping!


    Many fists and legs clashed with his sword, successfully stopping Fang Yuan from moving forward.


    "Hmm? Fighting Skills?"


    Fang Yuan was slightly astonished and looked at the few Night Demon People ahead of him.


    They had large builds, their entire body was filled with armor-like scales, and they even wore boxing gloves on their hands.


    "Chief of Tiger Faction¡ªAengus!"


    "Chief of Eagle Faction¡ªLin!"


    "Chief of Sodom Faction¡ªWarren!"


    The three Night Demon People introduced themselves before promptly charging forward ruthlessly.


    Each of their strengths was identical to that of Middle-Class Bloods. They have skilled combat awareness and techniques. By working together, they might even be able to battle with High-Class Bloods.


    However, it still wasn''t enough for Fang Yuan, "Too weak! Too weak! Everyone is indeed trash!"


    His hands flicked his belt lightly, and a Sacred Light medicament exploded like a small sun, emitting an unparalleled light.


    "Morning Stars Swordsmanship¡ªNight Demon Kill!"


    At the same time, as if transformed into stars, the sword in his hands emitted a blurred brilliance and slashed at Aengus''s neck.


    Poof!


    The giant collapsed on the floor, a red line appeared on his throat, and the broken scales spurted out.


    "Aengus¡­ couldn''t even withstand one slash?"


    Lin and Warren retreated quickly but didn''t escape directly because the time they had bought was enough for Carson.


    "Weak!"


    At that moment, Carson had bitten his finger and drawn a Pentagon Array on the floor. He looked at Fang Yuan and spit out a music note suddenly.


    Buzz!


    A blood-colored ray spread out and landed on Fang Yuan''s body, causing him to frown, "Black Magic technique?"


    This was the real emergence of power that the Master clans relied upon! From utilizing the power of pure blood, utilizing the strength in the blood as a driving force, and using various secretive Black Magic techniques. Not only could this imitate the abilities of other Night Family Clans, but it could also make them stronger!


    In actual truth, there was a saying in the dark realm. The blood descendants who could grasp the Black Magic technique were the true Masters!


    "Interesting. Using the big Pentagon Array and the power consumed from the blood as a driving force?"


    Although his entire body was wrapped in a layer of blood-colored light, and his speed and power had decreased, Fang Yuan wasn''t in a hurry. After observing it closely, he took out a bottle of Sacred Water and gulped it down immediately.


    Bloop! Bloop!


    With the pure, sacred glow, the blood-colored glow on his body dispersed immediately. Instead of decreasing, his speed increased as he slashed twice, causing the other two chiefs to collapse onto the floor.


    "Are the Demon Hunters still calculating every single bullet they use because they''re so poor?" Watching this scene unfold, Carson''s eyelid twitched.


    He had seen many Demon Hunters, but those that were as heroic as Fang Yuan, who had so many bottles of medicament and even concentrated Sacred Water, were hard to meet.


    He didn''t know that Fang Yuan was a pharmacist himself, and his ability to extort money was unparalleled.


    Luckily, the sacrifices that the three chiefs made wasn''t fruitless.


    Through their battle, he had completed another spell.


    "Dead Spirit Hands!" Black Eye Carson roared, both his hands becoming a deathly pale color as they clawed at Fang Yuan.


    Hoot! Hoot!


    Within that space, it was as if a formless spiritual body appeared with shocking malice that twisted towards Fang Yuan.


    "Evil Spiritual spell? That manipulates an evil spirit?" Fang Yuan was shocked.


    This type of curse was dangerous among the Black Magic techniques; it could harm the spirit. Even an A-grade Demon Hunter would retreat when they encountered it.


    But it was unfortunate.


    His mouth revealed a sinister smile and charged forward.


    "You must be tired of living!"


    Looking at this scene, Carson was instantly elated. "Even the titled Demon Hunters wouldn''t dare to allow this evil spirit to attack their spirits head on, you idi*t!"


    Unfortunately, just as he finished his sentence, he saw a shadow charging out of the ocean of evil spirits that went straight for him. The sword''s blade was swung.


    "Pfft!" Carson spat out a mouthful of fresh blood and, like a dead dog laid on the ground, was unable to believe what he saw. "Impossible¡­ Why are you fine? My Black Magic technique would never fail!"


    "Haha¡­" Fang Yuan towered over him and used a leg to step on his chest. Able to defeat the three chiefs and seize the great dignity of the Club Director, the Night Demon Bloods that were originally surrounding him retreated back, showing faces of fear and shock.


    "Unfortunately, you met me!" Fang Yuan calmly said as the tip of Starry Night sword was pointed at Carson''s arm.


    In actual truth, the power of the Black Scale Club and Carson''s Black Demon spell would be able to battle with a bunch of A-grade Demon Hunters.


    However, Fang Yuan was different!


    It would be a joke if his true spirit could be harmed by mere, angry spirits.


    Needless to say, he had eliminated many monsters and curses that were much more unusual than an angry spirit in the Purple Eye Realm. He had rich experience in treating a spiritual body, hence, he was familiar with how to destroy them.


    "Alright, now¡­ Tell me, do you want to die?" Fang Yuan towered over him, his voice possessing a certain power.


    Carson''s expression, that had been as firm as an ice mountain, collapsed immediately, and he was almost overcome with fear. "Don''t¡­ don''t kill me!"


    "The whereabouts of the Dead Sea ancient scroll and the trap that targets Daybreak Sword? Tell me all the information you know about them!" Fang Yuan said coldly.


    "One page of the Dead Sea ancient scroll is here, taken care of by us and the Alpha Family!


    "The Alpha Family inherited the power of Werewolves. Although they don''t know the Black Magic technique, their members are able to transform. Their ancestors had an arrangement with our bloodline, agreeing that the Black Forest is our border! And to protect the Dead Sea Ancient scroll together!


    "However, recently, the information was leaked out and other powers were attracted here."


    ¡­


    Carson''s voice was trembling as he spoke.


    Fang Yuan nodded his head, the information he had gotten from the enormous wolves was similar to this.


    "I actually caught a large fish!" He was elated inside, but he promptly placed more power into his feet. "What about Daybreak Sword?"


    "It''s only minor information¡­ I heard a rumor that Evil Demon Seth was very unhappy with the failure from before and gathered a large number of Night Family Clans in preparation to attack the Demon Hunter branch in the Hurin Area. He had also gotten the support of other Evil Demons, and he has a secret weapon. Hence, he was very confident!" Carson shrieked miserably, "Sir¡­ This is all I know, truly."


    "Very good, as a reward, I won''t kill you!" Fang Yuan nodded his head. "Next, bring me to your clan''s collection room. I''m also interested in your Black Demon technique! give them to me and I''ll let you live!"


    "Deal!" Carson agreed readily. That fawning attitude of his was a disgrace in the eyes of the other Night Demon Bloods to the point that there was even a murderous look in their eyes.

 611 Wolf Pack

    "As expected¡­ there aren''t any Master clans that would give up on researching blood! Suppressing the chaotic will and making remarkable use of it are two of the main points. Of course, it also has information on those that didn''t submit to the chaos and become degenerate Half-Demon clans. However¡­ the clans that have lost their sanity would often go into the state of chaos, and it will be difficult for them to survive¡­"


    Consciousness was very important to Masters.


    On one side, they were frantically finding the power in their blood, and on the other side, they had no choice but to fight against the chaotic will.


    At the moment, Fang Yuan was reading an ancient book that had recorded Night Demon People clans. It clearly recorded the experimentation on blood, and there were even some Black Magic techniques that were successfully invented using the power of the blood.


    The replicated weak curse that Carson used previously¡ªDead Spirit Hands, was also included.


    By reading parts of their secrets, Fang Yuan knew what the behavior of Master clans was like.


    "Although the Black Scale Club and Demon Hunters made peace with each other, in truth, the club had never stopped interacting with the Night Family Clan before. This is an example of betting on both sides!"


    Hence, he wasn''t ashamed that he routed the Night Demon People clan.


    Now, Fang Yuan prioritized experimenting with blood and the few replicated Black Magic techniques.


    "Black Magic technique is, in actual fact, an experiment they started because the Masters wanted to replicate the Night Family Clan''s power¡­ They were able to quickly find out by making use of the power of their own blood and, by adapting it, they could actually break through the limits of their own blood and invent various kinds of unusual techniques. Hence, it gradually developed and became techniques that they could rely on to become independent from Demon Hunters and the Night Family Clan¡­"


    "The utilization of a Black Magic technique requires a few prerequisites; the first one is having a stable and rational mind, this eliminates the blood descendants that are badly disturbed by the chaotic will; the second is that the power of the blood must be thick enough; while the third one is the umpteen experimental attempts to correctly replicate the techniques!"


    The power of blood was only a wire-like ingredient, whereas forging and consolidating the replicated technique were a must in order to make the murderous weapons.


    "This is also a great improvement. Aside from the Evil Demons with the best blood, most of the Night Family Clan have difficulties using the spells. Even if they depended entirely on their gifts, it''s still very rigid and inflexible. What the Masters imitated and learned can exceed them."


    The concentration of the blood could barely exceed the source, but strength wasn''t only limited to a blow!


    True Masters that could grasp the power of Dark Magic techniques were enough to fight with the Evil Demons, despite them having Low-Class Blood!


    When Fang Yuan was almost done speed-reading for the first time, he shut his eyes and recalled the content once, and spoke to Carson, who was beside him, "Very good¡­ you didn''t try to hide or lie to me!"


    "I wouldn''t dare!"


    At this moment, the director of the Black Scale Club, Black Eye Carson, who was in front of Fang Yuan, had completely lost the will to resist and had become as tame as a dog.


    This was due to the fact that Fang Yuan had defeated him, head on, inflicting a major shock to him and also ingraining some conditioned reflexes.


    Fang Yuan had secretly set up a trick and planted a seed deep into the party''s head that he had no possibility of winning. Although it was different from controlling him directly, it was enough to guarantee that the other party wouldn''t dare to resist within a short amount of time.


    "Of course¡­ mental hints can only influence him from the side¡ªthere''s still a need to constantly reinforce it!" He paused and snapped his fingers.


    Smack!


    A bright flame immediately appeared on his palm. It emitted a warm glow, yet, strangely, it didn''t harm his palm at all.


    "Black Magic technique¡ªFlaming Hands?!"


    Witnessing this scene, Carson shivered. Without the opportunity to open his mouth, Florina, who was at his side, shouted as if she saw a ghost, "Impossible¡­ Unless you''re a Master as well, and have learned this Black Magic technique a long time ago?"


    "This is an improvised version of the Flaming Hands, this is a variant unique to the Black Scale Club¡­" Carson opened his mouth slowly, his voice husky. "Who would''ve thought that one could see it once and learn it successfully."


    He recalled the four, five, years he spent remembering the technique before he succeeded in making the first Black Magic technique, and he almost kneeled to Fang Yuan.


    "Of course I''m not a Master. However, Dark Magic techniques¡­ are very easy¡­"


    Fang Yuan''s smiled.


    The thing driving the power of the Black Magic technique was mainly the power of the blood; while the form was mainly controlled by the power of the mind.


    In the aspect of one''s mind, he had no problem, but regarding the power of blood? The Sacred Water that the Demon Hunters consumed was, in actual fact, from the Night Family Clan, hence, its nature wasn''t much different from the former!


    "Of course¡­ to release the Black Demon technique, one must first reverse the nature of the Sacred Water. Aside from me, there are only a rare few in this world that can do it¡­" Fang Yuan thought about it silently before looking at his own attributes board:


    "Name: Hulk (Fang Yuan)


    Essence: 25.0 (110)


    Spirit: 25.0 (100)


    Magic: 25.0 (120)


    Profession: Demon Hunter


    State: Healthy


    Technique: Basic Grapple (Proficient), Gun Fighting Skill (Normal), Secret Study (Normal), Pharmaceutics (Normal), Alchemy (Basic), Morning Stars Swordsmanship (Dawn), Shady Flow Flying Claw (Black Claw), Black Magic skill (Normal)


    Specialization: [Medicine (Level 3)], [Botany (Level 6)(Peak)], [Fiery Golden Eyes (Level 3)], [Body Seal (Ultimate form)]


    "Black Magic skill: A technique power mastered by the Masters. It''s related to the variant technique that is driven by the power of blood, might, and Black Magic techniques. It''s also related to the strength of the Master himself. It''s currently in the (Normal) level and the number of Dark Magic techniques you grasp are: 5! They are the weak curses: Dead Spirit Hands, Flaming Hands, Light Spirit skill, and Speed Increasing skill.


    "Five Black Magic techniques variants are the accumulation of the Black Scale Club. Even so, there''s only one person, Carson, in the entire club that can truly be considered as a (Master)."


    Fang Yuan thought silently and looked at Carson. "Bring me to the Black Forest to find the page from the Dead Sea ancient book!"


    "Yes, Sir!" Carson, who was badly shaken, agreed. However, he was slightly hesitant. "But¡­ the Alpha Family is there, and the protective barrier placed by our ancestors¡­ In addition, the external powers are also looking¡­"


    "You don''t have to care about these, all you have to do is bring me to the place!" Fang Yuan stroked his own sword, Starry Night, and said with an intolerable tone.


    ¡­


    Within the Black Forest.


    Carson was in front, leading the way and walking with Fang Yuan and Florina.


    As for the other Night Demon People? They¡ªespecially the two faction chiefs¡ªwere severely injured and weren''t able to come at all.


    "The Black Forest is very vast. At the end, towards the north, is a land filled with thick fog. That''s the barrier that our and the Alpha Family''s ancestors created, or should I say¡ªconfusion lock!"


    Carson tried his best to introduce it, "Together with us, the land of dense fog has always been guarded by the Alpha Family. It was rumored that a page of the Dead Sea Ancient scroll is hidden inside and will only open when fate decides to do so."


    "The limit of my will is what was set by fate!" Fang Yuan boasted shamelessly.


    In actual fact, no matter how good the barrier was, he believed that he would be able to break the array created by their ancestors with his own power, with time to spare so he could study it.


    "Florina is familiar with everything in the Black Forest as if it was her home. However, this doesn''t include the land of dense fog¡­ Furthermore, it''s also guarded by the Alpha Family." Carson said slowly.


    After trekking for half a day, a thin fog started to appear in front of them.


    The Black Forest was originally shady and cold. At this moment, the addition mysteriousness made people panic even more.


    Swoosh!


    A wooden javelin shot out from the dense fog and pierced into the ground, right in front of the three people.


    "It''s the Alpha Family''s people!"


    Florina took a step forward, "I am Scales Servant Florina, the one beside me is our Club Director Carson¡­ Report your name, the Alpha Family person opposing us!"


    "I am Inspecting Wolf Uma. Black Scale Club, you have gone against the arrangement of our ancestors!"


    In front of them, a blurred human form that was carrying numerous long spears, appeared in the fog, "You''ve brought an outsider here!"


    The nose of a Werewolf is very effective. As blood descendants, the people of the Alpha Family had also inherited this ability.


    "Let the ''Head Wolf'' of your clan see me!" Fang Yuan moved a step forward, emitting an aura like a majestic mountain.


    The Alpha Family and the Black Scale Club were different. The Alpha Family didn''t have the form of an association, but was much more of a primitive clan¡ªthe Head Wolf led everything!


    "Demon Hunter?"


    Under Fang Yuan''s concentrated presence, the fog dispersed slightly, revealing Uma''s appearance.


    He was tall and large, had very defined side features, his hair was much longer and denser than normal people, and he had fangs sticking out. He looked like a person that was half wolf.


    Compared to the Night Family Clan''s Werewolves that could only walk with their bodies up straight, their descendants were still mostly humans that retained part of a wolf''s features.


    Of course, Fang Yuan was also clear that the blood descendants of Werewolves had thick blood. Under specific conditions and triggers, they had the ability to become an enormous wolf.


    The white wolf he had seen on the public horse carriage when he first came here, was this type.


    "What are you waiting for!" Fang Yuan glared, a sharp ray struck Uma''s pupils as if it was a sharp sword.


    He screamed once, his whole body retreated quickly.


    Not long afterwards, bleak and penetrating howls travelled from the dense fog, the sound shaking the grounds from miles away.


    Ahwhoooo!


    Ahwhoooo!


    ¡­


    Many howls formed a wave and were closing in.


    Amidst the dense forest, many enormous white wolves appeared, surrounding them.


    Even Carson trembled when he saw this.


    "Carson, you broke the vow and seek refuge with the Demon Hunters!"


    An enormous wolf, with brilliant gold hair and a much larger build than the others, slowly walked out of the dense fog, and leaped forward, transforming into a large and tall old man. His green pupils stared at Carson, and he used a firm tone to say, "You, who have broken the vow, are no longer our ally. Kill him and the Demon Hunter!"


    Ahwhoooo!


    The pack of wolves howled madly, opening their beastly, ferocious mouths. They slowly closed in and exposed their savage fangs!

 612 Night Demon Wolf

    "Oh? You confirmed that Carson has betrayed you and that I''m the enemy on our first meeting¡­" Fang Yuan shrugged. "Looks like you''ve already heard the news before. Who is it?"


    Listening to his words, Carson quivered instantly as he knew that someone under him had decided to betray him!


    Ahwhoooo!


    In the next moment, numerous large wolves leaped over whilst howling.


    "Get lost!" Fang Yuan''s right hand waved, and an orange-red cone-shaped flame appeared. It burned in mid-air and suddenly landed on an enormous wolf.


    Ahwhoooo!


    The other party produced a shrilling scream, as its fur lit up suddenly. It became an enormous ball of fire and fell onto the floor while screaming in agony.


    "Black Demon technique¡­ as expected, it''s nice to use, especially for Alchemists and Pharmacists since it seems to have another effect¡­"


    Despite only trying it out a few times, Fang Yuan had already thought of how to integrate the Black Demon technique into the processes in alchemy and pharmacy experiments. It would definitely increase the quality of his works.


    "You''re not a Demon Hunter, but a¡­ Master?"


    The Head Wolf was very shocked, and his face changed again promptly. "But you shouldn''t have killed my people, I¡ªthe Head Wolf of the Alpha Family, blood descendant of Teeth Rogo¡ªswear to avenge his blood!"


    Ahwhoooo!


    He roared once, and hair started to grow all over his body as his form grew. Within seconds, he turned into the enormous gold wolf from before. There was even red light, visible to the naked eye, on its fangs and claws, overflowing with brilliant lights and vibrant color. It caused people to be afraid of the danger and beauty that accompanied it.


    "That''s bloodsucking teeth, its teeth can draw out the blood of its opponent to become its own life force!" Florina shouted loudly.


    "Black Magic technique? No¡­ it''s just its nature from transforming into an enormous wolf. It''s the same as the other Night Family Clan!" A gold light flashed in Fang Yuan''s eyes, and he was able to understand everything.


    If Masters were said to be Sorcerers that were able to self-learn to become successful, then the people that had technique abilities in the Night Family Clan would be much more similar to Confucian Scholars that were completely dependent on their natural endowments.


    They could only master their own clan''s unique techniques and couldn''t cross over. Even more so, it depended on one''s luck and strength to awake the ability.


    Furthermore, this Head Wolf of the Alpha Family, Rogo, was someone whose blood had very thick power to the point that he didn''t need to learn and could automatically become a natural-born Confucian Scholar.


    However, it was a pity that he could only awaken this one technique.


    If it met with a Master that was long prepared, it could definitely be killed through various types of heavy and complicated techniques.


    "Bloodsucking teeth, draw life?" Fang Yuan smiled, and his hands suddenly became a deathly pale color. "If the opponent is a dead spirit without any blood, what will you draw then?"


    "Dead Spirit Hands?!"


    Even if he had predicted it earlier on, to be able to see Fang Yuan openly throw down and display the Black Magic technique that he treasured, Carson couldn''t help but become deeply shocked.


    Woowoo!


    In the air, an angry spirit that was filled with negative energy appeared and pounced straight towards Rogo''s enormous white wolf transformation.


    Ahwhoooo!


    Rogo slashed around with his claws and fangs, but the hair on his body was obviously drooping fast enough to be seen by the naked eye.


    "Light Spirit skill! Speed Increasing skill! Werewolf Kill!"


    Fang Yuan''s feet didn''t stop, it was as if his whole body had transformed into the wind. With the addition of the Black Magic technique, his speed had broken through his previous limit.


    Silver light flashed around, and a few enormous wolves that leaped over collapsed immediately, spraying flesh blood all over the place.


    Suddenly, he appeared in front of Rogo and struck out a fist.


    The enormous wolf, as tall and large as a horse, flew out like a cannonball and crashed into who-knows-how-many trees, with its tongue dangling out, panting.


    Suddenly, a white flash appeared, and the wolf transformed back into the appearance of an old man, seemingly very miserable.


    "Bring me deep into the ''Confusion Lock,'' or else, your Alpha Family will cease to exist today!" Fang Yuan''s Starry Night rested on top of Rogo''s neck as he spoke with a tone that couldn''t be questioned.


    "Impossible¡­ today isn''t the date set by fate¡­" Old Rogo looked at the hole in his chest that was decomposed by the negative energy of the dead spirit, and he said while struggling.


    "The limit of my will is what was set by fate! Make your choice!" Fang Yuan replied without any reservations.


    "This is¡­ the strength of a Demon Hunter?"


    Carson and Florina witnessed a slightly familiar scene and turned completely sluggish.


    Although there were no Masters in the Alpha Family, there were many members that could transform into wolves, and their combat ability was even one level higher compared to the Black Scale Club.


    However, right now, the man in front of them was still the same; it was as if he was a speck of dust being blown away lightly, he was utterly defeated.


    "Alright! I''ll bring you there!" Who-knows-what Old Rogo was thinking as he suddenly changed his words.


    "Hmm?" Fang Yuan glanced towards Carson.


    "Sir!" he bowed instantly and used a humble tone to say, "According to our ancestors'' records, they set up a trap within the ''Confusion Lock'' as a final layer of protection for the Dead Sea Ancient Scroll¡­ I think Head Wolf Rogo is thinking of using the trap against you!"


    "Carson¡­ You traitor!"


    Looking at how the other party betrayed him by revealing its biggest secret, Rogo scolded him loudly.


    "Trap? Then let''s go and see it!" Fang Yuan gave a small smile. "What''s the general content?"


    "Based on what I know, it should be a living organism that was produced from a Black Magic technique! It would usually sleep in the ''Confusion Lock''. Even if we entered it, we would be attacked regardless as well!"


    Since he had already betrayed them once, Carson didn''t mind spilling out more secrets.


    "Very well, bring me there!" Fang Yuan used his sword to pat Rogo on the cheek. "Call a few of your men to transform into wolves for us to ride!"


    "You¡­" The veins on Rogo''s forehead protruded out as he received such a grave insult, but he didn''t refute in the end. Instead, he let out a long howl.


    A few enormous wolves ran over from within the trees and silently took up the responsibility of transportation, bringing the few of them into the dense fog.


    "As expected, the barrier!"


    In the depths of the dense fog, not only was vision heavily obstructed, but Fang Yuan also felt an indistinct kind of suppression and danger.


    "Looks like the ancestors of these two clans weren''t trash."


    In the silence, the enormous wolves ran at the speed of light. The fog ahead of them dispersed, and their vision extended as an ancient cemetery appeared.


    "Greedy person! Do not go against fate, or else your soul will be tortured in the flames forever!"


    Various languages were carved on a large stone tablet in front of the cemetery to give a warning to the people in the future.


    "Hmph! Let''s go!" Fang Yuan didn''t care about it and was the first one to enter the cemetery.


    The whole design of the cemetery was simple. It was made from layered large stones. The sculpture was filled with a unique beauty and charm.


    And before the center of the coffin chamber was another large stone door. There were two sculptures, a Night Demon Person and a Werewolf, at both sides of the stone door. It was made realistically as if it was true to life.


    "Rogo!" Carson called out once and went forward to hold onto the arms of the Night Demon Person.


    Rogo sighed and performed the same action.


    "With our name, our blood, the agreement enacted in ancient times¡­"


    The two of them mumbled as if they were performing a mysterious ritual.


    Crack! Kaboom!


    After they did that, the enormous stone door to the coffin chamber opened, falling to both sides and revealing a dark cavern.


    Whooo!


    A stream of air leaked out before an enormous existence attacked promptly.


    As though an ancient large beast, that was sleeping, suddenly awakened. The characteristics of the vast presence caused the two clan heads to tremble greatly.


    "What is happening? Why do I get the impression I can sense a predator?"


    "This is the presence of the peak of high-class blood, one that brings a sense of comfort¡ªfear and comfort mixed together¡­ Is this chaos?"


    Carson and Rogo were both slightly shocked, giving their full attention to the coffin pit.


    Florina couldn''t bear it, her whole body almost becoming weak and limp on the floor.


    Whooo!


    Accompanying an exhaling noise, an outline of a demon gradually appeared from the darkness.


    It had the appearance of an enormous wolf, its body wasn''t wrapped in hair but dense, black scales. There was even a tiny horn on its head.


    It had walked out of the coffin pit and then looked up to the sky and roared once. A pair of bat-like wings suddenly appeared from behind its back.


    "What¡­ is this creature?"


    Carson and Rogo were bewildered. This was also their first time seeing this demon but felt that it was closely related to their clans.


    "Interesting! Really interesting!" Seeing it, Fang Yuan eyes glittered. "Biologically modified? unification of blood?"


    He could clearly see that this Night Demon Wolf had the blood of both Night Demon People and Werewolves. This power had pushed it to the position at the peak of the High-Class Bloods, it was probably only one foot away from an Evil Demon.


    Despite the blood being very strong, it was a pity that its ruthless eyes didn''t reveal much intelligence.


    It was currently staring at everyone as it seemed to see delicious food.


    Ahwhoooo!


    The Night Demon Wolf tilted its head up and roared, shocking sound waves dispersed, delivering a powerful attack towards one''s mind. It was just like the ''Wail of the Banshee.''


    Both of Florina''s eyes rolled back, she and fainted on the ground.


    As for Carson and Rogo, their entire bodies turned to jelly, and they froze on the floor, laying down in such a way that they had no ability to defend themselves.


    "Such a good dog!" Fang Yuan''s eyes became brighter and brighter as he saw it. It would be very beneficial for his blood transfusion idea if he was able to study this type of technique in details.


    Ahwhoooo!


    At this moment, the Night Demon Wolf''s focus was attracted to Fang Yuan, who stood upright and didn''t fall. It jumped on all fours and viciously leaped forward.


    At the same time, the wings behind it expanded, and its speed increased non-stop as if it was gliding.


    "Morning Stars Swordsmanship¡ªWerewolf Kill!"


    Fang Yuan''s Starry Night turned, and a silver ray flew forth, landing on the side of the demon wolf''s lower back, in the blink of an eye.


    Whoosh!


    A ray of firelight appeared. The dense, black scales firmly shielded against the sudden stab of Starry Night, like a layer of hard armor. Only a few scales dropped amidst a string of flaming sparks.


    Ahwhoooo!


    However, the Night Demon Wolf was angered by this, and it roared again, the formless sound waves swept towards Fang Yuan.


    During this mental attack, it flew and pounced again, a blood-red glow appeared on the surface of its claws and teeth.


    "Flaming Hands!"


    Fang Yuan''s movement was rapid. Based on the level of his true spirit, the mental attack was nothing to him.


    While he was stepping back, a layer of flames appeared on his palm, and he ruthlessly slapped at the Night Demon Wolf!

 613 Lose-lose Situation

    Kaboom!


    Flames exploded. The Night Demon Wolf shook its entire body, and it actually charged towards Fang Yuan while enduring the strong flames that were burning it.


    Fang Yuan inhaled a deep breath, the sword in his hands seemed to transform into stars.


    The air moved and his presence became concentrated. The scene of a dark, starry night appeared.


    Promptly, a white ray appeared from the east and swept across the vast sky, ripping it into pieces.


    "Morning Stars Swordsmanship¡ªDawn!"


    Swoosh!


    Just like the first rise of the sun, a condensed sword light with a grand demeanor came crashing down on the Night Demon Wolf''s forehead.


    Bang!


    Accompanying the loud noise, the Night Demon Wolf smacked into the ceiling of the coffin chamber. A large amount of stone came crashing down.


    In fact, a clear crack could be seen in its iron head.


    "Phew¡­" Fang Yuan exhaled a long breath. "The third state¡ªDawn¡­ condenses the air in one''s whole body in order to attack once. As expected, it consumes a lot of energy¡­"


    Woowoo!


    Sploosh!


    The Night Demon Wolf stood up and shook off all the stones and ashes on it. It was slightly afraid of moving forward.


    Clearly, it was heavily injured.


    "However¡­ as one of the peak High-Class Bloods, the value of its various attributes should be above 50¡­ If our attributes are the same, it should''ve died immediately after my attack, but it can still withstand it with its strong constitution."


    A golden glow glittered in Fang Yuan''s eyes as he initiated an attack.


    Moonlight-like rays of sword radiance fell on the body of the Night Demon Wolf, causing the opponent to let out long roars.


    "Too¡­ Too powerful!"


    Rogo''s and Carson''s jaws dropped as they watch the scene unfold.


    The secret weapon that their clan''s ancestors jointly created, unexpectedly, couldn''t withstand an attack from this Demon Hunter?


    Thinking about the flattering words their ancestors had said about this trap, they suddenly doubted themselves deeply.


    Ahwhoooo!


    The Night Demon Wolf let out a shrill roar, its speed suddenly rose rapidly, and it clawed at Fang Yuan.


    "Morning Stars Swordsmanship¡ªDefend!"


    Fang Yuan seemed to have some sort of power to escape. He used the guarding technique and staggered one step backward.


    Zap! Zap!


    At that moment, there was a turn in events!


    In the midst of nothingness, a distorted light form and a translucent shadow suddenly appeared behind Fang Yuan, and a dagger slashed towards his lower back!


    Trouble in one''s own backyard!


    The dagger was pure black and was glimmering with sharp light. It was clearly a Demon Weapon that definitely wasn''t low-class or middle-class weapon; its curse had a definite kill effect!


    Moreover, the human form''s ability to conceal itself was incredible. Nearly everyone at the scene didn''t sense it.


    "!#@ the one I''m waiting for!" Fang Yuan''s mouth curled up to reveal a strange smile.


    In this hopeless state, he suddenly moved!


    Swoosh!


    His figure was like lightning, completely going against one''s normal bearing. He sidestepped before leaping forward, and, as if he was flying, he didn''t use any strength to leave the battlefield, softly landing on the coffin pit.


    At this moment, the others could see a translucent rope in his hands, as well as a black, sharp claw.


    Shady Flow Flying Claw!


    Ghoul''s hold!


    The terrifying results of this Demon Weapon, which was meticulously created by Fang Yuan himself, was finally revealed as it provided him with shocking mobility in various complicated terrain.


    Ahwhoooo!


    Ding!


    At this moment, it was just as if Fang Yuan, who had had been pincered between his attackers, vanished into thin air. The scene became a battle between the Night Demon Wolf and the person who had attacked him sneakily.


    This was to the point that they had no choice but to give their all in order to save themselves. The injuries on the Night Demon Wolf worsened, and the dagger of the attacker was like a poisonous snake that came out from its hole, killing with one blow.


    Poof!


    Amidst the spurting of fresh blood, the dagger ruthlessly stabbed into the enormous wolf''s right eye. The attacker was also clawed in the chest, viciously causing him to be sent flying.


    The enormous wolf cried out once before collapsing on the floor, unable to stand up again.


    "A Demon Weapon specialized in sneak attacks? It would be equally troublesome if I were to come in contact with the curse in my current state¡­"


    Fang Yuan didn''t bother about the Night Demon Wolf but, instead, went to meet the ambusher.


    The other party obviously wasn''t human, yet it had a human''s form. It had pale skin, blood-shot eyes, and some weird, golden patterns on its skin that formed a type of curse.


    "Night Family Clan¡ªConcealed Demon Killer?" Fang Yuan could recognized it quickly.


    Concealed Demon Killers had high-class blood as well, and they were infamous assassins amongst the Night Family Clan.


    They were gifted in acting, and they could totally imitate the movements and form of a species, concealing their own scent to the minimum.


    Moreover, they would also acquire a few gifts that were very suitable for assassinations when the symbols on their skin grew completely. They were notorious among Demon Hunters.


    Previously, the one that had snatched away the legendary gun¡ªMonster Sob, and killed Gun God Homan Chet, was a Concealed Demon Killer!


    Plus, this Night Family Clan was obviously one of the excellent ones that had awakened the gift of invisibility, to the point that even the Night Demon Wolf''s ''Wail of the Banshee'' couldn''t force it to reveal itself.


    Unfortunately, its hard work wasn''t effective under Fang Yuan''s Fiery Golden Eyes. Instead, he took advantage of his Shady Flow Flying Claw and caused both of his two opponents to injure one another and be in a lose-lose situation.


    "Did you think that I would overlook the third force that was spying on the treasure in ''Confusion Lock''¡­" Fang Yuan took a step forward. "after you informed Rogo?"


    "Demon Hunter! You won''t be pleased for long!" The Concealed Demon Killer''s voice was fragmented, causing people to feel that it was agonizingly sharp, "The Mother of Reproduction will return. This world, will, in the end, be ruled under the Evil Demons!"


    "You may have escaped your fate of being hunted down this time, but¡­ there won''t be a next time!"


    In the next moment, the countless patterns on its body glowed, and its whole body slowly faded into nothingness.


    "Hollowfication? Or the ability to spiritualize?" Fang Yuan sneered, a golden glow flashed across his pupils. Unexpectedly, black claws flew out and held onto the top of the coffin pit, bringing him into the air. "Morning Stars Swordsmanship¡ªDawn!"


    Swoosh!


    The concise glow of the starry sword appeared and swept through space.


    Splatters of blood appeared, and the Concealed Demon Killer, who was originally injured, was injured even more and fell onto the ground. It roared with a hoarse voice, "Impossible¡­ why are you able to see through my invisibility?"


    "A dead person doesn''t need to know so much!"


    The sword in Fang Yuan''s hand slashed through the Concealed Demon Killer''s neck. A head flew off, blood spurting out like a fountain.


    "Leaving it alone is too dangerous. As a High-Class Blood, it would be difficult to control¡­ Anyways, it was sent by an unknown dark force to get the treasure and is a Demon Hunter''s enemy from the start, its information wouldn''t be worth much¡­" Fang Yuan slowly put away his sword and looked at the Night Demon Wolf.


    It was indeed a modified organism with two types of blood running through its veins. Although it had low intelligence, its life force was stubbornly strong. It could actually endure the curse of the dagger.


    Of course, it could only struggle on at death''s door when it saw Fang Yuan coming.


    "This Concealed Demon Killer had, instead, provided me with great assistance. Otherwise, I would''ve had no idea how to silence this large dog¡­" Although there were many thoughts on his mind, Fang Yuan walked into the coffin pit first.


    The whole room was empty, the reeking smell of a wild beast still lingered inside. In the heart of the room was a wooden box on a stone platform which was protected and surrounded by a circle of white light.


    The rumored treasure that the Alpha Family and the Black Scale Club guarded together, a page of the Dead Sea Ancient Scroll, was sitting there silently and could be easily taken.


    "Why does it look like there''s a trap somewhere¡­" Fang Yuan''s eyes emitted a golden glow. He looked at the surrounding area and understood.


    "The Night Demon Wolf is the trap guarding it. There''s a layer of spells on the stone platform that will activate when triggered¡­ It''s permanently placed there with the formation of an array. What trial will one encounter if the wooden box is taken away?"


    He looked and looked again. A smile appeared on his face. "This challenge is actually leaning towards the aspects of Sacred Light and the mind."


    Those that were heavily interested with the Dead Sea Ancient Scroll were mostly from the Night Family Clan and other Masters. This preventive measure would naturally be very effective.


    However, towards Fang Yuan?


    He walked two steps forward and held the box in his hand.


    Kaboom!


    The entire white array moved, and a righteous and terrifying, powerful force that was suppressing the sacred purity of the mental power entered his body.


    Bang!


    In the end, this power was like a huge wave that crashed onto the reefs¡ªit broke down into ashes within a split second.


    Fang Yuan even absorbed it and transformed it into his own power.


    "Even the Evil Demons have no qualification to touch my true spirit¡ªonly the Mother of Reproduction might be able to do so!"


    He laughed lightly and opened the wooden box.


    It was empty aside from a page at the bottom. It seemed ancient and was yellowed, made from goat-skin.


    Many blood-like words danced on the paper, as they, together with pictures, magically appeared.


    Although there was only one page, the amount of content it had exceeded that of many books combined.


    "The true names of Evil Demons isn''t something that can be casually written out on a normal book. They''re written in an abstract spell that''s between the second-dimension and the third-dimension¡­"


    Just by seeing the blood-colored words, Fang Yuan felt that the trip had been worthwhile.


    This type of pure Evil Demon language was equivalent to a part of the Evil Demon''s regulations, opening a large door for him.


    "In the rumors, Dead Sea Ancient Scroll is a secret treasure to the Night Family Clan. It recorded not only the true names of many Evil Demons and top secrets of the Night Family Clan, the main point is that after gathering all of the ancient pages, it also has the power to summon the Mother of Reproduction!"


    In actual truth, there was no need for the Mother of Reproduction.


    Even if there was only the name of the Evil Demon King, the most powerful Evil Demon, Desire, it was also enough for the entire Night Family Clan to go crazy.


    After all, the Mother of Reproduction was the source of everything; whereas Desire was the most power existence amongst the Night Family Clan.


    Unfortunately, the other party''s darkness offsprings had mysteriously vanished during the time of the unified empire.


    There was always a rumor amongst the Night Family Clan that it would be impossible for the Dark Empire to be destroyed, and there was no way that the Demon Hunters could rise up if the Mother of Reproduction returned.


    As the Evil Demon King that controlled desire, it had the strongest power in the world!


    "Unfortunately¡­ this page doesn''t seem to have the Desire''s true name!"


    Fang Yuan properly put away the Dead Sea Ancient Scroll and went out of the coffin pit.


    At this moment, the Night Demon Wolf was on its last breath. It didn''t even have the strength to open its eyes.


    "Overcome me! I gift you the right to continue living!"


    Regarding this, Fang Yuan had a cold expression and ruthlessly branded its consciousness.

 614 Departure

    Whooo! Whooo¡­


    As if it had heard those words, the Night Demon Wolf pried open its right eye.


    As it was a monster that was born from a Black Magic technique, it didn''t have much intelligence. It only had the minor ability of a wild beast, and it was cursed to guard the coffin chamber till death takes it away.


    However, the coffin chamber was damaged by Fang Yuan, and it had failed its mission. At the moment, the effect of the curse had also stopped and vanished along with the array.


    As the wild beast''s nature emerged, the desire to be live overcame it.


    It looked at the human in front of it. The other party had a familiar aura, just like the sacred platform it had guarded and protected.


    Hence, the resistance it originally had faded. The Night Demon Wolf softly mourned, implying that it had acknowledged its allegiance to Fang Yuan.


    "Great!"


    For these types of demons, Dream Masters had their own techniques to control them as long as the other party was willing to open its heart to receive them.


    Fang Yuan nodded his head, his right hand holding onto a dagger.


    Sizzle!


    A wisp of smoke was immediately released from his palm as if it had corrosive capabilities.


    Poof!


    Without even frowning, he viciously pulled out the dagger, allowing a jet of blood to spurt out.


    The Night Demon Wolf screamed in agony and almost collapsed onto the ground. It kept sticking its tongue out, a huge amount of blood gushed out from its eyes.


    "A pretty decent cursed dagger. If it went in deeper and into your brain, no one would''ve been able to help you." Fang Yuan looked at the black dagger in his hand.


    This dagger was obviously a high-class Demon Weapon. It was only 10 inches long, 2 fingers wide. Its body was bent at an angle, glowing with a dark shine as if it had absorbed the surrounding light.


    At the end of the dagger''s handle was a sculpture of an unknown, weird bird. Its eyes were bright red, its beak curved. It looked very ferocious and brutal.


    "A high-class Demon Weapon that''s specialized in assassination. The curse within doesn''t seem to differentiate between the enemy and its own people¡­" Looking at the Night Demon Wolf that was bleeding profusely, Fang Yuan recited in a low voice, "on the surface, it has the [Bleeding] effect which resulted in profuse bleeding?"


    The so-called curse was, in actual fact, related to pharmaceutics and alchemy.


    With the imitation currently on hand, Fang Yuan was slightly confident in his ability to save the Night Demon Wolf.


    He wouldn''t lose anything even if he couldn''t save it, right?


    ¡­


    "When you''re observing the darkness, the Evil Demons in the darkness, are also looking at you!


    "Follow your heart''s desire and, with your blood as the link, make a vow towards the great presence in the dark in order to conclude the eternal deed¡­


    "The root of all Evil Demons is the great Mother of Reproduction. The strongest among the Evil Demons is the king¡ªDesire; while the one that can exist in the dark deed is the Evil Demon Ainz Ural Gown¡­"


    As if it was written with fresh human blood, the bright red Evil Demon language constantly changed, revealing various kinds of Night Family Clan secrets.


    However, Fang Yuan abruptly stopped reading half-way through.


    "Interesting¡­ It contains a little poison and bewitchment. If I read the true name out loud, I''m afraid that the Dark Evil Demon would be summoned out¡­" He muttered to himself before reading on.


    The words on the Dead Sea Ancient Scroll revealed a large amount of information, thus, reading it was consumed a lot of energy.


    It was to the point that if a normal Master were to read it forcefully, then he might exhaust his physical and mental strength, becoming a lunatic.


    After a long time, Fang Yuan put down the Dead Sea Ancient Scroll and rubbed his eyes.


    "Most of the information in this entire scroll has extremely incomplete and damaged curses and true names. Based on its sorry state, it wouldn''t be useful without more pages¡­


    "However, those that are much more incomplete and damaged have useful information. This includes part of the funeral oration and a few different ways to use weapons¡­ After completing them, or if I lower my expectations, I can try them out.


    "The real completed ones are the true names of a few Evil Demon, and also research on taking advantage of the power of the blood¡­"


    In actual fact, Fang Yuan suspected that the ancestors of the Black Scale Club and the Alpha Family had gotten the knowledge from the Dead Sea Ancient Scroll before they were able to create the Night Demon Wolf, a monster that had mixed blood.


    "There''s also research on the blood amongst the Evil Demons?"


    Fang Yuan looked at the page of the Dead Sea Ancient Scroll. He really wanted to find an experiment lab and hole up there to continue researching if he wasn''t in a hurry.


    Unfortunately, he couldn''t!


    John Town was no longer safe, the underlings of the Evil Demons would be there at any moment.


    Needless to say, the Demon Hunter branch in the Hurin area would soon be attacked by a terrifying force!


    Due to the unique nature of the Masters, where they liked to go back and forth between the two sides, the information they had gotten from the Evil Demons was most likely true. The main point was that the Demon Hunters in the Hurin area wouldn''t have much protection!


    After all, Flaming Evil Demon Seth? It was defeated at the hands of Daybreak Sword. How many Demon Hunters would believe that he could create a much larger ruckus? Unless they had gotten more concrete evidence!


    Unfortunately, Fang Yuan didn''t have such a thing.


    "Even disregarding Uncle Jock, Almon, Peter, and the others in the area, who knew what it would be like if the Demon Hunter branch was breached. This is the only opportunity for the imitation Scared Cup to fall into my hands!"


    Even though Fang Yuan''s position in the branch had risen, it still was impossible for him to get an unlimited amount of Sacred Water.


    However, it would be different after he snatched the Sacred Cup!


    His own strength hasn''t hit a bottleneck, hence, he only needed enough resources in order to advance by leaps and bounds.


    As for ingredients, were the Black Scale Club and the Alpha Family outside not ready-made ingredients?


    Fang Yuan walked out of the room and reached the garden outside.


    Many blood descendants of the Black Scale Club used a reverent gaze to look at him.


    "How''s the small wolf?"


    "After the treatment and medicine from Sir, it''s feeling much better. It''s currently eating!"


    Fang Yuan followed his servant to a giant storehouse and promptly saw the Night Demon Wolf. It had its right eye bandaged, turning it into a one-eyed monster. It was eating with great relish under the service of the Alpha Werewolves.


    Whole cows and goats were brought in front of it. The enormous wolf then opened its huge mouth, and half of the food disappeared.


    Ahwhoooo!


    As it saw Fang Yuan arriving, the Night Demon Wolf instantly stood up and went to his side, using its hair to rub against Fang Yuan affectionately.


    Once this type of wild beast acknowledged its master, it loyalty would exceed normal human beings.


    "Fenrir, sit down!"


    Fang Yuan made the Night Demon Wolf crouch on the ground and looked at its wound. "Hmm¡­ It really is healing better after the power of the curse had been removed. You''ve also supplemented your original life force after consuming lots of food¡­"


    He gave this wolf the name of a well-known large demon dog from the previous world. It was obvious that he had high hopes for it.


    "The technique of the Black Scale Club and the Alpha''s ancestors were too coarse¡­ Of course, this was related to their poor deciphering ability. If it was me, I would combine the Black Magic technique with pharmaceutics and might even strengthen Fenrir!"


    Fang Yuan looked at Fenrir. "One head is too few, I wonder if you have any interest in turning into a Cerberus[1.Three-headed dog that guards hell]?"


    Woowoo!


    Although it didn''t know what Fang Yuan meant, Fenrir''s hair stood up instantly as its respect for its master increased again.


    "Sir!"


    At this moment, Carson and Rogo rushed over. Even though they might be unwilling in their hearts, they weren''t obvious on the surface and greeted Fang Yuan by bowing respectfully.


    "I shall soon return to the Hurin area. I suggest that both of you should also move immediately!" Fang Yuan said slowly.


    The force that was able to send out a Concealed Demon Killer, along with a high-class Demon Weapon, wasn''t simple no matter how he looked at it.


    He was able to foil the opponent''s plot this time but revenge would soon follow after.


    At that time, these two small Master clans would become fine powder.


    "Sir¡­ our properties, our ancestors are all buried here¡­" Rogo said slowly, yet the meaning was obvious.


    "Alright!" Fang Yuan shrugged. "If you meet any trouble in the future, remember to go to the Hurin area. If I''m still there, I''ll definitely provide protection!"


    He glanced Florina who was hiding behind them, smiled as he waved his hands, and turned to mount Fenrir''s back.


    Ahwhoooo!


    The enormous wolf roared and charged out of the storehouse in a split second. It moved its limbs excitedly and vanished into the horizon swiftly.


    "Finally gone!"


    Rogo and Carson sighed at the same time and looked at each other with an alert gaze.


    Compared to them, Florina had a complicated expression. "Goodbye¡­ wild scholar!"


    ¡­


    Hurin area, Demon Hunter branch.


    Branch president¡ªDaybreak Sword Seres, Vice President Flock, and the holder of the imitation Sacred Cup¡ªRoger, gathered together; the atmosphere was heavy and solemn.


    "There''s information from several Master clans that have good relations with us. The attack Evil Demon Seth is going to launch should be real¡­"


    The injury that Flock previously received had almost healed. He had currently recovered the charisma of a powerful master. "I suggest that we summon and gather all Demon Hunters and teach a lesson to that bunch of dark wild beasts. We''ll let them know that it''s no longer the time of the dark empire. The world belongs to us, humans!"


    "Cough cough¡­" Roger coughed, "Seth is someone who was vanquished by Sir President''s hand, and it will be the same no matter how many time he comes. However, it clearly has something to rely on as it dares to attack this time¡­ has Sir President investigated in-depth?"


    "The whereabouts of the Evil Demons are, in actual fact, under the monitoring and control of the headquarters. Unless it''s going to undergo the blood ritual that it had previously performed, it will be difficult to use the summon door method for the advent of his true body¡­" Seres spit out a huge secret. As the main power that disintegrated the dark empire back then, Demon Hunter''s would naturally have trump cards that others might not know of. Just by slightly exposing one of them would shock the world.


    "If it''s only a bunch of high-class clans, we wouldn''t need any reinforcement. With our branch''s strength, we can definitely win it! We''ll just have to set up the trap properly¡­" A ferocious look flashed across Flock''s eyes.


    "Major reinforcements won''t work. Moreover, by using my connections, I''ve already found two old friends. They''ve agreed to swing by when the time comes!" Seres said slowly.


    "Since that''s the case, what are we worried about?"


    Roger and Flock were elated. The old friends of Daybreak Sword, would naturally be Titled Demon Hunters as well!


    Under the lead of three Titled Demon Hunters, even the Evil Demon would be losing out, and could even be killed head on!

 615 Eyesore

    &lt;p&gt;Fang Yuan walked into the Demon Hunter branch and could feel that the atmosphere was clearly different from usual.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;After rushing to the Hurin area and meeting Almon and the others, he set Fenrir down at the villa as their protector. He then went to the branch on his own. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;As he entered the main hall, the uproarious atmosphere rushed out with the stream of bustling people.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;"Almost all of the Demon Hunters that belong to this branch are here." Fang Yuan nodded his head. "But with only the manpower of this branch, how can the President be so confident?"&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;He casually found a place to sit down and went on to contemplate if he should find Master Soma to inquire about the relevant information.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;After all, as the head pharmacist in the branch, he would have much more information than average Demon Hunters.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;"Hulk!"&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;At this time, a middle-aged man, carrying an ammunition belt and holding onto a double-barreled hunting gun, sat in front of Fang Yuan, his eyes shone with admiration.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;"Uncle Jock¡­" Fang Yuan greeted him, his face took on a ghastly expression. "Aren''t you already retired?"&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;"Hurin area is my home, there''s no other choice," Jock patted his old partner in his hands. "I''ll never let those beasts harm this place." &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;After sitting down, he lowered his voice, "In actual fact¡­ I''m forced to. If the local Demon Hunter branch is attacked, do you think that my small bar can still continue to operate?"&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;In the entire Hurin area, places like Axe Bar were where Demon Hunters gathered. It could be understood as the external force of this branch.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Hence, they were also places that would be eliminated first when the branch was attacked. It could be said that it was no longer safe.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;"I had already temporarily closed the bar as the traces of the Night Family Clan near it had increased. I also brought your Aunt Sophia and Mary to this branch." Jock said, "Sir Daybreak Sword is there, personally overseeing it, and the protection here is the strongest. Moreover, that Evil Demon was an opponent that was also defeated by Sir!"&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;It was obvious that he had complete faith towards the protection of the branch and had no thoughts of it being breached.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;"Okay¡­" Fang Yuan was speechless.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Shouldn''t the true rational choice be bringing his whole family as far away from here as possible? &lt;/em&gt;He thought silently and couldn''t understand.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;"After all, I''m a Demon Hunter who had taken the vow and was disciplined. Even though I''ve retired, I''ll still want to fight against evil¡­" Uncle Jock said firmly, but promptly laughed bitterly, "also¡­ did you know that some of the Night Family Clans are secretly attacking our outgoing transportation? They''re like mice, we can''t possibly provide every troop Elite Demon Hunters to protect them, right?"&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;"I see!" Fang Yuan nodded his head and took out a few bottles of medicament. "Uncle, please keep these few medicaments properly."&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;"These are¡­ healing medicament? Sacred light medicament? And high purity Sacred Water?"&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Jock saw them and stared with his eyes. "Do you know that their value in private deals has soared to the sky!"&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;As an old Demon Hunter, he would, of course, know that battle supplies were equivalent to one''s life now, and he was very touched. "Hulk, you¡­"&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;"It''s alright, I''m also a pharmacist!"&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Fang Yuan dismissed Jock''s worries. "I can already produce such basic medicaments."&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;"Really¡­" As expected, Jock released a long breath, and he was a little embarrassed, "the two treatment water from before was too much!"&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;With two bottles of treatment water on hand, he had no idea how many low-rank Demon Hunters he had attracted. They wanted to pair up with him.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;This was naturally beneficial in increasing his survival rate.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Fang Yuan smiled but didn''t say much. After a few more words, he stood up to bid farewell.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;"Boss¡­ could he be that Hulk?"&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;After Fang Yuan left, a few Demon Hunters came over and surrounded Jock, envious. "It''s good to have such a nephew! As the assistant of Master Soma, he''ll most definitely be able to get a lot of precious medicaments now right?" &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;"Of course!" Jock pushed his chest out proudly. "He''s already a pharmacist now!"&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;"That''s¡­"&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;His demon hunter partners were all shocked, and was speechless for almost half a day, "That''s¡­ too amazing." &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;"Yes, it''s such a pity!" However, a female hunter who was in front of them, and had her back facing them, drinking alcohol, used a bantering tone and said, "you have let go of a son-in-law with such a bright future¡­ keke¡­"&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;"B*st*rd, what did you say?"&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The group of Demon Hunters that looked up to Jock as the boss instantly became angry. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;"It''s you, Lusha!"&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;However, Jock looked a little awkward when he saw the female Demon Hunter and prevented his buddies from causing trouble. Even so, he said with a little guilt, "Erm¡­ please take this treatment water!"&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;He scratched the back of his head and stretched out his hand to hand over a medicament.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Seeing this, Lusha''s face became even colder. "I don''t need it, use it yourself! Remember not to die because I''ll personally take back what you owe me!"&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;With that, she stood up and walked off, leaving Jock the view of her proud back.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;"Lusha¡­"&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The members beside him looked amongst themselves. One of the older ones smacked his own forehead suddenly. "I remember¡ªisn''t she the ''cold rose'' that had a scandal with Boss during the days? However, no one knew why they broke up. Boss married Sophia instead, and they gave birth to his daughter Mary¡­"&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;"No one will take you as a mute if you don''t talk!"&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;After listening to the scoop, Jock''s face was as black as the bottom of a pot[1.Means that he is extremely angry].&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;¡­&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;As for the tiny episode happening behind him, Fang Yuan naturally didn''t know about it. Even if he knew, he wouldn''t be bothered by it.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;He had currently reached the front of Master Soma''s experiment lab. He took out his keys to unlock the main door and walked in.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;"D*mn it¡­ Didn''t I tell you before that you''re not supposed to disturb me? My task is too heavy, I have no more healing medicament to bring out!"&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Master Soma called out anxiously but reacted suddenly. "Wait, how can an outsider enter my experiment lab?"&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;He turned and rubbed his swollen and red eyes, suddenly becoming elated. "It''s Hulk! You rascal, you''re finally back!"&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;"After hearing about the branch''s matter, I rushed back immediately!"&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Fang Yuan skillfully changed into his pharmacist uniform. It was a robe that looked like a Chinese white, long gown. He said, "How are things? Do you need my help?" &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;"Of course!" Soma nodded his head continuously, "you won''t know that the herbs I needed to manage have already been piled up into a mountain, and as for the disciples that the branch sent¡­ They''re dumber than an idi*t! They can''t even separate the simplest Dracaena draco! They even spoiled a few of my machines¡ªthey deserve to die!"&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;He seemed to be very gratified. "You''re a true Demon Hunter. You''re still willing to rush back in this situation, but you don''t have to worry, it''s definitely safe inside our branch. This is especially the case for the few important departments. There''ll be powerful Demon Hunters that are specifically asked to patrol around. I''ll request the President to allow you to be my assistant. You won''t have to go to the battleground." &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;"Then I shall thank you first!" Fang Yuan said with a smile. His hands were like a butterfly that wouldn''t stop moving. It was filled with a sense of beauty that was natural and wasn''t forced. He separated the ingredients, one by one.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Master Soma instantly released a long breath and began to have the strength to chat. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;"Isn''t it just an invasion from an Evil Demon? Which branch hasn''t experienced it? You don''t have to worry about it this time¡ªSeth was defeated by President Daybreak Sword, moreover¡­" He lowered his voice and continued, "Sir President has invited over two Titled Demon Hunters, hence, it''s perfectly safe!"&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;"¡­" Fang Yuan was speechless.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Soma was basically a blabbermouth, the type that didn''t even have half a gate to filter what he said.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Without him even trying to, Soma had automatically revealed the precious information himself.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;"Three S-grade Titled Demon Hunters?"&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;At this moment, his heart calculated things even faster.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;"Even if Seth could bring one or two reinforcements, it looks like the branch is as steady as Tai Mountain¡­ Needless to say, other Demon Hunter branches, as well as the headquarters would keep a close watch on the whereabouts of the Evil Demons, even if the branch did not look for reinforcements. Looks like it really is perfectly safe!" &lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;However, he was very clear that there was no such thing as an absolute in this world. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;This especially applied to this moment right now. The entire Demon Hunter branch looked nervous, but the higher-ups were all very confident. It was easier for something to go wrong.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;"Soma, you still have the heart to engage in small talk at this time?" A voice interjected suddenly, it was ancient and sharp, it was also accompanied with a challenging tone, "looks like it was the right decision to come over and check on your progress!"&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;"Roger, Sir, I was just too excited because I could guarantee that I''ll be able to finish the task this time!" Soma hit his own chest, "I''d like Demon Hunter Hulk over here to be my assistant!"&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;"Vice President!" Seeing Roger''s examining gaze over him, Fang Yuan bowed slightly to greet him. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;"As a Demon Hunter, are you finding an opportunity to avoid the battle?" Roger snorted once and wasn''t grateful at all. Instead, he fussed, "Demon Hunter, you have to remember your own vow, to scrupulously abide by the seven ''taboos''!" &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;It was clear that any Sacred Weapon holder, even the imitation Sacred Weapon holders, were fanatical followers of the Demon Hunter tenet, a dogmatist. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Roger didn''t know that Fang Yuan was out previously and had rushed back especially after hearing the news that the branch would be breached.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;He only looked at Fang Yuan as a Demon Hunter who was supposed to be on the frontline but had found an excuse to be left at the logistics department. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Hence, he wasn''t happy.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;"Cough cough¡­ branch vice president, Sir, he''s Hulk! He''s my favorite assistant, a genius in pharmaceutics!" Soma couldn''t hold back and emphasized, "bringing him to the frontline is basically a waste of resources!"&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;"Hulk?!"&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;This name had entered Roger''s ears once.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;However, the first impression is the strongest, he could only retain that thought and couldn''t believe anything else, "The nurturing of any Pharmacist requires a large amount of time and resources. How can a Demon Hunter change his occupation within a short amount of time?"&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Fang Yuan didn''t try to explain himself.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;This was due to the fact that it would be extremely difficult for someone, especially one with a high position, to doubt their own decisions. Unless there was someone from a higher power to interrupt them.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Roger must not have seen him eye to eye at the moment. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Which was just in time, because Fang Yuan had been eyeing the imitation Sacred Cup in the other party''s hands for a long time.&lt;/p&gt;

 616 A Thousand Sides

    Thoughtlessly, he had offended a vice president.


    To other average Demon Hunters, this might mean that they could''ve had a brighter future and would definitely consider escaping.


    Otherwise, a casual command on the battlefield could mean that, in spite of themselves, they would be digging their own graves!


    However, to Fang Yuan, this was nothing but a breeze, and he was still able to do what he wanted. Even though he heard the rumor that Roger wanted him in the frontlines, he continued to assist Master Soma in producing medicaments.


    Facing this, even the stingy ghost was touched, and he said that he certainly wanted to find Flock to speak up for him.


    Even so, he hinted Fang Yuan in his words to find his own backer¡ªDaybreak Sword Seres.


    Unfortunately, Fang Yuan turned a deaf ear.


    ¡­


    Finally, the two old friends of Seres had arrived in the Hurin area¡ªthe air was filled with an anxious mood.


    Today, almost all of the Demon Hunters stood in front of the branch''s main hall and welcomed the arrival of the two Titled Demon Hunters respectfully.


    As their strong reinforcements arrived, all the Demon Hunters were over the moon.


    This was especially true amongst the young Demon Hunters. All of them asked around for the legends of the two Titled Demon Hunters.


    "Have you heard? The ones that are coming are the ''Cool Sacred Sword'' Gregor and ''Thorn Rose'' Bailey!"


    Fang Yuan stood in a corner and looked at Seres, who was leading, as a few conversations traveled into his ears.


    "Hmm, not only are these two legendary people amongst Demon Hunters, but they''re also old friends of the Sir President. In the rumors¡­ once upon a time, they were a small team that managed to kill the Night Family Clan to the point that the clans were alarmed by the mere mention of them¡­ The swordsmanship of Cool Sacred Sword seems to be comparable to Sir President. As for Thorn Rose, she''s not only skilled in various combat techniques, but she also holds the top Demon Weapon¡ª[Light of Thorn]. It''s said that its ability to increase one''s strength isn''t less than that of an imitation Sacred Weapon. The person herself is also a beauty!"


    "Such great people, why did they part ways then? Unless¡­ they''re rivals in love?"


    "Shh, are you trying to die?!"


    Although the daredevil''s partners around him had covered his mouth quickly, the place, full of Demon Hunters, had clearly heard everything as he had, unfortunately, spoke too fast.


    At once, it caught the attention of a few strict gazes.


    Especially Roger, his old face was so cold that there might be water condensing on it. His eyes were filled with a murderous glare, almost causing the unlucky guy to faint from fear.


    On the other hand, Seres, who was at the front of the troop, turned a deaf ear towards everything, his face, instead, had an expression of nostalgia.


    At that moment, two human figures appeared on the horizon, coming closer and closer.


    One of them was large and tall, and had a head full of golden curls, rolling everywhere like waves. He had a sunny smile, and his whole body was covered in transparent armor. It was obvious that he was Cool Sacred Sword Gregor.


    As for the other one, she was a westerner that looked barely 30, her slightly blue pupils seemed to trap an ocean with rippling waters inside it. She wore a red gown, and a layer of thin light seemed to glow around her.


    "Gregor, Bailey! It''s been a long time since I''ve seen you!"


    Seres went to the front to welcome them, he managed to squeeze out a smile with his originally emotionless face.


    "Seres, we rushed over immediately after receiving your cry for help."


    Gregor gave Seres a rough hug. "Bailey also says that she misses you a lot!"


    "Hmph!"


    Seres looked at Bailey, yet the still attractive woman, despite being old, snorted once, as if she was being difficult.


    Seeing this, the two Sword Sages could only glance at each other, laughing bitterly.


    "I''m very thankful for the arrival of both of you. I am Flock, and had prepared a banquet for the both of you."


    Flock smiled while he walked forward, his attitude humbling.


    As when the atmosphere was light and happy, there was a sudden change!


    Kaboom!


    One part of Hurin area suddenly gave off a large amount of dense smoke.


    Among the raging flames, a gigantic figure of Evil Demon appeared suddenly, waving its flames-like wings. The horn above its head emitted a demonic red glow.


    Evil Demon Seth!


    The other party had dared to choose this time to operate its general offensive!


    "Reckless idi*ts!"


    There were screams and howling griefs in the burning city as if someone blew an assault bugle.


    Seres had a cold expression and charged forward. "Morning Stars Swordsmanship¡ªDawn!"


    Kaboom!


    The extremely concise light of the sword pushed the two obstructions away immediately, creating a straight path ahead. Fang Yuan could not compete with this.


    After all, his physical fitness was too much a difference compared to Fang Yuan''s.


    "Let''s go!"


    The three Titled Demon Hunters gathered. There was a possibility that they would be able to kill the Evil Demon today!


    Other Demon Hunters would, of course, not let go of this eye-opener opportunity. Under the lead of the two vice presidents, they surrounded the burning branch.


    Of course, they also investigated the surroundings on the way to see if there were any traps around.


    Ahwhoooo!


    A werewolf jumped down from the wall and pounced onto a Demon Hunter, slamming him into the ground. It bit violently and fresh blood splattered everywhere.


    Zap! Zap!


    Promptly, more vampires gushed out from the darkness. Their tongues were like a soft gun, weaving everywhere and suddenly stabbing out, greedily sucking blood.


    There were also Night Demon People, Mind Flayers, Fire-practising Demon¡­


    Different types of Night Family Clans appeared in a split-second and flooded in to kill. They were basically a troop.


    "Seth!"


    Seres looked at the original body of the Evil Demon calmly. "You actually dared to summon so many underlings here¡­ If they''re all eliminated here, the safety of the entire Hurin area and its surroundings would be better for 100 years!"


    "If you''re able to kill all of them, then do it!"


    Seth laughed wildly as if it had something to rely on. "Unfortunately¡­ the one who will die here today¡ªis you!"


    "You''re overconfident!"


    Seeing this, cool sacred sword Gregor couldn''t help but roar angrily, pulling out sword into his hands.


    His sword was very thin and fine, it also had a hint of blue as if it was made from ice.


    When the sword was wielded, the surrounding temperature plummeted, and it suddenly became winter. "Territory¡ªIcy Cold!"


    Witnessing this scene, Flock instantly shook in fear. "So this is the power of a Legendary Demon Hunter?"


    As the other party''s hand waved, the sky changed. At this degree, the high-class Demon Weapon¡ªFrosting dagger¡ªin his arms couldn''t possibly be compared to this.


    "I''m afraid¡­ only the dagger which is made from that icy cold Evil Demon will be able to compete with him?" Flock mumbled to himself. Suddenly, the state of the situation changed once again.


    "Light of Thorn!"


    Bailey rushed over and touched the bracelet made of precious stone on her hand. A jade green light emitted outwards and formed an spiky layer of battle armor.


    "Gregor, Bailey, leave it to me! Don''t need you two to get started!"


    The large sword in Seres''s hand trembled. "Starry Night¡­"


    Poof!


    Suddenly, a green thorn made of light transformed into a long green spear and ruthlessly stabbed into his back.


    Many people cried out in alarm as they couldn''t believe it. A figure of a bull appeared on top of Seres''s body and howled once. It charged against the jade green spear and flicked it away.


    Even so, the Demon Hunter''s back was cut open and fresh blood gushed out.


    "Bull protective armor, as expected, you wore it¡­" Bailey touched her bracelet, her voice was mysterious.


    "Because this is a gift given to me by Bailey!"


    Seres turned around with a pale face and stared at the woman, emphasizing, "The real Bailey!"


    "Keke¡­ Human, you realized it too late!"


    Amidst the mysterious sound of laughter, Bailey''s form changed, her entire body was blocked by a layer of dark shadows and transformed into an Evil Demon with a fine build.


    "Thousand Faced Evil Demon¡ªTernetheo?"


    Fang Yuan looked into his memories and recalled the records of this Evil Demon.


    Ternetheo was an Evil Demon that specialized in acting. Its assassination capabilities were incomparable. It was to the point that the high ranking clan of Concealed Demon Killers were rumored to be its descendants.


    "Ah!"


    Gregor was going insane. "Why is Bailey''s thorn bracelet with you? Talk!"


    "Muahaha¡­ Could it be that you''re still unable to figure it out?"


    Ternetheo cackled wildly, "It''s because I killed her! That woman had a shocked and grieving expression on her face when she saw me disguised as you as I attacked her back then. You really should''ve seen it, it was the most beautiful work of art in the world¡­"


    The whole body of Demon Hunters was speechless.


    The situation, that was originally great, had reversed within a second!


    The strong reinforcements that were primarily strong had actually become an Evil Demon that even heavily injured Daybreak Sword?


    Even if it was Flock and Roger, their hearts were filled with bad premonitions.


    "I''ll kill you, I swear! I''ll skin you alive, inch by inch!"


    Gregor had completely exploded and raged. As if lightning flashed in his eyes, the thin sword in his hands froze and turned into an icy cold large sword. Its body was even burning with golden flames.


    "Muahaha¡­ I should be the one saying that. I''ve collected the skins of many Demon Hunters, but I don''t have many belonging to Titled Demon Hunters!"


    Flaming Evil Demon Seth burst out laughing, its whole body raging with crimson red flames, it even transformed the surrounding soil into magma.


    "I''m your opponent!"


    Seres stood up, the bloody hole in his back had actually begun to heal slowly.


    Even so, the shocking demeanor on his body condensed and transformed into a territory, revealing a limitless, vast picture of a starry night. "Territory¡­ Sword of Starry Night!"


    Radiant sword stars appeared and clashed with the enormous Evil Demon.


    Kaboom!


    The commotion spread, fire sparks, and broken rocks flew. Even the ripples might seriously injure B grade and A grade Demon Hunters.


    "Impossible!"


    With the cry of the Evil Demon, all the Demon Hunters saw a scene that blew their mind¡ªSeres, standing tall and straight like a rock, firmly held onto his sword with his hand and ruthlessly stabbed it into Seth''s chest.


    "Daybreak Sword¡­ is almost at the level of three Sacred Weapon holders¡­"


    Witnessing this scene, Gregor felt pleased, but also that it was a pity. Promptly, the icy cold sword in his hands also chased after the Evil Demon non-stop. "Ternetheo, you cannot escape."


    "Indeed¡­ Seres deserves the title of being the strongest S-grade Demon Hunter, but¡­"


    At this moment, Ternetheo gave a mysterious laugh.


    "Something''s wrong!"


    Fang Yuan used a slash to split a werewolf in half, but his true spirit felt impending doom all of a sudden. "According to Carson, the Evil Demons had prepared a secret weapon, don''t tell me¡­"


    In the next moment.


    Bang!!!


    Gunfire sounded suddenly!

 617 Seize the Gun

    As if the grim reaper had attacked, the bright sound of gunfire resounded, the entire battlefield could hear it clearly.


    Poof!


    The Titled Demon Hunter, Daybreak Sword, President Seres, who was originally winning and standing in front of the Flaming Evil Demon, had his brains explode like a watermelon.


    This Legendary Demon Hunter actually got killed from afar by a sniper!


    "Monster Sob!"


    Fang Yuan retreated immediately, moving towards the source of the gun shot.


    Apart from this Legendary Demon Weapon, a gun that had killed an Evil Demon before, he couldn''t think of anything else that might be able to kill a Legendary Demon Hunter with one shot.


    "The Gun God Homan Chet, from the olden days, was killed by a Concealed Demon Killer¡­ However, the rumors state that this Demon Weapon strongly resists dark powers and the Night Family Clan wouldn''t be able to use it all. Demon hunters had thought that it was destroyed, but looking at how things turned out, that''s not the case!"


    "Unless there''s a human siding with the Evil Demons?"


    When Night Family Clans couldn''t use it, it didn''t mean that Masters couldn''t use it too. Moreover, it could even be a human or a Demon Hunter!


    "There must also be a disaster at the Demon Hunter headquarters, they couldn''t even find out about the large-scale movements of the Evil Demons¡­"


    It was clear that only Fang Yuan had thought of this point.


    After the sound of the gun, who-knew-how-many Demon Hunters dashed in the direction of the sniper.


    Most of them were Demon Hunters that used firearms.


    Their intention was, aside from eliminating the danger and avenging Sir President, probably to seize [Monster Sob] so that they could become the next Gun God.


    The sniping location was on top of a bell tower, where the field of vision was extremely good.


    And that was where the real trap set up by the Evil Demons had appeared.


    Poof! Poof!


    In that space, fresh blood splattered around as if there were numerous formless grim reapers that were recklessly harvesting souls.


    "Concealed Demon Killers? So many of them!"


    Fang Yuan was slightly shocked but promptly felt that it was normal.


    Ternetheo and Monster Sob were all here. Even if all the members of the Concealed Demon Killer clan came, it was also perfectly normal.


    "Icy tornado!" Flock bellowed angrily, using his dagger to summon an icy storm that went towards the bell tower. "Charge!"


    In front of him, in the originally empty space, a few frozen ice sculptures appeared. Even the ice on the floor reflected the clear marks of being stepped on.


    Fang Yuan didn''t hope to acquire merits and just wanted to avoid any mistakes. He pretended to be a normal Demon Hunter and followed suit, the large troop charged into the bell tower.


    "I must hurry up!"


    He was crystal clear that now with only the one, Cool Sacred Sword Gregor, it was impossible to block the siege of the Thousand Faced Evil Demon and the seriously injured Flaming Evil Demon. Needless to say, there was also the threat of getting shot by the sniper in this situation.


    The Demon Hunters had lost their minds¡ªthe only reasons why they were able to maintain a little morale, instead of running away to save their own lives, were the thoughts of getting revenge and the lure of treasure.


    If they lost their cool and wanted to snatch the treasure by themselves, under the heavy protection, the chances of success would be almost zero!


    The time he had remaining was limited.


    The entire bell tower was altered long ago and had become a trap that was specialized in dealing with Demon Hunters. There was the possibility of having a trap mechanism or even a Night Family Clan waiting at any dark corner. Almost every second, there were Demon Hunters dying.


    "Kill! Charge!"


    Flock''s eyes were bloodshot, his expression wild and insane, wielding swords on his both hands as they were blood soaked from all the killing. He took the lead and was the first one to charge to the highest level.


    There was a human form lying flat on the ground, with his stomach on the ground. He was holding a long-barrelled firearm in his hands, crouching on the ground and aiming. The gun had a simple appearance, but its body was glinting with sacred pure light.


    "Human!? Or Demon Hunter!"


    Flock''s expression changed after seeing the person, his eyeballs turning red. "You betrayed your own oath, betrayed your own race!"


    The party wasn''t bothered at all and didn''t move at all.


    Flock, who was charging towards him, felt that something was amiss at that moment.


    Unfortunately, he was too late.


    Half-way through the charge, he stopped suddenly, his whole body collapsed into pieces.


    With his blood, he could see that there was fine silk in the space that was set there during who-knows-when. It was as dense as a grid and was so sharp that it could even cut iron.


    "As expected of the strongest assassination skill of the Concealed Demon Killers! I''ll let you guys take over!"


    The sniper laughed darkly on the ground and promptly focused on the three figures fighting from afar.


    After raising his guard, Gregor moved swiftly and, at times, covered his body. In addition to this, Monster Sob consumed a large amount of his energy. Hence, it was difficult for him to shoot a second bullet.


    "Monster Sob is really too powerful¡­" His said silently in his heart. Although he could only shoot twice based on his physical ability, the results were unparalleled.


    With only one shot, he was able to take the life of the strongest S-grade Demon Hunter!


    Even if the name of Daybreak Sword was placed in the Demon Hunter headquarter, it would only be below the names of some Sacred Weapon holders!


    "After the work is done, the Night Family Clan agreed to let me hold onto this Legendary Demon Weapon!"


    For this strong power, it was worth it, even if he had betrayed the Demon Hunters.


    Kaboom!


    However, at this moment, Fang Yuan, who had been hiding in the dark, moved.


    "Flaming Hands!"


    A layer of flames appeared on both of his hands and shot forward in the next moment.


    Whoosh!


    The raging flames surrounded a translucent figure occupying that space, in the blink of an eye.


    That was a unique Concealed Demon Killer. The symbols on its body were tightly linked, like leather armor. A countless number of fine silk threads were connected to both his hands, as though he was a master that was strumming the strings of an instrument.


    "I''ve caught you!"


    Fang Yuan laughed grimly, the Starry Night sword slashed across space. "Morning Stars Swordsmanship¡ªDawn! Concealed Demon Killer!"


    Despite not having Flock to cover him, this type of Concealed Demon Killer''s formation couldn''t still hide from his Fiery Golden Eyes.


    Of course, the other party used his death to make that Concealed Demon Killer lower its guard, exposing more of its flaws. However, it was worth it.


    Zap!


    A starry night sword light emitted a radiant glow. Like a sneak attack, it swept across the neck of the Concealed Demon Killer.


    The other party''s expression was shocked.


    A figure that was well known for hiding in the darkness and assassinations was actually secretly ambushed by a Demon Hunter?


    Needless to say, this Concealed Demon Killer, was the king of its clan!


    "Die!"


    With the Dawn state''s starry glowing sword, Fang Yuan cleverly avoided the other party''s resistance and impaled it from its weak spot. Its whole body was impaled in the next moment.


    "Any assassin''s level would drop drastically when he loses his cover and has to fight face to face. Needless to say¡­ it was assassinated by me when it was caught off guard!"


    After killing the Concealed Demon Killer with one slash, Fang Yuan didn''t stop moving and charged towards the sniper directly.


    "A degenerated Demon Hunter?


    "Quite impossible to be a Titled Demon Hunter, so he''s an elite A-grade? Moreover, he''s one that specializes in firearms?"


    Within almost a split-second, he had clearly considered the other party''s strength. He didn''t show any mercy in his actions.


    A Demon Hunter that specialized in firearms would definitely be on the losing end when he had to fight.


    Furthermore, the other party had released such a powerful attack previously, how could it be possible that there wasn''t a price or negative effect?"


    "D*mn it¡­"


    The sniper on the floor had almost instantly given up on sniping and took out a black dagger, and he started to respond to Fang Yuan''s attack. "Daybreak Sword''s disciple?"


    Although Morning Stars Swordsmanship was vastly known, very little people were able to cultivate it to the state of Old Moon. Anyone who saw Fang Yuan''s sword of Dawn would assume that he was Seres''s direct disciple.


    "You want revenge for your tutor? Haha¡­ Did you see the moment where his brains exploded? It was wonderful¡­"


    The degenerated Demon Hunter opposite him was wearing a hunter uniform and a black eye-patch. The scars on his face formed a cross, and he was very experienced in his techniques. It was obvious that he had a rich experience. While using his words to attack Fang Yuan, he took the time to secretly aim his long-barrelled gun.


    "Die!"


    However, there was no chance that Fang Yuan would give him the opportunity. While Starry Night was striking, a short flintlock appeared in his palm. "Howling Grief!"


    Bang!


    Flames shot out from the barrel of the gun. A hole opened up in the chest of the one-eyed Demon Hunter and he collapsed on the ground, blood spilling out of his mouth. "You¡­ aren''t a purely a swordsman!"


    He looked at the flintlock in Fang Yuan''s hands, his expression looked like he was either crying or laughing. "To think that¡­ I''ll die from a Demon Hunter''s gun in the end!


    "Seres is purely a swordsman. His disciple is still loyal towards cold weapons, but to me¡­ who cares if it''s a black cat or white cat, the one that catches mice is a good cat regardless¡­"


    Fang Yuan sighed once, as he knew that the Demon Hunter was misguided by his own beliefs.


    "Legendary Gun¡ªMonster Sob?"


    At this moment, the legendary gun fell onto the floor together with the Demon Hunter.


    Fang Yuan went to pick it up and instantly felt a warm sensation on his palm.


    "It feels like extremely concentrated solid Sacred Water¡­ No wonder it had such a shocking kill and damage rate towards the Night Family Clan!"


    Although Sacred Water and Dark Power came from the same source, they were like both ends of a magnet after their nature was transformed. It was normal for them to repel each other.


    "This gun has three known unique characteristics¡ª[Clan Limit], [Real Harm], [Enormous Consumption]!


    With his current power, Fang Yuan felt slightly drained just by holding onto Monster Sob.


    It was clear that a large amount of power was needed to truly use it to shoot.


    "The damaging power of this weapon will, of course, be very terrifying after the requirement to sacrifice so many things!"


    Fang Yuan shook his head and remembered why the Demon Hunter from just now didn''t take this gun and go against him immediately. Without enough strength, he could only passively defend himself and use words to confuse Fang Yuan in order to look for an opportunity.


    Unfortunately, Fang Yuan didn''t give him an opportunity to turn the tables.


    Kaboom!


    At this moment, Fang Yuan could see that the battle on the ground was ending as he stood at the far end of the bell tower.


    Even though Cool Sacred Sword and Daybreak Sword advanced at an equal pace, he was at the disadvantageous position when facing the siege of two Evil Demons. Large amounts of ice were smashed into pieces as he was going to be defeated soon.


    "Since that''s the case¡­"


    Monster Sob rippled with a strong power as though it was speaking seductively, "Come and take a shot, youngling!"


    He indeed had the desire to try out the new weapon he obtained.


    Fang Yuan crossed over to the end of the balcony and locked the position of the Monster Sob''s muzzle. He released a large amount of magical energy to assist him in aiming.

 618 Kill

    Crack!


    Amongst the raging flames and evil laughter, the firm ice broke into pieces and Gregor''s pale face appeared behind it.


    "I can''t do it anymore¡­ I can''t match up to Seres in the end!"


    This Cool Sacred Sword was clearly exhausted already.


    Daybreak Sword, who had had been heavily injured by the surprise attack, was still able to suppress the Flaming Evil Demon and steadily gain the upper hand.


    However, Gregor was forced into a disadvantageous position, now under the siege of two Evil Demons. He even wanted to escape.


    "Am I going to die? Anyway, Bailey and Seres have passed on. I don''t want to live anymore¡­ But these two murderers¡ªI cannot let them off!"


    Gregor''s gaze quickly became firm and cold.


    In actual fact, Thousand Faced Evil Demon Ternetheo was good at acting, his real combat ability wasn''t comparable to Seth''s.


    And right now, the Flaming Evil Demon still had a large wound in his chest. The bleeding didn''t stop and turned into magma, spurting out.


    "If I want to go all-out, there''s still a chance, especially¡­" he thought silently.


    He didn''t know when it happened, but the prickling sensation down his back, which warned him of the threat of impending doom, had disappeared all of a sudden.


    This made him know that something had happened to the sniper that the opposing party had prepared!


    "If it''s a Demon Hunter that snatched Monster Sob¡­"


    Gregor let out a long loud cry all of a sudden as a halo, with a hint of blue, around him exploded, "Ultimate zero degree!"


    Zap! Zap!


    A layer of ice and snow covered the surrounding areas in a moment, like extremely fine steel.


    "Be careful, he''s going all out¡­"


    Ternetheo and Seth quickly stepped back. Even with the stagnating chill, they were still swift.


    "That''s not enough!


    "That''s not enough!!!"


    Gregor roared and suddenly waved his large icy sword, his whole body flew out towards the Evil Demon.


    "You must be tired of living!"


    Ternetheo smiled coldly, transforming its hands into two sharp claws and ruthlessly clawed its way to its target.


    Poof!


    The Evil Demon''s sharp claws broke through the transparent armor and stabbed into Gregor''s chest as blood gushed out.


    Everything was unexpectedly easy, but Ternetheo felt immense danger at that moment, its body shone with various types of light.


    "Death¡­ Wither and fall!"


    Gregor laughed wildly as the surrounding temperature plummeted.


    The main point was that a layer of blood-colored ice spread quickly, engulfing the two Evil Demons to form a blood-colored sculpture.


    A Titled Demon Hunter going all-out could definitely stop two Evil Demons in a split-second.


    And at this moment, Gregor realized that he didn''t bet on the wrong thing!


    Bang!


    A gunshot resounded!


    As if the grim reaper used its sickle to harvest, Ternetheo''s brains exploded. Even if one didn''t fear the raging magma, it was useless to cut or shoot the Evil Demon before the Legendary Demon Weapon¡ªthe gun, [Monster Sob].


    With one shot, Monster Sob felled the Evil Demon!!


    "Ah!" Seth made an undistinguishable howl of fear at the blood-colored sculpture beside him.


    All of a sudden, fire engulfed the body of the Evil Demon and transformed into a giant ball of flames that shattered the solid ice. As if it was a raging flame, it scattered everywhere.


    This was the unique ability of a Flaming Evil Demon¡ªto transform into energy and disintegrate in order to save its own life.


    Of course, it was heavily wounded by two Titled Demon Hunters first. That''s why it used an otherworldly demon disintegration-like way to escape. Its elemental energy would definitely be exhausted. It would probably sleep for a few hundred years, and even its blood might even fade!


    "That''s fast¡­"


    On the bell tower, Fang Yuan put away Monster Sob as he panted heavily.


    "Shooting with this gun will require not only strength but also essence energy and magic energy! No wonder the A-grade Demon Hunter couldn''t shoot often!"


    With the two Evil Demons escaping and defeated, while the Demon Hunters were left as a group without a leader, the scene delved into chaos instantly.


    Fang Yuan was no longer hesitant. Carrying the gun, he quickly left the bell tower.


    Although he had the gun in hand and didn''t leave behind any traces, he had the shame of the previous Gun God, which was his extremely weak body. The outcome wouldn''t be good once he was discovered and surrounded.


    Then, he jumped to the bottom of the bell tower. He held onto a Ghoul that was flying in mid-air and used it as a pivot point. Just like spiderman swinging, he caught the beam of the house roof beside him.


    He only had time to look around and observe the battlefield after he swiftly escaped from the bell tower.


    The Evil Demons and Demon Hunters had both lost their commander. It was impossible to continue fighting, hence, both sides decided to retreat at the same time.


    Of course, various types of dogfights didn''t stop; instead, it became even more chaotic.


    "Chance!"


    Seeing this, Fang Yuan''s eye shone instantly, and he began to quickly search for someone''s whereabouts.


    ¡­


    "Sir Cool Sacred Sword¡­"


    Leading a group of Elite Demon Hunters, Roger arrived at the center of the battlefield and looked at the headless ice sculpture of the Thousand Faced Evil Demon and Gregor, who was breathing his last breath. His expression was grave. "Please don''t worry, we''re on the winning side. We''ll definitely win this battle!"


    "You guys¡­ escort Sir Cool Sacred Sword back. A few people should skin this Evil Demon!"


    Roger looked at the skin on Ternetheo''s body, the bottom of his eyes felt slightly hot.


    The Night Family Clan was the best medicament and alchemy ingredient, and this was the complete corpse of an Evil Demon!


    Even the high-class demon dagger in Flock''s hand was made from a small number of Evil Demon claws. It was only a drop in the ocean!


    "The skin of the Concealed Demon Killer is the most valuable ingredient. It can be made into clothes for ''acting.'' Ternetheo is the oldest ancestor of the Concealed Demon Killers, so its skin is definitely useful, and its blood, bones, internal organs¡­ None of it can be wasted."


    Roger was like a picky businessman who wanted to exploit the profits from the goods to its extreme.


    "Master''s corpse cannot be handed over to you blasphemers!"


    At this moment, there was a turn of events!


    The Concealed Demon Killers that were originally fighting with the Demon Hunters around the bell tower had all abandoned their opponents and gathered at the heart of the battlefield.


    The so-called blasphemer and what-not was only an expression.


    The more realistic reason was that they themselves also desired the blood of the top!


    If they completely took advantage of that corpse, there might be one of them that would be able to evolve into an Evil Demon! This was despite the slim glimpse of hope.


    Nevertheless, it was enough for them to forget about their life and fight to the death.


    Even the other Night Family Clans were also lured and attracted over there. Although the evolution effect of using a Thousand Faced Evil Demon wasn''t obvious to them, it could still strengthen them!


    The main point was that the Legendary Demon Hunter at the scene was disabled¡ªtheir opponent no longer had the power to crush them!


    Havoc erupted.


    The irony was that this fight between Demon Hunters and the Night Family Clans wasn''t to end each other, but it was to snatch the trophy of war.


    ¡­


    "Huff¡­"


    After who-knows-how-long, Roger, with his two underlings, escaped to the street in a sorry state.


    The number of Night Family Clans that had their eyes on the Evil Demon corpse was too much. Even as he commanded countless Demon Hunters to move forward and resist them, with the identity of the vice president, he had also suffered a huge loss and could only bring his trusted aides out of the situation.


    "Nevertheless¡­ everything is worth it!"


    He looked at the spoils of war in his hand¡ªTernetheo''s skin, and he couldn''t help but laugh wildly.


    This was the most valuable ingredient from the Evil Demon. He just had to find a skilled alchemist, and he would be able to produce a high-class Demon Weapon that would be comparable to a Sacred Weapon!


    At that time, he, who would have an imitation Sacred Weapon and a high-class Demon Weapon, might be able to become a Titled Demon Hunter and could try to take over Seres''s position!


    "Ternetheo''s skin will definitely be made into a defensive Demon Weapon, and it''ll have the ''acting'' ability¡­ If it''s paired with the gun¡ªMonster Sob, it''ll be perfect!"


    There seemed to be a fire in Roger''s eyes. "The one that killed Ternetheo must be a Demon Hunter, one from our branch. After going back, find him and make him hand over the gun to the branch association!"


    How could a low-grade Demon Hunter be qualified to wield such a Legendary Demon Weapon? It must be used by him, the vice president, in order to display its value!


    Needless to say, by gathering the two finest large Demon Weapons that attacks and shields respectively, he wouldn''t only have the confidence to become a Titled Demon Hunter¡ªhe would definitely succeed!


    At least when he compared his combat ability and threatening nature, he wouldn''t lose to a Titled Demon Hunter!


    With this foundation, he would be able to firmly sit on the position of the branch president!


    If the lucky Demon Hunter was tactful enough, he should hand over Monster Sob with both his hands instead.


    To Roger, there was nothing wrong with this.


    Because, this was all to fight against the Evil Demons¡ªit was for the greater good!


    "Sir Roger?!"


    At this moment, a young Demon Hunter slowly walked out from an alleyway.


    "You are¡­ Hulk?!"


    Roger frowned. Why did this annoying guy not die on the battlefield?


    "Please wait! What are you carrying behind you?"


    Suddenly, he saw the long-barrelled gun that Fang Yuan was carrying behind him. His pupils dilated to the size of a pinhole, and he was over the moon in a split-second. "Monster Sob? Quick, give it to me! I order you to give it to me!"


    At this moment, Roger was blinded by the hope of becoming a Titled Demon Hunter and branch president!


    "That''s great!"


    Witnessing this, Fang Yuan heaved a deep sigh. "I also want to say the same things to you, Ternetheo is my war trophy! Give it to me! Moreover¡­ with your greed and evil intentions, you wouldn''t have any troubles if you let me kill you!"


    "You want to kill me? Just you, a small, low-grade Demon Hunter?"


    Roger waved his hand, and the two trusted aides behind him instantly rushed out to attack.


    "Morning Stars Swordsmanship¡ªOld Moon!"


    Fang Yuan''s wielded Starry Night and instantly slashed through the two Demon Hunters, blood splattering all over the place.


    "Seres?!"


    Roger''s face showed a fearful expression, and he suddenly turned to run.


    "Keke¡­ your heart, is as ugly as your appearance!"


    Sharp claws moved as Fang Yuan leaped forward quickly, the sword in his hand seemed to transform into stars. "Dawn!"


    Poof!


    The sword cut through everything and opened up a hole in Roger''s back.


    "Don''t¡­ don''t kill me!"


    Roger''s whole body went limp on the floor as he begged for his life.


    "Goodbye, Sir Vice President!"


    Fang Yuan took out Howling Grief and, without expression, aimed it at the other party''s forehead and fired!


    Bang!


    A large sound resounded in the alley and promptly returned to silence.


    "I shall accept the imitation Sacred Cup and Ternetheo''s skin!"


    Fang Yuan properly put away his war trophies and looked in the direction of the branch and frowned.


    There was dense smoke emitted from there.


    Chaos seemed to have spread and intensified!

 619 Sacred Gun

    Demon Hunter Headquarter''s Sacred mountain.


    This was a large, pure white mountain, it looked as if it would emit sacred light at any moment.


    Currently, many Titled Demon Hunters gathered in the meeting room at the heart of the headquarters, the atmosphere was heavy.


    "Evil Demons have already fully waged war upon us!"


    At the highest position, there were three human figures enveloped in a strong white light, which gave it an illusionary impression. One of the human figures spoke, "They''ve found their backer!"


    Although the fight between Demon Hunters and the Night Family Clans didn''t happen all the time, the war right now had a different intensity. Even large numbers of Titled Demon Hunters might also lose their lives.


    Many Demon Hunters on the legislative assembly instantly became restless. "What did they find out? Is the Mother of Reproduction arriving? Did they actually gather the Dead Sea Ancient Scroll?"


    The three figures in the sacred light looked at each other before shaking their heads. "No¡­ Because one of the Dead Sea Ancient Scroll pages, containing core information, is in our hands!"


    The Demon Hunters below them found it unbelievable.


    The Demon Hunter Union actually had one page of the Dead Sea Ancient Scroll? This news was unknown, even to them, the Legendary Demon Hunters. The low-grade Demon Hunters below them even thought that the ancient book was only a legend. They could tell that the level of confidentiality regarding this information was very high.


    However, it looked like there was no need to conceal it now.


    "Because this page of the Dead Sea Ancient Scroll is very important, it''s sealed by the three of us. Before today, no fourth Demon Hunter has ever seen it before!"


    The Sacred Weapon holder said in an assured tone, "The Night Family Clans dared to wage a war with us because they found chaos, darkness, and evil, the three largest Evil Demons. They''ve gathered around them and formed a close alliance!"


    "Chaos? Darkness? Evil?"


    An old Titled Demon Hunter thought, "Desire is the strongest son of the Mother of Reproduction, and then it would be the three of them afterward¡­ Didn''t they always do things that aligned with their hobbies? There''s no need for them to interact with the Night Family Clan?"


    He clearly knew how terrifying these ancient Evil Demons were.


    However, it was relieving that perhaps due to their chaotic power being too strong, the chaotic Evil Demon''s brains were also messed up. Aside from being crazy at times, creating massacres in cities, there wasn''t much damage. Even the Night Family Clan would meet the same fate as a human in its hands.


    "Although it''s a pity, it''s true¡­ On the Evil Demon map, these three Evil Demon Kings met up in Lorraine. Immediately after this, a piece of the Demon Weapon lost its ability. I suspect that it was interrupted by the blood sacrifices performed in a large area by the Evil Demons."


    Evil Demon Map¡ªthis was the secret weapon of the Demon Hunter Headquarters. It was a piece of a large map that included the entire mainland.


    In addition to that, there would be an indication on it, whenever an Evil Demon appeared.


    The headquarters depended on this method to monitor the whereabouts of many Evil Demons, and to make arrangements for its branches.


    "The Evil Demon Map¡­ has lost its ability?"


    The Titled Demon Hunters on the scene turned silent. Promptly, the old Demon Hunter that spoke up previously nodded his head. "No wonder you''ve invited me out here¡­ It looks like the situation has developed into an awful state!"


    "Yes, there are over 12 branches that have contacted us due to an emergency. They said that they were attacked by Evil Demons¡­ There are another eight branches that cannot be contacted at all. We suspect that they''ve either been sealed or captured!"


    The Sacred Weapon holder casually said the current situation out loud, "Even so, there''s a great danger approaching Sacred mountain!"


    He waved his hands, and a screen appeared in the air, projecting the form of the lofty, sacred mountain.


    And around the base of the mountain were small black dots that looked like ants. They were climbing up quickly.


    Zooming in, Demon Hunters could clearly see that they were a group of humans that looked like corpses; their movements were rigid, and their skin was greenish-black. It was as if they were summoned and were gathering in the direction of the sacred mountain.


    And among them, there were a few Demon Hunters!


    "Are they¡­ suffering from a control-type technique? Or poison? Is there a chance of saving them?"


    "These people were originally nearby residents that are affected by a large enchantment! They''ve completely lost their minds¡­"


    The Sacred Weapon holder shook his head. "This must''ve been done by ''Evil'' and ''Chaos'' Evil Demons. The ancient scroll had indeed recorded that one would become affected by the chaotic and evil territory on their body if they draw close to them."


    "So to speak¡­ there are at least two Evil Demon Kings inside the army down there, as well as an unknown number of Night Family Clans¡­ This is great!"


    A Titled Demon Hunter, that held a grass in between his lips, said, a€? great that the powers have assembled, now we can catch all of them in one haul!"


    "The powerful Evil Demon trio that appeared this time is a serious challenge for us. Success isn''t something that can be accomplished in one day. Moreover, under the circumstances where all the branches are in danger, it''s impossible for us to assemble all our power!"


    Within the Demon Hunter Headquarters, three Sacred Weapon holders similarly occupied the three highest positions. With their irresistible, overwhelming powers, they were called the "Strategic Powerful Trio."


    "In actual fact, with us, it''s enough!"


    A human figure walked out of the light and turned into a gold-haired middle-aged man that was carrying a spear. "The Night Family Clan had forgotten about us for too long. It''s time for them to know who''s the true strongest power in this world!"


    "Sacred Spear!"


    "Sir Longinus!"


    Many Titled Demon Hunters bowed to show their respect.


    In the Demon Hunter Headquarters, there were three great Sacred Weapons. They were the first generation of Demon Hunters that toppled the Dark Empire.


    The Sacred Cup amongst them could help Demon Hunters to break through the bottleneck that allowed them to become a Titled Demon Hunter.


    As for the Sacred Spear, it was the strongest power.


    Longinus looked like a normal golden haired middle-aged man with a dull gaze and muddy eyes, it looked as if his eyesight wasn''t good.


    Anyone that saw him for the first time would be attracted by the spear behind his back.


    It was an average-looking cold weapon that was half a head taller than Longinus. There were still traces of blood on the tip of the sharp spear that wouldn''t fade.


    This was Longinus''s spear, the strongest attack power amongst the three great Sacred Weapons.


    Any generation of Sacred Weapon holders that had inherited the Sacred Spear would automatically change their names to Longinus. This showed that they would abandon social conventions and tend to the Sacred Weapon with all their heart.


    "Today¡­ no one can be a match for us!"


    Longinus walked to the door of the headquarters and looked at the crowded figures as he held up his spear.


    "No one can be a match for us!"


    "No one can be a match for us!"


    ¡­


    Amidst the cheers of many Demon Hunters, a golden light appeared at the tip of the spear as if it echoed throughout the entire Sacred mountain.


    Promptly afterward, layers of gold halos washed over the entire mountain as if it was liquid.


    A large number of walking corpse-like humans rolled their eyes and fainted as they came into contact with the sacred light.


    Even so, the hidden low-class Night Family Clans among them screamed in agony before turning into ashes.


    "That d*mn Demon Hunter!"


    "It''s Longinus''s spear!"


    After what looked like a unique way to mow grass, the Night Family Clan that remained standing were above middle class. A few Evil Demons stood out as well.


    "Attack!" Longinus roared and raised his Sacred Spear straight while he charged down.


    ¡­


    "This is¡­ enchantment?"


    Fang Yuan looked at the chaotic Hurin area and found out a clue all of a sudden.


    A strange kind of power was quietly affecting his soul, it was even tempting him to go insane and to degenerate.


    "Large-scale Ideomotor phenomenon? Interesting¡­"


    He looked at a normal person.


    At the moment, the person had completely lost his mind and was acting like a rabid dog.


    No, it wasn''t enough to describe him like a rabid dog. The only thing that Fang Yuan could associate it to was a zombie!


    "If this continues, they might really become this type of creature."


    It was the appearance of this type of creature that caused the entire Hurin area to become enveloped in havoc.


    There was an even more terrifying thing that had happened. As time passed, even some of the Demon Hunters couldn''t control themselves and began to madly commit massacres.


    "Evil Demons are best at playing with people''s hearts?" Fang Yuan sighed. He knew that the Evil Demon''s surprise attack was planned incessantly this time, as one event had lead to another.


    Even with his help in destroying the few initial preparations, they still fell into a disadvantageous state.


    "If the three great presidents die now, the Demon Hunter branch really won''t have a leader and won''t have an opportunity to come back!"


    Fang Yuan charged towards the branch. "Bring Uncle Jock and the others, and leave this place immediately."


    Huff! Huff!


    Ping! Ping!


    The situation at the Demon Hunter branch was better than he imagined.


    A few Demon Hunters had created a stronghold and were firmly guarding the main door, stopping and attacking a group of monsters.


    If it wasn''t for the Demon Hunters that occasionally lost their minds and went on to kill others randomly, they wouldn''t have ended up in such a disadvantageous state at all.


    "They''re still not professional enough. Normal people have a feeble mind, while low-grade Demon Hunters are in a highly stressed state for long periods of time. These represent the shortcomings of their souls. This is why they''re being targeted¡­ but I''m different!"


    Fang Yuan coldly snorted and released the strong magic energy to form a suppression layer to control his soul.


    With his 20 plus magic energy, he wasn''t able to interfere with the substance naturally.


    However, an extreme dangerous aura was released from his body.


    The walking corpses that were transformed from normal people retreated when they saw the situation and didn''t dare to move forward at all.


    "Attack! Haha¡­"


    Under the gaze of the defending Demon Hunters that looked like they had seen a ghost, Fang Yuan waltzed into the main hall and saw a Demon Hunter which was instantly in the state of insanity. He was using a gun and strafing.


    Even under the state of insanity, the ability of his body, which had undergone training umpteen times, was still present. In addition to that, he was surrounded by his friends and relatives. Hence, the Demon Hunters that wanted to subdue him seemed to be hesitant.


    "Quiet!"


    Fang Yuan frowned and moved forward in a split second. He held the other party''s wrist and viciously flung him away.


    Bang!


    The lunatic was over two meters tall and was also a rare large, heavy man amongst the Demon Hunters. Just like that, he was flung to the wall and fainted.


    "Where''s Uncle Jock and his family?" Fang Yuan looked around and asked coldly.


    "I''m here!"


    Jock dragged Aunt Sophia and Mary out, on his face hung an astonished expression. "Hulk¡­ when did you become so strong?"


    Especially Mary, when she looked at Fang Yuan, her eyes contained indescribable regret, and she had a vexed expression.

 620 Evacuate

    "Now is not the time to talk, I''m here to bring all of you out of here!" Fang Yuan said quickly.


    The entire Hurin area was enveloped in a large array. Normal people became walking corpses, and even Demon Hunters had the risk of going insane.


    The only way to be safe was to leave this harsh place!


    As for the destruction of the array and what-not, Fang Yuan didn''t think that he would be able to kill the Thousand Faced Evil Demon with one shot.


    "Maybe¡­ Ternetheo and Seth are only a cover, and there are other Evil Demons hiding in the surroundings and will suddenly charge out. It''s too foolish!"


    "Alright!"


    Jock was also an old Demon Hunter and made his decision at that moment. "But I''d like to bring a few other people! They''re all elites and won''t be a burden."


    "No problem!"


    Fang Yuan readily agreed. The Demon Hunters standing beside them had a 180-degree change in their facial expressions. "You''re escaping?"


    "Of course we have to escape. The whole city has turned into hell now¡­ Of course, once the breakout fails, we''ll be surrounded by an ocean of monsters!"


    Fang Yuan shrugged. "Hence, all of you can decide whether to follow us or remain in this land and wait for the Demon Hunter Headquarters to come and rescue you¡­"


    Just by looking at the ocean of zombies outside, not every Demon Hunter would be brave enough to deal with them.


    Hence, most of the Demon Hunters still decided to stay.


    After all, they had faith in the strength of the Demon Hunter Headquarters, and they even believed that they wouldn''t abandon this place.


    Furthermore, the Demon Hunter branch was a large, stable structure that had enough protection, food, and water. Even staying there for half a year wouldn''t be a problem.


    After a while, Fang Yuan brought Jock and his family, as well as a few other Demon Hunters to the branch''s main door.


    Aside from Jock''s partners, there was also a female Demon Hunter, Lusha, that seemed unable to get along with Aunt Sophia. This had slightly drawn Fang Yuan''s attention.


    "Wear them properly!"


    He casually threw out a few talismans. "Maintain a composed spirit, don''t be affected by the chaos!"


    "Mind talisman?"


    Jock''s eyes lit up. "You rascal, you have a lot of good stuff with you¡­"


    "These were taken from Soma''s place¡­"


    Wanting to move on, Fang Yuan wouldn''t forget about the stingy ghost. However, he received news that the other party had sneaked off with Locke after they found out something was wrong when the chaos started.


    As a Pharmacist and an Alchemist, they would naturally be clearer about the effects of this large array.


    Aw! Aw!


    Keke!


    Without the protection of the branch building, the walking corpses instantly drew closer as they felt the presence of living humans at that moment.


    "Hulk¡­ it''s all on you." Uncle Jock''s hand was cold and clammy. It was a gamble bringing his whole family and following Fang Yuan to move.


    "Don''t worry!"


    Fang Yuan concentrated his mental power and immediately formed a seal to control his soul.


    Bang!


    Just like mowing grass, the nearby zombies fell to the ground and became unconscious.


    The scene was very shocking, it was as if they had chosen to acknowledge allegiance to Fang Yuan.


    "Domin¡­ domineering aura?!" Jock muttered.


    Witnessing this scene, he seemed to have thought of something. "In the rumors, the top Titled Demon Hunters can frighten the Night Family Clan around them with just their presence. Hulk''s performance right now is¡­"


    "Quickly go!"


    At that moment, Fang Yuan was able to open up a path in the ocean of zombies as he led the way.


    Seeing this scene unfold, the people in the Demon Hunter branch regretted their decision and shouted something. Unfortunately, Fang Yuan was too lazy to be bothered about it.


    He had given them a chance. Since they didn''t dare to escape with him and the others previously, they couldn''t blame him for not lifting a finger to save them now.


    Poof!


    After taking two steps, his right hand suddenly grabbed his sword. "Morning Stars Swordsmanship¡ªOld Moon!"


    Swoosh!


    A ray of sword light sliced downwards, chopping the Vampire, who was hiding in the darkness, into half in a split-second.


    "Jock¡­"


    Lusha''s cold expression changed immediately. "Your nephew probably has the potential to become a Titled Demon Hunter¡­"


    "Of course!"


    Jock patted his chest and laughed out loud, his face was filled with a proud expression.


    "That''s not right, are there others?"


    Fang Yuan then shifted his ears and charged towards a group of zombies.


    The strong magic energy formed a terrifying suppressive force that caused the zombies he walked past to fall, automatically creating a pathway.


    "That is¡­ Alchemist Locke?"


    Amidst the circle of zombies, there were unexpectedly a few Demon Hunters. Locke was included among them.


    At the moment, the Alchemist that was previously cold and arrogant had become battered and exhausted as he was surrounded by over ten Werewolves.


    "Werewolf Kill!"


    Fang Yuan charged forward with his Starry Night sword in hand and emitted a terrifying light.


    Poof! Poof!


    Fresh blood splattered around as Werewolf heads flew.


    "Master Locke, why are you here? Where''s Master Soma?" Fang Yuan asked curiously. Fresh blood streamed down his sword, but Fang Yuan looked at Locke and the Demon Hunters around as he asked.


    "He''s made a move first; as for me¡­ I''m still thinking of finding the core of this array, hence, I decided to stay here¡­"


    Locke laughed bitterly. "This is a large-scale alchemy array. It covers the entire Hurin area. I want to find its weak spot to prevent this tragedy from happening again."


    After a short pause, he looked at Fang Yuan with a serious expression. "You saved me, I owe you one!"


    "Okay!"


    Looking at how he had loosened up, Fang Yuan was also quite happy.


    After all, there was finally hope for developing his alchemy.


    Becoming an Alchemist meant that there would be an unending source of Demon Weapons. In addition to that, he still had a piece of Ternetheo''s skin.


    Although Locke''s level might not be able to handle the level of such a treasure, he wasn''t prepared to hand it over for him to handle anyway.


    A truly suitable Demon Weapon had to be created by the Demon Hunter himself.


    "As for damaging the array, please forgive me for not being able to do so even though I''m willing to help."


    Fang Yuan nodded his head in a polite way and prepared to leave.


    At that moment, Locke looked at the injured guards beside him and said with an embarrassed expression, "Wait¡­ I''ll leave with you. Look¡­"


    ¡­


    It was nightfall.


    Red Firefly Town.


    This place was a day''s journey from Hurin area. Fang Yuan and the others traveled non-stop to this place after meeting up with Almon, Peter, and Fenrir. They only had short rests on the way.


    The silver-grey moonlight shone, the whole town was silent.


    Although this place wasn''t affected by what happened in the Hurin area, information on the "great pestilence" surfaced and had been spread vast and wide long ago.


    The residents that could afford to had chosen to bring along their families and all of their belongings to leave this place. As for the small town, there weren''t many people left there, hence, it was like a ghost town.


    "Such a powerful wolf, you''re able to subdue a such a demon beast¡­ Hulk, your development is totally beyond my expectations."


    Beside the bonfire, Jock and Fang Yuan were sitting shoulder to shoulder, watching the Night Demon Wolf that was tearing and biting into fresh meat. His tone was filled with admiration.


    He knew that all Demon Hunters had secrets and, hence, didn''t ask about the demon wolf''s history. Instead, he looked at Mary and Almon, who were both preparing everyone''s dinner with smiling expressions.


    They were chatting amongst themselves, laughing quietly, as if they were long-lost friends. They didn''t look like they were scheming against each other at all.


    "There''s news from the headquarters¡­"


    At this moment, Locke, who was meddling with an old radio had stood up, his face displayed both pride and anxiety. "The Night Family Clans have waged war with us. It wasn''t only our Hurin area branch that was attacked!"


    "This is bad news!"


    Both Fang Yuan and Jock knitted their brows. "Any good news?"


    "Of course!" Locke nodded his head. "The Evil Demon that attacked the headquarters was defeated by the Sacred Spear, Sir Longinus¡­ Furthermore, the Pharmacists and Alchemists in the headquarters have joined forces and decoded the chaotic territory that the Evil Demon established. They were able to heal the affected ordinary citizens and Demon Hunters."


    "Sacred Spear¡­ Longinus?"


    Fang Yuan nodded his head, he knew that this Sacred Weapon holder was the strongest Demon Hunter.


    "The Demon Hunters three Sacred Weapons are the Sacred Cup, Sacred Spear, and the most mysterious Sacred Coffin. Sacred Cup can increase the strength of a Demon Hunter, and Sacred Spear represents the strongest offensive power. But what is the purpose of the Sacred Coffin?"


    Fang Yuan''s interest in these three Demon Hunter Sacred Weapons rose in his heart.


    "Although we achieved brilliant success under the lead of Sir Longinus, the other branches have suffered major losses¡­ Hence, the headquarters have issued a request to concede March¡ªDemon Hunters in the north Lowton line of defense should retreat and return, electing to abandon all the branches in the northern area. At the same time, they''ve promised to enhance efforts in nurturing young Demon Hunters. All Demon Hunters that are younger than 30 years old and above C-grade, can head towards the Sacred mountain headquarters for cultivation!" Locke said a large amount of information in one breath.


    "What? Abandon them?"


    Jock''s mouth was agape.


    March and Lowton were both major cities on the Alcala Mainland. They were at both ends of the mainland respectively. If they were connected with a line, they would almost split the mainland in half.


    At this moment, the Demon Hunter Headquarters had firmly decided to abandon almost half of its territory and branches; including the Hurin area.


    "This is only a strategic shift, we will, one day, make a comeback! Moreover¡­ the headquarters has already compensated us," Locke explained despite having a look on his face.


    No matter who it was, knowing that he or she was part of the group that had been left behind, one would have bad emotions.


    "However, this opportunity to cultivate cannot be missed!"


    Jock looked towards Fang Yuan. "Normal A-grade Demon Hunters will soon hit the bottleneck. Only by relying on the Sacred Water from the real Sacred Cup will one break through the bottleneck quickly!"


    If it was peaceful, it was alright if one''s ability improved slowly. However, the situation was between life and death now.


    "Understood!"


    Fang Yuan shrugged. Although they thought that he was already an A-grade Demon Hunter, he knew that his physical fitness was still far from that level. He had completely relied on his higher state and combat experiences to forcefully climb up the grades.


    For now, the Sacred Cup imitation was enough for him.


    However, he couldn''t say this out loud.


    He looked at Locke. "Master, I''d like to have your advice for some alchemy problems I''m experiencing."


    "Alright¡­"


    Locke was very surprised as he didn''t expect that at this point in time, this young Demon Hunter still hasn''t given up on alchemy.

 621 Kotori

    Inside a house.


    With Fenrir on-guard outside, Fang Yuan was able to let down his guard to inspect the war trophies that he had obtained this time.


    "[Monster Sob] can still be explainable, I can just frankly say that I got rid of the sniper¡­ But how do I explain how Ternetheo''s skin¡ªwhich was originally in Roger''s hands¡ªended up in my possession? In addition to that, there''s also this Sacred Cup."


    Fang Yuan looked at the Evil Demon skin in his hands.


    As the first ancestor of the Concealed Demon Killers, Ternetheo''s skin had a large number of the same symbols connected together, forming an exquisite picture that even carried the hint of an array.


    What was even more amazing was that the Evil Demon''s skin transformed into thin cicada''s wings after it was peeled off. It could be shrunk to the size of a fist, and its flexible nature was unbelievable.


    "If this skin is used properly, it can definitely become a top quality shield¡­ Of course, it''ll be focused on concealment and confusion attributes!"


    As a Demon Hunter, it''s crucial to know how to manage ingredients.


    Needless to say, the various types of medicaments in Fang Yuan''s hands were enough to cover up the traces of Ternetheo''s skin.


    "Next, is the Sacred Weapon imitation!"


    He examined the details of the wooden goblet.


    He ought to say that the Sacred Weapon imitation was indeed average-looking, it looked as if it was casually carved out of wood.


    However, a large number of alchemy symbols could still be seen clearly at the bottom. This showed that this Sacred Weapon imitation really was made from the combination of pharmaceutics and alchemy.


    "The key to the whole alchemy array is the transformation of nature!"


    Fang Yuan was very certain about his prediction.


    "To transform the blood and meat of the Night Family Clan into pure Sacred Water? The Demon Hunter that came up with this from the beginning is a complete genius!" He recited in a low tone and took out a test tube. There was scarlet-red blood inside it.


    This was the blood from the Black Scale Club and the Alpha Family that he had specially purified before.


    Bloop! Bloop!


    The small wooden goblet seemed like it held another universe inside as it didn''t overflow, even though liquid from several test tubes were poured into it.


    "Hmm?"


    Fang Yuan shook the wooden goblet a little and instantly heard the rushing sound of water from inside.


    "An alchemy technique¡­ has been activated!"


    He could clearly feel the change in the Sacred Cup. As if it were the process of producing a medicament via purifying energetic spiritual energy.


    When he looked inside the Sacred Cup again, there was purified Sacred Water.


    Bloop! Bloop!


    Fang Yuan''s throat moved as he swallowed the water and tasted it. "It''s still a little different compared to the one I previously received¡­ is it because of the different ingredients that were used? In the end, the blood of Masters isn''t pure like the Night Family Clan!"


    Next, he went on to try it out a few more times and finally made a conclusion.


    "The best ingredient to transform into Sacred Water is still blood. The purer and higher blood classes will produce Sacred Water with a stronger effect!"


    The purity and blood class were very important.


    For example, although Almon was a Master''s descendant that had yet to awaken, the Sacred Water produced from her blood could actually be compared to that of Fenrir''s. This showed the advantage of having high-quality blood versus having high-class blood.


    "From today onwards, I have to go out to hunt for more Night Family Clan members in order to have blood to practice producing medicament while moving."


    Fang Yuan was suddenly determined.


    This world was similar to the Purple Eye Realm, as they were both suppressing his cultivation.


    However, he didn''t hit the bottleneck himself. Based on the power system of breaking through in this world, it wouldn''t be difficult to recover his original strength with the right resources.


    And Sacred Water was the best ingredient!


    "It''s a pity that the boost from the Sacred Cup imitation would make my respective attributes rise to 50 at most. If they go any higher, this Sacred Water will completely lose its effect. Only the Sacred Water produced from the real Sacred Cup could increase my attributes after 50. This is why the branches are madly scrambling for training in the headquarters, which is said to be able to aid one in becoming a Titled Demon Hunter!"


    "Let''s move to the headquarters, I''ll do my best to hunt on the way there. After reaching the headquarters, I''ll be able to figure out how to obtain the real Sacred Cup."


    ¡­


    Three months later.


    Kotori City.


    This was a city at the foot of the Demon Hunter Headquarter''s Sacred mountain. Some of it had already been destroyed, causing others to be able to see the aftermath of the massive war from before.


    At this moment, Kotori City, which was originally deserted, had become overcrowded soon after.


    After the headquarter''s announcement to retreat, many Demon Hunters from the north rushed in and populated the small city. Hotels had long become full houses, while only a few rooms were left available for guesthouses. Some Demon Hunters even decided to set up tents instead. While Demon Hunters from all over the world gathered, the prices of goods in the city inflated enormously; the price of bread and butter increased four-five folds while the price of rum increased ten folds in one shot!


    Regarding Demon Hunters, who lived in the moment, it was more important to enjoy themselves once rather than to fill their stomachs.


    Currently, a line of people arrived at the city under the bright and beautiful sunlight.


    "Locke, what do you think about my work?"


    Fang Yuan sat on the horse carriage and handed a pendant over to Locke.


    The pendant''s chain was made from Secret Silver, and the main body was made from a teardrop-shaped crystal. There were indistinct golden symbols shimmering inside.


    "I named it ''Serenity pendant.'' It''s made from Secret Silver, Zealand crystal, and the heart of a Demon Bat¡­ Aside from the effect of stabilizing one''s mind, it can also automatically activate the alchemy array on it. It has a cleansing effect and can quickly cleanse one''s body and clothing!"


    Fang Yuan smiled and demonstrated.


    "Mmm?!"


    Locke raised a magnifying glass and didn''t miss any spots on the pendant. After a while, he nodded his head. "Not bad!"


    After pausing, he added on, "Purely based on the ingredients and techniques, this is merely counted as a trinket without any alchemy¡ªbut after your carving that formed this small pattern here, it''s very interesting¡­ It increased the quality of the whole work, and it can now be classified as a low-class Demon Weapon."


    To be able to produce a low-class Demon Weapon, one would naturally become a true Alchemist.


    Locke looked at the Fang Yuan now and was deeply moved.


    To become an alchemist within three months? Before this, it was basically a joke.


    Needless to say, Hulk didn''t study for the whole day. He had to patrol, find the path¡­ and even complete his tasks by himself. The time he used to study every day might not even reach an hour.


    Such a gift couldn''t be described as a talent, he was basically a devil.


    "Low-class Demon Weapon?"


    Fang Yuan looked at the pendant in his hand and felt very satisfied.


    In actual fact, the ingredients were casually chosen by him, and they weren''t valuable at all.


    However, he was able to produce a low-class Demon Weapon just by adding a custom technique. If he used ingredients that were much more valuable, then he would have the confidence to make a middle-class Demon Weapon, or even a hint of a high-class Demon Weapon!


    "Although I''m still unable to handle Ternetheo''s skin, I can do the things I want to, such as revising Starry Night."


    Fang Yuan thought silently before looking at his own attributes board.


    "Name: Hulk (Fang Yuan)


    Essence: 50.0 (110)


    Spirit: 50.0 (100)


    Magic: 50.0 (120)


    Profession: Demon Hunter


    State: Healthy


    Technique: Basic Grapple (Proficient), Gun Fighting Skill (Proficient), Secret Study (Proficient), Pharmaceutics (Proficient), Alchemy (Normal), Morning Stars Swordsmanship (Dawn), Shady Flow Flying Claw (Sharp Claw), Black Magic skill (Proficient)


    Specialization: [Medicine (Level 3)], [Botany (Level 6)(Peak)], [Fiery Golden Eyes (Level 3)], [Body Seal (Ultimate form)]"


    In these three months, he had pushed his attributes to the limit after consuming a large amount of Sacred Water and hunting aggressively.


    The Sacred Cup imitation would no longer be able to help him improve.


    And this provided a complete reinforcement.


    It was common sense that the performance of each technique would be more terrifying as one''s physical fitness increased.


    Moreover, he didn''t only train a few foundation techniques to the level of (Proficient), but he had also increased his alchemy technique via reading and research. He also perfected his own collection of Black Magic techniques.


    After obtaining them through deception or forcefully taking them, as well as experimentation, he had grasped the techniques of Black Magic, which was enough to make many Masters flabbergasted.


    Furthermore, he had integrated Black Magic techniques into alchemy and medicaments.


    Take the pendant as an example, it was a product of creative integration.


    Facts proved that this type of experimentation was a success.


    "Or so to speak¡­ the powers of the Demon Hunters and the Night Family Clan are basically from the same source, hence, it''s easy to transform¡­"


    Fang Yuan looked in the direction of the sacred mountain, his pupils were deep and serene.


    The sudden fall of the Dark Empire and the abrupt rise of Demon Hunters were too abnormal.


    Needless to say, there must be a huge secret that was linked to the two.


    Nevertheless, the truth of the world was within it.


    To a Traverser, it would naturally have a shocking pull.


    Clearly, the Demon Hunter Headquarters contained the full story behind this secret.


    While Fang Yuan was thinking freely, his small army had also entered Kotori City and had stopped at a large square.


    "Not every Demon Hunter has the qualification to go to the sacred mountain. We''ll stay here and interact with our fellow workers to see if there are any ways to earn some money. We can also receive missions and live in Kotori City¡­"


    Uncle Jock patted Fang Yuan''s shoulders. "You don''t have to worry about Almon and Peter since they''ll be with us. You can go into the sacred mountain to cultivate properly!"


    To him, only the headquarters with Demon Hunters was the safest place in the entire mainland.


    After the war was waged with the Night Family Clan, there wasn''t enough powerful strength to protect. Solo Demon Hunters would only be torn and ripped to shreds by the insane Night Family Clan.


    This was especially the case for retired, old Demon Hunters like him. He had no choice but to pick up his sword and gun again.


    As a junior that he had thought highly of, the higher Hulk''s strength was, the more confidence and hope he would have in surviving in the future.


    "Mmmm!"


    Carrying Starry Night and a bag, Fang Yuan nodded his head and walked into the management department that the Demon Hunter Headquarters had set up in Kotori City.


    The style of the Demon Hunters'' structures was uniform, they were all rough and concise so that they could be turned into defensive structures with a few adjustments.


    At the moment, there were already a large number of young Demon Hunters within the bright main hall. Fang Yuan blended in as if he was a drop of water in the ocean¡ªhardly eye-catching.

 622 Warren

    "Your name?"


    "Hulk!"


    "Originated from"


    "Hurin area Demon Hunter branch!"


    "Grade?"


    ¡­


    After confirming his identity through this process, Fang Yuan obtained a nameplate that allowed him to wait and rest here. There would be an important person from the sacred mountain that would take this batch of people away, together.


    "Although there might be the possibility of getting the upper hand in the war between the Night Family Clan and the Demon Hunters, there''ll be a gloomy outcome if any accidents occur¡­"


    Fang Yuan stood in the noisy main hall and looked at many young Demon Hunters. He knew what was coming and was prepared for it.


    A human''s ability to reproduce is very frightening. Just by casually selecting people in today''s population, there would be countless excellent Demon Hunters appearing.


    Just by nurturing C-grade Demon Hunters that were under 30 years'' old, they would be able to level up to B-grade and become the true backbone of the army. They might even be able to reach A-grade, the level of a vice president, and protect the region.


    If one''s luck was great, it wouldn''t be a surprise if there were a few new Titled Demon Hunters.


    On the other hand, the blood had long settled among the Night Family Clans. The low-class wanting to breakthrough and become high-class? That would be a dream!


    "If there wasn''t such a huge advantage, why would the empire that the Heirs of Darkness built topple all of a sudden?" Fang Yuan shook his head. "But this time, since they made their move again, it must mean that they have the confidence to succeed."


    On the road, Fang Yuan had long heard the name of the three Evil Demons; Chaos, Evil and Darkness.


    However, this powerful Evil Demon trio was incomparable with the power of the Dark Empire from before, they weren''t strong enough to compete with Demon Hunters.


    "Unless the Mother of Reproduction is really arriving, or the king¡ªDesire is coming back?"


    The owner of Desire could make all Evil Demons gladly submit and would be named the strongest power of the Night Family Clans. It might''ve already exceeded the average Power Obtainer and even crush them.


    "Sage?!"


    Fang Yuan laughed silently in his heart. "This world¡­ is really interesting!"


    Of course, the so-called Sage position was the line drawn by Da Qian Empire''s Dream Masters themselves. There was a lot of variety as to what they were called in this world.


    Nevertheless, the original Da Qian Dream Masters'' foundation was rather superficial. To Fang Yuan, his own path was the orthodox path.


    The Dream Masters that started cultivating from the Demonic Heart Elemental Force as their foundation would have the same effect as a 7th Tier Illusionary Divine when they had 4th Tier Illusionary Divine. The Sages from before were, in actual fact, only some weak Sages.


    Hence, they were beaten up by the strong existences in the Demonic Heart Realm.


    "To truly become a Sage, one must obtain original energy. Hence, The Creator and Superior Wu Zun, Qian Huanyi, and many others are actually also not qualified!"


    Fang Yuan had only one goal at the moment, which was to thoroughly study the secrets of original energy and completely practice and transform in order to truly become a powerful being!


    "In actual fact, I suspect that the Night Family Clan from this world was born due to the effects of the radiation from the original energy¡­ Normal human beings can tame the power of darkness and the Evil Demons, so I would, of course, be able to digest the original energy as well.


    "I hope that the Demon Hunter Headquarters would be able to satisfy my needs¡­"


    Talented Demon Hunters were always a little arrogant. On this occasion, they were gathered together in large numbers, and everyone judged each other with their scrutinizing gaze. It made it look as if fire sparks would appear in the air.


    "Quiet!"


    Just as the one in charge of the management office was streaming with sweat, as he was afraid that something wrong might happen, an old Demon Hunter walked onto the stage. His voice was as loud as a large bell.


    "I''m Warren, the commander sent from the headquarters!"


    Warren wore a linen robe and didn''t have a large build. He didn''t carry along any weapons or a shield, hence, making him look like a normal old man that looked after the house.


    "Sir Fist Sage!"


    However, his name, as if it carried a type of demonic power, was able to silence everyone in the main hall. Many young Demon Hunters bowed to greet him in respect.


    After all, Warren was a genuine Titled Demon Hunter. He was most famous for his fighting skills.


    It was said that he didn''t use any weapons or shields on the battlefield. Instead, he used his iron fists to fight against Evil Demons. He even exchanged skills with Daybreak Sword once and achieved a draw.


    Adding on to the other party''s seniority, these young Demon Hunters would naturally have to obey him.


    "Do all of you think that you''re geniuses? No! You are, in actual fact, nothing! If it wasn''t for the compensation that the headquarters wanted to provide for each branch, it would never be your turn to cultivate here!"


    Warren''s voice was loud and bright as he ruthlessly reprimanded all the Demon Hunters here.


    In truth, this was initially to show off his strength. If he didn''t bring the troops under his control from the beginning, then it would be difficult to lead them in the future.


    As this was the case, the young Demon Hunters didn''t refute him, but they also had disapproving faces.


    "You''re unsatisfied?"


    Witnessing the scene, wise old Warren immediately laughed coldly. "The first recorded genius by the headquarters was Saint Henry. He was A-grade at the age of 15, and he achieved the title of Saint at the age of 20. In history, the number of talented Demon Hunters that are only slightly different from him are countless. Even now, Daybreak Sword Seres became successful in his swordsmanship at the age of 25. How many of you here are over this age?"


    By throwing out these examples, the lower Demon Hunters instantly became quiet.


    They were only outstanding Demon Hunters that were above average. How could they be compared with those psychopaths?


    "Even here, there are a lot of people that are stronger than you! Krist!"


    Warren commanded once, and a young demon hunter walked out from behind him while touching his nose, looking a little awkward. "You don''t have to do this right, Uncle Warren?"


    "Look, this sloppy brat is also a Titled Demon Hunter who''s only 27 years'' old this year!" Warren waved his hand. "The people that followed me from outside, as well as the attendants on the sacred mountain, all used to be members cultivated by the headquarters. They aren''t even 30 years old yet, but they have the strength of an average of A-grade. Compared to them, would you still dare claim that you''re a genius?"


    Woosh!


    Accompanied by his words, a row of Demon Hunter attendants walked in, looking at the newbies with a provoking look.


    Although this batch of cultivating Demon Hunters could be regarded as their seniors, their nature was mixed between both good and bad, even so, they looked down on them.


    The fierce contempt caused all the Demon Hunters to instantly clench their fists tight.


    If it wasn''t for the two Titled Demon Hunters who were watching and their opponents'' scary aura, they would''ve charged forward and started a battle.


    "Sorry, Sir Fist Sage, I dare to disagree with your words!"


    Below the stage, a tall Demon Hunter with a large build walked out, like a golden-haired powerful soldier. "Although there''s countless trash here, I, Zweig, am different from them!"


    "F*ck!"


    "He really is the same as the legends described, a narcissist!"


    ¡­


    Originally, the Demon Hunters felt at ease after seeing someone standing out. However, they didn''t expect the other party to scold everyone else, their faces became red at once.


    "You are¡­ A-grade Demon Hunter from the Parochetus Communis Kingdom branch, Crazy Lion Zweig, right? You''re only 22 years'' old this year. Indeed, there is a possibility for you to live up to your nickname," Warren nodded his head and complimented him.


    This made Warren''s face turned red, but he contained his anger, as he didn''t know who he could find to vent on.


    "In actual truth, you''re not the only one. In this batch, there''s still ''Water Sword'' Ingres, ''Uncivilised'' Hendrick and ''Bramble Flower'' Tanya who are all outstanding A-grade Demon Hunters that have the hope of becoming a Titled Demon Hunter¡­ Of course, you guys have a higher possibility, but everyone here also has the possibility!"


    Warren''s voice became gentle. In actual truth, he was clear in his heart.


    Aside from the few people he named, the others could never enter the rank of being a Titled Demon Hunter, unless they have extremely good luck!


    Among them were many that had obtained B or A grade after their hard work and training. They became average components of a fighting machine after the war was waged with the Night Family Clan.


    Of course, he wouldn''t say such cruel words.


    "Alright, follow me to the sacred mountain. Your hostels have been prepared there. All registered Demon Hunters can obtain your own quota of Sacred Water. There are also specialized martial technique fields and lessons that are taught by Demon Hunters, who are, at the very least, Titled Demon Hunter. Sacred Weapon holders will also appear occasionally!" Warren shouted out the arrangements, to fill the young Demon Hunters'' hearts with longing, before waving his hand. "Let''s go!"


    Fang Yuan shrugged and went with the flow.


    However, he realized that the old man, Warren, was somehow beside him, his gaze filled with scrutiny. "You''re Hulk? From the Hurin area? Hmm? Specialized in Morning Stars Swordsmanship?"


    "Yes, Sir Warren."


    Fang Yuan wasn''t feeling comfortable in his heart, but he still bowed slightly to greet him.


    "It''s a pity¡­ If only Seres was still here¡­" Warren sighed. He and Seres could be said to be friends from their exchange of blows. He felt a little sympathy as the intelligent ones sympathized with their own kind.


    And because of this, he could still see Fang Yuan eye to eye. "After going to the sacred mountain, there''ll be another distribution to confirm the direction of one''s main cultivation. Your batch will also follow different Titled Demon Hunters, respectively, to learn various styles and knowledge. I feel that your combat techniques still needs training¡­"


    The only thing that was lacking in this excuse, were the words "come with me, I''ll protect you next time." and other words along those lines.


    "Assigning tutors? Then, will we still be operating missions?"


    Fang Yuan''s mouth had the hint of a smile. He knew that even though the headquarters gave its preferences, there was no reason to give it for free.


    "That''s right, but with Titled Demon Hunters leading them, no problems would appear normally. Of course, if there is, it''ll be a huge problem!"


    Warren nodded his head.


    "I''m a Pharmacist, and I have a little knowledge in alchemy¡­" Fang Yuan asked with a face of curiosity, "I wonder if I can get sir to arrange something for me?"


    "You''re¡­ a Pharmacist? And you know alchemy?"


    Warren widened his eyes and almost cursed, "D*mn it¡­ why didn''t they report this before?"


    "I''m not sure either!" Fang Yuan showed an innocent face. "However, my abilities have gotten the recognition of Master Locke and Master Soma."


    Even if it was the period of war, why would a weapon designer and an architect personally go onto the battlefield, loaded with guns?


    The only attractive part of the Demon Hunter Headquarters was the real Sacred Water. Hence, Fang Yuan wouldn''t risk his life for them. His identity as a Pharmacist and an Alchemist became his best excuse and charm.

 623 Hunter

    Demon Hunter Headquarters, Sacred Mountain.


    According to the instructor that popularized science to Fang Yuan and other new Demon Hunters, the entire Sacred Mountain was created out of thin air by the miraculous means of the first batch of Demon Hunters.


    It was once a flat piece of land.


    Moreover, the sacred light that was bathing the top of Sacred Mountain was beneficial in enhancing Demon Hunters.


    "The entire headquarters place the body of Titled Demon Hunters as the highest power. The three Sacred Weapon holders executives are in charge of the usual chores such as for the fighter body, alchemy body, medicament body, training body, logistics body and so on¡­"


    Originally, Hulk was supposed to be assigned to the training body to be taught by a Titled Demon Hunter and even follow him to complete missions.


    However, after a test, it was verified that he had outstanding pharmaceutical and alchemy skills. His tutor had, thus, became a Master Pharmacist instead of a Titled Demon Hunter.


    In front of Fang Yuan was an old man with snow-white brows. He was showing his meticulous medicament making processes. "Now, let me teach you the creation of a Dragon Power medicament. The first step is to purify the dragon''s blood!"


    The other party''s speech was slow, so no one would''ve misheard any of his words.


    The dragon''s blood wasn''t the blood of a giant dragon, but of a dragon monster from the Night Family Clan. It had high-class blood, and its blood would naturally be very precious.


    The difficulty level of extracting the energetic spiritual energy also exceeded that of the ability of a normal Pharmacist.


    However, this old man''s movement was as smooth as flowing water, and he didn''t hesitate at all. He finished the extraction part, and the following synthesis process was also precise and accurate. His success rate was terrifyingly high.


    "Did you see it clearly?"


    After completing, he looked at Fang Yuan, his pupils shone with a hint of anticipation.


    "I''ve seen everything clearly, Master Ramil!"


    This Ramil was a true Master Pharmacist. Compared to Soma, his techniques were, who-knew-how-much, more outstanding. However, he was also, of course, a lot stricter.


    "Very good, make 10 attempts to see if you can produce the Dragon Power medicament!" Ramil instructed.


    "Okay."


    Fang Yuan steadied his hands and began his attempts.


    "Dragon Power medicament is a rather high-quality medicament. If it was swallowed during a war, the Demon Hunter would immediately increase their strength to that of a giant dragon¡­ However, this is a reckless way of wasting natural resources. Its true value is in diluting it and consuming it every day to slowly increase the strength of one''s muscles! According to my calculations, after consuming three portions of it, it''ll provide Demon Hunters with an additional 500 pounds of power."


    This type of high-quality medicament would make even Soma have goosebumps.


    However, to Fang Yuan, his level had way exceeded the other party''s. His movements were confident, and after three failures, he had finally succeeded in producing Dragon Power medicament.


    "You already have a success rate of one out of four from the start?"


    Although he knew that he was facing a genius, Ramil was still shocked by his frightening learning speed. "You''ve already grasped today''s lesson. Next, I''ll provide 100 portions of ingredients, and you must hand over at least 25 tubes of Dragon Power medicaments to me. This is your homework. You can only advance to the next part of the learning course after completing it!"


    "Okay."


    After the war started, the workload of the Pharmacists and Alchemists had naturally escalated greatly.


    Even though Fang Yuan was able to escape the fate of fighting for his life as a newbie Demon Hunter on the battlefield, he still had to accept this exploitation if he wanted to remain in the headquarters.


    Moreover, it was a fair trade for him as long as both parties were willing.


    If he concealed his success rate of making medicaments, the medicament ingredients could be processed into at least 70-80 tubes of products. Taking a portion of it out as the fee for the next lesson wasn''t a problem.


    "Okay, do it properly!"


    Master Ramil put his hands behind his back and walked out, the view of his back looked slightly gloomy.


    Sometimes, it was a huge blow to the tutor if his student was abnormally good.


    ¡­


    As a Pharmacist, Fang Yuan had a private hostel, an experiment lab, and he received better treatment compared to the other cultivating Demon Hunters. Because of this, he was isolated from them.


    If it were other people, they would feel terrified as well as worried. They would do their best to draw closer to others and wish for their recognition.


    However, to Fang Yuan, it was good that he was ignored.


    After half a day, he kept the medicaments in front of him and went to recite on his own in a low tone.


    "I''ve hidden my true standards and the time needed to produce medicament. I guarantee that I''ll be able to have some free time every day¡­ However, there really are too many skilled Demon Hunters within the Demon Hunter Headquarters."


    Titled Demon Hunters were Power Obtainers!


    And within the headquarters, there were over 13 garrisons, and let''s not talk about the three Sacred Weapon holders!


    Facing this type of situation, even Fang Yuan''s true self would have a headache.


    Hence, his exploration was done carefully as he prioritized safety first.


    "In actual fact¡­ the time flow of this world is passing rather quickly, maybe I might be able to climb to the highest rank of Demon Hunters and become a Sacred Weapon holder before the alarm that will pull back my true spirit goes off?"


    Fang Yuan rubbed his chin and instantly knew that this was only his wishful thinking.


    Even if Hulk''s parents were Demon Hunters, and it could be said that he was born and raised in a good family, he was still like an ugly duckling compared to the headquarter''s candidates.


    The other party definitely had a strict selection and inheritance system, and Hulk, who was from a branch, was ruled out from the start. Unless huge changes occurred! For example, a fight!


    "Where did the Sacred Cup, Sacred Spear, and Sacred Coffin really come from? Why do they contain unbelievable power?"


    Fang Yuan took out a test tube.


    Inside was the true Sacred Water that he had gotten as a privilege from entering the headquarters to cultivate.


    The true Sacred Water looked unimpressive, just like normal spring water.


    However, after drinking it, Fang Yuan''s body felt warm, and the three attributes that were stagnant had begun to increase slowly.


    "Evil Demon blood?"


    He murmured, "No¡­ even if it''s Evil Demon blood, it wouldn''t be able to transform into such exquisite, pure Sacred Water, right?"


    The requirement to be a Power Obtainer requires an attribute to go over 100.


    The Sacred Water from the Sacred Cup imitation could only push a Demon Hunter''s attributes to around 50, maximum.


    The slow journey, that followed, had to either rely on the bitter cultivation of the Demon Hunter himself or the portions of Sacred Water from the headquarters!


    "It''s a pity to only have it once every half a month, it''s too little! Too little!"


    A strong sense of dissatisfaction brewed in Fang Yuan''s heart. Even though he knew that the supply of Sacred Water was prioritized for Titled Demon Hunters and that with the huge amount of Demon Hunters that came forward to cultivate, it was good enough to have this portion. Unfortunately, it was utterly inadequate in satisfying his needs.


    After obtaining the Sacred Cup imitation, he had never reached a situation where there was a shortage of Sacred Water shortage before.


    "Among the three Sacred Weapon holders, the one that has the Sacred Spear is Longinus, Mond is in charge of looking after the Sacred Coffin, and Arag¨®n is the holder of the Sacred Cup and is in charge of supplying the Sacred Water."


    What made him astonished was that he didn''t discover any large-scaled base for ingredient cultivation on Sacred Mountain.


    With the terrifying consumption rate of the Sacred Water, it was a very unusual matter.


    "The environment of Sacred mountain would make even a high-class Night Demon Clan uncomfortable if it stayed for too long¡­ It''s unsuitable for the cultivation of ingredients¡­ Furthermore, the medicament body and alchemy body didn''t handle a large amount of Evil Demon''s blood and other similar ingredients before¡­"


    Fang Yuan recited in a low voice, "Unless¡­"


    There were only a few places that were restricted on the entire Sacred Mountain.


    Fang Yuan was confident that he would be able to be in contact with the sealed, top secret. However, there would be a tad bit of danger in the process.


    "Of course, before this¡­"


    He opened up his own goat-skinned notebook and looked at the packed experiment statistics and model predictions he had recorded in it.


    "By using Black Magic techniques as support to undergo pharmaceutical and alchemy techniques is, indeed, very useful¡­ In addition to that, it''s finally aided me in obtaining the key to taming blood!"


    They only used tricks, no matter if they were Pharmacists or Alchemists.


    What Fang Yuan truly wanted to try was still the experiment of transplanting a living human''s blood. As long as he could guarantee a 100% success rate, it would immediately mean that he had the chance to practice and transform original energy.


    Currently, he had slowly found the key points.


    "Life¡­ is really incredible, even after multiplying, non-human entities would be able to tame the blood of "Chaotic" and "Evil" Evil Demons!


    "And multiplying¡­ is creation!"


    Every means and method that he researched had the same conclusion. This made Fang Yuan very shocked.


    "The true power of creation is the key to practicing and transforming original energy!"


    This happened to coincide with his Dream Master''s cultivation path.


    Although he was able to break through continuously with his original body, he was unable to realize the creation of spirit from space. What he lacked was understanding of the power of creation.


    And currently, in the Alcala Mainland, he was able to finally have some leads after various types of research, that he excessively experimented with in the Demon Hunter Headquarters.


    This type of experiment provided a lot of enlightenment towards Fang Yuan''s grasp on the power of creation.


    "Of course, my research is still considered very low class, and I cannot create a world with just the wave of my hands¡­ Just like with living organisms, it''s extensive and profound, and can be referred to as¡ªbiologically modified?!


    "Researching the power of blood, based on a human''s body grasping the power of an Evil Demon, and creating life with the wave of one''s hands would be to become a biologically modified Master!"


    Fang Yuan gave meaning to his discovery.


    At his current stage, he was in the stage of researching blood, he could already begin to modify human bodies and so forth.


    In the future, once he expanded his research of biologically modified Masters, he would definitely be able to create a catastrophe as serious as the war that was waged with the Night Family Clan!


    "I won''t be able to do large modifications, but I can create a few true Demon Hunters!"


    After coming to the headquarters to cultivate, he came into contact with a large amount of secret information, causing Fang Yuan''s understanding to change drastically.


    The official name of Demon Hunters should be "Evil Demon Hunters," a profession that specializes in hunting Evil Demons.


    However, after the collapse of the Dark Empire, these types of Demon Hunters became fewer and fewer. Eventually, they were gradually replaced with the name of Titled Demon Hunters.


    This was due to the harsh profession requirements. The most important condition was that at least one Evil Demon ought to be hunted down and killed!

 624 Descendants

    If it was described in gaming terms, the so-called "Evil Demon Hunter" could be seen as a hidden and advanced profession of a Demon Hunter, as the conditions of being one were very harsh.


    Even if it was a Titled Demon Hunter, he might not be able to be as ruthless as Daybreak Sword, who even chased and hunted down Evil Demons.


    Most of the time, they only had the power to fight against Evil Demons. They usually needed three to five people to join hands in order to increase their chances of winning the fight against an Evil Demon¡ªthis was only in regards to winning the fight. To kill an Evil Demon and claim its corpse as a war trophy would be too difficult.


    "As an Evil Demon Hunter, it''s very important to be able to obtain a complete Evil Demon corpse and proceed with an ancient ritual for the sake of obtaining a higher rate of growth¡­"


    Obviously, this information was hidden in a pile of books. It was only due to Fang Yuan''s abnormally strong memory and discovery skills that allowed him to see it. Otherwise, not only would Roger get the skin from the Evil Demon corpse, but he would definitely use all his power to seize every part of the corpse.


    "The path towards the ancient ritual had long been lost. It is said to be very dangerous, and the power that''s obtained through it is very troublesome¡­ Moreover, there were even Evil Demon Hunters that degenerated to become a new Evil Demon!


    "Influenced by the bad news, and after the sudden collapse of the Dark Empire, the enemies of the Demon Hunters became less powerful. Naturally, the Evil Demon Hunters gradually gave way to Titled Demon Hunters¡­"


    Fang Yuan''s eyes glittered. "However, the so-called ''Evil Demon Hunters'' are, in actual fact, just top-notch Masters!"


    Demon Hunters were always fighting against darkness with power that came from the darkness itself.


    Even though it was funny, it was the harsh truth.


    "Even so¡­ this world might''ve been a world with very strict laws of physics. It was only when the Mother of Reproduction arrived did the extraordinary powers appear¡­"


    Only this reason could explain why the Demon Hunters were like this; they didn''t have a choice!


    "From this¡­ Almon might not be an offspring of an Evil Demon, but a descendant of an Evil Demon Hunter!"


    Fang Yuan came up with a theory. "I only need evidence to prove it now."


    Although it was the same blood transplant process, normal Night Family Clan members and Evil Demon''s were naturally opposite ends of the spectrum.


    Regarding Peter, he should be thankful that he was still able to control his own right arm at the moment, despite the periodic attacks. If the Voodoo Corpse was an Evil Demon instead, he would''ve most likely lacked the power to resist it at all, and he would be assimilated straight away.


    "If my biologic modification skills could reach the level of transplanting Evil Demon''s blood with just a minimal price to pay, the research on the power of creation would be able to go one step further. I would then be able to attempt producing original energy."


    Fang Yuan muttered to himself, "The next time I have a holiday, I''ll go look for Almon and Peter."


    After perfecting his own theories and experiments, the research had entered the practical stage.


    These two people were, no doubt, the best subjects.


    "Although Peter''s will was shocking, the purity inside his body was the key to producing the best blood suppression medicament! The Evil Demon blood in Almon''s body is also key to turning her into an Evil Demon Hunter."


    Although she wouldn''t be comparable to Titled Demon Hunters at the start, she would win when it came to having huge potential. She wouldn''t hit the bottleneck in the future when she advanced!


    As his thoughts wandered, Fang Yuan, once again, looked down at the crude creation of an ancient Demon Hunter.


    An Evil Demon''s corpse could only promote one Evil Demon Hunter. It was too wasteful.


    If it was adapted to his creations, he would be able to create endless supplies of Evil Demon Hunters, and it would eventually be easy to deal with the whole world!


    "It''s not too late to start the operation now! However, it''s better to add some insurance measures in the blood. I won''t be able to break through the territory at all if I lose my individual will. I should at least add on a few limitations so they cannot make a move against me¡­"


    "The Sacred Cup and the Dead Sea Ancient Scroll that has recently been rumored¡­ I must have them!"


    By previously obtaining a piece of Dead Sea Ancient Scroll, It had aided Fang Yuan immensely in his biologically modified Master research.


    Hearing that the Demon Hunter Headquarters actually kept a key page, he had naturally developed some schemes.


    Just when the Demon Hunters were enjoying their safety in the headquarters, darkness rose up, all the same.


    ¡­


    In a back alley of a bar in Kotori City.


    "You are¡­ an Evil Demon? Ah!"


    Accompanied by the screams of a pale-faced youth, his whole body turned into ashes amidst jade-green flames.


    What was startling was the fact that no one in front of the bar heard his blood-curdling screams, not even the crowd on the streets outside.


    "Another degenerated soul, no matter how much I taste it, it still gives me an amazing feeling."


    The one that was called an Evil Demon was a middle-aged man that was wearing a black windbreaker. He looked like a normal Demon Hunter.


    As he took off his cap, one could currently see a pair of purple eyes that had the charms of a demon. Anyone who saw it would feel the pain of their souls burning.


    On the handsome face was an unusual satisfied expression, as if he had just had his fill of food.


    "Sir Urias!"


    At the side, a trembling Concealed Demon Killer walked out from a dark corner and bowed in respect. "Sir, everyone has arrived, they''re just waiting for you."


    "Mmm¡­"


    The human-like Evil Demon casually nodded his head and looked at the whole city with a ravenous gaze. "A city completely filled with Demon Hunters¡­ this is so nostalgic¡­ What, did the three Evil Demon Kings forget the lesson they learned from Longinus''s Spear and are preparing for another attack? And¡­ you dare to command me when you''re just a mere Concealed Demon Killer?"


    Murderous intent shone from Urias'' gaze as his hand shot out to squeeze the neck of the Concealed Demon Killer.


    Whoosh!


    Green flames gathered. Without giving any time for the Concealed Demon Killer to scream, it turned into a pile of ashes.


    "Phew¡­ I really am feeling much better after killing."


    Urias heaved a long breath and looked at the darkness suddenly. "My apologies¡­ I killed one of your underlings."


    "It''s a minor matter, Urias, your excellency!"


    A pair of scarlet red eyes appeared in the darkness, it was also an Evil Demon. "Since the day Ternetheo died, the remaining Concealed Demon Killers don''t seem to have much worth¡­"


    "It was a failure the other time. Aside from the Hurin branch, our large troop that invaded the Demon Hunter Headquarters had also suffered a major loss, right?"


    "It doesn''t really count as a failure, at least we forced the Demon Hunters to pull back their line of defense¡­ Furthermore, the sacrifices we made weren''t for nothing. We have, at least, understood the ins and outs of Sacred Mountain and the Demon Hunters. Even if we''re going to face Longinus again, it won''t be a crushing defeat like the previous attempt," The red-eyed Evil Demon said.


    It was hiding in the darkness, and its form couldn''t be seen clearly. It looked like a huge existence, but also looked as if it was nothing but black gas as well. "It was only a probing attack the previous time. It''s different this time around. We''ll capture Sacred Mountain, degenerate the Demon Hunters, and make the world weep because of this!"


    "Such a beautiful future¡­"


    Urias laughed lightly, "I''m anticipating your moves¡­ as for meetings and what-not, I won''t be joining them, as I have more important things to do."


    "What things?" Even if it was an Evil Demon, it also felt curious.


    "My blood is within this city¡­" The middle-aged man sniffed the air, his face revealing a strange expression. "Although it''s very thin, it really is my descendant."


    "A Master within human beings? I understand¡­"


    The scarlet red eyes dimmed, and the black fog faded away.


    Urias, however, didn''t leave immediately and continued to stand rooted on the ground, as if he was thinking about something.


    After a while, he opened the pocket watch hanging in front of his chest and looked at the portrait of the woman in the case, his gaze was grave. "Serena!"


    ¡­


    "The blood and suppression are the easiest part. In order to complete the blood transplant, the real complication in the operation is with the soul!


    "Extraordinary blood has a unique mark. It needs to be concentrated into a brand and seared onto the soul. Otherwise, everything would be a waste¡­


    "Hence, not only does a biologically modified Master need to be skilled with surgery, but he also needs to have a deep understanding regarding the territory of the soul¡­"


    Fang Yuan scribbled and wrote in his notebook. Unconsciously, he left a large number of records.


    "Okay. time to go down the mountain!"


    The research on his theory had ended, next, it was time to move onto the practical aspect.


    However, when he was leaving the laboratory, Fang Yuan realized that he had invited a small problem.


    "You are¡­ Crazy Lion Zweig ? Is there a problem?"


    In front of him was Crazy Lion Zweig that he had only met once. He had brought along some members from the training class and was blocking Fang Yuan''s way.


    "You have betrayed the pride of a Demon Hunter!"


    Zweig announced loudly, "As a Demon Hunter, you didn''t fight on the battlefield, but instead, fight in the back¡­ Did you know that within just this month, three members died!"


    In actual fact, this was only an excuse.


    Fang Yuan had gathered a large amount of dissatisfaction by using his identity as a Pharmacist to shy away from the cruel training and dangerous missions.


    The real reason that made Zweig resolved was the other party''s failure to appreciate others!


    After all, no matter who it was, one should take the initiative to prostrate to this small group after being excluded for so long. In order to show one''s loyalty, it was even logical to sell one''s blood and kidney and provide medicament.


    However, Hulk was acting as if nothing had happened, throwing cold water on them.


    Since his plan failed, Zweig couldn''t stand it and decided to jump out, preparing to become aggressive instead of being passive-aggressive.


    "I''m sorry!"


    Fang Yuan shrugged his shoulder. "If there''s nothing else, can you get out the way?"


    "You¡­"


    This attitude made Zweig, who was acting at the time, to become angry for real. "What do you see human lives as?"


    "Beat him up!"


    The other members, motivated by a desire to see the world in chaos, shouted.


    Seeing how their opponent was like this, it made even them hot-blooded and passionate about it, as if they had found the right reason.

 625 Lion Hear

    "Okay¡­"


    Fang Yuan shook his head, and sighed helplessly, "Although I know that this type of small group is part of the Demon Hunters'' education, and some even say that this can reveal one''s controlling ability¡­ but¡­"


    He pointed his own nose. "It''s regretful that you''ve chosen the wrong target."


    "I know everything about you!"


    Zweig cracked his own fist, making explosion noises that sounded like beans being fried. "Hulk from the Hurin area, who might even be Seres''s secret disciple, a genius Pharmacist, and you''re even hiding some trump cards, but those won''t be able to stop my fists."


    "If you cannot convince me through talking, you want to convince me through a fight? But that suits your identity and position when you use your fist to talk."


    Fang Yuan raised his brows and released his magical energy to observe the surroundings. His pupils immediately gave off a cold gaze.


    "You actually dare to talk to our boss with that attitude? Did you know that our Crazy Lion Knight group is the best faction amongst the members? Boss defeated ''Water Sword'' Ingres, Uncivilized Man''s Uncivilized Army and ''Bramble Flower'' Tanya''s Flower Knight Protection group. He''s already the chief of this batch, for sure!"


    Zweig didn''t talk, but a little brother at his side him couldn''t wait to boast.


    "Oh, a king amongst a bunch of kids, is that something worth being proud of?"


    Fang Yuan''s didn''t even twitch his eyebrow.


    What the other party had said was very difficult to move him.


    Uncivilized man, bramble flower¡­ what are those?


    "Scumbag!"


    The young Demon Hunter with freckles, that had boasted, shouted angrily before kicking out, "Razor Leg!"


    It could be seen that he had some skill, and after a period of hard training and the consumption of Sacred Water, he was extremely swift and vicious when he attacked, the strong wind sharp.


    Unfortunately, Fang Yuan, who was proficient in fighting skills, could still see that he was filled with flaws and faults.


    "Get lost!"


    He moved a step forward, his right hand cut down straight and blocked the path of the other party''s thigh.


    Smack!


    Accompanied by the sound of bones fracturing, the Demon Hunter with freckles had fallen onto the floor and shouted in agony, "My leg broke¡­"


    "This¡­"


    The other underlings were instantly shocked when they saw what had happened.


    In their eyes, this unlucky guy looked as if he had initiated to get hit by bringing his thigh in front of the party.


    "Alright!"


    Only, Zweig''s original boastful look disappeared and was replaced by a solemn expression when he saw what had happened. "Skilled fighting skills. What you''re best at, is still swordsmanship right? Hand him a sword!"


    "You want to fight fairly with me?"


    Fang Yuan rolled his eyes. "Then I''ll need a bet."


    Although he did have thoughts of extorting Demon Hunters of their portions of Sacred Water through this small group, it wouldn''t be able to happen, as the Demon Hunter Headquarters would definitely interfere. Otherwise, the so-called training would become a joke.


    What if he won some war trophies through this bet?


    Fang Yuan thought that it was worth a try.


    "Say it¡ªwhat type of bet?!"


    Zweig wore his boxing gloves and was filled with confidence as he seemed to not consider the issue of losing.


    "How about the Sacred Water portion that''s handed out next time?" Fang Yuan rolled his eyes. "If someone wants to challenge me in the future, this rule must be followed as well."


    "Do you think that there''ll be a lot of people who will challenge you?" Zweig panted like a jealous bull. "You have that much confidence in winning against me?"


    Although he was muscular, it wasn''t all muscles in his brains.


    A nameless person would naturally not have any attention paid to him.


    Only when Fang Yuan won against him, would his reputation rise, and the number of people who will want to challenge him would become countless.


    "It''s not confidence, but its the truth," Fang Yuan smiled and replied.


    "You, who talk big, shall regret it!" Zweig shouted in anger, his right fist shot out at the speed of an artillery shell. There was even the crisp sound of the air swishing.


    On his boxing glove, a virtual image of a bull, which had a crushing presence, appeared automatically, "Bull Punch!"


    Kaboom!


    The bull''s virtual image was like a tank that smashed his way towards Fang Yuan.


    "Oh? A Demon weapon?"


    Fang Yuan took a quick glance at his opponent''s boxing gloves but wasn''t very shocked.


    If the opponent was poor¡ªto the point of not being able to own a few Demon Weapons¡ªthe new chief of this batch would be a joke.


    "Bull Boxing Glove?! It appears that Boss Zweig is very angry since he used this Demon Weapon from the start."


    The underlings at the side rejoiced at the other party''s misfortune, and could already imagine the situation where the prideful and arrogant guy was begging on his knees.


    Bang!


    A muffled sound was heard, and what happened next made their jaws drop.


    "Bull''s shadow?"


    Fang Yuan''s hand went into nothing and seized the neck of the bull. With a light pinch, the whole virtual image broke and burst like a bubble.


    "This is only a middle-class Demon Weapon, and the way you used it is overly rough. There''s already some internal damage¡ªI suggest that you find an Alchemist you can trust to put it in the furnace again, otherwise it''ll become trash soon."


    Zweig''s face became red and wanted to take back his fist.


    Unfortunately, no matter how much he struggled to do so, it was in vain. He felt as if he was facing a mountain, an unreachable giant mountain!


    "Let go! Let go!" Zweig shouted angrily and suddenly felt the strong power disappear.


    However, his whole body tumbled backward violently as he used too much strength. He then leaned onto a wall.


    Specks of dust streamed down, dying his golden hair into a dirty grey color.


    "Boss¡­"


    The few members witnessed that scene from the side, and their mouths were agape. "Boss was so easily defeated? Don''t tell me that this member, that''s hiding, is the real, true chief?"


    "Hulk!!!" Zweig roared in frustration, looking at the cracks on his boxing gloves. He tore his clothes apart and revealed a pendant that he wore everywhere he went. "I''ll let you know why I''m called ''Crazy Lion''!"


    A lion''s roar was head.


    A strong wave spread out, bringing with it a shocking suppression effect.


    "A high-class Demon Weapon? One that''s very close to the top?"


    Fang Yuan glanced quickly and instantly knew what to expect. "It provides a wholesome increase to his attributes, a shield, and zeal?"


    Zweig was now enveloped by illusionary gold armor and was taller by a section. The brilliant light shone as if he was a golden armored war god. Then, he viciously leaped over.


    Even his followers and underlings were shocked as they witnessed that scene. They only knew then that their boss had hidden such a trump card.


    "Boss didn''t use this move when he went against the few problematic people, so he should be able to win, right?"


    Unknowingly, the idea that Fang Yuan''s strength was unparalleled, and that it was very difficult to win against him, was planted in their hearts.


    This shadow would accompany them for their whole lives and become their nightmares.


    "Do you still not understand?"


    Fang Yuan moved forward and casually slapped him. The shield from the golden lion armor broke into pieces instantly.


    He used the back of his hand to slap Zweig, and a fresh red handprint appeared on his face as he became unconscious.


    Although to Fang Yuan, Zweig fainted because he was too angry, he didn''t know if the party would challenge him again or if he would knock himself against the wall as he was too embarrassed.


    "Bo¡­ Boss!"


    The few Demon Hunters that had hope, were dumbfounded.


    What''s this situation? Why did Zweig get defeated?


    That''s right, in their eyes, Fang Yuan was like an adult that had bullied a child and had ruthlessly bullied Zweig.


    The vast difference between them made it feel unbelievable.


    "Your¡­ your Excellency, could it¡­ could it be that you''re¡­ titled?"


    One of the Demon Hunters plucked up the courage and stammered to ask the question.


    "Titled? I''m still far from it."


    Fang Yuan smiled broadly. "Bring him back and remember to remind him about our bet. Otherwise, I''ll personally find him for it."


    He glanced towards a certain direction before turning. He then vanished at the end of the pathway.


    "He has¡­ such an unbelievable sensitivity¡ªwe just rushed over!"


    Two Titled Demon Hunters, who were instructors, came over to that spot and went to check Zweig''s injuries. "Nothing''s wrong, he only fainted. The opponent knew what he was doing."


    "Good day, instructors!"


    The few Demon Hunters rushed to greet them. At this moment, Zweig woke up as well, his eyes were vacant, before promptly having the expression of total defeat. "I lost¡­"


    "Yes, you lost, and it was a crushing defeat! Do you know what aspects you lost in?"


    A Titled Demon Hunter said slowly, "In terms of physical fitness, the two of you are similar. However, your fighting skills and vision are like heaven and earth compared to his¡­ When you used your two Demon Weapons, your weak spots could be seen through, and thus, you were defeated directly, you lost in a fair fight."


    "He¡­ is the same as me, impossible, with that kind of power¡­"


    Zweig''s pupils contracted suddenly. "Wait a moment?"


    "That''s right, it''s Dragon Power medicament!"


    The other instructor nodded his head. Demon hunters were good at making use of different types of tools, using medicament wasn''t a shameful thing to do.


    After all, Zweig had used two powerful Demon Weapons continuously and had no right to point fingers at others.


    "Silently using medicament is his core. In this aspect, you''re like an infant that just started to learn how to walk!"


    "Alright, if there''s nothing else, go back and start on today''s training!"


    The faces of the two Demon Hunter instructors became solemn.


    To them, it was acceptable that youths ganged up and even fought each other.


    It could be let go when he stepped over the department and came here to pick on someone. The main point, however, was that he actually lost and was beaten up badly. This couldn''t be tolerated, and he must be ruthlessly disciplined once.


    "Hulk? I''ll remember him!"


    Zweig nodded his head. After saying that sentence, he went into a long silence.


    "Okay, if you deal with your techniques during training, you''ll definitely be able to grow quickly."


    Two instructors nodded their heads and were satisfied that Zweig didn''t lose his will to fight, becoming completely disheartened.


    This type of Demon Hunter was the type that would only become heroic after knowing shame, and, and would become a pillar in the future.


    However, the two instructors looked at each other and laughed bitterly after they could no longer see the view of their backs.


    "Do you think that it''s bad for us to hide the truth from them?"


    "We should give them a goal. If we told them the truth¡ªthat the party''s technique is not below a Titled Demon Hunter¡ªeven Zweig will lose his confidence."


    "That ''Hulk'' is basically an Evil-doer!"

 626 Situation

    Outside of Kotori City.


    Currently, there was another area filled with makeshift shacks, like a refugee camp, on the outside of the original city''s walls.


    This was a region that was formed and inhabited by the retreating Demon Hunters from the north, their families, and their subordinates.


    The huge success of Sacred Spear, and the accumulated prestige of the headquarters over the years had long planted a seed deep into the conscience of their minds.


    That before the world was destroyed, the safest place would be where the headquarters was.


    Different types of members brought their families over even though the whole Kotori City couldn''t endure such a heavy burden.


    Luckily, Demon Hunters were all independent people who earned their own money. They were able to quickly find a way to survive.


    The housing within the city has all been occupied? No problem, as long as tents could be set up right outside the city.


    As for the dirt and chaos?


    Sorry, but in this generation, most of the residential areas were all generally like this.


    Even though the gathering of Demon Hunters had put a lot of pressure on the safety of the locals, as the power was dominated by sheer numbers, the Demon Hunters still felt safe.


    Unfortunately, this feeling of safety was like a bubble to Fang Yuan. Once it was lightly poked at, it would burst.


    "This place is a mess. Only by relying on my own strength, will there be true safety."


    Fang Yuan was holding onto an illegible map. He had squeezed into the city and was finding his way around for half a day in the residential area before finally finding the address that Jock had left for him.


    "Although I know that it''s to save money on rent¡ªto move to this remote area¡­"


    He was slightly speechless and went forward to knock on the door.


    "Hulk! You''re finally back."


    The one that opened the door was Aunt Sophia. Her eyes reddened instantly when she saw Fang Yuan.


    "Why didn''t you tell me that something happened?" The atmosphere made Fang Yuan frown.


    "What? Hulk, didn''t you come because you received the note that we asked someone to send over?"


    Aunt Sophia hit her own forehead lightly.


    "That d*mn messenger dispatch speed¡­ Never mind, what happened exactly?"


    Fang Yuan felt that he had coincidentally missed it, but due to his sensitive, sudden urge, he had probably arrived a little earlier than they had predicted.


    "It''s Almon¡ªsomething happened to her!"


    Aunt Sophia didn''t hide her worried face as she brought Fang Yuan to a room. "Look."


    Fang Yuan pushed open the door and saw Peter first.


    This kid had completely removed the restriction on his right hand. He looked like a famished wolf that was protecting his own territory and might pounce at any moment.


    Of course, he calmed down when he saw that it was Fang Yuan.


    "You didn''t tell me that this kid was a monster!" Mary said angrily. It looked like an unfortunate incident happened between Peter and her. "If it wasn''t for Father, who didn''t allow me to tell anyone, countless Demon Hunters would''ve chopped him up into meat jam if I shouted even once. Hmph!"


    Unfortunately, her threat didn''t even make Peter frown. He looked at the woman lying on the bed.


    "Almon¡­"


    Fang Yuan moved a step forward.


    He saw that the young and bright female robber was deeply unconscious. Her brows were tightly knitted together, and her breaths were quick. No matter how one looked at it, it was as if something bad had happened.


    Peter stared at Fang Yuan and said slowly, "Uncle Jock has already gone out to find a doctor."


    "Why did she become like this?" Fang Yuan''s eyes emitted a golden glow, his expression strange.


    This Almon didn''t look like she was attacked by an Evil Demon''s scheme. Instead, it looked more like¡­ her blood had awakened?


    Although she had Evil Demon''s blood in her body, it was always recessive. However, it began to awaken after she met with an unknown trigger.


    To a normal person, this was both a good and bad thing.


    Once she overcomes it, she''ll become a true Master''s descendant and would have a huge increase in her strength.


    Of course, it was also a dangerous process when the blood awakened. It was accompanied by the invasion of a chaotic will. If Almon couldn''t overcome it, she could degenerate into a demon!


    "However, even I had only just gotten the confidence in triggering the blood in her body. How did this happen so suddenly?" Fang Yuan murmured to himself and looked at Peter. "Before this happened, did any abnormal incidents occur? For example, did she come into contact with a strange object or person?"


    "Yes!"


    Peter thought for a while and replied softly, "Sister met a purple-eyed man at the market. She looked afraid and went down with a fever after coming back¡­"


    "A purple-eyed man?"


    Fang Yuan looked at Peter and saw that he also quivered when he mentioned the other party. He could somewhat guess what happened.


    There weren''t many natural suppressive existences that that even a Voodoo Corpse would be afraid of in the Night Family Clans.


    "The process of demonization has begun. It''s not a problem of whether I want to experiment on her¡­ but if I don''t proceed, then Almon has a 50/50 chance of becoming a monster! Moreover, a very problematic issue is that this is Kotori, which isn''t far away from Sacred Mountain!"


    He moved forward and partially removed the blanket.


    Immediately, he could see purple patterns on the underside of Almon''s neck.


    A weak type of presence belonging to an Evil Demon was gradually emitted and was becoming more and more concentrated.


    "She must be moved immediately. It didn''t matter if I performed my experiment, or if she degenerated, the terrifying presence of an Evil Demon would be released¡­ I don''t want to become enemies with the Demon Hunters!"


    Fang Yuan solemnly came up with a conclusion.


    Promptly, Jock charged in. "Hulk¡­ you''re back? I brought a few doctors over!"


    "Thank you, but she doesn''t need them for now."


    Fang Yuan politely closed the door and didn''t even let the others come in to on check her.


    After all, doctors who often interact with Demon Hunters might be former Demon Hunters themselves. If they went in and discovered Almon''s and Peter''s strange situation, hehe¡­ then should I silence them? Or silence "them"?


    "Prepare a horse carriage, I need to take them away."


    Fang Yuan used a tone that made it impossible for others to reject.


    "Al¡­ alright."


    He revealed a serious expression that even Jock didn''t refute and obediently followed his instructions.


    Fang Yuan went back into the room and glanced at Almon. "She''ll be fine, I promise you. Also, wear your seal, or do you want to be ganged up on and beaten by a bunch of Demon Hunters?"


    "Will¡­ she become like me?"


    Peter looked at his own right arm, there were suction cups appearing on it, bringing with it a feeling of bizarreness and fear.


    "That''s only the worst-case scenario!"


    Fang Yuan spoke truthfully, "I have the confidence to make it so she can control the power in her body, and at the same time, retain her identity as a person."


    "Thank you, Mr!"


    Peter quietened down and promptly began to put on the gold shackles over his right arm, one by one.


    "Wear it, this was originally prepared for you guys."


    Fang Yuan tossed out two bracelets. "I call them ''Concealing Bracelets''. They''re low-class Demon Weapons, but their only function is to conceal the dark presences on both of your bodies. Unless you''re face to face with a Titled Demon Hunter, no one should be able to see through you."


    After making preparations, he moved forward and carried Almon to the horse carriage with Peter.


    "Leave this place, the further the better."


    Accompanied by Fang Yuan''s command, the horse carriage began to move instantly and left Kotori City without any surprises.


    "Hmm?"


    The process was very smooth and was beyond Fang Yuan''s expectations.


    "Unless an Evil Demon triggered her blood, but not for chaos? A good willed Evil Demon?"


    He somehow had a prediction.


    The existence that triggered Almon''s blood and made it awaken would most probably come looking for her.


    However, it wasn''t necessarily out of evil intentions.


    ¡­


    When the horse carriage left the area of the city, Fang Yan handed out a money bag and chased away the driver that was very thankful to him. He drove the horse carriage himself and went onto a narrow road.


    After traveling for half a day, a farmhouse appeared in front of them.


    However, the farmhouse was deadly silent. The farmer, his wife, and their playful child had all disappeared. Only a few wild dogs were left roaming around in the cottage, while different types of poultry walked out on the street without any restrictions.


    Seeing this, Fang Yuan sighed.


    When the Evil Demon had surrounded Sacred Mountain, they had moved a lot of cannon fodder from the surrounding areas.


    Although they were under a mind spell and might''ve had the hope of being saved, they might''ve also been killed or burned to ashes.


    This was the tragedy of being a civilian in this chaotic world.


    Even though they had no quarrel with the world, disaster would still find them one day.


    However, Fang Yuan was only slightly emotional for a while. He promptly found a farmhouse and moved Almon inside and began to set up an alchemy array.


    Although he had a secret motive for going down the mountain, he still had all the ingredients prepared. Peter was dumbfounded when he saw everything.


    "Since the Evil Demon''s blood is already alive in her body, we don''t need to find an Evil Demon ingredient. If she doesn''t become an Evil Demon Hunter, she would become a degenerate demon!"


    Fang Yuan wore gloves and promptly took out an enormous syringe. "Peter, do you want to save your sister? If you want to, let me draw your blood, as much as I want."


    Not only did this brat have shocking determination, but his body also produced a kind of purity that was best used as blood suppression medicament.


    Otherwise, he wouldn''t be able to restrict the Voodoo Corpse within his right arm and even turn it into his own weapon with just his abnormally strong will.


    "Come on!"


    Little Peter was very brave, even though he saw his blood getting drawn in large portions, his expression didn''t change.


    On the other hand, Almon''s condition had finally stabilized slightly after the "purity," that was urgently extracted out, was injected into her.


    "By relying on her own will, she wouldn''t be able to win against the chaotic will in the end!"


    However, Fang Yuan could foresee the outcome.


    If it wasn''t for his last-minute suppression, then this female robber would probably become a true demon.


    Even when she had suppression applied, bits of scales appeared on her cheeks, and two bumps formed on her forehead.


    "Evil Demon Transformation?"


    Fang Yuan laughed and drew a compact ritual on the floor before placing Secret Silver and other different ingredients down.


    After the duration of two hourglasses had passed, a complicated array appeared, glimmering with a mysterious light.


    "Although I''m not able to reproduce the ancient ritual, I''ve created this with the aid of Black Magic technique, so there shouldn''t be any problems!" Fang Yuan encouraged himself, immediately making his spirits rise, "It''s beginning!"

 627 Completion

    "Mister, he¡­ can definitely do it."


    Peter, who had a large amount of blood drawn from him, had a pale face and even felt slightly dizzy.


    However, after acting like a blood pack, he was kicked out by Fang Yuan to guard the door since didn''t have any use there anymore.


    "Right, Fenrir?"


    Of course, it wouldn''t be trustworthy. just allowing a child to stand guard.


    Hence, Fenrir, who had been hiding in the wilderness, appeared and lazily laid down on the grassland in front of the house.


    It occasionally opened its eyes to look in Almon''s direction, with a spirited look.


    After hearing Peter''s words, it slightly nodded its head, seemingly agreeing with his words.


    Aw! Aw!


    Suddenly, a terrifying blood-red glow was emitted from the cracks of the small hut, it was accompanied by Almon''s agonizing shouts.


    The concentrated presence of an Evil Demon was released. Even with the concealing array and Demon Weapon, it couldn''t be blocked at all.


    Clearly, with just this explosion, a large number of Demon Hunters would come over to eliminate the source of evil if Almon stayed in Kotori City.


    Even the thick Evil Demon presence made Fenrir''s and Peter''s hairs stand up, and they weren''t able to relax like before.


    Ahwhoooo!


    At this moment, there was a turn of events!


    Fenrir howled and looked at the other end of the path, its body fur stood up.


    It had an expression as though a powerful enemy was approaching, as if it had seen a terrible predator!


    Tap! Tap!


    From within the shadows of the forest came the sounds of footsteps. Gradually, the outline of a middle-aged man appeared; his eyes were purple!


    Tap! Tap!


    His leather shoes stepped on the ground, but the sound that it made shook Peter''s heart, it felt as if it was going to explode.


    "You¡­ you don''t have permission to come closer!" Little Peter shouted while trembling. The bracelet and shackles on his right arm cracked open as a tentacle appeared, becoming thicker and bigger as if it was a giant dancing python.


    Woowoo!


    As if affected by it, Fenrir, who was beside him, stood up as well and exposed its sharp claws and fangs to the intruder.


    "Interesting, very interesting!"


    The purple-eyed middle-aged person had a neat appearance, as though he were a gentleman attending a banquet. He was currently examining Peter and Fenrir. "A living alchemist creation, a mixed-blooded between a Night Demon Wolf and a werewolf? And a Voodoo Corpse that was actually controlled by a human brat¡­ Haha!"


    He laughed wildly, but suddenly, the expression on his face calmed down. "Do you guys really dare to make a oppose me?"


    Among the Night Family Clans, it was an intolerable crime for Low-Class Bloods to make a move against High-Class Bloods.


    "You don''t have permission to hurt sister again!" Peter shouted angrily.


    His right arms were like a wriggling python, stretching out, without a limit, from his body, forming a terrifying muscular, large arm that toppled and destroyed half of the front courtyard.


    Ahwhoooo!


    Fenrir howled once as well, its large body, which was as light as a spirit, charged to the front of the gentleman in almost the blink of an eye.


    "Unfortunately¡­ Do you guys not know, the suppression ability of classes amongst the Night Family Clans?"


    The middle-aged man sneered, and a pure Evil Demon presence emitted from his body.


    Bloop! Bloop!


    Instantly, Peter''s Voodoo Corpse arm seemed to be triggered by something and made a low sound before retracting completely.


    Promptly, Fenrir pounced onto nothing, its head was punched viciously. Its large head went into the soil, and it couldn''t stand up.


    "I¡ªUrias¡ªam not someone you guys can guess. Even in the future, I will exceed the King¡ªDesire¡ªand obtain the true power that can crush everything!"


    The purple light from Urias''s eyes expanded as he spoke in pure Evil Demon language.


    The words were like a spell, and in the sacrificial-like atmosphere, Peter and Fenrir rolled their eyes back and immediately fainted.


    As the Elites of the Night Family Clan, Evil Demons were a natural threat to the average blooded demons.


    Whoosh!


    Behind Urias, Green flames gathered and a terrifying shadow of an Evil Demon was indistinctly formed.


    However, it glanced at the house once and walked in slowly without killing Peter and Fenrir.


    "After hundreds and thousands of years, yet again, I''m witnessing a Demon Hunter trying to advance to an Evil Demon Hunter in a futile attempt¡­"


    In the center of the house, Almon was surrounded by an enormous alchemy array, and it was compressing the fresh power of red blood that was inside it into Almon''s body. It was obvious that the transformation had reached an intense stage.


    Fang Yuan took a glimpse at the uninvited guest but didn''t make a move.


    This was because the other party didn''t seem to have any ill intentions.


    Otherwise, based on the cruelty of an Evil Demon, the person and wolf outside wouldn''t even be left with their soul.


    Indeed, Urias only looked at the scene silently. Closely observing the alchemy array on the ground, he had an astonished expression. "You actually used the Black Magic skill¡­ it substituted the ancient ritual, the creativity of a genius, the great work of a Master! Unfortunately, the last step is still lacking!"


    "Blood, not only flows within the body, but it''s also branded on the soul!" Fang Yuan said leisurely. He, of course, understood this logic.


    At the moment, Almon, who was in the array, had recovered the appearance of a human. There was only a purple diamond-shaped brand on her forehead.


    A large amount of illuminated blood was compressed, gradually transforming into dense symbols. Like insects, they crawled to Almon''s body.


    "Black Magic technique¡ªBlood Rewind!"


    Within a snap of fingers'' time, Fang Yuan continued to reveal his skills.


    An illusion appeared on Almon''s body, revealing the shadows of many people. In the end, they gathered on a tall figure.


    The opponent had the appearance of a normal person, but its body was burning with jade-green flames; its eyes were unexpectedly purple!


    "To actually make it to this stage¡­"


    Urias was truly amazed at this point.


    He could feel that the other party''s Black Magic technique didn''t only rewind back to himself, but was also able to obtain a little of his presence and carve it into Almon''s spirit in the form of a true spiritual brand.


    "This is a pretty good technique, but you still need a guard, otherwise the Evil Demons would immediately sense this technique and proceed to interfere with it!"


    Urias nodded his head, and said a bunch of Evil Demon words, "I bless you, descendant of Chaos, my blood shall continue!"


    While he was talking, a drop of pure, purple fresh blood dripped onto Almon''s forehead and was quickly absorbed by the diamond mark. It then turned brighter.


    Bang!


    Amidst a slight vibration, the whole alchemy array completed its mission and exploded.


    In the center, Almon woke up and touched her forehead. "What happened?"


    "Nothing, you slept, the blood in your body was triggered and was awakened, and you just obtained a special ability!" Fang Yuan smiled. "Welcome, Evil Demon Hunter!"


    "Evil Demon Hunter¡­ Me?"


    Almon looked at her own fair and thin hands and was dumbfounded. She then looked at Urias again.


    She didn''t know why, but she felt conflicting feelings when she saw the other party. She felt familiarity, but at the same time, hatred as well.


    "Ah!"


    Accompanied by a shout of astonishment, she suddenly discovered that there were dense, purple patterns on her right arm; scales had grown on it, and it had transformed into a sharp claw.


    "Don''t worry, this is the power of an Evil Demon Hunter! Control it, and you''ll be able to turn back!"


    Fang Yuan left Almon alone so she could familiarize herself with her own powers. He signaled to Urias with a look and slowly walked to the dense forest outside.


    "Demon Hunter, you''re very bold! And very weird!"


    A dangerous aura spread out from Urias''s body, his hand was playing with a ball of jade-green flames. "It''s rare to see a Demon Hunter that''s willing to interact with an Evil Demon!"


    "As long as it''s an intellectual living being, there will always be a possibility for communication!" Fang Yuan smiled. "Furthermore¡­"


    He took a glance at the house, and he was able to convey the meaning without saying it.


    "Just a mere descendant¡­"


    Urias blew out a flame from his nostrils. "Rascal, do you want to die?"


    "Just a mere descendant, it''s not worth it for an Evil Demon to pay with its blood source." Fang Yuan shook his head.


    "Alright¡­ You really have seen through everything, Demon Hunter!"


    Urias retracted his flames and recovered the appearance of a normal human, his expression was serious. "On account of Almon, I''ll give you some advice¡ªleave Sacred Mountain, the sooner, the better!"


    "Oh? Looks like the Evil Demons want to perform a counter-attack?"


    However, Fang Yuan was in a pensive mood. "Moreover, even Kotori City isn''t safe this time¡ªis that why you were in a hurry to awaken Almon''s blood, in the hopes that she''ll obtain the power to protect herself?"


    "Originally, I only wanted her to familiarize herself with her blood''s power and become a Demon Descendant!" Urias spoke slowly, "It''s also not a bad thing that she''s an Evil Demon Hunter now."


    "Although ancient Evil Demon Hunters have at least the power of a Titled Demon Hunter when they start their profession, that was under the prerequisite that they consumed an entire Evil Demon corpse. Although Almon didn''t advance immediately, she had opened up her potential¡ªwhich is very good!"


    It can be seen that he was very respectful towards Fang Yuan''s blood experiment. "This is a skill that can change the world!"


    "Yes, once the skill is released to the others, it has a high probability to change the strength of both parties. So, Mr. Evil Demon, what are you going to do?"


    Although Fang Yuan was talking cheerfully on the surface, he had his guard up against Urias and didn''t put it down at any moment.


    "Me?"


    Urias smiled. "I''m just nameless amongst the Evil Demons. Chaos, Evil, Darkness¡­ what does ''whatever those fools want to do'' have to do with me?"


    While talking, he gave Fang Yuan an unusual, weird feeling.


    The stance of this Evil Demon, here, seems to not be related with the other Evil Demons.


    "An Evil Demon that doesn''t hate humans, is really weird."


    Fang Yuan couldn''t help but comment.


    "Since there''s a Demon Hunter that doesn''t hate Evil Demons, why can''t there be a normal Evil Demon?" Urias asked in reply.


    "Normal?" Fang Yuan silently mocked.


    This type of Evil Demon must be an odd existence, even among the Night Family Clans?


    If it wasn''t for his strong grasp of martial arts, he probably would''ve been killed by his own race.


    "Wait a minute¡­"


    Suddenly, he thought of something, "Is Urias a real, pure Evil Demon?"

 628 Preparation

    Evil Demons were offsprings of the Mother of Reproduction, the elites of the Night Family Clan.


    However, amongst them, there could be another situation¡ªa degenerated Evil Demon Hunter!


    They, who accepted the power of an Evil Demon and original energy, were fully capable of becoming an Evil Demon once they degenerated!


    This was more evidence that the powers of Demon Hunters and the Night Family Clans were similar in nature.


    "Unfortunately, how can the Demon Hunter Headquarter admit this? And openly record it into history?"


    Hence, they eliminated all records, including the information regarding the birth and history of these Evil Demon Hunters, even a few isolated phrases weren''t allowed to be recorded down.


    "A human that degenerated into an Evil Demon? Interesting!"


    Fang Yuan slightly bowed to thank him, and promptly said with a straight face, "Thank you for your goodwill¡­ Mr. Evil Demon. I won''t leave Sacred Mountain, but I can make arrangements for Almon and the others to leave first."


    "Anything¡­"


    Urias''s figure gradually became illusionary and turned into jade-green flames before exploding. "Demon Hunter¡­ If we meet on the battlefield one day, I won''t mind tasting your soul."


    ¡­


    "Even if he had become an Evil Demon, he''s still as unreliable as a human?"


    Fang Yuan couldn''t sense the other party''s murderous intent and was slightly speechless as he went back into the house.


    "Sir!"


    At this moment, Peter and Fenrir had woken up and were filled with shame.


    "Nothing¡­ With your current strength, it truly is difficult to block an Evil Demon¡­"


    Fang Yuan casually found a chair to sit on and rubbed the space between his brows.


    It was very energy consuming to perform the Evil Demon Hunter advancement ritual, and even more so to scheme against an Evil Demon.


    Moreover, the news that Urias brought over was valuable.


    "Evil Demons have once again initiated a large counter-attack?"


    Obviously, after the huge failure at Sacred Mountain, the Evil Demons must have had something they could rely on if they dared to return.


    "Would this situation be my opportunity?"


    Fang Yuan pondered silently and looked at Almon, who was at the side and was showing that she was feeling ill at ease.


    Originally, he thought that Urias would take away the blood descendant that he obviously had high hopes on, but he had, unexpectedly, left her here.


    "Could it be that¡­ this Evil Demon isn''t mixing well with the Night Family Clans, or he wouldn''t be able to protect her once Almon''s unusual identity as an Evil Demon Hunter is discovered?"


    "Mister¡­"


    Almon''s eyes were slightly red. "What¡­ what''s happening to me?"


    "Nothing, it''s just that you have a powerful ancestor. You obtained power from its blood, just like that!"


    Fang Yuan shrugged. "Later on, I''ll give you a full body check again and guide you on how to control such a power¡­"


    "Al¡­ alright!"


    Unsure of what she was imagining, Almon''s face was slightly red, but she still bravely agreed promptly afterward.


    ¡­


    Three days later, Fang Yuan''s notebook had a large amount of additional content:


    "The most basic ability of an Evil Demon Hunter is part of the demonization¡­ As their blood class is at the top of the Night Family Clans, one has a natural, frightening ability against other lower classes Night Family Clans. One is even immune to the effects of an Evil Demon''s ''Evil'' and ''Chaos'' powers¡­"


    "Hence, Evil Demon Hunters, are Demon Hunters that are truly suited to killing Evil Demons!"


    "The green flame ability that Almon awakened can be seen as an accompaniment of the blood¡­ So to say, the stronger an Evil Demon is, the higher the starting point and potential of the created Evil Demon Hunter¡­"


    ¡­


    With Almon, a successful product from the experiment, and a series of statistics from the experiment after that, Fang Yuan was immediately very confident about his own plan.


    Needless to say, he also had Urias''s trials and errors that helped him to break through the last obstacle.


    "Of course, before this¡­"


    He looked in the direction of Sacred Mountain. "I must return!"


    There were too many objects that were worth checking out on Sacred Mountain. No matter if it was the rumored Dead Sea Ancient Scroll, the true Sacred Cup, or the other objects, all of them moved him.


    "However, I have to improve my own strength so I can obtain them."


    Fang Yuan looked in a certain direction.


    Monster Sob and Ternetheo''s skin were his greatest trump cards!


    He had long kept these two objects a secret and didn''t even bring them to Sacred Mountain, in the fear that Demon Hunters with sensitive noses would be able to discover them.


    Up until now, he had quite the confidence in producing Ternetheo''s skin into a true Elite Demon Weapon using his accumulated and reserved knowledge. With the power of Monster Sob, he would be able to hunt and kill everything, even if it was a Titled Demon Hunter or an Evil Demon!


    This would be the prerequisite of gaining the advantage in a confusing situation!


    ¡­


    "Ternetheo''s skin is regarded as weak, in the aspect of shielding effect, among the Evil Demon materials. However, the crucial point is still the natural symbols on it. They''re focused on the aspect of concealment and hiding¡ªI must completely make full use of this advantage¡­"


    Fang Yuan wanted to do it once he thought about it. He rode on Fenrir and rushed to the location of his hidden treasures.


    "The sniper of the previous world had to wear camouflage uniform in the wilderness. It seems like I can make developments in that direction¡­"


    Monster Sob''s damaging power was very shocking, however, it was a pity that it was troublesome to load it, and it couldn''t be used to attack repeatedly. Moreover, the energy consumption of one shot was too high.


    Despite these flaws, they weren''t much of a problem to Fang Yuan.


    With the aid of magic energy, his marksmanship with a gun was definitely at the same level as a Holy Gunman.


    If he was able to supplement it with the Evil Demon''s power of concealment and hiding, he would definitely become a nightmare for many Power Obtainers!


    Fenrir continued to gallop and finally stopped on a flat plain.


    This was a vast and large plain that Fang Yuan, Uncle Jock, and the others had passed by when they were on the way to Kotori City.


    As long as one was highly skilled in the means of concealment, and they were able to hide an object''s presence, no person or Evil Demon would be able to find the object that was buried and hidden in a pit unless they were super lucky.


    "I didn''t dare to bring these items into Kotori City, due to the countless talents there. There are Titled Demon Hunters everywhere, if they discovered anything, then there''s nothing to explain."


    No matter how good one''s concealment technique was, there were also times when flaws appear.


    However, Fang Yuan decided to risk it then.


    After all, wealth would only come when risks are taken. If he wanted to achieve more, there wouldn''t be any other opportunities, apart from the Evil Demon''s siege this time.


    "It''s here¡­ Dig!"


    Fang Yuan stopped in front of a normal wasteland and patted Fenrir''s head.


    Ahwhoooo!


    Fenrir used its front claws to dig and was able to dig a large pit in a short amount of time.


    Ding!


    After reaching a certain depth, a box was dug out. On it was concealing symbols packed together, and the box was sealed with Black Magic techniques. None of its presence and power were leaking out.


    However, a malevolent aura appeared when the box was opened, and the long body of the Legendary Demon Gun¡ªMonster Sob''s¡ªwas revealed to the man and wolf.


    Beside it was a ball of skin, that emitted the fearful presence of an Evil Demon.


    Whooo! Whooo¡­


    Feeling that power, Fenrir was slightly drooping. It raised its head but didn''t dare to howl and could only whimper quietly.


    "That''s¡­"


    Seeing how it acted, Fang Yuan was so mad that he started to laugh out loud. "You''re going to bite even a god in the future. What''s a mere Evil Demon in comparison?"


    However, he decided in his heart that its modification couldn''t be delayed anymore.


    Without being able to face an Evil Demon, it wouldn''t eventually be able to become his elite military force.


    Of course, at the moment, with those two objects, he still went ahead to a blacksmith shop that he had long prepared, and he began preparing to start the process of smelting.


    The shop was empty, the original blacksmith had either died or fled. Fang Yuan could nicely recycle his shop.


    However, Fang Yuan couldn''t take a fancy to any of his tools and threw away most of them.


    Promptly, he removed his own sword and placed it on top of the anvil.


    His Starry Night sword was a standard weapon for Demon Hunters. In the times where Demon Hunters had to face complicated situations and enemies that were increasingly dangerous, it wasn''t suitable to be used anymore.


    Hence, Fang Yuan prepared to reforge it once again as he also regarded it as practice.


    "In order to forge Starry Night into a Demon Weapon, the leftover ingredients from before can be used fully¡­ As for Howling Grief, it can be replaced completely after I have Monster Sob¡­"


    Fang Yuan came to the front of the furnace and scattered powder, that he had had specially made, into the furnace.


    Whoosh!


    Soon after, the flames rose and turned green, bringing with it shocking waves of fire.


    "Black Magic technique¡ªHigh temperature space!"


    Fang Yuan didn''t stop moving and went on to take out a few ingredients to perform the skill, which was able to raise the temperature even higher.


    Amongst the startling flames, the body of Starry Night glowed with a rich display of lights and colors and started melting slightly.


    "Now!"


    His eyes glistened as he took out a fiery-red stone and many more unique ingredients, tossing them into the fire.


    "Shaping hands!"


    There appeared to be large hands amidst the flames, that grounded the ingredients into powder before they fused into the metal of the sword.


    This wasn''t the means of an Alchemist anymore, but was a technique that was uniquely created by Fang Yuan. He had used the Black Magic technique to push for the forging, and it could produce completely better results than a normal Alchemist.


    Ping! Ping!


    After a long time, he took out the orange-red sword from the fire and began to forge it quickly.


    The rhythmic sounds of the "dings" and "dangs" promptly united and formed a beautiful piece of music.


    At night, a brand new large sword was displayed in front of Fang Yuan. It was a little longer than the previous sword, its body seemed to emit out a red glow.


    "By adding a large amount of fire-type energetic spiritual energy, Starry Night now has the three characteristics¡ª[Razor Sharp], [Armor Break], and [Flames], and can totally be called a high-class Demon Weapon."


    Fang Yuan was very satisfied with this, and afterward, he directed his gaze at Ternetheo''s skin.


    Before going to Sacred Mountain to cultivate, he didn''t have the confidence to forge and refine this piece of skin. However, the Demon Hunter Headquarters had countless numbers of classic books that contained methods on how to handle Evil Demon ingredients inside them.


    In addition to his practice of producing an Evil Demon Hunter, his confidence and assurance suddenly increased.


    "Compared to other Master Alchemists, I have a huge advantage, which is my good ingredients! As long as I''m able to activate the power of the symbols on it, it''ll be enough to achieve the requirements of being an Elite Demon Weapon!"


    Fang Yuan stared at the Evil Demon''s skin with determination but didn''t start moving immediately.


    He also needed some rest after completing the forging of a high-class Demon Weapon. After which, he would attempt it in his best state.

 629 Offering

    Ten days later, Sacred Mountain, Demon Hunter Headquarters.


    Bang!


    Accompanied by Fang Yuan who threw down, Zweig was reluctantly punched and fell onto the floor pathetically.


    "Sigh¡­"


    All the Demon Hunters in their surroundings sighed with regret.


    "Okay, I lost again. I''ll send the Sacred Water over. I''ll come again next time!"


    Zweig rolled over before getting up, but he was filled with a fearless will to fight.


    He felt that the difference between him and his opponent was minor, and with a little more hard work, he would be able to defeat this long-time enemy!


    Unfortunately, Fang Yuan would let him know that this minor difference could, in fact, not be shortened when he brought the portion of Sacred Water next time around.


    "I should give him some hope. If he becomes discouraged and despairs to the point that he decides not to come, I''ll be the one losing out!" Fang Yuan thought calmly before going back to practice producing medicament. His day went by just like that.


    However, when nighttime arrived, his pupils emitted a ray of energy. He went to a corner of the room and stretched his hands towards the air and suddenly held onto a hand lever.


    As he took something down, that looked like a curtain, Monster Sob appeared. "Why is¡­ the Evil Demon not here yet? This is making me anxious."


    The scene was very magical, it was as if he pulled an object out of thin air.


    Before this, there was nothing opposite him, not even a ripple of presence.


    "The [Invisible cloak] made from Ternetheo''s skin doesn''t have any shielding abilities, but it has fully awakened the natural concealment and hiding abilities of the Evil Demon. Anything that''s covered by this wouldn''t have any movement of energy, as if it had vanished from the world¡­"


    Fang Yuan clenched the Demon Weapon in his hands and was stupefied.


    As he had still underestimated the difficulty of making an Elite Demon Weapon, even he was unsure of what level [Invisible Cloak] was.


    However, he could at least confirm that this Demon Weapon had a powerful ability and was suitable for his own needs. Especially with the combination with Monster Sob, he wouldn''t even exchange them with a Sacred Weapon imitation!


    "The Evil Demons¡­ still seem to be in the preparation stage. It''s alright¡­ the longer they drag on, the more assured I am!"


    Fang Yuan opened a test tube filled with Sacred Water and gulped it down.


    During this period of time, he was able to have an abundant stock of Sacred Water due to Zweig''s constant challenges.


    Needless to say, even Uncivilized, Water Sword, and the other skilled members, they also wanted to prove their position as the chief by defeating him. This allowed him to have a greater stock.


    After all, the abilities of Demon Hunters were slightly strained amongst each other. With Fang Yuan''s acting, they were able to bring their hopes up.


    Maybe if Hulk, who had defeated Zweig, could be defeated by them, they would be able to have prestige and fame?


    Of course, Fang Yuan had also given them enough hope. Every time, it was "a forceful and lucky win." This allowed those few fellows to provide him with an unending supply of Sacred Water.


    He looked at his attributes board:


    "Name: Hulk (Fang Yuan)


    Essence: 75.0 (110)


    Spirit: 75.0 (100)


    Magic: 75.0 (120)


    Profession: Demon Hunter


    State: Healthy


    Technique: Basic Grapple (Proficient), Homan Chet''s Gun Skill (Proficient), Secret Study (Proficient), Pharmaceutics (Proficient), Alchemy (Proficient), Morning Stars Swordsmanship (Dawn), Shady Flow Flying Claw (Shady Claw), Black Magic Technique (Master)


    Specialization: [Medicine (Level 3)], [Botany (Level 6)(Peak)], [Fiery Golden Eyes (Level 3)], [Body Seal (Ultimate form)]"


    "Currently, I''m still far away from the Titled Demon Hunters¡­"


    Of course, it was merely just a difference in numbers. If he took Monster Sob out sniping, he''s afraid that there wouldn''t be many people in the whole Sacred Mountain that would be able to avoid him.


    Even more so, he had the confidence to deal with a Titled Demon Hunter with just his own strength and the Black Magic technique.


    "This trivial strength still isn''t enough."


    Fang Yuan suddenly looked at his own lower abdomen.


    There was an illusion of a seal gradually appearing there, making him get serious.


    "Body Seal? There''s also original energy?"


    This was identical to the mark of a High-Class Blood, as they''re both carved onto the true spirit. No matter how many bodies are exchanged, it would still appear gradually.


    "Original power¡­"


    Fang Yuan was currently looking at the exquisite complex seal. Based on his senses and experience, he could only understand a small part of the seal, but he suddenly showed a complex expression.


    "In actual fact, the example of the Evil Demon Hunters is the best way for normal people to train and transform the power of an Evil Demon!"


    "This experience can also be used on me. It''s not quite possible to train and transform original energy completely, but with a little dispelled secondary power¡­"


    What level did original power exist at?


    It could multiply in endless succession and is inexhaustible. One drop of it was enough to change the world, and it could even produce many scary demons!


    Just by slightly borrowing this power, any Titled Demon Hunters, Evil Demons, and even Sacred Weapon holders and Evil Demon Kings, would all be useless!


    Of course, the danger in it was also not to be underestimated.


    "Based on the power of creation, tempering original energy should be possible¡­ Of course, even if it''s my original body, I still might not be able to withstand the complete awakening of ''original power.'' However, with a little dispelled secondary power¡­ It''s not impossible, and I can also accumulate experience for my original body¡­"


    Fang Yuan pondered and entered a long silence.


    ¡­


    It was turning dark.


    The bright Sacred Mountain was pure white, but it seemed to be drowned by the dark night.


    Within Kotori City.


    Within the shadows, a concentrated blood light appeared suddenly, solidifying into a huge, metal door.


    Keke!


    Caw! Caw!


    ¡­


    Amidst the strange noises, a countless number of Night Family Clans gushed out from the huge door. It was like a black river, their numbers were difficult to count.


    And the entire Kotori City had also become a sea of blood and mountains of corpses in a split-second.


    "What happened?"


    "A large number of Night Family Clans appeared in the central area. It''s possible that the transmitting door has been opened!"


    "Inform the headquarters immediately! Request for the help of the Sirs!"


    "Those d*mn demon b*st*rds, how dare they come here?"


    ¡­


    Kotori City was basically a Demon Hunter city at the moment.


    After experiencing panic and confusion at the start, many Demon Hunters took out their own weapons and dealt with the Werewolves, Vampires, Concealed Demon Killers, Voodoo Corpses and other monsters systematically.


    "Evil Demon!"


    Accompanied by a shout, many rays of light appeared in the city and traveled towards the huge metal doors quickly.


    These were the Titled Demon Hunters hidden in Kotori City.


    Even if it were them, they couldn''t imagine that the Evil Demons would be so generous as to directly open the transmitting door, putting countless numbers of Night Family Clans onto the battlefield as cannon fodder.


    "The dark night gave me black eyes¡­ I am Darkness Evil Demon, Ainz Ural Gown¡­ King!"


    The metal door rumbled and was protected by an Evil Demon.


    This Evil Demon opened up its wings and was able to almost envelop half of the city. In the darkness, its outline was incomparably huge, as if it had blended in with the source of darkness and became one.


    "It''s ''Darkness'' Evil Demon¡ªAinz, one of the powerful trio of Evil Demons!"


    A few Titled Demon Hunters stopped moving. "Inform Sir Longinus immediately!"


    Even if they were Power Obtainers, there was also a vast difference between them.


    Obviously, these normal Titled Demon Hunters weren''t "Darkness" Evil Demon''s opponent.


    Unfortunately, it was already too late when they realized this.


    Darkness was the greatest cover, and within the darkness, many tall shadows suddenly stood on the ground. They had already completely surrounded the few Demon Hunters.


    "''Chaos'' Evil Demon¡ªCosmo! ''Evil'' Evil Demon¡ªZoro!"


    Two incomparably tall figures appeared as blood-red light enveloped the whole city.


    Even the Demon Hunters that had mind talismans with them acted the same under the powerful influence of the Evil Demons themselves. The chaos and evil natures in their bodies were awakened, and they began to slaughter wildly.


    If Jock witnessed this scene, he would definitely be grateful to Fang Yuan, who had forcefully brought his whole family away.


    Long after processing the Evil Demon''s skin, and before he returned to Sacred Mountain, Fang Yuan made Almon and Peter forcefully bring Jock and his family away.


    If he still believed that the city was safe despite the warning from the Evil Demon, he would no doubt be an idi*t.


    Unfortunately, not every demon hunter was so lucky.


    The Demon Hunters that gave up on their original branches and traveled miles to settle here for the safety of their family members were very sorrowful to discover that they had fallen into the same situation as before¡ªattacked by Evil Demons. They couldn''t even protect their relatives and friends beside them!


    "These d*mn Evil Demons¡­ I''ll fight you to the death!"


    A Demon Hunter saw a ghoul take away his daughter, and his eyes became red. He waved his sword and pounced over.


    However, it was unfortunate that he didn''t take note of his surroundings. Due to the chaos of the battlefield, and the influence by the Evil Demon''s chaotic field¡ªeven before he reached the front of the ghoul¡ªhe was caught by a Voodoo Corpse that looked like a small hill, and he was swallowed into his stomach, whole.


    "Idi*t¡­ Don''t eat too much!"


    A gold werewolf roared as it led them, "Remember our masters'' command¡­ We need a large amount of flesh and blood¡ªit''s best if they can be spread throughout the whole city!"


    Ahwhoooo!


    Countless werewolves answered, madly tearing up everything that was in front of them.


    Thick blood quickly covered the whole ground, dyeing the whole city blood-red.


    In the heart of the battlefield, a few Titled Demon Hunters were besieged by many Evil Demons and were also quickly defeated and killed. Their bodies were torn and thrown on top of the sacrificial altar.


    "A city of blood sacrifices, with many Demon Hunters as its offerings¡­"


    Urias stood on top of a small mountain, looking at the city that had fallen into despair and fear. He slowly pulled the organ in his hands. "The brilliant ultimate achievements must be bleak¡­ I''m here to witness the degeneration of Demon Hunters¡­"


    "Those d*mn darkness b*st*rds, what did all of you do?"


    At that moment, a sharp roar was heard from Sacred Mountain. Countless figures landed quickly; their leader was, unexpectedly, an old man with simple clothes. However, the presence on his body was fierce, as if its thin, weak body had hidden within it a huge beast.


    Fist Sage Warren!


    After Kotori City had become a sea of blood and mountains of corpses, the Elite Demon Hunters from Sacred Mountain finally responded and began to rescue them!


    "Warren?"


    Seeing this scene, Urias''s music accompaniment didn''t slow down at all. "Although he was comparable to Daybreak Sword Seres in the rumors, he''s become old already¡­ To Evil Demons, which have long lives, the lives of humans are, in the end, too short¡­"

 630 Switch

    Sacred Mountain.


    The racket and vibration assaulted them like a tsunami.


    Demon Hunters ran around to inform each other about the news that Evil Demons had invaded the city.


    Since the Demon Hunter Headquarter had achieved a grand victory, their emotions were very stable, and they even felt the itch to have a go.


    Of course, Fang Yuan also got the news in the first moments. "It finally¡­ started?"


    He was carrying Monster Sob and was covered by an invisible cloak, instantly vanishing into the air.


    "The headquarters has been mobilized in the state of an emergency at the moment. Some of the places must be unguarded¡­"


    What caught Fang Yuan''s attention was the sealed level of the library!


    It contained almost all the secrets of the Demon Hunters, and it might even hold the whereabouts of the Dead Sea Ancient Scroll!


    ¡­


    "Don''t tell me that those Evil Demons have been fully affected by the Cosmo''s chaotic field?"


    Three Sacred Weapon holders gathered in the meeting of Titled Demon Hunters, and they watched over Kotori City. "They''ve brought over almost every active Evil Demon, as well as the elite clans. If they failed again, the power of darkness in this world would be eliminated."


    "How''s the situation of Kotori City?"


    "According to our senses, they''re undergoing a massive blood sacrificial offering and might be planning on summoning Evil Demon King Desire or the Mother of Reproduction!"


    Talking about arrays and rituals, there were also Masters amongst the Demon Hunters who were able to see through the setup of the Evil Demons with just a glance.


    "It''s just their final struggle!"


    Longinus, Mond, and Arag¨®n looked at each other before saying, without hesitation, "No one can summon Evil Demon King Desire and the Mother of Reproduction!"


    "Then, maybe it''s to borrow the power of blood sacrifices to accomplish some sort of evil purpose?"


    The Demon Hunter that spoke up previously said curiously.


    "Fist Sage Warren has already rushed over to aid them. However, his power isn''t enough to repel the Evil Demons! Everyone from the combat group, follow me to receive the enemy!"


    At this moment, Longinus stood up, unwilling to pass the responsibility to others.


    "With you going, we''ll be more assured. Regarding the safety of Sacred Mountain, don''t you worry. We''ll be enough!" Mond and Arag¨®n said.


    "Of course, on Sacred Mountain, no one would be able to compete against Sacred Weapon holders.''


    Longinus carried his Sacred Spear behind him and walked out of the main hall with a large number of Titled Demon Hunters who transformed into rays of flowing light.


    Mond and Arag¨®n looked at each other, drove out the remaining forces, and glanced at each other again.


    "After the huge war ends, we''ll need a large amount of Sacred Water, regardless of whether it''s for treatment or as a reward¡­" Mond spoke first.


    "That''s right, we don''t have enough in storage. Luckily we''re both here, and we can proceed on to a round of Sacred Water production.


    Arag¨®n nodded his head to agree.


    Although the true Sacred Water was made with the Sacred Cup, it could only work with two Sacred Weapon holders!


    This was a secret that only a few Demon Hunters knew of!


    ¡­


    Kotori City, in the shack area outside.


    Due to the chaos within the residential area, this was also a place that the Night Family Clans went wild the most.


    Countless numbers of wooden houses turned into ashes within the flames. Shockingly, corpses of Demon Hunters were everywhere. The family members that they wanted to protect and everything that they wanted to safeguard was also destroyed by sharp claws.


    Blood flowed everywhere on the floor. When Warren witnessed this scene, he was exceptionally furious.


    "I swear, all of you will regret everything that has happened today!"


    He removed the bandages over his hands and suddenly punched forward, "Tiger!"


    Roar! Roar!


    Extreme winds blowed, and the wind from his fist actually solidified into an illusion of a giant tiger. It appeared domineering and invincible. In a split second, it hit a Voodoo Corpse into ground meat.


    "Old man¡­ don''t be so arrogant!"


    Many Evil Demons shouted in anger, a large pressure enveloped them from above.


    Even the eyes of A-grade Demon Hunters were blood-shot under the strong field of chaos and evil as it was difficult to restrain themselves.


    "Righteousness¡­ won''t disappear! The light will shine on the land!" Warren said slowly, the pores all over his body were oozing with blood droplets, and he looked extremely miserable. "This is my way¡­ using my fists to safeguard hope¡­ Blood Kill Fist!"


    Buzz!


    A powerful field appeared as if it rose towards Yandong. Like an intense sun, any Night Family Clan member that was exposed to the light turned to smoke and ashes in an instant.


    If Fang Yuan was here, he would also be extremely shocked. Being able to move one''s spirit and blood to this stage with just purely a human body could be called a miracle.


    "Darkness!"


    At this moment, Darkness Evil Demon Ainz appeared from the sky and projected its large black shadow. "Your opponent¡ªis me!"


    "Darkness Evil Demon? Bright Fist!"


    Warren was stern and wasn''t afraid. He waved out a fist, and the entire sky and ground were filled with a sacred pure glow.


    Within the white glow, a large figure of a fist appeared; as though it couldn''t yield to any pressure, it firmly pressed down towards the Evil Demon.


    "Heehee¡­ Fist Sage Warren truly is at a similar level as Daybreak Sword and is called the Titled Demon Hunter that''s closest to the level of a Sacred Weapon holder! If a normal Evil Demon met you, it might really be troublesome¡ªhowever¡­ it''s a pity that you met me!"


    Ainz roared in Evil Demon language, "I am darkness, I am everything! I am¡­ the King of Darkness!"


    Buzz!


    Boundless shadows and darkness gathered on its body, causing its large body to shrink into nothingness.


    The figure of a fist, filled with brilliance, smashed its way over, but it was useless.


    "Darkness isn''t only vast, but it''s also nothing¡­ I am everywhere¡­ This is my unique territory of darkness¡­"


    At Warren''s side, Ainz solidified into a black shadow and waved its dark, sharp claws, ruthlessly opening up a wound at the area of his waist. Blood poured out like a spring.


    "Gale Fist!" Warren shouted painfully, the surrounding strong wind swirled, forming a tornado.


    "Evil Demons, your wishful thinking won''t be realized, never!"


    He raised his head and saw the glow of Sacred Mountain''s peak, that was the undefeatable Sacred Weapon of the Demon Hunter Headquarters¡ªLonginus''s spear!


    In the hearts of all Demon Hunters, Longinus''s spear was their beliefs, their undefeatable legend!


    "Everything¡­ is for righteousness!"


    The old Demon Hunter bellowed and both his arms suddenly exploded, turning into a fog of blood, "Blood Kill Fist¡ªRising Dragon!"


    Roar! Roar!


    Two blood dragon spirits appeared around him, bringing with it solemn and bitter feelings. They suddenly rose to the air and transformed into a large-range attack.


    "D*mn it¡­"


    In the surroundings, many Evil Demons howled, and terrifying wounds appeared on their bodies.


    Especially Darkness Evil Demon Ainz. Even though it had the darkness element to reduce its damage, it still got a taste of the blood dragon''s attack and disappeared shortly after.


    "That''s Warren''s Blood Kill¡ªRising Dragon Fist?!"


    Longinus witnessed the scene after he rushed over.


    At his side, a Titled Demon Hunter couldn''t help but become extremely astonished. "This is the forbidden technique in his Blood Kill Fist School. In the rumors, the price he had to pay was his two arms!"


    Strong emotions flashed across Longinus''s cloudy eyes.


    Even if Warren could survive this time, would he still be the Fist Sage from before, after losing both of his arms?


    "Don''t waste Warren''s goodwill!" He was still a Sacred Weapon holder. Having to lead the reinforcement troops consisting of Demon Hunters, he couldn''t reveal his other emotions and raised his spear firmly. "As long as we can win today, the Dark Night Clans will become extinct in this world! This is how we will live up to Warren''s goodwill!"


    "Sacred Spear!"


    "Longinus!"


    Countless Demon Hunters cheered. Even the Demon Hunters that were previously barely resisting in Kotori City also saw hope at that moment.


    "Longinus¡­ you''re finally willing to come down from Sacred Mountain!"


    Among the strange laughter, the figures of a group of Evil Demons appeared in their surroundings, many of them had a large-build, black bat wings, and horns of a goat.


    Their leader was, unexpectedly, Cosmo and Zoro.


    "Previously, on Sacred Mountain, you were able to destroy our territories because you borrowed the power of whole Sacred Mountain¡­ but how about now?"


    Evil Demon laughed strangely.


    "Wherever I am¡­ is Sacred Mountain!"


    Longinus took the Sacred Spear, that was stained with blood, from his back and raised it, as if he was making a vow.


    On the Sacred Spear was a radiant spark that was glimmering.


    Kaboom!


    Sacred Mountain, which wasn''t far away, actually glowed, as if it was reflecting the Sacred Spear, influenced by it and was releasing power.


    Flash!


    Limitless, pure sacred light shone down on the hell-like Kotori City in the next moment.


    After obtaining more power from Sacred Mountain, the glow of the Sacred Spear intensified thousands of times and enveloped the area.


    Many Night Family Clans turned into floating ashes even before they got the chance to yell in pain.


    Even the bodies of the Evil Demons released white smoke under the strong brilliance, as though they were seriously burned.


    "Finally appeared¡­ Sacred Spear!"


    On the mountain slope, Urias put down the organ and looked towards the direction of Longinus''s Spear.


    Even though he was also similarly injured, he took no notice.


    "Longinus¡­ The pride of the Demon Hunters. Sacred Spear was originally the first among the offensive Sacred Weapons. If it was combined with the power stockpiled within Sacred Mountain, no one would be able to block it outright¡­ However, Demon Hunter''s Sacred Mountain¡ªis it really holy?"


    The corners of his mouth curled up to show a strange smile, and he suddenly began to chant.


    Buzz!


    The hoarse and indecipherable syllables that brought with it the fear of the world¡ªChaos and Evil¡ªinstantly covered the whole of Kotori City.


    A dark, red light shone.


    This array, which was activated by offering the city that was full of flesh and blood, was finally revealed to the people.


    "Demon Hunters¡­ All of your powers are tainted with dirt and evil¡­ Today, everything will be exposed to everyone!" Urias laughed wildly.


    Under his control, the whole of Kotori City roared. A type of concentrated blood-red light slashed across the sky and directly struck the body of Sacred Mountain.


    "This isn''t good!"


    Other demon hunters didn''t react, but Longinus''s expression made a 180 degree turn within a split-second.


    Buzz!


    Sacred Mountain vibrated but wasn''t damaged in any way.


    However, streams of black light promptly began to mix with the pure white glow and began wandering around. From the thin streams, without stopping, the light became thicker and thicker, and in the end, it dyed the entire Sacred Mountain.


    The giant mountain that was originally sacred and pure white, suddenly became as black as ink, as if it was a throne that rose from hell!


    "The so-called Sacred Power¡­ is no different from the power of Evil Demons!"


    Urias smiled as he witnessed this scene. "The peak of light¡­ is darkness!"A country in Guangdong

 631 Secretive

    The entire white Sacred Mountain turned black in an instant.


    What kind of concept was this? To Demon Hunters, there was no doubt that the heavens had turned into hell!


    This struck a blow to both their minds and faith!


    If there wasn''t a problem with the nature of the original power, why would Sacred Mountain change color in a split-second?


    Although the low-grade Demon Hunters wouldn''t think much about it, the high-grade Demon Hunters would think about this detail.


    And this brought about instability.


    "Impossible¡­ Why did Sacred Mountain become like this? Could it be that we, the Demon Hunters, were wrong from the start¡­ What exactly did we do in the past?"


    An A-grade Demon Hunter had a mental breakdown after witnessing this scene and was instantly infected by the chaotic field. He went on to wildly shoot his partners around him.


    To the point that, within the dark red light, scales began to appear on his body, and fangs grew in his mouth. He had degenerated into a demon!


    As Demon Hunters that often used Sacred Water to train, they were, in fact, just one step away from becoming a degenerated demon.


    Currently, with the addition of his mental breakdown, there was also the influence coming from Sacred Mountain''s radiation, as well as the constant bewitchment of the Evil Demons. This amplified this possibility limitlessly.


    "The Evil Demon army actually failed to invade Sacred Mountain that time, but they were successful in leaving a brand on the mountain''s body. This time, with the blood offering of the city, they finally succeeded and reversed the nature of Sacred Mountain," Urias said as he smiled and looked at Longinus.


    After losing the support from Sacred Mountain, the original Sacred Spear was still glowing brightly but could no longer spread throughout the whole city.


    On the other hand, the Evil Demons cheered happily and began to become arrogant.


    "Wipe out all the Demon Hunters!"


    "Destroy the Sacred Weapons!"


    "Darkness will definitely rule the world and rebuild the Dark Empire!"


    ¡­


    "Sir!"


    In this situation, even the Titled Demon Hunters looked at Longinus with worried expressions.


    "We cannot ruin the hard work of the first generation Evil Demon hunters and the contributions of the previous generations of Sacred Weapon holders with our hands!"


    Longinus had a determined look, and his back was upright like a javelin. He raised his sacred gun high in the air and shouted, "Kill!"


    Buzz!


    The spear point of the sacred spear shone with a blood-red light, and suddenly, as if it had stabbed through space, it went to the front of an Evil Demon.


    Poof!


    The spear point stabbed into the chest of the Evil Demon without any resistance. Brilliant sacred light exploded like a small sun. The Evil Demon within it instantly turned to ashes.


    "No one can be a match for us!"


    "No one can be a match for us!"


    Even without the support from Sacred Mountain, Longinus''s spear was still the rank 1 offensive Sacred Weapon. It attacked and killed an Evil Demon like it was as easy as pie.


    Witnessing this scene, the morale of the Demon Hunters instantly rose.


    Cosmo, Zoro, and Ainz, who appeared, bellowed loudly, "Humans! You made use of our powers to go against us¡­ That traitor''s mistake must be corrected today!"


    ¡­


    Large library.


    As the center of the Demon Hunter headquarters information stockpile, Fang Yuan was a regular customer here.


    Of course, due to his identity and rights, he couldn''t enter some of the top-secret areas.


    However, now was a golden opportunity bestowed to him by the heavens.


    A large number of Titled Demon Hunters were mobilized due to the Evil Demon invasion. Even though there were still some members keeping guard, the defense was definitely much more flawed.


    The main point was that the nature of Sacred Mountain had suddenly changed, and dark red light enveloped the entire mountain. It basically turned this place into hell!


    Even Titled Demon Hunters who stayed on Sacred Mountain would be affected by it!


    Many seals and traps, that were previously set up, made fragile sounds and were ruined.


    "You''re good!"


    Fang Yuan looked at the brilliance on the ground and heard the agonizing screams of many Demon Hunters outside. Regardless, he acted as if a breeze passed by.


    "Analyzing, this is only a large change, but this time it changed the Sacred Water''s sacred power, into the Evil Demon''s original power!"


    As long as it was power, it could be controlled!


    Based on the confidence he had in his body, and the many experiments he performed on changing the nature of power, he could also adapt quickly, even if he became an Evil Demon.


    However, it was clear that other Demon Hunters didn''t have such an ability.


    "This is really fortunate¡­"


    While he was invisible, Fang Yuan came to the large library. The public area had long become empty, and some books fell onto the floor, obviously in a complete mess.


    "Level 2! Level 3!"


    His steps didn''t stop as he went straight to the entrance of the top-secret area on level 4.


    At this moment, the two honorable stone statues and the guarding mechanism both lost their source of power due to Sacred Mountain. They were completely on strike, causing Fang Yuan to say out loud how lucky he was before he walked right in.


    "''Legends of Titled Demon Hunters''!"


    "''Secret of Hundred Years'' Hunt of Witch''s Movement''!"


    "''Evil Demon Autopsy Study''!"


    "''Degenerated Demon Hunters List''!"


    ¡­


    Looking at the tomes on the bookshelves, where even their covers possessed a kind of taboo, even Fang Yuan had stopped his impulsive plundering.


    "But the truly classified things must be above!"


    Promptly, he suppressed his desires and become as calm as ever. "Although the library was known to have only four levels, I know that there''s still a level 5, and there''s always a Titled Demon Hunter guarding it!"


    Level 4 was already very small. Based on the traces he found from his magic energy, he moved away a bookshelf and immediately found a door.


    After opening the door, a large presence instantly blurted out, "Who is it?"


    "Titled Demon Hunters?"


    Fang Yuan laughed coldly and charged straight ahead.


    The journey passed by in a blink of an eye, and he promptly saw a small room. The Demon Hunter inside was charging out, but his face was filled with a perplexed look.


    Even with the senses of a Power Obtainer, he still didn''t discover traces of the invader!


    "Die, path blocker!"


    At that moment, Fang Yuan moved viciously.


    From nothingness, a gun barrel suddenly extended out. A strong power accumulated, bringing with it a shocking threat.


    "This is¡­ Monster Sob!"


    The opposing Demon Hunter could only make a dazed comment, and promptly¡ªBang!!!


    After the loud noise from the gun, a large hole was blown through his brains, and his corpse collapsed onto the floor.


    "Did you really think that a sniper cannot shoot in close range?"


    Fang Yuan blew at the barrel of the gun and sighed emotionally.


    Under the protection of Ternetheo''s skin and the large damaging effect of Monster Sob, a Titled Demon Hunter was taken by surprise and killed.


    Of course, this was also due to the fact that the opponent wasn''t prepared.


    If this Demon Hunter knew that his opponent had the gun¡ªMonster Sob¡ªhe definitely wouldn''t have died in such a depressing way.


    However, the victor couldn''t wait and had already begun to wander around with his war trophy now.


    The area of this hidden fifth level was very small; it only had a closed-door cabinet with a line of book racks, and the books were all about history¡ªThe history of Demon Hunters!


    "Dead Sea Ancient Scroll¡­ doesn''t seem to be here!"


    Fang Yuan removed the first book, opened up the rotting pages, and carefully read the information in the book, it was already extremely shocking at the start.


    "The name of the first generation Evil Demon Hunter was Dante, the Evil Demon King, and he was the owner of Desire!"


    "In the final years of the Dark Empire, the owner of Desire found warriors amongst the humans, gave them three Sacred Weapons, and personally nurtured the second generation of Demon Hunters!"


    "Dante is the first ancestor of all Evil Demon Hunters, at the price of its life, it sealed the Mother of Reproduction and tore up the sealing object¡ªDead Sea Ancient Scroll¡ªand scattered it everywhere. Dead Sea Ancient Scroll cannot be destroyed. The seal on the Mother of Reproduction can only be released through gathering all pages of the scroll. Every Demon Hunter swore to prevent this from happening."


    "Taking orders at the behest of the deceased owner of Desire, Evil Demon Hunters formed the Demon Hunter Union and went against the Night Family Clans, finally overthrowing the Empire¡­"


    ¡­


    The start of the Demon Hunters'' history didn''t include a timeline, as human empires and kingdoms weren''t created.


    Moreover, there didn''t seem to be any culture as it was only a display record.


    However, Fang Yuan believed that if any of this information was released, it would invite a mighty uproar!


    "The source of Demon Hunters was indeed the Evil Demons. Moreover, it was the strongest Evil Demon King¡ªowner of Desire¡ªDante!"


    Fang Yuan shook his head. "This Evil Demon, who was the strongest amongst them all, actually betrayed its own race and even sealed the Mother of Reproduction¡­ this is too unbelievable!"


    However, this was also logical.


    Within the Dark Empire, humans were at the bottom of the food chain. Without the support of a major power, how could they rise up?


    "Looks like the strict laws of physics in this world, the abnormality of everything, roots back to the Mother of Reproduction!"


    Fang Yuan''s pupils sparkled "Another path¡­ is original power?"


    ¡­


    Currently, within the sacred hall.


    Mond and Arag¨®n looked at the open sacred coffin. No words were spoken.


    Inside the sacred coffin, quietly laid a young Demon Hunter. He was handsome, and his complexion was rosy, as though he was only sleeping.


    There was only one wound at the location of his heart¡ªthis was dug out by Longinus''s spear.


    Currently, his blood gushed out constantly and fell into the sacred cup, turning into Sacred Water.


    "The first generation Demon Hunter¡­ the owner of Desire¡­ Dante!"


    Arag¨®n sighed with emotion, "It truly is the strongest Evil Demon. Even after death, the dead can still look alive, and it can still constantly produce blood. Even the wound created from the sacred spear will disappear after some time¡­


    "True Sacred Water is created from the owner of Desire, an Evil Demon''s blood. After the transformation in the sacred cup, it can then produce Titled Demon Hunters in batches, this is also what we relied on to maintain righteous in the world!"


    Mond sighed, "We humans are the true owners of this world. Even the previous Evil Demon King chose us!"


    In actual fact, the second and third generations Demon Hunters also felt that it was unbelievable that an Evil Demon would stand on the side of humans.


    After time passed, they could only explain it as the fate of humans to numb themselves¡ªwhat was tragic was that in the end, most of the descendants just believed it without any doubts.


    Even if it was the truth, this secret was only passed down amongst the Sacred Weapon holders and a few other Demon Hunters, and this secret was heavily guarded.


    After all, if this information was made public, it would result in an enormous earthquake. Many Demon Hunters would definitely give up their faith.


    "Compliments to you, Dante¡­ you are the hope in hell!"


    Arag¨®n bowed to show his respect. "Until now, I''m still feeling skeptical. What did you believe in¡­ was it humans that influence this Evil Demon king with their love?"


    "I don''t believe it!"


    Mond said slowly, "But according to the holders of the Sacred Coffin, that was passed down by word of mouth, although this owner of Desire''s body was that of an Evil Demon, its soul¡­ was from a different world!"

 632 Perish on Defea

    "Another world?"


    Arag¨®n revealed a puzzled look.


    "Aside from our world, there are also other worlds¡­" Mond nodded his head. "It''s the same as what the wandering poets sang. Heaven and Hell might exist!"


    "So¡­ this king¡ªDante¡ªhad the body of an Evil Demon, but its spirit was actually an angel?"


    Arag¨®n nodded his head.


    "Everything was heard by our Sacred Coffin holders'' ancestors from King Dante''s isolated words and phrases¡­" Mond shook his head. "It was said that before the king passed away, it had arranged everything, as though it would return again!"


    "If it could really wake up, it should be now, right?"


    Arag¨®n looked at Sacred Coffin, but the sleeping Evil Demon was no different from a normal Demon Hunter.


    "I don''t know, it was, after all, a legend. Hence, we can only choose to wait."


    Mond slowly closed Sacred Coffin.


    "Sacred Water is already enough, it can aid the frontline at any time¡­"


    Arag¨®n held Sacred Cup. "Of course, we should solve the chaos in the headquarters and Sacred Mountain first!"


    "The change in Sacred Mountain is due to an external force. After it disperses, there would naturally be a way to restore it¡­ but we need time!"


    Mond walked out of the main hall. "It''s time to calm the other Demon Hunters."


    Most of the high ranking Demon Hunters that were supposed to stand guard went out to attack. Those that remained were immature and inexperienced members. Regardless of whether it was in the aspect of their physical strength or their mind, they were lacking a lot.


    The good news was that the two Sacred Weapon holders still had enough confidence to stabilize the situation.


    "After calming them down, we need to help Longinus immediately. Even though Sacred Mountain cannot support him right now, the large quantity of Sacred Water can still forcefully enhance the Sacred Spear and repel the Evil Demons."


    However, when the two Sacred Weapon holders walked out of the main hall, the scene they saw left them so angry that their eyeballs were going to fall out.


    Many of the defending Demon Hunters were lying in pools of blood, an Evil Demon, whose body was burning with jade-green flames was smiling at them. "two holders, it''s been a long time!"


    "You are¡­ ''degenerated'' Chris?"


    Mong and Arag¨®n made eye contact with each other and was able to see the shock in each other''s eyes. "You actually succeeded in becoming an Evil Demon?"


    "Chris used to be my name. Now, I''m Urias!"


    The jade-green flame Evil Demon''s nostrils were filled with hatred. "I came from hell. Are all of you ready to withstand my fire?"


    "Chris, don''t go overboard!"


    Mond bellowed, "It was for your own good when we came to an agreement to give the witch a death sentence!"


    "She has her own name¡ªSelina! She also wasn''t an evil Master! But all of you burned her alive!"


    The flames on Urias''s body rose vigorously. "It was from that day onwards that I saw through your everything. The so-called Demon Hunter Headquarters had already degenerated long ago. Back then, I swore that even if I became an Evil Demon and fell into hell, I would still take revenge!


    "Now¡­ I''m back!"


    Urias moved a step forward, the jade-green flames expanded and, in the end, surrounded the whole main hall.


    "It doesn''t matter if you''re Chris or Urias, just from being a mere Evil Demon, you want to topple the entire headquarters?"


    Mond and Arag¨®n glanced at each other, their body burst with strong sacred light.


    Even if Sacred Coffin and Sacred Cup weren''t combat-oriented Sacred Weapons, they were still elite Titled Demon Hunters. Even when Seres appeared, he would have to bow down to their superiority.


    "Headquarters? This hell-like place is the Demon Hunters Headquarters? Funny!"


    Urias moved its jade-green flaming wing. "Now¡­ this is my home ground!"


    "Even so, you''re too careless."


    Arag¨®n shook his head.


    Kaboom!


    In that exact moment, he passed through Urias''s body. His hands were holding onto a beating heart that was sputtering magma.


    "Just a mere Evil Demon and you dare to stand in front of Sacred Weapon holders¡­ Hmm?"


    Arag¨®n crushed the heart in his hands, but he was surprised to find many jade-green sparks.


    "I forgot to tell you two¡­ my real name in the Evil Demon language means the spirit of fire!"


    Urias smiled before he recovered his combat stance. "With the entire Sacred Mountain and the support of Kotori City¡­ how much effort and at what cost do you think would it would take to kill me?"


    "You purposely came to delay us¡ªNo, Longinus!"


    Mond''s expression changed, and he wanted to immediately get away.


    "Haha¡­ It''s too late now that you''ve only just realized it now!" Urias burst out laughing, the jade-green flames trapped them like a prison.


    "Sir?"


    At this moment, the Demon Hunters reinforcement arrived late.


    "You don''t have to worry about us, go and help Longinus immediately. Sacred Spear¡­ cannot be harmed!" Arag¨®n shouted loudly.


    At the same moment.


    At the foot of the mountain, a familiar vibration could be felt.


    What was surprising was that Urias shook with laughter after feeling it, while Arag¨®n and Mond became as pale as ash.


    ¡­


    Inside Kotori City.


    The war between Demon Hunters and the Night Family Clans finally concluded.


    After losing the support from Sacred Mountain, and with the breakdown of their minds, the Demon Hunters were defeated. Titled Demon Hunters died, one by one, as they were ripped apart by the sharp claws of the Evil Demons.


    Even Longinus was exhausted with the continuous usage of Sacred Spear to kill seven Evil Demons.


    "Righteousness!"


    His gaze was still burning with flames, the entire Sacred Spear emitted a strong light, and he viciously stabbed into the Darkness Evil Demon¡ªAinz''s chest.


    Poof!


    The body of the Evil Demon exploded instantly, becoming a thick shadow.


    "What a pity¡­"


    Knowing that he didn''t completely eliminate the other party, Longinus couldn''t help but feel regretful.


    The wounds on his body didn''t allow him to continue chasing.


    "Keke!"


    Promptly, Chaos and Evil, the two Evil Demons went forward. One of them raised Longinus''s body while the other grabbed the Sacred Spear. Even though both its hands were emitting large amounts of white smoke, it refused to release its grip.


    "The mistake¡­ must be corrected!"


    "Darkness¡­ will arrive in this world again!"


    "The Mother of Reproduction¡­ will come back eventually!" Zoro acclaimed loudly. With the force of its hands, the terrible sound of its body tearing up could be heard.


    It grew several arms, and as if it was tearing a body limb from limb by five horses, it raised Longinus, who was seriously injured, up high, and suddenly tore him into pieces.


    Roar! Roar!


    Many Evil Demons howled together wildly. A formless power seemed to gather on the body of Chaos Evil Demon Cosmo, causing the Evil Demon to roar. A crisp sound came from its hands.


    Bang!


    After Longinus died, Longinus''s spear, the strongest Sacred Weapon among the Demon Hunters! The undefeatable hope was finally broken into two, its color vanished, and turned into scrap metal.


    This sound essentially shattered the hope of every Demon Hunter.


    After witnessing this scene, the faces of all of the Demon Hunters paled as they became shocked and was unmoving. They either allowed themselves to be killed, or they shrieked before escaping from that place.


    ¡­


    Sacred Mountain.


    "The Sacred Weapons can sense each other¡­ At the moment, did they also sense that the Sacred Spear has been destroyed?"


    Jade-green flames transformed into Urias''s face, which was laughing savagely.


    "Longinus¡­"


    The two Sacred Weapon holders went silent, but they promptly began to viciously break free.


    If they didn''t leave now, it would be too late when the Evil Demons that attacked Longinus came over!


    "Both of you, cannot leave!"


    The Evil Demon reinforcements were what Urias was relying on the most.


    At the moment, large numbers of Night Family Clans appeared in the Demon Hunter Headquarters and created more confusion.


    "Split up!"


    Mond and Arag¨®n made eye contact before their bodies emitted a strong sacred light as they went in two separate directions to break free.


    Zap! Zap!


    The jade-green flames that could even burn souls fell onto their sacred light, creating a crackling sound. The two Sacred Weapon holders groaned, obviously not feeling well.


    Even so, they went all-out sustaining burns on their souls, and they finally broke free from the flame prison.


    "Arag¨®n!"


    At that moment, Urias also made a choice.


    It quickly put away a large portion of its flames, and decided to trap someone¡ªSacred Cup holder, Arag¨®n!


    No matter what, Sacred Cup was the vessel that produced Sacred Water. Without it, the entire Demon Hunter Union would really be unable to function.


    "Die!"


    Arag¨®n frowned and hurled his fist and directly aimed to pierce through Urias.


    "It''s useless¡­"


    However, the party turned into a ball of jade-green flames and promptly recovered to his original state, firmly holding Arag¨®n at his original location.


    Finally, a large figure appeared in the air, and it suddenly cast a shadow down.


    Darkness Evil Demon Ainz rushed over first!


    Seeing this, Arag¨®n fell into despair.


    "Demon Hunters¡­ shall be removed from this world today!"


    The Evil Demons that rushed over announced this. Promptly, the entire Demon Hunter Headquarters on Sacred Mountain became a bloodbath.


    Especially Arag¨®n, who was the main target of the attack.


    Even though he was still as brave and ruthless as before, and he also had Sacred Cup to recover his mental and physical strength, his fate was the same as Longinus''s. After the attack from so many Evil Demons, he was drowned from the attacks of many opponents.


    ¡­


    "Evil Demons invaded the city, they then went on to invade Sacred Mountain?"


    On top of the tall tower, the invisible cloak draped over Fang Yuan as he observed the scene carefully. "Arag¨®n can no longer be saved. If I suddenly shoot, I would only expose myself. On the other hand, Mond, the Sacred Coffin holder¡­"


    From reading the history books, he knew a lot of the Demon Hunters'' secret.


    The main point was that the body of the owner of Desire, Dante, was stored inside Sacred Coffin!


    "The strongest Evil Demon King¡­"


    Fang Yuan had an idea instantly and silently moved over.


    "Sacred Spear has already been destroyed, and the Sacred Cup looks like it won''t be able to escape from the poisonous hands of the Evil Demons¡­ I only hope that Arag¨®n can drag that powerful Evil Demon trio down to hell with him; if it''s both of them, it''ll be even better¡­"


    Ahead of him, a bunch of fleeing people instantly entered his vision.


    It mainly consisted of Zweig and his bunch of new members, and a Titled Demon Hunter that seemed to be called Krist, who was a young talent.


    Of course, these didn''t attract Fang Yuan''s attention.


    What made him astonished was the hidden presence within that group of people.


    "Mond?"

 633 Crossbow

    "Quick! Leave immediately!" Krist shouted loudly, swinging the large sword in his hand and splitting a gold-haired werewolf in two.


    Behind him was a bunch of bewildered members. They had fallen into great despair and were at a loss after seeing the hell-like Sacred Mountain and the tragic battlefield at the headquarters.


    "Impossible¡­"


    Zweig looked at everything and felt that he was totally numb. "Sacred Mountain has become hell¡­ The Demon Hunter Headquarters has been invaded¡­ am I having a nightmare?"


    "Smack!"


    Promptly, his head was ruthlessly slapped. "Don''t be distracted, bring out the results of your constant training. After going down the mountain, we''ll immediately go our separate ways to break the siege.


    Krist took the lead but was sighing internally.


    If it was like this, maybe everyone''s survival rate would be a little higher?


    Kaboom!


    At this moment, a thick pillar of light soared upwards from behind the headquarters and spread out horizontally, transforming into a large cross that slashed into the sky.


    "This is¡­ Holy Punishment?"


    Amongst the group of people, Mond, who had a grey cloak draped over him, suddenly raised his head and looked at the place where the cross-shaped beam of light came from and firmly pressed onto the bangle on his right hand. "Arag¨®n, blew up Sacred Cup?"


    It was different from the Sacred Spear; Sacred Cup could self-destruct.


    Needless to say, with the batch of Sacred Water that was previously produced in a hurry, even the Evil Demon King would be killed with its destructive power.


    Obviously, Arag¨®n also understood that he wouldn''t be able to escape. Hence, he would rather destroy the Sacred Cup and die, rather than allow it to fall into the hands of the Evil Demons.


    Moreover, the destruction of this type of Sacred Weapon, and the sacrifice of a Sacred Weapon holder could definitely kill many Evil Demons as well.


    The shock wave came and was filled with sacred, pure power.


    The Night Family Clans that attacked the Demon Hunter Headquarters immediately suffered huge losses.


    Fang Yuan sensed even more.


    "Darkness¡­ has fallen?"


    Fang Yuan nodded his head after feeling that the strong presence had vanished.


    Although he didn''t know that Darkness Evil Demon Ainz had previously been heavily injured by Longinus, it was definitely not an issue to kill a large Evil Demon with the self-destruction technique of the Sacred Cup.


    As if it was due to the difference in this world, even the power that a Power Obtainer wielded was far from that of the great energy from the Da Qian Empire.


    However, Fang Yuan knew that even if Demon Hunters went to the Da Qian Empire, they could immediately be successful and even be compared to that Dream Master Sage from before!


    The powers of the different worlds were different, however, the nature of the powers aren''t different!


    "Sacred Weapon holders should be close in power to the previous Dream Master Sage, but they constantly fell¡­ The losses of the Evil Demons must also be very huge¡­"


    Fang Yuan quietly came to a high vantage point and held up Monster Sob.


    Below, two large demon figures suddenly appeared in front of the group of members.


    "Chaos" Evil Demon Cosmo and also "Evil" Evil Demon Zoro!


    Although these two Evil Demon Kings looked very exhausted and spent, their wings were in a sorry state, and even their horns were chipped off, they still firmly blocked the escape route of the Demon Hunters.


    "Mond!"


    Cosmo wasn''t bothered by Krist who was cautiously looking at the incoming enemies. Instead, it looked at Mond, who was covered by a grey cloak. "Hand over Sacred Coffin and the page of the core Dead Sea Ancient Scroll. Then, kneel down to pledge allegiance to us, and we shall grant you a long life. You can even be like Urias and be accepted as one of us royalties!"


    "Dream on!" Mond answered resolutely and decisively, touching the golden bracelet on his wrist.


    Buzz!


    Amidst a glow, a large sacred coffin appeared and a countless number of black shackles with thorns spread all over the sky, like a spider web.


    "The Sacred Coffin''s power is sealing¡­ but we won''t give you the chance to do so." Two Evil Demons roared.


    Immediately, a large number of Night Family Clan members appeared in the dark and began to surround and attack them.


    "Chaotic Wind Kill!"


    Krist moved his sword and it suddenly transformed into a gust of razor sharp wind, cutting everywhere.


    Just from that attack, countless Night Family Clan members died at his hands.


    Unfortunately, the ferocious demons where like a surging tide that caught the Demon Hunters off guard, their front line was broken.


    "Ah!"


    Bodies and blood flew everywhere. The scene of Night Family Clans hunting was naturally quite bloody.


    Even so, Mond didn''t move and stared into nothingness.


    "Attack!"


    Krist clenched his teeth and his sword slashed at two Evil Demons. "Holy Wind Chop!"


    Zap! Zap!


    Crescent-shaped energy appeared in the air. Like a razor, it slashed over the area where the two Evil Demons were.


    "Chance!"


    Mond snapped out of his daze, and a countless number of shackles barged in from nothingness and appeared from behind the two Evil Demons, firmly binding their four limbs.


    "It''s useless."


    Cosmo struggled, "There already is the most powerful owner of Desire within Sacred Coffin, it''s impossible to contain a second Evil Demon! Just a mere sealing power¡­"


    Bang!


    Just as it finished speaking, a gunshot was heard. The head of the Chaos Evil Demon suddenly exploded like a watermelon.


    Even though the Evil Demon had a body that was made from the elements, and it had the ability to evade deadly blows, Monster Sob was a weapon that was specialized, why was it possible that this wasn''t considered? What it caused, was true damage!


    Otherwise, why would it have such vicious infamy?


    "Monster Sob?!"


    Zoro made a weird sound, and he struggled violently, obviously afraid of the hidden sniper.


    Bloop! Bloop!


    At this moment, Cosmo''s headless body released a large amount of bloody fog, and another Evil Demon head grew out. "One life! D*mn Demon Hunters! Already took away two of my lives tonight!"


    As a Chaos Evil Demon, it had a unique gift, and one of its most important abilities was its three lives!


    With three lives, it was able to deal with two deadly blows!


    Unfortunately, the two chances disappeared just like that tonight.


    After recovering, Cosmo summoned a large quantity of bloody fog and heavily concealed its own figure.


    "Hmm? Such a great effect? This should be due to Sacred Coffin''s seal. Without it restricting the Evil Demon''s movement, even I would have difficulty aiming properly."


    After witnessing such a scene, how could Fang Yuan let go of this perfect opportunity that was bestowed to him? He immediately raised his gun to aim and fired again.


    Bang!


    The bullet left a large hole in the red fog, and the pathetic figure of Cosmo appeared, its chest had a bloody hole. "This d*mn seal¡­"


    It roared once, a crossbow suddenly appeared in its hand.


    This crossbow was pocket-sized, had a silver body, and was as exquisite as a piece of art. Of course, in the hands of a tall Evil Demon, it looked similar to a toy.


    However, Mond, who was previously certain that he was winning, face made a 180-degree turn upon seeing it. "Demon Hunter Crossbow? Master clan?"


    Poof!


    Zoro didn''t say anything as he set the arrow in place and triggered it.


    Accompanied by the sound of a machine, a shooting star-like silver ray split straight through the defenses and stabbed into Mond''s heart.


    He immediately kneeled onto the ground, then collapsed, blood flowing nonstop from his chest.


    The Sacred Coffin''s glow dulled a little, and the shackle retracted. The two Evil Demons vanished instantly.


    "D*mn Master clan!" Krist went forward and checked Mond''s wound as he cursed.


    The chest of this Sacred Weapon holder was pierced by a small arrow. It was filled with carved symbols that held the glow of a spell.


    The small arrow was filled with the shocking presence of a Black Magic technique and very strong corrosion and a curse that stopped all of Mond''s life force!


    "Such a powerful Black Magic technique¡­"


    Mond was paled faced and laugh bitterly once. "Master clans can no longer be trusted, the few top clans must have already sided with the Evil Demons¡­ this type of cursed arrow and Demon Hunter Crossbow cannot be produced without the 13 clan''s elders'' combined effort¡­"


    Clearly, despite the fact that the Masters were trying to hide themselves before, they stood up and openly sided with them, without fear, after the huge war.


    After all, the future of Demon Hunters was that of a dead dog. Ruling the world with Evil Demons could be predicted.


    And, in order to appease the rest of the ordinary people and consolidate its power, it wasn''t a bad idea to take advantage of the Master clans as the middle man.


    This world was, in the end, different from the past!


    Even if it were the Evil Demons, they must also be particular about their way of ruling. The Master clans might be able to be moved by this type of reasoning and became the buffer between humans and the Night Family Clans. The Demon Hunter Crossbow was proof of their allegiance!


    "Sir!"


    Krist almost choked with tears.


    "Take¡­ take Sacred Coffin away, it can never fall into the Evil Demons'' hands¡­"


    Mond handed the bracelet to Krist with shaky hands.


    "It''s ours!"


    At that moment, an Evil Demon shouted and Zoro''s figure appeared, its sharp claws went forward.


    "Attack!"


    Krist was enraged, his sword slashed forward ruthlessly.


    Bang!


    Another gunshot was heard, and an enormous hole appeared in Zoro''s shoulder, blood gushing out.


    "Hmm? Who''s that?"


    At this moment, Krist discovered that there was a black gun barrel at his side that had unknowingly appeared.


    That sniper was very bold to directly go to the center of the battlefield.


    "I really will be courting death if I stay here!"


    Fang Yuan didn''t know what Krist was thinking, but he understood in his heart.


    The two shots had already exposed his position. With the addition of the alure of Sacred Coffin and Dead Sea Ancient Scroll, it made him act in an opposite way and entered the battlefield with the conceal of the invisible cloak.


    "Ternetheo?"


    Evil Demon shouted loudly and angrily as they immediately discovered something.


    However, Krist didn''t give Zoro an opportunity to keep moving.


    At that very moment when it was injured, his sword landed straight down with a different kind of territory power, "Holy Wind Chop!" "


    Poof!


    A large wound appeared in front of Cosmo''s chest. It shrieked before its body vanished in the darkness.


    "Finally managed to fight it off, let''s go quickly¡­"


    Although he knew that the Night Family Clans were also heavily injured, Krist didn''t have any thoughts of chasing after them.


    However, it was futile when he tried to find traces of the mysterious sniper.


    Even more so, Mond''s will and testament, the gold bracelet that contained Sacred Coffin, which was on the floor had also disappeared at that moment.


    Seeing this, Krist was enraged, frustrated, and promptly felt lost.


    Was the time of Demon Hunters really ending?

 634 Reparations

    In the morning, warm rays of sunlight shone down.


    Together with the nearby Sacred Mountain Demon Hunter Headquarters, the whole of Kotori City had long transformed into a wasteland.


    The invasion from the previous day had also caused the Night Family Clans to suffer a huge loss. The number of dead Evil Demons exceeded 10, and this included Darkness Evil Demon Ainz from the original powerful Evil Demon trio. The remaining Evil Demon trio, "Chaos" and "Evil," were also heavily injured and could be considered defeated.


    Even the Night Family Clans were in this state. On the other hand, the losses of the Demon Hunters were much more difficult to calculate.


    Let''s not talk about the casualties of the average Demon Hunters and their families. Within just the whole Demon Hunter Headquarters, the people there were also massacred, and many structures and buildings were burned to ashes.


    The even more shocking part was the deaths of three Sacred Weapon holders, which were killed by the Evil Demons, and they even destroyed the Sacred Spear and the Sacred Cup!


    The blow to the Demon Hunters'' minds was indescribable.


    Almost all the newbie Demon Hunters knew that, to Demon Hunters, Sacred Spear was an undefeatable legend, whereas the Sacred Cup was what they relied on to become Titled Demon Hunters.


    Without the strongest offensive weapon and cultivation, the Demon Hunters had no more successors; this problem could almost be seen.


    After all, with only the Sacred Cup imitations, that were scattered all over the world, Titled Demon Hunters couldn''t be cultivated.


    It was too difficult to completely rely on the A-grade Demon Hunters to achieve a breakthrough on their own.


    Compared to the Sacred Spear, the Demon Hunters that didn''t know the truth would rather have both the Sacred Spear and Sacred Coffin to be destroyed together, rather than lose the Sacred Cup.


    However, nothing could be reversed.


    Although the Evil Demons had retreated, licking their wounds, the activities of the Night Family Clans were completely unrestrained.


    At the same time, a large number of elite Master clans surfaced and controlled different government sectors and weapons. They began to announce their plans of unifying the whole Alcala Mainland.


    At that moment, it was as if the roles had reversed.


    The Night Family Clan changed from darkness to light, and they claimed that they wanted to rebuild the ancient Dark Empire.


    And Demon Hunters everywhere hid silently, either falling into great despair or preparing themselves for the flames of revenge.


    The kingdoms and governments of ordinary humans were caught off guard and went into a state of confusion and chaos that had never been seen before.


    ¡­


    In a narrow, small town, Fenrir was happily tearing into a buffalo. At this moment, there were two tumors suddenly growing on both sides of its neck.


    Affected by them, its appetite grew, and it even occasionally sneezed fire.


    However, Fenrir was indifferent about it.


    Because it could feel that after experiencing Fang Yuan''s Black Magic technique, it was becoming stronger every day.


    As for its strange appearance¡ªto demons, they were originally like this, they didn''t have any human worries regarding beauty.


    Compared to having power, so what if it was strange?


    Seeing this scene, Fang Yuan could only silently sigh.


    Pitiful small wolf Fenrir, I hope that you won''t be shocked by yourself when you grow two additional heads.


    "Mixed blood was originally unstable. I suppressed the chaos, insanity, and the other distracting thoughts to its secondary brains in its body. From that point onwards, its main head would be the existence with rational intelligence!"


    Fang Yuan was satisfied with his own work.


    However, Mary, who was beside her, was badly shocked by this demon.


    "Oh my¡­ do we have to live with these monsters in the future?"


    She looked at Fenrir, and felt goosebumps all over her. She even secretly swept her gaze over Peter and Almon.


    "Mary!"


    At this moment, even Aunt Sophia couldn''t keep watching. She came over, pulled her daughter''s ear, and dragged her into the house. Muffled scolding could be heard.


    "Please don''t mind her, this is just what Mary''s like!"


    Uncle Jock came over, rubbing his hands together.


    Compared to his wife and daughter, he better understood that the future of the world would turn ugly. In order to carry on living, or even live a good life, one ought to firmly depend on a powerful individual.


    Of course, the best option was still to become strong himself.


    However, he looked at his own old, wrinkled face and his loose muscles, and he knew that he no longer had that choice.


    Thinking to this point, he couldn''t help but sigh, "Is everything true? The strong and glorious Demon Hunter Headquarters has already vanished into thin air? At the location of the downfall of light, the darkness will rebuild a new unified world?"


    "Very regrettably¡­ yes!"


    Fang Yuan nodded his head.


    This time, the Evil Demons changed their state of division; even the initial failure of the battle at Sacred Mountain was a feint.


    It was natural that the Demon Hunters would be on the losing end as they were stuck to their old ways, whereas their enemy became like this.


    He didn''t know why but Urias''s figure suddenly appeared in his mind.


    Although there was no evidence, he sensed that the changes in the Evil Demons were related to the degenerated Demon Hunter.


    After all, only Demon Hunters would know the Demon Hunters'' thoughts and weaknesses the best.


    "Oh my¡­"


    Jock sighed once, his will and spirit had lowered greatly.


    "In fact¡­"


    However, Fang Yuan had a secretive smile then, "Uncle, do you want to become a Demon Hunter again? No, it''s an existence that''s one step further. How can the protection strength of others be compared to your own?"


    "One step further?"


    Jock looked at Fang Yuan, puzzled.


    "Yes, the original Demon Hunters, the power of an Evil Demon Hunter¡­ In particular, you can look at Almon!"


    "Her!"


    Jock looked towards the teenaged girl that was training currently and nodded his head.


    In this period of time, the original female robber had grown with rapid speed.


    Previously, Jock was confident in being able to deal with the other party with just one hand at least. However, he would probably be dealt with by the other party now.


    However, the heart-stopping presence and transformation¡­


    "I''ll have to consider it¡­" Jock was instantly a little hesitant.


    "No problem. You can find me anytime when you''re done thinking." Fang Yuan answered with a smile. He had long predicted his final choice.


    Amidst this chaotic world, a man wouldn''t reject any power in order to protect his family. Even if the power came from the Evil Demons!


    After lunch, Fang Yuan went into the basement.


    Vegetables and grape wines were originally stored there, but it had been emptied out by Fang Yuan. The oil lamp emitted a weak glow.


    "Sacred Coffin!"


    He muttered in an instant as he set up several concealment arrays before promptly touching the gold bracelet in his hands.


    A pure, long metal cabinet immediately appeared. After opening it, there was a young Demon Hunter that seemed to be in a deep sleep, its appearance looked attractive.


    "Evil Demon King, owner of Desire, the original Demon Hunter¡ªDante!"


    Fang Yuan silently stated the existence''s name.


    "This Sage''s body is really perfect. I''m afraid that his strength exceeds that of a Dream Master Sage when he was alive¡­"


    He looked at the Evil Demon''s corpse, a fire burned in his eyes.


    In actual fact, he definitely would''ve possessed this body if he had the option back then.


    Unfortunately, the traversing technique had revealed long ago and could no longer be moved. The best he could do was to turn it into an incarnation.


    "Looking at its orifices, it seems that there are also traces of an astral trip, could this be a Dream Master''s body for lodging?"


    Promptly, Fang Yuan was puzzled but didn''t think further.


    This type of temporary technique was important in defense and offense. At the moment, the body was in his hands. And with Sacred Coffin''s seal, even if the original owner came, it would be a mess.


    "A machine that produces unlimited blood? It''s not bad¡­"


    Fang Yuan thought of the Evil Demon Hunters. "Using it as promotion material would be most suitable."


    Even if the owner of Desire was the strongest Evil Demon, it boasted to the Evil Demon Hunters, and it would naturally be much more powerful than those of the same species.


    Moreover, this existence was already dead. At least in this world, it wouldn''t disrupt the power of the technique.


    The most important thing was that it was the original ancestor of the Demon Hunters. In regards to transforming into an Evil Demon Hunter, this was only the second time. There were many examples in history, not only was it not dangerous, but they also complemented one another well.


    "Of course, before this, I can still happily drink the blood of Evil Demon to help me break through!"


    Although normal Demon Hunters would definitely degenerate from directly drinking the blood of the Evil Demon, Fang Yuan was different!


    He had long obtained the experience of transforming, and there was no need to be afraid of the hidden risks.


    Even so, he could be able to completely produce true Sacred Water with enough time!


    "Unfortunately, it''s still a problem of output!"


    This assumption was workable, but after Fang Yuan tried a few times, it still ended.


    This was because he was unable to compare with the Sacred Cup''s efficiency. Maybe he could be able to obtain a small amount of Sacred Water, but it would only be enough for himself, and it wouldn''t be enough to fulfill the needs of the large Demon Hunter community.


    Hence, by destroying the Sacred Cup, Evil Demons had destroyed the foundation of Demon Hunters!


    From that point onwards, even though Demon Hunters could still be created through cultivation and they could even achieve a breakthrough, the difficulty level and the time requirement for becoming a Titled Demon Hunter increased; it was a disadvantage in the competition.


    Unless¡­


    "A large number of Demon Hunters have no choice but to change their profession; being an Evil Demon Hunter is their only way out."


    At this moment, a knock came from the door.


    Fang Yuan walked over and immediately saw Jock.


    The other party was determined and used a clear tone to say, "I''ve thought it through; I need to obtain a strong power!"


    "Very good, follow me!"


    Fang Yuan smiled. "The power of an Evil Demon Hunter is also the true power of the Demon Hunters!"


    With the first few samples, Demon Hunters everywhere must unify under his own flag.


    "Demon Hunters are going extinct, the next battles will be between the Evil Demon Hunters and the Evil Demons¡­"


    Fang Yuan''s eyes shone, and he thought about the Dead Sea Ancient Scroll in his hands.


    One of them was from John Town, and the other one was a gift that came with the Sacred Coffin.


    "Mother of Reproduction? What level would one be if said existence was able to give birth to the owner of Desire¡­"


    Fang Yuan knew all the truths of this world. It was nothing more than a tragedy where an external power polluted the entire world.


    If he was able to solve the "root" of the problem, he would be able to obtain the world''s gratitude and blessings.


    As for the rumored Mother of Reproduction, it aroused Fang Yuan''s strong research interest.


    Maybe, this was a clue to a hint of original power?


    "Looks like I have to find an opportunity for the Evil Demons to complete their long-cherished dream¡­"

 635 Association

    Half a month later.


    Fang Yuan was holding onto the core page of the Dead Sea Ancient Scroll, obtained from Demon Hunter Headquarters, and was silently reading it.


    "Dead Sea Ancient Scroll, is such an unbelievable, unique object. It was used by Dante to seal the Mother of Reproduction. There are many Night Family Clan secrets recorded on it¡­ This first page mainly consists of the true name of the owner of Desire and the truth behind the ancient seal¡­"


    Obviously, without this page, the Evil Demons would never be able to free the Mother of Reproduction, even if they died.


    "I shall find an opportunity to allow the Evil Demons to obtain it¡­"


    After a long time, Fang Yuan put away the Dead Sea Ancient Scroll after confirming that he didn''t miss anything. He then looked at his own attributes board:


    "Name: Hulk (Fang Yuan)


    Essence: 100.0 (110)


    Spirit: 100.0 (100)


    Magic: 100.0 (130)


    Profession: Demon Hunter


    State: Healthy


    Technique: Basic Grapple (Proficient), Homan Chet''s Gun Skill (Proficient), Secret Study (Master), Pharmaceutics (Master), Alchemy (Master), Morning Stars Swordsmanship (Starry Night), Shady Flow Flying Claw (Shady Claw), Black Magic skill (Master)


    Specialization: [Medicine (Level 3)], [Botany (Level 6)(Peak)], [Fiery Golden Eyes (Level 3)], [Body Seal (Ultimate form)]"


    After obtaining the Sacred Coffin, he was able to break through the power cultivation bottleneck by consuming large amounts of Evil Demon blood, and he was able to recover most of his strength.


    Needless to say, he also achieved a breakthrough in other techniques and achieved the level of Master. Even his Black Magic technique was one step away from being a Grandmaster.


    "My current combat ability is, at most, capable of forcefully handling an Evil Demon King. If I''m met with an encirclement, I''ll have to surrender as well and would still have to rely on the organization as support¡­"


    Fang Yuan opened the Sacred Coffin and silently gazed at the Evil Demon Hunter instead.


    "This Sage''s body is just right for me to convert into an incarnation!"


    He had long obtained the technique to split his mind in the water realm, it was no problem now.


    After the nurtured incarnation appeared, it transformed into a ball of light and went into Dante''s body.


    "It still needs time for the divided mind and body to adjust to each other¡­ Moreover¡­"


    He looked at Dante''s lower abdomen.


    Following the divided minds entry, body seals and branding symbols appeared as well, bringing about an unfathomable power.


    "In actual truth, Evil Demons cannot be classified as anything. They can be completely exterminated with large quantities of Evil Demon Hunters! What''s really terrifying, in this world, is still the Mother of Reproduction¡­"


    Facing the existence that came from legends, Fang Yuan felt that he needed a trump card.


    Transforming Dante as his manifestation, the release of the seal''s original power, and the powerful Evil Demon Hunters¡ªthese were all parts of his plan.


    At least, the hands and feet of the ritual, as well as the control of the Evil Demon¡ªwhere the original source of the blood came from¡ªcould guarantee that none of the Evil Demon Hunters would resist.


    Moreover, this experiment was also for the study of transforming original energy.


    Even so, it would be the trump card that would go against the Mother of Reproduction in the end!


    Fang Yuan usually avoided danger through his preparations whenever he did things. At this moment, he began to anxiously prepare.


    ¡­


    After finishing everything, he went outside to rest for a little while as Almon immediately served a sumptuous meal.


    The dining place was a long table. Aside from Jock and his family, there were also a few new faces. As they saw Fang Yuan, they immediately bowed to show their respect.


    Outside the house, a three-headed hellhound lazily laid on the ground and occasionally yawned as flames blew out from its mouth and nose, as though it came from hell.


    "The 13 clans among the Masters clearly announced that they oppose the Demon Hunter''s rule and they even went forward to control Khunsha, Jiamen, Chris Kingdoms, as well as other regions. That''s almost half of the mainland; it was definitely planned beforehand long ago!"


    "The 13 clans must be punished for their betrayal, but the most important thing is still the restoration of the Demon Hunter Union for now¡­ I have news that a few lucky Demon Hunter survivors decided to have a meeting on the 15th of this month¡ªunder the call of a few Titled Demon Hunters¡ªDo you want to go check it out?"


    "This is definitely messing things up, we''ll all be captured in one haul by the Night Family Clans."


    "Only Boss can take charge as the head of the Demon Hunters!"


    ¡­


    The Demon Hunters discussed it in a low voice but the chatter became louder and louder.


    Ding! Ding!


    Fang Yuan used a silver spoon to knock on the wine glass, and the clear sound of clangs echoed. Instantly, all noises vanished.


    In this short amount of time, he had already used his own strength to display the true image of leadership to the others. Needless to say, the follow-up of these Evil Demon Hunters, rituals and blood suppression, would have to depend on him.


    "The Demon Hunter Union is already obsolete¡­"


    Fang Yuan looked around, and his first sentence already caused the others to be extremely shocked. "I''m preparing to reorganize the Demon Hunter Union. We need more manpower. Even if they''re ordinary people, we''ll also need them! I''ll open up the profession of being a biologically modified Master and increase the number of Evil Demon Hunters here. In the end, we have to be able to overwhelm the Evil Demons!"


    "Oh, oh!"


    Many Demon Hunters cried out, as though they saw a glimpse of hope.


    After the destruction of the Sacred Cup, it was difficult to produce Titled Demon Hunters. Only Evil Demon Hunters were where the true power was at.


    "The revised Demon Hunter Union will be called Evil Demon Hunter Association. I will be the first chairman, the head of the society. There will be biologically modified Masters, Alchemists, and Pharmacists. The three departments that won''t be fighting, as well as the five combat bodies, will be under me. All members must be Evil Demon Hunters!"


    "Also¡­ Send out letters to the political powers of the ordinary humans in this world and invite them to send over their elites to the association to learn from us. We''ll nurture them into biologically modified Masters and Evil Demon Hunters!"


    Fang Yuan continued to state his decision, every motion was remarkably original and forceful.


    This was equivalent to making the abilities of the Evil Demon Hunters accessible to the ordinary people.


    Needless to say, with the power of the warlords and their political power, they would definitely become fierce, brutal, and crazy soldiers.


    At that time, an army consisting of mostly Evil Demon Hunters might even appear!


    Just thinking about the scene made the seated hunters shiver with fear.


    "That''s right¡­ three Sacred Weapon holders had died amongst the Demon Hunters, and many of the elites are seriously injured¡­ but how many humans do we have in this word? This small loss doesn''t even count as a drop in the ocean!"


    Fang Yuan smiled. "In regards to deciding the battlefields of the future world, we cannot fail. The general train of thought is to use our numbers to suppress and kill the opponent. By allowing the newbie Evil Demon Hunters to learn through deaths, those that are lucky enough to survive will be the strongest ones, strong enough to hunt Evil Demons!"


    Even the Demon Hunter Union wasn''t as fast as him when they used Sacred Water to nurture Demon Hunters.


    As long as the blood transplant was performed, an Evil Demon Hunter would be born.


    Of course, to control the source, Dante''s blood ought to be given out with caution. He might even be able to decrease in level by passing some techniques to the biologically modified Masters to produce werewolf hunters and vampire hunters.


    Anyways, the most precious thing in this world was human life, and the least valuable thing was also human life.


    If three thousand Evil Demon Hunters couldn''t move the world, then he would aim for 30 thousand!


    Fang Yuan felt that he could already stand in silent attribute to those Evil Demons.


    "If it''s this way¡­"


    A few Evil Demon Hunters looked amongst each other. "Among the ordinary humans, Soro general and the few other kings from the southern kingdoms have already sent out people to contact us, hoping that we can form an alliance to go against the dark forces¡­ As long as we give them hope, they''ll definitely hang on and won''t surrender to the darkness."


    Although Evil Demons used the Master clans as a buffer zone, how could the nature of the Night Family Clans be controlled?


    Any ordinary person wouldn''t want to live life in an uncertain state, one where they might become food at any time.


    Especially those with power.


    Fang Yuan provided them with the way to obtain power, while Evil Demons and Masters want them to pledge allegiance to them and give them half of their rights.


    Comparing both options, one would know how to choose as long as they were a smart and qualified leader.


    Just from providing a marvelous idea, it could change the world!


    "Also, how should we handle those old-fashioned Demon Hunters?"


    Those sitting down were all Evil Demon Hunters, the upper ranks of the future association. They began to have mixed feelings towards the place they had belonged to and the colleagues where they had come from.


    "They also shouldn''t drift away from our system, I''ll give them a chance to choose!"


    Fang Yuan said what he had planned out loud, "Those that are willing to join the association must change their profession and become Evil Demon Hunters, this is the minimum requirement!


    "I believe, they will choose to."


    Seeing this, many Evil Demon Hunters made eye contact with each other and nodded in respect, and they had no more objections.


    ¡­


    After a few days, in the southern part of Moon Forest.


    This place belonged to the Blue Moon Kingdom, and they belonged to the forces that were still resisting. Hence, Demon Hunters could carry on with their activities, almost publicly, and they wouldn''t have to worry about getting chased and killed.


    At the moment, within the forest, on a vast field, a large number of torches were lit up, illuminating the faces that were either deep in thought, lost, or contorted in fear.


    "The Sacred Weapon holders are all liars! They lied to us!"


    In the center, a Demon Hunter was giving an passionate speech. "They gave us the power of evil in the name of holiness¡­"


    After suffering a large failure, humans would always question their leaders, and so did those perplexed Demon Hunters.


    "Cough cough¡­"


    Seeing that his words were becoming more and more intense, an old Demon Hunter couldn''t help but stand up. "No matter what the nature of the power is, it''s still power in the end! At this point¡­ if we don''t want to die, we should lay down all our prejudice and work together!"


    This Demon Hunter''s voice was bright, and he seemed to be very prestigious. Many Demon Hunters nodded their heads after hearing his words.


    "So, I feel that what''s most important, right now, is to reestablish the Titled Demon Hunters meetings, build a main branch for us exiles, call in Demon Hunters from everywhere¡­"


    The old man spilled out his thoughts.


    "Titled Demon Hunters?"


    Light laughter suddenly echoed throughout the surroundings. "No way! I think that this suggestion should be altered, why should only Titled Demon Hunters be able to enter the meeting?"


    "That''s right, we protest!"


    Many Demon Hunters became emotional. "The parliament also have to be responsible for the failure this time!"


    Zweig looked at the scene quietly, suddenly feeling that the flames in his heart were extinguished.


    "At this point¡­ is there still hope for Demon Hunters?"


    He looked towards Krist, lost, but the other party shook his head as well, revealing a bitter smile.

 636 Gathering

    "Demon Hunters, are really finished?"


    Looking at the state of Krist, that was named as the most talented Titled Demon Hunter from the Sacred Mountain Headquarters, Zweig''s heart instantly sank as deep as the sea.


    Even his body wasn''t able to react in time to the drastic change.


    After all, he was only a disciple that went to Sacred Mountain to learn previously.


    However, the three Sacred Weapon holders promptly passed away, the Sacred Cup was destroyed, and the glory of the Demon Hunters vanished.


    If it was an ordinary Demon Hunter, he probably would''ve turned insane; based on the news Zweig had received, this was indeed the case, many Demon Hunters escaped from reality and some of their faith wavered, causing them to degenerate.


    Even the remaining Demon Hunters were busy scrambling for power and profit, making him unable to have any zeal.


    "Compete¡­ Compete with all your strength, so what if one becomes the new leader? One will still be destroyed by the Evil Demons!"


    A dark thought spread through his mind and snapped Zweig out of his stupor. "What''s happening? Even I''m beginning to waver?"


    At this moment, the commotion at the scene became intense. Although some Demon Hunters suggested deciding what was right or wrong through combat, this method was quickly questioned as the opposition clearly understood that if it was still this straightforward to determine the winner through power, the ones holding the power would definitely be the Titled Demon Hunters in the end!


    Unfortunately, there were still Demon Hunters that believed that the strongest should be the king of the Demon Hunters, hence there were some that instantly voiced out their support.


    Just when the two parties were locked in a stalemate and were preparing to organize a workable plan to fight, an agonizing shout, from the outside, was heard. "Evil¡­ Evil Demon!"


    If it was in the old days, a mere Evil Demon would be attacked by the Demon Hunters, together, and be ripped apart.


    However, they had become badly frightened, and their first reaction was to escape.


    "A bunch of cowards!"


    The old Demon Hunter, that had previously spoken, couldn''t stand them anymore. He took a large hammer and went towards the source of the sound.


    Krist held onto a sword in his hand and went to follow suit.


    Promptly, he sucked in a mouthful of cold air as he saw a strong Evil Demon.


    The other party didn''t have a human form but had the appearance of a three-headed demon wolf. It was as big as a small mountain, and its mouth was chewing on a ferocious head.


    "An Evil Demon with the appearance of a three-headed Demon Wolf? I haven''t seemed to have heard of it before¡­"


    Krist was solemn and tightened his grip on his sword.


    No matter what, the other party had a concentrated Evil Demon presence and a terrifying power that couldn''t be faked.


    Especially the heads on both sides, their eyes were filled with madness and brutality, causing all the opposing Demon Hunters to feel cold in their hearts.


    "Alright, Fenrir, don''t frighten our friends."


    At this moment, a human voice travelled from the top of the giant wolf''s head. Many Demon Hunters looked up and only then did they realize that there was a large number of human figures on its head.


    Ahwhoooo!


    Fenrir laid down and threw the head it was biting onto the floor.


    "This is¡­ Bramble Evil Demon Gulizar?" The old Demon Hunter beside him exclaimed.


    "Wait a minute, this voice¡­"


    Compared to the old Demon Hunter, Zweig was even more shocked, as the young voice opposite him was deeply carved into his mind; it was impossible for him to forget.


    As expected, in the next moment, a human figure leaped off the wolf''s head. It was a very young Demon Hunter, his short hair was like metal thorns, and his whole body looked very refreshed.


    "Hulk¡­ You are Pharmacist Hulk?" Zweig rubbed his eyes and said in a disbelieving tone.


    "Indeed, it''s me¡­ I saw the Evil Demon on the street and casually killed it as a present¡ªI wonder if everyone is still satisfied?"


    Fang Yuan smiled as he observed his surroundings.


    At this moment, the Evil Demon Hunters jumped down from the giant wolf, one by one, causing the surrounding people to be in a state of shock.


    "Anke!"


    "Merlot? Is that really you?"


    "Berto, I thought you were dead¡­"


    Those that Fang Yuan picked, naturally, weren''t just any simple characters. Those that he had either persuaded or aided were at least A-grade Demon Hunters. After becoming Evil Demon Hunters, they all had the potential to charge towards territory, and the possibility was huge!


    At this moment, they stood behind him, their slightly bowed posture said everything, causing the Demon Hunters there to go into a bigger commotion.


    "Hulk¡­"


    Krist looked at Zweig, who was beside him and said, "Is that student really in the same year as you? Why do I feel¡­ that he''s even more powerful than me, a Titled Demon Hunter?"


    "I don''t know either¡­"


    Zweig touched the pendant that hung on his neck. Unfortunately, the high-class Demon Weapon wasn''t able to provide him with any bravery or confidence at all.


    "!@#'' Is this still the Pharmacist that I could almost be at par with?"


    Zweig suddenly felt that he had taken a large blow, feeling cheated and uneasy.


    "Haha¡­ Welcome, my brothers."


    Old Demon Hunter could feel that something was amiss from the start, but his face was still brimming with a smile. "Let us discuss the future of Demon Hunters, together!"


    "There''s no need, after losing the three sacred weapons, there is no future to talk about for demon hunters."


    Fang Yuan waved his hands, and allowed one Evil Demon hunter to come out, "tell them our purpose of being here."


    "Yes, leader¡ªSir!"


    An Evil Demon Hunter leaned forward, and large, bat-like wings appeared behind his back, a large presence swept throughout the whole place.


    "Evil Demon? No¡­ That''s not right!"


    "This is¡­ an Evil Demon Hunter?"


    A few old Demon Hunters exclaimed.


    "Not bad, power has no good or evil, the key point is what it''s used for¡­ The time of Demon Hunters has passed. Now, only Evil Demon Hunters can obtain achievements again and save the world!"


    This Evil Demon Hunter loudly said, "We have already built an Evil Demon Hunter Association, and we welcome everyone to join! All Demon Hunters that join can be modified by the Biologically Modified Master and become an Evil Demon hunter!"


    This news was like a bomb, causing the whole place to fall dead silent.


    After a long while, a huge commotion stirred up, filling the whole place with noise.


    "All of you¡­ betrayed the union?"


    "Division! This is a brazen division, we''ll never acknowledge it!"


    At this moment, the emotions of the group rose.


    Facing this, Fang Yuan stepped forward.


    Thump¡­ Thump! Thump¡­ Thump!


    His footsteps were firm, the sound was clear and melodious. To the point that every falling step felt as though he was stepping on the hearts of the Demon Hunters.


    They were frightened as they looked at the god-like human figure, unconsciously retreating.


    "All of you, who do you think you are?"


    Fang Yuan finally stopped his grim reaper-like steps, shooting a side glance at them. "So what if we created an association? The king is the one with the power in this world. What has what we intend to do, have to do with you?"


    After the fall of Sacred Mountain, it was the first time that the Demon Hunters saw a Demon Hunter such as this, that took rules as nothing, and they were speechless.


    "Us, the Evil Demon Hunter Association, will take over the mission of the Demon Hunter Union and will continue to view the Night Family Clans as enemies. This time, we''ll be able to unite the whole of humanity and go against the Evil Demons'' tyranny!"


    Looking at the situation, a few Demon Hunters on the sidelines immediately said, with generousity, "Those that are willing to join are our comrades. Those that are unwilling to, we won''t force them.. However, after becoming Evil Demon Hunters, we''ve, at the very least, greatly reduced our reliance on Sacred Water, and we can even directly obtain power from the Night Family Clans!"


    "That''s right!"


    A few old Demon Hunters recalled the records in the ancient books. "Evil Demon Hunters are also official Demon Hunters¡­ Moreover, the more Night Family Clans one hunts and kills, the stronger the hunter will become¡­"


    They knew that this route naturally had malpractices, otherwise it wouldn''t have been replaced by Titled Demon Hunters in the end.


    However, the ancient book didn''t record anything else, and they couldn''t think of any reason to refuse.


    "Without the need for large quantities of Sacred Water, and one only needs to prey on Night Family Clans to obtain power?"


    After hearing this, the eyes of many young Demon Hunters instantly lit up.


    "Yes, we, the Evil Demon Hunters, are the ones that are keeping up with the times, the main power contending against the Evil Demons in the future!"


    Many Evil Demon Hunters roared together, their voices also sounded very majestic, "Join us, and fight with us, hand in hand. Even if we have to be in hell in the future, we''ll also do that together!"


    "Well said!"


    A Demon Hunter with red eyes stood out. "For revenge, we need power!"


    Witnessing this scene, regardless of whether it was the old Demon Hunter or Krist, they could only sigh for the lost cause.


    However, they still had their own egos.


    "Demon hunters can, of course, join the Evil Demon Hunter Association, but as the leader, what kind of strength do you have?"


    Krist spoke up, clearly challenging him.


    In fact, this was also because he didn''t know that Fang Yuan was the mysterious sniper that had saved his life. Otherwise, he wouldn''t have been this bold.


    "The power of Demon Hunters is used to deal with Evil Demons, and not used to seek to prevail over others¡­"


    Fang Yuan shook his head, and the words he said next made the surrounding people shocked. "But¡­ using it to deal with some lawless hoodlums is also possible!"


    "Hoodlums, do you mean us?"


    Krist face turned red, and he tightly held onto the handle of his large sword.


    "No¡­ it''s a bunch of mice that are secretly spying on us¡­"


    Fang Yuan held onto Starry Night long sword and suddenly, a stream of flame shot out to the sky.


    Buzz!


    Surrounding, the night curtain was pulled. The stars moved as if it turned to night in an instant.


    "Morning Stars Swordsmanship¡ªStarry night!"


    Amidst the radiant starlight, a ray of brilliance appeared and suddenly transformed into fireworks. Just like a meteor shower, they exploded and fell in all directions.


    "This is¡­ Seres''s Morning Stars Swordsmanship?"


    Witnessing what was before him, Krist instantly knew that he was no match for Fang Yuan.


    This was because the other party, right now, was already comparable to the former Daybreak Sword!


    An even more shocking scene happened.


    As the flames and stars fell onto the ground, a bloody hole suddenly appeared.


    A few human figures that seemed to be hiding behind trees and rocks and the field was forced to reveal themselves. Their leaders were unexpectedly a few wealthy old men.


    "People from the Master clans?"


    Krist bellowed immediately after seeing this scene unfold, "They were actually hiding so close to us?"


    "The 13 Clans Elder, Santos, sends his greetings to everyone!"


    A white-haired old man that was wearing a purple-gold robe walked out, but his eyes were filled with astonishment as he looked at Fang Yuan. "Such a superb level of Black Magic technique¡ªno wonder you can see through the setup that we had teamed up and done."

 637 Cooperation

    Masters were the existences between Demon Hunters and the Night Family Clans, and they were humans that had part of the Night Family Clan''s blood.


    It could even be said that they were the ready-made ingredients for Evil Demon Hunters.


    Of course, at the moment, the top clans among the Masters had taken advantage of the situation long ago and sided the Evil Demons. They obtained the qualifications to become the managers of those ruling the world, and they were wholeheartedly helping the Evil Demons to deal with the Demon Hunters.


    Santos was currently looking at Fang Yuan with a grave gaze.


    The Evil Demons were naturally attracted to the remaining assembled Demon Hunters.


    However, even he didn''t think that such drastic changes would happen.


    The Evil Demon Hunter Association was created from nothing, and the leader was someone who was an enigma, a youth that was extremely skilled with Black Magic techniques.


    Most importantly¡­


    Santos looked at the large, severed head of the Bourbon Evil Demon on the floor and knew that he couldn''t retreat.


    One of his Masters was already dead, if they, the subordinates, didn''t give their all, they wouldn''t be able to explain themselves and this debt would definitely be settled by the Evil Demons.


    Unfortunately, the Black Magic technique, that was activated by several elders, was seen through by the Evil Demon Hunter Association''s leader before them. Otherwise, they definitely would''ve been able to take them by surprise as their advantage.


    "Shameless!"


    Krist was enraged. "All of you have forgotten the oath you took in the beginning¡ªtraitors!!"


    "Everything is for our survival; This is the guidance that our ancestors carved into our blood!"


    Santos raised his right hand.


    On his palm was a silver crossbow, emitting a dangerous glow.


    "Demon Hunter Crossbow?" Krist exclaimed, subconsciously taking a step back. Knowing that these Master clans had dared to surround and annihilate them, they truly did have something they relied on. "According to our previous intelligence, there are only two Demon Hunter Arrows that are left among the Master clans. Are all of you planning on exhausting your own trump card?"


    "A trump card¡­ is no longer needed, because after today, we''ll all be lords and kings under the rule of the Evil Demons!"


    Santos smiled disgustingly. Suddenly, his whole head exploded.


    "¡­"


    The scene was dead silent.


    Many looked at the Master Elder that had had been boasting, but his head was suddenly shot and it exploded. They all couldn''t believe it.


    "Don''t you know that all villains die because they talk too much?"


    Fang Yuan took a step forward and went to the side of Santos''s corpse, it was as if he had teleported. Wind, that looked like flaming shooting stars, shot out from his sword, impaling all the Masters that made a futile attempt to move forward.


    "It''s him!"


    All the Demon Hunters at the scene were ignorant. Only Krist thought of something and stared at Fang Yuan''s back. "Monster Sob¡­"


    "I''ll¡­ curse you!"


    "Black Magic technique¡ªweak!"


    In his surroundings, Masters threw out spells wildly, and many colourful lights smashed into Fang Yuan''s body.


    Unfortunately, like fireflies, those lights flickered and promptly exploded, vanishing without a trace.


    "Black Magic technique¡ªcounter!"


    Fang Yuan revealed a slight smile.


    As a master of the Black Magic technique, how could he allow those Black Magic techniques to be effective?"


    The principle behind it was similar to the countering of techniques, but it was much more detailed and complicated. It would be impossible to be done if one wasn''t in the state of a master.


    "The so-called ''Black Magic technique,'' is actually a blood technique. In the end, they''re all methods that are similar to skills!" Fang Yuan exclaimed.


    In the aspect of spells, these Masters, of course, couldn''t be compared to the Spiritual Knights and Dream Masters from the Da Qian Empire.


    "Today, I''ll show all of you true Black Magic technique!"


    Fang Yuan waved his sword, causing seven illusionary colored flowers to instantly bloom in the air, bringing with it a fascinating aroma and beauty.


    "Black Magic technique¡ªDream Empty Flowers!"


    This was closer to an illusionary skill and was the combination of Dream Master skills and Black Magic techniques.


    Under the effect of the spell, everyone''s eyes, regardless of whether they were Masters, Demon Hunters, or even the Evil Demon Hunters, dimmed as they entered into a dreamland.


    Fang Yuan moved forward and killed all the Master Elders.


    Under the control of the spell, all of them extended their necks in preparation for the execution and didn''t resist at all; It was as easy as killing chickens.


    When Krist and Zweig snapped out of their stupor, what they saw was a violent scene.


    All of the Masters were lying in pools of blood as Fang Yuan stood up, leaning on his sword, like a god.


    "This is the power of our leader!"


    The Evil Demon Hunters cheered and bowed.


    Smack!


    At the side, a Demon Hunter couldn''t withstand the mighty pressure and kneeled down, showing his allegiance to Fang Yuan.


    "Sigh¡­"


    The old Demon Hunter sighed once and kneeled down as well.


    Looking at his expression, Krist understood everything.


    Even under the call of the Titled Demon Hunters, it was true that they would be able to go against the Evil Demon Hunter Association, but this would only waste the combat strength of humanity. In the end, they would most likely fail.


    Instead of that happening, they might as well start off on a new path, and they might really be able to be reborn.


    "Great!"


    Fang Yuan''s voice was clear. "From today onwards, the Demon Hunter Union will become history, and the Evil Demon Hunter Association will replace it! I want all of you to inform every Demon Hunter about this and build a headquarter amidst the southern resistance army¡­ At the point in time, I''ll pass down the method to become Biologically Modified Masters. I''ll also pass down this skill to the ordinary humans!"


    "Understood!"


    Krist shivered in his heart and silently said, "Do ordinary people also have to enter the battlefield?"


    Previously, Demon Hunters were in a half-hidden state and were secretly battling the Night Family Clans.


    And at this moment, Fang Yuan''s decision meant that both parties would be entering an entirely new stage and would be known to the common people.


    Krist didn''t know if this decision was good or bad, but he thought about the number of ordinary people and instantly felt that his scalp became numb.


    ¡­


    Months later, in a battlefield.


    Kaboom!


    A large explosion immediately buried half of a small town, many figures cried out as they were blown to pieces.


    Ping! Ping!


    Cannons constantly roared, and the entirety of the small town instantly transformed into flat land.


    "Evil Demon Hunters, go clean up the battlefield!"


    In the gunner position, Fang Yuan clapped his hands and allowed some Evil Demon Hunters, that were in a daze, to come forward to block and attack some Night Family Clans that had escaped. He had to say that this was an extremely relaxing job.


    "This is the power of technology!"


    Looking at this scene, he felt emotional.


    This gunner position was occupied by troops under the control of General Soro. The cannon barrel was so wide that a human can fit inside. When one of the cannons were fired, an area that spanned almost half the size of a soccer field would be razed to the ground.


    Even if it was a Voodoo Corpse, one of the Night Family Clans with the strongest life force, they would also struggle to survive before this firepower.


    "Haha¡­ How''s the power of the cannon?"


    General Soro walked over. He was big and sturdy. Although he was wearing an army uniform, the large number of scars, that he wore like medals, could be seen on him. He had the image of being a full "iron man."


    And Fang Yuan could see many of his characteristics.


    This general didn''t only have a stable and firm mind, but his physical fitness was also trained to the limits of the common people.


    "It''s really not bad. With their cooperation, I believe that we''ll definitely be able to grasp the upper hand in the following battles."


    Whilst smiling, he said, "I wonder how''s the take over of the Biologically Modified Masters?"


    "Not bad at all, our army has long known about the existence of the monsters of the dark. And we''ve even performed some research. We finally know about it, in detail, now¡­"


    A murderous intent flashed across General Soro''s eyes. "This world still belongs to us humans; existences that aren''t human should be eliminated¡­ I''ll undergo the profession change to an Evil Demon Hunter later."


    "A wise decision!"


    Fang Yuan nodded his head.


    It might be very difficult for the Night Family Clan to fight against the cannons, face to face, on the battlefield. However, sneak attacks and the replicas were common. In addition to the effects of the Evil Demon''s chaotic field, it was best to have troops consisting entirely of Evil Demon Hunters in order to guarantee that there was no loss.


    "Aside from that, I''ll also provide you with a batch of Alchemists. They''ll carve symbols onto the shells to increase the damaging effect of the cannons, and they''ll even restrict Evil Demons!" Fang Yuan added on.


    With an army comprising of Evil Demon Hunters, and the modern weapons produced by Alchemists, he couldn''t think of any possibilities where the Night Family Clans could rise up.


    "Thank you so much¡­ In actual fact, we''re already in contact with the northern people. There are also many people among them that are unsatisfied with the Master clan''s rule, and they have fervent hope that we''ll provide them with freedom. Hence, we''ve already prepared a plan to perform a counter attack."


    "You can all manage the combat strategies yourselves. Remember to inform me when you''re going to deal with Evil Demons!" Fang Yuan said with a smile.


    "I''m really grateful!"


    General Soro burst out laughing, however, his eyes were cold after he turned around.


    After getting the technology on Biologically Modified Masters and the Evil Demon Hunters, they could totally eliminate large quantites of Night Family Clans, even if they were normal forces. Humanities bright future could already be anticipated.


    But there were also Evil Demons!


    Even with this high level fighting force, it was difficult for them to match up against them once the Evil Demons reveal their elite combat skills. Hence, they needed the power of the association.


    Both parties took what they want and benefitted; this was the foundation for maintaining their relationship.


    However, how long could this type of foundation last?


    "We still need some time¡­ allow the Evil Demon Hunters that we personally own and nurture to becoming strong¡­ They don''t have to be very powerful. As long as they can get along with the troops and kill Evil Demons, it''ll be enough," Soro mumbled to himself as he saw Fang Yuan left.


    Fang Yuan smiled as he bid farewell. However, after he was back on the horse carriage, he immediately instructed the subordinate beside him, "Make the people on the ground keep a close eye on Soro."


    He had a deep understanding of the evil root qualities of human beings, long ago.


    However, it was unfortunate that the other party''s plans of attempting to take control was fated to never be realized.


    After eliminating the Evil Demons, he would discover that even the Evil Demon Hunters that he himself nurtured and relied on, couldn''t be used as his foundation.


    "Low rank techniques are spread out, but the core techniques will still be kept a secret; does he take me for a fool?"


    Fang Yuan revealed a cold smile. "And those Evil Demons¡­ After constantly taking multiple blows, they probably wouldn''t be able to sit still, right?"

 638 Steal

    Golden Lake Reservoir.


    This was located in March¡ªthe central area of the Lowton defense line. It was surrounded by broad plains.


    Due to its location, it had become a large battlefield for the northern and southern armies.


    At the moment, numerous tanks and land infantry were occupying the space. Both armies deployed large quantities of soldiers, and without calculating any of their losses or manpower, they conquered strongholds and upland areas, one by one. In the trenches, shot marks intersected, and corpses were scattered everywhere as if it was a huge meat grinder.


    "As expected¡­ war is the art of extermination that humans are best at!"


    Among the northern troops, where the Masters were in control, Urias wore wealthy clothes and wore a white wig made from sheep''s wool. He looked at the scene and couldn''t help but convey that.


    Even if Evil Demons performed blood offerings every day, it was, at most, a small town consisting of only a few thousand.


    However, in these kinds of battles, hundreds of thousands and even more humans were easily killed and attacked. It was basically the most powerful blood and flesh millstone.


    "If I was the commander, I would''ve given up the unified plan long ago and allowed the Evil Demons everywhere to fight in order to decrease the number of humans¡­"


    Urias sighed silently in his heart when he saw what happened.


    Unfortunately, he was still born as a Demon Hunter. Even when he became an Evil Demon, he couldn''t gain much trust and, needless to say, the rights to lead.


    Moreover, after his revenge, he had also gone into a strange state of emptiness.


    Recently, he often thought about what the differences were between the humans controlling the mainland, and the time of the Dark Empire.


    If Fang Yuan was present, he would be able to sensitively discover that Urias''s hate was only directed at the Sacred Weapon holders and Demon Hunter Union.


    At the moment, he had achieved his great revenge and had immediately lost his goals. He had even begun to sympathize with the humans.


    If it wasn''t for the one thing that he had yet to complete, he might''ve already chosen to flee.


    "Sir!"


    Accompanied by the deafening sounds of gunfire, a stray bullet landed near the campsite, causing the tents used by the troops to be covered in an additional layer of mud.


    A Master rushed over. "The enemy''s strategy is very vicious. Our northern allied forces cannot hold on for much longer; Sirs, please allow us to strike immediately!"


    "I understand!"


    Urias couldn''t help but sigh once.


    Based on the arrangements of the Evil Demons, and the means of the Masters, dark power had easily controlled a few northern kingdoms and the rights to govern for large quantities of lands. They had occupied half of the mainland.


    Even though the Demon Hunter Union was destroyed, in March¡ªat the Lowton defense line, they were met with stubborn resistance.


    This wasn''t only because of the consensuses among the southern countries, but it was also because of the northern countries being weak, internally.


    Ordinary people might not care who was governing them, but they would definitely care about dangers to their lives!


    After the announcement from all the southern countries, everyone in the mainland knew about the matters of the Night Family Clans at the moment, and they even knew that they ate humans as a food source!


    Although the Masters were much more suitable for governing a country, this was only on the surface.


    Internally, they were similarly influenced by chaotic will and would occasionally become insane¡ªrelying on people like this to properly govern such a huge country was no different from daydreaming.


    After the southern side resisted firmly, this sort of influence instantly exploded, causing the northern troops to be left with little fighting spirit¡ªfighting for themselves and fighting for man-eating monsters, were two completely different experiences.


    "Let''s go!"


    Urias looked at the sky; the sun was setting, the orange-red sky looked like blood. "Tonight¡­ is good weather for killing humans."


    ¡­


    "Nighttime is arriving soon; darkness is the best cover for Evil Demons'' movements.


    Within the southern camp, Fang Yuan looked at the sky, and his expression was similarly grave. "Allow every general to enter the refugee room, separately. Control the troops through the telegram and allow the Evil Demon Hunters to take over the core defense."


    This time, it was the military campaign that would decide on the luck of the south and north. He had a prediction that the heavily injured "Chaos" and "Evil" Evil Demons would come out of their nests.


    "Even so, they''re only here in search of death!"


    Fang Yuan smiled coldly, silently anticipating.


    "We''re entrusting everything to you guys."


    General Soro bowed low and left quickly, following an Evil Demon Hunter.


    Even though he had already changed his profession, at the moment, he was still unable to withstand a single blow in front of an Evil Demon.


    "Without the Mother of Reproduction, the reproduction speed of the Night Family Clans becomes a problem. After tonight, I''m afraid that they''ll decline and fall¡­"


    Fang Yuan''s face remained emotionless. Suddenly, he touched his shoulder.


    As if a curtain was removed, a black gun muzzle appeared.


    Using Ternetheo''s skin to wrap the gun, Monster Sob, and bring it along truly was an excellent concealment method.


    Last time, the unlucky Elder Master, Old Santos, was ensnared by this method.


    Tonight, who knew how many Evil Demons would die?


    Fang Yuan stood at the highland of the campsite, looked into the distance towards the barracks in the dark forest and laughed coldly.


    ¡­


    This time, the moment that the Evil Demons decided was beyond the expectations of the Evil Demon Hunters.


    They didn''t initiate their surprise attack during midnight¡ªwhen it was the darkest. Instead, they chose the darkness just before dawn.


    Whoosh!


    A ball of flames exploded in the campsite, and it was followed by the cries of soldiers. "Evil Demons!!!"


    A large metal door appeared, and group by group, Night Family Clan members gushed out from the door. Immediately, there were many tall demon figures visible.


    "Keke¡­ Why are the Evil Demons'' brains so deadpan? No creativity whatsoever!"


    Fang Yuan immediately shook his head after seeing what happened. However, he also knew that the plan didn''t have to be very precise. It was enough as long as it was practical.


    Witnessing this scene, the way that the Evil Demons seized every opportunity was a little useful. At least there was a planted agent found in the northern campsite.


    "Pass the order down! Evil Demon Hunters move out!"


    He thought indifferently and passed down the command.


    Many Night Family Clan members shouted wildly, charging into each tent, their eyes were filled with a thirst for blood.


    However, they were fated to hit a dead end.


    "Attack!"


    A vampire, which pounced into the tent, was promptly thrown out in pieces. The leader was, surprisingly, an Evil Demon Hunter with large wings and the sharp claws of an Evil Demon. "Leader instructed us to leave none of them alive!"


    Roar! Roar!


    Similar looking brilliant arrays shone. Countless figures of Evil Demon Hunters appeared, their gathering almost formed an ocean.


    "Impossible!"


    In the center of the Evil Demon summoning door, Cosmo and Zoro roared in disbelief as they saw the scene unfold.


    What did they see?


    Thousands upon thousands of Evil Demon Hunters that formed an army and began to besiege the Night Family Clans?


    "30 thousand? Even the Demon hunter Headquarters weren''t able to assemble so many elites before!"


    Zoro bellowed.


    Unfortunately, he forgot about something. The growth of humans changed rapidly. At this moment, after Fang Yuan obtained external techniques, he was able to transform soldiers into Evil Demon Hunters through a factory line system.


    And what he came up with was a large sensation.


    "Not¡­ not right, these Evil Demon Hunters are too weak¡­ at most, they''re equivalent to what used to be B and A grade Demon Hunters!"


    Cosmo realized what was wrong. "Don''t be bothered by them. Let''s go and kill the leader of the Evil Demon Hunter Association!"


    The Evil Demons roared. The fields of chaos and evil shone; the ordinary Evil Demon Hunters were unable to come close to them, and they were killed by them, all the way from the heart of the campsite.


    "Cosmo and Zoro!"


    A few Evil Demon Hunters stood there; the one that was silently looking at them was a bright and capable youth, their leader. "''Chaos'' and ''Evil,'' will still return to the void in the end!"


    "Even former Sacred Weapon holders didn''t dare to say such words to us¡­"


    The chaotic field on Cosmo''s body expanded. "All of you are de¡­"


    Bang!


    A gunshot sounded as though it was a blow from the grim reaper.


    This "Chaos" Evil Demon looked at the sudden hole in its chest and looked at the gun barrel that was suddenly in Fang Yuan''s hands, its face twisted. "It''s you again!!!"


    The poisonous hatred within the demon couldn''t be cleansed¡ªnot even with lakes or the seas.


    !@#", the feeling of shooting in secret is awesome!"


    Fang Yuan put away Monster Sob and also realized that, by making use of the special properties of Ternetheo''s skin to hide Monster Sob, it was almost one conceal and one accurate.


    As he smiled at the enraged Cosmo, he took out a crossbow as if he had changed his strategy.


    "Demon Hunter Crossbow?"


    Cosmo, who was seriously injured, shrieked as if it was a girl that was sexually abused. It then immediately transformed into a ball of smoke and disappeared.


    "Kill off all the Evil Demons, leave none behind!"


    Fang Yuan emotionlessly gave out orders. His left hand held onto the crossbow while his right held his sword, and he was able to charge into the group of Evil Demon in a short time. "Morning Stars Swordsmanship¡ªShooting Star!"


    Zap!


    In the night, groups of stars shone in the night sky, and a ray of light, with its great power, instantly pierced an Evil Demon''s chest.


    It didn''t have any time to escape or even curse, and it was turned to ashes within the flames.


    "Undefeatable!" "Undefeatable!"


    The morale of the Evil Demon Hunters was boosted greatly¡ªespecially Krist and a few other old former Titled Demon Hunters. Their bodies immediately began to demonize and leaped forward to kill.


    To them, they had to get back at the Evil Demons for insulting them back on Sacred Mountain!


    At the moment, Fang Yuan revealed his power that was enough to kill off two Evil Demon Kings. What would they be afraid of?


    ¡­


    "Really¡­ unexpected? Hulk¡­ I didn''t think that you''d give me so many surprises¡­"


    Outside the campsite, Urias looked at the scene from afar but didn''t make a move. Instead, he blended into the rear.


    "The Night Family Clans definitely aren''t a match for the humans in the aspect of reproduction, especially now that the Evil Demon Hunters are everywhere¡­


    "Even if we were able to inflict heavy losses to the allied troops and even rebuild the Dark Empire, it would also be overthrown¡­


    "Hence, the true route for the Evil Demons is still to free the mother of all Evil Demons¡­ Today, I''m also an Evil Demon!


    "However¡­ after this matter, no matter who it is¡ªEvil Demon or humans¡ªI''ll no longer owe them anything."


    ¡­


    In the rear end of the campsite, Fang Yuan''s room.


    Mary was acting like a thief, sneakily entering and ransacking the whole place.


    Suddenly, she found a metal box. After opening it, she saw two pieces of paper made from goat-skin and couldn''t help but cheerfully say, "It''s here!"

 639 Victory

    "Urias, my love!"


    Tightly holding onto two parchment pages, the teenage girl, Maria, went to the place that the two of them had agreed on, with her face flushed red and yearning for love.


    Immediately, she saw Urias who was already waiting there.


    Urias still looked the same as before when they first met. His warm and handsome looks completely resonated with the image of Prince Charming in her heart.


    "Maria, my moon and the stars."


    Urias turned his body around and revealed a bright smile.


    "This is what you wanted, two pages of Hulk''s parchment!"


    Maria cheerfully raised her hand. "I simply looked around without too much effort and managed to find it to pass on to you!"


    "Thank you very much¡­"


    Urias sank into silence. Apparently, even he didn''t expect that things would go so smoothly. "There won''t be any trouble or repercussions in the future from what you''ve done, right?"


    "Don''t worry, my father is Hulk''s benefactor. Even though he''s become the association''s leader now, it''ll be the same¡­" Maria proudly raised her chin. "Not to mention¡­ I played and grew up with him since a young age¡ªhis things are also my things!"


    In reality, there was a sense of satisfaction that was derived from revenge in the teenage girl''s heart at that moment.


    After numerous instances of flirting and attempting to court him, Hulk still remained indifferent and did nothing. This, to her, was really humiliating!


    Therefore, upon hearing Urias''s request, she didn''t hesitate to agree to it.


    Needless to say, female biological creatures, who have fallen into the clutches of passionate and frenzied emotions, practically wouldn''t even consider the consequences.


    "Since that''s the case¡­"


    After confirming the authenticity of the Dead Sea Ancient Scroll, the sides of Urias'' mouth grew into a subtle arc. He tossed out a bag of gems, saying, "Take it, this is your reward!"


    "Reward?"


    Maria opened up the bag and saw different types of shiny stones inside. She was partially dazzled, but immediately felt extremely uneasy. "I''ll accept these as your gift to me, thank you."


    "Then¡­ Goodbye."


    Urias waved his hand.


    "Wait up!"


    After seeing him wave his hand, the uneasiness in Maria''s heart intensified. "Didn''t you say¡­ you were going to take me away? Together, we''ll leave this hellish mainland and find a place where nobody recognizes me, to bear a child together¡­"


    "I say¡­ Little girl, haven''t you realized it by now?"


    Urias embraced her with both hands. "Then, I''m sorry to say this to you again¡ªYou''ve been fooled! If there really were a Prince Charming in this world, the probability that you would encounter him is less than getting struck by a meteor. Do you understand now?"


    "No¡­.You cannot do this!"


    Maria''s tears flowed out rapidly as she released the grip in her hands. The bag of gems immediately plummeted to the ground.


    She felt a bitter and cold feeling in her heart, as though her heart had sunk. A deep sense of fear immediately emerged in her heart after the promise that she would escape to a faraway place vanished into thin air. She''s provoked and caused trouble in the Evil Demon Hunter Association, and there wasn''t a place left on the mainland that she could reside in. How can this small bag of gems be enough to compensate her for this?


    "Urias, you promised me before."


    The teenage girl''s tears flowed down like broken pearls while clutching at the last few bales of straw.


    "Since you haven''t lost hope yet¡­.."


    Urias let out a sigh, and within the strong plumes of green fire, he instantly transformed into the form of an Evil Demon. "How about this? Are you willing to accompany me to hell?"


    "Ah!"


    Looking at the majestic shadow of the demon, the burning wings, and the black horns that resemble that of a mountain goat, within the flames, the once handsome complexion turned into a ferocious one. This immediately dashed Maria''s originally lovely fantasies as she limped and fell to the ground.


    "What is it?"


    Urias deliberately went closer, allowing Maria to have a better view. "Didn''t you say that ''love can transcend anything''?"


    "No¡­.Evil Demon, go away¡­."


    Maria let out a shrill scream. "I want my mother! Father¡­.Come save me quickly!"


    "What a pity!"


    Urias let out a sigh and didn''t attack her. He immediately flapped his wings and disappeared into the horizon.


    ¡­


    "Oh?"


    Inside the army camp, Fang Yuan looked at one of the techniques in his hands, and let out a satisfied smile. "The Dead Sea Ancient Scroll has been stolen? Good!"


    If it wasn''t for the fact that he had intentionally let the Evil Demons succeed, he would''ve carried the Dead Sea Ancient Scroll with him everywhere he went, as it cannot be lost.


    "I just don''t know who was the one who betrayed me. The Evil Demons'' abilities when it comes to controlling the minds of people are still remarkably proficient."


    He vigorously waved his Starry Night sword and chopped off the head of an Evil Demon.


    Scanning the entire battlefield, he saw Evil Demon Hunters mercilessly slaughtering normal members of the Night Family Clan. There was even one present when they surrounded the metallic summoning door, leaving only the Evil Demons struggling at the brink of death.


    "Die!"


    He saw an opportunity as the demon cries seemingly appeared out of thin air. Evil Demon Sauron immediately sensed a great impending danger and turned its head.


    Thump!


    After the sound of a gunshot rang out, a large wound immediately appeared in its shoulder.


    In that instance, a silver arrow streak instantly flew by like an ember flint and entered a nearby void space in the sky.


    An Evil Demon appeared while covering its chest in the spot where its heart was, and shockingly enough, a small silver arrow was embedded in it.


    "Demon Hunter¡­..you¡­."


    The tall Chaos Evil Demon Cosmo was extremely astonished. "How did you manage to find me?"


    "Dead people don''t need to know so much!"


    A Demon Hunter Crossbow is able to kill a Sacred Weapon holder, and it can naturally inflict a horrifyingly large amount of damage to Evil Demons.


    Not to mention the fact that this "Chaos" Evil Demon was fatally injured a long time ago, and even his endowment of three lives was completely eradicated.


    Fang Yuan rapidly advanced forward, and his sword seemingly reflecting a starry sky. "Morning Star Swordsmanship¡ªStarry Sky Realm!"


    The shining stars flickered brightly while thousands of sword essences burst forth like meteor streaks. These streaks repelled Evil Demons like Sauron while the one in the center penetrated Sauron''s forehead.


    Bang!


    In the midst of the loud but muffled noise, blood and flesh splattered everywhere.


    With a single sword, the Evil Demon King¡ªChaos Cosmo¡ªwas defeated!


    "Retreat!"


    Witnessing this scene, all the remaining Evil Demons trembled with fear.


    In the original Evil Demon Trio, only the Evil Demon Sauron was left alive. Sauron immediately let out a large scream.


    Suddenly, some of the Evil Demons flapped their wings open, while others released fumes of black fog. All of them chose to retreat and escape.


    Regarding all the Night Family Clan members, they all naturally became abandoned cannon fodder.


    "Leader!"


    Krist and a few of the other Evil Demon Hunters walked over, and they were already expressing their gratitude and courtesy towards Fang Yuan. "After this war, without a doubt, us demon hunters would be able to restore our former honor and glory!"


    "Restore our glory? All of you are really too conservative!"


    Fang Yuan laughed out loud, "We need to summon our courage and completely eradicate this cancerous gathering of Evil Demons and completely eliminate the Night Family Clan. Of course¡­ and those Master clansmen!"


    "Very wise, leader!"


    Although some of the Evil Demon Hunters felt that it was an extremely difficult task to do what he had just mentioned, most of the others were basking in the glow of victory, and they were cheering loudly.


    "Since the Evil Demons have already been eradicated¡­"


    Fang Yuan didn''t miss any opportunities to engage in war, and he immediately commanded them, "Tell all the generals to launch a full-scale attack! Now that the enemies are terrified of us, we''ll definitely achieve a great victory."


    "Yes, my lord!"


    Not a single Evil Demon Hunter had any objection to this point.


    The only unfortunate thing was that they didn''t know that the Dead Sea Ancient Scroll was stolen behind the scenes.


    Once the Mother of Reproduction is summoned by the Evil Demons, this world would plummet into a deep abyss.


    ¡­


    First year of the Evil Demon Hunter era.


    With the help of the Evil Demon Hunters, General Soro obtained a huge victory in the battle of Jinhu Reservoir. He defeated the Northern coalition army, mainly comprising of Kunsha, Gamma and Kris. There were over 100,000 captives, and they also obtained countless military equipment.


    Once the news was released, it created a worldwide sensation.


    The countries which were still revolting in the South would definitely rejoice, but the Master clans in the North remained silent.


    Not only that, the instability and insecurity brought about by the war will cause a lot of commotion and uprises in different areas, causing the Masters to be exhausted and overwhelmed with work.


    Taking advantage of this opportunity, the Southern Allied forces crossed into March¡ªLowton defense¡ªand employed every army force, completely destroying the enemy. The resistance they experienced during this siege was unbelievably weak.


    Only the Masters remained in this scenario, whilst the Evil Demons chose to retreat. They basically didn''t have much power to resist, and they were easily crushed by the Evil Demon Hunters.


    Until the second year of the Evil Demon Hunter era, the entire Alka continent was completely suppressed. The Masters in the 13 clans were fundamentally eliminated, and the Evil Demons retreated into the shadows once more while they quietly tended to their wounds.


    However, more information accumulated into Fang Yuan''s hands. This allowed him to discover that the Evil Demons were merely busy with something else.


    "Found traces of Evil Demon activity at Demon Gorge. One small team of Evil Demon Hunters were completely annihilated. We need more manpower to assist us!"


    At this moment, his face darkened and became more serious after reading this information.


    It was very apparent that the Evil Demons had long discarded their delusion of conquering the mainland. Instead, they''re now directing all their energy into lifting the seal on the Mother of Reproduction.


    Therefore, they had completely given up on human cities, but instead, they''re residing and appearing in various places of interest, just like an explorer.


    "Let me go, Hulk!"


    Uncle Jock suddenly stood up with a firm determined look on his face.


    This old Demon Hunter was previously well-trained by Fang Yuan, who had given him preferential treatment and many resources to work with. Under his tutelage, he successfully achieved another breakthrough and advanced into the realm of possessing a domain.


    However, his face didn''t have any traces of happiness; instead, it only showed calm hatred.


    "Okay¡­"


    Fang Yuan sighed, and he randomly wrote a few words on the official document. "Is Maria still doing fine?"


    Ever since the previous incident where the Dead Sea Ancient Scroll was stolen, Maria became mentally unstable after suffering from a tremendous emotional blow. Currently, she was still undergoing treatment in a mental institute.


    After all, an ordinary person would go insane when they encounter an Evil Demon. This is inevitable, especially if the person has experienced a major blow to their emotional state.


    "Just like the old times¡­."


    Jock sighed, and bowed. "Maria made a huge mistake. I''m very grateful for the fact that you didn''t punish her. However, I must bear the responsibility of this crime! I''ll kill that Evil Demon with my own hands, and I''ll find the Dead Sea Ancient Scroll to redeem myself!"


    "Alright!"


    Fang Yuan crossed his fingers and said, "However, you must care for your own safety as well. I''ll assign two partners, Almon and Peter, to go with you! They''ll help you a lot if you bring them along."


    Being the first ever Evil Demon Hunter, Almon''s skills naturally weren''t inferior to the others. She had successfully ascended into a new domain.


    In addition, her identity would be useful when dealing with Urias.


    "Urias¡­ is also a very melancholic person."


    Fang Yuan at this moment was extremely well-versed with the full secret history of the Demon Hunters. "Perhaps¡­ this is exactly what he wanted¡ªto die on the hands of his own descendants¡­"

 640 Collection

    Demon Gorge.


    Urias and Sauron walked together, side-by-side.


    In this age, when the Night Family Clan is withering, day by day, and there''s the occasional news of Evil Demons being killed, they''re the only few surviving Evil Demons.


    "Those humans¡­"


    Sauron''s voice was vicious and was accompanied by a slight hint of fear.


    Even Sauron couldn''t imagine that the humans, who were originally their source of food, were so frightening once they unleashed their potential.


    Even though an ordinary Evil Demon Hunter definitely wasn''t considered a worthy opponent against it, the people that Sauron is currently dealing with are no longer considered ordinary people. They''re able to develop immunity against "chaos" and the influence of the "evil" domain, and they can operate different kinds of powerful weaponry.


    On top of that, if you add on a hundred Elite Evil Demon Hunters, then even an Evil Demon will run away at first sight.


    Even though it''s an Evil Demon King, it''ll be injured when blown up by a grenade inscribed with alchemy runes on it.


    Simply using this and an unbelievable cardinal number, the humans were suddenly able to catch up. They pushed the demons to their limits, even if they had to suffer short-term setbacks.


    Other than hiding in the darkness for eternity like rats, scurrying away at the slightest disturbance, the only other option that was left for them was this¡ªRelease the seal on the Mother of Reproduction!


    At this moment, in the depths of the gorge, Urias detonated a piece of rock and suddenly saw a passageway paved with mithril. On both sides stood statues of human guards, raising their swords and facing forward.


    "Found it, the mithril passageway. The final page of the Dead Sea Ancient Scroll is just inside."


    Urias nodded his head. "This seal was personally constructed by Dante, especially to restrain Evil Demons. Even we will experience great difficulty breaking through it immediately¡­."


    In reality, if it wasn''t for them obtaining all the other clues for the remaining pages from the front page, the Evil Demons wouldn''t have been able to gather all the pages of the Dead Sea Ancient Scroll so quickly.


    "Isn''t this just a bit of mithril!"


    Sauron strutted forward one step, landing onto the shiny silvery passageway.


    Whoosh!


    Huge fumes of white smoke immediately erupted from the bottom of his foot, as though he was scorched. He inadvertently let out a loud scream. "This is¡­. higher purity silver? Dante¡­ I curse you!"


    Crack! Crack!


    On both sides, a loud sound erupted from the statues of the two sword-wielding human guards, and layers of dust were shaken off their bodies. Red light emitted from their eyes as they started to move.


    Roar! Roar!


    Originally being statues, their movements immediately became extremely aggressive after gaining a life of their own.


    Even their strength and speed weren''t within the range of an ordinary Demon Hunter.


    "Damn it! This decoration¡­"


    Urias instantly transformed into the form of an Evil Demon, releasing fumes of green flames.


    "Dante, you can''t stop me¡­ You betrayed Mother, but as her most loyal offspring of darkness, I''ll unseal her and release darkness to the entire world. I''m the nefarious Evil Demon Sauron, and this is my purpose in life!"


    The Evil Demons who were surrounded and attacked, let out a roar. Ignoring the countless sword wounds on their bodies as they finally battered the guardian swordsmen into pieces after a bout of frenzied combat.


    "Yes!"


    Not long afterward, from the depths of the passageway, came Sauron''s frenzied laughter. "Finally¡­ The page from the Dead Sea Ancient Scroll¡­..Mother can return quickly!"


    "I feel that it''s better if we leave immediately."


    Urias, on the other hand, was stiff from head to toe. He suddenly felt that there was some kind of danger around. "We''ve wasted too much time here¡­ The Evil Demon Hunters could appear at any moment!"


    "You''re right!"


    A low voice suddenly rang out from behind them, and the head of a golden-haired werewolf was tossed out. "It appears that the dog you own doesn''t have the ability to guard the door well!"


    Jock held onto a heavy saber and walked out with huge steps while he looked at Urias with a look of hatred. "I thank Lady Luck for blessing me¡­ allowing me to find you¡ªUrias! Did you know that I''ve always been praying for you to not die at the hands of another hunter? That''s because I must kill you personally!"


    "Maria''s father?"


    Urias laughed indifferently. However, his face finally changed when he saw Almon walk out.


    "Sauron, let''s go!" He urged, once again igniting bouts of aquamarine flame.


    "Tiger!" Jock roared, and he viciously slashed downward with his large saber as the shape of a large dark tiger seemed to appear in their surroundings.


    Thump!


    Gravel spewed everywhere.


    A large hole erupted from the mountain''s core on one side of Demon Gorge, and the shadows of an Evil Demon Hunter and an Evil Demon appeared.


    "Damn it¡­.It''s just two titled. If I was in a flourishing and powerful state¡­"


    Sauron roared loudly as dark red light shimmered on his entire body.


    "This isn''t good!"


    Urias looked at the sky, and the color on his face changed. He knew the reason why Jock would expose them all to the sky.


    Anytime an Evil Demon is encountered, the first step would be to summon a pile of alchemically refined shells onto the ground. The next step would be to use an Evil Demon Hunter, designated "Area Being," as the core and launch an all-out attack with countless people and horses. This was already considered to be the established protocol.


    "Evil Demon!"


    Almon also transformed into the form of a Half-Evil Demon, and her body lit up with aquamarine flames. "The animosity I have against you for that year at Bay of Pig''s harbor¡­ You must pay!"


    Although she''s come across Urias in human form, it was the first time she saw an evil demon form such as this.


    She felt that the flames on his body resembled hers greatly and had a profound feeling.


    "Is that so? It''s a little cute¡­"


    Urias laughed, "Sauron, you go ahead first. I want to play with her!"


    "¡­"


    Sauron didn''t say much. He knew that, at this moment, collecting the complete Dead Sea Ancient Scroll was the most important task, so he immediately opened up his wings and flew into the sky.


    If it had been "Chaos" Evil Demon Cosmo, it would''ve run forward to attack and kill on impulsive. However, Sauron specialized in the evil domain, and it wouldn''t attack without prior consideration.


    "Don''t even think about¡­." Jock shouted loudly, and he similarly grew a pair of Evil Demon wings.


    Kaboom!


    Immediately, half of his body was struck by a green fireball.


    "I''m your opponent!"


    Urias laughed out loud and instantly looked up at the sky. "Tonight''s starry sky is really brilliant¡­ Exactly like that night¡­."


    "You''re courting death!"


    When Jock saw this scene, a cold gleam shone from his eyes, and he immediately sent a signal to the walkie talkie on his neck.


    "Black Magic technique¡­..Seal!"


    Strands after strands of tentacles, originating from Peter''s right arm, joined together with the two Evil Demon Hunters to form an unusual cage, trapping Urias in his original position.


    The Evil Demon Hunters possessed blood from the Night Family Clan and could naturally employ their Black Magic technique!


    In addition, the Evil Demon Hunters obtained the inheritance and treasures from many of the eradicated Master clans and significantly improved the strength of their spells.


    Even though an Evil Demon only requires a moment before it could struggle out of the cage, this brief moment was already enough.


    Swoosh!


    In the next moment, many cartridges with long, fiery trails flew straight ahead and struck Urias.


    Kaboom!


    Debris flew everywhere, and bulbous smoke billowed out.


    In the midst of the huge explosion, the original terrain was instantly flattened, and a large crater appeared.


    The grenade''s strength wasn''t threatening to the Demon Hunters at all.


    Jock immediately brought along a large group of helpers who hurried over and entered the core of the crater while braving the heatwave.


    There, there was an embarrassing sight of an Evil Demon with its entire body engulfed in aquamarine flames.


    Not only did it break an arm and a wing, but the horns on its head were extremely damaged.


    "Human artillery, coupled with alchemically refined bombs? That''s really interesting¡­ Too bad¡­ This, at most, only harms me, but it cannot harm the Mother of Reproduction!"


    Urias shook its head and sighed.


    "All of you really are ready to summon the Mother of Reproduction!"


    The corner of Jock''s eye twitched. "Kill him and immediately relay this news to the association head!"


    "Those that are bustling¡­ will inevitably become quiet¡­ Those that have risen, will also inevitably plunge¡­"


    Urias recited and sang a poem, and with a flick of its remaining hand, it instantly acquired a large sword that was engulfed with aquamarine flames.


    "Tiger!"


    Jock roared and ran forward first, while Almon and Peter followed closely behind.


    At the side, a huge number of Evil Demon Hunters prepared Black Magic techniques and other refined weaponry and magical equipment for assistance.


    A fierce battle could happen at any moment.


    Poof!


    Blood spewed everywhere.


    A flaming sword passed through and cut an Evil Demon Hunter into two, while Urias''s body also suffered an impact and received an additional deep wound that exposed the bone.


    "Haha¡­ Tonight''s starry night is really brilliant!"


    It laughed loudly while magma-like blood spewed from his wound, and it suddenly charged towards Almon.


    "Don''t you dare!"


    Jock was also injured everywhere and was half-squatting on the ground. At this moment, he summoned his courage, and together with Peter, they tried to block Urias.


    Thump!


    The flaming sword and saber struck each other again, releasing large amounts of fire. Both of them were rapidly knocked away, while the Evil Demon''s speed didn''t diminish.


    "Evil Demon¡­ Die!"


    Almon quickly retreated while looking at Urias who was approaching her, brandishing its sword.


    Poof!


    Unexpectedly, the Evil Demon actually adopted a posture of embracing her and proactively gave up its resistance, completely allowing the thin sword to penetrate its heart.


    "You¡­"


    Almon''s hands shivered a little.


    Immediately, she saw the Evil Demon in front of her remove its transformation and shrink back into the form of an ordinary human being.


    Those purple eyelids finally matched up with those in her memory.


    Not understanding why, her tears quickly fell. "It''s you!"


    "Your eyes¡­"


    Urias coughed out blood and gently caressed Almon''s cheeks with a smile on his face. "You''re¡­..really similar to her!"


    Kaboom!


    In the next moment, it vanished into ashes within the strong flames.


    Only pure aquamarine flames entered Almon''s body.


    Crack!


    Almon was affected by it and suddenly realized that the thin sword in her hand already transformed into a large flaming sword.


    "It¡­ gave me its powers?!"


    Almon kept muttering to herself and became silent. "It¡­ was my ancestor¡­"


    "Sister!"


    Peter walked over and looked worriedly at Almon.


    "I''m okay¡­"


    Almon gave a bitter laugh.


    She currently felt very confused and immediately encouraged herself by muttering to herself, "All of this is the Evil Demon''s fault! What I''ve done is correct; the Evil Demons need to be completely eradicated!"


    Yet, despite this, her tears repeatedly fell like broken pearls.


    Evil Demon Hunter Headquarters.


    In front of Sacred Coffin, Fang Yuan suddenly had some sort of emotional outbreak, and he inadvertently revealed a small smile. "Have you finished collecting it? The Dead Sea Ancient Scroll¡­ Evil Demons, don''t disappoint me!"


    He was greatly interested in the existence of the Mother of Reproduction, which he suspected to be the source of influence, and felt reinvigorated at this moment.

 641 Sage

    "Finally¡­ beginning?"


    Fang Yuan was armed to the teeth as he walked over to the middle of a wave of Evil Demon Hunters with his Starry Night sword and Monster Sob.


    "Leader, Sir!"


    All Evil Demon Hunters, even those at the level of a Power Obtainer, bowed to show their respect.


    "This time¡­ We''ll completely eradicate the Evil Demons!"


    He clapped his hands and two hunters brought over a Master.


    "I say¡­ all of you have promised to pardon me if I tell you everything¡­"


    This Master was a young man with golden hair. He was trembling now, as if he was a quail.


    "The master of the 13 clan''s only has descendants like this? How sad!"


    Fang Yuan waved his hands. "Tell us the last stronghold of the Evil Demons. In my name, Hulk, I''ll pardon you."


    "I''ll speak! I''ll tell you everything!"


    The young man quickly revealed everything. "The last stronghold of the Evil Demons is an old nest within the Black Goat Forest in the Bourbon Kingdom. It''s also rumored to be the birthland of the Evil Demons. Moreover¡­ moreover¡­ they seemed to be secretly organizing something, even our own clans became blood sacrifices!"


    "Very good!" Fang Yuan walked out the main door and boarded the airship.


    Many Demon Hunters walked in systematically and silently.


    "Bourbon Kingdom isn''t far from here, so we''ll be able to rush over within half a day¡­"


    A few people around Fang Yuan acted like secretaries and constantly reported to him. "However¡­ the support we receive from troops is decreasing¡­ They fear us. Maybe, after the disaster this time, the camp will be a divided."


    "That''s normal!"


    Fang Yuan led them.


    Having ambitious people among the humans was very normal. Needless to say, even the resistance army from before was organized by a group of kingdoms and generals that also had their own demands to seek.


    After toppling the Evil Demons, they would immediately go their own separate ways.


    "Even more so¡­ It''s also possible that we''re held back now¡­"


    Fang Yuan laughed coldly in his heart. He was already mentally prepared for everything, "However, for the Evil Demons¡­ They are in a way gambling everything?"


    ¡­


    Black Goat Forest.


    Within the Bourbon Kingdom, the forest occupied a huge area. It mainly consisted of a variant of black pine trees, and it looked very dark and terrifying. It often had rumors about monsters coming out.


    Of course, the former Demon Hunter Headquarters had sent out Demon Hunters to investigate. However, nothing was found in the end, hence, it was judged to be false rumors.


    And only now, was Fang Yuan clear that the Evil Demons had purposely allowed the few investigating Demon Hunters out in order to hide their nest right under the Demon Hunters'' eyes.


    Currently, within the Black Goat Forest, the night breeze whistled, and the pale white spiritual body and random green will-o''-the-wisps danced around, pursuing one another among the gloomy forest and playing up the horrifying atmosphere of the forest.


    A large enchantment boundary rose up and transformed into dense fog, enveloping the entire area.


    Inside the enchantment was a large slaughterhouse, countless human corpses were stacked together; there were easily thousands of corpses, forming a pyramid.


    There were even Evil Demon Hunters and Night Family Clans inside.


    Large quantities of blood seeped out, gathering to form tiny streams. The streams combined to form a large pool of blood.


    Inside the blood pool were Evil Demon corpses!


    The concentrated power of death, as well as the presence of evil, almost caused the Evil Demon Hunters to immediately breakdown.


    When Fang Yuan rushed over with a group of Elite Evil Demon Hunter, this was what they saw.


    "The Evil Demons are killing each other¡­ and even destroying?"


    Many Evil Demon Hunters looked at the pyramid of corpses. First, they felt as though they were suffocating and dizzy, but at the same time, they also felt shocked and enraged.


    And promptly, after seeing the other Night Family Clans, they became shocked.


    At the center of the pool of blood, they saw a dark sacrificial altar made from the bodies of Evil Demons, and they were filled with shock and fear.


    "We cannot let them finish¡­. this ancient blood sacrificial ritual¡­ They''re summoning¡­ Mother of Reproduction!" An old Evil Demon Hunter immediately exclaimed.


    On top of the Evil Demon sacrificial altar, a large pile of Dead Sea Ancient Scroll pages was scattered around. They shone with symbols and splendor that combined as though they were rays of enchantments.


    Zoro stood on top of the sacrificial altar, quietly observing the approaching people.


    "Evil Demon¡­ go to hell!"


    There were already Evil Demon Hunters that couldn''t hold it in and shouted loudly.


    "In order to lift the seal from the Mother of Reproduction, there''s also a need to offer the blood and flesh of Evil Demons?"


    Fang Yuan''s eyes emitted a golden glow and observed the array, but he looked pensive. "However¡­ it''s still missing an Evil Demon King!"


    "Yes, that''s me!"


    Zoro looked at the Demon Hunters that gathered around it, its face was calm.


    As the ritual completed, its death would instead be a new beginning.


    "Is the current situation worth it for the Mother of Reproduction?" Fang Yuan asked curiously.


    "I did these things because she is our mother, the Night Family Clans'' mother. This is the mission of her offsprings!"


    Zoro burst out into insane laughter, and its body began to burn a shade of bright red flames.


    Sizzle!


    Among the flames, the Evil Demon''s torso, skin, and bones began to dissolve, falling onto the sacrificial altar, drip by drip.


    Quick! Everything was unexpectedly quick!


    Just as a few Evil Demon Hunters leaped over to the edge of the sacrificial altar, a blood-red light expanded from the Dead Sea Ancient Scroll, instantly forming into a crimson light. It slowly rose up to the sky and broke through the thick layer of air, making it appear extremely gorgeous.


    "Ah!"


    The Demon Hunters that had charged forward, suddenly held onto their stomachs, shouting in agony.


    Among the shocked and scared gazes of the others, their stomachs actually bulged outward with a speed that could be seen with the naked eye. In the blink of an eye, their stomachs became as big as a lady that was ten months pregnant.


    "Such a strong reproductive power. Just by dispelling it slightly, it was able to do this¡­"


    Fang Yuan''s eyes became even brighter after seeing this scene.


    The power of reproduction had too many similarities with the power of creation.


    Promptly, he could feel it.


    In space, above the Alcala mainland, a large, unparalleled unknown object appeared from the darkness, drawing closer with every second.


    It was a giant ball of flesh, but it was around the same size as a celestial body, bringing with it a strange power that was difficult to describe.


    A large quantity of life force seemed to use it as a carrier and was repeatedly circulating around it, increasing non-stop.


    "As expected, the original energy. Furthermore, it''s already domesticated; it''s unbelievable¡­" He mumbled on. There was only a ball of an ovary-like celestial body in his eyes. "The power of reproduction domesticated the original power? I understand¡ªMother of Reproduction isn''t an outsider completely, but it''s a product of this world''s original energy!"


    Every world had its own uniqueness.


    For example, the Purple Eye Realm was still able to utilize body seals as a tool for sealing original power, even though it was tormented by original energy and was badly damaged.


    And the counterattack of this world was the Mother of Reproduction!


    "Through the power of creation, it modernized the original energy and divided it amongst every Night Family Clan member and Evil Demon. And, through continuous production, even with human mixed-bloods, it underwent domestication. Or so to say, it allowed the whole world to adapt¡­ this has a striking resemblance with my line of thinking!"


    Fang Yuan''s gaze was filled with gratitude.


    He originally had the idea of domesticating original energy through the power of creation. Looking at the situation now, this was a world that had undergone that plan.


    "Seeing this situation, Dante didn''t seal the Mother of Reproduction, before, with good intentions."


    Fang Yuan instantly thought of Dante''s methods.


    If it didn''t seal the Mother of Reproduction, maybe this world would''ve completely refined original energy, and wouldn''t be at its current state where it was in an awkward situation.


    Based on its identity as an outsider, it could completely be said that it was done with ill intentions!


    Of course, what Fang Yuan wanted to do was also similar to what it did.


    Buzz!


    At this moment, the surrounding scene of sacrifices suddenly changed.


    Many corpses suddenly dissolved, entering the pool of blood together, forming the shape of a large placenta. An arm stretched up from it.


    Once the Mother of Reproduction was unsealed, a large quantity of Evil Demons would be produced instantly!


    "Everyone¡­ follow me onwards to destroy the Mother of Reproduction."


    Fang Yuan shook the bracelet once, and the Sacred Coffin flew out, opening automatically. A Demon Hunter with a handsome appearance walked out of it. Although he didn''t have much of the presence of a strong man, any Evil Demon Hunter would feel a sense of familiarity with him.


    "Keke!"


    Even the Mother of Reproduction seemed to be stunned, and it made a wave for some unknown reason.


    "I came from hell¡­"


    Fang Yuan controlled his incarnation, Dante, to open his mouth. Faint, purple branding appeared on its body, and it suddenly waved its hand.


    The few, unlucky Evil Demon Hunters, with large stomachs, spat out a few mouthfuls of extravasated blood, and the bulging stomach contracted backward.


    "I bless all of you!"


    However, Dante chanted slowly, as if it was a sacred song, "Under my power, you will not fear the corruption of reproduction!"


    "I Succeeded!"


    After seeing that the Evil Demon Hunters were draped with a layer of halos, they charged into the placenta. None of them were infected, and Fang Yuan''s released a long breath.


    "Indeed, only original energy can go against original energy."


    His incarnation, Dante, was only an experiment for the power of creation. He unsealed part of the power of the original energy.


    Even so, it was enough to become a threat to the Mother of production.


    After all, the reproduction power it had revealed was currently only the secondary power of the original.


    "However, the body¡­"


    Dante clenched both its fists and roared.


    Kaboom!


    Sound waves shook the vast open ground. Large quantities of tumors exploded, and the Evil Demons that were still breeding inside was killed directly.


    "A Sage''s body! A Sage''s power! Is this the state of the original Dream Master Sage?"


    If it was an ordinary person, it would basically be like an ant waving around a hammer; if one grasped the power of a Dream Master Sage, then one would only crush themselves.


    However, Fang Yuan was different!


    His original body had cultivated in both spiritual techniques and martial arts, and he had achieved a powerful state. Contacting a state''s power was, instead, advantageous and inspiring to him.


    "Mother of Reproduction!!!" Fang Yuan bellowed while looking at the sky. He came to space, and using his both hands, he grasped onto nothingness.


    Two large green palms appeared, shaking with the meatball-like celestial body.


    "Keke!"


    The Mother of Reproduction seemed to be shocked as well. On the surface, life forms appeared one by one. Surprisingly, there were demons with human features, and there were also those with strange shapes; nothing was too bizarre. All of them roared at Fang Yuan, attacking him.

 642 Transaction

    Smack!


    Once Fang Yuan clapped his palms, many Evil Demons immediately died as a result.


    "Yes, this Mother of Reproduction is merely a weapon to breed Evil Demons, but it doesn''t have much combat power. It''s just like how an aircraft carrier needs to rely on its aircraft in order to have combat power!"


    "However, at the moment, it''s evident that there wasn''t enough time for it to breed an Evil Demon like Dante!"


    Even within the previous Night Family Clan, there was only one owner of Desire that proclaimed itself as the strongest!


    The previous Mother of Reproduction even managed to be sealed by Dante, and Fang Yuan didn''t feel that he was any less able than Dante.


    His Dante incarnation instantly ascended to that of a Sage, and it confronted the Mother of Reproduction.


    Yet, Hulk had instead directed many Evil Demon Hunters to fight with the placenta in the pool of blood.


    The new-born Evil Demons were still very young and didn''t have enough time to fully develop. Thus, fighting them was truly as easy as chopping melons and vegetables with a knife.


    "I must obtain the flesh core of the Mother of Reproduction!"


    Fang Yuan set a goal for himself.


    At this moment, he could subtly sense a call from a real spirit¡ªit was evident that the moment he was waiting for is nearly approaching. If he were to obtain the core of the Mother of Reproduction, he would have no regrets in this journey crossing.


    Unfortunately, at this moment, numerous meteors are shimmering in the sky.


    Kaboom!


    A loud explosion erupted. Suddenly, there was an artillery unit that launched a devastating blow towards the Black Goat Forest.


    "Soro!"


    A red light inadvertently flashed across Fang Yuan''s eyes as he was backstabbed by his own people while his people were engaging in a deadly duel with the Evil Demons.


    ¡­


    "Yes, maintain this offensive and blow up every single district. We must bury the Evil Demon Hunters together with the Evil Demons!"


    In a command center at an unknown distance from the Black Goat Forest, General Soro''s face was deadly serious. "And¡­.put our special detachment unit on standby. After the attack, they should immediately rush forward and kill every single being."


    "General, your arrangement is very good!"


    A voice trailed out from a communication device at his side. "We will fully support you in terms of equipment, materials, and logistical assistance."


    Very evidently, this retaliation wasn''t only conducted by Soro himself, but the entire rebel unit!


    Being a person who wields power among the ordinary people, they definitely won''t allow themselves to be overpowered by the existence of other stronger entities.


    Therefore, the Evil Demon Hunters must perish together with the Evil Demons.


    The other biologically modified Masters and power transformations will only be controlled with their own hands!


    "Oh yes, the most powerful force within the Evil Demon Hunters is the ''Area Being.'' In order to defend against their ''Beheading Strategy''¡­ Everyone''s defences should be in accordance to what you''ve used to face the Evil Demons."


    "Relax, we have made our preparations. We even have one specially curated Evil Demon Master defence. Even though there hasn''t been the creation of any ''Area Beings'' among them, our biologically modified Masters have already been hard at work trying to crack the code. One day¡­ Ahh!!!"


    A scream rang out from the communication device. It was as if something unexpected had happened, instantly causing violent wheezing and a struggle against death, causing one to shudder with fear.


    Furthermore, this scenario wasn''t unique. More and more screams rang out from the communication device, and in the midst of them, gunshots and the sound of combat ran rampant. "Damn it¡­ Nuuk actually attacked me, he''s my son¡­ Ahh!"


    "All of the Evil Demon Hunters went insane all at once. I knew it, there must be some hidden secret underneath the Evil Demon Hunter Association¡­ Bang!"


    The loud decibels of noise eventually subsided into silence.


    Soro quietly looked at the communication device, speechless. A look of horror suddenly appeared on his face.


    At first, to express his loyalty, he proactively engaged in a transformation to become an Evil Demon Hunter. What about now then?


    As Soro looked on with a horrified expression, his right hand rose uncontrollably as it transformed into a sharp claw and viciously stabbed into his eyes.


    Poof!


    In the midst of his screams, blood spewed everywhere.


    ¡­


    The Evil Demon Hunters in the Black Goat Forest were anxiously waiting. When they didn''t experience a second attack, they couldn''t help it but celebrate.


    "Hmph, a majority of the Evil Demon Hunters'' blood originated from Dante. I''m currently the owner of Desire¡ªregardless of what skills I''ve mastered in advance, they''re ineffective no matter how loyal I''ve been at the start."


    Fang Yuan scoffed and directed the Evil Demon Hunters to flatten the blood pool placenta while he instantly looked towards the sky.


    The actual battleground is still there!"


    "Get out!


    "Get out¡­ of this world!"


    Although the Mother of Reproduction isn''t proficient at fighting, its vitality and fertility are shocking. In fact, no matter how much it''s attacked by a Sage, it''s able to constantly regenerate its health.


    Additionally, as time goes by, more ideas accumulate there and carry with them a strong sense of rejection. It truly is the realm''s consciousness in this world!


    The Mother of Reproduction is used as a tool by the realm''s consciousness to refine its source of energy. Even the realm''s consciousness appeared to have suffered a heavy blow and descended into a deep slumber together with the Mother of Reproduction.


    Yet, at this instant, it''s slowly awakening and unleashing its potential.


    "This¡­ is the opponent''s home field, you need to quickly fight and end the war!"


    Dante''s split eye was relaxed, and the lines on his lower abdomen quickly spread, releasing an even scarier dark purple glow. "Secondary Release!"


    Poof!


    Not even the Mother of Reproduction could resist the source of the energy, and a large horrifying gaping hole appeared on its body.


    Even a small purple core appeared, radiating a dim glow.


    "Mutual induction between the sources?" Fang Yuan quietly murmured, and he directly charged towards the Mother of Reproduction after transforming his entire body into a streak of light.


    "Get out!"


    The fierce realm''s consciousness suddenly boomed in his ear, like thunder.


    The power of annihilation began to accumulate outside.


    The awakened realm''s consciousness has already gradually begun to retrieve its authority.


    Poof!


    Chunks of meat started appearing at the spot where Fang Yuan intruded. They became a hundred times sturdier than the finest metal, and they instantly compressed downwards.


    Even more so, many flamethrowing instruments produced strong acidic bolts of lightning that rapidly flew towards him and attacked him in different ways.


    "Scram!"


    At this moment, Fang Yuan''s entire body started shimmering with purple light as he fully unleashed the body of a Sage.


    Every punch and every kick had an impact so great that it was as though they could split the world.


    "Earth, Fire, Wind, and Water¡ªChaos Divine Fist!"


    Thump!


    Huge fists appeared and directly penetrated the passageway. They revealed a meat ball that resembled a placenta encompassed by purple light.


    "This is¡­.the core of the Mother of Reproduction? This is also the key to its refining source¡­"


    Fang Yuan placed the placenta in his palm, unsure of how many blood vessels and meridians were torn.


    Suddenly, the meat blocks in his surroundings lost their vitality and withered.


    "Inside this¡­ really does contain the source. However, it''s already in a broken and half-refined state. Unbelievable!"


    The Mother of Reproduction suddenly rushed out as Fang Yuan was murmuring to himself.


    Kaboom!


    The power of destruction accumulated and transformed into a large black human face that looking down. Apparently, the heavenly will of the realm didn''t only fully awakened and regained its authority, but it''s also in an infuriated state.


    After experiencing such a difficult struggle, escaping the seal with the Mother of Reproduction, it was extremely close to fully refining the source and improving it. However, upon meeting this disrupter, any will would no doubt be infuriated.


    Furthermore, this person had the same look as the previous disrupter!


    "What? You really want it?"


    Fang Yuan wasn''t afraid as he looked up at the human face, and he provocatively held up the purple placenta in his hands.


    He didn''t rely on his godsent status to become a successful Sage. Nor was he endowed with a source or the capital to engage in life and death struggles.


    That year, as a Dream Master in the ancient world, he could naturally banish and seal a will in the ancient realm.


    The black human face fell silent for a moment, and it immediately thought of an idea for a compromise.


    "Alright!"


    Fang Yuan laughed loudly. "I want this placenta, but I can pass you the source inside it. Anyway, you''ve already accumulated a flesh placenta before, so you would only require a little more effort. I also want a portion of the heavenly energy!"


    He also didn''t want to see the spectacle of the failures of both him and the realm''s consciousness.


    In reality, the source is endless and having more of it doesn''t necessarily mean it''s any better.


    What Fang Yuan prioritized was the method of refining the realm''s source. Hence, he must obtain this placenta.


    Isn''t it normal to resort to blackmail for heavenly energy?


    To obtain this source, one must be willing to sacrifice something.


    "You must know¡­ This little source has already been partially refined by you. Even though you don''t have a placenta, the speed of refinement will be much faster once you start anew. Both of us have an unusual existence, so please decide quickly!" Fang Yuan''s voice was cold.


    The surroundings of the black human face was circled by lightning, and it carried along a sense of destruction.


    Immediately, it looked again at the placenta in Fang Yuan''s hand and had a thought.


    "If you want me to leave immediately, refrain from divulging the coordinates of this realm and never come back in the future¡­ Okay!"


    Fang Yuan received its terms and conditions and immediately agreed.


    In this realm, he only intended to come and harvest it only once, and he had absolutely no intention whatsoever to come here again.


    Although he was truly interested in how the realm will progress after the source has been refined, he felt that he could still clearly differentiate between the relative importance of this knowledge and the placenta in his hands.


    Fang Yuan definitely didn''t want his opponent to wreck this precious product while he was forcefully escaping.


    The realm''s consciousness, on the other hand, was also visibly afraid of a deadly life or death fight. Hence, it could only choose to compromise.


    Kaboom!


    After the realm''s consciousness in the Alcala realm chose to compromise, his actions were very clear-cut and didn''t beat around the bush. Accompanied by the thundering rumbles of the land and the sky, strings of energy from the source suddenly appeared.


    Fang Yuan also raised out his hand and stroked the placenta.


    Instantly, the layer of purple light converged to transform into a drop of purple source, and it constantly radiated power outwards just like a crystal.


    "Sure enough¡­ Only someone who was once a Dream Master Sage could satisfy the requirement to access the alchemically refined source.


    At that moment, when Fang Yuan made contact with the source without any protection or defences, it brought him a severe burden.


    Hence, he lightly waved his hand and the purple water droplet almost landed on the Alcala mainland.


    Of course, the realm''s consciousness wouldn''t allow this to happen. The black human face immediately moved forward and used its forehead to capture it.


    "It''s time to leave this Demon Hunter Realm¡­"


    Fang Yuan also made use of this opportunity to absorb his own heavenly energy. He grabbed the evil demon placenta, and he felt his own body, together with Hulk on the ground, say "Go and rest! Go and rest!"

 643 Creator

    In the world of Da Qian.


    Highland City, within a hidden residence on the outskirts.


    The air vibrated, and Fang Yuan suddenly opened his eyes and looked at his palm.


    In his hand was a piece of wriggling meat. It was like a placenta, its life force hidden.


    "This is the root of all Evil Demons, an extraordinary object created by a world. It has the blood of every Evil Demon, and it could be referred to as the placenta of Evil Demons!"


    This extraordinary object was created by the will of the Alcala Realm, and it was what the creation of original energy depended on.


    Fang Yuan obtained it for his own research.


    "The power of reproduction and the power of creation are similar in too many ways. The promotion of profession changing in the Alcala Realm was, in actual fact, constantly adding on to my path of creation."


    Originally, he was still slightly unstable and wasn''t able to reveal the children of the swords.


    However, now there were no obstacles at all.


    "With the placenta of Evil Demons, I can start trying to refine and harness original power. Of course¡­ there''s still a missing entry requirement¡ªthe state of a Dream Master Sage!"


    In order to refine and harness original energy, the cultivation of the original Dream Master Sage was the most basic requirement.


    However, when it was placed before Fang Yuan''s cultivation, it was only a layer of protective paper for windows.


    After all, he had had already borrowed the Sage body, Dante, and had broken through the state of a Sage.


    Even if it was only an incarnation, it was also everlasting. His original body''s upper limit also rose. All he needed now was the resources in order to break through.


    And the power of the world that he blackmailed was prepared just for this.


    "Creation Sword Array!"


    As he wavered, a large amount of the world''s power was consumed within the dreamland. The seventh sword began to gather, bringing about a stable spirit; shockingly, it was a mountain sword!


    "The sword array that I created used the power of a demon heart as its foundation. The door swords are comparable to the former 7th Tier Illusionary Divine, and the seven swords would then be comparable to the original Dream Master Sage!"


    "In actual truth, the so-called ''sage'' was also exaggerated by the few Ancient Ones. From what I can see, it''s more suitable to be called ''Creator''!"


    Kaboom!


    The seven swords roared, transforming into seven youths. They kneeled down on one knee and said in unison, "Greetings, master!"


    "Creation of 7th tier Sword Array¡­ state of Creator!"


    Fang Yuan could sense clearly that the heart of his materialized dreamland had an unknown form that was gradually accumulating.


    "The 7th Tier Illusionary Divine could open up prosperous lands when the Sages obtained the Heavenly Abode. I''m now assembling the seeds of the Heavenly Abode?"


    Of course, compared to this, what made him even happier was the transformation of the seven sword children.


    Accompanied by his breakthrough of becoming a creator, the children transformed into youths, and they even had physical bodies.


    Fang Yuan could tell that if they were let out, then they could completely combine their chromosomes to produce offsprings!


    This was the power of a Dream Master Sage¡ªcreating something out of nothing, and they could even create an intelligent bunch!


    Moreover, Fang Yuan''s power wasn''t obtained from the Demonic Heart Realm, but from his own research, so no one could take it away!


    "This is¡­. the state of the previous Sages?"


    Fang Yuan looked at both his hands, and then he looked at his attributes board:


    "Name: Fang Yuan


    Essence: 200


    Spirit: 200


    Magic: 200


    Profession: Dream Master


    Cultivation: Illusionary Divine (7th Tier), True Divine, Creator


    Technique: Pangu Eagle Body [Strengthened bloodline of a Fire Witch (Level 1)], Creation Sword Array [Seven Sword (100%)]


    Skill: [Medicine (Level 3)], [Botany (Level 6)(Peak)], [Fiery Golden Eyes (Level 3)], [Body Seal (Ultimate form)]"


    "I didn''t expect the achievements from the Alcala World to be so great!"


    Fang Yuan was over the moon.


    Accompanied by the deprivation of the pathway for all the Da Qian Empire''s Dream Masters, the heavens had also taken back the positions. Currently, there were no longer any Sages in the entire Da Qian Empire.


    Until now, he had finally reclaimed the position!


    "The path of a Sage has unlimited potential, but it''s also the same for a creator!"


    In addition to the seeds of the Heavenly Abode, he also had the ability to produce intelligent beings. What kind of concept was this?


    This was basically a miniaturized version of a creator god!


    Especially since he could completely sweep through the entire Da Qian Empire, and no one would be able to resist him!


    "The plan¡­ needs to be changed!"


    Before this, he had a plan where, as a third party, he would benefit if two parties fought against each other whilst he considered his own ability.


    However, he didn''t need to consider much now. The power of a Sage could suppress everything. He would be able to deal with anyone that was unsatisfied. Even if the collective power of the 9 Extremes Mountain wasn''t enough, there was no need to fear!


    "Because the people in the Da Qian Empire know how frightening a Sage is, I''ll just need to reveal my cultivation, without saying too much, and it would be enough to make many of them waver and even submit!"


    The more that one knows, then the more they will fear; those that don''t know anything wouldn''t feel fear at all, this was also a conclusion that Fang Yuan had obtained after traveling to many worlds.


    ¡­


    Within a secret state.


    Countless Dream Masters gathered together, and their leaders were, unexpectedly, Baize and the Evil Divine.


    They had a deep obscure aura filled with power. Shockingly, their cultivation advanced by leaps and bounds as they arrived at an unpredictable state.


    "Hehe¡­ a mere Realm Alliance traitor dares to insult us, he''s really courting death¡­"


    Evil Divine smiled coldly. "Although the world had changed and my path''s foundation was snatched away, how can he compare to the united power of so many Dream Masters? Moreover, we captured many demon generals and demon chiefs in secret, and we''ve also confirmed part of the Demonic Heart Realm''s inheritance. Based on this, with time it''s possible to recover the prestige of the Dream Masters!"


    Within the state, many True Elementals and True Sacred Dream Masters gathered, bringing a routed quality.


    These were the elites of Baize Mountain and the Evil Divine Sect. After the nurturing of the original 7th Tier Illusionary Divine''s power again, they had recovered their positions¡ªdespite not being Dream Masters!


    However, this type of power was enough to scare the world!


    "Evil Divine please wait a moment before losing your temper¡­"


    Sage Baize was unperturbed. "Since this child was named as the best person in the Da Qian Empire, he would naturally possess some capabilities¡­ It would also be pretty good to turn him into a slave for us first¡­ More importantly, it would be impossible for the teachings from a mere Heartless to produce such a disciple!"


    "Not bad, this child must be hiding a huge secret!"


    A flash of greed flashed past Evil Divine''s eyes as he said, "Only us Sages can enjoy this secret alone."


    "That''s a good suggestion!"


    Sage Baize stroke his beard.


    Although the Baize Mountain he had led was always seen as the true path of the Dream Masters before the collapse of the 5 Grand Organisations, only he himself knew the true situation.


    Especially when dealing with such problems that didn''t seem to be serious, any sense of justice and humanity ought to make a detour.


    He would think about it.


    What kind of secrets could allow an average Dream Master to leap up and dominate the Da Qian Empire within such a short period of time?


    What would happen if they got their hands on this secret?


    Even Sages couldn''t reject lures such as this.


    "A mere Dream Master should just hand over the secret and allow us to recover our sacred quality!"


    "Such an arrogant and domineering person, he''ll be punished!"


    The two Sages quickly came to a consensus.


    Clap! Clap!


    At this moment, the sound of applause suddenly traveled from one side of the room. "Wonderful! Really wonderful!"


    Fang Yuan walked out and applauded. "This is a concept from you, the higher authorities. Sages are high up in the hierarchy, and the Dream Masters below you will have to give up everything? Hmph¡­ this really broadened my horizons."


    "It''s you?! Fang Yuan!!!"


    The eyes of the two Sages, that had passed their primes, contracted to the size of a needle tip. "How did you get in?"


    This was a deep part of the state, its protection was strict. It not only had different types of detection and protective arrays, but it also had many True Sacred Martial Masters and True Elemental Spiritual Knights outside!


    Even if the other party was named as the strongest being after the Sages, and the best in Da Qian today, he definitely wouldn''t have been able to do this.


    "Of course I walked in."


    Fang Yuan smiled. Both his arms spread open, and a layer of the field opened up automatically. "The protections outside¡­ is quite similar to paper and glue."


    "Power of field? No¡­ Heavenly Abode! This is the power of Heavenly Abode! You''ve become sacred!!!"


    Evil Divine almost said this whilst clenching his teeth. Sage Baize, on the other hand, didn''t say anything, but he turned around and ran, very frightened.


    He had to run!


    As an ex-sage, they knew how frightening a Sage was. His power was just like chopping melons and cutting vegetables¡ªhe had the power to choose who to kill and who will live.


    Otherwise, the Dream Masters of the 5 Grand Organisations wouldn''t have been so obedient, being at their service and not resisting at all¡ªeven though they were treated like pigs and dogs.


    The definitive answer for everything was still the vast difference in suppressive power!


    It was similar to the current situation.


    "The other end of the world is very close, and lives are on the frontline!"


    The escape of Sages was naturally not a trivial matter, even if they used to be one.


    Baize''s figure flashed by and had already become a white line stream. Within a split-second, he had traveled a hundred miles away, his figure lingered at the horizon for a while before vanishing in the next moment.


    As for Evil Divine?


    He had long disappeared, and there was only an embodiment of heavenly evil at his original location. This was his way of substituting death¡ªwith a puppet to represent death!


    Unfortunately, Fang Yuan had determined long ago to leave none of the original Sages, even if he had to incorporate the remaining Dream Masters.


    Different from Qian Huanyi and Superior Wu Zun, the Dream Master Sages had cultivated their abilities themselves. Once they were given time and information, it was hard to say that they might be able to return back to their old ways. This was the biggest reason why Fang Yuan was unsettled!


    "If we suddenly met, both of you might''ve really been able to escape, but now¡­ I''ve concentrated and set this up for a long time. If I let you off, what sort of dream path will I be cultivating!"


    Fang Yuan smiled, his hands lightly clenched.


    Poof!


    As if he had burst a formless bubble, the surrounding scene vanished into thin air. The two ex-sages, that had run far away, shockingly found themselves standing in front of Fang Yuan.


    "Pangu Eagle Body, power of creation¡­ receive my blow, Chaos Creation Divine Fist!"


    Power furiously surged out from Fang Yuan''s body.


    At that moment, his true sacred body suddenly evolved again, and transformed into the body of a Sage!


    The Chaos Divine Fist that he released had an incomparable, terrifying power.


    Whoosh!


    The space shattered, and Earth, Fire, Wind, as well as Water, could be seen indistinctly.


    Without any cries, the two ex-sages in the middle of it were erased from the surging powerful current without even leaving a hint of their true spirits.


    "How is it? Anyone who wants to join the two of them?"


    After getting rid of the two Sages, Fang Yuan looked back. Many Dream Masters that were clamped down by the seven sword children had deathly pale faces.


    Suddenly, someone kneeled down without making any sound, surrendering.

 644 Exterminate.

    Highland City, on the day of the gathering.


    The teenage girl from the Red Cotton Sect, Hong Er, followed her father to the assembly area way ahead of time.


    Unfortunately, because the Red Cotton Sect wasn''t well known, their position wasn''t very good.


    At that moment, Hong Er''s face was even paler, it was as if she couldn''t breathe properly.


    "Master Uncle¡­ Junior, she¡­"


    A lady that looked gentle instantly became worried and asked, "Is there a problem?"


    "Don''t worry!"


    The middle-aged man looked at his daughter closely and shook his head. "You impulsively activated ''Kun Ming mysterious secret'' again? You know that if you''re not skilled at it and carelessly use it, it''ll easily backfire¡­ There''s going to be a lot of Spiritual Knights gathered here and they''ll have a lot of evil intentions. Hong Er, you have to hold on¡­"


    "Father¡­"


    The teenaged girl stubbornly clenched her fists tight. "I¡­ I don''t want to be a burden."


    "Don''t worry, all we have to do is go with the flow during this alliance meeting. At that time, all of you will just have to watch for my hint before you do anything!"


    The middle-aged man waved his hand, but he was laughing bitterly in his heart.


    A weak sect could only be a fence-sitter. This was the tragedy of being weak.


    "That is¡­"


    At this moment, the teenage girl, Hong Er, seemed to have suddenly sensed something. She looked in a certain direction, and her body began shaking uncontrollably.


    ¡­


    "Huh?"


    Qian Huanyi looked at a part of the meeting stage and seemed to be thinking about something.


    At this moment, his whole body was wrapped in a black robe, and his presence was concealed to its limit. Beside him was a muscular man with a cone-shaped bamboo hat. He was tall and sturdy¡ªSuperior Wu Zun.


    "What happened?"


    "Nothing, I just sensed an interesting spiritual aura; it should be a cultivation technique of the Red Cotton Sect!"


    Qian Huanyi eyes glimmered. "This spiritual aura seemed to have discovered our hidden selves. After all, Spiritual Knight spells are ever-changing. It isn''t unusual to occasionally have one or two distinct powers. However, this fellow will be experiencing shock."


    "I''m more worried that she''ll expose our business."


    Superior Wu Zun pressed his bamboo hat firmly. "After all¡­ by accepting the invitation and coming over here to help Heaven Spirit Ancestor, we should still maintain this hidden state before the Dream Masters appear in order to make an unexpected attack."


    "Don''t worry, regardless of what spells there are in the world, I''ve seen most of them in the imperial''s collection. I retaliated slightly and even sent a hint over. I''m afraid that the person with the spiritual aura has already fainted. There won''t be any problems," Qian Huanyi said confidently.


    As a former fated True Elemental and an elite Spiritual Knight, he had read extensively. His spiritual skill cultivation was basically unbelievable.


    "That''s great then¡­"


    Superior Wu Zun trusted Qian Huanyi a lot. He slowly closed his eyes and didn''t speak again.


    Ping! Ping!


    After who-knows-how-long, Heavenly Spirit Zhang, with his splendid clothes, leisurely walked into the meeting area, accompanied by the sound of a large number of gun salutes.


    "Greetings, old master!"


    Many people from the Heavenly Spirit Association quickly greeted him. Like sound waves, they pressured the other smaller sects to imitate them.


    "There''s no need for such a formality, everyone, please rise!"


    Heavenly Spirit Zhang''s voice rang throughout the area, and it could be heard no matter how far or close one was seated. However, the voice wasn''t sharp, and it even had a type of power that made everyone rise at the same time.


    "Eh? His order was strictly abided?"


    Superior Wu Zun was shocked, a grave look flashed across his pupils. "This Heavenly Spirit Association might really be a challenge. How confident are you in getting rid of Heaven Spirit Ancestor?"


    "100%!" Qian Huanyi added on, "if I don''t mind getting seriously injured and dying with him!"


    "Then, we aren''t able to become enemies¡­"


    Superior Wu Zun released a long breath.


    Even God Seeking Palace couldn''t handle Qian Huanyi''s death, let alone him being seriously injured!


    "Letting Heavenly Spirit Association dominate the east seas is better than the Dream Masters having it!"


    Qian Huanyi said, "The Martial Alliance shares the same viewpoint as us. Otherwise, why would they send men and horses as escorts and protection?"


    "Indeed, Dream Masters are the biggest threat in the world!"


    Superior Wu Zun nodded his head continuously. "Not letting them rise up again is our bottom line!"


    "According to the rumors, the plan this time isn''t small. Baize Mountain and Evil Divine Sect are going all-out, and they even pulled in the forces from 9 Extremes Mountain¡­ On the other hand, the Ancient One actually escaped from Da Qian and went missing as soon as the Realm Alliance received the latest news¡­"


    Talking about this, even Qian Huanyi took a cold breath in. "More importantly, he was unexpectedly forced out of this empire¡ªalive!


    "In today''s Da Qian, there are less than five existences that can actually force the previous Sages into this state!"


    Superior Wu Zun clenched his jaws as well, and he thought of a certain suspect.


    "The one that continuously defeated the demon generals, the master of 9 Extremes Mountain that''s referred to as the best in Da Qian, is very suspicious¡­"


    "If that''s the case, then it''s great!" Qian Huanyi''s attitude was clear. "The Dream Masters are despicable towards each other. It''s inevitable that the heart of the alliance won''t be conforming even if they are on the surface. They can crush them, one after another."


    To them, the Dream Masters killing each other was something they dreamed of.


    Just as they were secretly conversing, the Heaven Spirit Ancestor onstage had also completed that day''s performance.


    Heavenly Spirit Zhang originally had a look of one that was gifted, his pair of peach eyes looked like they could entice others, causing many female Spiritual Knights below them to be secretly moved.


    His speech was nimble; he bemoaned the state of the universe, pitied the fate of mankind, and went to the point.


    "¡­ Da Qian is suffering from a catastrophe. I initially set up the Heavenly Spirit Association for self-help. Under the tyrannical power of the Dream Masters, we''re barely surviving. Today, we Spiritual Knights bear the heavy responsibilities of the human race''s rise and fall, and we cannot let the east seas suffer under the demonic disasters and chaos again. Those that are willing to be with Heavenly Spirit can come forward to swear a sacred oath. From then on, we will move forward and backward together. Heavenly Spirit will guarantee to view everyone the same way and be impartial!"


    "Heaven Spirit Ancestor''s words are reasonable!"


    When he just finished his speech, a few small sects replied.


    Red Cotton Sect''s people could tell that this was the party''s shill, and everyone was deliberating about it.


    The slogan was naturally a fake. What really moved people was the benefits within.


    At least, Heaven Spirit Ancestor had previously sent people over to Red Cotton Sect to pass a message. He promised that they wouldn''t only retain their traditional path, but they would also receive a piece of territory after they joined!


    This was too important for the continuity of a sect.


    Hence, there were a few other small sect masters that came out to announce their allegiance, out loud.


    "An irresistible trend!"


    Red Cotton Sect''s sect master sighed once and wanted to move a step forward to complete the vow.


    "Haha!"


    At this moment, insolent laughter was heard. A Dream Master leisurely entered the place.


    "You are¡­" Heavenly Spirit Zhang was long prepared, and without rushing, he asked.


    "I am Shen Tao, the vice-sect master of the Evil Divine Sect!"


    Shen Tao''s introduction to his sect raised a racket.


    "This person¡­ what courage!" Red Cotton Sect master''s eyes widened as he saw what happened.


    Today, people had long hated Dream Masters. The person called himself a Dream Master, and even more so, one of the vice-sect masters of the 5 Grand Organizations, in a gathering of Sacred Knights and Wu Zongs. This added oil to the fire.


    In actual truth, unless the person had the cultivation of a True Elemental Spiritual Knight, he would''ve been killed long ago by the surrounding, anxious Spiritual Knights and Wu Zongs.


    "Then, I wonder what''s your purpose in coming here?" Heavenly Spirit Zhang''s peach eyes cooled down as well.


    "I only want to ask something. Is the east sea prefectures your home?" Shen Tao laughed coldly and continued, "Such a rash decision to divide it up and give it to others¡ªhave you asked me yet?"


    "Sigh¡­"


    Zhang Heavenly Spirit sighed faintly. "You''re not qualified to say these words. Looks like the Dream Master Alliance wants to wage a war with me?"


    "Where are Baize and Evil Divine? Ask them to come out and die!"


    A few strong powers appeared, their anger almost solidified.


    In actual truth, these were only the forces of the Heavenly Spirit Association itself. There were other Martial Alliances and God Seeking Palace elites that were silently guarding to ensure that there was no loss.


    "Baize and Evil Divine¡­"


    At the mention of this, Shen Tao''s facial expression became slightly odd. "I''m afraid that you''ll never see them again."


    With this, he immediately bowed to the other side. "Welcome, master!"


    Several Dream Masters appeared and bowed grandly as if they had witnessed their own gods.


    In this suffocating atmosphere, Fang Yuan gradually revealed himself and walked into the meeting area slowly.


    "Brother Fang¡­"


    Heavenly Spirit Zhang laughed bitterly. "When we bid goodbye before, I didn''t think that we would meet in this kind of atmosphere today!"


    "The former debt of gratitude and the duty for revenge made it beneficial to not say anything til now!"


    Fang Yuan waved his hand. "Today, you''ll only survive if you comply! I will only ask this once, are you willing to submit?"


    "Submit?"


    The True Sage beside Heavenly Spirit Zhang couldn''t hold it in anymore, and he shouted loudly, "With just you on your own?"


    Kaboom!


    While talking, a thick martial artist rose up like the sun and transformed into a horrible giant.


    Seeing this, Fang Yuan blew lightly.


    Whoosh!


    Instantly, the giant quickly melted as if the spring snow had come into contact with the sun.


    A shocking spiritual aura suddenly spread across the entire area.


    Kaboom!


    Two locations exploded, and the people from Martial Alliance and God Seeking Palace appeared.


    They looked at Fang Yuan, dumbstruck as the scene fell into dead silence.


    "This is¡­ This is¡­"


    Superior Wu Zun and Qian Huanyi looked at each other as if there were stormy seas in their hearts. "Power of the Heavenly Abode? A Sage?!"


    "Impossible! There''s someone that achieved the sacred state among the Dream Masters again?"


    Even if that scene had many strong individuals, and even Qian Huanyi and Superior Wu Zun were present, people that fell off the sacred level, they weren''t confident at all when facing against the true sacred state.


    "He''s merely a Sage, I''ll go all-out. Even if I die, I''ll slaughter him!"


    A voice filled with hatred and sadness was heard from the meeting area. A united resistance instantly rose up.


    "Kill him!"


    "If the Sages don''t die, the bandits won''t stop!"


    "We have many powerful people, True Elementals, True Sacred, and the forces from God Seeking Palace and the Martial Alliance. Just a mere Sage¡­ Ahhh!"


    Fang Yuan indifferently pointed at the few Spiritual Knights who were still shouting, and they exploded on the spot. They died a horrible death.


    "All of you will hurt yourselves because of your mistake!"


    He pressed his hands down again, and the power of the Heavenly Abode spread out, enveloping the entire area in a split-second.


    Kaboom!


    The scene instantly quietened down. It was as though the people were ducks that were held by their neck, and there was a Tai Mountain crushing their hearts, so they didn''t speak anymore.


    In a split-second, he suppressed the whole scene!


    This was a heavenly threat!


    "How is it?"


    Fang Yuan looked towards Heavenly Spirit Zhang. This was his last piece of goodwill.


    "I used to bow my head to the Sages, I don''t want to surrender a second time!"


    Heavenly Spirit Zhang paused several times, and his body emitted out a brilliance as though he was a firefly dissipating.

 645 The Sweep

    "Ever since I saw the peach blossoms, my doubts till now have all disappeared."


    Seeing the powerful entity being vanquished in front of his eyes, even Fang Yuan developed a different type of emotion.


    This move by Zhang Tianling was used to annihilate the true spirit itself, completely removing every trace of it from the realm forever.


    Not even Fang Yuan could imagine that this ex-alchemist''s personality was so intense to this extent!


    However, this feeling of regret was only temporary.


    "Wait¡­ Whoever is willing to accompany Zhang Tianling on his journey, this Sage can send him there at once!"


    Fang Yuan looked around once, and he realized that even the powerful beings that were originally from the Heavenly Spirit Association suddenly became afraid and cowardly muttered, "I wouldn''t dare to oppose the Sage!"


    "Alright! From today onwards, the East Ocean Prefectures will be governed by me, the 9 Extremes Mountain!" Fang Yuan bowed. "My 9 Extremes Mountain doesn''t discriminate against any class. If you''re unrelated to Dream Masters, you can still similarly enter the gates as a Spiritual Knight or Wu Zong. In addition, even though there was room for discussion in regards to the distribution of the different schools before, the general direction is still the same!"


    "Really?"


    Many small and medium sect gate guardians couldn''t believe what he had just said, and their eyes twinkled. They immediately and hurriedly stood up slightly. "I''ve been impolite. Sage, please forgive my sins."


    "It''s really true! The sage never lies!"


    Fang Yuan smiled reservedly.


    In reality, this was in accordance to the cake-sharing plan by the Heavenly Spirit Association. However, the largest piece, that should''ve originally been taken by the Heavenly Spirit Association, was taken away by Fang Yuan instead.


    Just this by itself was already sufficient enough for the 9 Extremes Mountain to take. Therefore, Fang Yuan had to separate them in order to appease the people.


    "If that''s the case, I''ll wait for to see how you intend to decide!"


    At this moment, many sect leaders bowed one by one.


    Instead, it was the Spiritual Knights of the Heavenly Spirit Association who were speechless after seeing this scene, and they found it difficult to accept.


    Zap!


    Finally, one of the higher beings transformed into a light streak and instantly shot up towards the sky with an astounding escape technique.


    In the next moment, Fang Yuan snapped his fingers.


    Thump!


    A large green hand appeared in the sky and directly grabbed the light streak and rubbed it. A loud scream was heard and then there was silence.


    Simply snapping one''s finger could result in a massive downfall!


    This fierceness immediately caused the other remaining Spiritual Knights of the Heavenly Spirit Association to be afraid of having anymore thoughts about trying their luck. They bowed in quick succession. "Mighty Sage, I''m willing to submit."


    The higher the being, the more he would value his life.


    Conceding to a Sage isn''t humiliating at all.


    "That person¡­"


    Among all the people on the ground, the Red Cotton Sect was considered the most cowardly of them all.


    "That person, isn''t he the lecher I previously saw at the pier?"


    A loud noise rang in their hearts, and they immediately felt relieved and fortunate!


    They were relieved that they previously didn''t attack this person, or they would have to suffer the horrendous consequences.


    "Alright!"


    Fang Yuan''s attention focused on the bodies of these ants at all.


    He turned his line of sight and saw two waves of people who were previously chased out. "God Seeking Palace and the Martial Alliance?!"


    Qian Huanyi and Superior Wu Zun gave two dry laughs and walked out to bow. "I''ve seen you, Sage!"


    "Martial Alliance Martial God Master, I''ve seen you, Sage!"


    The leader of the Martial Alliance was an actual Sage and higher being. His whole body was masculine and wasn''t under the control of Superior Wu Zun.


    Of course at this moment, all of them bowed respectfully with an anxious look on their faces.


    "There''s a great deal of unrest that has been occurring for far too long. People are being plunged into an abyss of misery, and I cannot bear to see this any more. I need the Qian Kun!"


    Fang Yuan spoke of his desired plans without being reserved.


    Since he had already reached the position of Sage first, he would be a fool if he didn''t make use of this opportunity to rule all the land.


    Even though his skills were lacking, he still needed the God Seeking Palace and Martial Alliance to submit to him. Despite this only being a facade, at least he could build up his reputation, and he''ll have the capital to send an army of armed forces in the future.


    "¡­"


    Martial God Master and Superior Wu Zun instantly fell into silence.


    "When you get back, please tell the Martial Alliance and God Seeking Palace about this main issue, as I need to control the entire Da Qian area. This Sage will be eliminating demons and disasters later. Hopefully, you''ll submit to me before that, or don''t say words that you''re not prepared to. Go!"


    After saying that, Fang Yuan flicked his sleeve indifferently.


    Whoosh! Whoosh!


    A strong wind blew, and Superior Wu Zun and Martial God Master unleashed their elemental forces to resist.


    When they regained their focus, they immediately realized that they were suddenly already ten miles away from the Hailan city.


    "Sigh¡­ Let''s go¡­"


    Qian Huanyi interlocked both his hands and suddenly sighed.


    After seeing Fang Yuan, he suddenly seemed to become disillusioned. "If he relies on the quality of the Sage and then retroacts to the displeasure of the gods, maybe¡­ I might have some hope in becoming a Sage again. However, he deals with matters at an appropriate pace and views the Spiritual Knights and Wu Zongs as equals. He also complies with the wishes of the people and the heavens, so how am I supposed to rob him of this position? It''s really difficult! Difficult! Difficult!!!"


    Previously, he and Superior Wu Zun used a "Destiny''s child" that was born in the Da Qian realm to specially combat against the 5 Dream Master Sages.


    However, at this moment, there''s only one Sage who doesn''t do things that are too extreme.


    What is the problem with wanting a deeply troubled will to deposit more resources?


    Additionally, the other party would probably also provide resources to aid Fang Yuan to unite the realm. This reduces internal friction to a large extent, and without any divine favors, it poses a dead-end to all the Spiritual Knights and Sages!


    Fang Yuan didn''t even bother about the reactions of the God Seeking Palace and the Martial Alliance.


    After all, their most powerful remaining form of resistance wasn''t able to leave much of an impact, regardless of how much trouble they tried to create.


    Making use of this good opportunity, where many forces were submitting to him, he first gave orders to the 9 Extremes Mountain, dispatching a large number of elites to come forward and accept this territory. The 9 Extremes Mountain will remain as the headquarters, but the East Ocean Prefectures was starting to form.


    As he had allocated the largest slice of cake to himself, he believed that the development of the 9 Extremes Mountain would be very smooth.


    Immediately, he allocated the territory to the people from the other sects in order to win over their hearts.


    Once everything was finished, the responses from the God Seeking Palace and the Martial Alliance also arrived around that time. They congratulated Fang Yuan for being the new Sage, but with a look of endless conflict, they evaded questions on whether or not they wanted to submit.


    Fang Yuan only laughed when he saw this, and he immediately made his decision¡ªto eliminate all demons and disasters by going on a northern expedition to Zhongzhou.


    "The plague of demon spirits is a disaster in the Demonic Heart Realm¡­ It''s not very beneficial to the Da Qian realm. First, I''ll promote various spiritual energies to restore the vitality in the realm and immediately extract this cancerous tumour. This will be in accordance to the wishes of the people and the heavens! Without a doubt, I''d obtain much favor from the will of the realm.


    He naturally had his own intentions when he does things, and he definitely didn''t get devoured by pride when he levelled up to a Sage.


    There were actually nine Sages during the zenith of the Da Qian realm, but where are they today?


    Hence, it''s still better to act in accordance to the heavenly will and refrain from fighting.


    It''s not smart to anger and spark the animosity of a realm for no reason at all.


    At this moment, Fang Yuan wanted to make use of this victory to launch an attack. He first wanted to make use of his new authority as a Sage, to eliminate demons and disasters, while immediately forcing the God Seeking Palace and Martial Alliance to surrender to him.


    Anyway, these two powers are native and only consist of Spiritual Knights and Wu Zongs, which he had never bothered to consider.


    Accompanying the army in moving out, Fang Yuan instead sat in a magical flying carriage and flipped over numerous jade scrolls.


    All these were naturally the research and fruits of labor from Baize Mountain and the Evil Divine Sect, and he gained a great advantage from them at this moment.


    "Not bad¡­ It''s really not bad. The collective knowledge of the Dream Masters¡ªcombined with usage of demon general inheritances as a reference¡ªis pushing us closer to the brink of recovering our abilities¡­"


    Fang Yuan instantly felt elated after reading this.


    If it wasn''t for him making the first move and not giving any opportunities, those two Sages could''ve really re-ascended to this rank and cause trouble in the future.


    "Shen Tao, you did well this time!"


    Looking at this expert with a higher being status in front of him, Fang Yuan''s facial expressions relaxed. "I''ve decided to appoint you as the vice-mountain leader of the 9 Extremes Mountain. From today onwards, you''ll be higher than everyone in the hierarchy!"


    "Thank you, Sage!"


    Shen Tao bowed without any trace of emotion on his face.


    In reality, Fang Yuan had some feelings of resignation when he chose him.


    After all, he was the first higher being to surrender in the Evil Divine Sect, and he had to focus on finding the one with the most potential. Additionally, the 9 Extremes Mountain, at this moment, urgently needed a high-level military to perform suppression, and the Extreme Darkness and Mengmei were fundamentally not up to standard.


    Ado, however, has enough ability but is unfortunately a demon spirit¡­.


    Anyway to this extent, he was completely fearless of whatever conspiracies there were to revolt under his watch, and he could delegate power to the lower tiers.


    "However, this type of technique is the cultivating method of the Demonic Heart Realm, and it has already conflicted with the methods of the Dream Masters¡­"


    With one look, Fang Yuan found a loophole.


    How can a deprived passageway be rebuilt? Those Dream Masters don''t have golden fingers like he does.


    Hence, they could only choose to learn the cultivation techniques of the Demonic Heart Realm as its origin was similar to the passageway that could be quickly recovered, and they could even be promoted to a Sage. This was already superior to the power of this realm.


    "Not bad, not bad¡­.."


    At this moment, after witnessing this, Fang Yuan immediately decided to refine this cultivation technique and practice it.


    Although this technique is suitable to be learned by a Dream Master, this is ultimately not the original pathway. As time goes by, none of them would become superior to him, as he has already achieved much advantage.


    However, the Dream Masters wouldn''t be useless anymore or have the embarrassing cultivation level of a Spiritual Knight and Wu Zong.


    At this moment, Fang Yuan''s eyebrows rose as he looked ahead, smiling silently.


    "Sage!"


    After a short while, the magic artifact stopped, and a Dream Master reverently said from the outside, "There''s a huge army of demons in front, and there appears to be the outline of a demon general?"


    "Forget it, I''ll go and meet them!"


    Fang Yuan disappeared into the carriage with fast movements.


    The next time he appeared, he was floating high up in the sky and looking down at the dark mass of the demon army.


    "Demon general?"


    He looked around at the surroundings and laughed. "3-tailed¡­ no, two-tailed Scorpion Lion, haven''t you learned your lesson?"


    "Human¡­ You''re too presumptuous. In the Demonic Heart Realm, there are many of us who are similar to you, and there are also those who were attacked and overthrown by us who are of the same kind!"


    The Scorpion Lion, who broke a tail, shouted angrily, "This realm has already become a part of the Demonic Heart Realm, and you can only choose to concede! Transform into the most supreme demon spirit and become a proud member of the Demonic Heart Realm."


    "Get lost!"


    It was answered by Fang Yuan''s punch.


    Kaboom!


    With just one punch, the Earth, Fire, Wind, and Water¡ªeverything was reconfigured.


    "Hmm!"


    Fang Yuan looked around at his surroundings. "It seems¡­ to have some impact."


    "Keke¡­ We''ve gathered all of the demon generals and have employed this array in order to kill capable people like you!"


    Ripples vibrated in the sky, and the image of a 3-tailed Scorpion Lion reappeared.


    "Haha!"


    Fang Yuan could only laugh at this. With a flick of his hand, seven sword-wielding teenagers appeared. They all emitted the aura of a higher being, causing the demon general to change its expression. "The seven demon generals?"

 646 Creating a new era

    A higher being Dream Master can create spirits.


    A Sage Creator can produce an intelligent population!


    Fang Yuan''s current ability could even open up the ground and the heavens and breed all manner of existences.


    At that moment, all the energy was greatly concentrated onto the sword-wielding child, immediately creating the seven higher beings!


    "The Creation pathway is so rich and magical!"


    Fang Yuan clearly knew that the reason for his accumulation of knowledge was in the Demon Hunter Realm.


    However, it was regarded as a huge catastrophe to the other demon generals.


    "The master has instructed us to kill all demon spirits without exception!"


    All of a sudden, accompanied by the shouts of the teenage sword brothers, many of the children responded. Seven sword columns that spanned from the earth to the sky appeared, and it developed into a scene involving the Earth, Fire, Wind, and Water.


    "Seven Constellation Sword Array! Slay!"


    A cloud array encompassed with a murderous vibe appeared, and it instantly suppressed all the arrays that were originally from the demon generals and brought about an air of despair.


    Only this array was enough to contend against them, and since it was controlled by a Sage, the outcome was obvious.


    ¡­


    A few days later, shocking news instantly spread throughout the whole of Da Qian.


    The 9 Extremes Mountain leader has ascended to the level of Sage! Consecutively eliminating eighteen demon generals, and without counting the demon armies, he was the first master to conquer Zhongzhou in his northern expedition!


    No matter how unwilling the God Seeking Palace and the Martial Alliance were, they could only secretly sigh now that their authority has disappeared. The leader of the palace and the alliance personally went to the 9 Extremes Mountain to find Fang Yuan in order to express their submission.


    So far, the original Da Qian arrangement has already been controlled by Fang Yuan.


    In the face of the Sages'' will, who want to destroy even the chaos of the demons, other types of resistances are merely seen as an overambitious attempt.


    All of the average villagers didn''t even have time to thank Fang Yuan. Although it was a little weird to convert from a governing structure to that of a sect, there haven''t been any problems as of this moment.


    After half a year, tens of thousands of miles of the Da Qian territory¡ª99 states, 587 prefectures, and even the Divine Lotus Sect¡ªwere all under the control of the 9 Extremes Mountain.


    The original Da Qian emperor was naturally banished down the historical rubbish chute, and all of the descendants who managed to luckily escape with their lives had to conceal their actual names, in fear of the 9 Extremes Mountain finding out the group of "evil elements from the previous dynasty!"


    Unbeknownst to them, in Fang Yuan''s heart, their value was similar or even less than that of dust.


    The things that could slightly arouse his emotions was any news regarding the Head of the Hidden Dragon Guards.


    According to the God Seeking Palace, the Head of the Hidden Dragon Guards was previously a Dream Master Sage who moved away to a faraway place after the early wars, and his location remains unknown.


    This made Fang Yuan inadvertently sigh and eliminate any thoughts of finding him.


    Although the Da Qian Empire was the core of the Da Qian Realm, the entire realm''s parameters were boundless and far exceeding that of any galaxies.


    In addition, the mainland that he was born in was merely an isolated corner of the wasteland.


    If an ex-sage, an actual Spiritual Knight, was determined to be off in some faraway location, he had to become the head of the realm, or it would be very difficult to find the location of the other person.


    "Forget it¡­."


    Fang Yuan didn''t have any ideas on how to exterminate all evil.


    After all, he already controlled the outstanding powers of Da Qian, all the Dream Masters, Spiritual Knight, and Wu Zongs.


    In addition, a few demon generals also expressed their loyalty to him and revealed their true names.


    With such a foundation, if Fang Yuan was still afraid that he would be inferior to a weak person in terms of progress, he could immediately bash himself to death with a piece of tofu.


    "At the moment, perhaps I can dispatch people to go to the martial artist mainland to take a look? I''m not sure what state the power and the people, that I previously I left behind, are at as of this moment."


    Fang Yuan silently made a decision.


    He couldn''t believe that, til now, just one tyrant in the countryside could muddle around to this state. This made him feel rather emotional.


    Fang Yuan immediately discarded all of these thoughts. He quietly sat in a quiet room that he found in the 9 Extremes Mountain''s headquarters.


    In the midst of his flickering eyes, the secret information from most of the Da Qian Imperial Court, Dream Master Alliance, God Seeking Palace and Martial Alliance flashed in his memories.


    "The cultivation of the creator was similar to Mountain Hollow; it requires hard work and learning how to create and operate a Mountain Hollow¡­ Once you''ve fully grasped it, it will function as the array for appreciating the creator of this realm!"


    After the entire situation has greatly stabilized, Fang Yuan had little interest in obtaining power, and he was completely focused on training.


    "I need to completely research the power of creation! Then, I need to refine the Evil Demon placenta and use this magical item to control the source!"


    His gaze was never restricted to Da Qian alone.


    What he was truly looking forward to was the Demonic Heart or other realms of a higher dimension, or even the Eternal Realm that he has been hearing about!


    "Standing at the pinnacle of the realm and understanding the various environments while finally finding the primary realm that I desire!"


    Fang Yuan''s hands interlocked, and his eyes became crystal clear like colored glaze.


    In this state, he suddenly saw his own Mountain Hollow seeds.


    These seeds seemed to only be as large as mustard, but they were able to actualize the interior of the realm, including the entire True Dream World.


    "Before the other higher beings became Holy Illusionaries, they were considering how they could unlock the prosperous land and promote Mountain Hollow¡­.In comparison, I''m late to the party."


    Despite this, Fang Yuan immediately began to face a vigorous tidal wave of emotions.


    Mountain Hollow is the prototype of a small world.


    What kind of power of creation allows one to create the world with just a wave of one''s hand?


    At the moment, he waved his palms and the sky was immediately crushed.


    With the movement of his body, Fang Yuan came to the outskirts of the Da Qian Realm and silently looked at the flow of the chaotic sea.


    "It should be this place!"


    The Mountain Hollow at this moment was still a half plane, and it could only exist by relying on the Da Qian Realm.


    Hence, after finding a suitable location, Fang Yuan prepared to open up the prototype of the realm.


    "Creating a world is the ultimate example of the power of creation. This will definitely give me some sort of revelation!"


    Fang Yuan''s facial expression became serious, and he waved his hands. The Mountain Hollow seeds fell into the mess and instantly exploded open.


    Kaboom!


    A sound that was so loud that it was indescribable rang out, and a large area of emptiness opened up within the mess. A weak glow appeared in the middle, greedily swallowing the surrounding green air flow.


    Whoosh!


    Two pieces of shield-like objects opened up and instantly transformed the flat surface into a tangible object forming a realm.


    This was the expansion of the Mountain Hollow seeds. After the shape formed, a small prototype of the realm appeared.


    Accompanied with its appearance, it greedily gobbled up the surrounding energy, seemingly breeding some kind of transformation.


    The entire Da Qian Realm appeared to have realized, and waves of energy congregated.


    "The Mountain Hollow is rooted within the realm, and it cannot absorb too much of the realm''s energy or else the will of the Da Qian Realm will interfere¡­."


    Because Fang Yuan is the leader of Da Qian, and he had a status of a human emperor, the God''s will had to provide him with a little special treatment. If it had been someone else, it would''ve been a punishment from the Gods.


    "The realm''s source had¡­ a large explosion here!"


    Fang Yuan suddenly felt that the huge congregation of the energy of creation had purified and became slightly more concentrated within the entire Mountain Hollow prototype.


    At last¡­ Bang!!!


    There was a scene similar to the Big Bang of the universe. The original prototype expanded hundreds and thousands of times, and it instantaneously transformed into a perfect realm.


    The sea¡­ the mainland¡­ successfully appeared.


    Fang Yuan was struck by many revelations related to creation, causing him to fall into a deep state of training and refinement.


    "Creation¡­ actually has so much content¡­"


    After a long time, his whole body shook, and he looked at the Mountain Hollow in front of his eyes.


    The sky was clear, the clouds were floating, and the blue sea was flat like a mirror.


    "Interesting¡­ The sun and the stars aren''t tangible objects but are merely a reflection of energy?"


    Despite this, Fang Yuan also felt that the energy of the sun was genuinely real and could completely support the growth needs of the plants and could even be absorbed by a cultivator.


    At this moment, perhaps due to his rigid thought processes, the entire world was mostly comprised of the simplest seas.


    The only two chunks of mainland were like the map of Tai Chi, where the spiritual air was vastly different for both of them.


    "Chaos is the foundation of all the realms. However, the rocks that form the mainland are actually vastly different!"


    Fang Yuan looked at the two chunks of mainland.


    One of the chunks actually used the 5 elements as its core. The energy cycle was very stable, and furthermore, they had endless potential.


    The other chunk, however, was a combination of light and darkness, and it formed a stable foundation, just like the Yin and Yang duo.


    "Mmm, I''ll call one of them ''the 5 States mainland,'' and the other ''the Yin-Yang mainland''!"


    Fang Yuan nodded his head and said, "God said¡­ If there is light, the world will have light!


    "God said, you need wind to bring about the power necessary for transformation!?"


    Whoosh! Whoosh!


    Just like the era of realm creation.


    The first gust of wind suddenly moved about freely in the realm.


    The waves on the sea started rising and splashing, and the entire realm seemingly became alive.


    Of course, Fang Yuan knew that this life wasn''t real. There was only the movement of energy, and there were no traces of life within the Mountain Hollow.


    "Create!"


    At this moment, he involuntarily shouted out this word as his body emitted an endless glow that sprinkled the grounds and the heavens.


    Within a split-second, the sky and the sea suddenly gained some life, which was carried away to a faraway place by the wind.


    "It''s the birth of seaweed and spores¡­"


    Fang Yuan could detect the changes in the Mountain Hollow and said, "Since it''s simple and too low level, the time flow here is astonishingly fast, even¡­ as the leader of Mountain Hollow, I can still actively affect it¡­"


    He took one step out of the realm, and amidst the chaos, he gazed at the transformation within.


    Some sort of vegetation was seen spreading within the realm, and plants covered the entire mainland after a few thousand years of evolution. Amphibians which were washed up by the sea and onto the mainland had also evolved into various forms.


    The time flow also slowly decreased along with the increased stability of the Mountain Hollow until it reached a state where the ratio stabilized at the rate of 1:300 with the Da Qian realm.


    "One day in the sky is equivalent to one year here?"


    Fang Yuan instantly had some thoughts after seeing this. "Also¡­ with Da Qian being the higher realm, it looks like a heavenly realm from the Mountain Hollow."


    He took one step out onto the Yin-Yang mainland.


    The vegetation here was already very dense, and he could see large chunks of forests everywhere. However, there were very few carnivorous animals.


    Sha! Sha!


    A movement occurred in the woods, and an animal resembling a dog quickly ran over.


    "Hmm¡­ ultimately, it''s a realm that was created, and there are a few irregularities. Mother Nature is the best healer and will automatically restore everything. Now, however¡­"


    Fang Yuan looked at the item in his hand and fell into deep thought.

 647 Civilization

    Magical energy swept across the entire Yin-Yang mainland, and Fang Yuan immediately detected that there was some sort of imbalance here.


    "The species here still aren''t abundant enough¡­ is it because of the short breeding period?"


    His gaze seemingly penetrated the sea, and he could see a few hidden beasts.


    Inside the sea of the Mountain Hollow, countless species of fish were bred and, coupled with the plentiful resources, ultimately produced several large beasts.


    The size of some of the beasts had even exceeded the average person''s imagination.


    "Only a vast sea could allow the development of such a body. So, what were those small animals that came up to shore first?"


    Accompanying Fang Yuan''s thoughts, an extraordinary transformation occurred.


    The original sea surface gradually descended, and the coastline of the two mainlands constantly expanded. This huge transformation forced the huge beasts, which were originally resting in the ocean, to have no choice but to attempt to survive in the shallow sea and even onshore.


    If everything were to continue developing in this manner, the entire Mountain Hollow would inadvertently move towards an era of giant beasts and could even develop a civilization especially for the giant beasts.


    "It seems too dull if it''s just giant beasts."


    Fang Yuan smiled slightly and an Evil Demon placenta appeared in his hands.


    This magical item contains and records the blood vessels and templates of the entire Night Family Clan, and it was extremely convenient to extract and modify them.


    Although he had the abilities of a creator, he couldn''t just create other living beings from nothing, as it could cause some trouble.


    "Living beings adjusted to the qualities of the Yin-Yang mainland¡­ are there."


    After momentarily inspecting the records, Fang Yuan instantly chose two templates, "Werewolves and vampires? Never mind about the werewolves; the template for vampires really needs to be modified!"


    Being a traverser with memories from the previous realms, he had an extreme disgust for the Night Family Clan''s vampires.


    Hence, he unhesitantly removed their ugly looks and exchanged them for the template of a handsome guy and a beautiful girl, while simultaneously adding abilities such as dynamic vision, Blood Technique, et cetera.


    "Hmm, this new race will no longer be called vampires. Instead, we''ll directly call them the ''Blood Race.''"


    Fang Yuan nodded, and he also made some slight adjustments to the werewolf template. He added abilities such as wild intuition, epic strength, et cetera, and of course, he didn''t forget the deep hatred towards the vampires.


    This inscription, that was engraved onto their genes and spirits, was enough to cause these two races to be angered and fight each other to the death should they meet.


    Of course, out of a sadistic interest, Fang Yuan also made a slight adjustment. "The Blood Race and the Werewolves are mortal enemies. Only the power of love could occasionally cause them to break the curse!


    "And lastly, I''ll bestow upon you the power to reproduce by infecting human-like living beings and transforming them into werewolves and vampires!"


    He had to do this.


    "After all, man-apes had just started to appear on the two mainlands; are we going to wait for them to evolve into humans? Haha¡­"


    Not wanting to wait for so long, Fang Yuan could only provide some assistance.


    "First, shall be the way for the human race on the Yin-Yang mainland. The technique for the 5 States mainland cannot be too crude and should follow more traditional templates. Maybe I can throw in some exotic plants or magical fruits that cause man-apes or monkeys to completely change their form after eating them¡­"


    By controlling the power of the Evil Demon placenta and the power of creation, Fang Yuan, as of this moment, could do all sorts of unbelievable things.


    As he was thinking, a snow wolf with long white fur was bound by formless energy and came in front of him, letting out scared whimpers.


    "Don''t worry, it''s a good thing!"


    With a stroke of his hand, a blood-red glow suddenly appeared from the Evil Demon placenta and landed on the snow wolf''s body.


    Ahwhoooo!


    The snow wolf let out a long howl, and the fur on its entire body disappeared. It suddenly transformed into a white-skinned burly fellow, staring at Fang Yuan with a look of confusion.


    "From today onwards, you are the earliest ancestor of the Werewolves¡ªCaesar!"


    With a swipe of his hand, Fang Yuan tossed the werewolf into the jungle and immediately flew into the sky to the other side of the mainland. He grabbed a huge black bat and unleashed the same spell, transforming it into a handsome tall and thin teenager. "You are the earliest ancestor of the Blood Race¡ªDracula! Go!"


    The muddled teenager was thrown into the hole. He wanted to stand up but wasn''t used to it and constantly fell down seven, eight times until he finally barely managed to do so. He then transformed into a large bat, his eyes full of confusion.


    "As the earliest ancestors of the Blood Race and the Werewolves, I will bestow upon you a longer life expectancy than that of an average being!"


    With the quick movement of his body, Fang Yuan vanished from the Yin-Yang mainland, but his godly eyes were focusing on everything that was happening.


    He immediately saw it.


    The hunger-driven Caesar transformed into a huge wolf and started hunting.


    It bit a man-ape and was about to feast on it. Instantly, the fur on the man-ape started shrinking and transformed into the complexion of a white female.


    Ahwhoooo?


    Caesar was stunned and immediately transformed into a human figure.


    Two new humans stared at each other in this manner, and after a while into the dark night, the female looked at the moon and let out a howl, transforming herself into a large wolf¡ªthe second generation of Werewolves was born!


    "The Evil Demon placenta''s corrosive power is very strong. Any template living human being will instantly turn into a Werewolf or Blood Race after being corroded¡­ and won''t return to their previous state."


    Fang Yuan fell into deep thoughts after witnessing this scene.


    Utilizing this method could indeed infect and produce a huge race within a short period of time, but the blood of the entire mainland human race would also be contaminated by the source.


    The human species there, from today onwards, would more or less contain traces of blood from the werewolves and the Blood Race.


    "I''m not sure if there would be a ''Hegemony of the Werewolves and Blood Race'' occurring in the future. That''ll be interesting¡­"


    With slight sadistic interest, Fang Yuan went to the 5 States mainland again.


    After some inspection, he found a few brave and intelligent monkeys and man-apes.


    They were far smarter and stronger than their own species, and they especially liked picking up burnt animals to feast on after forest fires.


    Seeing this, Fang Yuan didn''t hesitate and revealed a few stalks of exotic flowers and herbs to allow some of the pioneers to eat. This completely transformed them and unlocked their intelligence, shortening a long period of time into an instant.


    "The next part is what I''ve been waiting for¡­"


    Anyway as there weren''t any problems in the Da Qian Realm, Fang Yuan directly decided to shut himself within the Mountain Hollow and use the advantage from the fast time flow to understand the Evil Demon placenta via meditation, in order to grasp this magical item quickly.


    In an instant, time flew by and the world changed greatly.


    Inside a part of the cave, Fang Yuan held onto the Evil Demon placenta and already had plenty of revelations. "This magical item looks small, but in reality, it could completely envelop the realm once it''s opened. Learning about it isn''t an easy task, and the best method is still using the energy of the realm. Also, my Mountain Hollow power is the best!"


    The Mountain Hollow power and the development of Mountain Hollow are closely related. His current Mountain Hollow standard is still far from what''s required.


    "With so much time passing by, I wonder what the outside world is like?"


    With slight curiosity, Fang Yuan left the cave and walked onto the 5 States mainland.


    He quickly found some traces of tribal groups.


    "Is this the seeds of civilization?"


    Although the forms of these tribes are very primitive, where agriculture remains at the stage of slash-and-burn, and textile is still non-existent as a majority of them still don animal skins, Fang Yuan was still moved beyond words.


    Resurrecting civilization with humble beginnings was just like that.


    Of course, at the moment, on the 5 States mainland, the actual leader isn''t a human being, but a fearsome giant beast.


    All of them are as large as small mountains, and they could flatten the chain of mountains and destroy the cluster of humans when they''re angered. They''re regarded by all of the tribal people as moving natural disasters!


    Even now, Fang Yuan''s spiritual will was still at the center of the mainland. He found a large kingdom formed by the large beast, which had already started using words and could pass down history.


    "How did this miraculous thing appear?"


    Curiously, he went to investigate, and he realized that it was actually still trouble that was caused by him.


    "Yes¡­ Initially, in order, to transform the human race, I sprinkled many exotic plants; some of which were eaten by giant beasts, and it unlocked their intelligence¡­ However, an entire kingdom formed by a giant beast is confounding no matter how I think about it!"


    Fang Yuan went high up in the skies and looked down at the Giant Beast Kingdom.


    In reality, it''s more appropriate to call it a large tribe.


    Many giants congregated together on a vast plain, giving rise to a very spectacular scene.


    Due to their size and form, it''s impossible for any buildings or clothing to appear. However, what was surprising to Fang Yuan was that they actually had their own words!


    Kaboom!


    Accompanied by a loud sound, a few creatures resembling hippos were pushing along large rocks and stacking them together to form many stone hedges.


    To the giant beasts, these stone hedges had their words and contained their various emotions and entire history!


    This is also why Fang Yuan called them a "kingdom."


    No matter what, having a writing system is equivalent to having a medium for passing on civilization.


    Although¡­ these words in the Giant Beast Kingdom are really too crude and give off the feeling of an offering ceremony to them.


    Roar! Roar!


    Roar! Roar!


    The language of the giant beasts was a chain of unknown shouts, and they wouldn''t be understood by this era''s human race.


    However, Fang Yuan could understand everything.


    "This language, together with the words on the stone hedge, is a song of praise¡­ They''re praising the mighty king for defeating the large beast tribes in the east in the form of a song, and they''ve written down words to prove it¡­"


    Fang Yuan''s face had a look of regret. "Sigh¡­.my Mountain Hollow is too small and has just developed. It''s totally incapable of withstanding a giant beast civilization".


    Very evidently, the amount of food a giant beast consumes in one day is sufficient for many human tribes to eat for a few days.


    Keeping such a crowd of mythical ferocious animals poses a huge burden to any Mountain Hollows.


    If this carries on, unless these giant beasts proactively degenerate and decrease their food intake, they''ll definitely consume and destroy the entire mainland, causing all of mankind to perish.


    Although this follows the laws of Darwin''s evolution, this isn''t what Fang Yuan wanted to see.


    "I''ll have to personally deal with it at the crucial moments!"


    He sighed. "Is this the mindset of a ''God''? The heavens and the earth aren''t benevolent, instead, they''re cruel!"


    At this moment, he was the realm''s consciousness of this Mountain Hollow. Merely thinking would be punishable by the Gods!

 648 Conflic

    Xuan is a member of the Southern Hill tribe.


    According to the words of the high mistress in the tribe, he''s a very strong warrior and is able to kill wild boars on his own. He''s well-versed at using stone axes and wooden spears, and he can even defend against the attacks of five warriors.


    Despite this, he still has to be careful in the jungles, as the human race has never been the "conqueror" of this mainland.


    "Sigh¡­ The food obtained by the females in charge of collection within the tribe is getting smaller. Even the forest is as such¡­"


    Due to the food shortage, Xuan had no choice but to walk further than usual with an empty stomach.


    Two hundred people in their tribe rely on a river valley to grow a little corn and millet every year. In addition, the main source of staple food is completely reliant on the females foraging and warriors hunting.


    Unfortunately, on the mainland, the forest is gradually becoming barren and degenerating into a grassy plain, and various animals are dwindling in numbers.


    He clearly knows that the reason completely lies within those huge beasts! Those mobile natural disasters!


    Although he''s only seen them once from afar, the huge mountain-like forms of the huge beasts and their frightening appetite was deeply engraved in his heart.


    Although he''s the mightiest warrior within the tribe, Xuan clearly knows that his physique isn''t enough to even fit in between the teeth of the huge beasts.


    Following the growth of the huge beasts, the districts that they''re able to live in are dwindling in number.


    Those beasts are impressively omnivorous and eat literally anything.


    That includes all types of meat and the leaves of tall trees. When they''re famished, they can even devour the land.


    What''s most horrifying about them is that they even have groups, and they often move together in a division, just like one large tribe.


    Wherever they pass by, the forest and the grass plains become completely empty and deserted. This is similar to a natural disaster!


    "This year, the tribe has more newborns. I must find sufficient food for them¡­"


    Xuan gritted his teeth, looked at a huge footprint on the ground, and still ventured forward despite all risks.


    At the same time, his heart was also silently praying, "Ancestors! Spirits of the mountains and rivers, the grass, and the trees! And those various entities that are able to hear my voice, please bless me! Bless me so that I can obtain sufficient food!"


    There is no concrete religion within the tribe at the moment. However, there are small traces of ancestors praying, and there''s the widespread belief that all entities have spirits.


    "Hmm!"


    At this moment, Xuan suddenly inhaled a wave of an exotic fragrance.


    Simply inhaling the scent made his appetite increase and the pores on his entire body instantly relax.


    "Exotic flowers and magical fruits?"


    He rose to attention and inadvertently ran in the direction of the fragrance. "This must be the exotic flowers and magical fruits that the high mistress mentioned before! That year''s ancestors were rumored to have eaten a little of the fruit and had transformed completely. The infants in the tribe need it more!"


    Xuan quickly ran through a dense forest and instantly saw vegetation, that looked similar to ginseng, slowly blooming on top of a piece of white rock, bearing a string of purple berries.


    The astonishing fragrance enveloped the surroundings and constantly attracted waves of animals over.


    "Go away¡­ That''s mine!" Xuan shouted. At this moment, he forgot everything and only had that string of fruits in his eyes.


    Poof!


    He waved his wooden spear and penetrated a wild wolf, and he threw out a piece of rock that smashed a colorful poisonous snake to death. He finally stepped onto the huge rock first and grabbed the berries. "This is good¡­"


    Roar! Roar!


    But in the next moment, the ground shook.


    Amidst the horrifying trembles, a black shadow similar to a small mountain appeared, and it was actually a huge beast that charged towards Xuan. Its large open mouth totally appears to have the intention of swallowing him together with the fruits.


    Dum! Dum!


    While the huge beast was running, the grounds and the heavens shook like it was the end of the world.


    Furthermore, that smell made Xuan''s legs shiver and escaping even became a fantasy.


    This is the power and influence of the top predator!


    Just using its smell and aura, it could make an average hunter freeze and allow it to attack him anyway it wanted.


    "Am I going to die?"


    Xuan''s heart roared frantically, and his eyes suddenly became bloodshot. He suddenly placed the fruits in his mouth. "I''d rather eat it than give it to you!"


    Thump!


    Once the fruit entered his stomach, a stream of flowing heat immediately rose.


    Instantly, the giant beast''s large mouth closed and swallowed Xuan, whole, into its stomach.


    Just like a snake swallowing something, it stuck its tongue out and licked its mouth, longing for more. Immediately after, it started slowly gnawing at the forest.


    Kaboom!


    After some time, the giant beast''s expression changed, and it let out a huge roar. Its large body tumbled and rolled about on the ground, pressing down on many trees.


    Inside its stomach, there was a slight trace of a red radiance, shimmering across its stomach.


    "Ahhh!!!"


    After half an hour of insanity, the giant beast finally stopped struggling and had no traces of life.


    However, there was a large burnt hole which opened up in its underbelly. Xuan''s whole body was alit with flames as he ran out from the giant beast''s stomach. "I¡­ I didn''t die! I lived!" He shouted excitedly and instantly looked at his palms.


    Those burning flames actually didn''t cause him any harm. Instead, they transformed into different shapes based on his intentions.


    "This is¡­ my ability?"


    Xuan looked at this spectacle in confusion and finally accepted this truth after a long time. "That string of fruits! I obtained my ability from that string of fruits and killed the giant beast!"


    This huge prey underneath him gave him endless joy. "With so much meat, it should be enough for our tribe to eat for a year?"


    He could imagine what kind of praise and respect he would receive when he brings this spoil of victory and flame ability back.


    A wild thought slowly spread in Xuan''s heart.


    "Why¡­ does the tribe need to listen to the high mistress?"


    "I want to become the tribe leader¡­ I want to integrate all of the tribes across the large river and be the leader of the entire human race¡­ I want¡­ to be king!!!"


    ¡­


    "Kid, work hard!"


    Similar to a God, Fang Yuan looked down at this scene from above.


    This time, he used his own ability in cultivation to cooperate with the power of creation, and widely distributed them in the 5 States Mainland.


    Various fruits with magical powers were dispatched to different tribes, especially the blood vessels that were restricted within which could only inspire the humans'' innate skills.


    If the other tribes knew of everything that was going on, they would definitely loudly denounce the injustice of the creator and the god of creation.


    But Fang Yuan acted according to his heart''s content and shifted his gaze to the Yin-Yang Mainland.


    Compared to the delight of the giant beasts in the 5 States Mainland, the situation in the Yin-Yang Mainland was much better.


    That''s because of the initial breeding and expansion of the Blood Race and the Werewolves. Even though the giant beasts came up to shore back then, it was only considered to be one more food competitor.


    The Blood Race and the Werewolves simultaneously, without discussion, made the giant beasts their prey.


    In reality, the giant beasts only had a huge body size and a little more strength. It was inferior to the two races in terms of flexibility and the survival of the fittest¡­


    If Fang Yuan had set it beforehand so that the Blood Race and the Werewolves could only infect human beings, there may already be oddities such as giant beast werewolves or giant beast vampires.


    However, within the Werewolf community and the Blood Race governed districts, there were also those who domesticated giant beasts and provided them meat; this impressed and surprised Fang Yuan.


    Indeed, these overly large animal species would slowly be exterminated in his pre-set environment.


    And this time, he reached a key moment.


    Within the hegemony between the three races, the Werewolves and the Blood Race already eliminated the giant demons and conquered all of the districts within the mainland. Now, the territory of the two races are already completely bordering one another, and no matter how pragmatic or brave the leader is, he''s probably unable to avoid the outbreak of war.


    ¡­


    Blood castle.


    As the Yin-Yang Mainland had the assistance of Fang Yuan to develop, its civilization standard was one level higher than that of the 5 States Mainland.


    While the humans on the other side were still living the life of a savage, the werewolves and vampires here already knew how to use stones to build houses and castles, and they''ve formed a city.


    The Blood castle on the western side of the mainland is the governing core of the Blood Race and is the living quarters of the first ancestor¡ªDracula.


    On the sides of the Blood castle at this moment, there were a few large giant beasts linked by thick metal chains, while the other side was deep underground or embedded in the mountain to form a restraint.


    Countless strong men, who acted as blood servants, adeptly waved their metal spears at the sides of the giant beasts'' feet, plunging and creating many large wounds and using a wooden bucket to contain the fresh blood.


    After the wooden buckets were sent to Blood castle, many high-level vampires naturally came out. They wore maid clothes, and an envoy, carrying a silver tray, used a goblet to contain the blood and offered it in the main hall.


    "My lords!"


    At the seat of honor sat Dracula who had aged considerably, with a head full of silver hair, and a face with deep wrinkles.


    However, to many of the high-level Blood race, this ancestor is the most powerful being!


    That''s because its life expectancy was so high that it has exceeded that of many second and third generation vampires, and he has always firmly maintained the pinnacle of power.


    At this moment, Dracula''s voice was like a night owl, and the smile on his face gave people goosebumps. "Fresh blood is life!"


    "Flesh blood is life! Fresh blood is everything!"


    Many vampires raised their wine glasses and drunk heartily, awaiting the ancestor''s next sentence.


    "In this entire mainland, there can only be one leader! At this moment, there isn''t any excess territory that can be allocated to us. We need to defeat those disgusting, vulgar, and dirty werewolves! Take away everything they have!"


    Dracula slowly declared all of his thoughts, "In order to engage in war more effectively, we need a better system. Hence, I''ve decided to reorganize our families by using some sort of symbols to differentiate between class and territory. Hmm, let''s call it ''title of nobility!'' First, we''ll split up into five ranks of males, and the most basic vampire rank ''Boy'' can obtain five hundred acres of land. In his land, he has complete authority over his own people and descendants! However, as a result of this, he needs to express loyalty towards the commanding officer of a higher level, who is of the Blood Race rank ''Son''¡­ Going up the ranks, all of the vampires that are ranked ''Senior'' must submit to me and obtain approval!"


    Dracula stood up and announced loudly, "From today onwards, I am the first Grand Duke of the Blood Race! Dracula! In the future, after governing this piece of the mainland, I''ll be coronated as King!"


    "Grand Duke!"


    "Dracula!"


    Countless vampires cheered together and celebrated the birth of a prototype kingdom.


    However, their enemies in the northeast were still clueless about what was going on, and they continued living like wild beasts with the structure of a clan and a tribe.

 649 The Figh

    The banquet for the higher-ups of the Blood Race consisted of debauchery and degradation.


    Nobody knew that the higher-up Dracula, who resembled a demon king, didn''t play indescribable games with the female descendants as per usual after the banquet ended, but instead went to the study room.


    This is Dracula''s forbidden area. Any Blood Race who commits the offense of trespassing into this area will only have one outcome¡ªto be punished with fire and burnt to death!


    Compared to the rash Caesar, Dracula praised himself as a wise being. He even gathered all the descendants with high intelligence to specialize in writing a set of words for the vampires and even create books to record everything.


    At this moment, Dracula put down his wine cup and stroked the handle of a chair, flicking a switch mechanism.


    Crack! Crack!


    A secret door appeared and revealed a staircase leading down.


    He carried an oil lamp and walked down silently.


    This secret chamber was very small; the four sides were empty, and a mere statue of a man was erected in the center.


    "God? Dominator? Or maybe some sort of indescribable greatness exists¡­ You created me, but I have many doubts that I want you to answer in person¡­" the Grand Duke Dracula mumbled.


    Although he has already conquered half of the mainland, he would never forget the scene where he had become a newborn and the face of that youth.


    "If you are God¡­ That hatred engraved in my blood is the destiny that you''ve bestowed upon me. I will complete it and exterminate those damned werewolves!"


    Dracula kneeled on the floor and prayed like a devout believer.


    The statue, which had a face resembling Fang Yuan, didn''t display any emotions. An indifferent look gazed down, as though it were overlooking all living creatures.


    In the Yin-Yang Mainland during the 72nd era of the Blood Race, under Dracula''s leadership, the vampires finalized the modifications to the system and created strict ranks. This turned them into precise fighting machines.


    In the 73rd year, a war between the Blood Race and the Werewolves broke out!


    Over tens of thousands of vampires and werewolves congregated on the plains, the entire scene looked very majestic.


    At this moment, Grand Duke Dracula, instead, rode a giant beast with his body clad with thick armor.


    Mining and smelting were also techniques that were discovered by the vampires.


    At this moment, the army of fifty-thousand vampires that were under his command was, impressively, dressed in full body armor. Not only did they wear full body armor like hauberks and plated knight armors, but they also held intricate swords.


    In comparison, although the werewolves on the other side had sloppily gathered about seventy to eighty thousand in strength, it was easy to notice that their situation felt full of barbarism.


    Fang Yuan, who was watching the war from up in the clouds, saw this scene and inadvertently associated it with the resistance between the medieval knights and the barbarians.


    Roar! Roar!


    Many vicious beasts roared angrily under the crotches of the vampire knights. Some of them also wore metal armor and seemingly looked like the pillars of a steel fortress.


    These were produced from the time when Dracula tried to domesticate the giant beasts that he had previously captured and used to breed the smaller descendants.


    These beasts were obtained after nurturing. Not only did they have endless strength, but they were also born with sharp claws and teeth that could tear raw meat.


    Now that they were ridden by knights, they could definitely fling the horses away.


    Roar! Roar!


    At this moment, a wolf''s howl suddenly came from the werewolves camp.


    Ahwhoooo!


    This sound was high-pitched and carried with it an indescribable sense of motivation.


    Nearly all of the werewolves, upon hearing the sound, inadvertently became red-eyed and transformed into the form of an upright, roaring werewolf.


    Pack Enrage skill!


    The innate skill of the werewolves blood and the abilities of the vampires were often restricted by the werewolves, and they were far too inferior during individual combat.


    Ahwhoooo!


    Ahwhoooo!


    Amidst the series of wolf howls, many werewolves charged forward with their hands and feet.


    "Pass the order down, dispatch!"


    Dracula silently watched this scene as he brandished and shook his long sword.


    The hysterical screams of the forerunner were transmitted to the ears of every single vampire knight through Blood magic, and all of the knights instantly charged forward on their beasts.


    Kaboom!


    They charged forward endlessly with increasing speed, and they, ultimately, even transformed into a torrent of steel.


    Thump!


    The two armies viciously clashed together.


    The werewolves were horrified when they realized that their sharp claws and teeth that used to take pride in, at most, merely left a deep scratch on the steel plates during the clash. They were fundamentally unable to injure the vampires protected inside.


    Nevertheless, with this stunning technique, the steel-clad giant beasts roared and directly crushed them, leaving behind a path of flesh and blood.


    Even the power of the werewolves couldn''t even match up to the descendants of the giant beasts!


    "This is the power of the system, the power of metal and blood¡­"


    Dracula looked at this scene with a slight smile. "Early on, before the war, I released a decree. Whoever contributes to the victory of this war will have more land and be awarded one rank!"


    Although the concentration of the Blood Race was fixed, as long as it wasn''t the second or third generation of the Blood Race, it was very easy to raise the level of a few vampires to a first generation ancestor like him. A drop of fresh blood will suffice.


    However, this was actually enough to spark excitement among the entire Blood Race.


    In front of the enthusiastic vampire army with strict military discipline, excellent equipment, and motivated with a reward, the werewolves who were still stuck in an uncivilized tribal era were instantly at a disadvantage.


    In just one charge, the wave consisting of the bravest werewolves was completely exterminated. More of the werewolves were, instead, shouting frantically and choosing to flee from the battleground.


    This act of fleeing not only pushed the other werewolves towards an irredeemable abyss, it further caused their backs to be exposed easily in front of their enemies.


    In the midst of their pursuit, the vampire knights obtained a victory result that was ten times better than before but with minimal casualties.


    "Kill Caesar!"


    "Kill Caesar!"


    Seeing that victory had already been set in stone, a trace of red inadvertently flashed across Dracula''s eyes as he loudly cheered.


    "Kill Caesar!"


    Many vampire knights shouted hysterically, charging towards the core of the werewolves.


    Ahwhoooo!


    A sad and shrill cry ran out.


    Dracula clearly saw a giant wolf with a body full of pure white fur and a forehead with a golden imprint appear. Just like a king, it tore apart a few vampire knights and rapidly escaped from the battlefield.


    "Caesar¡­ My old enemy. You exceeded me in the path of individual transcendence, but it''s no use¡­"


    The Grand Duke murmured softly upon seeing this scene.


    ¡­


    When the sun set, the vampires set up their tents and happily enjoyed the fruits of war from their victory.


    "In this war, we directly killed twenty thousand werewolf knights and took thirty thousand as captives, completely defeating the powerhouses of the werewolves!"


    Dracula drank the blood of the werewolves and suddenly knocked on the table. He lowered his voice. "However, Caesar ran away. This old nemesis possesses an unimaginable intuition. If he continued to delay for just a moment, I would''ve unleashed Blood magic with the Blood family''s board of elders and completely trap him to death!"


    "Now, it can be said that the entire mainland is in our possession. However, the war against the werewolves has to continue, hence, I''ve decided¡­ to turn all the captured werewolves into slaves. We need them to help the higher-rank Blood Race mine, smelt¡­ even become the warriors of our Blood Race!"


    Dracula knocked on the table. "Of course, this isn''t something that can be done overnight. It requires a long period of training, but we have to put forward the patience that we used to domesticate those giant beasts!"


    "What?"


    "Retain those werewolves?"


    "Even if they''re used as slaves, we''re letting them off too easily!"


    Just as imagined, this suggestion instantly roused torrents of activity and talk among the vampire nobility.


    Even though they were high-ranks amongst the Blood Race and could slightly control the hatred in their blood, they were ultimately still unable to repress their natural instinct.


    "If Caesar had already been beheaded, I would definitely exterminate all the werewolves and wipe these brutes completely from this realm¡­"


    Dracula said slowly, "But the key issue now is¡­ that Caesar has escaped. With his existence, the werewolves wouldn''t become extinct, hence¡­ we need to change our approach. Every Blood Race member is precious. We can let all the werewolves kill each other! This is my decision!"


    Using the authority of the rank of Grand Duke in the Blood Race, this decision was ultimately fully implemented.


    The thirty thousand captured werewolves would be reduced to slaves, and they even wore specially created chains and shackles that could suppress their ability to transform into wolves.


    They would offer their service to the nobility in the form of humans, withstand all the hard labor, and even become sources of fresh blood.


    ¡­


    "Countess Catherine!"


    Inside the army camp, many werewolves were close together and the stench was horrible.


    A lady wearing a high-class evening dress walked in leisurely and looked over each cage.


    The Blood guard who was keeping watch instantly bent his body and bowed. "Your honor, what''s the purpose of your visit?"


    "Following the Grand Duke''s orders, I want to choose some slaves for myself!"


    Catherine smiled charmingly. "The iron mine in my territory requires at least ten thousand werewolves to exploit, and¡­ I need to find a little fun for myself at the same time."


    As she was speaking, she stopped in front of a cage and looked at the werewolf inside.


    At this moment, the other party had already completely undone its wolf transformation and had changed into the appearance of a human teenager.


    That golden yellow curly hair and sky-blue eyes made the matriarch''s eyes sparkle as she licked her red lips. "This is a teenage wolf right?"


    "Correct, in the perspective of a werewolf, he is indeed only a teenager, but he''s very aggressive and has injured many of our knights. In order to suppress him, we even had no choice but to unleash a spell!"


    "Alright, I want him then."


    Catherine laughed as her leather boots entered the cage and stroked the teenager''s chin. "What''s your name¡­ Never mind! It''s not important at all what you were called before. From this day forth, you are my slave¡ªSisay!"


    Roar! Roar!


    The teenager''s gaze revealed a hint of aggression as he struggled, as though he wanted to bite someone.


    "Hehe¡­ I cannot allow you to bite me!"


    The countess smiled as she retracted her beautiful feet. "In the future, I''ll ''love'' you dearly.


    "Sir?"


    The Blood guards at the side instantly looked a little lifeless.


    "Prepare a slave collar for him, engraved with the name Sisay!"


    Catherine returned to her cold arrogant look. "In addition to that, add his master''s name. From this day forth, he''s considered to be my property, do you understand?"


    "Yes, my lady!"


    A few vampires loudly answered.


    However, the teenage werewolf inside the cage was still clueless, and he totally didn''t understand that its destiny had already been changed.

 650 Destroy

    "Love truly is a magical thing!"


    Fang Yuan looked at the screen in front of him. There were scenes of Countess Catherine and the teenage werewolf Sisay.


    "Sometimes, the thing that think is love, is only a creator''s small prank in the secretion of hormones¡­"


    Of course, he also knew that the power of the mind is limitless.


    After love grows stronger, it wouldn''t be blood and genes that would bind them.


    At the moment, he didn''t bother about the melodramatic plot that would be happening soon in the Yin-Yang Mainland. Instead, he shifted his attention to the 5 States Mainland.


    ¡­


    In the Temple of Heaven.


    Xuan was wearing a solemn but gorgeous attire, he began offering sacrifices to the gods. "Today, the tribes above and below Giant River made an oath to become allies and offer sacrifices to the heavens as one. I, Xuan, have been nominated to be the master. I will do my best to obtain the world for my people. If I have any hint of selfishness, I will be struck by lightning!"


    Below him were people from different tribes, all packed together.


    After obtaining the power of flames, Xuan was naturally treated as God, who had descended down onto the land. He was first able to snatch the rights of his own tribe, and after a series of arrangements, and with a demonstration of his might, he was finally able to control the tribes near the Giant River. He had assembled a huge population that was way over tens of thousands, and he could form thousands of large units.


    The humans were living in crowded conditions, bringing about a burden, and becoming more serious a problem.


    Especially the giant beasts that were wandering around; they were great challenges for the new tribe.


    "¡­ Today, I, Xuan swear to get rid of the giant beasts that are harming us, humans. If there is anyone above, please assist me!"


    Til the end, Xuan finally spoke out his request.


    As it turns out, the sacrificial ceremony this time wasn''t only to announce the successor of the leader but was also to wage war with the giant beasts.


    Of course, with the current ability of Xuan''s forces, they had no idea that there was a giant beast kingdom on the mainland and that there was already a civilization that belonged to them.


    What they really wanted to wage a war against was only the few wild giant beasts wandering around within a hundred plus miles of here.


    Even so, it could also be said that he was gambling with the kingdom''s destiny!


    And, as the ritualist of ancient times, Fang Yuan obtained the information firsthand.


    "Hmm? Going on a punitive expedition for the giant beasts? This fellow is doing great¡­


    "However, there''s a member of the Giant Beast Kingdom among the wandering giant beasts¡­ Once it''s killed there, The giant beast civilization will be startled."


    If the Giant Beast Kingdom used all the effort to attack them here, the new human tribe wouldn''t be spared, and they would be crushed into powder.


    And, of course, Fang Yuan wouldn''t allow this to happen.


    "The power of a heavenly abode doesn''t only need enough ordinary bodies, but it also needs unusual types!"


    In the Yin-Yang Mainland, he had already organized the power of the blood. On this 5 States Mainland, Fang Yuan wanted to do something different.


    "In the ancient legends, there were educational events that happened regardless of one''s background. I might be able to imitate them¡­"


    In actual truth, he needed a lot of guinea pigs in order to put forth the countless ideas that he had gotten after he had previously appropriated too much information and cultivation techniques.


    "First, I''ll distribute the half-completed cultivation techniques and ideas and see what fruits they''ll bear¡­"


    Even if there were flaws in a certain cultivation technique, it would probably be able to be used after a few generations, or even after the improvisation from over ten generations of cultivators.


    Of course, these were only assumptions for the future.


    For now, the thing that he had to solve was still the Giant Beast Kingdom!


    "Since this is the situation, I cannot help but side with one of them¡­"


    After muttering this on his own, Fang Yuan turned his gaze to the Giant Beast Kingdom.


    ¡­


    Meng liked to raise his head to look at the starry night.


    As a giant beast, it boasted himself as a scholar among giant beasts because he could understand over 30 giant stone array words. Only the Giant Beast Elder from the tribe that was in charge of designing stone arrays could exceed that.


    It was said that his ability had already attracted the attention of the Giant Beast King. The king had plans of allowing it to take over the position of the Giant Beast Elder and become the supervisor of the creation of the giant stone arrays.


    However, Meng didn''t like this arrangement. He liked to study the shining stars above much more.


    As the powerful lord of the mainland, there was no living thing that could challenge giant beasts on the 5 States Mainland at the moment.


    Hence, they lived in satisfaction, and they didn''t have any urges.


    Aside from their hunger urges that made them gobble large amounts of food, it had plenty of free time to do whatever it wanted.


    Compared to the other giant beasts, which preferred to sleep, Meng liked star-gazing the most.


    The small shining dots seemed to have a unique regularity, and they were even closely linked to the changes in nature.


    This discovery was uncovered after Meng''s long observation. It had yet to tell any other giant beast about it.


    It prepared to build a large giant stone array as a memento after it could fully uncover the set of regularities.


    Hmm, it ought to be bigger than the largest giant stone array!


    When the time arrived, it would then request a real position from the king. It would be a giant beast that would take care of the stars and specialize in observing astrology.


    "I must tell the king¡­ that the endless eating habits cannot continue!"


    As the wise one among the giant beast clan, it was worried as it saw the desert-like plains increasing in size with the rise in the Giant Beast Kingdom''s population.


    Under the immense appetite of the giant beasts, the nearby forest had quickly transformed into a field, and the field had transformed into a desert¡ªwhen one was hungry, the giant beasts would eat anything, and the grass wasn''t an exception!


    "Maybe I can suggest this to the king¡­ to allow the giant beasts to follow the motion of the stars'' regularity and try to eat less. We cannot stay at the same place for too long¡­ Furthermore, the tribes can be spread out as much as possible."


    Unfortunately, just as the idea surfaced, Meng shook its head in regret.


    Although it knew that this would be beneficial in the long term, there were really too few giant beasts that could think like Meng.


    It was clear that if it did suggest this to the king, it would be banished from its clan and become a wanderer.


    "In actual truth, it''s not too bad to become a wanderer¡­"


    Suddenly, a disgraceful thought surfaced in its mind.


    However, it was still suppressed promptly.


    "Hmm!"


    At this moment, it raised its head to gaze at the stars in the sky, its large eyes filled with curiosity.


    Roar! Roar!


    At the side, another giant beast, the size of a hill rubbed against it, made a low roar as if it was asking something.


    "That star¡­ Something''s wrong!"


    Meng looked at that star and suddenly felt immense fear. "The path of its orbit is completely different from before¡­ No¡­ it''s falling!"


    Roar! Roar!


    An indescribable fear attacked its mind and made it roared uncontrollably.


    Immediately, all the giant beasts that had heard its roar raised their heads, looking at the shooting star that was growing with every passing moment.


    In their eyes, this shooting star appeared to be crimson red, just like blood, and was dragging its long flaming tail through the sky. It was magnificent, even to the point that it kept growing bigger.


    "The star¡­ dropped!"


    Meng roared loudly. It looked at the growing blood-colored shooting star, but it didn''t know which direction it should escape to.


    Kaboom!


    Finally, the giant shooting star cut open the layer of clouds, and its terrifying size appeared, blotting out the sky. Its area could, coincidentally, envelop the entire Giant Beast Kingdom.


    Whoosh!


    All the giant beasts that were either playing or eating, felt that the sky became dark all of a sudden.


    Promptly¡­


    Rumble!!!


    The mainland shook. The strong up and down movement could even be felt in the Yin-Yang Mainland.


    The sky and ground crashed into each other!


    Shooting stars fell from the sky as if they were destroying the world!


    A commotion instantly arose within the Giant Beast Kingdom.


    The giant beasts, that usually only knew how to display their brute force, for the first time they felt hopelessness under this overwhelming force.


    Even the wise ones among them only thought a little more than the other giant beasts. Facing the threat of extinction, there seemed to be no use of displaying their schemes.


    At the exact moment that the shooting stars fell, the entire giant beast civilization, including its king and its average members, instantly turned to mush, dead.


    However, something strange happened.


    Logically, this disaster that destroyed half of the mainland would eventually spread to the whole world. Even the dust from it would also be able to envelop the world in darkness.


    However, the collision of the sky and ground had an unbelievably small after-effect.


    Even Xuan, who was on a giant beast punitive expedition in the 5 States Mainland, could only feel a large earthquake.


    "Don''t panic, this is a hint from God that we can definitely eliminate those giant beasts!"


    He re-organized the troops and went to pursue the large footprints. Finally, he discovered a resting giant beast at a mountain valley.


    "Don''t be afraid, they''re only beasts that are slightly larger! Compared to lions and tigers, they''re much dumber! Fei!"


    Xuan lightly called out a trusted man''s name.


    A youth wearing a beast''s skin came forward immediately. He shook his body, and a pair of wings emerged from his back. He held onto Xuan and flew.


    Fang Yuan didn''t only create Xuan when he was creating extraordinary people.


    In actual truth, there were a few that had awakened their special abilities among the Giant River tribe.


    Of course, among them, there were few that failed in fighting for power and were killed or exiled. Some were disheartened and chose to flee to a faraway place. The remaining ones were controlled by Xuan.


    This teenager named Fei was obviously one of the latter.


    He fanned his wings, and like a hawk, he soared in the sky and flew to the top of the giant beast''s head. He then put Xuan down.


    "Fire!"


    Xuan took a deep breath and a large quantity of flames gushed out from his body, forming a ray of arrows. It pierced through the eyeball of the giant beast.


    Poof!


    While the blood sprayed, a ground-shattering cry was heard.


    The large giant beast immediately began to struggle.


    "Die!"


    At this moment, Xuan was caught by Fei. Suddenly, he stabbed suddenly, blinding the giant beast in the other eye.


    Things proved that in front of a human''s intelligence, those giant beasts that only knew how to act rashly were no different from a three-year-old brat.


    "Protect yourself. After its insanity has passed, and when it''s tired, we''ll attack again by cutting its veins and bleed it to death¡­"


    ¡­


    After half a day.


    Standing on top of the hill-like corpse of the giant beast, Xuan held his weapon up high and received the cheers of all the warriors, "King! King!!!"

 651 The Beginning

    After Fang Yuan mischievously threw out a small stone and dominated the 5 States Mainland, the Giant Beast Kingdom, with its unique civilization, disappeared just like that.


    In front of the creator, even a king of the mainland was as insignificant as dust.


    "However, there was some good from the sea beasts that came ashore¡­"


    Fang Yuan''s magical abilities spread and instantly found a lot of descendants from the giant beasts on the two mainlands.


    These descendants underwent degeneration and already lacked the huge body structure and appetite that their ancestors had, and their temperament was much gentler. To the various species on the mainland, this was a huge boon.


    ¡­


    On the 5 States Mainland.


    After eradicating the nearby giant beasts, Xuan used his mighty force and immense prestige to directly integrate all of the human tribes. He built a giant tribe that constantly spread outwards to its surroundings, with the Giant River valley as its core. He called this a "nation."


    This newly-developed country half focused on plantations and the other half on herding, and they''ve already started to discover fallowing and other techniques. Even slaves have begun to appear.


    Many newly-discovered tribes were called "barbarians," and compared to the "countrymen" of the Giant River tribe, the barbarians didn''t have much political authority, and they had to occasionally pay tribute to Xuan in order to obtain recognition. If they couldn''t pay enough tributes, everything would be taken away from them, and they had to bear the risk of being demoted to being a slave.


    Xuan and the earliest royal slave owners enjoyed an extremely lavish lifestyle under the hard labor of the slaves while the entire country was also steadily developing.


    During this period, traces of the Giant Beast Kingdom was also discovered, especially those mysterious hedge stone words that, to the human tribes, appeared to be for worshipping the Gods.


    The priests of the Xuan Nation obtained some revelations from the hedge stones and discovered the mystery hidden within. They constantly improved their own country''s words and other aspects.


    An emerging human country was progressively improving on the 5 States Mainland.


    ¡­


    In an instant, decades passed.


    Xuan also gradually entered old age and caught a common illness that all ancient feudal kings suffered from¡ªSkepticism, fear!


    Always worrying that a stronger replacement would appear and rob them of their authority!


    As such, he started finding excuses and excluded outsiders, wanting to support his own son to rise and become the leader of the Xuan nation.


    Very evidently, this worsening change initially faced a lot of resistance, and various open and hidden obstacles gave Xuan no choice but to implement more drastic measures in order to oppress them. This brought about turmoil for the entire country.


    Peng was a barbarian of the Xuan Nation.


    In reality, in his knowledge, he himself was still a tribal member.


    It was only a situation where the tribe was conquered by a larger tribe. Hence, they themselves must diligently pay tribute, or they would be subjugated.


    Hence, within this small tribe, they had a sense of envy and animosity towards the countrymen that were rumored to live within the high walls and drive slaves to farm for them while they enjoyed the fruits of their labor, without putting in any effort.


    However, Peng didn''t think about it that much.


    As a woodsman, his goal today was to gather sufficient firewood to exchange for food.


    Why did he gather and not chop them?


    It really is too wasteful to use stone knives to chop firewood.


    Although he heard that there are many more cost-efficient, uncomparably sharp bronze tools and farming equipment that could be exchanged within the city walls, those were evidently too extravagant for him.


    Unknowingly, he went deep into the mountains.


    White clouds permeated, and unnamed wild flowers were rampant, carrying a sweet fragrance.


    However, Peng had a look of wariness in his eyes.


    Although there were many fruits that could cause people to obtain special abilities in the wilderness, many more were still poisonous!


    The number of unlucky people who died from poisoning every year far exceeded those who obtained abilities. The more brightly-colored the wild flowers and fruits were, the higher the probability was that it could result in death!


    Hence, cowardly Peng had always stayed far away from such things.


    "High up in the clouds lies a bed of truth. Other than the heavens and the earth, the person to be revered the most is one''s master¡­"


    Accompanying the crisp sound of a bell, a dimly distinct sound burrowed into his ears and made his entire body extremely spirited. He could hear and see better, as though all of his pores opened up, and he quickly ran towards the source of the sound as if he was possessed.


    The source of the sound was in a small valley blooming with hundreds of flowers.


    Peng looked around and saw that, next to the murmuring stream in front of him, there was a large stone with a white rush cushion placed on top of it. A celestial old man, wearing both black and white clothes, was stroking his beard as his gentle eyes looked down.


    Peng, at that moment, was completely unaware that the clothes on the old man''s body were a Taoist robe and Tai Chi, and he simply felt that his temperament was even more distinct than the tribal leaders.


    At that moment, in the surrounding area, a few barbarian woodsmen were evidently attracted here, just like him.


    What frightened them further was the fact that humans were a minority amongst them. There were more wild mountain wolves, deers, rabbits, mice, and a pack of larks; there was even a large colorful snake settling in the tree at the side.


    Various mountain creatures flocked together at this very moment, without a hint of panic, causing Peng to be amazed as he looked on.


    "May I dare inquire as to your identity, old man?"


    At this moment, a brave woodsman walked forward and cupped his hands before his chest as he asked respectfully.


    "I''m not a person. I''m an immortal!"


    The old man in the Taoist robe, who could be referred to as Fang Yuan''s avatar, stroked his beard and spoke indifferently.


    "What''s an immortal?"


    At this moment, these people evidently had no concept of a spiritual deity, and their gaze looked clueless.


    "I do not die from old age, and I have limitless magical powers. That is an ''immortal''!"


    Fang Yuan smiled slightly. "Riding the righteousness of heaven and earth, but resisting the six energies; someone who endlessly explores is an immortal!"


    He also said, "Herbivores die foolishly, carnivores bravely defend, granivores smartly die at a young age, energy-consumers admirably live a long life, while those who do not eat become immortal Gods. Consuming energy but not eating a majority of the time in order to cultivate immortality!"


    The atmosphere in the surroundings changed as he spoke.


    The ground gushed with golden light as Earth, Fire, Wind, and Water appeared, magically transforming into limitless magical powers.


    "Mutant!!"


    "Mutant!!"


    Peng roughly understood. A person is referred to as an immortal if he uses his own cultivation to obtain abilities similar to what a mutant gets after consuming the exotic flowers and magical fruits, and they even have a life-prolonging effect.


    He kneeled down with the rest of the people without hesitation.


    After all, the prolonging of one''s life was something that not even Xuan could do!


    "Mutant, please teach me!"


    Amidst the chorus of numerous humans, those Simian Spirits and mountain river deers similarly kneeled and bowed with their hands clasped in front of them in a humble manner.


    "You should wait to enter my door. If it''s fated, you can call me Master and learn my magical technique!"


    Fang Yuan''s laughed.


    Didn''t he make this claim because that was the case?


    Anyway, the Dream Masters have done a lot of research. There are those that are suitable for humans, and there are also those that are suitable for other species to cultivate and can be fully practiced by everyone.


    "Master!"


    Peng didn''t know what this term meant, but this didn''t deter him from shouting the same thing as the others.


    "Students, so I''ll preach, teach, and clear your doubts! I have many roads that can each be proven¡­ Today, I''ll begin by talking about the Energy Consumption Inner Refinement technique. As the saying goes, the ethics of Taoism contains the spirit of struggles. Although the concepts of ''no action, no dispute'' is often discussed in doctrines, its essence is that this is only its means and form, and the root of its purpose lies within having positive progress."


    This was evidently the Human Refinement technique and coupled with Fang Yuan using an enlightening teaching method to demonstrate this secret technique, even an uneducated illiterate Joe will listen with relish.


    In addition, a few white monkeys at the side had already displayed their stance, faced the sky, and entered the realm of cultivation.


    Peng didn''t have the innate talent of attaining pure innocence in his heart, but he still tried his best to remember each sentence and word with his heart.


    Along with Fang Yuan''s preaching, the life forms that gathered outside were also increasing, and everyone became intoxicated by his words.


    Fang Yuan silently laughed internally upon realizing this scene, and he continued talking constantly.


    By the second day, there were already white monkeys contributing fruits, red-crowned cranes contributing flowers, and a few people¡ªincluding Peng¡ªrandomly digging out some mountain herbs and Solomon''s seals to fill their stomachs as they continued to listen.


    Fang Yuan talked about the Golden Pill technique yesterday, so he didn''t mention it this time. He directly taught them the Divine Spirit refinement, the out-of-body experience, and the method of absorbing spiritual energy from nature.


    This was greatly beneficial, regardless of whether the audience was a human or a beast, especially the technique of absorbing the essence of the sun and the moon. The energy of the sun was much more beneficial to the other species.


    "What I''m learning from the teacher is literally all-inclusive¡­"


    Peng kept listening for seven consecutive days and nights. During this period, Fang Yuan casually described tens of refinement techniques. Each of them was profound and subtle, and he explained these deep topics with basic terminology as if there were still endless mysteries that could be unearthed.


    Buzz!


    Until the seventh day, Fang Yuan stroked his sleeve once he finished speaking about the technique of Incense Faith.


    Buzz buzz!


    The sky trembled like a huge bell, causing many of the humans and beasts with a dazed expression to jolt up with a start.


    "Master!"


    Many people bowed successively and instantly heard a voice that made them extremely frightened.


    "I''ve finished the seven-day preach. Our relationship has come to an end. Go and rest!" Fang Yuan smiled as he ordered the people to leave.


    "Benevolent Master, I, your disciple, am willing to serve you! Don''t abandon me¡­"


    Immediately, Peng''s ancestors and the white monkeys beside him constantly kowtowed, and huge traces of blood appeared on their foreheads.


    "Immortal! Carefree! Why do you possess such a childlike attitude?"


    Fang Yuan indifferently said, "Relationships are built, and relationships are destroyed or come to an end. Nature is the true law¡­ You await my presence and hope to carry forward the legacy, praise me as a deity, and do not allow my hard work to go to waste."


    "Yes!"


    The people, including Peng, prayed while holding in their tears and were unwilling to part.


    "Thank you, Master!"


    At this moment, a forthright sound rang out nearby.


    Peng looked over and was instantly shocked.


    That was because the source of that voice wasn''t actually a person, but a huge Pengornis with golden wings!


    Its innate talent was remarkably shocking. Just by listening to Fang Yuan''s preaching and refinement for a short few days, it could actually refine its trabecular bones and speak the human language!


    "Thanks a lot, Master. If this huge Pengornis has any achievements in the future, it was all because of the Master!"


    The huge golden-winged pengornis ascended in a whirlwind and created vigorous winds.


    "Thank you, Master. I will take my leave!"


    At this moment while Peng was still a little dazed, a nine-tailed white fox stood up while being accompanied by a puff of fragrances, and it bowed towards Fang Yuan before walking away slowly.


    "Is the refinement of the other species so fast?"


    Peng was shocked with amazement and felt that this universe was seemingly about to have a huge transformation.


    "Forget it!"


    At this moment, Fang Yuan waved his hand on the stage, and his entire body was enveloped by a cloud and mist. He instantly disappeared.


    "Master¡­ I still hope that you will tell me your revered name," Peng seemed to wake up suddenly and hurriedly asked loudly.


    "I call myself¡­ The Holy Man of Beginnings!"


    Fang Yuan''s silhouette disappeared, and only a dimly discernible voice consistently resounded and was imprinted onto the hearts of all the disciples.

 652 Kun Wu

    "Master¡­"


    Looking at the creator of the path, Peng and the others couldn''t help but shed tears.


    Even though it was only seven short days, the remarkable abilities and path techniques that were preached to them had undoubtedly opened the doors to a new world, and it allowed them to know about the wonders of the world.


    "After obtaining the techniques that Master had passed down, it really is a good opportunity. I really want to abandon everything and go deep into the mountains to cultivate in order to achieve great results early!"


    Peng realized that, among the paths that Fang Yuan had passed down, he was still most suited for practicing internal techniques.


    At that moment, he took a deep breath, and he was able to feel that the essence was constantly purified into spirit within his body. Magic power was accumulating, bit by bit.


    "Everyone, we have the same master who has imparted his skills, and we share the related path traditions; hence, we are similar to blood brothers. I hope that everyone can, perhaps, leave their names so that we''ll know what to call each other when we meet in the future."


    At this moment, a teenager walked over and said as he cupped one hand in the other in front of his chest, "I''m Kun Xie!"


    "I''m Peng!"


    "I''m Li!"


    "She!"


    A few people made eye contact before giving out their names. They realized that most of them were nearby hunters and woodcutters, and this naturally made them feel closer to one another.


    However, the teenager who spoke first, Kun Xie, was actually the son of a barbarian tribe''s leader, causing them to be slightly shocked.


    Roar! Roar!


    At this moment, a giant black tiger roared, shaking the surroundings.


    This type of rude and arrogant presence was just a foot away from the Pengornis[1.Mythical bird] and Nine-tailed Fox from before.


    Many animals crowded over. Even Peng could sense their ill intentions. "They¡­ are chasing us away?"


    "Hmph, Master also has a human form. How dare these creatures that are furry, have horns, are wet, or born from eggs dare to make things difficult for us?" Kun Xie cursed in a low voice, displaying his arrogance.


    "Whatever¡­ Let''s go!"


    Being stared at by countless animals, even Peng had goosebumps. He pulled Kun Xie''s sleeves and quickly left the mountain with the others in a row.


    With Fang Yuan''s secret help in these seven days, those that had talent would all be able to train and accomplish something. It was common to encounter hardships in their journey.


    "I am the Kun tribe''s young master. Friends, feel free to find me when you need any help for cultivation!"


    Although Kun Xie was a little racist, his temper was still alright when he was facing people of the same race.


    "Many thanks, we''ll definitely do so!"


    Peng and a few others naturally agreed, and they promptly bid farewell before they went their separate ways.


    "Huh?"


    "Who''s that?"


    When he returned to his tribe, he found out that all of the people around him were looking at him strangely.


    Not only that, even the whole tribe seemed to be different from before.


    "What happened?"


    Curious, Xuan stopped a person and finally managed to recognized the person after a long time. "You are¡­ Jing Jun? Why have you become like this?"


    "You are¡­ Peng?"


    Jing Jun rubbed his eyes and said with an unbelieving tone, "You''ve been missing for seven years, where did you go exactly?"


    "Did you say¡­ seven years?"


    Peng felt that the situation was absurd. "I clearly went into the mountains for only seven days¡­ Wait a moment¡­"


    He thought about his master''s power. A day in heaven, a year on earth seemed to be ordinary.


    "Sigh¡­ Since that day you went missing, everyone thought that you were eaten by a wild beast in the mountains¡­" Jing Jun sighed sadly. "Even your thatched hut was given to someone else."


    During this generation of semi-public ownership, all of the tribe''s assets and information were shared, there was no concept of owning any private assets.


    Of course, within the Xuan country, there had already been a change to this.


    However, this type of ideology was deeply rooted among the barbarians.


    Normally, Peng would definitely be seething with anger if he was given this type of treatment.


    However, he realized that, at the moment, his heart was as calm as still water, like a rippleless ancient well¡ªhe wasn''t angry at all.


    "Is this the "Cultivation of Heart," just like what Master spoke of?"


    Peng thought puzzlingly, "Or maybe I''ve already grasped the path''s technique, and thus, I''m not afraid? Looks like even the state of one''s heart needs the support of the dharma power in order to be stable?"


    "Don''t be rash¡­" At the side, Jing Jun nagged.


    "Whatever¡­ The thatched hut is only an object, it''s fine if I don''t have it¡­" Meng smiled soothingly. "Coincidentally¡­ I''m thinking of leaving the tribe to go live deep in the mountains."


    It was only at that moment that he understood why Master appeared deep in the mountains.


    If one wanted to cultivate to become an immortal, one would naturally want to be far away from social conventions in order to obtain peace among the famous mountains and rivers.


    "What? You want to move deep into the mountains?"


    Jing Jun widened his eyes and looked at him, the person who used to be his buddy. "Do you know how dangerous it is deep in the mountains? Wait a minute¡­ How did you live for the past few years?"


    "The past few years¡­"


    Peng had a nostalgic expression on his face.


    Suddenly, he saw a group of people and horses walking over quickly. "It''s him! The escapee from before!"


    He saw a man who was from a clan that he had grudges with. He rushed over happily with a few other Xuan palace guards from behind him.


    "It''s him¡­"


    Peng looked at the party''s pleased expression. He had long forgotten about the grudges he had against him.


    Although Peng had forgotten about this in the past seven days, the other party could still remember even after seven years. This made him feel emotional.


    "Xuan has its own laws. I demand that the barbarian tax evaders must all be demoted to being slaves!"


    A few Xuan warriors looked at each other before charging over. The bronze dirk on their waists swayed with a gleam, containing immense danger that made it so that even Jing Jun didn''t dare to move.


    After all, they were Xuan warriors, and they were only barbarians.


    Once they resisted, large troops would arrive, and they would be exterminated!


    Within these past few years, the country of Xuan had used bloody human heads to teach the surrounding barbarian tribes to abide by the rules.


    Looking at the ferocious Xuan warriors, Peng shook his head, being in a difficult spot. "What should I do¡­ Wait a minute, Master seemed to mention a spell before! Luckily, I''ve just internally trained some dharma power, so I can activate and use it!"


    Thinking about this, he stretched out his hands, and without any hesitation, he clenched. "Suppress!"


    Buzz Buzz!


    Two golden words appeared, branding themselves onto the foreheads of these two warriors.


    They instantly stopped moving, as if they were wooden pillars being probed there.


    "Spirit Suppressing Spell¡­ Fix Body Spell!"


    Peng looked at his own hands and was filled with astonishment.


    Before this, he wouldn''t even be able to imagine that he could go against the Xuan warriors.


    But now? With only a small curse with dharma power, two fully armed warriors couldn''t move at all. To slaughter or to injure them, he could do whatever he wanted with them.


    The feeling that the power gave him was refreshing, to the point that he thought of experimenting with it some more.


    "Ta¡­ The Talented?"


    Jing Jun widen his eyes and thought of the legends about the Talented. "Don''t tell me that you went missing before because you went to find the exotic magical fruit?"


    "This is a Celestial Path technique, it''s not the result of some spiritual fruit!"


    Although he knew that the other party wouldn''t understand, Peng still had to solemnly explain it.


    Unfortunately, regardless of how he explained himself, he was unable to stop the passionate and ignorant tribe people. They had almost regarded him as a god to worship now.


    ¡­


    Regarding the misfortune of these disciples, Fang Yuan didn''t want to care about it much.


    Regardless, he only wanted to disperse the extraordinary seeds out through net casting this time, as well as check the plausibility of some ideas.


    Looking at how things were now, everything was still going well.


    "However, things like cultivation techniques require time to reap the rewards."


    He looked at the giant mountain in front of him.


    This mountain was located within a land of dense forests. Due to its geographical location, it had good Feng Shui, and it was able to gather good luck. Even the elemental force concentration was also high.


    To describe it through celestial cultivation, there was a large spiritual vein.


    "To declare and organize a sect, there must be a temple¡­"


    Both of Fang Yuan''s hands moved as if he was plucking the strings of an instrument.


    Under his control, the giant mountain transformed quickly.


    Multiple magnificent pavilions erupted from the ground. There was even a layer of dense fog that appeared on the outside, forming an array that cut off the outside world.


    "Even if the mountain isn''t tall, it will become famous with a deity¡­ Although this mountain didn''t have a name, with me, this mountain''s deity is Kun Wu!"


    Kaboom!


    A large stone tablet appeared. On it were two large words "Kun Wu," written with lively and vigorous Yun Zhuan.


    As the regular text of the Heavenly Abode, Yun Zhuan guaranteed that any cultivator or demon that saw it wouldn''t misunderstand its meaning.


    In the main hall of Kun Wu, Fang Yuan appeared out of nowhere and sat cross-legged on a couch.


    With a thought, the various animals living in the mountain were grabbed by a huge formless force, and they were all taken out of the mountain, with the exception of a few.


    One of them was a red-faced macaque. There was also a colorful golden pheasant and a jade that was emitting a colorful brilliance.


    "I am the creator of the path. Today, I will organize and create the sect here. The mountain is full of wild spirits, but the only ones that I can transform are the three of you¡­"


    Fang Yuan waved his right hand. Three rays of light appeared and entered their bodies.


    Immediately, the red-faced macaque and the golden pheasant rolled on the spot, transforming into two children¡ªa boy and a girl. The boy had bony cheeks with tattered clothings. However, the girl was cute and exquisitely shaped. She was wearing a colorful feather coat.


    Lastly, the colorful stone rolled on the ground and suddenly exploded to form a child, as if it were carved from jade and was powdered. The child ran out and shouted, crisp and clear, "Greetings, Cult Master!"


    Fang Yuan had used a little enlightenment spell, and he had transferred some knowledge into the sea of information that was present within them. Hence, they were able to move and act freely and effortlessly.


    "Mmm."


    Fang Yuan smiled while he stroked his beard. "Today, the three of you have transformed and, thus, should have a name. Since you''re born from a stone, you''ll be Shi Sheng. As for the macaque and Golden Pheasant, they''ll be called Yuan Hong and Mei Xi respectively!"


    "Yes, Master!"


    The three of them were only average creatures before. Even Shi Sheng only had a little spiritual characteristic. By undergoing such a massive change, they were all overjoyed, and they all greeted him, "Thank you for giving us names, Cult Master."


    "I will pass down one more charm which will possess the ability to control the 365 yellow-scarfed strong men within the palace. The three of you are dismissed to familiarize yourselves with this environment. In the future, the protection and safety of the whole of Kun Wu and this palace will be handed over to you!"


    Fang Yuan shook his sleeves and three glimmering charms flew out, but his figure on the couch had vanished.


    "Goodbye, Cult Master!"


    The three children looked at each other. "Little boy is very adorable." Mei Xi couldn''t hold it in. As if there were stars shimmering in her eyes, she pinched Shi Sheng''s cheeks.


    "I have a name, the Cult Master gave me the name ''Shi Sheng''!"


    The child, wearing a Dudou paraded himself about. "Moreover¡­ Since the day my spiritual characteristic was born, I''m already a thousand years old¡ªdon''t call me a little boy!"


    "Unfortunately, you''re small!" Yuan Hong looked at the side silently. Suddenly, he replied sarcastically causing Shi Sheng to shrink into a corner to draw circles. An ancient Chinese font.Means that the child has smooth and fair skinA kind of garment.

 653 A New Generation

    After building the Kun Wu mountain, Fang Yuan recovered his body and looked in the direction of the Yin-Yang Continent in deep thought.


    The seeds that he sowed before were already beginning to bloom and bear fruit at this moment.


    In one area of the castle.


    Dracula''s complexion was cold as he looked at the surrounding clan elders.


    "Earl Smith, Earl Black River, Earl Floren¡­ All of you are my blood relatives and the elders of the Blood Race¡­"


    He seemed older than before, and he said with a somber demeanor, "I''ve called for the presence of all of you today in order to lay your verdict on a traitor of the Blood Race! Catherine!"


    Accompanied by applause, a royal lady vampire was escorted to the scene, her hair was in a mess, and a large blood stain was on her skirt''s hemline.


    "Catherine, my heart hurts, for you are my most favorite female descendant¡­"


    Dracula painfully said, "However, you''ve committed an unforgivable crime. You''ve fallen in love with a werewolf and conceived an offspring with it!"


    The expressions of many of the Blood Race elders remained unchanged. Evidently, they had received the news early on.


    However, the other listeners inadvertently started discussing about it and made a lot of noise.


    "Also¡­ You are suspected of revealing confidential information to the werewolf Sisay, causing the werewolf guerrilla forces to silently attack numerous of our large-scale oil mines and releasing over twenty thousand slaves!"


    Dracula looked down. "Regarding these accusations, do you have anything you want to deny?"


    Catherine shook her head, stupefied.


    "As the Grand Duke of the Blood Race, I have no choice but to make a painful decision¡ªto punish Catherine with¡­ punishment by fire!" Dracula painfully said.


    "I second it!"


    "I second it!"


    A few of the elders looked each other in the eye and all nodded their heads.


    "Burn her!"


    "Burn this woman without any sense of shame!"


    The emotions of the vampires outside were already running high.


    They threw all the reasons why they were losing in the recent wars against the werewolves onto this woman.


    Very soon, a fire punishment post was constructed, and Catherine was sealed and tied up on top of it.


    "This is your last chance!"


    Dracula''s eyes released a blood-red glare. "Tell me¡­ where that bastard is, find him, and kill him. I will absolve you of your fire punishment and change it to life imprisonment."


    "Definitely¡­ not¡­ possible!"


    The countess let out a small grin and said resolutely.


    "Then¡­.."


    Dracula raised his chin and snapped his fingers.


    Whoosh!


    A golden flame instantly billowed and ascended, greedily swallowing up the bound female vampire.


    "Ah!"


    A sad and shrill cry rang out. Regardless of whether it was a countess who was proficient with Blood magic, after being sealed, she could only struggle and scream inside the burning flames before finally turning into ashes.


    Nearly at the same time, in an area within the large mountains, inside the depths of the Black Forest.


    A teenager''s entire body trembled with fear as he tumbled and crawled. "Mother¡­"


    "Adam, are you having nightmares again?"


    Sisay walked in.


    At this moment, the man, who was originally a teenage werewolf, had already grown into a brave warrior with his whole body covered in intertwining scars that were all proof of his glory.


    "That''s right¡­"


    Adam was sweating as he panted heavily. He looked around at the simple and crude environment and went silent again.


    He''ll dream about his childhood life in the castle many times, those delicacies, beautiful clothes, and that gentle silhouette.


    Unfortunately, after one of the wars, he had no choice but to follow his father and break out of that place.


    However, from that moment onwards, he seemed to fall into hell.


    He couldn''t withstand the dirty smell of the werewolves, he was even more intolerable towards the environment in the large mountains, and he was even easily injured¡ªThis is because he was neither a werewolf nor a vampire! He''s pitifully weak!


    Being the descendant of both the werewolves and vampires, he only had the state of a human and had no other transformation abilities.


    It was as if the robust body of a Werewolf had mutually negated the magical abilities of the Blood Race.


    Without a doubt, this outlier was shunned everywhere he went¡ªeven though he had a powerful father such as Sisay!


    "Don''t think too much. We''ll launch an attack tomorrow and destroy another oil mine of the Blood Race. You just need to protect yourself."


    Sisay went silent for a moment before finally speaking.


    In reality, even this request was a little too much for Adam.


    Sisay was even afraid that those werewolves would become so famished that they would indiscriminately eat him.


    To survive in this cruel world, being weak is an original sin!


    "I want¡­ to obtain power!"


    Adam finally said, gloomily.


    "You can attend the training sessions together with our warriors. In reality, you''ve already done so, many times, haven''t you? You''ll injure yourself, all over, every time¡­"


    Sisay shook his head. "Or¡­ You can attempt a little Blood magic. That''s what your mother was proficient in. It''s too bad that I cannot find another vampire to teach you¡­"


    "I''ll try."


    The teenager, Adam, clenched his fist tightly. "Regardless of what it is, I''ll master enough mighty power¡­ to rescue mother!"


    ¡­


    "The humans from the west have appeared¡­"


    Fang Yuan saw this scene, and his mouth wore a subtle grin. "When two mutually repulsive blood groups mix together, the templates of the Blood Race and the Werewolves will both perish, leaving behind a pure human!"


    Making use of the infection between the Blood Race and werewolves, he successfully accelerated the complete evolution of the apes.


    And at this moment, using the conflict between the blood groups to remove the transformations of the Blood Race and the Werewolves, the resulting product is no different from that of a traditional westerner.


    "Of course, if I let this go on without any restrictions, there will only be one outcome for the new human generation¡ªtotal annihilation. That''s because they cannot grasp any power, and they cannot resist both the vampires and the werewolves!


    "Hence, I will immediately dispatch my second gift."


    Being the creator of the Blood Race and the Werewolves, other than adding in traces of hatred and love into their genetics, Fang Yuan still retained a hidden card.


    "When a new generation of humans appear, he''ll inherit the reproductive power of the Blood Race and the Werewolves¡­ while the cost of initial possession and infections will be magnified for the Blood Race and Werewolves. Also, any descendants from the Blood Race and Werewolves will only be humans!"


    Fang Yuan was, after all, a human himself, and he naturally leaned slightly to the standpoint of humans and didn''t like seeing the entire mainland being run by other species.


    In reality, this completely provided the new generation of humans with the powerful reproductive and infection abilities of the Blood Race and Werewolves.


    Even more so, this new human generation wouldn''t be affected by the initial infection of the Blood Race and the virus of the Werewolves!


    "Adam¡­ being the earliest ancestor of the westerners, you''ll be bestowed with this gift. Similarly, you''ll also have to endure the backlash and consequences from it!" Fang Yuan pronounced.


    Based on his imagination from that point onwards, in the entire Yin-Yang mainland, the supremacy of the Blood Race and the Werewolves would decline.


    These two races might even use some specific method to assimilate with the humans.


    For example¡­ something like a sorcerer or a warrior¡­


    Being their descendants, there should be an innate talent such as this among the humans.


    "Of course, there was the effort from the Blood Race and the Werewolves so they wouldn''t be completely exterminated¡­ Other than their descendants conquering the entire Yin-Yang Continent. In the future, after humans become the conquerors of the mainland, the Blood Race and the Werewolves would recover their ability to infect humans!"


    Using this arrangement, that is akin to creating magic tricks, there would then be both the human population on the Yin-Yang mainland and an extraordinary power.


    "The Yin-Yang Continent follows the Path of Blood Genetics, while the Five Elements Continent in the East follows the system of the mystical arts of a Holy Sage¡­"


    Fang Yuan muttered to himself, "The impact on both of these mainlands will then require a long time to ferment¡­"


    With a single thought, he came out of the Mountain Hollow and went to the Da Qian Realm.


    After the conflicts between the demons and spirits, all of the Da Qian refugees were organized and they resumed production.


    And after Fang Yuan investigated, the realm''s consciousness also rapidly recovered and had stronger acclimatization to the dream elemental force.


    If you ignore the hidden massive danger, it can be said that the entire Da Qian Realm is progressing in a prosperous direction.


    "Ever since the Dream Masters seeked death and opened up the door of the realm, the Da Qian realm had already suffered contamination, and even its coordinates have been changed to a location within the enveloped district of the Mental Demon Realm¡­"


    Fang Yuan looked at the Dream Master investigations with a heavy expression. "What this brings about is subtle changes in the nature of the realm."


    In the future, many different plants and animals affected by the dream elemental force will rapidly grow; even human beings have a higher probability of at least 200% in awakening with the qualifications of a Dream Master!


    Furthermore, a even more horrifying transformation could occur after being struck by radiation from the source¡ªjust like the Purple Eye Realm and the Acara Realm.


    "The entire Da Qian Realm still isn''t prepared yet."


    Fang Yuan let out a sigh.


    In reality, the contamination of the realm still isn''t his biggest concern.


    What was actually troubling him was still the existence of the initially deprived Dream Master path.


    Very evidently in the eyes of the other party, at the moment, the Da Qian realm is a plantation that can be consistently reaped.


    Its actual condition is more or less the case.


    Even without interference from Fang Yuan, the Dream Masters are gradually grasping a set of magical skills, and they''re beginning to recover their magical abilities.


    Even though they walked along the roads of the Mental Demon Realm, it still wasn''t impossible to welcome a second harvest.


    "Once the other party actually comes over and meets me face-to-face, he''ll realize that the Dream Master path isn''t completely shredded apart yet. There''s still a remnant on my body¡­"


    The consequences were something that not even Fang Yuan was willing to withstand at the moment.


    Of course, with that existence, the concept of time is completely different from that of the average person. Sometimes, one thought can persist for a few years.


    The most crucial part is that once the other party has obtained the Dream Master path, he still needs time to refine and replenish himself.


    This will be Fang Yuan''s opportunity!


    "Sage¡­ That''s the same as seeking death in front of the other party. If you want to tackle the existence of this rule, you must at least reach the source of the realm!"


    The realm that Fang Yuan was currently in was still that of the the Creator Sage.


    Based on his assumptions, after he uses the Evil Demon Placenta to refine the source, he could definitely breakthrough into a completely new realm.


    That is a path that hasn''t been touched¡ªeven by any of the previous Dream Master Sages.


    "To refine energy, I need to first refine the Evil Demon Placenta. The development of the Mountain Hollow are preparations for it, and with my Mountain Hollow power, I should be able to nearly satisfy the requirements if I advance once more."


    Fang Yuan silently thought as a bright light suddenly erupted from his eyes.

 654 Secret Consumption

    Kun Wu mountain.


    Fang Yuan transformed into the Holy Man of Beginnings and appeared on a cloud bed. "Only I will know who the true master of the dream is¡­"


    Ding! Ding!


    Accompanying his appearance, all the chimes in the hall rang out simultaneously, and the sounds of drums manifested on their own, drifting far and wide in a 10-mile radius.


    "Holy Elder!"


    Three boys and girls, who were still busy with other odd jobs, immediately came to the hall and paid their respects. "We welcome the arrival of the Holy Elder!"


    "Hmm, how long have I meditated in isolation for this time¡­"


    Fang Yuan stroked his beard and portrayed the appearance of a Celestial Sage.


    "If we count it with human years, it''s already been twenty years!"


    Yuan Hong was a burly elder who does things without hesitation¡ªone who immediately came forward and made his report.


    In reality, Fang Yuan stayed in the Da Qian Realm for only around twenty days, yet the entire Mountain Hollow had already undergone many profound changes.


    At this moment, a thought popped up in his mind. He felt that the entire Kun Wu mountain was still in the state of having an abundant spiritual aura, and even more so, under the management of the three children and the countless Yellow Turban warriors, they opened up many spiritual fields and even planted many exotic plants and magical fruits. In front of the hall, they even had a pond with a few red herrings that occasionally let out air bubbles whilst looking relaxed.


    "It seems that all of you were diligent in your management of Kun Wu mountain."


    Fang Yuan''s gaze seemed to penetrate through the sky and reached the human''s realm.


    At this moment, the first generation king of the Xuan Nation, Xuan, had already entered into old age and didn''t have many years left to live. As a result of him passing down his techniques, his human disciples also faced various circumstances.


    Instead, the other disciples from other species were silently cultivating within the deep mountain forests. They haven''t revealed their abilities yet, but they would definitely unleash a strong power that could influence the mainland in the future.


    "In order to improve the Mountain Hollow, we must take into account both individual prowess and group sublimation¡­ Quantity and quality are both necessary¡­"


    He silently thought in his heart and had a premonition that the Five Elements Continent was on the brink of a catastrophe.


    In terms of countries, the Xuan Nation had already controlled half of the mainland and were investigating the gifts left behind by the giant beast civilization.


    The internal state, however, was turbulent with dark undercurrents.


    In terms of extraordinary abilities, Celestial Sages are gradually becoming more abundant. Many disciples are passing on their skills by accepting apprentices, and various martial art techniques are constantly replaced by newer ones. The three thousand paths that Fang Yuan casually fabricated actually had some hope of being completed.


    "The successor of the dynasty is adding fuel to fire¡­"


    Fang Yuan sighed as he walked to the outside of the hall.


    A few red herrings swam over and kissed the water surface, as if they were waiting for food to be thrown.


    "Holy Elder¡­"


    A younger sister rubbed her skirt hemline and walked up anxiously. "I saw that this entire mountain only had us three people¡ªwhile the rest were dumb Yellow Turban warriors, and the whole place was lifeless¡ªso I specially caught and brought back a few fishes¡­"


    "It''s alright. It''s also their fate if they''re able to obtain cultivation from my Kun Wu mountain spiritual pond!"


    Fang Yuan grinned and said, "Just let it be."


    "Thank you, Holy Elder! Thank you, Holy Elder!"


    The sister jubilantly bowed.


    "Go gather some spiritual medicine. I want to start the furnace to refine a lot of Nine Transference Golden Pills to enhance magical techniques!"


    Fang Yuan waved and walked to the alchemy room on his own.


    Instead, it was the three children who looked at one another after Fang Yuan left, with the younger sister beating her chest with her small hands and letting out a long breath, seemingly more relaxed as she rejoiced. "You''re lucky that the Holy Elder didn''t chase you away. From now on, you can enjoy the spiritual pond and spiritual air, and you can definitely cultivate results."


    "Hmph!"


    Seeing this, Yuan Hong instantly snorted coldly, "Younger sister, I know you had history with these red herrings, but what is your rank? To make a mistake just for these imbeciles, it''s just not worth it! Today the Holy Elder didn''t investigate further, or otherwise, not only would he punish you, he would banish you from this spiritual mountain. Although the heavens and the earth are vast, where would you reside?"


    "Elder brother Yuan, it''s okay¡­ Anyway, isn''t the Holy Elder also quite fond of these herrings?"


    Shi Sheng instantly took on the shape of a seven to eight-year-old child, and he came over with a smile in order to mediate.


    "Imbeciles?"


    The younger sister heard this and instead laughed coldly. "Last time, weren''t we in the age of the humidogene hatchings and people donning fur and wearing horns? Nobody is superior to anyone!


    "How can this be compared?"


    Yuan Hong raised his chin and said, "I have the roots of a deity and had the potential to become a deity once I was revealed by the elder. Becoming so carefree¡­ what abilities and morals do they have that allows them to receive this type of treatment?"


    He had cultivated hard for many years and, at this moment, has shown slight improvements. A surge of power and influence caused him to charge towards the sky, scaring the herrings in the pond who, one after the other, hid under the lotus leaves, afraid to move.


    "You¡­"


    The younger sister was so angry that her face flushed red, and she suddenly flicked her sleeve. "I won''t talk to you anymore. Just remember, since the Holy Elder has already accepted them, if you continue to trouble them, beware of me reporting it to the elder!"


    "Great! This is great!"


    Yuan Hong was so angry that his eyes were completely red. "We have twenty years of mutual affection, and you''re flipping out at me because of these fishes¡­ Sister, you''re not even comparable to¡­"


    "Cough cough¡­"


    Shi Sheng''s eyes turned and let out an innocent smile. "You two siblings, why bother about such a small thing? If you delay the elder''s process of refining the pills, how will we explain this to him?"


    "It won''t delay him."


    Yuan Hong repressed his anger, immediately stopped talking, and went to the spiritual garden on his own.


    The younger sister, however, whisked the surface of the water and called out to a few herrings. "You have to cultivate properly and quickly transform into the form of a human, and then I''ll plead with the elder to let you enter the gate and infuriate the big monkey!"


    "Sigh¡­"


    Shi Sheng looked at this scene and kept sighing.


    Although his appearance was immature, he was the oldest there and he coldly stood on the sidelines as he witnessed this scene. He already knew that Yuan Hong had some affection towards the younger sister, yet she had no feelings for him.


    As this continued, he often felt that it would spark some trouble.


    "Sigh¡­ Difficult! Difficult! Difficult! Who cares if I pointed this out in that moment¡ªnobody would listen to me¡­ Being a person is difficult, and it''s not even comparable to my previous form as a stone¡­"


    Looking at both of them leave, he shook his head and sighed. Like a small adult, he murmured to himself endlessly and walked away.


    Inside the pond, the red herrings gazed at each other with an innocent expression that conveyed a sense of hurt from being blamed while they weren''t even involved. They simply wanted to cry but had no tears.


    ¡­


    "The pill path''s method is one branch of the three thousand paths, and it can include the whole Creation pathway¡­"


    Three huge pairs of ears stood in front of the bronze tripod while huge flames billowed. Fang Yuan sat cross-legged, yet his body had no sense of heat as he performed his hand techniques while in deep thought instead.


    The three thousand paths all converged at the same destination. At his current state, regardless of how many spiritual pills he wanted, he can materialize them directly.


    Even bestowing life to the spiritual pills to transform them into humans was free of any problems.


    Requiring so many procedures at this exact moment was only used to deceive outsiders.


    Accompanying Fang Yuan act of randomly throwing medicinal materials into the furnace, a wave of wondrous medicinal fragrance diffused everywhere.


    Outside the alchemy room, the celestial phenomena suddenly congregated and the five spiritual colors took on various shapes like clouds.


    "The martial prowess of the Holy Elder!"


    Yuan Hong saw this scene, and a bright light inadvertently shone from his eyes as he deeply inhaled whilst being in a state of intoxication.


    Just by smelling the fragrance of the pill, he actually felt that some pores in his body were beginning to move, and he inadvertently boasted, "There''s such an effect just from taking a whiff. I wonder how magical Holy Elder''s Nine Transference Golden Pills are¡­"


    Shi Sheng and the younger sister at the side were instantly silent, and they quietly practised their skills while sitting cross-legged.


    Buzz!


    Suddenly, accompanied by a shrill sound, the alchemy refinement room opened up with a loud crash, and a plethora of colors erupted brightly and colorfully.


    Poof!


    Amidst the thunder-like explosion sound, thirty-six rays of golden light suddenly appeared and flashed past into the five-colored pill clouds, instantly transforming into a flying shooting star.


    The wondrous medicinal fragrance permeated in the air, it even caused the three children to become speechless and start drooling from their mouths. A warm feeling coursed through the entirety of their arms, legs, and bones while their pores opened up, as if they were undergoing another round of complete metamorphosis.


    Only Shi Sheng, with a superior temperament, shouted helplessly, "We need to run away from this pill!"


    "Get back!"


    Amidst the golden rays permeating the sky, Fang Yuan''s shout could be heard.


    Poof


    At that moment, a cuff appeared and a magical atmosphere enveloped Qian Kun, absorbing all of the golden rays.


    "Thousands of years worth of spirits was created within a day. The treasures of the mountains and rivers was formed within a week. The Golden Pills Nine Transference needs to create¡­"


    Fang Yuan slowly walked out and readily flung his hand as a red gourd landed in the hands of the younger sister.


    "Congratulations to the Holy Elder for refining the Nine Transference Golden Pills!"


    Yuan Hong instantly congratulated him and bowed.


    "Its alright¡­ After successfully refining these Golden Pills, I need to retreat for a few days to test the medicinal efficiency of this pill. Younger sister, there''s a golden pill inside the gourd that I bestowed upon you. Obtain the water from the jade spring in the east and place it inside to create a medicinal spring in preparation for the future.


    "Yes!"


    The younger sister bowed and looked at the gourd in her hands in deep thought.


    ¡­


    Nightfall.


    She held the gourd and came to the river.


    "Ah Da and Ah Er¡­ This Nine Transference Golden Pill has endless creation potential. It was personally refined by the Holy Elder, and simply inhaling the fragrance would result in a few days worth of cultivation. I''ll let you have a taste. Don''t waste my efforts and hard work; you must cultivate and bear results soon!"


    The younger sister opened the stopper in the gourd, and a wave of wondrous medicinalfragrance was instantly emitted from the gourd.


    The herrings in the pond immediately started stirring and, one after the other, kissed the surface of the water.


    "What are you doing?"


    Suddenly, a voice rang out from behind her. Yuan Hong jumped out and said, "Clearly, you dare to move for your own profit at the expense of public interests, and you dare to go against the orders of the elder. Shouldn''t you quickly accompany me to go meet the Holy Elder?"


    "Ah!"


    The younger sister was shocked, and the gourd in her hand slipped, instantly dropping into the pond.


    A golden pill erupted and emitted an unparalleled brightness, just like a small sun.


    Swoosh!


    In a very short period of time.


    A herring rushed in a straight line towards the golden pill, just like an arrow, and opened its mouth, swallowing the Nine Transference Golden Pill in one go.


    Roar! Roar!


    Golden rays shot out everywhere, causing the entire pond to be dyed, becoming a golden yellow area.


    Afterwards, a dragon with a completely fire-red body leaped out. It had four claws, the face of a horse, horns of a deer, body of a snake, the tail of a fish, and its spirituality was extremely magnificent. With a wag of its tail, it instantly destroyed the constraints and flew into the mountains, disappearing without a trace.


    "This¡­"


    The younger sister saw this scene and seemed as though she had forgotten how to move.


    Even Yuan Hong widened his eyes and repeatedly murmured, "Trouble! Trouble! The Nine Transference Golden Pill from the Holy Elder was actually secretly eaten by a herring. What should we do? What should we do¡­"


    "Since it''s my mistake, I''ll find Holy Elder to confess my sins!"


    Although the younger sister''s face was dreadfully pale and her voice trembled, she was still extremely resolute. "I won''t implicate you."


    "Don''t spout nonsense!"


    Yuan Hong scolded out loud, "How precious is this Golden Pill? It''s entirely possible that the elder would be infuriated and chase both of us down the mountain and even take away our spiritual roots. But the most urgent matter right now is to quickly catch that evil dragon!!!"

 655 Country Mourning

    "That small little herring acquired my great Nine Transference Creation Golden Pill. you could say it has pretty good luck!"


    Suddenly a voice rang out, causing Yuan Hong and the younger sister to tremble and hurriedly kneel. "Holy Elder, please forgive us for our mistake!"


    Amidst the clear sound, Fang Yuan slowly walked out with a fire in his golden eyes.


    In his line of sight, that red dragon instantly flew thousands of miles, and it even promptly reincarnated and transformed into an adult after obtaining this great power of creation!


    "Elder, this entire matter was my fault! I beseech you, please reduce your punishment!"


    The younger sister bit her teeth and kneeled, pleading with a ghastly white face.


    "You know that you''re also in the wrong?"


    Fang Yuan glanced at her and shook his head. "You lost my Golden Pill. Under normal circumstances¡­ You would be stripped of your spiritual roots and cultivation while also being degraded to the level a brute¡­"


    This punishment made Yuan Hong''s body tremble upon hearing it. His lips moved but, ultimately, no words came out.


    "¡­ Considering your contributions after so many years, even without any merit, you''ve put in hard work. I will banish you into the Red Cloud Hollow, and you will suffer the pain of being burned by blazing clouds everyday! Let this serve as a warning to the others!"


    Luckily, Fang Yuan changed his punishment after that.


    "Many thanks to the Holy Elder for showing mercy!"


    Hearing that she wouldn''t be stripped of her spiritual cultivation and wouldn''t be degraded to the level of a brute, the younger sister was elated at first. However, she immediately became frightened once she heard the punishment about the Red Cloud Hollow.


    "As for you¡­"


    Fang Yuan glanced at Yuan Hong, and he said, "You''re also in the wrong. Go to the Yellow Turban warriors yourself and receive a hundred thunder whips!"


    "Many thanks to the Holy Elder!"


    Yuan Hong didn''t dare to say anything else, and he obediently accepted his punishment.


    After he waited for the two of them to leave, Fang Yuan remained silent. He then immediately asked a question, "Stone child, what do you think of our current situation?"


    "Teacher, you are high up in the heavens, and everything you do or say leads to creation. Is there any logic behind asking such a lowly disciple like me to intervene?"


    The stone kid hurriedly retracted what he said. "The main culprit is ultimately that red dragon. I do not have the abilities, but am willing to request the army to go forth and capture that evil dragon to bring it to justice!"


    "The dragon has obtained my Golden Pill and should still have one round of creation. Wait for it and go collect it after around ten years."


    Fang Yuan shook his head and rejected the stone child''s suggestion.


    "Creation?"


    Evidently, the small stone couldn''t comprehend it.


    "The Xuan Nation has already reached the point of tearing down the old and establishing the new. The rise of heroes, and the relentless pursuit after dragons¡­ even¡­"


    Fang Yuan laughed and didn''t say anything else.


    This time, many of his disciples were also involved and couldn''t escape.


    And with the addition of this red dragon that was intentionally released, there was an 80% chance that there would be a commotion among the humans.


    ¡­


    The 45th year of the Xuan Nation''s history, the capital.


    Amidst a sea of complaints, Xuan laid down on the sickbed as his life gradually approached its end.


    Amongst the mourners, there were those who cried audibly with tears, those who wept soundlessly but with tears, and those who howled audibly but without tears.


    Even though Xuan''s mind was already muddled, at that moment, he could hear that there weren''t any genuine mourners in his surroundings. His son was awaiting his throne, his maids and servants were instead worried about their own future, and those power-holders definitely had their own plans.


    However, he was already too exhausted to care about these things.


    His thoughts already returned to the time of his original tribal life.


    From when he initially lived a savage life, where he had to struggle for survival, until later on when he became a brave warrior and received reverence and respect¡­


    The moment he could never forget was still the moment he obtained the fruit and became a person with extraordinary talents..


    Precisely as a result of him grasping the energy of the flames, he was able to consolidate the various tribes along the Giant River in order to defeat the giant beasts and construct a unified kingdom.


    Unfortunately, even this extraordinary ability was unable to recover his lifespan.


    He was filled with hatred!


    He hated the Gods for not giving him another five hundred years!


    He hated not being able to have the life-prolonging exotic flowers and magical fruits!


    He especially hated the fact that he couldn''t be immortal and invincible like those Immortal Cultivators!


    "Messenger¡­"


    That extraordinary hatred was like tens of poisonous snakes creeping up on him and gnawing at his heart.


    Xuan used his last ounce of strength and struggled to speak.


    "Father!"


    A middle-aged man immediately leaned over with his eyes twinkling with expectation and forced tears.


    Unfortunately, what Xuan was about to say wasn''t what he wanted to hear.


    "After I die¡­ Kill Peng! No¡­ Kill him now!"


    Xuan laughed out loud like a night owl. "As a state instructor, he has failed to meet the expectations of the ocean, and he wasn''t even able to refine the life-prolonging Golden Pills. Thus, he has misled the ruler! Those who mislead the ruler must die!"


    "Yes!"


    Even a king on his deathbed had immense authority and power.


    A few warriors bowed and rapidly left.


    Seeing their backs, Xuan was suddenly filled with a sense of satisfaction, and he pointed to his son, saying, "When I die¡­ pass on the position¡­ pass on the position¡­"


    He diligently wanted to leave behind a will, but unfortunately, the previous order seemed to have exhausted too much of his mental and physical strength. No matter how frantic the prince was, to the point that his face turned completely red, he was still unable to hear the words that he wanted to hear.


    Thump!


    Xuan closed his eyes, and his fingers drooped down powerlessly as he was engulfed in pitch black darkness.


    In the autumn of the nation''s 45th year, Xuan faced his demise, and his eldest son succeeded the throne. The dukes in the nation weren''t pleased and revolted, causing the entire palace to instantly plunge into the midst of chaos.


    ¡­


    Elsewhere in the palace, the noise outside seemed completely irrelevant.


    "Sigh¡­ Ultimately, am I the teacher¡­"


    Peng looked at the "beast charcoal" in his hands, that was intricately carved into the shape of a beast, and gazed at the large golden pill furnace in front of him and sighed.


    Despite hearing the teachings of the earliest Taoists, unfortunately, he still wasn''t proficient at the pill refinement technique. After all, Fang Yuan previously only mentioned it a few times.


    Just using this experience to refine a medicinal pill, one that could allow one to recover their youth and lengthen their lifespan, seemed a bit too unrealistic.


    In reality, after subduing two Xuan Nation warriors previously, he had a thought about leaving. Unfortunately, the Xuan Nation acted too quickly and, without even waiting for him to rest for the night, used their soldiers to surround the tribe.


    Facing the aggressive enemy soldiers and Xuan''s unpredictability at the time, Peng could only choose to concede and become the guest minister of the Xuan Nation to spread the Celestial Sage''s teachings and techniques whilst helping the Xuan king to run a furnace for refine the pills.


    After all, he was only an Immortal Cultivator for a few days and had barely cultivated a little magical power. How could he be in the same league as a mutant like Xuan?


    Hence, he could only act humble.


    "However, using the power of the nation, my current cultivation should already exceed Xuan at his peak. However, I''m still unable to see my teacher''s back!"


    After the teachings of the earliest Taoist, everybody, regardless of whether they were a human or a mutant, totally had only one impression of Yuan Fang which was someone who had high morals.


    Although Peng knew about the internal cultivation technique, he didn''t look any older after these decades, causing Xuan to be very jealous and even inquire about the technique.


    However, he was smart and didn''t honestly demonstrate the technique, and he only provided information that seemed true but was actually false. He didn''t pass down any accurate information, and instead, he killed Xuan.


    He intentionally tricked Xuan by saying that the Immortal Cultivators in the realm must have some aptitude. This aptitude was extremely rare and, hence, those without this aptitude would fundamentally be unable to cultivate this magical power.


    Using this statement and a list of cultivation techniques that were highly flawed, instantly half-convinced Xuan. He immediately opened up another path and directed Xuan into another path¡ªpill cultivation!


    Utilizing the pill cultivation technique could lengthen one''s lifespan.


    In reality, this was also a legitimate technique, but unfortunately, Peng ultimately didn''t possess Fang Yuan''s craftsmanship.


    The reason behind why he still encouraged Xuan down this path was, ultimately, to find a money tree that could constantly provide him with materials to squander.


    Relying on the supply of materials obtained through the power of the entire Xuan Nation, his pill cultivation techniques improved tremendously. If he opened up another furnace, he could then have a 10 or 20% chance in cultivating a spiritual pill, but why would Peng do this?


    Hence, completely relying on his own lifespan, he managed to drag it out and outlive Xuan''s lifespan.


    "There''s an order from the king to kill Peng immediately!"


    At this moment, loud clattering noises also came from outside. Accompanied by the shrieks of slaves and maid-servants, a group of warriors rushed into the alchemy room with an aggressive demeanor.


    "Calculating Xuan''s lifespan¡­ it''s roughly around this time!"


    Peng smiled and casually organized his clothes before walking out.


    Seeing this state instructor, who had always been regarded as a distinguished guest, the warriors'' momentum dipped, and they retreated a little before suddenly remembering their orders as they tightly clenched the sword in their hands.


    "Attack!"


    Accompanying the orders of the general, a few arrows instantly flew out.


    "There are no levels in Heaven and Earth; use any magical techniques from the Five Elementss, go!"


    Peng pointed with his finger and a few vines flew out. They caught the flying arrows like a soft whip and even struck the crowd of humans, causing a huge commotion and chaos.


    At that moment, he wasn''t the young chap who had just debuted decades ago. After undergoing cultivation for decades, even if he only relied on his own body, he had confidence that he could slaughter his way out of the palace.


    However, he was, after all, not a bad person inside and definitely didn''t want to cause massive bloodshed.


    Another magical skill was instantly employed and a huge force erupted, causing the ground to tremble and the warriors to fall, one after the other.


    Immediately, amidst a shrill cry, a marvelous, magnificent red-crowned crane flew down from the sky and opened both of its wings that were several Zhangs long; evidently, it was a mutant.


    Peng lightly hopped, and his entire body was like a goose feather, lightly landing onto the back of the red-crowned crane.


    Chirp chirp!


    The white crane flapped its wings and flew into the sky.


    "Shoot! Shoot it down!"


    The general angrily shouted from below and continuously rushed the archers.


    It was to no avail, as Peng controlled the east winds, and he fiercely directed the winds onto them, instantly causing the soldiers beneath him to be blown into a state of confusion. Arrows and the likes became more of a joke.


    "It''s been a pipe dream for me¡ªten years with Xuan. This is the everlasting fame that we would achieve¡­"


    Peng laughed without restraint and steered the white crane, instantly becoming a black spot in the horizon.


    Below them, due to the loss of the Xuan king''s empire, it instantly descended into a state of chaos¡­


    ¡­


    Kun tribe.


    Kun Xie had long inherited the position of the leader. Although he, at that moment, had already become middle-aged, he still had a young complexion and had no traces of becoming old and frail.


    Within the tribe, it was always rumoured that he had the miracle of meeting a deity in his early years and had magical abilities, thus further increasing the respect he garnered.


    At this moment, the large changes happening in the Xuan Nation rapidly presented themselves before him through a secret channel.


    "The Xuan king is already dead? Peng escaped on a crane? Okay!"


    Kun Xie clapped his palms together. "Thank you God for helping me. My Kun tribe has over tens of thousands of brave warriors, but the things that scare me within the Xuan Nation is only those two people¡ªXuan and Peng. At this moment, the Xuan king has died and demolished his own support before he perished. That isn''t very smart¡­ Haha¡­"


    He could see very clearly that if Xuan kept treating Peng with courtesy, these brothers with the same teacher would have no choice but to help each other in the future to save face and perhaps encounter one of his weapons.


    But at this moment, the other party destroyed his own "Great Wall" and forced Peng to escape on his crane, actively helping him get rid of a serious problem.


    "If you''re indecisive when a decision is made, you will have to suffer from the chaos that results from it."


    Kun Xie stood up, determined. "Release the soldiers immediately and vow to descend upon Xuan!"

 656 Descen

    In the autumn of the 45th year of the Xuan Nation, Xuan faced his demise, and his eldest son succeeded the throne. The Kun tribe dispatched their troops, and the leader, Kun Xie, worshipped the heavens and proclaimed to be king, building a large Kun army to attack the Xuan Nation and officially begin the process of contending for hegemony.


    ¡­


    Thick Earth City.


    The construction skills in this age were still at the stage of building boards, and they mostly utilized two upright wooden boards that were filled with cement on the inside to achieve the effect of a wall.


    Despite this, Thick Earth City also had one city wall that was around three meters tall. It was considered to be exceptionally sturdy on the Five Elements Continent.


    While guarding the city, the soldiers could see the bottom from a high point, securing a huge advantage.


    When the Kun Nation made a mass pledge before dispatching their troops, they chose this location for their first war.


    Although the Xuan Nation was huge, destroying Thick Earth City would allow them to progress forward without any risks or danger. They could then attack cities and conquer land along the way, all the way to the Xuan capital!


    Kun Xie''s objective was also there!


    After all, the countrymen at the moment weren''t very approving of the Xuan Nation. Lately, the allegiance from the merger hasn''t even lasted a few decades, and the traces of the tribes were still very obvious.


    A great achievement would be obtained if the crowd of burly men were destroyed within the Xuan capital! The other tribes and cities would have an 80% chance of being defeated, and they would easily achieve the final victory.


    Of course, Thick Earth City wasn''t easy to attack at all easy.


    Not only does it have a city wall, but there''s also an army of over five thousand people stationed inside led by the Xuan Nation''s Senior General Fei Yun who is well-equipped.


    Kun Xie looked at the warriors in his own tribe. There were only a few hundred of them who could put on a suit of armor and be equipped with weapons.


    "But this is sufficient!"


    Despite this, he still had immense confidence.


    This confidence definitely didn''t arise from the soldiers and army from the tribe, but from his own cultivation techniques.


    Kaboom!


    The war drums sounded, and many Xuan Nation soldiers with high-spirited morale appeared in the Thick Earth City ahead of them.


    Conversely, the newly developed Kun Nation army were a little scared.


    After all, the previous kingdom''s advantage wasn''t so easy to appease.


    "Great King!"


    At this moment, the envoy dispatched by Kun Xie arrived, kneeled down on one knee, and reported, "Fei Yun, who is within the city, has refused to surrender, and he claims that he wants to fight til the end!"


    "Very good, if he wants to seek death, then I''ll send him there!"


    Although he has long known about the other party''s decision, a flash of hostility still flashed across Kun Xie''s eyes.


    As he was solely focused on developing the tribe, regardless of what cultivation technique he chooses, he''ll still be more inclined towards the battle array aspect.


    "Blare the call, attack!"


    He stopped hesitating and gave an order while he took out a talisman.


    This talisman was three chi long and seemed to be made from an animal''s skin. The entire talisman was packed with dense and closely spaced runic words written in blood.


    Blood-red ripples emitted once it was opened, giving off an air of endless mystery and magic.


    "After trying to use thirty animal skins and other precious materials, I finally succeeded in making this. I hope it doesn''t disappoint me¡­"


    Kun Xie thought silently and immediately activated the talisman with a spell. "Spiritual Technique¡ªTremble the Mountains!"


    Zap!


    The blood-red animal skins on the talisman transformed into a streak of light and penetrated the wall with an indiscernible speed.


    Kaboom!


    Afterwards, the earth and the mountains trembled!


    The surrounding land shook successively, just like a land dragon flipping its body over, and the huge power of the earthquake descended upon the defenses of Thick Earth City.


    This type of architecture, that was created with building planks, was naturally unable to withstand the power and might of nature. It was instantly crushed into pieces, and large cracks appeared everywhere.


    Furthermore, accompanying the cheers of the Kun army outside the city, a section of the city wall collapsed and buried all of the soldiers on top, revealing the defenseless city behind it.


    "Kill!"


    A warrior shouted mightily as he led the other howling soldiers across.


    Instantaneously, the entire Thick Earth City descended into a scene of bloodshed and a mountain of dead bodies.


    "The spirit of the Five Elementss, listen to my command¡ªEnhance!"


    Even at this moment, Kun Xie didn''t abandon his spiritual techniques, and many large enhancement spells landed on the bodies of the Kun nation''s army.


    Under the spotlight of a colorful glow, even the lowest-ranking soldier felt that his entire body''s spirit and essence increased hundred-fold, while his physical strength was replenished to an unbelievable state that was saturated with courage.


    "This is the power of the spiritual spell!"


    Looking at the fall of the previously impenetrable Thick Earth City in half a day, Kun Xie''s fists gradually tightened.


    "Relay my orders. Soldiers who surrender will have their lives spared, while the other countrymen have to make a new vow and enter my Kun nation. Those who defy this order will be seen as traitors, and I will take as much as I want, their women, wealth, and resources!"


    Being a tribal leader, it was a traditional rule to indulge in plundering a village after defeating the enemy. Even Kun Xie wasn''t willing to break this tradition.


    Accompanying his orders, the entire Thick Earth City immediately shifted and transformed into hell.


    To the tribal warriors, completely eliminating all the other party''s high-ranking men and plundering slaves and women after achieving victory was the norm.


    Although Kun Xie was an extraordinary person, it still required a long time to change this mentality. Furthermore, he didn''t feel that he had any obligation to give preferential treatment to the Xuan nation''s countrymen.


    It was just that, with his cultivation, he didn''t realize that a mysterious transformation was currently happening within the city.


    Somewhere within a citizen''s house, accompanied by the shrill cries of a woman, red light instantly lit up the room, and an infant tumbled down onto the floor.


    His eyes were pitch black, but he didn''t scream or cry, exuding the calmness of an adult.


    At this moment, looking at the surrounding area, where there were chaotic sounds coming from the outside and the passed out puerpera on the bed, it was evident that amidst the great confusion within this city, nobody would think about the life or death of this woman.


    The infant silently murmured, automatically stood up, and walked for a few steps. The tattoo of a red dragon subtly appeared on his back.


    With every step he took, his body automatically elongated a little. After seven steps, he already transformed into the form of a seven-year-old child.


    Immediately, the child pointed at the heavens and the ground with one finger and said, "The Golden Pills creation have given birth to a human. I conquer both the Heavens and the Earth¡­ From this point onwards, my name is Li Rubi!"


    After a moment, a teenager in a suit carrying a puerpera chased after an ox cart and slowly left the mansion.


    "Kill!"


    At that moment, there was already chaos on the streets from the Kun nation''s army, and the entire place was full of noise.


    "Stop the ox cart in front. Slow down and stop!"


    Amidst the shouts, two rebel soldiers jumped out.


    Li Rubi immediately kicked twice without even looking.


    Bang bang!


    Amidst the muffled noises, the two rebel soldiers lay on the ground without any trace of life in their eyes.


    "Hehe¡­ Kun nation¡­ Kun Xie¡­ I remember!"


    Li Rubi rode the ox cart and slowly left without looking back.


    Accompanying the dragon''s transformation, a few memories inside his blood were also awakening inside his mind.


    "Even after obtaining the Golden Pills, I''m only a flood dragon, which is still one step away from becoming a real dragon!


    "One step away, that is the difference between the Heavens and the Earth!


    "Instead, amidst the memories that are inherited, I''ve actually relied on the destiny of the human race in order to complete the technique of the dragon body¡­ This forced me to have no choice but to participate in the war¡­


    "Just from becoming a human emperor and obtaining the three spirits from the Heaven, Earth, and People, for replenishment, I''ll definitely be able to grasp the body of a real dragon!


    "Although this body is that of a human, I sealed the body of a flood dragon within it and used moments to substitute years, definitely allowing me to rapidly grow."


    Following the average growth period, it takes at least fifteen to sixteen years to develop the infant body that it has possessed into that of an adult. During this long period, the Five Elements Continent might be reunited once again.


    Hence, he had no choice but to use a little help.


    The good news was that he was still a flood dragon and that using the form of a human to temporarily hide his identity didn''t require too much effort.


    With a little determination and the protection of the Gods, the ox cart safely exited Thick Earth City amidst the wave of refugees and disappeared into the horizon.


    ¡­


    "Just now, why were you suddenly filled with apprehension?"


    On the other side, Kun Xie finally entered Thick Earth City and looked at the well-arranged houses on both sides and inadvertently laughed. "This city is already part of our Kun nation!"


    "King! King!!"


    Many Kun warriors cheered together. Their thought process was very simple¡ªthey only approved those who brought victory or benefits to themselves.


    However, even though he enjoyed the cheers, the unsettling feeling in his heart was still there.


    "In the Xuan nation, Xuan has died, and his son is busy with many matters and doesn''t currently pose much of a fearful threat to me. Peng has already gone to a faraway place, so who is still present to stop me?"


    Kun Xie silently thought and immediately broke into laughter, feeling that it was such a pointless concern.


    "Peng hesitates to be my enemy, and those people like Li and Shi either have no fixed abode, or they''re under my command. What else do I have to fear?"


    He grinned and said, "The reason why teacher taught me the spiritual spell was to get me to promote it and conquer the Xuan nation¡ªto become the actual king and fulfill this noble ambition.


    "I fight for my teacher. What mutant dares to block me?"


    Unfortunately, he wasn''t aware that the confidence that he thought he had, in reality, didn''t have much power as a deterrence.


    ¡­


    Xuan nation capital.


    After consecutive waves of chaos, Zhang relied on the Xuan''s prior painstaking arrangements and the backups that he had left behind to barely maintain the situation within the capital¡ªworship the heavens and proclaim oneself as king.


    Unfortunately, his abilities were only considered to be average, and for this newly elected king, a serious challenge had already arrived.


    After barely stabilizing the situation within the capital, Zhang immediately received news of the rebellion by the Kun tribe and their breach of Thick Earth City.


    This young king was instantly engulfed in a state of panic. "Teacher Peng seemed to have mentioned before that he wasn''t the only Immortal Cultivator in the realm. Kun Xie of the Kun tribe was also previously rumoured to be one of them!"


    Thinking about Peng''s magical abilities, there was slight anxiousness in Zhang''s heart.


    Compared to his father, Zhang had never eaten any exotic plants or magical fruits, and he had never experienced the numerous backstabs and politics while the state was being founded. Now that he was just newly elected and had faced consecutive challenges, it was inevitable that he would feel a lack of confidence.


    At this moment, beautiful person in the palace walked up slowly and spoke like orchids, "Do not worry, King. I, a concubine, have previously met with a few mutants and am willing to recommend them to you, to allay your worries!"


    "Oh, beautiful lady, why didn''t you say so earlier!"


    Zhang instantly rejoiced.


    Ever since the giant beast era, the exotic plants and magical fruits in the realm seemed to have disappeared without a trace. He didn''t expect this pretty lady to actually have such a background and have connections with mutants.


    "Let them come quickly. I''m willing to bow and regard them as my teacher!"


    Thinking of the rain-battered rivers and mountains, Zhang unhesitantly made a promise.


    "On behalf of them, I thank you, King!"


    This beautiful lady bowed, and the smile on her lips carried a trace of seductiveness and craftiness.


    In her heart, a thought flashed past. "The human race is indeed bestowed with particularly favorable conditions. In order for us demons to conquer the Heavens and the Earth, we definitely need to cause internal friction between the human race. Furthermore, the other side is actually still that Kun Xie!"


    The spiritual spells of the ancient Gods in the beginning and the appearance of those humans, were fully remembered by the demon tribes and, to a greater extent, were the key things to take caution of!

 657 Ghost Deity

    In the main hall of the Kun Wu mountains.


    Fang Yuan sat high up on a bed of clouds and flicked his fingers.


    Two plumes of green smoke billowed upwards like two dragon pearls, consuming the air voraciously like a tiger and with no visible pattern in its convergence and divergence. It formed a scenery of mountains, hills, and flat plains, which was actually the map of the Five Elements Continent.


    At this moment, in the midst of mist, many clouds gathered and manifested various weather phenomena.


    "Fate and destiny, in reality they''re the manifestations of an exterior and innate ability, and they wouldn''t materialize out of nothing¡­ Even though it''s a favor from the Divine Gods, it also consists of the contributions from the Divine Gods!"


    Fang Yuan silently sighed.


    Even though it was the path of Fengshui that gathered fate and destiny, it must also have the support of the land and the ancestors. The appearance of the true dragon, as mentioned in the previous world, must either be because they already had millions of soldiers that had conquered the entire land, or they must''ve obtained the support of the land and the favor of the Divine Gods. Whatever the case may be, it must''ve had its own origin or received a gift from the supervisors, and it cannot be without its own origin.


    Hence, there was only one conclusion¡ªYou must have skills before you can have a destiny, and anything else is just a mere fantasy.


    "Of course, the skills or assets that are bestowed upon you by others isn''t as stable as when compared to obtaining it by ourselves with our own hardwork and steady efforts. Hence, even different weather conditions will also make an impact on whether it brings about good luck or misfortune, just like the wax and wane of the tides. We can then have the opportunity to oversee the energy practitioners of the realm scrape a living¡­"


    With Fang Yuan''s current Fiery Golden Eyes, he could observe most of the phenomena even if he was in Da Qian. He was even more dominating regarding his own Heavenly Abode, and everything was as easy as flipping over his palm to observe his own fingerprints.


    After all, regardless of whether it was the Xuan Nation or Kun Nation that worshipped the heavens and proclaimed their king, the "king" that they worshipped was actually he himself!


    At this moment, when he looked at the map of the nation''s vast territory again, he could immediately see the ascent of two streaks of the nation''s destiny.


    One of them was thick and heavy but appeared to be slightly scattered, while the other one, though it was very thin, it was full of life and vigor. These were definitely the nation''s destiny of both the Xuan Nation and the Kun Nation.


    What was strange was that in the surrounding mountains and rivers, there was also a small congregation of black energy that started to permeate into the Xuan Nation''s destiny.


    "That is the demon tribe''s destiny!"


    Fang Yuan clasped his fingers and instantly shook his head. "Too bad¡­ It''s difficult for the demon tribe to materialize. The giant demons who previously listened to my preachings were all transformed by me, and it was only then that were they able to greatly improve. If that wasn''t the case, an average, muddle-headed beast that wanted to unlock its intelligence and cultivate a spiritual spell? Difficult! Difficult! Difficult!!!"


    Even within the human race, a prodigal Immortal Cultivator was very rare. The average animal must first have intelligence before understanding the method of cultivation, and they must improve in order to become a part of the demon race.


    "Unless I change the rules of nature and allowed the Emperor Flow Serum to appear earlier on, it would be a joke if the demon race wanted to conquer the mainland; just its population alone is enough to make it totally unqualified to do so.


    Fang Yuan smiled slightly.


    Although the few giant demons who listened to his preachings in the beginning had already cultivated to an extremely high domain today, and they could be regarded as someone with vast magical powers and endless magical abilities, the size of the demon tribe still determined that they were fundamentally unable to become a significant force in the battle to conquer the mainland¡ªat least for now, they could only assimilate themselves into the human''s chaotic wars and secretly carry out their plans.


    Compared to them, that herring was worth a little more attention.


    "In the fight between the human Tao''s, who will prevail in the end?"


    Fang Yuan''s gaze had already gone beyond the conflicts on the mainland in order to see things on a higher level.


    Even though he was the creator of the realm, to guide the living beings on the realm to continuously breeding and eventually accumulate enough to become the realm''s consciousness, they must have some conflict with the heavenly karma.


    This is a contradiction between humans and nature!


    This is better than the previous old, vast realm where the sages took up the entirety of the realm''s consciousness and were actually able to banish the heaven''s will for a short period of time!


    But at this moment, Fang Yuan himself was God, and he was naturally inclined towards the side of the heaven''s will.


    "The Xuan Nation and the Kun Nation were both determined by human Taos, yet the flood dragon Li Rubi was, instead, determined by the heaven''s will. Among them, whoever was able to conquer the mainland and take control of the plains, in actuality, would represent the first victory coming from the conflict between the human Tao and the heaven''s will."


    Regarding this point, Fang Yuan wasn''t worried at all.


    After all, the living creatures of the realm were still too weak, and the human Tao that they established was also very frail.


    Furthermore, this creator, Fang Yuan, could easily and completely exterminate it.


    If he waited til the future like the Da Qian and the old realm, and if he gave the living creatures complete freedom to multiply to a population of a few billion in number, with the prevalence of high-levelled masters, couldn''t he then try to exterminate it? Do not assume that those native masters wouldn''t dare to descend upon the heavens!


    The path of cultivation is full of challenges. There is no Tao in heaven, and I can then descend upon the heavens!


    "There''s also a paradox inside. For a realm to progress, the quantity and quality of the living creatures will need to improve. However, once they''re stronger, the control that the creator has on the realm will continuously decrease. Just like how an office that has entered the market will have its stock equity reduced. Even though the business might be large and strong, the founder''s authority will continue to drop. The internal trade-off is difficult to say¡­"


    Fang Yuan''s gaze seemed to penetrate through the ages and see the future. "Hence¡­ we need to set some rules early on¡­ with this being an example!"


    Making use of the current circumstance where the human Tao is still new, frail, and weak, is the best opportunity!


    Of course, these calculations must not be exposed to any outsiders.


    On the Five Elements Continent, the war between the Kun Nation and the Xuan Nation has also reached a vigorous, intense stage.


    After Xuan died, the country became unstable, and even though the newly elected Zhang relied on the previous arrangements and became king, he could only control the citizens within the Xuan Nation''s capital and the earliest tribes along the Giant River.


    Furthermore, Kun Xie managed to breach Thick Earth City in a day, and his name and reputation shook the earth while he used his authority to push through to the Xuan Nation''s capital. The cities and tribes along the way practically surrendered at the slightest disturbance, and the number of people who secretly defected couldn''t be counted, sufficiently proving the previous decisions made by Kun Xie. This made him even more confident as his army''s morale and power pushed through to the Xuan Nation''s capital.


    Being a kingdom, its walls were higher and stronger than that of Thick Earth City. The buildings were neatly arranged like a giant beast crouching down on the horizon.


    When the Kun Nation''s general saw the Xuan Nation''s capital, he was immediately shaken by this scene.


    "Only such a majestic city is suitable to function as my royal palace in the future!"


    Kun Xie saw this scene and laughed out loud instead.


    At this moment, with the numerous people who surrendered and defected along the way, his army which originally had less than ten thousand people had already grown to a size of thirty thousand in strength. Although they were mostly a disorganized group of people, the vibe they exuded was overall, very imposing.


    Comparatively, the Zhang king had an utterly isolated appearance. The people within the city, as of this moment, were at most ten thousand in number.


    With the assistance of spiritual techniques, Kun Xie was very confident in accomplishing the entire task in one stroke¡ªto annihilate the nation in a single war!


    "Dispatch someone to call for the Zhang king''s surrender!


    "The army should cook rice and set up camp to prepare to attack tomorrow!"


    He released commands systematically, but suddenly, he broke out into a cold sweat as his blood started rushing. An unlucky omen enveloped his entire body.


    Kun Xie instinctively looked towards the city wall and suddenly saw the floating coarse silhouette of a large-sleeved person there.


    The other party was in formal attire with an upright disposition. Unknowingly, when Kun Xie''s gaze matched with the other party''s eyes, his entire body instantly quivered. "You are¡­"


    Within his memory, he suddenly returned to the previous time when he had heard the preachings of the ancient Gods. It was the large golden-winged Pengornis that flew into the Nine Skies in a whirlwind!


    "Kun Xie, it''s joyous news for us old friends to meet again. Unfortunately, I am Xuan''s mighty Imperior Advisor at the moment, and I can only give you a large present!"


    The person on the wall suddenly opened his mouth, and the sound traversed ten miles and could be heard from afar.


    Chirp chirp!


    Accompanying the vicious cries of a bird that penetrated through the air and clouds, the human silhouette stepped out and immediately took to the skies with his large sleeves floating like a roc. With great ambition, it ascended upwards in a whirlwind and suddenly projected a large shadow downwards.


    "No¡­ You dare!!!"


    A bright light flickered in Kun Xie''s eyes, and he was inadvertently devastated when he suddenly saw a large golden-winged Pengornis opening its beak and swallowing things like a black hole.


    Unfortunately, in terms of magical powers and spiritual techniques, he was still a few notches below this large demon.


    Whoosh whoosh!


    In the next moment, strong winds blew and covered the sky.


    After the general regained his composure, he suddenly realized that the ten thousand strong army that was at the frontlines had actually disappeared without a trace.


    Only Kun Xie, who was a cultivator, saw it very clearly.


    Just now, that large golden-winged Pengornis viciously opened its huge mouth and swallowed his entire ten thousand strong army in one bite.


    Pfft!


    This setback instantly made him worry and his chest tighten, causing him to wobble. He suddenly opened his mouth and fresh blood spurted out.


    "King!"


    The general and soldiers in his surroundings instantaneously entered a state of chaos.


    ¡­


    "The mighty Imperial Advisor!"


    As a stark contrast to the Kun army, there was a great deal of joy on top of the city walls.


    "Mm. You waited to retreat, while I craved peace¡­"


    The Imperial Advisor waved his hand and made the crowd move back while his face suddenly reddened.


    "What happened?"


    At the side, a beautiful palace lady appeared with her face containing a shadow of uncertainty.


    "It''s the backlash from the human race''s spirit!"


    The golden-winged Pengornis restrained it after a great deal of effort, and it immediately laughed coldly. "Previously, I occasionally ate a few ''Blood food,'' but I totally didn''t realize that after unleashing my magical powers and divine techniques to exterminate tens of thousands of people in one go, I had unfortunately suffered backlash¡­ I''m afraid this will damage my foundation as a Immortal Cultivator!"


    "Is this your karma?"


    The beautiful palace lady''s complexion changed. "The powers of the human race is great. Where do I go next?"


    "Regardless, we, the demon race, still have to compete for the position of conqueror!"


    The golden-winged Pengornis''s complexion had some mystery behind it. "After this battle, the war for the human race''s dynasty will continue for at least ten years, and it will be an opportunity for my demon race!


    "The techniques and logic that Master preached was extremely profound. I''ve thought hard for ten years and have discovered a magical technique that could perhaps assist my demon race!"


    "Oh, what magical technique is it?"


    The beautiful palace lady''s complexion changed.


    "I shall call this¡ªthe Ghost Deity Technique! The ghost deity traverses the underworld, it cannot be created nor destroyed, it can overcome darkness, and it has no name. Although it cannot repeatedly return and has no place to go, it can be reincarnated."


    The golden-winged Pengornis laughed bitterly. "Originally, I wanted to find the Immortal Cultivator. However, I couldn''t help but think of a magical technique that could promote us to the state of a deity with our level of cultivation¡­ However, the possession reincarnation technique within it cannot ever be used by other children!"


    "You are saying¡­ to transverse realms and reincarnate¡­ to transform into a human?"


    "Correct. The human race has an intelligent mind, and regardless of studying or cultivation, their standard far exceeds that of an average creature or beast by many notches, and they can be regarded as the consciousness of all beings. Those incredibly dumb children should traverse the realms once. It could increase some of their spiritual intelligence!"


    The Pengornis passed down this magical technique and instantly stopped talking. It directly transformed into a torrent of strong winds and disappeared.


    The beautiful lady saw this scene and her facial expression became more serious. "The backlash¡­ was actually to this extent? Could it be that the heaven''s will loves the human race to this extent? No! This is only because they''ve conquered the mainland and have achieved the rank of an overlord. After some time, it isn''t impossible for my demon race to replace them!"

 658 Leaving the Mountain

    As ten thousand men from his army were eliminated, and the morale suffered a huge blow, Kun Xie was worried that he would be ambushed by the Xuan nation and suffer a tremendous defeat, thus, had no choice but to withdraw his troops and head back.


    The original extermination war between the nations instantly became one that had a strong start but a weak ending, resulting in a loss on both sides.


    The Xuan king, Zhang, used this opportunity to immediately organize into a state of combat readiness and train his warriors. He also subdued other forces within the nation and entered a long-term stalemate period with Kun nation.


    In an instant, five years flashed past.


    Li Rubi rode his high horse and went deep into the mountains, accompanied by more than ten armored guards at his side.


    At this moment, he looked like he was more than twenty years old¡ªhis skin was like a jade disc, and he was very handsome. The suit of armor that he wore further enhanced his heroic spirit by a few notches.


    "Master, it''s here¡­ The Tuan mountains is rumoured to have deities residing there, and woodcutters had previously seen a red-crowned crane dancing in the air!"


    A warrior walked up to look and immediately reported back.


    "Erm, some of you dismount from your horse and follow me into the mountains!"


    Li Rubi looked towards the sky and was in deep thought.


    These five years, he took pains to endure inside the crevice between the two nations. A new force suddenly arose, and today, a large group under his command called "Mountains," which also had thousands of warriors and was considered to be the third powerhouse.


    However, if he wanted to conquer the heavens and the skies, this still wasn''t enough. Hence, he needed to be extremely courteous to the worthy people, and upon hearing that there were high-level people living in seclusion in the Tuan mountains, he specially came to pay a visit.


    A row of people dismounted from their horses and started climbing. After a hilltop, they saw strangely-shaped pines and weird rocks with billowing mountain mist. It truly was a scene of idyllic beauty.


    Li Rubi was incarnated from a flood dragon and naturally had some magical intuition. He briefly inspected the aura and instantly knew the location of the person he wanted to find. "Follow me!"


    They walked through a barrier of mist and immediately saw three pine trees that were erected to form the shape of a word. There were even a few small thatch houses beneath it.


    A small chair was placed under the pine trees at this moment, and a person sat cross-legged. In the front lay a purple cauldron with a large pile of burning firewood, causing the cauldron to produce a "chi chi" sound.


    "A distinguished guest has come from a faraway place. I haven''t personally greeted you, it''s really impolite of me!"


    That person was clothed in black and white, which Li Rubi recognized as the Taoist robe style of the Kun Wu mountains. He also wore a crown and instantly waved his hand, igniting the cauldron. An exotic fragrance entered their nose. "Luckily we still have a few Reinstated Pills that can be used to receive guests. Please!"


    Li Rubi naturally sat down in front of the Taoist without restraint and stared at this person.


    This Taoist seemed to be around twenty to thirty years old, yet his eyes seemed to have suffered from a great deal of vicissitudes in life. His body carried a pungent medicinal aroma, and his cultivation was so deep that it couldn''t be estimated. His heart inadvertently went cold. "Is Sir Taoist the previous Xuan Nation Imperior Advisor¡­ Peng?"


    "That''s right¡­"


    Peng openly confessed. "I''ve caused disturbances in your territory for a number of years and still wish that you do not blame me, Magnate! Please eat, this Reinstated Pill can be drank together with the Jade Liquid for better results!"


    As he spoke, he also pushed a jade cup over with starch water inside.


    "Master?!"


    A soldier instantly walked up and wanted to verify the medicine himself. As a master, how could he consume such an dubious liquid?


    "There''s no need to worry so much. I believe in the Taoist!"


    Li Rubi waved his hand casually, picked up the cup, and he drank from it. He immediately felt awakened and picked up a Reinstated Pill.


    This Reinstated Pill was roughly the size of his thumb. Its entire body was crimson and emitted a wave of fragrant vegetation like a Lingzhi. After entering his mouth, it could even jump slightly as if it had a life of its own.


    Swallowing it in one mouthful, Li Rubi suddenly felt that there was a surge of heat that was rising in his underbelly and coursing through his entire body, spreading to every organ. He inadvertently praised, "Sir Taoist truly is a deity!!"


    "This small matter isn''t worth mentioning! I''ve observed your body and saw that it had some innate deficiencies. Using this Reinstated Pill to repair your genetics and add a little nourishment could prolong your lifespan by two periods¡­"


    "Haha¡­ Are there any taboos behind the concept of life and death?" Li Rubi was, instead, very easygoing. "It''s already sufficient if a real man can set up his own business by the age of forty."


    "Mmm¡­"


    Peng nodded and didn''t say anything else.


    Unbeknownst to all, his heart at the moment was already like the terrifying waves of a stormy flood.


    "This person walks with a majestic gait and has a mountain root bred by purple spirits. It really is valuable¡­ Furthermore, why is there an aura that I dread on his body¡­ Could it be that in the conflicts of the human race, he''s the future tripartite balance of the three forces!? Even¡­ "


    Furthermore, thinking about this person''s actions during these past few years, instantly made an unfathomable feeling develop inside Peng.


    "What is this item?"


    After consuming the Jade Liquid Reinstated Pill, Li Rubi had instead stared at the vertical and horizontal boxes with black and white stones inside on the table and asked with interest.


    "This is ''Tai Chi chess,'' one white and one black, it is an item that was created from the Yin-Yang technique which I previously understood, and it was passed down by the ancient Gods. Usually, I''ll play chess with my left and right hand, and I''m content with it," Peng said with a smile.


    "Oh, can I request for Sir Taoist to explain it in detail¡­" Li Rubi eyes lit, and he asked about the rules of this "Tai Chi chess."


    Peng explained everything and said that it was very similar to Fang Yuan''s previous world''s "Weiqi." However, the position of the pieces are inside the boxes, and there aren''t as many positions as the previous world''s chessboard.


    "Alright, since there''s no entertainment deep in the mountains, how about we compete against each other in a round of chess?" Li Rubi rubbed his fingers and asked with some anticipation.


    "That''s what I desire!" Peng''s heart jumped slightly. "How can your honor talk about a chess duel without any stakes?"


    "Oh? You want to place a bet?"


    Li Rubi took out a few pieces of pumpkin seeds and asked, "How about these?"


    "Haha¡­ Your honor, you trick me. The king is confident and has many mountains and rivers, how can it likened with mere gold and silver?" Peng laughed out loud. "How about we bet with these Tuan mountains?"


    "The Tuan mountains are under my control¡­" Li Rubi nodded and said, "Okay! If I lose, I''ll present the entire mountain to you!"


    "Alright!"


    Peng smiled and pushed out the chess box. "The guest goes first!"


    ¡­


    Li Rubi wore a solemn expression, and a piece dropped and landed in the middle of the chessboard.


    His chess abilities were still not known yet, but just this grand atmosphere had already made Peng''s heart go cold as he returned a move with a careful, wary expression.


    Li Rubi was innately smart and learnt everything quickly. At this moment, he made more than ten moves without hesitation.


    Conversely, Peng had to ponder for a long period, every time, before he could make a move. His speed became slower and slower, and at last, beads of sweat appeared on his forehead.


    "Haha¡­ The Taoist has superior chess abilities. Rubi admits defeat!"


    At last, Li Rubi laughed and abandoned the chess pieces in his hand, calmly admitting defeat.


    "Whew¡­"


    Peng let out a long sigh before standing and kowtowing. "Your benevolent and generous disposition is the only one of its kind that I''ve seen in my life. I''m worthless and am willing to greatly assist you, honorable sir!"


    "Haha¡­ I have the Taoist who is equivalent to having an army of tens of thousands of soldiers!"


    Li Rubi was exuberant and quickly walked up to personally hoist him up. The two of them looked each other in the eye and surely had the feeling of having a good relationship between a monarch and his subjects.


    ¡­


    Year 50 of the Xuan calendar.


    The Xuan Nation''s power was flourishing, and against the Kun tribe, they continuously won every battle.


    Kun Xie was extremely fearful and united with the Li Rubi''s Mountain tribe to form an alliance of the weak against the strong.


    In the same year, the three armies fought under the skies of the Giant River plains and instantly entered into an aggressive stage.


    ¡­


    Kun Wu mountain.


    The Shi Sheng, at this moment, had already grown to become a handsome, neatly-dressed teenager with sharp facial features. He collapsed and prayed at Fang Yuan''s feet. "I''ve seen the Holy Elder!"


    "My Kun Wu mountain has been sealed til now and has reached the point where we are about to reopen the mountains¡­ However, seeing the humans in a state of misery made me unable to bear it any longer!" Fang Yuan spoke at an appropriate pace, "You should go down the mountain and assist the emperor. This can be considered as a way to accumulate commendable deeds!"


    "Yes!"


    The Shi Sheng repeatedly prayed.


    "I have two treasures here¡ªone Celestial Sphere Streamer and one Spirit Slaying Knife¡ªthat I''ll gift to you. Go out and do some virtuous work!"


    Fang Yuan waved his hand, and two brightly shining treasures landed, causing the Shi Sheng to inadvertently stare in amazement.


    Seeing that the Celestial Sphere Streamer was in the form of a small green streamer, which produced the Earth, Fire, Wind, and Water elements when it was slightly shaken, it''s a precious commodity that''s proficient in both offense and defense.


    And the Spirit Slaying Knife doesn''t match up to its name and instead looked like a gourd.


    "When you shake and open this Celestial Sphere Streamer, the Earth, Fire, Wind, and Water will drop. Its power is majestic and nobody can resist it¡­ As for the Spirit Slaying Knife, it''s the accumulation of the ''killing spirit'' collected within the boundary between the Heavens and the Earth. It''s swift and fierce, unlike anything else, and needs time to nourish within the gourd. When you want to use it, just kowtowing and saying, ''Baby, please transform'' would be enough."


    "Thank you Elder, for bestowing these treasures upon me!"


    Despite the Shi Sheng''s temperament, he was elated when he obtained these two treasures and immediately asked with some uncertainty, "Who''s the emperor that Elder is referring to?"


    "I cannot say! I cannot say!"


    Fang Yuan shook his head and smiled mysteriously. "There is another matter. That Yuan Hong child went down the mountain a few days ago as well. If you see him, don''t be overly cautious, and you must understand the principle that everyone has their own master!"


    "Yes, Master!"


    The Shi Sheng kowtowed and walked out, and he suddenly had a spark of inspiration. "What the elder said, could it be that you still think that I will retaliate against Brother Yuan Hong?


    "Also¡­ That evil dragon that escaped last time, why hasn''t the elder mentioned it."


    With uncertainty in his heart, he rode a cloud and left the Kun Wu mountain, returning to the human realm.


    Just by briefly asking about it, he already knew about the current situation. The Xuan Nation dominated the land, while the Kun and Mountain tribes were collaborating to content against it.


    Furthermore, the three parties were already fighting in the Giant River plains. The Shi Sheng quickly ran over, and he instantly saw banners and flags covering the skies and the militaries'' hostility piercing the air. This was the scene of a tripartite stalemate.


    However, his cultivation was intricate, and he saw something different.


    "In the Xuan Nation, there is a prevalence of demonic spirits. It seems that there are a lot of demons assisting them in the fight! Oh? Why does it appear that Yuan Hong is lurking amongst them? There are many cultivators in the Kun Nation¡ªthis should be the human deity path that the elder has mentioned¡­ as for the Mountain tribe¡­"


    He lightly exhaled as his facial expressions instantly changed. "Good! It really is you!!! This carp actually ran here and blended amongst them as a faction leader?"


    He immediately pressed on the cloud and landed amidst the army camp of the Mountain tribe.


    "Who''s that? Release the arrows!"


    At this stressful moment when the three armies were locked in a stalemate, the Shi Sheng descended from above and was an obvious mutant. When he landed, he obtained a flurry of arrows.


    However, he wasn''t anxious and took out his Celestial Sphere Streamer. With one shake, a gust of strong winds appeared and instantly deflected the flurry of arrows with a whirl of air, without exception.


    "This fellow¡­"


    In the camp, Peng looked on at the Shi Sheng and immediately struck dumb with amazement. "I can''t see it clearly, and I''m afraid that his cultivation is superior to mine! And that magical weapon¡­ If it''s an assassin dispatched by the Xuan Nation, the Master is in a precarious state."


    "Don''t worry!"


    Li Rubi''s expression was a little weird as he suddenly commanded, "Bring this mutant to the large tent. We must be polite and respectful to him."


    Peng saw this scene and immediately fell silent. He had a hunch and knew that this person was perhaps the Master''s old friend.


    If they could obtain his assistance, there would be more assurance in being able to defeat their enemies.

 659 The Great War

    "All of you, leave!"


    After dismissing all of the soldiers, Li Rubi looked at Shi Sheng and suddenly stood up, solemnly bowing.


    The Shi Sheng calmly received it, yet at the same time, he shook his head. "Why are you worshipping me?"


    "Within the Kun Wu mountains, I''m indebted to you for taking care of me, and I really appreciate it!" Li Rubi said honestly.


    "Hehe¡­ If that''s the case, it truly is not without reason for me to receive your worship. I only pity my younger sister apprentice¡­" Shi Sheng smiled coldly and said.


    "The younger sister¡­ what happened to her?"


    Li Rubi''s face turned dark.


    "Hmph¡­ While you were proclaiming yourself as king, declaring to dominate the human realm, and enjoying a luxurious life¡­ younger sister was, instead, sentenced to enter the Red Cloud Hollow after losing the elder''s Nine Transference Golden Pills. Day and night, she suffered the torment of the Red Clouds and has yet to be released," Shi Sheng said as he grunted coldly.


    "Ahh?!"


    Li Rubi''s facial expression changed greatly as he tightly clenched his fist and blue veins started bulging out. He then sat back on his chair dejectedly. "I thought¡­ nothing would happen to her¡­"


    "Hey! You are, after all, a small carp who actually managed to have such a transformation after obtaining the Golden Pills. You know how precious it is, yet you even believed that after I had lost this treasured item that I wouldn''t be punished?"


    The Shi Sheng laughed coldly. "Even though I am the direct disciple of the elder, I''m afraid I still do not have this privilege."


    "At the moment¡­ I''m flustered and confused¡­" Li Rubi circled around a few times and suddenly said, "Have you come back here to catch me then? I''ve already made my mind to go to the Kun Wu mountain to apologize and take responsibility for this. I must rescue younger sister!"


    "If you go back right now, I''m afraid that besides from you becoming a prisoner there, there wouldn''t be any point¡­"


    The Shi Sheng shook his head.


    At this stage, he was instead proactively considering this matter on behalf of Li Rubi and the younger sister. "The master''s every move and sentence hides a profound meaning inside. This time, you made me go down the mountains. You must''ve predicted that I would run into you. You also talked about chaos around the world¡­"


    He looked at Li Rubi with a serious expression. "Do you have the intention of dominating the whole world?"


    "Correct. I desire to dominate the whole world and become the king!" Li Rubi directly admitted.


    "Becoming the king isn''t enough¡­"


    The Shi Sheng shook his head. "You need to become the first generation human emperor to benefit mankind and obtain the boundless virtues. Only at that moment would you be able to enter the Kun Wu mountain and, perhaps, use your virtues to oppose master and trade for younger sister''s freedom."


    "Using virtues to oppose? This magical technique is great!"


    Li Rubi eyes shined brightly. Very evidently, he had also considered this suggestion long ago.


    Immediately, he asked with some uncertainty on his face, "Has the venerable sir met Yuan Hong earlier?"


    "He¡­ should be inside the Xuan Nation''s large camp?" The Shi Sheng felt his head hurt a little.


    "Correct! When he saw me that day, his temper was explosive, and he ultimately submitted to the Xuan Nation¡­" Li Rubi''s mouth revealed a bitter smile. To him, this was practically an extension of the previous Kun Wu mountain.


    Bullied by monkeys on top of the mountain, and even after going down the mountains, the other party actually continued to be as relentless as before!


    "Yuan Hong¡­ sigh¡­"


    The Shi Sheng touched his head and felt that the circumference of his brain had expanded by a great deal.


    ¡­


    At the same time, inside the Xuan Nation''s large camp.


    Inside a corner of the tent, the whole place was lively and various wines and meat were being served. There were also flexible and seemingly boneless dancers dancing to the beat of the music.


    "Haha¡­ Come, let''s drink again!"


    Yuan Hong sat on the throne while he hugged women with both hands in a state of pure ecstasy. "These few days of joy and happiness within the human realm exceeds that of the Kun Wu mountain by a few notches¡­"


    "Hehe¡­ So, Brother, you were born on the Kun Wu mountain? I don''t know which personage passed down these spiritual techniques to you?" A teenager wearing a green shirt, who was transformed from a golden-winged Pengornis and acting as his accompanist, asked with a smile.


    "Naturally, it is the Holy Elder!"


    Yuan Hong finished this sentence, and his heart turned cold. He stopped saying anything else and focused only on eating and drinking.


    "Brother Yuan, you are our tribe''s higher being. I offer you a kanpai!"


    At this moment, a seductive, beautiful lady raised her glass of wine, causing Yuan Hong''s eyes to stare directly at her.


    "I wish immediate success for the general!"


    The beautiful lady smiled gently and drank the cup of wine in one mouthful.


    "Of course!"


    Yuan Hong stared at this scene blankly and only focused on drinking. Traces of wine flowed down along the sides of his mouth.


    At this moment, he was drunk and inadvertently grumbled, "All of you don''t need to worry. Me and the leader of that Mountain tribe are completely irreconcilable, and I will definitely chop off his head!"


    In his heart, he was extremely infuriated with that carp.


    "Being the child of the Holy Elder, I had to be very careful with my conduct on the mountains. That small fish obtained the Golden Pills and had such a majestic transformation. This is really unfair!"


    In reality, if it wasn''t for Li Rubi''s own cultivation being profound at this moment, coupled with the protection of the army and the higher mutant beings that were involved, Yuan Hong might''ve wildly sneaked in a surprise attack early on.


    It was precisely because of this that it made him change his original intention of depending on Kun Xie, and he instead chose to give in to the embrace of the Xuan Nation. It was easy to understand what mindset he had¡ªwithout even asking.


    "That small carp, when it''s wings have been broken, this Ape elder will personally strip off its scales and pull out its tendons, causing it to neither live nor die. This can slightly soothe the grudge from the thunder whips!"


    Initially when Li Rubi swallowed the pill and escaped from death, not only did it harm the younger sister, even Yuan Hong also suffered from many thunder whips.


    Naturally, he didn''t hate his own elder, and he only threw all of his anger onto Li Rubi.


    Unbeknownst to him, the hearts of the two demons accompanying him were also like the fierce crashing of waves and tides as they kept asking themselves, "Kun Wu mountain? Is that where the ancient Gods are residing?"


    However, seeing the Yuan Hon''s lasciviousness and his wild habit, when he achieved his own ambitions, they slowly shook their heads.


    If it wasn''t for him still needing these demons in the future, his discourteous standards would''ve been driven out with beating sticks long ago.


    ¡­


    "The Path of the Ghost Deity?!"


    Inside the Kun Xie army camp, Kun Xie wore a Taoist robe and discussed the transformations of the demon tribe with a few allied forces.


    "Indeed¡­ This demonic spirit''s immortality technique has cultivated a small portion of eternal spiritual awareness, traversing the realms and reincarnating as a human!"


    An Immortal Cultivator slowly stroked his beard. "Only¡­ this technique is very difficult. Even amongst the demons, only a few are able to cultivate to this standard on their own. Hence, it was mostly the golden-winged Pengornis contributing, personally protecting and realizing it¡­"


    The demon tribe must be spiritual beasts that are able to cultivate. However, in this realm, it mostly consisted of dumb domestic animals.


    The golden-winged Pengornis used the Path of the Ghost Deity to realize those with potential, allowing them to traverse the realms and reincarnate anew as humans in order to open up their spiritual intelligence and allow them to naturally make rapid progress when cultivating.


    This is also the reason for the flourishing strength of the Xuan Nation and the extraordinary abilities of its army.


    "That year when we heard the ancient Gods preach, that golden-winged Pengornis and nine-tailed fox were both legendary creatures within the demon tribe and could realize the Ghost Deity Path, but it wasn''t that surprising¡­"


    Kun Xie was in deep thought. "Among our kind, Peng''s qualifications and comprehension were our first priority. Luckily, that person, at the time, assisted Li Rubi and was also part of our camp."


    "The ambitions of the demon race were already well-known at the time. Kun Xie, being a leader of our kind, you should bring order out of chaos and return peace to our land!"


    An Immortal Cultivator named "Li" stood up and spoke righteously.


    His suggestion was instantly supplemented and agreed upon by many people. "The Ghost Deity of the demon tribe is just a small path. Our only actual ambition is the major human tao."


    In order to differentiate from the demon tribe, they called their own cultivated deity path "Human Deity," which means the path that the human race cultivates to become a deity.


    Suddenly, a servant rushed over quickly and handed over a note.


    Kun Xie looked and his face instantly changed. "Shi Sheng? Kun Wu mountains?"


    "Brother, what happened?"


    A few brothers asked in succession.


    "This is good news. The Mountain tribe has obtained a new mutant they call ''Shi Sheng'' who came from Kun Wu mountain¡­" Kun Xie hesitated for a while but still said the truth, "This mountain leader is suspected to be the Holy Man of Beginnings!"


    "What? He''s Master?"


    A few cultivators were elated. "Our kind must head over and personally pray to him!"


    "We will discuss all of this after the war!"


    Kun Xie waved his hand with slight frustration, and a shadow from five years ago seemed to appear.


    This shadow that blocked the sun and covered the heavens, it swallowed the magical power of over ten thousand soldiers in one mouthful and was like a nightmare that constantly circled around him.


    Even though he had recruited that the Immortal Cultivator disciples from that year, it only slightly improved his confidence a little.


    Furthermore, there was another piece of information that he didn''t reveal.


    "The cultivator from Kun Wu mountain isn''t alone! There is someone else that''s extremely likely to be inside the Xuan Nation''s camp!"


    Although his heart was a little disturbed, he was powerless at the moment, and he had to face the treacherous deep abyss if he took a step back! Even Kun Xie had no choice but to lower his head and move forward.


    ¡­


    D-day.


    Loud bursts of noise coming from the beating drums shook the heavens and earth.


    Tens of thousands of soldiers converged and displayed their battle formation on the plains in three different camps.


    "Today''s war will determine who will be in control of everything, and it is the key to the life or death of our demon tribe¡­"


    The teenager who had transformed from the large golden-winged Pengornis sighed and looked at the armies opposite him. "At the key moments, I will once again use my abilities and magical powers!"


    "Definitely not!"


    The beautiful lady at the side hurriedly refused. "Last time, you had already injured your foundation, and as of now, you have yet to fully recover. If you do it again, I''m afraid¡­"


    "For the long-term cause of my race, what difference does a mere tiny injury make?"


    The Pengornis laughed without restraint and looked at the battlefield.


    At this moment, the soldiers of the three factions had already begun a brief skirmish.


    Seeing that even though the Xuan nation army had a lot of people, they faced the few but elite Kun Nation and Mountain tribe armies, but they seemed to be locked in a stalemate.


    "Indeed¡­ there is great fortune on Kun Xie''s faction. Perhaps he is the next king!"


    The teenager that had transformed from the Pengornis saw this scene and instantly sighed. There seemed to appear a shapeless staircase in front of him that allowed him to walk step by step into the skies.


    "It''s him!"


    While delegating tasks down the ranks, Kun Xie''s expression became stern. "All Brothers, prepare!"


    Just as the big war was about to start, Yuan Hong also found the Shi Sheng, and his face inadvertently flushed red with anger. He came to the front of the Mountain tribe and said loudly, "Shi Sheng, why do you have to cause trouble for me? Don''t you know that this Li Rubi was that evil dragon that escaped before?"


    "This¡­ when I went down the mountains, the elder only ordered me to choose a leader to assist to govern the country¡­"


    The Shi Sheng scratched his head and used a straightforward and good-natured voice to speak.


    At the same time, his heart turned even colder. What if the sentence: "Everyone has their own leader" from the Holy Elder, had already long predicted his choice?


    "Argh¡­ This is pissing me off!"


    After hearing such a roundabout explanation, Yuan Hong was livid with anger. "Shi Sheng¡­ Our mutual affection will end today, and we will meet on the battlefield. Do not blame me for not considering our previous relationship!"

 660 Punish

    Chirp Chirp!


    Yuan Hong was flustered and exasperated, and at the same time, he saw that the Xuan Nation''s large troop of soldiers didn''t back down after a long battle. The ferocious warriors of the demon tribe died in the battle, one by one. The teenager that was transformed from the large golden Pengornis couldn''t help but became flustered. He stretched out both his arms and a large shadow was cast down. Suddenly, he expanded and transformed into the appearance of a giant bird. The darkness almost enveloped the entire Kun camp.


    "Magic¡ªLaw Phenomenon!"


    A tyrannical voice sounded through the space instantly.


    "Friends, help me quickly!"


    Kun Xie shouted angrily while he took a large bow from his back.


    This white bow was extremely huge. The bowstring was vibrating slightly, as though there were thunder claps passing through.


    On the bow, there were also densely carved symbols.


    "Receive my arrow!"


    A few Immortal Cultivators were long prepared as they took out a few arrows.


    These arrows were obviously custom made: One of them was translucent, as if it was a beautiful carved jade; another was made from metal and was filled with thorns, making it appeared vicious; and the last one was made from bone and seemed to be made from the same material as the bow.


    Since that time the large golden Pengornis swallowed his great army, Kun Xie learned a lesson from this bitter experience. He went through a long and arduous journey to kill mutated beasts to obtain their bones. They were then made into a magical weapon that could control the large Pengornis.


    He didn''t say that much now as he transitioned straight to putting the arrow into place and positioning himself before releasing it.


    Zap!


    The bow was as frightening as a clap of thunder!


    The jet black metal arrowhead shot out as if it was a flood dragon and went straight for the large Pengornis in the air.


    Kun Xie didn''t stop there. He went on to shoot the other two arrows. He was obviously risking everything in a single attempt and wanted to accomplish the entire task in one go!


    Poof!


    Blood splattered as the golden Pengornis cawed.


    The giant shadow became messy as a few drops of fresh blood rained down.


    Kun Xie fixed his eyes upon the teenager. Although he was still standing straight, high up on the clouds, there was blood on both of his shoulders and his chest. One of his hands were still holding onto a _. Suddenly, he screamed ferociously, the shape of his face changed, and he grew a hooked beak and the eyes of a hawk. "All of you¡­ Should just die!!!"


    Although his figure was broken now, he swooped down, fast like lightning, unstoppable.


    "Taoist technique¡ªMountain Move!"


    "Taoist technique¡ªTransformer!"


    Kun Xie and the others constantly performed their techniques and even travelled over the virtual image of a lofty mountain. Unfortunately, it was nothing compared to the raging large golden Pengornis.


    "All of you¡­ have no idea what a true immortal techniques is!"


    The teenage Pengornis person walked on air to the front of Kun Xie and the other Immortal Cultivators before raising his palm.


    Zap! Zap!


    Golden light gathered, transforming into a sharp blade.


    Kun Xie and the others were going to become dismembered in the next moment.


    "Don''t even think of going on a rampage, demon!"


    At this moment, Li Rubi rushed over on a horse. A long spear flew out, emitting a red glow that messed up the dharma power of the large Pengornis.


    "Demon?!"


    The golden large Pengornis looked at Li Rubi with a strange look.


    After all, to the Pengornis, the people in front of him still had souls from the demon tribe even though they had already reincarnated into humans!


    "You traitor. You helped the enemy for your own profit. I will end you today!"


    After his astonishment, it quickly became rage.


    To the large golden Pengornis, it was unforgivable for the demon tribe to side with the humans! At that moment, it waved its hand and a virtual image of a large Pengornis appeared, it''s sharp beak attacked downwards.


    Poof!


    Li Rubi jumped away quickly, but the horse beneath him was injured in a split-second, its blood gushing out.


    As if he had met his natural enemy, the opponent''s demonic power pressured him to the point that he couldn''t breathe properly.


    "Don''t you dare hurt anyone!"


    Kun Xie would, of course, understand the logic being intimately interdependent, and he brought his partners forward to help.


    However. The large golden Pengornis was extremely aggressive as it began to attack them.


    Even the morale of the soldiers below them were roused after witnessing this scene.


    While so many things were happening, Kun Xie retrieved three magical arrows and shot them at the centre of the large Pengornis in a split-second.


    However, this large Pengornis emitted a column of white smoke. All of its injuries healed instantly as if it was immortal. Even Li Rubi felt goosebumps when he witnessed this.


    "Yes!"


    On the other hand, Yuan Hong was very happy when he saw it. "Little Shi Sheng, you don''t know the right time. Can''t you tell that Kun Yushan has already fallen? The world still belongs to the master of the Xuan Nation, I''ve won!"


    "Not necessarily!"


    Shi Sheng was secretly very anxious and shook the Chaotic Heavenly Banner.


    Whoosh!


    Earth, Fire, Wind and Water appeared and transformed into a powerful torrent that trapped the large golden Pengornis in an instant.


    "Ah¡­ What kind of magic weapon is this?"


    The color drained from Yuan Hong''s face. Suddenly, a bad idea popped into his head.


    "It was given to me by the elder!"


    However, Shi Sheng was mentally stable. He looked at Kun Xie, Li Rubi, and the others that stretched their hands out to resolve the situation. "Can''t you tell that it''s Master''s purpose?"


    "No! I don''t believe it!" Yuan Hing roared. His facial expression became sinister. Even his original appearance emerged as he pounced forward. "Who is Master? Why would he be bothered about the changes in the mortal world? You must be faking it! And you even stole Master''s magic weapon!"


    He and Shi Sheng belonged to the same cultivation path, both of their dharma powers were on par. However, Shi Sheng slightly considered their old relationship and was being overly cautious. He was, eventually, forced to retreat in defeat, bit by bit.


    Buzz!


    Shi Sheng was distracted. The Chaotic Heavenly Banner he controlled instantly appeared to have a slight crack in it. Gold light shimmered, and an exhausted large golden Pengornis flew out. Its feathers were messy, however, within one breath, it recovered to state that was as good as before.


    "This array is very powerful, it cannot be fought forcefully!"


    Looking at the combat array below him, he saw that the developing techniques of the Kun Nation troops made them extremely ferocious. Conversely, they actually made the Kun Nation''s troops retreat in defeat, step by step. It couldn''t help but become enraged as it pounced towards Kun Xie. "Give me you life!"


    Seeing that the large golden Pengornis broke free, Kun Xie forced himself to remain calm as he placed the arrow into position, aimed at the head of the Pengornis, and shot.


    Poof!


    Its brains exploded. White smoke soared towards the sky as another identical brain appeared.


    Even if he knew that the opponent had an indestructible body, this change still caused Kun Xie to be dumbfounded.


    Promptly, he saw a large giant claw fall from the sky. The terrifying


    shadow buried him in an instant.


    Crack!


    The giant claw closed and only traces of blood seeped out.


    Kun Xie¡ªthe leader of the Kun Nation that had heard the preaching of the Tao master, in an instant, dissolved into ashes and smoke. A trace of his true spirit flew out and went off into the distance somewhere.


    "Beasts, how dare you?"


    Shi Sheng was shocked when he witnessed the scene unfold in front of him. He didn''t care about anything anymore and took out a throwing knife that cut souls. He prayed to it. "Please turn around, treasure!"


    Zap!


    A ray of blazing white brilliance surged up to the sky with its murderous aura.


    Just as it appeared, the entire battlefield became so silent you could hear a pin-drop.


    This white brilliance moved as fast as lightning. In an instant, it was able to successfully chase down the golden large Pengornis. With just a flash, the large bird seemed to be unable to move at all.


    Amidst the concentrated white brilliance, one could indistinctly see a dagger.


    Accompanied with Shi Sheng''s request, the small dagger went around the large golden Pengornis and turned slightly.


    Poof!


    A golden soul ray appeared and was attacked. With a blow, it was beheaded!


    The soul was eliminated, and the demonic body of the large golden Pengornis turned to ashes within the white brilliance and disappeared.


    Under this attack, the soul was killed and the spirit was seized!


    Looking at how the large golden Pengornis from the generation of large demons could be killed so easily, Yuan Hong was finally afraid. With a shriek, he ran off without even looking back.


    Looking at the view of his back, Shi Sheng''s mouth twitched, but he didn''t talk.


    "Kun generals and warriors, listen to my command. Avenge the Kun leader, Kill them!"


    Li Rubi was elated when he saw what happened.


    He had previously planted an agent within the Kun Nation. At the moment, he was leading the headquarters and was about to perform a counter-attack. He had firmly grasped the outcome of the battle and had the Xuan Nation completely routed.


    It was as if there was a ball of flames inside his heart.


    "Kun and Xuan are both suffering from heavy losses¡­ This world, belongs to me!"


    ¡­


    The 50 year history of the Xuan Nation came to an end.


    The Xuan, Kun, and Mountain soldiers fought at the Great River plains. The Kun Nation won at first before also being defeated. The imperial advisors had died in the battle. Similarly, the Kun Nation''s king had also died in the battle.


    Li Rubi led the elite soldiers and destroyed the Xuan Nation''s large army and achieved outstanding fame. Shortly after bringing back the troops, he incorporated the entire Kun Nation''s army, and he was elected as the king by the Kun Nation''s leaders. They had altered the name of the dynasty to "Mountain"!


    The Xuan Nation lasted 55 years.


    The Mountain Nation''s large army attacked Xuan, and with its overwhelming force, for the duration of the entire campaign, it defeated the Xuan Nation. Xuan Wangzhang burned himself to death, and his concubines were executed.


    Since then, the Mountain Nation officially ruled the whole world.


    In that same year, Li Rubi changed the ruler''s title to "Tao Augmentation," and he cared for and recovered the financial resources of the people. In addition to that, he had also developed the cropping system and education. By also controlling each and every human and tribe, he had fully built a feudalistic kingdom.


    In the fifth year of Tao Augmentation, the Mountain Nation''s rule had already spread to the entire Five Elements Continent, and they had explored the entire map.


    As a result of this, Li Rubi worshipped the heavens again and called himself, "The Emperor," and he was called the "The Reigning Emperor."


    The history of the 5 Stats Continent had, once again, flipped to a new page.


    ¡­


    Within a blink of an eye, more than 10 years had passed again.


    Kun Wu mountain remained the same. There was an abundance of an immortal aura, it was as though it didn''t experience the wearing of time.


    After building the temple on the mountain, disciples that had once heard of the rumours of the bestowment of skills gathered one after another. They organized the ancient texts and settled down while they served. It was more popular compared to before.


    "The Ancestral Dragon has arrived!"


    On this day, Fang Yuan sat on the couch and suddenly commanded people to open the mountain''s gate to recieve a line of people on the mountain.


    The leading person was, shockingly, Li Rubi.


    The current him had already aged. His white hair flowed in the wind, and despite this, his body''s presence was extremely majestic, especially at the top of his head. There was a colorful auspicious aura ball that was the virtues and merits formed by humanity.


    On the sideline, Shi Sheng escorted Yuan Hong with a emotional look.


    "Greetings, Tao master!"


    The three of them entered the main hall. They bowed and greeted Fang Yuan when they saw him sitting on the couch with his legs crossed.


    "Elder, this is my report, Yuan Hong had greedy desires in the mundane world and made a ruckus below the mountain. I have detained him and brought him back!" Shi Sheng fell out and reported.


    "Restrain him at the back of the mountain; get the brass ring and pierce it through his nose in order to subdue him!"


    Fang Yuan waved his hands and promptly looked towards Li Rubi.


    "Tao master!"


    Li Rubi bowed 90 degrees to greet him. "I''m willing to offset my own virtues and merits. I hope that Tao master can forgive Mei Xi!"


    "Fine!"


    Fang Yuan said few words.


    Now, he could naturally tell that Li Rubi was in a pure state of mind.


    After all, he had reincarnated. Even if he became the son of the heavens, his body was also a mortal one. His kingly body had already died of old age, and he had inherited the position of being a son of the heavens.


    "The Ancestral Dragon can enter Red Cloud Hollow to acquit Mei Xi from the fire sentence with at the compensation of your virtues and merit!"


    He coldly arranged.


    In actual truth, he had taken the Red Cloud Hollow as a common example of a retreat mechanism. With the Ancestral Dragon here, the previous generations of kings, that found a Nation, would have to enter Red Cloud Hollow to obediently retire in the future when they were approaching death, this path would be hopeless!


    This was the rule he had set for humanity!A legendary dragon that is able to control rain and floods.Empero

 661 Five Founders

    "The human emperor is the emperor of humanity. Today, Li Rubi submitted to me as the first generation Ancestral Dragon, but he has fixed his destiny¡­"


    Fang Yuan sat on the couch and felt a weird position being produced instantly.


    Simply said, his own "world" would become a true "heaven" after today. Even if a few other true dragons and country founders came over, they would also have to refer to themselves as feudal officials.


    This was all because he had gotten the upper hand when the people from heaven offended each other for the first time.


    "In fact¡­ when a world has just begun, the heaven''s will is generally able to obtain an advantage. However, in the future, it will be difficult to say when humanity is thriving, and there are a lot of experts emerging. Hence¡­ I must start controlling them from the source!"


    He shook his sleeves, and two balls representing true spirits appeared. With the support of the colorful spirit in the main hall, they suddenly transformed into two human figures and greeted their master.


    "Great Pengornis! Kun Xie!"


    Fang Yuan nodded. "Although you have yet to cultivate the pure sun avenue, great Pengornis, you''ve already obtained the Path of the Death God''s fruit. After you die, your thoughts will be peaceful. Your soul will neither be alive nor destroyed, and you will be pardoned from reincarnating. In addition, you can become the founder of the Ghost Deity path!"


    "Thank you, Master!"


    Once the great Pengornis bowed, its figure became sturdy and transformed into the appearance of a middle-aged scholar It silently glanced to the side at Kun Xue, thinking about something.


    "As for Kun Xie, you can train your faith, and it will be eternal. The Five Spirit Elements won''t meet, and their forms will be strong. The Evil Eight cannot harm you. You will rarely get sick, and if you obtain the immortal human avenue path fruit, you will be able to become the founder of the immortal humans!"


    As Fang Yuan spoke, he raised his hand, and a ray of colorful spirits fell and combined as one with Kun Xie. It immediately transformed into a teenager in a brocade robe, the youth''s presence was abundant everywhere, and indistinctly, there was a purple spirit rising up. Similarly, it bowed down and greeted, "Thank you, Master!"


    "Mmmm!"


    Fang Yuan was nonchalant about it. His gaze passed through the nether world, and instantly, he saw Peng, who had gone into hiding by living deep in the mountains of the mortal world after gaining success.


    At the moment, Peng''s reputation of being able to maintain good health and live a long life had already travelled far and wide. The mortal people had referred to him as "Founder Peng."


    He was cultivating with his legs crossed. Suddenly, a sudden purple spirit fell.


    Following that, there was a dignified voice. "Peng! You''re a half-heavenly immortal, a type of spiritual immortal. You will not die in the mortal world, and you can be called an Earth Deity. From this day onwards, you are now the founder of the Earth Deity Path!"


    "Thank you, Master!"


    Peng accepted the purple spirit and bowed in the direction of Kun Wu mountain. However, a bitter smile seemed to indistinctly appear on his face after he rose back up.


    "Collate and stipulate the three worlds, alright?"


    Within Kun Wu mountain, Fang Yuan constantly had thoughts. Suddenly, he felt the Five Elements Continent vibrate. He knew that he had straightened out the connection amidst it, and that the extraordinary path had allowed the continent to completely abandon its restraints and start to undergo some sort of refinement.


    "This sensation¡­ why does it feel like it''s similar to the purple spirit that Hong Jun gave Hong Meng?"


    Ghost, human, and earth were in fact like the Eight-Parted. They had set the cultivation techniques of this world.


    In addition, although the dissemination of dharma, that Fang Yuan possessed, had started to look like it was divine intervention, he was actually also putting the extraordinary powers into his own cage.


    From that day onwards, all cultivators would go into his pot.


    "Of course¡­ in this world, there are still talents, but it''s okay. Even if one can truly possess luck and is pampered by the world, to the point that one can self-cultivate and become self-enlightened, becoming an immortal and even achieve the Heaven''s Path of an Immortal, I still have a position for him!"


    The five founders¡ªHeaven, Earth, Humans, God, and Ghost¡ªwere positions he had set. They were specialized in assisting the operation of the Five Elements Continent.


    However, to a true genius, this was a restraint.


    ¡­


    At the moment, the Five Elements Continent was roaring non-stop, officially promoting its boundary.


    On the Yin-Yang Continent, a battle was finally concluding.


    "Kill! Eliminate all of the Blood Race!"


    The troops of the new humans whistled as they firmly surrounded the last Blood Race castle.


    At the front of the square, more than 10 giant fire piles were lit. The Blood Race were dumped in, one by one, and turned into ashes along with their agonizing screams.


    Since the emergence of the new humankind, they had toppled the hegemony of the Blood Race. With the help of their strong reproductive capabilities, they became allies with the Werewolves within the short span of 100 plus years.


    Of course, after winning some key battles, the humans immediately went back on their oath and ruthlessly stabbed the Werewolves in the back.


    This even made the Werewolves become extinct before the Blood Race. There were only a few Werewolves that were still fleeing.


    Hence, Grand Duke Dracula didn''t know whether to laugh or cry as he paused on top of the Blood Race''s castle as he suddenly realised that he had already fulfilled the wishes of the Blood Race by completely annihilating the Werewolves.


    Unfortunately, the ones that struck were not them.


    Accompanied with the fall of the castle, it might soon be walking down the same path as its old enemy, the werewolf, Caesar.


    "It''s said that Caesar''s body is so powerful that it cannot be killed. Hence, the humans had created a metal, solid coffin and placed it inside the casket. It was then buried in the deep depths of the ocean."


    Dracula muttered, "What is awaiting me?"


    Suddenly, it seemed to recall the time when that countess was burned alive by him, through the punishment by fire, back then.


    It was said that the leader of these human clans¡ªAdam, was the descendent of the countess.


    The descendants of the Werewolves and Blood Race, had in the end, eliminated both of their ancestors!


    "Interesting¡­ Really interesting!"


    Dracula panted vigorously. Dragging his long blood-colored robe, he reached the secret chamber. "God¡­"


    He piously kneeled down. As per before, he began to pray to the sculpture of Fang Yuan. "Our Blood Race is going to be extinct soon. The new humankind had completely overlooked your dignity."


    "You''re wrong, Dracula!"


    A voice suddenly echoed in the secret chamber, causing Dracula to suddenly raise his head.


    Promptly, he discovered that the stone sculpture that he had prayed to and worshipped umpteen times had actually come alive and became the respectful god that he had seen when he was born.


    "It''s you!"


    Dracula had originally thought that there was nothing left that would make him feel emotional in his long life.


    However, being able to see the god that he had believed in come alive right in front of him, he was, as usual, deeply touched as hot tears filled his eyes. "You''ve finally appeared and replied to my prayers?"


    "Yes, I''m here!"


    Fang Yuan casually waved his hand and many screens appeared. Inside were the scenes of the humans constant invasions.


    "Master¡­ Look, these dirty and low humans are destroying your creations.


    Dracula kneeled down. "Please calm yourself down and punish them ruthlessly!"


    "My apologies, I am unable to do this!"


    The corners of Fang Yuan''s mouth twitched to reveal a slight smile. "Look at me again, did you not realize something?"


    "God¡­ You¡­"


    Dracula raised its head and looked at Fang Yuan. Suddenly, it felt absolutely terrified. "You¡­ are also a human. What about before?"


    "That''s right. It looks like you''ve thought about it. I had previously created you guys to enhance the birth of humankind¡­ I''ve also done many things¡­"


    Fang Yuan nodded. "Maybe you didn''t realize it, but there''s more than one mainland in this world. In a certain period of time, there is a difference in the passing of time between the two sides¡­


    "I have increased this change and allowed the humans of the two mainlands to be on the same path¡­ Till now, a great geographical discovery will be completed soon¡­ The two mainlands will soon be able to completely share a border. The usurping of civilization will be appearing along with humankind¡­ As for the Blood Race and the Werewolves, they can only be aliens that survive within the darkness!"


    "No¡­ This isn''t real!"


    Obviously, Dracula was taken aback when it knew that it was created as a tool.


    "You are not God, you''re an evil demon! A demon!"


    It roared, "I don''t accept this¡­ I will not accept such a fate!"


    "You''re still not content? The humankind that will control the Yin-Yang Continent in the future are also descendents of the Blood Race!"


    Fang Yuan seemed to be slightly surprised.


    "God¡­ I spurn you, I curse you!"


    Dracula, however, went crazy. He lifted up a sharp sword and ruthlessly slashed at Fang Yuan.


    Thump!


    Fang Yuan''s figure disappeared in an instant. The stone sculpture, however, was unable to withstand the blow and broke into pieces.


    Bloop!


    Amidst the broken sculpture, dark red blood seeped out. In a blink of an eye, the fluid spread to the whole secret chamber.


    "Blood! Fresh blood is life! Fresh blood is everything!"


    Dracula kneeled on the ground and greedily licked the dark red fluid. Suddenly, both of his hands went over to its throat as it strangled itself. It went into a state of chaos.


    Whoosh!


    Unexpectedly, the human troops, who were surrounding the Blood Race''s castle, saw some sortof blood-red flame rising from within the entirety of the fortress.


    Under the lick of the flames, the castle''s outer wall had instantly become jet black. Many human skeletons and monsters appeared, transforming into a living object that was filled with an evil power.


    Buzz Buzz!


    The ground caved in, as though a huge whirlpool was formed.


    The last fortress of the Blood Race was originally at Dracula''s temporary abode. But it actually disappeared in front of the humans allied forces just like that, as if it had been dragged into hell¡­


    ¡­


    "The Yin-Yang Continent and the Five Elements Continent is interacting, and the Heavenly Abode will soon rise!"


    Fang Yuan went back to the Da Qian Empire and was very satisfied with the transformation.


    And his underlings, Ji Yin and Liu Mengmei, had also brought over good news for him.


    "Have you completed the prospecting and discovery of the surrounding worlds?"


    He smiled as he accepted the jade slip that the two ladies gave him. He went on to investigate it in detail.


    The Dream Masters in Da Qian only had their path taken away. Since there were various types of perspectives and experience, he would naturally want to nurture them to exploit them.


    During the days when he had dispersed Mental Demon Realm''s cultivation techniques, the Dream Master Association had also begun to explore the surrounding worlds.


    With the dream-traversing path, these Dream Masters had accumulated rich experience. Their research speed was surprisingly rapid.


    As for Fang Yuan, he was similar to the Sages from before. He had a high position and controlled the entrance and exit of the Da Qian Realm. He even made these Dream Masters perform services for him as if they were hardworking bees.


    "Most of the surrounding worlds are affected by the Mental Demon Realm¡­ However, there are none that are stranger than the Purple Eye Realm and Alcala Realm¡­"


    Regardless of what world it was, it was always polluted by the origin power.


    However, Fang Yuan furrowed his brows when he read it till the end. "I discovered a vast world that is suspiciously undergoing dimension reduction?"


    He had to say that this information had indeed aroused his interest.

 662 Monger

    Regardless of whether it was a world or a universe, there were also levels.


    Worlds that were as strong as the Da Qian World, were in fact, from the same dimension, as the weakest Hui World, the Water Realm, and the others weren''t very different.


    And until then, Fang Yuan had previously contacted only three worlds that were from a higher dimension.


    Firstly, there was the Mental Demon Realm! The origin of the Dream Masters. Just by casually choosing an existence, one could snatch away the path of the Dream Masters, and its influence was prevalent throughout the extensive star region.


    The second, was within the Restoration of Spiritual Droplets World, the Spirit Elemental World that he had briefly contacted.


    As for the last one, it affected the Ancient World. Civilization route casting was also one that had the deepest relation with Fang Yuan.


    Based on Fang Yuan''s predictions, these three Cathay civilization worlds exceeded the Spiritual Elemental World by a level, and they could be compared to the Mental Demon Realm.


    These three worlds were at a higher dimension. They casually hunted and irradiated the other worlds, with lower dimensions, and as it happens, they were difficult to describe through words.


    And at this time, the Dream Masters had actually discovered a world that was difficult to lower its dimension?


    "Why is there such prediction?" Fang Yuan muttered for a while before promptly asking.


    Today, normal worlds could no longer arouse his interest in exploration.


    Instead, a world that was powerful enough could greatly help in the progress of his cultivation of origin power.


    "Firstly, this world is very vast¡­ Its vast territory must greatly exceed our imagination and is even above that of Da Qian. Secondly, its structure must be very stable, even its suppression of Dream Masters must be very strong, to the point of being too distant!"


    Ji Yin answered with a bitter smile, "The Illusionary Divine ability from here had almost become a normal person after going over¡­ In addition, he was quickly repelled back. Of course, he had obtained a lot of information during that short period of time. According to the circulating mythology and epic legends, we can confirm that this world is very different, and it''s suspected to have degenerated from a higher dimension¡­ Even if it didn''t, it''s a world that''s much more powerful than Da Qian, to the point that it has the possibility of increasing its dimension¡­"


    Increasing its dimension was the purification of the world!


    Even if it was Da Qian, it didn''t have an inside story of it.


    It can be seen that this world was indeed very shocking.


    Listening to this point, Fang Yuan''s interest rose. "Very good¡­ Does it have a name?"


    "According to the information it had recorded itself, it''s referred to as ''Monger World.'' In their language, ''Monger'' has a deep and vast meaning of ''advancing towards a wish¡­''"


    Ji Yin continued to answer, "Moreover¡­ there''s also another phenomenon that made us very concerned. This world didn''t expand from a single plane. Instead, it looks more like it was formed from many planes, which created a strange multi-element structure."


    "The figure of three worlds?"


    Fang Yuan was lost in his thoughts.


    "Indeed! Aside from the collection of positive and negative energies, there are also the pure element and robotic plane that was created! This is also the reason why we suspect its dimension was lowered!"


    ¡­


    Monger world.


    Within the still forest, a sudden rustling was heard.


    Sha! Sha! Sha! Sha!


    A few marmots that were out hunting for food acted as if they were shocked. They quickly fled into a cave and stared at the plain in front of them.


    Soil and fallen leaves split apart, and a palm stretched out from within the ground.


    "Whew¡­"


    Fang Yuan rolled and climbed out. He shook off the soil before looking at his wound, slightly speechless. "This body, is already dead?"


    Obviously, the unlucky brat he possessed had already died in the forest.


    Regrettably, his buddies seemed to be unbothered by him as they had buried him sloppily. They only dug a shallow pit, but that had saved Fang Yuan a lot of trouble.


    "The fatal wound on this body is at its heart¡­ It was actually a wound on the back¡ªdid he get betrayed?"


    Just from taking a quick glance, Fang Yuan understood his situation and minimized his actions. He also borrowed the power that he had converted to help heal his wound.


    "The suppression of this world is, indeed, very powerful!"


    After a while, he felt that his body was fine, but the power he brought along was almost used up. Fang Yuan couldn''t help but shake his head. He leaned on a tree branch and gazed at the sky.


    The stars twinkled, and the three crescent moons hung in the night sky in an irregular arrangement. This made Fang Yuan know that this world was indeed different from normal worlds.


    "The three moons are, in fact, projections of different planes? This world may, perhaps, be better described as having a pluralistic structure of Crystal Spheres¡­"


    Accompanied by his organized memories, the features of this new world appeared in front of Fang Yuan''s eyes.


    ¡­


    This was a world controlled by gods!


    According to legends, when the world opened in the beginning, there were multiple gods acting as this world''s owners, and the god families ruled. The Sun God was born first. It brought with it the first ray of light to the world, and it divided the sky and ground, allowing the main mainland to become the mortal world.


    After the Sun God, other gods appeared on the earth, one by one.


    Among them, there was the Wind God that controlled the power of the wind. There was also the Earth God, Sky God, and so on.


    These gods from the beginning created the world and many other entities, including humans.


    At this moment, the gods that controlled the aspects of harvest and death had appeared at almost the same time.


    All gods lived in the God Realm, and they rarely interfered with the activity in the mainland. However, the humans on the mainland consciously began to worship and pray to them, and they built glorious temples for them. The high priests of the gods even had a position higher than that of the normal nobles.


    Unprecedently, the Divine Right had developed, and any king would have to creep under the Divine Right.


    This was the first century''s history, and it was called "Gods'' history."


    And around 2000 years ago, this situation finally changed.


    A mortal was able to grasp the secret of this world, and by helping the world obtain a plane fragment, he was able to obtain a commendation and become a god.


    The century that mortals could be promoted to becoming a deity spirit through hard work had arrived.


    More and more extraordinary mortals became legendary heroes after obtaining power from the plane fragments they obtained, and they even became gods!


    The whole world became increasingly huge, the heavens and the nether world, as well as the element plane''s rules that were being constantly perfected. Mortals were eager to try and covet the power of a god.


    A long war instantly broke out between the new and old gods. The effects that it produced was hard to recover from, even for the master of the world.


    Many planes fell apart, and the whole world was almost at the brink of extinction.


    At the last moment, the Sun God, that had disappeared for a long time, appeared. It brought all the new and old gods together to decide on a vow to protect the position of the gods, as well as to strictly restrict the path of mortals being promoted to become gods.


    Since then, the rule system of the world had been established.


    Many of the gods and extraordinary mortals constantly explored the space of the outside world in order to increase the development of the world. The world would also give them favors in return.


    After a few thousand years, now, the world that originally only consisted of merely three planes had already expanded to its limit. One couldn''t tell how many planes there were as they had already blended in with the original world with an attitude like that of submission.


    With the integration of the different fragments, the world that it brought about was not only powerful, but it also had various type of interesting and rich cultures from unusual worlds, and it even included cultivation experience.


    Since then, the third era began.


    Extraordinary mortals and gods moved forward, hand in hand, to explore the unknown. A new open and tolerant generation would soon bloom with an extreme radiance.


    ¡­


    These were gathered through the fragmented memories of the body, as well as the information Fang Yuan had previously gotten from exploring.


    Although the original owner didn''t attend any history lessons, his memory was in fact quite exceptional.


    Fang Yuan had only flipped through all his memories, and he was able to gather the knowledge of this world through the conversation from a few scholars in his surrounding, or by reciting poems of transverse poets.


    "A powerful world that even began to nurture extraordinary people and increase its strength by plundering other planes¡­ this feeling seems to be similar to an aircraft carrier with ground attack aircraft¡­"


    He imagined that if Da Qian Dream Masters weren''t determined to betray each other, and instead, plundered other worlds to repay Da Qian, how would daily life be like within thousands of years?


    At least, Fang Yuan felt that the Da Qian Empire could perhaps reach the state of purification with its inner story.


    And it wouldn''t be like how it was now¡ªharvested with its vitality being heavily damaged.


    It had even been seized and polluted by the Mental Demon Realm. Its progress in the future would probably be limited.


    "Of course¡­ Everything is unrelated to this body¡­''Luhn''?"


    After resting for a while, Fang Yuan felt that he had recovered a little strength. He dragged his body to a water source that he had found and happily drank the spring water.


    Under the moonlight, he could vaguely see a teenager''s reflection¡ªsunken cheeks, high nose, deep eyes, and he was wearing a tattered robe, this might be the only thing on his person that was valuable.


    Before his "buddies" buried him, they had long taken the last of his coins from his pocket.


    "In the Stan Duchy there''s a small hunter family in Blue Moon Town¡ªIs this the original owner''s identity?"


    Fang Yuan touched his chest as he felt that he had gotten himself involved in a matter that was neither big nor small.


    After all, the memory of the betrayal was fresh.


    And why would his rather dependable "buddies" choose to kill him?


    Obviously, there ought to certain benefits that could be exploited from this.


    Maybe this certain treasure was a great deal of wealth. Nonetheless, it was able to move someone and, ultimately, resulted in the death of this unlucky brat.


    Unfortunately, Fang Yuan couldn''t discover any leads despite flipping through his memories multiple times.


    "If I fully recover my strength¡­ this problem would be as easy as pie, sadly¡­"


    Fang Yuan glanced at his attributes board with a gloomy look:


    "Name: Luhn (Fang Yuan)


    Essence: 0.9 (200)


    Spirit: 1.0 (200)


    Magic: 1.0 (200)


    Profession: Dream Master


    Cultivation: ???


    Technique: ???


    Skill: [Medicine (Level 3)], [Botany (Level 6)(Peak)], [Fiery Golden Eyes (Level 3)], [Body Seal (Ultimate Form)]"


    "This world has no origin power, but it can suppress the attributes board; the power of this world is really extremely abundant"


    Fang Yuan appeared solemn.


    Obviously, this Monger world was indeed just as Ji Yin described it¡ªit was in a certain critical state, and it had the possibility of undergoing purification!A Dungeons & Dragons reference

 663 Murderer

    "The power of the world is so strong. If a normal Dream Master came, I''m afraid that they might be weakened to the maximum, but I''m different!"


    "No matter how strong the power of the world is, it''s still different from origin power!"


    Fang Yuan took a deep breath and immediately felt energized. Not only had his attributes board became clearer, but the various statistics had even gradually risen.


    "No matter how powerful the Monger world is, it''s not the Mental Demon Realm. It''s unable to produce an absolute suppression effect."


    If it was the purification of the whole world, it might be able to do so. However, to Fang Yuan, this was only a problem of finding a path to re-cultivate in.


    At this moment, this had instead become much more convenient.


    He picked up a pebble, a gold light seemed to flash past in his eyes.


    Swoosh!


    The pebble drew an arc in midair. In the middle was a small wild beast. It looked like a black fox with sharp teeth and claws.


    Of course, after being skinned and cooked by Fang Yuan, its taste was average.


    However, in order to supplement the body with sufficient nutrients and restore the energy he had previously consumed, Fang Yuan still clenched his teeth and forced himself to eat it.


    While eating, he was organizing the Extraordinary system of this world.


    "Within the Stan Duchy, a ''Fighter'' type seems to be popular. It sounds similar to Knights, but they don''t depend on riding mounts, and their cultivation is also a type of fighting spirit power.


    "Aside from that, I''ve heard of many Extraordinary professions in Monger earlier, such as sorcerer, traversing poet, druid, and the most important priest and pastor, of course¡­ based on his previous identity as a Demon Hunter, he couldn''t even progress through the most basic combat training¡­"


    It seemed that, due to the embrace of the rules from the various different plane fragments, this world had a large variety of Extraordinary powers. It had all kinds of strange and rare jobs, and it even possessed a large number of outsiders, who were the indigenous residents of the fragments. After years of evolution, they had completely adapted to this word and were no different as the aboriginal.


    "The assimilation ability is very strong, however, they still maintain caution towards abnormal things and people from the outside¡­ Moreover, there''re also gods!"


    Fang Yuan''s expression was slightly solemn.


    Gods were not a fixed concept.


    For example, in the Hui Realm, the Water Realm, and other small worlds, even large demons were stronger than their gods. Dream Masters could casually sweep them away.


    However, when it came to worlds like the Ancient World, there was a difference. The true, powerful gods were all at the level of Domainer or even higher!


    And within the Monger world, the original god¡ªSun God¡ªcould actually create a world!


    This was different from Fang Yuan''s Heavenly Abode!


    A Sage''s Heavenly Abode still needed to be dependent on worlds. However, a mature world could draw power from its own chaos in order to keep advancing and become stronger.


    To say that the differences were like comparing the Heaven and Earth wasn''t an exaggeration.


    "Even if it were other ''Enneads,'' they''ve also grasped the rule of power and are Domainers. This so-called ''Sun God'' is at least at the state of a Sage!"


    Luckily, within the whole legend system in the Monger world, the Sun God rarely appeared. After creating the world, it was at most a symbol of the king in the God Court.


    And only at the end of the god calendar, and during the battle between new and old gods did it reveal itself for a short period of time.


    Looking at this, although its existence was very strong, its body ought to have some restrictions.


    "Even so, I cannot be careless."


    After finishing the last piece of meat, Fang Yuan felt that the warm current rose from his stomach and spread to his four limbs and bones.


    The body was like a desert that had been dried up for a long time. After the rain fell, it swallowed the warm current greedily.


    "This body is still too weak, but with my technique of purifying essences into spirit, I can quickly heal just from constantly consuming food essences."


    In fact, just from depending on the heaven and earth vitality that Fang Yuan had absorbed, he would also be able to recover his cultivation. However, the time required for this would be slightly longer.


    When the first rays of the morning sun appeared, Fang Yuan ended his state of meditation. He shook his body, and the many dews on his shirt and the ends of his hair fell onto the floor.


    "Sun¡­"


    He looked at the sky and saw that the Monger world''s sun was emitting pleasant warmth and light.


    However, the moons didn''t disappear. Instead, they hung on the horizon. There was even a circle of stars around them. Their figures were even larger, looking as though they were going to drop at any moment.


    "According to the legends of Monger world, the sun is the reincarnation of the Sun God. As for the moons, there are three gods among the other entities that they worship, and those professions are related to the moons. Hence, there are three moons."


    While silently thinking about this information, Fang Yuan found a wooden stick, and with the last minute evil scheme that he had come up with, he walked back to Blue Moon Town, step by step.


    Rune''s house was at the border of Blue Moon Town. It was a house built from wood.


    When he returned, he found out that, somehow, there were already a group of people surrounding it.


    "You are¡­ Luhn? My god!"


    A chubby auntie looked like she was going to faint when she saw Fang Yuan. "I must be hallucinating!"


    "Little Luhn, didn''t you die? We even invited the pastor of the Death God, Hess."


    A few farmers at the side expressed.


    "Who said I was dead?"


    Fang Yuan touched his nose and said, "All I did was spend a night in the forest. Isn''t it very common for a hunter? "


    "It was Rick and Maz who said it. They saw you getting held down by the mouth of a giant frost wolf with their own eyes."


    At this moment, the two groups of people at the side separated, and an old man with a white skittle beard stepped forward. "Because of this, everyone thought that you were already dead. We even prepared for your funeral¡ªlook at your Aunt Filio, her eyes are red from crying!"


    "Then I''m really thankful¡­"


    Fang Yuan''s instincts told him that the town mayor wasn''t speaking the truth, but he didn''t pester him about it. "Look¡­ since I''m not dead, shouldn''t you end this ceremony first?"


    "Okay¡­"


    The town mayor shook his head. "Unfortunately, we invited Torrege to come over after much trouble. As a pastor of the Death God, his appearance fee wasn''t cheap."


    As he was speaking, a white-haired pastor, who was wearing a long black robe walked out.


    His long robe was stitched with a strange image of a mutated beast. It had the head of an eagle and the body of a lion. This Eagle-Lion was the symbol of the Death God in this world. In the legends, it soared in the skies of the nether world to collect and attract souls. Thus, it was well-liked by Hess.


    "Pastor Torrege, I''m really sorry. This is Luhn. As you can see, he didn''t die!"


    The town mayor laughed awkwardly.


    "Looks like my prediction was correct. When I was performing the ceremony, I felt that the nether world has yet to receive Rune''s soul, and he was still in the mortal world!" Torrege said dully, but Fang Yuan could immediately tell that this death god''s priest was lying!


    As the dispatched pastor of a small town, this was already a punishment close to exile. He didn''t have the ability to contact and interact with the nether world at all.


    Of course, as Fang Yuan didn''t expose him, and this lie was instantly received with great respect.


    "Please don''t worry, we''ll definitely pay the fees to the church on time!"


    With his assurance, the town mayor sent Torrege, that had a solemn face, off. The rest of the town residents gradually dispersed to reveal two extremely awkward people; shockingly, they were Rick and Maz.


    They looked at Fang Yuan as if they had seen an evil ghost.


    "Y-you didn''t die?"


    "By the Sun God, how is this possible?"


    Maz was a teenager with freckles. When he saw Fang Yuan, he instantly blurted out. Promptly, he knew that he said something wrong and cupped his mouth before saying, "I mean¡­ Praise the Sun God!"


    "That''s right!"


    Fang Yuan exposed a confused look. "I only felt a stabbing pain in my back, as if a wild beast had attacked me. This memory is very blurry, and I can''t remember much, do you remember anything?"


    "O-of course, it was the giant frost wolf!"


    Maz and Rick said immediately.


    "Oh, I see¡­"


    Fang Yuan waved his hands tiredly, gesturing them to leave. "My apologies¡­ I''m very tired today¡­"


    "Al-alright, we''ll leave immediately, rest well!"


    Rick hurriedly pulled Maz away and left without even turning his head.


    The two people only stopped when they ran for over a thousand meters straight. They looked at Fang Yuan''s wooden hut and panted. "Impossible¡­ Both of us saw that the knife went right through his heart!" Maz exclaimed, incredulous.


    "That''s possible! With the mighty force given by God, even dead people can be resuscitated!"


    Rick''s face was serious.


    "Just like us, Luhn is a normal person. It''s impossible to receive God''s care. This must be the technique of a mutated, or an evil spell of a dead soul sorcerer!"


    Maz''s eyes suddenly turned. "That''s right, this Luhn isn''t the Luhn from before. Shall we use this as an excuse to get rid of him?"


    "No way!"


    Rick was moved by the idea, but he still shook his head promptly after. "Don''t forget, Torrege saw Luhn today. If he was mutated in any way, why would the priest be unable to sense it?"


    "Does this mean that Luhn was able to escape this time? It''s a pity¡­" Maz said regrettably, and he sighed.


    "You should feel lucky instead¡­" Maz almost ground his teeth. "Luckily, he forgot about what happened yesterday. If he had revealed everything, we''d have to be on the gallows!"


    "Did¡­ he really forget" Rick was hesitant. "Then should we continue our plan?"


    "Of course!" Maz said with certainty, "Don''t you want the wealth? Just by completing the deal, the other party guaranteed that the two of us will be able to receive 100 stan coins! After that, we can buy a large plot of land, build a villa, and live a life of a master."


    "True¡­ I didn''t think that Luhn, who has hunter ancestors, would be able to have such luck¡­" Rick sighed and said, "Unfortunately¡­ this wealth is the Death God''s invitation card to him!"


    They were indeed good friends with Luhn previously, but under the attack power of money, they still degenerated to become murderers and kill Luhn!

 664 Sue

    "Oh, in other words, you really were all going to intentionally murder me?"


    While Maz and Rick were discussing, a sound suddenly erupted from their surroundings. That familiar voice made them instantly jump. "Luhn?! Oh my god!"


    They were always looking behind them, so when did the other party manage to close the distance to such an extent?


    "I''m very pained¡­ After all, you were all my friends before¡­." Fang Yuan spoke at an appropriate pace. "Today, you actually wanted to murder me. Didn''t you know that according to the laws of the Duchy, what kind of reparations you would have to pay after murdering a free citizen? All of you would be taken to the gallows!"


    "No!"


    Rick''s legs weakened, and he nearly knelt onto the ground. "Everything was Maz''s idea!"


    "Stand up, you idiot!" Maz''s eyes were completely red, and an angry glare shimmered from within. He suddenly whipped out a dagger and said, "Now, I have no choice but to send him to the netherworld, or else we would both have to go to prison!"


    With a fast strike, the dagger in his hands shot out like a poisonous snake that was spitting out venom. Although he hadn''t undergone professional assassination training, this strike was accurate and vicious, a testament to the number of times that he must have practiced in private.


    In the beginning, it was also him who backstabbed Luhn in the jungle!"


    Smack!


    However this time, an accident occurred.


    There was an intense feeling of pain, and Maz instantly felt that his wrist was restricted by a strong force as the dagger dropped straight to the ground.


    "Decent determination, unfortunately¡­"


    Fang Yuan sighed and exerted a little force with his wrist.


    Crack!


    A loud bone-crunching sound was heard.


    Maz immediately screamed and fell to the ground, nearly fainting to death from the pain.


    "Rick¡­"


    After doing all of this, Fang Yuan turned his head and looked at the other companion who was nearly scared stiff. "Do you want to be like him?"


    "No!"


    Rick''s entire body instantly quivered, and he fiercely shook his head.


    "Very good¡­ Then tell me everything that happened!"


    Fang Yuan glanced around at his surroundings.


    Although Luhn''s small wooden house was at the outskirts of the town, this type of situation, however, was easily seen by outsiders, and thus, it required a quick resolution.


    "It''s for an inheritance object from Knight Jorah of the Shawshank Stronghold!" Rick looked at the dagger on the ground and swallowed his saliva as he rapidly spoke, "All the Knight Jorah''s family died from a plague, while the other inheritors down the line also successively met their demise, hence coming back to you! It''s true¡­ very soon, you''ll receive the inheritance documents, so Maz pressurized me to act!"


    "A knight''s heritage?"


    Fang Yuan rubbed his chin.


    A warrior was an Extraordinary profession, while a knight was nobility!


    They''re comparable to the high-level warriors of the lords. They need to prepare their own saddle horse and corselet during battle and follow alongside their lords during wartime. As repayment, they will normally be given an estate. If the lords are unable to bestow this fief to them, they would have to pay a handsome annuity as compensation.


    Normally, the knight will have their own estate, and as of this moment, most of the estates are self-sufficient, and they even produce olive oil and wine that are exported to make money.


    Needless to say, once you become a knight, it means that you''ve made your way up the social hierarchy. Even at the lowest level, a person''s status will instantly be transformed.


    At the moment, such temptation was indeed able to propel a lot of people into devising numerous evil schemes without the fear of danger.


    "I have the qualification to succeed a knight?"


    Fang Yuan shook his head and instantly didn''t know whether to laugh or cry. Suddenly, his face turned slightly serious.


    Luhn''s parents didn''t leave behind any inheritance, but the status of a free citizen is what many normal citizens in this era would love to have but were unable to obtain.


    "Needless to say¡­ Luhn''s mother seemed to have some royal blood, although it''s rather small¡­"


    Regardless of whether someone was a baron or an earl, he isn''t able to endlessly divide his own territory. Hence, those bastard children had to find a way to survive by themselves¡ªit was entirely possible that they would become the steward of other royal families or followers of the knight, and this was definitely the case for the daughters of concubines as well.


    Under this huge environment, it wasn''t impossible that the blood of a knight would spread to a free citizen''s family.


    "Only¡­"


    Fang Yuan shook his head. "This relationship is already very thin. With a generation gap of three years¡­ it was still able to land on my head. How many unlucky fools have died before me?"


    He predicted that if his own blood was able to reach the eighth or ninth position down the line, then it was worth celebrating already.


    However, now a large gift had actually been bestowed by the heavens, and it still hit him in the head. In other words, the other successors in line before him had all died already?"


    "The depth really is so bottomless that it cannot be scrutinized!"


    Fang Yuan felt a surge of coldness and instantly continued to interrogate him.


    Rick wasn''t as worthy as Maz, and he immediately divulged everything. The main gist was that the successor, that was next in line after Fang Yuan, had paid a great deal of money in exchange for Luhn''s life so he could obtain the position of a knight!


    "A position that''s so terrifying that I want to avoid it at all costs, is actually still desired by a fool who is eyeing it¡­ Of course, there''s the possibility that he''s the actual mastermind behind the scenes, but this possibility is too low¡­"


    If the other party actually had the capacity to be sinister and stealthy, it would be effortless for him to grant himself the position of the knight leader, regardless of where he was. He didn''t even have the need to cause such a large fuss.


    "Trouble is brewing¡­"


    Fang Yuan lightly sighed, but he wasn''t actually that scared.


    His personality has always been happy-go-lucky¡ªto stay and make the best of a situation.


    Furthermore, that story of Knight Jorah really did arouse a bit of his curiosity.


    "Still, before that, I have to settle the matter of these two troublemakers first!"


    Fang Yuan thought and escorted both Maz and Rick to the town and found the previous town mayor.


    "Ah, it''s Luhn. Why have you all come here?"


    The town mayor''s name was Michule. Seeing the three of them, including Fang Yuan, come over, especially Maz''s terrible state and his dagger, made a hint of astonishment flash past his muddy eyes.


    "I want to report these two for plotting to murder the successor of a knight!" Fang Yuan instantly announced loudly.


    "Plotting to murder a member of royalty? Where''s the victim?"


    Michule instantly jumped up, which was different from a free citizen''s character.


    "The victim is me!"


    Fang Yuan pointed at himself.


    Although he hasn''t received the documents yet, the Dream Master could differentiate between truth and falsehood. He naturally knew that these two people didn''t lie.


    At this moment, he was doing nothing else other than borrowing the tiger''s skin first.


    "You¡­ a knight''s successor?"


    Michule felt his brain become numb.


    After all, Luhn, Maz, and Rick were originally three good friends. At this moment, it was already very shocking that he escorted both of them over here and reported a murder attempt.


    Furthermore, Luhn even proclaimed himself as a horseman successor. This was even more surprising.


    "Correct, I''m about to inherit the Jorah manor of the Shawshank leader!"


    Fang Yuan spoke eloquently, and his tone possessed a great deal of audacity within it. "These two were actually plotting to murder me in the forest. Just now, they were, once again, plotting a despicable conspiracy! They were planning to assassinate me a second time!"


    "¡­ I understand, guard!"


    Michule looked at the dagger and called for two militia to first bring Maz down. "No matter what, this is a case regarding an attempt to kill a free citizen. I will continue to investigate. And you, Luhn, I will verify the truth or falsity of this information, and before the outcome of the case has been confirmed, you cannot leave Blue Moon town!"


    "Of course!" Fang Yuan promptly agreed.


    Although he knew that, from today onwards, he would be monitored by the other citizens 80% of the time, it wasn''t a problem for him at all.


    His main goal was to throw these two people to the town mayor to settle whilst using the town hall as a channel to help him investigate the truth behind Knight Jorah successor.


    Nevertheless, after the news has spread, will that vicious, manipulative person from behind the scenes still dare to continue with his evil plans?


    Fang Yuan was very excited about this.


    Of course, if he found out that everything was a mess and just a misunderstanding till the end, there would be nothing better to say, and he could just walk away.


    After all, he isn''t the real Luhn, and he had no sense of belonging to this identity.


    What was more amazing was that Luhn''s relatives and friends had already diminished to such an extent that he could be said to be free of all attachments, and he could go on an impromptu journey anytime he wanted.


    "A horseman¡­ Hehe¡­"


    After returning to his wooden house, Fang Yuan sat cross-legged, and a cold smile emerged on his face. "Originally, I didn''t want to cause any trouble¡­ but, instead, it became so complicated in quick succession¡­ could it be that this is also the retaliation of this realm''s subconscious?


    "Since a disaster has arisen, simply avoiding it at all costs isn''t a wise decision. I should proactively tackle the disaster to find a way to remedy it. It seems like¡­ I should compete for the horseman position."


    That night, there were a lot of people who would definitely wouldn''t be able to sleep peacefully.


    ¡­


    In the town hall.


    Michule wore a set of round spectacles and looked at the official documents under the oil lamp. After a long time, he took them off and rubbed his eyebrows.


    In reality, Maz and Rick weren''t powerful characters, and they didn''t even need to be tortured¡ªjust scaring them would make them reveal everything.


    All the details of the entire incident were already very clear.


    Furthermore, he had even heard the news of Knight Jorah and knew about the unlucky demise of the other party.


    Hence, it could be said that these two people had irrefutable evidence. A charge for plotting to murder a member of royalty was definitely sufficient enough to send them to the gallows.


    But how can this incident be so simple?


    Looking at these confessions, Michule simply wanted to kill them directly.


    "The instigator of everything is actually the businessman, Owen? After all, he''s a close friend of the baron¡­ could it be that the baron is behind all of this?"


    It was precisely because of this consideration that Michule was unable to quickly determine a solution.


    Furthermore, he really wanted to escape these muddy waters and go as far as possible!


    "Town mayor, Pastor Torello is here!"


    At this moment, a servant knocked on the door and brought news of another uninvited guest.


    "My God¡­ he''s not willing to wait for just one more night?"


    Michule lamented, but he still immediately invited Torello over to the big hall with a fake smile plastered on his face. "Pastor, your arrival is timely. Regarding your compensation, I''ve already ordered people to prepare¡­"


    "Truthfully¡­ I didn''t come for the compensation!"


    A slight grin hung from the corner of Torello''s mouth. "Instead, you, the town mayor, seemed to have encountered some trouble. How may I be of service to you?"

 665 Sentence to the Gallows

    Michule let the servant serve water, opened his mouth, and asked, "Yes¡­ One troublesome matter. Do you still remember Luhn? He''s that lad who we organized the funeral arrangement for today."


    "Of course I remember. He''s such a pitiable lad. He stayed in the forest for an entire night, and it must be really unbearable!"


    A strange look flashed across Torello''s eyes, and he sighed while saying.


    "I don''t believe that you didn''t hear any news!"


    This attitude instantly made Michule roll his eyes. "He isn''t pitiable at all now. Conversely¡­ he''s very lucky! He''s going to become a horseman and obtain the rank of a knight."


    "That''s¡­ too unbelievable¡­"


    Although Torello was complimenting him, Michule still found a glimmer of jealousy hidden beneath his eyes.


    "The fortune and troubles that the position brings about are also unbearable."


    Michule grinned and said, "As the pastor of the Death God, what sort of abnormity do you think Luhn has?"


    "Abnormity?"


    Torello''s heart quivered. Although he really wanted to frame Luhn and smoothly destroy him, he was ultimately not a reckless person and naturally had some ideas in his heart. "Sorry¡­ I don''t. The Lord, Hess, is the master of the netherworld. Using his powers and authority, I can directly observe souls. That person probably has no problem."


    "Is that so¡­"


    This time, it was Michule''s turn to scratch his hair in frustration. "According to the confessions of the two criminals, they had already killed Luhn long ago with a dagger embedded into his heart. Unless there are pastors with the rank of an archbishop nearby, and they had unleashed the ''Large Healing Technique'' on him, then there was no way he could''ve lived!


    "However in reality, not only did Luhn survive, but he''s even living a good life¡­"


    Torello''s eyes slowly lit up and instantly turned dark. "Too bad¡­ I didn''t find any abnormalities on his body. Perhaps, I can ask the archbishop in the city to check, but only if you allow it¡­"


    "No way!"


    Torello''s face was completely green.


    What a joke! How could he allow for something so ridiculous to happen?


    After all, the other party is a successor of the royal family, not a criminal!


    The rank of an official knight was even present on his body!


    If word got out that it was Michule himself who had intentionally obstructed a knight''s successor and regarded him as a criminal, then even a master''s descendant would definitely punish him by cutting him up into countless pieces.


    Furthermore, regarding the news on Owen and the baron, that information existed only in his brain, and he completely clueless as to the baron''s intentions.


    The other party wouldn''t leave any evidence lying around for these types of things. Otherwise, without even needing Owen to bribe these two people, and if the baron had slightly hinted to Michule, then this town mayor would have a hundred different ways to eliminate the original Luhn, without fearing for the future.


    "If this isn''t possible, then there''s only one final solution!" Torello smiled and said, "Town mayor, do you know the requirements for succeeding the position of a knight?"


    Succeeding a noble title and a knight''s manor would usually also represents the transfer of one''s responsibilities.


    In this realm, there are even more strict rules for this.


    For instance, the most fundamental one was that it had to be transferred to a male successor, as the fief and military service are closely linked. As the new leader, there''s also the obligation to fight alongside the higher-up lords.


    Of course, in this extraordinary realm, some women possess abilities that are completely on par with that of the men, but they are exceptions.


    "The rank of Knight Jorah also has the obligation to participate in military service¡­ But Luhn is a male and can mount a horse while wearing a corselet¡­" Michule spoke hesitantly.


    "However, before succeeding, he needs to go through a test, right?"


    Torello grinned and said, "Regardless of whether he''s about to go through an inspection or participate in anything else, there lies our opportunity!"


    "Correct! A test!"


    Michule eyes lit up, and his heart instantly became a little clearer. "Only the baron would need to consider what kind of attitude he needs to display to Luhn. What I need to do is be impartial and treat everything fairly."


    I just need the procedures to be accurate and nobody would be able to gossip then.


    And with his understanding of his own master, if the businessman, Owen, really did collude with the baron, then the place where it was most likely going to happen would be during that test!


    ¡­


    Very quickly, Fang Yuan obtained a great inheritance from a dead relative. News of him becoming a knight started spreading in Blue Moon town.


    For the farmers who had little entertainment in their lives, and spent their whole lives farming, this was undoubtedly a very good topic for discussion.


    Furthermore, they had already worked hard their whole lives and had no extravagant hopes of becoming royalty. Hence, Fang Yuan also got a nickname: "Lucky Luhn!"


    Numerous jealous looks were following his back at all times. The news regarding him falling out with his two friends and throwing them both into jail was spreading even more rapidly.


    "The town mayor has made no other moves. It seems like he''s also someone who clearly plans first before acting!"


    Fang Yuan sat cross-legged on a green rock in a small forest beside the river, and he closed his eyes in deep thought.


    With his spiritual intuition, he can detect a lot of people monitoring him from the outside¡ªthe militia who were afraid of him escaping.


    However, it was still within an acceptable boundary due to the fact that the other party didn''t follow him inside.


    "From the other party''s actions, I can see the town mayor''s inclination¡­"


    At this moment, he inadvertently sighed silently in his heart.


    "He''s mostly staying out of this affair, but there''s a small part of him that has a little animosity¡­"


    He sharply realized that he spoke insincerely during their last conversation. After investigating, he had already found the underlying reason.


    "According to Maz''s and Rick''s confession, Owen is my next successor down the line. Unless I die, he wouldn''t be able to inherit even a strand of hair from Knight Jorah¡­ I can understand why he would take risks for this. But the troublesome thing is that Owen not only opened a trading company, but he has close relations with the Blood Moon baron!


    "Perhaps, this is the source of the town mayor''s animosity!


    "However, I have nothing to request from him at the moment. The prey that I casually brought back last time is enough to serve as a few days worth of necessities. After a few days, I will recover a portion of my abilities!"


    Of course, there''s still the existence of a real God in this realm, so Fang Yuan cannot act too abnormally, or else it would spark the higher being''s attention. Even if he could completely retreat, all his plans would''ve gone completely down the drain.


    "This time the reason I came over was to mainly investigate this realm¡­ At the moment, at least I can sense that¡­ the heavens and the netherworld, together with the plane of the chemical elements, really does contain a vast and mighty power¡­"


    The heavens is a residence for the gods, while the netherworld is where spiritual souls die and end up in.


    And various planes made up of chemical elements are transformed by countless pieces of surface debris, becoming the source for a majority of the Main World''s Extraordinary power.


    "This structure is indeed relatively stable and can increase its pendant at any time¡­ it''s also the absorption plane¡­"


    The more Fang Yuan investigated, the more he felt the grandeur of this realm. "This entire realm exists to continuously fragmented planes¡­ I even suspect that it can completely digest a smaller world."


    "This majestic world is already at the brink of sublimation. If there''s an opportunity, it''s completely possible for it to ascend to a realm of a higher dimension!


    "With its foundation, it could also withstand origin power!"


    Fang Yuan took a deep breath and suddenly set a kind of determination.


    Of course, it was just an intention.


    Before he has fully investigated this realm, he naturally wouldn''t act rashly.


    "Although the dangers of this small town have been eliminated, there are more imminent dangers following the commencement of the inheritance. I have no choice but to expose a portion of my abilities¡­."


    There is no problem with exposing one''s abilities. The most problematic part was how to find an origin for it.


    At this moment, Fang Yuan was constantly thinking about the fighting system of the Stan Duchy.


    Whoosh!


    He suddenly stood up, punched with his fist, and kicked out his leg energetically. The air flow in the surroundings surged, and his joints released a sound similar to frying beans.


    "At the moment, it could be said that my current body has already reached the pinnacle of the average person in this realm¡­ I need to obtain a few Extraordinary seeds to ascend one more step¡­ I really hope I can meet a warrior or any other Extraordinary, so I can investigate further¡­"


    Even a skillful housewife cannot cook without rice. At this moment, after his refinement, his body can truly be called a "Sage body." Regardless of what he cultivates in, it will progress at a tremendous rate.


    Unfortunately, he''s only missing a key to unlock it.


    "It''s already considered fast. Very soon, someone will proactively accompany me in getting swept up into this vortex and send the key into my hands!"


    Fang Yuan sat down once again and displayed a posture that faced the sky. He started to slowly regulate his own breathing.


    "Luhn¡­ Your Excellency!"


    At this moment, a militia hesitantly came in and bowed slightly.


    Previously, his attitude definitely wasn''t as respectful as it was now.


    No, this already cannot be considered respect; instead, this is reverence!


    "What''s up?" Fang Yuan opened his eyes and asked calmly.


    "A messenger from the Shawshank Center is here, and they brought your inheritance documents!" This militiaman breathed deeply.


    Although he previously knew this lad, the other party, at this moment, had the additional title of royalty, and it instantly gave him an unfathomable sense of majesty.


    "As long as you head towards the Shawshank Center and complete the succession procedures, you''ll become a knight! The baron''s written comments also arrived. Both Maz and Rick would be sentenced to the gallows for plotting to murder a royal successor!"


    This was the real reason behind the militiaman reverence!


    All of them were previously from the small town. But, suddenly, two of them became corpses.


    This discrepancy wasn''t something that could be tolerated by anyone.


    "I understand!"


    Fang Yuan stood up calmly and wasn''t surprised by this outcome at all.


    Even if the Blue Moon baron desperately wanted him to die, he wouldn''t directly express that. Furthermore, on the outside, he would have to appear to politely receive him and uphold justice for him. These were the rules of the game between royalty!


    As for Maz and Rick? The elect to kill those two useless dogs was naturally a decision made without hesitation.


    In order to uphold the external image of a baron, these two people had no choice but to die, and they had no chance of being pardoned from death!

 666 Lantil

    As a rope was attached to Maz''s and Rick''s necks, and the wooden plank at their feet gave way to suspend them in mid-air, the nerves in their body convulsed, and they repeatedly moved their body in a tap dance-like fashion, Fang Yuan had already brought along his inheritance documents and sold all of his family properties. He then traded for an average horse, some cloth armor, and a rusted long sword and began his journey towards the Shawshank Center.


    Of course, he had no intention to visit the Blue Moon baron. After all, regardless of whether or not the other party has ill intentions, his current identity was still a lowly free citizen. Before becoming a knight, he basically had no qualifications to be a visitor of the baron''s castle.


    "The distance from the Blue Moon baron''s territory and Shawshank Center isn''t too far¡ªaround two days worth of traveling¡­"


    Fang Yuan rode on his average horse with his eyes seemingly narrowed but not at all.


    With his current appearance, he really looked like a lone adventurer. There were very few people who dared to find trouble with him.


    "This world''s Extraordinaries would usually register within the huge city and become an enrolled adventurer."


    As an adventurer, there are many benefits. Firstly, they''re able to travel freely between the Duchy and the Royal Kingdom, and they can receive the warm care of the local adventurer society.


    Secondly, they can utilize the society''s channel to receive quests and obtain a handsome reward.


    Of course, the requirements to approve an actual adventurer, in reality, is very strict. Firstly, it''s a necessity to have the status of a free citizen. Following that, one must go through a series of tests to prove one''s abilities.


    Basically, those who can become an adventurer are, at the very least, experienced warriors to begin with, and they would have unique equipment and techniques.


    If it wasn''t for the fact that Luhn already has the position of a knight leader that he needed to inherit, Fang Yuan''s first choice would probably also be to become an adventurer.


    As the average horse progressed forward, the shady green trees on both sides rapidly swept behind him, and there was the occasional movement of the silhouette of a small animal, portraying a complete picture of natures ecology.


    "A path is even able to cultivate to such a Dharma. From this, we can see how low the productivity of the Stan Duchy is¡­"


    Fang Yuan looked at the discernible trail on the road and inadvertently shook his head slightly, feeling the slight abnormality and darkness of this realm.


    Those Extraordinaries, nobles, and flamen can waste with reckless abandon by controlling the Extraordinary power, while the average citizen lower down the hierarchy will struggle with great pains on their lands, just like a serf. Even a year''s worth of hard work and labor might not be enough to fill their stomachs.


    Perhaps, there are a lot of people who haven''t eaten white bread before in their entire lives.


    Even the sweetness gifted by nature¡ªhoney¡ªis just a tribute to the feudal lords.


    Furthermore, the chance of standing out in life is very low!


    Even the most basic warrior training isn''t something that can be experienced by a serf. Needless to say, large quantities of food, varieties of meat, weapons, and corselets will need to be expended.


    Therefore, the higher caste will tightly hold onto their power. The existence of Extraordinary power further enables one knight to be able to suppress hundreds of serfs. The lower castes ultimately don''t have any hope of overturning this.


    Furthermore, due to the swallowing of the surface debris, that can also be understood as a bonus from fighting with outsiders, this realm was actually continuously expanding!


    "If this continues to progress, even something like dimension ascension might cause a malformation!"


    Fang Yuan secretly sighed. At noon, a small village appeared ahead, with a fence surrounding the outside and a few people who seemed like militiaman patrolling the area.


    This was also the specialty of this realm. Due to the liveliness of the Extraordinary power, there was frequent activity from the demon beasts and hostile predators. In order to ensure their safety, city walls and guards were essential tools. Especially for this type of small town, slight carelessness might result in their destruction.


    Precisely because of this, the average citizens of this realm were all extremely looking forward to life in the major city.


    Not only does it represent bountiful living conditions over there, most importantly, there''s also the guarantee of safety.


    "Adventurer?"


    Seeing Fang Yuan dismount from his horse and walk forward, the militia who originally maintained a relaxed expression instantly became a little alert.


    "No! I''m just a traveler who wants to stay one night in your village!"


    An adventurer actually has proof of being an adventurer which is unique to them. Although it wasn''t impossible for Fang Yuan to copy it, there must at least be an original for him to copy.


    Very evidently, with Luhn''s previous rank and identity, he was still unable to come into contact with something like that.


    "Then¡­ Outlander, Kahn village is a hospitable and friendly village with a wooden hut that you can stay in for free for just one night. However, you have to take note to not cause trouble, or else you will regret the consequences!"


    At this moment, someone who looked like a security officer walked over.


    He had a burly figure and looked around forty-years-old, and his entire body was full of scars like a warrior who has been through many hardships. A hawk-like gaze constantly sized up Fang Yuan''s average horse and metal sword before he finally nodded his head and let out a warning.


    "No problem!"


    Fang Yuan led his horse into the village. "May I ask if you can give my horse a little food that is of slightly higher quality. After all, this old chap has already carried me for a very long journey."


    "We have a specially concentrated feed here. Of course, we also have hot water and food, but remuneration is needed!


    "I''m this village''s security officer¡ªGohn!" With a self-introduction, the middle-aged warrior struck his chest.


    Later on, Fang Yuan suddenly realized that the "hospitality and friendliness" of the Kahn village and its free provision of bed mattresses was totally a hoax, as the price of everything inside has already been included within the price of the horse feed and other food.


    Needless to say, this petty farmer-like cunningness gave him a slight sense of enlightenment.


    "Has your Excellency, Gohn, ever become a warrior?"


    At this moment, Fang Yuan rode his horse and casually chatted with Gohn.


    "I previously served in the leader''s military army for three years, and then I became a Lansquenet for a period of time¡­ That was a period that remained fresh in my mind¡­"


    Gohn spoke emotionally, "Furthermore¡­ I had undergone warrior training, but unfortunately, I had no innate ability in this domain."


    "That''s a shame¡­"


    Fang Yuan nodded. If he really became a warrior, he wouldn''t stay in this small village and become an unknown security officer.


    "Your Excellency really isn''t an adventurer?!"


    Gohn looked at Fang Yuan, but his gaze still had some doubts.


    Although all of the equipment on this chap called Luhn was very old and tattered, and they looked like they were randomly scraped together, his body''s quality had instead made him speechless.


    Furthermore, every single one of his actions portrayed an immensely superior talent.


    With the vision and intuition of an old warrior, he believed that he wouldn''t misidentify the youth.


    "In fact, I''m not¡­ In reality, I''m a knight''s successor! I''m preparing to head towards my poor relative''s territory!"


    Fang Yuan laughed and took out his proof documents.


    "I see!"


    After seeing this, the doubt in Gohn''s eyes dispersed by a lot and became a lot more dignified.


    A future knight-to-be with a rank much higher than his. "I''m so sorry¡­ We will immediately prepare the best room for you!"


    "No need to be so hospitable, this is already decent!"


    Fang Yuan was thinking of other matters.


    After intentionally divulging his own identity, he wanted to see if there would be any other forces chasing after him.


    If the other party attacked first, it would definitely be without any mistakes or risks. Who knows, there might be the existence of Extraordinaries?


    "In truth¡­"


    Gohn brought Fang Yuan into the room but hesitated for a moment. "Your Excellency, lately our village has been too dangerous! There were a few incidents of wild beasts hurting people, and there should be a demon beast that has fled nearby. We''ve already gathered money to hire an adventurer to resolve this problem¡­"


    "So it''s like that!"


    Fang Yuan nodded his head and knew the origin of the slight misunderstanding earlier. "I wonder what I can help with?"


    "We''re really grateful for this. If there''s anything we need, we will definitely ask."


    Gohn tactfully but firmly declined.


    In reality, this was normal.


    Although he could already mostly confirm Fang Yuan''s identity, he still had to maintain some wariness.


    Just a mere document could possibly be faked if it was carefully prepared beforehand.


    Even if everything was true, it was still problematic in every way to let a royal family successor fight and kill a demon beast.


    "Then, I wonder which adventurer your Excellency has hired?" Fang Yuan stopped suggesting and instead asked with interest.


    "According to the feedback of the adventurer society, the "Pitch-dark Shield" adventurer team who accepted the quest is a small team of five, and their leader is "Steel Warrior" Lantil! A strong and mighty warrior¡­"


    Gohn pondered and felt that there was nothing to hide and generously revealed it.


    "Leader!" "Leader!"


    At this moment, a militiaman from outside hurried over and reported in a rough voice, "The Pitch-dark Shield adventurer team has already arrived. Their leader, Lantil, is just outside the village entrance."


    "I''m sorry!"


    Gohn''s face revealed a slight hint of happiness, and he apologized to Fang Yuan before turning around to leave.


    "Regarding the legendary warriors, I''m deeply interested in it too. If they''re taking action tonight, please inform me!"


    Fang Yuan laughed and there was a slight glimmer in his gaze.


    ¡­


    Kahn village, village entrance.


    As the leader of the Pitch-black Shield adventure team, Lantil looked around thirty-years-old. He wore half-body armor that revealed his large, firm muscles which reflected a smooth sheen under the sunlight.


    "Team leader¡­ It''s just a small village quest without high pay. Why did you still accept it?"


    At his side, an archer was complaining and grumbling instead. "Look at the rough mountain roads. I suspect that the reward we obtain at the end of this isn''t enough to even change a pair of leather boots!"


    "There''s no choice¡­ There are few quests lately¡­"


    Lantil shrugged his shoulders and revealed a straightforward and resigned smile.


    "Alright, the village people are here. Don''t become a joke to the outsiders¡­"


    At this moment, the only female thief outside the team spoke. This instantly shut the archer up.


    "Anyway, it''s probably just a large wolf-like demon beast that fled nearby and could be killed very quickly!"


    Lantil spoke in a low voice and looked at Gohn who was coming over to welcome them. His face suddenly filled with a vibrant smile, and he walked over to welcome him. "Is it, your Excellency Gohn? I''m Lantil, sorry to keep you all waiting!"

 667 Secret Agency

    Amidst a jungle outside the small village.


    A few people, who were wearing tight attire and dressed like adventurers, were looking on silently at the scene of the Pitch-dark Shield adventurer team arriving at the village''s entrance.


    "Have we confirmed our target?"


    The leader was an adventurer wearing a Taoist robe and was currently attentively staring at a crystal ball in his hands.


    "We can confirm that the other party is within the village!"


    Two warriors at the side instantly bowed.


    Their body''s disposition was astute and capable but was incompatible with that of adventurers; instead, it seemed to belong to the military.


    "That''s alright then. Has the nearby giant wolf been captured?"


    The old sorcerer continued to ask.


    "It''s been captured. It''s a Flame Wolf and has swallowed at least three people. It was restrained with our magic skills."


    There was a large wooden cage at the side, and a prone giant wolf was actually lying inside it, the entirety of its skin resembled a flame.


    "After a while, use the flame crystal nucleus on it and incite it to attack the village."


    The old sorcerer spoke slowly without a trace of compassion in his thoughts, as if all the people in the village became useless expendables in his eyes.


    "For us humans and for the realm, this is a necessary sacrifice!"


    The warrior leader was similarly uncaring and spoke approvingly.


    Glancing at the people who were bustling about, the old sorcerer lowered his head and looked at the crystal ball in his hands.


    Through the bright sphere, he could see a young silhouette inside, which was actually an image of Luhn.


    The old sorcerer looked on silently, and a gleam flashed past his eyes.


    "At our current stage, where we have long known about the existence of the realm and other planes¡­ Foreign species of animals aren''t rare in our realm, but a completely new ''mutant,'' that has appeared for the first time, must still be thoroughly monitored for the safety of our realm and the supremacy of the human race!


    "This ''Luhn,'' according to our intelligence, he had previously survived despite suffering from an injury that he received from being stabbed through the heart, and he''s likely to be a "Descender" or is related to a Descender!


    "Our task, as a secret agency, is to exterminate all hidden threats!"


    Unfortunately, the source of this intelligence was just a baron, and the higher authorities had never paid so much attention to it.


    Furthermore, this type of information, that pertained to people from other worlds, cannot be put on the table for discussion. That''s because currently, within the main realm, there were also countless races and breeds that came over from the migration of external planes.


    Hence, all business that must be carried out secretly is only done by their people.


    "If we can confirm the Descender and discover and conquer the plane behind him, then not only the realm, but our organization will also obtain great boons!"


    The old sorcerer looked at the giant Flame Wolf that was beginning to transform and silently thought, Exactly! This secret agency is a group made up of the most supreme race, or they can be said to be the most supreme beings of the realm, who believe that this realm can only conquer other planes and is an extremist force that finds it best to view all other non-human races as lowly slaves.


    Needless to say, this type of view still received a certain amount of support. Hence, it has operated for a long period and has achieved a certain amount of progress.


    This time, they''ve come forward to investigate Luhn after obtaining intelligence from a few channels.


    Ahwhoooo!


    While the old sorcerer was in deep thought, the animal, which was originally a giant wolf, swallowed the crystal ball, and its body shape already became like a small mountain. It suddenly looked towards the skies and growled, letting out a loud howl, and it charged towards the village while under control by spirit magic.


    "Hmm?"


    This earth-shattering movement made not only Fang Yuan, but Lantil and Gohn noticed it as well.


    It was only after clearly seeing the attacker, Lantil''s eyes widened.


    "This is¡­ the Flame Wolf? How does it have such a physique?"


    Even though it was an ordinary wild beast, the larger its body size, the more horrifying its destructive power was. Even though there are slight differences between demon beasts, they''re mostly the same.


    At this moment, even he himself as a warrior was a little frightened by the giant wolf.


    "It can''t be, I''ve seen the footprints of the attacking wolf, and they weren''t as large as this one''s physique¡­" Gohn mumbled with his face full of incomprehension.


    He immediately saw the giant wolf suddenly open its mouth as it was ran and shot out a streak of bright flames.


    "That''s not good, quickly take cover!"


    Lantil jumped forward and pinned Gohn down, tumbling a couple times awkwardly on the ground.


    Kaboom!


    A loud explosion rang out and flames shot out in all four directions while soil splattered everywhere. The village doors and fences instantly turned to rubble and flames sporadically burned.


    Furthermore, a few unlucky militiamen and even the adventurers were affected by the explosion, and they were instantly vaporized without any trace of their skeletons.


    "This is¡­ a really horrifying demon beast, how did it appear here?"


    Lantil crawled up and instantly saw the small mountain-like giant Flame Wolf, and his whole body froze in shock.


    A demon beast of this level would definitely be hung up on the high-level quest board of the society, and a dedicated team entirely comprised of Extraordinaries must be dispatched to encircle and suppress this beast, instead of someone like him with an adventurer team that was only led by a warrior who were definitely not a match for it.


    "No¡­ I can swear¡­ the demon beast that previously disturbed us definitely wasn''t as large as this!"


    Despite how experienced Gohn was on the battlefield, he was jabbering while he witnessed this scene, and his eye sockets looked like they were instantly going to split.


    That was because after destroying the fences, the giant wolf relentlessly charged directly towards the village.


    Like a reaper, the militia''s leather armor tore easily like paper under its sharp claws, while a few other villagers were unable to avoid it in time and were bitten by its fiendish intersecting teeth with a "Pila!" sound. Blood instantly splattered everywhere and only a few sporadic remnants landed on the ground.


    "Team leader, what do we do?"


    The archers who were fortunate enough to survive looked at the corpses of their companions and the demon wolf who was wrecking havoc, and they asked as their eyes lost a little color.


    "What to do? Naturally, we get revenge for our companions!"


    A small and weak glow radiated from Lantil''s body, which was a reflection of him transferring his inner body fighting spirit till its limit. "I''ll draw its attention, and you''re responsible for shooting. Also, Gohn, immediately assemble all of the warriors¡­ If we cannot defeat it, we will all die!"


    As an experienced adventurer, Lantil had already seen it.


    This giant wolf isn''t attacking the village for food, but a mere desire to inflict massive destruction.


    Very evidently, if they''re unable to eliminate this giant wolf, it will definitely kill everyone at the scene!


    The hunting skills of the werewolf race cannot be underestimated, not to mention this type of extraordinary demon beast from the nearby mountains and forests. Not even Lantil has the confidence to avoid getting killed by it.


    "How to say this, after all, I''m just a warrior. Even though I''m of the lowest level, it shouldn''t be much of a problem to withstand a few claws."


    Lantil tightly held onto the boxing gloves in his hands, but he didn''t much confidence.


    ¡­


    "Why¡­ You don''t have the heart to do it?"


    On top of the mountain, the old sorcerer looked at a subordinate whose eyes were twitching slightly, and he suddenly asked with a smile.


    "No¡­ Your Excellency, I only feel that using a giant wolf infused with ''Implication'' and ''Berserker'' magical techniques to attack a village would be creating a mountain out of a molehill¡­"


    That soldier shook his head. "Why don''t we arrest him directly?"


    "Laurad, have you forgotten the ''Punishment Battle'' in the organization''s history? The royal families of various countries are all very sensitive¡­" The old sorcerer shook his head.


    Early on, in the beginning, there was a rule in the pledge between the mainland royal families that forbids every method of illegally capturing and imprisoning members of the royal family.


    Luhn, as of this moment, had already received the inheritance documents and is now a knight successor, a true member of royalty!


    Once an outsider finds out that this clandestine agency had secretly arrested a member of royalty, it may immediately result in a major uproar.


    A few entire organizations were originally nearly obliterated in the "Punishment Battle," which was caused by their reckless act of arresting a member of royalty. Even though it was finally proven that the member of royalty was actually a parasite, their method still sparked animosity and ultimately caused the incoming crisis.


    From that point onwards, the secret agency would still act once they meet their target, but they have more sophisticated methods.


    "Everything is for humans. It''s too bad that some people still do not understand¡­"


    The old sorcerer spoke with a saint-like expression, "To protect our realm, if there''s a need, I will unhesitantly sacrifice my entire life!"


    At that moment, many rays of light appeared in the crystal ball in front of him. It was actually a scene inside the village.


    "Let me see what secrets you actually hold¡­" the old sorcerer mumbled.


    In reality, foreign living beings were prevalent within the Monger Realm, and logically speaking, he shouldn''t have been so surprised at such a trivial thing.


    However, for a secret agency such as them, they were looking for those abnormal Descenders who each mostly hold a great secret that represents harvests from another plane. Hence, even legendary powerhouses and churches would trade with them!


    At the moment, the only way for an ordinary person to become a deity was for the hunting plane to obtain a reward from the realm!


    With such a huge boon, the continual existence of this secret agency could be understood then.


    It was only because of the fact that there were far too many foreign races, that they had no choice but to currently continue their business in the dark, so they could justify their actions on the surface.


    "We just need to confirm the other party''s abnormality! We can then write a full statement to the royal family''s parliament and the Grand Duke of Stan to switch over to an official arrest!"


    The old sorcerer stared at Fang Yuan, who was walking out, as if he just seen a precious treasure.


    The other party at the moment was only a suspect. If it was confirmed, then his treatment would be vastly different.


    ¡­


    "Hmm?"


    Fang Yuan, who was inside the village, instantly felt that something was amiss.


    "Someone is monitoring me? And¡­ the appearance of this giant beast is a little too coincidental!"


    He already knew that there must be some sort of problem here, even without using his spiritual intuition to detect it.


    "Could this be the heaven''s will again, for this to progress till this stage?"


    Fang Yuan felt that ever since he traversed over, nothing was going smoothly.


    After going through one crisis, he was instantly torpedoed into another new crisis.


    This taste of being schemed against had secretly made him instantly lock onto the mastermind!


    "At the moment, the messenger¡­ should be trying to investigate my ''abnormality.'' My concealment technique can withstand the tests of the pastor, Hess, and it''s also a lucky charm!"


    Just from using the confessions of the two dead people, they''re basically unable to ascertain anything about him.


    Fang Yuan regained his attention and leaned against the door, watching the battle between Lantil and the giant Flame Wolf.


    At the moment, a wave of extraordinary power was circling around the body of the burly fellow, endlessly providing enhancements, causing Fang Yuan''s eyes to shine. "Isn''t this fighting spirit?"

 668 Spiderweb

    "The power of fighting spirit¡­"


    A glint flashed in Fang Yuan''s eyes, but Lantil, who was currently engaged in combat, didn''t detect anything.


    Within just a short spur of the moment, all the minute details of the fighting spirit power that he had cultivated, with much effort, was revealed in front of Fang Yuan.


    "Sure enough, it''s another system that''s different from the cultivation that''s derived by absorbing vitality from the heavens and earth through a warrior circulating the heavenly cycles. The fighting spirit power originates from the body! In other words, it''s a type of life energy!"


    Fang Yuan has already attained the title of Sage. At this moment, he was in a strategically advantageous position, and he could naturally take in all of Lantil''s shallow fighting spirit with a glance.


    "Through the process of strengthening the human body and coordinating the muscles and internal secretions, they could stimulate it and produce this type of power¡­ The stronger the body, the stronger the ''fighting seeds'' that would be produced?"


    He inadvertently thought of his Sage body.


    If he used that body as his blueprint to produce fighting seeds, then it would completely exceed the imagination of the highest level warrior.


    Of course, even a modified "spiritual body" isn''t that different.


    "It seems that assuming the duty of the Extraordinary profession ''warrior'' is easier¡­"


    Fang Yuan''s foundations were built well. At that moment, upon seeing a warrior fighting with his life, as though he was teaching via a personal demonstration and verbal instructions, an explosive sound was suddenly released from his body. Just like breaking some sort of gate, an exotic seed appeared in the spot where his heart was.


    Accompanying every pulse of his heartbeat, some sort of power endlessly coursed through his entire body.


    "Fighting spirit is rooted in the body, but after becoming a fighting spirit seed, it can interact with external energies¡­ According to this realm''s statement, this is an interaction between many elemental planes, and it brings about different attributes!"


    He slightly closed his eyes, and his magical abilities probed outward. With the help of the fighting spirit seeds, it instantly burrowed deeply into many elemental domains.


    There is Earth, Fire, Wind, and Water, the most fundamental blocks to construct the realm, and there''s also thunder and lightning which are inclined towards a thunderstorm, rare metal¡­ and there''s even light and darkness.


    "Lantil doesn''t seem to be powerful at all!"


    The gaze Fang Yuan''s directed towards Lantil had inadvertently carried a little pity.


    The other party''s phase, in his opinion, was only at the beginning stage where the fighting spirit seeds had just been created. Its strength was still not up to par with himself, not to mention the fact that interacting with the elements and forming fighting spirit attributes or the likes.


    The world is this unfair.


    Lantil had trained with so much effort, and the fruits of his labor, that were obtained after experiencing a close shave, were learned in a short pan of time by Fang Yuan, who had then innovated it into something new by getting rid of the antiquated aspects, allowing him to surpass the master.


    At this precise moment, another transformation occurred with the battlefield''s scenario.


    Swoosh!


    While Lantil was personally blocking the giant wolf, Gohn brought his militia to distract it from the sides, and the archer finally grasped this opportunity and shot an arrow.


    Poof!


    This hope-filled arrow was fatal and directly pierced the giant wolf''s right eye.


    "Great!"


    The archer clenched his fist tightly and instantly saw the giant wolf howl as it faced the sky, its aggressive mouth was aiming straight towards the roof of the wooden house that he was crouching in.


    Kaboom!


    Amidst the shrill howls of the wolf, a burst of flames shot out, causing the archer to instantly be blown to pieces in a painful and gruesome death.


    "Doron?!"


    Lantil''s eyes were about to split, and the fighting spirit''s glow circulated around his right fist, causing his entire hand to look as if it was basking in sacred light. He suddenly jumped and landed a fist on the giant wolf''s head.


    Ping!


    The boxing gloves clashed with the wolf''s head and actually released a sound that was similar to the sound of clashing metal. The giant wolf''s body trembled as if it was in a state of dizziness, and it immediately pressed down with its claws without hesitation, throwing Lantil into the midst of the chaos.


    "It''s over, the entire Pitch-dark Shield team was completely annihilated. Is it telling us that our small village will also face the misfortune of being annihilated?"


    Seeing this scene, all of Gohn''s hopes were dashed to pieces.


    The giant wolf, which was being controlled, charged forward with a goal in mind. Its aim was actually Fang Yuan''s position.


    "Indeed¡­ is this a test?"


    Fang Yuan saw this, and a trace of a cold smile immediately lit up on his face.


    After previously understanding the evils in this realm, he proactively tackled the problems himself, and he intentionally left behind some loopholes in order to see what kind of secrets he could unearth.


    At this moment, after procuring some gains, he felt a slight happiness that was akin to a hunter seeing his prey captured in his trap.


    "Is it spirit magic that''s controlling the giant wolf? Actually using it in front of me so casually¡­"


    Fang Yuan''s thoughts coagulated, and he instantly traced a formless spiritual path and found the group of people hiding outside the village.


    At this moment, the giant wolf howled and stepped out with its claw, smashing the wooden house he was residing in into pieces.


    Swoosh!


    Among the fragments of wood that flew across the sky, Fang Yuan stepped out with his right foot, and his entire body charged out like a cannon.


    "Wind!"


    A gentle layer of green fighting spirit instantly appeared outside his body, and it was as if he had donned a green cape that allowed him to move faster and more agilely.


    Among the many elements, Fang Yuan directly chose the wind attribute.


    After all, as one the powers that constitutes realm and one of the main elements¡ªEarth, Fire, Wind, and Water¡ªthere definitely wouldn''t be any constraints to the future development of the wind attribute.


    Not to mention, at this moment, he needed more speed and greater mobility.


    "Die!"


    With the assistance of the wind element, he felt that the speed at which he could attack with his sword was greatly increased. The long sword in his hands had an aquamarine glow that directly penetrated through the corner of the giant wolf''s injured eye, even his entire arm had pierced through.


    Poof!


    Amidst the splattering of blood, the giant wolf''s body collapsed onto the ground like a small mountain, and a large pile of dust sprayed upwards.


    "Even a legendary living being will have an 80% chance of death if its brain is penetrated!"


    Fang Yuan pulled out his metal sword, and with the movement of his silhouette, he viciously charged outside the village.


    ¡­


    "What happened?"


    Everyone from the secret agency was in a frenzied state while the old sorcerer nearly dropped and destroyed the crystal ball in his hands.


    "This is¡­ wind attribute fighting spirit? The opponent is a warrior? Why didn''t anyone mention this information before?" he shouted with his words laced with a great deal of unwillingness to accept this.


    Fighting spirit was the power of this realm. It was, at most, a case where the opponent had this ability and kept a low profile beforehand while secretly taking on the profession of a warrior. There was no relation at all with the Descenders.


    Surprisingly, throughout his entire professional career, he''s never met a Dream Master Sage, and he cannot even imagine such a genius who could learn the inner workings of fighting spirit with just a glance and was even able to innovate novel ideas by discarding the old ones.


    The old sorcerer, as of this moment, was instead filled with despair from failing the quest.


    The opponent was, after all, a warrior. 80% of the things that were said was just mere gibberish from those two idiots. This investigation, like many other previous incidents, was probably enacted on hearsay evidence.


    An actual Descender conceals themself very well, and it''s extremely difficult to find something that fits the criteria perfectly.


    Hence, out of the ten investigation cases that they previously performed, nine of them would be erroneous convictions. Everyone was already used to this.


    "If this is the case, we''ll temporarily cancel this operation and lower the priority level of the opponent by one while maintaining surveillance¡­"


    After the old subordinate had just stated the arrangement, a subordinate shouted out, "Your Excellency¡­ he''s found us! He''s rushing over to us!"


    "What the¡ªLeave immediately!"


    The color of his face changed.


    In reality, they definitely weren''t afraid of the opponent''s military might, but they simply didn''t want to cause any trouble.


    Otherwise, once they meet and fight him, hand to hand, they would have to completely eliminate this knight successor and all of the villagers. If any small traces of evidence is found, then it will definitely cause a great deal of trouble to the organization.


    However, his order was given a little too late.


    With the amplification from his wind attribute fighting spirit, Fang Yuan''s speed was faster than a sprinting horse, and he directly rushed to their hiding spot, as though he had foreseen it beforehand. "Who are you, to actually attack the village and injure a member of royalty?"


    Without caring, he directly shouted out and directed the essence of this incident straight to the point. Regardless of which side the other party was on, they wouldn''t dare to put this incident out in the open.


    "This really¡­ makes us so helpless¡­"


    The old sorcerer shook his head, and a gleam of bright light suddenly flashed in his eyes. "Capture him and exterminate all of the villagers!"


    Although the consequences of doing this are very great, compared to disclosing the entire matter, causing them to become wanted criminals and implicating the organization, this was already the best option.


    "Luhn? You can only blame yourself¡­ We were originally intending to leave, but you still dared to rush over and even identify us¡­"


    A few soldiers stared at him whilst their hands wielded weapons like falchions and sabres, and they formed a circle that surrounded him.


    The old sorcerer took out a few items and mumbled some words, evidently he was employing a magical spell. Furthermore, at his side, a soldier that specializes in defending had taken out a crossbow!


    "This type of power¡­ doesn''t seem like manpower dispatched by the baron. Are they, ultimately, the reaper church? It''s impossible¡­"


    Fang Yuan''s silhouette retreated as he hid into the dense forest and used the trees to conceal his figure.


    At the same time, his mind was constantly thinking.


    He only wanted to "reveal his face" when he rushed over and shouted earlier, and it wasn''t done recklessly. This forced them to have no choice but to exterminate the human population.


    In that case, he cannot retreat and can only fight the guerrilla warfare himself.


    In the dense forest, as long as the other party didn''t want to retreat, he himself had the confidence to destroy them all by using the terrain.


    After more than half of the enemy''s forces were injured or killed, it would be too late for them to escape, even if they wanted to.


    "Even though I''ve only just derived the fighting spirit technique, martial arts in this realm is actually very common!"


    As long as the technique is employed from a human body, even though it''s different in its approach, it''s equally satisfactory in their results in each of the realms. At that moment, Fang Yuan casually twisted, and his entire body jumped onto a treetop. When a soldier ran over from behind while waving a saber, the tip of a blade appeared and immediately pierced into his throat.


    Poof!


    With a blood-red flash, the soldier fell down with his face full of disbelief.


    "Damn it¡­ this terrain really isn''t suitable for a siege!"


    Very quickly, the sieging soldiers discovered that it was very difficult to capture this opponent. Dexterously, he hid amongst the shadows of the trees and used various forms of cover, and coupled with his own speed, he practically achieved an effect that was similar to a military''s assassination team.


    Especially the long sword that was accentuated with fighting spirit¡ªit could easily pry open their leather armor and take their lives!


    "No! Something''s not right!"


    The old sorcerer saw this scene, and his heart went cold first. His eyes immediately lit up. "We can still use secret training to explain his warrior origin, but this experience can only be accumulated from hundreds and thousands of battles, otherwise it cannot be obtained¡­ This must be a ''Descender''!"


    He pointed with his hand, and the magical skill that he had been preparing for a long time was finally completed. "Spiderweb¡ªRestrain!"


    A huge white web appeared and instantly spread towards Fang Yuan''s silhouette.

 669 Territory

    Ping!


    The spiderweb opened up in mid-air and instantly covered the woods. There were even small spiders that crawled out from within in a dense fashion.


    "Spell?"


    He stared at the old man standing across from him, and a glint flashed past his eyes instead. "This is a magical spell system that is completely different from a Dream Master, interesting!"


    "Kill him!"


    The other soldiers howled and leaped forward.


    Fang Yuan pushed off with his feet, and his entire body instantly retreated before suddenly switching to a forward charge. His movement was weird and contained an indescribable contradictory feeling.


    Poof!


    A little blood splattered, and another soldier holding a heavy sword covered his throat and collapsed.


    "Did you think that I''d only hide in the darkness to launch a sneak attack?"


    He laughed coldly, and with a flick of his steel sword, he instantly killed two people.


    "It feels as if you''re around the standard of the average soldier. Even though you''re already declared as an elite within the army, it''s still not enough against me!"


    Fang Yuan rubbed the bloodstained long sword and suddenly moved his head to one side to avoid an arrow flying in from a crafty angle.


    "You really are a Descender!" the old sorcerer shouted loudly.


    "Descender? I don''t know what you mean. I only know that you controlled the demon beast and attacked the village, and you even wanted to kill me! A future knight! An actual member of royalty!"


    Who knows, there might be some lighting techniques in this realm that are able to record or recall partial images. Fang Yuan definitely wouldn''t leave behind any evidence and instead, he reproached them with a sense of justice.


    "You¡­"


    The old sorcerer heard this sentence and instantly nearly vomited a mouthful of old blood.


    An average hunter that can possess such skills? And he can confidently proclaim himself to be a member of royalty? This is totally just trying to pile up the blame on them and tarnish their reputation!


    Swoosh!


    While he was talking, Fang Yuan kicked out with his foot, and a rock flew through the air and directly hit the crossbowman''s forehead.


    With Fang Yuan''s current physique, the rock that flew out was similar to an arrow, causing a large hole to instantly split open the unlucky lad''s brain as he weakly collapsed.


    "This type of combat power, a high-level warrior?"


    The old sorcerer''s eyelids rapidly twitched. He suddenly bit his teeth, and he took out a scroll from his arms and moved his palms, about to trigger massive destruction.


    "Break!"


    Once the scroll appeared, Fang Yuan instantly felt that the surrounding elements were beginning to tremble. Immediately, without any further thought, he jumped forward and the long sword in his hands flew out.


    "Ah!"


    Accompanying the howls of the old sorcerer, his entire arm was amputated, and it dropped onto the ground.


    Fang Yuan had instead made use of this opportunity and dealt with the resistance of the remaining people. He slowly came to the front of the old man''s head and stepped on it with his foot, causing the sorcerer to become a huge prawn that was curling up. The movement of the sorcerer''s tendon and hamstring didn''t stop, and he instantly letdown his only remaining hand and both leg joints.


    Amidst the pain of his amputated arm, alongside the pain in his hamstring, the old sorcerer''s head was filled with cold sweat.


    In reality, to be able to endure it until now without fainting, he had already surpassed Fang Yuan''s expectations.


    "Impossible¡­"


    And at this moment, within the old man''s eyes, Fang Yuan easily detected a feeling of shock and incredulity.


    "Just a simple investigation assignment, how could our small team be completely annihilated? There are a few Extraordinaries among us¡­"


    The shock reverberated in the old man''s heart while he looked at the expressionless Fang Yuan, and his entire body suddenly quivered. "No! You cannot kill me!"


    "This is self-defense for me, right? Regardless of which territory''s laws we follow, it''s sensible and logical." Fang Yuan spoke slowly, "I will act as a bandit and pass your corpses to the local feudal lord¡ªyou cannot relinquish the blame from attacking the village and carrying out a massacre, so, think of what will happen to you. Your head will be chopped off by the infuriated feudal lord and hung on the city walls, while even your family would be arrested!"


    "No¡­"


    As if he had thought of some horrifying outcome, the old sorcerer''s cheeks were contorted. "You cannot do this¡­ I''m from the secret agency!"


    "Secret agency, can you tell me about it?"


    Fang Yuan let out a smile.


    No matter how resolute a person was, once the bottom line was exceeded, then it was easy to commit the same mistake again.


    Needless to say, the higher the position, the greater their fear of death is!


    The people who were loyal and had high morals were usually average or low-class citizens, while those who are intelligent are usually the ones who act unethically and are unloyal. This is the current situation.


    Indeed, after exceeding the bottom line, the old sorcerer didn''t dare to give the cold shoulder, and he instantly revealed everything he knew.


    Of course, in this process, Fang Yuan was extremely careful, and his magical abilities had slightly detected a small abnormality in the elements and instantly opened up a bloody hole on his body, immediately causing all of the sneaky actions from the old sorcerer to become ineffective.


    ¡­


    "Secret agency? Is it an organization that specializes in monitoring Descenders from other realms and gather information about the plane?"


    Fang Yuan stroked his chin. "Their highest aspiration is to allow the Monger World to govern everything while the human race dominates the entire realm¡­ race activists!"


    The old sorcerer''s entire body quivered.


    At this moment, he can completely confirm that this person in front of him is the rumored "Descender." Furthermore, he''s scarier than what was recorded in the organization''s records, and there''s simply no way to transmit this information outside.


    "You are afraid¡­ afraid of me killing you?"


    Fang Yuan smiled. "Smart fellow¡­ However, you still have some use to me!"


    Whilst he was speaking, he used one palm to cover the sorcerer''s skull.


    "No¡­ You cannot kill me. I''m from the secret agency, and if you kill me, you will become enemies with our entire organization. You don''t know how powerful our organization is, and it also maintains relations with many churches¡­"


    The sorcerer started tearing up.


    "Yes, I know¡­ But, so what?"


    Fang Yuan released his spiritual will and entered the old sorcerer''s sea of consciousness.


    Instantly, a completely new magical skill system was revealed in front of him.


    "In this realm''s practitioner system, firstly, we need to use the spiritual energy within our sea of consciousness to create a magical power template, then obtain power from the elemental plane¡­ Furthermore, due to consumption and incompatibility, we will mostly require ingredients to cast spells, and we may even have the trait of forgetting how to cast spells. After using the magical skill, we will have to recollect the template, and it''s really troublesome no matter how you think of it¡­"


    After a moment, he slowly withdrew his palm.


    As for that old sorcerer, he rolled his eyes and collapsed onto the floor, his breath slowly being cut off.


    In order to obtain the most complete memories and information regarding magical techniques, Fang Yuan didn''t hold back. It was possible that his soul has already suffered irreversible damage.


    "Of course¡­ Even if this is the case, I cannot exterminate his soul, as this is within the power boundary of the leader of the netherworld¡ªHess¡­ a normal person cannot commit this offense!"


    Even though he had currently already killed numerous people, with their bodies lying around everywhere, some of the rules between the Gods cannot be easily violated.


    Otherwise, an entire reaper church would come over to kill him, and Fang Yuan has little confidence in being able to resist them.


    "Your Excellency!"


    At this moment, Gohn brought the militia from the village and finally rushed to the scene.


    "They¡­ are the killers who incited the giant wolf to attack the village this time¡­"


    Fang Yuan clapped his palms. "Clean up the battlefield and then pass me the war trophies. Also, report to the local feudal lord!"


    "Yes, Master!"


    Looking at Fang Yuan''s present state and the ground full of corpses, Gohn instantly increased his reverence towards him and spoke carefully.


    "These people will be quickly declared as bandits, right?"


    Fang Yuan shook his hand and let Gohn transport the corpses while he instead opted to silently look on at this scene. "This is the tragedy of working in the darkness. Even though they''re dead, they''re unable to amend the situation, and it may even implicate their families¡­.."


    ¡­


    The incident in this small village had ultimately delayed Fang Yuan''s journey.


    Yet, even so, after three days, he arrived at the Shawshank Center and was inside the manor of Knight Jorah.


    The season was currently autumn, and there were many farmers at both sides of the fields, busily farming and planting vegetables that were similar to wheat and rye.


    The main staple food in the Monger World was also grains, and Fang Yuan directly named them as wheat, barley, rye, and oats, as per his own habits.


    The wheat and rye''s growth process was very slow. They needed to be planted in the autumn and could only be harvested in the following year''s summer, and they were also easily destroyed by natural disasters. However, their flavor and nutritional value were the best and their quality was decent. When it was made into white bread, they became food for the upper class.


    However, barley and oats could be planted in the spring season, and they could be harvested after three months. Their nutritional value was very poor, and their yield was also low, so they were usually used as animal feed or as food for the serfs.


    "This should be that Knight Jorah''s fief¡­"


    Fang Yuan gazed far into the distance and saw a large windmill within the fields, turning slowly with the gentle breeze''s draft, and there were small mills beneath it.


    According to the labels on the inheritance documents, this piece of land that was spanned more than five thousand mou¡ªbesides the mills, cottages, animals, and the farming serfs on top of it¡ªwas that knight''s inheritance that Fang Yuan was about to inherit.


    "It seems like this Knight Jorah''s financial status was considered quite decent among the knights¡­"


    He carefully identified and roughly estimated the territory''s production.


    The current farming system was considered to be more advanced and was similar to the previous world''s century that utilized the "Three Field system," which was to split the land into three portions. Every year, one portion would fallow while the other two are farmed. Oats and barley are planted in one portion, while maize and rye are planted in the other.


    In spite of that, the production wasn''t significant and was about a hundred jin per mou of land in one year.


    Here, the "mou" and "jin" were natural concepts in Fang Yuan''s head, and the calculation methods of the locals might have some differences.


    However, according to Fang Yuan''s assessment, there were nearly no vegetables or meat varieties at the moment, and a grown man would likely need around one jin of food every day.


    In other words, an average person will need four to five mou of land in order to be able to be fed properly.


    The population of the entire Shawshank Center shouldn''t exceed a thousand, and the population of elderly and children must also be included.


    To discuss it in proper terms, this was the level of a village head of a small village. Of course, the prerequisite was that this small village was fully in his possession.


    "Of course¡­ Seeing the lowest strata of this realm, a knight is already a very terrifying big shot. After all, with the inheritance of fiefs, there would also be the title of a knight, which is an actual big shot!


    "Perhaps this inheritance will be a little troublesome!"


    Fang Yuan looked at this piece of land and instead laughed without concern.

 670 Condition

    As the village head of a small village, how much power could a knight possess?


    Fang Yuan roughly estimated that there were perhaps a hundred households of serfs and civilians under the command of Knight Jorah, which was already a lot.


    If the pond was drained of all the fish, he could withdraw around a hundred grown men to fight. Of course, the location could not be a day''s journey away from the fief. After all, these were all strong laborers, and once they were far from production activities, the territory would definitely suffer a famine in the following year.


    "Thus, for troops that can always be on standby, we can have at most twenty people. By using the principle of selecting one household out of five, we can avoid damaging the people''s livelihoods too much¡­


    "As a vassal of a high-ranking lord, knights have to prepare horses, equipment, and squires by themselves every year, and they have an obligation to fight alongside the lord for thirty days without compensation. There would be repayment after exceeding this period, and if it isn''t exceeded, they could only source for spoils of war themselves. And Knight Jorah''s obligation clearly stipulates that there cannot be fewer than fifteen militia¡­ "


    Although he had not officially inherited, it was without doubt that Fang Yuan had already claimed the entirety of the knight''s territory as his own.


    After all, under the current system, even a lord that was one rank higher than Knight Jorah had no authority to take back any territory that he was conferred. Furthermore, due to too many excessive demands from lords, it became commonplace that vassals rebelled.


    "However, I heard that all of Knight Jorah''s family died of a plague?"


    Fang Yuan looked around. There was harmonious countryside scenery all around, without any trace of a land suffering from despair and disasters. "A foul disease that was only targeted at one family? Interesting!"


    Thinking of this, he casually stopped a farmer walking past. "Bring me to Knight Jorah''s villa."


    A feudal lord had huge authority regarding the financial and military aspects of his own fief, and was not concerned by a lack of manpower to construct a palace.


    Of course, due to financial problems, even a baron had much difficulty in having his own castle, while knights could mostly only stay in villas.


    Conversely, a castle that had been passed down for hundreds of years was a landmark and a source of pride for the nobility, and it also represented security.


    After all, apart from showing off military might and financial ability, this era''s castle''s most important function was defense. In other words, defense was its main function.


    "You are¡­"


    The person pulled over seemed to be around thirty to forty years old with gray hair and a face covered with dust. He was wearing clothes that looked like a jute bag and had some muscles on his body.


    However, Fang Yuan was clear that this was not built up from eating and drinking well, but caused from a long-term strain of heavy manual labor, which often meant a depletion of his future lifespan.


    In reality, this man should only be around twenty years old, but he already had a few traits of becoming prematurely senile.


    He raised his head at this time, and his weathered face carried some doubt and a little reverence.


    After all, a man who could ride a horse and carry weapons was not someone that a lowly farmer like him could afford to offend.


    "I am Luhn, Knight Jorah''s successor," Fang Yuan announced.


    "So it is Sir, the feudal lord. I am Willie."


    Willie hurriedly bowed in a stance similar to taking off one''s hat, but unfortunately, since he wasn''t wearing a hat, the messy hair looked akin to a chicken nest.


    Furthermore, Fang Yuan keenly observed from the bottom of his eyes and found a sense of panic and pity.


    You think that I''ll become like the previous unlucky successors and die of various accidents in a few days? he thought silently.


    Then he casually threw a few copper coins over. "I am a generous person, and this is your reward."


    "Ah¡­ How could I accept this?" Willie hurriedly said, but his hands subconsciously held on tightly to the coins.


    This small amount of money could purchase a whole loaf of black bread and give a satisfying meal to the few people in his house. Sigh¡­ too bad the youngest Krill had never had a filling meal ever since he was born and had to often fight for food with his sister.


    With the tip as a reward, Willie instantly exuded an indescribable warmth. While showing him the way, he introduced the stories of the previous feudal lord Jorah and a few other successors to Fang Yuan.


    "Knight Jorah was a good person, and his wife was also very good-natured. Sometimes, she would even give the people bread. Unfortunately, the entire family died of a disease. Thankfully, a pastor arrived and timely controlled the origin to prevent it from spreading.


    "After the Knight died, Childe Marvins was the first successor, but unfortunately, he fell off his horse on the way and broke his neck.


    "Compared to Marvins, Engel was much different and had an explosive temper, and an unlucky lad was even whipped by him. However, after he stayed in the villa for one night, he seemed to have become scared and became a lunatic. After a while, he drowned himself.


    "From then onwards, all of the successors successively met their demise. Everyone gossiped that Knight Jorah''s curse was circulating inside the villa, as he was not pleased to see outsiders inheriting his family business."


    ¡­


    Although this era''s serfs were naturally reverential toward their feudal lord, at this moment, under the effect of money and a little prodding, Willie seemed to become very familiar with Fang Yuan and became very talkative.


    When he saw the two-story villa, he seemed to remember his identity, hurriedly waved, and said, "Oh! Sorry, Sir, I am not talking about you¡­ The curse is¡­ is merely just a rumor. A rumor!"


    "Haha." Fang Yuan laughed and did not bother about Willie, who was nearly scared to death. He walked up and knocked on the door.


    As the residence of the knight, the villa area was very large. The rosewood door seemed very sturdy, and the windows were huge. With the purple curtains pulled to the side, sunlight lavishly entered and created pleasant lighting, which greatly suited Fang Yuan''s taste.


    In any case, this is much better than a castle¡­


    The castle which functioned as a defensive fortification destroyed the dreams of many youths.


    The main aspects were the narrow windows and the dark, damp environment. After staying for a long time, it became inevitable that one would be down with diseases like rheumatism, excluding those with the physique of Extraordinaries.


    In comparison, there was much more effort put into the knight''s villa. The floor was made with marble, and there was even a small garden at the back where one could faintly see a fountain, a statue, and pruned vegetation. A few flowers bloomed and emitted an intoxicating fragrance.


    Fang Yuan saw this and instantly decided that even if he had sufficient money and resources in the future, he would not construct a stone coffin for himself to be buried in.


    As he was fantasizing, the carefully crafted main door opened up, and a middle-aged steward wearing a wig appeared. His muddy eyes had some doubts. "You are¡­"


    "I am Luhn from Blue Moon Town. This is my personal identification and other documents."


    Fang Yuan passed over the inheritance documents from his bag. "I am about to succeed Knight Jorah''s inheritance."


    "So it is Childe Luhn. I am the Jorahs'' steward, Marseille. I have been waiting a few days for you. Please, come in."


    Steward Marseille immediately stepped aside and slightly bowed his body, welcoming Fang Yuan into the villa.


    The lighting in the villa was considered decent, and there were bronze candelabras everywhere. Marble sculptures and oil paintings decorated the walls and corners, seeming immensely majestic.


    "Childe must be tired after the long journey. Please rest first and I will ask the servant to prepare dinner," Marseille politely said.


    "No need to rush these things."


    Fang Yuan came to the living room, sat down on a sofa-like chair bound with a thick layer of cloth, and shook his hands. "First, we should confirm if my inheritance is legal and what procedures are needed to succeed a knight¡­"


    "Yes!" Marseille was slightly astonished, immediately holding a kettle of black tea and pouring a full cup for Fang Yuan while speaking in a slow manner, "After the death of Childe Raymond, you are already the first successor. As long as you do not give up the inheritance rights, you cannot be challenged. The only thing is that, within the master''s testament, you still have to complete one condition to be able to entirely succeed this inheritance."


    Fang Yuan sipped a mouthful of black tea, interlocked his ten fingers, and asked with some interest, "What condition? A nobility test?"


    "No, no. It''s just a very simple request. The knight needs you to stay for one night in the study of this villa," Marseille replied in a calm voice.


    "Stay in the study for one night?"


    Fang Yuan instantly associated it with what the guide Willie mentioned about the unlucky Engel, who seemed to have some problems with his mental state after staying one night.


    "Okay."


    However, to him, this was naturally not an issue and he immediately agreed.


    "In that case, I will immediately invite some notaries public over." Marseille seemed to have expelled a deep breath, raised himself slightly, and walked out.


    "There may really be some evil spirits within this villa?"


    This expression made Fang Yuan slightly suspicious. His spiritual will spread out, and his mouth instantly released a small grin.


    ¡­


    The dinner in the villa was quite good. There was roasted lamb chop that was tender, various vegetables and salad, white bread and jam, drinks like grape wine, and shiny silverware as cutlery, giving off a very posh atmosphere.


    What was worth mentioning was that Fang Yuan did not dine alone. There were a few ''notaries public'' together with him.


    Among those included superiors of Knight Jorah, that envoy dispatched by Baron Shawshank, local prominent figures, and a bishop of the Church of Death.


    What further surprised Fang Yuan was that they seemed to live nearby, as Marseille had gone out on one journey and instantly brought them over.


    "Thank you for your treat!"


    After finishing their meal, that bishop of Hess, Daniel, spoke first, "We wish you success."


    "Thank you."


    The people raised their wine glasses and drank up. As this was the first time meeting them, it was taboo to give deep advice to mere acquaintances, so Fang Yuan did not say anything further.


    He just felt that the bishop''s gaze toward him seemed to carry some profound meaning.


    ¡­


    "Goodnight, Childe Luhn."


    After dinner, Fang Yuan was brought to Knight Jorah''s study.


    Immediately, Marseille directed the servant to put down the bedding and retreated out of the study, closing the door politely.


    Through the window, Fang Yuan saw those servants leaving the villa. Evidently, they had another place to stay. He became more surprised. "It seems like it''s a little dangerous inside this villa."

 671 Ceremony

    "What do you think, Bishop Daniel?"


    Outside the villa, the three notaries from before hid themselves in the dark and quietly observed the lights in the villa.


    Baron Shawshank''s envoy, a scholar named Hahn, bowed slightly while asking, "Will the¡­ ceremony succeed? After all, it''s failed so many times."


    "This¡­ is difficult to say. After all, it is a Legend knight''s power¡­"


    Daniel shook his head. "Didn''t the multiple attempts before tell us the outcome? It only accepts the blood of that Legend knight. Moreover, the requirements are high. The failed examples previously were right in front of our eyes!"


    While they were discussing, another notary beside them laughed awkwardly, hoping to find a crack in the floor to hide in. He pretended that he did not hear anything.


    After all, someone like him did not have the right to hear such secrets.


    Bishop Daniel did not notice and had other thoughts as he looked at the villa. According to Torrege''s letter, there''s something wrong with Luhn, and he hoped that I could investigate this matter. This inheritance ceremony is the best way to check.


    The Legend''s power is able to distinguish souls. Even if there is accepted blood, he would only be worse off than the other inheritors if there is something wrong with his soul.


    "Hopefully this can be successful. This is not only the wish of the baron, but the other lords are also anticipating the strength of a Legend knight. The previous one assisted the first Grand Duke Stan and built the duchy."


    At this moment, Scholar Hahn muttered, "Is this the necessity of war¡­"


    Towards this, Bishop Daniel knew it in his heart and shook his head.


    They knew part of the truth. Knight Jorah did not die from a severe illness, but purely because of a problem in inheriting.


    The family of the Knight Jorah was only in-charge of the ceremony. To activate the inheritance suddenly, it was no wonder that he got bitten in return.


    And the reason he did so was the pressure from the higher-ups.


    Due to this, Daniel came over after the failure in order to put an end to the influence of the whole matter.


    Once the ceremony begins, it can only be stopped when the real inheritor appears. Otherwise, I''m afraid an even more terrifying dead spirit disaster will appear¡­


    Daniel feelings were very complex.


    He hoped to find out how Luhn was different, but also hoped to solve everything here.


    At this time, the villa in front of them changed.


    Dark gray flames rose. As if it was a screen, it enveloped the whole villa.


    Instantly, the villa and its surrounding went dark. Outsiders would not be able to observe anything.


    "It''s begun¡­"


    Looking at this scene unfold, Daniel and Hahn held their breath at the same time and quietly began to wait.


    ¡­


    "This is¡­ a domain? Specious! Just a weakened enchantment¡­"


    In the villa, Fang Yuan realized something was wrong immediately.


    He was currently in the study. With a book about the noble families'' family trees in his hands, he was reading the picture of each and every family''s crest and coat of arms. He sighed. "Alright, looks like I might have underestimated Knight Jorah''s family. After all, he also had noble blood that could even date back to the Stan Duchy''s founder knight."


    Then, the first generation Grand Duke Stan completely depended on the hard work of a knight to lay the foundations of the duchy today.


    The knight at that time was rumored to be able to walk on air. Just by casually swinging his sword, he could split the ground open. He was a legend within a legend!


    "In the records of the genealogical tree, there were seven such knights, called the ''Legend Knight Group''. They were a power that resounded throughout the mainland. And Knight Jorah''s family originated from one of these seven people¡ª''Death Hand'' Glendon."


    There were many professions in this world, but there was no unified differentiation.


    For example, if a warrior had just aggregated the seeds of his fighting spirit, he was definitely stronger than a senior soldier.


    Thus, the general divide of first level soldier, first level warrior, and whatnot was a joke.


    "I now know that there are only fundamental and attributed fighting spirit, these two levels, for warriors¡­ However, in the memory of that sorcerer, someone being able to urge attributed fighting spirit would already be referred to as a high-level warrior. With that, it''s easy to mix as the garrison captain of a city¡­


    "Of course, sorcerers are even more powerful. Even if one is at the most basic level, it''s enough for him to live a grand life similar to a noble¡­


    "However, what''s interesting is that, no matter if it''s a warrior or a sorcerer, or even other Extraordinary professions, there''ll be a strange but complete transformation at a certain stage. One could even obtain a domain-like power. These people are the peak powers in the mortal world¡ªthe Legends! They are said to be the existences closest to the Gods¡­"


    In fact, these Legends could also be called Domainers by Fang Yuan.


    The only reason why they could not be called Gods was because their domains were not strong enough. In other words, this was related to how they didn''t have a Godhood.


    Only with the authority of a Godhood bestowed by the world could a Domainer be truly extraordinary and become a True God.


    This was the route of how to become a True God in this world!


    Thinking about this, Fang Yuan glanced at his stats window.


    "Name: Luhn (Fang Yuan)


    Essence: 3.0 (200)


    Spirit: 3.0 (200)


    Magic: 5.0 (200)


    Profession: Warrior


    Cultivation: ???


    Technique: ???


    Skill: [Medicine (Level 3)], [Botany (Level 6)(Peak)], [Fiery Golden Eyes (Level 3)], [Body Seal (Ultimate form)]"


    "I currently still have a long way to go before I can be a God."


    Fang Yuan sat on a chair and drank his slightly-cold red tea, rubbing the space between his brows.


    "Death Hand Glendon was a Legend. Moreover, one of his descendants that flourished in the Stan Duchy was Knight Jorah.


    "Looks like there may be a direct line of descent in this bloodline that has inherited some secrets."


    He looked at the walls around him.


    At this moment, under the influence of certain unknown power, the whole villa was painted with a dark green brilliance. The outside world darkened, and among the flickering shadows, there seemed to be a certain unknown plane overlapping.


    "The power of a domain? Specious¡­ At best, it''s a pseudo-domain, but has it opened a certain link and connected with another small plane?"


    Thoughts ran wild in Fang Yuan''s mind.


    The unimportant Knight Jorah would not have such an ability. The only possibility was Death Hand Glendon.


    "Why would the power he left behind activate now?"


    He thought about the misfortune of Knight Jorah, as well as the miserable experience of the few inheritors. "Unless there are some organizations and forces that are eyeing the power Glendon left behind. Moreover, they''re preparing to create a ''human weapon''?"


    Obviously, there was a condition to inherit the power. It was most likely limited by the bloodline.


    Thus, those spies had allowed him to arrive here to smoothly to receive the inheritance.


    "There''s no reason to reject a free meat."


    The corner of Fang Yuan''s mouth twitched upward to reveal a smile. He went over to the edge of the wall and touched it with his palm.


    A cold, piercing pain shot up from his palm.


    Dark green concentrated and became increasingly darker. Eventually, a jet black hole appeared.


    "To be able to set up a magic array to this degree and have it last for such a long time, I''m afraid it was not only Glendon that set this up back then."


    Fang Yuan took a step forward, and his figure disappeared into the hole.


    Kaboom!


    The surroundings instantly changed.


    It was a bloody battlefield. Many soldiers were laying flat on the floor, fresh blood flowing.


    A large army that was raising a red flag with a lion on it was having their last battle with a bunch of barbarians.


    "The red flag with a lion is the symbol of the Stan Duchy¡­ Moreover, is this scene the battle for the founding of the duchy in the past?"


    Fang Yuan looked at himself and saw that he had somehow changed into a suit of metal armor and was riding a large horse. He was facing a group of barbarians that had blue camouflage on their faces. They had all sorts of weapons and were filled with a savage, barbaric presence.


    "For freedom!"


    Suddenly, there was an ear-splitting roar from the opposite camp.


    Thousands and thousands of barbarians noisily began their assault.


    "Cavalry, attack!"


    Under a similar hysterical command, many knights clenched their legs. Their warhorses galloped forward like flying arrows. The knights were armed to the teeth, as if they were tin cans, and all of them raised their several meters-long spears.


    Unfortunately, Fang Yuan discovered that he, together with the knights around him, was shockingly at the front lines.


    "Charge!"


    Kaboom!


    The next moment, two black lines viciously clashed, and blood as well as bodies splattered in an instant.


    The power of the knight charge was able to tear the barbarians'' basic formation easily, but there were also unlucky people that were swept off their horses and crushed into minced meat.


    "Metal knights¡­ Die!"


    In front of Fang Yuan was a giant barbarian that was almost the height of two people. He swung the hammer in his hands.


    Thump!


    Together with his horse, a knight was smashed. He caught another one and tossed him into the air, causing him to die from the fall.


    When the two unlucky people died, it instantly became Fang Yuan''s turn to face the barbarian.


    "They''re definitely not an average barbarian clan."


    Fang Yuan was solemn.


    From the party, he was able to feel a presence that was similar to True Sage!


    "A Legend among the barbarians?"


    At this point, he unhesitatingly gave up his spear and held up the long knight sword that was by his waist.


    Dang!


    Almost immediately, the hammer smashed through the air. The powerful vibrations caused him to feel like all his organs had moved. The warhorse below him also neighed and knelt on the ground.


    "Glendon!"


    A few of the knights from the side charged over.


    "Glendon?!"


    Fang Yuan was shocked and terrified when he heard this. "I am ''Death Hands'' Glendon? The Legend knight that helped found the duchy?"

 672 Inheritance

    "Illusion?"


    At the moment, Fang Yuan understood the cause and effect.


    Even so, their hammer was extremely heavy. The wind whistled, and he could not find any flaws.


    Undoubtedly, he would suffer a serious blow mentally if he was heavily injured here.


    "But to play with illusions in front of a Dream Master?" Fang Yuan revealed a cold smile and suddenly bellowed, "Take my punch!"


    He clenched his right fist and quickly swung it.


    Kaboom!


    The space shattered and transformed into Earth, Fire, Wind, and Water before returning everything into a primeval state of chaos.


    Under a Sage''s might and his magic punch, the Legend barbarian''s face was slugged. His whole body was reduced into particles.


    Suddenly, a black hole appeared with him in the center and expanded outwards non-stop.


    The whole world suddenly shattered. For a while, Fang Yuan lost the concept of gravity and floated in a space of nothingness.


    However, he smiled slightly, and with a wave of his hand, flowers fell from the sky while a golden lotus suddenly bloomed from the ground. A golden ray spread, occupying the entire empty space in the blink of an eye.


    The hidden will was forced to reveal itself instantly, shouting in shock and anger, "Mutated God!!"


    Unfortunately, he was still wrapped up by the golden lotus no matter how he struggled and appeared on Fang Yuan''s hand.


    "You have degenerated. Why should such a small will remain? You seem to have the idea of reincarnating by borrowing a body¡­ but it''s a pity that you met me."


    In front of a Legend''s will, average people would definitely not have any power to resist. However, to a Sage, he was walking right into a trap!


    Fang Yuan sat down cross-legged and slowly placed his palms together, as if he was a god that was high above.


    Crack!


    The golden flower shattered, and the remains of Glendon''s will inside vanished among the chaos.


    At the same time, a mysterious thing continuously leaked out and was absorbed by Fang Yuan.


    This was an expert''s martial techniques, a Legend profession''s advance knowledge, and some shattered memories of secrets.


    Of course, most importantly, the tad essence that the Legend had left behind.


    "A domain seed? If a normal person obtained this, they could completely become a powerful professional. Of course, due to the restriction of the original owner, the probability of breaking through to Legend drops drastically."


    Fang Yuan thought of something, and a brilliance with four colors appeared. It evolved into Earth, Fire, Wind and Water and refined the seed. It then disappeared into his forehead.


    How could the fragmented power of a Domainer shake his path?


    Furthermore, this was not his original body. There would naturally not be any restraint.


    ¡­


    Morning.


    Pleasant sunshine beamed in from the window, bringing a feeling of warmth.


    Fang Yuan opened his eyes and realized that he was sitting on a chair in the study. It seemed that he had fallen asleep on the table.


    "Dream?!"


    Everything that happened the night before seemed to be a dream. However, the changes in his stats window clearly showed that the legacy of Glendon really existed.


    "Name: Luhn (Fang Yuan)


    Essence: 10.0 (200)


    Spirit: 10.0 (200)


    Magic: 10.0 (200)


    Profession: Warrior


    Cultivation: ???


    Technique: ???


    Skill: [Medicine (Level 3)], [Botany (Level 6)(Peak)], [Fiery Golden Eyes (Level 3)], [Body Seal (Ultimate form)]"


    "A Legend knight''s remains can quickly increase my cultivation."


    Fang Yuan stood up and stretched in satisfaction before opening the door of the villa.


    Bishop Daniel, Scholar Hahn, and the other notaries, as well as housekeeper Marseille, were all standing in front of the door.


    When they saw Fang Yuan, they had a surprised look on their faces. "You¡­ succeeded?"


    "Succeeded?"


    Fang Yuan laughed, unbothered. "If the condition is to live in the study for a night, then I have indeed achieved it."


    "Congratulations, Sir Luhn!"


    Daniel and Hahn made eye contact before nodding their heads.


    Since he had achieved the ''condition'', it was at least unquestionable regarding the party''s inheritance of the knight''s fief.


    However, they still had to observe if he had inherited the Legend knight''s power. But this was no longer their responsibility.


    After the ''ceremony'' ended, more and more forces would naturally pay close attention to this place.


    "Master!"


    Looking at the scene, housekeeper Marseille and the other servants did not hesitate to express their loyalty toward their new owner.


    Next was a string of trivial matters of signing documents and having a banquet. Under the lead of Marseille, Fang Yuan also gathered the people in the village to let them get to know him, the newly-promoted lord.


    Daniel and Hahn made a signal with their eyes. After enjoying a sumptuous lunch, they chose to bid goodbye.


    "Phew¡­ It''s much quieter at last."


    Fang Yuan touched the arm of the study''s chair while looking at the coat of arms on the wall behind.


    Nobles would definitely have a coat of arms. A true scholar could tell the origin of the family just from a coat of arms'' pattern and style.


    The previous coat of arms of Jorah''s family was the shape of a shield. The base color was bright red and had crossed swords and a flower crown at the top. There was also a circle of olive leaves surrounding it as decoration.


    "The bright red base color is the tradition of the Stan Duchy, and the crossed swords symbolizes the knight¡­ The crown on top, on the other hand, represents the meritorious deed that was once achieved¡­" Fang Yuan muttered, and then asked promptly, "Marseille¡­ My keeper, tell me, what have I inherited?"


    "Yes, Master!"


    Marseille consciously straightened his back.


    To a new owner, it was almost only right to change all the old servants. To be willing to let them stay, the newly promoted knight was very gracious.


    Especially when Fang Yuan had confirmed his job as a housekeeper, this caused him to be energized and wanting to show his best side. "On the territory that belonged to Sir Jorah previously, there is a thousand acres of farming land. If the mountains and hills are included, there is around 2000 acres of land. According to the rule that Knight Jorah had set before, the tax is half of the output of the territory."


    Half of the tax was already terrifying.


    Needless to say, this was only the agricultural tax. As the lord, he could also extract business tax, labor, and even anything else he could think of, such as the famous ''right of the first night''.


    At this standard, Knight Jorah was actually acknowledged as a ''gracious'' lord. This made Fang Yuan feel more pessimistic about the lives of the lower class people.


    "There are 987 people on the whole territory, with 105 households, including five households of free residents among them.


    "Aside from this, you also have a mill. In this villa, there are a total of 17 servants, including two chefs, six maids, and four grooms¡­


    "Previously, Sir had also left behind a suit of knight armor, two horses, and 257 Stan gold coins."


    The life of a noble ought to be extravagant, and it was common to have over ten servants.


    What Fang Yuan had taken a liking to was still the suit of armor. This was a family heirloom to many knights, and its value was even equal to half of the territory.


    After thinking, Fang Yuan went on to instruct, "Allow all the other servants to come back and clean the villa once."


    People had, of course, lived in this villa previously. The sons of the Knight Jorah, as well as their descendants, had lived there.


    However, when the inheritance ceremony was activated, it had become a ghost territory at night.


    As the source of it was settled by Fang Yuan, there was no longer a problem.


    "Alright, this is about it. Is there anything else?" Fang Yuan asked the housekeeper for suggestions.


    "There''s nothing else." Marseille shook his head. "However, as a newly promoted lord, you need to bring gifts to visit your lord, Baron Shawshank, within a month."


    "Okay. I''ll leave the gift preparations to you."


    Fang Yuan waved his hands to dismiss the housekeeper.


    By obtaining what a Legend had left behind, it could greatly increase his knowledge about this world. He could not wait to open up this treasure.


    ¡­


    At the moment, there was a horse carriage that was moving slowly under many knights'' escort outside the estate of the newly promoted Sir Luhn.


    "Bishop Daniel." Looking at Daniel, who was writing swiftly over a table on the jolting horse carriage, Scholar Hahn could no longer hold it in and opened his mouth to ask, "Knight Luhn has already inherited the Legend''s power¡­"


    "That''s right¡­ Legend¡­"


    Daniel laughed lightly once. "But there''s no need to give him importance. After all, he has only obtained the inheritance and still needs time to grow and develop."


    As a bishop of the Church of Death, Daniel had a much higher vision than Scholar Hahn.


    Even he had seen a true ''Son of God'' once and knew the secret within.


    Even if the god soul had arrived from a young age, the sons and daughters of the God would need a long time to grasp or recover their original power.


    Since even they were like this, there was nothing much to say about a Legend.


    "Of course, with that little amount of the Legend''s essence, Knight Luhn will definitely grow to become a high-level professional in the future, or even a ''Quasi-Legend''. However, it''s quite impossible to break through again. By swallowing a Legend, one wouldn''t be able to create another Legend. Why would there something so easy in the world? Needless to say, what he obtained was only a tiny amount of a Legend''s essence, not everything."


    Even so, the speed of his progress will also be unbelievable, and he''ll meet many challenges. This is the price of the inheritance ceremony, Daniel thought silently.


    As for the request of the pastor from the countryside, he could already reject it.


    To be able to inherit the power of Glendon, it meant that Luhn had passed the test of not only his bloodline, but his soul as well. The so-called ''Descender'' was, in fact, unfounded rumor.


    "However, Scholar Hahn, I think what''s most important to you now is to inform the baron about the good news. I believe that he will definitely be on cloud nine," Bishop Daniel said, smiling.


    "That''s right!"


    Scholar Hahn smiled along, but was not very sure in his heart.


    To the duchy, when a powerful subject appeared, it might indeed be an additional military asset in the future. However, was it really good for the lord?


    This question¡­ was even difficult to answer for Baron Shawshank.

 673 Temporarily Away

    Whoosh!


    Accompanying the jade-green flames in the fireplace, the corvus sculpture on top chirped suddenly, "Chirp chirp! Chirp chirp!"


    Its sound was hoarse and husky, with a feeling of inauspiciousness.


    "Coming!"


    Jemc had a black gown draped over him as he immediately moved forward. He took down the wax cylinder that had been sent through the flames from the bird''s claws.


    "This is an urgent document from the Stan Duchy."


    He took a glance before leaving the room with the documents in the long cylinder.


    From what could be seen, it was a giant building that was like an ant nest. Large amounts of people draped in black gowns were going in and out of the cave like they were working ants.


    "Sir!"


    Jemc increased his walking pace and arrived at a large, black door before knocking on it lightly.


    "Come in."


    After getting the permission of the owner inside, he opened the door slowly and looked respectfully at the old man sitting on the main seat. "The latest news from the Stan Duchy."


    With his qualifications, he could not even touch the magic fire paint on the sealed cylinder. He could only send the long cylinder over.


    The old man with a snow-white beard opened the long cylinder, looked at the message inside, and said, "It''s news about that youngster¡­ Oh, he should be called Sir Luhn now."


    "Even if he is a noble, he still shouldn''t treat the people of our secret agency that way." Thinking about the widespread news from before, Jemc clenched his fists uncontrollably. "He actually eliminated our detachment and turned them into robbers¡­ This behavior must be punished!"


    "Be mindful of your words, Jemc!"


    At this time, the eyes of the old man turned extremely sharp.


    "Sorry, Sir. I am only¡­"


    Jemc retreated a step, suddenly understanding the jealousy in his heart.


    Even though he was a deacon of the secret agency, he needed to live carefully in concealment.


    Why should that youth be able to live freely under the sun, even becoming a noble?


    That jealousy and unwillingness transformed into a poisonous snake, making him want to destroy everything the other had.


    "I understand. You can leave."


    Unfortunately, the old man did not give him the chance and waved his hand.


    Jemc moved his mouth, but did not say anything. He bowed before dismissing himself.


    "Luhn¡­"


    The old man of the secret agency looked at the latest information and frowned. "He inherited the Death Hands'' legacy?"


    The former Legend Knight Group of the Stan Duchy was a renowned existence on the continent. Each of them had set up a large family and produced many descendants. Through large amounts of arranged marriages, they had also gained connections with all the nobles in the Stan Duchy.


    Before this matter happened, none of them knew that the small family of Knight Jorah were safekeeping such a shocking secret.


    "However, to be able to experience the Legend''s test, his soul should have no problem¡­"


    The old man collected the documents slowly and started to file them. "Anyway, this type of inheritor will definitely meet many obstacles and tests. I just need to continue observing him¡­"


    In fact, he was pessimistic about the other''s future.


    His foundation was polluted by a Legend. This meant that, in the future, he could never be supreme and would only be used as a disposable combat force..


    The ending of such people were normally unfavorable.


    "When that time comes, our scores will be settled. No one can provoke the secret agency!"


    A ray of coldness flashed through the old man''s pupils.


    Even he could not bear to watch Luhn''s actions.


    ¡­


    At the same time, within the Stan Duchy.


    With the benefit of magic, Grand Duke Stan received the news almost at the same time as Baron Shawshank.


    The current Grand Duke Stan was 67 years old. If he was placed in an ordinary world, he was thoroughly at an advanced age. However, due to being an Extraordinary, he only looked like he was at most 50 years old and was full of energy.


    "Seems like¡­ we can add another high-level professional military power to our camp. Needless to say, the reputation of the Legend Knight Group also has the power to garner supporters."


    At the moment, Grand Duke Stan smiled in ease as he looked at the information on hand.


    "However, should we consider the views of the other few families?" At this time, someone beside him that looked like his advisor said, "Especially Earl Floren''s family. They''d always bragged that they were Glendon''s legitimate heir. I''m afraid it''ll be difficult for them to accept¡­"


    "Yes, even I was shocked when I first received the news. After all, the inheritance of Glendon was not in the hands of the Floren Family, but at a collateral branch."


    Grand Duke Stan had a weird expression. "Looks like many things had once happened among the descendants of Glendon."


    "From what I know," the advisor continued, "since the matter about Knight Jorah was exposed, the Floren Family has been trying hard to ''recover'' the inheritance. Because of this, they even sent a few ranked successors to activate the ceremony secretly¡­ Unfortunately¡­"


    Obviously, such attempts would all eventually end with failure. Otherwise, Fang Yuan would not have gotten it so easily.


    "From this, there must be something about Luhn that is really extraordinary." Grand Duke Stan stroked his chin. "How should I involve him? Make him a Baron?"


    "I suggest you don''t do this. If it''s only an empty title, there won''t be much gratitude. Ff it''s a solid title, where would we find land? Unless you want to divide the noble''s governing land? Many won''t agree to this," the advisor said.


    "On the other hand, why not just look at the actions of the Floren Family? We just need to choose the critical moment to take action. By saving him at a critical moment, we can then receive much gratitude. Even if it fails, then we might as well acknowledge the benefits of the Floren Family¡­"


    In front of ice-cold politics, there was no tolerance for any affection.


    Grand Duke Stan''s mouth twitched, but he did not refute. "For the time being, let''s just do this. When do you think¡­ is the best time?"


    "Of course, it''s when Sir Luhn visits the baron for the first time. As a newly promoted subject, this is a duty that he must do. And there will be many chances along the way. In a month, a Legend''s essence can''t even be understood clearly," the advisor said without any hesitation.


    ¡­


    Unfortunately, the prediction of others were erroneous when it came to Fang Yuan.


    Although he was indeed the ''Descender'' that the secret agency predicted, his essence was higher than any essence that they had seen before.


    Even if it was a Legend''s power, it could only let itself be grasped by him as he pleased.


    At this time, everything that belonged to Glendon was digested and organized by him.


    "The power system of Monger World has many varieties. Only the Legend state is unified, and even a Legend is only the broken version of a Domainers. One must obtain a Godhood gifted by the world to enrich their rights and become a True God!


    "Under the Legends are the Extraordinaries. The difference between them is huge. A warrior that has just incited his fighting spirit seed could only be counted as a ''Quasi-Legend''.


    "According to my view, Extraordinaries can be split into four stages: fundamental, elite, master, and Quasi-Legend. When one reaches the stage of a master, they''re already a high-level professional. They''d be able to live anywhere, and their life would be pretty good."


    Although there were only four stages, the difficulty of promotion was extremely terrifying.


    In other words, it was not definite for ordinary soldiers to find the fundamental way of becoming an Extraordinary in their lifetime.


    "I can only be counted as an elite now, but as for how to later train the attribute ''fighting spirit'', I have no idea¡­"


    Since he was already in this world, of course it would be easier and faster to walk through the power system of this world.


    "However, if I consider it, it''s not definite that there''s no way. Instead, there''s a way to cheat¡­"


    Fang Yuan nodded his head and then promptly shifted his attention to another of Glendon''s inheritance.


    This Legend knight did not walk a warrior''s path, but instead walked a higher level Legend profession path¡ªDisaster Knight!


    In the rumors, such knights could summon wind, rain, and lightning. Every time they walked somewhere, there would be a dreadful natural disasters.


    But in actual fact, it was only a magic warrior to Fang Yuan. These knights studied both magic and fighting techniques at the same time, and were specialized in halo techniques.


    Such knights, in the late stages, could probably envelop half of the battlefront when they activated their magic field. They would be able to provide extra benefits to their allies and, at the same time, weaken and curse their enemies. They were considered an efficient weapon on battlefields.


    However, this did not suit his taste.


    "To lead a war? I have always been alone, but to leave this territory without management and taking out a bunch of cannon fodder, it would really be a total waste.


    "Also, I don''t wish to give up the power of fighting spirit."


    Although warriors were common among the Extraordinary professions and weren''t comparable to the rare Disaster Knights, it suited Fang Yuan''s taste.


    After all, the more ordinary profession represented stronger malleability in the future. A white paper was easier to create drawings with.


    On the other hand, Disaster Knights, a Legend profession that could be promoted, had already been mostly solidified. Although their strength was decent, their room for development was also limited.


    "The harvest of this time was a lot. I should go back."


    At this moment, he had some thoughts of leaving.


    He had already created a Magical Clone in the Water Realm once and was familiar with it now.


    He found a chamber and divided out a Magical Clone to take over Luhn. However, his Sage True Spirit suddenly left this universe and returned to the Da Qian World.


    ¡­


    "Rice must be eaten bite by bite. The Monger World is very powerful. Without any assurance, I shouldn''t casually take action."


    In the Da Qian World, Fang Yuan casually inspected the results of his subordinates'' labor. Immediately, he placed his heart and mind into his Heavenly Abode.


    Yin-Yang Continent.


    After eliminating werewolves and vampires, the human clans had ruled the whole continent and created a great empire called ''Avalon''.


    Now, it was already the 33rd year of the Avalon Empire era.


    Humans had completely taken over the Yin-Yang Continent and drawn a complete map of it, and had now shifted their attention to the oceans.

 674 Seed Planting

    In the corner of a small fishing village on the Yin-Yang Continent, a few children gathered together. Among them, a young, small, and scrawny boy with brown hair suddenly climbed onto a roof, looked at the blue sea in the distance, and let out a vow, "I must become the Sailing King!"


    After the human empire conquered the entire Yin-Yang Continent, the human population continuously increased and the amount of arable land kept decreasing.


    There were already more and more sights directed toward the endless open seas.


    Especially the lord of this territory, Grand Duke Wellington, who fundamentally enjoyed risks and adventures, was full of explorative spirit.


    Under his encouragement, the entire territory''s navigation techniques advanced endlessly, and they could already build a huge ship that could sail the high seas and bring about rich fish harvests.


    Furthermore, according to rumors, there were huge islands that were piled up completely with gold and silver abroad. This further sparked the explorative warmth of the civilians and nobility.


    "Haha¡­ Ge Fei, you don''t even know how to swim, and you still want to become a sea explorer?"


    A few companions covered their stomach and laughed out loud.


    "Scumbags!"


    Being constantly provoked, Ge Fei''s embarrassment turned into anger. He waved his fist and pulled down his eyelids, making a provocative stance.


    "Ge Fei, is your skin itchy?"


    Evidently, this provocation did not bring about any effect and even caused greater anger.


    With a few bigger children taking the lead, Ge Fei was suppressed and suffered a terrible beating. He lay on the ground and groaned.


    He clutched his fists tightly, summoned all the energy of his entire body, and shouted towards their backs, "Even though I don''t know how to swim, I won''t give up my dreams!"


    Unfortunately, those companions had already walked away. Instead, a sound suddenly came from his side. "Yo, lad, you''re very energetic, aren''t you?"


    "Eh? Where did you come from, uncle?"


    Ge Fei turned around and looked at this stranger.


    He was definitely not from the fishing village, as he was very tall, like a small mountain; his arms were as thick as a horse; and his face was wearing something black.


    If it was a modern person, they would have instantly recognized him as a bodybuilder wearing sunglasses.


    "Don''t be so rude. I''m still very young."


    Fang Yuan punched this small kid''s head. If not for a quick scan with his spiritual will and discovering that the aptitude of this kid was the highest, he would not have bothered to say anything to him.


    "So painful!"


    Ge Fei clutched his head and tears were about to fall.


    "You want to become a sailing king? In this era, not only do you need to have navigation knowledge, you need strong military might! Those fierce waves and nefarious pirates will have to be dealt with by you."


    Fang Yuan started to tempt him. "Lad, do you want to obtain power?"


    At this moment, his body seemed to radiate, and endless human figures were attached to it and not one was fighting alone!


    "This sounds like a witch swindling a small girl in a fairytale. Are you actually thinking of abducting me and selling to the werewolves or vampires?" Ge Fei rolled his eyes. "Forget it. I want to go home to eat. Uncle, you can slowly play by yourself." As he was speaking, he unhesitantly and swiftly ran away.


    Unfortunately, before he was able to run a few steps, he was lifted up by Fang Yuan. "Sigh¡­ boys nowadays. Are they so difficult to tempt? Forcing me to act."


    Ge Fei suddenly felt a strong sense of fear and shouted, "What do you want to do? I am a citizen of Grand Duke Wellington. There are guards in the village and they won''t let you off!"


    In the next instant, his shouts became a shrill howl.


    "Ahhhhhh!!!"


    "So painful! So painful!"


    Ge Fei shouted miserably while his tears and snot erupted.


    The feeling of being forcefully injected with fighting spirit was like a person using thousands of steel knives to scrape all his organs simultaneously.


    Even a grown man would fundamentally be unable to withstand this.


    Therefore, after a moment, he rolled both of his eyes and directly fainted.


    "Finished."


    Fang Yuan clapped his hands and his figure instantly vanished.


    Immediately, his howls attracted grown men who rushed to the scene and brought Ge Fei home.


    "Ah! That damn uncle, I''m in so much pain!"


    After fainting for an unknown period of time, Ge Fei shouted loudly and jumped up from his bed.


    Bang! Bang!


    Two thumps came from the surroundings. It was actually the two grown men who were knocked to the ground by his subconscious movements.


    "Ah! I''m sorry! I''m sorry!"


    Ge Fei looked at the surroundings with a frightened expression and hurriedly held his head in apology. Suddenly, mysterious knowledge appeared in his mind.


    Although he was illiterate, he could actually clearly understand the meaning within. It was actually teaching him how to control the fighting spirit within his heart.


    "Heart? Fighting spirit?"


    Ge Fei was a little confused and immediately felt that his heartbeat was more powerful than usual, having some sort of power that endlessly coursed through his entire body.


    These transformations were frequently occurring on the Yin-Yang Continent.


    Fang Yuan transformed into many forms and became elderly grandfathers who taught techniques, giving away many methods of cultivating fighting spirit. Many seeds of hope were planted, and with the Heavenly Abode''s flow of time, they would bear rich fruits.


    "In reality, this is also similar to the harvest of the Mental Demons."


    After finishing everything, he stayed high up in the starry sky and indifferently looked down at everything happening on the continent.


    Among those people whom he transferred abilities to, some of them were clueless youngsters, while some were elites in their trade and ambitious people with wild hearts.


    After they obtained strength, they instantly began to move, increasingly tossing the entire continent about. In the entire process, the fighting spirit skill inevitably spread.


    "First, we gather everybody''s power and let them infer the follow-up of fighting spirit as my experimental subjects and supplements¡­


    "Then, when the fighting spirit skill enters the golden age, we harvest it in one shot."


    In this case, no matter how hardworking the continent''s warriors were at cultivation, they were merely cultivating for him.


    "Looking down at everybody from a high position¡­ The many existences of the Mental Demon Realm have this mentality when harvesting other worlds too, right?"


    Fang Yuan carefully appreciated the profundity within, and for a moment, he became dazed.


    ¡­


    Wellington Castle.


    "Ha!"


    With a loud howl and his body emitting the glow of white fighting spirit, a knight waved his heavy sword and charged forward viciously, leaping to attack!


    Whoosh!


    The fighting spirit boomed and transformed into a ray of white light.


    In front, a piece of granite instantly split into a few parts and rubble splattered everywhere.


    "This is¡­ the power of fighting spirit? It''s too astonishing! Even for a traditional knight in heavy armor, he would be knocked down in one strike?" Grand Duke Wellington exclaimed in surprise as he looked at this.


    Beside the grand duke, an assistant bowed and said, "Grand Duke, according to the intelligence we obtained, these transformations first began three months ago. People all over the entire mainland met strangers and obtained cultivation techniques for fighting spirit.


    "As for the frequency of appearances, it''s most common in the coastal regions and fewest within the continent."


    The coastal regions had an open atmosphere and required strong power during adventures, so it was the fastest in accepting fighting spirit.


    With this in consideration, Fang Yuan naturally increased the corresponding frequency of ''technique imparting''.


    "This is¡­ a magical manifestation?"


    Grand Duke Wellington made a praying hand gesture.


    This scenario could only be explained by a magical manifestation.


    The beliefs of the Avalon Empire originated from the Blood Race and the werewolves, who believed that there was a ''Creator'', which was also the Origin God.


    He created the world, the skies, the ocean, and all the living spirits!


    Under the Creator, there were also the ''Father God'' and the ''Mother God'', who were the initial Gods of Reproduction, the ancestors of the human race¡ªsimilar to the position of Adam and Eve.


    A glow flashed in the assistant''s eyes, and he suddenly went forward to state, "Yes, Grand Duke. This is your destiny bestowed upon by the gods!"


    Grand Duke Wellington became silent for a long time.


    Although Avalon, this human created empire, had vast territories and subjects, it had some ''natural deficiencies'' from the very beginning.


    After all, their history was too short, and their culture and technology were all entirely absorbed from the vampires and werewolves, and even digesting that would take a very long period of time.


    And with the inconvenience of travel currently, it further caused communication within the continent to become a tragedy. For an order from the Imperial Capital to spread to the further peripheries of the empire, even using the fastest method would normally require a period of one and a half month to two months.


    Evidently, with this speed that could be called a tragedy, it completely could not withstand a highly efficient centralized government.


    Therefore, the founding Emperor Avalon had no choice but to carry out a system of enfeoffment, conferring the titles of ''prince'' and ''grand duke'' to the various major powers and his sons, allowing each to govern a territory.


    And at this moment, the empire had already passed two generations into the hands of Avalon III.


    This emperor was a classic incapable ruler, indulging daily in drink and dance. Most importantly, he had no sons!


    As such, the many major powers within the empire naturally began to stir.


    Regarding seniority, Grand Duke Wellington was also the uncle of Avalon III. He was very close to the bloodline of Avalon I and had the status and righteousness of inheritance.


    Of course, with only the status and no ability, it was basically a fantasy.


    Thus, he did not care about the puzzlement of the other feudal lords and widely expanded his navigation business in the hope of obtaining more wealth and accumulating sufficient power from overseas.


    All this was done in the dark, and only a few of his closest assistants knew about it.


    "Today, a better opportunity has arrived."


    The assistant walked forward one step. "The continent''s feudal lords are dumb and conservative, and even label this power as ''heresy,'' wanting to burn to death any captured warriors. Even a slightly more liberal ones only hope to tightly control the cultivation techniques of fighting spirit, so it can only be spread down to the nobility, or even only their family.


    "However, we can''t be like this. If we secretly train a batch of elite soldiers that can control fighting spirit, what kind of scenario would it be if we used it in war? Avalon III''s body isn''t that healthy. Once something happens, Grand Duke can use this power to quickly make a decision and control the situation in the Imperial Capital!"

 675 Mad Wolf

    Monger World.


    The newly promoted Knight Luhn rode his horse, a team of more than ten following behind.


    Being under the command of Baron Shawshank, he naturally had the obligation to pay a formal visit to his lord.


    However, the gift that he brought along was very light. After all, in this era, the powers and obligations of the lords and vassals were relative. If a large gift was rashly paid as tribute, it could either make the other party feel they were easily bullied or that the giver had ulterior motives.


    "Knight Jorah''s obligation has already been carried out this year, while the tribute needed for the inheritance is calculated elsewhere, so the gift does not need to be too ceremonious. Just a simple one will do¡­ "


    Knight Luhn, who was thinking silently, suddenly shuddered all over.


    "Sir Knight?"


    A guard beside him immediately walked up and had an intuition that some transformation had happened.


    Upon closer inspection, he discovered nothing different.


    Suddenly, the knight''s voice rang out, "Garce! Find us a place to rest."


    Not understanding why, Garce felt that this voice was more majestic than before.


    The entire team instantly stopped, found a flat land near the rivulet, and set up a bonfire and an iron pan. Some of the servants, who already had a knowing look in their eyes, rolled out a huge rug piece and respectfully invited the knight to take a seat.


    The people who were busy did not know that, at this instant, a groundbreaking transformation was already happening to their knight.


    Fang Yuan''s True Spirit returned and instantly took over this Magical Clone. So, is this the time to present myself to the baron?


    He was now not a normal knight. Ever since he had inherited Glendon''s legacy, he had become the target of all public criticism.


    In other words, the number of people who had hopes for him was equal to the number of people who hated him to the core.


    At this moment, this was the best opportunity!


    "Fortunately, I eventually caught up."


    Fang Yuan took a deep breath. Within the True Spirit, a concentrated layer of fighting spirit appeared and instantly coursed through his entire body, causing the joints in his body to release a crisp explosive sound.


    "With the time advantage of the Heavenly Abode, I''m already beginning to absorb a bit of fighting spirit power¡­"


    The way Fang Yuan did things was naturally not to forgo future gains for instant gratification. Rather, he used a method of commission where fundamentally half of the cultivators on the Yin-Yang Continent were working for him.


    With the population of the continent, even a tiny bit was not to be scoffed at when gathered, even after going through purification and damage from traversing worlds.


    "The technique of fighting spirit is that it becomes awakened attributes after coagulating the seeds. After that¡­ should be contracting it around the entire body to become a ''Fighting Armor''. At this stage, you would already be a high-level professional.


    "However, since the outsiders all think that I have inherited everything from Glendon, then the level of the Disaster Knight can''t be too low¡­"


    Although he partially looked down on this mystical profession, Fang Yuan still had to admit that the halo skill was very useful.


    In this aspect, as there was a command previously, and his Magical Clone had been trained to search for and gather materials, there was some progress.


    Fang Yuan took a look at his stats window and saw that there was already a huge transformation.


    "Name: Luhn (Fang Yuan)


    Essence: 50.0 (200)


    Spirit: 50.0 (200)


    Magic: 50.0 (200)


    Profession: Warrior (Master), Disaster Knight


    Cultivation: Fighting Armor, Disaster Halo (Level 1)


    Skill: [Medicine (Level 3)], [Botany (Level 6)(Peak)], [Fiery Golden Eyes (Level 3)], [Body Seal (Ultimate form)]"


    "Fighting Armor: An advanced technique of the warrior, forming an armor consisting of fighting spirit on the exterior of the body, greatly increasing defense and magical resistance!"


    "Disaster Halo: An Area of Effect skill enhancing targeted objects within a hundred meter range. Currently level one. Can have additional effects: Speed Enhancing, Brute Force, and Implication!"


    ¡­


    "Level one Disaster Halo enhances friendly allies, and level two will be to weaken and curse enemies. Once it reaches the third and fourth level, the area of effect will have a frightening expansion. In other words, at the late stages, it is literally the inchoate form of a domain. No wonder the Disaster Knight is a mystical profession."


    After carefully looking at these numbers, Fang Yuan was generally pleased.


    Different from what outsiders thought¡ªthat he still required a year, or even a few years, to digest it¡ªhe had already completely grasped the power of the Disaster Knight. Furthermore, even within the high-level professions, he was among the superior ones.


    "Unless it''s a Quasi-Legend or a huge army, nobody is able to resist me. Not sure how many people will send themselves over to die this time?"


    Fang Yuan drank up the broth he was carrying, his face revealing a sense of expectation.


    "Sir Knight! There is a situation in front!"


    At this moment, a scout hurriedly walked over. "It seems that Haier Village was attacked."


    "Did you observe carefully?"


    Fang Yuan instantly straightened his body.


    "I clearly saw that in the direction of the village, thick smoke was billowing over, and there was even the sound of warhorses. It seems it was attacked by bandits!" the scout respectfully reported.


    "This place is already under the jurisdiction of Baron Shawshank, right?"


    Fang Yuan sighed. "As a vassal, I seem to have the obligation of helping. Garce, help me put on my armor."


    The knight armor was similar to the metal cans from the Middle Ages, and it was difficult to put on alone, requiring a squire''s assistance.


    Even an Extraordinary would not be willing to casually carry tens or hundreds of pounds when moving about.


    After a moment, clad in armor, Fang Yuan reached the outskirts of Haier Village.


    Strong fires and thick smoke billowed while black smoke columns shot towards the sky, bringing an atmosphere of blood and fire.


    He could vaguely make out the sight of many horsemen on a killing rampage in the village and reaping everything in front of them without restraint.


    "This is really¡­ rampant!"


    Fang Yuan furrowed his brows.


    To attract him, the opponent had really set aside some capital.


    A village directly under a baron suffered from a massacre just like that. That Baron Shawshank had to be really depressed.


    "Charge!" Fang Yuan let out a command and whipped below. The warhorse instantly let out a howl and charged toward the village like an arrow leaving a bow.


    "Die!"


    He raised his long spear and, just like a ray of black lightning, instantly zapped two people. A large hole appeared in their chest and they perished while in mid-air.


    "Charge!"


    Ten militia followed behind Fang Yuan, whipped out their weapons, and charged into the battlefield.


    ¡­


    "Sir¡­"


    At a high spot in the village, a few black silhouettes furtively looked at this scene. "You have already dispatched the ''Mad Wolf Bandits'' and even attacked the territory under a baron''s jurisdiction. Regarding the consequences¡­"


    "It''s just a baron. Even if it was royalty, so what? As for the Mad Wolf, if we hadn''t fostered this bandit group, how would they have developed to this extent?"


    The leader in the black shirt shook his head uncaringly. "At the moment, we also need them to contribute."


    A great noble family had groomed a batch of exiled bandits secretly. Engaging in mortifying acts was commonplace within the nobility.


    Of course, this sort of thing could only be done and not said.


    Furthermore, this bandit group had already taken on enough blame. They had started to develop a bit of thoughts about self-reliance, so they needed to be dealt with quickly and exchanged for new white gloves.


    However, he naturally would not tell this subordinate these secrets.


    "The Mad Wolf Bandits can still be regarded as decent in ability. Although they only have tens of people, they are not inferior to an organized army during wartime. Among them are five Extraordinaries, especially their leader, Lone Wolf. The achievements in his Extraordinary path have even been praised by Master Youne. He was praised to have the potential to be a high-level professional."


    The leader in the black shirt silently thought, With his ability, he should be able to kill a recently promoted knight. Even if he doesn''t kill him, he should be able to severely wound him. After that will be my turn¡­


    At this moment, he looked towards the scene, and his nostrils suddenly flared up, as if he just saw something unbelievable. He blurted out, "How is this possible?"


    Under his gaze, a blood-red halo appeared on Fang Yuan''s body and instantly expanded, enveloping a hundred meter range.


    "Kill!"


    Within this zone, the original militia instantly became faster and their strength greatly increased. Some of their reactions were completely not inferior to that of elite soldiers.


    Amid the life and death struggle, it was possible that a small change in strength could affect the outcome. Needless to say, this was definitely the case when such a heavy weight was placed on the balance.


    Just in that split second of interaction, the Mad Wolf Bandits suffered massive damage due to a lapse in judgment, and the tens of people were cut into shreds.


    "Die!"


    Fang Yuan led the way, and currently, he had already abandoned his long spear and was waving a long sword in his hand.


    Zap! Zap!


    An aquamarine wind of fighting spirit flashed past and directly penetrated a wall, causing a stream of blood. The Extraordinary behind instantly collapsed dead.


    "There are actually still Extraordinaries lurking within. They''re really a tough opponent."


    Fang Yuan leaped off his horse and looked at the people surrounding him. "Who asked you all to come?"


    "Regarding this question, I''m afraid you''ll have to go to the Netherworld and ask the Death God!"


    Four extraordinaries walked forward slowly. The leader was a warrior with a thin and tall figure. A scar etched downwards on one eye gave him the look of a one-eyed dragon, and he appeared to be the leader of these people. "I am Lone Wolf!"


    "Mad Wolf Bandits?!"


    Fang Yuan nodded his head.


    Even Luhn had previously heard of the reputation of this infamous bandit group. Not only had he heard of it before, it reverberated like thunder in his ears.


    However, Fang Yuan was naturally unafraid and instead casually asked, "You know¡­ that you have involved yourself in an extremely large complication?"


    Just by mentioning this, the Lone Wolf''s eyes twitched.


    After white gloves were dirtied from constant use, they would naturally be discarded without hesitation.


    He understood this, which was why he had thoughts of self-reliance.


    Unfortunately, he had not done much preparation before being forced to do something so dirty and nefarious.


    Lone Wolf was very clear that in the eyes of his superior, he was merely a chess piece.


    If he could use his life to measure this knight in front, many people would definitely be very keen for him to do so.


    "Kill him!"


    But for white gloves, how was there still a route of retreat?


    Lone Wolf''s voice turned cold as he directed his subordinates to attack, while his entire body was concealed within the darkness.


    "Sir!"


    Outside, Garce and the squires were frantic. Although they had obtained the upper hand, they were held back by the common bandits swarming over and completely unable to assist.

 674 Mad Wolf

    Monger World.


    The newly promoted Knight Luhn rode his horse, a team of more than ten following behind.


    Being under the command of Baron Shawshank, he naturally had the obligation to pay a formal visit to his lord.


    However, the gift that he brought along was very light. After all, in this era, the powers and obligations of the lords and vassals were relative. If a large gift was rashly paid as tribute, it could either make the other party feel they were easily bullied or that the giver had ulterior motives.


    "Knight Jorah''s obligation has already been carried out this year, while the tribute needed for the inheritance is calculated elsewhere, so the gift does not need to be too ceremonious. Just a simple one will do¡­ "


    Knight Luhn, who was thinking silently, suddenly shuddered all over.


    "Sir Knight?"


    A guard beside him immediately walked up and had an intuition that some transformation had happened.


    Upon closer inspection, he discovered nothing different.


    Suddenly, the knight''s voice rang out, "Garce! Find us a place to rest."


    Not understanding why, Garce felt that this voice was more majestic than before.


    The entire team instantly stopped, found a flat land near the rivulet, and set up a bonfire and an iron pan. Some of the servants, who already had a knowing look in their eyes, rolled out a huge rug piece and respectfully invited the knight to take a seat.


    The people who were busy did not know that, at this instant, a groundbreaking transformation was already happening to their knight.


    Fang Yuan''s True Spirit returned and instantly took over this Magical Clone. So, is this the time to present myself to the baron?


    He was now not a normal knight. Ever since he had inherited Glendon''s legacy, he had become the target of all public criticism.


    In other words, the number of people who had hopes for him was equal to the number of people who hated him to the core.


    At this moment, this was the best opportunity!


    "Fortunately, I eventually caught up."


    Fang Yuan took a deep breath. Within the True Spirit, a concentrated layer of fighting spirit appeared and instantly coursed through his entire body, causing the joints in his body to release a crisp explosive sound.


    "With the time advantage of the Heavenly Abode, I''m already beginning to absorb a bit of fighting spirit power¡­"


    The way Fang Yuan did things was naturally not to forgo future gains for instant gratification. Rather, he used a method of commission where fundamentally half of the cultivators on the Yin-Yang Continent were working for him.


    With the population of the continent, even a tiny bit was not to be scoffed at when gathered, even after going through purification and damage from traversing worlds.


    "The technique of fighting spirit is that it becomes awakened attributes after coagulating the seeds. After that¡­ should be contracting it around the entire body to become a ''Fighting Armor''. At this stage, you would already be a high-level professional.


    "However, since the outsiders all think that I have inherited everything from Glendon, then the level of the Disaster Knight can''t be too low¡­"


    Although he partially looked down on this mystical profession, Fang Yuan still had to admit that the halo skill was very useful.


    In this aspect, as there was a command previously, and his Magical Clone had been trained to search for and gather materials, there was some progress.


    Fang Yuan took a look at his stats window and saw that there was already a huge transformation.


    "Name: Luhn (Fang Yuan)


    Essence: 50.0 (200)


    Spirit: 50.0 (200)


    Magic: 50.0 (200)


    Profession: Warrior (Master), Disaster Knight


    Cultivation: Fighting Armor, Disaster Halo (Level 1)


    Skill: [Medicine (Level 3)], [Botany (Level 6)(Peak)], [Fiery Golden Eyes (Level 3)], [Body Seal (Ultimate form)]"


    "Fighting Armor: An advanced technique of the warrior, forming an armor consisting of fighting spirit on the exterior of the body, greatly increasing defense and magical resistance!"


    "Disaster Halo: An Area of Effect skill enhancing targeted objects within a hundred meter range. Currently level one. Can have additional effects: Speed Enhancing, Brute Force, and Implication!"


    ¡­


    "Level one Disaster Halo enhances friendly allies, and level two will be to weaken and curse enemies. Once it reaches the third and fourth level, the area of effect will have a frightening expansion. In other words, at the late stages, it is literally the inchoate form of a domain. No wonder the Disaster Knight is a mystical profession."


    After carefully looking at these numbers, Fang Yuan was generally pleased.


    Different from what outsiders thought¡ªthat he still required a year, or even a few years, to digest it¡ªhe had already completely grasped the power of the Disaster Knight. Furthermore, even within the high-level professions, he was among the superior ones.


    "Unless it''s a Quasi-Legend or a huge army, nobody is able to resist me. Not sure how many people will send themselves over to die this time?"


    Fang Yuan drank up the broth he was carrying, his face revealing a sense of expectation.


    "Sir Knight! There is a situation in front!"


    At this moment, a scout hurriedly walked over. "It seems that Haier Village was attacked."


    "Did you observe carefully?"


    Fang Yuan instantly straightened his body.


    "I clearly saw that in the direction of the village, thick smoke was billowing over, and there was even the sound of warhorses. It seems it was attacked by bandits!" the scout respectfully reported.


    "This place is already under the jurisdiction of Baron Shawshank, right?"


    Fang Yuan sighed. "As a vassal, I seem to have the obligation of helping. Garce, help me put on my armor."


    The knight armor was similar to the metal cans from the Middle Ages, and it was difficult to put on alone, requiring a squire''s assistance.


    Even an Extraordinary would not be willing to casually carry tens or hundreds of pounds when moving about.


    After a moment, clad in armor, Fang Yuan reached the outskirts of Haier Village.


    Strong fires and thick smoke billowed while black smoke columns shot towards the sky, bringing an atmosphere of blood and fire.


    He could vaguely make out the sight of many horsemen on a killing rampage in the village and reaping everything in front of them without restraint.


    "This is really¡­ rampant!"


    Fang Yuan furrowed his brows.


    To attract him, the opponent had really set aside some capital.


    A village directly under a baron suffered from a massacre just like that. That Baron Shawshank had to be really depressed.


    "Charge!" Fang Yuan let out a command and whipped below. The warhorse instantly let out a howl and charged toward the village like an arrow leaving a bow.


    "Die!"


    He raised his long spear and, just like a ray of black lightning, instantly zapped two people. A large hole appeared in their chest and they perished while in mid-air.


    "Charge!"


    Ten militia followed behind Fang Yuan, whipped out their weapons, and charged into the battlefield.


    ¡­


    "Sir¡­"


    At a high spot in the village, a few black silhouettes furtively looked at this scene. "You have already dispatched the ''Mad Wolf Bandits'' and even attacked the territory under a baron''s jurisdiction. Regarding the consequences¡­"


    "It''s just a baron. Even if it was royalty, so what? As for the Mad Wolf, if we hadn''t fostered this bandit group, how would they have developed to this extent?"


    The leader in the black shirt shook his head uncaringly. "At the moment, we also need them to contribute."


    A great noble family had groomed a batch of exiled bandits secretly. Engaging in mortifying acts was commonplace within the nobility.


    Of course, this sort of thing could only be done and not said.


    Furthermore, this bandit group had already taken on enough blame. They had started to develop a bit of thoughts about self-reliance, so they needed to be dealt with quickly and exchanged for new white gloves.


    However, he naturally would not tell this subordinate these secrets.


    "The Mad Wolf Bandits can still be regarded as decent in ability. Although they only have tens of people, they are not inferior to an organized army during wartime. Among them are five Extraordinaries, especially their leader, Lone Wolf. The achievements in his Extraordinary path have even been praised by Master Youne. He was praised to have the potential to be a high-level professional."


    The leader in the black shirt silently thought, With his ability, he should be able to kill a recently promoted knight. Even if he doesn''t kill him, he should be able to severely wound him. After that will be my turn¡­


    At this moment, he looked towards the scene, and his nostrils suddenly flared up, as if he just saw something unbelievable. He blurted out, "How is this possible?"


    Under his gaze, a blood-red halo appeared on Fang Yuan''s body and instantly expanded, enveloping a hundred meter range.


    "Kill!"


    Within this zone, the original militia instantly became faster and their strength greatly increased. Some of their reactions were completely not inferior to that of elite soldiers.


    Amid the life and death struggle, it was possible that a small change in strength could affect the outcome. Needless to say, this was definitely the case when such a heavy weight was placed on the balance.


    Just in that split second of interaction, the Mad Wolf Bandits suffered massive damage due to a lapse in judgment, and the tens of people were cut into shreds.


    "Die!"


    Fang Yuan led the way, and currently, he had already abandoned his long spear and was waving a long sword in his hand.


    Zap! Zap!


    An aquamarine wind of fighting spirit flashed past and directly penetrated a wall, causing a stream of blood. The Extraordinary behind instantly collapsed dead.


    "There are actually still Extraordinaries lurking within. They''re really a tough opponent."


    Fang Yuan leaped off his horse and looked at the people surrounding him. "Who asked you all to come?"


    "Regarding this question, I''m afraid you''ll have to go to the Netherworld and ask the Death God!"


    Four extraordinaries walked forward slowly. The leader was a warrior with a thin and tall figure. A scar etched downwards on one eye gave him the look of a one-eyed dragon, and he appeared to be the leader of these people. "I am Lone Wolf!"


    "Mad Wolf Bandits?!"


    Fang Yuan nodded his head.


    Even Luhn had previously heard of the reputation of this infamous bandit group. Not only had he heard of it before, it reverberated like thunder in his ears.


    However, Fang Yuan was naturally unafraid and instead casually asked, "You know¡­ that you have involved yourself in an extremely large complication?"


    Just by mentioning this, the Lone Wolf''s eyes twitched.


    After white gloves were dirtied from constant use, they would naturally be discarded without hesitation.


    He understood this, which was why he had thoughts of self-reliance.


    Unfortunately, he had not done much preparation before being forced to do something so dirty and nefarious.


    Lone Wolf was very clear that in the eyes of his superior, he was merely a chess piece.


    If he could use his life to measure this knight in front, many people would definitely be very keen for him to do so.


    "Kill him!"


    But for white gloves, how was there still a route of retreat?


    Lone Wolf''s voice turned cold as he directed his subordinates to attack, while his entire body was concealed within the darkness.


    "Sir!"


    Outside, Garce and the squires were frantic. Although they had obtained the upper hand, they were held back by the common bandits swarming over and completely unable to assist.

 675 Annihilation

    Four professionals surrounded him, and fighting spirit erupted from two of them. Clearly, they were also warriors.


    As for the female archer, she lowered her bow and prepared her arrow with a slight magical fluctuation.


    And Lone Wolf was completely concealed within the shadows and constantly moving about, like a reaper harvesting lives in the deep night.


    "Assassin? warrior? And magical archer? This can indeed form a high-level adventurer team¡­"


    If not for him killing one of them previously, this group could be even more perfect.


    Fang Yuan slightly smiled and disappeared in an instant¡­


    With the power enhancement of the Disaster Halo, his speed was astonishingly quick, immediately appearing before the two warriors.


    "Mad Lion Beheading!"


    "Fighting technique: New Moon!"


    The two warriors were not flustered and each released a surge of fighting spirit to attack.


    Furthermore, at the instant when the three of them interacted, an arrow had already been released by the female archer and appeared in front of Fang Yuan like a graceful swan.


    "Hmph!"


    Fang Yuan laughed coldly, and aquamarine armor instantly appeared on his body.


    This armor seemed real and had a metallic glow. Only with careful examination would one realize that they were formed from wind attribute fighting spirit and had combined together with the original suit of armor.


    Smack!


    The magical arrow hit his shoulder and instantly exploded, disappearing without a trace.


    The two surges of fighting spirit offense also landed on Fang Yuan''s body, but he was still nonchalant. An aquamarine glow flickered and then vanished.


    Poof!


    Before the two warriors had the opportunity to gasp in shock, a bloody wound appeared on their necks and they slowly collapsed.


    "F-Fighting armor? High-level professional?"


    The female archer let out a piercing howl and ran away without looking back.


    Fang Yuan did not chase after her, instead turning around suddenly with his left hand stretched out and grabbing a black dagger.


    On the other end of the dagger, Lone Wolf was staring at the armored figure in astonishment, his mouth full of bitterness.


    Despite already putting in lots of effort in collecting intelligence, he was completely unable to imagine that this knight who had just obtained his title was actually a high-level professional.


    Furthermore, even the Fighting Armor was condensed.


    With the Fighting Armor on top of the original armor for dual defense, no matter how average professionals attacked, they might still be unable to inflict much damage.


    That was still a better scenario than now, where his dagger infused with all his power was directly gripped by the opponent. He was essentially tightly restricted by what seemed like ten pincers, completely unable to move.


    "Lone Wolf¡­ you have committed unpardonable crimes. Today, representing the baron, I give you my judgment!"


    Fang Yuan slightly exerted force with his palm and the black dagger was grabbed. With a casual flick of his hand, a loud, explosive sound rang out from the sky, and a huge hole opened up on the back of the escaping female archer. She still ran a few more steps due to inertia before collapsing.


    But Lone Wolf was already not able to see much.


    That was because, at the next instant, a powerful surging force viciously landed on his chest, creating a large hole in it. He flew upside down and landed on the ground as blood and saliva foamed from the sides of his mouth.


    "I am a lone wolf¡­ From the start¡­ I should not have been enticed into abandoning my freedom¡­"


    As the life in his eyes dissipated, Lone Wolf suddenly felt a strong sense of regret.


    Unfortunately, nothing he could do now would help the situation, and after a while, he descended into eternal darkness.


    ¡­


    "Impossible!" From afar, the leader in the black shirt let out a surprised cry.


    "Disaster Halo? He''s already advanced to a Disaster Knight? And that Fighting Armor¡­ High-level professional? Are the people collecting intelligence good-for-nothing fools? They actually told me this person was previously just an average hunter! If this type of person is average, then what are we? Useless garbage?"


    Probably because his emotions were too intense, he directly exploded in vulgarities.


    After firmly taking a few breaths, he still made a decision. "Change of plans. Abandon the defense. We leave immediately!"


    Even though he had more ambush possibilities than just Lone Wolf, and even had the ''Lone Wolf Handler'', facing a Disaster Knight who had already condensed Fighting Armor, he didn''t have a sliver of confidence.


    But at this time, he suddenly saw that after the subordinates led by Knight Luhn had defeated the remaining Mad Wolf Bandits, they directly charged toward his hiding place without stopping.


    I was exposed? When? The pupils of the leader in the black shirt shrunk to the size of a needle tip, already having no time to think.


    That was because Fang Yuan suddenly appeared nearby and whipped out his sword. "Get out!"


    Kaboom!


    Aquamarine fighting spirit exploded like lightning and thunder.


    Wood remnants flew all over. The original building split into pieces, revealing a group of awkward black-shirted people.


    "Since all of you remained hidden, you must know more than Lone Wolf. Capture them!"


    Fang Yuan waved his hand.


    Nurturing a group of subordinates was not to let them freeload.


    Even though they had the enhancement of the Disaster Halo, they also needed to undergo a test of metal and blood to become true soldiers.


    "Kill!" Grace shouted, taking the lead in charging forward.


    Many squires and guards shouted and surrounded this group of people.


    On the other hand, Fang Yuan jumped agilely and came before the leader in the black shirt. "Let me guess, you''re¡­ Earl Floren."


    Although it was just a guess, he was already very sure of himself.


    "Yes or no, what''s the difference? Since you''ve already succeeded the power of Glendon, you should know those that are hostile toward him are definitely not limited to the Stan Duchy," the man in black spoke ambiguously.


    "Nice, it looks like you''re Earl Floren. To think you came knocking on my door before I went looking for you. It looks like it''s time to square accounts!"


    Unfortunately, no matter how greatly the opponent wanted to conceal this, Fang Yuan had directly ascertained the truth from his expression and reaction.


    "You know the Mind Reading Technique?"


    The leader in the black shirt was astonished, an even greater sense of fear enveloping him after his secret was exposed.


    "I originally wanted to ask you some things, but now that I think about it, there doesn''t seem to be anything of special importance. You should just go and die."


    Fang Yuan walked forward a few steps and slashed with the heavy sword in his hands.


    A huge pressure instantly compressed the surrounding air. The black-shirted person had no choice but to brandish a soft sword resembling a poisonous snake, pressing hard against Fang Yuan''s sword technique.


    Ding!


    After a dull sound, a huge vibrating force transmitted from the edge of the sword directly into this leader''s body.


    He trembled and instantly shrivelled up like a deflated rubber ball, as if the all organs and bones in his body had shattered.


    "Too weak! You''re too weak!"


    Fang Yuan sighed and immediately clapped his hands. "Look after the remaining people. Also, gather the surviving villagers and extinguish the fires. And inform the senior constable."


    "Yes, Master!" Grace replied loudly.


    After experiencing this battle, although most of them were injured, and some even died, the remaining ones had grown a lot.


    ¡­


    With Fang Yuan''s mediation, the aftermath of the village proceeded orderly.


    "Sir Knight, we have obtained many spoils of war!"


    Afterwards, Fang Yuan, who had taken off his armor, saw Garce with a face full of happiness reporting, "In total, we seized eighteen horses, twenty people, and various supplies, as well as gold and silver accessories, for a total of fifty Stan gold coins."


    This realm''s main currency was still the gold and silver coin system. What was known as the Stan gold coin was naturally the gold coin cast by the Stan Duchy, and it fetched a high price.


    When Fang Yuan inherited his position this time, he only had to pay a hundred gold coins to the baron as an ''inheritance tax'' or the ''tribute''.


    In other words, he has offset that by half this time.


    "Pass all of the captured people to the constable. As for all the horses, military equipment, and gold and silver, we''ll keep them."


    Fang Yuan nodded his head. "All who achieved victory in this war will be rewarded. Those who died in battle will be given five gold coins as compensation to their bereaved family, and I''ll also promote their family to become a free citizen and obtain fifty mou of land."


    "Thank you very much, Sir!"


    Garce''s gaze suddenly lit up.


    Having fought and risked their lives, wasn''t it for all this?


    With so many rewards, facetiously speaking, it was worthwhile for their dead companions even if they returned to the embrace of Hess.


    Fang Yuan looked on at this, extremely calm.


    To him, using both kindness and severity to tug at people''s heartstrings were just trivial matters that he did casually.


    He did not even care about the gold and silver. If he could actually use it to inspire his subordinates to die, why not?


    The only issue was that he had to devote particular care to who an outsider was and who his own people were.


    Just like this Haier Village. As it was not his own territory, he did not bother to take care of it.


    It was obvious that a bandit group that came out to loot and kill could not possibly have such a huge amount of gold and silver on them. Most of those fifty Stan gold coins were definitely the treasures of Haier Village.


    However, since they were in the hands of Fang Yuan, they had become seized and seen as war trophies. Even Baron Shawshank was unable to ask him to surrender them.


    They had already saved the village, so how could they demand so much?


    Instead, those large batches of overly conspicuous grains and textiles were too eye-catching and difficult to carry around. Those could be given to these poor villagers. It was already sufficiently benevolent for the compassion of a noble.


    After half a day, public cemetery of Haier Village.


    Fang Yuan came alone and saw the surviving villagers burying their loved ones. Quiet sobs endlessly resounded, instantly turning into a scene of distressed crying.


    Standing under a tree''s shade, he suddenly turned toward an empty side and said, "A very sorrowful scene, isn''t it?"


    "If it were a war, their ordeals would be more miserable than this by a hundred times," a calm voice replied, and a person walked out from the shadows.


    He was thin and tall, and wore a long gray robe with a hood. His face was emaciated, yet his eyes were full of spirit and contained a scholarly aura.


    "Sorcerer?" Fang Yuan nodded his head. "What about you? Which side are you on?"


    "Office Sorcerer Heim. I have seen Sir." Heim bowed slightly. "I''m really sorry. As the grand duke doesn''t much manpower here, I made Sir encounter such an incident."


    "Nevermind¡­" Fang Yuan waved his hand and did not make a fuss.


    In reality, without even needing to guess, he already knew the intentions of Grand Duke Stan. The appearance of the sorcerer at this moment was merely to befriend and express goodwill toward the winner.


    These were the cold and ruthless game rules of this world!

 676 Baron

    Shawshank Territory.


    As the feudal lord of this territory, Baron Shawshank had a castle that was handed down from his ancestors.


    It was constructed on top of a massif and completely built with granite. There was even a moat on the outside, with a watchtower and crossfire point. It would be a nightmare for anyone trying to attack it.


    "With such a castle, as long as there''s sufficient food, would hundreds of people be enough to defend against the siege of an army of thousands?"


    Fang Yuan lifted his head and looked toward the black outline of the tall building.


    Unquestionably, it represented the authority that the past Baron Shawshanks had on this land, and was more a guarantee of status.


    "Even each baron may not necessarily be able to build a castle. This is the difference between the old nobility and the nouveau rich¡­"


    From this, Fang Yuan thought of the strength of this Baron Shawshank.


    Under his command were five knights. Inside the castle, there was even a squad of more than a hundred guards maintained throughout the year.


    "A hundred person guard squad is the direct force under a baron. When faced with war, he could still enlist knights and squires, definitely adding up to more than two hundred. These are


    professional soldiers! If we include those slightly trained militia, it can easily reach a thousand.


    "Furthermore, this Baron Shawshank is definitely a member of the royalist party with deep connections to Grand Duke Stan."


    ¡­


    As he was thinking, the castle''s suspension bridge lowered slowly, and a middle-aged nobleman came out to welcome him, "Welcome, my knight!"


    Fang Yuan carefully looked over and saw that this nobleman coming out was around forty years old. He was wearing a noble robe with light green and golden linings, had on a white-haired wig, and was currently opening up both of his arms toward him. "And thank you for everything you''br done for Haier Village."


    "This is my required obligation."


    Fang Yuan bowed a knight''s bow and let the squire present the gift.


    "Ah¡­ such beautiful pearls. I quite like them."


    The baron was obviously very pleased as the gloominess on his forehead completely dissipated. "Come, my knight. I''ve already prepared a feast for you inside the castle. Everything is very safe here!" He stressed the words spoken toward the end. Evidently, he had obtained the hints of Sorcerer Heim.


    "It''d be disrespectful to reject your offer."


    Fang Yuan bowed and followed Baron Shawshank into the castle.


    The feast in the castle was naturally very grand. Among the five knights belonging to Baron Shawshank, three of them had also brought their families along.


    Fang Yuan wore an impeccably cut long robe without additional accessories and naturally portrayed an elegant aura that greatly attracted a few noble ladies'' gaze.


    With the corruption in the current life of the nobility, as long as he showed slight interest toward some of the beautiful women swinging their fans at him, he would promptly have a splendid night.


    However, he held his wine glass and instead politely rejected the many invitations while watching silently from the side, seemingly very antisocial.


    "Knight Luhn, you seem to have saddened many ladies¡­"


    At this moment, a tall man dressed as a knight in half body armor walked over. "I''m afraid that from tonight onward, gossip and rumors of Knight Luhn being unromantic will soon spread across the land."


    "I am just¡­ erm¡­ not used to it," Fang Yuan replied smilingly. "Knight Gray, what''s the matter?"


    This knight was also one of the five knights of Baron Shawshank. However, what was different from Fang Yuan was that he directly served the baron, becoming the baron''s commander as a knight and commanding all the guards, and definitely the most trusted subordinate.


    In the Monger World, it was not embarrassing for a lower noble to serve a superior noble and collect compensation.


    "I''m sorry for disturbing your party. However, Lord Baron wants to meet you in his study," Knight Gray said with his usual flat voice.


    "Okay."


    Fang Yuan nodded his head and left this uninteresting party, following Gray to the baron''s study.


    "Is it Luhn? Come in! Gray, you stand guard outside and do not permit anyone to enter, not even my wife," Baron Shawshank said seriously, then instantly grinned at Fang Yuan. "Luhn, you must have many doubts."


    "Not a lot, but I have a general speculation that the situation doesn''t seem to be good."


    Fang Yuan nodded and sat across the baron. The baron even conveniently poured a glass of black tea for him.


    "Truthfully speaking, after receiving the message from Sorcerer Heim, I was still very surprised¡­"


    Baron Shawshank seemed to be organizing his excuses. "Sorry. Although I believed that you''d achieve the standard of a high-level professional, I didn''t expect it to be this quick. Furthermore, you''ve already become a Disaster Knight?"


    "That''s right." Fang Yuan nodded.


    In reality, this was merely his superficial achievements. His actual hand would not be showcased that easily to others.


    "That''s great!" Baron Shawshank clenched his fist tightly, completely not able to conceal his anger. "That Earl Floren actually dispatched bandits to bring chaos to my land. I''ve already ordered a death sentence for those Mad Wolf Bandits and secret envoys, the crime being banditry!"


    "This is your power and authority." Fang Yuan shrugged.


    "Although I don''t know how much you''ll understand, look at this."


    Baron Shawshank felt a slight headache. He has seen many talented youths, even many young knights, and had the confidence in controlling their ideas and mentality.


    However, this Knight Luhn gave him a very unique feeling and was extremely difficult to control.


    At this point, he pushed over a set of documents while he raised the ceramic teacup, sipping the black tea as he waited.


    For a time, the sounds within the study instantly vanished. In the silence, only the rustling sounds of Fang Yuan flipping could be heard.


    "I see¡­"


    Fang Yuan''s reading speed was very fast and quickly grasped the information. "The situation¡­ has already worsened to this extent?"


    The Stan Duchy¡­ The first generation Grand Duke Stan had led the Legend Knight Group and opened up the uncivilized regions.


    Since then, three hundred years had already passed. That was twenty generations!


    Such a long period of time was sufficient to corrupt many rules and families.


    The most classic one was the Legend Knight Group. Their descendants were not necessarily aligned with the mindset of Grand Duke Stan.


    Not only this. The most important one is still the infiltration of the inland powers, a thought flashed in Fang Yuan''s heart. The original Stan Duchy was just an uncivilized land that only a few people had interest in. However, after reclaiming it for three hundred years, it is sufficient to become a hospitable place. Furthermore, the population has greatly increased, bringing great appeal to the inland nations and churches.


    In face, the infiltration of the churches already began long ago. That is because, although the first generation Grand Duke Stan proclaimed to believe in the Sun God, he always had the intention of suppressing the power of the churches.


    The conflict between theocracy and royalty was the eternal issue of the nations on this continent.


    But at this time, looking at the degree of the expansion of the Church of the Death, the other churches wouldn''t be any worse¡­ If the current Grand Duke Stan still wants to reclaim his power, it will definitely cause a conflict with the theocracy.


    This generation''s Grand Duke Stan was neither a mediocre and unambitious sovereign, nor was he a wise hero. At best, he was a qualified noble.


    However, even such a person would not be willing to see the diminishing control their office had towards the various nobles, or even the land under their jurisdiction being infiltrated by religion.


    After Grand Duke Stan succeeded the throne, he made many changes and preventive measures.


    Obviously, this sparked a little resistance from the nobility, with the religions adding fuel to the fire in the dark.


    "The first generation Grand Duke Stan was actually also a noble of the Noether Kingdom and reaped benefits from the ''Reclamation Law'' back then. Currently, it''s also a huge problem for the Noether Kingdom to exercise their suzerainty."


    Baron Shawshank rubbed his eyebrows.


    In reality, examples of vassals rebelling against their lords were not considered rare in this world. There was also a considerable number of successes; they simply needed to achieve victory.


    "If a war really starts, I''m afraid it''ll be difficult to fight¡­"


    Fang Yuan deeply pondered and directly made a judgement. "Who are our allies, and who are our enemies?"


    "Good question!"


    Baron Shawshank almost believed that the person sitting in front of him was not a newly promoted knight, but an experienced old fox. "Within the Noether kingdom, the royal family cannot invoke all of the powers. Some of the dukes even have good relations with Grand Duke Stan, which originated from their ancestors.


    "As for the churches, we decided to rope in one batch and suppress another."


    There were many Gods in this world, and many conflicts between them.


    Between the churches, there were many dirty incidents happening in a bid to contend for ''Gods'' Lamb''.


    Although it had not escalated to a full-blown battle, there had been countless battles between their agents.


    "So, the incumbent grand duke desperately requires power?" Fang Yuan nodded. "Such as¡­ the previous Legend Knight Group."


    "That was an accident!" Mentioning this, Baron Shawshank''s facial expression slightly dimmed. "Before something happened to Jorah, I didn''t even know that he was actually the safekeeper of Death Hands'' inheritance."


    "Alright!" Fang Yuan shrugged his shoulders and was too lazy to once more mention the inside stories. "With the current state of things, I''ve probably become a well-qualified royalist in the eyes of others. Should I count myself lucky to have not boarded a broken boat?"


    "Of course!" Baron Shawshank unhestitantly nodded. "You will see our power. Furthermore, your growth is also completely beyond our imagination! If the grand duke knows about it, he''ll definitely be elated.


    "Since you''ve come, you can stay for a while. Next month, we''re going to start a mission," Baron Shawshank said. "The grand duke is preparing to clean up a batch of tumors within the Duchy. I am in charge of this territory."


    There was unconsciously already a biting cold tone in his words.


    Fang Yuan nodded and directly agreed, "No problem."


    During this time, sitting on the fence and being swayed by others was not a popular position at all. One had to stand on a side.


    Both parties'' attitudes and his beginning encounter had early on caused him to make his decision.


    So, even though he knew that this mission was a proof of allegiance, he had to go.


    "That''s great!" Indeed, Baron Shawshank released a joyful smile. "With the addition of a high-level professional, I''m more confident with this mission."

 676 Annihilation

    Four professionals surrounded him, and fighting spirit erupted from two of them. Clearly, they were also warriors.


    As for the female archer, she lowered her bow and prepared her arrow with a slight magical fluctuation.


    And Lone Wolf was completely concealed within the shadows and constantly moving about, like a reaper harvesting lives in the deep night.


    "Assassin? warrior? And magical archer? This can indeed form a high-level adventurer team¡­"


    If not for him killing one of them previously, this group could be even more perfect.


    Fang Yuan slightly smiled and disappeared in an instant¡­


    With the power enhancement of the Disaster Halo, his speed was astonishingly quick, immediately appearing before the two warriors.


    "Mad Lion Beheading!"


    "Fighting technique: New Moon!"


    The two warriors were not flustered and each released a surge of fighting spirit to attack.


    Furthermore, at the instant when the three of them interacted, an arrow had already been released by the female archer and appeared in front of Fang Yuan like a graceful swan.


    "Hmph!"


    Fang Yuan laughed coldly, and aquamarine armor instantly appeared on his body.


    This armor seemed real and had a metallic glow. Only with careful examination would one realize that they were formed from wind attribute fighting spirit and had combined together with the original suit of armor.


    Smack!


    The magical arrow hit his shoulder and instantly exploded, disappearing without a trace.


    The two surges of fighting spirit offense also landed on Fang Yuan''s body, but he was still nonchalant. An aquamarine glow flickered and then vanished.


    Poof!


    Before the two warriors had the opportunity to gasp in shock, a bloody wound appeared on their necks and they slowly collapsed.


    "F-Fighting armor? High-level professional?"


    The female archer let out a piercing howl and ran away without looking back.


    Fang Yuan did not chase after her, instead turning around suddenly with his left hand stretched out and grabbing a black dagger.


    On the other end of the dagger, Lone Wolf was staring at the armored figure in astonishment, his mouth full of bitterness.


    Despite already putting in lots of effort in collecting intelligence, he was completely unable to imagine that this knight who had just obtained his title was actually a high-level professional.


    Furthermore, even the Fighting Armor was condensed.


    With the Fighting Armor on top of the original armor for dual defense, no matter how average professionals attacked, they might still be unable to inflict much damage.


    That was still a better scenario than now, where his dagger infused with all his power was directly gripped by the opponent. He was essentially tightly restricted by what seemed like ten pincers, completely unable to move.


    "Lone Wolf¡­ you have committed unpardonable crimes. Today, representing the baron, I give you my judgment!"


    Fang Yuan slightly exerted force with his palm and the black dagger was grabbed. With a casual flick of his hand, a loud, explosive sound rang out from the sky, and a huge hole opened up on the back of the escaping female archer. She still ran a few more steps due to inertia before collapsing.


    But Lone Wolf was already not able to see much.


    That was because, at the next instant, a powerful surging force viciously landed on his chest, creating a large hole in it. He flew upside down and landed on the ground as blood and saliva foamed from the sides of his mouth.


    "I am a lone wolf¡­ From the start¡­ I should not have been enticed into abandoning my freedom¡­"


    As the life in his eyes dissipated, Lone Wolf suddenly felt a strong sense of regret.


    Unfortunately, nothing he could do now would help the situation, and after a while, he descended into eternal darkness.


    ¡­


    "Impossible!" From afar, the leader in the black shirt let out a surprised cry.


    "Disaster Halo? He''s already advanced to a Disaster Knight? And that Fighting Armor¡­ High-level professional? Are the people collecting intelligence good-for-nothing fools? They actually told me this person was previously just an average hunter! If this type of person is average, then what are we? Useless garbage?"


    Probably because his emotions were too intense, he directly exploded in vulgarities.


    After firmly taking a few breaths, he still made a decision. "Change of plans. Abandon the defense. We leave immediately!"


    Even though he had more ambush possibilities than just Lone Wolf, and even had the ''Lone Wolf Handler'', facing a Disaster Knight who had already condensed Fighting Armor, he didn''t have a sliver of confidence.


    But at this time, he suddenly saw that after the subordinates led by Knight Luhn had defeated the remaining Mad Wolf Bandits, they directly charged toward his hiding place without stopping.


    I was exposed? When? The pupils of the leader in the black shirt shrunk to the size of a needle tip, already having no time to think.


    That was because Fang Yuan suddenly appeared nearby and whipped out his sword. "Get out!"


    Kaboom!


    Aquamarine fighting spirit exploded like lightning and thunder.


    Wood remnants flew all over. The original building split into pieces, revealing a group of awkward black-shirted people.


    "Since all of you remained hidden, you must know more than Lone Wolf. Capture them!"


    Fang Yuan waved his hand.


    Nurturing a group of subordinates was not to let them freeload.


    Even though they had the enhancement of the Disaster Halo, they also needed to undergo a test of metal and blood to become true soldiers.


    "Kill!" Grace shouted, taking the lead in charging forward.


    Many squires and guards shouted and surrounded this group of people.


    On the other hand, Fang Yuan jumped agilely and came before the leader in the black shirt. "Let me guess, you''re¡­ Earl Floren."


    Although it was just a guess, he was already very sure of himself.


    "Yes or no, what''s the difference? Since you''ve already succeeded the power of Glendon, you should know those that are hostile toward him are definitely not limited to the Stan Duchy," the man in black spoke ambiguously.


    "Nice, it looks like you''re Earl Floren. To think you came knocking on my door before I went looking for you. It looks like it''s time to square accounts!"


    Unfortunately, no matter how greatly the opponent wanted to conceal this, Fang Yuan had directly ascertained the truth from his expression and reaction.


    "You know the Mind Reading Technique?"


    The leader in the black shirt was astonished, an even greater sense of fear enveloping him after his secret was exposed.


    "I originally wanted to ask you some things, but now that I think about it, there doesn''t seem to be anything of special importance. You should just go and die."


    Fang Yuan walked forward a few steps and slashed with the heavy sword in his hands.


    A huge pressure instantly compressed the surrounding air. The black-shirted person had no choice but to brandish a soft sword resembling a poisonous snake, pressing hard against Fang Yuan''s sword technique.


    Ding!


    After a dull sound, a huge vibrating force transmitted from the edge of the sword directly into this leader''s body.


    He trembled and instantly shrivelled up like a deflated rubber ball, as if the all organs and bones in his body had shattered.


    "Too weak! You''re too weak!"


    Fang Yuan sighed and immediately clapped his hands. "Look after the remaining people. Also, gather the surviving villagers and extinguish the fires. And inform the senior constable."


    "Yes, Master!" Grace replied loudly.


    After experiencing this battle, although most of them were injured, and some even died, the remaining ones had grown a lot.


    ¡­


    With Fang Yuan''s mediation, the aftermath of the village proceeded orderly.


    "Sir Knight, we have obtained many spoils of war!"


    Afterwards, Fang Yuan, who had taken off his armor, saw Garce with a face full of happiness reporting, "In total, we seized eighteen horses, twenty people, and various supplies, as well as gold and silver accessories, for a total of fifty Stan gold coins."


    This realm''s main currency was still the gold and silver coin system. What was known as the Stan gold coin was naturally the gold coin cast by the Stan Duchy, and it fetched a high price.


    When Fang Yuan inherited his position this time, he only had to pay a hundred gold coins to the baron as an ''inheritance tax'' or the ''tribute''.


    In other words, he has offset that by half this time.


    "Pass all of the captured people to the constable. As for all the horses, military equipment, and gold and silver, we''ll keep them."


    Fang Yuan nodded his head. "All who achieved victory in this war will be rewarded. Those who died in battle will be given five gold coins as compensation to their bereaved family, and I''ll also promote their family to become a free citizen and obtain fifty mou of land."


    "Thank you very much, Sir!"


    Garce''s gaze suddenly lit up.


    Having fought and risked their lives, wasn''t it for all this?


    With so many rewards, facetiously speaking, it was worthwhile for their dead companions even if they returned to the embrace of Hess.


    Fang Yuan looked on at this, extremely calm.


    To him, using both kindness and severity to tug at people''s heartstrings were just trivial matters that he did casually.


    He did not even care about the gold and silver. If he could actually use it to inspire his subordinates to die, why not?


    The only issue was that he had to devote particular care to who an outsider was and who his own people were.


    Just like this Haier Village. As it was not his own territory, he did not bother to take care of it.


    It was obvious that a bandit group that came out to loot and kill could not possibly have such a huge amount of gold and silver on them. Most of those fifty Stan gold coins were definitely the treasures of Haier Village.


    However, since they were in the hands of Fang Yuan, they had become seized and seen as war trophies. Even Baron Shawshank was unable to ask him to surrender them.


    They had already saved the village, so how could they demand so much?


    Instead, those large batches of overly conspicuous grains and textiles were too eye-catching and difficult to carry around. Those could be given to these poor villagers. It was already sufficiently benevolent for the compassion of a noble.


    After half a day, public cemetery of Haier Village.


    Fang Yuan came alone and saw the surviving villagers burying their loved ones. Quiet sobs endlessly resounded, instantly turning into a scene of distressed crying.


    Standing under a tree''s shade, he suddenly turned toward an empty side and said, "A very sorrowful scene, isn''t it?"


    "If it were a war, their ordeals would be more miserable than this by a hundred times," a calm voice replied, and a person walked out from the shadows.


    He was thin and tall, and wore a long gray robe with a hood. His face was emaciated, yet his eyes were full of spirit and contained a scholarly aura.


    "Sorcerer?" Fang Yuan nodded his head. "What about you? Which side are you on?"


    "Office Sorcerer Heim. I have seen Sir." Heim bowed slightly. "I''m really sorry. As the grand duke doesn''t much manpower here, I made Sir encounter such an incident."


    "Nevermind¡­" Fang Yuan waved his hand and did not make a fuss.


    In reality, without even needing to guess, he already knew the intentions of Grand Duke Stan. The appearance of the sorcerer at this moment was merely to befriend and express goodwill toward the winner.


    These were the cold and ruthless game rules of this world!

 677 Baron

    Shawshank Territory.


    As the feudal lord of this territory, Baron Shawshank had a castle that was handed down from his ancestors.


    It was constructed on top of a massif and completely built with granite. There was even a moat on the outside, with a watchtower and crossfire point. It would be a nightmare for anyone trying to attack it.


    "With such a castle, as long as there''s sufficient food, would hundreds of people be enough to defend against the siege of an army of thousands?"


    Fang Yuan lifted his head and looked toward the black outline of the tall building.


    Unquestionably, it represented the authority that the past Baron Shawshanks had on this land, and was more a guarantee of status.


    "Even each baron may not necessarily be able to build a castle. This is the difference between the old nobility and the nouveau rich¡­"


    From this, Fang Yuan thought of the strength of this Baron Shawshank.


    Under his command were five knights. Inside the castle, there was even a squad of more than a hundred guards maintained throughout the year.


    "A hundred person guard squad is the direct force under a baron. When faced with war, he could still enlist knights and squires, definitely adding up to more than two hundred. These are


    professional soldiers! If we include those slightly trained militia, it can easily reach a thousand.


    "Furthermore, this Baron Shawshank is definitely a member of the royalist party with deep connections to Grand Duke Stan."


    ¡­


    As he was thinking, the castle''s suspension bridge lowered slowly, and a middle-aged nobleman came out to welcome him, "Welcome, my knight!"


    Fang Yuan carefully looked over and saw that this nobleman coming out was around forty years old. He was wearing a noble robe with light green and golden linings, had on a white-haired wig, and was currently opening up both of his arms toward him. "And thank you for everything you''br done for Haier Village."


    "This is my required obligation."


    Fang Yuan bowed a knight''s bow and let the squire present the gift.


    "Ah¡­ such beautiful pearls. I quite like them."


    The baron was obviously very pleased as the gloominess on his forehead completely dissipated. "Come, my knight. I''ve already prepared a feast for you inside the castle. Everything is very safe here!" He stressed the words spoken toward the end. Evidently, he had obtained the hints of Sorcerer Heim.


    "It''d be disrespectful to reject your offer."


    Fang Yuan bowed and followed Baron Shawshank into the castle.


    The feast in the castle was naturally very grand. Among the five knights belonging to Baron Shawshank, three of them had also brought their families along.


    Fang Yuan wore an impeccably cut long robe without additional accessories and naturally portrayed an elegant aura that greatly attracted a few noble ladies'' gaze.


    With the corruption in the current life of the nobility, as long as he showed slight interest toward some of the beautiful women swinging their fans at him, he would promptly have a splendid night.


    However, he held his wine glass and instead politely rejected the many invitations while watching silently from the side, seemingly very antisocial.


    "Knight Luhn, you seem to have saddened many ladies¡­"


    At this moment, a tall man dressed as a knight in half body armor walked over. "I''m afraid that from tonight onward, gossip and rumors of Knight Luhn being unromantic will soon spread across the land."


    "I am just¡­ erm¡­ not used to it," Fang Yuan replied smilingly. "Knight Gray, what''s the matter?"


    This knight was also one of the five knights of Baron Shawshank. However, what was different from Fang Yuan was that he directly served the baron, becoming the baron''s commander as a knight and commanding all the guards, and definitely the most trusted subordinate.


    In the Monger World, it was not embarrassing for a lower noble to serve a superior noble and collect compensation.


    "I''m sorry for disturbing your party. However, Lord Baron wants to meet you in his study," Knight Gray said with his usual flat voice.


    "Okay."


    Fang Yuan nodded his head and left this uninteresting party, following Gray to the baron''s study.


    "Is it Luhn? Come in! Gray, you stand guard outside and do not permit anyone to enter, not even my wife," Baron Shawshank said seriously, then instantly grinned at Fang Yuan. "Luhn, you must have many doubts."


    "Not a lot, but I have a general speculation that the situation doesn''t seem to be good."


    Fang Yuan nodded and sat across the baron. The baron even conveniently poured a glass of black tea for him.


    "Truthfully speaking, after receiving the message from Sorcerer Heim, I was still very surprised¡­"


    Baron Shawshank seemed to be organizing his excuses. "Sorry. Although I believed that you''d achieve the standard of a high-level professional, I didn''t expect it to be this quick. Furthermore, you''ve already become a Disaster Knight?"


    "That''s right." Fang Yuan nodded.


    In reality, this was merely his superficial achievements. His actual hand would not be showcased that easily to others.


    "That''s great!" Baron Shawshank clenched his fist tightly, completely not able to conceal his anger. "That Earl Floren actually dispatched bandits to bring chaos to my land. I''ve already ordered a death sentence for those Mad Wolf Bandits and secret envoys, the crime being banditry!"


    "This is your power and authority." Fang Yuan shrugged.


    "Although I don''t know how much you''ll understand, look at this."


    Baron Shawshank felt a slight headache. He has seen many talented youths, even many young knights, and had the confidence in controlling their ideas and mentality.


    However, this Knight Luhn gave him a very unique feeling and was extremely difficult to control.


    At this point, he pushed over a set of documents while he raised the ceramic teacup, sipping the black tea as he waited.


    For a time, the sounds within the study instantly vanished. In the silence, only the rustling sounds of Fang Yuan flipping could be heard.


    "I see¡­"


    Fang Yuan''s reading speed was very fast and quickly grasped the information. "The situation¡­ has already worsened to this extent?"


    The Stan Duchy¡­ The first generation Grand Duke Stan had led the Legend Knight Group and opened up the uncivilized regions.


    Since then, three hundred years had already passed. That was twenty generations!


    Such a long period of time was sufficient to corrupt many rules and families.


    The most classic one was the Legend Knight Group. Their descendants were not necessarily aligned with the mindset of Grand Duke Stan.


    Not only this. The most important one is still the infiltration of the inland powers, a thought flashed in Fang Yuan''s heart. The original Stan Duchy was just an uncivilized land that only a few people had interest in. However, after reclaiming it for three hundred years, it is sufficient to become a hospitable place. Furthermore, the population has greatly increased, bringing great appeal to the inland nations and churches.


    In face, the infiltration of the churches already began long ago. That is because, although the first generation Grand Duke Stan proclaimed to believe in the Sun God, he always had the intention of suppressing the power of the churches.


    The conflict between theocracy and royalty was the eternal issue of the nations on this continent.


    But at this time, looking at the degree of the expansion of the Church of the Death, the other churches wouldn''t be any worse¡­ If the current Grand Duke Stan still wants to reclaim his power, it will definitely cause a conflict with the theocracy.


    This generation''s Grand Duke Stan was neither a mediocre and unambitious sovereign, nor was he a wise hero. At best, he was a qualified noble.


    However, even such a person would not be willing to see the diminishing control their office had towards the various nobles, or even the land under their jurisdiction being infiltrated by religion.


    After Grand Duke Stan succeeded the throne, he made many changes and preventive measures.


    Obviously, this sparked a little resistance from the nobility, with the religions adding fuel to the fire in the dark.


    "The first generation Grand Duke Stan was actually also a noble of the Noether Kingdom and reaped benefits from the ''Reclamation Law'' back then. Currently, it''s also a huge problem for the Noether Kingdom to exercise their suzerainty."


    Baron Shawshank rubbed his eyebrows.


    In reality, examples of vassals rebelling against their lords were not considered rare in this world. There was also a considerable number of successes; they simply needed to achieve victory.


    "If a war really starts, I''m afraid it''ll be difficult to fight¡­"


    Fang Yuan deeply pondered and directly made a judgement. "Who are our allies, and who are our enemies?"


    "Good question!"


    Baron Shawshank almost believed that the person sitting in front of him was not a newly promoted knight, but an experienced old fox. "Within the Noether kingdom, the royal family cannot invoke all of the powers. Some of the dukes even have good relations with Grand Duke Stan, which originated from their ancestors.


    "As for the churches, we decided to rope in one batch and suppress another."


    There were many Gods in this world, and many conflicts between them.


    Between the churches, there were many dirty incidents happening in a bid to contend for ''Gods'' Lamb''.


    Although it had not escalated to a full-blown battle, there had been countless battles between their agents.


    "So, the incumbent grand duke desperately requires power?" Fang Yuan nodded. "Such as¡­ the previous Legend Knight Group."


    "That was an accident!" Mentioning this, Baron Shawshank''s facial expression slightly dimmed. "Before something happened to Jorah, I didn''t even know that he was actually the safekeeper of Death Hands'' inheritance."


    "Alright!" Fang Yuan shrugged his shoulders and was too lazy to once more mention the inside stories. "With the current state of things, I''ve probably become a well-qualified royalist in the eyes of others. Should I count myself lucky to have not boarded a broken boat?"


    "Of course!" Baron Shawshank unhestitantly nodded. "You will see our power. Furthermore, your growth is also completely beyond our imagination! If the grand duke knows about it, he''ll definitely be elated.


    "Since you''ve come, you can stay for a while. Next month, we''re going to start a mission," Baron Shawshank said. "The grand duke is preparing to clean up a batch of tumors within the Duchy. I am in charge of this territory."


    There was unconsciously already a biting cold tone in his words.


    Fang Yuan nodded and directly agreed, "No problem."


    During this time, sitting on the fence and being swayed by others was not a popular position at all. One had to stand on a side.


    Both parties'' attitudes and his beginning encounter had early on caused him to make his decision.


    So, even though he knew that this mission was a proof of allegiance, he had to go.


    "That''s great!" Indeed, Baron Shawshank released a joyful smile. "With the addition of a high-level professional, I''m more confident with this mission."

 678 Frey

    Morning.


    In the training grounds of the castle.


    Fang Yuan waved a giant sword resembling a door plank and did a few standard sword moves, causing the squires and apprentices to look on stunned.


    After slightly warming up his body, he raised his long sword forward and, while maintaining this stance, fully entered into a state of meditation.


    This sorcerer''s technique of recovering spiritual force was also very useful to Fang Yuan, so he absorbed its essence directly.


    With the contributions of a world, the progress of fighting spirit can be said to be endless and won''t require long before I can advance into a Quasi-Legend or even a Legend. But the cultivation of Disaster Knight will be a little difficult.


    It was a Legend profession after all, and advancement was not such an easy task.


    The first level of the Disaster Halo is to enhance one''s body and their allies. The second level is to curse enemies. In this part, we still need a few special ingredients and environment.


    Fang Yuan associated it with Glendon''s nickname, Death Hands!


    This name was not just for show.


    That was because once the Disaster Halo reached the second level, it had the ability to absorb dead spirits and negative emotions to boost the curse.


    Furthermore, at an even higher level, it could simulate a horrifying, legendary technique¡ªFinger of Death!


    Ignoring any defenses, as long as judgment was passed, it would attack and kill directly. It could be said to hold power over life and death. The most important thing was¡­ it had somewhat violated the authority of Death God Hess!


    This is a little troublesome, but it isn''t possible for me to ascend as a Disaster Knight since I need to conceal myself, Fang Yuan silently thought in his mind. The only good news is¡­ the attitude of the Duchy toward religion is still at a respectful distance. Even the Church of Death doesn''t have much rights to speak!


    After a while, a female servant''s voice trailed over with a respectful tone, "Sir! The Baron invites you to the dining room to eat breakfast!"


    "Okay, I''m going!"


    Fang Yuan put down the heavy sword and used a towel to wipe his face before slowly leaving in a sea of reverent gazes.


    The breakfast prepared by the baron was very sumptuous. The main course was white bread and fragrant toasted blueberry muffins. For drinks, there were vegetable soup and hot milk. Various salt and pepper shakers were placed on the table to be used freely.


    As the closest knights to the baron, Fang Yuan and Gray sat together eating breakfast with the baron and his family members.


    The baron''s wife was a classic, beautiful noble lady. She had given birth to two sons and one daughter for the baron.


    The eldest son, Mattus, was twenty years old this year and was the baron''s heir. He was very similar to the baron, including his clothes and expressions. It could be seen that he was putting in effort to learn from his father, and there was a slight haughtiness in between his brows.


    The second son, Timo, was only seventeen years old, and his appearance was gentle and more frail-looking, with a bit of a scholarly aura.


    As the second son of a noble family, without any rights of succession since he was born, he could only train hard and learn to become a knight''s squire, or the squire of other noble families, while forging a path by himself.


    Finally, their daughter, Tanya, was an elegant young lady. Not knowing why, she seemed to be extremely diffident and lowered her head upon seeing Fang Yuan.


    According to the baron''s habits, no conversation was allowed while enjoying breakfast. After eating in silence, Fang Yuan and other knights were invited to the baron''s study for a secret discussion.


    At this time, in the study, Sorcerer Heim was also there and passed a letter bearing the seal of the Duke''s Office to the baron.


    Baron Shawshank finished reading silently and instantly nodded, passing the letter to the next Knight. "The target has been decided. It''s Knight Frey."


    "Knight Frey?"


    Fang Yuan twitched his eyebrows.


    At the side, Knight Gray instantly added on, "Luhn, you''re a newly promoted noble, so you may be unclear. This Frey originally relied on a title obtained via dishonest methods and became famous by doing unconventional things. His territory is one of the top commercial powerhouses in the area. Furthermore, his land is vast and can casually employ hundreds of armed escorts and mercenaries."


    "What about his lord?" Fang Yuan asked with some doubt.


    "His name is Baron Haital, but that old fool can''t even suppress him¡­ Furthermore, there were rumors that even the position that he clinched for Frey in the beginning was also done under coercion," Baron Shawshank replied with a gloomy look.


    "In other words, although he''s just a knight, this Frey has already obtained half a baron''s power."


    Fang Yuan nodded, yet his heart had a subtly delicate feeling.


    In truth, if he had not inexplicably gotten hold of a set of inheritance documents, he could have perhaps taken a path similar to Frey.


    And with such a risky move, he would encounter the animosity of all the nobles and would now be tasting the nasty consequences.


    Of course, in reality, the risks behind Fang Yuan succeeding the position of Knight Jorah was not just less than the other, but even greater.


    "According to the intelligence, Knight Frey has always been providing conveniences to the hostile forces outside the borders, evening having some connections with many evil religious sects. Furthermore, he may perhaps be secretly confining Baron Haita."


    Baron Shawshank said passionately, "As nobles, we definitely won''t permit this degenerate to continue breaking rules! Thus¡­ we must declare war!"


    "Declare war!"


    Knight Ge Guo was the first to move forward and use actions to declare his support toward for the lord.


    "That''s right! Declare war!"


    This matter was already largely decided previously, and the knights like Fang Yuan did not have a trace of objection.


    "Great!"


    Seeing this, Baron Shawshank released a small smile. "The Frey Territory is very rich, so don''t worry about the allocation of your spoils. However, we still need to first discuss a procedure!"


    Fang Yuan watched on coldly and realized that these western lords'' greatest difference with the eastern ones was that they had never seen the problem of profits as a taboo issue.


    Even if their manners were as unpleasant as bandits, they would make the proper allocations before war without beating around the bush.


    Among this, Baron Shawshank naturally had the lion''s share, while the other knights did not leave empty-handed, each having their own share.


    Especially Fang Yuan. Although he was only sending a force on paper, and really just escorting them, he managed to obtain a piece of land!


    According to what Baron Shawshank said, this land was seized by Knight Frey. The key was that although this land was a little distant from the Frey Territory, it was actually very close to the territory of Knight Jorah and about a thousand acres.


    Any enfeoffment system would have such examples of territorial land dispersion in the later periods.


    Especially because Knight Frey did not have much foundation or many connections, he was naturally unable to exchange land with the other nobles and had to concentrate on his strengths.


    Hearing this, the other knights'' eyes started to turn red.


    To them, a thousand acres was practically a small-sized knight territory. Even if just another hundred acres added, that was already something very decent.


    The only issue was that they knew Luhn was not only a high-level professional, he was also paid great attention to by the grand duke. Even if they were jealous, they could only suppress it forcefully.


    Seeing this, Baron Shawshank laughed inside and hurriedly made many promises. This similarly included the allocation of Knight Frey''s territorial lands and treasures and, at long last, barely appeased all the knights.


    However, from what Fang Yuan could observe, these knights'' eyes were already as red as a rabbit''s.


    "Lord Baron!" Seeing this, he walked forward one step. "I have just taken over a territory, and manpower is still needed. Just pass me the Howl Manor."


    The Howl Manor was a territory that he wanted to obtain in advance.


    Equivalent to half a small knight territory, it was a manor built by Knight Frey.


    "Okay!"


    Regarding this request, Baron Shawshank gladly accepted. After all, this was an expression of the other party proactively building relations.


    However, stemming from another motive, he still said, "Let Knight Gray assist you. He will bring another fifty people and that''ll be sufficient to crush all resistance! After you have taken down Howl Manor, mop up all the other peripheral forces of Frey and lastly group up with us at the Frey Territory!"


    ¡­


    "Finally¡­ is he coming?"


    Just as Baron Shawshank was scheming against Knight Frey, in the Frey Territory, this knight was similarly sighing.


    Knight Frey was over thirty years old, yet he had already become bald. The hair strands on the sides of his head were completely white, and his face already had deep wrinkles. Due to the throat injury in his early years, he had injured his vocal cords and caused his voice to sound as nasty as a night owl.


    At the moment, he sat on the seat of honor in his castle with a secret letter passed to him by a raven and couldn''t help sneering.


    As a knight, being able to construct his own castle was definitely something worth being proud of.


    Knight Frey called his own castle ''Hope Castle'', containing his wild hopes for the future.


    As someone even inferior to an average low class citizen, he was the role model that crawled up from being a serf. The early half of his life was already envied and respected by many lower class people and seen as a lifelong target to strive for.


    However, in his goals, becoming a noble was only the beginning!


    He still needed more things to fulfill his wild ambitions and desires!


    Yet, at this moment, this ambitious eye could see the risk of a collapse.


    "The grand duke has finally decided to attack."


    For a tiny noble who was not even a baron, the anger of those holding power in the duchy was obviously very frightening.


    But Knight Frey was of course not alone.


    "Everyone! Are you all prepared?"


    He looked at everyone below and let out a wicked laugh like a wild owl. "Every piece of land and every millet has the imprint of our Frey Family. Now that Shawshank is preparing to take away everything that we have, they need to be prepared to pay the price!"


    "Of course!" An orderly sound echoed. "Your will is our destiny!"


    "Okay, according to our previous plans, go and position yourselves!"


    Knight Frey coughed and waved his hands.


    Instantly, scattered footsteps rang out within the main hall before it was enveloped by silence.


    "Just by using adventurers, mercenaries, and your trained army, it''s not sufficient to resist the baron''s siege!" a voice abruptly rang out. Human silhouettes wrapped in black robes slowly walked out from the shadows.


    "Yes¡­ So I will choose to ally with you! Grand Duke Stan stupidly unleashed his plans all over the nation and his power will be greatly limited. We just need to defeat Baron Shawshank and will be able to obtain sufficient leeway," Knight Frey said gravely.


    As his method of growing and thriving overly flouted the rules and he was ostracized by mainstream society, other than winning through unexpected or unconventional methods, he already had no other choice!

 679 Trap

    Howl Manor.


    Fang Yuan and Knight Gray stood together and looked at the manor not far away.


    Although Frey had constructed a huge villa as a governing symbol, he only came over occasionally when collecting taxes or on vacation. Usually, he would pass the responsibilities to a few subordinates like tax collectors and constables to take care of it.


    "I''ve already inquired. The person in charge of this area for Knight Frey is tax collector Jamal," Gray slowly said. "He was an adventurer before but was recruited by Frey afterwards. His profession should be an assassinator."


    "Assassinator?"


    Fang Yuan was slightly surprised, as this was far higher level profession than an ordinary assassin. Although it was greatly inferior to a Disaster Knight, it was still regarded as highly talented.


    Being able to be discovered by Frey indeed showcased his ability.


    "However, an assassionator''s best ability is to rely on the environment to assassinate, but right now, it''s an open war."


    Knight Gray laughed, not the least bit worried.


    Indeed, with the righteousness of the duchy and nearly a hundred soldiers under the leadership of two knights, if they were still unable to take down the manor, that would be a joke.


    "Okay, let''s begin!"


    He waved and fifty soldiers under his command immediately arranged themselves neatly, directly advancing toward the manor.


    "Let''s go too"


    Fang Yuan nodded. Grace promptly brought along the twenty people he had urgently gathered from the territory.


    "Who?" This scene instantly attracted the attention of the manor. Not long later, a person ran over and loudly shouted, "These are the territorial lands of Knight Frey. Visitors, please declare your name! If not, this will be seen as a provocation!"


    "Name?" Gray laughed menacingly. "Under the leadership of Baron Shawshank, Knight Gray, carrying the grand duke''s orders, comes to suppress Frey. Is this clear enough?"


    Clearly, this response caused the other side to descend into huge shock.


    The messenger tumbled back into the territory, and after a short while, a hurried bell chime rang out.


    "Knight Luhn, how should we deal with this mob?"


    Gray looked at the militia that was converging in the distance. Most of them were farmers holding onto pitchforks. The corners of their mouths unwittingly carried a playful smile.


    In any case, these were people were going to be under Fang Yuan''s command later, and he naturally had to give them some dignity.


    Of course, using the word mob had already revealed his inclination.


    "I heard¡­ this Knight Frey is very proficient at tugging the people''s heartstrings, and his reputation among the lower class citizens is very good?" Fang Yuan suddenly asked.


    "Yep. Due to his implementation of the 50-50 split policy without additional taxes, he was even praised by bards to be the wisest lord of Stan," Gray replied.


    "I understand. Please order the suppression." Fang Yuan nodded. "I once heard of a proverb. If you give someone a gold coin daily, once you stop, you will be hated. But if you give someone a slap daily, once you stop, you will be appreciated."


    Regarding trying to win popular opinion from the people, he could not match up to Knight Frey, who had already been deliberately doing it for a long time.


    That being the case, only blood and metal could inform these citizens who the actual leader here was.


    With the snobbishness of the citizens, how long would they even remember the person who was a benefactor at all?


    What was known as a benevolent government could be implemented later. At the moment, if they wanted to conquer this land, only massacre and rendering fear could gain their loyalty.


    "A wise decision and an intelligent proverb."


    Gray laughed out loud and whipped his horse. "Charge!"


    Reality had proven that a crowd of farmers holding pitchforks, no matter how many, were completely useless in front of trained soldiers.


    Needless to say, once Gray casually charged and knocked down a few of the farmers in front, the others were instantly horrified, throwing down their pitchforks and escaping, leaving behind a disorderly battlefield.


    "The ancient feudal kings always thought that their destinies belonged to them, and the people under them had to endlessly express their loyalty. In reality, they were all dreaming! Such a naive emperor usually would not have a good outcome."


    Wearing light armor, Fang Yuan similarly charged forward.


    Under a strong military force, the small bit of resistance remaining was snapped like dry weeds and smashed like rotten wood.


    "How much of the previous kindness and favor will remain in front of the sword?"


    Seeing the militia collapse with one strike, Fang Yuan sighed silently and went to the villa with Knight Gray.


    This was the sanctuary of Knight Frey. When he was not around, it was used by tax collector Jamal and was the governing core of this land.


    At the moment, it was tightly surrounded by tens of people.


    "Sir Knights, Jamal is just inside," a few soldiers said ingratiatingly.


    "Pass down the orders. We''ll begin the general attack. Whoever captures him will be rewarded ten gold coins!"


    Knight Gray inattentively waved his hand, and the soldiers instantly charged in with reddened eyes.


    Looking at the villa, Fang Yuan had a sense of foreboding and waved his hands. "Garce, don''t contend with the guests for honor!"


    At the moment, the majesty of a lord and the prestige that he had built in the previous battles instantly unleashed their effect.


    Grace and ten guards did not move, and the soldiers gathered from the other territories did not dare to move, as they watched Gray''s subordinates charge into the villa.


    "Haha¡­ why bother? We need to let the lads train more¡­"


    Knight Gray smiled and said, "However, in the end, the person who achieves victory will definitely be my squire Arnold. He''s a small, burly fellow, and previously¡­"


    Rumble!!!


    Just as he was halfway through his words, a loud earth-shattering sound suddenly appeared.


    Large flames erupted from the villa and instantly devoured everything.


    Even the surrounding soldiers were affected, their ears in great pain. They collapsed onto the ground while wailing painfully.


    "This¡­"


    Knight Gray was thrown off his horse, his beloved mount running away, but he was completely not bothered about it, instead looking at the scene in front of him with a dazed expression. "What in the world is going on?"


    "It''s a trap!"


    Fang Yuan''s face turned dark. "They long knew our information and had organized a trigger spell, which should be a simultaneous release of the Fireball spell and the Explosion spell. To cause such massive damage also requires a huge amount of explosive crystals, this forbidden item!"


    After absorbing the memories of the sorcerer, he was very familiar with these things.


    The retaliation by Knight Frey was actually this forceful and horrifying! This even displayed a dismaying truth: the opponent had long known about the mission and specially arranged a trap.


    Furthermore, there were also other forces assisting them secretly.


    "With just a business territory, it''s definitely impossible to accumulate so many magical scrolls," Fang Yuan said resolutely.


    Of course, just with this, the effect was unusually good.


    Other than the twenty people under his command with small injuries, Knight Gray''s subordinates were mostly exterminated.


    Death came like a tsunami and annihilated many souls.


    "It was definitely a church! Other than them, nobody can use so many Fireball scrolls and forbidden items!"


    Knight Gray''s eye were completely red.


    Looking at this, Fang Yuan was slightly in a daze.


    Suddenly, a mysterious halo automatically emitted outwards and engulfed the grievances and dead spirits within the billowing flame, and a transformation rapidly happened.


    A halo with a dark color slowly materialized in his sea of consciousness, even becoming runes that had the power of magical skills.


    So originally, the cursed halo ability of the Disaster Halo was enhanced by large amounts of death and feelings of resentment!


    Therefore, Disaster Knights always loved battlefields, and in that year, Glendon even had the prestigious name of ''Death Hands''! Nearly every place they went to was full of wailing and despair.


    Curse? Fang Yuan''s mind was slightly distracted and immersed in a special insight.


    Swoosh!


    At this moment, a silhouette suddenly appeared from the surrounding shadows. The dagger in his hand was like a poisonous snake striking toward Gray''s neck.


    The assassinator Jamal!


    Caught off guard, Knight Gray did everything he could.


    Ping!


    A torrent of fighting spirit rays emitted from his body, and his shoulders bent to one side. His body instantly seemed to become shorter by a head, and even his stance had a transformation.


    However, in front of the assassinator''s sharp blade, this was all insignificant.


    The black dagger seemed to be able to swallow all the rays, and a mere light stab caused the fighting spirit defenses to be in complete disarray.


    Furthermore, the opponent''s arm seemed to be able to twist like a boneless snake and instantly change its position. The tip of the dagger continued to directly aim at the knight''s heart from various directions.


    An immense feeling of fear appeared in Gray..


    No matter what, he could not imagine that Jamal''s assassination technique was actually this horrifying.


    Furthermore, he had no doubt that the opponent could destroy him.


    Poof!


    The dagger penetrated his skin, but did not strike his heart. Instead, it opened a wound on Gray''s shoulder.


    The surprised assassinator came to a stop while maintaining a charging stance.


    "Disaster Halo: Weaken! It''s able to add additional negative statuses to selected enemies. Seems like the effect is decent."


    Fang Yuan nodded and instantly snapped his fingers. "Slow down!"


    A faint, yellow halo expanded and immediately enveloped Jamal''s body.


    "Kill him!"


    An assassin who had no speed, was stuck in a weakened state, and most importantly surrounded was simply a huge tragedy.


    After opening the enhancement halo, Grace and the rest were comparable to elite soldiers.


    After a simple round of fighting, Jamal was immediately penetrated by two giant swords and collapsed dead onto the ground.


    "Thank you, Knight Luhn!" Gray hurriedly thanked.


    "Wait up!" Fang Yuan stared at his wound. "His dagger was poisoned."


    "Hmm?"


    Gray looked at his wound and found that it had started to turn black and rot. More importantly, he actually did not feel a thing and became frightened. "Help me!"


    "I know little about herbs¡­" Fang Yuan blinked. "I''ll give you a suggestion: pray."


    "Pray that the Gods heal me?" Knight Gray was a little dazed.


    "No¡­ Pray that this assassinator has the antidote on him," Fang Yuan replied with a straight face.

 680 Great Failure

    About to enter the Netherworld, Knight Gray seemed to actually obtain the blessing of the Gods, letting Fang Yuan find the antidote successfully from Jamal''s corpse.


    Only, as he was applying treatment, his face had already turned black and his entire body had a slight fever.


    "Damn Jamal!"


    Gray''s spirit was still relatively decent. Perhaps it was due to a warrior''s physique, the antidote worked quickly. Within a short while, he was energetically cursing and scolding. "If he was still alive, I''d explode his brain! I swear!"


    "Mmmm."


    Fang Yuan happily drank his meat soup.


    Although Howl Manor had lost the villa and many of interior documents, the warehouses were still intact and the goods they contained were plentiful.


    These were all his treasures.


    "This isn''t good!!!!"


    Instead, it was Gray who nearly wanted to jump up after suddenly thinking of something after his bout of dizziness. "The baron''s in trouble! We need to immediately assist him!"


    Since Knight Frey had already prepared beforehand, and even set traps on one of the lands under his jurisdiction, the baron''s main force was naturally even less optimistic.


    "I know. However, it''s a shame that this incident has already happened."


    Fang Yuan made a regretful expression and passed over a letter. "A raven just sent news that the baron met with a massive failure. Even Mattus died!"


    ¡­


    Time moved slightly backward.


    Frey Territory, on a piece of flat land.


    Baron Shawshank brought three knights and an army comprising of nearly a thousand, while Sorcerer Heim covered his face and followed behind.


    This formation was being used to only suppress a small knight was practically like using a sledgehammer to crack a nut. Nobody believed that anything could go wrong.


    Unfortunately, sometimes destiny enjoyed playing jokes on mortals.


    Receiving intelligence beforehand, Knight Frey had long gathered all the forces under his command, obtained the assistance of a mysterious force, and set many traps.


    Furthermore, on the flat plains, more than seven hundred soldiers had assembled.


    This number and formation had already exceeded Baron Shawshank''s predictions.


    "Damn Haital! Even your family''s private soldiers are being completely used by them!" Baron Shawshank held onto a monocular and looked at the army formation not far away, seeming a little hesitant. "Heim, should we retreat for now and wait for the other knights to arrive? Especially Luhn, his ability will be very useful."


    After all, he was a baron that grew up in a peaceful era. The usual small battles were still acceptable for him, but at this moment of deciding his destiny, it was inevitable for him to worry about personal gains and losses.


    "Definitely not, Lord Baron!"


    Although Heim was a sorcerer, he also knew the ludicrousness within. "How would we withdraw a thousand people and ensure that the enemies won''t chase us? Even if we leave successfully, next time you''ll become very passive."


    If a baron was so frightened by a knight that he escaped, it would definitely become a huge joke.


    Furthermore, it would even humiliate the nobles.


    In a joint conference with the nobles, even Grand Duke Stan would sometimes face difficulty in giving orders.


    If the winds changed, confusing right and wrong, or even getting labeled as traitors, was completely possible!


    "Right now, we can only try our best to defeat them."


    Heim said gravely, "They only have seven hundred people, while we have nine hundred with reinforcements on the way. This is our advantage! Even if we''re in a stalemate, after waiting for the knights to clean up the other bases, the opponent''s camp will be in shambles."


    "Also¡­ I will unleash my magic to aid the army!"


    It went without saying that many of the sorcerer''s suggestions were not random utterances.


    It was only that he was overestimating the baron''s abilities and neglecting Frey''s strength.


    This combined difference was not something that a mere sorcerer could change.


    "Attack!"


    As the battle formations on both sides blew their horns, the knights urged their warhorses. While they were preparing to charge, Heim was also preparing the only large scale magic spell that he knew: Wild Wind!


    This spell could raise gusts of strong wind that blew sand and stones. Most importantly, its range was sufficient to cover the entire battlefield!


    Once enemies met with winds blowing the opposite direction and were blinded by wind and sand while still having to deal with enemy swords, how difficult would it be for them?


    Thus, this was a spell that could change the outcome of the small-scale battle. Heim had also relied on this spell to be accepted as a court sorcerer.


    Accompanying his chants, the surrounding breeze started flowing, and just as his spell was about to accumulate and materialize¡­


    Swoosh!


    Suddenly, a ray of pure holy light appeared in Knight Frey''s camp, directly charging into the Wild Wind spell.


    "Counterspell? Pastor!"


    Heim''s face changed and he howled, falling directly from his horse.


    In this realm, only a pastor could use this magical skill of disrupting another''s spell.


    Of course, most importantly, in order to disrupt a high-level spell such as Wild Wind, the pastor''s rank could not be too low!


    As for Heim suffering from the countercharge, it was not strange at all.


    For a spell with such a huge range, how great would the resulting damage be if forced to stop? If it did not cause him to directly plummet, it was because of his willpower being sufficiently strong and firm.


    "Pastor?!"


    However, once Baron Shawshank saw this, his limbs turned ice cold.


    A high-level pastor was not something that could be randomly created by a small Evil God cult.


    The only possibility was that there was an actual God standing behind the opponent! Furthermore, it could perhaps be those official churches!


    In the next instant, with the enhancement of the pastor''s spell glow, the two armies viciously clashed together.


    Without a doubt, the baron''s large army was utterly defeated.


    "The Gods made them braver! Made them fearless! Made them no longer fear death¡­"


    Not far away, Daniel looked at this emotionlessly, without a trace of movement on his face.


    His appearance in this battle indicated that the Church of Death was already standing opposite the ruling family.


    Furthermore, it wasn''t only the Church of Death. From what he knew, there were a few other churches that began interacting with a bunch of nobles opposing the ruling family like Frey.


    By the time the Noether Kingdom''s large army arrived, all of these relations would be brought to light.


    Grand Duke Stan seemed to have perceived it, thus carrying out this mission.


    Unfortunately, he overestimated his own power and the loyalty of the nobles under his command.


    At this moment, with the miserable defeat of the baron, huge amounts of dead were produced and many souls appeared.


    Seeing this, Bishop Daniel closed his eyes and prayed, "Praise you, Lord Hess. You control the Netherworld and is the home of all souls!"


    Instantly, a realm void opened up and completely accomodated the dead souls.


    This was the Netherworld, a place for the dead to rest in peace and where Hess'' God Nation was.


    Even though it was a God Nation with a True God, it only occupied a very small portion of the Netherworld. In the depths of the Netherworld, there were still many secrets awaiting adventurers to go forth to explore.


    ¡­


    After Fang Yuan obtained the news and hurried back to the baron''s castle, the situation was already at the stage of an irreparable defeat.


    "Lord!"


    In the castle, it was entirely full of wailing and despair. There were rumors everywhere that the Frey Army''s arrival was imminent, and every sound brought about the suspicion of danger.


    What was most worrying was the baron''s body.


    Ever since he faced this massive defeat and lost his successor, the baron was down with a serious illness and had not left his bed until today.


    But Fang Yuan was ultimately not an average person. After reporting, he was granted an audience with Baron Shawshank.


    "Luhn, Gray¡­"


    Seeing these two knights, the baron laughed bitterly. "It''s really good being able to see you¡­"


    He had suffered massive losses this time. Two of the accompanying knights had died, and his power descended into the depths of a valley.


    "I''m sorry, Lord Baron¡­"


    Gray kneeled on the ground with one knee. "We were caught in the enemy''s trap at the Howl Manor, and I also lost forty of my men!"


    "There is already enough bad news¡­ cough cough!"


    Baron Shawshank seemed to want to crawl up, but this movement instead expended all of his energy, causing him to fall into a vigorous coughing fit. "At the noble conference, those people who bully the weak and fear the strong actually announced that I was ''chaotically commanding'', while Frey retaliated through self-defense and was declared not guilty!"


    Fang Yuan calmly gave a few words of consolation, and after seeing that Baron Shawshank had some intention of seeing him off, so he instantly stood up and bid goodbye. "Lord Baron, no matter what happens, please take care of your health first."


    Inside the bedroom, there were only Knight Gray and the baron.


    "Lord, the situation has already reached this stage?"


    Knight Gray was a little dazed. Just a bit ago, they were clearly in a favourable position, so how did it suddenly become so terrible?


    "In reality¡­ it''s worse off¡­ cough cough¡­ this mission was thwarted, and not a single goal of the grand duke''s was fulfilled¡­ cough cough¡­"


    Baron Shawshank coughed violently, a huge dark red spot appearing on the handkerchief he used to cover his mouth. "Furthermore, a few churches have already changed sides. Even the grand duke compromising after being unable to withstand this pressure is a possibility!"


    "Once such a situation occurs, we will become very passive¡­"


    The look on Knight Gray''s face was very unsightly. If this situation occurred, there was an eighty percent chance that they would be banished as scapegoats.


    "We need to retaliate. At the very least, we can''t succumb to such a bleak and hopeless situation!!" Knight Gray tightly clenched his fist and suddenly looked at the baron. "About Childe Mattus¡­"


    "I have already decided to let Timo be my successor."


    Baron Shawshank closed his eyes and half-rested on the bed. "Also, what do you think of Luhn?"


    "Very strong¡­ and he is good at governing."


    Gray thought about Garce''s group and added sincerely, "Furthermore, his abilities seem to have improved further and is undoubtedly the successor of Death Hands."


    "I mean¡­." Baron Shawshank thought for a moment. "Tanya has already matured but still does not have a suitable candidate¡­ They are very suited for each other, aren''t they?"


    "I understand. I will choose an opportunity to raise this with Luhn."


    Knight Gray nodded.


    At this moment, they indeed needed to unite all powers, especially to rope in this future Quasi-Legend!

 681 Feigned Surrender

    Not long after Fang Yuan and his party entered the castle, Frey''s army suddenly appeared and surrounded the castle.


    "This time¡­ the wolf has really come!"


    Fang Yuan stood on the top of the walls and looked at the large, distant army.


    Under the aquamarine army flag, Frey''s army actually exceeded a thousand and had swept along large numbers of farmers holding pitchforks, guarding all the main roads to the mountain.


    "This¡­ is preparation for driving away people and sieging the castle?"


    Fang Yuan saw this and shook his head.


    Frey''s move was truly vicious, as the farmers he used were all able-bodied men that he grabbed from the territories under the baron''s jurisdiction!


    With the recent defeat inside the castle, the demoralized hundred-man army were completely unable to be used for long.


    Furthermore, no matter who died, it was not a matter of concern for Frey.


    "A baron''s castle is under attack, yet no nearby nobles reacted. It seems like the baron grasped righteousness and Frey grasped strength, while the other feudal lords all chose to watch from the sidelines?"


    To the baron, this was not good news, as it represented that there would be no reinforcements.


    "It seems like¡­ the ruling family is also a broken boat. Grand Duke Stan is probably deeply troubled, right?"


    Fang Yuan''s heart sneered silently.


    At this moment, a cavalryman charged out from Frey''s army and arrived before the castle, shouting loudly, "Knight Frey is a benevolent person. As long as Baron Shawshank admits his mistake and signs the statement of repentance, he promises that he won''t continue looking into this matter!


    "Otherwise, we will destroy the castle! What happens then is not something that anyone wants to see!


    "Even if the baron defies resolutely, if the other soldiers and knights choose to surrender, Knight Frey will definitely not look into the matter, and he''ll even guarantee your treasures, fiefs, and all rights!"


    ¡­


    "Hmph, protect our fiefs and treasures!"


    Knight Gray suddenly came to the side and he gave a pained look. "Who does he think he is? A baron? He''s only a mere knight and dares to do this¡­"


    "In fact, Knight Frey''s strength is already at the standard of an average baron. If the ruling family admits defeat this time, perhaps that title will be quickly conferred to him." Fang Yuan shrugged his shoulders. "The winner controls everything. It''s this easy!"


    "Knight Luhn¡­ You''re not going to¡­ "


    Gray''s gaze instantly became cold and a little wary.


    "Of course not. As a noble knight, accepting the forgiveness of another knight is simply shameful! I will fight to the end against them!" Fang Yuan said vehemently.


    In reality, he was just adhering to the game rules of the nobility.


    The controlling power of this world were the nobility and theocracy.


    Among the nobles, in order not to be regarded as a nouveau riche, you had to pay attention to details and implications!


    With Frey as an example, even if his military might was stronger, so what? Wasn''t he also ostracized and coldly treated by everyone?


    Even if he obtained victory this time, and even be invested with the title of a baron, he would still be faced with the nobles'' overt or covert rejection. Unless he managed to break through all of this, nothing would be changed.


    That was because within the eyes of nobility, he would always be ''the guy who broke the rules.''


    Conversely, Baron Shawshank had a long-established pedigree and legitimacy.


    Sometimes, birthright was not worth anything; sometimes, it was worth a mountain!


    "Furthermore, even if the Noether Kingdom is obtains victory, I''m afraid they''ll also not be too fond of him. Just like in ancient times, those who defected usually did not have good endings. On the other hand, it was the loyal officials, even if they were the enemies'' loyal officials, that would obtain recognition and honor. In the end, it''s just to strengthen this value."


    In the Monger World, it was the values of nobility that were propagated large scale.


    A nouveau riche like Frey would face immense difficulty squeezing into this circle within a few generations.


    Therefore, Fang Yuan would fundamentally not choose the other side.


    Although, if not for that perfectly justifiable inheritance, his method of building up fame and fortune would perhaps be similar.


    "Knight Luhn¡­.."


    Gray was deeply moved.


    Similarly under the command of the baron, even he was momentarily swayed just now. Right now, he was ashamed of his own selfish thoughts.


    "In reality, I feel that we can still kind of surrender." Fang Yuan winked.


    "You''re saying¡­ feign surrender?!" Gray''s expression changed. "You still want to continue this war?"


    "Of course. How can we be defeated for no reason? There are two hundred soldiers inside the castle, plus you and me, and all the servants. It''s sufficient for a battle!" Fang Yuan clenched his fist. "If we want to turn defeat into victory, this is our last chance."


    Knight Gray was a little moved and immediately said in a low voice, "This¡­ I need to report to the baron!"


    "Of course. For such a huge matter, we need the baron to decide!"


    In reality, Fang Yuan already had eighty percent confidence regarding the baron''s choice?¡ªthat he would approve of his proposition.


    That was because, right now, the baron already had nothing left to lose.


    ¡­


    Nighttime. The moonlight sprinkled down and all was as calm as water.


    In the darkness, Knight Frey brought a unit of elite cavalry and soldiers near the castle.


    "How large do you think the possibility is?"


    His hand pinched a letter, some doubt on his face.


    Beside Knight Frey, Bishop Daniel slowly said, "According to conventional thinking, the conditions that you gave were already sufficiently lenient. It isn''t entirely impossible for even the knights to be tempted."


    Although this era''s lords and vassals had familial relations with each other, they were definitely not as close and absolute as the eastern dynasties of Fang Yuan''s previous world. Instead, it mutually contained authority and obligation.


    Incidents of lords wanting their vassals to die and the vassals having no other choice were things that would definitely never occur.


    The lords'' orders being so ridiculous that the vassals refused to comply, causing both parties to unleash their armies, was instead more common.


    Furthermore, the loser would not even have everything taken away from then, preserving a little hope of staging a comeback. This was the benevolence of the nobility and the game rules within their circle. Of course, this was only directed toward other nobility.


    At this stage, with nowhere to go, it was reasonable for some knights to betray Baron Shawshank.


    "I also think so!"


    Knight Frey''s heart was a little fervent, as if he had already seen the moment he conquered the baron''s castle.


    In the late night, even if the castle lit their torches, it would not dispel the heavy sleepiness.


    In the silence, Frey waved his hand and a bandit came forward. With a sound mimicking a mouse, he called out three times with regularity. This was the appointed secret signal.


    Clang!


    Not long later, some slight disturbances seemed to come from behind the wall. Instantly, the main gates of the castle opened slowly.


    "Bishop¡­ see?"


    Looking at the castle gates resembling a black hole, Knight Frey hesitated once more. He turned toward Daniel with a gaze seeking help. "Mighty Death, could you direct me?"


    Archbishop Daniel instantly rebuked unhappily, "Knight Frey, we are the servants of the Gods and can only follow the will of the Gods. The Gods are high above. Why would they pay attention to something so trivial?"


    If Hess descended, even if it was a small tinge of will, whatever tricks the enemies inside the castle pulled would naturally be completely useless.


    However, the pastors and priests were only servants of the Gods. How could they ask the Gods to help them carry out tasks in turn? If it was instead a Son of God or the Pope, there might perhaps be an inkling of hope, but it was a mere dream for him.


    However, as a supporter of the Church of Death, Knight Frey''s requests had to still be fulfilled.


    Thus, Daniel closed his eyes and immediately replied, "I feel the aura of death! Right now, there should be some people who have already reciprocated your words in the castle!"


    "The fight is real?" Frey''s eyes lit up and he stopped hesitating. "Charge!"


    Shualala!


    Large numbers of soldiers carrying a desire for excitement and riches, or perhaps a mere desire for destruction, entered single-file while maintaining astonishing discipline.


    Soon, a safety signal was heard from the top of the castle walls.


    Seeing this, Frey lightly laughed and whipped his horse, charging into the castle.


    But what he did not know was that as he was charging to the castle gates, Fang Yuan, who was observing in the dark, immediately commanded, "Commence action!"


    Kaboom!


    An intense explosion appeared and a torrent of fire filled the castle gates. The surrounding soldiers were instantly torn into pieces by the windstorm or were simply thrown into the air and fainted dead away mid-air.


    "It''s a trap!"


    A magical light appeared around Bishop Daniel to defend him against damage. However, he listlessly saw that the original castle gates had already been buried by the rubble and became a natural moat that obstructed the outside from the inside!


    "Kill!"


    "Kill all intruders!"


    Bursts of shouts came from all directions.


    At the moment, Frey''s side had already lost their numerical advantage and also landed in an intricately arranged trap. Many of them were instantly killed by a torrent of arrows, and the army completely lost its structure.


    "Disaster Halo, commence!"


    On Fang Yuan''s body, two halos appeared and released intersecting glows that enveloped the battlefield.


    The advancement of the Disaster Knight originally required dead spirits and grievances. Coupled with a Dream Master''s talent, it was a simple task to create an illusion and hide the truth from a small pastor.


    "Disaster Knight!"


    Bishop Daniel looked at the invincible Fang Yuan who was charging into the crowds with a very bizzare expression. "Luhn, we meet again¡­ You''ve truly given me a huge surprise!"


    ¡­


    At the same time as the chaos outside, inside the depths of the castle, in the bedroom of the baron.


    A slight sobbing sound was heard. The baroness, Timo, and Tanya were all there looking at the baron on the sickbed.


    At this time, he had already reached the end of his life.


    The baroness saw Baron Shawshank constantly opening up his eyes and paying attention to the movements outside, so she walked up to tell him gently, "Dear, listen, the plan succeeded!"


    "Very good¡­"


    Baron Shawshank pointed at Tanya with great difficulty. "Whatever happens next will be passed to you. Tanya, you must help your brother¡­"


    After finishing his will, he looked at the direction of the noise. He was full of regret and unwillingness, yet he seemed ultimately unable to say anything as his arm powerlessly flopped onto the bedding¡­

 682 Promoted

    In the morning. The dawn sunlight shone onto the ground and turned into thin rays of golden strings.


    In the Shawshank Family castle, the atmosphere was not as happy and celebratory as it should have been, even though they had won a large battle.


    When they had defeated Frey''s troop, Baron Shawshank, the lord of the knights and owner of this land, had unfortunately passed away from heavy injuries, leaving a huge mess.


    On the other hand, there was no need to be tangled with Knight Frey anymore as he had died in an explosion the night before.


    However, Bishop Daniel survived due to his exceptional strength and was captured.


    At the moment, his hands and legs were tightly tied with a rope and placed with other valuable captives. They were sealed in an underground jail and awaiting their sentence.


    And in the baron''s living room, the baroness'' eyes were red and swollen, obviously having cried more than once.


    "Although Lord Baron has passed away, we should have Timo inherit his position to become the new Baron Shawshank!"


    Fang Yuan, Gray, and a few other important figures in the castle had gathered together. After a short discussion, they decided to give Timo the new title as lord. They had changed into a new set of clothes and bowed to the reserved and sorrowful young baron.


    Of course, considering that the baron was still young and could not manage much work, the baroness would takeover. This was only to be expected.


    "Ahem, ahem¡­ Everybody!"


    After they discussed a series of matters, Knight Gray coughed to gain their attention. "There is another matter that we have to discuss. It''s about the engagement of Sir Luhn and Tanya. When the baron was still alive, he had made a large effort to bring them together. At this time, we should let his soul in the Netherworld rest in peace¡­"


    "What do you think, Sir Luhn?" The former baroness looked at Fang Yuan.


    Even the soul of the baron was mentioned. What else can I say? Fang Yuan mentally rolled his eyes and made a hesitant expression. "I have no issues, but the baron just passed away¡­"


    "That''s alright. We can just settle the engagement first," said a scholarly man.


    "Alright, we''ll do it this way. Scholar Luwin, prepare the gift exchange formalities."


    The baroness rubbed her red eyes. "The baron was prepared to give Storm Hills to Sir Luhn as a dowry."


    "Storm Hills?"


    Fang Yuan was shocked.


    This was only a small hill and nothing compared to his territory.


    However, the key was that after the addition of this land, his territory would be completely linked with the thousand acre enclave where the Howl Manor was. Storm Hills would be the heart, and there would be at least two more knight territories newly added.


    In an instant, he would exceed many knights and become the top faction under the new baron.


    This is roping me in, but also isolating me!


    Fang Yuan looked around. Although many had smiling eyes, the meaning inside was somewhat thought-provoking.


    This was still under the premise that he had led the soldiers to obtain the great victory the night before!


    If there was no merit built before accepting the fiefs, he would most likely instantly become the object of public criticism?


    Fang Yuan laughed coldly in his heart, feeling the devious culture among the nobles. It was truly killing people without seeing blood.


    However, there''s no need to leave meat uneaten when it''s been sent to my mouth.


    He smiled. "Since this is the great kindness of the baron, I will thank him on behalf of Tanya."


    Looking at this, Gray looked down.


    If the baron could have held on until today and seen the great success Luhn had achieved the night before, he would have inevitably changed his way of doing things.


    Unfortunately, everything was now too late.


    However, it''s only an additional knight territory that allows Luhn to become the first knight under the baron. He''s still a newly promoted noble. To integrate the territory and increase his strength, it''s not something that can be done in a short time¡­


    Thinking about this, Gray became much calmer.


    Unfortunately, he did not know that there were people in the world that did things completely beyond the expectations of others.


    "Alright. One last thing is the captive problem!"


    Fang Yuan threw out this puzzle and silence fell, as if everyone was waiting for someone else to speak.


    Usually, an average defeated soldier would either wait for his lord or family to pay the ransom, or be reduced to a slave. There was long a set of conventions.


    However, what Fang Yuan was talking about was not the average soldiers, but Bishop Daniel, as well as the other liaisons of the churches.


    Without their help, Knight Frey would not have had the power to challenge the baron, or even surround the baron''s castle.


    However, aside from Fang Yuan, no one else had the boldness to be violent. After all, they were all from the churches. Even if they did meddle in the mortal world, they could not be casually judged.


    So everyone looked down and seemed to be pondering.


    Looking at this, Fang Yuan smiled. "Since no one has an idea, why don''t I suggest something? Let''s just give them to the grand duke as gifts"


    Although these captives were somewhat troublesome for a baron, they were not so to a grand duke.


    They could even be used as bargaining chips. Although they were not very important, it was still better than nothing.


    "That''s a great idea!" The eyes of the baroness lit up. Looking at how everyone else nodded in agreement, she immediately said, "That''s what we''ll do then."


    Looking at this, Fang Yuan coldly laughed inside.


    These nobles were afraid of the pressure of the churches and the Noether Kingdom, but did not want to lose their autonomy. All along, they could only act like ostriches.


    Unfortunately, they did not know that the Noether Kingdom might not have the chance to invade the Stan Duchy any longer.


    Because there would soon be a large change to this world!


    ¡­


    The Da Qian World, in the Heavenly Abode.


    A storm swept across and it was raining cats and dogs. The ocean, which was originally as silent as a virgin, transformed into a roaring, giant beast under the influence of the gale, setting off raging waves.


    However, under such a terrifying environment, there was a barque stubbornly surviving without sinking.


    Splash!


    A wave arrived. A huge amount of seawater gushed onto the deck, sweeping away many supplies and sailors.


    The mast of the barque was split in half. At the moment, it could only float along with the waves.


    "Hard to port!"


    Within the cockpit, Ge Fei was wearing a greyish shirt that exposed his solid chest and muscular abdomen. He bellowed hysterically, "Idiots, if you don''t want to die, hurry up and find a rope to tie yourself to the ship!"


    Due to the increased fighting spirit, he could stand as firm as a mountain. At the moment, his glare was as sharp as an eagle''s. "Ocean, you cannot stop me! I will definitely find the legendary treasure island!"


    ¡­


    After a night, the sky cleared and white seagulls chirped under the sunlight.


    The ocean had recovered its calm, as if everything that had happened the night before was only a nightmare.


    Ge Fei released the helm and returned to the captain''s room. He began writing a letter:


    To His Majesty the Respected Wellington,


    Very sorry. Due to the sudden storm, my ship couldn''t complete the ocean route on time, but please believe that I am more and more certain about my deduction. Our continent is not alone. On this world, there are still other brothers and sisters existing¡­


    Once again, thank you for your sponsorship that allowed me to have the possibility of sailing this ocean. According to the agreement, I will give all of the ocean charts and routes to Your Majesty. Yesterday, we encountered a huge storm. It has caused our course to change. We have no idea how far we are from the original goal. May the Creator bless us¡­


    ¡­


    "Captain, you should come out and take a look!"


    While Ge Fei was writing, hurried footsteps were heard. His first mate knocked on his door. "In front¡­ we discovered a harbor!"


    "Hmm? Harbor, this doesn''t seem like our supply island? Maybe we''ve been blown back to our hometown? Thank the Father God!"


    Ge Fei made a praying gesture.


    "No! This isn''t our city!"


    The first mate had a slightly terrified look. "This is a completely new world!"


    "A new world?!"


    Ge Fei was shocked. He went over to the observation tower and raised the telescope to look.


    In his vision, a large land appeared, a large harbor standing there silently.


    There was a large amount of vessels anchored, their styles totally different from the ships of the Avalon Empire.


    "Such a large harbor can probably be one of the five biggest in the empire? Also, there seems to be humans there as well," Ge Fei muttered.


    Suddenly, he said with a smile, "Everyone, we''ll all be recorded in history due to this discovery. Of course, we''re also going to be rich!"


    "Ahwhoooo!" the sailors cheered.


    In this era, those that were willing to risk their lives to be sailors were basically the poor or exiled criminals. The only thing that motivated them was wealth.


    Seeing their hope, they could not contain it anymore.


    "I''m not sure how big this land is. Could the empire send soldiers to conquer it, or just make it a business partner?"


    As Ge Fei was pondering, the harbor had also clearly discovered their vessel.


    After an uproar, few large warships drove out. Their vessel was surrounded by these warships.


    Ge Fei was quick to notice that their flag was a black mountain peak, but he did not know what it meant.


    At this time, an armored soldier appeared on the opposite deck and shouted in a language that he didn''t understand.


    If it was a normal Mountain Country person, they would know immediately that this was their patrolling navy officer giving a final warning to the intruder. "You have already entered the borders of the Mountain Country! Immediately drop your weapons and accept our investigation! Otherwise, there will be no room to talk!!!"


    ¡­


    Fang Yuan did not want to care about the conflict in the mortal world.


    However, at the instant when the Yin-Yang Continent and the Five Elements Continent met, a mighty force was produced and turned into a sacred white brilliance. It pushed the whole Heavenly Abode up.


    "The Heavenly Abode has been promoted!"


    His True Spirit that had returned formed ripples of surprise and joy. "If it continues like this, it won''t be just a dream to become a world in the future!"

 683 Incarnation

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 684 Assaul

    "Monger World! Receive my present!"


    In the Stan Duchy, Fang Yuan''s True Spirit returned to Knight Luhn as he said with a voice that only he himself could hear.


    Transformed Purgatory, birthing Evil Demons, and even spreading divinity were all plans he had long prepared.


    "Based on the ability of creation, one can refine origin power. First, they need an Evil Demon Placenta and a strong and large world. They will then be able to bear the influence of the origin power."


    This would allow the origin power to explode and disperse as countless pieces to produce Evil Demons.


    At the same time, it contaminated the entire Monger World.


    In the end, the scattered divinity would gradually gather from the slaughterings and reproducings to give birth to a whole new Sage Body.


    Through a large amount of cycles, he would be able to tame the origin power. It would also be the time when he would be able to conquer the Monger World!


    Because of the special nature of the origin power and Evil Demon Placenta, as well as the Purgatory that was transformed after his Sage Body invaded the Netherworld, Evil Demons were able to be produced continuously.


    As for the adverse effects in the process of refining origin power, they would be borne by the great beings and Gods of the Monger World, as well as all other living organisms.


    "The Evil Demons have an extremely minute amount of secondary origin power. This will gather in everyone''s body through slaughtering and reproducing. When it has become concentrated enough, it will become divinity!"


    The so-called divinity was in fact transformed from origin power!


    Anyone could own it. Moreover, its ability to assimilate was rather strong, bringing about a large strength as well.


    When this world''s great beings discovered this point, they would definitely be hunting for the power of divinity. And when enough divinity was accumulated, they could even light up the divine fire and promote as a Half-God or even True God!


    This was the unique characteristic of the origin power. One drop of it was enough to alter a whole world''s ecology and power system.


    Especially after the combination of the Evil Demon Placenta and Sage Body, it would be even stronger and much more terrifying!


    This power was the gift that Fang Yuan had given to the life of this world¡ªa kind of extraordinary refinement and the hope of promoting to a True God!


    Of course, due to the nature of the origin power, people with divinity would harm each other even if was not to plunder. Even if they were to be promoted to become Gods, it was not preventable.


    After most of the divinity had returned as one, it would be time for Fang Yuan to harvest!


    "Hmm, such people with divinity should have a name, Son of Apophis, or Son of the Nine Tier Purgatory? How about putting it more bluntly as Son of Massacre?"


    Fang Yuan was naturally now this body''s True Spirit.


    His Sage Body had changed into the Purgatory, but his True Spirit was able to escape and become one with his Magical Clone, becoming Knight Luhn.


    However, no one knew that this mere knight was actually the Master of the Nine Tier Purgatory!


    Under the will of Fang Yuan, the Evil Demons that had just been born started to invade many planes through the paths along the rivers of the Netherworld.


    The body of normal living beings could provide evolution energy for the Evil Demon.


    Even dead, they would also pollute the land, and even pass the gift onto the killer.


    In the end, this whole world would be fully polluted.


    Of course, the Monger World''s resistant had also been taken advantage of by Fang Yuan as the supplement to refine the origin power.


    These were his overall plans.


    Once it started, it could not be stopped. The conquering of the world would be sooner or later!


    Of course, there''ll definitely be Gods that won''t give up. They''ll organize their strengths and attack deep into the Purgatory¡­ Maybe also thinking of killing me!


    Although the Purgatory could not be destroyed, the Master of the Nine Tier Purgatory, Apophis, was a clear target.


    Even though Fang Yuan could draw support from the Purgatory, comparable to the Creator in his own Heavenly Abode, it would not be able to bear the siege of the Gods, even if the Sun God was not afraid.


    Thus, he had long prepared something small.


    Presuming that the Gods could eventually reach deep into the Purgatory after many injuries and much effort, they would be at the brink of collapse when they realized that there was no one there.


    ¡­


    "Knight Luhn!" Knight Gray walked over. "That sound¡­ did you hear it?"


    "I heard it. It''s not a hallucination!" Fang Yuan nodded his head seriously. "I''m afraid that there''ll be huge changes to this world!"


    "Sir!" A shocked attendant rushed over. "The village at the foot of the mountain has been attacked by unknown monsters!"


    As the Master of the Purgatory, he would naturally need to treat everyone in the world the same. Even the Stan Duchy and the baron would not be able to escape from the fate of getting attacked by the Evil Demons!


    "Lead a group of soldiers with me over for reinforcements," Fang Yuan said with a smile.


    Even with a human''s identity to conceal himself, he might still be exposed if he made contact with the gods.


    Thus, he needed to give himself another layer of protection.


    For example¡­ pretending to be a Son of Purgatory!


    Because the body of a Son of Purgatory had divinity originally, it would be best to use it to conceal the presence of Purgatory on his soul.


    ¡­


    Monger, Sun God Year 2666, the day of the inauspicious star. This was a day the people of the Main World and many planes had fresh memory of.


    Because on this day, the Nine Tier Purgatory was born, and the Master of Nine Tier Purgatory, Apophis, became the Great Evil God that was known to everyone for his unquestionable powerful strength.


    And this year was named by many historians in the Main World as the Year of Evil Demon''s Descent!


    The curtain of a new generation that was filled with chaos and slaughtering, but also extraordinary hope, was gradually lifted!


    ¡­


    Noether Kingdom, in a splendorous and majestic palace.


    "Your Majesty! An evil omen has suddenly appeared in the sky, as well as that voice! After the confirmation of many churches and Gods, it''s become known that it''s a powerful Evil God from a foreign world!


    "It has injured the Sun God and created the Nine Tier Purgatory in the Netherworld. It competes with the Death God to snatch souls, transforming them into ugly Evil Demons that have invaded many planes!" reported a few high officials and feudal officials in front of King Charlie III.


    "Such tragedy to come upon such a powerful Evil God! And such an unfortunate world¡­" Charlie the Great sighed. "However, such matters are far from us. There will naturally be concerned churches and Gods that step forward. What I want to ask is the effect of the Evil Demons toward my country."


    "This¡­ according to the information that was gathered, I''m afraid the situation is not optimistic."


    A few high officials looked at each other and said with their thick skin, "We suspect that the Evil Demons have achieved a very powerful space ability. Through the tributaries of the Netherworld rivers, they are able to travel to any part of the Main World. Most importantly, there are too many of them, and they are too strong!"


    With that said, a sorcerer came forward and showed a recording of a small Evil Demon on his crystal ball.


    "This is the most basic monster of the Purgatory, we call it ''small Evil Demon''. Its skin has flames and can resist poison. Its strength can be compared to a senior soldier. Of course, more importantly, it can fly at a low height! According to the data of the frontline, at least a group of five from the kingdom''s wild troop or a warrior at his initial stage is needed to defeat one of these small Evil Demons!


    "And such small Evil Demons will evolve after eating meat! Moreover, there are many kinds! Some will be bigger, while some can only strengthen their flight ability. What is fearful is that they can awaken abilities similar to magic techniques!"


    With the account of the high official, the screen also showed a weirdly formed Evil Demon. It had similarities with the small Evil Demon from before, but its claws were holding onto a large, red fireball.


    "We named this Evil Demon as a Flame Evil Demon. It has awakened the ability to use the Fireball skill. As this was unknown to us in the beginning, almost a hundred strong youths were killed by its explosion!"


    "Gods¡­" Charlie III sighed in agony. "Then, if we put it that way, it''s impossible for us to go the Stan Duchy again even if we gather our troops. Just by maintaining the order of our country, we have already suffered such great losses?"


    "Yes, Your Majesty!"


    A cabinet minister came out. "There''s an Evil Demon army that has arrived at Ripple Blue Flower Plains. That area is the main source of the country''s wheat, but there are not many troops stationed there. At the moment, there are already up to tens of thousands of refugees. Even a city was massacred. It''s rumored that at that city''s center, there''s an Evil Demon that is comparable to a Legend!"


    The Ripple Blue Flower Plains were governed directly by the royal family, as it was vital to the kingdom. As it was the heart of the kingdom, there were not many considerations for war situations, thus the poor defense.


    Once he heard the bad news, Charlie III felt a little dizzy and tottered over his seat, his hand supporting his forehead. "Forget it¡­ Cancel the operation aiming at the Stan Duchy! All the countries on the continent should be busy with disaster relief right now. Is there any more bad news? Say it all together."


    "There is indeed one more news!"


    A cabinet minister hesitated. "We discovered that grass does not seem to grow on the soil Evil Demons pass by¡­ Of course, this needs time for investigation. However, a situation has appeared for the officers and soldiers at the frontline."


    Woosh!


    The screen flashed and the figures of soldiers appeared.


    Their bodies were sturdy and tall. They were stark naked, presenting their solid muscles as well as their skin with a few scales.


    "These pathetic youths are all frontline soldiers. Some of them even crawled out from the pile of corpses. Some unique and unusual signs have appeared on their bodies. Our medical officers, and even our pastors, are at a loss of what to do and what happened. They could only name this as demonic illness!"


    "Damn it. Don''t tell me there''s also a plague¡­"


    Charlie the Great was at the brink of wailing.


    "It''s not this¡­" A brilliant light flashed in the cabinet minister''s pupils. "Actually, they are very healthy¡­ hmm, a little too healthy. The youths that were infected with the demonic illness have become much stronger than before, even breaking through their positions due to this.


    "Similar phenomena have also appeared among the Extraordinaries. However, they are better at controlling and don''t have any features of the demonic illness. But they have similarly gotten the gift from the Evil Demons!"


    "The gift of the Evil Demons¡­ Hmm¡­ if we can make use of it¡­"


    The eyes of Charlie III lit up, but promptly shook his head. He brought up the key point. "How did the churches react?"

 685 Disposition

    "Heresy!"


    Inside Hess Church, nearly hysterical howls were heard. "This is the power of the Evil Gods!"


    "Sir!" The colors on the faces of the few knights kneeling changed greatly. "We can swear that our belief toward Hess has never wavered!"


    Being the ones who fought the Evil Demons on the frontline, they were naturally infected with the demonic illness. After discovering abnormalities in their bodies, they instantly reported to the Church.


    However, what they received was this kind of treatment.


    Instantly, a slight unwillingness immediately spread in their hearts.


    "Purify them," said a bishop wearing a black gryphon robe..


    At the side, many church warriors instantly walked forward to tie the knights'' hands behind their backs, pushing them outside.


    After a while, shrill cries were heard.


    Seeing this, the bishop murmured and made a praying gesture. "May your souls return to the kingdom of the Lord to rest in peace, not stolen by the diabolic Master of the Nine Tier Purgatory¡­"


    The Purgatory was rooted in the Netherworld, and even contended for souls with the Death God. Naturally, it became the nemesis of Hess.


    Even if he had suffered massive injuries during the completion of the Nine Tier Purgatory, before he fell into a deep slumber, he still released an oracle to all his pastors to block the Nine Tier Purgatory at all costs!


    After waiting for the ''purification'' to complete, the bishop''s face was as stoic as an iceberg. "Inform the other churches that this demonic illness is an infection of the Evil Demons. Those who obtain power from the Evil Demons are abnormalities and should be burned alive!"


    In the spread of faith, there would always be violence and the suppression of heresy.


    An Inquisition was what every church needed to have. Of course, perhaps it was not named as such, but the responsibilities of the holy warriors were the same.


    "I believe that the other churches will also approve of this act," the bishop said gravely. "After all, Evil Demons are the nemesis of our entire world!"


    Of course, the necessary preventative measures and treatment methods had to be quickly developed, but that was not needed to be said now.


    Unfortunately, this bishop did not know about the infection speed of the power of the Evil Demons and the characteristic that it could not be eradicated, which would later bring despair to him.


    ¡­


    Out of the necessity of containing the Purgatory, the order for purification obtained the silent consent of many churches and was immediately implemented.


    The craziest one among them was naturally the Church of Death!


    As for the supreme Sun God? He seldom passed down oracles and did not seem to greatly need the Main World''s power of faith. Thus, the power of the main continent churches was very weak, only having a stronghold.


    However, even if it was just the Church of Death, the consequences it could bring about was also very horrifying.


    Having undergone bloody battles with the Evil Demons, those soldiers fighting on the frontline returned from the battlefield to be greeted with not fresh flowers and applause, but incarceration and burnings!


    ¡­


    In an area of the battlefield.


    Jay wore his armor and commanded a wave of fighting spirit.


    Whoosh!


    The strong fighting spirit was like a horse and penetrated an Evil Demon.


    That plentiful feeling came immediately, making him realize that his own power was further enhanced. This clear transformation made him couldn''t help but be obsessed with it.


    "The more I kill, the greater the power. Before long, I''ll exceed my bottleneck of fighting spirit and ascend into a high-level professional."


    Jay clenched his fist tightly, his eyes full of excitement.


    High-level professional, what did this mean? ¡­ Wealth, authority, status, and beautiful women would be easily obtainable.


    For an average professional, this was the dream. This was everything!


    However, he was somewhat scheming and always concealed his abilities. He did not tell anyone in order to shock them all.


    "Relieve the garrison!"


    Another day passed and the late reinforcements finally arrived.


    Seeing this, even Jay unconsciously released a deep breath, his entire person relaxing.


    Even he was unable to withstand such a fierce combat.


    After returning from the line of defense, a military judge came over and said in a stern voice, "Come. Queue up one by one to receive the treatment of the pastors!"


    "Which era is this that the country has become so generous? Even average soldiers can receive treatment from a pastor?"


    Jay blinked and suddenly felt that something was not right.


    Seeing the orderly soldiers queuing up and passing through a bright aperture, he associated it with a check and not a treatment.


    "Could it be¡­"


    An ominous possibility suddenly spread in his heart, making his hands and feet cold.


    "Next!"


    Unfortunately, the professionals were being monitored closely by the pastors and could not escape.


    Jay braced himself and came before the pastor.


    He glanced and found the other wearing a black robe with a gryphon embroidered on it. It was a Pastor of Death.


    "Detection Halo!"


    The pastor raised his hand and emitted the ray of a spell.


    If only discernment was required, it was much easier than healing, and the corresponding magic spell could be quickly developed.


    The aperture landed onto Jay''s body and immediately became fuchsia.


    "Oh? Warrior Jay, you need treatment. Follow me!"


    Jay could evidently detect the coldness in the bottom of the other''s eyes and shivered. "I¡­ What''s wrong with me? I am very good¡­"


    "Hehe¡­ This is a method specially used by the Evil Demons to transmit a plague using a concealment technique! Please believe us!"


    The pastor waved and two military judges directly walked over.


    I don''t believe you! Inside Jay''s heart, he rolled his eyes, but outwardly, he merely shrugged his shoulders. "Where do I go to be treated?"


    "Go to the white tent at the periphery. Please relax. It''s just a simple treatment and very quick," the pastor said smilingly, but his expression instead made Jay associate it with a viper.


    He reluctantly shuffled his feet over to outside the tent.


    Whoosh whoosh!


    Suddenly, a breeze passed by and lifted a corner of the tent.


    His sharp eyesight instantly revealed a soldier''s corpse collapsing in pain.


    "This is a trap!!!"


    The hairs on Jay''s back stood, and he subconsciously wanted to escape.


    Unfortunately, a magic spell landed on his body, immediately making him powerless and collapse onto the ground weakly before he was carried into the tent.


    Shackles, axes, and the pungent smell of blood made the entire place look like a massive slaughterhouse.


    Many soldiers were tied to the pillars and seemed like lambs waiting to be slaughtered.


    Jay looked around and saw many familiar faces. They were comrades who had previously fought alongside him, and he squeezed out a voice from the gaps of his teeth, "Why¡­ Why¡­"


    "Heresy!" The pastor glanced at him disgustedly. "A heretic must be purified! You should be grateful. Even though you have accepted the power of the Evil Gods, the Lord is still willing to accept your dirty soul!"


    "Heresy? It''s because of¡­ that power?"


    Jay had always thought that he had concealed it very well, but at the moment, he was devastated.


    "Yes¡­ Any person who accepts the power of the Evil Gods is committing heresy, regardless of whether they''re an average soldier, professional, or even nobles, and must accept ''purification''!"


    The pastor waved a sickle with a cold face and cut off the head of the captive nearest the front.


    Crack!


    The head rolled onto the floor and fresh blood spurted like a fountain.


    Does that mean that my ambitions¡­ will end here?


    Jay''s heart filled with desolation. Suddenly, he felt the power of the Evil Demon stirring in his body, as if it saw the most delicious prey.


    The tent was opened and another knight was escorted in. The feeling of power made him salivate.


    Take away everything he has and I can break through to a completely new level.


    A thought suddenly occupied Jay''s mind.


    "This is a knight?"


    The pastor executing looked at the newly arrived people and raised his eyebrows. "You are capturing the nobles?"


    "He is the most obvious heresy!"


    Two crazed believers said directly, "According to the orders of the Church, all heresy must undergo judgment!"


    "Heresy? Haha¡­ can''t believe that Knight Frain was devout in his beliefs towards Hess but, in the end, actually met with such an end!"


    The restrained knight let out a cold laugh, and suddenly his body shook.


    Crack!


    The ropes and curse were instantly shaken off, and like a vicious tiger, he jumped onto the leading pastor.


    "Damn it!"


    The pastor''s face changed as he retreated back. The guards at his side shouted loudly and brandished their weapons, swooping in to block.


    Thump!


    After a few clashes, many warriors had collapsed onto the floor, and Frain also had two long swords embedded in his body, causing fresh blood to constantly flow out.


    "Hehe¡­"


    He looked at Jay, his eyes suddenly filling with bizarre colors. "I can''t live anymore¡­ You really want it, right? I''ll give everything to you!"


    After saying this, Frain walked forward with large steps and clutched Jay''s palm, violently pushing the sword handle.


    Poof!


    The sword blade penetrated his heart, and this knight''s corpse collapsed weakly.


    As the knight was dying, Jay had already forgotten about everything happening in his surroundings as a mystical transformation was generated in his body.


    A strong power surged over and combined with the accumulation in his body, causing him to instantly exceed that bottleneck.


    A trace of actual power encircled his body and carried a little inheritance knowledge, making him understand everything in a flash.


    "So this is divinity? Now, I can be considered a Deity who can actually stimulate divinity! Son of Purgatory¡­ I like this name!"


    While he was speaking, flames raged, burning Jay''s body and causing his physique to undergo a massive transformation.


    A pair of wings protruded out, and he instantly transformed into an Evil Demon!


    Accompanying this change, the original restraints and magic curse also immediately disappeared.


    "Die!"


    Seeing that pastor, he directly swung a torrent of flames. The scorching glow and temperature rapidly swallowed him.


    Whoosh!


    Wild winds blew and caused the tent to be blown to pieces. The human-shaped Evil Demon flew upward into the sky and looked down on the dazed army. "From today onwards, my name is Jay! The Son of Purgatory, Jay!!!


    "Church of Death, wait for pain and suffering to descend!"


    After saying this, he flapped his wings and disappeared into the horizon.

 686 Transformation

    In the Year of Evil Demon''s Descent, accompanying the war with the Evil Demons, the first batch of Deities appeared among the humans.


    They could transform into an Evil Demon and absorb power from killing and fresh blood. Of course, the fastest method was still killing each other.


    The most important thing was that being Deities gave them sufficient concealment abilities. Ordinarily, they were completely the image of an average person. As long as they did not actively reveal themselves, even a pastor''s magical abilities could not tell the difference, unless a Legend pastor carefully investigated or they entered the domain of an actual God.


    And more and more infected appeared, causing the Church of Death, which implemented the ''purification order'', to become the target of public criticism, leaving them with no choice but to withdraw the Inquisition.


    After all, the rate of infection of the demonic illness was really too high, and there were no effective preventative measures nor treatments. If this was really implemented, there would be no soldiers willing to enter the battlefield in the future.


    This was also one of the properties of origin power¡ªthe horrifying infectivity and its nearly unsolvable irreversibility.


    Naturally, the demonic illness created by the fusion of secondary origin power and the Evil Demon Placenta could actually be relieved. A True God''s power could definitely expel it, but it was a problem of efficiency and cost.


    Even to ''exorcise'' the most average soldier, a bishop-level pastor was needed. Looking at the sea of people, if there was a True God that dared do something like that, the ultimate outcome was definitely one that was unmanageable and would cause all their powers to be completely expended.


    In addition, the soldiers with the demonic illness only looked a little strange, and their mental states were still clear. Extraordinaries could even actively suppress these abnormalities, having no difference with ordinary people, and were gradually accepted by the people in the world, who no longer deliberately gathered to attack them.


    Of course, secretly in the various churches, although there was some relaxation in the surveillance of those infected with the demonic illness, the surveillance of the Deities were instead greatly enhanced. Once they were discovered, they needed to be captured and burned at the stake. This was the unanimous decision by the True Gods!


    Thus, the Deities concealed themselves even more covertly, and their conflict with the church''s Gods gradually became greater.


    ¡­


    Time flew by, and soon, it was Sun God Year 2670, four years since the day of misfortune.


    Stan Duchy, Storm Hill.


    Luhn, an embodiment of Fang Yuan, rode a horse and inspected his territory, going to and fro.


    Four years was insufficient to cause his body to age, seeming more mature and filled with charm.


    Looking at it, the grains in the territory were growing and blossoming. A breeze blew, sending the golden wheat fields tumbling, and the fortress not far away could be faintly seen.


    This was naturally Fang Yuan''s design to congregate the originally scattered serfs and unify control. High walls were constructed in all four directions with a watchtower in the middle. If anything happened, a warning could be instantly sounded and the serfs could retreat into the fortress.


    The existence of a ditch and high walls caused the originally romantic and idyllic scenery to contain an atmosphere of warfare and slaughtering.


    However, there was no choice. In order to face a potential attack by the Evil Demons, this was a necessary precaution. Furthermore, this was copied by many nearby feudal lords, who constantly promoted it in the Stan Duchy.


    Fang Yuan stopped on a spot among the hills, looked down onto the maize plains, and said while smiling, "Seeing that this year''s harvest is decent, I''m relieved!"


    "Yes, Sir. After inspecting the land and combining Storm Hill and Howl Manor, we have two thousand acres of arable land and five hundred acres of sloping fields!"


    As for the land on the hills, Fang Yuan would naturally not let it go derelict, but instead make the best use of it. Anything that could be reclaimed would be reclaimed, and it could still be used to plant fruit trees and the like.


    After conversion, two thousand and five hundred acres of farmland was equivalent to fifteen thousand mou in ancient China, and could be considered the amount of land a powerful landowner would have.


    After a slight estimation, Fang Yuan knew that the harvest in the territory this year would be plentiful. Being able to have nearly two million tons of harvest was the outcome of him unleashing the production boosting method. Unfortunately, it was still troublesome to promote and should not be too conspicuous. Nevertheless, if there were no major natural or man-made disasters in the coming year, the harvest would definitely be more bountiful.


    Such a yield, if taking everything into account, would be sufficient to support five thousand people.


    In fact, in the current territory, there were only about three thousand people and a standing army of three hundred that could entirely be counted as military strength.


    However, in this era of war, only this would suffice.


    Compared to the territories of the other knights, viscounts, and barons, the people under Fang Yuan''s command were already considered very fortunate.


    At least, there was a safe fortress for them to stay in. Furthermore, once they encountered an Evil Demon, Knight Luhn would instantly lead the army to deal with it.


    In the heart of the continent, within a few human empires, the Evil Demon disaster was extremely fierce. It was rumored that there were already many extinguished kingdoms, and many nobles and royal families had no choice but to escape.


    Instead, for areas like the Stan Duchy that were at the fringes of human civilization and was thinly populated, the demon crisis was not too serious yet.


    Although Marseille''s various reports were still ringing in his ears, Fang Yuan sighed. "Just¡­ such good days are finally ending."


    After four years had passed and the hugh price that was paid, this world was already gradually getting accustomed to the demon crisis, while many issues and conflicts which were held up previously were finally floating to the surface.


    For example, the destruction of the central kingdoms had caused massive powers to spread to the fringes.


    Even the Noether Kingdom suffered much coveting.


    Although in the views of the former central nobles, the Noether Kingdom could only be considered a remote and backward place, and the Stan Duchy an uncivilized region that could not even be considered as one, they could not withstand the impact of the Evil Demons even a bit.


    Now, without discrimination, these original ''wastelands'' instead became a land of idyllic beauty!


    Many nobles intended to set up a few territories here and even migrate their entire families.


    For the indigenous nobles, this was naturally a catastrophe. Even a nation as powerful as the Noether Kingdom could not resist the invasions and control of the originally powerful central nations and, at this time, had nearly already become a semi-puppet state.


    Under the threat of the Evil Demons, the human nations continued to mutually deceive each other and contend for power and profits. No matter how you looked at it, it seemed like seeking death, but these incidents still occurred nonetheless.


    After the Noether Kingdom was controlled, the original "Stan Duchy Strategy" was about to be launched once again.


    Furthermore, this time, it was definitely not just a small battle, but a war of life and death!


    "What is more lamentable is that even at this moment, the nobles of the Stan Duchy are still within the midst of chaos and inner conflict¡­ or they actually know of the impending dangers but chose to escape like an ostrich, thinking that by burying their heads in the sand and pretending not to know anything, they could get away from it?"


    Silently sighing, Fang Yuan returned to the fortress.


    Under the support of a few maids, a beautiful noble lady wearing a long, loose robe came forward to greet him smilingly, "Sir has returned!"


    This was Tanya, Baron Shawshank''s daughter and Knight Luhn''s current wife.


    Right now, her stomach was bulging, evidently having new life inside.


    To a feudal lord, this was unquestionably important. Having a future generation meant that the talented subordinates would have a person to continue expressing their loyalty toward and the relationship between the lords and their vassals could be maintained, and even passed down for hundreds and thousands of years.


    At least, Fang Yuan felt that after he had married and Tanya got pregnant, his subordinates became a little more diligent and more willing to express themselves.


    If converted to numbers, their loyalty scale probably increased by a few hundred points.


    "Mmm, it''s been hard on you."


    The path of a Sage moved with the world and would receive emotions without weariness.


    Fang Yuan showed a gentle smile as he walked forward to support Tanya. "How do you feel today?"


    "Great!"


    Tanya smiled, and her smile nearly filled up her face.


    After all, Fang Yuan was not a person of this world and was very thoughtful and respectful toward females. This feeling made the noble lady filled with happiness, especially in comparison with the other unfaithful noble.


    In reality, she did not know that Fang Yuan was currently only hard at work performing the role of the Knight Luhn.


    Just like a celestial being descending into the mortal world, the mortal relationships would ultimately only remain in the mortal world, which passed as the generation ended.


    After enjoying dinner with the lady and conversing with her for a while, Fang Yuan came to the study and started managing the official duties of the day.


    Garce, Marseille, and a few other subordinates respectfully stood at one side and waited.


    "That relative of mine, the current Baron Shawshank, has sent me an invitation."


    Fang Yuan quickly browsed through the document and saw the final invitation. "He is about to hold a wedding. Marseille, go and help me prepare a gift."


    Timo could be said to have obtained his position without much effort, but the authority of the baron had always been grasped in the hands of the former baroness.


    However, she now had no choice but to give it up. After all, it was said that her body condition was getting worse. Furthermore, no matter what, marriage was the symbol of a male maturing and the former baroness had no reason to object.


    "Actually, Timo''s future wife is very intriguing."


    Fang Yuan thought more than that.


    Originally, with Timo''s status, he could marry the daughter of a baron or a viscount, while an earl or marquis was a little higher up the social ladder.


    However, the invitation mentioned that this new wife of his was actually the daughter of


    Grand Duke Stan!


    The taste of politics and shady deals could be clearly detected even for a layman.


    "In other words¡­ there will be an upheaval in the Stan Duchy?"


    Fang Yuan looked on with a cold look, feeling that no matter how he saw it, there were problems with this marriage.


    He had been in this world for more than four years, so even though he was only using the Knight Luhn identity to farm, he wasn''t sitting around doing nothing.


    Soon, a new piece of intelligence landed in his hands, and he immersed in deep thoughts.


    "The headquarters of the Church of Death is relocating? The location is not set yet, but it''s highly likely to be in Noether or the Stan Duchy. This¡­ really makes one speechless."


    Due to the purification order previously, the Church of Death met with serious setback and animosity. Coupled with Hess suffering from massive injuries and falling into a deep slumber, the situation was not optimistic.


    Furthermore, they had already descended from a first rate power of the continent to second or third rate one. They could no longer resist the demon crisis inland and could only relocate seemingly on the verge of defeat.

 687 Approximation

    The churches of the Monger World naturally regarded their True Gods as their core.


    Hess was the Death God and his God Nation was situated in the Netherworld. All souls after death had to go through his screening before being able to ascend into a God Nation or into the depths of the Netherworld. He was perceived as fierce and ferocious. The Church of Death relied on this power, and their influence in the human world was tremendous.


    To no avail, he had faced Fang Yuan who had taken along origin power. Even the Sun God was heavily defeated, while the outcome of Hess overestimating his ability was heavy injuries and sinking into a deep slumber.


    Most importantly, the appearance of the Nine Tier Purgatory directly changed the terrain of the Netherworld. Contending for souls with the Death God was definitely adding insult to injury in Hess'' views.


    Thus, in these years, it was said that this Death God was always in deep sleep and had few moments when he woke.


    The Gods'' injuries were usually very difficult to recuperate from. A God Nation and church that was constantly deteriorating could obviously not provide any assistance.


    Despite this, with the foundation of the Church of Death, deteriorating within the mortal world should have been a very slow process. Unfortunately, the previous Pope just had to seek death by releasing the purification order, pretty much offending the majority of the soldiers fighting at the frontlines, thereby incurring endless hatred.


    Not to mention, among those hunting down the Deities, it was once again the Church of Death taking up the largest share. Thus, the retaliations that they suffered greatly damaged their vitality.


    Adding up all these reasons, in the short span of four years, the Church of Death was unable to keep a foothold in the heart of the continent and had to relocate their headquarters.


    However, the location was coincidentally in the direction of the Noether Kingdom.


    Numerous thoughts flashed in Fang Yuan''s mind, and combined with the general situation of the migration of the central nobles, it instantly made him understand that the relocation of the Church of Death''s headquarters had very likely become the pawn of many powers.


    Of course, a church possessing a True God could not be handled at one''s discretion even if it had deteriorated. Thus, it would not have been forced to relocate, instead moving along with the tides and gaining profits in risk.


    "It wants rebirth here?"


    A sneer appeared at the corner of Fang Yuan''s mouth.


    Evidently, those pastors and bishops, and even the True Gods, could not possibly know that the Church of Death once again made a fatal mistake, actually moving their headquarters to under the eyes of Apophis, their enemy and the Master of Nine Tier Purgatory!


    "As the baron''s marriage will be carried out in the Stan Duchy''s capital, I''ll go there directly. Also¡­ as my wife is pregnant, she doesn''t need to go."


    Fang Yuan made his decision and waved his hand. The people around him knew to retreat.


    After waiting for everyone to leave, he slightly concentrated and his stats window appeared:


    "Name: Luhn (Fang Yuan)


    Hidden God Name: Apophis (Master of the Nine Tier Purgatory)


    Essence: 100.0 (200)


    Spirit: 100.0 (200)


    Magic: 100.0 (200)


    Godhood: Death, Slaughter, Evil Demons


    Profession: Warrior (Legend), Disaster Knight


    Cultivation: Fighting Armor, Disaster Halo (Level 5)


    Specialization: Medicine [Level 3], Botany [Level 6] (Maximum), Fiery Golden Eyes [Level 3]"


    "This world''s Legends are actually Domainers! Equivalent to the Da Qian World''s Dream Master, True Elementals, and True Sages. Of course, they''re still slightly weaker as they lack authority."


    This portion that they lacked was the Godhood! The specialized domain bestowed by the world!


    "Although rules have been set, the advantage is that it can endlessly expand and accommodate believers in the domain, becoming easier to achieve the state of spiritual synchronization, thereby creating great power. This is a True God!"


    Compared to the powerful beings of the Da Qian World, the Gods unquestionably had wider power and authority, and could even build their own God Nations. It was similar to the existence of the Heavenly Abode.


    "Only¡­ relying on a gift of the world, there will definitely be restrictions. Needless to say, to maintain a large domain requires the believers'' power of faith as a supplement. Once it cannot match up to what is consumed, the Gods would descend into a deep slumber or even death."


    Regarding the pros and cons of this world''s Gods, Fang Yuan could be said to be extremely well-versed.


    It was precisely because of this that he did not overly unearth the godly powers of Apophis.


    "Right now, I can only really be considered a slightly special Legend. Only in the Nine Tier Purgatory am I able to recover to the peak of my abilities."


    Of course, blowing Luhn''s trumpet was intended to disguise himself, and ability was actually not important.


    Anyway, if he dared to challenge the entire world at the moment, he would definitely face being suppressed by all the Gods working together.


    After all, unsealing the origin power could only be done once.


    At the moment, it had already properly fused with this world. In other words, the entire world''s energy was being used to refine it.


    "The gathering of divinity also requires a process!"


    Fang Yuan raised his palm and a faint dark glow suddenly appeared on top.


    "As the Sons of Purgatory inherit the power of Apophis, they control divinity, allowing them to obtain a longer lifespan, unparallel martial arts talent, and astounding control in magical skills and resistance. They even obtain the ability to adapt to a variety of harsh environments and have powerful disguises¡­"


    It could be said that a Deity was a God in reserve.


    This temptation could not be resisted even by the Legends of this world.


    According to Fang Yuan''s intuition, there were already many Legends investigating the powers of divinity, even actively merging with it to obtain the possibility of a breakthrough.


    Furthermore, the first Half-God had already been born and was currently eyeing the Godhoods with ambition!


    "Hmm?"


    Just at this moment, he had sensed something and looked toward the direction of the Stan Capital with a contemplative smile.


    ¡­


    "This is the location of our future headquarters?"


    Stan Capital.


    A large procession slowly entered the city gates.


    On one of the high towers, an old man wearing a violet-gold ferraiolo with a golden crown on his head watched silently.


    Behind him, a few archbishops sighed.


    "This was something that couldn''t be controlled!"


    The old man dressed as the Pope shook his head. "With the Lord in deep sleep and animosity in the central regions, we would be seeking our death there. Instead, being on the outside gives us more possibilities. Such as this Stan Duchy. When the first generation Grand Duke Stan was building it in the beginning, it was just a barren and desolate land. Currently, it''s very decent¡­ Furthermore, there are still few Evil Demons."


    "Only¡­ there are too few believers here, and the policy of the Stan Duchy is to centralize royal power," an archbishop added.


    "This definitely must be changed. Of course, it''s also a good thing. As it is a desert of believers, more lambs can be created," the Pope said slowly. "First, we need to obtain sufficient authority from Grand Duke Stan."


    "Truthfully, him agreeing to us relocating, and even having our headquarters in the capital, is indeed unbelievable," said a bishop behind him.


    "This is, of course, because of a transaction¡­ To a true noble, there is no such thing as eternal friendship or eternal hostility¡ªonly eternal interests!" The Pope''s laughter carried some profound meaning. "This requires us to pay something, but compared to what we get, it is definitely worth it. The time is half a month later during the wedding of the duke''s daughter."


    After waiting for all the bishops to leave, the face of the Pope was not as relaxed as before, having a tinge of solemness as he looked at the land.


    He was very clear that the source of the church was still with the True God!


    If Hess was unable to recover, no matter how many lambs he domesticated in the mortal world, it would ultimately not help the situation.


    Of course, as the earthly spokesperson of the Death God, he knew quite a few secrets.


    For example¡­ soon, something huge would occur to the Netherworld!


    This was the absolute secret of the Church of Death and the true plan of the Gods.


    Everything that happened in the mortal world was merely a smokescreen!


    However, this Pope did not know that concealed within smokescreen, many shadows were also converging.


    ¡­


    "It''s already been confirmed. It''s truly the people of the Church of Death."


    After observing for a long time at a corner of the city wall, a youth dressed as a beggar stood up and turned into an alley. Not long later, he came to a secret room and reported to a person entirely covered with a cloak.


    "It seems like¡­ it''s true that the Church of Death wants to relocate its headquarters."


    The person in the cloak nodded and flung out a silver coin.


    "Thank you, Sir!"


    This lad from the outskirts instantly bowed ecstatically and retreated out.


    After he waited for the beggar to leave, the cloaked person came to the other side of the secret room and opened up the wall. "My Lord!"


    Inside was shockingly what appeared to be an altar.


    A lot of fresh blood encircled to become an array, bringing about a pungent stench that made one want to vomit.


    Inside the middle of the altar was a statue of a very lifelike Evil Demon with a huge body and gentle eyes.


    He lifted up his cloak, revealing a scarred face, and kneeled down loyally. "Lord Jay, the Lord of the Evil Demons, the Son of Purgatory, your believer Hal loyally reports to you that the Church of Death has already entered the Stan capital."


    Buzz buzz!


    With the prayers of Hal, a layer of blood suddenly appeared on the statue.


    Immediately, a shrouded silhouette seemed to fuse with the statue and a raspy voice was transmitted, "Hal, my believer!"


    If there was a decent pastor there, he could definitely see with one look that this was a standard "false God"! It had a portion of the Gods'' abilities but did not have the actual Godhood.


    A few Legends were unable to obtain the approval of the world, and in order to break through, they would usually apply such a tactic.


    Of course, they were the targets that various churches were severely striking at.


    "I need you¡­ "


    The words of the false God continued while Hal modestly bowed his body and silently listened.


    ¡­


    In a cavern an unknown distance away, Jay lifted up his head and looked toward the direction of the Stan Duchy while muttering endlessly, "My believer¡­ I require you destroy the plans of the Church of Death at all costs. I will dispatch more believers there¡­"


    After a moment, he ended the transmission and a cold smile appeared. "Hess¡­ don''t think that nobody can discover your plans!


    "When that day comes, I''ll certainly give you a surprise!"

 688 Shadow

    After the autumn harvest, time gradually flowed into winter.


    For the people of the Stan Duchy, an important festival was about to arrive.


    Celebrating the day of the founding of the duchy, a massive celebration would be carried out in the capital city, Santana. To increase the festive atmosphere, the ruling family would also be distributing free food and alcohol. This was perhaps the only opportunity in the year the lower class serfs could eat until they were full.


    The founding celebration this time seemed to be grander than before. Many nobles had rushed over from faraway, making Santana City look like a sea of people.


    This was all because the beloved daughter of Grand Duke Stan, Princess Amerie, was about to marry!


    It was rumored that this princess had a voice akin to as skylark and was a favorite of the Grand Duke and his wife. However, for unknown reasons, the person she was marrying was actually not some earl or marquis, but just a baron.


    At first, when they received this news, a huge commotion broke out among the noble circles of Santana City.


    There were many noble youths whose hopes were dashed and wanted to find Baron Shawshank for a duel.


    "Relax, Timo. Have the stature of what a baron should have!"


    In this atmosphere, a simple noble procession entered the city in a low-profile manner.


    Riding his horse, Fang Yuan looked at Timo beside him, smiling and encouraging, "Relax! Those people won''t receive information about you entering the city."


    Although Timo was already twenty-one years old, he was still a shy big boy, even seeming a bit too frail.


    Hearing the words, he instantly gave a bitter laugh. "But¡­ there''s no way I can avoid the wedding ceremony!"


    He had always regarded Knight Luhn as his elder brother.


    Fang Yuan smiled and bantered, "To be honest, you being able to pluck the most beautiful flower out of all the Stan flowers is really too unexepected to too many people¡­"


    Hearing this, Timo blushed a little. "I also don''t know what''s going on. The royal family''s envoy suddenly announced this marriage. I heard¡­ that this was my father''s arrangement that year. She was originally supposed to marry my elder brother¡­ "


    "So it''s like that!"


    Fang Yuan nodded his head.


    As the royalist, it went without saying that the previous Baron Shawshank had communication channels with the ruling family.


    However, Fang Yuan found it hard to understand what that baron had actually done, or what feats he had actually accomplished, to reach the extent of Grand Duke Stan permitting his beloved daughter to marry down.


    As he was thinking, their group arrived at a villa.


    Here, a somewhat unexpected person seemed to have long been waiting for them.


    "It''s been a long time, Lord Baron, and¡­ Knight Luhn!"


    Bishop Daniel wore a black robe and stood smilingly in front of the villa that they were preparing to stay in.


    Fang Yuan glanced at the other''s golden thread on his ferraiolo and smiled, saying, "So it''s Bishop Daniel. Oh, no, Archbishop!"


    The strength of the Church of Death was greatly damaged, but it also brought about some benefits. For instance, Daniel, who originally was not qualified enough in strength nor status, not only was not investigated for the shame of defeat, but instead was promoted to the position of archbishop.


    After all, the entire Church of Death was relocating to the Stan Duchy and had to promote and assign some local appointments.


    Seeing this person, Timo''s entire body shivered and was a little frightened, but also had a little resentment.


    This expression was observed by Daniel, further making his smile wider. "I haven''t congratulated you yet, Baron. Congratulations on marrying the wife of your heart''s desire!"


    Fang Yuan asked loudly and clearly, "You came representing the Church?"


    "No. Only representing myself." A small gleam flashed through Archbishop Daniel''s eyes. "And Knight Luhn, your wisdom and chivalry remains fresh in my memory!"


    Is this guy here to take revenge? Coming here to inform the other party so brazenly, is it to see the enemy''s fear? Or is he just a total idiot?


    Fang Yuan looked at Daniel''s performance and a trace of suspicion flashed through his eyes.


    "The Church''s Headquarters will be relocating to the Stan Duchy later. We will have many future opportunities to work together, like this time, where the baron''s marriage officiant is the Pope. Farewell"


    Archbishop Daniel smilingly bowed and left, while Fang Yuan pitifully glanced at Timo.


    Although it was indeed a very honorable thing for the Pope of a True God church to preside over a wedding, but letting the Pope of Death be the officiant?


    Timo evidently also thought about this awkward scene and couldn''t help becoming flustered.


    Seeing off Daniel and looking at the soldiers and servants carrying the luggage, a thought suddenly flashed through Fang Yuan''s mind. "However, if the Church of Death has enough ambition, by cooperating with the Stan Duchy, they can indeed obtain much more."


    If the Church of Death cooperated with other forces, even if they divided up the Stan Duchy, they would at most be allocated a small portion.


    However, if they worked together with Grand Duke Stan and cooperated in resisting external forces, although it was a little risky, they would obtain many more benefits should they succeed.


    From this, the personality of the current Pope of Death could be seen, and he was definitely not old-fashioned.


    It''s also only right. Only this kind of person would simultaneously form such a plan in the mortal world and also cooperate with the Gods to cause an uprising in the Netherworld. It''s unfortunate¡­ He was originally a good ally for Grand Duke Stan.


    ¡­


    "Archbishop!"


    After Daniel left the cottage, he boarded a horse carriage.


    The aide respectfully bowed and, shortly after, drove the carriage away slowly.


    Daniel closed his eyes and silently thought, Knight Luhn was previously a high-level professional. Now, I''m afraid he has already ascended into a Quasi-Legend?


    This time, the Pope intentionally joined forces with the Stan Office. In other words, he and the Shawshank forces of the royalist party became allies.


    Although it seems a little bizarre, in the upper class world, it was a really common matter in the face of benefits.


    However, with this general direction, would the individuals involved really be able to forgo everything?


    Archbishop Daniel closed his eyes, and it was as if he had instantly returned to the night of the castle ambush.


    The frightening flames and astonishing falling rocks, the gleeful soldiers and knights¡ªeverything was so vivid. His fists clenched tightly.


    "Princess Amerie marrying a lower class man of the Grand Duke''s is just a cover. During the wedding, a truly huge transformation will happen!"


    Daniel suddenly opened his eyes and released a bright light. "Now, so what if one or two knights died? Furthermore, in this aspect, there are people willing to provide assistance to me."


    ¡­


    Santana was built by the first Grand Duke Stan, and afterwards, it had continuously expanded, having various very complete functional zones.


    Other than the palace that the ruling family resided at, its close neighbor was the living quarters of the nobles.


    Among them, there were around ten buildings that were particularly magnificent, directly facing the plaza and a huge, marble sculpture.


    This was the glory bestowed upon by the first Grand Duke Stan, who especially built a lavish living quarters for the Legend knights, and its style was even a match for the palace.


    At this moment, somewhere in an earl''s mansion.


    The current Earl Floren was receiving a noble guest.


    The guest wore a black robe and had a cold expression, and his aura had an unparalleled fierceness that also brought some gloomy cold air. Generally, it was very similar to the atmosphere of spies.


    "You¡­ came representing the secret agency?"


    Earl Floren played with the spotlessly white porcelain in his hands, looking at the swirling black tea inside, and couldn''t help laughing. "Weren''t you all always interested in the ''Descender'' from another world?"


    According to his intelligence, they were currently muddling along uselessly on the continent.


    After Apophis, the most powerful Descender and the Master of the Nine Tier Purgatory, had descended, the secret agency had become a laughing stock.


    How would they seize a powerful Evil God who could directly defeat the Death God and the Sun God?


    Although it was rumored that the secret agency had indeed formed a number of insane plans to attack the Purgatory, it was clear that they had not been carried out once. Even going to the Netherworld to explore was seldom carried out.


    "Lord Earl, don''t pretend that you know nothing!"


    The person from the secret agency in the black robe laughed lightly. "Don''t you nobles always hope to recycle the inheritance of Death Hands? Furthermore, for this, you didn''t hesitate to give up the lives of a few successors. Unfortunately, the inheritance was eventually obtained by a concubine''s descendant. This is a massive humiliation!"


    Once this was mentioned, Floren''s expression became stagnant with a few shades of unhappiness.


    The person in the black robe appeared oblivious to this and continued to expose this wound. "Also, even after he obtained the inheritance, your petty actions have never stopped, right? These years, there were at least six waves of men dispatched toward the Shawshank Territory."


    "No, it was nine waves. The outcome was complete annihilation." Earl Floren started speaking coldly, "Because of this, I suspect that he has already advanced the Disaster Knight to a very high level, perhaps even being a Quasi-Legend! So the plan has already been stopped."


    "However, this time is actually a very good opportunity!" The person in the black robe laughed slightly. "I''ll give you another piece of intelligence, free of charge. Grand Duke Stan is preparing to act during his beloved daughter''s wedding and exterminate all the nobles in conflict with the ruling family in one fell swoop. The Floren Family is unfortunately on the namelist as well."


    Earl Floren''s face changed.


    Clearly, he had similar predictions, but did not actually believe that the grand duke would actually make a move.


    After a long while, he said slowly, "I didn''t think that the secret agency, which has always dissociated itself from politics, is also starting to have its own position?"


    "Everything requires change, Lord."


    The person in the black robe slightly bowed. "Just like how you also require our power!"


    "Indeed¡­." Earl Floren stood determined. "I can provide a piece of intelligence for you that is related to the promotion of the Disaster Halo. Although the ancestor did not leave behind any inheritance, according to some ancient records, in order to promote the Disaster Halo, huge amounts of dead spirits and grievances needs to be absorbed!"


    "This¡­ I understand, the Church of Death?"


    The person from the secret agency in the black robe was elated. "If there''s tangible evidence, that would be even better!"

 689 Competition

    On the day of the celebration, there was a noisy atmosphere within Santana.


    Colorful silk ribbon decorations were hung on the roadside treetops and shop doors, and there were people wearing bright clothes everywhere.


    After four years of the demon crisis, the average citizen truly needed a reason to raise their spirits. So today, even the average citizen wore their best clothes.


    And the Stan Family had also changed its usual stingy image and became oddly generous.


    In the early morning, intricate food began to be distributed on the streets. There was white bread, honey wine, and even cakes.


    Even a free citizen might not be able to eat such a delightful feast.


    At the distribution points, there were inevitably scenes of open plundering. If not for there being a team of fully armed elite soldiers immediately maintaining order and discipline, the chaos would have been worse.


    "Lu-Luhn, I-I''m a little nervous"


    Baron Timo wore a swallow-tailed coat with pleated lace decorating his collar. In Fang Yuan''s view, he looked as if he had the elegant manner of samba. Most importantly, his face was covered with a layer of white powder. According to the court etiquette master who came over from the palace, this was an attire that a legitimate noble should have.


    Compared to the clothes, the various marriage formalities were even more tedious, causing Fang Yuan to rejoice that he had only married the daughter of a baron and did not have to deal with so many rules.


    Fang Yuan smiled and encouraged, "Relax. No love rivals will dare appear today, or it would be equivalent to going against the grand duke!"


    "I-I''m not afraid of people contesting. I''m afraid of being unable to remember so many of those formalities¡­"


    Timo looked as if he was about to cry.


    "For this, the etiquette master will remind you from the side."


    The former baroness slowly walked in and glanced at Fang Yuan with an accusatory look in her eyes.


    Ever since she knew that Fang Yuan had left Tanya alone in his territory and came alone to Santana, she had never given Fang Yuan a pleasant look.


    If she actually knew of the imminent dangers in Santana, perhaps she would be the first to escape?


    Fang Yuan detachedly looked on. He knew that in these few years of the baroness wielding power, her mentality already had some slight changes and was still thinking fondly of having authority.


    If it were those great feudal dynasties, the empress dowager would even kill her own son with poison in order to continue her reign


    Of course, this place was not like that. Also, with the support of the ruling family, the baroness had no choice but to dejectedly retreat.


    However, her temperament was not good.


    Fang Yuan was still considered lucky. Those servants and maids were the ones who were genuinely unfortunate. Just a slight lapse in attention would cause them to be severely reprimanded.


    "Let''s go. The celebration is starting!" The baroness walked forward and looked over Timo with a critical eye, and then immediately pulled his hands. "You have much to do today! We need to leave!"


    "Okay!" Timo moved his lips and chose to comply in habit.


    Fang Yuan shrugged his shoulders and followed behind.


    Today, he only wore a white attire wrapped with a long noble robe and had a long sword at his hip, seeming very capable and elegant.


    The party boarded the carriage and arrived at the venue of the celebration not long later.


    "In order to celebrate the festival and the marriage of the Princess Amerie, Grand Duke Stan specially decided to organize a huge competition!"


    Seeing the extremely dense crowd outside, Fang Yuan frowned.


    The customs of the current Stan Duchy were very similar to that of the Ancient West in his previous world. During large festivals, there would usually be athletic competitions and performances.


    Just like now, Grand Duke Stan was determined to carry out a huge event. The competitions not only included the traditional ones like archery and long distance running, they further included duels that could showcase a person''s bravery, even preparing three hundred Stan gold coins as the reward for the champion. This was already sufficient for a few Extraordinaires to participate and fight with their lives.


    When Fang Yuan and his men entered, the competition at the scene was already at the final stage.


    The clamor accumulated to form a wave that nearly blew the roof off.


    "Ladies and gentlemen, let us enter the final duel. The winner will obtain the Warrior title personally conferred by Grand Duke Stan and three hundred Stan coins!" In the middle of the arena, the MC roared hysterically. "First, the competitor on my left is the ''barbarian'' from the Beast Wastelands, Will. His hands are able to strangle a giant bear to death, and he previously ended his battles incisively and swiftly.


    "This warrior on my right comes from the Southern Marshlands. His name is Jaffa! He is a warrior with exquisite martial arts and proficient in using various weapons to defeat his opponent!"


    "Will, kill him!"


    "Jaffa, I bet on your win!"


    ¡­


    On site, the atmosphere was roused to the peak by the of the spectators filled with craze and enthusiasm.


    Being inside such an environment was akin to being in a furnace.


    Under the scrutiny of many scorching hot or jealous eyes, Fang Yuan and the others climbed onto a high platform. The nobles of the Stan Duchy were sitting here, and it was obviously different from the surrounding cramped environments. Everyone had comfortable chairs, with servants and maids serving them on hand.


    "Haha¡­ Timo and Luhn, quickly come up!"


    At the middle of the nobles, it was Grand Duke Stan that was the center of attention.


    He raised his golden yellow wine glass and looked at the battle below with interest. "How about guessing who will achieve victory?"


    "I-I feel that it''s Will. He obviously has the advantage." Timo looked down at the tournament stage. At this moment, Will was waving a giant axe and had already forced Jaffa into a corner.


    Grand Duke Stan looked at Fang Yuan with a slightly contemplative glare. "Then Luhn, how about you?"


    A golden glow flashed in Fang Yuan''s eyes as he replied with a smile, "If there''s a bet, I''d bet Jaffa."


    "Haha¡­ No matter who wins, I''ve decided to bestow upon him the most supreme glory and allow him to attend my daughter''s wedding," said Grand Duke Stan as he laughed out loud.


    At this moment, many surprised gasps were suddenly heard from below.


    In Timo''s frightened gaze, Jaffa, who had been forced into a hopeless situation, leaped at Will like a viper, his legs intertwining around his opponent''s neck before viciously twisting.


    Crack!


    A bone-cracking sound that made people queasy could not be suppressed even by the tumult at the scene.


    The referee walked forward and inspected before instantly shaking his head and loudly announcing the results, "The winner¡­ Jaffa from the Southern Marshlands!"


    "Jaffa!"


    "Jaffa!"


    The entire plaza was full of activity. The spectators loudly shouted Jaffa''s name, while those who had bet on the wrong person threw their betting slips into the air with a look full of frustration.


    "Quiet!"


    Grand Duke Stan walked forward and his hands slowly pressed down.


    Crack!


    Soldiers moved forward uniformly with imperceptible majesty, but more likely due to the influence of Extraordinaries unleashing their powers secretly, the entire scene instantly quieted down.


    "My people!" Grand Duke Stan slowly spoke, and the sound that passed through a spell''s amplification made his voice disseminate far and wide. "Today¡­ who is the champion of the arena?"


    "Jaffa! Jaffa!"


    "Correct. Jaffa, in the name of the Grand Duke of Stan, I confer you the Champion of Honor, Warrior of the Duchy! You will obtain unimaginable wealth and glory!"


    Grand Duke Stan''s face was a little red. "I hereby announce that Jaffa will be given permission to attend my daughter''s wedding and today''s dinner party at the palace! Let us cheer for him!"


    "Grand Duke!"


    Amid the cheers, Jaffa walked forward ill at ease. The black man modestly kneeled down.


    "Take this. It''s what you deserve."


    Grand Duke Stan nodded, and an attendant beside him immediately flung a bulging bag full of coins.


    "Alright, now it''s time to carry out proper business!"


    After Grand Duke Stan did this, he signalled to Timo with his hands. Among the palace nobles, a girl with her face covered with a veil stepped forward surrounded by many maids.


    "Go!"


    Fang Yuan lightly pushed from behind and made Timo walk forward.


    "Baron Shawshank, your family''s generations of loyalty toward the ruling family has fulfilled the obligation of a duchy baron. According to the previous sacred agreement, I will offer my most beloved pearl, Amerie, and betroth her to you," Grand Duke Stan said, his face glowing red.


    At this moment, Fang Yuan intuitively turned his head back and saw an army of death pastors slowly walking forward, their leader being an elderly man wearing a golden crown.


    "Pope of Death?"


    Astute intuition made him instantly detect the other person''s animosity.


    "Knight Luhn!"


    The Pope saw Fang Yuan and his steps slowed down. "I heard you succeeded Glendon''s inheritance? And took on the Legend profession, Disaster Knight?"


    "This seems to be the case." Fang Yuan nodded.


    "Then, that rumor is true? The advancement of the Disaster Knight requires dead spirits and grievances?"


    As the elderly Pope was talking, Fang Yuan frowned as he felt at least six rays of lie detection spells undulating and landing on his body. "True!"


    "Death is the Lord''s domain!" the elderly Pope declared and did not continue to pester with him. Instead, he walked forward with large steps and arrived at where the rest were.


    As the person presiding over the marriage today, he still had many more important matters to do.


    On the contrary, a few archbishops remained around Fang Yuan with a cold look in their eyes.


    Daniel was actually one of them.


    Luhn, you made a big mistake! At this moment, his heart was full of satisfaction. You have profaned souls and violated the Lord''s domain. Even as an ally, the Pope would definitely not let you off!


    For benefits, the Church of Death could cooperate with the duchy.


    But the Stan Duchy might not be willing to offend a large church for a Quasi-Legend. In the balance of benefits, a decision was very easily made!


    In truth, the Pope had already contacted the Grand Duke. Knight Luhn, do you know that you have already been given up on? And the price that the Church pays is merely a transfer of a portion of the benefits!


    Daniel silently mocked in his heart. Of course, you still have a little value, so the Pope decided to let you unleash your excess heat and fight for the duchy to the last moment before sending you to trial!


    For a warrior, if they had fought to the final moment but met with an attack from behind, what kind of feeling was that?


    This kind of revenge is truly delightful and thorough.

 690 Kiss of the Death God

    "This is the grand duke''s plan? To organize a red wedding?"


    Fang Yuan did not appear to have the slightest awareness of being contained. Instead, he looked around.


    Around Grand Duke Stan, many nobles had gathered. Floren, Messiah, Rance¡­ almost all of the nobles of the duchy were present.


    Among them, the lowest ranked was a viscount. Together with the country, they had gathered enormous wealth and influence.


    Of course, with the passage of time, there was not much of the original knights'' loyalty left. Most of them even conspired with outside forces.


    Although having internal stability before resisting foreign forces is indeed logical, where does Grand Duke Stan''s great confidence come from? To be able to quell the country without causing chaos.


    A unified nation would naturally be able to gather greater strength to resist foreign invasion.


    However, if there was chaos due to the cleansing, it would be no different from inviting trouble.


    In this respect, merely relying on the Church of Death, it would still be beyond him¡­


    Fang Yuan had the cold eye of a bystander.


    As a True God''s church, even if it had declined greatly, it would definitely be able to produce a Legend. Perhaps this was the source of the grand duke''s confidence?


    Fang Yuan, who had promoted to a Legend, clearly knew a Legend''s destructive power.


    At this point, he indeed saw some soldiers secretly adjusting their positions, forming an encirclement.


    Floren and a few other nobles seemed to sense it. They gathered their private soldiers, and each of them had something bulging out of their waist bags.


    In this environment that was calm on the surface but had turbulent waves beneath, the Pope''s voice resounded, "¡­ here, in the name of the True God, I witness you as husband and wife!"


    Clap! Clap!


    Around, the nobles had false smiles masked over their faces as they clapped warmly.


    At the venue, a lot of fireworks shot up into the sky and exploded into many bright and beautiful sparks.


    "Now, you may kiss your bride!"


    Under the eyes of many nobles, the slightly shy Timo went forward to peck on Amerie''s lips.


    The atmosphere of the venue reached its peak, but the cheers and whistles of civilians concealed everything.


    "Truly¡­ dazzling."


    Fang Yuan covered his eyes and could immediately feel the jubilitation around him. The noisy atmosphere filled him with an unreal feeling, just like being in a dream, separating him from the surroundings. "This is a spell? Grand Duke Stan''s layout?"


    He immediately looked at Grand Duke Stan and realized that he had a similarly astonished expression. "Something''s wrong!"


    "Ah!"


    Just then, an ear-piercing scream was heard.


    The eyelids of the Pope of Death twitched as he looked at the newly wedded couple in front of him.


    After kissing, their cheeks became a horrifying color of dark reddish-purple. Sinister-looking veins had surfaced. Both of their hands were at their own throats, as if they were suffocating.


    "Holy Spell: Dispersion!"


    As soon as his thoughts moved, the golden crown on the Pope''s head emitted a glaring brilliance.


    As the leader of a True God church, Pope Garrett was naturally a Legend caster. Not only this, he was also in charge of an artifact given by a True God. The mere interference spell technique was instantly broken.


    Promptly, he looked at the couple who were on the brink of death. With a snap of his fingers, many high-level holy spells spread.


    "Dispel Poison!"


    "Cure Serious Wounds!"


    ¡­


    The dense brilliance of holy spells instantly appeared on Timo and Amerie''s body.


    As the head of the pastors, Garrett''s technique was first-rate. Not even mentioning being poisoned, even if it was death, as long as the soul was still present, he could also perform the resurrection spell and pull them back from the Death God Nation.


    But at this time, something shocking happened.


    Under the many high-level spells, the condition of Timo and Amerie did not improve at all, even collapsing onto the ground as they fainted.


    "Poison that even Greater Heal cannot affect!"


    The color on Garrett''s face drained. "This is¡­ Kiss of the Death God!!!"


    Kiss of the Death God was an extremely famous poison in the Monger World. It was widely used in the assassinations of many kings, thus its rise to fame. It acted rapidly and directly on the soul. It was well-known for spells being ineffectiveness on it.


    Most crucially, it was from the Church of Death itself!


    Someone betrayed me, someone at least at the archbishop level!


    In an instant, the Pope''s blood ran cold.


    He looked at the newlyweds in front and suddenly stopped.


    It was very difficult to save them from the Kiss of the Death God. Even though it was spread from the Church of Death, many complicated procedures were needed to save them.


    He clearly did not have the time on his hands right now and could not waste his precious magic on this.


    After all, the potential danger lurking in the darkness was much more terrifying!


    So, with a snap of Garrett''s fingers, giant ice formed and immediately froze the unlucky newlyweds inside.


    After finishing, he was no longer concerned about it. Instead, he focused on observing the situation around him.


    Kaboom!


    After a split moment of stagnation, a water screen-like brilliance suddenly rose. It joined together in the sky and completely separated the nobles from the others.


    This was the layout of the ruling family, the magical array passed down by the first Grand Duke Stan.


    However, the timing of the activation and the peculiarity from before gave people an ominous feeling.


    "Daughter!"


    The eyes of Grand Duke Stan turned red as he looked at his lovely daughter''s current state. He then glared at the court magician. "Baines, what''s happening?"


    "Grand Duke¡­ I-I don''t know¡­"


    Baines looked flustered.


    Suddenly, a sword emerged from his chest.


    Fresh blood flowed out of his mouth as he collapsed onto the floor.


    "Grand Duke, it''s simple. It was done by us."


    While sighing, the heads of Floren, Messiah, and Rance Families stepped out. "Back then, this ''Water God Sanctuary'' array was created by the first Grand Duke and all of the Legend knights together. It can prevent the attack of a Legend, but how is it possible that the ancestors wouldn''t leave behind any insurance for their descendants? Looks like it was indeed foresight!"


    Whoosh!


    While they were talking, the nobles'' private elite soldiers charged into the magic array and confronted with the troops of the Duchy. It was obvious that they had access privileges.


    Grand Duke Stan''s original plan was to make use of the sealing power of the magic array to gain an advantage in strength. Then he would suddenly attack and efficiently get rid of the noble traitors for good.


    However, the magic array that he wanted to use to stop their reinforcements was used as a cage for him instead!


    Grand Duke Stan was reeling. He pointed at Earl Floren and bellowed, "Wasn''t this all because of you? You violated the original oath of loyalty and conspired with outsiders to topple my family''s rule!"


    "Grand Duke!" Earl Floren exhaled a long breathe. "This is also the last time I''m calling you this. The so-called nation doesn''t ever only belong to one person. For the glory of your own family, you want us to be buried along with you. Who would be willing to?"


    To the nobles, Grand Duke Stan was inviting death.


    Therefore, they were unwilling to continue on this sinking ship.


    Although it was betrayal to Grand Duke Stan, it was survival to them.


    "You¡­ this is mutiny! Guards!"


    Grand Duke Stan knew that they had reached the state where one of them had to die for the other to survive and waved his hands roughly.


    For this day, he had meticulously arranged loyal guards that had yet to be bribed by the other side within the array. At the moment, all of them drew their weapons out and confronted the nobles'' private soldiers.


    "Garret!" the Grand Duke Stan shouted out again.


    The Pope of Death frowned and sent out a signal.


    Instantly, the priests ripped apart their black robes to reveal black armor.


    This was the Church of Death''s elite force, the death knight. Although they were rare, they were mostly all high-level professionals. With the Legend caster Pope, they would be able to kill all the noble rebels.


    "Your Holiness, you want to help the Grand Duke?"


    Earl Floren said loudly, "As long as you''re willing to step aside, we will accept all of the conditions Grand Duke Stan has previously promised."


    Pope Garrett shook his head. "Sorry, but the collaboration between me and Grand Duke Stan has gone through the acknowledgement of the True God Oath!"


    In fact, there might be a way to reverse the oath witnessed by a True God.


    However, the situation was currently a mess, and even he himself could not determine who the final winner would be. Grand Duke Stan might even have the hope of winning¡­


    Because they still had a card in their hands. This secret was only known to him and the grand duke.


    "Then it''s really regrettable!" Earl Floren shrugged his shoulders and waved his hands.


    Behind him, some of the nobles'' private soldiers tore down their disguises to reveal tanned muscles and very strange, spear-like weapons.


    "Storm warriors?" Looking at this, Garret furrowed his brows. "You really colluded with the Noether Kingdom?"


    "Grand Duke, please make your move!"


    Floren bowed to the people behind him. From the center of those warriors, a warrior with a large build strode forward. Every step was as heavy as a thousand jun, as if he was stepping on everyone''s heart.


    "Legend warrior, ''Storm'' Ollie?"


    Garrett''s gaze was solemn when he recognized the identity. "You were actually bribed by the nobles?"


    "You know they can''t bribe me, Garrett. But the people behind them can!" said Ollie''s mature yet slightly hoarse voice. "Your Holiness, do you really want to be enemies with this power?"


    "¡­"


    Garrett went silent.


    Although their forces were similar to his, stray dogs driven away from the core of human civilization, a broken ship still had three nails that could be used. They truly had some foundation.


    However, after they had plotted against the Noether Kingdom, many people were satisfied. Those that were spying on the Stan Duchy were the losers among the losers. The church was weakened, so they had the confidence to gamble along with the church.


    "Your Excellency Grand Duke!"


    Thinking about that, he immediately looked at Grand Duke Stan. It was time to use the card in their hands.Ancient unit of weight in China.

 691 Reversal

    "Ollie, don''t tell me you want to tarnish the honor of Legends and attack a normal person, as well as be part of the nobles'' scheme?" a voice asked with a calm tone.


    Behind Grand Duke Stan, a white-haired old man slowly walked out.


    With every step he took, his back became straighter. In the end, he was as straight as a spear.


    "Spear of Zero Surran?!" Ollie was shocked. "Why are you here?"


    "I''m the same as you. You can''t reject your patron, and I have a promise I must fulfill."


    Surran was an old man with a snow white beard. The silver hair on his head was meticulously combed, and he had the manner of an old noble. At this moment, he was slowly drawing out his long spear.


    "So, you are only a hypocrite¡­" Ollie laughed out loud. "Why can''t Legends participate in politics? This is only said by the nobles who want to restrict our powers by foolishly attempting to bind us with paper chains¡­ The person holding the power should be the person with the most say. This is the logic of the world!"


    While shouting, he drew out the curved weapon that he was carrying on his back. It looked like a knife and a sword at the same time. He charged forward as he shouted, "Storm Cut!"


    Whoosh!


    In the screaming wind, this terrifying attack was incomparable concise, appearing in front of Surran as if it had teleported.


    "Zero!"


    Seeing this, Surran merely indifferently moved his spear forward.


    Buzz!


    A light arc slashed across the air and became a mirror, completely absorbing the blade''s attack.


    "Everything in the world follows the law of balance. Like two poles of balance, one consumes and one grows. This is my Legend''s essence, the Path of Zero-sum!"


    With a shake of Surran''s spear, the same mirror appeared.


    Whoosh! Whoosh!


    Wind blew toward the opposite side, shockingly returning Ollie''s attack with the same energy.


    "Good! No wonder you''re the Spear of Zero, the strangest technique of the north!"


    Ollie smiled and wielded his blade. Two gusts of frightening strong wind eradicated each other and eventually disappeared without a trace.


    "Path of Zero-sum? Why don''t you say Hunyuan Taij or something along those lines?"


    Watching at the side, Fang Yuan was completely speechless, yet his heart was cold.


    The three thousand great Daos all led to the same destination.


    Even in western worlds, there would similarly be people who fumbled upon the Dao of Balance.


    "Great! Again!"


    Ollie swung his arms and struck once more.


    If Surran''s Legend path represented balance and complementing, able to rebound attacks, Ollie''s Legend path was very simple¡ªstorm!


    Similar to a storm, his fighting style was to attack! Attack! And attack again!!


    "Attack!"


    As if the fight between the two Legends had sounded a bugle, the storm warriors and death knights roared and started ruthlessly fighting.


    "Ah!"


    In the chaos, the small nobles were like trembling lambs as they hid on the floor. Despite that, they could not avoid the fate of being injured. Screams and agonizing shouts could be continuously heard.


    Truth had shown that no matter if it was Grand Duke Stan or Earl Floren, they did not have any plans to take care of these fence-sitters.


    Numerous soldiers directly charged forward. Anyone who blocked their path was killed.


    Hehe¡­ these noble families always stick to the middle. They want to be fence-sitters, but they don''t know that after the opening shot, it''s better to side with the wrong team than not to side with any. After all, the first one that each camp wants to suppress are those that are easy to bully!


    Fang Yuan laughed coldly in his heart when he witnessed this.


    "Knight Luhn!" Beside him, Daniel''s eyes glittered. "The ruling family is under siege. As a knight, shouldn''t you fulfill your obligations?"


    Using righteousness and social status to suppress others and make them risk their lives was indeed satisfying.


    Daniel was filled with the joy of revenge.


    "What are you waiting for!


    "Where is your dignity as a knight?


    "If you aren''t moving, you''ll be a traitor of the duchy. A criminal!"


    Other priests were similarly angry and shouting. If they could send someone to death just by speaking, why wouldn''t they?


    "Alright¡­ I''ll make a move now!"


    Fang Yuan drew out his sword and casually stabbed.


    Poof!


    Blood spewed everywhere!


    The expression on Archbishop Daniel immediately changed. He was astonished looking at the blade impaled in his chest. "You¡­"


    Unfortunately, just as he spoke a word, he spit out blood foam and collapsed onto the ground.


    Until his death, he did not expect that Knight Luhn would actually be so determined, and even see no significance in the rules!


    Because he wasn''t on guard, an archbishop was easily killed by an attack before he could do anything.


    "Luhn, don''t tell me you want to betray the duchy?"


    The other priests were all shocked and retreated a few steps, calling out to the death knights.


    They also knew about the matter regarding Glendon''s inheritance. If Luhn were to side with the noble alliance, he would be digging his own grave.


    However, Fang Yuan was role-playing as Luhn. Would he really do that to himself?


    Moreover¡­ what would happen even if Knight Luhn killed an archbishop?


    Fang Yuan laughed coldly in his heart, and his figure flashed.


    Extremely concise fighting spirit brushed across the surrounding priests'' necks, causing their corpses to crumble to the ground.


    "Lady, can you still move?"


    Soon after, he came before the baroness with his blood-stained sword, a hint of apology on his face.


    It was really an accident that something had happened to Timo. After all, the Kiss of Death God was greatly concealed and not poisonous at the start. Only when the two tampered people touched each other would there be a terrifying scene.


    The Baroness was petrified and said with a trembling voice, "Hurry¡­ Bring me away!"


    "This¡­ I''m afraid it can''t be done!"


    Fang Yuan looked the chaotic battlefield around him. After he killed the priests, a few death knights had come over to surround him.


    "For the Quasi-Legend Knight Luhn, it''s a heinous crime to kill an archbishop, but what if it''s the Legend Luhn?"


    The corner of Fang Yuan''s mouth moved to reveal a cold smile. A very solid-looking armor appeared on his body and emitted a dark lustre. Its surface had patterns, as if it was no different from a real object.


    A terrifying presence rose from his body and spread continuously.


    "Legend warrior?!"


    Feeling the presence, even Ollie and Surran, who were locked in a battle, paused.


    A brilliance flashed through Garrett''s eyes. "Legend? Luhn has actually promoted to Legend? Impossible. Even with Glendon''s inheritance, it wouldn''t be this fast¡­"


    The inheritance of a Legend would become the shackles for the successor.


    By swallowing a Legend, it was impossible to produce another Legend.


    However, Luhn''s performance had shockingly bent this logic. This made him know that Luhn ought to have a secret.


    "For the ruling family!" Fang Yuan shouted once and activated the Disaster Halo.


    His current halo had already reached the fifth level. Its area had increased, almost enveloping the whole arena.


    Instantly, many soldiers of the ruling family felt their courage increase a hundred times and gained extraordinary strength. They were now comparable to professionals. On the other hand, the enemies fell into a state of weakness, were poisoned, and so on. Even the storm warriors could not escape from these hands.


    "Ah!" Grand Duke Stan was also filled with astonishment when he saw the scene unfold. "Luhn has actually promoted to a Legend?"


    Immediately, there was fear and awkwardness.


    A Quasi-Legend was completely different from a Legend. The latter could become the duchy''s guardian angel.


    If he had known that Luhn was a Legend, he definitely would not have chosen to make a deal with the Church of Death.


    Based on his performance, he''s only hostile to the Church of Death. It''s fortunate he has yet to realize my betrayal!"


    Seeing this, the eyes of Grand Duke Stan shone as he shouted loudly, "Soldiers, attack! We have three Legends! The traitors will definitely fail!"


    With his words, he had decided to accept Fang Yuan.


    This point was easy to understand.


    The Spear of Zero Surran was forced to help the duchy because he owed it a large favor, but after this battle, he would not owe the duchy anything.


    Although Church of Death was an ally, Grand Duke Stan was also unwilling to see it become dominant.


    After gaining the upper hand, he began to consider the problems after the war. It was obviously a good idea to lead a Legend in as a balance to clamp down the church.


    Hmm, I must silence the people that I had previously discussed this with. As for what the Church of Death will say privately, it''ll all be slander!


    Grand Duke Stan was very lucky that he had not made a move and still had wiggle room.


    "Damn it!"


    The large boost in morale for Grand Duke Stan''s side was a shocking nightmare for Earl Floren''s.


    "Another Legend, and it''s that brat Luhn. Damn it! How''s it possible?"


    Earl Floren stared at Luhn, who was emitting a large halo. He could not wait to skin him alive, but his senses told him that it was better to leave as soon as possible.


    The horror of a Legend Disaster Knight was clearly recorded in his family inheritance.


    Under this type of support, even a group of farmers with pitchforks could crush an army of elites!


    "Is the Church of Death dumb? They actually allowed the criminal that killed their archbishop to remain¡­ And the secret agency, that group of gutter mice agreed to attack, but I can''t see any of them now!"


    Thinking about this, he could not help being enraged.


    The whole plan was overly rushed. From the messenger indistinctly representing the secret agency of some central political force to the plan of exposing the grand duke and joining up, the time had been too short.


    Even the Legend Ollie came without an invitation.


    It appeared that these forces had deliberately involved themselves in order to cause chaos to the Stan Duchy.


    After all, no matter which side won, it would not suit the outsiders'' benefits. What they really wished for was the heavy losses of both sides!


    What was more tragic was that even though he had seen through this point, unless Earl Floren wanted to sacrifice himself, he had no choice but to follow through.


    "Luckily, they weren''t my only reinforcements!"


    Earl Floren raised his head with a flash of understanding, his eyes glowing.A type of Taiji.

 692 Besieged

    In the Netherworld.


    This was a plane that was almost as vast as the Main World.


    The sky was slightly lit up, having concentrated shadows and darkness that concealed many secrets.


    Everyday, there would be large amounts of souls from the Main World. They might enter the Netherworld through the current of the Netherworld''s rivers, be promoted to a God Nation after getting judged by the Death God, wander within the Netherworld until they vanished, or go deep into the Netherworld seeking for a new chance at life.


    Of course, this had completely changed after the arrival of the Nine Tier Purgatory.


    If it was said that Death God Hess had built a God Nation in the Netherworld in order to just increase one more check for the souls, the Nine Tier Purgatory''s table manners were even more unsightly.


    It unreasonably snatched souls and produced vast numbers of frightening Evil Demons through origin power and the Evil Demon Placenta. These demons would then invade other planes, sowing seeds of fear and violence before bringing back more souls to form a vicious cycle.


    "It''s been four years. This mistake must be corrected!"


    In front of the Nine Tier Purgatory, numerous portals emerged and imposing figures stepped out from them.


    Merely looking at them from afar, the incomparable brilliance from them could be felt.


    They were the incarnations of their respective Gods, the strongest fighting power currently.


    The true bodies of the Gods would only remain in their God Nations, as that was the safest place. With a God Nation''s aid, even Gods that had just been promoted would be able to resist the siege of the senior Gods.


    And the incarnations of the Gods were the strongest Legend, ''Saint''!


    At the moment, the Saints stood in a line, shoulder to shoulder. The ripples they emitted even caused the Netherworld to tremble slightly.


    Storm God Holland!


    Mother Earth Goddess Meria!


    Sky God Wieman!


    Harvest Goddess Willa!


    Death God Hess!


    ¡­


    Aside from Sun God Ramon, almost all of the Nine Pillar Gods had presented their Saint incarnations.


    "Let''s begin!" shouted the Gods. Their powers gushed out and transformed into a portal.


    Group by group, armies that were already fully armed in their God Nations silently came into the Netherworld. They were in neat rows and wore superior armor, numbering over a million.


    The atmosphere was slightly heavy.


    It was clear that no matter how elite the God Nations'' soldiers were, they were only cannon fodder.


    Their only purpose was to eliminate as many Evil Demons as possible in order to open up the road deep into the Nine Tier Purgatory for the real elites. Then they would kill the source of Evil Demons, Great Evil God Apophis, with a blow!


    "Hess, are you clear on the situation of the Purgatory?


    Storm God Holland had an image of an old man wearing a white robe, his long beard fluttering with the wind. It seemed that there was lingering gale around his body. At the moment, he was looking at the black-robed Death God.


    The Death God''s aura was clearly a level weaker than the other Saints due to the heavy injuries he had suffered before.


    However, as the master of the land, Hess was the one that would contribute the most.


    Behind him were legions of death knights. There were at least fifty thousand of them, and they were the entire accumulation of the Death God Nation over the uncountable years. He had sent out all of them.


    There was no choice!


    If this cancerous tumor, the Nine Tier Purgatory, was not removed, it would continuously fight with the Death God Nation for souls and eventually drown the Death God Nation with the help of the innumerable Evil Demons!


    "I have spent a large amount of power, and many sacred spirits have died, before I managed to clearly look into the situation of the Nine Tier Purgatory¡­ First, this Purgatory has already merged with the Netherworld, and destroying it will be equivalent to destroying the Netherworld. And with the unique nature of the Netherworld, destroying it will also be the end of the whole world¡­ Thus, we need to carry out the beheading strategy!"


    Death God Hess waved his hands, and a beehive-like map emerged.


    "The Purgatory has a total of nine tiers. Every tier has an incalculable number of Evil Demons. Moreover, in the Purgatory, their abilities are enhanced, very similar to the unique nature of the God Nations. After killing and swallowing many prey, there are already large Evil Demons that are similar to a True God in the first eight tiers of Purgatory! Although they aren''t Gods, they''re no different from a True God here!"


    The eight True Gods were operating their God Nations personally. With the unlimited amount of Evil Demons, unless the Gods worked together and paid a heavy price, they would not be able to break through.


    "The first tier of Purgatory is the Scorching Hot Purgatory. It has terrifyingly high temperature, and there will often be fireballs falling from the skies. The one guarding the place is an Evil Demon grand duke named Desmond. It''s a strange Evil Demon with three heads. Every head has a unique ability!


    "The second tier is the Ice Purgatory. It is extremely cold, and normal people won''t be able to survive in that environment. Frost Evil Demon Queen Colimony is guarding it. She has strong reproductive abilities, and many of the Frost Evil Demons are her offspring¡­


    "Next is the third tier, the Poison Purgatory¡­"


    ¡­


    "Within the Nine Tier Purgatory, it is prohibited to use any portals and teleportation spells. If we want to enter the depths of the Nine Tier Purgatory to confront Apophis, we''ll need to fight through the first eight tiers!"


    The person that understood you best was usually your enemy.


    As the sworn enemy of the Purgatory, the Death God had used the four years to constantly ponder about how to get rid of it. At the moment, he suggested a perfect plan.


    "Agreed!"


    "Agreed!"


    The Gods'' incarnations, the Saints, nodded. Their voices gathered and echoed throughout the whole Netherworld. "With the will of every God, the glory of every God, and the determination of every God, the Purgatory shall no longer exist in this world!"


    "Aw Aw!"


    At this moment, all of the Nine Tier Purgatory roared. Many True God-like sturdy figures appeared, resisting the waves of power.


    And large amounts of Evil Demons roared sinisterly, as if they were anticipating the arrival of the war.


    Kill! Kill!


    Looking at the scene unfold, the mind of the incarnation of Death God Hess was wild.


    As one of the only two Nine Pillar Gods that had confronted Apophis, he had previously sensed origin power and also knew the world''s greed for it. He was even clearer that the higher level power was his future hope!


    As long as he had that power, he would be able to promote endlessly, and there would be a possibility of even exceeding the power of Sun God Ramon!


    He gave his all to attack the Nine Tier Purgatory this time to destroy that cancerous tumor and, more importantly, obtain that power!


    Because of this, even if all of the God Nations'' people were eliminated, and even if their true bodies were activated, it would be worth it!


    ¡­


    "Hmm?"


    Main World, the Stan Duchy.


    Fang Yuan was slightly shocked, his face revealing a solemn expression. "It''s beginning? The Gods'' attack on the Purgatory?"


    As the Master of the Nine Tier Purgatory, he was naturally closely connected to it.


    Just then, the army of the Gods had already entered the Scorching Hot Purgatory. With their crushing force, they had defeated the large Evil Demon army and was currently besieging the Evil Demon grand duke, Desmond.


    "These Evil Demon grand dukes are pets of the Purgatory. Their levels are as high as Legends. With the addition support of the Purgatory, they can compare with a Deity or even a True God. Of course, they''ll definitely meet a terrible end after getting besieged. However, even if they die, nothing much will happen. As long as the Purgatory still exists, there''ll be unlimited amounts of Evil Demons appearing, and a new duke will eventually be born."


    Simply put, the first eight tiers of Purgatory were the same as the Gods'' cannon fodder army, their purpose to exhaust the Gods.


    He would be the one making a profit if a duke''s death could take away the incarnation of a Nine Pillar Gods and a large amount of soldiers.


    Moments later, Fang Yuan could feel the fall of the Evil Demon grand duke and the alarm of the Ice Purgatory, but did not take it to heart.


    "However, compared to the epic war below, this noble revolt is nothing¡­"


    He focused in front of him.


    With three Legends and the support of the Disaster Halo, the private soldiers of the rebelling nobles were retreating in defeat even though they had the numerical advantage.


    Pope Garrett was in a very strange state currently. He rarely attacked, but his face was filled with worry.


    Did he sense the change in the God Nation? Too bad¡­ Even in a battlefield with success within grasp, such negligence is fatal!


    Fang Yuan''s vision froze as he looked at a human figure.


    This was the person overlooked by the nobles from the start, the champion in the martial arts competition, Jaffa.


    After the start of the rebellion, he had retreated and hid at a side. He was lucky that the fight did not spread to him.


    Currently, he had unknowingly moved behind Pope of Death Garrett.


    I hope this is successful!


    Garrett felt the turbulence from the God Nation and could not help thinking about it.


    But when he was distracted, a viper hidden in the dark immediately bared its fangs.


    "Shadow Move!"


    "Single Kill!"


    Jaffa was like a shadow, appearing and disappearing unpredictably. When he had appeared again, he was already in front of Garrett. The black dagger in his hands stabbed out like a viper''s fangs!


    "Assassin!" Garrett was shocked. "It''s a Legend assassin!"


    A person of such great ability had purposely concealed their presence, and even Garrett himself did not discover it.


    Under the situation where he was caught off guard, the artifact on his head, the Pope''s Crown, suddenly emitted a brilliance and formed a protective layer.


    This was left by the True God to the Pope as the proof of authority. It was enough to resist any Legend''s attack!


    Thus, Garret was very confident, even thinking about how to counterattack.


    "You!"


    At the moment, accompanying the shout, a blood red light appeared suddenly on the assassin''s body. It had the power of divinity and broke through the protection instantly. The dagger stabbed into Garrett''s chest.


    The dagger that was cursed with poison destroyed all of the Pope''s life force in an instant. He could only mutter a sentence before dying, "This is¡­ a false God''s power!"


    The blood red light continued to burn, turning Garrett''s corpse into a pool of blood that stained the Pope''s golden crown.


    "Lord Jay¡­ your devoted follower offers you the key to the Death God Nation!"


    The assassin cackled crazily as the blood red light on his body became more and more glaring.


    Suddenly, a brilliance descended and wrapped up the Pope''s gold crown before instantly vanishing.

 693 Death

    "The Half-God Son of Purgatory? Jay, right?"


    The Pope of Death, Garrett, was assassinated while everyone was watching, and even had his artifact taken away, causing the entire scene to instantly descend into a deathly stillness.


    Especially the final glow that took away the artifact; it was unquestionably a God''s power!


    Seeing this, many death priests were nearly devastated. The archbishops ran for their lives, while the death knights were even more so at a loss.


    Fang Yuan looked on indifferently but clearly knew everything that had happened. "Part of the reason for this is revenge. The most important reason is to apotheosize!"


    Garrett, being the Pope appointed by the Death God, with the flesh, blood, and soul of his body, coupled with that artifact, was in fact a key!


    A True God''s God Nation naturally resisted all external powers. Even a strong God entering a nation with a weak God would suffer confinement and weakening.


    Obviously, even though Jay had already become a Half-God, wanting to fight with Hess in his homefield was courting death.


    Thus, he needed to obtain the jurisdiction of part of the God Nation!


    The Pope on the ground with that artifact had become this criteria.


    Only¡­ just with this is still not sufficient! Even without a favorable geographical position, a Half-God would be unable to break through the encirclement and kill Hess¡­ Therefore, he needs to make use of this one in a million opportunity!


    Momentarily, Fang Yuan felt that the Ice Purgatory was cracking, and a bizarre smile appeared. "In order to attack the Purgatory, Hess has already dispatched all of his men. He even incarnated and descended as a Saint without caring about his serious injuries. At this moment, it is the period when the Death Nation is weakest!


    "A Son of Purgatory is about to apotheosize!"


    Seeming to have felt the joy of Fang Yuan, the entire Nine Tier Purgatory roared inside the Netherworld, and the ability of many Evil Demons instantly doubled.


    "Attack!"


    The will of the Gods gathered to become a beacon.


    Large numbers of God Nation soldiers fought while drenched in blood and risking their lives. Together with the Saints, they finally killed an ice worm that was as large as a mountain.


    Crack! Crack!


    After this Evil Demon grand duke died, innumerable spiderweb-like cracks appeared on an iceberg beside it before instantly exploding, revealing a passageway leading to the third level of Purgatory.


    "Next, it''s the third level, the Poison Purgatory!"


    The Saint that Hess incarnated into said loudly, "Here, we need the assistance of the poison women and large numbers of detoxification pastors!"


    "No problem!"


    All the Gods agreed. They had to admit that the preparations Hess did in order to destroy the Purgatory were very complete.


    Kaboom!


    At this moment, the entire Purgatory suddenly roared with a formidable increase in power.


    "This¡­ is the joy of the Purgatory? Is Apophis crazy?"


    The Saints were at a slight loss. "He still feels joyful seeing all the Gods attacking him?"


    "Everyone, attack quickly!" Hess frowned, and without knowing why, a chilling, ominous premonition coursed through his body, even making him seemingly smell the scent of death.


    As the Death God, he was naturally very sensitive to this.


    In the next moment, Hess'' face changed greatly. "My agent in the mortal world encountered an assassin! The killer was a Son of Purgatory!!!"


    "What?"


    Before all the Gods could even react, they saw Hess stunned for a moment before his incarnation started fluctuating.


    ¡­


    Time moved slightly forward.


    Similarly in the Netherworld, in the God Nation of the Death God.


    To his own nest, Hess was naturally very attentive. The location of the God Nation was known as the Plains of Peace to his believers.


    On the plains, many tall pyramids were erected, and there were even large lifelike demon god statues in front of the pyramids.


    This was a large divine soldier, the main defender of the Death God Nation.


    Furthermore, there was also a crystal that was as large as a human head on top of the pyramids, and the pyramids were intertwined to form a large, beautiful web.


    When encountering the enemy invasions, these pyramids would instantly become horrifying weapons of death.


    With the firepower of the web of pyramids and the large divine soldiers, even if the Evil Demons appeared in full force, the Death God Nation could withstand for a very long time.


    However, at this moment, it could be clearly seen that many bright glows in the pyramids had been extinguished and a large number of large divine soldiers were vacant. Even the number of petitioners in the God Nation was extremely few.


    For this mission, Hess had already done all he could, causing to strength of the God Nation to descend into the abyss.


    Of course, in his opinion, there would be nothing alarming about it.


    Although the strength of the God Nation was at a low point, it was not something that could be coveted by an ordinary Legend.


    Furthermore, the Gods and Evil Demons who truly had the ability to attack a God Nation were currently in an utterly chaotic battle in the Nine Tier Purgatory. Who could possibly pull out?


    Thus, his situation seemed to be dangerous but was actually safe.


    However, no matter how many considerations a wise person had, there would definitely be something he overlooked. Hess would have never thought that the order to chase down a Son of Purgatory that he casually issued in the beginning not only caused the church''s strength in the mortal world to suffer a major setback, it further brought him great danger!


    Because divinity could be merged through slaughter, a Son of Purgatory''s improvement speed was beyond the imagination of the Gods.


    A period of four years was already sufficient to cause an Extraordinary to reach a state close to apotheosis!


    "Hess!"


    In the Plains of Peace, a door of light opened up and Jay walked out slowly.


    Looking into the distance at that largest black pyramid, he took a deep breath. "I''ve arrived!"


    Breaking into a God Nation was definitely very dazzling to the eyes of the True Gods, as obvious as a sun barging into the darkness.


    However, by relying on the Pope''s golden crown in his hand, Jay continued to walk to the bottom of the pyramid before being discovered by petitioners guarding the place. "You¡­ aren''t a believer of the Lord!"


    Some of these guards were golems, while some had the appearance of a person with a dog head. They glared at Jay with red light instantly emitting from their eyes. "Heresy!!!"


    "This term again!"


    Jay frowned with irritation and ceased to conceal himself. The bright glow only possessed by a Half-God was released and instantly enveloped the entire area.


    Shualala!


    Before the guards could even utter half a sentence, they were transformed into ashes under the bright glow.


    Furthermore, even the large black pyramid was constantly disintegrating under this bright glow.


    "Hess! I''m here!"


    A vengeful flame danced about in Jay''s eyes as his Half-God body walked forward one step and flung the Pope''s golden crown.


    Kaboom!


    Amid the blast, this artifact became fragments and destroyed the pyramid, causing a passageway to appear.


    Without hesitation, Jay strode in with one step.


    In an instant, the space changed and became a magnificent black palace.


    The entire palace was decorated in dark golden ornaments, giving off a calm feeling. The lifelike sculptures on both sides seemed to come to life.


    In fact, they were alive.


    On top of the stone walls, many flowing sculptures sang in a chanting voice, "Praise the Lord Hess, you are the Master of Death!


    "Lord¡­ your God Nation is the home of souls!


    "You distinguish good and evil. Good and evil, they must be judged by you¡­"


    ¡­


    These petitioners had already fused together into with the sculptures, and a large black throne lay in the center.


    A figure that was around ten meters tall was now sitting on top calmly, his eyes slightly closed, as if he was in a deep sleep.


    In comparison to this giant, Jay was an insignificant small dot.


    "This is the true body of Death God Hess? It is truly sufficiently majestic. If not for him suffering heavy injuries and dispatching his incarnation and many God Nation petitioners, I definitely wouldn''t have any chance of arriving here!"


    Jay sighed and then silently employed what he relied on.


    Whoosh!


    Instantanly, he transformed into an Evil Demon. Dark golden lines coursed through his entire body, giving a luxurious flavor.


    A rich divinity nearly completely filled up his body, and at the most core position, a flame with the size of a broad bean appeared.


    This was the divine fire! Along with the accumulation of highly refined divinity, this was also what a Legend relied on to ascend into a Half-God!


    In reality, before Fang Yuan spread divinity, there was no Half-God in this world.


    Although the Legends and True Gods were Domainers, the difference of a Godhood was like the chasm of a moat.


    Now, the appearance of the divine fire greatly supplemented the combat prowess of the Legends and allowed them to be able to match up to a God''s true bodies!


    "Even though the divine fire is lit, I am not a True God. As a Son of Purgatory, the only way to become a True God is to seize a Godhood!"


    The Evil Demon''s body instantly grew until it became giant. Large flames burned on the claws of the Evil Demon.


    "Son of Purgatory!"


    At this moment, the giant Hess sitting on the Death Throne similarly opened his eyes, his voice carrying a little annoyance. "You dare offend a True God?"


    "Haha¡­ when you were cleansing us, did you think that this day would come? Not only do I want to offend you, I want to steal everything you have!"


    Jay distinctly felt the fierce demeanor of the giant and directly leaped forward to kill.


    Kaboom!


    A horrifying vibration instantly came out from the pyramid.


    ¡­


    In the Nine Tier Purgatory, within the third level, the Poison Purgatory.


    "Hess¡­ you!"


    All the Saints looked at Hess with suspicion in their eyes.


    "A Son of Purgatory barged into my God Nation and is attacking my true body¡­"


    The incarnation of Hess displayed an unpleasant look. "I need to go back immediately and resummon all of the Armies of Death¡­ Hmm?"


    Suddenly, his eyes widened as if he saw something unbelievable.


    This incarnation exploded like fireworks, not leaving behind a single trace.


    At the scene, tears of blood flowed down the eyes of many death knights and petitioners as they shouted loudly, "Lord¡­!"


    Unfortunately, the sky was completely silent and had no trace of a response.


    Instantly, tens of thousands of death knights, with a few exceptions, turned into ashes.


    "This¡­"


    The Gods'' gazes were all filled with apprehension. "Hess¡­ died?"


    Once a God died, the petitioners attached to the God Nation would directly perish.


    And that huge widespread undulation that pervaded the entire Netherworld was basically unable to be faked.


    Everything indicated that Hess, this Death God, had actually perished¡­


    All the Saints were speechless for a long time as they looked toward the Purgatory, in a dilemma of what they should do now.

 694 Storm

    When a True God perished, both the heavens and the earth knew.


    Even Extraordinaries in the Main World suddenly felt a palpitation in their hearts.


    Death God Hess was not just any random God. He was one of the Nine Pillar Gods and one of the strongest, most qualified, and most experienced Gods in the world!


    Even though his power in the mortal world was slightly diminished, as long as there was a True God, it was easy for a comeback to be staged.


    But at this time, with the death of the God, his God statues all over the Main World lost their glow, even cracking and shattering.


    All of Hess'' pastors similarly met large misfortune.


    In them, the light of magic extinguished; even the level of the pastors rapidly plummeted.


    That feeling and pain was like forcefully extracting all of their bones, causing many pastor to die from pain.


    The Stan Duchy, in the arena.


    After Garrett, the Pope of the Church of Death died, the church once again experienced another more horrifying blow.


    Not only did all the pastors instantly fall onto the ground with a screech, even those death knights kneeled onto the ground with their faces pale and tears flowing. "Lord¡­"


    "Death God Hess¡­ perished!"


    Fang Yuan raised his hand and could see that the color of the sky had become darker, a strong tinge of hidden mysteries within.


    Shortly after, a meteor flew by with an aura of indescribable sorrow.


    This was a change between the old and the new, and the succession of a Godhood.


    Inside the Death God Nation, a major transformation occurred.


    "A Son of Purgatory is unable to obtain the approval of the world. The only way they can become a True God is to seize a Godhood¡­ Furthermore, this method also served my purposes!"


    A wisp of a smile appeared.


    Apophis was the origin of divinity. Before he was completely annihilated, this divinity was lodged with his will, and he could exert influence in the dark.


    A Son of Purgatory obtaining snatching a Godhood to apotheosis was equivalent to completely exposing the world''s rules on death in front of him.


    To Fang Yuan, this was an extremely rare opportunity that was difficult to come by to peep at the world''s foundation.


    Furthermore, in the future, there would be more and more opportunities for many Sons of Purgatory to mature and start seizing Godhoods.


    "I, Jay, will succeed the position of Death in place of Hess and become the new Death God!"


    Suddenly, a majestic sound coursed through the entire world.


    Nearly all living beings heard Jay''s words and could seemingly see the tall Death God Throne. A giant Evil Demon was forcibly occupying it and letting out a declaration.


    Wah Wah!


    In the skies, clouds swarmed and anomalies ushering in apotheosis appeared.


    "The omen of apotheosis?"


    All of the Legends, Gods, and even Extraordinaries were shocked by this fluctuation. Their eyes released a look of horror, fear, and even a deep sense of envy.


    Speaking of which, this Jay is also rather unfortunate¡­ He was previously only a Half-God with shallow foundations, so in order to successfully apotheosize, he had to do something major and let the entire world firmly remember his God Name¡­.


    Even for a Half-God Son of Purgatory, it was not an easy task to succeed the Godhood of a Death God.


    Fang Yuan looked unconcerned, but was actually coming up with strategies. Suddenly, he raised his head towards the sky. As a Half-God mastering a Godhood, it''d still be alright if his powers were a little weak. But it''s the Nine Pillar Gods, and Jay''s foundation is still too superficial¡­..


    Although his apotheosis was successful, it was still impossible for Jay to instantly become a qualified Death God.


    The consequences this brought about were absolutely worldwide!


    Especially to the Netherworld. The descent of the Nine Tier Purgatory had already largely damaged the ecology once. This anomaly within the Death God Nation was even more so a large bomb.


    Kaboom!


    Indeed, in the next moment, a horrifying vibration was felt.


    A powerful earthquake occurred in nearly the entire Main World. As the Netherworld was unstable, it was also affected by the aftermath of the ripples.


    Within the Netherworld, it was a scene of complete upheaval.


    This was the large catastrophe caused by the collapsing of the Death God Nation.


    Hess was one of the Nine Pillar Gods and also saw the Netherworld as his nest, diligently maintaining it for innumerable years. When he perished, the effects that the collapsing of the God Nation brought to the Netherworld were naturally very horrifying.


    As for Jay? Even though he has ascended to become the Death God, if he wanted to fully accept Hess'' inheritance, he had to immediately stabilize the Death God Nation, which was as good as spouting nonsense.


    In fact, with his current state, to be able to barely maintain his Godhood was already like a child waving a hammer, able to injure himself if he wasn''t careful.


    Thus, regarding the changes happening in the Netherworld, he had the heart but not the ability.


    "Although the Monger World was created by absorbing many small planes, the Main World is its roots, while the God World and Netherworld are its two largest pillars. Now that the Netherworld is about to erupt into chaos and its first pillar is about to collapse¡­"


    Fang Yuan calmly felt the changes of the Netherworld. A strong will instantly penetrated the Purgatory.


    Kaboom!


    The entire Purgatory roared, and riding on the opportunity of the Netherworld collapsing, it instantly started expanding and seemed to be about to completely swallow up the Netherworld.


    "You''re insane!"


    Inside the Purgatory, all the Saints were extremely alarmed and roared, "Apophis, what are you doing? Once the Netherworld is destroyed, the entire world will be destroyed!"


    The current Nine Tier Purgatory basically did not hold any possibility of replacing the Netherworld. If it continued pestering in this manner, the Netherworld would be annihilated and the final outcome would definitely be mutual destruction!


    Originally, with the entire power of the Nine Tier Purgatory, it could not do this


    However, the destruction of the Death God Nation was instead the best prelude.


    Under actions from both fronts, even the Netherworld would be unable to withstand it.


    Of course I know that even if the Netherworld is destroyed, nobody gains¡­ But without that, how do we force it out?


    A bright glow flashed through Fang Yuan''s eyes.


    What he plotted for was naturally the world''s will!


    Da Qian had heaven''s will, while the Monger World naturally had its own unique will. Furthermore, there was still an incarnation, Sun God Ramon!


    Previously, he carried along origin power and attacked. Even though he barely defeated Ramon, being mutually wounded, after four years of recuperation, Ramon definitely had to have some sort of a reply.


    In this act of the allied Gods'' attacking the Purgatory, there was an eighty percent chance that he was the driving force in the back.


    Thus, a retaliation had to be rendered!


    Origin power had already been dispersed. What could be done at the moment was to create an end of the world scenario and force the world''s will to have no choice but to come out to save it, thus completely dragging it in!


    The collapsing of the Netherworld already had some apocalyptic hints.


    "Sun God Ramon, you are the Supreme God and the incarnation of the world''s will. Ensuring the world''s peace is your mission! In this key moment, you have no choice!"


    Fang Yuan''s gaze was serene as he looked at Grand Duke Stan and Earl Floren, who both had already completely lost their fighting will, and his smile grew larger.


    God World.


    The Netherworld was below the Main World, while the God World was above the Main World.


    At the moment, together with the collapse of the Netherworld, the Main World was close to being annihilated. Suddenly, a large sun appeared from the God World.


    Sun God Ramon!


    Since four years ago, after failing to stop Apophis from generating the Nine Tier Purgatory, he had always been in a state of deep slumber.


    But at this moment, in this heaven collapsing earth shattering crisis, he was forced to appear.


    Kaboom!


    Right now, all of the people in the Main World could see a large sun suddenly descend and sink into the ground.


    Buzz Buzz!


    Strong radiance instantly appeared within the Netherworld and brightened the entire place. Even the Death God Nation and Nine Tier Purgatory were unable to resist.


    The bright light even penetrated into the eighth level of Purgatory, causing innumerable Evil Demons and a few Evil Demon grand dukes to instantly disappear.


    Unfortunately, all of the Saints had looked but were unable to find any traces of Apophis in the Nine Tier Purgatory.


    The humiliation from being deceived spread in their hearts.


    "Apophis¡­ you despicable Evil Demon!"


    "There''s nothing at all in the Nine Tier Purgatory! We''ve been tricked!"


    "Then where in the world is Apophis'' true body?"


    ¡­


    Many spiritual wills aggregated, but before the Saints had time to think further, they saw the sun incarnated by Ramon suddenly explode within the Netherworld.


    Holy light spread, causing the Nine Tier Purgatory to return to its original form and forcefully calming the undulations caused by the annihilation of the Death God Nation.


    Using the force of one God to suppress the Netherworld, this was truly the energy of the Sun God possessed by the world''s will!


    "If I had not borrowed origin power when the Nine Tier Purgatory was descending and took root in the world''s rules to become the foundations of the world, I''m afraid it would have been altogether annihilated that time?"


    Fang Yuan''s spiritual will looked on silently, but was instead confident. "Only¡­ with Sun God Ramon squandering the power of the world, how can there be no consequences?"


    The Sun God himself was just a Sage. Even if he had heaven''s will with him, and each of his movements contained the augmentation of the world''s power, it was not an easy task to pull back the Netherworld that was about to collapse.


    At this time, Fang Yuan could very clearly sense that many auxiliary planes of the Main World were starting to rapidly deteriorate.


    Especially the God World that the Gods resided in. The glow of the God Nation was continuously dimming. It appeared the God World had drawn too much its source and was already unable to support so many God Nations.


    Netherworld, Main World, God World¡ªThese three largest planes had the trend of shortly merging.


    And within the Nine Tier Purgatory, the faces of many Saints became lifeless, instantly exploding.


    In the Main World, a few meteors streaked through the sky and crashed onto the ground, causing many disasters like earthquakes, storms, floods, and raging fires.


    "The world''s power has been overly expended. The storm of the God Word''s descent caused it to be unable to maintain the God Nations. The true bodies of all the Gods have been knocked down into the mortal world!"


    Fang Yuan laughed out loud in his heart.


    This was one of his plans.


    Using the assistance of Son of Purgatory Jay to attack and kill Hess and coming into contact with the rules of death were merely incidental.


    His actual goal was still the world''s will and all the heavenly Gods!


    In order to save the world, the entire world''s foundation was now constantly expended. After Sun God Ramon went into action, the four years that he had previously used to heal his wounds immediately became a dreamy illusion.


    Not only that, the other Gods were affected and had no choice but to descend into the mortal world with their true bodies, creating chaos everywhere.


    If the year when the Evil Demons descended was simply a prelude, this moment when the Gods descended indicated that actual chaos was about to begin!


    A huge era was surging forward with great momentum and had entirely arrived!

 695 Rehabilitation

    Sun God Year 2070.


    Four years since the Evil Demons descended, larger chaos swept into the Monger World.


    The God World and Netherworld had suffered heavy losses, while gaps and passageways started appearing in various planes. Furthermore, the true bodies of many Gods were swept from their respective God Nations and descended into the mortal world.


    A truly astonishing era was about to begin!


    Although the beginning of any era brought agitation and chaos, it was an even larger catastrophe for the average person of the Main World.


    However, opportunity would usually accompany danger!


    The descent of the true bodies of the Gods indicated that huge opportunities would subsequently arrive.


    Especially the method of Son of Purgatory Jay, further becoming a role model for all the Legends.


    Even without sufficient merits, to receive recognition of the world, there was nothing much to it. If you wanted a Godhood, you could entirely plunder it from the True God bodies of those who had descended!


    When the Gods descended into the mortal world, they were unable to unleash their full abilities. A Saint was only slightly stronger than a Legend.


    If one put in effort setting traps or swarming for the kill, there would not necessarily be no hope!


    In any case, it was still more reliable than obtaining the recognition of the world by luck or forcefully entering the God Nations.


    For now, many Legends who had stayed hidden in the mortal world were beginning to stir one after another, and the Sons of Purgatory were the outstanding ones among them.


    A role model for apotheosis instantly incited them to go crazy. After all, the attraction of the divinity inside their bodies told them that all the Sons of Purgatory would definitely have a final battle!


    If their opponents further increased the gap between them, they might later be oppressed and exploited due to their discretion.


    Under the threat of death, even a lazy person would put in a determined effort.


    At this time, the entire Main World entered a major era where the winds and the clouds surged, and history labelled this year as "The Year of the Descent of the Gods"!


    ¡­


    The Main World, the Stan Duchy, in the arena.


    Splash!


    The glow of the magic array dispersed and revealed the isolated outside world.


    Originally, the period of time sustained by this legendary magic array should not be this short, but the undulations of the Main World even caused many elemental planes to be stirred and form energy tides, naturally causing it to affected as well.


    "Let''s go! Quickly go!"


    "Let''s leave this place for somewhere safe!"


    Both Grand Duke Stan and Earl Floren looked as if they had just woken up from a dream and immediately roared.


    The events that happened today were really too many.


    Especially this power of the heavens and the earth, making them deeply feel their own smallness and ridiculousness.


    In front of such a heaven collapsing earth shattering crisis, what difference would a grand duke, or a kingdom, or an empire, have from the common man?


    When the entire duchy and kingdom were annihilated, what was the point of having more power?


    Unfortunately, this revelation came too late.


    A dark red glow ripping through the black sky smashed down with an unparalleled momentum.


    "Meteor shower?"


    Fang Yuan''s pupils contracted as he quickly walked forward to pull the baroness up and then went to the hard ice, rapidly spreading his fighting spirit.


    The next moment.


    Kaboom!


    Horrifying explosions and shockwaves came, and a large meteor shower landed directly on all of Santana.


    Continuous explosive sounds rang out in the hundred year old capital of the duchy, like it was experiencing a missile barrage.


    Houses were all knocked down left, right, and center. And in the dilapidated walls, only flames were constantly spreading.


    The original bustle and noise had instantly turned into a human purgatory!


    "This¡­ is the storm caused by the undulations of the God World and the consequences brought about by the descent of the Gods'' true bodies!"


    Fang Yuan infused his fighting spirit into a long sword and lightly chopped once. A meteorite instantly split in half and a safe zone appeared.


    "The world''s endurance is very strong, but humans are very weak¡­ Just a small world fluctuation is a huge catastrophe for the human nations!"


    Fang Yuan''s eyes flickered as he focused on the fiery meteor rain. "This fiery meteor rain is very abnormal. Could¡­ one of the God''s landing points is just within the Stan Duchy?"


    ¡­


    "Surran."


    Storm Ollie took the initiative to stop and looked at the disaster affecting the entire city. "Our battle seems to be meaningless¡­"


    "I feel that this entire world is going to be undergoing a huge transformation." Surran put down his long spear and looked at the flames in the city. "This degree of crisis is only the beginning. In this environment, if those nobles still want to plot against each other, that would be overly dumb."


    "Eh¡­ I''m afraid there already aren''t any nobles." Ollie''s pupils suddenly contracted. "Look."


    Surran was stunned and instantly looked at his surroundings.


    As there were a lot of people in the large arena, after enduring a few meteorites, the damage was grave. Broken limbs and debris could be seen everywhere. Many people were sitting on the ground crying, as if they were as good as dead.


    Of course, this was not the most important part.


    The key was that just now, a meteorite had fallen and coincidentally struck Grand Duke Stan and Earl Floren, who had been desperately escaping for their lives.


    "¡­ Grand Duke Stan, how unfortunate¡­"


    Fang Yuan came before the deep crater, similarly with a look of shock.


    This large explosion had already caused these two people to simultaneously explode into pieces. Sadly, before their deaths, they had so desperately wished for the other to die, even consuming their raw flesh and blood.


    But when they died, their flesh and bones were instead intertwined in mud and unable to be distinguished.


    "Well, Ollie, you still want to continue standing on Earl Floren''s side?"


    Seeing that there were already no more fiery meteors striking from the skies, Fang Yuan brandished his long sword and calmly looked at the strong Legends in front.


    "Of course not. After all, even the earl has already died."


    Ollie shrugged his shoulders.


    Although he was bellicose, he was not a fool and would definitely not do something stupid when outnumbered.


    At this time, he looked at Fang Yuan in a little surprise. "Such a young Legend is rarely seen."


    He suddenly turned his head and saw the awkward scene of the large number of injured or dead storm warriors. His heart became heavy. "Let''s go home!"


    Upon hearing this, these storm warriors, whose eyes were originally deathly still from extreme shock, instantly became a little brighter.


    Unfortunately, Fang Yuan did not tell them that this crisis was not only present in the Stan Duchy, but was worldwide!


    Even their hometowns in the Noether Kingdom, if they were unlucky, would not escape this calamity.


    Fang Yuan and Surran sent Ollie off, and his gaze returned to the body of this Spear of Zero. "So, Sir Surran, what is your decision?"


    "The reason I acted was because I owed the ruling family a favor, and it has been paid off now¡­"


    Surran shook his head, his old eyes clearly understanding worldly affairs, like he had already guessed Fang Yuan''s next plans. "In addition, Sir Luhn, as a newly ascended Legend, you need to know some common knowledge."


    "I know, it''s the Legend Pact right? It stipulates that Legends cannot casually attack an average person and cause catastrophic deaths and injuries."


    Fang Yuan nodded.


    "Since Sir is clear, that''s good."


    Surran nodded and carried his long spear before instantly disappearing into the streets.


    "Okay, what''s remaining¡­ is still a huge, awful mess!"


    Fang Yuan stretched his body and looked at the lucky survivors and suddenly laughed, revealing snowy white teeth.


    ¡­


    Seven days later.


    Santana, inside the mutilated palace.


    "The death of Grand Duke Stan was something we weren''t willing to see, but the duchy can not go a day without a leader. I nominate Princess Amerie as the successor to the position of Grand Duke Stan. Any objections?"


    In front of the throne.


    Fang Yuan gathered all the remaining nobles and asked in an indisputable voice.


    "This¡­"


    These small nobles looked at each other.


    They were the fortunate survivors of the catastrophe. When facing fierce fiends and the Legend strength of Fang Yuan, who was strong-willed enough?


    Furthermore, Grand Duke Stan''s sons had all died in that catastrophe. If one considered blood relations, it was indeed Princess Amerie who was the closest.


    Of course, the male cousins of the grand duke would definitely not agree, but what did this have to do with them?


    After all, they were faraway in their fiefs but Fang Yuan was near at hand.


    "No objections!"


    Thus, when Fang Yuan''s gaze glanced over, they all shook their heads and expressed unwavering approval.


    "Very good! Since the noble conference has passed it, I announce that Amerie will succeed the position of grand duke. Send messages to the various regions requesting the nobles of the duchy acknowledge allegiance!"


    Fang Yuan placed a crown onto Timo''s head and said, "Furthermore, as the grand duchess is in a coma due to serious injuries, we will temporarily let her husband, Baron Timo, act as regent!"


    Timo''s face was muddled and let Fang Yuan appoint at his discretion.


    Previously, he and Princess Amerie were both poisoned and had obtained the timely assistance of Pope Garrett, managing to retain their lives when icebound until Fang Yuan saved them.


    The only thing that was very unfortunate was that although Timo was successfully saved, Amerie instead became a sleeping beauty.


    Yet Grand Duke Stan''s sons were even worse, encountering their demise in the confusion.


    It was understandable for the princess to succeed in the situation where the previous successors all perished.


    Instead, it was Timo who seemed to have suffered a strong blow and his emotions were in turmoil. Ever since he woke, he became dull and had a sense of total despair.


    "Okay, let''s pay our respects, everyone!"


    Fang Yuan retreated one step, bent his body, and bowed.


    "Regent!"


    The nobles below looked at each other and ultimately did not dare to violate the will of a Legend as they bowed.


    It''s done!


    Seeing this, Fang Yuan laughed silently in his heart.


    Although he did not know the previous plans of the Stan Duchy, now the duchy had already fallen into his hands.


    Of course, the succession of Amerie was not for the peace of the duchy, but rather for spreading the flames of war!


    After all, other than the original baron territories near Santana, perhaps any noble with royal blood would desire the grand duke''s position and not admit to the legitimacy of the princess.


    Thus, after this news was released, it was the beginning of a new battle.


    However, in Fang Yuan''s views, everything was a shape without soul, and could easily be resolved.


    "A duchy is barely sufficient to put to good use¡­ Furthermore, that suspected God¡­"


    A dim look flashed across Fang Yuan''s eyes.


    The implication behind that meteor shower was perhaps not that simple.

 696 Tracking

    After the news of Grand Duchess Amerie was released, it had caused a huge uproar within the Stan Duchy.


    Although the huge catastrophe that affected the entire world caused all the living to be in deep misery, those forces slightly maintaining power in the ruling family all expressed their disapproval toward the legitimacy of this grand duchess.


    Especially Earl Rode.


    This younger brother of Grand Duke Stan directly announced that he would not submit to the governance of the grand duchess, and even started gathering troops with some thoughts of attacking Santana.


    If not for the Noether Kingdom being in a similar mess, and the awkward timing of many nobles busy providing disaster relief, he might have perhaps still chose to lure this wolf into the house.


    Regarding this rebellion, Fang Yuan was never afraid. Regardless of how the opponent mustered his gang and gathered his huge armies, he simply brought three thousand soldiers and launched a decisive battle against them at the Halbert River region.


    In this battle, he fully opened up his Disaster Halo. The terror of a Legend was completely exposed, providing enhancements to the three thousand soldiers and allowing them to break through the tens of thousands of enemy troops to destroy the array of Earl Rode, resulting in the resistance army suffering a major defeat.


    After the battle, he used the name of Regent Timo and investigated the nobles who participated in this rebellion. He disposed of twenty-seven families in one swoop and reduced the titles of nobility and fiefs.


    From then on, the fiefs in the Stan Duchy under the direct jurisdiction of the ruling family greatly expanded. The momentum of splitting was instantly effectively curbed.


    Of course, the reason why this was so smooth was because the external forces were busy enough with their own affairs.


    The heaven collapsing earth shattering catastrophe had caused the entire world to be affected and human civilization to suffer great damage.


    Natural disasters, Evil Demons¡­ with various disasters occurring one after another, this caused large numbers of injuries and deaths to the human population. At the moment, human society was sparsely populated. The nobles did not even have time to provide disaster relief, much less have the mood to expand!


    After the threat from the Noether Kingdom dissipated, it was naturally an easy task for Fang Yuan to clean up the situation in the duchy.


    ¡­


    Time moved slightly forward.


    Just after Grand Duchess Amerie succeeded her position, it was the day for Regent Timo to assume authority.


    After Fang Yuan controlled the military forces of Santana, he did not bother about providing disaster relief and such, immediately scattering them in search of clues.


    "That day''s fiery meteor shower is definitely problematic. It must be some God who couldn''t control their power, causing these repercussions."


    Meanwhile, he brought along some people to seize everything from the Church of Death. Currently, he held an ancient book and was rapidly reading through it.


    Knowledge regarding the Gods was taboo in this world, and only large-scale churches would have them in their collections.


    Of course, with the previous foundation of the Church of Death, these reserves were naturally there and benefitted Fang Yuan.


    Compared to plundering other churches, since Death God Hess had already perished, there would be no risk in being merciless with the fallen. So why wouldn''t he be glad to do it?


    If those higher-ups in the Church of Death were to resurrect and see this, they would perhaps be angry enough to die again.


    They had travelled thousands of miles and experienced many hardships in relocating, but in the end, they instead gave their entire trove to Fang Yuan, like a child giving away wealth


    The surroundings were extremely quiet, and only the shasha sound of flipping pages was heard.


    "Found it!"


    Finally, Fang Yuan raised his eyebrows as he looked at a paragraph in the ancient book.


    Joy Goddess Sunny, a God that was promoted in Sun God Year 1569. Her Godhood is happiness, dancing, and singing¡­ Not a very strong God, and her fighting prowess is nothing exceptional.


    For a God of this world, even the one with the lowest fighting ability was still powerful.


    Furthermore, if they had the recognition and amplification of the world, they were not much different from the Da Qian''s True Sages and True Elementals.


    In other words, they were like Superior Wu Zun and Qian Huanyi during their peaks!


    Although they might not part of the Nine Pillar Gods, they would definitely support the world if it was really forced into a desperate situation!


    And Sun God Ramon was more so the absolute Sage and Creator!


    By saving the world this time, he had obtained the enhancements from the world''s power, and his ferocity was practically billowing to the skies!


    If Fang Yuan had not obtained the assistance of origin power last time, he would have basically been unable to heavily injure him.


    In fact, regardless of Ramon or Hess, they were both extremely unfortunate. Their heavy injuries were inflicted by origin power.


    Otherwise, with Hess'' abilities and him being one of the Nine Pillar Gods, even if his incarnation and all of the petitioners were dispatched, his true body would not have been so miserably killed by a Half-God.


    "If it''s in a God Nation, it''s a little troublesome for even a Sage to take down a God. But now is the best opportunity!"


    Fang Yuan put down this ancient book. "Sunny''s weapon is a bracelet that twinkles with the glow of the stars. Once used, large amounts of fiery meteor rain will descend. The previous catastrophe was the repercussion created from her losing control¡­ As long as I follow the trail of the meteors, she won''t be able to escape!"


    "Sir!"


    At this time, a knight respectfully came forward from outside to report, "We have already thoroughly searched through the nearby surroundings of Santana and found three places suspected to have meteors crashing!"


    "Great!"


    Fang Yuan''s eyes lit up and grabbed a cloak. "Call the others and follow me!"


    ¡­


    Fang Yuan rapidly finished inspecting the east and west ruins, but did not find anything.


    However, in a massive meteor crater in the north, his forehead stirred and felt the aura of a God''s power.


    "¡­ The true body of Sunny landed here?"


    While thinking, he released a spell. A foggy halo appeared and seemed to be absorbing a few clues from the surroundings.


    "We have to speed up our progress. Otherwise, it''ll be a troublesome matter if the Goddess'' church also comes!"


    Ever since the Gods had descended into the mortal world, various churches had also suffered heavy damages.


    Without the God Nations being a transit station and massive reservoir, nearly all of the magical skills of the pastors experienced a massive suppression. Currently, a high-level pastor needed to expend a lot of mental and physical effort in order to unleash a trivial healing spell.


    Of course, even so, the Gods still relied on their churches in the mortal world.


    At least, if a God was able to contact their church first, there would be no concern for their safety.


    Following the clues he obtained, Fang Yuan pursued all the way to a deep mountain.


    "A very obvious clue!" He looked at the bonfire trace on the ground and shook his head. "It seems that before apotheosizing, this Sunny wasn''t a powerful adventurer!"


    Some of the Gods had a very impressive Saint form, innately having horrifying fighting strength.


    Even if they lost the amplification of their God Nation and Godhood, they were not easily insulted.


    Whereas the innate fighting prowess of some of the Gods were a tragedy. Once they were swept off the God Nation, they were practically useless!


    Of course, the foundation of a Saint was still present even if their fighting prowess was a tragedy, and they could not be flouted by the average person. However, Fang Yuan was not an average person, but an experienced hunter!


    These remaining clues made Fang Yuan ascertain that the one he was hunting down was definitely not an experienced and ruthless person.


    "Apotheosizing does not always only rely on strength. The luck needed is also great¡­"


    He walked forward a few steps and saw a cave.


    A cover of magic light was encircling the entrance of the cave, endlessly flickering like a firefly guiding the way.


    Seeing this, a smile appeared on Fang Yuan.


    In the dark depths of the cave, he could faintly make out a fifteen or sixteen year old girl squatting on the ground, her hands clutching her knees as her shoulders shivered. "Wuwu¡­ Don''t find me¡­ Sunny is so scared¡­"


    ¡­


    At the same time, a secret monastery in the Noether Kingdom.


    "Dear Mother Earth Meira accepts us generously. The earth is her body, growing leaves and fruits that are bestowed to us as gifts¡­ Thank you, Goddess, for giving us sustenance!"


    A solemn sermon was currently being carried out in the monastery.


    Inside the monastery of the Noether Kingdom, many of them were either the unsuccessful second sons or daughters of knights. And of course, there were also those who were banished for committing an offense.


    Currently, with the prevalent natural and man-made disasters, these countryside monasteries instead became a hidden land of peace and happiness surviving with difficulty, even accepting a few refugees.


    Inside the monastery, a pastor of Meira was preaching to a group of ignorant refugee youths.


    "Thank you for saving us, Goddess. We are willing to believe in you, just like how we serve our parents!"


    The eyes of those youths lit up as they crouched down.


    "Huh?"


    At this moment, the eyes of the preaching pastor moved.


    Originally, increasing the number of believers for the Goddess would have allowed him to obtain a great amount of joy from her, but at this moment, there was evidently nothing.


    Instead, an ominous feeling that something was wrong constantly bounced in his heart.


    After some thought, he released a magic spell with much difficulty. "Identification!"


    Although using this spell only needed an average pastor before, it was now necessary for a bishop-rank pastor to use it.


    A ray of pure white instantly expanded and enveloped these youths.


    They were muddle headed and had no anomalies.


    This indicated that they were all ''pure,'' did not worship other Gods, and had no underlying blasphemous powers in their bodies.


    However, a youth suddenly shouted as a blood red glow erupted to cover his body.


    "This¡­" The bishop''s pupils contracted. "Divinity?!"


    Ever since the Evil Demons descended, the existence of divinity was already no longer a secret.


    "Sir?" Two warriors quickly rushed over and looked at this youth.


    He was very frail and looked to be around fourteen or fifteen years old. At the moment, his eyes were filled with apprehension.


    The bishop walked forward and asked with a very gentle voice, "What is your name?"


    "Dja-Django, the son of a soldier!" the teenager stuttered.


    "You have not killed an Evil Demon before, but there is divinity in your body!" the bishop said slowly. He had previously seen some examples of this. The inheritance of divinity, other than through slaughtering and reproducing, had an active entrusting and embellishing component.


    From this point of view, Django''s aptitude was beyond expectations.


    "As for whether you have plundered this for yourself, or it''s a gift from your father, this is already not important¡­ Do not be afraid, my child."


    The bishop raised his hand and touched Django''s head. "You are a lucky lad¡­ If you had landed in the hands of the Church of Death three days ago, you would have definitely been burned at the stake, but we are under the command of Mother Earth Goddess!


    "Furthermore, before the Goddess descended into the mortal world, she had given an oracle requiring us to take good care of you all!"


    His voice seemed to carry a small comforting strength, making the guard and uneasiness of this youth relax, looking toward him with full of appreciation.

 697 Captive

    "Your Excellency Bishop, I don''t understand!"


    Seeing the bishop hospitably arranging food and lodging for the youth named Django, even treating him better than others, a trusted aide finally asked him in confusion after waiting for everyone around to leave, "Why? Aren''t they the sons of the Evil Demons and accomplices of the Purgatory?"


    As an aide of the bishop, he knew that just on his side, the number of ''Sons of Purgatory'' that they had secretly captured and executed were not few.


    As for the sudden change in the stance of the church, he naturally had some doubts.


    "First, this is because of the oracle¡­ Furthermore, did the Sons of the Purgatory decrease from us capturing them? No, they''re becoming stronger, and it''s instead the Church that is gradually suffering losses!"


    A wise glow was seen in the eyes of the bishop. "Not to mention, after so many years of killing, do you see a decrease in the numbers of the Evil Demons? No, this also indicates that for the short term, we can''t do anything about the Purgatory. Thus, we must change our course of action!"


    "Draw over a portion of the Sons of Purgatory?" The aide seemed to slightly comprehend.


    "Correct!" The bishop nodded. "The Church has already prepared to form an Apologetic Knight Group, and the members are already chosen. It''ll be those who worship Mother Earth and soldiers who have fought the Evil Demons for a long time.


    "Therefore, please remember to entirely forget about everything before. We need to change our attitude toward the Sons of Purgatory."


    "As you bid!" The aide was immediately solemn.


    ¡­


    These two people did not notice that after they had left, a faint glow flickered in the sky and materialized into a human figure.


    She was as tall as an ordinary middle-aged woman, her eyes were amiable, and her body had a stern majesty that was inviolable.


    She came before a set of doors, and the doors on both sides automatically opened.


    Django crawled up from the bed and yawned before suddenly shouting in surprise, "Ah! Who are you?"


    Logically, such a loud scream should have alerted the guards outside, but at this moment, it was silent, as if the entire room had been separated from the outside world.


    "Child, do not worry!" The woman smiled amicably. "Are you scared? Uneasy because of the abnormalities in your body? Even though it came from your father?"


    "Yes¡­ that''s right!"


    Django clenched his fists tightly, as if he had returned to that night.


    His father was a strong soldier. He was summoned to the battlefield, but he suddenly returned one night with his body drenched in blood.


    "Go! Leave immediately! The further the better!"


    Regardless of how long had passed, as long as he closed his eyes, the scenes from that night would vividly appear.


    However, after escaping his hometown, he discovered that he was different.


    Even without training, he was as strong as soldiers and unafraid of heat and cold.


    If not for this ability, how would he have survived the merciless life of drifting from place to place, homeless and miserable?


    This was the deepest secret in his heart. But not knowing why, his eyes became hot and he divulged everything after seeing this woman.


    "Do not worry, my child!" The woman walked forward and lightly embraced Django. "You have unparalleled talent and will definitely bear a huge destiny. I will bless you, to let your heart be filled with brightness at all times and not misguided by darkness!"


    "Thank¡­ Thank you!"


    A warm feeling filled up Django''s heart and tears flowed out in two streams.


    ¡­


    This scene not only happened in the Church of Mother Earth.


    In many other parts of the continent, the destinies of a few Sons of Purgatory were altered.


    After Django fell into a deep sleep, Meira turned around and vanished into the sky.


    When she reappeared, she had already reached the roof of the monastery.


    "My pastor has run this place quite well!"


    The God''s gaze penetrated everything, and after a while, Meira nodded.


    Seeing the glow of the sun in the horizon, she became a little worried.


    According to the final will before Sun God Ramon fell into deep sleep, we''ve all been fooled by Apophis, that scheming Evil God. When he descended with the Nine Tier Purgatory, he was heavily injured and did not even have a body, only a strong will remaining!


    He dispersed divinity in preparation for a huge plot. After the Sons of Purgatory slaughter each other to decide the final champion, his will will descend and resurrect in the body of that Son of Purgatory!


    In order to stop everything, we need to change our actions!


    The analysis of divinity has already been placed on the agenda by the Knowledge God, and the other is to divide the Sons of Purgatory through education and guidance, having them stand on the righteous side!


    After experiencing the horror of the Sons of Purgatory and the Nine Tier Purgatory, all the Gods were already beginning to gradually change their actions.


    Letting the Sons of Purgatory execute Apophis was a very good idea.


    Furthermore, the Gods could gradually sense that the world''s Son of Destiny was in the midst of being born.


    The retaliation of the Monger World was about to begin!


    ¡­


    At the focal point of all this, Fang Yuan had not yet detected anything.


    He looked at the Goddess in front and could not help but rub his forehead, feeling a small headache. "This freak can also become a Goddess?"


    In front of him, Sunny gracelessly knelt on the floor and cried, "Boohoo¡­ Don''t hurt me. I will listen to everything you say!"


    Even that bracelet artifact was already in Fang Yuan''s hands.


    Earlier, he had simply walked into the cave and easily captured this Goddess. The process was so simple that even he found it ridiculous.


    "You are Sunny? The Joy Goddess?" Fang Yuan asked to be sure.


    "Yep, this is my God Name!"


    The Joy Goddess waited for a moment before finally rubbing her teary eyes and crawling from the ground with an innocent expression.


    Impossible. Even for a fool, how can she still be so innocent after being a God for so long?


    Fang Yuan''s eyes contracted, and suddenly, a thread of imposing manner condensed and swiftly charged toward Sunny.


    The Gods in this world obtained their Godhoods either through being born with it or bestowed it by being a Domainer who obtained the approval of the world.


    Perhaps there could be an existence of poor character, but whatever the case, it should not be like this!


    Indeed, after being incited by that imposing manner, Sunny''s face suddenly changed.


    "Mortal, you actually dare blaspheme a True God?"


    A horrifying aura instantly appeared on her body, having the flavor of an aloof mountain''s chill.


    "Sister! Don''t¡­"


    At this time, another voice came from Sunny''s mouth.


    "Hateful!" the Goddess scolded harshly.


    The aura on her body instantly vanished, and a pair of large innocent eyes stared at Fang Yuan.


    Split personality?


    Fang Yuan looked at this and rapidly thought of something. "The emblem of the Joy Goddess is a double-faced mask. Inside the records of the ancient book, this Goddess was prone to capricious moods, often releasing conflicting oracles that led to believers being lost. If we categorize by groups, she is definitely inclined toward chaos!"


    Although it was a little unbelievable for a True God to form symptoms of a ''split soul'', this world was huge and had all kinds of incredulous things.


    "Then¡­ Sunny, tell me!" Fang Yuan walked forward like a big wolf. "It''s easy for a God to create an incarnation right? Why don''t you split?"


    "Because¡­ my sister says that a normal incarnation cannot inherit our will¡­" Being forced by him, Sunny looked as if she was about to cry, her voice carrying a sobbing tone. "Once we separate, we''ll split the true body''s origin and even the Godhood!"


    After she finished speaking, her face immediately changed and said fiercely, "Are you a fool? How can you tell an outsider this?"


    Instantly, Sunny returned to her pure, innocuous smile and apologized in fear and trepidation, "Sorry, Sister!"


    Okay¡­ Such an opponent is really causing me to become unenthusiastic! Luckily, this Goddess was always staying in the God Nation and living a secluded life. If she was seen by her believers, there''s a large chance that they would collapse.


    Fang Yuan rubbed his head and looked at Sunny. "Okay, Goddess, please follow me."


    Against such a Goddess, there seemed to be no need to kill. Fang Yuan decided to capture and confine her before thinking of what to do.


    Regardless, this was a True God!


    Although she looked very worthless, by keeping her around, she would have some value, right?


    At least, her Saint cultivation was not fake.


    If an average person met this teenage girl, perhaps they would be instantly suppressed onto the ground by her invincible might.


    "Follow you? Why do I have to follow you?" Sunny''s eyes widened and seemed a little dumbfounded.


    "You fool. He''s preparing to grab hold of you to use you. Let me do it!"


    Instantly, she changed face and a strong surge of imposing manner condensed. "Even if you''re a Legend, in front of my artifact¡­ uh¡­"


    The Goddess looked at her empty wrists, then at the bracelet in Fang Yuan''s hands, and immediately exploded in anger. "Sunny, you fool! How could take out the bracelet?"


    "Sor-Sorry¡­ Boohoo. Sister¡­ it''s my fault!"


    Sunny''s expression instantly became tragically sorrowful like a weeping beauty.


    It seems to be the repercussions of being swept into the human world. These twin Goddess'' schizophrenia seems to be getting worse! Fang Yuan thought calmly and suddenly walked forward.


    This power and influence immediately changed Goddess Sunny''s face. "Mortal¡­ what do you want to do?"


    Fang Yuan suddenly laughed and shouted, "Sunny, quickly come or I''ll hit you!"


    "This isn''t good!"


    Goddess Sunny''s pupils shrank. She wanted to say something, but her temperament instantly changed back.


    "Lie down for me!"


    Fang Yuan naturally made use of this good opportunity and immediately appeared behind Sunny, using his right palm to press a position of her nape.


    Instantly, this Saint rolled her eyes and collapsed weakly.


    "Seal!"


    After achieving what he wanted with one blow, Fang Yuan''s hands were like butterflies flitting through flowers, immediately arranging numerous seals on Sunny''s body.


    With his current cultivation, the seals that he arranged would basically be impossible to break for this extremely incapable Goddess!

 698 Visitor

    Fang Yuan did not feel much accomplishment in imprisoning this Goddess.


    Instead, after reading a large number of the secret ancient books and interacting with Sunny, he gradually got to know the past of this bizarre Goddess.


    Joy Goddess Sunny was not one of the Nine Pillar Gods, and even the years since her apotheosis were few.


    At that time, she was able to apotheosize by relying on being fortunate enough to discover and conquer a large fragmented plane and please the world''s will.


    In this entire process, Harvest Goddess Willa was always her firm supporter. Thus, after becoming a True God, Sunny unhesitatingly became a Goddess under the command of Willa and an addition to the camp of this Harvest Goddess.


    As for the illness similar to schizophrenia, she was born with it.


    The elder sister Sunny was a strong magic warrior and proficient in magic and fighting techniques, but the younger sister was born disliking fighting, and was even very pure.


    The majority of the time, it was the elder sister that dealt with matters.


    However, when the catastrophe struck and Sunny was swept down from the God Nation, the elder sister had struggled strenuously but was ultimately still severely injured and entered a deep slumber. Most of the time, it then became the younger sister who had control of the True God body.


    Thus, she also became smuggled goods.


    "To a Legend, this is a huge gift!"


    Fang Yuan closed the doors, silently watched Sunny through the window, and could not help shaking his head.


    Even though her fighting prowess was average, the Godhood she had was not fake. If a Legend could snatch it away from her, he would have hopes of apotheosizing, similar to Jay!


    Furthermore, in Fang Yuan''s opinion, even if her fighting prowess was like this, he was still able to obtain benefits from her body.


    "Speaking of Jay, this newly promoted Death God is really unfortunate. Since he''s also a God, he would definitely be unable to resist the sweeping power of the world and remain in the Netherworld. He''d be forced to descend into the Main World!"


    In other words, this newly apotheosized Son of Purgatory did not even have the time to digest the fruits of his victory before he was kicked back. Needless to say, this treatment was very miserable and tragic.


    "I''m not preparing to deal with this Goddess, but I just want to use her Godhood to have some insight on the rules of the world¡­"


    Fang Yuan stroked his chin and muttered to himself, "Although the gag order has already been sent, I''m afraid the news won''t be kept secret for too long. After extracting all the benefits, this trouble must be immediately sent away, and Harvest Goddess Willa is a very good recipient!"


    His current identity was the Stan Duchy''s Legend Disaster Knight Luhn, so he naturally had pay careful attention to what he did.


    As long as he was not a lunatic that wanted to apotheosize, he could not treat a True God poorly.


    In fact, Sunny received treatment that was worthy of a distinguished guest.


    "Now, we just need to wait for the Church of Joy to come. Only, the power of this church in the mortal world doesn''t seem to be that strong."


    Fang Yuan felt that he was like a kidnapper kidnapping hostages and demanding ransom.


    "Of course, my actual goal is not Goddess Sunny, but¡­ Harvest Goddess Willa!"


    He thought silently with a deep gaze.


    ¡­


    A few months later.


    On the training grounds.


    "Again! Again! Is this your strength?!"


    Sunny was wearing a martial attire and powerfully swinging a meteor hammer. Each of her movements was like a valiant general charging forward, not much inferior to Ollie.


    Most importantly, she could both release spells and use martial powers. Even though she was cornered by Fang Yuan a few times, she was still able to counterattack by relying on this.


    In these few months, Fang Yuan had led the ruling family''s huge army and obtained a resounding victory, establishing the position of Grand Duchess Amerie. He immediately quelled the entire Stan Duchy and reduced the nobles'' fiefs while starting to actively provide disaster relief.


    As for Sunny, she was also a gratifying achievement.


    For the naive younger sister, Fang Yuan had successfully charmed her, causing her elder sister to be infuriated but unable to do anything.


    At this time, she had completely lost her shackles and was like a genuine guest.


    "Only my sister would believe your nonsense words of protecting me!"


    After a huge fight, Sunny gasped for air, her face completely red. She stubbornly scolded, "You shameless thief! You just want to obtain the Gods'' secrets!"


    "But in fact, I''ve protected you and even returned your artifact, right?"


    Fang Yuan laughed and pointed at the bracelet on Sunny''s wrist.


    From this angle, this Goddess had already compromised. If not, there would directly be a ''fiery meteor'' crashing.


    If a True God unleashed their full potential, the surrounding mansions would be utterly destroyed.


    "It''s been such a long time, so Your Mightiness should have already contacted your church, right?" Fang Yuan took a handkerchief and wiped the sweat on his face. "How come you haven''t left?"


    "You''re willing to let me go?" Sunny provocatively looked at him.


    "Of course¡­ you aren''t my prisoner!"


    Fang Yuan''s face was full of solemn righteousness. In reality, he had only used the research that he had conducted during this period to roughly understand the workings and rules of the Joy Godhood.


    As for the core information, unless a Son of Purgatory killed her and won her Godhood, there would be no further leaks.


    Speaking of which, in these months, there were indeed raging storms on the continent. The descent of all the Gods is an opportunity for the Legends. For the Sons of Purgatory, it is even more so¡­ I''ve already felt another Son of Purgatory obtaining a Godhood¡­


    He narrowed his eyes with a slightly dangerous glow in his pupils. Of course, there are a few who have been won over and corrupted by the Gods¡­


    Thinking of this, Fang Yuan wanted to sneer in his heart.


    Those Gods were really too naive. There was only an insignificant amount origin power contained within divinity. This was the power of a higher dimension.


    Even if it was the Monger World, it required a lot of effort to refine it, much less the Gods.


    Thus, they could draw over as many as they wanted. At the end, they would notice that everything they did was simply wasting their efforts for no results.


    What was known as ''righteousness, brightness, love, etcetera'' would not fundamentally change the nature of the Sons of Purgatory.


    Furthermore, this did not require Fang Yuan to decide and was merely the effect of having origin power!


    Of course, compared to the little tricks of the Gods, this world is still what I should be afraid of!


    Previously, that Evil Demon Realm''s will could refine origin power by using the bizarre Evil Demon Placenta.


    With the foundations of the Monger World, as long as it was willing to pay the price, it could also achieve something similar!


    The actual retaliation of the world had just started!


    Even in the future, I won''t be shocked at all if a Son of Destiny that can tame divinity appears!


    A sneer appeared on Fang Yuan. Suddenly, he looked outside the wall and his forehead twitched. "Your Mightiness Sunny, it seems the person fetching you is here!"


    "Hmm?"


    At this time, the entire training grounds seemed to have stagnated, and only someone with the abilities of a Legend or above could move freely.


    Sunny instead raised her head and released a dazed expression. "Sister is coming back¡­"


    "Sunny!"


    A loud, clear voice suddenly rang out.


    Amid a green glow, a female figure appeared.


    Her eyes were dark green and she was draped a gray cloak. Her figure was plump and had a deep but impenetrable power.


    "Harvest Goddess Willa?"


    Fang Yuan''s pupils slightly shrank. This was one of the Nine Pillar Gods, and she brought a much greater pressure than Sunny.


    Of course, what was in front of him was definitely not the true body of the God, but a mere projection of power.


    At this time, an alone God''s true body would be prey that many experienced Legends were dying to have. No True God would be willing to expose their true body except for this bizarre Sunny.


    "Sir Luhn, Sunny has troubled you during this period!"


    The Harvest Lady slightly bowed toward Fang Yuan, seeming to be very benevolent and generous.


    She was the master of the Joy Goddess. In other words, she was the guardian of the Goddess.


    "I had previously contacted the Church of Joy, but I didn''t expect that you would personally come!"


    Facing a True God, even an ordinary True God, Fang Yuan still maintained the corresponding etiquette.


    "Thank you for your care during this period, Sir. Now, I''ll take Sunny away¡­"


    Fang Yuan could evidently detect Willa''s vigilance, but he only smiled faintly. "Of course you can. Please do!"


    The benefits that he could actually obtain from the Goddess were already in his pocket.


    The other mundane things would naturally have the duchy asking the church.


    "Let''s go!"


    Seeing that he was so understanding and reasonable, Willa seemed a little surprised, instantly looking at Sunny.


    "Yeah, I''m going. Bye Big Brother!"


    Sunny laughed innocently and ran to grab Willa''s arms. "Sister Willa, Sunny was very worried about you during this period!"


    "You¡­"


    Seeing this funny person, even Willa had a helpless look. She waved her hands, and amid green light, their bodies disappeared.


    When they reappeared, they had already reached outside of Santana.


    "Sorry, Sunny. But now, I need to see your sister."


    The Harvest Lady was apologetic and pressed the middle of Sunny''s eyebrows with her finger.


    "Master!"


    In an instant, a transformation occurred to the temperament on Sunny''s body, and that dominating elder sister returned.


    "After receiving your news, I directly rushed over. Thankfully, all is well with you," the Harvest Lady said smilingly.


    "Yeah¡­ This Luhn is a very peculiar!" Sunny''s face was solemn. "I initially thought that he was only interested in my Godhood, but it seems his ambition is even greater!"


    "Joy is not a strong Godhood. Furthermore, from Knight Luhn''s body, I saw a layer of destiny''s fog!"


    The Harvest Lady''s voice carried a trace of confusion. "Before I came, I asked the church to completely investigate this person and found that he spent just a few years to become a Legend knight from a free citizen with nothing to start with. Even if we use inheritance to explain this, it''s still too fast! The only possibility is that he is a Son of Purgatory!"

 699 Son of Salvation

    Only with divinity that was a constant accumulation through slaughter could an ordinary person be promoted to a Legend this fast!


    Objectively speaking, the speed that Knight Luhn progressed at was indeed a little too fast, just like those Sons of Purgatory!


    It could not be completely explained with a Legend''s inheritance. Instead, taking into account the Sons of Purgatory, everything would fit.


    Hearing this from Harvest Lady Willa, Sunny nodded her head in approval. "Indeed. Although he concealed it very well, after I interacted with him for so long, I could still occasionally sense a trace of divinity in his body!"


    While she was speaking, a look of struggle appeared on her face and she blurted out, "No¡­ Sister, Big Brother is a good person!"


    "Enough, stop being a nuisance, Little Sister!"


    Anger and shame appeared on Sunny''s face, which soon changed to her pleading, "Really¡­ Don''t harm him, alright?"


    "Relax, Sunny!"


    Seeing this, Willa stroked Sunny''s smooth cheeks with a look of affection. "If it was before, a Son of Purgatory who was a Legend would indeed be the target of extermination for various churches. However, the situation is different now. We''re all very interested in the suggestion proposed by the Knowledge God!


    "Now, we all know that Apophis is not actually within the Purgatory. Furthermore, his true body has already been destroyed and he wants to resurrect in the body of a Son of Purgatory. Thus, in order to defeat him, the best method is using the Sons of Purgatory! They need to be sufficiently strong, have iron willpower, and unparalleled thoughts. They would then able to completely destroy Apophis'' will in the final battle!


    "This Luhn can temporarily be a candidate for us to monitor!"


    In the Gods'' opinions, the Sons of Purgatory would definitely not reject this proposal.


    That was because their destinies had already long been determined by Apophis, and they were all vessels for cultivation. Divinity was going to constantly accumulate in their bodies and, in the end, would completely be obtained by the victor.


    The final victor would then become the perfect carrier for the resurrection of Apophis!


    Helping the Gods defeat Apophis was equivalent to helping themselves!


    "I feel that¡­ it''s alright."


    Goddess Sunny nodded. Discarding the subjective factors, Luhn was truly a very powerful Legend. Furthermore, he also had ambition and intelligence.


    "For this, I''m going to hand it over to you. Coincidentally, there''s an opportunity soon!"


    A slight smile appeared on Willa''s face. "In the Noether Kingdom, there are signs of a Legend Son of Purgatory. We''ll dispatch elites to annihilate them and observe this person in passing!"


    "Noether Kingdom?" Sunny sighed. "This previously remote kingdom is already becoming more important among the continent''s humans."


    To the central regions with a dense population, the descent of the Evil Demons was unquestionably a huge catastrophe.


    And after experiencing the disaster of the descent of the Gods, the human world was already in a state of misery and suffering.


    However, the Noether Kingdom was pulled up due to this. Since it had accepted huge numbers of escaping nobles from the central region, it seemed about to outshine everyone.


    At least, with the annihilation of several large kingdoms in the central region, its rank within human civilization was largely brought forward.


    Similarly, the same was true for the Stan Duchy.


    Controlling the Stan Duchy while also being a strong Legend, Fang Yuan could currently be considered a medium-sized force that could stir the winds and clouds on the continent.


    If not, why would the Harvest Lady fancy him?


    Just because of divinity? Such Sons of Purgatory were basically a dime a dozen in the entire world.


    Only strength and talent could make a God cast a glance. This was the cruel truth of this world!


    "Oh yes. Where is that Legend Son of Purgatory hiding?" asked Joy Goddess Sunny finally.


    "In the royal family." The Harvest Lady''s face was serious as she spat out the words.


    "So it''s him!" Sunny shouted in surprise, suddenly understanding the plans of the Harvest Goddess. "There are too many implications inside. In the end, I''m afraid that the entire forces of the Stan Duchy will have to be dispatched, right?"


    "Correct! Why must we annihilate this Son of Purgatory? First, he''s unwilling to listen to the oracle of the Gods. Second, our churches and powers also requires a secure rear!"


    Gods also had human nature!


    Especially after descending into the mortal world, they needed a safe base.


    And the Noether Kingdom was the area reserved by the Harvest Goddess!


    ¡­


    Noether Kingdom.


    On the battlefield, the war between the humans and Evil Demons continued as before.


    The Gods'' descent brought huge fluctuations to the humans through storms, earthquakes, and fires¡­ Disasters were rampant, but the Evil Demons did not consequently vanish.


    As long as the Nine Tier Purgatory was yet to be annihilated, the Evil Demons would naturally come forth endlessly.


    "Since last time, when this area of earth cracked, the number of Evil Demons appearing has already lessened by ninety percent. This is the best opportunity. We have to push inwards in one breath and seal the cave!"


    At the rear of the human camp, a general''s face had unwavering determination as he brandished his long sword. "Attack! Attack! Brave soldiers! You are not fighting for others, but fighting for yourselves! If you don''t bury these damned Evil Demons, there won''t be a day of peace here in the future!"


    A simple speech usually contained wisdom.


    Just like this time, many soldiers and conscripted militia hearing this angrily shouted loudly. They used all of their energy and once again brandished the weapons in their hands.


    "Loose the arrows!"


    Seeing this, the general was instantly gladdened, adding another fresh army into the battlefield.


    Zap! Zap!


    Immediately, accompanied with a dancing torrent of arrows, many Evil Demons collapsed.


    This was a batch of archers that was especially trained by the Noether Kingdom, and the bow and arrows were all specially manufactured. They carried the power of magic and were able to penetrate the tough skin of the Evil Demons.


    "Soon! We''re reaching soon!"


    The morale of humanity''s allied forces shook the earth, and they quickly reached the front of the crack.


    There was originally a mine here. But later, for reasons unknown, it linked with the Netherworld and became a spot where Evil Demons appeared.


    In order to seal the breach, the kingdom had already prepared a batch of sorcerers. As long as they reached the boundary, they could instantly unleash spells, such as Turning Mud into Stone, to transform the exit of the cave into tens of thousands of tons of rock!


    "Very good. Sorcerers, prepare¡­"


    Seeing that the army has pushed the frontlines to the crack, the general became ecstatic.


    Just at this moment, his eyes suddenly contracted.


    After many Evil Demon corpses collapsed, a dilapidated camp unexpectedly appeared near the crack. There were even a few human captives inside.


    Of course, the bodies of the captives were now full of injuries and seemed to have been used as food, many bones lying at the side.


    "Damned Evil Demons!" The general''s eyes were bloodshot. "Kill all of them and take revenge on behalf of the kingdom''s people!"


    A wave of soldiers rapidly charged forward, while the archers readied their bows to suppress the Evil Demons inside the cave.


    "Transform Mud into Stone!"


    "Giant Mountain!"


    "Adhesion!"


    Many sorcerers took action, and various magical glows sealed the crack in the ground.


    Seeing that there was a possibility for the persistent Evil Demon crisis to finally be appeased, with at least more hope of safety in this region, the surviving soldiers rejoiced.


    However, not long later, there was a sudden silence in a section of the frontline.


    Instantly, this silence spread like an infection.


    With the general''s extraordinary hearing, he even heard the cry of an infant.


    "Why would there be a human infant on the battlefield?"


    Not long after, his doubts were explained.


    A messenger rushed over and carried a male infant wrapped in a flag. "Sir, this was found among the captives!"


    "He actually survived within the encirclement of the Evil Demons. What kind of luck is that?"


    Even this general gasped. "He must have had a very mighty father or mother!"


    "But the frontline soldiers all think that he''s unlucky," the messenger said with an embarrassed expression.


    "Haha. If there''s a God of fortune, they must also be blessing us!" The general was unconcerned. "You see¡­ Once he appeared, we defeated the Evil Demons and sealed the source of this region. Isn''t this fortune? I have decided to keep him. As for his name, let''s call him Heim!"


    "Yes, Sir!"


    The messenger lowered his head respectfully before instantly letting out another gasp. "This isn''t right¡­"


    "What happened?"


    After seeing this, the general instantly raised his eyebrows in displeasure.


    "My demonic illness¡­ is cured!"


    The soldier looked at the back of his hand in wild happiness.


    Being the frontline army fighting against the Evil Demons, the entire army was already severely infected. It was still not too bad for the Extraordinaries, but for someone like him, he actually already looked like a monster, especially his hands which were previously covered with black scales.


    But at this moment, he raised his arms gleefully. "There was definitely still some just now, but it''s all gone. This must be a miracle!"


    "Wait, it was still there just now?" The general himself was a little dazed by this unforeseen event and asked, "What did you come into contact with after? Everything! I need to know everything!"


    "After¡­ I have always been fighting on the frontline, other than¡­"


    The soldier looked at the infant in his hands and tears suddenly erupted from his eyes. "Other than him¡­ Sir! I haven''t done anything different other than carrying him!"


    "This is a miracle. This is a holy infant that has been bestowed upon us by the Gods!"


    He devoutely kneeled and raised the infant high up, a face full of tears. "Gods! You''re finally willing to lower salvation onto this world?"


    Seeing this, the soldiers in the surroundings became agitated and crouched forward to hold Heim.


    Instantly, a scene that shocked people occurred.


    Their ingrained demonic illness immediately began to recover, even revealing normal healthy skin.


    "Miracle! Heim!"


    The tumult became louder and louder. Even with a general''s prestige, he was unable to calm the entire army.


    In fact, he did not even think of this, instead crying with a face full of tears like the ordinary soldiers.

 700 Agreemen

    Inside the Stan Duchy.


    As the actual wielder of the duchy, Fang Yuan had to settle many matters every day.


    But once he received news about Sunny, he still immediately came out to welcome her. "Welcome, Your Mightiness!"


    After being taken away by the Harvest Lady, an unknown transformation happened to Sunny, and she had already completely suppressed her hidden dangers. Every action of hers was no longer influenced by her sister, becoming an actual Goddess.


    Of course, Fang Yuan could clearly detect that what appeared in front of him was not the true body, but a projection of power.


    The true bodies of all the Gods were of utmost importance and were usually kept safe in the God Nations. Now that they were already released into the mortal world, they naturally felt that this was extremely dangerous and thus did not easily expose their bodies in front of others.


    Sunny was previously confined by Fang Yuan, and a majority of the secrets on her body were already revealed to him. Although she was here in peace right now, she could not use her true body again.


    "Luhn!"


    Goddess Sunny looked at Fang Yuan, who seemed to look like nothing had happened, and became so angry that her teeth started itching. However, she could only force herself to endure. "Do you know that your big secret has already been exposed?"


    "Big secret?" Fang Yuan smiled. "I don''t know what you mean, Your Mightiness."


    The location they were talking in was a secret room for privately receiving visitors. If not, after their conversation, Fang Yuan would have to consider the possibility of silencing witnesses.


    "It''s naturally about your identity, Son of Purgatory! You still want to deny it?" Sunny blurted out, her heart containing the satisfied feeling of revenge.


    Unfortunately, she was staring hard at Luhn''s face but did not discover any emotions such as shock or despair.


    "Oh, so it''s this¡­"


    Fang Yuan laughed silently in his heart.


    If not for him intentionally leaking the aura, how would these two Goddesses discover it?


    Of course, throwing out this small secret was just the cover for an even larger secret.


    On the surface, Knight Luhn''s face was cold and composed. After a short period, he finally asked, "Why? Could it be that you want to suppress me?"


    "Of course not. Right now, we only want to help you!" The Joy Lady took another breath. "As a Son of Purgatory, your fate is slaughtering and death. If you''re able to endure to the end and become the lucky survivor, you still won''t escape the fate of duelling against Apophis!


    "Apophis is the Master of the Nine Tier Purgatory. His aim is to resurrect with the bodies of all of the Sons of Purgatory! Only by obtaining the blessings of the Gods will you have a little hope of emerging victorious over your fates!


    "The Harvest Lady and I really admire you¡­"


    Admiration was only one aspect. Most importantly, he was a Son of Purgatory that was a Legend. Coupled with the fact that he controlled the Stan Duchy, he was not a small power.


    "Apophis?!"


    Once this was mentioned, Fang Yuan''s face instantly darkened with a look of immense dread.


    "Hehe¡­ Seems that after you became a Legend, you investigated many things and long knew the truth."


    Goddess Sunny finally saw the other party ''freeze'' and laughed. "Divinity and all the Sons of Purgatory originate from Apophis. This Evil God''s formidable strength is not inferior to Sun God Ramon. If he acts, the Sons of Purgatory would definitely have no possibility of resisting!"


    "Unless¡­ they promote to a God!" Fang Yuan supplemented in a gloomy voice.


    "Yes, God!" The Joy Lady nodded. "Your brother Jay did something like this. But he obtained the best opportunity when the Death God was heavily injured and the allied forces of the Gods were attacking the Purgatory."


    "Now with the Gods descending into the mortal world, isn''t this also the best opportunity?" Fang Yuan laughed weirdly.


    "Mortal!" Sunny''s face turned serious. "I warn you. Do not have such thoughts, or you''ll become an enemy of the Gods!"


    Obviously, if all of the Legends wanted to kill the Gods and become Gods themselves, wouldn''t the world become a mess?


    The Gods would definitely desperately resist and suppress this budding idea.


    To Jay, even if he had become the Death God, what he obtained was the animosity and attack of all the Gods.


    In other words, this large change in the heavens and the earth with the Gods'' descent, to a certain degree, had helped and formed a protection for him.


    Otherwise, there would already be a batch of Gods cooperating to exterminate him.


    Fang Yuan smiled slightly and said without concealing anything, "I know. Otherwise, I would have already taken your Godhood."


    Once this was mentioned, Lady Sunny was instantly so angry that her face turned white, but she immediately regained her composure. "You indeed made the right choice and must obtain generous compensation. You have obtained the friendships of the Harvest Lady and I. We can promise that we''ll definitely put in our greatest efforts to help you promote to a True God in the future!"


    A Legend with the support of the Gods would naturally have a much higher probability of apotheosizing than an ordinary power.


    Just like Sunny herself, who was able to promote to a God with the help of the Harvest Goddess.


    Of course, it was also because of this reason that after she became a God, she had entered the camp of the Harvest Goddess.


    "True God¡­ and the agreement to deal with Apophis¡­" Fang Yuan pretended to ponder for a while before suddenly laughing out loud. "With such good conditions, why would I reject it? Okay! I accept!"


    "Great!"


    After obtaining this outcome, Sunny was evidently more joyful. "At this moment, the Harvest Lady and I have a task for you! A Legend Son of Purgatory lurks within the Noether Kingdom. This is our gift to you!"


    What gift? Don''t you just need my help exterminating this dissident who is simply unwilling to submit?


    Fang Yuan could see this clearly in his heart, but he instead revealed excitement. "A Legend Son of Purgatory? He''s truly worth the effort, but just this is not enough!"


    "What more do you want?" Sunny furrowed her eyebrows. This Luhn was indeed not the type that could be easily deceived.


    "I want¡­ the entire Noether Kingdom!" Fang Yuan said resolutely.


    "Impossible!" Sunny instantly shook her head. "Do you know? This country has already been fancied by the Harvest Lady and me¡­"


    "Even if this is the case, you both require a monarch in the mortal world, right?" Fang Yuan asked confidently with a smile. "Ever since the unsuccessful attempts of unifying state and church, the Gods realized that belief needs to separated from the secular world. What I want is everything within the secular world of the Noether Kingdom!"


    "This¡­ I can consider it!"


    Sunny immediately a little swayed by this.


    In reality, the Harvest Lady and her only wanted the belief of the Noether Kingdom to maintain a working relation with the church. As for who managed the secular regime, it was not important at all.


    Needless to say, with the origin of that Son of Purgatory, the entire royal family of the Noether Kingdom had to be purged. It seemed like not a big deal if the person they were going to support changed to Luhn.


    "Such a greedy person. Don''t you already have the Stan Duchy?"


    Even so, Sunny still firmly grasped this opportunity to speak sarcastically to Fang Yuan, causing him to witness the little girl side of this Goddess.


    "The Stan Duchy is not mine, but the Grand Duchess Amerie''s. Timo is the Regent, while I am just the administrator!"


    Fang Yuan shook his head.


    Objectively speaking, the baron''s family had treated him quite well. Returning them a duchy could also be considered a repayment.


    This was also the reason why the powers in the mortal world were insignificant in his view.


    As a Creator, why would he be concerned over something so small?


    He had no choice but to portray an ambitious image just to numb these Gods.


    Of course, there was something else that was more important.


    What unforeseen event seems to have occurred in the Noether Kingdom?


    Although he was only a Legend Disaster Knight on the surface, his intrinsic essence was still Evil God Apophis who controlled the Nine Tier Purgatory!


    His intuition was even more sensitive than that of Gods towards the changes in the world. The only one who could surpass him in this aspect was that Sun God, the incarnation of the world''s will, Ramon!


    Oh yes, even the Purple Eye Realm and the previous Evil Demon Realm had methods to restrain origin power. How could the Monger World not have such a thing?


    In the beginning, it was only because its reaction was not fast enough, and with the vain attempt in refining the origin power, it could therefore only bear the burden. And after going through all that, there would definitely be some sort of retaliation!


    One should never underestimate the foundations of a world.


    Even for a tiny realm, its intrinsic essence surpassed a Sage''s because a Sage could only create a Heavenly Abode!


    The Purple Eye Realm could form the body seal and seal the origin power, while the Evil Demon Realm could even create the Evil Demon Placenta and refine origin power. How could the Monger World, which was even stronger than them, have no means?


    In the few years in the beginning, I was just adapting and fermenting. But this time, I''ve made a serious mistake that will definitely encounter backlash. That ''Son of Destiny'' should have been born.


    What was known as the Son of Destiny was also the Son of the World.


    Just like in the Purple Eye Realm, the Tantai Mieming that Fang Yuan previously possessed was the best example.


    Such a person usually carried immense fortune while having excellent talents. He would only appear when the world was faced with a huge crisis, bearing the heavy responsibility of saving it.


    At the moment, with Fang Yuan''s intuition, he discovered that a surge of energy landed within the Noether Kingdom.


    "Of course, with the world into utter chaos and the emergence of dragons and snakes, there may not even be a lone Son of Destiny! Only after passing through the final battle would the true beloved child of the world be born.


    "Despite this, I need to first control it!"


    A bright glow flashed across Fang Yuan''s eyes as endless thoughts whirled through his mind.


    "But in reality, this is simply an unwise decision!


    "Although the Monger World is powerful, it also has its flaws. It is too fat to move, and therefore, its reaction is not very rapid! The just born Son of Destiny will take at least twenty years to mature!


    "The best solution is to accelerate the lay out of the arrangements before the Son of Destiny has matured and then make a comeback."


    The so-called Son of Destiny was only someone with the world''s favor, and there was no use in killing them because they would endlessly respawn even after killed.


    Under all of Fang Yuan''s arrangements, there was in reality only one true enemy¡ªthe Monger World itself!

 701 Convergence

    Noether Kingdom, Corso City.


    An adventurer team slowly walked through the city gates and simultaneously released a deep sigh. "Finally safe!"


    In this world, there was also an Adventurer Society. The adventurers were all at least seasoned and experienced soldiers, and even Extraordinaries were commonly seen.


    And this small team of adventurers was entirely comprised of professionals.


    It consisted of two warriors, one assassin, one sorcerer, and one archer.


    With the combined forces of these five professionals, it would be better for any small army that they encountered to completely retreat. They were also able to hunt demon beasts and could be considered a strong power.


    "Yeah, I didn''t imagine that just one simple task could actually become so dangerous!" The sorcerer in the team removed his hood and revealed a pale face. "We even met an army of Evil Demons!"


    Their current task was to investigate the geomorphology and reproduction of the demon beasts outside the city.


    There were naturally demon beasts in the Monger World..


    Even the most common demon beast was on par with a professional''s power. There were even legendary species like the Ancient Dragon that would have a Legend''s brutal power once mature.


    Regardless of whether it was a human or a demon beast, the descent of the Gods and the undulations of the world had treated all equally with its catastrophes.


    Some wild beasts and demon beasts could not withstand it and thus became extinct. Some instead survived tenaciously, but had to migrate due to the ecological changes in their environment.


    This was undeniably a huge catastrophe for the human world.


    "My God¡­ ever since those damned Evil Demons appeared, this world has changed¡­"


    The former soldier team leader also lamented, "Previously, even the lowest ranked professional could scrape by decently. Now even we have no choice but to painstakingly work."


    "After completing this task, we''ll obtain a hundred Noether gold coins!"


    "Leader, after splitting the money, we must rest well!"


    The archer and assassin looked at each other and spoke with a clear voice. They were actually both women.


    "Definitely!"


    The team leader nodded his head, and a thread of cold light flashed in his pupils. Just nice¡­ I can also use this opportunity to kill more Evil Demons and see if my divinity can be enhanced!


    The appearance of the Evil Demons was naturally a heaven collapsing earth shattering catastrophe for ordinary people, but for professionals, this was not necessarily the case.


    Ordinary people feared the demonic illness like snakes and scorpions, but it did not even cause any observable symptoms on a professional''s body. Instead, they could even obtain benefits from the power of the Evil Demons.


    Furthermore, after accumulating to a certain extent, it could then produce divinity!


    The team leader of this adventurer team was actually a Deity!


    With this power, he saw endless possibilities.


    If he was an ordinary professional warrior, he would already have no hopes of advancing, and it would be impossible for him to come into contact with the threshold of a high-level professional in his entire life.


    However, the appearance of divinity had given him hope. As long as he was able to continuously kill Evil Demons, or even similar people, he could improve at an unbelievable rate.


    No! I can''t! How can I attack my own species? This is defies the doctrines of the Gods¡­ However, can I really still be considered human? Those churches killing Deities in the dark are no longer a secret¡­


    The team leader''s heart endlessly struggled, wanting to maintain his morality.


    Instantly, another thought came to him. I heard that some incidents occurred in the main battlefield under Steven. A Son of Salvation appeared who could remove the demonic illness from the bodies of ordinary people. I''m not sure if this is true¡­ but if it''s true, would he able to cleanse my divinity?


    With this thought, his gaze suddenly became darker.


    He would naturally not be willing to completely cleanse and remove his divinity.


    After all, if the demonic illness brought the bittersweetness of power and suffering to ordinary people, then to a professional, divinity had more benefits.


    At this moment, the appearance of such a ''Son of Salvation'' was immediately seen as something very unpleasant for him, even subtly viewing him as an enemy.


    This world changes so fast¡­ Should I be more proactive¡­


    Just as this team leader was still thinking this, his gaze suddenly turned toward a group of people at the city entrance.


    They seemed to be a similar adventurer team, but their members and equipment were all better.


    Especially the adventurer dressed up as a thief, causing him to fixate his gaze.


    Divinity!


    Just as the team leader made this judgment in his mind, the other party similarly looked over and stared hard at him with a pair of triangular eyes.


    Although divinity could be disguised, it was difficult for two Sons of Purgatory to conceal it from each other. This was also Fang Yuan''s intentional design.


    Being stared at by the other, the team leader instantly shivered all over, as if he was a frog targeted by a viper. He could not move his body slightly, and sweat started flowing down his forehead.


    This isn''t good. The divinity accumulated by this thief is definitely far greater than mine!


    A thought flashed through his mind, and he instantly became extremely mournful and afraid.


    Compared to slaughtering Evil Demons, the mutual plundering between the Sons of Purgatory was much more efficient.


    What should I do? I''ve been exposed, and he''ll definitely come and kill me. I-I don''t want to die¡­


    This team leader was struck down by fear, and his entire body nearly collapsed weakly onto the ground.


    "Leader! Leader!" After a while, the archer beside him shook his arm and he woke up. "What happened to you?"


    "Nothing. I''m just too tired!"


    He forced a smile and focused on the surrounding before realizing that that adventurer team had already left.


    "Haha¡­ our team leader is as strong as a cow. How can he suddenly fall ill?" The other warrior coarsely laughed. "Let''s go and turn in the task before heading over to Old Man Bayi''s bar for a drink!"


    "Turn in the mission, yeah!" The team leader wiped away his cold sweat and knew that the aim of that adventurer team was mostly likely the Society, but he did not dare go. "I suddenly feel a little uncomfortable. Kunst, you will turn in this mission!"


    After saying this, he instantly tugged his collar, clumsily ran into the crowd, and disappeared, leaving his team members confused.


    ¡­


    Just as those team members were utterly confused, at the same time, the high-level thief who had frightened their team leader had already entered the Adventurer Society with his companions and been respectfully invited into a secret room.


    After confirming the safety of the environment, a lady with fiery red hair dressed as a sorcerer asked, "Wayne, what did you discover just now?"


    "Heh¡­ just a small mouse!" Thief Wayne laughed. "The divinity in him is far too little. Unless he''s brought in front of me, I''m too lazy to even attack him!"


    "Please mind your words!"


    A holy and pure look suddenly appeared on the sorcerer''s face. "You are already not that ''Life Usurper'' Villette, but Wayne, a team member of the Harvest Lady''s church, the Apologetic Knight Group!"


    "Yes, yes!" Wayne shrugged his shoulders helplessly, but had a mocking smile on his mouth. "However, you weren''t all that benevolent to the Deities before¡­"


    "Enough!" Another person finally could not stand it.


    He was wearing a hood that covered his face. However, the moment he spoke, it had a huge deterrence, causing Wayne and the female sorcerer to quiet down.


    "This time, under the arrangements of the Church, we''ve come here in order to cooperate with another and kill that Legend Son of Purgatory. Do not cause internal conflicts before that knight has even arrived, and do not make fools of yourselves!"


    "Yes, Sir Surran!"


    The female sorcerer slightly bowed, revealing the identity of this mysterious person. It was actually the strong Legend that had previously appeared¡ªSpear of Zero Surran!


    This strong Legend was often wandering the continent and without a definite place of residence. Previously, due to owing a favor to the Stan Family, he had no choice but to act once on their behalf.


    However, nobody knew the truth that he had already long become a worshipper of the Harvest Lady!


    Even that time, it might have perhaps been the church''s secret instigation to assist the Stan Family.


    "That Knight Luhn, what kind of person is he?"


    A trace of curiosity flashed in the female sorcerer''s eyes.


    "Hehe¡­ you still need to ask that? He''s definitely like me, an executioner that kills people without blinking. Otherwise, how could he be promoted to a Legend. Tsk tsk¡­"


    Wayne''s gaze was full of admiration, then he glanced at the female sorcerer. "Anyway, he is definitely not the cup of tea for a Harvest bishop, right, Efia?"


    "You¡­" The female sorcerer immediately became infuriated.


    Naturally, this small team was thrown together and formed painstakingly by the Harvest Lady. The weakest person was still a high-level professional.


    This was all to complete the mission of killing that Legend Son of Purgatory.


    They had only recently received notification that they had to cooperate with another Legend.


    Furthermore, this Legend was also a Son of Purgatory!


    Shock, curiosity¡­ Various emotions naturally surged in their hearts.


    "Knight Luhn?" Surran''s eyes became a little blurry. "He is¡­ a very strong Legend. Furthermore, he knows how to hide it well. Before he completely erupted, nobody had guessed that he had already ascended to become a Legend!"


    Of course, he had yet to mention the biggest secret, which only echoed in his heart. The most important thing is that with my zero-sum deduction, I actually had a chilling feeling, as if I would definitely die if I fought against him. It now seems that this was a Legend Son of Purgatory''s power and influence?


    Dum! Dum!


    Just at this moment, there was a knock on the door.


    "He''s arrived!"


    Efia and Wayne glanced at each other, and the female sorcerer walked forward to open the door.


    "Excuse me!"


    Fang Yuan strode into the room with a move and swept his gaze around before taking off his cloak.


    "Knight Luhn, I can''t believe that we met again so soon," Surran greeted with a smile.

 702 Prince

    "Sir Surran, I can''t believe that we met again so soon!"


    Fang Yuan was similarly a little surprised, and he turned his gaze, immediately seeing Efia and Wayne.


    There was nothing impressive about Efia. Although she was dressed as a sorcerer, she herself was instead a pastor. As for the other person, Wayne, he was a Quasi-Legend.


    Not only that, the divinity in his body was also very rich. Evidently, he had killed many.


    "These two are Efia and Wayne, the helpers the Church prepared for us!"


    Surran saw Fang Yuan''s gaze and introduced them to him.


    "Hehe!" Fang Yuan laughed coldly and intentionally released a trace of the divinity''s aura.


    Instantly, Wayne, who was initially coldly looking on with animosity, immediately became like that previous team leader, feeling all the pores on his entire body tighten up. "Th-This¡­ How is there such a huge disparity? I feel like if he were to act, he could definitely kill me! Could the boundary of a Legend be this horrifying?"


    "Is this the power of a Legend Son of Purgatory?" Efia''s face had also changed dramatically. "It seems like¡­ the intelligence of the churches and True Gods are truly vast. If they only relied on us, I''m afraid that we''d be unable to deal with that Son of Purgatory of the Noether Kingdom!"


    When a Son of Purgatory became a Legend, the power they exerted was even more terrifying.


    Therefore, after the Harvest Lady failed to draw him over, she thought to eradicate him.


    "Greetings, both of you!" Fang Yuan lightly greeted, but he was only looking at Surran.


    Naturally, only Legends would be able to converse equally with him. "Then, who is the target this time?"


    "It''s the crown prince of the kingdom¡ªRedwin!" Surran sighed. "We have evidence that the king has long discovered his son''s abnormalities, but didn''t do anything about it. Instead, he secretly provided assistance!"


    "Thus, the entire royal family must be exterminated!" Wayne added.


    "Great!"


    Fang Yuan naturally did not have an opinion.


    Anyway, the complete annihilation of Noether Kingdom''s royal family was largely beneficial to him as well.


    At least when he was governing in the future, he would not need to worry about any royal family bloodline appearing.


    As for any children born out of wedlock, inside the noble circles, the general consensus was that they had no succession rights.


    ¡­


    As these Legends gathered, inside Noether Palace.


    "Your Highness!"


    In front of a desk, a staff member respectfully presented the latest documents and intelligence, not daring to directly look at the person sitting.


    He was wearing a long noble robe, his golden curls dancing like waves, his eyes the color of the sea. He looked to be only twenty years old, but already possessed the maturity and bearing that was completely inconsistent with an ordinary youth.


    This was the first successor of the kingdom, Redwin, forty years old this year.


    Not only was he proficient in etiquette and heraldry, he also had groundbreaking talent in arithmetic. Since he was twenty years old, he was made crown prince and assisted the king with government affairs.


    What was even rarer was that, even with his busy schedule, he could still maintain his training to become a powerful professional.


    His youthful complexion was a testament to this!


    Redwin looked at this report and directly flung it on the table, breaking into laughter while saying, "The Evil Demon situation of the nation can finally be said to have improved¡­ It''s really ironic that, according to the deductions of the palace sorcerers, this was related to the recent disasters. Because of this catastrophe, we had the opportunity to catch our breath under the demonic claws of the Evil Demons, right?"


    "Yes, Your Highness!" A person with the appearance of a scholar stood up.


    He was around sixty years old, his eyebrows and beard were gray, and a pair of spectacles hung from the bridge of his nose. "But after these years of catastrophe, the grain production of our entire kingdom had rapidly deteriorated, and the price of barley within the capital has already inflated by hundreds of times compared to last year. Also, various feudal lords have lost many citizens and can''t complete the coming year''s reclamation."


    Without reclamation, there would be no harvest.


    "There''s nothing that can be done. This problem even surfaced within the royal family''s territory!"


    Redwin had a slightly bitter smile.


    In the eyes of the nobles, these lower class people and serfs were indeed like ants, and their deaths wouldn''t be begrudged.


    However, they could not be completely exterminated. Otherwise, who were the nobles going to exploit in the future?


    "Fortunately, there are people migrating from the central region that we can use as replenishment."


    Redwin raised a porcelain teacup, savoring the black tea inside. "Do any of you have special news?"


    While saying this, his mouth slightly arched, making everyone shudder with fear.


    An assistant summoned his courage and said, "Special news¡­ Stan Duchy Regent Timo has defeated all contenders and has already completely stabilized the situation within the nation!"


    "Timo? No other way, he has a Legend''s support!" Redwin exaggeratedly sighed and touched his forehead. "Slo, find some time to invite Master Ollie over to my palace. I want to discuss matters regarding that Disaster Knight."


    "Your orders will be fulfilled!"


    An attendant bowed and dismissed himself.


    "Finally, it''s a small piece of news. That Son of Salvation who appeared in the mine has already been taken away by people from the Church of the Life God. It''s rumored that they''ll announce him as the ''Son of God''!"


    This news made Redwin''s face sink. "No matter what, that infant named Heim is also a citizen of our Noether Kingdom. What right does that church have to snatch him? You trash, you couldn''t even stop this!"


    He was infuriated, and the staff below were helpless.


    News regarding the Son of Salvation was not blocked off from the beginning.


    When Redwin had commanded people to go, the Church of the Life God had already dispatched a team of high-level professionals to bring him away.


    At this moment, they should have already been out of the boundaries of the Noether Kingdom. Their movement was so fast that even the Harvest Lady, who had intended to turn the Noether Kingdom into her territory, was unable to stop it. These mortals could only roll their eyes.


    "Damn! All of you, get out!"


    Redwin suddenly erupted, turning over the tea table in front of him.


    The staff awkwardly retreated, leaving Redwin to sit there alone, heavily gasping. "Son of Salvation Heim?"


    A dark golden glow appeared in his pupils. "I really want to see if your salvation is able to have any effect on me," he muttered in a raspy voice.


    As a Legend Son of Purgatory, the prince had killed numerous Evil Demons and humans.


    Facing a Son of Salvation who could ''cleanse'' divinity, he was naturally filled with wariness and hostility. His first reaction was to completely control him.


    Unfortunately, seemingly due to the obstruction of the world''s will, everything fell short.


    "Regardless, the Gods'' descent is now my best opportunity. If I don''t quickly catch up to Death God Jay, I''ll definitely die!"


    Redwin''s gaze was cold, and he suddenly pressed a mechanism.


    A row of bookshelves moved backward to reveal a hidden door.


    He walked inside and left the palace through a secret passageway, his image already undergoing a huge transformation.


    Blood-red cloak, white mask, and black warrior attire¡­ Everything made him look like a Death God harvesting lives.


    In fact, if he casually glanced over at the local Adventure Society, he would realize that there were wanted posters of ''Blood Hands Jack'' everywhere.


    "Phew¡­"


    It was already nightfall. Cold bright moonlight scattered on the ground.


    Redwin let out a long sigh. "Ah, it''s this feeling, the feeling of freedom! It''s really intoxicating!"


    Possessing a kingdom''s backing, his hunting activities were obviously very smooth and repeatedly successful, allowing him to mature and become a Legend.


    And it was also because of this that the ''prey'' suitable for him became scarcer, forcing him to lower his standards.


    "I like the smell of blood and enjoy seeing prey lying on the ground. That feeling full of desolation and helplessness¡­ hehe¡­ especially that howling grief just before they die, its even more beautiful that any music!"


    The prince, who was disguised as Blood Hands Jack, laughed, suddenly melding into the darkness and disappearing.


    ¡­


    Residential district of the capital, a two-story wooden building.


    The adventurer team leader, who was given a nasty shock in the morning, lay on a bed in the leather armor he hadn''t taken off.


    At this time, a chilling feeling instantly coursed through his body.


    "You''re here! You''re still unwilling to let me go?"


    He jumped hurriedly and activated a trap. A bow and arrow suddenly appeared in his hands.


    "What a silly trick!"


    After an instant, his entire body shivered as he heard a sound coming from behind.


    "You¡­ Blood Hands Jack?"


    He turned and was instantly scared out of his wits. He leapt forward as if he was flying.


    "Oh¡­ such a little bug seems to have taken precautions!"


    Redwin was not prepared to settle this opponent so quickly. Instead, he would slowly toyed with him like a cat would a mouse. "Seems like¡­ you''ve discovered the trail of another Son of Purgatory? Tell me!"


    In fact, he did not particularly care for this adventurer at all.


    After all, with that pitiful amount of divinity, he was basically unable to be much help.


    This time, he chose to attack entirely to vent his heartfelt desire to kill.


    However, the appearance of new prey instantly aroused his interest.


    The leader''s pupils lost their glow as he said lifelessly, "I don''t know¡­ he''s an adventurer¡­ there''s also a high-level team with him!"


    "A new high-level adventure team?" Redwin mumbled deeply. "There won''t be so many of those. I should be able to investigate this matter very easily!"


    Poof!


    WIth a flash of blood, his right hand transformed into a demon claw and directly penetrated the leader''s chest. "As repayment for your honesty, I''ll let have a quick death!"


    The sound of a heart rupturing rang out and a corpse collapsed weakly onto the ground.


    With his death, a tiny golden glow appeared from his body and entered Redwin.


    He closed his eyes, so relaxed that all of the pores on his entire body expanded. "The feeling of absorbing divinity is truly intoxicating!"

 703 Engagemen

    "It seems that killing your own kind makes you feel very satisfied, right?"


    Just as Redwin was absorbing the divinity, a teasing voice rang out.


    A golden glow instantly struck his back, forming an obvious imprint.


    "This¡­ the sign of magic? A trap?"


    Redwin''s heart sank as he looked at the people appearing.


    They seemed to be a team of adventurers. A female pastor was casting a holy spell while an elderly man and thief were by the side.


    A scornful smile was on the thief''s face. Just one look had Redwin confirm the Deity identity of the other person.


    Of course, there was still the Legend elderly man that made him anxious and doubtful.


    "Hehe¡­ What do I see?" Redwin focused on Wayne, and immediately, his eyes became very bright. "A Quasi-Legend Deity, how delightful¡­ Should I thank the Gods for sending you to me?"


    "Blasphemer, you have no right to say this!" Efia''s complexion changed.


    "Of course¡­ the jackals dispatched by the Gods!" Redwin laughed maniacally. "So what if I blaspheme? Right now, they''re only a group of useless people who don''t even dare reveal their true bodies!"


    "This¡­ What is this¡­"


    Efia shivered all over.


    But as a pastor devoting her body and heart to serving Harvest Lady Willa, she unhesitatingly acted once again. "Holy Spell: Thorns!"


    However, the next moment, she suddenly realized that the silhouette in front had already disappeared, only leaving behind a cloak penetrated by thorns.


    Redwin had teleported behind her, his right hand already becoming Evil Demon claws viciously slashing down.


    Clever guy!


    Surran was surprised, instantly knowing everything before was just a performance, and his goal was to create an opportunity to severely injure the high-level pastor Efia.


    After all, a person inflicted with a spell imprint would be unlikely to escape the pursuit of a pastor.


    "Zero-sum Spear!"


    He promptly acted, the outline of a spear appearing, magically changing into a mirror that lay in front of Redwin.


    "Return!"


    A thick, black claw was caught and rebounded even faster.


    Whoosh!


    Two mutated claws grabbed each other in the air, and the strong winds emitted directly turned the surroundings into disarray.


    "Good! Worthy of being the Spear of Zero Surran! My Blood Hands has finally met a worthy opponent!"


    Redwin laughed loudly and charged toward the window.


    Thump!


    He barbarically slammed against the wall, instantly causing a big hole to appear, and then jumped onto the streets outside.


    "Prince Redwin, you don''t need to conceal yourself. We already know your identity!" Wayne laughed strangely. "Not only you, even your father committed the crime of covering up and will be brought to trial!"


    "You''re really the people of the Harvest Goddess!" Redwin''s face instantly darkened. "That group of insatiable Gods not only wants my power, they also want to snatch away my authority!"


    Apparently, this was the reason he had rejected Willa.


    The Harvest Goddess wanted to establish a stable base and had to obtain the authority and power of the Noether Kingdom. But as the crown prince, Redwin was certainly not willing to obediently offer up his authority.


    Furthermore, not only did she want the authority of the kingdom, she also wanted him to work himself to death for the Gods. How could this be possible?


    "Your Highness, it seems that you intend to fight to the end against us?"


    Surran sighed and grabbed his long spear before tailing him.


    "Haha¡­ Just for one Legend and two high-level professionals wants to take me down?" Redwin laughed loudly, and a dark golden glow started fluctuating on his body.


    Crackle! Kaboom!


    Suddenly, the sleeves on both his arms burst apart, revealing Evil Demon arms that had hulking muscles covered with black scales and sharp nails.


    And with the Evil Demon transformation, his aura also started surging.


    "Decree: Shock!"


    When he opened his mouth, what came out was a type of rule language.


    In the blood-red glow, Wayne and Efia continuously retreated, feeling as if they were facing a terrifying, large Ancient Dragon, so constricted by the might of the dragon that their breathing became irregular.


    Even for Surran, a loud explosion came from his body.


    "You''ll never understand the horror of a Son of Purgatory! Especially after I had become a Legend, I started interacting with the rules¡­ This is a special ability that the language of the Evil Demons has bestowed upon me! Originating from the power of blood!"


    Redwin roared and his arms burned with large, billowing flames.


    Amid the bright glow of the flames, he brandished an executioner''s sword with both hands as he jumped and viciously slashed. "Old man, go die!"


    Dang!


    Facing such an overwhelming offense, Surun blocked with his long spear, producing a dull sound as he constantly retreated.


    Even his Path of Zero had its limitations. Once encountering an offense that exceeded the limit, not only would it not deflect it, it would even cause him to suffer heavy damage.


    Step! Step!


    After receiving the blow, he felt a large force was passed from his hands, causing his arms to become numb. Spiderweb-like cracks even appeared on the ground beneath his feet.


    "Decree: Flames!"


    Redwin did not stop. After repulsing Surran, he instantly charged toward Efia.


    A large ball of crimson red flames, containing high temperatures that a normal Fireball would definitely not reach, poured down like magma.


    "Lord¡­"


    With the opponent''s Evil Demon language, Efia felt that her body could not move at all, already having thoughts of martyrdom as she closed her eyes and prayed.


    Whoosh!


    At the critical moment, a black silhouette seemed to ''squeeze'' out of thin air, flitting in front of her and tightly holding her to evade the flames.


    "Wayne?!"


    The female pastor looked at Wayne, who had already grown a pair of Evil Demon wings, and mixed emotions appeared on her face.


    "My blood brother, you think that with the little amount of divinity in your body, you can compete with me?"


    Redwin let out a vicious smile, and the dark golden glow on his body boomed, subtly revealing the illusionary image of a huge Evil Demon.


    Rays of dark golden glows converged and even had the trend of agglomerating divine fire.


    A horrifying pressure suddenly fell on Wayne, causing his thoughts to stagnate as if he saw a natural enemy.


    "This is the ability of a Legend Son of Purgatory? A legend, a Quasi-Legend, and an archbishop are actually losing!" Surran saw this and was also extremely frightened.


    Fortunately, before they came, they had found assistance.


    "I¡­ want all of you to slowly relish the taste of death and fear¡­" Redwin pointed at Surran and the Evil Demons language directly exploded in Surran''s heart, so directly he knew its meaning. "Decree: Disperse!"


    An aquamarine ray instantly flew out. That strong aura even made Surran foresee the arrival of death.


    Fang Yuan lightly sighed and directly appeared on the scene.


    The aquamarine ray landed on his body and instantly melted away without any effect.


    "This is a great decomposition spell. Landing merely a single time, an entire person will be reduced to the most fundamental particles¡­ Even for a Legend, there is a 50% chance of dying in one blow!"


    Of course, if it was this lethal for a Legend, the effect toward a True God would be reduced to less than half.


    Fang Yuan, Ramon, and the Nine Pillar Gods would nearly be completely immune to it.


    When he blocked it, it caused Redwin to stare wide-eyed. "Legend? No¡­ not right. You''re¡­ a Son of Purgatory?"


    Different from Wayne, the divinity in Fang Yuan''s body made Redwin seem like he was facing a great nemesis.


    Between the Deities, they were usually restraining each other.


    And at the moment, he felt that the power he had accumulated from killing nearly all the Deities in the Noether Kingdom was actually far inferior to the other''s!


    "This isn''t possible!"


    Redwin revealed an Evil Demon body and opened up his wings, immediately charging toward the sky.


    At the instant he saw Fang Yuan, he escaped.


    Not only did he escape, his shrill howls endlessly resounded in the sky above the city and attracted the guards.


    The opponent was a prince of the Noether Kingdom, and his hunting and killing even secretly received the support of the kingdom. Naturally, he had nothing to fear, but to Fang Yuan, it was a little troublesome.


    "Hehe¡­ you think you can run?"


    Fang Yuan raised the long knight sword, and an extremely condensed streak of sword radiance forked through the pitch black sky like a meteor.


    Whoosh!


    The Evil Demon flying high in the sky was struck by the sword radiance, and various wounds appeared on its huge wings, making it to plummet to the ground.


    Wayne, who was just about to extend his wings and chase, saw this and was immediately a little lifeless. "How is this possible? Isn''t he a Disaster Knight?"


    The Disaster Knight was a halo profession and could cast strong enhancement on allies, but it did not have such horrifying offensive capabilities.


    Fang Yuan''s footsteps were gentle as he soared lightly, arriving at the deep pit where the Evil Demon landed. "Redwin¡­ You don''t know anything about true power!"


    "Nooo!" Redwin''s mask had cracked and revealed his face full of bloody scars. He started roaring, "You''ve only killed more than me and control more divinity. If I had more time¡­ I would definitely surpass you!"


    He was not resigned to his fate!


    The more powerful a person, the more afraid they were of death!


    Not to mention, he was a future king and also a strong Legend. He would fully grasp power and authority for hundreds of years. How could he willingly accept this failure?


    Step! Step!


    Orderly footsteps surrounded them, and there was even a Legend''s aura rapidly approaching, causing Redwin''s face to release a look of ecstasy. "It''s Ollie. Haha! Yes, he''s just nearby! The activity here finally startled him!"


    If just one Legend came, he would not die today!


    As for his explanation to his subjects, that was something else altogether.


    "Storm Ollie?" Surran looked at the figure that was racing over, his eyes grave. "I can only block him, but I''m unable to defeat him. I''ll pass the task of killing Redwin to the three of them¡­"


    In fact, he was clear that with the performances of Wayne and Efia, the main force could only be Luhn.


    However, even if he was similarly a Legend Son of Purgatory, would he able to finish off the opponent that quickly?


    He worriedly looked toward Fang Yuan, but instead saw a mocking smile.

 704 Kill

    "Decree: Confinement!"


    The same language came from Fang Yuan, but the effect was extraordinary.


    The chains that condensed in the sky could even be seen with the naked eye, firmly restraining Redwin.


    "I said, you don''t know anything about true power!"


    Fang Yuan glanced at the Evil Demon below him with pity as he raised his hand and snapped. "Decree: Death!"


    This was a fatal curse similar to the great decomposition spell and could kill with one strike. Of course, once Fang Yuan employed it, the probability that it would kill a Legend was as high as ninety percent or greater!


    Even a True God was very likely to be killed with one blow.


    "You¡­"


    Redwin gasped, and the Evil Demon body suddenly lost all of its vitality as he collapsed.


    Very good. I''ve incorporated the Disaster Knight''s ''Finger of Death'' with the rules inspired by the Death Godhood. The profane demon language that was developed could be said to be the most powerful single target offence¡­


    All the Evil Demon languages originated from Fang Yuan.


    In other words, if Redwin was the sorcerer, then Fang Yuan was the magic network. Whatever magic spells he could obtain, and the extent of the power, were all given to him by Fang Yuan.


    Just like this ''Decree: Death'' rule spell that was impossible to appear within the spell forms of the other Sons of Purgatory.


    In such a situation, he still wanted to put up a desperate struggle. How could he possibly live?


    Buzz Buzz!


    From the corpse, a large sphere of golden divinity appeared like a small sun and entered Fang Yuan, like a swallow immersing in the woods.


    That extremely strong undulations made Wayne look on with immense envy and a deep wariness.


    At the moment, he was already completely shocked by the abilities Fang Yuan displayed. "A Legend Son of Purgatory was actually so powerless in front of him. What realm is this? Could it be that he has already ignited the divine fire? Or is on the brink of apotheosis?"


    Even a Legend would have differences in their strength.


    And Fang Yuan''s performance had evidently shocked Wayne and Surran.


    "Son of Purgatory?!"


    The outlines of guards could already be seen on the streets as Ollie rushed over and gathered the surrounding air currents to form a storm. "You better all remain. Wind Wall!"


    Whoosh! Whoosh!


    The terrifying winds instantly swept in all four directions, blocking Fang Yuan and the rest from retreating.


    "Storm Ollie, he''s arrived too quickly!" Surran said with a hurried voice. "Our task is completed and we must instantly withdraw. It''s better if we don''t expose our identities!"


    No matter what Redwin did, he was ultimately still the crown prince of the Noether Kingdom.


    Once it was revealed, no matter what the reason was, Ollie would have to fight to the death with them, while the king, who knew the inside information, would also not let them go.


    "Hehe¡­ It''s just a Legend. Even if it''s the entire Noether Kingdom, so what?" Fang Yuan glanced at Efia. "Your church''s preparations are still not sufficient?"


    "Although we have drawn over many noble families, the benefits distribution still needs to be discussed!"


    Efia rapidly retreated while her heart was simultaneously criticizing silently.


    In fact, wasn''t the reason why this happened because of Knight Luhn?


    If not for his huge appetite of actually wanting to swallow the entire Noether Kingdom, with the preparations of the Church of Harvest, they could entirely use this Redwin incident to force the king to abdicate.


    "Hmm, speaking of which, this Ollie is also my future subject, so I''ll spare his life."


    A ball of crimson red flame appeared in Fang Yuan''s hands, and he casually threw it in Ollie''s direction.


    Kaboom!


    An astounding explosion emerged and a mushroom cloud billowed upward.


    Half of the district instantly vaporized, and innumerable guards and soldiers died.


    "Legend Spell: Flame Burning City?"


    After a long time, the flames finally exploded and revealed Ollie''s figure. He frowned and looked at the scene of the disaster. "It doesn''t seem to be¡­ who was that ? A Legend Son of Purgatory actually appeared!"


    Unfortunately, no matter how he searched, he could already no longer find any trace of them.


    ¡­


    In the countryside.


    "Thanks for your assistance this time!" Efia solemnly bowed toward Fang Yuan. "Knight Luhn, in the name of the Goddess, the Church will forever stand behind you and support you in obtaining this land!"


    Fang Yuan smiled slightly and said honestly, "After I return, I will dispatch the army and attack the Noether Kingdom!"


    Although the Stan Duchy''s lands were not even one-fifth the size of the Noether Kingdom''s, times had changed.


    After experiencing the catastrophe of the Evil Demons, the closer it was to the central region, the great the disaster and destruction.


    Furthermore, with the crisis of the Gods'' descent, the greater the lands, the more severe the blow received was.


    At this point, although there was still a disparity between the two sides, it was not so obvious.


    Furthermore, even if it was the original Noether Kingdom, as long as Fang Yuan was here, he similarly had confidence of achieving victory, not even mentioning the reinforcements of the Harvest Lady.


    This is a king!


    Surran looked at this silently and sighed in his heart, knowing that in this huge era, Fang Yuan would be an important person and trailblazer of this era.


    In comparison, he was like an old relic that was about to be eliminated.


    With a bit of regret and shock, the two finally separated.


    Fang Yuan silently stood on an emerald rock and looked at his stats window.


    "Name: Luhn (Fang Yuan)


    Hidden God Name: Apophis (Master of the Nine Tier Purgatory)


    Essence: 150.0 (200)


    Spirit: 150.0 (200)


    Magic: 150.0 (200)


    Godhood: Death, Slaughter, Evil Demons


    Profession: Warrior (Legendary), Disaster Knight


    Cultivation: Fighting Armor, Disaster Halo (Level 5)


    Specialization: Medicine [Level 3], Botany [Level 6] (Maximum), Fiery Golden Eyes [Level 3]"


    "This identity is already reaching my pinnacle strength. Of course, that large bunch of divinity was also an important factor¡­"


    Fang Yuan''s previous divinity was just camouflage. Now, after absorbing back the power of divinity from Redwin''s body, he was truly grasping a portion of divinity.


    The fundamental purpose of invading the huge Monger World, and using the origin power and his body to evolve the Purgatory, was still to refine origin power.


    This was a power that originated from a higher Dream Master, sufficient to cause astounding transformations to his cultivation. Furthermore, it would allow him to break through the shackles that the past Sages couldn''t!


    "My current body is comparable to the Creation Sword Array''s seventh tier''s Illusionary Divine!"


    The Creation Sword Array was the quintessence of Fang Yuan''s dream path. The seventh tier was comparable to the past Sages, also known as Creators.


    After establishing the Heavenly Abode and being promoted, although it had yet to break through to the eighth tier, it was still very close.


    Now, at the start of harvesting divinity, Fang Yuan could already confirm that if he was a True Elemental, he would definitely have broken through to the eighth tier!


    "But is the eighth tier enough? The Eight Gates Sword Array has shackles at the eighth tier, but my Creation Sword Array has reached the pinnacle number of nine tiers!


    "That ninth tier Illusionary Divine achieved stellar results after a day, creating the strongest Sage. After I use my ninth tier Creation Sword Array to break through, perhaps I can reach an even higher dimension!"


    Ambition appeared in Fang Yuan''s eyes.


    As for the Monger World, it was just a pond that was too small for him! How could it bear the weight of his expectations?


    He still needed to actually head toward the Metal Demon Realm and the source influencing that Huaxia civilization to search the higher dimensions, even pursuing the secret to immortality.


    "To do all this, even if it''s simply to face a potential attack from a higher dimension, I also require more power!"


    Fang Yuan tightly clenched his fists.


    Why did he dispatch his true body and enter the Monger World?


    In fact, it was surrendering in a way!


    Refining origin power while obtaining such huge achievements on the Dao of Dream Master, would that Mental Demon Realm''s existence not somewhat sense it?


    Even if a person did not notice tiny critters, what if one day those tiny entities grew into a poisonous snake?


    Therefore, Fang Yuan directly escaped from the Da Qian World and entered the larger Monger World.


    In this way, even if that existence re-harvested Dream Masters in the future, that would only be in the Da Qian World, not affecting him at all.


    Furthermore, there would even be sufficient time to shift to a deeper level or think of countermeasures.


    "However, this is just the worst case scenario. The best case scenario is if they don''t even realize it when I break through and surpass a Sage. I could then calmly make arrangements for Da Qian "


    Fang Yuan''s gaze was grave, and he focused all of his attention on the divinity in his body.


    This divinity was formed through disguising traces of origin power.


    To Fang Yuan, this move was also impressive progress.


    After all, the initial origin power itself had only one drop and could not be divided, but it could now create an uninterrupted flow of secondary power and affect a world.


    And this time, he had used the power of the Evil Demon Placenta to divide the origin power into millions upon millions of pieces and injected them into the Monger World to have it use its powerful foundation to assist in refinement.


    At the moment, gathering in advance a portion of the divinity was equivalent to grasping a bit of secondary origin power!


    "Of course, this divinity all deeply conceals my will. As long as I don''t die, nobody else will know the actual secrets within!"


    Fang Yuan carefully savored this power and finally sealed up this piece of divinity.


    "A Legend with divinity is already sufficient as an entrance ticket to the final battle! As for the remaining fruits, we''ll still have to let them grow freely, such that they are the sweetest."


    He looked toward the sky with a faint smile.


    The retaliation of the world was already long within his expectations.


    But even if the Son of Destiny of the Monger World could refine divinity, so what?


    The more he refined, the more he would be affected by the origin power. In the end, even the entire world would have to obediently submit to him!


    It was also something immensely profitable to be able to strategize and obtain a giant world while refining the origin power.


    "Perhaps, with the help of origin power, it could raise my cultivation to the pinnacle, but it wouldn''t be enough to break through. But if the foundation of the entire Monger World is added, that is definitely sufficient!"


    Fang Yuan was extremely confident about this.


    This was also a huge gamble!


    If he were to succeed, he could launch a comeback in one strike and escape his shackles, while an entire world would also be at his disposal.


    If he were to fail, he had also prepared backup measures. The only problem was that the future road would then become extremely difficult.

 705 Huge Victory

    Sun God Year 2671.


    At the borders of the Stan Duchy and the Noether Kingdom.


    On the flat plains, two huge armies were standing opposite one another. In front of the chaotic militia, there were fully armored steel knights


    Strongs winds blew and flags fluttered. A ruthless, great battle was about to commence.


    "My knights! My people!"


    Before starting the battle, a purplish red steed carried the Noether King, arriving before the army and starting a standard speech, "In front of you is the despicable and audacious Stan Duchy army. Their regent assassinated the previous grand duke and used a shady plot to usurp authority. At this moment, they are scheming to obtain our nation''s wheat, gold, and even our women! Will you allow this? ¡­ In the name of the Noether King, those who achieve great merits in this battle will be bestowed great honor, and even sealed as nobles that will obtain fiefs in the Stan Duchy!


    "Brave warriors, hold tightly your spears and arrows! Let the Stan Duchy witness the bravery of our Noether Kingdom!"


    With the king''s speech, the militia cheered and the sounds grew louder and louder each time.


    ¡­


    Across the field, Fang Yuan was quite speechless as he saw this.


    According to the customs of this world, even the battles between large armies had some etiquette and rules.


    Giving a speech before the battle was just one aspect. There were many other hidden rules, such as not capturing the opposing commanding general, and when encountering a noble knight, one had to try their best to capture them and exchange them for ransom.


    Furthermore, even after defeating the enemy, only a few fiefs as compensation were obtained, and nothing similar to ''the utter destruction of a nation'' existed.


    To Fang Yuan, it seemed like child''s play.


    However, he also knew that it was the rule of this world! The rule that only belonged to the nobles!


    Only noble bloodlines could participate in this game of power and authority, so not too much blood could be shed.


    Using this method, this could reduce the intensity of the battles to a bare minimum, thus maintaining the control that the nobles had on the lower classes. This was its objective.


    "What a pity¡­ Old man, you''re already behind the times!"


    Fang Yuan looked at the army across from him with pity in his eyes.


    The foundation of the nobles'' rule still laid in power!


    At this time, the world had suffered massive changes by the descents of the Evil Demons and the Gods. During this huge chaos, the appearance of the Sons of Purgatory further made the higher classes start falling to the lower class.


    When the original framework of authority encountered a violent impact and still firmly held onto its old rules, that was nothing but courting its own destruction!


    Only by continuously evolving would they move forward with great strides in this era and not face elimination!


    Facing the enemy formation, Fang Yuan brandished a long sword and vigorously shouted, "Attack!"


    He did not even need to inspire morale nor encourage the troops. Early on, he had already used the ancient Qin''s system of military honors and conferment.


    As long as they were a soldier in the army, regardless of whether they were a noble, civilian, or slave, as long as they obtained a kill, they would receive the corresponding rewards.


    When a slave achieved a certain number of kills, they could immediately get rid of their slave status. When an ordinary citizen achieved a certain number of kills, they were rewarded with ten silver coins and ten acres of land!


    Furthermore, if they accumulated enough battle achievements, they could even be directly given a noble title!


    Comparatively, the opponent''s speech made everything sound good on paper, but in the end, it was still the nobles and their children being rewarded noble titles.


    This had already been proven many times in previous wars.


    However, Fang Yuan was different!


    When he put down the rebellion, he had firmly implemented this hierarchical system of military merits. With the identity of a Legend and the authority of Timo, they had suppressed all resistance.


    Thus, at this moment, his current army was full of desire to win and decapitate their enemies to claim merits!


    Aw! Aw!


    Under his command, all of the knights immediately sprinted on their horses. At their back, red-eyed soldiers sprinted madly, even tightly following behind the cavalry as if they were a black flood.


    "Damn it!"


    The Noether King was partly through his speech when he saw this. His face turned white and said, "Luhn truly doesn''t understand a noble''s etiquette at all! A group of barbarians!"


    After cursing, he rapidly retreated to the center and ordered his generals to intercept.


    Whoosh!


    A group of fully armored knights rushed out. Their number was actually even slightly greater than Fang Yuan''s.


    After all, they were a kingdom. Even if they encountered various upheavals, their foundation was still greater than the duchy''s.


    "Now!"


    A bright light flickered on Fang Yuan''s forehead. "Disaster Halo!"


    Buzz Buzz!


    A dazzling glow appeared on his body and transformed into a fine aquamarine haze that covered the knights.


    Like they had obtained the assistance of the wind, all of the Stan Duchy''s knight once again sprinted!


    This was a stark contrast to the Noether Kingdom''s knights who were powerless as a dark red light appeared on them, and even their galloping horses slowed.


    A battle between cavalry relied on the power of the charge.


    Even though there were more people on the Noether Kingdom''s side and their equipment was better, the outcome was obvious once they encountered this.


    Thump!


    Amid the loud explosions, blood and flesh splattered everywhere.


    Fang Yuan led the knights like a sharp spear, trampling the enemy knights into mush.


    Not only that, his knights directly charged toward the infantry behind and, with the most vicious stance, opened up a gap.


    Behind them, duchy soldiers roared, continuously entering the gap like a flood. They killed enemies with their eyes red and, in an instant, greatly expanded the gap.


    "Th-this¡­"


    The Noether King saw this and his eyeballs nearly popped out. His felt incredulous as he said, "A Legend''s power is so strong? Damned Luhn! Damned church!"


    To counter the Disaster Knight, he had naturally had some preparations.


    The best counter for this Halo power was to dispel it using magic.


    Unfortunately, due to the Harvest Lady, there were practically no pastors of the required level willing to help him.


    The Church of Harvest and the Church of Joy had long stood on the side of the Stan Duchy. The other churches were not willing to risk of offending the Goddesses to help a king of the mortal world.


    "Are these still the soldiers of the Stan Duchy? Why are they so strong?"


    The king looked at those ferocious enemies and his army that was constantly disintegrating, as well as the expanding chaos, and further became absentminded.


    "Your Majesty, it''s better if we first retreat?"


    At his side, Ollie saw this and a bitter, helpless smile appeared.


    Naturally, he was brought by the king to specially restrain Luhn.


    Only now, he suddenly realized that the victor and loser had already been decided, and he basically had no need to act.


    "What a group of scary people!"


    Ollie saw very clearly that those ordinary soldiers of the Stan Duchy did not have enhancements from the Disaster Halo, and their equipment was even slightly inferior, yet their fighting will was very tenacious.


    Compared to them, it was just a team of farmers dressed in uniform on the side of the Noether Kingdom. What would be better?


    "Leave?!"


    The Noether King''s face turned pale as he looked at the scene of the horrendous defeat of his soldiers.


    Even with his physique as a professional, he nearly vomited blood.


    He knew that no matter how much manpower was left, this situation was already unrecoverable. He struggled and said, "Pass down the orders for the rear army to retreat!"


    At the moment, he just wanted to retain what little of his remaining capital.


    After all, a few nobles had disapproved of him dispatching the army this time and gave harsh criticism. If he were to lose these forces, even securing the throne would become uncertain.


    "Understood!"


    Ollie released a long sigh.


    Currently, the guards at the king''s side were all storm warriors.


    With this batch of elites, even if Luhn personally led his cavalry to attack, he had the confidence to safely escort the king away.


    But how the situation of the Noether Kingdom would progress in the future was not within his expectations.


    "Luhn? What a scary person," Ollie muttered and started to retreat with the king.


    "The Noether King is escaping!"


    Seeing this, the energy of the Stan Duchy tremendously increased and secured their victory.


    ¡­


    Somewhere in the Noether Kingdom, in a branch of a secret agency.


    "Sir, it''s not good!"


    Amid the hurried footsteps, the black crow responsible for relaying news passed the latest intelligence to the person-in-charge. "The Stan Duchy achieved a huge victory over the Noether army. They used twenty thousand soldiers to defeat the fifty thousand strong army led by the king, capturing tens of thousands and seizing a lot more!"


    "What?"


    The person-in-charge of this place was a youth with a quiet and composed look. He immediately frowned, and even the quill pen in his hand shook a little. "Damn! Where''s the king now? Has he died?"


    "No¡­ but the Stan Duchy''s army hasn''t withdrawn. Instead, they are heading directly for the capital¡­"


    This crow understood the feelings of its superior.. After all, its mood was not any better.


    The youth instantly made his decision. "Pass down the order to evacuate immediately!"


    After all, he knew of the resentful feelings between his organization and the Stan Duchy Legend.


    When the Legend was still an ordinary citizen, he had been secretly plotted against. Even during that blood-red wedding of Princess Amerie, there were also liaisons of the secret agency.


    At the moment, with that enemy coming for revenge, he would be a fool not to run!


    "¡­ Noether Kingdom, we will definitely be back!"


    He firmly gritted his teeth. Relocating the base was not any easy task. Many industries had to be abandoned, and it felt like he was cutting his own flesh.


    "And Luhn¡­ you better pray that you can always win, or else¡­"


    Thump!


    Unfortunately, the youth''s fantasies hadn''t even ended before the intense sound of doors breaking came from outside.


    "Sir, we''re under attack!"


    A few deacons in black covered with blood ran into the room in fear.


    Behind them were three knights in blood-red armor.


    The youth composed himself and said with a loud voice, "Who are you? Do you know that we are the secret agency?"


    "Secret agency? Seems like we found the right target!" A teasing voice came from under the metal armor. "We have orders from our leader not to spare anyone!"


    "You are¡­ Luhn''s people?"


    The youth instantly understood everything, but unfortunately, it was of no avail. The next moment, with the swing of a giant sword, blood and flesh splattered everywhere.

 706 Divine Favor

    Corso City.


    Within the sounds of shouting and killing, the flag representing the Noether royal family slowly drifted in the blood and fire, being replaced by the symbol of the Stan Duchy.


    As a few large noble families inside the city had changed sides during the war, Fang Yuan reached the city gates with his troops and captured the Noether Kingdom''s capital nearly effortlessly.


    "Sir!" Garce walked forward respectfully. "Inside the city, Duke Wellington, Duke Senno, and Marquis Nister have already followed the agreement to give up the city and have dispatched their private soldiers to surround the palace. Also, we have dispatched a small elite team that has already followed up on the intelligence to uproot the base of the secret agency in the Noether Kingdom, sparing no one!"


    He was already no longer that immature guard from before. His body contained the strength of a professional and the capabilities of an experienced soldier, and could completely be sent to take charge.


    "I got it. Let the army enter the city!"


    Fang Yuan nodded.


    These noble three families were all influential in the Noether Kingdom and had been drawn over by the Harvest Lady, especially the Wellington Family. If not for his interference, it was possible that they could have replaced the original royal family and sat on the throne.


    Of course, in order to persuade them, the Stan Duchy had also paid a huge price.


    Retaining their original fiefs and positions was all normal, but there were even more terms and conditions attached.


    "However, this was the arrangements of the Harvest Lady. What does it have to do with me?"


    A contemplative smile appeared on Fang Yuan.


    As a leader, going back on their word was just an instinct, but they had to pay great attention to their manners.


    It was naturally impossible to directly fall out, but it was necessary to shift and transfer.


    However, seeing the nobles coming forward to welcome him, he still put on a delightful smile and went forward to warmly welcome them.


    A few secret and shady tactics had to wait until he was crowned king. With this thought, a cold light flashed through his eyes.


    In Sun God Year 2671, Luhn was officially crowned king of the Noether Kingdom and established the Orchid Dynasty. He was proclaimed as Luhn I and started a new form of governance.


    Under his governance, the Harvest Lady and the Joy Lady''s churches quickly found their footing. As for those original nobles, those who followed the Noether King were completely stripped of their ranks and fiefs, and sentenced to death or sent into exile.


    Even those nobles who defected encountered tactics such as being promoted on paper but demoted in reality.


    With Fang Yuan''s schemes and tactics that came from so many worlds, just the slight implementation of a small tactic already made those nobles suffer in silence.


    The huge profits that were obtained were naturally distributed between the royal family and the newly promoted military nobles.


    Fang Yuan deeply knew that nobles were unreliable.


    Especially those experienced nobles that could betray their king for profit; they could similarly betray him.


    Thus, it was relatively important to foster a new interest group that was inclined toward him.


    If not for suppressing these old people and implementing a redistribution of profits, then this new kingdom would definitely not last.


    And at this moment, with the situation of the Goddess'' churches having to establish themselves, they seldom interfered with the kingdom''s affairs, so Fang Yuan boldy carried out drastic reforms.


    As for the original royal family?


    After announcing the identity and charges of Redwin, Fang Yuan had already successfully associated their image with the Evil Demons. It wasn''t nipping the problem in the bud, but at least there was a low possibility for later generations to obtain a comeback.


    ¡­


    Inside a monastery.


    "War¡­ right?"


    Django changed into a completely clean white shirt and looked well-spirited. He was currently learning swordsmanship from a knight.


    Seeing the various people hurrying about outside, he was contemplative.


    The collapse of the Noether Kingdom was indeed out of many people''s expectations. Especially that new Orchid Kingdom and Legend king that were unable to obtain the approval of many local nobles.


    Thus, after founding the nation, a large clean up operation and feast for dividing profits was about to start.


    All of the original Noether Kingdom was in the midst of a fire beacon.


    Cough cough!


    At this moment, a bishop walked over. "Django, how are you recently?"


    "Thanks to the Goddess, I am doing well!"


    Django''s face was full of gratitude.


    "His strength and reaction are very good, and he can become an exceptional warrior!" Nodded the knight who was in charge of training.


    The bishop nodded and said, "Hmm, start packing up and prepare to transfer!"


    "Transfer?" Doubts appeared on Django''s face.


    "Leave this country and head toward the Church headquarters!" The bishop was solemn.


    This monastery worshiped the Mother Earth Goddess. Even though her relation with Harvest Lady was decent, according to the agreement between the Gods, the people here still had to be decreased and could only become a small base.


    But, obviously, leaving this Son of Purgatory in someone else''s base seemed very inappropriate.


    Especially since the Mother Earth Goddess seemed to put much emphasis on this child.


    Django was silent for a long time before replying, "Understood!"


    Why would Mother Goddess have so much favor for this person?


    Looking at the back of the youth, the bishop was doubtful. Compared to the other Sons of Purgatory, he isn''t any different¡­ However, how can an ordinary person peep at the thoughts of the Gods? Not to mention, they can also occasionally see the trajectory of destiny!


    ¡­


    At the same time, somewhere an unknown distance from the Noether Kingdom.


    "Ah! I''ve recovered!"


    An average soldier looked at the disappearing scales on his hand and showed a joyful look while deeply bowing to the surrounding pastors and bishops. "Thank you for your favor, Life Goddess!"


    "You can leave."


    An archbishop wearing a long robe with vine decorations on the sides of his shirt waved his hand and let this test subject leave while staring attentively at the infant inside the cradle. "Really¡­ unbelievable!"


    "After verification, the ability of this infant can dispel the powers of the Evil Demons in the bodies of all the ordinary people within range of the temple. It''s the same for professionals, but if it''s divinity, three days is required. The stronger the divinity, the longer the time required. This is the true power of purification!"


    "Not only that, those who were enhanced by the power would retain most of it, even keeping their body qualities and capabilities!"


    "This is a real Son of God! The Son of Salvation!"


    The bishops discussed among themselves.


    Kaboom!


    Suddenly, holy white light flickered inside the church.


    A strong will descended, and the God''s statue seemed to come alive, transforming into an emerald green body and causing the pastors to all kneel.


    "Lady!"


    She had aquamarine long hair, and her eyes were full of the vitality of life. She was one of the Nine Pillar Gods, Life Goddess Venus.


    Giggle.


    The Goddess went to the cradle. Once Heim saw her, he instantly released an innocent smile and let out a giggle.


    "In the name of a God, you shall become the Son of Salvation of the world!"


    Venus bent down and lightly kissed the infant''s forehead. "Bless you, my child. You will definitely mature to confront the evil forces that infiltrate the world!"


    Whoosh!


    A stream of water appeared in the air, immediately wrapping the infant.


    "This is¡­ the Water of Life?"


    The hearts of the bishops and pastors greatly trembled.


    Even at their level, when they occasionally received a gift from the Goddess, it was only a few drops. However, there were millions of drops here. It formed a water ball and completely wrapped the cradle within.


    The infant inside instantly grew at a speed visible to the naked eye and took on the appearance of a twenty year old youth.


    According to the guidance of destiny, the newly born Son of the World must immediately mature to face the challenges of the evil forces!


    The Life Goddess glanced at young Heim one last time as her body exploded into bits of aquamarine lights and disappeared.


    "Argh¡­ Argh¡­"


    At the moment, Young Heim was still naked as he struggled to stand up. Suddenly, he slipped and fell flat on his face..


    "Thank you for your favor, Goddess!"


    The bishop''s face twitched, but he also knew that that youth was just a white sheet of paper and his intelligence was not lacking. He would become like a normal person with some slight guidance. He nodded, and quickly, two pastors walked forward holding a long robe and gave it to the youth to cover his shame.


    This extent of divine favor¡­


    The other bishops looked at this scene as they contemplated¡­


    ¡­


    "Lord!"


    Somewhere in a secret dark room, believers wearing black robes were walking toward a God''s statue to prostrate.


    They could see that the dark red glow enveloping the God''s statue that very similar Jay.


    As the newly ascended Death God, he had concealed himself very deeply during this period.


    On one hand, he had to digest the gains from killing a God. On the other, he had to hide from the pursuit of the Gods.


    An ordinary person, a Son of Purgatory, had actually killed one of the Nine Pillar Gods?


    As Jay''s reputation had spread throughout the Monger World, he was intensely hated by many Gods.


    Furthermore, it was not only the Gods. Even the other Sons of Purgatory were frantically investigating his whereabouts.


    After all, Jay had already been in the lead for too long. If those Sons of Purgatory were unable to combine forces and annihilate him while he was weak, they would definitely be completely defeated.


    Thus, until now, even though Jay had already recovered, he was still afraid of meeting people with his true body.


    "Very good, my believers!"


    A bright light swivelled and the God''s statue casually opened its mouth. "I want you to go to the central region! Find a pastor of the Sun God Ramon there for me! This is his information¡­"


    "Your will is our destiny!"


    The Evil God believers bowed and accepted the oracle.


    A glow flickered on the God''s statue and then instantly disappeared with a flash.


    However, within the believers, a youth with a pale face puffed his lips in scorn. "Sending messages using part of his soul again? He''s so careful¡­ only that the Sun God pastor in the central region¡­"


    He seemed to have thought of something, and his body trembled suddenly. "Is¡­ this lunatic Jay still planning to fight Ramon? That''s right, even for the Supreme God, he still has to use his true body and descend into the mortal world¡­"


    The weird look on the youth obviously attracted attention as a believer asked him strangely, "Drizzt, what happened?"


    Suddenly, his brain dropped out and blood gushed out like a fountain.


    The youth laughed weirdly, licking the fresh blood on the dagger. "Since Jay is unwilling to appear, then I can only kill all of you first¡­"

 707 Sensing

    The royal palace.


    Timo and his mother, as well as Fang Yuan, were all present.


    Fang Yuan had on a long noble robe with a golden crown on his head, exuding an indescribable majestic feeling.


    The baroness fiddled with her handkerchief nervously and looked toward Fang Yuan.


    At the moment, she had no choice but to admit that the achievements of this son-in-law far exceeded her imagination.


    Not only did he stabilize a duchy for her own son, he even established the Orchid Dynasty. It was practically a dream.


    Of course, the faces of the three on the scene similarly carried a worried expression.


    A woman''s hysterical shouts occasionally came out from the delivery room in front of them.


    "I hope Tanya''s delivery will be smooth." Timo tightly clenched his fists.


    The great matter that gathered all three of them was naturally Fang Yuan''s wife, the current Queen Tanya, being about to give birth.


    To the baron''s family, this was undeniably very important.


    After all, Fang Yuan''s identity was already different¡ªthe king of a nation.


    With Tanya''s identity, he was slightly out of her league. Whether she could successfully deliver a son would affect the relations between the duchy and the kingdom. Its political significance was very important.


    Sometimes, the world was simply this involuntary.


    Even if Tanya herself was unwilling, she still bore the burden of many expectations.


    Wa! Wa!!!


    Finally accompanying a shrill scream, the delivery room descended into silence. Not long after, an infant''s loud cry was heard.


    "Your Majesty!"


    A few wet nurses wearing black dresses came out while carrying a bundle of swaddling cloth and bowed to Fang Yuan.


    Fang Yuan raised his eyebrows. Although he had sensed it with his spiritual will long ago, he still asked, "How''s Tanya?"


    The baroness was already too impatient to wait and walked forward to ask, "Boy or girl?"


    "Congratulations, Your Majesty. The kingdom has a successor!"


    The wet nurses carefully passed the bundle to Fang Yuan.


    "It''s a boy. That''s great!"


    The baroness and Timo had an ecstatic look while Fang Yuan similarly smiled.


    In truth, he felt nothing in his heart.


    Hmm, very pure! Seems like he really didn''t inherit an ounce of my divinity nor power!


    At the moment, his spiritual will was only inhibiting this body, and coupled with intentional restraint, what flowed inside this infant''s body was truly the bloodline of that hunter Luhn.


    You should have originally died. Instead, I used your body to further your bloodline for you. Your descendants will have the riches and honor of a kingdom. This is considered fair repayment for you!


    Fang Yuan muttered in his heart, feeling the final traces of karma from spiritual possession slowly melting.


    "In my name!" However, he still made an emotional expression and raised the infant high up. "He is my son and will have the name of Arthur!"


    That night, in order to celebrate the birth of the successor, a huge banquet was immediately organized within the palace.


    All of the capital nobles, as well as the churches of the Harvest Goddess and Joy Goddess, sent people to present gifts.


    Whether or not there was a successor indeed caused tremendous effects on a regime.


    However, Fang Yuan was already unconcerned about it.


    After quickly putting in an appearance and interacting a little with the guests, he went to the study and heard Garce''s report.


    "The suppression army emerged victorious again? Very good. Since these nobles dare defy me, I will completely revoke their fiefs and titles to gift to the loyal soldiers of the kingdom!


    "There will be some little tricks done by the Church of Harvest and Church of Joy. We don''t need to worry about them¡­


    "Movements from the other monitored churches¡­ Mother Earth Goddess Meira?"


    ¡­


    Seeing this intelligence, Fang Yuan descended into a deep contemplation.


    Mother Earth Goddess Meira was also one of the Nine Pillar Gods.


    What was known as the Nine Pillar Gods represented a strong power and an age-old identity. They could be considered the strongest entities among all the Gods.


    "Sun, Storm, Earth, Sky, Harvest, Knowledge, Life, War¡­ and finally Death!" Fang Yuan quietly mentioned the nine age-old Godhoods and a slightly mocking smile appeared. "As the Death God, Hess was actually the first to die. How ironic!"


    Death could also die. In the Monger World, this was not just a cold joke.


    "The Harvest Lady is preparing to build her headquarters in the Orchid Dynasty and excluding the other churches. This is reasonable. But the transfer of the Mother Earth Goddess believers doesn''t seem right. There must be a secret within¡­"


    Fang Yuan had a slight intuition and his smile instantly expanded. "Another Son of Destiny?"


    After controlling the Noether Kingdom, intelligence regarding Son of Salvation Heim naturally arrived in Fang Yuan''s hands.


    He did not regret missing this by a bit. If that Heim had been so easily snuffed, it would mean that he was not destined for it.


    "Furthermore, this transfer by the Mother Earth Goddess¡­"


    Fang Yuan opened Apophis'' perception and instantly knew that there was a bizarre Son of Purgatory that had also left the Noether Kingdom.


    As the divinity''s source, all the Sons of Purgatory had nowhere to hide before his eyes.


    "Interesting. First it was Heim, now it''s Django?" Fang Yuan muttered to himself and immediately deepened his understanding toward the world''s will.


    There had to be an antidote within seven steps of receiving a snake bite. It was general knowledge that nature mutually engendered and restricted itself as the Heavenly Dao circulated.


    Although the Gods did not know that he had incarnated as Luhn, the world certainly had slightly detected it. Thus, all of these Sons of Destiny were born.


    Of course, the actual Heavenly Dao was like an intelligent program. If it was overly ignorant, the incarnation of Sun God Ramon would once again suffer fatal injuries and be killed by these two Sons of Destiny.


    "Your Majesty?!" Garce asked in trepidation seeing Fang Yuan muttering to himself.


    "That''s all!"


    Fang Yuan waved. After he was alone in the study, his eyes suddenly became a dark golden color.


    "In the name of Apophis¡­"


    He quietly spoke with the Evil Demon language, immediately followed a channel that was like a spiderweb, and saw the traces of all the Sons of Purgatory inside the Monger World.


    Among them, some were especially thick, like Jay''s, and some belonged to the lucky person that succeeded in apotheosizing, as well as Django''s!


    It was a very bizarre feeling.


    Even though the divinity in Django had not even reached that of a Legend''s, with the senses Fang Yuan had from being the Master of the Purgatory, it was enough to see that he could equally rival those two apotheosized Sons of Purgatory!


    "It is truly worthy of being the retaliation of the world¡­ Destiny¡­"


    Fang Yuan carefully sensed and instantly placed Django to one side.


    The other was just a Son of Destiny. Even after killing one, there were still ten more, a hundred more!


    Only after waiting for all of the Sons of Destiny to converge and determine the actual Son of the World would there be an effect.


    "The cleansing of Heim is an external attack, while this Django is an internal division? Beset with internal and external difficulties, interesting¡­"


    Fang Yuan laughed lightly and stopped caring about them. Instead, he focused his attention on Jay.


    Regarding this Son of Purgatory that took over the Death Godhood, spying on him undeniably required a much larger amount of effort.


    "His location is¡­ in the central region? That''s right¡­ the most chaotic region of the Evil Demon crisis is also the safest!" Fang Yuan carefully sensed and suddenly widened his eyes. "Wow¡­ he''s actually still plotting against Sun God Ramon!"


    At this level of a God, a Son of Purgatory even had their own method of deceiving Fang Yuan''s senses.


    Furthermore, they would usually detect the unusualness in the divinity. But since the foundation had already been rooted, they had to follow this path straight into darkness.


    Thus, when a Son of Purgatory became a True God, they became even more frenzied, pursuing all the powers that they could obtain.


    Sun God Ramon had entered Jay''s sight.


    Needless to say, this choice was wonderful.


    First, the other party was the Supreme God and the strongest being within the Nine Pillar Gods!


    Second, after being heavily injured many times, his abilities were greatly reduced. Coupled with the fluctuations of the world, he similarly had to descend into the mortal world!


    Any Son of Purgatory had the potential to kill his true body and thus attain the highest level!


    "¡­ If I add the strength of the Sun God and the power of death, it''s possible to break through the shackles I left behind in the divinity and contact all the truths!" Fang Yuan muttered to himself for a while before suddenly laughing. "This is¡­ heaven''s will?"


    The world''s will only wanted to suppress Fang Yuan''s influence and entirely refine origin power.


    As for who the actually Sun God was, did it actually matter?


    Thus, at a critical moment, Fang Yuan did not doubt that it would sacrifice the Sun God to save the world!


    "Unless the world''s will directed him, how could Jay find traces of the Sun God so easily?"


    Fang Yuan sneered.


    Of course, heaven''s will was not completely omnipotent. There was a huge shortcoming from exposing the Sun God to Jay. Due to the nature of Fang Yuan''s identity, this piece of intelligence similarly reached him.


    "Or could it be¡­ a trap?"


    Fang Yuan quickly calculated and suddenly laughed. "Whatever¡­ no matter if it''s true or false, I''ll make a journey toward the central region!"


    He sensed the eagerness of the world''s will.Obviously, it was a corresponding response after detecting his movements.


    "Currently, the number of Sons of Purgatory has already exceeded ten thousand¡­"


    Fang Yuan looked at the threads in his hands. There was a dense cluster of thread ends, adding up to at least ten thousand! Over ten thousand Deities was an absolutely horrifying power!


    Not to mention, these were only human Deities. There were patients who were infected by the demonic illness, the Evil Demons, and the grand dukes inside the Purgatory!


    Since the Evil Demons were created using the Purgatory, they could of course devour each other and accumulate divinity!


    In reality, the Evil Demon Deities within the Nine Tier Purgatory added up to a number that was definitely ten times or even a hundred times that of the humans''!


    However, the world was ultimately occupied by humans, and thus Fang Yuan followed the trend and spread the power of divinity among the humans.


    "Fight!


    "Swallow as much as you can!


    "Sons of Purgatory! The final moment is about to arrive. Only the truly strong are able to accumulate divinity and enter the deepest region of the Nine Tier Purgatory!"


    ¡­


    Fang Yuan declared with the Evil Demon language.


    At the same time, inside the Monger World, all the Deities were covering their hearts as an icy cold consciousness and voice appeared in their minds.


    "What? The final moment is about to arrive?" The pale-faced Son of Purgatory stood in the middle of a pool of blood. The thrill from destroying Jay''s statue and killing his believers evaporated. "Why is it so sudden?"

 708 Demon Territory

    The Monger World was constructed of many layers. The core was the Main Plane, while the God World and Netherworld were two large pillars.


    Currently, in the center of the Main Plane, the originally most important country of human civilization.


    Boundless¡­ desolation¡­..


    This originally bustling territory had already completely transformed into a wasteland after being endlessly damaged by the Evil Demons and natural disasters.


    The ground was split wide open and the original city had become ruins. Bluish yellow weeds were growing everywhere.


    Occasionally, there were Evil Demons roaming about, hunting and killing everything around them.


    This was originally the territory of the Celtic Empire, a huge nation that was regarded as one the top five among the human powers.


    However, it was now instead filled with a deathly stillness.


    Furthermore, if someone dug up the soil beside the roads, they could even find bones of the dead, sufficient to cause anyone to shudder in fear.


    "The sky¡­ has become a little darker!"


    Among the ruins, a shadowy figure seemed to have died, staying motionless, even occasionally deceiving some of the Evil Demons that passed by.


    At this time, he finally exposed a pair of bright eyes.


    Sean raised his head and looked toward the sky, realizing that the white clouds of the blue sky had disappeared sometime ago, leaving behind only dense, dark, stormy clouds.


    "Ever since those damned Evil Demons came, even the sky''s changed," Sean mumbled, his gaze having some recollection.


    The blue sky, those pure white clouds, and that golden yellow cornfield carrying a bountiful harvest¡­


    Not long ago, this place was the huge city of an empire, innumerable businessmen and adventurers arriving from all over daily to pursue fortunes and dreams.


    However, everything then had already dispersed with the winds and flames of the Evil Demons.


    Only suffering and death continued to surround this land.


    "It seems that¡­ these dark clouds are getting darker and darker. If this continues, we won''t be able to distinguish between day and night¡­ But now, my most important task is to bring back food!"


    He looked at the stiff hair mouse in his hands and swallowed his saliva.


    Although this mouse''s meat was smelly, hard, and tasted terrible, it was food that was difficult to come by.


    On this land, getting food was already becoming harder and harder.


    However, as long as it did not reach complete desolation, humans could still struggle and seek livelihood in all kinds of environments.


    "Huh?"


    Suddenly, Sean was seized with terror.


    In his eyes, the dark clouds suddenly started burning, becoming a blazing inferno!


    Not only that, even the ground started becoming slightly hot, as if he was on a volcano.


    Crack! Kaboom!


    Flames danced vigorously, and while the ground was shaking, cracks resembling spiderwebs appeared as reddish orange magma surged forth from within and transformed into a current.


    The environment was starting to change slowly but steadily into a scorching hot hell.


    A Netherworld stream appeared and absorbed the surrounding dead spirits, transforming them into many grotesque and disgusting worms.


    The worms swallowed each other, and not long later, a small Evil Demon appeared.


    "This place is starting to give birth to Evil Demons?"


    Sean''s limbs became weak. He could subtly sense that a horrifying change was beginning here.


    He suddenly stood up and turned to run. "No choice¡­ no matter how difficult it is, I have to tell Gore and the others that we have to relocate! This hell¡­ has already become a paradise of the Evil Demons and no longer suitable for humans to live in!"


    The Purgatory was currently affecting the Main World!


    This was a very horrifying change. Through transforming the environment, the Main Plane was turning into a huge Purgatory!


    Only the special nature of origin power could do something like this!


    The longer this dragged on, the greater the change. Furthermore, it could not be reversed!


    Previously, under Fang Yuan''s will, the Master of the Nine Tier Purgatory, it had always been influenced subtly.


    However, with his decision this time, real horror was about to descend into the world!


    "Ah!" Sean screamed and looked at his feet. A large clump of white fumes was emitting there.


    The ground had already become as scorching hot as a red-hot iron plate and not at all suitable for ordinary people to survive in..


    He gritted his teeth, made great effort to support himself, prevented himself from falling, and walked a few steps. A burned barbecue smell came from the bottom of his feet.


    "There''s someone here!"


    But this abnormality further caused him to be exposed.


    An Evil Demon with its entire body wrapped in flames descended from the sky with a euphoric look. It quickly raised its giant hands and pulled Sean upward, throwing him into a small cluster of Evil Demons.


    "Eat! The more you eat, the faster you grow! Us Evil Demons are eventually going to become the masters of this world!"


    Seeing the scene resembling ferocious beasts tearing apart a helpless lamb, the flaming Evil Demon laughed out loud.


    This scene could be seen nearly everywhere on the central plains in this mutating environment.


    Even though the surviving humans possessed various concealment methods, they were eventually forced to appear by this massive upheaval in the heavens and the earth, and encountered the violent treachery of the Evil Demons.


    At the same time, all the Gods receiving this news became even more terrified.


    "The Nine Tier Purgatory¡­ has surfaced?"


    "No, this is a transformation of the world and involves the secrets of the world''s natural source!"


    "According to the intelligence of the Son of Purgatory on my side, Apophis can no longer wait. The ultimate battle is near!"


    "This indicates that our tactics were very effective and have to be resolutely implemented further!"


    ¡­


    Winds and clouds immediately surged on all the Main World''s continents.


    By Apophis'' will, divinity was propelled to start swallowing each other and was not something that could be easily avoided.


    Even if a Son of Purgatory escaped to the ends of the world, they would still face the backlash of divinity.


    The only route of survival was to immerse in cultivating this poison, actively enter the central region, mutually swallow and kill each other to enhance their abilities, and finally defeat Apophis. This was the fundamental solution to everything.


    Immediately, the Sons of Purgatory gritted their teeth and began their journey toward the central region.


    The powers of the former human kingdoms, as well as churches, similarly injected even more manpower.


    At the Purgatory''s borders, large human armies stood to form a compact encirclement that was engaged in a stalemate with the Evil Demon army.


    Of course, it might perhaps be more appropriate to call it ''guarding''.


    And under the support of many human kingdoms, the Adventurer Society also issued high-value missions and invited famous adventurer teams to enter the depths of the Demon Territory to spy and provide intelligence or assist the Sons of Purgatory that had defected to the churches and kingdoms.


    In an instant, clouds and winds surged in this territory. Every moment had countless killings and deaths.


    "The true body of the Sun God is actually inside the Demon Territory?"


    In these circumstances, Fang Yuan rode a horse and reached the edges of the Demon Territory.


    Because of the relation between the huge armies and many adventurers, a massive bazaar that permeated a sense of chaos was naturally formed here. There were many exotic items here, and at any time, there would be adventurers taking out silver and bronze coins, or even Evil Demon materials, to start bartering with stall owners.


    "Ever since this land was infected and started undergoing purgatory, it was known as the Demon Territory. It encompasses one empire and three kingdoms, and it''s still constantly expanding," Fang Yuan muttered to himself. "Through experiments, it shows that killing Evil Demons can slow this process. Thus, various nations not only dispatched large armies, they even paid huge monetary sums to employ the Adventurer Society to issue long-term missions!"


    Of course, his only goal was Sun God Ramon!


    As the supreme being among the Nine Pillar Gods, there was a huge possibility that he had fallen into deep sleep after his heavy injury and even be coveted by the Sons of Purgatory.


    Especially Jay!


    He had already obtained the Godhood of the Death God. If he further obtained the Sun God''s, it was entirely possible that he could break the seal that Fang Yuan had left and actually refine the divinity, bringing some variables to the ultimate battle.


    Thus, Fang Yuan had to come over personally to control everything.


    "Actually, this is also a turning point! How the future of the world turns out is entirely dependent on this!"


    Undoubtedly, if the Sun God died this time and the other Sons of Purgatory did not obtain any benefits, then the possibility that this world would end in the future increased greatly by a few times.


    And if the Sun God recovered or was swallowed up the Sons of Purgatory, the future of the world would become much more nebulous.


    "Adventurer Society!"


    Fang Yuan led his horse and walked into the bazaar, arriving in front of a recently constructed, temporary hall.


    It was hung full of missions, most of them related to the Evil Demons:


    "Long-term Mission: Kill small Evil Demons and use the horns as proof. Each one can reward you with fifty pennies!"


    "Exploration Mission: Draw a map of the Demon Territory. Rewards will be based on its completion level!"


    "Escort Mission¡­"


    "Extermination Mission¡­"


    The dense missions were arranged in columns going downward like a waterfall. Below, there were streams of adventurers bustling with activity.


    Seeing this, Fang Yuan turned contemplative.


    With Jay''s ability, he can only detect that the Sun God is in deep sleep somewhere in the Demon Territory. As for where he actually is, he has no clue¡­


    Instead, this Adventurer Society has huge ambitions and is actually making a map of the Demon Territory. Perhaps it can be put to good use.


    Also, this bazaar is the largest gathering area nearby. There are many Sons of Purgatory here¡­


    He looked toward an adventurer team.


    This team consisted of five people. There were two warriors, one archer, one thief, and a caster, a very standard team arrangement of five.


    Their equipment was sophisticated, and they were considered decent even among the adventurers.


    Of course, what attracted Fang Yuan''s gaze was person in the middle. That archer was actually a Son of Purgatory!


    "Amanda, what''re you thinking about?"


    The sorcerer beside pushed his companion slightly.


    Just now, this female archer was clearly absentminded.


    "Oh, no, nothing¡­"


    Amanda hurriedly shook her head, but the worry on her brow could not be concealed.


    The closer we get, the stronger I feel the pull of the Purgatory. It seems that all of the Sons of Purgatory will ultimately plummet into the Purgatory. This is their fate!


    The team are good people and have helped me a lot. Unfortunately, I can''t say anything about this¡­


    After entering the depths of the Demon Territory this time, I''ll find an opportunity to part with them!


    Amanda gritted her teeth and was immediately determined.

 709 Bazaar

    "Hey, we have good business!"


    While Amanda was in a trance, her team leader, a warrior named Clegg, thumped the table with a look of excitement.


    "Eh? What happened?" Amanda raised her head and revealed a pair of blank eyes.


    "Amanda! Mister Luhn here is willing to pay a thousand gold coins to employ us to enter the Demon Territory!" Clegg led Fang Yuan to his team with a look of excitement. "If we finish this, we can stop working and buy some land in the countryside for our retirement¡­"


    To adventurers, even though a life full of excitement was splendid, if they did not carefully plan, their old age would be unusually sad and dreary; some of them could not even live to that moment.


    Therefore, a few astute adventurers would save some money for an early retirement, purchase land in the countryside, and build a cottage for their retirement. This was the dream of nearly all the ordinary adventurers.


    As for those powerful adventurers who managed to successfully become a lord or a baron after establishing a large team and obtaining the recognition and enlistment of great nobles, they were everyone''s idols.


    "A thousand gold coins?!" Amanda''s entire body quivered as she focused her attention on this big client.


    He was very young, around twenty years old. He looked very valiant, probably the second son of some knight''s family who was wandering about after reading many stories.


    Amanda has seen a few of them before. Although they were not considered a group of wastrels, they would very quickly be subdued by cruel reality and run home crying to their mothers.


    "But¡­ going to the Demon Territory?" Amanda had a few doubts and subconsciously thought of the Sons of Purgatory.


    But after careful sensing, she did not find a trace of divinity in his body and broke into laughter. I really am overthinking this¡­


    "Then, Mister Luhn!" At this time, a male sorcerer said, "Although we''re very grateful to you for employing us, we still want to know your purpose in heading toward the Demon Territory. After all, it''s very dangerous there, and even we''re unable to ensure your safety."


    A client who was able to pay a thousand gold coins obviously came from a wealthy and important background. If an accident occurred to him, it would cause them a lot of trouble.


    After all, a standard adventurer team and employment procedures had to go through the records of the Adventurer Society.


    Some of them even had detailed information recorded about their families and addresses inside the Society. If anything happened, there would be no escape.


    "That''s right, Mister Luhn!" Clegg straightforwardly rubbed his head. "Sorcerer Michael is right. We need to know your general purpose in order to formulate a plan more effectively and ensure your safety!"


    "It''s like this, I''m an explorer." Fang Yuan made an excited and passionate face. "I''ve always dreamed of exploring the world. Now that I''ve encountered a place like this, how could I forgo this opportunity to explore it to my heart''s content?"


    As he was speaking, he showed a fascinated and dreamy look. "Furthermore, our king has given the order. If anyone is able to present a map of the Demon Territory, they can become a viscount!"


    "Isn''t a viscount just a flashy but insubstantial court title?" Clegg''s pupils shrank. "That is a very big move. However, with the dangers of the Demon Territory, which kingdom can afford this reward?"


    "Orchid Kingdom, very far out in the north. It was originally the Stan Duchy." Fang Yuan did not even blink. "A war erupted there and the Noether Kingdom was overthrown."


    "I see."


    Sure enough, adventurers rarely cared much about events that happened far away. Clegg and Michael looked at each other and nodded.


    I even prepared a lie about having the same name as the king, but he didn''t even ask¡­


    Fang Yuan speechlessly looked at this.


    "However, for a complete map, we need to walk through the entire Demon Territory. I''m afraid we can''t do this." Amanda analyzed logically. "On the black market, even a map with a completion rate of 20% to 30% is sold at an astronomical price."


    "Human effort is the decisive factor!" Fang Yuan revealed a resolute look. "I''ve already purchased a portion of the map. If we''re lucky, a completion of half should be sufficient to exchange for a title."


    "Just half?"


    Clegg and the team members looked at each other and implicitly nodded.


    After so many adventurers had explored, although it was possible to encounter Evil Demons in the fringes, it was not very dangerous.


    Clegg coughed and said seriously, "In that case, we''ll do it. I''ll draft the contract. Mister Luhn, if you have no objections after reading it, you can let the Adventurer Society here notarize and archive it. As for the compensation, we''ll require half first!"


    "No problem!" Fang Yuan took out a small bag and poured out a few crystal-clear gems.


    Although gold coins were already very valuable, it was still troublesome to carry around. Thus, high grade gems and pearls were used as substitutes.


    "Michael!" Clegg saw a sapphire that was completely crystal-clear and his eyes instantly lit up. He then warily looked around before asking the sorcerer to go forward.


    "Hmm, a very pure quality. This can be valued at five hundred gold coins¡­" Michael carefully identified. "Team Leader, I want to buy one of them!"


    Gems were important ingredients for a lot of magic spells, and this ingredient was a bottomless pit for a sorcerer.


    "No problem!" Clegg was evidently very satisfied with Fang Yuan''s forthrightness. "Respected Mister Luhn, please wait a moment. We will immediately go to the Society to notarize it. Also, my team needs to rest for just half a day. After they''ve purchased equipment, medicine, and rations, we can leave anytime!"


    "Great!" Fang Yuan nodded and glanced at Amanda.


    The power of divinity in this female archer was very thin, but had already reached the ''limit''!


    Inside this Demon Territory, there was a possibility that they would encounter unimaginable dangers.


    Humans could obtain divinity through killing Evil Demons, while Evil Demons naturally could also obtain power of divinity from killing humans.


    The entire Demon Territory is actually a giant poison cultivation pool. Only the strongest person or Evil Demon will survive until the end!


    Fang Yuan''s eyes glistened.


    Evidently, this female archer did not seem to possess such a quality.


    However, if not for the assistance of divinity, she would perhaps have died during some adventure long ago, so it was not entirely harmful to her.


    ¡­


    "This time going toward the Demon Territory, there''ll be a lot Flame Evil Demons. I''ll have to buy a batch of frost arrows!"


    Amanda carried a long bow and shopped around casually in the bazaar after bidding farewell to her team..


    Ah¡­ Demon Territory. Is the fate of us Sons of Purgatory to die inside? She despondently thought about this.


    Suddenly, her hair stood on end, as if she was a frog targeted by a snake.


    "Can''t believe that I actually managed to meet one of my blood brothers here! Hehe¡­"


    An icy cold voice rang out from behind as cold air directly blew into her ears.


    It''s a Son of Purgatory!


    Amanda''s pupils shrank. Trembling with fear, she turned around and immediately saw someone.


    The other party looked like a normal warrior. A vertical scar starting below his left eye made him one-eyed and look very frightening.


    Of course, most importantly was that rich divinity aura, nearly reaching the extent of a Quasi-Legend.


    Such a person¡­ If he wants to kill me, I''m afraid he just needs a short time¡­


    Cold sweat immediately broke out. Luckily, this bazaar is a public area with many powers maintaining order and discipline. He won''t dare act rashly¡­ However, he can ambush me or even monitor when I leave!


    Her small team had received a task and was about to enter the depths of the Demon Territory.


    In that dangerous hell, dead people were extremely commonplace.


    Unfortunately, Amanda could not say anything about the Son of Purgatory.


    "What do you want?" She lowered her voice and looked at this one-eyed man.


    "Of course, I want to¡­" The one-eyed person licked his lips, but he suddenly froze as cold sweat trickled down, similar to Amanda earlier. "This¡­"


    Through the perception of the bloodline, the two Sons of Purgatory saw a figure dressed in black.


    The other''s entire body was enveloped inside a pitch-black cloak, and even the gender could not be discerned. The person indifferently glanced over, as if he was looking at two ants.


    However, this glance nearly made Amanda and the one-eyed man collapse.


    "Strong¡­ too powerful. How can there be such strong divinity in this world!"


    After a long time, the one-eyed man finally regained his composure and gasped in a low voice, "He''s definitely a Legend, or even higher than a Legend!"


    His entire body shivered, not even daring to look at the person in the black cloak before he squeezed into the crowd and disappeared.


    Amanda''s limbs were cold. When she finally plucked up her courage after much difficulty and looked toward the person in the black cloak, she realized that there was already no trace of them.


    Another one¡­ Luckily, he seems not too interested in our insignificant amount of divinity!


    Amanda''s legs felt weak, and after panting for a while, she gathered herself and left.


    ¡­


    At the same time, the currently resting Fang Yuan suddenly looked in Amanda''s direction and revealed a smile. "Another two Sons of Purgatory appeared?"


    "One of them was just a Quasi-Legend, but the other one was¡­ a God!"


    At the beginning, after Jay was first obtained the Death Godhood and apotheosized, the Gods''s descent gave all of the Extraordinaries and Legends a chance.


    Especially the Sons of Purgatory that were fundamentally unable to obtain the recognition of the world''s will, obtaining it through slaughter was their only route.


    "This Son of Purgatory had good luck and actually managed to find the true body of the Slaughter God, becoming successful in one strike!"


    Although the Slaughter God was not one of the Nine Pillar Gods, he was still an experienced God with powerful abilities and unlimited Godhood potential. He even complimented well with the personality of the Sons of Purgatory.


    Generally speaking, he was much better than weaklings like the Joy Goddess.


    Of course, this Son of Purgatory mastering the Slaughter Godhood helped Fang Yuan absorb the rules of the world regarding slaughter to his heart''s content.

 710 Acciden

    Inside the Demon Territory.


    A dark red appeared in the sky, casting an ominous feeling.


    Even the land''s outskirts released an astonishing surface heat. Boots specially made from winter materials had to be worn to be able to walk about freely.


    In the end, I still couldn''t say it! Amanda carried her bow and a bag full of arrows, glancing at her team beside her while laughing bitterly in her heart.


    She was unable to tell them about the truth of her divinity and naturally did not have a good excuse to leave them. Finally, this kept getting delayed, and by the time she recovered her composure, the small adventurer team had already set off.


    Luckily, there was the deterrence of that powerful divinity. That one-eyed man shouldn''t be deliberately keeping watch on me¡­


    Amanda released a deep breath.


    If she brought any harm to her team because of her origins, she would never be able to forgive herself.


    "Damn¡­ this environment is really hot!"


    The party had only walked for half a day before already sweating profusely and having to stop for rest.


    Fortunately, at this moment, Sorcerer Michael took out a tent. After entering, the temperature quickly dropped, and even a layer of ice blankets was placed on the ground.


    "Drink some water."


    After sitting down to rest, Michael fawned on Amanda by offering her a water bag.


    "Thanks."


    Amanda already knew long ago that he had an interest in her.


    She received the water bag but gazed at team leader Clegg, her heart silently sighing.


    "Mister Luhn, I didn''t think you were a proficient sketcher." Clegg was currently squatting beside Fang Yuan and looking at him sketch a map of the Demon Territory, a look of admiration in his eyes.


    "I''ve only had a few lessons¡­" Fang Yuan smiled slightly and stopped his movements. "Although this Demon Territory was originally a human nation, many changes in the terrain have occurred from what I saw today."


    "Yeah, thanks to those damned Evil Demons!"


    Clegg murmured, "According to our schedule, we''ll reach the Scarlet Gorge after seven days. If we head further a bit more, we''ll reach the depths of the Demon Territory, a dangerous environment that not even adventurers have fully explored. According to our agreement, once we reach the Scarlet Gorge, we''ll circle around it and return."


    The Evil Demons in the periphery were few and had very low abilities, and a small adventurer team was able to handle them.


    However, as it went deeper, the Evil Demon numbers would constantly increase, and there was even the existence of a Netherworld river that directly formed Evil Demon worms! Due to God''s arrival and the murder of the Death God by Jay, nobody could stop the upheaval inside the Netherworld.


    Even to Legends, that was a terribly dangerous forbidden area.


    "Of course I know this." Fang Yuan nodded slightly.


    In fact, he had employed this adventurer team entirely out of convenience and because this young female archer named Amanda had aroused some of his interest.


    A heart considered to be kind and has not been polluted by divinity has unfortunately been coveted¡­


    Fang Yuan looked toward the team with a bright light flashing across his eyes.


    With Amanda as the bait, he easily found two hooked by it.


    One of them was that one-eyed Quasi-Legend that was still a little hesitant.


    After all, with his abilities, he could definitely defeat Amanda, but still had some trouble dealing with the well-equipped team. Therefore, he was still lurking about like a poisonous snake, trying to find an opportunity.


    The other one was the new Slaughter God who had seized the Slaughter Godhood.


    "Destiny is so interesting!"


    Fang Yuan looked at his right hand. In the air, and indiscernible by the naked eye of ordinary people, threads of divinity were pulled by him through mysterious channels to exert their influence and obtain more information.


    "The one-eyed person is called Lauder, and this God is called Zorro?


    "Furthermore, this Zorro has always been pursuing Jay and finally obtained the revelation regarding Sun God Ramon being inside the Demon Territory¡­


    "Right now, he is following behind only to bring a little enjoyment during his journey, or perhaps he''s found something?"


    After all, Fang Yuan was not a pure native, and sometimes even inferior to them, as they were able to receive the revelation of destiny.


    To the Monger World, however, if Ramon had to fall, even if he arbitrarily merged with any apotheosizing Son of Purgatory, it would gain a rich harvest and create a powerful enemy for Fang Yuan.


    "Since that''s the case¡­"


    Fang Yuan laughed lightly and started prodding the divinity.


    Outside the tent, behind a black rock.


    Lauder stared with his remaining eye at the tent. "You can''t escape, my sister! I''ll ultimately become a Legend and even apotheosize! Now, I''ll have you contribute everything to me!"


    Only, he looked at the huge tent with some hesitation.


    After all, he was alone and had not exceeded Quasi-Legend, and it was possible for him to be targeted by human wave tactics.


    At this time, a strong desire to kill instantly filled his heart, even making his eyes involuntarily turn red.


    "Hehe¡­ Kill her, kill that woman, and then become stronger! I could then oppose that mysterious person!"


    Even though he had only seen him once, Zorro had left behind huge psychological trauma in him. After all, all the Sons of Purgatory were enemies in the end!


    "You think that by withdrawing into that team, I wouldn''t be able to cope with you?"


    After all, Lauder was not a fool. The influence exerted by Fang Yuan using the divinity was subtle and unlikely to immediately make him reckless.


    Thus, he turned and surveyed the surrounding environment. He immediately saw a few wandering small Evil Demons, and his vicious smile quickly grew larger.


    ¡­


    "This tent is really not bad!"


    Fang Yuan was now sitting on a refreshing rug and looking around.


    Clegg stuck out his chest and proudly introduced, "This is a tool that has been specially customized by the Adventurer Society using the experience of exploring the Demon Territory. Not only does it have a cooling effect, its most important feature is concealment. In the eyes of the small Evil Demons, they will only see a giant rock here. Of course, once they become a large Evil Demon and obtain more intelligence, it''s completely impossible to deceive them. Also, if a small Evil Demon comes close, it will see through it. However, we can deal with that!"


    "That''s great¡­"


    Just after Fang Yuan nodded, the thief lying down suddenly sat up with a worried look. "Leader, there''s a situation!"


    Most of the scouts in ancient times had the unique skill of listening to the ground. Even if they were sleeping, they could be woken up by a cavalry charge.


    Even though it was currently a different world, the principle was largely similar.


    "Were we discovered by a small Evil Demon?"


    Slightly doubtful, Clegg rushed out of the tent and instantly widened his eyes.


    Inside his field of vision, a large area of crimson red was surging over that contained at least a few hundred small Evil Demons. Among them were a few that distinctly stood out¡ªlarge Evil Demons.


    "Impossible, how can we be so unlucky and just happen to come across an Evil Demon tide?" Clegg screamed, "Everyone prepare. Those who don''t wish to die, immediately fight!"


    Caw! Caw!


    Just as he screamed, a small Evil Demon had already leaped over, its crimson red skin and sharp horns clearly visible.


    Although small Evil Demons were easily dealt with by professionals, once there were more of them, a qualitative change would occur.


    Furthermore, there were even large Evil Demons hidden within these small Evil Demons.


    "Run in that direction!" Amanda appeared and immediately pointed at a direction just with a single glance.


    There was a small hill over there, which was slightly more convenient to defend.


    "Focus on protecting Mister Luhn!"


    Clegg charged to the front as a layer of fighting spirit was emitted. The small team fought against the Evil Demons as they shifted toward favorable terrain.


    Caw! Caw!


    Suddenly, a large Evil Demon laughed weirdly and a huge fireball was thrown over.


    "It''s the Fireball spell!" Michael shouted loudly and ripped open some magic scrolls. "Protection from Fire!"


    He was not a pastor and did not have decent disruption spells. Facing this sort of attack, he could only forcefully resist.


    The next moment.


    Kaboom!


    Accompanying the loud explosion, flames swept through. Even with protection, they received some slight injuries and were placed in a very difficult position.


    Most importantly, more small Evil Demons had charged forward and nearly surrounded them.


    Caw! Caw!


    Suddenly, two giant Evil Demons flapped their wings and descended from the sky.


    The other warrior did not have time to dodge and was directly pulled into the sky before plummeting onto the hard ground and being surrounded by small Evil Demons pouncing at him, his flesh and blood splattering.


    "Damn! This group of Evil Demons is very strange!"


    Clegg retreated while shouting loudly at Michael, "Stop feeling sorry and quickly use that! Our life is more important!"


    "Okay!" Michael gritted his teeth and took out an even higher level scroll.


    This was a high-level spell that the team had specially purchased in order to face the dangers of the Demon Territory. This required the capital of the entire team and was always regarded as a trump card.


    At the moment, he could no longer worry and directly activated it. "Go die!"


    Whoosh! Whoosh!


    Cold winds blew and drops of water turned to ice.


    A giant icy tornado was formed and instantly caused the scorching hot hell to transform into a frozen and snow-covered land.


    "High-level Spell: Icy Storm!"


    Strong winds swept through, carrying with it an onslaught of icicle and hailstones that rapidly blew through the Evil Demon army, leaving behind many crumbling ice sculptures.


    Even for a large Evil Demon, their resistant skin was as thin as paper under the offense of a high-level spell.


    After a while, the effects of the spell ended and the scorching hot temperature once again engulfed them, melting the frost.


    Clegg saw this scene and sighed. "Ahh¡­ let''s bring back Rick''s corpse and properly bury it!"


    "Hehe¡­ can''t believe you had such a card in your hand!"


    At this moment, a one-eyed man slowly approached from outside the campsite and calmly stared greedily at Amanda.


    "It''s you!" Amanda was first surprised, but later became so infuriated that her body started burning. "Those Evil Demons were lured over by you?"

 711 Scimitar

    "Amanda, is he your enemy?"


    Michael tightly held onto his wand, a blurry glow starting to appear on the tip of it.


    "Sir, even though you have enmity with a member of my team, luring the Evil Demons over to attack us is really crossing the line!" Clegg tightly gripped his large sword in indignation. "Such actions must be punished by the Adventurer Society and various nations. Wait for your wanted poster!"


    "Wanted poster? Hehe¡­" Lauder laughed nastily. "I already have too many. Another one is nothing at all!"


    "I remember! He''s Lauder, the ''Executioner''!" the thief suddenly shouted loudly. "He''s wanted by three kingdoms and has committed twenty-seven murders!"


    "It''s you!" Clegg retreated one step, his face full of wariness.


    Someone wanted by so many kingdoms yet was still fine was clearly not simple.


    "On the wanted poster, he has at least the strength of a high-level professional!" this thief shouted loudly and then suddenly turned around to run away.


    Even though he was a comrade on the same team, under a life-and-death situation, he still chose to escape!


    "This again¡­ the ugly side of humanity!"


    Lauder saw this and laughed with scorn. Powerful imposing manner concentrated, and suddenly, a little frozen star flew out from his hands like silver light and squarely hit the back of the thief.


    Poof!


    With the splattering of blood, this thief collapsed directly onto the ground and immediately became motionless.


    "I really detest people who betray friendship. I''ve taken the initiative to help you guys settle it. No need to thank me!"


    Lauder was very pleased with himself for the outcome that he had caused.


    At first, he had lured over that group of Evil Demons and expended their stamina and equipment, even tricking them into using a high-level magic scroll and getting one of them killed.


    Afterwards, this escaping thief even exposed his back to him, letting him kill him as he wished.


    Just like this, the adventurer team that was originally a slight threat to him quickly disintegrated, and now, he could kill them all without being injured.


    Zero injuries! This criterion was very important.


    Lauder was clearly aware that he was a lone wolf. If he wanted to survive to the end in the Demon Territory, he could not suffer overly serious injuries or burdens to his body.


    Any slight insufficiency during key moments might result in a breakdown.


    He was like a seasoned hunter that first secretly expended the opponent''s strength before exposing himself. He had to utterly crush their confidence.


    "This¡­ isn''t a high-level professional, but a Quasi-Legend!"


    Clegg was a person with discerning eyes. Seeing this, he was in even greater despair and felt full of bitterness.


    With the opponent''s strength, even at the peak of his team, they would only be able to create minor annoyances. Now, in their broken state, they were even more hopeless.


    "Your target is me. Release my companions!" At this time, Amanda gritted her teeth and suddenly took a step forward. "Otherwise¡­ otherwise¡­"


    "Haha¡­ you have nothing to say, right? Otherwise, what can you do? Commit suicide so that I can''t obtain anything? What a joke! Your divinity won''t simply dissipate. Once the host dies, it will only immediately look around for the next host¡­" Lauder had a look full of ridicule.


    "Wait!" The faces of Clegg and Michael instantly changed. "What? Divinity?!"


    "Sorry, Michael and Leader. I''ve deceived you!" Amanda was full of bitterness. "Actually¡­ I''m also a Son of Purgatory! Do you still remember? During that mission when we had to kill thieves, their leader was actually a Deity! After killing him, I suddenly obtained this power!"


    "This¡­ this is really¡­" Clegg unconsciously retreated a few steps.


    In the propaganda of churches, the Sons of Purgatory were all incarnations of Evil Demons, synonymous with depravity and slaughter. Where they passed, there would definitely death and disaster.


    "Hah! Do you see this? These are your comrades! You risked your life to save this group!" Lauder''s face was full of ridicule. "So, I can give you a chance. Before you die, I can let you personally kill them!"


    "Stop meaninglessly provoking me. I won''t fall for it!" Amanda raised her bow and aimed at Lauder. "Leader, Michael, Luhn, quickly run!"


    "Amanda¡­ You¡­" Clegg and Michael had a conflicted look and seemed to slightly waver.


    "Sacrificing yourself for others? How great! This light is so dazzling that it makes one want to extinguish it!"


    Lauder''s face changed, becoming faintly aggressive. "I swear you''ll regret your decision!"


    "No, I definitely won''t regret it!"


    Amanda released her hand and an arrow shot out like a beam of light.


    "What a silly trick!"


    A scimitar appeared in Lauder''s hands as he casually hacked. The arrow was immediately deflected to the side.


    Just this move made Amanda''s pupils shrink, knowing that doing something similar required immensely skillful technique and horrifying physical qualities.


    "However, I won''t give up¡­"


    Her right hand was like a butterfly fluttering through flowers, quickly brandishing three arrows with the glow of magic encircling the tip. "Chain of Arrows!"


    Swoosh!


    The bowstring quivered and three arrows directly shot at Lauder''s throat like the line of a thread.


    Whoosh!


    Facing this, Lauder''s face became serious for the first time.


    Nearly at the same time as the arrows released, his body leapt forward swiftly and violently like a black snake. The blade in his hand shot out like lightning and knocked away the tips of the flying arrows before arriving in front of Amanda with a cold look. "It''s over!"


    Zheng!


    Suddenly, his pupils contracted as if he saw something unbelievable.


    Beams of cold light immediately appeared in front, and Lauder only barely managed to evade it by bending his hips nearly ninety degrees. Even so, it slashed a long, bloody cut across his face and nearly squeezed out his lone eye.


    "Damn it!"


    Lauder hastily retreated and fixed his gaze on Amanda.


    Her weapon had undergone an earth-shattering transformation as two sharp blades that looked like waxing moons leaped out from the bow with a tinge of blood-red on them. These were obviously the culprits that caused his injuries.


    "The Moon Nation''s Bow Dancer?" Lauder''s face darkened. "I can''t believe that you advanced in such a rare profession!"


    "After all, I''m a Deity. I must have a card in my hand!"


    Amanda gritted her teeth, feeling regret.


    Even though she took him by surprise, she was still unable to seriously injure him. The battle hereon would definitely be very difficult.


    Even death was inevitable.


    But¡­ I was able to buy sufficient time for Leader.


    A hint of sweetness emerged in Amanda''s heart as she subconsciously turned around to look. She nearly exploded in vulgarities. "You¡­ how come all of you are still here?"


    She had painstakingly fought for this short bit of time, yet among the three, none of them ran away!


    Amanda was so angry that she was about to cry.


    Especially Luhn!


    This person who was just a client was actually standing there upright, causing her to be at a loss of whether to laugh or cry.


    Amanda really wanted to point at his nose and ask, "What relationship do you have with me? Could it be you fancy me just like Michael and chose not to escape even when there such a good opportunity?"


    "Amanda!" Clegg puffed out his chest. "No matter what, you''re a member of my team. As the team leader, how could I abandon my comrade?"


    "That''s right!" Michael tightly held his wand as the aquamarine light of an enhancement landed on Amanda.


    Amanda was so touched, she nearly cried, but Fang Yuan''s face was a little bizarre. Love triangle? That''s really melodramatic enough¡­


    "Idiots, you''ll all pay the price for your own conceit and ignorance!"


    Lauder stood up, and the scimitar in his hand released a dazzling glow as he hacked toward Amanda. "Die!"


    "Never!" Clegg shouted loudly as he raised his long sword to block in front of Amanda.


    Amanda''s figure was graceful as she performed elegant moves like a dancer. The bow blade circled around her body like shiny moonlight.


    "It''s no use!" Lauder screamed as his scimitar swung straight at Clegg and hacked into the moonlight.


    Dang!


    A crisp sound rang out and the bow snapped. Amanda collapsed onto the ground and her face looked frightened. "This magic¡­ a high-level magical item? Half-artifact?"


    "Haha, that''s right. In order to obtain it, I slaughtered two entire families!"


    A layer of magical radiance appeared on Lauder, which was most dazzling on the scimitar. "But everything was worth it!"


    "You lunatic!"


    Clegg fiercely rushed up, but with a casual swing of the scimitar, the long sword in his hand snapped. His collapsed onto the ground, a deep indent on his armor.


    "None of you have the power to retaliate before me!"


    Lauder went forward, about to take Amanda''s life with a strike.


    "Noooo!" Michael shouted loudly and released a fireball.


    Kaboom!


    But Lauder laughed with disdain and directly plunged the scimitar into the fireball''s center.


    The next instant, the fireball was extinguished as easily as candlelight.


    "Sharp Break Magic?"


    Michael felt extremely bitter.


    This legendary scimitar instantly made all his efforts seem like a joke.


    "Then¡­ what''s next is your decision. Do you want me to chop your hands or your feet first?"


    Lauder arrived in front of Amanda and licked the blade of his scimitar, his expression becoming extremely crazed and joyful.


    Michael tightly grabbed onto his wand, but regardless, he was unable to move and started trembling.


    "Am I going to die¡­ Leader¡­"


    Amanda glanced at Clegg, but ultimately did not say a word.


    "Hehe¡­ Relax, you won''t die so quickly. Instead, you''ll be crying for a long time in a pool of blood. I have lots of experience in this aspect, and I guarantee that there''ll be no mistakes!"


    Lauder laughed sinisterly and was about to act¡­


    Suddenly, everything around seemed to stagnate as a powerful presence abruptly descended!

 712 Gorge

    Powerful. Ice-cold. Suffocating!


    Under the effect of this terrifying power, Amanda felt that every single part of her body was shivering and her soul about to leave her body.


    "It''s that divinity! He''s always been following us!"


    In a split second, she quickly thought of that mysterious person who fleetingly appeared in the bazaar.


    Lauder''s movements also stopped as he glanced behind, his voice carrying some grief and indignation. "Sure enough¡­ you won''t let me go!"


    Step! Step!


    Accompanying the footsteps that seemed to be stepping on their hearts, a person in black slowly appeared.


    "Who are you?" Lauder roared and raised the scimitar in his hand. "Secret Technique: Red Moon!"


    A blood-red glow appeared on the blade, and Amanda even seemed to see the faint outline of a red moon.


    "L-Legend domain?"


    Her pupils shrank, knowing that he had used some kind of secret technique and the half-artifact to reach a Legend''s strength.


    The surrounding environment transformed, like the coming of night. Within the dark curtain, only a red moon ruled.


    "All of you, die!" Lauder roared, and his scimitar instantly transformed into sinister moonlight that was omnipresent and could destroy anything.


    "Red Moon domain? Nice weapon. When it was first forged, a Legend''s blood, tears, and efforts, as well as all his inspirations toward his domain, were included!"


    The person in black was engulfed by the torrential moonlight, but seemed to have no reaction as he suddenly raised his right hand.


    His right hand was so delicately white and slender that even a lady''s hand paled in comparison. At the moment it entered the blood-red moonlight, the domain''s entire sky became stagnant.


    Crack! Crack!


    The red moon immediately shattered and revealed the actual scene.


    "You¡­"


    Lauder''s face became extremely terrified as he looked at the person in black gripping his blade with just three fingers, any attempt at pulling it back completely useless.


    "If you want to become a Legend, you must walk your own path! Although this half-artifact is decent, it will ultimately be your shackle!"


    With that indifferent voice, the person in black twisted his hand once.


    Lauder screamed as the scimitar escaped his hand, vomiting blood as his body flew back and fell onto the ground.


    Impossible!


    Amanda was nearly lifeless upon seeing this.


    Lauder was a Quasi-Legend! With the boosts of the half-artifact and secret technique, he could rival a Legend!


    However, such power actually failed in front of this mysterious person?


    Not only was he defeated, it was so simple and without any resistance, like an adult disciplining a child.


    Lauder coughed up blood as he half-squatted onto the ground, his eyes fixed on the mysterious person, and suddenly said, "Divine fire?!"


    In order to ignite divine fire, how many Sons of Purgatory has he killed?


    Amanda''s heart sank. Seeing the defeat of Lauder, she did not dare to get her hopes up.


    This enemy was unexpectedly so powerful, making it difficult for her to develop any thought of resistance.


    "Saying so much, don''t you just want to kill me and plunder my divinity?" Lauder''s sole eye was blood-red. "It''s useless no matter how much you plunder. Death God Jay will still kill you! You are definitely not his rival!"


    "The laments and curses of a weakling¡­"


    The person in black casually flung the scimitar in his hand, making it to land beside Lauder. "But I don''t have any desire to kill now. All of you, follow me!"


    He pointed with his hand, and it shockingly included Amanda and everyone else


    "Leave?" Amanda felt very baffled. This was the first time she saw a Son of Purgatory that could control his desire to kill. "Go where?"


    "Scarlet Gorge"


    The person in black lifted open his cloak and revealed a very young but pale face. "By the way, you can call me Zorro!"


    "In other words, we''ve become your captives, Sir Zorro?" Clegg tried to make his voice seem respectful, even using his glances to silently curb Michael''s small actions.


    "You can say that!" Zorro grinned and nodded. "You''re still slightly beneficial to me. How''s that? Do you choose to die now or follow me?"


    When faced with such a life-and-death decision, even Lauder lapsed into silence.


    Not long later, the small team of six once again began their journey.


    But two of the members had been replaced.


    Fang Yuan was silent. Using subtle expressions and movements, he gave the false impression of distress and fear.


    Instead, his spiritual will was endlessly calculating. Very good¡­ my concealment won''t even be exposed by the Slaughter God. He''s heading to the Scarlet Gorge. Seems that he''s obtained a revelation of destiny or other intelligence that Ramon fell in the depths of the Demon Territory?


    Regarding the choice of this sworn enemy, Fang Yuan admired it a little. He had really regarded the most dangerous place as the safest place.


    ¡­


    Scarlet Gorge.


    This was a prominent landmark within the Demon Territory.


    Due to the changes in the terrain, it had produced a massive fault zone.


    After many investigations by the adventurers, churches, and kingdoms, they had publicly recognized this as a dividing line in the Demon Territory.


    After the Scarlet Gorge, it was the depths of the Demon Territory, which was the original territory of the Celtic Empire. The number of Evil Demons and their levels had all increased greatly with the worm-breeding Netherworld river.


    Even a Legend might not be able to fully retreat after entering. This was a definite forbidden zone to any human forces.


    Aw! Aw!


    In the sky, the strong scarlet red radiance did not disperse and even occasional flames dropped down.


    On the scorching hot ground, a group of a hundred small Evil Demons were patrolling under the lead of a huge Evil Demon, occasionally erupting in a fight with other Evil Demons.


    Suddenly, the two parties that were fighting seemed to detect something and dispersed in all directions. They were causing a huge ruckus, as if they had seen a natural enemy.


    Rumble! Rumble!


    The ground shook slightly, and a giant demon appeared from the horizon. Its figure became larger and larger before finally becoming a small mountain.


    It looked like an elephant with black skin all over its body, and its six tusks were as white as jade, with thorns and brambles on its body.


    On the elephant''s back, one could faintly make out a few human silhouettes.


    "It''s worthy of being a high-level Evil Demon. Even the large Evil Demons escaped in fear!"


    Amanda looked on at this scene, and when she compared it to her being chaotically chased about by the Evil Demon army, her feelings were complex looking at Zorro''s back.


    This person''s strength was practically unfathomable.


    This giant evil elephant''s strength definitely exceeded that of large Evil Demons'', even that of high-level professionals, and was equivalent to a Quasi-Legends''. Even though its body had divinity, it was still subdued by him to become a mount.


    Although the number of Evil Demons at the periphery were fewer, most high-level Evil Demons had intelligence and would wander around. Those adventurers who encountered them could only accept their bad luck and possibly be exterminated.


    But encountering Zorro was instead this giant Evil Demon elephant''s misfortune.


    With it as transportation, the dangers along the way were far fewer, similar to going on an outing, as they reached the Scarlet Gorge.


    "We''ve finally arrived!" Seeing the vast and mighty mountains and valleys, Zorro smiled.


    "Sir Zorro, what do you want us to do?" Amanda looked at the surroundings and walked forward to ask. "With our strength, I''m afraid we''ll just be a burden."


    Once this was mentioned, even Lauder, who was resting at one side with a cold look, pricked his ears.


    "In this world, not everything can be accomplished with just power!"


    Zorro slightly smiled. "The reason you''re here is to find something, or perhaps¡­ someone!


    "Even though I can impel the Evil Demons, with the power and rules he has, he can still actively evade me even when he''s in deep slumber!"


    "He?"


    Amanda clearly felt that something was not right.


    In the language of this world, the ''he'' used here was a completely different pronunciation.


    However, just by thinking about it, why would an ordinary person choose to sleep inside the Demon Territory?


    At this time, Lauder finally could not stand it and asked, "Who is¡­ he?"


    "You''ll know shortly!"


    Zorro shook his head, seeming very mysterious.


    At the same time.


    In another location of this huge gorge.


    A large team slowly approached, and nearly everyone was injured.


    Even though they were elites, passing through the Demon Territory still caused them to pay a heavy price.


    "Lord Jay is the ruler of death! With his name, even the brilliance of the sun must concede!"


    Under the declaration of a person wearing a huge black robe and a sheep skull necklace, looking like an evil cult priest, the gazes of many Death God believers became scorching hot, and they swarmed into the Scarlet Gorge.


    "According to the guidance of the Death God and the confession of that pastor, the clue regarding the Sun God lies within the Scarlet Gorge!"


    The gaze of a Death God disciple twinkled. "What if I obtain the brilliance of the Sun?"


    This was a chaotic era. When the Gods descended, the original faiths became horribly shaken.


    Furthermore, the successful apotheosis of a Son of Purgatory made the mortals realize that the Gods were actually not that eminent and unapproachable, and many ambitious parties appeared.


    There was activity simmering below the surface even within the original believers of the Gods.


    His heart was burning, and while thinking of his opportunities, he slowly entered the depths.


    Suddenly, the light of a sharp blade appeared behind him and penetrated his heart.


    "It''s an ambush!"


    He wanted to scream but could only spit out bloody foam as he weakly collapsed.


    Before the glow of his eyes dissipated, he saw a figure that was identical to a Death God believer, and his hand was holding a sharp blade that was dripping blood.


    This believer who managed to sneak into the Church of Death muttered, "Praise Lord Zorro, the Slaughter God! In your name, all the Death God believers will experience the ruthlessness of slaughter!"


    As the Slaughter God, Zorro had powers like concealment and conspiracy, causing his believers to be capable of deception.


    Similar slaughters occurred within the Scarlet Gorge.


    It had to be said the Scarlet Gorge was really too big.


    Even if two Evil Gods had brought all of their believers here, the effect of this place was still far from being discovered.

 713 Emergence

    Bloop! Bloop!


    Toxic liquid suffused a yellowish green pond and constantly released bubbles, while the smell of sulphur occasionally permeated the air.


    A huge snake with its entire body covered in eyes suddenly leaped out from the toxic water. Its tongue stretched out like lightning and swallowed an unlucky small Evil Demon.


    The Demon Territory had its own world inside the Scarlet Gorge, even forming a bizarre ecological environment.


    "That Zorro, what''s he looking for?"


    Amanda and Clegg carefully walked over a marsh with a frightened expression.


    Within the Scarlet Gorge, many powerful Evil Demons and monsters resided; nowhere was safe. Once they met with mishap, even Zorro might not be able to save them in time.


    As this Slaughter God had just ascended recently, other than his believers, there were very few who knew his God Name.


    Thus, Clegg, Amanda, and the others were not at all amazed.


    Otherwise, if they knew that they had already obtained the glory that many believers yearned for but were unable to receive¡ªwalking alongside a God¡ªperhaps instead of being excited, it was more likely for them to be frightened.


    "Amanda, listen to me!" Clegg glanced around. "No matter what Zorro wants to do, we''ll be in huge danger after finishing. Therefore, you must immediately run if you find an opportunity and don''t worry about us!"


    "But¡­ don''t you find it strange?" Amanda used her bow to stir the weeds resembling sharp blades on the ground and said, "What type of existence would come here to sleep and then coincidentally be found by us?"


    "Who knows?" Clegg shrugged his shoulders. "Compared to us, that client is more unfortunate. Look at him. He actually looks like he''s slightly resigned to his fate."


    Amanda turned her head and saw Luhn.


    At the moment, this unfortunate fellow was leaning on a black wooden staff and wading through the marshes with great difficulty.


    The Demon Territory that was created by the influence of the Nine Tier Purgatory should be under my control. As long as I want, even flies and mosquitoes, much less the Sun God, are unable to escape my senses. Only this time¡­


    Fang Yuan''s face was a little gloomy.


    He slightly closed his eyes, and everything in the Scarlet Gorge appeared before him.


    No matter whether it was the monsters hiding in the marsh or high-level Evil Demons wandering the land, or even the death and slaughter believers that were exploring elsewhere, everything was visible before his eyes.


    However, there was simply no trace of the Sun God.


    It was truly somewhat inconceivable.


    No wonder the Sun God dared to sleep here¡­ his method of concealment is really very impressive!


    Fang Yuan laughed coldly.


    The reason was that the Demon Territory had not thorough eroded the Main World enough.


    Otherwise, if it was within the Nine Tier Purgatory, no matter what the Sun God incarnated as, he would not be able to escape Fang Yuan''s pursuit.


    It seems like¡­ that deep slumber of Sun God Ramon was also unavoidable. Furthermore, his repeated serious injuries have already nearly caused him to be unable to maintain the Supreme God position. Therefore, the world''s will can only search for a replacement.


    It''s looking at those Sons of Purgatory Gods!


    Even though they have accepted the origin power, the Sons of Purgatory are still natives. Furthermore, if they obtained the power of the Sun God, they could unseal and refine the divinity and contend against me!


    Perhaps¡­ the world''s will could even lurk inside of them and appear at the final moment to fight to the death with me! Once it defeats me, not only would it save the entire world, it would even obtain all the origin power that has been refined!


    Fang Yuan shivered, fully understanding the plans of the world''s will.


    It was sacrificing Ramon to help a Son of Purgatory, allowing them to obtain the God''s strength and world''s will, to become his greatest enemy! After defeating him, it could even obtain the origin power.


    Compared to this, Ramon was inconsequential.


    Is this the tragedy of the Gods in this world? Due to the incomplete rules, they become too intimate with the heavens and the earth, having too many responsibilities¡­ even being sacrificed¡­


    A revelation was suddenly produced in Fang Yuan''s heart.


    Only this reason could explain why the Purgatory Gods continually found clues, but he, the Master of the Nine Tier Purgatory, was almost clueless.


    Behind everything lies the shadow of heaven''s will!


    Fang Yuan showed silent ridicule. Too bad¡­ I''m still here!


    This was the limitation of the world''s will. In the scenario where Ramon was in deep sleep, it could use subtle methods to give revelations to the Purgatory Gods, but it also gave Fang Yuan the possibility of discovering it.


    But where''s Sun God Ramon sleeping?


    As he was thinking, Fang Yuan''s expression changed and his pupils slightly shrank.


    ¡­


    "Ah!" Amanda screamed, looking at the rock wall that started crumbling.


    Just a moment ago, she had only light touched it with her weapon, but the surface of this giant rock actually started to disintegrate.


    Behind the crevice, a dazzling golden light shimmered and expanded.


    Kaboom!


    Pure bright golden light gathered and formed the outline of a door, the scenery of a vast realm vaguely visible behind it.


    Not only that, a golden beam shot into the sky, and the vast divine power could be clearly detected even a fifty kilometers away.


    "It¡­ it had nothing to do with me!" Amanda saw this scene and was already flabbergasted.


    "Haha¡­ you did very well!" Zorro jumped over and looked at the bright golden door. His eyes carried a look of yearning, but also fear. "It''s actually¡­"


    God Nation?!


    A bright light flashed through Fang Yuan''s eye directly into his mind.


    What appeared was actually the door leading to a God Nation.


    Judging from the aura, it was undeniably the God Nation of Sun God Ramon!


    No wonder he could shield himself from my senses. He had already brought along his God Nation when he descended!


    The consequences were undeniably very serious. Without even considering the loss of strength, within the Main World, the power of a God Nation would experience an immense suppression. Furthermore, it was practically impossible to return to the God World afterwards.


    To the Gods, this was definitely a great loss.


    Of course, the benefit of doing this was to forcefully create a blind spot within this Demon Territory, where not even Fang Yuan could discover it.


    However, this was still exposed through Amanda''s unintentional actions.


    "The Sun God''s God Nation!"


    Zorro''s gaze was scorching as he suddenly walked forward a step and held onto the sides of the bright door with both hands.


    Whoosh!


    Golden flames billowed and immediately landed on his body.


    The flames that could turn a Legend into ashes completely had no effect on him.


    "This trifling defense of a God Nation¡­ open for me!"


    Zorro roared as a similar layer of dark golden light appeared around him.


    An oppressive aura leaked out, and even the sky started to fluctuate slightly.


    Kaboom!


    Finally, the bright door was suppressed to its limit before the crisp sound of glass shattering rang out. It completely congealed solid, causing the scenery inside to become clearer.


    Zorro rapidly flashed through the door and instantly disappeared without a trace.


    "God¡­" Amanda looked at this scene blankly. "Zorro is¡­ a God? An apotheosized Son of Purgatory? Could he be Jay?"


    "No!" Lauder walked forward with his face pale but eyes completely fiery. "He''s not Jay, but a new God! This¡­ is actually the entrance to the Sun God''s God Nation?"


    He seemed to have already forgotten his previous plans, and looking at the bright golden door, he subsciously took a step forward.


    Kaboom!


    The golden flames did not reappear, and Lauder was engulfed by a golden glow before instantly disappearing.


    "This is the best chance!" Clegg was ecstatic. "Amanda¡­ let''s go¡­ Ah?"


    He realized with astonishment that after regaining freedom, Amanda did not retreat, instead walking forward a few steps. "The defense left behind by the Sun God has already been destroyed by him. Now, anyone can pass through this door!"


    "Amanda!" Michael rushed over, his eyes containing a strange look. "Do¡­ you want to enter to explore?"


    "That''s right!" Amanda took a deep breath. "I have always been escaping my responsibilities. But this time, I''ve very clearly thought it through! Since I am a Son of Purgatory, I must face all of this! I might be able to run this time, but I might not escape a second time!"


    "If that''s your decision, I''ll follow you!" Clegg gritted his teeth and made his choice.


    "Haha¡­ since Leader has spoken, I can only comply!" An unexplainable emotion flickered across Michael''s eyes. "Hehe¡­ the Sun God''s God Nation really rouses one''s interest in exploring!"


    "This is also the reason why I can''t leave!" Amanda laughed bitterly. "Even the Sun God''s God Nation can be destroyed. Even if we leave the Demon Territory, is there anywhere that''s safe in the Main World?"


    "Mister Luhn, you¡­" Just when she wanted to advise Fang Yuan to leave, she saw this self-proclaimed second son of a noble already entering the bright door. "Huh?"


    "I already said that this Luhn wasn''t someone simple!" Michael''s face was gloomy. "I suspect he''s a spy for some church or king and came to the Demon Territory to collect intelligence. From what I just saw, the chances that he''s from a church are slightly higher. Perhaps, he already had some clues about these changes but didn''t bother telling us anything."


    "Mister Luhn is not that kind of person!" Amanda refuted, but suddenly fell silent.


    Previously, she did not sense anything. But when she thought about it, Luhn was indeed very suspicious.


    "Even if he''s a spy, he''s evidently not on the same side as the Evil Gods¡­" A gleam flashed in Michael''s eyes. "This time, maybe he can be of help to us¡­"


    "Yes, an adventurer team overcoming many difficulties and finally thwarting the Evil Gods'' plot¡­ Have you listened to too many stories in the taverns?" Clegg rolled his eyes, and his expression suddenly changed. "However, there''s one thing I know. No matter what happens to the Sun God, if the Evil Gods succeed in their plans, the entire world will be plunged into great danger. Although we''re merely minor characters, we must contribute a little of our own strength when we encounter such a situation!"


    "Leader!" Amanda was a little moved. Although they were all very ordinary, they could make their own choices during important moments!

 714 God Nation

    A God Nation was the nest of a God, where they accepted the souls of believers and concealed their true bodies.


    Other than a few Gods like Death God Hess, nearly all of the Gods constructed their God Nation in the God World, as it had the most suitable environment and the Gods could unleash their full potential.


    In the Main World, a God Nations'' rules would be suppressed, and even the petitioners'' souls would gradually wither away. Unless they were a foolish God, they would definitely not do something like this.


    However, currently, and contrary to convention, Sun God Ramon had brought his God Nation into the Main World, even merging it with a part of the Demon Territory. From this, he obtained the convenience of a partial home grounds, which was sufficient to hide from Fang Yuan''s investigation.


    Unfortunately, this was still exposed by an accident.


    "This is¡­ Ramon''s God Nation?"


    Fang Yuan walked the land.


    The entire land seemed to emit a faint glow. It was a completely different style compared to the Purgatory and Main World.


    There was a huge cornfield nearby with a very irregular shape. It seemed that nobody was maintaining it, but a type of wheat seemingly made from gold grew inside.


    What was more astonishing was that they were all generally as tall as a person and as dense as a forest.


    "Golden wheat?"


    Seeing this, Fang Yuan laughed.


    It was rumored that when humanity first appeared, their physiques were frail and they suffered many natural disasters, nearly causing them to go extinct.


    It was then that Sun God Ramon descended and bestowed the golden wheat and seeds to humanity.


    This type of wheat grew rapidly and could be harvested after seven days. Their output was very high, and only with this was humanity able to survive.


    After that, the golden wheat deteriorated and became ordinary varieties like barley and oats, while the Harvest Goddess was also born under this tide of hope.


    As such, Sun God Ramon was not only the world''s original God, but the source of all the Gods!


    Unfortunately, even for such a favourite of the world world, he was finally unable to escape the destiny of being abandoned.


    Now, Fang Yuan had already confirmed that although Ramon was the original God, he was not the Creator!


    He was created by the world, not the one who created the world. This point was important!


    Thus, when the world wanted to abandon him, it was done so without hesitation.


    "Furthermore, this God Nation is a little too desolate!"


    Fang Yuan released his spiritual will, but did not even detect a breath of life.


    Even though a God Nation was unsuitable for the living, there should at least be fluctuations from the petitioners'' souls.


    However, other than the huge wheat forest, the entire God Nation was abnormally empty, as if all the living had disappeared.


    "It seems that they should be at the core position!"


    Fang Yuan focused on one direction and started moving rapidly.


    ¡­


    Whoosh!


    With a cold look on his face, Zorro motionlessly watched a huge pyramid collapse in front of him.


    This pyramid was magnificently constructed. Every single brick was actually made of gold.


    If it was placed outside, this was definitely a huge fortune that would drive anybody insane, but it was merely commonplace here.


    "Wrong again?" Zorro muttered "It''s rumored that the Sun God resides at the peak of a golden pyramid. Inside his God Nation, there are a total of ninety-nine of them!"


    Usually, it would be very easy to investigate with a God''s ability.


    But this place was Ramon''s God Nation. Even though it had fused with the Main World, its rules were beginning to unravel, and its restrictions toward outsiders was constantly easing, they still tenaciously existed.


    "Furthermore, even if the Sun God isn''t a God passionate about developing believers, where are the petitioners that have accumulated from countless ages?"


    Petitioners were the souls of believers after they died.


    In this world, after they died, people''s souls would head toward the Netherworld and undergo inspection in the Death God Nation.


    Afterwards, those believers who belonged to Gods would be directed toward their respective God Nation and then transformed into petitioners, obtaining some degree of longevity. They would live on happily within the God Nation, away from hunger and disaster. This was the agreement between Gods and their believers. The believers gave their faith and obtained the right to ascend into a God Nation after death!


    However, the Sun God''s God Nation was currently nearly empty.


    "Are they gathering somewhere?" A flicker of bright light instantly flashed through Zorro''s eyes. "That must be where the Sun God''s true body lies¡­ I must obtain the Sun Godhood. Jay, although you were one step ahead of me, the final winner will be me!"


    The God''s mind stirred as he immediately looked toward a direction thoughtfully.


    "The Sun God''s God Nation has appeared!"


    Many Death God believers assembled, and under the leadership of a priest wearing a lamb skull necklace, they came to the bright door and started praying. "Lord, with your will as guidance, even the sun''s brilliance cannot obstruct us!"


    Death aura appeared.


    Within this dark red haze, Jay''s figured slowly emerged and resolutely entered the bright door.


    "Lord''s oracle!"


    After the figure completely disappeared, the priest rose from his knees and solemnly announced to the believers, "After entering, kill all the heretics!"


    Instantly, all of the Death God believers had a cold look in their eyes as they entered the bright door.


    ¡­


    "So, space rules, huh?" Fang Yuan looked at the pyramid in front and suddenly laughed. "This entire God Nation has already been turned into a giant maze! Even those pyramids are traps. If I ran about blindly, it would only endlessly shift, and I''d never be able to contact with the true core!


    "To reach the area that''s been concealed, I can either directly crack them or rely on heaven defying luck."


    Even if it was called luck, it was actually a manipulation of the world''s will.


    Evidently, Fang Yuan was not optimistic about his luck as he directly sat down cross-legged and started calculating the spaces rules of this God Nation.


    As a Dream Master that had transversed through many realms, with his foundation and sufficient time, it was entirely possible for him to crack the obstructions here.


    "Amanda, we''ve struck gold!"


    Clegg looked at the vast pyramids in front, his eyes about to pop out.


    "The rumored Sun God pyramids where every brick is made of pure gold. Just a tenth, no! A hundredth is enough purchase many spellcasting materials. It''s more than sufficient for me to reach all the way to a Legend sorcerer!" Michael was not much better and about to salivate.


    "We don''t have anywhere to keep them. Even if we took as many as we could, how many could we actually take?" Amanda rolled her eyes. "This is such a bizarre place. There''s nobody at all. Furthermore, Zorro, Lauder, and Luhn have all disappeared."


    "In the nations of the Gods, anything can happen." Michael slightly recovered from his fanaticism. "What about the rumored petitioners and the Sun God guards? Where are they?"


    "They''re probably guarding the Sun God. If the God Nation has crashed into the mortal world, this God must be facing huge trouble." Clegg analyzed.


    However, Amanda was almost unable to hear this.


    She caressed the surface of the golden pyramid, and a weird feeling abruptly appeared in her heart.


    Her fingers unconsciously traced a line and drew a strange arc.


    Kaboom!


    Suddenly, bursts of golden light gathered and transformed into a bright door, quickly swallowing up Amanda.


    "Mechanism?!"


    Clegg and Michael were frantic as they charged at the wall and started banging. Unfortunately, they were unable to find anything.


    "Where is¡­ this?"


    Amanda shook her slightly dizzy head and looked at the bizarre environment around her.


    Carrying a magnificent and vast glow, there was a large golden mountain that was nearly able to hold up the heavens and support the earth.


    Rows of petitioners with translucent bodies formed orderly groups and were scaling the large golden mountain.


    "This is the location of the Sun God''s true body!"


    An elderly man wearing a long golden robe with a solemn expression suddenly appeared in front of Amanda.


    "You are¡­ " Amanda''s pupils shrank as she quickly retreated, the bow in her hands ejecting out the moonblade.


    "Do not be anxious, child. I am just a useless old man!" The elderly man laughed amiably. "You can call me George!"


    "George?!" Amanda quizzically looked at the old man. Her entire body suddenly shook as she thought of the statue erected in the plaza of the Sacred Empire. "You¡­ You''re the first Pope of the Sun, Saint George?!"


    "Saint George? I haven''t been called that in a long time!" Pope George laughed as he suddenly walked forward and grabbed Amanda''s arms. "Come with me!"


    He had obtained the recognition of the Sun God and could obviously teleport within the God Nation.


    The surrounding scenery changed, and they arrived at the peak of the large golden mountain.


    At the summit of the mountain, there was a giant pond with boiling golden liquid. There was even a giant figure sleeping inside.


    The orderly rows of petitioners leaped into the giant pond one after another, a happy look on their faces as their bodies slowly melted.


    "God¡­ become one with us!"


    "Sun God¡­ you are the light. You are everything!"


    "May you quickly awaken¡­ "


    ¡­


    Thoughts about sacrifice and tributes circled Amanda''s mind, making her visibly moved. "This is¡­"


    "The Lord has suffered a serious injury. Us petitioners chose to sacrifice ourselves to help the Lord recover quicker!" Saint George spoke frankly. "But now, a huge danger has come!"


    He waved his hand, and many images immediately appeared in the sky. They were the scenes of two great Evil Gods investigating the God Nation.


    "But¡­ what can I do?" Amanda was a little surprised. "I can''t even fight Lauder!"


    "You can. That is because you are very unique and carry the world''s will. The world led you here!"


    Saint George''s eyes glowed.


    Although he knew of destiny''s arrangements, he was obviously unwilling for his Lord God to disappear and had to make a last desperate stand.


    "Now, I will send you into the God Pond''s depths. You can draw support from the power there to stop our enemies!"


    Saint George subtly detected that there was a possibility of destiny sacrificing the Sun God.


    But the current of destiny''s river was mighty and powerful, the general direction difficult to reverse. However, the small matters could be changed.


    Such as¡­ what if the internal strife between the Sons of Purgatory allowed the Sun God to obtain sufficient time to awaken in advance.

 715 God Palace

    Amanda disappeared into a screen of golden light.


    Saint George stood silently as the glow of calculations constantly flashed through his eyes.


    "Destiny is ready to sacrifice the Lord and allow the Purgatory Gods to obtain his power to fight against Apophis!


    "In fact, destiny is slightly more favorable towards the two Evil Gods. However, the Lord still has powerful strength and gave me the authority to control the God Nation.


    "With this, there''s an opportunity to retaliate!


    "I can increase the divinity in this Son of Purgatory and allow her to contend against the two Evil Gods, causing destiny''s powers to confuse each other and gain some time for the Lord!"


    In reality, the reason why destiny made this decision was simply because it needed an existence that could resist Apophis.


    As for who it was in the end, that was completely unimportant.


    Pope George knew a huge secret.


    The deep sleep of the Sun God was indeed partially due to the huge injuries received saving the world. However, it was also partially due to refining the divinity!


    As an experienced God, as early as the Evil Demons had appeared, he had obtained huge amounts of data on divinity from the Purgatory.


    After experiencing the might of origin power and the difficulty in dealing with the Nine Tier Purgatory, he chose to detour.


    What he needed to refine was obviously not the kind the Sons of Purgatory had. Instead, it was to completely dispel the imprints in divinity left behind by Fang Yuan or, in other words, to defeat Apophis'' will!


    It was precisely because of this that Ramon would choose to be in deep sleep inside the Demon Territory.


    Yet it was only now that he had just realized a huge problem within!


    "Apophis is really too crafty!"


    Thinking of Ramon''s oracle from before, Saint George''s face changed. "An existence that is a Legend or above is basically unable to entirely refine divinity. That''s because they have to accept the reconstruction of divinity when they''re still ordinary in order to be able to truly integrate¡­ The Lord is stuck on this step, so he needs an apotheosized Son of Purgatory to be the sacrifice in order to entirely digest this divinity!"


    There were perhaps other Sons of Purgatory that had secretly apotheosized, but at the moment, there were only two who had entered the Sun God''s God Nation, death and slaughter!


    "The Lord has been long prepared. With the foundations of the God Nation, even a True God could fall¡­ But we still need more divinity to interfere with the power of destiny carried by the Evil Gods!"


    As he was thinking, George waved his hand and a wary one-eyed man appeared. It was actually Lauder.


    "Who are you? What do you want to do?" Apprehensive, Lauder caused the scimitar in hand to release a scarlet glow.


    "I am the Sun God''s Pope George. Son of Purgatory, do you want to become a Legend and apotheosize?"


    Looking at him, Saint George''s face was completely still. He was tempting Lauder with profits and power to get him to obediently agree.


    He had used this tactic to attract many Deities over to him. Be it through suppression or persuasion, they had all entered the golden pond''s bottom.


    Kaboom!


    After a while, the faint outline of a golden palace appeared.


    "It''s sufficient! This is faster than expected. Seems that the power of destiny in that female archer is quite dense!"


    A gleam flashed through Saint George''s eyes as the images in the air merged and revealed the outlines of Jay and Zorro.


    However, even at this moment when he was preparing to act against the Evil Gods, he did not notice any abnormalities in Fang Yuan at all, even unable to monitor him, as if he had completely disregarded him.


    ¡­


    "It''s not here either!"


    Jay had transformed into an Evil Demon and completely destroyed a giant pyramid.


    "After becoming a God not long ago, I am still far inferior to other Gods in terms of experience constructing a God Nation and the foundations of rule comprehension! However, I also have my own advantages, which is powerful strength!


    "These pyramids are definitely the foundations of the Sun God''s God Nation. If I destroy them one by one, I''ll completely destroy its defenses and reveal the true core!"


    Although this method was desperate and clumsy, it was indeed effective.


    After destroying nine pyramids, Jay suddenly discovered that he was sensing and dismantling pyramids faster.


    "I found another one. Hmm?"


    After rushing over to the next target, Jay''s pupils shrank and did not make a move.


    "We finally meet, my blood brother!"


    Slaughter God Zorro slowly walked out from the other side of the pyramid. "Seems like it''s the deliberate arrangements of the Sun God or his subordinates."


    "Slaughter God!" Jay saw Zorro, but his face was instead cold. "I noticed you when you were apotheosizing. You''re quite good as the second apotheosized Son of Purgatory, but still worse than me."


    "I don''t think so." Zorro laughed slightly.


    "¡­ You thought that I wouldn''t notice the men you planted in my team?" Jay laughed viciously. "I''ve already secretly marked those people. The only thing they''ll be encountering is death."


    "I never expected much of them¡­ If they could create even a little trouble for you, that''s already good." Zorro brandished a black dagger. "Then, my dear elder brother, do you want to fall into their plot and fight me here?"


    "Even if it''s a plot, it''s nothing much! Could it be that as the Slaughter God, you''re still scared of this?" Jay laughed weirdly, looking toward Zorro with a greedy look. "It doesn''t matter even if it''s a plot. It''s our fate as Sons of Purgatory is to kill each other when we meet!"


    He was clear that as long as he killed this Slaughter God and obtained the Godhood and divinity from him, he would not have much to fear even if the Sun God recovered.


    All of the divinity is mine!


    A cold light flashed through Jay''s pupils as he suddenly raised his right hand and pointed at Zorro. "Death Wither!"


    Bang!


    Seemingly having teleported, a dark light appeared and struck Zorro.


    The black robed person instantly decayed and turned into ashes before scattering away.


    "Incarnation, huh?" Jay did not have a trace of happiness from winning, instead staring at where Zorro had decayed while frowning.


    "My understanding toward slaughter is like your''s toward death!" In another location, Zorro''s figure slowly appeared. "I have eighteen slaughter clones, and any killed will immediately recover!"


    "A truly very irritating ability!"


    Jay suddenly transformed into a large Evil Demon and flapped his huge wings that looked like two black shields, blocking the slashes of the two ''Zorros'' from behind.


    "Stop probing uselessly. As Gods, the techniques of mortals are practically ineffective against us."


    Jay roared, the illusion of a nation abruptly appearing behind him.


    That was a God Nation that was overcast with dark clouds. Many dead spirits, zombies, skeletons, and bone dragons gathered, forming a nation for the souls of the dead.


    "Are we competing in foundations? I inherited everything from the Slaughter God, and his God Nation may not necessarily be inferior to the Death God''s!"


    Zorro gritted his teeth, and a dark red domain opened.


    The illusions of the God Nations were vast and magnificent, even dispelling the glimmers of the Sun God Nation, and were like two giant beasts fiercely tearing each other apart.


    ¡­


    "Yes! Yes! Just like this¡­ mutually exhaust yourselves!"


    On the golden sacred mountain, George looked at this and was nearly so ecstatic that he started dancing. "Truly, the Sons of Purgatory are all fools, their minds filled with the desire to kill! This is good too. Doing this will save me a lot of effort.


    "Fight! Fight! Fight until you''re both heavily injured, until it''s time for my harvest!" he said, staring at the image that was starting to be covered by the God Nations'' illusions.


    ¡­


    Unfortunately, this expectation of George was not fulfilled.


    The next instant, two light pillars broke through the obstructions and flagrantly descended onto the golden sacred mountain before materializing into two God Nation illusions. One was filled with slaughter, while the other carried the aura of death.


    "You?!" George was filled with anger and astonishment.


    "Hehe¡­ There really was someone making arrangements in the dark!"


    Zorro glanced at the golden sacred mountain and George. "Petitioners, God guards, and a Pope¡­ Seems that the Sun God is sleeping here!"


    "Even though you''re a sacred spirit, you dared plot against True Gods and must pay the price!" Jay stared at George and declared, "I bestow upon you¡­ death!"


    Rumble!


    George''s face changed, and cracks started appearing on his sacred spirit body.


    At this moment, a sacred light appeared behind him, and the platinum holy robe he was wearing automatically burst into pieces.


    After the platinum holy robe was destroyed, George''s sacred spirit body finally stabilized as he stared at Jay in horror.


    "Artifact? Seems like there are many good things here!" Jay frowned. "Zorro, let''s attack together and break this sacred mountain! As for splitting benefits, we''ll do it after confirming the death of the Sun God. How about it?"


    "Sounds good. My thoughts exactly!"


    Zorro laughed out loud, and a dark red light engulfed everything like the tides. Many petitioners were swept into the tides and were instantly utterly destroyed, disappearing without a trace.


    "Sun God Guards!"


    George shouted loudly as dozens of golden guards suddenly flew out from the giant golden mountain. They wore golden armor, had extraordinary valor, and the powers and fluctuations of Legends. They were actually the past powerful believers of the Sun God.


    Taking advantage of the opportunity they bought, George arrived beside the sacred pond and jumped toward the illusion of the golden palace.


    Kaboom!


    The palace immediately solidified and emitted horrifying fluctuations.


    "An artifact palace?"


    Jay casually pointed, and a Sun God Guard suddenly stagnated as its body split.


    However, the next moment, an identical guard once more flew out from the Sun God Palace.


    Not only that, a golden curtain abruptly came from the palace and engulfed downward, wrapping the entire golden sacred mountain within.


    Rays of enhancements landed on the Sun God Guards, causing them to become even more difficult to deal with.


    "The archetype of these Sun God Guards are all renowned Legends. Under the enhancements of the palace, they''re on par with Half-Gods that have ignited their divine fire! Furthermore, they can constantly revive¡­"


    Zorro flashed, cut off a guard''s head, and saw the corpse transforming into golden sand and then quickly fly out from the palace unharmed. He nodded. "Seems like this Sun God Palace is the God Nation''s final defense!"

 716 First to Arrive

    "Have they started fighting?"


    In front of the golden sacred mountain, the Sun God Palace released an unparalleled brilliance to confront the two Evil Gods.


    Fang Yuan''s figure, like a small black ant, quietly appeared at the foot of the mountain.


    "This agent of the Sun God was too rash¡­ He actually schemed against two True Gods, and the power that he moved exposed this location instead, forming a passageway and key!"


    This point could be a coincidence or the arrangement of the world''s will and destiny.


    "Whatever it is, it has helped me greatly!"


    The wisp of a smile appeared.


    Saint George actively moved the Deities, and even threw himself into the Sun God Palace. Even though it was a wise move that pitted destiny against destiny, it was also of great help to him.


    After all, all the Deities were currently within his senses.


    With him doing this, it was no different from taking the initiative to expose themselves.


    While looking at the light curtain covering the giant mountain, Fang Yuan smiled, straightened himself, and entered.


    Poof!


    A glimmer of light flickered, and his body was accepted by the Sun God''s protective cover without a hint of repulsion. There were neither fluctuations nor the slightest bit of detection by the Evil Gods and God Guards fighting above.


    "This should be the interior of the Sun God Palace, right?"


    Fang Yuan examined his surroundings.


    White marble columns stood in great number, each with a warrior sculpture, causing everything to look very solemn and imposing.


    Following his scenes in deeper, he saw a few giant yellow crystals.


    Amanda, Lauder, and many others with divinity were sealed inside like small bugs in amber. Their faces were calm and extremely lifelike.


    "This should be an illusion array! Letting them believe what they want, but in reality, they''re sealed within¡­ Furthermore, their divinity is being extracted¡­"


    Fang Yuan looked at the array lines below the huge crystals and shook his head. "Ramon also has the ambition of merging with divinity? Unfortunately, he won''t be able to break the seals and shackles I left behind!"


    Although Ramon was the incarnation of heaven''s will, he was also the original God!


    Although he was limited by the rules, and he had the responsibility of saving the world when the world''s will descended or when the world was facing utter destruction, such a long time was sufficient for him to produce a little of his own personality!


    This made him realize that divinity would not only guarantee his survival, it was also his hope in regaining freedom!


    "Unfortunately, you''re still one step too slow!" Fang Yuan''s eyes were filled with pity.


    Everything had already been decided when he had brought origin power to attack the Monger World.


    Ramon was continuously heavily injured and simply did not have enough time to deal with him.


    Without its champion, the world was in an extremely difficult position.


    This time, Fang Yuan came to deal the final blow and thoroughly destroy the world''s greatest hope!


    As he was thinking this, he entered the door of the main hall and arrived at the deepest region of the God Palace.


    "Stop! Who are you?" Saint George immediately turned around and stared at Fang Yuan.


    He was astonished. This God Palace was the Sun God''s proudest artifact, especially this core. Facing it was equivalent to facing the Sun God in his prime.


    However, this person in front could actually hide from so many detection spells, enter deep into this place, and still look so calm, really making his heart nervous.


    "George, this is already not something you can resolve. You should focus on the attack of the two Evil Gods!"


    Buzz Buzz!


    Suddenly, two golden beams noisily descended.


    The true bodies of two Gods slowly walked out.


    One of them was wearing a long blue robe resembling the sea, while the other had an ornament on his clothes resembling a star. Most importantly, they were actually the true bodies of Gods!


    "Morning Light¡­ Stars?"


    Fang Yuan eyes moved and immediately obtained their identities.


    As the leader of the Nine Pillar Gods and also the original God, he naturally had many subordinate Gods.


    After the Gods descended, among those subordinate Gods, there were two that chose to place their true bodies in the Sun God''s God Nation.


    This was both loyalty and protection.


    Being able to do this, their relationship with the Sun God definitely exceeded that of the general master and subordinate Gods.


    After all, a God Nation was the nest of a God. Being in another''s God Nation was equivalent to handing over their life and death, and basically no God would do this.


    "Who are you, Your Excellency?" Morning Light Master Sean solemnly looked at Fang Yuan.


    Instead, Star Master Roderick waved his hand and a galaxy appeared, concealing the two Gods within.


    Your Excellency was an honorific used by the Gods to address each other.


    But Roderick''s movements portrayed a fear, as if he had already guessed Fang Yuan''s identity.


    "My identity¡­ haven''t you already guessed it?" Fang Yuan smiled slightly and spread his arms. "I am the conqueror of endless planes, the sworn enemy of the Sun God, and the Master of the Nine Tier Purgatory, Apophis!"


    Accompanying his words, there was even a response in the surrounding air as the illusion of the Purgatory tiers appeared.


    The voices of many Evil Demons worshiping and praying rang out in the Gods'' ears.


    "Praise you! Apophis! You are the Master of the Purgatory! The Monarch of the Evil Demons!


    "You are the Incarnation of Death, the Master of Fear, and the Spreader of Slaughter!


    "You control chaos and darkness, the huge snake that swallows the sun!"


    ¡­


    The Evil Demon words gathered, even resulting in a profane power that would cause any ordinary person who heard it to instantly degenerate into an Evil Demon.


    The endless unholy words even directly manifested, forming a black, flamboyant, and sharp armor on Fang Yuan''s body.


    His entire form quickly underwent a huge transformation as black lines appeared on his body, carrying the flavor of origin power. After such a long time, he was finally beginning to refine a portion of the origin power despite only recovering a little of it.


    His ability now was comparable to his peak state when he at the Evil Demon Hunter''s world!


    "It''s indeed you¡­ Apophis!"


    Inside the eyes of these Gods, Fang Yuan was now like a small Nine Tier Purgatory.


    Evil Demons were praying and praising, and the unholy words transformed into armor and weapons, further threatening to drag this entire world into the deep abyss of utter destruction.


    "This is the Sun God''s God Nation and also the depths of the Sun God Palace¡­ Even the Nine Pillar Gods would be greatly weakened!"


    Morning Light Master Sean sensed his own spiritual will shaking.


    Beside him, Star Master Roderick was not any better.


    After all, what they were facing was a horrifying Evil Demon that couldn''t be eliminated even with the combined powers of all the world''s Gods!


    "Yes, this is the Sun God''s God Nation¡­ However, this is also the Demon Territory!"


    On the other side, Fang Yuan laughed loudly and waved as the whole palace started trembling.


    "What''s happening?"


    Outside, Zorro and Jay, who were violently attacking, were startled and instantly saw a shocking scene.


    Like Evil Demon claws, black cracks tore apart the sky of the Sun God Nation


    On the originally golden lands, Evil Demons appeared and began a destructive rampage.


    ¡­


    "If the Sun God had descended the God Nation into other areas of the Main World, I would really be a little helpless. But this is the Demon Territory¡­ My authority and power affects this area! Even though I didn''t check before and had a portion of my authority stolen, it''s an easy matter to retrieve!


    "And now, you two must pay the price for helping Ramon!


    Fang Yuan walked forward indifferently as the powers of chaos and violation transformed into a long black sword. He rapidly thrust.


    Poof!


    The galaxy exploded. The domain of the two Gods was unable to resist such a blow and revealed the true bodies of the Gods.


    They each held a weapon. No matter how afraid they were, they had to retaliate.


    "It''s useless!"


    Fang Yuan held one sword and fought in all directions. Even though there was an onslaught of Sun God Guards from behind, he killed them with one strike in a clean manner.


    The battle experience of these two Gods is much better than that useless Joy Goddess¡­ Unfortunately, this still isn''t enough in front of me.


    After all, Fang Yuan had begun his path with battle. He had also traveled many worlds and even achieved the title of a Sage. In all aspects, he was experienced and had no shortcomings.


    And after recovering Apophis'' God Name, he even obtained the enhancement of the Purgatory and had a breakthrough in his strength.


    He swung forward. With the enhancements from the Nine Tier Purgatory illusion, he directly penetrated the starry armor and cut into Roderick''s body.


    "You¡­" The God howled as golden blood gushed out from his wound.


    "I come from the Purgatory. All those degenerate Gods will definitely perish!"


    Fang Yuan recited, and with another lunge, Sean''s head flew high up.


    The true bodies of these two God were destroyed and straightaway transformed into two groups of intense lights and flames with a vengeful imposing manner. "With me¡­ let''s perish together!"


    "This is actually loyalty to the Sun God!"


    Behind Fang Yuan was the Nine Tier Purgatory, completely empty and dark. Suddenly, countless pitch-black chains erupted from within and binded the torrents of light, directly dragging it into the midst of chaos and confusion.


    "Impossible!"


    George looked at this, feeling that his faith was nearly going to disintegrate. "Morning Light and Stars are the most powerful subordinate Gods of the Lord. They even obtain enhancements in the God Nation. How could they be so easily¡­ so easily¡­"


    "Even now, there''s no reaction from Ramon. Seems like he''s truly reached a critical stage!"


    A faint voice suddenly rang out from behind, causing him to become stiff.


    "Evil God¡­ don''t you dare¡­" A few words squeezed out of George''s mouth, and suddenly, his body was engulfed by black flames, quickly disappearing without a trace.


    The first Pope of the Sun, an agent of the God Nation, and the supreme sacred spirit within the petitioners was silently annihilated like so.


    ¡­


    "What happened?"


    Outside, Zorro and Jay suddenly found that the Sun God Guards'' movements became lifeless and no longer revived. Even the protective curtain started to vigorously vibrate.


    They looked at each other and unhesitantly ran toward the palace.


    Unfortunately, they were still one step late.


    Fang Yuan stood in front of the golden pond and looked at the huge god body with a look of glee. "Sun God¡­"

 717 Sun

    "The Sun God Palace¡­ is collapsing?"


    Jay and Zorro''s spiritual wills contained some astonishment as they looked at the Sun God Palace crumbling.


    "Impossible. Unless someone was destroying it from the inside. This is an artifact!"


    Zorro was grave. The eighteen slaughter clones suddenly combined into one and charged into the depths of the God Palace.


    The Sun God Palace was merely a name. Its interior had many empty spaces come together layer upon layer, just like a huge maze.


    Usually, with Pope Saint George in charge, even a God would require a lot of time and effort to be able to break through the many obstructions and reach the core. Unless they were like Fang Yuan, who could directly crack them by using the position of divinity and his own deductions.


    However, the entire God Palace was currently collapsing and simply unable to resist two frenzied True Gods.


    "Who''s there?"


    "Someone''s ahead of us!"


    Jay''s voice carried immense fury and bitter cold hatred. "That despicable thief! Disgraceful burglar! I want to suppress his soul within the fires of the Evil Demons and let it burn for a thousand years!"


    He could clearly detect that there was an existence that had secretly infiltrated inside while they were attacking the barrier, perhaps even obtaining many benefits.


    Each with their own thoughts, the two Gods tore apart the final protective cover.


    Buzz Buzz!


    The screen burst like a bubble and revealed a huge empty space.


    What stood out most was the huge golden pond in the ground. Piercing lights constantly emitted from within, as if the sun had plummeted.


    But at this time, regardless of whether it was Zorro or Jay, their attention was attracted to that figure standing erect on the golden pond.


    There was a pitch-dark, huge human figure wearing black armor. The three pairs of golden wings on his back spread open like huge hands covering the skies, instantly enveloping the entire giant pond.


    The illusion of the Nine Tier Purgatory endlessly enhanced his body, causing him to emanate an aura far more horrifying than an Evil Demon grand duke.


    Without doubt, this was the lord of the Evil Demons!


    Furthermore, even the divinity within their bodies was violently fluctuating, as if it was about to escape.


    "The Master of the Nine Tier Purgatory! The source of divinity¡ªApophis!"


    With just one glance, the two Gods shouted the God Name of this pitch-black human figure, an indescribable fear emerging in their hearts.


    It was this existence that had defeated Sun God Ramon with one blow, established the Nine Tier Purgatory, and scattered divinity.


    "Impossible!" Zorro''s legs were slightly weak, and he was nearly about to flee. "Wasn''t the true body of Apophis already destroyed, his will being his sole existence? What kind of will can be so powerful?"


    "Haha¡­ Apophis, you actually took the initiative to reveal yourself! Great!"


    Jay''s entire body was shivering, and a blood-red glow emitted from his eyes. "Why would I need to wait for the Sons of Purgatory to be in the Demon Territory to determine the final outcome? As long as I defeat you here, I am the true Master of the Purgatory!


    "Death Wither!"


    He suddenly transformed into a huge Evil Demon and charged toward the person in black armor.


    "I can''t let Apophis swallow up Sun God Ramon, or he''ll definitely ascend to an even higher level. The Sons of Purgatory like me would have no further opportunities!"


    Understanding this, Zorro overcame his fear. Eighteen figures dispersed while charging forward. "Slaughter domain!"


    Two huge illusionary God Nations appeared.


    Death and Slaughter!


    These were the pinnacle Godhoods within the Evil Gods. At this moment, they were combined to collaborate in resisting against the source of the Evil Demons.


    Under the expectant gazes of Zorro and Jay, the powers of two domains crashed loudly against the illusion of the Purgatory, instantly releasing a crisp sound that resembled shattering glass and disappearing without a trace.


    No!


    They did not completely vanish.


    In the senses of Zorro and Jay, their powers were completely absorbed by that black figure, leaving behind no traces.


    "Impossible!" Zorro was astonished. "Death and Slaughter are obviously powers that have different properties, so how can they both be absorbed? What kind of existence is Apophis?"


    However, Jay was obviously already unable to worry so much.


    A strong death aura broke out from his body and transformed into a beam of light, directly crashing into the human figure.


    Bloop! Bloop!


    A black hole seemingly appeared on that black figure''s shoulders, endlessly swallowing the beam of light. However, it then shook a bit, and its form seemed to be much thinner.


    "Don''t be so scared. Our attacks are still slightly effective!"


    Zorro''s eyes opened wide as he similarly waved. Surging power that was like a huge dragon waking roared and landed on that black figure''s body.


    They had unceasingly killed and bleed for their divinity, eventually successfully apotheosizing. Their Godhoods were also powerful and full of potential. In other words, their abilities were entirely on par with the Nine Pillar Gods.


    At this point, the black figure was continuously becoming thinner, revealing the scene below.


    Kaboom!


    Accompanying a large explosion, the fierce black shadow thoroughly burst and revealed an ordinary human figure.


    His figure was blurry and wearing armor, while his hand held a dazzling fireball that emitted eye-piercing brilliance like a small sun.


    Two rays of pitch-black and blood-red were circling the sun, as if they were assisting in its refinement.


    "This isn''t good!" How horrifying was a God''s thought process? Just by seeing this, Zorro and Jay immediately understood everything. "Apophis is using our powers to refine Sun God Ramon and block his final retaliation!"


    After all, Sun God Ramon was the original God. Even though he was in a heavily injured state, he was not someone that Fang Yuan could easily defeat.


    However, by using the strength of the two Evil Gods and the favor of destiny on their bodies, he was able to substitute one thing for another and deceive everyone to finally succeed in his plans.


    "I''m still lacking in ability to refine the Sun Godhood alone. Most importantly, I still needed to obtain the support of native powers as a key¡­ And according to the favor of destiny, Zorro and Jay were the ones with the most potential. But they obviously weren''t going to assist me¡­"


    Fang Yuan raised the torrent of light and suddenly pressed it toward his chest.


    Just now, he had intentionally displayed the black figure in black armor. It was merely a ruse.


    This had attracted the two Evil Gods to take the initiative unleashing their powers, but he had secretly borrowed their powers and suppressed the final retaliation of Ramon''s will, obtaining the entire Sun Godhood!


    Seeing this, the eyes of Zorro and Jay nearly popped out, but they were basically helpless.


    Just now, they had mustered all of their strength, causing them to be extremely exhausted. To recover, they needed a short period of time.


    And in this extremely critical short period, Fang Yuan had already merged the torrent of light into his body.


    "Ah, Sun¡­" he muttered in a low voice, his entire body releasing an unparalleled brilliance.


    This light was dazzling and carried warmth and scorching heat, completely alike the brilliance of the previous Sun God.


    Upon seeing this, Zorro and Jay''s hearts instantly sank.


    ¡­


    Orchid Kingdom.


    Church of Harvest.


    Willa suddenly raised her head and looked at the sky with an extremely frightened expression..


    The Joy Lady beside her opened her mouth wide in an inelegant manner.


    "What happened?"


    A bit later, a giant dark shadow projected onto the land.


    All the mortals raised their heads and looked up at the sky.


    It was exactly noon, with the sun hanging high up in the sky.


    However, like the sharp claws of an Evil Demon, lines of black cracks visible to the naked eye endlessly spread and extended toward the sun.


    Just like a solar eclipse, huge black shadows covered the sun.


    "Sun¡­"


    "God¡­"


    "Great Ramon, please don''t leave us¡­"


    Many mortals were frantic and prayed toward the sun. But all their methods were completely ineffective.


    Black spots slowly but surely swallowed the sun, causing the entire world to plunge into utter darkness.


    After a while, a dazzling glow appeared and a shimmering diamond appeared in the sky, which then expanded to become a crescent before finally transforming into a complete sun.


    Seeing this scene, the mortals cheered for joy, so happy that they wept.


    However, the great beings above Legends frowned in unison. "The sun¡­ is different!"


    "The Sun Godhood¡­ has been stolen!"


    Willa looked at the sky with an unprecedented seriousness. "Ramon¡­ has died!"


    The Joy Lady beside her became silent.


    Although it had reached an era of chaos, and it was possible for any of the Gods to die, even the Death God being the first, the death of the Sun God, the most powerful among them succumbing to this fate, still made her hair stand on end.


    "Who''s the killer? A Son of Purgatory? Some hidden high-level Legend? Or perhaps a True God?"


    Willa rapidly thought and started deducing what changes this transformation would bring to the world.


    And shortly after, the surrounding environment started to slightly change.


    This transformation was extremely slight, and the Joy Lady glanced at the Harvest Goddess with a contemplative look.


    "I''ve obtained the revelation of destiny!" Willa was solemn. "The battle of the destiny for divinity has already begun¡­ All the Gods need to enter the Demon Territory to resist the ultimate evil being!"


    "The ultimate evil being?"


    "Yes. The Nine Tier Purgatory will be rising up from the Netherworld into the Main World!"


    The Harvest Goddess said in chant-like voice, "Apophis, Lord of the Evil Demons, Master of the Nine Tier Purgatory, master of slaughter, chaos, and death, will be inside the Nine Tier Purgatory awaiting the arrival of the final battle!"


    ¡­


    "Apophis!!" Jay roared in profound desolation.


    Evidently, they were no match for Apophis. After he swallowed the Sun God, everything was even more evident.


    Fang Yuan glanced at Jay indifferently and abruptly said, "I said¡­ the sun is under my control!"


    At the moment, he was the image of Apophis. The armor on his body became dark golden, and an icy cold mask completely covered his face.


    "The Purgatory will soon rise up to the world!"


    Kaboom!


    With his declaration, the entire Demon Territory trembled violently, and its borders started expanding fiercely.


    Furthermore, throughout the lands, the form of the Nine Tier Purgatory could be seen.


    "Is this a real Chaos Evil God?" Zorro looked at this scene and laughed bitterly. "In their eyes, are we just¡­ ants?"


    Whoosh!


    Accompanying the death of the Sun God and the expansion of the Demon Territory, the entire God Nation immediately stared to collapse.


    No matter how unwilling Jay was, he could only choose to retreat first.


    Zorro followed close behind. Suddenly, his eyes shifted and discovered Amanda and the others sealed within the crystals.


    He waved his hand and the crystals instantly disappeared.

 718 Assembly

    Periphery of the Demon Territory.


    After widespread expansion, the burning Purgatory grounds had instantly engulfed many huge army camps.


    The large campsite that Fang Yuan had previously quickly stopped in was naturally one of those.


    "E-Evil Demon!"


    After the eclipse, the adventurers and soldiers looked at the rapid changes of their surrounding environment in astonishment. The temperature had risen and flames were dancing.


    Suddenly, the silhouettes of Evil Demons appeared from the horizon.


    The small Evil Demons in front exceeded a hundred thousand, while the large Evil Demons were like the leaders of small teams, completely inconspicuous within.


    Furthermore, there were obese demon elephants a few stories tall. They were carrying Mothers of Worms, which had immensely corrosive poison, and Flame Evil Demons, whose entire bodies were covered in flames¡­ Various high-level Evil Demons appeared together and led huge armies, immediately bringing about great destruction to the humans.


    Death and destruction always occurred on these territories.


    "Attack!"


    In one of the armies, a commander roared loudly, "Behind us are our lands and loved ones. We can''t retreat! Not even one step!"


    Unfortunately, these ordinary people made of flesh and blood were at a huge disadvantage in front of Evil Demons.


    As for the bazaar, the adventurers were very united, assembling a unit of elites to perform a few ambushes. Unfortunately, they were firmly resisted by the Evil Demon wave tactics.


    "President, what should we do?!"


    At the center of a camp, a group of high-level professionals gathered and stared at an adventurer with a white beard.


    His stature was tall and was currently wearing battle armor, looking like a timeless War God.


    This was the president of the local Adventurer Society, a Legend warrior!


    In terms of strength, it was somewhat high. But for the defense of the Demon Territory, this was necessary.


    "The eclipse and expansion of this Demon Territory¡­"


    Even though he was a Legend, President Bard could not currently make a resolute decision.


    His heart still remained with the previous shock.


    The closer he was to the rules and the strong beings in contact with the world''s intrinsic nature, the more he sensed the horror of the previous eclipse. Someone¡­ has touched the domain of the Sun God? Furthermore, could it be a Son of Purgatory who caused this phenomenon of the Demon Territory expanding? To the world, I''m afraid this is the most terrible news¡­


    Of course, at this moment, he should first consider himself and about how he should launch the ambush.


    Bard looked around.


    The ones present were all high-level professionals, and they even had many elites under their command. Even for swarming to kill a Legend Evil Demon, this type of force was already sufficient.


    But most importantly, within the Evil Demon armies, there was not merely one Legend Evil Demon!


    He could clearly detect the dangers.


    Even if we separate into groups to ambush them, perhaps each group would be destroyed by the Evil Demons waiting comfortably for us to become exhausted? Even the probability of us escaping is very low¡­ there are really too many Evil Demons¡­


    Bard sighed in his heart before hearing a great deal noises and screams ringing from somewhere closeby.


    The Evil Demons were madly attacking the army camps and wantonly slaughtering the humans outside.


    "I''ve decided. We need to stubbornly defend and await assistance!" He calmed down and looked at the surrounding leaders. "The huge armies here come from five different countries, two of which are empires! After receiving the news, they''ll definitely dispatch reinforcements. Additionally, I''ve used various channels to send information to the headquarters and various churches. As long as we persist for some time, we can definitely wait for the reinforcements to arrive!"


    A few leaders looked at each other and nodded. "In that case, we''ll continue defending with our lives on the line!"


    If all else failed, separating into attack groups was the final tactic. Even a Legend would not have full assurance of escaping with their life.


    Not to mention, their subordinates and loved ones would definitely suffer heavy losses if they tried to break out, possibly being completely annihilated.


    Thus, they could only defend their current position and wait for that last trace of hope!


    In fact, hope came very rapidly. The expected reinforcements arrived with unprecedented speed.


    Not long later, the worried Bard received news that made him stunned¡ªnearly all of the nations on the continent, as well as churches, had dispatched their elite for the Demon Territory.


    Three days later.


    "It''s Rogo''s Camp in front!"


    Like a steel flood, a huge army slowly entered the Demon Territory. All inside were wearing armor and exuding the imposing manner of professionals, all extremely elite. The small waves of Evil Demons were continually smashed like ocean spray before them.


    Their leader rode on a bright and beautiful white horse.


    This horse was taller than a common horse by two heads, had an unparalleled magnificence, and emitted radiance. It shockingly carried the bloodline of a heavenly horse from the God World.


    It was rumored that heavenly horses were a favorite of the Gods and commonly used to pull their carriages. Someone who could ride a heavenly horse was an inborn king, even if it was only the descendant of a heavenly horse!


    This youth wearing bright armor was named William. He was a prince of the Sacred Radiant Empire and had noble blood and a powerful mother. When he was born, he was already crowned the successor.


    The Sacred Radiant Empire was also the most powerful country on the continent. Their Radiant Knights had the privilege of being called the continent''s most powerful army.


    This sort of person was naturally a favored child of the world and a proud child of heaven!


    Right now, William was looking at the Evil Demon armies and unwavering determination appeared on his face. "As a human, I need to defend the peace of the realm. Leading the entire continent to resist the demonic crisis is also the responsibility of our empire!"


    "Praise you, Your Highness!" Beside him, a few archbishops'' eyes lit up upon hearing this.


    With the threat of the Evil Demons, humans had a rare chance to start burying the hatchet, having the tendency of uniting.


    "Reporting!" At this moment, a scout came forward. "We''ve already communicated with the frontline camps and confirmed that there are a hundred thousand Evil Demons surrounding them. There are innumerable high-level Evil Demons and three Legend Evil Demons have already appeared!"


    Sss¡­


    After hearing these numbers, even the attendants at the side took a deep cold breath.


    "This is truly a catastrophe of the entire human race. Evil Demons¡­" William gritted his teeth and suddenly looked in one direction. "This time¡­ I''m afraid we''ll need to rely on the powers of the Life Lady and the Mother Earth Goddess!"


    "No problem!" A bishop of the Life Goddess stood up. "The powers of the Evil Demons are currently infecting the lands. This is a violation toward the Lord! This time¡­ I''ve already brought the Son of God!"


    Son of God Heim!


    It could be said that the more horrifying the dangers of the Evil Demons were, the faster his reputation spread!


    The Son of Salvation! The hope of the world! The favorite child of the Gods¡­ Many halos enveloped his body, and even William was slightly jealous.


    "Your Highness!" A knight in sky-blue armor stepped out and slightly bowed toward William.


    "Son of God, I''ll leave it in your hands!" William slightly nodded. "As long as we can succeed this time, I''ll definitely report your contributions to my father and erect a status of you in the Scared Plaza!"


    "All of the honor and glory belongs to my God!"


    Although Heim had experienced expedited growth, his words were appropriate and had a sense of propriety.


    Furthermore, just his tone carried a power that was able to heal the heart.


    Seeing his back, although William was filled with smiles, there was instead a gloomy look in his eyes.


    "Evil Demons¡­" Heim whipped his horse and went to the front of the large army.


    The army''s arrival was naturally detected long ago by the Evil Demon army. Many small groups were scattered in the surroundings, and there were even large Evil Demons investigating in the sky.


    Seeing this scene, he suddenly took a deep breath.


    A power that resembled a domain but not quite suddenly enveloped a radius of ten miles using him as the center.


    "Purification Domain!"


    This was an innate ability that he was born with, which could annihilate the Evil Demons'' infection and even weaken divinity!


    Furthermore, with his maturity, the domain''s range also unceasingly expanded, reaching its current limit.


    Caw! Caw!


    The large Evil Demons in the sky felt this the most clearly.


    They howled and desperately flapped their wings, but instead became extremely weak and unable to continue flying. One by one, they plummeted from the sky and exploded into flesh and blood on the ground.


    The Evil Demons on the ground howled as white smoke emitted from their bodies, causing them to start slowly melting.


    The Purification Domain''s power obtained a huge increase. Even a high-level Evil Demon lost its vitality and strength under this light, being easily exterminated.


    "Charge!" Seeing this, William''s gaze brightly lit up as he waved his knight sword. "Kill them all!!!"


    The Radiant Knights shouted loudly and became a torrential flood, charging toward the Evil Demons.


    The pastors also unleashed their methods as various enhancements landed on the soldiers.


    With their combined strength, the originally horrifying large Evil Demon army was easily split apart like a hot knife through butter..


    Seeing this, the people in the camps immediately started cheering.


    "Damned humans!"


    Within the large Evil Demon army, a few gigantic Evil Demons roared and charged toward Heim. Each of them was a Legend!


    And only those at their rank were able to move about freely in the Purification Domain.


    "Quickly, protect Master Heim!"


    Even without Prince William''s command, the many Legends concealed within the armies charged toward the sky, going out to receive the Evil Demons'' offense.


    Furthermore, the Evil Demons were at a complete disadvantage, without any hope of recovery.


    After one battle, much blood was shed.


    The Evil Demons'' corpses piled up into mountains. It was similar for corpses of the human soldiers.


    Anyone walking across the battlefield would feel gloomy in their heart.


    With Prince William breaking the siege of Rogo''s Camp and rescuing the large armies, good news successively arrived.


    Reinforcements from various nations continued to stream in, and the number of Legends even reached ten.


    Nearly all of the Gods had dispatched great amounts of troops to pry into the Demon Territory.


    Furthermore, a few had already secretly come with their true bodies.


    After all, the safety and whereabouts of the Sun God was really too important.


    And after the siege was lifted, those adventurers originally wandering in the Demon Territory also returned.


    They were both fortunate and unfortunate. Although they had evaded the misfortune of being besieged, they still encountered numerous life-threatening events in the Demon Territory, which had already largely changed its appearance, with dangers becoming more rampant.


    To successfully survive and return to their camps, these people were the lucky within the lucky.

 719 Blessing

    "I can''t believe we actually made it back alive¡­"


    Clegg and Michael mutually supported each other and emotionally entered the entrance of the camp.


    "We have Mister Luhn to thank for everything¡­"


    Clegg gratefully looked toward Fang Yuan beside him.


    The annihilation of the Sun God Nation had abruptly arrived, catching everyone off guard.


    During this critical moment, Luhn had appeared and saved them.


    After that, with the Evil Demons rampaging about the Demon Territory, the three of them supported one another and, with some miraculous luck, managed to survive until now.


    Based on this, even though they had previously doubted Fang Yuan, they did not even want to mention it now.


    "Too bad¡­ Amanda¡­" Michael mumbled, his voice carrying a tinge of sadness.


    To his knowledge, Amanda had fallen into a trap of the Sun God pyramid. Perhaps, she had already perished without leaving a trace of her skeleton behind.


    Even though it was still possible for her to miraculously survive, with the later annihilation of the God Nation and the catastrophe of the rampaging Evil Demons, the hope was very slim.


    "I don''t believe it!" Clegg was resolute, his face determined. "Unless I personally see Amanda''s corpse, I definitely won''t believe that she''s dead¡­"


    Fang Yuan glanced at the surroundings and bade goodbye, "Alright¡­ You two, this is where we''ll part!"


    "This¡­ No matter what happens, let us entertain you once. This is a slight repayment for your kindness!"


    Clegg touched his nose. "Mister Luhn, you must also be very confused with such a huge incident occurring. Why not go together with us? It''ll at least make inquiring information slightly more convenient, and among the adventurers here, we have a few connections¡­"


    "No need!" Fang Yuan pointed in front. "The people fetching me have already arrived!"


    "Hmm?"


    Clegg and Michael were instantly stunned upon seeing a group of Harvest pastors approaching.


    "One, two, three, four¡­ For the Harvest Lady''s pastors, we can use the golden wheat ear lines on their clothes to identify them. The more lines there are, the higher the rank¡­ This lady actually has five bars. Could she be the Pope of Harvest?"


    Michael released an astonished gasp, hurriedly tugging at Clegg and Fang Yuan. "Quickly avoid them, or it''d be a sign of disrespect towards the Gods! This is a huge sin in any country!"


    He quickly retreated to the side and let them cross, his face carrying some doubts. "Seeing their demeanor, it seems that they''re here to welcome some big shot. What kind of person would cause a Pope to act like this? Could it be some Legend that has been prominent for some time?"


    "Michael!" At this moment, Clegg thought of something and tugged at Michael''s arms with a shocked face. "Look!"


    As they looked on with widened eyes, the tall and slim female Pope arrived in front of Fang Yuan and slightly bowed. "We welcome your arrival, Your Majesty!"


    "Ah, seems that after receiving my information, you instantly rushed over¡­" Fang Yuan glanced around. "Are there many Legends here?"


    "There are a total of thirty-six Legends and ten secular kings and princes, the highest-ranking among them is Crown Prince William. Of course, if he knew that you were here, he''d definitely come personally to welcome you. After all, you are not only a Legend, but the founder of the Orchid Dynasty!"


    This Pope of Harvest was named Miranda. Fang Yuan had previously seen her once, and she had left behind a lasting impression on him with her tall and slim figure and her manner of speech that resembled a breath of fresh air.


    "Furthermore, within these people, there are also many special existences that came here following the Gods'' will!" Miranda blinked. "There''s also the Son of Salvation, who had left the Orchid Kingdom¡ªHeim!"


    "Heim? I wouldn''t mind meeting him¡­"


    Fang Yuan laughed and let Miranda lead the way as they walked toward the bazaar.


    The people on both sides respectfully gave way, glancing at them with various complex gazes.


    In their positions, Clegg and Michael stood dazed like two statues.


    After a long time, Michael opened his mouth wide and said in disbelief, "I didn''t mishear, right? The Pope called Luhn¡­ Your Majesty?"


    "Of course, you didn''t mishear!" Clegg rolled his eyes. "That female Pope even added more titles to Luhn. Legend! Orchid King! Although I''d already guessed that Luhn''s origin wasn''t simple, I still can''t believe that his background is actually so impressive!"


    ¡­


    Of course, Fang Yuan did not bother about what these two would do.


    The reasons why he chose to conveniently save them were firstly because he was a little familiar with them and felt that they were not fated to die after meeting him, and secondly, it was a quest for destiny.


    No matter whether it was successful or not, it was done with minimal effort and did not cost anything.


    "Your Majesty, the Goddess is very interested in you!"


    After entering a magnificent temporary tent, a subtle smile appeared on Miranda.


    The Goddess had expressed a lot of interest in a mortal! In this world, this usually carried lustful implications and some indescribable temptations.


    Furthermore, the true body of the Goddess could not descend into the mortal world. Thus, she often used incarnations, and even spiritual possessions.


    Speaking of which, if it was a spiritual possession, Miranda was the best candidate!


    However, Fang Yuan completely did not think of such flowery imagery. Instead, his face was serious. "Because of my warning? The Sun has already landed in the hands of Purgatory!"


    Truthfully speaking, a Legend king that suddenly abandoned his own nation and left for the Demon Territory to explore seemed strange no matter how it was viewed.


    However, with the identity of a Son of Purgatory as an excuse, it was flawless.


    After all, upon hearing that the final battle was imminent, any Son of Purgatory would put down everything they were doing and leave for the Demon Territory.


    With the other Sons of Purgatory as a shield, Fang Yuan''s actions were completely reasonable.


    However, the Sons of Purgatory who could observe the Sun being swallowed by the Purgatory were extremely few.


    Fang Yuan keenly sensed that the moment he asked this question, a transformation occurred.


    The domain of a God enveloped the tent and formed its own heaven and earth, completely separating the tent from the outside world.


    "Luhn, what do you mean by that? What did you see?" Miranda asked again, but her voice carried a different kind of majesty.


    Spiritual possession, huh? What a careful Goddess¡­


    A golden light flashed in Fang Yuan''s eyes as he slightly bowed. "I didn''t obtain much this time. I only followed a Death God believer to the Scarlet Gorge and saw the opening of the Sun God Nation and the rivalry between two Evil Gods¡­ As for the final outcome¡­ sorry, I still wanted to live so I left first."


    "You made the right decision¡­" Facing this excuse, even Willa was unable to find a reason to rebuke.


    After all, the difference between a God and Legend was really too big.


    If a Legend actually met something like this and was wise enough to retreat and protect themselves, it was certainly a very accurate decision.


    "Death and Slaughter? If it was them who obtained the Sun Godhood¡­ it''s a catastrophe for the entire world!"


    Willa was successfully misled by Fang Yuan. After all, the seizure of the sun by the Purgatory was indeed the revelation of destiny.


    Unfortunately, this type of revelation was usually overly vague.


    Throughout history, there were examples of Gods going against destiny, but they still ultimately accelerated it to achieve what destiny had originally planned.


    In fact, it was the only chance of survival for the world if the two Evil Gods had obtained the Sun Godhood.


    If Apophis had obtained the sun, the world would descend into a catastrophe of utter annihilation.


    Unfortunately, everything had already been decided. Even destiny was unable to reverse the trend.


    A smile emerged on Fang Yuan as he was wordlessly mocking destiny. "Then, what should we do?"


    "We need to participate in the final battle!"


    Willa stared at Fang Yuan and actually spoke with a somewhat affectionate tone. "Luhn, you''re a person of our world. Even if you were chosen as a Son of Purgatory, you are still on our side.


    "There are many Sons of Purgatory like you, and us Gods will give all of you blessings. All of you will participate in the final battle and strengthen your chance of apotheosizing by seizing divinity before finally defeating the Evil Gods and Apophis!"


    "Of course, I''m standing on the side of the world!" Fang Yuan said with righteousness. "Isn''t this the plans of the Gods?"


    "You will not know Gods'' decisions! Although it''s extremely difficult for a Legend to ascend and become a God, each of us will sacrifice a portion of our strength and propel all of you into a Half-God Son of Purgatory, to the extent of igniting divine fire!


    "With this and you cooperating together, as well as a few special Sons of the World, even if you encounter Evil Gods, you''d be ready to battle them."


    Willa''s vision was shining as she gazed at Fang Yuan. "Now¡­ go and rest well. The Gods and all of the Legends in this world will become your firm support!"


    "Everything for the world!"


    Fang Yuan nodded and walked out of the tent. Then he was respectfully invited into another tent.


    The layout inside was extremely luxurious and had a few weapons that looked extremely terrifying, like they were half-artifacts.


    "According to the Goddess'' order, you can take and use anything inside this camp while you''re here!"


    Two beautiful pastors emphasized the word ''anything'' with a teasing tone in their voice.


    "Send my thanks to the Gods for their kind intentions on my behalf!"


    Fang Yuan ignored the pitiful gazes of the two pastors and instead brandished a long sword from the table.


    This sword was the traditional structure of a cross. From the outside, it looked simple and unadorned, not even that shiny.


    However, Fang Yuan could sense the powerful magic contained within. "Half-artifact?"


    "That''s right!"


    Although they were slightly disappointed, the female pastors still fulfilled their role. "Formed using ores from the God World, personally forged by the Forge God, infused with the blood of three Legends, and blessed by the War God. Basically¡­ the Legend Sons of Purgatory on the side of the Gods will receive such treatment, but you are special. The Goddess has personally helped you obtain this divine armor that is even sufficient to resist a blow from a God!"


    "Thank you, Goddess!"


    Fang Yuan once again made a praying gesture with his hands. "Now¡­ all of you can leave!"


    After waiting for the tent to become empty, he flung the sword onto the table and laughed coldly in his heart. "Although they''ve shown their hand, it seems that this isn''t their entire plan!"

 720 Exposed Plo

    Outside Rogo''s Camp.


    "Luhn, I keep feeling that you''re still hiding a secret! There''s even a layer of destiny''s fog on your body that''s still unable to be seen clearly¡­"


    Willa''s true body appeared and suddenly walked forward one step across space, arriving at a splendid and magnificent temple.


    This temple had an unparalleled resplendence and existed within the small gap between reality and fantasy.


    Its huge door was grand and vast, carrying a dignified feel.


    Other than Gods, nobody else could open it.


    Willa walked forward and pushed lightly. The door opened with a bang and revealed Gods sitting in a circle.


    A God Throne representing Harvest emitted an intense glow and corresponded to other eight seats. The seats were arranged in a small circle, and there was a True God sitting on nearly each of them.


    Of course, the brilliance of a few God Thrones were already completely dim.


    "I can''t believe that even the Sun God has died!"


    "Heh¡­ I think that those Sons of Purgatory should all be called Sons of Slaughter instead. Ever since they appeared, a dozen Legends have already died in their hands?"


    ¡­


    Currently, many Gods were discussing in a low voice and spiritual wills aggregated in the air of the temple.


    Under this unprecedented crisis, all the camps had no choice but to cooperate, regardless of whether they were good or evil beforehand.


    The Harvest Goddess mumbled in a low voice, "The Temple of the Gods is an inconceivable artifact that has truly obtained our recognition. Every True God that has been promoted will place a portion of their strength and an imprint inside. Even if we encounter a scenario where the God World is destroyed, this place can protect our true bodies and is furthermore proof of our alliance¡­"


    "My Lords and Ladies!" said a God with the concentrated power of war encircling his body. "The final battle for the Sons of Purgatory is approaching. This is our final opportunity!"


    He was Saquin, one of the Nine Pillar Gods, and the one who controlled war!


    Even though the other Gods were part of the Nine Pillar Gods, their powers and beliefs had deteriorated after suffering the impact from the Sons of Purgatory. But the War God was the only exception.


    Furthermore, with the constant spread of chaos caused by war, the ultimate battle was imminent. Of course, the death of Supreme Sun God Ramon was still the most important. He had a vague sense that his godship was going to be elevated and become more powerful.


    "I heartily agree with Saquin''s viewpoint!" Storm God Holland roared. "Those Sons of Purgatory actually dared to kill a God. This is definitely a grave, unforgivable crime and must be punished!"


    "The most pressing issue is still the problem of the sun!" said a Goddess full of motherly aura. She was Meira, the Mother Earth Goddess. "There still isn''t any news regarding which Son of Purgatory obtained the Sun Godhood?"


    "The most likely culprits are Slaughter and Death. However, these two Evil Gods are very powerful. Not mentioning Death, as he was originally one of the Nine Pillar Gods, the Slaughter Godhood also has a lot of potential and is a perfect match for a Son of Purgatory¡­ It''s very difficult for us to discover their trails!" said Life Goddess Venus.


    "Not them again¡­ The Sons of Purgatory are truly a tumor of the entire world!" Sky God Weissman roared. "Perry! There still aren''t conclusions from the research of divinity?"


    Perry was the Knowledge God and similarly one of the Nine Pillar Gods.


    He controlled knowledge and wisdom, and was the most knowledgeable among the Gods. He had the appearance of a highly respected noble old man.


    "The research regarding the divinity¡­" Perry said without even raising his head. "Due to the obstruction of Apophis'' will, it''s been very difficult to make particularly large progress. However, the power it contains definitely comes from a higher world. I''m certain of that!"


    "I don''t believe it!" a God expressed his doubts. "There''s a plane even stronger than our world? That''s impossible!"


    "In our perspective, there isn''t! It''s like how the mortals can''t imagine the magnificence and vastness of a God Nation!" Perry laughed. "Or in other words, inside our dimension, there can''t be a world stronger than Monger, but what if we consider an even higher dimension?"


    "A power that actually originates from an even higher dimension!"


    A few Gods gasped. "Apophis is so difficult to deal with. Is it because he originates from a higher world and his existence is already out of the ordinary?"


    "We jointly provided assistance through establishing an alliance using the Temple of the Gods to those with divinity. Would they truly have the ability to kill the Evil Gods and finally destroy Apophis?"


    Their topic of discussion changed and quickly arrived at doubt toward this mission.


    "It''s definitely insufficient just relying them. However, they''ve taken the weapons and armor that were forged by us, and they have the power that we bestowed on them, becoming individual beacons."


    Willa said confidently, "At the end of the final battle, Apophis will definitely appear in the Nine Tier Purgatory! At that moment, we''ll completely stimulate the beacons in their bodies and form a passage. Using the combined powers of the Temple of the Gods, we''ll break through the shackles of the Nine Tier Purgatory and directly descend into it to kill Apophis!"


    "This plan is what I suggested¡­" Perry coughed. "Even in the worst case scenario, where our selected candidates and seeds are completely annihilated, this beacon will transfer to other Sons of Purgatory due to the property of them mutually devouring each other. Therefore, there''s no possibility of failure! We can definitely reach the Nine Tier Purgatory!"


    All the Gods'' eyes lit up.


    The war between wills was the most dangerous.


    Even though everything was within Apophis'' sinister plans, the Son of Purgatory that achieved the final victory would definitely be very powerful.


    With them competing against each other and the Gods combining forces to use the Temple of the Gods, everything could completely annihilated.


    "Alright, to keep this a secret, from now on, the Temple of the Gods will be sealed to evade the influence of destiny! Everyone, before the final battle, our true bodies will assume personal command here to cut of all variables!" the War God roared.


    "I second it!"


    "I second it!"


    Earth, Knowledge, Windstorm, Sky, Life¡­ all the other Nine Pillar Gods concurred, and the rest of the Gods agreed.


    After the final God expressed their opinion, the Temple of the Gods roared and emitted an incomparable radiance. Many sacred texts appeared. These were the rule characters, and they could be understood with a glance. It was the contents of this Gods'' meeting.


    The sacred texts linked up like a chain and completely sealed the Temple of the Gods.


    Inside contained the strength of all the Gods, and a single Nine Pillar God would be unable to break through.


    ¡­


    Meanwhile.


    Da Qian, an unknown distance away from the Monger World.


    Misty white fog and a huge floating island were in the sky.


    On the island, there was dense farmland, many crisscrossing paths, and numerous small towns that formed a nation in the clouds.


    Someone sat in a tea house and looked at the different conditions and customs of Da Qian while tasting an exotic scented tea and enjoying himself in his own way.


    His large sleeves fluttered, his appearance very handsome and unrestrained, a sharp intelligence in his eyes. Surprisingly, he was the Head of the Hidden Dragon Guards who had disappeared long ago!


    Previously, in the battle when the Da Qian Empire was extinguished and the founder of Da Qian plotting behind the scenes died, the clouds under his command had parted and the world had changed greatly.


    The Head of the Hidden Dragon Guards was not willing to help a villain and did not wish to engage in risky behavior. Thus, he traveled the world.


    And now, he was here.


    "I can''t believe¡­ the other end of the East Ocean is actually such a bizarre nation. The rumored ''Cloud Nation'' really exists¡­"


    The Head of the Hidden Dragon Guards looked at the scene of men ploughing and women weaving, everyone enjoying themselves, and was a little stunned.


    This was considered a remote and backward place with thin vitality. If a Grandmaster were here, he would be an exceptional character.


    Da Qian did not even want to bother with such a place.


    However, the Head of the Hidden Dragon Guards quite liked it.


    "Abandoning the secular confusions, leaving behind worries, and living leisurely sounds like a good idea¡­ Perhaps I should spend my last days here and, at the same time, leave behind an inheritance?"


    The Head of the Hidden Dragon Guards was slightly moved, but instantly laughed bitterly. "Too bad¡­ the heavens do not permit me!"


    After all, he was previously a Sage. Even though he had lost his position as a Dream Master, he had the cultivation of a True Sage and was extremely sensitive toward the vitality of the heavens and the earth.


    With these observations every day, he had already confirmed the changes in vitality.


    The intrinsic quality of the Da Qian World had already changed.


    And this transformation instantly made him associate it with the horrifying demonic figure that snatched the path of all Dream Masters.


    Even though it occurred a long time ago, that figure resembling a Demon God still subconsciously caused his body to shudder. "I self-cultivated and enlightened myself while walking the path of dream elemental force. Although I''m unable to reproduce a Dream Master''s powers, I have discovered other techniques that can allow me to practice to the extent of a Seventh Tier Illusionary Divine¡­"


    At the moment, the Head of the Hidden Dragon Guards was somewhat lost in thought. "This transformation further made me confirm that the original Dream Master was indeed a foreign product that came from the Mental Demon Realm¡­ Ah, Demon God! Demon God!"


    Suddenly, his face greatly changed.


    That was because the silhouette of that Demon God in his memories suddenly started becoming clearer.


    Regardless of whether it was that huge stature of Shang Hou''s body, those exotic patterns, those chains that endlessly reaped souls, or that indescribable existence that appeared behind¡­ nearly all the details were extremely vivid!


    "That''s not right. I didn''t even recall the memories from then, yet they voluntarily appeared!"


    The Head of the Hidden Dragon Guards was astonished and suddenly stood up. Ignoring the frightened looks in the surroundings, he charged toward the sky.


    "Immortal!"


    The surrounding guests and farmers were astonished as they kowtowed in the direction the Head of the Hidden Dragon Guards left¡­


    "This is¡­ an imprint!"


    Inside the layers of clouds, the Head of the Hidden Dragon Guards displayed his imposing manner. The cultivation of a True Elemental Spiritual Knight was practically unable to be suppressed.


    He gradually had an enlightenment.


    Every existence that exceeds the rules has its own body as the source, which is the rules as well. Any memories related to them can all become communication channels! At the moment, the appearance of such a bizarre phenomenon must indicate that it''s¡­ getting closer?


    Thinking of this existence caused the Head of the Hidden Dragon Guards to shudder. Once again, a fear stemming from the knowledge that his life laid in the hands of his opponent surfaced.


    Da Qian, Nine Extremes Mountain headquarters.


    "What happened?"


    Sitting cross-legged, Liu Mengmei was suddenly prompted by an impulse. After hearing the astonished cries outside, she stood up and went out.


    Immediately, she saw¡­ the originally sky-blue sky had transformed into darkness, and a huge silhouette seemed to appear inside.


    Whoosh!


    Suddenly, the dark veil exploded and revealed a purple eye!


    It was completely impossible to describe the horrors of this eye using any language. Appearing to know everything, it emitted a dark glow that shined over all nine territories, as if it was searching for something.


    A feeling that a huge crisis was imminent suddenly emerged in the hearts of all the cultivators.

 721 Entrance

    @@


    "Hmm?" In the Monger World, Fang Yuan suddenly opened both eyes as a gleam flickered. "It''s finally appeared?"


    Since long ago, he had already made arrangements in the Da Qian World. The instant that giant eye appeared, he received the news.


    Of course, it was just an alert. Furthermore, it could only work once. Not to mention, even it his true body was still in Da Qian, he was completely helpless facing this.


    In fact, being able to obtain so much time had already far exceeded his expectations, causing him to rejoice.


    In the beginning, Da Qian''s founder had opened up the doors of the Mental Demon Realm using the hands of a Dream Master and connected with it. However, he ultimately suffered defeat on the verge of victory and attracted an unknown existence that robbed the Dream Master path. To a Dream Master, this was similar to plummeting from heaven to hell!


    However, Fang Yuan was different!


    With the assistance of his unique ability, he had resiste@@

 722 Sacrifice

    "Where is¡­ this?"


    Amanda shook her head and stood up, feeling slightly dizzy.


    There was an abnormal darkness in all directions, with only a slightly devilish purple glow in the sky, allowing her to barely distinguish the nearby terrain.


    Beside her, a slightly gasping sound was heard. "This is the eighth tier of Purgatory, the land of silence and territory of fear! Any fear in your heart will be magnified to the greatest extent and even materialize into an Evil Demon!"


    "You are¡­ Zorro?!"


    Amanda was very surprised.


    Her recollections still remained during the moments in the Sun God Nation when she was conversing with George. "Why are you here? Where''s the Sun God?"


    "He''s already been killed by Apophis, and even the Sun Godhood has been stolen! Furthermore, it''s now already the time for the final battle. All the Sons of Purgatory are inside the Nine Tier Purgatory. Otherwise, Apophis'' will would directly kill them!"


    Zorro was in an extremely bad condition, his whole body constantly dripping with dark golden blood.


    "The Master of the Nine Tier Purgatory¡­ Apophis?!" Amanda''s voice trembled.


    Accompanying her fear, the sky shook and an aggressive Evil Demon with nine pairs of wings suddenly appeared.


    "Don''t be afraid! Don''t fear!" Zorro shook his head, and his slaughter clones leapt forward. "Kill!"


    A bright light flashed past. The Evil Demon was stunned, its body splitting into pieces. "In this Purgatory tier, they becomes stronger based on our amount of fear. We can''t let the fear in our hearts be captured by them."


    That Evil Demon was the image of Apophis in Amanda''s imagination. Furthermore, the power of fear that was absorbed was not much and still calculated as easy to deal with.


    What actually troubled Zorro was his own fear!


    With his ability, once the power of fear that he emitted was converted, it really was possible for an incarnation of Apophis to descend.


    "I''m not afraid! I''m not afraid!" Amanda said as if she was hypnotized, but her body was still shivering.


    Black gas visible to the naked eye dispersed near her and landed on the ground, forming a black python.


    "¡­" Zorro was speechless.


    After a long while, Amanda finally managed to barely control her fear.


    "Listen. What I''m going to say next is very important¡­" Zorro''s current state looked even worse as he constantly coughed out fresh blood. "The Fear Evil Demons in this Purgatory are still unable to injure me. What actually caused me to become like this was Death God Jay! He''s the Evil God that controls the power of death and wants to obtain my Godhood in order to contend with Apophis. However, we both know that this is merely fantasy. Apophis has already swallowed the sun and is invincible inside the Purgatory. Even if the Gods united, they''d be unable to defeat him!"


    "What should we do then?" Amanda tried to calm her voice.


    "When I fought with Jay, I suffered massive injuries. My state of mind is about to collapse while my body is constantly deteriorating¡­ Cough cough¡­ There''s no hope." Zorro''s condition looked even worse, but his eyes were very bright. "However, I want to pass my Godhood to you! From now on, you''re the new Slaughter God! Your job is to join the Gods and annihilate Apophis!"


    "The Gods?" Amanda was slightly doubtful.


    "In this current situation, even if its the last Son of Purgatory or the Gods, they''d still be no match for Apophis. The only way we can win is to unite! The Gods have already accepted many Sons of Purgatory and won''t take notice of your addition."


    Zorro shivered as his right hand reached into his chest and grabbed a golden crystal. "Take this! This is my final gift!"


    "No, I can''t do this!" Amanda''s hands were greatly shaking.


    She was completely mentally unprepared to become a God.


    "Go!"


    However, Zorro did not care, and using his spiritual will, the golden crystal directly flew into Amanda.


    She gasped in astonishment, and her entire body started emanating dark golden radiance.


    Originally, it was an extremely difficult task to absorb a Godhood and their strength. With Amanda''s abilities and willpower, she would not even be able to step across the threshold.


    However, now, with a God taking the initiative to sacrifice himself, everything was naturally quite different.


    "Zorro¡­ why must you do this?" Amid the glow, tears filled Amanda''s face.


    "Hehe¡­ Perhaps, I simply don''t want Jay to succeed?" After the Godhood had been delivered, he no longer had power left to suppress his injuries. Traces of black flames suddenly formed on Zorro''s body. "Also¡­ live on well! You and her look really similar¡­ Both of you have such beautiful eyes¡­"


    In the black flames, Zorro struggled, seeming as if he wanted to raise his hand and caress the face of the girl opposite him.


    However, the next instant, the flames surged and instantly engulfed him.


    Because I look like¡­ someone you know? Amanda stroked her face.


    She thought of Zorro. Although he had acted cold and heartless previously, he still saved her from Lauder and once again in the God Nation. All of this was not fake.


    "Jay¡­ and also Apophis!"


    With the sacrifice from the Slaughter God, Amanda had already matured into a true Slaughter God.


    Her face was cold and, after identifying a direction, immediately charged toward the sky.


    ¡­


    "Slow! Too slow!"


    Inside the Nine Tier Purgatory, Fang Yuan saw the scenes of Sons of Purgatory killing each other and revealed a sinister smile as he loudly snapped his fingers.


    Smack!


    The crisp sound suddenly rang out inside the Nine Tier Purgatory. "From now on, after every hour passes, you will need to enter the next Purgatory tier. Those still remaining behind will be killed!"


    "That voice¡­ is it Apophis?" Heim frowned and looked at the corpse in front.


    This was a Legend Son of Purgatory who was an exceptional stalker, and the divinity in his body was incomparably strong.


    Unfortunately, in front of him, the Evil Demon powers had nowhere to hide.


    The powerful Purification Domain had immediately suppressed the Legend. The divine armor and weapons on him further made Heim grasp the opportunity to kill him in one blow!


    "Damn¡­ this divinity is too tenacious!"


    After killing him, a group of divinity voluntarily flew into Heim due to the characteristics of the Son of Purgatory.


    With a painful expression, scales started appearing on his body as two huge bundles protruded from his back. At any moment, a pair of Evil Demon wings would appear.


    Such divinity even endlessly enhanced his strength, causing him to start breaking through to Legend!


    It can do what all the Gods can''t. Is this the evil power of Apophis? Damn¡­ I can''t die!


    Heim gritted his teeth and thought of the Gods'' warnings.


    A Son of Purgatory could directly devour the divinity and become stronger, but as the Son of Salvation, he had another choice.


    That was to completely cleanse the divinity in his body!


    This was discovered by the Knowledge God, and the only way to eliminate divinity!


    "But¡­ it''s so difficult just for a Legend''s divinity¡­ I need to quickly ascend be able to cleanse more divinity¡­ Moreover, I still can''t rely on this evil power¡­"


    Heim roared and struggled with indomitable determination in his eyes.


    A while later, he released a deep breath, the abnormalities on his body simultaneously retreating.


    "Finally, I''ve cleansed that Legend''s divinity. Also¡­" He looked at his hands. "I''ve become a Legend? It seems that after cleansing divinity, there''s still a pure power left behind?"


    "Thank you, Lord. Thank you, Knowledge God. I''ll work harder to cleanse more divinity and reduce Apophis'' power!" Heim muttered in prayer.


    But he did not realize that after becoming a Legend, there was a bit of black in his eyes.


    ¡­


    "In the name of the Mother Earth Goddess, Earthquake!!"


    Django was wearing a set of fitting armor and had a solemn expression.


    Below him, the ground split and horrifying powers gathered, crushing a small group of Evil Demons into meat paste.


    As a believer of the Mother Earth Goddess, his profession was very rare; he was a Walker of the Earth.


    Walking the earth, he was instinctively able to use the powers of the earth to strengthen earth elemental fighting spirit and various spells.


    "The Purgatory¡­ is indeed the most suitable place for those with divinity!"


    He did not have as many worries as Heim as he had greedily absorbed divinity, quickly breaking through the barrier of Legend.


    After a Walker of the Earth became a Legend, they would form a special field attracting the essence from the most firm ores in the earth to become protective armor.


    With this layer of protection, Django''s pace was faster.


    He did not choose those Sons of Purgatory. Instead, he used the pulsations of the earth and found groups of Evil Demons, killing as he pleased.


    As long as a certain number of ordinary Evil Demons gathered, they would also have the power of divinity.


    Needless to say, there were already powerful beings with divinity among the Evil Demons.


    Kaboom!


    Abruptly, a violent fluctuation rang out in front.


    "No!"


    A shrill scream that could practically be heard from any distance sounded.


    This voice was full of desolation and unbearably hoarse, as if it was the lament of an Evil Demon about to die.


    Django thought for a moment and suddenly raised his head.


    Thump!


    A huge Evil Demon head crashed in front of him and a golden crystal popped out.


    "This¡­"


    A strong desire to devour caused him to step forward and lightly clutch it.


    Buzz!


    Instantly, he was fully enveloped by a dark golden light as the divinity in his body became extremely concentrated, transforming into a small flame.


    This was divine fire! The Half-God realm that only a Son of Purgatory could have! The power that could contend against a True God!


    "Who was it? Who took my spoils?"


    However, in the next instant, a horrifying will completely locked down Django.


    A God wearing a black robe suddenly appeared in the sky with blood-shot eyes. It was Jay!


    "A small bug even dares to steal my divinity?"


    He laughed viciously, and the entire Death domain pressed down.


    "It''s a Purgatory Evil God! He killed the Evil Demon grand duke before?"


    Django was extremely frightened, but his face immediately turned determined. "Fight!"

 723 Chaotic Battle

    @@


    "Diamond Star Armor!" Django shouted in a low voice and a suit of armor appeared on his body.


    This armor was translucent and slightly glowed like the stars. It was surprisingly formed using diamonds that combined with his original divine armor. Instantly, his defense grew by a terrific extent.


    Even the suppression of the Death God domain was unable to do anything to him.


    "You despicable burglar! Thief! You actually stole a piece of my divinity. You''ll pay a painful price for this! Death is only the beginning!"


    Jay''s gaze was gloomy.


    He was already in a bad mood after letting Zorro escape.


    But now, he had used painstaking effort before finally killing an Evil Demon grand duke, and it was actually intercepted by the Son of Purgatory in front? What more could be said? He has to extract his soul and burn it within the Death God Nation until the end of the world!


    "Even though you''ve become a Half-God, you''re still some distance away from a True @@

 724 Corruption

    @@


    In mid-air, the giant Evil Demon that Jay had transformed into moved all over and constantly roared.


    "My foolish brothers and sisters! Do you actually think that Apophis will truly let all of you unite? It''s no use¡­ There must be one final person determined among the Deities in the Nine Tier Purgatory, who would then be able to enter the ninth tier of Purgatory and directly face the true body of Apophis! This is the revelation I received!"


    "Despite that, we can''t succumb to the desire to slaughter!" Amanda''s face was still.


    Nearly at the same instant as when she heard the revelation, the divinity and divine fire in her body roared, and she witnessed the truth from another aspect, causing her to realize that what he said was true.


    However, she naturally could not reveal that now.


    "Even the churches'' Sons of Purgatory will ultimately slaughter each other. This is our destiny!"


    Jay opened up both his hands, and the illusion of the Death God Nation de@@

 725 Descen

    @@


    Nine Tier Purgatory, ninth tier.


    This was the rumored wasteland, the source of all chaos, and the place where the Lord of the Evil Demons, Apophis, stayed.


    Of course, the latter was purely a falsehood.


    Previously, all of the Gods were fooled by this.


    At the moment, small bright flames started burning in the wasteland to reveal many bones.


    Within these bones, most of them belonged to Evil Demons, but there were still many human bones mixed inside. The dark aquamarine fire slowly burned on top and formed a path of death.


    At the end of this path of white bones, there was a massive platform.


    It was built from the bones of the Sons of Purgatory and Legend Evil Demons, having an unusual feel to it.Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please clickfor visiting.


    Ping! Ping!


    Suddenly, two corpses fell from the sky and transformed into a portion of the platform. Their flesh and blood quickly melted to reveal white skeleton.


    "We''ve finally reached this stage?"


    A white bone throne @@

 726 Conques

    The Gods were as gracious as the sea, while Gods were as powerful as a prison!


    Using the Temple of the Gods, this magnificent artifact, the powers of all the Gods were linked together and emitted a dazzling brilliance.


    The power of innumerable praises and prayers appeared in the sky to form golden chains.


    This was the supreme power on the Monger World! Even the Nine Tier Purgatory trembled below it.


    "Hehe¡­ Gods!" Fang Yuan saw this and sneered. "Previously¡­ the Sun God also wanted to punish me. However, he''s now already dead, and even his Godhood landed in my hands! All of you previously united to attack the ninth tier of Purgatory, but instead sparked war here, causing the world to descend into chaos and the Demon Territory to appear among the humans!


    "Now, all of you still say that you want to punish me!"


    A huge demon silhouette appeared behind Fang Yuan.


    It was an Evil Demon that was most frightening, and its body burned with the fire of the Purgatory. It had thousands of hands and eyes, representing countless possibilities, and traces of origin power''s aura clung to it, as if they would split at anytime.


    "I¡­ am¡­ Apophis! The snake that devours the sun! The Master of the Purgatory! I am everywhere! Everything is for the Purgatory!" the demon silhouette roared and released pure Evil Demon words.


    The Nine Pillar Gods, including Willa, were all utterly horrified. "Quickly destroy him.


    He''s the source of all evil and chaos!"


    The Gods all felt an unprecedented fear and roared loudly, "Punish! Punish!"


    The Temple of the Gods released an unparalleled dazzling brilliance like an overhanging galaxy, and then that brilliance cascaded downwards.


    Wherever the brilliance passed, even the void started a horrifying annihilation!


    Smack!


    The demon silhouette behind Fang Yuan took the initiative to launch an attack as it opened up its arms and embraced the brilliance. It directly charged toward the stream of brilliance resembling a waterfall, raising its massive demon claws and shaking the Temple of the Gods.


    "Is this the power of Apophis? It''s too fearful!"


    War God Saquin had still wanted to come out to fight just now. However, after he just left the temple, he was slapped back with one hand, causing his Godhood to crack and him to suffer heavy injuries.


    "Too formidable!" Knowledge God roared. "This is a world-grade power. We can''t hold back anymore, or it''s possible for the entire world to be annihilated!"


    Amid his roars, the brilliant illusion of a nation appeared behind him, and the surging strength entered the Temple of the Gods like an enraged dragon.


    Even though they were swept down from the God World, these Gods still had methods associated with their God Nation, although they were greatly restricted.


    At the moment, they did not bother about any of the consequences and extracted the God Nation''s foundation.


    "Let''s give it our all!"


    "We can''t let Apophis continue!"


    "If he succeeds, the Evil Demons will govern the world and even all the Gods will be destroyed as a result!"


    ¡­


    The other Gods complied and the illusions of their God Nations appeared. They entered the battle disregarding the costs.


    Kaboom!


    The Temple of the Gods continuously buzzed, like a strong man that had taken stimulants and charged about recklessly, suppressing the Evil Demon lord.


    "Very good! Keep it up!"


    The eyes of Storm God Holland were completely red as he loudly shouted, "As long as we destroy Apophis, even if it causes our God Nation to shrink in half, it''s completely worth it!"


    Under their combination, the giant Evil Demon was pressured into returning to the Purgatory.


    "Judgment of the Gods!"


    Facing this massive evil, the Gods united and an even more horrifying light beam descended.


    This light beam carried an aura of destruction that could even penetrate the world. It was the true light of judgment!


    Kaboom!


    An explosion that shook the three worlds rang out.


    The ninth tier of Purgatory was directly penetrated, and even the other eight tiers of the Purgatory were collapsing.


    The force was so formidable that more and more cracks started appearing on the Temple of the Gods.


    Shortly after, with a brittle sound, the temple collapsed and revealed the exhausted Gods.


    "Apophis has perished?"


    Meira, the Mother Earth Goddess, looked down at the chaotic scene.


    After the ninth tier of Purgatory had been ruined, the remaining matter was burned out under the powerful force, leaving only the most basic chaos.


    "With our unity and the power of the Temple of the Gods, even Ramon would be unable to fight us head-on!"


    God of War Saquin scoffed, "As for Apophis, his only outcome is to perish!"


    However, at this moment, within the Purgatory, threads of divinity suddenly appeared and transformed into dazzling stars.


    Numerous stars combined into one and then merged with the entire Purgatory.


    The Nine Tier Purgatory continuously trembled and started to slowly shrink, forming a human figure.


    He stood upright with an indomitable spirit, as if he was Pangu walking out from a wasteland. Green streams of air encircled his body, and his muscles were solid, as if a mere punch could crack the sky.


    "Apophis!"


    Willa was incomparably stunned. "He resurrected?"


    The War God was also stunned.


    If he could endlessly resurrect, wasn''t that a little too unreasonable?!


    "No¡­ this is the true Apophis!" Knowledge God Perry''s face turned deathly pale. "Apophis'' true body transformed into the Nine Tier Purgatory, so the true resurrection must be fusing with the Nine Tier Purgatory to reconstruct his body!"


    "You have guessed correctly, ants!"


    Fang Yuan opened up his arms and took a deep breath.


    Inside his body, he was freely and effortlessly refining the origin power, bringing an unending stream of power. "Speaking of which, I must thank all of you! If not for your power, I''d be unable to reach the final stage and thoroughly refine the origin power!"


    This was the same concept as him using the power of the two Evil Gods to forcefully refine the Sun Godhood.


    This time, he intentionally revealed his true body to attract the Gods''s attack in order to complete the final stage of origin power refinement.


    "Just now, the person you extinguished was only a body I possessed to rebirth as! At the moment¡­ the person that has completely refined the origin power and fused with the Nine Tier Purgatory is the true me!"


    Fang Yuan opened his mouth and continuously roared.


    Whoosh!


    The Nine Tier Purgatory vanished and revealed the original world and sky.


    Dark clouds filled the sky and heavenly lightning tumbled down, occasionally landing on his true body. Unfortunately, not a single mark was left behind.


    Now, even the backlash of the world was like a gentle breeze brushing his face to him.


    "Demon! Demon!"


    Seeing this, the Gods instantly descended into complete desolation.


    "Now¡­ offer your Godhoods and this world to me! In the new world that I''m opening up, there''ll still be spots for you. Otherwise, you will immediately die and not even have the qualification to wallow in the Netherworld!"


    A large sun tattoo appeared on the chest of the transformed giant Fang Yuan, representing the Sun Godhood.


    Not only that, there were more bizarre symbols on his other body parts. These were the agglomeration of Godhoods such as death and slaughter.


    This world was very unusual; the Gods controlled the rules and assisted the world in functioning.


    Thus, when their authority and rules combined together, it formed the Heavenly Dao! This was the key to controlling this world!


    "Foreign Evil God, you must be dreaming! As the War God Saquin, I am a favored child of the world. I definitely won''t surrender to a foreigner!" Saquin roared loudly.


    However, in the next instant, Fang Yuan made a large grabbing motion.


    Smack!


    The body of Saquin was instantly crushed by the large force, just like smacking a fly. Rays of golden light appeared and landed on the giant''s body, forming another bizarre symbol.


    This symbol was like a weapon with a slightly strange feel to it. Just one glance at it allowed one to sense concentrated war aura!


    The War Godhood!


    War God Saquin, one of the Nine Pillar Gods, a pillar of the world, someone who had the potential of ascending to a higher God position, could not even receive one blow from Apophis, just like an ant being squashed to death.


    As the Gods saw this, their limbs turned icy cold and their faces were as pale as snow.


    "Last chance¡­ Surrender or death?" the giant roared once again.


    "Mighty Apophis, I am willing to surrender to you, as long as you fulfill your promise and have a spot for me in the future world!"


    A Goddess wearing black clothes could not withstand it any further and stood out to surrender.


    She was the master of the night and could control darkness. Although she was not one of the Nine Pillar God, it was similar to slaughter and the impact could not be underestimated.


    "Hmm, you made the right choice. I can promise you that you will still be the God that controls darkness in the future!" Fang Yuan nodded his head.


    Hearing this, joy appeared on the master of the night. She gritted her teeth and revealed a dark golden brilliance.


    Fang Yuan swallowed the Godhood crystal, and Godhood lines that represented darkness appeared on his body.Shortly after, he opened his mouth and a mysterious, black light pillar landed on her body.


    "In the name of Apophis, I give you the title of Night Goddess!"


    Giving up the Godhood was an act of expressing loyalty.


    And what Fang Yuan currently did was to bestow a portion of the powers of the Godhood to her.


    As the Godhood was still under his control, the Night Lady would have to go through him before being able to unleash her authority and power in the future. Furthermore, a big portion of the belief and origin power that she obtained would return to Fang Yuan.


    Of course, this was nothing good. However, if she did not do something like this, death was the only outcome!


    Under the influence of death and someone else taking the lead, the other Gods made their decision.


    Those weaker Gods did not hesitate much and handed him their Godhoods. Fang Yuan did not go back on this word and directly gave each of them a title.


    In fact, within his rules, the functioning of the Monger World still required the protection of these Gods.


    What he needed to do was merely take back the power of control from the hands of these scattered administrators.


    "What about all of you, Nine Pillar Gods?" Finally, Fang Yuan looked toward the remaining few Gods. "Comply with me and you''ll be able to continue enjoying eternal life and glory. Otherwise, Saquin is your example!"


    "Oh!"


    Quiet sighs rang out.


    Meira, the Mother Earth Goddess, was first to bend her knees. "I am willing to comply with you, Apophis. I only hope that you will take good care of the land below!"


    With her example, the Storm God and Sky God also bowed. At the end, Harvest Lady Willa sighed and similarly kneeled.


    She still slightly felt that everything was an absurd illusion in her heart.


    This cunning fellow, Apophis, had already started to trouble her greatly ever since he was a mortal. Now, he was completely above her.


    And all of this only happened within a short span of a few days! This really gave her a truly unreal feeling.

 727 Rescue

    In Da Qian.


    The hourglass which had replaced the sun emitted purple rays.


    Giant grains of sand descended.


    With the flow of time, Da Qian''s natural source also rapidly shrivelled, as if it were absorbed by some powerful existence.


    Furthermore, even the edges of the world also started to show an obvious demarcation that constantly retracted inward.


    Throughout the world, tsunamis, storms, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions¡­ various natural disasters broke out.


    The vitality of the heavens and the earth rapidly decreased. Many extraordinary people who were skilled in making themselves appear youthful quickly discovered that they had already become full of wrinkles and had filth appear on their bodies, which were the five signs of decay of man and heaven.


    The world was about to perish, and these extraordinary people relying on the world naturally could not escape.


    Nine Extremes Mountain headquarters.


    The glow of many spells flickered madly and crashed into the protective spiritual array, causing the curtain of light to vibrate.


    "Even at this moment, you still can''t let go of your hatred?" Liu Mengmei looked at this scene. "Our Nine Extremes Mountain¡­ doesn''t seem to have done anything that sparked the wrath of heaven and anger of men?"


    "No! Perhaps we should say¡­ it''s precisely because we have reached the end of the world that they''ve become insane?" Extreme Darkness came out and laughed bitterly. "They feel that we''ve deceived them. The Sage also hasn''t returned, and there''s no hope at all.


    "When someone is desperate, this is how ugly they can be!"


    Liu Mengmei looked at the array that was getting weaker and weaker, and a hint of despair appeared in her eyes. "I''m unsure if the world will be destroyed first, or if our array will be broken by these thieves."


    "In any case, after we''ve died, they won''t gain much!"


    A vicious look appeared on Extreme Darkness'' face. "The Dream Masters have already tested. The entire Da Qian World is blocked by an unexplainable power, and even dream-traversing techniques are sealed. Even if someone wanted to abandon their body and escape to the other worlds, they wouldn''t be able to do so¡­ Unless we leave before that existence acts¡­"


    There was still a trace of suspicion at the bottom of her heart. Had Sage Fang Yuan detected this danger and fled from it?


    Her true physical body was previously a Sage''s disciple, and she knew a lot about the Sages. Naturally, she did not revere them much.


    Furthermore, a Sage was still human. It was human nature to seek profit and avoid harm!


    "However, what''s with this hourglass?"


    Sensing the increasingly thinning vitality in the air, a bitter smile appeared on Extreme Darkness. "At the brink of death, I don''t even know the reason for it. Now, I somewhat understand my true physical body and why I was so painstakingly pursuing power."


    Kaboom!


    The heavens and the earth shook.


    Inside the purple hourglass high up in the air, the final grain of sand fell.


    Smack!


    Extreme Darkness raised her head and looked toward the sky, feeling that her heart was about to explode with it.


    Crack! Crack!


    In the sky with the purple hourglass as the center, lines of spiderweb-like cracks suddenly appeared.


    These were the scars of the sky! The marks of the sky shattering!


    With a sharp and clear sound, the entire sky shattered like glass to reveal massive chaos.


    With streams of turbulence, anything on Da Qian, regardless of whether they were mountains, vegetation, animals, or even remarkable cultivators, instantly disintegrated into fine powder upon touching them.


    "This is the tribulation for the destruction of the world? Unexpectedly, I get to witness this¡­"


    Somewhere in the void, the Head of the Hidden Dragon Guard raised his head and had an extremely calm sense of despair on his face. "That existence still isn''t willing to let me go?"


    As a Sage who was previously dedicated in service toward Da Qian from the beginning to end and managed to survive, he was very sensitive to this spiritual aura.


    In a moment, he knew that it was the existence that had deprived him of the Dream Master path.


    It actually wanted to annihilate this entire world!


    "Retribution¡­ Us dream masters plundered the heavens and the earth. The place where our true body resides is going to be annihilated by an even stronger being. This is the heavenly cycle and appropriate retribution!"


    The Head of the Hidden Dragon Guard released a long sigh and tears inadvertently flowed.


    He no longer had that previous elegant and unrestrained appearance, but instead turned into a sloppy, old man.


    Under the mighty force of that existence who had deprived him of the Dream Master path, even a Sage was merely a large ant. A mere True Elemental Spiritual Knight was even more insignificant.


    "Hmm?"


    Suddenly, the Head of the Hidden Dragon Guard astonishingly saw that in the sky of the perishing world, that purple eye once again appeared.


    This time, it was greedily absorbing the souls of the dead, especially those of great beings and Dream Masters.


    To him, this feeling was getting more intense.


    "It even wants to deprive the power of death? No!"


    The Head of the Hidden Dragon Guard was already in despair, but suddenly started struggling.


    No matter what happened, he was unwilling to have his soul violated after he died.


    "That existence had first deprived me of the Dream Master path, but still isn''t satisfied with extinguishing the world this time. It still wants to plunder our souls¡­. this existence is even more nefarious than Evil Demons!"


    The Head of the Hidden Dragon Guard roared, "Heaven''s will! Where is heaven''s will?"


    Currently, the only thing which could possibly contend against this existence was Da Qian heaven''s will.


    Unfortunately, after the destruction of the world began, Da Qian heaven''s will seemed to have descended into deep slumber and had no reactions.


    Seeing this, the Head of the Hidden Dragon Guard''s heart completely sank.


    I''m afraid that a long time ago, Da Qian World had already suffered the contamination of the Mental Demon Realm, and hidden doors were left behind for heaven''s will¡­ There''ll probably be no escape for the world this time!


    He smiled wanly and his body started decaying. A small bit of True Spirit was directed by a huge force and propelled toward the purple eye.


    At this moment, all the higher beings in the Da Qian World experienced the same treatment.


    I''m really unwilling to accept this fate¡­ My life as a Hidden Dragon has been full of obstacles, yet my ultimate fate is still getting killed!


    While his True Spirit was rising, the Head of the Hidden Dragon Guard thought of many things.


    His final thought shifted to a person''s silhouette.


    Even he was unable to imagine that the person who had rebuilt the Da Qian country was actually an unimportant person that previously did not have much reputation. That person even became a Sage!


    "Fang Yuan¡­ Unfortunately, even a Sage is unable to prevent this!"


    The Head of the Hidden Dragon Guard sighed, and his True Spirit was about to slide into eternal slumber.


    Suddenly, a loud sound jolted him awake.


    Stunned, he scanned with his spiritual will and immediately saw a large hand covering the heavens and the earth!


    This hand emerged from chaos and had dense runic imprints on it, emitting many of rule auras.


    At the moment, its five fingers were clenched together and viciously threw a punch toward the giant purple eye in the sky.


    Earth, Fire, Wind, and Water¡ªCreation Divine Fist!


    Thump!


    The giant eye instantly shattered, and True Spirits scattered onto Da Qian like meteors.


    The Head of the Hidden Dragon Guard even felt that the power restraining him instantly disappear.


    Not only that, that huge runic hand made another move and dispersed the chaos. The vault of heaven automatically closed, as if the previous destruction of the world was merely an illusion.


    "This great existence that stopped the giant eye is Fang Yuan?!"


    The Head of the Hidden Dragon Guard was very astonished and was practically about to begin questioning life.


    But regarding Fang Yuan''s spiritual will, he was absolutely certain. "Impossible¡­ even a Sage is no different from an infant before that existence!"


    ¡­


    Nine Extremes Mountain headquarters.


    "It''s the Sage!"


    "The Sage has returned!"


    Extreme Darkness and Liu Mengmei''s luck was considered decent and did not attract special attention, unlike the Head of the Hidden Dragon Guard. They also had the array''s protection and could barely hold on when they finally saw the appearance of that giant hand that covered the sky.


    To them, it was even less likely to incorrectly recognize Fang Yuan''s aura.


    Whoosh!


    Trails of meteors flashed across the sky, and the gradually vanishing giant hand seemed to have sensed the situation here and lightly snapped.


    Poof!


    Those cultivators still waiting outside and attacking the Nine Extremes Mountain instantly stood with dazed faces. And suddenly, each of them collapsed without a hint of life, their corpses turning into fine powder.


    ¡­


    The people of Da Qian could only see a part of the battle, just like looking at a leopard through a pipe.


    In the Monger World, Fang Yuan slowly retracted his hand and carefully savored the differences.


    "The realm beyond a Creator¡­ is origin power! Endless life, the advancement of intrinsic quality, no! It should be the ascension of the dimension!"


    Currently, when he observing the interior of his body, he realized that although he still had his original body, the composition was different from before.


    "Now, I should have exceeded the realm of a Creator and derived the Creation Sword Array to the pinnacle of the Ninth Sword. Using this as a foundation, I''ve ascended!"


    Fang Yuan returned to the figure of an ordinary person, and with every breath he took, the natural source of the entire Monger World seemed to be able to be moved as he desired.


    "Using the origin power and the foundation of the entire Monger World, I''ve achieved a breakthrough¡­ It seems that this world has not only increased its dimensions, its Power has increased as well!"


    Power!


    This was a word used in this new world and originated from Fang Yuan''s inspiration.


    "This is somewhat similar to Godhood, but it''s still largely different. At least, the range of Power covers many worlds and even dimensions!


    "Of course, I took some small advantages when I fought that existence earlier!"


    Although he had won that round by luck, there was no happiness on Fang Yuan''s face.


    At his level, he could already sense that the opponent''s realm was definitely higher than his.


    Of course, this was still slightly better than the feeling of an ant looking up at a person.


    Furthermore, due to the higher dimension that the other person''s true physical body resided in, he could only attack the world from a far distance with greatly lowered strength.


    With this circumstance, he was able to gain the upper hand and defeat his enemy in one blow.


    "Unfortunately¡­ the realm I''m at is on the verge of ascension!"


    Fang Yuan sighed and looked at the surrounding world.


    An incompatible feeling immediately filled his heart.


    Since he was about to ascend, he would definitely have to enter a higher dimension.


    At the moment, even though he was within the strongest Monger World and was constantly supported by the power of the world, he felt that he was about to suffocate.


    This type of situation was just like an ordinary person suddenly being thrown into a desert without water or food. They would die from thirst or hunger!


    Right now, Fang Yuan was just like a banished immortal. Although he could utilize the powers near him, they were all too low-level.


    "Hilarious! Those Sages were trying in vain to meet and guide the Mental Demon Realm, but unaware that as long as the world was here, it would automatically expel them, causing them to ascend an even higher dimension universe!"


    Fang Yuan shook his head and deeply felt that what the previous Sages did was not worthwhile.

 728 Ascension

    "Name: Fang Yuan


    Essence: ???


    Qi: ???


    Spirit: ???


    Profession: Dream Master


    Cultivation: ??? (Untitled)


    Technique: Pangu Eagle Body [Strengthen Witch bloodline (1st Tier)], Creation Sword Array [Ninth Sword (100%)]


    Specialization: Botany [Level 6] (Maximum), Fiery Golden Eyes [Level 3], ???"


    ¡­


    Fang Yuan looked at his stats window and pondered in silence. After a long while, he released a deep breath. "Since the attribute definitions are all derived from my own understanding and knowledge, there are currently many aspects that can''t be displayed?"


    His realm had already exceeded written records and could perhaps only be found in a higher dimension. Thus, it was difficult to understand and he could only rely on himself constantly exploring.


    He looked again at Specialization and saw that the originals like medicine and body seal had all disappeared. What replaced them were mysterious symbols.


    With some thinking, a layer of understanding was revealed. ???¡ªThe constitution of origin power carries a specialization of being endless in energy. The regeneration speed of secondary origin power is at maximum level. The infectivity power is at maximum level!


    "My body is now formed from origin power, similar to the power of that previous Sage, where it could be freely expended without exhaustion. Furthermore, my body is already perfect and has supreme healing abilities. No matter what kind of injury it receives, it can easily recover¡­ Of course, it can''t be a strength similar to Power or origin power¡­


    "Such a specialization can be named the Body of Origin Power!"


    Fang Yuan raised his head and quickly saw the question marks in Specialization disappear, and a new status appeared, turning into Body of Origin Power.


    "Even I''m unable to ascertain how powerful I am?"


    Fang Yuan looked at the white glow around his body.


    Under the glow, his figure was slightly blurry, as if he was about to disappear at anytime.


    "My time¡­ is running out!"


    Not only was ascending to a higher dimension due to the repulsion of the world, it was even more so the propulsion of this entire universe!


    Even Fang Yuan had immense difficulty changing the combination of the innumerable worlds that resembled grains of sand.


    "No matter what regrets and arrangements there are, I need to finish them as quickly as possible."


    At the moment, he had already left the Monger World and arrived at his Heavenly Abode.


    The Yin-Yang Continent and Five Elements Continent had already completely opened themselves up. The Immortal cultivator civilization and fighting spirit, these spiritual technique cultures enhanced each other''s brilliance, creating a vibrant vitality.


    Of course, most importantly, the entire Heavenly Abode had also obtained an ascension along with Fang Yuan, completely ascending to become a world.


    "If a Heavenly Abode is regarded as an infant, a world is a mature youth. The parents should give them more freedom now!"


    Fang Yuan saw this scene and was overwhelmed with emotions.


    The original Heavenly Abode still had to be entrusted within Da Qian and absorb the earthly energy and power of the world.


    However, the complete world could now survive within the chaos by itself and have its own style.


    Furthermore, within his senses, the vague consciousness of the Heavenly Dao had already formed and started maintaining the operations of this world.


    However, the Heavenly Dao was still very weak and could be extinguished with a mere thought by Fang Yuan.


    But he already believed that this was not worth doing.


    "The dream world of a higher being can ultimately transform into an actual world¡­" he mumbled and suddenly looked at the chaos. Every single flickering light in that galaxy that resembled grains of sand was a world in itself.


    "Out of the many worlds, how many were formed naturally, and how many were the dream worlds of higher beings?


    "There are profound horrors between the transformation from fantasy into reality¡­"


    ¡­


    With a thought, Fang Yuan stopped interfering with the world and silently left.


    Kaboom!


    The entire world released a loud boom. The power of the world bubbled up, as if it was sending him off, but also looked as if it was rejoicing¡­


    Da Qian World.


    Nine Extremes Mountain Headquarters.


    Fang Yuan sat cross-legged. With a flick of his sleeve, three True Spirits appeared and materialized, forming Qian Huanyi, Superior Wu Zun, and the Head of the Hidden Dragon Guard.


    These people were previously Sages. At that time, they were targeted by the giant purple eye and had their bodies directly destroyed and True Spirits taken from them, and thus nearly eternally doomed.


    Even when harvesting worlds, it started from the highest level ones. As long as those ordinary people were not too unfortunate and evaded the natural disasters, it was instead a little safer.


    "The three of you were conveniently saved by me. How will you repay me saving your lives?"


    Fang Yuan did not say anything useless and went straight to the point.


    "You''re a Sage! No¡­ to be able to defeat that giant purple eye and save the world, it''s likely that you''ve already exceeded a Sage. We''re only True Elementals and True Sages, and currently merely residual souls. However, if you have anything required of us, we''ll do our utmost without hesitation!"


    Qian Huanyi laughed bitterly.


    Being a nonentity without a purpose in life, there was nothing humiliating about relying on Fang Yuan in order to survive.


    "I am willing to regard Your Excellency as master!"


    Superior Wu Zun and the Head of the Hidden Dragon Guard looked at each other and similarly bowed down.


    "Great!" Fang Yuan nodded. "Later, I''ll help all of you remold your bodies with supreme magical powers and even recover your True Elemental or True Sage cultivations¡­ As for repayment, you will enter my Nine Extremes Mountain as honored guests!"


    "Thank you very much, Sir!"


    This condition was very lax, and inwardly, the Head of the Hidden Dragon Guard released a deep breath.


    "Also¡­ the destruction of the world caused heavy losses to the remaining higher beings in Da Qian, with many casualties taking place. After the three of you recover your True Elemental or True Sages strength, you can completely unify Da Qian!"


    This was not the same definition of unify as before. Instead, it was completely removing the Martial Alliance, God Seeking Palace, and other forces within the wastelands to unite the world.


    "That giant purple eye seemed especially interested in the True Spirit of us high-level cultivators, so that''s reasonable¡­"


    The Head of the Hidden Dragon Guard raised his head.


    At the moment, the strong beings in the world were all harvested, and there was even Fang Yuan guarding this place. If he did not take this heavenly opportunity to unify them, he would instead suffer punishment.


    Next, Fang Yuan said something that greatly changed their expressions, "I''ll hand this over to you guys. I''m about to leave, so I''ll leave behind an array here. If there are any problems after today, you can contact me by offering sacrifices!"


    Of course, they knew that Fang Yuan was currently a similar existence to that purple eye.


    As long as someone contacted him by offering sacrifices, the mere thought clone that came would be able to sweep away the entire world. Even if they recovered their cultivation, it was useless! Thus, they naturally did not dare have any ill intentions.


    After dispatching the three, Liu Mengmei and his other trusted aides walked in with somewhat strange faces.


    "Sage, you''re about to leave again?" There seemed to be slight redness in Liu Mengmei''s eyes.


    "Hmm, I have to go!" Fang Yuan raised his head and left behind another array.


    On the array, there were densely cluttered imprints. They seemed like the aggregation of many Godhoods and also resembled runic words.


    This was a display of his Power. From now on, anyone from any world or dimension could contact him by offering a sacrifice using this.


    Of course, it was entirely up to him to descend or bestow powers.


    ¡­


    "I still can''t believe that I''ve reached this stage!"


    After resting for a few days in the Nine Extremes Mountain headquarters, Fang Yuan departed and traveled the entire Da Qian World, leaving footprints all over.


    At the end, he returned to a martial artist nation¡ªhis birthplace.


    On the huge plains of the Yuan Territory, there were endless internal conflicts.


    Only the nations of Xia Country and Secluded Country, the places where he had fun in his early years, were flourishing and had a sense of progress.


    The tribulation of the world had caused Da Qian to suffer the most severe impacts. As for those at the edges, they only felt some aftershocks of the earthquake and a few natural disasters occurring.


    The worst was merely the replacement of the sun with the purple hourglass that had caused many citizens to be uneasy and exploited by some political forces, causing turmoil.


    No matter whether it was a nation''s king sitting high up or the peasants bowing their heads while farming, they seemed to have no idea of the world-ending tribulation that had just brushed by them. It could be aptly put that fortune favors fools.


    Fang Yuan released his spiritual will and covered many small nations. Soon, he discovered a few familiar auras that were not quite the same. It should be those people that he had met before and their descendants.


    "How people have changed¡­"


    He sighed and did not reveal his presence. Instead, with a step, as if he was leaping across the void, he came to the spiritual land in Green Peak.


    This was where he had started everything and the place where he had buried his master, Master Heartless.


    At the moment, the concentration of this bit of spiritual Qi was basically considered nothing to him.


    However, Fang Yuan still walked on the mountain peak and looked at the scenery with stretches of spiritual land that were previously opened, filled with emotions.


    The entire spiritual land was already completely uninhibited. Even exotic species like Red-eyed White Birds and Flower Fox Ferret were gone.


    After he became renowned, he had dispatched people here to settle some issues. Loyal subordinates like the Flower Fox Ferret were sent to Da Qian and now enjoyed worship in the Nine Extremes Mountain.


    However, this spiritual land on Green Peak did not move. Fang Yuan caressed the trees and vegetation, filled with thousands of emotions.


    "In a flash, tens of years have passed. But if I include dream-traversing, I''m more than a hundred years old¡­"


    For most of the day, Fang Yuan wandered in the spiritual land and secluded valley, cherishing the memories of the people and things here previously.


    Within this day, he felt that human vicissitudes were considered nothing in front of the mighty powers of time, even for a Sage.


    However, this only reinforced his pursuit for immortality.


    "Time to leave!"


    Morning.


    He sat cross-legged on an emerald rock in the spiritual land, his body becoming even more illusionary.


    This was the power of repulsion by the universe, and it had already reached its peak!


    Behind him, a world resembling a star appeared. This was the universe accumulating the strength of many worlds to reject his form!


    "Cultivating to a higher dimension is indeed forbidden by the heavens and the earth!"


    However, Fang Yuan''s face was calm.


    In these days, he had long figured out the method to deal with this and had also settled the follow-up procedures.


    "Originally, according to the nature of my energy, there''s an 80% possibility that the place I ascend to is the Mental Demon Realm. I can''t let this happen!"


    Inside Mental Demon Realm, he had many enemies.


    Other than that existence which stole his Dream Master path and was later beaten back by him, there was also the true physical body of Shang Hou and Hades, who had fleetingly appeared in Terra World, both of whom did not have good relations with him.


    "Fortunately, the Mental Demon Realm isn''t the only higher dimension world!"


    A light flickered on his hand and a dark green tree branch appeared.


    This was what he had obtained in Terra World, the coordinates to the Spiritual Realm. "No matter what, ascending to the Spiritual Realm is definitely somewhat better than the Mental Demon Realm¡­"


    Fang Yuan completely relaxed and stopped resisting the power of repulsion. He instantly vanished without a trace in a flash of light¡­

 729 Spiritual Realm

    The hills and woods were tranquil with bird songs and flagrant flowers.


    Fang Yuan raised his head and saw a huge sun.


    What was somewhat surprising was that surrounding the sun, there were two small stars circling it, emanating a green and purple glow, and even the sun''s brilliance was unable to conceal it.


    "I can''t believe¡­ I''d actually deteriorate to such a state¡­ This place should be the Spiritual Realm in a higher dimension. Even if it''s not, it''s a plane that is similar. In conclusion, it''s already not the original universe."


    He looked inside his body and laughed bitterly.


    Breaking through the void and ascending was not an action that had been done on Da Qian, so naturally there were no records.


    In fact, with his Body of Origin Power, if he had ascended to the Mental Demon Realm, it would definitely have been very stable, at most facing a few setbacks.


    However, he had too many enemies within the Mental Demon Realm. Fang Yuan was currently unwilling to meet them and could only forcefully change the ascension destination by using the Spiritual Realm coordinates that he had obtained from the Terra World.


    This Spiritual Realm''s coordinates laid in a higher dimension. Even with a Dream Master''s technique, he was unable to explore and needed to coordinate with the powers of ascension to exceed the dimensional barrier and arrive here.


    Unquestionably, at the moment of breaking the dimensional barrier, he needed to change the original ascension target. This was a very difficult matter even for him who had broken through.


    "Luckily, from what it looks like, although there are some discrepancies, this definitely isn''t the Mental Demon Realm!"


    With an entourage like Ado, Fang Yuan had also asked about the geography of the Mental Demon Realm in detail. It definitely was not like this.


    "I''m slightly injured, but it isn''t a big deal. One of the characteristics of origin power is that it has endless life, capable of rapid healing!"


    Fang Yuan carefully savored this heaven and earth.


    He felt that with every breath, his entire body was exhaling the old and inhaling the new, as if he was cleansing himself to reveal an unparalleled brilliance.


    This feeling was like a tiger entering the forest or a dragon entering the sea, completely different from the constrictions of a lower plane.


    "It''s definitely a high-dimension world since it can completely bear me and my power¡­ Furthermore, I can also promote!"


    Fang Yuan lay on the ground in the same manner and took a deep breath.


    Whoosh! Whoosh!


    Mountain winds blew and dense fog engulfed to form a vortex.


    "A very familiar power¡­ Spiritual Droplet! Spiritual Energy!"


    A look of reminiscence appeared in his eyes as he immediately realized that the Spiritual Energy in this world was very similar to the one that he had cultivated on the Terra World.


    "Unfortunately¡­ there isn''t much. It seems that this breath I took has completely absorbed the Spiritual Energy of this mountain!"


    In the beforehand Terra World, this was the bait of the Spiritual Realm. They intentionally used Spiritual Energy to infiltrate, but after reaching the Spiritual Realm, the actual Spiritual Energy was instead very thin.


    Just like this mountain, which actually had nothing special about it. If Fang Yuan had not taken a breath, it was basically impossible to forcefully converge the tiny amounts of Spiritual Droplets that were nearly insignificant.


    "The Spiritual Energy rules here are very suitable for the Elemental Spiritual Energy Cultivation Technique that I cultivated on the Terra World! Just by making some slight adjustments, it''d be completely usable!"


    At the moment, Fang Yuan''s condition was that his true physical body was injured and origin power was completely used for recovery, so he needed a little additional power to protect himself.


    "Furthermore, inside the Spiritual Realm, it really isn''t a paradise, and there are similarly ordinary people, cultivators¡­"


    Although it was a high-dimension world, it just meant that the ceiling had been raised. As long as the rules were applicable, there would similarly be ordinary people and animals living here.


    "Elemental Spiritual Energy Cultivation Technique!"


    As Fang Yuan thought, a layer of glittering and crystal-clear brilliance flashed on his body.


    This was what he had derived on the Terra World. The cultivation technique that specialized in refining Spiritual Energy instantly revealed an unparalleled adaptability.


    "For my Elemental Spiritual Energy Cultivation Technique, after I''ve mastered the first layer, I can obtain an enhancement in energy sensing and a constitution suitable for Spiritual Droplets. In other words, even muddled ordinary people can grow spiritual foundations and obtain methods that involve making use of the heavens and the earth. This makes the successive steps easier to progress¡ªthe release of Spiritual Energy, spiritualization, spiritual fields, and even domains. I''m not sure what it''ll become in the Spiritual Realm after all five layers are mastered¡­ "


    The highest layer of the original Elemental Spiritual Energy Cultivation Technique was only at the fifth layer. This was already the highest power in the Terra World.


    However, in this world that was suspected to be the Spiritual Realm, this could naturally promote even further.


    "Very good. Although the Spiritual Energy here is so thin that it''s nearly insignificant, it can barely manage to function after waiting for the time it takes an incense stick to burn!"


    Fang Yuan''s gaze slightly shifted as he scanned the surroundings.


    The green trees formed a shady area, and there was plentiful grass everywhere. Although this was the natural scene of a forest, there was a path that was opened. Evidently, this was not a place without any humans.


    "Senior Brother, you mentioned that there were valuable items here?"


    Suddenly, a glow flashed from the horizon and two streams of light leapt out. It was surprisingly the figure of a male and a female.


    The man had very handsome features and looked majestic, while the female was slender and graceful. They seemed to be riding on winds like immortals.


    Of course, what was currently said was entirely in the language of the Spiritual Realm and was definitely incomprehensible to an ordinary Dream Master.


    However, Fang Yuan''s spiritual will quietly extended and watched stealthily¡­ and with the additional of powerful deduction, he could roughly understand what was said soon.


    "Yes. I''m already 30% proficient in the Heavenly Eyes technique and just discovered that there were signs of gathering Spiritual Energy on this mountain!"


    The male cultivator standing on a flying sword said, "Junior Sister, you also know that this mountain range is not some blessed heavenly abode and definitely won''t have any Spiritual Energy accumulating. This phenomenon that appeared is the birth of a rare treasure, or perhaps the sign that a hidden abode is about to be opened. This is our chance!"


    In the Spiritual Realm, the True Cultivators were high above, while there was a mixture of contaminated energy within the secular world''s thin Spiritual Energy. Thus, they were all focused on cultivating on top of their sect''s spirit vein.


    When they occasionally went down the mountains, they definitely had important issues to deal with, or they were perhaps looking for fortune.


    "We''re all already at Stellar Malignance. This time, we went down the mountains not to extravagantly hope to obtain any magical treasures, but instead only hoping to find suitable Qi of Stellar Heaven and Malignant Earth to advance our cultivation and condense our Essence Soul. This is the right path!"


    This junior sister spoke slowly but extremely resolutely.


    Spiritual Realm cultivation, where ordinary people could step onto the extraordinary path, was called ''True Cultivation''. It had three large stages¡ªQi Refinement, Stellar Malignance, and Essence Soul. In every large stage, there were many small stages.


    And if an Essence Soul continued to ascend, they were no longer a True Cultivator, but an ''Immortal''! These people truly exceeded the mundane to become Sages, and could become sect founders!


    And the areas that had Spiritual Energy would definitely be occupied by sects, families, or powerful cultivators. Occasionally, when a high-level spirit vein appeared, it would definitely cause a battle over it.


    The sect system was the core of the True Cultivators.


    Inside the sect, Qi Refinement was just a miscellaneous affairs or external disciple. Cultivating to Stellar Malignance would allow one to ride the winds and be freed of the world. They were the sect''s inner disciples and would receive the core teachings.


    As for Essence Soul, it could be discovered but not sought. Aptitude and luck were both indispensable. Once there was a breakthrough, their lifespan would dramatically increased, and the sect would be in huge celebration. That was the same level as an elder or sect head.


    "Break through to Essence Soul!"


    With yearning in his eyes, the male cultivator said in a low voice, "That''s easier said than done. There are thirteen levels to Qi Refinement, and each must be taken one step at a time. There are already countless disciples who are stuck at this stage. We''re already very lucky to be able to break through to Stellar Malignance, but it''s an even more difficult to find the Qi of Stellar Heaven and Malignant Earth suitable for our cultivation techniques!"


    "The Dark Mystic Powers that I''m cultivating requires the Earth Fire Yin Malignance and Dark Heaven Stellar Qi. As for the Heaven Reaching Sword Art, it requires Ge Metal Malignance and White Tiger Stellar Qi¡­ Although it''s very rare, there''s still hope!" the female cultivator murmured.


    "I heard that in the past, Qi of Stellar Heaven and Malignant Earth could be seen everywhere and used by anyone. There were even various precious Malignant Qi and Stellar Qi¡­ Unfortunately, as time passed, they gradually became fewer¡­ If I could become an Immortal or gain the assistance of an Immortal elder, it''d an easy task no matter whether it was Nine Heavens Stellar Qi or Nine Nether Malignant Qi! Unfortunately¡­ we''re just in a small sect without much reputation yet. Throughout history, it has only had two Immortals. The current sect master and elder are both at Essence Soul¡­"


    The male cultivator sighed.


    Essence Soul was considered very powerful in the Spiritual Realm. They could astrally project within tens of thousands of kilometers and display the magical powers of many unbelievable abilities. However, they were still more than one realm away from being a true Immortal.


    "This time we went down the mountains to train and seek for opportunities. Perhaps¡­ the Spiritual Energy in this mountain suddenly accumulating indicates that our opportunity has arrived?" The female cultivator spoke to herself, and her beautiful eyes constantly looked about. Suddenly, she saw something. "There seems to be someone lying over there!"


    "Could it be that the accumulation of Spiritual Energy just now was related to him? Is it a high-level True Cultivator that met with some adversity? Or perhaps someone with treasures on him?"


    The male cultivator landed on the ground and held onto his flying sword. An unexplainable expression flashed in his eyes.


    Meeting a high-level True Cultivator in the wild was both a risk and an opportunity.


    If it was those demonic cultivators with some energy still in them, they would unhesitatingly kill a small True Cultivator walking past! Even a good person might not necessarily be able to maintain their morals at this moment, and any rash action could lead to life endangerment.


    There were, however, two types of opportunities.


    One was to take the initiative to treat and cure them, forming good relations; the other was to steal their treasures and cultivation techniques.


    In a world where it was the survival of the fittest and the weak were the prey of the strong, such merciless laws of natural selection were also implemented within the sects of Spiritual Realm.


    "Senior Brother?"


    The junior sister with a noble personality also took out a magic artifact shaped like a white jade lotus flower and seemed that she was following the male cultivator''s lead.


    I''ll go over to take a look first!


    He walked forward and said, "Friend¡­ you¡­"


    While he was speaking, the male cultivator''s spiritual will scanned and he greatly frowned. "That''s not correct¡­ how is it that he gives me the impression of an ordinary person? How could an ordinary person attract Spiritual Energy? No¡­ this seems like an unimportant person who has just started cultivating and is only at first or second level of Qi Refinement."


    Whoosh!


    At this moment, Fang Yuan suddenly sat up, scaring the female cultivator.


    "Alright, you two kids, don''t be afraid. Who are you?"


    Fang Yuan laughed, and impressively, he could clearly articulate the language of Spiritual Realm.


    "Kid?!"


    The male cultivator was a little infuriated. However, seeing that Fang Yuan had a spirit that struck fear in people, he strongly suppressed his anger. "I beg your pardon, Your Excellency''s name is¡­"


    In his mind, he had already rapidly scanned through all the famous loose cultivators in this region, but did not find anyone who coincided with this person before him.


    Fang Yuan raised his head and casually said, "My name is Fang Yuan!"

 730 City Square

    "Fang Yuan?"


    The male cultivator pondered for a moment and couldn''t recall this name.


    With a scan using his spiritual will, he discovered that the aura on Fang Yuan was very faint, as if he really was at the beginning levels of Qi Refinement. He once again became a little arrogant. "Where are you from? Why did you come to this place? And you even dared call us kids. You''re very bold!"


    "I am an elder that''s a hundred years old. What''s wrong with calling you a kid?" Fang Yuan rolled his eyes and immediately had a somewhat aged appearance. "I observed the signs of Ge Metal in your body bubbling up. You should be cultivating a sword technique? Unfortunately, your aptitude is poor, practically awful. Sacrificing the sword with blood and losing its purity, no matter how much more Qi of Stellar Malignance you find, you still won''t be able to breakthrough!"


    Once a technique was successful, all techniques were successful.


    At the moment, his realm was supreme and he was strategically situated. With Fiery Golden Eyes, this small Stellar Malignance cultivator had nothing to hide under his gaze.


    The female cultivator walked forward and said in an unfriendly manner, "Hmph. The blood sacrifice technique of Senior Brother Zhang is a secret technique. Don''t talk nonsense!"


    "Hehe¡­ this little girl with long hair but short wit, what do you know? Using blood to sacrifice the sword can indeed achieve human-equipment unity, but it''s best to use blood from the heart, or if that still doesn''t work, blood from the tip of the tongue! Unfortunately, you''re only willing to use blood from your fingertips. Although it''s said that the ten fingers are linked to the heart, it''s laughable if you say that blood from the fingertips is on par with heart blood! If things continue this way, there''ll be a thirty percent chance of Blood Qi being impeded when you wield the sword¡­" Fang Yuan said with a weird laugh.


    "Senior can actually see this¡­ Junior Zhang Feng pays respect to Senior!"


    The youth Zhang Feng was no longer suspicious and bowed his head in respect.


    Currently, he had already stopped seeing Fang Yuan as a travel-stained old monster.


    Fang Yuan glanced at the female cultivator and said while shaking his head, "As for you, little girl¡­ the nature of your cultivation technique is chilly and does not complement your physique. I''m afraid that every day for an hour, there''ll be a lack of¡­ functionality!"


    "Wh-What?" The female cultivator seemed to have been struck by lightning as her face turned shades of red and white before suddenly bowing as well. "Greetings Senior, I am Zhu Mei. Apologies for offending you just now, please don''t blame me!"


    "Don''t worry!" Fang Yuan waved his head. "I enjoy traveling everywhere and enlightening those fated¡­ Where is this?"


    "This place is near the River Mountains of Xi Nation. Junior Sister Zhu and I are part of the Tianhe Sect!"


    Although Zhang Feng was a little astonished, he still replied respectfully, "Tianhe Sect?! Sorry, I''ve never heard of it¡­"


    Seeing the cultivation and temperament of these two youths, Fang Yuan concluded that this sect was not powerful nor prosperous and straightforwardly shook his head.Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please clickfor visiting.


    Seeing this, an awkward look appeared on Zhang Feng and Zhu Mei. "Our sect only imparts skills within the Xi Nation. Senior isn''t a Xi Nation citizen, so it''s normal not to have heard of it before¡­"


    "Hmm, throughout my life, everything I do is fated! It''s your destiny to have met me!" Fang Yuan laughed. "I can give you some pointers!"


    "Thank you, Senior!"


    Hearing this, happiness instantly appeared on the faces of Zhang Feng and Zhu Mei.


    Soon after, the three of them started traveling together. This pair of martial siblings followed him everywhere and were later so confused by Fang Yuan that they could not make sense of the direction anymore.


    And through the lessons, they inadvertently revealed a lot of information, including their cultivation techniques and the surrounding forces.


    After all, Fang Yuan was a Dream Master and had already reached the peak when it came to manipulating people''s heart


    Even though he was heavily injured, as long as he unleashed his magical powers, he could cause these two juniors to descend into layers of illusions and escape without a trace.


    Of course, it was not worth it for him to do something like this to these two insignificant people.


    So it''s really the Spiritual Realm. A world that mainly focuses on Immortal cultivation and mingles with Divine Dao!


    The world is endlessly vast. There are numerous kingdoms in this hierarchy, and sects are even higher up. Below Essence Soul, there are only True Cultivators. Could only Immortals who are even higher move about freely?


    In the forces under the heavens, there are 33 large sects, 72 medium sects, and innumerable small sects¡­ There are also itinerant demonic cultivators, as well as Divine Dao factions.


    ¡­


    Not long later, information on the entire Spiritual Realm was collected in Fang Yuan''s mind and transformed into a complete network.


    Sigh¡­ Only during the ancient times was it the true flourishing age of Immortal Cultivators! Many Sages appeared and passed down their teachings. Sages were innumerable¡­ However, due to some unknown reason later, Spiritual Energy became thinner and thinner, until five thousand years ago when the 33 large sects made an agreement to unite and exploit the lower realms to extract their natural source as supplement. Then it became slightly better¡­


    Zhang Feng sighed emotionally.


    However, a gleam flashed in Fang Yuan''s eyes as he thought further. Thin Spiritual Energy¡­ was it also harvested? And the lower realms that were exploited was actually the same method the Monger World used, only that the prey were slightly higher level.


    The Monger World was a plane that absorbed and digested fragmented planes, while the Spiritual Realm instead devoured realms!


    Furthermore, it specialized in locking onto its target and enticing them with bait, like the resurgence of Spiritual Energy in the Terra World with the Spiritual King Comet.


    "The only problem is that such a huge matter also brings dangers with it!" Fang Yuan sighed. "Once this fails, the consequences are dire!"


    "Isn''t it?" Zhu Mei suddenly interrupted. "I heard that not long ago, a campaign to hunt a realm initiated by the Dark Heaven Sect failed. Not only did it fail, heavy casualties were suffered. Ancestor Red Cloud, Five Ghost Loose Cultivators, and Fairy Hundred Flowers¡­ Many renowned cultivators descended into the lower realms, and we still have no idea whether they''re dead or alive."


    Fang Yuan''s heart jumped.


    When this somewhat familiar name of Ancestor Red Cloud entered his ears, he instantly knew that the failed campaign she mentioned was the battle to capture the Terra World!


    In that war, if not for his swift and resolute decision that attracted a tiger to devour a wolf by bringing over the deterrence of the Mental Demon Realm, the Spiritual Realm would not have retreated so quickly.


    Speaking of which, the Spiritual Realm had retreated without hesitation. Perhaps it had previously suffered a loss in the hands of the Mental Demon Realm? Could it also be because of this that its Spiritual Energy weakened? he silently thought.


    Not long later, they came to a waterfall.


    "We''ve reached the True Cultivator City Square!" Zhang Feng proudly led the way. "When we enter the City Square, we must invite Senior to have a good drink. We want to repay Senior and hope you''ll come!"


    Through their interactions, Fang Yuan already knew that this cultivator opposite him was not bloodthirsty.


    Additionally, he had many important things regarding cultivation that he needed consultation on, so he was extremely good-tempered.


    "That sounds good!"


    Fang Yuan smiled faintly and nodded. He looked at Zhang Feng taking out a talisman and parting the waterfall to reveal a passageway.


    In reality, the reason why these two True Cultivators cooperated so well was because he had secretly imposed the influence of a divine seal.


    The group of three followed the path and reached a bazaar not long after.


    The True Cultivator City Square was also a unique feature within the Spiritual realm. This was organized by loose cultivators or families to specially create a place for True Cultivators to mutually exchange goods.


    The main method of transaction was bartering. Of course, there were also spiritual crystals and spiritual liquid that acted as a universal currency.


    Fang Yuan looked at the stalls along the two sides and muttered in his heart, If I''m free, I can stay within the City Square for a few days to quietly recover my true physical body strength before collecting intelligence¡­


    His true realm was to make use of the origin power. Even placed within the Spiritual Realm, it was definitely formidable.


    At the moment, he was like a hidden dragon. As long as he quietly waited to recover, it would be well worth it.


    "Senior, please!"


    While he was thinking, Zhang Feng and Zhu Mei had already led him to a restaurant in the City Square. Zhang Feng personally walked forward to find a seat and waved his hand generously after sitting down. "Take out the best the restaurant has to offer, and don''t skimp on anything!"


    He quickly turned his face and had some flattery in his smile. "Senior¡­ this small place has a good reputation around here. The spiritual wine and spiritual fruits have distinct flavor, so enjoy it fully!"


    "Haha, seeing your great hospitality, I''ll accept this gesture of goodwill!"


    Fang Yuan grinned and knew the other''s thoughts. With the cultivation technique''s foundation leaked, it was not difficult for him to improve a point or two.


    In any case, he had previously deduced his Elemental Spiritual Energy Cultivation Technique from scratch and somewhat adapted it to the Spiritual Realm. Its standard would not be too low and could help a person become Immortal!


    "Thank you, Senior!!"


    Zhang Feng and Zhu Mei were ecstatic. At the same time, a waiter served a plate of fruits with red dates and green pears, both releasing a tempting, exotic smell.


    "These Fire Dates and Green Pears are immortal fruits. They contain tremendous Spiritual Energy. Senior, please!"


    Seems like this realm also has botany skills. I just don''t know what standard it''s reached.


    Fang Yuan picked up a Fire Date and took a bite. He felt a surge of pure Spiritual Energy flowing down his throat and directly entering his heart before nodding. "It''s truly good!"


    With this surge of Spiritual Energy, the Elemental Spiritual Energy Cultivation Technique that he had always been secretly circulating shook and completed the third layer.


    With his unique ability, all the various upper limits were forever ingrained on his stats window, and his speed of cultivation was horrifyingly fast.


    In my Elemental Spiritual Energy Cultivation Technique, I derived the first layer from scratch and created spiritual roots. The second layer is to release Spiritual Energy, while the third layer is spiritualization! Of course, in this realm, I don''t know what the divide is.


    "Hmph, how could a true Immortal Dao senior possibly think much of these inferior spirit plants? Zhang Feng, Zhu Mei, the two of you were unknowingly deceived. Truly hilarious!" a voice suddenly interrupted from the side.


    Zhang Feng looked over and his face suddenly became unsightly. "Li Han?!"


    This was his sworn enemy in the sect and similarly at Stellar Malignance, even faintly having an edge over him.


    At the moment, Li Han walked over with large steps and a sneer in his eyes. "The two of you really embarrass our sect. Wait until I deal with this person before settling the two of you!"


    The Spiritual Energy on Fang Yuan''s body was truly only faintly discernible, as if he was not any different from a mortal. No wonder this person made the wrong judgment regarding him with a glance.


    "Oh? Want to deal with me?"


    Fang Yuan remained seated without moving. A look of ridicule appeared as he suddenly reached out to grab him.


    Whoosh! Whoosh!


    Spiritual Energy converged and a large translucent hand appeared in the air making the same movement.


    The flying sword in Li Han''s hands instantly shrieked and dropped to the floor like ordinary metal.


    "Essence¡­ Essence Soul strength?" Li Han retreated a step and said with a trembling voice, "You''re an Essence Soul Venerable?!"

 731 Enlistmen

    Essence Soul!


    For True Cultivators, if Qi Refinement was to build the foundation, then the Qi of Stellar Malignance would allow one to fly through the sky and travel the lands while summoning wind and rain.


    The most important step was still to achieve Essence Soul!


    Once Essence Soul was achieved, it would lengthen one''s lifespan and allow one to reincarnate, being the first true dividing line between Immortal and mortal.


    Within small sects, a true Essence Soul was the sect master and could suppress fate!


    At the moment, Fang Yuan slightly unleashed his abilities and instantly frightened everyone. That youth Li Han''s face grew pale in shades of white and green before suddenly kneeling to kowtow. "Senior, I was naive and failed to recognize you as a distinguished person. I hope you won''t take offense!"


    "It''s alright. My technique of concealment as an elder is not something that can be seen through by an ordinary True Cultivator!"


    Fang Yuan waved his hand, having the vigorous style of an Immortal.


    Inside, he was thinking, So it seems like spiritualization of the Elemental Spiritual Energy Cultivation Technique''s third layer is equivalent to an Essence Soul Venerable in this realm? Anyone higher than a True Cultivator is an Immortal, and it''s divided based on the Heaven, Earth, and Human. The lowest is Human Immortal, next is Earth Immortal, and the highest is Heaven Immortal. Would my fifth layer Elemental Spiritual Energy Cultivation Technique ultimately form a domain and be roughly likened to an Earth Immortal?


    But this was just his deduction. Before seeing any actual examples, he was naturally unable to reach a final conclusion.


    "Thank you for showing mercy, Elder!"


    Li Han was no longer arrogant and instead became like a kowtowing insect. This made Zhang Feng and Zhu Mei break out into laughter, but they felt cold in their hearts.


    Between Stellar Malignance and Essence Soul, there seemed to be only one layer, but in reality, they were worlds apart.


    Ignoring other aspects, the Qi of Stellar Heaven and Malignant Earth was extremely difficult to accumulate. Needless to say, finding a suitable cultivation technique was even more difficult.


    "Which Fellow Immortal is this? I am Cheng Fei from the Vast Ocean Sect. Greetings, Fellow Immortal!"


    Inside this City Square, there was naturally a power maintaining it.


    Fang Yuan had only just revealed his cultivation before someone appeared. This Cheng Fei was like an actual person, but was actually a spirit body. It was impressively an Essence Soul Venerable.


    "It''s the Venerable guarding the City Square!"


    Zhang Feng and Zhu Mei hurriedly bowed.


    "I am Fang Yuan. Greetings, Fellow Daoist!" Fang Yuan bowed with a lukewarm attitude.


    "So it''s Fellow Daoist Fang. This junior unintentionally offended you, but I hope that you''ll be gracious and forgive him this time! After all, within the City Square, there are rules that strictly forbid fighting."


    "Hehe, I naturally won''t go against the rules!" Fang Yuan nodded.


    Seeing this scene, this Essence Soul stroked his beard and smiled slightly. With a flick of his sleeve, it slapped hard on Li Han''s head, causing him to tumble away. "Get lost!"


    After dealing with this, Cheng Fei looked at Fang Yuan. "Seeing Fellow Daoist''s magical abilities, your usage of Essence Soul power is superb. Where are you from?"


    The Venerable guarding the place had a strong sense of wariness and directly started probing Fang Yuan.


    If he had met him from the very beginning, Fang Yuan would most likely have exposed himself.


    However, with the earlier contributions of Zhang Feng and Zhu Mei, he straightforwardly said that he was a loose cultivator wandering the realm, without any flaws in his explanation.


    "So Fellow Daoist is actually an ascetic. Truly respectable. Are you alright with coming over to my cave abode to linger a bit, allowing me to act as a host!"


    After a moment, Cheng Fei''s smile was more brilliant. "I''m currently in seclusion and quietly cultivating. Currently, I can only receive you with Essence Soul. My apologies!"


    "In that case, it would be impolite to reject you!"


    Fang Yuan raised his head and looked toward Zhang Feng. His lips moved slightly, transmitting a few sentences to him. This was the technique to remove the drawbacks of blood sacrifice.


    "Thank you, Venerable! Thank you, Venerable!"


    Zhang Feng heard just a little before instantly feeling many difficulties suddenly clearing away, a feeling of sudden enlightenment occuring, as he joyfully bowed.


    "Haha¡­ It was fated for us to meet. It is fate to start and end, fate to rise and fall. This is merely fate¡­" Fang Yuan waved his head and walked away elegantly.


    "Thank you, Venerable!"


    Zhang Feng politely bowed all the way, sending him to the door before seeing Fang Yuan disappear into the horizon.


    ¡­


    "If I want to slightly conceal myself, I will hide within the jungle. If I want to greatly conceal myself, I will hide within the city. At the moment, my true physical body''s cultivation is too low, and therefore I can only play with them inside this small pond¡­"


    Fang Yuan''s figure flew past and could not help smiling.


    His origin power was completely present and endless in energy. Even though he had received an injury from breaking through to a higher dimension realm, it would completely recover quickly.


    In fact, even when ascending to another realm, there usually wouldn''t be such an awkward situation. Most importantly, there were basically no records for anyone above a Sage in the realms below, and completely no experiences nor secret techniques¡­


    In the lower realms, Sages were at the pinnacle. But even the Sages in Monger and Da Qian were unable to break through and naturally could not discover the paths and realms after that.


    Even though Fang Yuan had managed to successfully break through, he was completely blank and could not see what was in front of him.


    Regardless, the existences with origin power from the Mental Demon Realm that can incarnate to the lower realms aren''t simple. I currently feel that this is very difficult¡­ Especially the true physical body of Shang Hou, who had secret techniques that could dispel the power of repulsion and even become the guardian of a realm!


    At the moment, Fang Yuan was thinking that it was impossible for him.


    This was not the gap between cultivation realms, but ability!


    If he had had numerous secret techniques of the Mental Demon Realm, he could have at least guaranteed staying for a long time in the lower realms. Regardless, he would not have been pressured into ascending and definitely not put himself into such an awkward state.


    One generation planted the trees; another would get the shade. The difference between whether or not one had experience usually used blood and tears to make up for it.


    "I need to obtain cultivation techniques and secret techniques for origin power¡­ or else I won''t know what paths to take later¡­ "


    At the moment, Fang Yuan''s cultivation was definitely at the pinnacle of Da Qian. There were no predecessors and might not necessarily be anyone following his path.


    There were definitely no trodden paths he could rely on from the lower realms. Thus, he had to look for them in the higher dimension realms.


    "The Spiritual Realm is a decent path, but my intrinsic quality is still inclined toward the Mental Demon Realm¡­ Even if I obtain the higher cultivation techniques of this realm, they''re at most a reference!


    "Intrinsic quality!! This is another troublesome matter!"


    Origin power certainly originated from the Mental Demon Realm. If Fang Yuan''s aura truly emitted, any great being in the Spiritual Realm would sense it and know that this was a true Evil Demon! A great being of the Mental Demon Realm!


    Thus, even if his injury completely recovered, he could not stimulate origin power, or else he would certainly be swarmed and attacked.


    Inside this high dimension Spiritual Realm, there were inevitably people at the same realm as him, or an even higher realm.


    It would not be a joke if he was defeated and sealed for a hundred or a thousand years, or even annihilated.


    "It seems that I need to disguise myself as a local and create an identity before slowly planning!"


    As he was thinking, Fang Yuan had already arrived outside the cave abode.


    This cave abode was situated at a corner of the City Square and extremely isolated, also having some signs of being desolate.


    But upon further inspection, it was a Heavenly Abode with abundant Spiritual Energy. There were cranes flying and dancing, and an herb garden in front contained many lingzhi mushrooms and ginseng everywhere. Needless to say, there were also many unnamed exotic plants and flowers releasing faint fragrances.


    "Fellow Daoist, please first rest for a bit while I tidy up," apologized the Essence Soul of Cheng Fei, bringing Fang Yuan to a living room before quickly entering a stone door.


    After the time it took to drink two cups of tea, a person wearing long robes and a crown, with a celestial appearance and complexion greatly similar to the Essence Soul just now, walked out from the stone door and cupped his hands. "My cultivation technique is somewhat peculiar and takes a longer time to stop. Please understand, Fellow Daoist."


    "Being able to obtain your hospitality is something that I am already very grateful for!"


    Fang Yuan held a Fire Date and smiled as he said, "This date seems to be unique, the feeling very intense."


    "Haha! This Fire Date is already an exotic species by itself. Afterwards, I even found and drizzled qilin blood on it to breed a Bodhi Blood Date, which has even more nourishment Qi than an ordinary Fire Date. If you like it, take more with you later!"Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please clickfor visiting.


    Cheng Fei flicked his sleeve and sat down with a loud laugh, seeming to be very bold and straightforward.


    He then shook the bell in his sleeve, and a few puppet servants walked up to replace the tea and serve various intricate and exotic fruits and snacks.


    The two of them beat around the bush for a while before Cheng Fei could not help asking curiously, "What are your plans after today?"


    According to what Fang Yuan said just now, he was a loose cultivator and had always tirelessly cultivated.


    Recently, he left to travel the realm. After encountering some small disturbances and overcoming some obstacles, he met Zhang Feng and Zhu Mei by a stroke of fate. After that, they became companions and he journeyed along with them.


    At the moment, he had no further plans.


    "Sigh¡­" Hearing this, Fang Yuan released a long sigh. "I''d cultivated tirelessly for ten years and looked everywhere under the heavens before finding suitable Qi of Stellar Heaven and Malignant Earth and entering Essence Soul. I have no paths after that, and if I want to break through to Immortal, it is difficult! Difficult!! Difficult!!!"


    An Essence Soul Venerable only had achievements in their divine spirit, but their flesh and blood were still the same. Thus, there were restrictions on lifespan.


    Even if they reincarnated, doing this a few times would weaken the divine spirit and cause it to be utterly extinguished.


    Thus, Essence Soul''s next step was Immortal Cultivator!


    ¡­ Condensing their physical body to the limit and then proclaiming as ''Human Immortal''! With both possession of body and soul, they could live forever.


    However, the difference between Essence Soul and Human Immortal was a chasm, so difficult that it had caused many capable seniors to give up.


    After all, after that one step, they would become Immortal!


    "Indeed¡­" Mentioning this, even Cheng Fei repeatedly sighed. "To polish the body into perfection, it requires flawless high-level cultivation techniques¡­ Furthermore, the consumption of resources is like a bottomless pit!"


    How precise was the human body? In order to cultivate to perfection, many acupoints and meridians each had to be tempered, and the cultivation technique had to be extremely profound.


    When a Human Immortal trained, they had to at least consume spirit materials daily. Over time, this was sufficient to completely deplete a small sect.


    For an Immortal Cultivator, they had to have wealth, relationships, techniques, and environment. Wealth was placed in front, showcasing its priority and the importance of resources.


    "In the beginning, the cultivation technique that I got was mere fragments and is completely unable to cultivate to Human Immortal. With the consumption later on¡­"


    Fang Yuan showed a troubled look.


    In fact, his Elemental Spiritual Energy Cultivation Technique was unique. Although he was cultivating with Spiritual Energy, it was still the Mental Demon Realm path. After spiritualization, it would be to actualize a spiritual field and domain, and use external power to support his body. It was slightly biased to this compared to the path of an Immortal Cultivator in this realm.


    After all, he had created this cultivation technique himself, so how could it be orthodox to the Spiritual Realm?


    "Has Fellow Daoist ever considered entering a sect and becoming an adjunct elder?"


    Sure enough, Cheng Fei''s eyes suddenly lit up. "Although my Vast Ocean Sect isn''t one of the 33 large sects, it''s one of the 72 medium sects. As a lower sect in the Four Oceans Immortal Sects, it has a good reputation and countless secret techniques and precious treasures¡­"

 732 Immortal Stone

    "Four Oceans Immortal Sects?"


    Fang Yuan intentionally appeared visibly moved.


    "That''s right!" Cheng Fei felt proud. "In the Four Oceans Immortal Sects, we have a Heavenly Lord guarding it. Our Vast Ocean Sect is a lower sect, but there are also Earth Immortal Patriarchs inside! There will naturally be what Fellow Daoist desires!"


    Heavenly Lord was the respectful name given to Heaven Immortals in this realm.


    After Essence Soul would be Immortals. Starting from Human Immortal, one would carry on to be Earth Immortal and then Heaven Immortal!


    If my guess is correct, an Earth Immortal is equivalent to a Seventh Tier Illusionary Divine in the lower realms, while a Heaven Immortal is a Sage!


    A gleam flashed in Fang Yuan''s eyes.


    A high dimension realm was indeed not the same. The Four Oceans Immortal Sects was just a faction among a hundred or so, but there were actually Sages in it!


    How many almighty beings were actually concealed within those 33 large sects, loose cultivators, demonic cultivators, and even congenital Gods?


    However¡­ the Spiritual Realm is rumored to be very vast. There was once a Heaven Immortal who flew in one direction for tens of years and still didn''t reach the end! Dragons and snakes exist within the deep mountains can be understood as such.


    Many pieces of information appeared in Fang Yuan''s mind, but he did not instantly reply.


    "Enter into the Vast Ocean Sect? I need to consider¡­"


    "Of course! Of course!" Cheng Fei repeatedly nodded. "However, I can assure that if you enter the Vast Ocean Sect, you''ll be treated the same as me and can even see the most ancient books and records within the sect, even the Vast Ocean Heart Manual. This was evolved from the ''Overturn Oceans Heavenly Book'' of the Four Oceans Immortal Sects and sufficient to cultivate to Earth Immortal!"


    He seemed very eager for Fang Yuan to join, telling him many benefits.


    Fang Yuan declined in a roundabout manner, saying that he needed a few more days to think before leaving the cave abode. A cold smile appeared.


    Someone who is unaccountably solicitous is hiding evil intentions! The Vast Ocean Sect is not a sect in shambles, so how could an Essence Soul Venerable put in so much effort to draw me over? His warmth is slightly abnormally, so it''s most likely that there''s a scheme behind this, or perhaps he''s about to use me to block a catastrophe!


    Fang Yuan had already seen through the habits of these sects.


    Any organization would not treat an outsider the same way they treated their closest members.


    Unless there was some special circumstance that urgently needed a sacrifice.


    Inside the cave abode.


    Cheng Fei was somewhat annoyed. "Sigh¡­ I was overly anxious and leaked some clues¡­ With the intelligence of an Essence Soul Venerable, he''d definitely have noticed something was amiss, but¡­ if I didn''t find someone as a scapegoat, would I really have to go to that place of death?"


    An Essence Soul Venerable had just stepped onto the threshold of immortality, so of course they would not wish to die!


    "Only¡­ he hasn''t bluntly refused yet, so there''s still hope!" Cheng Fei had some anticipation. "Using emotions, logic, benefits, or at worst treasures¡­ compared to life, mere worldly possessions are nothing¡­"


    ¡­


    The City Square naturally had more cave abodes.Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please clickfor visiting.


    As the concept of time for true cultivators and mortals was different, rent was therefore calculated in months. All of the cave abodes each had its own heaven and earth, even having simple defensive arrays, and the Spiritual Energy was abundant.


    Fang Yuan casually chose one and sat cross-legged while silently training his Essence Soul, operating his Elemental Spiritual Energy Cultivation Technique.


    "If I cultivate step-by-step, the fourth layer should be creating a spiritual field, while the fifth layer is to create a domain! However, this is the style of the Mental Demon Realm. Furthermore, although both the Terra World and the Spiritual Realm have Spiritual Energy, the worlds are still different."


    What he currently wanted to do was completely remold the Elemental Spiritual Energy Cultivation Technique according to the rules of Spiritual Realm.


    The fourth layer directly polished a person''s body and transformed them into a Human Immortal.


    "Of course, Human Immortal should be fine, but simply relying on my imagination''s inferences to blindly act for Earth Immortal isn''t too probable. I need to find a few guinea pigs or refer to some cultivation techniques¡­"


    Fang Yuan thought of the Ghost Immortal and Earth Immortal founders that he had casually named in his Heavenly Abode..


    Although the names were the same, the connotations they represented were wide apart.


    "In the Spiritual Realm, Human Immortals have excellent body, soul, and a long lifespan, while Earth Immortals can unlock a Prosperous Land!"


    This was already the most valuable piece of information from Zhang Feng. Any more than that would be something a small Stellar Malignance disciple could not come into contact with.


    "From this, it can be seen that a Heavenly Lord Immortal is probably a Sage¡­ Inside the 72 mid-tier immortal sects, there must be a senior that can suppress fate energy. And in the 33 large immortal sects, there must be the existence of someone higher than a Heaven Immortal, the same tier as my current realm¡­"


    Fang Yuan was somewhat excited as he pondered this.


    This was a river that was suitable for him to create chaos in, instead of those small ponds in the lower realms that were already unable to satisfy him.


    "Now, the most important matter is to first recover my cultivation and then find true cultivation techniques as reference¡­"


    At the moment, the cultivation techniques that were in his vision had to at least be able to cultivate to Heaven Immortal, best would be a realm higher than Heaven Immortal.


    In other words, even within the Four Oceans Immortal Sects, only the Overturn Oceans Heavenly Book was able to rouse his interest.


    "Of course, a few lower-tier cultivation techniques are also very important fundamentals that can help me improve my Elemental Spiritual Energy Cultivation Technique¡­


    "That Cheng Fei¡­ wants something from me and it seems very urgent. Within three days, he''ll definitely find me!"


    A gleam flickered in Fang Yuan''s eyes as he raised his hand out to grab.


    Whoosh! Whoosh!


    In the air, streams of green air currents gathered and merged, forming bits of translucent crystal bodies.


    This was a Spiritual Energy crystal, the hard currency of cultivators.


    If it had been any other Essence Soul Venerables, or even Human and Earth Immortals, they would unlikely be unable to reach this stage.


    However, his realm was profound and his intrinsic quality advanced. Even if he was in a land without a spirit vein, a single breath would be able to gather the thin Spiritual Energy. In this city square containing a spirit vein, this was a trivial matter.


    "The price of living here is merely ten spiritual crystals a day, but if I start refining and extracting from the spirit vein, I can obtain up to ten thousand crystals in an instant!"


    With Fang Yuan''s current knowledge and means, he could suck the spirit vein dry in an instant simply by using Essence Soul power.


    Of course, doing this would be rash and alert the enemy.


    At the moment, casually condensing a few spiritual crystals was able to immediately transform him into a wealthy person among the cultivators.


    "In fact, although it''s mainly Spiritual Energy inside the Spiritual Realm, there''s an even higher Immortal Qi!"


    Fang Yuan silently pondered.


    What was known as Spiritual Energy actually did not exist within this realm. Instead, it was similar to the Monger World elemental plane that was a flat dimension.


    The various terrain and arrays in the Spiritual Realm could change the magnetic field and destroy the dimensional limitations, causing the Spiritual Energy to manifest and descend, even forming a stable spirit vein.


    "For Immortal Cultivators, spiritual crystal is hard currency. However, if it''s instead an immortal stone, it''d be even more invaluable!"


    Fang Yuan''s spiritual will entered the Spiritual Energy, constantly delving deeper and deeper, then he suddenly waved his hand.


    Threads of a bright purple power instantly appeared and slithered like a dragon, flying across the sky in all directions.


    "Immortal Qi condensation! So it''s like this. Go!"


    Immediately afterward, the purple air currents gathered and formed a golden purple stone with a vague meandering golden dragon on it in his hands.


    "This is an immortal stone. Its value should be thousands of times higher than a spiritual crystal. No! It can''t be compared at all!"


    Fang Yuan played around with the immortal stone and gradually figured out its purpose. "Useful thing! It''s a waste giving this immortal stone to Human Immortals to use. Its biggest use is supplementing the realm power of the Earth Immortal''s Prosperous Land! To increase its foundation!"


    Realm power was the highest level power of a realm.


    In the lower realms, only the realm''s will could shift the natural source power.


    However, in the Spiritual Realm, Spiritual Energy was accumulating and transforming at the core!


    Even a Heaven Immortal would greedily eye something that could improve the foundation of their Prosperous Land or Heavenly Abode.


    "To be able to absorb Immortal Qi from Spiritual Energy, they must be at least an Earth Immortal, while Heaven Immortals are able to easily tackle this difficult problem¡­"


    Fang Yuan flung the rocks in his hands and grinned. "To buy time, this is a decent disguise and deterrence!"


    Even in the upper realms, Heaven Immortal was a terrific rank.


    Regardless, it was already sufficient to confuse Cheng Fei and the Vast Ocean Sect behind him.


    ¡­


    Fang Yuan''s intuition was very accurate. Merely by the second day, Cheng Fei paid him a visit.


    Cheng Fei''s true body came over full of smiles. "Have you considered the previous matter, Fellow Daoist?"


    "Truthfully, I''m used to exploring the world and can''t tolerate being restrained¡­ Furthermore, although it requires many resources to enhance my body, it isn''t a fruitless venture when I wander about searching for secrets!"


    Fang Yuan flung the stone in his hands.


    "This is¡­ immortal stone?" The next instant, Cheng Fei''s eyes widened. "This is very difficult to absorb even for an Earth Immortal Patriarch. This can increase the foundation of the Heavenly Abode or Prosperous Land and would be immediately used, very seldom taken out for trading. How come you have one on you?"


    "This was naturally passed down by predecessors¡­" Fang Yuan smiled, making an inscrutable expression. After pausing, he said, "The reason why I showed you this item was not to brag, but to prove that I''m not poor, so you don''t need to say those pretentious words."


    Seeing this, Cheng Fei''s heart instantly sank. This loose cultivator has some wealth on him and his mentality is very clear, so he won''t take risks just for a small benefit. What should I do?


    He merely has a little wealth on him. Previously, he was slightly genuinely moved. It seems that he''s truly lacking in cultivation techniques!


    Thinking this, he quickly had some confidence and sipped his spiritual tea. "Alright, I''ll also be honest. When I wanted to enlist Fellow Daoist, I indeed had an ulterior motive. However, riches come from danger. If Fellow Daoist wants to obtain a better cultivation technique, you need to take some risks, right?"


    "I agree!" Fang Yuan snapped his fingers. "Whatever Fellow Daoist wants me to do, we can discuss it a bit."


    "Sigh¡­ This issue gives me heartache, but I really can''t evade it. An Essence Soul Venerable is needed to proceed¡­" Cheng Fei sighed, then suddenly asked, "Does Fellow Daoist know about the Divine Dao?"


    "Converging all thoughts and casting the Golden Body. I''ve heard a little about it before!"


    Fang Yuan''s knowledge was entirely from Zhang Feng.


    The Divine Dao within the Spiritual Realm was much different from the Gods of the Monger World. Its hierarchy was like a giant corporation with all the Gods doing their jobs.


    Of course, due to the characteristic of being unable to leave their local territory, no Gods participated in the earlier skirmish of the Terra World.

 733 Tough Issue

    There was also the Divine Dao in the Spiritual Realm.


    Furthermore, it was different from the independently managed churches in the Monger World. The local Divine Dao did not have unified churches and power, only clear-cut rights, responsibilities, and temples. Only when the people aspired for something would they go and pray to a God.


    If the Gods within the Monger World were said to be private business owners, the Divine Dao in the Spiritual Realm seemed even larger and more strict, comparable to state workers.


    Here, the Gods of Divine Dao delegated jobs among themselves and worked together, while the Deity Position was more like a job without any life-or-death matters mixed within.


    Furthermore, some existences even loathed the Deity Position, feeling that it was a carefree burden, and were not willing to take on the role.


    The reason why this occurred is firstly due to the unique geography of the Spiritual Realm and the influence of the cultural environment. Secondly, it''s because of pressure from the Immortal Dao.


    After all, Zhang Feng and Zhu Mei are True Cultivators and don''t know much about Divine Dao. They only know that the system is very strict, there''s a ruler of the ''Heavenly Court'', and it''s completely different from the Immortal Dao.


    Many thoughts flashed through Fang Yuan''s mind as he looked toward Cheng Fei. "Your Excellency''s tough issue, could it be related to the Divine Dao?"


    Fang Yuan was somewhat interested regarding the Divine Dao of the Spiritual Realm.


    After all, many Godhood rules were ingrained on his Pangu Eagle Body. Although they were all Gods that worked by themselves in the Monger World, they were still the Divine Dao and therefore had to be somehow connected.


    "Indeed!"


    After hearing a faint sense of alienation from Fang Yuan''s tone, Cheng Fei laughed bitterly.


    However, he knew that he could now only obtain his trust by telling him everything, so he had no choice but to tell the truth. "This issue originates from an appointment between my Vast Ocean Sect and the Divine Dao''s Xi Nation''s City God, and the jurisdiction of a few Deity Positions¡­ Fellow Daoist, although a long-living and wise Immortal wouldn''t fancy a Deity Position, the Immortal path of cultivation is fraught with treachery. It''s possible for there to be a crisis one day, and they''d have to convert to cultivating Divine Dao. Any Sect would pay great attention to the Deity Positions!"


    Fang Yuan nodded.


    Although Earth Immortals and Heaven Immortals were free and unfettered, it was very difficult to succeed..


    Furthermore, even Earth Immortals had a limited lifespan. However, in contrast with the Divine Dao, which had many shackles and took away all hope of self-improvement, it had the advantage in the aspect of immortality.


    Whether or not this difference was meaningful depended entirely on the person themselves.


    However, within the large immortal sects, the good and bad disciples were mixed together, and they would definitely prepare a batch of Divine Dao resources to be used in times of need.


    But as long as resources are treasured, there''ll be conflicts. Although the high-level Immortals hold contempt toward the Deity Position, it''s still a method to immortality, and there are no further requests in terms of qualifications. Even though there are a few future problems, this is considered nothing to people who have already long met a dead end!


    Fang Yuan laughed coldly in his heart and saw immediately where the problem lay.


    Although it seemed that Divine Dao and the Immortal Dao were mutually complementary, they were quite distinct from each other. The most important thing was that it also held power and getting sacrifices was not so straightforward.


    Especially since it had a unified and strict Heavenly Court. This was more horrifying than the Immortal Dao!


    Even though the Immortal Dao was stronger, it was separated into thousands of sects that could not work together and were unable to contend against Divine Dao.


    "Sigh¡­ This is also because my Vast Ocean Sect is not strong enough, just like the Four Oceans Immortal Sects, and we only occupy tens of island countries. But once the Immortal Dao Decree is released, I can deify!"


    From time immemorial, the Immortal Dao had made the Divine Dao a vassal that paid it tribute. All of this was mentioned by Cheng Fei like it was commonplace, but it shocked Fang Yuan slightly. To form such a situation, he knew that many violent wars had definitely broken out and many Sages would have died.


    Of course, using the Immortal Dao Decree can at most deify a few low-level Gods. The truly well-known Mountain Gods and River Gods would definitely be unable to secure their position without the support of the Heavenly Court. Furthermore, at that level, they were already similar to a high rank Immortal, so why would they be willing to be at the beck and call of weaker Immortals?


    As Fang Yuan was thinking, Cheng Fei thought that this loose cultivator did not understand the inside story and explained in detail, "We have a contract between the Immortal Dao and Divine Dao. As long as a sect is qualified, they can obtain a few Deity Positions from the local Divine Dao every ten years¡­ These positions are largely Earth and River Gods, but there are also Day and Night Patrol Gods. They''re considered highly valuable, but unfortunately, there''s a limited number of vacancies, and we have to contend against a few neighboring immortal sects¡­"


    Naturally, only the sects on par with the Vast Ocean Sect could rob from them. Similarly, they had the support of 72 immortal sects behind them, and the Four Oceans Immortal Sects were helpless about it.


    Fang Yuan listened and slightly nodded, thinking that there was a large chance that this was the Divine Dao''s plot.


    The immortal sects were powerful and could not be directly fought. Thus, a limited compromise was made, where they would release a batch of low-level Deity Positions to attract direct competition and mutual consumption between the sects.


    Actually, an Earth or River God is quite good. As there are no requirements, when the Stellar Malignance disciples, or even Qi Refinement, die, as long as their divine spirit is still present, they could cultivate the Golden Body, even¡­ the divine spirit of a meritorious mortal could also satisfy the requirements!


    Fang Yuan silently nodded his head.


    Of course, within the immortal sects, this Deity Position was more valued. Even without considering the Qi Refinement disciples, even the Stellar Malignance disciples desired it. Mostly, it was the Essence Soul Venerables wanting it, as well as Human Immortals who had perished during their cultivation.


    Even though an Essence Soul Venerable could reincarnate, the Essence Soul''s power would face a tribulation after a few reincarnations, their body and soul utterly destroyed.


    Thus, those Essence Soul Venerables unable to reincarnate and did not want to die and have their souls scattered across the heavens and the earth could only convert to cultivating the Divine Dao.


    Although Human Immortals had perfect bodies and enjoyed long lifespans, they would also suffer tribulations. Once they failed to transcend their tribulations and perished, they could only choose to reincarnate or cultivate the Divine Dao.


    Of course, a Human Immortal''s realm was profound. Most would choose to reincarnate, but even if they converted to cultivating the Divine Dao, they did not see value in the Deity Position. Only a City God position would barely begin to have value in it.


    "Does Fellow Daoist''s problem lie in competing for this spot?" Slightly astonished, Fang Yuan glanced at Cheng Fei.


    "Yeah. Only an Essence Soul Venerable of our sect is able to participate for the spot¡­ According to precedent, this time is my turn!"


    There was a look of bitterness on Cheng Fei''s face. "I can''t shirk the righteousness here. Initially, this was an obligation that I wouldn''t evade, but unfortunately, a bastard harmed me by deducing the flaws in my cultivation and striking a vicious blow at me, causing me to lose my cultivation strength. According to the rules of the sects, unless I find a replacement Essence Soul Venerable, my chance will be revoked."


    After saying this, the muscles on his face suddenly twitched.


    "Eh¡­ could you have no close friends?"


    Fang Yuan showed a puzzled expression.


    In the path of the Immortal Dao, wealth, relationships, techniques, and environment were all very important.


    Even notorious devils would usually have a few evil companions to mutually provide strength and overcome obstacles.


    Once even these ''companions'' deserted you, that meant you truly had a bad reputation and both paths of immortals and demons had excluded you. Unless you could use power to prove yourself and contend against the realm by yourself, you would not be able to survive on your own.


    "Am I that kind of person?" Seeing Fang Yuan''s unusual look, Cheng Fei''s hands instantly trembled vigorously as he hurriedly denied. "Although I''m not a renowned person, I''m definitely not someone without friends supporting me, such as Venerable Butterfly, Venerable Three Peak¡­ I have good relationships with them! Unfortunately, since that enemy of mine schemed against me, how could he be completely unprepared? My good friends in the sect are busy, while a few loose cultivators are acting as adjunct elders elsewhere and unable to join my sect. However, this competition requires an Essence Soul Venerable to undertake¡­"


    After Cheng Fei''s detailed explanations, Fang Yuan was clear.


    This person had both tactics and abilities. However, after he had been schemed against, he was unable to unleash his powers.


    In other words, he was in the midst of a ''tribulation''. Various powers had formed an equilibrium; once he was able to jump out from it, escape and total freedom was achieved; however, if he was unable to, he would definitely deteriorate and suffer a major setback. But at least it would not be as serious as destruction of life and body.


    At the moment, he desperately needed an external power to break the equilibrium!


    This surge of power did not need to be too great. Just a light push could break it.


    "Phew¡­"


    How profound was Fang Yuan''s intelligence? Instantly, he was able to understand almost everything. No wonder Cheng Fei would make so many compromises and list so many benefits. He has no other choice.


    If I make some casual plans, I''ll definitely benefit the greatest.


    "Sigh¡­" With this thought, a torn look immediately appeared. "Fellow Daoist, you''re really¡­ making it so difficult for me to decide¡­ I''ve cultivated after so much and was unintentionally swept into this internal strife. If there''s slight carelessness, I''m afraid I''d shatter into pieces!"


    Fang Yuan is not a fool who only focuses on cultivation. He immediately knew about the innate dangers.


    Cheng Fei''s heart turned cold, becoming helpless once more.


    He had already visited the surrounding people, but there were no other Essence Soul Venerables available.


    If not for his lack of choice, why would he keep pestering Fang Yuan?


    However, seeing that Fang Yuan had not bluntly rejected him, he became much more hopeful. "If Fellow Daoist has any other requirements, please raise them!"


    "Regarding fighting, I have some experience, and I''m not afraid of other Venerables. However, I am a loose cultivator. If I were to enter the Vast Ocean Sect¡­" Fang Yuan mentioned doubtfully.


    Once Cheng Fei realized that there was still hope, his eyes lit up as he hurriedly thumped his chest. "I can guarantee that there''s definitely no problem!"


    "In fact, I''m a recluse with no abode and don''t wish to be restrained by the sect rules. The adjunct elder route is very suitable¡­"


    Fang Yuan smiled.


    "Adjunct elder?!" Cheng Fei was stunned, but quickly nodded. "That''s alright, actually. However, if you don''t truly enter the sect, a few benefits have to be scaled down and you can''t read the Vast Ocean Heart Manual."


    "So¡­ I''m asking for Fellow Daoist''s help, right?" Fang Yuan looked at Cheng Fei with a faint smile on his face.


    "What? You want me to go against the sect rules?" Cheng Fei nearly wanted to jump.


    "An adjunct elder is also a person of the sect. You''re not crossing the bottom line¡­"


    Fang Yuan unhurriedly drank his tea, wanting Cheng Fei to skirt the issue for him. In fact, he also knew that these forces had no bottom lines when it came to truly dealing with matters.


    "You¡­" Cheng Fei was so infuriated that his face turned red. After a long while, he slumped down. "Alright¡­ I agree to your demands!"


    "Great, but you need to pay the remuneration beforehand. Before we begin the journey, I need to see the cultivation techniques first!" Fang Yuan added a requirement.


    "Of course!"


    Cheng Fei hurriedly walked away, looking as if he was about to make some preparations.Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please clickfor visiting.


    However, Fang Yuan''s gaze suddenly turned cold. "This person¡­ is definitely still hiding something. He''s indeed up to no good!"

 734 The Valley of Fallen Gods

    The harsh conditions that Fang Yuan suggested were only for probing.


    Although Cheng Fei looked like he was in a difficult situation, he promptly agreed, showing that something was amiss.


    "Hehe¡­ Although it isn''t counted as betraying the sect by giving an adjunct elder a look at the profound cultivation techniques, it firmly touches the bottom line, skirting close to the edge! Even so, Cheng Fei could still achieve it. Looks like his relationship with others isn''t bad and has great capability in this aspect. This also shows that the battle this time isn''t an easy task. It might even be life-threatening."


    Fang Yuan gave a cold expression when he realized the sinister scheme within.


    The danger here might even be higher than what Cheng Fei described!


    Of course, this could not scare nor hinder him, instead increasing his curiosity.


    "Looks like the fight to obtain the Deity Position this time has an inside story¡­"


    ¡­


    Vast Ocean Sect, within a dazzling palace.


    Abundant Spiritual Energy gathered, even forming a spiritual rain that sprinkled down, causing the surrounding unusual flora and fauna to thrive.


    "Oh? He found a scapegoat. To think that Cheng Fei could still get away this time!"


    Cross-legged on a sitting mat, a Daoist was looking at the jade slip in his hands and sighed.


    "Senior Brother! Cheng Fei has selfishly moved the inheritance jade slip. This isn''t a small crime and we can still report him!" said a female cultivator with almond eyes and rosy cheeks by his side. She was also an Essence Soul Venerable.


    "It''s useless. Since Cheng Fei dares do it, he must already have countermeasures¡­ Not to mention, that adjunct elder has already left for the Valley of Fallen Gods and won''t be able to return. The sect''s cultivation techniques weren''t leaked to outsiders either!"


    The Daoist shook his head.


    "The competition for a Deity Position has also happened before, but is there something different this time?!" Seeing her senior brother''s expression, the female cultivator was shocked.


    "Naturally¡­ Do you know what kind of place the Valley of Fallen Gods is? If the competition this time was still the same as the previous ones, why would Cheng Fei try to evade it at all cost?"


    The Daoist smiled, not saying much. "This time''s plan is considered finished, and we''ll have to let off Cheng Fei. From now on¡­ sigh, one wrong move and the whole game is lost¡­"


    The female cultivator looked pensive. "Senior Brother has unique talent. With your great foresight and planning, even Human Immortals would fall for your schemes. This time, all of Cheng Fei''s backup plans were disrupted, and even giving up the mission was a trap. We just couldn''t imagine that an Essence Soul cultivator would appear out of nowhere to save his life¡­"


    "The heavens are boundless. How can I plan for everything?"


    The Daoist sighed, looking slightly bleak.


    ¡­


    "This is the Valley of Fallen Gods?"


    After several days, Fang Yuan followed Cheng Fei and reached the mouth of a large valley.


    Based on the looks of the earth veins¡­ This valley has bad fengshui, even extremely terrible. Moreover, it seems that it wasn''t formed naturally, but was acquired afterward¡­


    Light flashed across Fang Yuan''s eyes, immediately realizing many things.


    A Dream Master''s cultivation could be considered omnipotent, with nothing left out. Not to mention, after he had awakened the specialization of Fiery Golden Eyes, he could see many things.


    As for fengshui and so on, they were generally similar. At this moment, he was using the experience he had acquired in Da Qian for the Valley of Fallen Gods. This method was flawless.


    "That''s right¡­ Elder Fang, please wait a moment. The people of our sect, the Sun Leaving Sect, and the Luo Water Sect will be arriving shortly!"


    Cheng Fei nodded and took out a few tokens. "These are the tokens for an adjunct elder and the cultivation techniques jade slip. Please take care of them properly!"


    The certifying of an adjunct elder was much more relaxed compared to a true elder. The token could be activated just by dripping blood on it, fast and easy.


    Fang Yuan could also tell that the forces of Cheng Fei''s Vast Ocean Sect were definitely not weak. Despite this, it was forced to such degree. It was obvious that their opponent was also not simple.


    Moreover, the risks in the Valley of Fallen Gods were not trivial.


    He did not activate the token, instead reaching for the cultivation techniques jade slip.


    A hint of Essence Soul power entered. Immediately, a large gate appeared and directly crashed into his sea of consciousness.


    Boom!


    At the same time, the jade slip also made explosive sounds and turned into powder.


    "The complete Vast Ocean Heart Manual is enough to cultivate all the way to Earth Immortal. How is it?" Cheng Fei said, smiling.


    "It''s truly broad and profound!"


    Fang Yuan made an emotional look. He was not worried about the jade slip exploding.


    This sect''s cultivation techniques would naturally have several insurances.


    "I have nothing to hide from Elder Fang, but there''s something you need to take note of. Aside from the cultivation techniques, there was also a restriction in the jade slip! If you spread the cultivation techniques of your own accord, it''ll immediately activate. And if you meet soul searching techniques, you''ll also automatically forget the cultivation techniques," Cheng Fei solemnly said.


    Generally, even if it was him, he could not go against the rules. Otherwise, what foundations were the immortal sects built with? The mortal world would be in chaos.


    "That goes without saying. I''m all alone, so why would I need to leak the cultivation techniques¡­" Fang Yuan smiled.


    In truth, the so-called restriction was naturally resolved when it entered his body, not affecting him one bit.


    He had the Body of Origin Power. Even if he was injured, he was also thousands of times more powerful than Earth Immortals. It would be a joke if he was harmed.


    "This Valley of Fallen Gods used to be a decent spiritual land. There were even sects that wanted to build their base here and set up a school. Unfortunately, a huge incident occurred and it became dangerous. Many terrifying and vicious monsters were born here. Occasionally, they would even come out to harm those living within a hundred kilometers. This time, we set this place as the combat location to simultaneously help eliminate the vicious spirits. It''ll also count as a merit¡­" Cheng Fei did his best to explain.


    Not long after, a white light flashed in the sky, and a large sword carrying a group of people flew over¡­


    This group of people were unexpectedly females wearing palace dresses, each ravishingly beautiful. It was as if hazy water vapor was blossoming from their pores.


    "The Luo Water Sect is here!"


    Cheng Fel nodded and went forward to welcome them. "I wonder which fairy came?"


    "Luo Water Sect''s Luo Liying greets Fellow Daoists!"


    At this time, the leading young girl walked forward and bowed respectfully toward Fang Yuan.


    "It''s her!" Cheng Fei''s voice could suddenly be heard in Fang Yuan''s ears.


    What? Is there a problem with this female? Fang Yuan thought.


    "I''ve heard of her before. She''s the talent of the Luo Water Sect. When she was eight, she underwent Qi Refinement. At ten, she achieved Stellar Malignance. She''s only 16 years old now, but she has already broken through to Essence Soul!" Cheng Fei gasped in astonishment. "To think that the Luo Water Sect actually sent this girl¡­"


    Logically, this genius was a sect''s hope and they could not wait to protect her. It should be impossible for the sect to ask this genius to risk her life in such a dangerous battle.


    "You''re¡­ the candidate of the Vast Ocean Sect?"


    Luo Liying pressed her lips into a smile as she looked at Fang Yuan.


    "That''s right. This is our new adjunct elder, Fang Yuan!" Cheng Fei introduced, not embarrassed at all.


    "Brother Fang is spirited and abundant in energy, truly outstanding. I wonder where you cultivated?"


    It was obvious that Luo Liying was very interested in Fang Yuan, and her beautiful eyes kept looking Fang Yuan up and down.


    "As someone from the wild, I can set up a cave abode anywhere in the wilderness for cultivation seclusion. I hope you don''t mind me, Fairy¡­" Fang Yuan was watertight in answering her.


    Suddenly, a red glow flashed.


    A giant, purple-gold horse carriage appeared. It was being pulled by fire-red horses that were flying in the sky and spitting black smoke. It stopped in front of the Valley of Fallen Gods.


    "It''s the people from the Sun Leaving Sect! This is their treasure, Dragon-horse Flying Carriage. Its flies ten times faster than an Essence Soul Venerable!"


    Cheng Fei nodded, looking up and down at the figures that came down from the carriage.


    "Haha¡­ So it''s Youngster Cheng and Niece Luo!"


    The one taking the lead was a dwarf less than three feet tall. However, Cheng Fei''s face changed instantly as he went forward to bow and greet, "Greetings, Human Immortal Red Sun. It''s actually you leading the team yourself. Truly unexpected¡­"


    This is a Human Immortal!


    Fang Yuan''s eyes gleamed.


    In the Spiritual Realm, cultivators were divided into True Cultivators and Immortal Cultivators.


    True Cultivators were merely Qi Refinement, Stellar Malignance, and Essence Soul. At best, they could only reincarnate.


    However, it was a step onto the Immortal Cultivator path once they ascended to a Human Immortal. From then on, their bodies would be perfect and their longevity much longer.


    Purely from the perspective of Elemental Spiritual Energy Cultivation Technique, Human Immortal is the fourth layer. With its remarkable power, a spiritual field is already nearing a Domainer''s traits. Great! With this person as the blueprint, and with reference to the Vast Ocean Heart Manual, I can completely revise the Elemental Spiritual Energy Cultivation Technique, even completely adapting to the Spiritual World''s rules!


    Of course, the Elemental Spiritual Energy Cultivation Technique only currently had five levels.


    This meant that unless he obtained higher cultivation techniques to deduce the latter realms, he could only play the role of an ''Earth Immortal Patriarch''. Even if he fully recovered, he would not be able to use his body''s strength.


    Otherwise, him being related the Mental Demon Realm would be inevitable discovered, causing unexpected trouble.


    "Haha¡­ Forget it, forget it!"


    Human Immortal Red Sun had a vermilion jade-like face, his voice like a large bell. "Luo Water Sect''s Luo Water Earth Immortal is someone I''ve always admired. To send out Niece Liyi, she must have deeply considered and be determined to win. On the other hand, the Vast Ocean Sect has always liked to do such impractical things¡­"


    To be described in such a way by a Human Immortal, Cheng Fei was ashamed but could only bitterly smile.


    At this time, another Essence Soul Venerable came down from the dragon-horse carriage. Clearly, he was a candidate for the competition, looking honest and completely ordinary. It was as though he was someone unlucky like Cheng Fei and also forced to compete.


    Suddenly, a grand voice arrived. "The three sects have arrived. The Valley of Fallen Gods can be activated!"


    Fang Yuan shot a glance and immediately saw a God that seemed to appear from thin air. His expression was strict, and he was dressed in a governmental attire, with many God officials and functionaries following behind. His ostentation had completely pushed the Immortal Dao down.


    "This is the Xi Nation''s City God? He truly possesses great strength and has the fate of Xi Nation¡­ However, it seems to be in a limited area. In Xi Nation, even an Earth Immortal couldn''t do anything to him. However, once he''s out of Xi Nation, there''s little difference from an Essence Soul Venerable!"Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please clickfor visiting.


    This Divine Dao caused Fang Yuan to think of another type of existence, Earthly Gods!


    Gods that were limited to a certain area!


    Although they could not go out in the world, they had remarkable abilities and limitless power as long as they were inside their area.

 735 In the Valley

    The Divine Dao in the Spiritual Realm ranged from the most inconspicuous nether guards and soldiers to Day and Night Patrol Gods to the Earth and River Gods. A City God was already considered quite high-ranking


    Of course, the true strength of a City God still depended on the Deity Position''s area of influence.


    For the City God of Xi Nation, he held onto a whole country''s sacrifices and possesed remarkable strength. Earth Immortals had no way to deal with him, and he could even compete against Heaven Immortals. Of course, this was provided that he was within Xi Nation.


    Once he was out of the country, his prowess would plunge. If he was even further away, he would be no different from an Essence Soul Venerable.


    Above the City God were the Mountain Gods and River Earls of famous mountains and rivers. With many Gods uniting, they could form a network of power that covered all human activity.


    This was the system of the earthly Deity Positions. If they were promoted, they would be various Gods of the stars, as well as have a position in the Heavenly Court.


    Due to the uniqueness of a Deity Position, all of the Earthly Gods were very important. Some of them even had a very ancient past and widespread worship. They did not even give face to the Celestial Thearch''s decree.


    Interesting! They''re completely different from the Gods of the Monger World!


    Fang Yuan himself held onto many Godhood rules. At the moment, he could discern several things from the City God. "Just a mere City God, but he takes charge of so much wealth and luck, has rule symbols for protection and so on, and can even judge a soul. He''s basically a combination of a God of death, protection, luck, and more¡­ What''s even more fearful is that all City Gods, even Earth Gods, are like this!"


    The Divine Dao of the Spiritual Realm was obviously different from Monger World''s. It had its own unique branding.


    These two different types of Divine Daos had similar logic, but also obvious difference. This sparked Fang Yuan''s desire to further explore.


    He was very clear that his foundation and accumulation would definitely be improved if he could be clear on the laws within.


    "Greetings, City God!" Even Human Immortal Red Sun quickly greeted him.


    Although this God was affiliated with the Divine Dao, his strength was potent. Even the Earth Immortals of the three sects would be unable to defeat him if they joined forces.


    To be willing to hand out a few Deity Positions was completely to give face to the 72 immortal sects.


    There''s truly something wrong with this Valley of Fallen Gods¡­ For the previous battles, Xi Nation''s City God only sent out a few Gods under his command. However, he actually came in person this time¡­


    At the moment, even Cheng Fei felt that something was amiss.


    "Everyone, no need for formalities!"


    This God sat upright on a chair. With just a lift of his hand, a godly light flew out into the mouth of the Valley of Fallen Gods to open a path.


    "I have already opened the barrier of this valley. Each of the three sects can have an Essence Soul Venerable enter the valley to hunt the vicious monsters. The Deity Position will finally be assigned by the amount of prey they obtain. Begin!"


    Xi Nation''s City God waved his hand again. Luo Liyi, Fang Yuan, and the Essence Soul Venerable from the Sun Leaving Sect stepped forward to bow before entering the Valley of Fallen Gods together.


    The God was truly very straightforward in doing things. There seemed to be no sloppiness in his actions.


    "While they''re battling, everyone can wait here!"


    Xi Nation''s City God released his magical strength and sealed the entrance. Promptly, the light of a domain spread, splitting apart the inside and outside.


    This was the Gods'' magic domain that could form another world. It was similar to a domain, but had many more incredible uses.


    One could say that if Xi Nation''s City God wanted to hide anything within the magic domain, even Heaven Immortals would be unable to investigate.


    "Your Majesty, please try this tea!"


    Inside the magic domain, the God functionaries became busy. They arranged spiritual tea and fruits for the City God to consume.


    They also addressed the City God very strangely. It was not a normal superior-subordinate relationship, but had the hints of a master-slave one.


    "The taste of this ''three-in-one tea'' is really better the longer you brew it! That time I had a bet with City God Wuyi, I only won a half jin of it back using 30 azure ocean moon pearls¡­"


    Xi Nation''s City God blew out steam. His every action made him seem like a real person. He was very carefree and leisurely. "With the Divine Dao, lifespans are nearly unlimited, allowing one to live in the moment and enjoy boundless wealth."


    "Yes, Your Majesty!"Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please clickfor visiting.


    The God functionaries at the side nodded continuously.


    An Essence Soul Venerable''s soul would not immediately cease existing and could reincarnate a few times. Human Immortals had firm physiques and longevity, but also had limits.


    On the other hand, even the most unremarkable God had no problem living for hundreds or even thousands of years as long as there were no external factors or their incense did not halt.


    Moreover, the Gods did not need to cultivate. Aside from managing their work, it would be to enjoy life.


    In fact, in the aspects of enjoying life, many Immortals and patriarchs might not be comparable to a mere City God.


    "And for this small matter, why trouble Your Majesty to personally go into action? The three sects only sent out Human Immortals and Essence Souls. We could do it casually and still be able to manage the situation!" said a God functionary by his side ingratiatingly.


    "You don''t understand¡­" Xi Nation''s City God smiled profoundly. "Tossing out some low Deity Positions to attract battles between the immortal sects is just a method¡­ but it''s different this time!"


    He looked toward the Valley of Fallen Gods, his gaze suddenly unhappy. "Do you know¡­ why this place is called Fallen Gods?"


    "Fallen Gods, fallen Gods¡­ could there have been Gods passing away here?"


    A few subordinates were slightly horrified.


    "Not bad¡­ Moreover, it was the great God, Lord Bright Jade, who had a heavenly noble title!"


    Lord!


    Only the Celestial Thearch could bestow this title. A God with this title would be much higher and more brilliant than a City God.


    Xi Nation''s City God leaked a huge secret. "In the past¡­ Lord Bright Jade had passed away here, transforming the environment and causing a wasteland. Even I can''t go in. Although the restriction has now weakened, only those in Essence Soul, which are like low-level Gods, can go in¡­ However, I recently secretly altered fate and devoted myself to divination. I discovered that the power of the restriction has loosened and apparently reached the time when the inheritance is born!"


    "In that case¡­ why let the True Cultivators in?" A few God functionaries were shocked.


    "This is obviously the idea of the higher-ups¡­" The expression of Xi Nation''s City God was solemn. He pointed to the sky and said, "I couldn''t understand beforehand, but after seeing the three that entered the valley, I can slightly understand what upper management is thinking. Among the three Essence Soul Venerable that entered the valley, the representative of the Vast Ocean Sect is only a scapegoat; the representative of Sun Leaving Sect is a wolf in sheep''s skin, but is nothing much; only Luo Liyi has very good luck and fate with Lord Bright Jade¡­ Only she can possibly attract the inheritance and cause it to voluntarily appear!"


    The inheritance''s appearance would cause the protection restriction outside to be flawed. This would be everyone''s chance.


    And among those outside, none could compare to Xi Nation''s City God.


    "I see. Your Majesty will most certainly obtain the inheritance of Lord Bright Jade and promote once more!"


    A few God functionaries solemnly nodded. At the same time, they had hope in their eyes.


    Lord Bright Jade was a great God of the Heavenly Court. There might be that Deity Position in the inheritance.


    Of course, they could not desire that, but Lord City God would obtain the greatest advantage. Even if he gave a peanut to them, it would be enough to enjoy.


    ¡­


    At the same time, within the Valley of Fallen Gods.


    Although the Valley of Fallen Gods looked like just a mountain valley on the outside, the inside was very spacious. Moreover, it seemed to have a spatial shifting ability.


    Once he entered the valley, Fang Yuan was instantly separated from the two competitors from the Sun Leaving Sect and Luo Water Sect and was transported to a grass plain.


    Here, there were groups of black mountain goat-like monsters. They were brimming with a ferocious air as they surrounded him.


    These mountain goat monsters were as tall and large as a cow or horse. They had black bodies and scales. There was a slight bump in between their brows, as though a third eye was growing there.


    Of course, the most drastic difference from mountain goats was that they grew sharp teeth, and they were unexpectedly chewing on raw meat.


    "They are indeed vicious monsters!"


    Even as an Essence Soul Venerable, it would also be very dangerous if he was surrounded by such a large group of vicious monsters.


    However, Fang Yuan placed his hands behind his back, seemingly having no fear at all.


    Ignoring the nature of his Body of Origin Power, just with the material he had just obtained, it was enough to supplement his Elemental Spiritual Energy Cultivation Technique and give full play to the strength of an Earth Immortal!


    The vicious monsters could obviously not see this.


    "Most importantly¡­ the formation of these vicious monsters, as well as this weird space, seems to contain a big secret! It actually restricts existences above Essence Soul from entering, but of course, this doesn''t affect me."


    With a thought of Fang Yuan, a spiritual field was released, having a hint of the God''s magic domain. Instantly, all the vicious monsters stopped moving, as though they had become sculptures.


    He waved his hand again, and a black mountain goat was sent before him. Its skin and veins were separated as he traced its origin¡­


    "Hmm? This vicious monster seems to have evolved from the contamination of some form of magical strength¡­"


    Fang Yuan eyes glistened and strengthened his technique.


    Ping! Ping!


    Suddenly, all the monsters exploded. The blood mist spread and was then continuously concentrated to form a blood ball.


    Shortly after, a scene of ruin appeared.


    It was a terrifying warzone. Who knew how many Immortals and Gods had fought and fell like meteors.


    In between the meteors, a sparkling and translucent jade body had also fallen down from the sky, landing upright in the depths of the Valley of Fallen Gods.


    The God''s blood had splattered and landed on the mountains, rivers, plants, and the beasts. They suddenly evolved¡­


    "So this is the truth behind the Valley of Fallen Gods?"


    Fang Yuan withdrew his spiritual will. "It seems that¡­ the inheritance of this Lord Bright Jade is still lying somewhere deep within the Valley of Fallen Gods!"


    ¡­


    "Kill! Kill! Kill!!!"


    At another side of the Valley of Fallen Gods, the Sun Leaving Sect''s good-natured Essence Soul Venerable had unleashed his murderous nature once in the valley.


    Many white bone giant birds called out as they dived, but were immolated by a large crimson red flag in his hands, finally leaving nothing behind.


    "Hehe¡­ What''s a mere low-level Deity Position? The sect has sent a secret message that there''s a huge lucky chance here. There''s even a heavenly noble title! This is something so great that even the Earth Immortals and Heaven Immortals want to snatch it. If I can obtain it, I''ll immediately be promoted!"


    This cultivator''s eyes glimmered with greed. His drive was the secret treasure, charging all the way forward.


    Suddenly, the front opened up as he reached a plain.


    Many black monsters with goat heads and human bodies were standing upright and staring at him with their blood-shot eyes. They exposed their ferocious glare.


    "E-Essence Soul? So many¡­ Why is there a hint of nether guards on these monsters? Unless they''re the spirit guards kept by a highly skilled existence?"


    This cultivator''s face, which was originally arrogant and wild, changed immediately. He felt goosebumps on his back.


    Although he had the protection of a secret treasure, he was still in Essence Soul! If there were too many ants, they could even kill an elephant!

 736 Successor

    "I was born to bear the Jade Spirit. When I was born, my mouth contained Five Colors Spiritual Jade. Master said that I would have fate with jade my whole life, and I can try my luck in the Valley of Fallen Gods!"


    Compared to Fang Yuan and the Sun Leaving Sect''s unlucky lad, Luo Liyi''s journey was rather smooth.


    She strolled through the valley casually, not even encountering a vicious monster. Instead, she discovered many exotic flowers and plants, some that Human Immortals and Earth Immortals would be envious of.


    "This is¡­ Green Mythical Jade Grass, the main ingredient to produce the Cultivate Element Pill. Even Essence Soul Venerables can use it.


    "There''s also such a large block of Cold Jade Essence. With just a few grams, the magical weapon forged by it will be cold for a great length of time, being advantageous in battle.


    "This is¡­ Bury Jade Flower?"


    Luo Liyi looked at a colorful jade stone-like flower. Even though she had been pleasantly surprised before, she could not help but widen her eyes. "This is not a spiritual material anymore, but an immortal material. Even Heaven Immortals would have a use for it. Even if I can''t use it, there will still be many benefits if I bring it back for the sect!"


    She looked around and did not see the trace of any vicious monsters. She walked forward and extended her hands to hold the flower roots gently.


    Kaboom!


    Suddenly, a restriction was activated and space rotated.


    Luo Liyi was immediately shifted. When she came to her senses, she was already in an unusual space. There was a giant palace in front of her, and above, a few Flower Bird Yunfor visiting.


    Like the cry of a jade chime, a great and powerful voice directed transmitted into Luo Liyi''s ears. The entire palace seemed to be enhanced in its beauty.


    "You''re¡­ the owner of this palace?!" Luo Liyi''s pupils contracted.


    "Indeed. I am Lord Bright Jade and not some Evil God!"


    "A righteous God from the Heavenly Court¡­" Luo Liyi''s expression changed and immediately bowed. "Greetings, Senior. I have seen Senior''s name in ancient books before¡­ is Senior perhaps trapped here? If there''s anything I can do to help, I''ll definitely help to the best of my ability!"


    "Hehe¡­ You don''t have to probe for anything. I''ve already passed on, and this is only a part of my will. It isn''t even counted as the remnants of my soul. I don''t have any bad intentions, and even if I wanted to, I can''t even take control of the residence," said Lord Bright Jade''s will, completely honest. "My mission is to find a successor for Lord Bright Jade. Now, you have finally arrived."


    "Successor?"


    Luo Liyi''s fine eyes glistened. I am from the Immortal Dao, but Lord Bright Jade was a great God, even possessing a heavenly noble title. Any Earth Immortal that obtains his Deity Position would rise to the heavens. Even Heaven Immortals would be attracted!


    "But why me?" She was straightforward. "There''s a difference between Gods and Immortals¡­ If you wanted a successor, there are naturally many Gods to choose from, even the City God outside."


    "This is because¡­ you are my descendent!"


    Lord Bright Jade''s will said bluntly, "You were born with a hint of innate Jade Spirit. Do you know where it came from? When I fell, a hint of my essence leaked and wandered between the heavens and the earth. After who knows who long, it merged with the power of creation and coincidentally landed on you. Thus, you can be counted as my descendent!"


    "So that''s it!" Luo Liyi''s body shook. "No wonder I feel an indescribable familiarity here!"


    She did not doubt her own senses at all, believing most of what Lord Bright Jade''s will said.


    "Alright, what should I do now?" She made a prompt decision.


    "Great! I''ll help you. Before I fell, I endeavored to enhance this palace because I was thinking of bestowing it to a fated descendant. The restrictions in the Bury Jade Palace won''t be effective to you. You can walk non-stop to the main hall. There, I will open up Lord Bright Jade''s true inheritance. In it contains my lifetime experience as well as Deity Position¡­ But you have to be careful. The refinement of a Deity Position is extremely difficult, and once the center of the main hall is activated, I can''t be distracted. The restrictions outside will stop, and that waiting City God will come in. You don''t have much time!"


    Lord Bright Jade''s will made a clean breast of everything.


    "No wonder¡­ Xi Nation''s City God is a senior who enjoys his luxurious life. So that''s why he came here today! Is there a way out?"


    "There''s no way. The only way is to be fast! Although the restrictions outside will vanish, the remaining power will be enough to stop the City God for some time. You need to absorb everything before he arrives and then urge the heart of the Bright Jade Shifting Large Array to escape!"


    Lord Bright Jade''s will said, "So? Do you dare gamble?"


    "Why wouldn''t I dare?" A smile bloomed on Luo Liyi''s face. "I am the successor that Lord Bright Jade has chosen and have innate Jade Spirit in me. With this and your help, I''d let myself down if I didn''t take what was given by the heavens! This is my test. If I can''t even pass such a simple obstacle, how could I cultivate to become a Heavenly Lord?"


    "You want to be promoted to a Heaven Immortal? My title of being Noble Bright Jade is comparable to Heaven Immortals," Lord Bright Jade''s will said. "But you are the successor. Whatever you want. You can use my treasures as you wish."


    "Alright, let''s go into the mail hall now!"


    Luo Liyi ''s foot slid against each other as she pounced into the Bury Jade Palace.


    ¡­


    Buzz Buzz!


    The palace continually roared as different brilliances escaped, transforming into white, red, gold, green, and other colors as they slowly rose.


    At the heart of the brilliance, a giant golden jade hall appeared.


    "This¡­ the restriction is broken? Not only at few places, but completely vanished¡­"


    Outside the Valley of Fallen Gods, within the magic domain.


    Xi Nation''s City God stood up in amazement, toppling the table. Delicious food scattered all over the ground. "Someone is inheriting Lord Bright Jade''s Deity Position? There really is one of those three Essence Soul Venerables that can proceed to this step?!"


    He waved his hands and the magic domain vanished. His whole body became a ray of golden light that lunged toward the Valley of Fallen Gods.


    "Lord God?"


    This scene caused those of the three sects outside to be stunned.


    "Looks like something shocking must have happened in the Valley of Fallen Gods. I''m concerned about my disciple, so I''ll make a move first!"


    The eyes of the Human Immortal Red Sun moved, summoning the dragon-horse carriage. It followed closely, fast as lightning.


    Old man, who doesn''t know that you''re concerned about the treasure¡­ This Valley of Fallen Gods truly isn''t to be underestimated. A lucky chance was probably born here!


    Cheng Fei scolded in his heart, but was a little hesitant.


    He was only an Essence Soul Venerable. He did not have any possible advantages no matter who he was up against, Xi Nation''s City God or Human Immortal Red Sun.


    "Cheng Fei!"


    At this time, what felt like a vast ocean flew over from the east, its wave surging forth.


    As the vast voice transmitted, the blue ocean instantly vanished and transformed into a precious blue pearl.


    "Vast Ocean Pearl? The sect treasure? It''s already been refined by Master into a body outside the body?"


    Cheng Fei was shocked and immediately bowed.


    The blue Vast Ocean Pearl seemed to have an ocean inside. Light flashed, turning into an elder wearing a broad blue gown. "Right now, the treasure is unearthed and the radiance that shot into the sky could be seen from fifty kilometers away. I had already divined that the inheritance of the Heavenly Court''s Lord Bright Jade was going to be born and originally gave you this chance, Cheng Fei. Although it was risky, you might''ve able been to ascend to the heavens in a single step. But you''re afraid of death and actually found an outsider!"


    "Ah¡­ I didn''t know Master''s intention. It''s a crime!" Cheng Fei kneeled down in terror, truly feeling regretful.


    "Forget it! But my sect still has a fallen adjunct elder in the valley. This is also fate. As the sect master, I also have a responsibility to save him!" said the Vast Ocean Sect''s sect master, and then glanced at the people of the Luo Water Sect.


    This was the rules of how the righteous acted.


    Now that a mystery of the heavens appeared, that treasure would logically end up with Luo Liyi. Even if someone wanted to snatch it, they had to be a famous master.


    Having a fallen disciple in the valley was just an excuse!


    As for whether that person was adjunct elder Fang Yuan or core disciple Cheng Fei, it did not make much difference.


    Cheng Fei looked on in respect, but in his heart, he trembled coldy.


    "Hehe¡­ Curmudgeon Vast Ocean, you''re really sly, but the Sun Leaving Sect''s Earth Immortal performance was uglier. One of their Earth Immortal incarnations has already entered the valley."


    Within the female disciples of Luo Water Sect, someone''s face changed suddenly, a painful look appearing before smiling adorably.


    "Good¡­ Sect Master''s emotional possession divine power has improved again!" Curmudgeon Vast Ocean complimented.


    "Not as good as our cooperation, right? As long my disciple Liyi can inherit, the other benefits will be divided up and given to you," said the smiling Luo Water Sect''s sect master.


    "Haha¡­ we''re all part of the Immortal Dao. Looking out for each other is an unshirkable duty!"


    Curmudgeon Vast Ocean''s eyes rotated. No one knew what he was on his mind, but he actually agreed with a smile.


    ¡­


    "Hmm? The restriction disappeared?"


    Within the Valley of Fallen Gods, the other two could better feel the difference.


    Casually touring, Fang Yuan stopped and promptly saw the haze vanish. He clapped his hands. "I initially thought that I''d need to calculate for a short time before I could enter the heart. I didn''t expect¡­ that you''d deliver it over yourself."


    Roar! Roar!


    Aw! Aw!


    At the moment, large amounts of vicious monsters were surrounding him, releasing a terrifying murderous air.


    Even if it was an Essence Soul Venerable, it would be extremely dangerous if they met this situation.


    This was of course set up purposely by Lord Bright Jade. Although the restriction was lifted, he deliberately attracted large amounts of vicious monsters to kill the others.


    After all, these two Essence Soul Venerables were closest to the Bury Jade Palace. It would be a little troublesome if they were near the palace when it was time to inherit.An ancient Chinese font.

 737 Compete

    "How is this possible?"


    The Sun Leaving Sect''s Essence Soul Venerable kept waving his large flag and emitting fierce flames. When he finally escaped the siege of the goat-headed humans, the fog in front of him dispersed before he could catch his breath. He took in the sight of his surroundings.


    The exotic flowers and plants did not immediately catch his eyes. Most conspicuous were the several vicious monsters with bad intentions that had surrounded him as soon as they saw him.


    Although there were only a few, he felt more afraid compared to the previous goat demon army.


    This was because these monsters were at Essence Soul, especially the one like a hill. Its presence was unpredictable and deep, just like a Human Immortal''s!


    "I''m an Essence Soul Venerable and have an exceptional treasure to protect me for the task this time. H-How could I possible die here?"


    This Essence Soul was not resigned and continuously waved his large flag. Instantly, black smoke rose and flames swept.


    Unfortunately, this struggle was futile.


    After a moment.


    "I hate¡­"


    Following the bellow of an unwilling voice, a sudden large explosion was heard.


    In the mess, an Essence Soul wrapped in a flag wanted to fly away.


    At this time, the hill-sized monster snorted loudly.


    With the snorting sound, alternating yellow and white lights swept through. One of them stretched out while another contracted to hook onto the Essence Soul and his treasure before swallowing them. Just like that, not another sound was heard¡­


    ¡­


    "Looks like this lousy place truly has many secrets. At least there''s someone managing it, and it has attracted quite a bit of greed¡­"


    Fang Yuan knew the secrets of the Valley of Fallen Gods and the petty maneuvers of the three sects.


    "However, letting me have the initiative was a huge mistake on your part!"


    Roar! Roar!


    Aw! Aw!


    The vicious monsters surrounding him howled and suddenly charged forward, as if they had received a command.


    Even Human Immortals would not be able to escape from this battle!


    "Elemental Spiritual Energy Cultivation Technique''s fourth layer is spiritual field, from external to internal, and Vast Ocean Heart Manual trains the body, from internal to external. However, the fifth layer, Earth Immortal, is indistinctly interlinked."


    Fang Yuan waved his hands and a domain formed.


    This was the Elemental Spiritual Energy Cultivation Technique''s fifth layer Earth Immortal domain! After his improvements, it was flawlessly compatible with the Spiritual Realm.


    "Open!"


    Instantly, an invisible power field opened. Even the Human Immortal vicious monsters were fixed onto their spot, utterly motionless.


    Fang Yuan strolled within the circle of vicious monsters, and when he found a node, he ruthlessly tore it with both hands.


    Kaboom!


    Stone collapsed, the ground vibrated, and the mountains shook.


    A precipice crumpled to reveal a giant cave in the stomach of a mountain containing a colorful palace that appeared to be paved purely with jade stones.


    "Bury Jade Palace?"


    Fang Yuan smiled lightly and stepped in!


    Kaboom!


    The entire Bury Jade Palace vibrated as the remaining restrictions were immediately activated!


    "This isn''t good!"


    In the Golden Jade Hall, Lord Bright Jade''s will instantly discovered the intruder. "An Earth Immortal? I didn''t think that the Vast Ocean Sect would be so deceitful and allow an Earth Immortal Patriarch to disguise as an ordinary Essence Soul Venerable. He also passed through the restriction at the valley mouth?!"


    Initially, he only thought that the Vast Ocean Sect would at most have petty actions like the Sun Leaving Sect, such as bringing multiple treasures or talismans.


    But he did not think that the Vast Ocean Sect was so insane and ridiculous. It did not obey the rules and actually wanted to achieve its aim through underhanded methods. Under everyone''s eyes, it actually sent an Earth Immortal Patriarch in!


    "What to do? What to do?"


    Lord Bright Jade''s will was very anxious as it glanced once at the palace center.


    There was a jade chair emanating a five-colored brilliance, and Luo Liyi was sitting upright on it. Her body appeared as if had opened a hidden acupoint and was continuously emitting divine light.


    "She still needs the time it takes three incense sticks to burn to be able to completely refine the Deity Position and receive my body''s greatest treasure."


    Lord Bright Jade''s will moved again and opened up a few lit mirrors. On them appeared a few figures.


    One of them was a golden divine light that was unexpectedly Xi Nation''s City God. It was as fast as lightning, and close behind was the Dragon-horse Carriage. Following quickly behind them were Curmudgeon Vast Ocean and the Luo Water Sect''s Earth Immortal.


    "Is using more power the only way to defeat them? But it won''t be quick enough¡­ At most, it''ll cause the people behind to fight chaotically. However, this Earth Immortal was sly from the start and managed to blend in when entering valley and has a head start¡­"


    Kaboom!


    The Golden Jade Hall vibrated violently. In front of the wildly dancing lightning, a human figure with fluttering long sleeves blocked the lightning and walked out slowly.


    "Impossible. Even an Earth Immortal can''t break through the restrictions this quickly!"


    Although the power of the restrictions in Bury Jade Palace drastically decreased with the activation of the heart of Golden Jade Hall, Lord Bright Jade''s will had calculated that it would be enough to temporarily stall Xi Nation''s City God and buy enough time for Luo Liyi to refine the Deity Position and escape.


    However, the Earth Immortal before him was currently able to overcome the restrictions as if they were made of paper and could be torn easily.


    "Ninety-nine Golden Jade Array!"


    Outside the Golden Jade Hall, Lord Bright Jade''s will bet it all. A golden radiance rose with the luster of jade appearing to be the essence.


    "So there''s still part of a dead will haunting¡­"


    Fang Yuan laughed lightly and both hands ripped.


    Whoosh!


    The Golden Jade Array was instantly torn open like cotton.


    "So easily¡­ Although your cultivation is only at Earth Immortal, your realm is at least Heaven Immortal!"


    Lord Bright Jade''s will wavered. After all, he was the remnants of what used to be a great character of the Heavenly Court; he still had an eye for such things. "Since you''re the incarnation of a Heaven Immortal, you should know the rules. Aren''t you afraid of the Heavenly Court punishing you if you snatch my heavenly title?"


    "Too noisy!"


    If the person who came was a sect master of the 72 immortal sects, they would also hesitate a little when they heard these words.


    However, Fang Yuan did not have any inhibitions and grabbed with his large hands.


    In the air, the formless will was suppressed by his domain and appeared as a golden ball of light in his hands, a hazy face indistinctly appearing in the middle.


    "Gods who are already dead always like to cause trouble!"


    Fang Yuan sneered.


    Gods also had an advantage in this aspect.


    Even if they were dead for tens of thousands of years, they might not truly die. If there were people worshiping, they might still be able to reveal their abilities.


    After all, they had completely turned into a different lifeform, or in other words, it was uncertain if they were still the same person after being deified through nomological fusion.Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please clickfor visiting.


    This was the tragedy of nomological transformations. Of course, it was how the Immortal Dao held the advantage.


    He charged into the main hall and quickly saw Luo Liyi on the God''s throne.


    "If she inherits the Deity Position, I''m afraid she''ll be imparted with everything that belonged to Lord Bright Jade. Although her intention wasn''t so, she might not be her original self in the future, and it''ll be difficult to tell when that time arrives¡­"


    After conquering Lord Bright Jade''s will, the entire Bury Jade Palace started collapsing.


    Without further ado, Fang Yuan struck. The huge domain''s power opened and shook the Deity Position.


    "How dare you?!"


    On the God throne, Luo Liyi''s skin was glowing as sparkling as jade. No! She had really transformed into jade stone. She opened her eyes and emitted a divine light as well as a great threatening aura!


    "Have she already been influenced?" Fang Yuan sneered. "Even if it was the living Lord Bright Jade, why wouldn''t I dare? Get down!"


    Boom!


    In the air, the five-colored brilliance cracked layer by layer. Luo Liyi appeared dumbstruck as she felt a boundless power surge toward her and become a large hand that directly pulled her down from the God throne.


    Smack!


    Influenced by this, the refining process was immediately interrupted. The backlash arrived and caused her to spit a mouthful of blood.


    Plop!


    Her blood was as green as jade. When it landed on the ground, it solidified into green jade. This was the rumored ''Firmament Jade Blood'' that only superior Gods possessed.


    Although the process was interrupted, she had clearly gained many advantages.


    "This is¡­ Bury Jade Palace?"


    At this time, another explosion occurred in the mountain heart. Multiple paths appeared and Xi Nation''s City God directly flew in.


    Everyone who came later had an advantage as Fang Yuan had taken the lead and also captured Lord Bright Jade''s will. At least, Xi Nation''s City God was not blocked by the restrictions and could smoothly reach the Golden Jade Hall.


    Once he saw Fang Yuan holding the Deity Position, Xi Nation''s City God exploded. "Outrageous! How dare you covet my Divine Dao''s heavenly noble title?"


    He waved his hands and numerous nether soldiers and generals flew out from his sleeves to form a battle array. The army''s baleful aura charged up into the sky and transformed into a vicious monster. It roared and then pounced in for the kill.


    "You''re¡­ Vast Ocean Sect''s adjunct elder?"


    In the dragon-horse carriage that followed close behind came a shocked and angry voice, "Your Vast Ocean Sect disobeyed the rules!"


    Now the Vast Ocean Sect will have to bear the consequences even though it has nothing to do with it. Cheng Fei will also be unlucky, at least being called dumb¡­


    Fang Yuan laughed in his mind. That old rascal had bad intentions and wanted to pull him in as a scapegoat. This was retribution.


    His hands did not stop moving as they directly grabbed the Deity Position.


    Kaboom!


    The five colored jade exploded into light and the power of resistance arrived.


    He was not the successor chosen by Lord Bright Jade, and it would naturally be smooth. However, Fang Yuan did not care and forcefully refined it. "Come!"


    The Deity Position immediately transformed into a ray of flowing light that entered his body along with countless memory fragments.


    "This person is seeking death. Even if he''s an Earth Immortal, he won''t be able to stop me and refine the Deity Position at the same time! When the Deity Position revolts in his body, I''ll destroy both his body and soul!"


    Gold light flashed across Xi Nation''s City God''s eyes, and the vicious monster roared, its movement even faster.


    "Curmudgeon Vast Ocean!"


    At this time, the last two Earth Immortals from the other two sects arrived. Instantly, the Earth Immortal of the Luo Water Sect looked vigilantly at Curmudgeon Vast Ocean and moved away from him.


    "Fairy, I have no idea what this is about. This person has no connection with my sect!"


    Curmudgeon Vast Ocean was numb, scolding Cheng Fei in his heart. If he was standing in front of him right now, Curmudgeon Vast Ocean would have even crushed his disciple''s heart.


    Where did he find this scapegoat? He had obviously attracted a tiger!


    To show his sincerity, he immediately attacked. Behind him, the illusion of the Vast Ocean Pearl shone and transformed into powerful boundless strength that rumbled toward Fang Yuan at the center of the hall.


    With ill intent, the various Gods and Earth Immortals worked together in a rare moment, all having the same goal: to get rid of that lawless guy in one strike while he was refining the Deity Position and affected by the backlash!

 738 Wound

    "Bold mortal, you dare scorn the majesty of the Heavenly Court and forcefully covet the Deity Position!!!"


    Once the Deity Position entered his body, it instantly emitted a great power.


    The memories converged, even becoming a majestic God with a jade-like body in Fang Yuan''s mind. He was wearing royal robes and had a thunder-like voice.


    This was the backlash of forcefully refining the Deity Position!


    Luo Liyi''s previous condition was only a slow process. Even though Fang Yuan had interrupted it, the backlash was not very strong, merely having her Qi and blood churn.


    However, this was totally different. The dignity and will contained in the Deity Position wanted to damage Fang Yuan''s sea of consciousness and make him die a tragic death!


    The only benefit to succeeding was that the Deity Position would be immediately suppressed. It could be said that Fang Yuan had chosen a method that others saw as the most troublesome.


    However, he had his own reasons.


    Just when the God in Fang Yuan''s sea of consciousness wanted to unleash his power, his face revealed shock. "What¡­ is this?"


    As this was the Spiritual Realm, Fang Yuan could not display origin power even if he was completely healed. This was to prevent attracting a truly powerful existence.


    However, in his body, there was no such constraint. He quickly moved a thread of origin power.


    Kaboom!


    This origin power was like a wicked dragon, directly transforming into huge waves and drowning the jade-colored God.


    "Ahhh¡­ this¡­ Mental Demon Realm¡­ You''re a monster from the Mental Demon Realm!" the God exclaimed.


    Unfortunately, he could not even block for a second before turning into a green symbol that was suppressed at the bottom of Fang Yuan''s sea of consciousness. Then a large amount of memories surfaced. They were Lord Bright Jade''s life experiences and much of what he had left behind.


    Of course, most important was still the key to activating the array!


    In a split second, the Deity Position was suppressed!


    Fang Yuan raised his head and glanced at the God and Earth Immortals.


    Although he could eliminate them with just a casual move, he would have to use origin power.


    Since he could not do so at the moment, he used a spell and an Earth Immortal''s strength was recklessly unleashed. "Huge changes in the world! Bright Jade Shift, rise!"


    A white jade alter instantly appeared beneath him.


    This was the final escape technique that Lord Bright Jade had left for his successor, the Bright Jade Shift Array!


    Kaboom!


    White light enveloped Fang Yuan and he immediately disappeared on the spot.


    The next moment.


    They attacked, destroying the Golden Jade Palace.


    Within the airborne jade scraps, shocked and lifeless faces were revealed. "Impossible!"


    "My Deity Position!" Xi Nation''s City God''s eyes were blood-red, quickly staring at Curmudgeon Vast Ocean. "Your immortal sect better give me an explanation, or else I''ll report it to the Heavenly Court!"


    "That Earth Immortal isn''t someone from the Vast Ocean Sect!"


    Curmudgeon Vast Ocean was too heartbroken for tears.


    ¡­


    Somewhere an unknown distance from the Valley of Fallen Gods.


    A light flashed in the air and countless lines gathered, distorted¡­ before finally forming a white jade alter.


    Space shattered and Fang Yuan''s figure materialized.


    "This place¡­"


    He looked around¡ªsteep cliffs and alarmed animals. It was apparently somewhere deep in a boundless forest.


    "To his descendent, Lord Bright Jade was very meticulous. Unfortunately¡­ he was too smart for his own good. In the end, I obtained the advantages!"


    To Fang Yuan, a heavenly noble Deity Position was nothing. It was simply something used to understand the secrets of this realm''s Divine Dao through the Divine Dao Decree.


    What was truly useful to him were Lord Bright Jade''s life experiences and memories.


    With them, he instantly became an aged antique. He was also very clear on ancient secrets, the Heavenly Court''s secrets, and the filthiness within the Divine Dao and Immortal Dao.


    This naturally provided him with great assistance in understanding the Spiritual Realm. If he were to wander the realm in the future, it was unlikely he would be recognized.


    "After the events at the Valley of Fallen Gods, they''ll likely be desperately looking for me like they were mad. They might even try divining my location, but¡­ hehe¡­"


    Once Fang Yuan thought of that, he could not help revealing the hint of a smile.


    This realm had techniques to divine as well. However, his nature was deeply hidden. With the concealment of origin power and the few clues the Gods and Immortals had obtained, they would not be able to divine anything in the end.


    "The Heaven Immortals in this realm are merely Sages, so how could they divine me? Even if it''s a Golden Immortal, which is above Heaven Immortal, it''s also unlikely¡­"


    With the memories of Lord Bright Jade, he was able to self-cultivate the Elemental Spiritual Energy Cultivation Technique beyond Earth Immortal. Fang Yuan could finally confirm that Earth Immortals were similar to the Seventh Tier Illusionary Divines of the Da Qian World. The Heaven Immortals were thus similar to Sages.


    "In fact, what Lord Bright Jade specialized in was the Divine Dao! Within the Divine Dao, it isn''t divided based on authority and Heavenly Edicts, but purely based on power. For example, Xi Nation''s City God''s strength is definitely above other average earthly City Gods, and he can be counted as a peak Earth Immortal, only below Heaven Immortal. This is completely dependent on the amount of worship and the reach of his powers¡­ And the Heavenly Court wields control over Yin and Yang, allowing them to suppress the Three Realms. The authority of the Celestial Thearch and Stellar Gods must definitely cover all of the Spiritual Realm. Really quite terrifying!"


    Lord Bright Jade had also held a high position and authority in the Heavenly Court. His battle power was comparable to a Heaven Immortal, only below some Ancient Gods and the Celestial Thearch. Thus, he was naturally remarkable.


    Everything was swallowed by Fang Yuan this time. It was a complete lost for him; on the other hand, Fang Yuan had a full stomach.


    "In the past¡­ the Mental Demon Realm had invaded the Spiritual Realm once, and the wound has yet to recover. No wonder when I was on the Terra World, the Spiritual Realm immediately cut its losses when they felt the Mental Demon Realm''s presence.


    "Even Lord Bright Jade death was related to that invasion!"


    Fang Yuan raised his head and gazed at the starry night sky.


    Around the sun, two small stars orbited. One was green; another was purple. Everywhere on the Spiritual Realm was also like this.


    Originally, he thought that it was the Spiritual Realm''s natural appearance, but he now knew that it was the realm''s wound!


    "That purple star was transformed from a foreign power the Mental Demon Realm had left when it invaded. At every moment, it is emitting an evil power. The reason why the Spiritual Realm is not decaying is completely thanks to the support of many great Gods and Heaven Immortals!"


    Fang Yuan clearly knew the horrors of the Mental Demon Realm.


    A drop of origin power could contaminate an entire world.


    And how much power did they leave in that purple star?


    "Most importantly¡­ I have origin power in my body, but I can''t sense the evil of that star at all. Solely this is very frightening!"Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please clickfor visiting.


    This point proved the strength of the Spiritual Realm. It had locked all of the origin power in the purple star, protecting the peace and stability of the Spiritual Realm.


    Otherwise, it might be even possible that all of the Spiritual Realm would change into a purgatory once the purple star exploded!


    "But the Spiritual Realm merely managed to imprison it. Every year, there would be many evil presences born on that purple star that need to be eliminated. Lord Bright Jade had died on one of those regular punitive expeditions.


    "To all Immortals and Gods of the Spiritual Realm, that place is a land of evil¡ªthe home of death¡­ But to me, that place is practically paradise!"


    Fang Yuan muttered and looked toward the purple star, his gaze filled with indescribable desire.


    Just by refining a drop of origin power, he was able to break through beyond a Sage. And in that star, how much origin power had accumulated?


    Although a characteristic of origin power was that it could endlessly multiply, that was only for the derived secondary power. The actual origin power itself was still very valuable.


    "If I was there, I would be like a fish in water¡­ Wait a minute, the Spiritual Realm heaven''s will can definitely refine that poisonous tumor. Why didn''t it do it?"


    Fang Yuan''s mind revolved and began to drift. Suddenly, he exclaimed, "That''s right! The Spiritual Realm must also treasure its own strength. Instead of consuming the realm''s natural source, why not let the Immortals and Gods under it do it? The ones that need to pay are only the heavens'' beloved. Moreover¡­ such a slow obliteration. Maybe it also saw this power as a luxurious meal and is preparing to slowly digest it!"


    Currently, Fang Yuan understood the realm''s strength much better after being promoted with origin power.


    Origin power was actually the energy of the realm''s natural source.


    And the origin power that he had refined was only that horrifying because it was the energy of the Mental Demon Realm''s natural source!


    Innately, this realm''s natural source was higher than that of the lower dimension worlds. Thus, a drop could badly damage many worlds and was nearly uncontrollable.


    Since it was the energy of a realm''s natural source, even the lower worlds could risk refining a few drops. The Spiritual Realm would also naturally be able to do so.


    "Infiltrate it! I must infiltrate it!"


    Fang Yuan looked at the purple star and made a firm decision.


    If he swallowed the power of that purple star, he might even break through his current realm and enter an even more profound realm.


    "Who would have thought that¡­ something that the high-level immortals and Gods of the Spiritual Realm want to avoid at all costs is something that I dream to possess¡­" Fang Yuan laughed bitterly and shook his head. "Getting through the Spiritual Realm''s various blockades and entering the purple star¡­ Difficult! So, so difficult!!! Looks like¡­ the first thing I need to do is create a just and honorable identity¡­"


    ¡­


    "Pfft!"


    Xi Nation, in the Vast Ocean Sect.


    Cheng Fei hung his head low and kneeled outside of a main hall.


    Not after long, many alarmed cries rang out, "It''s no good. Sect Master forcefully divined that Fang Yuan''s whereabouts and suffered a backlash. He''s vomiting blood!"


    "That traitor is actually so hard to deal with? Sect Master actually used a secret technique this time, even borrowing the sect''s accumulation, but he''s still unable to divine him?"


    "Hehe, in the end, we still have to blame that Cheng Fei!"


    ¡­


    Hearing these words, Cheng Fei''s head drooped even lower.


    Initially, to truly enter the Vast Ocean Sect, various formalities had to be completed. Most important was leaving a life-soul light in the sect. This was not for control, but a way to check the important members''s life or death.


    If there was this thing, the divination would have been much more convenient.


    Unfortunately, Fang Yuan had only agreed to be an adjunct elder, even dragging the time to do so. He had never been to the sect before, and all traces were wiped extremely clean.


    Even more so, he did not even refine the adjunct elder token!


    As such, the only clues that could be divined from were the name and appearance. It was truly the worst of scenarios, the worst.


    Until now, Cheng Fei did not even know if he had used an alias or not. He could not even confirm if his appearance was false.


    If an Earth Immortal Patriarch had a mind to do so, he could completely play him for a fool!

 739 Divine Dao

    An ordinary small village at the foot of a green hill.


    Even before the morning fog had fully parted, many farmers had already begun their journey while carrying their tools.


    There were a number of small kids that were only half as tall beside them.


    "Kid, pick up more firewood!"


    "Remember to get more nestfuls of bird eggs for your sister¡­"


    "My family''s third child is growing so fast, becoming so big. He''s eating so much that he''s making me poor¡­"


    Voices rang out while smoke billowed within the small village. A few women in modest clothes carried wooden pails and began their day of hard labor.


    As the sun rose from the east, it subtly carried a hint of purple air, while the purple star and the green star nearby faced each other, seeming to mutually offset each other with their glows.


    Everything together formed the scene of an ordinary village that could not be any more ordinary.


    They were naturally the mortals of the Spiritual Realm, the true fundamental blocks that constituted this realm.


    Although they did not know what kind of horrifying existences hung over their heads, they knew a simple rule: they had to continue working hard everyday, just like today, and maintain this tireless state without pause. Otherwise, their families would starve.


    However, within the Spiritual Realm, there were naturally differences compared to the lower realms.


    Spiritual Energy was concentrated within the heavens and the earth, allowing various demons and beasts to run abundant. Thus, even a small village like this worshiped an Earth God to obtain blessings.


    In Fang Yuan''s view, it was somewhat effective.


    Although the Earth God temple inside this village was only as large as a child''s wooden doll box, there was still a lot of burning incense.


    Looking with his Fiery Golden Eyes, he could instantly see traces of spreading magical strength forming a defensive barrier similar to thin fog, barely enveloping the entire village and giving the worshipers blessings.


    Unfortunately¡­ this power is still too weak, at most able to defend against a few wandering ghosts and dead spirits. When faced with slightly powerful ferocious beasts, it''s as good as paper¡­ Perhaps, the most important function of this Earth God is acting as a warning during a night intrusion?


    Fang Yuan''s gaze penetrated this Earth God''s thin magic domain, instantly seeing the tiny borders formed inside the Earth God temple.


    The white-bearded Earth God elder was inhaling the intent behind the incense offerings while simultaneously operating the Deity Position to bestow protection and blessings. Everything was smooth, without the slightest similarity to a cultivator''s hardships.


    Only nether spirits can enter this small magic domain. This is quite an ingenious method¡­


    Obviously, this Earth God was only inherently a nether spirit. Compared to Xi Nation''s City God that enjoyed life like a mortal, it was a stark contrast.


    Nevertheless, they did not have much disparity in their Deity Positions'' nature, both being Gods that protected an area.


    And Xi Nation''s City God was just like an ant that could be easily squashed to the current Fang Yuan.


    The reason why he observed this Earth God''s Deity Position in operation was naturally not because he had nothing better to do, but to personally observe a God operating to help disguise himself better.


    I have the Deity Position of Lord Bright Jade. Even if I don''t use it, creating a replica with the aura is already sufficient to deceive the Heavenly Gods. However, if I truly wish to assimilate, I''m afraid I''ll actually have to refine a Deity Position¡­


    Fang Yuan was already addicted to using trickery to obtain his goals.


    Previously, he had disguised himself as only an Essence Soul Venerable, bringing about rich benefits and rewards.


    This time, he was preparing to gamble big and mix his way into the Divine Dao. Naturally, it was for that purple star in the sky.


    Still¡­ this Deity Position is good to have. Once I have it, I can improve by leaps and bounds¡­ If it was the Immortal Dao instead, where a cultivator had to temper himself into a Heaven Immortal, how many days of vitality would they need to circulate? How many tribulations would they have to overcome? If every step had to be carefully planned, it''d be too troublesome.


    Although the Divine Dao had many restrictions, their key feature was rapid improvement. Some in the Immortal Dao were unhappy with this and intruded within. Thus, it could be regarded as a mixture of good and bad; even the Heavenly Court had difficulty cleaning out the unqualified Gods.


    And there had to be a succession in the Immortal Dao!


    Without warning, a Heaven Immortal suddenly jumped out from nowhere? Anyone would find it suspicious!


    Besides, Fang Yuan did not have the cultivation techniques for higher than Earth Immortal!


    If he used other secret techniques to improve his Elemental Spiritual Energy Cultivation Technique, there would inevitably be traces left behind.


    There was naturally nothing to fear from Heaven Immortals, but there were Golden Immortals in this realm that did not differ much from him!


    Furthermore¡­ there''s still another realm above Golden Immortal!


    A gleam suddenly flickered in Fang Yuan''s gaze.


    An existence on par with him would definitely see how his cultivation technique was derived, thus ostracizing him.


    Instead, it was the Divine Dao that was completely reliant on the gathered intent behind incense offerings, or perhaps the integration with the massive powers of the heavens and the earth.


    Even if there was a war, it was only using magical strength, and he still had some confidence in pulling the wool over their eyes


    If I use a more conventional analogy, an Immortal is a western sorcerer that relies on learning and researching for their livelihood and has an inheritance bloodline. Whereas a God is a Warlock whose livelihood depends on nature with immense spontaneity, Fang Yuan silently thought.


    After observing the God''s operation from the most elementary angle, he directly turned away and left.


    He would definitely not place any importance on this land even if he wanted to scheme against the Gods and deify.


    Inside the small village, fog and mist enveloped.


    The Earth God inside the temple was still highly concentrated on his work, completely unaware that an unknown existence had already walked past him.


    ¡­


    "There are multiple methods to form a God!


    "First, a God can be formed from the automatic accumulation of faith through widespread belief and sacrifice.


    "Second, a natural God formed from the accumulation of spirituality in nature!


    "Other than that, the immortal sects and Heavenly Court can similarly confer a Deity Position. However¡­ there''s something off with the immortal sect''s Decree, so only low-ranking positions can be conferred


    "The final type is formed from fallen Immortal Cultivators or mountain spirits changing cultivation paths and making use of a God Name to accumulate faith and so on. This illegal worship is severely dealt with by the orthodox parties, as their virtue is undeserving of the position. However, there''s a chance they can become legitimate¡ªtheir silver lining in the clouds."


    Fang Yuan thought further. The path that he was about to walk on was the fourth path.


    Although he had already suppressed the Heavenly Edict long ago, there was Lord Bright Jade''s Deity Position and heavenly noble title. But if he relied on this to deify, he was courting death!


    The incident of the Valley of Fallen Gods would immediately be brought up, and large-scale investigations would commence. He could not escape from a thorough investigation of his body and soul, and there was a large chance that he would reveal his true identity.


    "This path is a dead end and I can only detour. Accumulate karma, spread my reputation, and obtain a heavenly conferment!"


    What was known as heavenly conferment was the Gods in the mortal world accumulating large amounts of karma, spreading their reputation, or showcasing powerful abilities to catch the attention of the Heavenly Court to bestow them a title and increase their Deity Position.


    In Fang Yuan''s view, this was just another form of the Imperial Court''s amnesty enlistment.


    "There are all kinds of Gods that can come out of the woodwork! Among the unqualified Gods who do not get the attention of the Heavenly Court, many have complex origins¡ªfallen Gods, converters from the Immortal Dao, and the mountain spirits¡­ It''s difficult for anyone, even mighty beings, to know them all. So no matter what identity I use, I can conceal myself."


    Fang Yuan quickly decided to enter the Divine Dao and use his body to deify.


    Of course, the so-called Deity Position was simply a disguise. Something that could not even match up to a layer of skin and was at most simply a piece of clothing.


    What was true to his core was his cultivation as a Dream Master and his Body of Origin Power!


    Fang Yuan glanced at his stats window:


    "Name: Fang Yuan


    Essence: ???


    Qi: ???


    Spirit: ???


    Profession: Dream Master


    Cultivation: ??? (Untitled)


    Technique: Pangu Eagle Body [Strengthen Witch bloodline (1st Tier)], Creation Sword Array [Ninth Sword (100%)]


    Specialization: Botany [Level Six] (Maximum), Fiery Golden Eyes [Level 3], Body of Origin Power


    State: Recovery of Origin Power (80%)"


    "I''ve already recovered 80% to my peak?"


    Fang Yuan clenched his fist. At the moment, even barehanded, he had the confidence to whack a few Heaven Immortals to death.


    Of course, the Dream Master cultivation was similar to origin power, both carrying something deeply ingrained within from the Mental Demon Realm, and should only be used as a last resort.


    Furthermore, he was not even prepared to expose the five layers of the Elemental Spiritual Energy Cultivation Technique.


    ''Fang Yuan'', who had stolen and escaped with the inheritance of Lord Bright Jade in the Valley of Fallen Gods, could also be an identity for him to obtain more advantages in later battles.


    "Currently, it''s best to disguise myself as a person with a thousand faces. After stripping one layer, there''s another layer. This will make sure nobody can ever reach the secrets at the core!"


    Fang Yuan flicked his fingers.


    In order to obtain a Deity Position, he already had a plan in mind, the key information coming from Lord Bright Jade.


    This bigshot of the Heavenly Court had rich experiences throughout his life and remembered a lot of good opportunities. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please clickfor visiting.


    Some of these opportunities had yet to arrive, while some were overly dangerous, where not even Lord Bright Jade dared to probe.


    Fang Yuan reviewed it, finally finding one that was related to the Divine Dao and also recently surfaced.


    ¡­


    The four-hundred-kilometer long Surging Waves River.


    This was a vast and magnificent river passing through large nations like Qi, Zhu, and Feng.


    These nations were each a few times larger than Xi Nation and had renowned Immortals as assistants.


    In the upper reaches of the Surging Waves River, there was a section that was extremely treacherous, similar to a waterfall. The current was rapid and directly flowed downward, having the appearance of a dragon gate.


    Every year, large numbers of fish would migrate here, contending against each other to get past the dragon gate and find a suitable place upstream to lay eggs and breed.


    These fish tasted great and their innate nutrition were also abundant, especially the ones who emerged as the cream of the crop after passing through the dragon gate. They could even become spiritual ingredients!


    This was also the origin of ''carp leaping over the dragon gate''.


    And it was once again migratory season.


    Fang Yuan rode an extremely simple small boat, with only a small table with a pot of wine on it.


    Casually looking around, there were glistening glows everywhere, as if there was a huge dragon hiding beneath the water surface that occasional revealed half a claw.


    "To think that I was also once a carp¡­"


    Fang Yuan held a cup, a somewhat blurry look in his eyes.


    It was during the Water Realm when he had incarnated as a carp and at last changed tremendously, turning into a dragon and even intruding into the greatly important matters of the human realm.


    Although he had to extract his body and retreat, he still managed to obtain many benefits nonetheless.


    Any of the dream-traversing experiences in the lower realms were precious treasures in his life.


    During this slight recollection, he felt that everything that had happened before immediately became more fresh and alive.


    Splash!


    At this moment, a carp leapt out, its body like a taut bow. With a powerful jump, it jumped toward the dragon gate and left behind a long streak of water.


    Carps leaping over the dragon gate had begun!

 740 Dragon Gate

    "It is an extraordinary sight to see carp leaping over the dragon gate in the mortal world, but it''s vastly different in the Divine Dao''s view!"Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please clickfor visiting.


    A golden gleam flashed in Fang Yuan''s eyes. His Fiery Golden Eyes saw through the fabrications to instantly see traces of the Spiritual Energy veins flowing beneath the water surface.


    "In this area of the dragon gate, fengshui accumulates and continuously flows without stopping. It''s a decent land, but unfortunately¡­ due to its incompleteness, it''s as easily dispersed as it is accumulated. Thus, it hasn''t attracted the attention of any sects to build here¡­ However, Lord Bright Jade had wandered into this area and discovered a huge secret. Relying on his intuition, he specially hid an underhanded method here that transformed many spirits. Now, it''s time to harvest¡­"


    He silently looked at this. A while later, the surrounding light darkened.


    As night arrived, Fang Yuan raised his cup and saw a bright moon slowly rising.


    "A full moon rising above the sea, people in all corners of the world share this moment¡­"


    Currently, there was not only the moonlight lighting up the dark sky.


    Like bright pearls, groups of brilliances gathered in the water current and rose upward.


    "Has it finally been nurtured to maturity?"


    Seeing this, a slight smile appeared.


    Gods could be created from merging the intent behind incense offerings and could similarly be created naturally.


    As long as opportunity coincides, any popular mountain or river would have a chance of producing spirits that became a God. Moreover, due to their nature, they could instantly mobilize a magic domain''s Spiritual Energy and have tremendous power.


    Such a pure God was slightly superior to the convergence of human belief and even the titles conferred by the Heavenly Court.


    Of course, it also had its own shortcomings¡ªits Deity Position had difficulty expanding.


    "Many years ago, when Lord Bright Jade passed by the Surging Waves River, he found that fengshui accumulates at the dragon gate, with the possibility of creating a completely new Deity Position¡­ However, it had not yet fully accumulated and couldn''t truly manifest itself. He had made some secret arrangements, wanting to harvest it at a later date and grace his subordinates. Unfortunately, it''s difficult to form a Deity Position, and he instead met his demise¡­"


    Fang Yuan shook his head and sighed.


    He calculated the time, discovering that this Deity Position would fully form and manifest itself today, creating an opportunity.


    "This is the Deity Position of a River God. Although it can''t be compared to the heavenly conferment of Lord Bright Jade, it''s the same level as Xi Nation''s City God.


    "In fact, within the Divine Dao that uses power as its focus, if we divide up the Deity Positions, we can formulate nine tiers from it. The lowest is the nether soldier, while a Patrol God is slightly higher. After that, it''s a Baron, Viscount, Earl, Marquis, Duke, King, Emperor¡­"


    Fang Yuan directly substituted a hierarchy into the Divine Dao. "From this perspective, it''s likely that Xi Nation''s City God has a Deity Position equivalent to Earl, while Lord Bright Jade is a Marquis! A Marquis!"


    The phrase ''Lord Bright Jade'' was just a title from the Heavenly Court and merely a name.


    His true Deity Position was around Marquis, on par with Heaven Immortal.


    "There''s still Golden Immortal above Heaven Immortal, while there''s still Duke, King, and Emperor above Marquis!"


    Dukes and Kings were already elders of the Heavenly Court, not inferior to Fang Yuan at his peak.


    And the Heavenly Court''s ''Celestial Thearch'' was perhaps currently the only Divine Dao Emperor!


    However, the Divine Dao had a long history and had existed since antiquity. It was very possible that there was a hidden existence that could rival the Celestial Thearch!


    "Someone who has reached the position of an Emperor is definitely on the same level as the master of the Spiritual Realm¡­"


    Fang Yuan had already calculated his own position within the Spiritual realm. Although he could be considered at the pinnacle, he was not the true cream of the crop!


    The Spiritual Realm''s true peak experts were above Golden Immortal. The Divine Dao''s Emperor was perhaps on par with that existence that stole the Dream Master Dao path, and even Shang Hou lacked that final step.


    "The Deity Position that is currently agglomerating by this dragon gate is probably only an Earl, similar to the Immortal Dao''s Earth Immortal!"


    Of course, an Earth Immortal was definitely still a force to be reckoned with, so the temptations were extraordinary.


    The moment the Deity Position agglomerated, a large number of coveters would appeared.


    Whoosh!


    The water current was rapid and vigorous, and the carps thrashed about violently.


    There seemed to be two moons appearing in the sky. One was the actual bright moon, while the other was the Deity Position that was just freshly formed and nurtured to maturity.


    "Seems that this naturally created Deity Position will follow its master from birth. However, after Lord Bright Jade''s arrangements, the Deity Position has no master¡­ His original aim was to fulfill one of his subordinate''s wishes, but now it''s hopeless."


    Under the brilliance of the moonlight, Fang Yuan saw many carp leap out toward the smaller moon.


    This was the true carp leaping over the dragon gate. Once someone successfully defied, they would completely change themselves!


    Bloop! Bloop!


    The water current became even more rapid, and a giant vortex appeared. A green bull crawled out, raising its head and letting out a loud roar. It pushed past many fish and directly rolled its tongue toward the moon!


    It was a huge demon!


    With the support of the Spiritual Realm''s rich Spiritual Energy, the probability that any organism gaining intelligence and being propelled to walk the path of cultivation was greatly increased!


    Thus, within the Spiritual Realm, demon beasts ran wild!


    This green bull was a huge demon, and its cultivation seemed not inferior to Human Immortal.


    It was also attracted by the Deity Position and greedily acted.


    "What a bold bastard!!"


    Aw! Aw!


    Suddenly, the void in the horizon flickered and another two bright glows entered the battlefield.


    One of the bright glows was extremely piercing and carried a powerful Qi of Ge Metal. It was a human swordsman, surprisingly even already touching the boundaries of Earth Immortal!


    Another streak of black wind carried a stench with it, and within, the vague appearance of a huge tiger with bulging eyes could be made out.


    Evidently, these two were attracted by the undulations released by the Deity Position. Their eyes were completely red.


    Kaboom!


    Three surges of power clashed and immediately caused that small lump of moonlight to fluctuate unsteadily, having the trend of being on the verge of collapse.


    Whoosh!


    On the surface of the Surging Waves River, torrential waves and strong winds blew at the dragon gate; Stellar Malignance and Sword Qi ran rampant. The river water exploded and innumerable fish died with their bellies facing upward.


    Of course, Fang Yuan was also within the collision range.


    However, he controlled his small boat. It was completely calm three feet around the boat, regardless of what shockwaves occurred outside.


    "Really¡­ ignorant!" After seeing this, a mocking smile appeared. "It would be nothing if it''s a Deity Position conferred by the Heavenly Court or accumulated by human belief, but such a naturally formed Deity Position is in accordance with the Dao. The bestowal of godly powers by the heavens is not meant to be used for fighting violently, but to protect and maintain the operation of the rules!"


    This was the intrinsic quality of the Gods!


    Those huge demons and that swordsman were seen as expending their karma in the eyes of the heavens, plunging into an abyss of misery.


    According to the Spiritual Realm''s rules, there would immediately be tribulations descending as long as a Deity Position was inherited.


    Going along with heaven''s will would be twice the results with half the effort; going against heaven''s will would be twice the effort with half the results. The rule was this simple!


    However, Fang Yuan was also clear that there was a possibility that these fellows understood this rule. It was just that they were so blinded by profit, they acted in this manner in front of the Deity Position. Furthermore, even if they killed someone, it would be entirely remunerated by the karma in obtaining the Deity Position. Thus, they were unworried about the consequences and commenced their wild massacre.


    "Pity someone like me who has so many worries!"


    He silently sighed and stroked with his palm.


    Formless power ripples spread out. The river surface that was bubbling intensely instantly became as smooth as a mirror.


    Furthermore, the destruction caused by the fighting was constantly being smoothed over.


    "Huh?"


    "Hmm?"


    Roar! Roar!


    Such a change instantly attracted their attention.


    The human sword cultivator looked at Fang Yuan and was ecstatic as he said, "I am Wan Sanjian of the Spiritual Flying Sword Sect! Fellow Daoist, thank you for helping me obtain this Deity Position. You will be compensated in the future!"


    The other two demons had malicious intent, their gazes full of desire to slaughter, constantly scrutinizing Fang Yuan.


    "The Divine Dao focuses on protecting. You acting this way defeats the purpose. How could you obtain the recognition of a Deity Position formed by the heavens and the earth?"


    Fang Yuan shook his head and acted.


    He raised his right hand, the flash of lightning appearing on his jade-white hand. Once this was unleashed, it was incredibly forceful as it broke through the sky and frightened the heavens!


    Kaboom!


    Amid the huge explosion, the dragon gate exploded open and the rapid currents immediately slowed. The narrow river widened more than ten times.


    "Take your leave!"


    Fang Yuan snapped his fingers, and the already exhausted fish that were unable to swim upward shook their heads and wagged their tails. They traveled past the dragon gate and formed a fish bridge.


    Just this small movement has broken the dragon gate. After the fish breed this time, they''ll at least increase their population by ten times!


    Fang Yuan looked at the fish bridge with a very deep and serene expression.


    In fact¡­ a huge population increase in fish is a catastrophe for the surrounding environment. However, there are limitations with the Divine Dao itself. As long as Xi Nation''s City God deals properly with the matters in Xi Nation, everything will be fine. This Deity Position is similar. If someone is beneficial to the water life in the Surging Waves River, would outsiders matter at all?


    Strictly speaking, although what he did this time was largely beneficial for the water life and their breeding, it was in violation with the laws of nature.


    Such a violent promotion will most likely cause a catastrophe in the future¡­ Of course, there are benefits now!


    In the air, one person and two demons stood lifeless.


    What Fang Yuan did shook the heavens with just a single move, causing them to be drenched in sweat and afraid to act.


    After he opened up the dragon gate and tremendously benefited the water life, the small moon in the sky seemed to be moved and directly landed on Fang Yuan''s body, forming a lunar white imperial attire.


    A Divine Dao crown!


    This Deity Position of the Surging Waves River actually attached itself to Fang Yuan on its own initiative!


    "A just cause enjoys abundant support, while an unjust cause finds little. This is the adage¡­ To the Surging Waves River, I have a lot of karma and was voluntarily embraced by the Deity Position!"


    Fang Yuan silently calculated. "In the future, if I have a method to cause all water systems to flourish and water life to multiply, perhaps all the water Deity Positions and opportunities between the heavens and earth will voluntarily come to me!"


    "P-Physical body deification?"


    Wan Sanjian was first surprised, but a look of regret and envy soon appeared. "Terrible!"


    He had long viewed the Deity Position as something that was his. Now that it had been intercepted by someone, how could he tolerate this?


    While Fang Yuan was refining the Deity Position, there was a secretive look on his face as the Yin Lightning in his hand shot out.


    "Skyfiend Yin Lightning! Explode!"


    Wan Sanjian had a vicious smile. This was a one-time-use magic artifact that was secretly brought from his sect and extremely precious. When unleashed, its power was no small matter and sufficient to annihilate Immortals and Gods!

 741 River Palace

    Kaboom!


    The lightning ball exploded and became a bright flash of lightning that lit up the entire sky, bringing forth a mysterious Skyfiend aura sweeping toward Fang Yuan, who was currently refining the Deity Position.


    This Skyfiend Yin Lightning was a powerful weapon from a Heaven Immortal of the Spiritual Flying Sword Sect. It was a secret technique derived when he had narrowly escaped the brink of death on the Mental Demon Battlefield.


    During refinement, not only was evil lightning with Yang properties added, another secret layer was hidden within. After the lightning in the periphery shattered, the Skyfiend Qi inside exploded, representing a massive contamination to every existence in the Spiritual Realm. Furthermore, it was sufficient to cause all Earl-rank Gods to become befuddled and have Qi deviation!


    This weapon was an immensely precious treasure that he had obtained from the sect after much difficulty using his status. This time, after throwing it out, it was a long shot gamble.


    Amid the lightning, traces of obscure Demonic Qi appeared and directly latched onto the Deity Position as it was shaking. The Demonic Qi carried many aspects of the human world, containing lots of complicated emotions, in order to induce Mental Demons.


    If Fang Yuan was a true heaven and earth spirit and a naturally created God with a childlike innocent heart, he would definitely have suffered a huge disadvantage in front of this.


    However, he could not help laughing right now.


    "What Skyfiend Yin Lightning? It''s just a little Mental Demon elemental force that has been added to a lightning technique!"


    This elemental force was not origin power. The latter was the natural source of the realm, while the former was merely a derived secondary power.


    When Fang Yuan became a Dream Master, he became powerful using Mental Demon elemental force. It would be laughable if he was afraid of it.


    As he was thinking, a divine light transformed into a black hole and engulfed the Demonic Qi in an instant.


    Of course, on the surface, he still gave an expression of utmost fury and the glow on him was shaking. His aura was scattered messily, as if he had greatly suffered. "You dare!"


    "How is this possible?" Wan Sanjian shouted and turned around to flee.


    Skyfiend Yin Lightning was not easy to refine, and he only had one. In the sect records, it was able to directly annihilate an Earth Immortal!


    However, this God seemed to only suffer an injury. Drenched in sweat, Wan Sanjian immediately knew that he was definitely no match and instantly started fleeing.


    "This God is powerful. This time, I''ll admit defeat and find the sect elites to stage a comeback. At that time, I must refine this person and make him to spit out the Deity Position¡­ Outrageous! Really outrageous!"


    Wan Sanjian unleashed his lightness technique and escaped at lightning speed while being covered by a layer of sword radiance.


    Like there was a poisonous snake biting his heart, the anger he had toward Fang Yuan flowed endlessly like raging waters.


    Because even if he requested assistance from his sect, he would not be able to gain the largest share of the benefits. As long as he was not completely exploited, he could already count himself lucky.


    "Want to run?!"


    Fang Yuan transformed into divine light and was even faster than the flying sword. With a turn of his body, he was already blocking Wan Sanjian as he indifferently reached out with his right hand. A large, shiny, golden hand suddenly manifested in the air and pressed down, covering the heavens and the earth.


    What was a demeanor that covers the sky with one hand? This was it!


    Under the pressing of the giant hand, all of Wan Sanjian''s hopes were dashed, and he could not find any way to escape the despair in his heart.


    "Flying sword!"


    In his final struggle, he released a spiritual sword that used his life as the price. It transformed into a ray of light that shot at the giant hand.


    Clang!


    The dull sound of metal clashing rang out. The momentum of the flying sword stopped and brightly colored divine light instantly swept upward. Wan Sanjian immediately felt his connection with the flying sword break, spitting out a mouthful of blood.


    The large hand covering the sky mercilessly landed as if it was going to squash him like an ant.


    "No! You can''t kill me!" Wan Sanjian''s hair was disheveled. "I am a direct disciple of the Spiritual Flying Sword Sect and have an Intrinsic Sword Tablet inside the sect. Killing me is equivalent to becoming enemies with the entire sect!"


    The Spiritual Flying Sword Sect was one of the 72 immortal sects, and its position was near the top. They possessed more than one Heaven Immortal elder!


    It was merely a casual task for them to annihilate an Earl-rank God that had no backing.


    "So what?" Fang Yuan laughed coldly. "Bringing up your backing, you''re obviously trying to show me that your identity is honorable and there''ll be severe consequences if you are killed. However, I don''t care at all. There''d no difference even if you brought up the Heavenly Court or the 33 large sects!"


    "You lunatic!"


    Wan Sanjian felt regretful for the first time. He should not have messed around with this lunatic.


    Unfortunately, this revelation came too late.


    The next instant, the large hand descended from the sky like a five-fingered mountain and squashed him flat. Divine light shot out in all directions and annihilated his divine spirit without leaving anything behind.


    This scene frightened the two large demons so much that they started urinating uncontrollably.


    The green bull did not even dare release a single fart and directly sank into the depths of the water, while the demon tiger escaped for its dear life as it swept up a gust of black wind.


    After they saw Fang Yuan''s ferocity, how could they have any thoughts of contending with Fang Yuan?


    "After disturbing me, you want to run?"


    Fang Yuan waved his hand and two golden chains flew out.


    He did not manage them and went directly to the riverside. Standing with his hands behind his back, he appreciated the tenfold expansion of dragon gate and fish bridge.


    Not long later, the two demons arrived dejectedly before Fang Yuan. A golden nose ring was hung on the green bull''s nose, and there was a chain added onto the black tiger''s neck.


    "The two of you were previously up to no good. Now, you''ll be punished severely for your crimes and work as mounts for me!"


    Fang Yuan''s calculations were clear and saw traces of Lord Bright Jade''s arrangements on these two large demons.


    In the words of the Spiritual Realm, these two demons were fated with him.


    When he saw the bright glow and stubborness in the eyes of these two huge demons, he laughed. "Although you have some progress in cultivation, it''s still extremely difficult if you want to transform into a human. No wonder you had thoughts about obtaining this Deity Position. Unfortunately, this Deity Position is not something you are able to possess. After following me, I''ll in turn give you some benefits¡­"


    While speaking, two rays of divine light shot out.


    The two huge demons suddenly tumbled onto the ground and shed their skins, transforming into two humans.


    Between them, the green bull transformed into a burly fellow with huge ears and a high-spirited figure, while the black tiger transformed into a lady wearing a black skirt with a strong heroic spirit.


    The two demons were stunned and instantly bowed. "Thank you for this gift, elder!"


    "Hmm, for the two of you, one will be called Green Mountain while the other is Black Water!"


    Fang Yuan nodded.


    In the Spiritual realm, it was very difficult for demons to transform, and there were even Heavenly Tribulations.


    Even after passing through this, their appearance after transformation was based on their cultivation techniques and what was most suitable.


    No matter which aspect, a slight mistake would leave behind defects, such as an additional tail or ear that could not be removed.


    Humanity was the spirit of all things. After the demons transformed and cultivated, the benefits were aplenty. However, those with defects were still unimpressive and had weak foundations that were difficult to make up for in the future.


    Fang Yuan casually transforming them this time had saved them a lot of hardship and effort.


    Such a complete transformation, even evading of the horrors of Heavenly Tribulations, was not inferior to the grace of recreation!


    Voluntarily serving him as slaves as repayment was within reason as well.


    In fact, in the Spiritual Realm where the Immortal Dao and the Divine Dao were nearly everywhere, it was very difficult for ordinary low-level demons without suitable power to muddle in and live.


    Being able to depend on the Immortal Dao or the Divine Dao, even if it meant being enslaved and ridden by others, could also be considered the fruits of cultivation.


    "Alright! Follow me to open up a cave abode in the river!"


    Fang Yuan came before the Surging Waves River and the water automatically parted. Numerous fish paid their respects, revealing many miraculous powers.Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please clickfor visiting.


    "The original fengshui in the area around the dragon gate wasn''t good, and the ebb and flow here was abnormal, unable to be consistently stabilized. Thus, it was difficult for it to be the foundation. However, after my changes, I have removed the ferocious aura. Just by making some changes in other areas, I can transform it into a spiritual land in the water."


    He was already clear that the Deity Position he refined was the authority and power of the Surging Waves River.


    As the River Earl, he naturally had to live in the river.


    "Indeed inside a God''s magic domain, everything is as how I want it to be. This Earl position of the Surging Waves River was especially created via natural means. After obtaining this position, I can immediately mobilize the Surging Waves River''s Spiritual Energy, and this is no small matter. Inside this river, even if a Heaven Immortal arrives, I have the confidence to deal with them using my Deity Position¡­"


    The Divine Dao did not fully rely on the power of incense. Just like this naturally formed Deity Position, he could innately obtain the Spiritual Energy of famous mountains and rivers to supplement himself, which was considered more carefree and relaxed.


    However, those Gods created from accumulating of human belief had to have sacrifices to complement them, or else they would gradually deteriorate day by day.


    "But, even though the power of sacrifice is strong, it''s a double-edged sword. The intents behind incense offerings involves the world of mortals and are best at corroding a God¡­ If they want to have a flawless Golden Body, it''ll be extremely difficult!"


    Fang Yuan silently pondered. "An Earl-rank Deity Position is comparable to an Earth Immortal. A higher-up Marquis has to be able to grasp the Red Lotus Fire technique and have great success in the Golden Body. Then, no matter how unreasonable the powers of the incense intents were, they would all be refined into a golden lotus and increase their cultivation!"


    Lord Bright Jade''s pinnacle was such a realm.


    Only after reaching this step would they dare accept human incense, or else it was simply courting death.


    "As for those higher than a Marquis, those Dukes and Kings¡­ they instead interact directly with the Spiritual Realm''s natural source and have endless power. They don''t require the nourishment of humans nor famous mountains and rivers¡­ they can be called an Ancient God! And they exist forever!"


    Even for Fang Yuan, a natural God, if he were to meet an almighty being, the entire Surging Waves River would be destroyed, his Deity Position would be instantly vanquished, and it would be the fall of this God.


    Much less those Gods reliant on humans. Once their sacrifices were completely stopped, they would be unable to maintain their magical strength and descend into slumber and death.


    However, an Ancient God was different!


    They had already fully understood the rules of the realm and connected with the Spiritual Realm''s natural source, able to use part of its power.


    Even if it was a miniscule amount, this power was vast and sufficient to confront existences like Golden Immortals.


    "Becoming River Earl Surging Waves is only the first step!"


    This first step indicated that Fang Yuan had truly immersed into the Divine Dao and obtained a cleaner identity.


    Next, he had to find other opportunities to expand his reputation and ultimately attract the attention of the Heavenly Court. It would be best to directly achieve a heavenly conferment and enlist into the Heavenly Court.


    "Water, come!"


    At the bottom of the Surging Waves River, Fang Yuan strolled idly and casually waved his hands unrestrainedly.


    Spiritual Energy surged toward him as water pulses fused and formed into a huge dragon.


    At the position of the dragon''s head, a crystal palace appeared. Beautiful jade bricks and night pearls could be seen everywhere.


    "Erm, this is decent!"


    Fang Yuan saw this and nodded. With a wave of his right hand, sacred writing appeared on a plaque. They were three huge words that read, ''River Earl Palace''.

 742 Discussion

    Within the palace.


    The palace was illuminated by fist-sized luminous pearls.


    Under the preparations of Green Mountain and Black Water, numerous water clans had come. Many were clam ladies, as well as prawn soldiers and crab generals. They were quickly selected to fill the palace.


    In the main hall, Fang Yuan sat cross-legged; on his head, the Divine Dao crown moved, making fluttering sounds.


    "I now have a high rank and a retinue. I truly look a little like a God now!"


    He opened his eyes, a golden hue flashing.


    "River Earl Surging Waves is only an Earl-rank Deity Position. Even if I finished refining the power and obtaining the authority, with the assistance of the Surging Waves River''s Spiritual Energy, I could only slightly contend against a Heaven Immortal¡­"


    Fang Yuan''s aim was to immediately have his reputation spread far and wide to gain the attention of the Heavenly Court and be offered amnesty.


    A small River Earl was too far from his goal.


    If he immediately flooded a large area and devastated the mortal world, this would very likely attract the Heavenly Court''s attention. However, that would invite the heaven''s punishment, and Immortal Cultivators might come to eliminate the trouble.


    "In fact, this is also an idea. In Journey to the West, didn''t Sun Wukong also do this once, only to become the Great Sage Equalling Heaven? To get the Imperial Court''s amnesty enlistment, you can''t be too soft at the start¡­ An example of a bad ending being Song Jiang from Water Margin!"


    Fang Yuan''s train of thought was unceasing.


    Of course, the key to gaining amnesty by committing evil deeds was to have ability.


    He, of course, had ability, but the branding of the Mental Demon Realm was too obvious. Once it was revealed, it would be the same as suicide.


    And as River Earl Surging Waves, it was absolutely impossible to do matters that would anger the Heavenly Court or matters that could not be easily dealt with.


    "I should still honestly walk the righteous path¡­ touch the heavens through my karma¡­ hehe¡­"


    Fang Yuan was holding an ancient book that wrote about one of the Spiritual Realm''s past events.


    The book recorded that in Bamboo Nation, there was a scholar named Xu Wei. He was a cultivation well-doer for three generations. He had keen intellect and was able to become an official. He cared for the civilians as if they were his children, and everywhere he governed had good governance. The civilians even built a shrine for him. When he was about to die, the heavens and the earth were touched. A golden-armored God appeared with a heavenly decree and conferred him as Bamboo Nation''s City God.


    "Hehe¡­ This ancient book said that because Xu Wei''s meritorious deeds touched the heart of the heavens, the Heavenly Court conferred him a title. In fact¡­ this is correct but also wrong!"


    Fang Yuan thought of the God Nations in the Monger World.


    Within the God Nations, there was a type of Saint.


    They might be the same as normal believers when they were in the mortal world, but they understood the Gods'' deepest principles and integrated them into their daily lives, doing everything that was said.


    These people''s souls would be automatically drawn by the God Nation when they died. They did not have to go to the Netherworld and could become sacred spirits.


    These sacred spirits were naturally not conferred by the Gods.


    It was their ''Dao'' that shook the rules of the God Nation and left the Gods no choice but to receive them.


    Xu Wei was also like this.


    His karma had already traveled through the heavens and the earth. If the Heavenly Court did not give him a title, it would be ''misconduct'' and a large amount of power would be wasted away.


    Thus, even if it looked righteous, there were actually many secret struggles and compromises.


    At the moment, what Fang Yuan wanted to do was generally similar to what Xu Wei did¡­


    He wanted to do a certain amount of meritorious deeds to make the Heavenly Court have no choice but to recognize him and even promote his Deity Position!


    Although the Heavenly Court must bestow a title, this type of novice would inevitably encroach upon other''s positions and resources once they''re promoted. How could they be welcomed?


    Just look at that Xu Wei. Right after becoming Bamboo Nation''s City God, he had always received a cold reception. In the end, he passed away. Roughly what happened can be seen!


    If I was the one enlisted by the Heavenly Court, I would definitely properly polish myself¡­ The most suitable place can only be the Mental Demon battlegrounds!


    No matter what organization, it was tradition for the seniors to suppress the newcomers.


    Of course, this kind of suppression did not have to be obvious; it could have many different forms.


    Based on his calculations, if the new Gods that just entered the Heavenly Court did not have any backers nor knew how to be a God, the probability of getting sent way to ''polish'' themselves was high.


    This was Fang Yuan''s plan. Although it was simple, chances were that it would work.


    As long as his identity was not exposed, he could definitely go to the Mental Demon battlegrounds.


    "Speaking of which¡­ now that I''ve succeeded as River Earl Surging Waves, I''m somewhat enemies with the Spiritual Flying Sword Sect. There''ll be trouble in the future!


    "Spiritual Flying Sword Sect is one of the 72 immortal sects, has numerous Heaven Immortal Patriarchs personally watching over it, and their forces can''t be underestimated. Of course¡­ I won''t be afraid of them either!"


    Fang Yuan muttered to himself for awhile, then clapped his hands.


    Green Mountain and Black Water walked in side by side and bowed respectfully. "Greetings, Master¡­ The River Palace has already completed recruiting the prawn soldiers and crab generals and divided them into ranks. There are 5000 of them and they can be used at anytime!


    "And since Master has succeeded the Deity Position, the congratulations are endless. Many Gods have sent gifts that have been recorded and stored in the storage room! To the outsiders, we announced that Master needed to meditate to stabilize your magical strength," Green Mountain reported.


    Obtaining a Deity Position was a grand matter. The cultivators and other Gods nearby would have to congratulate him one by one.


    It was also customary to organize a celebration.


    However, this was all rejected¡ªthe reason being that Fang Yuan was meditating.


    His aspirations were far and wide, so where would he get the energy to settle these mundane matters?


    "It''s fine if you make the necessary arrangements for me¡­ Let me look at the visiting cards¡­"


    Fang Yuan took a pile of cards and casually flipped through them.


    These Divine Dao cards were naturally different from the others. With a caress of his hands, one by one, either profound and vast or unfettered and formless auras appeared to be coming alive.


    "Hmm¡­ Among these people, only two or three require special attention. Organize a small banquet later and invite them over."


    Fang Yuan flicked his fingers, and his brow suddenly moved as he drew out a card. "Even Mountain God Huo congratulated me¡­ This God is related to another chance in Lord Bright Jade''s memory. This can be used as a reason to visit him."


    ¡­


    As Fang Yuan was calculating, in the Spiritual Flying Sword Sect.


    "Wan Sanjian''s Intrinsic Sword Tablet was shattered, and his body and soul were completely destroyed¡­"


    "He''s a disciple of our sect, but was unexpectedly killed. We need to retaliate for this provocation to our sect. Otherwise, where would we put our face?"


    A few elderly swordsmen discussed before looking at the sect master at the center.


    "Wan Sanjian is our sect''s disciple. Since he died at the hands of an outsider, we naturally must demand justice for him!"


    Spiritual Flying Sword Sect''s sect master had the appearance of a middle-aged man. He wore green clothes and had a thick scholarly air. The three tufts of his long beard fluttered in the wind, and his appearance was quite good. "The man I sent out is already back from investigation! Kong Luo!"


    He called out once, and a youth carrying a sword came to the main hall. He knelt on the floor with both knees. "Disciple Kong Luo greets Sect Master and all the Elders¡­"


    "Forget it!" the sect master said. "Explain everything regarding Wan Sanjian''s death. Don''t have any scruples¡­"


    "Yes!" Kong Luo focused. "A number of days ago, I received Sect Master''s flying sword message and immediately headed for where Junior Brother Wan had gone to travel. Through the aura of the shattered Intrinsic Sword Tablet, I found my way to the Surging Waves River''s dragon gate¡­ It was clear that there had been fighting there, and there were even traces of Skyfiend Yin Lightning exploding. I investigated through many methods, and also questioned a few demons, before finally knowing what happened that day. The origin was the appearance of a Deity Position!"


    "Deity Position?"


    A few white haired elders that looked like they did not have much lifespan left widened their eyes. "What rank?"


    "It''s a heaven and earth Deity Position. Once it''s refined, the Spiritual Energy in the magic domain can be adjusted and used. It''s no trivial matter¡­"


    They were all very old and turned their noses at the petty officials within the Divine Dao. But after hearing this, their eyes were a little red.


    "Even if it''s only a Viscount-rank Deity Position, it''s formed by the heavens and the earth and much better than the ones reliant on being close to the Human Dao. We can increase our lifespan if we obtain it¡­"


    "Reporting, Elders¡­" Under the gazes of wolves, Kong Luo could only summon his courage and answer. "The average demons didn''t know what happened to the Deity Position. Only when the news spread did I know that the River Earl Deity Position of the Surging Waves River was born!"


    "Tsk tsk! So it''s a River Earl!" a few Elders exclaimed. "Surging Waves River''s water has an abundance of spirit. Within the boundaries of the God''s magic domain, they can probably go up against a Heaven Immortal!"


    "Although this God will definitely fail and fall in the end, it''ll still be amazing."


    "When looking at a Deity Position, the first thing looked at is the rank before the boundary of the magic domain. The Surging Waves River position is an Earl, and the boundary is vast. I''m afraid we don''t have any hope¡­"


    These elders were all Earth Immortals, and their way of looking at things was sinister.


    They knew that it was still alright if the Deity Position had not been refined, but to suddenly enter the opponent''s magic domain now was no different from seeking death.


    "This God is troublesome. If we want it done perfectly, we should invite the Heaven Immortal Patriarches to take action!"


    In the Spirit Flying Sword Sect, the sect master and elders were all Earth Immortals. There were a few Heaven Immortals, but they were all cultivating and would not appear unless it was a critical moment.


    "Looks like everyone''s decided!" The middle-aged sect master nodded. "Then¡­ I''ll invite Master to take action once!"


    After he left, a few elders looked at each other, a secretive color appearing in their pupils. No wonder the sect master is anxious. After all, Wan Sanjian was similar to him. In the future, there would have been opportunities to become the true successor and fight for the main position in the sect¡­


    At the moment, the emotions of the opposition were also very complicated. They hoped to elevate the prestige of Spirit Flying Sword Sect, but also hoped that the sect master would be disadvantaged this time.


    "Master!"


    However, the middle-aged sect master did not think much.


    His expression was solemn as he arrived at the sword valley behind the sect and suddenly knelt down.


    "Fool¡­" Accompanied by a faint sigh, an elder wearing white walked out slowly. His body had the aura of a Sage. "Why are you hesitating?"


    "Master¡­ the way that God appeared is unusual. He may be a seed nurtured by the Heavenly Court¡­" the sect master said hesitantly.Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please clickfor visiting.


    "Even if that''s the case, so what?" The elder dressed in white was unyielding as he smiled. "Those that block my path have to be killed! If you''re overcautious, you''d be going against the sword teachings of our sect! River Earl Surging Waves? Hehe¡­ this is only an Earl-rank Deity Position. Wait for me. I''ll get it and strengthen the sect''s foundations."

 743 Huo Mountains

    Mount Huo stretched long and was endlessly deep.


    The nearby nations and a few famous mountains and large rivers formed a topography of three mountains and five rivers, completely enveloping this large region and various nations.


    Surging Waves River was one of the five rivers.


    "In fact¡­ this isn''t only a saying, but there''s true fate inside¡­"


    Fang Yuan was currently wearing a moon-white long gown, just like a common scholar, and trekking up the mountain range of Mount Huo.


    "Three Mountains and Five Rivers¡­ their area of influence is over five thousand kilometers and contains nine kingdoms. Even for humans, it''s considered the core essence of the region¡­


    "The territory is vast, and most importantly, the mountains and rivers subtly enhance each other''s beauty, bringing an indescribable flavor¡­"


    Fang Yuan''s cultivation was on par with a Golden Immortal and an Ancient God and had a unique view.


    At the moment, he could immediately discover what was different when he looked from high above and compiled a map.


    When the Three Mountains and Five Rivers were combined, they made him feel it was similar to the Six Extremes Earth Shattering Array.


    "The mountains, rivers, soil, and land are the foundations of a country¡­ If they''re linked by these Gods, they might really be able to accomplish many things¡­ Unfortunately, it''s impossible to combine them without a powerful method. Furthermore, the Mountain and River Gods previously still lacked me, River Earl Surging Waves¡­"


    Lord Bright Jade had used tremendous effort in arranging the River Earl Surging Waves not only for a Deity Position.


    Behind, there were still many hidden motives. The final aim was mysterious and difficult to guess.


    "Even if they''re Earthly Gods, there''s also the existence of a true almighty being who won''t even be bothered about the Heavenly Court¡­ For example, Excellency Mount Mang!"


    Mount Mang!


    The first mountain of the Spiritual Realm. It had the highest peak in the mortal world, magnificent and majestic.


    Most importantly, it was rumored that this leader of mountains could communicate with both Yin and Yang, and all life and souls in the mortal world had to pass through once before they could reincarnate.


    In other words, it was the Netherworld!


    As the Mountain God, Excellency Mount Mang was an existence akin to King Yama. Throughout all of the Spiritual Realm, he was widely worshiped by humanity.


    Excellency Mount Mang is just a Heavenly Court title¡­ His true Deity Position is at least a Duke or King Ancient God, maybe even at the Emperor level¡­ He can also be considered the ruler of the myriad mountains! The grandmaster of Earthly Gods!


    Under Excellency Mount Mang, there were also the Gods of the High Mountains supporting him. It was like an earthly Heavenly Court. Within the Divine Dao, this meant that there was enough strength to rebel.


    Although the Divine Dao''s rankings were strict, its situation was much better compared to the divisive immortal sects. However, if the Celestial Therach really wanted to flatten the mountains, it would not be a simple and relaxing matter either.


    The Gods of the Three Mountains and Five Rivers also have some structure if they stick together, having the potential to rebel¡­


    Fang Yuan flicked his fingers.


    The initial plan of Lord Bright Jade was like this¡­


    He would use River Earl Surging Waves as a spy to control the Gods of the Three Mountains and Five Rivers, creating an iron board before commanding them.


    In such a situation, with power on the ground, backers in the Heavenly Court, and the ability to pull the wool over the eyes of everyone, it would be very difficult to foil his plans.


    Also¡­ although Lord Bright Jade was a heavenly noble, he wasn''t a Stellar God and couldn''t borrow the power of the stars. He also didn''t have a true position of authority nor a powerful backer. Otherwise, he wouldn''t have been sent to the Mental Demon Battlefield and eventually die¡­ His previous arrangements were all to strengthen his foundation!


    In the Three Mountains and Five Rivers, how much power was there? Countries? Population and belief?


    If they truly united, even the Gods of the Heavenly Court would be jealous.


    Unfortunately, Lord Bright Jade could calculate for others but not for himself. He died before his plans were fully carried out, making Fang Yuan''s current situation much more convenient.


    This God''s calculation ability wasn''t bad and was logical¡­ He understood that even in the Heavenly Court, he would be floating around if he didn''t have any foundation in the mortal world or the support of a strong backer. Thus, he wanted to create one on his own. Let me complete his layout and inheritance.


    Fang Yuan himself was already at the origin power realm, similar to an Ancient God.


    Furthermore, in the lower realms, there was the legacy of Sage Changli, so he had a certain understanding toward the Six Extremes Earth Shattering and other worldly spiritual arrays.


    Not to mention, half of his Creation Sword Array was the Dao of Array!


    What Lord Bright Jade wanted to do was to unite the Three Rivers and Five Mountains and form a force to support him. This still isn''t impressive enough¡­ What should really be done is to settle it in one go. To combine the fate and belief into one and birth a Deity Position that is similar to Excellency Mount Mang!


    Although Excellency Mount Mang corresponded to Mount Mang, he was actually the head of the entire realm''s mountains. Theoretically, all Mountain Gods had to accept his command, allowing him to possess remarkable power and boundless magical strength.


    Fang Yuan naturally did not have such extravagant hopes, but he was very confident that he could establish a true alliance leader for the Gods of the Three Rivers and Five Mountains.


    Lord Bright Jade had planted many spies, especially the River Earls of the other four rivers. They were all secretly forced into submission. Only the three Mountain Gods require some tricks.


    Although the Mountain Gods in the mortal world were each a small leader, they had to first listen to the command of the Heavenly Court and were secondly under the jurisdiction of Excellency Mount Mang.


    How difficult would it be to subdue them?


    Lord Bright Jade was also troubled at this step. In addition, the position of River Earl Surging Waves had not been born yet; thus, he had stopped temporarily.


    In fact¡­ the Water Gods of the Five Lakes and Four Oceans are also under the jurisdiction of the Dragon Kings of the Four Oceans . And above the Dragon Kings is the Heavenly Court! However, it''s slightly loose in this aspect because their forces are dispersed without a warlord like Excellency Mount Mang, so they could be infiltrated by Lord Bright Jade.


    It could be said that Fang Yuan had fully understood the Divine Dao situation with a glance. This was all thanks to Lord Bright Jade.


    However, no matter how dispersed and messy the Divine Dao was, it was still ultimately controlled by the Heavenly Court. Their structure was also much more strict. The Immortal Dao was a sheet of loose sand with 33 large sects and 72 immortal sects, each with their own ways of doing things.


    Unfortunately, no matter how powerful the Divine Dao was, even if it was united, it could only be a meek outsider even though it was a tyrant internally.


    Due to the particularity of belief and the Ancient Gods, it was impossible for them to battle outside.


    Just like in the hunting of the Terra World, only the Immortal Dao took action.


    As he was thinking, Fang Yuan unknowingly arrived at the main peak of Mount Huo.


    He saw that the green-black peak was as straight as a sword, so tall it went through the clouds. It had a vast and majestic presence.


    Mountain God Huo is also an Earl-rank Deity Position, comparable to my Surging Waves River!


    Fang Yuan nodded. He casually grabbed and a ray of magical power was released. Instantly, a small squirrel rolled over.


    This squirrel had been hiding closeby on a big pine tree. Its pupils were jet black but sparkly and bright, and appeared to be spying.


    It landed on his hands and its tail coiled, rustling as it shivered.


    "Haha¡­ You don''t have to act!"


    Seeing this, Fang Yuan laughed out loud and flicked the small squirrel''s nose.


    "Ouch¡­ so painful!" said the small squirrel immediately, having the voice of an around ten year old child. "Where are you from? Why did you come to Mount Huo?"


    "I am River Earl Surging Waves. I received a congratulatory gift from your Mountain God and have specially come to visit! Quickly notify him!"


    Mountain God Huo was the monarch of this mountain. Logically, all of the mountain spirits and demons had to listen to his dispatch.


    And although this small demon did not have much Demonic Qi, and was smart to hide itself, Fang Yuan knew that it had been transformed by the Mountain God.


    "So you''re River Earl Surging Waves! The time Master Mountain God went to congratulate you, he gave 12 whole Big Reinstated Pill! This Big Reinstated Pill contains the essence of the heavens and the earth, capable of saving us over ten years of cultivation hardships. If one pill was given to me, I would be able to change form immediately!"


    Both of its eyes brightened instantly. After all, the small squirrel had just gained intelligence.


    "Haha¡­ you little imp spirit." This amused Fang Yuan. "With your cultivation, refining the Big Reinstated Pill is harmful and provides no advantages to you, but I''m also not a petty person. Although this Small Reinstated Pill''s effect is not as wonderful as the big one, it''s also very beneficial to your cultivation. Take it!"


    With a flick of his wrist, a fragrant aquamarine pill appeared.


    "Ok, ok¡­ River Earl is truly a very nice person!"


    Small squirrel hugged the pill with both paws. It ate it like it was munching on a peanut before swallowing it. With a wag of its tail, it quickly disappeared into the forest.


    Not long after, a few deer with huge antlers leaped out from the forest. "River Earl Surging Waves''s arrival bring radiance to the humble house! Master Mountain God has already prepared a banquet and instructed us to welcome Lord to the cave abode for a gathering!"


    "Mmmm!"


    Fang Yuan nodded. He saw a sledge-like tool with a hint of magical strength behind the few deer. It was obviously a magic artifact.


    Appearing highly skilled and bold, he directly sat on it. The few deer with huge antlers looked between themselves before galloping into the mountain forest.


    They were quick and able to leap over any mountain streams, precipice, cliffs, and large rocks. The magic sledge was also very stable, much more comfortable than a horse carriage.Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please clickfor visiting.


    This Mountain God Huo is able to manage this Mount Huo without a flaw¡­


    While Fang Yuan was resting, he saw a lot of things.


    Gods had immortality. Given an accumulation of time, their foundation would continuously pile up and finally be very terrifying.


    "We''re here. Please, God!"


    After awhile, the deer carriage stopped before a mountain stream.


    This was somewhere on the highest peak of Mount Huo. There was hazy mist, but an unusual fragrance traveled into his nose as well. He could indistinctly see Vermillion Fruits, Cloud Ganoderma, and other spiritual plants. It was clear that it was not a layman living here.


    A few deer with large antlers respectfully tilted their heads and invited Fang Yuan off the carriage.


    "This Mountain God Huo has managed this place for so long and with such great effort¡­ the ambiance is much better than my River Earl Palace¡­"


    Fang Yuan placed both hands behind his back and looked around. He silently nodded.


    "Haha¡­ My distinguished guest from faraway, I hope you''ll forgive me for not welcoming you first-hand!"


    As the mist rose, a palace door was revealed.


    The palace door opened and two rows of God functionaries stood solemnly. The God at the center came forward to welcome Fang Yuan. His gait was majestic, the land seemingly adding radiance and beauty to his aura.


    This was naturally the Mountain God of Mount Huo.


    Sure enough, he fully-fledged and has many God functionaries¡­


    Seeing this, a golden brilliance flashed through Fang Yuan''s eyes.


    River Earls and Mountain Gods were all masters of an area. Naturally, they could appoint many God functionaries and even small Gods under their commands.


    For example, under his command, he could set up a few turtle ministers, watershed generals, a River God for a branch of the river, and so on! However, Fang Yuan had started from scratch. Aside from two mounts, he was currently all alone.


    He had even left Green Mountain and Black Water protecting the River Palace for this journey. His imposing manner was far from Mountain God Huo.

 743 Mount Huo

    Mount Huo stretched long and was endlessly deep.


    The nearby nations and a few famous mountains and large rivers formed a topography of three mountains and five rivers, completely enveloping this large region and various nations.


    Surging Waves River was one of the five rivers.


    "In fact¡­ this isn''t only a saying, but there''s true fate inside¡­"


    Fang Yuan was currently wearing a moon-white long gown, just like a common scholar, and trekking up the mountain range of Mount Huo.


    "Three Mountains and Five Rivers¡­ their area of influence is over five thousand kilometers and contains nine kingdoms. Even for humans, it''s considered the core essence of the region¡­


    "The territory is vast, and most importantly, the mountains and rivers subtly enhance each other''s beauty, bringing an indescribable flavor¡­"


    Fang Yuan''s cultivation was on par with a Golden Immortal and an Ancient God and had a unique view.


    At the moment, he could immediately discover what was different when he looked from high above and compiled a map.


    When the Three Mountains and Five Rivers were combined, they made him feel it was similar to the Six Extremes Earth Shattering Array.


    "The mountains, rivers, soil, and land are the foundations of a country¡­ If they''re linked by these Gods, they might really be able to accomplish many things¡­ Unfortunately, it''s impossible to combine them without a powerful method. Furthermore, the Mountain and River Gods previously still lacked me, River Earl Surging Waves¡­"


    Lord Bright Jade had used tremendous effort in arranging the River Earl Surging Waves not only for a Deity Position.


    Behind, there were still many hidden motives. The final aim was mysterious and difficult to guess.


    "Even if they''re Earthly Gods, there''s also the existence of a true almighty being who won''t even be bothered about the Heavenly Court¡­ For example, Excellency Mount Mang!"


    Mount Mang!


    The first mountain of the Spiritual Realm. It had the highest peak in the mortal world, magnificent and majestic.


    Most importantly, it was rumored that this leader of mountains could communicate with both Yin and Yang, and all life and souls in the mortal world had to pass through once before they could reincarnate.


    In other words, it was the Netherworld!


    As the Mountain God, Excellency Mount Mang was an existence akin to King Yama. Throughout all of the Spiritual Realm, he was widely worshiped by humanity.


    Excellency Mount Mang is just a Heavenly Court title¡­ His true Deity Position is at least a Duke or King Ancient God, maybe even at the Emperor level¡­ He can also be considered the ruler of the myriad mountains! The grandmaster of Earthly Gods!


    Under Excellency Mount Mang, there were also the Gods of the High Mountains supporting him. It was like an earthly Heavenly Court. Within the Divine Dao, this meant that there was enough strength to rebel.


    Although the Divine Dao''s rankings were strict, its situation was much better compared to the divisive immortal sects. However, if the Celestial Therach really wanted to flatten the mountains, it would not be a simple and relaxing matter either.


    The Gods of the Three Mountains and Five Rivers also have some structure if they stick together, having the potential to rebel¡­


    Fang Yuan flicked his fingers.


    The initial plan of Lord Bright Jade was like this¡­


    He would use River Earl Surging Waves as a spy to control the Gods of the Three Mountains and Five Rivers, creating an iron board before commanding them.


    In such a situation, with power on the ground, backers in the Heavenly Court, and the ability to pull the wool over the eyes of everyone, it would be very difficult to foil his plans.


    Also¡­ although Lord Bright Jade was a heavenly noble, he wasn''t a Stellar God and couldn''t borrow the power of the stars. He also didn''t have a true position of authority nor a powerful backer. Otherwise, he wouldn''t have been sent to the Mental Demon Battlefield and eventually die¡­ His previous arrangements were all to strengthen his foundation!


    In the Three Mountains and Five Rivers, how much power was there? Countries? Population and belief?


    If they truly united, even the Gods of the Heavenly Court would be jealous.


    Unfortunately, Lord Bright Jade could calculate for others but not for himself. He died before his plans were fully carried out, making Fang Yuan''s current situation much more convenient.


    This God''s calculation ability wasn''t bad and was logical¡­ He understood that even in the Heavenly Court, he would be floating around if he didn''t have any foundation in the mortal world or the support of a strong backer. Thus, he wanted to create one on his own. Let me complete his layout and inheritance.


    Fang Yuan himself was already at the origin power realm, similar to an Ancient God.


    Furthermore, in the lower realms, there was the legacy of Sage Changli, so he had a certain understanding toward the Six Extremes Earth Shattering and other worldly spiritual arrays.


    Not to mention, half of his Creation Sword Array was the Dao of Array!


    What Lord Bright Jade wanted to do was to unite the Three Rivers and Five Mountains and form a force to support him. This still isn''t impressive enough¡­ What should really be done is to settle it in one go. To combine the fate and belief into one and birth a Deity Position that is similar to Excellency Mount Mang!


    Although Excellency Mount Mang corresponded to Mount Mang, he was actually the head of the entire realm''s mountains. Theoretically, all Mountain Gods had to accept his command, allowing him to possess remarkable power and boundless magical strength.


    Fang Yuan naturally did not have such extravagant hopes, but he was very confident that he could establish a true alliance leader for the Gods of the Three Rivers and Five Mountains.


    Lord Bright Jade had planted many spies, especially the River Earls of the other four rivers. They were all secretly forced into submission. Only the three Mountain Gods require some tricks.


    Although the Mountain Gods in the mortal world were each a small leader, they had to first listen to the command of the Heavenly Court and were secondly under the jurisdiction of Excellency Mount Mang.


    How difficult would it be to subdue them?


    Lord Bright Jade was also troubled at this step. In addition, the position of River Earl Surging Waves had not been born yet; thus, he had stopped temporarily.


    In fact¡­ the Water Gods of the Five Lakes and Four Oceans are also under the jurisdiction of the Dragon Kings of the Four Oceans . And above the Dragon Kings is the Heavenly Court! However, it''s slightly loose in this aspect because their forces are dispersed without a warlord like Excellency Mount Mang, so they could be infiltrated by Lord Bright Jade.


    It could be said that Fang Yuan had fully understood the Divine Dao situation with a glance. This was all thanks to Lord Bright Jade.


    However, no matter how dispersed and messy the Divine Dao was, it was still ultimately controlled by the Heavenly Court. Their structure was also much more strict. The Immortal Dao was a sheet of loose sand with 33 large sects and 72 immortal sects, each with their own ways of doing things.


    Unfortunately, no matter how powerful the Divine Dao was, even if it was united, it could only be a meek outsider even though it was a tyrant internally.


    Due to the particularity of belief and the Ancient Gods, it was impossible for them to battle outside.


    Just like in the hunting of the Terra World, only the Immortal Dao took action.


    As he was thinking, Fang Yuan unknowingly arrived at the main peak of Mount Huo.


    He saw that the green-black peak was as straight as a sword, so tall it went through the clouds. It had a vast and majestic presence.


    Mountain God Huo is also an Earl-rank Deity Position, comparable to my Surging Waves River!


    Fang Yuan nodded. He casually grabbed and a ray of magical power was released. Instantly, a small squirrel rolled over.


    This squirrel had been hiding closeby on a big pine tree. Its pupils were jet black but sparkly and bright, and appeared to be spying.


    It landed on his hands and its tail coiled, rustling as it shivered.


    "Haha¡­ You don''t have to act!"


    Seeing this, Fang Yuan laughed out loud and flicked the small squirrel''s nose.


    "Ouch¡­ so painful!" said the small squirrel immediately, having the voice of an around ten year old child. "Where are you from? Why did you come to Mount Huo?"


    "I am River Earl Surging Waves. I received a congratulatory gift from your Mountain God and have specially come to visit! Quickly notify him!"


    Mountain God Huo was the monarch of this mountain. Logically, all of the mountain spirits and demons had to listen to his dispatch.


    And although this small demon did not have much Demonic Qi, and was smart to hide itself, Fang Yuan knew that it had been transformed by the Mountain God.


    "So you''re River Earl Surging Waves! The time Master Mountain God went to congratulate you, he gave 12 whole Big Reinstated Pill! This Big Reinstated Pill contains the essence of the heavens and the earth, capable of saving us over ten years of cultivation hardships. If one pill was given to me, I would be able to change form immediately!"


    Both of its eyes brightened instantly. After all, the small squirrel had just gained intelligence.


    "Haha¡­ you little imp spirit." This amused Fang Yuan. "With your cultivation, refining the Big Reinstated Pill is harmful and provides no advantages to you, but I''m also not a petty person. Although this Small Reinstated Pill''s effect is not as wonderful as the big one, it''s also very beneficial to your cultivation. Take it!"


    With a flick of his wrist, a fragrant aquamarine pill appeared.


    "Ok, ok¡­ River Earl is truly a very nice person!"


    Small squirrel hugged the pill with both paws. It ate it like it was munching on a peanut before swallowing it. With a wag of its tail, it quickly disappeared into the forest.


    Not long after, a few deer with huge antlers leaped out from the forest. "River Earl Surging Waves''s arrival bring radiance to the humble house! Master Mountain God has already prepared a banquet and instructed us to welcome Lord to the cave abode for a gathering!"


    "Mmmm!"


    Fang Yuan nodded. He saw a sledge-like tool with a hint of magical strength behind the few deer. It was obviously a magic artifact.


    Appearing highly skilled and bold, he directly sat on it. The few deer with huge antlers looked between themselves before galloping into the mountain forest.


    They were quick and able to leap over any mountain streams, precipice, cliffs, and large rocks. The magic sledge was also very stable, much more comfortable than a horse carriage.


    This Mountain God Huo is able to manage this Mount Huo without a flaw¡­


    While Fang Yuan was resting, he saw a lot of things.


    Gods had immortality. Given an accumulation of time, their foundation would continuously pile up and finally be very terrifying.


    "We''re here. Please, God!"


    After awhile, the deer carriage stopped before a mountain stream.


    This was somewhere on the highest peak of Mount Huo. There was hazy mist, but an unusual fragrance traveled into his nose as well. He could indistinctly see Vermillion Fruits, Cloud Ganoderma, and other spiritual plants. It was clear that it was not a layman living here.


    A few deer with large antlers respectfully tilted their heads and invited Fang Yuan off the carriage.


    "This Mountain God Huo has managed this place for so long and with such great effort¡­ the ambiance is much better than my River Earl Palace¡­"


    Fang Yuan placed both hands behind his back and looked around. He silently nodded.


    "Haha¡­ My distinguished guest from faraway, I hope you''ll forgive me for not welcoming you first-hand!"


    As the mist rose, a palace door was revealed.


    The palace door opened and two rows of God functionaries stood solemnly. The God at the center came forward to welcome Fang Yuan. His gait was majestic, the land seemingly adding radiance and beauty to his aura.


    This was naturally the Mountain God of Mount Huo.


    Sure enough, he fully-fledged and has many God functionaries¡­


    Seeing this, a golden brilliance flashed through Fang Yuan''s eyes.


    River Earls and Mountain Gods were all masters of an area. Naturally, they could appoint many God functionaries and even small Gods under their commands.


    For example, under his command, he could set up a few turtle ministers, watershed generals, a River God for a branch of the river, and so on! However, Fang Yuan had started from scratch. Aside from two mounts, he was currently all alone.


    He had even left Green Mountain and Black Water protecting the River Palace for this journey. His imposing manner was far from Mountain God Huo.Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please clickfor visiting.

 744 Refining Treasure

    "That time, I had just succeeded the Deity Position and was going to consolidate. Mountain God had come to congratulate me and gave such expensive gifts, but I didn''t welcome you. That was very impolite of me¡­ Today, I have specially visited."


    In a nine-story palace.


    The palace was very magnificent. It was heavy with earthly energy and had a different demeanor compared to his river palace.


    The banquet started with Fang Yuan and Mountain God Huo each sitting at a table. Fang Yuan smiled and said, "Please accept this gift as a small token of appreciation."


    As he spoke, Fang Yuan took out a box from inside his sleeve.


    He had received many congratulatory gifts after becoming a River Earl. Among them, there were many good materials, and just by casually choosing and refining a few, they could become a good magic artifact.


    "This is¡­ a flying sword?"


    Mountain God Huo opened the box, and his somewhat indifferent expression instantly became grave.


    Dang!


    A sound similar to a dragon''s cry traveled from the sword''s case, bringing a dazzling light all over.


    He steadied his nerves before grabbing the flying sword.


    This sword was only one feet long. Its handle was a ball with profound chill, appearing to be a flying sword that could only be driven with magical power.


    "Good sword!" The Mountain God looked at it for a long time before closing his eyes. "This sword is great. Within the sword''s blade, there''s Ten Thousand Year Cold Iron and Profound Water Essence mixed in. I wonder which famous master made it?"


    "I''m not someone famous!" Fang Yuan smiled as he waved his arm.Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting.


    "Oh? It was actually personally made by you!" A brilliance flashed in the eyes of Mountain God Huo. "Could you have been a swordsman before obtaining the River Earl position? From looking at the craftsmanship, it seems to be related to the Spiritual Flying Sword Sect¡­"


    This would be him beating around the bush to probe Fang Yuan''s information.


    "Hehe¡­ I''m not from the Spiritual Flying Sword Sect!" Fang Yuan answered with a smile but did not continue speaking, causing Mountain God Huo to feel slightly gloomy.


    In truth, if Fang Yuan really made a move, it would be an Ancient God refined treasure. How could he produce such trash?


    However, his true ability could not be leaked. Thus, he casually used some of the sword art concept that Wan Sanqian had revealed.


    As a River God, I am so impoverished. My storehouse is empty, and even the materials used to refine this flying sword were taken from the congratulatory gifts¡­ Fang Yuan thought silently, but did not look one bit ashamed.


    "The Spiritual Flying Sword Sect is one of the 72 immortal sects and has three Heaven Immortal Patriarches looking over it, but they''re much more despicable than us!"


    Seeing how he could not ask about the origins, Mountain God Huo took an indirect approach.


    "Oh? Did the Spiritual Flying Sword Sect do something to our Divine Dao?" Fang Yuan asked with great interest.


    "That''s right¡­ The land of the Three Mountains and Five Rivers has abundant Spiritual Energy and a multiplying population, so which force wouldn''t desire it? Disregarding the mortal nations, those immortal cultivation sects have gained a liking for our secured and settled life!" Mountain God Huo was gloomy.


    Although the Divine Dao and the Immortal Dao seemed entirely different, they actually had conflicts.


    Putting other things aside, the Gods could not possible easily yield the Spiritual Energy nodes of each mountain range and water vein.


    There were also the heavenly materials and earthly treasures. The Gods also had a superiority in this as they could easily pocket them one by one, causing the immortal sects to be very jealous.


    Seems like¡­ if I want to unite the Three Mountains and Five Rivers, aside from the pressure of the Divine Dao, the key is the immortal sects in this region! Fang Yuan inwardly muttered to himself before suddenly flashing a smile. "I didn''t mean to hide anything but¡­ aside from returning a gift today, I have a matter that I''d like to discuss with Mountain God Huo!"


    "What matter?" Mountain God Huo was a little curious, but also alert.


    "It''s naturally that object that you previously obtained!"


    Fang Yuan faintly smiled as he recalled a memory of Lord Bright Jade''s.


    At that time, he had wanted to subdue the Three Mountains and Five Rivers and started by first planting spies. During this process, he had also discovered Mountain God Huo''s little secret.


    He was initially merely a mortal, but he was lucky enough to find the Mountain God Huo seal, thus succeeding the Deity Position. His luck could be considered heaven-defying.


    However, this was not the end of his good luck. This God had also somehow managed to pick up a fragment of the Heaven Ritual Altar.


    In the ancient past, what was worshiped was not the Heavenly Court, but the realm''s Heavenly Dao! Or it could also be called heaven''s will!


    Even the Heavenly Court''s Celestial Thearch and the Immortal Dao''s almighty beings had to bow down to the Spiritual Realm''s heaven''s will!


    "What object?" Mountain God Huo''s face changed, his smile rapidly shrinking. He then clapped his hands.


    Immediately, all of the God functionaries, as well as the dancers and musicians, rose. The main hall that was once filled with laughter only had Fang Yuan and him remaining.


    A silence hung in the air, creating a cold and lifeless atmosphere.


    "Naturally, it''s that Heaven Ritual Altar fragment!"


    Fang Yuan flicked his fingers, his words like swords pointing at the other''s heart. "Don''t worry, I''m not here to snatch your treasure. However, that object is broken. But with my help, it may be able to be used!"


    Although it was rare to see the Heaven Ritual Altar, it would not attract any envious eyes. Furthermore, it was only a fragment.


    However, at Mountain God Huo''s rank, it was slightly mismatched if he truly viewed it as an important treasure. It should at least be Marquis-rank for him to feel secure.


    "That object¡­" Mountain God Huo''s expression changed numerous times, but he did not deny it. Instead, he said slowly, "After obtaining it, I kept it in a secret place. I only had some guesses about what it was after reading many ancient books, but I''m not as sure as you are."


    This was also his doubt. Fang Yuan was only a recently promoted River Earl, so where and how would he know about this?


    "You don''t need to know¡­" Fang Yuan smiled slightly with a mysterious air. "Aside from helping you completely refine the Heaven Ritual Altar fragment, I can also help you to recover part of its function. How about it? We''re both straightforward people. Yes or no, decide with a word!"


    "Such confidence!" Mountain God Huo was indecisive. Suddenly, he laughed out loud. "Alright¡­ if you want to help me to refine the Heaven Ritual Altar, you also need to reveal some of your abilities. I will offer you a cup of wine. If you can drink it, I will agree!"


    Without caring if Fang Yuan agreed or not, he directly made his move.


    Swoosh!


    A small, bronze wine goblet flew up from the table in front of Mountain God Huo and zoomed toward Fang Yuan.


    Such ''pressure''!


    Kaboom!


    Fang Yuan suddenly saw the illusion of a mountain range gathering above the bronze wine goblet. It had the imposing manner of Mount Tai bearing down.


    This weight was like the Mountain God transferring all of Mount Huo to press on the small wine goblet!


    This Deity Position in Mount Huo was similar to River Earl Surging Waves in Surging Waves River. He could borrow the Spiritual Energy of the entire mountain, enough to go against a Heaven Immortal!


    However, Fang Yuan was far from the Surging Waves River, like a tiger that had entered a plain or a dragon that had dove into shallow water.


    "Alright!"


    Looking at this scene, he was unhurried as his right hand stretched out and grabbed the wine goblet like he was holding up the heavens.


    He held the mountain with a single palm!


    In fact, this wine goblet only has the meaning of Mount Huo at most. If it was really Mount Huo, even Heaven Immortals would become meat paste!


    Dang!


    After a dull thud, the wine goblet was stably held in Fang Yuan''s hand. He drank to the last drop in a single gulp. "Really great wine!"


    Mountain God Huo went silent after witnessing this.


    After a while, he finally said, "Even if it''s a Heaven Immortal, they would have difficulty dealing with the attack that easily. Who exactly are you?"


    His tone was even more respectful than before, obviously having realized many things.


    "Do you remember the white dressed God you met during your calamity¡­" Fang Yuan laughed.


    "You''re¡­ the benefactor from before?" Mountain God Huo''s eyes widened.


    In order to subdue the Gods of the Three Mountains and Five Rivers, Lord Bright Jade had really arranged many things. It was actually a self-directed and acted show when Mountain God Huo had met danger.


    However, he was met with mishap after subduing four of the River Gods and did not continue his plan.


    "No, no!" Fang Yuan shook his head. "We''re only related!"


    "Since you''re an old friend of the benefactor, you''re also my benefactor. Alright¡­ I agree to refining the Heaven Ritual Altar fragment together!"


    Mountain God Huo made up his mind.


    This God was finally subdued. Although it appeared it was because of the arrangements of Lord Bright Jade, a large part was also because Fang Yuan revealed his strength.


    Otherwise, no one would care about someone with moral character but no power!


    "Okay, let''s immediately begin!" Fang Yuan nodded.


    "Alright!"


    SInce he had already agreed, the straightforward Mountain God Huo waved his hand and the fragment appeared at the center of the palace.


    It was a large piece of broken jade. There seemed to be golden words etched into the jade. Unfortunately, it was broken and only a few complete characters could be seen.


    Even so, an ancient, grand dignity hit them directly in the face.


    "It''s really a Heaven Ritual Altar fragment!"


    Seeing it, Fang Yuan''s eyes lit up.


    This treasure had even slightly shaken Lord Bright Jade back then, having thought of plotting to snatch it.


    Unfortunately, his chance did not arrive, and he had let this God off temporarily.


    And right now, it was his turn to harvest it.


    Repairing the Heaven Ritual Altar is courting death! After all, I''m not a person of this realm. Worshiping heaven''s will, do I want a quicker death?


    To Fang Yuan, the Spiritual Realm heaven''s will was ten times, a hundred times, more dangerous than the Heavenly Court.


    Of course, with just a mere Heaven Ritual Altar fragment, the chance of communicating with heaven''s will was the same as a normal person being struck by a meteor while walking on the streets.


    However, this fragment also had other uses even if it didn''t connect with heaven''s will.


    In Lord Bright Jade''s memory, there were a few ways to refine this fragment into other treasures.


    One way is currently the most suitable. Of course, it also tests my technique!


    As Fang Yuan reflected, he could hear the voice of the Mountain God Huo by his ear. "After I obtained this object, I also had many ideas, but in the end I still couldn''t do anything with it. If you can assist me in refining this, I''ll definitely repay you!"


    "Of course!"


    Fang Yuan gently stretched his hands a little and a golden ray landed on the jade piece.


    The light circulated, and the golden words inside came alive, moving about freely. Seeing this, Mountain God Huo''s eyes palpitated.


    "Hmm?"


    At this time, a sword radiance was flying past the sky of Mount Huo. It was a Heaven Immortal. "This is¡­ the sign of an unusual treasure being born?!"

 745 Kill

    "To think that I''d have such luck when chasing down a God¡­ The heavens truly want my sect to prevail!"


    This Immortal was riding the wind with a sword, his white robe fluttering. It was surprisingly the Spiritual Flying Sword Sect''s Heaven Immortal from before!


    His original intention was to hunt down Fang Yuan. However, after seeing that the River God had left the Surging Waves River''s deity territory, he was not shocked but elated and quietly followed him.


    After all, if he was within the magic domain, it would be very troublesome for even a Heaven Immortal to take down an Earl-rank Earthly God. With him leaving, it was basically seeking his own death.


    Just as he rushed over, he discovered a treasure light soaring into the sky, obviously the sign for the birth of a treasure. He could not help being attracted.


    "Since the treasure was spotted by me, it means that it''s fated with my Spiritual Flying Sword Sect¡­ Heaven and earth treasures are left for the deserving. And the definition of deserving? It''s just strength¡­"


    This Heaven Immortal elder''s eyes shimmered. "This is the main peak of the Mount Huo. Even if this treasure isn''t Mountain God Huo''s, it''s related to him¡­ Heh! These Mountain Gods and Earthly Gods occupy famous mountains and great rivers. There are unusual treasures and precious plants being born there quite often, but they''re always first to get the news and able to be the early bird that catches the worm. It''s so hateful!


    "This God''s magical power is average and isn''t good at fighting. I can absolutely suppress him!"


    The glare of the Heaven Immortal elder was as sharp as a sword. It pierced through the dense haze and saw the Mountain God Palace and the two Gods refining the treasure. "Hmm? River Earl Surging Waves is also here? This isn''t good¡­ If they finish refining this treasure, their strengths will have a drastic increase and I''d be in slight trouble!"


    Immortal Cultivators took the utmost importance in the principle of gains and losses.


    After seeing this, the Spiritual Flying Sword Sect elder no longer hesitated. He raised his hand and an earth-shattering ray of sword radiance came crashing down.


    It flew straight down for three thousand feet, and the sword radiance was able to blind nineteen regions!


    He was a Heaven Immortal; in the mortal world, he would be a genuine Sage!


    With his movements, the Sword Qi spread across the sky, and a waterfall of light just like a galaxy erupted with a loud bang. The array of the Mountain God Palace flashed before instantly being heavily damaged. It was unknown how many God functionaries and soldiers died.


    "What audacity!!!" Every strand of Mountain God Huo''s hair stood up, and he exploded in rage. "Who dares attack my palace?"


    Right now, there''s no need for discussion. Since this God is refining the treasure with River Earl Surging Waves, he must also be a rogue cut from the same cloth! Attack!


    All the people of the Spiritual Flying Sword Sect had hot temperaments, not liking to talk, and would directly charge. Furthermore, the treasure was right in front of him. The brilliance in Heaven Immortal elder''s hand flashed and a flying sword appeared, glowing with profound divine light. Like a majestic dragon, he pounced down.


    "Ah¡­ It''s the Heaven Immortal of the Spiritual Flying Sword Sect, Bai Jianfei!" Mountain God Huo clenched his teeth. "Your Spiritual Flying Sword Sect is usually flamboyant and bossy, but you have to give me a reason why you''ve attacked a Divine Dao palace today. Otherwise, I''ll report it to the Heavenly Court and have soldiers dispatched to eliminate your sect!"


    "Hmph!" Bai Jianfei''s long sleeves fluttered, and his spiritual will commanding the flying sword did not stop at all. "Your Divine Dao shelters evil people and countenance evil practices. You offended me first, even stealing my treasure and killing my sect''s people. I''m only bringing justice on behalf of the heavens!"


    Of course, he had no fear because he had a backer.


    Although the Divine Dao had the Heavenly Court''s backing and the Immortal Dao were in disunity, the Spiritual Flying Sword Sect was part of the 72 immortal sects. Despite them being dirty internally, they would definitely not allow his sect to be destroyed by the Heavenly Court. This was an issue of the Immortal Dao''s face.


    At a crucial moment, even all 33 large sects might appear!


    Thus, as long as he held reason today and obtained an advantage, what did he have to fear?


    Mountain God Huo clearly understood this reasoning. He saw Bai Jianfei''s swift and fierce Sword Qi change into a large magic hand reaching toward the Heaven Ritual Altar fragment. He became infuriated and shouted, "You dare?!!!"


    He waved his hand and a golden imperial seal with a dignified will appeared in his hand.


    This was the Mountain God official seal and represented the complete power of the Mount Huo. Previously, he did not reveal it when probing Fang Yuan.


    But taking it out now meant he obviously wanted to go all out.


    "Assist me, Mount Huo! Suppress!"


    Mountain God Huo''s magical powers was quick and simple, only a word¡ªsuppress!


    With the help of Mount Huo''s Spiritual Energy and the dignified will, it created an overwhelming pressure, also having hints of ''simplicity brings superiority''.


    Rumble!


    The highest peak of the Mount Huo roared and the illusion of mountains appeared behind Mountain God Huo.


    The enormous illusion clashed with the Sword Qi, and a shocking large explosion was heard. The mountain rocks shattered, while the Sword Qi and enormous hand vanished.


    "Hehe! Good magical powers¡­ You can still bully an Earth Immortal with your magical strength, but do you understand a Heaven Immortal''s essence?"


    Seeing this, Bai Jianfei immediately showed a determined look. "Eighty-one chained rings, multiply endlessly!"


    With this thought, the scattered Sword Qi gathered again and concentrated to form nine paths of world-shaking sword radiance. Within, a flying sword suddenly made a loud sound like a dragon''s roar. It swallowed all of the sword radiance before transforming into a peerless, white sword dragon. It made threatening gestures and then pounced toward the divine seal''s illusion of mountains.


    Zap! Zap!


    The sword radiance was matchless. The flying dragon passed through the mountains and the rays of Sword Qi dispersed, causing all the mountains to begin disintegrating.


    Mountain God Huo grunted, and a crack appeared on the Mountain God seal in his hand.


    Earl-rank Gods were essentially equivalent to Earth Immortals. Even in their magic domain, they could only slightly cope with a Heaven Immortal.


    However, most of them were still defeated in the end.


    "Keke¡­ A mere Mountain God dares to go against the dignity of the Immortal Dao. Today, I will strip you both of your Deity Positions and turn you into beasts. You won''t be able to reincarnate for the rest of your existence!"


    Bai Jianfei pointed again, and the sword brilliance covered the entire area.


    "Phew¡­ almost finished!"


    At the moment, Fang Yuan was still calmly refining the treasure. He seemed unconcerned about the battle in the sky.


    Even so, he was still thinking about how lucky he was in his heart.


    If not for the Heaven Immortal Bai Jianfei butting in, Mountain God Huo might have been able to discover what Fang Yuan wanted to do.


    However, this God currently did not care and allowed Fang Yuan to complete the refinement.


    Whoosh!


    A ball of golden flames burned in front of him.


    The Heaven Ritual Altar fragment inside began to slowly melt, becoming a ball of jade colored fluid.


    Like tadpoles, the incomplete golden runes were pulled out by an unknown force and transformed into a golden ball. Fang Yuan then kept it in his cuff.


    "Actually, these golden runic words are the most precious thing from the Heaven Ritual Altar. The rest are just some valuable materials¡­"


    Fang Yuan''s movement was extremely concealed. After finishing, he shouted, "Luckily, I didn''t forgo my mission. Receive this, Mountain God Huo!"


    With a flick of his fingers, the rest of the jade-colored solution flew into the sky and landed on the cracked Mountain God seal.


    Bloop!


    In a split second, the solution seeped into the cracks of the seal. The entire Mountain God divine seal emitted a light and became as good as new, even having a beautiful jade color.


    "Hmm?"


    Mountain God Huo''s eyes widened.


    This realm''s Divine Dao had Decrees, and the power was the imperial seals.


    The inferior nether soldiers and Patrol Gods used bronze medals, Baron-rank Gods used silver seals, Earls used golden seals, and Marquis and above used jade seals!


    At the moment, his imperial seal had not only recovered, but the intrinsic quality also increased half a grade.


    Within Divine Dao, it was an utmost difficult thing to do.


    Truly a Heaven Ritual Altar fragment, to be able to do that¡­


    Mountain God Huo''s heart surged with emotions and looked at the empty-handed Fang Yuan. He could not help feeling a little embarrassed. "I have the heart of a lowly man, to gauge the heart of a gentleman with my own mean measure."


    He had no idea that Fang Yuan had already secretly obtained the biggest benefits, only leaving the dregs for him.


    Truthfully, a mere Mountain God would not be able to use those golden runic words anyway; it would only attract trouble.


    "Hmm?"


    In midair, Bai Jianfei suddenly felt a large pressure.


    The suppressed Mountain God Huo began to brazenly counterattack.


    "Mountain God Seal! Go!"


    With the loud shout, the jade-colored imperial seal suddenly increased its size and became a towering mountain, immediately pressing down.


    "Flying Dragon Sword!"


    Bai Jianfei was greatly startled and commanded his flying sword. It slashed straight at the imperial seal''s top.


    Dang!


    The clear sound of metal striking metal spread. The imperial seal vibrated, while the flying sword was immediately swept away.


    The Heaven Ritual Altar''s materials definitely exceeded heavenly materials and earthly treasures. It even contained a bit of the Heavenly Dao''s prestige.


    Attacking it was equivalent to attacking with the heavens! How terrifying a concept was this?


    The Flying Dragon Sword howled in pain, dense cracks appearing all over the sword blade.


    As his intrinsic treasure was damaged, Bai Jianfei snorted as he bled from the orifices of his head. He glared at Mountain God Huo before glancing at Fang Yuan. "Good! Very good!"


    He waved his hands and numerous Skyfiend Yin Lightning exploded.


    After doing this, Bai Jianfei drove his sword and escaped without looking back.


    He had to run!


    His strongest technique had been blocked, and he could not even deal with Mountain God Huo.


    River Earl Surging Waves did not make a move at all!


    Wait until I''m back at the sect and invite the two strongest elders to take action. I must eliminate these two Gods!Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting.


    At this moment, this Heaven Immortal Patriarch had uncontrollable killing intent boiling in his heart, the flames of his anger surging violently.


    After all, it was initially a matter as simple as snapping his fingers to kill an Earthly God that had left their deity territory.


    It was another surprise to see the birth of a precious treasure.


    However, the table had turned because of these two Earthly Gods. It was like someone walking on the road getting bitten by two blustering ants and having no choice but to retreat temporarily. This made the Heaven Immortal feel greatly insulted.


    "Skyfiend Yin Lightning?!"


    Mountain God Huo''s expression changed, not daring to immediately chase. Instead, he protected Mount Huo.


    Otherwise, if the creatures of the highest peak died, or even if the environment was destroyed, he would have to take responsibility.


    "No worries. Just chase him!"


    Fang Yuan flung his sleeves and a sea of watery brilliance spread. Like a long river, it instantly engulfed the Yin Lightning.


    To him, this Mental Demon pollution was only a tonic; thus, he swallowed it.


    "Good magical skill!"


    Mountain God Huo was elated when he saw this. He transformed into a beam of light and the jade-colored imperial seal directly appeared above Bai Jianfei before dropping down. "Your Spiritual Flying Sword Sect provoked me first. I''ll suppress you today and then make the Spiritual Flying Sword Sect give me an explanation!"


    Even someone nice could become angry, and Mountain God Huo was completely enraged.


    Seeing this, a brilliance flashed in his eyes as a ripple spread and twined around Bai Jianfei''s legs. The Mental Demon elemental force from before ruthlessly attacked him, giving him a taste of his own medicine.


    "Ah¡­ you!"


    This Heaven Immortal was greatly shocked, and shortly after, his skull was crushed by the divine seal. His head burst apart and even his divine spirit was destroyed. He could not be anymore dead!

 746 Eight Gods

    "He''s¡­ dead?"


    After successfully attacking, Mountain God Huo took back his seal, but he was dumbstruck.


    Heaven Immortals lived long, experienced lives and possessed great powers, but a powerful Immortal had died just like that? Even a God like him could not truly believe it.


    "Yes. His body and soul have been destroyed and can''t be resurrected!" Fang Yuan nodded solemnly.


    In fact, Bai Jianfei''s death was quite unjust.


    The fact that the Mount Huo divine seal was refined with the Heaven Ritual Altar fragment and had a drastic increase in power was just one aspect.


    Most importantly, Fang Yuan had also sneak attacked him. Fang Yuan returned his Skyfiend Yin Lightning blow back at full power, but it also contained pure Mental Demon elemental force. It spelled trouble for even a Heaven Immortal.


    Bai Jianfei had suffered contamination, and his Essence Soul''s magical powers had fluctuated heavily.


    At that time, he had faced Mountain God Huo''s full-powered blow and naturally did not have any chance of surviving.


    "Whew¡­" Mountain God Huo stood rooted for a long time before giving a big sigh. "This matter is serious, and not even the both of us will be able to hide it. We have to report to the Heavenly Court!"


    "Still, if Gods and Immortals get into conflict with each other, we won''t have a good outcome either¡­" A light flashed in Fang Yuan''s eyes. "How about reporting to Excellency Mount Mang?"


    Mountain God Huo was a little convinced, but promptly bitterly laughed. "Regardless if it''s the Heavenly Court or His Excellency, I''m afraid that neither will support us. Of course¡­ they won''t hand us over based on the nature of the offense. After all, it was that Heaven Immortal who attacked my palace first, and there''s solid evidence! However, I''m afraid we''ll have to deal with the following actions from the Immortal Dao ourselves!"


    Although this Mountain God has average strength, he''s still pretty calm and bright!


    Seeing how the situation was proceeding, Fang Yuan nodded. "Indeed¡­ As the saying goes ''good fortune follows upon disaster, disaster lurks within good fortune''. If we can deal with this wave, there''ll naturally be a chance to turn the tables!"


    "Sigh¡­ Difficult! Very difficult!" Mountain God Huo let out a long sigh. "There are still two Heaven Immortals in the Spiritual Flying Sword Sect. Moreover, they might even borrow forces from the nearby sects they''re on good terms with. If we''re besieged, we''ll fall!"


    Moreover, it was only because he was at Mount Huo that he had such great ability.


    If Fang Yuan did not return to Surging Waves River, he would also only be around an average Earth Immortal.


    The Divine Dao was not good because of this point. Once someone left boundaries of their magic domain, their strength would drastically decrease and become easy to attack.


    Even if these two Gods could unleash their full power, they might still not be opponents for the Spiritual Flying Sword Sect.


    "The only thing we can do is to ask for help!"


    Fang Yuan heaved a long sigh.


    "It''s no use. Even if the Heavenly Court or His Excellency are willing to send help, a slow remedy doesn''t address the current emergency¡­" Mountain God Huo shook his head in rejection.


    "Who says¡­ we want to ask for aid from the Heavenly Court." At this point, Fang Yuan gave a mysterious smile. "Our Three Mountains and Five Rivers are birds of a feather, and there aren''t just us two Gods!"


    "That''s true!" Mountain God Hou was first startled, but soon supported. "If the Immortal Dao eliminates us, they would inevitably bring this might and completely wipe out the Divine Dao forces in the Three Mountains and Five Rivers!


    "Since it''s like this, why not exaggerate it and make a big scene!"


    At the moment, having thought through the matter, Mountain God Huo was brimming with confidence, even feeling heroic.


    ¡­


    Spiritual Flying Sword Sect.


    At the moment of Bai Jianfei''s death, there was a clear, cracking sound coming from the memorial hall.


    Not long after, the room''s door creaked open and a deacon walked in with a solemn face. "There''s a change in an Intrinsic Sword Tablet? I wonder if something happened to a deacon or direct disciple."


    There was a row of neat, small wooden swords on an altar with names and labels below.


    These were the Intrinsic Sword Tablets. All the key members of the Spiritual Flying Sword Sect had to prepare one so that it was convenient for the masters to check on their situation at anytime. Based on the Intrinsic Sword Tablet, their situation and position could be predicted, allowing rescue to be more convenient.


    "It''s not a disciple¡­ nor a deacon either¡­"


    The deacon in charge of guarding the Intrinsic Sword Tablets had a glare as sharp as an eagle as he looked from the bottom row. He swept his eyes over and went on to look at the middle rows. However, he could not find anything wrong. Cold sweat started to form on his forehead.


    The Intrinsic Sword Tablets above the middle rows had a slight golden-jade color. At the very least, they represented Earth Immortals.


    If anything happened to them, it would be a serious blow to the Spiritual Flying Sword Sect and damage their vitality.


    "Could something have happened to an Earth Immortal elder?"


    The deacon moved his attention to the upper rows. The row of golden swords representing the Earth Immortal elders was flawless. As for the utmost top row, there were three jade swords representing the three Heaven Immortals of the Spiritual Flying Sword Sect and suppressing fate.


    At the moment, one of the jade swords was in pieces and had fallen onto the rack.


    Smack!


    The deacon slumped onto the floor and started to sweat coldly. "Our sect has a secret method that applies if the Intrinsic Sword Tablet is covered in dust. It means that someone is sealed or trapped and needs the sect''s aid. Even if someone was decapitated, we could still save the Essence Soul, but this¡­ both body and soul were destroyed! A Heaven Immortal¡­ body and soul¡­ both destroyed¡­"


    Within the 72 immortal sects, Heaven Immortal was the highest level. If there was a Golden Immortal, they would be in the 33 large sects.


    In the Spiritual Flying Sword Sect, there were three Heaven Immortal Patriarches. Heaven Immortals!


    One of them passing away was almost the same as the sky collapsing.


    This meant that the Spiritual Flying Sword Sect could only still barely support itself as a sect ranked at the front.


    If it was like the Four Oceans Immortal Sects that only had one Heaven Immortal, the whole sect would fall.


    "Not good¡­ I need to report to the sect master and the two patriarches quickly!"


    This deacon gave one last look and unexpectedly saw the carved words ''Bai Jianfei'' at the original position of the jade sword.


    "What happened?"


    Not long later, the middle-aged sect master staggered into the memorial hall. He seemed to have lost control of himself.


    "Reporting, Sect Master¡­"


    The deacon could taste bitterness in his mouth. He almost could not say anything, only pointing toward the highest point.


    When he saw it, the middle aged man instantly stood rooted, as if someone had splashed cold water on him. "How is this possible? How is this possible!"


    A quiet sigh rang out. Suddenly, a sound broke out from the surrounding.


    "Sigh¡­ To think that Junior Brother Bai would meet with such unexpected mishap this time. Our Spiritual Flying Sword Sect has suffered the painful loss of an arm!"


    The middle-aged sect master and deacon looked over and saw that the two patriarches carrying swords had unknowingly entered the hall. They had gray clothes and their backs were like spears.


    "Martial Grand Uncle¡­"


    Seeing these two Heaven Immortals of the sect, they immediately knelt.


    "Forget it! Junior Brother Bai was chasing down River Earl Surging Waves when something happened. Looks like that River Earl has some secrets, so we need to investigate properly before attacking!"


    One of the gray clothed Heaven Immortals continued, "It''s been many years¡­ since our Immortal Dao has seen such a thing happen. This time, the Divine Dao must give me an explanation."


    "Right! The murderer must be caught and skinned alive, and his divine spirit will be used to light a lantern!" When the other Heaven Immortal in grey clothes spoke, he had a strong murderous air. "Kill! Anyone involved in this matter, no matter if it''s a human or a God, leave none alive. If they live, the masses won''t be convinced!"


    "Of course!" agreed the Heaven Immortal who spoke earlier. "However, we need to contact a few other immortal sects as a precaution!"


    As he spoke, his bright pupils landed on the middle-aged sect master. "Link Sword, such a serious matter happened while under your watch, so you don''t need to be the sect master anymore. Go to the Tough Sword Cliff to reflect for 50 years. As for the position¡­ Bright Sword shall take over!"


    "As you command!"


    Link Sword did not dare resist and directly kowtowed.


    However, he was grieving in his heart.


    Because a Heaven Immortal fell, the forces in the sect would inevitably experience a complete reshuffling.


    Of course, everything was no longer related to him.


    ¡­


    "The Three Mountains and Five Rivers'' three mountains are Mount Huo, Mount Peace, and Mount Cloud Top; while the Five Rivers are Surging Waves River, Jing River, White Water River, Flowing Sand River, and Trident River!"


    Currently, in Surging Waves River Palace.


    Fang Yuan had changed into the Divine Dao imperial attire and was sitting still and upright.


    Mountain God Huo had a similar, solemn face beside him. "Since River Earl has invited the other Gods with the reason of celebrating your new promotion, I think the other two Mountain and four River Gods will give you some face!"


    Under Fang Yuan''s insistence, the location of the meeting between the eight Gods was in Surging Waves River.


    Of course, the invitation card could not include that they had jointly killed a Heaven Immortal, needing everyone to come help think of a plan.


    Fang Yuan had not organized a celebration banquet after he had ascended to his Deity Position, and it had thus become the best excuse.


    At this moment, accompanied by the loud sound of a bell outside, Green Mountain came over to report, "Master¡­ the Gods have arrived!"


    "Alright!"


    Together with Mountain God Huo, Fang Yuan rose and went out of the palace to welcome them.


    Underwater, the billows surged and numerous undercurrents came slowly as a few waves of troops appeared.


    Among them, black water was churning and transformed into a ferocious, tanned, and hefty man wearing armor. He looked like a fierce general charging the enemy lines.


    Three other undercurrents combined, but it was a group with ceremonial weapons that appeared. Among them were three Goddesses sitting on sedan chairs. They were graceful, and their brown eyes were indistinctly similar. They were unexpectedly siblings.


    Mountain God Huo was afraid that Fang Yuan did not know much about the inside information. Considering he was currently in the same boat as Fang Yuan, he quietly introduced them, "The tanned one is River Earl Jing and the three siblings are River Goddesses White Water, Flowing Sand, and Trident. Rumor has it that these three females used to study under the same teacher, and each separately obtained their Deity Position. It''s a much talked about story¡­"Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting.


    However, he did not know that Fang Yuan''s understanding of these four was beyond his imagination.


    After all, Lord Bright Jade had helped them set up their foundations back then.


    Although the Mountain Gods had Excellency Mount Mang and it was inconvenient to meddle with them, the four River Gods had long secretly been subdued by him.


    These three sisters could only deify because of the help Lord Bright Jade had given in secret.


    "This is River Earl Surging Waves?"


    The three goddesses came down from their sedans and sincerely saluted.


    Among the five rivers, Surging Waves River was the one closest to the main source, had the most plentiful water, and was faintly considered the leader. Also because of this, the Deity Position was difficult to form.


    "Everyone, please come inside!"


    Fang Yuan had a smile on his face. Suddenly, his forehead creased.


    The water darkened, as if there were two heavy mountains oppressing the river bottom.


    Suddenly, the two large mountain illusions transformed into two Mountain Gods. Their waists were surrounded by tiger skin, making them appear wild. They were unfriendly as they directly questioned, "Mountain God Huo, you and River Earl Surging Waves did such a great thing, and you''re still thinking of dragging us in?"


    Oh? The news spread this fast?


    Fang Yuan''s heart slightly stirred, but he was not shocked at all. "The invitation this time is to discuss this matter with everyone. Please, come in!"

 747 Alliance

    River Palace''s main hall.


    The eight Gods sat down with a spread of delicacies before them.


    Of course, they were a level lower than the fine wine and food that Mountain God Huo had served before. After all, Fang Yuan had just became a River Earl and did not have much time for accumulation. However, the Gods did not eat much; instead, all their focus was placed on the two Mountain Gods that had come last.


    The Mountain Gods of Mount Peace and Mount Cloud Top seemed like barbarians with their tiger skin loincloths and overbearing actions. "River Earl Surging Waters, you and Mountain God Huo killed the Heaven Immortal of the Spiritual Flying Sword Sect, Bai Jianfei, and created huge trouble. That''s why you have to find us for help, right?"


    "We don''t care if you''re in trouble, but trying to drag us into it, you have ill intentions!"


    ¡­


    Once the two Mountain Gods sat down, they immediately exposed what Fang Yuan and Mountain God Huo had planned, creating uproar among the four River Gods.


    "What? They actually killed Bai Jianfei?"


    The three siblings were shocked as they looked at each other. "Even if we worked together in our deity territories, we might not be able to deal with a Heaven Immortal. He''s a grade higher than us!"


    "Good kill!" The tanned god, River Earl Jing, burst into laughter as he clapped his hands. "The Spiritual Flying Sword Sect is so rampant, they deserve this retribution!"


    He looked toward Mountain God Huo and Fang Yuan, his gaze filled with admiration, and gave a thumbs-up. "I''ve long thought about giving them some payback, but to think that the two of you took action first. You''re true men!"


    "Hmph! River Earl Jing! Don''t think we don''t know that you did something dirty to the Spiritual Flying Sword Sect because of an aquatic treasure. Not only were you injured by Bai Jianfei, your treasure was also taken. Because of this, you were deeply disgraced!"


    Mountain God Peace scoffed, "That was your private grudge. However, this time, it isn''t only one person''s matter when the Immortal Dao is angry."


    "The Immortal Dao is angry?" After hearing that, Mountain God Huo instantly revealed a cold smile. "Then wouldn''t our Divine Dao be angry? Bai Jianfei attacked my palace first and wanted to snatch my treasure, obviously harboring evil intentions. I was aligned with the heavens in killing him, so who can fault me?"


    He was also determined, so he waved his hand and an image appeared. It was shockingly the scene of Bai Jianfei attacking the Mountain God Palace.


    Hearing that Bai Jianfei wanted to kill a God to snatch something, the River Goddess siblings did not take well to it. "He was truly brazen and lawless!"


    With solid evidence, the two Mountain Gods had unnatural expressions but continued to refute stubbornly, "Even so, you didn''t have to destroy both his body and soul!"


    They did not suspect that the evidence was faked because any false recording done with magical strength would be seen through.


    Moreover, Mountain God Huo could swear on his Deity Position, and if it was false, he would immediately fall. With the heavens and the earth as witnesses, it was definitely real.


    The eldest sister among the three siblings, River Goddess Flowing Sand said, "It appears¡­ they didn''t do anything wrong!"


    These Gods were below Heaven Immortals in rank. Although it was two versus one, they would have been the ones killed if they did not use their full strength, so there was no way to claim that they were too ruthless.


    "Thank you for understanding, Goddess!" Mountain God Huo laughed bitterly. "Although the Heavenly Court won''t blame us, the Immortal Dao will definitely seek us for revenge privately. It won''t matter if they only come for the two of us, but if they''re determined enough, it''s possible that they''d sweep away the Divine Dao forces of the Three Mountains and Five Rivers. Therefore, I used this chance at the River Earl''s banquet to invite everyone here to discuss a plan."


    "In the end, this is still a problem that the two of you caused!"


    Mountain God Peace and Mountain God Cloud Top''s eyes glimmered, harboring unknown motives.


    Smack!


    However, the sitting River Earl Jing could no longer take it. He ruthlessly slammed the wine goblet in his hand onto the table. "Even without this, the Immortal Dao would still go against us. The two of you nitpicking everything we say, could you have been bribed by the Immortal Dao?"


    His appearance was fierce, his eyes were like bronze bells, and his glare was as sharp as a knife.


    "Hey! Don''t think about slandering us!"


    These two Mountain Gods were angered, and the illusion of mountains appeared behind each of them. Their magical strength vibrated, as if they were about to fall out and strike the next moment.


    "Everyone!"


    At this time, Fang Yuan flung his sleeves.


    Buzz Buzz!


    The River Earl Palace roared and the Surging Waters River water gushed over endlessly. It rotated around his body, and with unblockable power, he suppressed the uproar.


    After all, he was the master of the land. In the Divine Dao, this represented power.


    In his deity territory, the other Gods were naturally not his opponent.


    However, the two Mountain Gods were fearless. They obviously had someone to count on, and it was enough for them to protect themselves. "What? River Earl, are you preparing to unfairly take sides?"


    "How can you talk about fairness when it''s two versus one?" Mountain God Huo ridiculed


    "Everyone that came is my guest, and there won''t be any fights. We''re here to discuss a strategy and not have internal strife. The Immortal Dao would treat us like a joke if so."


    Fang Yuan''s voice was clear and beautiful like jade.


    "Then, based on your view, what should we do?" Goddess White Water suddenly asked after her pretty eyes wandered onto Fang Yuan.


    "Our the Three Mountains and Five Rivers is a system in itself. If we can combine as one, we would be able to form a force capable of protecting ourselves!" Fang Yuan finally brought up his idea.


    "Your meaning is¡­ to form an alliance?!" River Earl Jing was slightly shocked.


    "Yes!" Fang Yuan nodded.


    "Then, how does this benefit us?" Immediately, the two Mountain Gods jumped out to strongly oppose. "You want us to together carry the burden of the disaster you created?"


    "Don''t you know about the logic of being intimately interdependent?" Fang Yuan smiled. "Only when we eight Gods are one can we protect ourselves. Otherwise, would the Immortal Dao let go of the others if the two of us are gone?"


    "Since it''s an alliance, we need an alliance leader!" Mountain God Peace pointed out. "I wonder if you have anyone in mind?"


    This diversion strategy was excellent, as it was able to quickly calm down the four River Gods.


    "The alliance leader will naturally need everyone''s recommendation!" Fang Yuan said confidently. "No matter who ends up in this position, they must take an oath on their Deity Position and the others will have to obey that person as subordinates! This way, the Three Mountains and Five Rivers can truly combine as one. Any God within the alliance territories will be able to unleash their full power without any deity territory restrictions!"


    "What?"


    At this time, even Mountain God Huo''s hands shook, as he had not thought Fang Yuan would be so ambitious!


    Everyone knew that Earthly Gods could only be unrestrained in their own territory. Once they were out of their deity territory, their prowess would drastically drop.


    For example, on Mount Huo, Mountain God Huo was boss. No need to mention one versus five, but at least if it was just the other two Mountain Gods, they would not be able to defeat him. However, with a change of location, he would definitely be thrashed if the two Gods worked together.


    Using the same logic, Fang Yuan could suppress the whole scene just by slightly moving his magical strength in Surging Waters River. However, if it was another location, it would not be so simple.


    This was the limitation of the deity territory!


    What Fang Yuan wanted to do was remove these shackles. For example¡­ combining the Three Mountains and Five Rivers into a body to form a new Deity Position.


    This way, the Gods of the Three Mountains and Five Rivers would become this God''s subordinates, and they would be similar to God functionaries. By being in their deity territories, this God would still obtain the additional support of magical strength.


    And because of this logic, after settling who the leader and subordinates were, each of the Gods would contribute part of their authority. Then Fang Yuan would once again divide and confer them authority so that they would immediately be able to unleash their peak powers within the Three Mountains and Five Rivers!


    In fact¡­ this is just a smaller scale Heavenly Court!


    Fang Yuan was unusually clear about this. The Heavenly Court commanded the whole group of Gods, and the ones that truly obtained a heavenly conferment would possess great power no matter where they were.


    This was because the Heavenly Court had gathered the realm''s beliefs and conferred corresponding positions. Thus, only the Gods that were acknowledged could perform at their peak anywhere they went.


    In fact, Mountain and River Gods are also like this. With the Heavenly Court''s edict and mortals worshiping, no matter which Mountain God or River God, as long as they were at a place with worship, it would be their deity territory¡­ and they would be able to unleash their peak power! However, this has no benefits to the Heavenly Court, so they are only willing to allow an Earthly God to be in charge of a region, not allowing them to walk the realm and unite.


    Of course, a peak Earl Deity Position was equivalent to a peak Earth Immortal, but the intrinsic quality was still a level lower than Earth Immortals.


    As for Excellency Mount Mang''s rank, that was an exception. Moreover, his true Deity Position was not a Heavenly Court conferred title, but the master of mountains, having the authority to take charge of Yin and Yang, life and death.


    "Haha¡­" Mountain Gods Peace and Cloud Top froze before promptly laughing out loud. "You want to be the master of the Three Mountains and Five Rivers and make us your God functionaries? Subordinate? Dream on!!!"


    "I only said¡­ to choose an alliance leader, and we would willingly acknowledge allegiance to that person. I didn''t say that it was me!" Fang Yuan smiled weirdly. "However, since you two mentioned it, could it be you have your mind set on me?"


    "Crazy! You''re crazy! This is completely going around the Heavenly Court and having underhanded secret dealings. We must report to the Heavenly Court! And Excellency Mount Mang!" Mountain God Cloud Top shouted.


    "You also know about Excellency Mount Mang, so don''t you know the logic of getting amnesty after committing crime?"


    Fang Yuan laughed loudly and waved his palm.


    Rumble!


    Powerful magical strength roared and gushed forward from all directions, completely sealing shut the River Earl Palace.


    This behavior was similar to the Feast of Hongmen[1.Refers to an event in history where a banquet was set up to murder a guest.]¡ªa cup shattering to signal 300 weapons to be taken out. Even Mountain God Huo was dumbfounded.


    "You-You''re looking for death!" Mountain God Peace''s eyes sparkled. "If you want to become the alliance leader, we must willingly pledge allegiance and contribute our authority. Three River Goddesses, River Earl Jing, Mountain God Huo, don''t tell me you''re willing to be this person''s slave?"Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting.


    "River Earl Surging Waters, you should release the restriction!"


    The expression of the Three River Goddesses changed, not at all pleased. River Earl Jing also had a fighting stance, ready to fight the next moment.


    "Haha¡­ Don''t worry. Since I''m prepared to combine the Three Mountains and Five Rivers, I will inevitably obtain most of their acknowledgements. Only then would it be proper!"


    Fang Yuan laughed loudly and looked at the Three River Goddesses, as well as River Earl Jing. "Swearing by the three rivers¡­ did you forget what the Divine Dao oath you took when you ascended was?"


    "What?" The Three River Goddesses expression changed greatly. "Are you the benefactor from back then?!"

 748 Heavenly Edic

    "Sisters! What should we do?" immediately asked River Goddess Trident, the youngest among them.


    "We received a stranger''s help when making a breakthrough that time and promised to do him a favor! We each swore upon our own Deity Position, and it was witnessed by the heavens and the earth. We mustn''t break the promise!"


    "This person doesn''t seem like the one who helped us!"


    River Goddess White Water said bitterly, "But the oath we took only applies to the one who can mention it, and it was stipulated as part of the promise. This feels strange, but it may be an ingenious scheme!"


    "It seems that this scheme was impressively far-reaching! In this situation, our Deity Positions will be irreversibly destroyed straightaway if we break the promise!"


    River Goddess Flowing Sand bowed, the hope in her eyes dying out. "The Three River Goddesses are willing to acknowledge you as the alliance leader!"


    "It''s you?!" On the other hand, after that short conversation, River Earl Jing looked furious, but he bowed anyway. "I will keep my promise and help you once!"


    "What about you, Mountain God Huo?"


    Fang Yuan stood with his hands behind his back, staring at Mountain God Huo with an inscrutable smile.


    Who would''ve thought¡­ that River Earl Surging Waves fooled so many Gods and concealed himself in such a flawless manner¡­


    Mountain God Huo shivered at the thought of the stranger that had offered him help.


    All this only implies one thing, that somebody must have been scheming for the Three Mountains and Five Rivers. Even this River Earl might be a mere pawn used by an unfathomably potent God!


    Sigh¡­ Since I killed that Heaven Immortal, I absolutely won''t be spared if I refuse to kneel today!


    Without further hesitation, he knelt. "I will comply with the order of Alliance Leader!"


    "What?" Mountain God Peace and Mountain God Cloud Top were both stunned by this series of unforeseen events.


    How could all these arrogant Gods with their own networks regard this foreign God as the alliance leader? It felt as if an illusion had befallen them.


    But they sensed the absolute danger upon recollecting themselves.


    "Could the six Gods have conspired against us?"


    "This is a huge trap! We shouldn''t have come here today."


    The two Mountain Gods felt awfully regretful.


    However, it was incredible that they were not clever enough to detect the conspiracy!


    "Five Gods among the Three Mountains and Five Rivers have chosen me as the alliance leader!" Fang Yuan looked at the two Gods calmly with that unchanging, gentle smile. "What''s your opinion?"


    "Our opinion is surely¡­"


    The two Mountain Gods exchanged glances, and their magical strength suddenly exploded.


    Not only that, but like two dragons darting out of the sea, two sharp swords flew swiftly from their hands toward Fang Yuan.


    The Sword Qi was fierce enough to annihilate a God within a single strike!


    This was the Sword Qi of Heaven Immortals!


    Beyond all doubt, these two Gods were both associated with the Spiritual Flying Sword Sect, even possessing the most powerful technique of their Heaven Immortals.


    The sudden move just now was palpably meant to kill Fang Yuan once and for all!


    Poof!


    The Sword Qi concentrated before penetrating Fang Yuan''s body and leaving behind two tiny holes.


    "Excellent swordsmanship¡­ This is the true swordsmanship of Heaven Immortals. Returning to the basics and appearing mediocre only to explode close to the target¡­"


    Fang Yuan''s figure became transparent, but his voice was still full of energy.


    "An incarnation? An illusion?"


    Realizing that Fang Yuan had fooled them, the two Mountain Gods had an unpleasant look.


    The real Fang Yuan casually walked out from the other side and said in a chilling voice, "It''s no wonder you two could be so bold in my God Palace¡­ So you were depending on the Immortal Dao for protection!"


    He had merely used an incarnation to elicit the most potent techniques of these two Mountain Gods.


    "Traitors! Kneel!"


    At this moment, Fang Yuan stretched out his palm indifferently.


    Splash!


    The deafening noise of torrents immediately flowed from his body.


    The inexplicable power struck heavily on both Mountain Gods, forcing them to kneel.


    "River Earl Surging Waves¡­ How dare you?"


    "You betrayed the Divine Dao and turned to the Immortal Dao. No one in this realm can save you!"


    ¡­


    Having lost their trump card, the two Mountain Gods were immediately surrounded by a stream of water and forced to kneel.


    Despite their posture, they kept on cursing.


    Upon hearing that, both River Earl Jing and Mountain God Huo looked slightly uneasy.


    It was true. Even the Heavenly Court would not tolerate such an act.


    Although the Heavenly Court belongs to the Divine Dao, it isn''t actually heaven''s will! Fang Yuan dismissed it with a cold sneer, and then said seriously, "Since you have all greeted me as the alliance leader, I''ll take over and merge your authority."


    Meanwhile, a small golden token with glistening ancient characters appeared in his hand.


    "This is¡­ from ancient times. Why is it carrying an aura of the Heavenly Dao?"


    The Gods were all astonished and overwhelmed.


    "This is a token of the Heavenly Dao. With this token, we''ll take an oath to collaborate as an alliance!"


    Fang Yuan glanced over the Gods, but not one dared to stare back at him.


    At this moment, the eldest sister of the Three River Goddesses gritted her teeth and surrendered first.


    "The Goddesses of the Flowing Sand River, the White Water River, and the Trident River are willing to be your subordinates, Alliance Leader, and will be punished for any disloyalty!"


    Three streams of divine light suddenly emerged from their bodies and fused into the token in Fang Yuan''s hand.


    "I''m willing to regard you as my master!" Seeing no other choice, River Earl Jing surrendered as well. The golden talisman of a Deity Position emerged from the top of his head and fused into the token.


    "Greetings to Master from Mountain God Huo!"


    Mountain God Huo thought of his Heaven Ritual Altar at the sight of the golden token, but did not dare utter a word about it as he kowtowed. His half-gold, half-jade divine seal appeared, and a stream of light flowed into the token.


    Rumble!


    With so much authority, the golden token was transiently submerged in five-colored light before transforming into an green token with a translucent image of the Three Mountains and Five Rivers on it.


    "Is this¡­ the Deity Position?"


    All the Gods stared wide-eyed. "It''s the Deity Position ruling the Three Mountains and Five Rivers¡­ How could this be?"


    Such a Deity Position could not be readily formed, not even with the merger of the Deity Positions surrendered by the eight Gods.


    Fang Yuan was only able to do so with the power of the Heaven Ritual Altar fragment.


    What is a Deity Position? In essence, it''s nothing more than the manifestation of authority. The Heavenly Court can delegate it, so can the Immortal Dao. What matters is how much control it has¡­ A true Deity Position is concentrated from the power of the heavens and the earth. In this respect, the Heavenly Court is inferior to heaven''s will.


    Even the true Son of Heaven had to pray toward heaven before enthronement, much less Gods.


    Right now, Fang Yuan was utilizing the power from the ancient Heaven Ritual Altar fragment and fusing it with the authority of the Three Mountains and Five Rivers to create a new Deity Position.


    "God of the Mountains and Rivers?"


    "This Deity Position¡­ rules the Three Mountains and Five Rivers. It''s equivalent to a Heaven Immortal!"


    "No¡­ It only rules one mountain and five rivers. As long as we refuse to give in, this Deity Position can never be complete!"


    Mountain God Peace and Mountain God Cloud Top shouted aloud in an attempt to encourage each other.


    However, they saw the pity in each others'' eyes.


    "I''m in charge of the Three Mountains and Five Rivers, and there is sufficient evidence that the both of you betrayed the Divine Dao and turned to the Immortal Dao. Thus, as the master of mountains and rivers, I will deprive you of your Deity Positions!"


    Fang Yuan reached out his hand, grabbed the translucent green token, and waved it at the two Mountain Gods.


    Rumble!


    All of a sudden, the two Gods started wailing in agony. A stream of golden light gradually emerged from their transparent figures.


    "You''re so ruthless¡­ How dare you extract our Deity Positions?" The two Mountain Gods were furious. "The Heavenly Court won''t spare you!"


    But Fang Yuan''s resolution was as firm as iron, impossible to be shaken by their words.


    Furthermore, even a Heaven Immortal of the Spiritual Flying Sword Sect was bold enough to kill Gods for Deity Positions. There was no reason that Fang Yuan would not have the guts to do the same thing.


    Therefore, he proceeded without any anxiety.


    As time went by, the two Mountain Gods became desperate. "Please have mercy¡­ We''re willing to regard you as our master. Please don''t take away our Deity Positions¡­"


    "It took so many years of hard work for us to acquire our positions today! I''m not willing to lose it! I hate you!!!"


    The air of grievances concentrated and became tangible, transforming into a ferocious beast.


    "It''s already too late to repent!"


    Fang Yuan certainly would not let them off. With a swing of his hand, crimson flames engulfed the two Gods.


    All their grievances were immediately dispersed by the flames, turning into golden lotuses.


    "Refining golden lotuses with flames¡­ This is indeed a superior technique used by a Marquis!"


    Mountain God Huo felt uneasy at the sight of that technique. When did this River Earl advance to the level of a superior god of the Heavenly Court?


    This technique was the reason why the Gods of the Heavenly Court could be worshiped by people all around the realm without any backlash!


    Whoosh!


    Both Mountain Gods were burned down to ashes, leaving behind only the golden Heavenly Edicts delegating their Deity Positions.


    "Green Mountain, Black Water!"Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting.


    Fang Yuan pondered for a moment and then summoned the giant green bull and black tiger demons. "You two have been working rather hard recently. Taking your foundations into account, I''ll now delegate you each the position of the Mountain God Peace and Mountain God Cloud Top."


    As he swung his hand, two streams of divine light fell into these two demons.


    "Ah¡­ Thank you so much, Master! We will lay down our lives for you!"


    Both of them were exhilarated.


    They had fought so desperately for the River Earl Deity Position, but were instead subdued by the River Earl and became his slaves.


    Who would have expected that they could become so fortunate all of a sudden!


    Black Water, as a black tiger demon, was especially excited. Tigers had the reputation of being the kings of mountains, so the position of a Mountain God suited her even better.


    Even though the two demons had become Gods, they still took the wise action of taking an oath to display their loyalty.


    With the last two streams of divine light, the green token glowed in five-colored light, and the image of the Three Mountains and Five Rivers flashed in turn. Finally, it transformed into a complete Heavenly Edict!

 749 Siege

    "The Deity Position!"


    "A green Deity Position created by the heavens and the earth is comparable to a Heaven Immortal!"


    The seven Gods gazed at the Heavenly Edict in shock.


    It was especially hard for Mountain God Huo to believe what he was witnessing. While his divine seal had been improved by half a grade, he clearly understood the tremendous difficulty and risk involved in improving to a completely new level.


    "So a Marquis Deity Position can actually be created through gathering the power of the Three Mountains and Five Rivers!"


    A Marquis-rank was equivalent to Lord Bright Jade, both being superior gods of the Heavenly Court.


    Furthermore, Lord Bright Jade earned the title from the Heavenly Court, while this Deity Position had its own foundation. Anyone would feel envious at the sight of it.


    "Of course¡­ I''ve caused quite a bit of trouble. First, I''ve killed two Gods. Despite the fact that I''m their superior, the Heavenly Court is still highly sensitive about carrying out executions. Moreover, my position as the God of Mountains and Rivers will definitely encounter animosity, as it infringes on the authority of Excellency Mount Mang and the Dragon Kings of the Four Oceans."


    Obviously, such a blockhead was not going to end up well in the Divine Dao system.


    But Fang Yuan was not bothered.


    His blatant disregard for the unspoken rules was still not sufficient to enrage the Heavenly Court.


    He would even act more recklessly so that the Heavenly Court would send him to the Mental Demon Battlefield, just as he wished.


    With this thought, the green Deity Position descended into his sea of consciousness and started to radiate dazzling light.


    Splash!


    Fang Yuan was surrounded by five-colored light, and his River Earl crown turned into a colorful and magnificent attire decorated with the pattern of the Three Mountains and Five Rivers.


    "From now on, all of the Three Mountains and Five Rivers are my deity territory!"


    Fang Yuan took some time to savor this power of the Divine Dao. "The Heavenly Sacred King of the Three Mountains and Five Rivers? Names in the Divine Dao are always so long-winded. ''Lord Mountain River'' will do."


    At this moment, he waved his hand, sending out seven streams of divine light that descended into the Gods on their knees. "As Lord Mountain River, I bestow you with the authority to assist me in managing the Three Mountains and Five Rivers!"


    "Yes!"


    All the Gods kowtowed again before standing up. They immediately noticed that their Deity Positions, as well as their authority, were safe and sound, other than some inexplicable change taking place in their bodies.


    Originally, the worship and Spiritual Energy directly belonged to themselves.


    However, this was now at Fang Yuan''s disposal. The authority to assign the benefits was a manifestation of absolute control in the Divine Dao.


    But sure enough, any subordinates in the Three Mountains and Five Rivers could be blessed by Fang Yuan at his will.Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting.


    There were both benefits and drawbacks to these Gods who used to occupy their own respective territories.


    "Everyone!" Fang Yuan said in a clear voice, "Since I''m the God ruling this territory, I should be responsible for protecting it. Members of the Spiritual Flying Sword Sect attacked the God Palace of my subordinate and bribed Mountain Gods with ill intentions, so we''ll send our troops to suppress them!"


    This God is ruthless! Mountain God Huo was stunned by Fang Yuan''s words.


    It seemed that the Marquis position could not satiate Fang Yuan''s desire. He was planning to attack the 72 immortal sects! There would be severe consequences!


    "Great!" River Earl Jing applauded and laughed. "The Spiritual Flying Sword Sect set up in our territory, but still dared to be so aggressive. We need to teach them a lesson!"


    The three sisters wavered.


    Spiritual Energy abounded in the broad expanse of the Three Mountains and Five Rivers. Here, there were three immortal sects out of the 72, and together with countless small sects, they often conflicted with the Divine Dao.


    If the new Marquis could take the lead in suppressing the Immortal Dao, it would prevent a lot of future trouble.


    Green Mountain and Black Water were even more obedient, thus having no disagreement at all.


    "Good. Green Mountain and Black Water, immediately return to Mount Peace and Mount Cloud Top to take control of the nether soldiers there. Everyone else just follow suit. Gather at the Surging Waves River half a day later. We''ll send troops via the water veins and directly attack the Spiritual Flying Sword Sect!" Fang Yuan made his decision without hesitation. "The key is to be fast!"


    "Yes!"


    Green Mountain and Black Water turned into divine light, flying out of the palace.


    Right now, they were nothing less than real Mountain Gods with the power to execute their subordinate nether soldiers at will. Thus, they could easily take control.


    That was similar to how Fang Yuan had readily killed the two Mountain Gods.


    Earthly Gods only had small territories and would have utterly no power if they were unable to punish their own subordinates.


    Therefore, it was not a big deal that Fang Yuan annihilated two subordinate Mountain Gods upon becoming Lord Mountain River.


    But no matter which realm they were in, the final outcome would depend on Fang Yuan''s own strength and strategies in battle.


    Half a day later, Surging Waves River.


    Wuthering wind swept across giant banners.


    Countless nether soldiers and crustacean armies formed arrays, covering the entire sky and emanating a ferocious air.


    "Master! We have taken over Mount Peace and Mount Cloud Top and brought 20,000 nether soldiers and 72 God functionaries with us."


    Both Green Hill and Black Water had returned with some Malignant Qi on them, suggesting that they had killed quite a few resisting subordinates.


    Fang Yuan was completely unconcerned and praised them instead, "Well done!"


    Although nether soldiers only consisted of inferior wandering spirits between the realms of Qi Refinement and Stellar Malignance, with enough scale, their powers would grow significantly.


    "I have recently comprehended a new array named the Eighty-One Ferocious Malignance Array. Order the nether soldiers to practice it!"


    As Fang Yuan was talking, streams of light flew out.


    Naturally, the nether soldiers were used for forming large arrays and gathering Ferocious Qi.


    River Earl Jing understood the array and stared wide-eyed. "What an array! My 10,000 nether soldiers can only fight against an Earth Immortal in the White Tiger Killing Array, but this array makes use of the nether soldiers'' Malignant Qi and the water soldiers'' Ferocious Qi. With the aid of the Three Mountains and Five Rivers, they can even put up a fight against a Heaven Immortal!"


    "Let''s not delay any further. Immediately set off!"


    Divine Dao Gods commanded subordinates with spiritual will, so it took only a short while to practice the array. With a swing of his hand, Fang Yuan encircled the army with torrents from the Surging Waves River and sent them to the battlefield.


    ¡­


    At the gates of the Spiritual Flying Sword Sect.


    Five Heaven Immortals sat facing one another in the secluded valley.


    "We''re truly grateful for the assistance of the Bell Tripod Sect and the Spiritual Butterfly Sect!" respectfully said the Spiritual Flying Sword Sect''s two Heaven Immortals dressed in gray. They raised their tea cups. "Please have some Carefree Tea!"


    "It''s our duty to help you cope with defiant Gods! How dare they kill a Heaven Immortal!"


    The Bell Tripod Sect and the Spiritual Butterfly Sect were two of the 72 immortal sects, slightly weaker than the Spiritual Flying Sword Sect. Two of the five Heaven Immortals were from the Bell Tripod Sect, while only one was from the Spiritual Butterfly Sect.


    Heaven Immortal Bell Mountain spoke politely for a while before suddenly changing his tone. "But we still need to discuss how to split the profits after killing the Gods!"


    Ye Jun, the eldest elder of the Spiritual Flying Sword Sect, said aggressively, "Oh? What do you mean?"


    Damn it! Ye Jun''s junior brother, Hui Hai, gritted his teeth. The Bell Tripod Sect is making use of this opportunity when the Spiritual Flying Sword Sect has just lost a Heaven Immortal.


    "Senior Brother means that¡­ two Deity Positions are obviously not enough!" Zhong Li, the other Heaven Immortal from the Bell Tripod Sect, said frankly. "Once we collaborate, we''ll have the strength of five Heaven Immortals. It would be a waste if we didn''t slaughter all the Gods of the Three Mountains and Five Rivers! After we conquer the Divine Dao there, only Gods with the Immortal Dao Decree will be able to gain Deity Positions. Don''t you think that''d be wonderful?"


    His ambition and grandiloquence far exceeded what could be expected from his mediocre appearance.


    "Oh? Making a clean sweep of the Gods in the Three Mountains and Five Rivers!" Ye Jun murmured to himself, somewhat convinced.


    "This isn''t appropriate! I''m afraid the Heavenly Court will interfere!"


    Heaven Immortal Spiritual Butterfly from the Spiritual Butterfly Sect was a female. Upon hearing the plan, she shook her head immediately.


    "Hmph! The Divine Dao killed a Heaven Immortal and offended us in the first place! Even if the Heavenly Court dares to interfere, the top 33 sects won''t be afraid of them!" Heaven Immortal Hui Hai said straightaway.


    "That''s the rationale. We''ll take three out of the eight Three Mountains and Five Rivers''s Deity Positions!" Heaven Immortal Zhong Li nodded.


    The Spiritual Butterfly Sect''s Immortal remained calm, but Ye Jun and Hui Hai felt uncomfortable knowing the Bell Tripod Sect was indeed planning to gain an equal footing with them.


    Shaking his head, Ye Jun said in a firm voice, "The Spiritual Flying Sword Sect will take four out of the eight!"


    "Do you mean that I''ll have to be disadvantaged?" Heaven Immortal Spiritual Butterfly laughed. While she was a female cultivator, none of the Heaven Immortals dared to look down on her.


    "Everybody, please don''t get angry. That''s not what Senior Brother meant. The Spiritual Flying Sword Sect has spent a long time coping with the Divine Dao, and we''ve taken control of both Mount Peace and Mount Cloud Top¡­" Heaven Immortal Hui Hai explained in a hurry. "This time, they brought back the message that the Gods of the Three Mountains and Five Rivers have the idea of joining together. We then let them bring spiritual swords into their alliance to collect information¡­ Don''t you agree that we deserve some returns?"


    They could actually win over two Mountain Gods! The two Heaven Immortals from the Bell Tripod Sect exchanged glances, both feeling a bit scared. The foundation of the Spiritual Flying Sword Sect is really too deep to be undermined by the death of a single Heaven Immortal¡­


    Hoot hoot!


    At the moment, the desolate sound of a military bugle was heard all around the gates of the Spiritual Flying Sword Sect.


    Splash!


    The sky shook and the ground trembled. Dark clouds blocked the sun, as if an incipient rainstorm was about to wreak havoc.


    A huge number of figures emerged in the layers of dark clouds. Some were ferocious nether soldiers, while others were crustaceans covered with shells.


    "Is this¡­ a Divine Dao spirit army?"


    The five Heaven Immortals were all astonished, and then immediately enraged. "They dare?!"


    Ye Jun and Hui Hai were even more stunned, as they had received absolutely no warning from the two Mountain Gods.


    "Lord Mountain River commands the slaughter of the Spiritual Flying Sword Sect! Leave no one alive!"


    A majestic voice struck like thunder across the Spiritual Flying Sword Sect, petrifying every single cultivator in the sect.

 750 War

    "How dare anyone attack the immortal sects? Are they mad?"Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting.


    The members of the Spiritual Flying Sword Sect were used to being arrogant, thinking that they were superior to all but the heavens and the earth in this territory.


    This was why they were stunned by the presence of someone even more arrogant than them.


    After realizing what was happening, they reacted with fury.


    A few Earth Immortals leapt out. "You''re much too confident!"


    They waved their hands, and countless spheres of swords shot into the sky like bright stars to disperse the dark clouds.


    And then they were stunned once more by what they saw. "Spirit soldiers of the Divine Dao¡­ And so many of them? Quickly form the Mountain Guarding Array! Now!"


    Once the number of nether soldiers exceeded 10,000, they could even fight against an Earth Immortal with the appropriate arrays and practice. And there were more than 100,000 here!


    The arrogant Earth Immortals were frightened out of their wits when they saw the huge army, rushing back into the gates. "Patriarchs! Save us!"


    "Form the array!" Green Mountain sneered coldly and then gave a command to the thousands of nether soldiers behind him, "Eighty-One Ferocious Malignance¡ªXuan Snake Transformation!"


    Hiss hiss!


    Dark Qi concentrated to form a winged Xuan Snake with the aura of a wasteland that would devour everything in its way with one mouthful.


    "You dare!"


    At this moment, the Mountain Guarding Array of the Spiritual Flying Sword Sect had been arranged, transforming into countless streams of sword radiance.


    The Heaven Immortals, Ye Jun and Hui Hai, arrived at the center of the array and stared wide-eyed at the scene. Two concentrated streams of Sword Qi shot out.


    Hiss hiss!


    The hissing Xuan Snake suddenly flapped, pushing down a large amount of Dark Qi and suffocating the fleeing Earth Immortals.


    At the same time, two streams of sword radiance shot at its eyes.


    The giant Xuan Snake ceased its motion and then immediately turned into black air currents, dispersing into heaven and earth.


    "This array is too mysterious and complex. It''s going to take some effort!"


    The expressions of Ye Jun and Hui Hai changed.


    They had failed to save the sect elders, which meant that they had lost the clash.


    "Who could have thought that such an array exists within the Divine Dao? The combined strength of 100,000 spirit soldiers is comparable to a Heaven Immortal. Could the Heavenly Court have sent an army?"


    The two Heaven Immortals from the Bell Tripod Sect were also uncertain.


    "Even if the Heavenly Court has covertly joined the battle, we can only fight! Moreover, that Lord Mountain River¡­ is a Marquis. That God is not inferior to a Heaven Immortal, and he had the ability to unify the Three Mountains and Five Rivers. That''s awfully terrifying!"


    Heaven Immortal Spiritual Butterfly appeared solemn.


    "Who are you? How dare you attack a sect of the Immortal Dao? Don''t you fear the fury of the 33 large sects?" Heaven Immortal Ye Jun chided.


    It was his responsibility as the master here to fight against intruders.


    At this moment, the dark clouds completely dispersed, revealing the spirit soldiers that had besieged this place, far exceeding the number of Earth Immortals.


    "The Immortal Dao offended the Divine Dao in the first place! Bai Jianfei assaulted a Mountain God and paid with his life. The Spiritual Flying Sword Sect was even worse, bribing two Mountain Gods and conspiring against us! How dare you look down upon us? You''re courting death!" Fang Yuan said righteously.


    It was crucial to take the moral high ground. After all, there needed to be sufficient justification when disturbing the equilibrium of power between the Divine Dao and the Immortal Dao.


    "I, Lord Mountain River, shall annihilate the Spiritual Flying Sword Sect today! Unrelated people who don''t immediately leave shall be executed as criminals!"


    These words were obviously meant for the Bell Tripod Sect and the Spiritual Butterfly Sect.


    "As criminals?"


    Ye Jun and Hui Hai seethed with rage, while Zhong Shan, Zhong Li, and Heaven Immortal Spiritual Butterfly, after a moment''s hesitation, chose to fight with the Spiritual Flying Sword Sect. "You''re crazy! You should know the consequences as a Marquis, yet you still dare assail an immortal sect?"


    "Heh, Lord Mountain River. What prestige!" The two Heaven Immortals from the Bell Tripod Sect laughed coldly. "It seems that the Gods of the Three Mountains and Five Rivers need a clean-up. This time, we won''t demand anything other than the Deity Position of this Marquis!"


    "Indeed!"


    Heaven Immortal Ye Jun and Heaven Immortal Hui Hai looked solemn. They had no choice but to give up benefits for the survival of the sect.


    "Alright! Deal!"


    The eyes of two Heaven Immortals from the Bell Tripod Sect brightened up.


    After all, the opponents had already revealed their strength. Other than Lord Mountain River who could fight against a Heaven Immortal, the 100,000 nether soldiers could only cope with at most a single Heaven Immortal. The rest were seven Mountain Gods and River Gods.


    The Spiritual Flying Sword Sect is located within the territory of Mount Cloud Top, and the strength of Earthly Gods are greatly weakened outside their deity territory. Therefore, only Mountain God Cloud Top out of the seven Gods will take some time to defeat, while the other six are no match for the five Heaven Immortals, as well as the numerous Earth and Human Immortals, on our side¡­


    That was why the Immortal Dao could still remain confident.


    After all, they had more than two Heaven Immortals with superior strength! They were bound to win unless the Heavenly Court concealed other superior gods in the vicinity.


    "Hehe¡­ How bold! You''re not repenting in the face of our army and even dare to fight back!" Fang Yuan flicked his fingernails. "I''ve recorded everything as evidence!"


    "Haha¡­ Is he mad?" Heaven Immortal Zhong Shan sneered. "Evidence is meant for the living. What evidence will you need after death?"


    "Phew¡­ That''s right!" Fang Yuan nodded and turned over his palm. "Well then, let them die!"


    "Kill!"


    The deafening sound of horns fused with the shouts of the soldiers.


    The 100,000 soldiers shouted furiously, besieging the gates of the Spiritual Flying Sword Sect. Ferocious Qi and Malignant Qi surged up, transforming into illusionary images of ferocious beasts like the Xuan Snake, Black Tiger, Flood Dragon, and Peng, all pouncing forward.


    "Thousand Swords, strike together!"


    The new sect master of the Spiritual Flying Sword Sect opened his eyes wide and roared madly.


    Numerous Earth Immortals and Human Immortals guarded the heart of the Mountain Guarding Array, and all the disciples mustered their strength to drive it. Tens of thousands of swords shot into the sky, and the sword radiance transformed into a multitude of shapes to battle the four ferocious beasts.


    Rumble!


    The roar of beasts mixed with the shriek of the swords.


    The beasts were pierced thousands of times and dispersed like dark smoke; swords lost their radiance and fell to the ground like lifeless iron.


    "Haha¡­ The Mountain Guarding Array of the Spiritual Flying Sword Sect is equivalent to a Heaven Immortal as well! This is sufficient to negate all the advantages of the nether soldiers. We''ll definitely be able to defeat them! From today onward, our three immortal sects shall rule the Three Mountains and Five Rivers!"


    Instead of being intimidated, the two Heaven Immortals from the Bell Tripod Sect were exhilarated when they witnessed this.


    "So you''re from the Bell Tripod Sect and the Spiritual Butterfly Sect. It seems that neither the Spiritual Flying Sword Sect nor these two sects need to exist any longer!"


    Fang Yuan waved his hand. "Kill them!"


    Green Mountain and Black Water took the lead, illusionary images of mountains forming behind them. The mountains crashed downward and generated deafening sounds.


    "Mm? The Gods of Mount Peace and Mount Cloud Top?" Heaven Immortal Ye Jun was panic-stricken. "How can Mountain God Peace still have such strength outside his deity territory?"


    Earl-rank Gods were intrinsically Earth Immortals. While they might be able to fight against Heaven Immortals in their deity territories, they would be weaker than normal Earth Immortals upon leaving!


    But right now, these two Mountain Gods had the strength of Heaven Immortals!


    "This isn''t good. If those mountains really crash, the entire Spiritual Flying Sword Sect will be flattened!"


    Heaven Immortal Hui Hai had to start fighting. Two sword pillars broke through the sky.


    "Haha! How can you leave me out of the battle?"


    River Earl Jing aggressively lunged down to join the battle, and the grand image of the Jing River emerged behind him with its boundless power.


    A terrifying beast was breathing Spiritual Energy in the water. This giant water demon was his original appearance.


    Splash!


    The torrential water quickly broke through the gates to the Spiritual Flying Sword Sect. The Mountain Guarding Array paused for a moment, and a host of ferocious beasts rushed in and started wreaking havoc, smashing the disciples into a bloody and gruesome mess.


    River Earl Jing was indeed extremely ferocious and sinister in battle. He was attempting to destroy the foundation of the Spiritual Flying Sword Sect directly.


    "So bold! We''ve heard that you have a trace of real dragon bloodline. We can extract that for making pills!"


    The two Heaven Immortals of the Bell Tripod Sect looked at each other and then jointly stopped River Earl Jing.


    They had noticed that the River Gods, due to some unknown magical powers, could cope with a full strength Heaven Immortal even on Mount Cloud Top. They had to collaborate in capturing him as soon as possible.


    "Shameless!" Mountain God Huo bellowed. "This is indeed what Immortals of the Immortal Dao are capable of¡ªtwo versus one! Brother Jing, I''ll join you!"


    The half-gold, half-jade divine seal flew out of his body, and the image of Mount Huo emerged, adding to the pressure.


    After all, he had refined his divine seal again with the power of the Heaven Ritual Altar. Now, he had the greatest strength among the Mountain and River Gods.


    "Damn it! How come these Gods are so powerful?!"


    The two Heaven Immortals of the Spiritual Flying Sword Sect were fighting against Green Mountain and Black Water, and their hearts sank immediately.


    While Heaven Immortal Spiritual Butterfly had not yet joined the fight, the three River Goddesses and the greatest enemy, Lord Mountain River, had not either!


    "Three sisters, go capture Heaven Immortal Spiritual Butterfly!"


    As expected, Fang Yuan gave the order the next moment.


    Although the three River Goddesses were not adept at fighting, it would be a joke if the three of them together could not defeat one Heaven Immortal.


    "Yes!"


    The three Goddesses did not complain. They immediately descended to the ground as three water currents and challenged Heaven Immortal Spiritual Butterfly.


    "This¡­"


    The face of Heaven Immortal Spiritual Butterfly turned pale. She had surely noticed that the Mountain and River Gods had fought like they were in their deity territory, wielding unlimited magical strength.


    In that situation, she had the confidence of defeating one after a while, but might not be able to beat two of them, much less fighting against three at once.


    "You just need to hold them back. We''ll assist you soon," Heaven Immortal Ye Jun said in a low voice.


    Hui Hai and him were two of the top Heaven Immortals. Even though the two Mountain Gods risked their lives in the fight, they would soon defeat these newly endowed Gods.


    Indeed, even within their deity territory, Earl-rank Gods are no match for real Heaven Immortals!


    Exchanging glances, Ye Jun and Hui Hai understood their common intention. "Accumulate strength first before catching the two Gods off guard and taking their lives. We must salvage this situation!"

 751 Extermination

    "Even with the assistance of the deity territory, the intrinsic quality is still too weak¡­"


    The two Heaven Immortals had easily detected that Fang Yuan assumed overall command of the situation, as simply as looking at their palms.


    "Green Mountain and Black Water just became Gods and have a very shallow knowledge of how to use their magical strength. If nothing unexpected happens, they''ll definitely die after thirty breaths. Furthermore, these two Heaven Immortals are scheming to utterly destroy their bodies and souls.


    "River Earl Jing is ferocious and originally had the best combat capabilities in the Three Mountains and Five Rivers. After the divine seal of Mountain God Huo was refined by me, it has improved by half a rank and he''s among the best Earls. However, when faced with two Heaven Immortals, he can only hold on for a little while longer¡­


    "Instead, it''s the three sisters gaining the upper hand since they outnumber their opponent three to one!"


    Fang Yuan shook his head. "Too weak! Too weak!"


    In fact, if not for him, there would only finally be complete annihilation for these seven Mountain Gods and River Earls facing the five Heaven Immortals!


    After all, an Earl that underwent enhancements was still an Earl!


    "The Eighty-One Ferocious Malignance Array was also blocked by the sect protecting array. If this continues, I''ll soon be a one-man army¡­"


    Fang Yuan sighed.


    Although his subordinates were useless, it was still better than having none.


    Thus, he acted!


    "Lord Mountain River is acting!"


    His movement resulted in intense reactions from the five Heaven Immortals.


    These old-timers had rich experience. Although they seemed to be fighting the Gods, their genuine attention was placed on the commander, Fang Yuan.


    Even so, they were still able to suppress the Gods!


    "Get down!"


    With one stride, Fang Yuan teleported in front of Heaven Immortal Spiritual Butterfly and grabbed with one hand.


    Since this was an ambush, it had to be carefully used! Instead of helping Green Mountain and Black Water, Fang Yuan helped the most advantageous side to rapidly progress the situation.


    "Ah¡­ A Thousand Butterflies in the Sky!"


    Heaven Immortal Spiritual Butterfly cried out in alarm and immediately unleashed her magical power to protect her life, turning into thousands of colorful butterflies fluttering through the sky.


    Her highly skilled and proficient retreat revealed an unparalleled intelligence. No matter what the three sisters did, they were unable to deal with these colorful butterflies.


    "Huge Gush of the Five Rivers!"


    Fang Yuan was unbothered as he grabbed. The illusion of five water currents appeared on his fingertips, bringing about a giant roar.


    The illusion of these five river currents were the Surging Waves River, Jing River, White Water River, Flowing Sand River, and Trident River, and they emanated an endless stream of Spiritual Energy.


    The sky pressed down and the colorful butterflies were forced to escape, merging to become Heaven Immortal Spiritual Butterfly once again. Seeing this magical spell, an astonished look appeared. "Controlling the Five Rivers? Are you are a Dragon King?"


    The next instant, the five gushing rivers descended, creating a powerful, violent vortex that swept her inside.


    When Heaven Immortal Spiritual Butterfly was against the three River Goddesses, she was already unable to cope with them. After her secret protection spell was broken, her aura suddenly stagnated and her magical power was sealed. The five water currents turned into chains to suppress her.


    With a move, this Heaven Immortal was defeated without any resistance.


    This move by Fang Yuan instantly shocked everyone.


    Lord Mountain River is already a Marquis Deity Position, equivalent to a Heaven Immortal. Within the magic domain of the Three Mountains and Five Rivers, could my current power be considered the pinnacle of a Heaven Immortal?''


    "Controlling the Five Rivers?"Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting.


    The Bell Tripod Sect''s two Heaven Immortals were astonished and wanted to escape. However, would Fang Yuan give them this opportunity? With another teleport, he arrived above their heads and the illusion of three huge mountains instantly pressed down.


    These three mountains were Mount Huo, Mount Peace, and Mount Cloud Top! Furthermore, they even had signs of physically manifesting and were truly bearing down with the weight of Mount Tai!


    "Escape!"


    The brothers, Zhong Shan and Zhong Li, stamped their feet and wanted to unleash magical powers such as shrinking the ground to escape.


    However, the originally soft ground suddenly became as hard as steel, even releasing a strong force and shooting off the ground, forming a joint attack with the three huge mountains in the sky.


    "You can control Mount Cloud Top?"


    The Heaven Immortals of the Bell Tripod Sect were astonished. The next instant, they immediately felt that all of heaven was darkening.


    This was the cooperation of the illusion of the three huge mountains and Mount Cloud Top. They directly turned the sky and earth upside down, pressing them in between. The stones formed a fortress made of two tall mountains, suppressing the Heaven Immortals just like the monkey held down by the Five Elements Mountain in Journey to the West.


    In the blink of an eye, three Heaven Immortals were suppressed, causing a drastic change to the situation.


    Heaven Immortal Ye Jun and Heaven Immortal Hui Hai retreated, looking at Fang Yuan full of fear. "A God controlling the Three Mountains and Five Rivers? How can the Heavenly Court bestow such a Deity Position?"


    "The complexities of the power of creation and the nature of heaven and earth are not things you can understand!"


    Fang Yuan stood up with his hands behind his back. "By the way, I was originally that River Earl of the Surging Waves River and has long since had animosity with you!"


    "Ah! It''s you!"


    Heaven Immortal Ye Jun was furious, but he instantly felt that his heart was descending into an icehouse. He really wanted to strangle that direct disciple who caused this trouble.


    If not for his rash actions, how could he attract someone so problematic?


    "God¡­ we''re willing to admit defeat. Can you stop?"


    Heaven Immortal Hui Hai was full of bitterness as he lowered his arrogant head.


    When these words were heard by the Spiritual Flying Sword Sect''s elders and disciples, they were filled with incredulity.


    Their aloof Immortal Dao actually surrendered to the Divine Dao?


    Many disciples thought that they had encountered an illusion, their state of mind slightly unstable.


    "Stop?" Fang Yuan laughed coldly and inwardly criticized, If I stop, how else would I attract the attention and dissatisfaction of the Heavenly Court and get enlisted into the battlefield?


    A cold look instantly appeared. "A promise is a promise. Before coming, I had already promised to annihilate everything here without leaving anything behind! The Divine Dao does not joke!"


    "How brave! You''re actually intending to annihilate my immortal sect?" Heaven Immortal Ye Jun shouted loudly, and then looked at Heaven Immortal Hui Hai as a powerful sword radiance immediately broke out of his body.


    Zap! Zap!


    With two flickers of sword radiance, two piercing rays of Qi shot toward the sky and burst into the distance.


    These two Heaven Immortals escaped just like that!


    "Martial Grand Uncles!"


    "Heaven Immortal Patriarchs¡­ escaped¡­"


    "Don''t abandon us¡­"


    ¡­


    The Spiritual Flying Sword Sect''s disciples and elders were instantly dazed seeing this.


    These two Heaven Immortals truly had no sense of shame, escaping without any hesitation. Even Fang Yuan praised, "Good! They''re really something to be able to abandon others!"


    In the Spiritual Realm, power was the focus.


    As long as a Heaven Immortal remained alive, their lifespan could be used to slowly rebuild the sect.


    However, once all the Heaven Immortals died, the 72 immortal sects would also decline, and finally everyone would die out.


    Thus, these two Heaven Immortals escaping was a great decision that portrayed immense intelligence. Between saving face or death, they made the right choice.


    "Is my deity territory a place where you can casually come and go?"


    Seeing this, a smile appeared on Fang Yuan.


    As Lord Mountain River controlling the Three Mountains and Five Rivers, his deity territory was immensely vast.


    Coincidentally, the Spiritual Flying Sword Sect was built on top of Mount Cloud Top''s spirit vein and within his jurisdiction.


    Inside the deity territory of a Marquis-rank God, especially a top-notch Marquis like Fang Yuan, even a Heaven Immortal would not be able to escape.


    With a flicker of golden light, Heaven Immortal Ye Jun and Heaven Immortal Hui Hai, who had already flown far into the horizon, suddenly saw Fang Yuan blocking their path.


    Not only that, the Gods of the other three mountains and four rivers were behind him, a menacing look in their eyes.


    "Displacement?! Lord Mount River¡­ although you control this deity territory and can conform with it to an unbelievable extent, you''re still only a Marquis. Inside the Immortal Dao, there are Golden Immortals and almighty existences like Zenith Heavens. You''re only harming yourself!!"


    Acutely sensing their imminent death, the two Heaven Immortals started to use all means.


    "No matter what eloquent things you say, I''ll still have to kill you!" Fang Yuan gave a long sigh. "Still not returning?"


    In a split second, the remaining seven Gods fused together with the huge 100,000-strong army, and the Eighty-One Ferocious Malignance Array was strengthened to an unparalleled degree.


    Rays of magical light accumulated on Fang Yuan''s body and the Three Mountains and Five Rivers suddenly appeared. Huge amounts of Spiritual Energy gathered and formed a horrifying Spiritual Tide, causing the Heaven Immortals to be moved.


    "A scene fair as a painting, / Countless the brave men here in time gone by!"


    Fang Yuan recited and then shot out a palm. In an instant, the image fluctuated and the Three Mountains and Five Rivers transformed into a picture scroll and swept with a stance that transcended the void.


    A scene fair as a painting, thousands of kilometers of mountains and rivers!


    The picture scroll swallowed up thousands of kilometers and then contracted and rolled up. The two Heaven Immortals had fallen in and disappeared without a trace.


    Furthermore, the remaining power washed down and directly landed on the array of the Spiritual Flying Sword Sect.


    Kaboom!


    With the loud explosion, the sword radiance shattered and innumerable flying swords lost their sword radiance, turning into splinters.


    The fog dispersed and revealed the Spiritual Flying Sword Sect.


    "Fight!


    "All elders, pledge an oath of death!


    "Elites, go forward and shift the array!"


    The newly ascended sect master shouted angrily.


    Lord Bright Jade had his Bright Jade shifting array, so of course the Spiritual Flying Sword had their own method as well.


    However, the mass of Heaven Immortals were too great, so shifting with the array would cause a delay and expose them in front of Fang Yuan, which was as good as courting death. However, it could be used to transfer low-level disciples and retain their seeds and vitality.


    "Attack!"


    Fang Yuan indifferently retracted his palm and gave a command.


    The seven Earthly Gods violently leapt, a large number of nether soldiers and nether generals following behind. The Spiritual Flying Sword Sect descended into a bloody rain of terror!


    ¡­


    "The Spiritual Flying Sword Sect is an immortal sect, and their ancient records and fundamental cultivation techniques can at least cultivate to Heaven Immortal. Perhaps there are even descriptions of Golden Immortal¡­"


    Fang Yuan watched this scene, but only had euphoria in his eyes.


    With this, it was sufficient to strengthen his Elemental Spiritual Energy Cultivation Technique.


    "Of course, most crucial was to trample on the bottom line, which will definitely attract intervention!"


    Regardless of how the Spiritual Flying Sword Sect acted previously, this extermination by Fang Yuan was excessive and truly stirred too much.


    The backlash of the Immortal Dao would definitely arrive.


    The Divine Dao would not support him much either, and the best outcome would be banishment to a dangerous land!


    And within the Spiritual Realm, was there a place actually more dangerous than the Mental Demon Battlefield?

 752 Heaven Supervisor

    The Spiritual Realm was vast and had no boundaries. Under freezing skies, a million creatures contended in freedom.


    The large sun hung in the sky and the surroundings were dark green. Both the light of a green star and a purple star flickered and swayed brightly.


    Inside the green star.


    Jade treasures and dense clusters golden imperial palaces could be seen everywhere. Above the giant Gate of Heaven, there were two words written in sacred text?¡ª''Heavenly Court''!


    This was where the Divine Dao''s ruler, the Heavenly Court, was located in the Spiritual Realm! Its position was shockingly beside the Mental Demon Realm residual poison, the purple star!


    There was no choice as the Divine Dao relied on the realm and the Human Dao. Although it had no need for external conquest, it had an unavoidable responsibility of maintaining internal stability.


    Since ancient times, the emperor had guarded the gates of the country and died with the people. The Gods could not avoid this since even mortals were so.


    After the formation of the Mental Demon residual poison, the Celestial Thearch acted in accordance with heaven and shifted the Heavenly Court to the frontlines against the Mental Demon.


    Currently, a graceful God wearing a robe and crown was slowly strolling on a white jade path before raising his head to glance at the sky.


    Due to the distance, the purple star was enlarged thousands of times, like an evil eye constantly releasing a devilish light.


    Seeing this, this God was not astonished but excited. "It''s slightly weakened again. Although the Mental Demon residual poison is powerful, it''s ultimately unable to defeat the Spiritual Realm''s natural source and is slowly being devoured¡­"


    When the Mental Demon had invaded and left behind this scar, the residual poison, the Divine Dao''s Heavenly Court had voluntarily faced this catastrophe and formed a line of defense, sealing the influence of the origin power.


    They also occasionally dispatched Gods to sweep the evil beings born on the Mental Demon Battlefield and obtained great favor from the heavens.


    With this extra time, the Spiritual Realm''s natural source was slowly devouring the Mental Demon origin power, seeing results day by day. Although the progress was slow, it was worthwhile to the realm, even if it took thousands of years, as long as the Mental Demon origin power was refined.


    "We''re just guarding the Heaven Palace and contributing magical strength daily to maintain the operation of the Massive Heavenly Cycle Stellar Array sealing the Mental Demon origin power. Still, the Mental Demon Battlefield is extremely dangerous! I heard that just yesterday, another Marquis died. Sigh¡­"


    Although this God was also a Marquis, he could not help but being frightened.


    At the intersection of the Heavenly Court and the purple battlefield, there was a dimly lit star, seemingly a thin layer, but was actually condensed by the Divine Dao''s entire strength. Using the Heavenly Court as the pivot, it separated the two from the heavens and the earth to block the influence of origin power.


    Only Gods and Immortals with the Heavenly Court''s recognition could pass through the designated passage and enter the battlefield to kill demons and obtain heavenly merits. This was also to reduce the Mental Demon''s power as much as possible and prevent the birth of any horrifying Evil Gods.


    The Mental Demon Battlefield was extremely perilous, and the waves of Earth Immortals entering all perished. Only Heaven Immortals and superior Gods had the power to struggle.


    "Until the Mental Demon Battlefield disappears, those drafted will have to go. This is the responsibility of the Divine Dao. With the Celestial Thearach setting a personal example, who can be excused?"


    With the seal of the Massive Heavenly Cycle Stellar Array, there was no retreat after entering the Mental Demon Battlefield. The Heavenly Court and Celestial Thearach were behind keeping the entire situation under control, and even Ancient Gods escaping had to perish!


    This God was afraid that one day, there would be insufficient manpower and it would become his turn.


    "I heard that on the Mental Demon Battlefield, there is evil elemental force everywhere. Our kind can neither obtain nor use it, or else we''ll immediately turn demonic¡­"


    To Fang Yuan, it was a huge benefit no matter whether it was the Mental Demon elemental force or the origin power. However, it was different to the Gods and Immortals of this realm.


    Even if there were almighty beings capable of refining origin power, after they succeeded, they would instantly change camps. Unless they could immediately pass through to the Mental Demon Realm, nobody in the Spiritual Realm would allow it.


    Only the Spiritual Realm''s heaven''s will had the supreme means to devour Mental Demon origin power and transform it into the realm''s purest natural source without suffering any contamination.


    There''s actually no harm in turning demonic. The Mental Demon Realm is a ''heaven'' stronger than the Spiritual Realm, so it''s not really a difficult choice for many Gods and Immortals to change camps¡­ Unfortunately¡­ we can''t run away! With the array seal, there are inspections every time someone enters. Once contaminated by demonic power, it can''t be cleansed and they''ll immediately be destroyed!


    Even if they hide in the Mental Demon Battlefield, there''s nowhere else to go. The only outcome is awaiting death when the star is thoroughly digested!


    Ascending into the clouds was the specialty of the Mental Demon cultivators in the lower realms. As for the Spiritual Realm natives, how could they break through to other dimensions?


    Due to the higher dimension, the cost of traversing from the Spiritual Realm far exceeded the lower realms. Furthermore, the power the Divine Dao accumulated in this Massive Heavenly Cycle Stellar Array was further augmented by heaven''s will and blocked everything.


    This God shook his head, as if he was dispelling all the traitorous thoughts from his heart. "There are recently too many Gods dying on the Mental Demon Battlefield, and they must be replaced. This is worrying."


    There was practically a ninety percent chance of death after entering the Mental Demon Battlefield. Gods and Immortals with true foundations were all naturally unwilling to go.


    However, with righteousness pressing down, not going was unacceptable.


    This God thought silently, felt a little frustrated, and then entered his God Palace.


    The Gods of the Heavenly Court were not Earthly Gods, and each had their own post. His job was ''Heaven Supervisor Deputy Commissioner'', in charge of monitoring all lands under the heavens.


    Of course, Deputy Commissioners like him monitored the major events happening in mostly one district before reporting to a Commissioner. All matters were finally decided by the Commissioner as to whether or not it concerned the Celestial Thearch.


    "Oh? There seem to be some changes in the lands of the Three Mountains and Five Rivers!"Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting.


    In the palace, there was a sandbox with small sections inside containing deserts, forests, mountains, and rivers. Just like a shrunken realm, it appeared quite charming.


    With a wave of his hand, many scenes emerged, bright illusions transformed, and bits of white Qi rose, each representing a pattern of fate of their respective regions.


    "Hmm, white represents nothing remarkable. The Qi of tens of thousands of mortals and ordinary small Gods displays something similar to this. This is stable."


    The other areas in the sandbox were still normal. At most, there were traces of black and golden light within the white Qi, which were small disturbances that could be resolved by the Gods in that territory.


    However, it was a completely different scene in the Three Mountains and Five Rivers.


    Large clusters of white Qi formed a funnel that continued converging and sublimating. Golden lights flickered with black Qi mixed within.


    "What a huge disturbance¡­" The Heaven Supervisor Deputy Commissioner was stunned. "What is this? The Divine Dao of the Three Mountains and Five Rivers cooperated and battled against the Immortal Dao? There are three of the 72 immortal sects and six Heaven Immortals there! Oh? Wait, the Immortal Dao aura is weak. Could they have suffered a major defeat? How can that be?"


    The original Three Mountains and Five Rivers only had seven Earl-rank Earthly Gods and could barely hold off the Spiritual Flying Sword Sect. This was a situation that definitely should not have happened.


    Seeing this scene, even an experienced God like the Deputy Commissioner burst into sweat. "Something drastic must have happened in the lower realm!"


    He continuously unleashed magical techniques and magnified the Three Mountains and Five Rivers. "Hmm? Seems that the River Earl of the Surging Waves River has finally been born. Was this is the trigger for everything? Wait¡­"


    The next instant, this God was astonished when he saw that the golden light above the Surging Waves River spit out a tinge of green.


    "Green¡­ this is a Marquis! An Earthly God in the lower realm has actually become a Marquis! This is serious and must be immediately reported!"


    A Marquis was a high-level God in the Heavenly Court and no small matter.


    And as a Heaven Supervisor Deputy Commissioner, he knew some secrets.


    If it was a Deity Position conferred by the Heavenly Court, it was considered nothing. However, the Deity Position of an Earthly God naturally formed by the heavens and the earth, further possessing a foundation with the Three Mountains and Five Rivers, had immense growth potential.


    There was even hope of becoming the next Excellency Mount Mang!


    To any force that centralized power, they would not be pleased to see the emergence of a new warlord.


    The Heaven Supervisor Deputy Commissioner walked with hurried steps as he entered a golden, shimmering hall and bowed to the God sitting in the seat of honor. "Sir Commissioner, there are changes in the lower realm. In the lands of the Three Mountains and Five Rivers, a new Deity Position has been born and it''s even a Marquis!"


    "I already know!"


    The God on the seat of honor had a strange, ancient appearance. His figure was huge and emitted light, carrying a flavor that was worn down by the ages. He waved his hand and light screens appeared. They were the scenes of Fang Yuan becoming a God and the Divine Dao conquering the Immortal Dao.


    The Commissioner is indeed an Ancient God. With a mere thought, and relying on the majesty of the Heavenly Court, he''s able to know everything happening below the heavens!


    Seeing this, the Deputy Commissioner was very envious.


    An Ancient God had the title of a Duke or King, but most importantly, they could communicate with the natural source and possess of a heaven and earth position. They had a lifespan equal to the heavens and vast magical powers.


    However, an Ancient God was not something that Fang Yuan wanted to achieve.


    That was because the origin power that he had obtained and used to break through was his own, even though it was only a drop! Even though an Ancient God seemingly occupied a portion of the heavens and the earth''s natural source, in reality they still needed permission from heaven''s will''s to truly utilize it.


    Therefore, the Immortal Dao had freedom while the Divine Dao was restricted.


    For someone like Fang Yuan who was pursuing immortality and hoped to visit many realms, he would not like adding shackles to himself.


    "Three Mountains and Five Rivers Celestial Administrator?" The Heaven Supervisor Deputy Commissioner sensed the Deity Position''s authority, instantly envious as his eyes reddened. "Underhand secret dealings, attacking the Immortal Dao, killing Heaven Immortals¡­ Sir, the actions of Lord Mountain River are sufficient to warrant him a trip to the God Killing Stage. Should we report to the Celestial Thearch and dispatch troops to capture him?"


    "That Deity Position was created by heaven and arranged by earth, the result of heaven''s will. Do you think that an order from the Heavenly Court is superior to the heavens?"


    The ancient Heaven Supervisor Commissioner released a torch-like gaze, as if it saw through everything the Deputy Commissioner was thinking. "As for attacking the Immortal Dao, we''re already not on good terms with them. This God isn''t a fool and definitely has an excuse! However, it was truly a little overboard to kill three Heaven Immortals and annihilate the Spiritual Flying Sword Sect. I''m afraid the protests of the 33 large sects have already nearly reached the Heavenly Court."


    "In your opinion, what should we do, Sir?"


    The Deputy Commissioner knelt on the ground and no longer dared be so petty.


    "The capital crime may be exempted but punishment is inevitable. We must forcibly enlist him into the Heavenly Court!" the Ambassador said matter-of-factly.


    "Ascend into the Heavenly Court? This is only to reward meritorious Gods¡­ Wait¡­"


    The Deputy Commissioner''s eyes moved as he instantly thought of something. "Before this, it was indeed to reward someone. However, now it''s being used to draft for the Mental Demon Battlefield. This God has a responsibility that he can''t shirk and has to go there once. Handling it like this can also account nicely to the Immortal Dao, so why not?


    "Hmm, go ahead!"


    The Ancient God Commissioner dismissed the Deputy Commissioner and looked at the screen, muttering to himself, "The most pressing issue is preventing this God from enlightening himself on the path to Ancient God!"

 753 Ransom

    A Deity Position of the heavens and the earth conformed to heaven''s will and was more legitimate than a title conferred by the Heavenly Court.


    Thus, those Gods naturally created had much greater ease understanding the threshold of Ancient God compared to the Gods relying on incense to obtain a heaven and earth position and a portion of the natural source, thereby gaining the same lifespan as the heavens.


    Currently, the Heaven Supervisor Commissioner noticed that Fang Yuan also had potential in this aspect and wanted to disrupt it.


    After all, the portions of natural source released by heaven''s will to the Divine Dao were already limited. Within the Heavenly Court, the Celestial Thearch occupied a larger part of it, so how much remained for the Ancient Gods?


    Every additional one was a pound of flesh from them!


    Even with a slight difference in the portion of natural source, the discrepancy in abilities was as great as the distance between the heavens and the earth. This was something that absolutely could not be given up.


    Furthermore, there were superior seeds for cultivating Ancient Gods within the Heavenly Court, so why would an unknown person of mysterious origins be needed?


    "I must investigate the origins of this God!"


    The Heaven Supervisor Commissioner waved his hand and a Divine Dao screen was instantly created. Inside were lifelike images of Fang Yuan''s facial features and even his personality traits.


    At the same time, inside the palaces of various Heaven Supervisor Deputy Commissioner, this picture scroll also appeared. The Heaven Supervisor Commissioner''s oracle arrived, "All subordinates, comb everywhere below the heavens and find traces of this God!"


    "Yes!"


    Numerous replies came and the machinery that was the entire Heavenly Court started operating. The impact created was horrifying.


    Various Gods performed their own roles, forming an elaborate network, and nothing in the Spiritual Realm could be missed.


    In the Spiritual Realm, a person''s life or death was all related to the Divine Dao.


    Even mountain demons, souls, and living spirits could not escape this supervision.


    The Heaven Supervisor Commissioner was confident that before this God could enlist into the Heavenly Court, everything about them would be revealed to him!


    ¡­


    Surging Waves River, the River Earl Palace.


    "So, what''s above Heaven Immortal is Golden Immortal. The Golden Immortal has immortality and his essence is at the origin power realm. Ancient Gods of the Divine Dao only obtain a small amount of natural source, while Golden Immortals refine droplets of Spiritual Realm origin power and can fight without boundaries. Above Golden Immortal is Zenith Heaven!"


    Fang Yuan held a jade letter and nodded repeatedly while reading it.


    This was the Spiritual Flying Sword Sect''s cultivation technique, Mystical Feather Spiritual Sword Classic. It spoke of cultivation to Heaven Immortal and even briefly described the realms after, causing Fang Yuan to treasure this valuable item.


    After annihilating the Spiritual Flying Sword Sect, nothing else caught his attention except for their book collection, which he carried back.


    "With these books and the addition of other cultivation techniques, it won''t be difficult to promote the Elemental Spiritual Energy Cultivation Technique to the sixth level¡­ Of course, the sixth level isn''t any better than Heaven Immortal and is nothing compared to my Divine Dao rank¡­"


    Fang Yuan shook his head and peered into his sea of consciousness.


    Inside his sea of consciousness, a green Heavenly Edict that suppressed everything was the Deity Position of Lord Mountain River.


    Compared to it, the River Earl Deity Position of the Surging Waves River was made to wither on one side in grief, like a bullied, diffident wife.


    Other than these two Deity Positions, there was another Deity Position being suppressed in Fang Yuan''s sea of consciousness, the Lord Bright Jade one bestowed by the Heavenly Court!


    "In fact, with just the Deity Position of Lord Mountain River, I''m still unable to unleash the pinnacle abilities of Heaven Immortal. However, the mutual augmentation of the other two Heavenly Edicts is already sufficient!"


    Fang Yuan muttered in a low voice and looked at his stats window.


    "Name: Fang Yuan


    Essence: ???


    Qi: ???


    Spirit: ???


    Profession: Dream Master


    Cultivation: ??? (Untitled)


    Technique: Pangu Eagle Body [Strengthen Witch bloodline (1st Tier)], Creation Sword Array [Ninth Sword (100%)]


    Specialization: Botany [Level Six] (Maximum), Fiery Golden Eyes [Level 3], Body of Origin Power


    Deity Position: Three Mountains and Five Rivers Celestial Administrator, Lord Bright Jade, River Earl Surging Waves"


    "I''ve finished recovering, and my abilities have finally reached my peak!" Fang Yuan clenched his fists tightly. "Unfortunately¡­ in the Spiritual Realm, my origin power realm peak is only comparable to Golden Immortal and Ancient God. Although I can move about anywhere, if I jump around too excitedly, I''ll still be killed with a slap!


    "Furthermore, the Mystical Feather Spiritual Sword Classic has no cultivation techniques for Golden Immortal and Zenith Heaven¡­ Seems like these techniques only exist within the 33 large sects and are the true cultivation techniques!"Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting.


    Currently, his realm was Golden Immortal. If he wanted to break through, he did not have much confidence as he could not clearly see the path in front of him.


    However, the Dao paths in this realm gave him a lot of inspiration.


    Previously, Fang Yuan had sought cultivation techniques to improve the Elemental Spiritual Energy Cultivation Technique. Naturally, he did not want to convert and cultivate the Immortal Dao, but instead he wanted to use it to deduce the method of becoming a Zenith Heaven as a Dream Master.


    "My Dao of Dream Master is the Dao of Creation¡­ I have already created the Body of Origin Power that is comparable to Golden Immortal, perhaps slightly stronger? However, what kind of realm is Zenith Heaven?"


    The strongest within the Spiritual Flying Sword Sect was a Heaven Immortal, so he still had some guesses and deductions regarding Golden Immortal. However, Zenith Heaven was just a dry name that made Fang Yuan extremely clueless and frustrated.


    "The Immortal Dao''s Zenith Heaven should be similar to the Divine Dao''s Emperor. There should be only a few existences like that¡­ but to peep at their foundations is really difficult! Difficult! Difficult!!!"


    Fang Yuan shook his head and browsed through all the Mental Demon Realm characters that he had encountered.


    Although he had not gone to the Mental Demon Realm before, he had already made three enemies.


    Among them, Hades and Shang Hou''s true physical body, whom he had both met in the Terra World, were roughly at the Golden Immortal realm and on par with his current state. If he were to fight them, it would be difficult to determine the winner.


    With his current knowledge, he still could not make sense of that unknown existence who had stolen the Dream Master Dao path, only guessing that he was in the Zenith Heaven realm.


    As for the profound mysteries of this realm, he really had no idea about them.


    "However, no matter what, I need to conceal myself in the purple battlefield and devour the Mental Demon origin power¡­ So what I don''t understand Zenith Heaven? At most, I just need to forcibly break the rules! With power, I can naturally break through to that realm, or perhaps first cultivate the Body of Origin Power to its pinnacle!"


    Although the Dao of Creation''s capacity was great, Fang Yuan was not someone rash.


    "Regarding the Immortal Dao, I need to seek more advanced cultivation techniques. For the Divine Dao, I need to discover the mysteries of the Emperor! But in fact, an Ancient God''s magical powers lies within their heaven and earth position and their portion of natural source! According to my conjecture, the Emperor merely has more portions¡­"


    Fang Yuan sighed.


    Perhaps, this could be considered an advantage of the Divine Dao. Due to its reliance on the realm, they did not need to worry about the problem of cultivation techniques and could directly advance by relying on origin power.


    Of course, the disadvantages of doing so would be a complete reliance on the realm and ultimately becoming its guard dog.


    This was similar to Sun God Ramon of the Monger World. Although he seemed magnificent, he still had to listen to the world should it decide to sacrifice him!


    "It seems that perhaps more emphasis should be placed on the Immortal Dao?"


    Fang Yuan sat cross-legged and opened up his deity territory.


    Three silhouettes were immediately projected. They were the three Heaven Immortals being held hostage!


    In the war of the Spiritual Flying Sword Sect, Heaven Immortals Ye Jun and Hui Hai were naturally killed and the sect was annihilated. However, these three helpers were retained by Fang Yuan.


    Currently, water chains encircled their bodies and three huge mountain illusions were pressing down on them, completely sealing them from using any powers.


    "Good tactic, Lord!" The two Heaven Immortals, Zhong Shan and Zhong Li, finally recognized reality, not having an ounce of arrogance. "Why did you capture us?"


    Fang Yuan had already killed the three Heaven Immortals from the Spiritual Flying Sword Sect and would certainly not hesitate to kill a few more. Thus, they could only admit defeat.


    "You could have ended this long ago!" Fang Yuan waved his hand. "In fact¡­ I''m also a victim! Everything is the fault of the Spiritual Flying Sword Sect. If they didn''t plot against me first and gathered forces to attack me, why would I find trouble with them?"


    Now that the Spiritual Flying Sword Sect has been annihilated, yet you remain unscathed, who would believe you?


    The three Heaven Immortals rolled their eyes but still understood the principle of being humble while trapped in an inferior position, continuing to listen to Fang Yuan.


    "¡­ I unintentionally became enemies with the Immortal Dao. So, as long as you testify that it was the Spiritual Flying Sword Sect that first plotted against the Divine Dao, I will spare your lives!"


    Although he already had evidence in his hands, the Immortal Dao would be further rendered speechless with the addition of these statements from their own.


    "The winner is king. Sure!" Heaven Immortal Spiritual Butterfly closed her eyes and was first to concede. "I swear upon my Dao Heart that if I go against my vow, Mental Demons will definitely break out and I''ll die without a doubt!"


    An oath sworn upon the Dao Heart of an Immortal Cultivator had similar effectiveness as the heaven and earth oath sworn by the Divine Dao. Seeing this, the other two Heaven Immortals could only take their oaths.


    "Fine!"


    Fang Yuan stroked his palms as he smiled.


    "We''ve already pledged, so when will you release us?" Heaven Immortal Zhong Shan asked with a trace of hope and a downtrodden look on his face. "Do you still want to hold us captive until the Heavenly Court''s person arrives?"


    "I only mentioned the price of letting you live, not the price of holding you captive, right?" Fang Yuan said. "Testify for me and I won''t kill you. If you pass me the ancient books of your sect, I''ll release you!"


    "The sect''s ancient books?"


    The Heaven Immortals looked at each other. "You still want to walk on the path of the Immortal Dao? But if we pass you the fundamental cultivation techniques, we''ll become sinners of our sect!"


    "Sinners will be sinners. Compared to your lives, you should be able to distinguish what is more important¡­ Furthermore, I only have some investigative curiosity and can promise you that I won''t leak them."


    Fang Yuan pressed his lips together and made a promise, but did not have any desire at all to swear an oath.


    However, the three Heaven Immortals could only tolerate it. After all, their lives were in Fang Yuan''s hands.


    "Okay¡­ I can give you the fundamental cultivation techniques of the Spiritual Butterfly Sect!"


    Heaven Immortal Spiritual Butterfly had already knelt once, and now, she made another decision without too much consideration.


    This was also within Fang Yuan''s expectations.


    After all, giving a book with Heaven Immortal cultivation techniques was completely different from cultivating to become a Heaven Immortal.


    If he killed the three Heaven Immortals here, even if there were cultivation techniques and resources back at their sects, there still might not be an Earth Immortal able to break through.


    Which was more important? These Heaven Immortals were naturally able to distinguish clearly.


    If not for them, it was possible for the Bell Tripod Sect and the Spiritual Butterfly Sect to be extinguished just like the Spiritual Flying Sword Sect. Thus, they had to protect it from harm.


    After receiving the ransom, Fang Yuan did not break his promise and directly released them.


    The cultivation techniques of the Bell Tripod Sect and the Spiritual Butterfly Sect were evidently inferior to the Spiritual Flying Sword Sect''s by a notch. However, they complimented each other and he was able to roughly deduce the Golden Immortal stage. As for the Zenith Heaven realm, there was still no progress at all.

 754 Investigation

    After finishing with this, Fang Yuan had a vague feeling and immediately started preparing items such as incense burner table.


    Not long later, a voiceless sound descended from the heavens and was followed by dragons and phoenixes, like a door had opened up in the skies. A team of envoys from the Heavenly Court were descending.


    "Decree for Lord Mountain River!"


    These envoys were expressionless and directly opened the heavenly decree above the palace.


    The heavenly decree was the Heavenly Dao''s decree, naturally much more impressive than anything in the mortal realm. It was three meters long and a meter wide and spread across the sky. Clouds surrounded it, bringing an immense majesty.


    "Your servant is here!"


    Fang Yuan was fully prepared and bowed before the incense table, listening on solemnly.


    From the decree, sacred text transformed into a heavenly voice heard clearly for kilometers. "¡­ Since it is your first offense, it is pardonable. You are summoned to the Heavenly Court and encouraged to make an effort!"


    Hearing this, Fang Yuan was moved. I can''t believe¡­ this Heavenly Court is more gracious than expected. After I had destroyed the Spiritual Flying Sword Sect, they didn''t ask anything at all and directly said it was not easy to cultivate, even promoting me to the Heavenly Court. Heh¡­ They''re planning to pull the carpet out from under me!


    What remained for an Earthly God that left their deity territory?


    For concrete examples, refer to the warlords of the human realm that abandoned their homeland and entered court to become a government official.


    No matter how reputable the title and position received, they were destined to become a puppet and signboard, or even directly captured just like Cai E.


    "Lord, please!"


    After announcing the heavenly decree, an envoy wearing a silk robe cupped his fists toward Fang Yuan. This was a Marquis God!


    In reality, the punishment has already come, so they didn''t mention the beforehand matter? Fang Yuan thought.


    Since the Heavenly Court had already made a decision, any Ancient God daring to defy this order would face the inevitable outcome of being directly squashed to death, and he was no exception.


    "Official, receive your decree!"


    Thus, without saying much, he accepted the heavenly decree and flew up into the sky.


    "Lord Mountain River, since the Heavenly Court has given a decree, it''s better to comply quickly!"


    This envoy gave a cold smile, not even giving him any time to settle affairs!


    This God seems jealous of me? And he does things by the book without any mistakes¡­ This might be bullying me since I have no supporters, or else there''d be some room for negotiation.


    Fang Yuan silently shook his head. Nevertheless, he had few pleasant memories with this Three Mountains and Five Rivers, only looking at this envoy while smiling coldly. "What is your name, Heavenly Envoy?"


    "I''m Zhou Quan!" This Heavenly Court envoy fearlessly met his gaze. "Previously, I was a Heaven Supervisor Deputy Commissioner, and the Three Mountains and Five Rivers were under my supervision. By the grace of Sir God, I have already been demoted."Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting.


    "I see!"


    Fang Yuan nodded.


    Since he was a supervising God of the Heavenly Court, he was inevitable punished due to a ''dereliction of duty'' over this incident. It was understandable for him to be displeased with Fang Yuan.


    Unknowingly, he had made another enemy.


    However, I have trodden upon the unspoken rules many times like Sun Wukong. Any major God in the Heavenly Court wouldn''t be pleased with me, so it doesn''t matter!


    "Then let''s begin our journey!"


    Fang Yuan''s sleeves swayed with the breeze as he looked toward the green star with a trace of hope.


    "Okay!"


    Zhou Quan was slightly surprised. With a flick of his sleeve, the clouds ascended, revolving around the Gods and bringing them faraway.


    These clouds were clearly magical treasures with the power of elemental magnetism, causing Fang Yuan to sense a pulling force coming from the green star.


    "Using the elemental magnetism to engage in long distance transportation?"


    His eyes lit up, going into a state of sudden enlightenment as he carefully deduced the exact details of this elemental magnetism.


    "This God¡­" Seeing this, Zhou Quan became slightly astonished. If an ordinary God knew that they would be ascending to the Heavenly Court, they would either be ecstatic or frightened. However, he looks so calm, even having spare time to appreciate magical powers. This disposition is really¡­


    After an unknown period of time, Fang Yuan left his state of sudden enlightenment and waved. Two ash-gray rays of divine light continuously rotated in his palms like Yin and Yang.


    He actually gained some enlightenment so quickly? What is the natural talent of this God? I can''t let him remain in the mortal world, or it''ll really be possible for him to be enlightened on the Ancient God realm!"


    Seeing this, Zhou Quan was even more envious, but also had some secret satisfaction. Too bad¡­ this is the Heavenly Court. Any impressive God from outside would merely be a talented individual here!


    "This is the Heavenly Court?"


    At the moment, the clouds had arrived above the green star, stopping in front of a towering, white jade gate.


    "Correct, this is the Gate of Heaven! Please!"


    Zhou Quan waved and gestured in invitation, having some silent anticipation. Above the Gate of Heaven, there''s also the Divine Reflection Mirror. Anything hidden will be entirely exposed before entering the Heavenly Court! Come¡­ I hope he''s an Immortal Dao spy or someone harboring evil intentions so the Stellar Lords will directly exterminate him!


    Fang Yuan raised his head and looked at the sacred text, thinking silently, There''s a massive horror in front of the Gate of Heaven!


    Within the Heavenly Court, there would definitely be screening methods. He had already expecting having to undergo an examination before enlisting.


    Therefore, he was naturally prepared for what they were about to do.


    He walked under the Gate of Heaven with a calm expression, neither too fast nor too slow.


    "Hmm? Has he come?"


    Inside a palace, a screen appeared in front of the Ancient God Heaven Supervisor Commissioner. On it was the image of Fang Yuan passing through the Gate of Heaven.


    "Divine Reflection Mirror!"


    With a thought, the frame froze and a ray of divine light shone on it.


    Buzz Buzz!


    Above Fang Yuan''s head, the green Heavenly Edict appeared and the Three Mountains and Five Rivers could be indistinctly seen on it.


    "It''s truly the Deity Position of an Earthly God and conforms fairly well. It''s really unbelievable¡­ However, a mere God with a green Edict wants to obstruct me! Die!"


    The Ancient God made a soft noise and the light formed by the Deity Position instantly scattered. Traces of bright light lit up Fang Yuan''s sea of consciousness in the image.


    In the concentrated white light, a golden Deity Position appeared.


    "Hmm, this is the River Earl of the Surging Waves River. This God is a little greedy!" the Ancient God criticized slightly, and the bright light continued to evolve.


    Finally, when the last curtain layer had been stripped off, the faint green Heavenly Edict flickered and then a faint majesty belonging to the Heavenly Court appeared.


    "This¡­" The Ancient God''s eyes widened as a smile appeared. "I''ve gotten a hold of you! Appear!"


    He hurriedly waved his hand and entered the bright mirror.


    That green Heavenly Edict was very lively, like it was fighting, before it was finally grabbed and revealed its original appearance.


    "It''s actually Lord Bright Jade?!" The Ancient God was slightly astonished. "Did he obtain the legacy left behind, or has this God decided to reincarnate?"


    Unfortunately, before he could see clearly, the person in the bright light had already walked past the Gate of Heaven.


    "Overall, this God doesn''t have any other major issues. Perhaps, he only inherited Lord Bright Jade''s Dao teachings, and it was his lucky chance¡­"


    The Ancient God waved and a golden jade book flew out.


    With this clue and the previous investigations, he could quickly reveal and clearly understand everything related to this God.


    "The Heavenly Court''s atmosphere is truly different from the lower realms!"


    Fang Yuan put his hands behind his back and looked at a vast palace within the Heavenly Court. Everywhere he could see were exotic flowers and fruits difficult to find in the lower realm. "What should we do next? Visit the Celestial Thearch?"


    With a hint of teasing in his voice, he turned back and looked at Zhou Quan.


    To conceal a large secret, the best method was to first reveal the smaller secrets to attract attention.


    This was the Lord Bright Jade Deity Position¡ªthe target he used as an excuse and to attract firepower.


    The more attention the Heavenly Court placed on this, the harder it would be to investigate his true origins.


    Furthermore, they would probably regard him as an ordinary God who had obtained a lucky encounter.


    "Visit the Celestial Thearch?" Hearing what Fang Yuan asked, Zhou Quan thought he heard an unbelievable joke and hurriedly shook his head. "Do you know noble the Celestial Thearch is? He has numerous affairs to attend to everyday, and it''s already a huge blessing to be able to hear his heavenly voice and decree. I''ve been in the Heavenly Court for a thousand years and have only seen the Celestial Thearch a few times!"


    He continued, "Since you have been enlisted into the Heavenly Court, you should visit the Messenger Office and let them assign your future job!"


    "Okay!"


    Fang Yuan raised his head and was neither angry nor ashamed. No matter how cold Zhou Quan was to him, he silently prepared the materials on the Heavenly Court.


    In the Heavenly Court, the Marquis Gods are the majority. The most significant are still the various Stellar Lords!


    Most Stellar Lords had the rank of a Marquis. However, as they were bestowed their own respective stars and could use the power of the heavenly stars, they were considered the group with the greatest combat power among the Marquis Gods. They were under the personal command of the Celestial Thearch and were his trusted aides.


    Of course, they were currently all within the Massive Heavenly Cycle Stellar Array and maintaining its operation.


    Although a lot had to be expended when sealing the origin power, they could obtain the favor of the heavens.


    After successfully mitigating this crisis, it would not a rare sight for a few Stellar Lords to be promoted to an Ancient God.


    The Heaven Supervisor Commissioner in charge of supervising everything under the heavens was Duke East Woods. He was an Ancient God and conferred as a Duke, considered a leader within the Heavenly Court.


    As for the master of the Messenger Office, titled ''Heavenly Consort'', she seemed to be a consort of the Celestial Threarch and was extremely important!


    "This is the place. Wait for the heavenly decree and visit the Heavenly Consort on your own!"


    After reaching the Messenger Office, Zhou Quan finally squeezed out a small smile and felt somewhat satisfied. So what if you have impressive talent and good presence of mind? You''ll still have to obediently go to the Mental Demon Battlefield.


    Fang Yuan did not say anything and directly entered into the Messenger Office.


    After confirming his identity, the few God functionaries did not dare be arrogant and brought him to a jade palace in the middle. "The Heavenly Consort previously gave orders that if Lord Mountain River comes, she''ll personally receive you. Please!"


    A few God functionaries nodded and bent their backs, sending Fang Yuan to the palace door before retreating knowingly.


    "Why do they make it seem like they''re seeing some great scourge!"


    Fang Yuan touched his nose and entered the main hall.


    Immediately, an exotic smell filled his senses. At his realm, he already did not appreciate normal fragrances, but this fragrance actually superseded his sense of smell, directly going into his Essence Soul and giving him an unparalleled feeling of satisfaction.


    "Should I call you Lord Mountain River? Or Fang Yuan?"


    A silky, coquettish voice rang out, causing Fang Yuan''s heart to inadvertently stir.


    He looked toward the palace and saw a glamorous, beautiful lady smiling straight at him, as if she had already seen through all his profound secrets.


    This is the Messenger Office''s master? Heavenly Consort Yun Xiang?


    Fang Yuan''s eyes was crystal clear. Something''s wrong!

 755 Acciden

    In fact, not seeing the Celestial Thearch made Fang Yuan secretly heave a sigh of relief.


    Although his disguise was able to deceive Ancient Gods, an Emperor''s magical powers were extensive and would likely see through his concealment.


    However, Heavenly Consort Yun Xiang with her smiling eyes still gave him the illusion that he was completely exposed in front of her.


    "Loose cultivator Fang Yuan, first appeared in Xi Nation. Made friends with Cheng Fei of the Vast Ocean Sect, entered the Valley of Fallen Gods, and obtained the Deity Position of Lord Bright Jade¡­ The Three Mountains and Five Rivers arrangements were all done by Lord Bright Jade, but benefited you instead!" Heavenly Consort Yun Xiang said in a clear voice without any impurities, appearing to be greatly familiar with Fang Yuan''s origins.


    "What?"


    Fang Yuan retreated a step ''in shock'', but his heart did not fluctuate at all.


    If the standards of the Heavenly Court could not even investigate all this, he would be a little disappointed.


    "Fang Yuan¡­ what courage!" Heavenly Consort Yun Xiang was still smiling before, but the next moment, her gaze was piercingly hot and her voice seemed loaded with ice. "Usurping the Deity Position, integrating the Mountains and Rivers, killing Heaven Immortals, and annihilating a sect¡­ The punishment for these crimes are sufficient to warrant you a trip to the God Killing Stage. Do you admit your wrongdoings?"


    "No!" Fang Yuan shook his head. "I only know that the Celestial Thearch enlisted me into the Heavenly Court with a heavenly decree to give me work based on my abilities. There was nothing about charging me with any crimes!"


    "Huh!?"


    Heavenly Consort Yun Xiang was a little astonished. It was truly rare to find a God outrightly denying even at this stage.


    She turned her gaze and suddenly laughed. The entire palace seemed to bloom and light up.


    This Goddess is truly fickle and enigmatic¡­


    Fang Yuan thought as the Heavenly Consort started to speak again. "Very good¡­ But it''s the first time you''re entering the Heavenly Court and your responsibilities are all arranged by my Messenger Office. Aren''t you afraid that I''ll send you to a desolate land like the Mental Demon Battlefield? There''s a shortage of manpower there¡­"


    Of course, this was what Fang Yuan wanted, but he could not appear too excited. Instead, he was silent, giving off an anxious atmosphere.


    At the same time, he was inwardly doubtful. Why does this Heavenly Consort Yun Xiang give me such a weird feeling?


    This Goddess should only be at the Heaven Immortal rank. However, within the Heavenly Court, her title as a Heavenly Consort and her noble status were probably not inferior to an Ancient God Duke or King.


    However, there was an inexplicable feeling of uncertainty that something was wrong when Fang Yuan saw her.


    This was not a result of seeing through any disguise, but purely a mysterious kind of innate spiritual senses. It was the unique intuition he had obtained after promoting to the Body of Origin Power.


    "What? You don''t believe me?" Heavenly Consort Yun Xiang continued provoking him, "Before you ascended to the Heavenly Court, you offended the Heaven Supervisor Department. Although their head, Duke East Woods, is an Ancient God, his temperament isn''t good and won''t accept you¡­"


    She pointed out kindly, as if she wanted to pull Fang Yuan over to her camp and extended an olive branch.


    Fang Yuan rolled his eyes. "Are you trying to draw me over, Heavenly Consort? What benefits can I obtain?"


    Evidently, there could only be one goal in mind for her to be bluffing and blustering¡ªto draw Fang Yuan over!


    Seeing through all this, he was naturally too lazy to speak in a roundabout and courteous manner, going straight to the point.


    "You''re so straightforward!"


    A gleam of astonishment flashed in Heavenly Consort Yun Xiang''s eyes.


    Evidently, the various situations she made use of to pressure him did not affect this God too much.


    "That''s right¡­ I want to draw you over as you''re very valuable and have a Deity Position with boundless potential and foundation¡­" She looked at her white jade-like fingers. "What about it? As long as you''re under my command, I can ensure your safety on the Mental Demon Battlefield. Furthermore, it''s possible for me to place you in the lower realm and allow you to continue being the master of the Three Mountains and Five Rivers!"


    These conditions was undeniably generous.


    To a true Earthly God, being able to return to dominating their area and continue using the support of the Three Mountains and Five Rivers'' power to gain enlightenment on the Ancient God path were extremely enticing temptations.


    "Maybe¡­ I can even give you some assistance and help you ascend to Ancient God!"


    The Heavenly Consort''s words were becoming more and more enticing, having an alluring tone to it.


    Fang Yuan fell into deep thought.


    After a while, he asked, "If I defect to Heavenly Consort''s camp, can I not be conscripted to the Mental Demon Battlefield?"


    "Cannot!" The Heavenly Consort lightly shook her head. "The reason why I attracted you was because I hope you''ll enter the Mental Demon Battlefield and help me do something."


    "Go to the Mental Demon Battlefield to do something?" Fang Yuan was slightly surprised. "What is it?"


    "When the moment arrives, you''ll know!" The Heavenly Consort laughed mysteriously. "What''s your reply then?"


    Fang Yuan seemed to struggle for a moment before finally spreading his arms and laughing bitterly. "What other choice do I have?"


    "Very good. This is the decision made by a wise person! I don''t need you to swear an oath on your Deity Position, and you just need to directly hold this token!"


    The Heavenly Consort seemed to be very satisfied as she waved her jade hand lightly. A yellow token landed in Fang Yuan''s hands. "This is a token of my Messenger Office and represents my authority. With it, Duke East Woods won''t dare touch you! Go!"


    She looked at Fang Yuan, seemingly having a trace of secrecy in her pupils.


    With the token in hand, it naturally needed to be refined.


    With a thought, the yellow token went into Fang Yuan''s sea of consciousness. Magical strength flooded and released a bright glow.


    This was supposed to be normal, but at the last instant, the surge of an inexplicable and mysterious black aura appeared out of nowhere like smoke and was about to conceal itself in Fang Yuan''s sea of consciousness.


    Mental Demon power?!


    This Heavenly Consort is actually the disguise of a higher being of the Mental Demon Realm? Or perhaps, she''s been contaminated by Mental Demon origin power?


    Fang Yuan''s heart shook violently. Compared to before, he had finally ascertained one premonition!


    This Heavenly Consort was a person of the Mental Demon Realm!


    It was just that her concealment method was extremely profound, and even the Heavenly Court was unable to detect it. Only the Body of Origin Power that originated from the same source was able to subtly sense it.


    My Mental Demon method is best at deluding the human heart and controlling memories and spiritual will. This token is no different and wants to infiltrate the depths of my mind to make me a puppet of the Heavenly Consort!


    With a single thought, a ray of origin power leapt out like a purple dragon and devoured this token before instantly spitting it out again.


    The Heavenly Consort would definitely sense this token being destroyed. However, if I refine it once more and change its privileges, I can even use it to deceive others!


    Fang Yuan himself was a higher being of the Mental Demon Realm. When the Heavenly Consort used such a trick against him, it would naturally be gone forever.


    On the surface, his expression was dazed as he bowed toward the Heavenly Consort. "Master!"


    "Very good! Even I only one of these mind-controlling tokens. Although there are many restrictions, and it can''t be used against an Ancient God, it''s just right for this God. He tramples the rules, and there are already many Ancient Gods saying he has to go to the Mental Demon Battlefield! This is a good opportunity bestowed by the heavens¡­ Although I''m a Heavenly Consort, I can''t enter the Mental Demon Battlefield without having an edict¡­"


    If even the consort the Heavenly Court''s Celestial Therach had to fight, then it certainly meant that it had reached the stage where it was a life-and-death struggle. If not, they would become a laughing stock for the Immortal Dao.Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting.


    Thus, although a Heavenly Consort was prestigious, it was fundamentally impossible for her to go to the Mental Demon Battlefield and she would easily be suspected.


    She chose from a wide variety of people and finally selected a decent pawn, Lord Mountain River!


    "Lord Mountain River, listen up!"


    After confirming that he had been affected by the mind-controlling token, Yun Xiang''s actions were much more casual, having a hint of bossiness. "I''ll immediately send you to the Mental Demon Battlefield. When that time comes, you will hold this pearl, go to the heart of the Mental Demon Battlefield, and open up a seal! This is your mission, and you must complete it even at the cost of your life!"


    "Yes, I will obey Master and will not recoil even in the face of death!"


    Fang Yuan''s eyes were fiery hot, having the appearance of a fanatic.


    Heavenly Consort Yun Xiang seemed very satisfied as she raised her hand. A black pearl landed into Fang Yuan''s hands.


    So there''s a powerful existence sealed in the Mental Demon Battlefield, and her aim is to release it? Fang Yuan looked at the black pearl in his hands. And this pearl is the key? Hmm? Not good!


    After receiving the treasure, he still wanted to talk a bit more and obtain some intelligence, but something unexpected happened.


    When the black pearl landed in his hands, it instantly released a bright light torrent. The origin power inside was stimulated and instantly overflowed, refining the pearl in an instant.


    "What? The Black Source Pearl was actually refined? Impossible! Other than my Mental Demon Realm natural source, no other power can refine it!"


    Even more astonished than Fang Yuan was Heavenly Consort Yun Xiang herself.


    She could not compose herself, her mouth widening into a circle. Suddenly, her expression became stern. "Who exactly are you? Daring to mess around with me?"


    So this treasure is called the Black Source Pearl? It seems to be very beneficial to origin power!


    Even though an accident had occurred, Fang Yuan quickly adjusted himself and stood up with his hands behind his back. "You don''t need to know who I truly am. You just need to know that I am interested in the origin power of the Mental Demon Battlefield."


    "You''re indeed related to the Mental Demon Realm. What kind of existence are you?"


    Heavenly Consort Yun Xiang looked at him in dread.


    Mental Demons had numerous manifestations. She truly could not see through the incarnation of higher beings as long as they intentionally concealed themselves.


    Fang Yuan smiled without speaking, having a mysterious appearance.


    "Okay. Can Fellow Daoist please return the Black Source Pearl?"


    Heavenly Consort Yun Xiang''s face was unslighty, obviously realizing that she had been played by Fang Yuan earlier.


    "Once it''s entered my hands, it''s mine. You can treat it as an apology to me for your beforehand rudeness!"


    Once something had entered his own hands, how could it be returned?


    Fang Yuan rolled his eyes, and without waiting for Yun Xiang to attack him, he continued saying, "However¡­ your earlier proposal, I can consider cooperating with you. After all, releasing one of our kind is also beneficial to me, isn''t it?"


    The Mental Demon Battlefield was completely locked from the inside and the outside. Even if everything went smoothly and the origin power was devoured, he could not escape. It was also a rare sight to see a great being of the Mental Demon Realm, so Fang Yuan was still very happy to cooperate.


    "Cooperate!" Heavenly Consort Yun Xiang composed herself and did not attempt to fight nor ask for reinforcements, which might result in a lose-lose situation. "That''s possible. It wasn''t an easy task infiltrating the Heavenly Court and scheming for the Mental Demons, but I can give you all of the origin power in the Mental Demon Battlefield as long as you fulfill your promise!"


    "Good!" Fang Yuan smiled slightly and rubbed his fingers. "I still have another request. The concealment technique of Heavenly Consort is very profound. I only have thirty percent confidence of slipping through with my disguise, so I''m wondering if you can teach me it?"

 756 Seclusion

    Fang Yuan really envied the concealment technique of Heavenly Consort Yun Xiang.


    It had been highly risky for him to sneak into Heavenly Court. Even the name of Lord Bright Jade could only guarantee at most a thirty percent chance of success.


    But this woman disguised herself as a Heavenly Consort and managed to deceive the Celestial Thearch, who was the closest to her. If he could learn such an incredible concealment technique, he would be much more likely to succeed.


    "You have a sharp eye! However, even with my concealment technique, there''s only a thirty percent chance of deceiving the Celestial Thearch."


    The Heavenly Consort let out a bitter laughter. "This Thearch has been busy guarding the heart of the Massive Heavenly Cycle Stellar Array ever since he appeared on the Mental Demon Battlefield. He hasn''t slept with any consorts, and I only see him occasionally. Even if you''ve deceived the Divine Reflection Mirror at the Gate of Heaven, you still need to be examined in the Massive Heavenly Cycle Stellar Array before entering the Mental Demon Battlefield. This array is designed to guard against existences like us. The Celestial Thearch directly examines the Essence Soul''s natural source, and it''s almost impossible to pass!"


    "Thirty percent? That''s enough!"


    Fang Yuan nodded. He had thirty percent confidence initially, and the chance of success would exceed fifty percent with the help of this ingenious concealment technique. It would be a good bet!


    "Since that''s the case, I''ll teach you the Major Chiliocosm Illusion Art!"


    The Heavenly Consort had no other choice.


    She had overestimated the power of the mind-controlling token and passed Fang Yuan the key to removing the seal, only to let him take it away.Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting.


    It was impossible to obtain another Black Source Pearl, so she had to cooperate with Fang Yuan.


    The cultivation techniques of this Heavenly Consort are unfathomable, and she wants to save someone sealed in the Mental Demon Battlefield¡­ Perhaps it''s her real body!


    Fang Yuan continued learning the Major Chiliocosm Illusion Art and yet was shocked inside at the same time.


    "The Major Chiliocosm can transform into thousands of illusions. Once you master the highest stage of the Major Chiliocosm Illusion Art, you''d be able to trick even the Divine Dao Emperor¡­" Yun Xiang explained in detail, but felt regretful inside. Who''d have thought this God was a being from the Mental Demon Realm in disguise? Damn it!


    She had originally wanted to let a native sneak in so that she would be safe, but Fang Yuan took the spot and she had to cooperate with him despite the increased risk.


    "I see. The Major Chiliocosm Illusion Art has three realms: Minor Chiliocosm, Medium Chiliocosm, and Major Chiliocosm!"


    Fang Yuan carefully savored the art and acquired a lot of information. Suddenly, he transformed into the figure of Yun Xiang, every movement identical to her''s.


    "The Minor Chiliocosm Illusion Art allows you to disguise yourself as anyone at the same level as you, simulating every detail in habit and movement! The Medium Chiliocosm Illusion Art enables you to disguise your Essence Soul and so on¡­ As for the masters of the Major Chiliocosm Illusion Art, they can pretend to be Gods and demons at will, without any risk of suspicion," Fang Yuan said in a voice identical to Yun Xiang''s.


    "The Minor Chiliocosm? Have you learned this art before?"


    Yun Xiang was astonished by Fang Yuan, but shook her head afterwards. "It''s not possible. This magical power belongs to me and me alone, and I''ve never taught it to anyone before! Your talent is indeed astonishing! At this pace, you can probably become a Medium Chiliocosm Illusion God straightaway."


    She was absolutely not worried that Fang Yuan would break his promise.


    After all, both of them were spies from the Mental Demon Realm. Neither would end up well if either of their true identities was exposed.


    Furthermore, it was Fang Yuan risking his life going through the Massive Heavenly Cycle Stellar Array, and she would still have a chance to escape if anything went wrong.


    "Very good. I''ll seclude this palace. You have seven days to advance to the Medium Chiliocosm realm." Yun Xiang gazed at Fang Yuan. "Even with me negotiating, you''ll still have to enter the Mental Demon Battlefield after seven days. You can''t blame me if your identity is revealed then!"


    "Of course!" Fang Yuan agreed resolutely. As soon as the palace gates closed, he arranged a number of restrictions to completely separate him from the palace.


    "Never would have expected that Heavenly Consort Yun Xiang is a spy from the Mental Demon Realm!"


    After finishing with the restrictions, he exhaled a long breath and started to think carefully. "The possibility of me sneaking into the Mental Demon Battlefield increases significantly with her assistance, but I have no idea about the being she asked me to release!"


    In fact, a skilled being from the Mental Demon Realm was doubtlessly a treasure to Fang Yuan currently.


    He really wanted to restrain this woman and interrogate her for more information about the Mental Demon Realm and higher-level cultivation techniques.


    "Too bad no one can be certain of her real intrinsic quality as long as she wishes to conceal herself with the illusion arts." Fang Yuan shook his head. "On the other hand¡­ my future realm as a Dream Master will depend on myself!"


    While the Dream Masters of the Da Qian World were initially part of the Mental Demon Realm, they had embarked on a completely different Dao path and had endless possibilities. Even the higher beings in the Mental Demon Realm wanted to take over their cultivation techniques, which only implied their great future potential.


    "The Dao of Dream Master begins with entering dreams and building dreams. Next, they pass through the gates of consolidating Illusionary Divine and then become Prominent Divine Creators!"


    When the Dream Masters of Da Qian became Creators, they reached the realm of Sages, which was already the peak.


    At that stage, they were equivalent to Heaven Immortals and Marquises in the Spiritual Realm!


    But Fang Yuan had made use of origin power to forcibly break through the barrier of Creators, refining himself into the Body of Origin Power. This was comparable to the Ancient Gods, Golden Immortals, and other higher beings in this realm.


    "What realm will follow the Body of Origin Power? The Dao of Dream Master is the Dao of Creation. What did the being who deprived the Dream Master Dao path comprehend in the end?"


    A multitude of questions drove Fang Yuan into a deeper level of meditation.


    After a long time, he sensed an abnormal movement from the Black Source Pearl and snapped out of his thoughts. "I must deduce the future Dao path and cultivation techniques of Dream Masters by integrating the strengths of both the Spiritual Realm and the Mental Demon Realm. But what I need to do right now is to reach the Medium Chiliocosm realm, sneak into the Mental Demon Battlefield, and devour the origin power there!"


    Origin power was a manifestation of the Mental Demon Realm''s natural source.


    Common Heaven Immortals might not even be qualified to refine origin power.


    But Fang Yuan had gained sufficient experience in the lower realms and had now advanced to an entirely new realm. Thus, it was not that troublesome for him to refine it.


    "With sufficient strength, I can surely break through using brute force!"


    He thought silently and observed his sea of consciousness.


    A black, spherical pearl was whizzing all around his sea of consciousness. Origin power had split into many streams of power and whistled as they scrambled for the pearl just like dragons.


    "It seems that this pearl is related to origin power and beneficial to my cultivation. Perhaps this is a precious treasure originating from the Mental Demon natural source?"


    Fang Yuan looked at it for a while. "I can even speed up the refining of origin power with its assistance. The Heavenly Consort definitely won''t let me take away such a treasure so easily."


    Of course, since this pearl was key to removing the seal, she had to pretend to be generous.


    But as soon as that being was released, she would display her true intentions.


    "Speaking of trust¡­ I don''t trust this woman and she similarly won''t completely trust me. Thus, I''m afraid that she''ll create a situation that forces me to remove that seal on the Mental Demon Battlefield¡­ For instance, my identity might be leaked, making me be persecuted?"


    Fang Yuan put himself in her shoes and was immediately shocked by the many possible methods that could prevent him from escaping.


    "But it''s too late to regret. I have to go ahead!"


    ¡­


    Seven days later, the gates of the palace opened, revealing the figure of Heavenly Consort Yun Xiang. "Lord Mountain River, please!"


    "Thank you, Your Highness. I''ll return the favor in the future!"


    Fang Yuan sneered at the sight of Yun Xiang and the two maids beside her.


    He had comprehended the essence of the illusion arts in these seven days and discovered its similarity with the Dao of Dream Master. Thus, he had quickly progressed to the stage of Medium Chiliocosm.


    This was by no means any cultivation techniques, but merely an auxiliary skill.


    Actually, Fang Yuan had thought about asking the Heavenly Consort for a few Mental Demon cultivation techniques, but in that case, he would have to expose too much information about himself.


    It would be horrible if this woman associated him with the lower realms.


    Furthermore, fundamental cultivation techniques were much more important than auxiliary skills, especially for realms above Golden Immortal. Fang Yuan did not believe that this woman would willingly pass such techniques to him without playing any tricks.


    "Very good¡­ As expected, you completed cultivating the Medium Chiliocosm Illusion Arts."


    With an inscrutable tone, Yun Xiang whispered softly into Fang Yuan''s ears, "I''ve stopped Duke East Woods from harming you quite a few times. Be careful."


    She still appeared calm and majestic. "Since you''ve finished your seclusion, follow me to the Stellar Array. That group of Ancient Gods is running out of patience!"


    "Okay!"


    Fang Yuan shook his robe. Using his magic as a God, he cleaned up his clothes with a thought.


    "The existence I want to release is right in the Bottomless Blood Abyss at the center of the Mental Demon Battlefield¡­ The method of removing the seal is¡­"


    Along the way, Yun Xiang repeated all the details and made numerous promises. Fang Yuan did not give a damn.


    Just before they left the Heavenly Court, an Ancient God in a long robe and tall crown walked out from a corner. "Consort Xiang, please wait a moment!"


    "Oh? What''s the matter?" Yun Xiang gave the God a cold glance.


    "Nothing. I just came to meet Lord Mountain River after hearing that he was done cultivating."


    Duke East Woods walked forward slowly and mechanically. "So you''re Lord Mountain River, Fang Yuan?"


    "Yes, I am. Greetings, God!" Fang Yuan stepped out and cupped his hands.


    "It''s fine. The Mental Demon Battlefield is a place of the Divine Dao under the protection of the heavens. You must work diligently there!"


    Duke East Woods gave some encouragement and then waved his hand.


    This God¡­ somehow gained a connection with Consort Xiang¡­ but that won''t help. He got into too much trouble in the lower realm, and even Consort Xiang can''t protect him from the Immortal Dao''s prosecution. He''ll have to be sent to the Mental Demon Battlefield.


    Duke East Woods gazed coldly at Fang Yuan''s back.


    There were no grudges between Fang Yuan and him, but he was dissatisfied by how Fang Yuan managed to resolve the difficult situations created by him every time.


    Ancient Gods were as superior as heaven. Someone who refused to die at heaven''s inclination had to be guilty and deserved punishment!

 757 Battlefield

    "The Massive Heavenly Cycle Stellar Array?!"


    Fang Yuan left the Heavenly Court and entered the vast expanse of the starry sky.


    The stars were right there, but appeared to be far away, constituting an abstruse array.


    Traces of feeble power formed a thin membrane completely enclosing the purple star.


    While it seems like there''s only a single membrane layer, it contains the strength of a countless number of Stellar Lords, Ancient Gods, and even the Celestial Thearch. If I dare to rush in, I''ll be pulverized into powder¡­


    Fang Yuan''s eyes glittered, feeling slightly apprehensive.


    At the border of the Stellar Array, Heavenly Consort Yun Xiang said through an identity token, "This is the Messenger Office sending in a conscripted God. Stellar Lord Giant Spirit, please allow us to pass!"


    Before long, a shower of starlight fell to the ground and transformed into a three-meter tall, giant God. "Greetings, Consort Xiang! Ancient God Black Dragon has been waiting for some time!"


    As he spoke, he opened the gates and let them in.


    "This Stellar Lord¡­"


    Fang Yuan looked at God Giant Spirit in front of him. While this God was only a gatekeeper at the Massive Heavenly Cycle Stellar Array, he was a Marquis, ranking even higher than Heaven Immortals.


    After all, his position as a Stellar Lord was strengthened by the stars!


    With the title of Stellar Lord conferred by the Heavenly Court, he could readily use stellar power!


    Although Stellar Lords could only receive a tiny amount of a star''s Spiritual Energy in contrast to the Mountain and River Gods, given the sheer size of stars, a Stellar Lord could advance to an unbelievable level with just a slight amount.


    This Stellar Lord Giant Spirit is presumably comparable to Heaven Immortal Ye Jun. A common Heaven Immortal is probably no match for him! Fang Yuan thought to himself silently and looked around.


    While he was only in the outer area of the Massive Heavenly Cycle Stellar Array, he could already sense some danger.


    They continued forward for a while before encountering an Ancient God practicing his breathing in a pavilion.


    "Hmm? You''re finally here!" He opened his eyes, his pupils as blue as the ocean.


    "Greetings, God Black Dragon!" Yun Xiang saluted gracefully. "Please forgive us for keeping you waiting."


    "Consort Xiang, you''re too courteous!"


    Ancient God Black Dragon was donned in black battle armor, his countenance hard and firm. The pair of black dragon horns on his forehead declared his identity as one of the Dragon Gods of the Four Oceans!


    Although the Dragon Kings of the Four Oceans were in charge of all the rivers and lakes, they did not have authority like Excellency Mount Mang.


    This was palpably a strategy used by Heavenly Court, intending to split the power of the Four Oceans and prevent the emergence of any Emperors who could otherwise pose a threat to them.


    Therefore, the dragons of the Four Oceans were all subordinates of the Heavenly Court in the Spiritual Realm.


    And it was evident that the Heavenly Court did not treat the dragons well.


    For example, Ancient God Black Dragon was unfortunately assigned the task of going to the Mental Demon Battlefield.


    God Black Dragon did not dare show any disrespect toward Consort Yun Xiang, but he kept staring at Fang Yuan, displaying his dissatisfaction, even animosity.


    "Alright. Since everyone''s here, let''s go to the Stellar Gates!"


    However, at this time, the Ancient God did not utter a word, instead waving his hand lightly.


    A number of Marquis Gods walked out from the closeby pavilion with a desolate look on their faces.


    They wished that Fang Yuan could delay the task forever, but that apparently was not going to happen.


    "Okay, I won''t accompany you any further!"


    Yun Xiang gazed at Fang Yuan and then went back.


    "¡­"


    Fang Yuan was speechless after seeing this. This woman is nervous! Indeed, there''s a certain likelihood that the Celestial Threarch would discover my true identity, so she''s preparing to escape?


    If Fang Yuan failed to conceal himself in the final examination within the Massive Heavenly Cycle Stellar Array, he would definitely not be able to escape.


    But there would be a chance to escape from outside the array.


    "Let''s go!"


    God Black Dragon looked at Yun Xiang as she left, but showed no sign of respect for Fang Yuan.


    This group of Gods trekked continuously on bridges made of starlight before finally arriving at the giant Stellar Gates.


    The stars above the gates sprinkled down many shadows amid shimmering silhouettes of human figures.


    "Alright, don''t panic and follow me through the Stellar Gates. Don''t use your magical strength, as you''ll have no chance of surviving the array backlash!"


    God Black Dragon let out a deep breath and brought them in front of the giant Stellar Gates. "The only way to the Mental Demon Battlefield is through these gates. You must be cautious of the evil elemental force on that side. We''ll only be able to recover using our own pills and divine crystals there. No one can save you if you get corrupted!"


    He then kowtowed to the east. "Greetings from Black Dragon¡­ to the Emperor. Please open the gates and send us to the battlefield!"


    "The Heavenly Court''s Celestial Thearch?"


    Fang Yuan kowtowed like everyone else, not daring to have any extra movement. He kept his spiritual will inside and running the Medium Chiliocosm Illusion Arts.


    Buzz Buzz!


    A pair of purple eyes emerged above the giant Stellar Gates.


    They glanced over all the Gods with cold nonchalance.


    What a pair of eyes!


    Fang Yuan shivered, as if he had encountered the existence who had deprived the Dream Master Dao path, evoking in him an inexplicable sense of horror.


    Rumble!


    The eyes disappeared shortly after.


    The Stellar Gates slowly opened with a bang, and the figures behind the gates flew out immediately. "Finally, we''ve completed our duty!"


    "We''ve finally left that hellish place!"


    "Haha¡­ I''m still alive!"


    In dirty and ragged clothes, these Gods almost shed tears of joy without any regard for their image.


    It was under the leadership of an elderly God that they managed to calm down and salute the Celestial Thearch.


    "Let''s go!"


    Black Dragon let out a roar, and a dark glow surrounded him like an egg shell, protecting him as he entered the Stellar Gates.


    Behind him, Fang Yuan and other Gods took a deep breath, following with the same kind of defensive shields.


    They had to move forward! If they dared to run away, they would be crumbled into powder by the Stellar Lords and Ancient Gods!


    It seems that the Mental Demon Battlefield has severely tortured these Gods. Those Marquises were as skinny as skeletons, and even the Ancient God had lost a lot of vitality¡­ Fang Yuan thought silently to himself and then passed through the gates.


    He felt slightly dizzy before the scene suddenly changed.


    A purple glow filled the empty space, sinister and disgusting.


    They were even secluded from Spiritual Energy and incense, just like fish separated from water. All the Gods felt suffocated.


    I''m finally here¡­ on the Mental Demon Battlefield.


    Fang Yuan pretended to be scared, but inside, he was excited.


    As soon as he reached this place, the origin power in his body gained vitality, becoming lively in every part of his body.


    He was now like a fish in water, confident of even defeating Ancient God Black Dragon within a second.


    "Is this the Mental Demon Battlefield? It''s really like hell!"


    God Black Dragon exhaled a long breath, apparently disgusted by the environment. "Be careful! Don''t proceed to the purple star down there. The Divine Dao has another palace in front that has a divine pool for recovering Spiritual Energy and magical strength. Let''s go there first!"


    There were obviously other Gods here besides their group.


    According to the information from the Heavenly Consort, there were at least seven Ancient Gods and a large number of Marquises here. Their base camp was the Heaven Palace, and they took turns entering the battlefield in small groups.


    The Heaven Palace was a large palace suspended in the air and had numerous restrictions. The openings in the building appeared just like beacons.


    The Gods finally relaxed after entering the palace, and some of them immediately started meditating to recover their magical strength.


    "Since you''re all new here, I''ll repeat the rules!" God Black Dragon glanced around. "We must guard this place for thirty years! No one is allowed to return during this period unless permitted as a reward for significant achievements!"Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting.


    In fact, he was not a bit worried about anyone running away.


    With the Massive Heavenly Cycle Stellar Array locking up the empty space, even Ancient Gods would not manage to escape.


    And the Heaven Palace was the only place with supplies in the entire Mental Demon Battlefield.


    They had to return to the palace unless they lost their minds and became demons, but they would not even survive long even in that case.


    After all, everyone knew that the Mental Demon Battlefield, which was the purple star, was shrinking in size. One day, it would be refined completely by the Spiritual Realm.


    The traitors would then have no place to hide themselves and still be arrested in the end.


    "In these thirty years, you must follow my orders for twenty and then act individually for ten. Your mission is to kill demons, but there are three places on this star you must not go. First, the Extreme East Dark Mystic Ocean. Second, the Myriad Thunder Plain. And third, the Bottomless Blood Abyss!"


    As Black Dragon explained in detail, Fang Yuan''s expression changed slightly.


    That Bottomless Blood Abyss should be the place where the powerful Mental Demon existence was sealed.


    "Alright. We have a few days to rest and get used to the surroundings as newcomers. You can use any unoccupied room within the Heaven Palace. Gather at the White Jade Plaza three days later. Dismissed!"


    After explaining the important issues, God Black Dragon waved his hand like he was worn out. The crowd of Gods dispersed immediately.


    They would not waste a single precious second, needing sufficient rest to prepare for the brutal fight on the Mental Demon Battlefield.


    ¡­


    God Black Dragon looked at the back of the Gods with a melancholy expression.


    He went to a golden jade palace and immediately arranged a restriction to seclude the place. Sitting cross-legged, his eyes suddenly looked chillingly cold. "Lord Mountain River?


    "Duke East Woods had contacted me before, suggesting that he''d let me leave the battlefield once this God dies.


    "Although I''m an Ancient God just like him, I''m a dragon away from the Heavenly Court, while he''s in the Heavenly Court with many more relationships and connections. He should have some confidence if he had the guts to make that promise¡­ I''ll believe in him!"


    Even Ancient Gods would want to leave this hellish place as soon as possible, so it was alright to pay a certain price for an early exit.

 758 Swordsmanship

    "The entire purple star is a huge battlefield!"


    Fang Yuan casually found a palace and sat down cross-legged, his eyes glittering. "There''s plenty of origin power left behind from the Mental Demon Realm''s invasion, and this place is rich in secondary elemental force as well. I''m like a fish in water here!"


    The large amount of concentrated origin power constantly resulted in the birth of dreadful demons on this star.


    If left untouched, they would soon devour one another, catalyzing the creation of a being capable of disrupting the world.


    That was why the Heavenly Court had Celestial Thearch guard the gates and sent in large batches of powerful soldiers to clear up the Mental Demon Battlefield regularly. Other than killing demons, it was also the Heavenly Court''s intention to guard the seal.


    There were a few higher beings from the Mental Demon Realm on the Mental Demon Battlefield that had come. Despite being defeated, they could not be killed, so they were sealed in the battlefield instead.


    Their vitality was beyond imagination, and they could not be annihilated unless the entire star was refined.


    "Therefore, the Mental Demon Battlefield is troublesome for the Heavenly Court, but not really a disaster¡­ After all, it''s already under control and will be refined in the future if nothing goes wrong. No wonder Consort Xiang is so anxious about saving that existence!"


    After considering the situation he was in, Fang Yuan started to think about his own problems.


    This place was doubtlessly a huge treasure to him. Both the origin power from the nucleus of the star and the sealed higher beings were invaluable in his mind.


    Fang Yuan thought for a moment before making a decision.


    "Looks like it''s time to find an opportunity to act individually!"


    In fact, the Gods in the army would rather stay at the base camp or follow large groups than go to the battlefield on their own.


    What Fang Yuan wanted was the other way around.


    "Now, I have to find an appropriate excuse¡­"


    ¡­


    Three days passed by in a flash. In the White Jade Plaza.


    This was the heart of the Heaven Palace. An announcement could be seen on a wall, recording the names of many Gods followed by their military honors.


    The first few were surely six Ancient Gods, and below them were the names of Marquises written in tiny words and squeezed together.


    "A Marquis must achieve at least 10,000 achievements before applying to return, and an Ancient God at least 100,000! After going back, they can turn all the achievements into heavenly honors, which can be exchanged for treasures in the Heavenly Court''s treasure vault, or even directly for titles!"


    These few days, Fang Yuan was disinclined to meditate and recover, and instead strolled outside, so he had already heard all of this.


    "But this goal is too hard to achieve for most Gods. It''s merely a carrot on a stick."


    "Everyone! We guardians of the Heaven Palace are divided into seven divisions. All of you belong to my division, Vast Heaven!"


    Ancient God Black Dragon appeared below the announcement in his battle armor and said with a confident demeanor, "We''re new here and it''s a shame that we haven''t accomplished anything yet. Follow me out of the Heaven Palace and onto the battlefield to kill as many demons as possible!"


    "Yes!" The Marquises complained silently, but had no choice other than following the order.


    "Hmm?" Fang Yuan sensed something abnormal. "This God Black Dragon wants to kill me?"


    Any superior would dislike someone who defied rules as he did, so it was perfectly normal for them to show disgust toward him.


    But the killing intent was a different matter!


    While Black Dragon concealed it very well, his intent could not be concealed from the detection of a Dream Master.


    "We don''t have anything against each other, and what happened before was not sufficient to evoke such hostility. Did someone incite him to kill me?"


    Fang Yuan had a sharp mind and understood everything immediately. "So he''s creating an opportunity to take my life on the battlefield? That''s exactly what I want¡­"


    ¡­


    "Let''s go!"


    God Black Dragon unhesitantly set out.


    As a Dragon God, he had some fortune at least. He lifted his hand and a small, seven-colored sailboat emerged. The boat quickly became large and carried them onward through the air.


    Fang Yuan sat cross-legged on the boat, looking around casually.


    There are seven military divisions on the frontline, each led by an Ancient God supervising dozens of Marquises. The Vast Heaven Division should be the name used by the Gods who returned earlier¡­


    "Greetings, brother. Are you Lord Mountain River?"


    A God was currently squeezing his way through the crowd. He had a pair of round eyes on a smiling face. "My name is Hai Fu, and I''m Lord Cold Mountain!"Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting.


    It was common for Gods to form groups and help one another, but Fang Yuan''s behavior was abnormal.


    Of course, there were Gods who thought that such an abnormal behavior had to imply either surprising strength or powerful backers, and thus took the initiative to chat with him.


    "So you''re Lord Cold Mountain!" Fang Yuan took a quick glance at him and gave him a perfunctory smile.


    "I''ve heard of Lord Mountain River before. You annihilated the Spiritual Flying Sword Sect, really boosting the morale of the Divine Dao¡­" Lord Cold Mountain did not mind his indifferent reaction and continued talking. Finally, he said what was really on his mind, "Consort Xiang has always been impartial as the Messenger Office''s master. It was really rare that she would let God Black Dragon wait for your seclusion to finish¡­"


    "If my backer was really that powerful, how would I have ended up here?"


    Fang Yuan shrugged, looking as if he could see through the God''s thoughts.


    "Sigh¡­ We''re all unlucky!"


    The fat body of Hai Fu thumped down as he said with a bitter expression, "My fate was also pathetic. I showed disrespect during Excellency Mount Mang''s birthday celebration and was then sent here¡­"


    "Disrespect in front of His Excellency?" Fang Yuan was mildly shocked.


    This punishment was not too severe, but too light.


    It seemed that this fat God had some capability. Otherwise, the punishment would not have been so simple.


    "Sigh¡­ The Mental Demon Battlefield is extremely dangerous. Although our leader won''t take us to the three perilous lands, life will still be hard!" Hai Fu started complaining again. "There are way too many demons to kill on the Mental Demon Battlefield. Fortunately, only a few are at the level of Ancient Gods, or else even the Heaven Palace might be lost to them¡­


    "However, there are a horrible number of Marquis-level demons¡­ Here it comes!" Lord Cold Mountain shouted, staring ahead.


    The seven-colored boat had now sailed into the territory of the purple star. Countless tiny, black dots emerged from the layers of clouds, like dark clouds rushing toward them.


    In fact, the dark clouds were formed of many creatures similar to bats.


    "Demon Spirits?"


    It was evident that Fang Yuan had known such demons for a long time.


    Of course, the realm and the quantity of this current Demon Spirit army far exceeded those in Da Qian.


    "Impressive. The most inferior soldiers in a random demon army are already Demon Generals, and the leaders are all Heaven Immortals. Fortunately, none of them are Golden Immortal rank¡­"


    Fang Yuan''s expression became slightly solemn.


    There were more than a thousand Demon Generals right in front of them. What sort of military strength was that?


    If the number of nether soldiers from this realm reached 100,000, with an appropriate array, their strength would be comparable to a Heaven Immortal.


    While the thousands of Demon Generals, together with a dozen of Heaven Immortals, were no match for Ancient Gods, they could still easily raze the Three Mountains and Five Rivers to the ground.


    The Demon Spirits became red-eyed at the sight of the sailboat, aggressively besieging it.


    "What audacity!"


    God Black Dragon''s expression was as cold as granite, and he casually pointed at Fang Yuan. "Lord Mountain River, annihilate them!"


    "Yes!"


    By the military rules, no one could argue against a command on the battlefield.


    Fang Yuan answered straightaway and flew out of the boat.


    Hehe¡­ God Black Dragon laughed coldly in his mind. No matter how smart you are, or who your backers are, you must die at my order on the battlefield!


    In his view, it was as easy as flipping his palm to find a random excuse and kill this Lord Mountain River.


    This moment made a perfect example. He could give an order before everyone, and this God had to obey it and fight for his life.


    The Mental Demon Battlefield is different from the world outside. If you accidentally lose your life, you''ll be honored as a brave warrior and I''ll receive my benefits. It''s a win-win situation, so why not go for it?


    God Black Dragon was excited as he silently looked on.


    It''s truly troublesome on the Mental Demon Battlefield¡­


    Fang Yuan felt the difference immediately as he left the boat.


    Lord Mountain River was an Earthly God and would have no Spiritual Energy once he left his territory. On the Mental Demon Battlefield, he could only fight using his own magical strength, and this would be huge trouble to the newcomers who could not adjust quickly.


    "Sword, come!"


    Of course, to Fang Yuan, the sailboat, and even the defensive restrictions of the Heaven Palace, only limited his strength.


    As he stood straight on the Mental Demon Battlefield, he felt extremely comfortable all over.


    "Heavenly Gods! Kill them!" A roar in the Mental Demon language was heard from the swarm of giant bats.


    Sure enough, a Marquis could understand any language.


    Puff! Puff!


    The giant bats besieged him, their wings generating strong gusts of wind everywhere. Lord Cold Mountain turned pale witnessing this. "Seriously¡­ If it was me, I wouldn''t be able to survive!"


    Fang Yuan looked confident and fearless. He flicked his fingers and streams of Sword Qi shot out instantly.


    No! This was no longer Sword Qi. The traces of Qi were light and soft, almost invisible to the eyes. These were sword threads that looked as if they would break at any moment!


    Zap! Zap!


    The sword threads entered the knife-like winds and readily disintegrated the Stellar Qi, revealing the Demon Generals behind it.


    Splash!


    Dozens of Demon Generals were momentarily stunned before their bodies were sliced and their spirits extinguished.


    "Hmm?" God Black Dragon raised his eyebrows. "This swordsmanship¡­ is somewhat related to the Spiritual Flying Sword Sect. It''s like spring wind transforming into raindrops, not having a fixed shape¡­ This God is really gifted!"


    It was inconvenient for Fang Yuan to display his real capability in front of these Gods, so he only used some swordsmanship instead. However, the Gods continuously nodded as they watched him battle. "Look¡­ Lord Mountain River has responded with the most appropriate magical technique. The thick evil Qi in the Mental Demon Realm prevents us from recovering our magical strength, so we have to be prudent. This swordsmanship minimizes the use of magical strength and works quite well."


    "Go!"


    Fang Yuan moved like the wind, killing demons as if he were removing weed. Within a moment, another dozen Demon Generals was killed by him.


    "Keep fighting! Don''t stop!"


    A chilling glow flashed in the eyes of God Black Dragon as he gave the order in a cold voice.

 759 Ba

    Hmm? Black Dragon is so desperate to kill me?


    Fang Yuan''s expression changed.


    Previously, it could be called casually deploying forces. However, what was being done now was definitely intentional and obvious to anyone with clear eyes.


    Alas, in the boat full of Gods, nobody opened their mouths to argue.


    After all, Black Dragon was the commander of the Vast Heaven Division and possessed a strong reputation.


    Not to mention, if they were to speak up and Black Dragon recalled Lord Mountain River, it would be largely disastrous for them, right?


    This was the tragedy of the strong oppressing the weak.


    Fang Yuan stared hard at Black Dragon as his body transformed into sword radiance and directly charged into the midst of the giant bats.


    Something''s wrong¡­ was he instigated by someone? Duke East Woods? Or Heavenly Consort Yun Xiang?


    His thoughts were clear and instantly thought of something.


    In order to force him to release that existence, Heavenly Consort Yun Xiang would definitely resort to extreme measures to destroy his escape routes.


    While he was in seclusion, it was sufficient for her to do many things, such as¡­ sowing discord between him and the Ancient Gods of the Heavenly Court!


    Furthermore, it was not entirely impossible to directly hint to Black Dragon and make him disappear for good!


    If it were me, I would secretly instigate Duke East Woods to kill me. That would make it watertight and flawless¡­


    Fang Yuan''s eyes were cold. Amid the howls of Sword Qi, Demon Generals were collapsing one after another.


    "God! What courage!"


    The Heaven Immortal demons were infuriated and leapt downward. "Form up the Large Sky Bat Transformation!"


    The demons roared and formed up, transforming into a giant bat. It exuded an aggressive air that even caused Black Dragon''s face to change!


    "¡­"


    The bat opened its mouth, and an invisible shockwave dispersed outward. Instantly, sand and stones flew and the sky turned dark. Even the colorful sailboat could not withstand the impact and collapsed.


    "This is the best chance!"


    Fang Yuan''s gaze flickered and charged straight into the bat''s insides and swung his sword.


    "How dare you, beast!"


    The Gods were infuriated and attacked. Rays of divine light landed on the bat''s body, causing it to become full of lumps and holes as numerous Demon Generals died.


    The large monster roared loudly and suddenly flapped its wings, sweeping up strong winds before suddenly disappearing without a trace.


    "God! Lord Mountain River has been taken away by that monster!"Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting.


    Lord Cold Mountain saw this and his face became stunned.


    "Hmm, I saw it. Quickly chase after it!"


    Black Dragon stood with his hands behind his back. He had not made a move even when the bat array appeared or when Lord Mountain River was swept away, resembling a huge, silent mountain.


    In fact, he was ecstatic upon seeing this unforeseen event. Great¡­ Lord Mountain River was attacked and is missing. Hehe¡­ On this Mental Demon Battlefield, once he''s separated from the rest of the team, he can be considered dead. Without my assistance, he won''t be able to return to the Heaven Palace. I can return and quietly report his death, and the issue will be resolved once and for all. The heavens have helped me!


    Although pursuing him was the order, the Gods quickly realized that Black Dragon did not have any desire of exerting effort, so they also chose to drop the matter.


    At last, God Black Dragon took out another swift boat and slightly strengthened it before returning to the palace.


    Seeing this, Lord Cold Mountain''s hairs stood after he thought carefully. It appears God Black Dragon only came out this time to specifically kill Lord Mountain River


    ¡­


    At the same time, a corner of a pitch-dark gorge.


    Tens of thousands of demon bats roared as they surrounded Fang Yuan. "God, you''re dead¡­ This is our nest and there are tens of thousands of us here!"


    A large, golden bat with three eyes on its forehead and a cultivation at peak Heaven Immortal flew over. "Now¡­ Kneel! Surrender! Accept the transformation of the magnificent power of the Mental Demons and I''ll bestow you the chance to obtain a new lease on life!"


    "This tone is truly not small!" Fang Yuan rubbed his shoulders. "You think you would be able to carry me to this place without my cooperation?"


    His smile widened into an ecstatic expression. "What fresh air¡­ Finally¡­ I finally don''t need to conceal myself."


    "A mere God¡­ Are you crazy?"


    The large, golden bat was a little doubtful and flapped its wings, about to leap forward. "Forget it. Your body and the magical strength in your flesh and bones will become our nourishment!"


    Caw! Caw!


    Keke!


    In an instant, numerous bats strove to be first as they leapt forward like they were dying from hunger and could not wait to enjoy a delicious feast.


    The next moment.


    All of the giant bats that had leapt forward disappeared.


    A huge, formless mouth appeared in the air and devoured them all.


    Kaboom!


    Just like an explosion of mountain torrents and a dam bursting its banks, a surge of pure Mental Demon Realm aura was emitted everywhere, containing a strength more powerful than the giant bat ''king'' by thousands of times.


    "Not bad¡­ such pure Mental Demon power is useful even if it isn''t origin power."


    At the spot where Fang Yuan was originally standing, a giant towering between the heavens and the earth had suddenly appeared.


    "Demon¡­ Demon Master!!!"


    The bats were stunned as they stood lifeless and motionless. They could only release an astonished call using their spiritual wills.


    "Demon Master?!" Fang Yuan licked his lips. "Seems like in the Mental Demon Realm, there''s another name for the origin power realm¡ªDemon Master! The master of all demons!"


    Obviously, this was not from his memories, but something he had found in the spiritual wills of these bats after devouring them.


    Fang Yuan realized that this purple star was practically a paradise for him.


    Not only could he devour demons in large numbers, he could engage in soul searching and obtain Mental Demon Realm cultivation techniques.


    After reaching a certain standard, Demon Spirits in the Mental Demon Realm would instinctively awaken their memories.


    Previously, Fang Yuan had obtained a lot of Mental Demon Realm cultivation techniques from Ado and laid the foundations for changing his cultivation to a Dream Master of Da Qian.


    And these bats were much more powerful than Da Qian''s Demon Spirits, giving Fang Yuan a staggering harvest.


    "Demon General¡­ and the cultivation above Demon General is what I have¡­ But I don''t have cultivation techniques higher than Demon Master¡­"


    Fang Yuan felt slightly regretful.


    The most powerful demons here were at the Heaven Immortal rank, so their cultivation techniques were limited to this.


    "In other words, if I want to obtain true Zenith Heaven cultivation techniques, I have to directly face demons at the Emperor or Zenith Heaven rank? Perhaps if those high-level existences appeared, even the Celestial Thearch would be suppressed? So that existence sealed in the Bottomless Blood Abyss still has some hope¡­"


    Fang Yuan spread his hands wide and took a deep breath.


    Whoosh! Whoosh!


    At the moment, he was still a Chaos Giant. While breathing, a tornado formed between the heavens and the earth.


    Inside the gorge, the remaining bats screeched and were suppressed by a large, invisible force as they were pulled into the vortex.


    "Since I cultivated my Dao using Mental Demon origin power, am I most suitable for the Mental Demon Realm?"


    The giant mumbled to himself and then released a buzz that sounded like dull thunder.


    Fang Yuan identified the direction and rushed over to the Bottomless Blood Abyss.


    Kaboom!


    The giant took a large step forward and traversed several kilometers in a step, walking like the wind.


    The vibrations from this step dispersed outward across the large land like an earthquake.


    "Origin power truly has endless creation potential!"


    Fang Yuan rushed and, at the same time, observed the ecology of the Mental Demon Battlefield.


    The most prominent feature here was the occasional emittance of concentrated elemental force from the void.


    But true natural source power was very rare.


    "It should exist within the core of the purple star, or perhaps in the three sealed lands?" The giant Fang Yuan frowned. "If origin power was easy to obtain, maybe those Immortals and Gods would have already divided and stored it instead of causing such a ruckus."


    "Today''s plan is only to eat!" He quickly made his decision. "The demons on the Mental Demon Battlefield were all created with origin power. The more powerful they are, the more secondary origin power they have. Although I might not be able to squeeze out a drop of origin power even if I eat ten thousand creatures, at least I can consolidate my Body of Origin Power!"


    The greatest characteristic of origin power was its endlessness.


    Thus, without finding the root source, it was basically unable to truly be gathered.


    However, secondary origin power was still very useful to Fang Yuan and could at least help him strengthen his cultivation.


    Hiss hiss!


    Suddenly, the ground exploded and a giant snake burrowed out of the mud, opening its mouth and hissing at the giant.


    Its head was originally as large as a small hill, but at this moment, its mouth was continuously expanding until it became similar to a black hole as it transmitted an aggressive thought, "I''ll eat you!!"


    As a creature born by the Mental Demons, it could clearly sense the natural source power on Fang Yuan. Not only was it not a deterrence, it was something extremely tempting.


    "Idiot!"


    Fang Yuan directly grabbed the giant snake''s body and pulled violently.


    Crack!


    A large wad of blood splattered and the giant snake''s body was broken into two. Innumerable small snakes crawled out from the broken ridges, causing one to shudder with horror.


    "A mere Heaven Immortal realm wants to devour me, dream on!"


    He grabbed, and the countless demonic snakes were refined into blood cells and directly entered his stomach.


    Shortly after, his fingers clenched and punched at the sky.


    Smack!


    A loud sound rang and an illusionary silhouette appeared.


    It had the body of a human and six pairs of wings, like a black angel.


    It hurriedly released a thought. "Respected Demon Master, I have no intention of being your enemy and hope that you''ll temporarily calm your anger¡­"


    "Want me to calm my anger?" Fang Yuan''s voice was like thunder. "Do you have cultivation techniques above Demon Master?"


    "This¡­ No, I don''t!"


    The fallen angel-like creature stood stagnant.


    Smack!


    The next instant, he clapped his hands together as if he was smacking a mosquito and killed it.


    "Since you don''t, why talk so much¡­"


    Fang Yuan did not stop and was like a moving natural disaster. He opened every mountain he encountered, filled every river he met, and killed every demon he saw along the way with a few smacks. They all became his nourishment.


    With the Body of the Origin Power and endless energy, nothing, not even a large army comprising of Heaven Immortal demons, was able to stop him.


    Innumerable demons died under his violent fists.


    "Although the nether soldiers and generals are able to form an array comparable to a Heaven Immortal, the origin power realm of a Golden Immortal is a dividing line! No matter how many Heaven Immortals there are, they''d be unable to match up to a Golden Immortal!"


    Black Dragon had only felt that the Large Sky Bat Array was slightly troublesome. If he truly put in effort, he could definitely destroy it. Of course, he had also deliberately concealed himself then, intending to watch Fang Yuan die.


    Needless to say, Fang Yuan was a Mental Demon Demon Master and naturally restrained the large Mental Demon armies.

 760 Blood Abyss

    "I should be about to reach the Blood Abyss, right? I''ve already killed innumerable demons along the way!"


    Fang Yuan grabbed a giant snake with a body full of eyes and swallowed it bit by bit like he was chewing sugarcane.


    During these days, he had rushed forward while simultaneously refining the inferior demons, not even knowing whether the number he had swallowed was in the tens of thousands, or even hundreds of thousands.


    In any case, if he truly calculated battle achievements, it was nearly sufficient to pay the ''redemption fee'' for the entire Vast Heaven Division excluding Black Dragon, much less a single Lord Mountain River.


    Currently, on the surface of the Chaos Giant''s body, dark purple patterns had spread to form a suit of battle armor with decent defense. The realms below Demon Master would not even be able to penetrate this armor.


    "Although existences at the Zenith Heaven or Emperor rank are sealed on the Mental Demon Battlefield, there are still a few Demon Masters at the Ancient God or Golden Immortal rank!"


    Otherwise, there would not be seven Ancient Gods guarding the Heaven Palace.


    "Although this purple star is vast, someone acting recklessly like me should have long attracted the attention of one or two of them¡­ Seems like they''re settling down at one place?"


    While Fang Yuan was pushing and fighting his way through, he also had thoughts of attracting the attention of Demon Masters to intercept him.


    However, at the moment, he finally discovered what was wrong. "True¡­ Someone at the Demon Master rank would be an Ancient God inside the Heavenly Court, even the Vast Heaven Division would have to be very wary if they encountered someone like that. Furthermore, some of them could form an alliance to attack the Heaven Palace. But if they lived alone, they would definitely be surrounded and killed by the military divisions, so the largest possibility is huddling together!"


    Inexplicably, Fang Yuan thought of the three perilous lands.


    Now, it seemed that these Demon Master had an eighty percent chance of hiding in the perilous lands and using the terrain advantage to contend with the attacks of the Heaven Palace.


    "For the Celestial Thearch, his responsibility is to seal off the star and keep an eye on the seal. Demon Masters are all insignificant and can be dealt with by the Ancient Gods under him¡­"


    Fang Yuan felt that he could somewhat understand what the Celestial Thearch was doing.


    On the Mental Demon Battlefield, an endless supply of demons would still be born no matter how many he killed as long as origin power was not extinguished.


    Thus, it would be better to use them as training, or perhaps cleansing and consuming the factions?


    "With the abilities of the Celestial Thearch, he should be able to refine origin power. But how could he fight with the Spiritual Realm? Sigh¡­ this is the tragedy of the Divine Dao¡­"


    Fang Yuan let his imagination run wild before reaching at a place near the abyss.


    The ground was fiery red and magma splattered in various spots, forming a dark red river.


    "Bottomless Blood Abyss, I''ve arrived!"


    Fang Yuan looked into the distance and saw a huge crevasse, like a wound in the earth. It stretched on endlessly and he could not tell how deep it reached.


    Inside the abyss, a blood-red fog occasionally encircled the area, bringing a deep ominous feeling.


    "Hmm, the elemental force here is far superior to the outside¡­"


    Fang Yuan focused on the magma river resembling meridians as Flaming Evil Demons crawled out from the river and killed and devoured each other, their aura unceasingly enhancing.


    Of course, when they saw the giant in black armor walking over, they hurriedly evaded while screeching.


    "This abyss¡­" Fang Yuan came to the periphery of the crevasse and looked at the cliff in front. "If I exert all my strength, I can enter deep into the nucleus of the star. But it isn''t possible for me to simultaneously seal a Zenith Heaven, and even the Celestial Thearach might not be able to do it¡­"


    Just by standing somewhere close, he could feel the horrors of the Mental Demons'' invasion at that time.


    "The Celestial Thearach is also an Emperor rank and on par with the sealed existence. Could it have been a simultaneous attack with an Immortal Dao Zenith Heaven, or the support of the Spiritual Realm''s heaven''s will?"


    The Spiritual Realm''s intrinsic quality was equivalent to the Mental Demon Realm''s. Although it was slightly inferior in terms of mass, with it supporting the Celestial Thearach, he would be superior by half a notch compared to an Emperor rank.


    "In other words¡­ within the Spiritual Realm, the Celestial Thearach enhanced by heaven''s will is the most powerful being!"


    Fang Yuan looked at the void in the direction of the abyss with a greedy look. "If I devour all of the origin power, would I be promoted to the Emperor level?"


    At this time, his expression became stunned as he looked into the abyss.


    Whoosh! Whoosh!


    Bloody fog dispersed and a huge snake-head emerged from the dense fog. And then a second, a third¡­ Exactly nine huge snake-heads with eyes as large as houses spat out their tongues and made hissing noises.


    Rumble! Rumble!


    The ground shook, and the full appearance of this life form finally appeared before Fang Yuan.


    The Chaos Giant that he had morphed into was already as towering as the heavens, but he still appeared like a small child in front of this Hydra.


    "Demon Master?!" Sensing the origin power aura in the other, Fang Yuan showed the hint of a smile. "Indeed¡­ the Demon Masters of the Mental Demon Battlefield all reside within the three perilous lands¡­"


    "Welcome, my newly ascended brethren!"


    The Hydra released a loud screech as its spiritual will shook the heavens. "After thirteen years, we finally have a newly ascended Demon Master with us!"


    Hmm? This Hydra seems to regard me as a local demon that evolved here?


    Fang Yuan was a little astonished, but instantly understood that this was the fundamental reason for the Gods to periodically clean the Mental Demon Battlefield.


    If they did not worry at all and let the Demon Spirits evolve and swallow to their hearts'' content, it would definitely become an abyss breeding many horrifying evil monsters.


    "My name¡­ Nine Heads¡­ Hiss hiss¡­ My brethren, tell me your name!" The Hydra continuously swallowed and spat its tongue, absorbing all the information in the sky.


    "My name¡­ Dream Demon!" A grin appeared on Fang Yuan as he said, "After becoming a Demon Master, I thought a lot and sensed immense danger, so I went to the three perilous lands to investigate."


    "Wise choice. Otherwise, once you''re discovered and tracked down, you''d definitely be surrounded and attacked by several military divisions of the Heaven Palace¡­ Hiss hiss¡­" The Hydra''s nine heads were constantly tangling. "Now it seems¡­ that the awakening of your inheritance memories weren''t too perfect¡­"Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting.


    "Indeed, I can''t clearly see¡­ the path afterwards!"


    Fang Yuan said unperturbed, "I feel that there''s something I need here!"


    "Haha!!!" The Hydra''s nine heads burst into simultaneous laughter. "The Demon Master realm is the ultimate level of inheritance¡­ After controlling origin power, there''s no further path in front of us!"


    "No¡­ path?" Fang Yuan was shocked.


    "The true path is created by ourselves¡­ Any Demon Master who wants to break through must create a new path! Of course¡­ in this aspect, viewing and emulating the inheritances of the Demon Gods is very useful to us!"


    Demon God?!


    Evidently, this was the realm above Demon Master, similar to the Divine Dao Emperor and Immortal Dao Zenith Heaven.


    "I can feel that there''s a Demon God sealed within this Bottomless Blood Abyss!" Fang Yuan said.


    "Right, follow me! Looking at the traces left behind by that Demon God will probably give you great enlightenment!"


    The Hydra directly burrowed into the abyss, trusting Fang Yuan quite a bit.


    After all, the aura of origin power could not be faked. Not to mention, what other road was there for an existence of the Mental Demon Realm in the Spiritual Realm other than being on the same side as them?


    It could be said that once someone had been stained by Mental Demon power, even if they were previously not of the Mental Demon Realm, there was only one path that they could be dead set on.


    Fang Yuan was dauntless and jumped into the abyss.


    Zap! Zap!


    Red fog instantly billowed upward and surrounded his body, starting to corrode it.


    A common Demon General would definitely die once they encountered this red fog. Even a Heaven Immortal would have difficulty resisting¡­


    The clumps of red fog were counteracted by the lines on his black armor counteracted. When the black armor was about to be completely expended, a thought raced through Fang Yuan''s mind and an endless flow of origin power immediately replenished the black armor.


    The Hydra turned around and explained. "This is the corrosive red fog. Only a Demon Master like me is able to survive for a long time inside!"


    Its huge figure was unbelievably dexterous inside the abyss.


    "What kind of abyss is this? This is practically the deep ocean!"


    Fang Yuan continued following the nine-headed creature downward, gasping in surprise more and more.


    This Bottomless Blood Abyss seemed like a gigantic rift from the surface. However, as he descended, the empty space became more vast, even forming the illusion that the entire purple star was a hollow, empty space.


    "Here we are!" The Hydra suddenly stopped.


    Fang Yuan looked around. Since it was called the Bottomless Blood Abyss, this place was naturally not the bottom, but a vacant space. Dark red fog seemed to condense tangibly.


    "This¡­"


    Fang Yuan''s pupils shrank, as though he had returned to the moment he met the Celestial Thearch and when his Dream Master Dao path was stolen.


    As a handprint materialized, the bloody fog was dispersed by him, directly shattering the vacant space. Imprinted within the vacant space was a scar that seemed irreparable.


    "Indescribable terror. Truly a Demon God!"


    He sighed slowly.


    Beside him, the Hydra said in a chant-like tone, "A Demon God is situated above the rules. They are everything, indescribable, and endless terror. Once they exert all of their power and attack without holding back, everything they do would leave behind their imprints on a realm, even easily changing the fundamental elements of a realm!


    "Traces of their attack are named ''Dao Marks'' by us and have a lasting charm on the Demon God-level Dao path, often acting as sources of inspiration. For those of us who are establishing our own Dao of Demon God, they''re extremely useful!"


    The Hydra continued to descend.


    Fang Yuan immediately saw that the Dao Marks carried a breathtaking aura, directly imprinting into the void and indestructible for years to come.


    Slightly closing his eyes, he seemed to witness an earth-shattering war.


    With some absentmindedness, he continued to descend.


    The Dao Marks around endlessly transformed into exotic shapes, finally becoming strange incomplete symbols.


    "Mental Demon language?"


    Fang Yuan had learned the common Mental Demon characters from Ado, but the symbols here were entirely different.


    "These should be from the same source as they seem to somewhat resemble the Mental Demon characters. However, its far more complex and should be the ancient text of the Mental Demon Realm?"


    "It''s rumored that if someone can completely understand the characters used by a Demon God, they can realize the Dao path founded by that Demon God¡­ Unfortunately, I''ve always been searching within the abyss but was unable to collect everything!" the Hydra said with some regret.


    "Right¡­ where''s that Demon God sealed?"


    Fang Yuan was stunned for a moment before suddenly thinking of this question.

 761 Negotiation

    The Bottomless Blood Abyss was the land where the Demon God was sealed in. The marks left behind from the fights also illustrated this clearly, but Fang Yuan immediately thought of an important question.


    "Nope!"


    The nine heads of the Hydra shook with a very helpless expression. "There''s no bottom layer in this abyss. Even if I exerted all my power drilling down, I would just be randomly sent to the upper layer later. A few existences of the same rank have tried this many times, but they haven''t found the location of the true sealed body."


    If the seal was something tangible, some flaws would definitely have been found since it had been exposed for so long in front of the Demon Masters. Furthermore, it could have been forcefully worn down to release the Demon God.


    "Seems that this Emperor''s seal is truly mysterious. Perhaps it only exists in a small, empty space and is as tiny as a mustard seed!"


    Fang Yuan had a realization.


    Suddenly, within his sea of consciousness, that Black Source Pearl moved, causing his face to change.


    Heavenly Consort Yun Xiang was well-prepared. This Black Source Pearl is indeed the crucial key to unsealing the Demon God of this Blood Abyss!


    Although he had obtained the key clue, Fang Yuan did not move nor have any desire to share this piece of information.


    "Alright, they''ve also arrived!"


    The Hydra''s eyes immediately turned toward two directions.


    Caw! Caw!


    Within the gust of strong winds, a double-headed black crow flapped its wings and descended.


    Its body was a small dot compared to Fang Yuan''s giant body and the Hydra''s, but its aura was extremely horrifying. A storm endlessly shrouded its body, carrying an extreme power of destruction.


    "Great¡­ Another new Demon Master has joined us here!" said one of the crow''s heads with a raspy voice. Formless ripples spread, containing an inexplicable feeling.


    "Such a sound wave¡­ If a Demon General heard it, would they be reduced to a pool of blood?"


    Fang Yuan''s eyes were solemn.


    "Welcome, newbie!" Its other head spoke but this time, emitting a concentrated life aura, causing Fang Yuan to feel the blessing of a great recovery skill.


    "Hiss hiss¡­ This Demon Master joining us is called Dream Demon!" the Hydra introduced. "Dream Demon, this is the Life-and-Death Storm Crow. Its body controls the power of the storms, and one head controls life while the other controls death!"


    "Hello, Your Excellency!" Fang Yuan''s huge head nodded.


    "Then¡­ Dream Demon, what are your abilities?"


    The double-headed crow was fearless as it landed on Fang Yuan''s shoulders, looking like a small, black dot.


    Fang Yuan smiled and said, "My abilities? With this body, I''m decent at close combat. Furthermore, I also grasp certain illusion techniques!"


    "Hmm, you''re indeed very suitable to be a meat shield together with Nine Heads!" A woman''s voice sounded from another direction, and the direction the sound spread from blossomed with vast stretches of flowers and plants rising high up to the sky.


    A lady''s figure appeared on the grassplot.


    Her upper body was immensely beautiful, but her lower body was a great amount of tree roots lodged into the grassplot. The fusion of evil and beauty in one body carried an exotic charm.


    "Nine Heads has horrifying regeneration, and each of his heads controls attacks of different attributes. I am most proficient in the poison element¡­ You can call me Erag!"


    This lady named Erag grinned. "With the combined strength of us four, there''s already assurance in attacking the Heaven Palace!"


    "Heaven Palace?"


    Fang Yuan instantly recalled the scar on the surface of the Heaven Palace when he had first arrived.


    An ordinary demon would be unable to cause such damage to the Heaven Palace. Now, it seemed that it was the work of these Demon Masters.


    "That''s the frontline of the Gods. They use the Heaven Palace to spy on us, and once they discover signs of a powerful being, they will instantly surround, attack, and kill them¡­" An immense look of hatred appeared in Erag''s eyes. "We must let them know that they have to pay a painful price for such actions!"


    "Erag, although we have the addition of Dream Demon, there are seven Ancient Gods in the Heaven Palace¡­ Shouldn''t we contact the other two regions?"


    Although Nine Heads was the largest, his personality was the most discreet.


    "No, I already can''t tolerate them!" said the double-headed Life-and-Death Crow viciously with blood-red eyes, death ripples spreading out and corroding a huge hole on Fang Yuan''s shoulders.


    "Oh, sorry, it''s just that those self-proclaimed Gods are too annoying!" Its Life head instantly apologized and spat out a ball of green brilliance. "I''ll repair it for you!"


    "It''s alright!" Fang Yuan patted his shoulder indifferently.


    With the difference in size between him and this crow, the large hole it corroded was equivalent to a pinprick to an ordinary person. He basically felt nothing.


    "Haha¡­ Nine Heads, are you afraid? Don''t be scared. Didn''t you successfully destroy the Heaven Palace''s defenses once last time?" Erag laughed. "With me here, I won''t let you die!"


    "Damn it¡­ that time, you caused me to lose seven of my heads! Hiss hiss¡­ they were nearly unable to grow back," roared all of Nine Heads'' giant heads, creating vigorous winds.


    "Even if you object, it''s no use since Crow supports me. What about you, Dream Demon?" The lady turned her gaze toward Fang Yuan.


    "Attack the Gods? I have no objection!" Fang Yuan opened his mouth and showed a smile.


    In reality, he currently had a strange feeling in his heart. Isn''t this the classic big shot villians gathering, the scene where they discuss how to destroy the world? Unexpectedly, I''ve become a member as well!


    Erag heard the reply and smiled contentedly. "Very good, it''s now three against one. Nine Heads, do you have any other objections?"


    "Alright¡­ I have no objection!" Nine Heads muttered to himself and then said reluctantly, "However, don''t expect me to charge in first again!"


    "No problem, we have two meat shields now. We might even be able to destroy the Heaven Palace and kill a couple Ancient Gods!" Erag looked at Fang Yuan with a gleam in her eyes.


    "I''m alright with being the first to charge in, but you have to fulfill my requests first!" Fang Yuan''s eyes were furtive.


    In his view, these three Demon Masters were three living drops of origin power.


    Unfortunately, their abilities were too powerful and it was difficult to devour them.


    "What requests?" the Hydra directly asked.


    "My inheritance memories are still very incomplete, so I need your inheritances!"


    Fang Yuan said solemnly, "I don''t want those secrets involving your fundamentals. I just need the descriptions of the Demon Master realm and the conjectures of the Demon God realm!"


    "You don''t even have this. How pitiful!" Erag looked at Fang Yuan with pity. "No problem. I can also promise you that after we succeed, I''ll give you one memory crystal. Inside it contains the Demon God inspirations that I''ve obtained in the Blood Abyss!"


    "We also have no objections!"


    Nine Head and Crow''s expressions were quite weird, as if they were looking at an infant, and took out two crystals with a sense of pity. "Take them¡­ Truthfully speaking, Dream Demon, did you just break through to the Demon Master realm? Then you''ll need to consolidate for a time, or you might be killed by those Ancient Gods."


    "Thank you¡­ I''ll need to meditate for a while."


    Fang Yuan was somewhat speechless as he took these cultivation techniques and walked away with huge steps.


    The three Demon Masters remained and watched silently.


    "How pitiful¡­" The Hydra sighed. "Seems like there was a huge problem in Dream Demon'' ascension. Even his inheritance is this incomplete¡­"


    "Keke¡­" Erag instead laughed mysteriously and winked. "You actually believe him? A native Demon Spirit would actually lose their memory to this extent?"


    "Fake! Fake!" the Life-and-Death Crow''s Death Head cawed loudly, but was immediately rebutted by the other head. "Real! Real!"


    The two sets of eyes stared at each other as if they were about to start bickering.


    "Actually, it doesn''t matter if its real or fake. Regardless of whether he''s an infiltrator from an external realm or originally a God who turned traitor, he''s already become one of us!" the Hydra said with great wisdom. "With this turn of events, he already has no other choice."


    "That''s true. That''s why I agreed to pass him the cultivation techniques!" Erag laughed jubilantly. "The influence of the origin power can''t be exterminated. With the addition of cultivation technique imprints at the Demon Master rank, even the Spiritual Realm Emperor can only destroy him, but is unable to pull him back."


    ¡­


    "These three Demon Masters might not necessarily have no suspicions about my identity!"


    The Blood Abyss was endlessly vast. Fang Yuan quickly found an empty space and started arranging restrictions.


    Chains of dense runes condensed in the sky before finally transforming a palace.


    His large body shrank and returned to normal as he pushed open the palace door.


    "Of course¡­ Although the information given to me is all real, it may not necessarily be based on good intentions!"


    Fang Yuan sat cross-legged and started accepting the knowledge obtained from the three Demon Masters one by one. "However¡­ I really only need descriptions of the realm. Even though they gave me the inheritance quintessence, I won''t cultivate it. The Dao of Demon God certainly requires me to find my own Dao path!"


    In this aspect, Dream Master had already walked in the forefront.


    Needless to say, Fang Yuan had long had thoughts and an embryonic form regarding finding his own Dao of Creation and using it to ascend to Demon God.


    "However, the most pressing issue is still this Black Source Pearl!"


    His turned his palm and a pitch-black pearl appeared in the middle.Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting.


    After reaching the Blood Abyss, this pearl seemed to be very active.


    "This Black Source Pearl should be formed from the natural source, thus able to sense origin power¡­ It only moved a bit when I met the three Demon Masters, but it vibrated vigorously when I saw the Dao Mark. Is there a profound mystery to this?"


    Fang Yuan extended his right hand and a small glow appeared on his fingertips.


    He wrote in the air all the incomplete symbols that he had just seen.


    Light glows dotted everywhere and covered the Black Source Pearl. This exotic item similarly flickered like it was responding to the runes.


    Whoosh! Whoosh!


    Suddenly, an attractive force appeared from the bead and absorbed all of the runes into it before quickly sending them out.


    "This¡­" Seeing this, Fang Yuan had an ecstatic expression. "Complete Mental Demon ancient text?!"

 762 Ancient Netherworld

    The difference between ordinary Mental Demon characters and Mental Demon ancient text was like the difference between the Da Qian common language and the rule language. It was a stark, otherworldly difference.


    Mental Demon ancient text was used by the almighty beings in the Mental Demon Realm.


    In other words, it was a natural evolution formed after their power had been dispersed outward.


    In this, it usually contained a lot of Dao path information and was greatly beneficial for a Demon Master to see and hear.


    "This Mental Demon ancient text was born out of the Mental Demon characters and the voice of a Great Dao. This isn''t difficult for me at all¡­"


    In fact, a complete set of Mental Demon ancient text could be understood even by an ordinary person and had characteristics similar to the rule characters.


    It was not that a Great Dao could not be described, but the reason why it was so mysterious and profound was completely because he had not reached that realm!


    "A true almighty being can completely display the Heavenly Dao in other forms¡­ Of course, it''s truly difficult to say what would happen after an ordinary person comprehends it."


    Fang Yuan suspected that there would be great bloodshed if any ancient texts were to drift into the lower realms.


    The properties it had could completely bewitch and produce an army of intelligent life.


    Furthermore, someone gifted could even use the ancient text as their foundation and derive many vicious demonic cultivation techniques, changing the general situation of a world and eliminating the demons.Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting.


    At the moment, the Mental Demon ancient text linked together and many characters bloomed with brilliance, containing an immensely horrifying aura.


    "This is¡­ that Demon God''s Dao?"


    Fang Yuan''s eyes were somewhat dazed, as if he was intoxicated.


    He had already searched long and hard for the Dao of Demon God, and right now, the Great Dao was suddenly placed before him, causing him to be a little shaken, as if someone dying from thirst in a desert seeing a fountain of spring water or a person driven to a dead end discovering a way out.


    Furthermore, the Dao path created by a Demon God would naturally be excellent, have strong foundations, and a hint of flawlessness.


    Even more so, any Heaven Immortal or Earth Immortal seeing this would think that this was the ''Heavenly Dao'' that they had been searching hard for!


    "This is the Dao of Demon God? The circulation of energy can be considered perfect, and regarding the use of origin power, it''s endlessly exquisite and all-inclusive. This is practically my future goal¡­ Wait!"


    Suddenly, Fang Yuan''s entire body shook as his eyes sobered. "The Dao of Demon God is something I have to create myself. If I were to indulge myself in other Great Daos, it would be perpetual hopelessness!"


    This thought was like a bolt of lightning, causing him to immediately recover his clarity of mind as he once again looked at the Mental Demon ancient text with a cold smile. "This is indeed the workings of a Demon God¡­ Anything left behind has its dangers!"


    In fact, there is nothing wrong with this Great Dao, and it could even give great benefits to cultivators below the Ancient God rank.


    However, Fang Yuan was determined to find his own ''Dao''. If it was contaminated by other Daos and his foundation became incomplete, that would be the true disaster.


    "My Dao is Creation. Any external Daos can only supplement and nourish me, but definitely can''t interfere with my intrinsic quality!" Fang Yuan muttered, completely recovering from the influence.


    At this moment, the Mental Demon ancient text in front of him suddenly underwent a transformation.


    Characters started automatically arranging themselves as if they had their own limbs, gathering and forming a new meaning. "Let me out! Let me out!


    "I, Ancient Netherworld, am a king of the Demon Gods!


    "Let me out! You will obtain all of your desires!"


    ¡­


    "This Demon God that''s already been sealed can still mess around using the few traces it left behind?"


    Fang Yuan was slightly astonished.


    He could clearly sense no external powers interfering with these characters.


    It was impossible for such a careless mistake to happen to the Spiritual Realm''s seals.


    However, these symbols left behind for an unknown number of years and were completely repaired afterwards could still engage in deluding like an intelligent creature.


    "The existence of a Demon God is really unbelievable!"


    He sighed and asked, "Where is the seal on your true body? I can''t find the location and basically can''t use my methods."


    Zap! Zap!


    These characters were indeed like living beings and started contorting, converging to form a small array containing immensely complicated procedures, and even a Heaven Immortal would be dazzled after seeing this.


    "Array?"


    Fang Yuan was considered proficient in the Dao of Array. With a thought, the palace suddenly exploded and became innumerable tiny runes that started to once again assemble.


    Not long later, they formed the array demonstrated by the Mental Demon ancient text.


    "Hmm? It seems to have special effects such as transference and breaking the void!"


    Fang Yuan tested it by directly walking over.


    Kaboom!


    The array roared and emitted a huge glow.


    The next instant, he arrived at a bizarre land.


    On the surface, innumerable blood plasma crawled like living beings.


    In the surroundings, Dao Marks appeared in dense numbers. If it was seen by Nine Heads, its eyes would pop out as there were really too many, close to ten times more than outside! A hundred times!


    "This is the bottom of the Blood Abyss?"


    Fang Yuan realized that this was a secret realm those Demon Masters had never come to before.


    "Only my Black Source Pearl can supplement the Mental Demon ancient text completely. An incomplete Mental Demon ancient text is fundamentally unable to demonstrate this transfer array¡­


    "Could¡­ the Dao Marks outside have always been waiting for the person holding the true key? Such a realm¡­"


    Fang Yuan stepped on the blood plasma crawling on the ground and rapidly walked forward.


    Numerous Dao Marks appeared. Not only did they belong to Demon God Ancient Netherworld, there were traces of the Celestial Thearch and another Immortal Dao Zenith Heaven.


    "Indeed, the Celestial Thearch with the support of heaven''s will is truly the strongest!"


    Fang Yuan looked at the ancient seal mark in the sky and gasped in admiration.


    He looked at every single Dao Mark, not even missing those of the Celestial Thearch and Zenith Heaven, and his understanding toward the Demon God realm became clearer.


    "Demon God! Demon God!"


    Fang Yuan licked his lips. "If you gave me more origin power right now, I could definitely increase my abilities to an unimaginable realm!"


    Although such an accumulation might not necessarily allow him to break through to Demon God, but it was enough to accommodate a sharp increase in origin power


    Bloop! Bloop!


    The blood plasma bubbled up and created many huge bubbles.


    Obviously, that sealed existence was already unable to carry on watching by the side.


    A lot of blood bubbles fused and gathered to form a human face. "A Demon Master? Interesting¡­ seems to be someone who ascended from the lower realms!"


    "You are¡­ Demon God Ancient Netherworld?"


    Fang Yuan was completely composed.


    In this sealed land, it was already his limits to reveal a face outside.


    As long as the seal was not broken, this Demon God could not transfer an ounce of power and could only rely on deluding him.


    Furthermore, if not for Fang Yuan''s arrival, it would be impossible for those Demon Masters to even find this place. In other words, Fang Yuan was his only hope to escape his predicament.


    "The Black Source Pearl is on your body¡­ release me! You will obtain unimaginable glory and unparalleled power, as well as everything you hope for!"


    Ancient Netherworld chanted in a voice containing enormous enticement.


    Even a Heaven Immortal hearing this voice would instantly transform into a loyal subject.


    "¡­" However, Fang Yuan was speechless. "You think¡­ I''m truly a fool? A promise made by someone like you is completely untrustworthy!"


    Perhaps an Ancient God or Golden Immortal would still be restricted by an oath, but what about a Zenith Heaven and Emperor?


    These existences themselves were the manifestations of a ''Dao'', so what rules could restrict them?


    Much less, Demon Gods were the accumulations of chaos, and Fang Yuan did not dare risk his safety on a small promise.


    "Junior¡­ since you''ve come here, you definitely have something to ask of me! With this premise, we can trade¡­"


    The face formed from blood bubbles became stagnant. Shortly after, it spoke indifferently.


    It stared at Fang Yuan for a while with an amused look. "Not to mention¡­ there''s the aura of another Demon God on you. It seems that you''ve offended him? Hehe¡­ If you go to the Mental Demon Realm, you''ll definitely be immediately discovered by him! So how about it? I can protect you, and even get rid of this connection for you!"


    Fang Yuan''s face became dark.


    That Demon God''s means truly surpassed his imagination.


    He had already carefully checked his body before, but he could not imagine that that existence could still set up a hidden card on him.


    If he had truly ascended to the Mental Demon Realm, it was likely that he would not be in control of his own life and death now.


    "I will settle this resentment myself, so there''s no need you to worry!" Fang Yuan recovered his calmness. "However, I overcame all odds to come to this place and indeed have some issues I would like to ask Your Excellency for help with!"


    "Say it!" The face was smiling.


    It was sealed and had infinite time to bargain slowly with Fang Yuan.


    "I want the Mental Demon Realm''s lower realm secret techniques and the magical techniques of traversing realms!"


    Fang Yuan raised his requirements.


    Since the Dao of Demon God had to be created by himself, and he previously had some inspiration, resources in this aspect were not too important anymore.


    Currently, he was more interested in the method of realm-traversing in this higher dimension universe!


    For a Dream Master of Da Qian, the method of using Mental Demon elemental force is unique, but there are only two intrinsic qualities. The first is the path of transformation between fantasy and reality, which is the power of creation that I''ve always been investigating and improving. The second is traversing a multitude of realms!


    Reaching a higher dimension universe, I still need to pick up this old skill!


    Fang Yuan thought silently to himself.


    He still did not know the inside details of converting between fantasy and reality from the Mental Demon Realm. However, the realm-traversing ability was still very powerful.


    Without considering those almighty beings who could descend to lower realms as they wished, it was impossible for the current Fang Yuan. Even the Mental Demon Realm itself went expeditions everywhere, even invading the Spiritual Realm before.


    Fang Yuan wanted to obtain the inner essence, supplement his Dao of Dream Master, and change it to his own accumulations.


    "You want my Mental Demon realm-traversing technique?"


    The blood bubble face turned dark and immediately said, "I can do that¡­ as long as you agree to a contract to release me once you get it!"


    "That''s impossible!" Fang Yuan instantly shook his head. Agreeing to any rule contract with a Demon God was equivalent to placing himself between life and death.


    Unless he had a massive breakthrough in his cultivation, he would not consider that at all.

 763 Attack

    "Right now, the Black Source Pearl is in my hands and you have no choice but to first believe me!" Black armor appeared on Fang Yuan, seeming very vigilant. "Moreover, I don''t trust you, so you must give me something first. Teach me the Mental Demon realm-traversing technique! Don''t tell me that it''s difficult or whatnot. Since we''re able to communicate, it must be possible for you to pass me the information!"


    "Junior!"


    The blood bubble face became infuriated, and shortly after, there was black boot approaching.


    Smack!


    Fang Yuan indifferently squashed the human face without the slightly scruple. "Ancient Netherworld¡­ although I''m surely no match for your true body, this thing is not even comparable to a trace of your will! Do you actually think that you''re qualified to bargain with me? I won''t wait any longer and will immediately leave after counting down from five! Five¡­ one!"


    "Wait!" Ancient Netherworld''s face once again agglomerated to its original shape. "Is there anyone who counts like you? Alright¡­ I agree to your demands!"


    He had no choice but to accept since he was in an inferior position and had to admit defeat.


    "The realm-traversing technique of my Mental Demon Realm first requires a realm with origin power. After that, it requires the corresponding array and hexagram stone¡­"


    Ancient Netherworld was afraid that Fang Yuan would actually walk away and started chattering and describing the realm-traversing technique straightaway.


    "Mm¡­ Truly not bad!" Fang Yuan''s eyes lit up as he slightly inferred before confirming that this magical technique was indeed real. "There''s even a magical technique that is so ingenious, so profound¡­ Wait, why did you stop?"


    But while waiting for Ancient Netherworld to finish explaining the Mental Demon realm-traversing technique and how to go to the lower realms and prevent repulsion, he suddenly stopped talking.


    "Contributing this is already the limit of my sincerity!" the blood-red face said. "If you''re still not satisfied, then immediately leave¡­ My subordinates and descendants will ultimately find a second Black Source Pearl and come to save me."


    "Haha!" Fang Yuan laughed coldly as he directly turned around to leave.


    He could see that this was indeed the bottom line of that Demon God.


    However, finding a second Black Source Pearl and so on was wholly stubborn talk.


    It went without saying that for such a treasure, being able to find a second one in the Spiritual Realm, if it could even be found, would take a very long time. Possibly within this period of time, the Spiritual Realm would have already refined the purple star and killed this sealed Demon God.


    A glow flickered and he left the blood-red space, returning to the Bottomless Blood Abyss.


    "Even if I accepted nothing and released Ancient Netherworld, I most likely wouldn''t be appreciated¡­ After all, I''d know this just by thinking about Heavenly Consort Yun Xiang¡­ she surely won''t say anything nice about me."


    Fang Yuan had come without an invitation and even took away the Black Source Pearl. There would be something wrong if Yun Xiang had a good impression of him!


    "Therefore, I need to make use of this opportunity to extract more benefits! But there are a few problems¡­"


    He looked at the empty space and contemplated.


    "Although there''s a great amount of origin power in the purple star, it''s located within the nucleus of the star and the seal can''t be bypassed. Obtaining it will be extremely difficult!"


    Obviously, if the origin power was so easy to obtain, it would have long been divided by the Demon Masters, leaving nothing for Fang Yuan.


    "At this stage, I''m at an impasse!"


    Fang Yuan''s smile carried an indescribable meaning.


    ¡­


    "Dream Demon, you''ve finally come!"


    In a region of the Bottomless Deep Abyss, the Hydra, Erag, and the Life-and-Death Storm Crow looked at Fang Yuan, who had once again turned into a giant.


    "Thank you for your gifts. I no longer have doubts about the Demon Master realm," said the giant Fang Yuan in a voice like booming thunder.


    "Great, we can start planning right away!" A furtive look flashed in Erag''s eyes.


    "Those Ancient Gods¡­ I can destroy two of them alone. Caw Caw!" shouted one of the Storm Crow''s heads.


    "Keep quiet. If not for my help that time, you''d have been surrounded and killed by three Ancient Gods!" the other head immediately retorted.Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting.


    "Your power is also my power!"


    "No! I am the oldest!"


    The two crow heads argued more and more vigorously, causing Fang Yuan to suspect that they would start fighting the next moment.


    "Enough!" Erag''s face was stern as many vines below her body danced violently, bits of pollen spreading out and continuously melting the bloody fog all around.


    "Alright, we''re all allies! Stop quarreling!" The Hydra seemed wisest and separated the two Demon Masters.


    "Hmph!" The Life Head and Death Head stared at each other. "At least, we''re still in agreement about attacking the Heaven Palace."


    "That''s great!" Erag retracted her vines and glanced at Fang Yuan. "Dream Demon, you will charge in first, before Nine Heads, and Crow and I will be reinforcements. Do you have any questions?"


    "Nope!"


    Fang Yuan was very clear these creatures were forcing him to prove his allegiance.


    However, he had never had any sense of belonging to the Spiritual Realm. Besides, within the Heaven Palace, with that Black Dragon as his enemy, he had no dilemmas and was instead very enthusiastic.


    Seeing this, an astonished look flashed in Erag''s eyes, but her smile became more gentle.


    ¡­


    Above the purple star, the Heaven Palace.


    "Battle achievements calculated!"


    The obese Lord Cold Mountain awkwardly returned to the inner defenses and hurriedly went to submit his mission.


    "Three Heaven Immortal rank demon cores is three hundred battle achievements!"


    On the white jade plaza, the person calculating battle achievements was an Ancient God specially dispatched by the Heavenly Court. His expressions and actions were meticulous, adhering strictly to the rules.


    "Sigh¡­" Seeing his battle achievements that had yet to reach one thousand and his position near the bottom on the board, Lord Cold Mountain shook his head and sighed. "If this goes on, when will I be able to accumulate enough achievements to return to the Heavenly Court? Do I really need to endure this for thirty years? However, with the perilous dangers on the Mental Demon Battlefield, I might not be able to live for another three years!"


    Thinking of when he had encountered that huge demonic bat army during his first trip, Hai Fu trembled violently.


    "That God Black Dragon was obviously intentionally targeting Lord Mountain River and wanted to kill him¡­ However, it was truly difficult to tell during the situation at that time¡­ But now, that God''s face is very exciting to see. After all, the eternal altar lamp in Lord Mountain River''s palace is still lit!"


    The Heaven Palace had its own uniqueness; the palace that every God resided in would have an eternal altar lamp lit up inside.


    Unless this God died, or perhaps left the Mental Demon Battlefield, this lamp would be eternally lit.


    After returning last time, Lord Cold Mountain had specially gone to observe Fang Yuan''s eternal altar lamp and saw it in perfect condition. Shortly after, he had some ideas.


    Of course, this contrasted with Black Dragon''s pitch-black face. His mood was very poor these days, and all the Gods of the Vast Heaven Division were very careful and very afraid of being on his bad side.


    "However, the midst of the Mental Demon Battlefield is also very dangerous. This is especially so, as there are no other areas to supplement magical strength, and people can only use the pills they carried along to replenish and continue soldiering on¡­" Hai Fu mumbled and looked outside the Heaven Palace. "The accumulation of this Lord Mountain River is somewhat unbelievable. He could actually survive for so long in the battlefield, and there''s clearly some destiny on him. Should I help him?"


    Gods were all astute. If he had not found some benefits he could take advantage of, why would he try getting closer to Fang Yuan?


    At this moment, with his astounding eyesight, he discovered a few black dots in the horizon without any divine light accompanying.


    "Is it those demons again?"


    Regarding this, Hai Fu was indifferent. He had already seen the defenses of the Heaven Palace Without even mentioning the various restrictions and arrays, the Ancient Gods who had been guarding for years were sufficient to ensure the security here.


    Of course, there was no lack of demons coming to create trouble. These sporadic creatures did not even need the Gods to interfere, the external defenses being sufficient to make them suffer severe injuries.


    Unless it was an actual attack by an army of demons, the Heaven Palace was as stable as a mountain.


    "Huh? Something''s wrong¡­"


    Suddenly, Hai Fu''s mouth opened wide and his eyes were about to pop out.


    After seeing it clearly, he quickly turned around to run far away.


    "Damn¡­ That Lord Mountain River is truly capable, actually surviving until now¡­ But it doesn''t matter, as there are exactly thirty years. Could he actually tarry in the wilds for thirty years? Hehe¡­ Much less thirty years, even in three months, I can immediately allege that he''d descend into the demonic path!"


    On the plaza, Black Dragon was similarly staring at the battle achievement board.


    Suddenly, he was shocked by the ruckus. "There are demons attacking! Everyone, get ready!"


    "Hmm?" Black Dragon looked toward the direction of the warning and indeed saw a few black dots. "Just a few? They''re courting death¡­"


    Although he felt that they were somewhat out of the ordinary, as an Ancient God and the leader of a military division, he naturally could not shirk like the Gods under his command and took the initiative to fly and meet the battle head-on.


    "Demons, you still dare act wildly¡­ eh¡­"


    Black Dragon flew halfway up before his loud voice suddenly halted mid-sentence, as if he was a duck being strangled.


    The black dot became larger and larger, at last transforming into a towering giant.


    Roar! Roar!


    The giant descended from the air and threw a punch.


    Kaboom!


    Just like a dam bursting its banks and a mountain flood erupting¡­


    A horrifying aura abruptly swept the entire scene.


    "This is¡­ Demon Master?!"


    Black Dragon''s eyes popped out. He saw the giant punch, its black fist resembling a mountain, smacking onto the colorful restrictions.


    Crack! Crack!


    In the air, several cracks spread, and instantly, the outer arrays guarding the entire Heaven Palace broke.


    "I heard that a Demon Master from the Mental Demon Realm and an Ancient God are the same rank, but their strength is more powerful and they have all kinds of horrifying and strange characteristics¡­"


    Ancient God Black Dragon was slightly nervous.


    At the moment, he saw that giant''s hands open up as a large area of hazy, white fog descended, carrying an immense hypnosis power.


    "A mere illusion technique?"


    A layer of dark green dragon scales appeared on its body and dispelled all interference. The corner of his mouth slightly arched upward, but the next instant, he saw in great astonishment that many Marquis Gods inside the Heaven Palace had blank looks as they collapsed into sleep.


    "Ignoring the remaining restrictions and directly dazzling the Heaven Immortals?"


    Black Dragon was shocked, but he soon saw the giant roar as it clenched its five fingers into a fist smashing toward him.


    "Oh no!"

 764 Sacrifice

    Why didn''t this Demon Master find the other Ancient Gods, but just had to come after me? Black Dragon moaned inside his heart.


    There were a few Ancient Gods guarding the Heaven Palace, such as ''Duke Merit'' who was previously calculating battle achievements. When they saw the Demon Master attacking, they all flew upward.


    Seems like I can''t stand out later on¡­ But he wants to defeat me with one blow?


    Black Dragon roared as the dragon horn on his head shimmered brightly and an eye-piercing, colorful glow emitted from his dragon scales, transforming himself into half-dragon human.


    After all, he was also an Ancient God and equal in status with the Demon Master!


    "Dragon Fist!"


    With the loud and clear voice of Ancient God Black Dragon, an immensely giant Black Dragon illusion appeared behind him and suddenly flew into the sky. The position of its dragon horn was shockingly the center of the punch.


    Thump!


    The sky shook as the Black Dragon illusion violently clashed with the giant''s fist. The ripples emitted caused the surroundings of the golden jade palace to be instantly reduced to smoke and ashes.


    "S-so powerful!"


    With the thundering sound, Black Dragon was thrown back like a cannonball, forming a deep crater on the ground as explosive noises rang from his body.


    Even though his true physical body was a dragon, he was at a massive disadvantage before this giant''s chaos power. Traces of blood seeped out from many fine dragon scales.


    This was dragon blood and smelled similar to a sweet-scented flower.


    Especially since he was an Ancient God dragon. If it were anywhere else, any drop of his blood would immediate create a multitude of things and form a kind of dragon spiritual land.


    "How dare you!"


    After that punch, the giant did not yield an inch as he raised his foot to stomp down.


    At this time, the other Ancient Gods in the Heaven Palace roared, "Five Elements Metal Blade¡­ Go!"


    Zap! Zap!


    Numerous giant metal light blades appeared above the Heaven Palace and shattered the void. In a flash, they arrived in front of the giant and viciously slashed.


    Earlier, what the Chaos Giant had destroyed were only the outer restrictions of the Heaven Palace, but the core of this Five Elements Array was the Heaven Palace''s first line of offense!


    "This power of the Five Elements¡­ is astonishingly connected with the natural source and is the natural source''s metal!


    "No matter how powerful the Immortal Dao is, in reality, it can''t escape the fundamentals of the Five Elements Dao!"


    In a split second, a few thoughts flashed through Fang Yuan''s mind. His black armor expanded and actively received the metal blades.


    Poof!


    The void split like a hot knife through butter. The black armor that was successful blocking earlier and endless in energy instantly dissolved to reveal Fang Yuan''s giant body.


    Poof!


    The metallic blade landed and cut an extremely large deep wound that exposed bones, causing large amounts of blood to splatter into the sky.


    Such formidable might¡­ no wonder Nine Heads had seven of its heads cut off¡­ Every metal blade is equivalent to a Golden Immortal who has obtained metal attribute natural source from the Spiritual Realm or an Ancient God''s full powered strike!


    Just in that instant, seven rays of blade brilliance landed on Fang Yuan''s body, and as though they had spirituality, they searched skillfully for any weaknesses to go for the kill.


    Poof! Poof!


    Blood splattered and the Chaos Giant, who was undefeated while roaming among the demons, immediately became full of injuries.


    Sure enough¡­ my Pangu Eagle Body defenses are strong, but they can barely withstand the Heaven Palace''s array attacks¡­


    Fang Yuan took a deep breath as the giant looked at the heavens and roared. Instantly, the property of endless origin power was displayed.


    The flesh and blood currently splattered everywhere seemed to be pulled by an invisible force back into his wounds and formed granulation tissue.


    In the blink of an eye, the giant who had suffered a huge injury regained his flourishing state and let out an earth-shattering roar. "Must be¡­ destroyed!"


    His two hands grabbed out and ignored the metal blades, red fire, poisonous water, giant wood, and heavy rocks that could harm its body, directly grabbing the core restrictions of the Heaven Palace and viciously tearing it apart.


    Whoosh!


    Even though the giant''s body was full of injuries, what the Heaven Palace had to pay as a consequence was a breach forcefully ripped in its core restrictions and defenses, and the operation of the array became stagnant.


    "Haha¡­ Dream Demon, you did well!"


    Kaboom!


    Below the Heaven Palace, the heavens and the earth suddenly shook as the ground split. A huge snake-head poked out with fire shooting out from its pupils. "Gods!!!"


    It opened its mouth as vast quantities of poisonous water charged toward the sky to corrode everything.


    Craters and holes appeared all over the surface of the golden jade palace, while those sleeping Gods without any resistance had it worse. While hypnotized, their bodies and divine spirits were corroded by the poisonous liquid, and even their Deity Positions were unable to be maintained under this highly toxic environment.


    The Hydra''s poison attribute, though slightly inferior to Erag''s, still found it effortless to defeat ordinary Marquises.


    Ping! Ping!


    What was more horrifying was that after the actions of this snake-head, more snake-heads burrowed out from under the ground with a bang, spitting out lightning, fire torrents, chilly fog¡­


    At the end, the Hydra''s body finally appeared on the surface and covered the heavens. It was larger than the Heaven Palace, and several heads bit toward the Heaven Palace.


    Crack!


    The Heaven Palace was tightly bitten, and the Hydra viciously unleashed its might, causing this palace in the heavens to directly descend into the mortal world!


    This scene was exactly identical to the scene of demons attacking the Heavenly Court in myths!


    In fact, a war with the participation of Ancient Gods and Demon Masters was already a major war at the same level as myths.


    "How dare you!" A loud roar resounded as Ancient Gods flew out.


    With the Heaven Palace being the front line, seven Ancient Gods were permanently stationed in it. At the moment, two Ancient Gods were leading military divisions on an expedition, and there were still five Ancient Gods inside the Heaven Palace!


    The leader was wearing a king''s clothes and a crown, flourishing with purple Qi and displaying a prestigious and magnificent appearance.


    When he saw the scene, he was infuriated. With a mere wave of his hand, nine huge purple dragons leapt out and bit, instantly cutting off many of the snake-heads. With a raise of his hand, he had supported the Heaven Palace.


    One hand supporting heaven!


    The combat strength of this Ancient God was obviously different from Black Dragon. Even the Hydra released a fearful roar. "War King!!!"


    Fang Yuan took this opportunity to retreat and inspect this front line Heaven Palace commander.


    With the Heaven Palace being the vanguard fighting Demon Masters, there definitely had to be an important character. This War King''s combat might was excellent even among Ancient Gods.


    Within the Ancient God ranks, which were Duke and King, Duke East Woods, Black Dragon, and Duke Merit are all Duke positions, while the War King is a King position, already superior to them by one grade!


    Even within the Heavenly Court, there were only a few Ancient Gods titled with King.


    Furthermore, Fang Yuan stared hard at this War King and instantly discovered a small detail. "Dragon Qi? This person has an impressive and magnificent appearance, while his body is accompanied by Dragon Qi. Seems like he founded a dynasty!"


    Such a person was like a dragon rising from the ranks in the lower realm. They were heaven-favored, a favorite of the realm, and accompanied by immense destiny.


    When they were ready for their demise, they would enter the Divine Dao to cultivate and would advance at a tremendous pace.


    This War King was evidently the founder of some unknown era''s dynasty. Currently, there was even still Dragon Qi following his body. This evidently showed the prosperity of the dynasty back then.


    Of course, no matter how prosperous an empire in the mortal world was, the emperor still had to self-proclaim himself as the ''Son of Heaven''. It also went without saying that it was his responsibility to submit under the command of the Celestial Thearch after passing away.Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting.


    Not all founders can cultivate to Ancient God. Of course, if this God can reach this extent, this only showcases his horrifying capabilities!


    Fang Yuan glanced once again at Black Dragon''s body.


    This time, him agreeing to attack the Heaven Palace had entirely arisen from his desire to get revenge.


    Ancient God Black Dragon had wanted to kill him. If he still wanted to carry the Lord Mountain River name, he had to shift this mountain away.


    Sometimes, being a double agent could still be very beneficial.


    "Caw caw¡­ Die die die!"


    A storm appeared, and within the darkening sky, the Life-and-Death Storm Crow flew over and its Death head shouted joyfully as death ripples spread to cover the sky.


    "Hydra and Life-and-Death Crow¡­ you''re the Demon Masters of the Bottomless Blood Abyss¡­ there''s another now? No wonder you dared to attack the Heaven Palace!" With a solemn face, the War King glanced at Fang Yuan. "And there''s still that poison lady? Come out together!"


    "Hehe!" On the ground, large patches of grass appeared and fresh flowers bloomed. Erag''s laugher was heard. "War King¡­ If we unite all of the Demon Masters of the Mental Demon Battlefield, the Heaven Palace would have been stomped into the ground innumerable times already!"


    Her voice carried a sweet air. Most importantly, the Ancient Gods hearing her words felt their bodies weakening.


    Although one of the Hydra''s snake-heads could also spit out poisonous liquid, it could only at most corrode Marquises and Heaven Immortals. However, the poison attribute of this poison lady could even corrode Golden Immortals and Ancient Gods!


    "Hmph!" The War King grunted coldly and once again revealed the purple Dragon Qi. It formed a heavenly backdrop that protected the entire Heaven Palace. "My Heaven Palace is merely a branch of the Heavenly Court. Even if you defeat these seven military divisions, there would immediately be seventy military divisions dispatched. Furthermore, even the Celestial Thearch would attack and sweep the battlefield!"


    This threat was not false. If the Heaven Palace suffered too much damage, even without the Celestial Thearch interfering, if there were a few Kings who came, there would instantly be a major upheaval to the situation on the Mental Demon Battlefield.


    "Unfortunately¡­ you won''t have the opportunity to witness this!" Erag did not stop smiling as the chilly glow in her eyes became fiercer. "Attack!"


    Whoosh!


    Numerous vines broke out from the ground, and instantly, large buds were formed. They slowly bloomed and the poisonous pollen quickly spread across the entire area.


    "Gods¡­ Die!" the Hydra and Life-and-Death Crow roared as they unhesitatingly attacked.


    Fang Yuan punched with unparalleled power but also contained slight hesitation. I agreed to this attack so that I could take revenge. However, the actions of these three Demon Masters are indeed a little strange!


    Even if they annihilated the Heaven Palace, it was not that beneficial to them, possibly even attracting a greater catastrophe.


    If the Celestial Thearch angrily interfered, there was nowhere safe within the Bottomless Blood Abyss.


    Although Demon Masters were mostly chaotic, such an obviously thankless task was still a little suspicious.


    Dream Demon¡­ you don''t need to worry! He had created an effect while feigning hesitation, and Erag''s voice appeared by his ear. The Celestial Thearch needs to suppress the array and won''t attack that easily¡­ Furthermore, we also have a trump card! Your mission this time is to capture as many Ancient Gods as you can! If you''re really unable to, a dead one will do as well! We need to use them as sacrifices!

 765 God Annihilation

    "Sacrifices?"


    Hearing Erag''s words of comfort, a gleam flashed in Fang Yuan''s eyes as he came to understand two things.


    First, the attack by the Demon Masters on the Heaven Palace was indeed premeditated long ago.


    Second, they had a trump card and the confidence to contend against the Heavenly Court!


    Trump card¡­ In an instant, Fang Yuan thought of a lot. It isn''t possible for Demon God Ancient Netherworld at the Bottomless Blood Abyss, but are the seals in the other two perilous lands loosening? Or perhaps¡­ these Demon Masters are linked to the Mental Demon Realm?!


    He was now tasting the benefits of being a double agent.


    For Erag to be able to say this to him evidently showed a slight increase in her trust toward him.


    However, it''ll only be useful if there are changes. If there aren''t any alterations to the Mental Demon Battlefield, how would I have the opportunity to fish in troubled waters?


    Fang Yuan laughed silently in his heart. His huge, towering arm pressed down and violently smacked Black Dragon to the ground.


    Smack!


    A large hole appeared on the ground, and a large number of cracks spread like spiderwebs.


    "You¡­ have truly infuriated me!" Black Dragon roared as the ground exploded, and a giant black dragon charged out.


    He had the head of a horse, the horns of a deer, and the whiskers of a fish. He had four claws with five toes each and was impressively a true dragon of the water element!


    Morphing into the dragon, Ancient God Black Dragon''s body expanded by tens of thousands of times. Unfortunately, in front of the Chaos Giant that Fang Yuan had transformed into, it was still like a small, black snake.


    "Dragon Race Technique: Heaven and Earth Phenomenon!"


    However, the next instant, Ancient God Black Dragon roared and his body expanded, instantly becoming nearly the same size as Fang Yuan.


    Furthermore, the defenses of his dragon scales and the offensive powers of his dragon claws did not seem to be reduced at all.


    "Indeed¡­ An Ancient God will inevitably have their own methods! However, he has only obtained a portion of a divine status, and he still has a huge difference from truly controlling origin power!"


    Although he was concealing his strength, Fang Yuan did not doubt for a moment that his own body as a Chaos Giant was able to contend against two Duke-rank Ancient Gods!


    After all, the Ancient Gods only controlled a portion of the natural source, like a minority shareholder of a company, and only had a minute share of the realm. They were completely unable to realize their shares.


    However, Fang Yuan was different!


    His origin power truly belonged to himself, and he could completely unleash their powers.


    This difference was perhaps not so obvious within the Spiritual Realm, but it could be immediately revealed on the Mental Demon Battlefield.


    "The Mental Demon Battlefield is my home field! Here, each of my actions will be enhanced by the environment¡­" Fang Yuan looked at the giant black dragon before him and smiled. "But what about you? Each of your actions and your magical powers, which of these can pass through the Mental Demon Battlefield seals to enhance the origin power in your body?"


    He raised his arm up high and a horrifying aura suddenly spread from his body. "Origin power¡­ Annihilate!"


    "No!!!"


    Erag, who was in a stalemate with the War King, frowned and looked at the battlefield beside them.


    There, a giant black dragon was smacked down by a giant Demon Master. Dragon scales were shattered and dragon blood splattered everywhere as he howled like a pig being slaughtered.


    "This Ancient God dispatched by the Heavenly Court is really too lacking!" The War King''s face turned black, feeling very displeased. "Although the Heavenly Court regards this place as a land of banishment, I must warn them next time to avoid discarding all of their junk here!"


    In reality, he had somewhat wronged Black Dragon.


    Although his abilities were not the strongest among the Dukes, it was also not the weakest. This was especially the case with his true dragon body, whose combat power was not trivial.


    It was merely bad luck for him to encounter Fang Yuan!


    Speaking of combat experience, Fang Yuan had immensely rich experience and further grasped the Ancient God''s weakness, directly suppressing him with his might and obtaining an advantage before pursuing him and striking violently.


    "War King, you still have the mind to care about external matters?"


    Erag smiled joyfully.


    The War King''s body became stagnant as he looked at his chest.


    Without him realizing it, a spore had grown on it like a mushroom, and a female face had appeared in the middle.


    The face had Erag''s appearance, but blood and tears were currently flowing from her two eyes as she let out a scream. "Heehee!!!"


    "This isn''t right! This is¡­ the poison of illusions?!" The War King''s pupils shrank. "I am a Son of Heaven and have the blessings of hundreds of spirits and Gods. You want to harm me with a mere illusion? Take this¡ªProtection of Myriad Spirits and Kings!"


    Roar! Roar!


    Beside him, nine purple Dragon Qis appeared.


    Simultaneously, many acupoints opened up inside his body and seemed to transform into stars as rays of magical strength emitted.


    A God seemed to be sitting in each of his acupoints, giving him blessings through extraordinary methods.


    Like grains of sand, numerous incantations appeared and formed a light screen that protected his body.


    The War King immediately regained his clarity as he once again looked at his chest. There were no longer any traces of that lady''s face.


    "Being able to use poison to simulate the effect of an illusion without me noticing?¡ªyour enlightenment and Dao path in this aspect are truly astonishing!


    "However¡­ it''s useless. My protection was especially comprehended to deal with your poison!"


    The War King spoke with immense confidence.


    "Poison?" Erag laughed somewhat mysteriously. "You think¡­ that the true from of the poison was merely this?"


    Similar to Fang Yuan, this Demon Master evidently retained her own trump card. "War King, I will let you truly see the natural source abilities that I''ve obtained!"


    After she finished speaking, a black human face appeared behind her.


    This face was very contorted. With just one look, it seemed to be the accumulation of all the pain and suffering in the human world, containing an inexplicable aura.


    The War King simply glanced at it once and his expression changed.


    However, it was too late.


    The light covering his body became stagnant as the illusion of the Gods in his acupoints were destroyed in an instant¡ªsome of them became very old, some bled from their seven apertures, while some mysteriously turned into a pool of blood.


    In no time at all, all the Gods were reduced to ashes as the Protection of All Spirits and Kings was suddenly broken.


    He looked at Erag and said with a raspy voice, "This is¡­ a curse!"


    An aura of decay spread from the War King.


    "The pinnacle of poison is curses! Of course, I prefer naming it the Demon Cause! As long as you succumb to my enchantment, no matter where you run to, you can''t escape my curse!"


    Erag laughed tenderly as numerous vines flew out from the bottom of her body and swept toward the War King like a cage.


    By the side, the Hydra and the crow battling the remaining three Ancient Gods were similarly gaining the upper hand.


    Fang Yuan swept the entire scene, and seeing this, his expression changed.


    "Curse¡­ Demon Cause? It''s indeed very strange!"


    It was normal for Erag to conceal a method, but the feeling that this curse gave Fang Yuan was somewhat similar to that of the Purple Eye Realm.


    "Strange, endless, and formidable¡­ these are the properties of the Mental Demon origin power!"


    Instead, he was indifferent as he looked at Black Dragon.


    This Ancient God had a very miserable appearance currently, and even one of the dragon horns from his head was broken, having been violently snapped by Fang Yuan''s power.


    "Demon Master¡­ very good!"


    A burst of brilliance circulated on Black Dragon, and then he changed into a human figure. God Black Dragon viciously glared at Fang Yuan. "In tens of thousands of years, you''re the first to injure me to such an extent! I won''t forget you!"


    After saying these harsh words, he turned around and did not struggle any further. Instead, he flew in the direction of the three Ancient Gods.


    Evidently, after realizing that he was no match for Fang Yuan, this God immediately decided to escape.


    For such an existence, survival was the most important. Without the power to fight, it was not humiliating to escape.


    Even the Celestial Thearch would not be able to force an Ancient God to participate in a task where there was no chance of survival!


    Unfortunately, Fang Yuan would definitely not let him go so easily.


    Seeing Black Dragon escaping for his life, Fang Yuan laughed coldly and drew his fingers together.


    A surge of chaos aura instantly appeared on his fist.


    The surrounding void ceased to move, and the four phenomena¡ªEarth, Fire, Wind, and Water¡ªvaguely appeared.


    "If you can withstand this punch, why don''t I spare you?"


    Fang Yuan laughed loudly as he punched.


    Kaboom!


    The entire battlefield became stagnant.


    A giant fist imprint appeared and froze the void. It refined chaos, and the Qi of Earth, Fire, Wind, and Water spread in all directions.


    This was a Creation Divine Fist driven by origin power!


    Even without using the sword array, the power of this punch was thousands of times more powerful compared to when he was in the lower realms.Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting.


    Whoosh!


    With a punch, even the space in the Mental Demon Battlefield became slightly unstable. The fist imprint agglomerated, and unexpectedly, there was a vague stagnation in the void, having the manner of becoming motionless for ages.


    "D-Dao Marks?!"


    Ancient God Black Dragon was astonished. Although he knew that the opponent''s fist only contained a hint of Dao Marks, he was clearest as to what this represented.


    Being able to agglomerate the intention of Dao Marks represented an enlightenment that had already begun, even having a rudimentary trace of an Emperor making a move.


    Such an existence even had hopes of becoming an Emperor in the future!


    He was terror-stricken and desperately flew toward the three Ancient Gods. "Save me!"


    Thump!


    Unfortunately, how fast was the Creation Divine Fist? Nearly at the same instant as he used his spiritual will to call for assistance, a huge fist imprint landed on his body.


    Crack!


    Without any luck, this Ancient God''s body immediately split into pieces. Within it, a purple Deity Position emerged and wrapped around his divine spirit, intending to relocate it with a sudden and swift power.


    However, the Chaos Giant''s movements were dexterous beyond imagination and scooped it up with his huge hand. The originally dispersed Qi of Earth, Fire, Wind, and Water condensed, forming a four-colored seal that encapsulated Ancient God Black Dragon''s Essence Soul and Deity Position like a small bug inside amber.


    "Black Dragon¡­ died? Even his divine spirit didn''t escape?"


    The three Ancient Gods fighting with the Hydra and the Life-and-Death Crow immediately became so astonished that they turned ashen-faced.


    An Ancient God had died in front of them, and the impact that it brought was clearly incomparable.


    Even the demeanor of the War King became stagnant as three of the nine purple dragons near his body were reduced to ashes among the vines.


    "Hehe¡­ Dream Demon, you did well!" An astonished look flashed in Erag''s eyes before it turned to aggression. "Great¡­ let''s use this opportunity to completely annihilate the Heaven Palace!"


    "Return to the Heaven Palace!" The War King violently turned around. "We''ll rely on the defensive restrictions. I want to see how much longer these Demon Masters will dare to continue being rampant."

 766 Plan

    Demon Masters were naturally stronger than Duke Ancient Gods.


    Fang Yuan''s sudden violent attack immediately made the Gods lose their confidence.


    Even the War King was not confident of defeating Erag. As soon as he witnessed this, he decided to adopt a passive defense instead.


    Rumble!


    The Heaven Palace guarded by four Ancient Gods inside gave off a bright shine. The power of the Five Elements merged to form a film of light, enclosing the Heaven Palace from all sides.


    "What a pity!" The War King appeared solemn as he looked at the scene. "Damn Black Dragon! If he were here, five Ancient Gods together could have stimulated the last level change in the Heaven Palace and amended any damage caused by the enemy, but now there''s a flaw!"


    Of course, while saying so, he was not really worried.


    After all, even if the restrictions were damaged by the previous attacks, they could still hold back the enemy for some time. That would be sufficient for the other Ancient Gods, or even an army from the Heavenly Court, to join them in time!


    "This array¡­" Outside the Heaven Palace, Fang Yuan pondered while gazing at the film of light.


    "It takes five Ancient Gods to fully utilize the power of the Heaven Palace Array, but it has a flaw now¡­" Erag laughed as she made this comment.


    "Despite the flaw, we don''t have much of a chance at destroying it if the Ancient Gods defend with all their strength. They were too arrogant earlier¡­ If they had chosen to defend from inside the palace from the beginning, we''d have made no progress!" Fang Yuan replied coldly.


    In reality, the Ancient Gods had had no other choice.


    There were only four Demon Masters attacking. If all five Ancient Gods did not dare fight outside the palace, the reputation of the War King would have been ruined from then on.


    Of course, while they were not arrogant to the extent of thinking that they could defeat the Demon Masters, they were confident that they could at least protect themselves.


    Unfortunately, they had encountered Fang Yuan, who they had known nothing about.


    "Never mind¡­ At the speed of Ancient Gods, the other two military divisions will quickly return¡­ It won''t be fun getting blocked by them while encountering an army from the Heavenly Court at the same time!" The green grass blanket moved as if it were alive, taking Erag away from the palace. "Anyway¡­ we''ve managed to get the sacrifice, haven''t we?"


    "Well done, Dream Demon!"


    The Hydra and the Life-and-Death Crow laughed aloud as they retreated rapidly.


    Demon Masters were best at flying and hiding; the slightly less capable ones had already been killed by the Heaven Palace''s Gods.


    Ancient God?


    Fang Yuan looked at the four-colored amber in his hand. He shook his head, laughed, and flew off into the sky.


    Although he might comprehend something from the Deity Position of an Ancient God, that was too insignificant compared to the feast right in front of him.


    The origin power on the Mental Demon Battlefield was sealed up in the nucleus, but Demon Masters are living drops of origin power as well! Too bad¡­ Even if I''m lucky enough to defeat one of them on my own, I''m not sure I could take their lives, much less seal them and swallow them¡­


    However¡­ if the Mental Demon Battlefield undergoes some upheaval, there may be a chance.


    Despite the many evil thoughts in Fang Yuan''s mind, Dream Masters were experts at concealing their spiritual will and animosity. Therefore, he was not the least bit suspected by the three Demon Masters.


    ¡­


    The Bottomless Blood Abyss.


    "What in the world is the so-called sacrifice?" Upon reaching safety, Fang Yuan directly confronted Erag. "None of you mentioned it before the assault!"


    He was confident that they would not turn against him, so he pretended to be furious.


    Seeing that the only sacrifice was in his hands, both the Hydra and the Life-and-Death Crow tried to placate him. "Dream Demon¡­ We apologize. We intended to test you first, but you''ve passed the test and became one of us! We''ll tell you all the secrets!"


    "Go ahead¡­" Fang Yuan said with a cold expression, "I don''t want to be confused when I get killed by the Demon God on the other side."


    "In fact¡­ it''s unlikely that the Demon God will take action!" Erag smiled inscrutably. "Moreover¡­ we still had some confidence¡­ Do you know where we came from?"


    "The Mental Demon Realm, of course!" Fang Yuan answered immediately. "The Mother Realm left behind some origin power after the unsuccessful invasion into the Spiritual Realm. The origin power formed this star and countless Demon Spirits, causing endless trouble to Heavenly Court¡­ To us, the Mother Realm is the origin of everything!"


    "That''s right. The Spiritual Realm is nothing but dust to the Mother Realm¡­" Erag''s expression turned zealous. "That''s the place we belong to! We''ve been trapped here for too long, and I can''t wait to return to the Mother Realm. Existences at the Demon Master level should not be bound¡­ And I suspect that the only method to discover my own Dao and advance to a Demon God lies in the Mother Realm!"


    "Could it be¡­" Fang Yuan pretended to be excited. "You''ve found a way to connect to the Mother Realm? That''s impossible! The periphery of this star has been locked up by a powerful strength, and no messages can be delivered to the outside!"


    "Things that can''t be achieved by Demon Masters may be achievable to Demon Gods¡­" Nine Heads said with a hidden meaning in its words. "Dream Demon, did you know that there are two other perilous lands here to the Gods? A Demon God or their dead bodies are sealed in every perilous land!"


    Life and death were not mutually exclusive concepts to Demon Gods. A thought of theirs might still be able to play tricks even tens of thousands of years after their death.


    "This magical technique was conveyed by a Dao Mark on the Myriad Thunder Plain and recorded the deductions of a Demon God¡­ Several Demon Masters, including us, have experimented with it. It''s highly effective, but the conditions are harsh!"


    "I see¡­" Fang Yuan looked at the four-colored amber in his hand. "It requires at least an Ancient God as a sacrifice to open a channel?"


    Although Marquises could easily lose their lives on the Mental Demon Battlefield, Ancient Gods were much more resilient.


    Even if they were defeated, their Deity Positions and divine spirits could still escape. What had happened to Black Dragon was extremely rare.


    "Indeed. After discovering this magical technique, many Demon Masters fought to get a sacrifice, but only succeeded three times. And we''ve only succeeded once in opening a channel!" said the Life Head of the Life-and-Death Crow.


    "No! That couldn''t be counted as a success! The channel broke down halfway¡­ but at least we could confirm that the magical technique was valid!" the Death Head rebutted the depiction immediately.


    "I see. This is a blessing from the Mother Realm!" Fang Yuan appeared glad, but his heart felt cold. The Mental Demon Realm will invade again? This is absolutely bad news to the Spiritual Realm, but it''s bad news to me as well!


    He had quite a few enemies in the Mental Demon Realm, and one of them was a Demon God. He would be a goner once they were connected to the Mental Demon Realm.


    Of course, it would be palpably abnormal for a Demon Master to decline an opportunity to leave this cage and enter the Mental Demon Realm.


    This is troublesome¡­ A multitude of thoughts flashed through Fang Yuan''s mind. If these Demon Masters manage to open a channel to the Mental Demon Realm, its will would certainly be pleased, possibly giving them rewards like heaven''s blessings¡­ But of course, it won''t let them directly advance to a higher realm!


    The Mental Demon''s will could promote a Demon Spirit to a Demon Master, but it could never help a Demon Master break through the barrier to become a Demon God!


    If the Great Dao of Demon God could be endowed to others, how could it be honored as a truly boundless Great Dao?


    If the Mental Demon Realm can help me advance to the Demon God level, then I may probably help it reach here. In that case, I won''t have to worry about being chased down by my enemies. However, right now¡­ Fang Yuan''s thoughts ran wild as he started thinking about a way to spoil the Demon Masters'' plan. As a last resort, I can leave straightaway and continue to be my Lord Mountain River. They''ll have no way to offer a sacrifice without the sacrifice itself!


    "It''s not our job to offer the sacrifice of Ancient Gods to contact the Mental Demon Realm!"


    "Aside from the sacrifice, the ceremony also requires large quantities of flesh and blood, as well as other materials¡­"


    "Inform the Demon Masters in the other two perilous lands that we must reach an agreement on this issue."


    ¡­


    Without noticing what Fang Yuan was thinking, the other three Demon Masters started planning the offering ceremony.


    Of course, out of respect for the powerful, they would not force Fang Yuan to give them his spoils of war.


    They could never have expected that Fang Yuan, a Demon Master just like them, was only thinking of betraying their alliance and sabotaging their plan.


    After all, ever since Da Qian, he had become used to relying on no one other than himself.


    Furthermore, he came to the Mental Demon Battlefield only for the abundant origin power here.


    That was his utmost goal, overriding all else.


    "Nevertheless, this sacrificial offering ceremony will be a good opportunity¡­ I may be able to swallow some of them after both the Heaven Palace and the Demon Masters have suffered injuries!"


    A dangerous glow glistened in Fang Yuan''s eyes. He found an excuse to leave the others and started to meditate.


    ¡­


    At the location the Demon God was sealed.


    Stepping on the blood, Fang Yuan gazed at Demon God Ancient Netherworld before him. "Here''s a piece of good news for you¡ªyou will soon escape!"


    "Junior!" The face made of blood bubbles appeared calm. "Don''t play tricks in front of me and just get to the point."


    "Great!" Fang Yuan nodded. "The Demon Masters outside have captured an Ancient God, and they''re planning to sacrifice him to gain a connection with the Mental Demon Realm. Your chance to escape will come when the Mental Demon Realm invades again."


    "¡­" Ancient Netherworld, however, went into a long silence after hearing that.


    "What? You''re not willing to leave? Or are you afraid?" Fang Yuan smiled subtly.


    "This magical technique of opening a channel with an Ancient God sacrifice must have come from the Myriad Thunder Plain!" Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting.


    Ancient Netherworld roared, "Damn you¡­ Don''t you see what I''m afraid of? You''re right! Demon Gods can swallow each other''s Dao paths to reinforce our foundation. We''ve all been sealed for many years, so our strength is at a minimum. That guy in the Myriad Thunder Plain dared to do this only because he has allies in the Mental Demon Realm!"


    "It seems like¡­ you''ve been living a pathetic life and don''t have many friends!"


    Fang Yuan''s subtle smile turned into a grin.

 767 Return

    Fang Yuan only intended to probe this Demon God.


    But Ancient Netherworld was more straightforward than expected, directly admitting his fear.


    "So even though a Demon God''s Dao path is a new Great Dao, it''s still imperfect?" Fang Yuan murmured to himself after hearing this shocking news.


    "It''s normal for the Heavenly Dao to possess deficiencies. While the universe is boundless, can you ever find anything perfect in it?" Ancient Netherworld sneered. "Perfection is relative. The new Dao path carved out by a Demon God may be the truly perfect Great Dao as a Demon Master, but upon breaking through to a new realm, they''ll realize that their Dao path had many flaws to make up for in the next realm¡­ And who would prefer hard cultivating to easy plundering?"


    Fang Yuan closed his eyes.


    He felt as if he was back in Da Qian and witnessing the scene of that Demon God plundering Dao paths.


    "So they needed to make up for the flaws in their Great Dao? That''s close to my speculation¡­ So that''s the reason why beings in the Mental Demon Realm invade the lower realms so frequently¡ªthey were looking for new rules in different Dao Marks to reinforce their own foundation?"


    "What''s the realm after Demon God then?" he asked as soon as he thought of the question.


    "Hehe¡­ Lad, how can you peek into our next realm when you''re still below our realm?" Ancient Netherworld sneered. He surely would not be so nice and give an explanation straightaway.


    "Hey¡­ Demon God Ancient Netherworld, according to your own words, you''ll definitely be swallowed by other Demon Gods once they find you. I can prevent that, but what do you have to offer in exchange for my help?" Fang Yuan asked, laughing aloud.


    "You dare bargain with me?" The blood bubble face literally distorted in anger. "You obtained my information on the realm-traversing technique last time and promised to let me out!"


    "Wait a moment. I only took the deposit and didn''t make a promise regarding when to let you out!" Fang Yuan said righteously. "Moreover¡­ you didn''t give me all the information, especially the technique for entering the lower realms!"


    "Haha¡­ Junior, you remind me of my youth!" Ancient Netherworld was so mad his bloody face laughed. "However¡­ it''s impossible for me to tell you the technique of traversing to the lower realms unless you release me immediately¡­"


    "Then it''s really regrettable!" Fang Yuan shrugged.


    Actually, he only wanted to trick this Demon God and was happily prepared for any outcome.


    "You''ll definitely stop the Demon Masters'' plan, won''t you?" said Ancient Netherworld calmly. "You have a Demon God''s aura on you, and it looks like you have quite a few enemies in the Mental Demon Realm. Aren''t you afraid?"


    "Of course I am!" Fang Yuan said. "But then I thought about it carefully. Even if a channel is opened and the Mental Demon Realm invades, could you be sure that my enemies would happen to be there?"


    "In comparison, no matter which Demon God comes here, don''t you think that they''ll be interested in you?"


    "¡­"


    Fang Yuan went straight to the point. The planes of the Mental Demon Realm had to be much larger than the Spiritual Realm''s.


    In such a small realm, it was indeed unlikely that the Demon God offended by Fang Yuan would happen to be on the other side of the channel.


    On the other hand, no matter which Demon God encountered the weakened Ancient Netherworld, they would surely swallow up what they saw.


    That was analogous to how Fang Yuan would immediately refine a sealed Demon Master for origin power as soon as he encountered one.


    This was the cruelty in the competition between Demon Spirits. The weak were bound to be the prey of the strong.


    Therefore, Fang Yuan was sure that Ancient Netherworld would not end up well irrespective of which Demon God came.


    "Damn it! Damn it!" The bloody red face trembled in rage. "If this was all planned by that existence in the Myriad Thunder Plain, then I know roughly which Demon Gods will come. Their personalities¡­ Hehe, one of them, named the Infinite Devourer, even has the Dao path of devouring everything. You Demon Masters are also delicious desserts in their minds!"


    He had not chosen to lie, as he knew that the astute lad before him would not be tricked.


    "So¡­ shall we collaborate?" Fang Yuan rubbed his fingers. "I won''t demand the technique of entering the lower realms anymore, and I''ll try my best to collect intelligence on the arrangement of the sacrifice ceremony for you, so you''ll teach me the relevant knowledge!"


    The simplest method to spoil the ceremony was to leave and bring along Black Dragon. However, that would not address the root of the problem. The Demon Masters had captured three Ancient Gods before, so they could capture another three in the future.


    They would still ultimately open a channel unless Fang Yuan exposed all of this to the Celestial Thearch, informing him that this place used for training his army had already become a huge problem.


    But Fang Yuan would have to expose his own identity in this case, and he was not someone who would sacrifice himself for others.


    Therefore, his best choice was to hide and wait for changes to take place.


    And he wanted to create even more chaos so that he could reap a whole lot before leaving.


    It was his daring personality that made him take risks before; otherwise, he would not have progressed to the realm he was at today.


    "Oh? Looks like you have wild ambitions¡­ Haha¡­ Great! I like that¡­ I''ll help you!" Ancient Netherworld''s bloody face burst into laughter.


    "You''re helping yourself by helping me!" Fang Yuan smiled as well.


    As he reached an agreement with this Demon God, he was ready to execute his plan.


    ¡­


    The Heaven Palace.


    This spectacular palace of gold and jade had now become ruins.


    In the main hall that survived the attack, the War King said with a frightening expression, "The Demon Masters in the Bottomless Blood Abyss¡­ are too arrogant! We must deploy more troops! Deploy troops to annihilate all of them!"Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting.


    The deafening voice echoed in the hall.


    The War King had been an emperor in the human world, and he was still superior to almost everyone after his ascension. Right now, his face was purple with fury. "Such Demon Masters must die! Die!! Die!!!"


    The other five Ancient Gods also appeared furious.


    Of course, despite their loud roars, their emotionless eyes were like the lifeless water in a well.


    "It seems easy to deploy troops from the Heavenly Court, but it''s not actually a viable option!"


    "The Demon Masters are extremely cunning. They live in the perilous lands and may have bound themselves together with the seal. We have to mind the consequences!"


    "If the Celestial Thearch doesn''t act, no one can really clear up the Mental Demon Battlefield. However, the Celestial Thearch has to guard the heart of the Massive Heavenly Cycle Stellar Array, and he has the intention of training the army on this battlefield¡­"


    "According to past experience accumulated over the years, demons emerge on the Mental Demon Battlefield, but seven military divisions are just sufficient to maintain the number of Demon Spirits at an equilibrium and prevent the emergence of powerful beings¡­"


    "No! This intelligence has become obsolete. The information on that giant, for example, was completely unknown to us. That''s the most worrying issue!"


    ¡­


    The spiritual wills joined one another, each having their own respective emotions and motives.


    The War King gradually calmed down as well.


    While it was unbelievable that an Ancient God had died on the Mental Demon Battlefield, such events had happened before and were not actually a big deal.


    What really mattered was that he had lost face.


    But right now, he had the discretion to control his emotions. "Please don''t mind me. I was angry just now. Sigh¡­ Black Dragon was such a friendly and generous person. I can''t believe that he lost his life just like that!"


    The other Ancient Gods rolled their eyes.


    It was true that dragons had plenty of treasures. That Ancient God had given them quite a lot in an attempt to forge good relationships, and the War King took the larger share. He had to have felt sorry indeed.


    "However, we must report this to the Celestial Thearch and request at least three more Ancient Gods to reinforce the defenses of the Heaven Palace. We''ll then clear up the demon dwellings!"


    The War King had a solemn expression as he spoke.


    It did not matter how many inferior Demon Spirits emerged on the Mental Demon Battlefield, but it was due to their negligence that no one was aware of a new Demon Master.


    If the Celestial Thearch investigated this issue, he would be deemed partially responsible as well.


    "Alright. While the Ancient Gods need replenishment, the Marquises need it even more badly!" Duke Merit said at the side.


    The Marquises had suffered the most in this battle with the Demon Masters!


    They were first stricken by Fang Yuan''s dream attack and lost consciousness. Their inability to defend themselves caused great loss when they were subsequently besieged.


    Other than the few lucky ones hiding in the heart of the palace, most of them had died from the shockwaves during the battle between the higher beings.


    "Don''t worry about it!" The War King waved his hand. His viewpoint was different due to his higher position. "There are so many Gods in this world. Marquises can live forever and many have nothing to do. This is a good chance to use up some of them!"


    Marquises were like Heaven Immortals and respected almost everywhere, but he regarded them as consumables.


    In fact, Gods such as Lord Bright Jade were indeed expendable to the Heavenly Court that could confer Gods at will.


    They were one step away from Ancient God after all!


    "Especially when¡­ there''s still a bunch of Earthly Gods!" The War King suddenly sneered, hinting at something.


    It was the responsibility of the Divine Dao to protect the world, and neither the Celestial Thearch nor Excellency Mount Mang could evade that responsibility.


    Otherwise, why would all the Earthly Gods obediently comply with the orders from the Heavenly Court and go to the battlefield?


    Even the Emperor could not resist the trend of heaven''s will, or else he would lose the blessings of the heavens.


    ¡­


    While these Ancient Gods were discussing the future of the Heaven Palace¡­


    In a small palace outside the hall, Lord Cold Mountain stared wide-eyed. "Y-y-y-you are Lord Mountain River¡­ You actually came back alive!"


    "Isn''t it normal that I could come back alive? That aside, it''s really fortunate for you to have survived the battle!"


    Fang Yuan was in a handsome costume of the Divine Dao, gazing at his only acquaintance in the Vast Heaven Division.


    He had not had much spare time to take care of this God during the battle, but this plump guy had managed to become one of the few survivors. Fang Yuan was somewhat surprised.

 768 Myriad Thunder

    "Lord Mountain River¡­ M-my fate is so miserable¡­"


    The Heaven Palace was heavily damaged on the outside and had lost many defensive restrictions. Lord Cold Mountain, Hai Fu, pitifully complained to Fang Yuan, "I offended the Emperor, got banished to this kind of place, and encountered a siege from Demon Masters just after I arrived¡­ You didn''t witness that scene. Nine Demon Masters besieged the Ancient Gods on our side, and even Ancient God Black Dragon died in the battle¡­"


    "Nine?!" Fang Yuan''s expression looked strange. He knocked his own head and appeared doubtful. "How come I heard that there were only four Demon Masters, and that all the Marquises were attacked first, most losing consciousness immediately?"


    "Ah¡­ Hehe¡­ The weather sure is nice today!" Lord Cold Mountain touched his head in embarrassment, finally forcing out a laugh and confessing, "Alright¡­ I was scared at the sight of the demons and immediately retreated to my palace. I was then attacked and became unconscious. The battle was over by the time I woke up."


    "¡­" Fang Yuan was speechless.


    A Marquis was only a slightly bigger ant to Ancient Gods and Demon Masters. A battle such as the previous one could easily kill many purely by accident.


    Those who had managed to survive either had hidden moves or were born with good luck!


    Could this guy be the one chosen as the Spiritual Realm''s Son of Destiny?


    Looking at the heap of flesh before him, Fang Yuan had nothing to say.


    "Oh right, you were abducted by the demon bats last time. What happened after that?" Lord Cold Mountain promptly asked.


    "I was in an extremely perilous situation. Those demons wanted to drag me back to their cave, but fortunately, we encountered a crowd of three-legged White Bone Birds, and I managed to escape in the conflict between the two Demon Spirit groups. By supporting myself with my pills, I finally fought my way back here¡­" Fang Yuan sighed with feigned resignation, taking out a handful of white teeth, red eyeballs, and so on. "But I had a good harvest on my way back¡­ How many achievements can I exchange these for?"


    "Th-These are¡­" Hai Fu''s eyes widened as he stared at Fang Yuan. "You gathered so many Heaven Immortal level cores? These are the teeth of Blue Voice Bats, and these are the eyeballs of Water Demons¡­ Did you annihilate a demon species? That isn''t right¡­ How can the sources be so complex? They obviously come from different species."


    "Oh my¡­ You just need a bit more to reach the achievements required, and then you can return directly!"


    Lord Cold Mountain was about to salivate, as if he was going to beg Fang Yuan to let him join at any time. "Fellow Daoist, please don''t forget me when you go hunting next time!"


    "How could I have the ability to kill so many existences equal to my level?" Fang Yuan shrugged, his expression turning solemn. "I only picked these up by luck!"


    "What¡­ Are you saying that¡­ they were picked up?" Hai Fu was speechless, most likely roaring in his mind, Why wasn''t I so lucky?


    "That''s right!" Fang Yuan nodded. "We''re now facing a very problematic situation¡­ Those Demon Masters seemed to be harvesting low-level Demon Spirits to stock up flesh and blood. Has something like this ever happened on the Heaven Palace''s front lines before?"


    "When the demons reach the Demon Master realm, they seldom wander around and don''t slaughter Demon Spirits for the same reason why we don''t chase after ants and kill them when we walk on a road¡­" Lord Cold Mountain shook his head instinctively.


    "Therefore, in the light of the recent assault as well, I suspect that an enormous change is about to take place!" Fang Yuan said with a solemn expression.


    Of course, he knew the Demon Masters'' plan, but as Lord Mountain River, what he had revealed would already attract a lot of attention.


    If he directly disclosed the entire plan, regardless of whether others believed it, he would immediately have to undergo the strictest investigation.


    Thus, he could not give any more intelligence.


    "Demon Masters are gathering flesh and blood, the Heaven Palace was under attack, and an Ancient God died in battle¡­ Sigh. These are indeed ominous signs!" Lord Cold Mountain, Hai Fu, let out a sigh.


    Fang Yuan also wanted to probe him with this information.


    Even though the Demon Masters were excellent at hiding themselves, they would still leave behind a lot of clues.


    This plump guy seemed to have some backers. If he could draw the attention of the Heavenly Court through his backers, they might be able to spoil the Demon Masters'' plan.


    "Phew¡­ This is a serious issue, but the superiors are having a meeting right now. I''ll accompany you inside to register your achievements after Duke Merit comes out, and then you can directly report to them!"


    Hai Fu''s expression turned serious. "What are your plans after this?"


    "Plans? Without God Black Dragon, the Vast Heaven Division doesn''t have a leader right now. I''ll certainly apply for individual tasks and kill as many Demon Spirits as possible!" Fang Yuan said without hesitation. "Taking all these achievements into account, I just need a bit more and I''ll be permitted to return to the Heavenly Court. I won''t stay any longer than I''m required to at such a dangerous place."


    Almost all Gods would make the same choice as Fang Yuan.


    This was analogous to someone about to clear their debt. The desire to completely remove the stress would become astonishing motivation, driving them to work even harder.


    "Especially since¡­ I have an ominous feeling that something bad is going to happen!" Fang Yuan looked at Lord Cold Mountain sincerely. "Do take care!"


    "Take care!" Hai Fu cupped his hands, feeling somewhat surprised. "This God has an ancient demeanor. Although we only met each other some time ago, it feels like he''s an old acquaintance¡­"


    What he did not know was that Fang Yuan returned just to give him a gentle reminder.


    The news soon reached the War King. "Why are the Demon Masters gathering flesh and blood? Are they conspiring with one another?"


    He shut his eyes, and then suddenly opened them, a purple dragon flashing in his pupils. "This sort of abnormal behavior has occurred a few times in the past¡­ Every time, it followed a battle against Demon Masters and the death of an Ancient God¡­ Seems the intelligence is valid. Where''s the God who brought it?"


    "This God has the title of Mountain River, and I heard he''s an unruly person. He took a mission and left for the battlefield after reporting¡­ Given his current achievements, he''ll soon fulfill the requirement to leave the battlefield!" said a Marquis at the side enviously.


    "Didn''t he know that if he had stayed here, I would have rewarded him after the intelligence was confirmed?" The War King rolled his eyes. "This lad is expecting an imminent war. He''s fighting so hard for nothing other than to evade the vortex and protect himself. Hehe¡­ He''s smart, but not reliable!"


    "You''re right, King!" The Marquis servant let out a long breath, an inexplicable feeling in his mind.


    "Moreover, that Marquis took a mission and went hunting without an order? He''s too bold. Who''s his superior? I need to teach him a lesson. Also, let that God come to meet me after he returns!" The War King sneered, but was then taken aback. "Wait a moment. His superior¡­"


    "That''s right. The superior of this Lord Mountain River is exactly that God Black Dragon. He''s lax about his behavior now that there are no restrictions¡­" the Marquis at the side added, a chilling glow flashing in his eyes.


    ¡­


    Rumble!


    Dark clouds covered the sky, and purple lightning struck deep into the ground at times.


    This was one of the three perilous lands on the Mental Demon Battlefield, the Myriad Thunder Plain.


    Fang Yuan took the form of a giant, walking casually on the level ground.


    Occasionally, lightning struck his body, but only left behind a white mark on his black armor, and that mark would soon disappear.


    After gathering the intelligence and giving a warning in the Heaven Palace, he left on his own and recovered his Demon Master identity. He then received a message from Erag and the others, which led him to this place.


    "The lightning here is already on a par with the Heavenly Tribulations in the lower realms¡­"


    Lightning danced wildly all over the sky. Fang Yuan became emotional as he gazed at the scene.


    As far as he knew, there were three perilous lands on the Mental Demon Battlefield. Two Demon Gods were sealed in the Bottomless Bloody Abyss and the Myriad Thunder Plain respectively, while the Extreme East Dark Mystic Ocean had been a giant battlefield. A few Demon Gods had even died there. The accumulated remains and grievances could revive them at any time, only for them to be sealed up by almighty beings once again.


    "Of course, the Demon God sealed in the Myriad Thunder Plain seems more powerful than Ancient Netherworld. It''s incredible that he could convey his message to Demon Masters through Dao Marks¡­ even once!"Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting.


    Fang Yuan did not manage to detect any sign of the seal here.


    Apparently, the Demon God here, just like Ancient Netherworld, had been sealed in a mystic region of space that Demon Masters could not find.


    And yet this unknown being could still convey information about the sacrifice ceremony for communication with the Mental Demon Realm. It was really quite impressive.


    "It might be due to good luck as well, but¡­ I must remain cautious!"


    Fang Yuan picked up his pace and quickly reached the center of the Myriad Thunder Plain.


    Like dragons and snakes, countless lightning surrounded this place and illuminated everything.


    Common Heaven Immortals and Marquises would not even have the qualification to arrive here.


    "Another group of Demon Masters occupies this plain, and their leader should be Kun Ang! It''s a giant black toad that enjoys swallowing things¡­"


    There was a Demon God called the Infinite Devourer as well! While Kun Ang was no match for this Demon God, his devouring power was still horrible, able to swallow almost anything.


    "Hmm?" At this moment, he frowned and looked around.


    Splash!


    The sky suddenly darkened, and a giant mouth plunged down.


    Thump!


    Fang Yuan was expressionless as he punched.


    The deafening sound made it seem as if his fist was invincible in the entire world.


    A black silhouette the size of a hill was punched ruthlessly into the sky and crashed onto the ground.


    "I don''t like your way of greeting¡­ Kun Ang!" Fang Yuan said in a cold voice, gazing at the Demon Master that had suddenly appeared.


    It was a giant black toad, but on its back, there were mouths comprised of numerous disgusting protrusions.


    Upon seeing this appearance, Fang Yuan was shocked by the other''s appetite.

 769 Seven Spirits

    "Kun Ang! Kun Ang!"


    The many mouths of the giant black toad wriggled when it roared, as if this Demon Master was devouring something delicious.


    The ''strength'' in Fang Yuan''s previous attack was, unbelievably, tasty food for it as well!


    Fang Yuan could clearly detect this monster''s will to devour the heavens and the earth. It would never be satisfied, swallowing everything it could eat, be it tangible or intangible, matter or energy.


    "This is terrifying! A Demon Master can have such magical powers¡­ What kind of power does that Infinite Devourer possess as a Demon God?"


    Fang Yuan was deeply shocked inside, not by Kun Ang, but by that legendary Demon God instead.Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting.


    How exciting would their Dao path be?


    "Kun Ang is already capable of devouring my strength, and that Demon God will only be more powerful and unfathomable¡­"


    Fang Yuan was solemn.


    "Kun Ang! Kun Ang!" the giant black toad shrieked in a weird voice. Crimson lightning flashed by as it opened its mouth.


    Smack!


    Fang Yuan shifted his body sideways, but a deep crack immediately formed on his black armor.


    "Greed and coveting¡­" He frowned and suddenly laughed. "You''re coveting my origin power? That''s bold!"


    It had always been Fang Yuan taking advantage of others, never the other way round. How dare this Demon Master covet his belongings?


    "It just so happens that I covet your origin power just like how you covet mine!"


    As he tightened his grip, the surrounding space stagnated and the chaotic universe became vaguely visible.


    Being aware of the extreme danger, Kun Ang paused.


    "Wait!" A loud and energetic voice was heard at this moment.


    A green bud emerged out of the void, and countless petals swept toward Fang Yuan.


    "Why would I mind another one?"


    Fang Yuan was fearless. The Chaos Giant roared toward the sky, and his Creation Divine Fist was about to strike.


    "Stop!!!" After a flash of light, Erag, Nine Heads, and the Life-and-Death Crow arrived. She said in an anxious voice, "Green Damask, what are you intending to do? Are you trying to start a fight between Demon Masters?"


    Keke!


    The bud blossomed and a woman with green hair walked out laughing. Her laughter sounded like the chime of a bell. "So this is Dream Demon¡­ Isn''t his body surprisingly strong? You''re the first Demon Master to make Kun Ang excited to the extent of losing his mind.


    Excited to the extent of losing his mind?


    Fang Yuan stopped his attack as well. In fact, before he arrived, he had heard from Erag and other Demon Masters that Kun Ang, while the strongest on the Myriad Thunder Plain, had the most chaotic personality. He could go insane at times, becoming manipulated by his instinctive desire to devour. He had even badly injured a Demon Master of his own group once!


    Apparently, his presence made Kun Ang sense the taste of a ''feast'', depriving him of his self-control.


    However¡­ This woman must have been able to stop him, but she joined the fight and attacked me instead. If I was slightly weaker, I would''ve been injured by their attacks¡­


    Fang Yuan stared coldly at the two Demon Masters.


    "Kun Ang!"


    Green Damask somehow managed to calm down the mad giant toad.


    He roared, and many little heads popped out of the holes in his back.


    Subsequently, with a black flash, his many eyes became clear. "Everybody from the Bottomless Blood Abyss, you''re finally here! Is this Dream Demon? I¡­ apologize for what just happened!"


    "It''s alright. That was because you lost your mind!" Fang Yuan''s expression was as cold as ice, having made a decision.


    If he had a chance to kill these two Demon Masters in the future, he would definitely take it!


    "Mmm, we captured an Ancient God as a sacrifice for opening a channel¡­ How are your preparations going?" In an effort to alleviate the tension between them, Erag stood between Fang Yuan and the other two as she spoke


    "I''ve asked Seven Spirits to prepare the flesh and blood. He has seven incarnations and is the most suitable for such tasks¡­ The construction of the worship altar is also mostly complete, only lacking your key ingredients and the sacrifice!" Kun Ang said calmly, taking a glance at Fang Yuan. Did I go insane because of the Ancient God he brought with him? Indeed, if I devoured an unfamiliar Demon Master with a sealed Ancient God, I would be devouring two beings at once!


    "What about the Demon Masters of the Extreme East Dark Mystic Ocean?" Fang Yuan was slightly surprised when he heard this.


    "It was unexpected that they declined¡­ But it doesn''t matter. They are the weakest among us anyway! There are only two Demon Masters, and they never dare come out!" Green Damask showed some contempt as she said this.


    "Could it be¡­" Erag''s expression changed, and she exchanged glances with Fang Yuan.


    It was dubious of them to be absent from such an attractive event like communicating with the Mental Demon Realm.


    The Extreme East Dark Mystic Ocean was different from the other two perilous lands. It had been a large battlefield when the Mental Demon Realm invaded. Numerous Emperors, Golden Immortals, and Demon Gods had fought there, leaving behind an abundance of Dao Marks. Furthermore, a few Demon Gods had died there.


    If it were left alone, even the Celestial Thearch would have no idea what kind of existence it would give birth to.


    Therefore, he had sealed the entire battlefield using his supreme magical power under the help of heaven''s will.


    The two Demon Masters dwelling in the Extreme East Dark Mystic Ocean seldom left the place, and no one knew what they were up to.


    "It''s unbelievable that they''ll be absent from such a ceremony. Hehe¡­ We don''t need to be afraid of them no matter what they''re doing." Kun Ang sneered straightaway.


    "Things aren''t so simple. What if¡­ they believe that we can''t succeed this time?" Erag said thoughtfully. "After all, we''ve only succeeded once out of three attempts, and the sacrifice isn''t alive this time!"


    "There''s still something wrong¡­ Any Demon Master wouldn''t miss the ceremony given such a possibility!" said the Death Head of the Storm Crow.


    "No! No! If I were them, I wouldn''t come because there''d be someone as annoying as you!" his Life Head disagreed immediately.


    "You''re the one who''s annoying! I can''t wait to chop your head off!"


    "You''re the one that should be chopped off!"


    "If I had the ability of Seven Spirits, I''d definitely fight against you!"


    ¡­


    The two heads disappointed the Demon Masters with their daily quarrel.


    Obviously, the Life-and-Death Crow was not proposing any insight, instead just acting cute.


    Fang Yuan smiled as well. He knew the peculiarity of this crow with two heads.


    He could not separate the incarnations he had cultivated, and the two opposing wills peculiarly existed within one body.


    There was no way to change this manifestation of his chaotic intrinsic quality.


    Seven Spirits on the Myriad Thunder Plain had a similar characteristic, but this being had an even more chaotic mind, giving rise to seven incarnations. This was comparable to someone with multiple personality disorder.


    But he could separate every personality from each other and form individual incarnations.


    In an emergency, the seven of them could combine and regain the strength of a Demon Master.


    But most importantly, even when six incarnations died, they could still be regenerated from the one alive.


    Such a gift was probably the ultimate ability for a Demon Master to stay alive.


    "Alright. Even without the two Demon Masters of the Dark Mystic Ocean, we''ll still open a channel and contact the Mother Realm!" Erag said firmly. "Bring us to the worship altar!"


    "Sure. Everything is ready!" Kun Ang smiled as he led the way. "One of the incarnations of Seven Spirits is guarding the place. Honestly¡­ I usually try my best to stay away from there because it''s too tempting!"


    Fang Yuan soon discovered the reason why it was tempting.


    Mountains of flesh!


    Standing at a distance, he could see a gorge among the mountains made up of flesh and blood.


    The slightly rotten corpses stunk, giving off an inexplicable aura of suffocation and desperation that could drive anyone insane.


    Outside the gorge, a black array was shielding it from lightning.


    "Kun Ang¡­ Stay away from here!" A white-haired elder stopped them before they approached. "Don''t you know that every time you came, our progress was reduced by at least by half?"


    "I was only eating some snacks. Don''t mind me!" Kun Ang laughed. "Moreover¡­ I''m not here for food today. The Demon Masters from the Bottomless Blood Abyss have arrived.


    "Everyone, this is our most excellent, most outstanding expert in arrays¡ªSeven Spirits Array!"


    "Erag, Crow, Nine Heads¡­ We''ve met before. Is this Dream Demon?" Seven Spirits Array smiled at Fang Yuan.


    "That''s right!" Fang Yuan nodded with good intention.


    He knew that every incarnation of Demon Master Seven Spirits had a unique personality with entirely different divine spirits and auras. Each of them specialized in a certain field, possessing astonishing expertise.


    When the seven spirits merged, his original body would inherit the ability of every incarnation and reach his most powerful and chaotic state.


    "In order to communicate with the Mother Realm, we first need to sacrifice a large quantity of Demon Spirits'' flesh and blood as an orientation factor¡­ We also need powers strong enough to break through any restrictions¡­ Lastly, the equivalent of a Demon Master in the Spiritual Realm is required to pinpoint our location," Seven Spirits Array murmured.


    "We have the Ancient God and the Demon Spirits'' flesh and blood!


    "These are the blood pearls we collected. How''s the quality?"


    Erag looked at the other Demon Masters by her side and passed over a few pearls with a thick crimson color.


    Fang Yuan knew that these were the concentrated essence of numerous Demon Spirits. The essence had even returned to its origins, so rather than smelling like blood, the pearls emanated a light fragrance.


    Kun Ang''s eyes lit up as soon as he saw them.


    "It took us a lot of effort to collect them. They''re not your food!" Erag rolled her eyes.


    "This is sufficient." Seven Spirits Array stepped forward to examine the pearls and nodded with satisfaction. "They''re just suited to suppress the heart of the array."

 770 Opening

    "Great!"


    Erag and the Demon Masters passed the blood pearls to Seven Spirits Array.


    Seven Spirits Array used his fingers to count and then buried the blood pearls at a location in the gorge.


    In an instant, a layer of blood-red light spread outward and enveloped the entire gorge.


    The flesh and blood of the Demon Spirits slowly wriggled, as if they were going to resurrect in the next moment.


    It''s indeed this array!


    Fang Yuan quietly looked on while a gleam flashed in his eyes.


    He had Demon God Ancient Netherworld to consult, so after gathering some information and passing it on, that old monster immediately understood the plans of the Myriad Thunder Plain''s Demon God, even deducing the array and teaching it to Fang Yuan.


    Fang Yuan had cultivated in arrays, especially Da Qian''s Six Extremes Earth Shattering Array and Nine Heavenly Sky Net Array, which gave him massive inspiration.


    In fact, this array replicates the Six Extremes Earth Shattering Array. Of course, the method is merely slightly more profound¡­


    The Spiritual Realm was in the same high dimension universe, so communicating with the Mental Demon Realm was much more convenient than with the lower realms.


    The only issue was that it was very difficult due to the interference of the Massive Heavenly Cycle Stellar Array.


    At this moment, a large quantity of the Demon Spirits'' flesh and blood burned as a bizarre blood-red flame soared upward and locked onto a certain vast realm by relying on the aura.


    "Mental Demon¡­" Fang Yuan mumbled. His impression toward the coordinates and aura of this world was very deep.


    "Get into position!" Seven Spirits Array commanded.


    From six different directions, a figure flew out from each and various precious and exotic materials scattered down like rain.


    "Fusion of the Seven Spirits!"


    In the end, the seven existences directly fused into one body. Demon Master Seven Spirits was going to commence operating the entire array at his peak cultivation.


    Thump!


    Flames burned as flesh and blood exploded. A thick layer of bloody fog formed in midair.


    The concealment array was completely destroyed, and this bloody fog was exposed to the lightning. It was struck relentlessly, but it continued standing firm.


    "Although the Mother Realm has already pinpointed our position, there are Massive Heavenly Cycle Stellar Array seals in the periphery. We need to use an Ancient God as a sacrifice while once again gathering our powers to break through the void and consolidate a channel¡­ Now is the time!"


    Demon Master Seven Spirits howled.


    Fang Yuan nodded as the four-colored amber flew out.


    This was the seal of Ancient God Black Dragon and his Deity Position.


    Although he was dead and his flesh was lost, to an Ancient God, the Deity Position and divine spirit were the most important. As for the body, expending just a little bit of power could condense it.


    The seal landed within the bloody fog and opened up immediately, revealing the illusionary figure of Black Dragon. Inside it, a Deity Position carried an extremely solemn aura of divine importance that stemmed from the natural source.


    Zap! Zap!


    With this appearing, a lot of bloody fog crawled upward in bits and pieces like a chain, encircling this illusionary image and starting to corrode it.


    "Ah¡­ Demons, you actually dare to refine an Ancient God!"


    Black Dragon''s divine spirit roared continuously.


    Even until now, he still did not know Fang Yuan''s true identity and was even more clueless about his own tragedy. It was entirely because of a moment''s greed in the past that had aroused his desire to kill a Marquis.


    "No¡­ Don''t!"


    At the moment, the bloody fog was already like a spiderweb intertwining his four limbs. The flames even went deep into his core and started corroding his Deity Position.


    Ancient God Black Dragon let out a shrill roar, "Celestial Thearch, save me! Celestial Thearch, save me!"


    After all, he was an Ancient God. As he was struggling for his life on the brink of death, the Deity Position in his body immediately started to move violently and faintly attracted the attention of the heavens and the earth.


    No matter how average his Deity Position was, it was ultimately related to the heavens and the earth. A God''s prayer nearing the brink of death would instantly be prioritized.


    "This God is currently communicating with the heavens. We must hurry!"


    Demon Master Seven Spirits waved. A coarse light column appeared on his palm and entered the bloody fog.


    The other Demon Masters, including Fang Yuan, did not hesitate. A powerful force struck the interior of the array and reduced the roars of Ancient God Black Dragon to its lowest.


    "Very good! This is the way!" The eyes of Demon Master Seven Spirits lit up. "Magnificent Mother Realm, I summon your name. With flesh and blood and an Ancient God as sacrifices, I summon your descent and hope that you can open a channel, allowing the horrors of the Mental Demon to once again descend into the Spiritual Realm!"


    He chanted using the language of the Mental Demon Realm and began the sacrifice.


    With the chanting of the incantations, Fang Yuan suddenly felt the entire array move. Finally, it seemed as if it had struck an immensely firm curtain of light.


    The depletion of the Demon Masters also started to increase by hundreds and thousands of times.


    "It''s now¡­ Connect!"


    Demon Master Seven Spirits had an aggressive expression as he pointed with one finger.


    His finger shockingly changed midair like a pillar soaring into the sky. Many faces appeared in the surroundings and lit up in the middle of the array.


    Screech!


    The next instant, with a horrifying screech, the bloody fog billowed and the surrounding void suddenly changed.


    Faintly, an indistinct illusion of a world appeared.


    Mental Demon Realm!


    "Success!"


    Erag and the other Demon Masters were ecstatic.


    "Succeeded?"


    Fang Yuan''s heart was cold instead. According to what Ancient Netherworld said, there''s only a twenty to thirty percent chance of success for this array. To be able to encounter this, is this considered lucky or unlucky?


    "Don''t be sluggish! It''s just an illusion!" Demon Master Seven Spirits roared. "We also progressed to this stage last time, and in the end, everything was in vain. We can''t make the same mistake!


    "Mother Realm¡­ A wanderer separated from you pleads with you to open a channel and let your horrors once again descend into this world!"


    Demon Master Seven Spirits continuously chanted and then tore with his hands.


    "Origin power!"


    At this instant, the aura of the origin power exploded from all of the Demon Masters and converged into a point. "Channel¡­ open!"


    Kaboom!


    The void trembled and a pitch-black channel immediately formed. It was not an illusion but was something tangible, and it settled down within the Mental Demon Battlefield.


    Thump!


    Shortly after, there was a loud sound.


    The channel became stagnant and innumerable cracks appeared around it.


    This situation was as if an immensely powerful existence was currently on the other side of the channel and wanted to come over forcefully.


    This indescribable, endlessly horrifying aura instantly caused all of the Demon Masters to be stunned. "Demon God?! A Demon God is about to descend?!"


    ¡­


    "Damn it!"


    At an unknown time, the Heaven Palace forces had already reached the Myriad Thunder Plain.


    The War King focused on this bloody fog, his face completely black. "This group of demons are already trying to communicate with the Mental Demon Realm. Why didn''t we receive any news previously?


    "All Ancient Gods, work together with me. We can''t let a Demon God descend once again!"


    As he spoke, the nine purple Dragon Qis appeared beside him and viciously leapt toward the bloody fog channel.


    "Attack!"


    Encountering such a situation, even Duke Merit''s eyes turned red. "I originally thought that the King was making a mountain out of a molehill, but it seems that we all have the crime of oversight. Even death can not atone for this offense, and we must atone for this crime by doing good deeds!"


    "Block them!" Erag and Kun Ang shouted out loud at the same time.


    Regarding this, all of the Demon Masters were caught unprepared.


    In fact, the success of the sacrifice was also unexpected to them.


    And some Demon Masters had had the idea of making use of the instant when the channel was opened to directly leave this perilous Mental Demon Battlefield and head toward the Mental Demon Realm for freedom.


    After all, within the Spiritual Realm, they were trapped on the purple star and could not even perform the most basic movements of entering or leaving.


    However, it was unexpected that when the channel opened, a Demon God could no longer wait and wanted to transfer over.


    With someone blocking on the other side, these Demon Masters were all involved and should not even think about escaping.Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting.


    Kaboom!


    The Ancient God and the Demon Masters exerted their full strength, and the aura of the origin power spread everywhere, turning the surface of the Myriad Thunder Plain into an unrecognizable state.


    The War King took the lead and charged to the periphery of the channel.


    "Break for me!"


    He took one blow from a Demon Master, but his hands violently pressed down in the direction of the channel.


    "Swallow!"


    "Swallow!!"


    "Swallow!!!"


    The next instant, there seemed to be a pit in the air as the War King''s power surged in and disappeared.


    Furthermore, a huge mouth with sharp and aggressive teeth had already appeared in front of the channel.


    "It''s him!" Fang Yuan retreated a step, a look of fear in his eyes. "Infinite Devourer?!"


    It was rumored that this Demon God''s Great Dao was ''Devouring''. He could practically bite off the hardest thing in the world and rapidly digest it.


    Furthermore, his devouring was not on the same level as Kun Ang''s small-scale devouring.


    The War King was stunned and wanted to continue attacking, but the next instant, he saw his own body in shock.


    Originally, his expression and demeanor were sophisticated and prim.


    But at this moment, his forehead had lines of wrinkles appear, his fine hair turned white snow, and his back stooped down, causing him to instantly become an elderly person.


    "My vitality¡­ has been devoured?"


    In utter astonishment, he retreated rapidly.


    "The Infinite Devourer devours a concept! Fate, longevity, energy, divine spirits¡­ even¡­ void and time!"


    Fang Yuan looked at this scene with a trace of astonishment on his face.


    Of course, Ancient Gods had the same lifespan as the heavens and the earth, but their power and vitality could similarly be devoured, as well as their appearances and senses.


    "If not for the difference in aura, I nearly regarded it as that existence who deprived Dream Masters of their Dao path¡­"


    This Demon God''s aura emitted outward and had a coercion that was truly on the same level as an Emperor to the Ancient Gods here!


    Under such a mighty oppression, many Ancient Gods retreated, looking at the Mental Demon channel in horror.


    Over there, not only did a huge, black mouth appear, half a body was also exposed!


    ¡­


    Heavenly Court, Massive Heavenly Cycle Stellar Array.


    "Damn¡­ why hasn''t that Lord Mountain River started?"


    Heavenly Consort Yun Xiang looked the faint starlight of the array with a calm expression, but a trace of worry appeared in her heart. "Seems that¡­ that hidden hand didn''t create much of an effect. Perhaps I should add fuel to the fire and directly expose his identity?"


    Kaboom!


    But at this moment, the entire array shook and erupted into a dazzling brilliance. A black Qi pillar could be faintly observed charging out.


    Yun Xiang carefully sensed, and then her expression became dumbstruck.


    "This is¡­ a Demon God?! No¡­ it''s the Mental Demon Realm. A channel has once again been opened!"

 771 Seal Breaking

    In the heart of the Massive Heavenly Array, near the giant gate that connects the Mental Demon Battlefield and the Spiritual Realm.


    The faces of many Stellar Lords changed. "Your Majesty!"


    At the core of what they were surrounding and protecting, a great existence was slowly rising.


    He seemed to be wrapped in a layer of colorful brilliance, and his appearance could not be seen clearly. Only a pair of purple eyes was exposed, giving others a sense that he was looking down at everyone.


    The heavens and the earth were impartial; they treated all living things dispassionately!


    This God stood there as if he was the incarnation of heaven''s will.


    He was the master of the Heavenly Court and an Emperor?¡ªthe first Celestial Thearch of the Spiritual Realm.


    "The Mental Demons have a change!" muttered the Celestial Thearch as his figured disappeared with a burst of light.


    On the Myriad Thunder Plain.


    "Swallow!"


    Even though it had only revealed half a mouth, all of the Ancient Gods and Demon Masters were terrified.


    Fang Yuan sensed an appetite ten times more greedy and tyrannical than Demon Master Kun Ang''s emitting from the large mouth.


    Zap! Zap!


    A funnel seemed to appear in the sky as lightning condensed into a mesh-like structure. It then transformed into a descending incandescent light pillar that was completely swallowed up by the huge mouth.


    Ultimately, the Infinite Devourer passed through the channel, and the first thing it did was to bite viciously.


    Crack!


    The sky trembled and many dark clouds instantly disappeared.


    A huge chunk from one of the three perilous lands of the Mental Demon Battlefield was actually directly bitten off by it.


    Everything could be devoured!


    "Such a Dao path¡­ is indeed unreasonably merciless! Especially when it''s been cultivated to Demon God. It''s simply a catastrophe to other worlds!"


    Fang Yuan sighed quietly as he looked at the void once again.


    After the lightning and the sky had been devoured, the appearance of the entire Myriad Thunder Plain changed greatly and a hidden space was opened up. Purple thunderbolts converged to form a tangible prison.


    "The place where the sealed Demon God is!"


    Fang Yuan mumbled, recognizing what it was.


    On the Myriad Thunder Plain, there was one Demon God sealed, who was also the one that transmitted the method of sacrifice so that the Demon Masters could communicate with the Mental Demon Realm.


    Before this, no matter how much the Demon Masters had searched through the plain, they could not find any traces of the seal.


    Only with an Emperor-rank existence could such an arrangement be easily broken.


    "Haha¡­ you came. Very good¡­ quickly let me out!" A thunderous voice directly rang out from the hidden space. "Below my seal, there''s also the origin power that was left behind by the Mental Demon Realm. If you like it, you can take all of it!"


    Aw! Aw!


    Evidently, this Demon God was very knowledgeable about the personality of the Infinite Devourer and directly used this as a temptation.


    The Infinite Devourer roared and opened its huge mouth, biting towards the space.


    "Return!"


    At this moment, a gentle voice arrived with a flash of light.


    Although the voice was gentle, it was like thunder when it landed in everyone''s ears.


    Thump!


    The huge black mouth retreated and started disintegrating.


    An imposing figure emerged high in the sky as a remote hand pressed down!


    Kaboom!


    A giant palm violently pressed down on the Mental Demon channel and sealed it.


    There were indistinct, infuriated roars from the other side of the channel, but everything was to no avail.


    "Your Majesty, Celestial Thearch!" The War King and the others were relieved yet embarrassed as they knelt and confessed to their wrongdoings. "It was our dereliction of duty!"


    "This is the Celestial Thearch? The strongest in the Spiritual Realm?"


    Fang Yuan restrained himself and hid among the Demon Masters such as Erag. However, he was not too afraid.


    After all, the Infinite Devourer was also a Demon God and would not fail so easily.


    Crack!


    Its huge black mouth disintegrated into pieces, but a black figure seemed to appear in the void behind it.


    This black figure seemed to exist in this world yet simultaneously seemed to not. It was alone within the void with the dazzling scenery of a nebula behind it. A giant, black meatball resembling a star moved with innumerable huge mouths growing on it.Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting.


    With one look, it could suffocate an ordinary cultivator, who could even be infected by its insanity and chaos before plummeting into the demonic path.


    This was a true Demon God?¡ªthe true body of the Infinite Devourer!


    "Swallow!!!"


    An intense thought exuded from the Infinite Devourer.


    In an instant, the surrounding void stagnated and shattered like glass soon after.


    Cracks resembling spiderwebs continuously spread and quickly reached the top of the prison created by thunderbolts.


    Evidently, even a Demon God had no confidence in contending against the Celestial Thearch within the Spiritual realm!


    Thus, this Infinite Devourer immediately chose to release his ally.


    "You dare!"


    The Celestial Thearch''s voice was calm as he pointed with his finger.


    The void was soothed and all of the cracks instantly disappeared. Conversely, the galaxy existing within the black meatball quivered in that instant. A huge, indomitable finger appeared and landed on the flesh ball that resembled a planet.


    Thump!


    The flesh ball trembled violently, and a huge crater appeared.


    This Demon God level existence actually suffered an injury by a single finger of the Celestial Thearch''s?


    "I can''t understand¡­"


    The Demon Masters, including Fang Yuan, were all speechless. Furthermore, they discovered that they basically could not comprehend a fight at a realm higher than a Demon Master.


    "Although the Dao of Devouring is unreasonable, it''s not an opponent for my Heavenly Dao!


    "The Heavenly Dao take from what has in excess in order to make good what is deficient¡­ The moon waxes only to wane, and water brims only to overflow!"


    The Celestial Thearch was neither too fast nor too slow as he spoke calmly with the natural majesty of a superior.


    "Keke!"


    At this moment, a black shadow suddenly appeared behind him.


    Nobody was able to notice this shadow previously, and even the Celestial Thearch did not detect any traces of it. It had been silently hiding like a crouching dragon, and at this moment, it directly leapt into the sky. It was shockingly also a Demon God!


    Thump!


    A brilliance flickered and the Celestial Thearch''s silhouette seemed to sway. The colorful lights vibrated and revealed his true appearance.


    If the War King could be said to have a magnificent appearance, the Celestial Thearch had an even more impressive appearance. It was unmatched by anyone throughout the heavens and the earth. He seemed to converge all of the honorable Qi in the heavens and the earth and wore a long robe with an emperor''s crown. At the moment, the pearls on his crown seemed slightly disordered. "I heard¡­ there''s a Demon God from the Mental Demon Realm that specializes in the Dao of the Void and the nothingness of everything who is known as the ''Lord of the Void''. Seeing him today, he certainly lives up to his name!"


    Upon hearing the name of this Lord of the Void, Fang Yuan''s mind suddenly quivered as he automatically grasped some information.


    "The Lord of the Void is most proficient in concealment¡­ Demon Gods at the same level are unable to notice him, and his methods are unparalleled¡­ Unexpectedly, at the same time as the Infinite Devourer arrived, the Lord of the Void also infiltrated. Even the Celestial Thearch did not notice this, allowing them to seize an opportunity in battle!"


    One Demon God was still within the control of the Celestial Thearch, but when two Demon Gods appeared, the Celestial Thearch''s face somewhat changed.


    "The Spiritual Realm is inevitable a possession of the Mental Demons!"


    The black shadow seemed to have no tangible body, but he continued to strongly attract everyone''s attention. "The second invasion has started!"


    Thump!


    He opened his arms as his shadow expanded to its limits and suddenly exploded soon after.


    Aw! Aw!


    At this time, the Mental Demons of the entire Mental Demon Battlefield seemed to have something additional in their bodies as they raised their heads and let out an earth-shattering roar.


    "This Demon God''s technique is myriad division?!"


    Fang Yuan''s face contorted, knowing that this Mental Demon was indeed strange and had no tangible form. At the moment, it had divided into billions of chaotic thoughts and infiltrated the bodies of all the living beings on the Mental Demon Battlefield.


    Only those at the level of an Ancient God and Demon Master, who were constantly wary and taking precautions, were not infiltrated. Otherwise, there would be endless problems in the future.


    "With a mere decree, the mountains can be shifted and the seas can be filled. What does contaminating the Mental Demon Battlefield matter as? After disposing of these Demon Gods, the Demonic Spirits on this battlefield can be exterminated with a wave of the hand!"


    As an Emperor and the master of the Heavenly Court, the Celestial Thearch definitely had such confidence and power.


    However, the Infinite Devourer and the Lord of the Void would obviously not agree with this statement.


    Innumerable black Qi accumulated to form silhouettes and attack the Celestial Thearch together with the meat mountain.


    In an instant, another two rays of strong light appeared and attacked the thunderbolt cage and Mental Demon channel, the two most crucial places.


    Kaboom!


    With a loud explosion, the palm suppressing the channel shattered.


    The Mental Demon channel charged toward the sky and replaced the canopy of the heavens. Large amounts of Mental Demon power poured downward, washing down just like the waterfall of a long river.


    If this Mental Demon Battlefield were to change to any part of the Spiritual Realm, it would undergo a massive demonization, putting all living beings in pain and misery.


    In contrast to this, the thunderbolt cage in that hidden space underwent a major transformation.


    Rays of thunderbolt pillars disintegrated as a pair of towering green hands clung onto the space cracks, which were expanding fiercely.


    Rumbling noises echoed throughout the heavens and the earth.


    "Haha¡­ Finally¡­ escaping!"


    This Demon God who had been sealed for many years was finally escaping his cage!


    With the destruction of the seal, a rich origin power aura abruptly spread.


    This was the origin power left behind by the invasion of the Mental Demons that year. It had always been sealed in the core of the Mental Demon Battlefield and was closely linked to the three major seals.


    Together with a seal breaking, the origin power was suddenly exposed.


    Aw! Aw!


    Kun Ang''s eyes were slightly blood-red, and he nearly could not control his desire to leap forward like a maniac.


    However, he did not dare to act, unlike the Infinite Devourer.


    "Swallow!!!"


    As the will was breaking out, the original sealed space thoroughly disintegrated.


    Soon afterward, nine shimmering stars broke out from within the seal like meteors covered in purple light.


    "Origin power!?"


    Fang Yuan''s heart moved. There are exactly nine drops!


    One drop of origin power could cause an entire world in the lower realms to undergo a massive transformation. So what did nine drops represent?


    If they were obtained by ordinary Demon Spirits and digested, nine existences at the Demon Master rank could be created. It was something that all the Demon Masters and Demon Gods desired!


    "Celestial Thearch, you''ve failed!"


    The Lord of the Void made use of the mouths of numerous demons and roared, "We have three Demon Gods, but you are alone¡­ After sweeping the entire battlefield, we will immediately destroy the Massive Heavenly Cycle Stellar Array and inflict huge damage to the vitality of your Heavenly Court!"


    "Who told you that I''m alone?" asked the Celestial Thearch.


    Kaboom!


    As he finished speaking, a few existences suddenly appeared on the scene. One of them wore a yellowish brown emperor attire with the scenery of mountains and rivers on it, while the other three had the style of Immortals. Each had undergone many difficulties, each had the same lifespan as the heavens and the earth, and each were unable to be estimated.

 772 Chase

    The situation on the Mental Demon Battlefield suddenly changed!


    The Demon God who was originally sealed and released by the Infinite Devourer and the Lord of the Void was the third Emperor-rank existence. The three of them were sufficient to fight against the Celestial Thearch, and even obtain total victory.


    After all, even though the Celestial Thearch was superior by half a rank and was considered the strongest within the Spiritual Realm, he would still be unable to resist the siege of a few Demon Gods!


    However, in that instant, the situation on the battlefield reversed!


    A Divine Dao Emperor and three Zenith Heavens appeared at the same time.


    "Excellency Mount Mang? Three from the immortal sects!"


    A voice containing restrained fear came from the Lord of the Void.


    These were Spiritual Realm existences at the same level as a Demon God, and each of them could battle against a Demon God!


    However, what he could not understand was that these four lived far apart from each other and seldom bothered with matters, so how did they gather so quickly?


    "The Spiritual Realm refining the Mental Demon Battlefield is already the general trend. Using this opportunity to further attract a few Demon Gods was an unexpected and pleasant surprise!" said the Celestial Thearch lightly, snapping his fingers. Nevertheless, there was a courageous and casual confidence in his tone. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting.


    "Since we were able to seal those Demon Gods that year, we can naturally seal all of you this time! Heavenly Cycle Stellar Array!" he shouted loudly. A shimmering brilliance from the stars scattered from the sky and sealed the channel, even locking up the two Demon Gods and Void''s incarnation.


    "Devourer, Void¡­ Damn¡­ this was a trap!" The escaped Demon God became pale with fear. "How dare you, Celestial Thearch. You actually want to make all of us remain here! No¡­ don''t think about sealing me once again!"


    Evidently, the Heavenly Court had managed to obtain prior intelligence to be able to plan and arrange in advance.


    At this moment, helpers appeared and an array enveloped the place. Clearly, they wanted to completely defeat them in one fell swoop and make the Mental Demon Realm fail spectacularly without achieving anything. This was a vicious retaliation for their previous invasion.


    Fang Yuan had definitely played a part in this.


    Of course, if these Emperor-rank big shots knew that he was mingling in the Mental Demon camp at this moment, they would unhesitatingly kill him with a slap.


    To the Celestial Thearch and the Zenith Heavens, Fang Yuan was currently a Demon Master from the Mental Demon Realm and would not be missed even if he died!


    Kaboom!


    The next moment, starlight burst and the heavens and the earth changed.


    How terrifying would the might of five Emperors and Zenith Heavens simultaneously attacking be?


    And how much bravery should these three Demon Gods have as they struggled with all their might at the brink of death?


    Fang Yuan did not know any of this, as the pervasive starlight had already completely separated him from their battlefield.


    Each of the movements of such an existence brought about a tremendous impact. If a fight concerning life and death were to break out, the entire Mental Demon Battlefield would perhaps collapse.


    This could cause Demon God Ancient Netherworld God to escape, or perhaps cause some things sealed in the Extreme East Dark Mystic Ocean to escape once again. This would be a genuine chaotic upheaval!


    "Run!"


    After the Emperors started fighting, the Demon Masters looked at each other. Erag directly transformed into a streak of shadow and descended into the depths of the ground, instantly disappearing without a trace.


    Whatever had happened just now was truly too shocking.


    After communicating and connecting with the Mental Demon, two Demon Gods immediately came over?


    And the Heavenly Court had already made prior preparations, and a total of five Emperors and Zenith Heavens arrived to suppress the situation?


    For such a massive vortex, even if they were Demon Masters that could control origin power, being slightly drawn into the vortex would only mean death.


    Thus, after seeing that the Emperors did not seem to have any thoughts about causally squashing them to death like ants, Erag''s first thought was to escape! Entirely leave this place! The faster the better!


    "That''s my treasure! Mine!" Kun Ang roared as its huge toad body suddenly chased after the origin power like lightning.


    "Under the orders of the Celestial Thearch, we have come forward to assist the War King in capturing the Demon Masters!"


    After a bit, a torrent of starlight descended and revealed seven Ancient Gods. Each of them had vast and great magical powers.


    "Thank you!"


    The War King was immediately ecstatic.


    The Demon Masters'' combat powers were astoundingly strong, but with the assistance of these Stellar Lords and the Massive Heavenly Cycle Stellar Array, it was enough.


    ¡­


    "Now!"


    Fang Yuan also rapidly chased after the origin power.


    Furthermore, he was one notch faster than Demon Master Kun Ang.


    Now that the situation had progressed to this stage, even though it was mostly within his expectations, it was still somewhat astonishing.


    After all, any Emperor or Demon God was far more powerful than a Demon Master.


    If the Celestial Thearch and the other Immortals and Gods dealing with the Demon Gods were to casually pass by them once earlier, it was likely that no Demon Master would have the confidence of being able to survive until now.


    Fortunately¡­ it''s still currently considered a success, and I don''t need to use the backup plan!


    He looked up at the Mental Demon channel sealed by the starlight as a mysterious look appeared in his eyes.


    Buzz Buzz!


    Once he entered the range of origin power, a strong power of repulsion came with a horrifying power of destruction.


    If an ordinary cultivator were to come near, they would have died without a burial site.


    Of course, the small amount of origin power dissipating was nothing to Fang Yuan now


    With his rapid speed, three drops of purple origin power had already landed in his hands.


    "Kun Ang!" Just as he stopped, an infuriated roar immediately came from behind. "Mine¡­ all the origin power is mine!"


    Many small toads appeared on Kun Ang''s toad back. Light spit out from their mouths as numerous rays of light fused together as one, penetrating the Chaos Giant in an instant.


    "You were fooled with merely an illusion, Kun Ang. I am truly sorry for your intelligence¡­"


    Fang Yuan''s figure walked out from a silhouette from the side and directly swallowed the three drops of origin power without a concern. "Dao of Creation, accept the origin power!"


    A drop of origin power could transform a world and produce numerous completely new species. It was something that Fang Yuan had barely refined after spending a lot of effort and by relying on a world.


    However, he was already at the origin power realm and had further deduced his own origin power path.


    Most importantly, he had the extremely fantastical Black Source Pearl inside his body!!


    As the three origin power drops entered his mouth, the Black Source Pearl excitedly produced a rumble, voluntarily swallowing the drops and then spitting them back out, as if it was assisting him in refining them.


    With just a short instant, the three drops of origin power were completely digested and Fang Yuan''s Chaos Giant figure enlarged. He became a head taller, and the dark purple patterns on his body became more conspicuous while the armor formed had an additional dignity to it.


    "Kun Ang!"


    Seeing Fang Yuan take away the three drops of origin power and continuing to fight with the Demon Masters, Kun Ang was infuriated and opened his mouth. Numerous dark red bullets grazed past Fang Yuan''s armor.


    Pa! Pa!


    Such an attack only caused a few deep marks on Fang Yuan''s armor, which instantly repaired itself.


    In fact, this was not only the case between Fang Yuan and Kun Ang.


    Nearly all of the Demon Masters were in a state of chaos and fighting over the origin power.


    Stemming from some unknown aim, those Ancient Gods merely surrounded them without attacking.


    "Disperse quickly!"


    Nine Heads held a drop of origin power in his hand, but he did not absorb it.


    Even for an existence like him, refining origin power was not something that could be done in a day.


    Not everyone was like Fang Yuan, who could control the power of creation and had this precious Black Source Pearl.


    If an ordinary Demon Master were to risk refining origin power while their companions were eyeing covetously, with the possibility of Ancient Gods besieging them at any time, they were probably already sick of living.


    "You''re courting death!" Fang Yuan turned around and looked at the huge toad. "Today, you will die here!"


    At this moment, he finally got rid of all his disguises as his eyes released a strong and irreducible desire to kill.


    ¡­


    Extreme East Dark Mystic Ocean.


    This place, together with the Myriad Thunder Plain and the Bottomless Blood Abyss, were the three perilous lands. However, it was somewhat unworthy of its name.


    There were Demon Gods sealed in the other two perilous lands!


    This place only buried the remains and magical equipment of a few Demon Gods, but its seal was similarly not weak.


    The Demon Masters guarding this place were named ''Yin'' and ''Yang''. They had very unique names and immensely bizarre methods.


    Furthermore, they were rare Demon Masters who had human appearances and figures!


    At the moment, the posture of these two Demon Masters was extremely weird.


    They were respectfully kneeling in front of an altar and holding a blood-red pearl. "Master¡­"


    Whoosh! Whoosh!


    In the center of the altar, there seemed to be a living being that sucked once and the blood pearl descended.


    Crack!


    The sound of chewing beans rang out, and then a shrill cry was faintly heard.


    "Lord of the Void, aren''t you fighting with the Celestial Thearch? Why did you come to find me? Go away!"


    "Master¡­ Your subordinates did not find the concealed thoughts within the prey. We deserve death!"


    Seeing this scene, the two Demon Masters, Yin and Yang, hurriedly knelt, apologizing for their offenses while prostrating.


    "Void demonic thoughts are hidden on all sentient beings and are still being impeded by the Massive Heavenly Cycle Stellar Array. Otherwise, the Lord of the Void could immediately place these demonic thoughts within them, and that would be truly troublesome¡­ I won''t blame you for this."


    A soft and young voice suddenly came from the center of the altar.


    Upon closer look, it was a just-born human infant with skin and a small face that were wrinkled.


    As he was swallowing the bloody fog, his body was also growing bigger.


    After the blood-red fog was completely consumed, he already looked like a seven or eight year old child. He looked toward the Myriad Thunder Plain and shook his head.


    "I am not the reincarnation of the Demon God, but a manifestation agglomerated by the entanglement of many resentment thoughts after a few Demon Gods died¡­ Unfortunately, my current ability is still unable to interfere in a battle of this level¡­"


    Although this existence had the appearance of a child, his manner of speaking was world-shaking.


    What was more astonishing was that Demon Master Yin and Demon Master Yang were kneeling on the ground respectfully, as if they were very much in approval of the opinion of this strange existence.


    Rather than saying that they were in approval, it would be better to say they were very loyal to their master and would unhesitatingly die if they were commanded to, which was very frightening.


    "Nevertheless, Demon Gods cannot be fatally injured¡­ My true foundation similarly requires Mental Demon origin power to supplement."


    This young child who was previously a giant infant made up his mind.


    If the ambush of the Heavenly Court was a great success, the next thing they would do was definitely to sweep through the entire Mental Demon Battlefield.


    Not considering other factors, his small secret would certainly be discovered, and the best outcome would be him being considered a Demon God and then sealed until death.

 773 Unforeseen Even

    A number of Demon Gods had died in the Extreme East Dark Mystic Ocean.


    But at the moment, another unique existence was born from the remains and grievances of these Demon Gods, directly bypassing the seal to arrive at the Mental Demon Battlefield.


    This was an almighty being that Demon God Ancient Netherworld had not known about!


    The playful Demon God put his hands behind his back and looked at the battlefield while commenting with a proud air of seniority. "This time, the Heavenly Court was already prepared and resolutely set up an ambush. That Demon God has been sealed for many years, so even if he escapes his cage, he won''t escape the outcome of remaining a prisoner. The Infinite Devourer is also very mysterious, while the Lord of the Void has a fifty percent chance of escaping¡­


    "The only issue is that although he placed his demonic thoughts on all of the Demon Spirits in the Mental Demon Battlefield, when the Celestial Thearch starts interfering with this situation, he''ll definitely utilize the Massive Heavenly Cycle Stellar Array to refine the entire Mental Demon Battlefield and strengthen the seal, clearing up all the hidden dangers. Hence, he can''t escape while it''s still early or the consequences will be dire¡­ Instead, that Mental Demon channel is somewhat odd, as well as the Heavenly Court!"


    As an observer, he could see everything clearly and notice many things. A trace of regret appeared on his face. "If I had more time, I wouldn''t need to do something so drastic like this. I would still be able to subdue more Demon Masters, swallow the two sealed Demon Gods secretly, and gather the origin power from the core into one body. Even the Celestial Thearch wouldn''t be my opponent. What a pity! What a pity!"


    With a wave of his hand, a long black robe appeared on his body. "Hmm¡­ from today forth, I am a new Demon God named Li Hen!!!"


    "Yes, Master!"


    At his side, two Demon Masters were dead set on being unswerving in their loyalty. If this was witnessed by other Demon Masters, they would definitely be streaming cold sweat.


    As Demon Masters, they naturally set their first priority as forming their own Great Dao and stepping into the Demon God realm.


    If they were controlled and became a slave like this, they would rather die.


    ¡­


    Thump!


    Starlight exploded. Erag, who ran the fastest earlier, was immediately forced to return, similar to the other Demon Masters.


    More than ten Ancient Gods slowly closed in and formed a giant circle to surround them. "There''s no need to struggle anymore. The main stellar power of the Massive Stellar Array has been transferred by His Majesty to suppress the Demon Gods. This is the remaining, but it''s not something that any of you can break free from!"


    This was also the reason why they were so calm earlier.


    It did not matter to them if these Demon Masters fought each other for origin power.


    After all, even if they obtained it, they still needed time to refine origin power!


    Otherwise, it was equivalent to having an additional burden.


    They planned on letting these Demon Masters fight internally and mutually exhaust each other to the extent that they could no longer work together. Then, using the combined strength of more than ten Ancient Gods and the array, they would close in on them. This would achieve a great victory while reducing injuries to a minimum.


    Any crafty plots or machinations that had ascended to their level seemed to somewhat return to its natural state and become grand overt schemes.


    "Kun Ang!"


    With the Ancient Gods surrounding them, the other Demon Gods had already stopped. Only the Chaos Giant that was Fang Yuan and Demon Master Kun Ang continued to go at it back and forth in an earth-shattering manner.


    "Hey! Truly acting recklessly¡­ This Demon Master Kun Ang has some problems with his disposition and occasionally goes insane, but this Dream Demon giant is purely an idiot!" the War King indifferently criticized, and then he looked at the ancient Stellar Gods beside him. "Later, the three of you will just need to defeat the other Demon Masters. Leave this giant to me!"


    Evidently, he was preparing to kill Fang Yuan with his own hands in order to clear away the humiliation from that day when his subordinate, Black Dragon, was killed.


    "Don''t worry!"


    The three Stellar Gods, who were always respectfully treated by the War King, exuded intense soldierly Qi containing an unparalleled swiftness and ferocity, as if they were not any inferior to a King Ancient God.


    There are many stars in the heavens, but there were only a few which were truly vast and incomparably horrifying.


    Other than stars like the Moon and the Emperor, the ones with the higher combat strength were three malignant stars¡ªDestruction, Greedy Wolf, and Sevenfor visiting.


    "If we don''t agree, does that mean you''ll still devour us?" asked the Death Head of the Life-and-Death Crow loudly.


    "This¡­ how could that be?" Fang Yuan smiled vibrantly, but the chaotic Four Symbols on his hand did not weaken at all.


    ¡­


    Bottomless Blood Abyss.


    Demon God Li Hen opened the secret area and arrived at where Demon God Ancient Netherworld was sealed. He looked at the giant blood-red face. "Ancient Netherworld¡­ you want to escape?"


    Ancient Netherworld glanced at Demon God Li Hen and said indifferently, "Your body¡­ has the aura of a few fellows I hate, but you''re not them!"


    "Those existences have already disappeared with time. From now on, there''s only me, Demon God Li Hen!" said the mischievous Demon God audaciously. "Now¡­ do you want to come out?"


    "You want to devour me?" The giant blood-red face of the Ancient Netherworld stared at Li Hen and then suddenly laughed. "You''re not afraid of being devoured by me instead?"


    "That''s because we have no other choice¡­ After the Celestial Thearch wipes out the other Demon Gods, he''ll definitely cleanse the entire Mental Demon Battlefield¡­ Time is limited, and no matter who devours who between you and I, there must be one person who can reach for the peak once again. Only then would there be hope¡­ Do you dare gamble?"


    "What do you think?"


    Demon God Ancient Netherworld laughed loudly as many blood bubbles exploded open. A dark red brilliance instantly permeated the entire secret area.


    "Come out¡­"


    The eyes of Demon God Li Hen were scorching hot as he tore with both hands. The ground automatically split like flesh and blood. And vaguely, an immensely huge silhouette could be seen.


    This was the true body of Demon God Ancient Netherworld!


    Outside the secret area of the Blood Abyss, Demon Masters Yin and Yang resembled sculptures as they stood still without moving, as if they were silently waiting for something.


    At this moment, on the battlefield, Fang Yuan looked inside his body and felt that the Black Source Pearl was slightly starting to revolt. His eyes grew dark. "Demon God¡­ Ancient Netherworld!"These are all stars from the Zi Wei Dou Shu, a form of Chinese fortune-telling.

 774 Breakou

    The Black Source Pearl was an exotic treasure of origin power. It was something that was snatched by Heavenly Consort Yun Xiang from external realms after painstaking effort to break the seal on Demon God Ancient Netherworld.


    After Fang Yuan had refined and secretly employed some methods, he could slightly sense the seal on Demon God Ancient Netherworld.


    At this moment, it started to vibrate. Undoubtedly, this meant that something unpleasant was happening.


    "Demon God Ancient Netherworld¡­ has escaped!"


    He was slightly stunned, but not too astonished.Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting.


    After all, he could not control everything.


    Encountering two invasions by the Mental Demon Realm, the trap by the Heavenly Court, and the massive array created by the combined efforts of many Gods and Emperors, a mere Demon Master would not be able to do everything flawlessly.


    "Once Ancient Netherworld escapes the seal, there''ll be gaps in the Heavenly Court''s ambush¡­ Of course, what is most important is that he may not let me go!"


    As for the credibility of this Demon God, Fang Yuan did not have any hopes for it.


    Not to mention, he had ruthlessly taken away something from him previously. Even if they were to work together in the slightest sense, they would always be trying to cheat and deceive each other.


    It was completely within reasonable expectations if any party were to backstab the other.


    "One sentence can determine if we''re enemies or allies!"


    At this time, a chaos illusion appeared behind him and coldly gazed at the few Demon Masters facing him.


    "Dream Demon¡­ You!"


    The Hydra shot out looks of hatred from all eighteen of his eyes. He suddenly opened his mouth, and two purple stars flew toward Fang Yuan.


    Evidently, these Demon Masters did not dare continue their internal strife.


    "Very well¡­ Dream Demon, this is your decision!"


    "I hope that next time, we won''t become enemies!"


    The two heads of the crow muttered as they also surrendered their origin power.


    To them, although origin power was something good, it still needed a long time to refine. During this life-and-death crisis, they naturally did not have much time.


    "If you can''t bring us along to leave this place¡­ Even if I''m annihilated by the Gods of the Heavenly Court, I''ll still kill you!"


    Erag''s voice was harsh and sounded like she was cursing him.


    An ordinary person would be possessed by a curse after seeing her body and hearing her voice, even if it was done unintentionally, and would die a horrible death.


    "No problem!"


    With a gulp, Fang Yuan swallowed the drops of origin power and had an inexplicable feeling of satisfaction. "Truly¡­ amazing. What a great success!"


    This time, he came to the Mental Demon Battlefield only wanting to devour some origin power to enhance his Demon Master realm.


    At the moment, not only had he obtained the path beyond Demon Master, he had even obtained the Mental Demon realm traversing technique. He was also able to devour a lot of origin power, and this could totally be considered a landslide victory for him.


    He transferred the power of creation together with the Black Source Pearl and crazily refined the origin power.


    There are a total of nine drops of origin power here. In addition to the ones from Kun Ang, Green Damask, and my own, there are thirteen drops of origin power!


    Although there was no mistake in his calculation, Fang Yuan realized that he had not reached the 13-Essence Demon Master realm.


    Furthermore, he did not even reach 10-Essence Demon Master.


    It seemed as if there was a huge chasm in front of him.


    "Among Demon Masters, it is indeed separated into various ranks, just like how there are Dukes and Kings within Ancient Gods."


    Fang Yuan had some comprehensions in his mind, becoming more excited.


    After ascending to 9-Essence Demon Master, he already seemed able to see his own ''Dao'' agglomerating.


    These were all of his insights, containing a sense of creation and endlessness. They were like faintly discernible wisps of mist that would disappear in the next instant.


    "The Dao of Dream Master! The Dao of Creation!" Fang Yuan was lost in thought. "The moment my Dao is thoroughly consolidated to completion, I can break through to Demon God!


    "The higher the level of a Demon Master, the more likely they''ll sense their own ''Dao path''! Of course, they need to painstakingly cultivate to successfully form the Dao of Creation. But how difficult is that? Hence¡­ they must plunder the myriad worlds!"


    Fang Yuan could somewhat understand why the Mental Demon Realm was so frenzied previously. On the one hand, the world was forced to and it was involuntary; on the other hand, it was a requirement for it itself to be promoted.


    "Dream Masters bring major harm to everything under the heavens, while Demon Spirits bring death to worlds and planes!"


    Fang Yuan sighed and looked at the Ancient Gods who were surrounding them. "War King, you aren''t worthy of being my opponent!"


    "Arrogant!"


    The acupoints on the War King''s entire body opened up and countless Gods, Immortals, and Buddhas appeared. In unison, they chanted incantations that solidified on his body, as if they were forming a golden kasaya.


    Seeing this, Fang Yuan merely raised his palm and slapped.


    Smack!


    How huge was the Chaos Giant that he had morphed into?


    With just a light slap, this Ancient God titled by the Heavenly Court crashed onto the ground like a meteor.


    The power of 9-Essence was equivalent to the combined offensive strength of nine average Demon Masters merged into one, making it more horrifying.


    The War King had been instantly slapped into the ground. Innumerable cracks appeared around his acupoints like spiderwebs.


    "Ah!"


    "Damn it!"


    "Killing Destruction Wolf!"


    The expressions of the other three Ancient Gods changed as they acted together.


    Three rays of stellar power containing Malignant Qi condensed together and immediately formed a black wolf with a horrifying aura.


    Killing Destruction Wolf!


    With three malignant stars such as Seven Killings, Destruction, and Greedy Wolf as the basis, the array formed was able to accumulate all of the powers of the three Stellar Ancient Gods and could not be blocked by anyone.


    These three Stellar Gods were the oldest Gods. During times of turmoil, they invested in many seeds, and their harvests were also quite bountiful.


    Right now, their extent of power with the world''s natural source was each equivalent to a 3-Essence Demon Master.


    With their combined strength, they were comparable to a 7-Essence or 8-Essence Demon Master.


    The giant black wolf roared. With red eyes, it directly charged at Fang Yuan.


    "Killing Destruction Wolf!?"


    Fang Yuan was unconcerned and grabbed with his hand.


    Each of his fingers seemed to transform into heaven reaching sword pillars that contained incomparably sharp Sword Qi.


    Bang! Bang!


    The Creation Sword Array appeared, and the unparalleled Malignant Qi of the stellar power giant wolf incarnation was slowly worn down after entering the sword array.


    "This Demon¡­ is horrifying!"


    The three Stellar Masters?¡ªSeven Killings, Destruction, and Greedy Wolf?¡ªhad a look of fear appear on their faces.


    "With the Five Elements combined and the chaos of the Four Symbols, Creation Divine Fist!"


    Purple lines continuously spread on Fang Yuan''s body as his aura ascended to its pinnacle. He violently punched the Massive Stellar Array sealing the Demon Masters.


    Rumble!


    An immensely huge fist imprint appeared on the stellar power brilliance as the radiance of the surrounding stars darkened.


    Many cracks spread, and even space was about to shatter and reveal chaos.


    But the next instant, starlight converged and rapidly repaired the damage caused by this blow.


    "It''s no use. Without becoming a Demon God, don''t ever think about breaking this Massive Heavenly Cycle Stellar Array!"


    The War King awkwardly got up from underground. His crown had exploded, and he had a sinister look. "After the Celestial Thearch suppresses those Demon Gods, all of you will die here without a burial!"


    The Celestial Thearch had united with Excellency Mount Mang and had the assistance of another three Zenith Heavens.


    No matter what, it was impossible for there to be any twists and turns when dealing with three Demon Gods.


    Nearly all of the Stellar Gods were this confident.


    "Is it?"


    Seeing this, Fang Yuan suddenly grinned, revealing a mysterious smile.


    Crack! Crack!


    At the location where he punched, cracks spread to a void.


    "That''s¡­ the Mental Demon channel?!"


    The faces of the three Stellar Masters¡ªSeven Killings, Destruction, and Greedy Wolf¡ªdrastically changed.


    Soon after, they saw with astonishment that traces of brilliance were emitting from the channel.


    Fang Yuan''s punch actually seemed to have struck something important, causing this channel to be unsealed and start operating on its own.


    Whoosh!


    Mental Demon power gushed down like a waterfall. Shortly, a pair of large crimson red hands appeared. "Even the separation of planes can''t block me!!!"


    Thump!


    With attacks from both inside and outside, the originally flawless Massive Stellar Array suddenly became stagnant.


    "Now!"


    Fang Yuan''s eyes lit up as a fist landed on the barrier of the Massive Heavenly Cycle Stellar Array.


    Thump!


    This time, there was no more starlight appearing to repair it, and a huge breach appeared.


    Fang Yuan transformed into a beam of rainbow light, rapidly passing through this breach and flying out of the array. In the blink of an eye, he disappeared into the horizon.


    "The array''s been destroyed?"


    "A breach has appeared¡­ quickly run!"


    Although they saw more elders coming over from the Mental Demon Realm, the Demon Masters like Erag had to leave without the slightest hesitation.


    They faintly discovered that their previous plan had been basically exploited.


    Without mentioning the Demon Gods from the Mental Demon Realm, just the Heavenly Court itself had arranged a trap.


    At this time, they truly did not dare to stay behind and continue gambling because they were afraid!


    "Hmm? The seal on the channel has been broken!"


    At this moment, in another area of the battlefield isolated from the two worlds, the figure of Excellency Mount Mang commanding all mountains appeared as he looked at the channel. An immensely huge figure frowned as he pushed with his right hand.


    "Excellency Mount Mang¡­"


    A surge of massive invisible power immediately landed on the channel, pushing back the unwilling existence.


    "Suppress!"


    Excellency Mount Mang went above the channel and pressed down with a single hand.


    Kaboom!


    Earthly energy billowed, as if numerous Spiritual Realm mountains converged and transformed into a palm that tightly blocked off the channel.


    Seeing this, Excellency Mount Mang was worried instead of pleased.


    "This Mental Demon channel has already been modified so that it''s initiated with the other side channeling power over. This is somewhat troublesome¡­"


    A channel that could transfer Demon Gods over was naturally unachievable by the sacrificial offerings of the Demon Masters earlier.


    In fact, everything they had done was just to provide a beacon.


    After that, it was the Demon Gods of the Mental Demon Realm who had completed opening the channel and maintained the energy.


    Furthermore, perhaps the Mental Demon Realm itself had assisted.


    Thus, this channel was very stable. Even if an Emperor wanted to destroy it, time was needed.


    And what the Heavenly Court lacked at this moment was time!


    In particular, the absence of Excellency Mount Mang had created a slight change to the war situation, which originally had a high chance of success.


    "It''s fine. Right now, the most important thing is to seal the channel!"


    Excellency Mount Mang looked at the direction of the few Demon Masters desperately escaping and shook his head.


    If it was a complete Massive Heavenly Cycle Stellar Array, how could it have been breached by a Demon Master? But at this moment, the Celestial Thearch had already borrowed a huge portion of the array''s power, thereby leading to such unfortunate consequences.


    Nevertheless, what he did not know was¡­


    Just as Excellency Mount Mang was busy suppressing and closing the Mental Demon channel¡­


    A young Demon God had already brought Demon Masters Yin and Yang and approached near the battlefield.


    "Two Emperors, three Zenith Heavens, what a big move¡­"


    This Demon God had the appearance of a teenager and was somewhat similar to the previous mischievous lad¡ªit was Demon God Li Hen!


    At this moment, he stood with his hands behind his back and coldly smiled. "Unfortunately¡­ everything is destined to fail!"


    The next instant, he flagrantly acted with world-shaking Demonic Qi!

 775 Lower Realm

    Whoosh whoosh!


    Fang Yuan flew away in strong gusts of wind without looking back, even when the channel was sealed again and the Demon Gods launched a destructive attack.


    "Dream Demon¡­" He suddenly heard a soft voice. "What is your real identity?"


    "Erag, what do you think?"


    Fang Yuan''s expression remained unchanged as he flew onward at lightning speed.


    "We kept an eye on all the Demon Spirits and Demon Generals on the Mental Demon Battlefield who had a chance to advance to Demon Master¡­ but none of them looked like you¡­ Therefore, you must be a traitor from the Gods!"


    Erag was sure of her deduction.


    "Hehe¡­"


    As a Demon Master, it was obviously peculiar of Fang Yuan to head for the Spiritual Realm when he could have gone to the Mental Demon Realm, so he remained silent.


    "All of this doesn''t matter. What matters is¡­ whether you can give us what we want!" The voices of Nine Heads and the Life-and-Death Crow were also heard in the wind.


    "Freedom?" Fang Yuan let out a sigh.


    Demon Masters had definitely hated being confined to the Mental Demon Battlefield, and the freedom they desired was to roam in the Mental Demon Realm.


    At the very least, they had to leave this secluded Mental Demon Battlefield and enjoy the freedom of going anywhere in the Spiritual Realm.


    "If you want to break free, seize the only chance now!" Fang Yuan laughed out loud. "The Emperors are busy suppressing the Demon Gods, leaving behind loopholes in the Massive Heavenly Cycle Stellar Array¡­ When will we have a better chance than now to break through the barrier?"


    From the beginning, he had been rushing toward the Realm Gates.


    "Break through the barrier? All right!" Erag gazed at Fang Yuan. "Your realm is infinitely close to 10-Essence, isn''t it? It''s said that Demon Masters at 10-Essence can see their Dao clearly and make up for their deficiencies to progress to the Demon God realm! And the 11-Essence and 12-Essence realms afterward are no longer predictable by us common Demon Masters¡­"


    "That''s nothing more than a problem about the foundation''s perfection!" Fang Yuan curled his lips.


    The advancement to Demon God was only related to the completeness of their Dao path and did not have much to do with a Demon Master''s strength.


    That was analogous to the difference in foundation between advancing to a Sage from Seventh Tier Illusionary Divine as opposed to Ninth Tier Illusionary Divine.


    Zap! Zap!


    The Demon Masters arrived at the Realm Gates, disregarding the place''s horrible aura.


    They would have encountered the defenses from the Heaven Palace on any other day.


    However, the most powerful Gods of each military division who were supposed to be guarding the gates were now fighting on the Myriad Thunder Plain. A few of them had been badly injured by Fang Yuan, and it was hard for them even to catch up with the Demon Masters.


    "The Mental Demon channel has been suppressed by the Emperors, so there''s no hope for us to escape. The only chance for us to survive is to hide in the Spiritual Realm!"


    If they did not run away while the Emperors were busy with the battle, they would probably never escape.


    All the Demon Masters reached an agreement within a moment.


    Fang Yuan immediately punched the giant Realm Gates with his Chaos Divine Fist.


    Thump!


    The gates shook; numerous cracks emerged on the gates and began to spread.


    "Indeed¡­ Not only is the Celestial Thearch absent from the heart of the array, but many Ancient Gods were deployed to assist the Emperors in the battle as well. How much power could be left in this Massive Heavenly Cycle Stellar Array?"


    The Life-and-Death Crow laughed, sending two powerful waves hitting the gates. At the same time, Nine Heads and Erag each launched an attack as well.


    Rumble!


    The Realm Gates entirely opened up in the deafening noise.


    At this moment, many cultivators in the Spiritual Realm looked up at the sky.


    All of them saw that a purple star, for unknown reasons, suddenly shone so brightly that the green star beside it became almost invisible, stirring up ominous feelings in every cultivator.


    The Heavenly Court.


    Palaces had collapsed and scared spiritual cranes flew off into the sky.


    "What happened?"


    Heavenly Consort Yun Xiang went outside her palace. A suspicious glow flashed in her eyes as she gazed at the continuously changing stellar array.


    "Some Demon Masters forcibly broke through the Realm Gates¡­ They escaped from the battlefield and seem to be heading toward the lower realm!"


    The few Ancient Gods left behind in the Heavenly Court were startled by the scene and frozen in fear.


    "Where''s the Emperor? How could this happen?"


    The Heavenly Consort was secretly pleased, but acted as though she was filled with anger and astonishment.


    "The Emperor is collaborating with other Ancient Gods to seal the Demon Gods¡­ A Mental Demon channel has somehow been opened on the Mental Demon Battlefield¡­ What the¡­"


    The expression of the Heavenly Consort changed constantly when she received the large amount of information.


    The chaos on the Mental Demon Battlefield could help Ancient Netherworld escape, but what about the arrival of beings from the Mental Demon Realm?


    That was not necessarily good news to a sealed Demon God.


    Rumble!


    The Heavenly Court shook again, and the ground cracked.


    The purple silhouettes of a few beings emerged from the sky and immediately turned into giant purple meteors that shot down toward the lower realm.


    All the Heavenly Gods witnessing this scene turned pale. "Demon stars are arriving in the lower realm. Isn''t this the sign of an imminent apocalypse?"


    But there was no time for them to lament.


    Aw! Aw!


    Roar! Roar!


    With the roaring of beasts, an increasing number of Demon Spirits broke through the Realm Gates and began wreaking havoc in the Heavenly Court.


    A common Demon Spirit army would not have been astute enough to seize the chance to start a battle.


    However, the Demon Spirits on the Mental Demon Battlefield were different now!


    The demonic thoughts of the Lord of the Void were still hidden within their bodies!


    That was the true danger of a Demon God. Even his thoughts would be far more dangerous than a common Demon Master.


    Buzz!


    A purple glow rose from the east and transformed into an illusionary image of the Celestial Thearch above the Heavenly Court.


    The Realm Gates were secure once again under his palm.


    "All Gods in the Heavenly Court, kill the Demon Spirits and protect yourselves¡­" ordered the illusionary image of the Celestial Thearch directly.


    "Yes!"


    The words of the Celestial Thearch were the same as an oracle.


    Under his leadership, many Gods immediately started to take action.


    Unfortunately, if Fang Yuan were here, he would know that everything they did was pointless.


    The cruel demonic thoughts would leave behind sinister repercussions.


    As soon as the demonic thoughts of the Lord of the Void arrived in this world, they would immediately infect the minds of all creatures in the Spiritual Realm.


    From then on, he would never truly be annihilated unless all the demonic thoughts died out.


    Furthermore, he could possibly directly revive from these demonic thoughts.


    Such a technique was incomprehensible to Fang Yuan.


    Suddenly, Heavenly Consort Yun Xiang was shocked. "Master?!"


    A crimson face emerged in her sea of consciousness, turning out to be none other than Demon God Ancient Netherworld!


    "It''s me! I escaped from the seal, but also paid a price for it¡­" The crimson face continued, "Perhaps¡­ I''m already dead. All my origin power has been plundered by Demon God Li Hen¡­"


    "We can always start again as long as you''re still around, Master!" Yun Xiang said firmly, appearing absolutely confident of Ancient Netherworld.


    Indeed, existences at the Demon God level could hardly be killed unless they committed suicide.


    Their vitality was so horrifying that they could even have an influence years after their death.


    Ancient Netherworld was clearly in a poor state, left with only a wisp of his soul, and not much different from being dead.


    "Haha¡­ You''re right. As long as I exist, I''ll still have a chance! Moreover¡­ I''m in the Spiritual Realm, a powerful world that was coveted by the Mental Demon Realm for so many years¡­" The bloody face laughed. "Now, I need you to continue hiding yourself and slowly prepare some materials for me¡­ Make sure not to get caught since your life is very precious now."


    "Yes!"


    ¡­


    Poof!


    As the purple meteors descended into the mortal world, they hid themselves while flying in the sky.


    Fang Yuan concealed his divine light and flew in the direction opposite his initial orientation.


    "The Mental Demon Realm was undoubtedly the worst loser in this battle, and it wouldn''t even help if they sent over a few more Demon Gods.


    "Of course, I''ve reaped a lot of benefits!


    "The other Demon Masters also had some gain. At least they leaped out of their small cage into this larger one known as the Spiritual Realm¡­


    "Never mind the Demon Masters, the most worrying one is that Lord of the Void!"


    This Demon God had infinitely many forms of existence, and this frightening technique could almost ensure that he stayed alive in any circumstance.


    His arrival in the Spiritual Realm practically doomed this place.


    Of course, since Fang Yuan was not from the Spiritual Realm, he did not really care about it. What worried him was how he himself would be affected by this Demon God''s presence.


    "In fact, besides the Lord of the Void, there''s still Demon God Ancient Netherworld!"


    Fang Yuan was somewhat confused by his absence from the battlefield after he had escaped from the seal.


    "Maybe he hid away to contact his past subordinates? The Heavenly Consort might conceal my identity for a while¡­ but it won''t help. I''m not going back to the Three Mountains and Five Rivers!"


    Fang Yuan flew quickly, evading many existences possessing a powerful aura while hiding his own. Finally, he found a hill and landed.


    This place was already in the mortal world.Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting.


    "After all, the Mental Demon Realm isn''t a good place for me unless I advance to Demon God¡­ I''ve devoured many drops of origin power and gathered a lot of information in the Heavenly Court, which is more than what I had expected. I should be satisfied already!" Fang Yuan had a good mentality. "Right now, I need to find a place for cultivation, comprehend the traversing technique given by Ancient Netherworld in the context of Dream Masters, and try to become a Demon God as soon as possible!"


    Fang Yuan was indeed shocked by the battle between the Demon Gods and Emperors.


    While there were a lot of things he could not understand, he had a rough idea about what it would be like when he reached the next stage of cultivation.


    "If Ancient Netherworld is alive and unsealed, he''ll surely make trouble for me!


    "Nevertheless, given that he''s just escaped from the seal, it''d be hard for him to leave the Mental Demon Battlefield safe and sound. This is my chance."


    If he had offended a Demon God in the Mental Demon Realm, he would be dead.


    But things were different in the Spiritual Realm.


    Since both parties were in hiding, that Demon God would be even more afraid of attracting attention with a fight.


    Fang Yuan did not know that Ancient Netherworld had been defeated by Li Hen and his body had perished, leaving behind only a wisp of his soul. His situation was extremely pathetic, even worse than the situation that Fang Yuan was in.

 776 Medium Hermi

    The mountains remained the same, and the streams flowed as usual.


    Fang Yuan was at a place dearth of Spiritual Energy, but the surrounding trees and mountains formed a tranquil scenery.


    In the sky, the purple star brightly shone, suppressing the green star of the Heavenly Court and even competing with the sun.


    Fang Yuan squinted his eyes as he saw traces of sinister light falling.


    This scene declared that the defense of the Heavenly Court was finally broken.


    When such evil force descended into the mortal world, it would give rise to many demons and tyrants. The humans in the Spiritual Realm would most likely suffer for the next twenty years, with half of the countries changing rulers.


    "How will the imperial astronomers comment on this day many years later? Will they say that the activity of demon stars foretold the chaos in the world?"


    Fang Yuan gazed at the purple star nonchalantly.


    As he saw its bright glow fading away gradually, he immediately knew that despite the many unforeseen events, the side of the Spiritual Realm had managed to keep the situation under control.


    "The evil force broke through the defense on the Mental Demon Battlefield and entered the lower realm. Countless creatures will be affected¡­ They will gain incomparable talents through this evil force, but their unstable minds will inevitably cause much trouble to the world.


    "Of course, it''s none of my business.


    "What I need to do is still to absorb origin power, improve my realm, and explore and perfect my own Creation Great Dao. Just right¡­ there''ll be plenty of places for me to hide in the chaos of the Spiritual Realm, and the other Demon Masters and Demon Gods will also divert the attention of the Heavenly Court away from me!"


    Other Demon Masters aside, a demonic thought from the Lord of the Void could at least buy a few decades for Fang Yuan!


    "A minor hermit lives in the woods, a medium one in the city, and a major one in the government¡­ Which kind of hermit shall I be?"


    Fang Yuan''s eyes glittered as he stared at the stream in front of him.


    ¡­


    The Spiritual Realm was so vast that there were many countries solely belonging to just humans.


    Country of Ye.


    This was a small country consisting of only three states and located at the border of human territory. Despite the small number of citizens, the natural stronghold there kept it safe for the time being. Moreover, it was not seriously affected by war thanks to the good relationships it bought from the neighboring countries, making this country particularly prosperous.


    Country of Ye, Iron State, Songxia County.


    There were only around 50,000 people living in this county and growing Green Lotus Rice, which had a yield of 150 kilograms per 600 square meters of farmland. The residents could therefore sustain their lives. A small stream flowed gently across the county town, dividing it in two. The residents worked after sunrise and rested after sunset, living a carefree life.


    There was a tea house in the east of the town. The red paint on its signboard had mostly peeled off, revealing the pattern of wood beneath and emanating an ancient aura.Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting.


    This ''Flying Cloud House'' had been operating in the county town for more than 100 years, specializing in selling tea, while having some interesting desserts as well.


    Some guests came here to chat every morning, enjoying their leisure time.


    Fang Yuan was dressed in green robes and appeared to be about forty years old as he walked up the stairs.


    Upon seeing Fang Yuan, the waiter''s eyes glittered. "Mister Fang Yuan is here? We''ve just prepared new tea leaves before the rainy season! Sparrow Tongue Tip¡­ Would you like some?"


    "Give me a pot of it then!" Fang Yuan laughed and continued, "I want some vegetarian desserts as well, just the same three desserts as before!"


    "No problem! Please head upstairs. The seat by the window was reserved for you!" the waiter said with a smile. Apparently, he was acquainted with Fang Yuan.


    Fang Yuan went upstairs and seated himself. Soon after, the waiter served the tea and desserts.


    The tea was indeed fresh and contained some Spiritual Energy, and even mortal humans could live longer and stay healthy by drinking it frequently. The vegetarian desserts were sweet but not greasy, melting immediately in the mouth.


    Only at this moment could Fang Yuan feel that he was in the human world.


    Fang Yuan casually sipped his tea, occasionally nodding to some acquaintances who also frequented the tea house. As he looked at the busy traffic outside, he could hear many voices:


    "I heard that there''s a new lady named Zhi Hua in the Yichun House in the northern part of town. She''s talented in music, chess, calligraphy, and art, and her drawing skill is incomparable¡­"


    "Sigh¡­ Life is hard in our country. All the money given to the neighboring countries ultimately comes from the taxes we have to pay."


    "The harvest has been all right these last couple of years, and we''ve finally recovered from the disaster that happened more than seven years ago."


    "Don''t talk about this¡­ Here, have some tea!"


    Everyone shivered at talk of what had happened more than seven years ago, actively trying to avoid mentioning it.


    "More than seven years have passed without notice¡­" Fang Yuan sipped the tea and let out a long breath.


    He had been living in the country of Ye since the upheaval in the Heavenly Court. As a teacher in a small county town, he could be considered a medium hermit that had completely left the cultivation realm in order to absorb his harvest from the Mental Demon Battlefield.


    And the activity of the demon star had indeed had a prolonged influence on the secular realm.


    Flood, drought, and the demon invasion were not the most devastating disasters; the worst was a command!


    It was a command given by the Heavenly Court that had been executed by numerous Immortal Cultivator sects! They had followed the command to kill all infants born within seven days of the upheaval, leaving none alive regardless of gender!


    Fang Yuan could easily deduce that those infants might have been recipients of the evil force from the Mental Demon Battlefield.


    Actually, if they were even more cruel and ruthless, they could have killed all humans born within a month or even a year of the upheaval!


    But in that case, the fate of the humans would have been seriously impacted, which wouldn''t have been desirable to either the Immortals or Gods!


    What''s more, the heavens might still have allowed some of them to escape!


    The foundation of the Immortal Dao and the Divine Dao lay in the Human Dao after all!


    Furthermore, the vast Spiritual Realm did not only accommodate humans. It would not be a good thing for the Immortals and Gods to severely cut down humanity''s fate energy.


    Therefore, they had not killed more infants not due to mercy, but because of the consequences that would follow!


    Moreover, thousands of humans inheriting the evil force were no match for a Demon Master, not to mention a Demon God!


    How many Demon Gods were sealed in that upheaval, and how many managed to flee? Hmm¡­ The Lord of the Void was definitely the fastest in escaping. Even if he''s mostly sealed, I''m sure he''ll still be able to cause some trouble!


    Fang Yuan paid his bill and strolled back to his thatched hut.


    He lived a quiet life in the western part of the busy county and had planted some flowers in his small garden beside the large thatched hut he had built. Occasionally, he taught some children how to read and write. As time passed by, people started to respectfully call him ''Mister Fang''.


    The residents only knew that he was a literate refugee from another country and complimented him even more after one of his students passed the national exam and became a civil servant.


    In fact, this was merely a facade.


    Fang Yuan only spent a tiny portion of his energy on disguising himself and experiencing the culture in the Spiritual Realm.


    He was mostly focused on exploring the rules in the Spiritual Realm, comprehending magical powers, and absorbing origin power.


    "There''s a barrier blocking a 10-Essence Demon Master. In fact¡­ my origin power has met the requirement, but my realm still needs some improvement¡­ As soon as I comprehend it, I''ll be able to observe the condensing of my Great Dao and make up for the deficiencies¡­"


    While the Great Dao of a Demon God was not perfect like the Heavenly Dao, it could not have the slightest mistake in the Demon God realm.


    As he was thinking, Fang Yuan walked into the thatched classroom.


    The room was small, only having five or six desks in it, and an innocent and lively child sat behind each desk.


    "Greetings, Mister!"


    The little guys were originally playing with toys behind their books, but they shuddered at the sight of Fang Yuan and hastily greeted him together.


    After all, Mister Fang would punish naughty children with that red ruler in his hand.


    "Hmm. I''ll teach you Yi Haoran''s ''Nine-Character Canon'' today. It''s more abstruse than the Three-Character Canon, but it suits you well. Everything about how you should behave as a person is inside this canon."


    While Fang Yuan was shaking his head, he was actually thinking about the realm traversing technique.


    Although Ancient Netherworld had not told him the technique of traversing to the lower realms, Fang Yuan would still slowly comprehend this technique and fuse it into his Dao of Dream Master.


    Although the Spiritual Realm''s space is firm, it''s not the Mental Demon Battlefield after all. Without the Massive Heavenly Cycle Stellar Array locking space, it won''t be too difficult for the divine spirit to traverse. However, I still need some materials¡­ Sigh¡­ I''m really too impoverished in the Spiritual Realm. Even as the master of the Three Mountains and Five Rivers, what I got was far from a great haul¡­


    With all kinds of thoughts in his mind, Fang Yuan was still teaching the children how to read and write.


    He was actually learning something in this process as well.


    The quintessence of the Human Dao always lay in such trivial things.


    But these young children would probably be scared out of their wits if they knew that their teacher was a demon wanted by the Heavenly Court.


    There are a few children in this batch that have some destiny and can become talented if taught well!


    Fang Yuan took a glance. "Lin Shoucheng, read the next section!"


    "Yes, Mister!" A young child in blue stood up and said in a crisp voice, "Heaven''s will has always been the people''s will¡­"


    This boy looked similar to other children around him, but Fang Yuan could observe traces of Mental Demon evil force hiding in his spiritual aura. He was obviously one of the infants that had escaped the slaughter.


    After all, parents would do anything to protect their children, much less lying about the infant''s age.


    And given the vastness of the world, even if there were City Gods and Earth Gods, the complex hierarchy in the system would inevitably result in some negligence.


    Other than him, there was an older child who listened to the lessons with the younger ones and went to take the exam after a year. That one probably has the fate of a prime minister? Fang Yuan thought silently and glanced outside the window.


    A child flinched backward like a scared rabbit, but soon popped his head up again and stared into the classroom. His dark, glistening eyes were filled with envy and a bit of fear.


    Even though Fang Yuan was only having fun teaching children, he could not break the rules of society. Those who were unable to afford the tuition could only learn stealthily outside the classroom.

 777 Midnigh

    "Mister, someone is eavesdropping!"


    "It''s that Cowherd again!"


    "So it''s Jiang Wang!"


    The schoolchildren started to gossip, wishing for more chaos.


    "Silence!" Fang Yuan hit his ruler. The naughty children shuddered and no longer dared to speak nor move.


    He stroked his beard and walked out the door.


    A child in hemp clothes was seen on the floor. Evidently, he had been scared and fell off the window.


    Fang Yuan knew this child as well. His name was Jiang Wang, and his impoverished family lived in a small house. Both of his parents worked for the rich in town, relying on temporary jobs for their livelihoods.


    He had started to help his parents with their work or herd cattle and goats for others since he was six years old. Therefore, he had the nickname Cowherd.


    He was in a completely different social stratum from the children in the classroom.


    But this child was clever. Even though he could not afford the tuition, he used his spare time to listen in on the lessons from outside the classroom.


    Fang Yuan was disinclined to bother with him and let it be.


    But he purely made a whimsical decision today.


    "Greetings, Teacher!"


    Jiang Wang stood up and greeted Fang Yuan, his eyes teary and face red from shyness.


    "Hmm. The essence of books lies in one''s manners. You''ve absorbed the knowledge from books¡­"


    Fang Yuan nodded and then shook his head. He felt somewhat lost as he saw the purple Qi in the child''s aura.


    Actually, if he were a common Immortal or God instead of a Demon Master, he would probably not have discovered the evil spirit dwelling in this child.


    So evil force is supporting him. No wonder he''s been clever since a young age. After all, the Mental Demon power can even help a fool become smart¡­


    "Manners must not be omitted!" Jiang Wang clenched his teeth. "I listened to the lesson today without paying, so I''ll definitely pay in the future!"


    "Oh? You''re ambitious! However¡­ youths should behave like youths. It''s not always a good thing to be precocious!" Fang Yuan stepped forward holding the ruler and hit Jiang Wang''s head three times. "Go rest! Go rest!"


    The naughty children in the classroom burst into laughter, and only Lin Shoucheng appeared thoughtful as he witnessed the scene.


    ¡­


    "I''ve fused the Mental Demon realm traversing technique into the Dream Master''s techniques. My divine spirit is already able to traverse realms, so I should give it a try¡­ However, I still need some materials¡­


    "Ancient Netherworld''s method requires the use of a hexagram stone, but it''s only found in the Mental Demon Realm. How could I possibly find it in the Spiritual Realm? Nevertheless, my Dao of Dream Master doesn''t have a high standard for materials, and I can absolutely find a substitute¡­"


    His job as a teacher only occupied a few hours every day.


    After he casually completed his work for the day, Fang Yuan drove the children away and closed the door of his thatched hut. He sat down cross-legged, his eyes glistening.


    "I will advance to the Demon God realm with the Dao of Dream Master!"


    After quickly regulating his breath, Fang Yuan stood up and strolled slowly to a temple.


    The temple was small but significant to the county town. What they worshiped here was not a City God or other gods, but a Vajrasattva that conquered demons.


    Although the gates of the temple were wide open, there were not many visitors.


    There was a giant pine tree in the front courtyard, its branches twisting like dragons and its leaves falling gently to the ground.


    "So Master Fang is here. Master is in the middle of cultivation, so please have a cup of tea first!"


    When the two disciples who were slumbering at the doors saw that Fang Yuan was here, their eyes lit up immediately, trotting inside to inform their master.


    "It''s fine. I can wait for Daoist Qing He!"


    Fang Yuan went to the back hall on his own and drank the tea served by the disciples. He obviously knew the place very well.


    An elderly Daoist entered the hall when Fang Yuan had finished half a cup of tea. "Master Fang, what brings you here?"


    He was energetic and looked only forty or fifty years old. He was a bit handsome as he walked steadily, his big sleeves flapping in the wind.


    This was Daoist Qing He, the master of this temple.


    "I''ve recently had some gains from cultivation and want to refine a few magic artifacts¡­ So I''m here to ask for your assistance!" Fang Yuan smiled.


    Daoist Qing He was a real cultivator. While he had stagnated at the True Cultivator level, he had a cultivation of Essence Soul, which was sufficient for him to make a living in the mortal world.


    As far as Fang Yuan knew, he was originally a disciple of a big sect but was expelled due to some misbehavior. Nevertheless, he was still fortunate, as his cultivation was not destroyed.


    Although Fang Yuan was here to be a medium hermit, he maintained his interest in the cultivation realm. Thus, he had disguised himself and became friends with Daoist Qing He.


    "Mister Fang, you''re cultivating a Dao that fuses into the world. My cultivation is far from yours!" Daoist Qing He said seriously.


    This master had cultivated at home and seemed to be at Essence Soul, but he was very knowledgeable. Every discussion with him made the Daoist feel enlightened, so the elderly Daoist dared not show any disrespect. "What do you need, Mister?"


    "It''s not anything rare. Three-hundred-year-old mahogany, the fur of a Red Fire Rat, and 150 grams of star sand¡­" Fang Yuan said casually.


    "The fur of a Red Fire Rat¡­ is a bit hard to obtain, but I happen to have the other two. Qing Feng, Ming Yue, go get the materials!" Daoist Qing He stroked his beard.


    "Many thanks. I''ll pay using spiritual crystals!" Fang Yuan pretended to be taking out the crystals.


    "No need, no need! I encountered two problems in my cultivation yesterday. If you can help me with them, I''ll just give you the two materials!" Daoist Qing He waved his hands, a sly glow glistening in his eyes.


    "All right¡­ Please ask!" Fang Yuan smiled at this scene.


    This elderly Daoist had left his sect and had nobody to help address his doubts, so he had been regarding Fang Yuan as a savior.


    And Fang Yuan was happy with that. While helping the Daoist, he could occasionally hear some news about the cultivation realm.


    "First, I''ve been feeling unrest in my Qi and blood during cultivation. My Essence Soul¡­"


    After some discussion, the Daoist felt satisfied and offered a piece of intelligence. "Thank you for answering my questions! By the way, Songxia County has been undergoing some disturbances recently. Please take care!"


    "Oh? What happened?" Fang Yuan stared at him and looked interested.


    "It should be related to the Divine Dao¡­ Nevertheless, the Marvelous Immortal Sect invested a lot this time. Even their young sect master joined the action. You may have heard of her name, Zhi Hua!" Daoist Qing He said with respect.


    "Zhi Hua? That new star of the brothel?" Fang Yuan rubbed his chin and smiled mysteriously.


    ¡­


    The bright moon illuminated the dark, starless sky as a crow flew south.


    Fang Yuan was sitting cross-legged in his thatched hut. He threw out the materials and made hand gestures, finally refining them all into a blood-red crystal.


    "What I really needed were the 150 grams of star sand and the mahogany. The rest could be replaced with what I had accumulated in the past!"


    At this moment, as his finger slid, a golden hexagram emerged on the surface of the blood-red crystal.


    Before long, the golden and blood-red colors disappeared, and the crystal became a commonplace stone.


    "Done! The next step is to experiment with it. I can totally let an incarnation do it the first time so that I don''t undertake any risk¡­"


    Fang Yuan thought for a moment and made the decision.


    He looked at the door of the thatched hut and smiled again.


    "Shoucheng¡­ Isn''t it inappropriate for us to disturb Mister at midnight?" The childish voice of Jiang Wang was heard.


    The child in blue standing beside him was the one named Lin Shoucheng.


    "Don''t worry. My idea has to be correct!"


    Lin Shoucheng was holding a stick with sugar-coated haws on it. "Mister must have expressed some intention by hitting your head three times. He wanted you to look for him at midnight. Isn''t this a common plot in stories? Xu Liu wanted to be a disciple of an Immortal, but he wasn''t accepted. He was then hit by the master three times, went to find the master, and finally learned the real things!"Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting.


    His expression then looked sly for a moment. "Even if I''m wrong, it''ll be fine. The worst case is getting scolded by Mister, but I don''t think that''ll happen. Look, the light is still on. It''s likely that Mister is preparing to accept you as his disciple covertly."


    Having heard Lin Shoucheng''s words of encouragement, Jiang Wang let out a long breath. "I only hope to listen to his lessons in the future, and I''ll be very grateful just with that!"


    The two children looked at each other. In the end, Jiang Wang was pushed by Lin Shoucheng and stumbled into the thatched hut. "G-Greetings, Mister."


    Fang Yuan sat cross-legged and asked casually, "Oh, so it''s Jiang Wang and Lin Shoucheng. Why did you come here on this starry night?"


    "This¡­" Jiang Wang mumbled and couldn''t give an explanation. He stared at Lin Shoucheng furiously, suggesting that he had sabotaged him.


    "Hehe¡­ Mister, what''s the point of frightening us?" Lin Shoucheng appeared calm and confident. "Wasn''t it your suggestion during the day for us to come?"


    "Even so, that was only meant for Jiang Wang!" Fang Yuan shook his head. "Your appearance, background, talent¡­ everything of yours is superior to others, and you still want to take advantage of the less privileged?"


    Indeed!As Fang Yuan spoke to that part, Lin Shoucheng felt sweat in his palm. My dad is a friend of Daoist Qing He and learned from him that this teacher is a capable man. That was why he sent me to study as Mister Fang''s student¡­ But I want to study the Dao! The elder Daoist couldn''t teach me due to his sect rules, and this teacher is my only chance!


    Why¡­ am I not as good as this poor guy even though I''m so well behaved?


    He felt upset inside, but appeared respectful, kneeling down and kowtowing a few times.


    What Jiang Wang saw stunned him.


    And he was somewhat touched. He thought that Lin Shoucheng was entreating the teacher for him.


    "Hehe¡­.." Fang Yuan looked at them and smiled, but did not utter a word.


    These two creatures with evil force inside them really deserved his guidance.


    But that was not because of things like destiny; he was simply bored.


    Since he would use his incarnation to try out the Mental Demon realm traversing technique, his real body would stay in the Spiritual Realm anyway, and it was all right to find something to do.


    Whoosh whoosh!


    At this moment, chilling winds suddenly started to blow.


    A scared Essence Soul rushed into the thatched hut and shouted, "Mister, please save me!"

 778 Beginning

    "Ghost!"


    Jiang Wang and Lin Shoucheng were almost scared to death by the Essence Soul.


    To them, the translucent Essence Soul looked the same as a ghost.


    Fang Yuan flicked his clothes and asked calmly, "So it''s Qing He. What''s up?"


    The Essence Soul in front of him was semi-transparent in the color of moonlight, a bit similar to the Vajrasattva worshiped in the temple.


    "Sigh¡­ It''s a long story!"


    There were many scars on the Vajrasattva''s Essence Soul and powder kept falling off. He was clearly heavily injured. "My sect contacted me and told me to compensate for my mistakes with some achievements. I was too anxious and went to challenge that woman¡­"


    Daoist Qing He paused here and did not want to continue.


    It was obvious that he was defeated since his Essence Soul was almost destroyed.


    Furthermore, he was chased by the opponents and could not think of anyone other than Fang Yuan to seek refuge from.


    "You really have no morals¡­ You must bring me all your cherished peach blossom wine tomorrow!" Fang Yuan shook his head, reprimanding jokingly.


    In fact, he would have killed such a person if they had brought trouble to him, making sure that the person was annihilated completely.


    But now, he needed to maintain his image as a moral and capable man, so he held himself back.


    He waved his hand and used the moonlight to mend Daoist Qing He''s Essence Soul.


    "Thanks for your help¡­ That wicked woman will arrive in no time, so please be careful¡­ I''ll send you the peach blossom wine tomorrow!" Daoist Qing He said with gratitude.


    However, he did not notice that something sinister had fused into his Essence Soul together with the moonlight.


    "Old Daoist, come out!" Before long, a clear voice was heard from outside the hut. "You''re from the Sacred Brahman Sect, aren''t you? There are no other sects around the country of Ye with an Essence Soul of a Vajrasattva and the Moonlight Glaze Introspection!"


    The lady''s voice was soft and as soothing as water, and even Lin Shoucheng and Jiang Wang felt less nervous and hostile upon hearing it.


    Jiang Wang felt as if he was dreaming and looked at Lin Shoucheng beside him.


    That little boy, however, clenched his fist tightly, his eyes full of excitement. "Daoist Immortals! Daoist Immortals! That''s right¡­ the Dao and Immortals really do exist. I must become a cultivator!"


    "Immortals?!" Jiang Wang was bewildered despite being a child prodigy.


    While laughing, a young lady walked elegantly into the thatched hut. "What an old Daoist! So you''ve found allies!"


    She did not mind the Daoist and the two children, but stared at Fang Yuan with a solemn expression. "You are?"


    The lady had a beautiful countenance. She was wearing a white veil and had a golden band on her head. Her dark hair cascaded down, giving her the natural temperament of a fairy.


    "So is this Young Lady Zhi Hua?" Fang Yuan laughed. "My surname is Fang, and I''m just a commonplace teacher. Daoist Qing He is a lustful person and is sorry for offending you. Could I ask you to forget about it?"


    "You want to wrap things up?" Zhi Hua frowned. "But I won''t be able to explain to Sect Master¡­ Unless¡­ Mister Fang can take three paintings from me!"


    Paintings?


    Fang Yuan thought for a moment, and Daoist Qing He immediately explained to him, "This is a technique unique to the Marvelous Immortal Sect. Every painting of theirs is a spiritual technique!"


    "I see!" Fang Yuan nodded, speechless.


    Despite the impressive names of their sects, such as the Marvelous Immortal Sect, the Sacred Brahman Sect, and so on, Zhi Hua, the young sect master of the Marvelous Immortal Sect, was merely at the Human Immortal realm. These were evidently small local sects in the country of Ye.


    "Since you insist, please!" Fang Yuan waved his hand.


    "I''m going to start!" Zhi Hua took a deep breath, pointed at the air, and a painting scroll emerged.


    Swoosh!


    A corner of the scroll opened up, and a horseman in black armor riding a black horse leaped out of the painting. It looked frightening as it directly charged at Fang Yuan with a saber.


    "Iron-clad horses and frozen rivers, enter my dreams!"Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting.


    Zhi Hua rolled out the painting scroll while speaking, and nether soldiers leaped out of the picture, forming an array and attacking Fang Yuan.


    The two children were almost scared to death. The expression of Daoist Qing He also changed constantly, thinking to himself that he could not even withstand one strike with all his strength.


    "Excellent painting! The creatures in it seem to be alive. You indeed have brilliant skills!" Fang Yuan did not even frown at the array before him. "Since that''s the case, why don''t I return you a word?"


    He pointed his right index finger in the air and wrote the word ''stabilize''.


    Stabilize!


    One word stabilized the chaos!


    The nether soldiers suddenly became motionless, just like insects trapped in amber.


    The ink then concentrated and returned to the painting scroll.


    A light golden word, ''stabilize'', emerged on the scroll like a seal.


    "What kind of magical power is this?" The confident smile disappeared from Zhi Hua''s face as she looked at Fang Yuan with fear.


    "It''s just a simple trick! I''m an educated person and don''t believe in superstitious beings. My righteousness will eventually protect me from all evil spirits!" Fang Yuan said seriously. When he saw Jiang Wang''s admiring expression, a mischievous idea formed in his mind.


    "Righteousness¡­ You are indeed educated! I''m no match for you! The other two paintings are unnecessary!"


    Zhi Hua let out a sigh and retreated gracefully.


    "This time¡­ Thanks for your help, Mister!" After she left, Qing He''s Essence Soul bowed toward Fang Yuan. "I''m going to recuperate at the temple. I''ll welcome you whenever you make another visit!"


    He turned into a glow and disappeared as well.


    "What a lazy guy!" Fang Yuan said casually without stopping him.


    Anyway, his Essence Soul had been corrupted by the Mental Demon power. If he dared to act against Fang Yuan, Fang Yuan could definitely make him suffer.


    ¡­


    "How is it? Have you seen enough?" Fang Yuan waited until both cultivators had left before looking at Jiang Wang and Lin Shoucheng, both of whom felt as if they were dreaming. "This kind of cultivation is only a minor Dao. You''re already on a Great Dao. Just read more books and don''t be misguided!"


    That elderly Daoist should be the master of the Vajrasattva Temple in our town. My dad said that he''s a capable man who has cultivated his Essence Soul!


    Lin Shoucheng clenched his teeth, knelt down again, and kowtowed continuously. "Mister, please be merciful and let me be your disciple!"


    "Fool!" Fang Yuan appeared sorrowful, then looked at Jiang Wang. "What about you?"


    "Me?"


    Jiang Wang was stunned. He had come here at midnight simply due to a request of his friend and his own desire to be Fang Yuan''s student. He had only wanted to learn reading and writing so that he could get a good job such as an accountant when he grew up.


    It was completely unexpected that he would see so many Immortals in such a short time, and everything still felt unreal to him.


    After a moment, Jiang Wang clenched his teeth and said firmly, "I¡­ just want to study!"


    "Idiot!" Lin Shoucheng could not hold back anymore and finally cursed.


    "Haha¡­ It just so happens that I only know how to study!" Fang Yuan laughed aloud. "Since it''s like that, I''ll accept you as my student. Come to the thatched hut tomorrow and study with your seniors!"


    "Thank you so much, Mister!" Jiang Wang was surprised and excited, immediately kneeling and kowtowing.


    "As for you¡­" Fang Yuan glanced at Lin Shoucheng. He was a child after all. After being declined, and seeing that the mister favored Cowherd, emotions such as displeasure, jealousy, and hatred were immediately apparent on his face.


    "You''re destined to have great achievements in the future. Therefore, you''re not suited to be an Immortal Cultivator secluded from the world. Instead, martial arts suit you well¡­ I have a set of books on martial arts, and if you can persevere, then take them and practice!"


    All of this was actually nonsense.


    Killing and fighting were normal to Immortal Cultivators.


    However, Fang Yuan felt like being mischievous when he saw Lin Shoucheng''s character. He''s able to conceal his feelings to achieve his aim, and such a personality is indeed sinister like a snake¡­ I don''t mind guiding him and seeing if this snake can become a dragon. This can be considered as an opportunity of creation!


    ¡­


    The next day, Fang Yuan bought the books and stationery for Jiang Wang, suggesting that he had accepted Jiang Wang as his student. The other children were astonished.


    From then on, Jiang Wang and Lin Shoucheng visited Fang Yuan every night to ask questions and borrow books.


    As for Lin Shoucheng, it seemed that he had completely given up his insistence after visiting the Vajrasattva Temple and settled down to learn martial arts from Fang Yuan first. He practiced diligently, making satisfactory progress.


    But Fang Yuan could occasionally see the greed in this lad. There might still be some trouble in the future, just to add some fun to his cultivation.


    "The world is unstable now, and this is a perfect chance for Demon Masters to wreak havoc!"


    Fang Yuan sat cross-legged, holding a blood-red crystal with a hexagram pattern on it in his hand.


    Having sent away the two children, he finally started on the important matters.


    These past few years, the Heavenly Court has been searching nonstop and should have captured the tracks of a few Demon Masters¡­ As for the Lord of the Void, they won''t be able to find him¡­


    Although I have cautiously concealed myself, there might be unpredictable circumstances. Therefore, I must enhance my own strength as soon as possible!


    Fang Yuan thought silently, his finger stroking the blood-red crystal.


    The Mental Demon Realm could rampage around even in this higher dimension, and their unique realm traversing technique was meant for hunting other worlds.


    Fang Yuan had comprehended it and fused it directly into his Dao of Dream Master. Together with other materials, he could use it immediately.


    Of course, he was still cautious and separated an incarnation from his body.


    "In a higher dimension world, the Dao must be more flawless. It''ll be very helpful to me for comprehending my own Dao of Creation!"


    The 9-Essence Demon Master realm had already given Fang Yuan a glimpse of his own Dao path.


    His Dao was the Dao of Dream Master, and also the Dao of Creation!

 779 Pugilistic World

    "Young Master has woken up!"


    Fang Yuan opened his eyes and immediately realized that he was lying on a bed. The silk quilt was smooth and fragrant.


    Two pretty, young servants beside him were clad in jade jewelry. Upon seeing him wake up, they brought him a copper basin and a teapot, carefully assisting him as he washed up.


    This place looks affluent, but different from what I had imagined!


    Fang Yuan stared at his reflection on the copper mirror.


    Hmm. The facial features were handsome, but a bit feminine. Moreover¡­ there were eye bags and panda eyes. Unrestricted debauchery had depleted this body of its energy.


    According to the memories of the body, this was an ignorant wastrel.


    It''s weird that he became skinny rather than obese with such a lifestyle. Perhaps the body is too weak?


    The trivial things aside, Fang Yuan carefully browsed through the memories of the body''s original owner and wondered, Initially¡­ I thought that higher dimension worlds had to be similar to the Spiritual Realm and the Mental Demon Realm. It''s unexpected that there would be such a world¡ªa pugilistic world!


    Pugilistic World! This was the main theme of this world.


    According to the wastrel''s memories, there was no government in this world, but many pugilistic sects prospered.


    A martial artist could be powerful enough to split a mountain, travel a thousand kilometers a day, and fight against ten thousand opponents on their own.


    A sect had authority over a few commanderies, collected taxes, trained the army, and delegated officers, just like a small country.


    It was said that a true Martial Dao master could destroy a city by merely waving their hand, and their Essence Soul could leave their body and battle someone thousands of kilometers away.


    Therefore, martial arts were incomparably popular in this world. Any young men and women would want to become an outstanding martial artist.


    There were all sorts of martial arts competitions, rankings, and commentaries.


    However¡­ this seems a little too weak! While martial arts are powerful, they''re no match for the capability of existences like Demon Masters and Demon Gods¡­


    Fang Yuan thought silently, Is it that I have some misunderstandings about what a higher dimension world should be like¡­ Or is there a hidden side of this world that I have yet to discover?


    He did not think too much and started to organize the memories of the body''s original owner.


    Hmm, he was lucky this time. The original owner, named Nangong Wuwang, was the son of the Divine Armament Mountain Villa''s villa lord. He had a father and three elder sisters.


    The Divine Armament Mountain Villa was in the second tier of the Pugilistic World and had absolute authority over the three commanderies nearby.


    The villa lord, Nangong Wentian, was listed in the second-grade on the latest Martial Roll. He was a highly skilled martial artist and challenged by many people every year. However, those people did not end up well, most being thrown off the Intestine Breaking Cliff at the back of the villa.


    The Martial Dao has nine grades. Skilled martial artists in the top three grades can certainly found sects, and it''s said that there''s a Heavenly Phenomenon realm above the nine grades. In that realm, martial artists are the same as an Immortal on the ground¡­


    It''s a pity that with such a good father and abundant resources, Nangong Wuwang can''t learn martial arts due to his inherent deficiencies. He has a ''Body of Hundred Emissions''. Everyone knows that he''s a useless bum at learning martial arts, and his ability hasn''t even reached the ninth-grade, so he can''t even be counted as a martial artist.


    The hopeless future and unrestrained love from his father and sisters have made him indulge himself and become a wastrel¡­


    Fang Yuan knocked his forehead as he went through Nangong Wuwang''s life experience. He frowned. Body of Hundred Emissions¡­ The state of this body is somewhat troublesome!


    From the literal meaning of ''Hundred Emissions'', this body leaked anything it could. Not to mention the most fundamental inner force of a martial artist, it could not even contain any quantity of blood and Qi beyond the limit of a common person.


    Therefore, Nangong Wuwang could not even master the most basic strength techniques in the Pugilistic World and was extremely weak.


    This problem must be solved as soon as possible!


    Fang Yuan brought out his stats window:


    "Name: Fang Yuan (Nangong Wuwang)


    Essence: 0.7


    Spirit: 0.7


    Magic: 0.5


    Cultivation: Negligible


    Technique: ???


    Specialization: Botany [Level Six] (Maximum), Fiery Golden Eyes [Level 3], Body of Origin Power (???)"


    "This is indeed the template of a purely useless bum!"


    Fang Yuan exhaled deeply.


    Origin power had the property of a spiritual imprint. No matter how many times he changed bodies, his origin power would recover gradually.


    Fang Yuan was now aware of the power that flourished and circulated in his body as he breathed.


    But his expression changed slightly the next moment, detecting that a strong suction force had sucked away all the regenerated secondary power from every part of his body.


    "Hmm? So this is the Body of Hundred Emissions?"


    Fang Yuan looked at his stats. The sign of Body of Origin Power first solidified and then became transparent again.


    "However¡­ this doesn''t seem to be natural. Otherwise, I would''ve been surrounded by chilling gusts and Demonic Qi¡­ Why does it look like something is forcibly sucking stuff away?"


    He astutely detected that something had been done to this body.


    "Suck! I''ll let you suck!"


    Origin power could be regenerated anyway, so Fang Yuan released his restriction and allowed the origin power to be sucked away.


    Bloop! Bloop!


    The deafening sound of torrents was heard inside his body.


    After a while, a strange black rune emerged in his dantian. It devoured the regenerated origin power like a whale sucking water.


    "Interesting!" Fang Yuan''s eyes lit up. "It appears¡­ there are plenty of secrets in this world¡­"


    A rune capable of devouring secondary origin power was not something to be expected in a normal pugilistic world.


    Fang Yuan made a rough estimation; the quantity devoured just now was sufficient to corrupt all the martial artists in a lower dimension pugilistic world.


    "The root cause of the Body of Hundred Emissions has been found¡ªthis black rune! It''s been devouring every force in this guy¡­ But to me, as long as I block it using my origin power, there won''t be any issue, and I can practice martial arts without worry¡­"


    The black rune was an artificial funnel placed in Nangong Wuwang''s body, and Fang Yuan had now moved this funnel to another pool and used origin power to fill it up.


    And now, his dantian could finally accommodate the inner force he cultivated.


    "I wonder how Nangong Wuwang got this thing. Was it an enemy? That''s not right¡­ Why would his enemy be so merciful and not directly kill Nangong Wuwang or deprive him of his health, but let him possess a body that''s just slightly weaker than average?"


    Fang Yuan put on his clothes and walked out of the loft.


    He was at the heart of the Divine Armament Mountain Villa, and there were numerous martial artists guarding the house, each of whom was highly skilled and had a grade.


    The Martial Roll divided the realms of martial artists into nine grades. A skilled martial artist with a grade¡ªeven if it was the ninth-grade, the lowest of all¡ªwas able to explore the Pugilistic World.


    The three medium grades were rarer, and martial artists in these grades could be a minor leader anywhere and live a satisfactory life.


    Those in the top three grades were masters who could found their own sects.


    "Good day, Young Master!"


    "Greetings, Young Lord!"


    Fang Yuan strode around without concern. Every servant and martial artist who saw him bowed with respect, feeling a bit surprised.


    This young lord had always been coddled by the villa lord. While he was completely incapable of anything, any servant daring to gossip about it would be beaten to death immediately.


    Why did the young lord get up so early today?


    "Young Master!" At this moment, the personal guard beside him asked with a grin, "Where do you want to have fun today? I heard that there''s a new star in the brothel of our city, and the chef in the restaurant near the river invented a new drunken fish recipe, and it tastes great¡­"


    All of these people considered Nangong Wuwang gullible. Fang Yuan glanced at the personal guard beside him, believing that this guard would definitely share quite some benefits if the wastrel squandered money at those two places as usual.


    "No. Go to the Martial Pavillion today!" Fang Yuan waved his hand casually.


    "¡­" The personal guard opened his eyes wide and gazed at the sun. The young lord''s decision of going to the Martial Pavilion made him suspect that the sun had risen from the west.


    In this entire Divine Armament Mountain Villa, who did not know that the young lord had a Body of Hundred Emissions and thus could not practice martial arts at all?


    Fang Yuan did not bother explaining. He stopped in front of a pavilion that had a vast and empty space around it.


    The personal guard saw the black six-floor pavilion and hesitated, no longer daring to move forward.


    All the important martial arts manuals of the villa were stored here, which was looked after by a few honorary experts. While many skilled martial artists in the Pugilistic World coveted the secret manuals, none of the intruders left here alive.


    The young lord could surely go anywhere he wanted in the Divine Armament Mountain Villa, but if a personal guard dared to enter, he would immediately be sliced into pieces!


    Fang Yuan stared at the giant black court, took a deep breath, and pushed open the gates.


    ¡­Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting.


    When he entered the Martial Pavillion.


    A secret chamber of the Divine Armament Mountain Villa.


    A few bronze perpetual lanterns were suddenly extinguished, and the fire in the rest of the lanterns was disturbed.


    A middle-aged martial artist flew over and witnessed this scene. He looked excited rather than surprised. "I''ve spent more than ten years on it, and it''s finally going to happen!"


    While thinking, he opened up a path to the secret chamber.


    The path meandered downward all the way, and only one person could fit in its width by moving sideways. In the end, it led to a giant underground cave.


    A blood pool was situated at the center of the cave, and the thick color of blood was reflected from the middle-aged man''s face, making him look even more sinister and scary.


    A black shadow seemed to be breathing in the blood pool and devouring the blood inside.


    At this moment, the level of the blood quickly lowered with some swirls in the pool. The black shadow turned out to be a giant saber with a frightening luster on its black surface.


    "Finally¡­ Finally¡­" The middle-aged man looked zealous and burst into laughter. "Is it finally achieved? The Divine Armament Mountain Villa is finally going to rule the entire Pugilistic World!"

 780 Six Extremes

    Creak!


    The black door of the Martial Pavilion opened and sunlight fell, bringing the taste of faint changes.


    Fang Yuan trembled, feeling numerous eyes focusing on him but promptly retreating again.


    They should be the honorary experts of Divine Armament Mountain Villa¡­


    He was unconcerned and went on to stroll around the first floor.


    The bookshelves were made from hemlock wood, which was thick and heavy, would not get damaged by insects, nor rot after 300 years. Various secret books neatly rested on it in rows, the fragrance of ink in the air.


    "The Martial Pavillion is divided into six floors. The cultivation techniques placed higher are more remarkable and secretive, and normal martial artists might even risk their lives to merely read one page¡­"


    However, Fang Yuan did not admire from afar and casually grabbed an ancient book from the first floor to browse through.


    "Rolling Rock Fist!"


    This was the name of the fist manual, very straightforward. After flipping it open, the descriptions inside were also unusually simple, but the images were very realistic, especially the human structure, which were exquisite and easily understood with a glance.


    "Seems like the average disciples of the Divine Armament Mountain Villa can also learn this. This fist manual is considered to be elementary and not qualified martial arts, but it''s still a technique that has been revised many times!"


    Fang Yuan nodded.


    Since the birth of this world, martial arts had been advocated and written down. After such a long time, the normal techniques had long been developed to its peak.


    Being able to be written down and improved, it definitely had its merits.


    "The Dao of Martial Arts emphasizes on Qi sensing and the magnitude of circulation, which would immediately strengthen Qi and blood, concentrate inner force¡­ and pass through the acupoints¡­"


    After browsing through the Rolling Rock Fist manual, Fang Yuan had a general understanding toward this world''s Martial Dao.


    His steps did not stop as he began to read other manuals.


    "Prick Blood Three Swords"


    "Jade Crushing Palm"


    "Treacherous Wind Leg"


    ¡­


    The Divine Armament Mountain Villa was after all a second-tier power in the mortal world and had quite a few martial arts secret manuals collected on the first floor. Not only were there original copies, but there were also supplements for the later generations at the back, solutions to difficult questions regarding cultivating, and more, very comprehensive.


    Sometimes, there was only one secret manual, but the related medicinal baths, weapon crafting methods, techniques to deal with enemies, and others would occupy a bookcase.


    "If martial studies can be used with proficiency, I can casually choose a book and improve quickly¡­ Of course, the manuals at the upper floors of the Martial Pavillion are definitely better than the bottom ones. The sixth floor should contain the true cultivation technique of the Divine Armament Mountain Villa, the Six Extremes Armament Commandeering Art."


    Even though he was a fast reader, half of the day was gone when he finished reading all the books on the first floor. The sun was setting, its light turning the sky orange, and his stomach growled.


    Fang Yuan put down the last book, ''Bright Jade Manual'', rubbed his eyes, and began to ascend.


    The second floor, third floor¡­ He quickly went past them and headed straight for the sixth floor.


    The most basic martial study can allow me to familiarize this world''s power system and rules¡­ Aside from that, only the Six Extremes Armament Commandeering Art can arouse my interest.


    In fact, with the basics, Fang Yuan had the confidence to deduce parts of his own manual.


    Of course, the cultivation technique he deduced would require experimenting in order to demonstrate the might and other aspects. Fang Yuan did not have the skills to deduce a good manual out directly, so he would pick the best secret manual to practice.


    The higher he went, the smaller the area was. When he reached the sixth floor, it was only the size of a small room.


    A small table was in the middle of the room. On it was a black metal box, and the bottom was completely joined with the table.


    "Although I don''t know why this body''s father placed the secret manual in the Martial Pavilion, it still feels a little unusual¡­"


    By placing the secret manual here, would not his secret be exposed to his enemies if he failed to protect this Martial Pavilion?


    Toward this kind of hobby, Fang Yuan was speechless and could only roll his eyes.


    "Hmm¡­ I remember that this body''s father brought him here before. The real secret manual wasn''t obtained like this, and the box only has a poisonous trap inside¡­"


    Fang Yuan went to a corner of the room and raised a wooden board.


    From the mezzanine, a dusty book slipped out.


    "Six Extremes Armament Commandeering Art, earth-grade technique. It is enough to practice to the highest state and also symbolizes the Divine Armament Mountain Villa¡­" Fang Yuan muttered to himself.


    The so-called heaven, earth, black, and yellow, these four levels, were the differentiation of secret manuals and treasures in this world.


    A yellow-grade secret manual could allow someone to start martial arts. Ordinary people considered it the path of ascending to heaven.


    Black-grade secret manuals were a step better, enough for some small sects to protect them like a treasure.


    Earth-grade secret manuals were enough for martial artists to practice to the top three grades. It was what large sects depended on and handed down from generation to generation.


    Being able to practice to the first-grade with the Six Extremes Armament Commandeering Art, it was considered rare within earth-grade.


    As for heaven-grade? If it was matched with Heavenly Phenomenon martial artists, they would be an extraordinary Sage pointing straight to a Great Dao, something Fang Yuan did not hope for now.


    "The crux of the Six Extremes Armament Commandeering lies in commandeering. By mastering the Qi of the Six Extremes, searching for an armament, and cultivating it as their intrinsic armament, even mortal metal will attain the power of a Divine Armament through the accumulation of time. They''ll then be able to direct it with ease, using it at will and sending it flying to kill¡­"


    Previously, the wastrel was hopeless at learning martial arts and had not carefully read this secret manual at all.


    At the moment, however, Fang Yuan eagerly memorized it rapidly.


    However, the more he read, the more confused he was. This manual looks like an evil sect''s¡­ The importance is at training the armament. The inner force practiced is named the Qi of the Six Extremes and is a low-rank earth-grade True Qi, and it''d only be effective when there''s a fostering of a Divine Armament.


    His brows creased slightly, seemingly understanding.


    The crux of Divine Armament Mountain Villa''s techniques was to find a suitable Divine Armament and then cultivating it as their intrinsic armament. The longer it took¡ª through blood, sweat, and tears¡ªthe stronger it would be.


    "Although somewhat unexpected, I have no other choice, so it''ll have to do¡­ Anyway, with the accumulation of the Divine Armament Mountain Villa, a good armament can definitely be found!"


    Fang Yuan rubbed the space between the eyebrows and walked out of the Martial Pavillion.


    "Young Master!"


    Closeby, a white-haired old servant wearing rough linen clothes and smiling like an old chrysanthemum flower respectfully greeted, as if he had been waiting for a long time.


    "Uncle Fu!" Fang Yuan replied while smiling ear to ear.


    The wastrel''s impression of him was that he was the housekeeper of the entire mountain villa and held huge authority.


    And based on his current gaze, he seemed slightly different. This old man is highly skilled¡­ Although I don''t know how great his skill is, it''s similar to the presences that guard the Martial Pavillion. Could he be third-grade or above? Nangong Wentian is only second-grade, so it''s not quite possible to attract a first-grade martial artist to pour in his utmost effort for him. Thus, he''s probably between second and third-grade?


    Fang Yuan could immediately feel that the Divine Armament Mountain Villa''s still waters ran deep.


    As a second-tier sect, he now knew that they had one second-grade and two third-grade martial artists. It could definitely be said that they were powerful.


    However, what was strange was that Divine Armament Mountain Villa had always holed up and rarely expanded its power despite having such strength. It was as if they were satisfied with their current position and willing to be the rich landowner of a village.


    A patient old man usually has an unfathomable scheme!


    Fang Yuan''s eyes gleamed.


    At this time, Uncle Fu smiled and said, "Young Master¡­ Master was very happy when he learned that you had diligently studied today, but you forgot to eat dinner. You shouldn''t do that, so he specially instructed me to bring it over!"


    He was holding on to a box. When he opened it, there was a bowl of broth inside and the fragrance drifted into Fang Yuan''s nose.


    "This cup of ginseng black chicken soup uses ginseng that''s 300 years old and black-boned chicken to slowly stew at low heat for six hours. The taste is the best¡­" Uncle Fu jabbered on.


    "Yes, thank you! I''m also hungry¡­"


    This wastrel was somehow a little afraid of Nangong Wentian previously, rarely eating with him.


    Fang Yuan did not say much and immediately took it, swallowing it in a mouthful.Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting.


    "Hmm?" Fang Yuan could tell something was wrong once the broth was in his stomach.


    The shocking medicinal effect rose in his lower abdomen and transformed into a Qi current that traveled around chaotically.


    It was not poison or anything, but purely because of his poor health that he could not take such strong tonic.


    Damn¡­ Was this wastrel always eating such medicinal cuisine? The power of this tonic is so domineering, it''s basically not a supplement at all but detrimental¡­ Wait a minute¡­


    Fang Yuan''s expression changed, suddenly thinking of the wastrel''s Body of Hundred Emissions, and the origin power seal abruptly cracked.


    Whoosh whoosh!


    Instantly, the rune absorbed all of the medicinal effects to the last drop.


    Just as the rune wanted to cause trouble, with a thought by Fang Yuan, a large amount of secondary origin power surged and filled up the hole.


    After drinking it, Fang Yuan sniffed and intentionally said, "I don''t know why¡­ but today I feel that this soup is too nourishing, like I''m going to have a nosebleed¡­"


    "Looks like the heat the kitchen used was too high. I''ll go and scold them!"


    Uncle Fu took the bowl and bowed before leaving.


    After watching the old man leave, there was a hint of coldness in his eyes. Looks like¡­ Nangong Wuwang is unusual, but Nangong Wentian also knows about it. What does this mean? Someone consuming poison from a young age?


    Night.


    Fang Yuan sat cross-legged and dismissed his personal maids and servants. He gazed at the incense burner and contemplated.


    Based on Nangong Wuwang''s Body of Hundred Emissions, which will emit whatever he eats, medicine that''s nourishing to the body is useless for him. The only effect it has is to nourish the rune inside his body¡­


    Looking at this, there might be a scheme in this?


    Of course, even if I know, I wouldn''t be able to break it. If it was hastily spoken out, I would be dead meat, especially if there were ill intentions¡­


    I must increase my strength as soon as possible!


    He did not continue to think about it and began to recall the Six Extremes Armament Commandeering Art.


    Although Divine Armament Martial Pavilion was great at collecting manuals, most of them were still yellow-grade techniques. Black-grade was enough to attract large amounts of coveting villains.


    The only earth-grade would be this Six Extremes Armament Commandeering Art.


    Despite feeling that it was a little unconventional, a fitted arrow could not avoid being discharged; Fang Yuan had no choice.


    "Heaven has six extremes and humans have six senses. The first step of the Six Extremes Armament Commandeering Art is to begin from the six senses and enter a state of stillness before circulating and condensing the Qi of the Six Extremes!"


    After pondering over the technique for a while, Fang Yuan began right away.


    Although the first step was extremely difficult, it was simple for Fang Yuan to seal his six senses and to examine himself. Not long after, he went into the state.


    Suddenly, there was a turn of events!

 781 Arsenal

    At the same time as Fang Yuan had sealed his six senses to inspect himself and circulate the Six Extremes Armament Commandeering Art¡­


    In his dantian, the sea of origin power boiled. The rune inside seemed to sense something and wanted to stir up trouble.


    Of course, with the origin power seal, this rune would not be able to do anything as long as Fang Yuan was unwilling.


    This feeling¡­ is a little weird.


    Fang Yuan, however, changed his expression and released the restriction.


    Rumble!


    The black rune shone its brilliance, and for the first time, it spit out energy instead of absorbing it.


    This energy revolved in Fang Yuan''s body quickly, breaking through five barriers and six acupoints before revolving in a small circulation. In the end, it hid in his dantian and transformed into a translucent True Qi.


    "This is Six Extremes True Qi, the first small realm of the Six Extremes Armament Commandeering Art. Just like that?"


    Fang Yuan was astonished and looked at his stats window:


    "Name: Fang Yuan (Nangong Wuwang)


    Essence: 0.7


    Spirit: 1.0


    Magic: 0.5


    Cultivation: Negligible


    Technique: Six Extremes Armament Commandeering Art


    Specialization: Botany [Level Six] (Maximum), Fiery Golden Eyes [Level 3], Body of Origin Power"


    "Since it appeared under technique, it means that it can be raised using proficiency¡­"


    Fang Yuan fell silent after seeing this.


    The basics of the Six Extremes Armament Commandeering Art was still about commandeering armaments!


    After training the Six Extremes True Qi successfully, it could only bully the True Qi of black and yellow-grades during fights, besides wasting resources recklessly.


    Its true function was still to foster the Divine Armament.Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting.


    "Moreover¡­ the higher the armament grade at the beginning, the better. The more affinity it has with the host, the better as well¡­ Only then can there be a virtuous cycle where the person''s Qi will train the armament and vice versa. And eventually, they would receive the feedback of the Divine Armament''s Qi and have their cultivation progress at a tremendous pace."


    The Six Extremes Armament Commandeering Art had three realms.


    The first level was the Six Extremes realm, forming the Six Extremes True Qi and then finding a suitable Divine Armament.


    In reality, how difficult was it to find a truly fitting Divine Armament? Some martial artists were even stuck at this threshold forever.


    As for the second level, it was the Imperial Armament realm. It was to develop the Qi of Six Extremes into something powerful before fostering the armament. It was even possible to increase the grade of the armament.


    The last level was the Feedback realm, attracting the Qi of the armament into the body to dash pass barriers and cultivate the Martial Dao by leaps and bounds.


    "Upon reaching the second stage, the armament can be used to fight, directing it with ease. As for the third level, it can be used at will, even automatically protecting its owner¡­" Fang Yuan rubbed his chin. "Looks like¡­ I''ll need a Divine Armament first. Maybe I''ll go to the arsenal tomorrow to take a look?


    "Wait a minute¡­ Why was the energy that helped me form the Qi of Six Extremes a little similar to the Divine Armament Feedback? Similar but not quite the same¡­ is it related to the rune?"


    Even though the martial arts had entered a good state, Fang Yuan still felt many doubts.


    ¡­


    The next day.


    In the faint morning light, Fang Yuan woke up early once again, causing his close servant to act as though she had seen a ghost.


    Everyone will feel that something is amiss when a wastrel changes overnight¡­ But there''s nothing about Essence Soul possession in this world, and I have all the wastrel''s memory, so I won''t be afraid even if they want to investigate me¡­


    As he was silently thinking, Fang Yuan reached the Divine Armament Mountain Villa''s arsenal.


    According to custom, a son should visit and pay respect to his father everyday. However, Nangong Wentian spoiled the wastrel quite a lot and did not bother with such trivial etiquettes.


    "When choosing an armament, naturally the higher the grade, the better. The handier it is at the start, the better¡­ Actually, if I really follow the theory of the Armament Commandeering Art, there are martial artists that scoured the entire world but couldn''t find a suitable armament. In the end, they had to find materials and cast one themselves¡­ These were still the lucky ones. The unlucky ones could only die with regrets."


    As the young lord, Fang Yuan called out to open the arsenal and went straight into the pavilion that kept the armaments.


    This pavilion was extremely chilly, and there were all kinds of armaments inside.


    Among them, swords were most plentiful. There were also many spears and shields. In addition, there were meteor hammers, tonfa, and other weapons.


    Fang Yuan walked through slowly and casually picked up a long sword.


    This sword was a meter long, the sheath was simple and unadorned, and the sword hilt''s tip hung a tassel. By slightly pressing it, there would be one-foot green spear tip springing out. It was bright, clean, and definitely sharp.


    "Nope!" He looked at it, disappointment on his face, and looked toward the next sword.


    After a while, Fang Yuan came out of the armament pavilion with a gloomy face. "Such a big armament pavilion, but there''s not one weapon that''s satisfactory¡­ Originally, I thought that the difficulty was exaggerated in the secret manual, but from the looks of it, I''ve underestimated this cultivation technique¡­


    "There being no suitable armament in the arsenal is troublesome. Don''t tell me I have to buy one or even make one myself?"


    How difficult was it to find a fitting armament?


    If he cast one himself, the assurance would be bigger.


    In the heat of the moment, it was a little difficult for Fang Yuan to choose. Suddenly, someone wearing a red skirt charged into his vision. "Little Brother!"


    The newcomer was a lady wearing all red. Her dashing eyebrows were long, and she was full of heroic spirit. She embraced Fang Yuan. "What happened these past couple days, and don''t lie to me!"


    "I wouldn''t dare lie to you, Third Sister." Fang Yuan smiled bitterly, rubbing his nose.


    Nangong Wentian had three daughters and a son. Among the daughters, the eldest daughter, Nangong Qing, and second daughter, Nangong Xiu, were already married to young men from another commandery. Only the third sister, Nangong Fu, remained at home, and she had the best relationship with her brother, Nangong Wuwang.


    "Really?"


    Nangong Fu had a red whip on her waist. She had freely practiced martial arts, and her ''Leaving Human Whip'' was rather well-known in the commanderies nearby. She had entered the seventh-grade and was a famous chivalrous lady. Currently, she had a suspicious look. "When do you not sleep until the sun is all the way up? Moreover, you''d have a headache whenever you see martial arts, but you stayed in the Martial Pavilion the whole day yesterday, and today, you came to the storehouse. Something''s definitely wrong!"


    "I''m tired of playing and don''t want to fool around anymore. It''s that simple!" Fang Yuan shrugged his shoulders. "I don''t want to be a wastrel anymore and thought about finding ways to bypass the Body of Hundred Emissions in the arsenal!"


    "Little Brother¡­" Nangong Fu''s eyes reddened. "It''s all right if you can''t learn martial arts. There''s still Father and us sisters!"


    She only had two elder sisters, and since this younger brother was born, he had been seen as the favorite. Even the two married sisters often wrote letters to ask about his situation.


    If there was a solution in the arsenal, why would we wait until now¡­


    Nangong Fu stroked her brother''s head to comfort him, but felt a little helpless in her heart.


    "Right, did you come over just to comfort me, Third Sister?"


    Fang Yuan softly escaped from the female demon''s claw, but his manner and tone were exactly the same as that wastrel''s.


    Nangong Fu immediately relaxed, only feeling that the distance between them had quickly disappeared, but she was also surprised herself. "¡­ Dad''s waiting for you in his study!"


    ¡­


    Nangong Wentian looked middle-aged and had a handsome face. Both his brows were graying, and his facial features were elegant. He should have been a rare, good-looking man when he was younger.


    He was unreadable when he saw Fang Yuan. "You went to the Martial Pavilion yesterday and also read the manuals?"


    He was the master of the entire Divine Armament Mountain Villa, so naturally there would be someone reporting to him what Fang Yuan did yesterday, no matter how big or small.


    "Yes, I also read through the Six Extremes Armament Commandeering Art," Fang Yuan said calmly. "I want to practice martial arts!"


    "Martial arts¡­ That''s all¡­ Do whatever you want." Nangong Wentian seemed to be slightly hopeless. "I can find you a few good masters¡­ And also, a month later, your Eldest Sister, Eldest Brother-in-law, Second Sister, and Second Brother-in-law will be coming back to visit."


    "Eldest Sister and Second Sister?" Fang Yuan could not help smiling.


    This was the body''s natural reaction. After all, these two ladies used to dote heavily on the wastrel.


    However, after he left, Nangong Wentian fell into deep thought, his pupils appearing gloomy. Looking at Wuwang''s state, he''s full of energy and spirit. His dantian seems to be prepared, and he also chose the Six Extremes Armament Commandeering Art. Could this be heaven''s will?


    As for the change in character, it''s normal¡­ After the influence of a Divine Armament or Demonic Armament, any martial artist would have some changes¡­


    The villa lord of the Divine Armament Mountain Villa, a second-grade master, had a profound look in his eyes, his thoughts impenetrable.


    ¡­


    This day was not fated to be peaceful.


    Outside Divine Armament Mountain Villa, in a dense forest.


    A figure wearing a gray robe appeared. His body moved with the branches, light as a feather.


    He silently observed the mountain villa and waited for an unknown amount of time.


    Whoosh whoosh!


    A roc-like figure rushed over and landed before the gray robe man. "Are you the contact this time? Do you know the rules?"


    The gray robe man remained silent and directly showed a token.


    This token was bronze, with a ferocious-looking ghost face in a threatening gesture on it. It looked terrifying.


    The roc-like messenger knelt immediately after seeing the token. "I didn''t know that Lord came personally. I deserve to die!"


    "How''s¡­ Divine Armament Mountain Villa?" This grey robe man''s voice was rough and hoarse, as if he was a traveler in a desert that had not drunk water for a long time.


    "They''re peaceful, but Nangong Wuwang seems to have a few thoughts about martial arts recently. In addition, two daughters of Nangong Wentian, Nangong Qing and Nangong Xiu, will be returning home to visit next month!" the mountain villa messenger said calmly, but knew everything about the Divine Armament Mountain Villa like the back of their hands.


    However, the grey robe man was unsatisfied and continued to ask, "Most importantly¡­ where is that thing?"


    "I don''t know¡­" The mountain villa messenger was a little uneasy. "Nangong Wentian is cautious, and the existence of that object might not even be known to the wastrel and his three daughters¡­ However, fumbling until now, I''ve finally gained his trust and can guess the general location of the object."


    "Since that''s the case¡­" The lord holding the bronze ghost token instantly set his determination. "Divine Armament Mountain Villa has no reason to exist. Once his two daughters arrive, we''ll immediately take action and let their whole family reunite in the netherworld!"


    After saying this, the token holder''s face revealed a cold smile.


    In front of him and the force he represented, any master above the third-grade in the Pugilistic World, as well as the master of any large sect, seemed to turn into weak chickens and sick cats that could be casually slaughtered.


    And crucially, this mole in Divine Armament Mountain Villa clearly did not doubt this at all.

 782 Divine Armamen

    "Phew¡­"


    Fang Yuan took a deep breath and exhaled white air, which appeared like a long arrow as it shot out a few meters, making a magnificent sight.


    Since the day he had searched the entire arsenal but failed to find a suitable weapon, he had temporarily stopped thinking about it and began to intensively study the technique.


    After all, the Six Extremes Armament Commandeering Art was an earth-grade technique. Even if someone could not find an intrinsic armament, the accumulation of Qi of the Six Extremes was already incomparable.


    Of course, most important was still the support of Fang Yuan''s proficiency. In addition, there was the assistance of extremely nourishing medicines. His Martial Dao had outrageously broken through stages continuously?¡ªthe speed was incredible.


    At the moment, there was a purple-gold ore in front of him.


    "This purple-gold ore is used for martial artists to test their skill. An average martial artist that has just gained a grade can leave shallow cuts on it. The higher the skill, the deeper the marks are!"


    Fang Yuan held on to the ore and applied a slight force.


    A moment later, there was an additional palm mark on it. The fingerprints were neatly arranged, and even the skin texture could be seen.Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting.


    "The realm I''m in now is extremely strange. Despite not having an armament, I''ve cultivated the first realm of Six Extremes Armament Commandeering Art to a terrifying level, and the True Qi I''ve accumulated is incomparable thick."


    According to the traditional way of cultivating the Six Extremes Armament Commandeering Art, finding a compatible intrinsic armament should have come first. They should have assisted the Divine Armament before having a breakthrough through the Divine Armament''s Qi feedback, causing their martial study to make rapid progress.


    However, Fang Yuan''s foundation was getting larger and larger, stronger and stronger. The Six Extremes True Qi accumulated was extremely vigorous, and he did not even need the help of the armament''s Qi to directly break through.


    "Although it''s a little wasted, the effect isn''t bad. My fingerprints went ninety percent into the ore¡­ At this stage, I should be counted as a fourth-grade expert!"


    A fourth-grade expert was only a step away from the sect founders in the top three grades.


    In the Pugilistic World, any sect at this level would be able to independently take charge of an area¡­


    From a good-for-nothing wastrel, Fang Yuan had only spent a month to get to this step.


    "This was only with the increase from the stats window. If I still had my origin power¡­"


    Fang Yuan rubbed his lower abdomen, and a light flashed through his eyes.


    His dantian had two entirely different sides. One side of it was the rune wrapped in origin power. Like a Taotie, it continuously swallowed the secondary origin power. Although it could not swallow the true form, it was still restricted by the origin power''s might.


    Otherwise, no matter how much Six Extreme True Qi he cultivated, it would still be inevitably swallowed by the strange rune.


    "However¡­ the top three grades in the Martial Dao are like an immense chasm. It''ll be a little difficult to break through without the benefit from the armament''s Qi¡­"


    Fang Yuan concluded his training and pondered silently, "I''ve already had those lackeys search for strange ores and secret forging techniques. Maybe I can try forging the most suitable weapon for myself. If it really doesn''t work, the only way left is to go down the mountain and travel around to find a chance."


    At the fourth-grade in the Martial Dao, it would be enough to walk the Pugilistic World and become famous.


    Moreover, nothing would happen if he stayed in the Divine Armament Mountain Villa.


    After all, he had come here to experiment with the realm traversing technique and to hopefully find some things related to this world''s source. In addition, he hoped to refine and comprehend his own foundation''s Dao.


    "Young Master!" At this moment, a smiling Uncle Fu knocked on the door and came in with a tray. "Master instructed me to fulfill all of Young Master''s requests. These are the ores and secret manuals you wanted¡­ There are hundreds of years of forging knowledge in them!"


    "Mmmm!"


    Fang Yuan unveiled the red silk and saw a few minerals.


    In any case, this wastrel was also someone that did whatever came to his mind before, so he did not bother to explain.


    "Intense Yang Gold is only available around a hundred-year volcano. It''s formed by chance when many minerals are set on fire by magma.


    "Emery is a specialty of Fanwo Commandery, and fifty grams is as valuable as 2,500 grams of gold!


    "Thousand-year Cold Metal is a treasure of the Ye family from a local commandery."


    ¡­


    There were also pieces of paper on the tray that wrote about the origins of these objects.


    Fang Yuan picked up the Thousand-year Cold Metal. This mineral was around the size of a fist, but not cold at all, instead warm when he touched it. There was also a dim ring of purple light. It was truly extremely magical, as it was rumoured to be the raw material for making great Divine Armaments. Just by adding a little of its powder to any normal metal, it would be able to undergo a complete transformation and create a very sharp Divine Armament.


    Although it was washed and clean, Fang Yuan could still smell blood when he sniffed it.


    Moving on, he flipped the pages of an ancient book. It was all forging secrets techniques of different large sects and clans. He waved his hands to dismiss Uncle Fu before falling silent.


    In his memory, no matter what this wastrel wanted?¡ªan object, a toy, and even a woman?¡ªNangong Wentian would do his best to accomplish it. He could not be considered simply pampered, but was basically a lawless tyrant.


    "But what''s the explanation about the rune in the dantian?"


    Fang Yuan felt he was walking deeper and deeper into mist, a little unclear about what was going on.


    "However, since Divine Armament Mountain Villa''s savings are so much, I can forge a few times to experiment¡­"


    The Six Extremes Armament Commandeering Art needed a weapon, and the requirements were very high, the grade being only one aspect. Most importantly, it had to be compatible with the host''s Qi, and it was best to feel that they were connected as one.


    Fang Yuan had tried all the weapons that he had found within the month, but he had to admit that his luck was average, so he could only forge one himself to try.


    "Actually, if the dantian''s origin power could fill the Taotie, I wouldn''t need to be this troubled. Just by casually transforming, I would at least be a first-grade martial artist¡­"


    Fang Yuan glanced at his stats window:


    "Name: Fang Yuan (Nangong Wuwang)


    Essence: 50


    Spirit: 50


    Magic: 50


    Cultivation: [Martial Dao (Fourth-Grade)]


    Technique: Six Extremes Armament Commandeering Art (First Realm)


    Specialization: Botany [Level Six] (Maximum), Fiery Golden Eyes [Level Three], Body of Origin Power, ???"


    "This world is indeed in a higher universe¡­ I have such stats just by cultivating to Martial Dao fourth-grade¡­"


    Fang Yuan looked at the numerical values of the Essence, Spirit, and Magic carefully and let out a long sigh.


    It seemed to be due to the different rules of the world. Even though his stats were very horrifying, the power he could unleash was still similar to a normal Pugilistic World expert.


    "However, this is also normal. From a lower dimension to a higher dimension, there would naturally be restrictions¡­ But these stats should also change a little¡­ The stats window is based on my original definitions as a standard, and each aspect was standardized to a normal Da Qian person using one as the value. Now that I''ve broken through Da Qian, I should change it."


    A different world would have a difference in ability and strength despite both having the same human race.


    And lives in a higher dimension universe were practically completely different from those in a lower dimension.


    Fang Yuan thought that it was also about time for him to upgrade and optimize his stats window system.


    "Aside from that, there''s also this symbol¡­"


    He looked at the end of the specialization. A black, incomplete rune appeared after the Body of Origin Power, similar to the one in his dantian.


    As it absorbed the origin power, it became clearer and clearer, as if a certain mystery was gestating.


    "This new specialization is certainly related to the rune in my dantian¡­ No matter who''s plotting against me, they probably hadn''t thought that I''d have origin power!"


    Fang Yuan revealed a cold smile.


    Origin power would multiply endlessly, and it was not as simple as merely blocking the gap.


    Most important was still its power to pollute!


    No matter what the opponent was plotting, no matter where this secondary power was absorbed to, he was confident of inflicting damage to them and preventing them from successfully scheming against him as long as this property existed and the terrifying accumulation of his stats.


    "Learning forging from the beginning can be very troublesome to others, but it''s only a matter of proficiency to me¡­"


    Fang Yuan conveniently picked up a forging secret technique and roughly flipped through it, his mouth twitching upward in a smile.


    At his realm, any magical technique was considered the same to him. Forging should first have good materials, followed by smelting a furnace of minerals through hammering and smelting techniques. This allowed the materials to serve their proper purpose and not clash with each other. Those that could grasp this step would be considered an expert artisan. The quenching, fostering, and other procedures after that would not be a problem.


    However, this technique can only cast armaments, sharp weapons¡­ A true Divine Armament is naturally formed from the heavens and the earth and requires the great power of creation, or a chance coincidence and many blood sacrifices¡­


    He opened up the Lie family''s secret forging book. He had a quick look at the front part, but his eyes lit up when he saw the back.


    "Naturally formed? Or was it due to great grievances? This is getting interesting¡­"


    After this part, the author also recorded down the information of a few Divine Armaments and weapons. It looked like a storybook.


    "Celestial Thearch Sword! The number one Divine Armament in the world! It''s rumored that the Creator God, Pan, cast it. It holds magical essence, soul, and blood. From the stars to the mountains, all would be under the wielder''s command. It was a magnificent sword of the Dao of the King. The one who has it is the ruler of the world, but it was lost!


    "Seven Slaughter Tiger Soul Saber! After splitting the sky and ground, the grievance of the heavens and the earth agglomerated. After millions of years, it transformed into jade blood. After a divine beast, the White Tiger, swallowed it, it became a disaster in the world. Even if it died, it still had Ferocious Qi. Someone evil drew its essence, blood, and marrow to smelt into a sword that absorbs human''s heart and soul. It caused massacre and is lost!


    "Li Perishing Sword! In the ancient past, there was a Li Human Sect that was invaded by the surrounding large sects and had great casualties. There was a youth sect master named ''Jiang'' that had obtained the Ancient Armament Manual and hoped to cast a divine sword to suppress the enemy. Unfortunately, the sect was destroyed before the sword was completed, and the whole sect was slaughtered. Masses of the martial artists'' grievances gathered in the sword furnace and transformed the righteousness into evil, agglomerating a Demonic Armament. On that day, there was a heavy downpour and purple lightning that killed the attackers¡­"


    ¡­


    "Unable to personally see the top Ten Divine Armaments and the top Ten Demonic Armaments in the world, life would be filled with regrets!"


    At the end of the book, there were the laments of the expert artisan. It was as though he would have died without regrets if he could have seen just one of the twenty armaments.


    "Martial artists'' Pugilistic World always likes to scramble for fame and wealth. The top ten masters, top ten beauties, top ten Divine Armaments, and so on, rankings appear one after another¡­ Of course, if there wasn''t the support of huge forces, people who created these would normally have bad ends. A few people in the Pugilistic World self-proclaiming to be top masters have died unexplainable deaths¡­"


    Fang Yuan ran his hand over the manual, but the smile spread. "But¡­ Ten Divine Armaments and Ten Demonic Armaments?"


    Indistinctly, he felt that he had somehow come into contact with this world''s source.A ferocious legendary animal.

 783 Visitor

    "Go!"


    A group of horsemen shouted as they escorted a carriage into the territory of the Divine Armament Mountain Villa.


    The people riding the horses were in black, and evident from their agile movements, they were all skilled martial artists.


    "Sisters!"


    Fang Yuan took a rare break from his cultivation and welcomed them with his third sister, Nangong Fu, at the gates of the villa.


    "It''s been so many years since we''ve left, but the villa looks the same as before!"


    The eldest sister, Nangong Qing, was a gentle woman. She approached Fang Yuan and took his hands. "Wuwang, you''ve become skinnier!"


    Her husband was standing beside her. His name was Chang Kun, a renowned martial artist of Yuhe Commandery known for using the Flying Feather Sword. He had thick brows, large eyes, and an honest and good-natured appearance.


    "I walked an extra fifty kilometers this time to fetch Eldest Sister. How is it? Do you feel like expressing your gratitude, Little Brother?"


    Opposite to what her name suggested, Nangong Xiu1did not have a delicate countenance. Her glistening eyes and attractive smile gave her an exotic charm, just like a witch or an enchantress in the Pugilistic World.


    Her husband, Xu Ruyu2, was also far more handsome than the husband of the eldest sister. His skin was like flawless jade, and his powerful aura suggested that his ability was above the third-grade. Fang Yuan could not help taking a few more glances at him.


    He was in the fourth-grade, but his foundation was hidden well, and origin power also helped conceal the inner power in his dantian. Thus, outsiders could not notice his progress at all.


    Even those close to him, such as Uncle Fu and Nangong Fu, would only lament that all his effort spent on martial arts for the entire month had been a wild-goose chase.


    "What''s up? I heard from Third Sister that you''ve recently become interested in martial arts again?" Nangong Xiu embraced Fang Yuan''s shoulders. Such an act was outrageous even in the Pugilistic World.


    "I was only slightly intrigued, and my interests have already changed. Now, I want to forge my own Divine Armament¡­" Fang Yuan touched his nose and looked at his Second Brother-in-law, Xu Ruyu.


    Being aware that Fang Yuan was looking at him, Xu Ruyu displayed a feminine smile, making Fang Yuan feel goosebumps all over.


    "Forge an armament? That''ll be very tiresome. Will you be able to endure it?" Nangong Fu rolled her eyes, pointing out Fang Yuan''s laziness.


    "Haha¡­ I''ve gotta give it a try!" Fang Yuan laughed it off.


    "All right. We came back this time primarily for Dad''s birthday. Is he well these days?" Nangong Qing changed the subject.


    "He''s very good. Sisters, please come inside!"


    Fang Yuan turned sideways and made a gesture to invite them in. His perception of these two couples, however, had changed.


    ¡­


    Night.


    The two daughters visited Nangong Wentian and had a seemingly harmonious family meal together before resting at their respective places.


    Fang Yuan sat cross-legged in his small courtyard. Suddenly, he opened his eyes. "These people I met today feel really fishy."


    He sneaked out with that thought. Under the moonlight, he moved speedily but stealthily through the Divine Armament Mountain Villa.


    Fang Yuan''s martial arts and concealing ability were sufficient for him to go anywhere in the Divine Armament Mountain Villa except for a few restricted areas like Nangong Wentian''s study and bedroom.


    "There''s something wrong with these two couples¡­"


    Moving on roofs and walls, Fang Yuan quickly arrived at Nangong Xiu''s room. He summoned the Qi of the Six Extremes and became as light as a feather, floating slowly onto the rooftop.


    He lowered his body to hear every sound inside the room.


    "Ruyu, we must do something to celebrate my Dad''s fiftieth birthday! He''ll definitely be happy with that gift¡­" Nangong Xiu''s voice was heard.


    "Hehe¡­ Even if that old man is happy, so what? Can you inherit anything in the Divine Armament Mountain Villa?" Xu Ruyu sneered. "In the end, everything will belong to your brother. Hmm¡­ perhaps Nangong Fu should be counted as well. Why didn''t we realize what she was scheming for? She should''ve been married earlier¡­"


    Fang Yuan was dumbfounded.


    The wastrel remembered that his three sisters had always coddled him and treasured him.


    Of course, no one knew whether that was purely due to their love for the brother. It might have been faked, and they might have even been pressured by Nangong Wentian.


    If the original Nangong Wuwang had heard this, he would have felt so hurt and even confronted them.


    But Fang Yuan did not care and continued eavesdropping. It seems that¡­ Nangong Xiu and her husband want to please Nangong Wentian for his fortune. That''s understandable!


    He knew how affluent the Divine Armament Mountain Villa was.


    Other things aside, the medicinal cuisines he consumed every day and the precious minerals and secret manuals readily available to him were definitely not accessible to an ordinary family in the Pugilistic World.


    While Xu Ruyu is a highly skilled and gifted martial artist, he doesn''t have a prominent family background. No wonder he''d have such thoughts¡­ Understandable. Understandable!


    Fang Yuan silently nodded his head.


    But the door opened and an unexpected person barged in.


    "Eldest Sister? You¡­ have been outside all the while? How much of our conversation did you hear?" Nangong Xiu was shocked.


    "Not much¡­" Nangong Qing sounded indifferent. "I just didn''t expect that my adorable Second Sister has become this kind of person¡­"


    "The Chang family is a well-known family in Yuhe Commandery, so you simply don''t understand my pain¡­" Nangong Xiu was on the verge of tears. She said emotionally, "Moreover¡­ our brother was born not being able to learn martial arts, and if he manages the Divine Armament Mountain Villa, it''ll definitely collapse in the end and become a joke in the Pugilistic World. Why can''t I take over? I''m also helping him this way!"


    "Helping him? What a way of helping him!" Nangong Qing sneered and then said solemnly, "As your sister, I''ll give you some advice. You can always take away what belongs to you, but you won''t be able to plunder what''s not yours, including the Divine Armament Mountain Villa!"


    "Why? Does the Chang family covet the Divine Armament Mountain Villa as well?" Nangong Xiu became slightly alert.


    If her eldest sister joined the fight, her chances would be significantly diminished.


    "Covet?" Nangong Qing shook her head. "You can''t undertake that thing in the villa, neither can Third Sister nor me. Only Fourth Brother will have the ability."


    She was the eldest daughter and seemed to know more about the secrets in the family.


    "What ''thing''?" Nangong Xiu was stunned.


    "You don''t need to know!" Nangong Qing walked out elegantly. Her husband, ''Flying Feather Sword'' Chang Kun, had been waiting for some time in the courtyard.


    Although this swordsman''s demeanor and skills were inferior to Xu Ruyu''s, he held his sword tightly.


    "Let''s go!" Nangong Qing held her husband''s hand and smiled.


    The couple walked out hand in hand, strolling through the garden.


    "Sigh¡­ When I was young, I often played in this garden with my brother and sisters. Second Sister was an innocent child at that time, and she always liked to fight with Third Sister for fresh desserts from the kitchen, but she would give them to Fourth Brother instead of eating them¡­" Nangong Qing plucked a peony flower and sighed. "Why has everything changed?"


    "Are you going to visit Father-in-law later?" Chang Kun asked earnestly in a resolute voice. "I''ll accompany you!"


    "That bastard!!!" Nangong Qing looked agitated. "I''ve come here this time to intercept his scheme, and everything will be fine if he stops on his own. But if¡­ if¡­"


    As she talked, her stubborn and indifferent attitude disappeared and tears started flowing.


    Fang Yuan waited until the couple left before walking out of the shadow, looking expressionless. It appears there are many secrets in the Divine Armament Mountain Villa.


    Furthermore¡­ the secrets are related to me. Is it because of the rune?


    Never mind¡­ If anything bad happens, I can simply leave. How could it be possible that I wouldn''t find a place to live in this vast Pugilistic World?


    Since he was using spiritual possession, he could stay optimistic about all of this.


    "The light''s still on in the Divine Armament Building, so Nangong Wentian hasn''t gone to sleep yet¡­"


    Fang Yuan was already satisfied with the new intelligence he had collected tonight.


    He took another glance at the Divine Armament Building on his way back.


    This was the tallest building in the Divine Armament Mountain Villa. The study and the bedroom of the villa lord, Nangong Wentian, were located in this building as well.Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting.


    At this moment, Fang Yuan heard something and his expression changed. He immediately rolled onto the ground like an agile rat and rushed into the shadows.


    Whoosh whoosh!


    A light breeze blew gently.


    In the darkness, a gray-robed figure floated forward in the air like a ghost. He had broken through numerous lines of defense before approaching the Divine Armament Building.


    He did not make a sound with his movement, as if he had fused into the darkness. Other than Fang Yuan, no one else could notice him at all.


    His lightness skill is impressive. He''s at least in the upper third-grade, and I''m not sure whether Uncle Fu could defeat him¡­


    Fang Yuan''s eyes gleamed.


    "Stop hiding. You''re acting suspicious. Who are you?" The man wearing the gray robe stopped in his vicinity. His face looked young, and a pair of eyebrows dangled from his face, a cinnabar mole between them. His voice, however, was old and rough.


    He waited for a while, but seeing that Fang Yuan did not move, he flicked his fingers. Sword Qi emerged and pounced aggressively at the place where Fang Yuan was hiding.


    "Sigh¡­"


    Fang Yuan let out a sigh. He summoned the Six Extremes True Qi in his legs and rolled his body into the air to evade the attack. He then stared at this strange intruder.


    "Quite skillful, but how many moves can you evade?" the man in gray said mischievously, as if he was a cat tricking a rat. He suddenly crossed his hands.


    Whoosh whoosh!


    Qi currents flowed in his hands like Taiji. He pushed casually, and two streams of palm strength, Yin in one and Yang in the other, intertwined as they assaulted Fang Yuan.


    "Is this the balance between Yin and Yang, the combination of water and fire?" Fang Yuan''s pupils contracted as he retreated continuously. "Expert¡­ This is definitely an expert! His skill is even above the second-grade Nangong Wentian. Who is he exactly?"


    There were not many first-grade experts in the Pugilistic World.


    Thump!


    He protected his chest with both arms. A strong force tore up his clothes and revealed his face.


    The man in gray was stunned and stopped attacking. "You''re¡­ Nangong Wuwang! How is this possible! Since the Divine Armament has become self-aware, you''re lucky enough to even be alive, so how can you still practice martial arts?"


    He seemed extremely shocked and was petrified as a result.


    "Who''s intruding in my villa?"


    They were finally noticed by the guards outside, and it seemed that the entire Divine Armament Mountain Villa started moving."Xiu" is the Chinese word for "delicate""Ruyu" means "similar to jade"

 784 Birthday Banque

    The entire area was brightly illuminated, and the noise of troops broke the silence.


    The Divine Armament Mountain Villa was a stronghold in the region, and its movements were frightening to behold.


    Fang Yuan truly witnessed the defense of the villa this time.


    Numerous torches were lit, making the villa as bright as day.


    There were no governments in this world, so the Divine Armament Mountain Villa naturally had its own armor. The armor was made of extremely fine steel and covered the entire body of a soldier. Even the frantic attacks by a martial artist in the three medium grades might not break through the armor.


    Furthermore, there were soldiers armed with crossbows, spreading around the Divine Armament Building to guard it.


    Even a highly-skilled martial artist in the first-grade might not survive such a formation together with the attacks from the experts in the villa.


    Hmph!


    The man in gray sneered, looking hesitant. He seemed to be making a choice between killing Fang Yuan and leaving immediately.


    Seeing the experts and armored guards approaching, the man in gray floated backward, but Fang Yuan still heard his voice.


    "Nangong Wuwang¡­ Although I don''t know how you learned martial arts, you''re bound to die miserably as a ''saber sheath''!"


    "Saber sheath? Does that mean a human that''s used to feed a saber?"


    Fang Yuan was not a naive fool and immediately understood the hint.


    However, the man in gray retreated elegantly like a leaf before the guards could besiege him.


    "Young Master! Sorry, I''m late. I deserve to die!"


    In the blink of an eye, Uncle Fu was already in front of Fang Yuan. His Qi revealed that he was an expert in the second-grade as well.


    Even the villa lord of the Divine Armament Mountain Villa, Nangong Wentian, was only in the second-grade.


    It was inherently incredible that a second-grade martial artist could employ another one in the same grade.


    "What happened?" Fang Yuan pretended to be confused. "I was in my courtyard just now, and a strange man in a gray robe suddenly brought me here and said a lot of strange things. What did he mean by saber sheath?"


    "This man must have ill intentions and was most probably lying to you. Don''t mind him!" Uncle Fu shook his head resolutely. "Young Master, you are the Villa Lord''s treasure. If anything at all happens to you, I''ll be to blame for my negligence!"


    Fang Yuan felt disgusted.


    This second-grade expert looked determined to be a slave.


    If Nangong Wentian were a normal second-grade martial artist, how could he have tamed this person?


    "I''m fine¡­ I''ll head back and rest!"


    But right now, Fang Yuan reacted like the wastrel, sweating nonstop and scared out of his wits.


    "Of course!"


    Uncle Fu waved his hand and signaled the armored guards to retreat. He escorted Fang Yuan back to his courtyard, seemingly prepared to stay the whole night.


    It''s weird¡­ Nangong Wentian didn''t appear after such a huge incident. Was he involved in some trouble? Fang Yuan thought doubtfully as he closed the doors.


    ¡­


    During the commotion in the Divine Armament Mountain Villa.


    In the underground cave.


    The blood in the pool was replenished to the initial level.


    The giant, black saber at the center of the pool was devouring blood greedily.


    His face expressionless, Nangong Wentian clamped a hand over the neck of an expert. He cut open the expert''s blood vessels and let the blood flow into the pool.


    A small heap of corpses was seen at the side. Every one of them was a martial artist that stared with their eyes wide open when they died.


    "Demonic Armament! Demonic Armament!"


    When Nangong Wentian expressionlessly grabbed the last old man, the old man struggled and spat out some blood foam. "Nangong Wentian¡­ You dare feed a Demonic Armament with human blood. The entire Pugilistic World''s Orthodox Dao won''t spare you once they know of it!"


    "Noisy!"


    The last shriek of a pathetic ant could not make Nangong Wentian pause his action.


    His long fingernail cut open the old man''s neck, and the torrent of blood made the color of the pool even brighter.


    "According to the ancient record, this Demonic Armament must devour nine pools of blood before the process is complete¡­"


    While being delighted for the fast progress, Nangong Wentian was also somewhat baffled. "The progress in the past ten years or so was very slow. Why did it suddenly speed up a month ago? Never mind. The faster, the better¡­ It''s evident from what happened tonight that my actions have been noticed.Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting.


    "Before long¡­ Before long¡­ my wishes will come true. Don''t you agree, Shan?"


    He stared forward, as if he was gazing at his lover.


    However, there was nothing in front of him.


    In the pool of boiling blood, a trace of purple was stealthily mixed in with the thick crimson color and absorbed by the giant saber.


    ¡­


    "Damn it¡­ A mere first-grade martial artist dares to foretell my death!" Fang Yuan sat cross-legged in his courtyard, his aura getting increasingly enraged. "If I could use part of my origin power, even one-hundredth of it, I could''ve smashed him like smashing an ant!


    "But the arrival of this person is an ominous sign. I''m afraid that a big showdown is imminent¡­"


    Fang Yuan looked at his stats. The black rune at the end of ''Specialization'' had reached the last stage.


    It seemed that one last stroke would complete the pattern.


    And Fang Yuan knew intuitively that the completion of this last step would bring him unexpected benefits.


    ¡­


    Sixth day of the month.


    The sun was shining pleasantly, and there was a cool breeze.


    The Divine Armament Mountain Villa was decorated with colorful lanterns, and many guests and visitors had arrived at its giant gates.


    Today was the villa lord''s fiftieth birthday. Every renowned martial artist from the nearby sects had received an invitation and brought precious gifts, none daring to embarrass this local tyrant.


    Fang Yuan and his three sisters were dressed in silk robes and welcomed guests at the gates. The constant smiling had made their facial muscles cramp.


    "Thousand Mile Divine Fist, Elder Wan, is here!"


    "Sect master of the Pine Crane Sect, Venerable Pine Crane, is here!"


    "The wandering hero, Song Zhili, brought a pair of golden peaches. He wishes the Villa Lord as much good fortune as the East Ocean and longevity as long as the South Mountain!"


    ¡­


    In Uncle Fu''s loud and clear voice, experts of the Pugilistic World entered the Divine Armament Mountain Villa and seated themselves.


    Nangong Wentian received the guests sitting at the central table on his own. These guests were famous experts in the nearby commanderies, all of whom were in the top three grades.


    "Everybody¡­" Nangong Wentian was wearing a robe with more than a hundred golden ''shou'' characters embroidered on it. With his son and daughters by his side, he stood up with a delighted look. "Thank you for coming to celebrate my birthday! I will drink three cups of wine first to express my gratitude!"


    "You''re too modest!"


    The martial artists all held their cups of wine. "We''ll drink together!"


    After three rounds of drinking, Nangong Wentian continued, "It happens that I have something to declare today¡­ I intend to renounce my position and let my son, Wuwang, take over the Divine Armament Mountain Villa!"


    With this news, the entire hall was shocked.


    Nangong Xiu''s expression suddenly turned cold, her smile stagnating and her cup falling to the ground.


    Nangong Qing clenched her teeth.


    Nangong Fu appeared a bit off, and it was hard to tell whether she was happy or sad.


    On the other hand, the guests started to have a heated discussion after a short silence.


    While Nangong Wuwang was the only son of Nangong Wentian, everyone knew that he was an utter wastrel capable of nothing but squandering money.


    Of course, most importantly, he had the Body of Hundred Emissions and could not become a martial artist.


    How could such a person manage the large fortune of the Divine Armament Mountain Villa?


    Fang Yuan was astonished too.


    Nangong Wentian had never talked to him about it nor even hinted at it before.


    "Villa Lord, you''re going to renounce?" Venerable Pine Crane and Elder Wan were sitting at the same table. They exchanged glances, both looking surprised. "You must make a careful decision!"


    The rules in the Pugilistic World stipulated that once someone completed their renouncement ceremony, this person had to let go of any past grievances, and outsiders could not seek them for revenge either. Anyone breaching the rules would be detested by the entire Pugilistic World and live a hard life.


    If he completed the renouncement ceremony in front of so many martial artists, he would no longer be able to change his mind.


    "Of course!" Nangong Wentian clapped his hands, and Uncle Fu brought him a golden basin. They had obviously prepared for the ceremony.


    "Wait!"


    Just as Nangong Wentian was about to put his hands into the basin in front of so many guests, a loud voice full of hatred was suddenly heard.


    "Nangong Wentian, after all the evil deeds you''ve done, how can you just complete the renouncement ceremony without asking the Orthodox Dao?"


    A young martial artist stood up and became red-eyed. "I heard that the villa lord of the Divine Armament Mountain Villa has obtained a Demonic Armament, concealed it in an underground cave, and fed it with human blood. Is this true? Would you dare let us take a look?"


    "What? A Demonic Armament?"


    Venerable Pine Crane almost jumped up, clearly aware of the power of such an armament.


    "Not only that, but he liked to sacrifice martial artists. The Tong family''s Flying Spear, Second Young Master Fei, the Black and White Ghosts¡­ All these martial artists who had mysteriously disappeared were actually killed by him!" Another swordsman stood up and disclosed the long name list. He took his sword out of the sheath. "We will enforce heaven''s will today!"


    "What? Did you really kill the Tong family''s Flying Spear, Tong Guan?"


    "Nangong Wentian, pay for my brother''s life!"


    "Nangong Wentian, I swear I''ll kill you today!"


    ¡­


    A few red-eyed martial artists stood up.


    The Pugilistic World was small, and the relationships in this world were complex. Almost all the experts from the nearby commanderies were present for Nangong Wentian''s birthday celebration, and all sorts of relationships between them united them immediately.


    "Hmm?"


    This scene reminded Fang Yuan of the man in gray that he had met the previous night.


    Without question, only that person had the ability and strategy to find evidence and convince the members of various big sects and families to create trouble in Nangong Wentian''s birthday banquet.


    The harmonious birthday banquet suddenly became a dangerous trap!


    Many clues against the Divine Armament Mountain Villa were revealed, exposing the darkest side of this place to the light of day."Shou" means a long lifespan.The renouncement ceremony is completed by washing one''s hands in a golden basin

 785 Revelation

    Fang Yuan suddenly realized what it felt like to be universally condemned with no way out.


    With the large amount of evidence, many martial artists changed their expressions. They took out their armaments and confronted the guards of the villa.


    Nangong Wentian, however, was expressionless, looking calm despite the crisis.


    Nangong Xiu was scared, Nangong Qing smiled coldly but looked a bit sad, and Nangong Fu silently moved closer to Nangong Wentian.


    Everything was like a scene in a play, making Fang Yuan feel interested as he watched it.


    "Villa Lord Nangong!" Elder Wan and Venerable Pine Crane, initially seated at the same table as Nangong Wentian, became enraged and distanced themselves from the villa lord. "We''ve been friends for many years, so we only want to ask one question now?¡ªdid you really do it?"


    "Hmph¡­ The winner is the king and the loser is the villain!" Nangong Wentian let out a long sigh, then stood with his hands behind the back. "How could you possibly have the ability to discover what I''m doing? Demon Sect, I didn''t expect that you''d find me here!"


    "Hehe¡­ Villa Lord Nangong, it took us a lot of effort to find you!" A man wearing a gray robe stood up in the crowd, his voice hoarse and hideous like an owl''s.


    "What?"


    "Demon Sect?"


    The expressions of Elder Wan and other martial artists changed. This was the most powerful evil force in the Pugilistic World, and it was said that the demons inside their sect were so cold-blooded that children would stop crying at night at the mention of their names.


    While they were stunned, they also felt somewhat bewildered.


    If everything was a conspiracy by the Demon Sect, why would the man in gray acknowledge it? Would that not be a loophole in their plan to kill Nangong Wentian?


    "We''re all the same, so what''s the point of mocking us?" The man in gray shook his head. "I haven''t introduced him to you. Villa Lord Nangong¡ªOh right! He used to go by a different name¡ªis a deacon of the Demon Sect as well. His poisoning skill is comparable to his teacher, the Five Poisons Dharma King!"


    Bang! Bang!


    Just as he finished talking, the martial artists at the outermost tables fell to the ground in shock. Their limbs felt numb, and they could no longer concentrate their inner force.


    Whoosh!


    Groups of people collapsed like cut wheat. In the blink of an eye, most of the guests had fallen to the ground.


    Nangong Wentian had evidently poisoned the food!


    Did Nangong Wentian obtain intelligence in advance? Or perhaps he decided to capture all of them before the banquet¡­ Or did he poison the food just now? If it''s the last case, he''s really skillful since he managed to target enemies only!


    Fang Yuan looked around.


    Other than the people from the Divine Armament Mountain Villa, only Elder Wan, the man in gray, and a few other experts with powerful inner strength could still remain standing.


    "Why¡­ did you have to force me?" Nangong Wentian sighed with his hands behind the back. "I only wanted to leave the Pugilistic World quietly and cultivate my martial arts. Why do you always force me to do such things?"


    "Tsk tsk¡­ There''s Heavenly Fragrance Pepper in the food. It''s not poisonous, but when mixed with the aroma of burning Spike Whale oil, it can deprive a person of their strength for three days¡­ You''ve prepared this in advance!"


    The man in gray shook his head but did not look surprised. It was evident that he had something to rely on.


    "Are all the juniors in the current Demon Sect as cocky as you?"


    Nangong Wentian waved his hand, and Uncle Fu led a large array of armored guards over. Their swords and crossbows were aimed at the man in gray. "Never mind. I''ll kill you all and sacrifice your blood to the Demonic Armament. This must be sufficient to complete the feeding! Attack!"


    He clearly knew that it was better to act earlier, and he did not want to wait for the spies of the Demon Sect to take action. Thus, he resolutely gave the order.


    "Understood!" Uncle Fu answered with a grin. He moved as fast as a ghost and struck out his palm!


    Thump!


    He hit Nangong Wentian''s chest with all his strength, and the sound of bones fracturing was heard. He immediately retreated after that, evading Nangong Wentian''s counterattack like a butterfly.


    "You¡­ aren''t Fu!" Nangong Wentian covered his chest, and blood flowed out of his mouth. He stared furiously at Uncle Fu.


    "Hehe¡­ Aren''t you satisfied with me, Villa Lord?" Uncle Fu said in a feminine voice, giving goosebumps to those who heard him.


    "The Amorphous Dao of the Six Dao Demon Sect specializes in assassination and disguise¡­ Since you''ve killed Fu and disguised yourself using his skin, you must have infiltrated these armored guards as well!" Nangong Wentian stood straight despite his injuries.


    Shualala!


    An upheaval broke out among the armored guards, many of whom killed their fellow soldiers without hesitation.


    After a while, the majority of the armored guards were either killed or injured, and the rest aimed their weapons at their past villa lord.


    "The Villa Lord is indeed clever. It''s a pity¡­ you realized it too late¡­" The woman in disguise still appeared as Uncle Fu. "Nevertheless¡­ that''s because you''ve spent most of this month with the Demonic Armament in the underground cave. Otherwise, you''d have discovered that something was wrong! But now, I''ve killed two of your three honorary experts and bribed the other one. You''re truly on your own!"


    "That''s right!" Nangong Wentian looked around.


    He was isolated and his reputation was ruined.


    Furthermore, he was seriously injured and besieged. It was a hopeless situation.


    "Dad¡­ Th-this isn''t true!" Nangong Xiu was pale. She took a few steps back and held on to her husband''s hand.


    However, her husband, Xu Ruyu, was as pale as her.


    "As expected¡­" Nangong Qing sighed. "This day has finally come. Do you feel remorseful?"


    "Remorseful? Why should I be?" A few streaks of blood appeared in Nangong Wentian''s eyes. "Wuwang, come forward!"


    Fang Yuan was suddenly stiff from head to toe.


    Something''s wrong!


    The Demon Sect has the ability to achieve immediate victory, but they''re deliberately delaying in order to corner Nangong Wentian! They must be scheming for something important!


    While Nangong Wentian seems to be in a desperate situation, he still has a chance because of the Demonic Armament! According to what he said, the cultivation of the Demonic Armament will be complete with one last round of blood sacrifice¡­ If he takes it out now, he could kill them all!


    Is the secret going to finally be revealed?


    Although he was perfectly aware of it, he still moved forward. After all, he still needed to resolve some of this body''s karma.


    "Brother, run! Old thief!!!" Nangong Qing became red-eyed. "Attack!"


    Schwing!


    The Flying Feather Sword was taken out of its sheath.Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting.


    Chang Kun attacked Nangong Wentian without hesitation.


    Smack!


    Nangong Fu wielded her whip.


    The third sister of Nangong Wuwang displayed impressive skills in martial arts, managing to hold back Chang Kun.


    "Third Sister, are you still going to assist this evil? Did you know that all these years, this old thief has been using Little Brother as the saber sheath and sacrificing his essence to the Demonic Armament? If he hadn''t done such things, why would Little Brother be so feeble?"


    Nangong Qing''s eyes became blood red.


    Nangong Fu did not speak and continued fighting.


    The Demon Sect members grinned as they watched the Nangong family''s internal strife. They stood aside, having no intention of launching an attack.


    The man in gray looked at the scene and thought to himself, Nangong Wentian fled with the Demonic Armament years ago and was only found recently. Deeper investigation revealed that he''s almost completed refining the useless Demonic Armament with sacrifice. They kept him alive until now so that he could complete the last stage of the process!


    As for the progress in his martial arts after obtaining the Demonic Armament, the man in gray did not fear that possibility at all.


    No matter how good the armament was, the outcome would ultimately depend on the martial artist using it!


    Furthermore, the Demon Sect had secretly sent an armament-wielding elder here just in case.


    They would achieve unprecedented accomplishments when they brought back Nangong Wentian''s head and the refined Demonic Armament!


    With this thought, his expression became zealous. He gazed at Fang Yuan mischievously. Nangong Wuwang is apparently concealing something as well. What''ll happen next? Will father and son fight against each other?


    ¡­


    "Wuwang¡­"


    Looking at his son before him, Nangong Wentian had mixed feelings.


    He had obtained incomplete pages from the Ancient Armament Manual, which recorded a method of recovering the power of Divine Armaments.


    When he saw the rusted Demonic Armament, evil thoughts arose in his mind, so he betrayed the Demon Sect and changed his name to Nangong Wentian.


    And it had taken him lots of effort to refine the armament using the method in the manual.


    If he used Six Extremes Armament Commandeering Art right now, he could refine Nangong Wuwang into the ''saber sheath'' by sacrificing Wuwang''s essence and soul, and Nangong Wuwang would then become the Saber Spirit!


    This was the most important step!


    How could he control the unruly Demonic Armament? The only way was to sacrifice a family member as the Saber Spirit and suppress the backlash with the naturally familiar aura!


    The Armament Manual had mentioned that if the sacrifice died willingly, the armament would obtain the most powerful might.


    Nangong Wentian put his hand on the top of Nangong Wuwang''s head, but remained silent.


    "Old thief! Little Brother, run! He''s going to sacrifice you for the armament!!!" Nangong Qing stared wide-eyed.


    "Eldest Sister!" Nangong Fu''s eyes turned red. She shook her head. "You''ve misunderstood Dad. H-he''s not this kind of person! He''s going to sacrifice himself!"


    "What?" Nangong Qing was shocked, and Chang Kun stopped fighting as well.


    Nangong Wentian stared at his son and suddenly asked, "Wuwang¡­ do you believe in Dad?"


    "I do!" Fang Yuan gave a short but resolute answer, but he actually had nothing to fear.


    "Haha¡­ Great!" Nangong Wentian laughed. "Remember to¡­ live well!"


    Rumble!


    A torrent of inner force flowed from his palm into Fang Yuan''s body.


    The sudden change astonished the Demon Sect members.


    So¡­ this old thing has been doing all of this for his son? The man in gray gazed at the scene and felt shocked, but shook his head immediately. If Nangong Wentian was the one using the armament, there would be a chance for him to escape. However, if the armament is used by Nangong Wuwang, hehe¡­ This is an accomplishment granted to me by heaven!


    So Nangong Wentian is such a person? This is a bit troublesome¡­ Fang Yuan was dumbfounded in his mind.


    If Nangong Wentian wanted to kill his son, Fang Yuan could take this chance to thoroughly cut off their ties, but the situation was more problematic now.


    Soon, he had no time to think about that.


    As Fang Yuan received the reversed True Qi of Nangong Wentian''s Six Extremes Armament Commandeering Art, a peculiar change immediately took place in his body!

 786 Blood Imbibing

    "This is¡­"


    The Six Extremes Armament Commandeering Art was an earth-grade cultivation technique. Following the flow of the technique could generate Six Extremes True Qi, which could then be used to foster Divine Armaments.


    However, Fang Yuan did not know that reversing the flow of the Six Extremes Armament Commandeering Art could result in an effect similar to enlightenment.


    His body was now devouring the incoming True Qi from Nangong Wentian.


    A sound like the roar of a dragon was heard in his dantian.


    The black rune struggled and trembled, but it was sealed by the origin power restriction.


    Is¡­ this the last stroke to be completed?


    Fang Yuan released the origin power restriction. Suddenly, the black rune absorbed Nangong Wentian''s Six Extremes True Qi like a whale sucking water, and the rune was immediately completed.


    The black rune in the stats window was complete as well. It looked like a small crimson saber, emanating a mysterious spiritual will.


    "Demonic Armament¡ªBlood Imbibing Saber!"


    He read out the name softly.


    Rumble!


    The armament seemed to understand his thoughts. The ground of the Divine Armament Mountain Villa cracked, a large number of rocks crashed down, and blood splashed up.


    A crimson, one-and-a-half meter long armament flew through the splashed blood and reached Fang Yuan. Fang Yuan received it steadily.


    The dark saber seemed to be devouring the light around it, and the ancient pattern on the blade looked like human blood vessels and hot streams of flowing lava.


    In the Ancient Era, an extraterrestrial demon had invaded the world and wreaked havoc. The Celestial Thearch Sword owner killed it, slashing it into pieces. The armament artisan, Ou Zhizi, extracted its bones and blood to mix with precious minerals. He smelted the materials using heavenly lightning and earth fire for 49 years to forge the demonic saber named ''Blood Imbibing''. On the same day, he went insane and killed his entire family with the saber before committing suicide! Fang Yuan recalled a section of the Lie family comments on Demonic Armaments. There''s truly a legendary armament in the Divine Armament Mountain Villa, although it''s a Demonic Armament!


    The saber weighed more than 150 kilograms, too heavy for most martial artists. But Fang Yuan held it up easily. He felt that the saber was naturally connected to him, and his Six Extremes True Qi became excited.


    After all, this saber had been devouring the essence in his body for more than ten years! It could absolutely recognize him!


    "Haha! How can the advent of a Demonic Armament not be accompanied by a blood sacrifice?!" Nangong Wentian stepped forward. "Kill! Kill me, and kill everyone present to feed the Blood Imbibing Saber with their blood! From now on, there will be another legend of an invincible Demonic Armament in the Pugilistic World!"


    Although Fang Yuan left some cultivation power to him deliberately, he had lost ninety percent of it. Right now, his capability was below a martial artist in the three medium grades, but his eyes were lit up with zeal.


    Even if Wuwang takes all my cultivation power, I''m afraid that he still won''t break through the siege of the Demon Sect. Fortunately, the Blood Imbibing Saber has the peculiar ability of devouring essence and blood to strengthen its owner. As soon as I become the Saber Spirit and absorb the essence and blood of all martial artists here, he''ll reach first-grade and even advance to Heavenly Phenomenon. He can then conquer the world! That''s all I can do for him!


    He was not in the least worried about whether Nangong Wuwang could be ruthless enough to kill him.


    After all, the Blood Imbibing Saber was a Demonic Armament. Even the armament master, Ou Zhizi, had been manipulated by demonic thoughts after forging it and slaughtered his own family, only to redeem himself after regaining consciousness by committing suicide.


    It was impossible for a wastrel like Nangong Wuwang to be immune to it.


    But he would recover after the Blood Imbibing Saber was satisfied with the blood sacrifice and gained a Saber Spirit.


    By that time, the die will have been cast. I hope he won''t blame me!


    I''m not a cold-hearted person after all. Nevertheless, my son will conquer the Pugilistic World, and I''m content with that!


    Since I can''t kill my son to accomplish my goal, I''ll sacrifice myself and let my son accomplish it. That''s my realization in the Demon Dao!


    Nangong Wentian struck his chest toward the tip of the blade, looking prepared to sacrifice himself.


    Smack!


    But the next moment, the Blood Imbibing Saber turned aside and swatted Nangong Wentian, pressing him on the ground. "Old Man, do you wanna die?" Fang Yuan shook his head. "Have you asked for my opinion?"


    "Eh?" Nangong Wentian was stunned. "Impossible!"


    "Impossible!"


    The two from the Demon Sect, the Amorphous Dao person and the man in gray, were even more shocked. "The Blood Imbibing Saber inevitably controls its owners and makes them kill everyone in their sights. Why is he still conscious? Could the saber still be incomplete?"


    "I see. No wonder it''s called the Blood Imbibing Saber!"


    Fang Yuan looked at his palm.


    Red strings extended from the saber handle and climbed onto his forearm like blood vessels.


    A desire to imbibe blood was frantically attacking his mind, urging him to slaughter everyone for blood.


    If he were still that wastrel, or even a martial artist in the top three grades, he would have lost his mind and began a massacre.


    However, it would be laughable if the saber could influence Fang Yuan.


    "Six Extremes Armament Commandeering allows someone to commandeer the armament instead of the other way round! How could I possibly be influenced by a mere lifeless object with a bit of a Demon God''s remnant?" Fang Yuan sneered, a purple color emerging from his wrist and dying his blood vessels.


    Furthermore, the saber was also corrupted by the purple color.


    All of his regenerated origin power that the Blood Imbibing Saber had devoured this month started to corrupt the saber from the inside.


    Furthermore, there was no longer a leakage in his dantian after the rune was completed, and he could use origin power as well.


    The purple color immediately engulfed the Blood Imbibing Saber from both sides and purified it.


    The roar of a demon was heard in the saber before it quickly returned silent.


    A peculiar dharmic formulation entered Fang Yuan''s sea of consciousness.


    The Great Sanguine Demon Technique!


    So when a truly legendary Divine Armament or Demonic Armament fully accepts its owner, it would present the corresponding secret manual? Is this really a heaven-grade cultivation technique?


    However, this cultivation technique seems somewhat secretive and sinister, but so does this Demonic Armament!


    The Great Sanguine Demon Technique and the Blood Imbibing Saber were surely a perfect combination that could maximize the armament''s power. The owner could even replenish essence and heal injuries by imbibing blood and practicing the technique, thus gaining incomparable endurance in a prolonged battle!


    But Fang Yuan detected something abnormal in the Blood Imbibing Saber. He did not practice the new technique at all, instead injecting his own Six Extremes True Qi into the saber.


    Crack!


    He had already finished cultivating the Six Extremes Armament Commandeering Art, and the reason why he was stuck in the first realm was the lack of a suitable armament.


    The Blood Imbibing Saber had been refined using his essence, so it was already like a part of his body. He did not need to do any more procedures before naturally commandeering the saber.


    Since the saber had been fostered for more than ten years, it allowed him to skip the second realm and directly reach the third realm of Divine Armament Feedback!


    Crack!Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting.


    Traces of blood-red Saber Qi was absorbed into Fang Yuan''s body, mixed with the Six Extremes True Qi, and broke through the barriers.


    Smack!


    The barrier for third-grade martial artist was readily broken by the sharp Saber Qi like a piece of paper.


    The Saber Qi then crashed through the many acupoints related to the second grade.


    Splash!


    The blood-red True Qi thumped onto the Heaven Gate for first-grade, tearing open numerous cracks.


    The cracks spread and the gate was broken after the second surge of the True Qi.


    In the blink of an eye, Fang Yuan had broken through three barriers, directly advancing to first-grade grandmaster, which was the ultimate realm of the Martial Dao in this mortal world!


    After the first-grade, all the acupoints in his body were opened up, as if he had explored a new world.


    The blood-colored True Qi advanced incessantly, trying to push his ability up to an unpredictable peak.


    Schwing!


    A bizarre metallic sound was heard outside the Divine Armament Mountain Villa.


    Grudge!


    All the martial artists hearing this sound were suddenly overwhelmed by hatred.


    Hate the heavens for being unjust! Hate the earth for being unfair! Hate the man for causing suffering!


    Apparently, this was the old monster secretly sent here by the Demon Sect. He was also frightened by Fang Yuan''s progress and decided to immediately interrupt Fang Yuan.


    "You''re courting death!" Fang Yuan did not hesitate and slashed at him!


    Zap! Zap!


    Invincible Saber Qi swept across the air, killing anyone in its path.


    The man in gray was the first victim. His organs were cracked, and his back crashed through numerous walls as he retreated.


    The Amorphous Dao assassin beside him was slightly weaker. Together with other unfortunate guests and subordinates, she was slashed into pieces by the Saber Qi and died miserably.


    Thump!


    When the Saber Qi was dissipated, the man in gray had retreated to the gates of the Divine Armament Mountain Villa.


    Looking at the furrows caused by the Saber Qi in the ground, he murmured to himself, "So fast! So sinister!"


    Poof! Poof!


    Just as he finished speaking, he was split into pieces. The large amount of blood seemed to be alive, flowing together into a blood pool in front of Fang Yuan.


    Purplish-red patterns meandered along the Blood Imbibing Saber like tentacles, devouring the blood greedily.


    Once wielded, this saber had to imbibe human blood!


    "This saber¡­"


    Fang Yuan was astonished as well. This behavior made it seem alive.


    At the same time, he could even sense a hot current from the saber handle, strengthening his body and improving his cultivation power.


    "Such an ability guarantees victory in a prolonged battle! It''s totally suited for slaughtering low-level existences, and I''m going to call it the Blood Sucking Saber."


    The worst thing for martial artists in the Pugilistic World was the depletion of cultivation power and strength. Even a first-grade expert would be afraid of getting besieged by an army.


    But things were different with the Blood Imbibing Saber.


    It enabled the martial artist to become stronger as they fought, which would be a nightmare for a normal army.


    "But to me, that''d be a waste!"


    The youth shook his head, waiting for the saber to imbibe every drop of blood on the ground.


    This demonic scene petrified his three sisters. Even Nangong Fu stared at Fang Yuan blankly, as if she no longer recognized her brother.


    "You dare!" Outside the Divine Armament Mountain Villa, a hoarse roar was heard. An elderly man appeared in a flash and stood where the man in gray had been.


    He was tall and strong, wearing a robe made of python''s skin and a golden crown, giving off a wealthy air. A black iron hook was seen in his hand.


    Demonic Armament¡ªProlonged Grievance Hook!


    Fearing that Fang Yuan might be disadvantaged, Nangong Wentian immediately reminded him, "Wuwang, this man is an armament-wielding elder of the Demon Sect¡ªHeaven Grudge Marquis. His Prolonged Grievance Hook ranks ninth among all Demonic Armaments! And he''s been in the first-grade since twenty years ago!!"

 787 Decapitation

    "Heaven Grudge Marquis? The ninth most powerful Demonic Armament, Prolonged Grievance Hook?" Fang Yuan sneered with the saber in his hand.for visiting.


    His aura alone made them unable to breathe and their limbs tremble, and they could not move at all.


    Zap!


    In a split second, the blood dragon chased after him.


    Suddenly, the Heaven Grudge Marquis turned around like a swallow returning to its nest, wielding the Prolonged Grievance Hook with all his strength at Fang Yuan''s unprotected chest!


    He was merely using a strategy to divert Fang Yuan''s attention before launching an attack.


    The Heaven Grudge Marquis had deduced that Fang Yuan was afraid of hurting his family from the battlefield he chose. When he was disadvantaged in the battle, he attacked Fang Yuan''s family so that he could take Fang Yuan by surprise!


    He had used only thirty percent of his strength when he feigned attacking Nangong Wentian, and all his strength was used only after he turned around halfway!


    Fast! Fast! Fast!!


    Everything happened unimaginably fast. His strategy was extremely delicate, utilizing the weakness in the opponent''s mind and creating the sudden changes. The Prolonged Grievance Hook was about to tear open Fang Yuan''s stomach.


    Poof!


    A few shrieks were heard in the Divine Armament Mountain Villa when the Prolonged Grievance Hook slashed across the youth''s body. However, the silhouette of Fang Yuan dispersed slowly, stunning the Heaven Grudge Marquis. "Illusion? The Demon Sect''s Puppet Manipulation Art? Dharma formulations of the Shadow Sect? It doesn''t seem to be any of them!"


    How could such a mistake be tolerated in a battle between experts?


    The next moment, a blood rainbow flew past, decapitating the Heaven Grudge Marquis.


    The sprinkled blood was absorbed by the greedy Blood Imbibing Saber once again. The essence and blood of a Heavenly Phenomenon made the saber hum in excitement.


    In the Divine Armament Mountain Villa, Nangong Wentian and the others were all shocked by this scene.


    An armament-wielding Elder of the Demon Sect and Heavenly Phenomenon martial artist just died like that?


    Nangong Wentian moved forward and looked at the headless corpse, murmuring, "He''s¡­ dead?"


    Fang Yuan picked up the Prolonged Grievance Hook and answered concisely, "Hmm. Dead!"


    ¡­


    The black Prolonged Grievance Hook was less than a foot long, and a gentle flick could generate penetrating sounds that evoked feelings of resentment.


    Typically, the shorter an armament was, the more perilous it would be to use it in a battle. The length of this hook was shorter than a foot, thus extremely perilous to wield.


    Of course, frequent use of dangerous tricks was like walking a tightrope, able to fail at any time.


    It was evident from how the Heaven Grudge Marquis had died from his dangerous tricks used against Fang Yuan.


    The Prolonged Grievance Hook ranks ninth among all Demonic Armaments in the world. During ancient times, the Heaven Heretic Sect rampaged through the Pugilistic World. Their sect master had a beautiful concubine whom he loved so deeply that he lost his ambition to conquer the world. When the Heaven Heretic Sect encountered a fiasco afterward, the elders of the sect suspected that she was a spy from the Orthodox Dao and forced the sect master to kill her¡­ Hopeless and desperate, the lady killed herself with her golden hook. The Sect Master of the Heaven Heretic Sect started to fight again in order to avenge his lover. He slaughtered all the nuns in the convent that trained the lady into a spy and used all the Heaven Heretic Sect''s fortune to refine her golden hook into a Demonic Armament¡­ The Heaven Heretic Sect collapsed in the end, but the Demonic Armament has remained in the Pugilistic World. The name of the lady has long been forgotten, and now she''s known as ''the Golden Hook Lady''¡­


    Fang Yuan held the Prolonged Grievance Hook in his hand and faintly smiled. "The Prolonged Grievance Demon Technique in the Prolonged Grievance Hook should be the most potent Demon Arts of that Heaven Heretic Sect.


    "I''ve taken a look at the Demon Arts. It''s quite good and suits the Prolonged Grievance Hook well. Take it!"


    He gently passed the Demonic Armament into the hands of the middle-aged man.


    Nangong Wentian had a mixture of emotions as he held an armament that martial artists in the entire Pugilistic World longed for.


    He had spent twenty years putting in persistent and painstaking effort to revive the Blood Imbibing Saber.


    But Nangong Wuwang threw a higher-ranking Demonic Armament to him like he was throwing a bunch of vegetables. He felt somewhat strange.


    "You really don''t want the Prolonged Grievance Hook?"


    Nangong Wentian had recovered his inner force and even made some improvement.


    After all, his level of cultivation was no match for Fang Yuan''s origin power, so Fang Yuan casually gave him some replenishment.


    He had accepted Nangong Wentian''s inner force previously only to use it as a key to complete the rune of the Demonic Armament.


    "No. The Blood Imbibing Saber suits me better!"


    Although the Blood Imbibing Saber only ranked tenth, the outcome of battles depended on the owner of the armament as well.


    For example, the Heaven Grudge Marquis was killed by Fang Yuan despite using the ninth-ranked Demonic Armament.


    "Furthermore¡­ after we move to a new place, I intend to explore the Pugilistic World. You''ll need something to protect the villa!" Fang Yuan said frankly.


    "Explore the Pugilistic World¡­"


    With desire and anticipation in his eyes, Nangong Wentian stroked his beard."Monkey" and "Marquis" have the same pronunciation in Chinese

 788 Pugilistic World

    Boyang Commandery, Golden Breeze Drizzle Building.


    This was a famous intelligence agency in the Pugilistic World, known for its up-to-date and reliable information. It had branches in every commandery, but nobody knew where the headquarters was located.


    It was said that the building was guarded by one of the top ten experts in the Pugilistic World and that the agency was supported by a few established sects and holy grounds. Otherwise, it would not have developed to today''s scale.


    Golden Breeze Drizzle Buildings had different sizes. The most common ones had three floors, the commandery branches had seven floors, and the headquarters was said to be the only one with nine floors.


    Fang Yuan entered the commandery''s seven-floor Golden Breeze Drizzle Building.


    It was noon, and the building was bustling with activity. Many rich customers were squandering their money.


    The Golden Breeze Drizzle Building was not only an intelligence agency, but a giant commercial center that contained restaurants, teahouses, casinos, and so on. It was the most lively place in the commandery.


    Even though it only had seven floors, the decorations were extremely extravagant.


    The bottom three floors were open to everyone, while the top four floors only welcomed renowned martial artists. Inside the building, customers could purchase armaments and spiritual medicine, obtain intelligence, and even employ experts. There was nothing that the Golden Breeze Drizzle Building could not achieve.


    Fang Yuan was wearing a simple martial artist robe. The Blood Imbibing Saber he carried behind his back was wrapped in white cloth, just like a wooden plank. It was not conspicuous as there were many martial artists in the Pugilistic World who did not want to expose their armaments.


    He went straight to a restaurant on the third floor and sat down at a table close to the window. He ordered a few simple dishes and a pot of wine, taking his time to consume the food.


    "Humans in the Pugilistic World are like water in a tide, never certain if they''ll return to the places they''re from!"


    Gazing at the young and energetic martial artists, Fang Yuan sighed faintly.


    People could only see the fame and fortune of successful martial artists in the Pugilistic World. Who could tell how many martial artists had died in battle, their bones buried in nameless graves?


    The business of the restaurant was booming, and the seats were soon fully occupied. The chef''s skill was satisfactory as well, their spicy chicken tasting great with the fragrant wine.


    Of course, he had better experiences being served by the numerous chefs in the Divine Armament Mountain Villa, but it was a pity that the magnificent Divine Armament Mountain Villa had already collapsed!


    Fang Yuan lifted the cup of wine and drank it in one mouthful.


    After the battle at the Divine Armament Mountain Villa, he had dismissed all the servants and let Nangong Wentian and his sisters live at a new place with new names.


    They had to do this!


    After all, it would be troublesome if Nangong Wentian''s identity as a member of the Demon Sect was disclosed. If they had stayed there slightly longer, they might have been killed under the siege of both the Orthodox Dao and the Demon Dao.


    Their only choice was to change their names and start again at a different place.


    "Although Chang Kun is burdened by his family, he loves Nangong Qing quite a lot. There may be some problem with Nangong Xiu and Xu Ruyu, but Nangong Wentian has recovered from the battle and can definitely suppress him!"


    When it came to life experience and political mind games, Xu Ruyu was no match for Nangong Wentian.


    Furthermore, with Fang Yuan''s help, Nangong Wentian had not only recovered, but his cultivation had also improved by practicing the Prolonged Grievance Demon Technique. With his first-grade grandmaster realm, together with the Prolonged Grievance Hook, he could even be one of the top 100 martial artists. And given that he was trying his best to hide, the safety of his family would not be an issue.


    "The fierce battle at the Divine Armament Mountain Villa revealed that Young Lord Nangong Wuwang is the owner of the Blood Imbibing Saber. He slaughtered the martial artists there and even defeated the Demon Sect''s Heaven Grudge Marquis. Martial artists who saw the battlefield afterward were all shocked by the saber scars in the green stones of the villa. The Golden Breeze Drizzle Building has updated the ranking as well, and the owner of the Blood Imbibing Saber, Nangong Wuwang, has replaced the Heaven Grudge Marquis to become the ninth most skilled expert¡­"


    It was the Pugilistic World storytelling at the Drizzle Building.


    At the center of the hall, an old storyteller was talking non-stop about the recent breaking news in the Pugilistic World.


    The Divine Armament Mountain Villa was mentioned repeatedly, but there were many inaccuracies in his story. Nevertheless, the customers were still fascinated by it.


    "That''s what life should be like! If I have a chance to become famous in the Pugilistic World, I''d willingly die for it!" A muscular man patted his leg and let out a long sigh.


    "Your words seem to imply that you want to convert to the Demon Dao?" An affluent customer beside him shook their head. "Nangong Wuwang slaughtered too many martial artists. After the battle, more than half of the skilled martial artists in the surrounding commanderies, including seniors like Elder Wan and Venerable Pine Crane, lost their lives, and the Blood Imbibing Saber devoured all their blood. His behavior was simply insane and immoral¡­ The head of this generation''s Kong family has declared that he''ll challenge this Blood Imbibing Saber''s owner. Although this person has risen to fame, he''ll die in no time!"


    "That''s right. We should kill this demon and enforce heaven''s will!"


    The customers concurring aloud were mostly young men and women. More experienced martial artists did not engage in the discussion. They continued eating and drinking, ironic expressions on their faces.


    These young people were too naive, shouting that they would kill a formidable martial artist equipped with a Demonic Armament. They were simply courting death by saying such reckless words. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting.


    In fact, caution was indeed necessary.


    That was because the owner of the Blood Imbibing Saber denounced by them was sitting right beside them and listening to their criticism.


    Elder Wan? Venerable Pine Crane?


    In the end, Fang Yuan heard those martial artists reiterating the silly deeds the wastrel had done in the past, feeling even more speechless.


    Nangong Wuwang had indeed been a useless wastrel, so it was inevitable that his deeds were criticized after he became famous.


    But it was unjust to claim that he was cruel and bloodthirsty, that he had slaughtered the martial artists on purpose.


    During the battle at Divine Armament Mountain Villa, Elder Wan and Venerable Pine Crane were inadvertently torn up by the Saber Qi. If he had intended to murder all of them, he would not have spared those martial artists outside the battlefield.


    Therefore, he had at most killed unintentionally rather than murdered deliberately.


    But of course, he could not confront them and make the correction right now.


    That Kong family, however, was very annoying!


    The Kong family was one of the renowned families in the Pugilistic World. The Righteousness Ruler possessed by the family ranked seventh among all the Divine Armaments. The Righteousness Formulation was also the best-known heaven-grade Divine Art of the Orthodox Dao. This large family with a large fortune shouldered the responsibility of maintaining righteousness in the Pugilistic World.


    The previous owner of the Blood Imbibing Saber had rampaged through the Pugilistic World, and it was the head of that generation''s Kong family who had wielded the Divine Armament and defeated him. Even the Blood Imbibing Saber was damaged in the battle and sealed until recently.


    It was commonplace for the grudges of one generation to be passed down to the next.


    Other reasons aside, every martial artist believed that when the owner of the Blood Imbibing Saber matured, he would absolutely take his revenge on the Kong family''s family head and repair his reputation.


    Since the conflict was inevitable, any normal person would want to take action first.


    Those who acted tolerant and gave the youth a few years to seek revenge would typically end up with a miserable death.


    Furthermore, the owner of the Blood Imbibing Saber was of the Demon Dao!


    Why would they need to follow the rules in the Pugilistic World when dealing with the Demon Dao? They would be promoting righteousness even if they besieged him!


    The more venerable and orthodox a sect was, the better it was at this kind of reasoning.


    "Speaking of which, every generation of the Six Dao Demon Sect is weaker than the previous, unlike the martial arts holy grounds of our Orthodox Dao!" A young swordsman seemed drunk, his cheeks flushed with wine. "The Heaven Grudge Marquis was an expert in the Demon Sect, but it''s laughable that he was killed by a brat. Some day, I¡ªFlying Rainbow Sword Lin Guanzhong¡ªwill enforce heaven''s will. I''ll become famous by killing a few experts of the Demon Dao and annihilating the entire Demon Sect!"


    Poof!


    As soon as he ended his sentence, blood splashed from his mouth and his tongue dropped to the floor.


    "Ah!"


    After a moment of absolute silence, a female martial artist''s shriek was heard.


    She was pale and trembling, no longer as chivalrous as before.


    Such a fast sword! The experienced martial artists felt scared witnessing this. There''s probably a Demon Dao expert in this building. Sigh¡­ That young man was too reckless. Even the top martial artists of the holy grounds dare not say that they could annihilate the Demon Sect!


    The commotion spread quickly. The young man rolled on the ground and screamed incoherently.


    Some customers were afraid of getting into trouble and went downstairs; others stayed at a distance, waiting excitedly to see what would happen next.


    Before long, a group of guards hurried in.


    After all, the Golden Breeze Drizzle Building was a powerful force in the Pugilistic World. It was humiliating that a customer was hurt in their territory, and they would surely attempt to put things right.


    "Come, bring this man to the clinic for treatment!"


    The leader of the guards was an old man holding the double iron spheres. He was strong and hefty, and his long beard made him look like an enraged lion.


    "It''s Iron Lion Ao Zhan! He''s a third-grade master!"


    The eyes of the onlookers glistened. "This is getting interesting!"


    Ao Zhan looked around and frowned. He cupped his fists and greeted the surrounding customers. "That person was talking nonsense and should be taught a lesson. But since you dared to do such a thing in the Golden Breeze Drizzle Building, do you dare tell us who you are?"


    "If we weren''t in the Golden Breeze Drizzle Building, he would have lost more than his tongue!" A reply was heard at the table beside Fang Yuan.


    A young man in black occupied the table, and he had a red sword scar between his eyebrows. He sat boldly and drank as if there was no one else in the room. "He dared to declare that he could annihilate our Demon Sect. What audacity!"


    "Seven Stars Sword? You''re the Demon Sect''s new star, Gu Qixing?"


    Ao Zhan felt a headache when he saw the sword beside the youth''s hand, particularly the seven pearls attached to the sheath.


    He had hoped that what happened earlier had been done by an individual demon and that the demon immediately ran away afterward. In that case, he could just say some harsh words and get over it.


    He was not afraid of experienced martial artists, but he did not want to encounter this kind of ruthless and headstrong youth.


    If that headstrong youth had a powerful backer, it would be a disaster.


    "So he''s Gu Qixing!"


    After his identity was revealed, the room became noisy. "He was the most prominent young man in the Demon Sect before the owner of the Blood Imbibing Saber. Since his debut, he has challenged many world-renowned swordsmen and remains undefeated! He''s extremely ruthless. Even the Seven Swordsmen of Qilian Mountain and the Four Allies of Heaven Mountain were all killed by him!"

 789 Secre

    "Gu Qixing¡­ According to the latest records from the Building, he''s killed Sword Master Changbai! His martial arts have reached the second-grade, meaning that he can already found his own sect. Moreover, he''s only one step away from being a first-grade grandmaster!"


    As an honorary expert of the Golden Breeze Drizzle Building, Iron Lion Ao Zhan was naturally aware of more information, giving him a headache.


    He was only in the third-grade. While his ability, together with help from other experts, was sufficient to protect the Golden Breeze Drizzle Building of a commandery, he was not confident when it came to suppressing this new star of the Demon Sect.


    But right now, with so many customers watching them, if he showed apprehension, the reputation of the Golden Breeze Drizzle Building would be ruined.


    Worrying about the reputation, he had to step forward and display his stance. "I''m an honorary expert of the Golden Breeze Drizzle Building and would like to experience your moves!"


    "Great!" Gu Qixing finished his cup of wine and laughed. "Soon, I''m going to challenge the Jiang family''s Petal Rinsing Sword, Jiang Li. He''s a first-grade grandmaster, so you''re suitable as a stepping stone!"


    His words stirred up the crowd.


    The Jiang family was the biggest and most established martial arts family in Boyang Commandery. The Jiang family''s head, Elder Jiang, had the title of Petal Rinsing Divine Sword when he was young. Now, he hardly engaged in battle after reclusion, but he was definitely a first-grade grandmaster and at the top of the Martial Dao in Boyang Commandery!


    Despite Gu Qixing''s recent success, he was no match for this elder.


    Therefore, he had to build momentum!


    The realm was not the only factor in determining the outcome of a battle in the Martial Dao!


    Some martial artists became stronger when they encountered stronger opponents and could always have surprising performances in battles involving their life and death.


    Others could achieve such realms by burning incense and meditating.


    Gu Qixing was in the Demon Dao. He built momentum and adjusted his state through battles. Constant battles could push up his momentum and state to the peak before confronting his most powerful enemy!


    Evidently, Ao Zhan was one of his stepping stones.


    As an experienced martial artist, he understood the rationale and was enraged. "You want me to be your stepping stone? You need to ask my iron spheres first!"


    Poof! Poof!


    While he was shouting, the two iron spheres flew from his hands and attacked Gu Qixing from both sides.


    The wind howled. He was so skilled in his use of hidden weapons that there was no sign before the attack, taking place incredibly fast.


    As soon as he finished his sentence, both iron spheres reached Gu Qixing.


    Two hits would have spattered a common martial artist''s brain.


    But at the next moment, a streak of light flashed by.


    The two iron spheres were spinning rapidly in the air, as if a large net had trapped them and stopped them from moving forward.


    Gu Qixing had lifted his sheathed sword as though he were holding a plate, and the two iron spheres were spinning on it. It was astonishing to see how he was manipulating force at will.


    "Let me return both iron eggs to you!" He laughed lightly and shook his sword.


    Poof! Poof!


    The iron spheres flew back even faster. It was so frightening that Ao Zhan dared not receive them directly and instead rolled on the ground to hurriedly evade the attack.


    "Ah!"


    Two shrieks were heard. Two guards behind him did not avoid the spheres in time; one was hit in the chest and died immediately, while the other had his arm broken and kept screaming in agony.


    Schwing!


    The distinct sound of a sword rang out.


    Gu Qixing did not give Ao Zhan a chance to rest, unsheathing the Seven Stars Sword straightaway. It looked like a bolt of lightning flashing inside the building.


    Sword Qi struck in all directions, and the sword radiance dazzled his opponent!


    In the blink of an eye, he attacked seven times, and every attack was as fast and ruthless as a viper thrusting out its tongue.


    Ao Zhan did not even have time to stand again. He rolled on the ground to evade the attacks, crashing into tables and benches. He ended up looking like a beggar, scraps all over his body.


    "Ah!"


    Ao Zhan rolled three times continuously and finally escaped from the Sword Qi, but there were a few bleeding cuts on his body. While the cuts were not deep and the bleeding quickly stopped, he became red-eyed in anger.


    He was a highly respected third-grade martial artist and an affluent honorary expert of the Golden Breeze Drizzle Building, and never had he ever been humiliated like this.


    As he let out a deafening shout, his hair became stiff, his skin turned green, and his body suddenly enlarged just like a Vajrasattva. He struck out using both fists with the roar of a lion.


    Mad Lion Force! Alkaid Star Fist!


    These were the two techniques that Iron Lion Ao Zhan was famous for. He was fighting with all his strength by using both techniques now!


    "Third-grade strength techniques? I''ve killed far more than a dozen strength technique experts!"Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting.


    Gu Qixing laughed lightly. He shook the Seven Stars Sword and aimed it at the gap of the fist attack. The tip of the sword was about to touch Ao Zhan''s acupoint exposed in his strength technique.


    Poof!


    The hefty figure that Ao Zhan had just mustered deflated like a leaking balloon, despair emerging on his face.


    The many onlookers were also stunned, as if they had already witnessed Ao Zhan''s corpse.


    Zheng!


    Suddenly, a war cry interrupted.


    Ao Zhan thought that he had to be dead, but after a moment, he realized that Gu Qixing had retreated. He touched his acupoint and found in exultation that it was intact.


    "All right! My eyes weren''t sharp enough¡­ to recognize you, Elder Jiang! However¡­ where''s your Petal Rinsing Sword?"


    Gu Qixing''s expression was solemn. He gazed at the storyteller that no one had really cared about.


    The elderly storyteller had an erhu in his hand.


    He had played the war cry with the erhu.


    "Are you the Jiang family''s patriarch, Jiang Li? Thank you for saving my life!"


    Ao Zhan approached the elder and greeted him.


    The Jiang family''s patriarch seldom appeared after reclusion. Other than a few who were close to him, nobody had met him at all. That was why no one knew that the famous Petal Rinsing Divine Sword was a short old man with such a mediocre appearance.


    "It''s great that Elder Jiang is here. Have you received my challenge letter?"


    Gu Qixing was intrepid even in front of the first-grade grandmaster at the top of the Martial Dao in Boyang Commandery.


    "All right! A newborn ox isn''t afraid of the tiger¡­" The Jiang family''s patriarch cupped his hands and laughed bitterly. "Since you insist, I''ll accept your challenge."


    "Haha¡­ Seven days later, we''ll meet at the Broken River Bridge!"


    Gu Qixing grabbed his sword sheath and broke open the windows while laughing. He used his lightness skill and disappeared in the blink of an eye.


    "It''s the Eight Steps of Skyfiend. What a lightness skill!" The eyes of the Jiang family''s patriarch glistened. "There are six Daos in the Demon Sect, and this person should belong to the Ultimate Sword Dao, which trains a world-class swordsman every generation! It''ll be a pleasure to battle with the contemporary demon swordsman!"


    "Elder Jiang is even stronger than youths, and I believe that you''ll certainly be able to win!" Ao Zhan clenched his teeth and gazed with resentment in the direction where Gu Qixing had disappeared. "I''ll go to the battlefield and cheer for you then!"


    "Many thanks! Many thanks!"


    The Jiang family''s patriarch appeared philistine again, revealing his sparse, yellow teeth, but he inadvertently took a glance at the seat where Fang Yuan had been.


    However, Fang Yuan was no longer there.


    ¡­


    Gu Qixing moved like he was flying, leaving the commandery in no time, and stopped in front of an earth temple.


    The earth temple was seriously dilapidated. The heaps of hay in a corner seemed to be the accommodations of child beggars at night, but nobody was in the temple currently.


    He went straight into the hall and looked at the god''s statue. Suddenly, he let out a cold laugh and pressed the eye of the god.


    "Gu Qixing, you''ve lost!"


    The statue started to speak in a distinct voice, "While you''re the top contemporary demon swordsman, you''re no match for the Blood Imbibing Saber owner after all!"


    "Hmph!" Gu Qixing sneered. "You don''t need to agitate me. Given that Nangong Wuwang killed the Heaven Grudge Marquis, his ability has reached the Heavenly Phenomenon realm, and I won''t commit suicide by challenging him immediately. However, there''ll definitely be a battle between the ''saber'' and the ''sword'' of the Demon Sect! He''s merely relying on his armament now. After I find a Demonic Armament that suits me, I''ll surely defeat him! The founder of the Amorphous Dao lost a bet to the founder of the Ultimate Sword Dao, so you must keep his promise and do everything you can to assist me!"


    The statue paused for a short while before answering, "Don''t worry about that. Our people have already infiltrated the Jiang family!"


    "Great!" Gu Qixing smiled. "Jiang Li, Jiang Li. Hehe¡­ Although the Jiang family has concealed its identity for many years, they can''t fool me. Their surname is indeed ''Jiang'', but this ''Jiang'' is a different character. The Jiang family''s patriarch is actually a descendant of the Li Human Sect''s young lord!


    "They certainly possess some clues about the Li Perishing Sword. This sword ranks third among Demonic Armaments, and the Blood Imbibing Saber is no match for it!"


    "The Amorphous Dao will assist you with all our strength!" replied the voice of the statue. "It''s a pity¡­ that my senior died at the Divine Armament Mountain Villa. She had learned sixty percent of the disguising technique from our teacher. If she were the one infiltrating, we could be sure that Jiang Li wouldn''t discover anything abnormal."


    "The Six Dao Demon Sect is a united entity. We''ll avenge her!"


    Gu Qixing clenched his teeth.


    ¡­


    They had no idea that their enemy was listening to their interesting secrets on the roof of the earth temple.


    "I didn''t expect that the most established martial arts family in Boyang Commandery would have such hidden secrets¡­ It looks like I can let these two stay alive to unravel the secrets for me!"


    After confirming that there was no more intelligence to collect, Fang Yuan quietly left. Gu Qixing did not detect his presence at all.


    When Fang Yuan was by himself, he suddenly said, "Is the Jiang family''s Li Perishing Sword also a part of you?"


    "It shouldn''t be!" a strong demonic thought arose from the Blood Imbibing Saber. "But I can sense that a part of me is in the Jiang family''s residence. Once you obtain it, you''ll be able to concentrate part of my Essence Soul again! According to our deal, I''ll impart a portion of my cultivation experience to you every time you complete part of my Essence Soul!"


    "Hmph. While it''s a deal, you''re in fact entreating me. If I don''t release the restriction, you''ll never get any freedom!"


    Fang Yuan stroked the Blood Imbibing Saber, and it was bathed in bright, purple light. The thought disappeared immediately, as if it was sealed again.


    "The Great Sanguine Demon Technique! Hehe¡­" He sneered. "I felt something abnormal with the technique and the Blood Imbibing Saber, but I didn''t expect that it was due to such a secret. An extraterrestrial demon?"

 790 Sneaking in

    The Great Sanguine Demon Technique from the Blood Imbibing Saber was a heaven-grade martial arts manual.


    However, after studying it closely, Fang Yuan discovered that it was a demon summoning technique rather than Demon Arts!


    The final goal was to wake up an Essence Soul! It was the Essence Soul of the Great Sanguine Demon!


    This demon had invaded the world in the ancient past, but the Celestial Thearch Sword owner had defeated him, split his body into parts, and suppressed them. However, the demon''s realm was so profound that he was not annihilated despite his death. He had tempted Ou Zhizi to refine a Demonic Armament with his blood and bones and engrave the Great Sanguine Demon Technique into the armament.


    Martial artists cultivating the Great Sanguine Demon Technique would unconsciously communicate with the Great Sanguine Demon''s Essence Soul. They would then become his puppet or incarnation and work for his revival.


    It was a pity that all the past owners of the Blood Imbibing Saber had bad luck, not managing to accomplish anything significant before their death.


    "According to the words of the Great Sanguine Demon''s Essence Soul, he didn''t come from the Mental Demon Realm nor the Spiritual Realm, but his realm has reached the level of Emperors and Demon Gods!


    "Unfortunately, his body and soul were destroyed in that battle. The demon summoning technique merely calls back part of his Essence Soul, which has been dispersed from his broken body since time immemorial. It''s the last resort!


    "Despite that, it''s perilous to collaborate with him. Nevertheless, I''m just an incarnation, so it''s all right for me to take the risk!"


    With the dream-traversing technique of Dream Masters, an incarnation''s death would not cause much harm to the original body.


    With that thought, he looked determined and released the restriction on the Blood Imbibing Saber.


    "Damn it¡­ I didn''t expect that this saber owner would be an extraterrestrial demon just like me! But with this kind of origin power¡­ you''re a Demon Master from the Mental Demon Realm?!" the aggrieved Great Sanguine Demon''s Essence Soul said.


    "It''s good that you know. I''m just an incarnation sent here to explore the world and have many Demon Gods backing me!" Fang Yuan threatened him without hesitation.


    "Hehe¡­ I don''t need to learn about the Mental Demon Realm from you!" The Great Sanguine Demon''s Essence Soul sneered. "But it''ll be extremely difficult for you to become a Demon God! The perfect Dao is always indescribable! Demon Gods must master their own Dao paths, and that''s far more difficult than becoming an Emperor in some worlds, who only need support from the heavens and the earth. The Celestial Thearch Sword owner is a prime example¡­"


    "Is the Celestial Thearch Sword¡­ very powerful?"


    Fang Yuan''s expression turned solemn.


    This Sanguine Demon was an Emperor from another world, but the Celestial Thearch Sword owner could still defeat him and split his corpse. It was evident that martial artists were extremely potent.


    The Martial Dao at this level was hardly different from a Demon God.


    "Of course it''s very powerful. The Top Ten Divine Armaments is merely a ranking¡­ In fact, the Celestial Thearch Sword is more frightening than the other nine armaments combined! That''s because this sword is the authority of this world! When the Celestial Thearch Sword owner fought against me, he was supported by heaven''s will and backed by the force of heaven, earth, and man. Scary! It was extremely scary!"


    The Great Sanguine Demon''s Essence Soul sounded scared, but then he let out a weird laugh. "However, humans with this kind of great destiny and karma are extremely rare. The Celestial Thearch Sword owner didn''t end up well either since my Great Sanguine Demon Technique corrupted his Essence Soul. I''m afraid that he couldn''t have survived more than a decade after our battle!"


    "If you''re so powerful, why does the Blood Imbibing Saber only rank tenth among the Demonic Armaments?" Fang Yuan rolled his eyes.


    "¡­" The Great Sanguine Demon''s Essence Soul paused as if he was choked. After a while, he roared, "The Blood Imbibing Saber is incomplete! Once you finish cultivating the Demon Arts and collecting all of my Essence Soul, even the top Demonic Armament, the Seven Slaughter Tiger Soul Saber, will be no match for it!"


    "The ranking in the Ancient Armament Manual is acknowledged by the entire Pugilistic World¡­"


    Fang Yuan shook his head.


    The Armament Manual was written by an anonymous author, but it was comparable to any heaven-grade martial arts.


    The Six Extremes Armament Commandeering Art of the Divine Armament Mountain Villa, as well as the method of removing the seal and repairing the Demonic Armament, were both from this manual.


    Even when Fang Yuan reviewed the Six Extremes Armament Commandeering Art now, he had to acknowledge that its methods were commendable.


    "Never mind the ranking for now. Based on your words, your amorphous and enduring demon body is apparently a treasure, so I can understand why the Jiang family kept a part! It just so happens that¡­ Gu Qixing will battle with Jiang Li seven days later, so we''ll go to the Jiang family''s residence then. Your Essence Soul should be able to sense the location of your body parts, right?"


    Fang Yuan nodded.


    "Why go through all that trouble? Don''t you have the ability to kill the Jiang family and take it forcibly?" the Great Sanguine Demon''s Essence Soul roared. "The power of the Blood Imbibing Saber will only grow when you kill them and absorb their blood. That''s how I can provide you with more assistance."


    "Forget about it! After that, do you want me to ruin my own reputation, expose my whereabouts, and get chased by the Orthodox Dao of the Pugilistic World?" Fang Yuan rolled his eyes. "I''m merely a Heavenly Phenomenon martial artist right now and can''t deal with a siege by numerous Divine Armaments. Besides¡­ even if I kill everyone in my way, won''t the Celestial Thearch Sword appear again as the counterattack of this world? Although I''m deeply interested in this sword, I don''t want to see it now!"


    "¡­" The Great Sanguine Demon''s Essence Soul was speechless because that was how he had failed. "Are you really a Demon Master from the Mental Demon Realm? You''re different from what I expected¡­ You''re so cautious!"


    Fang Yuan shrugged and said casually, "I''m only an incarnation, and the most important thing to me is to succeed with minimal effort!"


    ¡­


    Seven days later, Broken River Bridge.


    The whole commandery had heard that Gu Qixing had challenged the Petal Rinsing Divine Sword. Many martial artists from nearby commanderies rushed over just to witness this grand event.


    In fact, there would have been more martial artists if there had been more time to come.


    The crowd blocked the Broken River Bridge on both sides.


    However, only Gu Qixing was on the bridge, holding his sword with his eyes closed.


    Rumble!


    It was noon. The crowd suddenly became noisy and cleared out a path.


    The Petal Rinsing Divine Sword¡ªJiang family''s patriarch, Jiang Li¡ªwalked forward elegantly. He had a philistine smile and cupped his fists toward all directions. Occasionally, he chatted with a few martial artists that he was acquainted with, just like a tactful businessman.


    "Jiang Li, you''re finally here!" Gu Qixing opened his eyes.


    Suddenly, white lightning glared in air. Iron Lion Ao Zhan was standing right behind Elder Jiang Li, but he did not dare to stare at it.Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting.


    This person becomes more powerful as he fights. He''s indeed a formidable enemy for the Jiang family''s patriarch!


    Ao Zhan felt pain in his cheeks. He lowered his head and clenched his fists.


    "Little Brother Gu, I''m risking my decrepit body to respond to your challenge today. I hope that you won''t tear it up¡­"


    The Jiang family''s patriarch walked onto the bridge and grinned, revealing his sparse yellow teeth.


    "Old man, one of us will die today!"


    Gu Qixing took out his sword fearlessly.


    He had already forgotten about the numerous martial artists watching the battle, about his original objective, and even about the plan that the Amorphous Dao was probably already executing.


    After all, he was going to confront a Martial Dao grandmaster.


    If he was still distracted by thoughts, he would definitely die in this battle.


    Chang!


    The swords clashed like thunder.


    Many martial artists were excited to witness the battle between the two top swordsmen.


    ¡­


    The Jiang family''s residence.


    This spacious place was the base of the Jiang family.


    Although many family members had gone to watch the battle, the defenses were still tight.


    With the Blood Imbibing Saber wrapped in cloth and wearing a conical bamboo hat, Fang Yuan blatantly walked around in the courtyards.


    After all, even if he was discovered, they would suspect the Demon Sect, and it would have nothing to do with him.


    "How''s it going? Have you found it?"


    He did not have much information about the Jiang family''s residence, but the Great Sanguine Demon''s Essence Soul on his back was the best sensor at navigating the residence for him. "Turn left! I can feel that we''re very close to it!"


    The Jiang family''s treasure vault.


    "Who''s there?"


    The two guards equipped with swords detected the movement and looked at the gates. They relaxed when they saw the silhouette of a young lady. "So it''s Third Lady."


    The fair lady was in a green dress, just like a lotus leaf swaying in the wind. She laughed before saying, "Old Patriarch promised to give me two bottles of Hundred Flower Wine, so I''m here to take them!"


    "Hundred Flower Wine? This wine is medicinal liquor that can counter hundreds of toxins and strengthen the body of a healthy person. Did the patriarch actually promise to give you two bottles of it?"


    A middle-aged swordsman smiled and clucked, obviously acquainted with the young lady. "But the patriarch isn''t here today. How about coming another day?"


    "Never mind¡­" She had a new idea immediately and said with a smile, "Uncles, I''ve brought some desserts for you to show my gratitude for your hard work. I''ll feel embarrassed if you don''t accept them."


    "Haha!" The two swordsmen exchanged glances. "Since you''re the one giving us the desserts, then¡­"


    Thump!


    Before they finished speaking, the meal box exploded and emitted a white fog.


    "This isn''t good!" The swordsmen were shocked, immediately losing consciousness and falling to the ground.


    "Hehe¡­ No matter how shrewd you are, I can always catch you off guard!" She laughed like a fox that had just stolen a juicy chicken. While she hummed a tune, she searched the two swordsmen and obtained a dragon-shaped key.


    "This is only half of the Double Dragon Key, and the other half is hidden by the family head, but how can that hinder me at all?"


    Just like a magic trick, another dragon-shaped key emerged in her hand. She combined the keys and inserted them into the gates of the treasure vault.


    Rumble!


    The heavy iron gates slid sideways, revealing the Jiang family''s treasure vault.


    But the young lady was petrified.


    A man in white stood in the vault. He looked at the lady, looking like he could see through her mind. "The Amorphous Dao of the Demon Sect? I''ve been waiting for a long time!"


    The demon girl felt that she was exposed to him from head to toe, unable to move under the invisible pressure.


    ¡­


    "Here we are!"


    As Fang Yuan climbed over a wall, he could sense how urgent the Blood Imbibing Saber was.


    However, he only saw a small garden.


    "It''s buried in the soil in front of you!"


    The Great Sanguine Demon''s Essence Soul also felt a bit strange.


    Fang Yuan walked forward and dug out a black rock. "Is this part of your body? A stepping stone to be trampled in the garden? And you said that your body was a precious treasure¡­ Haha¡­ Haha! Too funny!"


    He burst into laughter, while the Essence Soul in the Blood Imbibing Saber was speechless in grief and indignation.

 791 Providence Mirror

    The Sanguine Demon''s Essence Soul remained silent for a while before roaring madly, "These blind idiots! My body is an invaluable treasure, but they used it as a stepping stone¡­ Ah¡­ I''m furious! Nangong, kill all of them! I want the Jiang family dead!"


    "A treasure conceals its own value, and not everyone has sharp eyes¡­ It''s already fortunate that your body part didn''t end up in a toilet," Fang Yuan said while rolling his eyes.


    He took another glance at the Sanguine Demon''s remains in his hand.


    It appeared absolutely mediocre, and anyone would have considered it as a commonplace gray stone.


    "Now that I''ve got it, what should I do?"


    "It''s simple. Just let the Blood Imbibing Saber devour this chunk of flesh essence!" The Sanguine Demon''s Essence Soul calmed down. "The essence of my flesh and blood is of no use to you, but it can raise the power of the Blood Imbibing Saber to a new level."


    "That''s true!"


    Fang Yuan could sense that the essence in his hand had become something like a fossil after so many years of transformation, and he could not utilize it at all.


    Moreover, he was reluctant to devour the flesh and blood of a being at the Emperor level.


    "According to our deal, it seems that you should give me something now," Fang Yuan said with hidden meaning in his words.


    "No problem!" the Sanguine Demon agreed immediately, and a large amount of cultivation experience entered Fang Yuan''s sea of consciousness.


    Although he had to agglomerate a Great Dao on his own, such experiences were still precious to him. He could benefit particularly from the new world and the new cultivation system revealed in the experience.


    "There''s actually such a world where beings cultivate their flesh and blood! Every drop of blood contains all the properties of a being, and they can revive from a drop of blood! Interesting! That''s really interesting!"


    Fang Yuan smiled.


    "Although the cultivation of flesh and blood is good, I was suppressed by the rules of this world. There was nothing I could do after being split into pieces by the Celestial Thearch Sword! I''m only able to wake part of my Essence Soul now because I tempted Ou Zhizi into forging my bones and blood into a Demonic Armament!" the Sanguine Demon''s Essence Soul said, extremely resentful. "If you''re interested in my world, I can give you its coordinates after you complete what you''ve promised!"


    "Hmm. I''ll gladly accept it then!"


    Fang Yuan became more cautious after knowing that the Sanguine Demon was a cold-blooded existence who would not mind a catastrophe occurring in his homeland.


    "Lad, what''re you waiting for?" The Sanguine Demon''s Essence Soul gazed at the gray stone in Fang Yuan''s hand, the Blood Imbibing Saber vibrating continuously.


    "Wait a moment. I''ll catch a little rat first!" Fang Yuan recollected himself and lifted his right hand, grabbing something from the flowering shrubs.


    "Aiya!" A girl wearing colorful clothes stumbled her way out of the flowering shrubs, her eyes filled with curiosity. "Who the heck are you?"


    She was only interested in having a tranquil life, so she liked taking care of the plants in the garden. However, she did not expect to meet a strange person today.


    It was evident that he was a skilled martial artist who could sneak into the Jiang family''s residence, but instead of searching for the secret manuals and treasures, he came to the garden and dug out a rock as if he had found something precious. She was baffled by his behavior.


    "Before you ask, you should first introduce yourself!" Fang Yuan shrugged casually.


    He was wearing a conical bamboo hat, so it was impossible for her to recognize him.


    "I¡­ Dad and Old Patriarch like to call me Xiaodie!"


    The girl''s pretty eyes focused on the wrapped plank on Fang Yuan''s back.


    Of course, she did not think that it was a common wooden plank. "If you only want this rock, I can give it to you! My Dad and Old Patriarch are good-natured, and they like making friends¡­"


    "Clever girl. It''s a pity that¡­" Fang Yuan suddenly lifted his head and pointed. "What''s that?"


    "Hmm? That''s the Jiang family''s treasure vault!" Xiaodie answered, but she immediately knew that she had made a mistake and quickly covered her mouth.


    The next moment, a lot of commotion was heard from the treasure vault.


    It sounded as if many skilled martial artists were fighting with all their might.


    "Tsk tsk¡­It seems that they were discovered. I should run away as well!" Fang Yuan looked back at the girl. "Xiaodie, is there some expert hiding in the residence?"


    "This¡­ There isn''t any!" Xiaodie was confused too.


    "Oh? Reinforcements from an external party?" Fang Yuan nodded and looked up into the sky.


    Thick layers of clouds clustered and merged to form a giant funnel.


    "Heavenly Phenomenon?! Even the Jiang family''s patriarch, the Petal Rinsing Divine Sword, may not be at this level!"


    Fang Yuan stepped backward as he witnessed the scene.


    "The Golden Breeze Drizzle Building Master is here! Holy Sect members, retreat immediately¡­ We''ll slaughter the Jiang family in the future!"


    A voice filled with hatred was heard. It felt as if all the water from the Five Lakes and Four Oceans could not wash away the grudge in the voice.


    But the clouds immediately descended, suppressing a silhouette trying to escape.


    "A first-grade grandmaster? The Amorphous Dao has suffered a great loss this time!"


    Fang Yuan picked up his pace. But that''s none of my business. Since I have what I want, I''ll just leave.


    He was confident of his lightness skill and his ability to conceal himself. Furthermore, there were so many demons to be killed before he would become a target.


    But Fang Yuan''s expression changed in the next moment.Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting.


    The air wall in the sky shifted slowly, and the eye of the disastrous storm flew directly toward Fang Yuan. He was locked by a strong spiritual will.


    "Good! Very good!" Fang Yuan''s face turned gloomy. He no longer tried to leave, instead gazing at the Heavenly Phenomenon martial artist.


    The opponent was wearing a robe as white as snow. His hair and eyebrows were all white, but his face looked young and handsome.


    However, most impressive was the brilliant light emitted from between his eyebrows, like lightning that struck from a third eye.


    "The Blood Imbibing Saber? You''re Nangong Wuwang!" The man in white was slightly surprised. "When did you return to the Demon Sect?"


    "The Golden Breeze Drizzle Building Master?" Fang Yuan took off the bamboo hat and narrowed his eyes as he gazed at the space between the person''s eyebrows. "The fifth Divine Armament, the Heaven Earth Man Providence Mirror?"


    Demonic Armaments were mostly cruel and ruthless, while Divine Armaments were less violent. Some of them could not even injure others, but they had miraculous auxiliary functions.


    The Heaven Earth Man Providence Mirror was one of the best Divine Armaments.


    It could not deal any damage, but it helped its owner open the Heavenly Eye and see the Heaven Earth Man Providence, allowing the owner to comprehend the essence of any martial arts movements they witnessed, even discovering their flaws through their Qi movement!


    "I''m Chen Qiyou, the current Golden Breeze Drizzle Building Master!" The man in white looked at Fang Yuan''s palm. "You''re holding something very evil. If it fuses with the Blood Imbibing Saber, I''m afraid that the Pugilistic World will suffer another disaster, so I advise you to hand it over."


    "Finally, there''s someone who can see the value," the Sanguine Demon''s Essence Soul said with satisfaction.


    Fang Yuan ignored him. "How did the Golden Breeze Drizzle Building become a backer of the Jiang family?"


    "It''s not really a backer!"


    Chen Qiyou said frankly, "I noticed the movement of the Amorphous Dao and the Ultimate Sword Dao earlier, so I hid here. Only the Jiang family''s patriarch knew that I was here, not even the local Golden Breeze Drizzle Building was aware of it. Seems that I made the right choice concealing myself. Other than a first-grade grandmaster of the Demon Sect, there''s another big target!"


    "Hmm. So I''m just unlucky!"


    Fang Yuan nodded.


    He had planned well. With the Demon Sect acting here, other Heavenly Phenomenon martial artists would not notice him at all, and he could have escaped easily.


    However, the martial artist guarding this place happened to be Chen Qiyou, the owner of the Heaven Earth Man Providence Mirror. Fang Yuan''s Qi was too prominent, and the Blood Imbibing Saber was unique. It was impossible for Chen Qiyou to neglect him.


    "What if I say¡­ that I''m not related to the Demon Sect, and I''m just here to take advantage of the situation? Would you believe me?"


    He gazed at Chen Qiyou sincerely, but even Xiaodie rolled her eyes upon hearing his words.


    "Sure. Why not?" Chen Qiyou said seriously, "As long as you hand over the Blood Imbibing Saber and the demon stone in your hand, I can let you leave!"


    He could see that the young man cultivated the Six Extremes Armament Commandeering Art and was unaffected by the Great Sanguine Demon Technique. That was already hard to come by.


    He could not help but cherish the talent.


    "Hehe¡­" Fang Yuan laughed coldly. The cloth behind his back exploded, revealing the crimson Blood Imbibing Saber.


    Jiang Xiaodie''s expression changed as she sensed the overflowing Demonic Qi.


    She then saw Nangong Wuwang wielding the saber and slashing the demon stone into powder.


    The Blood Imbibing Saber roared. Traces of purplish-red blood vessels emerged and crept on the saber, and a blast of much more horrible Demonic Qi suddenly exploded!


    "What audacity!"


    The third eye between Chen Qiyou''s eyebrows emitted bright light, and he plunged down with his hands acting as a saber.


    "Omnidirectional Bloodlust!"


    Fang Yuan wielded the Blood Imbibing Saber. The blood waves much more powerful than before engulfed the place immediately.


    After absorbing the essence, another part of the Sanguine Demon''s Essence Soul was completed, and the power of the Blood Imbibing Saber also increased by more than ten times!


    If this trend continues, the Great Sanguine Demon may have told the truth. The ultimate power of the Blood Imbibing Saber will probably exceed the top Demonic Armament, the Seven Slaughter Tiger Soul Saber!


    This thought emerged in Fang Yuan''s mind.


    The next moment, he saw Chen Qiyou transforming into a streak of white light and entering the saber array.


    Poof!


    The Great Sanguine Demon Saber Technique was readily resolved, and the blood-colored light disintegrated instantly, revealing the figure of Chen Qiyou.


    He used his palm as a saber and slashed down with the Sanguine Demon Saber Technique as well!


    And he was even more adept at the technique than Fang Yuan was!


    "The intangible can penetrate the tangible. Similarly, an invisible saber can defeat any visible saber!"


    This awe-inspiring saber technique was improved from the Great Sanguine Demon Technique. Any common expert in the Demon Dao would not think of resisting if they witnessed this scene.


    Fang Yuan frowned and retreated continuously, lifting the Blood Imbibing Saber to protect himself from the attack.


    Dang!!!

 792 Seen Through

    At one end of the bridge, the Sword Qi was dark and cold.


    Two human figures moved quickly as they brushed past each other like they were flying. Their swords clashed and the sound created erupted like thunder, as though they were ancient thunder gods fighting.


    Ding! Ding!


    The fine sword cries were unceasing. Shattered Sword Qi flowed all around, causing the bridge created from layered large stones to become thickly dotted with holes similar to a beehive.


    The martial artists watching had long retreated a distance, feeling that the trip had been worthwhile.


    "As expected, Gu Qixing is the most talented contemporary demon swordsman in the Demon Sect. He could actually fight against the Petal Rinsing Diving Sword, Senior Jiang, until now¡­"


    "His sword is like a flood dragon, shocking as thunder when striking¡­ Only today did I understand the highest state of swordsmanship! The crazy talk in the past was just ridiculous¡­ Sigh, when I return, I have to seclude myself and cultivate another 20 years. If I don''t become a master, I won''t come out!"


    "As long as Gu Qixing doesn''t die, he''ll definitely become a first-grade grandmaster in the future, maybe even a Heavenly Phenomenon¡­ However, he''s still inferior to Senior Jiang now!"


    ¡­


    Clash!


    Suddenly, the two swords intersected and the figures separated.


    "¡­"


    Gu Qixing was speechless as he raised the Seven Stars Sword in his hand.


    On the famous sword, many cracks had appeared, increasing more and more before the sword finally exploded into countless fragments.


    Even if his Seven Stars Sword was not a Divine Armament nor Demonic Armament, it was still a top-notch famous weapon. However, it still could not bear the heavy burden in the end.


    Gu Qixing looked at the sword opposite him in Jiang Li''s hand.


    The long sword in the hand of this philistine old man was simple and unadorned. It was one meter long, and the handle had thick coarse silk wrapped around it. The sword sheath was made from common ebony, but the blade was bright and pristine, having no damage at all.Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting.


    It could be seen who had won and who had lost with just a glance!


    The scene went silent before erupting with cheers.


    Gu Qixing threw away the sword handle as he said in a cold tone, "What¡­ sword did you use?"


    "This sword doesn''t have a name. I requested the blacksmith by my house, Old Li, to help make it when I was young. The cost was 5 taels of silver and 5 coins!"


    Jiang Li caressed the common long sword as though it was his lover. "In my life, I''ve played with many famous swords, but the one that truly suits me is still this! Young man, rather than chasing after Divine Armaments, why not focus on what''s in front¡­"


    He was implying something, causing Gu Qixing to be secretly shocked. He felt that his thoughts were seen through, but he forced himself to remain calm and laughed coldly. "I respect your consummate inner force, but if I had the Celestial Thearch Sword, would you still dare say this?"


    "Yes, yes¡­ I''ve misspoken!"


    The atmosphere of an expert around Jiang Li disappeared, and he recovered his philistine old man appearance, as if he was the one that had lost and kept bowing to beg for mercy.


    Even Gu Qixing was helpless when he saw this old rascal, but he unexpectedly did not have much hatred in his heart.


    Rumble!


    At this time, the sky faraway suddenly darkened.


    "Maybe it''s going to rain soon?"


    A normal martial artist would look for rain gear when they saw this, but third-grade and above Martial Dao masters had solemn expressions. "This is¡­ Heavenly Phenomenon? There are Heavenly Phenomenon martial artists fighting?"


    Jiang Li glanced at Gu Qixing in astonishment.


    Golden Breeze Drizzle Building Master had personally come, and even the local branch had not known about it, but he was very clear.


    According to Heavenly Phenomenon Chen''s intelligence, there should have only been one first-grade grandmaster from the Demon Sect as support.


    Arranging this situation was basically them doing their best at performing a minor task.


    They had not expected that they would actually score a lucky hit and catch a big fish.


    However, the Jiang family''s family property was meager. Hopefully, when the experts exchanged blows, their limited family assets would not be smashed into pieces.


    "There are actual Heavenly Phenomenon martial artists exchanging blows? Such experts are already extraordinary Sages and aren''t commonplace!"


    A master also had friends and family, as well as disciples.


    In no time, the news had spread through the martial artists in the surroundings, creating a great stir. "To be able to witness Immortals at such a level fight, even if I die, I''ll have no regrets!"


    The crowd was like chaotic tidal water moving toward the Heavenly Phenomenon martial artists. There were so many that some martial artists even unsheathed their swords to fight for a horse. There were even people complaining that horses were too slow and directly unleashed their lightness skill. There was a stream of black figures in the sky, as lively as a market.


    "It seems to be¡­ Building Master!" Ao Zhan was also among the first to arrive outside the Jiang family''s residence. He had an abnormal expression. "The Demon Sect''s Gu Qixing challenged the Jiang family''s patriarch, and the Jiang family abruptly erupted in such a big battle. This should be a strategy devised by the Pugilistic World''s Orthodox Dao to catch some fish! Hehe¡­ No wonder the intelligence from my branch failed. So it was like this!"


    Unfortunately, he was well aware that this was the Building Master''s decision. Even if he had more courage, he would not dare lose his temper, only able to watch from afar.


    Above Jiang family''s residence, two Heavenly Phenomenon clouds tangled and consumed each other.


    One cloud was like a funnel, white and clear. It was Chen Qiyou.


    However, the other one was a boiling blood cloud, domineering and wild, with an obvious Demon Dao style.


    Poof!


    Suddenly, saber light exploded and small, irregular Saber Qi whizzed by. Like small raindrops, they spread toward the surrounding.


    Many martial artists instantly collapsed as their bodies were pierced. Large amounts of blood splattered and flew into the cloud, and it became even more demonic and strange.


    "This is¡­ the tenth Demonic Armament, Blood Imbibing Saber!" Patriarch Jiang Li was able to recognize it with a glance. "It''s Nangong Wuwang!"


    "The owner of the Blood Imbibing Saber?"


    "It''s actually like this!"


    "I understand¡­ It was a distraction when the Demon Sect asked for a duel."


    Many Pugilistic World figures suddenly understood, looking at old man Jiang Li with pity, and there were already hot-tempered people looking for Gu Qixing, prepared to kill him.


    However, how was it possible for this Demon Dao swordsman to let someone grab hold of him? Naturally, he had long vanished, and even those wanting to find him were unable to do anything.


    Rumble!


    Thunder rumbled in the sky, its sound shocking.


    In the blood cloud, Fang Yuan frowned. "A little troublesome¡­"


    This Chen Qiyou opposite him was undoubtedly much harder to deal with than the Heaven Grudge Marquis.


    Regarding seizing opportunities in battle and cultivation techniques, he had reached an unimaginable state.


    At first, he directly used Sanguine Demon Saber against Sanguine Demon Saber. If Fang Yuan had not changed his move midway quickly enough, he might have been defeated.


    The Heaven Earth Man Providence Mirror was able to see through a person''s Qi movement. Every time, in the split second Fang Yuan made a move, Chen Qiyou would already know his next action, even seeing the weakness and coming up with a solution to tackle it.


    Meeting this kind of opponent was, without a doubt, very painful.


    Hey¡­ Sanguine Demon! Your Great Sanguine Demon Technique has already been seen. Don''t you have any thoughts about it?


    Fang Yuan struck with his saber and changed nine times midway, but in the end, Chen Qiyou''s fingerprints were still on the saber, forcing him to retreat.


    In fact, if not for his scruples about the Blood Imbibing Saber''s sharpness, Fang Yuan''s situation would be even uglier.


    ¡­ If we talk about cultivation power, this person is about the same as the Heaven Grudge Marquis from before¡­ the Sanguine Demon Essence Soul conveyed. Of course, with the help of the Heaven Earth Man Providence Mirror, one portion of his power can go against ten portions of your power. To be able to last until now, you can already be considered to have adapted at godly speed.


    Stop talking nonsense! Fang Yuan''s eyes turned cold. Actually, he had still not used his origin power trump card yet.


    However, once he used this move, the outcome of the battle would be decided. If it was overcome, then he really could only flee in panic.


    Can the Heaven Earth Man Providence Mirror truly overcome origin power?


    Fang Yuan was a little hesitant.


    If this was a low dimension world, this would be a complete joke.


    However, in this world, it was hard to tell, especially since there was assistance from the world''s rules.


    The martial artists of this world were absolutely no different from a Demon God if cultivated to the peak. Otherwise, they would not have been able to suppress the Sanguine Demon.


    This Divine Armament is indeed a little troublesome and can''t be defeated. The only thing that''s useful is still you yourself!


    The Sanguine Demon continued, The Heaven Earth Man Providence Mirror can peep into your Qi movement, but if the Qi movement in your body is rich and flawless, or if the flaw is transient and unable to be caught, it''ll be successful!


    Of course I understand this logic, but how can the world have a flawless and perfect object. It''s the same for a person, martial arts, and everything else in the world!


    Fang Yuan raised his saber suddenly, the corners of his mouth having the hint of a sinister smile. Actually, there''s also a third way!


    Rumble!


    Blood Imbibing Saber roared unceasingly. It slashed up at the sky, dividing the whole world.


    The Heaven Earth Man Providence Mirror doesn''t have any combat ability. Seeing flaws is just seeing flaws, but if I''m ten times, a hundred times, stronger than him, what''s the use even if he sees a weakness?


    Purple light burst out from his pupils.


    In the sky, Chen Qiyou, who had been coping with everything easily, had a complete change in expression. "Why did the Qi increase so dramatically? What kind of secret technique is this?!"


    Swoosh!


    However, the next moment, he no longer had time to think.


    Fang Yuan''s form was just like a martial artist breaking into the void and teleporting. He arrived in front of him and smoothly slashed once.


    Zap zap!


    Blood erupted.


    In a split-second, Fang Yuan had continuously slashed 81 times, and each slash was life-threatening.


    Chen Qiyou quickly retreated. Both his hands fluttered like butterflies and crushed the blood-colored Saber Qi.


    However, Fang Yuan roared, and the Blood Imbibing Saber glowed continuously. It was another 81 slashes.


    The space between Chen Qiyou''s eyebrows emitted a deep radiance as he retreated again and again.


    Around him, blood-red Saber Qi was shattered and scattered in incomparable numbers.


    "Have a taste of my saber!"


    At this time, Fang Yuan took another step and his saber chopped down.


    With this blow, the surrounding small, irregular Saber Qi swarmed over as if they had their own minds, gathering to form a violent and large astral saber.


    This rapid attack had three times his normal power, especially the gathering and forming of a saber at the end. Even if the Heaven Grudge Marquis came back to life, Fang Yuan had great confidence to make him harbor a grudge!


    Rumble!


    The astral saber charged into the sky, dispersing the clouds and turning heaven and earth chaotic.


    Below the astral saber, Chen Qiyou had a solemn face. His hands looked like he was playing a reed pipe, constantly roaming around the sides of the astral saber.


    His palm transformed into an illusionary image covering the entire sky, making an unknown number of moves in a second.


    The enormous, blood-red astral saber suddenly froze midair and then became fragments.


    "Nangong Wuwang, give up! Your every Qi movement is under my Heavenly Eye."


    Chen Qiyou stood with his hands behind the back, an arrogant look on his face.


    "Is it?"


    Fang Yuan stood there with the Blood Imbibing Saber, his face smiling.


    Rumble!


    Suddenly, the sky changed colors and black clouds surged. An earth-shattering, terrifying saber edge outrageously fell from the sky!

 793 Digging the Mirror

    Chen Qiyou raised his head in realization.


    The sky, which was originally filled with grey clouds, was suddenly torn by the Saber Qi, forming a large hole containing purple lightning madly dancing.


    If Fang Yuan''s astral saber had only been his own might, then now would be the true might of the heavens and the earth!


    Heavenly Phenomenon martial artists were very strong, but how could they contend against heaven and earth?


    At this moment, this was what Fang Yuan made Chen Qiyou feel! He was heaven! He was earth!


    "Impossible!" Golden Breeze Drizzle Building Master''s expression greatly changed.


    No matter how strong someone''s Qi was, it was still impossible to raise it to such a degree! The mentality that he had the upper hand immediately vanished.


    "Chen Qiyou¡­ Have a taste my saber again!" Fang Yuan loudly cried and leaped into the air, both hands holding the saber.


    Whoosh! Rumble!


    Lightning and thunder danced, filling the whole sky. Purple lightning fell one after another and gathered on his saber as if he was a blood-soaked thunder god.


    "One Saber Shaking the Heavens!"


    The blood-colored astral saber fell with purple lightning hovering around it; the momentum was monstrous.


    Chen Qiyou did not dare receive this move at all, retreating again and again.


    As a Heavenly Phenomenon, his lightness skill was naturally excellent. He flickered like shadows and was unbelievably fast.


    However, human power was not inexhaustible, so how would it be possible to go against lightning?


    The martial artists outside saw a flash of the purple lightning, followed by the Golden Breeze Drizzle Building Master flying out. The tip of the saber looked like it was about to pierce through him.


    However, Chen Qiyou had extraordinary strength after all. In a split second, both hands smashed together at the blade''s center.


    Zap!


    The Saber Qi broke, and this Heavenly Phenomenon''s clothes burst apart. His body was filled with bloody cuts, but he still managed to block the life-threatening blow.


    Oh no!


    Chen Qiyou had a ferocious look, but not a bit of happiness on his face.


    Because the next moment, a figure charged at him as quick as lightning, so fast he was unable to react. The figure''s left hand stretched forward like a dragon''s claw, sinking into both of his eyes.


    "Ah!"


    In immense pain, Chen Qiyou''s head violently pulled back. With a martial artist''s instinctive reaction, he managed to prevent his skull from cracking.


    Immediately, his wild character broke out. Both hands loosened their hold and struck out directly toward Fang Yuan''s chest. This was shockingly a fighting method to cause both sides to suffer.


    Without being restrained, the Blood Imbibing Saber suddenly struck, hacking at Chen Qiyou''s chest.


    "Hmm?"


    Fang Yuan felt resistance and was slightly shocked, knowing that this person had either cultivated an indestructible diamond body or was wearing precious body armor.


    Otherwise, he would have been split into two with a Demonic Armament''s sharpness, even if the Blood Imbibing Saber''s power was restrained.


    And Chen Qiyou''s counterattack was swift and fierce.


    "You still want to exchange?"


    Fang Yuan revealed a sinister smile and moved forward instead of retreating.


    Crack!


    Chen Qiyou''s palms vigorously pressed on his chest, breaking an unknown number of ribs.


    At the same time, Fang Yuan''s fingers bent and stretched out. His fingernails flicked and actually grew, pressing against Chen Qiyou''s Heavenly Eye.


    To the Heaven Earth Man Providence Mirror owner, it was merely external injuries to gouge out his eyes, but it was true harm when his Heavenly Eye was destroyed!


    "You¡­" Chen Qiyou retreated quickly, but unfortunately, everything was too late.


    Pain similar to his divine spirit being torn suddenly came from between his eyebrows, and a ball of blood exploded.


    Indistinctly, a light ray appeared and changed into a small mirror, which Fang Yuan caught.


    "Heaven Earth Man Providence Mirror!"


    This was the fifth Divine Armament in the world, an auxiliary artifact yearned by all martial artists. It was directly dug out from the space between Chen Qiyou''s eyebrows by Fang Yuan and caught in his hand!


    "Nangong Wuwang!!!" Chen Qiyou shouted in bitter resentment. His eyes were bleeding, and a black hole had appeared between his eyebrows. The blood around his body boiled and became a ray of blood that flickered like lightning, quickly vanishing into the horizon.


    This decision was expected by Fang Yuan.


    If the other was hesitant, he would have definitely paid a price to eliminate him here.


    "Forget it¡­ A Heavenly Phenomenon that has lost the Heaven Earth Man Providence Mirror is not enough to fear!"


    Fang Yuan coughed, vomiting a large amount of fresh blood.


    The injuries he had received to injure Chen Qiyou also caused him to suffer.


    However, paying this price to defeat Chen Qiyou, as well as to snatch a Divine Armament, was still a steal.


    Lad! Are you prepared to just leave like this? When he landed on the ground, the voice of the Sanguine Demon''s Essence Soul sounded. For now, the Orthodox Dao''s ambush is ruined, and there isn''t an enemy in all of Boyang Commandery that''s comparable with you. Don''t you want to look at the Jiang family''s treasury? There might be that Li Perishing Sword there!


    Are you encouraging me to start a massacre?


    Fang Yuan laughed coldly.


    Based on the cooperation between the Jiang family and the Orthodox Dao, they would most likely be forced to hand it over even if they had been the keepers of the Demonic Armament.


    Not to mention, Fang Yuan believed that the Jiang family only held on to a small clue related to the Demonic Armament.


    After all, the unusual powers that the top three Divine Armaments and the top three Demonic Armaments possessed were difficult to clearly put into words.


    Someone obtaining one could move unhindered in the Pugilistic World, laughing at the entire world.


    Fang Yuan estimated that the combined value of the Prolonged Grievance Hook and Blood Imbibing Saber would not be more than the Li Perishing Sword.


    Of course, this Blood Imbibing Saber should have been badly damaged when it was ranked the tenth Demonic Armament.


    After swallowing its flesh and blood and recovering part of its Essence Soul, won''t the Blood Imbibing Saber be able to become the sixth or seventh Demonic Armament? No wonder the confidence of this Sanguine Demon''s Essence Soul soared and tried enticing me.


    After smiling coldly, he stretched out his hands to seal it.


    Buzz buzz!


    Purple brilliance twinkled, agglomerated, and like a sheath, it sealed the Sanguine Demon''s Essence Soul within the Blood Imbibing Saber.


    "You thought that you could bewitch me just because you agglomerated part of your Essence Soul?" Fang Yuan muttered to himself. "Looks like this Sanguine Demon''s Essence Soul has to polish itself more."


    Smack!


    At this moment, he landed in the Jiang family''s residence. The surroundings were a scene of desolation, obviously having suffered from the fight between the Heavenly Phenomenon martial artists earlier.


    "Hmm?"


    Fang Yuan looked at part of the ruins that clearly still had some Qi movement left.


    He used a bit of his powers and concentrated it in his palm. Debris flew everywhere and a cellar entrance appeared.


    "Don''t¡­ Don''t come over!" A girl''s familiar voice came from the passage.


    "Jiang Xiaodie? To think that you actually survived. This must be because of your luck and ability¡­" said Fang Yuan while smiling. Suddenly, his face changed and he grabbed his chest, another mouthful of blood spurting out. "That damn Chen Qiyou. I must kill him the next time we meet!"


    "Don''t harm my granddaughter!"


    A few figures flew over, and the leader was the Jiang family''s patriarch.


    "Hehe¡­ Don''t worry. What kind of person am I? I won''t bully a weak girl¡­"


    Fang Yuan''s face was unusually red, and with the blood-stained shirt, his condition looked terrible.


    "Hmph!"


    Despite the Jiang family''s patriarch''s good temperament, his face darkened when he saw the casualties of the Jiang family disciples and the surrounding debris.


    "That''s¡­ the Heaven Earth Man Providence Mirror?"


    Ao Zhan stared blankly at the object in Fang Yuan''s hand.


    It was an oval-shaped mirror around the size of a duck egg. The surface of the mirror was enveloped with a glow, and the mirror frame was neither gold nor jade, but had a simple pattern.


    This was the Heaven Earth Man Providence Mirror.


    This Divine Armament could become any size, able to change with one''s will.


    For example, Chen Qiyou had refined it into a Heavenly Eye and mounted it in the space between his eyebrows.


    "The fifth Divine Armament in the world!" Ao Zhan mumbled, a hint of greed flashing through his eyes.


    Usually, he would not even dare to have such thoughts, but the little demon was obviously injured now.


    No martial artist would be uninjured after an earth-shattering battle with the Building Master, and there were plenty from the Pugilistic World''s Orthodox Dao around Jiang family''s residence!


    What if he could kill this person?


    The greed in Ao Zhan''s heart was like weed after spring rain, growing nonstop.


    "Nangong Wuwang! You massacred members of the Orthodox Dao and forcefully charged into the Jiang family. As part of Boyang Commandery''s Pugilistic World, I, Ao Zhan, won''t let you walk out of this residence alive!"


    Fang Yuan''s chest injury had steadied Ao Zhan''s confidence, causing him to step out and say such stern, righteous words. Even he himself was moved by it.


    "Good! Iron Lion is truly a master of Boyang Commandery!"


    "Such great words. Of course, we mustn''t let this demon walk out of this commandery alive. Otherwise, where would we put our face?"


    "Everyone fight together. There''s no such thing as Pugilistic World righteousness when fighting against someone from the Demon Dao."


    ¡­


    The surrounding Pugilistic World figures fell into a moment of silence before promptly firing up.


    "Senior Jiang! How about we join hands to end this evil?"


    Ao Zhan looked at Jiang Li beside him. The existence of this first-grade grandmaster was also his biggest assurance.


    Otherwise, he would not dare take such a risk even if Nangong Wuwang was severely injured.


    The Jiang family''s patriarch glanced at Ao Zhan with his deep eyes, as if he had already seen through his thoughts, but he did not say anything.


    Nangong Wuwang had slaughtered the Jiang family members from the repercussions of his battle! This was fact!


    As the patriarch of the Jiang family, he naturally needed to get vengeance for his family.


    "Encircle and annihilate me?" Fang Yuan was stunned, but soon after laughed out loud, as if he had heard a hilarious joke. "Haha¡­ This really is a newborn calf unafraid of the tiger!"


    Zap!


    His right hand held the saber and casually waved.


    The blood-colored astral saber exploded, and the noisiest bunch of martial artists from earlier suddenly became a bunch of corpses on the floor.


    Long lines of blood traveled as if they were alive, automatically gathering at the Blood Imbibing Saber. On the saber''s blade, countless purplish-red veins appeared and absorbed the fresh blood greedily.


    With this process, concentrated blood mist spread on Fang Yuan''s body, healing his injuries with such incredible speed that it could see with the naked eye.


    "In the rumors, the Blood Imbibing Saber owner becomes stronger as they fight. With the saber, he doesn''t have to fear his True Qi being exhausted nor his heavy injuries¡­"


    Jiang Li sighed. He grabbed Jiang Xiaodie and quickly retreated. "Mister Nangong, goodbye!"


    "¡­"


    Cold sweat dripped down Ao Zhan''s forehead.


    The Pugilistic World fellows previously filled with righteous indignation were all silent, causing him, the leader, to feel very awkward.


    "Mister Nangong¡­"


    Seeing Fang Yuan''s eyes which were faintly smiling, he could only brace himself and step forward.


    Poof!


    The next moment, saber light flashed and his head rolled.


    "I don''t wish to kill anyone, but why are there still people coming forward with a death wish?"


    Fang Yuan faintly sighed and retracted his Blood Imbibing Saber.Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting.

 794 Promotion

    "Old Patriarch¡­" Jiang Xiaodie watched the bloodstained mansion from outside, her voice trembling. "Boohoo¡­ Our home was destroyed, and my uncles, brothers, and sisters all died miserably¡­"


    The Jiang family''s patriarch no longer appeared philistine and answered in grief, "Sigh¡­ This is the Pugilistic World!"


    "W-Why is it that the kind can not survive long in the Pugilistic World, while evil can live forever?" the girl asked seriously.


    "¡­" The Jiang family''s patriarch remained silent for a while. "That''s only because¡­ we''re not strong enough! The Blood Imbibing Saber, Nangong Wuwang, might not dare wreak havoc like this in the holy grounds of the Pugilistic World!"


    However, he was not really sure about that.


    After all, Nangong was a gifted Demon Dao martial artist who had defeated Chen Qiyou!


    It''s a pity¡­ If there were another five first-grade grandmasters, I would have risked my life to stop the injured Blood Imbibing Saber¡­ But¡­


    He was unwilling to be reconciled, but there was nothing he could do.


    A first-grade grandmaster in martial arts could found a sect and become renowned all over the world.


    Such experts were the top martial artists in the mortal world, and even the holy grounds could not possibly deploy them at will.


    Without first-grade grandmasters, no matter how many martial artists joined the battle, the Blood Imbibing Saber would decapitate them and feed on their blood.


    "Old Patriarch!" Xiaodie clenched her teeth. "I must stop this person and avenge our family! Dad always said that I didn''t like fighting, but this time¡­ I want to fight!"


    "Nangong Wuwang is already in the Heavenly Phenomenon realm¡­ If you want to take revenge on him, you have to obtain the Jiang family''s Demonic Armament!"


    The Jiang family''s patriarch did not speak for a long time, but his voice was directly heard in Xiaodie''s ears. "In fact¡­ our real surname is ''Jiang''! Your name should be ''Jiang Xiaodie''! We are the descendants of the Li Human Sect''s young lord, and we possess the clues about where to find the Demonic Armament, the Li Perishing Sword! This family secret is strictly confidential. Moreover¡­ every owner of the Li Perishing Sword must be female! Do you know the reason why?


    "That''s because during the chaos of the Li Human Sect, the first blood sacrifice for the Li Perishing Sword was the young sect lord''s lover!


    "Xiaodie¡­ You''re a gifted and talented martial artist, and you''re only mediocre today because you don''t like fighting. Once you obtain the Li Perishing Sword, your martial arts will rapidly progress! As for the difference between Divine and Demonic Armaments, you don''t need to worry about that. Armaments are merely tools, and the outcome depends on how the owners intend to use them!"


    As the Jiang family''s patriarch spoke to Xiaodie, an ancient painting emerged in his sea of consciousness.


    This was a treasure passed down from the ancestors of the Jiang family. It was the portrait of the lover of the Li Human Sect''s young lord, said to be drawn by him personally.


    Jiang Xiaodie looked almost the same as the lady in the painting, as if she was the lady''s incarnation!


    "Although the Li Perishing Sword''s test is frightening, I believe that Xiaodie can pass it!"


    Thinking about the mysterious connections, the Jiang family''s patriarch made a resolution. The Jiang family tried to stay safe, but disaster still befell us. It''s time to get rid of the restrictions and convert to the Demon Dao! That''s because the Pugilistic World today¡­ favors the Demon Dao over the Orthodox Dao!


    He took one last glance at the old residence stained by blood, and then he quickly left with Xiaodie.


    ¡­


    A few days later, the Pugilistic World was struck by a piece of shocking news.


    The Blood Imbibing Saber owner had rampaged through Boyang Commandery and defeated the Golden Breeze Drizzle Building Master, Chen Qiyou. Furthermore, he had killed five masters, dozens of martial artists in the three medium grades, and countless common martial artists.


    Once again, Nangong Wuwang shot to fame in the entire Pugilistic World. His name was so ominous, it could stop children from crying at night.


    The battle between Gu Qixing and the Petal Rinsing Divine Sword, as well as the covert actions of the Demon Sect, were totally neglected as Fang Yuan attracted all the attention.


    This was the cruelty of the Pugilistic World!


    On the other hand, as the subject of the news, Fang Yuan¡ªthe demon wielding the Blood Imbibing Saber¡ªfound a random location in the wilderness. The Blood Imbibing Saber and the Heaven Earth Man Providence Mirror were laid out before him.


    "Nangong¡­ What happened earlier was a spontaneous response caused by the Blood Imbibing Saber. It had nothing to do with me!"


    After being sealed up, the Sanguine Demon became much more prudent with his words, knowing that he was not powerful enough to rebel against Fang Yuan.


    Fang Yuan could not be bothered listening to it.


    They were merely taking advantage of each other after all.


    Furthermore, the Sanguine Demon was much more reliant on him than he was on the demon.


    "I can sense my other body parts better after I obtained that portion of my Essence Soul. The second fragment should be four hundred kilometers to your east¡­"


    The Sanguine Demon kept talking, but Fang Yuan directly interrupted, "I''ll go when I feel like it¡­ Don''t be so noisy!"


    "You¡­" The Sanguine Demon''s Essence Soul was exasperated.


    He was an existence at the level of a Demon God. Unfortunately, he had been defeated and killed by the Celestial Thearch Sword, and the strength of his current Essence Soul was only a tiny portion of his full ability. Otherwise, how could he possibly entreat a Demon Master?


    But now, he had to rely on Fang Yuan. He also knew that Fang Yuan would not listen to him and would definitely seal him if he was annoying. Therefore, he immediately stopped talking and observed Fang Yuan.


    "The Heaven Earth Man Providence Mirror¡­"


    Fang Yuan was dressed in white and sat cross-legged like an elegant immortal, completely unlike a demon.


    As he waved his hand, the fifth Divine Armament landed on his palm.


    "This mirror''s auxiliary capability can be called heaven-defying, so I should put it to use!"


    Using all his strength, he injected a torrent of Six Extremes True Qi into the Providence Mirror.


    Rumble!


    The elliptical mirror was suspended and enlarged. It grew from the size of a pebble to a common copper mirror, and the surrounding patterns blazed like flames.


    Size adjustment was merely a normal function of Divine Armaments.


    Buzz buzz!


    After a while, a distinct chirp rang out from the Providence Mirror. It suddenly emitted bright light before concentrating into a silver sword sphere. Fang Yuan grabbed it and pressed it into his forehead.


    "Ugh¡­"


    He took a deep breath. Brilliant light shone in his eyes, and his Fiery Golden Eyes was directly upgraded.


    Flames emerged in his pupils, enabling him to see the true nature of the world. He could even penetrate superficial appearances and see the manifestation of rules and the tracks of the Great Daos.


    "Great! I can make the best use of this Divine Armament! It was wasted with Chen Qiyou!"


    Fang Yuan was exhilarated as he looked at his stats window:


    "Name: Fang Yuan (Nangong Wuwang)


    Essence: 150


    Spirit: 150


    Magic: 150


    Cultivation: Heavenly PhenomenonFind authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting.


    Technique: Six Extremes Armament Commandeering Art (Third Realm), Great Sanguine Demon Technique


    Specialization: Botany [Level Six] (Maximum), Heavenly Eye Seer Spell (Fake), Body of Origin Power, Demonic Armament¡ªBlood Imbibing Saber"


    "Essence, Spirit, and Magic are categories used in the lower realms and less relevant here!"


    Fang Yuan took a quick glance and focused on the Heavenly Eye Seer Spell under Specialization:


    "Heavenly Eye Seer Spell (Fake)¡ªa mutation from the Fiery Golden Eyes. This specialization was promoted to the Heavenly Eye Seer Spell due to the aid of the Heaven Earth Man Providence Mirror! The Heavenly Eye Seer can see the changes of the world and detect the details of the Six Dao. The Great Daos of the world are all in your eyes!"


    "Fake?" Fang Yuan''s expression became stagnant when he noticed the tag following the specialization. "As expected, since this magical power arose from external aid, it''ll disappear as soon as I lose the Heaven Earth Man Providence Mirror."


    Of course, he would not give up the Heavenly Eye Seer Spell.


    This specialization allowed him to observe the development of the world and comprehend the Great Daos. It was a shortcut to the completion of his Demon God Dao path! He had to clutch it tightly.


    If other Demon Master knew of it, they would definitely attempt to plunder it at all costs. It could even attract Demon Gods.


    "Still, the Heaven Earth Man Providence Mirror alone could not achieve this. I''m also relying on my experience accumulated in different worlds, together with the help from the stats window¡­"


    Fang Yuan muttered, "My priority now is to completely refine the Heaven Earth Man Providence Mirror¡­ No, I''ll devour its essence directly and make it my own specialization!"


    Although he had mastered this Divine Armament, it would still take a long time to completely refine.


    Furthermore, he had not obtained the heaven-grade martial arts in the Divine Armament. He immediately realized that the mirror still had many secrets to be unraveled.


    Fang Yuan thought about it and then summoned the Sanguine Demon''s Essence Soul to inquire about this issue.


    "Where''s the heaven-grade cultivation technique that accompanies this Divine Armament?"


    The Sanguine Demon was more well-behaved now. After pondering for a while, he said, "As far as I know, the Celestial Thearch Sword contains a formulation called ''the Celestial Thearch Sword Formulation''. This abstruse formulation was naturally formed from the power of creation and written by the heavens and the earth! The legendary martial arts in some Divine and Demonic Armaments were created when the artisans injected their own Martial Dao essence into the armaments! I heard a little about the previous owners of the Heaven Earth Man Providence Mirror. This mirror was said to be made from a piece of ten-thousand-year-old jade, which is probably unique in this world. Maybe the Divine Armament is concealing its true value?"


    "Since the saber has a Saber Spirit, it''s normal that this armament has its own spirit as well!" Fang Yuan nodded. "However¡­ I can ask another person!"


    "Are you referring to the Golden Breeze Drizzle Building Master? Hehe¡­ He was unfortunate enough to make you his opponent! However, this building always has up-to-date intelligence, and nobody knows the location of the headquarters. Even if you manage to find him, he may collaborate with the Orthodox Dao and be prepared to kill you!"


    The Sanguine Demon said, "The Kong family has a grudge against my previous owner and will certainly do their utmost to deal with you. Why don''t you¡­ enhance your strength first? That''ll prepare you for any circumstances!"


    The demon did not dare tempt Fang Yuan with demonic thoughts, but his words implied that he hoped Fang Yuan could complete his body as soon as possible.


    After all, none of the previous Blood Imbibing Saber owners were as strong as Fang Yuan. Fang Yuan was the only owner who could directly defeat anyone trying to hinder him.


    If the demon missed this chance, his resurrection could be delayed forever.


    "Enhance my strength?"


    Fang Yuan smiled.


    He had come to this world primarily to test the dream-traversing technique.


    Moving on, he would look for some things related to this world''s source and perfect his own Great Dao.


    As of now, he could not give up the Heaven Earth Man Providence Mirror. If everything progressed smoothly, he could even try out the Celestial Thearch Sword.


    While this sword had been lost, it would appear again when a great tribulation befell the world!

 795 Sword Master

    Army Garrison Mountain.


    This was a mountain peak in Flying Cloud Commandery. It was only three hundred feet tall, but the areas around it were barren and underdeveloped.


    Due to the low yield, there were hardly any residents, and the secluded land was bleak.


    However, a bamboo house was built on a small lake at the foot of the mountain.


    The bamboo house was located at the center of a lake and had a wooden bridge joining it with the shore. The mountain and the lake in the background comprised an interesting scene.


    Ding!


    The clash of swords rang out like thunder. Two swordsmen were apparently engaged in battle.


    The atmosphere of their battle was even more impressive than the battle between Gu Qixing and Elder Jiang Li, the Petal Rinsing Divine Sword.


    If any martial artists witnessed the scene, they would be shocked.


    It was surprising that such peerless swordsmen dwelt on the bleak Army Garrison Mountain!


    One of these swordsmen was an elder, and the other was a youth. The elder swordsman wore a feather coat, and his long white eyebrows dangled from his face, while the youth was only sixteen or seventeen years old.


    Dang!


    The two swords clashed, and the youth quickly took a few steps back.


    When he was about to move forward again, the tip of a sword touched his throat.


    He swallowed his saliva and begged for mercy, "I lost, Master!"


    "Hmm. You withstood 365 moves from me this time. Your swordsmanship has improved. Not bad, not bad¡­" The elder stroked his beard, looking happy. "Lei, you''re a born swordsman, and your mind is pure like a child''s. The Sword Dao of the Pugilistic World will honor you as their leader in the future."


    He was extremely satisfied with this disciple.


    The youth was not only gifted in the Sword Dao but also diligent and persistent in his practice. He had a promising future.


    He had already achieved a cultivation of first-grade Martial Dao grandmaster!


    This was shocking even in the holy grounds of the Pugilistic World.


    "Lei, my Sword Dao focuses on fast progress and breakthroughs via enlightenment¡­ Do you understand why I''ve kept you in the mountain for more than ten years? That was to maintain the purity of your mind before you go through the training of society¡­ You may be able to enter the Heavenly Phenomenon realm at that time!" Swordsman Bai Mei disclosed his entire plan.


    "I will never forget my gratitude for all your instruction!" The youth, Lei, knelt down immediately. "I like life on the mountain and don''t want to leave!"


    "That''s only because the time has not yet come¡­" Swordsman Bai Mei gazed at his disciple, but his gaze carried some profound meaning.


    "Hehe¡­ What a shame! Stone Oaf, you were defeated by Master again!"


    After Bai Mei went into the house, the girl who watched their battle immediately approached the youth. She had two dark braids and healthy wheat-colored skin. Her bright eyes were like crescent moons when she smiled.


    The name of this youth was Shi Lei, while the girl was his junior sister, Fu Hongmian. They were close friends who had grown up together, and it was common for them to joke about each other.


    "It''s normal that I''m weaker than Master¡­"


    Having heard the girl''s comment that did not convey any ill intent, Shi Lei smiled honestly, without the aura of a first-grade grandmaster.


    "Since you talked about it¡­ Stone Oaf, why won''t you go down the mountain?" asked Fu Hongmian as she winked.


    "There''s nothing particularly good about life down the mountain! Moreover¡­ I''ll miss this place and Master¡­ You know that he''ll probably starve to death without us cooking for him!"


    The honest youth scratched his head and grinned.


    "Hmph¡­ Are you looking down on me?"


    Fu Hongmian could not help pouting.


    She looked mediocre and was not gentle like most girls. But for some unknown reason, Shi Lei liked watching her smiles and her movements when she washed clothes or practiced martial arts.


    Of course, he liked this place as well. He liked the mountain and the lake, as well as the old dog that always stole food from the kitchen.


    As long as I can live with Master and Junior Sister, I''ll be happy even if I stay here for a lifetime.


    Shi Lei imagined his future happily.


    However, the tranquility was shattered the next moment.


    A deep and charming voice rang out. "Sword Grandmaster, your old acquaintance is here to pay a visit. I hope to meet you in person!"


    The youth and the girl saw the image of a handsome middle-aged man with white-haired temples in their seas of consciousness.


    "Who are you?"


    Shi Lei lifted his head and became alert as he gazed at a figure that suddenly appeared in the house at the lake center.


    "Twenty years ago, the Sword Grandmaster¡ªthe leader of swordsmen¡ªwas honored as first in the Pugilistic World''s Sword Dao. But surprisingly, he chose to recuse himself at the peak of his life. Who would''ve expected that the Grandmaster was enjoying teaching his disciples here?"


    The middle-aged man looked the same as the figure in Shi Lei''s sea of consciousness. His purple eyes glanced at the youth, and he nodded. "He''s a gifted swordsman and has an innocent heart. His cultivation has reached first-grade grandmaster at such a young age. You''ve indeed found an excellent disciple to pass down your skills to!"


    He clearly knew the power of the Sword Grandmaster''s Sword Dao, where the swordsman made progress via enlightenment. A sudden breakthrough in realm was expected once the swordsman went through enlightenment.


    With the potential of this youth, he would most likely advance to Heavenly Phenomenon after another enlightenment!


    "The Demon Sect? Sky Fiend Dao Lord?" Sword Grandmaster Bai Mei walked out from the bamboo house with a grave expression. "The Sky Fiend Dao is the leader of the Six Dao Demon Sect! You''re Sky Fiend Dao Master, an enemy of our Orthodox Dao. How dare you come here?"


    "Haven''t you realized why I''m here?" Sky Fiend Dao Master laughed. "I heard that you were indulged in gathering Divine Armaments, and you gave up all your fortune and worked as a slave for ten years just in exchange for a famous sword. Among all swordsmen in the world, you have the most abundant collection! I''ve come to ask for a sword today!"


    "Cough cough¡­" Sword Grandmaster Bai Mei coughed, opening his empty palms. "I''m sorry that I can''t satisfy your demand. After I decided to live in seclusion, I threw away most of those famous swords. Even the Divine Armament I carried with me, the Five Elements Cloud Qi Sword, has been given away!"


    The Five Elements Cloud Qi Sword was the sixth Divine Armament!


    And the Sword Grandmaster gave it up like he was dealing with worn-out boots. What kind of realm was he in?


    "Your realm puts me to shame¡­ It''s laughable that I''ve spent all my time searching for external aids!"


    Sky Fiend Dao Master sighed and slowly lifted his right hand.


    He had five sharp, black finger-cots on his right hand, each connected to a black wristband by a chain.


    Slight friction was sufficient to ignite sparks.


    "The Sky Fiend Claw? Wasn''t this Demonic Armament lost a long time ago?"


    Sword Grandmaster Bai Mei was shocked. He then saw Sky Fiend Dao Master walking toward him steadily. "You gave up your swords, while I spent three years suppressing the demonic nature of this claw and another three years mastering it!"


    Realms could never determine the outcome of a battle between martial artists.


    Although Elder Bai Mei''s swordsmanship had entered an unimaginable realm after he discarded his swords, he still felt inexplicably shocked by Sky Fiend Dao Master.


    "Please!"


    "Please!"


    Both of them cupped their hands and immediately clashed.


    Rumble!


    The air trembled. Shi Lei protected his junior sister as they hastily retreated.


    The ability displayed by Bai Mei was totally different from what he had revealed in the earlier practice.


    Damn the old guy. He didn''t fight with all his strength in the first place!


    Shi Lei was shocked by Elder Bai Mei''s real ability. "Who is Sky Fiend Dao Master?"


    Lei! A voice rang out secretly in his ears. Watch this battle, and then¡­ bring your junior sister down the mountain!


    "Master?" Shi Lei''s eyes turned red, an ominous feeling filling his mind.


    "Sword Grandmaster, admit defeat! You''re no match for me!" Sky Fiend Dao Master could still advise his opponent to give up while resolving the opponent''s moves. Evidently, he was not using his full strength.


    "Haha¡­ Swordsmen fight to the death!"


    The Sword Grandmaster looked solemn, streaks of Sword Qi surrounding him.


    Bloop! Bloop!


    Bubbles emerged from the lake, and all sorts of swords immediately flew out.


    "This lake¡­ is called the Discarded Swords Lake. It contains most of the swords I collected." The voice of the Sword Grandmaster was distinct and determined. "All swords pay homage to the leader!"


    Zap zap!


    Thousands of flying swords moved like they were alive, transforming into a sword dragon and charging at Sky Fiend Dao Master.


    The Sword Grandmaster stood straight, surrounded by Sword Qi. "If I can kill this demon, I''ll be doing a good deed!"


    Ding! Ding! Dang! Dang!


    Unfortunately, when the flying swords reached Sky Fiend Dao Master, they only generated metallic sounds.


    In the deafening noise, armor covering the entire body of Sky Fiend Dao Master was revealed.


    The flying swords left behind nothing more than white marks and sparks on the armor.


    "The Evil God Armor? You''re controlling two Demonic Armaments on your own!"


    The sword dragon disintegrated, but Sword Grandmaster Bai Mei''s voice showed no sign of resignation. "Lei! Run!"


    Rumble!!


    He shouted and pushed backward with his palm.


    "Ah!"Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting.


    Shi Lei and Xiaodie were immediately engulfed by a sword stream and flew out of the battlefield.


    Poof!


    Sky Fiend Dao Master''s claw pressed heavily on the Sword Grandmaster''s body and tore it up.


    Blood splattered. The elder crashed into the house, his mouth and nose bleeding.


    "Ah! The Golden Needle Acupoint Piercing¡ªthe Three Deadly Techniques!"


    The Sword Grandmaster was red-eyed. He whipped out a few golden needles and punctured his own body.


    Rumble


    Numerous air bubbles rolled beneath his skin like small rats. As soon as he regained mobility, he charged at Sky Fiend Dao Master.


    My disciple¡­ This is all I can do for you!


    This was his thought when he was beheaded.


    ¡­


    "Master¡­"


    Meanwhile, the youth, Shi Lei, gazed at the foot of the mountain and burst into tears.


    All sorts of famous armaments were scattered around him, most of which were rusted, but there were some exceptions.


    "Senior Brother¡­ What happened?" Fu Hongmian felt bewildered.


    "Nothing¡­ We need to go to the Pugilistic World!"


    Choked with sobs, Shi Lei quickly moved forward and tried to pick out a powerful armament to protect themselves with.


    Suddenly, a mysterious sword attracted his attention. He grabbed the sword handle without hesitation.


    The dark green sword was extremely cumbersome, and it was surprisingly made of stone!

 796 Secret Realm

    This was a giant building with nine floors.


    Each floor was more than six meters high, and the height of the building exceeded sixty meters.


    Most startling was the fact that instead of being built in an urban area, the building was situated on a cliff. It went through clouds, as if the people in the building could touch the sky.


    White pigeons flapped their wings as they flew into the building like tired birds returning to their nests.


    Many men in green robes took letters off the pigeons'' legs. Then they quickly copied the information and sent it to upper management, revealing a tightly controlled system.


    This large amount of information had been collated by spies and reported from the lower levels to the upper levels. Finally, it reached the ninth floor at the top.


    This was an antique attic with simple furnishings.


    A zither was hung on the wall. There was a chessboard on the table, together with black and white chess pieces, and green smoke rose from the incense burner beside the chessboard.


    Aside from that, there was only a bed and a chair.


    A person was sitting cross-legged on the bed. His red lips and white teeth implied his handsome features, but his eyes and his forehead were covered by white gauze, behind which the color of blood was faintly visible.


    Chen Qiyou!


    It was evident from his presence here that this building was the headquarters of the famous Golden Breeze Drizzle Building.


    "Building Master!"


    A grandmaster walked in respectfully and placed a few wooden planks in front of Chen Qiyou. "This is the most up-to-date heaven-grade intelligence!"


    These wooden planks were made of red sandalwood, emanating a pleasant fragrance. Vigorous calligraphy strokes were inscribed on them.


    After putting them down, the grandmaster dared not tarry and quickly left the room.


    Chen Qiyou waved his hand and grabbed the wooden planks. He obtained the information by rubbing against the inscriptions.


    Fourteen hours ago, Divine Doctor Sacred Hands drank at the Immortal Admiring Restaurant in Sea Gazing Commandery? He ordered a pot of osmanthus liquor, a plate of alcoholic peas, and a plate of seven fragrance beef¡­


    Divine Doctor Sacred Hands was a top medical expert in the Pugilistic World. Rumor had it that he could resurrect the dead.


    Of course, Chen Qiyou had too much life experience to believe in such rumors. However, the doctor was indeed able to heal broken limbs and transplant organs like the heart and the eyes.


    Chen Qiyou was looking for this person because he wanted to have an eye transplant and recover from blindness.


    Unfortunately, the Divine Doctor enjoyed traveling the Pugilistic World, so it was difficult to locate him. Furthermore, given his capricious personality, it would take some trouble to invite him.


    "However¡­ he owes the Zhou family a favor. If I let the Zhou family invite him, he''ll definitely accept the request¡­ The Zhou family, hehe, has way too much incriminating evidence in my hands¡­"


    Chen Qiyou put down the wooden planks and smiled. "Besides¡­ I know what the Divine Doctor wants quite well. I can promise that I''ll support his attempt at a brain transplant if he heals my eyes, ensuring that I can convince him to help me!"


    This capricious Divine Doctor had done many controversial deeds, such as transplanting a dog''s leg to a living human.


    Recently, he had obtained an unorthodox book named ''Green Capsule Scripture Additional Recording'' and was intrigued by the brain transplant method in it, doing quite a few experiments covertly.


    The Golden Breeze Drizzle Building collected most of the intelligence in the world, and this intelligence could be used directly against its subjects.


    Chen Qiyou shook his head and took another wooden plank. "¡­ The Demon Sect''s Sky Fiend Dao Master has appeared and seems to have mastered the Sky Fiend Claw and the Evil God Armor? That''s a bit troublesome. As the second Demonic Armament, the power of the Sky Fiend Claw is terrifying. The Evil God Armor ranks fifth among Demonic Armaments, and the Fatal Evil Arts that accompanies it is invincible unless attacked by the top three Divine or Demonic Armaments¡­Sigh¡­ Why is it that the Pugilistic World always favors the Demon Dao over the Orthodox Dao?"


    That thought reminded him of the Blood Imbibing Saber owner, Nangong Wuwang, and his face convulsed in rage.


    In the battle at the Jiang family''s residence, Nangong Wuwang had dug out his eyes and snatched away the Heaven Earth Man Providence Mirror. This had ruined his reputation, and he would always hold a grudge against Nangong Wuwang!


    "Nangong Wuwang¡­ Nangong Wuwang¡­"


    Chen Qiyou mumbled and touched the third wooden plank.


    As the Drizzle Building Master, he had contributed to Fang Yuan''s infamous reputation all over the world.


    He had also ordered his subordinates to collect all information about Nangong Wuwang and send it to him.


    The third plank, as expected, recorded the relevant information. "Yesterday, Nangong Wuwang was witnessed in Falling Leaf City of Clear Lotus Commandery. After a while, they lost track of him?"


    "Useless trash!" Chen Qiyou cursed aloud. "And the Kong family¡­ how can they possibly deceive me? They appear venerable, but they bully the weak and fear the strong. After my defeat, they''d only say some harsh words. I''m afraid they''ve already hid away!"


    The ranking of Divine Armaments was not a pretense.


    While the Heaven Earth Man Providence Mirror could not cause any damage, its auxiliary function was very frightening. Even a grandmaster with this armament could trouble a Heavenly Phenomenon martial artist.


    If a common Heavenly Phenomenon obtained it, they would become a top-ranking expert in the Pugilistic World.


    If Chen Qiyou were to fight against the Kong family''s current armament wielder before he had lost the mirror, he was confident of gaining the upper hand within thirty moves, and he could resolve the Righteousness Formulation and defeat the opponent within three hundred moves.


    With the ability to defeat him, Nangong Wuwang could also easily slaughter the Kong family.


    Any martial artist could see the huge difference between their abilities.


    Therefore, the Kong family would only curse and take no action at all.


    "Nangong Wuwang, I won''t spare your life¡­ The Golden Breeze Drizzle Building has spies all over the world. Although I can''t cope with you, can''t I cope with your father?" Chen Qiyou muttered. "I''ll find Nangong Wentian and your three sisters even if I have to dig deep into the ground¡­"


    "Hehe¡­ Who would''ve expected that White Robe Chen Qiyou was reduced to using such despicable tactics¡­" The voice of an elder suddenly rang out beside Chen Qiyou.


    He shivered and then immediately relaxed. "You are?"


    Even though Chen Qiyou had lost his eyes, he still had his Heavenly Phenomenon cultivation. Since this person could enter the Golden Breeze Drizzle Building''s top floor without being discovered or falling into one of the traps, it was highly likely that this person was in the same realm as him.


    It would be laughable if he called for his subordinates to deal with someone like this.


    "Chen Qiyou, your Heavenly Eye was so sharp in the past. Can''t you even recognize my voice now?" the visitor lamented.


    "It''s you!" Chen Qiyou appeared to have understood something. "What about it¡­ Are you here to laugh at me?"


    "If I was here to laugh at you, why would I show myself?" the mysterious person said with a laugh. "Moreover¡­ I''ve brought you a present. Divine Doctor Sacred Hands is waiting outside. He can transplant eyes for you as soon as you allow him to enter."


    "Oh?" Chen Qiyou''s heart wavered. "Then I should express my gratitude for your help!"


    "The Demon Dao is currently overpowering the Orthodox Dao. As martial artists of the Orthodox Dao, we should collaborate!" the mysterious person tried to persuade him. "If the Building Master doesn''t take action, all the creatures in the world will continue to suffer. Do they deserve it?"


    "You''re overestimating my power!" Chen Qiyou shook his head. "I''m merely a blind man right now. Even if my eyes are cured, I''d only be a common Heavenly Phenomenon without the Heaven Earth Man Providence Mirror¡­"


    "Hehe¡­ Every Heavenly Phenomenon is a legend. You''re by no means common¡­ Furthermore, your knowledge covers astronomy and geography, and we all admire your Wind-and-Water Seer Spell," said the mysterious person.


    Chen Qiyou smiled and came to a conclusion. "So you''re eyeing on my Wind-and-Water Dragon Searching Technique!"


    The Heaven Earth Man Providence Mirror enabled its owner to observe the changes in the providence of Heaven, Earth, and Man. The owner could see things as vast as the Qi of mountains, rivers, and stars, and things as detailed as the Qi of a martial artist.


    Although he had lost the Divine Armament, he still retained the experience. His eyes were much sharper than a common Heavenly Phenomenon.


    With that thought, he clenched his teeth.


    If he had the Heaven Earth Man Providence Mirror, fighting this mysterious Heavenly Phenomenon would be a piece of cake.


    "Wait!" A thought suddenly flashed in his mind and he questioned immediately, "Do you want to go to that place?"


    "That''s right. It''s time to go there again¡­ The secret treasure is concealed too well, corresponding with the stars and the earth veins. We''re not confident of locating it without your help!" the mysterious person admitted his intention frankly.


    "No wonder why Sky Fiend Dao Master also appeared¡­" Chen Qiyou muttered. He knew how attractive that place was toward martial artists, especially Heavenly Phenomenons like themselves!


    "Since that''s your plan, how many Divine Armament owners have you contacted?"


    He shivered at the thought of the danger in that place.


    "Not many. Just seven, including you!"


    "Seven? If the Demon Dao sends a few more martial artists, that would be sufficient!" Chen Qiyou sighed. "It''s a pity¡­ that I''m blind. You can''t count me a Divine Armament owner anymore!"


    "Who dares look down on White Robe Chen?" The mysterious person laughed. "You''ll recover after getting a new pair of eyes. As for Nangong Wuwang¡­ while he''s somewhat sly, he''s not a big deal. We''ll have plenty of opportunities to cope with him after this event!"Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting.


    "All right. I''ll collaborate with you!" Chen Qiyou nodded.


    He found it appropriate to go to the secret realm before dealing with Fang Yuan.


    That was because that place was a real temptation to all martial artists!


    After entering the secret realm, martial artists of the Orthodox Dao and the Demon Dao could put their grudges aside. There were even many cases where they cooperated in the exploration.


    Of course, there were also many martial artists who schemed and even fought against one another.


    ¡­


    "Ah¡­ You''re Sanguine Demon Nangong Wuwang?"


    In the territory of a sect, the elderly sect master appeared cool and composed seeing a challenger, but he was scared out of his wits when he recognized Fang Yuan.


    "I''m just here to take something today. Don''t mind me!" said Fang Yuan as he smiled, but the Blood Imbibing Saber was shining in his hand.


    So? Have you sensed your body part?


    It''s in the sect''s treasury at the back! the Sanguine Demon answered quickly.


    "Great!"


    Fang Yuan glanced over the many terrified sect members and barged straight into the sect.


    The white-haired elderly sect master moved his mouth, but did not dare stop Fang Yuan. Finally, he let out a long sigh.

 797 Immortality

    "The White Sun Gate¡­ It''s unexpected that a small sect in Clear Lotus Commandery has collected so much treasure!"


    Fang Yuan strolled through this sect''s treasury, nodding as he looked around. "At least, they''re good at reaping profits!"


    "Hehe¡­ Although the sect master is barely a third-grade martial artist, he''s still the founder of the sect. The previous generations of his family may have contributed to the wealth as well"


    The voice of the Sanguine Demon''s Essence Soul sounded excited. "Walk forward a bit more. It''s the second item on the third layer of the wooden shelf¡­ Oh, since you have the Heaven Earth Man Providence Mirror now, can you see how extraordinary my fragment is?"


    "Indeed!"


    Fang Yuan picked up a black rock from the shelf. There were countless holes in the rock, making it look like a beehive.


    But in his eyes, it was like a vortex emanating a mysterious, dark aura.


    It even faintly interacted with a vague Essence Soul in the Blood Imbibing Saber.


    My Heavenly Eye Seer Spell is much stronger than the Heaven Earth Man Providence Mirror¡­ Fang Yuan thought silently, while the Sanguine Demon''s Essence Soul was totally unaware of his secret.


    He glanced at the wooden shelf again and noticed a piece of paper below the rock. It read, This is an unknown mineral weighing 3,700 grams. This extremely hard rock can not be abraded by water nor burned by fire¡­ The disciple, Bai Yunsheng, presented it after returning from his journey!


    "Very good. You''ve found a second fragment, so this is the reward you deserve!"


    The Sanguine Demon''s Essence Soul did not hesitate this time, injecting a large amount of inspiration about his breakthrough into Fang Yuan''s sea of consciousness.


    This demon is¡­ getting stronger!


    Fang Yuan slashed the black rock. Numerous purplish-red veins extended from the Blood Imbibing Saber and voraciously absorbed everything in the rock fragments. Before long, the black rock crumbled into ashes, while the Essence Soul in the Blood Imbibing Saber solidified slightly. And Fang Yuan had observed this process.


    And¡­ the Great Sanguine Demon''s Dao path is indeed different from those of the Mental Demon Realm and the Spiritual Realm!


    He changed his mind to prioritize searching for the Great Sanguine Demon''s fragments since it was easier to achieve, but more importantly, it was because he had acquired the Heavenly Eye Seer Spell.


    Observing this demon''s Essence Soul was comparable to being taught by a Demon God. The benefits were far more valuable than the experiences that this demon had imparted.


    "Hmm?"


    After learning something from the Sanguine Demon''s Essence Soul, Fang Yuan casually searched through the treasury before an item attracted his attention.


    He quickly approached the bookshelf and slashed it with his hand.


    Whoosh!


    Wooden planks crumbled, revealing a hidden case stuck in between.


    He opened the case and retrieved a silver silk scroll.


    "An incomplete page of the Ancient Armament Manual?"


    Fang Yuan was truly surprised when he saw this.


    The Armament Manual was written by an anonymous author. Not only did it rank the top ten Divine Armaments and the top ten Demonic Armaments, but it also recorded many secret cultivation arts, most of which were related to powerful armaments.


    The Nangong family''s Six Extremes Armament Commandeering Art was only one of them.


    "I can''t believe¡­ that I found an incomplete page of the Armament Manual here¡­"


    Fang Yuan did not read it in detail and instead directly walked out of the treasury.


    "M-Master!"


    The members of the sect waited fearfully outside the treasury, and the elderly sect master had an ingratiating smile on his face.


    "How did you obtain the incomplete page of the Ancient Armament Manual?" Without a second thought, he waved the Armament Manual in his hand.


    "The Ancient Armament Manual?"


    The old man was stunned, and Fang Yuan deduced from his blank expression that he honestly knew nothing about it.


    "Hmm?" But Fang Yuan would not let him off so easily. He sneered and released a frightening aura.


    "Master! Please spare my life! I really don''t know anything about the Armament Manual!"


    With his life threatened, the sect master knelt and begged for mercy, disregarding his dignity.


    "Where did you get the bookshelf in your treasury then?" Fang Yuan changed the subject.


    "That¡­ was moved here from the Red Flower Sect after we annihilated it¡­" the sect master said respectfully, but he immediately regretted it inside.


    If he had known that a secret manual was hidden inside, he would have retrieved and practiced it. Why would he wait until now?


    "Hehe¡­ It seems that this item is destined to be mine."


    Looking at him, Fang Yuan was generally clear about how they had obtained the Armament Manual. He grinned and kept the manual before leaving. His silhouette soon disappeared in the sky.


    "Phew¡­"


    The sect master and disciples only relaxed after Fang Yuan had disappeared from their sight.


    "This man¡­ isn''t that bloodthirsty!"


    A disciple touched his head in lingering fear.


    "Hmph!" The sect master snorted coldly. "What are you waiting for? Clean up the treasury and check what we''ve lost!"


    "Understood!"


    This elder regained the aura of a third-grade master. As the sect''s top martial artist, he had the authority to order the others. The disciples and other elders did not dare neglect him and acted immediately.


    ¡­


    What''s recorded in this Armament Manual?


    Sitting cross-legged on a green stone, Fang Yuan stared at the incomplete page in his hand and inadvertently started contemplating.


    After a long time, the Sanguine Demon''s Essence Soul finally could not take it and had asked that question.


    "Nothing. It''s just an anecdote¡­"


    The Armament Manual contained not only cultivation techniques like the Six Extremes Armament Commandeering Art, but also secret techniques for repairing Demonic and Divine Armaments.


    What was recorded on the page in Fang Yuan''s hand was somewhat peculiar. Instead of any martial arts or secret techniques, it was an anecdote from ancient times.


    "When martial artists are in the nine grades, their cultivation power will become extraordinary and their body will gradually undergo a metamorphosis. Heavenly Phenomenon can even defeat thousands of armies. However, the heavens and the earth are so unkind toward martial artists! Even first-grade grandmasters have not lived longer than 150 years, and Heavenly Phenomenon only live slightly longer, but none of them have survived more than 200 years!"


    "Lifespan? That''s indeed a limitation in this world!"


    Fang Yuan rubbed his chin.


    In fact, a larger number of extraordinary existences might not be better for a world.


    The more extraordinary existences there were, the heavier the burden on the world. However, extraordinary martial artists were needed as the vanguard against external invaders.


    Too much suppression of the top martial artists would make the world helpless when it was invaded. For instance, without the Celestial Thearch Sword owner confronting the Great Sanguine Demon, it was hard to imagine what would have happened to the Pugilistic World.Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting.


    Fang Yuan associated the dilemma with his own experience and immediately thought of how this world resolved it.


    "It allows the emergence of high-level powers but restricts their lifespans. Even a martial artist with limitless power can''t live longer than 200 years!"


    Otherwise, the owners of Divine Armaments and Demonic Armaments would not have changed at all.


    "While humans are mortal, Divine Armaments and Demonic Armaments can last forever. Martial artists obtaining them can quickly progress to higher realms¡­ Thus, there must be a surge in the number of Divine and Demonic Armament owners when a tribulation strikes!


    "The heavens and the earth¡­ are so unkind to martial artists!"


    The author''s anger could be felt from his messy writing on the incomplete page of the Armament Manual.


    But there was a twist. "¡­ However, heaven''s will is unpredictable, giving us a lifeline against the trend. There''s a secret realm named the ''Heaven Deity Palace'' on the Dragon Horse Plain. It corresponds with the stars and earth veins, opening once every 20 years. The palace is inhabited by the Four Mutated Beasts, and the pills made from the beasts'' blood can lengthen one''s lifespan!"


    "Sanguine Demon, did you know about this?"


    Fang Yuan flicked his fingers and made a distinct sound.


    "I''ve heard of it!" the Sanguine Demon said in a muffled voice. "This world is so miserly. It cultivates high-level martial artists but doesn''t grant them immortality. Since the Great Dao doesn''t allow it, this is their only chance to survive longer."


    "It seems useless to us!"


    Even Fang Yuan was not going to stay in this world for 200 years.


    "That''s true for us, but not to the martial artists at the end of their lifespans!" said the Sanguine Demon. "They''re willing to do anything for a single pill that can lengthen their life!"


    "The Heaven Deity Palace? A place that moves along the earth veins and opens only at certain times? Interesting!"


    Fang Yuan paused when he read the map of stars in the Armament Manual. He lifted his head and looked at the starry sky. "Based on the sexagenary cycle, the Heaven Deity Palace will open in a few days."


    It was even easier to locate the place.


    It would be laughable if he could not see the trend and abnormality of the earth veins with the Heavenly Eye Seer Spell.


    "What? Do you want to go there?"


    The Sanguine Demon was confused.


    "Hmm, the Heaven Deity Palace and the Four Mutated Beasts are worth seeing. Furthermore¡­ the owners of the Divine Armaments and the Demonic Armaments will definitely visit the Heaven Deity Palace when it opens this time."


    In the past, he would not dare be so cocky.


    But with the continuously upgraded Blood Imbibing Saber, and more importantly, his own improvement in martial arts cultivation, he gradually advanced to a realm where he could comprehend a Great Dao under the aid of the Heavenly Eye Seer Spell. He had the feeling that he was going to break through the barrier to a whole new level.


    "Martial artists in the nine grades are merely ordinary humans. In contrast, Heavenly Phenomenon is truly extraordinary and divine! Beyond the Heavenly Phenomenon realm, there''s the Divine Demon realm!"


    The Sanguine Demon provided Fang Yuan with a lot of information about this subject.


    "There weren''t many Divine Demon martial artists in history, and most of them were the owners of the top three Divine Armaments and Demonic Armaments!


    "They were the underlying reason for the light from providence to shine on this world!


    "They even had longer lifespans¡­"


    The Sanguine Demon said slowly with some contempt.


    Even the most powerful Divine Demon martial artists were wretched creatures in his eyes.


    Fang Yuan was speechless from understanding the subtext in the Sanguine Demon''s words.


    But these wretched creatures were as powerful as Mental Demon Demon Gods.


    Although the Sanguine Demon was an invader at the Emperor level, he was still defeated and torn asunder.


    "Has the Celestial Thearch Sword owner been born? Will they come for this grand event?"


    Fang Yuan stood up, his eyes glistening.


    "That won''t happen¡­" the Sanguine Demon''s Essence Soul said. "I encountered the Celestial Thearch Sword owner only because my physical body descended into this world and caused chaos¡­ Damn it! I was exhausted after breaking through the realm membrane. If I hadn''t encountered the Celestial Thearch Sword owner before I recovered, how would I have been defeated?"


    He was clearly unresigned.


    "As for your realm traversing technique, it hardly triggers any backlash from the world. That''s truly mysterious!"

 798 Ba Dao

    "My realm traversing technique has caught your attention? You have good taste!" Fang Yuan sneered. "Unfortunately¡­ I definitely can''t trade this technique with you!"


    The original realm traversing technique was already very well-developed and impressive. Needless to say, Fang Yuan had modified it and merged into his Dao of Dream Master.


    Once he descended, he would take on the invisible form of a Skyfiend. Unless he was thoroughly exposed to a world''s will, it was very difficult for him to be exposed.


    If the Sanguine Demon had obtained such a technique back then, it was unlikely he would be in such a terrible plight now.


    The Great Sanguine Demon''s Essence Soul was silent for a moment before calmly acknowledging it soon after. "This Magical Clone technique of yours¡­ is truly very ingenious. I can even sense that if you were to die here, your true body wouldn''t be injured much!"


    This was one of the reasons why he chose to compromise.


    Being unable to completely annihilate his opponent and rashly breeding animosity was naturally very stupid.


    "Let''s go!"


    After composing himself for a moment, Fang Yuan stood up.


    "Seems that¡­ you''ve decided to make a trip to the Dragon Horse Plain?" The Great Sanguine Demon''s Essence Soul was somewhat unwilling. "You don''t want to further strengthen me by a little? Currently, the Blood Imbibing Saber can at most contend with the fifth and sixth Demonic Armaments. But if you can find more of my fragments¡­"


    "Haha¡­ Great Sanguine Demon, do you know why you''re inferior to me?"


    Fang Yuan gave a carefree laugh. "It''s necessary to conform with the world''s rules every time you arrive at a world. The rules of this world is the Martial Dao, which requires pushing forward bravely and fiercely. The Divine Armaments and Demonic Armaments are the main themes. How could I refrain from going to a gathering with so many Divine and Demonic Armament owners?


    "The Divine Demon realm of martial artists¡­ it''s a good opportunity for a breakthrough!"


    Amid loud laughter, the youth leaped and instantly covered ten meters like a flickering shadow wielding a saber.


    ¡­


    Dragon Horse Plain.


    On a vast plain north of the Pugilistic Divine Continent''s central region, the heavens and the earth were dark and pale. As winds blew, cattle and sheep emerged.


    It was late at night. Millions of stars were hanging in the sky, metamorphosing into a magnificent galaxy.


    Sturdy grass withstood the strong winds, and sleeves fluttered in the breeze.


    A group of people from the Pugilistic World were currently unleashing their lightness skills and hurrying on their journey amid this beautiful scenery.


    Each of them had a grave demeanor and appeared composed. With one look, it could be seen that they were great experts.


    As they unleashed their lightness skills, they seemed to rapidly fly across the land and dance across the grass.


    The person at the front was wearing a flowing, white robe. He had a handsome appearance and a cold look in his eyes. It was the building master of the Golden Breeze Drizzle Building, Chen Qiyou!


    After obtaining Divine Doctor Sacred Hands'' assistance, his eyes had changed into ones that released glimmers of life, but they occasionally revealed a trace of sadness.


    Beside him, a middle-aged scholar asked, "So? Have you found the location of the Heaven Deity Palace?"


    This person had a sanctimonious look and was named Kong Fanxing. He was the wielder of the Righteousness Ruler for the Kong family this generation.


    Originally, he wanted to pursue the Blood Imbibing Saber owner, Sanguine Demon Nangong Wuwang, but after the defeat of Chen Qiyou, he immediately lied low and returned to the Kong family.


    If not for the Heaven Deity Palace appearing, he would not have come out.


    At this moment, he was looking at Chen Qiyou''s eyes with slight judgment and ridicule.


    In terms of reputation, Chen Qiyou was the Building Master of the Golden Breeze Drizzle Building and had even wielded the Heaven Earth Man Providence Mirror, the fifth Divine Armament, being superior to him by a notch.


    But now¡­


    "Why are you so worried? The Heaven Deity Palace is connected with the stars and the earth veins¡­ It''s said that this is the place where the Celestial Thearch Sword was born. How could it not be easily found?" Chen Qiyou said indifferently. Even without the Heaven Earth Man Providence Mirror, he seemed to be able to see through Kong Fanxing''s inner thoughts.


    Why should I fear him? Kong Fanxing turned cold and soon felt somewhat humiliated. The Heaven Earth Man Providence Mirror was stolen, and he''s merely an ordinary Heavenly Phenomenon now¡­ Most importantly, this person is ruthless, and this pair of eyes was reportedly obtained from one of his direct descendants.


    Of course, he was not foolish enough to reveal someone''s shortcomings.


    After all, the Kong family was not any better when it came to their history. The pot should not call the kettle black.


    "Enough. Build Master Chen''s Wind-and-Water Geomancy Technique is already the best among us, and only Ghosteye can match up to it. We should not have internal strife even before encountering the Demon Dao people."


    One of the people in this group spoke up first.


    He was two-and-a-half meters tall and had an imposing physique. He carried a huge saber that was as tall as a person on his back and seemed to be the leader.


    His words were like a large bell, causing others to subconsciously respect him.


    His name was Ba Dao, and he was an inborn hegemon. He was indistinctly the leading person of the Orthodox Dao and wielded the Divine Armament¡ªSpring Autumn Dragon Saber!


    Spring Autumn Dragon Saber!


    This saber was the third Divine Armament, only inferior to the lost Celestial Thearch Sword and the second Coiled Dragon Silk.


    The Coiled Dragon Silk was the sect treasure of the Fairy Sect. Its criteria for accepting an owner was extremely strict, and its wielder had not yet appeared.


    Thus, the Spring Autumn Dragon Saber was something that could suppress the destiny of the Pugilistic World''s Orthodox Dao!


    Chen Qiyou gazed at the celestial bodies, calculated with his fingers, and said indifferently, "If my observations are correct, we can reach where the Heaven Deity Palace opens if we head east fifty kilometers!"


    "Great!" Ba Dao nodded with slight passion in his eyes. "I heard that when Sky Fiend Dao Master left seclusion this time, he had already successfully suppressed the Sky Fiend Claw and put this Demonic Armament to use for himself! I wonder how many of my blows this claw and the Evil God Armor can withstand?"


    The Sky Fiend Claw was second among the Demonic Armaments, only inferior to the Seven Slaughter Tiger Soul Saber, and where the foundations of the entire Demon Sect lied.


    It could be said that without the Sky Fiend Claw, there would not be a Six Dao Demon Sect. It was equivalent to the imperial seal of a country.


    If a Sky Fiend Dao Master holding the Sky Fiend Claw were to be defeated, that signified the complete defeat of the Demon Sect.


    "This¡­"


    Chen Qiyou could not speak after a long time.


    If it was before, he would advise Ba Dao to try to refrain from fighting alone.


    However, after being defeated by Nangong Wuwang, he had lost a little confidence but also saw something far more profound.Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting.


    Divine Armaments and Demonic Armaments were not everything!


    Otherwise, how could someone like him with the fifth Divine Armament be defeated by the tenth Demonic Armament?


    In fact, when speaking about armaments, the Celestial Thearch Sword is superior to all the Divine Armaments and Demonic Armaments, while the Seven Slaughter Tiger Soul Saber surpasses the Coiled Dragon Silk. A Fairy Sect predecessor became the owner of that Divine Armament and fought with the former master of the Demon Sect. She had slightly obtained the upper hand, so the Coiled Dragon Silk surpasses the Sky Fiend Claw¡­ Going down layer by layer, the Divine Armaments are slightly better. Thus, the Orthodox Dao has the upper hand in the Pugilistic World! However, it''s different nowadays¡­


    No matter how much Chen Qiyou thought, he could not understand. Nangong Wuwang was a greenhorn and looked as if he was not even twenty years old. His Blood Imbibing Saber was only the tenth Demonic Armament, so how could he emerge victorious over him? This was entirely incompatible with the previous Pugilistic World concepts.


    Therefore, although he knew that Ba Dao would suffer a slight disadvantage in weapons if he were to fight Sky Fiend Dao Master, he was still unable to determine the outcome.


    However, losing the Divine Armament may not necessarily have been entirely misfortune¡­


    Chen Qiyou looked at his hands as an intense power flowed secretly, similar to a crouching dragon in an abyss.


    Although he had lost his Divine Armament, he did not lose his previous observations and experiences.


    According to the Qi movements of many profound techniques that he saw before, he separated the wheat from the chaff and already improved his cultivation technique, naming it ''Myriad Symbols Mystic Technique''. This technique had countless changes and could even mimic almost all martial arts under the heavens! This could completely be classified as heaven-grade.


    It could be said that Divine Armament owners such as him each overflowed with innate talent and was an unparalleled prodigy. Even without a Divine Armament, they could still produce impressive achievements.


    "If I had ten years of tireless cultivation, I could definitely take my revenge on Nangong Wuwang¡­ This time''s Heaven Deity Palace is my best chance!"


    There were Four Mutated Beasts inside the Heaven Deity Palace, and their blood could be refined into pills that lengthened lifespan. This was naturally true.


    However, this palace contained profound theories on creation and grew many exotic flowers and fruits. Consuming one bunch could increase decades'' worth of cultivation power.


    Otherwise, Chen Qiyou''s lifespan was still long, and he might not have paid much attention to this.


    Although fifty kilometers was long, a martial artist could conquer it in a day.


    Not long later, they arrived at the place Chen Qiyou had talked about.


    Chen Qiyou calculated with his fingers and said confidently, "Hmm, the heavenly stars descend and the earth veins converge. This must be where the Heaven Deity Palace opens!"


    "When will the Heaven Deity Palace open?" Kong Fanxing immediately asked.


    "When the moon sets in the wee hours of the morning; when the seven stars string like pearls!"


    There were always such descriptions in books, and Chen Qiyou would naturally not conceal anything intentionally.


    "All right!"


    Ba Dao directly sat cross-legged, closed his eyes, and waited.


    The group also composed themselves and quietly waited for the impending huge battle.


    After some time, daybreak broke.


    The bright moon gradually set, sinking into the horizon.


    Numerous stars beside it lit up brightly and formed a line.


    Bright starlight descended and seemed to connect with the earth veins.


    When the moon sets in the wee hours of the morning; when the seven stars string like pearls!


    Amid the glorious starlight, the earth quaked and the mountains shook.


    The earth split and revealed a massive black hole.


    "Heaven Deity Palace¡­ finally opened!"


    Kong Fanxing was ecstatic and wanted to enter the hole, but he was stopped by Chen Qiyou. "How can we lose our manners before the Demon Sect?"


    "Haha!" Just as he finished speaking, an unpleasant laughter rang out. "Chen Qiyou, even though you''ve lost the Heaven Earth Man Providence Mirror, your eyes are as sinister as before."


    Three figures walked forward leisurely with Sky Fiend Dao Master leading them.


    Behind him were two of his subordinates, one young and one old. The elder''s eyes were aggressive, and one eye had been dug out and replaced by a golden eye.


    The other was a woman with the appearance of a young lady in the flower of her youth.


    "Sky Fiend Dao Master! Ghosteye! And Lady Temptress!" Kong Fanxing said fearfully.


    Without mentioning Sky Fiend Dao Master, Ghosteye and Lady Temptress were experts of the Demon Sect.


    Among them, the Demonic Armament in Ghosteye''s right eye was called the Kuiniu Eye. It was rumored to be made from the eyeball of the ancient Mutated Beast, Kuiniu. Other than being able to see all directions, it could cause others to become spellbound and mentally disordered.


    Lady Temptress was the Dao Master of the Mystic Lady Dao and wielded the fourth Demonic Armament, Mystic Yin Maiden Gonfalon, and together with the Heavenly Yin God Slaughtering Divine Technique, she had few enemies and stably held the second position in the Demon Sect.


    It was rumored that the previous generation Mystic Lady Dao Master had charmed everyone under the heavens. She had seduced many Pugilistic World elders and famous young heroes, and only the sect master of the Fairy Sect had been able to defeat her. She was notorious.


    "Sky Fiend Dao Master!!!" Ba Dao stood up and the Spring Autumn Dragon Saber behind him roared, as if there was a true huge dragon coiled up. "When I heard you left seclusion, I was excited because I finally found an opponent suitable for me to test the Dragon Saber. I hope you won''t disappoint me!" A Kuiniu is a polysemous figure in ancient Chinese mythology

 799 Revolving Turtle

    "When the moon sets in the wee hours of the morning, when the seven stars string like beads, when the earth veins converge, the Heaven Deity Palace opens¡­"


    On the Dragon Horse Plain, Fang Yuan carried the Blood Imbibing Saber and raised his head to see starlight descending.


    "It''s there. Hopefully, I''m not late!"


    He moved rapidly to the entrance of the Heaven Deity Palace and looked at that huge pitch-black hole, not saying a word.


    "So aggressive, so demonic!"


    When Heavenly Eye Seer Spell was unleashed, many traces resembling Dao Marks immediately appeared in the void, causing him to know that there was a peerless saber wielder battling an exceptional demon here earlier.


    "Aggressive? Saber Qi? Was it Ba Dao? And the only person who could fight against him is Sky Fiend Dao Master, right?


    "Looking at the traces, the two of them should have directly fought into the Heaven Deity Palace? Furthermore¡­ there are many experts around!"


    Fang Yuan looked at the huge hole in the ground and muttered, "The Heaven Deity Palace only opens for six hours each time. If they don''t exit before this, they''ll be immediately trapped within the earth veins. Outsiders are unable to comprehend its profundity. Anyway, there''s nobody that can escape from this place alive after twenty years.


    "Good and evil are inseparable? Isn''t it bad to keep on fighting? Why not directly cooperate to investigate the treasures¡­"


    Fang Yuan shook his head and walked into the hole.


    Of course, he did not know that even Sky Fiend Dao Master was not that insane. However, he had no choice if he encountered Ba Dao.


    The passage was very long. He used his lightness skill, and after the time it takes an incense stick to burn, he finally reached the end.


    At Fang Yuan''s stage, his eyesight was outstanding and could see anything in the darkness. At the end of the pitch-black channel, a bright light suddenly appeared along with a gushing sound.


    Water? Fang Yuan thought, going directly to the end.


    What entered his sight was a huge pool.


    No, it could no longer be described as a pool, but as a huge underground lake!


    Many shimmering gems resembling diamonds were mounted on the rock face with an unknown height and released a brilliance similar to stars.


    With such brilliance, Fang Yuan could clearly see the buildings located at the center of the lake.


    "Underground cave? A half-plane similar to a heavenly abode wonderland?"


    Fang Yuan was somewhat doubtful, sensing that the massive spiritual aura in the lake was seemingly connected with a few undercurrents with unfathomable depths.


    Pa! Pa!


    He leaped out from the tunnel and stood steadily on the lake.


    Ripples spread beneath his shoes, yet even the soles of his shoes were not wet, revealing a cultivation with horrifying inner strength control.


    "Although there are many spiritual beings here, the Four Mutated Beast who can truly form medicine are certainly within that palace!"


    Beneath Fang Yuan''s feet, ripples suddenly spread as he rapidly flew toward the palace.


    Wa! Wa!


    A sound resembling an infant''s cry rang out. In the water beneath his feet, tens of shadows converged. They looked just like huge tadpoles with limbs growing out of them. Their mouths were huge and revealed sharp, snow-white teeth.


    "Giant salamanders?!"


    With a light tap of his foot, an arrow of water condensed and pierced into one of the shadows.


    Wa! Wa!


    The infant''s cry suddenly became piercing, and the unfortunate giant salamander was directly penetrated. It rolled over and floated up to the water surface, revealing spots of blood containing traces of golden blood on its stomach.


    "Golden Silk Blood Salamanders are rumored to be treasures of the heavens and the earth. If an ordinary person were to eat them, they would strengthen their muscles and bones and vitalize their Qi and blood. If a martial artist eats them periodically, their martial arts will definitely improve by leaps and bounds. Even those martial artists from the holy grounds wouldn''t achieve such extravagant results!"


    Blood spread and a stench diffused.


    The remaining tens of Golden Silk Blood Salamanders were not frightened away but instead became more insane. They leaped out of the water, opened their mouths full of sharp teeth, and bit at Fang Yuan.


    "Hmph!"


    Fang Yuan snorted coldly and casually waved his Blood Imbibing Saber.


    Zap!


    Saber light flickered, cutting many Golden Silk Blood Salamanders into two. Vast quantities of blood splattered in all four directions, which were then devoured by the purplish-red veins on the Blood Imbibing Saber.


    The glow on the Blood Imbibing Saber was even stronger, and the immensely agitated voice of the Sanguine Demon rang out. Haha¡­ These Golden Silk Blood Salamanders can truly replenish a lot. When I devour one, it''s equivalent to absorbing the essence blood of more than ten martial artists¡­. Nangong Wuwang, please continue!


    "If they don''t disturb me, why would I disturb them?"


    Fang Yuan shook his head and directly walked toward the palace.


    The remaining giant salamanders dispersed noisily and did not dare to glance back.


    Bloop! Bloop!


    At this moment, many air bubbles appeared from underwater.


    A large, circular shadow appeared from the bottom of the water. It became larger and larger, turning into a millstone, a house, and then a small mountain shortly after!


    Splash!


    Finally, the shadow completely emerged from the water and revealed its true appearance.


    It was a huge black turtle with algae and moss on its back, and it looked like a small mountain! Its size was such that thousands of Fang Yuans could not be compared to it, and each of its roars was like earth-shattering thunder.


    Moo! Moo!


    Two eyes that looked like water tanks peeped out from dark cavities, and it released a loud roar that resembled a dragon as well as an elephant.


    Whoosh whoosh!


    Fierce winds blew and waves swept in all directions, as if a windstorm and a tornado were about to arrive simultaneously.


    "This is¡­ the Revolving Turtle?!"


    Fang Yuan moved forward instead of retreating, directly flying onto the back of this mystical turtle. "Is this turtle one of the Four Mutated Beasts of the Heaven Deity Palace? If so, getting its blood is going to be somewhat difficult!"


    The defenses of the Revolving Turtle were naturally immensely horrifying. Not to mention, with its size, even if he plunged the entire Blood Imbibing Saber into it, it was unlikely to penetrate its shell.


    Furthermore, wanting to refine the blood of a Mutated Beast into a pill that could lengthen lifespan had to use its essence blood. Normal fresh blood would not work! This increased the difficulty by another level!


    Smack!


    Fang Yuan''s feet landed steadily, as if he had arrived on a small island that could rapidly move about.


    Chi! Chi!


    Among the stones and mountains on the turtle''s back, many roars sounded. They were from the ferocious beasts residing on the mystical turtle''s back, and they launched an aggressive attack at Fang Yuan.


    Among them, there were creatures like water rats and flying fishes with wings. There were bizarre oddities of every description.


    "Omnidirectional Bloodlust!"


    Fang Yuan waved his Blood Imbibing Saber. After this saber had devoured two fragments, its sharpness had increased by another level. With a slight flick, blood waves shot into the sky and innumerable ferocious beasts were dismembered within the torrents of saber light. Furthermore, an astral saber directly split open soil and stone, revealing the actual lines on the Revolving Turtle''s shell.


    Moo! Moo!


    Just as the Saber Qi was about to land on its body, the Revolving Turtle roared and started revolving before entering into the water.


    Bloop! Bloop!


    A horrifying power instantly threw Fang Yuan off into the water.


    In the midst of darkness, he suddenly noticed that pair of horrifying eyes. An undercurrent gathered in front of him just like a python opening its mouth and devouring him in one mouthful.


    ¡­


    Rumble!


    After an unknown period of time, the Revolving Turtle suddenly became insane, endlessly tumbling about on the water surface and wandering in all directions. Suddenly, it crashed into the palace at the center of the lake.


    Although it was called a palace, there were also thousands of buildings that formed a vast area on the island in the lake''s center.


    Amid the vigorous vibrations, the Revolving Turtle crawled onto land and roared at the sky, its sound shaking all directions. Even an outsider was able to sense the intensely painful emotions as it finally collapsed.


    Poof!


    A blood-red astral saber appeared from inside the Revolving Turtle as a flesh passage was forcefully opened.


    A torrent of blood escaped from the passage, and a faint human silhouette appeared from within.


    "Sanguine Demon, have you eaten your full?"


    Fang Yuan waved his saber, and the blood light around him immediately dispersed.


    With this layer of blood light as a defense, even his clothes were not corroded in the least.


    Keke¡­ Really not bad! The ecstatic voice of the Sanguine Demon sounded from the Blood Imbibing Saber. In the end, this Revolving Turtle was merely a beast and dared to swallow anything. It was really unfortunate this time!


    Originally, with the horrifying physique and digestive abilities of this Revolving Turtle, even a Heavenly Phenomenon who entered its stomach might not be able to do anything.Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting.


    However, it was different for Fang Yuan, who wielded the Blood Imbibing Saber.


    Directly from inside the turtle, he fought using blood and caused a huge ruckus before finally forcefully breaking out and taking this giant beast''s life.


    At this moment, the Blood Imbibing Saber was completely blood-red, and its glow was incomparable enticing. It looked stuffed. "¡­ This time, the nourishment was equivalent to the blood sacrifice of ten thousand people."


    "I''m not sure if this Revolving Turtle was one of the Four Mutated Beasts. If it truly was, it really wasn''t worth it for its blood to be swallowed by you!"


    Fang Yuan''s eyes gleamed.


    "Don''t worry. At worst, I can purify out some of the essence blood later. When it comes to the Dao of Flesh and Blood, there is no existence that surpasses me in this world!" The Sanguine Demon''s Essence Soul was coldly arrogant. "Furthermore, this Revolving Turtle''s blood may truly be able to lengthen lifespan. I can sense a pulsating life aura within it!"


    "If what you said is true, isn''t it sufficient to refine lifespan lengthening pills for tens of people?"


    Fang Yuan was somewhat flabbergasted. "Isn''t it said that getting the blood is¡­ very difficult?"


    "That depends on who''s doing it. With your abilities, you may not necessarily be defeated even if you encounter the foremost experts of the Orthodox Dao and the Demon Dao¡­ In addition, this Revolving Turtle didn''t know any better and directly swallowed you! Of course, the most important thing is still fate!"


    The Sanguine Demon said, "Some martial artists did not encounter any Mutated Beasts even though they were in the Heaven Deity Palace for a while. However, this turtle voluntarily came to trouble you once you landed. If not for fate, what is it?"


    Of course, when a good opportunity came, one had to grab it.


    If it were an ordinary person, it would have been a catastrophe.


    Even if there were other Heavenly Phenomenon martial artists, they might not have been able to defeat this Revolving Turtle, much less obtain its blood.


    "Hmm?"


    At this moment, Fang Yuan raised his head and saw two silhouettes rapidly approaching.


    "It''s actually the Mutated Beast Revolving Turtle!" A middle-aged scholar saw this giant turtle, and a look of wild joy appeared. "The blood of the Revolving Turtle is the most ample. Without purifying, it''s very difficult for it to be used in medicine that lengthens lifespan, but it isn''t too problematic to greatly enhance cultivation power! Coming across this can be considered my fate!"


    Beside him, another person with a white robe and unrestrained demeanor looked around with a pair of lively eyes that strangely had a look of sadness as well.


    When he saw Fang Yuan, a gleam suddenly erupted in his pupils.


    "Nangong Wuwang!" Chen Qiyou shouted hatefully. This resentment could not be washed away even with all the waters in the Five Lakes and Four Oceans.


    "What, this person is Nangong Wuwang?"


    Kong Fanxing was astonished, and a ruler appearing to be made of jade appeared in his hands.


    "Righteousness Ruler? You''re from the Kong family?"


    Fang Yuan looked at these two with a playful look on his face.

 800 One Against Two

    "Chen Qiyou, I really traveled far and wide to look for you, only to find you easily!"


    Seeing the two martial artists, Fang Yuan suddenly revealed a sincere smile.


    The Heaven Earth Man Providence Mirror did not have any secret martial arts and was unable to be completely refined. This was a worry in the end. He did not know the whereabouts of the Golden Breeze Drizzle Building Headquarters, or else he would have long charged to their doors.


    To meet Chen Qiyou here was definitely a happy accident.


    "Not bad! Really not bad!" Chen Qiyou''s expression changed drastically at first, but he promptly calmed down and said with his slightly ferocious face, "There was a path to heaven, but you chose not to walk there. There was no door in hell, but you chose to come here instead!"


    In a one versus one fight, he was definitely not Nangong Wuwang''s opponent, but with Kong Fanxing here, it was different!


    Not to mention, they were at the Revolving Turtle Bumping Mountain. Its influence was world-shocking and would quickly attract others.


    As long as a few other Orthodox Dao experts arrived, they would certainly be able to defeat this Blood Imbibing Saber owner! Even if he wanted to run, he would not be able to escape!


    Fang Yuan stood with his hands behind the back, not showing any sense of urgency. Instead, he asked an unrelated question, "Before arriving, I saw that Saber Qi and Demonic Qi had wreaked havoc. Ba Dao, the owner of the Spring Autumn Dragon Saber, the third Divine Armament, had come and also fought against the Demon Sect''s Sky Friend Dao Master?"


    "Correct. But this time, seven from the Orthodox Dao came, while there are only three from the Demon Dao. Even Sky Fiend Dao Master is only well-matched to Ba Dao. You don''t have to hope for reinforcements from the Demon Sect!"


    Chen Qiyou laughed coldly.


    "Reinforcements? Are you¡­ still thinking that I''m from the Demon Sect?"


    Fang Yuan did not know whether to laugh or cry, but quickly waved his hand. "Forget it¡­ As long as you hand over the heaven-grade cultivation technique for the Heaven Earth Man Providence Mirror, as well as all the secrets related to this mirror, I''ll let you off once. How about it?"


    "Dream on!"


    Chen Qiyou''s expression changed immediately, and beside him, even Kong Fanxing was enraged.


    This Fang Yuan was being too arrogant.


    "Hehe¡­ The previous generation''s Blood Imbibing Saber owner was defeated by the Righteousness Ruler, and I want to see how good you are as the new owner."


    Kong Fanxing''s Qi flowed strong with vast righteousness.


    This was the Kong family technique passed down from generation to generation, the heaven-grade technique¡ªRighteousness Formulation!


    In fact, Kong Fanxing knew that he was probably not an opponent for this outstanding Demon Dao cultivator, but with Chen Qiyou bringing up the rear, the situation was instantly different.


    Furthermore, even if the both of them were unable to fight against him after working together, they would still be able to escape. Thus, they were not hesitant at all.


    "In the world there is the spirit of righteousness, taking many forms, bestowed on the ever-changing things. Below they are the rivers and mountains; above they are the sun and stars¡­"


    He sang the Song of the Spirit of Righteousness, and a halo exploded out from the Righteousness Ruler and flew vertically up into the sky.


    Chi! Chi!


    The blood-colored astral saber immediately retreated, as if it had met its natural enemy when it came into contact with that white brilliance.


    Shameful! Nangong, slaughter him! Slaughter him! shouted the Sanguine Demon''s Essence Soul from within the Blood Imbibing Saber. This righteousness merely has mutual promotion and restraint with my Sanguine Demon power. How can a single spark burn the rivers and lakes? If not for the weak saber owner previously, how could the Righteousness Ruler have defeated me?


    The Kong family''s Armament Wielder had defeated the previous Blood Imbibing Saber owner, and the Sanguine Demon had always been embarrassed by this. Thus, it bellowed, wanting to seek revenge.


    Whoo! Whoo!


    The purplish-red veins on the Blood Imbibing Saber moved and made sounds like a howling ghost.


    The blood-colored astral saber increased its intensity tenfold all of a sudden, its scarlet color causing others to feel disgusted.


    Poof!


    The brilliance rose sharply and instantly chopped the righteousness into ruins. Kong Fanxing hastily drew back. The Song of the Spirit of Righteousness was stifled in his mouth, and he was unable to sing it.


    "Have a taste of my saber!"


    Fang Yuan closed in and slashed a subtle arc, as if he had done so a thousand times before.


    Dang!!!


    Kong Fanxing raised his ruler to block. The two armaments finally exchanged blows again after so many years.


    This time, however, the Righteousness Ruler wailed, causing Kong Fanxing''s expression to change drastically as he quickly retreated.


    "This Blood Imbibing Saber¡­ something''s wrong!"


    He raised the Righteousness Ruler and shockingly found an ant-sized nick on it. Not only that, multiple blood-colored veins were continuously spreading on it like a poison.


    "This power belongs to the top five Demonic Armaments already!"


    His inherited Divine Armament falling into this state caused Kong Fanxing to instantly feel appalled and heartbroken.


    However, the Righteousness Ruler had a mysterious characteristic. Even if it was completely destroyed, as long as there was a fragment, it could eventually recover to its original state. This was called ''Everlasting Righteousness'', a secret technique that was circulated from the Ancient Armament Manual, but it would take numerous, persistent years to repair that ant-sized nick!


    Thinking about this lost, and the interrogation he would have to face when he returned, his face turned a little green, even though the Kong family sought importance in being ''expressionless even if Mount Tai collapsed in front of them''.


    "Impossible!"


    Chen Qiyou had a shocked expression.


    Nangong Wuwang had grown a few times stronger since their battle?


    Not only the person, but even the Blood Imbibing Saber had grown.


    Could the saber actually hold some secret? Otherwise, how could the mere tenth Demonic Armament be my opponent?


    The suspicions in Chen Qiyou''s heart grew, but at the moment, he could only attack. "Myriad Symbols Mystic Technique!"


    His palm struck out, and True Qi transformed, unexpectedly having a hint of righteousness in it. It struck the center of the astral saber and broke it.


    "Brother Kong, I''ll help you. The reinforcements will be arriving soon!"


    As he attacked, Chen Qiyou also looked up at the sky and whistled, surprisingly sending a signal for help. At the same time, this also strengthened Kong Fanxing''s confidence.


    After the long whistle, multiple replies immediately sounded back. It was clear that there were experts that sensed this area and were nearing quickly.


    "Myriad Symbols Mystic Technique?!"


    Fang Yuan''s glistened and charged forward instead of moving backward. He launched himself at the center of the two Heavenly Phenomenon.


    "This person has gone crazy¡­ Stop him. We''ll kill him here today!"


    Chen Qiyou and Kong Fanxing looked at each other, both determined.


    "World-shaking Righteousness!"


    "Myriad Symbols Impermanence Palm!"Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting.


    The two of them attacked concurrently, their power earthshaking and menacing.


    However, a brilliance flashed through Fang Yuan''s eyes. The Blood Imbibing Saber lightly poked, and at the same time, his left palm stretched out. It was his power against the two enemies.


    Poof!


    Like a hot knife through butter, the Blood Imbibing Saber''s edge was invincible. The righteousness wave disintegrated, and Kong Fanxing''s wrist shook, the Righteousness Ruler almost flying out of his hands.


    Chen Qiyou''s expression changed, as if he had seen a ghost.


    In his perception, his opponent''s palm force was like a small fish that could swim away freely. With just a few blows, Fang Yuan utterly crushed his Myriad Symbols Impermanence Palm.


    "Impossible¡­ My Myriad Symbols Mystic Technique combined 999 types of martial inner force. It can change constantly and has impermanence, so how could you immediately see through its weakness?"


    It was incomprehensible to him.


    Even if it was him, and he still had the Heaven Earth Man Providence Mirror, he would not be able to achieve this easily. Not to mention, this was under the situation of going up against two Heavenly Phenomenon martial artists!


    Unfortunately, Fang Yuan did not give him a chance.


    The Heavenly Eye Seer Spell was formed by the stats window and the Heaven Earth Man Providence Mirror. Its power was naturally greater.


    His left palm moved slightly, and the palm force had already broken through multiple blocks to press on Chen Qiyou''s chest.


    Crack!


    The Golden Breeze Drizzle Building Master''s face warped as his chest made a terrifying, bone-cracking sound. Blood flowed from his nose and mouth as he flew back, his blood spraying all the way into the vast sky.


    Compared to before, when he still needed a lengthy battle, this last blow where he went all out made Fang Yuan feel free. With his least amount of power, he was able to defeat a former great enemy.


    "So it''s like this¡­ I understand!"


    Moreover, Chen Qiyou''s Myriad Symbols Mystic Technique had already been completely exposed to him, and he had even learned it. "The Heaven Earth Man Providence Mirror has no heaven-grade technique accompanying it at all. Rather¡­ the cultivation technique is only a half-completed product. It needs the Divine Armament wielder to study all martial arts and fuse them together to form a unique heaven-grade technique that only belongs to them!"


    The Heaven Earth Man Providence Mirror had the ability to look at the flow of Qi.


    As such, with the endless battles between martial artists, the owner would definitely be able to learn from others to obtain more and more cultivation techniques.


    This was obviously how Chen Qiyou''s Myriad Symbols Mystic Technique came about.


    Fang Yuan had directly taken his Myriad Symbols Mystic Technique and snatched away his years of accumulation. This could absolutely cause him to be depressed enough to vomit blood.


    "Myriad Symbols Impermanence, Blood Imbibing Slash!"


    Within a moment''s time, Fang Yuan had digested the Myriad Symbols Mystic Technique and struck again. The saber constantly changed and was unpredictable.


    Kong Fanxing retreated again and again, revealing an extremely horrified look. He shouted once and turned around to flee!


    As a Heavenly Phenomenon, the wielder of a Divine Armament, and with the honor of the Kong family, this person still escaped without any hesitation!


    This type of resolution made even Fang Yuan astonished, but he laughed coldly shortly after. "If you can run away today, I will respect you!"


    With this intention, he moved forward like an illusion, and the Blood Imbibing Saber slashed continuously.


    "Stop!"


    At this time, a few loud voices traveled over from afar.


    They were a few Orthodox Dao experts who had heard Chen Qiyou''s whistle earlier and rushed over at lightning speed.


    But Fang Yuan had defeated Chen Qiyou and Kong Fanxing too quickly, so quick that it was unbelievable. They were defeated just from a few blows.


    Otherwise, the situation would have quickly changed if they had lasted until their reinforcements arrived.


    "Dream on!"


    Of course, Fang Yuan would not listen and give up. His Blood Imbibing Saber''s blood brilliance released and suddenly chopped!


    Kong Fanxing''s form turned sluggish, and the saber brilliance swept away the Righteousness Ruler. It then pierced through his body and appeared out his back.


    "No¡­ Impossible!" he mumbled to himself. In an instant, his entire body broke down as his blood was swallowed until nothing was left.


    This saber was like a Demon God''s claw devouring all the fresh blood!


    "Righteousness Ruler? Haha!"


    Fang Yuan reached out, and with a move, the straight, white jade ruler landed in his palm. He casually tossed it and the Blood Imbibing Saber slashed.


    Ding!


    With the crisp sound, the Orthodox Dao''s seventh Divine Armament was instantly broken into two, its glow dissipating into nothing.


    Haha¡­ The long-standing humiliation is finally resolved today!


    The Sanguine Demon''s Essence Soul laughed loudly, feeling extremely delighted.


    The expressions of the Orthodox Dao experts who had rushed over were unsightly.


    Within a moment''s time, Fang Yuan had defeated Chen Qiyou and Kong Fanxing. Furthermore, one of them had died together with his weapon. This was simply a resounding slap across their faces.


    Chen Qiyou''s gaze was filled with hope as he shouted loudly, "Be careful, this person is the Blood Imbibing Saber owner, Sanguine Demon Nangong Wuwang! He''s also refined the Heaven Earth Man Providence Mirror!"

 801 Demon Dragon

    "Blood Imbibing Saber? Sanguine Demon Nangong Wuwang?"


    The three martial artists coming forward each had a solemn presence and a Divine Armament!


    Three Divine Armament owners!


    This kind of strength was already enough to run wild on the Divine Continent!


    After all, even though Fang Yang had been one against two, Chen Qiyou had already lost his Divine Armament. Strictly speaking, the current situation was slightly worse than the previous situation.


    Now, genuine Divine Armament owners had gathered, nothing like before!


    "White Tiger Pole, Dragon Engraving Bow, and Black Tortoise Shield?" Fang Yuan sneered. "You guys? If it were Ba Dao and the owner of the fourth Divine Armament arriving together, I might need to escape¡­ But you guys¡­"


    These three Divine Armaments were ranked as eighth, ninth, and tenth, and could be called the lowest of the lowest.


    Of course, even if the tenth-ranked Black Tortoise Shield was placed in the Pugilistic World, it would still attract the carnage of war. Who knew how many martial artists would fight to the death to obtain it.


    "Hehe¡­ Youngster, you''re too confident!"


    The one holding the White Tiger Pole was a senile woman. Her body was stooped and she would have to cough every couple of steps, seemingly like she would fall over if the wind blew.


    However, the next moment, she was standing in front of Fang Yuan. She brandished her pole up high and smacked it down right at his face!


    Roar! Roar!


    The air vibrated like there really was a roaring white tiger pouncing.


    Chi! Chi!


    Fang Yuan raised his saber horizontally to block the blow, and blood splattered into the sky.


    The white tiger''s tremendous power arrived, forcing him to retreat multiple steps. He looked at the other two Divine Armament owner as his brows frowned even more.


    Although the physical strength of White Tiger Crone was shocking due to her magical strength, it did not give him a dangerous feeling.


    What he really felt dangerous were the other two Divine Armament owners.


    The Dragon Engraving Bow owner had already raised his bow with an arrow in place and aimed at Fang Yuan. The Black Tortoise Shield owner was a two-and-a-half meter tall man with a high-spirited and strong build. He raised his shield securely to protect the Dragon Engraving Bow owner. Both of their Qi movements were incomparable harmonious and well-coordinated. This made Fang Yuan realize that even if it was him, it was impossible for him to break away from White Tiger Crone and Black Tortoise Shield owner within a short amount of time.


    Furthermore, the readied Dragon Engraving Bow brought the most terrifying threat!


    "God Killing White Tiger Style!"


    Suddenly, White Tiger Crone waved her long pole just like a golden monkey lifting his cudgel with all his might to stir the wind and clouds, as well as sweep the mountains and rivers.


    Fang Yuan moved backward and arrived in front of the immobile Chen Qiyou. He directly kicked and ended this unlucky person''s life.


    "What audacity!"


    The three Divine Armament owners were enraged witnessing this. The Dragon Engraving Bow owner no longer hesitated and released his arrow.


    Screech!


    It was like thunder coming from the sky!


    On gallant steed, / Running full speed, / We''d shoot with twangingfor visiting.


    However, to be able to make Lady Temptress fear him, he would inevitably have a uniqueness.


    "Letting off these three is not impossible, but there''s a condition!" Fang Yuan looked at Tang Shushu. "I want to know the power of the fourth Divine Armament."


    This guy is a martial lunatic!


    Lady Temptress and Ghosteye looked at each other. Seeing Fang Yuan''s craziness, fear lingered in both their hearts.


    A person like this made them think of Ba Dao.


    That person was also the same. Aside from martial arts, nothing else would spark passion in him. This was why he still fought against Sky Fiend Dao Master when it was time for the Heaven Deity Palace to open.


    At the moment, no one knew where those two had fought to.


    "Since Brother Nangong is so kind¡­" Tang Shushu laughed harmlessly and slowly opened his fan.


    Rumble!


    Suddenly, a strong earthquake arrived from the center of the palace.


    Indistinctly, there was also an enormous dragon''s roar.


    The Saber Qi was imposing as demonic light soared skyward.


    "This is¡­" Ghosteye''s expression greatly changed. "The center of the Heaven Deity Palace, the head of Mutated Beasts, the Demon Dragon? Damn it¡­ Who alarmed it!"


    Among the Four Great Mutated Beasts, there were weak ones and strong ones.


    Without a doubt, once the Demon Dragon guarding the Heaven Deity Palace woke, it would be an absolute disaster for any entrants.


    "Only Ba Dao and Sky Fiend Dao Master would be able to alarm the Demon Dragon¡­" Lady Temptress took a deep breath, her beautiful eyes emitting a glow. "However, this crisis is also an opportunity¡­ If someone can obtain the Demon Dragon''s blood, even if it''s only one drop, they''ll be able to extend their life by thirty-three years!"


    The function of the Four Great Mutated Beasts'' blood also varied.


    For example, without purifying out the Revolving Turtle''s blood essence, its normal blood would only be able to enhance cultivation power.


    Even if it was refined into life-extending pills, it would at most extend life for eight to ten years. Too much could not be taken, or else the body would inevitably grow immune to it. In the end, there would no longer be an effect.


    However, the blood of the Demon Dragon had the best effect.


    "In legends, even if its blood dripped onto the ground, a Dragon Blood Bodhi would grow out of it. Eating one would be able to increase cultivation power by ten years!"


    Without a word, White Tiger Crone lowered her White Tiger Pole and suddenly flew toward the center of the palace.


    She had already reached a certain age, so of course she would be more diligent when hearing about the possibility of extending her life.


    "The center of the palace¡ªSky Fiend Dao Master and Ba Dao?"


    Fang Yuan also had some yearning in his heart. He looked toward Tang Shushu and said, "We might as well postpone our battle¡­"A phrase from the Chinese poem, "Dance of the Cavalry."

 802 Collaboration

    The Heaven Deity Palace had the rough appearance of an ancient landscape.


    Most of the giant palaces had cracked and crumbled, and the ones that remained standing trembled under the roar of the Demon Dragon at the center.


    "What a beast!"


    Fang Yuan did not rush, keeping himself apart from the other Divine Armament and Demonic Armament owners, and then leaped onto the roof of a palace.


    He could see the central region immediately.


    A giant, dark green dragon was roaring outside an extravagant palace.


    It had the head of a snake and the body of a fish. Its body was lean and it did not have a dragon horn on its bald head. Its stomach, however, was covered with many claws.


    It looked like a dragon-shaped centipede with some traits of the Giant Venomous Snake.


    Most importantly, the large amount of moss on its back implied that it had been buried in the soil for a long time. The flesh and blood of its tail was even inseparably fused with the central palace.


    It looked like this beast had been sent here by gods to guard the palace.


    "What a strong spiritual aura¡­ This Demon Dragon is probably superior to any top martial artist in terms of Qi, blood, and strength!"


    Fang Yuan''s eyes glistened. He peered through the Demon Dragon''s aura and saw the name of the central palace¡ªLord Pan Palace!


    "Pan! This God is regarded as the Creator God of the Divine Continent World. He even cast the Celestial Thearch Sword¡­ And since this palace is named after Lord Pan, it seems that¡­ this may really be the place where Pan cast the sword!"


    "Ba Dao¡­ The Demon Dragon has appeared, and it''ll lead the other beasts to besiege us. Are we still going to fight until the both of us get wounded?"


    There were two silhouettes outside the Lord Pan Palace.


    The one speaking was in a mysterious, black armor that covered his head and entire body. He also had a ferocious claw on his hand.


    "The Sky Fiend Claw! The Evil God Armor! This person must be Sky Fiend Dao Master!"


    Fang Yuan caught a glimpse of Ba Dao, who was confronting Sky Fiend Dao Master.


    He was truly an inherent hegemon. His strong and muscular body continuously exerted horrible pressure on those around him.


    He was holding a giant saber as tall as a man.


    The saber seemed to have been cast from ancient bronze found in the Spring and Autumn period. The back of the saber was decorated with the pattern of a giant dragon, as if a real dragon was guarding it!


    It was the third Divine Armament, the Spring Autumn Dragon Saber!


    "Haha¡­" Ba Dao laughed loudly, pointing at the Demon Dragon with his saber. "Legend has it that a divine dragon was sacrificed in the casting of my Dragon Saber. I look forward to fighting this Demon Dragon with my saber and seeing how many attacks it can survive!


    "The ancient Lord Pan Palace¡­ is said to contain the secrets about Pan, the Creator God. Anyone would want to take a look at it."


    While he was zealous in martial arts, he was not obstinate.


    He would be courting death if he kept fighting against Sky Fiend Dao Master when the Demon Dragon was about to attack them.


    "It''s indeed the Demon Dragon!"


    Ghosteye and the others were even more shocked when they saw the Demon Dragon. "Not good¡­ The Demon Dragon leads the Mutated Beast. Once it''s alarmed, we''ll suffer heavy casualties!"


    Roar! Roar!


    The Demon Dragon took an indifferent glance and expressed its disdain before letting out a loud roar.


    Rumble!


    The dragon''s roar rumbled like a passing storm.


    The entire Heaven Deity Palace suddenly became silent, and then many responses rang out shortly after.


    Chirp! Chirp!


    A giant yellow bird in the west flapped its wings and replied in a distinct voice.


    Aw! Aw!


    In the north, a tiger''s roar was faintly heard. The White Tiger Pole in White Tiger Crone''s hand suddenly made a sound, as if it was responding to it.


    These two Mutated Beasts were like the leaders, and many more roars rang out around them. While the other roars were much less shocking, the number was huge. The ground started trembling, as if thousands of soldiers were charging toward the center.


    "Mutated Beast Yellow Bird? And Mutated Beast White Tiger?" Ghosteye exclaimed. "Are all the ferocious beasts in the Heaven Deity Palace going to attack? Sky Fiend Dao Master, let''s hurry and leave!"


    "Leave? Why should I leave?" Sky Fiend Dao Master laughed wildly. "In all the previous explorations, our seniors were satisfied with a bit of blood from the Mutated Beasts in the periphery of the Heaven Deity Palace, and nobody has managed to take a peek at the secret guarded by the Demon Dragon, so I''m going to explore it today. Ba Dao, do you dare do it together?"


    "Of course!"


    Ba Dao took action straight away, slashing with the Spring Autumn Dragon Saber.


    Roar! Roar!


    With a dragon''s loud roar, a long streak of dragon-shaped Saber Qi slashed at the Demon Dragon.


    Screech!


    A palm-sized scale fell off among the sparks.


    Ba Dao could be considered the top martial artist of the Orthodox Dao, but with the third Divine Armament, he had only caused some minor injuries to the Demon Dragon!


    The injured Demon Dragon opened its mouth, and a large lump of a dark green solution dropped onto the ground, corroding it while generating plumes of white smoke.


    "Its saliva is extremely poisonous! Quickly hold your breath and protect your bodies with inner force!"


    Ghosteye sighed and took the initiative to fight against the Demon Dragon.


    He clearly knew that without Sky Fiend Dao Master and Ba Dao leading them, they could not break through the siege by the ferocious beasts, as they would be exhausted in the battle.


    Since both of them were crazy for the battle, he could only fight alongside them.


    "Lady Temptress, please hold back the White Tiger! Young Master Tang, your Peach Blossom Fan works well against the Yellow Bird, so you can take care of the western palace. The Blood Imbibing Saber and I will battle the Demon Dragon, and the other Divine Armament owners can ward off the beast army!"


    Ghosteye''s Kuiniu Eye emitted frightening light as he glanced over the entire area and made arrangements.


    To their surprise, Tang Shushu unhesitatingly replied first, "All right!"


    After all, they would be courting death if they continued with internal strife in such a perilous situation.


    The martial artists of the Orthodox Dao were clear about Ghosteye''s ability and knew that they had to work together.


    Fang Yuan remained silent. His body emitted blood-colored light, healing the small wound on his shoulder.


    Sanguine Demon''s Essence Soul! Have you sensed it?


    He conversed with the Sanguine Demon covertly.


    Conversation via spiritual will was extremely fast, and a thousand words could be exchanged within seconds.


    Hmm. There''s something abnormal in the Lord Pan Palace! said the Sanguine Demon''s Essence Soul in a low voice.


    Even a fool would know that the Demon Dragon must be guarding some secret¡­ I feel that there''s something related to the source of this world in the Lord Pan Palace. Could the Celestial Thearch Sword be right inside?


    Fang Yuan''s eyes glistened.


    That''s possible. However, you can absolutely fight your way out given your real ability and the aid from the Blood Imbibing Saber. Otherwise, if you stay here until the Heaven Deity Palace closes, no one will be able to save you, the Sanguine Demon''s Essence Soul reminded.


    Fang Yuan did not fear the siege at all. Other than the Mutated Beasts, all the ferocious beasts were nourishment in his eyes, and that was the advantage he had.


    Other martial artists would definitely die if they were trapped here for twenty years, but he was confident that he could survive!


    Nevertheless, it was still a huge loss to waste twenty years here for no good reason.


    Hehe¡­ Other martial artists may not understand my pursuit, but can''t you understand it?


    Fang Yuan sneered, and the Sanguine Demon was speechless.


    Extraterrestrial visitors like them naturally aimed for the benefits they could reap from this world.


    There was obviously something related to the source of the world in the Lord Pan Palace.


    It would be worth twenty years if he could manage to get it!


    Furthermore, if Fang Yuan could directly refine the Heaven Earth Man Providence Mirror, he would not mind leaving this world.


    After all, he only had intended to experiment with the Dream Master Descending Technique in the first place. What he had already harvested was beyond his expectations.


    "Kuiniu Spirit Disruption!"


    While they were communicating via spiritual will, the owners of Divine Armaments and Demonic Armaments on the battlefield seemed to be confronting a dangerous enemy.


    Ghosteye roared, emitting brilliant light from his eye.


    The Demon Dragon was stunned, and its movement became stagnant.


    "Thunder, strike!"Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting.


    Ghosteye drew a mysterious talisman in the air with both hands and summoned lightning that struck on the Demon Dragon.


    Martial arts at this level were the same as magical powers!


    "Can you see the position ten meters below the chin of the Demon Dragon?"


    While summoning the lightning, he explained his strategy, "The body of the Demon Dragon is too hard to destroy. Only the top three Divine Armaments and Demonic Armaments can cause some damage, but even the Spring Autumn Dragon Saber won''t cause fatal injuries. The only way to maul the Demon Dragon is to attack the scar left behind by the Celestial Thearch Sword owner!"


    Both the Demon Sect and the Orthodox Dao had spent a lot of time investigating the Heaven Deity Palace, so they had far more information than Fang Yuan did.


    But it was no easy task to fight the Demon Dragon in close combat and strike the sword scar accurately. Even Sky Fiend Dao Master and Ba Dao could die from the dragon''s counterattack!


    "Nangong, your Blood Imbibing Saber devoured the essence and blood of the Rotating Turtle, so that should be sufficient to make up for any wounds. You''ll attract its attention first before Ba Dao attacks! Sky Fiend Dao Master will give the last strike!" Ghosteye ordered directly.


    I''m palpably being treated as cannon fodder!


    Fang Yuan rolled his eyes, but he knew that he was the only one here who belonged to neither the Orthodox Dao nor the Demon Dao. Of course, they would choose to sacrifice him in such a situation.


    Besides, they did not worry about his resistance with Ba Dao and Sky Fiend Dao Master suppressing him.


    Seeing that he was a little too slow, Sky Fiend Dao Master and Ba Dao immediately stared at him, exerting frightening pressure.


    "This¡­"


    Fang Yuan looked extremely uneasy. He gazed at the Demon Dragon and the blood-colored light of the Blood Imbibing Saber covered his whole body.


    "Blood Cleansing!"


    Chi! Chi!


    A blood-colored astral saber slashed at the Demon Dragon.


    Sizzle!


    In the sparks, many scars appeared on its hard scales, which started to crack.


    The Demon Dragon was enraged. It bit downward, moving as fast as lightning.


    Rumble!


    The ground beneath Fang Yuan suddenly crumbled.


    In that crucial moment, he leaped up high into the air and faced the giant mouth of the Demon Dragon.


    "This is the best chance!"


    Both Ba Dao and Sky Fiend Dao Master took action immediately.


    "World Domination!"


    The Spring Autumn Dragon Saber in Ba Dao''s hand let out a dragon''s roar. The Saber Qi concentrated until it ultimately became a straight line and slashed onto the Dragon Demon''s body.


    Sky Fiend Dao Master moved like a ghost to the Demon Dragon''s stomach and extended the Sky Fiend Claw!


    Roar! Roar!


    The next moment.


    The Demon Dragon struggled in agony, and then its long and lean body suddenly struck like a steel whip!

 803 Seven Slaughter

    Now!


    Fang Yuan received the Demon Dragon''s strike, seemingly unable to evade in time, and the strike perfectly delivered him toward the Lord Pan Palace.


    Rumble!


    Dense blood-colored light emitted from his body, making him appear like a giant, bloody man. He was flung directly into the palace.


    Ghosteye was speechless.


    So was Ba Dao.


    "Hehe¡­ What a sly lad!"


    Sky Fiend Dao Master let out a hostile laugh and charged toward the Lord Pan Palace.


    Roar! Roar!


    The Demon Dragon curled up as if it was forming a Long Coiling Snake Array, concealing the Lord Pan Palace and its own vulnerability.


    Faced with such a scene, even Ghosteye became anxious.


    "The Demon Dragon is protecting the Lord Pan Palace with its body and clearly won''t take the initiative to attack. That''s troublesome!"


    Ghosteye said quickly, "How about fighting our way out of this place? As long as we block the exit, Nangong Wuwang will be as good as dead!"


    The Heaven Deity Palace would only be opened for a limited period of time. Once he missed the deadline, he would have no chance of survival!


    "A mere Demon Dragon!"


    Ba Dao roared with rage and wielded his saber again.


    Roar! Roar!


    A giant, golden dragon suddenly rose from the Spring Autumn Dragon Saber in brilliant golden light. "Die! The Proud Dragon Repents!"


    The concentrated saber radiance appeared as if an ancient divine dragon was descending into the world once more.


    Even the Demon Dragon bowed its head in awe.


    Poof!


    Blood splattered from the wounds on the Demon Dragon''s body, but it seemed determined to maintain its posture without any sign of relaxation.


    Ba Dao can actually cause such damage when he fights with full strength¡­ Ghosteye was astonished when he witnessed this. Furthermore¡­ why are they so insistent? Could they have obtained some information about a treasure that they can''t let go of in this palace?


    With this thought, he looked at Sky Fiend Dao Master doubtfully.


    "Since you have this interest, how can I let you fight alone?"


    Sky Fiend Dao Master smiled. His Sky Fiend Claw emitted dark light around him, and the light transformed into the illusion of a frightening demon.


    "Great! That''s how Sky Fiend Dao Master should be!" Ba Dao laughed. "We might be able to slaughter this beast if we collaborate!"


    ¡­


    While the top Divine Armament owner and Demonic Armament owner were fighting against the Demon Dragon outside¡­


    Fang Yuan strolled through the Lord Pan Palace with the Blood Imbibing Saber.


    Although this palace was huge, there was only a single core room. The vast room had all sorts of murals on its bronze walls.


    "Pan opened the world and created all life¡­" Fang Yuan understood the exact meaning conveyed by the first bronze mural. "This should be describing Pan''s accomplishment, as well as the virtue manifested by him transforming into the Celestial Thearch Sword to protect the world¡­"


    The bronze mural in the end suddenly changed, its vast aura shocking Fang Yuan. "This is¡­ Lord Pan''s Dao! He could actually express his Dao path through a catalog!"


    The Dao that can be told is not the eternalfor visiting.


    Fang Yuan exhaled and laughed gently when he reached the last mural.


    He had been only a single step away from the Divine Demon realm. After seeing the God Pan Catalog, he broke through the barrier, and his stats changed significantly:


    "Name: Fang Yuan (Nangong Wuwang)


    Essence: 300


    Spirit: 300


    Magic: 300


    Cultivation: Divine Demon Realm


    Technique: Six Extremes Armament Commandeering Art (Third Realm), Great Sanguine Demon Technique


    Specialization: Botany [Level Six] (Maximum), Heavenly Eye Seer Spell (Fake), Body of Origin Power, Demonic Armament¡ªBlood Imbibing Saber"


    "The Divine Demon realm?"


    Fang Yuan smiled, not taking it seriously at all.


    He had been at the top position of a world so many times that he no longer felt exhilarated by it.


    What truly intrigued him was the last mural of the God Pan Catalog.


    It was the image of Pan sacrificing himself and transforming into the Celestial Thearch Sword. He took a glance at it and immediately felt fierce Sword Qi surging out of it.


    Amid the Sword Qi, there were traces of Saber Qi, making it a spectacular scene.


    Fang Yuan noticed that at the end of the catalog, someone had carved seven ''slaughter''s with a saber! Each of the words was distinct from the rest, with the Buddhist understanding of large-scale annihilation and silence. It seemed to convey the idea that righteousness was at the end of a demon''s path, and that a demon who renounced his saber could immediately become a Buddha.


    "The Lord Pan Palace is made of a mysterious material that can repair itself even after damage. It would be extremely difficult for a common Divine Armament owner to leave behind these carvings. Unless¡­ he was a martial artist in the Divine Demon realm!"


    Fang Yuan walked closer to the wall, immediately finding a line below the seven big ''slaughter''s. "My name is Nie Kuang. I''ve been the owner of the Demonic Armament, Seven Slaughter Tiger Soul Saber, since I was twenty years old. I''ve killed people all over the world, but I achieved enlightenment after entering the Heaven Deity Palace and seeing Lord Pan''s inheritance. Thus, I sealed the Seven Slaughter Tiger Soul Saber here¡­"


    "The previous owner of the Seven Slaughter Tiger Soul Saber, Nie Kuang?!


    "I heard that he was the utmost demon in this world, and the entire Pugilistic World was scared of him. A few holy grounds were exterminated and nearly couldn''t pass down their inheritance¡­


    "Who would''ve expected¡­ that he disappeared from the Pugilistic World because he sealed himself here? Presumably, he wanted the secret in the Lord Pan Palace, and that Demon Dragon wasn''t strong enough to stop him. However, he achieved enlightenment after seeing the God Pan Catalog? And he sealed the Seven Slaughter Tiger Soul Saber here to prevent it from causing disasters?"


    Fang Yuan generally deduced what had happened.


    Pan was equivalent to a true Demon God! His Dao was extremely tempting in the eyes of great beings on the verge of a breakthrough.


    The Sanguine Demon''s Essence Soul had his own Dao path, and Fang Yuan was in the middle of forming his own using past experience. This was why neither of them were shaken by it. If any other Demon Masters had entered this place, they would most probably submit themselves to God Pan''s Dao.


    To Demon Masters, this would be equivalent to adopting an External Dao! With a corrupted foundation, it would be impossible for them to make further progress!


    "Nie Kuang was an illustrious man in his generation. It''s a pity that he didn''t see through it in the end!"


    Fang Yuan let out a faint sigh.


    "Wait a moment¡­ Where''s the Seven Slaughter Tiger Soul Saber?" asked the Sanguine Demon''s Essence Soul. They could see everything in this vast but empty palace, yet there was no trace of the Seven Slaughter Tiger Soul Saber nor Nie Kuang''s corpse.


    "It''s pretty simple. Since Nie Kuang sealed himself here, he wouldn''t want to be discovered by intruders! Besides¡­ the seven ''slaughter''s are peculiar, and I suspect that he didn''t leave them behind on purpose. Instead, he should''ve been influenced by the Seven Slaughter Tiger Soul Saber. After all, this Demonic Armament can control one''s soul. It was a crucial reason why Nie Kuang had slaughtered so many people¡­ and it wouldn''t want to be sealed up like this forever!"


    Fang Yuan took a step forward. "Sanguine Demon¡­ Didn''t you boast that your power wouldn''t be weaker than the Seven Slaughter Tiger Soul Saber after recovering? Here''s your opportunity to show it. Don''t disappoint me!"


    "Hold on a second! My Essence Soul has yet to be completely repaired, and my fragments are still missing¡­" protested the Sanguine Demon immediately.


    He knew his own capability. The Blood Imbibing Saber would currently not fear the fourth Divine Armament and Demonic Armament, but if he was told to confront the top Demonic Armament, the Seven Slaughter Tiger Soul Saber, which was only second to the Celestial Thearch Sword? He had better act prudently.


    However, Fang Yuan did not care about the complaint. He touched the first of the seven ''slaughter''s with his finger.


    Rumble!


    A shocking stream of Saber Qi and demonic thoughts immediately flowed through his fingertip into his sea of consciousness.


    "Slaughter! Slaughter! Slaughter!


    "Heaven is unjust! Slaughter it! Earth is unfair! Slaughter it! Mortals have no principle! Slaughter them! Everything in the world can be slaughtered!


    "Martial artists should slaughter others without sympathy. Your undertaking will be remembered eternally if you keep slaughtering!"


    ¡­


    Frightening murderous impulse pounded Fang Yuan''s mind like mighty waves.


    "With such intense murderous impulse, it''s no wonder that the owner of the Seven Slaughter Tiger Soul Saber in every generation was a homicidal maniac¡­"


    Fang Yuan sneered. His mind was as firm as a massive rock, and the murderous thoughts crumbled upon hitting it, scattering saber moves and saber intents.


    "The Sky Fiend Seven Slaughter Saber Technique?" Fang Yuan studied it carefully. "While its interpretation about a Great Dao is slightly inferior to God Pan''s, the killing techniques are enough to shock the heavens and the earth!"


    His finger traced the seven ''slaughter''s continuously.


    As expected, after receiving attacks from countless murderous impulses, he completely mastered the Sky Fiend Seven Slaughter Style.


    Whoosh!


    Moreover, when he finished the last stroke, the bronze wall shook violently and crumbled, revealing a space behind it.


    Buzz! Buzz!


    Saber radiance gleamed. Fang Yuan could immediately see a martial artist, about thirty years old, sitting cross-legged in the space behind the wall. He was holding on to a black saber!


    Nie Kuang! The Seven Slaughter Tiger Soul Saber!


    "He¡­ took the form of a Vajrasattva after death?!"


    It looked as if Nie Kuang''s corpse was alive, and Fang Yuan had to acknowledge that this previous owner of the Seven Slaughter Tiger Soul Saber was a handsome man.


    Furthermore, he had been dead for so many years, but his corpse was mysteriously free from rotting. Instead, it became harder than diamond.


    Roar! Roar!


    Meanwhile, the Demon Dragon shrieked pathetically outside the Lord Pan Palace. Its giant head rolled onto the ground, and blood poured out like a waterfall!Quote from the "Dao De Jing"

 804 Fatal Trap

    "They killed the Demon Dragon so quickly?" Fang Yuan was slightly surprised when he heard the Demon Dragon''s shriek. "It seems like Sky Fiend Dao Master and Ba Dao have put their lives on the line!"


    The owners of the top three Divine and Demonic Armaments were very close to the Divine Demon realm, and they had plenty of methods to fight more fiercely while ensuring their lives.


    They were only held back by the Demon Dragon because they did not want to risk paying a heavy price.


    Furthermore, the Demon Dragon was supported by ferocious beast armies every time, and it was unreasonable for a few martial artists to fight against so many enemies.


    For unknown reasons, however, they were extremely persistent this time.


    "Let it be. I''ll get the Seven Slaughter Tiger Soul Saber first!"


    Fang Yuan put his saber into the sheath and walked forward. His right hand grabbed gently.


    Chi! Chi!


    At this moment, an unexpected change took place!


    Nie Kuang''s corpse suddenly opened his eyes, his mouth making a mysterious sound. "Zha!"


    The Seven Slaughter Tiger Soul Saber let out a long cry and slashed. The surprising murderous intent split into seven streaks in air and blocked Fang Yuan''s escape routes!


    "The Sky Fiend Seven Slaughter Style?"


    Nie Kuang''s saber move that had frightened the entire Pugilistic World appeared in this world once again!


    You''re already dead and yet you still want to create trouble!


    Fang Yuan was not shocked. He knew that instead of reviving, Nie Kuang was only in a peculiar state whereby he preserved his last saber attack in his physical body.


    Any martial artist trying to take the saber forcibly would face this backlash!


    And this backlash was extremely powerful!


    Those who could enter the Lord Pan Palace had to be owners of the very top few Divine Armaments and Demonic Armaments.


    However, a large amount of energy was needed to defeat the Demon Dragon and comprehend the God Pan Catalog.


    It was almost certain death to deal with the attack from the seven ''slaughter''s and then the saber without any preparation!


    This saber attack embodied Nie Kuang''s lifetime cultivation power and concluded the history of the Seven Slaughter Tiger Soul Saber in that generation!


    Even Sky Fiend Dao Master and Ba Dao would have been slashed asunder and beheaded in Fang Yuan''s situation.


    But Fang Yuan was different!


    He was already in the Divine Demon realm now!


    Furthermore, with his original body breaking through the 9-Essence barrier, the ability of this incarnation had improved as well.


    Schwing!


    The Blood Imbibing Saber was drawn out of the sheath again!


    The blood-colored saber radiance split into seven streaks, aiming exactly at Nie Kuang''s murderous intent!


    The Blood Imbibing Saber versus the Seven Slaughter Tiger Soul Saber!


    The Sky Fiend Seven Slaughter Style versus the Sky Fiend Seven Slaughter Style!


    Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding!


    After seven distinct clashes, the murderous intent completely disappeared.


    Nie Kuang continued sitting cross-legged with the saber, as if what had just happened was an illusion.


    Fang Yuan had resolved this fatal trap ingeniously.


    Nie Kuang had made the worst mistake by leaving the Sky Fiend Seven Slaughter Saber Technique in the seven ''slaughter''s outside! Of course, he was controlled by the Seven Slaughter Tiger Soul Saber, and a maniac could not be expected to be sensible.


    Fang Yuan walked forward. There was no impediment this time, and he took the Seven Slaughter Tiger Soul Saber with ease.


    "Slaughter! Slaughter! Slaughter!"


    It was a black saber that appeared mediocre, even looking less attractive than the Blood Imbibing Saber.


    But when Fang Yuan held it in his hand, the horrible desire to kill tried corrupting his mind and turning him into a maniac that would slaughter everything.


    This saber can control one''s heart and soul, and it''s even more powerful than the Kuiniu Eye. Together with the Sky Fiend Seven Slaughter Saber Technique, it can kill any enemy in its way!


    Fang Yuan held the saber and stood still, injecting his Qi into this top Demonic Armament. Evidently, he was trying to defeat the murderous intent in the Tiger Soul Saber with his own will and thereby master it completely.


    The previous owners of the Seven Slaughter Tiger Soul Saber were mostly slaves to it, with the saber controlling the owners instead of the other way round! However, I''m not satisfied with that!


    Fang Yuan sneered as the murderous intent retreated in defeat. The saber was finally tamed by Fang Yuan, emitting a sinister and chilling glow.


    "Hmm?"


    After taming the Tiger Soul Saber, Fang Yuan glanced at Nie Kuang''s corpse and discovered something.


    There was an ancient book kept in front of his chest. Since he had cherished the book so much, it had to be something unusual.


    Fang Yuan did not bother being polite. He grabbed the book and took a glance at it, surprised at what he found. "The Ancient Armament Manual? So many pages of it?"


    Swoosh!


    At the same time, three figures rushed into the Lord Pan Palace.


    "Ah!"


    "Is this¡­ the God Pan Catalog? Pan''s inheritance!"


    As soon as Sky Fiend Dao Master and Ba Dao entered the palace, they were stunned by the God Pan Catalog, immediately losing themselves in it.


    In their eyes, it was the Great Dao! It was the truth!


    They even had a strong feeling that they would break through the barrier that had trapped them for years once they finished reading the entire catalog!


    "Sigh¡­" Fang Yuan sighed gently. He put away the Ancient Armament Manual and wielded the Seven Slaughter Tiger Soul Saber.


    Chi! Chi!


    Saber Qi swept across the walls and destroyed all the bronze murals on them.


    While the Lord Pan Palace could repair itself, it would take a long time to recover from the destruction caused by a martial artist in the Divine Demon realm.


    "No!"


    When the God Pan Catalogue was destroyed, Sky Fiend Dao Master and Ba Dao both let out piercing shrieks.


    Interrupting them while they were going through enlightenment was like spilling the water just given to a man dying of thirst. They would do anything to kill the person who did it!


    All three red-eyed martial artists were staring at Fang Yuan, as if they wanted to peel his skin, drink his blood, and eat his flesh!


    Although they''d only be misled if they let God Pan''s Dao corrupt their foundation, martial artists¡ªespecially those in the Demon Dao¡ªcan still improve quickly. I''d probably be killed here if I had allowed them to make breakthroughs!


    Fang Yuan held the saber and stood still, gazing at them silently.


    Ba Dao calmed down after a while. He stared at the Seven Slaughter Tiger Soul Saber in Fang Yuan''s hand and said in a hoarse voice, "The Orthodox Dao analyzed clues for hundreds of years before finally deducing that the previous saber owner, Nie Kuang, had died in the Lord Pan Palace. How did you know about it?"


    Fang Yuan''s forbearance was now part of his scheme in Ba Dao''s eyes.


    Even Sky Fiend Dao Master exclaimed, "What an impressive Nangong Wuwang!"


    Ghosteye, on the other hand, looked upset. He obviously felt ashamed for failing to peer through Fang Yuan''s disguise. "I was too negligent! It''s true that youths are to be regarded with caution!"


    While the three of them praised him, their chilling murderous intent could not be faked.


    Furthermore, they had taken advantageous positions around Fang Yuan.


    "What? The Demon Sect was trying to befriend me previously, and now you''re going to attack me?"


    Fang Yuan sighed softly.


    "The young are meant to take the place of the old¡­ I didn''t want to do this originally!" Sky Fiend Dao Master sighed as well. "However, you''re progressing too fast. If this trend continues, we won''t have a place in the entire Demon Sect nor even the Pugilistic World!"


    "My Spring Autumn Dragon Saber is also looking forward to a battle with the Seven Slaughter Tiger Soul Saber so that we can see which one is the most powerful saber in the world!"


    Ba Dao held his saber with both hands and lifted it above his head. Saber Qi raged around him, suggesting the violence of the imminent attack!


    "Kuiniu Soul Control. Thunder, strike!"


    However, Ghosteye was the first to attack.


    His Kuiniu Eye emitted bewildering light, his hands drew a talisman in air, and lightning struck at Fang Yuan.


    Ghosteye''s move was like an additional force exerted on a tense bowstring, and the silence was immediately broken.


    "World Dominance!"


    Ba Dao also launched the attack. A torrent of shockingly powerful Saber Qi rushed down like a river, carrying Spring and Autumn with it. Together with the trend of history, it crushed anyone refusing to give in!


    That was the real meaning of Spring and Autumn.


    But Sky Fiend Dao Master was even more horrifying.


    He had mastered the second Demonic Armament, the Sky Fiend Claw, and was currently invisible, waiting for the chance to give Fang Yuan a fatal attack!


    Fang Yuan gave a simple reply, "Sky Fiend¡­ Seven Slaughter!"


    He slashed perfectly straight with the Seven Slaughter Tiger Soul Saber.


    Chi!


    The Seven Slaughter Tiger Soul Saber emitted a mind-controlling light, completely overwhelming Ghosteye''s Kuiniu Eye. Ghosteye was struck by the backlash and vomited a mouthful of blood.


    Moreover, the saber radiance suddenly split into seven streaks and then 49 streaks. They blocked every route and entered the Saber Qi of the Spring and Autumn Saber.


    Roar! Roar!


    Space trembled.


    Everyone felt like they saw 49 streaks of Saber Qi piercing into a giant, golden dragon. The dragon struggled but abruptly disintegrated.


    "Impossible!"


    Ba Dao took a step back, his face flushing with anger.Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting.


    How could he step back in a battle? It was a shame that could never be washed away!


    But before he could pounce forward, Fang Yuan had already approached him at incredible speed and slashed down with the Seven Slaughter Tiger Soul Saber.


    Woo! Woo!


    The demonic saber made a deafening sound, controlling his heart and his soul.


    Seven streaks of saber radiance entered Ba Dao''s seven apertures, disappearing in an instant.


    "Impressive saber! Impressive saber technique!"


    Ba Dao was stunned. And then he shut his eyes and stopped breathing!


    Within one saber attack, the Orthodox Dao''s top martial artist, Ba Dao, had both his body and soul destroyed!


    Such a change in situation scared Ghosteye out of his wits.


    "Phew¡­"


    Fang Yuan let out a long breath.


    While it looked like he had dispatched the opponent easily, he had actually used all his strength.


    The most important point was that he had broken into the Divine Demon realm, which was above Ba Dao''s realm, and the Seven Slaughter Tiger Soul Saber also overpowered the Spring Autumn Dragon Saber.


    Otherwise, the outcome might have been different.


    Moreover, it was crucial to be fast! He had acted so fast that Sky Fiend Dao Master could not react immediately.


    Indeed, Sky Fiend Dao Master did not expect this sudden change.


    Although he seized the chance to appear behind Fang Yuan, he was late by one thought when he extended his claw.


    In Buddhism, twenty thoughts comprised a moment, and twenty moments comprised the flick of a finger.


    What could be done within one thought?


    A common person might not be able to do anything, but it was sufficient for Fang Yuan to regain some strength!


    Aw! Aw!


    The Blood Imbibing Saber spontaneously sounded behind his back. Amid the blood-colored light, a vague silhouette emerged.


    The Sanguine Demon''s Essence Soul!


    The demon gave a sinister smile and extended his arms, shielding Fang Yuan behind him.


    Poof!


    The Sky Fiend Claw scratched. With a shriek from the Blood Imbibing Saber, the Sanguine Demon''s Essence Soul immediately dispersed!

 805 Armament Repository

    Ah¡­ Lad, you''ve got to compensate me after this! You must help me recover my Essence Soul and gather all my fragments! shouted the Sanguine Demon''s Essence Soul.


    He was badly injured this time, and his voice sounded anxious and furious.


    Rest assured! Fang Yuan appeased him.


    The Sanguine Demon did not make this sacrifice in vain.


    At least, he had earned enough time for Fang Yuan to turn around to face Sky Fiend Dao Master.


    Does the Blood Imbibing Saber have such a transformation?


    Sky Fiend Dao Master did not know the saber''s secret, so he only thought of it as the armament''s special ability.


    Now, it was too late for him to retreat. The Sky Fiend Claw continued forward with all his cultivation power injected into it.


    Woo! Woo!


    The Sky Fiend Claw roared, releasing traces of Demonic Qi which transformed into the illusion of a demon. It had a ghostly face, with the head of a tiger and the eyes of a leopard. It roared and also extended its sharp claw toward Fang Yuan.


    "Sky Fiend Dao Master¡­ Your era has passed. From now on, the Pugilistic World belongs to me!!"


    Fang Yuan sighed while retreating.


    Sky Fiend Dao Master''s pupils contracted.


    Of course, he would not be shaken by Fang Yuan''s words. In fact, at his level, he might not be influenced even if Fang Yuan killed his family in front of him.


    What really shocked Sky Fiend Dao Master was that Fang Yuan could always keep a foot away from the Sky Fiend Claw, no matter how hard he tried to attack.


    It seemed as if this short distance was an impassable gulf!


    He was horrified by its implications.


    "Sky Fiend Seven Slaughter Style!"


    At the edge of the Lord Pan Palace, Fang Yuan casually waved his right hand.


    Chi! Chi!


    Saber Qi flickered!


    In the overwhelming chilling light, a streak of saber radiance fell from the sky and split into seven parts before slashing into the demon illusion.


    Crack!


    The next moment, the demon illusion disintegrated. The streaks of saber radiance even broke through the barrier and charged at Sky Fiend Dao Master.


    "Evil God Armor!" Sky Fiend Dao Master shouted, and then his skin turned dark green like refined steel.


    The Evil God Armor flowed like water and covered his entire body, including his head and face.


    This demonic armor was the best Demonic Armament in terms of defense and could be transformed at will!


    Screech!


    Suddenly, seven streaks of light emerged from empty space and pierced into the Evil God Armor.


    Sky Fiend Dao Master was stunned when sparks were ignited.


    Whoosh!


    He quickly retreated, revealing his pale face. "The Seven Slaughter Tiger Soul¡­ is truly the top Demonic Armament!"


    Puff! Puff! Puff! Puff! Puff! Puff! Puff!


    As soon as he finished his sentence, arrows of blood shot out from seven vital parts of his body, and Sky Fiend Dao Master slowly shut his eyes.


    Fang Yuan stood still, thinking silently, In fact¡­ at this level, martial arts are already close to the Dao, and a martial artist can readily separate their Essence Soul from the physical body¡­ But the Sky Fiend Seven Slaughter Style has taken that into consideration, and the Saber Qi annihilates the soul directly, shattering all of the opponent''s hope!


    This characteristic of the Tiger Soul Saber reminded him of another legendary evil weapon¡ªSeven Arrows Nail Striking Witchcraft!


    Both of them were so ruthless, they left no chance for the opponent to survive.


    And it was almost impossible to take precautions against the peculiar techniques.


    "Y-Y-You killed Ba Dao and Sky Fiend Dao Master?"


    Having lost all confidence, Ghosteye fell to the ground.


    No! It was more accurate to say that he was on the verge of a breakdown.


    Never would he have thought that Nangong Wuwang, the owner of the tenth Demonic Armament, would be so powerful!


    Within a few moves, he had killed Ba Dao and Sky Fiend Dao Master, who were the top martial artists of the Orthodox Dao and the Demon Dao respectively.


    "The Seven Slaughter Tiger Soul Saber is indeed the most ferocious armament!" Ghosteye did not expect to survive as he watched Fang Yuan approaching him. He said in a hoarse voice, "The Tiger Soul is ominous. All the previous owners of the Tiger Soul Saber didn''t end up well, so I''ll wait and see how you¡­"


    Fang Yuan looked down at him and asked casually, "Do you¡­ want to live or die?"


    "What?" Ghosteye stopped cursing immediately. "Are you going to spare me? Or are you playing tricks on me?"


    "Hehe¡­" Fang Yuan laughed. "Why would I play tricks on someone as incapable as you? I''ll ask the last time¡ªSurrender, or die?"


    "As long as you spare me, I can swear that I''ll regard you as my master!" Ghosteye clenched his teeth.


    "That''s not necessary. Just give me the Kuiniu Eye." Fang Yuan looked around and sighed again.


    In the Pugilistic World, all martial artists dreamed of Divine Armaments and Demonic Armaments. Common martial artists might not be able to take a look at one even if they were willing to spend all their fortune on it.


    But now, all sorts of Divine Armaments and Demonic Armaments were abandoned on the ground in the Lord Pan Palace.


    "The Spring Autumn Dragon Saber, the Sky Fiend Claw, the Evil God Armor, and the Kuiniu Eye!" Fang Yuan glanced at Ghosteye. "If you want to survive, give me the Kuiniu Eye and work for me in the future!"


    "Yes, Master!"


    Ghosteye gritted his teeth and lifted his right hand. His hand shivered slightly, and then he suddenly stuck it into his orbit.


    In splattering blood, he dug out the Kuiniu Eye and respectfully passed it to Fang Yuan.


    "Very good! Now follow me outside and convince those martial artists to surrender¡­ Starting with this place, anyone in the Pugilistic World who follows me will prosper, and those who go against me will perish!" Fang Yuan declared. "I shall create the Armament Repository, and you''ll be my first protector! As for the owners of Divine and Demonic Armaments out there, if they''re willing to surrender their armaments, they can live. Otherwise, they''ll die!"


    Having killed Ba Dao and Sky Fiend Dao Master, he naturally would not mind killing a few more.


    As blood flowed from Ghosteye''s orbit, he felt a chill down his spine.


    This man had Nie Kuang''s ability but not his madness.


    Since he was starting to create a force, it was likely that his next step was to rule the Pugilistic World!Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting.


    ¡­


    "Ghosteye, what''s wrong?"


    Outside the Lord Pan Palace.


    Due to the death of the Demon Dragon, the large crowd of ferocious beasts dispersed quickly.


    Mutated Beasts had their own thoughts and will. Which one would dare court death after seeing the Demon Dragon killed?


    Lady Temptress, Tang Shushu, and the others were about to enter the Lord Pan Palace when they saw Fang Yuan walking out slowly, followed by Ghosteye, whose eye was bleeding.


    Lady Temptress''s expression changed and she took out her silk napkin.


    Tang Shushu opened up his fan as well. The other three Divine Armament owners stood together vigilantly, forming a triangle.


    "Nothing. I''m just going to create a force that rules the entire Pugilistic World, and I''m calling it the Armament Repository!"


    Fang Yuan wielded the Seven Slaughter Tiger Soul Saber in his hand. "The mission of the Armament Repository is to gather all the Divine Armaments and Demonic Armaments in the world. Will you be generous and give me your armaments, and then become protectors of the repository? My treatment will be generous¡­"


    "Dream on!"


    Lady Temptress pouted, but her eyes focused on the Seven Slaughter Tiger Soul Saber in Fang Yuan''s hand. "The top Demonic Armament? Is this why you''re so confident? With such a big secret inside, it''s no wonder that Ba Dao and Sky Fiend Dao Master risked their lives to open the Lord Pan Palace!"


    Tang Shushu came to a realization as well. "However, it''s audacious of you to say that you''ll gather all the Divine and Demonic Armaments. Are you going to rely on that Tiger Soul Saber in your hand?"


    "Where are Ba Dao and Sky Fiend Dao Master?" Lady Temptress suddenly asked.


    "Of course they''re dead!" Fang Yuan shrugged. "Ghosteye, tell them what happened!"


    "Yes!" Ghosteye looked somewhat helpless. "Ba Dao and Sky Fiend Dao Master attacked Master, and they were killed on the spot! The Spring Autumn Dragon Saber and the Sky Fiend Claw belong to Master now!"


    "What?"


    The news was too shocking. Even Tang Shushu and Lady Temptress could not accept it immediately.


    Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!


    The next moment, the three owners of Divine Armaments reacted and rushed toward the exit without a word.


    They had planned to reap some benefits in the Lord Pan Palace, but now that Ba Dao was dead, they had lost their backer. It was wise to retreat at once!


    Why did they believe Fang Yuan''s words?


    Ba Dao''s absence was the best evidence. Otherwise, he would have picked a fight with such an arrogant person!


    "Wanna leave? You have to ask me first!"


    In the blink of an eye, Fang Yuan moved more than one hundred feet and stopped in front of them. "I remember¡­ that you besieged me before! But I''m very tolerant. As long as you choose to surrender, I''ll spare you this time. How about it?"


    "Brat, how dare you!"


    The three owners of Divine Armaments were enraged. White Tiger Crone and the Black Tortoise Shield owner exchanged glances and suddenly attacked Fang Yuan from both sides.


    The White Tiger Pole and the Black Tortoise Shield were heavy armaments, and the sound of wind rang out as they moved through the air.


    Although the Dragon Engraving Bow owner had suffered some injuries earlier, he placed three arrows on the bowstring without hesitation.


    Woo! Woo!


    The next moment, the overwhelming roar of the saber was heard.


    The Dragon Engraving Bow owner was stunned as he watched both his friends falling to the ground. Soon after, he was filled with desperation.


    "This is the last chance¡ªSurrender, or die?"


    Fang Yuan''s voice was as cold as ice.


    ¡­


    Dragon Horse Plain.


    "Very good. From now on, you''ll be the protectors of the Armament Repository, and you can retain your original identities as well! Go!"


    Fang Yuan waved his hand and smiled as he watched them leaving.


    This harvest from the secret realm far exceeded what he had imagined.


    "The next step should be finding my fragments, right? With the help from these guys, we can progress much faster¡­"


    The Sanguine Demon''s Essence Soul leaped out in a hurry.


    "Rest assured!"


    Fang Yuan nodded perfunctorily.


    Each of these experts could rule a region individually.


    Of course, their encounter with Fang Yuan was a fiasco. Not only did they lose their armaments, but Fang Yuan had planted Yin Yang Talismans in their bodies as well!


    The Yin Yang Talisman secret technique arose from inspiration in his previous life. With the aid of the Heavenly Eye Seer Spell, he could leave a few streaks of True Qi in their bodies and control their acupoints.


    They would usually look fine, but they had to submit themselves whenever they encountered Fang Yuan.


    "Lad¡­ why do you want to collect so many Divine Armaments?"


    The Sanguine Demon was confused.


    One armament would normally suffice, and a martial artist would need at most two more for auxiliary and defensive functions respectively.


    Fang Yuan was the only one he knew so addicted to collecting armaments.

 806 Armament Manual

    "Naturally, it''s because of this Ancient Armament Manual!"


    Fang Yuan flipped his palm, and the Ancient Armament Manual book from Nie Kuang appeared.


    This book had golden threads and a silver surface. It could not be destroyed easily by weapons and was impenetrable by fire and water. It was similar to the silk scroll he obtained before, but was much thicker.


    "The author of this Armament Manual was also a talented person. I even suspect that he came from a foreign world. Not only did he rank all of the Divine Armaments and Demonic Armaments, but he had also researched many secret techniques on armaments¡­ There aren''t many things that capture my attention from this book, but the insane hypothesis he raised at the end is really interesting!"


    "What hypothesis?"


    The Sanguine Demon knew that this lad had an astonishingly high world view. If there was something that he found interesting, it definitely had to be something groundbreaking.


    "The Divine Armaments and Demonic Armaments are the main aspects in this world! Furthermore, each of them has its own unique rules and a charm from the heavens and the earth¡­ have you noticed?" Fang Yuan asked suddenly.


    "Of course¡­" The Sanguine Demon also deeply approved. "The rules of this world caused this. My bones and blood were very profound and extraordinary, and they weren''t something that could be cast by an insignificant person."


    Everything basically meant that this world was very suited for the birth of these kinds of Divine Armaments. Even extraterrestrial objects could be warped and transformed.


    "The author of this Armament Manual did not have any impressive abilities himself. Because of damage to the natural source, the Dao of Martial Arts is forever unable to advance¡­ Thus, he had this insane hypothesis: gather innumerable Divine Armaments and weapons to cast a unique, all-encapsulating, and unparalleled Sacred Armament!"


    Fang Yuan let out a long sigh. "In fact, if he were to gather a portion of the Dao rules within the Divine Armaments and Demonic Armaments and refine them in a furnace, thereby casting them together to forge a completely new Great Dao. This could entirely be called the pinnacle of a Pseudo Dao!"


    "This¡­ is really opening up another route! No wonder he died early!"


    The Sanguine Demon''s Essence Soul gasped in astonishment.


    As an existence equal to Demon Gods and Emperors, he completely understood the difficulty.


    The Divine Demon realm of martial artists still had some differences with a true Mental Demon Demon God. Most important was their own Great Dao!


    In this world, only God Pan had truly reached the standard of a Mental Demon Demon God.


    No matter how talented the other martial artists were, they were unable to make this step due to the environmental restrictions.


    However, the owner of this Ancient Armament Manual wanted to rise to the top. Beyond fusing the Divine Armaments and Demonic Armaments into one, he wanted to forge a ''Pseudo Dao''.


    It could be said that if he had succeeded, he would have been an existence on the same level as God Pan!


    Of course, the backlash from doing so was great.


    Evidently, the owner of the Ancient Armament Manual could not withstand it and was already directly annihilated without any remnants. Otherwise, there would be nothing involving Fang Yuan.


    "Hehe¡­ The original owner of the Armament Manual was definitely asking for death. I have calculated that in this world of Divine Armaments, there can only be one existence that exceeds the limitations permitted here, which is the Celestial Thearch Sword owner! But strictly speaking, the Celestial Thearch Sword owner has merely been given the inheritance of God Pan¡­"


    The eyes of the Sanguine Demon''s Essence Soul were full of regret. "Lad¡­ the backlash of the entire world broke me. You won''t be able to withstand it either!"


    Of course, he was not trying to help Fang Yuan. However, if Fang Yuan were to die, would the Celestial Thearch Sword owner let him go? It was completely a case where both parties achieved glory together or were defeated together.


    "The greater the risk, the greater the reward. For this adage, the converse is true too. I understand it! But¡­"


    Fang Yuan laughed.


    The rewards were too great, and he could not bear to miss them!


    According to the words in his previous world, extracting the power of rules from the Divine Armaments and Demonic Armaments to cast a Pseudo Dao was equivalent to the difference between a Golden Core and an Outer Core in a cultivation novel.


    Even though there were many hidden dangers, when Foundation Establishment cultivators refined an Outer Core, they would immediately be seen as Golden Core grandmasters.Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting.


    This was the same situation now.


    Once he truly succeeded and brought it back to the Spiritual Realm, there would instantly be an additional combat power equivalent to an Emperor!


    Of course, the combat power of such an Emperor was largely exaggerated and impractical, and could at most bully a few ordinary Demon Gods and Ancient Gods, but it was still no small matter.


    Furthermore, the Outer Core was a Pseudo Dao, but not an External Dao!


    Demon Masters influenced by an External Dao would contaminate their foundations and thus had no hopes of achieving a Great Dao.


    However, this kind of Pseudo Dao could be integrated into his own system.


    After all, the Dao of Dream Master was all-inclusive. Furthermore, Fang Yuan had started out as a Dream Master!


    After he became a Demon God in the future, he would control two Great Daos, and his combat prowess could all of a sudden rise to the peak among Demon Gods!


    Such a glorious future was certainly something worth him fighting for!


    Furthermore, the previous hidden dangers could be immediately resolved here.


    There were specialized Divine Armament and Demonic Armament melting and separating techniques in the Ancient Armament Manual. As long as they were followed accordingly, he could definitely melt the Heaven Earth Man Providence Mirror and add it to his accumulations.


    With so many benefits, and this place merely being a distraction, he would truly regret it if he did not give it a shot!


    "Seems that your decision has already been made. I won''t persuade you anymore. Anyway, I have to warn you that if you were to accomplish this unprecedented undertaking, the Celestial Thearch Sword owner will be your nemesis! Furthermore, I suspect that without the Celestial Thearch Sword, this plan of yours can''t be completed at all!" said the Sanguine Demon in a low voice. "Also¡­ before you decide to embark on this journey toward death, please remember to gather all my fragments. At that time, my Essence Soul can escape the restrictions, and I''ll give you this Blood Imbibing Saber.!"


    If he did not mention this first, he was afraid that this merciless lad would turn his back on him!


    "All right! It''s a deal!"


    Fang Yuan laughed. This was a smart person.


    ¡­


    In a flash, many years had passed since the opening of the Heaven Deity Palace.


    The winds and clouds moved in the Pugilistic World!


    In these years, it could be said that the clouds scudded and winds rose in the Pugilistic World.


    First, it was rumored that after the Heaven Deity Palace opened, many experts from the Orthodox Dao and Demon Dao had gathered, but shortly after, they suffered disastrous casualties. The Orthodox Dao lost pillars such as Ba Dao, Kong Fanxing, and Chen Qiyou; while the Demon Dao did not have it much better. Both sides suffered massive damage to their vitality, while the lucky ones who survived were very secretive over what had happened, leaving others with infinite space for imagination.


    Afterward was the issue concerning the Golden Breeze Drizzle Building!


    Since Chen Qiyou had died, the Golden Breeze Drizzle Building immediately became a highly attractive prize for many Pugilistic World powers and immoral authorities.


    But astonishingly, what was expected to be a fierce struggle quickly ended. Many powers coveting this building became successively frustrated and retreated after numerous casualties. It was only known that a mysterious person had forcefully entered the fray and devoured the entire Golden Breeze Drizzle Building in one mouthful, leaving no leftovers for others.


    Furthermore, the name of this building was also changed to the Armament Repository!


    As for who the Armament Repository Master was and what his intentions were?¡ªeven whether he was good or evil, male or female?¡ªnearly nobody knew anything.


    However, this building continued to operate its previous prosperous business. Most sensational was updating the ranks of the Divine Armaments and Demonic Armaments!


    Emerald Rock Commandery, Armament Repository.


    "Those who achieve magnificent results are all from my generation, but time flies once I enter the Pugilistic World!"


    It was noon, and the restaurant was filled. Many rich customers dressed as martial artists sat in a circle. Some ate and drank, while some listened attentively an old storyteller.


    The old storyteller became happier seeing this and smacked his gavel. "It is said that progress is made when the waves behind urge those in front. For twenty-one cycles in the Pugilistic World, the rankings of all the experts under the heavens change once every twenty years, but the top ten Divine Armaments and top ten Demonic Armaments have not changed before¡­ until today. The Armament Repository Master has reconstructed the Armament Manual and published everything under the heavens. As an elder, I am in awe of that mentality and demeanor. Today, I will tell all of you the new rankings!"


    Inside, he was somewhat grateful toward the Armament Repository.


    Regarding the previous Golden Breeze Drizzle Building, such information could only be purchased from the third floor. How could it be casually passed on to them to announce to everyone and attract popularity?


    "All right!"


    Many martial artists cheered, and some eagerly tossed out a few silver coins directly as a reward.


    First, reconstructing the Armament Manual involved too many issues and was difficult to define. Second, it was too easy to offend someone, and history had shown that it would not lead to a good outcome.


    Being able to do something like this, without considering any aspects, the Armament Repository had much more courage than the Golden Breeze Drizzle Building.


    "Thank you all for your appreciation. I will talk about the Divine Armaments first!"


    The old storyteller raised his hand with a smile filling his face. "The first Divine Armament is naturally the Celestial Thearch Sword. Unquestionably, it is only because this sword has been lost for a long time that it''s rumored to not appear unless the world undergoes a tribulation. The second is the Coiled Dragon Silk and the treasure of the Orthodox Dao''s Fairy Sect. It''s rumored that this Fairy Sect only accepts females and the former Sacred Ladies were all peerless beauties¡­. The third is the Spring Autumn Dragon Saber, and it has the profundity of Spring and Autumn and copious might. Unfortunately, after the last appearance of the Heaven Deity Palace, its location was lost with the death of Ba Dao¡­


    "The fourth Divine Armament is the Peach Blossom Fan. Its wielder is Tang Shushu, known as the most handsome man of the Pugilistic World''s Orthodox Dao! The fifth Divine Armament is the Heaven Earth Man Providence Mirror¡­ After that, it''s the Five Elements Cloud Qi Sword, Righteousness Ruler, White Tiger Pole, Dragon Engraving Bow, and Black Tortoise Shield!"


    The old storyteller spoke continuously while the other Martial Artist sneered. "Harping on the same old thing. Isn''t this the same ranking as last time?"


    "It''s true for the Divine Armaments, but the changes for the Demonic Armaments are large! Furthermore¡­ the Armament Manual issued by the Armament Repository records all the information on various armament-wielding martial artists and even the previous wielders. This act is completely different from the ones before which individually ranked the Armaments. For instance, the seventh Righteousness Ruler was broken in the Heaven Deity Palace with the death of Kong Fanxing, but a few righteous swordsmen brought the pieces out and returned them to the Kong family for repair¡­ There''s actually a layer in the middle, and the Kong family has a secret technique named ''Everlasting Righteousness''. Even though the Righteousness Ruler has been broken, it can be repaired as long as there''s a tiny fragment left!"


    This was truly secret information that had not been spread before, and the martial artists became attentive.


    "After the Divine Armaments, it''s the Demonic Armaments!" The old storyteller drank a mouthful of tea. "There are a few changes in the Demonic Armament rankings. The first four are still the Seven Slaughter Tiger Soul Saber, Sky Fiend Claw, Li Perishing Sword, and Mystic Yin Maiden Gonfalon. However, the first and third Demonic Armaments are lost, showing that the heavens do not favor the Demon Dao. The fifth Evil God Armor was squeezed out by the Blood Imbibing Saber and dropped to the sixth. The Kuiniu Eye became seventh. After that, it''s the Myriad Poison Cauldron, Purple Cloud Bead, and Prolonged Grievance Hook!"


    "The Blood Imbibing Saber jumped to fifth?"


    The martial artists in the restaurant looked at each other, and nobody was able to retort.


    The Blood Imbibing Saber owner, Nangong Wuwang, had won every battle since his debut. Even the former wielder of fifth Divine Armament, the Heaven Earth Man Providence Mirror, Chen Qiyou was killed. It seemed to be within reason that its ranking improved?

 807 Invitation to Battle

    "Speaking of the Pugilistic World¡­ Since there are new rankings in the Armament Manual, we must talk about the important events concerning each armament owner!"


    The short old man looked at the piles of copper and silver coins in front, and his face lit up, smiling from ear to ear. "Recently, there was an important event that coincidentally happened near Emerald Rock Commandery. Has everyone heard of the Five Elements Cloud Qi Sword before? Rumors say that this sword''s blade has colorful cloud-like patterns and its brilliance is dazzling. Whenever the sword appears, there would definitely be an unusual phenomenon. The previous generation''s Sword Grandmaster became publicly known as first in the Sword Dao by depending on this sword!"


    "Of course we''ve heard of it before! The sixth Divine Armament!"


    All the other martial artists rolled their eyes. "Don''t keep us on tenterhooks. Say it quickly!"


    "All right!" The old storyteller waited a moment, confirming that there was no one else tipping him, before saying at a pace that was neither fast nor slow, "The owner of the Five Elements Cloud Qi Sword this generation has been born, and she''s somehow provoked the Demon Sect. The Demon Sect''s Curmudgeon Myriad Poisons has invited her to battle at Heaven Capital Peak!


    "This Curmudgeon Myriad Poisons is from the Six Dao Demon Sect and the Dao Master of the Myriad Poison Dao. His whole body poison techniques are said to be world-shaking. He was even the one that created the Gaseous Poison skill, which changes unpredictably and kills invisibly. It''s said that this demon''s enemies would usually deliver their lives in a daze without even exchanging blows!"


    ¡­


    "Looks like this news is really true. Heaven Capital Peak, I must go and take a look. I missed the battle between the Blood Imbibing Saber and the Heaven Earth Man Providence Mirror, so no matter what, I can''t miss the opportunity this time again. Otherwise, I''ll definitely regret it my whole life!"


    The martial artists in the restaurant exchanged glances, fire burning in their eyes.


    Of course, a few hot-headed people cried out, "In history, evil has never defeated righteousness. The Myriad Poison Cauldron is only ranked eighth, so how can it compare to the sixth-ranked Five Elements Cloud Qi Sword?"


    "Sigh¡­ Even so, the Demon Sect doesn''t mind using shameless methods when they handle matters¡­" The old storyteller sighed faintly. "The Five Elements Cloud Qi Sword owner is said to be a lady, but two fists have difficulty overcoming four hands¡­ Furthermore, with the precedent of the Blood Imbibing Saber, who would be able to guarantee that? Armaments only play a supporting role in the Pugilistic World rankings. Most important is still the person themselves!"


    These words caused the atmosphere to turn slightly depressing instantly.


    Many martial artists drank their alcohol and ate their meals, but no one knew what they were thinking or planning to do.


    "Big Stone¡­"


    In a corner, there were three people sitting at a table.


    One of the young ladies pulled the sleeve of the honest and good-natured youth sitting beside her.


    "Ah¡­ You still want to eat?" asked the youth innocently as he raised his head. The food crumbs could still be seen on the corner of his mouth. He had thick brows, large eyes, and was utterly honest and good-natured.


    "Eat, eat, eat! All you know is to eat! You pig!"


    The girl rolled her eyes.


    Her hair was tied into two large braids, and her small face was scrunched up currently. "Stone Oaf, you ate too much. We won''t have enough money! Also¡­ did you hear that just now? The Five Elements Cloud Qi Sword! Although we didn''t know before, the Old Man had admitted that it was his sword, even though he gave it away!"


    This girl was naturally Fu Hongmian, and the honest and good-natured youth was the Sword Grandmaster''s favorite disciple, Shi Lei.


    "Master''s sword?"


    Shi Lei wiped his mouth and his face became solemn. He glanced at the person sharing the table beside him, but stopped himself from speaking even though he looked like he was about to.


    Although he was honest and good-natured in front of his junior sister, he was also mature and well-behaved.


    "Looks like I''m disturbing!"


    The one sitting with them was a girl wearing black clothing. Her brows and eyes were as beautiful as a drawing, but her temperament was as chilly as ice.


    If Fang Yuan were here, he would have certainly recognized her.


    Previously, he had met a girl named Xiaodie while making a ruckus at the Jiang family of Boyang Commandery.


    Of course, the Jiang Xiaodie now was a completely different person. Not only that, but she was also carrying a long strip of cloth on her back and had the appearance of someone from the Pugilistic World. "I was originally an outsider, so I''ll leave first."


    "No way. Sister Xiaodie has a warm heart despite your cold surface. You''re a great person. Furthermore, didn''t we agree to make a living in the Pugilistic World together?"


    Fu Hongmian stopped her and pulled on Jiang Xiaodie''s arm, saying, "There''s nothing we can''t say, right, Stone Oaf?"


    "That''s right¡­" Shi Lei scratched his head but was dumbfounded in his heart. You''ve already said it, so what''s the point of asking.


    "Five Elements Cloud Qi Sword was your master''s sword¡­ I truly had eyes but failed to see, not realizing that you two were actually disciples of the Sword Grandmaster. Truly disrespectful¡­" Jiang Xiaodie said calmly.


    No matter what she said, the tone was neither warm nor cold, as if she was being sarcastic.


    However, Fu Hongmian willfully went with it. "Sister Jiang, please don''t be bothered about this Stone Oaf!"


    All right! It''s me! It''s me again! It''s me who''s unjustly blamed again!


    Shi Lei rolled his eyes.


    "Speaking of this¡­" Jiang Xiaodie unintentionally took a glance behind her before saying while fiddling with her black hair, "You two are the inheritors of the Sword Grandmaster, so why wasn''t the Five Elements Cloud Qi Sword passed down to you two?"


    "Who knew what the Old Man was thinking?"


    Fu Hongmian said angrily, "That Old Man normally had no money for drinking and was so poor he wished that a coin could multiply, but to hide so many swords secretly¡­ And not tell us!"


    Although she was angry, her eyes were red when she finished speaking.


    "We''ll definitely avenge Master!" Shi Leu clenched his fists. "Demon Sect¡­ Sky Fiend Dao Master!"


    "He''s the formidable authority of the Demon Sect. Moreover, since the battle in the Heaven Deity Palace, he''s vanished without a trace. No one knows if he was heavily injured and secluded himself to treat his injuries, or if he had died inside. Even if he was found, so what? Can you beat him?"


    Jiang Xiaodie sneered.


    Shi Lei''s martial arts were decent. In fact, it was more than decent and already at first-grade. However, compared to Sky Fiend Dao Master and other peak figures, he still lacked years'' worth of accumulation.


    "That''s right!"


    Mentioning this, Fu Hongmian was enraged and kicked Shi Lei. "There were so many rare swords, but Stone Oaf only chose a stone sword. You truly are the death of me!"


    "The stone sword is really nice to use. Furthermore¡­ Master had it fall next to me, so there must be a deep meaning!"


    Shi Lei touched his weapon.


    It was a long, stone sword.


    While it was called a sword, it was somewhat insulting to the word ''sword''. To outsiders, it was a thick and heavy slab of stone that was barely carved into the form of a long sword. The handicraft was incomparable clumsy, like a child had conveniently scrawled it.


    "However, I feel that the material of this sword is unusual. Normal stones break after getting struck by other swords, but this stone sword could last until now¡­" Jiang Xiaodie said comfortingly.


    "What''s the use of having good material, to pound someone dead?" Fu Hongmian was still enraged. "Stone Oaf, we should go to Heaven Capital Peak to look at who has the Five Elements Cloud Qi Sword. If it''s one of Master''s old acquaintances, I won''t say anything, but if they aren''t related, you''ll take it. At most, you can help her dispatch that whatever Curmudgeon Myriad Poisons. This is helping her to our best already¡­"


    "How could we do that?"


    Shi Lei shook his hands quickly.


    However, Jiang Xiaodie nodded. "Shi Lei, your sword¡­ Although it isn''t ordinary, it''s really too heavy. You should get a Divine Armament to fight against your enemy! However, Curmudgeon Myriad Poisons is already at Heavenly Phenomenon, and those that can compete with him aren''t simple! It''s better to be safe than sorry."


    "It''s all because of Shi Lei! He''s too dumb¡­ Oh, right!" Fu Hongmian complained out of habit but suddenly thought of something. She looked at Jiang Xiaodie and asked, "Sister, why are you traveling in the Pugilistic World?"


    "Me?" Jiang Xiaodie touched the long strip behind her back and replied, "It''s to find a¡­ person worthy of my attack! I hope he¡­ won''t disappoint me¡­"


    As she said that, it seemed as though that overbearing and wild figure appeared before her eyes.


    ¡­


    Heaven Capital Peak.


    At the moment, at a dangerous place in Emerald Rock Commandery, there was a mountain peak that was like a sword piercing the clouds. At the midsection of the mountain, there was a dragon-like cloud encircling. The sight was spectacular.


    Since news of the battle between the current generation Five Elements Cloud Qi Sword owner and the Demon Sect''s Curmudgeon Myriad Poisons at the mountain peak had spread, the mountain had become thoroughly crowded. It was unknown how many martial artists came, but unfortunately, they were reminded of their disastrous defeat at the foot of the mountain.


    However, every expert had their own ego. How could they tolerate it when they were treated like monkeys in public?


    Thus, the Demon Sect had already assigned people around the area to clear the scene.


    Of course, what they needed to clear were merely the small fish. The true experts were unconcerned.


    "Wow¡­ So many people!"


    At the moment, there was a fighting ring in front of the path up the mountain, and many martial artists were surrounding it.


    This was what Shi Lei saw when he arrived.


    "What happened?"


    Fu Hongmian was lively and directly grabbed a martial artist beside her to ask.


    The martial artist wanted to explode, but his temper became much better when he saw that it was such an innocent and adorable girl. He said, "It''s all because of those demon brutes. They''ve shamelessly sealed the mountain, and Gu Qixing even said that whoever could defeat him while he''s using half his strength would be able to witness the battle on the mountain! Wait until I adjust my Qi properly, and I''ll definitely go beat the crap out of him. He''s basically bullying us Orthodox Dao martial artists!"


    Of course, this was all talk. It was impossible for him to really go up and fight.


    After all, Gu Qixing had made fierce progress during the last year and had already entered first-grade. Even though he was not at Heavenly Phenomenon yet, he was still one of the best! Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting.


    This martial artist knew about his own matters, and he could only be called mighty in a small commandery. If he really got on stage, with his middling skill, he would probably be knocked off with a kick and lose face.


    Those in the Pugilistic World could lose their lives, but their face and reputation could never be lost. Otherwise, dying was better than living.


    "Gu Qixing!" Hearing this news, Fu Hongmian''s eyes lit up even brighter. He pulled Shi Lei''s arm. "Stone Oaf, go and beat him!"


    "Ah?" Shi Lei touched his head. "Why?"


    "Are you dumb? If you don''t beat him, how do we go up the mountain? Besides¡­ this person isn''t Heavenly Phenomenon yet, so you can definitely beat him!"


    "Haha!"


    The martial artist beside them was speechless. How could this pair of youths boast more wildly than him?


    Did they know what a first-grade grandmaster was? Not being Heavenly Phenomenon still meant that he was undoubtedly at the peak of the Pugilistic World and sufficient to found a sect.


    It was almost enough to make even the masters of a few large holy grounds need to maintain appearances.

 808 Probe

    Thump!


    Gu Qixing kicked, causing a fellow calling himself North Sky Hero to be knocked out of the fighting ring.


    "Too weak! You''re too weak!"


    He shook his head and sighed while looking at that grandmaster''s face turn red as he escaped in embarrassment.


    In fact, he had such qualifications.


    After the battle with the Jiang family''s patriarch, he had drawn a lesson from that bitter experience and made himself train harder. He had already reached first-grade grandmaster and was even unbeatable among the same age group, save one!


    Blood Imbibing Saber? Nangong Wuwang!


    He had suddenly appeared and was like a sun that snatched away all radiance, causing the stars to lose their splendor.


    But it''s all right¡­ Nangong Wuwang depends on the Blood Imbibing Saber and has unstable foundations. Who knows, maybe he''s wrecked his vitality after using some unknown secret technique. In this year, he''s been extremely low-profile. Keeping silent and laying low is clear proof¡­ With a few more years, I''ll definitely enter Heavenly Phenomenon and exceed him!


    Gu Qixing''s heart was filled with wild ambitions.


    Compared to this, he was still more worried about the Six Dao Demon Sect''s situation.


    After the Heaven Deity Palace battle, Lady Temptress and Ghosteye had survived, but Sky Fiend Dao Master had truly passed away, resulting in chaos in the Demon Sect.


    Just when they had recently recovered a little of their vitality, they were stepped on by a new female swordsman.


    Otherwise, Curmudgeon Myriad Poisons would not have bullied the young and appeared on stage.


    However, these foreign aggressions were trivial matters. What truly worried Gu Qixing were the internal problems.


    He did not know if it was an illusion or not, but recently, he felt that there was something wrong with the atmosphere in the Demon Sect, as if there was some undercurrent hiding.


    "¡­ I am Stone Oaf¡­ Wait! Shi Lei, and I''ve come to seek advice!"


    Just as Gu Qixing was absent-minded, an honest and good-natured youth with thick brows and large eyes slowly climbed up onto the ring and stood opposite him.


    "What happened?"


    Gu Qixing frowned and glanced at the Demon Sect soldier closeby.


    Although he was guarding here, not just anyone could be his opponent.


    Seeing this, the soldier quickly signaled with his hands, causing Gu Qixing to understand immediately. A grandmaster. Defeated the previous two trials. Deeply hidden¡­


    He looked at Shi Lei and slightly squinted as he said, "Pretending to be a pig to eat a tiger¡­ I''ll turn you into a real pig!"


    Gu Qixing set his mind, his eyes emitting a cold light.


    "Beat him! Beat him, Stone Oaf!"


    Below the ring, Fu Hongmian was very excited. After thinking a bit, she unveiled her big move. "If you don''t win¡­ I¡­ I will ignore you!"


    Whoooo!


    This scene caused many spectators to laugh, also managing to slightly relieve the vicious currents in the ring.


    "All right! All right!"


    Shi Lei was flustered but still took out his weapon.


    "This¡­"


    Once the stone sword appeared, Gu Qixing''s eyes were suddenly a little sluggish.


    "Haha¡­" The whole scene became silent, then shortly after filled with laughter. "That''s a sword? It''s obviously a stone pillar!"


    "An immature and inexperienced child still dares to presumptuously come forward?"


    ¡­


    The grandmasters defeated previously also criticized him without hesitation.


    Even though they could see that Shi Lei truly had skill, they were still bitter and harsh because they certainly did not want this honest and good-natured fellow to beat Gu Qixing.


    After all, Gu Qixing had defeated them. If he defeated Gu Qixing, it would mean that he was above them.


    If it was a Pugilistic World elder or a famous chivalrous hero, it was still all right. But if it was a rash person like this, they were afraid that they would not be able to lift their heads in the future.


    However, Gu Qixing did not laugh.


    He realized that this honest and good-natured youth opposite him had instantly changed into another person after holding the stone sword.


    He was steady and reserved, like jade just exposed after grinding a stone and could not wait to emit its radiance.


    Chang!


    His wrist shook and his long sword was unsheathed.


    The Seven Stars Sword had been damaged years ago, and Gu Qixing''s current sword was a sandalwood sword.


    Compared to the nameless metal sword of the Jiang family''s patriarch, he was undoubtedly a step further, reaching the realm of accepting wood as a sword.


    "Please!"


    The two moved into position, and Sword Qi suddenly permeated everywhere.


    Although it was merely just this, many Pugilistic World elders changed their expressions and squarely faced this coming great battle.


    "What a good swordsman. This spirit¡­ reminds me of the previous generation''s Sword Grandmaster!"


    "After today''s battle, Shi Lei''s name will definitely spread throughout the Pugilistic World¡­ It''s only a nickname right, or is he really called Stone Oaf? This is too¡­"


    "Gu Qixing also isn''t simple. He was defeated by the common metal sword used by the Jiang family''s patriarch, but today, he changed to using a wooden sword. This Sword Dao mastery is probably unique among the youths, and his ability must have exceeded the Petal Rinsing Divine Sword now!"


    "A fierce battle between giants, it''s really a fierce battle between giants!"


    "Even if I can''t witness the battle between the Five Elements Cloud Qi Sword and the Myriad Poison Cauldron today, this journey wasn''t in vain¡­"


    ¡­


    "Wooden sword! Is a wooden sword very powerful? Wood is not as heavy as stone, nor as hard as stone!"


    Below the ring, Fu Hongmian clenched her small fists tightly.


    "Hmm¡­ This makes sense!"


    Beside her, Jiang Xiaodie nodded and her face twitched. She could not maintain her image as an ice-maiden.


    "Right? Sister Xiaodie also thinks like this!" Fu Hongmian had a proud look. "Stone Oaf can definitely win!"


    "This is¡­" Jiang Xiaodie smiled and looked at the Pugilistic World boors shouting loudly beside them, feeling complicated listening to them say that Gu Qixing had already surpassed the Petal Rinsing Divine Sword. "Is¡­ the Petal Rinsing Divine Sword really no match for Gu Qixing?"


    "Of course¡­" replied the martial artist beside her. "Have you seen the Armament Repository''s latest Heaven Roll and Earth Roll? The Heaven Roll records Heavenly Phenomenon experts, while the Earth Roll records first to ninth-grade experts. On the Earth Roll, Gu Qixing is ranked seventh. Compared to the tenth Petal Rinsing Divine Sword, he''s two ranks higher!"


    "What does the Earth Roll count as? I see that this demon has pretty good luck. Maybe one day, he''ll get on the Heaven Roll!"


    "Promoted to Heavenly Phenomenon? With his natural endowments, this is really feasible. Although this fool of an opponent also has some cultivation¡­ Ah!"


    Just as the two martial artists were discussing happily, an agonizing scream was abruptly heard, and they spit out a mouthful of blood-stained teeth.


    "Who dares plot against us?"


    They were enraged, but the next moment, a sound broke through the air and multiple pebbles hit their faces, causing them to cry out loud and wail while hugging their heads. They no longer dared say words of revenge.


    "Sister Xiaodie?"


    Fu Hongmian''s eyes widened.


    Although the others did not discover it, standing nearest to Jiang Xiaodie, she had realized something.


    She did not expect that a chivalrous woman that was the same as her senior brother and her, who had come out to make a living in the Pugilistic World, was also a deeply hidden expert!


    "Don''t tell me your martial arts are better than Stone Oaf''s?"


    Fu Hongmian covered her red lips.


    Although her own martial arts were not good, she had had a great master and thus very good eyes. When Jiang Xiaodie truly made a move, she had instantly discovered it.


    "Our paths had crossed and we hit it off at first glance, but now, we have to separate!" Jiang Xiaodie stroked Fu Hongmian''s hair and said hesitantly, "Also¡­ treat your Brother Stone better. There aren''t many men like him in the Pugilistic World!"


    "No! Sister, don''t go!"


    Fu Hongmian was on the verge of tears and did not have any mind to focus on what was happening in the ring.


    "Fate will start and end, so don''t hold on to it too much!"


    Jiang Xiaodie slowly untied the cloth strip behind her back and held it in her hands.


    "Tsk tsk¡­ Looks like I made it on time for a good show!"


    Fang Yuan, who was wearing all white and was unarmed, slowly walked in between the ladies. After looking at Fu Hongmian''s pupils, he was even said playfully, "Miss, you have to know that in every sect, the junior sister is intended for the senior brother¡­ What you did was lure in a wolf, which is very, very dangerous. Be careful of your sweetheart being taken away."


    "Who are you? And¡­ what sweetheart, taken away?"


    The girl widened her eyes and was slightly confused.


    But it seemed as if something in her heart was struck, and she slightly realized a bitterness.


    "Blood Imbibing Saber! Nangong Wuwang!!!"


    Jiang Xiaodie''s expression changed, and the cloth strip in her hands transformed into butterflies and exploded, exposing a quaint long sword.


    This sword was faint blue, and there were blood-colored lines on its body. There was even a blood hole in the middle, and terrifying demonic thoughts wreaked havoc. It looked like it would swing at Fang Yuan at any time.


    "The third Demonic Armament, Li Perishing Sword? Looks like the Jiang family really hid many secrets!"


    Fang Yuan looked at Jiang Xiaodie serenely. He was completely unarmed, but he was greater than any other pressure, almost preventing Jiang Xiaodie from breathing.


    Lady Temptress and Ghosteye were his people. In this one year, he had naturally infiltrated the Demon Sect.


    Currently, he only lacked three of the Demon Sect''s top ten Demonic Armaments.


    Therefore, Fang Yuan, the Armament Repository Master who rarely appeared, decided to make a move after being silent for so long and went to Heaven Capital Peak to recover the armaments.


    The Five Elements Cloud Qi Sword and the Myriad Poison Cauldron were enough for him to make the journey here.


    And at the moment, he seemed to have discovered a more interesting toy.


    "The inheritor of the Sword Grandmaster? Stone sword?"


    Fang Yuan looked at Shi Lei, who was on the fighting ring, and then looked at Fu Hongmian and Jiang Xiaodie.


    Hmm, he had to say that these two girls each had their own beauty, each having their strong points. However, they both seemed to adore that silly boy?


    No matter how I look at it, he has the feel of a main character¡­ Unfortunately¡­ my great plan needs the true Celestial Thearch Sword!Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting.


    Even if the possibility that that silly boy was the owner of the Celestial Thearch Sword was above fifty percent, Fang Yuan would still not make a move easily.


    After all, it only got more challenging at the end. It was one of his strategies to get the more easily obtained Divine Armaments and Demonic Armaments before dealing with the Celestial Thearch Sword.


    Furthermore, if he slaughtered him too early, the Celestial Thearch Sword would not appear at all, and he would not be able to complete his Pseudo Dao plan. At that time, who could he cry to?


    "What? He''s the Blood Imbibing Saber?"


    Fu Hongmian and the surrounding martial artists were all shocked, quickly retreating a certain distance.


    At the moment, there were less than ten people in the Pugilistic World who knew that Nangong Wuwang was the master of the Armament Repository. However, the Nangong Wuwang identity was scary enough.


    The Blood Imbibing Saber owner! A Heavenly Phenomenon martial artist!


    Under these halos, even the two youths in the ring were overshadowed.

 809 Fairy Sec

    Fang Yuan stood with his hands behind his back and casually said, "Miss Xiaodie, you really seem to desire a fight with me."


    "I must avenge the Jiang family!"


    The Li Perishing Sword suddenly emitted brilliant blue light, as if it had sensed its owner''s determination.


    "Which Jiang family?" Fang Yuan said in a teasing tone, knowing that only Xiaodie could understand his words. "Honestly¡­ I''m very happy. Your presence is a pleasant surprise, as you have brought the Li Perishing Sword to me!"


    Unarmed, he took two steps forward.


    Jiang Xiaodie''s expression was solemn. Her acupoints opened and closed all over her body, preparing to trigger a heavenly phenomenon!


    As the Li Perishing Sword owner, she had progressed quickly into the Heavenly Phenomenon realm!


    "Very good!" But Fang Yuan did not look impressed at all. "Congratulations, Miss Jiang. You will appear on the Heaven Roll of the Armament Repository next month!"


    This man!


    Fu Hongmian retreated continuously, her eyes full of fear.


    Their friend, Xiaodie, had been traveling with them for a long time, but it was unexpected that she was a Demonic Armament owner and a Heavenly Phenomenon!


    Even scarier was that she was suppressed by a young man barehanded!


    Even though this young man was Nangong Wuwang, this scene was still too shocking!


    Damn it! I can''t endure this any longer if Stone Oaf doesn''t finish the battle quickly! Fu Hongmian complained silently and glanced at Shi Lei.


    Schwing!


    At this moment, a clashing of swords was heard in the ring, and two silhouettes separated immediately.


    Crack!


    Gu Qixing stared at the broken wooden sword in his hand with slightly glazed eyes. "I lost!"


    He had cultivated diligently, made breakthroughs, and fought in the Pugilistic World once again hoping to salvage his reputation. However, he was defeated once more, and by a mere nobody?


    Could I¡­ really not be gifted?


    These continuous blows made Gu Qixing doubt his ability.


    "Junior Sister!"


    Meanwhile, Shi Lei ignored the exclamations from the audience and leaped off the ring in a hurry to protect Fu Hongmian behind him. "I won''t allow you to hurt my Junior Sister¡­ and Miss Jiang!"


    "Hehe¡­ How affectionate!"


    Fang Yuan could not help laughing while his eyes glistened.


    Superficially, this youth named Shi Lei was merely a gifted young man.


    But the stone sword behind his back had a mysterious spiritual aura, corresponding with the heavens and the earth. From the stars to the mountains and rivers, all was under its influence.


    Of course, since the Divine Armament concealed its power, it would be useless even if Fang Yuan wrested it away.


    The Celestial Thearch Sword has recognized its owner. Can only this person bring the Divine Armament into the light of day?


    But he''s only a nobody right now, so do I need to help him become more powerful?


    Fang Yuan suddenly felt a headache.


    When he had read novels in his previous life, he had always felt that the antagonist was so stupid. The antagonist had left a lot of time and opportunities for the protagonist to grow stronger. Moreover, the antagonist even sent his subordinates, whose abilities were always just enough, to sharpen the protagonist''s skills.


    But now, he had to be the stupid antagonist for once.


    "Brother, the problem isn''t whether I''ll let her off, but whether she''ll attack me¡­"


    Fang Yuan shrugged and looked at Jiang Xiaodie. "So¡­ Miss Jiang?"


    Jiang Xiaodie''s expression was cold, and she seemed prepared to wield the Li Perishing Sword at any moment.


    But then she saw the worried looks on Shi Lei''s and Fu Hongmian''s faces. Laughing bitterly, she sheathed her sword. "Blood Imbibing Saber owner¡­ After this battle on Heaven Capital Peak, there''ll be a fight between us!"


    "It''s good that you can size up the situation and stay humble at the right time!"


    Fang Yuan nodded.


    This woman had matured a lot since her family was decimated.


    If she had dared to wield the sword just now, she would have died miserably.


    The ability to hold back her murderous intent and sheathe her sword suggested her broadmindedness and boldness.


    But the most crucial part was her luck!Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting.


    With that thought, Fang Yuan stopped exerting pressure. The heavy pressure covering the entire area suddenly dissipated.


    Gu Qixing was all smiles when Fang Yuan strolled toward him. "Since Blood Imbibing Saber Senior Nangong is here, I won''t dare obstruct your way! Please!"


    Gu Qixing was only a first-grade grandmaster after all, and it would be absurd if he dared to stop a Heavenly Phenomenon.


    He was no match for Jiang Xiaodie either. Bowing respectfully, he invited the four of them onto the mountain path before straightening up. He then glanced at the rest of the martial artists coldly. "Anyone else?"


    He could not wait to vent his spleen on these martial artists.


    ¡­


    "Hey hey¡­ Are you really Nangong Wuwang?


    "I heard that you rank seventh on the Heaven Roll!"


    On the mountain route, Fu Hongmian could no longer hold back her curiosity. She chattered around Fang Yuan like a lark, her large eyes blinking as she talked.


    "Miss Jiang, is this your enemy?" Shi Lei shivered at the sight of Fang Yuan. "He feels really frightening¡­"


    "Although I''ve broken into Heavenly Phenomenon, I''m still very far from his level!" Jiang Xiaodie had a cold expression. From the short confrontation just now, she was clear about the distance between Fang Yuan and herself. "But it''s fine. As long as I''m still alive, I can make another attempt¡­ Now that he''s ignoring me, this is my best chance!"


    All four of them were experts in the Pugilistic World and swiftly went up the mountain with ease.


    However, Shi Lei felt uneasy because Fang Yuan kept following the three of them, as if he was already their close friend.


    When they arrived at Heaven Capital Peak, Shi Lei could no longer endure and shouted, "What¡­ in the world do you want to do?"


    "Nothing. I just want to verify a conjecture!"


    There was a platform at the peak where a few martial artists sat cross-legged and settled down.


    The last three martial artists on the Divine Armament Roll were present, but only Ghosteye came here to represent the Demon Sect.


    Curmudgeon Myriad Poisons and the Five Elements Cloud Qi Sword owner had not appeared yet.


    Fang Yuan and the others attracted a lot of attention upon arriving at the peak.


    "Blood Imbibing Saber¡­ Nangong Wuwang!"


    "Is that girl carrying the Li Perishing Sword on her back? She must be in Heavenly Phenomenon if she can master that Demonic Armament!"


    "I thought that Gu Qixing was the top talent of the Demon Sect, but he''s no match for either of them!"


    Many people began whispering.


    As for Shi Lei and Fu Hongmian, they were directly overlooked.


    "Why hasn''t the battle started yet?" Fu Hongmian craned her neck, but found that the battle had not started yet. She felt somewhat disappointed but simultaneously excited. "I didn''t miss it after all!"


    "Curmudgeon Myriad Poisons! Show yourself!"


    After a while, a woman''s voice was heard in the fog.


    Chi! Chi!


    Sword radiance suddenly appeared and split into five colors.


    The radiance shimmered and transformed into a rainbow. A valiant woman in neat clothes tread on the rainbow as she approached the peak. Her eyebrows were like swords and her eyes were like stars, and the thin sword in her hand was three feet three inches long.


    This sword had a purely golden color and emitted a mysterious five-colored light. There were patterns of the Five Elements on the blade.


    The sixth Divine Armament¡ªFive Elements Cloud Qi Sword!


    "What? Old Poison Creature, are you scared?"


    The woman was indeed arrogant, directly calling for her opponent after reaching the platform.


    "Hehe! You''re too rude!"


    With sinister laughter, Curmudgeon Myriad Poisons walked out from a shadow.


    His looks were pretty good. He wore a green robe and had the manner of an immortal. His eyebrows and beard were red like fire, while some of his hair had turned greyish white.


    His look would be eccentric in any mortal world.


    This was Myriad Poisons Dao Master of the Demon Sect, Curmudgeon Myriad Poisons.


    "Xie Xuanyun!"


    Curmudgeon Myriad Poisons ruined his aura with a hoarse voice. He had hurt his vocal cords when using poisons at a young age. Although he had recovered from the injury, he still suffered from the aftermath. "You killed three of my disciples! If I let you leave Heaven Capital Peak today, I''ll reverse my name!"


    "Old Poison Creature, your disciples were thousands of times less capable than you, but they were ten times more arrogant! They often bullied men, raped women, and plundered others'' belongings. I happened to see them committing a crime, so I directly killed them. What''s wrong with that? I was also helping you dispose of unqualified members!"


    "You¡­" After hearing that domineering declaration, Curmudgeon Myriad Poisons seethed with anger despite his self-control. "Young girl, don''t argue with me. Since we''re in the Pugilistic World, we''ll ultimately resolve this with a battle. I''ll let you attack first!"


    Having finished his sentence, he stood with his hands behind his back just like a grandmaster.


    However, those in the Demon Sect familiar with Curmudgeon Myriad Poisons took a step back at the same time.


    After all, Curmudgeon Myriad Poisons was famous for the Gaseous Poison! It was capable of killing invisibly!


    "All right!"


    Xie Xuanyun shouted, and the fiery red pattern on the Five Elements Cloud Qi Sword shone brightly.


    Chi! Chi!


    Fiery clouds emerged around her.


    Every attack by the Five Elements Cloud Qi Sword would certainly be accompanied by an unusual phenomenon!


    The fiery clouds were not ordinary fire, but heavenly fire. They were so powerful that they evaporated all the Gaseous Poison immediately.


    The fiery light was followed by the thick, yellow color of earth.


    The Five Elements Cloud Qi Sword had the forces of the Five Elements.


    Xie Xuanyun started the battle with fire in order to cope with the Gaseous Poison in the air.


    Fire generated earth, earth generated metal, metal generated water, and water generated wood. Right now, the sword transformed continuously according to this order, amplifying its power by more than ten times.


    Rumble!


    Waves of the Five Elements surged onto the battlefield and triggered mind-blowing heavenly phenomena.


    "Ah!"


    The Old Poison Creature stared with his eyes wide open. He opened up his sleeves and released two dark clouds.


    Numerous golden-skin wasps in the dark clouds fearlessly attacked the Five Element Cloud Qi.


    Chi! Chi!


    Curmudgeon Myriad Poisons waved his hand again, and the air was suddenly shaken.


    Streams of black Qi emerged to form scorpions, centipedes, toads, and other poisonous creatures in the air, charging at the waves of the Five Elements.


    Shi Lei found his trip worthwhile, witnessing this battle between top martial artists of this generation.


    "I didn''t realize that years had gone away until I came down the mountain today!"


    While the audience watched the battle nervously, a voice reciting a poem suddenly rang out in everybody''s ears.


    "Such a celestial voice?"


    A few seniors exchanged glances and immediately thought of the source of the voice. "The Fairy Sect?"

 810 Besiege and Kill

    This person had the ability to let everybody hear her voice during the battle between two Heavenly Phenomenon martial artists, alerting everyone to the presence of another Heavenly Phenomenon.


    "I am Bi Luokong from the Fairy Sect. Please forgive me for coming without prior notice!"


    Speaking with a distinct voice, a young lady walked gracefully toward the battlefield.


    She appeared to be around twenty years old and had fair skin. While she dressed as a male scholar with a gentleman''s headcloth, she was still attractive in an unusual way.


    Even Ghosteye took a deep, cold breath when he saw Bi Luokong''s face.


    "This lady is so beautiful!"


    Although she dressed like a man, Bi Luokong was still beautiful and sacred like the immortal fairies from the Dunhuang Feitian.


    She seemed to be the embodiment of all truth, kindness, and beauty in the world¡ªa spirit that represented justice and light.


    Bi Luokong arrived at Heaven Capital Peak, but instead of mediating the fight, she first approached the group of people near Fang Yuan.


    "Young Master Shi Lei¡­"


    Bi Luokong''s feet were like moving lotuses, shifting a few kilometers within a moment and appearing in between Shi Lei and Fu Hongmian.


    Her sleeves shook gently, sending both of them far away and letting them land steadily without a scratch.


    This godlike technique separated them from Fang Yuan with well-controlled angle and force.


    Of course, this was also because Fang Yuan did not care.


    Otherwise, if Fang Yuan had taken the chance to attack the Sacred Lady, he would have taught her a good lesson.


    At this moment, even Jiang Xiaodie''s eyes glistened.


    While Fang Yuan had a righteous excuse, he was actually moving in a way that suppressed the three of them, especially Shi Lei and Fu Hongmian, and could take their lives as he wanted.


    But Bi Luokong easily resolved their unfavorable situation. Her ability was indeed impressive.


    Fang Yuan ruminated as he looked at this. "The Coiled Dragon Silk?"


    The Coiled Dragon Silk was the second Divine Armament and wielded by the Sacred Lady of the Fairy Sect.


    Bi Luokong''s cultivation had reached Heavenly Phenomenon, and together with the aid of the Coiled Dragon Silk, her ability was not to be underestimated.


    "Thank you¡­ Miss Bi!"


    Shi Lei heaved a sigh of relief and thanked Bi Luokong after seeing that Fang Yuan was not chasing after them.


    "Young Master Nangong¡­" Bi Luokong gazed at Fang Yuan, her eyes gleaming. "For the sake of all people in the world, may I request you put a stop to your actions?"


    "Oh? It seems that you''ve discovered something. After all, the Fairy Sect is the greatest force of the Orthodox Dao¡­" Fang Yuan shrugged casually. "But how much do you know about it?"


    "Young Master¡­" Bi Luokong laughed bitterly. "What have all people done to deserve this? If you''re willing to retire, I can always serve you. What do you think?"


    "Heroes will eventually be defeated by old age, as well as tender Affection Silk?"


    Fang Yuan was stunned as he saw all the beauty of the world in this lady''s eyes. He could not help murmuring, "Is this the truth about the Coiled Dragon Silk?"


    The hardest thing in the world existed not in the mundane world, but in the human heart. It was known as the Affection Silk!


    The Affection Silk was long and tensile, extending without breaking. The Fairy Sect had mastered the Coiled Dragon Silk with affection, but they were not on an immoral path.


    Moreover, the Affection Silk Dao was lingering and complicated. The previous masters of the Coiled Dragon Silk succeeded in most of their attempts to persuade demonic martial artists who rampaged through the Pugilistic World.


    This also resulted in the development of the Fairy Sect.


    "What if I don''t agree?" Fang Yuan squinted.


    "If you insist, I''ll have to invite you to the Fairy Sect."


    "Hehe¡­ I wonder why you''re so confident!" Fang Yuan laughed out loud sarcastically.


    Bi Luokong said with a smile, "The Fairy Sect has been paying close attention to you for a long time. For example¡­ should I call you Young Master Nangong or the Armament Repository Master?"


    Shi Lei and Fu Hongmian shuddered at her words.


    When the Golden Breeze Drizzle Building broke down, countless people had wanted to reap some benefits from it, but a mysterious force had devoured all of it before they could plunder anything.


    And that mysterious force was the Armament Repository! However, the identity of its master was unknown.


    As time passed, some people were used to this new ruler, while those who genuinely rebelled against him were completely annihilated.


    There were naturally many rumors about the remolded Armament Repository in the Pugilistic World.


    But nobody expected that the mysterious Armament Repository Master was Nangong Wuwang!


    "Unbelievable, unbelievable¡­"


    The news was too shocking. Even Fu Hongmian stopped arguing with Shi Lei, her eyes opening wide. "This man is the mysterious Armament Repository Master! Oh my¡­"


    "I defeated Chen Qiyou and took all of his belongings, so what?" Fang Yuan asked, without any intent to conceal the fact he had reaped all the benefits.


    "There''s indeed nothing wrong with that, but I can''t agree with what you''re doing now¡­ The Armament Repository is gathering all the Divine Armaments and Demonic Armaments in the world, which is blatant robbery! You threatened to kill the entire Kong family to force them to repair the Righteousness Ruler, and what was that for?"


    Bi Luokong''s mesmerizing eyes stared at Fang Yuan. "Furthermore¡­ having collected so many Divine Armaments and Demonic Armaments, why did you bring nothing with you?"


    Fang Yuan was unarmed right now, not even bringing the Blood Imbibing Saber, much less the Seven Slaughter Tiger Soul Saber.


    "Very good. The Fairy Sect has lived up to its reputation, and your investigation is quite thorough!"


    Fang Yuan shrugged as he looked at the battlefield where the Five Elements Cloud Qi Sword was fighting against Curmudgeon Myriad Poisons. "Was this bait as well? You made the arrangements just to attract me here?"


    "That''s right. Given your identity and status, only the presence of two Divine Armaments could attract you here," Bi Luokong answered calmly. "The Orthodox Dao and the Demon Dao must collaborate in order to cope with you¡­ Armament Repository Master, you controlled experts in both the Orthodox Dao and the Demon Dao using Yin Yang Talismans, but Divine Doctor Sacred Hands has found a flaw and cured them. I look forward to seeing how many of them are still on your side!"


    Chi! Chi!


    As soon as she finished her sentence, Curmudgeon Myriad Poisons and Xie Xuanyun stopped fighting, and two streams of light swept toward Fang Yuan.


    "You were indeed putting on an act!"


    Fang Yuan retreated quickly, and the ground cracked around him. After evading the attack with ease, he looked at Ghosteye. "You also betrayed me?"


    "How can I betray you if I''ve never been loyal to you?" Ghosteye shook his head. "Your intention to conquer the Demon Dao was too obvious. Since the Demon Sect is losing and unstable, some elders decided to take action. I-I should naturally shoulder my responsibility!"


    Pa! Pa!


    Fang Yuan clapped. "What a good move!"


    The Sacred Lady of the Fairy Sect seldom appeared, but once she did, she would shock the heavens and the earth.


    She could readily seduce everyone, and Fang Yuan was speechless seeing so many old guys under her command.


    "Stone Oaf!"


    Fu Hongmian pulled Shi Lei''s sleeve cautiously, implying that she wanted to leave early.


    Evidently, she clearly knew what a giant vortex she was standing beside.


    If she was a little careless, she would be shattered into pieces.


    But when Jiang Xiaodie witnessed this, her eyes suddenly glistened. "Scoundrel Nangong, you''re dead!"


    "Sigh¡­ I only wanted to collect Divine Armaments, so why do you have to force me?"


    Fang Yuan let out a faint sigh as he looked at the people in front of him.


    Bi Luokong was the leader organizing and advocating this action, so she immediately attracted part of Fang Yuan''s attention.


    Other than Bi Luokong, there were Xie Xuanyun and Curmudgeon Myriad Poisons, the wielders of a Divine Armament and a Demonic Armament respectively.


    And there were three other Demon Sect members who used to wield Demonic Armaments.


    Together with Jiang Xiaodie, there were eight Heavenly Phenomenon martial artists right here!


    What could a Heavenly Phenomenon do in the Pugilistic World? They could easily found a sect and do whatever they wanted.


    But now, all of them had gathered here to kill Fang Yuan. This was a huge effort.


    "Armament Repository Master, I apologize!" Ghosteye distanced himself from Fang Yuan. "I''m afraid your martial arts have reached Nie Kuang''s level, breaking through Heavenly Phenomenon, so we only have a chance of defeating you by cooperating!"


    "Kid, serves you right!"


    White Tiger Crone and the other two who had lost their Divine Armaments became red-eyed.


    It was totally reasonable that they hated Fang Yuan and betrayed him.


    Fang Yuan had not only controlled them with a peculiar technique, but also wrested away their Divine Armaments.


    Armament-wielders who lost their armaments would become laughing stocks in the Pugilistic World!


    Therefore, they had cooperated and provided a lot of information, which was crucial to setting this trap.


    "The Li Perishing Sword, the Myriad Poison Cauldron, and the Five Elements Cloud Qi Sword!" Fang Yuan counted silently. "It''s pretty good if I can take back three Divine Armaments at once. However, all of you¡­ have mistaken my character!


    "Nobody can ever threaten me nor make me compromise!"


    Fang Yuan roared and suddenly disappeared.Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting.


    "Be careful!"


    Bi Luokong''s pupils contracted. She saw Fang Yuan''s figure flash and emerge above the three former Divine Armament owners.


    "Murdering God White Tiger!"


    White Tiger Crone was wide-eyed and struggled desperately. Although she was only wielding a pole made of common fine steel, she could easily crack open a mountain with a strike.


    Bang!


    A giant shield smashed down from the sky.


    And the Dragon Engraving Bow owner quickly distanced himself and placed three arrows on his bowstring.


    "Creation Divine Fist!"


    Of course, Fang Yuan would not give them much time and punched straightaway.


    Rumble!


    It looked as if God Pan had just created the world, refining earth, fire, wind, and water.


    The space around him was crushed, and even sunlight was blocked, as if there was a black hole.


    "No!"


    How ferocious was this punch? It directly smashed the giant shield, penetrated the martial artist behind the shield, and reached White Tiger Crone.


    Unfortunately, the crone was capable as well. On the brink of death, she managed to turn swiftly and retreat continuously.


    Roar! Roar!


    Fang Yuan punched again, which transformed into the forms of the Four Symbols and pounced at the crone''s back.


    Poof!


    Blood splattered; a Heavenly Phenomenon was killed!

 811 Ambush

    Poof! Poof!


    Dragon Engraving Bow owner''s three arrows exploded into pieces behind Fang Yuan.


    Fang Yuan grabbed the fragments and casually threw them, sending them back even faster.


    The Dragon Engraving Bow owner shrieked pathetically as numerous bloody holes appeared on his body.


    He immediately saw a being like a Demon God, and the giant silhouette smashed him into oblivion with a single punch.


    A suffocating silence spread through Heaven Capital Peak. It took a while before Fu Hongmian reacted and murmured to herself, "It-It can''t be real¡­"


    Everything that had happened today was too unbelievable.


    She had only come here with her senior brother to watch the battle but had encountered Blood Imbibing Saber Nangong Wuwang.


    Furthermore, she learned that Nangong Wuwang was the Armament Repository Master, and everything that had happened today was only a trap designed to kill him?


    Moreover, Nangong Wuwang''s martial arts were so powerful that he beat three Heavenly Phenomenon martial artists to death with his bare fists?


    She felt that she had to be dreaming, not even able to move a finger in this suffocating atmosphere.


    "These mere pests couldn''t even withstand a single blow!"


    Fang Yuan shook his head and laughed. He took a glance at the shivering Ghosteye, and then looked at the Sacred Lady of the Fairy Sect, Bi Luokong. "If you use the Coiled Dragon Silk and collaborate with these guys, you may stand a chance against me!"


    He was already in the Divine Demon realm. Moreover, he had deprived the three Divine Armament owners of their Divine Armaments. Even though Divine Doctor Sacred Hands had cured them of the Yin Yang Talismans, they were still no match for him.


    Only the Five Elements Cloud Qi Sword owner, Xie Xuanyun; Curmudgeon Myriad Poisons; and Bi Luokong deserved Fang Yuan''s attention.


    Of course, Jiang Xiaodie should probably be counted as well.


    "Building Master, why do you have to do this?"


    Bi Luokong frowned, her delicate facial features almost breaking every man''s heart.


    But Fang Yuan''s expression was still as cold as ice. Suddenly, he waved his sleeve again.


    Chi! Chi!


    The sound of things rotting rang out in the air, and the ground within ten meters of Fang Yuan melted immediately.


    Curmudgeon Myriad Poisons was extremely disturbed by this sight because he knew that his little trick was discovered and that the Gaseous Poison, the trick he was the most proud of, was forced back.


    "I ranked all the Heavenly Phenomenon martial artists in the Heaven Roll. Based on your ability, the four of you may be among the top ten¡­" Fang Yuan said calmly as he stood with his hands behind the back, showing his absolute confidence. "But you only have a single chance to attack me!"


    Schwing!


    The next moment, the sound of a sword rang out.


    Anyone hearing this sound would feel sorrow, as if they saw a sect collapsing and a family dying, and would become overwhelmed by perversity and hatred.


    The third Demonic Armament! The Li Perishing Sword!


    Jiang Xiaodie was the youngest among them, and with the weakest mental cultivation, she was the first to attack.


    She was afraid that she would not have the courage to face Nangong Wuwang if she waited any longer!


    "All right! The Five Elements Cycle!"


    The Five Elements Cloud Qi Sword immediately followed the Li Perishing Sword, forming five huge flowers of the Five Elements. These flowers overlapped and transformed into a giant five-colored light sphere, making a loud sound as it smacked down.


    "Heavenfell Poisoning!"


    Seeing this, the eyes of Curmudgeon Myriad Poisons glistened. A bronze incense burner appeared in his hand, and he attacked with his full strength.


    "Adversity of the Heart, Affection Silk Softens!"


    Bi Luokong let out a long cry, and translucent silk threads suddenly appeared in her hands.


    These silk threads seemed simultaneously real and illusory, possessing some incredible power.


    Fang Yuan''s expression was not so serious even when he was besieged by the three owners of Divine Armaments and Demonic Armaments.


    He floated forward like a willow catkin.


    Buzz! Buzz!


    The Coiled Dragon Silk slid by his sleeve and cut off a corner from it.


    "When it comes to sharpness, the Coiled Dragon Silk can definitely be ranked among the top three of all armaments, even above the Li Perishing Sword¡­"


    After evading a thin silk thread, Fang Yuan''s eyes gleamed.


    Many translucent silk threads suddenly appeared in air like deadly laser beams arranged in all directions. A rock on the side was cut, revealing a cross-section as smooth as a mirror.


    Swoosh! Swoosh!


    Threads of the Coiled Dragon Silk spread all over the place like a spiderweb.


    It was so sharp that even Fang Yuan did not want to directly confront it with his body.


    "Demon¡­ Die!" Jiang Xiaodie seized the opportunity and stabbed three times continuously. "Three Blossoms Dipped in Blood!"


    Poof! Poof!


    Three puffs of Sword Qi exploded in front of Fang Yuan like plum blossoms. Xie Xuanyun and Curmudgeon Myriad Poisons seized this chance and followed up with murderous attacks.


    "Idiots!"


    Fang Yuan saw this and sneered.


    He brought his palms together and continuously smashed the air in front of him, as if he was forging something.


    Suddenly, he struck out a palm.


    Bang!


    The air shook violently, and Jiang Xiaodie''s expression suddenly changed. She held her sword horizontally in front of her chest and kept retreating. A deafening sound rang out, and the Li Perishing Sword was bent, as if it was hit by a hammer heavily.


    Ding!


    Fang Yuan gripped with his right hand and launched a sword attack!


    The movement of the Five Elements Cloud Qi Sword was immediately hindered, and a distinct sound was heard on the blade, as if it had clashed with an invisible armament.


    After forcing back two of them, Fang Yuan pounced forward and chopped down with his palm.


    "The Sky Fiend Seven Slaughter!"


    Poof!


    Saber radiance emerged and immediately split into seven streaks, piercing into Curmudgeon Myriad Poisons'' seven apertures.


    He was stunned before all his apertures exploded and his blood splattered; he was as dead as a doornail.


    This saber attack was as ferocious as evil ghosts from hell!


    Ding! Ding! Dang! Dang!


    Fang Yuan gripped with both hands, as if he was really holding a saber and a sword, and fought against the Coiled Dragon Silk in the air. Bi Luokong seemed to be having a hard time.


    "Is this¡­ the Invisible Qi Armament?"


    Outside the battlefield, Shi Lei was stunned as he watched this shocking battle. "Master said that the Sword Dao begins with the pursuit of Divine Armaments, but the swordsman will learn to let go of this pursuit and use common iron armaments instead. In the end, anything in the world can be used as a sword! However, there''s still a realm above that, known as the Invisible Qi Armament! The swordsman can wield the force of the universe via their own Essence Soul. This force is invincible and represents the ultimate level of martial arts¡­ Is he actually in the realm of Invisible Qi Armament?"


    He finally understood why Fang Yuan did not bring along any powerful armament.


    That was because Fang Yuan''s palms were the most suitable armaments for him!


    "If that''s the case, isn''t this demon invincible?" Fu Hongmian murmured as she witnessed this.


    "Not really. The invisible Qi Armament is only the top realm in the Sword Dao, and Master also said that the Armament Dao is of the utmost importance in this world¡­ The top three Divine Armaments and Demonic Armaments are actually comparable to the Invisible Qi Armament!"


    Shi Lei shook his head. "What I''m worried about is whether Miss Bi and the others can persevere after their advantage in armaments is negated by the Invisible Qi Armament."


    "Xie Xuanyun, if you can withstand this sword attack, why don''t I spare you this time?"


    Fang Yuan let out an extended roar. He twisted his body like a ghost, his hand holding an invisible Divine Armament and striking it out. "Killing someone in ten steps! Dazzling sword radiance!"


    Swoosh!


    A faint beam of sword radiance slid past.


    Xie Xuanyun stayed silent as her Five Elements Cloud Qi Sword transformed into a five-colored light shield to protect her entire body.


    Ding!


    A white ray flashed and pierced the light shield before penetrating her forehead.


    Ping!


    This new owner of the Five Elements Cloud Qi Sword, a Heavenly Phenomenon, fell weakly onto the ground.


    "Attack!"


    Meanwhile, Jiang Xiaodie and Bi Luokong attacked Fang Yuan frantically instead of retreating.


    After all, they were both clear that if they did not take this chance to defeat Fang Yuan, they would have no chance at all after he recovered his strength.


    "The Omnipresent Affection Silk!"


    Bi Luokong plucked at the strings. Threads of Coiled Dragon Silk intersected to form a giant net.


    "The Nine Li Perishing Sword Moves!"


    Under the net of Affection Silk, Jiang Xiaodie looked determined. She bit her tongue and spit her essence blood onto the Li Perishing Sword.


    Woo! Woo!


    The Li Perishing Sword emitted brilliant light. Dark clouds gathered in the sky and lightning was vaguely visible in the clouds.


    Legend had it that when the Li Human Sect was annihilated, the Li Perishing Sword appeared and summoned lightning to kill all the invaders.


    The power of the third Demonic Armament was truly displayed at this moment.


    "It''s no use!"


    Fang Yuan attacked with both the saber and the sword, his imposing manner shooting into the sky. It even dispersed the dark clouds and stopped the lightning.


    This was an extremely shocking scene to behold, seeming like he had poked a hole in the heavens.


    Bi Luokong and Jiang Xiaodie took a few steps backward, flushing like two drunk immortal fairies relegated to the mortal world. Even Shi Lei was stunned.


    "Phew¡­"


    Fang Yuan let out a long breath and did not chase after them.


    Two distinct sounds were heard from both of his hands.


    It was evidently not easy for him to defeat the two ladies.


    At this moment, there was an abrupt turn of events!


    Bang! Bang!


    The ground cracked and two silhouettes rushed out.


    Before then, they had been like dragons hiding in deep water, not even leaking their auras.


    Their sudden attack was as astounding as thunder.


    It was beyond doubt that they were experts trying to ambush Fang Yuan, wanting to seize the opportunity to kill him while he was recovering!


    Poof! Poof!


    Neither of them carried any armament, but a cutting sound was heard as they gripped their hands. Apparently, they had also mastered Invisible Qi Armament!


    "I''ve been waiting for you two!"


    Fang Yuan revealed a sinister smile and suddenly attacked.


    Bang! Bang!


    The Invisible Qi Armament fused in front of him and confronted the incoming attack with toughness!


    A cracking sound was distinctly heard.


    After the two Qi Armaments cracked, a large amount of True Qi pierced the two opponents like steel needles.


    In the deafening noise, the two bodies exploded into a mess of blood.


    "Tsk tsk¡­ They were elderly martial artists who only had the strength to attack once! It must have been hard on you to ask them to ambush me!"Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting.


    Fang Yuan shook his head and looked at Bi Luokong.


    Clearly, other than the overt siege by the eight Heavenly Phenomenon martial artists, there were these two covert trump cards as well.


    Aging was an unsolvable problem to the martial artists in this world.


    It was very likely that the two old guys were previous elders of the Orthodox Dao and the Demon Dao respectively, and they were extremely close to the Divine Demon realm.


    They had forcibly adjusted from their retirement and risked their lives to attack Fang Yuan with all their strength.


    Of course, they could only do so once. If they could not kill the enemy, the enemy would kill them.

 812 Plan

    If the Heaven Roll had been published thirty years ago, these two grandmasters of the Orthodox Dao and the Demon Dao would have ranked among the top three. However, they were crushed into ground meat just like that!


    Although the Sacred Lady of the Fairy Sect, Bi Luokong, had been confident of her plan all along, she was also shocked by this scene.


    "So? Still want to attack me?"


    Fang Yuan turned around and looked at Ghosteye with a sarcastic smile.


    "I¡­ I¡­" Ghosteye was extremely awkward.


    This trap designed carefully by the Orthodox Dao and the Demon Dao was shattered in the blink of an eye. He was indeed overwhelmed by the situation.


    But now, with a wan smile on his face, he could only close his eyes and await death.


    "Hmm¡­ Old dog, you may still have some value!"


    With the intent to exploit Ghosteye to sharpen Shi Lei''s skills, Fang Yuan pointed at Shi Lei and Fu Hongmian. "If you can kill the two of them and bring their heads to me, I''ll spare your life!"


    "Really?" Ghosteye asked in surprise.


    He had never imagined that Fang Yuan would give him a second chance!


    But in Fang Yuan''s eyes, he was already dead.


    Did the subordinate sent to the protagonist by the antagonist ever have a chance of survival?


    However, Fang Yuan''s indifference reassured Ghosteye, who suddenly pounced at Shi Lei.


    "Junior Sister, run!"


    Shi Lei lifted the stone sword and stopped Ghosteye.


    While Ghosteye was like a dog under Fang Yuan''s control, he was a powerful Heavenly Phenomenon who could easily kill a first-grade grandmaster.


    As soon as they started to fight, the stone sword vibrated with a buzz, implying that Shi Lei could not hold on any longer.


    "Leave!"


    At this moment, the Sword Qi of the Li Perishing Sword blocked Ghosteye.


    "Young Master Shi Lei, please bring your junior sister down the mountain immediately! People from the Fairy Sect are waiting for you!"


    Bi Luokong blocked Fang Yuan''s path, the clothes covering her chest stained by blood. A melancholy expression was seen on her beautiful face.


    "Oh? Why do you care so much for this silly boy?" Fang Yuan stared at Bi Luokong, looking interested.


    "In the Pugilistic World, the Orthodox Dao will exist eternally!" Bi Luokong said firmly as numerous threads of the Coiled Dragon Silk joined to form a giant spiderweb.


    Chi! Chi!


    Another two threads extended out, but instead of killing, they were used to save.


    "Miss Jiang, Miss Bi?"


    In a daze, Shi Lei flew dozens of feet away under the influence of a tender force.


    "Leave now!"


    When they landed, Fu Hongmian finally recovered from her shock and grasped Shi Lei''s hand, hastily rushing down the mountains.


    "No¡­ I must save them!" Shi Lei looked determined.


    "Stone Oaf, do you wanna die¡­ Nangong Wuwang is too scary!" Fu Hongmian grasped his arm. "I don''t care. If you don''t go with me, I''ll jump off this mountain and end my life!"


    "You¡­"


    Shi Lei had no other choice. Looking at Fu Hongmian''s eyes, he suddenly shuddered. He knew that if his junior sister saw him courting death, she might really die with him!


    Suppressing his desire to help and disregarding the overflowing Qi at Heaven Capital Peak, he quickly reached the foot of the mountain with Fu Hongmian.


    "Are you Young Master Shi Lei?" Two maids in white were waiting for them here. "Sect Master has invited you to visit the Fairy Sect! The fate of the Orthodox Dao and the happiness of all the people in the Pugilistic World will depend on you!"


    "Uh¡­ all people in the world?" Shi Lei rubbed his eyes. "What does it have to do with me? I haven''t washed my face after getting up today¡­"


    ¡­


    Heaven Capital Peak.


    Fang Yuan twisted his hand. Jiang Xiaodie cried out as she felt a sharp pain in her wrist, and Fang Yuan grabbed the Li Perishing Sword flying out of her hand and wielded it lightly.


    Swoosh!


    Countless translucent silk threads surged forward and wrapped around the sword, forming a transparent sphere.


    "The Sky Fiend Seven Slaughter!"


    He gripped the other hand and used the Sky Fiend Seven Slaughter Style. Bi Luokong cried out and seven continuous sounds like strings breaking rang out on her body.


    She was pale and knelt on the ground.


    "What a bunch of useless people!" Fang Yuan glanced at Ghosteye. "The Armament Repository will soon dominate the Pugilistic World. If you can''t accomplish this, you won''t be tolerated anywhere in the Pugilistic World of the Divine Continent!"


    "Building Master, don''t worry! I''ll definitely bring their heads to you!"


    Ghosteye''s face was malevolent.


    If Jiang Xiaodie had not stopped him, he could definitely have killed those two kids.


    Knowing that this was his last chance, he hightailed it out of here.


    "Armament Repository Master¡­ Do you want to conquer the Pugilistic World?"


    Bi Luokong and Jiang Xiaodie were kneeling on the ground. While they were badly injured and had lost their Divine Armaments, Fang Yuan did not take their lives. Instead, he clapped his hands gently.


    Four men in green came forward silently and brought them into a carriage.


    "You''ll know my intention in due course."


    Fang Yuan gave the order. With the crack of a whip, the carriage immediately set out.


    Jiang Xiaodie did not know how long they had traveled for, but she saw a huge building when she got off the carriage.


    The nine-floor building was built on a cliff, as if it was overlooking all mountains in the world.


    "The headquarters of the Golden Breeze Drizzle Building? Or rather, the Armament Repository?"


    Bi Luokong''s eyes gleamed mysteriously as she gazed at the building.


    "I''m honored to have the both of you as my guests today!"


    Fang Yuan had changed into casual clothes and led the way like a young gentleman.


    Heat waves were surging in the Armament Repository.


    Unlike the intelligence agency that the two ladies had imagined, the Armament Repository Headquarters had taken on a new look.


    Instead of pigeons flying into the building with letters, precious minerals and all sorts of fuels were continuously being transported into the building, making the place look like a giant factory.


    "Hmm? Gong Shuqian? Xiahou Yan?" Bi Luokong sighed when she saw two elderly armament artisans passing by. "Renowned armament artisans in all parts of the Divine Continent disappeared this year. Did you cause that as well?"


    "The Fairy Sect has investigated me covertly for a long time, so didn''t you have a clue?"


    Fang Yuan shrugged and brought both of them to the center.


    Fire blazed in a horrifying furnace, melting all the rock around it. They felt like they were in hell.


    Fang Yuan was an expert at forging armaments as well. He glanced at the Li Perishing Sword in his hand and ordered, "Come, bring forty-nine sariras of eminent monks to neutralize the demonic nature of the Li Perishing Sword!


    "As for the Coiled Dragon Silk? It''s harder to cope with than the Li Perishing Sword, so I need to think carefully about it!" he said to himself, but the two ladies beside him looked shocked.


    They felt like they could see the remains of many Divine Armaments in this frightening furnace.


    "Do you really want to forge the ultimate Demonic Armament to confront the Celestial Thearch Sword?" Bi Luokong murmured. "It''ll make no difference. The Celestial Thearch Sword is the ultimate treasure of the Orthodox Dao and the top Divine Armament in the world. No other armament, not even one you forge from the ten Demonic Armaments, can be as powerful as it!"


    "Of course I know this, but you talk too much!"


    Fang Yuan clapped his hands. A beautiful palace lady gracefully approached him with a purple bead in her hands.


    "The Purple Cloud Bead?"


    Bi Luokong''s pupils contracted again.


    "Hmm, that''s right. Pass this bead together with the Myriad Poison Cauldron and the Five Elements Cloud Qi Sword to the masters down there. They can contribute to the incipient processing steps! Tell them that I''ll fulfill all my promises once they complete everything!"


    Fang Yuan waved his hand and took out the Myriad Poison Cauldron and the Five Elements Cloud Qi Sword. "Moreover¡­ I''ve sent Ghosteye to deal with Shi Lei. You''ll go and assist him!"


    "Understood!"


    The beautiful lady was a bit doubtful, but she withdrew respectfully, leaving behind the shocked and bewildered Bi Luokong.


    "Right now, I''ve gathered all the Divine Armaments and Demonic Armaments in the Armament Manual except the Celestial Thearch Sword!" Fang Yuan extended a hand. "Furthermore, the furnace will finish refining the armaments in 81 days! I''ll hold the Pugilistic World Meet then and let all sects acknowledge allegiance to me! How''s that? Can the Fairy Sect stop me?"


    "We''re naturally no match for you, but what about the Celestial Thearch Sword owner?" Bi Luokong was reluctant to admit defeat.


    "Are you talking about that silly boy?" Fang Yuan smiled sarcastically.


    He knew it! He actually knew it!


    Bi Luokong was stunned into a state of panic.


    The Fairy Sect had met the previous Celestial Thearch Sword owner and observed the sword before, but even so, she was uncertain about her deduction.Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting.


    But how did Nangong Wuwang know?


    Moreover, if he took Shi Lei seriously, why didn''t he capture this opponent at Heaven Capital Peak?


    Although they had tried their best to stop Fang Yuan, they were not really confident that they could prevent him from killing Shi Lei.


    With a mysterious smile on his face, Fang Yuan gave the order to imprison the two ladies. "Spread the message that I''ll kill them both as sacrifices in the meet! Will Shi Lei come to save them? I can motivate him by putting him under pressure this way."


    ¡­


    After everyone else had left, Fang Yuan took out an iron hook.


    It was the former ninth Demonic Armament and the tenth now¡ªthe Prolonged Grievance Hook!


    "The Nangong family may have to change their name and continue moving, preferably overseas¡­"


    Since he had the hook, he had surely been to his family and made the necessary arrangements.


    After all, even if he succeeded in what he would do next, he would have to leave immediately. Therefore, he had to prepare his family for the future in advance.


    With that thought, Fang Yuan entered another room.


    The room was filled with thick blood color. Purplish-red veins extended continuously on the blade of a giant demonic saber at the center.


    "Let''s go!"


    He grabbed the Blood Imbibing Saber and left for the wilderness at lightning speed.


    Swoosh! Swoosh!


    Thick, blood-colored light fused onto the blade and transformed into the image of a demon.


    "The Essence Soul of the Great Sanguine Demon, we''re even now that I''ve released you!"


    He had gathered all the fragments of the Sanguine Demon''s Essence Soul in less than two years.


    Despite that, the demon had been dead for many years and would need some time to regain part of his strength.


    Of course, this Sanguine Demon would definitely disturb the Divine Continent Pugilistic World, but that would be none of his business.

 813 Sword Owner

    At the gates of the Fairy Sect.


    Clear streams meandered through the mountains, and cranes and apes were vaguely seen in the rising fog.


    A small lake was encircled by the mountains. Its surface was as smooth as a mirror and glittered like jade.


    "Phew¡­ Is this the Fairy Sect? It looks ordinary!" Fu Hongmian exhaled and looked at the women farming in the plantations on both sides. "It''s¡­ different from what I imagined!"


    "Even martial artists are mortals and can''t live without basic necessities. The Fairy Sect cultivates the Dao of transcending the mundane world by living in it, so we must practice a lot! Everyone, including the Sacred Lady, makes a living on her own!"


    A lady in light yellow clothes smiled and said, "Of course, your senior brother and you are honored guests, so you''ll enjoy the best we have to offer!"


    She was still slightly astonished after she said that.


    After all, the Fairy Sect only accepted females. Even if that silly lad was a first-grade grandmaster, why would he be favored by the sect master?


    "Bad news, Senior Sister Yellow Oriole!"


    Two young ladies in red were panting as they ran up the hill in a panic. "The Armament Repository declared that it''ll hold the Pugilistic World Meet two months later to discuss the leadership of the Pugilistic World, and¡­ and¡­ the Armament Repository Master will kill Jiang Xiaodie and the Sacred Lady as sacrifices in the meet!"


    "What?" Yellow Oriole''s expression suddenly changed. "This is serious. I need to inform Master about this. Follow me!"


    The group of people hurried toward the center of the lake, but Fu Hongmian was preoccupied as she followed them.


    She did not know what others would do, but she was sure that the silly Stone Oaf would try to save Xiaodie.


    She felt even more upset at the thought of Fang Yuan''s words.


    The sect master of the Fairy Sect was a graceful, middle-aged woman. With a Daoist hairstyle and a Daoist robe, her temperament was like a nun who had taken vows for Buddhistic cultivation. It could vaguely be seen that she had once possessed unparalleled beauty, but now she seemed to be steady and composed.


    "Since the Armament Repository has made the declaration, Luokong and Miss Jiang will be safe and sound for at least two months!"


    "I know that, but Stone Oaf is so silly. He''ll definitely go to rescue them! What should I do? What should I do?"


    Fu Hongmian''s eyes turned red, about to burst into tears.


    "By that time, we won''t be the ones who need to worry!"


    A strange look flashed across the Fairy Sect Master''s eyes.


    "Where did you bring Stone Oaf?" Fu Hongmian pretended to be crying, but she stared stealthily at the Fairy Sect Master through the space between her fingers.


    "Don''t worry. Your Senior Brother Shi Lei is experiencing something beyond imagination!" The Fairy Sect Master smiled like an amiable elder. "The seniors he''s meeting with are all top martial artists of the Orthodox Dao who have enjoyed great prestige for decades!"


    Roar! Roar!


    As soon as she finished her sentence, the earth shook and the lake was disturbed, as if an evil dragon stirred underwater.


    Splash!


    Suddenly, a torrent of water shot out of the lake like a white dragon flying into the sky.


    Rumble!


    It was immediately followed by dark clouds and the rumbling of thunder.


    "A Heavenly Phenomenon?!"


    The Fairy Sect Master was stunned by the scene.


    "Stone Oaf, did you break into Heavenly Phenomenon?"


    Fu Hongmian was exhilarated and waved her arms.


    Splash!


    The white, water dragon rolled and landed ashore, transforming into a human figure. He had thick brows, large eyes, and was honest-looking with an indescribable temperament.


    With a bit of his manipulation, the large amount of water flowed back into the lake, but it did not splash onto the shore at all due to his perfect control.


    But now, Shi Lei did not appear happy about his advancement, his eyes slightly red. "Senior Kuang, Senior Hong, and Senior Ma¡­ have passed away!"


    "The three of them, together with Elder Bai who died at Heaven Capital Peak, were pillars of the Pugilistic World in the previous generation, and they''ve been living in the Small Mirror Lake since their reclusion! They made an exception to meet you and even gave you all of their cultivation power. Do you know the reason?"


    The Fairy Sect Master had an indifferent expression, suggesting that she had expected everything.


    "Because of it?"


    While Shi Lei was honest and good-natured, he was not stupid. He took out his stone sword.


    The sword still looked crude and mediocre, but it had many more cracks on the blade.


    "That''s right. This sword is the legendary Celestial Thearch Sword!" The Fairy Sect Master nodded. "And you are the sword owner of this generation, chosen by the Celestial Thearch Sword! That''s why the seniors died for your sake! Heavenly Phenomenon is the minimum requirement for mastering the Celestial Thearch Sword, and you''re now capable of exploring the mysteries in the Celestial Thearch Sword."


    "What? The Celestial Thearch Sword?"


    "The top Divine Armament in the world?"


    Fu Hongmian, Yellow Oriole, and the others were hearing this secret for the first time. All of them stared at Shi Lei fervently.


    Yellow Oriole and the other Fairy Sect disciples were especially attracted to Shi Lei, as if he possessed unusual glamor now.


    "The Celestial Thearch Sword¡­ The Celestial Thearch Sword¡­"


    Shi Lei felt lost for a moment before realizing what had happened as he stared at the stone strip in his hand.


    "The Sword Grandmaster was the top martial artist in the Sword Dao, but he chose to live as a recluse at the peak of his life. This sword might be the reason¡­" the Fairy Sect Master speculated. "As for its appearance now, it''s because the Divine Armament has concealed its real value. You can reveal its true features when you gain its recognition! Only then can you defeat the Armament Repository Master! Did you know that he''s become increasingly ambitious and is prepared to execute Jiang Xiaodie and Bi Luokong in the Pugilistic World Meet¡­"


    "The Pugilistic World Meet? When will it begin?"


    Shi Lei gazed at the stone sword in his hand.


    Rays of light were emitted from the cracks. Just like jade hidden in an ugly stone, its luster could no longer be concealed once a corner of the stone was cut off.


    "Two months later!"


    Suddenly, the Fairy Sect Master turned around and hit a rockery beside them with her palm.


    Rumble!


    Her slender hand exerted a shocking force. The granite was crushed into powder and the rockery collapsed.


    Within the cloud of dust, a dark silhouette pounced at Shi Lei at lightning speed. "Give me the Celestial Thearch Sword!"


    Of course, the intruder was Ghosteye!


    He was adept at concealment and tracking, and he had followed Shi Lei all the way to the Fairy Sect, even hearing the shocking secret.


    Unfortunately, shocked by the secret of the Celestial Thearch Sword, he had exposed himself.


    Therefore, he chose to attack as soon as the Fairy Sect Master discovered him.


    After all, it was the Celestial Thearch Sword¡ªthe top Divine Armament in the world! No other armament was comparable to it!


    If he could obtain it, he would be able to fight against Nangong Wuwang!


    As for Shi Lei? He was not worried about a Heavenly Phenomenon who had just broken through.


    The sudden change took place right beside them!


    Ghosteye was extremely fast. Within a moment, he went past the Fairy Sect Master and reached Shi Lei. "Boundless Heaven and Earth, Five Lightning Righteous Technique!"


    He struck out his palm, which carried the sound of storm and thunder with it. It was shockingly the lost martial arts technique, ''Five Lightning Hand''!


    Ghosteye''s ability was distinguished among Heavenly Phenomenon even without the Kuiniu Eye. Otherwise, he would not have survived the competition within the Demon Sect.


    "About time!"


    Shi Lei held the sword straight with no intention of evading the attack.


    But something strange happened.


    The tip of the stone sword shook. It slashed through the lightning and directly reached Ghosteye. "Lightning Breaking Style!"


    Chi!


    With a single sword strike, the lightning retreated and a hint of Sword Qi pierced into Ghosteye''s chest.


    "Im-impossible!"


    Ghosteye fell to the ground, blood foam overflowing his mouth.


    As an experienced Heavenly Phenomenon, he could not understand why he was as powerless as a baby in front of the opponent.


    It happened with Shi Lei, as well as the Armament Repository Master. He felt that he had wasted his entire life.


    In fact, there were always such people in chaotic times.


    In the Orthodox Dao, they lived in obscurity but would always pass all their cultivation power to the protagonist in times of crisis.Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting.


    The antagonists would put up a fight because they were unwilling to be forgotten, but the protagonist would defeat them with ease.


    That was because the birth of the Son of the World was the result of a great convergence, which they were way too powerless to change.


    "Cough cough¡­"


    Ghosteye coughed and spit out blood mixed with organ fragments. He was at his last gasp.


    "Don''t worry. I won''t let you die!"


    At this moment, Shi Lei took a few steps forward and prolonged Ghosteye''s life with inner force. "If you want to escape the Armament Repository''s control, you must collaborate with me!"


    Shi Lei was preoccupied with thoughts about sneaking into the Armament Repository and saving Jiang Xiaodie.


    Fu Hongmian was dejected when she saw this.


    "All right¡­ I''ll tell you!!"


    People would become more afraid of death as they got older, and this applied to Ghosteye as well.


    Having witnessed Shi Lei''s powerful martial arts, he surrendered immediately. It did not matter that he had betrayed his masters many times.


    At this point, his expression suddenly changed. "Not good! The Amorphous Dao!!!"


    "What?"


    While Shi Lei''s martial arts were now peerless, he did not react in time.


    Chi!


    At this moment, a maid in red who had been following Yellow Oriole revealed a sinister smile. She cut Yellow Oriole''s and another maid''s throats and then controlled Fu Hongmian with ease.


    "The Demon Sect''s Amorphous Dao Master?"


    There was a flicker of movement in the eyes of the Fairy Sect Master, but she did not attack. "I didn''t expect that the entire Demon Sect would support Nangong Wuwang!"


    "The mission of the Demon Sect is to conquer the world. Since he''s the Blood Imbibing Saber owner and has tamed the Tiger Soul Saber, he''s the true master of the Demon Sect!" Amorphous Dao Master said matter-of-factly.


    Evidently, the prolonged internal strife in the Demon Sect had finally reached a conclusion.


    The power supporting Fang Yuan had prevailed.


    Amorphous Dao Master was still disguised as a girl, her eyes glaring at Shi Lei. "If you don''t want your lover to die, kill Ghosteye and throw the Celestial Thearch Sword to me!"

 814 Sharpening the Blade

    "Don''t hurt Hongmian! I''ll do anything you want!"


    Although he had broken into Heavenly Phenomenon, Shi Lei panicked when he saw his junior sister threatened.


    "Lad¡­ The Amorphous Dao is best at cheating! Don''t believe them! Even if you kill me and hand over the Celestial Thearch Sword, they won''t return her to you!"


    Ghosteye was desperate.


    His life was in Shi Lei''s hand.


    And anyone would know how to choose between a lovable junior sister and a disgusting old man.


    "I¡­" Shi Lei hesitated.


    Seeing this, Fu Hongmian let out a mournful laugh.


    Of course, she knew that her silly senior brother was not reluctant to give up the Celestial Thearch Sword nor kill Ghosteye.


    But Ghosteye was equivalent to the only chance to save Jiang Xiaodie! While she also knew that Shi Lei would definitely compromise after some hesitation, she was still disappointed by his attitude.


    For some unknown reason, she suddenly recalled what had happened when they met Nangong Wuwang for the first time.


    "Miss, you have to know that in every sect, the junior sister is intended for the senior brother¡­ What you did was lure in a wolf, which is very, very dangerous. Be careful of your sweetheart being taken away."


    She had only felt slightly bitter at that time, but now she felt hopeless.


    "Stone Oaf¡­ Goodbye!"


    She laughed mournfully and lunged toward the blade in front of her neck.Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting.


    Poof!


    Blood spewed everywhere.


    Amorphous Dao Master was stunned, not understanding why this hostage courted death in such a hurry! It was abnormal!


    But he did not have time to ponder.


    Because he had to confront the furious Celestial Thearch Sword owner in the next moment.


    "You!!!"


    Shi Lei was red-eyed, and the stone sword emitted brilliant light when he slashed with it.


    The heavens and the earth rumbled as if they were responding.


    Amorphous Dao Master lifted his saber to block the attack, but he was like a mantis trying to stop a chariot. The saber immediately broke, and he was shaken into a bloody mess under the force.


    "Why¡­ Why are you so silly!"


    Shi Lei embraced Fu Hongmian''s corpse and burst into tears.


    Tick! Tick!


    Affectionate tears fell onto the Celestial Thearch Sword and penetrated the cracks.


    Crack! Crack!


    The stone sword immediately underwent a mysterious change. The stone came off to reveal the original texture of the Celestial Thearch Sword.


    The sword was neither gold nor jade but similar to both. A picture of the stars of the heavenly cycle was inscribed on one side of the blade, the scenery of mountains and rivers on the other.


    The sword blade emanated an astounding spiritual aura.


    Anyone seeing the sword for the first time would be enchanted by it because they would see the world, the Great Daos, and everything else in it!


    ¡­


    "Young Master Shi, please restrain your grief!" consoled the Fairy Sect Master, approaching him after some time had passed.


    "Fairy Sect Master¡­" Shi Lei suddenly lifted his head. "You could have stopped Amorphous Dao Master, couldn''t you?"


    Facing his shrewd eyes, the Fairy Sect Master felt a chill running down her spine. She laughed bitterly. "Yes!"


    "You didn''t save her life because of the Celestial Thearch Sword?"


    "That''s right. The sword concealed its true features. While it had recognized its owner, another condition had to be met to completely sharpen its blade¡ªaffectionate tears!"


    The Fairy Sect Master said frankly, "The heavens and the earth do not have affection, but people do. This is the teaching left behind by the previous Celestial Thearch Sword owner. Now that the Celestial Thearch Sword has truly emerged and I have attained my goal, it''s up to you whether to punish me or kill me¡­ No need to worry. You are the master of the Pugilistic World''s Orthodox Dao because you possess the Celestial Thearch Sword! I have ordered the entire Fairy Sect to follow your commands even if you kill me!"


    Her expression showed her determination to sacrifice herself just like a martyr.


    Shi Lei''s hand holding the Celestial Thearch Sword shuddered.


    Would he kill the person in front of him¡ªa lady who had tried her best to help him?


    Of course, he did not forget that he had only advanced to Heavenly Phenomenon with the sacrifice of the three seniors just now.


    After truly refining the Celestial Thearch Sword, his status was equivalent to possessing divine importance to the heavens and the earth, with which he grew much stronger.


    A moment of silence followed.


    The next moment, Shi Lei lifted his hand lightly.


    Swoosh!


    Sword Qi suddenly moved!


    From stars to mountains and rivers, everything in the world supported the Celestial Thearch Sword!


    Poof!


    Despite her Heavenly Phenomenon cultivation, the Fairy Sect Master was immediately beaten into the air. She flushed and blood spewed out from her mouth.


    This was the sheer power of a single trace of Sword Qi!


    "You¡­"


    The Fairy Sect Master turned pale, wrinkles emerged on her smooth complexion, and her hair became grey.


    "You¡­ stripped me of my martial arts?"


    Her voice was hoarse, as if she was suddenly twenty years older.


    "I''ll save Xiaodie and Luokong on my own. The Fairy Sect has nothing to do with me!"


    Shi Lei''s expression was cold. With Fu Hongmian in his arms, he flew away and disappeared beyond the horizon¡­


    ¡­


    Two months passed in a flash.


    A lot of things had happened in the Pugilistic World.


    The Armament Repository shot to fame.


    Martial artists in the Pugilistic World finally learned that the mysterious Armament Repository Master was the new star of the Saber Dao, Blood Imbibing Saber Nangong Wuwang!


    He even conquered the entire Demon Sect and took over cities successively.


    The Orthodox Dao lost its top martial artist, Ba Dao, in the battle at the Heaven Deity Palace and was defeated in disunity.


    On the 15th of July, the Armament Repository attacked the Kong family. The family head of the Kong family disarmed himself and surrendered the Righteousness Ruler.


    On the 16th of July, they conquered the Sword Repository Mountain Villa and obtained hundreds of famous swords, as well as countless precious minerals!


    On the 19th, they killed the Three Friends of Yellow Crane and shocked the southwestern Pugilistic World.


    ¡­


    All of a sudden, the Armament Repository dominated the Pugilistic World, with a tendency of conquering the entire world.


    This was the natural result of Fang Yuan''s earlier arrangements.


    He had planted Yin Yang Talismans in many martial artists from both the Demon Sect and the Orthodox Dao, thereby manipulating them and controlling their lives.


    Even the battle at the Kong family was only a show planned in advance.


    With such authority and power, the Armament Repository deliberately declared that it would hold the Pugilistic World Meet at its headquarters on August 15th and select an alliance leader to rule the Pugilistic World. Its wild ambition was blatantly obvious.


    All over the Pugilistic World, the Orthodox Dao weakened as the Demon Dao strengthened. Members of the Demon Sect cheered in excitement, while a piece of news regarding the Celestial Thearch Sword circulated silently in the lifeless Orthodox Dao.


    Some experienced martial artists proclaimed their loyalty to the Armament Repository but associated with the Fairy Sect and other final strongholds of the Orthodox Dao covertly.


    The Pugilistic World was going through a period of instability. Many experts and seniors who had been living in seclusion headed for the Armament Repository Headquarters, prepared to witness the grandest event in the past century.


    ¡­


    Armament Repository Headquarters.


    Fang Yuan went to an upland area that overlooked a huge venue nearing completion.


    Although it was located in remote mountains and the topography was complex, it was not a problem for Fang Yuan given his current status. Most of the Pugilistic World was at his command, and the power was enough to shift away mountains and reclaim land from seas.


    A hundred thousand people had built it within a month.


    Of course, it was insignificant in comparison with the furnace below.


    He went down the stairs and stopped in front of the furnace at the core of the place.


    The flames and heat waves were unendurable even for a first-grade grandmaster.


    But Fang Yuan was unconcerned about the heat. He took a few steps forward and gazed at the silhouette of the armament in the furnace.


    After gathering nineteen of the top Divine Armaments and Demonic Armaments, the armament being forged began to take shape. It was not a saber nor a sword but was similar to both. It had the forms of all the armaments that had ever existed and all sorts of mysterious auras.


    "Good. Seems that the process can definitely be completed before August 16th. It was worth my effort of searching for materials all over the world!"


    Fang Yuan was not truly interested in conquering the entire Pugilistic World.


    In fact, his primary goal was to collect precious minerals and secret forging techniques, invite expert armament artisans, and so on.


    Some of these things were even the treasures of established families and sects, so he had to annihilate the families and sects in order to obtain them.


    "Building Master, the Extreme East Grey Netherworld Sect and the South Sea Sect have written letters of surrender with their blood. Their sect masters will present their sect treasures at the Pugilistic World Meet!" reported Tang Shushu, standing behind Fang Yuan. "The Armament Repository will soon rule the Pugilistic World!"


    "Oh?" Fang Yuan turned around and looked at the most handsome man of the Orthodox Dao, "Do you really think so?"


    Honestly, he was slightly surprised. White Tiger Crone and the other two Divine Armament owners had betrayed him, but this owner of the fourth Divine Armament still diligently worked for him and did not even mind losing the Peach Blossom Fan?


    It''s interesting to observe the nuances of human behavior!


    "Of course not. While the Armament Repository seems to be flourishing, there are hidden dangers. If we can''t deal with them properly, our grand plan may have to be aborted at the last minute!" Tang Shushu said with a straight face.


    "Oh?" Fang Yuan was a little impressed by him. "What is the greatest hidden danger that may undermine the grand plan of the Armament Repository?"


    "It''s naturally the Celestial Thearch Sword owner!" Tang Shushu replied without any hesitation. "All the hidden cultivators of the Orthodox Dao are no match for you, but the emergence of the Celestial Thearch Sword will significantly change the situation. The Celestial Thearch Sword itself is a flag. Possessing it is equivalent to becoming the lord of the Orthodox Dao, and that surpasses the importance of the Seven Slaughter Tiger Soul Saber to the Demon Dao!


    "Every tribulation in the world was accompanied by the emergence of the Celestial Thearch Sword, and the same thing will happen this time. The Celestial Thearch Sword owner is the biggest trouble!" Tang Shushu said seriously, but felt doubtful.


    Given the current power of the Armament Repository, how could the Building Master not know what had happened in the Fairy Sect?


    The emergence of the Celestial Thearch Sword was only a rumor to ordinary martial artists in the Pugilistic World, but those at their level knew that the birth of the Celestial Thearch Sword owner was real.


    The development of the sword owner was unpredictable. Even if he could not fight at all at the start, he would quickly become the top martial artist in the world.


    Furthermore, the sword owner of this generation was highly gifted. A few elders of the Orthodox Dao had also sacrificed themselves to give him their cultivation power.


    Tang Shushu wanted to ask this mysterious Building Master whether he really had no fear.


    "Great!" Fang Yuan glanced at Tang Shushu with a hidden meaning in his eyes. "I''m going to let you host the Pugilistic World Meet this time. Don''t disappoint me!"


    "Yes, Master!"


    Impressed by his enigmatic decisions, Tang Shushu bowed respectfully.

 815 Star

    August 15th. Sunny.


    The new meeting venue was full of people.


    The Armament Repository dominated the world¡ªthose who submitted would prosper, and those who resisted would perish. Which force in the Pugilistic World dared be absent from the meet?


    A few days ago, there were already tens of thousands of martial artists arriving from all directions.


    Furthermore, most of them were in the top three grades and could almost represent the core of the entire Divine Continent Pugilistic World!


    Some of them were astonished by the rapid growth of the Armament Repository, some felt envious, while others directly bore animosity toward it.


    But regardless of their feelings, all of them had to come to the venue and wait silently for the Orthodox Dao''s final battle!


    Although the Pugilistic World was divided into the Orthodox Dao and the Demon Dao, most martial artists actually sat on the fence and were preparing to support the side that turned out to be stronger.


    If the Armament Repository took over successfully, they would definitely kowtow to show their loyalty, but if the Orthodox Dao prevailed, they would not mind acting as righteous people.


    "The Armament Repository Master, Nangong Wuwang, is determined to gain worldwide prestige this time. He''ll kill the Sacred Lady of the Fairy Sect on the day of the meet¡­ Sigh. I heard that this lady looks absolutely beautiful, but he''s actually ruthless enough to kill her."


    "He''s giving the Fairy Sect a harsh slap to the face this time!"


    "Another person named Jiang Xiaodie will die together with the Sacred Lady, but she''s not really famous¡­"


    "But how could she be any ordinary person if she''s as important as the Sacred Lady?" Another man with inside information pretended to be mysterious. "As far as I know, this lady is the Li Perishing Sword owner. Rumor has it that she''s somehow related to that legendary person!"


    "If that''s the case¡­"


    The people surrounding him gasped in surprise. "There''ll be a hard battle!"


    The Jiang family''s patriarch passed by with his hands behind his back, his face emotionless.


    As a first-grade grandmaster with a long-standing reputation, he¡ªthe Petal Rinsing Divine Sword¡ªwas certainly invited.


    Besides, Jiang Xiaodie of the Jiang family had always stayed at home before, and she had changed her surname tofor visiting.


    There was an uproar at the scene.


    The Fairy Sect Master was picking a fight with the Armament Repository, and a battle was imminent.


    ¡­


    "Tsk tsk¡­"


    Fang Yuan stood at the top of the Armament Repository beside the venue and looked down at the scene.


    "I feel increasingly similar to an antagonist plotting behind the scenes¡­ But antagonists like me don''t typically end up well."


    With an emotionless expression, he suddenly waved his hand.


    In the venue, all the Armament Repository men looked solemn, having received the signal to act.The two "Jiang"s are different Chinese characters

 816 Emergence

    "Good. Very good. You''ve confessed!" said Tang Shushu with a serious expression. "Since that''s the case, the Fairy Sect is an evil sect trying to bring chaos to the Pugilistic World, and all of you are accomplices! Your crime is unforgivable! We, the righteous side of the Pugilistic World, must not spare your lives!"


    Although he was inverting black and white, he miraculously felt that he was following an irresistible trend. Anyone who submitted to it would prosper, and those who resisted it would perish!


    "We''re willing to regard the Armament Repository as our master and annihilate the source of the chaos!"


    Many responded supportively, and the Demon Sect disciples directly took out their armaments.


    All of a sudden, everyone in the venue tensed up.


    "Hmph¡­ The public will know who is righteous!" The Fairy Sect Master sneered. "We weren''t planning on returning alive when we decided to come here today, but we''ll let the martial artists of the world see your hypocrisy even if all of us have to die at this place!"


    They can see it, but so what? In this world, strength determines everything in the end¡­ Tang Shushu sighed in his mind and then waved his hand.


    Numerous small sects hastily backed away from the Fairy Sect, leaving a large, empty area.


    "Anyone else?"


    Tang Shushu glanced coldly over the entire venue.


    In fact, there were quite a few people in the Orthodox Dao who had been his close friends. Some were even relatives and elders in his family.


    But now, he suppressed his feelings.


    After all, as long as his family had members on both sides, some of them would eventually survive regardless of the outcome. Otherwise, all of them might die!


    Therefore, he had sincerely turned to the Demon Dao and would not hesitate to slaughter his own sect if Fang Yuan ordered him to do so.


    "Fairy Sect, the Myriad Transformation Sword Sect shall fight alongside you!"


    Sect Master Red Eyebrows let out a long roar, walked out from the crowd, and stood beside the Fairy Sect.


    "And the Iron Blood Giant Spear Council!"


    "The Three River Boundless Gang!"


    "The Zhao, Qian, and Sun families!"


    "And the Jiang family!"


    The Jiang family''s patriarch sighed and slowly stepped out.


    Even with them, the Orthodox Dao was still like a drop in the ocean. The Demon Dao members besieging them were hundreds of times as many as them, making them appear extremely lonely.


    Confronted by the majority of the people, they lost their morale before the battle even began!


    After some transient ardor, even the disciples of the Myriad Transformation Sword Sect could not help feeling that they might have made the wrong choice.


    "Hehe¡­ I''m afraid that such a small group of people aren''t enough for us to kill!"


    At this moment, an elder in black carrying a saber walked near them with a sinister smile. He said in a chilling voice, "My name is Sanguinefor visiting.


    Seeing that Red Eyebrows had almost killed him, panic and enmity flashed across this disciple''s eyes, and he immediately stated Red Eyebrows'' crimes loudly in front of the crowd, "That''s right¡­ Red Eyebrows looks kind, but he''s actually cruel. He h-has forced three disciples to die just for his own reputation. He can do anything in order to earn a good reputation¡­"


    As for how much of it was false, it would depend on the opinion of the audience.


    "Damn! I shouldn''t have accepted this wicked man into my sect!"


    Red Eyebrows seethed with anger.


    It was true that he could do anything to earn a good reputation and that he was inflexible like a neo-Confucian who could force his own daughter to die. However, this disciple accused him of all sorts of non-existent crimes in order to survive. That, he could not endure.


    He did not fear death, but he was afraid that he would die for nothing with his reputation ruined!


    "Red Eyebrows has done such things, and his associates must be similar to him! We should publicly reveal their crimes and let the world denounce them!"


    Sanguine Tusu laughed aloud and waved his hand ferociously. "Anyone who doesn''t make a clean break with them today will be enemies of the Armament Repository!"


    He moved his finger and pointed at a few sects sitting on the fence.


    When two sides had turned against each other, was it not ridiculous trying to stay friendly with both sides?


    The Armament Repository wants us to be cannon fodder?


    This is bad. While the Fairy Sect Master has lost her martial arts, the protectors in the sect won''t be defeated easily. Furthermore, there''s still Sect Master Red Eyebrows and the heads of a few established families!


    Those being pointed at looked at one another awkwardly.


    "Well? The Heavy Sword Sect, the Kui Mountain Sect, and the Heaven River Sect, are you hesitant because you have doubts?"


    The neutral sects could not make up their minds, but they could deduce from Sanguine Tusu''s expression that the Armament Repository would most probably annihilate them altogether if they continued to hesitate.


    Sanguine Tusu had a sharp eye and did not push the neutral sects to the opposite side all at once. Instead, he picked out a few and forced them to take a stand.


    Despite knowing that it was a strategy to deal with them separately, these sect masters had to step out and cup their hands. "We will naturally follow the Armament Repository Master''s order!"


    They had to die for their sects and families!


    "Kill!"


    Chaos ensued in the next moment.


    The venue immediately became a battlefield.


    Young talents and renowned martial artists fell to the ground one after another. In the blink of an eye, members of the three sects that were picked out had all died.


    "The Sword Rinsing Sect, the Myriad Flower Palace¡­"


    Sanguine Tusu felt pleased when he mentioned a few more names.


    There were so many people here, he could even suffocate the Orthodox Dao members if he piled up all their bodies.


    "Sanguine Tusu, battle with me!"


    But now, the Orthodox Dao members would not follow his arrangement and fight against the neutral sects, as the loss obviously outweighed the gain.


    Sect Master Red Eyebrows let out a long shout and struck out with his sword at Sanguine Tusu.


    "Our righteousness will last forever, even after our deaths!"


    The Fairy Sect Master and others responded immediately, attacking the Demon Sect disciples around them.


    "Haha¡­ You''re courting death!"


    Sanguine Tusu was fearless. He took out the saber behind his back and confronted Sect Master Red Eyebrows'' sword.


    "Sigh¡­" Tang Shushu sighed. His hands moved like butterflies flying through flower clusters, transforming into thousands of forms and encircling the members of the Fairy Sect.


    Of course, his martial arts were very powerful.


    Even without his Divine Armament, he could surely be ranked among the top three martial artists in the Orthodox Dao.


    Other than the top martial artist, Ba Dao, he could defeat almost anyone.


    "Hundred Flower Intersecting Fist!"


    He punched and flowers bloomed in the air.


    The Fairy Sect disciples were shocked by the flower fragrance and fell to the ground successively.


    Tang Shushu was already lenient, but the other Demon Sect disciples were extremely ruthless when they fought. Most importantly, they could easily overwhelm their opponents due to the sheer numbers advantage of their side.


    The Demon Sect''s cultivation techniques had always been cruel and ruthless.


    After a short while, there were broken limbs and flowing blood all over the ground.


    Only a few from the Orthodox Dao survived, standing at the center desolately.


    So simple?


    Gu Qixing slashed an Orthodox Dao disciple in half and suddenly felt out of sorts.


    What he had dreamed of had seemed so fantastical, but once he attained it, he realized that it was not a big deal.


    Right now, he was filled with dismay for some inexplicable reasons.


    The Fairy Sect Master looked around and saw that most Fairy Sect disciples had died, and other sects and families were in the same situation. She laughed bitterly as she said to Sect Master Red Eyebrows beside her, "Red Eyebrows, looks like we''ve lost our bet!"


    He had lost an arm in order to protect her, and his face was pale, but his eyes were like flames. "I can die a thousand times for righteousness! Even if all of us die here today, our good reputation will be remembered forever!"


    "Your good reputation?" Sanguine Tusu sounded as if he had heard a joke. "History has always been recorded by the winners. Our Building Master is preparing to publish a chronicle about the Pugilistic World, and I can guarantee that your names will be notorious from then on!"


    "Impossible! That''s impossible!"


    Sect Master Red Eyebrows was stunned. To people like him, these words were more lethal than any kind of injury.


    "Kill them all!" Sanguine Tusu gazed at the Fairy Sect Master and suddenly said, "Leave this woman alive, hehe¡­"


    Tang Shushu turned around, as he did not want to continue watching. Why¡­ hasn''t that person appeared yet?


    If the Celestial Thearch Sword did not appear, they could conquer the world without the Armament Repository Master!


    This shouldn''t happen¡­ All the previous Celestial Thearch Sword owners cared for all people in the world. Could he have actually turned against the Fairy Sect like the rumors say?


    While he was pondering, some dark clouds slowly drifted near, covering the sky and blocking the sun.


    Swoosh! Swoosh!


    The breeze turned into gales.


    This unusual phenomenon was thousands of times superior to those caused by Heavenly Phenomenon martial artists.


    All the martial artists in the venue experienced great pressure, and weaker ones even lost consciousness straightaway.


    While he had not yet arrived, his aura could make thousands of people bow!


    "He¡­ has come!"


    The Fairy Sect Master and other Orthodox Dao members were exhilarated, while Demon Dao members looked scared.


    The Celestial Thearch Sword owner¡ªthe last hope of the Pugilistic World and the savior who had to appear when the world underwent a tribulation¡ªfinally emerged!


    "Has he come?"


    Fang Yuan sat alone in the high-rise building and looked at the clouds swirling in the wind.


    It was unnecessary for him to fight if the Celestial Thearch Sword owner did not appear.


    Rumble!


    At this moment, lightning in all parts of the world suddenly merged and struck down in deafening noise, aiming directly at the Armament Repository like a Heavenly Tribulation!!Tusu is an ancient wine in China

 817 Omnidirectional Sacred Armamen

    @@


    Suddenly, abnormal heavenly phenomena occurred and lightning struck frantically like a Heavenly Tribulation.


    At the scene, martial artists still retaining their mobility were in shock when they saw the nine-floor Armament Repository Headquarters explode into a huge fireball under the Heavenly Tribulation.


    "His emergence carries the power of the heavens and the earth! The Celestial Thearch Sword owner!"


    The Fairy Sect Master almost shed tears of joy, and Sect Master Red Eyebrows was similar.


    Only the Celestial Thearch Sword could possess such formidable power!


    "Sorry, I''m late!"


    A figure slowly descended onto the white stone platform and gently unfastened the chain binding Jiang Xiaodie. With a flick of his finger, the iron chain binding Bi Luokong also broke with a loud clatter.Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting.


    "Shi Lei¡­"


    Jiang Xiaodie lifted her head. Her lips were full of cracks due to thirst, but she smiled faintly.


    This was entirely different from her aloofn@@

 818 Return

    @@


    "Essence Soul?!"


    A bright gleam flashed in Fang Yuan''s eyes. With the aid from the Heavenly Eye Seer Spell, he immediately recognized the nature of this translucent figure.


    Martial artists in this world who cultivated to a profound realm could let their souls leave their bodies, so they knew of terms like Yang Soul and Essence Soul.


    Of course, the most straightforward example would be the Great Sanguine Demon''s Essence Soul, which could still struggle to create a buzz long after his death.


    However, in comparison to powerful worlds such as the Spiritual Realm and the Mental Demon Realm, the Essence Soul of a martial artist was far more fragile due to the different rules in this world.


    In Shi Lei''s reckless attack, he solidified his own Essence Soul, palpably ready for a lose-lose situation.Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting.


    "A benevolent person loves everybody!


    "The greatest love is unbounded; the greatest benevolence is tender.


    "A benevolent person with a laudable ambi@@

 819 Chaos

    @@


    "Pseudo Dao¡ªOmnidirectional Divine Demonic Armament¡­"


    A tattoo-like symbol promptly emerged as Fang Yuan raised his right hand. It revealed a fearsome blade that seemed to resemble a saber and a sword, yet was not quite either. Its appearance was so extraordinary that traces of every armament that had existed in history could be found within.


    "Essence, Spirit, and Magic¡ªthese three stats were merely yardsticks used in the lower realms. Now, everything has been erased¡­ and this Omnidirectional Divine Demonic Armament Dao¡­"


    For a Demon Master to break through to Demon God, the key was to form their own Dao path. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting.


    In this aspect, Fang Yuan was completely confident. He had obtained the power of 10-Essence and had the Heavenly Eye Seer Spell to aid him.


    The emergence of this Pseudo Dao was all the more a timely assistance to him.


    Originally, he was already among the top Demon Masters, so obtaining the Omnidirectional Divine Demonic Armament Dao woul@@

 820 Revelation

    "Supremacy, what do you think?"


    In the town, a light mirror floating in front of Zhi Hua displayed the earlier scenes concerning Lin Shoucheng.


    "It''s merely a small snake. What''s the big deal?"


    Fang Yuan did not take it seriously.


    He had undergone the Nine Steps of Dragon Transformation in the lower realms and knew how difficult it was.


    Dragons battled in the wilderness and bled blackish-yellow blood. They had to overcome many obstacles in order to become a true dragon.


    And this was the Spiritual Realm! Hundreds of countries battled in turmoil here, with the Heavenly Court and the Divine Dao interfering to prevent any large-scale unification.


    "The snake has finally survived to become a python!"


    Zhi Hua was smiling as she spoke.


    She had her own understanding about the light from providence¡ªit was simply a manifestation of one''s ability.


    For example, Lin Shoucheng had ambushed the refugee army at night and beheaded their leader, making a great achievement by saving the town from disaster!


    With this achievement, he would be promoted and receive the property of the refugee army. The large amount of resources could then accelerate his development.


    The light from providence did not shine down for no reason. Even if it was due to heaven''s will, the heavens would pay the price in any case.


    Moreover, the country of Ye was small and sparsely populated. So although its king might not possess the aura of a flood dragon or a giant python, it could support the first stage of his development.


    "Hmm, that has to do with compatibility. The Marvelous Immortal Sect and the Sacred Brahman Sect wouldn''t be able to support him if his fate were any stronger!"


    Fang Yuan smiled lightly, showing his deeper understanding about the light from providence.


    In fact, a person born with an extremely exalted fate would most probably be a trouble to their family.


    Why? That was because their growth would draw a lot of resources from the surroundings.


    Therefore, in the cultivation realm, if a small sect accepted a disciple with unparalleled talent, it would not typically end up well. It would surely be annihilated, as its intrinsic light would be eroded and redirected to the talent.


    Afterward, that disciple would definitely survive and progress at lightning speed. It would then be normal for them to avenge the sect.


    But by that time, the sect would have been extinguished, and the talented disciple could naturally enter another sect.


    Similarly, the Marvelous Immortal Sect and the Sacred Brahman Sect might not dare to invest in a true dragon even if they encountered one.


    Otherwise, their entire foundation would be sucked away before the true dragon achieved his ambitions.


    Lin Shoucheng, however, was just suitable for them.


    "You''re right, Supremacy. The Marvelous Immortal Sect will bet on him then!"Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting.


    Zhi Hua smiled, her eyes glistening.


    "Up to you!"


    Fang Yuan shook his head.


    This was how a power struggle would normally be, but there was a huge difference this time.


    When demon stars brought chaos to the world, evil Qi had entered Lin Shoucheng and intertwined with his intrinsic nature, becoming impossible to get rid of.


    The same thing had happened to the commander of the refugee army.


    Lin Shoucheng could not devour Jiang Wang''s light from providence, so he devoured an enemy''s. It was hard to tell how things would develop in the future.


    ¡­


    The sun had already risen when he sent off Zhi Hua.


    Fang Yuan sat cross-legged and thought silently. "The Lord of the Void must be one of the Demon Gods who escaped from the Heavenly Court, but I''m not sure about the rest. Demon Masters had to depend on their luck¡­"


    Any one of these demons could stir up unrest in the entire world upon escaping.


    "But right now, what''s most important to me is still to break into the Demon God realm!"


    The origin power he had devoured on the Mental Demon Battlefield had already completed his foundation. Furthermore, with aid from the Heavenly Eye Seer Spell, he could observe the functioning of the Great Daos in the heavens and the earth, which was beneficial for concentrating his own Dao.


    All these conditions gave Fang Yuan the confidence to concentrate his own Great Dao and break through to Demon God.


    Currently, this was his most urgent task.


    After all, not only had he offended a Demon God, but he also had quite a few enemies in the Spiritual Realm.


    The Omnidirectional Divine Demonic Armament Dao was only sufficient for protecting himself.


    If he wanted to get involved in some major events, he had to become a Demon God first.


    "With the help from the stats window, the Dao of Demon God should be everlasting once I acquire it. Perhaps I should try another world to make a breakthrough?" Fang Yuan pondered silently.


    To him, the Dream Master Descending Technique and the stats window were a perfect combination.


    When he was stuck, he could completely push his limits in another world where the rules were less restrictive and then make a breakthrough in the main world. He could evade countless obstacles by playing this trick.


    "Even in a higher-level universe, different worlds have different rules. For instance, the previous world of Divine Armaments was suitable for the Divine Armament and Demonic Armament system¡­ Now, I need to find a world that is friendly to gods and demons, or rather, one that manifests its rules with various western gods. Or perhaps a world relevant to dreams?


    "In a world like that, it''s easier to break the boundary between reality and fantasy, so it''s more suitable for concentrating my Great Dao!"


    ¡­


    "Greetings, Mister!"


    The thatched hut had been expanded and renovated. The red bricks and the green moss on the tiles constituted a pleasant view.


    Early in the morning, a dozen young children waited in their seats and immediately greeted Fang Yuan upon seeing him.


    "Hmm, we shall learn the ''Stories to Awaken the World'' today¡­"


    Speaking in a distinct voice, Fang Yuan opened the book.


    After a while, Lin Shoucheng and Jiang Wang arrived and stood outside the door.


    "This morning''s lesson ends here. I want you to recite ''An Encouragement of Learning'' in the afternoon!"


    Fang Yuan''s lesson proceeded until noon. He waved his hand and dismissed the students.


    "Mister!"


    Lin Shoucheng and Jiang Wang entered and greeted him respectfully.


    "Hmm, you defeated the refugee army last night and saved the entire town. Well done!"


    Fang Yuan stroked his beard.


    "Mister¡­ I really thought that I would die last night¡­"


    Lin Shoucheng touched his nose, seeming slightly embarrassed.


    But Fang Yuan''s eyes glistened as he glanced at the top of Lin Shoucheng''s head.


    "I never dared to forget about your lessons, Mister!" Jiang Wang''s expression was solemn as he bowed. "We came here with a question this time¡­ Brother Lin won a decisive victory this time, and the county magistrate has reported his achievement to the higher-ups. He''ll definitely be promoted, but he''s unsure about whether to become a civil official or a military officer."


    "Are you really unsure?"


    Fang Yuan glanced at Lin Shoucheng.


    If he chose to be a civil official, he could at most be promoted to a vice-magistrate before becoming a county magistrate after another three years. As a vice-magistrate, he would have to avoid causing suspicion, so he would have even less power than he did now. More importantly, a vice-magistrate had no military authority!


    Based on Lin Shoucheng''s wild ambition, he had to have already made the decision.


    "You really know me well, Mister!"


    Lin Shoucheng looked around and told Fang Yuan in a soft voice about what had happened the previous night, especially his feeling when he killed Sha Zhengran. "¡­ Why did I feel unusually connected with this person, to the extent that after killing him, I¡­ I¡­"


    He looked at Jiang Wang beside him, too embarrassed to mention it.


    Fang Yuan waved his sleeves and shut all the doors and windows. He smiled as he said, "You felt greatly satisfied and delighted, as if you had discovered something new, and you desired more of it, right?"


    "That''s right¡­" Lin Shoucheng was stunned. "You indeed know about it¡­"


    "After all, I''m an extraordinary person!" Fang Yuan mocked him. "Have you heard about the tremendous turmoil that took place eighteen years ago?"


    "We certainly have!"


    Both Lin Shoucheng''s and Jiang Wang''s expressions changed at the mention of it. "The king ordered the death of all infants born within seven days of the event. It was blatant tyranny!"


    "Actually, while the King of Ye is muddleheaded, he made the right decision at that time. The infants were very likely affected by the turmoil, and the demonic nature and evil Qi in them were hard to cure."


    Fang Yuan shook his head.


    "Moreover, there''s a special connection among them. They can become stronger by killing and devouring one another¡­"


    "What?"


    Lin Shoucheng and Jiang Wang exchanged glances, both feeling somewhat alarmed and uneasy.


    Fang Yuan did not care about the shock he would cause and directly said, "And both of you are among them!"


    Lin Shoucheng and Jiang Wang were not ordinary people after all. They soon calmed down and asked doubtfully, "R-Really?! Why did you accept us as your students then?"


    "Immortals and Gods believe in things like demonic nature and evil Qi, but I think that the outcome will ultimately depend on how the power is used!"


    Fang Yuan said casually, "It''s a pity¡­ that this isn''t the belief upheld by many sects, Immortals, and Gods. Your future achievements will depend on your luck."


    "Mister¡­ please save me!"


    Lin Shoucheng''s expression suddenly changed, and he immediately knelt.


    Of course, they knew that they were somewhat abnormal, and Fang Yuan revealed that evil Qi had entered their bodies. In that case, they would be as good as dead if they were discovered.


    "Don''t worry. Your powers are well-concealed, and you have the ability to protect yourselves. Others can hardly notice your abnormality except those similar¡­ Otherwise, why didn''t Qing He arrest the both of you?"


    Fang Yuan comforted them.


    "Thank you for the guidance!" Jiang Wang was pale. He gritted his teeth and bowed. "But instead of doing harm, I protect my home and guard my country. May I ask how I could be convicted of any crime?"


    "You shouldn''t ask me about that. You should ask the king and those superior Immortals and Gods."


    Fang Yuan laughed.


    "Someday¡­ Someday¡­"


    Lin Shoucheng and Jiang Wang clenched their fists, their eyes gleaming.


    "Thank you for your guidance and lessons! We''ll definitely return the favor in the future!"


    They remained silent for a while before bowing again and leaving the classroom.


    "Tsk tsk¡­ It seems that even Jiang Wang''s thoughts have changed slightly. After all, the most unpredictable thing in the world is the human heart¡­"


    Fang Yuan looked at the scene and appeared emotional.


    Jiang Wang''s response might still be moderate, but Lin Shoucheng¡ªgiven his defiant personality¡ªwould probably change for the worse after hearing this shocking news.


    Of course, Fang Yuan was indifferent toward all of this.


    "Having spent eighteen years here, it''s time to leave now."


    He took a look at the classroom, every part of which he was very familiar with.


    Furthermore, this was the place where he had made huge progress in his comprehension of the Dao. Now, he was only a single step away from a Great Dao.


    "Unfortunately¡­ I can''t wait anymore!"


    No matter how incapable the Heavenly Court was, they should be able to find him soon.


    Furthermore, those Demon Gods and Demon Masters might also cause some trouble. Although Fang Yuan was not afraid of them, it was always better to stay out of trouble.


    Therefore, he had to move.


    As for the fate of the residents in Songxia County and the outcome of Lin Shoucheng and Jiang Wang''s rebellion against the heavens, what did all of this have to do with him?

 821 Encounter

    "In the Divine Dao of the vast Spiritual Realm, there are two Emperors. One is the Celestial Thearch, and the other is Excellency Mount Mang.


    "And in the Immortal Dao, there are at least three Zenith Heavens!"


    ¡­


    Fang Yuan left Songxia County and revealed his original appearance. Walking casually with a book basket on his back, he looked like a student on a carefree journey.


    White smoke rose from kitchen chimneys, and candles were lit up in villages.


    After walking in the mountains for a while, he came across a fair. This place was more crowded than Songxia County, but for some unknown reason, everyone was expressionless and lifeless.


    In front of an open-air tavern beside the street, the old man who owned it stopped Fang Yuan. Revealing his sparse and yellow teeth, he asked, "Young man, where are you going?"


    "The capital of Ye!"


    Fang Yuan sat down in the tavern and glanced around.


    There were few customers, so it was understandable that the old man tried to look for more on the street. The seats for customers were in the front of the tavern, and the kitchen was at the back. White steam rose from the boiling water in the kitchen.


    "The capital of Ye is a good place. You''ll reach it after going over another mountain."


    The old man said with an affected smile, "But it''s not safe nowadays¡­ Refugees wreak havoc, drought has ruined vast expanses of land, and starved people eat children¡­ Following the royal preceptor''s suggestion, the king has killed seven supervisory officials. He''s also capturing young children for making pills. Are you really going to the capital despite the turmoil there?"


    "Uncle, why do I feel that you don''t sound like an ordinary person?" said Fang Yuan with hidden meaning.


    "Hehe¡­ I simply learned a bit from all kinds of guests!" said the old man with a reserved smile. "Moreover, the mountain in front is dangerous too. A giant demon has recently occupied the mountain, and it likes eating humans!"


    Bloop! Bloop!


    Meanwhile, something like a human hand floated onto the surface of the boiling water.


    "How about it? Would you like to rest here tonight and have some dumplings?" His smile became even stranger. "The dumplings here are famous for their great taste."


    "Is the stuffing made of human flesh?" Fang Yuan smiled subtly.


    "You got it right. It''s precisely made of human flesh!"


    A green glow flashed across the old man''s eyes, and his appearance suddenly became ferocious.


    The youth walking on the street, the aunt selling clothes, the butcher slicing meat, and all the others in the surroundings paused and turned around, their eyes also emitting green light.


    The entire fair began to look unreal in the thick fog.


    Numerous figures crowded around Fang Yuan, their expressions indifferent and their legs disappearing in the fog.


    "Servant Ghosts?!"


    Fang Yuan seemed to have expected it and sighed.


    Ferocious tigers not only ate humans, but they were even better at confining souls. To survive, these souls captured by the tigers had to assist them, and that was how the phrase ''the servants of the tiger'' came about.


    But right now, there were at least five hundred Servant Ghosts in the fair, which was terrible.


    Whoosh whoosh!


    The illusion of the fair completely disappeared in a breeze, but the number of Servant Ghosts kept increasing. They suddenly gathered and surrounded Fang Yuan.


    "The demon that eats humans is actually your master, right?"


    Fang Yuan looked around, but only saw a bleak mountain wilderness. He could not help laughing. "How dare mere ghosts appear before me? Are you courting death? Or are you courting death?"


    He shouted lightly¡ªa powerful and impressive aura suddenly rose and expanded around him.


    Many Servant Ghosts shrieked in pain and hurriedly backed away, their figures about to melt.


    Righteous Qi rendered the ghosts powerless!


    Fang Yuan was not a Confucian scholar, but the three thousand Great Daos eventually all led to the same destination. Moreover, having been a teacher for decades, he could effortlessly simulate Confucian techniques.


    Confucian scholars in this world refined a mouthful of righteous Qi. Even if they could not fight at all, legend had it that once they achieved great success in cultivation, their shouts were like the rage of the heavens and could scare ghosts and spirits away.


    There was once a Confucian scholar whose shout killed half of the heretic cultivators in a city.


    Of course, Fang Yuan was not at such a realm, but it was a piece of cake to kill hundreds of Servant Ghosts with a shout.


    "Ah!"


    Shrieks rang out everywhere.


    The old man in front of Fang Yuan was stunned as he saw a plume of white Qi rising from Fang Yuan''s body.


    The Qi current was harmless to ordinary people. But to them, it was like the sun, melting their flesh and blood into dark smoke and dissipating their entire bodies.


    In the blink of an eye, the souls of more than thirty Servant Ghosts vanished from the world.


    Such an unforeseen event immediately attracted the attention of their master, who had been manipulating them behind the scenes.


    Aw! Aw!


    Clouds curled in strong gusts, and a tiger''s roar was heard throughout the forest.


    A frightening sound swept across the area, negating the righteous Qi and protecting some of the Servant Ghosts.


    A giant silhouette quickly approached during the shocking, furious roar.


    "It''s indeed a tiger!"


    Fang Yuan gazed at the demon approaching him and swept it with the Heavenly Eye Seer Spell, but his expression was a bit strange.


    As expected, it was a giant tiger with feline eyes and a white forehead. It was the size of a mountain, and its domineering aura implied its identity as the ruler of the forest.


    But Fang Yuan was slightly surprised by the unfathomable temperament hidden in it.


    "Demonic nature? Evil Qi? No wonder¡­ This demon is only eighteen years old? Was it corrupted by Mental Demons as well?"


    Humans could be corrupted by Mental Demons, and so could beasts.


    But the growth of this giant tiger was horrifying.


    Its achievement in 18 years would take other demon cultivators 180 or even 1,800 years to attain!


    Aw! Aw!


    The giant tiger glared at Fang Yuan, as if it would pounce forward in the next moment.


    Suddenly, a cyclone engulfed it. By the time the cyclone subsided, the mountain-like tiger was replaced by a youth.


    "I''ve found you! Dream Demon!"


    The youth''s eyes had no pupils. But despite his lifeless expression, his words stunned Fang Yuan.


    "You are¡­ the Lord of the Void?!"


    Fang Yuan''s expression was solemn.


    The Lord of the Void was most proficient at dividing and evolving his spiritual will which carried demonic thoughts. He was known to be undying due to his countless incarnations.


    Apparently, one of his demonic thoughts inhabited this giant tiger''s body. More importantly, he immediately took control of it and appeared as soon as he discovered Fang Yuan.


    Only by conversing with him did Fang Yuan feel the concept of the void attacking and eroding his foundation.


    It was not an attack by the Essence Soul or any physical body, but by a higher-level ''concept''!


    This giant tiger was not the original body of the Demon God, so Fang Yuan could definitely overpower it. But in a battle of concepts, where they expended the most fundamental things they had, Demon Masters were no match for Demon Gods.


    However, Fang Yuan was an exception!


    Omnidirectional Divine Demonic Armament Dao!


    A mark emerged on his right hand and evolved into another Great Dao, one that was astonishingly sharp.


    This dreadful Great Dao seemed to embody all armaments that had ever existed on battlefields, and it immediately devoured all the void concept.Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting.


    "You¡­" The youth took a few steps backward, looking shocked. "Demon God? Not quite. But you possess the power of a Demon God using external aid!"


    The Omnidirectional Divine Demonic Armament Dao was a Great Dao as well!


    With its help, Fang Yuan could fight against any incarnation of the Lord of the Void!


    And the Lord of the Void was not foolish either, immediately understanding the situation. "You''re only a Demon Master, but you actually concentrated an auxiliary Dao. Impressive! Really impressive! I acknowledge¡­ that you qualify to be one of us!"


    A Demon Master with a Pseudo Dao was nearly as capable as a Demon God and could not be underestimated.


    "It seems that¡­ there was some misunderstanding, but this doesn''t matter anymore, right?"


    Fang Yuan stood with his hands behind the back and smiled.


    With the Omnidirectional Divine Demonic Armament Dao, he had nothing to fear unless this Demon God''s original body arrived here.


    He could readily annihilate this Demon God''s incarnation in front of him.


    "That''s right!"


    The Lord of the Void adjusted his state quickly.


    Regardless of what had happened, the Demon Master before him was worth befriending.


    "What happened to the Mental Demon Battlefield afterward?" Fang Yuan finally asked this burning question.


    "The situation is very unfavorable. The Celestial Thearch''s ability is far beyond our imagination. He''s the most powerful one in this world, especially with the world''s support in times of crisis¡­ " said the Lord of the Void. "Most of my original body and the Infinite Devourer''s¡­ were defeated and sealed. Even the majority of the Mental Demon Battlefield was refined. We''re in a dire situation!"


    "As expected¡­"


    Fang Yuan raised his head and gazed at the purple star.


    In the sunlight, the green star beside it shimmered, while the purple light became feeble. He immediately felt more assured at this sight.


    "Of course, there were Demon Gods who sneaked away, including Li Hen and Ancient Netherworld as far as I know¡­ Ancient Netherworld is a bit more pathetic. Strictly speaking, he''s already dead¡­" the Lord of the Void said. "I''m sure that Ancient Netherworld is still hiding in the Spiritual Realm, but I don''t know whether Demon God Li Hen has returned to the Mental Demon Realm! I need your help now!"


    He looked at Fang Yuan and sounded sincere.


    "You¡­ want me to help you save your original body?"


    Fang Yuan had a rough idea about his request.


    "That''s right. Most of my friends'' bodies and mine are endangered¡­ While I''m still fine, they can''t hold on for long¡­" said the Lord of the Void frankly.


    He did not have any concept of an original body, so he would not mind losing it. At worst, he would lose some power, which could be recovered soon.


    But other Demon Gods like the Infinite Devourer might be annihilated.


    "How did the heaven''s will of the Spiritual Realm suddenly become so efficient?"


    Fang Yuan was slightly astonished. Those Demon Gods should have been able to hold on for many more years given how slowly the Spiritual Realm ''consumed'' the invaders previously.


    The Lord of the Void went silent for a moment before uttering the most important piece of intelligence, "It''s not the Spiritual Realm, but the Celestial Thearch!"


    "You''re saying¡­"


    Fang Yuan''s eyes immediately glistened.

 822 Contrac

    Although the Celestial Thearch was an Emperor and the strongest in the Spiritual Realm, he still had to obey heaven''s will.


    Even with the ability to refine origin power and not become corrupted, the Mental Demon Battlefield was still sealed away for the Spiritual Realm to slowly feed on. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting.


    However, the circumstances were clearly different now.


    The seal on Mental Demon Battlefield had been broken, and Demon Gods were appearing. To the Celestial Thearch, this was both a risk and an opportunity.


    This was because the Spiritual Realm was unable to immediately absorb the Mental Demon Battlefield. As such, he was able to provide assistance and enjoy a share of the resources.


    This was similar to the proverb: "A general in the field is not bound by the orders from his sovereign."


    "Reaching Demon God is not the end point for us. Besides, those on the same level as us in other worlds will also not give up on the hope of making a breakthrough¡­" said the Lord of the Void with hidden meaning behind his words. "We have what the Celestial Ruler needs the most¡ªfreedom!"


    The Divine Dao titles conferred were mostly based on the Spiritual Realm''s heaven''s will.


    Compared to Zenith Heavens, the Celestial Thearch faced many more restrictions.


    It was the trade-off for being the strongest in the Spiritual Realm.


    On the other hand, Demon Gods came from foreign realms and were thus absolutely unrestrained and unscrupulous.


    What would happen if the Celestial Thearch knew a bit about the Demon Gods'' intrinsic nature?


    "The worst possible scenario is that he falls and becomes a Demon God? The best possible scenario is that he gains partial freedom and breaks away from most of his restrictions. This will enable him to be just like a Zenith Heaven while remaining the strongest in the Spiritual Realm!"


    Fang Yuan pondered and said, "The key here depends on the extent of corruption by the Mental Demon origin power and the Celestial Ruler''s own choice."


    "Keke¡­ I can guarantee you that no one is able to resist the temptations from the Mental Demons."


    The tiger youth possessed by the Lord of the Void laughed strangely.


    "However, even if the Celestial Thearch falls, we won''t gain much from it if all the Demon Gods are exterminated. Hence, you need my help¡­"


    Fang Yuan had already grasped some of the details of what the Lord of the Void wanted.


    "That''s right!" After a period of silence, the Lord of the Void continued, "Helping me is actually helping yourself as well. As long as we rescue those Demon Gods, we can take over the Spiritual Realm and obtain absolutely incomparable benefits!"


    "I''m not silly enough to wage a war against the Spiritual Realm just because of an illusory promise!" Fang Yuan shook his head. "I can help you, but on two conditions! First, I want to advance to Demon God! Any agreement made is based on this premise, or else I dare not collaborate with you. Second, which I require you to pay first?, the Mental Demon lower realm descending technique and the coordinates of multiple worlds in this universe!"


    Previously, when he had made a deal with Demon God Ancient Netherworld, he had only received the Mental Demon realm traversing technique and was not told how to get past the dimensional limitation.


    "The lower realm descending technique? This magical technique is rather profound, so much so that not all Demon Gods are able to grasp it¡­ The most I can provide you with is information on a few of the neighboring worlds¡­"


    The Lord of the Void haggled out of habit.


    In view of this, Fang Yuan sneered in his heart.


    If other Demon Gods did not have it, so be it. But how could the Lord of the Void, who was known for having billions of incarnations and being the best at concealing his realm traversing, not have it?


    After a moment of confrontation, the Lord of the Void was the first to start speaking. "Your strength has already reached 10-Essence Demon Master and is now at the stage of finding your own Dao path. You are only one step away from forming your own Great Dao and becoming a Demon God¡­


    "Although I''m not able to give you the lower realm descending technique, I can provide you with the coordinates to a few worlds. Since your Dao path has some similarities with my Dao of the Void, I''m certain that one of the worlds is highly suitable for you! However, you must first sign a contract with me!"


    The Lord of the Void demand for a binding was expected.


    He did not know that Fang Yuan had Dream Master techniques and could traverse between realms effortlessly. Moreover, even if he were to suffer damage, it would be no big deal.


    The Mental Demon realm traversing technique required others to cross over themselves; thus, they would lose everything if they died.


    What Fang Yuan currently used was naturally the Dream Master techniques that he had improved upon himself, and it was best at plundering across thousands of worlds safely. However, the Lord of the Void was unaware of this, fearing that Fang Yuan would be gone for good.


    "Oh? A world that especially suits my advancement?"


    Fang Yuan''s eyes gleamed.


    The Lord of the Void was after all a Demon God. If he made such a judgment, then the benefits of that world would certainly be great.


    "If that''s really the case, I can consider signing the contract. However, the most I can promise is to participate in the war, and that is also after my breakthrough!"


    In this respect, Fang Yuan would not yield an inch.


    He previously did not sign a contract with Demon God Ancient Netherworld precisely because he was afraid of being duped.


    However, things were different now. With the Omnidirectional Divine Demonic Armament Dao, he was almost on the same level as a Demon God. Thus, the possibility of him being fooled was almost non-existent.


    Despite this, the conditions that he was fighting for were also exceptionally relaxed.


    "Not possible¡­ Although you''re only a fine line away from reaching Demon God, even having your own Great Dao, not a single Demon Master will dare guarantee their advancement to Demon God. There must be a time limit¡ªat most a hundred years!"


    As expected, the Lord of the Void immediately raged back.


    If he were to really slowly wait for Fang Yuan to break through, even the Infinite Devourer would be gone by then.


    "A hundred years? Not enough, at least five hundred!"


    "Are you joking? If so, I''ll have to reduce the number of coordinates and give you at most two!"


    "That''s not possible. At the very least, I want ten of them! Otherwise, how would I know if this wasn''t a trap? Furthermore, the world you mentioned that was especially suitable for my breakthrough must be the first one in our deal!"


    ¡­


    With regards to the contract, both parties were haggling over every single detail, completely not possessing the demeanor of a Demon God and a Demon Master.


    When it came to matters that were of great concern to their own interests, only idiots would let go of profits without careful consideration.


    Finally, the Lord of the Void put forth his bottom line.


    "Two hundred years and the coordinates of five worlds! That''s my bottom line! After you agree, you will gain my friendship!"


    "Friendship from a group of Demon Gods in imminent crisis?" Fang Yuan sneered, but still nodded his head after pondering for a moment. "Fine¡­ Considering that this is our first deal, I''ll suffer some losses."


    "¡­"


    The Lord of the Void was dumbfounded and did not say anything further. White mist emerged around him and transformed into characters of the Mental Demon language to form a contract.


    Fang Yuan read the contract character by character. Fortunately, he had diligently studied beforehand and the effort had not been wasted.


    "I agree to this in my name as Dream Demon!"


    As he spoke indifferently, his right hand tapped the empty space, and the symbol of the Omnidirectional Divine Demonic Armament Dao appeared on the contract.


    "Very good. I''ll give you my summoning ceremony. Once you''ve broken through or hit the deadline of two hundred years, you just need to initiate the ceremony to contact me!"


    With a swing of his arms, the Lord of the Void sent a few sparkling light orbs flying toward Fang Yuan. "As promised, these are the coordinates of the five worlds."


    Once all of this was completed, the tiger youth suddenly stagnated. The white in its pupils quickly faded away and turned clear.


    This tiger was simply one of the hosts that the Lord of the Void had selected.


    Previously, he had only showed himself after detecting Fang Yuan''s presence.


    Once the Lord of the Void separated from it, what was left was simply an Earth Immortal-level demon.


    "Y-You¡­"


    The tiger looked at Fang Yuan in great fear.


    "This tiger is also rather pitiful!"


    Fang Yuan could not be bothered to say anything to it. It was already a puppet now, destined to become nourishment for the Lord of the Void in the future.


    Even if he were to slay this tiger, it would at most cause the Lord of the Void to merely grumble.


    After all, the world was so vast, so what kind of host could not be found?


    "As you have offended me, you must compensate me!"


    Fang Yuan thought for a while and waved his hand. "Your punishment is merely to be my mount and to carry me to the capital of Ye!"


    "Thank you, Sir! Thank you!"


    The tiger youth promptly stooped down and turn into a giant tiger. It then ran as fast as lightning after Fang Yuan got on its back.


    "The Lord of the Void''s Myriad Division Technique is indeed terrifying¡­"


    The sound of the wind could be heard from both sides, yet Fang Yuan sat leisurely, as though he was on the ground, and started to ponder about the Lord of the Void.


    This Demon God''s Myriad Division Technique allowed demonic thoughts to be hosted in billions of living beings.


    Moreover, such a magical technique was not only applicable to a single world.


    Fang Yuan reckoned that this Demon God''s demonic thoughts were lying low in other worlds as well. Otherwise, how could he be known as undying?


    "Nevertheless, he was probably genuine and sincere in collaborating this time."


    Previously, this Demon God had taken him to be a misbehaving Demon Master and thus treated him as though he was a nobody who could be easily crushed.


    After he found out that Fang Yuan had the combat power of a Demon God, he immediately conversed on equal footing. Strength determined the attitude received! This instead made the Lord of the Void seem very trustworthy.


    "It seems like the Lord of the Void had found a few of the Demon Masters who happened to luckily escape that time and knew about my abnormal actions¡­ Of course, these are all just trivial matters."


    The major event that Fang Yuan really cared about was still his advancement to Demon God.


    With his Omnidirectional Divine Demonic Armament Dao as a foundation, he would instantly grasp two Great Dao once he became a Demon God. By then, he would be among the stronger Demon Gods.


    Only with such confidence could he then act freely in the Spiritual Realm and tackle matters such as plotting to stop the Celestial Thearch or rescuing the Demon Gods.


    "According to Demon God Ancient Netherworld, Demon Gods like the Infinite Devourer and Lord of the Void are obviously one small team. Perhaps I can really join them, or at least maintain a friendly relationship¡­"


    Fang Yuan counted. It seemed that ever since he made contact with the Mental Demon Realm, all those he had offended were higher beings and not on good terms with him.


    It was probably time for him to look for some reinforcements.


    Other things aside, when the Demon God who had deprived Dream Masters of their Dao path came, it would be pretty good to have others supporting him even if they were unable to fight alongside him.


    "Of course¡­ the Lord of the Void may not necessarily be reliable. These world coordinates still have to be tested one by one!"


    As he thought to himself, Fang Yuan suddenly patted the tiger below. "You don''t happen to be the demon that the King of Ye dotes on, right?"


    "I wouldn''t dare!" The tiger denied at once. "That demon has astonishing magical powers and is on par with Heaven Immortals. I''m definitely not a match for it!"


    "Oh? That''s interesting then. What''s its background?"


    Fang Yuan''s interest was piqued.


    "It seems to be a thousand-footed dragon centipede!"

 823 Monastery

    Capital of Ye.


    Although the country of Ye was small, its capital was constructed rather majestically.


    Presently, the markets were desolate, and the pedestrians were malnourished and living in fear, giving off the impression of a doomsday scene.


    According to that tiger, a Heaven Immortal centipede demon has bewitched the King of Ye to become obsessed over cultivation. He didn''t even hesitate to prey on virgin children to refine the Seven Orifices Exquisite Pill¡­


    Fang Yuan was walking along the streets while dressed as a scholar.


    The markets that were originally bustling with noise had few pedestrians now. Nevertheless, from time to time, there were soldiers on horses passing by, giving off a sense of chaos.


    The King of Ye is tyrannical. On top of that, there are natural calamities and man-made disasters. Thus, it''s understandable that the country is in complete disorder. As for that centipede demon, it''s really quite fortunate¡­


    With strength comparable to a Heaven Immortal, it would be among the top in the 72 sects and was not just some average demon.


    It was probably because the neighboring Gods and Immortals were unable to take it down that the centipede demon was able to get away scot-free.


    Furthermore, it knew its limits and only harmed this remote and insignificant small country. It was difficult for the Heavenly Court to pay attention to it, or have the energy to care, even if it took notice of the situation.


    After all, the escape of the Demon Gods and the chaos across the world were more important matters for the Heavenly Court.


    Comparatively, a mere centipede was indeed nothing much.


    "Sambhogakaya Monastery?"


    Fang Yuan walked along the streets for half a day and arrived at a grand monastery.


    The monastery was constructed with red bricks and golden roof tiles. The corners of the building were glazed, and the walls were decorated with gold leaves. The architecture was grand and extremely extravagant.


    A gust of strong sandalwood scent assaulted the senses by merely standing outside the huge mahogany door. In the plaza in front of the main hall, there was red sandalwood burning inside a large copper furnace.


    Despite some of them appearing malnourished and sickly with emaciated bodies, there were still countless believers contributing gold, silver, and rice.


    In contrast to the believers, the monks inside the monastery were all plump and well-fed, having glowing faces.


    "The name, Sambhogakaya, was actually very particularly chosen¡­"


    Fang Yuan was in deep thought.


    There were the Three Bodies of Buddha in Buddhism and the Three Pure Ones in Daoism, all of whom had exceedingly great magical powers.


    It was audacious of the centipede to choose this as its monastery''sfor visiting.


    As they stared at Gongsun Kunlun, fear showed in their eyes. "Our patriarch has gone to give a sermon for the king. By now, he should have received the news and will soon return."


    "I''m waiting for him to return to dispose of all of you together!"


    Gongsun Kunlun laughed heartily. For the first time, he tore off the cloth bag on his back and unveiled a sword case.


    Vzzzzt!


    Multiple streaks of sharp Sword Qi pierced toward the sky in a towering rage.


    The sound of the sword was so astonishing, it was as though a dragon''s roar spread across the high heavens.


    Impressively, Gongsun Kunlun was a sword cultivator!


    Just from looking at the unusual phenomenon from his sword case, it could be seen that his intrinsic spiritual sword had to be exceptionally terrifying.


    "In my whole life of cultivation, I have refined seven swords which specialize in chopping down wrongdoings!"


    Gongsun Kunlun seemingly sighed. "Dubhe Sword, unsheathe!"


    Swoosh!


    A streak of radiant light shot out from the sword case. In a split second, it broke through the golden pagoda''s defense and impaled the two demons.


    The sword had flown over a hundred steps and easily beheaded someone!


    He''s indeed a Sword Immortal!


    Seeing this, Fang Yuan nodded to himself.


    Among all Immortals, Sword Immortals could be considered first in terms of combat power, and their methods were not to be underestimated.


    In particular, their characters were such that they would rather break than bend. Once they got angry at matters of injustice, they would not waver in the slightest, even if they were to fight until the heavens fell and the earth cracked.


    At this moment, Gongsun Kunlun possessed the demeanor of one who would continue going forward despite having millions of people in his way.


    "Demon!"


    As he shouted, thunderbolts swept across the sky and broke the entrance of the golden pagoda into pieces.


    Whoosh whoosh!


    After a short while, the flying sand settled down and revealed the full view of the golden pagoda''s interior.


    On the walls were countless depressions, forming a densely packed checkered pattern.


    In every square was a virgin child clad in a kasaya, each executing a technique with a lifelike appearance.


    "Ah! Demon, I must kill you today!"


    Gongsun Kunlun was enraged. With a brush of his sleeves, thunderbolts extended from above.


    Kaboom!


    Right at this time, the golden pagoda shook slightly. A golden curtain of light emerged from the pagoda''s roof and cascaded down like a screen of water.


    "Which junior dares to break into my pagoda?"


    A hoarse voice was heard from the silhouette that had flown over from the direction of the Ye palace and was standing on the pagoda''s roof.


    "Die, demon!" Gongsun Kunlun''s eyes reddened and revealed his sword case. "Dubhe, Merak, Phecda, Megrez, Alioth, Mizar, Alkaid!"


    Swoosh!


    The seven spiritual flying swords formed a fatal network of swords and enveloped the entire golden pagoda.


    "Kill!"


    Gongsun Kunlun recited a magical technique, and Sword Qi burst out, instantly overturning the pagoda''s ceiling and revealing a monk clad in a crimson kasaya.


    Vzzzzt!


    Two flying swords launched, impaling both of the monk''s hands.


    Vzzzzt!


    Another two swords nailed down both legs.


    Shortly after, the remaining three swords took care of the face.


    "Seven swords in one, exterminate!" Gongsun Kunlun exclaimed. The flying swords pierced through the air and heavily damaged the royal preceptor''s body.


    After seeing many believers closing in, Gongsun Kunlun immediately shouted with a loud voice, "This demon wrecked the country and brought suffering to the people. Today, I am acting on behalf of heaven. The King of Ye is tyrannical and demons come to this country. Don''t tell me that all of you still don''t understand the situation even now? This royal preceptor is a demon!"


    Kaboom!


    At this moment, the ground quivered, and the golden pagoda collapsed loudly.


    A huge earthquake struck and the ground cracked.


    An enormous figure suddenly appeared from the earth veins. It was a centipede with an unimaginably massive body. "Junior, how dare you damage my Dharma body! You''re courting death!!!"Sambhogakaya is one of the Three Bodies of BuddhaThese are the names of the seven stars in the Big Dipper.

 824 Dragon Transformation

    A thousand-footed dragon centipede!


    The demon was over tens of meters long. It was covered in a golden outer shell and had legs similar to sabers. It was as though an evil dragon from the earth veins was causing a turbulence.


    "Hmm? What a bastard. It already possesses a Golden Body?" Gongsun Kunlun was even more outraged after seeing this. "How many people have you harmed through such immoral practices?"


    It was almost impossible for a demon to become a dragon. This was especially so for this centipede, as it was not under the family of snakes, pythons, nor carps. The only method was cultivating via false means with the aid of the Divine Dao.


    Although this centipede was using the Divine Dao method, it continuously seized every opportunity. It constructed the golden pagoda, gathered virgin children, and engulfed the Dragon Qi of a country.


    Such a demon would only bring disaster to the people. Any righteous person seeing this would certainly exterminate it.


    "Seven swords, strike together!"


    Gongsun Kunlun executed a sword technique, and the seven flying swords combined to form a huge sword in midair.


    This sword seemed to be purely created from starlight. The seven stars formed by the flying swords were dazzling and flickering within it.


    "Slice!"


    Accompanied by rumbling winds, the huge sword directly sliced down from midair.


    Its torrent dashed down from a thousand meters high, as if the silver stream of a galaxy had plunged from the highestfor visiting.


    "Alkaid!"


    Accompanying Fang Yuan''s seven shouts, the seven flying swords promptly stabbed into the centipede''s seven orifices.


    "Seven Swords Soul Lock!"


    Fang Yuan himself was an expert at sword arrays. Using the flying swords, he had mixed in the true meaning of the Magus Dao, with a hint of Seven Arrows Nail Striking Witchcraft.


    Not only did the seven flying swords pierce through its seven orifices, they even directly locked on to its Essence Soul and twisted it violently.


    Thump!


    Above the inner core, a figure pierced with seven swords emerged and seemed to be still struggling.


    But the next moment, the seven streaks of light united and its Essence Soul instantly disintegrated.


    With the seven swords attacking together, the demon was exterminated!


    Gongsun Kunlun was completely stunned as the giant centipede''s corpse fell to the ground.


    His cultivation was outstanding, and his Sword Dao was profound. Naturally, he knew that the centipede''s strength was at Heaven Immortal. Moreover, it had absorbed the country of Ye''s fate and beliefs, so a common Heaven Immortal might not necessarily be able to defeat it.


    However, when facing this youth, it took only one move to exterminate it?


    Fang Yuan did not pay attention to this and grabbed the golden centipede''s corpse from a distance.


    Wisps of mysterious Dragon Qi was drawn out by him, which transformed into a small flood dragon that was similar to both dragons and snakes. Its entire body was yellowish-brown, and it had two claws near its abdomen and a bald head, looking rather incongruous.


    A large amount of energy from people''s beliefs followed and transformed into a multi-colored golden wheel of incense.


    This was all of the benefits that the centipede demon had received from bewitching the King of Ye and gathering believers.


    "Go!"


    Fang Yuan lightly touched it. The Dragon Qi immediately soared into the sky, disappearing without a trace.


    As for the golden wheel of incense, it returned to the heavens and the earth, not leaving a trace.


    "This is a superior Immortal!"


    Gongsun Kunlun got up with difficulty, but he was dumbfounded when he saw this. "If this Dragon Qi flies away and finds a new host, perhaps the country of Ye will change rulers!"


    During chaos, many wild extraordinary beings often rose.


    This Dragon Qi that Fang Yuan released originally came from the country of Ye. By nature, it was fated with this land. Wherever it went, that place would certainly have a formidable person springing up.


    "Given the country of Ye''s current situation, it''s too difficult to overcome the old customs already, so it might be better to take decisive action and establish a new country!"


    Fang Yuan was not as concerned, as though he had simply done a small passing matter. "So? Are you still able to walk?"


    "Still all right!"


    Looking at his surroundings, there were already many believers who were kneeling down and shouting for immortals. Gongsun Kunlun laughed bitterly. "Anyway, there''s no choice but to leave now."


    Evidently, the commotion here had alarmed the capital.


    There was already a large number of troops rushing over from the palace.


    As extraordinary people practicing cultivation, there would always be some trouble when they were involved in secular matters of royalty. Thus, it would be better to return.


    ¡­


    Songxia County.


    "Congratulations, Lieutenant!"


    Inside a hall, there were two lines of soldiers saluting simultaneously.


    "Everyone, please rise. It''s thanks to everyone''s support that I''m able to reach where I am today. As the saying goes, don''t forget your friends when you become rich. I, Lin Shoucheng, will definitely not treat everyone unfairly!"


    Lin Shoucheng sat upright in the master seat and bowed in return.


    A few days ago, the official edict had come. As he had meritorious service for appeasing chaos, he was promoted to lieutenant.


    In the country of Ye, a lieutenant was already a mid-ranking military officer that could command several thousand people. More importantly, with this title, he was no longer limited by region and could leave the county to eradicate bandits at will, greatly increasing his flexibility.


    "We will lay down our lives for you, Sir!"


    The other followers also fell onto their knees one after another.


    This superior had outstanding martial prowess, made clear distinction between reward and punishment, and was courageous and unwavering. During troubled times, this kind of leader who could continuously lead them toward victories was the commander that they truly needed!


    "Haha¡­ Good. Let the feast begin!"


    Lin Shoucheng was elated and organized a celebratory feast with his subordinates.


    Right at this moment, the sky darkened and muffled thunder came.


    A roar similar to dragons and tigers could be vaguely heard rushing into the hall.


    "Hmm?"


    Lin Shoucheng had extraordinary martial arts. Even if there were ten continuous thunderclaps on a day of drought, he would regard it as nonsense from the heavens.


    But now, his entire body shuddered, and his chopsticks fell to the ground when his hands trembled.


    "Sir?"


    His subordinates all looked toward him. Suddenly, they were dazzled by him, only thinking that he was even more dignified than before.


    "It''s fine. I was momentarily lost in thought when I heard the thunderclap!"


    Lin Shoucheng remained calm and collected. However, he knew that there was certainly something different about him.


    When the feast ended, he immediately summoned Jiang Wang.


    "Congratulations, Lieutenant!"


    Jiang Wang entered with joy written all over his face. "General Ping Man has already accepted our gifts. He issued a document that states that henceforth Lieutenant can recruit soldiers and eradicate bandits without facing any limitations and can do as you please. Moreover, rich families from several counties can no longer bear the bandits'' disturbances. After knowing about Lieutenant''s fame, they took the initiative to dispatch people to deliver gifts and ask us to provide assistance by sending troops. They promised that once the matter is resolved, they''ll certainly reward us heavily."


    "This is all good news indeed!"


    Lin Shoucheng was also elated after hearing the news.


    These were all matters for establishing a strong foundation. Continuing steadily, it would not take many years before they achieved great accomplishments.


    "Also¡­ today, I keep feeling that something isn''t right!"


    After thinking about it, he shared the events that had occurred during the feast.


    "Unusual phenomenon from the heavens?" Jiang Wang pondered for a moment before slowly shaking his head. " I think¡­ this matter is simply insignificant. After all, we''re only tiny individuals with no power in the eyes of the heavens. If there really was defiance, then a single lightning strike would settle it. Why bother giving a warning? Perhaps¡­ this omen represents good fortune and not misfortune!"


    "Sigh¡­ I won''t keep you in the dark. Ever since the day Mister was frank with me, my heart has been practically in a total mess!"


    Lin Shoucheng bitterly laughed.


    He and Jiang Wang were both on the same boat, so they had a close relationship and would also discuss matters that were unsuitable to share with their parents.


    "I still believe in what Master said. So what about evil Qi?¡ªits good when used for good, and evil when used for evil. We just need to follow our hearts and benefit the common people. If someday, we truly obtain a huge opportunity and destiny, we''ll have to ask the heavens!"


    Jiang Wang clenched his fists.


    "Right. This aspiration is also what I desire!" Lin Shoucheng laughed heartily. They firmly grasped each other''s hand. "In that case, we''ll defy the heavens together!"


    ¡­


    "Hmm?"


    Inside a courtyard located in Songxia County.


    Zhi Hua raised her head suddenly, gazing in the direction of where Lin Shoucheng was.


    There was a turbulent and mysterious spiritual aura coming from her body. Shockingly, she had already advanced to the next state.


    Her progress was so rapid that her heart was palpitating.


    "That''s odd¡­ why did Lin Shoucheng''s fate rise so much, even enabling my powers to break through?"


    She was not delighted, but startled.


    After laying the bet, both of their spiritual auras were connected. This enabled her to see through illusions and view his fate.


    She saw a black python with a waist as thick as a bowl amid clouds of mist. It looked extraordinary and created quite a scene.


    Most importantly, its abdomen had grown two protrusions and another one on its head. This was the sign of dragon transformation!


    "Impossible. What happened to cause it to grow so rapidly?"


    Zhi Hua was both astonished and delighted, yet in her mind emerged a silhouette.


    In her opinion, only that unfathomable lord could achieve this.From the poem written by Li Bai: Viewing the Waterfall at Mount Lu

 825 Ocean

    The boundless blue ocean.


    The salty sea breeze was warm.


    Gentle waves arose on the ocean, above which seagulls flew past at times.


    This was the Golden Sea Route that led to the East. Ever since the Great Geographical Discovery, countless ships set out for the enigmatic East along this route every day, bringing back china, spices, silk, and other specialties to exchange for money at the port.


    The ocean was a cradle of dreams, containing astounding amounts of treasure.


    A story of a lucky dog getting rich overnight circulated at every port, encouraging more youths to pursue their careers as voyagers. However, they did not know that other than the unparalleled treasures, there were also extreme dangers hidden in the ocean.


    Other than natural disasters like storms, there were giant sea monsters, other creatures dwelling in the sea, and even some indescribable beings that could readily capsize ships in a rage.


    Of course, the prevailing danger on a sea route was still pirates.


    They pursued wealth and loved rum and ladies. After plundering a large fortune, they would squander all of it at pirate ports and then hunt for more.


    To men living on the sea, they had been born there and would eventually die there. This was their destiny.


    Nevertheless, it was not enjoyable to be a pirate. In comparison to the merchants, they also faced the ocean''s dangers and might even be besieged by the royal navies.


    In the Western Continent, Ettoman was the country with the strongest naval power. Reaping the most benefits from overseas business, it resented pirate activities and legislated against them. If pirate activities were witnessed on the sea, the pirates could be executed on the spot, regardless of their identities.


    The corpses of pirates suspended in the wind could be seen at the ports of Ettoman every day, before eventually being replaced by new pirate corpses.


    The battle between the navies and the pirates was an eternal topic in the Great Voyage Era.


    The Great Voyage Era!


    After the eminent Voyager Michael discovered the sea route to the East based on the Great Geographical Discovery, countries all over the continent went crazy for it.


    Countless people rushed to sail the seas and explore the New World despite the danger from cyclones, tsunamis, giant monsters, and pirates. As more continents were discovered, more ships were built with improved capacity and speed.


    Wealth flowed continuously into Ettoman, making this island nation more affluent than any other country in the Western Continent.


    Attracted by the gold and other treasures, many coastal countries started their maritime business successively.


    It was the worst of times. The dreadful ocean devoured young lives like a ruthless beast, and the Great Geographical Discovery was full of colonization and crimes.


    It was the best of times. With courage and a little luck, one could obtain wealth and anything else in the vast ocean!


    ¡­


    "What a fantastic day!"


    Donald was over thirty years old. His white shirt was open halfway down, revealing his hairy chest.


    As an experienced sailor and voyager, he could tell the good weather today just by smelling the sea breeze.


    "At this speed, I can probably arrive at the Drunk Port tomorrow evening and enjoy the turkey and the rum there¡­"


    Donald rubbed his face. His beard was as stiff as steel needles since he had not shaved for a long time.


    He was the respected navigator of this ship named ''Flame and Beauty''.


    On a common merchant ship, the captain had the greatest authority, followed by the chief officer, who assisted the captain in managing things on the deck and other sundry duties.


    Next was the navigator, who had to be proficient at determining their position using the sextant and the stars, as well as calculating ocean currents and sea routes. The navigator could sometimes be more important than the captain.


    Below the navigator was the assault leader, followed by the second officer and the third officer.


    The ocean routes were not peaceful at all now, and it was absolutely possible for them to encounter pirates. A capable assault leader and sufficient weapons were crucial for survival at that critical moment!Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting.


    On pirate ships and navy vessels, the combatants were further classified into artillerymen, musketeers, and so on.


    Other than that, there were doctors, chefs, carpenters, accountants¡­ Together with the sailors at the bottom of the hierarchy, they completed the interpersonal relationships on a ship.


    Donald owned some shares in the shipments this time.


    As an expert in overseas trading, he had estimated that after the shipments were transacted, he would profit by more than 250 gold coins. That would be sufficient for him to purchase a bungalow in the Ettoman countryside with hundreds of jules of land. He could then retire and live a peaceful and affluent life.


    The years of sailing and countless dangers he had been through became no big deal in comparison to the benefits.


    Sigh¡­ I''ve been away for so many years. How''s my family doing? Perhaps little Arthur has already learned to speak?


    Donald missed his wife and his son.


    With that thought, he could not help glancing at something below his neck.


    There was a strange metal pendant on a fine hemp string, emitting cold and hard light.


    The pendant was like a tiny dagger with a peculiar shape, and Donald had bought it from a mad witch in a pirate market.


    It has a special meaning, representing the master of all armaments. You''ve sensed its greatness, so it belongs to you¡­


    Donald could still remember the witch''s words.


    Nevertheless, out of his respect for the witch, he had paid three silver coins for it.


    Actually, Donald really suspected that it was only the witch''s marketing technique.


    He had no idea why he had bought the pendant. It was as if he was enchanted by it at that time.


    The experienced captain had seen it and thought it might be the sect symbol of a faith in the East or something related to the Evil Gods. Therefore, he had advised him to discard it immediately or give it to a priest. However, it was impossible for Donald to discard this thing worth three silver coins unless he went mad.


    Furthermore, anything related to faith, gods, and spirits had to be regarded with caution.


    A god or some unknown being might be watching you covertly, and abandoning the pendant might cause a disaster!


    "From the East¡­ Perhaps it''s the sect symbol of an armament master?"


    With that thought, Donald gripped the pendant and prayed, "The grand unknown being in the invisible world¡­ I praise you sincerely and worship you piously¡­ Please lead me and let me complete this voyage successfully!"


    Any experienced sailor would rather believe in luck and destiny.


    Although many countries on the continent still banned religions, Ettoman¡ªthe country with the highest level of civilization and freedom¡ªhad a very liberal attitude toward religions.


    Basically, as long as the religion was not from an evil sect and did not advocate the doomsday or anything aggressive, it could receive fair treatment and equal opportunity to be preached.


    While Donald had already believed in the Luck Goddess, he would still turn to another being when he felt uncertain.


    After all, although those preachers guaranteed the existence of the goddess, Donald had never felt that she replied to his prayers.


    Well, Donald could at most be considered as one who did not truly believe in anything, or one who believed in everything.


    But the prayer was apparently different this time.


    Feeling the heat in his palm, he was astonished and stared at his pendant.


    The strange armament was neither a saber nor a sword but similar to both, with a smooth outline and a peculiar shape. Traces of all sorts of armaments could be found in it.


    Right now, the black pendant felt cold again, as if everything that had happened was only an illusion.


    But for some unknown reason, he continuously felt intense anxiety, which informed him that an extreme danger was imminent!


    "Damn¡­ Could this really be a hint from the god?"


    He pulled his collars and climbed up onto the lookout of the mast like a monkey.


    The weather could not be better. There were neither any clouds in the sky nor any fog on the ocean, allowing him to see things at a long distance.


    Donald looked in a certain direction.


    In that direction, a black dot approached them slowly before finally turning into a galleon.


    After seeing Flame and Beauty, the galleon raised its speed and sailed toward them aggressively. Their ship showed no signs of their identity.


    "Defense!" Donald shouted immediately to alert the rest of the crew.


    "What happened?"


    With a commotion on the deck, a white captain pushed the sailors aside and walked out.


    "Unidentified ship discovered five nautical miles to the left!" said Donald, gritting his teeth.


    "Hmm?"


    The captain looked through a copper, hand-held telescope, and his expression became solemn as well. "Assault leader, prepare to fight! Other sailors, return to your respective cabins and prepare to row!"


    The sailors on Flame and Beauty took action immediately, while Donald watched the approaching galleon with a nervous expression.


    The closer it came, the clearer they could see the artillery on the giant ship and the large number of people on the deck. An unsettling atmosphere immediately spread among them.


    Finally, the sound of cheers was heard on the other ship and a black flag rose.


    On the flag, there was a white skull with two intersecting bones below it.


    "It''s a pirate ship!"


    The least favorable situation became a reality. The captain took a deep breath. "Turn around now!"


    Shualala!


    Dozens of oars immediately extended from both sides of Flame and Beauty, pushing the water together in an orderly manner to make the ship turn around and flee.


    However, with the sound of a bugle, the other ship also sped up like a ferocious beast pouncing at its prey.


    As soon as he compared their speeds, Donald closed his eyes, knowing that their own ship could by no means escape the other.


    The captain knew it as well. Taking a deep breath, he gave the command. "Everybody¡­ prepare to fight!"

 826 Believer

    Bang bang!


    The pirate ship attacked first. Flame and Beauty was heavily bombarded amid white smoke.


    The deck cracked in the explosion, and a few unfortunate sailors were hit by solid shots and died miserably.


    "Damn it!"


    Donald gripped his musketeer tightly.


    Facts proved that a merchant ship was completely no match for a pirate ship. In front of the aggressive pirates, Flame and Beauty was like a helpless girl assaulted by a strong, fierce man.


    Bang!


    With another loud explosion, a chained shot was fired and hit the mainmast of Flame and Beauty accurately.


    Donald saw the attack and jumped off the mast in advance, but he still sighed in grief when he saw the mast had been broken in two.


    At this stage, Flame and Beauty had no hope of escaping the pirates, and close combat was unavoidable.


    Aw! Aw!


    The pirate ship quickly drew close and moved to the side of Flame and Beauty.


    The pirates shouted and wielded flying claws. Climbing onto the deck of the merchant ship, they started to slaughter the crew of the ship.


    "Charge with me!"


    The assault leader on the merchant ship had to take responsibility now, bringing a large group of sailors and combatants to fight against the enemies.


    Bang bang!


    Donald''s palms were sweating. Hiding behind some cover, he shot a pirate''s head with his musket.


    Fighting was a necessity in order to make a living on the sea. As an experienced voyager, he had fought pirates many times.


    But after seeing the ferocity and the sheer number of pirates this time, Donald felt hopeless.


    There are too many enemies, and all of them are highly skilled. This can''t be any ordinary pirate team!


    Splash!


    At first, the sailors had occupied an advantageous position and fought under the captain''s leadership, blocking the pirates at the edge of the deck.


    But the pirates soon became impatient.


    Following the sound of a bugle, there was a huge splash as tentacles covered with suckers suddenly extended out of the ocean.


    The tentacles that were as thick as a bucket wrapped around a few unlucky sailors and pulled them to the bottom of the ocean.


    "Sea monster!"


    The sailors cried out in shock, and the pirates immediately broke through their defense, steadily boarding the merchant ship.


    Rumble.


    Flame and Beauty swayed continuously, as if a gigantic beast hiding in the ocean kept striking the ship.


    Bloop! Bloop!


    Numerous bubbles rose, a vortex emerged, and an octopus as large as a hill came out of the water. It was nearly half as big as the ship, and its eight tentacles blocked the sun while slaughtering the crew like a demon''s hands.


    "It''s the Octopus Marauder Team!"


    Seeing this scene, Donald''s eyes were filled with desperation. "Aren''t they supposed to be on the Nightmare Ocean? Why did they come here?"


    The next moment, a scary figure jumped from the pirate ship onto the deck directly. Wielding his dual cutlasses, he killed the captain of Flame and Beauty with ease.


    Donald was overwhelmed by desperation.


    ¡­


    Whoosh!


    Waves washed the beach, on which hermit crabs moved happily among the shells.


    At times, the cries of seagulls rang out from on the coconut trees.


    The sunlight was dazzling.


    "Cough cough¡­"


    Donald turned over and coughed violently.


    He was in poor condition. He had lost almost all of his equipment and was covered in mud, sand, and seaweed.


    "Thank you, Luck Goddess! Thank you, unknown being!"


    Instead of complaining, he was extremely grateful.


    After all, surviving such a pirate attack was more important than anything else.


    At the end of the battle, he did not manage to get on a lifeboat because the blast from an explosion had thrown him directly into the ocean.


    Fortunately, the Octopus Marauder Team was busy counting their gains and did not bother chasing after each one of them.


    After all, he was as good as dead without a boat in the boundless ocean.


    But undeniably, Donald was lucky. He had grabbed on to a wooden plank and drifted with the ocean current, which had sent him to this deserted island.


    Anything was possible in the vast ocean, and he was lucky enough to survive.


    "Huff huff!"


    After resting for a while, Donald stood up and observed the island.


    It was one of the many deserted islands commonly found in the ocean. He felt much more relaxed at the sight of the exuberant coconut trees.


    But that was followed by sorrow.


    The pirates had captured Flame and Beauty and plundered all the goods on the ship, making him suffer substantial losses. After all, he took on a few debts for the profits this time, and he would become bankrupt just by paying the penalty fees.


    Of course, he might not even return to his homeland alive.


    Donald could only pray sincerely that this deserted island was not too far from shipping routes, and that a merchant ship would pass by and save him.


    If that did not happen, he would probably have to spend the rest of his life on this island.


    "God¡­ regardless of which one you are, I sincerely believe in you. Please save me from this place!"


    Piety would definitely arise when desperation was mixed with a trace of hope.


    Donald gripped the pendant on his neck, which was the only thing he had with him other than his clothes.


    And he had a mysterious feeling that when he fell into the ocean, the pendant had protected him and let him grab on to the life-saving wooden plank.


    Therefore, after cracking two coconuts and having some replenishment, he immediately tidied up his clothes and prayed with unprecedented piety.


    His praying lasted for half an hour.


    It continued until Donald felt dizzy, almost unable to hold on anymore, when a voice suddenly rang out in his mind, "You¡­ call my name, and I will respond!


    "I¡­ am the master of dreams and controller of all armaments!


    "My believers¡­ will know my name¡ªthe Dream and Armament Master!"


    ¡­


    The voice was so unexpected, but so real.


    Donald was stunned, and then he burst into tears. "Ah¡­ My God, I repent before you. I suspected the existence of gods previously¡­ I''m a sinner!"


    Having experienced such a mysterious event when his life was threatened, Donald was now a pious believer of the Dream and Armament Master.


    ¡­


    "Phew¡­ Finally done with one!"


    Fang Yuan also heaved a sigh of relief at this moment.


    He was now dream-traversing again, which had allowed him to descend into this world.


    Moreover, while he was in the Great Voyage World, his state was different from Donald''s.


    There seemed to be a natural shield that separated him from reality, making it hard for him to interfere with the real world.


    "A pure observer? How can I do anything then? How can I harvest the world and comprehend a Great Dao?"


    Fang Yuan was naturally unresigned, but he knew that it was the defense mechanism of this world.


    In this higher dimension universe, the worlds were at a much higher level and much more capable of coping with invaders.


    "Could this world have a restriction, expelling extraordinary forces like gods or powerful external beings?"


    Fang Yuan could only make a guess.Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting.


    Of course, being proficient in the Dao of Dream Master and the realm traversing technique, he was unwilling to retreat like this. After studying this world for a while, he finally managed to place a Faith Token in the real world.


    It was a pity that the witch who had first obtained the Faith Token already had her own faith and some power. Therefore, Fang Yuan''s reckless injection drove her mad.


    But this sailor named Donald was better.


    Although he did not have much potential, he was becoming more pious.


    "Of course, a mere believer can at most allow me to communicate, and that''s definitely insufficient to support my arrival in the world! The creation of Faith Tokens also takes a lot of time and effort. I need to cultivate him for now, at least developing his ability so that he can spread the belief back in the human world!"


    Fang Yuan was profoundly interested in this Great Voyage World.


    In fact, following the Great Geographical Discovery, humans had gradually realized that they were not the only intelligent life in the world.


    Moreover, the mysterious forces in this world were beyond their imagination.


    The gigantic monsters in the ocean were only the tip of the iceberg.


    There were a plethora of gods and unknown beings outside the realm boundary!


    Their state was similar to Fang Yuan''s now. They were expelled or sealed, but could influence the world through their believers.


    "This is an interesting world full of mysterious forces, while technology is also developing rapidly. With the advent of the Great Voyage Era, everything will be attracted to the ocean, where they can interact and clash¡­ And past rulers are coveting this world covertly¡­" Fang Yuan murmured.


    Of course, he had obtained the coordinates of this world from the Lord of the Void.


    After killing the thousand-footed dragon centipede in the Spiritual Realm and giving the benefits to his student, he bade farewell to Gongsun Kunlun and left the country of Ye. Secluding himself in a random wilderness, he started his second dream-traversing exploration in the Spiritual Realm.


    As a precaution against the Lord of the Void, he did not go to the world recommended by him. Instead, he chose among the other coordinates.


    It turned out that the Lord of the Void was not so kind to him.


    Although he gave Fang Yuan the coordinates of the worlds, all of them were very hard to invade.


    "But to me, this is beneficial!"


    Fang Yuan was not really angry.


    After all, the Lord of the Void could only play tricks under the restrictions of the contract.


    Moreover, the difficulty in invading the worlds also meant that they had not been exploited before. It was incomparably profitable to harvest such untouched worlds.


    "However¡­ expel and seal? This is an interesting defense mechanism¡­ I didn''t expect that in this world, I would enjoy the same treatment as those ancient Evil Gods and past rulers who used to rule this world!"

 827 Experimen

    This Dream and Armament Master was absolutely a generous and merciful god!


    Donald, who was stranded on the deserted island, was certain about this.


    The god responded to his prayers every day, even teaching him mystical knowledge and martial arts, which significantly enhanced his ability to survive.


    Donald had already forgotten everything about the Luck Goddess and started to serve the Dream and Armament Master wholeheartedly.


    Humans are different in different worlds. In order to become extraordinary, I can''t follow any fixed method. The fastest and easiest choice is to adapt to the worlds.


    Donald practiced using a wooden sword, not realizing that his god was watching his performance as an ''absolute observer''. From the outcome of his practice, Fang Yuan could even analyze the rules governing this world, thereby probing deeper into the secrets of the world.


    In the first stage, I need to enhance his martial arts and enable him to survive on this deserted island! The second stage is to inject extraordinary power into him, and the power is preferably related to water so that he can travel across the ocean even if no one comes to save him. After all, this world is all about the ocean!


    Little did Donald know that he was only a lab rat to Fang Yuan.


    Summarizing the observations made over this period of time, Fang Yuan also reached some conclusions.


    In general, this world allows changes that take place on the mystical side¡­ but the changes can''t be so dramatic that they exceed a certain limit. Otherwise, they''ll be expelled by the world. Moreover, some physics and chemistry principles still apply here!


    In this case, it was fundamentally impossible to teach Donald the Dream Master Dao or other paths of cultivation.


    Other than the basics, those things from external realms had to be altered here.


    But Fang Yuan was a grandmaster in terms of descending into different worlds. He had encountered numerous situations like this and had developed his own set of solutions.


    And after experimenting on Donald and collecting some important data, Fang Yuan was even more confident.


    I must start immediately¡­ Can''t wait any longer¡­


    He did not want to experience the Adventures of Robinson Crusoe with a middle-aged man, so it was better to solve the problem as soon as possible.


    If I accidentally get him killed, I can find another one. The new Faith Token is about to be condensed anyway¡­Fang Yuan thought indifferently.


    Donald would have just been a floating corpse without him. Furthermore, based on his deduction, the probability of success was quite high this time.


    Therefore, while Donald was practicing swordsmanship, a stately voice was heard in his mind. "My believer!"


    "My Lord!"


    As faith was gradually inculcated in Donald, he could hear the god''s voice without praying and knelt immediately.


    "I''m satisfied with your belief!" Fang Yuan''s voice sounded elusive. "This world has forgotten the name of the Dream and Armament Master for too many years. Therefore, I need you to spread my name in the mortal world!"


    "God, I will faithfully follow your order!"


    Donald felt every cell in his body become excited.


    The god told him to spread the belief in the mortal world, and what did this mean? It meant that he could go home! As for the method used to achieve this, he had no doubt at all because it was the promise from a god!


    "¡­ I''ve chosen you to be my agent, so you will share my glory and obtain part of my mystical powers!"


    Evidently, Fang Yuan wanted to give Donald a big surprise.


    Before Donald had any time to decline, a magic ceremony was deeply ingrained into Donald''s sea of consciousness, such that he would be unable to ever forget it.


    "Three demon algae and a feather from a seagull¡­ Add them into boiling seawater. Use it to sear three symbols on your body. Lastly, drink sea monster blood! Once you complete all of this, you''ll become a warlock with mystical powers!"


    The ceremony was very complete, with every step explained in detail.


    Donald''s breathing intensified since he knew its value.


    According to the explanation, after successfully completing the ceremony, he would become an Ocean Warlock with the gift of breathing underwater and manipulating water currents and some small fish.


    In the end, he could even summon a vortex and conquer sea monsters!


    The Ocean Warlock was the king of the ocean!


    Having lived on the sea for so many years, he could not resist such temptation at all.


    And he had to do it if he wanted to return home.


    Unless he would rather continue staying on this deserted island and spending decades waiting for rescue!


    "I praise you, My Lord!"


    Donald finished his prayer. He had made the choice.


    However, the recipe presented another big problem. "Demon algae and a seagull feather are easy to find, but sea monster blood is the issue!"


    As soon as he thought of the problem, information about the sea monster in the vicinity emerged in his brain.


    Since Fang Yuan wanted Donald to be his lab rat, he had surely taken everything into consideration.


    The magic potion recipe required for the ceremony consisted of materials that Donald could obtain on the island straightaway.


    Of course, sea monster blood was the most important part, as it was irreplaceable.


    In order to become a warlock, he had to first acquire some factors of mysterious forces.


    Sea monsters also differed in strength. The sea monster living closeby was only a giant sea turtle and much less powerful than the octopus he had encountered.


    Donald had improved his physique, martial arts, and mystical knowledge under Fang Yuan''s guidance, so he should be able to complete the task.


    But even if he failed, that would not be an issue.


    Fang Yuan could simply find another person to restart the attempt.


    As someone at the same level as the Evil Gods and other sources of evil in this world, Fang Yuan had plenty of patience.


    ¡­


    Although he knew the whereabouts of that sea monster, Donald was not an impulsive person and would not act immediately.


    Making some necessary preparations, collecting information, and setting a trap would all take some time.


    And in this period of time, Fang Yuan finally condensed the second Faith Token.


    "I''ll let Donald progress using the indigenous power system. He''s a native, so he''ll suffer minimal backlash and his destiny won''t be twisted too dramatically¡­ That''s why I didn''t inject power into him, but let him look for the sea monster instead!


    "But this time, I''d like to bet big on this one!"


    It was natural for an indigenous person to acquire indigenous power.


    But what if they acquired external power? That would obstruct the smooth World Thread and lead to all kinds of consequences.


    But to traversers, any change would be better than none. Therefore, even if nothing was happening, they would create some upheaval.


    ¡­


    Orlando was the third officer of the ''Giant Octopus''.


    He looked pretty young, about twenty years old. He had a red headcloth on his forehead and a cutlass at his waist.


    As the third officer of the infamous ''Octopus Marauder Team'', he had the necessary aptitude. In terms of cutlass techniques, he was better than anyone else in the entire pirate team.


    Giant Octopus was anchored at a pirate port. Most of the team members took the fortune they had plundered previously and squandered it on drinking and playing.


    At the thought of what they had just gained, he could not help smiling.


    Flame and Beauty was indeed like a fat lamb. Not only were the goods valuable, but the ship was also sold at a satisfactory price.


    The gold coins should have comforted the sailors and helped them recover from the previous fiasco?


    Orlando''s expression turned solemn.


    The Octopus Marauder Team used to be active in the Nightmare Ocean, but they had lost many people in a previous fiasco and had to retreat from the area to recover their power along the shipping routes outside.


    "I won''t stop here forever. I shall conquer all the seas and become the Pirate King!"


    Wild ambition could be seen in the young man''s eyes.


    Because of this goal, he was much more ''disciplined'' than other pirates.


    Swoosh!


    Orlando thought for a while and unsheathed his cutlass. Streaks of light flowed in the air as he wielded the cutlass.


    "My martial arts are too weak even when compared to the Team Leader''s, and I can''t realize my dreams like this¡­ I''ll set myself a small goal first, which is to become the Team Leader of the Octopus Marauder Team!"


    There was always an ambition deep in his mind, but he was short of an opportunity.


    But tonight, the Goddess of Destiny, or rather someone in the Evil Abyss, noticed him.


    Bang!


    A ray of light flashed in the sky, and something accurately struck Orlando''s forehead.


    "Damn it! What is this?"


    He cursed in a daze and found that it was a strange pendant.


    The black pendant was neither a saber nor a sword but looked similar to both, as if it consisted of all armaments in the world.


    "So strange¡­ It seems to have dropped from the sky!"


    Orlando felt upset and confused at the same time.


    He was so skilled in cutlass techniques that he could slash the wings off a fly that happened to pass by, so how could he miss this pendant?


    "This is something mystical. Perhaps I should ask a witch to identify it?"


    The young man thought silently, but he was suddenly stunned.


    A light screen emerged in front of him:


    "Name: Orlando


    Level: 3


    Strength: 2 (You are stronger than most people due to prolonged practice.)


    Speed: 3 (Cutlass techniques require agility. You have gained excellent balance from frequent practice on the sea.)


    Physique: 1.5 (You have a powerful physique, but it can be improved.)


    Psyche: 5 (Young man, you are gifted with your psyche. Have you considered becoming a sorcerer?)


    Identity: Pirate (Third officer of the Octopus Marauder Team)


    Specialization: Sailing (Normal), Musket Manipulation (Normal), Cutlass Techniques (Proficient)


    Experience: 0 (Experience required before reaching the next level: 100)


    "What¡­ is this?"Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting.


    Orlando was dumbfounded, feeling as if his world view was shattered.

 828 Repercussions

    "Pirate System!"


    After testing it in front of a few pirates guarding the ship, Orlando was sure of two things.


    First, only he could see this light screen that had suddenly appeared.


    Moreover, with practice, he could open or close it with ease.


    "But¡­ how did it appear? Why did it come to me?"


    Orlando stared at the black pendant in his hand.


    The Pirate System had to have appeared under its influence.


    He opened his light screen and looked at it carefully. "Looks like it can express my state explicitly¡­ Sorcerer? Am I gifted to become a sorcerer? But why does it feel so strange?"


    He was apparently confused by the descriptions in the brackets, not knowing that these were only Fang Yuan''s jokes.


    "And¡­ what does experience and level mean?"


    Without the knowledge of a traverser, Orlando was baffled, even frightened by this light screen, suspecting that he might have been cursed.


    "Ding! This system aims to help the host conquer the seas and become the Pirate King. This permanent quest is now released without a time limit!


    "Permanent quest¡ªPirate King!


    "Explanation: As the third officer of the Octopus Marauder Team, you are still a nobody. Young man, all my treasures are in the ocean. Strive to become the Pirate King! Conquer all other pirates and defeat all sea monsters, midgets, murlocs, elves, and Evil Gods from the past to become the indisputable king of pirates!


    "Quest reward: 10,000,000 experience!"


    ¡­


    "I''m the third officer of the infamous Octopus Marauder Team, and yet I''m a nobody?


    "Become the Pirate King?"


    Orlando wanted to ridicule it, but his breath became more intense as he read the last part. He then felt slighted bewildered. "What''s the use of experience?"


    "Ding! Experience is used to increase your level. Every time you level up, you will obtain one stat point and one specialization point, which can then be used to enhance your ability directly!


    "Attention: the maximum level of a civilian is 5. Please complete your job placement as soon as possible!"


    The Pirate System replied immediately.


    Orlando was astonished by how the thoughts from the light screen automatically entered his sea of consciousness, allowing him to understand the meaning of the words.


    For example, while the characters on the light screen were in a language unfamiliar to him, he could still comprehend them!


    Together with the explanation by the system, he had a rough idea of what it was.


    This was a miraculous system that could display his state and enhance his ability through completing quests, gaining experience, and advancing to new levels.


    This was definitely tempting to Orlando.


    He then felt extremely fearful.


    "This kind of ability¡­ far exceeds the team leader''s gift of summoning sea monsters!"


    Orlando knew that mystical forces existed in the ocean.


    The giant octopus manipulated by their team leader was merely the tip of the iceberg.


    He had even been to some mysterious islands and continents, which were inhabited by unusual species such as midgets, elves, dwarfs, and even the legendary giant dragons!


    But any legendary ability seemed to be no match for this miraculous Pirate System.


    "But¡­ I''m not sure whether it really works¡­"


    Orlando was cautious about things that he encountered for the first time, but he had determined to keep this secret to himself, completely forgetting about the idea of consulting a witch.


    At this moment, a commotion was heard in the port.


    A few pirates ran toward him in a hurry. "Third Officer, there''s a conflict between our sailors and the port staff, and Old Single Eye has been detained in the bar."


    "They got into a fight because of gambling and women again?"


    Orlando frowned.


    Such things happened in almost every port.


    Normally, it was not considered a big problem that had to be resolved by the captain or the chief officer.


    Ding!


    At this moment, a distinct reminder sounded out.


    Orlando glanced at the two pirates in front of him, finding that they were completely unaware of it and waiting for him to make a decision. He pretended to be thinking and clicked open the quest board:


    "Temporary quest triggered¡ªRescue!


    "Quest explanation: As the third officer of a pirate team, how can you let your own subordinate suffer? Rescue Old Single Eye!


    "Quest reward: 100 experience (Reward is doubled for the first quest! You''re fortunate, lad. After completing this quest, you can advance to the next level! You will then discover a whole new world!)"


    The quest content appeared together with Fang Yuan''s joke just like before.


    An opportunity to test it? Just right!


    A chilling glow flashed in Orlando''s eyes. "Where is he? Let''s go there immediately!"


    ¡­


    "He''s swallowed the bait!"


    Fang Yuan, as an observer in the empty space, smiled inscrutably.


    When Orlando completed this quest and obtained the stat point and the specialization point, the surge in his power would absolutely make him rely on the system from then on.


    This Pirate System was naturally Fang Yuan''s masterpiece.


    At his level, he could start to study his stats window.


    This Pirate System was a seed of power that he had created by referencing his stats window.Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting.


    Of course, it was no match for his own. This crude imitation was short of many miraculous functions.


    In fact, energy was needed to enhance Orlando''s abilities every time!


    And where did the energy come from? It had to come from Fang Yuan!


    In other words, Fang Yuan injected his own power into Orlando under the guise of a system where experience gains could result in an enhancement of power.


    Of course, given his capacity now, it was a piece of cake for him to enhance a pirate''s abilities.


    More importantly, even after death, Orlando would be unable to get rid of his deep-seated imprint.


    He could withdraw what he had given to Orlando at any crucial moment!


    Obviously, poor Orlando was even more similar to a lab rat than Donald.


    "Furthermore¡­ the world will see him as a pain in the neck because he''s received my external power. He''ll probably be unlucky in the future¡­ Orlando is doomed to live a life full of trouble and turmoil, and all kinds of danger will force him to rely on the power from the Pirate System, thereby forming a vicious cycle!"


    To put it simply, since Fang Yuan was a powerful external being, the world would instinctively expel any of his imprints.


    Donald was less affected because most of his abilities resulted from his own training. Even the ceremony drew power from inside the world.


    But Fang Yuan injected power into Orlando directly, which was quite awful.


    For instance, Orlando would definitely be obstructed when he rescued Old Single Eye. Even if he succeeded in the end, he would offend someone and cause a whole lot of new problems.


    This was the evil of this world, and something a lab rat had to endure!


    ¡­


    On the deserted island.


    Donald crouched down at the top of a coconut tree. Gazing at the nearby beach, he could not help swallowing his saliva.


    A giant green-haired turtle was resting there, its shell covered with moss and seaweed just like a green hill.


    "Is this a joke?"


    Having witnessed the sheer size of the giant turtle, Donald almost felt desperate. "Even if it stays still for me to slash, I won''t even be able to cut open its skin¡­"


    However, where there was a will, there was a way. After observing it for a long time, he discovered something. "This giant sea turtle is laying eggs!!!"


    The magic of the ceremony only required sea monster blood, and it did not stipulate that the sea monster had to be an adult!


    Furthermore, he could try using the egg white as well!


    "My Lord¡­ please bless me!"


    Donald waited patiently, praying toward Fang Yuan every day.


    Nevertheless, the giant turtle was also very patient. It stayed in the nest after laying its eggs and did not leave at all. Donald suspected that it would stay there until the little turtles were hatched.


    A few months elapsed quickly.


    Other than hunting and eating, Donald spent all his time staring at the giant green-haired turtle and listening to its movements.


    Splash!


    Finally, on a stormy night.


    Wuthering winds blew in heavy rain.


    Roaring waves surged upon the stormy seas, just like a dark hell.


    A pair of eyes as bright as searchlights emerged from the deep ocean and stared at the giant turtle.


    Splash!


    With a splash, a monster covered with black scales crawled onto the beach.


    It was like a giant crocodile that had eight short legs. Its huge mouth, which contained many sharp teeth inside, took up almost half of its body.


    The two giant beasts confronted each other for a moment before suddenly slamming together ferociously.


    Thump!


    The violent sound rang out like an earthquake, making Donald exhilarated. "Thank you for giving me this chance, my Lord!"


    As soon as he saw the two giant beasts rolling into the sea in a fight, he directly ran toward the battlefield without any hesitation, his eyes bright like flames.


    Without the giant turtle guarding the place, he quickly reached the giant eggs that were as tall as him.


    Other than the eggs, there were giant scales, which looked just like many small shields, left on the nearby ground.


    Some of the scales were bathed in crimson blood, appearing sinister in the glaring white light from the lightning.


    "Sea monster blood!" Donald''s eyes glistened. "Praise the Lord!"


    ¡­


    Since he had the sea monster blood, it was unnecessary to steal an egg and have the giant turtle hold a grudge against him.


    After collecting sufficient blood, Donald immediately retreated into a well-hidden cave.


    "Three demon algae, a seagull feather, boiled in seawater¡­"


    All the other materials had been prepared and stored here.


    A strange, foul smell was emanating from a crude clay pot.


    Donald took off his worn-out clothes, dipped a sharpened wooden stick into clay pot containing the magic potion, and started to inscribe a few strange talismans on his arm.


    After finishing all of this, he held up a scale, drinking and licking all the blood on it.


    Suddenly, a strong current of heat gushed out, striking him into unconsciousness.


    Morning.


    "Haha¡­ I made it!"


    Donald woke up and felt exhilarated as he sensed the mystic power in his body, but was shocked when he saw his hair. "My hair!"


    He found a pond and observed himself for a while, only to admit in frustration that despite the success of the ceremony, there were repercussions¡ªhis blond hair had turned green¡­

 829 Placemen

    "Praise the Lord!"


    Although his hair had turned green, he was still exhilarated after testing his abilities.


    He had now completed the ceremony successfully, becoming an Ocean Warlock who could breathe and manipulate water.


    Walking barefoot on the fine sand, he used his will and made a blue fish fly out of the water and land in front of him.


    "The key to an Ocean Warlock''s abilities is to feel the ocean and sense all sorts of ocean currents and hidden currents like a marine creature¡­ As for the ability of manipulation, I can only manipulate ordinary fish for now, but I believe that with practice, I''ll manage to manipulate larger fish like sharks and whales, and finally sea monsters!"


    Donald had a deep understanding of his abilities now.


    Although he still did not have a penny to his name, he was absolutely confident in himself.


    Even though all the goods on the merchant ship were lost this time, and he had to pay a large amount of compensation, it was no big deal.


    Having become an Ocean Warlock, he was confident of earning hundreds of times his past income from the ocean.


    Now that he could easily depart from this deserted island, he felt slightly reluctant to leave.


    Before leaving, Donald knelt on the beach and started to pray piously.


    "My Lord, I¡ªyour pious servant Donald¡ªpraise you with a humble attitude. You are the Master of Dreams and Armaments¡­"


    He felt extremely grateful toward this deserted island. At this place, he had gained the Dream and Armament Master''s favor and become an Ocean Warlock who possessed mystical power. It was undoubtedly a precious treasure to him for the rest of his life.


    Moreover, Donald would later learn that this was the place where the Dream and Armament Master responded to prayers for the first time in recent years. It could be classified as a holy ground of the religion.


    "Very well, Donald! You shall return to the mortal world and recite my name to others! As the Master of Dreams and Armaments, I declare¡­ that you are my earthly agent, my first preacher!"


    Fang Yuan''s grand voice made Donald shiver in excitement. He kowtowed on the ground. "Yes, my Lord. Your will is my mission¡­"


    ¡­


    "Time to leave!"


    No matter how much he would miss this place, Donald resolutely left for home the next day.


    A crude raft was all he needed to travel across the ocean.


    In fact, Donald only bothered to make the raft because he did not want to be too shocking.


    As an Ocean Warlock with the ability to breathe underwater and manipulate fish, he could readily extract drinkable water from seawater.


    With all this, he could walk slowly at the bottom of the ocean and reach the closest port.


    Furthermore, due to his surprisingly good sensitivity to hidden currents and sea monsters, he could avoid them. It was something he had never imagined as a navigator before.Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting.


    With such abilities, wealth was as insignificant as cobwebs.


    ¡­


    Actually, when Donald made the breakthrough last night, Fang Yuan had learned even more.


    "I have no comment on his green hair, but this drawback can''t outweigh the benefits! Generally speaking, this promotion ceremony was successful. Just as I had expected, Donald mastered extraordinary power as an ordinary man!"


    Fang Yuan was delighted when he looked at Donald.


    Donald''s success let him comprehend more about the rules of this world. By applying the understanding to himself, he was about to make a breakthrough as well.


    "Nevertheless, such promotions may still be risky¡­ The sea monsters'' bloodline originates from past Evil Gods¡­ When he swallowed these mystical factors, he could have possibly immediately formed a connection with them!"


    Such Evil Gods were far more terrifying than those Fang Yuan had encountered before.


    In other words, just like Mental Demon Demon Gods, they were indescribable.


    Sometimes, even an indirect and partial observation of their message imprint could result in all kinds of insoluble disastrous consequences.


    "It means that this world is definitely much more powerful than the world of Divine Armaments¡­ There are numerous beings at the level of Demon Gods¡­ However, they''re in the same situation as me, and theirs may even be less favorable."


    In fact, Donald did not get corrupted during the ceremony and become a sea monster only because Fang Yuan had helped him ward off the disaster.


    Otherwise, an ordinary human would definitely go mad after interacting with such powerful beings.


    "It''s extremely hard to communicate with the Evil Gods in this world¡­ I can''t even find their original bodies¡­"


    Although they were sealed and expelled as well, Fang Yuan did not manage to find any traces of an Evil God''s original body.


    "But that''s expected. According to my deduction based on world theories, only less than 1% of this Great Voyage World is inhabitable, and the other 99% is full of strange spaces and regions¡­"


    He could never be too cautious about Evil Gods.


    Fang Yuan speculated that all the Evil Gods were detained separately.


    After all, if all the Evil Gods were sealed together, they might devour and absorb one another, thereby giving birth to some extremely horrifying being.


    "However, while this world doesn''t allow interference from overly powerful forces, my plan may still work¡­ I can still utilize the power of faith. When I have more believers in the future, I may even open a channel and let part of my will descend into the mortal world, hence obtaining a new body!"


    Fang Yuan''s eyes lit up.


    To him, it might be worthless to disrupt the entire world through manipulating his agents.


    He himself had to descend into the world in order to truly harvest it.


    ¡­


    Schwing!


    The cutlass was unsheathed before slashing across a pirate''s neck.


    His expression was cold and gloomy, and one of his eyes was covered by a black blindfold. A black iron hook was seen when he extended his right hand in vain.


    This was the second officer of the Octopus Marauder Team, but now his lifeless corpse was becoming cold.


    "So strong¡­ Is this the power of the system?"


    Orlando sheathed his cutlass, his face displaying his ecstasy as he watched his enemy die.


    The Pirate System suddenly changed in front of him:


    "Name: Orlando


    "Level: 4


    Strength: 3 (Your Qilin Arm has become even stronger.)


    Speed: 3 (Cutlass techniques require agility. You have gained excellent balance from frequent practice on the sea.)


    Physique: 1.5 (You have a powerful physique, but it can be improved.)


    Psyche: 5 (Young man, you are gifted with your psyche. Have you considered becoming a sorcerer?)


    Identity: Pirate (Third officer of the Octopus Marauder Team)


    Specialization: Sailing (Normal), Musket Manipulation (Normal), Cutlass Techniques (Master)


    Experience: 0 (Experience required before reaching the next level: 200)


    After completing the quest of rescuing Old Single Eye, he had become a level 4 civilian and obtained one stat point and one specialization point.


    The stat point was used on strength straight away, while the specialization point was used on Cutlass Techniques.


    It turned out that the strength improvement due to this Pirate System was immediately visible.


    After going through some trouble and danger, Orlando seized the opportunity to isolate the pirate team''s second officer and kill this man who used to be stronger than him.


    "Ding! Quest¡ªKilling completed!"


    The notification sound from the system was heard, indicating that he had gained another 200 experience.


    "Level up!"


    Orlando chose to level up immediately, every cell in his body cheering and celebrating. "Even if this Pirate System is an Evil God''s curse, I''ll take it!"


    It had to be acknowledged that after enjoying the convenience that this system had brought to him, he became somewhat reliant on it.


    The improvement in strength aside, when he upgraded Cutlass Techniques to the master level, he felt as if the cutlass had become an extension of his arm and a part of his life. It was truly intoxicating.


    A notification from the system immediately emerged.


    "Ding. You have leveled to Level 5, gaining one specialization point and one stat point!


    "Attention: Your civilian level has reached the maximum. Please complete your job placement as soon as possible. Otherwise, you can not level up any further!"


    "Can''t level up?" Of course, Orlando knew the severity of the issue. "Job placement? It seems that the system doesn''t consider my job to be a pirate, and it requires a more professional power system like a sorcerer? But¡­ I have no idea where to learn magic!"


    "Ding! The host''s psyche is detected to be at the Extraordinary threshold. The civilian level is at the maximum. Job transfer requirement is triggered. Unlock job transfer quests!"


    But the considerate system provided the choices soon. "¡­ Detecting the host''s stats. You can now unlock the following job transfer quests: Sorcerer, Warlock, Mad Fighter, Sanguine Saber Wielder!"


    Together with the choices, four corresponding symbols also emerged on the screen.


    The Sorcerer had the symbol of a book, the Warlock an eye, the Mad Fighter an axe, and the Sanguine Saber Wielder a cutlass, each possessing some mystical power.


    "The Extraordinary threshold!"


    Orlando''s eyes glistened. Of course, he knew that mystical forces existed in this world.


    But he did not expect to interact with them so soon. If he really mastered something on the mystical side, he could perhaps shorten his preparation time significantly before challenging the team leader.


    That was because the team leader of the Octopus Marauder Team was an Extraordinary!


    "Since that''s the case, five is the limit of an ordinary person''s stats?"


    Orlando added a stat point to psyche directly.


    He then heard frustrating feedback. "Ding! As your psyche has reached the Extraordinary threshold, you can not make a breakthrough before job placement. Attention¡ªyou need to pay a higher price beyond the Extraordinary threshold. Improving your psyche by one point will require double stat points!"


    "I knew it wouldn''t be so simple!"


    Orlando sighed and focused on Specialization instead.


    "Ding! It takes three specialization points to promote Cutlass Techniques (Master) to Cutlass Techniques (Extraordinary). You do not have sufficient specialization points! Please press on!!!"

 830 Spread

    Malan Port.


    This was a common port in Ettoman, with thousands of tons of shipments entering and exiting it every day.


    The blue sky was cloudless. On the dock, a tax collector responsible for registration yawned in boredom and rubbed his eyes.


    Although it was an ordinary dock, he could collect a considerable amount of mooring and maintenance fees every day. Even the officers of city hall felt envious about it.


    It evidently took a lot of effort for him to reach this position.


    But it was not yet the peak trading period. The warm afternoon sun dispersed the morning fog and made him feel sleepy.


    Suddenly, he stared wide-eyed in a direction.


    At the end of the blue ocean, a black dot suddenly appeared.


    The black dot was too small. It took a long time for it to drift near the dock, and it turned out to be a crude¡ªwooden raft?


    "What the hell!"


    The tax collector rubbed his face in a daze and blinked hard, only to confirm that it was indeed an ordinary wooden raft, even inferior to a fishing boat. Furthermore, there was a figure with green hair on the raft.


    Thump!


    The raft slowly drew near the shore, and a man with a savage appearance stepped onto the dock with a confident and proud expression.


    "Hello, sir!"


    The tax collector looked at the patrolling soldiers around him and gained some confidence, taking out a pen and paper while approaching him. "By the king''s decree, any ship stopping at the port must be registered. May I know your name, please?"


    The laws in Ettoman were still somewhat unreasonable at this time. For instance, in the inland territories, any goods dropped on the road would automatically become the local nobility''s possessions!


    Thus, some of the nobles intentionally built roads full of pits in order to increase their income.


    Of course, such feudal lords had gradually become irrelevant as society developed. They were on the decline compared to the new powers in the ever-changing Ettoman.


    And according to the king''s laws, any ship that stopped at an Ettoman port had to pay port dues!


    To a tax collector who tried to maximize income, was a wooden raft counted as well? Of course it was!


    "No problem¡­ My name is Donald!" Donald made a gentleman''s bow. Although he looked like a savage now, his aura was incomparable. He added, "The navigator of Flame and Beauty!"


    "Oh! God!" The quill pen in the tax collector''s hand dropped onto the ground. "Goddess bless you! You''re still alive?"


    "Hmm¡­" Donald''s voice was low. "Has everyone heard that we encountered pirates?"


    "In our port, yes, because your captain chose this port as the final destination and applied for a warehouse in advance. One month after he breached the contract, we learned from the shareholders and creditors who unsuccessfully invested that Flame and Beauty had encountered pirates and all the sailors had died¡­ By the way, the ship was sold for three thousand gold coins at an auction in a pirate port¡­" the tax collector said everything he knew and appeared to be sorry. "And¡­ sir, because of your declaration, I''m sorry to inform you that you will need to proceed to the port''s security office to be investigated by the security officer and the navy department!"


    Based on Donald''s clothes and vehicle, the tax collector deduced that he was only a survivor, but he had to go through the necessary procedures.


    Deep down, he was sympathetic toward Donald.


    It was already incredible to survive the pirates'' attack, flee to a deserted island, and make a raft to save himself.


    It was a miracle to travel across the ocean on a wooden raft despite the currents and waves!


    But unfortunately, the creator of this miracle would receive debts rather than flowers and acclaim after reaching Ettoman.


    He clearly remembered that some of the creditors were looking for Donald to get him to pay the debt.


    As long as the news spread out, they would not miss it.


    And by then, the impoverished Donald would definitely be in an extremely poor situation. Bankruptcy was already the best possible outcome.


    "I understand. Thank you for your reminder!" Donald smiled and took out a pearl. "This is my entry fee and mooring fee. The rest is your tip."


    "Uh¡­ Thank you, sir!"


    The tax collector stared at the pearl in his hand.


    Even with the advent of the Great Voyage Era, precious items like pearls and agates were still highly valuable.


    Furthermore, the tax collector had glanced at Donald''s pocket when he opened it and estimated that there were about a hundred pearls inside, each of them with a higher quality than the one in his hand!


    "Now, before bringing me to the security office, help me find a hotel. I need to sleep, shower, and have a sumptuous feast!"


    Donald smiled confidently, revealing his white teeth.


    After becoming an Ocean Warlock, he could obtain any treasure in the ocean. Thus, these debts were nothing to him.


    ¡­


    Merely three days later, a piece of shocking news spread in Malan Port.


    A voyager of Flame and Beauty, who everyone believed to have died at sea, returned to Ettoman half a year after the event!


    Moreover, not only did he survive the pirates'' attack, but he had also miraculously found a treasure trove of pearls, paying off all his debts at once and becoming a slightly famous plutocrat!


    The officers were happy with Donald''s fame.


    First, they confirmed through their investigation that Donald was not associated with the Octopus Marauder Team.


    Moreover, the port needed to have an exemplar that could motivate others to start marine trading and accumulating wealth.


    Most importantly, Mr. Donald was extremely generous with his money, and Ettoman made an effort to protect private property. They did not want to do anything that might do more harm than good to themselves.


    News could always become rumor as it spread.


    In the end, drunk customers in the taverns swore that Donald had found the previous Pirate King''s treasure and prepared to purchase a noble title using part of it!


    While others were still gossiping about whether Donald would buy the position of a baron or a viscount, this legendary figure was on a black carriage bound for the countryside.


    Ettoman was a coastal country with perfect port construction, but the inland scenery was completely different.


    Above the horizon, paths intersected with one another on the farmland. The giant wheel on the windmill rotated slowly in the air with the fragrance of wheat.


    The carriage continued forward, finally stopping in front of a row of cabins.


    With a cane in his hand, Donald wore a black tailcoat, a top hat, and a pair of buckskin boots, looking like a successful man in the upper class.


    He gazed at the cabin and tears welled up in his eyes. He knocked on the door.


    The door creaked open, and a little boy with blond hair and eyes as blue as the ocean looked out from behind the door.


    Donald felt as if his heart was melting when he saw the child.


    But the clever boy yelled loudly straightaway, "Mom¡­ there''s a stranger!"


    "Creditors again? How many times do I have to tell you that Donald didn''t die, and that his debts¡­"


    The door opened wider, revealing a countrywoman over thirty years old.


    She was dressed in simple and worn-out clothes. Her expression was apparently angry, but her eyes betrayed her fear.


    Obviously, the rumor at the port had not yet reached the countryside.


    She froze when she saw Donald, the bread basket in her hand dropping onto the floor.


    Although Donald''s hair was green, his facial features had not changed at all, and she recognized him immediately.


    "Villain! Don''t bully Mom!"


    The little boy spread out his arms in front of his mother like a hen protecting its chicks.


    "Sorry¡­ I''m late!" Donald took off his hat and hugged both of them, his eyes full of tears. "Nia, don''t worry¡­ There aren''t any more debts. Our life will be better in the future!"


    When Nia heard his words, she could not speak at all as tears fell from her eyes.


    ¡­


    This dinner was very sumptuous for people living in the countryside.


    There was fragrant white bread, a large bowl of vegetable soup, and a plate of sausages.


    In the seasoning bottles, there was even olive oil, fine salt, and spice from the New World.


    The little guy''s eyes were glistening when he saw this.Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting.


    "Nia¡­ You''ve been working so hard all these years. Rest assured. Although I encountered pirates, it was a blessing in disguise. I obtained a large sum of money, sufficient for us to move into the city. Little Arthur will go to the best school and enter the upper class in the future! He''ll become a graceful gentleman!"


    Donald held his wife''s hands tightly to show his determination.


    "I believe in you!"


    Nia was delighted, cutting the biggest loaf of bread and putting it in Donald''s plate.


    "Before dinner, I want to pray first!"


    When they were about to start eating, Donald took out the pendant he treasured like his life. "This time¡­ I almost lost my life at sea. I only made it back home because of the blessings from this Master of Dreams and Armaments¡­ The great Master of Dreams and Armaments is a righteous god who I can trust with my faith and my life!"


    "Since that''s the case¡­"


    Nia was only a countrywoman without much knowledge. She said to little Arthur, "This is your father''s belief, so we must respect the god as well. Put down the knife and fork first!"


    "Oh!"


    The little guy put down his eating utensils as he was told to and watched his father''s actions.


    "Thank you, my Lord, for giving me food¡­"


    There was not any stipulated ceremony, so the prayer was simple. After saying a few words, Donald took up his knife and fork again. "Let''s start!"


    In his mind, however, he was determined to introduce this great Dream and Armament Master to the both of them after dinner.

 831 The Rise of an Eminent Writer

    Malan Port.


    Fang Yuan was like a specter as he watched a horse carriage ''passing through'' his body.


    Closeby, a few fishmonger stalls were emitting a strong fishy smell. All kinds of sounds and congregating pedestrians were creating a bustling morning market scene.


    Although he could only take form as a specter while walking around the world, he was already very satisfied.


    At least when compared to being an absolute observer, it was a huge improvement.


    "Mmm. In summary, this place is quite similar to Europe''s Age of Discovery from my previous life, but it also possesses fundamental differences!"


    Fang Yuan strolled around and arrived at the heavily guarded royal dock.


    There were multiple sinister-looking giant warships that were just like quietly crouching giant beasts, giving off a dangerous and terrifying feeling.


    In particular, among them were a few ''leviathan'' warships that were fully covered with armor, having incomparable displacement tonnage and a frightening amount of cannons on its hull!Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting.


    "Armored warships?"


    Fang Yuan could imagine that with such fearsome ships, the average pirate ship would practically be in tatters with merely a bump on the ocean.


    It was to the extent where even the octopus monster from earlier might not be able to deal with it.


    However, this type of armored warship had a bizarre appearance. Not only did it have a sail, but it also had a tall chimney. It was impressively powered by a hybrid of steam engines and sails.


    "Industrial Revolution!"


    Fang Yuan sighed emotionally. As if he had entered an uninhabited land, he freely toured around the warship.


    Even though the royal fleet was heavily guarded, and even had Extraordinaries keeping watch, they were still completely unable to discover a single trace of him.


    In particular, when Fang Yuan saw a machine that was relatively more primitive, bulky, and cumbersome, he smiled as though he had met a familiar acquaintance.


    "In reality, the steam warships in this era might not necessarily surpass the ultra-large five-masted ships¡­ but this is a trend!"


    It went without saying that replacing manpower with machines was a sign of society''s progress.


    No matter what, it would always be better to exploit machines over people.


    Furthermore, the most important point was that the power of steam engines could be reproduced by every family.


    Otherwise, what difference would it make if it was merely a tiny amount of extraordinary forces?


    "When discussing what true warships are, wooden ones are simply cannon fodder, and armored warships also only meet the basic standard. Only legendary magical warships are truly able to embark on the Golden Sea Route and cross various large oceans!"


    Magical warships!


    As implied by the name, they were designed to use mysterious forces as their power source, with the most famous one being the legend of the Specter Ship.


    Of course, due to issues such as magic attachment, there were very few forces in the entire ocean that possessed a magical warship. However, those forces that did possess them were all at the level of an absolute overlord and dominated an entire area.


    The Octopus Marauder Team was basically not even a strand of hair when compared to such existences.


    ¡­


    "Praise you, my Lord, you are the Master of Dreams and Armaments!"


    "I''m willing to believe in you with my devout heart! Please grant me permission to recite your name!"


    ¡­


    Fang Yuan could hear multiple prayers coming through.


    In fact, it was precisely because of his believers'' power of faith converging that enabled him to slightly break through the world''s limitations and transform into a specter-like image in the main world.


    With a thought, he directly returned to the vicinity of Donald''s family.


    After that incident, Donald had brought his wife and child to reside in the city.


    Entering his view was a small two-story villa with a garden in front.


    Prayers could be heard coming from the villa''s living room.


    The butler was used to the strange sight and paid attention to every single guest, ready to satisfy their demands at all times.


    "All right¡­ As long as you are a devout believer of the Lord, you will eventually receive his response!"


    Donald spoke like a religious fanatic among the believers.


    He was a mad believer that was absolutely convinced of Fang Yuan''s existence. Moreover, he was proactively advising his own wife and child to believe in the Dream and Armament Master.


    This was because Donald was clear that he was a great and generous existence.


    Those ancient rulers were all naturally very powerful and also possessed strange abilities. But when it came to generosity, they were far inferior to the Dream and Armament Master.


    Relying on the pearls that he had obtained, Donald had purchased a villa and deposited the remaining gold coins in a bank. He had also hired a butler and a few servants, immediately living the blessed life of the upper class.


    What sort of people were the upper class?


    From the perspective of the port''s residents, only those who had nothing to do every day and merely depended on rent and interest for their livelihoods were truly dignified gentlemen.


    Although society''s atmosphere for pursuing wealth was gradually intensifying, there was a large market for such a statement once.


    Ettoman was formerly a country that regarded physical labor as a form of disgrace.


    Not to mention, the current annual interest rates from the royal bank had reached ten percent! This was both good news and paradise for any investor who had deposited their savings.


    With just a few steps, Donald instantly completed his transformation.


    Almost everyone acquainted with him knew about the unfortunate voyager who, through his own efforts, had successfully entered upper-class society and became a dignified gentleman.


    They were crazily envious, crowding around Donald and worshiping him.


    It was with the help of this favorable start that had allowed Donald to smoothly spread his faith.


    The general atmosphere in Ettoman was fairly open. As long as it was not the spread of evil cults, the government''s attitude was very open-minded.


    Furthermore, Donald had not yet begun preaching properly. At most, he had started a regular salon to carry out some publicity.


    Of course, if this situation developed well, it would ultimately form the fledgling stages of a religious service.


    "Everyone, I have ordered some light refreshments. Please enjoy them freely!"


    Donald was very relaxed among these brothers and sisters who were already believers of the Dream and Armament Master. He had the butler lead the servants to serve many delicious cakes.


    "Wow¡­ These are top quality cakes made from refined flour with honey added on top, right?"


    "Such intoxicating sweetness, it really leaves a memorable aftertaste!"


    For these ordinary residents, they might not even be able to be so extravagant once a year.


    Donald''s actions had gained him even more admiration and praise.


    He was courteous and respectful, full of smiles while chatting with the people around him, causing every guest to feel enlightened.


    However, only Donald himself knew what his weaknesses were.


    My foundation is too weak¡­ My assets have reached the threshold to join the upper class, but fundamentally, I haven''t received the acceptance of mainstream society¡­ Currently, the people surrounding me are just a group of common residents!


    Although these kinds of people are good targets for growing the Lord''s faith, they''re detrimental to the church''s future development¡­ I can only depend on myself to make up for it. Don''t tell me¡­ I really have to spend money to purchase a noble title? However, the expenses will definitely be much greater than the current savings that I openly own. Do I have to unearth another ''hidden treasure at the bottom of the ocean''? That''ll truly be too conspicuous.


    After waiting for all his guests to leave happily, Donald returned to his study alone. However, his melancholy continued to persist.


    "My Lord¡­ You are my guide that takes me forward, my source of light in the darkness. I hope that you can enlighten me¡­"


    In the dead of night, Donald once again started praying.


    After contemplating, Fang Yuan responded, "Donald, my agent and loyal servant, what are you perplexed with?"


    "Great Dream and Armament Master, I wish to enter upper-class society as soon as possible so that I have more favorable conditions to spread your faith," Donald said without the slightest hesitation. "But now¡­ I have reached a bottleneck. No matter how much effort I put in, those genuine upper-class members still regard me as a parvenu and a country bumpkin."


    As an island nation, Ettoman had the tradition of isolating itself.


    Although they were faced with the impact of emerging economies and forces, those truly high-ranking nobles still held a certain amount of influence.


    When it came to such matters, unless there was a coincidental opportunity, it simply could not be rushed.


    Fang Yuan was aware that even if Donald spent his hard-earned capital to purchase a noble title from the king, the end result would only be further condemnation as a parvenu.


    "It is all right, my servant. I have already seen your effort, and I have prepared for you a stepping stone to enter the upper class!"


    Fang Yuan directly communicated with him through his thoughts.


    Regarding Donald''s identity and development, he indeed had some plans.


    Presently, the first thing to do was still to make Donald famous!


    Sometimes, fame was the best stepping stone.


    As for how to increase fame? Wealth and exploration were merely the most basic aspects, and they might even reinforce his impression as a parvenu.


    Apart from this, it was to become a public figure. For instance, a well-known actor, author, writer, scholar, and so on.


    In Ettoman, the status of theater actors was far inferior to eminent writers. Thus, what Fang Yuan selected for Donald was the path of copying literary works.


    With Fang Yuan''s past experience and knowledge, he could readily search for some famous works and then hand them over to Donald for him to gain instant success. There would be no issues at all.


    Donald was originally a cultured person. Otherwise, he could not have been a voyager nor record a ship''s log.


    He only needed to be slightly repackaged and disguised as an eminent writer. Along with a handful of new and original adventure stories, he would be well-received by the upper class.


    Otherwise, if he was only a lucky explorer, even if he went to the dinner parties, he would probably still be regarded as just a clown.


    Moreover, Fang Yuan had his own ambitions.


    He wanted to borrow Donald''s hand to make a big gamble.


    The best case would be to thoroughly alter the course of this world. Only by changing the World Thread could more variables be introduced, thereby obtaining more opportunities.


    Thus, the selected work should not be of literary nature. Instead, it should be along the lines of monumental works in economic sociology.


    This way, Donald''s identity would change from a clown parvenu to that of a teacher in the field of economics.


    After all, Ettoman had not experienced the information explosion like in his previous life. Therefore, titles such as expert, teacher, and so on were still very valuable.


    "My Lord, your will is my calling. What kind of work do you want me to complete?" Donald asked, resolution in his voice.


    "The Wealth of Nations!"

 832 Famous

    In Fang Yuan''s previous life, there was a very famous book titled ''The Wealth of Nations''. It was known as the pioneer of modern economics and had an extremely profound influence on the growth of capitalism.


    Due to some historical constraints, there was an overemphasis on the control of the ''invisible hand''. Nevertheless, everyone made mistakes. Regarding that period of time, the author had immediately become an influential figure in the field of economics thanks to this book and was revered by many capitalists.


    Based on Fang Yuan''s recent investigations, although Ettoman had entered the Great Voyage Era and invested in the use of steam engines, the ideology of the upper levels was still in a state of disorder. In other words, there was no truly towering, monumental work in the field of economics to support the situation. Without a doubt, this was Donald''s opportunity.


    As for the source of this monumental work?


    In his previous life, he had flipped through this book once.


    Of course, he had only briefly browsed through it and had forgotten everything afterward. However, it should not be forgotten that Fang Yuan was a Dream Master!


    Ever since he became a Dream Master, he was able to consciously mobilize his memories and unlock a great deal of treasure that had been sealed for a long time. Even if he had only caught a glimpse back then, it was now vivid in his mind without missing a word.


    It would naturally be idiotic to replicate the content word-for-word. However, after going through a series of amendments, it would definitely be more suitable for this era.


    By relying on this, it would certainly enable Donald to spring into fame.


    "Yes, my Lord. It''s just that¡­" A trace of hesitation appeared on Donald''s face. "I was only an apprentice for a period of time and thus learned to read and write¡­ I''m afraid that nobody will believe me!"


    He had a deep understanding of the upper class''s disdain.


    "This is simple. You just have to say that you studied on your own since you enjoy reading economics-related books during your free time¡­ If it really won''t do, you can even directly say that it was enlightenment by a god!"


    Fang Yuan''s lips curled up slightly at the corners.


    So what if someone discovered something fishy?


    Donald himself was a huge flaw. With such a sharp contrast, the purpose was precisely to attract attention toward the issue of faith!


    Anyway, the Dream and Armament Master was not some Evil God.


    Moreover, he had a great deal of advanced knowledge and mysterious ceremonies that would enable people to obtain powers. As long as people gained a deeper understanding, they were most likely to waver.


    What Fang Yuan was currently at a loss with was if he should get involved in the domains of steam machinery and economics?


    In this period where the Great Voyage Era and the Industrial Revolution were progressing together, these two domains seemed to be more valuable than that of dreams and armaments.


    ¡­


    It was another beautiful morning.


    Thomas was leisurely having breakfast in his pajamas.


    On top of the white tablecloth were fried eggs, bacon, bread, cheese, and the freshest fruits.


    Beside him, his butler was carefully ironing newspapers for him.


    After finishing his meal, he was leisurely drinking coffee while flipping through the newspaper whose ink no longer stained his hand.


    "The Spice Archipelago experienced a violent storm, causing its output of spices to decrease drastically this year. The prices of spices are likely to see high inflation!


    "The plantation situated at Black Horn Coast was attacked by the aboriginals and suffered heavy casualties!


    "A huge silver mine was found on a large island located in the Nightmare Ocean¡­ This is indeed good news!"


    ¡­


    Thomas was a knight and currently employed by Viscount Floren, assuming the role of an advisor.


    As the lowest grade among the nobility, it was not an embarrassing matter to be serving higher nobility and receiving remuneration.


    However, what Thomas was most proud of was not this status nor post, but the fact that he was a scholar! A scholar that researched economics!


    This was not self-proclaimed, but rather the reputation that he had slowly accumulated. Even the Ettoman Royal Academy had hired him as a guest professor for their Department of Economics.


    With such honor, it was only natural that there was high demand for him in upper-class gatherings. For some high-ranking cultural salons, they would immediately lose their luster if he did not attend.


    Of course, Thomas had his own air of arrogance. As he had reached old age, his energy gradually lessened, and he very rarely participated in those non-professional salons and gatherings.


    "All right, butler, what''s my schedule today?" Thomas asked unhurriedly after drinking the last mouthful of coffee and slowly savoring the aftertaste of bitterness followed by sweetness.


    "Today, you need to attend the opening ceremony of a shipyard. There''s also Lady Teresa, who has already sent you an invitation three times¡­"


    The butler spoke meticulously.


    "Teresa¡­ That passionate young lady!


    "If only I were thirty years younger¡­" Thomas muttered, as though he was a child who had stolen candy and was reflecting on the sweetness from before.


    "In addition, you''ve received a letter from Donald!"


    The butler finished his report.


    "Donald¡­" Thomas was puzzled for a moment before tapping his head soon after. "I remember now¡­ It''s that lucky little fellow?"


    He was indeed very lucky to have survived an encounter with pirates, even making a profit from it. However, that was his entire impression of Donald.


    "That''s right!" The butler took out a thick stack of papers. "These papers have already been inspected. There are no problems!" Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting.


    There was a letter and a manuscript inside.


    After hearing this, Thomas took out the letter.


    "A draft?"


    Thomas was baffled as he read the letter. Donald humbly greeted him and mentioned that he had been reading books in the field of economics recently. As he had gained some inspiration, he especially wrote down some items and would like to ask for comments.


    "Oh? Is this a joke from the Goddess? A sailor telling me that he has written a thesis on economics?" Thomas mumbled to himself with a look of disdain in his eyes. "Throw it away¡­ A futile attempt by a clown trying to force himself into the upper class. He must have gone insane thinking about becoming famous?"


    "Understood!"


    The butler was about to step forward when suddenly he saw Thomas wave his hand. "Wait a moment¡­"


    At the end of the letter, Donald admitted that this draft was sent not only to him, but also to a few other well-known scholars, and even to the Royal Academy and newspaper publishers. It was obvious that he desired to promote it at all costs.


    If a parvenu was willing to spend money, there would still be some results in the end.


    Thus, after pondering for awhile, Thomas picked up the manuscript. "An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations? What a huge topic, haha¡­"


    However, after reading for a few minutes, his expression turned grave.


    "¡­ The premise to studying the market economy is people''s self-interests during economic activities¡­


    "Relying on the market''s ''invisible hand'' to manage the economy¡­"


    ¡­


    The more Thomas read, the more his eyes brightened. His palms were even starting to tremble slightly. "This¡­ Impossible¡­ How can a sailor be able to write such content?"


    This thesis had truly accurately put forward some of the hazy discourses he had in his head and some of the viewpoints that he was uncertain of, giving him a feeling of having read to his heart''s content.


    "Donald, huh?"


    After rereading it three times, Thomas even cast aside the opening ceremony and Lady Teresa to the back of his mind. He began to carefully consider Donald as a person.


    "It''s really¡­ a pity¡­"


    He sighed after a long while.


    Given his foresight, he could naturally see what kind of earthquake this would trigger in the field of economics research once this article was released.


    Speaking unceremoniously, praise, reputation, and status would all come one after another, and the author himself would definitely spring into fame.


    It was even sufficient for him to earn a title as a professor at the Royal Academy.


    This made Thomas deeply envious.


    After all, although he was already a guest professor, he really did not have much research and many theses that he could bring to the table. Had this paper been written by him, it would have certainly risen his reputation to an unprecedented level!


    For a moment, there was a thought entrenching itself into his mind like a viper.


    Unfortunately, while looking at the letter, Thomas bitterly laughed. "It won''t work¡­"


    The other party had already declared that he was not the only ''reviewer''. If he tried to be the first to publish, these letters would be the best proof.


    Of course, if this was the only reason, Thomas was confident that he could keep it under control.


    After all, how could a parvenu fight against the connections he had? If the other party did not budge, he could totally mess with the other party and ruin his reputation.


    However, the thesis that Donald had given was only half of it!


    This was a very crucial factor, sufficient to dispel all thoughts of coveting.


    After thinking for a while, Thomas made a decision.


    "Donald, huh? Have him come see me! This thesis is very well-written. However, some of the wording and professional terminologies still need to be amended¡­"


    Even if he was unable to become the first author, it would still be pretty good to leech a position as a secondary author.


    At this point, he gained a strong interest in this rumored parvenu.


    After all, no matter how one looked at it, it was abnormal for a sailor who was regularly out at sea to actually be capable of writing such a monumental work in economics!


    What he did not know was that this scene was repeated across the homes of various well-known scholars in Ettoman and the Royal Academy.


    Donald''s name became thoroughly popular in an instant.


    "My Lord¡­"


    Donald, who was originally treated coldly by the true nobility, had a bitter expression when he saw the invitations to dinner parties coming one after another.


    These were all invitations from the true upper class, which was equivalent to being admitted into the circle.


    However, he really could not split himself and attend to everything at the same time.


    Besides, he was also very afraid.


    After all, Donald clearly aware of his own background. It was not much of an issue if he was made to calculate a navigation route and record a ship''s log.


    But if there was any mention of economic terminologies and even complex models, there was a ninety percent chance that he would be caught unprepared.


    "Do not worry, my agent. What you need to do now is to continuously raise your fame!"


    Ever since he had released ''The Wealth of Nations'', Fang Yuan had a strange feeling.


    There was some kind of major trend that was influenced by him, and it even began to affect his surroundings.


    Originally, Donald''s fate would not have many twists and turns.


    However, the countrywide sensation this time had immediately attracted some undercurrents.


    Nevertheless, Donald was an Extraordinary himself, so there should not be many problems when handling them, and it might even be an opportunity.

 833 Ambush

    There are already three scholars who have agreed to jointly publish the article with me. The newspaper office and publisher have also been contacted¡­ That''s sufficient. Next, according to the Lord''s will, would be to immediately print and circulate ''The Wealth of Nations''. At least all the cultured people in Ettoman should hear about it¡­


    Silently thinking to himself, Donald alighted from the horse carriage.


    Currently, he was very low-profile. He was dressed in black and had a tall-collar shirt covering half of his face.


    According to the original plan, he was intending to decline any invitation and concentrate on maintaining his reputation by staying home.


    The invitations from others were still easy to decline, but Sir Thomas was an authority figure in Malan Port with a vast network of connections. He had no choice but to come.


    Moreover, the other party was also very sincere.


    "Hmm? This place¡­ doesn''t seem to be Sir Thomas'' villa¡­ Mond, you¡­"


    Donald turned his head and saw his driver''s lifeless expression suddenly slumping to the ground.


    "You are Donald?" A gorgeous woman wearing a crimson dress walked out from the house in front. "Seems to be rather ordinary too? Follow me!"


    "Why should I?"


    Donald moved his lips slightly, but was shocked to discover two radiant light orbs being emitted from the woman''s pupils and going straight into his eyes.


    If it were an ordinary person who encountered this, they might immediately be turned into a puppet and be freely manipulated.


    After contemplating, Donald chose not to expose himself. He allowed the light rays to enter him, and his face promptly became expressionless.


    "Hehe¡­ Good boy, follow me!"


    This woman was evidently highly confident in her methods and was proudly humming a folk song as she had Donald follow her into the wooden house.


    "Haha¡­ That was so simple!"


    The woman brought Donald to a hidden chamber underground and lazily stretched her body. "Of course, even if it was very easy, the mission contribution can''t be any less¡­"


    "No problem! Our ''Nightingale'' has once again successfully used her charm to capture another servant¡­"


    Two men draped in cloaks walked out from the shadows. "Is it confirmed to be the target?"


    "Mmm. Donald, originally a sailor on Flame and Beauty. More than half a year ago, by a stroke of luck, he managed to escape with his life after an encounter with pirates and obtained a bag of pearls!" responded another member who had clearly done his research.


    "Pirates and treasures aren''t the key here¡­"


    The first man in black had a solemn expression. "What we need to figure out is how he wrote ''The Wealth of Nations'', such a monumental work¡­ My Lord¡ª" Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting.


    Halfway through, he suddenly stopped talking. His face looked cautious as he took a meaningful glance at Nightingale.


    "Hehe¡­ rest assured. No one can escape from my charm¡­" Miss Nightingale said confidently. She strutted forward with a cat-like gait and held up Donald''s face with her hands, causing their eyes to meet. Her red lips moved slightly, and with a dreamy voice, she spat out words as though they were snake venom, "Your name¡­"


    "Donald!" answered Donald with a dazed voice, seemingly half-awake.


    "Where''s your home?"


    "Malan Port!"


    "Who are your wife and son?"


    ¡­


    After a few easy questions, Miss Nightingale''s eyes glistened. "What exactly happened that time you were out at sea? Also¡­ why were you able to write ''The Wealth of Nations''?"


    "Because of¡­ my Lord''s blessing!"


    Suddenly, Donald''s voice became clear. His eyes under his green hair even had a look of mockery.


    Not good!


    Miss Nightingale quickly retreated, but at this moment, a steel-like fist punched into her lower abdomen.


    "Ahh¡­"


    She had never been good with physical strength. After receiving the blow, she immediately collapsed onto the ground, curled up like a huge prawn, and threw up stomach acid.


    "What a pity¡­ I was hoping to pry more intelligence!"


    Donald loosened his joints and gazed at the two men in black. "So¡­ who are you? Which organization are you a part of?"


    "Mr. Donald, it seems that you''ve exceeded our expectations!"


    A man in black spoke slowly and took out a firearm from within his robes.


    Right at this moment, without saying a word, the man beside him swiftly pounced at Donald, just like a preying cheetah.


    In view of this, Donald just softly shouted a word, "Water!"


    A river-like curtain emerged around him in an instant, obstructing the man in black''s attack.


    "Hmm?"


    The leader of the men in black retreated rapidly while shooting his rotating firearm without thinking.


    Bang! Bang!


    There was a rising plume of white smoke, and the smell of gunpowder permeated the entire basement.


    However, Donald was completely unharmed. The water screen in front of him had circles of ripples and squeezed out multiple lead bullets.


    After seeing this, the leader of the men in black immediately questioned him.


    "Mysterious being? Where did you get your promotion from? Is there any relationship with the recent sea perils?"


    "Those are very ungentlemanly questions and goes against the tradition of exchange!"


    Donald held out his hand, and a chain formed by two streams of water circled around his wrist endlessly. "Before that, shouldn''t you be telling me¡­ which existence is backing you?"


    "Fight!"


    The two men in black did not have the slightest hesitation as they chose to attack once again.


    With a snarl of rage, one of the men''s muscles exploded, bursting open his clothes and transforming into a small black giant in an instant.


    As for the leader who was speaking, he took out another silver firearm. With a shot, a frighteningly huge hole emerged on the water screen.


    "Hmm? This sort of attack? Breaking magic?"


    At this moment, Donald knew that he was not unparalleled. In fact, even when he was pretending to be controlled, it was also to secretly make arrangements to summon water streams and obtain a favorable location.


    With a single thought, a great amount of water streams extended to completely fill up the gap in his defense.


    "Aw! Aw!"


    Right at this moment, the black giant''s punch also arrived.


    Thump!


    As he howled, his fist smashed onto the water screen, causing it to tremble continuously.


    "Extraordinary powers!"


    Donald''s heart tensed up. Evidently, this group of mysterious people attacking him had Extraordinaries to rely on.


    However, he was still fearless.


    Although he was only an Ocean Warlock that had just been promoted and was even fighting against two opponents now, it was nothing much.


    This was because he had a god backing him!


    After silently praying in his heart, Donald roared as azure scales appeared on his body.


    Thump!


    He ferociously dashed forward and went head-on with the black giant.


    Smack!


    After a loud bang, the black giant was knocked into the wall, causing the walls on all sides to crack open and dust to fall everywhere.


    The leader held a firearm and was taking aim for quite some time. However, he was afraid of causing accidental injury and did not dare to recklessly pull the trigger.


    "Not shooting anymore?"


    Donald had water flowing on him from head to toe, and with the azure scales, he had two layers of protection. He had absolutely no reason to fear ordinary bullets. Even for breaking magic bullets, he was also eager to give it a try.


    "There''s no need. Your strength is already sufficient to gain our respect!" The black man slightly bowed. "Let me introduce myself. I am Hai Nie from the Silver Star Cross."


    Silver Star Cross was an ancient organization that believed in Lady Moon. It was a formidable existence whose activities were at night and had a silver moon as its insignia.


    "Oh? Such a quick change in attitude?"


    Donald was rather surprised.


    "Because I just received the goddess'' directive! We shouldn''t become enemies!" said Hai Nie, with hidden meaning in his words.


    "Goddess?!"


    Donald was bewildered and doubtful.


    He started to pray to Fang Yuan in his heart. My Lord¡­ your devout believer, Donald, seeks your aid!


    In reality, he had no need to pray since Fang Yuan had already followed him into the villa and was spectating the whole time.


    In particular, Donald''s explosion at the end was actually all from Fang Yuan''s powers. However, he mistook it to be a gift from the Dream and Armament Master, which made Fang Yuan unsure of whether to laugh or cry.


    The foundation of Donald''s mysterious powers were actually all from this world. He simply provided a train of thought for the ceremony.


    It was not that he could not be like Orlando and be directly injected with powers or even bestowed a system. However, this way, they would be imprinted with the mark of his powers and would certainly face backlash from the world.


    Originally, writing ''The Wealth of Nations'' and publishing it throughout the whole kingdom was already conspicuous. If he continued, Donald would surely be pushed to the cusp of public opinion and be unable to keep his life even after becoming a mysterious being.


    If such an extraordinary chess piece were damaged, it would be quite a pity.


    "But¡­ Lady Moon is a god or some other existence?"


    Fang Yuan carefully observed the surroundings.


    Unfortunately, even if the other party''s believer admitted that he was communicating with Lady Moon, he still could not find the slightest trace.


    It was similar to how he was currently speaking directly to Donald''s mind, and the other party also did not have the slightest realization.


    "If two evils gods or existences that transcend limitations want to communicate, apart from going through channels such as their believers, the only way is for both to descend into the real world?"


    Fang Yuan made a deduction in his mind.


    Donald trembled for a moment and then shot a profound glance at the man in black. "My Lord''s name is Dream and Armament Master, controlling the domains of dreams and armaments. He just gave me an oracle saying that he''s willing to join hands and collaborate with you."


    "Dream and Armament Master?!"


    The man in black muttered the name repeatedly, appearing to be sensing the power in this title.


    After a long while, he nodded. "Lady Moon has sensed this existence''s outstanding powers. We can join hands and collaborate. Also, we have some compensation as an apology for earlier!


    "Within Ettoman, we''re able to influence quite a number of scholars. They''ll all back you and promote your book, ''The Wealth of Nations'', allowing it to spread across the entire kingdom in just one night!"


    "In that case¡­ thanks a lot!"


    Donald''s still had a look of caution in his eyes.


    The other party had evidently started developing much earlier than him. Moreover, it was significantly earlier, having already formed a deeply-rooted relationship network within the kingdom a long time ago.


    The Dream and Armament Master''s current group of believers would not be able to resist this level of strength.


    Thus, resolving the conflict was naturally the best choice.


    "Of course, I''m not sure if you''re willing to give up the titles for secondary author and tertiary author?"


    The leader''s eyes gleamed.


    After all, the benefits that ''The Wealth of Nations'' represented were too great, or else it would not have attracted them to come.


    Regarding this, Donald only thought for a moment and gladly extended his right hand.


    "It would be my pleasure. May we have a pleasant cooperation!"

 834 Pirates

    With the support of Lady Moon, the publishing and circulation of ''The Wealth of Nations'' instantly became smooth-sailing.


    Of course, if a work only relied on the early stages of a campaign but did not have any special value nor meaningful ideas itself, then the end result would only be sensationalism and ultimately being lost among the mundane.


    However, ''The Wealth of Nations'' was different!


    It was a monumental work in the field of economics. For a society whose economy had developed to a certain stage, it would even be a long-awaited remedy!


    It was famous!


    After ''The Wealth of Nations'' was published throughout the kingdom, it became thoroughly famous!


    Not only did numerous economists comment that it was the greatest work in the century of sea voyage, but it was even chosen by the Royal Academy''s Department of Economics as a must-read book. There were even rumors that it might be turned into a textbook.


    So much so that all the major bookstores were sold out, and they had no choice but to immediately pick up more from the printing company. But even then, the supply still could not meet the demand.


    The book was also translated into multiple foreign languages, which were sold on the mainland secretly.


    His fame was rising thick and fast.


    The author of ''The Wealth of Nations'', Donald, became a scholar who was famous far and wide. There were countless invitations for him to give lectures.


    Of course, as his entire life was unearthed bit by bit, the voices of suspicion ran rife, causing a massive clamor.


    ¡­


    "My Lord controls dreams and armaments¡­


    "He was born above the chaos and sliced open the sky with a sharp, pitch-black weapon in his hand¡­"


    Inside his villa at Malan Port, Donald was piously introducing his belief to the guests at his gathering.


    Not only were there nobles dressed in gorgeous gowns with platinum hair curls, but there were also noble ladies waving various kinds of small fans currently encircling him. The people''s statuses were entirely different from before.


    "Mr. Donald, may I make a request?"


    A young man who was still a child raised his hand.


    He had very handsome features and was tightly holding on to a newly printed copy of ''The Wealth of Nations''.


    "Of course you can, young mister!"


    Donald gestured for him to proceed.


    "I''m your loyal reader. I want to ask¡ªhow did you come to write this monumental work? Also, can I have your autograph?"


    The young man''s face was flushed as he handed his book over.


    "Of course you can!" Donald happily took the book and signed it with a quill pen. "I was previously a sailor and traveled across many countries. Furthermore, in order to earn money, I had also delved into numerous business opportunities. ''The Wealth of Nations'' was precisely the conclusion I made based on some business activities and studying of various countries'' economies. Of course, my Lord had also given me some enlightenment in this aspect!"


    "Hmm?"Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting.


    The people around him were astonished.


    "My Lord is an erudite existence. He enlightened me through my dreams¡­" Donald was completely like a religious fanatic as he continued speaking, "Dreams¡­ represent unlimited possibilities and can even foresee the future!"


    Clamor!


    This caused quite a commotion among the people. A noble lady instantly asked, "Mr. Donald¡­ you''re saying that this monumental work was jointly written by the god and you?"


    "All the honor belongs to the Lord!"


    Donald made a gesture and held up the pendant on his neck.


    "Thank you, mister!"


    The young man took back the autographed book and bowed, but he was somewhat in a daze while looking at the pendant.


    ¡­


    The host and guests had a great time, and the dinner party ended.


    Donald went to his study and knelt down to pray. "My Lord, with the courtesy of your grace, the growth in believers has been rapidly increasing. However, recently there have been all kinds of suspicions coming one after another¡­"


    "Donald, my servant, you do not have to worry!" Fang Yuan replied. "Let all the honor be attributed to me, and then all the doubts from the secular world will be as light as spider silk and inconsequential¡­ Moreover, the best way to respond to these doubts is to continue revealing your strength!"


    He still had a few monumental works in economics that he had read before, and he could absolutely bring them over and amaze this world once again.


    Of course, the most important thing was that Fang Yuan could feel that his interference on the entire world was continuously strengthening along with his increase in believers.


    In particular, after ''The Wealth of Nations'' was published, a boundless force was constantly hovering around him.


    This was the flood of energy from people''s beliefs, and it also represented a part of the world''s intrinsic quality.


    "It''s reached a certain limit¡­"


    After sensing this, Fang Yuan immediately ended his response and returned all his energy back to himself.


    The rules in this Great Voyage World were very strict. Any existence surpassing the limit was banished and faced difficulties in having their true body descend into the world.


    However, after all the time he had spent on cracking and accumulating power, Fang Yuan finally succeeded today.


    "This small amount of energy collected from people''s beliefs is still insufficient to rescue my main body, but it''s enough to separate out a Magical Clone," Fang Yuan muttered. Separating from his body, a shooting star wrapped in energy from people''s beliefs made an opening and entered the real world.


    Kaboom!


    Around his main body, space was trembling as though a black hole had collapsed, presenting a scene of complete upheaval.


    "Hehe¡­ Discovered? Furious? Unfortunately¡­ what can you do about it?"


    Fang Yuan laughed coldly.


    He was now gradually aware that the more advanced a world was, the closer heaven''s will was to the ''Dao''!


    What was the Dao?


    It was high up above and operated based on rules without having the slightest personality.


    Although it was difficult to invade this kind of world, it could all the more be deceived by finding the right methods.


    ¡­


    A salty sea breeze and a sturdy floor¡­


    Fang Yuan spread his arms, as though he was embracing the world.


    After being excluded for so long, his abrupt descent into the real world filled him with emotion, which was quite a novel experience.


    As the number of worlds Fang Yuan traversed to increased, he realized that his interest grew stronger and stronger. He was fond of such experiences and hoped to experience even more.


    In his vision, there was a soft and slender palm that was also as fair and exquisite as a youth''s hand.


    "Roche?" he mumbled. A string of memories from the host poured into his mind.


    Roche, seventeen years old, from Fatiq Archipelago.


    Two days ago, he had gone out to sea to fish alone, but was captured by pirates and became a slave on their ship.


    Pirates also needed to replenish new blood.


    Of course, for someone like him, there was a ninety percent chance that he would be locked up in the completely dark ship hold and end up in the lowest rung of galley slaves.


    And when he died, he would once again be treated like trash and thrown into the ocean.


    "Whew¡­"


    Fang Yuan deeply exhaled, knowing that it was almost time to lay his cards on the table.


    "I''m only a Magical Clone without the main body''s strength, so at a crucial moment, I''ll still need to request help from the main body."


    Fang Yuan glanced at his stats window:


    "Name: Roche (Fang Yuan)


    Strength: 0.9


    Speed: 1.1


    Physique: 0.8


    Psyche: 2


    State: Weak, Starving


    Specialization: Sailing (Normal), Angling (Normal), Boxing Basics (Normal)"


    "As expected, it''s really a blank state¡­"


    Fang Yuan was speechless, but shortly after his face was grave. "The stats window formed is indeed different from the main body''s when operating in reality¡­"


    Shockingly, his main body had prepared for him the same system as Orlando.


    Of course, some privileges were definitely greater.


    "Furthermore¡­ I myself am a mutant! Although I''ll be targeted, my fate was originally extremely bumpy, so there''s actually nothing to be concerned about. I can just pray to my main body and obtain powers¡­"


    "Dream and Armament Master, Fang Yuan!"


    With this thought, Fang Yuan immediately sent a signal to his main body.


    The feedback came quickly. Traces of powers were converging and forming inside his body, carrying a bit of extraordinary powers.


    Although it was minute, it was his assurance for breaking through his current predicament.


    Clang!


    The room''s door was violently pushed opened, and a few pirates with evil grins walked in. "Kid, are you done considering?"


    "I''m done. I will join the pirates!" Fang Yuan calmly replied.


    Presently, it was naturally better not to get into conflict if possible.


    If it were the young man from before, he would simply be wailing to go home. But for Fang Yuan, becoming a pirate was the beginning stages of his plan.


    "¡­"


    However, the three pirates were evidently rather astonished.


    "Keke¡­ Just like I said, an ordinary kid will yield right away once you starve them for a couple of days!"


    One of the pirates laughed heartily, revealing his sparse and yellow teeth.


    "Great. Kid, what''s your name?" asked the leader of the three.


    This pirate''s figure was on the thinner side. He had a pair of viper-like triangular eyes and a pale face. But currently, his gaze made Fang Yuan feel rather uncomfortable.


    "Roche!"


    "Right now, you can only be in the lowest rung of galley slaves, but that doesn''t matter. As long as you''re hardworking, I''ll promote you to combat personnel. If you kill someone in the next pillage, you can become an official member!"


    Triangular Eyes took a few steps forward, but there was something increasingly amiss about the atmosphere.


    "It doesn''t matter if you aren''t good at combat since I''ll protect you! As you know, our crew has rather¡­ bad tempers. For instance, Butcher is really fond of biting children''s fingers¡­"


    It seemed like Triangular Eyes considered Fang Yuan to be under his control, and thus his words became increasingly explicit. "Of course¡­ if you receive something, you must pay something in return¡­"


    "What!"


    Discovering that he had an increasingly evil and lewd glint in his eyes, Fang Yuan immediately burst into vulgarities. "I should have already known that the majority of the pioneers in the Great Voyage Era are a bunch of scum! The dregs of society!"


    "Kid, you''re asking for trouble!"


    Triangular Eyes was rather furious and shot a meaningful glance at the two behind him. "Take him down, but take care not to hurt his face¡­"


    "Boss, I think we can pull out his teeth!" The two pirates behind him stepped forward and evilly grinned. "This way, it''ll be even easier for us to love and care for him¡­"


    Thump!


    Just as he finished speaking, the pirate was ruthlessly flung into the air as though he were struck by a train, spitting out a mouthful of blood-stained teeth.


    "North?"


    Triangular Eyes was shocked to discover that the pirate''s neck was twisted 180 degrees and could see his own back. Obviously, he was not going to survive.


    Crack! Crack!


    Fang Yuan was rubbing his fists, his knuckles producing explosive sounds. With an icy voice, he said, "Trash indeed ought to be thrown into the trash can!"


    Although he himself was practically the mold for a good-for-nothing, he had his main body backing him.


    The usage of extraordinary powers caused his stats to be in a state of comprehensive growth. In addition, with his experience from countless battles, killing a few pirates was naturally a piece of cake.

 835 Mockingbird

    Fred was the captain of the pirate ship? Mockingbird.


    He had the steadfast face of a typical Ettoman man and wine red hair. His right hand had been lost during a pillage and had been replaced with an intimidating iron hook.


    Regarding strength, the team he led was practically the lowest rung. There was simply no way to compare with those pirate teams that had already made a name for themselves such as the Octopus Marauder Team. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting.


    Fred''s lifetime wish was to be able to rob a merchant ship that was full of gold, which would enable him to immediately retire respectably.


    If this wish did not work out, then he would settle for his second wish of letting the Mockingbird pirates become as formidable and famous as the Octopus Marauder pirates.


    However, these two wishes seemed rather out of reach based on the current circumstances.


    "Recently, our luck hasn''t been good, and we haven''t been able to find a suitable target¡­" Fred grumbled while gazing into the distant sky.


    He did not dare to head to the bustling Golden Route and other sea areas, so he could only cruise around coastal waters like a vulture looking for rotting flesh.


    For matters such as robbery, they were largely dependent on luck.


    In fact, pirates living in destitution could be practically found everywhere.


    After sensing the low morale among his subordinates, Fred shouted loudly, "Hey¡­ Mates, keep your spirits up and sing!"


    The few pirates scrubbing the deck lifted their heads. A pirate folksong brimming with freedom and boldness was sung by a mix of voices, resounding throughout the ship.


    "¡­ We are pirates, fierce pirates, with a bottle in the left hand, treasure in the right hand.


    "We are pirates, carefree pirates, laboring to survive under the guidance of the skull flag.


    "We are pirates, pirates with no tomorrow, pirates drifting in the oceans, forever without end¡­"


    Bang!


    Just as Fred was thinking about if he should catch a few fish to improve tonight''s meal, there was a loud bang amid the singing voices, and a cabin door was smashed into pieces.


    The pirate song abruptly halted. Two bodies were thrown onto the ground, practically like worn-out gunny sacks.


    "It''s the boatswain!"


    Fred''s eyelid twitched. He no longer looked at the two corpses and turned toward the cabin door.


    A rather thin figure walked out with a haughty expression, as though he were a noble inspecting his territory.


    Fred was feeling quite uneasy.


    This was because Mockingbird was his possession, and he felt that his authority as captain was under question.


    "I remember you. You''re the little chap who was fishing¡­" Fred maintained a steady tone, but the majority of his subordinates had taken out their weapons and surrounded Fang Yuan. "Seems like you''ve rejected my good intentions."


    "Sorry, I don''t work together with these kinds of dregs!" Fang Yuan shrugged his shoulders and smiled widely. "As for you, captain, how about we make a deal?"


    "What deal?"


    Fred took out a silvery metal wine pot and casually downed a mouthful of spirits.


    Only those most intimate with him would know that this was a subconscious action done when he was nervous.


    "Let me have this ship and all your subordinates¡­ In return, I can guarantee your life and appoint you as my chief officer!" Fang Yuan said seriously.


    "Haha¡­" The pirates burst into loud laughter. "Don''t think that getting rid of the boatswain makes you amazing¡­ Thinking of seizing our boss'' place? Butcher! Food is here!"


    Bang! Bang!


    Amid the sound of heavy footsteps, a tall figure pushed aside the crowd and walked over.


    The man was two meters tall and half-naked, exposing his numerous centipede-like scars. He could basically scare a child into tears when he smiled.


    As he stared at Fang Yuan, his eyes were brimming with bloodthirsty desire.


    "Let me introduce myself. I am Butcher!"


    Butcher laughed sinisterly and grabbed the enormous cutlass on his waist. "I''ll give you a quick death. Believe me, it''s absolutely a blessing compared to being forced to walk the gangplank and plunging into the sea to feed the sharks!"


    "Oh!"


    Fang Yuan took a step forward with his right foot, and then his whole body dashed forward like a cannonball.


    Bang!


    The crisp sound of bones cracking could be heard from Butcher''s chest. His huge figure flew backward while his cutlass landed Fang Yuan''s hand.


    "Surrender? Or die?"


    He looked at the surrounding pirates with a hint of blood appearing in his eyes.


    Since his powers were borrowed and the buff period was limited, he needed to finish this in the shortest amount of time possible.


    "Butcher¡­ was defeated in one move?"


    The other pirates were startled.


    After all, Butcher was the assault captain and accepted by everyone as the strongest among them. But to their surprise, he was not even able to withstand a single blow when facing this youth.


    The scene fell dead silent. Shortly after, the pirates roared while dashed forward.


    "Really¡­ acting recklessly!"


    The long cutlass in Fang Yuan''s hands drew a subtle arc.


    Splash!


    The first three pirates dashing forward were sliced in half. Huge amounts of blood gushed out along with their intestines, internal organs, and whatnot all over the floor.


    Poof!


    Straightening the huge cutlass, Fang Yuan suddenly struck again, and another pirate was instantly sliced in two.


    "Save us!"


    "He isn''t human, he''s a devil!"


    "An evil demon from the seas!"


    After seeing that Fang Yuan resembled a butcher even more than Butcher, the pirates were finally frightened, practically wetting themselves.


    "These stupid idiots!"


    Fred looked at the scene, but his hands that were grabbing onto the railing were secretly trembling. "Immediately mobilize the archers and musketeers. Have people in front act as shields¡­ Be careful, he''s an Extraordinary!"


    Extraordinary!


    They were a community that was truly high above the masses in this world and possessed mysterious powers.


    They were very rarely seen even among pirates.


    Even for the Octopus Marauder Team, only their captain had the mysterious power of contracting with a giant octopus as his companion.


    As for this type of unknown pirate team, it naturally did not have a single Extraordinary.


    Nevertheless, they still had methods of going up against the lowest rung of Extraordinaries.


    Simply put, it was to have as many people as possible fight until the Extraordinary died.


    "A very smart captain!"


    Seeing that the pirates had already taken out a few metal shields, Fang Yuan smiled faintly. "Unfortunately¡­ it still isn''t enough to deal with me!"


    His steps were graceful, just like a musician dancing elegantly along with music.


    For the average Extraordinary, perhaps only their speed and strength exceeded ordinary people.


    However, Fang Yuan was different!


    His technique had undergone repeated revisions from his experiences in countless worlds and had become extremely polished a long time ago¡ªit was purely a killing technique.


    Solely based on his stats window, his experience in saber techniques was at the Legend level at the very least.


    Of course, with only the experience but without the matching strength, he still could not compare to those who could single-handedly subdue ten opponents.


    Nevertheless, there was naturally no one among these pirates that was difficult for Fang Yuan to deal with.


    Bang! Bang!


    Fang Yuan dodged, and the place where he had stood earlier now had a few more black holes emitting green smoke.


    "Indeed. There''s not much meaning in killing pirates!"


    With a few light steps, Fang Yuan reached the crow''s nest.


    Fred''s face instantly turned green. He raised his firearm and pulled the trigger.


    Bang!


    Amid the cloud of white smoke, a lead bullet shot out.


    Ding!


    But at this moment, Fang Yuan followed his heart to move his hand and slice with his cutlass.


    The tip of the blade was almost aligned with the bullet. Fred''s pupils constricted as he watched the unbelievable scene before him.


    Under Fang Yuan''s long cutlass, the bullet was sliced right through the middle, not injuring him in the slightest.


    "An Extraordinary at this level¡­"


    Although he still had a cutlass in his hand, Fred''s face turned white, having lost all confidence. "W-why did you let us capture you when you were fishing? Were you making fun of us?"


    "No. I can only say that you weren''t lucky enough!"


    Fang Yuan stepped forward and beheaded the captain in one strike.


    Even if he had thoughts of acquiring the entire pirate ship and taking over these pirates, he absolutely could not keep the captain.


    Not only the captain, but his chief officer and trusted aides would also definitely have to be sent to the grim reaper''s embrace.


    "Captain! The captain is dead!"


    Once Fred died, the pirates immediately fell into chaos.


    "All right. Now, I want to become a pirate, and all of you will become my subordinates. Any objections?"


    Fang Yuan took immediate action and directly used violence to instill fear in them.


    A pirate''s loyalty was just like the chastity of a prostitute¡ªboth jokes.


    When they heard this, their mouths opened wide. It was rather unbelievable, but they still loosened their grips on their weapons.


    This man was like a grim reaper, and it was obvious that they were not a match for him. Thus, there was no harm in complying for a while first.


    However, it was a joke for them to admit him as their captain.


    Nevertheless, Fang Yuan quickly made them aware of his methods.


    "Where are your chief officer, second officer, and third officer? Let them step out!"


    As soon as he finished speaking, two men were isolated.


    "Boss! They''re the chief officer and the third officer. As for the second officer, you killed him a moment ago!" said a pirate that looked like a skinny monkey ingratiatingly.


    "Mmm. What''s your name?"


    Fang Yuan nodded in gratification. Regardless of his motive, he was the first to take his side after all.


    "Bill. My name is Bill!"


    The skinny monkey was instantly overjoyed and bowed awkwardly.


    "Damn it, this clown! You actually dared to betray us! Where are the gunmen? Open fire together. We don''t have to be afraid of him!" roared the chief officer. But the next moment, Fang Yuan flung a few bullets. The bullets whizzed through the air and left several bloody holes in the two men''s bodies.


    "If you want to become my subordinates, then immediately step forward with your cutlasses and cut out a part of their bodies!"


    Fang Yuan glanced over the pirates. "I mean everyone! From the pirates on the deck to the cooks and galley slaves, everyone must do so! Of course, it appears that just the two of them might not be enough, but it doesn''t matter. I allow you to expose each other! Find the trusted aides of the previous captain!"


    Shortly after, Fang Yuan smiled coldly as he watched over ten unlucky fellows being carried out.


    It was only proper to first suppress the former captain''s trusted aides and then promote his own henchmen.


    The most crucial point here was that he would then retain a few from these unlucky fellows and even promote them to be a small leader.


    The purpose was to intentionally create barriers and conflicts among the pirates.


    With these actions and his own strength to suppress them, he had absolutely no fear that this small pirate ship would be able to turn the tables.

 836 Sea Route

    In the middle of the azure ocean, the dorsal fins of numerous sharks could be clearly seen forming a triangle of death. They were densely packed and fighting against each other to tear apart the flesh being thrown from the ship.


    At the same time, the few unlucky fellows who had been disclosed as the former captain''s trusted aides were cowering in fear as they stood on the gangplank, covered in wounds. In front of them was a sea of sharks, yet behind them were former comrades pointing weapons at them.


    There was no doubt that such torture was extremely terrible, but the most frightening aspect was still the psychological pressure.


    "Captain, your wine!"


    Bill could not wait to deliver a bottle of wine from the ship''s treasure collection. Presently, Fang Yuan was leisurely sitting on a cushioned chair with turkey, as well as a fork and knife, placed before him.


    "Not bad!"


    While cutting the turkey, he was watching the unlucky fellows being forced to jump into the ocean one by one and letting out ear-piercing shrieks.


    Regarding this, all the sailors kept quiet out of fear.


    From today onward, they would all be extremely afraid of this captain who smiled as he killed.


    Fang Yuan was already the captain of Mockingbird.


    He was wearing the captain''s hat that originally belonged to Fred and dressed in a well-ironed trench coat with an exquisite gold-plated commander knife on his waist.


    Looking at its design, it seemed to be some navy officer''s beloved item, though he was unsure which pirate had offered it.


    As the pirate ship''s captain, Fang Yuan not only had control over the ship and the sailors, as well as the privilege of obtaining more of the loot, he could also order the crew to give him offerings.


    The rules on this were basically equivalent to how vassals had an obligation to their lords. Every year, they had to contribute a certain amount of free labor and goods, though only to a certain limit.


    Of course, given that Fang Yuan was now the new captain and establishing his authority, unless his subordinates lost their mind, they would definitely only be incessantly currying favor with him.


    At last, when Fang Yuan leisurely finished the last drumstick, all the unlucky fellows had already been forced into the sea.


    The screams had also stopped. Only large amounts of light red blood and scraps of clothing remained floating on the sea, causing those looking on to shudder in fear.


    "Captain!" At this moment, another pirate came forward, stuttering over some of his words. "B-B-Butcher looks like he''s not going to make it!"


    "Bring me there!"


    Fang Yuan wiped his mouth gracefully with a napkin and got up.


    Frankly speaking, Butcher could also be considered as one of Fred''s trusted aides. However, he had intentionally pardoned Butcher.


    The reason was simple. Apart from artificially creating barriers among the original pirate team, he also needed someone who could fight.


    Otherwise, what would become of him if he, as the leader, was the first one to dash out whenever they met trouble? Was he the captain or the assault leader?


    Butcher''s massive body was lying flat on the deck while vomiting blood.


    The only ship''s doctor was flustered at the side, his face full of sweat. Unfortunately, there was nothing more he could do.


    After all, Fang Yuan''s attack earlier had practically broken Butcher''s sternum into pieces, which had then stabbed into his internal organs. It was already a miracle that he was still alive. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting.


    Seeing how Butcher, who was originally the fiercest person, was now in this state, the pirates gained an even greater understanding of Fang Yuan''s strength.


    "After some time, you will all know how fortunate you are to have someone like me as your captain!" Fang Yuan said with a deep voice as he scanned his surroundings.


    Currently, the pirates only had a deep fear of him since he had solely brought massacre and death to them, without the slightest benefit.


    If this continued, Fang Yuan did not have any doubt that when they rested and reorganized at the next port, more than half of these pirates would secretly run away.


    The method to manage subordinates was to employ a balance of reward and punishment.


    Previously, he had revealed his tyrannical side; now, he should give some favors.


    Fang Yuan stepped forward and saw that Butcher''s face was already deathly pale, as though he was going to be in the grim reaper''s embrace at any moment.


    "Bill, bring me a pot of water!" he commanded indifferently. Such a small amount of extraordinary power is only a drop in the ocean for the main body anyway!


    After taking the waterskin from Bill, a visible orb of white light emerged from Fang Yuan''s hands and entered the waterskin.


    "Let him drink half! Pour the other half on his wounds! This is a healing potion I made that can heal heavy injuries!"


    After hearing his words, the ship''s doctor''s eyes brightened and was soon in disbelief.


    The other pirates also immediately leaned in to take a closer look.


    After all, their field of work was tantamount to having their brains stuck to their waistband, where it was common for them to suffer serious injuries.


    Bloop! Bloop!


    After being fed half of the water, the results were instantly seen. Butcher coughed once and opened his eyes.


    "God!"


    "Impossible¡­"


    Even though they already knew how frightening Fang Yuan was, the pirates around him still softly cried out in surprise, which clearly showed the extent of shock in their minds.


    Next, as water flowed into Butcher''s chest, a series of crackling and rattling sounds were heard. Butcher''s chest, which was originally caved in, was actually recovering at a speed visible to the naked eye.


    After a couple of minutes, the burly man turned over and crawled up. He stared at Fang Yuan with mixed feelings.


    "So? Swear allegiance to me and I''ll grant you life. Refuse me and you can continue being a corpse!"


    Fang Yuan haughtily looked at him in the eyes, with no sign of fear.


    "I swear allegiance to you! Captain that transcends life and death!"


    Butcher moved his lips. Finally, he bent down on one knee and kissed Fang Yuan''s boot.


    "Very good!" Fang Yuan drew his saber and tapped Butcher''s shoulders. "Henceforth, you shall be my assault leader!"


    He looked at the pirates around him. "I am a generous and benevolent person. Anyone who fights gallantly in battle but sustains injuries can receive the opportunity to be treated by me! Moreover, I can also bestow upon you all sorts of powers!"


    The ceremony to become an Ocean Warlock was still in his mind.


    Perhaps to the previous Donald, killing a sea monster was risky. But for a pirate team, hunting a small-sized sea monster was not without any possibility.


    Rumble!


    A huge commotion broke out among the pirates.


    Seeing this, Fang Yuan''s lips curled up slightly at the corners.


    The loyalty of pirates was a joke in itself. As long as he revealed sufficient means, he could totally build his own team with this group of people.


    At the moment, this should already be good enough. Next, it would be to ruthlessly rob and obtain a glorious victory to let them know the vast difference between the former captain and him.


    Of course, pirates are just like a group of dogs. You have to feed them flesh but yet can''t let them eat too much¡­


    With some thoughts in mind, Fang Yuan returned to Fred''s captain cabin.


    The living conditions on the ship were absolutely incomparable to that of on land. However, as the highest-ranking, the former captain still had a cabin to himself.


    Of course, everything naturally now belonged to Fang Yuan.


    Fred''s cabin had an ordinary layout. There was no order in the way he arranged some of the loot he had plundered, giving off the air of a parvenu.


    Fang Yuan sat down in a cushioned chair. The first thing he did was to flip open the captain''s journal and the ocean map in front of him.


    A captain''s journal was the most important information medium for a captain. In Fred''s journal, he accurately recorded down every major event that had happened on the pirate ship and even explored a few potential sea routes.


    Sea routes were all treasures brimming with opportunities and dangers. Those who thought that they were simply straight or curved lines were no different from an idiot.


    A true voyage had to take into consideration trade winds, ocean currents, seasons, and even the migration of sea monsters, as well as the effect and changes caused by all kinds of mysterious responses.


    If any one of the items above was omitted, a route that was originally safe would immediately turn into a vortex of death.


    The few routes that Fred had recorded were merely sea routes within coastal waters, and he did not have complete confidence in them.


    Otherwise, he would have stopped being a pirate long ago and become a sea merchant, which would also earn him a fortune.


    This was the norm in this world''s ocean.


    Perhaps due to the migration of some sea monster colonies, a route that had been validated to be safe for decades could be completely turned into a route of death and cause people to lose everything they had.


    This was precisely why the Golden Sea Route that led to the East had such importance.


    It was so important that numerous countries and legendary pirate teams worked together to safeguard and maintain this endless gold mine.


    In the past, the Mockingbird Pirate Team did not even dare to think about the Golden Sea Route and could only roam around coastal waters.


    "World ocean map!"


    Fang Yuan was deep in thought as he closed the captain''s journal and opened the ocean map.


    This ocean map was very sketchy. In fact, it only gave others an impression of the big picture. If someone really sailed according to the directions on the map, it would be no different from a death wish. This map was at most only an ornament.


    On the map, Ettoman and the bordering continent was in the absolute center.


    There were multiple oceans surrounding this continent, and they could be roughly divided into several geographic regions namely¡ªthe Nightmare Ocean, the Golden Ocean, the Devil Ocean, and Star Clusters Archipelago.


    Starting from Ettoman, followed by the Nightmare Ocean, the Golden Ocean, Pirate King City, the Coral Ocean, Spice Archipelago, and ending with the mysterious Eastern Empire, was the legendary Golden Sea Route.


    Apart from this, there were also a few sketchily drawn continents on the edges of the Nightmare Ocean and Star Clusters Archipelago, which were labeled with dwarves, elves, midgets, et cetera.


    "This world is an ocean world, and the expanse of the ocean is infinitely vast. Although more and more continents are being discovered, there hasn''t been any ships nor explorers able to find the end of the world! Furthermore, a single sea area here is practically bigger than the Eurasian continent in my previous world."


    Fang Yuan stood up and strolled around the captain''s cabin.


    As the captain possessed the right to pick his loot first, Fred had indeed collected some good stuff for himself.


    However, in Fang Yuan''s view, there was practically no item that was truly useful.


    "This world¡­ is a world where mysterious powers exist after all. On the sea routes where conflicts are the most intense, the frequency of Extraordinaries emerging is much greater than on land. Maybe there are a few treasures in Fred''s collection?"


    With the mindset of rummaging through trash, Fang Yuan started his search for treasure.


    In reality, he was skeptical that Fred would have any good stuff. Otherwise, he would have used them when going against him earlier.

 837 Battle Starts

    Honestly speaking, Fred''s taste in art was really nothing great.


    In the captain''s cabin, Fang Yuan mostly saw gold and silver artifacts.


    It seemed that in the eyes of this captain, only precious metals were real currencies.


    Of course, based on the difficulty of disposing of stolen goods, this notion was also understandable.


    "As for these oil paintings, statues, and so on, they were most likely moved here because they couldn''t be sold?"


    Fang Yuan was disdainful when he discovered Fred''s small vault. Between the mezzanine, there was a small box that contained all kinds of gold coins and gems. A conservative estimate of the total value was roughly five to six hundred gold coins.


    "Greed knows no bounds¡­ If it were Donald when he was still a voyager, he would have taken this sum of money and enjoyed a life of retirement long ago¡­"


    Fang Yuan shook his head when he noticed a certain rod-shaped item inside the treasure box. Its surface was golden, and it was even embedded with multiple huge pearls.


    "All right¡­ He really knows how to have fun. Don''t know which unlucky noble lady he snatched this trophy from¡­"


    Fang Yuan was somewhat speechless as he closed the box. He made a decision¡ªhe was definitely going to immediately spend this sum of money to either raise Mockingbird''s fighting strength or use it to bribe people.


    Honestly speaking, Mockingbird was also just a common armed merchant ship, and Fang Yuan had thoughts of replacing this ship a while ago.


    Unfortunately, given his current financial resources, it was simply not possible.


    However, if a pirate was lucky, it was certainly an industry where one could reap a windfall.


    No money? That was too simple. Just ruthlessly rob a few times, and you could have everything.


    "My pirate ships certainly won''t be limited to just one ship. A true flagship should at the very least be at the standard of Ettoman''s steam-powered armored warships¡­"


    Fang Yuan used his cutlass and went ransacking around the captain''s cabin. Unexpectedly, he really did find an item that caught his eye:


    [Four-leaf Clover Charm]


    [Ingredients: Silver, Four-leaf Clover Juice]


    [Description: This is a charm that has been exposed to mysterious powers and seems to be able to bring its owner a certain amount of good luck.]


    [Status: Sealed]


    ¡­


    "The Pirate System developed by the main body even has this function. It seems to be pretty good!"


    Fang Yuan gazed at the small object in his hand.


    It was a silver charm that had a four-leaf clover carved in it. "The workmanship is rough and primitive, seems to be some witch''s product. Moreover, it''s currently sealed¡­"


    Of course, even if Fred had a dozen such charms on him, he still would not have had any chance since Fang Yuan had wanted to kill him.


    Just like a ball of flames, how could it set the ocean on fire? It was practically a pipe dream for a charm''s power to be able to interfere with such an enormous source.


    Nevertheless, it still had some effect on ordinary people.


    "However¡­ it''s sealed!"


    Fang Yuan could slightly sense the powers contained within, and it was not much. If it was directly placed on him, it would whittle away in a few days.


    "I wonder how many gold coins a charm with mysterious powers can be sold for¡­ I have to build a true warship for myself as soon as possible. After all, I''m someone who is going to become the Pirate King!"


    Fang Yuan thought indifferently, "Wait a moment¡­ It''s too troublesome to build a ship myself. I might as well steal one since I''m currently a pirate anyway¡­"


    Thump! Thump!


    At this moment, someone was knocking on the door hastily. "Captain¡­"


    "What''s the matter, Bill?"


    Fang Yuan opened the cabin door and looked at his new appointed second officer.


    "The lookout has spotted a ship!"


    Bill swallowed his saliva.


    "Oh? Bring me there!"


    Fang Yuan immediately became energetic upon hearing this.


    When it came to sailing on the ocean, it was normal to be unable to find a target for weeks.


    Even if they were fortunate enough to meet one, it was also possible that the ship was fully armed.


    The majority of real pirate teams did not have any business for half a year, and once they did, it would last them for another half a year.


    Fang Yuan had long made up his mind to display his might in the next pillage. This ship truly came at the perfect timing.


    "Hmm¡­"


    On the crow''s nest, he picked up a spyglass and immediately saw the silhouettes of two sailboats on the horizon.


    The ship was huge! Furthermore, there were two of them!


    That was his first impression.


    Presently, most merchant ships placed the transportation of goods as their primary priority. Thus, they would build their ships as large as possible while considering its speed at the same time. On the other hand, pirate ships were very focused, emphasizing on speed and the capability to quickly transport arms.


    However, for the ships that were entering his line of sight, one was bigger than the other. It looked as though it was a merchant ship with its corvette, but something was fishy.


    "If it''s really a merchant ship and its corvette, something is amiss with this scale. Instead, it''s more like¡­"


    Fang Yuan grinned evilly after realizing something.


    As the ships came closer, the view also became increasingly clear.


    The outsides of the two ships were full of bullet holes, as though they had just experienced a great battle. Moreover, the pirate ship at the front was actually hauling the merchant ship behind it.


    "This is a pirate ship that has just finished pillaging and is bringing along its loot!"


    At this moment, not only did Fang Yuan confirm it, but the experienced pirates also had, revealing subtle expressions.


    Although piracy was at its peak in this world, the top rule for pirates was that there were no rules! Profits above all else!


    Even with the suppression by the Pirate King, it could not stop the young ones from pursuing wealth, regardless of whether that wealth came from a merchant ship or from other pirates.


    In fact, battle between pirates themselves was the third most common cause of deaths among ordinary pirates, after annihilation by navies and resistance from merchant ships.


    The ship across from them had also obviously discovered Mockingbird and hoisted up a skull flag. At the same time, there was also a blood-colored flag that was sending signals.


    "Bill, what are they saying?" Fang Yuan naturally was unfamiliar with the flag signals among pirates and called his second officer over. "Also, do you recognize their flag?"


    Pirate teams all possessed their own identity, and this was even reflected in the fine details of their flags.


    "Yes¡­ they''re the Ferocious Tiger Pirate Team! Fred knew their captain¡­"


    Bill gulped and said, "In this sea area, they''re undoubtedly the boss. At least¡­ they''ve already made their name known!"


    In comparison, Fred''s position among the pirates was just the captain of Mockingbird, and it was at a totally different level compared to the captains of famous pirate teams.


    One had their reputation still tied to their ship, while the other''s reputation had already taken root in their pirate team!


    "Great! Pass the order down?¡ªprepare for battle!"


    Fang Yuan drew his officer''s sword.


    As a pirate, who could see a ship but not rob it?


    Furthermore, the pirates they were planning to rob had just finished its pillage. It was evidently an attractive and easy target.


    How about I just become a pirate that focus on robbing other pirates in the future! However, the key is still to first establish a name for my pirate team¡­


    Fang Yuan slowly thought about it and then looked at the combat personnel gathering in front of him. "I won''t say anything further¡ªrob that ship and the loot is all yours!"


    "But¡­ that''s the Ferocious Tiger Pirate Team!" said a cowardly voice.


    Without a second thought, Fang Yuan threw a knife.


    Poof!


    The small knife stabbed straight through the throat of the pirate that just spoke, right to its handle.


    "I call the shots. You only have the right to obey, understood?" Fang Yuan''s voice was cold.


    "Understood, Captain!"


    The other pirates looked at their comrade''s corpse and quivered in fear.


    After all, their captain was an Extraordinary who could rob a ship single-handedly. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting.


    "Rest assured, Boss. Leave the boarding battle to me!"


    Butcher''s tall figure emerged from among the pirates and smiled goofily.


    After saving this subordinate''s life, Fang Yuan had obtained an oath of allegiance from him.


    "Very good. Bring out your wolf spirit¡­ I want to lead all of you to conquer the Nightmare Ocean, the Golden Ocean, and the Golden Sea Route. What is a mere Ferocious Tiger Pirate Team in comparison?"


    Fang Yuan laughed heartily.


    In reality, he was not the least bit optimistic about these pirates.


    After all, this pirate team had just undergone a bloody fight and suffered heavy injuries. Also, it was the critical period where they had faced a change in leadership.


    It was not a problem to rob an average merchant ship, but to directly engage in battle against another pirate team? He was afraid that once the situation was unfavorable, they would immediately surrender!


    Thus, he needed to help them.


    "Prepare seawater. I''m going to conduct a blessing ceremony!" Fang Yuan ordered. He had the pirates take out their weapons and soak them inside a huge barrel.


    "With my blessings, your weapons will temporarily become sharper!


    "Your firearms will find its target much more easily than usual!


    "You will always be more energetic than your enemies!


    "You will be luckier than your enemies!"


    ¡­


    Finally, Fang Yuan thought for a while before taking out the four-leaf clover charm. With a swipe of his hand, there was a flash of bright light, and from the charm, a hazy ring of light entered the water barrel.


    The enhancements such as sharpening were the abilities of the Dream and Armament Master. As for the enhancements in luck, he borrowed the charm''s power.


    Although the effects were definitely going to be much weaker, as he had changed from a single target to multiple targets, it was still better than nothing.


    "With Captain leading us, we''ll surely gain victory!"


    Butcher revealed a sinister smile as he grabbed his huge cutlass that was glittering coldly and had suddenly risen in sharpness.


    But for Bill, who was looking at Fang Yuan from the side, his mind was in a whirlwind.


    The captain''s identity as an Extraordinary was publicly known long ago.


    But at the start, the abilities that he had revealed were fearsome hand-to-hand fighting skills, just like he was a giant prehistoric beast.


    Afterward, he had used a bag of healing water to cure Butcher, acting as though he were a cleric.


    Now, he even had the ability to provide blessings and enhance the sharpness of weapons.


    This truly somewhat puzzled him about what kind of Extraordinary his boss was.


    After all, in the rumors, although these mysterious powerful beings had strange abilities, it was only in a certain aspect. They were absolutely not as well-rounded as what Fang Yuan had displayed.


    Could he be¡­ This moment, a thought involuntarily crossed his mind. Could he be a warlock or sorcerer like described in the legends?

 838 Ring

    "Hang our flag!"


    Following Fang Yuan''s command, a black pirate flag with a white skull was gradually hoisted on Mockingbird.


    There was immediately an uproar on the ship across from them. Shortly after, that ship''s crew was roaring in rage.


    After momentary astonishment, the Ferocious Tiger Pirate Team immediately prepared for battle when they saw their former old friend turn hostile.


    "Captain?" Bill moved slightly nearer to Fang Yuan. "Why not send a friendly signal so that we can get closer before attacking them by surprise? They don''t know that our ship has just undergone a drastic change!"


    "As far as pirates are concerned, the little friendship from before is inferior to even the feathers of a seagull. Not to mention, they just raked in a great fortune¡­ If we had approached, they''d certainly attack!" Fang Yuan shook his head, and his expression instantly became arrogant. "Moreover¡­ with my blessings, if you still aren''t able to easily defeat them and obtain victory, then what do I need you guys for?"


    His icy cold words immediately caused Bill to shiver. He knew that everything this captain said was the truth!


    Kaboom!


    At this point, the other pirate ship opened fire.


    Multiple cannonballs landed in the sea around Mockingbird, causing huge splashes of seawater.


    "Go closer!" Fang Yuan bellowed and raised the officer''s sword in his hand. "Where are our gunners? Counterattack! Counterattack!"


    Unfortunately, he had killed too many of the former crew members. Even if they had barely managed to gather sufficient manpower, their cannon fire was sparse, and the accuracy was so low, it made people want to cry.


    Bang!


    Right at this moment, a cannonball accurately hit Mockingbird''s deck, blasting a huge hole surrounded by flesh and blood.


    "Get lost!"


    Fang Yuan stepped forward, kicked the helmsman away, and steered the ship personally.


    He was clear that if the two ships continued bombarding each other with cannons, his Mockingbird would certainly end up shattering into pieces.


    Their only hope was to fight a boarding battle with them.


    Under his control, Mockingbird was as agile as a fish, navigating through the net of cannon fire and getting progressively closer.


    "Everyone¡­ attack!" Fang Yuan shouted.


    During this time, numerous cannonballs had violently landed on Mockingbird, causing it to become full of holes.


    But at this moment, Mockingbird had already completed its mission.


    Bang!


    Amid the astonished cries from across, the ship''s ram firmly slammed into the center of the opposing ship, almost causing it to break into two.


    "Hehe!"


    Butcher laughed wildly and jumped from the ship''s bow onto the other pirate ship. With a sweep of his huge cutlass, the few pirates that came to encircle him were overwhelmed with shock and severed at the waist.


    "Ahh¡­"


    "Help!"


    Miserable shrieks were heard one after another.


    This situation was similar to the extremely inhumane waist chop from ancient times. Some of the pirates were still able to survive for a short while even after their bodies had been severed in half. They were crawling on the floor, trying hard to join their bodies back together.


    Even for pirates who had killed countless times, their limbs turned icy cold and their skin crawled after seeing such a cruel scene.


    "Kill!"


    Whereas for the pirates on Mockingbird, it boosted their morale after seeing this. They followed behind Butcher and went on a killing spree.


    Clang! Clang!


    After a few loud clashes, the pirates of the Ferocious Tiger Pirate Team were stunned to see that the weapons in their hands were broken. Afterward, they were easily killed during this momentarily astonishment.


    "Haha¡­ This is the kind of battle that I wanted!"


    Butcher sliced one of the pirate leaders into two and laughed heartily.


    Although their numbers were less than the other party, they were dominating in all aspects of strength due to the captain''s blessings.


    By now, the battle had already begun to become one-sided.


    "Roar! Roar!"


    Suddenly, a tiger''s roar was heard.


    A dark shadow lunged out like a ferocious tiger and grabbed a pirate. Tearing with its hands, the pirate was ripped in half and overflowing with fresh blood.


    "Fred must have gone mad to dare attack me. However, looking at you guys¡­ could he have obtained some secret treasure, or perhaps something drastic happened on Mockingbird?"


    The black shadow stopped, and the figure of a pirate ship captain appeared.


    He was a burly man with bronze skin, clad in a black-spotted animal skin robe. He had tied his hair into over a dozen braids that were all different in appearance.


    "Ferocious Tiger Pirate Team Captain¡ªTiger?!"


    However, when Butcher saw him, his expression was fearful and grave.


    "It seems that¡­ something really happened on Mockingbird¡­ But it doesn''t matter. Since you''ve chosen to declare war on me, then be prepared to pay the price!"


    Tiger assumed a position resembling a ferocious tiger pouncing on its prey.


    The weapons he used were very bizarre. They were ten sharp metal finger cots that made his hands seem as though they had transformed into the sharp claws of a ferocious beast.


    Ferocious Tiger¡ªTiger!


    He was the strongest man on the Ferocious Tiger Pirate Team, and he had even ripped apart a navy battalion. It was also rumored that he was a mysterious Extraordinary.


    "I have long wanted to fight against you!" Butcher had a zealous look on his face. "Apart from Captain, no one can be stronger than me!"


    Poof!


    He swung his huge cutlass, and it was as if a tornado had formed on the ground.


    Sizzle!


    A black shadow flashed by in midair and discharged a flurry of sparks.


    Two silhouettes fought at lightning speed, and then they stood firmly in place.


    "Your skills aren''t bad, but unfortunately you''re too slow!"


    Tiger licked the traces of blood on his metal claws.


    "Damn it!"


    Butcher looked at the wounds on his own body, and his face turned gloomy.


    Such a small injury was certainly not capable of causing him to lose his fighting strength, but the difference between them was obvious. If he continued fighting, it would definitely not end well for him.


    "Move aside¡­"


    At this moment, a cold voice was heard.


    Butcher''s body tensed up, and he subconsciously stepped aside.


    "You''re¡­ the new pirate ship captain? It seems that Fred, that useless piece of trash, has already been fed to the sharks¡­"


    Tiger''s expression was unprecedentedly grave while gazing at Fang Yuan.


    His beast-like instincts told him that the reason why these pirates had undergone such a drastic transformation was entirely due to this man in front of him.


    Dangerous! Very dangerous!


    A shiver immediately spread across his entire body.


    "Captain of the Ferocious Tiger Pirate Team, right? I''ll give you a chance. Fall on your knees and pledge allegiance to me! I will then spare you¡­" Fang Yuan said in a deep voice.


    "Spare me¡­ kid!"


    Tiger''s expression became sinister in an instant. He exposed his fangs and suddenly pounced, as though he had really transformed into a huge tiger.


    "Rise!"


    Fang Yuan bent his fingers.


    Splash!


    Pieces of the deck''s wooden planks floated into the air, blocking the black shadow''s path.


    "Roar! Roar!"


    Tiger repeatedly brandished his sharp claws, ripping apart the wooden planks and dashing toward Fang Yuan.


    Poof!


    Soon after, he plunged right into a gigantic ball of water.


    A three-meter-wide ball of water was floating in front of Fang Yuan. Inside it, the captain was constantly struggling, seeming like he was drowning.


    Witnessing this, the Ferocious Tiger Pirate Team instantly lost their will to fight. Some of them even directly raised both hands in surrender.


    "Sorcerer!"


    "Boss is definitely a sorcerer!"


    Seeing this, the pirates of Mockingbird, especially Bill, had once again reaffirmed the guess in their hearts.


    "Useless chap. I thought¡­ you could''ve brought me more delight!"


    It could be seen from Fang Yuan''s expression that he had lost interest. He snapped his fingers.


    The ball of water slowly floated up. Trapped within, Tiger was like a small bug inside a piece of amber.


    "Fire!" Fang Yuan once again said another word. In an instant, there was a ball of flames burning inside the water, and Tiger was turned into ashes.


    Splash!


    The ball of water exploded, raining down as droplets.


    "Surrender if you don''t want to become like him!"


    Fang Yuan swept his eyes over everyone.


    The Ferocious Tiger Pirate Team was already in a lost cause, and its pirates immediately chose to surrender.


    Numerous pirates threw down their weapons and raised their hands.


    "Bill, all the captives are now under your watch. Butcher, head over to take control of the merchant ship!" Fang Yuan swiftly issued his commands.


    At the same time, a wrought iron ring landed in his hand.


    This was the only thing the former Ferocious Tiger Pirate Team captain had left behind after the ball of water was burned.


    The reason it had caught Fang Yuan''s eye was naturally due to the mysterious powers encircling it.


    [Ferocious Tiger Ring]


    [Ingredients: Wrought Iron, Beast Blood, Ferocious Beast Spirit]


    [Description: This ring utilizes the power of black magic to seal the spirit of a ferocious tiger. The ferocious tiger spirit can be summoned for spiritual possession once per day to obtain enhancements in speed and strength.]


    [Status: In good condition.]


    ¡­


    "This little item is pretty good. In all likelihood, it was thanks to this that Tiger was rumored to be an Extraordinary¡­"


    Fang Yuan played around with the ring in his hand.


    In terms of enhancements, this extraordinary object could simply not be compared with the powers that he had borrowed from the main body. It would be a total waste if this object was kept on him.


    However, if he gave it to a subordinate, he could immediately produce another Tiger.


    Almost without any consideration, he already had a suitable candidate in mind.


    Sporadic shouts of killing could be heard. It was not long before Butcher sent news of settling the merchant ship.


    After all, the main forces of the Ferocious Tiger Pirate Team were here, and they were either annihilated or held captive. The remaining members on the merchant ship were only there to maintain the ship''s basic operations and watch over the captives. Thus, they simply did not have the ability to resist.


    "Captain?"


    With the evening sun gradually disappearing below the horizon, Fang Yuan was drinking rum while listening to the reports from his two subordinates.


    "¡­ We''ve taken thirty-seven pirates as captives. At the same time, the Ferocious Tiger ship has become our spoils of war, and just Tiger himself had contributed over a thousand gold coins!" Bill said respectfully.


    "This merchant ship is from the Rose Business Council. The goods it was carrying were spices and silk, which are both very popular on the market. Their estimated value is around two to three thousand gold coins. Of course, this is the price given at a pirate port. Those black-hearted merchants always like to drive prices down." Butcher mumbled resentfully, but soon after, he exposed a smile that all men could intuitively understand. "Also¡­ Captain, I found some interesting captives on the merchant ship. There''s a beautiful noble lady on it!"


    For pirates, it was only right that the captain was the first to take their share and pick all the best stuff.

 839 Female Captive

    Elizabeth swore she would never trust the fairy tales told by wandering poets again.


    In the countryside, the songs passed on had described the adventures at sea as a game that was filled with excitement and mystery while having high returns.


    Even pirates were given the heroic image of robbing the rich to feed the poor. They were gentlemanly, pursued freedom, and pitted their wits and courage against all kinds of evils.


    Furthermore, there were published novels that specialized in this field, even being best sellers at one point.


    In the fantasies of the numerous inland girls who had been duped, a real pirate was similar to a knight of the sea. The most distinct image of them was that they had handsome features and well-built bodies while also being young and rich.


    ¡­ But now, Miss Elizabeth only wanted to pull that wandering poet''s tongue out and then squeeze it into his ***¡­ Hmm, a real lady should not be using such words, or even thinking about them. However, may the heavens take pity on her. Elizabeth was truly tragically duped.


    Her family operated the Rose Chamber of Commerce and had always been living in one of Ettoman''s colonies.


    As her father had helped her find a partner, she was about to return to Ettoman''s mainland to get married.


    It was said that the other party was a respectable gentleman who owned huge amounts of land. Just his income from the land was already over a thousand gold coins every year!


    Regarding her partner, Miss Elizabeth was very pleased.


    Furthermore, she could experience a voyage across the ocean before getting married, which was also quite good, even if it was not brimming with fantasy like described in the legends.


    However, after the initial feeling of novelty had passed, Elizabeth finally discovered the sufferings of going on a voyage.


    Every fraction of space had to be reasonably utilized. Even though her lodging conditions were already the best on the entire ship, it still made her feel claustrophobic.


    Needless to say, poor Elizabeth suffered from insomnia practically every night ever since she boarded the ship, as it would rock violently when met with stormy seas.


    Oh, and freshwater!


    Without mentioning how monotonous the food was, they were so stingy with fresh water that it caused Elizabeth to almost break down.


    In such an environment, regardless of whether they were sailors of merchant ships, pirates, or even the navy, they all did not bathe. Thus, the smell on their bodies was naturally not very pleasant.


    The longer they traveled, the closer she was to breaking down.


    However, the jokes that destiny was playing on her had only just begun!


    Just when they were approaching Ettoman''s coastal waters and Elizabeth thought that she could finally free herself from this hellish life, she was shockingly informed that they had run into pirates!


    Unlike the image of knights of the sea that she had expected, the pirates of the Ferocious Tiger Pirate Team were practically the combination of scoundrels and scum, giving Elizabeth an enormous shock.


    After she saw the granny who followed her being dragged into a room, Elizabeth finally revealed her identity to the pirates that resembled a pack of wolves.


    The consolation amid all her misfortunes was that after Tiger knew about the identity of her fiance, he happily kept her captive and told his subordinates not to violate her in the slightest.


    It was not because he was some gentleman. It was merely because he felt that people would only be willing to pay a higher ransom if the merchandise was ''in good condition''.


    For this reason, he even specially let her original granny and servants continue to serve her.


    In reality, Elizabeth was practically resigned to her fate.


    However, what she had never anticipated was that after falling from one hell to another, there was still a third hell waiting for her!


    Amid gunfire and battle cries, she had thought for a time that it was the heroic navy coming to save her. However, when Butcher''s ugly face broke into the ship''s cabin with a huge cutlass stained in blood, Elizabeth knew that she had been thinking too much.


    She had encountered a battle between pirates. Furthermore, her upcoming fate would depend on whether the victorious pirates would still have the patience to deal with her like the previous pirates.


    "The pirates that defeated the Ferocious Tiger Pirate Team¡­"


    When Elizabeth was brought to the deck of Ferocious Tiger, she saw Fang Yuan.


    Overall, this pirate captain actually corresponded the most to the rosy dreams of girls.


    Not only did he have a handsome face with fitting clothing, but he was also valiant and wild, unlike the usual gentleman. It could be said that if there was such a pirate in the mainland holding a rose in his mouth and knocking on the window of any lady, he would basically not receive any rejections.


    Elizabeth composed herself. Just when she thought she might have gotten lucky, she saw Fang Yuan casually brandishing his officer''s sword.


    Poof!


    In a flash of the blade''s brilliance, the row of pirates kneeling in front of him had their heads chopped off. Blood was instantly gushing out.


    "Still unwilling to work for me after becoming captives, aren''t you forcing me to kill you?"


    Fang Yuan wiped his officer''s sword using one of the corpses'' clothes and looked at the remaining captives. "What about you guys?"


    "We''re willing to obey you, great captain!"


    The other pirates were practically pissing their pants. They were shouting loudly, afraid that they would be following the footsteps of their comrades if they were slightly slower.


    Splash!


    Elizabeth could hear a clear and crisp sound coming from her body. As a young lady who fantasizes, her heart was thoroughly shattered.


    Damn it¡­ creatures like pirates should be completely annihilated!


    Elizabeth was shouting hysterically in her mind, but she recalled the teachings of her home tutor at that moment. She held her head high and stood straight, subconsciously having the manner of a lady.


    "Hmm¡­ Butcher, you did pretty good!"


    No matter what, Butcher could not be counted as bearing malice.


    Fang Yuan sized up this noble female captive. The first thing he saw was her milky skin and her dazzling, golden, and wavy hair.


    This female captive truly had pretty good looks. In addition, her haughty expression made it easy for others to have the desire to conquer her.


    For instance, Bill, who was beside him, was already enthralled.


    But no matter how beautiful she was, it was merely fleeting beauty to Fang Yuan.


    At this moment, he threw a bag of water to the ship''s doctor.


    After gulping down the healing water, the pirates who had suffered heavy injuries all stood up one after another with zealotry in their eyes.


    Having such a captain would almost be like having countless lives during future boarding battles.


    Knowing that their lives were safeguarded, they would be able to display 120% of their strength during hand-to-hand combat.


    Smack!


    Fang Yuan clapped his hands, and two pirates carrying a wooden chest came forward.


    He went forward and kicked open the chest. Golden rays poured out along with various other colors, blinding their eyes.


    Undeniably, regardless of which world, which era, it was always benefits that could touch the hearts of people.


    Even the establishment of the Golden Sea Route was only for the purpose of obtaining numerous benefits.


    A chest of gold coins mixed with other gems was spilled onto the ground, immediately making the breathing of all the pirates intensify, and even Elizabeth was forgotten by them.


    However, for this missy, she was gritting her teeth in anger.


    This was because a large portion of the Ferocious Tiger''s fortunes inside the chest was from the Rose Chamber of Commerce''s merchant ship, and some were even her dowry!


    "I am a fair captain. I absolutely won''t deprive you of the wealth that belongs to you!"


    Fang Yuan stepped onto the gold coins with his boots. He grabbed a handful of gems in varying colors and threw them onto the ground. "First, everyone that participated in the attack will receive a basic reward. Those who killed someone in the boarding battle will be rewarded with three gold coins¡­ Those who used ranged weapons such as bows, firearms, and cannons will have half the rewards. Any opinions?"


    "Nope!"


    "Whatever you say, boss!"


    The Mockingbird pirates were already perfectly satisfied with being able to accomplish this impressive feat. On top of that, they would still receive gold coins. This immediately boosted their morale, and they burst into cheers.


    "Hmm, I would like to particularly commend someone here! Butcher!"


    Fang Yuan motioned with his hand to suppress the clamor and had Butcher step forward. "Your performance was the most outstanding in the battle. I intend to honor my promise and bestow you with stronger powers!"


    While he was speaking, he threw the Ferocious Tiger Ring to him.


    "This is a ring imbued with black magic, containing the speed and strength of a ferocious tiger inside¡­ By tomorrow, you''ll be able to use it¡­ The incantation to activate it is¡­"


    After the brief introduction about the ring, Butcher''s eyes immediately brightened. "Thanks, Captain!"


    Looking at his excitement, it seemed like this ring was the only thing in his eyes. Even if there were another ten Elizabeths, it would still be incomparable.


    "Ferocious Tiger Ring! Extraordinary powers!"


    When the pirates witnessed this scene, all of their eyes were red with envy.


    Especially Bill. With a pensive expression, he looked at Butcher and also at Elizabeth.


    "Hmm, there''s still this¡­" In the end, he finally turned his attention to Elizabeth. "What''s your name?"


    "Elizabeth!" This young noble lady took a deep breath and said, "I am Viscount Quaid''s daughter, and I am headed to Ettoman to marry Viscount Charlie. My future husband is a respectable noble gentleman, and he has an income of a thousand gold coins from his lands every year¡­"


    When she finished speaking, her back was even straighter. It was only because the previous pirate captain had believed her words that he kept her captive. Presently, this pirate captain appeared to be more civilized, so he should be even more understanding.


    "Oh¡­ a noble''s fiancee!" Fang Yuan nodded. "Just sell her off at the next port. Who has the time to slowly bargain with a noble on land¡­ Kidnapping and blackmailing¡­"


    That amount of time would be sufficient for several pillages.


    "You can''t do this!" Elizabeth was about to break down. Unfortunately, Fang Yuan only waved his hand. Two pirates stepped forward, harboring evil intentions as they pulled the hemline of her skirt.


    "No¡­ I am the daughter of a noble. My father and husband will absolutely be willing to pay the ransom¡­"


    Elizabeth screamed, feeling her change in fate.


    Whoosh!


    Her skirt was ripped apart, revealing large areas of skin.


    The smiles of the surrounding pirates immediately harbored even more evil intentions.


    Elizabeth sank into deep despair.


    A valuable hostage could make the captain restrict his crew, but merchandise about to be sold? Most likely, no one would mind if some things happened.


    Smack!


    But right at this moment, Fang Yuan swung with the back of his sword, sending one of the pirates flying. "I''m setting up a new rule. From now on, no one is allowed to humiliate female captives on my ship!"

 840 Level

    The top rule among pirates was that there were no rules.


    Other than that, there were some conventions on a ship.


    Strictly speaking, there was no generally accepted codex among pirates. In fact, even the Pirate King would not be able to command all pirates.


    But a pirate captain had absolute authority on his own ship.


    Fang Yuan declared that he would set a new rule, and the pirates had to listen to him despite their pride.


    Someday, pirates all over the four oceans will know and follow the codex I''ve set. I''m the one who will bring about rules¡­ Hmm, that''s a method to amplify my influence and hence probe into the world, but even the position of Pirate King seems insufficient for this purpose.


    "Mister pirate captain¡­ may I know your name?!"


    Elizabeth covered her body with a white veil, staring at Fang Yuan with both hatred and gratitude.


    Hmm¡­ the name of my pirate team and my alias¡­


    Fang Yuan was stunned for a moment as he thought of something that had slipped his mind.


    How could a pirate team that was going to conquer the four oceans have a mediocre name?


    Even he was a nobody on the seas near Ettoman now.


    "I¡­" With that thought, Fang Yuan laughed out loud. "I am the pirate Roche! Someday, I will lead my Purgatory Pirate Team to conquer all the oceans!"


    "Pirate Roche!"


    Elizabeth gazed at Fang Yuan deeply, as though she wanted to thoroughly remember this arrogant pirate. But the next moment, two pirates cursed at her and pushed her into a cabin.


    "Purgatory Pirate Team?" Bill repeated.


    "Yeah, this is my pirate team. As for the flag¡­"


    Fang Yuan picked up a brush and casually added some flames to the edges and corners of the black skeleton flag, just like the flames of negative karma.


    "The Fiery Lotus Pirate Flag represents the flames that burn up the world, and it''ll be my symbol in the future! The day will come when all the pirates on all the oceans surrender to the Fiery Lotus Pirate Flag, and even ocean empires will have to pay tribute to it!" Fang Yuan said eloquently.


    His domineering aura seemed to astound the pirates around him, who were unable to utter a single word.


    "All right¡­ I''ve declared my ambition. Now let''s talk about something more pragmatic. The total gain this time, including goods and other spoils of the war, is worth about five thousand gold coins. Two thousand gold coins and diamonds will be distributed as the reward. For the other goods worth three thousand gold coins, we must find a port to sell them at¡­ And there are these three ships.


    "Carpenter!" Fang Yuan summoned a ship worker. "Repair these three ships as soon as possible. Assign two groups of people, one each to Ferocious Tiger and Merchant Ship Rose, and try to make the ships sail¡­ But if you can''t fix them, move the goods and sink the ships!"


    Earlier, he had steered Mockingbird to crash into Ferocious Tiger, severely damaging both ships.


    The bow and the ram of Mockingbird were destroyed, while Ferocious Tiger was almost broken in two.


    The poor ship worker trembled in fear when he reported that Ferocious Tiger was beyond repair, but that Merchant Ship Rose was in the best state among the three ships due to its lack of armaments and therefore the less violent battle.


    "Sink Ferocious Tiger and try your best to repair Mockingbird. Then sail toward the nearest pirate port!" Fang Yuan ordered immediately. "Oh yes, and carefully preserve Tiger''s corpse. It''s worth quite a lot of money!"


    Since Tiger was a well-known pirate team leader, a number of bounties were offered for his capture.


    Honestly, Ettoman was relatively miserly in this aspect, offering only 500 gold coins as the bounty. But together with the offers from the victims, the bounties added up to around 1000 gold coins!


    Tiger''s life was really not worth this much. If Tiger had not disguised himself as an Extraordinary using the Ferocious Tiger Ring, even his subordinates might have tried to kill him for the money.


    "However, this is nothing compared to those great pirates on the Golden Sea Route, who are wanted with bounties worth more than ten thousand gold coins¡­"


    Truly great pirates were pirate governors active in their respective regions. They even had their own fleets and ran some businesses. Ships passing by the region, and even some small countries, had to pay tribute to them.


    Moreover, they had their own territories, which were typically one to a few large islands with many inhabitants. These pirates were like nobles with many privileges in their territories.


    A pirate governor at this level was very similar to a king.


    Even the Pirate King might not be able to conquer all of these pirate governors. The relationship between them was similar to a king and powerful nobles.


    "Still¡­ Mockingbird is way too small, and its armaments are insufficient. So is Ferocious Tiger. I have to get myself a new warship!"


    Fang Yuan learned about the ships in this world from the ship worker, together with the detailed explanations from Bill and the others.


    Other than common fishing boats, the ships currently active on the ocean could be classified into four tiers.


    The first type was civilian merchant ships, most of which had large volume and capacity but weak firepower. These plump guys were the favorite targets of pirates.


    The second was armed merchant ships, which were fast and equipped with strong firepower. Trader teams often purchased them as escort vessels. Of course, they were top targets for some pirates as well. Ferocious Tiger and Mockingbird were in this category.


    The third was naval warships, specially built for battles at sea and the unbeatable rival of small and medium pirate teams. They were generally classified into six levels, and those in the top three levels could be considered battleships. The most frightening first-level battleship had three decks, more than two hundred cannons, displaced three thousand tons of water, and possessed a crew of more than a thousand. It was undeniably a fortress on the sea.


    Finally, the fourth type was special ships such as steam ironclads, which had only occurred recently, and legendary pirate ships, which had always been active on the ocean.


    "A steam ironclad is much too expensive for pirates. No, it''s not about financial capability. Without a complete chain of production, it''s impossible¡­ Perhaps those pirate governors can invest in this aspect, but it''s a daydream for the Purgatory Pirate Team now!


    "To me, a third-level naval battleship should be good enough. This type of ship has two decks, over a hundred cannons, and a crew of five hundred, and it''s the main force in the navy¡­ I''ll plunder one, and it''ll be sufficient for now!"


    In fact, famous pirate teams mostly possessed second-level or third-level battleships.


    And the great pirates who dominated the four oceans had fleets consisting of first-level battleships!


    "With more affluence and power in the future, while I may not get a steam ironclad, I can still build or plunder my own legendary pirate ship!"


    Fang Yuan rubbed his chin.


    Legendary pirate ships!


    These were outliers among pirate ships. Instead of being superior in terms of capacity or firepower, each of them had an extremely special ability.


    In the previous era, they used to rule the ocean! Their names, known by every pirate, were extremely frightening to the navies.


    From Fang Yuan''s perspective, this sort of legendary pirate ship was actually an ultra-large magical item that needed Extraordinaries to control and maintain them.


    "Tell me about¡­ the legendary pirate ships you know of!"


    Fang Yuan seemed highly interested and let Bill explain.


    "Yes, Captain!" Bill cleared his throat. "As far as I know, Sea God and Specter Ship are two of the legendary pirate ships¡­ It''s said that Sea God had been blessed by the Sea God and can readily cause tsunamis, summon cyclones, and awaken whirlpools! It''s controlled by the pirate governor of the Coral Ocean, Kingsley¡ªthe king of the mermaids and Mermaid Kingdom, the team leader of the Mermaid Pirate Team, and the one who controls all the resources in the Coral Ocean."


    Pirate was only a job, not restricted to any species.


    The Coral Ocean was home to the mermaids, and a mermaid kingdom was located there.


    Kingsley was the indisputable king there.


    Legend had it that mermaids were the darlings of the sea. Such a legendary warship, together with the Mermaid Pirate Team''s power, was invincible on the Coral Ocean.


    "And Specter Ship is said to be a cursed ship. Its crew is all dead spirits, wraiths, blood knights, and other legendary immortal creatures. It wanders the sea, slaying any ship it encounters, be it a merchant ship or a pirate ship¡­ It''s the nightmare of all sailors!"


    Bill''s teeth were chattering as he mentioned this.


    After all, Specter Ship never sailed along any fixed route. It was even possible to encounter it near Ettoman.


    "Besides those¡­ there''s the famous ''King''s Throne'', the previous Pirate King''s flagship!" At this moment, the ship worker also spoke. "It''s said that King''s Throne has the ability to bind various giant sea monsters using contracts. After the death of the previous Pirate King, it''s been guarding Pirate King City."


    Pirate King City was a holy ground in every pirate''s mind, and it was the largest transit hub on the Golden Sea Route.


    A few generations of pirates had invested in its construction, and it took hundreds of years for the city to develop to the scale it had today. It was the largest free trade market in the world and, of course, a thorn in the side of every country''s navy.


    It managed to survive until today not only because of the disunity among the navies of the various countries, but because of King''s Throne as well.


    "These three are the most famous legendary pirate ships. Of course, there are many more pirate ships with magical powers, and the owners are all great pirates known all over the ocean!"


    The ship worker looked fascinated when he got to this part.


    "Hmm, your name?" Fang Yuan nodded, looking at this ordinary carpenter.


    "Vidich, Your Excellency!" The ship worker bowed humbly.


    "I guarantee that as long as you can follow my pace, you will definitely have an opportunity to serve on a legendary ship in the future¡­ Haha¡­"


    Fang Yuan laughed out loud, his eyes glistening like flames.

 841 Dearborn

    The Golden Sea Route was the paradise of adventurers.


    Ever since the beginning of the Great Voyage Era, pirate ports proliferated and the number of pirates increased.


    Some ports only accepted pirates, and they were particularly targeted by the navies of various countries.


    And some ports were purely known for their high level of freedom. They allowed pirates to enter very easily, but public order was still extremely well-preserved in the ports.


    These were typically the best places for pirates to sell off the goods they had plundered and spend on entertainment. The pirates brought endless fortune and business opportunities to the ports.


    Every grain of pepper from the Spice Archipelago was worth one gold coin, but pirates would sell the pepper at two or three silver coins per grain. The goods could then be sold again at double the original price!


    The attraction of 100% profits allowed these private ports to survive and thrive.


    For these enormous profits, those port owners could become connected to great noble families and even royal families, thereby concentrating strong powers.


    Even navies would not dare eliminate such a port unless they wanted to make half the world their enemies!


    "Dearborn Port!"


    Mockingbird dragged the merchant ship and slowly sailed toward the port.


    Through a spyglass, Fang Yuan saw a good port built beside mountains and water. It was surrounded by many ships, and numerous buildings could be seen on the mountains.


    "This is the Dearborns'' private port. The first Viscount Dearborn was a great voyager. He acquired this island after retiring from the navy and built Dearborn Port here, which is now the entire family''s greatest source of income!"


    Bill murmured to Fang Yuan obsequiously, "Of course¡­ this is only a lie told to the public. The Dearborn family is merely a tool used to launder money. At the very least, the traces of a duke can be found involved in the commercial activities of this port, and it has deep connections with the palace! Therefore, the navy seldom interferes unless wanted pirates blatantly appear here or there''s any large-scale public disorder."


    "Hmm! As long as it''s safe."


    Fang Yuan was not surprised at all because he had witnessed many cases where exalted nobles had covertly groomed men to launder money and participate in illegal trade indirectly.


    "Safety is definitely not an issue. All fights are forbidden within twenty nautical miles of Dearborn Port. Otherwise, they''ll become enemies with the entire Dearborn Family! And they''ll definitely offend the navy as well!" Bill said while thumping his chest.


    Although the pirates in this world were powerful, the navies of Ettoman and other large coastal countries were by no means useless.


    For example, the navy of Ettoman was known to have the largest fleet in the world, and it could be expanded without limit when necessary.


    Even pirate governors would not want to offend such powerful navies and wage war against them.


    In fact¡­ even a pirate governor with legendary pirate ships may not be able to defeat the Ettoman Royal Navy¡­ Fang Yuan thought silently. In this world, the relationships between pirates and navies as well as between pirates and countries are indeed profoundly intriguing.


    However, nobody seems to have noticed the nuance. Perhaps I can catalyze the change¡­


    These subordinates were not all he had. He still had other people concealed in Ettoman and various pirate teams.


    This was sufficient for him to accomplish many things at the right time.


    Bill watched the ship enter the dock and advised Fang Yuan about the port. "Captain¡­ Dearborn Port isn''t a pure pirate port. The ship behind us belonged to the Rose Chamber of Commerce, which is run by nobles, so it may be somewhat troublesome to sell the goods. Moreover, this place isn''t very suitable for selling that captive¡­"


    If he had been the navigator, he would definitely not have chosen this port.


    But what could he do after Fang Yuan had given the order? As a second officer who had just been promoted, he had to do anything ordered by the captain, no matter how dangerous it was.


    "Hmm¡­ I understand!" Fang Yuan nodded and said calmly, "Even if we can''t sell the goods, we can still rest here temporarily to replenish other resources and manpower!"


    Having just been through two fierce battles, his subordinates were in dire need of a place to relax and recuperate.


    Although Dearborn Port was unsuitable for other things, it was the closest one to them.


    An armed merchant ship dragging a large ship immediately attracted a lot of attention upon reaching the port.


    Even the most stupid sailor could tell that it was a pirate ship that had just plundered another ship. Some merchants'' eyes were already glistening.


    And some people gazed at the symbol on Merchant Ship Rose and pondered.


    "Good morning, respectable captain!"


    Fang Yuan came onto the wharf, and a tax collector wearing a wig approached him. "Entrance registration!"


    "Hmm!" Fang Yuan nodded in a reserved manner and tossed out a bag of coins.


    "We are from the Rose Chamber of Commerce. We have just encountered pirates and need a good rest!" Bill stepped forward and started to make up a story.


    "All right, captain of Merchant Ship Rose, Roger! Welcome to Dearborn Port. We wish you a pleasant experience here!"


    As expected, he did not investigate the validity of this explanation at all, passing a completed file to them directly.


    "Let''s go to the market!"


    Fang Yuan left Butcher behind to guard their base and brought Bill along with him. "And¡­ next time, don''t fake my name!"


    "I apologize, Captain!" Bill kept silent immediately.


    "Captain! If you want to sell any goods, please consider the Violet Chamber of Commerce!"


    "Captain, do you need strong sailors?"


    "I''ve got the best bar and the hottest women in Dearborn Port here¡­"


    ¡­


    As soon as Fang Yuan left the dock, he was immediately surrounded by enthusiastic merchants. They might have even pounced on him if he had not been followed by a few muscular subordinates.


    Truly great pirates had their own ways of selling plundered goods, and some even ran chambers of commerce covertly.


    Even a small group like the Ferocious Tiger Pirate Team had regular traders that they would sell their goods to at relatively higher prices.


    Fang Yuan looked askance at this lackey from the Violet Chamber of Commerce, who was a plump man with an oily face. He was certain that if he really did business with this guy, he would need blessings from the Luck Goddess to sell his goods at even thirty percent of their value.


    "Move aside! Move aside!"


    In this situation, Bill took the initiative to clear the path and bring Fang Yuan out of the dock.


    "Captain, Mockingbird has some connections as well. Although Fred is dead, that is absolutely normal for pirates¡­"


    Having made sure that there were no strangers near them, Bill told Fang Yuan about this, his eyes glistening.


    "Oh? So Mockingbird had ways to sell plundered goods here. Very well, you can contact them!" Fang Yuan nodded. "And¡­ if I want to purchase a ship, what can the shipyard here provide?"


    "I''m afraid that it has, at best, an armed merchant ship like Mockingbird. After all, this is a small port¡­"


    Bill observed Fang Yuan''s expression. "If you want larger and more powerful warships, such as the third-level battleships used by the navy, the best place to go to is the Nightmare Ocean. It seems there will be a large-scale auction at Bloody Mary Port soon, and the shipyard there can build third-level battleships or other ships according to the buyer''s needs¡­"


    "Nightmare Ocean, Bloody Mary Port?" Fang Yuan rubbed his chin.


    The most prosperous sea route in this world was the Golden Sea Route from Ettoman to the East, passing through the Nightmare Ocean, the Golden Ocean, Pirate King City, the Coral Ocean, and the Spice Archipelago.


    After entering the Nightmare Ocean, ships would be completely away from inshore waters, so it would be much more likely to encounter giant sea monsters and other dangers.


    But at the same time, the chance to get rich would also instantly rise.


    "The Nightmare Ocean is part of the Golden Sea Route, and even the weakest pirates there are by no means inferior to the Ferocious Tiger Pirate Team¡­"


    Fang Yuan said with a hidden meaning, "Of course¡­ if we enter and leave quickly, we won''t even encounter them unless we''re too unlucky¡­"


    The pirate governor of the Nightmare Ocean should be Blackbeard. He''s known to be extremely bloody and ruthless¡­ And that acquaintance of mine, Orlando, is in the Octopus Marauder Team, which used to be active on the Nightmare Ocean but was forced to leave after going through a crisis¡­


    He brought to mind even more information.


    ¡­


    While Fang Yuan and the others were walking in the market¡­


    A dark silhouette gazed at Merchant Ship Rose for a long time before turning around, going through streets and alleys, and finally entering a grand villa.


    This was the Dearborn family''s residence.


    This piece of intelligence was soon passed to this generation''s Viscount Dearborn.


    "A ship belonging to the Rose Chamber of Commerce¡­"


    The viscount was about fifty years old, and some of his hair had turned white at his temples. He had a cold, hard, and sharp expression, thin lips, and a hook-like nose. "Was it plundered by pirates?"


    Honestly, such things would not normally draw his attention.


    After all, in order to attract more pirates to sell their goods here, Dearborn Port had to be strictly impartial.


    However, if there was a noble lady on the ship, it would be worth his consideration.


    "Viscount Quinn''s daughter, Elizabeth¡­ That''s the noble lady who''s about to marry Viscount Charlie¡­"


    Viscount Dearborn pursed his lips.


    Viscount Charlie was not only handsome, but he possessed many assets as well. Moreover, he had a rich and powerful family backing him in Ettoman.


    Strictly speaking, Elizabeth was going to marry someone at a much higher station than herself.


    Furthermore, Viscount Dearborn knew clearly that Charlie''s family and his own backer had many complex connections.


    Although others did not know about it, there were plenty of reasons for him to lend a helping hand.


    "I''ve just learned that Elizabeth was to take Merchant Ship Rose to return home¡­ It''s unexpected that they would encounter pirates¡­"


    The viscount was a bit uncertain.


    First, in order to maintain his reputation and protect his businesses, he could not oppose Fang Yuan openly.


    Moreover, he had not confirmed Elizabeth''s situation. Was she killed, captured, or did she undergo anything else? Or perhaps she was on another ship and did not experience anything unpleasant?


    Deluged with numerous thoughts, the viscount was having a headache.

 842 Recruitmen

    In a market at Dearborn Port.


    Bill was rather astonished looking at Fang Yuan, who was squatting in front of a small stall.


    Although this market was very bustling, its management was very chaotic. There were numerous stalls occupying the roads, making it nearly impossible to walk. This was also a favorite place for informants.


    Fang Yuan was visiting a book stall.


    There were all kinds of books messily stacked together, emitting some kind of moldy smell.


    Among them, there were tomes that used bovine leather as the cover and sheepskin parchment for its content. There was also a huge mass of papyrus papers and even some bizarre scrolls.


    But they were not really in good condition. Apart from being damaged by worms, there were also many traces of seawater stains and unknown filth.


    Evidently, it was no different from a pipe dream for pirates to understand the principle of protecting knowledge.


    "Hmm, very strange characters. They seem to be from different countries¡­"


    Fang Yuan took a few glances, discovering that some of the characters on them were quite interesting.


    "Of course, Sir¡­ My books are from the mysterious East!"


    The vendor was an emaciated middle-aged man, who revealed his black and sparse teeth when he smiled at Fang Yuan.


    Simply from the signs in his appearance, Fang Yuan could determine that he was an experienced sailor and most likely a retired pirate.


    "Enough of that¡­" After hearing what he said, Bill immediately rolled his eyes and interrupted. "I can''t be sure about the others, but these books are obviously using characters from the Star Clusters Archipelago!"


    These vendors liked to make their goods be involved with the East to multiply their value.


    "I swear that the majority of the items here were really obtained from a merchant ship from the East!" The vendor made a solemn vow and pulled at his collar, revealing a centipede-like scar on his abdomen. "Do you see this? In order to obtain them¡­ my chest suffered from such a ruthless cut!"


    "¡­" Fang Yuan was speechless. "Are you sure you didn''t stick this scar on yourself? The top part has already begun to peel off. Next time, remember to find someone with better workmanship¡­"


    "Oh¡­ Damn it!"


    The vendor''s face reddened, yet he covered the front of his coat as though nothing had happened. "To think that Dalaman claims to be the best tattoo artist in this area."


    "All right. I''m not someone who would buy a pig in a poke anyway. You must be dreaming to be trying to sell one book for three gold coins¡­ However, I do indeed have some interest in the East''s culture!"


    Fang Yuan casually picked a few huge books. "All these for one gold coin in total!"


    "Oh gods, you might as well kill me!" The vendor''s eyes immediately reddened, as if Fang Yuan were going to take his life. "Anything less than five gold coins is absolutely impossible!"


    "Two gold coins!"


    "Four gold coins and four silver coins. I won''t give in anymore!"


    ¡­


    "Let''s go find a pub!"


    A moment later, Fang Yuan paid three gold coins and got the items that he wanted.


    Following behind Fang Yuan, Bill asked expectantly, "Captain¡­ you can recognize characters from the East?"


    "No¡­ I can''t recognize them!"


    Fang Yuan was using his finger to lightly rub the cover of one of the huge books.


    The pages inside the book had used top-notch sheepskin parchment and were laden with history. Furthermore, its dark red cover had an air of mystery to it.


    Whoosh!


    His right hand exerted a slight force and tore the cover apart. He immediately pulled out a map fragment from in-between the layers.


    "A treasure map?!"


    Bill and the other pirates'' eyes brightened.


    After pirates pillaged, they would usually find a hidden place to bury their savings. In order to prevent themselves from forgetting, they would even draw all kinds of treasure maps.


    Of course, the value of these things could not be determined with certainty.


    Nine out of ten treasure maps circulating in the market were fake. As for the remaining one, even if they followed the map and found the treasure, it might only be a small bag of copper coins or just worn out socks of no value.


    Only extremely few people were truly lucky enough to be able to unearth the hidden treasures left behind by great pirates and become rich overnight.


    "It''s merely a map fragment. Before all the fragments are collected, it''s simply not possible to make out where it''s trying to lead us to nor know what''s going to be waiting for us¡­"


    Fang Yuan indifferently stuffed the map fragment into his pocket. However, he did not make light of it in his mind, unlike how he appeared to be on the surface.


    After all, his system had already given him a clear reminder. This seemingly unremarkable treasure map fragment actually had the property of indestructibility. It was an extraordinary item, making it somewhat interesting.


    The things that it was supposed to lead to would certainly not be too ordinary.


    "Pig''s Head and Chimney Pub?"


    Fang Yuan raised his head and was rather speechless looking at the pub''s name.


    It was not yet night, so there were few people in the pub, and they immediately found a relatively spacious corner. They ordered honey roasted pork and huge mugs of beer to enjoy heartily.


    "Boss, the merchant is here!"


    Just when Fang Yuan was halfway through his beer, Bill returned with a man in black wearing a high collar shirt following behind him.


    "Mockingbird''s new captain? I''m Michael. Very honored to be at your service!" Michael said in an enthusiastic yet pretentious tone. "Could I take a look at the list of goods?"


    "Of course!"


    Fang Yuan passed over a piece of parchment that had a list of their loot along with the respective quantities written on it.


    "Hmm?"


    Michael had a composed expression, making it difficult to tell his emotions, but Fang Yuan was able to tell from the slight shiver in his body and palms that his mind was not composed.


    "These quantities are very large¡­ It''ll be quite troublesome to sell them¡­ But since its the first time you''re doing business with our chamber of commerce, we''ll definitely give you a generous price¡­ Two thousand gold coins!"


    The contact bent the index finger of his right hand and knocked on the tabletop.


    "Too little¡­ My valuation for these goods is three thousand gold coins, and you can resell them for more than five thousand gold coins at the very least!"


    Fang Yuan shook his head.


    "However¡­ we also bear the risk of distribution!" Michael emphasized, doing his utmost to lower the price.


    "No matter how great the risks are, they won''t be greater than us fighting with real weapons to rob merchant ships!"


    Fang Yuan said indifferently, "Three thousand gold coins, it can''t be any less than this."


    "Impossible!" the contact resolutely refused, but he did not get up and leave. This made Bill''s eyes brighten.


    When discussing business, it was naturally a mutual exchange and a process of continuously probing each other''s bottom line. Since he did not leave immediately, it meant that there was still room for discussion.


    In the end, both parties came to a compromise of 2700 Gold Coins, which was a more appropriate price.


    In this regard, the contact was somewhat at a disadvantage.


    Fang Yuan had seen through his inner thoughts and knew that this batch of goods was in demand. Thus, he naturally had the advantage.


    "We''ve shown a lot of sincerity in this price¡­" Michael emphasized again. "However, since it''s the first time we''re doing business, our chamber of commerce is willing to make a friend like you!"


    "Of course. May our friendship last long!"


    Although he clearly knew that in the eyes of pirates and chambers of commerce, the so-called friendship was merely nonsense, Fang Yuan still put on a full show and celebrated with a toast.


    "Let me gather the funds and we can deal at the dock. Is that okay?"


    More than two thousand gold coins was not a small sum. A fence also needed some time to raise money.


    "All right!" Fang Yuan nodded.


    He then went over to the bar counter and threw a silver coin over.


    "Dear Sir, how may I be of service?"


    The bartender behind the counter was all smiles.


    People like him usually served concurrently as a source of intelligence. They could be considered the people with the most up-to-date information here.


    "Hmm, I''m a captain and I need to recruit some sailors. Also, I need one chief officer and one navigator!"


    Fang Yuan was rather sad when he mentioned this.


    His people were largely captives, and his authority was not strong enough.


    If he had not shown astonishing abilities one after another and was extremely generous with his rewards, perhaps he would have ended up alone after coming ashore this time.


    Despite the preparations he had made earlier, he reckoned that when he returned, his manpower would be slightly decreased.


    This was still under the premise of leaving Butcher, his loyal follower, to keep watch.


    Presently, the people that he could truly count as his trusted henchmen were just his assault leader, Butcher, and his second officer, Bill.


    "What requirements do you have for crew members?"


    The bartender could see that something was amiss.


    After all, as the captain of a ship, how could he hastily head out to sea without even having a chief officer and a navigator?


    "Hmm, I need ten, no, twenty well-built crew members. And they all have to be able to fight a little. As for the chief officer and navigator, I need people with ample experience!"


    Fang Yuan deliberately emphasized the words ''able to fight'' and ''ample experience''. He believed that the bartender would surely understand his meaning.


    "I see!" The bartender nodded. "I don''t have a suitable candidate for the navigator role, but Mr. Wilson has had many years of experience sailing and being a chief officer. Currently, he''s rather hard-pressed for money, so perhaps he might accept this job! I''ll help you contact him and other sailors. You should be able to meet them tonight at the latest¡­"


    At this point, he became rather hesitant to continue.


    "You can tell them that if they come for the interview, they''ll at least get a free dinner!"


    Fang Yuan naturally caught the implied meaning and threw a gold coin over. "This is your remuneration this time. If I''m satisfied with the candidates tonight, I''ll give you an additional reward!"


    "Hmm, I think I can go and get Mr. Wilson now!"


    After receiving the tip, the bartender immediately displayed his exceptional initiative.


    Fang Yuan withdrew to a sofa and watched his subordinates abandoning all restraints, flirting with the curvy bargirls.


    Barely half an hour had passed before the bartender returned with a man following behind him.


    This man had distinct features and was approximately thirty-five years old. The joints on both of his hands were thick, and his forehead already had some wrinkles.


    "Sir, this is Wilson!"


    The bartender briefly introduced them and soon retreated, giving them space.


    "Hmm, have a seat. Would you like a drink?" Fang Yuan pushed a glass of alcohol over. From his clothes, this man was definitely financially hard-pressed. However, some matters still had to be confirmed. "You should know¡­ the nature of my work, right?"


    "I''m aware!" Wilson''s face twitched and nodded. "However, I need money. I need to raise a large sum of money in a short time! Even if its a contract with a devil, I can only accept!"

 843 Warship

    "Very good, Mr. Wilson. Welcome aboard!"


    After a brief chat, Fang Yuan was already certain that Wilson was indeed a talent. Not only did he have ample experience sailing the sea, he even unexpectedly had a little management ability.


    Such caliber was more than qualified to be a chief officer.


    "I''ll hire you as my ship''s third officer!"


    Fang Yuan certainly could not promote a new member to chief officer right from the start. Otherwise, how would the older members like Bill and Butcher feel about it? They were still senior despite only joining a few days earlier.


    "As for remuneration, it will be one hundred gold coins as a settling-in allowance in addition to bonuses!"


    Pirates naturally did not have wages. Their earnings were totally dependent on the division of the loot after each pillage.


    "A hundred gold coins?" Wilson''s eyes brightened. With a tone of urgency, he asked, "Mr. Roche¡­ could I get a thousand gold coins in advance? I truly need it, I¡­"


    Fang Yuan gestured for him to stop, interrupting his words. "Of course I know that you definitely have a tragic story, given that you''re in this state and urgently need a huge sum of money. However, how does this concern me? You''re only a crew member that I''m hiring. A hundred gold coins for a settling-in allowance is already a large sum that I could''ve used to find a whole group of sailors to cross oceans anywhere¡­"


    "You''re right!" Wilson smiled bitterly. "Sorry¡­"


    "As for the rest¡­ believe me, as long as you show enough talent, you can quickly earn a thousand gold coins."


    Fang Yuan smiled. He also really needed someone to take on the role of the ship''s steward.


    So much so that if Wilson had sufficient value, he could possibly take action and help resolve his difficulties. Of course, now was not the time for this.


    "No problem, Captain!" Wilson saluted respectfully.


    "Great. I appoint you as my ship''s third officer. Now, you have one thing to do¡­"


    Fang Yuan looked up and happened to see the bartender leading a bunch of sailors over. "You''re to interview them and select suitable members!"


    This was both to test him and to cultivate him.


    After Wilson heard what Fang Yuan said, he immediately replied in excitement, "I understand. I''ll certainly do a good job."


    Fang Yuan was evidently giving him a free hand to cultivate his own people.


    Otherwise, if a third officer were to head to the ship alone, especially to a pirate ship that was like a dark forest, the best outcome would be becoming a mere figurehead.


    He also has some martial skills. That should be enough to keep those unruly sailors under control!


    Fang Yuan watched Wilson heading toward the sailors and shouting loudly among them. Losing interest, he turned away and sampled the fine liquor on the table.


    "Captain, there''s a situation!" After some time, Bill squeezed in, his face pale. "Michael backed out of our deal!"


    "Hmm?"


    Fang Yuan looked down, his eyes gleaming.


    It was extremely unlikely to renege on a business deal that was already agreed upon unless he was facing external pressure that he could not defy.


    "Wilson!" With this thought, Fang Yuan immediately got up. "How''s it going?"


    "There are ten people that we can use!" Wilson replied calmly.


    "Do you have any matters tying you down here?"


    "No!"


    "Good. Take those willing to leave with us right now to the dock!"


    Fang Yuan took a deep breath, and there seemed to be a hint of bloodthirst in his eyes.


    ¡­


    This night, the dock was particularly tranquil.


    Only the dock and some ships still had some lights.


    Fang Yuan took a deep breath. In the night breeze, he could sense numerous eyes spying on them.


    "Captain?!" After seeing Fang Yuan board Mockingbird, Butcher was astonished. "Boss, I thought you were going to spend the night in the port!"


    "There''s no need for that now! Immediately gather our people and prepare to set off!" Fang Yuan said in a deep voice.


    "¡­ Now?" Butcher was rather astonished.


    "I won''t repeat my command twice!" Fang Yuan''s voice was cold.


    "Understood!"


    Butcher licked the huge cutlass in his hand, seeming to have a ferocious tiger roaring within his body.


    Suddenly, Wilson''s scalp became numb, feeling as though he had made a mistake but was in too deep to leave.


    However, at this moment, not only Wilson, but the other sailors recruited had also already lost their chance to back out.


    ¡­


    The breeze blew gently.


    With Fang Yuan steering the ship personally, the ship slowly sailed out of the port and was soon far into the distance.


    "Captain¡­" Bill gazed at this scene and was stuttering. "Perhaps Michael was merely exerting pressure on us to drive down the price¡­ Dearborn Port and the Rose Chamber of Commerce don''t have any relations. And the navy and the friends of the Ferocious Tiger Pirate Team wouldn''t come to attack us¡­"


    In fact, what he meant to say was that after defeating the Ferocious Tiger Pirate Team, they were already the strongest pirate team in the vicinity.


    "I only believe in my own judgment¡­ Besides¡­" Fang Yuan gazed in a direction. "¡­ We''re already a safe distance away from Dearborn Port, right?"


    "That''s right!" Bill subconsciously answered. Shortly after, he saw Fang Yuan produce a ball of bright flames in his hands. It then flew up high into the air and orbited around them to illuminate the nearby surroundings.


    An alarmed cry was heard.


    A warship had unexpectedly emerged in the horizon.


    It was a typical third-level naval battleship. It was hanging the navy flag and aggressively charging toward Mockingbird.


    "Impossible¡­ why would the navy appear here?"


    Bill''s face was full of despair.


    No matter how he thought about it, he just could not imagine Mockingbird having a way out and surviving.


    Although the enemy only had one ship, it was much larger than Mockingbird. Merely seeing the approximately one hundred cannons arranged in a row could already cause others to feel a chill down their spine.


    It only needed one volley, and Mockingbird would shatter into pieces!


    "Gods!"


    Wilson could not help praying while, beside him, the sailors that he had brought along were already on the brink of breaking down.


    If they had not seen the fireball that Fang Yuan released just now and knew that he was an Extraordinary, perhaps they would have already chosen to rebel.


    "Dearborn Port has obviously sold us out¡­ If we had waited until tomorrow to leave, what would have awaited us would not just be one ship but a whole army closing in on us¡­"


    Fang Yuan shrugged his shoulders, yet the smile on his face grew increasingly wider. "Just in time¡­ I still lack a warship right now! Attack!"


    "Are you crazy?" Wilson stumbled toward him. "That ship is a third-level naval warship. It has two decks, one hundred cannons, and a crew of five hundred! Both of our ships only have a hundred people combined!"


    "My third officer, I will now teach you the number one rule¡ªobey commands!"


    Fang Yuan stood on Mockingbird''s deck and looked at the naval warship.


    Seeing the light orb dancing around in the air, an uproar broke out on the ship. Shortly after, numerous cannons extended and took aim at Mockingbird.


    "And the second rule¡ªanything that catches my eye is mine!"


    Fang Yuan laughed heartily, spreading his arms wide open.


    The shining light orb in the sky was abruptly extinguished. A cloud of thick white fog emerged, enough to even cover the light from the moon and stars.


    Bang! Bang!


    Continuous sounds of firing could be heard, but the accuracy was poor.


    It''s night right now, and I''ve also summoned a fog to cover us. If they could still hit us¡­ then they must be operating a magical ship!


    Fang Yuan turned the rudder.


    Mockingbird suddenly separated from Merchant Ship Rose and fearlessly charged forward.


    Butcher led all the pirates to stand and wipe the weapons in their hands clean. Eyes brimming with admiration, they gazed at Fang Yuan''s back.


    Their captain was not only an Extraordinary but also someone who continuously brought about miracles.


    Fang Yuan appeared as though he could see through the fog, and he suddenly commanded, "Get ready for a boarding battle on the right!"


    "Wuu! Wuu! Wuu!"


    The pirates howled. They quickly took action and prepared weapons such as flying claws.


    "What are you guys waiting for? Get moving!" Wilson gulped down his bottle of rum and kicked the stunned sailor in front of him. "This place is no longer inside the port, and we are now fighting the navy. Once they catch you, there''s only one outcome¡ªbeing sent to the gallows! If you don''t want to die, get moving now!"


    "I bless all of you!"


    With a flick of his hand, Fang Yuan enhanced various attributes in his subordinates.


    This isn''t enough¡­ the difference between us and the enemy is still too great!


    Amid the fog, an enormous shadow emerged. The towering hull immediately caused all the pirates to involuntarily swallow their saliva.


    "Dream and Armament Master, Fang Yuan!"


    He silently called out the phrase that he had agreed on with his main body. A channel appeared and transmitted powers over.


    These powers¡­ have already reached the limit that the main body can provide!


    Although his main body was comparable to an Evil God''s, it still could not bear the weight of overly strong powers since the channel of faith was rather narrow.


    But for Fang Yuan, lasting one battle was already enough.


    "Pay attention. Don''t damage my ship!"


    Fang Yuan snapped his fingers.


    Splash!


    The originally calm sea surface instantly had waves surging forth and multiple jets of water soaring up.


    Kaboom!


    The frightening force rammed into the naval warship, immediately making its sailors'' well-prepared battle formation fall apart.


    Poof! Poof!


    A cloud of cold air emerged, causing the water arrows to suddenly condense into terrifying ice blades, resulting in blood splattering everywhere on the deck.


    As for Butcher and others, they were stunned seeing ice stairs forming in front of them that led straight to the deck of the naval ship.


    In previous boarding battles, it was always the defending side that towered above and held the advantage.


    But presently, with Fang Yuan''s spells, that advantage immediately disappeared.


    "Boss is definitely a sorcerer!"


    As Bill was howling and charging forward, this was the only thought that crossed his mind.


    "Kill!"


    On the warship''s deck, a fierce melee battle immediately broke out.


    "Damn it! Block their path!"


    Among the sailors, there was someone who looked to be a lieutenant. He was wearing glamorous clothes and brandishing an officer''s sword.


    The next moment, Butcher let out a tiger''s roar. His speed rapidly increased, and he waved his huge cutlass once he was in front of a crowd.


    Poof!


    With a flash from the blade, the lieutenant let out a miserable cry as his body was sliced in half.

 844 Victory

    Even if the lieutenant slashed by Butcher was not the captain of the ship, he was definitely an important person.


    After seeing him being cut in two, the naval soldiers screamed and retreated into the cabins, their defense crumbling like flowing sand.


    "Boss!"


    Butcher knelt on one knee as Fang Yuan approached him.


    "Hmm, well done!"


    Witnessing the mess on the deck, Fang Yuan took a deep breath.


    This warship was a typical large five-mast ship, and it had numerous ropes connecting the tall masts, looking just like a giant spiderweb.


    The ship was more than fifty meters long and over six meters wide, much larger than Mockingbird.


    Right now, blood flowed everywhere on the deck. There were over a hundred naval soldier corpses, and most of their stomachs had been slashed open by ice blades. Furthermore, there were also a dozen pirate corpses.


    Bang bang!


    Continuous gunfire was heard from inside the cabins. Bill ran out in a hurry with blood on his head. "Those bastards are resisting stubbornly down there, and their firepower is strong!"


    A boarding battle was the most costly battle method in plunder, but once they succeeded, they would obtain the maximum amount of spoils.


    And in a boarding battle, it was the nightmare of all pirates to clear cabins like these.


    After all, this was a naval battle rather than a land battle. Surrounded by the vast ocean, the losers had no way to escape!


    Even with Fang Yuan''s sorcery, the pirates from Mockingbird had only managed to occupy the warship''s deck, while the naval soldiers took an advantageous position in the cabins, prepared to fight any of the pirates that came in.


    Normal pirates could only resolve this situation by sacrificing more lives, and even a single merchant ship could cause a large number of casualties among the pirates.


    Furthermore, the opponents this time were a group of well-trained naval soldiers that outnumbered the pirates, so this method would definitely not work.


    "Hmm, they''re persistent, probably having the extravagant hope that they''ll be rescued after a while¡­"


    Fang Yuan knew exactly what those soldiers were thinking down there. "That''s better¡­ At least, they won''t think of sinking the ship and leaving us with nothing¡­"


    Having just achieved a significant victory, the pirates should retreat if they could not take over the ship and were at risk of being besieged.


    When there was a large chance of survival, they would not choose to kill the sailors by sacrificing their own lives.


    After all, the pirates could retreat to Mockingbird, but they would definitely die if the sailors sank the ship!


    However, these naval soldiers did not know that Fang Yuan was determined to plunder this large ship and make it his flagship ever since the beginning of the battle!


    Fang Yuan was too clever to directly attack the deathtrap below the deck.


    "Wilson!"


    As soon as he shouted, Wilson carried a few bags of materials onto the deck. "Captain, the things you wanted!"


    Wilson had displayed his capabilities and gained Fang Yuan''s acknowledgment through this battle.


    And he was now looking at Fang Yuan respectfully.


    This was a sorcerer who could summon fog and manipulate water!


    Such an Extraordinary would definitely become a well-known pirate in the future as long as he stayed alive!


    A thousand gold coins seemed attainable if he worked for a captain with such a promising future.


    "Great!"


    Fang Yuan grabbed a handful of poisonous salt and sprinkled it on the naval soldiers'' corpses.


    Chi! Chi!


    The sound of corrosion was heard as he added the materials continuously. A large volume of greenish-yellow fog that had a strange, foul odor emerged.


    "This is¡­ poisonous fog!"


    Wilson and the other pirates took a few steps back immediately. The smart ones already had a guess of what Fang Yuan was about to do, looking at him with respect and fear.


    The greenish-yellow poisonous gas did not disperse, but it moved as if it were alive and formed a large poisonous cloud under Fang Yuan''s manipulation.


    "Go, Corroded Corpse Poisonous Cloud!"


    The next moment, Fang Yuan pointed with his finger and the large poisonous cloud immediately poured through the cabin doors.


    Cough cough!


    The nearby naval soldiers started coughing and covered their mouths and noses. They tried to rush out, but Bill led a group of musketeers to shoot them dead, turning their bodies into honeycombs.


    "Go down there after ten minutes and clear the battlefield. All of them should be dead by then!" Fang Yuan said calmly while sending the last poisonous cloud into the cabins.


    "Long live the captain!"


    The pirates were all pale-faced and knelt. "Boss, you can manipulate fog and ice, your potions can give us life, and you can summon poisonous clouds. You are the Arcane Trickster! Our eternal master!"


    Sorcery was not sufficient to explain the miracles that Fang Yuan had created.


    After all, not only did he possess the strong physique of an extraordinary warrior, but he could also cure and bless like a pastor as well as summon fog, ice, and poisonous gas.


    He had all kinds of bizarre tricks and deserved the name Arcane Trickster.


    Truly great pirates all had their own special aliases.


    For example, people all over the world knew Blackbeard, who was in the Nightmare Ocean, by his alias rather than his real name.


    "Arcane Trickster Roche? This alias isn''t bad!"


    Fang Yuan laughed. After waiting ten minutes, he ordered the sailors to bring the corpses out from the cabins below and throw them into the sea.


    Looking at the stiff and distorted muscles on the faces of the naval soldiers, the pirates involuntarily shivered.


    There was only a single thought in their minds as they threw the last corpse into the sea¡ªto never betray the captain!


    "Boss!"


    Bill presented an officer''s sword to Fang Yuan obsequiously.


    This should be a treasured possession of the previous captain. The end of the silver sword handle was inlaid with a huge ruby.


    Of course, that unlucky captain had been killed by the poisonous gas, and his corpse was currently sinking in the sea.


    With a sullen expression, Wilson brought a document to Fang Yuan. "A document was found in the captain''s room. The name of this ship is Hope, and Dearborn Port has betrayed us!"


    "Hmm!"


    Fang Yuan had already speculated this and appeared composed.


    "But from now on, this is my flagship, the symbol of the Purgatory Pirate Team¡ªFiery Lotus!"


    Butcher pulled down the original royal navy flag straight away and replaced it with the Purgatory Pirate Team''s Jolly Roger decorated with flames of negative karma. The pirates cheered together.


    "Boss, we''ve gained a great deal this time!" Bill laughed in exhilaration.


    Although there were not many gold and silver coins on the ship, the hundred cannons and the piles of gunpowder, guns, swords, and cutlasses were worth the cost that they had incurred.


    It was impossible for common pirates to purchase a large quantity of high-quality munitions even if they had gold coins!


    Moreover, this Fiery Lotus was worth more than thirty thousand gold coins. It was virtually a treasure hill.


    "Have we? You''re satisfied with this?!" A dangerous glow flashed in Fang Yuan''s eyes. "Dearborn Port breached the rules and betrayed us. Aren''t we going to make them pay the price?"


    "Boss, do you mean¡­?"


    Wilson was astonished by Fang Yuan''s huge appetite.


    "I''ve read their liaison documents. The navy''s force is very weak in this vicinity, and Hope is already their main force. The other ships are all single-mast vertical-sail fast boats, and if we fire the hundred cannons at the same time, we can blast them into pieces from a few hundred yards away!"


    Fang Yuan laughed coldly and said, "Since that''s the case, why don''t we plunder Dearborn Port and slay that disloyal family?"


    "Attack the port? What about our reputation?" Bill was pale, but his eyes were full of passion. "If we do that, I''m afraid only genuine pirate ports will accept us in the future!"


    There were generally three kinds of ports in this world: pirate ports that only accepted pirates, private free ports like Dearborn Port, and large commercial ports that were protected by navies and banned the presence of pirates.


    All pirates coveted the commercial ports in the last category and would normally not attack the first two kinds of ports.


    "Haha¡­" Fang Yuan laughed out loud as if he had heard a funny joke. "Who are we? We are free pirates¡­ What can''t we plunder? As long as there''s sufficient gain, we can even plunder Pirate King City!"


    "¡­" Bill was speechless in front of such a captain.


    "All right. Let our people change into the naval soldiers'' clothes. We''ll take them by surprise!"


    Fang Yuan showed absolute confidence.


    The methods of communication at this time were still underdeveloped, and this naval battle took place at night and ended fast. Therefore, the news might not reach Dearborn Port in time, so they could totally disguise themselves and launch a sudden attack.


    "And¡­ send another two people to the port to spread the message that Viscount Dearborn has contacted the navy to capture all pirates at once. Together with our action, there''ll definitely be chaos among those pirates when they hear the sound of the cannons¡­ Even if the pirates are clever, they won''t be able to resist the temptation to plunder something in the chaos!"


    "Then¡­ we''ll take this opportunity to slay everyone in Viscount Dearborn''s mansion and plunder all their fortune!"


    Whoosh whoosh!


    Almost all of the pirates started to breathe more intensely.


    How much fortune would have been accumulated in a free port that had run for so many years?


    Even though the Dearborn family needed to spend a lot on red tape, such a well-established noble family should still have overflowing wealth.


    Even Wilson''s eyes reddened as he thought about the tremendous fortune.


    This was because he found that that unattainable dream seemed to have become more realistic after he joined this pirate team!

 845 Privateer

    Glass City.


    There were numerous factories set up in the outskirts under the gloomy sky. New capitalists went to all lengths to exploit workers, including child labor, to minimize production costs.


    It was said that an adult working in such a factory would not be able to survive more than five years, but it was these very factories that brought about the prosperity of Ettoman.


    In the downtown area, Gothic buildings stood erect like a forest of towers, and the bell in a huge bell tower sounded to indicate the current time.


    There were always people hurrying along the streets. They were wearing black top hats and grey coats and holding canes, which was the mainstream clothing for gentlemen at this time.


    A magnificent carriage drawn by two black horses passed over a classical-styled bridge.


    Donald opened a window and frowned when he saw a street full of black garbage giving off a foul smell and a seriously polluted river.


    As an Ocean Warlock, he hated this kind of place, particularly the behavior that jeopardized water sources.


    Unfortunately, he was only an economist that had just risen to fame. He could not make any difference even if he articulated his criticism because it was the trend of this era.


    The carriage stopped in front of a manor that was as exquisite as a royal palace.


    Birds sang, flowers blossomed, and numerous servants clustered inside the manor.


    All of this made Donald feel dreamy, as if he had suddenly left hell and arrived in heaven.


    "Are you Mr. Donald?" A butler in a tailcoat opened the carriage door for him and bowed slightly. "The duke has been waiting for some time!"


    This was Duke Ham''s house.


    Superficially, the royal family ruled Ettoman, but a large portion of the power actually belonged to the parliament and the prime minister.


    Of course, the king had great power as well. There was a delicate balance between the king''s power and the prime minister''s power.


    Duke Ham''s family not only had royal bloodline, but it was consistently active in the political arena as well. There had been a few prime ministers in this top noble family of Ettoman that had countless political allies.


    Since such a great noble wanted to meet Donald, Donald naturally had no other choice but to make it here as soon as possible.


    Donald met the contemporary Duke Ham in a meadow.


    Duke Ham was a white-haired, energetic elder wearing a loose silk robe and enjoying afternoon tea.


    "Mr. Donald¡­ I''ve heard a lot about you. I had the honor of reading your book, the Wealth of Nations, and found many points in it very impressive!"


    After seeing Donald, the duke stood up to welcome him. "Give my guest a cup of black tea. I''ve recently hired a new pastry chef, and he''s good at making desserts. Try them!"


    "Thank you!" Donald expressed his gratitude reservedly and took the delicate ceramic teacup.


    The ceramics here were from the Eastern Continent. They had the tint of glaze and enamel, delicate like a work of art.


    And the black tea was from another colony of Ettoman¡ªZealand Kingdom.


    And the sugar cube was produced in tropical plantations.


    "To great Ettoman¡­"


    All of this seemed to be narrating the rapid growth of a powerful country, as if Ettoman was about to become the king of the world by means of the Great Voyage!


    "To our Queen!"


    Duke Ham smiled and took a sip of the black tea. "Mr. Donald, do you know why I''ve invited you?"


    "Of course!" Donald stood up and bowed again. "I''d be honored to become your personal consultant!"


    "That''s brilliant¡­ A lot of annoying things have been happening recently. My burden will be much reduced with your help¡­"


    The duke smiled and passed a newspaper to Donald.


    Donald received it carefully, knowing that it was to examine his ability.


    He calmed down and read the first section.


    The printing ink gave off a pleasant fragrance but was not sticky at all, and the huge title was eye-catching¡ª"Outrage! Dearborn Port Plundered by Pirates!!!"


    Below the title, there was a black-and-white photo where a large amount of wreckage and corpses could be seen despite the low resolution.


    "¡­ It was reported that other than the pirate attack on Dearborn Port, a riot erupted among the civilians there at the same time. The royal navy has set off for Dearborn Port to pour oil on troubled waters¡­ It''s estimated that there were over a thousand civilian casualties, and Viscount Dearborn''s entire family was annihilated¡­ Consequently, the stocks of a few companies that had been trading with the Dearborns slumped today¡­


    "Pirates! It''s the damned pirates again!"


    Duke Ham covered his forehead with his palm and sighed. "Look¡­ How rotten has our seemingly prosperous country become? Hehe¡­ Civilian riot, who doesn''t know that pirates make up the majority of the population in Dearborn Port! That viscount shot himself in the foot. But¡­ the dignity of Ettoman must not be tainted. In any case, pirates who kill Ettoman nobles have to pay the price!"


    Donald calmed down and asked, "Which group of pirates did it?"


    "It seems to be a pirate team that has just appeared recently. Their leader is known as the ''Arcane Trickster'' and is an Extraordinary. His ability looks very complex, as he has displayed many strange methods¡­"


    Given this era''s communication technologies, it was remarkable that this duke could collect so much intelligence.


    "¡­ A few consortiums that suffered losses have collaborated to push through the decision to arrest these pirates. They offered a bounty of¡­ ten thousand gold coins!"


    Donald nodded, knowing that the Arcane Trickster would most probably shoot to fame.


    After all, such a huge sum was not offered for many pirates who were wanted for the first time.


    "Frequent pirate activities are only one aspect of the problems. The other is the intense competition from other countries¡­" Duke Ham continued, "Our country has earned tremendous amounts of fortune through marine trade, and the other countries in the Opher Continent have been coveting the wealth for a long time. If I remember correctly, Cecil has been expanding the scale of its shipyards continuously, claiming that it''s going to build a trump fleet that consists of over a hundred warships and more than ten thousand crew members in three years!


    "Meanwhile, all countries are relaxing their restrictions and encouraging civilian capitalists to sail overseas¡­ Their marine capitalists will become the most significant rivals of Ettoman merchants in the future!"


    ¡­


    The duke was talkative, probably due to his age, but he expressed his points clearly.


    Donald was silent for a moment and thought of Fang Yuan''s teachings. He could not help saying, "Pirates and foreign countries seem to be two separate problems, but they''re actually two aspects of one issue, which is hegemony on the ocean! There only needs to be one real king in the world!"


    "That''s right, and it can only be our Ettoman!" Duke Ham said immediately.


    "Frankly¡­ Ettoman is an island country with an advantageous position and accumulated experience over the years. It''ll be very hard for other countries to catch up to us, and the shipyards still have their trump cards, don''t they?" Donald blinked.


    "But even if we have an invincible fleet, maintenance is still a big problem. We can''t do all the business using warships, nor can we blockade all the oceans!" Duke Ham said. If this was all Donald was capable of, he would surely be disappointed.


    "Yes. Therefore, we need to suppress the pirates and, on the way, suppress the merchant ships of other countries¡­" Donald whistled. "But Ettoman is blessed by the heavens. Our location is favorable, just like a huge ship that will never sink, and guards the inshore areas near the Opher Continent¡­ If my memory serves me right, in the inshore regions, even among the pirates active in the Nightmare Ocean, Ettoman citizens make up a significant portion, right?"


    "Indeed!"


    Sailing was a tradition in the island country, and the many fishermen who were used to making a living at sea would not mind earning some extra money.


    "In fact, not only fishermen but also bankrupt nobles seem to have taken up some dirty jobs¡­"


    Donald sneered. "Then things are much simpler. How about issuing pirate permits to pirates from our country? As long as they plunder any ships but those from Ettoman, their profits will be protected in Ettoman!"


    "Permit?" Duke Ham felt a bit dizzy. "Are you saying¡­ that we should negotiate with pirates? No-No way¡­"


    "The pirates at sea are by themselves a strong force. If we can bring some of them under control, it''ll be highly beneficial to our expansion!" Donald said firmly. "Moreover, we can use them to hinder the maritime development of other countries. Even if they fail, we won''t suffer any loss! At critical moments, we can even let them join naval wars¡­ When the pirates get old, we can even let them pay taxes in exchange for amnesty¡­"


    In Fang Yuan''s previous world, England had adopted this strategy.


    But the English navy was not very powerful at that time, and England had to do so in order to cope with Spain, which had the greatest naval power.


    Ettoman had the strongest navy in this world, but it could still choose to do so in order to suppress the maritime development of other countries!


    Although the initial goals were different, the final benefits were the same.


    Therefore, while Duke Ham kept shaking his head, Donald was completely confident in himself.


    "All right¡­ I think this idea still needs to be discussed carefully¡­" Duke Ham said with uncertainty. "Umm¡­ Mr. Donald, I hope to invite you to have dinner with me. Will you?"


    The butler beside him was holding a teapot. Upon hearing this, his hand shivered, as he knew that the economist had gained a closer relationship with the duke. He felt admiration for this economist.


    "It would be my honor!" Donald smiled and bowed.


    "If¡­ and I mean if¡­" Duke Ham asked slowly, "the suggestion about permits gets approved, what will you name it?"


    "Privateer Permit. I think that using this for an official name isn''t bad!" Donald suggested. "And the pirate ships with Privateer Permits can be partially supported by our navy. Perhaps we can call them¡­ royal pirates?!"

 846 Ransom

    Rumble.


    The rage of the sea arrived all of a sudden.


    It had been sunny just a moment ago, but after Fang Yuan ascended to the lookout and gave an order, the entire world immediately darkened and a storm formed, engulfing the area.


    Wilson broke out in a cold sweat when he witnessed this scene.


    If they had not changed course under Fang Yuan''s command, they would have bumped into the storm.


    "This is the Nightmare Ocean. It is filled with ferocious and ruthless pirates, frightening giant sea monsters, and large-scale tropical storms that can form and disperse at any time¡­ Even the most experienced voyager will find it hard to cope with¡­ But one can only enter the Golden Sea Route by entering the Nightmare Ocean. We''re at two entirely different levels compared to before!" Bill murmured, gazing at Fang Yuan''s back in admiration.


    Originally, these pirates on Mockingbird would have spent all their lives on the inshore waters.


    But now, Fang Yuan had undoubtedly brought them into a whole new world.


    In this new world, opportunities co-existed with challenges. They might die at any moment, but so what? They were pirates anyway! They risked their lives all the time for freedom and adventure!


    "Onward! The destination is Bloody Mary Port!"


    Splash!


    Illuminated by the lightning, the world was as white as snow.


    In the pouring rain, Fang Yuan stood at the helmsman''s position, one of his hands holding the helm steadily.


    Fiery Lotus indeed had the quality of a naval battleship, breaking the waves as it sailed forward in the rough seas.


    Of course, even so, the horrible power of the sea still made it sway from side to side. As the terrifying waves beat against the ship, even Butcher, who had always been careless, had a lingering fear. "If this were Mockingbird, I''m afraid that it would have already fallen apart¡­"


    "Helmsman, continue in this direction!"


    After the wind had subsided slightly, Fang Yuan called for the helmsman, while he himself went to the deck.


    In reality, what he had done was extremely dangerous.


    After all, the wind was strong and the sea was rough. If a sailor had fallen into the sea due to the shaking or the beating waves, he would have been as good as dead. Even if the others wanted to rescue him, they would have been unable to.


    But Fang Yuan and a few capable subordinates of his did not care much about it.


    "Hmm?" At this moment, with his astonishing psyche, Fang Yuan detected something. "Below the ship¡­ is some giant creature drawing near?"


    Splash!


    The next moment, a bolt of lightning struck right in front of Fiery Lotus.


    Woo woo!


    The sobs sounded like something from the ancient era. Suddenly, the water surface was torn apart by a long, black silhouette that looked like a giant snake.


    Its head reached high above the water, and the bulging sea suggested the presence of a small hill underwater.


    Splash!


    With another bolt of lightning, the monster suddenly leaped back into the sea. Its long and slender neck, its four claspers, and its streamlined body resembling a drop of water were all clearly revealed.


    "Plesiosaur? This shape¡­"


    Fang Yuan''s pupils contracted.


    The next moment, horrifying waves built up and beat against Fiery Lotus.


    Ah!


    A pirate screamed as the rope he used to fix himself to the ship broke and he was thrown heavily into the sea.


    Wilson looked uneasy and suddenly shouted, "It''s the giant sea monster¡ªBrasley! Everybody, don''t move! This kind of sea monster has a mild temper, so as long as we don''t irritate it¡­"


    "Fire the cannons!"


    The next moment, Fang Yuan''s order was heard.


    "Boss?" Wilson was extremely shocked. "Why?"


    "Because I want to¡­ Hahaha!!!" Fang Yuan''s laughter was even louder than the thunder.


    Bang bang!


    On Fiery Lotus, no pirate dared to defy Fang Yuan''s orders.


    Within a short while, dozens of cannons sounded together, and at least half of the shots hit the giant body.


    Woo woo!


    A large volume of blood exploded in the dusky seawater.


    Meanwhile, the giant creature below the water surface quickly approached the ship.


    Obviously, given the Brasley''s immense size, which was over twenty meters long, smaller sailboats would be directly ruined if it struck them.


    "Prepare for impact!"


    Fang Yuan went to the ship''s bow and set up a huge ballista.


    It was a ballista specially designed for fishing and could be used to capture whales in the inshore waters. This equipment was originally on Mockingbird. When the pirates were free and had nothing to do, they would not mind playing the role of fishermen occasionally.


    Furthermore, the materials from some whales were very valuable in this world. Sometimes, the income from fishing could even exceed the income from plundering!


    After all of the crew had moved to Fiery Lotus, Fang Yuan had transported all the high-quality equipment from Mockingbird onto Fiery Lotus, which turned out to be useful now.


    "Weakness! Corruption! Fear!"


    He waved his hand, shrouding a harpoon with the light of some extraordinary magic.


    Accompanied by the roar of the ballista, the dreadful barbed harpoon was shot out at lightning speed. The rope tied to it stretched out like a viper thrusting its tongue as it accurately hit the Brasley''s spiky back.


    Woo woo!


    Anyone could hear the agony in its deafening roar.


    A strong pulling force was felt. Even though the Brasley was injured, it could still drag Fiery Lotus and swim onward.


    "Wanna go deeper? Too late!"


    Fang Yuan laughed coldly and gave an order. "Hold up against it!"


    He was naturally confident in the harpoon that he himself had shot out. It absolutely went into the bones, and the curse on it would significantly weaken this giant sea monster''s strength.


    The enfeebled sea monster could only drag Fiery Lotus while swimming quickly on the sea.


    And the loss of energy and blood would continue to worsen its injury, exhausting it until its death!


    One day and one night passed in the blink of an eye.


    The dark clouds dispersed and the rain stopped, no longer showing any signs of a storm. The sky was blue and the clouds were white. Seagulls flew close to the ocean in the sunshine.


    On a deserted island, the giant corpse of the Brasley was stranded on the beach, revealing the huge wound on its back and the pale skin and muscles near the wound.


    Twenty-four hours of hard fight had completely exhausted this sea monster.


    In the end, it could only dash onto the beach, hoping to kill the hunters before its own death. Unfortunately, even this humble wish could not be realized.


    Wilson bowed and congratulated Fang Yuan. "Congratulations, my great captain! You''ve hunted and killed a Brasley. Your name will be spread and remembered among pirates for eternity!"


    "I know you don''t find that worthwhile¡­ I actually have other ways of using this sea monster''s corpse!"


    Fang Yuan ordered the small boats to be placed into the water and went to the beach. "Butcher, dismember it¡­ I want the blood from its heart, its eyeballs, the tendons near its spine, and its spinal marrow. You can distribute the rest to eat!"


    The materials from some giant sea monsters were a favorite among sorcerers, warlocks, and other spellcasters.


    But to Fang Yuan, they only had a single use: creating Ocean Warlocks!


    Since he was prepared to become a powerful pirate all across the ocean and even the Pirate King, he had to have at least a few capable subordinates.


    Fang Yuan was the only Extraordinary on Fiery Lotus.


    Butcher was merely a mortal relying on a few extraordinary items, and a real Extraordinary could readily defeat him.


    This batch of pirates had followed him for the longest period and was the most loyal to him, so he would naturally start promoting them first.


    Creating Ocean Warlocks, which he had already experimented with, was the best means.


    And this promotion ceremony was simple, with only sea monster blood being relatively difficult to obtain.


    Given the Brasley''s giant body, it should even be sufficient to promote all the pirates on the ship.


    However, Fang Yuan was not going to promote too many of them.


    Anything that was large in quantity would become worthless.


    Things like promotion to Extraordinary were rewards for only the most loyal members.


    Moreover, abilities in other aspects were indispensable as well.


    When it comes to who I should promote, Butcher, Bill, and Wilson are all pretty good candidates! But despite Wilson''s excellent capabilities, he still has a lot of concerns. I need further observation. Otherwise, I may end up getting nothing from him¡­


    With that thought, Fang Yuan asked Wilson directly, "Third Officer, I still haven''t asked you what you want one thousand gold coins for."


    Wilson had proven his value to Fang Yuan through his good performance.


    Moreover, the dividends from the plunder of Dearborn Port had made this third officer rather affluent, and he was very close to his target.


    Therefore, it puzzled Fang Yuan why Wilson did not look for an opportunity to leave.


    "I want to¡­ ransom someone! A slave¡­ in Bloody Mary Pirate Port¡­"


    Wilson took a deep breath.


    "Oh? Don''t tell me that this person is a woman!"


    Fang Yuan was prepared to listen to a melodramatic story.


    "No! It''s a man!" Wilson said. "His name is Helga. He''s an excellent voyager and my best brother, but unfortunately¡­ his personality is problematic and he likes to gamble. He had to work on a pirate ship because of his debts¡­ Recently, I received the news that he had lost a huge sum at Blood Mary Port and was deprived of his freedom, becoming a slave."


    "Therefore¡­ you want to raise the ransom as soon as possible?" Fang Yuan looked at Wilson. "You''re really¡­ a good brother!"


    Bloody Mary Port was a pure pirate port. It had more freedom, but it also had stricter rules in some aspects.


    Such ports had to be protected by powerful pirates, or else they would not survive for long.


    And as far as Fang Yuan knew, the backer of Bloody Mary Port was the pirate governor of the Nightmare Ocean¡ªBlackbeard!


    Any pirate who caused trouble at such a place would be courting death!


    In the Nightmare Ocean, Blackbeard was almost as frightening as an Evil God.


    "Oh? Then it seems that we need to hurry to Bloody Mary Port as soon as possible!"


    Fang Yuan nodded.


    "That''s right. Helga is considered a high-level slave because of his voyage skills, so someone will definitely buy him in this auction¡­" Wilson''s voice was full of sorrow.


    Behind his back, however, Bill and Butcher looked at him with strange and indescribable expressions¡­

 847 Auction

    Blood Mary Port.


    A bird''s-eye view of the port would reveal its U-shape, which suggested its geographical advantages.


    There were numerous batteries arranged on the hills on both sides of the port, with many frightening cannons aiming at the sea. Giant chains and other apparatuses were also in place to defend the port against any enemies.


    After observing Bloody Mary Port, Fang Yuan had to acknowledge that this port was not a few times larger than Dearborn Port, even if he had ten times the amount of men he had now, it would still be difficult to attack and take over this place unless he did so at full strength.


    When Fiery Lotus just arrived at the line of defense, there was some commotion on the batteries.


    Obviously, if the Jolly Roger with flames of negative karma had not declared their identity, the pirates would have thought that a navy was here to capture them.


    After clarifying their identity and making them pay a huge sum for mooring fees, a dinghy slowly led Fiery Lotus into Bloody Mary Port.


    "A busy and dangerous place¡­"


    Fang Yuan heard a gunshot as soon as he disembarked from the ship.


    "Lad, don''t run! How dare you steal from Dark Crow! I''ll mince you into meat jam¡­"


    When Fang Yuan just passed the port entrance, a skinny figure dashed past Fang Yuan while a pirate wielding a cutlass chased after him.


    "Bloody Mary Port doesn''t forbid personal fights. Only a few places like bars, hotels, and auction venues are protected by Blackbeard. Anyone who makes trouble at those places will be skinned as punishment!" Bill explained to Fang Yuan in detail and pointed at a huge wall near the port.


    The human skins swayed in the breeze like kites.


    "This is a good method. Pirates are an unruly bunch of people¡­ To ban fights completely is to cause trouble for oneself¡­"


    Fang Yuan nodded. "We''ll settle down in a hotel first and then have a day of free activities to collect information about the auction!"


    Seemingly because of the well-known auction, all the hotels in Bloody Mary Port were full, and even the prices of drinks increased by fifty percent.


    Fang Yuan had to let the majority of the crew stay on the ship, checking in at a bar named Roaring Flame and Iron Hammer with only Butcher and a few other trusted subordinates.


    This bar also ran a hotel as its business, and it only had a few empty rooms at this moment. Of course, they could expect the rooms to not be very comfortable.


    What surprised Fang Yuan slightly was that the boss of the bar was a dwarf who was less than four feet tall and had extremely stout arms and legs.


    The row of dwarven warrior guards at the gate all wore leather armor and held huge hammers, axes, and other heavy weapons, giving the guests a sense of security.


    Although they had already known that there were different species on other continents, Bill and some others still looked back at the dwarves curiously, causing Fang Yuan to stop and scold them.


    As far as he knew, the dwarves in this world had a temper, especially when others sized up their heights.


    In Roaring Flame and Iron Hammer, Fang Yuan and his subordinates occupied a table and ordered a meal.


    Dwarves were quite good at cooking. There were roasts, wheat tortillas, and honey wine. Bill and Butcher both greatly enjoyed the meal.


    But Wilson looked worried and kept frowning, as if he could not wait to collect intelligence outside once he finished the meal.


    Fang Yuan took a few bites of the roast and then held a wine glass, drinking honey wine in a leisurely manner.


    Given his sharp senses, he could hear all the whispers among the pirates and get a lot of intelligence:


    "The Pablo Pirate Team encountered a storm and suffered heavy losses!"


    "Blackbeard intends to head to the Gold Ocean to battle with the Pirate Prince. His final aim is definitely to take over Pirate King City and become the new Pirate King!"


    "A new batch of good targets is approaching from the sea route to the East. Rumor has it that a caravan with an entire ship containing gold and silver from the East was plundered!"


    "The Octopus Marauder Team returned and vanquished their enemies! Surprisingly, their original third officer, Orlando, is a really capable person. He''s become the leader of the pirate team and annihilated the Fierce Shark Pirate Team that had driven them out of the Nightmare Ocean. Now he has three huge ships, and the official bounty for his arrest has reached twenty thousand gold coins. Sorcerer Orlando''s name is spreading all over the Nightmare Ocean¡­"


    "I swear I saw Giant Octopus together with that giant octopus at the dock just now! It seems to have betrayed its original master and become Orlando''s contract partner!"


    ¡­


    He heard all sorts of information, but Fang Yuan paid more attention to the last piece.


    "The Octopus Marauder Team, I''ve heard of them!"


    This topic was not as sensitive as the news about Blackbeard, so the pirates discussed it loudly. Bill heard it as well and whispered to Fang Yuan, "Their warship is Giant Octopus. Rumor has it that their leader had the ability to summon a giant octopus, but they were ambushed by the Fierce Shark Pirate Team and had to retreat and recover in inshore waters. It''s surprising that they made a comeback so soon¡­"


    A pirate who had only one pirate ship was totally different from a pirate who had three.


    Of course, Fang Yuan had not had sufficient time to develop, nor did he have enough men working for him. Earlier, he even had to sink both Mockingbird and Merchant Ship Rose.


    And now that he was in a real pirate port, he could finally get lots of supplements.


    The Nightmare Ocean was pirates'' heaven.


    In this place, with sufficient fame and fortune, he could readily call for crowds of pirates to follow him.


    Although the caliber would be a big issue in that case, the scene would be overwhelming.


    "I didn''t expect¡­ Orlando to be here as well. His level should be higher than mine? But that''s meaningless¡­"


    Fang Yuan was not bothered about his Pirate System at all.


    After all, when he needed power, he could just pray to his original body without paying any price.


    But Orlando had to complete all kinds of quests assigned to him and experience countless difficulties before becoming a sorcerer.


    He should be going to the auction as well? I can''t let this continue, as the plan on Donald''s side still needs pirates to collaborate¡­ Fang Yuan thought casually, finishing his meal slowly before he dismissed his subordinates for free activities.


    After receiving the order, Bill and Butcher started to flirt with a few gorgeous barmaids, while Wilson sneaked out like a rabbit.


    ¡­


    Early in the next morning, Fang Yuan saw Wilson drinking at the bar counter with a dejected expression.


    "What happened? Didn''t succeed?"


    Fang Yuan frowned.


    Wilson had the dividends from their previous activities, and together with the amount he had borrowed yesterday, he should have more than a thousand gold coins. This amount of money was enough to ransom ten slaves.


    "That''s right¡­"


    Wilson looked melancholy. He ordered another glass of ''Lava'', the strongest liquor here, and finished it in one go. "That damned slave trader Heathfrey. He saw that Helga is my friend and raised the price to 1,500 gold coins! Otherwise, he''ll sell Helga to an illegal mine!"


    "Come on!" Fang Yuan rolled his eyes. "Helga is a high-level talent who has mastered voyage skills. If he sells Helga to a mine, he''ll incur a huge loss."


    "Boss, could you¡­" Wilson was having a hard time asking. "Lend me another five hundred gold coins¡­ I''ll definitely return it to you, and Helga''s ability is useful as well! Aren''t we short on voyagers now?"


    "That''s true, but I don''t want to be ripped off!"


    Fang Yuan''s intuition told him that if Wilson went to find that unscrupulous merchant again, the price would be even higher.


    And these slave traders were most probably backed by someone associated with Blackbeard, so they had nothing to fear.


    "I''d rather wait until the auction¡­ Given the greed of that merchant, his slaves may end up unsold. In that case, there won''t be any issue! And I promise that I''ll definitely get him if there''s any competition."


    Fang Yuan did not want to be cheated like a fool.


    "Sigh¡­" Wilson nodded. "That''s the only option. Poor Helga!"


    "What happened this time is a lesson to him as well. Also, private gambling is strictly forbidden on my ship unless notarized by the captain or the chief officer! This will be a way to resolve some conflicts!"


    Fang Yuan casually added to his rules.


    ¡­


    The largest auction house in the port was called Bloody Mary, and it was said that Blackbeard owned it.


    When Fang Yuan arrived with two subordinates frog-marching their merchandise, the auction was yet to start.


    "You dirty, despicable pirate! How dare you sell me as a slave¡­ I swear on the name of Elizabeth, I will take my revenge on you!"


    Elizabeth''s face was haggard, but she was still like an enraged lion.


    Of course, in Fang Yuan''s mind, she was only an angry little cat.


    "Miss Elizabeth, your value seems to have exceeded my expectations¡­"


    With a hidden meaning in his words, Fang Yuan gazed at Elizabeth.


    He did not expect that a marriage between two mere viscounts would make Viscount Dearborn breach rules and get his entire family killed as a consequence. The potential influence of Elizabeth was not to be underestimated.


    Nevertheless, with Donald acting as his spy, Fang Yuan had learned a lot.


    If extortion had not been too troublesome, he really would have planned to extort a huge sum from Viscount Charlie.


    "Your Excellency, I''m the appraiser here!"


    As Elizabeth was about to continue struggling and say something, the room door was pushed open and someone wearing a smart gentleman suit entered and bowed slightly. "May I ask whether your entrusted commodity is¡­"


    "It''s her!" Fang Yuan pointed at Elizabeth. "She''s a viscount''s daughter, about to marry Viscount Charlie of Ettoman¡­ I hope that the reservation price is¡­ ten thousand gold coins!"


    "Hmm¡­" The appraiser did not take him seriously, sizing up Elizabeth professionally. "Beautiful woman¡­ But a mere viscount''s daughter isn''t worth this price. However, as the root cause of Dearborn Port''s doom, she''ll attract a lot of interest¡­"

 848 Making An Enemy

    After entrusting the goods, Fang Yuan was automatically granted admittance to the auction.


    Of course, since the auction was due to start in the evening, Fang Yuan and the rest were first invited into a splendid private room, where there was an endless supply of wine and delicacies.


    As Butcher was munching on chicken drumsticks, one in each hand, someone knocked on the door.


    "Who''s there?" Fang Yuan frowned.


    "Sorry¡­ Sir, Mr. Heathfrey wants to meet you!" An attendant entered, the helpless smile on his face suggesting that he had no other choice.


    "That slave trader?"


    Fang Yuan shrugged and took a look at Wilson''s expression. "Let him come here!"


    Heathfrey was swarthy, obese, and short. He had a ferocious expression on his muscular face and an extremely ruthless glow in his small eyes.


    Rumor had it that he had instigated civil strife in two small indigenous countries that eventually led to their collapse just because he wanted the thousands of strong slaves and a beautiful princess in the countries.


    "Arcane Trickster Roche!" Heathfrey rudely sat down opposite Fang Yuan, irritating Fang Yuan slightly. "I want your female slave. Give me a quote!"


    "Hehe¡­"


    Fang Yuan cast a fierce glance at the auction house attendant at the side.


    Evidently, the commercial firm of this pirate team was blatantly faithless, leaking information about the lots before the start of the auction.


    Of course, from another point of view, he could tell that this slave trader possessed tremendous power. He might even be in the same firm as the auction house.


    "You mean Elizabeth¡­ I''m auctioning her only for gold coins. The reservation price is ten thousand gold coins, but if she''s in great demand, the price may rise to twenty thousand gold coins¡­ However, if you''re willing to pay fifteen thousand gold coins, you can take her away."


    "Fifteen thousand gold coins? Are you joking?" Heathfrey stared with his small eyes wide open. "I can buy hundreds of pretty women slaves with this amount of money! That woman is at most worth five thousand gold coins¡­"


    He took a glance at Wilson and sneered. "Of course, since this is the first time I''m doing business with Captain Arcane Trickster, I can''t make you suffer a loss. How about five thousand gold coins plus that slave named Helga?"


    "Do you think that a mere voyager is worth ten thousand gold coins?" Fang Yuan pointed at the door. "If you''re here to joke with me, this joke is unusually clumsy!"


    "Lad! Bloody Mary is not the inshore waters where any pirate can wreak havoc!" Heathfrey banged the table, his eyes emitting a fierce glow. "Do you know that everything here belongs to the great Blackbeard! And I, Heathfrey, am an important merchant serving Blackbeard¡­ As soon as I demand it, the auction house will hand that woman over to me!"


    Bill''s expression changed when he heard this, looking at his captain worriedly.


    Wilson also clenched his fists nervously.


    Obviously, they thought that Fang Yuan had been too reckless.


    "Go ahead!" Fang Yuan gestured. "She''s just a woman, so do anything you want¡­ However, from tomorrow onward, a story about how the auction house extorts and plunders commodities will circulate in the entire port!"


    Even though this auction house was associated with Heathfrey, it could at most leak some information about the sellers and commodities in advance.


    If it really dared to plunder the goods to be auctioned, it would definitely be courting death!


    Which pirate or merchant would dare trade with the auction house once it did such a thing?


    Even a hundred Elizabeths could not make up for the resulting losses. Furthermore, if the backer of the auction house¡ªBlackbeard¡ªlearned about such deeds, Heathfrey would only end up as a skin floating in the wind at the dock.


    "Very good¡­ You''re quite daring!"


    The two bodyguards behind Heathfrey had taken out their weapons, but Heathfrey restrained their further actions. He said to Fang Yuan balefully, "Do you know that a dead person can''t talk?"


    "Unfortunately, it looks like we can''t agree to a deal!"


    Fang Yuan shrugged, not caring about the threat at all.


    "You''ll regret it! I swear!"


    Heathfrey took one last stare at Fang Yuan, as though he wanted to etch Fang Yuan''s appearance into his mind, before slamming the door behind him.


    "Captain¡­" Wilson wanted to say something but hesitated.


    "You''re afraid that he''ll torture Helga?" Fang Yuan was somewhat speechless. "This would have been likely to happen if I had appeared more concerned about Helga. But now¡­ he won''t do that. After all, he still needs to sell this high-level slave tonight."


    Of course, even Fang Yuan felt more surprised now.


    Heathfrey''s attention clearly implied that there might still be some secrets in Elizabeth or those close to her.


    "In this case, she can be sold at an even higher price tonight!"


    A trace of anticipation flashed in Fang Yuan''s eyes.


    ¡­


    Bloody Mary Port looked more prosperous and bustling in the evening. The entire place was brightly illuminated.


    Noise, quarrels, and even the sound from fights echoed continuously.


    In the hall of the auction house.


    Good-looking attendants moved through the crowds like butterflies moving through clusters of flowers, receiving pirates and merchants one after another.


    The auction house in Bloody Mary Port was very famous in both the Nightmare Ocean and Ettoman.


    This was because the goods here were very cheap, and Blackbeard would absolutely ensure the safety of the guests. Therefore, even some large chambers of commerce in Ettoman would send people here for a shopping spree.


    Merchants were crucial to the continued prosperity of pirates.


    Fang Yuan asked for a round table in a corner. Dreamy light rays were reflected from the bottle of red wine in front of him.


    "This bottle of red wine is from the leader of the top ten wineries in the Opher Continent¡ªSt. Joan!"


    An attendant in a tailcoat introduced the wine first, displaying the label and the cork, before he uncorked the bottle and allowed the wine to breathe.


    "A bottle of wine from the cellars of the top ten wineries should cost at least ten gold coins, right?"


    At the side, a few people who looked like merchants exclaimed in a low voice, "We''re feeling even more eager for this evening."


    Even though they were merchants doing small business, nobody dared look down upon them because no one knew which large chamber of commerce or important noble family had sent them here.


    "Do you want some extra money?"


    Fang Yuan looked at the attendant who had opened the wine bottle and opened his hand to reveal a few gold coins glistening between his fingers.


    "I''m at your disposal, sir!" The attendant bowed calmly. "My job is to provide better services for you!"


    "It''s simple. Introduce everyone you know among these people. This is your tip!"


    The pirates on Mockingbird had never dared to enter the Nightmare Ocean, and Wilson had no other choice but to make a living within inshore waters.


    "No problem!" The attendant heaved a sigh of relief. "Those at the table in the front are from the Trident Pirate Team¡­ On their left is an important businessman from Cecil named Formosa. I don''t know the ones on the right, but they should be from Ettoman''s leading commercial firms¡­ Oh, the group who just entered is the Octopus Marauder Team, which has recently shot to fame. Their team leader, Orlando, is a powerful sorcerer!"


    Fang Yuan would notice Orlando''s team even without this mention of them.


    The young man''s aura and influence had changed drastically. He was wearing a gorgeous robe with a golden cutlass tied at his waist.


    This lad seems to be thriving¡­


    Fang Yuan nodded silently and opened Orlando''s stats window directly.


    "Name: Orlando


    Level: Civilian Level 5, Sorcerer Level 2


    Strength: 3


    Speed: 3


    Physique: 2.5


    Psyche: 6


    Identity: Pirate (Team Leader of the Octopus Marauder Team)


    Specialization: Sailing (Normal), Musket Manipulation (Proficient), Cutlass Techniques (Master), Spell Casting in Battle (Basic), Sorcery (Basic)


    Experience: 500 (Experience required before reaching the next level: 2000)


    Pretty good. He''s become a sorcerer, enhanced his psyche, and obtained two more specializations?


    Fang Yuan nodded in approval and thought mischievously, If at this time he''s assigned a quest to spoil the auction, I wonder if he''ll do it¡­


    Perhaps Orlando felt that someone was looking at him, so he looked back and examined Fang Yuan.


    Of course, Orlando was totally unable to recognize Fang Yuan now. He only saw a few pirates that he did not recognize and nodded to them reservedly before sitting down close to the front.


    The great slave trader, Heathfrey, entered immediately after Orlando. He smiled at Fang Yuan ferociously, like a viper, and made a throat-cutting gesture.


    Hehe¡­ Fang Yuan smiled coldly.


    No matter how many powerful associates this slave trader had, the outcome of naval battles still depended on combat strength.


    He would not fear anyone in this aspect.


    "Everybody!"


    After Heathfrey seated himself, all the seats in the hall were occupied and an emcee in formal attire came to the center of the stage. "Welcome to tonight''s auction! My name is Pielberg, and I''m honored to serve you all¡­ Next, let''s bring lot number one onto the stage¡ªan extraordinary sword, the ''Tiger of Fire''! This sword was cast purely using legendary Valian steel in elven-style workmanship. A sorcerer gave it a magical attachment when it was completed, allowing fire attacks to be triggered thrice per day. Starting price¡­ five thousand gold coins!"


    "It''s actually a weapon with magical attachment!" A pirate team leader exclaimed. "Six thousand gold coins!"


    Evidently, the first lot in the auction was used to warm up the atmosphere.


    Both pirates and merchants liked these kinds of things which could immediately enhance their power. The price soon exceeded ten thousand gold coins. Eventually, a pirate from the Gold Ocean bought it at twelve thousand gold coins.


    "Next is lot number two, a diamond¡ªthe Crimson Tear!"


    The emcee pulled a red cloth and revealed the huge diamond on a plate. It glittered increasingly brighter under the light.


    "The Crimson Tear is from the Spice Archipelago. It''s said to be an ornament from the crown of an indigenous king. Starting price¡­ six thousand gold coins!"


    Pirates were uninterested in jewels like this, but it was a favorite of the nobles. A few chambers of commerce immediately bid against one another and warmed up the atmosphere.

 849 Raising the Price

    In the end, the Crimson Tear was sold for nine thousand gold coins. The pirates were apparently still rational, while the merchants got a good deal.


    A diamond like this could readily be sold at double the price.


    If it was cut and made into elegant jewelry, the profit could be as much as dozens of times the cost!


    And only such huge profits could attract the merchants here despite the dangers on the way.


    Bill and Wilson stared wide-eyed at the precious and rare commodities, each one sold at five thousand gold coins or more.


    Of course, some peculiar items with no practical use remained unsold in the end.


    "Next is lot number thirteen, the incomplete piece of a treasure map¡­"


    The emcee tried to incite excitement using his voice. "As everyone knows, pirate teams like hiding their fortunes on deserted islands so that they can be unearthed in the future¡­ And although only an incomplete piece of the treasure map is being sold at tonight''s auction, the seller disclosed that it''s from the Soro Pirate Team! The auction house can guarantee the authenticity of this information!"


    "The Soro Pirate Team? Isn''t that the pirate team that used to dominate the Solomon Strait?" The great merchant Formosa stood up, looking excited.


    "Oh my¡­ The team leader of the Soro Pirate Team was known as the man most similar to an Evil God! His power horrified all the nations with strong naval forces, and he almost became the Pirate King!" An exclamation was also heard from the Trident Pirate Team.


    "Cough cough¡­ However, while the auction house can guarantee that this treasure map is from the Soro Pirate Team, we''re uncertain about the profits it can bring¡­ Nevertheless, based on the extraordinary power on this piece, it shouldn''t be pointing to a small treasure trove¡­"


    Having aroused everyone''s enthusiasm, the emcee was satisfied, but he immediately emphasized the risk. "¡­ I only have an incomplete piece in my hand, which is about one-fourth or one-fifth of the original map. However, our appraiser said that the treasure map has the blessing of destiny, which will let its pieces reunite one day!"


    He was the auctioneer of the auction house after all, so all his words served to maximize profit and minimize risk.


    "All right, the incomplete piece of a mysterious treasure map. The starting price is one thousand gold coins, and at least one hundred gold coins must be added in every bid!"


    The emcee waved his hand.


    "Two thousand gold coins!"


    As soon as the emcee finished his sentence, Formosa waved his hand.


    "Twenty-one hundred!"


    The Trident Pirate Team raised the price immediately.


    "Twenty-two hundred!"


    ¡­


    Fang Yuan watched the scene coldly, extending his hand into his coat and gripping the incomplete piece of a treasure map in front of his chest.


    This piece he had picked up from inside a book cover had an aura extremely similar to that of the one being auctioned. He was sure that both pieces were from the same map.


    "The Soro Pirate Team dominated the Solomon Strait¡­ They were famous in history as well. Their leader was a godlike man and possessed a famous legendary ship¡­"


    Having made sure that the treasure map before his chest was related to the Soro Pirate Team, Fang Yuan decided to do something.


    In terms of financial capability, he would not be poorer than anyone at the scene, as he had just plundered a port.


    The intense bidding subsided when the price was around five thousand gold coins.


    Evidently, the pirates and merchants were not idiots. They all knew that this was already the maximum value for a piece of a treasure map.


    Even though it was a treasure map from the Soro Pirate Team, it was only an incomplete piece, which significantly reduced its value. Moreover, there was a lot of uncertainty in the destination it pointed to. These two factors together meant that this treasure map fragment could not be auctioned at a high price.


    "Fifty-three hundred gold coins going once! Any higher prices?"


    The emcee pulled his collars in excitement, as the price had far exceeded his expectations.


    "Fifty-three hundred gold coins going twice. It seems that this treasure map will soon belong to the great merchant from Cecil, Formosa¡­"


    When he was about to pound the gavel, a voice intercepted him. "Wait a moment. I bid fifty-four hundred!"


    "Hmm?" Formosa''s peaceful smile suddenly disappeared. He gritted his teeth as he looked at Heathfrey, who had just bid. "Six thousand gold coins!"


    Heathfrey did not even blink and offered a higher price right away. "Seven thousand!"


    Formosa was stunned.


    After all, although he was rich, an incomplete piece of a treasure map was not worth so much money.


    With that thought, Formosa raised the price again. "Seventy-one hundred gold coins! This is my final bid. I''m simply interested in everything related to Solomon. If you offer an even higher price, I''ll let you have it!"


    "Since you''ve said that!" Heathfrey touched his trim mustaches. "Seventy-two hundred gold coins!!!"


    Hearing this, Formosa sat down with an emotionless face.


    "All right. Then this treasure map belongs to¡­"


    The emcee coughed and was going to announce the final outcome, but Fang Yuan''s lazy voice sounded. "Ten thousand gold coins!"


    "What?" The emcee almost choked on his own saliva. "Sir, are you sure your bid is ten thousand gold coins?"


    Fang Yuan glanced at Heathfrey and said in a contemptuous tone, "That''s right¡­ I''m not like some miserly people!"


    The slave trader''s entire fat body was shaking in anger.


    "Good, very good!" Heathfrey cursed and continued bidding. "Eleven thousand gold coins!"


    "Twelve thousand!" Fang Yuan followed up directly.


    Formosa and the other initial bidders now realized in surprise that there were still people truly interested in this fragment. Their expressions were complex at the thought.


    ¡­


    "Fifteen thousand gold coins!" Heathfrey uttered a number in a rage, staring at Fang Yuan with bloodshot eyes.


    "Since you''re looking at me so sincerely, well¡­" Fang Yuan spread his arms and shrugged, sitting back into his chair. "I''ll let you have it then! Come, cheers for the generous slave trader, Heathfrey!"


    Pirates were all people who liked chaos, and many of them started whistling in a funny manner.


    In their minds, the Arcane Trickster had a grudge against Heathfrey and had played verbal tricks on this slave trader.


    Forcing him to purchase this seemingly worthless treasure map fragment at a higher price was indeed a splendid scene to behold.


    "Good, very good!"


    If the slave trader had been looking at Fang Yuan with bloodshot eyes earlier, then his eyes were like knives now, as if he wanted to cut Fang Yuan''s flesh directly by staring at him.


    "Cough cough¡­" The emcee tried to make peace in a hurry. "Everybody¡­ Next up is the routine program of our auction house¡ªthe slave auction. The first set is plantation slaves, one hundred slaves per group. Each of them is good at planting crops, and they''re all docile and won''t resist. They''re definitely the top choice for plantation owners. There are ten groups in total, and they''ll be auctioned separately. The base price is one thousand gold coins!"


    Slave trading was strictly forbidden in Ettoman, where people considered themselves to be civilized.


    More than a decade ago, the king had signed the law to absolve all the local slaves and grant freedom to them.


    Of course, the workers being exploited in the factories might get worse treatment than slaves in plantations, but that did not matter too much.


    However, although Ettoman banned the use of slaves in its territories, there was always a strong demand for slaves in tropical plantations and the factories of foreign countries.


    Blackbeard took up the largest market share in this aspect and was the infamous leader among slave traders


    In his territories, slaves could be sold openly.


    For example, the slaves were all docile and specialized in some skills, and the prices were favorable as well. The ship owners soon bought them up.


    After the slave batches were sold out, it was time to auction the high-level slaves. Helga was among them, and of course, there were a few extremely beautiful women slaves as well.


    "This high-level slave, Helga, has mastered voyage skills and is an excellent voyager. The starting price is one thousand gold coins!"


    The emcee waved his hand, signaling two strong men to bring a slave onto the stage.


    Fang Yuan fixed his eyes on him. Helga was less than thirty years old. He had wheat-colored skin and a sturdy chest. Together with his small mustache, pronounced facial features, and cynical smile, he indeed had some charm.


    "Helga!" Wilson shouted loudly at the side, as though he would dash onto the exhibition stage at the next moment.


    "Damn it! Butcher!"


    Fang Yuan covered his face and made a gesture.


    Wilson felt as if a dark shadow as heavy as a mountain fell upon him, making him unable to move.


    "Eleven hundred!"


    ¡­


    The bidding continued. Within a short time, the price had reached fifteen hundred gold coins.


    "I bid¡­ three thousand gold coins!" Fang Yuan suddenly said, doubling the price and looking at Heathfrey provocatively.


    The slave trader breathed heavily and was prepared to raise the price again, but he suddenly thought of what happened previously.


    After all, this slave was only a friend of the third officer, not a friend of the captain himself. Helga might not be very important to him, or else he would have ransomed the slave earlier.


    What if this was a trap again?


    Why would he raise the price and buy his own slave? Just to let the auction house earn the commission twice?


    He hesitated immediately.


    And to the other ship owners, three thousand gold coins far exceeded the real value of this slave, so they would not bid a higher price. Moreover, everyone thought that it was Fang Yuan''s trap, and they did not want to fall into it foolishly.


    After the gavel hit and the auctioneer announced the outcome, Wilson looked at Fang Yuan in deep gratitude.


    "Boss, many thanks!"


    "You''re welcome¡­"


    Fang Yuan waved his hand and stared at the auction stage. The auction of slaves had reached the final climax, and the lot he had entrusted them with was on the stage as well.


    "Next is the climax of our slave auction this time. This is a noble''s daughter, Miss Elizabeth from Ettoman!" the emcee shouted at the top of his voice.

 850 Recruitmen

    Elizabeth walked out gracefully in the spotlight.


    She was wearing a black gown, and her hair was tied up in a bun so that the buyers could see her white and slender neck. Her perfect shape and her cold but beautiful face could easily provoke the sexual desire in men.


    "Lastly, Miss Elizabeth is Viscount Quaid''s daughter and is about to marry Viscount Charlie of Ettoman¡­ The starting price is ten thousand gold coins!"


    The emcee said in a tempting tone, "Is there anyone¡­ who''s willing to become the master of this beautiful noble lady? Oh, I can assure you that professionals have checked and ensured that this lady is a virgin."


    Huff huff!


    The last sentence was apparently more provocative. Even Butcher and Bill, who were beside Fang Yuan, started to breathe intensely.


    "Ten thousand one hundred gold coins!" a pirate shouted out his bid first, undeterred by the exorbitant price of ten thousand gold coins.


    "Ten thousand five hundred gold coins!"


    ¡­


    The price increased quickly, and even Fang Yuan was a bit surprised. "Are noblewomen captives in such high demand nowadays?"


    "Sir, you really don''t know?" At this point in time, the attendant beside him looked about to break down. "Viscount Quaid is the most promising competitor for the governor position in the Solomon Strait colony¡­ Merchant ships heading for the East always have to pass through that place¡­ Viscount Charlie is one of the most exalted nobles in Ettoman, and he has a royal bloodline. Otherwise, why would he marry Miss Elizabeth, who''s merely backed by the Rose Chamber of Commerce?"


    "Hmm, competitor? Looks like the incumbent governor will renounce the position soon?" Fang Yuan nodded. "And Elizabeth hurried to get married in Ettoman at this time. Tsk tsk¡­ I wonder how many trade-offs are involved in this."


    "Therefore, this is definitely a hot potato. It''s better to get rid of her earlier!" Bill gave his advice. He had obviously thought about it for a long time.


    "Fifteen thousand gold coins!"


    When the price reached thirteen thousand gold coins, merchants from Ettoman finally started to bid, raising the price by two thousand straightaway.


    "Fifteen thousand gold coins. Any higher bids?" the emcee shouted at the top of his lungs.


    "Twenty thousand gold coins!"


    At this moment, Formosa from Cecil stood up and looked around, speaking in a firm voice.


    "Thirty thousand¡­ gold coins!"


    But he was soon given a slap in the face. A calm voice attracted all the attention.


    "It''s him!"


    "The team leader of the Octopus Marauder Team!"


    "Sorcerer Orlando? Could he be interested in the East Sea Route? If he uses Elizabeth as a hostage, Viscount Quaid will have to compromise, won''t he? Of course, he needs to wait until Viscount Quaid becomes the governor of the Solomon Strait colony¡­"


    The onlookers whispered among themselves.


    Orlando''s expression was solemn, suggesting his determination to get her.


    "Thirty-five thousand gold coins!"


    Formosa shook his head and continued to raise the price.


    "Forty thousand!"


    "Forty-one thousand!"


    ¡­


    In the end, both of them had to slow down their increases in the price, as they were running out of money.


    "Forty-six thousand gold coins!" Orlando stood up slowly and gazed at Formosa. "Any higher?"


    Thud!


    The great merchant from Cecil suddenly sat back into his seat, unable to utter a word.


    "Great!" Orlando nodded satisfactorily and glanced at the emcee.


    "Then¡­ forty-six thousand gold coins going once! This lady from Ettoman will soon belong to the great team leader of the Octopus Marauder Team¡­"


    The emcee swallowed a mouthful of saliva in exhilaration.


    A mere woman slave was actually sold at the highest price tonight. Even he would earn a huge commission.


    But when he raised his gavel high in the air and was about to hit it down, Heathfrey spoke. "Fifty thousand gold coins!"


    "What?" Orlando gazed at this swarthy, plump guy, his eyes glistening.


    "Sorry¡­ Orlando. I must have this person!"


    Heathfrey gritted his teeth and inhaled a breath of cold air, apparently distressed at the large amount of money he had to spend.


    "Good! Very good!"


    Forty-six thousand gold coins was obviously the maximum that Orlando could afford. The sorcerer laughed coldly and sat back down, but everyone knew that this was definitely not the end.


    ¡­


    "The auction today was really full of twists and turns¡­"


    Helga, who just joined Fang Yuan''s team, worked with Wilson and a few others to carry a cumbersome chest, following Fang Yuan out of the auction house.


    Minus one-tenth of the fifty thousand gold coins as the commission and the three thousand gold coins used to ransom Helga, there were still forty-two thousand gold coins, which was extremely heavy.


    Fang Yuan could even feel many people staring at him like greedy wolves.


    "For now¡­ we''re still important guests of the auction house, but it''s hard to say what will happen after we leave the port!"


    Instead of returning to the hotel, Fang Yuan went to the dock directly. "Start recruiting pirates immediately¡­ Fiery Lotus can load five hundred people, but we only have a hundred now. Bloody Mary is a large pirate port, so there are a plethora of impoverished pirates. We need to recruit as many as possible¡­ But there are two requirements¡ªfirst, they must specialize in at least one skill, and second, their background must be clean. Understood?"


    Of course, to have a clean background did not mean to have never committed a crime, but to be free from any association with other pirate teams. Fang Yuan did not want to recruit a bunch of spies.


    "Understood, Captain!" Wilson nodded.


    Although the second requirement was a bit hard to meet, he had to do it because it was Fang Yuan''s order.


    "Bill¡­" Fang Yuan then called for his henchman. "Keep an eye on the slave trader Heathfrey, the Octopus Marauder Team, and the merchant from Cecil named Formosa! And be cautious!"


    It was obvious that there was conflict among the three parties during the auction. Although they feared Blackbeard and would not do anything against one another in Bloody Mary Port, no one knew what would happen after they left.


    In fact, the slave trader held a grudge against Fang Yuan as well. Otherwise, why would Fang Yuan be in a hurry to recruit people?


    "Don''t worry, boss. I''ll find some unfamiliar people!" Bill nodded, implying that he had understood Fang Yuan''s hint.


    "Great!"


    On the dock, Fang Yuan deliberately had all his crew members disembark from the ship. Then he kicked the huge chest full of gold coins, toppling it onto the ground.


    If the gold coins had not been surrounded by over a hundred pirates, those red-eyed sailors and pirates outside would definitely have rushed in to plunder the money.


    "Since you chose to follow me, I will naturally give you sumptuous rewards!"


    Fang Yuan smiled casually. He had done it intentionally to display his generosity to others, which served as an advertisement for the recruitment later.


    "Everybody, now come forward to take your portion!"


    There were people shouting ''long live the captain'' as soon as he announced the decision.


    Fang Yuan had always been very generous with money, and those pirates watching the scene were also attracted by it. Some of them immediately approached Fang Yuan''s crew and asked for information about Fiery Lotus'' recruitment.


    As for whether other pirate ship captains would curse Fang Yuan for breaching rules and influencing the market, he did not care at all.


    Due to the attraction using gold coins, the recruitment plan proceeded smoothly.


    After all, Fiery Lotus was rather special among pirate ships. Mockingbird to Fiery Lotus was like a sparrow to an eagle, and any pirate could see the difference.


    Moreover, this generous captain had proved by his action that those who followed him would have enormous potential in the future.


    Fang Yuan had recruited more than three hundred pirates by nighttime, each of whom was extremely tough and valiant, prepared to fight at any time.


    He did not need anyone else to assist him with the overall decision-making, so his subordinates just needed to be bold when it came to fighting and killing.


    There were also a few special talents among them in other aspects.


    Fang Yuan even found three people who might have extraordinary items with them. They were superior to common pirates and almost comparable to Butcher.


    "Welcome, the three of you. From now on, you''ll be my high-level crew members!"


    Fang Yuan would naturally meet the three of them in person to establish good relationships.


    "It''s my honor to serve you, Captain!"


    A swordsman in white greeted Fang Yuan, his every movement fitting the standards exactly, just like a noble.


    According to Wilson''s introduction, his name was Danogu. He was a very famous hermit in Bloody Mary Port and had the alias of Rose Swordsman.


    "With sufficient rewards, Youne is willing to serve you!"


    And the other two high-level crew members were even more interesting.


    One of them was almost eight feet tall and had a strong physique. The small scales scattered on his face and neck implied that he was the mixed-blood child of a human and some other species.


    In Fang Yuan''s view, Youne should have the bloodline of lizardmen. It was lucky for him to survive until now.


    However, repelled by mainstream society, he seemed to have no choice other than to be a pirate.


    In Bloody Mary Port, other than dwarves, there were certainly more exotic species. In fact, there were many exotic species mixed among the three hundred pirates that Fang Yuan had recruited.


    Of course, a person of mixed blood would sometimes be repelled by both species and face a harsher situation.


    "Team leader of the Purgatory Pirate Team, I responded to your recruitment simply because you made an enemy of Heathfrey!" the third high-level crew member said in a distinct voice. She was actually a woman.


    Her cloak was slowly taken off, revealing a body in good shape. Her body gleamed in the moonlight like a crescent moon.


    Her close-fitting leather clothes revealed large areas of her skin, giving her an untamed charm.


    "Moon Elf!?"


    Seeing her pointed ears, Fang Yuan could not help nodding.


    Moon Elves were an important branch of elves and were active at night. Moreover, due to some problems in their behaviors, they were also known as Dark Elves and Fallen Elves! It was said that their assassination arts were as sharp as their beauty.

 851 Naval Battle

    "Do you have a grudge against that slave trader?"


    Fang Yuan took a glance at the Dark Elf before him.


    Truth be told, despite the concealment, some marks on her body could not be eliminated. For example¡­ the marks left behind by whips and searing iron.


    "It seems like¡­ you have a past that''s hard to talk about. May I know your name?" Fang Yuan inquired calmly.


    "Dark Night Walker¡ªRolisa!" the Moon Elf lady said her name with a chanting tone.


    "Very well. As long as you work for me, I promise you¡­ you''ll have the chance to avenge yourself on Heathfrey!" Fang Yuan promised, glancing at the three high-level crew members and the other normal sailors with an inexplicable expression.


    ¡­


    "Boss, it''s begun!"


    In the moonlit night, Fang Yuan received Bill''s message.


    "Formosa set sail secretly at night¡­ After obtaining this information, Heathfrey and the Octopus Marauder Team both took action¡­"


    Fang Yuan gulped a bottle of rum and said aloud. "Very good. Pass down my order! We''ll also set sail!"


    Covered by the darkness of the night, Fiery Lotus left the dock silently like a ghost.


    Chirp chirp!


    An osprey spiraling in the sky suddenly landed on a pirate''s arm.


    "Boss¡­ My darling told me that there''s a naval battle ten nautical miles to the east!" the pirate immediately reported to Fang Yuan.


    He was one of the special talents that Fang Yuan had recruited. Although his fighting and voyage skills were mediocre, he kept an exotic osprey. With the unusual ability to communicate with it, he could be a rare scout at sea.


    "Great. Advance at full speed to the east!"


    Of course, Fang Yuan would not believe everything he heard, but his extraordinary sense also told him that something was happening to the east. Therefore, he gave the order immediately.


    Rumble!


    As they continuously approached the battlefield, some flames suddenly appeared in front of them.


    It was the burning wreckage of a few merchant ships on the sea.


    "Defense!"


    Some pirates on Fiery Lotus looked excited, others solemn, as they slowly entered a battlefield at sea.


    Rumble!


    Guns roared and people shouted.


    With the illumination from the flames and the moon, Fang Yuan could see that there were generally three parties involved in the naval battle right now.


    The large group of merchant ships in Cecil style had to be Formosa''s ships.


    On the other side, five or six armed merchant ships loaded with artillery charged at Formosa''s merchant ships ferociously.


    Furthermore, at a corner of the battlefield, three pirate ships gradually emerged, and there seemed to be a monster hiding beneath the surface of the sea.


    "The Octopus Marauder Team?!"


    "Kill them all!"


    "Prepare the boarding planks!"


    At this point in time, the slave trader''s armed merchant ships and the Octopus Marauder Team reached a tacit agreement to deal with Formosa''s fleet together.


    A few ships even approached them directly. Many pirates grinned hideously and climbed onto the enemy''s decks.


    But their shocked roars were heard in the next moment.


    Rumble!


    Rumble!


    Rumble!


    A few giant sparks could be seen forming on the sea.


    "Tsk tsk¡­ Formosa is indeed a great merchant. To have such decisiveness and boldness¡­ he''s really surprising!"


    Seeing this scene, Fang Yuan could not help praising him.


    Evidently, Formosa had filled a few merchant ships with gunpowder and turned them into traps.


    Even his own sailors were unaware of that. At least four hundred lives, including enemies and his own people, were lost in the explosion. It was extremely ruthless.


    Taking this opportunity, all of the remaining Cecil boats accelerated in an attempt to escape from the battlefield.


    "Chase them!"


    The sea breeze sent Heathfrey''s voice to Fang Yuan, making him pleased. "How stupid you are! You actually took the initiative to approach me!"


    But at this moment, there was a turn of events.


    The flagship of the Octopus Marauder Team, Giant Octopus, turned around and charged at Fiery Lotus.


    "Arcane Trickster Roche, you shouldn''t have come here¡­" Orlando said in a loud and clear voice, apparently thinking that Fang Yuan was here to take advantage of the situation. "If you surrender to me and become my subordinate, handing in thirty percent of all your spoils in the future, I shall acknowledge your right to join the plunder!"


    Obviously, Orlando thought Fang Yuan was a weakling he could pick on.


    But Fang Yuan found Orlando''s words ironically funny. "This Orlando¡­"


    Fang Yuan felt speechless about the fact that Orlando chose to deal with him rather than the merchant ships and Heathfrey.


    Evidently, Orlando wanted to take over this newly emergent Purgatory Pirate Team, and perhaps Fiery Lotus.


    "It''s a pity¡­ Orlando, you made the wrong choice by wanting to deal with me!"


    Fang Yuan snapped his fingers.


    Splash!


    Three water spheres emerged from the huge splash on the sea and were flung at Orlando.


    "You''re also a sorcerer?!"


    Orlando''s pupils contracted as he summoned a few light shields.


    Splash!


    The water spheres smashed onto the large shields and exploded into raindrops all over the sky.


    Orlando''s expression was solemn. He whistled.


    Bloop! Bloop!


    Below Fiery Lotus, an enormous quantity of bubbles emerged as a giant silhouette appeared on the rough sea.


    "Be careful! It''s that giant octopus!"


    On Fiery Lotus, Wilson shouted loudly and prepared tools like harpoons and guns.


    Splash!


    The water surface was suddenly torn apart. A few giant tentacles extended out like the Ocean Demon King''s palm and tried to pull Fiery Lotus to the bottom of the sea.


    "A mere large sea monster!"


    Fang Yuan''s hand turned azure, emitting chillingly cold air.


    An ice spear suddenly emerged in his hand, and he hurled it out like a bolt of lightning.


    Poof!


    The ice spear penetrated the giant octopus. It curled up in agony and sank into the stormy sea.


    "Sorcerer Orlando? Today, I''ll let you know that¡­ you''re as ridiculous as a clown in front of me, the Arcane Trickster¡­"


    Fang Yuan leaped down and walked on the surface of the sea.


    The water under his feet immediately froze, making him appear as if he was walking on level ground.


    "Prepare for a boarding battle! Against¡­ one person!"


    Orlando gave the order with immense difficulty. He had the ominous feeling that he might have gotten the Octopus Marauder Team into trouble by offending an extremely powerful enemy.


    The very silence of the Pirate System was the best proof of that!


    The sound of steps was heard!


    While he was sunk in thought, Fang Yuan had arrived onto the deck and drew out his cutlass.


    "Kill!"


    Fang Yuan''s ability to manipulate water astonished the pirates of the Octopus Marauder Team, but they still shouted and charged at him to get him into close combat.


    After all, an Extraordinary adept at sorcery had to be less capable at close combat.


    "Hehe¡­"


    Fang Yuan moved agilely, evading two enemies and slashing gently with his cutlass. Blood immediately spewed out in the air.


    "Cutlass¡ªSlanted Slash!"


    His figure transformed into an illusion. The cutlass in his hand seemed to possess its own life, taking away a pirate''s life every time it was wielded.


    "This is¡­ extraordinary cutlass techniques!"


    Orlando''s pupils contracted as he gripped his cutlass more tightly.


    His cutlass techniques were at master level, so he knew the power of extraordinary cutlass techniques even better. It was a whole new level compared to other cutlass wielders.


    "Arcane Trickster¡­ How can there be such a person in the world? He seems to disregard all the principles, mastering such powerful sorcery and such surprising martial arts at the same time."


    He did not know that Fang Yuan felt completely composed at this moment.


    After all, Orlando''s stats and weaknesses were all exposed to Fang Yuan.


    He felt really bored dealing with this sorcerer.


    With that thought, Fang Yuan grabbed another cutlass from a pirate. Holding double cutlasses in his hands, he moved into the crowd of pirates like a whirlwind sweeping by.


    On Fiery Lotus.


    The pirates of the Purgatory Pirate Team were stunned by this scene.


    "Is this a delusion? Did Boss suppress an entire pirate team on his own? His opponent is Sorcerer Orlando!" Bill murmured.


    "Moreover, there''s that giant octopus!" Butcher added coldly.


    "In that case, could our boss be the top pirate in the Nightmare Ocean?" Bill sounded astonished.


    ¡­


    Clang!


    The two cutlasses clashed. Orlando''s cutlass was thrown high up into the air before falling into the sea.


    "F¡ª"


    He wanted to cast a spell, but he suddenly saw a silvery glow. The back of a cutlass smashed onto his face, interrupting his words and beating him onto the deck.


    "Too weak! Too weak!"


    Fang Yuan stood amid many pirates'' corpses, his right foot treading on Orlando''s face. "How could a mere pirate think of controlling me?"


    "Ah¡­ You dare!"


    Orlando''s bloodshot eyes looked extremely frightening.


    He was one who harbored grudges. After the Octopus Marauder Team was expelled, he had become a sorcerer and immediately strengthened his power and took revenge.


    But now, he encountered a disaster even more terrifying than the one caused by the Fierce Shark Pirate Team!


    "What? You''re unresigned and want to take revenge on me?"


    Fang Yuan thought for a while, and then a glow suddenly flashed on the cutlass in his right hand.


    "Ah!"


    Orlando screamed in agony, feeling a burning pain on his right cheek.


    From Fang Yuan''s perspective, a cross was scratched into the youth''s right face. He would definitely bear a scar in the future, so his appearance had been ruined.


    "I''ll give you a chance. Don''t disappoint me!"


    Amid his loud laughter, Fang Yuan ignited the arsenal on Giant Octopus.


    Giant Octopus blew up into pieces in the deafening explosion.


    Other than Fang Yuan and the thrown out Orlando, no one else survived.


    "Ahhh! Arcane Trickster Roche¡­ I will get my revenge on you! I swear!"


    Orlando''s eyes were bloodshot.


    "Ding!"


    At this point in time, a notice suddenly showed up in the silent Pirate System. "Large quest chain triggered: Revenge!


    "Quest explanation: After the fiasco, you have to stand up again and challenge Arcane Trickster Roche¡­ In order to defeat him, you need stronger capabilities. Go and take a look at the royal port of Ettoman! Complete the first step of this quest chain by joining Ettoman and becoming a privateer captain. You will receive the reward of this phase!"

 852 Undercover Agen

    "Boss!"


    What happened on Great Octopus appalled the Octopus Marauder Team''s two remaining ships. They no longer cared about looting and quickly left the battlefield after rescuing Orlando.


    Fang Yuan returned to Fiery Lotus and waved his hand.


    "Full speed ahead. The target¡­ Heathfrey''s flagship!"


    Bullying Orlando was just like an adult bullying a child. There was absolutely no sense of accomplishment.


    In contrast, after his display of single-handedly wiping out a ship of pirates, especially one with Sorcerer Orlando and the gigantic octopus, the three hundred newly recruited pirates were left with only reverence in their eyes.


    Following Fang Yuan bellow, Fiery Lotus immediately started to move at lightning speed.


    "Open fire! Open fire!"


    The opposing slave trader''s flagship was also a five-masted ship. Its numerous cannons were currently roaring and releasing deafening howls.


    "Counterattack!"


    When it came to cannon fire, Fiery Lotus did not have the slightest fear. After all, it was originally a military warship created entirely for the purpose of naval battles.


    Amid Fang Yuan''s shouts, a hundred cannons were similarly roaring to strike back.


    Kaboom!


    Multiple explosions resounded on both Fiery Lotus''s and the opposing flagship''s hulls.


    "Musketeers!"


    As the ships got closer, the musketeers from both parties aimed at one another and began a round of brutal shooting.


    From time to time, pirates and sailors shrieked in misery, blood gushing out of their bodies as they fell into the ocean.


    Fang Yuan''s expression was as cold as ice. When the two ships were parallel to each other, he immediately ordered, "Start boarding!"


    The pirates tossed over iron hooks that were tied to mooring ropes one after another. Some climbed up the ropes; others directly grabbed a rope and swung across.


    Butcher took the lead and landed on the deck. Roaring like a ferocious tiger, he slashed with his huge cutlass, instantly decapitating many pirates.


    When the neighboring armed merchant ships belonging to Heathfrey saw this, they quickly rushed over to assist.


    However, Fang Yuan chuckled and released a dense fog, thoroughly enveloping the two ships that were in the middle of a fight.


    "Counterattack! Counterattack!"


    Formosa definitely would not let this opportunity slip by, immediately changing his original order to escape.


    Although his ship was a merchant ship, he had done several modifications to it to handle the situation in the Nightmare Ocean.


    At this moment, numerous cannons fired simultaneously, immediately pinning down Heathfrey''s remaining armed merchant ships.


    Fang Yuan came to the deck, looked at the slave trader in the center of the crowd opposite him, and laughed heartily. "Haha¡­ Heathfrey, who would have thought that we''d meet again so soon!"


    "Arcane Trickster Roche¡­ Damn it, do you know what kind of enemy you''re messing with? I am affiliated with the great pirate governor Blackbeard¡­"


    Heathfrey glared at Fang Yuan with eyes full of hatred.


    This pirate had repeatedly destroyed his plans. He was practically wishing to eat Fang Yuan''s flesh right now.


    "Kill them!" Fang Yuan sneered. "Reward five gold coins for every ordinary sailor killed and double for high-ranking sailors! That black fatty is worth one thousand gold coins!"


    "Owoo! Owoo!"


    The promise of handsome rewards immediately stimulated the pirates'' wolf-like nature.


    Soon, the deck was in complete chaos.


    Cutlasses, firearms, and bows and arrows were chaotically intertwined together.


    Blood splattered everywhere, rapidly accumulating a thick layer on the deck.


    "Damn it! Retreat to the ship''s hold!"


    After all, Heathfrey was not a professional pirate. Furthermore, his forces were scattered and his reinforcements were held back by Formosa.


    With a roar, he brought his last remaining elite troops and retreated into the ship''s hold.


    "Haha¡­ Boss, they''re doomed!"


    When Bill saw this, he laughed out loud and looked toward Fang Yuan expectantly.


    After all, the situation when they seized Fiery Lotus was still vivid in their minds.


    "He isn''t an idiot¡­ Besides, as a major slave trader that dominated the Nightmare Ocean, how could he not have any trump cards on hand?"


    In contrast, Fang Yuan''s expression was solemn.


    Suddenly, streaks of hazy light rays emerged from the ship''s hull.


    The blood on the deck continually seeped downward, seemingly attracted to some array.


    Swoosh!


    Soon, following the sounds of a charge, three knights in black armor dashed out from the hatch.


    Resembling ghosts under the curtain of night, they were fully clad in black heavy armor and had black mounts as well. Only in their and their horses'' eyes were there still a glint of scarlet twinkling.


    The horses galloped on the deck as though it was nothing. When firearms, swords, and sabers landed on them, they did not suffer from even the slightest damage. Yet when they waved their long swords, it often took the lives of numerous pirates.


    "They''re Ghost Riders!" Rolisa''s expression changed. "One of Heathfrey''s subordinates is a necromancer who''s very proficient in summoning undead creatures for combat¡­"


    She was enemies with him, so naturally she had inquired about his trump cards long ago.


    These three Ghost Riders were equivalent to three Extraordinary creatures. They barged into the pirates and wantonly reaped their lives.


    Butcher howled and dashed forward. His huge cutlass clashed with a long sword, and he was sent flying.


    "Prepare a cannon!"


    With a kick from Fang Yuan, a cannon that was originally aimed at Fiery Lotus suddenly had its muzzle turned around to target the two Ghost Riders that were charging toward him.


    "In the name of the Holy Light¡­"


    In his hands, a bright, milky-white light orb entered the cannon''s muzzle.


    Rumble!


    The cannon boomed. The shot flew out in a fan shape that was mixed with specks of holy light.


    "Ow! Ow!"


    The two Ghost Riders, who originally could immediately recover from any form of damage taken, collapsed onto the ground and let out inhuman growls.


    Bits of armor flew in all directions, exposing their skin and flesh that were rapidly rotting at a speed visible to the naked eye and emitting a stench.


    "Purify!"


    Fang Yuan once again threw out two light orbs, and they landed on the Ghost Riders'' bodies.


    Suddenly, large amounts of black gas dissipated as streams of black water flowed out from the armor. The Ghost Riders and their black horses quickly disappeared without a trace.


    Upon seeing this, the last Ghost Rider roared and jumped into the ocean, fleeing at lightning speed.


    Evidently, the black horse that he rode had the bloodline of the legendary nightmare horse. Its hooves were burning in flames, its mouth and nose were emitting black smoke, and it was able to gallop on the ocean surface as if it were flat ground.


    "Thinking of fleeing now¡­"


    Fang Yuan opened up his senses, and his psyche pierced into the back of the Ghost Rider''s head like an arrow.


    "Ahh!!!"


    The last Ghost Rider pulled on his reins and let out a beast-like roar.


    ¡­


    Below, in the ship''s hold.


    "Ahh!"


    A sorcerer clad in a black robe collapsed onto the floor and was holding his head, continuously shrieking in misery.


    A moment later, his entire body was dripping with cold sweat, looking like he was just fished up from the ocean. "My Ghost Riders have been completely wiped out. Not only that, the other party is even manipulating one of them to attack the ship''s hold!"


    "Master Jaffa, what should we do now?"


    The great slave trader Heathfrey immediately had greasy sweat on his forehead.


    He had paid a high price to hire this necromancer from a cannibal tribe and had always been using him as a trump card.


    His abilities were indeed very sharp, and he had resolved many difficult problems.


    However, he was so powerless when faced with the Purgatory Pirate Team''s attack.


    He could not help feeling slight regret. If only he had known earlier, he would not have provoked that Arcane Trickster Roche.


    "Damn it¡­ Impossible, why¡­ can he use both light magic and necromancy?"


    The necromancer kept going in circles, his eyes full of doubts.


    Swoosh!


    Unfortunately, there was already no time left for him to think any further.


    Along with the huge horse''s neigh, it smashed open the wooden door and caused pieces of wood to fly in all directions. The Ghost Rider was in the lead, with numerous red-eyed pirates following behind¡­


    "Long live the captain!"


    On the deck, the pirates cheered after seeing Fang Yuan easily manipulate the originally hostile Ghost Rider and make it the vanguard.


    It even gave rise to some thoughts that ''the captain is omnipotent''.


    Although it sounded foolish, it marked the beginning of loyalty, which was already pretty good for pirates.


    "Captain!" Rolisa looked at Fang Yuan with earnest eyes.


    "Mmm. Youne, lead a team with Rolisa and head down¡­ It''s best to capture Heathfrey alive¡ªI still have some matters to question him about!"


    Fang Yuan nodded and said to Rolisa, "Rest assured. The final say on how to handle that slave trader is in your hands!"


    "Thank you, Captain! If you assist me in completing my vengeance, I swear in the name of the Moon that my everything shall belong to you!" the Moon Elf said seriously. Then she jumped into the ship''s hold with a thin rapier in her hands that had appeared out of nowhere.


    "Roar! Roar!"


    The pirates flocked in, and the deck soon appeared somewhat deserted.


    Apart from corpses with wounds turning white, there were only some old and weak people as well as Fang Yuan.


    "Danogu!" He turned around and smiled faintly, staring at the only high-level crew member remaining. "So? Still not making a move? This is your best chance!"


    "Boss, what do you mean?" Danogu''s expression changed. "Are you doubting my loyalty?"


    "I''m not doubting. I''m already certain!"


    No matter how a background was falsified, as a Dream Master, Fang Yuan was very sharp in detecting lies.


    No matter what Danogu claimed, he was certain that this Rose Swordsman was an undercover agent that Heathfrey had placed at his side.


    After all, Heathfrey had taken root in Bloody Mary Port for a long time and had some hidden relationships.


    No matter how many precautions Fang Yuan took, it was still difficult to guarantee that all the newly recruited sailors were absolutely clean.


    Seeing his determined look, Danogu laughed bitterly. "Indeed¡­ people thought that I don''t know Heathfrey personally, but in reality, he''s my employer! He gave me a high price of five thousand gold coins to lay low on your ship and wait until a critical juncture to take action. However, I''ve changed my mind¡­"


    Danogu knelt on one knee and said solemnly, "It''s difficult for me to attain your strength. Furthermore, you can summon ice and control spirits¡­ Your greatness is already at the level of great pirates. I, Rose Swordsman Danogu, am willing to pledge my allegiance to you for all eternity!"


    As for his performance, Fang Yuan was not in the least bit surprised.


    This was precisely what pirates were like. Once you displayed insufficient control or were about to face defeat, they would ruthlessly abandon you!

 853 Underwater

    "So¡­ do you think that I''ll choose to pardon you, Danogu?"


    A mortal who relied on extraordinary items to flaunt his powers was no different from an ant in front of Fang Yuan.


    "Yes, because I''m very useful!" Danogu said quickly. "Heathfrey has a total of fifteen merchant ships. When he came out tonight, he brought most of his forces. This Slavery is his only flagship, and it''s a five-masted ship that''s comparable to the navy''s third-level warship. The remaining are four three-masted ships. I''m confident I can convince two of the ship captains to surrender to you. As long as they''re certain that Heathfrey already has no chance of reversing the situation, the remaining two ships will definitely leave the battlefield without the slightest hesitation!"


    After he rebelled, he quickly and thoroughly betrayed his former employer.


    "Very well, go ahead and do it!"


    Fang Yuan waved his hand.


    At this moment, cheers could be heard from the ship''s hold.


    Youne, Rolisa, Butcher, Bill, and the other pirates had detained two men and brought them up.


    One of them was black and fat. If it was not the slave trader Heathfrey, who else could it be?


    The other person was the necromancer clad in a magician''s robe¡ªJaffa!


    "Boss¡­ We indeed captured these two by following the Ghost Rider!" Bill was brimming with excitement as he spoke.


    "Great!" Fang Yuan stepped forward, his lips curling up slightly at the corners. "We meet again, Mr. Heathfrey!"


    "Roche!!!" Heathfrey yelled. However, before he could curse, Bill responded quickly and stuffed a tattered rag into his mouth.


    "Strip him naked and hang him on the mast to let everyone know that Heathfrey is defeated!"


    Fang Yuan made his decision and then looked at the necromancer beside him.


    Apart from his magic, he was totally just a wizened, emaciated old man. After stripping him, he looked similar to a skeleton.


    "Hang him up, too, to clear his head!"


    Although Fang Yuan could see from his eyes that he was begging for mercy, he still coldly gave the command.


    It was naturally valuable to subdue an Extraordinary, but he still needed to properly get rid of this necromancer''s arrogance.


    ¡­


    The dense fog dissipated.


    Soon, with the aid of flames and moonlight, almost all the ships saw the black fatty and the necromancer being hung on the mast.


    Heathfrey, a notorious slave trader who had no scruples about his lawless acts in Bloody Mary Port, was actually stripped naked and hung on a mast.


    With this as a deterrent, the armed merchant ships under his command immediately descended into chaos.


    Danogu seized this opportunity to persuade them to surrender, and two of the three-masted ships'' captains surrendered to Fang Yuan on their own accord as expected.


    "Pixar! Robert! We pledge our allegiance to you!"


    The two captains came onto Fiery Lotus''s deck and kissed Fang Yuan''s boots.


    "You''ll soon understand what a correct choice you''ve made because the two ships that chose to leave will sink under the ocean forever!"


    In reality, Heathfrey had Blackbeard backing him, so it should have been absolutely impossible for the captains to betray him.


    However, although Fang Yuan did not have Blackbeard''s huge fame, he currently had direct control over their life and death and was naturally entitled to speak such words.


    "Wind!"


    With a light touch, Fiery Lotus immediately accelerated with the wind''s assistance, easily closing in on the two ships that were preparing to depart.


    Kaboom!


    Shortly afterward, over fifty cannons fired simultaneously, and the two ships instantly exploded into pieces.


    After seeing this, the two captains, Pixar and Robert, gulped down a mouthful of saliva. They knew that if it was not for their choice, they would have ended up the same as those pirates that were feeding the sharks right now.


    Compared to Blackbeard, who was far away in the horizon, they would naturally choose imminent survival.


    "From now on, you''re privateer captains under me! I''ll provide you with protection, and thirty percent of all the spoils you plunder will be paid as tribute to me!"


    In fact, this was generally the rule among pirate commanders.


    An ordinary pirate team only had one ship. In contrast, apart from their own flagship, pirate commanders had a fleet of ships


    Only pirate commanders that reached this level were truly great pirates.


    Originally, the Octopus Marauder Team already had signs of development in this direction, but Fang Yuan had unceremoniously sent them back with one slap after their encounter.


    After this battle, the unknown Purgatory Pirate Team would certainly become well-known across the entire Nightmare Ocean.


    As the team''s captain, Arcane Trickster Roche was naturally qualified to recruit ship captains and become worthy of the title of a great pirate.


    "Boss!" At this moment, Rolisa had another discovery. With a pleasant scent in her breath, she whispered in Fang Yuan''s ears, "In the prison on Heathfrey''s flagship, we found an interesting prey! Hehe¡­"


    "It can''t be¡­ Elizabeth?" Fang Yuan glanced at Wilson. "This slave trader still brought this woman along with him when he is out to plunder?"


    "I''m afraid so!" Wilson laughed bitterly. "Perhaps he felt that his flagship was very safe, or maybe he wasn''t intending to return to Bloody Mary Port after he was done with this pillage.


    "In short, the unlucky Miss Elizabeth is once again back in our hands!"


    Fang Yuan laughed indifferently. "It doesn''t matter anyway. At worst, we can just sell her again or wait until her father becomes the Solomon Strait''s colonial governor and then use her to extort him for greater benefits."


    "Boss¡­ this noble lady is truly unlucky to end up in your hands!" Rolisa eyes were bright and said charmingly, "How about¡­ handing her over to me? I know a lot about how to ''educate'' females slaves¡­"


    "Forget it!" Fang Yuan rolled his eyes. "Also, I know what you truly want. That black fatty belongs to you!"


    "Thanks, Boss!"


    Rolisa was elated. She glanced at Fang Yuan coquettishly and stuck her chest out, causing the surrounding pirates who were watching to salute her one after another. They then promptly lowered their heads, not daring to take another glance at their captain''s woman.


    "Captain!" Helga shouted. "A ship from Cecil is approaching!"


    "Hmm? Pretty daring¡­"


    Everything that this merchant, Formosa, did tonight was remarkable.


    Furthermore, Fang Yuan felt that the other party definitely still had other trump cards apart from the earlier trap using ships filled with gunpowder.


    Otherwise, they would be unworthy of their huge reputation.


    Bang! Bang! Bang!


    As the other flagship approached, it fired three blank shots¡ªa gun salute representing the etiquette used when pirates met.


    "Return the greeting!"


    Fang Yuan nodded. He put on his coat and brought along his pirate captain''s hat. When he arrived at the ship''s bow, he saw Cecil''s great merchant, Formosa.


    "Arcane Trickster Roche?" Escorted by numerous bodyguards, Formosa stood on the edge of his ship and took off his hat to pay his respects. "Thank you for your help!"


    Although he knew that Fang Yuan similarly harbored evil intentions when he came, he naturally would not say it out loud.


    After all, with the Octopus Marauder Team from before and Heathfrey on top of that, it was already sufficient for the Purgatory Pirate Team to eat to their fill, and perhaps they were already stuffed.


    After all, a ferocious beast that had eaten its fill would be safer than a ferocious beast that was hungry.


    Besides, as a successful merchant, he naturally had more than one trump card.


    "A verbal promise is as light as a feather. If you truly want to express your gratitude, why don''t you give me several large chests of gold coins or call that big fellow below up¡­"


    Fang Yuan laughed heartily, his voice spreading far.


    "What?"


    This time, it was Formosa who was astonished.


    "As expected of the Arcane Trickster!"


    He forced a smile and clapped his hands.


    Splash!


    Huge waves formed on the sea surface, and a black shadow emerged. It was as though a hill had bulged out, and huge amounts of water cascaded down.


    Butcher and the others immediately cried out in surprise.


    This was because a three-masted ship had impressively floated up from the bottom of the ocean!


    It had a smooth, flowing teardrop shape and had actually been lurking at the bottom of the ocean the whole time! Even the Octopus Marauder Team, which possessed the giant octopus, had not discovered it!


    "Extraordinary ship!" Wilson was the first to exclaim. "It''s actually an alchemical magic ship with underwater abilities!"


    Within the oceans, it could be said that these types of ships were the epitome of a pirate''s dreams, and they also represented the greatest strength.


    Although it was only a three-masted ship, two Fiery Lotuses still could not match its worth.


    "It''s truly a beauty. What is its name?"


    Fang Yuan was also very interested in knowing about the greatest accomplishments in this kind of magic alchemy.


    At the same time, he became aware of what Formosa was relying on.


    Even if he were to have been ultimately defeated, he could have escaped unscathed with the existence of this extraordinary ship.


    Even if Heathfrey flew into a rage, he could only just watch. And within the Octopus Marauder Team, only the giant octopus barely had the ability to pursue it.


    This was even more so for the current Purgatory Pirate Team, which did not have any means against Formosa.


    "Mermaid!" Formosa said proudly. "Although she''s far inferior to those legendary pirate ships, it is thanks to her that I''ve achieved my success today!"


    "Indeed!" Fang Yuan nodded, his eyes glistening.


    He was naturally highly interested in these kinds of alchemical magic ships.


    He even had thoughts of dismantling Mermaid and exploring its secrets.


    However, although he had the confidence to restore the dismantled Mermaid, even having no problem replicating another ship if there were sufficient materials, he did not even need to think to know that Formosa would immediately fall out with him if he really were to make such a request.


    "In order to express my gratitude to everyone, here are some small gifts. Please accept them!"


    Formosa could not stand how Fang Yuan was looking at Mermaid and promptly coughed to divert his attention.


    Soon after, well-built sailors carried a few large chests onto Fang Yuan''s flagship.


    "I like forthright friends. I hope there''ll be an opportunity to cooperate next time!"


    Seeing this, Fang Yuan could only sigh. He had his subordinates take the gifts and watched as Formosa''s fleet departed.


    Bill briefly inspected and then said joyfully to Fang Yuan, "Boss, the chests are full of gold coins¡­ This merchant is really rich!"


    "Mmm¡­ you guys can distribute it!"


    Fang Yuan waved his hand. He was unconcerned about the cheering pirates and picked out a treasure map fragment from Heathfrey''s clothes.

 854 Privateer Captain

    This treasure map was merely a fragment, yet it was shimmering with the radiance of an extraordinary item and had an indestructible property.


    Of course, most important was that it had the blessing of destiny and would ultimately reunite with the other map fragments one day.


    Fang Yuan took out his treasure map fragment, and the two fragments instantly emitted a dusky glow. At the jagged corners of the map, the paper threads seemed to come alive, entangling and intertwining with one another¡­ ultimately forming a larger treasure map piece.


    "Hmm?"


    Fang Yuan was slightly astonished.


    The treasure map fragment from Heathfrey was evidently much larger than the one from the auction.


    After it combined with his fragment, he could already see some concrete routes that required the help of specific ocean currents and terrain in order to reach a certain destination.


    "No wonder this treasure map was so important to Heathfrey¡­ He had another fragment in his hands!


    "This treasure map should only be missing its last piece now!"


    With Heathfrey''s selfless contribution, Fang Yuan made huge progress in his quest to gather the treasure map fragments and had high hopes of completing it.


    "Back then, the Soro Pirate Team had occupied the Solomon Strait and plundered wealth from east to west without restraint. Any ship that passed through had to pay taxes to them¡­ The hidden treasures left behind by such a pirate team¡­"


    Fang Yuan''s lips curled up at the corners.


    "Boss, what should we do next?"


    On Fiery Lotus, all the high-level crew members had gathered together and saluted Fang Yuan, their eyes as though they were looking at a living god.


    "As Heathfrey is Blackbeard''s man, it''s indeed somewhat troublesome that we attacked him¡­" Fang Yuan looked around. "Thus¡­ we''ll directly cross the Nightmare Ocean and head east on the Golden Sea Route. As long as we reach the Golden Ocean that''s under the Pirate Prince''s sphere of influence, there''ll be absolutely nothing to fear!"


    Blackbeard was the Nightmare Ocean''s pirate governor, whereas the Golden Ocean was under the Pirate Prince''s influence.


    These two great pirates already had conflicts, and it would be a joke if the Pirate Prince agreed to help Blackbeard arrest people.


    "This time we''ve made a huge fortune. After properly recuperating in the Golden Ocean, we''ll set out for Pirate King City!"


    Fang Yuan had long made his decision.


    Pirate King City was the greatest transit hub between the East and the West. It was also the holy ground in all pirates'' mind.


    "Roar! Roar!"


    Upon hearing this news, all the pirates immediately cheered.


    "Bill, I appoint you as the captain of Slavery!" Fang Yuan drew out his sword and lightly tapped on a few of his subordinates'' shoulders. "Wilson will be Fiery Lotus''s chief officer. Butcher and Single Ear will be the chief officers on Pixar''s and Robert''s ships respectively. The above-mentioned people shall enjoy the right to the entire fleet''s bonus post-battle."


    "Thank you, Boss!"


    Bill and the others promptly saluted, their eyes glistening like flames.


    As for Pixar and Robert, as people who had just surrendered, they did not dare to have any objections.


    Furthermore, Fang Yuan would not give them any chance at all. It was a must to send a supervisor. Single Ear was also one of the original Mockingbird members, among the first batch of people to follow Fang Yuan, and thus was chosen for promotion now.


    With them, as well as a few stronger members like Youne and Rolisa scattered around to supervise, a small pirate fleet was established.


    Now, Fang Yuan was fully deserving of calling himself a pirate commander!


    He could absolutely be considered a big shot in the oceans that had a reputation spread far and wide. If he reached the top, he would be a region''s pirate governor like Blackbeard and the Pirate Prince, and his status would be no different from a king.


    ¡­


    The next day, the sun emerged.


    Fang Yuan was having breakfast on the deck, while Rolisa was like a maid standing by the side.


    "All right, let them down!" Fang Yuan ordered after glancing at the mast.


    Heathfrey was only an ordinary merchant, and Jaffa was a magician, not a fighter.


    After being hung for a night with the sea wind blowing against them, they were already like a pile of mud when they were brought down.


    Fang Yuan gracefully picked up a white napkin to wipe his mouth and said calmly, "Rolisa, I hand Heathfrey over to you¡­ You can handle him as you wish. Of course, I hope you can get some useful information out of him before you kill him. For instance, his assets and the distribution of Blackbeard''s forces or any other secrets¡­"


    "Boss, rest assured. I guarantee with my tribe''s honor that he''ll even recall how old he was when he wet his bed under our Moon Elves'' art!"


    With deep-rooted hatred in her eyes, Rolisa stepped forward and carried Heathfrey away.


    When Jaffa saw this, he clenched his jaw even tighter.


    "All right, your name!"


    Fang Yuan towered above, looking down at the curled-up necromancer.


    "Ja-Jaffa!" The poor necromancer struggled for a long time before he finally managed to say something. "From the Gagagu tribe¡­"


    "Very good!"


    Fang Yuan nodded. He could see that this necromancer had already been rid of all of his arrogance and would practically answer any question.


    Just from its name, it was clear that this was an aboriginal tribe, perhaps even one that preserved the vices of cannibalism.


    But after thinking carefully, it was pretty normal too. Due to their characteristics, it was unavoidable for necromancers to have dealings with corpses, undead, and spirits. Such behavior would definitely suffer from relentless pursuit in any civilized country.


    However, there would be no problem if it was in those barbaric cannibal tribes.


    This was the same logic as to how some abominable witchcraft practices had become taboo in the Opher Continent long ago but were still rampant in various cannibal aboriginal tribes.


    "Jaffa¡­ you have offended me, but I am merciful and have decided to spare your life. You will need to serve me for one year as a slave. After one year, you will receive the same treatment as a high-level crew member until you fully redeem your wrongdoings¡­ Any objections?" Fang Yuan said indifferently as he drank a glass of red wine.


    Jaffa promptly crawled up and said while kneeling and bowing, "I swear in the name of Specter Ship, Jaffa accepts these conditions. If I break my oath, may Specter Ship hunt me down!"


    "Great. Bring him down and give him treatment!"


    Fang Yuan waved his hand.


    Specter Ship held a supreme status among necromancers.


    There were even rumors that Specter Ship traversed between the netherworld and the human realm, that all the extraordinary abilities related to necromancy were spread from the ship.


    Thus, for these necromancers, Specter Ship was their faith.


    Swearing using its name was no different from those followers who swore in the name of their gods.


    ¡­


    Several days later, Ettoman, Royal Port.


    Two battered pirate ships slowly approached the dock that was surrounded from all sides with wary people.


    "Orlando Kirk?"


    When Orlando alighted from the ship, he was met with a group of navy soldiers carrying guns with bayonets attached.


    A navy officer wearing a platinum wig headed the group. He took large strides forward, having a look of disdain as he looked toward this group of filthy pirates. His eyes could not conceal his disgust.


    Yet he still took out a scroll of parchment after a moment of silence. Holding the top and the bottom of the scroll, he read out loud, "¡­ In the name of the Queen, you are pardoned for your previous crimes. In addition, as long as you do not infringe on the interests of the great Ettoman, the Queen will guarantee your legal interests and award you with the authority of a privateer!"


    "Praise the Queen!"


    Orlando bit his lips and took the amnesty edict, unsure if what he was doing was right or wrong.


    "Orlando, from today onward, you are a privateer captain of Ettoman¡­"


    The navy officer was frowning as he coldly said, "I''ll keep my eye on you¡­ Once you violate any laws, I''ll send you and your disgusting ship to the bottom of the ocean in the name of the Queen¡­"


    "¡­" Orlando clenched his teeth, remaining silent.


    Seeking refuge in Ettoman and becoming a privateer was not only a mission from the system but also done after careful deliberation.


    After all, no matter what, a country''s strength would always be greater than a weak pirate team. This was especially so for a large country by the ocean like Ettoman, where not even Blackbeard would dare to rashly provoke it.


    Pirates were mostly people without foundation and could not afford to experience defeat.


    Taking this time as an example, Orlando had lost his flagship and his wealth. He himself was defeated, and his reputation was greatly damaged. Most of the pirates under him had even run away, and he did not have enough gold to recruit any more sailors¡­ In the long run, it would be an infinite loop without a solution.


    If he wished to regain his strength in the shortest time, he could only rely on a great power.


    Without a doubt, Ettoman had the most resources. They gave pirates phased-out military equipment as though they were simply clearing out trash. This was already sufficient for pirates to be overjoyed and fully armed.


    When the navy soldiers were done, they hastily left, leaving behind a merchant who was full of smiles.


    "Mr. Orlando, from today onward, Advisor Donald will be the middleman between privateer captains like you and the Ettoman Royal Navy¡­"


    "Advisor Donald?!" Orlando threw over a gold coin.


    After receiving the tip, the merchant shared everything he knew. "He''s Duke Ham''s advisor and a well-known economist in the country. It''s rumored that¡­ the Queen and prime minister only ultimately decided to go ahead with this privateer permit after he entered the palace and defeated numerous scholars in debate!"


    "What a remarkable man!" Orlando smiled, but became much more cautious.


    Donald''s office was in a building right at the dock.


    However, Orlando''s pupils contracted when he saw the extremely familiar-looking emblem.


    "That emblem¡­ what does it mean?"


    When asking, Orlando''s heart was beating wildly, as though he had returned to the night he received the system.


    "Oh, that''s Advisor Donald''s faith¡ªthe emblem of the Dream and Armament Master!"


    The merchant said indifferently, "Advisor Donald is very devoted to his faith and has been doing his utmost to spread it¡­ Due to his fame, there are already some people who have chosen to believe in this newly emerged Dream and Armament Master."

 855 Shock

    "Dream and Armament Master!"


    Orlando repeated it a few times, as though he wanted to engrave the name into his mind.


    "Please!"


    The merchant opened the door and gestured for him to enter.


    Orlando took a deep breath and walked into the living room.


    "Captain Orlando?"


    The hall was very spacious. It had a black bear hide hung on the opposite wall and even two tanned deer head mounts.


    A green-haired, middle-aged man clad in a robe was leisurely adding sugar and milk to his coffee.


    He raised his head and smiled brightly at Orlando. "Would you like a cup of Schland''s specialty coffee?"


    "Thanks, Mr. Donald!"


    Orlando unceremoniously picked up the coffee cup and sat on a chair straight away, gazing at Donald and sizing him up.


    The two of them exchanged glances, feeling that they were somewhat similar.


    After all, they were not only spell casters, but they also had close relationships with the Dream and Armament Master, Fang Yuan.


    "You should address me as Sir Donald now¡­" Donald corrected Orlando''s small mistake. "The Queen has just conferred me with the title of lord. Of course, the news hasn''t really been spread yet."


    "All right¡­ Sir Donald, so you''ll be the middleman between the navy and me?"


    Orlando continued to look at Donald closely.


    Of course, he wanted to ask more about the Dream and Armament Master, but he held back.


    "Yes, currently, in order to maintain our kingdom''s maritime supremacy, there''s an urgent need for talents like you to join¡­" Donald was very straightforward. "We need you to block the countries in the Opher Continent from exploring the oceans, especially Cecil, which is developing too quickly! Of course, when necessary, we''ll also need you to assist the navy in annihilating some pirates such as Blackbeard!"


    "Blackbeard, haha¡­ Did I mishear? Is today the God of Lies''s festival?" Orlando jumped up exaggeratedly. Shortly after, he unceremoniously grabbed an apple from a basket and took a bite. "Do you know Blackbeard''s true strength? He''s the Nightmare Ocean''s pirate governor and has an army of over ten thousand pirates under him. Three island nations are directly under his control. He''s the largest slave trader in coastal waters, and he even owns the legendary pirate ship Monster! Even if Ettoman''s Royal Navy attacks him, they might not necessarily be Blackbeard''s match in Nightmare Ocean!"


    "Thank you for your explanation, Mr. Orlando. You seem to know a lot about Blackbeard?" Donald laughed scornfully. "However, your understanding of the royal navy is too shallow, even stuck at five years ago. Come¡­ let me show you some things!"


    He stood up, put on his coat, and brought Orlando to the other side of the dock.


    It was filled with docked warships and had numerous naval soldiers conducting checks. If Donald had not displayed his identity, Orlando reckoned that he would not be able to infiltrate this place at all.


    Hiss hiss¡­


    When he saw multiple giant steel warships, Orlando could only gasp in astonishment.


    In front of him were several extremely enormous steel ships. They cast enormous shadows and covered the skies; they resembled hills and oppressed all living beings.


    "Such huge¡­ ships made entirely from steel. How do they not sink to the bottom of the sea, are they magical ships? No¡­ that''s wrong¡­ they don''t have the slightest trace of magic¡­" Orlando mumbled with an infatuated gaze, yet he had very complicated feelings.


    Presently, for the ships on the ocean, apart from legendary warships, the largest first-level warships were only a hundred meters long, had three thousand tons of displacement, and a speed of no more than twenty knots.


    Such standards were already large seven-masted ships and the current limits for ordinary wooden sailing ships.


    But here? Any ship was easily over a hundred and fifty meters long and had more than twenty thousand tons of displacement. Furthermore, these ships'' hulls were significantly larger than wooden sailing ships.


    Taking any for comparison would be like comparing a muscular man to a child.


    "Impossible¡­ even if a ship made from steel doesn''t sink, what about its motive power¡­"


    Orlando was indeed an experienced pirate, seeing yet another practical problem.


    In a naval battle, a ship''s speed was extremely important. As long as its speed was superior, it could firmly grasp the initiative to fight or escape.


    Otherwise, it would be sending oneself into the enemy''s hands for nothing.


    "Have you¡­ heard of steam engines?" Donald laughed. "In order to cope with the colonies'' growing production demand, Ettoman''s research in steam engines is definitely the top in the continent. As for the warships'' motive power, I can describe it to you like this¡ªwhen they start running, they don''t need sailors to paddle at all. Of course, you may understand it better if I phrase it differently¡­ That is, their speed is generally above twenty knots, and twenty-five knots is not unusual either! Perhaps they can''t catch up with the Pirate Prince''s Wanderer, but Monster would definitely be unable to escape¡­" Donald explained confidently.


    Orlando closed his eyes and took a deep breath.


    Solely from looking at the armor covering these ships, he already knew the result of naval battles with ordinary pirates. If their speed was also fast, there was no doubt that there would soon be a huge shuffle in the ocean forces.


    And the initiative was in Ettoman''s hands!


    The emergence of ironclad warships was this supreme maritime power displaying its might to the new world!


    The pirates had been leading carefree lives for too long. A brand new era was about to arrive!


    Orlando kept silent for a long time before suddenly bursting into laughter. "Haha¡­ great! Arcane Trickster Roche, wait for me¡­ It won''t be long before I once again stand before you!"


    ¡­


    "Boss, based on the intelligence we obtained when we stopped at that pirate port earlier, your bounty has doubled to thirty thousand gold coins!"


    Nightmare Ocean.


    Fiery Lotus was in the lead, with Slavery and the other two ships following behind. The sails were fully extended, but they were barely running at seventeen knots.


    On the deck, Wilson was respectfully making a report to Fang Yuan.


    "Mmm¡­"


    Fang Yuan was lying in a cushioned chair with his hat covering half of his face. He made a casual response, seeming to be very bored.


    Although this was already very fast in the eyes of ordinary pirates, it was no different from crawling turtles in Fang Yuan''s view.


    "Perhaps¡­ when Ettoman''s all-new ironclad warships are in active service, the whole world will be astonished?"


    Steam engines were not Ettoman''s specialty, and neither were steam-powered warships.


    But without a doubt, this supreme maritime power went the deepest and furthest in the area of ironclad warships.


    With the early advantage gained from this, it was sufficient to leave its rivals behind by two to three years, which was basically the amount of time required to construct a steam-powered warship. Even magic would be unable to save their overall strength from falling behind.


    In other words, even if their rivals were able to get ahold of all of the shipwrights and design drawings and even relocate the entire factory from Ettoman right now, it was already too late.


    "If this were in my previous life, with this huge advantage, in addition to a technical blockade and policy support, it''s absolutely enough for Ettoman to establish its position as a maritime empire and maintain its supremacy for decades¡­ Unfortunately, this is a world brimming with extraordinary powers! Even some of the ironclad warships are inferior in strength to extraordinary ships¡­ But it wins in terms of being able to be mass-produced, which is its absolute advantage."


    There would not be any problem in crippling a pirate governor when Ettoman''s accumulated strength was released.


    Fang Yuan reckoned that it was about time for Donald to release another book¡ªThe Influence of Sea Power.


    "Speaking of which, when Ettoman''s Royal Navy displays its might, the first one to be unlucky will definitely be Blackbeard!"


    After all, the first section of the Golden Sea Route was the Nightmare Ocean. As the Nightmare Ocean''s governor, Blackbeard would not be able to escape!


    By having his own logistics base, although his war potential improved greatly, he also lost the mobility that pirates originally had.


    For instance, even if Blackbeard had an army of over ten thousand pirates, once he lost those few island nations, he would definitely be unable to provide for the tens of thousands of pirates and would only collapse in the end.


    "During such a dangerous time, what exactly is Blackbeard''s purpose in waging war with the Pirate Prince?"


    Fang Yuan pondered.


    Do not underestimate any pirate governor.


    Although the intelligence on ironclad warships was classified, with Blackbeard''s extensive resources, he should be able to get ahold of some vague news.


    However, he still took the risk to become enemies with the Pirate Prince at this time. Of course, it might be because their feud could no longer be stopped, but the motive was still pending deliberation.


    "Could Blackbeard want to seize some territory and find a way out in the Golden Ocean¡­ Or perhaps the Pirate Prince has grasped a portion of the ironclad warships'' secrets but is unwilling to trade and thus angered Blackbeard?"


    Pirate Prince Edward!


    He was the Golden Ocean''s pirate governor and rumored to be a very charismatic young man. His smiles could even make mermaids become deeply bewitched.


    Furthermore, Edward''s flagship, Wanderer, was also a legendary pirate ship. It was said that it had the blessing of the God of Speed, which gave it speed superior to all other warships.


    With Wanderer, Edward was like a spirit in the wind, free and laid-back.


    Needless to say, for such a person, even if he had some subordinates, his fleet''s cohesiveness and organization would certainly be inferior to Blackbeard''s.


    Thus, even though Edward had the support and backing of other forces, he was still at a disadvantage in his fight with Blackbeard.


    Under these circumstances, the Pirate Prince should be more welcoming of new forces joining?


    Fang Yuan thought about it and then asked directly, "How much longer until we reach the Golden Ocean?"


    "We''ve already reached the border of Nightmare Ocean. According to the nautical chart that Heathfrey provided, we just need to pass through the Hell of Lightning ahead of us before we reach the Golden Ocean!"


    Wilson bowed and continued, "The Golden Ocean is a land of riches, and it also has numerous plantations and colonies that Ettoman established¡­"


    "Attention, there are incoming ships!"


    At this moment, Helga gave a warning from the lookout, causing Wilson''s entire body to quiver.

 856 Monster

    "Enemy ships spotted behind us! There are five!"


    Helga''s shout echoed on the deck.


    "They''ve hoisted the Jolly Roger. It''s confirmed th-that they''re the Blackbeard Pirate Team!"


    After seeing the black mustaches on the Jolly Rogers, Helga''s voice started to tremble.


    After all, this was a pirate governor''s fleet! Moreover, Blackbeard was known for his powerful black magic and cruel means.


    It was said that any pirate who offended him would either be skinned alive or turned into a corroded corpse, having both their soul and their body enslaved by Blackbeard forever.


    "Command all the ships to accelerate and sail into the Hell of Lightning. We''ll fight the enemies there!"


    Fang Yuan went to the helmsman and kicked him aside. Holding the helm with one hand, he gave it a sudden turn.


    Fiery Lotus immediately swerved, plunging into the ocean of lightning and storm.


    "All five are five-masted ships, and Monster isn''t among them. Although Blackbeard didn''t pursue us personally, he''s mobilized an admiral¡­"


    While Fang Yuan also had four ships, he was not optimistic about his subordinates'' fighting capability at all.


    Other things aside, Pixar''s and Robert''s three-masted ships would only become a pile of wreckage if they were to really battle with the opponent.


    Splash!


    The sea was rough and the sky was dim. Lightning flashed in the dark clouds.


    The Nightmare Ocean received its name because of its unpredictable climate and its complex, mysterious topography.


    This Hell of Lightning was at the boundary between the Nightmare Ocean and the Golden Ocean. The cumulonimbus clouds here never dispersed, and lightning struck everywhere in this region.


    There was a risk of encountering whirlpools and reefs in the strong wind and turbulent current, but this was negligible in comparison with the fearsome lightning from above. It could destroy a ship and kill its unfortunate crew within one strike.


    The Blackbeard Pirate Team had forced the entire Purgatory Pirate Team to enter the Hell of Lightning.


    Rumble!


    A storm suddenly arrived in the roaring thunder.


    The torrential downpour drenched everyone.


    "Fire!"


    Following a loud voice, the rumble of cannons was heard.


    A few sparks exploded on Slavery, which was following Fiery Lotus.


    "Arcane Trickster Roche¡­ I will make you realize that messing with the Blackbeard Pirate Team was the greatest mistake that you''ve made in your entire life!"


    The loud voice sounded again from a ship behind. "I, the Skinner Blackrope, will skin you alive!"


    "It''s Blackrope!" Wilson looked perturbed beside Fang Yuan. "He''s the top admiral among the five under Blackbeard''s command. He worships and imitates Blackbeard crazily and enjoys skinning captives alive!"


    "He''s courageous, but unfortunately, he''s an idiot!"


    Fang Yuan closed his eyes and indeed sensed a lot of extraordinary information from behind.


    Obviously, there were many capable people in this troop giving chase. Not only did they possess sturdy ships and powerful artillery, but a large number of strong Extraordinaries were assisting them as well.


    He was sure that if he left now, a single enemy ship could kill all of his subordinates on the spot.


    Fang Yuan closed his eyes and commanded, "Escape to the Golden Ocean at full speed!"


    Fiery Lotus and Slavery sped up immediately, but the two three-masted sailboats behind them were a bit hesitant.


    There was even a commotion.


    "It''s not good! Boss!" Helga yelled. "Riots erupted on Pixar''s and Robert''s ships, but they''ve been suppressed!"


    Evidently, the two captains and their sailors had caused the riots.


    They had shivered at the thought of making an enemy of Blackbeard.


    If Fang Yuan had not delegated chief officers to supervise them and sent a few experts like Danogu, Youne, and Rolisa covertly, those two three-masted sailboats would have left him or surrendered to Blackbeard.


    Do not think too highly of pirates. They were just this kind of people.


    His original subordinates would even have the wild ambition to replace him as the captain if he encountered a fiasco.


    "Let them catch up to us. Proceed onward!"


    Fang Yuan held the helm steadily and steered Fiery Lotus through the Hell of Lightning.


    But the riots had taken up too much time. Two five-masted large ships soon caught up with the sailboats, enclosing Pixar''s three-mast boat from both sides like a sandwich and revealing many cannons.


    Rumble!


    The ships on both sides opened fire at the same time, and the poor sailboat trapped in between them was instantly in shatters.


    Plop!


    A chained shot accurately hit the other three-masted sailboat, reducing Fang Yuan''s ships to two in the blink of an eye.


    Fang Yuan took a deep breath and ordered, "It''s about time¡­ Turn around and confront the enemies!"


    "Turn around and prepare the artillery!" Wilson shouted at the top of his lungs.


    However, this scene made the many pirates under his command hesitate. "Boss, that''s an admiral under Blackbeard!!"


    "Kill!"


    Wilson took a glance and immediately slashed with his cutlass.


    Crack!


    This pirate''s head was chopped off and rolled onto the deck. Fresh blood was spurting out like a fountain.


    "Whoever dares to question the captain''s order shall die right now, understood?"


    Wilson''s face was stained with blood as he gave the order with a fierce expression.


    Fiery Lotus and Slavery soon turned around and faced the five scary large ships that were besieging them.


    Blackbeard Jolly Rogers hung on all the ships. The black ships looked like death knights harvesting lives at sea.


    Fang Yuan had bought himself more time because the power transfer from his original body required time and he needed to prepare his sorcery. Furthermore, he could sieve out those who were not steadfast enough.


    Of course, given the size of the Purgatory Pirate Team at this moment, they would be courting death if they were to fight head-on against the Blackbeard Pirate Team.


    If he really tested their loyalty until the very last moment, everyone would definitely betray him in the end.


    Therefore, Fang Yuan decided that it was enough to stay loyal until this stage.


    A film of light rose from the black warship in front, revealing the figure of a black and skinny pirate. His voice sounded from over the long distance. "Arcane Trickster Roche¡­ I will take your skin!"


    "He has no idea what he''s talking about!"


    Seeing this, Fang Yuan sneered and flicked his finger.


    Bloop! Bloop!!


    Waves suddenly swept across the rough sea, and a large number of bubbles emerged.


    A dreadful whirlpool formed in the middle of the two parties like a depression on the sea, pulling them in with strong forces.


    "Oh my¡­ Prayer to the Sea God!"


    Seeing this scene, Wilson could not help making a gesture of prayer.


    "A giant whirlpool!!!"


    Helga''s voice was also trembling.


    "Go!"


    Fang Yuan nodded and flicked his finger.


    A strong pulling force was suddenly exerted on the five giant warships on the opposite side.


    The ocean roared like a demon that could devour everything.


    No matter how hard the five ships struggled, they were dragged firmly to the center of the whirlpool.


    The pirates were astonished that Fiery Lotus and Slavery remained steady, as if the whirlpool did not affect them at all, and saved the pirates that had fallen into the sea earlier.


    "Was this whirlpool¡­ also summoned by the boss?"


    Wilson''s eyes glistened as he gazed at this scene. "Could the legendary Sea God be the boss''s trump card? Rumor has it that this legendary pirate ship can readily manipulate the sea to summon tsunamis and whirlpools because its keel is made from the Sea God''s spine! But shouldn''t it belong to Kingsman, the pirate governor of the Coral Ocean"


    "Long live the captain!"


    Unlike Wilson, the pirates below did not think so much. They immediately cheered in excitement when they saw this scene.


    Clearly, their boss had led them to defeat yet another seemingly unfathomable enemy, just like before.


    The so-called authority was based on victories like this.


    Eventually, these pirates might be fearless even if Fang Yuan led them to challenge Blackbeard.


    "Something''s wrong!"


    But Fang Yuan frowned at this scene.


    His original body suddenly passed on an inexplicable sense of danger to this incarnation, which sent a chill down his spine.


    Having sensed this kind of danger, he ordered immediately, "Hurry! Quickly leave this place!"


    Rumble!


    The entire world suddenly turned white.


    A huge bolt of lightning fell from the sky and struck vertically at the center of the whirlpool.


    Poof!


    It seemed as if a giant bubble had burst, and a cyclone engulfed the place.


    In this disastrous phenomenon, the giant whirlpool gradually disappeared.


    A scary, dark silhouette suddenly emerged from the glaring white.


    It was entirely black and made of a kind of ironwood that was as hard as steel and iron. The ship was three hundred meters long and exerted even more pressure than a steam-powered ironclad.


    There were some unusual, decorative patterns on the bow, just like a monster opening up its mouth!


    "Monster!" Fang Yuan heaved a long sigh. "This is Blackbeard''s flagship. He''s come to chase us!"


    Behind them, Monster moved forward like an unstoppable and invincible fortress.


    Creak! Creak!


    This giant monster of the sea went to the three-masted sailboat with the broken masts. It opened its mouth and swallowed this boat, munching on it slowly.


    An ear-piercing screech was immediately heard.


    Monster was like a magnified longhorn beetle. Its two iron clamps moved quickly, and the sailboat was soon masticated into pieces.


    Light flashed all over the ship, mending all the tiny scratches on the surface of its hull caused by the collisions during its voyage. It then chased after Fiery Lotus and Slavery at double its previous speed.


    "Is Blackbeard causing this kind of danger?" Fang Yuan stood at the stern of the ship with a cold expression. Suddenly, he looked at the sky. "It doesn''t seem like him¡­ There must be some shocking secret hidden in the Hell of Lightning that has even surprised my original body¡­"

 857 Prince

    Fang Yuan''s original body, which was isolated and sealed, had combat strength at the Demon God level.


    In other words, it was essentially identical to those powerful Evil Gods discussed in the real world.


    Only beings at his level could alert him!


    "Perhaps¡­ when my original body breaks through the restriction and descends into the real world, it will be the moment when he can break through to the Dao of Demon God!"


    A strong premonition suddenly rose in Fang Yuan''s mind.


    His Dao path was the Dao of Dream Master and at the boundary between fantasy and reality. It could be used to break through the restriction in the real world and overcome the last barrier.


    He would then be a powerful Demon God with two Dao paths, respected even in the Mental Demon Realm.


    Of course, it was still too early to think about all of this.


    Fang Yuan gritted his teeth as he gazed at Monster, which was chasing him.


    This ship called Monster was not only surprisingly fast, but it appeared to possess its own life, pouncing at Fang Yuan ferociously like a giant living beast.


    Furthermore, this ship had an incomparable driving force.


    Neither the earlier whirlpool nor the ice wall and the fire ocean that Fang Yuan was currently summoning could slow down its motion at all.


    Rumble!


    Suddenly, a bolt of lightning struck Monster.


    This giant ship became even more ferocious as the entire lightning-shrouded ship glistened everywhere.


    Creak! Creak!


    Monster opened its huge mouth and revealed two giant teeth, seeming like it could not wait to devour its prey.


    Fang Yuan grabbed the helm firmly and commanded, "Wind! Onward at full speed!"


    The two five-masted ships rode the wind, sailed through the waves, and pierced the dark clouds before they finally reached a vast expanse of sea.


    The ocean was bluish-green under the azure sky and the white clouds.


    The dark sky and the lightning were suddenly replaced by bright sunshine and a nearby beach.


    "The Golden Ocean!"


    "We''ve arrived!"


    Pirates on both ships burst into cheers.


    Pirates were fundamentally adventurous. Despite the enemies chasing them, they still cheered in exhilaration for their achievement at this moment.


    The Golden Ocean, as its name suggested, was virtually full of treasure.


    There were plenty of untouched gold and silver mines as well as all sorts of pearls and precious stones at the bottom of the ocean.


    Anyone who searched carefully here could definitely get rich within a few years¡­ Of course, there were ways to get rich faster, such as transporting goods on the sea route to the East or becoming a pirate.


    Creak! Creak!


    While the sailors on Fang Yuan''s ships were greedily breathing in the fresh air of richness and freedom on the Golden Ocean, an ear-piercing noise resounded.


    Lightning danced wildly in the sky and struck down at times.


    Like a bottomless fortress, Monster approached them quickly, disregarding all of the lightning above it.


    "Get ready for a boarding battle!"


    Fang Yuan took a deep breath. Currents surged on the sea and suddenly transformed into three water spears in the shape of giant snakes with long horns that shot at Monster''s deck forcefully.


    Ding ding!


    Unfortunately, some intangible force on the deck seemed to block the three water spears seemed and they broke down immediately.


    "Arcane Trickster Roche¡­" A pair of eyes as sinister as a viper looked at Fang Yuan from Monster. "As a newcomer, you have the privilege of choosing how you prefer to be killed!"


    "I choose to kill you!"


    Fang Yuan turned around and smiled brightly.


    "An interesting newcomer. I hope you can hold on longer under Monster''s attack¡­" Blackbeard''s voice sounded.


    Roar roar!


    Suddenly, a loud roar rang out from Monster''s bow.


    Black hair flowed out from its mouth into the ocean and suddenly became thousands of times thicker, transforming into black pythons to besiege the two ships.


    "Sorcery¡­ Black Snake Kill?!"


    Fang Yuan had learned a lot since he first arrived here, even studying things like black magic and ghost spells.


    Hiss hiss!


    Seeing the black pythons creeping continuously along the ships, Jaffa took responsibility and stepped forward. "Summon¡­ Dark Knights!"


    Swoosh!


    A few knights roared as they spearheaded the assault, wielding giant swords and slashing off the pythons'' heads.


    A thick fog immediately overflowed from the pythons'' bodies, spreading with a strong corrosive smell.


    "Be careful! Things created by this kind of black magic carry terrifying poisons and curses in them!"


    Jaffa was experienced in dealing with such things. He commanded undead creatures such as ghost riders to fight in the front and used archers and musketeers to consume the enemy''s life force.


    Hiss hiss!


    But his response was obviously a little too late.


    Although more than half of the black pythons were slashed, a dozen of them still hung on to the mooring ropes.


    The sailors fearfully watched a few black pythons intertwining with the mooring ropes.


    All of the black pythons immediately merged with the mooring ropes into a whole entity.


    "This is the second part of this black magic¡­ Activating Mooring Ropes." Jaffa''s head was covered with cold sweat. "The opponent must be at a higher level than me, especially in terms of black magic¡­"


    "Obviously!"


    Fang Yuan rolled his eyes.


    Blackbeard was the governor of the Nightmare Ocean.


    If he could not even cope with a sorcerer, then he might as well renounce his position.


    At this moment, Monster targeted the slightly slower Slavery. It moved forward quickly and enclosed the bow and the hull of the ship, its giant mouthpart rubbing continuously in an attempt to devour everything in front of it.


    This shocking scene resembled a snake opening up its mouth to swallow a big rat.


    Rumble!


    At this time, a few golden shots struck Monster.


    After the shots exploded, plumes of condensed holy light burst out. This was clearly something unusual.


    "Aw aw!"


    Suffering this heavy damage, Monster had a few big holes on its body and let out a low and furious roar.


    This legendary pirate ship was actually like a creature with its own life.


    "So fast¡­"


    The pirates on Fiery Lotus saw even more.


    A white thread sailed toward them from afar at an astonishing speed.


    After it was closer, they found that it was a huge ship with the streamlined shape of a thin arrow. A white sail was hoisted fully, giving the ship strong wind power.


    Behind it, the ocean was split by three long white lines that formed a triangle.


    "The speed is at least twenty-five knots, and that''s not its real capability¡­" Seeing this, Fang Yuan''s eyes glistened. "It''s Pirate Prince Edward''s flagship¡ªWanderer!"


    Captain Edward was an anomaly among pirates. He adhered to ancient gentlemanly manners, and people in the entire Golden Ocean looked up to his reputation and his charm.


    Countless ladies thought of him as their ideal lover.


    Even the protagonists of many bestsellers on the continent were based on Edward.


    Seeing the Pirate Prince''s Jolly Roger, which had a symbolic crown on the skull, Monster paused in its motion.


    Traces of light emerged on its body and mended the ship.


    "Edward¡­"


    A pirate wearing a formal suit appeared on Monster''s deck.


    He was wearing a gentleman''s white-blonde wig. He was lame in one leg, which had been replaced by an iron leg, and every step was accompanied by an unsettling thump and a scratch on the deck.


    Of course, the most unforgettable things were his conflicting temperament, which was both brutish and sinisterly quiet, and his thick mustache.


    "Pirate Prince Edward¡­ Do you have to be my enemy?" Blackbeard said in a depressed voice, gazing at Wanderer, which was practically flying toward him.


    "My apologies, Mr. Blackbeard! But this place is already within the Golden Ocean¡­ As the pirate governor of this ocean, I believe it''s my duty to maintain order among pirates to some extent."


    A person was standing at the top of the mast of the famous Wanderer.


    He had a handsome countenance, healthy wheat-colored skin, delicate facial features, and an unruly smile, possessing the temperament of a playboy.


    It had to be acknowledged that his appearance, clothing, and aura could almost definitely attract those noble madams and ladies.


    "Good! Very good!"


    Blackbeard had a sullen expression.


    At this point, the big holes on Monster were already completely mended.


    As soon as Blackbeard finished his sentence, Monster opened its huge mouth and shrieked.


    The power of the entire ship seemed to be concentrated on Blackbeard''s right hand.


    He lifted his right hand and sparks flashed by. He then gripped the air and struck at Edward with his fist.


    "Evade!"


    Wanderer suddenly sped up, breaking the limit of some extreme like a speedboat, and evaded the air bomb.


    Rumble!


    The surface of the sea exploded, revealing a huge hole, which was soon filled with seawater once again.


    "Ah¡­ What a warm welcome! Sir, if I were you, I would be so touched, I''d burst into tears!"


    While depending on his fast speed to deal with Blackbeard, Edward gave a thumbs-up to Fang Yuan and the others.


    This battle between the two pirate governors was definitely the top fight in this ocean.


    Fang Yuan''s subordinates, including those who had lost their limbs, crowded the deck and gazed at the battle while red-faced.


    If they were to give up watching such a fight, they would regret it for a hundred years.


    "This is really boring¡­ Blackbeard!"


    While Edward was fighting against Monster, everyone could still hear his attractive voice.


    "We''re both pirate governors. Are we going to kill each other and benefit others?"


    His words suggested that he was alert to what Ettoman was doing.


    "True. Looks like we need to have a discussion indeed!"


    Blackbeard stopped first. Wanderer immediately slowed down and stopped bombarding Monster.


    This disastrous battle stopped. If the prey had been a group of merchants or a port, they would have cheered in exhilaration.


    To an ambitious person like Blackbeard, a mere Arcane Trickster Roche was nothing significant.


    "Yes. The threat from Ettoman is drawing near, but we free pirates¡­ shall never surrender!"


    Pirate Prince Edward stated his point in one sentence. "My opinion is that we should immediately convene the other governors to meet the enemy head-on. How about it?"

 858 Skin

    The private discussion between the two top-notch pirate governors soon ended.


    Due to the magic barrier that was raised, Wilson and others could not hear what was discussed. They could only vaguely sense that the entire ocean''s forces and state of affairs were about to undergo tremendous changes.


    "Hmph!"


    When the two legendary pirate ships ended their meeting, they were even more nervous, afraid that the Pirate Prince would compromise with Blackbeard and give them away as a gift.


    Fortunately, the worst-case scenario did not occur.


    Blackbeard snorted coldly. The huge Monster roared and reentered the Hell of Lightning.


    In contrast, Wanderer gracefully made a left turn, like an exceptional dancer with the ocean as its stage, and sailed alongside Fiery Lotus.


    "I''m Roche, captain of the Purgatory Pirate Team. Greetings, great son of the Golden Ocean!"


    Fang Yuan opened his arms wide with his palms up and bowed.


    "I''m Edward!" The Pirate Prince grabbed on to a mooring rope and exerted a slight force. He drew a beautiful arc in the air and landed on Fiery Lotus''s deck. "Mmm, this is a third-level naval warship, right? In the past, it would have been enough to sail in the Nightmare Ocean and the Golden Ocean. Unfortunately, even the navy''s former trump card, a first-level naval warship, won''t be enough in the future¡­"


    Edward gently stroked the mast and sighed.


    Simply from this statement, Fang Yuan knew that the Pirate Prince was definitely not completely ignorant about the changes that were currently taking place in Ettoman.


    Furthermore, he had a sufficient understanding of the ironclad warships.


    Unfortunately, it was still the same line.


    What could you do even if you knew about it?


    The entire steam engine industry system was not something that could be completed overnight. Even if the Pirate Prince was already going all-out and working overtime to prepare for war, he was still at least a year behind Ettoman.


    Even worse, the pirate governors had their own territories, so they had no choice but to meet the enemy head-on in order to guard their own interests and reputation.


    While looking at the Pirate Prince who seemed like a sentimental old man, Fang Yuan unexpectedly felt a hint of ''sunset''.


    It was like¡­ seeing the afterglow of the closure of the pirates.


    "All right, let''s talk about some happy matters¡­ Captain Roche, welcome to the Golden Ocean that I guard!"


    Edward exhaled deeply and smiled brilliantly.


    It only took a moment for the sad atmosphere from earlier to be immediately dispelled.


    After a brief chat, even Fang Yuan had to admit that the Pirate Prince was truly an admirable man.


    Not only did he have plenty of experience and knowledge, but he was also not bound by this world''s etiquette.


    Right after their discussion on the subtle differences between female elves and female humans, Edward pulled open his collar and said nonchalantly, "Oh right, Roche, I heard that you have a noble lady from Ettoman on board your ship?"


    "Yes, her name is Elizabeth, and she''s the daughter of Viscount Quaid!"


    Fang Yuan nodded in admittance.


    Speaking of which, this woman''s luck seemed to be always pretty good.


    If she had not been imprisoned on Fiery Lotus but on either of the two three-masted ships, she would have probably died long ago.


    "However, she''s only a woman. Edward, if you want her¡­" Fang Yuan was very generous and swung his hands. "Then she''s all yours!"


    "That won''t do¡­ Based on the pirate rules that I set in the Golden Ocean, only high-ranking pirates can order low-ranking pirates to pay tribute, and the frequency can''t be too high! You aren''t my subordinate yet, so if I accept your tributes, that would be quite wrong¡­"


    Edward promptly waved his hands in refusal. "Furthermore, Viscount Quaid isn''t a simple fellow. Even without relying on his daughter''s marriage for connections, he still narrowly defeated his competitor and became the colonial governor of Ettoman''s Solomon Strait¡­ Congratulations Captain, your slave''s worth has risen again."


    "Then, great son of the Golden Ocean, I wonder if you could offer me a suggestion?" Fang Yuan thought for a while, and then his eyes glistened. "If I use this captive to extort Viscount Quaid, what should I demand?"


    "For ordinary pirate teams and merchants, an exemption right in Solomon would be a gold mine with a steady income. But in your case¡­"


    The Pirate Prince said sincerely, "I suggest you demand other things, such as¡­ have you heard of legendary pirates ships?"


    "Of course. Monster, Sea God, King''s Throne, Specter Ship, and your flagship, Wanderer, are well-known among all pirates." Fang Yuan nodded.


    "Any great pirate must possess their own extraordinary ship, and this will only become even more important in the future!" Edward winked.


    "Could¡­ Viscount Quaid have an extraordinary ship?" Fang Yuan was truly astonished.


    "No, he doesn''t have one. However, all extraordinary ships are built by legendary shipwrights and sorcerers¡­ As far as I know, excellent skills and magic attachment techniques are only one aspect. What''s truly important are still the materials! For instance, the wood used in my Wanderer is from the extinct Wind God Tree. Of course, there were other extremely precious materials put together to ultimately build the world''s fastest sailing ship!"


    Edward was gazing at Wanderer as though he was looking at his lover.


    "Viscount Quaid''s family has a very precious material for shipbuilding¡­ Mmm, have you heard the rumors about the ship Sea God?"


    "I''ve heard. It''s said that this ship had obtained the Sea God''s powers and can easily summon tsunamis and whirlpools and call for tempests to assist in battles¡­" Fang Yuan said everything he knew.


    "That''s right!" Edward sneered as he shook his head. "The ship''s keel is made from the Sea God''s spine¡­ Such material is indeed unparalleled in the world. The ship is practically invincible in the ocean. It was thanks to it that the king of the mermaids, Kingsley, was able to suppress the entire Coral Ocean and resist all outsiders!


    "When they were building the ship, although they used the Sea God''s body for blood sacrifice, portions of its body were still circulated. Among these, a piece of the Sea God''s skin is Viscount Quaid''s hands!" Edward slowly shared a secret.


    "Of course, although it''s the Sea God''s skin, it''s too difficult to cast. Furthermore, even if you come across excellent shipwrights who are willing to undertake this task, there aren''t many great forces that can gather enough of the other legendary materials. So although this piece of the Sea God''s skin is priceless, it''s still possible that Viscount Quaid would be willing to exchange it!"


    "I see!" Fang Yuan took a deep breath and nodded his head. He then looked at Edward. "Then¡­ great Pirate Prince, why are you helping me so much?"


    "Me? I just don''t want the ocean to be too lonesome in the future¡­"


    A lonely look appeared on Edward''s face, and he swung back onto Wanderer''s deck. "An incomparable great ocean war will break out in the Nightmare Ocean a month later. Any pirate with the ambition to become the Pirate King shouldn''t be absent."


    ¡­


    "Pirate Prince Edward? What an interesting person¡­"


    Looking at Wanderer quickly fading away, Fang Yuan''s lips curled up at the corners. Shortly after, his expression turned grave. "Get everyone to gather on the deck and count our losses! Also, order Slavery to come closer and report the list of survivors!"


    "Boss!"


    After some time, Wilson passed a loss report to Fang Yuan.


    Although they had successfully crossed the Hell of Lightning and reached the Golden Ocean, their losses were significant.


    First, the two three-masted ships were lost. And along with the two captains, Pixar and Robert, most of the crew had died without burial. As a self-proclaimed pirate commander, Fang Yuan was immediately at risk of regressing back to before.


    Next, in terms of personnel, from the people that he had sent to supervise, Single Ear and Danogu had met with misfortune. But Butcher and Youne, these two simple and honest fellows, had survived. Perhaps fortune favored fools.


    As for Slavery, although it was not completely destroyed, it was still heavily damaged. The poor carpenter almost fainted when he saw it.


    Most of the crew was still alive, which could be considered a consolation amid all the misfortune.


    "Boss, what should we do next?"


    Having narrowly escaped from death, Bill made up his mind to cling on to Fang Yuan and would never leave Fiery Lotus again, even if he was given the position of a captain!


    "We''ll first head to the nearby Hokululu Port to rest for half a month. We need to replenish crew members and find a few shipwrights with ample experience¡­" Fang Yuan paused before continuing, "After half a month, we''ll once again return to the Nightmare Ocean."


    "What? Return?"


    Most of the crew''s faces turned green at once.


    Experiencing a narrow escape from death once was already enough. Any more would simply be an ordeal to the heart.


    "Yes, we must return!" Fang Yuan''s expression was cold and firm. "Anyone questioning my decision?"


    All the pirates immediately cowered.


    "Great. In that case, it''s decided."


    There was no doubt that Fang Yuan had absolute authority on his ship.


    ¡­


    Ettoman, Royal Navy Port.


    "Sir Donald, Captain Orlando has come to visit!"


    The butler brought Orlando, who was carrying gifts, into the study.


    Donald, who was originally hard at work at his deck, raised his head and smiled.


    "Haha¡­ Welcome! My captain, do you like your new ship and equipment?"


    "I like them a lot!" Orlando then asked courteously, "Also¡­ I''ve discussed it with Mr. Donald many times, but I''m still very curious about the Dream and Armament Master. I wonder if you could further introduce his existence to me?"


    "Of course¡­ My Lord is benevolent and will shelter anyone willing to convert their faith to Him!" Donald spoke like a religious fanatic.


    Orlando sat down and casually asked, "That''d really be great¡­ Also, what are you currently writing, Sir?"


    "A literary work titled ''The Influence of Sea Power''!" Donald laughed. "Later on, I''ll send you a portion of my manuscript, and you can help me take a look. After all, you and I are different types of sailors, and I need the opinions of professionals."


    "It''d be my honor!" Orlando promptly bowed.

 859 Divination

    Hokolulu Port.


    When Fiery Lotus and Slavery slowly sailed into the port, the sailors could feel an obviously unusual atmosphere.


    Instead of pirates horsing about, nervousness filled the entire port.


    The two ships had suffered bombardment when they approached the shore.


    Fang Yuan and the others were only allowed in after their identities were fully confirmed, and they learned why the whole port was on the defense.


    "Specter Ship¡­ that legendary ghost ship has appeared!"


    "It''s sailed on the Golden Ocean and slaughtered seven ships, three of which were pirate ships!"


    "There are countless undead creatures on the ship, and they won''t let any prey escape!"


    ¡­


    "Right now, even pirates dare not sail out of the port¡­ Rumor has it that the son of the Golden Ocean, Pirate Governor Edward, has sailed to this vicinity and is searching for Specter Ship with Wanderer!"


    From a plethora of information, Fang Yuan managed to understand one thing.


    The reason why Edward happened to appear and stop Blackbeard was that he had been sailing in the vicinity all this while, keeping an eye on the activities at sea.


    Now that Fang Yuan came to the dock, he saw the many densely packed ships here.


    Both merchant ships and pirate ships berthed here.


    After all, other than a few major pirate governors, even the top pirates among the rest could not guarantee that they could escape from Specter Ship unharmed.


    To pirates, Specter Ship would leave after some time, so they would not risk their lives doing things that could not bring any returns.


    "However¡­ in this case, the Pirate Prince''s power will be reduced covertly!"


    Fang Yuan frowned when he thought about this point.


    According to the information that Edward had disclosed, Ettoman''s Royal Navy might invade the Nightmare Ocean and fight against Blackbeard a month later.


    Even if the two governors formed an alliance, how much aid could the Pirate Prince provide Blackbeard if he himself was in trouble?


    "It happens¡­ just at this crucial moment. A coincidence? Too many coincidences occurring together appear to be intentional¡­ So the truth is that Ettoman is controlling Specter Ship? Or perhaps it found some method to guide it?"


    Passing the dock, Fang Yuan came to the congested city streets.


    Due to the various ships that berthed here, the place seemed very crowded.


    Some vendors even started to sell goods on the spot, forming a small but bustling fair.


    Silk, china, spices from the East, poisons and blowguns from tribes, and rum from Ettoman¡­ There were so many kinds of goods that the place felt like a big mall in Ettoman.


    "All of you go and purchase the daily necessities needed on the ship!"


    Fang Yuan waved his hand and brought along Bill and Rolisa. The three of them mixed into the crowd, keeping a low profile.


    "Bill¡­ you go and find some shipwrights. We should also prepare some extraordinary materials needed for building the ship in advance¡­"


    Fang Yuan was finally preparing to build his own extraordinary ship.


    After all, with the rising power of Ettoman, the powers on the entire ocean would be reshuffled, and an ordinary warship was somewhat outdated even before a first-level naval warship, much less a steam-powered ironclad.


    "Okay, Boss. But such things are all very expensive¡­"


    "Don''t worry. I''ll give you fifty thousand gold coins first. If you find something good and feel unable to get it, then come to me¡­"


    Gazing at Bill''s back, Fang Yuan looked pensive. "Searching for these materials and building my own extraordinary ship is only the last resort¡­ The fastest way is still to obtain those legendary extraordinary ships directly.


    "Specter Ship that''s recently appeared on the Golden Ocean seems to be a good target. Other than that¡­ there''s this thing¡­"


    A map emerged on Fang Yuan''s hand, just short of the last fragment.


    "Boss!" At this moment, Rolisa came very close to Fang Yuan and whispered beside his ear, "That black fatty gave away all the secrets about this treasure map¡­ He not only possessed two pieces but also knew where to find the last piece!"


    "Oh? Where is it?"


    Fang Yuan was somewhat excited upon hearing this.


    "In Blackbeard''s hand¡­"


    Rolisa chuckled.


    "Are you sure you''re not trying to make my relationship with a pirate governor go sour?"


    Fang Yuan squinted his eyes and examined this woman.


    "In the moon''s name, no!" Stared at by Fang Yuan, Rolisa felt a chill sent down her spine, as if she were a child encountering a giant dragon.


    "Moreover¡­ is your relationship with Blackbeard considered friendly now?" Rolisa added.


    "Hmm¡­ You provided this piece of intelligence just at the right time!"


    Fang Yuan took a few steps forward. His eyes glistened as he saw a gypsy tent and immediately entered.


    The space in the tent was narrow, and all kinds of weird things filled the shelves on both sides.


    Fang Yuan even saw a huge glass bottle containing big, strange eyeballs.


    "Greetings, my honored guest from afar. May I answer any questions for you?"


    A woman was sitting on a woolen blanket at the center of the tent. Her hair was tied in many small braids, and Fang Yang could see her blackened teeth when she smiled at him.


    Doubtlessly, this was a witch!


    She had mastered the mysterious power that only females could master and even possessed the ability to foretell the future.


    Of course, Fang Yuan came here because he recognized that, unlike those swindlers, this witch indeed had some ability.


    In fact¡­ the Dao of Dream Master contains all kinds of techniques, including the technique of dream divination, but I''m not adept at this Dao¡­ Furthermore, many parameters are different in a different world, so the divination technique may not be as effective as before. The magical techniques indigenous to this world are the most suitable for it after all¡­


    Divination masters followed heaven''s trend and sought unity between human and nature.


    In this aspect, the rules in different worlds were very similar.


    For instance, the indigenous witches always liked to say ''we must fear destiny!''


    "I want to predict two things!" Fang Yuan sat cross-legged in front of the witch. "If your divination is accurate, I won''t be miserly with gold coins!" he said casually, and Rolisa threw a bag full of gold coins onto the table.


    "I like generous customers!"


    The string tying the bag loosened, and a few gold coins dropped out. The golden light reflected from them could provoke greed in most people.


    But the witch only took a glimpse of it, as she was still more interested in Fang Yuan. "What two things?"


    "First, I obtained a piece of intelligence and want to know its validity!"


    Fang Yuan glanced at Rolisa.


    "Then Destiny Cards should be used for divination!" The witch made a sound with her lips and took out a stack of cards. "Think about what you want to judge silently. Then take out any card from this stack and pass it to me!"


    "The sun?"


    Fang Yuan took one casually and flipped it, finding the pattern of the sun on the card.


    "It suggests a definite ''yes''. There''s no doubt about the truth of the intelligence you received!" The witch did not even frown. "What else?"


    "I want to know about the location of a ship!" said Fang Yuan in a deep voice.


    "Hehe¡­" The witch smiled madly and gazed at Fang Yuan with glistening eyes. "So¡­ my young and handsome guest, which ship do you want to track? Is it a merchant ship from the East loaded with gold or a ship belonging to your enemy?"


    "Neither!" Fang Yuan shook his head. "I want to know about Specter Ship!"


    "That ominous thing connected to the netherworld?!" The witch shivered all over. "Three groups of people have asked me the same question before you, and I had them leave¡­ because we must respect and fear destiny, and mustn''t peek into the domain of the dead!"


    "Is that so? What if I force you to do it?"


    A red glow flashed in Fang Yuan''s pupils. An emblem that was neither a saber nor a sword but appeared like both emerged on his palm.


    "Ah!"


    Seeing this, the witch immediately covered her face with both hands and screamed, as if she saw something extremely fearsome.


    Thud! Thud!


    While she was screaming, two strong men pounced out from behind the tent, but they were immediately taken down by Rolisa.


    My own dream divination is only at a superficial level and can''t be used because it''s incompatible with this world¡­ But this witch is an indigenous divination practitioner¡­


    Thinking silently, Fang Yuan hung the emblem on the witch''s neck.


    These types of spiritually sensitive people could most easily receive the murmurs of all sorts of beings, but of course, they were most likely to go mad as well.


    The witch looked baffled now, as if she was stunned by something extremely shocking.


    "I want you to make a prediction for me again!" Fang Yuan said.


    "All right!"


    The witch remained silent for a moment before taking out a crystal ball and putting it on the woolen blanket, her face and motion expressionless.


    "The mist of destiny, please disperse before me¡­ The spherical crystal, please guide me¡­ to the specters sailing at sea!"


    The witch grabbed the crystal ball and recited a prayer in a murmur, speaking faster and faster.


    A plume of fog emerged in the crystal ball, revealing the vague silhouette of a sailing ship.


    The sailing ship was entirely black and mostly corroded, but many undead creatures gathered on it, exerting a terrifying spiritual pressure.


    The pressure even penetrated the crystal ball and entered the tent.


    Rolisa knelt immediately.


    Only Fang Yuan could act as if nothing had happened in front of such pure power of death.


    "Who dares covet the ship sailing between the netherworld and the mortal world?"


    "Who disturbs corpses that were sound asleep?"


    "And who draws the attention of the undead specters?"


    ¡­


    Mysterious voices were heard from the crystal ball.


    It seemed as if specters were really going to creep out from the crystal ball.


    The power of Specter Ship was indeed unimaginable. It actually cursed everyone who tried to learn about it through divination!

 860 Extraordinary Ship

    With the whispers of the specters, the concentrated power of death quickly spread in the tent.


    White foam overflowed from the two guards'' mouths, seeming like they would die at any moment.


    Rolisa''s face was ghostly pale, clearly having encountered something extremely horrifying.


    Of course, the witch herself was the most severely affected.


    Greenish-black veins emerged on her face and darkened continuously, even rotting straightaway.


    "It''s indeed the power of death¡­ Now I sort of believe that this Specter Ship sails across the boundary between the netherworld and the mortal world," Fang Yuan murmured as a veil of fog emerged on his body.


    The emblem of the Dream and Armament Master shined brightly on the witch''s chest, releasing circles of power.


    Keke!


    The specters screamed, the illusion in the tent disappeared, and the chilling aura quickly broke down.


    "Your¡­ Excellency¡­"


    The witch gazed afar and passed the crystal ball into Fang Yuan''s hand.


    There was now a thin streak of white fog at the core of the crystal ball, just like a column of rising smoke.


    "The location of Specter Ship isn''t fixed, but this crystal ball can indicate its location accurately when it''s within a thousand nautical miles of the ship¡­ It''s yours."


    The witch smiled madly, her face looking a bit more lively.


    "Very well. This is your reward!"


    Fang Yuan kicked Rolisa, who was beside him.


    Flushing with embarrassment, this female subordinate immediately got up from the ground and prepared to take out some money.


    "No need!" the witch said in a hoarse voice, stroking the Dream and Armament Master emblem on her neck with a zealous expression. "This is sufficient."


    Anyone with an extraordinary profession had to be interested in the past rulers of the world.


    This was especially true for people like witches, fortune tellers, and sorcerers.


    Their high levels of psyche and awareness allowed them to interact with these kinds of beings more readily and hear their whispers.


    Of course, there were many taboos about things like Demon Gods.


    It was hard to tell what would happen if she continued studying them.


    Perhaps, losing her mind was already a relatively good ending.


    "This witch knows its real value!"


    Fang Yuan nodded and left the tent inconspicuously.


    As for whether she would believe in the Dream and Armament Master or do something else, Fang Yuan could not be bothered to find out.


    ¡­


    After a while, in a bar.


    At this place, pirates who had drunk too much rum finally forgot about their fear of Specter Ship and started to quarrel.


    Fang Yuan seated himself at a bar counter. Soon, he saw Bill bringing an old man into the bar.


    "Boss¡­ sorry. Those kinds of precious materials are very rare, and a large amount of gold coins is needed to build even the simplest extraordinary ship. Materials suitable for building ships are quickly sold out once they appear in the market. I searched through the entire port and dock and only found this person¡­ Jeeps!"


    Bill pulled the old man to the front of Fang Yuan. "This is the only shipwright I found for now who has experience in building extraordinary ships¡­ Jeeps, this is our boss, the captain of the Purgatory Pirates, the great Arcane Trickster, Mr. Roche!"


    "Jeeps?"


    Fang Yuan frowned. This guy named Jeeps looked almost identical to any other old pirate, and he had a big red nose.


    After sitting down, he kept staring at Fang Yuan''s wine glass. Then he said in an unclear voice, "Yes¡­ great pirate captain, as long as I have wine to drink, I''m very willing to serve you!"


    "No problem!"


    Fang Yuan snapped his fingers and ordered lots of high-quality alcohol.


    Jeeps'' eyes glistened when he saw the alcohol. He drank the wine in a hurry, as though he were drinking water.


    Fang Yuan stared at this shipwright and said slowly, "I want to build an extraordinary ship!"


    "Impossible!" Jeeps continued drinking, squinting his eyes slightly. "The cost of building a first-level naval warship is at least a hundred thousand gold coins! And even the cheapest extraordinary ship is worth more than a million gold coins! Do you understand the difference?"


    "Of course¡­ If a pirate governor had a million gold coins, he''d probably choose to retire. This amount is sufficient for him to purchase a legitimate identity and even a noble title in any country and live a carefree life!"


    Fang Yuan nodded. "I don''t have so many gold coins, but fortunately, I don''t have to pay the full price in one go¡­ I''m very confident in my ability to earn money."


    "However, even if you''re determined and have enough gold, you might not be able to build an extraordinary ship smoothly¡­ because the materials are hard to find, and those rare materials are bought up by all those great pirates and governors as soon as they appear."


    Jeeps shook his head. "Without truly top-level materials, it''s impossible to build ships with extraordinary powers."


    "In this aspect, I think I happen to have a trump card¡­"


    Seeing this, Fang Yuan smiled.


    Evidently, this shipwright had some real talent. Fang Yuan was unconcerned about other things and had the bartender continue serving wine for Mr. Jeeps to enjoy himself.


    Fang Yuan said slowly, "What do you think of the Sea God''s skin?"


    "It''s of course a legendary divine material. Even the oil extracted from it is the best glue for ships, and it can deter sea monsters!" Jeeps'' eyes glistened. "Sea God was built using the Sea God''s skin. Do you have a part of it?"


    "Not yet, but soon!" There was nothing to conceal about this, so Fang Yuan admitted it frankly.


    "Since that''s the case, it''s possible to build the ship. With the most important material, the Sea God''s skin, we just need a few other auxiliary materials¡­" Jeeps frowned. "Although I can''t build a legendary ship like Sea God, I can definitely build a simpler extraordinary ship."


    "Are there differences among extraordinary ships?"


    Fang Yuan grasped this key point.


    "Of course!" Jeeps rolled his eyes. "Extraordinary ships are superior in every aspect to all six levels of naval warships¡­ Even a first-level naval warship may not be able to defeat an extraordinary ship, and extraordinary ships are typically the flagships of great pirates!


    "If they''re classified, there are roughly three classes. The first class is legendary ships like Specter Ship, King''s Throne, and Sea God, each of which is a real legend! Even pirate kings and governors may not possess them!


    "The second class is famous extraordinary ships like Monster and Wanderer. Although they''re inferior to the first-class legendary ships, they can defeat any first-level royal naval warship, and they''re typically the flagships of pirate governors and great pirates.


    "And while ships in the third class are called extraordinary ships, their abilities might not be very powerful. Nevertheless, some abilities bring a lot of convenience, such as Holy Spring, which provides an endless supply of clean water, and Mermaid, which can descend underwater¡­ If you can provide the Sea God''s skin and collect some other precious materials, I''m confident I can build a third-class extraordinary ship¡­"


    "Not a second-class or first-class ship?" Fang Yuan asked.


    "No¡­" Jeeps burped. "Even if you can find top-level materials, that''s still totally beyond my ability!"


    "Very well. You''re honest, so I''ll employ you!"


    Fang Yuan nodded. Bill stepped forward immediately and waited for his instructions.


    "Invite Mr. Jeeps onto our ship. If he has any family members or disciples, let them come together. And prepare enough rum for him to bathe in!"


    After giving his command, Fang Yuan felt the situation a bit regrettable.


    It seems that building my own ship will take too long, and the result may be unsatisfactory. I''d rather give up on this method¡­ It''s more convenient to get an existing ship directly.


    Moreover, after resting at this port and recruiting all the crew members, it''s time to promote one or two subordinates to Ocean Warlock!


    Bill and the others who had been following him since the beginning had proved their loyalty through their actions.


    Furthermore, what he would do next was mostly dangerous, so he had to have a few loyal and capable subordinates.


    Displaying such ability at this point in time could better unite his crew.


    ¡­


    A group of people left the bar and walked on the dark street.


    Suddenly, a strong gust of wind blew past, almost extinguishing their torches.


    "Who''s there?"


    With a movement at Rolisa''s waist, a black whip emerged on her hand. She gazed at a shadow.


    "You''re surrounded by an ominous fate¡­ I think you need a professional witch to pray for blessings from the gods and curse your enemies!"


    A figure who had an emblem on her chest walked out slowly from the darkness. It was the witch that Fang Yuan had visited earlier.


    "Oh? The reason isn''t bad, but unfortunately, it''s not good enough¡­"


    Fang Yuan shook his head.


    The witch''s expression changed a few times before she finally told the truth.


    "This emblem you gave to me is connected to a great being, but given my current spirituality, I may lose control when hearing his voice. I don''t want to be driven crazy¡­


    "Since you gave me the emblem, I hope to complete this divine exploration with the help of your power¡­ Of course, it would be best if I can acquire divine knowledge. I''m willing to serve you using my ability in return."


    Fang Yuan thought about it and realized that his crew was short of extraordinary people in this aspect.


    "Deal!"


    What about the rumor that said that allowing women on board a ship would cause misfortune?


    He himself was repelled by the world. Furthermore, Elizabeth and Rolisa were both women, and he would not mind another one on his ship.


    "I, Cassenia, will serve you!" The witch revealed her black teeth as she smiled madly and knelt. "I swear in the name of that being that I will be loyal to you!"

 861 Bestow

    Fifteen days later.


    "Boss!"


    Fiery Lotus was once again at full strength. All the pirates stood in a line with both hands behind their backs and their chests out.


    "Butcher! Wilson! Bill!"


    Fang Yuan was wearing a cape and a pirate captain hat, along with a golden-hilted cutlass on his waist. Rolisa and the newly joined witch, Cassenia, were standing behind him submissively, just like two maids.


    As he called out each name, the corresponding pirate stepped forward with a solemn expression.


    Fang Yuan looked around and asked loudly, "Do you know who they are?"


    "Of course. They''re our gallant Butcher, an average chief officer, and a cowardly captain!"


    A voice of ridicule rang out from among the pirates, and they soon burst into laughter.


    Pirates were a group of difficult people and scum. Those who were active in the Nightmare Ocean and the Golden Ocean were the worst among them.


    The pirates recruited in Hokululu Port were of a higher quality on average than before, but they were also more unruly.


    They did not dare challenge Fang Yuan''s authority, as he was the captain, but they definitely did not have any respect for those that they disliked.


    Butcher was still fine, but Wilson and Bill somewhat lacked in ability.


    "Bill and Butcher have been following me since offshore Ettoman, and everyone knows about Wilson''s diligence¡­ Me promoting them to higher positions is not only a reward but also a hope that they can play an important role."


    "Boss¡­" Bill said with a shaky voice. "I really can''t serve as a captain. Please let me return!"


    Indeed, he did not have the ability. In particular, he was unable to suppress the pirates since his strength was too weak. If he continued to take charge, there was a fear that his subordinates might kill him during a rebellion.


    "Bill, you''re good at handling odd jobs and also quickly complete my tasks every time. I haven''t forgotten.


    "Wilson is a qualified chief officer with abilities in management!


    "And Butcher is always right at the front during every assault¡­ He''s also sustained the most injuries. All his scars are proof of his meritorious service!"


    Fang Yuan''s voice was getting louder, and he looked into the eyes of each pirate. "I want all of you to know that if you follow me, offering your loyalty and your life, I will see everything and reward you as you deserve."


    "Boss, there''s no doubt that you''re generous with your rewards!"


    Many pirates responded immediately.


    "No! Just this isn''t enough!" Fang Yuan laughed heartily. "This time¡­ I shall bestow the three of them with true extraordinary powers! I will let you possess strength above ordinary people."


    "What?!"


    There was an uproar among the surrounding pirates.


    In the Nightmare Ocean and the Golden Ocean, there were countless dangers, and strong people emerged one after another.


    Perhaps an ordinary farmer living in the Opher Continent might never meet an Extraordinary in their whole life, but these pirates definitely had seen them before, having even fought them and felt the terror of extraordinary powers.


    "Boss, are you serious?"


    This caused an uproar among the pirates.


    "I''m serious. I''m not just bestowing one or two extraordinary items but helping them become true Extraordinaries!" Fang Yuan nodded. "The three of them will advance to Extraordinary today!"


    "Boss?!"


    The three of them revealed excitement on their faces.


    "In my name as Arcane Trickster Roche, you will possess the abilities of an Ocean Warlock. From now on, the ocean will be your domain, and you will possess the power of water!"


    Fang Yuan snapped his fingers.


    Cassenia immediately went forward, holding a gold cup that was fully embedded with gems in her hands.


    Rolisa held up a waterskin and poured seawater inside.


    Fang Yuan added seagull feathers, fresh sea monster blood, and other items in succession. He did not fear the pirates that were stretching their necks to look.


    This ceremony was originally planned by him, and now he had also altered it. The crucial point was still his main body''s permission and powers participating.


    Given its nature, the process and ceremony could naturally be more casual. If these pirates were to secretly learn it, ninety-nine percent of them would not have a good outcome.


    Bloop! Bloop!


    The seawater in the gold cup started to boil, and thick white smoke started to emit and overflow from the cup.


    "Bill, drink this and you''ll become an Extraordinary!"


    Fang Yuan drew his cutlass and placed it on Bill''s shoulder.


    "Boss, I will be your most loyal subordinate for all eternity!"


    Bill, this small pirate, was practically crying his eyes out. After he knelt down and vowed, he slowly drank from the gold cup in his hands.


    "¡­"


    His eyes were wide open while looking at himself.


    A stream of water appeared before his eyes and started hovering around him. Of course, his hair did not turn green!


    The side effect of changing hair color had been eliminated after Fang Yuan''s improvements. Currently, Bill''s appearance did not have the slightest difference from an ordinary person''s.


    "What a fantastic feeling¡­"


    Bill had an intoxicated look on his face. A water dragon continuously revolved around his body as his fingers danced.


    "Bill, someone tarnished your reputation earlier. Go take back your dignity!"


    Fang Yuan waved his hand.


    "Yes, Boss!"


    Bill laughed sinisterly and waved his hand.


    A turbulent stream of water directly dashed into the group of pirates and pulled out the pirates who had mocked him earlier.


    "I''ll give all of you a chance. Either get rid of me, or I''ll get rid of you!"


    Bill rubbed his knuckles.


    "Let''s go all out!"


    "Kill!"


    The pirates exchanged panicked glances, drew their weapons, and formed a circle.


    Smack!


    A cutlass chopped down violently, but a stream of water stopped it.


    One of the pirates had a bad feeling. However, just as he wanted to retreat, he was immediately captured by a tall blue figure. With one palm strike, his head was forcibly pushed into his chest.


    "Who else?"


    With punches and kicks, Bill cleanly disposed of the pirates who were attacking from all sides and then roared into the sky.


    The surrounding pirates immediately cowered, and no one dared to step forward.


    "Who¡­ else¡­?"


    Bill returned to his usual figure and had a terrifying aura as he scanned his surroundings.


    This is the perfect representation of how strength is usually accompanied by ambition¡­


    Upon seeing this, Fang Yuan fell into deep thought. Previously, Bill didn''t have the strength to suppress the fierce pirates under him, so he was content with being below others. But now, it seems like there are some foreboding signs.


    More often than not, such people were likely to go to extremes.


    However, he was confident that with his control over the overall situation, nothing much could happen.


    "Butcher! Wilson!"


    He then looked at the remaining two people.


    "Thanks, Boss. In the name of our souls, we swear that we''ll definitely be loyal to you for all eternity!"


    Wilson and Butcher immediately stepped forward emotionally and took the gold cup.


    Practically all the pirates were enviously watching them do this.


    After all, they were becoming true Extraordinaries!


    For pirates, they were not afraid of giving their souls to the devil in exchange for power.


    Even if it was only for a single extraordinary item, they would still recklessly tear each other apart like dogs, much less becoming true Extraordinaries.


    It was possible to lose an item, but it would be very difficult to snatch away one''s powers.


    "Hmm¡­ Wilson will be Slavery''s captain, with Butcher as the chief officer, while Bill will be Fiery Lotus''s chief officer!"


    After thinking about it, Fang Yuan revised their positions.


    After all, it was already proven earlier that Bill was unsuitable to be in a position to make decisions even with sufficient strength.


    Furthermore, his disposition was relatively weak, and he needed to be placed near him for further observation.


    "Yes, Captain!"


    The three saluted immediately. Of course, Bill''s expression revealed slight discontentment. Fang Yuan observed it but was unconcerned.


    "Anyone who is loyal to me and does their utmost in battle will not shed blood in vain¡­"


    In the end, Fang Yuan raised the gold cup. "In my name as Arcane Trickster Roche, I swear that all pirates who serve me will receive equal treatment! As long as you accumulate enough contributions, I''ll help you become an Extraordinary!"


    "Long live the boss!"


    "Long live the captain!"


    ¡­


    All the pirates immediately cheered and were full of enthusiasm.


    "Very good. Set sail for the Nightmare Ocean!" Fang Yuan waved his hand, and the sailors jumped into action, as though he had whipped them.


    Even the original pirates did not have the slightest objection.


    With three living examples among them, while feeling envious, they also made up their minds to follow Fang Yuan unhesitantly even if he intended to go to the netherworld.


    "Boss!"


    Fang Yuan stood on the deck with the sea breeze blowing against him.


    At some point, Cassenia and Rolisa arrived behind him with a worried look.


    "I know¡­ you''re worried that my ability will be leaked and be coveted¡­" Fang Yuan looked at his right palm. "The reason why I picked today and left right after the promotions was precisely to limit the effects as much as possible¡­ After this time, the entire ocean''s pirate forces will experience a huge reshuffle. We either succeed and gain reputation or fail and be crushed into oblivion, so there''s no need to consider too much¡­"


    Fang Yuan gazed toward the Nightmare Ocean, and his eyes glistened.


    How could he be absent and miss the closure of an era and the beginning of a great era?


    "Sea voyage is the theme of this world. If I want to reap the greatest benefits, I must constantly be at the head of the tide and influence it while evading the world''s counterattack¡­"


    After reaping so many worlds during his dream-traversing, Fang Yuan was already highly experienced.


    Furthermore, he had a premonition.


    As his influence on this world deepened, perhaps when it reached a certain threshold, there would come a time when his main body could break into the real world and truly advance to Demon God!


    "The ocean''s future will certainly be an era of steam cannons. If I want to have a footing in that era, I must have something to rely on¡­"


    Fang Yuan sighed and took out the crystal ball.


    The smoke inside the crystal ball suddenly moved. The originally upright pillar of smoke bent and pointed toward a certain direction.

 862 Specter Ship

    "This undead aura¡ªSpecter Ship!" Cassenia looked at the crystal ball and cried out in alarm. "It''s within the crystal ball''s detection range, not far from the Golden Ocean!"


    "Not only that, it seems like we thoroughly pissed it off when we blocked its curse last time¡­" Fang Yuan sneered. "Once it detects us, perhaps the ship might come to cause trouble for us¡­"


    Plop!


    Click! Clack!


    As soon as he finished speaking, Jaffa, who was approaching him, collapsed, and his jaws started clattering.


    "Jeez¡­ Are my subordinates a group of fellows like this?"


    Fang Yuan rubbed his forehead.


    "Captain¡­ That''s because you have absolutely no idea how terrifying Specter Ship is! It''s been wandering the oceans for over a thousand years, yet no pirate nor navy was able to destroy it! It''s rumored that Specter Ship can freely traverse to the netherworld and even other world boundaries¡­ You won''t be able to imagine what frightening undead creatures there are on board¡ªGhoul Tyrant, Undead King, Demigod Lich, and many other existences that are beyond description¡­ There are even rumors that the captain controlling Specter Ship is an Evil God!" Jaffa said in a trembling voice.


    "Impossible. Although Specter Ship has many powerful undead creatures, it doesn''t have an Evil God¡­"


    In this aspect, Fang Yuan had the most say, as he had previously fought with its curse power from afar.


    If Specter Ship really had an existence that exceeded the limit, even with the powers his main body had sent over, he still might not have been able to rescue the witch and Rolisa.


    "All right. Even if so¡­ what does Specter Ship have? A ship of undead? Captain, even if you see Specter Ship, what benefits are there? Wait a minute¡­"


    As Jaffa murmured, his eyes suddenly opened wide.


    "Yes¡­ Don''t you think the legendary Specter Ship is very suitable as the Purgatory Pirates'' new flagship?"


    Fang Yuan laughed arrogantly.


    The ship continued forward and soon reached the border of the Hell of Lightning.


    During the voyage, an unending stream of information had reached Fang Yuan through various means.


    "The Queen of Ettoman formally visited the royal port for a military parade and reviewed the new ironclads in service. Their appearance shocked the entire Opher Continent¡­"


    "Presently, the royal navy has already completely transformed and established the Invincible Steel Fleet. They''ve announced that they''ll be suppressing the Nightmare Ocean''s pirate governor, Blackbeard!"


    "Shockingly, the target they''ve picked is Blackbeard''s home base, Blackbeard Island. It''s his largest colonial kingdom and has seven ports, three large-scale shipyards, and almost half of his troops¡­ Blackbeard can''t tolerate it any longer and has no other choice but to battle."


    "The Pirate Prince announced support but not many significant actions were actually taken. It''s said that it''s because his encounter with Specter Ship led to heavy losses¡­"


    ¡­


    "Pirate Prince Edward isn''t able to handle Specter Ship?"


    Fang Yuan shook his head and looked at the crystal ball in his hands.


    The pillar of smoke rose and was vibrating even more.


    Standing behind Fang Yuan, Cassenia said a panicked voice, "Specters! I see numerous specters approaching at high speed!"


    "Troubled times¡­" Fang Yuan sighed. "Full speed ahead! Enter the Hell of Lightning! We''ll fight Specter Ship there!"


    "Set sail! Accelerate!" Bill immediately yelled after receiving the order and did not hesitate to use his Ocean Warlock''s abilities to give the ship a boost.


    Barely half a month later, Fiery Lotus and Slavery once again entered the Hell of Lightning.


    Kaboom!


    Dark clouds were looming overhead as streaks of lightning danced across the sky.


    The roaring waves of the black ocean were like monsters, engulfing everything.


    "Lower the sails!" Fang Yuan shouted and went to the edge of the deck.


    Unknowingly, his surroundings were suddenly covered in a white fog.


    The already poor visibility instantly plummeted to an extremely low level.


    "Boss, we''ve lost track of Slavery!" Helga yelled hurriedly.


    "No need to fear. Slavery has two Ocean Warlocks, Butcher and Wilson, on it. The Hell of Lightning won''t pose a problem for them¡­ as long as our guest comes to our side first!"


    Fang Yuan took large strides and kicked the sluggish pirates into action. "Load the cannons, unsheath your cutlasses, and prepare for battle!!!"


    Splash!


    A bolt of lightning suddenly flashed, causing the surroundings to shine as bright as day.


    Amid the dense fog, the outline of a large ship could be vaguely seen.


    The ship''s ram pierced through the dense fog, and there was an amber hanging lamp lit at the ship''s bow.


    "Is it Slavery? It''s caught up?"


    Bill was slightly confused.


    "Something''s wrong¡­ That isn''t an ordinary ship!" Helga yelled from the crow''s nest. "Quick, look at the sea surface around the ship!"


    Bill rubbed his eyes and immediately saw an extremely strange scene.


    The originally surging sea had actually calmed down, and the sea surface was as smooth as a mirror. The large ship moved as though it were skating on ice, sailing forward gracefully and soundlessly.


    As the two ships continued to approach each other, the pirates on Fiery Lotus began to clearly see the full view of the other ship.


    It had a black hull, a decayed deck, and black sails that were full of holes.


    Most importantly, there were numerous undead creatures standing on the deck. Some had physical bodies and some were specters, causing those looking at them to be extremely frightened.


    "Enemy attack¡­ it''s¡­ Specter Ship!"


    On the deck, each and every one of the pirates'' legs was trembling as they thought of the famous legend. "We''re doomed. Specter Ship won''t spare anyone on the ship!"


    "Idiots!" Fang Yuan kicked a fellow in front of him and then stepped on this unlucky fellow. "If no one has ever survived an encounter with Specter Ship, then how did those legends get circulated? Now, if you want to continue living, then pick up your weapons and fight!"


    After beating and scolding, he finally banded together a group of subordinates to prepare for the battle.


    Caw! Caw!


    On Specter Ship across from them, numerous white skeletons were biting on to short knives and swinging over using mooring ropes.


    "Fire!"


    Bill waved his hand, and a row of musketeers in front of him pulled their triggers. Amid the rising plumes of white smoke, large numbers of skeleton sailors exploded into pieces and fell into the ocean.


    Unfortunately, this batch of skeleton soldiers was clearly only their cannon fodder.


    After this failure, there was no uproar on Specter Ship at all. Instead, even more skeleton soldiers swung over.


    Fang Yuan could feel from his soles that there were some abnormal movements under Fiery Lotus.


    "Bill, lead a team and head below to guard against those skeletons that were smashed into the ocean. They''re trying to climb up!"


    On this thought, Fang Yuan immediately commanded, "Also¡­ everyone is to come here before fighting!"


    In front of him was a huge water tank.


    Fang Yuan extended his hands and produced a light orb, which he then tossed into the water tank.


    Buzz buzz!


    A ball of light formed inside the water tank, looking like a small sun.


    This pure yet strong light attribute power made Fang Yuan''s subordinates, who had committed countless crimes, to squint their eyes in pain.


    "Before fighting, everyone''s weapons must be immersed inside the water tank to receive the light''s blessing! Now get moving!"


    Fang Yuan roared and drew his cutlass.


    Swoosh!


    The sound of horses galloping rang out from across.


    Thirteen knights in black dashed over in the heavy atmosphere. Impressively, the horses they were riding were all Nightmares, which had raging flames burning across their entire bodies and the ability to walk freely in the air.


    Poof!


    It only took a single confrontation for the five ghost riders that Jaffa had summoned with all his might to turn into ashes, showing an absolute gap and disadvantage.


    "Kill!"


    The pirates howled. After being driven into a corner, it immediately stimulated their last ferocity, and they started a bloody fight with the incoming death knights.


    Some pirates even covered themselves with gunpowder and oil and charged at the knights.


    "Bring out the cannons! Fire!"


    Fang Yuan had his second officer place a few small cannons on the deck. After several rounds, although the knights remained uninjured, the terrifying thrust still pushed them back. A few unlucky knights even fell off their Nightmares and into the ocean.


    Unfortunately, all of this was merely small fights for the other party.


    Fang Yuan could acutely sense that multiple forces were hiding within Specter Ship, and some had already reached the level of Demigods!


    It could be said that these black knights, skeleton soldiers, ghouls, and so on were all cannon fodder among cannon fodder. The kind where no matter how many of them perished, it would not cause any distress.


    In fact, in terms of average crew member quality and strength, perhaps Specter Ship was deservedly first in the oceans.


    Even for the current Fang Yuan, it would be very troublesome if he encountered the truly high-level crew members on Specter Ship.


    "Counterattack!" However, he did not have the slightest bit of fear and grabbed a mooring rope. "Board their ship!"


    Thump!


    The mooring rope drew a huge arc, and Fang Yuan smoothly landed with both feet on the deck.


    Specter Ship was not large, about the same as Fiery Lotus, and its black deck carried the smell of decay.


    Stepping on Specter Ship, Fang Yuan suddenly had a strange feeling.


    The space and scenery around him became hazy all of a sudden.


    It was as if the space where Specter Ship was located was entirely different from the real world. This feeling was extremely similar to his main body''s state as an absolute observer!


    "Specter Ship indeed deserves its reputation as a ship that traverses world boundaries¡­" Fang Yuan praised, not fearing the terrifying undead creatures that were gathering around him at all. Then he suddenly laughed loudly. "Such abilities are exactly what I need!"


    Specter Ship could traverse to the netherworld and even other dimensions.


    Fang Yuan''s main body also existed in this world, but it was isolated in a different realm.


    Although he had already tried to break out several times, gaining this incarnation as a result and could even transmit powers, it was still not enough.


    However, the appearance of Specter Ship and its characteristics gave Fang Yuan a glimpse of hope of breaking the seal earlier!

 863 Thunder God

    On Specter Ship.


    The boundary between life and death had never been so blurred.


    The strong power of death attacked Fang Yuan directly, penetrating his skin and making him look extremely pale.


    An ordinary person would become a corpse as soon as they stepped onto the deck.


    Even Extraordinaries would have to retreat when attacked by the power of death.


    "If I don''t take any action, there''s a thirty-percent chance that I''ll lose my life and become an undead creature after three breaths¡­" Fang Yuan murmured as a small sun suddenly emerged before his chest.


    Rumble!


    The milky white light spread immediately, reacting violently with the fog around the pirate ship and making explosive sounds.


    As white smoke rose, the undead creatures surrounding the light shrieked in agony and retreated.


    The pure power of light and life could even heavily injure mid-level undead creatures.


    "Hehe!!!"


    As the plume of holy light emerged on the deck¡­


    A shrill, weird laugh sounded, as if it were from hell.


    A ghostly white claw extended out from nowhere, piercing space and reaching Fang Yuan. It then grabbed and crushed the plume of light.


    Smack!


    The light plume exploded, but the pure power of light only deprived the ghost hand of a few patches of skin.


    "Ghoul Tyrant?"


    Fang Yuan stepped back and gazed at this powerful ghoul that had just appeared. The specter effect and light magic on his body suddenly vanished.


    It was a giant figure with huge claws and teeth, and it had summoned a large number of ghouls and skeleton soldiers nearby to act as cannon fodder.


    Bone spikes formed a crown on top of this tyrant''s head.


    Clearly, this was one of the three masters on Specter Ship, the Ghoul Tyrant, who had the ability to summon an almost infinite amount of cannon fodder.


    And behind the Ghoul Tyrant was another giant silhouette that was in a black cloak.


    Under the cloak, there was a skeleton decorated with seven-colored gems. It was holding a demigod wand formed from nine snake heads intertwining with one another, and the Soul Flame burning in its skull was giving off the light of wisdom that common skeleton soldiers did not possess.


    It was beyond doubt that this was a Demigod Lich, a wise and knowledgeable spell caster.


    The last one, the Undead King, was only a vague shadow. It stood aloof in the air, overlooking the scene indifferently.


    "Three beings at the Demigod level¡­"


    The Great Voyage World was protected by powerful rules, whereby any beings that exceeded the limit would be expelled immediately, causing them to be unable to interfere with the main world.


    Since these three could stay on Specter Ship until today, they had not reached the level of Fang Yuan''s original body.


    Despite that, they were still very fearsome.


    According to Fang Yuan''s estimates, they were equivalent to three Golden Immortals or Ancient Gods!


    Although they were no match for his original body, it would not be too difficult for them to kill this incarnation.


    "Specter Ship has the ability to travel across realms. If I can take full advantage of it, it may be the key to my original body''s breakthrough¡­ Of course, before I can take control of Specter Ship, I have to deal with these three undead creatures at the Demigod level¡­"


    Fang Yuan took a deep breath and suddenly gazed at the sky.


    He had been preparing to hunt Specter Ship for a long time, but why did he choose the Hell of Lightning as the battlefield?


    This was naturally because the geography here was advantageous to him. Moreover, he discovered last time that there was definitely some secret hidden in the Hell of Lightning.


    This huge secret was most likely associated with a dangerous Evil God.


    Right now, the aura leaking from his original body, together with Specter Ship, was sufficient to stimulate a sudden change in the entire Hell of Lightning!


    Fang Yuan''s idea was simple. He would lure this dangerous hidden being that had alerted his original body to attack Specter Ship!


    After all, he was on Specter Ship as well.


    "When you stare at specters, specters stare back at you!"


    The Demigod Lick gazed at Fang Yuan as its Nine Snake Wand emanated a mysterious light. "Decree: Shock! Decree: Death!!"


    Two streaks of light fell on Fang Yuan''s body. He was almost unable to move and felt the conviction of death.


    Fang Yuan laughed lightly and recited the name of his original body.


    "Dream and Armament Master!"


    A film of sinister crimson light emerged from his body and expanded to form sturdy armor with strong resistance.


    The Demigod Lich retreated quickly, looking at Fang Yuan as if it had seen a ghost. "You''re¡­ blessed by a god?!"


    "Yes. The great Dream and Armament Master blesses me!" Fang Yuan nodded. "I''m willing to make an exchange with Specter Ship¡­ If the three of you surrender and work for me using Specter Ship for three years, I will grant you freedom. How about it?"


    "The sin of greed will certainly drag you into hell!" the Ghoul Tyrant roared loudly. "Your blood and flesh will be my sacrifice!"


    "We don''t have to kill each other. If you surrender¡­ as the captain, I could remove all the curses on you and even¡­ give you the chance to get rid of your bonds with the ship and step onto shore!"


    In fact, these undead creatures on Specter Ship were very wretched existences.


    They could only sail at sea like homeless ghosts, unable to step onto land at all.


    "Impossible!" The Ghoul Tyrant disagreed immediately. "The captain of Specter Ship has to be undead!"


    But the Demigod Lich seemed to be hesitant.


    The reticent Undead King in the air suddenly sent out a thought. "Finish the battle quickly. A huge danger is approaching us!"


    "It''s finally here!"


    Fang Yuan heaved a long sigh.


    Rumble!


    The next moment, the Hell of Lightning, which had been peaceful due to the presence of Specter Ship, suddenly underwent a frightening transformation.


    Strong winds howled, torrential rain poured, and waves beat continuously. The ocean seemed to have been enraged.


    Most importantly, the lightning in the sky merged into a giant palm and pressed down.


    What a giant hand!


    It consisted entirely of lightning that had an inexplicable grand aura, blocking the sky and destroying everything, and the target was obviously Specter Ship!


    "As expected, there''s a huge secret in the Hell of Lightning. Is this an Evil God? Not expelled, but sealed? Furthermore, he can break through the power of the seal temporarily?"


    Fang Yuan''s eyes glistened.


    At this point, the most mysterious Undead King suddenly started to chant. "The eternal death is the destination of all souls in the world¡­ The undead fate possesses and surrounds the ship of specters¡­"


    Chi chi!


    With its chanting, Specter Ship went through a great change immediately.


    Threads of dark fog emerged on the ship and spread continuously.


    An enormous number of specters suddenly appeared in the fog.


    They were translucent, mostly wearing white clothes, with lifeless expressions and an indescribable aura of death.


    They said softly with a hoarse voice, "How sacred! The great ship of the netherworld¡­ you are the bridge joining life and death!


    "You transport souls and witness death!


    "Your glory is superior to everything in the world!"


    ¡­


    The specters murmured prayers like zealous believers, worshiping the ship as if it were a god!


    In fact, given the long history of Specter Ship and its terrifying reputation, if it had been a person, it would have accumulated enough to become a god!


    The Undead King triggered the foundation of Specter Ship resolutely. A giant black hand suddenly emerged and clashed forcefully against the lightning palm.


    The two god-like giant hands pushed against each other in the sky, and the black palm of death was even slightly stronger.


    Traces of the power of death directly diminished the size of the lightning palm.


    "Ah¡­ Who dares defy¡­ the authority of the Raging Thunder God?"


    Such a sudden change immediately caused chaos in the entire Hell of Lightning.


    Bolts of lightning danced wildly like snakes in the dark clouds and formed a grand human face.


    Its eyes seemed to contain the creation and destruction of lightning, giving off a bright light as it looked down.


    "Raging Thunder God, Aida Huna Inchester Borgou¡­"


    A stream of name sounded from the Undead King''s cloak.


    Evidently, to Evil Gods like this, even a name could be the gate to sacrifice. Therefore, the Undead King in the black cloak omitted the second half. "We have no intention of being your enemy¡­ But a thief coveting Specter Ship has to be punished!"


    "Understandable!" The giant lightning face smiled, but in the next moment, frightening lightning struck down from all over the sky. "But¡­ once I obtain Specter Ship, I can immediately break through the seal and leave this place!"


    The Raging Thunder God''s situation was very similar to that of Fang Yuan''s original body.


    Both were under some restriction, and both could partially overcome the limit and send down power.


    The Raging Thunder God was obviously greedy now.


    Countless bolts of lightning struck Specter Ship, reducing many low-level undead creatures into ashes.


    Only Specter Ship could withstand such attacks. Despite its dilapidated state, it was protected by the concentrated power of death and faith. If it had been Fang Yuan''s Fiery Lotus, it would have become dust within a moment.


    And even though Specter Ship was one of the legendary ships, it was having a hard time enduring the fury of a being whose ability exceeded the limit of the world.


    Numerous sparks bounced everywhere, leaving behind holes on the deck and the sails as they exploded.


    Other than the three Demigods, the other undead creatures turned into green smoke and dissipated immediately upon encountering the lightning.


    This Thunder God¡­ seems to have a strong desire for Specter Ship¡­ Could he have thought about something like this before?


    Fang Yuan was deep in thought as he watched this scene.


    His speculation was rather close to the truth.


    In the long river of history, there were records of Specter Ship entering the Hell of Lighting, but this Raging Thunder God had not broken through some parts of the seal at that time and could not send down much power, so he could only watch his target leave.


    But this time, the stimulation from both Specter Ship and Fang Yuan made him attack recklessly.

 864 Robbing the Ship

    The Ghoul Tyrant, the Demigod Lich, and even the Undead King¡­ were actually no more than high-level crew members of Specter Ship. They could at best be considered chief officers. Most terrifying was the ship itself¡­


    Amid the thunder and the undead, Fang Yuan walked leisurely toward the hold of Specter Ship.


    "So¡­ what do I have to do to take control of Specter Ship and become its captain?"


    This hold on Specter Ship was extremely dim, and green will-o-wisps covered the wooden walls.


    Upon closer inspection, one would discover that these flames sat on ornaments that looked like the bones of a clasped hand. The rug on the floor was very weird as well, seeming to be made of human hair.


    In conclusion, an ordinary person would faint upon seeing this ghost ship.


    Despite an Evil God crazily bombarding things outside, all was peaceful within the hold. There was an eerie serenity to the place.


    "In terms of true power, my original body can only project some of its powers. Due to the limited faith, the channel is still very narrow¡­ In contrast, the Raging Thunder God, despite being unable to leave the Hell of Lightning, can unseal part of his powers within it. He can then wield that terrifying power¡­ The difference in power is immense.


    "However¡­ if it wasn''t for him delaying those three Demigods, I wouldn''t be able to make it here."


    Fang Yuan hastened his pace. His hand pressed something casually.


    A headless knight that had appeared from the wall was pressed into the neighboring wall.


    "However¡­ even if I''m not as powerful as the Raging Thunder God, I''m not weak to the point of being unable to deal with these undead beings¡­"


    He looked at his palm. A thick layer of radiance gathered and illuminated the surroundings like a diamond.


    Behind Fang Yuan, a giant''s silhouette faded in and out of sight.


    It was his original body, which had been expelled from the world.


    Then, through the channel of faith and the special qualities of Specter Ship, a very special overlapping phenomenon occurred. The amount of power that Fang Yuan''s incarnation could borrow from his original body increased dramatically.


    "Scram!" Fang Yuan boomed.


    Suddenly, the Four Symbols of Earth, Fire, Wind, and Water materialized behind him and fused together, seemingly having enough power to destroy everything.


    Crack!


    The floor cracked open. Huge amounts of specters, zombies, mummies, banshees, and so on poured out from below.


    However, their expressions were still lifeless, and they were quickly reduced to ashes in the face of the chaotic torrent.


    Fang Yuan continued his journey downward and arrived at the Specter Ship''s core. There, he was met with a simple bronze door


    It stood silently in the darkness. The silence was immense and possessed a calming power.


    Vast amounts of specters surrounded it. Despite being illusions, they were nevertheless unnerving.


    "Hmm?" Fang Yuan covered his heart with his hand. "Even my original body is issuing warnings¡­ The danger could actually cause me to die!"


    He laughed as he approached the door calmly.


    "Oh¡­ Supreme Lord of Specter Ship!


    "Please honor your promise! Allow us to wade past the sea of suffering and attain reincarnation!


    "You will bear the weight of all life and death in the world and give guidance to the specters!"


    ¡­


    Numerous specters closed in as they chanted the holy words


    A pressure that was steadily growing heavier landed on Fang Yuan.


    "So it''s like that¡­"


    As he looked at the specters turning into specks of light that clung on to him, Fang Yuan came to a realization while starting to feel strained. "This Specter Ship was supposed to connect the netherworld and the mortal world, to act as a bridge for specters¡­ But for some unknown reason, it lost its captain one day and could no longer fulfill its obligations. The grievances of the specters fused into a curse!


    "The ship''s crew and those three Demigods outside are all creations of the grievances!


    "I must shoulder the grievances of this bunch of specters before becoming the Specter Ship''s captain¡­"


    Naturally, a single Specter Ship could not be in charge of all life and death.


    Fang Yuan suspected that the souls that awaited salvation were limited to the shipwrecked. There were definitely many other ''bridges'' and ''passageways'' in other places of this world


    Of course, the number of shipwrecked in even a single region would amount to a horrifying number given enough time.


    Even Demigods were unable to bear that much power.


    As a result, Specter Ship grew more and more terrifying as it continued to absorb the souls of the dead without sending them to the netherworld. Instead, their souls lingered endlessly in the mortal world, causing the crew members to become evermore bloodthirsty and crazy. It was a vicious cycle.


    "Regardless, even if a Demigod can''t do it, it doesn''t mean that I can''t!"


    Fang Yuan held the insignia of the Omnidirectional Divine Demonic Armament Dao as a confident smile spread across his face.


    Although he was merely a Magical Clone, his original body''s power rivaled that of a Demon God and had the intrinsic quality of indestructibility regardless of the extent of damage taken.


    "I will shoulder the weight of the souls of the ocean!


    "Even if I''m mistaken, I would lose a Magical Clone at worst."


    With this in mind, he took a deep breath and walked forward.


    "Holy! Our captain is a marvel that conquers the seas, sailing at the ends of night and day!


    "Our captain will send the specters of the sea to their destined resting place!


    "Holy, our captain, your name will become sacred!"


    Many specters sang as they entered Fang Yuan''s body.


    This horrifying transformation was immediately reflected in Specter Ship itself.


    "This is¡­ Specter''s Hymn?" The Demigod Lich was terrified. "That arrogant kid is commencing the inheritance of the captain!"


    "We must not let him¡­ succeed. Otherwise¡­ we¡­ die!" Ghoul Tyrant roared as he sounded each word loudly


    "¡­"


    "Ah! That damn bastard"


    In front, the face made of raging lightning was furious. "He who dares to use Raging Thunder God Aida must be turned into ashes by countless lightning strikes."


    Unfortunately, when he tried to board the ship in a mixture of fluster and exasperation, the Ghoul Tyrant and the Demigod Lich blocked his advance with large amounts of high-level undead creatures.


    "Damn it¡­" Aida flew into a rage. "Would you rather bow before that shameless thief, that despicable burglar, over me¡­ the great Raging Thunder God?"


    "The captain of Specter Ship can only come from the ship''s crew. That was our agreement!"


    The Ghoul Tyrant and the Demigod Lich joined forces and blocked Aida''s advance once again. "The Undead King is going to settle it personally¡­ That human won''t succeed!"


    "You fools!" Raging Thunder God Aida shouted at them. "Do you really think he''s an ordinary human? Would an ordinary human dare to sail to the famous Specter Ship and declare war? Would an ordinary human dare to jump onto Specter Ship and manage to survive until now? Would an ordinary human dare to venture deep into the specter region and uncover its secrets?"


    "¡­"


    The Ghoul Tyrant and the Demigod Lich exchanged glances, fear flashing across their faces


    "That bastard isn''t someone blessed by a god. He''s actually the incarnation of a god!" Aida transmitted hastily. "If you don''t wish to be enslaved by that man, your only option is to help me!"


    ¡­


    Rumble!


    At the same time, Fang Yuan reached a bronze door and pressed his hands on both sides of it.


    Countless ant-sized specters were covering his body, as though he was wearing thick armor. Nothing could penetrate it.


    Upon closer inspection, the specters seemed to be screaming something, and their hands were clutching Fang Yuan tightly.


    Even Blackbeard would not be able to save his own soul from destruction under such circumstances!


    However, Fang Yuan tightened his lips and steeled his nerves. With his will that was as cold as ice and as tough as steel, he pushed at the door nonchalantly.


    Crack! Crack!


    The simple bronze door grew warm at the touch of his hands and opened slowly.


    Fang Yuan found a great hall beyond the door. It had the structure of the conference room of a king, and black flags and insignias decorated the surrounding pillars.


    Right in the center of the room, there was an ashen-white throne made of bones!


    "The Specter Ship''s previous captain¡­ no one knows who he was or what had happened to him¡­"


    Fang Yuan stepped forward and reached the throne of bones.


    "One must bear the burden of the crown before wearing it!"


    Suddenly, something flashed across the room, and a black silhouette appeared above the hall. It was none other than the Demigod, the Undead King.


    Among the three ruling cores, it was the most eccentric.


    It floated in the air while repeating the same line over and over.


    "You¡­ Are you prepared?"


    "Of course¡­ I founded the Purgatory Pirates in order to purge the world with the flames of the Fiery Lotus!"


    Fang Yuan laughed heartily and sat down on the throne of bones.


    It was an extremely unsettling sight.


    The surface of the throne was made of numerous open-mouthed skulls.


    While sitting on the throne, he felt as though countless beasts were biting him. It was an extreme psychological test.


    "¡­"


    The Undead King did not speak but instead slowly descended.


    The black fog that had been surrounding it suddenly exploded and revealed its true form¡ªa black cloak!


    Whoosh!


    As soon as the black cloak landed on Fang Yuan, another intense transformation began.


    Bright green flames burst out spontaneously all over Fang Yuan''s body. Many specters shrieked, cursing Fang Yuan and the world before they perished.


    "The final test? It''s really something to be reckoned with!"


    Fang Yuan mumbled something and waved his hand. A layer of Fiery Lotus flames immediately appeared and devoured the specters and green flames on his body.


    "My grand goal is to use the Fiery Lotus to purge the world!


    "My grand goal is to become the captain of Specter Ship and bring order to the netherworld and the mortal world!


    "Ashes to ashes, dust to dust. Let specters rest in peace!"


    The originally intense Fiery Lotus flames turned absolutely gentle.


    A white silhouette being purified was vaguely visible. Its anger had subsided, and it was now qualified to enter the netherworld and begin a new cycle.

 865 Dramatic Change

    Nightmare Ocean, Blackbeard''s territory.


    At the center of this region was Blackbeard Island?¡ªBlackbeard''s base.


    After the military parade and review, Ettoman''s Invincible Steel Fleet had headed toward the Nightmare Ocean in a towering fashion.


    At this time, Ettoman was the most powerful empire of the ocean. Relying solely on brute force, it wantonly eliminated the pirates in the Nightmare Ocean.


    This Invincible Fleet''s primary firepower was the new ironclads, of which there were more than thirty. This fleet defeated the combined forces of the five admirals under Blackbeard''s command during an initial skirmish.


    Three of Blackbeard''s five trusted subordinates were killed in that battle. His favorite¡ªBlack Lasso, who was fond of skinning¡ªwas blown to bits by the huge cannons on the spot.


    After tallying, Ettoman''s fleet sank three first-level warships, seven second-level warships, sixteen third-level warships, and countless small vessels. It captured an incredible amount of prisoners as well.


    The large ironclads used this shocking power to announce their presence to the world.


    Any slightly intelligent sea merchant or country immediately understood that the situation at sea was about to undergo great change.


    Even as Ettoman''s main fleet approached Blackbeard Island, it still had forces to spare. Under the command of the numerous Royal Pirates, the remaining forces regrouped into a number of massive fleets that headed straight for the pirate ports and free ports.


    Although the main fleet was going to engage Blackbeard, the forces of Ettoman were so immense that every dispatched fleet had a first-level warship overseeing. Ordinary pirates were no match for them at all.


    All of a sudden, fear enveloped the entire Nightmare Ocean. Countless famous pirates were captured and hanged to death on masts.


    The pirate ports that once bustled with life suddenly became lifeless.


    In the Nightmare Ocean, only Ettoman''s flags flew high.


    Those lucky enough to survive either tried to head for Blackbeard''s main fleet to prepare for a final clash with Ettoman or were disheartened and prepared to leave the Nightmare Ocean and head into the depths of the Golden Sea Route.


    "Hurry up! We need to be there before the battle begins!"


    Atop a first-level warship, Orlando was in full dress uniform with a wig as he peered into the distance with a simple spyglass.


    "Report! According to the latest news, Captain Huchak has defeated the Red Rose Pirates and hanged its captain!"


    "Captain Dodoro has relayed news that he''s managed to take over Green Fragrance Island and has taken control of all its ports and shipyards¡­"


    ¡­


    Behind him, news of all sorts arrived continuously.


    "Map!" Orlando said and immediately spread open a map of the Nightmare Ocean. Pointing with his finger, he said, "This is Blackbeard Island. The main fleet has remained here all this time, tying down Blackbeard''s main fleet! Really outstanding move by Ettoman!"


    In the time that the two main fleets were engaged with each other, Ettoman had used its overwhelming numbers and a batch of conquered pirates acting as vanguards to raid pirate forces all over the Nightmare Ocean.


    After eliminating these pirates, the fleets would sail for the center and meet up with the main fleet at Blackbeard Island to form a giant net with one sole purpose¡ªcapturing the Nightmare Ocean''s pirate governor, Blackbeard!


    Even if the pirates realized what Ettoman was trying to do, they would not be able to do anything about it. The difference in power was just too vast.


    Ettoman was able to send out secondary forces to attack while the main fleets engaged each other, but Blackbeard was unable to.


    After all, his greatest force besides his own fleet was that of the five admirals, who had been defeated at the start of this war.


    He was as good as dead!


    "A textbook war!"


    Even Orlando could do nothing but admire Ettoman''s strategist after reviewing the situation.


    "Of course¡­ it''s only this time. After defeating or eliminating Blackbeard, the remaining pirate governors will definitely join forces. Maybe even elect a Pirate King to continue the fight with Ettoman!"


    Orlando pondered in silence.


    Admittedly, Blackbeard was unfortunate to have to face Ettoman''s new warships full force.


    Prior to this, the pirate governors did not know the full extent of Ettoman''s power and could still sit on the sidelines and enjoy the show, perhaps wanting to use Blackbeard to test the waters as well.


    This mentality had provided Ettoman with the initiative in this war.


    Compared to the other sea regions that lacked any substantial targets, the Nightmare Ocean that Blackbeard resided in was the most worthy to start a war.


    However, after this, there would never again be such an opportunity.


    "Actually¡­ the pirate governors should be reacting now. Regrettably, it''s too late¡­ Pirate Prince Edward was prepared to help and was the only one who could make it before the final battle begins, but Ettoman managed to call forth Specter Ship¡­ To resort to such cruelty means that it''s crucial for Ettoman to kill Blackbeard! Ettoman determined to use Blackbeard as a sacrifice to honor its flag!"


    Naturally, Ettoman did not have an effective way of controlling Specter Ship.


    The method it used to control the ship was extremely primitive and cruel.


    As the largest island kingdom in the world, the number of merchant ships and transit hubs that Ettoman had was first in the world as well.


    Occasionally, there would be leads to Specter Ship.


    In order to steer Specter Ship, there naturally had to be blood sacrifices. Merchant ships full of sacrifices that could fulfill the bloodthirst of the specters were used to lead Specter Ship to where it wanted.


    As far as Orlando knew, Ettoman had sacrificed no less than one hundred merchant ships to lure Specter Ship to the Golden Ocean. Nearly ten thousand slaves and sailors had been sacrificed!


    Unquestionably, even some countries would be unable to realize an operation of such magnitude.


    However, this great sacrifice had also managed to reap great rewards.


    Specter Ship sent terror all over the Golden Ocean. Even the Pirate Prince was no match, and he had had to abandon his plan to assist Blackbeard.


    There was no one left in the entire Nightmare Ocean that could help Blackbeard. The pirate governor of the Nightmare Ocean, the captain of the Blackbeard Pirates, seemed to be finally meeting his end.


    Of course, it would not be too hard for Blackbeard to escape by himself and even take Monster with him.


    But if he were to leave the Nightmare Ocean, he would have to forsake his roots, territory, military power, and so on¡­ He would fall from being a pirate governor to a pirate captain with a soiled reputation.


    For some pirates, this was a fate worse than death.


    Furthermore, anything could happen in battle. Blackbeard was willing to put it all on the line.


    "I''ve heard that¡­ all pirates in the Nightmare Ocean who still want to fight are heading for Blackbeard Island¡­ Arcane Trickster Roche escaped quickly and should already be in the Golden Ocean by now. Rest assured¡­ Even if the Royal Pirates were to rest, we privateer captains will surely be ordered to clear the way. There''ll be an opportunity eventually!"


    Orlando stomped the deck a few times, looking pleased with himself.


    The ship that he was on was the absolute main force in the days of wind-powered sailing ships. It was a first-level warship with three decks, more than two hundred cannons, a displacement of three thousand tons, and a crew of more than a thousand, and it could reach a maximum of twenty knots carrying all of that. It was absolutely a fortress at sea.


    If the past Octopus Marauder Team had such a flagship, it would have been over the moon.


    But now, Orlando had bought it from the navy for a low price using the wealth that he had accumulated over a few successful pillages.


    "By following the royal navy, I''ve gained a great deal¡­ Next step, although an ironclad is out of the question, it''s time to think about getting an extraordinary ship for myself!"


    Orlando pondered in silence.


    Ironclads were truly a formidable national-level weapon. However, it was too bulky for private use.


    Most importantly, even if the navy were to gift him one, he did not have enough trained sailors nor a new shipyard.


    In other words, even with a steam-powered ship, ordinary pirates might not be able to use it. Furthermore, he would be tied to Ettoman forever because the logistics were entirely under Ettoman''s control! Only if¡­ he built an entire supporting industrial system to accommodate the steam technology.


    The clever Orlando realized early on that, despite its merits, ironclads were simply too expensive to even consider.


    The kind of ship that he was suited for was still the first choice for all major pirates.


    "It''s a pity¡­ I didn''t run into Cecil''s great merchant, Formosa. I really did take a liking to that Mermaid of his¡­"


    Perhaps having caught on to his thoughts, the Pirate System broke its silence and displayed a quest.


    "Ding! Quest triggered: Great Pirate!


    "Quest explanation: How could you who aspires to become a great pirate not have an extraordinary ship that is compatible with your status? Take over Mermaid within three months! That''s right, that ship that can go underwater! Capture a giant octopus on top of that, and the system will reward you additionally with the title ''Deep Sea Hades''!


    "Quest reward: 2000 experience!"


    ¡­


    "Why does it have to be Mermaid?"


    Orlando would naturally not understand the system''s profound evil intentions. Instead, he was puzzled. "On top of that¡­ I need to capture a giant octopus¡­


    "Is¡­ this Pirate System customizing quests according to my thoughts? What does all of this have to do with the Dream and Armament Master?"


    He was utterly confused as he looked at his stats:


    "Name: Orlando


    Level: Civilian Level 5, Sorcerer Level 3


    Strength: 3


    Speed: 3


    Physique: 2.5


    Psyche: 6


    Identity: Privateer Captain (Under Ettoman''s command)


    Specialization: Sailing (Proficient), Firearm Manipulation (Proficient), Cutlass Techniques (Master), Battle Casting (Basic), Sorcery (Basic)


    Experience: 100 (Experience required before reaching the next level: 4000)"


    ¡­


    "Boss! We''ve reached the target location. Blackbeard''s territory lies just ahead!" shouted the pirate on the observation tower.

 866 Great Naval Battle

    Blackbeard''s territory.


    A massive fleet was slowly gathering.


    With over a hundred ships and more than ten thousand sailors, the scale of this fleet could definitely be considered enormous.


    The flagship at the core was Blackbeard''s ship¡ªMonster!


    The Blackbeard flag that represented the Nightmare Ocean''s pirate governor hung on the mast, waving in the wind. In addition, there were numerous other pirate flags along the periphery of the fleet.


    The pirates who really wanted to take the risk and fight had all already gathered here.


    This fleet was the last of the pirate forces in the Nightmare Ocean.


    With such a force, it might not be unrivaled across the world, but at least any country in the Opher Continent would not be able to beat it easily.


    Even the past Ettoman would not dare to brazenly fight Blackbeard in fear of obtaining victory at the cost of sustaining heavy losses.


    However, the gathering of this fleet now had a hint of solemness.


    "Captain¡­ the negotiator is back!" Blackbeard''s most trusted chief officer stepped forward. "He returned with Ettoman''s latest terms. They demand that we abandon sovereignty of Blackbeard Island and the Nightmare Ocean and retain only one colony. Furthermore, we are to turn over seventy percent of all our wealth! If we do this, Ettoman''s newly established Far Ocean Development Corporation will accept us as privateer captains¡­"


    Far Ocean Development Corporation¡ªanother new thing that Ettoman had invented.


    Colonial methods were too underhanded. Using official means to carry them out would inevitably leave blemishes behind, while private means would not have too many scruples. Furthermore, a company''s paramount objective was to pursue its own interests. Thus, its operations were simple and highly efficient. It could also accept a certain amount of private capital to participate in its business.


    "This isn''t a peace agreement, but a humiliating unconditional surrender!" Blackbeard suddenly stood up, and his iron leg produced a string of sounds on the deck. "Even if we fight till the last man, I won''t surrender! Pass the order down¡ªprepare for battle!"


    "Your will shall be carried out!"


    The chief officer hesitated to say something, but he eventually obediently retreated.


    Soon, Ettoman''s enormous fleet appeared in the Blackbeard Pirates'' line of sight.


    Taking the lead were dozens of black smoke pillars soaring toward the sky, like a grim reaper''s cage that was continuously approaching at lightning speed.


    An ordinary sailing ship could at most sail at twenty knots, but these experienced pirates only needed a glance to realize that all these warships sailed above twenty knots.


    Soon, a group of densely packed black dots emerged from the horizon and was growing larger, eventually turning into numerous steel mountains giving off incomparable pressure.


    "Their entire hull is made of steel. Even using our largest cannon, it probably won''t be able to cause any damage¡­"


    "The smallest ship is over a hundred meters long, not to mention its displacement tonnage. It''s practically a steel mountain¡­"


    "Even without doing anything, our ships would definitely sink if they collide into us¡­"


    The old pirates instantly gained a huge amount of parameters from observation, and their faces lost color.


    One would not be able to understand the terror of Ettoman''s Invincible Steel Fleet before seeing it with their own eyes.


    "What are you scum afraid of?" On Monster, Blackbeard''s voice could be heard from afar. "We are pirates! Free pirates! The rulers of the sea!!! Now, someone wants to banish us, the sons of the ocean, away from our home. Can we agree to this?"


    "Can''t!"


    No matter what, the pirates currently gathered here were still relatively determined to fight. Upon hearing this, they immediately drew their weapons and shouted. The extremely low morale due to seeing the ironclads slightly rose.


    "Besides, we aren''t fighting by ourselves!"


    Blackbeard continued his speech vehemently, "Golden Ocean''s Pirate Prince, Coral Ocean''s Merfolk King, as well as Devil Ocean''s and Star Clusters Archipelago''s pirate governors are all supporting us! As long as we obtain even the slightest victory and advantage, our allied forces will not hesitate to dispatch troops and tear Ettoman into pieces¡­ When that moment comes, all of its colonies and ports across the world and even its mainland will face the fury of pirates!"


    "Long live the son of the Nightmare Ocean!"


    "For freedom!"


    One could not help but admit that Blackbeard''s speech was quite provocative.


    The lowest rung of pirates was obviously unaware of the fact that the allied forces were nowhere to be seen at all and cheered wildly.


    Soon, the full view of Ettoman''s Invincible Steel Fleet entered their vision.


    Behind the thirty ironclads, it was thickly dotted with large sailing ships that were at least third-level warships.


    They were surrounding Blackbeard''s forces like an open pocket.


    The cheers suddenly stopped.


    Facing an absolute disadvantage in numbers and ships, only fools would believe that they could still obtain victory today.


    "Battle!"


    Blackbeard took a deep breath and drew his cutlass.


    "Roar! Roar!"


    Monster immediately roared and slowly sailed forward.


    A naval battle of the largest scale was about to break out!


    Swoosh!


    Right at this moment, a high-speed water arrow came flying over from outside the battlefield. However, it did not dash into the battlefield and took the stance of an onlooker instead.


    Only after the waves fell did it reveal the ship''s smooth hull and the flag that was famous across the Golden Ocean.


    "It''s Wanderer! The Golden Ocean''s Pirate Prince Edward is here!"


    This caused an uproar among the royal navy, but it soon quieted down.


    This was because Wanderer was only one ship, and it would not be able to change anything. Furthermore, it was only waiting from afar at the periphery and did not attempt to enter the battlefield.


    The pirate governors wanted to make use of Blackbeard''s fall to obtain more data on the ironclads. Of course, there was also the tacit understanding that it would be most ideal if they could deplete the navy''s forces to the greatest extent.


    Wanderer was quietly towering in the ocean with an aloof attitude.


    There was no one from the navy attacking it.


    After all, Wanderer was absolutely deserving of its reputation as the fastest in the oceans.


    Even the fastest ironclad now was still unable to catch up to Wanderer''s speed. If they dared to besiege it, it would only be embarrassing themselves.


    Even so, cheers could be heard coming from Wanderer.


    After all, from the pirates'' perspective, the Pirate Prince''s reputation had intimidated the navy, and thus they did not dare to provoke him.


    It was not only the Pirate Prince either.


    At the edge of the battlefield, numerous strange pirate teams were also quietly appearing and watching this battle from afar.


    These were all great pirates who were once famous on the Golden Sea Route, and perhaps there were even some low-profile pirate governors hiding among them.


    They all had extremely grave looks while gazing at Monster''s enemy.


    Bang!


    At the center of attention, the royal navy''s flagship, Fearless, suddenly fired its main cannon.


    Rumble!


    The entire ocean shook.


    The third-level pirate warship opposite had half of its deck explode into flames.


    "How''s this possible? It destroyed a ship with merely one shot?"


    Edward instantly became despondent after seeing this.


    He could not sense the slightest hint of extraordinary powers from Fearless. If it were an extraordinary ship that had fired a cannon with extraordinary powers, he would have nothing to say about accomplishing this feat.


    However, everything at this moment had proven that the ironclad had achieved this purely with the powers of technology.


    This was undoubtedly very terrifying.


    This was because the ordinary represented mass production.


    What if the number of ironclads increased to a hundred in the future, and every warship fired a similar main cannon at the same time?


    Cold sweat immediately fell from Edward''s forehead.


    Even with Wanderer, he was still uncertain if he would be able to escape the cannon fire''s attack range in a split second.


    "What if such an attack landed on Pirate King City?"


    Edward had viewed Pirate King City as an unsinkable stronghold.


    However, his originally impregnable confidence had wavered slightly after this.


    "We must join forces!"


    "Elect a Pirate King!"


    "Share data and information on ironclads!"


    "Everything must be fast. Otherwise, we''ll only be eliminated by this era!"


    ¡­


    For a moment, almost all of the pirates spectating the battle had such a thought cross their minds.


    "Captain!" At this moment, a sailor came over hurriedly with a strange expression. "There''s a lifeboat approaching. The man on board claims to be Vice Admiral Norton, and he wishes to meet you!"


    "Invite him on!"


    Edward rubbed his chin with a contemplative expression. Shortly after, he saw a middle-aged, Ettoman gentleman wearing the royal navy''s military uniform coming onto the deck.


    "Good day, Invincible Fleet''s chief advisor!" Edward laughed exaggeratedly. "What do you think would happen¡­ if I throw the man who planned this battle into the ocean to feed the sharks or kidnap him for ransom?"


    "Nothing much!"


    Vice Admiral Norton had distinct facial features and fox-like eyes. He laughed exaggeratedly after hearing what Edward said. "Such actions would only be deemed as challenging the royal navy and thus face an all-out attack from Admiral Philip! Besides¡­ you can''t be thinking that Blackbeard''s defeat is due to my plan? In reality, with Ettoman''s current strength, regardless of which pirate governor it attacked, the chances of victory are very high!"


    "Although it''s the truth, hearing it really causes one to be dispirited¡­" Edward''s eyes glistened. "However¡­ it isn''t like we don''t have the ability to strike back, such as Sea God, King''s Throne, and Specter Ship¡­"


    "Specter Ship? It still needs a captain!" Vice Admiral Norton smiled. "I''m here with Ettoman''s goodwill. As long as you pledge allegiance, the Queen is willing to pardon all of your crimes and issue you a privateer permit, and even let you become one of Far Ocean Development Corporation''s shareholders!"


    "You''re asking few pirate governors to surrender?" Pirate Prince Edward tugged at his collar. "Then I can tell you right now that Wanderer was free in the past, is free now, and will continue to be free in the future!"

 867 Ending

    Rumble!


    As the ironclads fired one round after another, Blackbeard''s forces suddenly greeted cannon fire.


    One wooden ship after another exploded under the bombardment. Before the pirates even had a chance to show off their bravery with their boarding battle skills, the cannon fire tore them to pieces and sank them to the bottom of the ocean.


    "Scatter!" Blackbeard closed his eyes and issued an order from atop Monster. "Scatter and break out!"


    In a split second, the pirate force suddenly scattered and tried to break out in all directions, much like a pack of wolves that had just lost its leader. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting.


    Despite knowing that taking this course of action was equivalent to admitting defeat, Blackbeard had no other choice.


    After all, if he were to try to stand his ground, all the forces under him could be eradicated.


    Furthermore, after dispersing and breaking out, the pirate ships would be able to demonstrate their strengths to the fullest extent.


    Pirates were, at the core, a free and undisciplined lot. They were the polar opposite of the disciplined military.


    The great battle transformed into many small-scale pursuits. The pirates would frequently counterattack with vigor, causing heavy losses among the first, second, and third-level sailing ships that were yet to retire.


    Naturally, in stark contrast were those thirty ironclads. They rampaged through the sea while pirates scurried to evade their wrath. Nothing but doom awaited those that were targeted by them.


    As the leader of the Blackbeard Pirates, Blackbeard was obviously prioritized.


    A total of seven ironclads were aggressively trying to surround him.


    "Faster!"


    Of course, as a pirate governor, Blackbeard would not simply surrender.


    As he tapped the deck of Monster, the entire ship suddenly roared, and it sped up multiple times. After evading a round of cannon fire, it smashed savagely into the blockade formed by sailing warships.


    "Crunch! Crunch!"


    Monster opened its large mouth and bit one of the sailing ships as though it were a snake trying to swallow a rat. With a toe-curling sound, it quickly devoured the entire battleship.


    Bang! Bang!


    Several cannons shelled Monster in that short period.


    However, as its body was far sturdier than ordinary wood and able to regenerate, it managed to endure the bombardment and carve a bloody path out through the sailing ships.


    "Are these the final glorious moments of Monster?"


    Despite the tremendous courage displayed, it was nothing good in the eyes of Edward, who was overlooking the battle.


    "Blackbeard¡­ What exactly are you thinking?"


    Monster was like a peerless general caught between two forces. Despite finding a way into the opposition forces, displaying tremendous courage, and felling countless enemies, it was eventually surrounded by the armored guards.


    Despite their clumsy appearance, the ironclads were actually extremely nimble in water, and they completely surrounded Monster.


    "The royal navy''s fleet commander must be Philip. He wanted to use these wooden ships that should have been retired to lure my attention and then surround me with the ironclads¡­"


    Blackbeard stood at the bow of Monster, looking at the scene. A cold smile broke out. "However, I''ve held back one of the legendary powers of Monster! He really dug his own grave this time!"


    After all, Monster was ranked second among the extraordinary ships and almost as good as legendary ships.


    Blackbeard was cunning. After getting his hands on Monster, he had used his magic to grant the ship an additional power.


    Monster came with the ability of Devour, able to destroy enemy ships and enhance itself using the pillaged parts.


    The legendary power that Blackbeard had granted to Monster was to accumulate the energy obtained by Devour and unleash it all at once. It was a terrifying ability!


    "Legend?¡ªAnnihilation!"


    After it devoured the final first-level battleship, the ironclads had completely surrounded Monster. Blackbeard raised his right hand and bellowed, "Experience agony!"


    Rumble!


    A layer of black light suddenly appeared on top of Monster and converged on Blackbeard''s hand. Its color grew richer and richer until it suddenly expanded.


    Buzz buzz!


    A formless wave swept over everything.


    All of a sudden, the decks of the ironclads that came into contact with the wave cracked, folded¡­ and eventually turned to ash, annihilated without a trace.


    "Abandon ship!"


    Bursts of flustered screams and scrambling erupted all over the ironclads.


    However, the sailors were too slow.


    Their expressions froze as soon as the black wave caught up to them.


    A gentle breeze blew past, and the heads of the statues fell to the ground and turned into sand.


    After the black wave left, three of the ironclads were severely damaged and began to sink slowly.


    "Long live Blackbeard!"


    "Long live pirates!"


    ¡­


    The pirates exploded into cheers. They were as excited as a dying man suddenly seeing a glimmer of hope.


    The God of War-like presence of the ironclads suffered a loss of three ships after just one attack from Blackbeard.


    It was, without a doubt, the greatest victory against the Ettoman forces thus far.


    However, Blackbeard was actually disheartened.


    This attack required a long recharge period. After the attack just now, it could not fire another for the next three days.


    According to his thoughts, he could have destroyed over ten ships if they were wooden ships. Even if they were ironclads, he had hoped to completely destroy the seven that were after him. It would have been an unforgettable lesson to the Ettoman Royal Navy. After he had rid himself of the pursuers, he would have been able to leave the battlefield at his leisure.


    However, reality gave him a cruel slap across the face.


    The defensive power of the ironclads was well over Blackbeard''s estimates. Sinking merely three ships had spent all of Monster''s energy in the Annihilation attack.


    As a result, not only could he forget about teaching Ettoman a lesson, he now had trouble escaping.


    "Fire!"


    After seeing three comrades fall, the remaining commanders on the other ironclads were seeing red and immediately ordered the counterattack.


    Bang! Bang!


    With loud blasts, terrifying attacks landed on Monster.


    Regardless of the toughness of the material, several holes opened up on the ship. Monster was like an injured animal caught in a trap and surrounded by hounds.


    "Faster! Breakthrough!" Blackbeard roared.


    Unfortunately, the equipment and energy that Monster had pillaged were all spent in the Annihilation attack. Even the ship''s recovery ability was hindered.


    After the successful attack, one ironclad rushed head-on toward Monster.


    Monster was a giant among the sailing battleships. Its size and displacement level were even greater than that of first-level warships. The same was true for the ironclads.


    Bang!


    With a loud blast, both behemoths vibrated violently.


    Then a huge gap appeared on the hull of Monster.


    "Aw! Aw!"


    Monster cried out like an injured animal. The bow suddenly raised, and its horrifying large mouth expanded several times like the mouth of a giant python.


    With a crack, it swallowed the bow of the ironclad that had charged at it.


    Creak! Creak!


    The toe-curling sound rang out once again.


    After a short while, Monster retreated on its own accord. A battered ironclad appeared, but cheers sounded from on top of the ironclad.


    In contrast, the pirates on Monster remained silent. Those with sharp eyes could even see several scars covering Monster''s bow.


    Obviously, Monster had tried to Devour the ironclad like it had the other sailing ships, as well as recover some energy in the process.


    However, not only was the ship huge, its sturdiness was well past Monster''s expectations, and it had lost numerous teeth.


    Monster''s plan to escape had failed completely.


    Unless Pirate Prince Edward intervened personally, there was no hope of survival. Such was the cruel reality of the battle.


    But would Edward try to save Blackbeard?


    Even disregarding the danger that Edward would have to put himself in, he would not save Blackbeard. They were not on good enough terms to warrant it either. After all, they had fought fiercely with each other many times before.


    "Attention, prepare for battle!"


    Blackbeard opened a bottle of rum with his teeth and took a huge gulp.


    As a pirate, he had long come to terms with the possibility of dying at sea at any time!


    As a pirate captain, he should sink with his ship even more!


    ¡­


    "A respectable opponent!"


    After sensing the signals and movements from Monster, the commanders of the remaining ironclads were impressed. That did not, however, stop them from issuing the order to attack.


    They knew that Monster would fight even with its back against the wall. As such, despite it being an extraordinary warship, they would not risk sustaining heavy losses to obtain it. Letting it sink was the best choice.


    The four remaining ironclads pointed their main cannons at Monster and fired.


    Rumble!


    Four giant explosions landed on Monster, sending countless pirates flying and meeting their end without a burial.


    Amid the gore and the flames, Blackbeard''s pirate flag slowly fell, declaring the end of an era.


    The navy''s wretched ''no contact battle plan'' allowed Blackbeard no room to use his magic. He could only watch as his ship was torn to pieces, and then he was thrown into the sea as well.


    Whoo! Whoo!


    While in great pain, he seemed to hear a horn.


    With his extraordinary eyesight, he saw shipwrecked souls converge one after another to a single point, as though there were a vortex there.


    A giant but blurry and translucent ship appeared, sailing toward him slowly. It was emanating an aura of specters that made one''s heart palpitate.


    Pirate Prince Edward saw the familiar mist that had appeared out of the blue and cried out in shock, "It''s Specter Ship!"


    "Specter Ship!"


    The royal navy had also noticed the uninvited guest. The sailors cried out in terror, as though it were doomsday.


    Splash!


    The mist dispersed and revealed a half-rotten sailing ship. It tossed out a rope that seemed to have a life of its own. The rope agilely caught Blackbeard and placed him on the deck.

 868 Plague

    "Cough cough¡­"


    Blackbeard spat out some seawater. He was in bad shape. The explosion had completely destroyed a number of defensive magic tools that he had on him. Now that he was on Specter Ship''s deck, its cold aura penetrated his body, causing even more damage to his wounds.


    After seeing several undead creatures close in on him, especially the Ghoul Tyrant in the lead, Blackbeard chuckled wryly and gave up any attempt at resistance.


    However, after he was brought before the captain of Specter Ship, his jaw dropped in surprise. "Why are you here?!"


    In horror, Blackbeard saw that Specter Ship''s captain, who was surrounded by various undead creatures, was the pirate who he had hunted down and had let escape into the Golden Ocean, Arcane Trickster Roche!


    In less than a month, he had transformed from an outcast to the captain of Specter Ship. The change was so fast that Blackbeard did not even know how to react.


    "We meet again, Governor Blackbeard!"


    Fang Yuan looked handsome and fashionable, even donning a Death cloak. He looked condescendingly at the pirate governor that had once hunted him down.


    After he had endured the tests on that day, he had automatically obtained the authority to become the captain of Specter Ship.


    All the undead creatures on the ship, including the Ghoul Tyrant and the Demigod Lich, were bound to his orders under the contract''s power.


    With them under his command, he had more than enough to escape from the wrath of the Raging Thunder God, who was not yet fully unsealed.


    After all, the opponent had not yet attained complete freedom either. In fact, he was unable to pursue Feng Yuan after he had left the Hell of Lightning


    However, even though he had obtained Specter Ship and the ability to travel across realms, Fang Yuan''s original body was unable to exist in the real world immediately. On top of that, he had to start fulfilling the captain''s responsibility¡ªguiding all kinds of shipwrecked souls to the afterlife.


    Otherwise, even with his intrinsic quality, he would not be able to bear all the grudges of Specter Ship for too long.


    According to the agreement, the two Demigods will only obey my orders for three years. After that, I will return their freedom to them. Furthermore, Specter Ship is responsible for guiding souls to the afterlife at all times. While it can be summoned occasionally into battle, it doesn''t really work as a flagship¡­ The average pirate won''t be able to live on Specter Ship either.


    Every living man on Specter Ship could very well turn undead after spending too much time on it, and even Fang Yuan would not be able to reverse the process.


    Therefore, I need to obtain another legendary pirate ship. Blackbeard will be useful in that regard¡­ Fang Yuan thought as he looked at his prisoner.


    Not only did Blackbeard have the last fragment of the treasure map, but there were the riches of the entire Blackbeard Pirates as well.


    They could very well have more than one extraordinary ship on top of that.


    Even if there wasn''t, just a portion of their riches would be enough to start building a first-class extraordinary ship.


    This was why Fang Yuan had saved Blackbeard''s life.


    "Fire!"


    "Even Specter Ship must succumb to the great Ettoman flag!"


    Victory had excited the entire royal fleet, and it decided to attack even after finding out that it was facing Specter Ship.


    "Spiritualize!" Fang Yuan commanded at the same time as the cannons fired.


    The entire Specter Ship instantly turned phantasmal. The huge cannonballs flew right through the ship and eventually exploded on the surface of the sea.


    "Pure physical attacks, while powerful, do have their flaws. For example¡­ the Spiritualize ability of Specter Ship renders all physical attacks ineffective!"


    It was a peculiarity of Specter Ship, but it was limited to only pure physical attacks.


    If the cannonballs had been Monster''s Annihilation, the only thing Fang Yuan could have done was to run away.


    All things had their strengths and weaknesses.


    "Lich! It appears that these sailors have taken our kindness for weakness. They''ve even forgotten to fear Specter Ship!" Fang Yuan said to the Demigod Lich as he sneered.


    "Captain, as long as you command it, I can remind them of the terror of Specter Ship!" replied the Demigod Lich with a weird laugh.


    "Okay, go ahead!" Fang Yuan waved his hand. Immediately, a dark green mist surrounded the Lich and carried it into midair. "Death Cloud!"


    A giant dark green cloud appeared and enveloped the surrounding ironclads.


    The poison was accompanied by the sound of erosion.


    Undead monsters released freaky screams as they floated about, killing the sailors who had drifted apart from their crew.


    "All right!" Fang Yuan no longer paid any attention to the battlefield and looked straight at Blackbeard. "Shall we begin our negotiations?"


    "Heh¡­ are you lusting after the riches I''ve accumulated over the years?" Blackbeard laughed weirdly, removed the seaweed on himself, and slowly rose. "That''s right¡­ As the Nightmare Ocean''s governor for so many years, I have indeed accumulated a huge amount of riches. Unfortunately, they were all left on those islands. Lucky Ettoman!"


    "Those are only the treasures from your public treasury. I don''t believe that you, as the leader, didn''t keep any personal treasures." Fang Yuan laughed mischievously. "Or would you rather I ask you after turning you into a specter?"


    As the captain of Specter Ship, he had even more ways to deal with specters than live people.


    Blackbeard''s expression changed immediately.


    Currently, his situation was not much better than dying at sea.


    The high-level undead creatures would not fear his magic. Furthermore, his greatest fear was exactly the situation that Fang Yuan had described.


    Blackbeard finally decided to spill the beans after staring at Fang Yuan for a long time. "Fine! I do have a secret stash. I''ve hidden priceless treasures there. If you let me go, I''ll give you the map!"


    "We''ll discuss that later! I need that treasure map fragment first!"


    A light flashed on Fang Yuan''s hand, and a treasure map with a section missing appeared. "Don''t tell me that you don''t know what this is!"


    "The Soro Pirates'' treasure map¡­ My god, you managed to collect three pieces of it?"


    Blackbeard looked shocked.


    "Pfft¡­ your slave trader subordinate had done many deeds behind your back." Fang Yuan laughed mockingly. "So how about it? You have to first present that fragment to me as a token of your sincerity!"


    Blackbeard''s face twitched as he reached into his shirt and tore his clothes apart.


    A treasure map fragment that emanated a curious radiation appeared on his hand.


    Fang Yuan grabbed it without missing a beat and put the two pieces together.


    A light flashed, and the two pieces slowly fused together. The lines on the map seemed alive as they moved about. Finally, they marked out the treasure''s location and a route leading to it.


    At the spot where the treasure was marked, an additional symbol that represented a ship also appeared.


    "According to the rumors¡­ the Soro Pirates left their treasures and an excellent legendary ship in the depths of where they hid it. That''s why I valued the treasure map so much¡­"


    Blackbeard could feel his heart bleeding.


    His fragment was crucial since it marked the treasure''s location. After collecting information, he had a good idea of what exactly the treasure contained.


    But now, someone else had claimed all the fruits of his labor.


    He was furious at the thought.


    "Plague!"


    The Demigod Lich was cleaning up the battlefield.


    After trapping the enemy inside the Death Cloud, it immediately used the Plague spell that struck terror into the hearts of pirates.


    In fact, in terms of pure combat ability, the Demigod Lich was leagues above Blackbeard.


    With the incantation''s sound, the royal fleet''s marines instantly started to foam at the mouth, falling onto the deck and coughing relentlessly.


    The more unfortunate ones even saw black spots appear all over their bodies and two egg-sized cysts appear under their armpits.


    "It''s the Death Sickle!!!"


    All the sailors started to scream in terror and back away at this sight. Some even chose to plunge into the sea and swim toward allied ships.


    It was obvious that the Demigod Lich''s Plague reminded the Ettoman marines of something extremely unpleasant, as they now looked at the Lich in fear.


    A massive translucent specter army also marched out from Specter Ship, killing marines at will.


    They were completely immune to physical attacks. Only attacks imbued with extraordinary attributes were able to damage them and make them disappear temporarily. Some of the specters were even able to suck the life out of the living.


    The ships immediately start to flee. An ironclad even hung up a white shirt as a sign of surrender.


    "It seems that¡­ I''ve taken things a bit too far!"


    Fang Yuan rubbed his forehead. He suddenly felt that it was a mistake to promise these guys freedom after a mere three years.


    It was not a matter of not having enough underlings but the possibility of them turning the world into a living hell.


    "Time to go!"


    He clapped.


    "Let''s go!"


    Like a receding tide, the white specters returned to Specter Ship.


    Under a thick cloud of smoke, Specter Ship slowly left the battlefield.


    "Investigate!


    "Why did Specter Ship appear here? Investigate everything!"


    After returning to Fearless, Norton saw Philip in a rage.


    Specter Ship was indeed unaccounted for, but it''s merely a single ship. It can''t possibly change anything¡­ Norton thought to himself. He immediately suggested to Admiral Philip, "Our primary course of action should be to take over Blackbeard Island and seize the treasures¡­ We need to remember to seize everything! Then we need to win over one or two pirate governors to our side using this victory. They don''t necessarily need to produce any results. Just a slight uncertainty on their part in critical moments would go a long way."

 869 Solomon

    World Calendar 667. It was a year of many happenings all over the world.


    The Ettoman Royal Navy had broken the the Nightmare Ocean''s pirate governor, Blackbeard, and began their monopoly at sea.


    They based their monopoly around ''The Influence of Sea Power'', which was written by a renowned economist and published in the same year.


    This glorious victory spread the name of the economist Donald and the ironclads all across the land of Opher, gaining both immense fame.


    Although both the Pirate Prince and Specter Ship had outstanding performances in that grand sea battle, the biggest winner was undoubtedly Ettoman.


    Not only did they crush the main force of the Blackbeard Pirates with a single attack, but they had also managed to destroy all the pirate forces in the Nightmare Ocean.


    The Nightmare Ocean''s pirates were history since then.


    The few that managed to escape had to continue to avoid the navy''s pursuit, a task that grew increasingly difficult with each day.


    Riding on this wave of success, not only did the island nation Ettoman take control of the Nightmare Ocean, they monopolized the entire Golden Sea Route. On top of that, the Ettoman Empire sent out many privateer captains to raid merchant ships from other countries, even attacking their lands. Ettoman did everything in their power to hinder the sea trade development of other countries.


    There was even a saying that went¡ª''Everything the sun touches is under Ettoman''s rule''. The Ettoman Empire was known as the strongest ocean empire.


    After taking control of the Nightmare Ocean, Ettoman did not rest content. Instead, it set its sights on the neighboring Golden Ocean.


    In contrast with the unpredictable weather of the Nightmare Ocean, the Golden Ocean was a utopia that overflowed with gold and spices. It housed many plantation colonies that produced wealth for their respective countries.


    In particular, the Solomon Strait guarded the route that connected the East and the West, and it held the greatest Ettoman stronghold in the Golden Ocean.


    The governor of Solomon Strait was an acquaintance of Fang Yuan and his beautiful prisoner''s father, Viscount Quaid.


    "Sunshine, beaches, babes¡­ pity there aren''t any bikinis¡­" Fang Yuan said with a smirk after ordering his subordinates to bring Elizabeth.


    "¡­"


    Elizabeth merely looked at him, too tired to say anything.


    Spending a long time as a prisoner had long since erased any temperament and pride that she had as a noble.


    "What''s wrong? Is Lady Elizabeth not the least bit excited? You should be¡­ for you are going to regain your freedom at last¡­"


    "Pirate¡­ what are you trying to do? Gods¡­ even if you auction me off again, I have nothing to say," Elizabeth mumbled resignedly.


    "Oh! I forgot to tell you. We''re now in the Golden Ocean. It will take us just a day to reach the Solomon Strait!" Fang Yuan said calmly.


    Elizabeth''s eyes flashed with life. Apparently, she had not given up all hope, despite what her appearance might suggest.


    "If there are no surprises, the governor will surely pay an immense sum to purchase your freedom! "


    "Rest assured. I have divined that Governor Quaid will agree for sure." The black-teethed witch smiled flirtatiously.


    Although she was not particularly beautiful, many pirates on board looked at her with lust in their eyes.


    These pirates are indeed like wolves, constantly craving battle even after gaining so much.


    A brilliance flashed across Fang Yuan''s eyes.


    Fang Yuan was the biggest winner right after Ettoman in that war.


    Just capturing Blackbeard was a great harvest.


    There were no bounties on the pirate governors because no country dared to incur their wrath.


    However, Ettoman had placed a bounty of a million gold coins and a viscount position on Blackbeard''s head, breaking the record for the biggest bounty ever put on a pirate.


    Naturally, since Fang Yuan had participated in the battle with Specter Ship and saved Blackbeard, his bounty had also increased tremendously. It rose to a solid seven hundred thousand gold coins and made his name known all across the oceans.


    Fang Yuan ordered Elizabeth to be sent back to her cell and ''invited'' Blackbeard over.


    "How is everything? Have your wounds healed?"


    Truthfully speaking, Fang Yuan''s incarnation was also a mortal at this time, so he naturally preferred Fiery Lotus''s environment.


    As for Blackbeard, placing him on Specter Ship when he was severely wounded was no different from killing him.


    Although he was now the captain of Specter Ship, the ship had long since grown used to operating independently of its captain. Fang Yuan only had to communicate rough orders through the two Demigod specters from time to time.


    Not long after, Blackbeard arrived with a cold demeanor.


    His feelings toward Fang Yuan were rather complicated.


    Technically speaking, Fang Yuan did indeed save his life. However, he was confined immediately after. Coupled with the fact that he had tried to hunt Fang Yuan before¡­ it really was a complicated mess.


    "What else do you want from me?" Upon seeing Fang Yuan, Blackbeard''s eyes darkened. He said solemnly, "Her father will probably agree to your terms and hand over the Sea God''s skin. Furthermore, he''ll probably let us through the Solomon Strait as well!"


    As Ettoman''s most important stronghold in the Golden Ocean, the defense of Solomon Strait was not weak by any means.


    Not only were there permanent defensive structures and cannon towers atop all the peaks, but a fleet of over ten ironclads guarded the area as well, and the one leading the fleet was a rear admiral.


    This setup would prove difficult to take down for even the Pirate Prince.


    "That''s right¡­ we must pass through the Solomon Strait before embarking on the route in the treasure map¡­" Fang Yuan nodded. "As for you¡­ rest assured, you are very useful to me. For now, what do you say to becoming a pirate captain under me? Ninety percent of what you pillage will be yours!"


    "Not interested!" Blackbeard''s complexion was dark as he rejected the offer.


    What a joke!


    As the former governor of the Nightmare Ocean, he would be the laughing stock of all pirates if he were to work under someone else!


    "Spit it out¡­ You wouldn''t be so naive to think that I''d agree. Why did you save me?" Blackbeard asked without beating around the bush. "The treasures of the treasure map don''t seem reason enough for you to wage war against the royal navy."


    "After obtaining the riches of the Soro Pirates, I will head straight for Pirate King City!" Fang Yuan paused for a while before continuing, "The rise of Ettoman has raised fear in the hearts of all pirates, so the next Pirate Conference will be held there! We need a leader to lead us, an assertive leader that will allow pirates to fight against Ettoman!"


    "You want to become the Pirate King?" Blackbeard exclaimed.


    The Pirate King was not someone who existed in every generation. On the contrary, a Pirate King was extremely rare.


    After all, it was difficult enough to earn the respect of the common lawless pirates, and it was even harder to earn the respect of the pirate governors.


    "That''s right. As a pirate, how could one not yearn for the position at the top!" Fang Yuan bluffed. "To become the Pirate King, one has to be first nominated by a pirate governor. Naturally, you have nominated yourselves in the past¡­"


    "So, you want to bring me to the Pirate Conference and have me nominate you?" Blackbeard smiled wryly and shrugged. "Then you might be disappointed. I''m no longer the Nightmare Ocean''s pirate governor! The pirates might not recognize what I have to say now that I''ve lost my territory!"


    "Haha¡­ The top rule among pirates is that there are no rules! I''m not as naive as you!" Fang Yuan waved his hand. "I only want your nomination in name!"


    "Nomination in name¡­ Hiss¡­" After understanding what Fang Yuan meant, even someone as daring as Blackbeard gasped. "You couldn''t possibly want to¡­"


    "Hush! Don''t say it! Don''t say it!"


    Fang Yuan had a bone-chilling smile.


    ¡­


    Beneath the moonlight.


    A few naval ships sailed silently toward a deserted island before lowering some small boats.


    "Those damned pirates¡­ how dare they kidnap my Elizabeth¡­"


    Viscount Quaid was a respected gentleman and a qualified politician who did not show his emotions on his face. However, he was rather at a loss today.


    Ever since he got word of his daughter running into pirates, he had been worried about Elizabeth''s safety.


    However, the pirates had only let him know that his daughter was still alive.


    He looked at the naval officer beside him.


    "Rear Admiral Jackson, I leave everything to you!"


    "Rest assured, Governor. After confirming the young lady''s safety, I will hang every last one of those pirates!"


    Rear Admiral Jackson was a handsome young man in his thirties. Upon hearing the governor''s request, he immediately patted his chest in guarantee.


    "No! What I meant was that we don''t need to capture the pirates. I''m only worried about our safety. According to previous reports, the last time Elizabeth appeared was in the hands of the great slave trader Heathfrey. It''s possible that she''s in the hands of the Purgatory Pirates now¡­"


    Viscount Quaid wiped his sweat with a clean white handkerchief.


    "You''re saying¡­ that the witch we encountered earlier is from the Purgatory Pirates?"


    Rear Admiral Jackson flashed a cold smile. "Then I''m all the more interested¡­ surely a mere Purgatory Pirates can''t stand up to our ironclads?"


    "No! You don''t understand¡­"


    Before Viscount Quaid could finish, the boat reached shore.


    They alighted from the boat and went to the center of the island. They immediately saw Fang Yuan and his group with Elizabeth in the middle.


    "My daughter¡­"


    Regardless of how skilled Quaid was at keeping his emotions in check, he cried out in excitement upon seeing his daughter.


    On the other hand, Rear Admiral Jackson cried out in shock.

 870 Sun

    "Specter Ship! Blackbeard!"


    Rear Admiral Jackson''s pupils shrank in fear.


    He was prepared for Fang Yuan, but Specter Ship and Blackbeard made him exclaim in fear.


    Despite hearing many tales about Specter Ship, the rear admiral still thought them mere rumors.


    He had thought that Specter Ship merely had some extraordinary power that allowed it to control some specters, frightening most average sailors.


    However, now that he saw the netherworldly Specter Ship in person and felt the chill that pierced his soul, he knew that the bloody legends were no old wives'' tale.


    In addition, Blackbeard, who was accompanying Fang Yuan, was the pirate governor of the Nightmare Ocean. Even after losing his forces, his prestige was still there.


    He could not figure out how the Purgatory Pirates had managed to recruit a pirate governor given their current capabilities.


    "My daughter!" Viscount Quaid was almost on the verge of tears. "I agree to all your terms. Return my daughter to me quickly!"


    He signaled his sailors to bring a plain crate over.


    "Jeeps!" Fang Yuan nodded and had Jeeps step forward. Jeeps opened the wooden crate to reveal layers upon layers of thick leather.


    The moment the crate opened, Fang Yuan seemed to hear the sound of waves. He knew then that the viscount had given him the genuine goods.


    At this time, Viscount Quaid was nothing more than a panicking father in his eyes.


    All right¡­ I''ve overestimated the Ettoman nobles.


    Fang Yuan chuckled to himself before focusing his attention on Mr. Jeeps.


    The old man was caressing the leather as though he were caressing the skin of his lover. His eyes glowed with love and seemed unable to put it down.


    After putting down the material in his hands with great reluctance, Mr. Jeeps said confidently, "I can guarantee¡­ this is authentic Sea God''s skin!"


    Back then, the majority of the materials were used to craft Sea God. It''s a surprise that so much remained. Could the real body of the Sea God be a sea giant? Fang Yuan wondered leisurely.


    Viscount Quaid thought that the kidnappers were unsatisfied with the ransom, so he clapped his hands. His servants presented a couple of heavy crates.


    Upon opening them, Fang Yuan could see that they were full of treasures.


    "Hehe¡­ great governor, you''re too kind!" Fang Yuan could not help laughing. However, he was not one to reject a gift, so he ordered his men to accept the treasures. "Actually¡­ besides the Sea God''s skin, we have a humble request¡­ we want to pass through the Solomon Strait¡­"


    "No problem!" Viscount Quaid nodded hurriedly.


    "A pleasant answer. She''s yours!" Fang Yuan pushed Elizabeth gently, and she stumbled into Viscount Quaid''s embrace.


    "Father¡­" The female prisoner could finally no longer endure and began sobbing.


    "Protect the governor!" Jackson issued a signal, and a platoon of marines rushed forward to put the governor and his daughter at the back to protect them.


    Jackson then walked toward Roche. "Captain Roche of the Purgatory Pirates, are you planning to head east after passing through the Solomon Strait?"


    "This seems unrelated to you?"


    "As the highest commander of Solomon Strait, it actually is related to me." Jackson smiled coldly. "As long as I order the cannons to fire, even Specter Ship wouldn''t survive!"


    "Great governor, what''s your take on this?" Fang Yuan looked at Viscount Quaid.


    "Although I''ve agreed to let you through, Jackson does have a point¡­ I can''t possibly issue a direct order to each and every soldier!" Viscount Quaid was back to his sly old fox ways.


    "Is that so? That''s a pity!" Fang Yuan shrugged. "Looks like we''ll have to meet again during Lady Elizabeth''s funeral!"


    "What do you mean?"


    Viscount Quaid and Rear Admiral Jackson took a few steps back in caution.


    In the faraway darkness, a few columns of fire appeared. They looked exceptionally bright against the pitch back night sky.


    They were the flames of steam chimneys!


    The rear admiral had long set up an encirclement!


    "We have no intention of waging war against the royal navy¡­ Great viscount, why don''t you take a look at the neck of that adorable daughter of yours? Well¡­ how should I put it? Before she left, my men added a small insurance on her neck!" Fang Yuan said softly.


    "What?" Viscount Quaid immediately pulled open Elizabeth''s collar in panic. He saw a ring of green around her neck, like that of a plant''s root. The color extended along her blood vessels and formed a ring-like necklace.


    "What¡­ is this?"


    Jackson''s face grew dark.


    "Allow me to introduce. This is a magic poison that my subordinate, Miss Cassenia, personally made. She is a witch¡­ The poison can kill an elephant in ten seconds with a dose as big as a fingernail¡­ Let me add that the recipes of a witch''s magic poisons are known only by the witch that made them. Even if you find another witch, you won''t be able to make the antidote! "


    Fang Yuan shrugged.


    "Very well! Rear Admiral Jackson, order your men to retreat!"


    Viscount Quaid suddenly stepped forward and grabbed Jackson''s shoulder.


    "Understood!"


    It was not until this moment that Rear Admiral Jackson realized that he might have underestimated this governor.


    He had another face hidden behind that of the caring father and qualified official.


    "I understand¡­ I will give you all of the rights to pass through the Solomon Strait. I swear in the name of the Queen!"


    Viscount Quaid said coldly, "However¡­ it''s only this time!"


    "Deal!" Fang Yuan nodded. "We will pass through tomorrow. You can send ships to follow us. We''ll hand the antidote over before we leave. Let''s have a pleasant cooperation!"


    "Hmph!" Viscount Quaid snorted coldly. He took off his coat and put it on Elizabeth. Then they left, surrounded by a bunch of marines.


    "Sir?!" Witch Cassenia stepped forward. "At my level, I''m not skilled enough to brew unique potions¡­"


    "That''s why the green color on Elizabeth''s neck was just some stubborn paint!" Fang Yuan shrugged. "It''s good enough as long as Viscount Quaid doesn''t know about it¡­ Besides, we investigated earlier that there weren''t any witches in Solomon. They won''t be able to figure out that it''s only a bluff in just a single night."


    "You really are a sly bastard!" Blackbeard concluded after witnessing the entire thing.


    "I will take that as a compliment, Mr. Blackbeard!"


    ¡­


    Noon the next day.


    All the citizens of the Solomon colony saw a curious sight.


    Ten ironclads and even more sailing battleships were ''escorting'' two pirate ships to pass through the Solomon Strait.


    Many exclaimed at this sight.


    Even the Pirate Prince had to disguise his ships as ordinary merchant ships before passing through, and he had to pay every single cent of tax.


    Otherwise, the only way through was by force.


    If that happened, the layers of cannon towers and solid defensive structures were sure to knock off the front teeth of any pirate who tried.


    The last option was to circle around and take a longer route.


    However, that was very uneconomical and filled with danger.


    Uncharted sea routes were filled with natural disasters and sea monsters. Less than a tenth of merchant ships survived. As such, even merchant ships backed by pirate governors had to pass through the Solomon Strait.


    Luckily, Ettoman did not go to extremes when checking for contraband. As long as the items were not too dangerous, the ships would be allowed through.


    They did not even dare to go overboard when collecting taxes.


    First, they understood the value of long-term corporation. Second, the pirates were not a bunch that anyone would want to upset. Not only was it possible that they could attack if pressed into a corner, but they also controlled many key transit hubs along the Golden Sea Route, including Pirate King City. If Ettoman was too strict in the Solomon Strait, the pirates could do the same in other parts of the route. In that case, no one would be the winner.


    However, today, two pirate ships passed through the strait blatantly. Furthermore, they were doing this right after Ettoman''s victory in the Nightmare Ocean.


    Suddenly, countless pirates in disguise sounded their horns. The Purgatory Pirates were now officially known in the Golden Ocean.


    ¡­


    "That''s it, that current!"


    Fang Yuan stared at the treasure map while standing on the deck.


    As an extraordinary item, the route on the map was also extremely strange and changed constantly.


    Blackbeard approached him from behind and asked, "The navy left?"


    "Yeah. I passed them a piece of candy as the antidote. What can they do about it?"


    Although they had released the hostage, poor Lady Elizabeth was still a weapon of Fang Yuan.


    Blackbeard looked at the sea. With a hint of unease in his voice, he said, "After passing through Solomon Strait, Ettoman''s forces will reduce dramatically¡­ We should be able to reach Pirate King City safely¡­"


    "After fulfilling your promise, I will let you go. However¡­ are you really not interested in the Soro Pirates'' treasures at all?" Fang Yuan wore a mischievous expression. "After all, the legendary ship Sun is among those treasures!"


    There were three different ranks of extraordinary ships.


    Even the flagship Monster was not in the legendary class.


    However, Sun, along with Sea God, Throne, and Specter Ship were all real legendary ships!


    According to legend, it had technologies from an unknown civilization on board. This technology was said to produce an inexhaustible energy source, and things like producing freshwater was a piece of cake. Most terrifying of all was the attack that used its fusion reactor to fire!


    This was the most powerful single-target attack among the legendary ships!

 871 Evil Demon Island

    Whoosh whoosh!


    A ship was speeding across the sea.


    Even without its sail raised, its speed was phenomenal.


    There were many secrets to treasure maps. A particular symbol, a few lines of poetry, or a riddle could all be crucial clues. They could even be the key to finding the treasure.


    The treasure map of the Soro Pirates was no different, and it hid many secrets within.


    One of which was a few lines of poetry in the bottom left corner. Coupled with the sea route, the map revealed an undiscovered current.


    Of course, it was a stretch to call it undiscovered. At the very least¡­ the Soro Pirates had learned to make use of it.


    "The region we just passed had numerous fatal hidden undercurrents. Normal ships go to great lengths to avoid it¡­ Who would have thought that someone could pass through it completely unharmed by riding this current?" Blackbeard exclaimed.


    Every truly safe sea route was the result of generations of sailors'' lives.


    For instance, the Golden Sea Route was the safest and fastest route currently known.


    Even the slightest change would require immense amounts of effort, along with incurring huge losses.


    As for this new route that used a current to pass through the undercurrent-filled region safely, there would surely be an uproar if news about its existence leaked out.


    This was because those unexplored regions were filled with opportunities. Of course, there was plenty of danger as well.


    Naturally, the voyagers of this era did not care much for the dangers.


    The only things that would make them put their lives on the line were their excitement of the world and amazing treasures.


    "By riding this current, our speed surpasses even the steam-powered ships. If we can maintain this speed, we''ll be able to reach the location of the treasure in a few days¡­"


    Fang Yuan checked the compass to confirm his direction.


    Then he snapped his fingers. "Bill¡­ take good care of our guest!"


    "Understood!"


    A few newly-promoted Ocean Warlocks were cooperating to control the ocean water.


    Bloop! Bloop!


    A massive black silhouette appeared from a big whirlpool filled with bubbles. It was a sea monster that looked like a whale.


    Its entire body was made of blue crystals, as if it were a mountain.


    Then it roared in a certain direction.


    A sea monster appeared in that direction. Surprisingly, it did not dare to fight with this huge whale and swam away, so they avoided some trouble.


    "Extraordinaries that can control the ocean¡­"


    Blackbeard was completely unfazed by what had just happened. Instead, he looked in Fang Yuan''s direction.


    Although Blackbeard had had some Extraordinaries under his command, exerting such control over them would have been impossible.


    Only Fang Yuan, who was able to turn an ordinary person into an Extraordinary using the smallest amount of resources, was entitled to command them at will.


    After all, making an Ocean Warlock did not require any stringent conditions to be met, and some simple preparations were enough.


    Even if the formula eventually leaked to the world, Fang Yuan would have amassed a terrifying force by then.


    This alone made him worthy of becoming a pirate governor.


    Combined with his abilities and ambitions, he was destined for greatness.


    ¡­


    A few days later.


    "Here we are!" Fang Yuan said after seeing a large island through his spyglass.


    The pirates immediately erupted in cheers.


    "It really is the island marked on the Soro Pirates'' treasure map!"


    As they approached the island, Blackbeard and even the pirates were able to recognize it.


    Part of the reason was that the island was extremely strange.


    There were two volcanoes, one on the east side and one on the west, that looked like the horns of a devil. Even though they were not erupting at the moment, they gave off a feeling of extreme danger.


    "Finally, Evil Demon Island!" Fang Yuan rolled up the treasure map. "Where the Soro Pirates'' treasures are! And the likely home of Sun¡­"


    Due to the lack of a dock, Fiery Lotus was unable to come close to the island. They had to anchor Fiery Lotus far away and lower lifeboats to approach the island.


    The pirates sang pirate songs as they padded orderly toward their target.


    Numerous coconut trees grew haphazardly on the island. Further into the island was a rainforest.


    "Let''s go! Be careful!"


    Fang Yuan opened the treasure map and pointed in a direction.


    "There''s no problem. The worst that this island has to offer are merely poisonous bugs and beasts!"


    Butcher went forward casually and carved out a path with his cutlass.


    All kinds of twisted vines and saw-like grasses melted away at his touch.


    He was like a tank that was carving out a road by crushing everything.


    "Light your torches! Be on guard!"


    After entering the forest, the light grew dimmer and dimmer. Fang Yuan''s expression also became serious.


    "This island is really big, almost the size of two or three Ettoman counties¡­" Blackbeard seemed to have thought of something. "We still need half a day to a full day''s worth of traveling left before we can reach our destination. This place has plenty of food and fresh water, so it should be enough for some big animals to¡­"


    Poof!


    While Blackbeard was speaking, Fang Yuan squinted.


    Several small darts instantly appeared in front of the crew.


    Butcher grunted as a couple of darts landed on his shoulder.


    "Damn bastards!"


    He growled. A blue glow seemed to emanate from his cutlass as he slashed toward the left, forming a crescent.


    It left a trail of destruction as he severed vegetation and ambushers. Blood and guts spewed onto the ground.


    After that, Butcher''s mountain-like body instantly fell over.


    This extraordinary strong man, someone who had promoted to Extraordinary, fell to just a couple of darts.


    "You¡­ chase the ambushers away!"


    Fang Yuan went to Butcher and lifted his eyelids. He nodded. "He only fainted. It looks like it was a high-dose tranquilizer¡­"


    In fact, if such a high-dose tranquilizer was injected into a normal person, immediate death by overdose was possible. Only someone with the physique of Butcher could survive without harm.


    As the pirates surged forward while roaring, Fang Yuan saw the faces of the ambushers.


    Dark skin, barely clothed, and various colors on their faces and bodies?¡ªthey were the aboriginals of the Golden Ocean.


    According to legend, they were a cruel and lazy bunch. They would make meals of prisoners and top it off with spices.


    They were lazy, sometimes not even working for an entire day. Due to the nature of the climate here, any seed thrown into the ground could be harvested after a year. Even if they did not plant anything, the fruits in the forest and fish in the sea were enough to fill their bellies.


    As a result, Blackbeard looked down on these aboriginals, and they were cheap when sold as slaves.


    As the biggest slave trader in the Nightmare Ocean, Blackbeard was very familiar with these aboriginals. "These aboriginals believe that the souls of their people will continue to remain with them after death if they eat their bodies! As such, many aboriginal tribes accept cannibalism¡­


    "Additionally, they worship their ancestors and heroic spirits. Naturally, there is also a mysterious existence¡­ Necromancers like them a lot. Therefore, the power hierarchy is often very complicated in big aboriginal tribes. And the chief, priest, and warrior captain will have conflicts with one another.


    "Generally speaking, these aboriginals are very territorial. Once you trespass into their territory, you become their prey and enemy for life."


    ¡­


    Blackbeard did live up to his name as a professional in the slave trade.


    With a mere glance at the prisoners and their equipment, he had estimated that this aboriginal tribe consisted of well over a thousand men!


    A tribe of this size had enough resources to support either a witch doctor or a priest. A witch doctor would be able to provide poison to help them hunt better, whereas a priest would have been able to communicate with certain benevolent beings.


    "A tribe of over a thousand?!" Fang Yuan found this information strange. "The Soro Pirates must have cleared the entire island before choosing this place to hide their treasures, right?"


    "There''s another possibility. He left behind these aboriginals on purpose to act as guards or¡­ clues!" Blackbeard smiled


    "This is¡­" Fang Yuan went forward with a glow in his eyes.


    The aboriginals could not put up a resistance against the pirates'' techniques. It was not long before they started telling them the truth with dazed expressions.


    Unfortunately, Fang Yuan and his crew were really unskilled with the aboriginals'' language.


    It did not take a genius to figure out that living on such a remote island, with ties cut off from the world for hundreds and even thousands of years, would result in some truly queer languages.


    Luckily, Blackbeard was with them. He could put bits and pieces of their speech together and figure some things out.


    As they continued to question the aboriginals, Fang Yuan''s patience wore thin. He grabbed a prisoner and made him lead the way to their tribe.


    The tribe was in a place called ''Qikenunude'' in their tongue, meaning place of magical manifestation.


    According to the unlucky prisoner, the stone huts that they lived in all used to be home to gods.


    Naturally, Fang Yuan and his crew scoffed at the idea.


    However, when they finally arrived at the settlement, they could not help but exclaim.


    Their field of vision suddenly opened as they left the rainforest.


    In front of them was a huge, continuous building cluster. Exquisite stone blocks formed equally elegant palaces, and even the roads were made of flagstone.


    The moment they saw the palaces, the pirates concluded that the aboriginals could not have possibly built this place!

 872 Ruins

    "This is weird!"


    Fang Yuan''s eyes gleamed when he saw this.


    "Using stone bricks to build houses is not something usually seen in Ettoman and the Opher Continent. Furthermore, these stone houses are a bit too small¡­"


    Blackbeard chuckled. "Unless the owners of these houses were small! I have rough guess already¡­"


    "Hmm¡­ I think I know too. This place should be the remnants of some ancient civilization that the aboriginal tribe found. As for which civilization¡­" Fang Yuan rubbed his chin. "They are short and tiny, but also very creative. The ancestors of dwarfs¡­?


    "If we assume that''s true, it means that the reason why the Soro Pirates chose this place to hide their treasure could be that they got everything, including Sun, from here," Fang Yuan thought out loud.


    "Dwarfs live in caves, especially those with rich minerals inside, so they definitely didn''t live here. Furthermore, the windows and doors are too small for fat dwarfs. Thus, I think it should be goblins!" Blackbeard said confidently.


    "Goblins?! Those skinny, dirty, and stupid green-colored dwarfs?" Bill said in disbelief before Fang Yuan even started talking.


    The decades of the Great Geographical Discovery was the start of the great discovery of races.


    At least for those knowledgeable and experienced pirates, they were already well aware of the fact that the human race was not the only race in the world. Many other races, such as elves and dwarfs, existed.


    All races had their own skills and talents. For example, elves were pretty and agile, and dwarfs were stout and strong.


    However, that was not the case with goblins. The first impression of goblins to all pirates was the same?¡ªthey were just like trash.


    They were short and skinny, stupid and inferior. They did not even have a proper language system. Furthermore, they were always very dirty and smelly.


    An ordinary dwarf or a human could easily beat ten of them.


    According to one pirate, goblins were a completely useless species¡ªeven the meat of their bodies was useless. Their bodies were not only rotten and smelly but also poisonous.


    If not for their strong reproductive ability and extremely short life cycle, they could have gone extinct a long time ago.


    "Right! It''s goblins!


    "Don''t always equate those green-skinned creatures with foolishness. In fact, they once had a glorious civilization. You wouldn''t be able to even imagine how great their ancestors'' ingenuity and craftsmanship were. It''s said that their research on energy had already reached the deepest essence of materials, and they were able to find god-like energy in the smallest particles. The Goblin Empire during that time was undoubtedly the greatest in the world. For example, the research on steam that Ettoman is currently conducting was one of the most basic ideas that it discovered in some goblin vestige¡­" Blackbeard said, revealing a secret.


    "But how did such a glorious race end up like where they are now?" Fang Yuan asked what everyone was curious about.


    "It''s because of wisdom¡­ they rose because of wisdom but also fell because of wisdom¡­" Blackbeard sighed. "I once found an epic that had an obscure description of this. I hypothesized that it was the god that the goblins believed in who took away their wisdom!"


    "Hmm?" Fang Yuan was even more curious. "How stupid could that god be that they would take away the wisdom of their own followers?"


    Faith came from wisdom. Once lost, the faith of an ordinary person would not be much different from that of livestock.


    "Emm¡­ how would I know? Maybe the god they believed in was a very reckless Evil God¡­


    "After all, their god''s name was ''the King of Insanity''. Of course, he was heavily wounded immediately after that incident. Ever since, no one has heard of him. It''s said that he''s already dead," Blackbeard said. "I think this should be one of the goblin branches."


    "Those sagacious ancestors who had built such a great empire would be so disappointed if they saw what their descendants have become¡­ Prepare to attack!" said Fang Yuan.


    Their enemy was over a thousand from a tribe. However, these pirates were not worried at all.


    On Fang Yuan''s command, numerous pirates roared and dashed out from the forest.


    Bloop!


    A leader in the tribe who had three wooden arrows in his mouth immediately stood up, waved the huge banana leaf in his hands, and ordered the aboriginals to counter-attack.


    Bang! Bang!


    The pirates smirked from a hundred meters away and raised their muskets.


    Lead bullets and white smoke poured out from their muskets. Blood spurted everywhere.


    A line of aboriginals fell. Wielding their cutlasses and steel hooks, the pirates roared and sped into the tribe.


    The pirates instantly killed the aboriginals who were daring enough to repel their attacks and then quickly started to collect the treasures left behind.


    They found huge gold nuggets and all sorts of pearls and moved them to a small courtyard in the vestige. After a short while, the items collected had already cumulated into a small mountain.


    "There''s an abnormally large amount of treasures here. If there isn''t a gold mine nearby, then the aboriginals might have dug out the pirates'' treasures."


    Fang Yuan walked to the center of the vestige with Blackbeard.


    Suddenly, a river of blood condensed in front of a stone house.


    The mutter of a deep, low, and mysterious invocation echoed from the stone house.


    Hiss hiss!


    Chi! Chi!


    Caw caw!


    ¡­


    Under the invocation, a horde of strange-looking poisonous worms crawled out from the blood river.


    There were poison dart frogs as big as millstones, spiders with eyes as big as human fists, and huge pythons as thick as buckets.


    "Sorcerer?"


    Fang Yuan was suddenly interested. He now knew where the tribe''s witch doctor was.


    "I will turn anyone who can beat our opponents into an Extraordinary!"


    Without saying much, Fang Yuan threw out a few detoxification bottles after promising the reward. Some pirates immediately charged at their opponents.


    As a great pirate, he did not need to do everything personally.


    Fang Yuan sat down on a rock and waited patiently.


    After a short while, only a few pirates had died. The rest brought back an old aboriginal man and proudly announced that they had caught the witch doctor.


    "Nice! Imprison their leaders separately, then interrogate them and find the information I need." Fang Yuan stood up. Actually, he was more interested in this vestige than these aboriginals.


    Before long, Bill ran back with a happy expression while Fang Yuan was examining the unique patterns on a stone. "We''ve found something! Although this tribe didn''t see Soro, they found gold nuggets, coins, and even gems in a river. However, the tribe thought they were just decorations because they didn''t know how to use them!"


    "Tell them to take us to that river. If they don''t comply, kill them immediately."


    Fang Yuan waved his hand, feeling even more confused.


    This place was just a lone island where few would visit. The landscape should not have changed too much since ancient times.


    So why did the Goblin Empire build this place without caring about the costs incurred at all? Fang Yuan wondered.


    Although those buildings are refined, they seem to be just housing for workers. Is the truth still hidden somewhere on Evil Demon Island?


    With these questions in mind, Fang Yuan and a bunch of other pirates followed the prisoners to a river.


    The water appeared to be slightly golden under the sunlight.


    "Boss!"


    Bill went into the water suddenly and returned with a gold coin in his hand.


    "This is a gold coin from Cecil! The image printed on it is King Sukakin III of Cecil!"


    Fang Yuan nodded. "Follow along the river!"


    "Woo, Woo!" the pirates shouted excitedly.


    They walked along the river and reached the source¡ªa dark cave.


    A large amount of water flushed out from the cave. The gold nuggets, gold coins, and gems made the water appear golden.


    "Let''s go!"


    Fang Yuan examined the cave, feeling a little bit confused again. The cave had a smooth oval shape, which was definitely unnatural.


    At this time, there were a number of Ocean Warlocks under his command.


    A few loyal and capable pirates followed him into the cave.


    The ground under the flowing water turned solid as soon as they entered.


    "Boss, something isn''t right¡­" Bill''s voice was tense. He lit a torch as they went deeper into the cave.


    The walls surrounding them became smoother and smoother and had a metallic color. There were obvious signs of artificial activity.


    "From how long we''ve walked, we should be in the center of the mountain now. It seems that both mountains on Evil Demon Island were made into some factories. They probably built their factories here because this place is well-hidden and¡­ perhaps because of the thermal energy in the ground?"


    Geothermal energy was very beneficial and convenient for the extraction of metals.


    If this mountain was a factory, then where they had entered from was undoubtedly the opening for sewage.


    The cave became more and more spacious as they walked in deeper.


    They gradually walked away from the water and reached dry ground.


    Crisp sounds echoed in the cave as their boots hit the hard ground.


    Tick! Tick!


    A dazzling red light suddenly appeared.


    Crack! Crack!


    The sounds of wheels echoed.


    With the sound of heavy footsteps, a dozen tall figures slowly emerged from the darkness.


    The torch''s light shined onto their bodies and was reflected back. With rays of metallic light shining, several metal statues appeared.


    Their shapes were very strange, and there were all kinds of beasts. The three largest statues had a sharp nose and long limbs, looking exactly like giant goblins!


    "They''re the metal guards of an ancient goblin!" Blackbeard smiled. "Congratulations Roche, you''ve found the vestige of an ancient goblin research institute!"

 873 Betrayal

    In this Great Voyage World, the human race had never been the master.


    In other words, the human race had never managed to conquer the entire world, whereas the goblins had.


    Although evidence of their existence had mostly vanished in the river of history, there were still some remaining?¡ªsuch as those buildings outside.


    However, those buildings only had aesthetic value and little practical value compared to the research institute.


    To be seen as a research institute, it should at least contain some useful information or resources from the past, such that one could infer how prosperous the ancient Goblin Empire had been.


    It was said that the reason why Ettoman could develop their Ironclad Navy in a very short period of time was due to their discovery of a steam research institute constructed by the ancient Goblin Empire.


    Looking at what Fang Yuan had discovered, it was much more astonishing. Not only was its scale huge, but it even had some metal guards left. Although it was unknown whether the Soro Pirates had reactivated the metal guards, it was still surprising enough.


    "What a pity¡­ Even though the full set of ironclad technology is here, it''s still useless. It takes too long for a completely different industrial system to catch up to this technological level¡­"


    Fang Yuan shook his head indifferently.


    Most important to him were things that he could provide him with immediate power¡ªfor example, Sun.


    "Roar! Roar!"


    The metal beasts'' eyes flashed red. They roared and leaped forward.


    "Block them!" Butcher shouted as he rushed to the front.


    Having been shot by the aboriginals'' darts and seeing that incident as a disgrace, he urgently needed to do something to release his rage.


    Suddenly, a few water streams appeared on his skin, and his body grew larger as blue scales emerged and covered his skin.


    Dang!


    He waved his giant saber, stopping one metal guard immediately.


    "Ovation of the Seas!"


    A few Ocean Warlocks combined their powers and activated the rings of blue light on their bodies.


    The water in the river suddenly boiled and split, forming a giant blue whale that opened its mouth to swallow a few metal guards.


    "KDPNGIL!"


    The last three remaining goblin guards, who were faster than the ordinary guards, mumbled in the goblin language and made their way toward Fang Yuan.


    "Bind!"


    Fang Yuan opened up his hands and released spider net-like blue strings from his fingers that then fell on one of the goblin puppets.


    Bang! Bang!


    The goblin puppet hit by the blue string turned its head forcefully and attacked another goblin puppet.


    "Your Excellency, I''ll leave the last one to you!" Fang Yuan said to Blackbeard.


    He backed far away, leaving enough room for Blackbeard to deal with the last remaining goblin guard.


    What a sly asshole! Blackbeard gritted his teeth in anger and surprise. This Arcane Trickster is too cunning. I need to be more careful next time.


    Of course, he was not scared at all. After all, he had been the pirate governor of the Nightmare Ocean and was one of the strongest pirates.


    He drew a thin rapier and dashed at the goblin puppet, leaving a hole smaller than his pinky on its chest.


    Whoo! Whoo!


    Almost immediately, a circle of black smoke rose from the puppet''s body, and the puppet became paralyzed.


    Obviously, Blackbeard had struck its energy source in that stab.


    Bang! Bang!


    At the same time, the puppet Fang Yuan was controlling broke down along with the other one.


    "Era of Ice!"


    The Ocean Warlocks attacked with all their energy. An extremely cold gale blew through, and several ice statues glowing with blue light appeared.


    "It seems that those metal guards were just flawed gadgets of the Goblin Empire!" Blackbeard walked forward and kicked the paralyzed goblin statue. "Maybe the Soro Pirates reactivated them to defend against pirates. However, they''re only useful against ordinary pirates. Against us¡­ heh."


    He suddenly stopped speaking.


    Fang Yuan had accidentally activated some mechanism while he was examining and touching a metal wall.


    Smack! Smack! Smack!


    Lamps lit up one after another, making the surroundings as bright as day.


    The whole place became clearer. It looked like they were in an immense karst cave, only its walls were much smoother and covered with metal.


    The strings of light suspended all around, shining brightly onto a conspicuous object.


    There was an enormous steel warship!


    The black steel warship occupied more than half of the space inside the mountain, oppressing everything around it.


    "Sss¡­"


    Almost all the pirates took a deep breath of cold air.


    Usually, the longest ordinary warship was one hundred meters. An ironclad, which was considered very large, was usually around one to two hundred meters long.


    However, this warship was at least three hundred meters long. It was undoubtedly the largest warship in the world.


    Most importantly, this warship looked simple and classy. It was made of some special dull-colored metal, and there was not a single trace of rust on it after so long.


    "It seems like this is the ancient magic warship ''Sun''!" Fang Yuan exhaled. "I wonder how they moved such a big ship inside!"


    The river outside was at most two meters wide, and the entrance was tiny. No one would think that the warship was moved in from that path.


    "Since Sun is here, it means that the Soro Pirates'' treasures must be on it!"


    Blackbeard''s eyes were filled with excitement. He walked closer to Sun and climbed up swiftly.


    It was hard to tell what this warship was made of, and the ship''s deck was densely packed with cannons that were so thick that they could contain human bodies inside, making their scalps numb from the sight of them.


    "Is there any other clue on the treasure map to direct us from here?" Blackbeard asked as he saw Fang Yuan coming up.


    "Let me see¡­"


    Fang Yuan took out the treasure map.


    At this time, all the original sea routes on the map had disappeared, and a brand new route had appeared.


    At the end of the route, there was the symbol of a key.


    "Sun''s key! The core?¡ª"


    Swoosh!


    Before Fang Yuan''s voice fell, Blackbeard transformed into lightning, dashed over, and grabbed for the treasure map.


    "Blackbeard!"


    Fang Yuan seemed prepared for Blackbeard''s sudden attack. He instantly withdrew his right hand, and the treasure map disappeared.


    However, Blackbeard did not slow down and went straight into the cabin.


    "From now on, Blackbeard is our enemy¡­"


    Fang Yuan released a deep breath. He had already predicted Blackbeard''s betrayal.


    Although Blackbeard was a famous pirate governor and had made a promise, his actions in recent days were indeed slightly abnormal.


    Keeping promises and obeying rules were nothing to pirates.


    Thus, Blackbeard''s purpose for sticking around, although he had shown no interest in it previously, was to obtain the Soro Pirates'' treasures, especially Sun.


    How could a legendary pirate not have his own flagship?


    If Blackbeard was able to get all those treasures, he would definitely have the power to rise again.


    Therefore, for the past few days, he had just been acting in front of Fang Yuan and hiding his true purpose.


    Finally, his true purpose was exposed.


    "Speaking of which, Blackbeard used to have a piece of the treasure map, so it''s reasonable that he''s done some research in advance¡­"


    Fang Yuan waved his hand. "After him!"


    To Blackbeard, this was his only chance. However, to Fang Yuan, this was just a normal adventure. The two were simply incomparable.


    Furthermore, the fact that Blackbeard had rushed into the cabin recklessly after seeing the treasure map made Fang Yuan''s life so much easier.


    After all, it was not easy to find a pirate as powerful as Blackbeard to help him clear the path in such a dangerous place.


    "He thought what he saw just now was everything, but too bad for him¡­ Everyone, follow me!"


    Fang Yuan chuckled lightly and walked into the cabin.


    Surprisingly, traces of light shone on the treasure map, and more information appeared.


    ¡­


    With the map on him and Blackbeard helping to clear the path, Fang Yuan moved forward effortlessly.


    He even saw a few broken guards occasionally. Blackbeard had evidently ripped them apart.


    At this time, Blackbeard''s only hope to survive was to get the key to Sun and become its owner as soon as possible.


    Otherwise, even if he could escape from them on land, he would still not be an opponent for Specter Ship at sea.


    Thus, Blackbeard went all out this time.


    "Tsk tsk¡­ Unexpectedly, besides being proficient in black magic, he also has outstanding fencing skills¡­"


    Fang Yuan was very confident that he could easily defeat Blackbeard, and he even purposely slowed down.


    The guards in Sun were mostly metal machines and not difficult to deal with. They were, at most, a small challenge left by predecessors.


    "Tsk tsk¡­ Blackbeard seems to have destroyed this special track. Be careful, everyone!


    "How could such a thick metal door be directly broken? He must have used either a forbidden technique or some consumable¡­


    "Look at that cutting pattern. It should be some type of laser trap. Blackbeard is indeed very powerful!"


    ¡­


    The more marks he left on his way, the clearer Blackbeard''s strength was to Fang Yuan. Fang Yuan gathered all the information from these marks and obtained a fuller picture of him.


    Finally, after walking through a sci-fi-esque gate, Fang Yuan and the rest reached the core power room of Sun.


    Inside the power room, Blackbeard stared at the silver key floating in a pillar of light greedily.


    "The key to controlling Sun!" His hands reached out. "As long as I can take control of Sun and its powerful cannons, nothing will be able to stop me!"


    "Blackbeard, you traitor!" Fang Yuan shouted.


    "Only an idiot would believe the promise of a pirate!" Blackbeard said proudly, though he looked dirty and sloppy. Without pausing for even a single second, his hands kept moving toward the pillar of light.

 874 Sun

    Buzz!


    A stream of burning light flashed in the air.


    Blackbeard screamed and quickly backed off, but his hands were already burned into coke.


    "Tsk tsk¡­ Blackbeard, you were too hasty¡­" Fang Yuan slowly took out the treasure map. "I knew that you would betray us a long time ago, so how could I still show you all the secrets?"


    "Damn it!"


    Blackbeard rapidly chanted a few spells.


    Several red meatballs that seemed to contain human bodies inside suddenly appeared.


    Splash!


    All of a sudden, the membranes of those meatballs broke, and human-like monsters emerged.


    "Ow! Ow!"


    They roared. One of them ran toward the pillar of light to grab Sun''s key, and the rest ran toward Fang Yuan from all directions.


    Zap!


    Light flashed in the air again, and the one that approached the pillar of light containing the key burned into coke.


    Seeing this, Blackbeard was angrier. "Roche, you asshole!"


    "What? You''re the one who cheated me!" Fang Yuan''s eyes widened, looking flabbergasted.


    At the same time, he waved his hands, and his pirate bodyguards fended off the incoming human-like monsters.


    "I''m really curious about how powerful the notorious Blackbeard is." He laughed loudly, drew his cutlass, and approached Blackbeard.


    "Arcane Trickster!!"


    Blackbeard roared. Cold streams of light flashed in his hands, moving at astonishing speeds.


    Clang!


    A rapier materialized in one hand while a shield protected Blackbeard''s other side, both sputtering sparks.


    Almost immediately, Fang Yuan''s cutlass slashed at the rapier and cut off its tip.


    "Blackbeard, you''ve revealed too many of your abilities along the way¡­ But how much do you know about me? Do you know what other powers I have?"


    Fang Yuan waved his cutlass as he leisurely walked forward.


    Although Blackbeard was not as strong as the Demigod specters on Specter Ship, he was definitely one of the most powerful humans.


    But under Fang Yuan''s psychological manipulation, he seemed at a loss.


    The power of this incarnation of Fang Yuan had not yet reached the Demigod level.


    Even with Fang Yuan''s main body sending power to it and Specter Ship''s support to further weaken the seal, it was still no more powerful than Blackbeard. In fact, it might actually be a bit weaker than Blackbeard.


    However, since Blackbeard had already used up a lot of his energy opening up the path earlier, and Fang Yuan was already clear about Blackbeard''s abilities from the marks he left behind, it was currently fairly easy for Fang Yuan to fight against Blackbeard.


    Once Fang Yuan attacked Blackbeard with all his might, Blackbeard immediately fell into a losing position.


    "Impossible!"


    Blackbeard looked in complete disbelief at the shield on Fang Yuan''s wrist. Fang Yuan was freely waving it about to block his attacks effortlessly.


    He roared, and his rapier looked like a hundred flowers blooming as it tried to strike Fang Yuan continuously.


    Ding! Ding! Dang! Dang!


    Sparks appeared on the shield again and again as Fang Yuan twirled his wrist, fending off those attacks easily.


    "How can you recognize my attack patterns?" Blackbeard said in shock. He jumped back, breathing heavily.


    "Because you taught me!" Fang Yuan laughed loudly and struck with his cutlass.


    Poof! Poof!


    After a few attempts to attack, Blackbeard gave up on defense and pointed his rapier at Fang Yuan''s throat.


    Fang Yuan did not evade, meeting the rapier thrust head-on.


    Poof!


    Blood spewed everywhere.


    Blackbeard''s eyes widened as a trail of blood flowed from his neck.


    At this moment, his rapier was already touching Fang Yuan''s throat, almost killing Fang Yuan if his rapier could have only moved a little bit further.


    However, his hands had no energy left.


    "I¡­ am not resigned¡­"


    Blackbeard moaned and fell gently to the ground.


    He was indeed unresigned. He would not have died if he had obtained the treasure map and if the tip of his rapier had not been cut off¡­


    Unfortunately, there were no ''ifs'' in this world.


    Therefore, he could only accept it as his body fell to the ground.


    Chi chi!


    After his death, those summoned monsters turned into a pool of blood on the floor.


    "He was also rather pitiful¡­ He did not even look at the map carefully¡­"


    Fang Yuan took out the treasure map and walked toward the pillar of light.


    "To the glory of Solomon and the sorrow of the ancient goblins¡­ All glory will become ordinary, and only the invincible steel fortress will continue sailing the ocean¡­"


    He threw the treasure map away after chanting the spell.


    Buzz!


    Almost immediately, the treasure map turned into ashes and integrated into the pillar of light.


    After some buzzing, the pillar of light scattered and disappeared. Fang Yuan caught the key as it fell from the air.


    "Sun!"


    Fang Yuan felt as if he was connected to a vast being while holding on to Sun''s key.


    This vast being did not have the same kind of intelligence as he did. Instead, it felt more like a high-performance computer, seeming able to adopt actions independently with just a few simple commands from him.


    Moreover, it seemed that there was a huge database within his access privileges.


    Though Fang Yuan ignored the rest, he managed to learn the goblin language.


    "My respected commander, Sun is at your service!"


    Fang Yuan heard the mechanical voice of a goblin in his ear.


    "Sun?" Fang Yuan''s lips curled up slightly at the corners. "I need to know all your details!"


    Suddenly, a data screen formed in front of him. At the top of the screen, there was a small model of Sun, and below that was all of its detailed information:


    "Sun


    Length: 32 meters, Width: 30 meters


    Displacement: 50,000 tons


    Status of Fusion Reactor: Good (maintaining 60% charge)


    Status of Main Cannon: 87%! Status of Secondary Cannons: 55%! Status of Hull Armor: 91%!


    Additional Battle Units: Goblin Rippers (27), Diamond Golems (3), Machine Engineers¡­


    Legend Ability¡ªEternity: This warship does not rely on other energy sources because the fusion reactor provides energy. The machine engineers will automatically perform ship maintenance, and there will always be freshwater in the water storage tank.


    Legend Ability¡ªBurning Sun: Sun can release 50% of all the energy stored in its fusion reactor at once to release an extremely powerful attack with its main cannon that can destroy an island. Attention: This attack will damage the warship''s hull. After each attack, the fusion reactor will enter rest mode for three hours to restore its energy. If the total energy of the warship drops below 20% during this time, the performance of the warship will decrease. If it drops below 3%, the warship will enter sleep mode directly.


    Legend Ability¡ªDiamond: Sun represents the pinnacle of machinery magic and can transform into a land-combat form. Attention: This mode consumes 10% of the energy reserves every minute."


    "No wonder why it''s a legendary warship¡­"


    Fang Yuan nodded in satisfaction after seeing this.


    ''Burning Sun'' should be undoubtedly the most powerful single-target attack.


    And ''Diamond'' should be the crux to how the ship was moved onto this island.


    "Summon the diamond golems!"


    Those traps and tests that the Soro Pirates had set up made use of only the lowest-level metal golems, and they did not even have many rippers.


    However, diamond golems were at a much higher level, similar to the fighter planes on an aircraft carrier.


    Under Fang Yuan''s command, a few shadows with exhaust flames behind them quickly descended.


    They were three warrior golems.


    Each of them was as tall as three meters. They did not look human nor goblin. Rather, they seemed to combine all the advantages of various body shapes and were designed into the most suitable structure for killing.


    Just by standing there, they released a formidable pressure.


    "Such power, although still a bit below a Demigod''s intrinsic quality, is absolutely lethal enough. But I''m not sure whether such purely physical attacks are effective against specters¡­"


    Bang!


    Before he finished, a diamond golem with translucent armor turned its hand into a sharp dagger and attacked in Fang Yuan''s direction.


    Poof!


    The sharp dagger stabbed through the black mist behind Fang Yuan.


    "Hehe!"


    The black mist dispersed and then condensed again¡ªit was actually Blackbeard!


    "As expected¡­ how could a pirate proficient in black magic die so easily?"


    Fang Yuan shrugged his shoulders and turned to Blackbeard''s dead body on the ground. "Did you abandon your body and transform into a spirit?"


    "Roche!" Blackbeard stared at Fang Yuan hatefully. "No matter how powerful Sun is, it''s only a product of technology. How can physical attacks hurt specters? It''s the same logic as to how ironclads are unable to hurt Specter Ship! Even though I''ve discarded my physical body, I will eventually make you pay for what you''ve done to me!"


    Toot! Toot!


    At the same time, glowing red light emitted from the eyes of the diamond golem, and a mechanical voice sounded, "DIE¡­"


    A few strange sounds echoed in the air. Butcher and the pirates, of course, did not understand anything. However, Fang Yuan was able to comprehend the meaning of those sounds.


    "Intruder alert!"


    "Attack attempt on the commander. Enemy recognized. Danger level: Three!"


    "Attack!"


    "Target is a spirit! Fulfills operation rule number three! Follow attack plan number nine-nine-six!"


    "Activating life energy field!"


    Bang!


    The diamond golems attacked once again. While their fists flew at Blackbeard, a few distorted light rays appeared.


    "Ahh!!!" Blackbeard''s vengeful soul screamed in agony.


    A huge hole appeared on his translucent chest. Black mist flew around the hole and tried to repair it, but it was a futile effort.


    "Idiot!" Fang Yuan laughed mockingly. "All substances in the world have the same essence. When pure physical attacks reach the limit, they can even destroy the entire world. How could they not destroy a spirit?"


    The ironclads were unable to damage Specter Ship simply because they were not powerful enough.


    Steam power was just an outdated technology to the ancient Goblin Empire. Sun was completely different¡ªit was the product of high technology!

 875 Royal City

    "No¡­ You can''t do this!"


    Blackbeard''s soul remnant was on the verge of collapse after being attacked by the diamond golems.


    "If you kill me, there won''t be any pirate governors willing to nominate you for Pirate King! Do you still want to be the Pirate King?" Blackbeard shouted, his face ferocious and his eyes red.


    "Idiot! Did you forget that the top rule among pirates is that there are no rules?!"


    Fang Yuan laughed lightly and waved his hand.


    He did not expect that this ambitious and ruthless pirate''s last words to be so weak and full of fear.


    Under Fang Yuan''s instruction, the three diamond golems no longer hesitated. They marched forward, grabbed Blackbeard''s soul, and tore it apart using their energy hands.


    Whoosh!


    With a loud scream, he disappeared from this world.


    "Sun!"


    After dealing with Blackbeard, Fang Yuan finally had time to closely examine the structure of this warship.


    Its details were completely illustrated in the model, and it showed that the Soro Pirates had chosen a few cabins to store their treasures. There were so many treasures that even Fang Yuan was surprised by it.


    However, considering the Soro Pirates were powerful enough to easily conquer the world with just a single warship, Sun, it made sense that they were extremely wealthy.


    Thinking of this, another question popped into his mind.


    What caused such a powerful pirate team to fall in the end?


    If they had only wanted to get enough treasures and then retire, they definitely would not have left such a huge amount of treasures behind.


    Unfortunately, there was no information on this, so Fang Yuan could only infer from what evidence he had at hand.


    "Boss!"


    Butcher and the rest were staring at the diamond golems beside Fang Yuan in shock.


    "Our exploration this time was quite successful¡­ The treasures left by the Soro Pirates are now all ours!" Fang Yuan laughed loudly. "As well as Sun!"


    "Woo, woo!"


    Bill and his subordinates waved their cutlasses and cheered.


    To them, Fang Yuan was an almost omnipotent boss.


    At first, it was Specter Ship; now, it was Sun and defeating Blackbeard.


    All of these successes made them feel that Fang Yuan was going to rise as a new pirate governor.


    However, Fang Yuan felt slightly alarmed and alert.


    As great as the Soro Pirates were, even possessing Sun, they still ultimately vanished from this world, much less him, who was still so weak.


    After obtaining Specter Ship, the speed of my main body breaking through has become much faster. If I can become the Pirate King and disrupt the World Thread, I''ll definitely be able to break through the restrictions and come to the real world!


    However, even if I''m able to achieve this, I shouldn''t be too complacent¡­ If not, I''ll end up as the next ''Sea God''!


    There were many Demon Gods in this world, but no matter how strong one was, there was still the possibility of death. The Sea God was an example. Even though he was so powerful, he was still killed and made into ''Sea God''.


    Even at the Demon God level, it''s still not safe. This is due to the limits of this world¡­


    Every being had different power in different worlds, even Demon Gods.


    And in this Great Voyage World, extraordinary powers were unable to solve everything.


    In other words, extraordinary powers would fail when outnumbered, just like how if there were enough ants, they could kill an elephant.


    "This world¡­"


    Fang Yuan sighed while gazing at the sea in the distance.


    ¡­


    Pirate King City.


    It was the brightest pearl on the Golden Sea Route and one of the most famous free ports.


    It was rumored that one could easily sell a crown from Opher, even if it belonged to the Queen of Ettoman.


    There were huge amounts of pirates, merchants, and naval scouts arriving every day, bringing about the city''s prosperity.


    Such a prosperous city was, of course, a thorn in the side to the royal navy. However, even the mighty Ettoman, who had the Invincible Steel Fleet, was not confident in attacking this city.


    The reason was that, in this city, there were not only a large number of pirates but also quite a few retired pirate governors that were still very powerful.


    Furthermore, this city was protected by a legendary ship, King''s Throne.


    King''s Throne was as famous as Sea God and Specter Ship, and it was also the flagship of the previous Pirate King.


    Its only legend ability was ''Sea Contract'', allowing it to form contracts with an infinite amount of sea monsters.


    The ocean was boundless compared to land.


    And the sea monsters were the owners of the dangerous deep sea.


    It was unknown what existences there were in the deep sea. It was entirely possible for children contaminated by the blood of Evil Gods and demons that could rival gods to be inside.


    Under King''s Throne''s Sea Contract, even sea monsters as strong as Evil Gods had to surrender.


    Of course, it was all hearsay that sea monsters of such a level existed.


    However, there were definitely Demigod-level sea monsters contracted to Throne.


    If not, Pirate King City would not have remained safe until now.


    ¡­


    Swoosh!


    A stream of white quickly approached a huge island¡ªit was the Wanderer.


    Pirate Prince Edward stood on the deck and looked at the enormous city on the island. He was filled with emotion. "We meet again, Pirate King City."


    Pirate King City spread throughout the entire island. Ports at the boundary of the island had an endless number of ships passing through every day, making the city flourish.


    In addition, the location of these ports would change at specific times every day.


    They could relocate to completely different directions or sea regions.


    Such special features were a good method to help pirates and merchants who did not wish to expose themselves hide their activities.


    Edward did not pay attention to this at all.


    He berthed his ship at a port and went to a conference hall with his subordinates.


    It was a mess inside.


    Various pirates of different races in torn clothes were waving their cutlasses and flintlocks and fighting each other.


    There was a round table at the center of the hall.


    Edward slowly sat down. Immediately, everyone in the room turned toward him respectfully.


    A merman even smiled and greeted him. "Good day, Your Excellency Pirate Prince of the Golden Ocean!"


    Merfolk lived in the ocean. They had human-like limbs, but their bodies were covered with fish-like scales and fins.


    Those with purer bloodlines looked more human, but those with complex bloodlines simply had fish heads, making them look ugly and scary.


    The merman who greeted Edward did not look much different from a human.


    If not for the faint scales scattered on his cheek, one could not even tell that he was merfolk. He looked like a graceful middle-aged human.


    Edward bowed slightly. "Greetings, Your Excellency Kingsman of the Coral Ocean!"


    This merman was clearly the Merfolk King, Kingsman, the Coral Ocean''s governor, king of Merfolk Kingdom, and the pirate who possessed Sea God.


    "And of course, Governor Balmain of the Devil Ocean¡­"


    Prince Edward greeted them one by one.


    The Devil Ocean''s governor was a human pirate. It was said that his research on ironclads was as deep as Ettoman''s and that he had already started modifying his fleet.


    Star Clusters Archipelago''s governor was a graceful and noble elf with a giant green bow on his back.


    He was the ''Wind Catcher'' Aeoris, an elf pirate who was renowned even among humans.


    And the last one was a governor from the East, Wang Zhi.


    They were all influential and powerful pirate governors from different regions.


    They had gathered because of the threat from Ettoman.


    As expected, no proper discussion could happen between them. Once they came together, they would definitely start fighting one another.


    "Ettoman''s ambition has to be stopped. If not, we will lose our ocean and our freedom!"


    Merfolk King Kingsman started the conversation, setting the tone for the conference.


    "Yes! We have to resolve the threat from Ettoman!" Balmain said coldly. "However, we need a bit more time. It''s not easy to defeat that Steel Fleet."


    "Don''t worry, Your Excellency. You''ve already obtained the techniques for steel ships¡­" Aeoris did not want to keep this secret for Balmain. "The longer we drag this out, the more beneficial it is to you, right?"


    "Rubbish!" Balmain''s eyes turned red. "Everyone knows that Pirate Prince Edward knows the most about steam-powered ships¡­ Not only does he have detailed specifications on them, but he also witnessed the battle that ruined Blackbeard¡­"


    The other pirates instantly became cautious of Edward.


    "Ettoman has approached, but what are we doing here?" Edward was disappointed seeing this. "I did find a goblin vestige, but there was very little information on steel ships. Even though I''ve already invested a lot into the research on them, it will still take quite some time to design a steam-powered ship based on the little amount of information I''ve obtained. By the time I design a warship, Ettoman could have already chased us out of the ocean¡­ So tell me, do you want this to happen?"


    Edward tore his clothes and jumped onto the table. His face was flushed with agitation, totally different from his usual self.


    "Of course I''m unwilling!"


    "Let''s destroy them together!"


    The pirates in this conference hall were not ordinary. Once they heard Edward''s words, they all agreed excitedly.


    However, a few governors exchanged looks and remained quiet.


    Nevertheless, they could not change the common goal of all pirates.


    "Including me, there are a total of five pirate governors here. We should first decide on who will be the Pirate King!" Edward said. "We shouldn''t fight alone, and we need a unified commander. If a king emerges, I''m willing to share all my research resources!"

 876 Harves

    "Pirate King? I oppose!" Balmain slammed the table furiously. "I won''t allow you to have control over Pirate King City and King''s Throne!"


    Pirate King City and the nearby sea region was the most prosperous place in the world, but no pirate governor ruled it.


    Instead, a group of retired pirates called the Pirate Alliance governed it. According to the ancient contract, only a true Pirate King could fully control King''s Throne.


    Otherwise, this legendary pirate ship would only protect Pirate King City and destroy all intruders.


    "Why not?" Edward smiled. "We''ve already witnessed Ettoman''s Invincible Steel Fleet. To defeat it, we have to combine the powers of at least three legendary ships, as well as other extraordinary warships!"


    "Extraordinary warships are relatively easy to get. Any famous pirate would be able to get one. Do you want to create an extraordinary warship army to beat Ettoman''s Invincible Steel Fleet?" Aeoris laughed.


    "That was indeed my thought¡­ Don''t tell me you guys never sent any spies to Ettoman''s factories to check on their situation! I believe that all of you should know that as time passes, even if we can build ironclads ourselves, it will be too late. By then, for every ship we build, Ettoman would have three out already!"


    Edward put his hands on the table and said solemnly, "Sirs, we don''t have much time left to hesitate!"


    "Three legendary ships¡­ you make it sound so easy¡­" Balmain shrugged. "Between all of us here, I think only Kingsman''s Sea God is worthy of being called legendary! My flagship is not worth mentioning. As for the rest, Edward, your Wanderer, Wang Zhi''s Five Mountains, and Aeoris''s Wind Chasing Leaf can only be considered second-rate¡­"


    "Cough cough¡­"


    Kingsman coughed lightly.


    His power was the greatest among the pirate governors. Once he started speaking, the rest became quiet and listened to him carefully.


    "For our freedom and our goals, I can contribute my Sea God for a while. However, even if we have King''s Throne, it''s still not strong enough to fight against Ettoman!"


    "Therefore, we need an ally¡­" Edward''s voice was serious. "¡­ Arcane Trickster Roche!"


    "Arcane Trickster Roche?"


    All the governors in the conference hall frowned.


    Of course, everyone had heard of this notorious pirate.


    Roche''s most astonishing feat was managing to become Specter Ship''s captain.


    Furthermore, he had appeared in the fight that ruined Blackbeard and was rumored to have rescued him.


    "There''s a vacancy for governor of Nightmare Ocean, and I believe that Roche will be interested. If we can elect a Pirate King and get King''s Throne under control, we''ll be strong enough to fight against Ettoman!" Edward said passionately, his eyes burning with fire.


    "The Arcane Trickster is a renowned pirate, but becoming the pirate governor of Nightmare Ocean is not something that we can decide. He has to seize the Nightmare Ocean himself!" Kingsman said loudly. Many agreed with him immediately.


    He possessed the legendary Sea God, Balmain had the most steam-modified ships, Aeoris represented the interests of the minority races, and Wang Zhi had the most professional fleet.


    "Absolutely not!"


    "You want to win over the Arcane Trickster by having him become a pirate governor and then getting him to recommend you for Pirate King. There''s no such a good thing in this world!"


    Obviously, the other governors were not stupid. They immediately thought of the possibility that Pirate Prince Edward had secretly partnered with Arcane Trickster Roche. Thus, they strongly rejected.


    "I told you before, Edward¡­ Don''t think that you can persuade them! They''re all stupid and selfish people who only care about rum and women!"


    Fang Yuan sighed and slowly walked into the conference hall.


    "Arcane Trickster Roche?!" Balmain immediately stood up and pointed his flintlock and cutlass at Fang Yuan. "A newly-risen pirate¡­ I could kill you in a second and send your dead body to feed the sharks!"


    "Indeed¡­ Regarding these colleagues, I also feel very desperate¡­" Edward shook his head helplessly. "Ettoman''s fleet has completely occupied the Nightmare Ocean and is attacking my Golden Ocean right now. They could attack my capital at any moment! But you guys are still¡­ so selfish, only caring about your own interests at such a critical moment!"


    "Oh, oh!" Wang Zhi shouted in some eastern language.


    "Wang Zhi says that he thought of a solution!" Wang Zhi''s translator raised the glasses on his nose. "As long as we can take down Roche and take away his control of Spector Ship, we will have three legendary ships!"


    "I agree!" Balmain shouted, looking at Fang Yuan maliciously.


    "I second it!" The graceful elf Aeoris also nodded.


    "If this is everyone''s decision, then I agree as well!" Kingsman shrugged and looked at Edward, ill-humored. "Our dear Pirate Prince Edward, what about you? Will you choose to stand on the same side as us, or help this pirate fight against us?"


    "My decision, of course¡­" But before Edward finished speaking, he suddenly backed off quickly and jumped out the window.


    Positioning complete. Burning Sun charged. Target locked. Firing!


    ''Fang Yuan'' suddenly changed into liquid metal as Edward laughed loudly. Impressively, it was actually a puppet.


    "%#$@! It was a trap!"


    The governors shouted and wanted to escape.


    Unfortunately, it was too late.


    Buzz!


    The next moment¡­


    Flash!


    A terrible stream of white light swept through the sky and instantly fell into the conference hall.


    Silver light flashed.


    Immediately after that, a mushroom cloud billowed upward.


    Sun''s main cannon¡ªlegend ability Burning Sun!


    The most powerful single-target attack had suddenly arrived at this place.


    "Burning Sun is quite formidable. It can even aim at a specific location and accurately attack the target!"


    From outside the venue, the real Fang Yuan walked over while sweeping the dust off his shoulders, and then he pulled Edward out from the debris. "Are you okay?"


    "I won''t die!" Edward''s face was full of dust, and he was coughing slightly. "If you didn''t have Sun, I definitely wouldn''t have chosen to cooperate with you!"


    "Both you and I don''t wish to see the glory of pirates vanish in history. To achieve this, the only way is to have a leader and for everyone to have a common goal!" Fang Yuan was solemn. "Other than that, there''s no other choice! Furthermore, after we''re done here, we will possess Sea God and even the King''s Throne! That''s more than enough for you to complete your plan!"


    "Complete?"


    Edward stared at the debris and started questioning himself.


    At this moment, the enormous pirate conference hall had disappeared. What was left was only a deep and giant hole in the ground. It was so deep, it was as if it could reach the center of the world.


    "In this situation, can they survive?"


    Edward''s expression was wooden.


    "Of course¡­ The world always likes to play with us, and we have to take all possible situations into account." Fang Yuan laughed loudly. "But¡­ I think our most important issue right now is to think about how to deal with Pirate King City''s anger!"


    Pirate King City forbade internal strife and large-scale attacks.


    Otherwise, the Pirate Alliance would issue punishments.


    This was a strong deterrence to the governors because the Pirate Alliance had partial control over King''s Throne.


    "If there are some governors still alive, it will be difficult for us to deal with¡­" Edward frowned. "Pirates without a leader are a pile of loose sand. I''m confident that I can take over their fleets, but if there''s someone competing with me, it''ll be a different story¡­"


    "Pirate Prince, do you want to explain yourself?"


    Finally, the explosion subsided, and a large number of pirates arrived.


    Compared to ordinary pirates, they looked more professional, even having unified weapons and clothes.


    "Pirates are pirates. They can never form a true army!"


    Seeing this, Edward''s face changed. "They''re the protectors of Pirate King City and can''t be underestimated! But my people will soon come to help us! We need to be careful about those older pirates hiding in the back. They''re very strong, especially when they work together. There are even some retired pirate governors who might want to take this opportunity to stage a comeback!"


    "Don''t worry¡­ They have no chance at all! This Pirate King City has been at peace for too long, and it''s too dependent on the protection of a legendary pirate ship," Fang Yuan said scornfully.


    Speaking of this, those pirate governors and their henchmen were really unlucky.


    They died simply because they trusted the security of Pirate King City too much.


    It was indeed detrimental when rebellious pirates suddenly started to obey rules.


    These guards in black looked gloomy. The old pirate in front lifted his hood and smirked. "How dare you break the rules of Pirate King City! Your eyes and hearts will be dug out, your souls will be cursed to stay in your rotten bodies forever, and your bodies will be hung on the walls of Pirate King City to feed the crows!"


    "Wow¡­ I''m so scared!"


    Fang Yuan shrugged.


    At that moment, the Pirate Prince and his subordinates went forward and stood directly opposite the guards.


    "Quickly head to the port! Otherwise, it''ll be difficult for us to escape once King''s Throne comes!"


    Edward looked anxious.


    "No one will be able to escape¡­ and King''s Throne has already been dispatched!"


    The old pirate looked malicious and mysterious.


    The next moment¡­


    Poof!


    The ground quaked. A fountain of blood erupted into the sky.

 877 Attack

    "Roar! Roar!"


    All of Pirate King City seemed to come alive in an instant.


    The ground trembled, cracking layer upon layer. From within, a roar that sounded as though it came from ancient times boomed.


    Countless pirates and merchants were seized with panic while trying to escape, but they had no idea where to go.


    This was because the tremors were affecting the entire island.


    Even the port had an enormous whirlpool emerge. It was like a black hole that was engulfing large amounts of seawater and ships.


    Edward seemed to recall something. "Looks like¡­ the rumors are true. Pirate King City is built on the body of an immensely enormous sea monster¡­"


    "Heh¡­ That''s indeed the case. All of Pirate King City is built on an island turtle. An ordinary island turtle already has an enormous body, but this Island Turtle King is like a gigantic island and sleeps for over a hundred years each time¡­ After making a contract with King''s Throne, it became the cornerstone of Pirate King City!"


    The old pirate, who was the commander of the guards, sneered. "You''re currently on our territory¡­ and still dared to wantonly trample the rules. We guardians will let you know the wrath of pirates!"


    "Hehe¡­" Fang Yuan remained calm amid the tremors and had a mocking look on his face when he looked at the old pirate. "A bunch of retired old fogeys who still want to be at the front of the stage. Do you think being a pirate is like a child playing pretend? Dream on!"


    The old pirate''s expression turned cold. "When the Island Turtle King completely awakens and reinforcements arrive, I hope you''re still able to laugh¡­"


    At that moment, the gem on the necklace in front of his chest twinkled. Suddenly, it projected a screen that showed a few old pirates around a round table.


    "Golden Ocean''s Pirate Governor Edward and Arcane Trickster Roche¡­ Due to your actions, you shall face the wrath of the entire Pirate King City¡­ in the name of the Pirate Alliance and Pirate King City''s guardians!"


    "Noisy!"


    Fang Yuan pounced forward and stretched out his hand, immediately grabbing the necklace.


    The commander of the old pirates retreated into the crowd and roared, "Kill them!"


    Kaboom!


    The ground shook even more violently.


    Amid the loud bangs, the ground split open, and a couple of enormous creatures climbed out.


    They were creatures that lived on the Island Turtle King''s body, and they had a relationship that was similar to hippopotamuses and Egyptian plovers. Because they felt the Island Turtle King''s wrath, they immediately appeared and attacked Fang Yuan.


    ¡­


    At the same time, in a secret room¡­


    Like old wolves gathering together, a few old pirates with a glint of cunningness in their eyes sat in a circle.


    "Those pirate governors were too careless! To think they actually fell prey to Edward and Roche''s plot!"


    "I sensed ripples in space. It shouldn''t be complete annihilation. There should be a few who slipped through the net¡­"


    "That doesn''t matter. We must immediately deal with Edward and Roche to uphold the dignity of our Pirate King City¡­"


    "We''ve already woken up the Island Turtle King, and the ships docked at the port are unable to move, aside from legendary pirate ships of course¡­ If by any chance Kingsman is still alive and he returns to Sea God, that will be greatly troublesome!"


    "So what if it''s troublesome? We must deal with it! Pirates can''t be in disunity, and the ultimate decision-maker must be us!"


    "Yes, first kill Edward and that Roche, then snatch and take possession of all of the legendary pirate ships!"


    "Immediately activate King''s Throne. Even if we only have partial control over it, we can still order the sea monsters to crush these audacious pirates¡­"


    ¡­


    Numerous resolutions were formed and sent out through various channels.


    They were the behind-the-scenes masters of Pirate King City, the five elders who truly had supreme authority over the Pirate Alliance.


    Some of them were even retired pirate governors.


    They did not have good impressions of Edward and Fang Yuan, these two youngsters who were in a rush to seize power.


    So naturally, they had to muster all strength to eliminate them.


    Some of their eyes were even emitting flames.


    The loyalty of pirates was a joke.


    Edward was confident he could take over the pirate governors'' remaining forces, and of course, so were they.


    As long as they got rid of Edward and Fang Yuan, these two last unstable factors, and subdued the pirates that had luckily escaped, Pirate King City could immediately unify the oceans and become the true king of pirates!


    On this thought, even for them, they could not help having their eyes turn red and their breaths become heavy.


    At this moment, a crystal on the wooden table in the meeting room suddenly shattered.


    They were in the dark about the situation on the battlefield.


    "They think that by destroying a surveillance eye that we would have no other means?"


    One of the old pirates had a gloomy expression and pressed a mechanism on one of his crutches.


    Immediately, an even clearer screen emerged in front of the old men.


    "This is¡­"


    On the screen, Arcane Trickster Roche was strolling confidently with a necklace in his hands while sea monsters attacked him from all sides. He looked over with delight as though he had seen his prey. "Found it!"


    "Found¡­ what?"


    The five pirate elders exchanged glances, their hearts palpitating with uneasiness.


    Kaboom!


    The next moment, an enormous steel foot stomped on the roof, and the roof came crashing down.


    These old fellows dodged too late and instantly became a pile of mincemeat.


    But even if they survived, they would still be buried alive in the wreckage.


    Bang! Bang!


    An enormous steel fist landed right after. It was like a pile driver, smashing the original secret room into a huge hole in an instant.


    The five pirate elders definitely had their skeletons turn into dust and their flesh into pulp.


    Whoosh! Whoosh!


    The enormous fist moved away.


    Only now could it be seen that it was from a steel giant that was several hundred meters tall.


    The giant took a step, and with a jump, it crossed over Pirate King City''s city walls. The crowd was seized with panic, as if they were experiencing a natural disaster.


    Although there were still guards that kept to their duty, ordinary cannons and firearms could not even leave a mark on the steel giant.


    Sun''s legend ability¡ªDiamond!


    This ability allowed the Sun to transform into a steel giant that could fight on land.


    After defeating the five pirate elders in one move, the Sun Giant headed toward the governors'' conference hall and pressed down with its hands.


    Crack!


    It grabbed a sea monster''s neck and twisted it, leaving a huge corpse lying on the ground.


    "It''s done?!"


    It did a sweep across all directions and then extended a palm to bring Fang Yuan and Edward onto its shoulders.


    "Boss!"


    Butcher and his other loyal subordinates were already waiting there, and they broke into a grin. "We found the Pirate Alliance and wiped them out."


    "Well done!" Fang Yuan nodded but also felt some regret. Unfortunately, it wasn''t in the Creator Space. Otherwise, with the governors'' deaths earlier, there would have definitely been large amounts of accomplishments and rewards given¡­ and at the same time, it might have even changed the storyline¡­


    "This is Sun''s transformation ability?" Upon seeing this, Edward could not hide his astonishment. "With two legendary pirate ships in your hands, King''s Throne won''t be able to cause any trouble at all."


    "This legend ability can only last five minutes at most¡­"


    Fang Yuan''s eyes gleamed, and the steel Sun Giant quickly ran toward the sea.


    Bang! Bang!


    With its astonishing weight, even though it had a customized structure to reduce it, every step it took still resulted in a huge hole and even generated metallic clashing sounds.


    It stepped on the turtle''s shell? Fang Yuan was not concerned in the slightest. The Burning Sun shot earlier was equivalent to making a large hole in this huge turtle, and even its shell was smashed. With so much blood lost, no matter how temperate it is, it would go mad¡­


    From afar, he could already see that some huge rocks had fallen at the edge of Pirate King City, revealing dark-yellow scales and the thick outermost layer of skin behind it.


    The cliffs had shattered into small pieces, and an enormous foot was revealed.


    The Island Turtle King was finally going to fully awaken!


    Bang!


    At this moment, the steel giant had reached the edge of the island and suddenly jumped.


    Crack! Crack!


    In midair, it underwent a bizarre transformation, turned back into Sun, and fell violently into the ocean.


    Activating reverse gravitational field! Remaining energy at 25%!


    Fang Yuan heard the mechanical voice of a goblin.


    "Launch at full speed! Leave this place! Head to where Sea God is docked!"


    Splash!


    Sun went below the sea surface for a moment and then quickly reemerged with streams of water coming out of its cannons like a brook.


    After hearing Fang Yuan''s orders, it immediately dashed at full force toward Sea God.


    At the port, due to the radical events that had happened in Pirate King City, the pirates on land were naturally in chaos. As for the pirates that stayed on their ships, they left the port one after another.


    Although there were unfortunate people who were affected by the movements of the awakening Island Turtle King, with their ships being destroyed and people being annihilated, there were also fortunate people who managed to escape.


    Among them, the pirate governors had brought the most people and ships, so their commotion was also the fiercest.


    Mermaid Pirates.


    This pirate team was entirely made up of merfolk. Although it had the fewest ships among the pirate governors, none of the other governors would dare make light of them.


    After all, escorted by numerous warships around it was the legendary warship Sea God!


    During the time when numerous legendary pirate ships had vanished without a trace, Sea God even had the reputation of being the first.


    Of course, in Kingsman''s point of view, even King''s Throne might not be capable of going up against Sea God.


    However, Sun was currently boldly dashing forward with an exceptionally terrifying aura, rushing straight into the Mermaid Pirates'' area.


    Ding ding!


    Below the hull, rustling sounds coming from the section that was submerged in seawater rang out.


    These sounds were made by the merfolk pirates from the Mermaid Pirates trying to attack the bottom of Sun''s hull.


    This tactic would have been a nightmare for any ship in the era of wooden sailing ships. Unfortunately, the entirety of Sun was built using metal. In terms of the thickness of its steel plates, it was even thicker than those used in Ettoman''s ironclads. Thus, the dirty tricks that were occurring underwater were simply disregarded. It dashed toward the center, and the famous Sea God appeared in sight.


    It looked like an ordinary three-masted ship with a huge blue sail. In terms of its external appearance, it was not much different from an ordinary ship.


    However, as soon as he got closer, Fang Yuan''s eyes glistened.

 878 Betrayal

    "Fire!"


    Undoubtedly, using Sun to charge into the enemy base alone was extremely dangerous. To put it bluntly, it was no different from suicide.


    The Mermaid Pirates immediately responded by concentrating their firepower on Sun.


    In an instant, over a hundred artillery shells hit the ship, exploding in bouts of flames.


    Kaboom!


    This barrage of cannon fire did not even bring a slight vibration to ship.


    Fang Yuan was calm, looking intently at the data window that was only visible to the commander.


    Receiving bombardment, activating anti-matter forcefield!


    Assessment for this bombardment intensity: 1! Evaluation: Even if no defensive measures are taken, this bombardment will require a full day to break through the ship''s armor!


    Robot Engineers standby, be ready to move out to repair the ship!


    Attack encountered, main and secondary cannons are ready. Commander, do we retaliate?


    ¡­


    Despite the ferocity of the bombardment, even ordinary ironclads would survive, so it was a piece of cake for Sun''s defenses.


    Fang Yuan looked at the pirate ship closeby and waved. "Counterattack!"


    Secondary cannons standing by, targeting, fire!


    Bang! Bang!


    Amid the sound of machines, Sun''s secondary cannons started firing.


    Two bouts of flame exploded on the sea.


    Even Sun''s secondary cannons had a horrifying caliber size, and a single shot could level half a football field.


    No wooden ship on the sea would be able to survive a shot from the secondary cannons.


    That was also without taking into consideration that Sun''s cannons could be augmented, and no shots would miss. After a round of cannon fire, the ferocious pirates who believed that they had found themselves a bargain had lost ten ships.


    "Tsk tsk¡­ is this the power of a legendary pirate ship?" Even Pirate Prince Edward was dumbfounded. "This cannon fire must have sunk five of their first-level warships? Even if Kingsman didn''t die earlier, his heart would have been broken into pieces by this sight!"


    "I think that Kingsman is dead. Otherwise, why would there no response from Sea God¡­ It won''t do me any good worrying about him. As long as I can take control of the ship, there will be no more problems."


    The fleet''s core, Sea God, finally started to take action.


    A grand prayer song resounded from its deck.


    There was a vaguely visible young mermaid on the deck praying.


    Along with her high-pitched voice, the illusion of a fiercely roaring god appeared on Sea God''s blue sail.


    Kaboom!


    Clouds gathered and blocked the sun.


    Endless waves surfaced on the sea. Coupled with the struggle of the Island Turtle King, it was though the end of the world had arrived.


    Splash!


    The waves churned, as though a giant beast hidden beneath the sea was flipping about recklessly. The waves grew taller and taller.


    "This is bad. It''s tsunamis and whirlpools!" Edward frowned as he looked at the forming giant whirlpool that separated Sea God and Sun. "Since that mermaid has this much control over Sea God, she must be a trusted aide of Kingsman!"


    "It''s just a whirlpool. We''ll rush past it!" Fang Yuan ordered, "Open the anti-gravitational field, full power!"


    Roger! Remaining energy at 20%!


    Immediately, Sun dialed up its speed to the max. Like a speedboat, it sped past the whirlpool, leaving a white trail of waves, and arrived in front of Sea God.


    Roar! Roar!


    At the same time, the Island Turtle King finally awakened. Carrying a Pirate King City, it chased after Sun by paddling with all four legs.


    Large amounts of sea monsters appeared near the Island Turtle King and surrounded a large ship with a blood-colored sail.


    The large ship looked ferocious. Its ram and bow were all made in the image of ferocious beasts and fangs, and the ship''s hull was decorated with many sea monster patterns.


    "Pirate King City''s guardian, King''s Throne!"


    Edward could feel the hairs on his neck stand up upon seeing King''s Throne.


    After all, this legendary pirate ship had protected Pirate King City for many years, and even the Ettoman navy found it extremely difficult to deal with.


    If Fang Yuan was not at his side, he would have immediately returned to Wanderer and leave this region.


    "Did it finally appear?"


    Fang Yuan smiled coldly and sounded a pitch-black horn.


    Whoo! Whoo!


    With the desolate sound of the horn, a thick mist appeared.


    A large, translucent ship seemed to appear from the netherworld.


    "It''s Specter Ship!"


    "That ghost ship!"


    "It will kill any sailor! That ship is full of undead creatures!"


    "We''re finished!"


    ¡­


    Legends about Specter Ship were not to be taken lightly, especially for pirates.


    The sight of Specter Ship paralyzed many ordinary pirates. They collapsed on the deck and were unable to move for a good while.


    "Target¡­ King''s Throne! Attack!"


    The Demigod Lich stood at the prow. With his command, a black mist appeared from Specter Ship and floated toward King''s Throne.


    Upon closer inspection, one would see that the black mist was full of wraiths, specters, banshees, etc.


    "As another legendary ship, even if Specter Ship can''t claim victory over King''s Throne, it should at least buy some time¡­ Furthermore, King''s Throne doesn''t have any sailors on board at the moment. It''s moving purely on instinct¡­"


    Only Sea God was of concern to Fang Yuan at the moment.


    It gave him a really peculiar feeling.


    It looked like that unlucky Sea God whose body was thoroughly scavenged was on the same level as his main body.


    Regretfully, why he fell remained a mystery under the suppression of this world.


    Even after falling, materials from his body were still able to forge this terrifying Sea God.


    "King''s Throne is just moving based on instinct, like a specific program¡­ As for Sea God, there''s still a mermaid that has partial control over the ship. I can''t let her get away!"


    With Fang Yuan''s order, Sun''s speed increased again, and it arrived next to Sea God.


    Compared to Sun''s towering size, Sea God almost looked like a toy. However, its presence was no lesser for it.


    "Oh sea¡­ Answer my call, attack my enemy!" the mermaid sang.


    Splash Splash!


    There was a disturbance on the sea surface. Then a wall of water rose from the sea. Sprays continued to climb well over a hundred meters high.


    While Sun was a giant among ships, compared to the size of the sea, it was just an ant.


    The situation was horrifying.


    The water continued to climb, as though it were shackled by an invisible force that would only release it after reaching the peak.


    Ten million tons of seawater blocked out the sun like a mountain. Its shadow covered Sun, looking like a snowy mountain that was about to avalanche.


    "Great Tsunami! Sea Burial!"


    Finally, with the mermaid''s hysterical screams, the tsunami fell.


    Ten million tons of seawater was enough to send Sun to the bottom of the ocean.


    The giant waves also caused the surrounding pirate ships to suffer collateral damage. Countless ships were overturned.


    In this sea peril, only Sea God was surrounded by a layer of luminous blue light that protected it from the waves.


    "Are¡­ we victorious?"


    On the deck of Sea God, the mermaid''s face was pale as she looked at her wrist.


    A few bloody cuts could be seen.


    How was it possible to control Sea God and cause such a terrifying sea peril without repercussions?


    "Gather the merfolk sailors at once and anchor at the nearest island. After the Great Turtle calms down, I will enter Pirate King City!"


    The mermaid bit off her clothes to bandage her wrist, her delicate face full of perseverance. "My father is the king of the kingdom. I don''t believe that he''d die so easily!"


    "Yes! Great Sea Princess!"


    The surrounding merfolk bowed humbly.


    After all, this young mermaid was the daughter of Kingsman, Merfolk Kingdom''s princess.


    In addition, the ability to control Sea God was akin to the power of the gods.


    "It looks like¡­ Kingsman is really dead!"


    The surface of the sea suddenly split apart, and a jade-green ship jumped out.


    It looked like a barracuda. It had a smooth and slender hull, and its mooring rope was made of thick tree vines with leaves still attached.


    "Wind Chasing Leaf?" The teenage mermaid shouted, "Elf Pirate Governor Aeoris¡­ you wish to be our enemy?"


    "No! I merely seek your Sea God!"


    Aeoris was an Extraordinary himself, and his voice was clearly audible in the giant waves.


    Wind Chasing Leaf approached swiftly and arrived at Sea God''s side.


    Swoosh!


    Vines reached out as though they had lives of their own. Tightening their grip around Sea God, the two ships became one.


    "Kill!"


    "Capture Sea God!"


    "The most powerful aspect of Sea God is its ability to control the sea¡­ But now, unless it sinks itself as well, it can''t do anything to us!"


    "We elves will ultimately become the kings of the ocean! Sea God¡­ is ours!"


    ¡­


    With Aeoris''s roar, huge amounts of elf pirates and other races jumped over to battle.


    Looking at this, the mermaid princess''s limbs went cold. "Damn¡­"


    Controlling the sea was Sea God''s only legend ability. However, the two ships were now one.


    Regardless of the size of the tsunami she could summon, she could do nothing to the enemy unless she was willing to sink Sea God as well.


    As for a boarding battle?


    Although merfolk warriors never feared battle, the opponents this time were the elites of a pirate governor.


    Seconds later, blood and gore flew everywhere, and the Mermaid Pirates lost.


    "Surrender and give me Sea God. I swear I will take you as my wife!" His eyes filled with greed, Aeoris approached the mermaid princess. "Your father has died¡­ only I can protect you!"


    "Dream on!" The mermaid princess was furious. "You broke the promise with my father!"


    "Promise? Was there one?" Aeoris smirked. "A pirate''s promise? Haha¡­"

 879 King

    "Kill all the merfolk except for the princess!" Aeoris ordered after his cold laugh. "The sea''s gifts must belong to the elves!"


    Among the pirate governors, he was not the most powerful, nor did he have the biggest force under his command. The only thing he relied on was a legendary item, the Dagger of Escape!


    It could be used for a one-time teleport and would activate automatically when he was in mortal danger, teleporting him to a safe place.


    However, after one use, this legendary item would be ruined.


    Even so, Aeoris did not regret it one bit. Compared to his life, a legendary item was not even worth mentioning.


    Furthermore, the death of so many pirate governors presented a huge opportunity.


    Even the legendary pirate ships that showed up now totaled to a solid four!


    If he could obtain all of them, becoming the Pirate King would be a piece of cake. He could even make an ocean empire!


    "Then, let us greet death together!"


    As Aeoris advanced slowly, the mermaid princess'' face filled with resolution. "Great Tsunami!"


    Bloop! Bloop!


    The scene earlier reappeared. Ten million tons of seawater started to accumulate like a snow mountain that was about to collapse. It would sink both Sea God and Wind Chasing Leaf into hell.


    "Haha¡­ You won''t succeed. I still have¡­ King''s Throne!" Aeoris laughed maniacally. He suddenly drew his sword and raised it high. "I, son of stars, the hero of elves, Pirate Governor Aeoris, will become the Pirate King of this generation! King''s Throne, you are my flagship! All sea monsters, stop fighting Specter and takedown Sea God for me!"


    Splash!


    A tiger shark the size of a ship swam past. Without even looking at Aeoris, it raised its tail and splashed a large amount of seawater on to Aeoris, wetting him thoroughly. Aeoris now looked like a fool.


    "Impossible¡­ King''s Throne can''t break the vow it made! Why¡­" The elf was dumbfounded at what had transpired. "I am the only pirate governor that survived and the sole voter! Why has my proposal failed?"


    Bloop! Bloop!


    Suddenly, a huge volume of bubbles surfaced.


    Under Sea God and Wind Chasing Leaf, the sea surface bulged before breaking apart to reveal Sun.


    It came in at a critical angle, and a round of cannon fire destroyed large amounts of vines. The two ships separated at once.


    "Fool¡­ Who told you that sinking must mean death!" Edward shouted as he charged toward Aeoris.


    Now, it was obvious why Aeoris had failed¡ªanother pirate governor remained.


    "Mermaid princess?"


    Without thinking, Fang Yuan jumped onto Sea God and rushed toward the mermaid princess.


    After the big fights today, Sun''s energy reserves had reached rock bottom and had to be recharged before further use.


    It might not survive another sink to the bottom of the ocean.


    As such, he and Edward rushed onto Sea God to protect themselves.


    "Edward, you''re still alive?" Aeoris turned his failure into fury. With an elven longsword in hand, he charged at Edward.


    "Sorry, but as long as I''m alive, you can stop dreaming about becoming king!"


    Edward laughed heartily and prepared to take on Aeoris with his cutlass.


    They were both pirate governors. Equipment, martial arts, and extraordinary powers were all evenly matched, and neither could gain an advantage over the other.


    Then Sun''s crew, including Butcher, Bill, and Edward''s subordinates, rushed over while roaring.


    "Lass, this method of worship will eventually claim your life and your soul¡­" Fang Yuan looked calmly at the mermaid princess. "Give up¡­ You''ve already summoned the powers of the sea too many times today. If you continue with this, death is the only outcome that awaits you!"


    "Never! I will never surrender!" The mermaid princess steeled her resolve. "If you don''t back down, I''ll let Sea God rest forever at the bottom of the ocean!"


    "As you wish!" Fang Yuan shrugged and put his hands into his trouser pockets. "At worst, I''ll just have to fish it up again¡­ You know the consequences if you proceed with this!"


    "¡­" The mermaid princess felt dizzy. Looking at the shell necklace in her hand, she gritted her teeth. "Sea Burial!"


    Rumble!


    The huge god on Sea God''s sail roared a few times, but it eventually dissipated unwillingly.


    The sea wall suddenly crumbled.


    Bang!


    The lass fell onto the ground, unconscious.


    "Didn''t I tell you earlier¡­ With your powers, controlling Sea God was a bit too much for you¡­"


    Fang Yuan sped past numerous merfolk before stopping at the mermaid princess''s side. He nimbly picked her up by the waist and took the shell necklace as well.


    "Damn¡­ Put her down!"


    Seeing what was happening, Aeoris eyes turned red. Abandoning all semblance of elegance, he forced Edward back with his sword and then charged at Fang Yuan.


    "Sea!"


    Fang Yuan suddenly raised the shell necklace he had taken.


    Kaboom!


    The surrounding waves churned, and an incalculable amount of seawater gathered to form a blue hand that grabbed Aeoris.


    "Impossible¡­ This is the power of the sea!"


    "Doesn''t the Child of the Sea need to be of Kingsman''s bloodline?"


    The other merfolk wavered upon seeing Fang Yuan control seawater. It was as though their faith had suffered a blow. Some of the dull-witted merfolk even knelt on the ground.


    "Aeoris¡­"


    Edward also rushed over. Seeing what was happening, he and his subordinates were left speechless.


    Obviously, this Arcane Trickster Roche had already taken control of a third legendary pirate ship.


    With this amount of power, he could do almost anything he wanted in the ocean. With the exception of the Ettoman family, none could hope to stand up to him.


    Bloop! Bloop!


    Under Fang Yuan''s control, the seawater formed a big sphere with Aeoris at the center.


    There was no way to move or breath. Seconds later, pain filled the elf''s face.


    "I''ll give you a chance!"


    Fang Yuan waved his hand, and Aeoris'' head appeared out of the water sphere. He breathed in the air greedily.


    "Along with Edward, you shall recognize me as the Pirate King. Then, I''ll spare you," Fang Yuan said calmly.


    While his plan looked like a cut to the Gordian knot, it was actually an immense loss to the pirate elites.


    He even suspected that the pirates would split apart after this, and then he would be hard-pressed to find any qualified legendary pirate ship captains.


    As such, letting this pirate governor live was still necessary.


    Aeoris saw the coldness in Fang Yuan''s eyes and responded immediately. "I-I bow before you, great Pirate King Roche!"


    In fact, he was left with no choice. He understood that even if he resisted with his life, Fang Yuan could kill him and let Edward nominate instead. He would still be able to become the Pirate King.


    Fang Yuan kept silent for a while, his eyes fixed on Edward.


    Edward gritted his teeth before kneeling in front of Fang Yuan and presenting his cutlass.


    "I, son of the Golden Ocean, Edward, also nominate you, Arcane Trickster Roche, to become our Pirate King!"


    Buzz buzz!


    Instantly, it was as if something had taken shape, but it was as if nothing had happened at all.


    Fang Yuan took the blade nimbly and gave it a casual wave.


    Bloop! Bloop!


    The water surface parted. Sea monster after sea monster surfaced. Not only was there the tiger shark that was the size of a ship, but there were also octopuses, whales, turtles, and other unknown monsters.


    They were the strongest sea monsters contracted to King''s Throne throughout the years. The strongest few had strength that rivaled Demigods.


    However, they now hung their heads low, as though they were pledging loyalty to this new Pirate King.


    Fang Yuan boarded Sun, and his voice spread throughout the battlefield. "As the Pirate King, Pirate King City must obey me! The same goes for the governors of the four oceans!"


    Almost instantly, Specter Ship and King''s Throne, who were locked in a battle to the death, separated. They approached Sun''s sides.


    The Island Turtle King also slowly calmed down. Pulling its head and limbs back into its shell, it assumed the appearance of a giant island once again.


    "Edward! Butcher, Bill, Cassenia, Rolisa¡­" Without any hesitation, Fang Yuan issued his order. "You will lead sailors to recruit the pirates, especially those of the pirate governors! Aeoris, help out with the reorganization if you don''t wish to die!"


    With four legendary pirate ships under his command, the pirates could not escape even if they wanted to.


    "Also¡­ after we gather the ships, we will shift Pirate King City! A pirate event of such scale is sure to reach the ears of the Ettoman Royal Navy. They might even try to hunt us down!"


    Luckily, Pirate King City could move, and they could choose to run instead of defending.


    After sending out his orders, Fang Yuan grabbed the ship''s railing and stood in silence for a long time.


    His subordinates assumed that their leader was savoring the joy of becoming the Pirate King, but what they did not know was that the entire world was undergoing a terrifying change at the same time.


    Fang Yuan had come to this world via dream-traversing, so the majority of his powers were sealed, and he could only wield a small portion that leaked through.


    Donald and Sorcerer Orlando were pieces on his board, and his goal was to send the world into turmoil.


    He had then entered the fray personally and taken control of a pirate ship, taking the first step toward unsealing his main body.


    Now that he became the Pirate King, he put his all into stirring the World Thread.


    As the world was in turmoil, Fang Yuan''s main body was finally unsealed. The final step of the plan was complete!


    "Demon God!


    "Demon God!


    "The Dao of Dream Master has finally agglomerated. The distinction between reality and fantasy is no more!"


    Fang Yuan sighed. Something seemed different about him, yet nothing seemed to have happened at all.


    However, Fang Yuan knew that from this moment on, he was absolutely different.


    With Demon God-level power and control of two Great Daos, he would be able to secure a place for himself even in the Mental Demon Realm, and he would not need to fear that black hand''s revenge!

 880 Follow-up

    Although Fang Yuan''s clothes were the same as before, his body was entirely different.


    Also, he was no longer a Magical Clone. Instead, he now had his true body.


    It could be said that he had silently succeeded in his plot.


    Because his true body broke the seal and became a Demon God, everything was different.


    For example, the shell necklace in his hand represented partial control over Sea God.


    However, with a mere thought, Fang Yuan took over Sea God''s highest jurisdiction. Even if Kingsman revived, he could do nothing about it.


    Additionally, there was King''s Throne.


    Although it was currently following his orders through the contract, Fang Yuan did not have the highest jurisdiction over this legendary ship. Once a new Pirate King was crowned, the ownership would immediately transfer to the new Pirate King.


    However, now that his true body was in this world, he would not allow such things to happen. Silently, he corroded the basis of King''s Throne, and he would eventually bend this symbol of the Pirate King to his will.


    All was going well in Pirate King City.


    Because many pirate governors had died and the five old pirates were eliminated, the reorganization process went smoothly with the help of Edward and Aeoris. The shifting process proceeded without a hitch as well.


    Although it was a slight pity that they had to abandon the status and profit of being a transit hub, their survival was much more important.


    Besides, they could always come back.


    "Your Excellency Pirate King!"


    When night came, everything was on the right track.


    The two pirate governors entered. "The ships and men under Balmain and the remaining forces of the Mermaid Pirates have submitted to us¡­ But some merfolk are still making noise. They wish to have their princess back!"


    "That''s naturally impossible. However, you can tell them that as long as they wait patiently, I''ll make her the Coral Ocean''s pirate governor!"


    The Mermaid Pirates had their forces rooted deeply in the Coral Ocean. Even if Fang Yuan wanted to meddle with it, he did not have any means to do so. Having someone that supported him become its pirate governor was the best course of action.


    "On top of that, there''s a small surprise. Bring him in!"


    Fang Yuan clapped. Butcher and Bill proudly escorted in a pirate wearing oriental clothing.


    "Pirate governor of the East, captain of Five Mountains, His Excellency Wang Zhi!"


    Edward and Aeoris looked at the old pirate coldly.


    In the turn of events at the conference earlier , Aeoris had barely escaped using his legendary item, but this old geezer was even more cunning. He had been using a clone for the entirety of the conference.


    Now, one could see the wisdom in Fang Yuan''s decision to let Aeoris live.


    If he had killed Aeoris, then there would have been two voters left: Edward and Wang Zhi. Even if Edward fully supported him, he would not have been able to become the Pirate King through the ancient contract by obtaining the majority vote.


    This old geezer had been waiting at the side, hoping to get some freebies. But once he saw the four legendary pirate ships had all come under Fang Yuan''s command, he knew that all was lost and tried to escape.


    However, he could only choose to surrender under the gazes of so many sea monsters.


    Since he was extremely scared of dying, submitting to Fang Yuan was the natural choice.


    Fang Yuan was still very pleased with this news.


    After all, a Pirate King required enough men under him, as well as admirals who were able to handle things by themselves.


    If he really killed all the pirate governors, the disorganized men under him would be hard to control.


    Now that three governors remained, it was easy to centralize the chain of command.


    Roar! Roar!


    Fang Yuan boarded King''s Throne and grabbed the helm.


    Before long, Pirate King City set off again. The Island Turtle King extended its limbs and paddled slowly, leaving this territory.


    ¡­


    Next morning.


    It was a clear day, and over ten columns of black smoke slowly floated forward from afar.


    The whistles of the steam engines echoed, and over a dozen enormous chimneys that were spraying flames into the air came into view, as though they were connected to hell.


    "Commander, according to the nautical chart, this is the location of Pirate King City!"


    On the biggest flagship, Fearless, the lookouts exchanged glances with one another before sending an unfortunate soul over to report to Admiral Philip, Vice Admiral Norton, and the other officers.


    "Hmm?"


    Norton took a glance at his surroundings and saw that nothing but seawater surrounded them. He frowned.


    "Looks like the intelligence was right. The pirates clashed and then shifted Pirate King City¡­"


    Philip could not help but sigh.


    While it was good news to them that the pirates had internal strife, it would be a different matter if a Pirate King was born.


    "But something as large as Pirate King City¡­" Vice Admiral Norton was still found it hard to believe. "Unless that rumored island turtle really exists!"


    He had taken it as a joke when he first heard the tale.


    But as things stood, he was the one who was a joke.


    "Even our kingdom''s top scholars can''t predict the physical forms that sea monsters have. Furthermore, the enemy now has King''s Throne!"


    Philip licked his lips and then ordered the men to bring out a portrait. "From today onward, this Pirate King is our enemy!"


    "Roche?" Norton was even more shocked. "Shouldn''t it be one of the other pirate governors¡­"


    "This Arcane Trickster is something else. Not only did he tame Specter Ship, but he also participated in the battle to annihilate Blackbeard and even saved him from our clutches!" Philip sighed. "We rushed here in hopes of exterminating the pirates, but he was smart enough to not give us the opportunity!"


    "Regardless, removing Pirate King City and extending our forces beyond the Solomon Strait to here can be considered an achievement," said the experienced Vice Admiral Norton. "We only need to construct a port in the vicinity to cut off this greatest source of income for the pirates while providing benefits for the kingdom¡­"


    "I''ve thought about this plan as well¡­" Philip chuckled wryly upon hearing Norton''s plan. "The vicinity is rife with danger, and it''s infamous for the huge number of sea monsters. In addition, there aren''t any islands around suited to build a big port on. Pirate King City remained safe here only because of the Island Turtle King, who could scare off ordinary sea monsters. If a really powerful sea monster appeared, King''s Throne would set out to try to establish a contract with it¡­"


    "You mean¡­ unless King''s Throne is in our hands, there''s no hope of building a transit hub here?" Norton immediately understood the situation.


    "That''s right¡­ The war with the pirates is sure to last a while. However, I believe that Ettoman will eventually emerge victorious!" Philip looked at the mist ahead solemnly.


    ¡­


    Somewhere near the Solomon Strait.


    Pirates were going about their business.


    Splash!


    Suddenly, a large number of giant tentacles covered with suction cups appeared from the depths of the ocean. Like the hands of an underwater hades, it gripped a merchant ship flying the Cecil flag.


    "Sea monster!"


    "Giant octopus! Prepare for battle!"


    "That''s¡­ Deep Sea Hades!!!"


    ¡­


    The morale of the sailors aboard the merchant ship was all but eliminated when they saw a ship flying the flag of the Octopus Marauder Team suddenly surface from the depths of the ocean.


    Orlando stood at the ship''s helm and roared, "Attack!"


    Mermaid was now his flagship.


    "Kill!"


    As Mermaid surfaced extremely close to the merchant ship, numerous pirates jumped over onto its deck from Mermaid and killed everything in sight.


    It was not long before they started robbing crate after crate of treasures and carrying them back onto Mermaid.


    The merchant ship then sank into the ocean at the hands of the giant octopus.


    "As expected, pillages are always fruitful when Mermaid and the giant octopus cooperate!"


    However, Orlando did not look all too happy about what had happened.


    As a privateer captain, even though he had Ettoman''s support, he simply could not do as he pleased.


    The other thing that was troubling him were the legends about Arcane Trickster Roche.


    Although Orlando was now a pirate who was famous throughout the Nightmare Ocean and the Golden Ocean, he was nothing compared to the Pirate King.


    Furthermore, a few of those legends struck fear into him.


    He took out the insignia that had helped him acquire the Pirate System.


    A row of data appeared before his eyes.


    "Name: Orlando


    Level: Civilian Level five, Sorcerer Level five


    Strength: 3


    Speed: 3


    Physique: 2.5


    Psyche: 7


    Identity: Privateer Captain (Under Ettoman''s command)


    Title: Deep Sea Hades


    Specialization:Sailing (Proficient), Firearms Manipulation (Proficient), Cutlass Techniques (Master), Battle Casting (Proficient), Sorcery (Proficient)


    Experience: 100 (Experience required before reaching the next level: 8000)"


    ¡­


    This was the beginning of his rise to power. If it was not for the Pirate System, Orlando would still be the third officer of the Octopus Marauder Team.


    However, the secrets about this ''Dream and Armament Master'' were surfacing more and more recently.


    Ettoman aside, with only the praise from the greatly renowned economist Donald, the Dream and Armament Master has gained many followers.


    As for Donald, he had abandoned his scholarly pursuits. Now, he was more like the head of a religion.


    This was, however, in line with the tradition shared by many scholars from Ettoman, which was becoming engrossed in theology in their later years.


    What really struck fear into Orlando was Arcane Trickster Roche.


    According to what he had gathered secretly, Roche was extremely crafty and had numerous methods. He had also once prayed to a certain god before a battle.


    Although his spies were not core members of the crew and were unable to get a close look, they could confirm that the insignia that Roche had once taken out was very similar to the insignia of the Dream and Armament Master.


    Orlando had felt a constant sense of unease after hearing this.


    What did this Evil God who reigned in the past want by interfering with matters at sea?


    Furthermore, the Dream and Armament Master seemed to like the Pirate King much more than him. Was the master preparing to abandon him?

 881 Waking Up

    As the Deep Sea Hades, Orlando was worried about the future.


    Hell of Lightning.


    The endless lightning formed the most peculiar scenery in this area.


    At this time, the lightning was even more frequent than usual. Numerous purple-colored electric snakes were dancing wildly in the sky, which then converged to form an emaciated arm.


    This was no illusion, but a real arm. It was covered in wrinkles and devoid of moisture, looking like it belonged to a dying man.


    "I¡­ Raging Thunder God!


    "Aida Huna Inchester Borgou¡­


    "The thunder ruler of old¡­ will descend upon this world today¡­"


    The arm was followed by a dried-out body that only had skin and bones remaining. However, the face was simple yet majestic. It was the same being who had troubled Specter Ship.


    An obscure, low sound echoed within the ocean.


    For Evil Gods and the unnameable things of old, their real names were a medium for sacrifice.


    It could even be read aloud as a spell that had all kinds of fantastic effects.


    Crack! Crack!


    After the dry corpse said a few lines, thunder and lighting directly struck his body.


    After basking in the shower of thunder and lightning, the originally gaunt body immediately filled up a little, like a doll that had some air blown into it.


    "Ah¡­ thunder, you are still under my rule¡­


    "Even if the world isolated me, it could not rob me of all my authority and power¡­


    "Electricity and light, as well as destructive thunder, are all sources of my power¡­"


    The Raging Thunder God mumbled to himself. As he absorbed the power from the thunder and lightning, the Hell of Lightning continued to shrink.


    Large volumes of cloud were compressed and devoured¡­ There seemed to be a bottomless pit inside this ancient Evil God. All the thunder and lightning in the Hell of Lightning only managed to restore him a little, but he no longer looked like he was on the verge of death.


    "Ah¡­ How infuriating¡­ If I had obtained Specter Ship, I could have restored to my prime¡­


    "I''m positive that the Evil God who took it away¡­ had the scent of another world on him.


    "After I completely recover, Aida will find him and make him pay for his actions!"


    The giant being roared and was about to vanish into the sky.


    "Aida¡­"


    But at this moment, a low mumbling echoed from all directions. It appeared far and near at the same time, sending fear into anyone who heard it.


    "Aida¡­ Aida¡­"


    On the sea surface, large volumes of bubbles surfaced. The white bubbles accumulated and formed a twisted face.


    "It''s you¡­" Aida was a little dazed yet still alert. "Even you rulers of the deep sea, chaotic and twisted, wallowing in the darkness, enticers of souls¡­ have come!"


    "Both you and I feel it¡­" The foam face''s voice was hoarse, sending out a bone-chilling uneasiness to those who heard it. "This world¡­ has been changed! A certain being has broken its seal¡­ It is his actions and our efforts that have allowed us to break through our bindings and come to the real world¡­"


    "That''s right¡­ the real world¡­" Aida breathed in greedily. "I''m warning you all¡­ don''t do anything that will disrupt the stability too much. If it affects me, I won''t hesitate to cleanse you with lightning!"


    "This freedom did not come easy. We will naturally cherish it¡­ Furthermore, many of my kind are in dire need of recovery currently¡­" The foam face laughed without a care. The bubbles burst one after another. "We have contacted you for one purpose alone¡­ to join forces when facing the outsiders! Join forces!"


    After the foam face disappeared, Aida smiled coldly. "Joining forces with you Children of Darkness? Dream On!"


    In fact, benefits were just one aspect.


    What Aida feared the most was the chaotic personalities of these Deep-Sea Rulers.


    Their chaotic personalities could be said to surpass their rationality. It was an intrinsic part of them, unable to be removed.


    They were just like the evil demons of hell, unable to rid themselves of their chaotic nature!


    "Join forces against¡­ that foreign Evil God?"


    The thunder giant stood silently on the sea.


    Originally, all beings beyond the limits of this world would be separated from the real world and imprisoned by different layers.


    However, the actions of this harbinger, or foreign Evil God, had opened up a passage in the prison, which allowed the other prisoners to use it.


    Actually, that was not exactly what happened.


    In truth, it was Fang Yuan''s true body that had opened a hole in the originally secure barrier. This caused a domino-like effect that collapsed the entire defense system of the world, allowing a huge number of Evil Gods to escape.


    "I can almost guarantee that the first one to escape was the one who acquired Specter Ship that time!"


    Aida was extremely certain of this.


    Although foreign Evil Gods were under greater surveillance, they did have their conveniences. At the very least, they were not bound by the world''s will.


    This kind of being, coupled with Specter Ship''s help, could definitely escape from the world''s isolation.


    "However, these Deep-Sea Rulers did have one thing right. I have to find him to settle our scores¡­ Of course, I must return to my prime before that!" Aida mumbled before vanishing from the sea surface.


    After being sealed for so many years, he required time to recover after being suddenly unsealed.


    "Foreign god! Although your destiny is shrouded in mist, your death star has begun to rise!"


    After chanting a curse, Aida''s figure exploded into nothingness in a cluster of thunder and lightning¡­


    ¡­


    As the target of the Raging Thunder God''s curse, Fang Yuan was currently looking at the flashing of a star while holding the prow''s railing.


    "Your Excellency respected Pirate King!"


    Behind him stood three pirate governors and his subordinates, including Butcher.


    "Pirate King City has settled in at its new location. But without the income from trade, the savings won''t last long¡­"


    "We''ve changed the route after all. Should we notify the merchants?"


    "How is that any different from telling the navy our location? You fool, do you want the navy to hunt us down?"


    ¡­


    Too many cooks spoil the soup. The same went for subordinates.


    Soon, the crew was arguing about all kinds of things.


    Fang Yuan looked on coldly. Some of them were fighting for their own interests, while some were fighting for the big picture.


    "Quiet!"


    After silently observing for a while, Fang Yuan had to admit that absolute loyalty, unless enforced by some sort of spiritual techniques that controlled the soul, was just a dream.


    "All right, I want to know how much power we can amass now." Fang Yuan pointed casually. "Edward!"


    "Your Excellency respected Pirate King!" Edward bowed slightly. "Our main forces at this time include four legendary pirate ships, twelve extraordinary ships¡­"


    This alone was a terrifying force.


    Before the steam engine emerged, this was enough to pummel any kingdom into submission.


    "On top of that, there are Pirate Governor Balmain''s seven ironclads, twelve first-level battleships, and a total of fifty second and third-level battleships. This is the sum of all the pirate governors'' remaining forces, and this doesn''t include small vessels. We also have another problem: the extreme shortage of sailors. However, respected oriental Pirate Governor Wang Zhi is willing to solve that problem for us!"


    "That''s right. Your Excellency respected Pirate King, we orientals are short of everything but men! The shortage of sailors can be immediately filled at your notice!"


    Wang Zhi walked forward, bowed slightly, and smiled humbly.


    "Very good. I will leave the task of recruiting new pirates to you¡­"


    Fang Yuan immediately relinquished this aspect of his authority without any worry.


    In fact, as long as he controlled the four legendary pirate ships, he was in charge of at least half of this pirate fleet''s power. Thus, he did not need to worry about anything.


    "Your Excellency, there''s still another urgent matter waiting to be resolved¡ªthe mermaid princess prisoner. The Mermaid Pirates have already negotiated with us many times. Furthermore, this princess''s attitude is troublesome!" Bill said softly.


    "I''ll try to persuade that mermaid lass later!" Fang Yuan waved his hand dismissively. "Give her some time, then reiterate the current situation to her. She''ll submit eventually, unless she doesn''t want to live anymore."


    "All right, you wicked fellows, prepare for big action!"


    After assigning the tasks, Fang Yuan clapped his hands and ended the meeting.


    Right at this moment, he felt a strange sensation coming from afar.


    Suddenly, it seemed like a thin layer of something was removed from Fang Yuan, making the world appear clearer.


    Face solemn, he looked at his right hand. "Hell of Lightning¡­ Thunder God¡­ and this sensation¡­"


    Bang!


    Suddenly, Witch Cassenia screamed, and the crystal ball in her hands fell to the floor, shattering into pieces.


    Most importantly, the reflections of many black-colored eyes could be seen in the shards. They were filled with evil intent and seemed to spy greedily on what was happening.


    "I see death¡­ and darkness!


    "Those Evil Gods from ancient times¡­ and the world rulers of old¡­ They will return one after another to reclaim what is theirs!


    "The entire world will be bathed in blood and fire¡­"


    The witch''s eyes were white as she spoke with the tone of a prophet.


    "Boss¡­ I¡­" Shortly after, Cassenia returned to her usual appearance. She had a complicated expression as she asked, "What did I just say?"


    "You foresaw a great catastrophe. Ancient dangers will arrive soon!" Fang Yuan crossed his arms as he looked at the waves in the distance. A cold smile broke on his face. "However¡­ that won''t be much trouble."

 882 Strange

    World Calendar 668. The new Pirate King, Roche, emerged and would rule the four oceans.


    This was also the year where the entire world would be caught in a mysterious shadow.


    Ettoman.


    The sky had been gloomy recently, emitting an oppressive and fearful atmosphere.


    "This¡­ is such heart-palpitating weather¡­"


    Donald got off his carriage and looked at the sky, remaining silent for a long time.


    Pitter, patter.


    Not long after, a drizzle began to fall gently, looking like it would get heavier by the second.


    Donald pursed his lips. There was finally movement as he opened up a black, rubber umbrella and walked into the rain.


    After entering an alley and taking a few steps, he arrived in front of a massive wooden house.


    The outside of the wooden house was black, and it had a red roof. It was quite distinct compared to the other houses in the region.


    "Mr. Donald¡­ I''m really sorry. Besides you, I really can''t think of another person who can solve this problem."


    In front of the house, a brandy-nosed middle-aged man with red hair stood there, rubbing his hands anxiously.


    Donald looked at this middle-aged man. "Since we''re all members of the church, your matters are also my matters. That''s why I have to be here! What happened, Ruxis?"


    About a year ago, he had constructed the Dream and Armament Master''s church from scratch.


    When someone joined initially, they were naturally only a believer. Shortly after, once money was involved, they would assume duty as a priest.


    In every district, there was also a kshatriya, who was usually the person in charge of a city and had a status similar to a cardinal.


    Naturally, Donald was the pope.


    "The people living in this house are follower Parsi and his family! Parsi is a paleontologist who specializes in ocean organisms¡­ But about a month ago, he hasn''t been right¡­" Ruxis muttered. "Ever since he came back from a research trip, he''s been acting weird. In the beginning, he locked himself in his laboratory without coming out¡­ Afterward, it became worse, as he started acting in unimaginable ways more frequently!"


    "For example¡­" Donald clenched his cane tightly.


    "For example¡­ he would cut his own wrist and use his blood to form some weird symbols in the laboratory. He started acting like a lunatic and even became slightly violent¡­ His wife and two children have already gone back to their hometown to hide from him."


    Ruxis continued, "Of course, we looked for the police, but what we didn''t expect was that his rationality was still intact, as he could get through the interrogation successfully¡­ Moreover, the police officer even told me that even if Parsi had some kind of illness, we should have brought him to see a psychiatrist and not trouble him¡­"


    A lunatic was merely going crazy in his own trapped room. It was true that he did not disturb others, so there was no excuse to bring him in.


    Furthermore, this person was still able to act clear-headed and normal?


    "So what you''re trying to say is that¡­ his rationality is still there, but he has been acting weird¡­" Donald nodded. "I can roughly understand why you guys looked for me¡­"


    "We really had no other choice. We even found him a doctor, but after just one visit, something terrible happened to that doctor. This proved the rumors that Mr. Parsi was infected with some¡­ dirty things."


    Ruxis quickly continued, "Therefore, we decided to find a few priests to pray for him¡­ Obviously, as followers of the Dream and Armament Master, we wouldn''t seek help from other gods. However, ordinary priests were also helpless in this situation. To make matters worse, all the ones who came to help suffered similar tragedies when they returned¡­"


    "I see!" Donald nodded as he combed his green hair before knocking on the door. "Mr. Parsi? Mr. Parsi?"


    "He hasn''t responded since last night!" Ruxis exclaimed. "I''m afraid something might have happened to him."


    "Move aside!"


    Following which, Donald gave the door a good kick.


    Bang!


    The door fell apart following the loud noise.


    The rotten smell inside the house was so strong that Donald had to use his handkerchief to cover his nose.


    The house looked gloomy, and there was a lot of dust, scrap paper, and torn newspapers everywhere.


    On top of a table, a large rat poked its head out of a box of papers and then scurried away.


    "Damn it¡­ What kind of place is this? Parsi? Parsi?"


    Donald''s expression turned solemn as a stream of water gradually appeared on his wrist like a transparent bracelet.


    When he arrived in the living room, his pupils immediately shrunk.


    On one of the walls, there was a massive brown-colored symbol. From the level of dryness, it was clear that it had been there for a while now. Furthermore, the color of the symbol looked like dried blood.


    A weird feeling suddenly raided Donald''s body, making him feel extremely uncomfortable.


    "He¡­ is real¡­"


    "He¡­ is coming¡­"


    Donald managed to discern the sentences as he frowned. "This¡­ what is this?"


    "I don''t know¡­" Ruxis shrugged. "Ever since Parsi started acting weird, he''s been saying this over and over."


    "Be careful. Don''t look at the symbol on the wall!"


    Donald''s expression turned grave.


    Through this difficult period, he had seen more than just sailors.


    "Some Evil God symbols possess tremendous effectiveness and can allow you to communicate with a certain existence¡­ Of course, given the massive disparity between us and those existences, a slight thought from them is enough to make us get caught in a terrifying predicament¡­"


    Donald shook his head as he tried to distract himself forcefully.


    Even so, the massive blood symbol in the middle of the wall was just like a stigma in his heart that could not be erased.


    "My Lord¡­ the existence that controls dreams and armaments, please forgive my weak self!"


    He immediately clenched his emblem tightly, which made him feel much better.


    He no longer dared to look at the symbol and simply shifted his gaze to a corner of the room.


    On a blackboard, there were many loose pieces of newspaper reports stuck on it. Some of these pieces were turning yellow, and there were even fresh blood marks on them.


    "Sailor Rode caught a gigantic sea monster!"


    "Prehistory ten thousand years, who were the ones that dominated the ocean¡­"


    The ones in front were evidently research materials that focused on ocean organisms.


    After that, the contents of the various reports changed drastically.


    "Coal explosion in Warm Level Town, hundreds dead!"


    "Shocking! Clashes of the gangsters? Or the collective uproar of the lunatics? The truth concealed by the kingdom!"


    "Massive influenza break out in Cecil! Over ten thousand deaths to date! Ettoman announces an indefinite blockade on Cecil and the rejection of any goods and people into the country¡­"


    "Phenomenon across wheat fields in the country!"


    ¡­


    Seeing all these reports, Donald could not help but sigh. When he found out all the tragedies that were happening across the world recently, even his hair started to turn white.


    "Eh?"


    Upon closer inspection, he discovered something distinctive.


    Among these black and white photos, there were always circles marked out by a red marker.


    Donald took a closer look and found a symbol within an inverted triangle¡ªan eye! It was the same as the blood symbol!


    It appeared on a ruined wall left behind in the coal explosion and also on the bodies of those lunatics. During the wheat field phenomenon, it was also clearly displayed.


    The wheat field phenomenon''s sign was extremely large, and Donald could not help taking another look at it.


    It felt almost like an illusion when the eyes in the photos seemed to blink at the same time.


    "Ahh!"


    Donald shuddered as he took a step back, and goosebumps started appearing on his body.


    "This symbol¡­ Evil God?"


    He focused on his task as he looked at the very last symbol on the board¡ª''This symbol belongs to the Deep-Sea Stalker >''.


    "Deep-Sea Stalker?"


    Donald rubbed his chin.


    Clang!


    A sound rang out from an adjacent bedroom.


    "Parsi?"


    Ruxis rushed into the room and saw a semi-deranged Parsi.


    The previously elegant and graceful scholar currently looked like a skeleton with close to no hair and sunken cheeks. There were also many large scars on his arms.


    "Ahh¡­ stay away from me!"


    Presently, his eyeballs were bulging violently as he desperately shrank into his wardrobe.


    "What happened?"


    The moment Donald entered the room, he furrowed his brows.


    This was because, within the bedroom, the symbols were everywhere. It was smeared in blood all over the four walls, ceiling, floor, and almost everything else.


    "No¡­ He''s here and he''s watching me!"


    Parsi was going crazy in the wardrobe and constantly pushing Ruxis'' hand away.


    "Who?"


    No longer concealing himself, Donald stepped forward with a ring of water surrounding his body.


    "Stalker of the deep sea! An existence with a twisted soul¡­ He is one of the ancient rulers of the ocean, and now he is back¡­ with his brothers! They are causing massacres, spreading despair, and fermenting suffering¡­ Because this is what makes them happy, and they can even draw strength from it!" Parsi shouted in tears. "All of you will die!!!"


    Buzz!


    At this moment, Donald felt a burning sensation from the emblem in his hands, and he subconsciously took a few steps back.


    Buzz!


    All the blood eyes in the room blinked at the same time.


    The indescribable darkness descended, and it felt as though the entire room was being dragged into the deep sea.


    "Ah¡­ Ah¡­"


    Donald''s clothes became drenched, and water dripped from his hair. He took a deep breath and even licked the water by the side of his lips.


    The salty taste made him realize that this was undoubtedly seawater.


    "Ruxis? Ruxis?"


    He looked around and found that there was one less person in the room!


    Ruxis had actually disappeared. Only Parsi was still trembling in the wardrobe and using his clothes to shield himself like a massive rat.


    Donald grabbed him by the neck and dragged him out as he shouted, "Since these eyes are watching you¡­ Why did you still draw them¡­ Tell me!!!"

 883 To Serve

    "I-I don''t know¡­" Parsi forced out a few words with extreme difficulty. "It-It forced me¡­"


    "Where''s Ruxis? Tell me now!"


    Donald tossed Parsi onto the ground and pressed his cane against his throat.


    "I don''t know¡­ I really don''t know¡­ I-it''s always been the one¡­ stalker from the deep sea¡­ it''s been forcing me¡­" Parsi said between intermittent sobs.


    All of a sudden, he coughed a few times before spitting out muddy seawater.


    "Ah¡­ Ah¡­ It-It''s coming!"


    A large amount of seawater flooded into the room as an ocean fish emerged from Parsi''s mouth. Soon after, a cuttlefish emerged and then a large quantity of seaweed.


    "Ahem! Ahem!"


    Parsi held on to his throat tightly, and there were traces of blood in his eyes.


    Suddenly, his head exploded like a watermelon. A monster with scales all over its body crawled out from Parsi''s half-missing body. This monster looked like merfolk but was ten times more ferocious looking.


    Donald quickly retreated.


    Anyone who witnessed a scene like this would start to question their knowledge of physics and biology.


    However, he had been through a lot and was more than prepared for something like this.


    From the moment Parsi spat out seawater, Donald had already started making his way out of the bedroom. By the time the monster appeared, he was already at the door.


    Bloop! Bloop!


    The malevolent murloc monster started spitting out bubbles as its strong hind legs pressed against the floor before it leaped forward.


    Smack!


    It instantly destroyed the wooden wall and flew toward Donald like a cannonball.


    "Scram!"


    Donald brandished his cloak.


    Poof!


    A layer of water appeared and formed a transparent and durable membrane.


    When the sea monster charged into the membrane, the tremendous impact instantly changed the membrane''s shape, and its palm was merely a fine line away from Donald.


    Bang!


    The very next moment, the sea monster was like an arrow released from a bow. With an astounding amount of force, the sea monster was shot back viciously. It crashed through walls and smashed into massive bricks.


    Donald''s expression turned solemn, not feeling happy or satisfied at all. He stared at his palm.


    "My Lord¡­"


    The Dream and Armament Master''s emblem was clearly letting him know of the danger ahead.


    "Leave this place now!"


    After hearing this warning, Donald turned around and escaped without any hesitation.


    "Wa! Wa!"


    Behind him, the murloc cried out loud while accompanied by torrential waves.


    Endless seawater surged in from an unknown place and instantly flooded the entire street.


    ¡­


    "Deep-Sea Stalker?!"


    Within Pirate King City, Fang Yuan held the Omnidirectional Divine Demonic Armament insignia while pondering.


    "The inverted triangular eye, the symbol of the Deep-Sea Stalker¡­"


    As the god of his believers, together with the prayers sent by his pope, Donald, and the emblem working as a network hub, Fang Yuan knew everything that was going on in Ettoman. It was almost as though he was also in Ettoman.


    That murloc that came out of nowhere was naturally not the original body of the Deep-Sea Stalker. It was a monster manufactured by the other party.


    Even so, its strength was terrifying.


    At the very least, it was not going to be difficult for it to terrorize the streets and kill hundreds of commoners as well as a few of those fully-equipped soldiers who came forward to rescue the victims.


    "It seems like the strength of this Deep-Sea Stalker can''t be underestimated¡­ Unfortunately, the ocean is currently my territory¡­"


    Fang Yuan clapped his hands in an indolent manner.


    A young mermaid dressed in a white muslin dress walked into the lounge with her chin up.


    "Mermaid princess¡­ I still don''t know your name?"


    Fang Yuan smiled, knowing that this was only because he was too lazy to ask.


    "I am the darling of the ocean, the princess of Merfolk Kingdom, the daughter of Pirate Governor Kingsman¡ªNymphadora!" the young female mermaid replied proudly.


    "Oh, Nymphadora, most of your subordinates are already serving me¡­ Right now, I, Pirate King Roche, am willing to give you the chance to become the new pirate governor of the Coral Ocean. Are you willing to accept this chance to serve me?" Fang Yuan asked while looking at his palm.


    "My father is the son of the sea, and he will never die¡­" Nymphadora remained unyielding. "Also, you despicable human¡­ How dare you steal Sea God from me and still wish for me to serve you. Merfolk Kingdom will only serve its rightful king!"


    "That''s a true pity then!" Fang Yuan waved his hand. "It seems like¡­ I can only use Sea God to kill my way through the Coral Ocean and prop up another merfolk for this position."


    "Wait! You can''t do that!"


    Under this threat, the mermaid princess''s pride was like a soap bubble that easily burst with a simple blow.


    "What other choice do I have? Do you really believe that¡­ as the Pirate King, I would give up control of the Coral Ocean?" Fang Yuan was completely at leisure. "Even though I had plans to support you from the start, it''s a true pity that you didn''t cherish this opportunity. Oh¡­ one last question! Do you recognize this?"


    Fang Yuan used his right index finger to congeal an image in the air. Rays of light appeared and formed the insignia of the Deep-Sea Stalker.


    "That thing!" After looking at the insignia, Nymphadora''s expression changed drastically, and her entire body was weak on the ground. "How did you get that? No¡­ that is merely a terrifying legend that should have disappeared in history!"


    "It seems like I obtained an unexpected bonus here?" Fang Yuan nodded. "Tell me everything you know about it, and then I''ll answer your question."


    "This insignia is called the Drowning Eye!" Nymphadora took in a deep breath. "It belongs to an ancient ruler of the deep sea, the Spirit Twister, the Deep-Sea Stalker¡­ At the same time, it''s also the eternal nightmare for us merfolk!"


    "The merfolk''s nightmare?"


    Fang Yuan''s interest was piqued.


    "In the legends, this Deep-Sea Stalker once poisoned a group of merfolk. After these merfolk fell into his trap, they no longer looked like their original selves, turning malevolent and ugly. They call themselves murlocs and started criticizing the merfolk for failing to live up to our love of the ocean. Because of this claim, they started slaughtering us to offer us as sacrifices to the Deep-Sea Stalker¡­ In the rumors, this existence possesses the authority to control merfolk, and just by listening to his voice, merfolk can fall from grace¡­"


    Most merfolk were still human, while murlocs were purely ferocious monsters of the deep sea.


    "But¡­ all of this is merely legends, so how did you find out of his existence?"


    Nymphadora looked fearfully at Fang Yuan.


    Fang Yuan pondered for a moment before revealing everything he had observed. "It wasn''t here but in a human country. Accompanied by a murloc, the first thing he did was flood an entire street, killing over three hundred humans, and this number is still rising¡­"


    "This is his drowning ceremony¡­" The mermaid princess concluded without even thinking. "The Deep-Sea Stalker is using this method to regain his strength. Once he becomes strong enough, his target will definitely be the merfolk. Our large numbers and ability to transform gives him enough to return to his glory days!"


    "Little girl¡­ it seems like you and your race provoked some really big trouble!"


    Since this matter was of no concern to him, Fang Yuan simply sat there and rejoiced in her misery.


    The mermaid princess, Nymphadora, let out a deep breath before kneeling in front of Fang Yuan. "Mighty Pirate King! The ruler of the four oceans, Your Excellency Roche! I''m begging you, begging you to return Sea God to us. Without its strength, we won''t be able to fight against the murlocs¡­"


    "I refuse!" Fang Yuan shook his head. "This Sea God is my spoils of war, and I''m saving it for my future loyal pirate governor!"


    "In that case¡­" Nymphadora took out a dagger and cut her wrist before smearing the fresh blood on her forehead. "With the ocean as my witness, I, Mermaid Princess Nymphadora, am willing to serve you and offer my utmost loyalty, my soul, and my everything to you. I wish for you to forgive all my past wrongdoings¡­"


    This was the lesser of the two evils.


    This mermaid princess was able to see things clearly. By choosing to serve this Pirate King, the most she would lose was some sovereignty over her race. However, she would gain a strong supporter and could borrow his strength to deal with the Deep-Sea Stalker.


    Once negotiations broke down, she would have nothing left. The entire Merfolk Kingdom was bound to be infected by that Deep-Sea Stalker, and the merfolk would turn into malevolent and ugly murlocs.


    "Even though you rejected me earlier¡­ it seems that you are pretty sincere this time¡­"


    The mermaid princess did not merely pledge an ordinary oath. Instead, it was an extraordinary one with magical effects.


    Looking at this, Fang Yuan waved his hands generously.


    The shell necklace landed in front of the mermaid princess.


    During this period of time, he had already grasped the ultimate authority over Sea God. Even if Kingsman came back to life, he would be unable to snatch it from him.


    And this shell necklace only had partial authority over Sea God, so he was naturally not going to be stingy about it.


    "Thank you, Master!"


    Nymphadora took the necklace as her big drops of tears fell from her cheeks, turned into pearls, and crashed against the ground with a clear sound.


    "In the name of the Pirate King, you shall be my pirate governor in the Coral Ocean from today onward! Sea God shall be assigned to you for dispatch!"


    Fang Yuan said softly, "At this moment¡­ the drowning ceremony is not too far along, and the Deep-Sea Stalker has yet to accumulate sufficient strength. You don''t have to hurry back to Merfolk Kingdom for now, so gather the sailors under you and prepare to fight a war alongside me first!"


    "Who is the enemy?"


    Nymphadora stood up, looking firm and determined. It was as though she had turned all her weaknesses into tears and released them.


    "Is that even a question? There is only one¡ªthe royal Invincible Steel Fleet of Ettoman!" Fang Yuan sounded resolute and decisive. "There can only be one king of the ocean!"


    "Yes, Master. I will point my sword at wherever you will it!"


    Nymphadora bowed as she retreated gradually.


    Seeing this, Fang Yuan nodded satisfyingly. "Pretty decent child!"


    To be honest, he should rest and reorganize his subordinates since they were still a mere mob.


    However, time and tide waited for no man, and it was time to act.


    If he waited any longer, those escaped Evil Gods would garner more strength to stop his actions, which might prove more troublesome in the future.

 884 Ques

    Royal Port.


    Admiral Philip and a few staff officers gathered to stare at an ancient ocean map with doubtful expressions on their faces. "Sun Crown?"


    "Yes¡­ According to our source, the Pirate King''s next target is to find where the legendary Sun collapsed and obtain the Sun King''s crown!"


    Vice Admiral Norton pointed a black stick at the mark of a crown in the middle of the map.


    "This¡­ is simply¡­ absurd!" Admiral Philip''s fingers were trembling. "Vice Admiral Norton, please explain yourself! Otherwise, I will start doubting if you''re even deserving of your current position!"


    "Yes, Sir!" Vice Admiral Norton bowed. "First, we have to make something clear. This Sun King who conquered ancient dynasty after dynasty is not merely a legend. I''ve already gathered concrete evidence to prove that this king existed¡­ Additionally, he really did leave his Sun Crown behind¡­"


    "You¡­ Don''t tell me you actually believe that legend¡ªThe Sun King was born of the sun, and his crown possesses the ability to beckon an endless army of soldiers. These soldiers are tireless and fearless of death. They helped him conquer country after country and defeat all sorts of enemies¡­ Finally, the Sun King was disheartened because he did not have an heir, so he chose to bury himself on an uninhabited island¡­ He left his crown inside his tomb, and whoever obtains the Sun Crown will have the strength to conquer the world¡­" said one of the advisors the legend.


    "Since sea monsters, elves, dwarves, and so many legendary ships exist¡­ a Sun Crown isn''t totally unbelievable!"


    Vice Admiral Norton continued, "Moreover, I''ve already gathered reliable evidence that the glorious Sun Dynasty truly existed¡­ From a practical point of view, this shouldn''t concern us, but those pirates believe that possession of this Sun Crown will give them enough strength to defeat us."


    "You mean¡­" Admiral Philip''s eyes lit up.


    "Regardless of whether this information is true or not, we should make our move. However, our first target shouldn''t be the Sun Crown but those pirates instead¡­ Due to the uncertainty of our source, I believe we should increase the preparations for our pirate enticing plan¡­"


    Evidently, Vice Admiral Norton had thought through this thoroughly.


    "Hmm¡­ Indeed¡­ Our current strength surpasses the pirates, so with sufficient preparation, there isn''t much for us to worry about¡­ If we give that Pirate King some time to reorganize, it won''t be beneficial to us!"


    Admiral Philip instantly made his decision.


    "Also¡­ we have a few active privateer captains under us who are a decent force," Vice Admiral Norton added, causing everyone to smile faintly.


    Privateer captains could be considered a force for Ettoman, but in the eyes of the official navy, they were still too inferior to show in public.


    Furthermore, they truly loathed pirates from the bottom of their hearts.


    Since this operation might be a trap, the privateer captains would definitely be acting as cannon fodder for the navy by charging and breaking through enemy lines.


    ¡­


    Pirate King City.


    Fang Yuan opened up a nautical chart and smiled when he looked at the mark of the crown.


    The accumulated wealth of Pirate King City and the pirate governors was seriously not a small amount. Other than some gold, silver, or treasures, the most exciting ones were the accurate nautical charts showing the locations of treasures.


    Items that he might be interested in, which the pirate governors had not yet excavated, were naturally not ordinary.


    If it was not too distant, the locations would be close to impossible to decipher, or maybe the sea routes would be too dangerous.


    This nautical chart involving the Sun Crown was offered by Wang Zhi, the pirate governor of the East.


    Because this secret treasure belonged to the West yet ended up in the hands of the pirate governor of the East, it made things extremely awkward. Due to the location, even if he could not bear to use it as part of a deal with other pirate governors, he could not go look for the secret treasure with great fanfare. Therefore, it had been left idle for a long time until now.


    Offering it to Fang Yuan was similar to giving up something that was of dubious worth.


    This nautical chart was not something that one could just follow and be certain to find the hidden treasure.


    The codewords, hidden dangers, changes in the present sea routes, migration of beasts, and many other considerations had to be taken into account as well.


    After analyzing it, Fang Yuan estimated that even if he really wanted the Sun Crown, he would have to mobilize at least half of the troops under him.


    Instead of treasure hunting with great fanfare and allowing the navy to scheme against him, Fang Yuan would rather spread the news and tempt the main forces of the navy into a decisive battle. At the very least, he would be able to grasp the initiative.


    Of course, Fang Yuan did not care about how legendary or mystical the Sun Crown was.


    Even if the Sun Crown was truly able to beckon a formidable army, that was on land and not at sea.


    Out at sea, ships would always be the most important! Otherwise, the Sun Dynasty would not have been limited to only one continent.


    "By tossing out this bait, I''m confident that the navy will be hooked because it can''t stand seeing Pirate King City expanding at this pace!"


    Fang Yuan gathered his four pirate governors, as well as his original subordinates. "We''re going to go all out, and we won''t be leaving behind any third-level ships. We shouldn''t treat the royal navy as idiots and think that it''ll definitely fall for our trap. Instead, we have to be well prepared to fight a hard battle!"


    ¡­


    Three days later.


    At the common boundary between the Coral Ocean and the Golden Ocean, the Cornelian Ocean¡­


    Incredibly captivating, multi-colored radiances reflected from the bottom of the ocean.


    Inexperienced newbies out at sea would certainly think that there were treasures on the seabed.


    However, these gorgeous radiances were dangerous and not riches.


    Nobody knew why, but the ocean water in this region was contaminated with dense toxins. Even an old fur seal would not last five minutes swimming in this water.


    There would not even be an opportunity to drift along the ocean if any misfortune happened here.


    However, some sea monsters fancied such ocean waters, where humans could not adapt.


    One example would be large longnose gudgeons. Fish like these were vicious in nature and had mouths that looked like nails. They were incredibly quick in water and loved attacking any floating objects.


    For small and ordinary ships, it would not take long before these fish managed to pierce a hundred holes in the ship''s hull. Nobody on the ship would be able to escape from their attacks.


    Because of all these dangers, the Cornelian Ocean became a forbidden zone.


    However, at this very moment, a detachment of the Invincible Steel Fleet entered these waters brazenly.


    The large number of shadows immediately incited the craziness of the dwelling longnose gudgeons, and they swam rapidly to attack these floating objects.


    Ding! Ding! Dang! Dang!


    After a series of metallic clashing sounds, all the longnose gudgeons fell to the bottom of the ocean, completely defeated by the ironclads'' hulls.


    Admiral Philip stood on deck and said confidently, "Generally speaking, first-level battleships have nothing to fear regarding the attacks of these longnose gudgeons, and ironclads have even better defense¡­ After eliminating those pirates, we can develop more steam merchant ships to open up this sea route. This will undoubtedly be an excellent source of wealth!"


    "Commander, we haven''t spotted any traces of the pirates, but according to the messages from the privateer captains in front, they discovered a lot abandoned rubbish. Seeing how fresh the discarded rubbish is, we should be able to catch up to those pirates within a day¡­"


    Vice Admiral Norton remained stern and serious.


    This time, the royal navy had brought fifty ironclads, which basically meant that it was placing everything it had on the line. He had every reason to be worried and anxious.


    "Relax¡­ With our main forces gathered here, the enemies won''t be able to do anything to us. Besides, even if they have any traps planned, we still have that group of privateer captains ahead of us to test the route, right?" Admiral Philip replied in an unconcerned manner.


    ¡­


    "A huge decisive battle, huh¡­ After this battle, will this be the end of the show for the pirates?"


    On Mermaid, Orlando was gulping down a bottle of rum.


    Even though he dressed like a gentleman, he was still a pirate deep down.


    At the thought of Philip''s plan, he could not help feeling sad.


    Furthermore, the navy''s attitude toward the privateer captains who gave their lives to the navy was also heartbreaking.


    It was probably because Ettoman was about to eliminate the pirates and take control of the four oceans that they were reluctant to show even the slightest bit of appreciation for them.


    This time, the navy was basically sending these people to their deaths.


    In Orlando''s eyes, they were no different from bait being thrown into the sea for this task.


    Even though the pirates'' strength was reduced, the rise of the Pirate King led to their unity, so how could they ever underestimate that?


    It was undoubtedly not a problem for the pirates to get rid of these advance forces.


    Ettoman was clearly prepared to let these men be wiped out by the pirates!


    "Ruthless¡­ Even if the main forces of the pirates perish in this battle, the seed of pirates will never disappear¡­"


    Orlando clenched his teeth.


    Ding!


    At this moment, he suddenly heard a weird sound, so he summoned the system without hesitation.


    "Main quest chain triggered: Decisiveness!


    "Quest explanation: Ettoman''s indistinct alienation begins to stir your emotions as a pirate. Everything will be decided in this decisive battle! Follow your heart and soul to make a decision on which camp you wish to belong to. After making your decision, display your usefulness in the battle!


    "Quest reward: After the predestined fate of the battle is concluded, you will receive a variable reward based on your contribution!"


    ¡­


    "Variable reward? That means the greater the contribution, the greater the reward¡­" Orlando muttered as he looked at his right palm.


    In his heart, did he treasure having freedom or becoming an honorable nobleman?


    "This answer¡­ was decided since my very first day on a ship! My heart! My heart!"


    Orlando was solemn as he clenched his fist tightly.


    Splash!


    The water surface burst as a massive tentacle extended from the water.


    "Wh-what''s going on?"


    An Ettoman crew member ran out immediately.


    Looking at this small fry monitoring him, Orlando frowned momentarily before smiling warmly. "It''s just a small matter. Nothing much¡­"

 885 Decisive Battle

    "Small matter? In the name of the Ettoman Royal Navy, anything regarding Mermaid has to be reported to me!"


    The tone of this envoy wearing a wig was stubborn and arrogant, having shadows of an old, prideful Ettoman gentleman. As he spoke, he even used a white handkerchief to cover his mouth and nose, as though he was giving Orlando a lot of respect by talking to him in this manner.


    "All right¡­ This is my report!"


    Orlando stepped forward, and his fist smashed into the envoy''s face.


    Bang!


    The envoy fell to the deck, bleeding from his mouth and nose, completely dumbfounded.


    "Why do you keep buzzing like a fly around my ear? You''re truly annoying¡­"


    His face filled with disgust and hatred, Orlando grabbed the envoy''s collar.


    "I dare you¡­ I swear upon the name of the Queen that the navy won''t let you off!"


    This envoy was missing teeth but still struggled to argue.


    "Who cares about her? Anyway, I''ve already made my decision to launch an armed rebellion and return to being a pirate¡­ Which one of you is willing to lick the smelly foot of that old woman?"


    Orlando''s last sentence was clearly aimed at the crew members around him.


    "Of course¡­ not!!!" A few pirates laughed out loud. They raised their blades and shouted, "We are pirates! Free pirates! Hurray!"


    "Very good!"


    Orlando motioned with his right hand, and a few pirates surged forward to carry the envoy to the edge of the plank.


    "No! You can''t do this!"


    At this point, the envoy was overflowing with tears and mucus while hugging the plank tightly. There was already an additional stain on his pants.


    "The way you look¡­ I''m starting to feel ashamed for you even though you''re my enemy now!"


    Orlando shut his eyes.


    Smack!


    A massive tentacle extended from the ocean and curled around this Ettoman envoy, dragging him into the water without shedding a single drop of blood.


    The incident on Mermaid naturally attracted the attention of others.


    A few privateer ships approached and signaled with their flags to inquire more information.


    "Captain, do we dive underwater now?"


    These pirates were unperturbed, confident in their ability to escape even if they were surrounded.


    Orlando clenched his teeth and immediately made his decision. "No! We speed up! Lure them forward!"


    He had an incredible amount of faith in the system.


    Since the system issued this quest and even divided the camps, this meant that the strength difference between the pirates and navy was not significant. In fact, there was an increased likelihood that the pirates would ambush them up ahead.


    At the thought of this, he gave another command. "Fire!"


    Kaboom!


    Following the white smoke, the unsuspecting armed merchant ships that approached them suffered losses. Even though they did not sink immediately, two of the ships were severely damaged and unable to move forward.


    In a region like this, this was equivalent to a death sentence if they did not receive any aid.


    "After them!" A voice resounded from the navy ship bringing up the rear. "Mermaid has betrayed us!"


    This caused uproar and chaos among the ships, but eventually, the majority of them pursued Mermaid.


    After all, besides Mermaid, the Octopus Marauder Team still had a few other subsidiary ships.


    Once the navy allowed them to leave, the hit to morale would be serious.


    "Tell Old Single Eye and Cripple to follow my flagship. Once we reach the destination, we can break free and escape!"


    Orlando looked even more firm.


    With the octopus beneath the sea surface disturbing the longnose gudgeons, his ship was in a better position than the ships behind him.


    The ships following behind were flustered and exasperated as they quickly entered a foggy region.


    Seeing this, Orlando smiled. "Haha¡­ Great job, my partner!"


    As his contract partner, this octopus shared its life and consciousness with him. Its intelligence was also much higher than ordinary sea monsters.


    Thus, they were able to complete many actions such as¡­ showing the way or¡­ informing each other about certain news!


    After surmising that the pirates had an ambush ahead, he merely moved one step forward to bring these inferior troops in.


    ¡­


    Bloop! Bloop!


    The sea under the fog suddenly changed.


    A massive whirlpool was gradually taking shape in the middle of the sea.


    As this whirlpool grew larger, it began swallowing all the inferior ships within range.


    Orlando''s eyes were red as he commanded loudly, "Quickly! Lower the sails! Full speed ahead!"


    Mermaid quickly accelerated and brought the Octopus Marauder Team out of the periphery of the whirlpool.


    Behind them, the terrifying massive whirlpool had finally fully formed. Like a massive sea monster with its mouth wide open, it started gobbling down all the lives and ships as offerings.


    "Sea God!"


    After breaking through the fog, Orlando immediately saw the shadow of a legendary ship.


    By the ship''s side, there were a lot of strong and reputable warships. Sun was particularly outstanding, looking like a crane among a flock of chickens.


    "Extraordinary ships, stay put. The rest are to attack and take care of the enemies¡­"


    After being dragged in by such a massive whirlpool, the fleet was heavily damaged. It would not survive if the pirates attacked them.


    Even the ironclad fleet might not be able to maintain their energy after an incident like this, let alone this mob of ships.


    "Nymphadora, great job!" Fang Yuan did not forget to take out a seashell and give his compliments.


    Nymphadora''s soft voice came from the seashell. "Master, I''ve exhausted too much of my energy. I don''t think I can execute another attack like this in the following battle."


    The fact that Sea God could control the ocean meant that it was almost invincible during ocean battles.


    However, this was not without cost.


    She would be fine taking on one or two ships, but to create a massive whirlpool big enough to take down an entire fleet? Nymphadora was not as strong as her father, so she could only do this once every three days.


    Any more, and she would exhaust all of her energy and could possibly even die.


    The reason why Fang Yuan did not use this against the ironclad fleet? First, there were simply too many people on the other side, so he might not be able to take them down altogether. Second, a navy always had special forces like the fate of a nation or the spirit of a martyr to protect them. Even though there was no effect in physical battles, extraordinary forces like these always helped to weaken the other party mentally.


    Although no one could estimate the extent, Fang Yuan was aware of how remarkable Ettoman''s present sea forces were. Summoning a tsunami to attack the Invincible Steel Fleet was never going to happen. In fact, a small fry like Nymphadora might die from the backlash of attacking it.


    This was unless he went out personally. In which case, he was confident of success.


    However, doing something like that might incite interference from the world, especially if he really defeated the Invincible Fleet. The gains simply did not make up for the losses.


    He was extremely calm and composed at this moment. In any case, he had already completed his primary objective¡ªhis breakthrough. Whatever happened next, he would handle it one issue at a time.


    In other words, he had already earned back his capital. The following matters would be his winnings, so it did not matter how much he won.


    While Fang Yuan was in deep thought, the battle''s outcome was already decided.


    One side was well-organized and prepared, while the other side was battered and exhausted. There was naturally only one outcome.


    The inferior vanguards collapsed at the first encounter while the rest started escaping.


    Because Fang Yuan was concerned about the more important upcoming battle, he did not have the pirates chase after them, and they were aware of when to stop their pursuit.


    Anyway, it would be impossible for this vanguard fleet to rejoin the battle.


    ¡­


    Wrecked ships, wooden planks, and corpses floated toward them from the front.


    Seeing this scene, Admiral Philip''s face turned extremely gloomy. "Useless fools¡­ I was hoping they could inflict some damage on the pirates, but they were only successful in throwing their lives away."


    "Someone sent a message from the front. According to their information, we might have to consider the worst-case scenario."


    Vice Admiral Norton''s face remained stern.


    After the pirates crowned their Pirate King, they actually became united, making it far more difficult than before. This was certainly beyond their expectations.


    "Ettoman does not allow for failure!" Admiral Philip drew his officer''s sword. "Form up for battle!"


    "Form up!"


    The order quickly spread.


    Not long after, fifty ironclads formed a V-shape, looking similar to a maritime fortress.


    "Here we are!"


    Fang Yuan stood on Sun and looked at the smoke ahead of him.


    Fifty ironclads pressed forward like an iron wall with incomparable oppression.


    "Sun, ready Burning Sun¡­" When Fang Yuan saw this, a slight smile appeared. "The fate of a nation and the spirit of a martyr might be able to protect against the extraordinary, but can they be protected from a physical attack like this?"


    Ding! Target locked!


    Legend ability Burning Sun, firing!


    The sound of machines on Sun responded to that command.


    A brilliance converged on Sun''s main cannon that suddenly turned into an intense white radiance.


    Kaboom!


    In the middle of the ironclad fleet, the largest ship, Fearless, was instantly turned into raging flames and exploded.


    Sea waves surged, slamming against the surrounding vessels.


    Even though Fang Yuan knew he could only use Burning Sun once, a force like this was truly incomparable.


    To Fang Yuan''s surprise, the enemy ships were merely slightly taken aback after losing their flagship. Almost immediately, they launched their counter-attack.


    Fierce cannon fire immediately fired back at the pirates.


    "Sun can only fire once! Attack! Attack!" Admiral Philip shouted with all his might on another ship.


    Vice Admiral Norton, who was by his side, wiped his cold sweat. "Fortunately, we received the news about Sun and formed up in time¡­ Otherwise, there wouldn''t have been a battle to fight once our flagship was lost."


    Even so, his expression was still stunned.


    What other hidden trump cards did that Pirate King have?


    Bang! Bang!


    At this moment, many of the ships surrounding him started to tremble as though something was exploding beneath them.


    Admiral Philip was shaken and immediately asked, "What''s happening?"


    Someone quickly reported the situation, "The longnose gudgeons and other sea monsters have explosives tied to them! They''re colliding and exploding under the sea surface!"


    "King''s Throne¡­ did they force the longnose gudgeons in this region into submission?" Vice Admiral Norton muttered as his heart sank¡­

 886 Attack

    Solomon Strait.


    As a major transportation route, there was constantly a large number of ships from the East and West anchored here.


    Towering forts, as well as permanent defensive structures, built on the unbreakable prestige of this place, giving the residents and merchants a great sense of security.


    However, their local governor, Viscount Quaid, from Ettoman was clearly feeling ill at ease.


    He was undoubtedly aware of the dispatch of the navy''s main forces against the pirates.


    In order to accomplish the entire task in one stroke, Admiral Philip not only transferred Rear Admiral Jackson away, but he also brought all the ironclads with him.


    This resulted in the depletion of naval power protecting Solomon, and it was at an all-time low.


    Of course, in the eyes of Admiral Philip, the presence of the defensive structures and the remaining vessels in the vicinity were enough to ensure that no mishaps would happen. Additionally, he was watching closely over the navy''s main forces.


    In most cases, this should have been how things turned out.


    However, life was only interesting because of unexpected incidents, and Viscount Quaid was certainly hoping that he would not have to face any unexpected incidents now.


    On the hillside beside the port, inside the governor''s mansion.


    Elizabeth was wearing a noblewoman''s dress and holding on to an exquisite porcelain teacup. There were also a few honey cream pastries fresh out of the oven in front of her.


    "Thank Goddess¡­ I''m finally back!"


    She took a small sip of tea, and the warm and sweet taste convinced her that she had finally broken free of that nightmare with pirates and successfully returned to her close ones.


    "Miss, Master wants you to change into this attire and attend the banquet. Many young and handsome men wish to meet you there¡­"


    An elderly lady walked over and opened a delicate gift box that had an exquisite gown inside.


    "No!"


    Feeling slightly infuriated again, Elizabeth opened up her fan and started fanning herself.


    Evidently, her marriage with Viscount Charlie had basically come to nothing.


    He was the offspring of a famous family, so there was a low chance that he would accept a woman with a damaged reputation. Even though she had not suffered any substantial damage, reputation was often more important than reality.


    Viscount Quaid had already warned his daughter about this, which was why he simply expressed his attitude toward this incident directly.


    Even though it was unlikely for the other families to be well-matched in terms of social status, men from less prestigious families were still within consideration.


    At the thought of the recent matchmaking misfortunes and the disdainful gazes from those young men, Elizabeth felt as though she had a knife stabbed into her.


    "But Miss, this is Master''s orders. You have to¡­" The elderly lady was in a slightly difficult position.


    "I already said¡­ no!!" Elizabeth emphasized her words, feeling incredibly oppressed. She walked over to the balcony to gaze at the ocean and took a deep breath.


    "My daughter!" Viscount Quaid, who was wearing a wig as well as a dignified and carefully selected attire, arrived behind Elizabeth.


    "I don''t understand¡­ Why are you doing this, Father?" Elizabeth did not hold back.


    "I want to let you know that I love you more than anyone else in the world!" Viscount Quaid sighed. "However, it''s essentially impossible for your marriage with that Viscount to take place any longer. He''s turned into a joke because of everything that happened during this period¡­ Those damned pirates! I hope Admiral Philip can hang them all! Oh! I''m sorry¡­ I shouldn''t have told you all of this."


    "No, I want to know if that pirate, Arcane Trickster Roche, became the Pirate King? And Admiral Philip actually brought away all of the main forces in Solomon just to deal with him?" Elizabeth looked at her father intently.


    "Those are military secrets¡­ How did you find out?" Viscount Quaid was shocked.


    "I have my sources!" Elizabeth smiled sly, just like a crafty fox. "When that Roche is sentenced to death, I have to be there to watch¡­"


    "Your wish will come true. Admiral Philip is one of the renowned admirals of our country, and with fifty ironclads, we have an unstoppable force at sea¡­" Viscount Quaid said pridefully. "I believe¡­ it won''t be long before you hear the good news."


    "I hope so!" Unknowingly, Elizabeth felt a little uneasy


    How could that savage and astute pirate be defeated so easily? She was not feeling confident about this at all.


    "Governor, latest update!" Suddenly, hurried footsteps entered the bedroom. "I''m sorry, Governor, but you ordered me to inform you immediately upon the latest military intelligence."


    "Yes, I did¡­ Speak!" Viscount Quaid patted Elizabeth''s shoulder. "My precious girl, here comes the good news."


    "Cough cough¡­" The messenger unrolled a scroll. "¡­ April 1st, we faced the main forces of the pirates. The navy''s brave lads fought hard, but the enemy shamelessly made use of naval mines, causing us to lose Fearless, Lion, Knights of the Round Table¡­ Admiral Philip died heroically in battle, while Vice Admiral Norton led the remaining ten ironclads to retreat. They will arrive at Solomon Strait on the 7th. They''re hoping for the local governor to assist them¡­"


    "What¡­ No!" Viscount Quaid felt distraught. "By the Queen, are you joking? Those are the elites of our country. Fifty new-model ironclads and tens of thousands of marines¡­"


    "I''m sorry¡­ but this is the truth!" The messenger handed the scroll over.


    "God¡­" After taking a quick glance, the governor almost passed out.


    "Father, we need to make preparations immediately. We have to gather our supplies and ships! Ships are important because we might need to escape with Vice Admiral Norton¡­" Elizabeth immediately said.


    "Escape? From Solomon Strait? No way! I am the governor¡­" Viscount Quaid was somewhat absent-minded.


    Regardless of how meticulous his plans were, he was completely at a loss facing an incident like this.


    "Yes, we must escape! After a huge loss like this, our country''s naval power is badly damaged, so Ettoman will definitely choose to pull back for now¡­" Elizabeth said confidently.


    The nurturing of a navy and constructing ships were only two aspects.


    Most importantly, there had to be capable sailors. Without four or five years, it would be extremely difficult to train them properly.


    This defeat practically hollowed out the navy''s foundations, and it would not be easy to breathe after this.


    At the thought of this, Viscount Quaid immediately made his decision. "Send my orders. All ports are to enter first-level alert¡­ Also, get ready to evacuate¡­"


    ¡­


    Roar! Roar!


    A thunderous roar resounded.


    A black spot appeared and became larger by the second. Soon after, it turned into a massive floating island.


    Pirate King City, Island Turtle King!


    Its speed was extremely pathetic, as it could not even reach ten knots, and was unusable in battle. It was currently moving toward Solomon Strait.


    Bit by bit, it moved extremely slowly, but it contained an unswerving force!


    "It''s the pirates! Attack!"


    A few defensive forts immediately spotted it and opened fired.


    Kaboom!


    Cannonballs landed and exploded on the island, but given its impressive size, it was basically no different from getting bit by a mosquito.


    This was also Fang Yuan''s one of arrangements.


    Given the Island Turtle King''s pathetic speed, it would not stand a chance against any pirate ship even with its impeccable defense. However, using it to attack a fixed target proved to be a successful strategy.


    Even though the defensive capabilities of Solomon Strait''s forts were impressive, their biggest shortcoming was that they were immobile.


    Additionally, the ironclads stationed here had all been transferred out, so Solomon Straight was at its weakest.


    Roar! Roar!


    The Island Turtle King disregarded the cannon fire while roaring and using its front limbs to attack the island.


    Rumble!


    When its head clashed against the island, heavy boulders fell from the sky like meteorites to destroy all of the defensive structures.


    "Ahh!"


    "Sea Monster!"


    "Quickly escape!"


    "Why does it look like there''s a city on the back of this giant sea monster?"


    The ports in Solomon Straight immediately fell into disarray.


    They had never imagined a sea monster could be as ridiculously big as this.


    Soon later, they could not even bother thinking about any of this.


    Because the moment the Island Turtle King reached land, a large number of ropes and slides were released from its back. Pirates flooded the ports like ants within seconds.


    Bang! Bang!


    Gunfire, swords clashing, and the desperate cries of men and women formed a symphony for Solomon''s end.


    "Men! Bring Elizabeth away!"


    When Governor Quaid saw a pirate heading toward the governor''s mansion, his face turned pale immediately.


    "Hurry¡­ Go!"


    Elizabeth lifted her dress and grabbed her father''s palm. Under the protection of the guards, they fled from the governor''s mansion and ran toward the back of the mountain.


    "Why? Why? Why?"


    As they escaped, tears rolled down Elizabeth''s cheeks.


    She realized that she would never be able to escape from that nightmare.


    "We can''t head to the port, but I prepared a ship on another side¡­" Viscount Quaid calmed himself down. "The captain is my good friend. Elizabeth, go find him and immediately leave!"


    "Father, what about you?"


    Elizabeth pulled on Viscount Quaid''s sleeves.


    "I am Ettoman''s local governor, so I must do what I have to do¡­ Moreover¡­ Vice Admiral Norton doesn''t know about this incident yet, and he''s still heading here thinking that it''s safe!"


    Up until now, he was still unconvinced that those pirates had attained a grand victory unprecedented in history.


    Furthermore, they even split their forces into two. From the very beginning of the war, they had already sent this Island Turtle King to cut off Ettoman''s retreat route!


    Without any doubt, the Ettoman Royal Navy was currently in its most perilous situation ever!

 887 Statutes

    World Calendar 668.


    In the Cornelian Ocean, the destruction of Ettoman''s Invincible Steel Fleet symbolized the rise of the new generation Pirate King.


    Pirate Prince Edward bowed in front of Fang Yuan and said humbly, "Your Excellency respected Pirate King! According to the news we received from Pirate King City, they''ve successfully broken through Solomon Strait and bombarded Norton''s fleet that was reorganizing by the shore¡­ From now on, there will no longer be any Ettoman forces in the Golden Ocean! Also¡­ the privateer captains who surrendered have arrived."


    Pirates were not known for their loyalty, so many privateer captains easily betrayed Ettoman''s navy.


    "Greetings, respected Pirate King!"


    "You are the ruler of pirates, the owner of the royal city!"


    A group of second-rate pirate captains was escorted in, speaking humbly and respectfully. Some of them even went straight up to Fang Yuan to offer him gifts.


    According to conventional practice, this was how pirates expressed their allegiance.


    Among these people, an infuriated Orlando watched how the pirates surrounded the Arcane Trickster.


    Even though he had thought about revenge earlier, he was eventually discouraged after seeing the kind of influence and power that Fang Yuan had today.


    At this moment, he looked exactly like all the other captains around him.


    He was even more convinced that his revenge plan would never be accomplished.


    Fortunately, Fang Yuan could not even bother with him.


    "We have removed the biggest nail in the Golden Ocean and Soloman Strait. What we need to do next is to follow up with this victory by pressing home the attack. We have to capture the Nightmare Ocean and even Ettoman''s coastal waters so that we can threaten its native land!" Fang Yuan sat on his throne lazily and squinted. "Of course, the very first thing to do now is to train our fleets!"


    Without mentioning those directly under his personal command, he still had four pirate governors who he had messy relationships with.


    "First of all, I will compile a list of statutes. Even though we pirates are known to act as we wish, there has to be some conventional rules internally. Right now, what I want to do is to fix these rules and turn them into statutes belonging only to us. It shall be called the ''Pirate Statutes''!"


    In a world, a regulated force would eventually be on top.


    After saying this, Fang Yuan suddenly felt an immense fluctuation in the world again.


    At that moment, the majority of gazes cast on him came from those Evil Gods who had just escaped.


    And those gazes belonged to those on the same level as Demon Masters and Demon Gods. They were attracted by the news that Ettoman''s Invincible Steel Fleet had been exterminated. Before the first wave had subsided, a new wave rose, and they were all concentrated on Fang Yuan.


    "Evil God? Haha¡­"


    Fang Yuan waved his hand lightly, and a translucent water membrane opened up, instantly isolating the flagship from the surroundings.


    "Fluctuations in the world attracted the attention of those Evil Gods?"


    He smiled, not too concerned about this.


    How could beings struggling at death''s door be a match for him?


    Needless to say, while taking advantage of this golden period of time, he had already sent his strongest opponent, the Ettoman Royal Navy, into hell and would sweep across the four oceans.


    Even if Ettoman worked together with the Evil Gods in an attempt to gather sufficient strength at sea to fight against Fang Yuan, it was certainly not going to happen overnight.


    Moreover, those Evil Gods were simply a collection of chaos. In fact, they might not even possess the same way of thinking as humans did.


    Some were like the Deep-Sea Stalker, who only had plans to inflict fear, chaos, and death in human countries in order to amass strength. It would be impossible for both sides to agree with each other.


    "Pirates are always lacking in order, but there has to be a list of rules to restrict us!" Fang Yuan stood up and shouted, "From today onward, the ''Pirates Statutes'' that I enact shall be the supreme standards for all piracy. Anyone who goes against it will be equivalent to going against Pirate King Roche, and I will chase him to the ends of the oceans!"


    "''Pirate Statutes''?"


    Even Orlando, standing among the crowd, could not help but feel astonished about Fang Yuan''s plan.


    This fellow had given up on any small-scale plans, or even thinking about incorporating it into anything¡ªhe wanted his own standards to become the established standards of the entire world of pirates!


    Only a Pirate King like Fang Yuan could say something like this.


    Otherwise, even a pirate governor with this idea would end up being jeered at.


    Pirates always advocated freedom, and if the current Fang Yuan wanted to turn them into a massive fleet, it would most likely end up failing. Even if he somehow managed to succeed, the mutual wear and tear would end up depleting the strength of the entire force.


    However, it would be different with the ''Pirate Statutes''.


    It was basically a list of standards or rather a list of procedures to resolve problems. It would be beneficial for both the captain and the crew of a ship.


    "This is my first draft. Take a look, pirate governors."


    Fang Yuan handed over a scroll.


    Aeoris took the scroll and unfolded it. All he saw were lines of words written in the mainland language, Ettoman''s language, the elvish language, and the dwarven language:


    ''When a ship is forced to make a major decision, it shall be decided by the crew members voting!


    Stealing, injuring one another, and traitors shall be banished to an uninhabited island to suffer the pain inflicted by a fully-loaded firearm.


    Wealth distribution¡ªthe captain receives 30% while the other important positions shall receive double shares.


    Restriction on humiliating captives¡­


    There is a need to maintain weapons and to clean the ship''s deck and cannons daily.


    Private fights are prohibited, but public duels agreed to by the captain or the majority of the crew can be held. Both parties can negotiate on the method.''


    ¡­


    Unexpectedly, the rules were very simple and not demanding at all.


    "Great, I think this is feasible!" Edward nodded.


    Initially, he thought that Roche would come up with a list of demanding statutes and command all the pirates under him to follow it strictly.


    However, the first draft felt more like setting established conventions to be commonly used. Moreover, there were not many provisions, and they were all simple and practical. It had the foundations of a statute that could be popularized.


    "I have no objections!"


    "Agreed!"


    After the pirate governors agreed, Fang Yuan''s original subordinates, such as Bill and Butcher, were naturally not going to oppose him.


    With their support and agreement, it was almost certain that this ''Pirate Statutes'' would be implemented across the oceans to become the foundation for resolving any disputes out at sea.


    "Pirate Statutes? Maybe after today, it will be called the Roche Statutes¡­"


    Orlando''s heart trembled at this scene.


    Even though he was the renowned Deep Sea Hades, he was truly insignificant in front of the true Pirate King.


    ¡­


    Ettoman.


    "My Lord¡­"


    Donald locked himself in a small room and prayed constantly.


    Ever since that incident, he had been feeling restless and uneasy.


    Even though the government classified it as a drainpipe accident, he was naturally not convinced since he saw murloc.


    In fact, under Fang Yuan''s intentional or unintentional pointers and after gathering more information through his connections, Donald was truly frightened.


    Something was happening across the land, and the death count tallied over a hundred!


    And there were all kinds of supernatural and ridiculous incidents.


    There was no need to mention the rampant Cecil influenza, which was like a god of death entrenched in the continent, wantonly harvesting lives.


    "¡­ My Lord, please forgive my feebleness¡­ Please bestow your mercy and give humanity asylum¡­"


    Frankly, the more Donald knew, the more uncertain his heart felt. At this moment, he was simply pinning his only hope on the Dream and Armament Master.


    "My Lord¡­ I have sin¡­ I have wavered¡­"


    Donald was praying while kneeling and holding the emblem.


    Ever since he went to that house and saw the marks Parsi drew, he felt that something was amiss.


    Even being extremely far away from that house and having no intention of heading back, the triangular insignia was increasingly clear and floating in front of his eyes for some unknown reason.


    Recently, it became even more severe, and he could see every stroke clearly. It was as though it was seducing Donald, trying to get him to portray everything accurately himself.


    If Fang Yuan were here, he would definitely be able to see that Donald had been ''infected''!


    After all, the Deep-Sea Stalker was on the same level as Demon Gods.


    Through this imprint, Donald had a connection with that existence. However, he had Fang Yuan''s energy within his body.


    Regarding the Deep-Sea Stalker, there was an increasing need to pay more attention.


    The result was Donald growing increasingly insane.


    He even had urges to bite off his fingers every time he looked at them.


    "You have indeed sinned!"


    At this moment, the emblem in Donald''s hands suddenly let out a ray of light and warmth.


    "My Lord¡­ Your consciousness has finally descended?"


    Donald was almost crying tears of joy.


    Over time, the Dream and Armament Master gave him fewer and fewer responses, making Donald feel like he had lost ''God''s Grace''. He was becoming more neurotic and sensitive.


    "You don''t have to worry or panic¡­ The test of the world is about to arrive, and only the sincere ones will be able to survive!" Fang Yuan''s voice sounded.


    In reality, he had to play the role of a good Pirate King and oversee the pirates recently, so he was not as focused or as motivated as before for this side.


    However, Donald was still his pope, so he could not watch him get plotted against by others.


    A stream of water suddenly appeared and soaked Donald. After this, it quickly converged on his back to reveal an inverted triangle.


    "This is¡­"


    Donald used a mirror to look dazedly at this item that looked neither like a tattoo nor an imprint.


    Shortly after, he understood.


    Ever since he had entered that house, he could sense the watchful eyes of the Deep-Sea Stalker.


    Of course, for that kind of existence, perhaps it was merely a casual imprint.


    But to Donald, it was enough to make him feel uneasy and eventually collapse under the pressure.


    Fang Yuan had no doubt that if it were anyone else, they would have certainly been led astray to collect the materials needed to summon deep sea underlings.

 888 Alliance

    "In the name of the Dream and Armament Master! Dispel evil!"


    Donald immediately prostrated and prayed for this act of grace.


    Sizzle!


    The strange imprint on his back appeared to come to life. The lines turned blood red, and the eye in the middle blinked.


    Bloop! Bloop!


    Countless bubbles appeared, and Donald felt like a massive hole opened up on his back, seeming like a faucet connected to the ocean.


    A large amount of liquid came out.


    Fang Yuan''s faint voice came from the emblem. "Be firm in your conviction! When lost, do not listen to the voices coming from the deep sea. I shall bless, my believer."


    Rumble!


    Space trembled violently.


    It felt as though two giant creatures met face to face and started fighting fiercely in close quarters.


    Donald screamed miserably and almost fainted.


    When he finally regained his senses, the first thing he did was to look at the imprint on his back.


    At this time, it looked nothing like it used to.


    The thin layer of seawater on the ground, as well as a dead black carp, let Donald understand that everything that happened earlier was definitely not an illusion.


    "Thank you, my Lord! You have rescued me once again!"


    Understanding the cause and effect, Donald immediately started praying even more sincerely than ever before.


    "Mr. Donald!"


    Anxious knocking echoed from a door.


    "What''s going on? Didn''t I instruct that no one is to bother me?"


    Donald furrowed his brows but still went to open the door.


    "My apologies! Mister, a messenger from Duke Ham insists on meeting you immediately¡­ You¡­ This¡­"


    Evidently, the scene in the room shocked the butler.


    "Nothing¡­ I was merely conducting a small experiment. Also, if whatever you see here spreads, you will have to look for a new job tomorrow."


    Donald tidied up his clothes. "Bring me to the guest!"


    "No problem!"


    The butler quivered a little as he stood much straighter than usual.


    "Respectable Mr. Donald!"


    The messenger from Duke Ham was a servant who often served the duke. The moment he spotted Donald, he acted as though he saw his liberator. "The duke wants to see you immediately!"


    "I understand. Looks like something happened¡­ something incredible!"


    Donald took his coat from his butler and then got into a carriage.


    Duke Ham''s manor.


    This noble old man was currently no longer as carefree as before. Instead, he was staring at the battle report in his hands like a statue.


    "Your Excellency Duke?" Donald called out.


    "Ah, Donald, you''re here." Duke Ham rubbed his brows, his voice seeming devastated. "I''m taking the first ship that leaves tomorrow. I will be going to Cecil, and you have to come as well. I want you to be my personal adviser!"


    "Diplomatic mission?" Donald frowned. "Did¡­ something go wrong with the battle?"


    "How do you know?" Duke Ham subconsciously hid the battle report and stared at Donald with his eagle-like eyes.


    "Because there isn''t another incident that can make Ettoman express goodwill to the second most powerful ocean country, Cecil¡­ Moreover, it feels like almost every major incident in the kingdom recently has something to do with the ocean. If my guess is right, you should have just received the battle report, right? Did Admiral Philip suffer a disastrous defeat?" Donald replied calmly.


    "No! It''s much worse!" Duke Ham closed his eyes painfully. "The Invincible Steel Fleet¡­ no longer exists!"


    "¡­" Donald responded solemnly, "This is truly sorrowful and unfortunate news!"


    "Indeed¡­ When the naval minister received the news, he instantly passed out. Over forty ironclads sank¡­ This is truly the greatest loss we have ever suffered. Of course, there''s also the thousands of young men serving Ettoman''s navy and the families we need to console¡­" Duke Ham replied, full of heartache.


    "What was the exact cause? Was it due to some kind of act of a god?" Donald quickly inquired.


    "No! This is a completely upright defeat. Admiral Philip led our navy and lost in a direct confrontation against Pirate King Roche. This is a humiliation for everyone in Ettoman!" Duke Ham clenched his teeth.


    "It seems like¡­ we will soon lose all our colonies, as well as other interests¡­" Donald said. "Therefore, we need an alliance, and Cecil is undoubtedly the most suitable ally since they are the only country with the possibility of catching up to us in terms of naval power. But how many benefits and colonies is our kingdom willing to give up to them?"


    "That depends on the results of my mission, which is exactly why I need your help." Duke Ham looked at Donald sincerely.


    "That''s the way it should be. There are no eternal friends or enemies¡­ only eternal interests!" Donald muttered. "The strength of these pirates is definitely way beyond our wildest imaginations. Just imagine how many horrifying incidents will crop up with the rise of pirates? Ocean trade will be halved, and no ships will dare to travel out to sea unless they are pirate ships flying the Jolly Roger! I think¡­ we can make the dangers the pirates represent known to the world and not just bring in Cecil. We should rope in all the countries in Opher to form an anti-pirate alliance!"


    Ettoman was merely an island nation. In the past, its navy might be impressive, but it was nothing when brought up to the next level.


    Even though it had had a massive invincible fleet, this was only when compared to individual nations.


    If all the other countries banded together, Ettoman would never be able to match the combined number of ships, tonnage, and crew members.


    "Anti-pirate alliance? Is this possible?" A slight ray of hope appeared in Duke Ham''s eyes.


    "As long as we exaggerate the dangers of the pirates, of course it''s possible. I believe those merchants don''t wish to see the pirates monopolizing all the ocean wealth. Regarding trade profits, all the countries in Opher speak the same language. Moreover, this world is very large¡­ Ettoman won''t be able to monopolize all the trade, which is why we have to connect and work together. By integrating all of Opher, it will become a trend in the future. This is something I will elaborate on in my new book¡­" Donald said frankly and confidently.


    "Great! I believe that inviting you to become my adviser is the most appropriate decision." Duke Ham was on the verge of applauding out loud. "Wonderful opinions!"


    He also understood the hidden meaning in Donald''s words.


    Even if they managed to rope in Cecil, the badly battered royal navy would be subordinate to it.


    But if they were to form an alliance with many different countries, everyone would be allies. This made everything different.


    After all, the previous Ettoman could not compare to the total of all the navies in Opher, let alone Cecil.


    ¡­


    "Very good! It seems like Ettoman''s defeat has led to the emergence of an alliance!"


    Nightmare Ocean.


    Following the howls of pirates, an entire island of Ettoman fortifications completely fell.


    Looking defeated, a navy captain led all the crew members who could still walk toward the proud pirates to offer their weapons.


    This scene took place in succession throughout the Nightmare Ocean.


    This showed how easily the pirates had managed to march in and take back all the territories in the Nightmare Ocean that used to belong to Blackbeard.


    "Just like that, the wealthiest Golden Sea Route will be under our complete control!"


    Fang Yuan smiled while looking at his men standing behind him.


    The Nightmare Ocean needed someone to fill the position of pirate governor. Naturally, he was going to choose someone under his personal command.


    This was also why these men had been extremely hardworking recently.


    "However, we might have to tweak our future actions slightly. Just like those pirate governors, we have to change the way we think. By looting others, we''re only gaining temporary wealth and killing the goose that laid the golden egg¡­


    "Furthermore, the world is too huge. Given our strength, we won''t be able to fully exploit the resources. Thus, we can''t do without the participation of the Opher Continent.


    "Therefore, our control over this sea route has to be like how Ettoman controlled the Solomon Strait. We must collect protection fees and sink any ship that dares to go against us¡­ At the same time, we need to take in more capital and not pin our hopes on a group of pirates to do business for us! In the end, I hope that you guys can be the defenders of ocean trade and not destroyers!"


    The enactment of the Pirate Statutes was merely the first step toward standardizing piracy.


    What followed was directly interfering with the pirates'' ''free'' nature.


    What kind of evil consequences would come from forcefully changing the nature of a profession?


    Fang Yuan wanted a reformation, and he could simply follow the details of how the ancient emperors did it.


    He could predict the backlash that would come with it.


    If he managed to brace past it, he would be able to control the ocean lifeline just as Ettoman had, and then he could establish an incomparable and glorious ocean empire.


    If he could not brace past it, there was no need to talk about the consequences.


    "During a period of backlash like this, will those Evil Gods finally act? I''m looking forward to it¡­"


    Fang Yuan licked his lips.


    On Donald''s body, he had already sensed the essence of the Deep-Sea Stalker.


    While the other party was powerful, it was still nothing compared to him, a Mental Demon Demon God who controlled two Great Daos.


    When ordinary people wanted a reformation, they naturally had to face backlash, the simplest and crudest being the erasure of the fleshly body.


    However, Fang Yuan was different.


    He himself was so extraordinary that he could obstruct many ambushes.


    In the end, he would become a powerful current capable of influencing this world.


    "The outcome of everything will eventually become apparent!"


    Fang Yuan looked meaningfully at his subordinates.

 889 Dream World

    Fang Yuan walked forward slowly.


    The sky was dusky, and dense tree stumps and roots surrounded him, making it extremely hard to walk through.


    It was hazy all around.


    He could hear the faint whizzing of the ocean, and in that instant, a massive insignia appeared in the air.


    From within, a long, scaly blue hand extended. "Outsider!!!"


    "Deep-Sea Stalker?!" Fang Yuan sneered and raised his right hand.


    Bang!


    An enormous explosion occurred in mid-air, sweeping through the air and breaking countless old tree branches.


    The blue hand was instantly ruptured, and a large amount of muddy yellow liquid kept flowing out of the wound. It looked like seawater mixed with silt, and there were even many seashells, octopuses, and oysters along with it.


    "Damn it¡­ How dare you¡­" The eye insignia raged.


    Crack! Crack!


    All of a sudden, lightning bolts emerged, and a powerful hand extended from within it, reaching out toward Fang Yuan.


    "Raging Thunder God Aida?"


    Fang Yuan frowned. A massive green hand appeared behind him and welcomed the lightning palm.


    Bang!


    Two massive hands wrestled in mid-air as electric sparks flew all around the area, setting the forest on fire.


    "The remaining few, come on out together! Past rulers of the world!"


    Fang Yuan opened up both hands while countless flames revolved around him, seeming to be restrained and incapable of spreading.


    It was like a display of fireworks and lanterns, absolutely brilliant and glorious.


    In such a backdrop, black shadows walked out from the flames.


    "Outsider!"


    Their bodies were brimming with energy similar to the Deep-Sea Stalker and the Raging Thunder God. There were actually now five of them staring at Fang Yuan with ill-intentions.


    "Welcome, everyone, the pets of the world!" Fang Yuan smiled faintly. Under his Heavenly Eye Seer Spell, they would not be able to hide anything from him. "I can sense the unstable rules in your bodies. You guys are very courageous to try and deal with me at this time!"


    These Demon Gods had been sealed for many years, which meant that there was a huge loss in vitality. Naturally, the first thing to do was to make up for these losses.


    Fang Yuan could sense that they had yet to recover to their peaks. The fact that they rushed over meant that they were clearly driven anxious by him.


    There were more than five Evil Gods in the world, but those who had conflicts with him were only Raging Thunder God Aida and these Deep-Sea Rulers.


    "What a pity¡­ I really thought that all the world rulers would become my enemies, but it seems like it''s only the five of you¡­" Fang Yuan sighed.


    "Are the five of us not enough for you?" a hoarse voice resounded, and it felt like the entire forest was undulating with his tone of voice.


    "Raging Thunder God Aida!"


    "Deep-Sea Stalker!"


    "Seabed Wanderer!"


    "Monster Ruler!"


    "Eternal Nightmare!"


    ¡­


    Immeasurable amounts of energy and auras surged as the symbols representing each Evil God imprinted in the air.


    At this stage, every single move could form Dao Marks in the void that were incredibly difficult to obliterate.


    In fact, ordinary people who obtained these symbols could obtain strength from them and even offer sacrifices to acquire connections.


    Fang Yuan looked at the one in a black robe, and without knowing why, he suddenly thought of King''s Throne.


    "Monster Ruler¡­ What is the relationship between you and King''s Throne?"


    "My strongest horn was used as material for King''s Throne¡­ That damned pirate lied to me and snatched it from me! He even took away my authority and power to control sea monsters!" Monster Ruler roared, and there seemed to be a lot of wild beasts hiding beneath his robe, desperate to burst into the scene.


    "I see! So this is old and new hatred!" Fang Yuan shrugged. "Regardless, I am the Pirate King now, and King''s Throne is in my hands¡­"


    "Kekeke! You''ll never win¡­" The Deep-Sea Stalker let out peculiar laughter. "Even if you''re stronger than me or any one of us individually, you''ll never be a match for us in this place!"


    Bloop!


    Once his voice rang out, the surrounding scenery changed.


    A layer of seawater appeared, and the forest seemed like it was shifted to the bottom of the ocean.


    An immeasurable amount of pressure acted on Fang Yuan''s body.


    As for the five Evil Gods, their figures increased dramatically while emitting frightening and mysterious auras.


    "This is why I said that¡­ you guys were very courageous!" Fang Yuan took a deep breath and smiled sinisterly. "Who¡­ gave you the courage to even dare to play with a dream world in front of a Mental Demon Demon God?


    "Who¡­ dares to provoke my dignity¡­ a Demon God''s dignity!


    "Who is arrogant enough to dare to compete with me in dreams?"


    ¡­


    Buzz buzz!


    Following his aggressive voice, the surrounding environment transformed.


    The initially dark seabed filled with luminosity, and the heavy seawater instantly lost its weight.


    The void started burning like paper, and soon after, only dust remained.


    Kaboom!


    Chaos emerged and evolved into Earth, Fire, Wind, and Water.


    Fang Yuan became an indomitable giant, and the five Evil Gods were like clowns in front of the mighty Fang Yuan.


    "Eternal Nightmare!" The giant''s voice was thunderous, and his massive hand reached out to grab the hand of one of the black shadows. "You are one of the Deep-Sea Rulers, and you also control the rules of dream worlds. Therefore, you must have the greatest enmity with me, which means that you must have orchestrated this!


    "But you are extremely unfortunate to have met me!


    "Regarding the control of dream worlds and hearts, nobody can compete with a Mental Demon Demon God!


    "You will soon realize that rashly barging into my dream world was the greatest mistake of your life!


    "Chaos Divine Fist!"


    The next moment, Fang Yuan lightly swung his fist.


    Earth, Fire, Wind, and Water descended, transforming chaos and turning the entire void into a complete mess.


    At that moment, the four Evil Gods turned into dust and disappeared without a trace.


    "We¡­ will be back!"


    "When you are at your weakest!"


    "Your actions will suffer the consequences of a frightening backlash!"


    "In the name of the Deep-Sea Rulers, we won''t let you off!"


    ¡­


    The four voices converged and turned into Dao Marks imprinted in the void.


    "Those four are really good at running. Of course, they will inevitably suffer some damage. However, that''s still much better when compared to you, right?"


    Fang Yuan stared at Eternal Nightmare in his hand.


    The four Evil Gods who escaped had no grasp of the rules of dream worlds, which meant that he could do nothing to keep them here.


    However, it was different with Eternal Nightmare.


    He was the main instigator of this plan. Moreover, he was the one who brought the four other Evil Gods into Fang Yuan''s dream world to defeat Fang Yuan.


    The other Evil Gods could come as clones, but Eternal Nightmare had to be here physically.


    When you were plotting against others in a dream world, others could also be plotting against you.


    This Eternal Nightmare was really unfortunate to have picked a fight with Fang Yuan in his most proficient domain.


    ¡­


    Whoosh! Whoosh!


    Fang Yuan opened his eyes, and he could hear the sounds of waves.


    He observed his surroundings.


    This was his captain''s cabin, and the ship at night was extremely quiet. Occasionally, waves slapped against the ship''s hull.


    "Boss, what happened?" Outside the door, he heard Witch Cassenia''s voice. "I sensed the arrival of a formidable adversity¡­"


    Fang Yuan did not even open the door and simply shouted, "Nothing¡­ Nothing happened. You can head back down!"


    The footsteps gradually went further away.


    Fang Yuan looked at his situation again.


    He was sitting on a chair, and in front of him was a rosewood table embedded with golden leaves.


    Of course, the key was that he was holding on to what seemed like a black octopus in his right hand.


    The octopus looked slightly rotten but still retained its ability to move. It was twisting its tentacles around his hand, looking like it was trying to get away.


    "Eternal Nightmare¡­ represents the dream world of all those who drowned, and it''s a gathering of nightmares. Your original body is as ugly as your inner heart!"


    After hearing this, the rotten octopus started struggling even more vigorously, as if it were protesting.


    During its struggles, its faint voice rang out. "You will¡­ regret this! The nightmares of the drowned will bestow me with strength¡­"


    "Sorry! As the captain of Specter Ship, I will be taking care of all the souls of the drowned!" Fang Yuan smiled wickedly. "Maybe I should add an additional rule on my Specter Ship¡ªAll drowned the are not to have any dreams. Otherwise, I won''t send them to the netherworld¡­"


    The frightened rotten octopus started shouting, "No! You can''t do that!!!"


    However, Fang Yuan did not pay attention to it, and his hand exerted even more force.


    Traces of black mists were extracted from the octopus and entered his body.


    "I take on the path of a Dream Master, and your dream world rules will supplement my Dao of Dream Master¡­"


    This was also the reason why he chose to keep Eternal Nightmare here.


    The opponent''s strength had yet to fully recover, and he was defeated in Fang Yuan''s dream world. Presently, he could no longer cause any trouble, and his rules even complemented Fang Yuan''s.


    If any other Mental Demon Demon God met such a situation, they would undoubtedly swallow the other party without hesitation.


    Morning the next day, Fang Yuan''s hand no longer had any traces of the octopus.


    "Great! Of those five Evil Gods, there are only four left that will look for trouble with me¡­ Even if they''re Evil Gods, they will have to abide to the rules of the main world. They won''t dare to fight me or my crew in the ocean¡­ so their only opportunity is Ettoman''s counterattack!"


    Ettoman and Cecil were about to form an anti-pirate alliance. With Donald as his spy, Fang Yuan knew everything.


    Moreover, he also knew that even if this alliance was established, it would be impossible for all those countries to unite immediately.


    But because of their immense hatred for pirates, they will still form a strong enough fleet.


    If Fang Yuan pressed on with his plan, both sides would certainly participate in a grand war to determine the future supremacy of the ocean.


    At that time, it would be the best opportunity for those Evil Gods who were against him to take their revenge!


    "Because of this, maybe¡­ I shouldn''t give them this opportunity."


    Fang Yuan did not have the strange hobby of nurturing his opponents to become stronger so that they could come back to have a fair fight with him.


    Striking the fatal blow when the opponent was at their weakest was the correct way to settle disputes.

 890 Plan

    Ettoman, coastal waters.


    Pirate ships started coming together, and in the center were the four legendary ships.


    Fang Yuan''s clothes did not fully cover him, and his open collar exposed his sturdy chest. He wore his crown as an armband, which was shining brightly under the sun.


    He went forward and shouted, "We¡­ are going to dominate the ocean!"


    "Woo! Woo!" The pirates'' agreements came from all directions.


    "As the Pirate King, I need a territory of my own. Naturally, I''m not interested in the resources of the Nightmare Ocean nor any of my governors'' territories¡­ What I want is this massive island country called Ettoman, an unsinkable warship used to peek in on the Opher Continent!"


    Fang Yuan''s voice was loud and clear. "Pirates, help me take down a kingdom, and let''s have a grand plunder! From then on, you will be the nobles of this kingdom!"


    "Woo! Woo?!"


    The pirates'' cheers became even louder, but there were some slight doubts in their voices.


    Even the four pirate governors were astonished.


    They did not expect Fang Yuan to have such an idea.


    But in Fang Yuan''s eyes, Ettoman''s location was indeed perfect. Just like an unsinkable warship, he would be able to forcefully control the throat of ocean trade across all of Opher.


    He wanted to monopolize ocean trade completely. By controlling this final hub, he would undoubtedly save a lot of time and effort. This was the key to establishing an ocean empire!


    Moreover¡­ there are definitely going to be conflicts with the upcoming reformation that I''m planning. It''s always better to divert this conflict outwards than to have an internal dispute¡­ Furthermore, I can get rid of those with a vested interest in Ettoman and use the resources to bribe those who rely on me¡­


    Fang Yuan had extremely clear cut plans for this.


    This was also why he was extremely firm and decisive about this.


    It would not matter even if Ettoman tried to establish an anti-pirate alliance. Even before this could happen, it would have lost the very foundations of this ancient kingdom!


    "Ettoman? This is truly a good choice!" Pirate Prince Edward rubbed his chin. "It''s lost at least half of its navy, so it won''t be able to stop our invasion. Even if we don''t occupy it, we can at least steal everything from its ports!"


    "That''s right!"


    With this tremendous amount of benefits, Elf Pirate Governor Aeoris grew interested as well.


    "Ettoman has always been a strong force on the ocean. Since the establishment of the Golden Sea Route, how much wealth has it accumulated?" Wang Zhi''s breathing intensified.


    The newly appointed Mermaid Governor Nymphadora commented, "Of course¡­ we can''t neglect its army. However, Ettoman''s army is greatly inferior to its navy. It''s only about one-third of the navy''s size, and it''s spread out across various colonies¡­"


    "I''m going to repeat myself once more. We''re not going there just to loot the riches but to take over the entire kingdom¡­ Not only the docks, its lands, mountains, cities¡­" Fang Yuan emphasized once again.


    "But Boss, even if Ettoman''s army is a joke, pirates like us inland are worse than a joke¡­" Only Bill and Wilson would say something like that. "Pirates can''t leave the ocean. Otherwise, what difference is there compared to a fish leaving the ocean?"


    "I''ve considered all of your worries." Fang Yuan clapped his hands. "Once we reach inland, I will have my arrangements. For now¡­ Attack!!! The moment we embark on this plan, we have to be like a pack of wolves and attack all of Ettoman''s ports. We have to keep its navy and army busy while I lead our main forces to take down Birming Port. From there, we will attack the heart, its capital¡ªGlass City!"


    He quickly gave his commands and assigned the various wealthy ports to the pirate governors. This was to ensure that even if they were only going to be greedy in this operation, they were at least going to go in hard and viciously.


    "Boss!" After distributing the tasks, Wilson suggested, "This way, I suspect these pirates will be very energetic while robbing the ports, but it might die down afterward. I''m afraid they''ll simply choose to watch on from the side¡­"


    "If that''s what they choose to do, we''ll let them do that. Anyway, we have more than enough to bring trouble to Ettoman''s navy and to control its army!"


    Fang Yuan nodded. "How many people do we have in our own pirate crew?"


    "After this period of recruitment, we have nineteen ships and over seven thousand seamen. This is our limit¡­" Wilson replied. "This also includes everyone on the ships. The number of people we can send on to land will be five thousand at most. If we can''t display the true power of the legendary ships on land, we might suffer a heavy defeat!"


    Even if Ettoman''s army was a joke, it was still a professional army. It was naturally going to be extremely easy for them to deal with a bunch of messy pirates.


    "That''s more than enough! Let''s go take down Birming Port!" Fang Yuan waved his hands. "Don''t worry! We''ll soon be celebrating in Glass City!"


    ¡­


    Birming Port.


    Because it was very close to the capital, Glass, this place had the most amount of commercial trade activities in Ettoman.


    Even with the news about the navy suffering a massive defeat, it merely made this place slightly less lively.


    And even without the commodities from the Golden Sea Route, just the transactions from Opher alone was enough to keep the port busy.


    Upon entering the port, tall buildings and plenty of large forts could be seen.


    Numerous patrol vessels guarded the ocean with a bit of carefreeness.


    After all, very few pirates would dare to attack an Ettoman port. Despite knowing that the navy had just suffered a heavy defeat, the citizens of Ettoman were still pretty confident that nobody would dare to challenge their dignity as the overlord of the sea.


    As the sun shined brightly, waves of seawater flushed against the beach.


    All of a sudden, a sharp bugle horn sounded from the port.


    "Pirates!" shouted a hoarse voice full of panic and disbelief.


    Where the sky met the sea, the dense and black shadows of sails appeared. Shortly after, they turned into nineteen ferocious-looking pirate ships.


    This was especially true for the three ships right in the middle. Specter Ship, Sun, and King''s Throne sailed forward with oppressive prestige, which even Ettoman''s navy could not help but lament.


    Bang! Bang!


    The pirates fired the first shot, and their formidable cannons blew the small patrol vessels into pieces.


    "Legend ability Diamond!"


    Soon after, Sun''s machinery started driving rapidly as it transformed into a steel giant over a hundred meters tall. Its feet were spitting out flames while it charged toward the port.


    Bang! Bang!


    The cannons guarding the port opened fire, but their cannonballs only caused massive waves as they crashed into the sea.


    Sun glided through the water in an unbelievably agile manner to dodge the cannon fire. It arrived on land and extended its arm.


    Kaboom!


    Reinforced concrete flew. One of the forts was thoroughly destroyed, and numerous cannon barrels started tumbling down, killing an unknown number of artillerymen.


    Secondary cannons ready! Automatic calibration! Firing!


    At the same time, a cannon barrel appeared on each of the giant''s shoulders and started spraying frightening flames.


    Just like that, two more forts collapsed.


    A clear order sounded from King''s Throne. "Attack!"


    The pirates stared blankly at what they had just witnessed. When they realized that the originally secure defense system crumbled in almost an instant, they immediately let out deafening cheers. They roared while charging toward the port.


    In fact, doing this was almost like using a sledgehammer to crack a nut.


    Given Fang Yuan''s current strength, as well as the three legendary ships, no port in the entire world would be able to defend against him.


    Birming Port fiercely resisted the pirates'' invasion, fighting its final struggle.


    Many soldiers fought bravely, making use of every street block to battle the pirates, fighting to protect their lives and wealth.


    Once Fang Yuan set foot on the port, he commanded, "Pass down my orders! I need a lot of captives! As for the rest of the spoils of war, let the rest of the pirates split them evenly!"


    "Mighty Pirate King!" Seeing this scene, Wilson went forward. "The enemies'' resistance is strong, and it seems like Ettoman''s army exceeded our expectations. Just by attacking this port, we''ve lost over a thousand men. This is with the help of our three legendary ships¡­ We can''t continue like this!"


    "I know¡­" Fang Yuan nodded. "From Birming Port to Glass City, there are at least three more hurdles. Furthermore, there are thirty thousand soldiers stationed in Glass City. They could even mobilize the people''s militia¡­"


    "We''ll have obtained a lot of loot if we leave after attacking Birming Port, but if we continue moving forward, I''m afraid¡­" Wilson did not finish. Pirates were arrogant and obstinate, but their casualties were already very serious.


    The next course of action would not only reduce their spoils of war, but the death count would also continue to increase significantly. If that happened, even as the Pirate King, Fang Yuan might find it difficult to suppress their grievances.


    "You''re right. Which is why in the following battles, I''m not planning to use pirates anymore!" Fang Yuan snickered. "Let''s go take a look at the captives!"


    He walked over to a plaza that the pirates were guarding.


    This place was originally used to unload cargo. Presently, all the cannons on the pirate ships were aimed at the center. As long as there was any kind of movement among the captives, they would instantly fire.


    Butcher walked over and laughed wickedly. "Following your orders, we''ve captured over three thousand strong, young men!"


    "Great!" Fang Yuan nodded. He saw that only a few of the captives were wearing military uniforms. The majority were ordinary people.


    However, he did not care as he took out a golden crown.


    The Sun Crown!


    After defeating the navy, Fang Yuan had excavated the tomb of the Sun King to dig out this Sun Crown!!


    This was the moment for it to be useful!

 891 Agreemen

    "This¡­ is the Sun Crown?"


    Wilson''s pupil shrank, clearly recognizing the crown as well.


    "Yes, you¡­ do you believe that ancient legend? The person who possesses the Sun Crown shall have an army of loyal and tireless soldiers to help them conquer the lands?" Fang Yuan looked over at Wilson.


    "If it were in the past, I wouldn''t have!" Wilson said. "But after all the incredible incidents I''ve witnessed after following you, there''s nothing I can''t believe anymore¡­"


    "In this world, strength surpassing the limit will never be allowed¡­" Fang Yuan looked at the crown, his voice faintly discernible. "Even though the Sun Crown''s legend is true, I originally thought that this crown contained some massive enhancement or slavery technique¡­ Who knew that this item would be so interesting!"


    "Interesting?" Wilson trembled slightly, feeling that hearing a word like this from Fang Yuan''s mouth would never be good.


    "That''s right! Interesting! You would think it was a purely extraordinary creation, but who knew that its rules¡­ were more inclined toward reality¡­"


    Fang Yuan turned the crown, and under the light, he could see the golden lines and the ruby right in the middle of the crown. "How do I explain this¡­ this crown is sealing a type of bacteria, or rather disease, that can reproduce and multiply at an incredible rate. The only controlling equipment is this crown¡­ A perfect creation mixing reality and extraordinary rules¡­"


    After briefly explaining this, Fang Yuan could not help looking at Wilson''s and Butcher''s dazed expressions.


    "All right, time to test it out!"


    He used force to press on the ruby.


    The radiance changed from the original bright red to a muddy green.


    Crack!


    The crown released a faint sound as the green gem loosened, but Fang Yuan immediately caught it. "You guys should rejoice that it can only spread through direct contact and not through the air¡­ Otherwise, the Sun King wouldn''t have sealed it on an uninhabited island."


    Fang Yuan got a cup of water and then pointed at one of the tall and sturdy captive soldiers. He placed the green gem in the water, and seconds later, the water turned into an extremely disturbing green color.


    "Drink it or die!"


    He looked at the captive and shrugged.


    Seeing the muddy green water, the captive was full of immense fear. "No! No!"


    Fang Yuan immediately made the decision for him. "Make him drank it!"


    Soon after, Wilson and the rest witnessed a grand show.


    Under their observation, this originally muscular soldier grew even more. His muscles started bugling, and his clothes were ripping itself apart.


    "Ahhh! Ahhh!"


    This newly-transformed giant had green skin, and his muscles were entrenched by veins that looked like thick worms.


    Suddenly, this giant roared. It immediately threw the two guards aside before grabbing at Fang Yuan.


    The very next moment, it knelt on the ground with a painful expression.


    "No, no! Chucks will never surrender! I am the kingdom''s best soldier¡­" he said with bloodshot eyes.


    "See? Soldiers infected by this disease will have improved physical strength and defense beyond ordinary humans. Of course¡­ the key is that they''re all controlled by the crown!


    "Furthermore, this disease preserves their intellect, making them even more effective. If they became brainless idiots, they would be nothing more than just cannon fodder! Now¡­"


    Fang Yuan waved his hand.


    Following which, Chucks roared and rushed into the crowd of captives. He began releasing the disease without restraint.


    Desperate cries rang out while blood splashed everywhere.


    It did not take long before the rest of the captives started transforming as Chucks had.


    Soon afterward, thousands of giants knelt on the ground and swore loyalty to Fang Yuan.


    "Great Master! Your army is reporting for duty, and we will abide by all your wishes. Even if you want us to attack the netherworld, we will do so without hesitation!"


    This scene was rather stunning, and Fang Yuan suddenly thought about a bestial enchantment contamination in a certain game.


    "This is¡­ incredible!" By the side, Wilson and Butcher were dumbfounded. "How strong are they individually and collectively? What about their lifespan?"


    "The most ordinary little green man can defeat five fully equipped elite soldiers. If they''re well equipped, they should be able to defeat ten¡­ As for lifespan? It should be equivalent to the human lifespan as long as they don''t starve to death or get killed?" Fang Yuan scratched his head. "The key is the large scale¡­ Haha! With enough materials and logistics, we can kill as many as we want!"


    The countries in this world undoubtedly still had their fate of a nation left.


    But no matter how powerful a country''s fate of a nation was, it was still based on the extraordinary. Without breaking through certain restraints, it would not be able to defend against effects in reality, such as the spreading of diseases.


    This was also what Fang Yuan was relying on to defeat Ettoman.


    Otherwise, his brain had to be severely damaged to use a bunch of pirates to conquer Ettoman.


    "Since it''s like this, I think Glass City will no longer pose any hindrance to us¡­"


    Butcher smiled cheekily. "Boss¡­ why don''t you let me also become infected so that I can become the leader of this squad!"


    "Extraordinaries are immune to these kinds of infections¡­" Fang Yuan shook his head. "Because of this reason, there are still a few points to touch up in my plan¡­ However, I appreciate your courage, so you can lead them to clear the road to Glass City first!"


    "Understood!" Butcher smiled and then led the three thousand green giants away.


    Looking at his attitude, Fang Yuan could not help but worry if he would go overboard. For example, who knew if he would immediately fight his way into Glass City and kidnap the country''s prime minister or queen.


    "But¡­ this crown is far from being enough," he muttered quietly while returning to his cabin.


    It was true that the Sun Crown made use of the power of physics, but extraordinary powers would surely be able to restrain its usefulness.


    Normal Extraordinaries would at most be able to protect themselves, but those Evil Gods were different.


    On this thought, Fang Yuan immediately made his move.


    He lit three white candles, a few flower petals, and perfumed oil. "Existences in the mysterious world¡­ Descend!"


    If an ordinary person did this, a careless ceremony like this would either end up being futile or anger some Evil God.


    But for Fang Yuan, it was this simple to summon them.


    This was especially true since there were some existences already drawn in by the commotion at the port.


    Whoosh!


    The candles'' flames trembled as a green smoke rose and transformed into a pale man''s face.


    "Death, fear, chaos¡­"


    Fang Yuan shut his eyes and immediately received the terrifying message from the void:


    "I am the master of the void, the King of Massacre¡­ Mambophischeris¡­ Outsider, you¡­"


    "Scram!!!" Fang Yuan glared at him coldly. "Maintaining the etiquette of the ceremony is the premise of our relationship! It seems like you and I have nothing to talk about¡­"


    Smack!


    In that instant, one of the candles'' flames extinguished, and that person''s face distorted while shouting desperately before turning into nothingness.


    "I''m not your follower, so why did you act that way?!" Fang Yuan rolled his eyes. "Next!"


    He lit the candle once more, and he did something that all believers would point their middle fingers at. He actually set up a ceremony to directly summon yet another Evil God!


    There was no doubt that if an ordinary believer dared to do something like this, they would be courting death.


    But for Fang Yuan, it was indeed effective.


    Very soon, the candles'' flames surged, and smoke rose in spirals to form a massive bird spreading its wings.


    "My name is Hermes, the heart-devouring bird!"


    "Hermes?!" He looked at the smoke design in front of him. "What an interesting and nostalgic name!"


    "I''ve told you my name, so please tell me your name as well¡­"


    The massive bird became blurry and then turned into a sharp human face, just like a mask.


    "I¡­ am a Demon God from the Mental Demon Realm, wanderer of endless worlds, master of dreams and armament¡­ In this world, I am Pirate King Roche!" Fang Yuan nodded.


    "Your Excellency Roche, " said the human face, "may I ask why you summoned me?"


    "You should be able to sense the blood sacrifices of this war and chaos, right?" Fang Yuan furrowed his brows. "I know that existences like you require large-scale unrest and turmoil to obtain power. Coincidentally, I''m preparing to start a great war here in Ettoman¡­"


    "Large-scale war¡­" Hermes laughed. "It''s a real pity¡­ that Mambophischeris missed out on this opportunity. He''s an expert in extracting power from the dead, to the extent that he even created that terrifying influenza in Cecil. I wonder if he''ll roll around in the black smoke teapot after knowing what he missed out on."


    "What''s the black smoke teapot?" Fang Yuan asked with interest.


    "A temporary dwelling¡­ He likes to stay there¡­" Hermes quickly changed the topic. "But I''m different. What I want is devastating tears and not purely death¡­"


    "An honest existence is always more trustworthy¡­" Fang Yuan clapped his hands. "I wish to form an agreement with you. You can obtain all the benefits from the destruction of Ettoman as your reward, but in return, you can''t meddle with my affairs!"


    There were many Demon Gods in this world, but there were not many with uncompromisable conflicts with Fang Yuan.


    Obviously, when he could not conquer the entire world, he should not make the whole world his enemy either.


    Drawing in one faction while fighting against another was very important.


    "From your body, I can see a lot of hatred from the Deep-Sea Rulers¡­ All I have to do is to not meddle with your affairs?" Hermes asked again.


    "That''s all I ask!" Fang Yuan was certain.


    "All right, you''ve got a deal!"


    The human face exploded, and two flames intertwined in the air to form a completely new imprint¡­

 892 Plague

    General Dunkirk was the garrison commander of Glass.


    He enjoyed the position to a certain extent.


    It was a high position, which helped feed his ego. More importantly¡­ it was extremely safe! Unlike his peers, he did not have to quell the aboriginals of the Nightmare Ocean, guard the Golden Ocean''s plantation, nor fight in the East.


    As an island nation, Ettoman''s geographical advantage was unquestionable, allowing Ettoman to avoid the chaos of the mainland, Opher.


    Even wars that specifically targeted Ettoman were settled by the navy.


    It was only during the ''First War between Ettoman and Cecil'' that Ettoman had once sent armies to attack the lands of Cecil. However, that had happened hundreds of years ago. Furthermore, the war eventually ended in a humiliating defeat for Ettoman.


    Ever since, all of Ettoman recognized two things: First, the army was inferior to the navy. Second, to protect their lands, a single invincible naval force was enough.


    Sadly, many members of the army agreed with these viewpoints.


    Fast forward to now, and many posts under Dunkirk exhibited a peculiar trait¡ªthey were allowed to be sold and bought. They could even be used to bet on like futures.


    For example, a lucrative position would immediately be sought after, causing its price to increase several times over.


    However, if these positions were to be sent to dangerous battlefields soon, then apologies¡­ no one except those insane people seeking military glory would want them. Consequently, its price would plummet even faster than a collapsing stock market.


    Dunkirk found himself yearning to sell his post and military title, even willing to pay others to buy them from him.


    Although he commanded a formal military force of thirty thousand men and ten thousand reserves, he still feared the giant monsters.


    "Gods¡­ Queen¡­ can anyone tell me what''s going on?"


    General Dunkirk looked at the army of green men that he was facing and sadly buried his head in his hands.


    Everything had begun in the morning.


    At the time, he was enjoying a scrumptious breakfast of bacon and caviar that his butler had prepared. As he was about to enjoy yet another scoop of golden caviar while contemplating over whether he should go to the club or his mistress'' place tonight, a messenger hurriedly reported that a large army was moving toward Glass.


    The general was rather unimpressed at the time.


    He was dismissive of the situation because they were not at sea. Even though he had received the news that the pirates had attacked Birming Port, they would at most plunder and maybe kill a few people. And they would flee before the army arrived.


    A pirate army on land was an absolute joke!


    Unfortunately, the general realized that he was the one that was about to become the joke.


    "They are fast and strong, and their skin seems to be covered in armor. Even muskets can only put a small hole in them¡­ Furthermore, they are very organized!" a major general reported to General Dunkirk in a tone that came close to sobbing.


    This fellow had lost all the land and passes that he was supposed to guard. His army was lost as well. These losses were enough to put him guilty in front of the military court.


    General Dunkirk waved his hand in disgust and summoned the military police. "Lock him up!"


    "No! You can''t do this! It''s not my fault!


    "¡­ Those things are monsters, monsters from the deep sea and hell¡­"


    The pitiful major general was dragged out of the room while roaring in protest. His cries soon became softer and softer.


    "All right, everyone head out. Be on guard!


    "I have reported to the Queen and the prime minister and signed the mobilization order. There will be reinforcements soon!


    "Now¡­" General Dunkirk cleared his throat and prepared to boost the morale of his men with a speech.


    However, it was interrupted by a shrill voice. "They¡­ are attacking!"


    General Dunkirk raised his binoculars and saw a wave of green rushing fiercely toward him, brutally shoving everything in their way aside.


    Muskets were only able to leave a few bloody holes in their chests, which did nothing to slow their charge. Only cannon fire was able to blast the monsters into pieces.


    "Ettoman will never yield! Behind you stands your Queen and our families! Fight!"


    The general''s eyes were bloodshot, and the only thing left in his mind was the battle at hand.


    Bang! Bang!


    The cannons blew numerous green men into pieces.


    On the front lines, sinister machines guns lashed out with tongues of flames that formed a barrier of death, clearing everything in their way.


    However, the green giants on the opposing side had overwhelming numbers.


    There were at least thirty thousand of them! And they were continuously being reinforced! General Dunkirk was very puzzled. What were the naval and army ministers doing, letting so many of them into Ettoman without any warning!


    "Enemy attack!!!" shouted a terrified voice.


    The machine gun technology at this time was not yet mature. They required short cooldown periods and had a scarily high probability of malfunctioning.


    The green men rushed forth between the gaps in the gunfire.


    The young men in Ettoman''s army were immediately locked in a melee battle with them.


    Unfortunately, even though the soldiers demonstrated sufficient courage, they suffered one loss after another when confronting the inhuman strength.


    The green monsters rushed forward recklessly and came close to the command center.


    "Commander, please retreat for the time being!" Military police rushed in urgently. "Those monsters are already close!"


    "No! I can''t leave!" shouted General Dunkirk. Immediately afterward, he heard a loud crash.


    A green-skinned monster had charged into the tent.


    It was at least eight feet tall, and its body was covered in bulging muscles like the strongest of bodybuilders. It had greenish-black skin, and bits and pieces of clothes covered it, as though it had burst open the original clothing from the inside.


    Large amounts of green blood gushed from its wounds. However, it did nothing to hinder its movements.


    The monster roared as it grabbed a clerk at its side.


    The clerk cried pitifully. A wound appeared on his hand, and slivers of green liquid immediately crept throughout his entire body along his veins.


    "Ahh¡­ What''s going on? It hurts!"


    He screamed as green veins covered his body. Lumps of muscles formed on his body, and with a rip¡­ his shirt exploded. He turned into a smaller-sized green monster, appearing like the brother of the bigger green monster.


    "Pirate King¡­ Long live the Pirate King!"


    The new green monster roared before trying to grab his former comrades.


    "My god!"


    General Dunkirk and the military police who had just witnessed the scene were terrified.


    "We''ve¡­ been fighting our comrades and citizens all this time?"


    After learning how the opponent replenished his army, even the most optimistic people would start to doubt if Glass could last much longer.


    In normal warfare, population meant potential. However, in the battle against these monsters, it turned out to be the opponent''s advantage instead.


    With Glass City''s population, once this ''plague'' started to spread, the consequences would be¡­


    General Dunkirk trembled.


    Swoosh!


    A few rays of light flew toward them and started dancing inside the tent. They effortlessly severed the two monsters into pieces.


    "General, Ettoman''s Special Forces are reporting for duty!"


    The tent opened, and two men in black robes entered. They wore masks that looked like poker cards and held authorization documents in their hands.


    "Special Forces? All right¡­ I knew it¡­ What secrets has the prime minister been hiding from me¡­" General Dunkirk muttered with dissatisfaction. He looked at the two men in anticipation. "Can you guys¡­ get rid of all these monsters?"


    "Apologies, General!" Dunkirk recognized the resignation in their voices. "Extraordinary powers are limited and can''t be used to solve every problem¡­ Furthermore, our sole purpose here is to guarantee your personal safety to prevent the immediate collapse of our army¡­"


    "Prevent its immediate collapse¡­ looks like there''s no hope of victory¡­" General Dunkirk concluded disgruntledly, but he did not try to argue.


    The staff officers and military police at their side swallowed tensely while looking at the swords of the two black-robed men.


    "Be careful. Their blood is highly contagious! Extended contact with it isn''t advised either. The kingdom has already paid a heavy price. Thirty-nine specialized autopsists have already turned into monsters¡­" The black-robed man reminded them.


    "I understand¡­"


    General Dunkirk raised his binoculars and surveyed the battlefield.


    There was no doubt that chaos engulfed the battlefield.


    Although individual camps were still putting up a resistance, it was not long before the sea of green swept them away.


    "We must retreat! Glass City¡­ Oh no!"


    He spun around with the binoculars and saw the city that he was supposed to be guarding.


    The explosions and large columns of smoke towering into the sky were clearly visible to him. He could hear faint sobs and roars as well.


    "What happened inside the city?" he asked with a dry voice, looking at the black-robed man beside him.


    "A group of monsters in green robes ambushed us¡­ They used the sewage system and the rivers to find their way in. Although my colleagues arrived to control the situation at first notice, their numbers were overwhelming. Coupled with the intensity of contagiousness¡­" a voice filled with regret answered. "The only thing we can do is to make sure to evacuate the important personnel first¡­ General, you must try to fight for as much time as possible for the ordinary citizens!"


    "Yes, fight for time¡­" Dunkirk''s heart sank.


    Roar! Roar!


    He soon realized that even that was too much to ask for.


    While roaring, large amounts of green monsters poured from Glass City into their rear.


    Under the pincer attack from the front and the rear, the entire camp collapsed immediately.


    World Calendar 699, January. The Great Pirate Army attacked Ettoman and conquered Glass City in a single day!

 893 Fall Ou

    A certain large port in Ettoman.


    Fierce flames were raging near the wharves. The wreckages of a few warships had been set on fire.


    In the nearby sea, there were a dozen or so pirate ships, looking like wolves surrounding their prey.


    "Go straight for it, and take all the treasures and women¡­"


    Wang Zhi grinned. Under his command, the five special cannons on Five Mountain fired a terrifying blast.


    Although his extraordinary ship was not as powerful as the legendary ships, it was still very powerful. After all, it was a pirate governor''s flagship, just like Monster.


    A mere port was no match for the direct subordinates of a pirate governor.


    He conquered the port and the port city in less than two hours. Excited cheers from the pirates echoed throughout the area.


    "Great Governor¡­" An Eastern pirate''s eyes flashed. He asked in the Eastern tongue, "What should we do now?"


    "Hehe¡­" Wang Zhi stroked his beard, his eyes gleaming with cunning. "There are still five to six ports assigned to us by the Pirate King. We''ll rob them one by one¡­"


    "However¡­ according to the Pirate King''s orders, we need to control the army by pretending to attack it¡­" said a man who appeared to be an adviser hesitantly. "I''m not speaking for the Pirate King. I''m saying this in consideration for you¡­ If we don''t succeed, the Pirate King can just retreat, but then he would have a score to settle with us!"


    "That''s true¡­ I was almost too smart for my own good¡­" Wang Zhi broke out in a cold sweat. "We''ll first send a thousand men to first survey the port''s situation and its surroundings. Then we can kill some of the people in power¡­ In that case, no one would be able to say that we Eastern pirates weren''t trying our best. At the very least, we''d have put in more effort than the other governors¡­ That''s the least we must do!"


    "Understood!"


    A giant sea eagle began circling the skies above the port immediately after the pirate received the order and stepped back.


    "Great Governor, word from the Pirate King!"


    Although Fang Yuan had invented the shell phone, its range was limited to a few dozen nautical miles. Large-scale, long-distance communication was still a big problem. The problem could be overcome if they asked the Dream and Armament Master to pass messages for them, but that was obviously impossible.


    Wang Zhi''s pirate group favored sea eagles for this purpose. These extraordinary creatures were shockingly fast. They also had some special qualities and were well-suited to act as messengers.


    "What''s the situation?"


    The sharp eyes of the sea eagle found its caretaker and landed on his leather shoulder guard.


    Upon hearing the governor''s order, the caretaker swiftly untied the bamboo container on the eagle''s leg. His eyes widened in surprise. "It''s news from the Pirate King. The Pirate King''s main forces have already conquered the capital of Ettoman, Glass."


    "What? How is that possible?" Wang Zhi''s eyes widened. "I thought¡­ that brat¡­"


    "Great Governor, be careful with your words!" The adviser standing nearby approached him hurriedly and extended his fan. "Our previous plan of not using our full power is no longer feasible!"


    "That''s right!" Wang Zhi sank into his seat, his face covered with shock.


    The loss of a few ports was nothing critical to Ettoman, but it was an entirely different matter to have its capital conquered.


    Perhaps this Pirate King Roche could accomplish this grand undertaking.


    If he really succeeded, then he would have a huge country with a great geographical advantage. He could then control all the ocean trade of the Opher Continent. These profits could eclipse even the total profits of all the pirate governors combined and make them incredibly jealous.


    Not to mention that Ettoman was extremely famous throughout the world. If someone were to become a noble with authority in Ettoman¡­


    Wang Zhi immediately found himself breathing heavier. He drew his cutlass and swung down fiercely. "Damn it, let''s do this!"


    "Governor''s orders, attack! Attack land!"


    ¡­


    With the power of the Sun Crown and the alliance with Hermes, nothing could stand in the way of the pirates'' invasion of Ettoman.


    In less than three months, the pirates had attacked and sealed all of the ports, cutting off all means of escape and communication with other countries for Ettoman.


    Then, at the end of the year of World Calendar 669, with the fall of Ettoman''s last remaining city, Akmundo, all of Ettoman had fallen under the pirates'' control!


    Duke Ham, who was serving as a diplomat, disappointedly found out that the fruits of his negotiation efforts with Cecil were for naught, for his country had fallen.


    Cecil, embassy residence.


    A thick layer of snow covered the grounds outside. There were even a few trees decorated festively. However, the atmosphere remained gloomy. None of the officers bothered to open the presents under the tree.


    "Good day, gentlemen!" Donald entered the mansion, took off his cloak that was covered in snow, and casually shook the snow off his cloak.


    Guided by his religion, he had long since brought his entire family to Cecil. He even advised some of the other officials with the same religion to do the same. He was currently smiling brightly without any worry.


    "Who would have thought¡­" In the office on the second floor, Duke Ham raised a cup of red tea, clearly lost in thought. "The Queen and the prime minister sent me to discuss naval matters with Cecil, but before we could sign the treaty, those pirates¡­ No! Those rebels attacked Ettoman. I''m in charge of the mission to discuss borrowing military forces, but our country fell just as the representatives from the furthest country arrived. The queen and prime minister are going to assemble a government in exile¡­ That''s right. They don''t even dare to go to the colonies! However, my family, pride, lands, and mansion are all in Ettoman¡­"


    "Pardon my blunt words, Your Excellency, but we still have a chance!" Donald''s voice was rich and filled with passion. "This is not a normal war. It is not a country that is conquering another, but pirates instead! A band of scum, trash! I believe that no country is willing to see something like this happen!


    "In fact, we no longer even need to offer them incentives to help us. The envoys have already sent word back to their countries, and they want to form an alliance to suppress the pirates!"


    "Yes, suppress. As long as we can regain Ettoman, any treaty, no matter how humiliating, is worth agreeing with!" Duke Ham''s face flushed red. "Regarding the navy, although the Pirate King has the most powerful extraordinary ships under his command, we have the joint power of all our countries. It should be an even match. After that is land warfare¡­ have we found ways to deal with the Sun Guards? After all, you are¡­ a pope!"


    A long time had passed, enough for the countries to understand the details about the Sun Crown.


    "I''ve prayed to the Lord and received his reply. These kinds of soldiers are physically strong, and each of them can handle ten elites. But they consume a great deal of energy from the Sun Crown. Extraordinaries can also get rid of them easily, given that they aren''t surrounded by the monster army beforehand¡­ As for large-scale attacks, we need a lot of Extraordinaries on top of our biggest cannons! Perhaps even something more powerful¡­"


    "The legendary Evil Gods?" Duke Ham mumbled to himself. However, he was not shocked by the suggestion.


    He came from a long line of nobles and held a position of great power. As a result, he came to know some secrets and was less susceptible to being shocked than ordinary people.


    "However, making a deal with Evil Gods usually ends up terrible. Furthermore¡­" Ham shook his head, his gaze becoming serious. "We suspect that an Evil God is supporting Pirate King Roche. It could even be the Dream and Armament Master! Men!"


    "Hmm?" Donald''s pupils shrunk, and he backpedaled.


    Bang! Bang!


    In an instant, the surrounding wooden planks split apart. A few men in black robes appeared, wearing masks that looked like poker cards.


    "Your Excellency, what is the meaning of this?"


    Donald had retreated to a corner, and a membrane of water covered his body like an invisible layer of armor.


    "You still want to argue?" Duke Ham said angrily. "I have witnesses and information to prove that the Pirate King¡­ No! Arcane Trickster Roche had used the insignia of the Dream and Armament Master to fight! Don''t deny it!"


    "I didn''t plan to. Since the duke is so sure about this, then it must be true!" Donald was unfazed. There was not even a hint of tremble in his voice. "However, I am nothing but a sheppard for my Lord. He might not even know about me¡­ Regarding those supreme existences, we mortals don''t matter much. The Dream and Armament Master was originally a religion from the seas, so it''s very well possible that he''s bestowed powers to the pirates!"


    "That''s true!"


    Duke Ham nodded, and the black-robed men stopped their advance. However, they did not back down either.


    "I''ve received some powers from the Lord. As for the Pirate King, the Arcane Trickster, perhaps something similar happened¡­ " Donald chose his words with great caution. "Perhaps we can use a ritual to ask the Lord about this."


    "All right, do it here!" Duke nodded dignifiedly.


    Donald grew silent and grabbed the insignia of the Dream and Armament Master.


    A bright, sacred light suddenly appeared from the insignia and continuously emanated waves outward.


    Buzz buzz!


    The light and heat made Donald realize that he was in an extremely dangerous situation.


    Step! Step!


    A man approached slowly from the end of the corridor.


    His clothes were wet, and there was a strand of seaweed dangling from his shoulder. It was as though he had just come out from seawater.


    His eyes were bloodshot.


    "Deep Sea Wanderer, the nemesis of the Lord!"


    In a split second, Donald received the crucial information, and his face filled with resolution. "The Lord has instructed me to¡­ leave immediately!"


    Rumble!


    As soon as the words fell, he waved his hand swiftly.


    A layer of moving water appeared under the carpet and enveloped the two black-robed men.


    "Get him!" Duke Ham roared.


    Donald headed for the windows as fast as he could and then looked back.


    The Deep Sea Wanderer ripped off his robe and revealed his scales. Then he lunged at Donald.


    "Duke Ham, you have allied with alien species and attempted to damage the country. I will make sure that everyone knows about this!"


    Donald jumped out of the window after he finished speaking and disappeared in the snow.

 894 Confrontation

    World Calendar 670, Ettoman''s capital, Glass.


    Groups of pirates were patrolling the streets, and the people looked at them with respect and fear.


    There were not many people on the streets, but there were still some. After the great change, a few citizens grew brave enough to enter the streets.


    Although they had lost a great deal in the war, life had to continue.


    Today''s Glass City was somewhat different.


    The shops on the streets were decorated with all kinds of colorful flags that flapped in the wind. It was as though an effort was being made to make the place appear festive.


    In fact, there was one joyous occasion¡­ or perhaps an occasion fit enough to be called joyous that was about to happen in Ettoman.


    Pirate King Roche, conqueror of Ettoman, favorite of an Evil God, Augustus the First, would be crowned Emperor Augustus!


    Roche himself was merely an unknown kid. Fang Yuan was going to establish the new Augustus Empire, so he had also adopted it as his surname.


    If this pirate country could survive, then he would undoubtedly become famed throughout history as Emperor Augustus, also known as the Pirate Emperor!


    In the golden palace that was once the home of the queen, the ceremony was underway.


    "Your Majesty, everything has been prepared!"


    Witch Cassenia entered a fitting room and saw Fang Yuan dressed in full regalia. She was humble and respectful.


    Something seemed off about Fang Yuan.


    His eyes were dazed, looking like he was feeling satisfied but also trying to suppress something.


    "This world¡­ has already felt it?"


    Cassenia heard Fang Yuan''s mumble.


    Then she felt an enormous pressure and collapsed under it.


    "Ah, the focus of the world¡­"


    Fang Yuan was not the least bit surprised.


    He was churning the tides of the world. It was as though a great river was surrounding his body.


    Cassenia was a witch who was extremely sensitive to the forces of fate, so it was normal for her to faint.


    It could very well be the case that she would not be able to come within ten meters of him starting from now on.


    "Going from the Pirate King to the Pirate Emperor seems to be another drastic change!" Fang Yuan looked at the scene thoughtfully. "After all this is truly over, it will be time for this world to expel me¡­"


    The power of this world was undoubtedly immense.


    It suppressed the powers of Demon Masters and Demon Gods to a pitiful state.


    Had it not been for him, those Evil Gods would still be imprisoned outside of the main world.


    Fang Yuan believed that what he was doing would fundamentally disrupt the flow of the world, thereby completing a harvest.


    "At the very least¡­ there is no one who can stop me now!" he said in a low voice. He ordered his men to take Cassenia away before donning a golden robe and entering a hall.


    "Augustus!!"


    "Augustus!!"


    A few pirates who had yet to rid themselves completely of their habits cheered in an uncultured manner.


    Standing beside the pirates were old nobles who were forced to surrender and become ministers of the new empire. They wore smiles on their faces while what they thought to be well-disguised despise seeped through their eyes.


    "The Great Conqueror, Augustus the First!"


    They immediately knelt upon Fang Yuan''s arrival.


    Fang Yuan approached the dais slowly and sat on the throne. He then took the crown from a servant and placed it on his head.


    According to Opher conventions, there should also be a pope. However, even if those renowned popes were willing to come to the new Augustus Empire, Fang Yuan did not want to be crowned by them. Fang Yuan did not welcome the idea of theocracy and preferred to hold power in his own hands.


    "Your Majesty!"


    Regardless of how much they disapproved of this coronation, the nobles and officials knelt obediently.


    Fang Yuan took a deep breath, and an explosive sound came from his body.


    A grand energy scattered around him, causing even the air around him to become unstable.


    With a flash, it was as though a mist had parted before his eyes and revealed the ocean.


    A fierce-looking fleet bearing the flags of various countries had arrived at the coastal waters.


    His subordinates, including Wilson and Butcher, as well as the four pirate governors, Edward, Aeoris, Wang Zhi, and Nymphadora, had already led fleets of their own and were ready to fight the incoming fleet.


    It was worth noting that Donald was among them as well, as if he belonged with them.


    "The forces of the allied countries?"


    Fang Yuan shook his head.


    Even if they could defeat the pirates, they could not step on land.


    Unless¡­ there were Evil Gods willing to help them.


    He stood up and looked at the respectful pirate representatives, nobles, and ministers below the dais. He announced in a voice as clear as a bell, "I hereby declare¡­ the Augustus Empire is officially founded today!


    "I shall disclose the act concerning the nobles tomorrow!


    "Now, let us enjoy a lively dinner!"


    ¡­


    He stepped down from the dais after the announcement and entered a hidden room behind the hall.


    Smack!


    The door slammed shut. Fang Yuan sneered. "My sole weakness remains myself¡­ Once I die, my subordinates will definitely split apart, and even the Augustus Empire will splinter!


    "Therefore, the Evil Gods won''t only pay attention to my troops. They''ll place most of their attention on me¡­ I have to admit that after I stepped onto land, it would be hard to receive help from the legendary ships¡­"


    Bloop! Bloop!


    The door locked as soon as he finished his sentence.


    Large amounts of bubbles appeared, and dirty seawater started to seep into the room through the door crack.


    No! It was not seeping! It was crashing in!


    The white seawater turned into lines like the scythe of a death god, and the water stream quickly cut a big rosewood desk in two. The cut was incredibly smooth.


    "That''s right!" The voice of the Deep-Sea Stalker echoed from the seawater. "Your future is to head toward your destruction under our control¡­ I have seen it¡­"


    "Where''s Wanderer and Monster Ruler? And the Raging Thunder God?" Fang Yuan''s expression remained unchanged. "Do you¡­ feel that my crew is a greater threat than me?"


    "Outsider, save your breath!"


    Bubbles appeared and formed the figures of two men.


    The first figure was the one who spoke. Fang Yuan could tell that it was the voice of the Seabed Wanderer. "Your power in this world originates from the pirates. The Raging Thunder God will be pleased to make their acquaintance. He is rather talented when it comes to destruction¡­ As for the three of us, we will punish you on behalf of the sea!"


    "Merely the Raging Thunder God?" Fang Yuan nodded in satisfaction. "In that case, the lot of you will experience two unforgettable failures today¡­"


    "You''re bluffing!"


    The seawater in the room had already submerged Fang Yuan''s shoulders.


    In the seawater, a monster of unknown species appeared. It was similar to those ugly murlocs but decidedly different at the same time.


    It had three heads and four arms, but its bottom half was that of a fish.


    It was the physical manifestation of the Deep-Sea Stalker in this world. He opened his mouth filled with saw-like teeth. "Could anything go wrong when Aida is using his powers to deal with some mortals¡­"


    "With all due respect, it''s not only mortals," Fang Yuan interrupted, smiling.


    "Yes, we know. You''ve invited Hermes as well¡­" the Deep-Sea Stalker said in a very dismissive tone. "But he shouldn''t be able to make it¡­"


    "No! It''s not Hermes either¡­ To tell the truth, I would have never guessed that when I was trying to start war and slaughter, pushing the world into the abyss, I would receive so much goodwill, or rather¡­ greed. But luckily, I have great experience in dealing with matters like this."


    From Fang Yuan''s perspective, he was someone who was going to leave the Great Voyage World. He did not have any heirs either. How this world would turn out did not matter one bit to him.


    As a result, he was extremely decisive when making certain deals.


    For example, promising to hand over Augustus, the Pirate Empire, to the Evil Gods after he left.


    "We both know that the fate of this world is in the hands of those countries with great marine powers!" Fang Yuan laughed heartily. "I am the master of the Augustus Empire! No one knows more about the secrets of the core of this world, and no one understands this world more than I do! For example¡­"


    Smack!


    He snapped his fingers.


    Immediately, the deep-sea Evil Gods screamed.


    A hazy sensation separated them from the world, and they were now back to being observers, just like before.


    "I realized that in the main material world, our powers would be weakened to a horrifying extent¡­ However, if all of us are simply observing in the deeper parts of the world, not affecting the surface, then this world is extremely lenient to us, right?"


    "You dragged us back into this sealed state. Ahh¡­ I want to devour you! Devour all of your organs, devour everything you have!" the Deep-Sea Stalker roared. His murloc-like body expanded dramatically, and he turned into a monster the size of a whale.


    The other two Evil Gods'' auras also exploded while they stared at Fang Yuan.


    "I am the Dream and Armament Master, in charge of armaments and dreams!" shouted Fang Yuan. Immediately afterward, a strange-looking weapon appeared on his hands.


    The weapon was neither a saber nor a sword but similar to both, and it seemed to have traces of every armament that had existed in history. Its edge shined with lights, and there was a fuzzy quality about it, allowing it to change shape at will.


    "Omnidirectional Divine Demonic Armament Dao, kill!"


    Fang Yuan''s eyes burned like fire as he transformed into the towering Pangu Giant. Earth, Fire, Wind, and Water surrounded him, and the weapon in his hands grew in size to match.


    With a roar, he jumped forward and swung down.


    Rumble!


    The air shook; the seawater parted; the monster screamed in agony.


    With one stroke, all foes would be exterminated!

 895 Decisive Battle

    After unleashing the stroke, Fang Yuan divided the Deep-Sea Stalker into two.


    "Outsider!"


    All of a sudden, he unleashed a piercing sound, and both halves sprayed a thick, black liquid that was infused with an unknown amount of sea monster scales and flesh.


    A monster that was thousands of times larger than the original descended, bearing an enormous battle scar across its body.


    The battle scar, which had been inflicted by Fang Yuan, had surfaced on the Deep-Sea Stalker''s true body. Despite the change in physical form, it was still embedded in his body.


    Upon entering the outer realm of this world, even though it did not affect the real world, it had limited the abilities of all Evil Gods and Demon Gods.


    "You will soon realize that your actions were absolute mistakes!"


    The Seabed Wanderer and Monster Ruler roared ferociously, and their black robes exploded.


    The Monster Ruler was a massive sea monster that looked similar to a bat. His huge wings were full of sea monster faces, and his back had a line of horns. The longest and thickest one had obviously disappeared.


    The Seabed Wanderer was shrouded in darkness, and no spiritual will could penetrate it to figure out what was happening inside.


    "I know¡­ You are the rulers of the past, grasping authority and power¡­" Fang Yuan''s expression was indifferent. "Even within the Spiritual Realm, you would be on the level of Zenith Heavens and Emperors¡­ However, I am much more powerful than you can imagine!"


    In the past, he could already go toe-to-toe against Demon Gods with the help of the Omnidirectional Divine Demonic Armament Dao.


    With the Dream Master''s Dao of Creation agglomerated, he was now in control of two Great Daos and could even reign over certain areas in the Mental Demon Realm!


    "Outsider!" The Deep-Sea Stalker and Monster Ruler yelled in unison and lunged forth violently.


    "Omnidirectional Divine Demonic Armament!" Fang Yuan waved his right arm, and the giant blade immediately transformed into a thick, black shield that completely covered the Chaos Giant.


    Bang!


    Bang!


    Two loud crashes resounded. The giant shield withstood the attacks of the two behemoths without a scratch.


    Standing behind the shield, Fang Yuan seemed to realize something.


    The Immortal Dao consists of Heaven Immortal, Golden Immortal, and Zenith Heaven. The Divine Dao is Marquis, Duke and King, and Emperor. And the Mental Demon Realm is Demon General, Demon Master, and Demon God!


    Despite having different names, they all eventually return to the same path, even if they are suppressed in Great Voyage World!


    A Demon Master can convert origin power and last eternally. A Demon God constructs a Great Dao and changes the rules!


    Naturally, a Demon Master''s strength was far inferior to this world, which suppressed them into oblivion if they were to enter. Only Demon Gods were able to retain some of their strength.


    However, even if the Dao of Demon God could steamroll the Heavenly Dao of lower dimension worlds, it would never win against the Heavenly Dao of the worlds in this dimension!


    When he was in Da Qian, even Dream Master Sages were able to manipulate the world to their will. However, such powers were greatly limited in the Spiritual Realm.


    The Dao of Demon God is to align one''s heart with heaven. Eventually, it will come to a point where it will be able to embed itself into the Heavenly Dao of any world. Its powers would then be unrestricted by the Heavenly Dao, possibly even overriding the Heavenly Dao! It would become the master of any realm it visits, automatically taking over the authority and power of the Heavenly Dao¡­


    Fang Yuan''s eyes glimmered, seeming to have an idea of how to achieve his goal.


    The past rulers of the sea were able to do as they pleased by just having a small amount of power. Even though they also achieved the Dao, it was not the Dao of Demon God. It''s more similar to the Divine Dao''s Emperor¡­ Their accomplishments relied heavily on the powers bestowed to them by the world. Since the powers can be bestowed, they can be taken away!


    The agglomeration of their Daos is completely different from mine. Any Demon God could contend against these past rulers. As for me, I have constructed two Great Daos, and their combined strength is greater than simply adding one on top of another!


    Fang Yuan completed this complicated train of thought in the blink of an eye.


    His eyes flashed, and the shield immediately shattered. A floating six-pointed circular shield emerged and landed behind the giant.


    Dang!


    As though choreographed, three sections of claw-like blades appeared behind him and smashed right into the circular shield.


    "Fools who only know how to rely on brute force even after being separated from the real world¡­" Fang Yuan laughed mockingly, "¡­ allow me to demonstrate the power of my Great Dao! Create!"


    The Dao of Dream Master was the Dao of Creation!


    Creators were able to do anything!


    Not to mention, his Dao of Creation had absorbed that unlucky Eternal Nightmare, further perfecting and agglomerating its rules.


    Whoosh!


    In the blink of an eye, the surroundings changed.


    Volcanoes surfaced and erupted. Terrifying rivers of lava flowed and pulsated on dark red rocks like blood vessels.


    The volcanoes surrounded them, and the ground was hot enough to singe all ordinary life forms.


    Everything was created with a mere thought!


    "Is this the full extent of your power? Merely a volcanic environment?"


    The Deep-Sea Stalker roared.


    There were still marks on his body caused by the blade and shield from earlier, making him look terrible.


    "Of course not! A mere environment is just a welcoming gift!"


    Fang Yuan shook his head. He made a claw with his fingers and waved like he was strumming the strings of an instrument.


    Swoosh!


    A number of enormous swords that reached into the sky appeared.


    Heaven, Earth, Mountain, Lake, Water, Fire, Wind, Thunder!


    There was also one last translucent, phantasmal sword, which was also known as the Heart Sword!


    The Eight Gates Sword Array that once dominated Da Qian reappeared in the upper realms!


    "The Eight Gates has been surpassed. Now, my array is the swords of the Nine Palaces. Go!"


    Swoosh!


    The swords landed and appeared to act as the key points of the array.


    Sword Qi appeared, stripping the flesh off the bodies of the Deep-Sea Stalker and the giant Monster Ruler.


    The foundation of Nine Palace Sword Array lay in the Dao of Dream Master, and the damage caused by its Sword Qi could not be recovered from.


    "Nine Palace Sword Array, rise!"


    With a single thought from Fang Yuan, a giant maze appeared and trapped the two Evil Gods of old within.


    "The Nine Palace Sword Array contains a limitless space within. In addition to the essence of the agglomeration of my reality-bending rules¡­ even Zenith Heavens and Emperors would be helpless against it¡­"


    This array was able to the trap Demon Gods, and each would be trapped separately.


    "With the assistance of the Nine Swords, coupled with the Omnidirectional Divine Demonic Armament Dao, I can strike them down one by one. No single Evil God can stand in my way!"


    Even ordinary Demon Gods did not fear fighting Evil Gods one on one. They were even less of a threat to the obscenely powerful Fang Yuan.


    The original intention behind the Nine Palace Sword Array was to separate and trap enemies.


    Fang Yuan turned into a ray of light and flew into the sword array.


    Outside the sword array, a black mist approached. The sharp claws within the mist clawed viscously at the walls of the sword array.


    Swoosh!


    Nine shining Sword Qis appeared in response. With just a single swipe, they shattered the claws into dust.


    Not only was the Nine Palace Sword Array able to separate and trap enemies, but its defensive capabilities were impressive as well.


    This time, it actually damaged all the Evil Gods!


    ¡­


    Meanwhile.


    Near the coastal waters of Ettoman.


    "Fire!"


    Edward stood on King''s Throne, surrounded by a ring of sea monsters.


    At his sides were Sun, led by Will, and Specter Ship, controlled by the Ghoul Tyrant and the Demigod Lich.


    Nymphadora''s Sea God summoned giant waves to crash against the opposing steel fleet.


    Countless pirate ships attacked without hesitation after hearing the command.


    "I would have never guessed that¡­ His Excellency would give me command of this battle."


    Pirate Prince Edward stood on the deck of King''s Throne, still finding it difficult to believe the situation he was in.


    "The boss just has more powerful enemies to deal with. So, have you figured out how to deal with the enemy? This Union Navy is even more massive than the invincible fleet!" Butcher was wiping his giant cutlass on the side. "The torpedo tactic won''t work anymore since they''re surely prepared for it!"


    In the battle in the Cornelian Ocean, Fang Yuan had used King''s Throne to recruit the king of the longnose gudgeons. He then used the most common longnose gudgeons to create a huge batch of ''torpedoes'', causing great losses to Ettoman.


    The Union Navy would certainly learn from that experience.


    "I''m well aware¡­ My plan is simple. Since it''s a union of navies, then there are definitely some problems when it comes to communicating and carrying out orders. What we have to do is to divide and conquer¡­" Edward said with a smile. "Exhibit our strengths, the strength of pirates! Nymphadora, are the preparations complete?"


    "They''re completed. As you wish, a sea mist of gigantic proportions will arrive!" Nymphadora''s slightly exhausted voice came from a shell.


    Immediately afterward, a layer of white mist rose with Sea God at the center and spread throughout the battlefield.


    "Excellent!" Edward''s eyes flashed after seeing this.


    However, the next moment¡­


    Rumble!


    Thunder crackled.


    A giant, fuzzy silhouette appeared in the sky, and its eyes looked at Sea God full of anger. "Sea God¡­ oh how low you have sunk. Your power¡­ has been borrowed by these lowly mortals. I have to correct this! Correct this mistake!"


    Purple lightning danced wildly. It tore apart the thick mist and then swung at Sea God.


    Chirp chirp!


    But at that moment, the cry of a bird rang out.


    A certain black wing suddenly appeared in the air and shielded Sea God from the blow. Huge amounts of feathers fell like a mellow rain before turning into nothing.


    "Hermes, you promised me that you would remain neutral!" Aida yelled angrily.


    "I only happened to be stretching my wings. But you, Aida, why are you attacking me?" A giant bird showed its head in the air. "I am a polite gentleman and will not fuss over this, but I can''t say the same for my comrades!"


    Kaboom!


    Suddenly, a few huge hands appeared and tried to grab the giant.


    The Evil Gods above started fighting and had no time to care about what was happening on the sea.


    The thick mist rose again, and it soon became very hard to see anything at all.


    "Attack! Attack all fronts! Attack at will!"


    Only Edward''s excited voice echoed in the mist.

 896 Withdrawal

    The thick mist dispersed and revealed the bloody sun.


    This sea region was now in ruins after the battle. Ship debris and dead bodies were floating everywhere.


    Because of the heavy mist and its disadvantageous position, the Union Navy withdrew from the battle after a while.


    Edward watched them leave and chose not to pursue.


    He sighed and asked a shell in his hand, "What are the post-battle results?"


    "We''re still counting. We lost six extraordinary ships, but luckily, the four legendary ships are all safe. Only Sun and Sea God suffered some damage to their hull. However, the damage to sailing battleships and various other battleships was severe. More than seven thousand people died."


    After hearing the shell''s response, Edward almost fainted.


    These seven thousand people were elite sailors who had required a lot of effort to find and hire.


    After all, the foundation of the pirate empire Augustus was too weak.


    "As for the Union Navy, I believe they lost much more than us. We destroyed eight of their ironclads and twenty of their auxiliary ships, and more than ten thousand of their crew members died."


    ¡­


    "It seems like none of us benefited from the war¡­ My skills are still far behind the Pirate Emperor!" Edward sighed.


    "Although it was a very close victory and we suffered a lot of damage, as long as we can keep control over the sea routes within coastal waters, the Union Navy won''t be able to pass through safely¡­ Furthermore, it will take quite some time for the Opher Continent to recover from their losses. They might be willing to cooperate to form a union because of their greed and anger for the short term, but they will definitely be unwilling to crack a tough nut. Hence, the threat to the empire is gone¡­" Nymphadora''s clear voice echoed from the shell.


    Naval wars were costly to everyone whenever they happened.


    After experiencing this war, the Opher kingdoms would surely not do it again.


    Therefore, the following would be endless negotiations.


    With that, the first threat to Augustus since its founding was finally gone.


    ¡­


    Outside the real world.


    Nine enormous swords formed a chaos sword array.


    The Monster Ruler roared continuously, releasing tremendous power. However, it only made the sword array shake a bit.


    Looking at this situation, it would take a very long time to break through.


    However, Fang Yuan would certainly not give him the opportunity.


    Inside the sword array.


    Streams of light flowed, changing continuously.


    The Sword Qi of the nine swords twined around the huge bat and restricted its actions.


    "I''ve weakened and extracted the Deep-Sea Stalker''s power, and it has fallen into a deep sleep due to the seal, just like Eternal Nightmare¡­ I will do the same to you!" Fang Yuan appeared, his voice loud and clear.


    Of course, existences similar to him would naturally not die so easily.


    In fact, it was because what he was facing in this Great Voyage World were merely these rulers who were like incomplete Demon Gods.


    Even in a one-on-one battle, he could easily defeat all of them. However, it would be very difficult for him to prevent all of them from escaping.


    Even someone as strong as the Spiritual Realm''s Celestial Thearch could only seal those Demon Gods.


    Fang Yuan was sure that even if he were to die now, his consciousness would still exist in the river of time, waiting for opportunities to revive instead of vanishing completely.


    "You want to take away my power and authority? I-Impossible!" the huge bat roared. "I would rather die than let you benefit from me!"


    "You don''t have the freedom to decide your life and death currently!"


    Colorful clouds rose from Fang Yuan''s head. A stream of white light shot into the sky, leaving behind a Great Dao.


    "The Dream Master Dao of Creation is all-encompassing, which includes your deep-sea power and rules!"


    He smiled lightly. Nine streams of Sword Qi were shaking and absorbing something from the huge bat, causing extreme pain to all the sea monster heads, making them scream loudly.


    "You have no choice!"


    An illusionary image appeared in Fang Yuan''s right hand.


    Many sea monsters were surrounding it and roaring.


    The symbol of the Pirate King¡ªKing''s Throne!


    "Your strongest horn was once used to build King''s Throne. Now, since I''ve gained control over King''s Throne, I also have the key to deal with you!


    "If you want to blame someone, blame the pirate who deceived you!"


    The illusionary image suddenly turned into a black horn.


    Following Fang Yuan''s command, the horn stabbed into the monster''s body violently.


    "Ahh!!!"


    A sharp and loud scream rang out. The speed the power was transmitting at suddenly increased by more than ten times.


    "In fact, although Evil Gods look forward to the real world, they are scared of it at the same time because they will experience the most amount of restrictions in the real world, and they might even get killed by a mortal!"


    The mortals here were among the top Extraordinaries, and some were even comparable to gods.


    If not, they would not have been able to turn the Sea God into a warship nor use a contract to trick the Monster Ruler.


    "I will definitely come back one day!


    "I am Monster Ruler¡­ I am the source of all monsters, so I will never be gone!


    "I will eventually return to take back my glory and my authority one day!"


    ¡­


    Finally, the huge bat, which was left with only its bones and skin, roared.


    Its body exploded at the same time, turning into powder.


    Rays of aquamarine light emerged, and Fang Yuan''s Creation Great Dao absorbed it.


    "The Demon God realm is to form a Great Dao and use it to influence the Heavenly Dao rules in higher dimension worlds¡­ To progress further, one has to plunder or comprehend other Dao paths to complement their own Great Dao and finally form a complete Heavenly Dao!"


    Fang Yuan now understood why those Demon Gods liked to descend to the lower realms.


    In a lower dimension world, the Heavenly Dao was so weak that even Sages could influence it, much less those powerful Demon Gods.


    As long as someone was willing to put in enough effort and plan carefully, they could benefit a lot from it.


    Furthermore, in some of the smaller worlds, there could be some unique Dao paths that they could absorb to enhance their foundations.


    That was exactly what the existence who deprived Da Qian''s Dream Masters of their Dao path did.


    "Speaking of which, it lacks a bit and still isn''t complete. Now, I''ve agglomerated these remaining bits and absorbed it to become my Great Dao. I will absolutely fight until the end¡­" Fang Yuan''s expression was grave. "It doesn''t matter whether it''s in this world or the Spiritual Realm, but he will definitely discover me once I go to the Mental Demon Realm. Fortunately, I''m now no longer so powerless."


    According to his estimates, that existence should be still in the Demon God level, but his realm was much higher.


    Based on the number of Dao paths that he had plundered from the lower dimension worlds, his Great Dao could be very close to the Heavenly Dao already!


    The ''Heavenly Dao'' here was not like those in the lower dimension worlds, but one in a higher dimension universe!


    In other words, if a true Mental Demon Heavenly Dao existence came to the Great Voyage World, this world''s will would be replaced in an instant, and all the rules would be reset by that existence. He would be able to control the life and death of the Evil Gods, and the power would be beyond imagination.


    "Such power is actually kind of similar to my stats!"


    Fang Yuan retrieved his Nine Palace Sword Array and fell into deep thought.


    Although the ability of his stats window had been restricted when he had entered this world, its rate of recovery was extremely fast as time passed.


    Furthermore, with the addition of the Augustus Empire''s fate of the nation, which was enhanced by its success in the earlier war, Fang Yuan was able to recover even faster since he was the Pirate Emperor.


    Therefore, all these factors combined enabled him to sweep away all the Evil Gods and hit the Deep-Sea Rulers hard.


    "The Deep-Sea Rulers, these four Evil Gods who rule the deep sea, Eternal Nightmare, the Deep-Sea Stalker, and the Monster Ruler have all been beaten by me¡­ what about the Seabed Wanderer?"


    There was no trace of that Evil God nearby at all. It was obvious that he had escaped when Fang Yuan retrieved his Sword Array.


    There were no idiots among the Evil Gods.


    Since the Seabed Wanderer was not caught, and he was unable to break through the Nine Palace Sword Array, he naturally could only escape.


    Once an Evil God wanted to escape, Fang Yuan was not completely confident that he could stop them. Therefore, he decided to just let it go.


    "My stats window is breaking its seals, and I have reached the Demon God realm. I''ve unknowingly become so powerful already¡­"


    Fang Yuan smiled lightly. The sky and the ground inverted, and he returned to the real world.


    Splash!


    A strange but unique atmosphere surrounded him, giving him the mysterious feeling that he was at the center of history.


    However, Fang Yuan was very used to this feeling, so he merely smiled and remained silent.


    Surrounded by the flow of history, his Creation Great Dao and the Omnidirectional Divine Demonic Armament Dao became very excited. They were becoming stronger and stronger as they absorbed some kind of mysterious thing.


    "Your Majesty! Your Majesty!" Someone approached hurriedly while Fang Yuan was immersed in the flow of history. "Good news! The Imperial Navy defeated the Union Navy!"


    "Well, come in!"


    Fang Yuan composed himself, asked the soldier to come in, and took the report.


    Actually, it was not really a ''victory'' since both sides had experienced many losses. Their success was a very close one.


    Regardless, no one would hurt the foundation of the newly-emerged Augustus Empire after this.


    "Next, our internal goal is to confer new nobles, cultivating the ruling class to protect the throne. Externally, we must restrict the mainland''s trade and control the Golden Sea Route to force the other countries to negotiate¡­"


    He had thought of these tasks since the very start, and they could be easily accomplished with a few official documents.


    "After this war, Augustus has established a foundation, and I have also gained a lot. It''s time to leave¡­"


    Fang Yuan put down the report, feeling gratified.


    Of course, he would not leave right away because he was someone with a sense of responsibility. Once he left, the empire would immediately collapse.


    Thus, he decided to stay longer to stabilize the empire and select an heir for it.

 897 Negotiations

    Somewhere in the deep mountains of the Spiritual Realm.


    "Only I will know who the true master of this dream is¡­"


    Fang Yuan stood up and stretched. "Though the start wasn''t that great, it was indeed a good dream!"


    He still preferred the current Spiritual Realm.


    At least he could use all of his Demon God power here. Though it was not as smooth as the Mental Demon Realm, it was still much better than the Great Voyage World.


    "Is it¡­ because the nature of the Spiritual Realm is similar to the Mental Demon Realm''s, or the fact that my stats window has already broken through its restrictions since I''ve been here so long, or is it because of both?"


    Fang Yuan thought idly, and then he looked at his stats window.


    The lights had changed a bit, and a lot of the data was different:


    "Name: Fang Yuan


    Profession: Dream Master


    Cultivation: Demon God


    Dao Path: Creation Great Dao, Omnidirectional Divine Demonic Armament Dao


    Technique: Pangu Eagle Body [Strengthen Witch Bloodline (1st Tier)], Creation Sword Array [Ninth Sword (100%)]


    Specialization: Botany [Level 6] (Maximum), Heavenly Eye Seer Spell, Body of Origin Power"


    "The Demon God realm is actually the condensation of one''s Dao path¡­ There seem to be some minor realms at this level. But for more details, I can only get them from the Lord of the Void¡­ Speaking of which, even though there was a promise of two hundred years, he must have been even more impatient than I was!"


    With that thought, he turned his gaze to the sky.


    In the Spiritual Realm''s sky, the green star suddenly shined more brightly, and the purple one became paler.


    "After the battle in the Mental Demon Battlefield, the three Demon Gods¡ªLi Hen, Ancient Netherworld, and the Lord of the Void¡ªhad all escaped. Of course, for the Lord of the Void, only half of him escaped. Most of his true body is still on that star together with the Infinite Devourer and the other sealed Demon God, which have all become food for the Celestial Thearch¡­ The rate at which the Celestial Thearch is absorbing the Demon Gods is much faster than the Spiritual Realm."


    Even though Fang Yuan had reached Demon God, and he had a slight guess about his future Dao path, he still wanted to obtain the orthodox knowledge of the Mental Demon Realm to perfect his Creation Great Dao.


    "Also¡­ it looks that the Mental Demon Battlefield won''t last long¡­"


    Fang Yuan raised his right hand. The pattern of the Omnidirectional Divine Demonic Armament Dao on his hand was shining slightly and looking mysterious.


    "The Lord of the Void is indeed in a hurry¡­"


    At their level, a single symbol left behind was a unique faith token that could be used to contact their main body.


    If someone in Da Qian activated the arrays that Fang Yuan had left behind, he would easily sense it, and he could possibly even grant them some power.


    However, far more difficult than transmitting power was to let his true body descend. The distance was too far, and it would consume an inestimable amount of energy.


    Thus, Fang Yuan was very interested in the way Demon Gods descended to a lower dimension world.


    Because he had used the Omnidirectional Divine Demonic Armament Dao symbol to make a contract with the Dao of the Void, when the Lord of the Void contacted him, that symbol would receive the notice first.


    Thinking of this, he quickly drew a symbol in the air.


    This symbol belonged solely to the Lord of the Void, and he had remembered it since their transaction.


    Of course, activating this symbol was just an attempt to contact the Lord of the Void. Whether or not he was successful depended on if the other side would respond.


    Why does it feel like I''m returning missed calls after coming back from a business trip¡­


    Fang Yuan felt a bit speechless. After a while, the symbol responded.


    Buzz buzz!


    A stream of white light exploded and turned to a blurry image. "Dream Demon¡­ your dream-traversing time¡­ Ah?" The figure was at first unsatisfied, but it suddenly stopped, utterly surprised. "Y-you''ve become a Demon God?"


    It was truly shocking!


    Even though this Demon Master had revealed much of his talents, even agglomerating a Pseudo Dao to have a quasi-Demon God''s combat strength, it was still shocking that he could break through in such a short time. In the long history of the Mental Demon Realm, though there had been many geniuses, none of them could compare to Fang Yuan.


    It was definitely not easy to agglomerate a Great Dao and break through to Demon God.


    This short amount of time was only enough to traverse to one realm, but he had broken through in one try.


    "Good! Very good! Since you''ve become a Demon God, you have the same rights as us now¡­"


    The Lord of the Void genuinely pleased.


    "It seems that¡­ Your Excellency, you didn''t treat me as a partner before this¡­" Fang Yuan shrugged, and his face remained expressionless.


    "For the Dao of Demon God, even being a single step away means a lot, so of course it would be different!" the Lord of the Void said frankly. "But since you''ve become a Demon God, it will be greatly beneficial to our goal!"


    "Even so, we still can''t beat the Celestial Thearch, not to mention that there''s still Excellency Mount Mang and the Immortal Dao''s Three Supremacies on their side!" Fang Yuan shook his head.


    Excellency Mount Mang was a Divine Dao Emperor, and Immortal Dao''s Three Supremacies were Zenith Heavens, and each of them was as powerful as a Demon God!


    Not to mention, there was still the Celestial Thearch, who was the most powerful person in the Spiritual Realm.


    "Don''t tell me that you''re going to breach our contract?!" The Lord of the Void turned angry. "Even if you''re a Demon God, you will still face dire consequences!"


    "No, no¡­" Fang Yuan shook his hands. "It''s only been a few years in the two hundred years. How is this breaching the contract?"


    "The Celestial Thearch surpassed my expectations. He''s sticking to the Mental Demon Battlefield and focusing on his refinement even though I''m causing chaos in the mortal world. I''m afraid my previous estimate was wrong. We''re running out of time!" The Lord of the Void felt anxious and had to reveal some information.


    "That''s quite regrettable!" Fang Yuan remained composed. "Why don''t you open the Mental Demon channel and have Demon Gods evade again?"


    "You think it''s easy to connect the two realms and form a stable channel? That is completely wrong! The best coordinate is in the Mental Demon Battlefield!" the Lord of the Void said, exasperated. "Furthermore, even if I can connect with the Mental Demon Realm, we probably won''t get an immediate response from the Demon Gods¡­ Over there, each Demon God has their own region. If not for the fact that the Mental Demon Battlefield''s channel connected to our region last time, how else would reinforcements come so fast?"


    "What a pity¡­"


    Fang Yuan still did not respond to him directly.


    He was sure that this cunning Demon God had contacted the Mental Demon Realm secretly and found another suitable spot to open a Mental Demon channel.


    It was just that he had something to ask him for, so he was willing to play around with him.


    After a long period of silence, the Lord of the Void finally could not hold it in anymore. "So tell me¡­ what do you want from me?"


    He had no other choice because he needed Fang Yuan''s help.


    "Very simple¡­ the Lower Realm Descending Technique! Also¡­ I''m still a bit unsure about the Demon God realm, so I need more information about it¡­" Fang Yuan said directly.


    "The Lower Realm Descending Technique? I thought we discussed that last time?" the Lord of the Void turned stagnant for a second. "I''m pretty sure I told you before¡­"


    As he was speaking, his body was turning transparent.


    The concept of the void suddenly invaded.


    Fang Yuan felt his eyes become heavy, and he started to feel empty. A sense of hopelessness occupied his mind.


    "Enough!" he shouted, and the sound waves created ripples in the illusion.


    "Lord of the Void, how dare you attack me¡­ Are you testing my patience!" he shouted coldly and released his Great Dao.


    It was not the Omnidirectional Divine Demonic Armament Dao, but another, more magnificent, all-encompassing Great Dao that appeared.


    Splash!


    Sea waves engulfed the surroundings, and it was as if they had suddenly arrived at the deep sea.


    Under the dense darkness and the heavy pressure, the illusion of the Lord of the Void congealed and became real.


    Seawater pressed the void, making the originally abstract tentacles became solid.


    Fang Yuan sneered and flicked his finger lightly.


    Streams of Sword Qi appeared and slid through the tentacles, slashing them into pieces immediately.


    "What Dao path is this¡­? How can you break my Void Tentacles?" the Lord of the Void exclaimed in surprise.


    "This is my Dao¡­ Creation!"


    Fang Yuan''s eyes were cold. "I can''t see any sincerity from you, so I''m afraid that I''ll have to give up on our collaboration¡­ However, don''t worry. I will still fulfill the contract."


    As long as he could have helped rescue the Demon Gods within two hundred years, he would have fulfilled the contract.


    In fact, if he was shameless enough, he could have just sent a clone to the Heavenly Court, and it would have fulfilled the terms of the contract.


    After all, he was a Demon God. How could a mere contract restrict him?


    "Ahhhhhh¡­ no¡­ you can''t do this¡­ It was only an accident just now. I expanded my power field unconsciously, just like human breathing¡­" The Lord of the Void started panicking. "Besides, the Lower Realm Descending Technique isn''t easy¡­ How magnificent is the power of the dimension, and how could it allow a Demon God''s true body to descend? Even if it''s a clone, it''s still extremely difficult¡­ If we only transmit some power and objects through the void, then it''s relatively easier¡­"


    "Why does the Lower Realm Descending Technique receive so much importance? Isn''t it just to get to some small worlds to plunder suitable Dao paths?"


    Fang Yuan laughed mockingly.


    Even if this Lord of the Void went to the Great Voyage World, with the Evil Gods watching, it would not be easy for him to defeat the Deep-Sea Rulers and seize their rules and authority to complement his Dao path, not to mention obtaining a complete Great Dao.


    Fang Yuan''s Omnidirectional Divine Demonic Armament Dao had taken away all the accumulations of the Divine Armament World from past to present.


    However, in the lower realms, there might be some unique and mysterious Dao paths as well.


    Even though their level might not be high, their nature was still the same. As long as someone could take them to the higher realm and cultivate it, it could become a brand new Great Dao''s power.


    Therefore, Demon Gods paid a lot of attention to the Lower Realm Descending Technique.


    Honestly, they''re just cowards in essence. A Demon God''s Dao is strong enough to influence the Heavenly Dao in the lower realms and allow them to use most of their clone''s power, but in a higher dimension world, their power is restricted all the time¡­


    Fang Yuan sneered. He looked at the Lord of the Void and said slowly, "I''ve decided. I need both the Lower Realm Descending Technique and general information about the Demon God realm. Without either, I won''t help you!"

 898 Great Dao

    "¡­"


    The Lord of the Void suddenly became quiet, but he soon said in a tempting voice, "I can teach you more about the Demon God realm¡­ But for the Lower Realm Descending Technique, how about something else? For example, I can help your student defeat all the evil children and become the topmost figure in the mortal world!"


    "That was only me enlightening a stupid being in passing, so how could that be attractive to me?"


    Fang Yuan smiled coldly. "Furthermore, you''re the one spreading the seed of evil. You don''t have any good intentions. You merely want them to bring turmoil to the realm and decide a true king who will conquer the world, causing trouble for the Heavenly Court. This is just a way for you to delay the Celestial Thearch from refining the Demon Gods, and it doesn''t even matter to you who becomes king in the end¡­"


    "Indeed, mortal world monarchs usually call themselves the ''Son of Heaven'', as if they were truly related to the Celestial Thearch¡­ However, I didn''t expect the Heavenly Court to completely ignore my actions of subverting the regimes of several countries¡­"


    The Lord of the Void sighed. "From this, we can see that the Celestial Thearch has reached an extremely important stage¡­"


    Fang Yuan remained calm and silent no matter what he said.


    "Okay¡­ I can teach you how to send a clone to the lower realms and knowledge about the Demon God realm¡­ In return, you must do your best to help me rescue those Demon Gods!" The Lord of the Void finally conceded. "I can teach you knowledge about the Demon God realm right now. But for the Lower Realm Descending Technique, after we reach the Heavenly Court¡­ A contract will serve as proof."


    "All right!" Fang Yuan agreed after thinking for a while.


    There was no need for too much bargaining between two Demon Gods.


    "I''ll wait for you!"


    After they signed the new contract, the Lord of the Void handed over a golden ball of light. "My true body is currently in the country of Aolai¡­ You have seven days to find me, and then we''ll head to the Heavenly Court once you''re here!"


    Bang!


    The Lord of the Void''s figure shattered after he finished speaking.


    Fang Yuan was a little dumbfounded seeing this.


    "The Lord of the Void has nearly unequaled self-defense skills, so he''s not worried about going to the Heavenly Court. But I have to do more preparations. Fortunately, there shouldn''t be a second Demon God in the Heavenly Court at this moment!"


    Last time, the Celestial Thearch had set a trap, so Excellency Mount Mang and the Immortal Dao''s Three Supremecies were there at the same time.


    This time, he was prepared to take all benefits for himself and even escape from the Spiritual Realm''s control. Therefore, he would naturally not leave behind these troubles.


    Fang Yuan speculated that with his current ability, he could defend against the Celestial Thearch for a while. And with the Lord of the Void, it should not be too dangerous.


    "The key is to finish as soon as possible. Otherwise, reinforcements will come, and we''ll be left with no chance¡­"


    When he thought of this, he clenched his fist.


    The light ball turned into a mass of memories that he read through quickly.


    "Originally, Demon God is divided into three realms¡ªVoid Amalgamation, Myriad Transformations, and Netherheaven¡­ Upon becoming a Demon God, you start to embrace other Dao path rules to perfect your own Great Dao. This is Void Amalgamation! After your Great Dao sublimates, you are at the middle stage. Using one Great Dao, you can display thousands of magical powers from different Great Daos. This is Myriad Transformations! As for the final Netherheaven stage, Great Daos merge with one another, forming a single Great Dao that is similar to the Heavenly Dao."


    If one could truly agglomerate a Heavenly Dao, then they would break through a Demon God''s highest realm.


    Nether meant darkness. The so-called ''Netherheaven'' referred to the dark side of the Heavenly Dao.


    The dark side of the Heavenly Dao was also the Heavenly Dao. If a Netherheaven Demon God were to enter other high dimension worlds, they could influence the rules of that world and maintain most of their power.


    Once the dark side turned bright, it would become the true Heavenly Dao.


    "Speaking of which, I still have three opponents in the Mental Demon Realm¡ªShang Hou''s true body, Hades, and the one who swallowed the Dream Masters'' Dao path!


    "Shang Hou is certainly not doing well. Otherwise, he wouldn''t have run away. He''s among the weakest Demon Gods. However, he knows the Lower Realm Descending Technique for clones!


    "Hades is probably middle-ranking, but there''s too little information to confirm that. As for the one who swallowed the Dream Masters'' Dao path, he should at least be in Myriad Transformations, or possibly even higher, and in Netherheaven."


    Regarding Fang Yuan, he could be considered to be at high-level Void Amalgamation. He still needed to comprehend more Great Dao rules and improve his Dao path.


    "My cultivation plan should be separated into two aspects. First, use the Creation Great Dao to devour the Omnidirectional Divine Demonic Armament Dao. Second, I should explore more worlds and plunder more Daos paths¡­"


    Great Daos were similar to a condensed version of rules and authority. It was the enhanced version of both.


    They were extremely hard to find even in other worlds.


    For example, in the Great Voyage World, Fang Yuan was unable to get one complete Great Dao even after defeating a group of Deep-Sea Rulers. At best, he obtained some deep-sea rules, authority, and power.


    Fortunately, he had created a Pseudo Dao, the Omnidirectional Divine Demonic Armament Dao, using all the treasures of the Divine Armament World.


    "The Dao of Creation, which can encompass everything, is the best foundation, and it can completely absorb the Omnidirectional Divine Demonic Armament Dao. I should be able to reach peak Void Amalgamation once I thoroughly refine this Pseudo Dao. When I can use the Creation Great Dao to fully display the power of the Omnidirectional Divine Demonic Armament Dao, I should be at Myriad Transformations!"


    Fang Yuan''s future Demon God path became clearer than ever to him.


    ¡­


    Seven days later.


    The Heavenly Court.


    Rubble had turned back into jade palaces, and everything had recovered to its normal state.


    It was as though the Mental Demon Battlefield being broken through and many Demon Gods and Demon Masters escaping had never happened.


    Inside the Messenger Office.


    Heavenly Consort Yun Xiang was sitting cross-legged gracefully, and it seemed like flowers were revolving around her and releasing pleasant scents.


    She activated a Dharmic formulation. A translucent membrane immediately appeared and covered the entire palace. She looked solemnly at the void.


    "Master! Recently, the Celestial Thearch has been behaving strangely in the Mental Demon Battlefield. It seems that he''s in the middle of refining the Demon Gods¡­ As of those Demon Masters and Demon Gods in the lower realm, I only found a few Demon Masters, but I couldn''t find any Demon Gods at all!"


    From the void, Ancient Netherworld''s voice came. "There should be two Demon Gods in the lower realm¡­ One should be the Lord of the Void, who can make myriad incarnations and has incomparable self-defense skills¡­ My true body was annihilated, so in order for me to recover it as soon as possible, I must return to the Mental Demon Realm! Only Demon Gods can find suitable nodes outside the Mental Demon Realm and open the channel¡­"


    "Great Master¡­ I will complete your task whatever it takes."


    Heavenly Consort Yun Xiang looked determined.


    However, her face suddenly became alert. She looked at the door. "Who is it?"


    "Me!"


    With a slight smile, a heavenly official walked in slowly. The palace''s restrictions and the Heavenly Consort''s barrier seemed to have no effect on him at all.


    "You are not a Marquis''s subordinate. Who are you?"


    Heavenly Consort Yun Xiang''s eyes gleamed coldly.


    "Haha¡­ how could you forget a friend so quickly?"


    The heavenly official waved his right hand over his face, and he turned into a figure that made Heavenly Consort Yun Xiang fume with rage. "The Major Chiliocosm Illusion Art¡­ You! Lord Mountain River!"


    "You can all call me Dream Demon¡­ or Your Excellency Demon God!"


    Fang Yuan smiled slightly and released a trace of his aura.


    Crack!


    Under the majesty of Fang Yuan''s Great Dao, Heavenly Consort Yun Xiang''s legs weakened. She knelt ungraciously. "Y-you broke through to Demon God?!"


    Last time, when Fang Yuan had tricked her, he was still a Demon Master. She would have never imagined that he could break through to Demon God in such a short while.


    Even in the Mental Demon Realm, Demon Gods were each the rulers of a vast region and extremely terrifying.


    "Demon God Ancient Netherworld, come out!"


    Fang Yuan did not bother to deal with a Demon God''s subordinate. He only cared about those at the same level with him, such as Demon God Ancient Netherworld.


    "Even though I expected you to progress fast, your improvements are beyond my expectations¡­"


    After a while of silence, a layer of blood bubbles emerged and turned into Demon God Ancient Netherworld''s face.


    "How pitiful¡­ Ancient Netherworld¡­ Hehe¡­"


    Another person''s voice came out from Fang Yuan''s body.


    With a soft breeze, the Lord of the Void''s figure emerged.


    "Lord of the Void, don''t you know that for existences like us, all we care about is continuously improving our Great Dao? Death is nothing!"


    Demon God Ancient Netherworld asked, "Without experiencing death, how could we truly comprehend the Death Great Dao?"


    Fang Yuan clearly knew that the Death Great Dao was not simply about the rules of death. It was the essence of the condensation of its authority and rules.


    The Death Gods and Death Godhoods in small worlds were only evolutions of a portion of the rules of death, and they were incomparable to the true Death Great Dao.


    Meanwhile, Demon Gods could completely display the power of the Great Daos.


    In other words, if Demon God Ancient Netherworld could comprehend the Death Great Dao, he would immediately revive and regain his peak strength.


    "You are really shameless¡­ Hehe¡­ You remind me of that lunatic in the Mental Demon Realm who challenged Demon Gods everywhere to comprehend the Death Great Dao. It''s rumored that he''s been killed more than ten thousand times already¡­"


    When the Lord of the Void mentioned that lunatic, he seemed a bit fearful.


    "That guy has comprehended part of the Death Great Dao, and he can revive himself in a very short time. I can''t be compared to him¡­"


    Demon God Ancient Netherworld sighed.


    "The Death Great Dao?"


    Hearing their conversation, Fang Yuan became interested in this Dao path.


    For Demon Gods like him who had already enhanced all of their intrinsic qualities and left a profound imprint in the world, there was no complete death even if both their divine spirit and their physical body perished.


    In the river of time, there would always be an imprint of their true spirit, which would allow them to revive after a long time.


    However, the time taken was usually in the tens of thousands of years.


    However, with the Death Great Dao or Life Great Dao, they could revive immediately. It was needless to say how attractive this was.


    "Okay, why are the two of you here? It can''t be just to give a greeting to my imprint."


    Demon God Ancient Netherworld laughed.


    "Of course not. You should know why we''re here!" the Lord of the Void said. "As long as you help us, we''ll help you send your imprint to the Mental Demon Realm to speed up your revival!"

 899 Entering the Battle

    "I''m already dead¡­ everything that belongs to me is gone, and I can''t exert my power in the physical world¡­" Ancient Netherworld Demon God said helplessly. "So, you need information from me, right? I can tell you that there is only one Emperor in the Mental Demon Battlefield at the moment, the Celestial Thearch¡­ Excellency Mount Mang and the Immortal Dao''s Three Supremecies had some conflicts with the Celestial Thearch. They won''t collaborate unless the realm is in danger."


    "Great! I also need the operation diagram of the Massive Heavenly Cycle Stellar Array. And I need your subordinate to help me when necessary!" the Lord of the Void said.


    "No problem!"


    Demon God Ancient Netherworld agreed immediately. He did not care about losing a subordinate like Heavenly Consort Yun Xiang because he still had many of them.


    As soon as the Demon Gods reached an agreement, they directly signed a contract. Fang Yuan also got what he wanted?¡ªthe Lower Realm Descending Technique for a clone.


    The Lord of the Void isn''t trustworthy¡­ Even though this magical technique looks fine from the surface, there might be some hidden traps within. But it doesn''t matter. As long as I can find Shang Hou''s true body when I go to the Mental Demon Realm and double-check with him¡­


    Fang Yuan''s eyes gleamed for a second, and he memorized the magical technique. "For Demon Gods like us, we will never die. Lord of the Void, you''re too tense!"


    "Do you really think the destruction of the Celestial Thearch and the Spiritual Realm is just a simple destruction?" Demon God Ancient Netherworld rushed to say. "It''s a higher-level destruction! Even the Great Daos will be seized.


    "It is extremely hard to seize others'' Great Daos. For example, if a Demon God defeats me, I would only lose the power of my true body and part of my rules¡­ But the Celestial Thearch and the Spiritual Realm can actually snatch away Great Daos. Would a Demon God without a Dao path still be a Demon God? If the Celestial Thearch succeeds, the Infinite Devourer and the Demon God sealed in the Myriad Thunder Plain will thoroughly fall. Even if a Demon God with the Death Great Dao revives them, they''d only revive as Demon Masters¡­"


    "I see¡­" Fang Yuan nodded solemnly. "The fight for Great Daos is actually so cruel!"


    Those Deep-Sea Rulers that he had defeated were not completely dead. They were only in a deep sleep and could always return after tens of thousands of years.


    However, if Fang Yuan had taken their Dao paths away, it would take countless years for them to revive, and it would not be any different from true death.


    "With Ancient Netherworld and the Heavenly Consort''s help, we can instantly break through the Massive Heavenly Cycle Stellar Array¡­ But the crucial point is afterward!" The Lord of the Void''s voice was grave. "We can''t underestimate the Celestial Thearch. Once Demon Gods attack the Mental Demon Battlefield, it is the responsibility of Excellency Mount Mang and the Immortal Dao''s Three Supremecies to assist the Heavenly Court in the battle¡­ We will only have ten breaths of time before they arrive!"


    "That means we have to find the Celestial Thearch, interfere with his refining, and break the seal within ten breaths¡­ It is indeed not easy¡­" Fang Yuan said thoughtfully.


    "You merely need to distract the Celestial Thearch and interrupt his refining¡­ As for breaking the seal, I only need one breath!" the Lord of the Void said. "Remember, most of my true body is also within the Mental Demon Battlefield''s seal¡­"


    "Strictly speaking, if the Lord of the Void''s information is correct, our odds are good¡­" Demon God Ancient Netherworld interrupted. "If the Celestial Thearch is truly disloyal and wants to obtain freedom, the Spiritual Realm''s Heavenly Dao will no longer continue to favor him, and he might lose his position and power¡­"


    The reason why the Celestial Thearch was the most powerful figure in the Spiritual Realm was that he had the blessing of heaven, obtaining enhancements from the Spiritual Realm.


    Without this, he was at most a Demon God in the Myriad Transformations realm.


    After all, if he were a Netherheaven Demon God, he could rely on himself to break free from the heaven''s will of the Spiritual Realm.


    "Great! We shouldn''t delay further. Let''s start right away!"


    Demong God Ancient Netherworld and the Lord of the Void disappeared as they were talking, while Fang Yuan turned into an ordinary official of the Messenger Office.


    "I''ve always been studying the Massive Heavenly Cycle Stellar Array, and I''ve finally solved part of it¡­"


    Heavenly Consort Yun Xiang transmitted to Fang Yuan while they were heading for the Stellar Array.


    She had no other choice since she was Demon God Ancient Netherworld''s subordinate.


    "Although I don''t understand its rules completely, I''ve already analyzed how it attacks. It relies on three Stellar Masters¡ªStellar Lords Seven Killings, Destruction, and Greedy Wolf?. The three of them are as powerful as Mental Demon Demon Masters! If we kill them, then half of the Stellar Array will be destroyed!"


    Heavenly Consort Yun Xiang arrived at the edge of the Stellar Array.


    From hazy starlight, a heavenly voice appeared. "The Celestial Thearch has commanded that anyone who dares to intrude into the Massive Heavenly Cycle Stellar Array will be killed!"


    "How dare you stop me? I have important information about the Demon Gods to report to the Celestial Thearch!"


    Heavenly Consort Yun Xiang took a deep breath and said imposingly, "Move aside!"


    As a pawn, she had no choice but to head toward the array.


    Ping!


    These Stellar Gods and Stellar Lords did not dare to kill a Heavenly Consort, so they opened the gate and let her in.


    "Heavenly Consort!"


    Starlight converged into a kind-looking old man with white hair and a white beard. "Opening the outer array is the most that we can do. Please do not make our life difficult! Regarding the information about the Demon Gods, you can tell me everything, and I will help you inform the Celestial Thearch!"


    "This matter is very important! Demon Gods have infiltrated the Heavenly Court, and I won''t trust anyone other than the Celestial Thearch!"


    Yun Xiang took a deep breath and walked toward the array''s center. "I must meet the Celestial Thearch and tell him personally!"


    "How dare you!" The old man''s expression changed. "I have long suspected you, and now you even dare to intrude into the core of the array without permission. The Celestial Thearch will not blame me even if I kill you! Venus!"


    As he shouted, a stream of starlight fell and turned into a Ge Metal sword.


    Despite his words, his attack was not lethal and used merely to block.


    However, as a Stellar Lord, and within the Massive Heavenly Cycle Stellar Array, its might was no small matter.


    Chi chi!


    Yun Xiang fell back. Her clothes and her hair were in disorder, making her look pitiful.


    "How dare you attack a Heavenly Consort, Stellar Lord Venus! You''re crazy¡­ take him down!"


    She shouted and spread her hands.


    A domain containing a pleasant scent spread. Instantly, hundreds of flowers blossomed and surrounded Stellar Lord Venus.


    "Hehe¡­ calm down, Heavenly Consort. I''m merely obeying the Celestial Thearch''s order!"


    Stellar Lord Venus was not afraid at all.


    He was confident that he could fight anyone who entered the array, even if it was a Duke or King.


    Obviously, he was unaware that it was not a mere messenger official who was watching, but two Demon Gods.


    "Understood!"


    The heavenly official that Fang Yuan had disguised as raised his hand and patted gently.


    Smack!


    To the old man''s surprise, such a seemingly simple technique shattered the Ge Metal sword into pieces.


    Not only that, but the messenger official went forward and lightly reached out with his right hand. Thousands of stellar screens broke. He grabbed Stellar Lord Venus directly and forced him to kneel on the ground. "I have taken him down! What should I do next, Heavenly Consort?"


    "How dare you!"


    "Courting death!"


    "Kill the Heavenly Consort as well!"


    The Stellar Lords were all enraged and immediately attacked.


    They were the trusted aides of the Celestial Thearch, and many of them had Duke and King Deity Positions.


    Seeing the Heavenly Consort and Fang Yuan insulting Stellar Lord Venus, it was like they were being humiliated, so how could they not be angry?


    "The Celestial Thearch has commanded that all trespassers are to be killed!" three cold voices sounded.


    The vault of heaven opened, and three huge stars appeared.


    Full of the power of war and killing, starlight landed and turned into the shape of a hook, a spear, and a saber before finally combining into a strange blade of starlight.


    It was the Killing Destruction Wolf that Stellar Lords Seven Killings, Destruction, and Greedy Wolf formed when acting together!


    These three Stellar Lords were in charge of killing, and they were also Ancient Gods comparable to Golden Immortals. Their collective strength could easily defeat any Demon Master.


    "We''ve been waiting for you!"


    Fang Yuan laughed cheerfully.


    What they did earlier was only to force these three Stellar Lords to appear and expose their flaws.


    "Omnidirectional Divine Demonic Armament Dao!"


    As he waved his hands, his Demon God aura was fully revealed, causing the surrounding starlight to tremble. The illusion of a Great Dao emerged.


    The Killing Destruction Wolf blade stagnated. Shortly after, it disappeared into the Great Dao.


    "All armaments come under the Omnidirectional Divine Demonic Armament Dao. Do you really think that you are Demon Gods?"


    Fang Yuan laughed loudly and transformed into the indomitable Pangu Giant. Earth, Fire, Wind, and Water evolved.


    "Chaos Sunder, Creation Divine Fist!"


    With the enhancements of two Great Daos, he attacked with all of his might.


    He was currently a high-order Void Amalgamation Demon God, and he had stayed for prolonged periods in the Spiritual Realm. With the help of the stats window, he had long overcome the realm''s suppression. Therefore, how terrifying would he be when using his full power?


    Rumble!


    Almost instantly, the Massive Heavenly Cycle Stellar Array was forcibly stopped.


    A great amount of starlight shattered, and three Stellar Lords finally appeared.


    However, the three Stellar Lords all looked shocked and alarmed.


    Bang!


    The next moment, a fist swept across. In the void, there remained a huge fist imprint, which was surrounded by the power of Earth, Fire, Wind, and Water.


    The three Stellar Lords had disappeared with a trace remaining.


    With a Demon God attacking at full power while inside the array and the flaws that Yun Xiang had provided, it would be surprising if three Stellar Gods at the Demon Master level could still survive.


    With the death of the three Stellar Lords, the Massive Heavenly Cycle Stellar Array half-collapsed.


    Many arrays broke, and numerous Stellar Lords came out panicked.


    They looked terrified and wanted to run away.


    However, with a soft breeze blowing across, their eyes became blurred, and they had the trace of a grin at the corner of their mouths. The Lord of the Void had possessed all of them. "Stellar Gate¡­ Open!"


    In the center of the Massive Heavenly Cycle Stellar Array, a magnificent, giant gate emerged.


    Thousands of streams of starlight fell and opened the gate by a bit


    Strange and terrifying Mental Demon elemental force leaked out from the inside immediately.


    It was the Mental Demon Battlefield!

 900 The Three Supremacies

    "Dream Demon, it''s up to you!"


    From the mouths of many Stellar Lords came the Lord of the Void''s voice.


    The majority of his true body was sealed inside the Mental Demon Battlefield. As for Demon God Ancient Netherworld, he was long dead. The most he could hope to do was to summon an imprint to communicate with. It was fat hope to rely on his help.


    "I''ll attempt to corrode as many Stellar Lords as possible. Since the Massive Heavenly Cycle Stellar Array is incomplete without Killing Destruction Wolf, it''ll be able to stop the Heavenly Court''s reinforcements¡­ We only have ten breaths!"


    The Lord of the Void''s tone was extremely urgent.


    Without a doubt, they had to make Fang Yuan the main force this time.


    Otherwise, he would not have made so many concessions.


    "I''ll do my best!"


    Fang Yuan crossed the giant gate and entered the Mental Demon Battlefield.


    Splash Splash!


    An endless torrent of elemental force hurtled toward him. It was as though loyal officials had finally met their king.


    "Among the three great perilous lands, both the Bottomless Blood Abyss and the Extreme East Dark Mystic Ocean have long been abandoned. The only place with a seal remaining is the Myriad Thunder Plain!"


    Fang Yuan moved instantly.


    After just three breaths, he arrived above the Myriad Thunder Plain.


    The Mental Demon channel had long since been sealed. There was a palace in the air, but there was no hint of any Heavenly Gods.


    The Heavenly Court''s Mental Demon Battlefield headquarters¡ªthe Heaven Palace!


    However, this former military division gathering area was now completely empty.


    All that was left was the palace guarding the seal.


    Fang Yuan took a deep breath.


    He knew all too well that even if only the Celestial Thearch was left, he was more powerful than any military division!


    "Chaos Sunder, Creation Divine Fist!"


    He attacked without hesitation. Two giant fists crashed down.


    Rumble!


    The wrath of a Demon God was absolutely terrifying.


    The defenses of the Heaven Palace turned to ashes in an instant.


    After most of the palace turned to ash, strange black chains became visible.


    Theses black chains emanated a gloomy aura and were terrifying to the touch. They extended from the ground all the way up to the sky. It was as though a giant spiderweb was entrenched in the Myriad Thunder Plain.


    "Dao Marks?" Fang Yuan''s eyes focused on the chains. "Furthermore¡­ these marks are almost at the level of Heavenly Dao Dao Marks¡­ Coupled with this gloomy feeling¡­ Netherheaven realm? Not yet!"


    "You''re here?"


    From the center of the black chains, a throne rose slowly. Black netherflames surrounded it.


    The Celestial Thearch sat squarely on the throne, his purple eyes fixed on Fang Yuan.


    His gaze was similar to a heavenly gaze, overlooking all things from high above. Even Fang Yuan slightly felt that he had been seen through.


    However, what surprised Fang Yuan the most were the Celestial Thearch''s clothes.


    Although they were still the same style, the purple and gold had changed to black. There was a mysterious quality about it that was had to describe.


    "Celestial Thearch? Or should I call you Dark Thearch now? Do you wish to side yourself with our Mental Demon Realm?"


    Fang Yuan sneered.


    The communication between existences at their level was incredibly fast.


    They would not even expend a moment to exchange over several hundred words.


    "I am very grateful to the Mental Demon Realm. It has given me true freedom. However, that does not mean that I have to betray the Spiritual Realm¡­" the Celestial Thearch said indifferently. "Do you still not understand? Although I am no longer under the control of the Spiritual Realm, I am still a member of it! I am the Celestial Thearch of this realm! As long as I do not abandon my position of my own accord, there is nothing that can force me to do so!"


    In contrast to being a puppet previously, he was now a Celestial Thearch with real power. Naturally, he was not interested in the Mental Demon Realm.


    Furthermore, the Mental Demon Realm''s environment was notorious, and it could never compare to the entire Spiritual Realm.


    "That''s really regrettable!"


    Fang Yuan waved his hands. "Nine Palace Sword Array, activate!"


    Chi chi!


    Nine earthshaking sword pillars appeared and formed a sword array that enveloped the Celestial Thearch''s entire throne.


    Bang!


    Within the span of a single breath, the sword array shifted violently. Numerous divine swords shattered. Fang Yuan''s eyes twitched. "Although this Dark Thearch isn''t at Netherheaven Demon God, he''s not too far off! "


    Netherheaven Demon Gods had an almost complete Great Dao that was comparable to the Heavenly Dao. One could say that it was the dark side of the Heavenly Dao.


    Once this dark Heavenly Dao was promoted to the next level to become a real Heavenly Dao, one would break through beyond the Demon God realm.


    The Celestial Thearch was now a peak Myriad Transformations Demon God!


    It could even be said that he was halfway into the dark side of the Heavenly Dao realm.


    After all, he was once a puppet of heaven''s will and had an advantage in this aspect.


    "My Nine Palace Sword Array can at most trap him for two breaths!"


    Fang Yuan was fighting for time. Earth, Fire, Wind, and Water turned into chaos and descended upon the Myriad Thunder Plain.


    The ground and even some of the original seals disintegrated.


    The Myriad Thunder Plain turned to dust, leaving only three huge balls of chains.


    Black chains tightly bound each of them, connecting them to the spiderweb of chains under the Celestial Thearch''s throne.


    "Heavenly Cycle Stellar Array, transform into me!"


    The Lord of the Void could standby watching no longer and made his move.


    He was able to divide and conceal himself in others'' consciousness, and he now had half of the Massive Heavenly Cycle Stellar Array under his control.


    As he activated the array, a layer of starlight converged on top of the skies of the Myriad Thunder Plain. It turned into the figure of a dignified emperor wearing a star robe.


    "Heavenly Cycle Stellar Thearch, Myriad Meteor Destruction Divine Art!"


    The Heavenly Cycle Stellar Thearch was the most powerful form of the Massive Heavenly Cycle Stellar Array.


    The Lord of the Void could only activate this form by using his intrinsic Demon God quality to fill the gap left by Stellar Lords Killing Destruction Wolf and controlling the other Stellar Gods at the expense of their own vitality.


    After all, he was a Demon God and cared little for Stellar Lords.


    After sacrificing so much, the heavens shook and a giant scar appeared.


    One star after another came crashing down, turning into balls of fire midair. The potential for annihilation was incredible.


    "Myriad Meteor Destruction Divine Art?"


    In the blink of an eye, Fang Yuan figured out the details of this move. It used Stellar Gods as sacrifices to activate. Each meteor was a Stellar God of at least Marquis-level. They were sacrificing themselves to destroy the enemy!


    If it had been anyone else, including the Celestial Thearch, they would have never asked them to throw away their lives so brazenly.


    However, the Lord of the Void was different!


    These Stellar Lords and Stellar Gods were nothing but puppets after he possessed them. He naturally no sense of pity.


    "Myriad Meteor, converge to me!"


    At this time, the Heavenly Cycle Stellar Thearch extended its right palm and guided the meteors to converge onto one of its fingers.


    "Dream Demon, what are you waiting for? Help me!


    "Finger of Heaven''s Element!"


    The Lord of the Void roared. A huge finger tore through the sky and landed on one of the balls of chains.


    "Earth, Fire, Wind, Water, Creation Divine Fist!"


    Fang Yuan''s eyes flickered and unleashed a blow, sandwiching the ball of chains between his fist and the finger.


    Crack!


    Crack!


    Under an attack of this degree, the black chains finally cracked.


    Fang Yuan''s eyes flashed at this sight.


    So I was right¡­ If it really had been Dao Marks of the dark side of Heavenly Dao, then even our combined might would have done nothing to the chains. The Dark Thearch still isn''t at that level¡­ If he truly hasn''t refined those Demon Gods, then there''s still something we can do!


    Bang!


    A chain reaction seemed to happen. After the first black chain cracked, the rest of the chains cracked as well and revealed a ball of light.


    There were countless phantasmal faces in the ball of light. They assembled into a slightly transparent silhouette of a man.


    "Haha!"


    Immediately after the silhouette appeared, it flew into the air as though pulled by a great force.


    From the inside of the Heavenly Cycle Stellar Thearch, another illusion flew toward the silhouette in the same fashion. The two combined and turned into nothingness.


    "The Lord of the Void has finally recovered the majority of his strength!"


    Seeing this, Fang Yuan felt a burden off his chest. He knew that he had fulfilled the contract. Even if he were to retreat now, he would no longer be restrained by the Lord of the Void.


    "Void, save me!"


    Intense psychic vibrations transmitted from the other two balls of chains.


    "I can only try my best!"


    The Lord of the Void sighed. The Heavenly Cycle Stellar Thearch, which was already starting to turn phantasmal, crashed its body into the two chains, trying to break them.


    Bang!


    At this moment, a great explosion resounded from within the Nine Palace Sword Array.


    Fang Yuan''s face turned pale and took a step back.


    Expressionless, the Dark Thearch stepped out from the void. "Since you released a Demon God, then you two shall fill its place!"


    Then he spread his hand.


    It was as though a black hole had appeared in the void, devouring the Heavenly Cycle Stellar Thearch illusion instantly.


    "Hurry up and leave. It''s been ten breath!"


    The Lord of the Void had already escaped. But before he left, he transmitted his voice to Fang Yuan in a hurry.


    "I know!"


    Fang Yuan stole a glance at the Celestial Thearch and then turned into a blood-colored rainbow that dashed toward the sky.


    The Massive Heavenly Cycle Stellar Array was the key to sealing the Mental Demon Battlefield.


    However, many Stellar Gods of the Heavenly Cycle had died, so it was natural that the seal began breaking apart.


    He was now a Demon God. It would be foolish of him to go to the entrance and wait to be caught, so of course he would find another path to escape.


    "Summon Mountains!"


    However, Fang Yuan had still underestimated the Demon God level existences of the Spiritual Realm.


    Although they were few in numbers, they had a wealth of battle experience. They had comprehended a Great Dao and were leagues above the Evil Gods of the Great Voyage World.


    Outside the purple star, Excellency Mount Mang''s figure suddenly appeared and waved his hands.


    A myriad of mountain illusions emerged, forming a barrier surrounding the Mental Demon Battlefield.


    "To think that the Demon God who escaped before dares to come back!"


    Accompanied by music, petals fell from the sky, and a golden lotus sprouted on the ground. Three majestic figured appeared. Although their appearances were vastly different, all three had a celestial look and a carefree aura.


    The Immortal Dao''s Three Supremecies, Zenith Heavens!


    "Why has the Celestial Thearch turned into this?"


    These Demon God level existences concentrated their spiritual will. An impressive battlefield came into view.


    "He must have refined the Demon Gods and obtained blessings from the Mental Demon Realm!"


    "This is a betrayal of the Spiritual Realm¡­ Even if he doesn''t lose his position, he will lose heaven''s blessing!"


    "But another uncontrollable Emperor has been released. What should we do?"


    The three Zenith Heavens exchanged glances and saw their shock and determination reflected in each others'' faces. They shouted in unison, "How dare you, demon? To dare to break into the Mental Demon Battlefield, do you take the members of the Spiritual Realm as nothing?"


    Amid a grand celestial sound, a hossu, a ruyi, and a seal landed at the same time. Each emitted a radiance that seemed to encompass all the truths in heaven and earth.

 901 Dramatic Change

    Auspicious auras and Dao Marks filled the area.


    The combined power of three Zenith Heavens was no small matter.


    From the Dao Marks of the three magical weapons, Fang Yuan instantly knew who he was up against.


    "Supremacy Carefree!"


    "Supremacy Numinous Treasure!"


    "Supremacy Wish Fulfillment!"


    These three Zenith Heavens were the leaders of the Immortal Dao, the source of Immortal Dao in this realm, and the founders of the immortal sects.


    Any one of them could accomplish a great deal in the Great Voyage World.


    The three magical weapons landed with power similar to three Great Daos combined. On top of that, there was the mountain barricade and the pursuit of the Dark Thearch.


    In an instant, Fang Yuan felt absolutely helpless!


    His eyes flashed brilliantly and shouted, "Lord of the Void!"


    Their contract was not only limited to just restraining him, but they also had to help each other in times of need!


    Bang! Bang!


    The Lord of the Void emerged from the void. With a single point of his finger, the mountains exploded one after another.


    "What audacity!"


    Excellency Mount Mang was furious, and his robes flapped.


    The royal robes he wore suddenly opened and blanketed an area of the sky.


    The Lord of the Void, who was still trying to hide, gasped lightly. He was squeezed out of the void back into reality.


    "Creation Great Dao! Omnidirectional Divine Demonic Armament Dao!"


    On another side, colorful clouds appeared above Fang Yuan''s head. Like two great rivers, two Great Daos appeared.


    His Creation Great Dao was incredibly strong from the start. If he were to cultivate the Immortal Dao, he would surely receive the title of the Immortal King of Creation.


    The Creation Great Dao sucked in the ruyi and the seal. Intense clashing sounds resounded from within.


    As for the Omnidirectional Divine Demonic Armament Dao, it condensed into a blade and started fighting with the hossu.


    Behind him, the Dark Thearch looked on quietly. For some unknown reason, he did not leave the Mental Demon Battlefield.


    Furthermore, the black chains on his body were still connected to the two balls of chains that sealed the Demon Gods.


    Wait a minute¡­ Fang Yuan suddenly realized something. The Dark Thearch¡­ he could have been just putting on an act earlier¡­ In fact, he has exhausted all his strength. Since he hasn''t refined a Demon God, and he''s still in the process of breaking away from the Spiritual Realm''s control, trying to refine the extracted intrinsic Demon God quality should have made his body wildly unstable!


    Of course, realizing this fact did not help him now.


    After all, Excellency Mount Mang and the Immortal Dao''s Three Supremacies had already arrived. There was nothing much Fang Yuan and the Lord of the Void could do.


    "Hurry! Run!"


    Ding ding!


    The weapon that the Omnidirectional Divine Demonic Armament Dao had transformed into was still locked in combat with Supremacy Carefree''s hossu. Powerful energies spilled out when they clashed.


    Fang Yuan hid in the Creation Great Dao. Suddenly, he jumped out. The Pangu Chaos Giant roared and punched Supremacy Numinous Treasure''s seal.


    Clang!


    The giant seal produced a loud clank and flew away after being stuck.


    At the same time, the Creation Great Dao rumbled. The Nine Palace Sword Array appeared inside and whirled toward Supremacy Wish Fulfillment''s ruyi!


    Buzz buzz!


    The jade ruyi vibrated before exploding into light fragments.


    "Something''s wrong!"


    Fang Yuan withdrew his two Great Daos. Taking advantage of the opportunity, he charged outside the Mental Demon Battlefield. However, a curious sensation gripped him. "That was too easy! Could the Lord of the Void have asked other helpers?"


    At the same time, the situation of the battlefield changed!


    Supremacy Wish Fulfillment smiled grimly. The auspicious aura around him suddenly turned into a ferocious black aura that extended toward the other two Zenith Heavens like chains.


    "Supremacy Wish Fulfillment, what are you doing?"


    "No¡­ He isn''t Supremacy Wish Fulfillment!"


    Supremacy Carefree and Supremacy Numinous Treasure roared angrily and escaped in the blink of an eye. They also took back their weapons to protect themselves.


    "Keke!"


    Supremacy Wish Fulfillment laughed strangely. His aura instantly changed, and it contained a hint of the Mental Demon Realm. It turned out that he was a Demon God as well!


    "It''s you!"


    Lord of the Void could not help but exclaim in surprise.


    "A Zenith Heaven, truly tasty¡­" Wish Fulfillment Supremacy was acting extremely weird. He licked his lips. "I wonder how the Celestial Thearch tastes?"


    "You are the last Demon God that escaped on that day? No!"


    The Dark Thearch looked at Supremacy Wish Fulfillment with a strange expression. "You''re not that Demon God, nor are you a Zenith Heaven!"


    "Haha¡­ That''s right!" Supremacy Wish Fulfillment laughed. "That Demon God tried to devour Wish Fulfillment Supremacy, but they were evenly matched. In the end, the two Great Daos merged, and I was born¡ªDemon Supremacy Wish Fulfillment!"


    In fact, this was a very rare situation.


    After all, the conception of that Demon God had been very strange. It was born out of the condensed grievances of other Demon Gods, and it was adept at devouring other things.


    As for Supremacy Wish Fulfillment, he was a Zenith Heaven who had powers rivaling Demon Gods.


    For some unknown reason, the two Dao paths could complement each other.


    As a result, when that Demon God ambushed Supremacy Wish Fulfillment, something irreversible happened.


    Supremacy Wish Fulfillment of the Spiritual Realm had fused with a Mental Demon Demon God to produce a new existence¡ªDemon Supremacy Wish Fulfillment!


    "I am the fusion of righteousness and demonism, and I am well aware of your pain¡­ Allow me to give you relief¡­"


    Demon Supremacy Wish Fulfillment laughed. A seven-jeweled jade ruyi appeared above the Celestial Thearch''s head.


    Bang! Bang!


    The jewels embedded on the ruyi began exploding one after another. Rich origin power radiated from each explosion and flowed downward.


    "Trifling matter¡­"


    The Dark Thearch raised his right palm. But for some unknown reason, he seemed to be struggling. Without doing a thing, he let the origin power flow all over his body.


    Bloop! Bloop!


    In a split second, the Dark Thearch absorbed the river. It was almost like the Dark Thearch did it out of instinct.


    "Ahh!!!"


    After he finished absorbing it, the Dark Thearch covered his head with his hands and roared toward the sky.


    A layer of blood emerged in his eyes.


    "I understand now¡­ The Dark Thearch was at the end of his rope. This Supremacy Wish Fulfillment then tricked him¡­ If it were destructive energy, the Dark Thearch would have blocked it. Therefore, he sent out his own intrinsic quality!"


    The Dark Thearch had been trying to refine the natural source of Demon Gods. This influx of intrinsic Demon God quality should have only helped him.


    However, the internal balance of the Dark Thearch had already reached a critical point. When such a huge amount gushed in, it broke the balance.


    It was no easy task to digest the intrinsic quality of a Demon God.


    One could get an idea of how difficult the process was by simply taking a look at Demon Supremacy Wish Fulfillment.


    "The Celestial Thearch has been turned to the dark side¡­ No, he chose the dark side from the start. Now, he''s descended into madness¡­ If he''s unable to quell the conflict between his intrinsic quality and his Dao path, the best would be becoming another Demon Supremacy Wish Fulfillment."


    On the other hand, Fang Yuan escaped without hesitation upon seeing what happened.


    It did not matter one bit to him what the Celestial Thearch turned into.


    If the Celestial Thearch was excluded at this moment, it would be three Demon Gods against two Zenith Heavens and an Emperor. However, he did not dare take the risk.


    After all, he found it very hard to trust this new Demon Supremacy Wish Fulfillment Demon.


    "Nine swords merge. Omnidirectional Demon God, Go!"


    He pointed, and the nine swords merged into one. The Omnidirectional Divine Demonic Armament Dao then covered it and unleashed an unparalleled brilliance, merging with the sword and disappearing into the void.


    "Tsk tsk! Demon Supremacy Wish Fulfillment, you really are something!"


    The Lord of the Void did not trust this new existence either. He attacked while grimacing.


    A light sword appeared and cut through the seal that Excellency Mount Mang had created with his robe. His phantasmal silhouette then exploded and vanished without a trace.


    Excellency Mount Mang''s eyes were filled with thought, so he did not give chase. Instead, he joined forces with the two Zenith Heavens and surrounded Demon Supremacy Wish Fulfillment.


    "Tsk tsk¡­ Those two Demon Gods are treacherous! To think I went through the trouble of showing my true form and saving them!" Demon Supremacy Wish Fulfillment said with a sigh. However, he did not seem panicked at all.


    "Demon God, you killed the Spiritual Supremacy and attacked the Celestial Thearch. We will not tolerate this!" Excellency Mang Mountain said righteously.


    He was the only Emperor who was still clear-headed. It was the only option left for the Spiritual Realm.


    A grand but mysterious energy was surrounding him. However, there seemed to be some resistance as well.


    After all, every Divine Dao Emperor wanted true freedom and did not wish to be controlled like puppets.


    As such, Excellency Mount Mang had yet to completely accept the blessing of the Heavenly Dao.


    Otherwise, the Lord of the Void would not have been able to escape.


    "You think¡­ your opponent is me?" Demon Supremacy Wish Fulfillment smiled mockingly. "Do you really think that I''m kind enough to give my natural source to the Celestial Thearch for nothing?"


    Swoosh!


    The Mental Demon Battlefield suddenly changed.


    One black chain after another sealed the space and pulled the four beings inside.


    Excellency Mount Mang found himself looking at the blood-red eyes of the Dark Thearch.


    "Not good!"


    Supremacy Carefree and Supremacy Numinous Treasure were extremely shocked as well. "The Celestial Thearch has gone mad! Not only has he gone mad, but part of his intrinsic quality has been tainted by the Mental Demon as well. It will be hard to control¡­"


    "Most importantly, he has Demon Supremacy Wish Fulfillment''s intrinsic quality planted inside him, drawing them closer. Even if he isn''t able to control him, he''s the least likely to be treated as an enemy among all of us!"


    "As expected, you Zenith Heavens aren''t too stupid, are you?"


    Demon Supremacy Wish Fulfillment laughed and pounced toward the location sealing the two Demon Gods.


    He was once the sum of many Demon God''s grievances after their deaths. When it came to dealing with Demon Gods, he enjoyed some conveniences that were hard to describe.


    His true intention was revealed at that moment as well.


    By having the Celestial Thearch and Excellency Mount Mang fight, he would take the opportunity to absorb the intrinsic quality to ascend to the next level.


    "Haha¡­ There''s nothing more to this world other than the law of the jungle! Once the Mental Demon Battlefield opens again, who knows what kinds of existences will be born? It sure makes me excited!"


    He laughed maniacally. The other two Zenith Heavens'' faces turned pale. "Lunatic!"


    Undoubtedly, there was little difference between Demon Supremacy Wish Fulfillment and the crazed Celestial Ruler.


    "There''s no choice!" Excellency Mount Mang gritted his teeth and bowed toward the heavens and the earth. "The Celestial Thearch is no longer qualified, and the demons are flaunting their power. May the heavens and the earth help me!"


    Compared to dying, being temporarily controlled and losing part of his freedom no longer seemed too much to accept!

 902 Immortal Sects

    A certain peak in the mortal world.


    Under the sword''s radiance, Fang Yuan transformed into his true body. He used the Heavenly Eye Seer Spell to observe the Heavenly Court.


    Rumble!


    His seer spell was a fusion of various fields he was adept at as his stats window upgraded, and his magical powers were shockingly strong. In an instant, he saw through the horizon.


    However, dark energy surrounded the Heavenly Court. It looked as if it was the end of the world.


    The blazing sun hung high in the sky. However, ominous energy circled it, as if it was slowly swallowing the sun.


    "That is¡­ the Mental Demon Battlefield is changing!"


    Seeing this, Fang Yuan''s eyes quivered.


    Even though he already knew that Demon Supremacy Wish Fulfillment was strange and horrifying by nature, he did not expect him to have planned this far!


    The current situation was terrifying.


    On the Mental Demon Battlement, a startling change was taking place.


    "The Celestial Thearch has lost his position¡­ The realm has no master now, but unfortunately, there''s still the Lord of the Void and his numerous evil children. The entire realm is going to face true trouble now¡­"


    Fang Yuan could not help sighing heavily.


    The Sons of Heaven were the sons of the Celestial Thearch. If it were in the past, without the Celestial Thearch''s approval, they would not have been able to ascend their thrones.


    Even if they did it by force, a horrible disaster would follow. This was the power of the chosen one.


    However, this was truly the opportune moment.


    Even the most devilish of demons had a chance to achieve their goals!


    "If we use this as a striking point, the Spiritual Realm will probably suffer¡­ But with such a good opportunity, the Lord of the Void is unlikely to open a Mental Demon channel and will prepare to do it alone¡­"


    Fang Yuan was in deep thought.


    The current situation was straightforward. That was, Demon Supremacy Wish Fulfillment had done something inside the Mental Demon Battlefield to hold back Excellency Mount Mang and the two Zenith Heavens.


    Together with the Celestial Thearch and the two sealed Demon Gods, they were a total of seven Demon Gods! They were all trapped tightly.


    Even though he did not know what would happen to Demon Supremacy Wish Fulfillment, he knew that it would not be good.


    Perhaps, the entire Spiritual Realm would fall into shambles because of this.


    Unfortunately, the two Demon Gods who had escaped were not from the Spiritual Realm, and meeting a situation like this only left them even more excited. They definitely did not care about resolving any problems.


    "The Lord of the Void''s arrangements are mostly set up in the mortal world. I''d better take a different approach¡­"


    Fang Yuan had several ideas in mind. With a relaxed smile, he transformed into a streak of red light and disappeared.


    ¡­


    The country of Ye, capital of Iron State.


    The country of Ye was still small. It had only three states, and Iron State was one of them.


    Currently, Lin Shoucheng and Jiang Wang were standing side-by-side outside the capital, watching a desperate siege for the capital from afar.


    "General, please rest assured. This time, we''ve stopped their reinforcements with our strategy. Furthermore, we''ve deployed spies into their camps. The capture of the city is secured!"


    Jiang Wang was in a blue robe, holding a feather fan and wearing a headdress. He looked like a scholar unfettered by the world.


    Lin Shoucheng was wearing body armor. His mustache curled to two sides, emphasizing his mature and charismatic looks. He replied somewhat worriedly, "I know, but we''re putting our lives on the line here. We''ve always been abandoned by fate. No matter what we do, fate has always played with us. I can''t help being cautious¡­"


    "I will never cower before fate!"


    Jiang Wang''s knuckles turned white as he gripped his feather fan tightly.


    Although he said that, he had been deepening his knowledge. With what he had absorbed, he felt even more awe for the vast heaven and earth.


    Rumble!


    Suddenly, a loud rumbling noise traveled from the city gates.


    "The city walls are broken!"


    "The city walls are broken!"


    A series of cheers ensued as soldiers swarmed into the city like a flood.


    "Ahh!"


    Lin Shoucheng watched this scene unfold before him. However, his expression remained stoic and unchanging for a long time.


    Jiang Wang said excitedly, "General, our great undertaking is ready! The country of Ye only has three states. Now that General has secured one, you can attempt to aspire for the throne!"


    He paused for a moment, and his gaze remained steady as he quietly operated the technique to observe Qi.


    This magical technique for observing Qi naturally did not originate from Daoists. He had cultivated Confucian techniques for a long time. In order to achieve this level, it had not been easy and required a considerable amount of effort.


    As he was watching Lin Shoucheng, he saw a black dragon on the verge of appearing. His spirit roused. "Congratulations, General. Being able to raise a black dragon like yours is definitely a blessing!"


    However, he was thoroughly puzzled.


    People like them who were suppressed by fate and went against heaven''s will suffered ten times more than any other person.


    Even Lin Shoucheng had crossed paths with death''s gate several times. Even if he was blessed by dragons, he had not been able to complete the transformation before.


    How did the black python grow its horns and claws so effortlessly now?


    Thinking up until this point, he had a sudden realization.


    Jiang Wang looked up at the sky. Along the edges of the blazing sun, it seemed as though there were several more dark outlines. A strong chill attacked his heart.


    Lin Shoucheng was holding his breath as well. At this moment, he finally let out a deep sigh. "Yes, in order to become king, you have to worship the heavens. When I fully transform into a dragon, I will have to ask why we were treated like this¡­"


    After hearing this, Jiang Wang''s expression changed. "The fact that General might turn into a dragon means that heaven''s will is already ignoring us, leaving us with a trace of hope. Why bother thinking about all of this?"


    "Hehe¡­ I don''t believe that the wicked heavens would have a change of heart like this!" Lin Shoucheng laughed coldly. "Unless the Celestial Thearch has changed!"


    Bang!


    For some reason, once he said this, a loud rumble exploded between the heavens and the earth.


    Jiang Wang trembled. Without saying anything further, he left immediately.


    ¡­


    A certain island that was full of Immortal Qi.


    All kinds of flowers were in bloom, and it was as warm as spring.


    At a pavilion, the sound of water and nature merged harmoniously. Everything bloomed abundantly. It was truly a place one would call a wonderland in the mortal world.


    This was the location of an acknowledged leader among the immortal sects, the Penglai Palace.


    Suddenly, two streaks of bright light pierced downward from the sky. A voice resounded throughout the island. "Is Fellow Daoist Zhang of the Penglai Palace here? Infinity Mystic Sect Master and Luoshen Palace Master have paid a visit!"


    The island was dead silent. After a moment, a voice emerged. "Welcome!"


    The restrictions covering the entire sky fell away, and a straight path appeared.


    The Infinity Mystic Sect Master and the Luoshen Palace Master walked on it without hesitation.


    There was a small pavilion at the heart of the island. Next to it, there was a clear pond with numerous red koi swimming about happily.


    "Welcome guests from afar. Excuse me for not going out to meet you. Please come in!"


    Inside the pavilion, an old man with strong Immortal Qi was sitting there. He stood up and greeted them politely.


    "Damn old man! You can stay sitting!"


    A beautiful woman who was slightly over thirty walked into the pavilion. With some resentment, she rolled her eyes at this person surnamed Zhang.


    "We''ve lost contact with the three venerable founders. This isn''t something we can hide for long. What should we do?" the Infinity Mystic Sect Master said with the same level of resentment.


    "Just because we''ve lost contact with them, it doesn''t mean that they''re in trouble¡­ Anyway, haven''t the three venerable founders informed us about their whereabouts?" Zhang Island Master smiled warmly.


    The three of them were Golden Immortals, and each led a large sect. They were the ones holding down the fort, the rulers and hegemons of the Immortal Dao!


    But currently, two of them were no different from scrambling ants on a hot pan.


    This was because the three Zenith Heavens had important roles to fulfill.


    If any of the Zenith Heavens went missing, there was no way they could deal with such a situation relying on only themselves.


    "I know that you''re the most sly, Island Master. If you have any news, hurry up and spit it out."


    The Infinity Mystic Sect Master and Luoshen Palace Master were stimulated, and they nearly grabbed Island Master Zhang''s collar.


    Island Master Zhang''s expression turned solemn. He coughed once loudly and then told them the truth, "Earlier, Founder Supremacy Carefree used our unique ''portable communication talisman'' to exchange a few words¡­ According to him, the Celestial Thearch has betrayed the Spiritual Realm. Even they are in a dangerous situation, and they''re trapped in Mental Demon Battlefield. I didn''t believe it either, but I''ve ascertained that this is the truth."


    "As expected!" The Infinity Mystic Sect''s Master added, "If that''s the case, what are we waiting for? Let''s assemble all the Heaven Immortals, Golden Immortals, and the treasures in the sects to break into the Mental Demon Battlefield. We''ll rescue the old patriarchs!"


    "Absolutely not!" The Penglai Island Master shook his head worriedly. "First, the seal on the Mental Demon Battlefield has changed. It was a ploy by the Demon Gods. Furthermore, the Celestial Thearch''s magic is embedded within. Unless you are at Zenith Heaven, there''s no way you can defeat it. And even if we manage to undo the seal, are we really going to join a battle with Zenith Heavens and Emperors? And there are still two Demon Gods running loose. This situation is a complete disaster!"


    "I''ve heard that Island Master is wise and all-knowing. I believe you''ve already come up with a strategy, haven''t you?" the Luoshen Palace Master suddenly said this in a sweet, sparrow-like voice.


    "Hmm¡­ for a problem of this level, our priority is to protect our sects. For the two of you to come to me like this, it is truly a shame. However, now that you''ve come, this old man does have something to share¡­" The Penglai Island Master stroked his beard. "The Zenith Heaven old patriarchs are currently engaged in a grand battle. In terms of power, we''re talking about levels affecting Heaven, Earth, and Man!


    "The Celestial Thearch is mad and even sealed the Zenith Heaven old patriarchs. He has betrayed the Spiritual Realm and lost his position¡­ However, the beliefs in the mortal world are still strong. Even if he has strayed from the heavens, he can still rely on that. The most we can do is to send out our disciples to various parts of the mortal world to destroy the Celestial Thearch''s foundations¡­"


    "This¡­"


    The two Golden Immortals exchanged glances.


    In reality, the Celestial Thearch''s power originated from heaven''s will. Regarding the worshippers in the mortal world, it was nothing more than a small portion of his power.


    Furthermore, the Penglai Island Master''s words did not seem like it only targeted the Celestial Thearch. Instead, it seemed to be directed at the Heavenly Court!


    He should not have revealed his intention to reap benefits while the realm fell into chaos so blatantly.


    However, they were from the Immortal Dao, so naturally they would not worry about the Divine Dao. But their instincts called out to them to dig up the Divine Dao''s foundations.


    "We will maintain our positions and send our disciples out. After the entire realm changes, we will make our move and attack the Heavenly Court. We will clear their roots out and then rescue the old patriarchs!"


    The Penglai Island Master''s voice carried a hint of coldness.


    This person¡­ seems like he''s up to something and wants to take this opportunity to reach Zenith Heaven!


    The Infinity Mystic Sect Master and the Luoshen Palace Master exchanged looks, thinking the same thing.In Daoism, Penglai Mountain is one of the four islands of the immortals.

 903 Immortal Supremacy

    Zenith Heaven!


    This was above Golden Immortal, the cultivation level of the Immortal Dao''s founders!


    Currently, without the Immortal Dao''s Three Supremacies, they could be considered the overlords of the Spiritual Realm.


    If it was said that these Golden Immortals did not have an ounce of greed, that would be a complete joke.


    "Cough cough!" The Infinity Mystic Sect Master suddenly said, "Furthermore¡­ should we form an alliance to help each other out?"


    "Right. There are still Demon Gods from the Mental Demon Realm running loose. We have to do this!" The Luoshen Palace Master patted her chest, seeming anxious.


    The might of a Mental Demon Demon God was not something they were familiar with, but a Zenith Heaven''s might was something they would never forget.


    If a Demon God decided to attack their sects, there was not a single person who would be able to escape from their wrath.


    Even for them, they could only rely on the sect defenses to hold out for a moment, and only a few would be able to escape even after they removed the restrictions.


    "That''s obvious¡­ But we have to think of a way to save our founders¡­ or maybe¡­" Island Master Zhang said hesitantly.


    "¡­ The three of us are already at the pinnacle of Golden Immortal. How about¡­ we discuss cultivation?" Luoshen Palace Master smiled as she proposed this.


    "Heavens! Our sect''s techniques can''t be revealed to outsiders!"


    The Infinity Mystic Sect Master and Island Master Zhang laughed aloud.


    ¡­


    "I am Supremacy Creation. Today, I will speak about cultivation at Sky Horizon Sea in the Spiritual Realm. I invite all Immortals in the Spiritual Realm to attend my lecture!"


    ¡­


    Suddenly, a voice traveled through the sky, resounding loudly in the three Golden Immortal''s ears.


    The three Golden Immortals, who were still in the heat of their discussion, were stunned. The pavilion turned dead silent.


    Boom!


    After a while, the Infinity Mystic Sect Master''s and the Luoshen Palace Master''s communication talismans and treasures began rumbling loudly.


    "Ah¡­" Island Master Zhang let out a long sigh. "It looks like¡­ that wasn''t an illusion! Supremacy Creation? Other than the Three Supremacies, there''s another Zenith Heaven?"


    "The fact that his voice was able to permeate throughout the Spiritual Realm means that he''s definitely at Zenith Heaven!" The Infinity Mystic Sect Master laughed bitterly. "My sect is a complete mess now too."


    "What do you think?" The Luoshen Palace Master fell silent for a moment before suddenly saying, "After the three founders disappeared, this Zenith Heaven appears. Is it a senior in the Spiritual Realm who has been in secluded cultivation? Or¡­ a Mental Demon Demon God?"


    The other two Golden Immortals were dumbfounded.


    Indeed, if this was a trap to attract enemies, then countless Immortals and Gods would be caught.


    After a long time, Island Master Zhang spoke first. "If our conjecture is right, then there''s nothing we can do¡­ The fact that he dares to do something like this means that he''s utterly fearless. How can we make a decision knowing this?"


    "However, if it really is a senior, then this might be our only hope to save our lives from the Demon Gods!"


    These Golden Immortals were stuck in a conundrum.


    As for methods like divinations, that was not something they considered.


    With a Golden Immortal''s abilities, attempting to divine a Zenith Heaven was akin to seeking death.


    "That''s true. If we join hands and head to Sky Horizon Sea, wouldn''t we find out immediately?"


    Finally, the three Golden Immortals came to a consensus.


    After a while, all the restrictions on Penglai Island were released, and three streaks of golden light shot through the sky.


    "Sky Horizon Sea is near East Dragon Country. It''s not far!"


    Golden Immortals were very fast. Soon, they arrived at a seaside district.


    Furthermore, they spotted numerous other streaks of light, which was within their expectations.


    Evidently, these lights appeared because of that voice from earlier.


    "The top 33 sects, the 72 immortal sects, and 1000 Golden Immortal and Heaven Immortals¡­ I can''t believe that most of them are here!"


    Using his spiritual will, the Penglai Island Master conversed with other streaks of light. He could not hide the change in his expression. "We can''t take a Zenith Heaven''s prestige lightly!"


    Of course, if he was honest with himself, after his sect''s old patriarch was trapped, he did not have the courage to face another Zenith Heaven senior.


    Island Master Zhang released his spiritual will and greeted several sect masters he was familiar with. After a few exchanges, all of them were curious about one thing: "Who is Supremacy Creation?"


    Unfortunately, before watching the moment unfold, no one would be able to answer.


    Chichi!


    Streaks of light gathered.


    Numerous Golden Immortals appeared, leaving a second-tier group with Heaven Immortals far behind.


    "That voice ordered us to come to Sky Horizon Sea. Now that we''re all hovering above the sea like this, there''s a strange energy here!"


    In the Golden Immortal''s eyes, above the seemingly unremarkable sea, it seemed as though there were streaks of gold that formed the marks of a certain Dao path.


    Only existences at the Zenith Heaven level would be able to leave behind imprints in the void. It looked like a guiding path.


    "There''s a patch of sea fog in front of us. That''s the heart of Sky Horizon Sea!"


    The Infinity Mystic Sect Master shot a look at his two companions. His streak of light rushed headfirst into the sea fog.


    The Golden Immortals who had come were all intimidated by the Zenith Heaven. They knew that even if they hid within their sects, there was no way they could hide from a Zenith Heaven''s rage. Some even carried hopes and delusions, not as conflicted as the three great Golden Immortals. Instead, they were somewhat eager.


    After he got through the sea fog, it was as if he had traveled through a different dimension.


    The Infinity Mystic Sect Master touched his forehead before looking up into the sky.


    In the middle of the sky, a modest palace floated peacefully. It shot out nine different colors of light while emanating grandiose energy.


    "That''s definitely where the Zenith Heaven lives. It''s the place for the lecture!"


    This was not the only person who thought this.


    All of a sudden, several streaks of light surged forward. However, the harder they tried, the further they got from the palace. Even though they could see it, they were never able to reach it.


    "This is¡­ a space-shifting technique. The entire palace is an array!"


    After the Infinity Mystic Sect Master understood this, he slowed down the intensity of his movement technique. It was neither too fast nor too slow and contained a profundity.


    Smack!


    The palace was getting closer. Releasing his light form, he stepped onto the solid stone ground.


    "Heaven Beyond Heaven?"


    The Infinity Mystic Sect Master looked up and saw these three large characters engraved on the palace, excluding a strange atmosphere. He could not help feeling stunned.


    "Haha¡­ as expected. Your sect''s movement techniques are better than ours! We can only concede defeat!"


    After a while, the Luoshen Palace Master and the Penglai Island Master rushed over to this place. While observing the palace, all of them sighed in astonishment.


    "This palace is designed simply, and its restrictions are strange. It doesn''t look like it''s from our realm!" the Penglai Island Master said, and the two Golden Immortals'' expressions turned grave.


    The name ''Heaven Beyond Heaven'', as well as the unfamiliar materials and construction, seemed foreboding.


    "Haha¡­ the three of you arrived quickly!"


    A faintly discernible voice trailed as a golden light landed and transformed into a Golden Immortal who was dressed luxuriously.


    "Brother Jin, it''s been a long time!"


    The Luoshen Palace Master forced a smile and greeted him.


    "The dark clouds have blotted out the sun, and the world is in chaos¡­ Even someone as useless as me has been forced out. May I know if the three Zenith Heaven old patriarchs have any instructions for the lowly me? Also¡­ what kind of sage is this Supremacy Creation?" Golden Immortal Jin asked curiously.


    For such a huge event to have happened and for the three Zenith Heaven old patriarchs not to have said anything, it truly left the other sects puzzled.


    Island Master Penglai''s group of three Golden Immortals exchanged looks with each other. However, they did not want to reveal that the three old patriarchs who were the cornerstones for their sects were trapped, finding it embarrassing to mention.


    "Eh?" Suddenly, the number of Golden Immortals arriving increased. There were quite a number of Heaven Immortals as well.


    The Luoshen Palace Master stared at the various Fey that had also shown up. She exclaimed, "Can these beasts enter this place too?"


    "Hehe¡­ This immortal doesn''t know. According to my observations, this Sky Horizon Sea fog array tests only one criterion¡ªone''s nature. Golden Immortals and Heaven Immortals can all pass. For the others, if they''re lucky, they can arrive here too!" The Golden Immortal surnamed Jin explained cheerfully.


    Unfortunately, these pitiful Fey were surrounded by a thousand Golden Immortals and Heaven Immortals, obviously scared out of their wits.


    In fact, if the Golden Immortals and Heaven Immortals were not afraid of offending this Supremacy Creation, they would have already eliminated these Fey.


    Rumble!


    Suddenly, three chirping noises traveled from the Heaven Beyond Heaven Palace.


    With a bright flash, the doors opened wide.


    The Infinity Mystic Sect Master''s group of three Golden Immortals exchanged glances before leading the way to enter first. The other Heaven Immortals and Golden Immortals trailed behind, their expressions revealing various forms of confusion.


    All of them were intelligent. After observing for a while, they could make educated guesses.


    The Immortal Dao''s Three Supremancies must have had a change of heart. Otherwise, there was no way they would have allowed Supremacy Creation to act this way.


    No matter what, a new Zenith Heaven was not someone they could afford to offend.


    Thus, every Golden Immortal and Heaven Immortal that could come had come. It could be called an Immortal Dao grand assembly.


    Behind the Immortals, there were several Gods. Their expressions did not change, and the strongest was nothing more than a Marquis.


    In the Divine Dao, they naturally did not stand out. Most of them were merely small characters.


    Now that they heard that the master of Heaven Beyond Heaven was going to teach everyone, they would go to see what they could get.


    The Fey next to the Gods thought the same.


    Various Immortals, Gods, and Fey walked into Heaven Beyond Heaven and arrived at the main hall.


    This was a strange space. All around, Earth, Fire, Wind, and Water wafted about, forming a stream that evolved into chaos.


    In the center, a twelve-petaled platform rose slowly, and a young man was sitting on it. His immortal energy permeated his bones. Seeing all the Immortals before him, he smiled gently and rubbed his temple.


    Rumble!


    A Grand Dao opened, stopping Earth, Fire, Wind, and Water and began arranging chaos.


    "I am Supremacy Creation. Since all of you have come before me, we must be fated. Allow me to explain the Creation Great Dao!"


    Supremacy Creation was none other than Fang Yuan.


    Since the Lord of the Void had directed his attention to the battles in the mortal world, he was going to collect all the Immortal Dao''s resources and land!

 904 Expounding the Dao

    The Mental Demon Realm was known for being a vicious, free-for-all place.


    It had even invaded the Spiritual Realm once in the past. The Demon Gods that had appeared naturally all had tempers.


    Demon Supremacy Wish Fulfillment had huge plans. He wanted to capture the Celestial Thearch and the other Immortals and Gods in one fell swoop. He might even have plans to break through the Netherheaven realm!


    And after the Lord of the Void and Fang Yuan learned about the new changes, there was no way they would lay low.


    For them, the Mental Demon Battlefield was a death ground. If they were not at their wit''s end, they would not choose to confront Demon Supremacy Wish Fulfillment head-on.


    Even for the Lord of the Void, after he saved most of his true body, he did not bring up the matter of saving his old friends any longer.


    In contrast, he was very enthusiastic about undermining the Spiritual Realm now.


    With his support, the current mortal world was facing a huge tribulation. The demon children were probably also seizing the opportunity to mature quickly.


    Fang Yuan had no intention of fighting against the Lord of the Void, so he came to collect everything he could from the immortal world.


    "The Spiritual Realm is vast and boundless. The world is very powerful as well¡­ If I can use the Immortal Dao to pry into the rules and obtain origin power, it''ll be worth the effort!


    "If I fail, at worst, I''ll just leave the Spiritual Realm!


    "This time, even if Demon Supremacy Wish Fulfillment wins, it''s still worth a try."


    ¡­


    Since he had made up his mind, he looked rather confident now.


    Glancing at the Golden Immortals, Heaven Immortals, and the others, Fang Yuan continued, "Feel free to enter. You can call me Teacher!"


    Teacher was a lighter word than master.


    In the Spiritual Realm, there was this saying that once a person was your teacher, he would be your father for life. However, this only applied to people you were indebted to.


    Being called teacher was something that was borrowed from Western culture. Even though it was a term of respect, it did not carry the same weight.


    A person only had one real master in their life. On the other hand, they could have as many teachers as they liked.


    "Greetings, Teacher!"


    At this point, he could see the merits of the people who followed the Immortal Dao.


    Without question, the one thousand Heaven Immortals and Golden Immortals bowed to him and called him teacher.


    No matter what, having a relationship with a Zenith Heaven was beneficial to them.


    A Golden Immortal stepped forth and paid his respects.


    "Teacher! May I ask where your esteemed homeland is? Do you have a relationship with the Immortal Dao''s Three Supremacies? For Teacher to hold a lecture like this, the three founders should have come to greet you beforehand!"


    How shameless!


    The Infinity Mystic Sect Master''s group of three shot warning looks at this Golden Immortal. In their hearts, they were cursing at him.


    "I have been cultivating in the mountains. I am a person who enjoys freedom, but the heavens and the earth have been changing lately. The Zenith Heavens and Divine Dao Emperors are trapped in the Mental Demon Battlefield. Not only that, evildoers are growing rampant in the mortal world. This is clearly the beginning of a great tribulation. I had no choice but to come!"


    Under the desperate eyes of the three sect masters, Fang Yuan exposed their secret and immediately caused a great commotion.


    "What? Another tribulation?"


    "The three Dao patriarchs are trapped in the Mental Demon Battlefield?"


    "Infinity Mystic Sect Master, Penglai Island Master, and Luoshen Palace Master¡­ how do you explain this?"


    ¡­


    The Golden Immortals and Heaven Immortals broke out into discussion, and many gazes fell onto the three.


    "This was the old patriarch''s orders. I had no choice!"


    The Infinity Mystic Sect''s Master spread both hands, acting as if it was not his problem.


    Another Heaven Immortal stepped forward and kowtowed deeply.


    "I beg for Teacher''s kindness. Please save the three old patriarchs¡­ as well as the Heavenly Court''s Emperor. We will definitely acknowledge Teacher as our patriarch. In the future, you will be the Immortal Dao''s fourth patriarch!"


    "Difficult! Too difficult!!" Fang Yuan knit his brows. "The three fellow Daoists being trapped was caused by the great tribulation. We can''t change it either. Once changed, the energy will spread, and the poison will be endless.


    "Inside the Mental Demon Battlefield, there are Demon Gods that are as fierce as the heavens. With my skills, it would serve to be slightly troublesome to them¡­ This is why I have summoned all of you here to teach. As long as you can learn some of my abilities, you can be a helping hand for me as well."


    Why should we believe you!


    From the eyes of the three leading Golden Immortals, Fang Yuan sensed their distrust.


    Even so, they bowed down. "As you say, Teacher!"


    Currently, most of the Golden Immortals had guessed Fang Yuan''s origins. However, they continued to play along with his act.


    Otherwise, if he decided to show his true colors, who would be able to survive?


    Only some weak Heaven Immortals and those Fey nearby remained ignorant. They thought that they had really met their luck and found a way to learn some Dao patriarch techniques.


    "My Great Dao is called Creation!" Fang Yuan announced confidently and began his lecture.


    Buzz buzz!


    Once he said this, it was like a heavenly voice. It left behind Dao Marks, condensing heaven and earth into reason.


    "Th-this is a true Great Dao!"


    "Heavens¡­ I''ve only heard of it!"


    "Is a Great Dao something we can understand so easily? Teacher must be a great talent and even more so selfless to share his techniques with us!"


    Many Heaven Immortals and Fey listened blissfully, and they were so amazed that they all kowtowed.


    In fact, some Golden Immortals reacted the same way. However, their expressions revealed a hint of reluctance.


    "Nine swords, Creation condense!"


    Fang Yuan extended a finger. With the heavens and the earth''s power, the silhouettes of the nine swords emerged, and a Great Dao''s aura enveloped them.


    Under his teachings, a large portion of the Golden Immortals could not resist the temptation and fell prey to it. "¡­ the Creation Great Dao is the only true Great Dao of the heavens and the earth. It is first among the three thousand Dao paths¡­"


    Horrifying!


    Only the Infinity Mystic Sect Master''s group of three Golden Immortals, who were at peak Golden Immortal, resisted the temptation of the Creation Great Dao.


    Although a Demon God''s Great Dao is indeed a rule and is also a truth, their Great Dao is theirs alone. Once someone has been influenced by another''s Great Dao, there is no hope of promotion ever again!


    In the past, Fang Yuan had once met with such a temptation when he was a Demon Master.


    However, his beliefs were strong. The most important thing was that the Demon God was not personally reinforcing it, so he was able to maintain his beliefs and remove his Mental Demons.


    However, these Golden Immortals were not as lucky.


    After his Creation Great Dao influenced them, they probably still had some time to increase their levels. However, they would soon realize that no matter what they did, they would never be able to break through to Zenith Heaven.


    "With so many Golden Immortals and Heaven Immortals here, isn''t this a huge steal? Obviously, I have to take them in as my disciples!"


    Without holding back, Fang Yuan wanted to enslave them deeper.


    "Leave now!" the Penglai Island Master hollered as he suddenly turned into a ray of light and flew toward the palace doors.


    As soon as he left, the Infinity Mystic Sect Master similarly guided his Qi.


    Only the Luoshen Palace Master was a little slow. In that one in a million moment, she was stopped by Fang Yuan.


    "My female disciple, do you think there''s something wrong with your teacher''s words?" Fang Yuan asked gently while devouring the Luoshen Palace Master with his Creation Great Dao.


    "No, Teacher''s Great Dao is amazing. Being able to learn is my greatest blessing¡­"


    After a moment, the Great Dao faded away. The palace master knelt on the ground with tears streaming down her face.


    "You''re fated to learn my techniques. The two Golden Immortals over there, don''t make mistakes!"


    Fang Yuan flicked his sleeve.


    The Penglai Island Master and the Infinity Mystic Sect Master belatedly realized that the doors that were within reach had extended far beyond the horizon.


    Not only that, a gentle breeze passed by them. In an instant, the palace doors closed shut, resounding loudly.


    Seeing this, the two of them had no choice but to turn back. They knelt in despair. "Your disciples have done wrong. Teacher, please punish us!"


    "That was nothing more than a temporary misstep. How could I blame you for that? Come, how about you Golden Immortals and Heaven Immortals tell these two about the Creation Great Dao!"


    Fang Yuan smiled gently and supported the two Golden Immortals with hands.


    Under the strong force, they had no choice but to stand up. The teachings about the Creation Great Dao were drilled them. In an instant, they lost all their senses and began crying. "To think we were foolish enough to want to become Zenith Heavens. We didn''t know Teacher''s Creation Great Dao then¡ªit is above all Zenith Heavens. We have been far too greedy! We deserve death! Death!"


    "Forget it!"


    Fang Yuan waved his hand.


    For the current him, killing these Golden Immortals and Heaven Immortals would be effortless. However, convincing each and every one of them would be difficult.


    His strategy this time was to imprint the Creation Great Dao into their hearts. In the future, he would be able to control them freely.


    As for their personalities, they would not see too much of a change. At most, they would think of the Creation Great Dao as one of their goals in the future.


    Those that wanted to use their ploys would do so; others that wanted to form alliances would do so.


    However, their abilities would gradually be affected by the seeds that he had planted today, and they would lean toward the Mental Demon Realm.


    However, even if these Golden Immortals knew this, they would not dare to risk their lives against Fang Yuan.


    Some of them were probably even celebrating in their hearts.


    After all, if the Spiritual Realm was truly in trouble and became a part of the Mental Demon Realm, they would naturally have to convert to the Mental Demon cultivation techniques if they wanted to live.


    Seeing the situation unfold like this, their thoughts were still sharp, and they started considering changing sects.


    After lecturing for three days and nights and ensuring that these Immortals, Gods, and Fey had no way of turning back, Fang Yuan waved his hands. "My lecture has come to an end. You may leave now!"


    "Thank you, Teacher!"


    Many Immortals bowed him, and then they turned into rays of light and left.


    Seeing this scene, Fang Yuan fell into deep thought.


    Come to think of it, in my previous life''s legends, didn''t someone also do something like this? However, history has always been written by the winners, so it was beautified, wasn''t it? If that''s truly the case, his plan sounds similar to mine!


    Fang Yuan stood up slowly and looked at the sky.


    Under the hot sun, dark energy permeated to the extent that ordinary mortals could see it with their naked eyes.


    At the side, the green star dimmed. It was nearly annihilated. Meanwhile, the purple star sparkled brightly, giving off an indescribable, ominous feeling.


    "Demon Supremacy Wish Fulfillment¡­"


    Fang Yuan walked a few steps, but his expression remained uncertain.


    To be frank, although they were both Mental Demon Demon Gods, they had not come to any alliance agreements.


    In such situations, stabbing each other in the back when one was down was inevitable.


    However, since he was insufficiently strong, he would not place himself in any unnecessary danger.

 905 Reincarnation

    The sun hung high in the sky.


    The purple star glowed brightly, as if it were going to dye the sun the same color.


    "Compared to one month ago, it looks even more severe now!"


    Fang Yuan retracted his seer spell and sighed. "It looks like Demon Supremacy Wish Fulfillment might be able to complete his arrangements within the year! When that time comes, heaven and earth will change. I''ll have to capture some chess pieces and authority so I can participate calmly."


    When it came to accumulating strength, the Dream Master''s Realm Traversing Technique was obviously more than a little useful.


    "After we concluded our contract, I''ve only used one of the world coordinates that I exchanged with the Lord of the Void¡­"


    He had a feeling that if he allowed Demon Supremacy Wish Fulfillment''s plan to proceed, the entire Spiritual Realm''s future would be overturned.


    Even as a Demon God, he had to prepare more abilities and hidden cards in order to deal with it safely.


    "Out of the Demon God''s three realms, I''m still at Void Amalgamation. I need to consume even more rules, followed by the Omnidirectional Divine Demonic Armament Great Dao before I can break through to Myriad Transformations!"


    As for the Netherheaven realm, this was the pinnacle of Demon God. Fang Yuan did not expect to be able to reach this realm quickly.


    The dark side of the Heavenly Dao was not that simple to condense.


    "As long as I reach Myriad Transformations, I can evolve one Great Dao into thousands of Great Dao powers. Even if I entered the Mental Demon Realm then, I''d be able to move unhindered¡­"


    The Spiritual Realm was about to transform dramatically, and the future would be spinning into a complex web. Fang Yuan could not help considering his escape route as well.


    Although the Mental Demon Realm was rumored to be terrifying, it was still tightly linked with Dream Masters. He felt that he had to make a trip there no matter what, even if he had several enemies in the Mental Demon Realm.


    "In Demon Supremacy Wish Fulfillment''s arrangement, I might have an opportunity."


    Fang Yuan moved quickly, leaving Sky Horizon Sea. He arrived at the deep ocean.


    In the deep ocean, the weather was never constant. There were also various whales and giant beasts here, making it a dangerous place.


    Of course, for the current Fang Yuan, it was no different from his back garden.


    In fact, he even felt a warm feeling of comfort.


    This was because he had made his breakthrough in the Great Voyage World, as well as the influence from part of the ocean rules and authority that he had seized from the Deep-Sea Rulers.


    "Hopefully, the next world I''m heading to has lots of Dao paths, rules, and authority for me to plunder¡­"


    Fang Yuan waved his hands as particles of light appeared.


    With his current cultivation, he was strong enough to distinguish the information within these coordinates.


    "In terms of the density of the power of rules, this world is the densest. However, it also looks very dangerous¡­ Even I might be wrapped up in a mess¡­"


    A greyish-white glow emerged on his hands, giving off an eerie glow.


    His Dream Master technique, dream-traversing to other worlds, were considered the safest.


    However, it was different in this world, leaving him feeling very insecure. In fact, he had a premonition that everything that happened in this world would affect his true body.


    As for asking the Lord of the Void about it, he did not even consider it.


    If he asked that so casually, it was equivalent to sending himself to a wolf''s jaws, and he would fall into great danger.


    Poof!


    Suddenly, the surface of the sea split into two as an island-like giant whale appeared.


    It spit out a large amount of seawater from its blowhole, covering the sky. In an instant, it seemed as if it were raining.


    "Good beast!"


    Seeing this, Fang Yuan''s eyes lit up. His body flashed, turning into a rainbow streak that entered the beast via its blowhole.


    There was a lot of space inside this strange whale. There were even several strange lifeforms living inside, creating a certain harmonious system inside the whale.


    "Secluding myself here might not be too bad!"


    Fang Yuan went to a corner and opened up a cave abode before setting multiple restrictions.


    His position changed constantly as the whale moved about in the deep sea. Even a Demon God would find it hard to locate him.


    Even though it was a little troublesome, and the Lord of the Void was the only one in the mortal world, he could not help moving carefully. He did plan on betting his safety on his enemies'' carelessness.


    Within this whale''s body, he arranged his own haven. He had the space of a small province to himself, and there was a lot of moss and vegetation around as well.


    Fang Yuan positioned his cave abode on a small hill amid a forest of rocks.


    After he finished arranging everything, he sat cross-legged in his cave abode. The earlier world coordinates floated out.


    "Dream!" Fang Yuan muttered in a low voice while his hands formed several seals.


    Chichi!


    Light shot out, shining on the greyish-white light spots. A mysterious transformation immediately took place.


    The marks from the arrays wafted up gradually, shifting continuously before forming a bright door.


    The void trembled, and a large hole opened, revealing jet-black chaos.


    "Dream Master technique, Dream-Traversing Three Thousand Realms, go!" he declared softly. His True Spirit appeared between his eyebrows and quickly flew straight into the black hole.


    Rumble!


    Numerous arrays glowed brightly at once. And then the original hole shattered, disappearing immediately.


    ¡­


    He was on a magnificent river.


    Like the Great Dao, it was wide and generous, crossing the past, the present, and the future.


    "The River of Time? No! It seems more terrifying!"


    His True Spirit was riding in the river. "Reincarnation? Or something else?"


    Fang Yuan''s True Spirit was a little confused.


    Together with the flow of the river, his True Spirit continually dimmed and became confused. He even began to forget some important things.


    As for his original magical powers, they dissipated like snow meeting the sun.


    After a moment, a characteristic glow surrounded his True Spirit. His stats window, together with Creation and the Omnidirectional Divine Demonic Armament Dao, the traces of these three persisted with all their might. The rest dissipated into nothingness.


    "What kind of Great Dao possesses such power?"


    Fang Yuan lost all senses for a moment, as if he were about to fall into eternal darkness. Suddenly, he realized something. "This isn''t right¡­ this is¡­ this world''s defense mechanism. This¡­ I must cross through this world''s Heavenly Dao!"


    Instantly, it was as if he had torn through the fog and saw the green sky.


    The radiance of his True Spirit''s glow spread, emanating a beautiful light.


    Even so, without waiting for Fang Yuan to fully experience this world''s Heavenly Dao, a black hole surfaced before him. It immediately swallowed him, devouring his True Spirit!


    ¡­


    Amid the darkness and emptiness, he could not feel the passage of time at all.


    Without knowing how much time had passed, Fang Yuan suddenly felt something.


    Even though he was still in the same darkness, he could feel the light and the warmth from the outside world.


    Of course, his True Spirit could attach to a physical body.


    "Hmm, it seems like that black hole was indeed the reincarnation of this world. Have I crossed time and turned into a fetus? Hold on, what''s on its butt?"


    After using his spiritual will, Fang Yuan suddenly felt that there was something wrong with his current state.


    It was indeed a fetus. It had a head and four limbs. However, behind its butt, there was a long tail. It seemed at least half as long as the body.


    "This definitely isn''t a human fetus¡­ I''m not sure what I turned into either¡­"


    Fang Yuan was depressed.


    If he still had the same level of cultivation, he would not be as frustrated.


    Even if he had resurrected wrongly, he could simply seize another body.


    However, he did not have many choices left. He could only hope to get out of this womb as soon as possible.


    "I can''t tell what it''s going to be like yet. The fetus is too small¡­"


    Fang Yuan thought about this lazily. Suddenly, he felt warm energy gush forth from the outside world, accelerating his growth.


    As the days passed, he was finally able to observe himself on the thirtieth day.


    He had a slender, long head, limbs that had sharp claws, scales all over his body, and a tail that was nearly twice the length of his body¡­


    "This appearance, it seems like I''m a lizard¡­ Am I that unlucky? At the very least, I should be a dragon¡­" Fang Yuan quietly reassured himself.


    In his previous life, there were lizard-type beasts in novels. However, most of them were dragon-types like black dragons, white dragons, or red dragons.


    Since this world was a high level one, the appearance of Western dragons would be perfectly normal.


    Unfortunately, when he inspected his entire body, especially his back, he did not find any signs of dragon wings. In his sea of consciousness, he could not find any ancestral memories either.


    Everything seemed to be pointing toward the fact that he was nothing more than a normal¡­ llizard!


    "All right¡­ if I''m a lizard, so be it. I wonder what this world''s external environment is like¡­ If a predator comes along and destroys my egg on a whim, I''d really die before I can hatch¡­" Fang Yuan muttered quietly.


    Luckily, the worst-case scenario did not happen.


    On a bright and warm afternoon, Fang Yuan finally made it to the day he was going to hatch.


    Along with a numb feeling, his well-prepared self immediately attacked his eggshell.


    Crack! Crack!


    After a loud crack, he entered the warm sunlight, into the world.


    On a patch of sand, spiderweb-like cracks appeared on the surface of several lizard eggs. Several young lizards crawled out from their eggs, basking in the warm sunlight. The scales on their bodies hardened quickly.


    "Damn, it looks like I really am a lizard. However, it seems like my body is a little longer¡­"


    Fang Yuan went to the small lake at the side and stared at his reflection.


    What surfaced was naturally a young lizard. However, the length of its body was at least twenty centimeters, and its teeth and claws looked ferocious.


    All of this seemed different from his previous guesses.


    "I don''t get it at all!"


    Fang Yuan paused for a moment. Suddenly, he felt a vicious breeze on his face.


    Along with the sound of footsteps, a large lizard''s figure appeared from the bushes, emerging before his eyes.


    This large lizard was at least two meters long. Its body was covered with bright green scales, and its eyes seemed to have a cold, heartless glint to it.


    It appeared before a group of baby lizards. Opening its large jaws, it dropped a piece of bloody flesh.


    Amid the commotion, a message came out of nowhere. "Eat!"


    "What¡­ what kind of world is this?!"


    Fang Yuan did not have any interest in snatching food from a group of lizards. Instead, he fell into deep thought at the side. Then he smiled bitterly. "Earlier, I was a Dao patriarch. This time, I''m a four-legged lizard¡­ sigh¡­"

 906 Scholar

    The sun shone brightly while a refreshing breeze blew.


    In the forest, a mole scampered across the ground. All of a sudden, the bush nearby rustled ominously.


    Sha! Sha!


    A series of wild screaming ensued as a black shadow spanning several meters long shot out from the bushes. The scales on its body spread from head to tail, and its eyes reflected a predator''s icy heartlessness.


    Its purple split-tongue that curled slightly swallowed the mole.


    Hiss hiss¡­


    After swallowing its wriggling prey, the large python lay lazily on the ground, not moving for a long time.


    Whoosh whoosh!


    At this moment, the scent of blood drifted by.


    The forest''s trees collapsed, and a ferocious beast''s dark shadow emerged, carrying the aura of a top-tier predator.


    Poof!


    The large python sensed the incoming danger and curled its body up vigilantly.


    The next moment, a sharp claw pounced forth.


    Blood and flesh splattered everywhere. The large python was instantly cut in two.


    Hiss hiss¡­


    It struggled desperately while its murderer mutilated the rest of its body. Unfortunately, its struggles were completely futile.


    The murderer opened its jaws wide and swallowed the giant python, its three-meter long body somehow managing to consume so much food.


    "Tsk! I''ve hunted for a hundred days¡­ I wonder when these days will finally end¡­"


    Now that he was full and satisfied, Fang Yuan lay on a large stone and basked in the warm sunlight.


    With his current body that was over three meters long, he was the top predator in this region. No beast would dare to test their prowess against his.


    "Three months have already unknowingly passed!"


    He could not help but feel surprised over this.


    Next to the large rock, there was a puddle of water. Fang Yuan took a glance at his reflection.


    His body was over three meters long. He had dark-green scales and ferocious spikes behind his back, and his sharp claws truly reflected his position as a top-tier predator.


    Even if he had turned into a lizard, Fang Yuan was not any ordinary lizard.


    He had laid around leisurely for a few days before leaving his family to hunt alone.


    At this moment, his body had already surpassed the mother lizard, and his abilities grew by the day.


    "I''ve completed most of my analysis of this world''s rules. My stats window will be unlocked soon too¡­"


    When he had first arrived, it was his weakest period as a Mental Demon Demon God.


    Thankfully, with the assistance of his stats window, Fang Yuan''s time in this weak phase would be short-lived.


    Before this, he could only live while hiding his tail between his legs. Not even as a human, but as a beast! The most he could do was to use demon cultivation techniques to accelerate the growth of this physical body.


    Up until this point, he was clearly aware of his circumstances.


    "This is a region known for a humid rainforest. On top of that, it must be a large island without any humans¡­ Does this world not have any intelligent lifeforms?"


    Fang Yuan was still very vigilant about this particular world.


    After all, he had sensed a huge threat from the coordinates.


    Of course, the larger the threat was, the greater the benefits were.


    He felt immense power and a great number of rules from the coordinates earlier. In other words, reaping in this world would be very simple.


    Much less rules, there was even a possibility of acquiring a Great Dao!


    A Great Dao was not something he could find so easily. Fang Yuan did not get one out of the Great Voyage World either.


    However, in this world, it seemed like he had an inkling of hope.


    He stuck his purple tongue out to sense the information in the air. "There''s a somewhat strange structure¡­ This world isn''t very stable either. It''s as if it''s a warped creation that can be reconstructed at any time. What is this feeling?


    "Unfortunately¡­ in my current state, I can''t head to civilization to look for any information¡­"


    Fang Yuan felt a deep sense of disappointment.


    "Forget it. If I can endure this for another month, I''ll unlock my stats window. When that time comes, I can recover part of my Demon God abilities. I''ll have more opportunities then!"


    ¡­


    Time passed in a flash, and it was several days later.


    Fang Yuan was sick of the animals in the forest. He wanted to change his diet, so he went to the coast and caught a fish.


    All of a sudden, his eyes flickered. He looked up, staring at the surface of the sea.


    A lizard''s vision was different from a human''s, and there was nothing great to look at. His priority was to observe his surroundings, so he used his spiritual will.


    Using his spiritual will, he spotted a black dot on the surface of the sea.


    This black dot gradually increased in size. Soon, it materialized as a boat. Its propeller spun continuously, accelerating the boat through the sea.


    It arrived nearby and lowered two lifeboats. The humans rowed the boat excitedly while approaching the small island.


    Humans!


    Fang Yuan was obviously not going to be mistaken about that.


    "Fortunately¡­ it isn''t a giant creature civilization!"


    Fang Yuan nodded quietly. Swinging his tail, he returned to the forest.


    ¡­


    On the boat.


    A golden-haired, middle-aged man lowered his binoculars and said excitedly, "It''s here¡­ this is our research goal: giant lizards. Do you see it? That one is clearly a mutant. It''s already three-meters long!"


    "We see it¡­ Professor!" the students nearby replied nervously.


    Anyone who was about to enter a deserted island would be afraid of interacting with such a terrifying giant lizard.


    At this moment, the teacher looked increasingly excited. In fact, he was practically in tears.


    Unfortunately, for students that followed their teachers like this, their futures lay in the hands of their teachers. No matter how afraid they were, they could only grit their teeth and step onto the island.


    "I''ll be troubling you again, Mr. Xinge!"


    Thankfully, this man also knew that his students were unreliable, so he had hired two bodyguards as guides.


    "En¡­ Professor Xifan, don''t worry. Protecting you is my job. I have plenty of experience with surviving in the wilderness¡­"


    Xinge adjusted the assault rifle in his hands. His expression was solemn but warm. "However¡­ that giant lizard earlier looks larger than what I expected. If we want to capture it, we''ll have to use a tranquilizer, a customized one."


    "Of course, you''re the expert here. We''ll listen to you!"


    Xifan adjusted his gold-rimmed glasses and smiled cheekily at his students. "Students, we''ll be setting up a campground here today, and then we will be investigating this island for ten days. This will be your final assignment!"


    After they heard this, what else could they say?


    The students could only roll their eyes and turn into coolies, heading out to set up the tents.


    By nighttime, a simple campground and campfire were set up.


    Various instant foods and seasonings were tossed into a soup that gave off a thick fragrance.


    The aroma attracted many small animals. However, they sat far away, afraid to approach any closer.


    "Professor Xifan, I think we can grill two more fish for dinner!"


    Suddenly, Xinge''s assistant, Snow, ran over. He was a youngster with wine-colored hair and freckles on his cheeks. He showed off the loot in his hands.


    "Thank you!" Xifan expressed his gratitude politely, but he frowned inwardly. Compared to Mr. Xinge, Snow looked younger and fresher without much experience.


    If it was not because of his low wage, Xinge alone would have been enough.


    Sigh¡­ the fight for funding within the academy was becoming more intense. Now that they were outside, they had to save on every penny.


    The sky began to turn dark.


    Grilling fish over the bonfire, Snow showcased his culinary skills. He used the ingredients on hand to create a rich, fragrant soup. Xifan''s mood instantly improved.


    "Professor Xifan, you''re a professor from Ciano Co University, right?"


    Now that this middle-aged man had some alcohol, his face started to turn red. Snow could not help asking, "I heard you''re a well-known paleontologist? What are you investigating these giant lizards for?"


    "What do you know?" Xifan''s breath reeked of alcohol, and his tongue was swelling up. However, it did not stop his gibberish. "The lizards here are rare treasures! They are real-life artifacts! In fact, did you know that I have a huge discovery to present to the world? As long as we can prove it, I will become the greatest scholar of the century!"


    Seeing that, his students exchanged glances, looking exasperated.


    However, no one noticed the strange glint in Snow''s eyes.


    ¡­


    "A group of humans consisting of a professor, his students, and two bodyguards. That''s nine people!"


    In the darkness a distance away, Fang Yuan watched the bonfire and examined the situation before him carefully.


    This was not because of Xinge''s carelessness. After all, who could have imagined that a giant lizard would have the intelligence of a human? How would they realize his ferocity?


    Fang Yuan lay in the darkness without moving. The darkness was his best cover. Using his spiritual will, he overheard their conversations loud and clear.


    "A scholar who came specially to research lizards, and it seems like he''s hiding a huge secret too¡­ This looks like trouble."


    There was far too little information about the enemy, and Fang Yuan did not want any contact with them.


    However, he sensed that those people definitely would not let him go, which would be a huge problem.


    "It''s a pity. If they had waited a little more, my stats window would have unlocked. I could have used an illusionary spell to solve this problem. I could even use spiritual possession on one of them to enter civilization!"


    Fang Yuan stared at the campsite. Suddenly, his eyes glowed. "What if¡­ I capture these nine people?"


    Even though it was a hassle, this was also a blessed opportunity.


    Otherwise, he would not know when humans would ever set foot on this island again.


    "I''m short on time, and I have to evolve quickly. This body is far too weak¡­ Against that assault rifle, I don''t stand a chance."


    Fang Yuan turned around, preparing to leave.


    Suddenly, he sensed something mysterious. His beady eyes held an excited glint as he stared at a human silhouette.


    "There''s a mysterious response!


    "It''s the extraordinary power of this world!


    "But this feeling¡­ why am I feeling so unnerved? It seems like¡­ this ordinary person carries power from the rules of this world?!"

 907 Magic

    Three days later in a certain cave.


    A large lizard lay on the ground. Its body trembled as lumps of flesh began popping up grotesquely.


    "Even if I haven''t unlocked my stats window, having consumed so much food, it''s enough to help me move onto the next level!"


    Fang Yuan''s current incarnation, the lizard, yelled out loud as lumps of flesh moved about continuously, causing his body to swell. Instantly, he grew to a length of seven meters at once!


    His mouth became wider, and his razor-sharp fangs were like steel daggers.


    His skin started to turn red, and he looked like a prehistoric lizard embodied with viciousness.


    "Although I don''t know if this body''s family are also mutants, my original body was definitely one. This is something I can confirm!"


    Seeing his appearance, Fang Yuan was left speechless. "Even though the qualities have increased in level, this appearance¡­ it makes it harder to head outside now!"


    He crawled out of his cave.


    The cave seemed much narrower than before, so he forcibly expanded the cave.


    Sha! Sha! Sha! Sha!


    Suddenly, several small lizards rushed out of the forest. They looked a little similar to Fang Yuan, but they were several times smaller.


    "Let''s go!"


    "Run!"


    ¡­


    From their panic, Fang Yuan could only obtain this information.


    "Looks like¡­ the hunter is here?"


    Fang Yuan opened his mouth wide. He laughed coldly before running in the opposite direction.


    ¡­


    Within the thick forest.


    "Mr. Xinge, I want to capture that largest mutant lizard¡­ You can certainly find it, right?"


    Professor Xifan had brought several students with him. Wearing cameo clothes, they carried many weapons while talking to each other excitedly.


    "Hmm, don''t worry!" Xinge nodded nonchalantly. "As long as that mutant shows up, it won''t escape my trap! Oh? It looks like we''ve got one!"


    He cut several vines and rushed to the front.


    Inside a large net, a large lizard that was around two meters long was trapped and currently struggling with all its might.


    "Wonderful! The rest of you go ahead to take a look. I want a report about giant lizard skins!" Xifan ordered the students.


    After he forced all of them to touch the giant lizard''s skin, the professor took out a metal collar. "In order to further our research, we have to put an observation collar on it. To prevent it from escaping, we also need to install a tracking device. We''ll have to trouble you, Mr. Xinge. I need it to stop resisting!"


    Even though the tracking device was smaller than the metal collar, it was at least as large as a cigarette tray. One could imagine the pain it would have to endure.


    "No problem. Using a strong dosage of tranquilizer will be enough to satisfy your request!"


    Xinge laughed aloud, and then he aimed at the lizard and shot the tranquilizer.


    After a soft thud, this large, struggling lizard''s resistance soon came to a complete halt. It lay there, surrendering itself to the brutal slicing.


    "Thank you, Mr. Xinge!"


    Seeing this, Xifan was overjoyed. He brought the students forward and began performing the surgery.


    "Even though this guy''s skin is very tough, my gun and needle are specially customized for it. Even that mutant from the other day wouldn''t be able to resist¡­" Xinge said proudly and blew his gun.


    Splash!


    Suddenly, a thick trunk fell to the ground from afar, and something that sounded like a van was rushing straight for them.


    "Sir!" Snow''s voice quivered. "Look!"


    Without needing him to point out, everyone could see it. A terrifying red shadow was rushing out from the thick forest.


    It was another large, impressive lizard. However, this one was around seven to eight meters long. It had bright red scales covering its body, and its limbs looked thick and powerful. Trees fell apart with each pounce.


    "Heavens¡­ I can''t believe there''s such a humongous lizard here. This discovery will definitely make it into the history books!"


    Professor Xifan''s eyes glowed brightly. He pulled Xifan, who was next to him. "Aren''t you going to fire?"


    "Fire!" Xinge''s eyes were bleak as he raised his gun. Suddenly, he swung his gun at Professor Xifan''s face. "You''re insane¡­ You crazy old man, you''re going to get me killed!"


    Once he finished his words, he turned around and ran with his tail between his legs.


    As an experienced survivor in forests, he instinctively understood the ferocity of top-tier predators.


    Also, the customized guns and tranquilizers he had could only deal with giant lizards that were four to five meters long.


    However, this new player on the field probably had scales that were several inches thick! No matter how much money he was offered, there was no way he would deliver his life on a plate like that!


    "Huh? He runs pretty quick!"


    Seeing this scene unfold before him, Fang Yuan ran pass the professor and the others, charging straight for Xinge.


    "Sh*t!" Xinge cursed violently before firing a shot behind his back.


    Although he had not aimed, since the target''s body was so large, there was no way he could have missed.


    Whoosh!


    Fang Yuan saw a tranquilizer fly at him, but it merely created a small spark on his shoulder. After that, the tranquilizer flew away, not even leaving a scratch.


    "Ahh!!!"


    Xinge screamed and pulled out his handgun. He shot wildly toward his back.


    In the face of Fang Yuan''s body and defense, this pitiful amount of damage was no different from child''s play.


    He moved forward effortlessly. With a swing of his claw, this unfortunate man was crushed into the dirt, instantly falling unconscious.


    "One!"


    After capturing Xinge, Fang Yuan turned around slowly. He spotted Professor Xifan and the six students. Their faces turned ghastly white, and they fell to the ground.


    "From shock?" He was a little surprised and looked at his body. "Does my body release poison? Why don''t I know about it?


    "No, there''s still one missing!"


    He looked around vigilantly.


    "Great. It looks like you have some consciousness!"


    Snow was clapping while walking out from the darkness. He gave off a dangerous aura. "I made them pass out. After all, what happens next will definitely change their view of the world! As the one to bury this secret, I had no choice but to do this. After I settle this matter, I just have to make up an excuse and say that a poisonous plant made them hallucinate. Even though I would like to showcase my Memory Erasure spell, this is much safer!


    "That Xifan is a slow old man, but he''s very intelligent. I can''t believe he managed to discover this secret based on some fragmentary history. Since this happened, I had no choice but to join their party to make sure that they''d never figure out the ''truth''!"


    He was talking to himself without caring if Fang Yuan could understand him or not.


    "On Sicily Island, we found a flaming giant lizard. As a Black Shirt Deacon of the congress, I will take care of this matter!


    "How is it? Isn''t my job amazing? Unfortunately, we can only protect the citizens'' happiness behind the scenes!"


    Fang Yuan found that the final member of this group, an Extraordinary, was actually a chatterbox.


    However, he blabbered on in his excitement, and Fang Yuan was able to obtain more information. By now, he was starting to understand the opponent''s language.


    The situation is simple. This Snow belongs to a certain organization that is in charge of hiding the truth about this world. Not long ago, he discovered a small secret from Professor Xifan, so he disguised himself as part of this expedition. Now, he intends to get rid of me?


    "A flaming giant lizard that''s over seven meters long isn''t something that can survive in the natural world¡­ It must have been infected by ''it''!"


    Snow put on his white gloves and had a serious expression. "He''s so huge that it''s possible he''s progressed to B-grade. Let me test your abilities!"


    He pointed at Fang Yuan and recited a spell. "Fireball!!!"


    Rumble!


    A large fireball appeared midair, flying straight down.


    Fang Yuan''s tail swung once, and he rolled on the ground. However, the edges of his body were still scorched black.


    "A sorcerer?"


    He turned around, staring at Snow with a serious gaze.


    This Extraordinary''s attack was similar to those wizards and mages.


    However, his judgment was good enough to realize the difference immediately!


    This Snow doesn''t have any magical powers nor extraordinary skills. He''s nothing more than a regular person who trained well! However, the world really responded to that spell just now when the fireball appeared. What is the principle behind the magic in this world? This isn''t normal at all!


    Equivalent exchange and conservation of energy were the common rules that most worlds operated on.


    However, that was not the case for that fireball.


    The opponent chanted a spell and cast a skill without giving anything in return.


    It seemed like¡­ he had forced this world to adapt to him!


    This feeling made Fang Yuan''s eyes light up.


    The possibility of rules having no say in this world¡­


    The only way one would be able to do this was through the Great Dao!


    A Demon God''s Great Dao could twist a world''s rules to a certain extent! This was what Demon Gods relied on when they traveled through different worlds.


    Of course, most Great Daos had to submit to the Heavenly Dao. Even Fang Yuan''s stats window was the same. The only advantage he had was that he could unlock and adjust faster.


    In order to change the rules of an entire world, this isn''t something that''s at the level of a Netherheaven Demon God anymore. It''s a much higher level¡­


    Fang Yuan stared at Snow. It''s not that I''m looking down on him, but if he can do this with his abilities, was my cultivation all for nothing?


    Even though that spell from earlier was ridiculous, it showcased a certain possibility¡­ That is, this world''s rules were forcibly changed in the past¡­


    Thinking up until this point, Fang Yuan cleared his throat before he shouted, "Fireball!"


    Rumble!


    A huge fireball appeared and landed near Snow, causing him to fall pathetically to the ground with his ears ringing.


    "Impossible!"


    When he saw the giant lizard jump at him, his expression twitched. He was scared out of his wits. "What did I just hear? A giant lizard managed to speak a human language? No¡­ that can''t be! How could it possibly learn my incantation! Damn¡­ according to the manual, I must eliminate it!"


    Even though it was very simple to pronounce, it actually had dozens of changes in intonation. There were several emotional requirements to fulfill as well. It was akin to keying in a passcode with many criteria to meet.


    Even the new members of Snow''s organization would not be able to use it naturally without practicing for a long time.


    So when Fang Yuan shouted this on a whim and managed to cast the spell, Snow was scared out of his wits. In his panic, he started reciting a complicated spell.


    Bang!


    Unfortunately, Fang Yuan did not give him a chance and swung his tail at him ruthlessly.


    This guy only had an ordinary physique, so his eyes rolled back, and he passed out.

 908 Derivative

    Splash!


    A rush of water splashed onto his face, immediately dousing Snow awake.


    He continued struggling while crying out loudly. However, he was gagged and could not say a word.


    The professor and the students were tied to the thick trunk of a tree.


    I''ve been kidnapped by a lizard?


    After this thought surfaced in Snow''s head, he was so ashamed that he wanted to hide in a hole.


    Suddenly, he spotted the giant lizard in front of him.


    It seemed to be staring curiously at him, and its gaze carried a mocking look.


    No! This can''t be right! This Derivative''s intelligence is completely beyond my expectations! It might even be a first-class Derivative¡­ Damn it, this was supposed to be just an ordinary assignment¡­


    "All right, Mr. Snow. Let me release your bindings. I hope you don''t misunderstand!" A man''s voice came from the lizard''s mouth.


    Turning around, it waved its claw and snapped a few vines. He fell to the ground immediately.


    "Cough cough!" Snow spit out the cloth gagging his mouth. He was about to chant again. "S¡ª"


    Smack!


    The next instant, he was thrown violently onto the ground. He was in so much pain that his mind turned blank, and he could not speak for a while.


    "If you want to teach me spells, I''m more than happy to learn. However, let us communicate in a common language for now¡­ You do realize that your spells use a different language system, right? From now on, every time I hear anything like it, I''ll whip you once. Understood?"


    Fang Yuan lowered his claw, pressing down on Snow to threaten him aggressively.


    "I¡­ understand¡­"


    Snow had finally confirmed that this giant lizard had intelligence equivalent to a human''s. In fact, it was extremely cunning.


    "Where are you from?"


    "Newtlud, of the Sorcerer Congress!"


    "What''s your name?"


    "Snow!"


    "How old are you?"


    "Twenty-one!"


    ¡­


    After a few questions, Snow''s gaze began to relax and turned dazed.


    "That''s it¡­" Fang Yuan sighed heavily. "If my magical powers had recovered fully, I wouldn''t have had to go through so much trouble just to hypnotize him¡­"


    He seemed as though he had been drugged with truth serum and was basically ready to answer any questions he was asked.


    "Where did you get your abilities from?" Fang Yuan''s voice was dreamy as he asked the most important question.


    Snow revealed a struggling expression but still answered the question. "The Philosopher''s Book!"


    "What kind of book is that?"


    "It''s a first-class Derivative. At first, it was nothing more than a regular notebook. But as long as you write a spell in it, it''ll become real¡­"


    With that description, Fang Yuan understood the special feature of the Philosopher''s Book.


    As long as he wrote the power of a spell in the book together with its incantation, it would become real.


    After that, if someone in this world recited the incantation, that spell would come to life!


    Furthermore, without paying any price, any caster who practiced enough would be able to become a sorcerer!


    It was precisely because of this that the Philosopher''s Book was so well-protected. Furthermore, the incantations were written in a near-indecipherable language. All because they were afraid that it would turn into a horrifying disaster.


    "The Philosopher''s Book¡­ has it reached this point already?" Fang Yuan really could not believe it. "Is there something wrong with this world? Why does it sound so similar to the Magic Encyclopedia? Hey, is there a fat blue robot that has a four-dimensional pocket here?"


    "No¡­ At least, I haven''t heard of a Derivative like that before!" Snow answered honestly.


    "What is this ''Derivative'' you''ve been talking about? Explain it properly!"


    "Yes!"


    ¡­


    After a series of questions, Fang Yuan finally gained a deeper understanding of this world.


    This was a world that was very similar to Earth. The advancement of its technology was also similar. Until one day, ''it'' appeared.


    No one knew what ''it'' was. Perhaps it was a ray of light or a natural phenomenon. Perhaps it was a god that was playing a joke on humanity.


    In other words, from a certain timeframe afterward, there were some strange things on this planet. They were so peculiar that it could cause scientists to collectively puke blood.


    The existence of these peculiarities violated the fundamental rules of this world.


    For instance, no matter how strong a person was, they would never be able to pull their hair and lift themselves off the ground.


    However, once this phenomenon influenced them, they would be able to do it!


    All these unimaginable characteristics were formed after a certain ''contact''. Some of these characteristics could even topple the ecology of the planet.


    After going through multiple life-changing crises, some people paid the price of a horrifying experience. Finally, they managed to get a grasp of the rules of this first-class Derivative. With that, they set a contract to jointly control the existence of Derivatives. Furthermore, they took action to seal this secret off from regular citizens.


    "So-called first-class Derivatives are things that came to life after coming into contact with ''it''. There are multiple classes of Derivatives as well. Secondary Derivatives were infected by first-class Derivatives. Come to think of it, Snow could be considered an ''infected'' party of the Philosopher''s Book, so he''s a secondary Derivative. Some secret organizations also borrow the power of Derivatives to fight against new Derivatives. Furthermore, the most dangerous ones are those with strong attributes. They aren''t particularly stable yet either, and they can infect an unlimited number of Derivatives. It seems like each one that appears is considered a world-level threat!"


    After he found out about all this, Fang Yuan''s interest in Derivatives magnified infinitely.


    "What is ''it''? How can the rules be distorted so arbitrarily? Is ''it'' stronger than the entire world?"


    Fang Yuan''s eyes lit up.


    That phenomenon, as well as the ''it'' that all organizations were chasing after, was probably a Great Dao!


    Only the power of this type of Dao path could distort the rules of a world. Furthermore, since it was created in this world, its power would not be restricted at all.


    "In churches, it is the ''reason'' for everything, the agent for change! Within the scientific world, ''it'' is nothing more than a phenomenon that can be researched and restricted. However, it''s a great pity that despite all these organizations'' efforts, they had only seen ''it'' once. The ''it'' of that time was a brilliant streak of light! Furthermore, the witness went crazy soon after he saw ''it''¡­"


    ¡­


    "All right, one last question!" Fang Yuan stared at Snow, who was in a dream-like state. "Write down all the incantations that you know!"


    "No! I can''t!"


    Snow''s eyes turned red. He was about to shed tears of blood.


    "Hmm? Protection spell!"


    In an instant, Fang Yuan''s spiritual will dived into this unfortunate man''s sea of consciousness.


    Clearly, there was a spiritual will there. It rampaged about as it destroyed all his memories on incantations.


    "Damn it¡­ I didn''t want to do this initially!"


    Fang Yuan''s spiritual will turned into a giant python and absorbed everything quickly.


    While Snow was destroying the knowledge within his sea of consciousness, Fang Yuan continued to rapidly absorb broken fragments of his memories.


    "Memory Erasure, Body Enhancement, Confusion, Meteor, and Fireball spells. Sadly, this one is destroyed. There''s also¡­ the Devotion spell?"


    He retracted his spiritual will. As he regained his senses, he saw Snow stare blankly ahead like a lifeless puppet.


    With his current abilities, there was no way he could alter another person''s memories without side-effects. That was why he took control of his mind by hypnotizing him first.


    However, the Devotion spell had obviously been cast on Snow. It took effect whenever he was chanting an incantation.


    In order to protect his precious gains, Fang Yuan could only do this the hard way.


    Both sides fought hard. Finally, Fang Yuan obtained a portion of the spell''s power, whereas Snow turned into a complete idiot.


    "However, the power of spells has its limits as well. Or rather, the rules are limited¡­ Otherwise, it would be completely possible to write a spell that could kill someone immediately¡­


    "Hold on, even though the power of Derivatives is amazing, energy endurance and management must be something that I''ve neglected. Therefore, I paid the price for it. It''s this precise reason that certain spiritual techniques can''t be created."


    Fang Yuan pushed these thoughts aside. Since he did not have a lot of information, he could only continue guessing.


    "Thankfully, I managed to salvage some important spiritual techniques. The Memory Erasure spell, huh?"


    He stared at Professor Xifan and his students, and then at Snow, who was drooling on the ground. His eyes flashed mysteriously.


    ¡­


    After a month, a boat traveled on the sea, heading back in the direction it had come from.


    "Thank you, Mr. Snow. I will definitely increase your pay!" Professor Xifan grabbed on to Snow''s hands tightly. "If it weren''t for you, we would have died on that island¡­"


    "No problem. It''s my job!"


    Snow gave a gentlemanly smile. Several female students blushed while looking at him dreamily, feeling that his charisma seemed a little different from before.


    In reality, he had changed.


    "We''ll get to Newtlud in a few days!"


    After he responded courteously with a few words, Fang Yuan returned to his room. He opened his stats window.


    "Name: Snow (Fang Yuan)


    Power: 1.2


    Speed: 1.5


    Physique: 0.8


    Psyche: 2.0


    State: Healthy


    Specialization: Grappling, Driving, Weapon Proficiency"


    ¡­


    "As a Magical Clone, stats like these are far too weak!"


    He moved his body in dissatisfaction. "Fortunately, the stats window has been unlocked. After removing the restrictions of this world, I can increase my level quickly! As long as I give some time to my main body on the island, I''ll definitely be able to recover a large portion of my power as a Demon God!"


    The original Snow had already turned into an idiot. Obviously, Fang Yuan had made sure to recycle trash properly and made a Magical Clone to replicate him. Then he went on the return journey together with Professor Xifan and the heavily injured Xinge.


    As for his excuse?


    A Memory Erasure spell was enough to resolve most of his problems.


    For the explanations that came after, Fang Yuan had used Snow''s original idea. He told them that they had inhaled a large amount of poisonous hallucinatory pollen.


    As for himself, he managed to find and save them after a long search.


    With the influence from the spell, all of them had lost all memories of what had happened, so they easily accepted Fang Yuan''s explanation and felt extremely grateful toward him.

 909 Impermanence

    Newtlud.


    After Professor Xifan paid him, Fang Yuan called for a black taxi and arrived in front of a black church.


    He stepped into the church, went to the dark area at the back, and knocked on a door gently.


    Splash!


    A small gap slid open, and a pair of vigilant eyes peeked through it. A stiff voice said, "The dark night has given us dark eyes!"


    "However, I used it to find light¡­ that is¡­." Fang Yuan made an annoyed expression similar to what he recalled from Snow''s memories. He pushed his face forward. "Hey! Brat! Don''t you recognize me?"


    The doorkeeper did not say a word and merely opened the door silently.


    Fang Yuan shrugged before walking in.


    After walking through a long path, he came to a brand-new building.


    Most of the people were in black and red, dressed like they were middle-aged professors, and they moved about quickly.


    At the heart of the building, there was a large fireplace with red flames burning within.


    After a period of time, some people dressed in red walked out.


    They looked exactly like ancient witches.


    These people were Red Shirts, who were above Black Shirt deacons. At that point, they could learn the ''Teleport'' spell, which was a spell that allowed a person to move about instantly. They could even travel to another city.


    "Black Rose: Number 13!"


    The former Snow would have envied the higher-ranking Red Shirt members. However, Fang Yuan''s heart was completely unmoved. He walked to an old door and knocked lightly.


    "Please enter!"


    A soft voice trailed over. Fang Yuan pushed the door open and entered.


    The room was very dim. A white-haired old man wearing a purple robe was sitting behind a large desk. In front of him, a ballpoint pen hung in the air, as if an invisible hand was holding on to it and writing quickly.


    He was a Purple Robe Sorcerer, upper-level management within the Sorcerer Congress, equivalent to being a supervisor.


    As they progressed further up, there were the Thirteen Representatives. They possessed all the magical abilities in the Philosopher''s Book. In fact, they had the power to vote for changes and removals from the Philosopher''s Book.


    A branch in Newtlud already has an organization of this scale. The ones in other countries can''t be weak either. Also, these kinds of strange rules could be disadvantageous even to someone like me! Fang Yuan thought quietly before saying politely, "Sir, Black Shirt Deacon Snow, reporting!"


    "Speak!"


    The Purple Robe old man''s eyes were half-closed, and he did not even look up.


    "Yes! I used a spell to confuse Xinge and become his assistant. We were selected by Professor Xifan to head to that island¡­ Finally, I used the Memory Erasure spell to remove the professor''s and the others'' memories," Fang Yuan said calmly.


    "Wonderful¡­ A Derivative was born on that island. Since we can''t confirm it, we can only seal the island in case the other lifeforms on it are infected¡­"


    The Purple Robe old man rubbed his brow. "You are dismissed¡­ An important person will be coming soon. Perform well, and you will be promoted to a probationary Red Shirt!"


    "Yes!" Fang Yuan bowed before leaving the room.


    "An important figure?" He was a little curious. Snow''s memories were lacking. He had done his best to salvage some important information and had to let the rest go.


    "However, a person that even a Purple Robe sorcerer calls important must be a high-level official from another organization or one of our representatives. Perhaps he''s a high-ranking official from the government."


    Rumble!


    Just as Fang Yuan was thinking about this, a bundle of gold flames suddenly sprang up in the center of the fireplace.


    From the middle of the flickering flames, a well-dressed noble walked out accompanied by a group of Purple Robe sorcerers.


    "It''s Representative Heinze!"


    "He''s one of the Thirteen Representatives. Something important must have happened nearby. Was another Derivative born?"


    Nearby, there was some low whispering.


    Behind Fang Yuan, the old sorcerer pushed the door open quickly. He headed toward Heinze hurriedly and bowed deeply.


    "Welcome, Sir Heinze!"


    While the flattery was going on, Fang Yuan froze for a moment.


    He felt a strange aura from that Representative Heinze. It was similar to his!


    "Hmm?"


    Heinze looked around for a while before his gaze fell on Fang Yuan.


    He pointed his cane at Fang Yuan. "Prepare a quiet room for me. Also, take him to my room."


    "Yes!"


    The other Purple Robe Sorcerers did not hesitate at all, immediately following his order as if it were routine.


    He stared at Fang Yuan knowingly.


    In the vast room, the bookshelves were lined with antique books. There were antler''s horns and a bear skin decorating the walls.


    "Block! Isolate!"


    Heinze took his hat off and snapped casually.


    A bright light enveloped the entire room.


    "Isn''t it great? Using the power of the rules directly? It is truly addictive!" He looked at Fang Yuan. "I''ve already sealed this place. There won''t be any sounds leaving this place, and nobody will hear our conversation, not even the other representatives!"


    "That''s great!" Fang Yuan stretched lazily and sat on the sofa.


    "You¡­ you''re interesting! Since you''re so weak, you must''ve just arrived. Aren''t you scared of me?" Heinze smiled slyly.


    The Mental Demon realm traversing technique could only be used with one''s true physical body, making it very dangerous.


    Only someone like the Lord of the Void could avoid that by using other techniques.


    If another Demon God had come, this would also be their weakest moment.


    "Weak?" Fang Yuan smiled, saying nothing.


    This Snow could only be regarded as the clone of a Magical Clone. After all, his body was still in the Spiritual Realm, while his True Spirit was on the island.


    However, he did not have any intention of resolving that misunderstanding.


    The existence of his stats window was his biggest secret.


    He stared at Heinze, frowning. "It seems like the restrictions in this world are pretty strong¡­ How long have you been here? And how much power have you recovered?"


    "Twenty years¡­ I''ve set all of this up just to obtain the Philosopher''s Book. You''d better target something else¡­" Heinze replied with a warning tone.


    "As expected, this world has set restrictions on Demon Gods¡­" Fang Yuan sighed quietly. However, he was laughing quietly in his heart.


    The giant lizard on the island had already unlocked about fifty percent of his power. On this planet, that was more than enough for him to rule the world as long as he ignored the other Derivatives.


    "Target?" He intentionally looked confused. "Those Derivatives? What do they do?"


    "Don''t you know that they''re accumulations of the rules of this world? If you consume one, it''ll improve your Great Dao immensely!"


    Heinze stared suspiciously at Fang Yuan. This information was something that anyone would know as long as they stayed in this world for awhile, so he did not mind doing him a favor.


    "The accumulation of the rules of this world?" Fang Yuan''s eyes lit up. "But¡­ those exotic characteristics are also a type of rules?"


    "Haha, of course. The Heavenly Dao is split into light and dark. Within the rules, there are some counter-intuitive ones too. What''s strange about that?" Heinze laughed aloud. "Counter-intuitive rules are also a part of the rules. The earlier you can come into contact with them, the better it is to help you break through to the Netherheaven realm¡­"


    "I see! Thank you!" Fang Yuan thanked him sincerely.


    After all, he had just become a Demon God and was still experimenting on his paths because he had not even been to the Mental Demon Realm before. Even if he wanted to make a deal with the Lord of the Void, he was not too familiar with the details about the Mental Demon Realm.


    "It seems like you''re really a newbie here?" Heinze rubbed his chin and suddenly laughed. "How about it? Will you consider helping me out? My true body is Doroin. I do have a bit of fame in the Mental Demon Realm¡­"


    Mental Demon Demon Gods developed very quickly. As long as this Snow grew up quickly, he would become a great help to him.


    Of course, what he was more concerned with was the other party''s true body.


    A Demon God was an important figure in the Mental Demon Realm.


    "Doroin, was it? I''ll remember that!" Since the other party had extended kindness to him, Fang Yuan did not mind getting in the good books of a Demon God. "When I get to the Mental Demon Realm, I''ll definitely visit you!"


    "What? You haven''t been to the Mental Demon Realm yet?" Heinze opened his eyes wide. Then he realized something. "No wonder I''ve never heard of you¡­ However, being able to enlighten yourself in the outside world must mean that you''re gifted with great natural abilities. Perhaps you might be one of those legendary unique types!"


    "Maybe¡­"


    Fang Yuan forced a smile.


    He knew himself best. If it were not for the help of the stats window, he would still be making his rounds in Da Qian.


    "Oh yes, the one that started it all. What is the almighty ''it''?" He took the opportunity to ask.


    "Haven''t you guessed it yet?" Heinze''s eyes lit up brightly. "That is a Great Dao, one that was born in this world!"


    A Great Dao from outside would be oppressed in a different world.


    After all, even a Netherheaven Demon God would not be free from the influence of the Heavenly Dao of a high-level world.


    To make it where one became an independent world and could freely descend without any decrease in strength required breaking through the Demon God realm.


    However, a Great Dao created in its native world did not have such a restriction.


    "To be honest, many Demon Gods have thought about acquiring it. In fact, even the Lord of the Void was one of them¡­ Unfortunately, it was all for naught!" Heinze sighed.


    However, Fang Yuan took this for granted.


    A Great Dao like this was equivalent to a Demon God!


    However, for outsiders like them, it would be difficult for them to recover their original abilities. It was a battle that was completely disadvantageous.


    "Then what exactly is this Great Dao?"


    Fang Yuan felt very excited to be able to learn about the inside story of something like this.


    "It is uncommon and goes against the rules of the world, filled with surprises and overturning all rules¡­ that Great Dao is obviously the Impermanence Great Dao!"

 910 Cloak

    "Impermanence Great Dao?!"


    Fang Yuan contemplated the words and suddenly felt enlightened. "Everything within a world has laws governing its existence. Everything will change with time. Everything is impermanent¡­"


    "Hmm?" Representative Heinze was slightly surprised. "Your understanding of the power of Great Dao has reached such a deep level? I''ve been to the Brahman World, and the Great Brahm¨¡ has spoken about impermanence. I quote, ''Everything that exists is temporary. Nothing is eternal.''"


    "Brahman World?"


    Fang Yuan was very surprised, and he was reminded of past life. It looks like advanced worlds are able to radiate their civilizations¡­ like that world with the Chinese civilization. It was able to radiate to the lower realms and give birth to similar worlds¡­ If there really is a Great Brahm¨¡, then his influence could very well affect other worlds!


    Could that be the realm above Demon God?


    Netherheaven Demon Gods could maintain themselves under the Heavenly Dao, allowing them to travel to many other advanced worlds while retaining most of their power.


    For the realm above Demon God, they replaced the Heavenly Dao with their own Daos, controlling entire worlds on a whim. They were on a totally different level.


    With the help of the stats window, Fang Yuan managed to control a part of the power of Netherheaven Demon Gods in advance.


    Therefore, it was certainly possible to replace the Heavenly Dao with one''s Dao and radiate one''s thoughts to countless small worlds.


    "Ah, yes¡­ Brahman World!"


    Heinze was naturally unaware of Fang Yuan''s thoughts. Instead, he said contemplatively, "The leader of that world is named Great Brahm¨¡ and controls the Great Dao of Brahman. He is amazing at guiding people and has done profound research regarding the power of faith¡­ I debated with him for a thousand years before leaving after suffering defeat. However, I was given the title of Mental Demon Amoghasiddhi¡­ It seems that anyone who can fight with the Great Brahm¨¡ is conferred the title of a god of Brahman, regardless of whether they''re willing or not."


    Ah, this is very similar to my past life!


    Fang Yuan felt awkward and wisely changed the subject. "Oh yeah, why have you come here?"


    "Of course, it''s for a Derivative!" Heinze said matter-of-factly. "It might be a first-class Derivative, which is why the congress has sent me after it!"


    "Speaking of which, as a member of the congress and staying undercover for twenty years, have you gotten your hands on that notebook?"


    "Nope¡­"


    Fang Yuan was mildly shocked.


    Heinze smiled wryly. "That Philosopher''s Book''s security level is very high, and over seven representatives are guarding it. Furthermore, they only use it when the majority agrees to do so. I don''t have the confidence to make a move while they''re watching¡­ Besides, they''ve already started to doubt me since I''ve been asking around for news about other Derivatives!


    "Hmm?" Fang Yuan''s eyes flashed. "Other Derivatives! Yes, the founding of the Sorcerer Congress is to maintain world peace. They must have a lot of treasures after so many battles!"


    "They''ve securely hidden these Derivatives at a certain place known only by the president and vice presidents¡­" Heinze said resignedly. "Otherwise, I would have made my move long ago!"


    "How about bringing me along this time?" Fang Yuan asked eagerly.


    He had come to this world to increase his strength in the shortest time possible.


    So there was no reason for him to give up such a good opportunity.


    "I can. My target is the Philosopher''s Book. I''m sure that the rules in it are very compatible with my Dao. As for the other Derivatives, I can give some of them to you if you help me!" Heinze nodded.


    "What excuse should we give when we leave?" Fang Yuan took more things into consideration.


    Snow, who he had possessed, had no connection to Heinze. To promote him so suddenly and to attend such an important event would surely arouse suspicion.


    "No problem, no problem!" A strange smile appeared on Heinze''s face. "I have a strange hobby¡­ It''s a bit strange, but everyone knows about it. As long as you declare that you are now my ''close friend'' after you leave, there will be no problem!"


    "Strange hobby?"


    Fang Yuan looked at Heinze. He had not realized it before, but now he sensed an eerie feminine aura all over Heinze. He immediately felt goosebumps, shivering at the realization.


    Now that he thought about it, the others had given him a knowing smile when he was summoned alone. He understood everything at once.


    "F*CK!!!!"


    ¡­


    However, compared to his reputation, what he stood to gain was more important.


    As a result, after feeling gloomy for a while, he decided to bite the bullet and follow Heinze, ready for the mission.


    He was welcomed with looks of envy, jealousy, and despise. However, no one dared to voice their dissatisfaction.


    After all, it was entirely up to Heinze to promote his ''new boyfriend'', and outsiders had no say over the matter.


    Fang Yuan felt somewhat helpless looking at this scene. He knew that the reputation of this Snow identity was now in the dumps.


    Luckily, it''s not my true body, so what do I have to be afraid of?


    He decided he had nothing to lose. After collecting his equipment, he followed behind Heinze.


    "Our target for this mission is a thief. His name is Baggins. He''s been to prison many times for theft, and he recently sold a large batch of stolen goods on the black market."


    Heinze''s face was slightly serious. "Among the stolen goods was the renowned painting ''Lady Manlisa''! I''m sure you''ve seen the surveillance footage? A painting just vanished into thin air¡­ As such, we suspect that someone has their hands on a certain Derivative and is using it to procure illegal profits!"


    "The ability to make objects vanish?" Fang Yuan was somewhat astonished. "What exactly would that be?"


    "I don''t know. Derivatives have all kinds of peculiarities. Without conducting experiments, it''s very hard to figure them out¡­ so large amounts of experimenters are required!"


    Heinze looked at the many Purple Robe sorcerers and Red Shirt deacons and smiled coldly. "However, these guys are lucky this time. Its destructive force isn''t too great. Otherwise, they wouldn''t have sent just a single representative over to settle it!"


    In fact, Fang Yuan knew that the matter would be nowhere near as simple as Heinze was making it out to be.


    After all, Derivatives had all kinds of peculiarities. They could even have the tables turned on them if they were not careful.


    "The ability to make objects vanish¡­ Under extreme circumstances, perhaps it can directly steal your heart, lungs, or even your brain!


    "However, dangers of this level are still mild to Heinze¡­ The humans of this world are truly pitiful¡­ Who knows how many times they''ve rubbed shoulders with total world annihilation¡­"


    Fang Yuan shrugged.


    The team donned in eccentric clothing entered the streets.


    He immediately felt the convenience of spells.


    Heinze had only casually recited an incantation before the surrounding civilians turned a blind eye to them.


    "8 Cape Street¡ªthis is Baggins''s place! Peep!"


    Heinze approached an old building and snapped his fingers.


    Splash!


    The walls and doors of the house immediately turned transparent. Newspapers, delivery boxes, spare change, and other sundries could be seen scattered across the floor.


    In the middle of the bedroom, a disheveled, middle-aged man was snoring away.


    "Target located. We''ll take turns watching!"


    Heinze nodded and pointed toward the neighboring building.


    Crash!


    The place connecting the 8th and 9th buildings immediately split apart and revealed an enormous space. A beautiful, two-story house appeared into view.


    "This is my villa. Nice, isn''t it?" Heinze smiled. "Everybody, move in. We won''t be discovered by people from outside and can better keep watch!"


    "Is this really¡­ magic?" Fang Yuan was slightly shocked. "This is the power of rules!"


    "Yes, rules! Just a single first-class Derivative can distort reality to this extent. You can see how terrifying and grandiose the Impermanence Great Dao is from this!" Heinze said with a voice that was only audible to the two of them.


    Even if it was a Great Dao native to this world and was not suppressed, power of this extent was horrifying enough.


    "Oh right, are there any other Demon Gods in this world?" Fang Yuan suddenly thought of a problem.


    The coordinates of this world had been given to him by the Lord of the Void. That meant that he had also once descended upon this world, and he could confirm this from the things that Heinze had spoken of earlier.


    "There are. At the very least, there is the Lord of the Void. I don''t know about the others, but the Lord of the Void still lusts after the Impermanence Great Dao. He must have left some demonic thoughts!" Heinze shrugged. "Although I feel¡­ the chances of that happening are very small!"


    "Speaking of which, I''m very curious. Why did the Impermanence Great Dao show itself¡­"


    Even in the Divine Armament World, the Omnidirectional Divine Demonic Armament Dao was divided and contained in many different Divine Armaments. Fang Yuan had to collect them one by one before finally forging the Omnidirectional Divine Demonic Armament Dao.


    "I don''t know. Perhaps this world is special in its own way!"


    It was apparent that Heinze did not want to think too much about it. After all, this was something beyond his control.


    Fang Yuan, on the other hand, had the assistance of the stats window and possessed some Netherheaven abilities. He would also be able to use almost the entirety of his power in this world, so he had the confidence to uncover the reason behind it.


    ¡­


    It was not long before night arrived.


    The sorcerers were facing the transparent walls and monitoring Baggins'' each and every move.


    It seemed that he was someone used to moving at night, so he had slept until the sky was dark before getting out of bed.


    "Everyone, pay attention!"


    Heinze''s eyes flashed when he saw that Baggins had woken up.


    Under the sorcerers'' watch, Baggins washed up, wore his clothes, and finally donned a black cloak.


    Splash!


    He suddenly turned transparent and vanished.


    An apple on the desk suddenly flew into the air. With a crunch, part of the apple disappeared, and teeth imprints appeared.


    "So that''s it¡­ A cloak of invisibility?"


    The sorcerers all immediately realized what was going on.

 911 Three Hands

    "Detect Transparency!"


    "Reveal Spirits!"


    "Life Search!"


    The sorcerers were roused after seeing what happened.


    Under Heinze''s lead, a whole series of spells hurtled silently toward where Baggins had been standing.


    Unfortunately, there was still not a soul in sight in the empty room.


    The apple swiftly disappeared, eventually leaving only the core that was thrown into the trash can.


    Wires, wrenches, and other lock-picking tools floated into the air before disappearing.


    "Take note. Number A-172: Invisibility cloak, able to render the wearer invisible. Immune to any detection magic¡­ no, all investigative techniques!"


    Heinze picked up a thermal visualizer before quickly putting it away. "The target is still present in the physical world. The fact that he leaves footprints on the carpet and the things that he takes with him will vanish all point toward that!"


    It was apparent that he was very experienced, as he was able to quickly deduce the peculiarities of this cloak.


    "In other words, when he puts on the cloak, he will no longer exist in this world. One can only infer the existence of the cloak''s owner through his interactions with other objects¡­"


    Fang Yuan seemed to be contemplating. "It seems¡­ it isn''t that powerful after all!"


    "No! You don''t understand. This is an absolute peculiarity!" Heinze shook his head solemnly. "I suspect that it isn''t only our devices and normal detection spells that are unable to detect the cloak''s owner. I would hazard to guess that even those locking spells are unable to do anything, including the Finger of Death. Curses wouldn''t do any good either since he no longer exists in this world after putting on the cloak!"


    Fang Yuan nodded, understanding more now.


    In other words, even if there was a King of Hell in this world and he killed off everyone on this planet, the person wearing the cloak would survive. Even the world would ignore his existence.


    Beyond the Three Realms, outside the Five Elements, and written off from the Book of Life and Death!


    The level that countless Daoists were unable to reach even after bitterly cultivating could be attained simply by putting on the cloak.


    "However, he''s still the same thief underneath that cloak. Any agent could subdue him."


    Fang Yuan shook his head. "A Derivatives'' usefulness depends entirely on the person using it! Baggins is just unfortunate!"


    Heinze shook his head. "He is completely oblivious to us and believes that he is a lucky man. Not attempting to hide his newfound powers was the main reason for his downfall."


    "That''s true!"


    If Baggins was smart enough, he could have found many other methods of earning money using this Derivative. Furthermore, it would have been possible for him to interact with another world.


    He was a victim of his habits. After getting his hands on the cloak, his first thought was to use it to steal.


    The black market merchants had betrayed him without a second thought, attracting this group of trouble led by Heinze.


    If only he had paced himself, he would have never landed in this situation.


    "Ready¡­ Begin!"


    Heinze waved his hand upon seeing the doorknob turning.


    Crash!


    Glass shattered.


    After the crashing sound, two shadow agents tumbled into the room and lunged at the void behind the door.


    "Ahh!" a shocked voice rang out, followed by the sound of heavy objects falling to the floor.


    "I''ve got him!" an agent yelled excitedly. The remaining members rushed forward and clumsily removed the cloak, revealing Baggins''s face.


    "Apologies¡­ Mr. Baggins. Your adventure stops here!" Heinze stepped forward. Covering his nose and mouth with a handkerchief, he looked at the disheveled man in disgust. "Secure the Derivative and bring him along as well!"


    One had been plotting for a long time, while the other was caught off guard. It was that simple.


    From the start to the end, Fang Yuan had simply observed, playing the role of a perfect bystander.


    It appeared that Heinze was right, and this mission was indeed extremely simple. He was only here to get a portion of the credit.


    "No! I didn''t steal anything. You can''t arrest me! I demand to see a lawyer!" Baggins began struggling and shouting. "And that cloak¡­ it''s mine."


    "Apologies, Mr. Baggins. We aren''t law enforcement officers!" Heinze stepped forward without a hint of apology on his face. "We''re just¡­ umm, a grassroots organization. Also, we didn''t come here regarding your thefts. We came for this!"


    He held the black cloak in his hands, his face filled with obsession. "What a perfect piece¡­ Oh, no, I meant that it''s too dangerous. It''s not suitable for you!"


    "No!!!" Baggins began hollering. "You bandits have your eyes on my treasure. You can''t do this¡­ It''s a family heirloom!"


    "Stop lying to me, Mr. Baggins!" Heinze shook his head. "According to my knowledge, from your grandfather''s generation, your family has been a bunch of paupers¡­ Even this apartment was rented using your filthy lucre! Sorry¡­ I''ve told you so much. You''ll forget everything after I cast a simple spell! "


    "Something''s wrong!"


    Watching from the side, Fang Yuan sensed that something was off.


    Although Baggins indeed appeared extremely scared and helpless, there was a hint of craziness in his eyes.


    If someone exhausted all his trump cards and his family details were completely figured out by another, he would not have such a look about him.


    "Careful!" he exclaimed. But alas, he was too far from Heinze.


    "Ah¡­ You forced me to do this!"


    Just as Fang Yuan was charging toward the two, Baggins roared. A third hand suddenly appeared beside him!


    The hand without a wrist or arm seemed to have appeared out of thin air and grabbed forward!


    "Protect!"


    Heinze backed off swiftly, and a series of protection spells appeared on his body.


    But it was still useless!


    Neither his body armor nor the protection spells did anything to stop the hand. The hand dipped into Heinze''s body and took out something red.


    "M-my liver¡­" Heinze collapsed in pain and covered where his right liver had been. "It stole one of my livers!"


    "Bypassing defenses and attacking the body directly?"


    Fang Yuan grabbed Heinze and retreated quickly.


    Then he noticed that there were no scars or bloodstains on his clothes.


    Bang! Bang!


    Suddenly, the hand swept across swiftly. The people holding Baggins yelled out pitifully before collapsing. Their hair and beard turned white, as though they had suddenly aged tens of years.


    "Was it youth that was stolen? Or was it time?"


    Fang Yuan retreated to the edge of the building. "But it seems¡­ that there''s a range limit on it!"


    "Die!"


    Heinze''s eyes turned red and uttered an incantation swiftly.


    Whoosh!


    Lightning flashed!


    In the darkness, lightning flashed and directly hit Baggins.


    Rumble!


    Sparks flew everywhere.


    Baggins turned into a piece of coke and fell to the ground.


    "Dead?!"


    Heinze looked around and pointed at an unlucky Red Shirt. "You¡­ go and check!"


    "Yes!"


    That unlucky fellow stared at Fang Yuan viscously. He applied a bunch of protection spells on his body before daring to approach Baggins.


    Even though he knew that it was useless, it managed to give him some confidence.


    This¡­ Fang Yuan was dumbfounded seeing the look in his eyes. He doesn''t dare to hold a grudge against Heinze, but it''s a different story with me. What have I done to deserve becoming a guinea pig?


    The Red Shirt deacon approached the coke and poked it before heaving a sigh of relief. "He''s¡­ dead!"


    Heinze and Fang Yuan approached it and summoned light. "Light!"


    "Eh?" Even ordinary people could realize that there was something wrong with the corpse. Although the majority had been turned to coke, a white glove on his right hand was untouched. It was extremely noticeable.


    "Glove? Hand?"


    Heinze shifted his eyes and tried to approach it.


    However, the white glove flashed before appearing on the right hand of the Red Shirt deacon.


    "Ryan? What''s the matter?"


    Heinze retreated in a hurry.


    These types of Derivatives that automatically attached itself to other things were generally trouble. They often carried some secondary peculiarities that made their host utterly miserable.


    "I-I don''t know!" The Red Shirt deacon named Ryan was on the verge of tears. "I didn''t even touch it!"


    "How do you feel?"


    Heinze approached him, ready to fire the lightning in his hands.


    "I feel¡­ normal. However, information has been added to my brain, information about this glove!"


    Ryan took a deep breath. After seeing the sorcerers that were surrounding him, he decided to divulge all of the information. "This glove is known as ''the Third Hand''. It can steal anything on a target. However, the chance of success is random. Additionally, it can only be used once per target. The target must also have clear ownership over the item to be stolen. The item stolen can be anything, and it''s not limited merely to money, external objects, internal organs, and facial features. It can even steal intangible things like life and luck. It would then be given to the host¡­"


    Fang Yuan and Heinze exchanged glances after hearing what the Red Shirt deacon said, realizing that they had just dodged a bullet.


    If Baggins had stolen their ''strength'', what would have happened?


    Can this glove steal Dao paths? Fang Yuan immediately transmitted this question to Heinze.


    It can''t¡­ After all, it''s a Derivative of the Impermanence Great Dao and can''t stand up to a Great Dao itself. However, our strength and abilities would have been stolen for sure! Heinze replied with a pained look.


    Fang Yuan thought of something. Wait a second¡­ what happens when Derivatives of the same class have conflicting peculiarities? For example¡­ if the sharpest spear meets the strongest shield?


    Simple¡­ check their priority! Heinze was very familiar with this hypothetical situation. The priority of first-class Derivatives is usually higher than the classes below. As for those affected by the Derivative, their priority would be even lower.


    All right. What is the cost of using it?


    Heinze looked at Ryan with disbelief written all over his face. "Don''t tell me that there''s no cost. From our past experiences of handling similar Derivatives, that''s impossible!"

 912 Suspicion

    "I¡­ really don''t know!" Ryan said with a long face.


    He''s telling the truth! Fang Yuan secretly transmitted to Heinze. As a Dream Master, he could easily tell if someone was lying from the most minute expressions or movements.


    "Then we have more reason to be wary. It means that we''ve already paid a terrible price somewhere, just that we aren''t yet aware of it!"


    Heinze gestured with his eyes to Fang Yuan. "Let''s go back!"


    The group took the loot and the charred corpse and left the house. A thick mist appeared.


    "Get ready¡­ We''re going to mass teleport back to the branch!"


    Heinze snapped his fingers.


    Bang!


    A pillar of light suddenly hit him from the sky. He flew backward and smashed into the apartment building, buried under a pile of bricks.


    Whoosh whoosh!


    In midair, shadows in black robes appeared. They looked like giant bats and kept diving toward them.


    It was not long before one of the sorcerers yelled out in pain. Long, boney fingers had broken his protection spells, which simply tore apart.


    "Chain Lightning!"


    "Acid Spray!"


    "Dragon Destruction Sword!"


    They fired all sorts of spells at the monsters, but none of them had any effect.


    "Let''s go!"


    The others were also extremely shocked by what happened. They all started to use the Teleport spell to escape.


    A few loyal ones also wanted to stay to help Representative Heinze and maybe take Ryan away.


    However, attacks always concentrated on these types of people. They all died a gruesome death before accomplishing anything.


    "Tele-teleport!" Ryan shouted shakily with all his might.


    Unfortunately, the spell that had never failed before had lost its effect. He stayed in the distance helplessly, watching his comrades all die before his eyes. In the end, the only one left was the junior deacon Snow.


    "What? You want to make your move now."


    Fang Yuan shrugged and looked at the pit on the ground where Heinze fell.


    "Yes, I''ve had enough¡­" Heinze''s face was gloomy. He walked out from his hiding spot. "I wanted to continue acting as this foolish character for a while, but your appearance has caused me to change my plans¡­ Our combined strength should be enough to break through the congress'' seals."


    "In fact, your original preparations were plenty¡­"


    Fang Yuan looked at the black-robed monsters that had amassed. "Magic nullification? Also sealing off the Teleport spell¡­ It should be possible to surround and annihilate the entire Sorcerer Congress of Newtlud with these monsters alone, right?"


    "If it''s only sorcerers we''re up against, then these subordinates that I''ve trained are enough, but unfortunately¡­ Naturally, the Sorcerer Congress has more than just magic at its disposal¡­ According to the agreement between various organizations, it can receive prompt reinforcements and activate some of the collected Derivatives when attacked¡­"


    Heinze shook his head.


    "No! Sir¡­ please don''t kill me!"


    The sole survivor, the unlucky Ryan, was on the verge of tears at this point. He collapsed onto the ground.


    "The suppression of this world on our power is too great. Such a dirty, lowly lifeform, and I had to endure it all this time¡­" Heinze looked at Ryan as though he were looking at a pile of trash.


    Naturally, now that he knew what the glove was capable of, he did not approach recklessly. Instead, he turned toward Fang Yuan. "This man offended you earlier. I''ll leave him to you. His Derivative is yours as well. I''ll take this cloak!"


    "I''ve been wondering what loot were you planning to bring back to headquarters¡­" Fang Yuan shook his head. "It looks like¡­ you had everything planned out!"


    "It was just a backup plan¡­ If there weren''t two Derivative, I wouldn''t have acted!" Heinze shook his head.


    "In that case¡­!" Fang Yuan snapped his fingers.


    "Ahh!" While crying pitifully, Ryan was swallowed by a ball of flame.


    Then, just as Fang Yuan was prepared for, the glove appeared on his right hand after a flash of light.


    "The Third Hand?" He looked at his arm, intrigued. "This is really¡­ interesting!"


    "This Derivative shall be my welcoming gift to you¡­ After you help me obtain the Philosopher''s Book, I will tell you how to absorb Derivatives¡­ Although you can slowly figure it out yourself using the power of a Great Dao, my method ensures that the power of the rules can be best preserved. Also, the cost is minimal." Heinze smiled.


    "In other words¡­" Fang Yuan sneered. A dangerous aura filled him. "You''re threatening me?"


    "Threaten? No! I just want some small insurance, that''s all!" Heinze hastily waved his hand and said sincerely, "I really hope to meet your true body in the Mental Demon Realm. Furthermore¡­ I''ve already shown you my sincerity, haven''t I?"


    "It''s really sincere." Fang Yuan looked at his right hand and sneered. "All right, I promise to help you obtain the Philosopher''s Book!"


    Heinze thought he had Fang Yuan completely under his control, but in fact, this Snow was merely the clone of a Magical Clone. Fang Yuan would not lose much even if he were to lose it now.


    Naturally, he would not tell Heinze the truth.


    After all, letting others believe that they had something on him would let them trust him more.


    "Very good! I will give myself some injuries. You''ll send me back after that. I''m sure you know what to say?" Heinze was not the least bit surprised.


    In fact, what he was doing was not threatening. He was only using incentives to continue to attract Fang Yuan. His method was on the mellow side.


    "We were surrounded and attacked. A representative had betrayed us. After a hard-fought battle, we escaped. However, the Derivative was lost¡­ Anyway, that''s the gist of it!"


    Fang Yuan nodded, and his hand flashed. The white glove disappeared into his flesh.


    "That''s right¡­ After this incident, I''ll promote you to a Red Shirt deacon. You''ll then be qualified to teleport. We can then go to the Sorcerer Congress headquarters together. You must increase your strength quickly in this period of time. Only then can you assist me more effectively!"


    A Demon God that had just descended to a world was not much different from a normal human. However, some of his strength would recover with time.


    The longer the time, the more strength recovered.


    As a result, Heinze did not worry that Fang Yuan would surpass him.


    "No problem!" Fang Yuan nodded.


    On a remote island, a red lizard that was nine meters long and had two protrusions on its back opened its mouth to reveal a mocking expression.


    ¡­


    Rumble!


    Red flames danced. Fang Yuan appeared in the branch hall that was already rather chaotic while carrying an unconscious Heinze drenched in blood. "Hurry¡­ he needs treatment!"


    Step! Step!


    The branch that was already in commotion due to the return of some insiders immediately turned more chaotic.


    Luckily, everyone present was a sorcerer, so they were well-versed in various healing spells and immediately recited them. A few green rays of light covered Heinze, and the scars on his body disappeared quickly.


    Fang Yuan was very curious whether there were spells that facilitated immortality or necromancy in the Philosopher''s Book.


    "Tsk tsk! Heinze, what a sorry sight!" Two sorcerers who dressed similar to Heinze approached them, their faces filled with mocking expressions. "What happened?"


    "We were ambushed. Boss is gravely injured. Even the Derivative was stolen!" Fang Yuan answered timidly. His acting skills were off the charts.


    "Useless piece of trash!" The two representatives shook their heads. One of them looked playful, while the other appeared somber. The somber one''s gaze was filled with fear when he looked at Heinze. "Who are you?"


    "The branch''s¡­ Snow!"


    Fang Yuan was starting to feel uncomfortable.


    It looked like the Sorcerer Congress had started suspecting Heinze. Otherwise, they would not have sent these two representatives here.


    "A Red Shirt deacon now. He saved me!" Heinze coughed and ''woke up''. "Parker! Sheldon! Did the president send you two?"


    "Of course! He was worried that you''d fail the mission! Turns out¡­ that he was right!" Parker laughed mockingly.


    "Representative Heinze, I want to know exactly what happened." Sheldon''s expression was grave. "Also, the president plans to invite you to attend a hearing to explain why there are always problems when you bring teams to settle Derivatives."


    "What can I do? The peculiarities of Derivatives are just too strange. And teams led by you two are too stupid!" Heinze stood up. "Do you mean to say that other teams never have problems? Stop joking! All right, I''ll attend the hearing. What you guys need to do now is to head to the scene and see if you can capture those damn bat monsters. Immediately! At once!"


    The atmosphere was tense.


    Parker moved his lips, looking like he wanted to shout vulgarities and recite incantations.


    Soon after, Sheldon pulled on his arm, and the two disappeared in flames.


    "What''s happening?"


    Even the slowest person would realize that something was not right due to what just happened.


    "I don''t know. I need some time to check. Follow me!"


    Heinze brought Fang Yuan to his room and checked everything in the blink of an eye. He then released a barrier and started communicating with others.


    After a moment, his expression turned gloomy. "Damn it! We have to move our plans forward! The president seems to have secured some evidence that confirms that I''m up to no good. He intends to impeach me. This hearing is a trap!"


    "That''s really¡­ a pity!" Fang Yuan shrugged. "Then, do we continue with our deal?"


    "Of course!" Heinze nodded matter-of-factly. "I''ve laid low all these years in wait of that day! No¡­ we have to be more careful now. I was sure that I never left any evidence. As such, the most that congress could do was to be suspicious of me. However, they''re very sure this time. I suspect that they were enlightened by some sort of Derivative!"


    "Speaking of the powers of Derivatives¡­" Fang Yuan looked at Heinze''s waist. "Your liver¡­"


    "There''s only one left. Even the Greater Restoration spell can''t produce another. It''s like I had one liver all along¡­" Heinze answered with a long face.

 913 Headquarters

    In the middle of Newtlud, on a huge snowy mountain.


    A translucent magic shield spread across the mountain peak and covered the palace beneath, keeping it as warm as if it were springtime despite the ice-cold snow and wind outside.


    It was almost impossible to build such a palace on top of a snowy mountain, even with the current level of technology. However, with sorcery, it became possible.


    This was the headquarters of the Newtlud Sorcerer Congress¡ªWhite Sanctuary.


    Seven out of the thirteen representatives stayed in the palace all year round. But it had much more than that. The Philosopher''s Book, which sealed the root of all sorcerers, was kept here as well.


    Of course, very few people knew.


    But to Representative Heinze, it was nothing significant.


    With a flash of light, four figures appeared on the snow-white plaza.


    "We''ve reached the White Sanctuary!" Heinze looked at the translucent sky. "This place uses the ultimate protection magic and magic nullification barriers, and only the Thirteen Representatives have the jurisdiction to cast spells inside."


    Whether unintentionally or not, he revealed the White Sanctuary''s various defensive measures to Fang Yuan.


    "It''s nice that you still have the mood to take care of your ''good friend'', Heinze!"


    Parker winked at Heinze. "Prepare for the hearing! Oh right¡­ I forgot to mention that congress passed a motion while you were on your mission. From now on, everyone, including the representatives, is deprived of the right to cast spells inside the White Sanctuary during the hearing investigation!"


    "You¡­" Heinze''s face turned red, half-feigning his anger. "Are you planning on treating me like a prisoner?"


    "Not at all. You are still one of the thirteen before the hearing, but you aren''t allowed to leave the Sanctuary. You should enjoy your last moments of freedom¡­"


    Parker laughed coldly.


    This is slightly troublesome¡­ If I''m restricted from casting spells, leaving will be difficult!


    This plaza only permitted entrance but not exit, so when external sorcerers teleported to the headquarters, they could only leave via a few fixed exit points.


    However, since he was unable to cast spells freely, one of the escape routes in his plan was no longer feasible.


    "Since I''m still a representative, arrange a room for my Red Shirt deacon. It must be the best!" Heinze ordered one of the sorcerers nearby and then gave Fang Yuan a look. "I''ll come to find you in a while."


    "¡­"


    Although he knew that Heinze was acting, he still felt goosebumps.


    "Hmph!"


    Parker and Sheldon were visibly uncomfortable by Heinze''s actions as well. They snorted and walked away separately.


    At this point, they did not fear that Heinze would escape. On the contrary, deep down, they even wanted Heinze to do something stupid of his own accord.


    They spared even less thought for a small fry Red Shirt deacon like Fang Yuan.


    "There are three days left until the hearing. I''ll see you tonight! There are a few useful things in the headquarters, such as the Sorcery Library, so you can take a look."


    After speaking to Fang Yuan, Heinze immediately headed down another corridor. It was obvious that he was trying to get in touch with a few acquaintances to get a read on the situation.


    "The promotion of Red Shirt deacons has always been settled at the branches. It is only when they advance to Purple Robe sorcerers that they need to go to the headquarters for ''advanced studies''¡­"


    Fang Yuan was well aware that advanced studies merely meant remembering a few high-level spells.


    As long as they were not fools, anyone would be able to accomplish it.


    However, due to Heinze''s merits, he had managed to enjoy the treatment of Purple Robe sorcerers before becoming one.


    Before the actual trial, Heinze was still one of the Thirteen Representatives. Along with his connections and allies, he could at least manage this for Fang Yuan.


    Even his opponents would not pester him over such trivial matters.


    However, things could very well be different after the dust settled.


    Even the most insignificant matter would become irrefutable evidence!


    After Heinze had brought Fang Yuan to the palace, he had dumped him.


    Fang Yuan was quite pleased with the situation. He could leisurely tour the White Sanctuary, and as long as he did not try to enter a few sensitive areas, no one would pay attention to him.


    "Walls and pillars made from ice. And this pattern, this is very classy¡­"


    Fang Yuan arrived at a place and scrutinized the patterns on a wall.


    There was even the portrait of a man made from the convergence of snowflakes on the ice wall.


    "Prague Dorif!"


    Just as he was looking intently at the portrait, he heard a clear voice.


    Fang Yuan turned around and saw a sorceress.


    She was of average height and had a ponytail. She was holding a stack of documents, and coupled with a pair of round black-rimmed glasses, she had the air of an intellectual.


    Fang Yuan did not respond.


    The sorceress continued, "He was the first president of the Sorcerer Congress. He also established the system of the Thirteen Representatives during his time!"


    "I see¡­" Fang Yuan nodded. "Do you know where the Sorcery Library is? I would like to check out the material on some spells¡­"


    "Go straight ahead, take a left turn, and then take a right turn," the sorceress replied with a little more respect in her tone. "Sir, are you a Purple Robe sorcerer who is here for your promotion?"


    "No! I''m just a Red Shirt. My name is Snow!"


    Fang Yuan laughed.


    "A Red Shirt that has come to the headquarters for his promotion will surely become a Purple Robe in the future!" The sorceress seemed to be encouraging Fang Yuan. "Do your best!"


    Fang Yuan felt a bit dumbfounded and asked, "Speaking of which¡­ what''s your name?"


    "Alwin, secretary of the Supernatural Phenomenon Department!" The sorceress adjusted her glasses.


    "Alwin, why are you still here?!" A sorcerer came and looked at Fang Yuan cautiously. "Who is he?"


    "Snow, a Red Shirt who has come for his promotion!"


    Alwin then introduced her boss to Fang Yuan. "This is Billy, from the Presidential Guards!"


    "Snow¡­ that name seems familiar!"


    Billy stroked his chin and then flashed a weird smile. "I remember. It was mentioned to me just now. Heinze''s new boyfriend?"


    "What?" Alwin exclaimed. It was apparent that Heinze''s strange habit was no secret at the headquarters either.


    "How many times have I reminded you not to meddle with those of lower class!"


    Billy grabbed Alwin''s arm and tried to pull her away.


    Crash!


    But perhaps he had been too hasty, so the big pile of documents scattered across the floor.


    "What are you doing?" Alwin screamed. She hurriedly squatted down and started picking up the documents.


    "Kid, what are you trying to do?"


    Billy looked at the Fang Yuan walking forward and said with a voice that was trying hard to sound intimidating, "This is the sanctuary. All magic is prohibited¡­ Also, your patron, Heinze, is about to fall from power."


    "Nothing¡­"


    Fang Yuan smashed his fist into the man''s right cheek and immediately felt more tranquility around his ears.


    "Just dealing with a pile of trash. I''m sure you don''t mind?" he said casually as he helped Alwin to her feet.


    Possessing Snow did not mean that he had to inherit all of his traits.


    Fang Yuan walked toward the Sorcery Library in stride, ready to check out the spells that Red Shirts had clearance for.


    He was not the least bit worried about what had just happened with Billy.


    Before Heinze fell from power, he could continue to enjoy his protection.


    Not to mention how embarrassing it would be for a guard to be knocked out by an ordinary sorcerer. Billy might not even speak of it to others, including the representatives.


    "This Snow¡­" Alwin stood dumbfounded, her eyes a little dazed. "What kind of person is he?"


    "Definitely nothing good!"


    Billy took a good while to get back onto his feet. Looking at the direction that Fang Yuan had left in, his face was full of viscousness. "Snow¡­ just you wait!"


    ¡­


    Nightfall.


    In the VIP lounge.


    Fang Yuan sat waiting cross-legged until midnight.


    A series of knocks echoed. Heinze had arrived just as arranged.


    "How did it go?"


    Fang Yuan knew that Heinze must have made a lot of connections and allies in his years in the congress, so he should have learned something.


    "Good news and bad news!" Heinze shrugged. "The good news is that the president doesn''t have any evidence against me yet! The bad news is that more than half of the representatives believe that I have ulterior motives!"


    "How did that happen?" Fang Yuan asked, slightly puzzled.


    "It''s because of a¡­ Derivative!" Heinze answered. "''Primary Color'' lent it to us. It has marvelous effects when it comes to distinguishing right from wrong. It''s named ''Bunshinsaba'' and has the appearance of a normal pen. You merely need to write down two options, one right and one wrong, and it will point to the right option!"


    "So¡­ you''ve been caught?" Fang Yuan looked at Heinze sympathetically.


    Even if they had covered all their bases, their attempts to protect their true motives would be laughable in the face of such an unreasonable Derivative.


    "Yeah, when it comes to choosing between options that have clear right and wrong answers, ''Bunshinsaba'' has never been wrong. The president has never trusted me completely, so he used it to test my loyalty¡­"


    Heinze shook his head. "I''m confident that I never left any evidence behind. In the end, I was exposed by a Derivative. How vexing! I need to attend the hearing soon, so I''ve decided that we''ll act then! I''ve already summoned my subordinates nearby. As long as I issue the signal, they''ll immediately attack!"


    "It''s just a hearing!" Fang Yuan was not feeling very tense at all. "Since they have no evidence, the most they could do is to make you take a backseat!"


    "I didn''t descend upon this world to enjoy retirement¡­ I''m determined to obtain the rules in the Philosopher''s Book!"


    Heinze was almost roaring. Many vague, overlapping shadows appeared on his body.


    This was the result of his intense emotions, causing him to be unable to suppress his Demon God aura.


    "On the day of the hearing? Rest assured!" Fang Yuan nodded thoughtfully. "Even you have the confidence to start anew, so what do I have to fear?"

 914 Fallou

    Three days later, the hearing commenced.


    The hearing was held inside a round hall, and the person on trial sat in the center. He was facing over ten referendaries, as well as a large batch of jurors and the audience behind him. The pressure was great.


    Fang Yuan had managed to sneak into the crowd. He looked at Heinze''s back and the group of representatives sitting in front.


    There were many sorcerers among the audience. He also saw Alwin. The sorceress held a notebook and was constantly jotting down something.


    It was apparent that everyone was interested in a representative on trial.


    Although it''s merely a hearing, this is the layout of a trial!


    Fang Yuan shook his head discreetly. He knew that Heinze would be in serious trouble if he were to allow them to do as they pleased.


    "The president has arrived!"


    The crowd immediately started murmuring. An ashen-haired old man wearing a black robe slowly walked into the hall with multiple guard teams surrounding him. He eventually arrived at the highest seat and sat down.


    His features were worn with age, and his eyes were blurry with cataracts, looking like any other sickly old man. This was the president of the Sorcerer Congress, John Joe Davis.


    The guards, including Billy, that surrounded him earlier now stood at his sides. The atmosphere was rather solemn.


    Billy saw Fang Yuan and smiled tauntingly.


    "Silence!" John knocked the small wooden gavel in his hands. "The hearing of Heinze is now commencing!"


    The entire place fell silent.


    On the main stage, Parker stood up. With a disgusted and cold tone, he questioned, "Heinze Nader! Please explain your lack of loyalty to the congress, as well as your actions that undermined the congress'' well-being!"


    The sorcerers had no evidence, and Heinze knew it.


    However, with the Bunshinsaba''s testimony, even if Heinze managed to go unpunished, he would have to hand over the majority of his authority to escape further suspicion.


    "Why? For myself, of course!"


    Heinze stood up with his head held high and looked around.


    The atmosphere was dead silent. Even Parker opened his mouth wide in surprise. He shouted hysterically, "Did you hear what he just said? He admits it! He admits it!"


    Rumble!


    The next moment, the entire hall erupted with commotion.


    President John hit his gavel repeatedly before for everything returned to calmness.


    "Heinze¡­ do you understand the costs of what you are saying? Are you sure you''re in charge of your faculties?" John asked slowly.


    "Of course¡­ I am well aware! I''ve already¡­ had enough of all of you!" Heinze replied loudly. "You bunch of degenerate, foolish trash¡­ How could people like you be fit to possess treasures like the Philosopher''s Book? Today¡­ it shall belong to me!"


    Parker realized that the situation was taking a turn for the worse, so he hurriedly recited a spell and pointed with his right finger. "Bind!"


    Golden chains appeared around Heinze''s body.


    "Sorcery? You will soon discover that you are ignorant when it comes to true horror!"


    Heinze growled. His entire body suddenly ballooned up, as though there had been a giant spirit residing in his body all this time.


    The dark illusion expanded continuously, causing the chains to groan under the strain before eventually snapping.


    Ping!


    Before anyone was ready, a giant explosion formed.


    Multiple black shadows exploded from Heinze''s body. They were like huge bats that hung in the air. Growling, they pounced at the sorcerers.


    Whoosh!


    Their wilted fingers were tipped with sharp fingernails, and they easily tore human bodies apart with a single swipe.


    Soon, the entire hall turned into a slaughterhouse.


    Screams, growls, and shrieks, as well as the splatter of blood, caused chaos in the hall.


    "Petrification!"


    In the chaos and clamor, a huge roar resounded, suppressing everything.


    It was President John!


    The ordinary old man now had a resolute expression, appearing more like a guardian than any of the guards and brimming with a radiance that instilled trust.


    Buzz buzz!


    A wave of magic spread and hit the black-robed monsters.


    Unfortunately, these Demon God subordinates were specifically prepared by Heinze to tackle Sorcerers, and they were immune to magic.


    The giant bat monsters dashed onto the main stage without hesitation.


    "Protect the president and the representatives!" the captain of the guards bellowed. He drew a gun from his waist and shot at the monsters.


    Behind him, the guards steeled their expressions and brandished silver swords, daggers, and other similar weapons.


    "No¡­ it shouldn''t be like this!" Billy held an ¨¦p¨¦e in his hands, but his face was pale. "W-Why has it suddenly turned into this?"


    He saw a black monster rushing towards him. Overcome with fear, he screamed and suddenly tried to escape.


    "Billy! Save me!" A cry for help rang out.


    Billy turned around and saw that Alwin had fallen onto the floor. She had sprained her ankle, and a black bat monster was about to attack her.


    "I''m sorry!" Billy forced himself to look away and dashed toward the exit.


    "No!" Alwin''s eyes filled with endless despair.


    Rumble!


    Countless sorcerers crowded at the exit, creating a very chaotic scene. The once graceful sorcerers were pushing, squeezing, and even stepping over each other as they fought for their chance to live.


    Suddenly, there was a huge explosion.


    The highly-packed area immediately became the scene of a massacre.


    Blood and gore flew everywhere; broken limbs and bones scattered all over.


    Just as the bat monster was about to attack, a calm voice emerged. "Miss¡­ you shouldn''t remain here. Let''s leave immediately!"


    Alwin raised her head and saw Fang Yuan.


    The monster seemed extremely frightened of him and quickly left. "As repayment for you showing me the way earlier, I have saved you. I can only wish you good luck for things that happen after this!"


    Mr. Snow¡­


    Miss Alwin was a little dazed as she watched Snow walking away toward the main stage.


    "Go quickly!"


    Parker''s face distorted as he chanted spell after spell.


    Unfortunately, the spells did little to the bat monsters.


    "All of you¡­ will die!"


    Heinze had turned into a black giant nearly three meters tall. He roared while charging forward and punched.


    Bang!


    A guard wearing full armor smashed into the wall, and blood seeped from his armor.


    "Chain Lightning!"


    "Great Fireball!"


    "Cone of Cold!"


    ¡­


    The other representatives recited various spells in a fluster to attack the black giant.


    Unfortunately, as with the bat monsters, none of the spells had any effect.


    "It''s your turn!"


    Fang Yuan jumped to the periphery of the battle, and a tiny silver knife flew from his hands.


    Parker screamed and collapsed onto the ground, covering his thigh with his hands.


    "Blade Edge!"


    Cold sweat covered his forehead as he looked up at Fang Yuan and squeezed out a spell.


    A blade appeared and hurtled toward Fang Yuan.


    Fang Yuan waved his right hand, and a black monster appeared between him and the blade, shielding him from the strike.


    "No! Spare me!" Parker was in tears. "I don''t want to die. I can give you anything you want!"


    "How pitiful. Too bad you can''t give me what I want!"


    Fang Yuan casually punched Parker.


    Blood covered Parker''s head as he slowly fell.


    "Sir President!" Heinze rushed in front of President John. "I need the Philosopher''s Book!"


    "Impossible! The power of the book is at the pinnacle even among first-class Derivatives. Overusing its power will bring disaster to the entire world!" John refused righteously.


    "Keke¡­ When it comes to overuse, no one can compare to you. Having invented so many spells¡­ did you not know that every spell incurs a cost from something? Perhaps that something is the very universe itself!" Heinze said fiercely. He suddenly dashed forward.


    Bang! Bang!


    Those standing in his way, no matter if they were representatives or guard captains, all coughed up blood as they fell back.


    "I just need a bit of your blood and the power of curses!"


    He grabbed John, and strands of black lines started climbing onto him. It was not long before the president''s expressions turned dull.


    As a Demon God who had been in hiding for decades, Heinze''s explosion of power was terrifying. He even directly controlled the president of the Sorcerer Congress!


    Poof!


    At this time, Fang Yuan pulled out a silver dining knife from Sheldon''s neck. "What should we do next?"


    They had killed everyone in the hall. And the chaos was now on the outside, even turning worse as time went on.


    "To the treasure vault in the basement¡­ The blood of seven representatives, in addition to John''s voice, can open the door!"


    Heinze used a small bottle to collect the blood on the floor. "We have to hurry!"


    Although he could defeat the Sorcerer Congress, it was all because he had been planning this for a very long time.


    Things would not be so easy if they waited until the Derivative organizations from other countries arrived.


    "I have an ill premonition. Things seem to be going too smoothly!"


    Fang Yuan frowned while following Heinze outside the hall.


    Above the White Sanctuary, the black robe monsters were floating and dancing as they ignored the magic protections, as well as nullification enchantments, to hunt and kill ordinary sorcerers at will.


    "The path to the treasure vault is surely guarded by representatives. However, they''re nothing to us!"


    Heinze found the passageway easily and waved his hand.


    The large group of bat monsters flew into the passageway.


    "Let''s go!"


    After passing through the passageway, an enormous underground chamber entered Fang Yuan''s vision.


    It was similar to a cave that had walls emanating with a layer of white fluorescence.


    In the depths of the fluorescence, there was a huge golden door.


    The bat monsters screamed and attacked the few sorcerers in front of the door.

 915 One Step Ahead.

    "I never wanted to resort to force¡­" Heinze was actually feeling regretful. "I don''t mean that I can''t bear it, but it''s because those last remaining guards certainly had Derivatives with them."


    The Sorcerer Congress had been established for the purpose of controlling Derivatives under Newtlud''s initiative.


    After so many years, even if they only encountered one serious incident every few years, they must have accumulated quite a number of Derivatives by now.


    Removing the Derivatives that were superfluous or lacked combat peculiarities, there still had to be a few useful ones! This was the final trump card of the entire Sorcerer Congress.


    Heinze had been investigating these Derivatives all this time, but he had not managed to find out anything. He even aroused suspicion.


    At this moment, on both sides of the huge golden door, a few sorcerers collapsed.


    Two senior sorcerers remained. One looked solemn and was wearing a pair of sunglasses!


    That''s right, sunglasses! These kinds of cheap products found everywhere on sunny beaches! Sunglasses that absolutely did not match his temperament!


    Fang Yuan and Heinze immediately felt goosebumps and took cover. "Derivative?!"


    Splash!


    The gaze of the senior sorcerer shifted toward a monster that was in midair.


    With a ''Poof'', the bat monster suddenly turned into a piece of strawberry cake.


    Fang Yuan dabbed the butter at his side and smelled it. "Hmm, the butter is sweet, and the strawberry fresh!"


    He was dumbfounded. "What is this? Cake beam? Turning targets in sight into cakes?"


    One had to admit the peculiarities of Derivative could indeed be very strange. They were often full of the peculiarities of impermanence.


    "Yes, cake¡­ even our bodies would meet the same end if those sunglasses see them!" Heinze nodded.


    His monster subordinates were only immune to spells. This effect, however, came from Derivatives. Their magic nullification barriers had no effect against the power of Derivatives.


    The peculiarities of Derivatives were absolute. Even descended Demon Gods like them might not be able to resist.


    "Fortunately¡­ luck is on our side this time!"


    Fang Yuan glanced at Heinze. The sly old fox nodded and flicked open a black cloak.


    It was their loot in their earlier endeavor, the Invisibility Cloak. It could make its user disappear from the world and escape any detection.


    This Derivative was obviously the nemesis of the sunglasses, which required gazing at its target.


    The cloak covered Heinze''s body, and he instantly disappeared. Footprints appeared one after another on the dust-covered floor and headed for the golden door.


    However, even if the senior sorcerer knew where Heinze was, even if he stared so hard that tears seeped out from his eyes, he could not do anything to Heinze under the cloak.


    Bang!


    Heinze arrived in front of him and unceremoniously took off his sunglasses. He then slapped the sorcerer against the wall.


    "Ahh!!!"


    The representative beside the senior sorcerer yelled. Holding what looked like a freshly-made pancake, he tossed it lightly.


    Swoosh!


    Light flashed. The pancake swept through Heinze''s waist and cut through the boulder behind him like tofu, sinking into unknown depths.


    It looked like that pancake was sharper than any Divine Armament!


    "Bastard¡­"


    Heinze''s upper body fell down, and blood erupted from the opening.


    Anyone would be in agony after being split apart at the waist.


    Luckily, he was no mortal, but a Demon God. Even his original lifeform had changed.


    On the huge wound at his waist, the blood seemed to have a life of its own. It flowed back into his body, and numerous flesh buds swiftly connected the lower half with the upper half.


    "Old fool!"


    The raging Heinze grabbed the old man''s limbs and tore them apart.


    Whoosh!


    The sorcerer split into pieces as organs and blood scattered across the floor.


    "Truly incredible¡­"


    Fang Yuan went to the rock face of the cave and managed to find the pancake with difficulty after using his psyche to search for it. He fished it out from the rock. "The sharpest object in this world is a pancake. Who would believe it¡­"


    He could see that the senior sorcerer who had thrown the pancake was not a trained warrior and had merely casually tossed it.


    But even such a toss had managed to cut right through the demon body that Heinze had been refining for a few decades without even slowing down. It was truly incredible.


    "It''s a pity¡­ there''s no handle. It''s easy to have an accident with this!"


    Fang Yuan looked at the pancake, seeming conflicted.


    What just happened demonstrated to him that this was absolutely an unparalleled weapon. However, he could very well cut himself if he were to be careless.


    If it rebounded, Fang Yuan did not feel that this random body that he had chosen to possess would rival Heinze''s body in any way. He also did not have its regenerative powers.


    "Damned old fool¡­" Heinze roared, "Just a bit more¡­ just a bit more, and he would have really destroyed my body! Would you believe it? A Demon God killed by a mortal. That would be the greatest joke of the Mental Demon Realm!"


    "Unfortunately, this world has been abnormal from the start¡­" Fang Yuan shrugged. "In fact¡­ we''re pretty lucky, aren''t we?"


    "That''s right. Looked like the two Derivatives that these guards had weren''t that powerful! However, the more powerful the Derivative, the more dangerous it is. Maybe the more powerful ones are sealed off by themselves!"


    Heinze stepped forward with seven drops of blood floating in front of him. The blood suddenly fused and sank into a keyhole on the door.


    Step! Step!


    The puppet president now under his control stepped forward and said dully, "Golden Door! Open in the name of the president of the Sorcerer Congress!"


    Kaboom!


    The golden door opened and revealed a museum-like layout.


    However, the displays were all empty.


    "Impossible!" Heinze''s face twisted. "The last time I was here, this place wasn''t like this!"


    He ran madly to the last crystal pedestal. The Philosopher''s Book should have been at the center of the crystals, but regretfully, it was empty as well.


    The Philosopher''s Book had disappeared for some unknown reason.


    "No! It shouldn''t be like this!" Fang Yuan was slightly shocked as well. "If it was a fake vault, then why did the guards risk their lives? The only explanation is that someone came here before us."


    He searched high and low in the empty treasure vault. Eventually, he found a note.


    One of its corners was inserted into a counter. The entire note was sky-blue, and dark golden patterns decorated its edges.


    "¡­ Gentlemen, since the ''Bunshinsaba'' has predicted that the Sorcerer Congress is no longer suitable for storing Derivatives, we will be taking the Philosopher''s Book, as well as the other Derivatives¡­ You Know Who!"


    "Damn it! It''s Primary Color!" Heinze growled. "I knew it¡­ them loaning the Bunshinsaba was a trap all along¡­ They must have used that Derivative as a catalyst and opened another passage to here! They emptied this place only just now! Not much time has passed!"


    It was only during the hearing earlier that the powerful members, including the president, would briefly leave this place.


    Unfortunately, Heinze had arrived one step too late. There was nothing left for him.


    "The Sorcerer Congress used this treasure vault to store Derivatives. Its safety is unquestionable!" Fang Yuan shook his head. "There must be anti-teleportation spells inside¡­ To achieve this, the easiest way would be to use Derivatives."


    Fang Yuan contemplated for a while. "Heinze, do you know what Primary Color''s most famous space manipulation item is?"


    "I know¡­ it''s a door. Legend says that you only need to attach it to a wall, and with the help of a catalyst, it can connect to anywhere in the world!" Heinze nodded solemnly. "They must have used the power of that door. Damned thieves! Swindlers!"


    "They merely moved it somewhere. We still have a chance¡ª"


    Fang Yuan was about to console Heinze when he suddenly felt a slight pain and sense of emptiness.


    It was a very strange sensation, as though knowing one''s clothes had been stolen.


    Right, it was like something that was not really important had been stolen.


    "Cr*p¡­" Heinze''s expression changed. "It''s Primary Color! They tore off the front spell page!"


    One had to record magic in the Philosopher''s Book if they wanted the magic to be real.


    If a page was torn off, the book would generate a new black page to preserve itself.


    As for the effect of the spells that had been torn off, they would disappear.


    After Primary Color got their hands on the book, it would no longer serve the Sorcerer Congress. They also needed to prepare for the possible revenge from the sorcerers. So naturally, the safest move would be to tear off all the first few pages of the Philosopher''s Book.


    Without the power of spells, the sorcerers were just normal people. There would not be much they could do.


    "Damn! Damn! Damn! Primary Color¡­" Heinze shouted hysterically. "I will never let you go!"


    Even a Demon God would feel awful after their carefully prepared plans went awry.


    "All right, we should be leaving as well!" Fang Yuan looked at the wall. The entire cave was shaking, and many cracks had appeared. "This place looks like it''s going to collapse!"


    "That''s right¡­ You''ve forgotten that this is on the peak of a big snowy mountain. Magic is required to maintain the existence of the White Sanctuary¡­ And now, all that magic has disappeared!" Heinze smiled bitterly. "If we wait any longer, we could even be buried alive under millions of tons of snow!"


    "Let''s go!"


    Fang Yuan did not waste time and followed Heinze.


    Their way out was even smoother than their way in.


    All that stood in their way was unarmed ordinary people.


    However, not only did they need to cope with the fact that they could no longer use magic, they now needed to escape if they did not want to be buried under the snowy peak along with the White Sanctuary!

 916 Terminator

    Boom!


    The protection magic surrounding the White Sanctuary vanished in an instant, and large volumes of snow blew into the sanctuary.


    More terrifying, the snowy peak was about to collapse into an avalanche.


    Originally, the sorcerers could have left the sanctuary and then use Teleportation to escape.


    However, even if the magic nullification barrier collapsed, they no longer had the power to use magic. Full of anxiety and despair, they were like ordinary people scurrying about in the sanctuary.


    "The Sorcerer Congress rose from the powers of the Philosopher''s Book. Now that the book is gone, its downfall will soon come."


    Fang Yuan suddenly felt emotional at the scene.


    As expected, powers that did not belong to oneself were unreliable.


    After the magic pages in the Philosopher''s Book were destroyed, everyone, from the representatives to the lowest ranking Black Shirts, became no different from ordinary people.


    "Haha¡­ Truly¡­ What a beautiful scene!"


    Heinze did not feel a shred of sadness. On the contrary, he was feeling rather happy.


    Ping!


    With his crazed laughter, two lumps of flesh grew from his back and exploded into a pair of wings that dripped with slime.


    "Let''s go!"


    Fang Yuan grabbed a bat monster and flew up as well.


    "No!!!"


    "Sir Heinze, save us!"


    "I repent!"


    "We''re still allies!"


    ¡­


    Below, they could hear many cries for help, but Heinze turned a blind eye to them. He squinted his eyes, as though he were enjoying an opera.


    Fang Yuan frowned and asked, "Where is Primary Color?"


    "Saint Nairlean Empire!" After all, Heinze had spent decades in this world. He had also held a high-ranking position in the Sorcerer Congress and had a wealth of experience. He answered without hesitation, "It''s one of the most prosperous countries of this world. Primary Color is a gigantic Derivative organization. In comparison, the Sorcerer Congress is only a second-class organization!


    "Its structure is extremely tight. In addition to the normal combat and research personnel, there is a group called ''Terminator''. Their combat abilities are immense, and they''re in possession of Derivatives!"


    ¡­


    "I see¡­ Then our next destination will be the Saint Nairlean Empire!"


    Fang Yuan shrugged. "Also¡­ although we didn''t manage to get the Philosopher''s Book, we obtained other derivatives¡­ You promised payment earlier¡­"


    "You will only get your payment after I obtain the Philosopher''s Book!" Heinze turned around. "This is not up for discussion!"


    "All right!" Fang Yuan agreed sheepishly. However, his eyes glowed with brilliance.


    According to his deductions, the best way to digest Derivatives was to use the power of a Great Dao!


    Of course, the Demon Gods that descended into this world had their powers suppressed to the extent where it was difficult to use even half of their strength. This caused the refining process to be extremely difficult, and they had to turn to other methods.


    However, with the aid of his stats window, his giant lizard body on the island progressed incredibly fast, and he would soon recover most of his strength.


    At that time, refining a few Derivatives would be a piece of cake.


    "The amount of strength that Demon Gods can use after they descend is all up to the world itself¡­ However, my stats window is extremely effective at breaking this kind of limitation, rivaling Netherheaven Demon Gods¡­"


    Of course, he would never mention such things to Heinze.


    In fact, Fang Yuan had an ever-so-slight sense of worry.


    He was not far from coming into contact with the level of his stats window. Perhaps he would figure out its secret when he promoted to the next large realm. By then, he might uncover the karma of his transmigration as well.


    Kaboom!


    Suddenly, dozens of small black dots appeared in the sky.


    The sound of spinning propellers roared continuously. The black dots turned into the shape of a few dozen helicopters, and seven-colored insignias were inscribed on the helicopters.


    "Primary Color''s direct force, Seven Color Scripture?" Heinze licked his lips menacingly. "Have they come here to help the Sorcerer Congress, or have they come here to exterminate us?"


    A dozen helicopters formed a semicircle and surrounded Fang Yuan and Heinze. A clear, loud voice boomed from a megaphone. "Listen up! We have you surrounded. Surrender immediately. We promise not to harm you!"


    "Sir!" In one of the helicopters, a research personnel stared at his screen. "The man with the wings is confirmed to be a former representative of the Sorcerer Congress, Heinze. We are detecting high energy reactions in his body. It''s possible that he''s acting as host for a Derivative¡­ or he could be a Derivative himself! "


    "In that case, I permit the use of coercive measures!" the commander said with a cold expression. He had a terrifying scar that covered his right eye.


    "The technology in this world is quite interesting as well¡­" Heinze did not show any signs of tension after being aimed at by multiple red dots. "For example, these humans. While their bodies are weak, the power of technology enables them to exercise considerable strength¡­ It''s a pity that their research in psychology is still too lacking. Their technology is still unable to protect their souls!"


    He took a deep breath and released a shriek. "Screech!"


    The shrill sound was abnormally ear-piercing and had the power to shock the soul, reminding Fang Yuan of a banshee''s wail.


    The terrifying sound waves swept forth, and the expressions of the Seven Color Scripture combat personnel changed. They covered their ears as blood seeped from their eyes.


    "Quick, activate the barrier, noise cancellation!" the commander roared hysterically, but to no effect.


    The helicopters lost control one after another, and they started swaying from side-to-side like drunkards. They eventually crashed into the snowy mountains and exploded in flames.


    "How could my psychological attack be blocked by noise-canceling material!" Heinze sneered.


    Within seconds, he had exterminated the elites of Seven Color Scripture. This was the true fighting strength of a Demon God that had accumulated power for years!


    "Is it really a good idea to be so high-key?" Fang Yuan appeared slightly worried.


    "We''ll have to face them eventually. Seven Color Scripture''s highest rank purple troops have yet to appear¡­" Heinze shook his head disdainfully. "Only when the purple troops fail will Primary Color activate the Terminators!"


    "But¡­ how did these military helicopters get here? Are the Newtlud officials blind?" Fang Yuan looked at the wreckage on the ground, feeling puzzled.


    "They must have covered the helicopters with anti-radar materials. Newtlud''s radars can''t detect them at all¡­" Heinze shook his head. "Primary Color''s technology is the absolute most advanced of this world. They even want to research the peculiarities of Derivatives¡­ Unfortunately, from what I know, there hasn''t even been one successful case. There isn''t even a glimmer of hope!"


    "That was to be expected¡­"


    Fang Yuan nodded.


    The technology of this planet was not enough to decipher Extraordinaries unless they advanced to the interstellar age.


    And the power of Great Daos was the most advanced of the Extraordinaries!


    He suddenly felt a shiver in his heart and looked in a certain direction.


    On a mountain top, a man suddenly appeared!


    It was a Caucasian male in leather holding a simple bronze spear in one hand, looking like a gladiator of ancient times.


    "Ha!"


    He grunted fiercely as he threw the spear.


    "At this distance¡­ Even if he is¡­"


    While Fang Yuan was still making his judgment, he suddenly saw Heinze scream. The bronze spear had pierced his chest!


    "Derivative!"


    Without even needing to guess, he was sure of it.


    With Heinze''s strength, even a precision-guided missile might not hit him. The Derivative had to have the peculiarity of making sure it hit its target!


    "Idiot¡­" Heinze grabbed the hilt of the bronze spear and slowly pulled it out of his chest without paying any attention to the blood that was flowing out. "You can''t kill me. You''ve merely gifted me this Derivative. Now die!"


    He appeared to want to throw the bronze spear back. The Caucasian gladiator did not have the immortal body of a Demon God, so if it hit, he would suffer fatal injuries at the very least.


    However, in the next moment, Heinze looked at his right hand.


    There was a flash, and the spear disappeared.


    "Ha!"


    The Caucasian gladiator roared again as a ray of light shot forth.


    Poof!


    This time, the spear hit Heinze''s head. Heinze''s head exploded, revealing a semi-solid of red and white.


    Blood flowed backward and converged into a tiny head that enlarged continuously. Heinze''s angry yells resounded. "Damn! Damn! I will kill him!"


    "Confirmed that the target possesses a high-speed regenerative peculiarity. Judging it to be a Derivative!"


    After the Caucasian recalled the bronze spear, he ran without looking back.


    He was not a fool. After confirming that Heinze had an immortality peculiarity, as well as no apparent weaknesses, he was not about to force the issue alone.


    "You¡­ Don''t you dare¡­ leave!"


    Heinze pounced swiftly.


    Both the grudge formed just now and the Derivative in the opponent''s hands were reasons enough for him to not let him escape.


    "He should be a ''Terminator'' from Primary Color. Even if he''s not, he''s an instructor of the purple troops at the very least!"


    Heinze grinned evilly. "But I will make you know what a mistake you have made!"


    "Its flying speed is very fast!"


    The Caucasian gladiator was expressionless as he threw out a card.


    The card looked like a poker card, and there was a depiction of the ancient Roman Colosseum on it.


    With a flash of light, a phantasmal round field appeared and trapped Heinze within.


    "Managed to settle one. The ancient Colosseum Deck can trap it for six hours. Enough to contact the Terminators and capture it¡­" the Caucasian gladiator mumbled. "Who would have guessed that a former representative of the Sorcerer Congress was a human-shaped Derivative¡­"


    Poof!


    An arc of light flashed.


    There seemed to be a large frisbee streaking across the sky.


    The Caucasian gladiator froze, and then his head simply rolled off.


    "I am rather skilled at playing frisbee!" Fang Yuan extended his hand and caught the pancake. He looked at the man''s body and shook his head. "Still a mortal after all¡­"

 917 Red Dragon

    "Although he was decently strong and had discerning abilities, he was overconfident¡­"


    Fang Yuan landed slowly, picked up the bronze spear from the corpse, and shook his head.


    "Detestable!"


    In midair, the illusion vanished. Heinze walked out and stared at the corpse on the ground, wishing that he could take a bite out of it.


    "This bronze spear seems to be the only Derivative that he had on him!"


    Fang Yuan waved the spear in his hands and found its weight suitable for him. "What about that card?"


    "Disappeared. I think it was created by the influence of a first-class Derivative. It could only be used once and would immediately disappear afterward¡­"


    Heinze looked furious. "Damned Primary Color. I will never let them go!"


    "Be careful. Primary Color is incomparable to the Sorcerer Congress, and you haven''t spent years undercover there¡­" Fang Yuan kindly reminded him.


    "Even so, I can''t bear it any longer!" Heinze''s expression suddenly turned mysterious. "After all¡­ there are plenty of our kind in this world! Since we''ve already defeated the Sorcerer Congress, why not deal with them too?"


    "Our kind? That must mean the other Demon Gods!" Fang Yuan sighed. "If we use Derivatives as bait, then it''s very likely that they''ll bite. After all, a major part of why we descended to this world is for Derivatives!! However¡­ we''re facing the Primary Color headquarters. I might need to find a place and spend some time using my secret technique to recover a portion of my strength as soon as possible!"


    "Great!" Heinze did not suspect a thing.


    As a Demon God, it would be strange if Fang Yuan did not have a trump card or two.


    "I think three months should be enough. When the time comes, we''ll meet at the Primary Color headquarters, the Saint Nairlean Empire!" Fang Yuan nodded. He vanished quickly in the snowy forest with a few tumbles.


    "Looks like¡­ this Snow has a lot of secrets as well!" Heinze said, looking at where Fang Yuan had disappeared. "And¡­ three Derivatives!"


    Even he could not help but feel envious.


    This Demon God had only just descended, but he seemed to be extraordinarily lucky. In particular, he had missed out on the bronze spear by a hair''s breadth¡­


    ¡­


    "This place again!"


    Fang Yuan arrived on a beach, his gaze filled with memories.


    Kaboom!


    As though to welcome his arrival, the entire island shook.


    In the nearby woods, birds and various small animals scattered.


    Rumble! Rumble!


    The magnitude of the earthquake became greater and greater. Finally, a shadow the size of a small mountain appeared.


    Upon closer inspection, it was a giant, fire-red lizard monster with a pair of slightly spread, dark-red wings that threatened to eclipse the sky.


    Its claws were sharp, and its dense scales exuded scarlet brilliance akin to top-grade gems.


    This was the true body of Fang Yuan''s spiritual possession. Luckily, the magnetic field of this island was so messy that it prevented satellites from discovering his body.


    Otherwise, a creature that looked like Western dragons would be sure to draw in the majority of biologists in this world.


    "Whooo!"


    The giant red dragon sneezed. Sparks and lava seemed to flow from its nostrils.


    "After I allowed my strength to awaken freely, the lizard has transformed into this¡­ Does this family of lizards possess draconic genes? Or¡­ was it influenced by other factors?"


    Fang Yuan did not understand it fully, but he accepted the way things were.


    After all, a red dragon was certainly much better than a mere lizard, right?


    "More importantly, the Derivative!"


    The giant red dragon extended its tongue covered in backward-facing barbs and swallowed the sharp pancake and bronze spear.


    "Ah¡­ even my stomach finds it difficult to digest these things. As expected, I have to use the power of a Great Dao to help me!"


    With the assistance of the stats window, Fang Yuan had broken through most of his seal. It was enough for him to unleash the true power of a Great Dao.


    "Myriad Creation, Omnidirectional Armament!"


    The red dragon roared, and the illusions of two Great Daos appeared behind it. They surrounded the red dragon and started releasing mysterious lights.


    "As expected¡­ the peculiarities of Derivatives are the agglomeration of rules!"


    Shortly afterward, Fang Yuan had another discovery. "The rules of the Impermanence Great Dao are spread all over and seeped into ordinary objects to produce Derivatives¡­ Both the pancake and spear were ordinary mediums, but the rules made them distinct!"


    Naturally, the rules of the Impermanence Great Dao were no ordinary rules.


    That was why Derivatives were so diverse.


    "The pancake has the rules of ''sharpness'', while the spear has the rules of ''teleportation'' and ''absolute accuracy''. They can both supplement my Omnidirectional Divine Demonic Armament Dao¡­"


    Fang Yuan''s method was indeed different from that of Heinze. He did not try to absorb the Derivatives slowly, but instead digested them directly using his great strength!


    Rumble!


    After devouring a significant number of rules, the Omnidirectional Divine Demonic Armament Dao trembled, and its brilliance grew even brighter. One could faintly see it trying to merge with the Creation Great Dao.


    "Excellent, one step closer!"


    Fang Yuan was quite satisfied.


    Now that he was at this stage, he could advance no further if he did not put in another few decades of training at the very least.


    However, the ability to devour the rules from Derivatives caused such a great change. He now knew why Demon Gods preferred plundering various worlds over training.


    "Just two Derivatives has caused such a great change to the Omnidirectional Divine Demonic Armament Dao. If there were more¡­" Fang Yuan''s pupils lit up. "Looks like¡­ I have to make a move as well!"


    Snow was merely a Magical Clone and required time to grow.


    However, his true body carried the power of the stats window, enabling it the quickest way to break the world''s suppression. Now, he had recovered the majority of his fighting abilities.


    In this purely technology-based world, he was now an invincible force that could level entire countries.


    If there were no Impermanence Great Dao and Derivatives, perhaps he could be considered even more powerful, to the level of destroying stars.


    "It''s just that¡­ this physique is too jarring!"


    The red dragon frowned in a remarkably human-like manner.


    Shortly after, a rich red light fell.


    Its original mountain-sized body shrunk, and its sharp claws retracted to become soft and adorable.


    It was not long before the original red dragon transformed into a red lizard of about thirty centimeters. The wings on its back had also disappeared.


    "All right. Now, no matter how you look at it, it''s just a rather exotic pet!"


    Fang Yuan''s incarnation, Snow, nodded and carried the lizard on his hand. "It''s now time to visit the Saint Nairlean Empire. I wonder who Heinze has found."


    ¡­


    Suzy was a flight attendant working for Nairlean United Airlines.


    She could swear that she had not, in her entire career, seen a passenger with such ''class''.


    "Oh sh*t! Oh sh*t!"


    Suzy walked up to a seat while carrying a tray. "Sir, your drink!"


    "Thank you!"


    A jade-white slender hand extended, and a voice expressed gratitude calmly.


    "You''re welcome!"


    Suzy quickly stole a glance at the owner of the hand. It was a gentleman in a black suit that appeared to be in his mid-twenties. He had blond hair, wine-red lips, chiseled features, and expressive eyes.


    They had barely locked eyes, and her face was already flushed like she was drunk. She quickly escaped to the kitchen.


    "So? So?" A group of stewardess surrounded her, chirping like a group of excited sparrows. "I was right, huh. It''s temperament! Temperament!"


    "Oh, that pair of eyes, it''s my favorite type!"


    "Did you notice his muscles?"


    "Ah, and his voice, I feel drunk after merely hearing it once¡­"


    ¡­


    This scene was very abnormal.


    After all, stewardesses had plenty of experience with people.


    However, they were all enchanted by that gentleman.


    "I secretly passed him my number!"


    "I gave him my name card along with his drink!"


    "How sly!"


    "Ah¡­ I forgot to ask for his name!"


    ¡­


    The stewardesses were engrossed in their discussion, oblivious to the envious, jealous, and hateful gaze of a few male passengers near them.


    They looked at the public enemy of the men with complicated eyes and discovered his name, Arthur Charles!


    At the same time, at an airport.


    Fang Yuan and Heinze had changed their appearances and waited at arrivals.


    "He is a Demon God, but he enjoys using human transportation immensely! What a queer fellow!"


    Fang Yuan''s attire was rather strange. He was wearing a scarf and a cloak, like people in a desert, and carried a red pet lizard on his hand.


    "Yeah, he enjoys toying with humans and especially enjoys using his charm to conquer women. He believes that to be the ultimate enjoyment¡­" Heinze answered in a low voice. "Oh right¡­ his Dao path is related to seduction. As a result, he is very good at extracting information¡­ We can''t do without his help if we are going to face Primary Color!"


    "A Demon God that grasps the Seduction Dao path? Perhaps just his voice alone is enough to send an entire country into depravity¡­" Fang Yuan''s expression was serious. "What is his title?"


    "Seduction Master¡­ In the Mental Demon Realm, he appeared as a male, but female traits are prominent from time to time¡­ Of course, he is known as Arthur Charles in this world!"


    Heinze''s eyes lit up. "He''s here!"


    They could see a plane landing slowly through the glass, and then a large volume of passengers alighting from it.


    One of them was surrounded by seven to eight stewardesses and had the absolute look of a winner at life. He had almost turned into the public enemy of males. Who knew how many disdainful looks had been thrown at him.


    "Darlings, remember to visit me at my hotel tonight!"


    He kissed the reluctant stewardesses goodbye and approached Fang Yuan and Heinze. His eyes lit up and seemed more lively all around. "Gentlemen¡­ it''s an honor!"

 918 Alliance

    Inside a well-furnished, classy coffee shop, the sound of a piano flowed gently like a river.


    "Sir Arthur, that was great!"


    The song finished, and Arthur returned to his seat. As expected, he received several flirtatious invitations along with gazes filled with enmity from the males.


    "Hey¡­ wasn''t that too flashy?"


    Heinze turned his shoulders.


    Just a second ago, he saw the wanted notice for him and Snow on the television.


    Of course, it was not due to their betrayal of the Sorcerer Congress. Instead, they had become international criminals through numerous murders and damage to public safety.


    Even Snow was named, and there was a hefty bounty for merely his information alone!


    "It''s nothing. In fact¡­ I''ve been watched for a long time!"


    Arthur shrugged. He used his spiritual will to transmit, "It''s people from Primary Color! It''s due to my extraordinary charisma!"


    Is he courting death?


    Fang Yuan was speechless.


    If only Arthur could show a little more restraint, he would not be in this situation.


    The ability to attract all females was too similar to a possible peculiarity of the Derivatives. It was no surprise that he was under watch.


    "However¡­ they can''t find my ''Derivative''. On top of that, I''m not dangerous, so they''re just monitoring me for now!"


    Arthur spread his hands and said confidently, "It can''t be helped. My charisma is just too overwhelming!"


    It''s truly rare for a Demon God to be this narcissistic!


    Heinze and Fang Yuan exchanged glances, both speechless, and eventually changed the subject. "All right¡­ We want to destroy Primary Color and require your aid!"


    "Destroy Primary Color, eh¡­ Tsk tsk, this is truly a difficult task!"


    Arthur sipped his coffee gracefully. "From what I know¡­ Primary Color is in control of over a hundred Derivatives! Although most of them only present minor inconveniences, there are a few that are quite scary. Especially the top ten! For instance, number nine, ''Absolute Protection''. It can create an unbreakable defense that can only be stopped from the inside. Its range spans the entire Primary Color headquarters, and it can maintain its effectiveness for at least a century!


    "As for the top five Derivatives, they are absolute secrets in Primary Color. However, I can confirm that each of them has terrifying powers¡­"


    Arthur shook his head repeatedly. "I''m afraid that just the three of us are not enough!"


    "The person who has the most information about Primary Color is you. Surely you must have something up your sleeve?"


    Heinze was showing a long face.


    Arthur laughed weirdly. "Keke¡­ Actually, the person who understands Primary Color the deepest is not me, but another Demon God! Do you guys want to meet him?"


    "Another Demon God? All right! The more we have, the better our chances!" Heinze nodded.


    "Very well¡­ then I''ll inform him immediately! Wait! He''s already here!" Arthur looked around.


    Since a certain point in time, the people in the coffee shop had been behaving strangely.


    Everyone had a sluggish look about them as they turned to where the three sat. They all smiled the same smile. "Yes! I''m already here!"


    "Lord of the Void!" Heinze was the first to exclaim. "You failed to obtain the coveted Impermanence Great Dao last time. Now, you want to go after it again? No¡­ According to my sources, haven''t you gone to the Spiritual Realm?"


    "My Dao of the Void can divide into billions. What remains here is nothing more than what I left here a long time ago."


    The Lord of the Void made a waitress sit down by Arthur''s side and wink flirtatiously at him.


    Arthur shivered and increased the distance between them subconsciously.


    It was obvious that they all knew that the Lord of the Void was hard to deal with, or they had been taken advantage of by the Lord of the Void before.


    "What about the new guy! Introduce us!"


    The Lord of the Void looked merrily at Fang Yuan, as though they had never met before.


    "My name is Snow!"


    Fang Yuan nodded, knowing the Lord of the Void was pretending that they did not know each other because he did not want to divulge the things that had happened in the Spiritual Realm.


    "All right, everyone here is a Demon God. Is anyone interested in the hundred-plus Derivatives in the hands of Primary Color?" Heinze cut to the chase. "Lord of the Void, in this respect, we''re allies!"


    "Yes, allies!" The beauty under Lord of the Void''s control giggled. "My Demonic Thoughts of the Void can stay hidden in anything that has feelings. Especially since the people of this world have taken the path of technology, their souls are, on average, on the weak side. That remains the case even if they have undergone harsh training. As such, I''ve already corrupted a little less than half of the Primary Color headquarters''s men. Although they''re all low ranked, there is a top-five Terminator who can come into contact with ''Absolute Protection''. How valuable is this information?"


    "Very nice!" Heinze smiled. "After we take down the Primary Color headquarters, you can be the first to choose the Derivatives! As long as it''s not the Philosopher''s Book!"


    The Lord of the Void crossed his fingers and said in an extremely calm voice, "No! We can split the loot evenly! But you all have to give me some tiny, insignificant help!"


    "Help with what?"


    Fang Yuan and the other two exchanged glances, not daring to take this lightly.


    "I need to draw out the Impermanence Great Dao once again, and I want you to help me tame it!" The beautiful face of the Lord of the Void now had a hint of ferocity. "As long as you help me draw it out, then your end of the contract will be fulfilled. If you guys can help me tame it, then all the Derivative will belong to you!"


    "Nice calculations¡­ Hmph!" Heinze laughed coldly. "All Derivatives are born from the Impermanence Great Dao. This price for you is really¡­ insignificant!"


    "However¡­ who has the confidence to tame a Great Dao that had finished converging in this world?" Lord of the Void answered with another question. "Only if we were the forgers of this Great Dao, in which case we could simply claim ownership¡­ However, the Impermanence Great Dao is similar to a Demon God in this world, whereas we don''t have even thirty percent of our original strength!


    "Actually¡­ I''m drawing out the Impermanence Great Dao this time to test something. But I don''t have much confidence that it''ll succeed. On the other hand, you guys will be able to obtain great amounts of Derivatives, as well as the method that I''m going to use to draw out the Impermanence Great Dao. Isn''t it a great deal for you guys?"


    "This¡­"


    Heinze and Arthur contemplated.


    They had been in this world for many years and were well aware of how difficult it was to deal with the Impermanence Great Dao.


    Additionally, the Lord of the Void had once conceitedly made full preparations and still failed.


    This time, the chance of success was really not that great.


    If it was truly as the Lord of the Void said, then the deal could be made.


    After all, their profits were secured, coupled with the chance to obtain more. If the Lord of the Void failed, then they would restart the summoning and try to refine the Impermanence Great Dao themselves. The Lord of the Void would have nothing to say at that time.


    "Then¡­ what about this friend, Snow?" The Lord of the Void looked happily at Fang Yuan.


    "Me? I have no objections, of course!" Fang Yuan answered with a smile. However, he was actually shocked. He knew that there was something going on with the Lord of the Void.


    Otherwise, the war in the Spiritual Realm was in full swing, so why was he not putting his energy on the fight for hegemony, occupying the Dragon Qi of the human realm, and then cutting a path the heavens? Instead, he was focusing on this world. It was strange, wasn''t it?


    Naturally, the Lord of the Void also suspected Fang Yuan, with the same reasoning.


    Fang Yuan was leaning on the advantage of his stats window, which he could use to swiftly break through the suppression to his strength. He would then rapidly traverse worlds in order to raise his strength. However, this was his secret that he would not divulge to anyone.


    "Very well, then it''s settled!" Lord of the Void was overjoyed. "With the combined strength of us four Demon Gods, the Primary Color headquarters will be nothing!"


    "Oh right, what are the first ten Derivatives under Primary Color''s control exactly?" Heinze could not wait to ask for more information.


    "¡­ Derivatives have all kinds of peculiarities, but not many can be put to use. Although Primary Color has over a hundred of them, the majority are useless. For instance, water that will never run out from drinking it, a piece of meat that can sing and dance, and so on¡­ The top ten are ranked not according to their single-target attack strength, but by their destructive force. If they were unleashed, all of human civilization would be decimated!"


    Lord of the Void was thinking aloud. "For instance, the biological virus that''s rank one. It''s an incredibly infectious virus that can pass through almost any medium and has a hundred percent mortality rate toward all lifeforms¡­ Primary Color lost a great deal in its capture. In the end, they managed to seal it in the ''Eternal Safe''. This Eternal Safe is also a Derivative, rank seventy-five. However, it just so happens to have the ability to limit the power of viruses!


    "That''s also the horror film meme at rank three. Its ghost curse will descend upon reality and kill anyone that has seen it. The more it spreads, the more powerful the ghost becomes¡­ If it were accidentally broadcasted on television, then humans could basically declare extinction.


    "Although these items have wide-range destructive potential, they''re not as dangerous to us as some of the lower-ranked Derivatives!"


    "Yeah, I''m more interested in the Derivatives that can harm us!" Arthur asked calmly, "What do we need to pay attention to?"


    "Number two, the Gun of Extinction. Anything hit by it, no matter how tough, will be erased from this world. No exceptions!" the Lord of the Void answered with a voice that was slightly afraid. "I''ve seen it once. All my spirituality quivered with fear then. I knew that if I had been hit by it, then all of my incarnations in his world would be erased. It could even affect my soul in other worlds!


    "There''s also the rank four Fax Machine and the rank five Bunshinsaba. They all have certain degrees of prediction and judgment abilities. The Fax Machine could very well be showing an image of us plotting against Primary Color right now¡­


    "Lastly, rank seven Memory Stick. Once the light from the stick shines on you, all of your memories will vanish, and you will turn into an idiot!"


    ¡­


    With one incredible peculiarity after another, Fang Yuan could not help but fear for the humans of this world.


    It was quite something to have survived until now.

 919 Headquarters

    The Primary Color headquarters was situated in a mountain valley of the Nairlean Empire.


    As the Lord of the Void had described, Primary Color was a vast organization, and there were still three branch bases on islands at sea. Some Derivatives had been distributed across those islands to prevent them from being wiped out all at once. It also prevented chaos if something went out of control.


    Their headquarters was well defended, as almost all of the top ten Derivatives were here.


    Furthermore, there was a team of Terminators on standby at all times.


    After introducing Primary Color''s situation, the Lord of the Void looked at Arthur and cackled. "It would have been troublesome to sneak in, but an opportunity has presented itself!


    "According to the Primary Color''s rules, once they confirm that someone is in possession of a Derivative but unable to discover it, then the person in question must be sent to the nearest research facility to be segregated and questioned! If they are within range of the headquarters, then they will be sent directly to the headquarters¡­"


    Lord of the Void cackled.


    "In other words, you want me to be the bait?" Arthur''s expression was slightly pained.


    "Rest assured. Unless they confirm that there is great danger, they won''t immediately kill the person in possession of a Derivative. At the very least, they''ll first try to investigate your peculiarities, your abilities, and your limits. They would then implement a suitable method of sealing using that information¡­ Only in the case that they''re unable to find the Derivative and the research also fails would they consider destructive research methods such as autopsy¡­" the Lord of the Void continued.


    "That isn''t good news¡­." Arthur was wearing a long face.


    "All in all, with my assistance, you guys can definitely sneak into the Primary Color headquarters. At that time, you can do as you please and obtain what you want. I can also get what I want!"


    The waitress rose and lowered her chest. Lace fabric was faintly visible. "It''s a win-win situation, isn''t it?"


    "Yes, may we succeed!" Heinze raised his ceramic cup and drowned his drink. "We''ll need you to settle those who have been following us since we left the airport¡­"


    "No problem!" The Lord of the Void agreed gleefully. "I will implant false memories in them, making them believe that they''ve successfully accomplished their mission¡­"


    Smack!


    He snapped his fingers, and the surrounding people immediately returned to normal.


    The beautiful waitress massaged her checks and appeared slightly muddled. She left quickly.


    Fang Yuan was leaning on a sofa, but his eyes moved slightly.


    Just now, he had received a message from the Lord of the Void. Help me once! You will obtain more, both here and in the Spiritual Realm!


    It looks like the Lord of the Void is determined to obtain the Impermanence Great Dao this time! Fang Yuan sighed. At the same time, he was very interested in how the Lord of the Void was going to make Impermanence Great Dao appear.


    The other two Demon Gods had to share his thoughts.


    "Let''s go! There are a lot of preparations to make!"


    He rose first. With the red lizard in his hand, he left the coffee shop with Heinze.


    On top of the mall across the road, two men in uniform with binoculars in their hands recovered from a daze. However, they were not the least bit surprised by their condition. "The target is still inside the coffee shop!"


    "Transmit the order to prepare for first contact! Experimenter number one, well-trained female agent, max psychological resistance!"


    Clack! Clack!


    The door of the coffee shop opened. A tall beauty dressed like a white-collar worker walked in.


    Feeling things out? What a boring game! Arthur Charles sneered. He walked up to the lady and stroked her hair. "Beautiful lady, may I have the honor of enjoying a wonderful afternoon tea with you?"


    "Of course¡­ no problem!"


    The female''s eyes struggled slightly, but immediately after, red-faced and without any resistance, she sat down opposite Arthur.


    "Damn¡­ It''s truly a peculiarity that makes all men envious. I wonder where his Derivative is?"


    Through the binoculars, they saw the female agent that was struggling to resist drooling over the target. The two spying Primary Color members were green with envy.


    "All right, we''ve confirmed that the target has some sort of peculiarity that can charm others. We can let number one return. Otherwise, she might sell us out¡­ Women in love are the most blind!"


    The other Primary Color member immediately said, "Also¡­ as much as possible, try to determine what the target''s exact Derivative is. If it can''t be done, we''ll have to arrest him!"


    ¡­


    Three days later, in a mountain valley.


    The towering mountain ranges were like longswords that pointed toward the sky.


    If one had X-ray vision, they would see that the insides of the mountains had been dug up all over the place, similar to the insides of an anthill. Numerous researchers were moving about inside like hard-working ants.


    A small, grid-like room was separated using some special material, looking like a prison cell.


    "Number E-337, restricted personnel. Possesses the ability to charm and seduce females. All female lifeforms are prohibited from approaching!"


    Information about Arthur was written on a piece of paper on a small door.


    Inside the cramped cell, Arthur laid on the bed, his expression gloomy.


    If it wasn''t for the plan, I would have never been captured and sent here. There are even those experiments that I need to cooperate with¡­


    Arthur''s eyes suddenly darkened. "Those guys¡­ no one will escape. I will make sure they die a gruesome death!"


    Then his eyes glimmered.


    In the blind spot of the cell''s surveillance system, a row of ants appeared and formed small black words. "Are you ready? I will begin the plan immediately!


    "Once the Primary Color headquarters suffers an attack, they will activate the power of Absolute Protection immediately!


    "I will get into contact with the user of Absolute Protection. Your task is to get rid of the surrounding guards!"


    ¡­


    "No problem!" Arthur smiled grimly. "I can hardly wait!"


    At the same time, on a mountain peak.


    Fang Yuan and Heinze were walking side by side, smiling.


    "Ready¡­ begin!"


    Heinze''s face twisted as he growled in a deep voice, "Damned Primary Color¡­ I''ve been waiting a long time¡­ all for this day!!!"


    Ping!


    While growling, his entire being exploded into many black bat monsters.


    Standing amid the numerous bat monsters was an enormous black giant. It roared and pounded a fist on the mountain.


    Rumble!


    The mountain peak shook, and cracks appeared on its surface. A science-fiction style metal wall emerged.


    Inside the Primary Color headquarters.


    "What''s happening?"


    "Someone''s attacking?!"


    "Take care of the Derivatives!"


    ¡­


    Researchers were saving records in a hurry and preparing to relocate. In contrast, the combat personnel assembled with weapons in their hands. It was obvious that they had a lot of combat experience.


    "Hey¡­"


    Arthur was holding on to the rails of his cell while watching the combat personnel of Seven Color Scripture running past. "You can''t win¡­ for you don''t know how terrifying your opponents are!"


    "What are you on about?"


    The combat personnel were confused.


    Even at this time, the female members kept their distance from the cell, not even daring to look toward it.


    "Did you¡­ think that my charm only works on women?" Arthur started laughing. "How ridiculous, for you to think that my¡­ a Demon God''s power comes from some object!"


    He specialized in the Seduction Great Dao, to the extent that no one could escape its power.


    Other than Demon Gods of the same level, anyone would find it extremely difficult to resist.


    The previous limitation of only targeting females was, of course, intentionally. He had made Primary Color believe that it was true.


    "Now¡­ I shall let you witness the horrors of a Demon God!"


    Arthur laughed as he spread both hands.


    "My lord!"


    "You are fire, you are light, you are all and everything!"


    "Forgive me. Please forgive me for having done such things to you¡­"


    All the combat personnel were crying and repenting. They handed over the keys and released Arthur.


    "Great!" Arthur loosened his neck. "You must wash your sins with blood. Understood?"


    "Understood. As long as you forgive us, we are willing to do anything!"


    The guards were in tears of gratitude. All of them raised their guns to their heads and fired.


    Bang! Bang!


    After a wave of thumping sounds, the entire cell area fell into an eerie silence.


    ¡­


    "Damn, something happened to the cell area!"


    In the central surveillance area, the Primary Color members watching the scene were all shocked. "Update the description on E-337: Possess immense seduction abilities. No one is to cross eyes with him or hear his voice. Otherwise, you risk falling under his control!"


    "The power of this Derivative is too great." A monitoring male scientist sighed. "Also¡­ don''t you guys think that his facial structure is quite something? So handsome¡­"


    "Hold on. I seem to remember that you aren''t gay?" exclaimed a man at his side. He unconsciously looked at the monitor and found it hard to remove his gaze.


    "Completely cut off the monitors in that area. No one is allowed to watch! Also, arrest these two along with anyone else who has stared at the monitor earlier!" roared a soldier in purple uniform. "The intensity of the target''s peculiarity can absolutely be in our top then. I highly suspect that the Derivative has lost control! We must apply emergency measures!"


    Kaboom!


    At this moment, a violent shaking sound came from the ceiling.


    It was as if there were a huge drilling rig atop the Primary Color headquarters.


    "To think that the Primary Color headquarters would be attacked one day!"


    In the deep undergrounds of the headquarters, an energetic old man suddenly issued an order. "Order the Terminators to activate Absolute Protection!"


    "Yes!"


    A purple member bowed and left. The room returned to silence.

 920 Fax

    Poof!


    A water-like curtain of light descended from the sky and snugly enveloped the entire mountain peak.


    On the outside, Heinze could not break through the flexible membrane at all, no matter how hard he tried.


    "Is this the power of Absolute Protection?" He stopped, defeated. "I''ve already used more than twenty percent of the strength at my peak, but I''m still unable to break through¡­ Damn¡­ If I had half of my power, this mere water curtain¡­"


    The ability of Derivatives to bend nomological rules could be broken only by the power of Great Daos.


    Fang Yuan touched the red lizard in his hands but remained silent.


    If he used his full might, then this Absolute Protection was just a joke.


    However, there were too many variables. He would never reveal his full strength so early.


    "Now, we can only wait for the Lord of the Void and Arthur!"


    Fang Yuan sighed and started waiting patiently.


    ¡­


    Underground, Primary Color headquarters.


    More and more Seven Color Scripture members arrived and started battling their comrades.


    However, Arthur was like an emperor patrolling his lands, moving as he pleased. All those that met him immediately defected and attacked their former comrades crazily.


    "Damn it!"


    "Wesley¡­ It''s me!"


    "Noooo!"


    ¡­


    The Seven Color Scripture members were locked in combat among themselves, and the voices of broken men rang out continuously.


    "All combat personnel fall back. I''ll take care of this!"


    Leading a group of purple combat personnel, a warrior in a black leather suit appeared.


    "Terminator Number Three, Soul Resistor?"


    Arthur seemed to know something about this Terminator. He smiled.


    Bang!


    The black Terminator was expressionless as he directly shot Arthur''s head.


    "That''s it¡­ it''s over?"


    "As expected of Sir Soul Resistor. It''s rumored that he has a Derivative that has the ability to protect his soul against all kinds of psychological influences!"


    The remaining combat members cheered.


    However, a voice broke the harmony. "You dare¡­ injure my handsome face¡­ You''re dead meat!"


    Arthur''s headless body stood still as a lump of meat containing the outlines of his facial features grew out from his neck.


    "Order everyone below purple to retreat immediately!" The Soul Resistor remained expressionless. "Add to the information¡ªthe target has rapid regenerative capabilities¡­ Hurry and equip the freezing and burning equipment!"


    Primary Color had accumulated a wealth of experience in dealing with all kinds of monsters.


    The best way to combat these kinds of regenerative powers was to burn all of it or use liquid nitrogen to freeze it.


    Suddenly, he realized that there was something wrong with the eyes of the subordinates around him.


    It has the ability to continue exerting its influence even under my Soul Protection. That''s strength equal to the top ten Derivatives!


    The Soul Resistor shivered and yelled, "Don''t look in his direction. Call for reinforcements immediately!"


    ¡­


    Inside a secret chamber.


    A certain Terminator looked at his wrist, expressionless.


    There, a blue bracelet was releasing a shining light.


    This was the rank nine Derivative, Absolute Protection. It could create an enormous barrier that was strong enough to withstand any attack.


    Of course, to accomplish this, a price had to be paid.


    At this time, this Terminator''s arm had already withered as if it had been mummified.


    Suddenly, the stringently encrypted mechanical door opened from the outside. A black shirt Terminator walked in.


    "Number Five, you shouldn''t be here!"


    The Terminator wearing Absolute Protection was a bit confused, but then on full alert.


    "Number Four, you have the power of rapid regeneration. You won''t die even if your heart is gouged out. Therefore, the leader chose you to activate Absolute Protection¡­ An ordinary person would have all their life force sucked out of them and turn into a mummy the moment they touched it."


    Number Five walked toward Number Four slowly. "It must be very painful, even for you? Why¡­ do you continue to work yourself to death for Primary Color?


    "Number Five, you''ve defected!"


    Number Four Terminator magically drew a silver gun with his left hand without a change of expression and pulled the trigger without hesitation.


    Swoosh!


    The shells landed on the walls and made sparks fly.


    He had hit nothing but an afterimage.


    "I don''t need to be faster than bullets. I just need to be faster than your hand! Also¡­ Number Four, the pain has slowed down your movements!"


    The body of Number Five appeared as if it had stepped out of the void. Then he lunged at Number Four.


    "Activate countermeasures!" said a mechanical voice suddenly.


    Around the chair that Number Four was sitting on, multiple gun barrels emerged and breathed fire at Number Five.


    Ping!


    The body of Number Five exploded into pieces that landed on Number Four.


    "Our each and every action is under the leader''s surveillance. Not to mention, you believe¡­ that you can penetrate the defenses of the entire base?" Number Four said calmly.


    "No! Penetrating this line of defense is all I need!"


    The haughty and seductive voice made Number Four waver.


    He suddenly looked down and saw the flesh on his body. The pieces of flesh had started waving tentacles around as though they had a life of their own.


    The tough and flexible red ribbon possessed immense restraining force and tied Number Four to the chair. A large number of flesh sprouts made their way to the blue bracelet.


    "The peculiarity of Absolute Protection won''t stop when it is robbed. The sole method to stop it is to make the person paying the price to activate it disappear¡­"


    A small voice came from the bits of flesh. "I will be taking your body and your powers!"


    "What do you mean?"


    Number Four was shocked. Immediately afterward, a large number of flesh sprouts enveloped his face, burrowing into his head through his orifices.


    His entire body spasmed, then immediately stopped. The shape of his face had changed dramatically. His eyes were full of madness. "Absolute Protection¡­ Stop!"


    ¡­


    On the mountain peak.


    After a slight tremble, the water membrane shrouding the mountain disappeared.


    "It''s the Lord of the Void! He''s made his move! I was waiting for this!"


    Heinze roared excitedly. He turned into the black giant. One of his arms continued growing larger and thicker, completely disproportionate to the rest of his body.


    Finally, a truck-sized fist landed.


    Bang!


    Half of the mountain peak collapsed, scattering dust and smoke all over. A hole was made in the metal wall, opening a direct path to the center of the mountain.


    "Let''s go!"


    Heinze and Fang Yuan both took a deep breath and jumped into the hole without hesitation.


    ¡­


    Deep in the headquarters'' underground.


    "The destruction of the base''s periphery has reached 26.98%! Energy supply lines damaged! Self-defense measures can not be activated!" a mechanical female voice reported.


    Smack!


    The elder immediately lost his composure. He did not even pay attention to the smoking pipe that had fallen onto the floor. "How is this possible? Although the Bunshinsaba predicted danger, how is possible that it''s to this degree?"


    "Leader, the situation is urgent. Please execute plan number three and evacuate immediately!"


    Two Terminators stood behind him, one with an ancient revolver on his waist.


    "Number One! Number Two! The two of you are perfect. That was why you were entrusted with the huge responsibility of protecting me!"


    The elder hesitated slightly. "However, now¡­ Number Five has defected, Number Four is dead, while Number Three is fighting a hard battle. Can I continue to trust you?"


    "As long as they are your orders¡­"


    Number One and Number Two''s resolution was as solid as granite.


    "Hand me the Fax Machine immediately!"


    The elder stared straight at the old-fashioned fax machine in front of him. Unfortunately, nothing came out.


    It was the rank four Derivative under Primary Color''s control, Future Fax Machine!


    Occasionally, messages from the future would come out. At times, it would be a piece of newspaper. At other times, it was simply a picture from the future.


    Quite unfortunately, the chances of a fax appearing were probabilistic.


    However, as long as the Fax Machine was there, there was no need for any electricity, signal, nor even paper. The Fax Machine would be able to receive messages from the future all on its own.


    "The predictions of the Bunshinsaba are limited to ''yes'' or ''no''. It is too fuzzy¡­ What exact force is attacking the Primary Color headquarters this time?"


    The elder picked up the smoking pipe and lit it again.


    In the short amount of time he took, the entire room suddenly lit up. One after another, blurry silhouettes appeared, all in the form of 3D projections.


    "Everyone¡­ I believe you have seen it as well. The headquarters is under attack. I have to prepare for the worst! Activate the tinder plan immediately and start transferring the Derivatives!"


    The elder gave a long sigh. "As for me, I will remain with headquarters!"


    "Who are the enemies? Rising Dragon? Green Leaf?" someone asked after a long silence.


    "I don''t know¡­" The elder shook his head slowly. "I only know that their peculiarities are extremely strange. It looks like everyone has the power of immortality!"


    "The sealing techniques of the Sorcerer Congress are rather effective in dealing with these sorts of people¡­"


    "We have seized the Philosopher''s Book, and we can send out sorcerers immediately!"


    "There''s also that door. Once activated, you can leave immediately¡­ We must transfer as many Derivatives possible, including you, Leader!"


    A woman looked at the elder. "I suggest that you transfer immediately, and let Number One and Number Two escort you to the deep-sea base!"


    "I can''t do that!" The elder shook his head. "There are limitations to using the door. If anything goes wrong, we will bring the disaster to the branch bases!"


    "I''ve already ordered the sorcerer army to attack. It''ll be soon!"


    Ratatatatat!


    Ratatatatat!


    The sound of typing rang out. Everyone was shocked. Immediately after, all eyes fell upon the Fax Machine.


    The ancient fax machine had no electricity, no signal antenna, nor even paper. However, the signal light lit up.


    Coupled with the movement of the ink box, a piece of paper was spat out. There was a picture on it.


    "This is¡­"


    "Future Fax Machine! Has it received a signal from the future?"


    "Hurry! What has it predicted?"


    The 3D silhouettes urged hurriedly.


    The elder put on his glasses and picked up the fax. However, he gasped. "This is¡­"

 921 Peeking at Secrets

    "Fireball!"


    "Cone of Cold!"


    In the underground headquarters, a group of special combat personnel¡ªsorcerers trained by Primary Color¡ªhad arrived.


    In addition, their incantations were extremely short. It was obvious that they had formed under short notice and had chosen to sacrifice confidentiality.


    "Where is the Philosopher''s Book?"


    Heinze roared. Magic could not damage him in the slightest.


    "I know¡­ It''s in the Primary Color headquarters!" A Primary Color sorcerer suddenly started laughing strangely. "You can find it if you head east! My men will update you along the way."


    "Thanks, Lord of the Void!" Heinze replied gratefully.


    He had laid low in this world for many years, even becoming a representative of the Sorcerer Congress. He had done all of this because he knew that the nomological rules in the Philosopher''s Book were very useful to him.


    He had been frustrated for quite a while when Primary Color got to it before him.


    This time, he swore that he would let nothing go wrong.


    "Tsk tsk¡­ Rest assured. After you entered, I controlled the Terminator and reactivated Absolute Protection¡­ Its protective powers can''t be broken even by teleportation spells. You don''t need to worry about people escaping using space manipulation techniques!"


    The Lord of the Void cackled. "Right now¡­ Arthur is enjoying himself as well. The Terminator with the soul resistance ability won''t be a match for him!"


    "Then I''ll leave this place to you guys!" Heinze left Fang Yuan and charged toward a forked road.


    "All right. Now, only you''re left!" The sorcerer possessed by the Lord of the Void was wearing a strange expression. "Still remember¡­ our agreement from earlier?"


    "Yes. Do you need my help now?"


    Fang Yuan shrugged nonchalantly.


    "Although we had a small misunderstanding in the Spiritual Realm, you proved yourself with your actions. You aren''t someone who acts on impulse. On top of that, you try your best once you''ve given your word¡­" The Lord of the Void licked his lips. "That''s why I want to make another deal with you. As long as you help me, I can give you anything!"


    "Don''t make promises you can''t keep!" Fang Yuan frowned. "Your goal is only to obtain the Impermanence Great Dao¡­"


    "Great Daos are hard to find. Even though I''ve thought of a method, I''m only sixty to seventy percent sure that it''ll work. This is actually a huge gamble for me too," Lord of the Void said. "Right now, I''m just adding some insurance. As for your compensation, I''ll definitely give it to you once we''re in the Spiritual Realm."


    "Do my best to help you, huh? No problem!" Fang Yuan''s eyes lit up. "Shall we make a contract?"


    "How can we find the time now?" While they were talking, the Lord of the Void activated a technique and killed several reinforcements. "All right, what Derivatives do you want? I can help you with that!"


    "Of course, I want the best ones!" Fang Yuan replied matter-of-factly.


    "Turn left ahead and continue heading straight. That''ll bring you to the core of this base. I advise you to be careful. The power that Primary Color possesses is definitely far beyond your imagination. There are two Terminators there, and one of them even has the Gun of Extinction," the Lord of the Void said, as if to remind him.


    "I obviously won''t be heading there alone!" Fang Yuan shrugged. "Aren''t you and Arthur here? No matter what, we should defeat the master of this place first before we discuss the rest, right?"


    "That''s right!"


    At this time, Arthur had arrived along with a large number of Seven Color Scripture troops.


    He was surrounded by his original enemies, creating a strange sight.


    Even if a Demon God''s Great Dao was only slightly strong, it was sufficient to enslave any regular human.


    The previous Arthur was nothing more than a small character. His current self truly showcased his terrifying side.


    "The true Seduction Great Dao can even capture the most stubborn rock, and it would be willing to do anything for the Demon God. In fact, the sky, the ground, and eventually the entire world¡­"


    Fang Yuan was not surprised by this. In this large army, he was like an ordinary person and strived to maintain a low-profile.


    "Before this, I''ve captured at least half of the people in this place. Now that we''re launching an attack, I''ll use them at once. With Arthur''s contributions, half of the base is already in our hands¡­" The Lord of the Void provoked him further. "As long as we can defeat the leader, this place will be ours. Everything inside, including the Derivatives and various intel, will become ours!"


    "An enticing proposal!" Fang Yuan nodded. Suddenly, his right leg stopped.


    After fighting through the grounds, they finally made their way to the core of Primary Color. The leader was in the large hall!


    As long as Absolute Protection was running, nobody could teleport.


    As a matter of course, the plan to use Teleportation or the Portal to transport Derivatives and personnel had yet to begin before it was strangled in the crib.


    ¡­


    "Haha, the Philosopher''s Book, I''ve finally obtained it!"


    Heinze turned someone before him into ashes and took the book from his hands. He laughed aloud. "I have a strong feeling that as long as I consume the nomological rules in this, I will be able to reach the Myriad Transformations realm!"


    He had been a Void Amalgamation Demon God for many years, pushing his Great Dao to perfection.


    As long as he consumed these nomological rules, he could definitely evolve his Dao path into the Myriad Transformations realm!


    Heinze put the Philosopher''s Book away quickly. He listened carefully to the rumbling below, and his expression changed. "How could I miss out on this?"


    A flock of black bats surrounded him as he transformed into black smoke and rushed to the frontlines.


    Rumble!


    Amid the violent rumbling, the final line of defense in the hall fell apart, unveiling everything before the Demon Gods.


    The space was not large, and it had a round table with a projector on top.


    There was only an old man taking a puff of smoke. He sat on the master seat while holding on to a fax paper with a serious expression.


    The Lord of the Void spotted Terminator Number One and shouted, "The Gun of Extinction!"


    Along with his line of sight, Fang Yuan noticed the strange gun in his hands.


    "Attack!" Arthur laughed oddly while hiding behind his bewitched troops.


    In terms of how he used his cannon fodder, Arthur was even looser than the Lord of the Void.


    "The Future Fax Machine, the Bunshinsaba, and the Portal?"


    Fang Yuan quickly scanned the area and spotted many things.


    On the table, an ordinary pen stood straight up. As if it were being controlled by an invisible force, it was drawing circles.


    Obviously, this leader had obtained some information from the future. He had felt greatly shocked and was attempting to use the Bunshinsaba to obtain further clarification.


    "Attack!"


    The Lord of the Void and Arthur controlled their respective ''subordinates''. These people used to be Primary Color''s battle and research personnel, but under the two''s orders, they charged forward.


    "How pitiful¡­"


    The old leader sighed and pressed a button on the table.


    Unfortunately, nothing happened.


    The next instant, the sound of gunshots and fighting ensued. Blood spewed, splattering across the entire hall.


    "Tsk¡­ you want to activate the hall''s defense and use these machines to kill your former allies? Too bad, the base''s main power source and the three back-up power supplies have landed in my hands!"


    The Lord of the Void laughed loudly. "Of course, if you don''t think it''s too much trouble, I don''t mind killing your subordinates for you¡­ Hmm, since they''re so loyal, I should reward them."


    "Leader, go!"


    The two Terminators stood next to the old man, watching their allies fall in front of them.


    Of which, Terminator Number One observed the situation for a long time before he finally moved like lightning.


    Bang!


    He aimed the Gun of Extinction at the Lord of the Void.


    A loud gunshot rang out.


    Behind the Lord of the Void, an unlucky head exploded. Bits of red and white pieces splattered onto the ground.


    The next moment, the unfortunate person disappeared from the face of the world, his body and blood entirely vaporized.


    The people near him forgot his existence, seemingly like he was utterly wiped from this world.


    "Impressive!"


    Even Fang Yuan felt the aftershocks of fear.


    At this moment, he could only recall the shadow of that unlucky man. Most of his memories about him were wiped clean.


    This was even after he had recovered more than half of his power and was strong enough to use his Great Dao to restrain the nomological rules of this world.


    The Lord of the Void and the other two vaguely felt that something was wrong, but it seemed like they did not realize that they had lost one of their allies. In fact, they were only a shoulder away from becoming that person.


    But at this moment, the gun was loaded!


    "The Gun of Extinction!"


    Lord of the Void screamed and manipulated several puppets to go forward.


    "It''s mine!"


    Arthur hid behind his forces while dashing forward.


    Even Heinze could not hold himself back and joined the brawl.


    The three Demon Gods knew clearly that the Gun of Extinction was a terrifying Derivative even among the others!


    And it was strong enough to kill a Demon God in one shot!


    All of them held evil intentions, so of course they would not yield the Gun of Extinction to anyone else!


    "Number Two!"


    Terminator Number One backed off. On the other hand, Terminator Number Two simultaneously stepped forward and pulled out a short, black baton.


    "Memory Stick?"


    Arthur was a little taken aback. He hurriedly shut his eyes.


    Unfortunately, he was a moment too late.


    A bright, white light flashed!


    Nearly everyone who saw it was drawn into its effects.


    "Damn it!"


    Fang Yuan''s reflexes were the fastest. As he had his Great Dao''s protection, he was the first of the four Demon Gods to react to it.


    However, he did not move. Instead, the red lizard on his back agilely crawled onto the round table and went toward the old leader.


    The old man had his eyes shut tightly, not daring to make another move.


    "This is¡­"


    The red lizard lowered its head and clearly the contents of the fax clearly.


    It provided a vivid image.


    In the background, there was a collapsing mountain peak and a radiance piercing through the sky.


    The main characters were a young man with three hands and a figure formed of many twisted faces.


    Did the leader use the Bunshinsaba to get this¡­


    Seeing this scene, a glint of light flashed past Fang Yuan''s eyes. He spit out a small spark, burning the paper into ashes.

 922 Four Mysterious

    Poof!


    A loud sound rang out.


    Arthur stretched out his arms and put one into Terminator Number Two, while the other held the Memory Stick.


    On another side, the Lord of the Void grabbed someone nearby and blocked Terminator Number One''s shot. He opened his mouth, and a stream of black light fell onto Terminator Number One, quickly taking control of the Terminator.


    Seeing this, Fang Yuan had Snow, his clone, candidly walk forward and take away the Fax Machine and the Bunshinsaba.


    Heinze suddenly retrieved his focus and shouted, "Leave that door for me!"


    "It seems that you were hit by the white flash. Are you okay?" The Lord of the Void smiled strangely.


    "It''s not a big deal. It just made me blank out for a while and lose one of my techniques!" Heinze had an awful look on his face.


    All around, the Seven Color Scripture members, regardless of whether they were friend or foe, had all turned into idiots, their eyes pure like babies.


    "Luckily, we''re Demon Gods and can protect ourselves from that. Otherwise, we would have been the same as them!"


    "This damn world¡­" Arthur said with some lingering fear eating at him. He could not imagine what would happen to him if he were not a Demon God.


    If they were in the Spiritual Realm or the Mental Demon Realm, with the combined strength of four Demon Gods, it was enough to cause pandemonium. Be it Primary Color or Derivatives, they would decimate however many came.


    However, they were in a high-level world that was on the same level as the Spiritual Realm and the Mental Demon Realm. This world innately suppressed foreign Demon Gods, and each of them could only display twenty to thirty percent of their strength.


    On the other hand, the Impermanence Great Dao was equivalent to a complete Demon God, and the most powerful peculiarities of Derivatives were equivalent to twenty to thirty percent of a Demon God''s full-powered strike.


    Thus, these Demon Gods were naturally afraid of this world''s Derivatives.


    Nevertheless, things were different for Fang Yuan.


    Having recovered more than half of his strength, even if the Memory Stick hit him, his brain only blanked out for a second, and he did not forget anything.


    He even felt that he could directly fight against the Gun of Extinction.


    Of course, only idiots would test such things.


    "It seems that there were some communications earlier, but the connections were completely severed¡­"


    Arthur played with the Memory Stick in his hand and glanced at Terminator Number One, who the Lord of the Void''s had possessed. It was obvious that he was fearful of the Gun of Extinction.


    "Of course, they needed to sever the connections. Otherwise, they would have been charmed by you!"


    Fang Yuan shook his head and looked at the old man on the master seat. "How should we deal with him?"


    The leader of Primary Color opened his eyes. "What¡­ are¡­ you?"


    After observing them for a short while, he was sure that they did not have the intrinsic qualities of humans.


    "Hehe¡­" Heinze walked forward, placed his right hand on the old man''s head, and stroked it gently. "You don''t need to know about our existence because it would be blasphemous to us!"


    Ping!


    As soon as he finished, he pulled out the old man''s head as if he were picking a watermelon.


    "Hmm¡­ we''re more or less done with the headquarters'' defenses!" Fang Yuan clapped his hands. "What should we do now? Take away the Derivatives?"


    "No!" The Lord of the Void stood up. "Do you guys still remember your promise? It''s now time to help me do something!"


    "You want to draw out the Impermanence Great Dao? Right here?" Arthur asked in disbelief.


    "That''s right. Those ignorant souls can be the offerings for my ceremony. What is more important is to draw it out," the Lord of the Void said. "From my recent observations, as well as my failure last time, I have summarized the characteristics of the Impermanence Great Dao¡­ Derivatives require balance! If we destroy more than a hundred Derivatives at once, the Impermanence Great Dao will come out eventually!"


    "Destroy more than a hundred Derivatives at once?" Heinze narrowed his eyes. "You have such a powerful secret technique?"


    He had a secret technique that could rapidly digest Derivatives and refine their nomological rules. He had even tempted Fang Yuan with it once.


    However, he did not know that Fang Yuan was powerful enough to destroy Derivatives directly using the power of a Great Dao.


    "That''s right. With my secret technique and Doroin''s refining technique, we''ll be able to extract the nomological rules of more than a hundred Derivatives and destroy them in one shot to attract the Impermanence Great Dao," the Lord of the Void said.


    "But how do we subdue it afterward? It''s as powerful as a Demon God after all," Arthur questioned.


    The Lord of the Void had lost badly when he had faced the Impermanence Great Dao after meeting it by a stroke of luck.


    In this world, they currently had less than thirty percent of their original strength. Even if they combined their powers, they were still too weak to contend with a Demon God.


    "Therefore, we need an array!" Terminator Number One, who was possessed by the Lord of the Void, said passionately. His eyes were burning with fire. "I designed an array for it! There are four array centers. As long as you help me, we''ll be strong enough to suppress the Great Dao!"


    He looked at Fang Yuan, hinting that he needed his help.


    "I see¡­ okay!" Fang Yuan nodded. "We can give you an opportunity to subdue the Impermanence Great Dao, but before that, you have to give us the map of your array and your secret technique!"


    "Yep! I agree!" Heinze echoed.


    Arthur''s eyes flashed without voicing any objections.


    "No problem!" The Lord of the Void laughed loudly, clearly excited.


    Fang Yuan looked down and touched the red lizard on his hand. His eyes flashed a bit.


    "What is that on your hand, Snow?" Heinze gazed at the red lizard. "I noticed that strange thing quite some time ago!"


    "Just a cute pet!" Fang Yuan smiled lightly.


    "In Primary Color''s overseas department, I remember there was a sealed derivative that was a sea dragon. It''s said that it came from some lizard island. Your lizard should be a similar Derivative. At a critical moment, you can use it for defense!"


    The Lord of the Void casually said, "How about we destroy it together with the rest?"


    "If you are willing to destroy your Gun of Extinction, I hand over all my Derivatives!" Fang Yuan challenged with a teasing look. The Lord of the Void looked disappointed.


    It was certainly important to extract and refine nomological rules for Demon Gods like them, but it was also perfectly fine to keep some suitable Derivatives to be part of their combat strength.


    For example, Arthur would not hand over his Memory Stick.


    Similarly, the Lord of the Void would not give up his trump card, the Gun of Extinction.


    Meanwhile, Fang Yuan was quite interested in Derivatives that had clairvoyant nomological rules such as the Fax Machine and the Bunshinsaba.


    To put it simply, ordinary Derivatives were not worth keeping, and they were usually refined directly. However, the genuinely powerful ones were best kept by the Demon Gods to put them at ease.


    "The array that I''m going to use was completely developed by myself. It is called the Four Mysterious Seals Array. There''s also the Hundred Psyche Refinement Array!"


    The Lord of the Void straightforwardly told them about his arrays.


    The four Demon Gods started setting up the arrays in the Primary Color headquarters.


    Heinze had also taken out his refining secret technique without any hesitation.


    However, this did not bring any benefit to Fang Yuan¡ªHeinze had already promised to teach him this technique. Now, he had to share this technique with the other two.


    "Although I did not have a plan in the beginning, I think it''s best to start with a blood sacrifice after some thought!"


    The four Demon Gods stood at four corners outside the mountain.


    With a strange smile, the Lord of the Void ignited a blood-red flame.


    Rumble!


    The flames burned faster and faster, spreading all the way to the center of the mountain, burning the dead bodies of Primary Color''s members and even those still alive¡­


    The blood-red flames continued spreading across the area, engulfing the region.


    Finally, it arrived at where the Derivatives were stored.


    The prisons and seals were opened, freeing the Derivatives.


    But soon after encountering the flames, they stagnated and started melting.


    Lines of nomological power were extracted and flew into the sky before four black holes eventually engulfed them.


    "The Impermanence Great Dao is really amazing. It can continuously actualize nomological objects!" Fang Yuan said poignantly while he was absorbing the nomological power together with other Demon Gods. "However, this precious stuff is limited¡­ Just like how we can only attract the Impermanence Great Dao by destroying so many Derivatives at the same time¡­ If we did this a few more times within a short period, would the Impermanence Great Dao weaken? In that case, it''d be much easier for us to capture it!"


    "That won''t work. Just like how origin power will never deplete, the power of a Great Dao can rapidly recover as long as it stays in its world, even if its nomological rules are split up!" Arthur disagreed. "Otherwise, the power of the Impermanence Great Dao would have already reached its nadir since it has actualized so many Derivatives!"


    "I agree!" the Lord of the Void said. "If we want to subdue the Great Dao of Impermanence, the only way is to suppress it with sheer force!"


    Kaboom!


    The mountain with the Primary Color headquarters suddenly shook. Boulders tumbled down from above, as if the mountain was going to collapse.


    Actually, this was not surprising. After all, this mountain had experienced a lot¡ªthe battle earlier, and the array with the blood flames set up by the four Demon Gods.


    Along with the setting of the sun, nomological power started to flow out from the fractures in the mountain, appearing more magnificent than ever.


    "Now! Four Mysterious Seals Array!"


    The Lord of the Void roared, and a huge array appeared under his feet. The array formed a circle on the ground with the other three Demon Gods inside.


    "Array core¡­ and some attracting and sealing powers?"


    Fang Yuan grew serious when he saw this, becoming secretly alert.


    Even without the fax''s reminder, he could tell that the Lord of the Void was up to no good!

 923 Unexpected Change

    Fang Yuan had been Dream Soldier Master, and his Eight Gates Sword Array had once dominated Da Qian, so he had done deep research in the Dao of Array.


    Although he had not discovered anything wrong, he felt that there had to be something hidden in the array on the ground.


    "Haha¡­ this much nomological power is enough for me to progress further in my Dao path!"


    Arthur and Heinze did not feel that anything was wrong at all. They were intoxicated in voraciously absorbing the nomological power from the Derivatives.


    The flowing lights in the crack gradually disappeared, and a small stone rolled down.


    Kaboom!


    Almost immediately, the entire mountain peak started collapsing


    Even Fang Yuan felt a huge ''vacuum''.


    It was the nomological power in a region after being consumed to the limit, bringing about such a strange feeling.


    "It''s coming!" The Lord of the Void''s voice shook with excitement.


    "Has it appeared?"


    Fang Yuan focused even more but did not find anything.


    "Hmm?"


    Suddenly, his True Spirit trembled, and he immediately looked up.


    A stream of light reaching from the ground to the sky suddenly appeared.


    ''It'' blended into this world perfectly. Numerous spots of light fell down as it shook slightly.


    Each of these light spots had its own peculiarity, and it was enough to make a huge pile of Derivatives.


    But at this moment, all the Demon Gods were attracted to the Great Dao, disregarding all else.


    It was unique and bizarre, and it only existed in a moment.


    "Everything within the world has laws governing its existence. Everything will change with time. Everything is impermanent¡­ It is indeed the Impermanence Great Dao!" Fang Yuan sighed.


    "The Impermanence Great Dao has really appeared!"


    Arthur and Heinze were excited but perturbed at the same time.


    "Great! Four Mysterious Seals Array! Everyone, please do your best to support the formation fully!" the Lord of the Void shouted hysterically. "We shouldn''t hesitate! The array has our energy, and it''s definitely as powerful as a Demon God! This will make it possible for us to seal and subdue the Great Dao!"


    "Hmm?"


    Fang Yuan raised his right hand and felt a strong absorbing force coming from the array.


    If he only had around twenty to thirty percent of his strength like Arthur and Heinze, he would feel very painful.


    However, now he was at half strength, enabling him to not only feel very comfortable but also have the energy to observe the development of the situation.


    Buzz buzz!


    The array activated. Even though each Demon God only had twenty to thirty percent of their original strength, their combined power was comparable to a peak-condition Demon God.


    The strong forces converged, and even the Impermanence Great Dao stagnated for a moment.


    "Now!"


    The Lord of the Void roared, and countless black and slim arms that looked like seaweed extended from the array to twine around the Impermanence Great Dao tightly.


    At that moment, almost everyone on the planet looked up at the total solar eclipse in confusion.


    "This is impossible! There wasn''t even any forecast!"


    "It must be my imagination!"


    "Disaster¡­ is it the end of the world?"


    Upheaval! The end of the world!


    "Unexpectedly, the Four Mysterious Seals Array is so powerful¡­" Fang Yuan sighed in amazement. He raised his head and looked at the stream of light.


    As a Great Dao of this world, it was as powerful as a Demon God at their peak condition. Even if it was temporarily restrained at this moment, the Lord of the Void would absolutely not be able to subdue it on his own.


    "Impermanence! Impermanence!"


    A strange voice echoed.


    Numerous black arms broke one by one, and a stream of light bloomed from the Great Dao.


    Poof!


    Fang Yuan and the others groaned, and some even spit out blood.


    In their senses, the Impermanence Great Dao was like a powerful dragon trying to escape from the array.


    This led to the Four Mysterious Seals Array having to rely on absorbing Fang Yuan and the rest''s energy like a vampire to maintain itself.


    "Damn it! Lord of the Void, I can only help for three more minutes!" Arthur shouted.


    "At most three more minutes. We won''t help you any longer! If you want to subdue the Impermanence Great Dao, you have to do it within three minutes!" Heinze nodded in agreement.


    Fang Yuan remained silent, but his eyes were full of energy.


    "Good!"


    The Lord of the Void roared.


    He was still possessing his favorite Terminator Number One''s body.


    He jumped into the air and faced the Impermanence Great Dao directly.


    Rumble!


    The array rumbled, and a brilliant light flared, ejecting reddish-black flames.


    "Damn it! Two more minutes!" Arthur and Heinze yelled.


    "I can finally see you¡­ Impermanence Great Dao!" The Lord of the Void was wild with joy. "This time, I will thoroughly obtain you!"


    "Not good!" Heinze and Arthur suddenly felt immense danger and immediately left.


    However, the Four Mysterious Seals Array suddenly changed. Streams of thick, blood-red light rose like cocoons of light from three of the array centers and dragged them back to their original position, preventing them from moving.


    "Lord of the Void, what are you doing?" Heinze roared.


    This array brought together the power of four Demon Gods. This was equivalent to four Demon Gods joining hands to block them. Even if it was only for a short moment, in this short moment, they were unable to do anything.


    "What am I doing? Refining the Impermanence Great Dao of course!"


    The Lord of the Void laughed.


    He was more talkative than usual, possibly because of the smooth execution of his plan. "Do you know why we''re unable to refine the Impermanence Great Dao? It isn''t because it''s as powerful as a Demon God, but because the world does not allow it!


    "How could this world allow us to take away a Great Dao it gave birth to? It''s the same logic as parents seeing you grab their children. They would put up a desperate struggle! Therefore, I must pay something in exchange. And what would make it give up one of its Great Dao? Naturally other Great Daos!


    "As long as I sacrifice the three of you to this world, I''ll be able to refine the Impermanence Great Dao and safely depart!


    "There is no need to struggle! The array is now full of your own energy. That is, I am using your own energy to restrict you!"


    ¡­


    The Lord of the Void laughed loudly after telling them his plan.


    Obviously, he had planned out everything before agreeing to attack the Primary Color headquarters.


    Although the Impermanence Great Dao itself was difficult to subdue, and the greatest difficulty was the world!


    Therefore, there had to be one or more Demon Gods sacrificed in exchange for the Great Dao.


    Evidently, his reasoning was correct.


    The resistance of the Impermanence Great Dao became weaker, so the array could direct more energy into refining the three Demon Gods.


    A layer of dark-red flame started to invade the light cocoons, making Heinze''s and Arthur''s complexions undergo huge changes. "Lord of the Void, we''ll never let you off! Even if we die today, we will resurrect in the future and definitely get our revenge!"


    "Haha¡­ are you stupid?" The Lord of the Void was still ecstatic. "I may not be able to refine your Great Daos. In fact, your Dao paths are useless to me, but this world won''t let you go. The most important thing to sacrificing Demon Gods is sacrificing their Dao path. So you don''t need to struggle and don''t think about running away anymore. My array will completely extract your Great Daos!"


    "You are too ruthless, Lord of the Void!"


    "I hate¡­"


    Arthur and Heinze kept roaring and screaming.


    Under the dark-red flame, traces of their Great Daos were extracted from them, forming two illusory Great Daos.


    As Demon Gods, they should not have been so weak.


    Unfortunately, under the world''s suppression, they only had around twenty to thirty percent of their original strength. Coupled with the fact that they had already injected too much energy into the array earlier, their limited strength was further weakened. In addition, the array was receiving the Demon Gods'' own energy to confine them in turn.


    Even though Arthur and Heinze still had some Derivatives with them, they were unable to use them.


    "Wait, this method of stripping Great Daos and the atmosphere is familiar¡­" Fang Yuan suddenly shouted, "Lord of the Void, are you colluding with Demon Supremacy Wish Fulfillment?!"


    How could it be so easy to extract a Demon God''s Great Dao?


    The Lord of the Void being able to do this made Fang Yuan associate it with other things.


    "Yep! It wasn''t easy for you to think of this. I did indeed make a deal with Demon Supremacy Wish Fulfillment. Unfortunately, he doesn''t trust me fully¡­" The Lord of the Void sighed. "When you die, the true master of the Spiritual Realm will be either me or Demon Supremacy Wish Fulfillment!"


    He regarded the three Demon Gods as already dead.


    "This makes me feel really¡­ unpleasant! Lord of the Void, do you think that I''m going to die today?"


    Fang Yuan roared, and the red lizard fell from his arm.


    Roar! Roar!


    The next moment.


    An earthshaking roar resounded.


    The array at Fang Yuan''s position suddenly exploded, and a red dragon appeared.


    It looked like a typical Western dragon¡ªa lizard with a giant pair of wings.


    Flapping its wings and causing formidable airwaves, it brought Snow into the air.


    "D-Demon God?! This is your body? A red dragon? How do you have more than half of your strength?" The Lord of the Void shouted with surprise.


    Even Heinze, who had been in this world for decades, was unable to do this!


    "Die!" Fang Yuan did not bother to explain. He opened his mouth, and flames burst out, burning the heavens and the earth.

 924 Subdue

    Just how frightening would a complete Demon God be in this world?


    One example was the Impermanence Great Dao that even Demon Gods could not do anything about.


    Assisted by the power of his stats window, the current Fang Yuan, even if he had not recovered to his peak form, still had at least seventy to eighty percent of his original combat strength.


    This was equivalent to an almost complete Demon God, which greatly surpassed the Lord of the Void''s expectations.


    The Four Mysterious Seals Array was not a burden to him at all. In fact, even the seals laid down by the Lord of the Void did not restrict Fang Yuan at all.


    At this moment, he caught the Lord of the Void off guard by soaring into the sky and drowning the Lord of the Void with the destructive dragon flames from his mouth.


    The blazing flames contained the power of the Dao of Creation and Omnidirectional Divine Demonic Armament Dao. Even the Impermanence Great Dao started trembling immensely, as though it had sensed great danger.


    Kaboom!


    The cone-shaped flames spread across the sky. Under the blazing temperatures, Terminator Number One was completely unable to fight back as it turned into ashes almost immediately, exposing the Lord of the Void''s translucent body that was formed of many warped souls.


    "How dare you¡­" the Lord of the Void roared. But the very next moment, he saw Snow standing on top of the red dragon with a smile and then leaping toward him.


    A collapsing mountain peak and a radiance piercing through the sky. A young man locked in a confrontation with a figure formed of many twisted faces!


    Everything was the same as the picture in the fax of the future!


    "I want you dead!"


    The Lord of the Void flew backward, and a formless force was already holding on to a slightly deformed revolver aimed at Fang Yuan.


    Gun of Extinction!


    The unique peculiarity of this Derivative was also one of the top few among all the Derivatives. And it had actually survived the flames!


    After all, the flames that Fang Yuan had spat out were to kill and injure, not really to refine the energy of a Great Dao.


    And this was the Lord of the Void''s hope in making a comeback!


    A shot to destroy your soul!


    "I''ve already guessed that you would do that!"


    While laughing out loud, Fang Yuan blinked. All of a sudden, a palm reached out toward the Lord of the Void.


    Derivative! The Third Hand!


    The ability to steal an object from the target without exception!


    What does the present Lord of the Void still have on him? After Terminator Number One turned into ashes, all he has left is his void body and the Gun of Extinction!


    This means that the items left to steal are either the Gun of Extinction or him himself!


    The Lord of the Void in his current state had nothing else on him.


    Under the two choose one premise, the randomness of the skill turned into a major probability!


    Swoosh!


    As a radiance flashed by, the Gun of Extinction appeared in Fang Yuan''s hand.


    He chuckled, aimed at Lord of the Void, and pulled the trigger without hesitation.


    Bang!


    A gunshot rang out!


    The Gun of Extinction accurately shot the Lord of the Void.


    From all corners of the world, it felt as though a desperate cry rang out. "No!!!"


    In that instant, all his souls were erased. Just like that, the ruthless and myriad Lord of the Void who stopped at nothing disappeared from this world.


    "The ability of the Gun of Extinction might have hurt his main body, but for the Lord of the Void in the Spiritual Realm who has all his ability as a Demon God, who knows how much damage he suffered¡­"


    Fang Yuan blew the gun''s muzzle as the red dragon let out a roar. Using his own strength, he started operating the array.


    Four Mysterious Seals Array!


    Even though Fang Yuan was still slightly lacking, he was still a Demon God who had recovered the majority of his strength! He could single-handedly take on the combined efforts of the two Demon Gods!


    Chichi!


    The strength of the black hands increased by yet another fold, and it started twining around the Impermanence Great Dao like the hairs on a head.


    The blood-red flames burned, causing the two Demon God incessant grievances.


    "Snow¡­ Let us go!"


    "We''ll swear upon our True Spirits that we''ll be grateful toward you, praise you, and let you order us around for ten thousand years!"


    ¡­


    Arthur and Heinze cried out immediately after seeing the drastic change in situation.


    "Swear upon your True Spirits that you will never divulge news about me and that you will give your all to do three things for me at no cost. Also, you will devote all the nomological power that you''ve absorbed here to me, and then I''ll let you off!"


    Fang Yuan rolled his eyes as he continued, "You guys should have seen it. The one plotting against you guys was the Lord of the Void. I have no malicious intent toward you two!"


    "You¡­ all right! I promise!"


    The two Demon Gods were smart enough to know that there was not much to consider. Therefore, they immediately agreed to his terms.


    By giving up all of this, it was equivalent to giving up on everything they had attained from this world. Additionally, they would even have three serious debts weighing them down.


    But regardless, it was still better than perishing here.


    Moreover, Demon Gods were ruthless and vicious. In a situation where Fang Yuan held an absolute advantage, they already knew what he would do to them if they rejected. It was without the slightest of doubt that Fang Yuan would continue what the Lord of the Void was going to do to them¡ªstrip them of their Great Daos, sacrifice them to the world, and subdue the Impermanence Great Dao!


    "In the name of our True Spirits!"


    The two Demon Gods swore as they spat out colorful radiances.


    "Very good, let''s go!"


    Fang Yuan waved his hand, and a gap immediately emerged in the two light cocoons. Arthur and Heinze escaped desperately.


    "Damn it¡­ My nomological power and my accumulation of strength¡­"


    At this very moment, the two Demon Gods exchanged glances with each other. They almost spat up blood. "Lord of the Void, we''ll never forgive you!"


    "I''ve decided to leave this world as soon as possible!" Arthur said in an unquestionable tone. "The array earlier extracted more than half of my strength and even threatened the natural source of my Great Dao!"


    "This is really a massive loss¡­"


    Heinze sighed and looked at the void.


    In the void, Snow was riding his red dragon and standing opposite the Impermanence Great Dao.


    "It seems like Snow is still interested in trying to subdue the Impermanence Great Dao¡­ However, he isn''t trying to use the Lord of the Void''s exchange method. Instead, he''s going to use brute force!"


    For Demon Gods such as the Lord of the Void who only had twenty to thirty percent of their peak strength, forcing the Impermanence Great Dao into submission was never in their consideration. They had merely tried to lure it with something beneficial.


    However, Fang Yuan was different!


    After regaining a large portion of his original strength, he was indeed capable enough to try using brute force to subdue it!


    "This is a battle between two Demon Gods. We''re way too close to them, and it might be dangerous for us!"


    Arthur and Heinze retreated, all prepared to leave this world.


    However, their gazes subconsciously converged at the sky.


    "I wonder how he did it. He clearly arrived not too long ago, yet he managed to recover a great portion of his strength. What kind of secret technique is it?" Heinze sighed.


    "This is already beyond the secret technique category. I bet it''s an ability of Netherheaven Demon Gods! This is probably why he wants us to keep it a secret!" Arthur shook his head. "This Demon God must have some huge secret on him!"


    "Because of our vows, we won''t be able to say anything to anyone¡­ And that Lord of the Void¡­" Heinze shivered slightly. "I wonder if he received any news¡­ After all, the Gun of Extinction is way too powerful. All of his souls and concealed hands in this world would have been erased on the spot. It''s hard to tell if he managed to send out a message at the very last moment!"


    "Who knows¡­" Arthur forced a bitter smile. "Either way¡­ I do know something. The Lord of the Void is definitely going to be in trouble in the future!"


    At the thought of how vicious and ruthless Fang Yuan was, Heinze could not help but shudder even though he was also a Demon God himself.


    ¡­


    "Even though the Lord of the Void has a lot of tricks up his sleeves, this Four Mysterious Seals Array is the real deal and possesses the ability to restrain Great Daos!"


    At this moment, Fang Yuan was all fired up and operated the array by himself in an attempt to restrain the Impermanence Great Dao.


    "Impermanence! Impermanence!"


    The Impermanence Great Dao was constantly fluctuating and trembling. However, this array was guarded strictly by the red dragon, and there was no way to break through it!


    "Indeed¡­ Even though the Impermanence Great Dao is comparable to a Demon God, it''s not a true Demon God!"


    A true Demon God would have their own intelligence, experience, and methods.


    This Great Dao was still merely a Great Dao, just like a very primitive AI. It only knew how to react to the outside world passively. It was extremely sequential and inflexible without intelligence or state of mind.


    Perhaps it could defeat a Demon God like the Lord of the Void, but Fang Yuan had the utmost confidence that he could take it down.


    His only worry was still this world!


    "You won''t be able to escape!"


    The red dragon roared, and two Great Daos appeared like long rivers engulfing and binding the Impermanence Great Dao.


    One of the Great Daos was shining brightly with splendor, and that was the Creation Great Dao. The other contained the sounds of a powerful army, and that was the Omnidirectional Divine Demonic Armament Dao.


    The two Great Dao surrounded the Impermanence Great Dao on the left and the right, bringing with them immense energy of attraction.


    "Unbelievable!" The two spectating Demon Gods almost dropped their jaws when they saw what happened. "Forget about that Omnidirectional Divine Demonic Armament Dao, but that Creation Great Dao¡­ Myriad Creation, why haven''t we ever heard about it or its power? This isn''t any weaker than any of those known Great Daos in the Mental Demon Realm!"


    "Omnidirectional Demon God! Myriad Creation! Impermanence Great Dao, quickly surrender!"


    Fang Yuan could not be bothered to deal with these two outsiders'' shock. The two Great Dao extended outward. In an extremely aggressive and overbearing manner, they were about to take in the Impermanence Great Dao.


    Kaboom!


    At this moment, thunder boomed from the sky.


    Streaks of lightning danced about in the sky in seven-colored mysterious radiances.


    This was the power of annihilation of a high-level world, and it contained the will of the entire world!


    "This world¡­ You can''t stop me, just like how you couldn''t stop me from getting rid of the seal earlier!"


    Fang Yuan laughed heartily.


    However, he still made his move.


    All of a sudden, a good amount of nomological power and the illusions of the two Great Daos that the Lord of the Void had extracted from the two Demon Gods gathered in the Four Mysterious Seals Array. Mixing with the power of many blood sacrifices, it condensed into the shadow of a Dao path that flew into the sky.


    "This is¡­" Arthur''s and Heinze''s faces twitched. "A Pseudo Dao? No! A Pseudo Dao is nothing compared to this! The main ingredients are our previous losses¡­ He''s using them to fool the Heavenly Dao of this world? No way?"


    The Lord of the Void''s initial plan was to use the three real Great Daos as a sacrifice for the heavens.


    In contrast, Fang Yuan was basically trying to fool the heavens! The Heavenly Dao was bound to be infuriated!


    Of course, he would gain a little time before anything happened.


    As the lightning streaks in the sky turned sluggish, the seven-colored Dao path rose unceasingly.


    Making use of this opportunity, Fang Yuan extended his spiritual will with all his might. With immense pressure and oppressive energy, the Creation Great Dao and Omnidirectional Divine Demonic Armament Dao rolled toward the Impermanence Great Dao. It disappeared in the twinkling of an eye!

 925 Splitting Treasures

    In a split second, the Impermanence Great Dao that many Demon God yearned for landed in Fang Yuan''s hands.


    And at that moment!


    Kaboom!


    In the dark void, lightning bolts flashed wildly, emitting a terrifying force of annihilation. This was the fury of heaven''s will.


    "Of course¡­ This is also normal. Just like when someone pays full price for an expensive feast only to be force-fed with a mouthful of pig''s slop, he''s bound to fight back with all his might!"


    Fang Yuan''s neck shrunk, as he had no intention to fight back. Without much hesitation, he chose to leave the world.


    "Damn it! Let''s quickly leave!"


    Heinze''s and Arthur''s faces turned incredibly pale. "We can''t visit this world in the future anymore! The Heavenly Dao''s inspection and stifling of any alien species are bound to be incomparably harsh¡­ What a turn off!"


    Rumble!


    But this was merely an exchange of thoughts.


    At that moment, two purple lightning streaks descended upon their hosts'' bodies.


    Without the protection of a True Spirit and the strength of a Demon God, these two empty shells burned. Arthur and Heinze were naturally not going to bear the brunt of Fang Yuan''s actions, so they had already escaped from this world.


    ¡­


    In the Spiritual Realm.


    In the boundless ocean.


    A column of water suddenly shot up into the sky like a gigantic fountain.


    Following the cry of a whale, a humongous whale suddenly leaped out of the water surface, causing incredible waves.


    "Creation, Impermanence, and Omnidirectional Divine Demonic!"


    Kaboom!


    Three Great Daos emerged in the Spiritual Realm, causing instability in the weather. Dao Marks were constantly being carved into the void, and that was enough to cause low-level Earth Immortals and Heaven Immortals to scramble like mad ducks.


    Fang Yuan appeared on the back of the whale as he watched the three Great Daos. His heart suddenly filled with a type of delight.


    "Who would have thought¡­ the Impermanence Great Dao could actually get on with my Creation Great Dao this well.


    "Initially, I really did believe that the first Dao to be incorporated into my Creation Great Dao would be the Omnidirectional Divine Demonic Armament Dao. Who would have thought¡­"


    His fundamental Dao path was a Dream Master''s Creation, so naturally the Dao of Creation was going to be the center of everything.


    "Creation Impermanence! What is it really?"


    Fang Yuan pondered while watching how his Creation Great Dao accommodated the Impermanence Great Dao and how it was becoming increasingly faintly indiscernible and mysterious.


    "Using the Dao of Creation to develop Impermanence¡­ It feels like after adding the Impermanence Great Dao, my Creation Great Dao has become much more complete¡­"


    He looked at the Omnidirectional Divine Demonic Armament Dao.


    At this moment, this Great Dao no longer put up the same resistance as before, and it was also being incorporated into the Creation Great Dao.


    Within this heaven and earth, there seemed to be only one Creation Great Dao capable of evolving scenes of Omnidirectional Divine Demonic Armament, Impermanence, and so on.


    "Accommodating other Daos and using one Dao to evolve countless others¡­ This is the Myriad Transformations Demon God realm!"


    Fang Yuan knew that he had finally achieved the goal he had set out for during this dream-traversing.


    A Myriad Transformations Demon God was an existence capable of being a tyrant wherever they went.


    With this strength, he was finally confident enough to be part of the changes that were about to happen in the Spiritual Realm.


    He took a quick glance at his stats windows:


    "Name: Fang Yuan


    Profession: Dream Master


    Cultivation: Demon God (Myriad Transformations)


    Dao Path: Creation Great Dao, Omnidirectional Divine Demonic Armament Dao, Impermanence Great Dao


    Technique: Pangu Eagle Body [Strengthen Witch Bloodline (1st Tier)], Creation Sword Array [Ninth Sword (100%)]


    Specialization: Botany [Level 6] (Maximum), Heavenly Eye Seer Spell, Body of Origin Power"


    "I advanced by a small rank, but there are some troubles too¡­"


    Fang Yuan''s expression remained stern as he thought more about it.


    The Gun of Extinction might have completely destroyed the Lord of the Void''s incarnations in that world, but his main body in the Spiritual Realm might only be slightly affected.


    In fact, he might even know about his information.


    Being able to recover that quickly in a world like that was something only a Netherheaven Demon God could do.


    As such, the other Demon Gods would naturally be extremely interested in this.


    Even though Fang Yuan had already used contracts to ensure that Arthur and Heinze would not talk about it, he could not be so sure about the Lord of the Void.


    "However¡­ there is always a slight delay regarding the flow of information from an incarnation to the main body. He died too fast, so the information might not even flow to his main body in time¡­ Regardless, the Lord of the Void will still probably know about what happened between us. He''ll simply be uncertain about the details¡­"


    Fang Yuan pupils contracted. "Perhaps¡­ I should eliminate the Lord of the Void before meeting face to face with Demon Supremacy Wish Fulfillment!"


    The Lord of the Void had clearly colluded with Demon Supremacy Wish Fulfillment.


    Initially, Fang Yuan only had a smattering of knowledge about what had happened on the Mental Demon Battlefield, but after seeing the Four Mysterious Seals Array, Fang Yuan immediately understood Demon Supremacy Wish Fulfillment''s intention.


    This freak that was a fusion of Demon and Spirit was probably preparing to take down all the Emperors and Zenith Heavens in the Spiritual Realm before smelting all their Great Daos to eventually advance into Netherheaven!


    A Myriad Transformations Demon God was capable of evolving other Daos using their own Dao path.


    Meanwhile, a Netherheaven Demon God was an existence with an almost complete Dao path. Regardless of which world a Netherheaven Demon God descended upon, they would be capable of going against the oppression of the world to rapidly recover the majority of their strength.


    Only a Demon God at this stage would be truly free.


    This was because they could break away from the restrictions of the Mental Demon Realm to settle down in any world they liked.


    Even though Fang Yuan had advanced to Myriad Transformations, he had only accommodated three Great Daos. It was still a long road ahead to raise his own Dao to a level comparable to a ''Heavenly Dao''.


    "The majority of the Lord of the Void''s arrangements are in the human realm. He is definitely not going to miss the fighting of dragons¡­ The chess piece set up back then where Lin Shoucheng is can perhaps be a place to visit!


    "Of course¡­ the first thing to do is to start weaving in the Immortal Dao!"


    ¡­


    Sky Horizon Sea.


    Petals fell from the sky, golden lotuses sprouted on the ground, and numerous Dao Marks emitted myriad propitious vapors.


    A simple and plain palace suddenly appeared before one''s eyes. It was an awe-inspiring purple firmament palace.


    "Teacher is starting his second lecture?"


    The Penglai Island Master, Infinity Mystic Sect Master, and Luoshen Palace Master quickly arrived together. Once they entered the purple firmament palace, they greeted Supremacy Creation and addressed him as Teacher.


    "All right!"


    After eighty-one bell tolls, Fang Yuan waved his hands to separate heaven and earth and prevent anyone from further coming in.


    "The Dao of Creation includes everything. What I am going to talk about today is the art of creating Impermanence!"


    Fang Yuan spoke with a smile, saying each word articulately. Every word contained the mysterious energy of a Great Dao, causing the one thousand Golden Immortals, Heaven Immortals, and other low-level beings to almost seem as though they were intoxicated by his words.


    "You can actually¡­ do this?"


    "Using the Creation Great Dao to evolve Impermanence?"


    "Not only that, Creation includes everything in this world. This means that it can evolve¡­"


    ¡­


    After one round of practicing, many Golden Immortals and Heaven Immortals praised again, "Teacher is truly remarkable. How I wish I can attend Teacher''s lectures more often!"


    "That''s all!" Fang Yuan chuckled. "This is my very last lecture. It''s entirely up to each and every one of you to absorb as much as you can before the arrival of the tribulation!"


    "What?"


    Their voice in unison was truly thunderous.


    These Golden Immortals and Heaven Immortals who were starting to get used to Fang Yuan''s lectures could not help themselves and fell to their knees. "Teacher¡­ please don''t leave us waiting here!"


    "Did we do something wrong? Teacher, please point out our mistakes. We will surely change for the better!"


    "Teacher¡­ huhu¡­"


    Some of the more shameless ones even started crying. After all, this was an extremely rare opportunity.


    "Fools!" Fang Yuan displayed an awkward expression. "It is hard to go against heaven''s will¡­ I am already risking a lot by giving two lectures. Giving a third is out of the question!"


    "Teacher!"


    The Penglai Island Master and the other Golden Immortals also fell to their knees. Their current feelings were indescribable.


    "However, we can be considered to be fated for all of you to have learned under me. I have some treasures that I have no use for any longer, so I will bestow them to you. This will be useful for you during the tribulation!"


    Fang Yuan waved his hands, and a pile of black rocks appeared outside the firmament palace. Magnificent brilliances started circulating around the items, clearly the rays of treasure light.


    "Mountain of treasures?"


    The Luoshen Palace Master was bold and scrupulous, taking the lead to leave the scene. She arrived in front of the rocks and picked up a hossu. She waved it around casually and could feel the strong winds of the high heavens.


    "Truly a great treasure!"


    The Luoshen Palace Master could not contain the delight on her face as she grabbed another treasure, a five-colored robe.


    "Out of my way!"


    "Stop!"


    How could the rest of the numerous Golden Immortals and Heaven Immortals stand a sight like this? They quickly charged out of the purple firmament palace and toward the pile of treasures.


    If they were not afraid of offending the Dao Patriarch, some of them might have even executed all kinds of skills and moves here.


    Eventually, the Golden Immortals gained the most advantage, as they had managed to snatch the majority of the treasures. However, some of the luckier Heaven Immortals had also managed to grab one or two good items.


    In fact, some of the treasures had clearly chosen their own owners and flew toward their new owner.


    "Thank you, Teacher, for bestowing us with treasures!"


    The Penglai Island Master and the other two benefitted the most, so they were the ones to lead in appreciating Fang Yuan.


    Fang Yuan stood at the entrance of the palace and addressed the crowd. "Don''t worry about it. My treasures are fickle and mysterious, so be careful when you use them¡­"


    "We will follow your instructions sincerely!"


    The Luoshen Palace Master draped the five-colored robe over her shoulder and bowed to express her gratitude. All of a sudden, she cried out, "What''s going on? This¡­ is my voice?"


    Her high-pitched voice had become extremely deep like a man''s voice.


    "Five Yang Robe. The person wearing it will turn from Yin to Yang (female to male), and it is irreversible!" Fang Yuan casually commented.


    "What?" The Luoshen Palace frowned while looking heroic and exuberant.


    She was still a Golden Immortal and had plenty of methods to transform her corporeal body.


    Regardless, she was not going to take off the robe at a time like this.


    "This robe has the protection of the Five Yang, and it can protect you from five Golden Immortal attacks. You better cherish it!"


    Fang Yuan was chuckling in his heart but still appeared serious when he said that.


    Following that, this bunch of disciples caused yet another ruckus testing out their new treasures.


    "Very good¡­ It seems like I can use the unique characteristics of the Impermanence Great Dao in this world too."


    In reality, the giving out of treasures was Fang Yuan''s experiment with Derivatives.


    The truth proved that in the Spiritual Realm, where there were slightly fewer restrictions, the power of the Impermanence Great Dao was definitely usable.


    "¡­ The power of Derivatives is not sufficient to deal with Zenith Heavens. After all, it is merely nomological power, which will never be enough to deal with Demon Gods with a Great Dao protecting them¡­ But they can absolutely kill anyone under Zenith Heaven immediately! Even a Golden Immortal wouldn''t be able to withstand a blow from these!"


    Seeing this, Fang Yuan could not help but nod. He was extremely pleased and satisfied with the performance of the Impermanence Great Dao.

 926 Commander-in-Chief

    Capital of Ye, Commander''s mansion.


    The country of Ye had faced constant civil unrest over the years. Fortunately, there was the rise of Lin Shoucheng''s Iron State, which managed to defeat the rebel army.


    Presently, he had already established a presence in the country''s capital and self-proclaimed himself to be the ''commander-in-chief of all military forces''!


    In a courtyard, there were many warriors donned in armor patrolling the area.


    Jiang Wang was wearing a green robe, looking like a scholar, as he walked quickly into the small pavilion.


    The singing and dancing in the pavilion came to a halt.


    "So it is Wenhe who has come. Haha, come on in! Have to drink with me today!"


    Lin Shoucheng sat upright and raised his cup in smiles.


    Jiang Wang coughed and made his voice sound even more serious. "Ahem¡­ Your Highness, I have something to report to you!"


    "Since military adviser has something to discuss with His Highness, we shall take our leave first!"


    The high-ranking military officers at the scene were all old comrades who had fought beside Lin Shoucheng. Naturally, they knew that His Highness seldom interacted with his military adviser but still maintained an extraordinary relationship. Without probing any further, they immediately left the pavilion.


    Soon after, the entertainers also left the pavilion, leaving the entire pavilion empty and solemn.


    "What does Wenhe have for me? Can you tell me now?" Lin Shoucheng asked calmly while holding a cup in his hand.


    At this time, he had been successful in his martial arts and held great authority. Naturally, he possessed an incredible aura and prestige in the way he carried himself.


    Jiang Wang''s pupils contracted, and he said in a low voice, "Yes¡­ Yang Xiu is dead!"


    "What?"


    Lin Shoucheng was so astonished, he almost knocked over the table in front of him. Even the hand that was holding the cup started trembling. "Truly¡­ a good death!"


    Yang Xiu had been a minister of this dynasty and was not the most popular person. He had survived three dynasties and had friends and disciples in all levels of society.


    At the same time, he was also the greatest thorn in Lin Shoucheng''s eye.


    When he had first entered the capital of Ye, his intention was to hold the king to control the vassals. At that time, the country of Ye''s fate had been determined, and he had plans to be disloyal.


    The only reason he had not acted was because he was fearful of this man.


    Now that he was dead, it seemed almost like heaven''s will!


    Lin Shoucheng swiftly made a decision. "Yang Xiu was also holding on to a portion of the royal guards. Now that he''s dead, send some men to try and rope them in¡­ Also, switch our men to city defense to make sure nobody else gets involved in this!"


    "However¡­ Your Highness, you are married to the Chaoyang Princess. In terms of status, you are an elder of the king¡­ Now that everything is in chaos, you should immediately get the king to abdicate properly!" Jiang Wang said.


    "Why? Wenhe, you''re scared? Did you forget about my oath to the heavens?" Lin Shoucheng asked, smiling.


    "Scared? Of course I''m scared! The more I study, the more I understood the logic of ''life is short, learning is limitless''! It''s the same here¡­ The more I know, the more reverence I feel!" Jiang Wang put forward a suggestion. "Wouldn''t it be more dependable to plan everything carefully?"


    "That''s right¡­" Lin Shoucheng sighed, his expression growing solemn. "Compared to the world, the country of Ye is considered a small country. At this moment, I don''t even know if I should take this advantage."


    Even though he did not know about the misfortune of the heavens and the earth, the changes in the human realm were enough to make Lin Shoucheng and others tremble in fear.


    "Even though Your Highness has attained the Dragon Qi, your foundations are yet to be stable. Forcefully snatching the throne is too risky¡­ I suggest abdication!" Jiang Wang tried to give his input again.


    "I''m scared! Of course I''m also scared!" Lin Shoucheng clenched his fist. "Even though both you and I know about our matter, we can''t withdraw from it anymore¡­ Forget it, abdication it is then. But this country of Ye is something I must seize!"


    He got up to take a few steps forward before making his decision. "Next month!"


    "Great!" Jiang Wang nodded while opening his spiritual eye. At this moment, he saw the convergence of a five-colored mist and a black dragon circling it.


    Even though it isn''t considered a true dragon, it''s more than enough to assume the responsibility of a king!


    Presently, his heart came to a conclusion.


    However, he suddenly felt absent-minded and uneasy.


    Prompted by a sudden impulse? Is there still one more variable to this abdication?


    Jiang Wang kept quiet.


    Lin Shoucheng noticed his expression and wanted to ask.


    "Reporting!" But just then, a messenger came running toward the pavilion. "Subordinate has a matter to report to Commander!"


    "Come in! What is it?" Lin Shoucheng questioned.


    His mansion followed the rules of the military, which meant that he demanded exact compliance with instructions for everything here.


    Back then, when the Chaoyang Princess married into his mansion, some of the elderly female servants did not follow his rules and were instantly slapped to death in front of the princess. After their deaths, no one even collected their corpses, making it an incredibly tragic sight. Throughout the entire mansion, everyone kept quiet out of fear.


    If this messenger was unable to explain the reason for his arrival, he was naturally going to be punished as well.


    "Commander, someone outside the mansion wants to meet you. He says he is¡­ Commander''s Teacher!" this messenger answered.


    "Ah! Yet another swindler!" Lin Shoucheng did not even want to think about all the people who came to seek connections with him after he had made it big. The numbers were staggering, annoying him tremendously.


    "Wait!" Jiang Wang felt that something was amiss. "Your Highness, the guards at the entrance and the honorary experts in the mansion aren''t idiots. If he didn''t provide proof, he would have been chased away! Let me go take a look into this first."


    "Military Adviser is right!" The messenger looked relieved when he said that. "That person is standing right there, but none of us can draw our weapons. Moreover, the two honorary experts in the mansion passed out immediately after he took a glance at them."


    "Oh?" Lin Shoucheng grew interested and exchanged glances with Jiang Wang.


    Their current power and influence were different from before. Therefore, everyone they hired was a top expert.


    The mansion''s honorary experts were at least Essence Souls. It seemed like this person was not lying.


    "Invite that man into the living room. I''ll head there with you!"


    After exchanging glances with Jiang Wang, he gathered his guards and honorary experts before entering the living room.


    After entering the room, he saw a young man sitting on a red sandalwood chair sipping tea. The moment the young man spotted them, he smiled. "Ah! I haven''t seen the two of you in forever. It seems like you''re getting more exuberant!"


    "You are¡­ Teacher?!" Jiang Wang asked doubtfully.


    This man looked exactly the same as the master who had taught them in the past. The only difference was that he looked much younger than before.


    "If Your Excellency says that you''re Mister''s nephew, that would be more believable¡­" Jiang Wang muttered uncertainly.


    "Haha¡­ Back then, you guys barged into my grass hut in the middle of the night to beg me to take you in as my disciples. Did you forget about that?" Fang Yuan joked with them, casually bringing up some secrets of the past.


    "You are indeed Teacher!" Lin Shoucheng and Jiang Wang no longer had any doubts. "We knew Teacher was extraordinary, and you are indeed a cultivator!"


    Human Immortals and Earth Immortals had a long lifespan and the ability to maintain their forever young complexion. In addition to how mysterious and extraordinary their teacher was, it seemed like they had already considered this point.


    Jiang Wang was sincere, while Lin Shoucheng sounded a little forced.


    "It''s nothing!" Fang Yuan waved his hands and looked at Lin Shoucheng. "Back then, I took you two in as disciples, but that was merely a game. Moreover, you are a commander. People usually worship and salute you, so you don''t have to restrict yourself to such courtesy for me in the future."


    "What is Teacher talking about? A teacher for a day, a father for life! Jiang Wang is immensely grateful to you and will never be able to return the favor!"


    After all, Jiang Wang was an honest child whose eyes were already turning red. This made Lin Shoucheng, who was beside him, slightly awkward.


    "All right! I came to visit about the city defenses!" Fang Yuan said with great dignity. "I''ve heard of the Yang Xiu incident. Are you preparing to snatch the country''s throne?"


    "So what if I am?" Lin Shoucheng was indeed an ambitious and ruthless character and questioned Fang Yuan instead. "Where did Mister hear this from?"


    While saying that, he sent a secret message for his guards and honorary experts to stand closer to him.


    "As long as I want to know about it, nobody can hide anything from me in this world!" Fang Yuan smiled. "Moreover¡­ A summer insect that does not live to see winter can not talk about the ice. It doesn''t matter whether you become the king or not. I wouldn''t even be here if you were not of any help to me about this matter¡­ Also, the guards outside are simply not enough to deal with the danger that you''re about to face!"


    He clapped his hand.


    Sha! Sha!


    All of a sudden, all the guards and honorary experts walked out from the shadows and toward Fang Yuan like walking corpses to bow to him.


    "This¡­" Lin Shoucheng took a step back, sweat rolling down his forehead profusely. "Are you already a Heaven Immortal?"


    He even had an Earth Immortal among the honorary experts in his mansion! In the face of this teacher, he actually did not have any strength to resist or fight back, shocking him to the core.


    "Teacher¡­ Shoucheng isn''t thinking straight, so please do not blame him. If you have any orders, I will certainly do my best to accomplish it as your disciple!"


    Jiang Wang hurriedly apologized on behalf of Lin Shoucheng.


    "That is exactly what I want too!" Lin Shoucheng forced a smile while saying that. After recognizing the difference in strength, he understood that his negligible achievements were not worthy of Fang Yuan conspiring against him.


    "Good that you guys are obedient!" Fang Yuan squinted his eyes to look at Lin Shoucheng. "Do you know¡­ that you are already facing imminent catastrophe?"


    "Imminent catastrophe¡­ Could there be changes to the abdication?" Lin Shoucheng quivered.


    "No! It doesn''t matter whether you abdicate or seize the throne forcefully. The moment you worship the heavens, there will be changes!" Fang Yuan warned him.


    "Could Teacher be talking¡­ about the evil matter?"


    Jiang Wang and Lin Shoucheng looked at each other with solemn expressions.


    "Since we''re at a time like this, I''ll tell you two everything¡­ The existence that placed the evil Qi inside two is the root of chaos and a tumor of the heavens and the earth! Previously, when he assigned you two here, he was merely waiting for you two to bring chaos and invade other countries. Once you worship the heavens to become king, he will swoop in to take over everything to steal the fate of the country. Either that, or he can plant his seeds in you two to make it convenient for him to manipulate you in the future!" Fang Yuan said, revealing some information.


    "Jiang Wang, your martial arts aren''t good enough! Even your observation Qi isn''t good enough¡­ Look again!"


    He waved his hands, and a force enveloped Jiang Wang and Lin Shoucheng.


    "As expected!"


    They lifted their heads, and even though their black dragons were roaring in a malevolent manner, they were trapped by shackles and chains.


    "Teacher, please save me!"


    Seeing this, Lin Shoucheng kept sweating before he finally could not take it anymore. He fell on his knees to beg for help.

 927 Search

    Country of Ye, the first of August, an auspicious day.


    On the Heaven Ritual Altar, the young King of Ye had just turned ten years old and was starting to worship the heavens.


    He dressed in a black upper garment to represent heaven and a yellow lower garment to represent earth, indicating his intention to carry on the will of heaven. It was the most ceremonious robe.


    However, all the civil and military officials were kneeling and facing a figure in another direction.


    Lin Shoucheng looked calm, and he had also put on his ceremonial robe as part of the regulations.


    Evidently, the abdication process was still ongoing!


    In truth, he had the capability to do this ever since he had barged into the capital of Ye. However, Lin Shoucheng was a patient man and listened to Jiang Wang''s suggestion. Not only did he not bully or humiliate the royal family, he even married a princess.


    Now that Yang Xiu had died, everything fell into place.


    "¡­ In accordance with the heavens, cooperating with the emperor, to put forth a person to succeed the position and carry on heaven''s will¡­"


    After the little king recited the edict tremblingly, he was brought to the side to kneel.


    Lin Shoucheng walked to the center of the Heaven Ritual Altar. While he appeared extremely satisfied, his heart was beating rapidly. According to what Teacher said¡­ I have evil Qi in my body that the heavens and the earth can not tolerate. If I worship the heavens, there is bound to be a calamity!


    Even though I can rise quickly through the changes in the heavens and the earth, the true danger isn''t really heaven''s will¡­ Instead, it is the existence that planted the seed of evil in me! When children of evil like us worship the heavens, it will be his time to harvest his crops! Collecting the fate of countries is not even the most severe consequence. The most severe will be taking over our bodies and souls, turning us into his puppet!


    However, the arrow was already notched. He had no choice but to release it.


    Lin Shoucheng took a deep breath and began the address, "I, minister of the country, Lin Shoucheng¡­"


    The address was very simple. It was basically to worship to the heavens as the king of the country while declaring the alteration of the country Ye''s official name.


    We already have control of the majority of the country''s armies, and we''ve roped in some of the influential families. His Highness is considered a relative of the king, so even though there is still some resistance, it''s not too much¡­


    Jiang Wang observed everything quietly.


    He looked at the five-colored mist converging on the altar and the black dragon roaring. Everything looked normal.


    If it wasn''t for Teacher''s warning, who would have thought about the upcoming danger?


    Jiang Wang sighed and looked at his teacher beside him.


    To think he isn''t acting yet. I doubt he hasn''t noticed my presence, so that means¡­ something is holding him back? Is he injured?


    After the Lord of the Void suffered the impact of the Gun of Extinction, all his souls in that world were completely destroyed. Not only that, some of the effects might have extended back to his main body.


    While it might not have caused any serious injuries or consequences to a Demon God protected by a Great Dao, an injury was still an injury.


    Moreover, the Lord of the Void possessed billions of incarnations in many different worlds. Those weaker incarnations might not be able to withstand the impact of the Gun of Extinction.


    Of course¡­ there''s a possibility that the country of Ye is too small to attract his attention. Fang Yuan shook his head. It seems like I have to help this disciple out!


    Buzz buzz!


    Not long later, a few magical clouds flew in. Auspicious auras surrounded the clouds, and Immortals appeared on them.


    "These¡­ are all Heaven Immortals?"


    The only Earth Immortal in the mansion felt his legs go weak.


    After completing his worship to the heavens, Lin Shoucheng was about to bestow gifts upon the officials. Now, he was going through the motions to ask, "Greetings, Immortals. Why are all of you here?"


    "We don''t dare!" A Heaven Immortal landed and greeted. "King Lin is a dragon among men who will definitely ensure the safety of his citizens. Today, the country of Lin is established, and the rightful sovereign has ascended the throne. On behalf of the countries of Musang, Zhu, and Kun, I have formally come to present the credentials of our allegiance. We are all willing to serve under your regime!"


    "What?!"


    Numerous officials were dumbfounded.


    The original country of Ye, which was now the country of Lin, was merely a small country on the continent. They only had three prefectures, which was basically nothing.


    On the other hand, the countries of Musang, Zhu, and Kun were legitimately big countries with powerful neighbors. Even the weakest one had an area of seven prefectures. This was simply a massive step up for a small country like it!


    One could say that after he had completely digested everything, the country of Lin would become the overlord among the countries. It was entirely possible to unite the human realm and become the true ''Son of Heaven''!


    "Since this is the case, I shall accept the credentials of your countries!"


    Lin Shoucheng was moved and immediately thought of Fang Yuan.


    Only his mysterious teacher could pull off something like this.


    Being able to force so many countries and Heaven Immortals into submission¡­ His teacher''s identity became much more mysterious and unfathomable.


    "Teacher, this is¡­"


    Jiang Wang jumped in fear and looked at Fang Yuan.


    In his heart, he also knew that only Fang Yuan could do something like this.


    Fang Yuan smiled and said, "These Immortal Sects have history with me, and they have some operating power in the countries of the secular world. I''ve ordered them here to add to the occasion!"


    These Heaven Immortals had attended his lecture and accepted his treasures, so naturally they were going to be controlled by him.


    It would only take a single word from him to make these Immortal Sects turncoat, let alone serve a mortal country under him.


    "This gift is simply too much!" Jiang Wang''s voice was trembling. The addition of these countries was simply about ten times greater than the original country of Ye.


    "There is no need to say anything else. I will continue to observe!"


    Fang Yuan squinted, looking at the Heaven Ritual Altar.


    "All hail the king!"


    The officials were dazed, but they instinctively went to their knees.


    Lin Shoucheng looked extremely proud, clearly enjoying this moment.


    Under Fang Yuan''s Heavenly Eye Seer Spell, no Qi could hide from him.


    Within the void, a large lump of purple and black Qi descended.


    The black dragon cheered excitedly and took in a deep breath. The dragon''s body grew in size, and its power was also increasing exponentially.


    Earlier, the Lord of the Void could still bear with it. What about now? If he still chooses not to act, there would be the danger of having all his arrangements collapse and destroyed by me¡­


    Fang Yuan thought about it again. No¡­ if he chooses to act now, it proves one thing. That is, he planned everything in advance, and intervention will automatically trigger once it reaches a certain extent. Could the Lord of the Void be so injured that he can''t worry about the matters in the mortal world anymore?


    Swoosh!


    The moment he thought that.


    Multiple black chains appeared in the void. Like pythons, they extended out to restrain the black dragon.


    The designs of the black chains were mysterious, containing the energy of a Great Dao. Even though the black dragon was close to becoming a true dragon, its struggles were still not enough to break free from the chains.


    Poof! Poof!


    Not only that, some of these black chains even acted like arrows, piercing through the black dragon''s body.


    "Ahh!"


    On the altar, Lin Shoucheng clutched his chest, his face turning pale in pain.


    Traces of the Dragon Qi were extracted through the chains, and they converged and disappeared into the void.


    Shortly after, a peculiar Qi was about to enter the black dragon''s body through the chains.


    "I''ve been waiting for you!"


    Fang Yuan''s body flashed and appeared above the altar.


    The invisible Qi became visible and material in front of him. He grabbed the chains and stopped it.


    Crack!


    Large portions of the chains shattered. The black dragon broke free of its restraint and flew toward the sky.


    "Thank you for saving me, Teacher!"


    Lin Shoucheng suddenly felt at ease and an incredible feeling of release.


    However, Fang Yuan could not be bothered with him.


    While holding on to the trembling chains in his hand, he locked in on a space in the void before charging toward that space and disappearing.


    Swoosh!


    Above the high heavens, Fang Yuan''s body flashed explosively as though he were teleporting.


    Every time he disappeared, he would appear in a space that was extremely far away. This was the illusion resulting from extraordinary speed.


    In his right hand, the chains were still rustling constantly like a struggling python.


    My guess was right! These black chains and the runes are the hidden works arranged by the Lord of the Void. He did not operate it personally¡­ And now, it has become my guide.


    When Fang Yuan arrived at the edge of the world, he saw a massive maze.


    Space and time shattered while everything changed, and there was the taste of ruins throughout time.


    He laughed coldly and used his Creation Great Dao to protect his body. With the chain as a guide, he charged right into it.


    At a time like this, his will to kill the Lord of the Void was incomparably strong.


    Taking his life while he was injured!


    Ignoring their previous hatred, the future fight for benefits in the Spiritual Realm and his secret were reasons enough for Fang Yuan to end his life!


    Kaboom!


    A space current clashed against his Great Dao, but it was warded off.


    Fang Yuan arrived at another void and narrowed his eyes.


    "Earth, Fire, Wind, Water, Creation Divine Fist!"


    A massive fist shadow appeared and smashed onto a particular spot in the void.


    Crack!


    Space shattered, and a small half-plane, or rather, an interim paradise emerged.


    "Haha¡­ Lord of the Void, it''s been tough finding you!"


    Fang Yuan took a step in, and nine radiances shot through the sky and into the void.


    At this time, the two Demon Gods shed all pretenses of cordiality.


    Moreover, the Lord of the Void was previously nursing his injury in his sleep. With such a big commotion, even a fool would awaken by now.


    "It''s you!"


    Many low voices came from the ground and turned into a powerful current.


    When Fang Yuan saw the scene on the half-plane, he was amazed.


    It was like a giant Gu cultivation scene.


    There were many distorted souls, and his body was full of mucus that was constantly merging, reforming¡­


    When the words spat out from one of the soul''s mouths, there was immense hatred evident in the eyes.


    "Lord of the Void, your injuries¡­ are actually that severe?"


    Upon seeing this, Fang Yuan''s expression was slightly disturbed.


    Shortly after, he also came to a realization. "It seems like having many forms and inhabiting many worlds isn''t without dangers either."


    If it were any other Demon God, the damage done to their main body due to the impact of the Gun of Extinction on an incarnation would at most be a small scratch.


    However, the Lord of the Void had billions of incarnations, and all of them were a main body. Therefore, all of them suffered the implication together.


    As the injuries amassed, it became a severe injury.


    This was indeed a situation where one''s success and failure were both due to the same factor!

 928 Void

    Even for a Demon God, the Lord of the Void was special.


    He had billions of incarnations, and he did not have a main body at all.


    In other words, every incarnation was equivalent to his main body.


    When a large number of his souls accumulated, he would strength equivalent to a Demon God.


    Naturally, he had weaknesses too.


    For instance, when he met a strange object that was capable of defeating his incarnations in another world!


    A large number of those incarnations were very weak. An attack like the one from the Gun of Extinction was more than enough to eliminate all of them at once.


    One could say that the Lord of the Void''s losses this time were even greater than having his cultivation sealed by the Celestial Thearch.


    The huge Gu cultivation scene before Fang Yuan was all for his recovery and evolution.


    As multiple souls merged again, they temporarily turned into his main body.


    Unfortunately, Fang Yuan did not give him the time nor the opportunity. Instead, he launched an attack immediately.


    "It''s you again! Dream Demon!" Lord of the Void hollered. "You got in my way in the previous world, and this time, did you come to fight me, an inextinguishable existence that spans numerous worlds, one that is undying and endless?"


    "Lord of the Void, you don''t have to boast like this. After the fight in the previous world, I learned about your weaknesses. My Great Dao is perfect for fighting against you!"


    Fang Yuan''s expression did not change as the Impermanence Great Dao surfaced.


    One of his Daos flowed out, carrying the strong aura of destruction. In an instant, it transformed into the shape of a sword.


    "I can''t believe you''ve absorbed the Impermanence Great Dao! Is that the Gun of Extinction?!"


    The Lord of the Void''s multiple incarnations let out their terrified screams simultaneously.


    Peculiarities were an intrinsic quality, and weapons were nothing more than a medium. Even though Fang Yuan used the sword form that he was most adept in, with the Lord of the Void''s senses, he recognized that this was none other than the ''Gun of Extinction''!


    Fang Yuan held the Impermanence Destroyer Blade and asked calmly, "I have the Impermanence Great Dao. What''s so strange about creating something with a similar peculiarity?"


    Multiple souls accumulated at once. The Lord of the Void was clearly terrified of the Gun of Extinction. "Dream Demon¡­ you can''t do this. Did our alliance mean nothing to you? You are one of my allies, and we have the same enemy¡ªDemon Supremacy Wish Fulfillment!"


    The Lord of the Void''s tone turned into a negotiating one.


    "Demon Supremacy Wish Fulfillment? You''ve secretly joined hands with him long ago. If I ally with you, I''d be asking for my death!" Fang Yuan''s voice was ice-cold. "On top of that, you were about to send me off as a blood sacrifice in the previous world. I won''t forget that!"


    "Dream Demon¡­ I can''t control all of my souls completely. I can''t help that either¡­" The Lord of the Void hurriedly changed his tone. "Furthermore, you wiped out all my souls in that world. Isn''t that enough for you?"


    "Of course not!" Fang Yuan steeled his heart.


    However, despite his words, the Lord of the Void did not utilize his strongest chip, Fang Yuan''s secret. It seemed like his incarnations had perished too quickly, so the message had not passed on yet.


    Even though the current Lord of the Void might not have known, Fang Yuan did not think that he would be able to fool the main body of the Lord of the Void.


    Of course, all the consequences made his resolution to kill him even firmer.


    "Dream Demon, you will regret offending me! As long as I''m still alive, you will spend the rest of your life wishing you were better off dead than alive!"


    Multiple souls fused at once, turning into a huge illusory giant.


    In the translucent giant, Fang Yuan could vaguely see a variety of twisted faces within.


    This translucent giant was a body that was forcibly put together by the Lord of the Void, and it possessed half the strength of a Demon God.


    However, the recovery process from before became utterly useless.


    The Lord of the Void had no choice. In front of a genuine Demon God with the Impermanence Blade, every soul of his would be eliminated without question.


    "Creation Sword Array, activate!"


    Seeing this, Fang Yuan revealed a hint of a smile.


    Nine terrifying sword lights charged to the sky. In an instant, it created a vast array that covered the entire region.


    "Heaven, Earth, Mountain, Lake, Water, Fire, Wind, Thunder, Heart. Nine Swords, kill!"


    The nine sword lights merged into one as they closed in on the Void Giant, piercing it ruthlessly.


    "Ahh!"


    The Lord of the Void''s scream traveled far, and then there was only a deathly silence.


    After the sword light pierced through its target, the Void Giant remained standing. His gaze revealed disbelief. "You''ve actually¡­ advanced to Myriad Transformations? How is this possible?"


    In the past, his opponent was nothing more than a mere Demon Master. Even the Demon God realm was something he attained by making a deal with him.


    But at this moment, his opponent had skipped a thousand steps at once and joined the ranks of Myriad Transformations Demon Gods?


    The Lord of the Void himself was at Void Amalgamation. All of a sudden, he felt like all the cultivation he had done in his life was utterly pointless.


    "So what if you''ve advanced to Myriad Transformations? My Dao of the Void can turn reality into void. All of your attacks are useless against me!" the Void Giant hollered.


    Every Great Dao had its unique feature, and anyone qualified to become a Demon God had a secret weapon up their sleeve.


    However, Fang Yuan responded matter-of-factly, "Turning reality into void is something you can only do for a moment. If you turn into void continuously, you would turn into a complete void as well. To avoid that risk, that''s the reason you created so many incarnations, right?"


    "Anyway, the Dao of the Void isn''t completely immune either. Otherwise, it would be undefeatable. After reaching a certain limit, an attack will be able to reach the void. When that time comes, won''t you be injured?"


    "Impermanence Blade!"


    Swinging his right arm, the Impermanence Blade split open. Numerous black and white light particles dissolved into the Nine Swords.


    At the Myriad Transformations realm, a single Dao could display thousands of Daos.


    This meant that the unique peculiarities of the Impermanence Great Dao could integrate into the Creation Sword Array.


    "Nine Swords, attack!"


    In the next instant, the sword light turned into space, evolved into chaos, and swallowed the Void Giant.


    "Dao of the Void, turn reality into void!"


    The Void Giant roared, and its entire body turned into void.


    After a moment, it turned into its physical form once again. The Void Giant laughed. "I told you, you can''t defeat me!"


    "The Dao of the Void is amazing. However, only your main body can use it. That means that you need at least half of your souls to assemble your main body before you can use the Dao of the Void¡­" Fang Yuan shook his head. "Otherwise, why weren''t you able to have the last laugh in the previous world when you have this power? It''s a pity¡­"


    "Hmm?"


    The Void Giant lowered his head. In an instant, it spotted a twisted soul. A black and white dagger was sticking out from its body.


    For the Void Giant, an injury of this level was equivalent to being bitten by an ant.


    But when the Void Giant saw this, it let out a loud scream.


    On its body, multiple faces began to twist and implode.


    That was the unique peculiarity of the Gun of Extinction: Extinction! It was able to kill all the souls at once, even across worlds!


    While the injuries on his body stopped at once, the Lord of the Void''s aura weakened at an extraordinary pace. The Impermanence Blade disappeared as well.


    "The one who strikes first wins! I don''t have to give you a heavy injury at all. As long as I create a small wound, it''ll be enough!"


    Fang Yuan held on to the Impermanence Blade, his smile as bright as the sun. "Of course, you have the Dao of the Void protecting you. Even the Extinction peculiarity is useless against you. But what about the souls in other worlds?


    "In the previous world where the Gun of Extinction hit you, you received heavy injuries because it managed to extinguish the weaker souls in other worlds. It wasn''t because it injured your main body. After last time, what about this time? If you take this level of damage a few more times, most of your incarnations will perish. What''s left behind will be something completely unimaginable for you!"


    The reason the Lord of the Void was difficult to kill was that he had billions of incarnations. He had laid down the foundations of his strength across different worlds.


    However, the Gun of Extinction''s unique peculiarity restrained that advantage completely.


    After all, the remnants of his foundations would not be too powerful.


    Even if they were in different worlds, after weakening the source of his power, he would eventually be annihilated!


    By destroying all the foundations of his power, it not only destroyed the Lord of the Void''s way out, but it would also cause him successive wounds.


    Even though his losses were small, they were inflicted on his natural source. As they accumulated, it would eventually cumulate into a terrifying amount.


    "Creation Sword Array, once more!"


    With a wave of his hand, Fang Yuan gathered thousands of sword lights once again. Each one was strong enough to exterminate a Heaven Immortal and inflict massive damage to a Demon Master. And they landed on the Void Giant continuously.


    "Your void state is getting shorter each time¡­ Your injuries are accumulating. The extinguished souls will continuously aggravate your wounds, creating a vicious cycle!"


    He had this in the bag. Now, he was taking his time to seal up the void, destroying the Lord of the Void''s hopes for escape.


    "No! You can''t do this!"


    As his incarnations continued to be eliminated, the Lord of the Void became terrified.


    As the number of souls diminished, he started to feel the threat of elimination.


    "For the current you, killing me will bring you no benefit! A Myriad Transformations Demon God won''t be able to refine a Demon God''s Great Dao. Furthermore, I have the Dao of the Void and can resurrect anytime. It''ll do you no good. You''ll just have another enemy that will never let you go! However, letting me live will be different. I can vow to help you deal with Demon Supremacy Wish Fulfillment!


    The Lord of the Void added, "Did you know, Demon Supremacy Wish Fulfillment has a secret technique to refine a Demon God''s Great Dao? Because of that, he has imprisoned the Emperors and Zenith Heavens. He has a great plan in mind. He may even have the power to break through the shackles of Netherheaven Demon God!


    "I''ve made a deal with him once, and I managed to obtain a portion of the Four Mysterious Seals Array. It can extract a Demon God''s Great Dao, but it can''t refine it. Don''t you want to know what happens next? Even though I don''t know Demon Supremacy Wish Fulfillment very well, I do know everything there is to know about him. I can help you. I''ll help you take everything from him!"


    ¡­


    "That is very tempting. Unfortunately, I don''t believe you at all!"


    Fang Yuan''s expression was ruthless.


    This was an opportunity he could not let go of. If he had not injured the Lord of the Void heavily the last time, would he able to kill him now?


    If he missed this chance, there would not be another one ever again. He might even have to deal with his vengeance in the future!

 929 Son of Heaven

    "Lord of the Void, your fate today will be death!"


    Fang Yuan''s expression was firm like unmoving ice. He directed the Creation Sword Array with the Extinction peculiarity, and multiple layers of swords circled ominously.


    Finally, the Void Giant began to shrink. At the very end, it reduced to an earthworm and started to recite a curse. "Dream Demon, I curse you¡­ I will return from the depths of the void to take revenge!"


    "No matter how quick you are, it''ll be ten thousand years before you resurrect. When the time comes, there''s no way I''ll be afraid of you!"


    Fang Yuan laughed coldly.


    How long had he been cultivating?


    Ten thousand years would be more than enough for him to advance to a higher realm.


    But for now, this Lord of the Void was his biggest problem.


    Rumble!


    The Creation Sword Array merged into one again. After a loud explosion, everything returned to normal.


    Fang Yuan remained standing where he was and was processing the information he received.


    "Demon Supremacy Wish Fulfillment wants to refine the Great Daos of the Celestial Thearch and the others?


    "Between Demon Gods, there is no way they can steal each other''s Great Dao. This is how it has always been for Demon Gods at Void Amalgamation and Myriad Transformations. In the past, the Lord of the Void had set up the Four Mysterious Seals Array to extract the Demon Gods'' Dao path but didn''t devour it then, ultimately offering them to heaven''s will. Under the same logic, the former Celestial Thearch had simply borrowed the power of the Spiritual Realm to refine the Dao path of a Demon God!


    "However, it seems like Demon Supremacy Wish Fulfillment has a secret technique. At the Void Amalgamation realm, he can forcibly seize a Demon God''s Dao path. It''s terrifying. Demon Supremacy Wish Fulfillment''s previous life was a culmination of regrets left behind by Demon Gods on the Mental Demon Battlefield, and some of those Demon Gods who attempted to attack the Spiritual Realm were able to consume each other''s Dao path. It''s no wonder that Ancient Netherworld was so afraid. Furthermore, once this method is leaked, everything will turn into a mess!"


    Even the current Fang Yuan could do nothing other than eliminating the Lord of the Void.


    In front of the Void Great Dao, there was nothing he could do. He could only watch the Great Dao disappear before him. The Lord of the Void would fall into deep hibernation for thousands for years while he accumulated energy for his revival.


    If he were able to seize and refine the Void Great Dao, the Lord of the Void would have died without a chance.


    Even if he resurrected, he would just be a normal Demon Master and could be killed with the lift of a finger.


    ¡­


    The clouds fell, covering the country of Lin''s palace.


    "Greetings, Teacher! May you live a long life!"


    Seeing Fang Yuan arrive, even the country''s rulers, Lin Shoucheng and Jiang Wang, stepped forward and kowtowed deeply to him. Their faces looked nervous.


    "At ease!" Fang Yuan smiled. "Your teacher has resolved the root of your problem! There is no need for you to be afraid anymore."


    "Thank you, Teacher!" Lin Shoucheng bowed once more. However, his heart was ice-cold.


    Back when the demon stars entered the world, it was a problem that not even the Heavenly Court could resolve. It had no other choice than to execute the command and kill the new-born babies.


    However, after this teacher made his move, he managed to resolve the problem so quickly.


    As he thought about this, even though he had already become the country''s king, and even hoped to unify the world, he could not help but feel submissive.


    "Hey, Shoucheng!" Currently, Fang Yuan was sitting in the hall. He took a sip of tea. "Teacher has heard after having command over a nation, you have ambitions to unify the world. Is that true?"


    Without thinking twice, Lin Shoucheng replied immediately, "Of course!"


    With what happened today, he knew that his teacher had great dreams and ambitions to fulfill as well.


    "Wonderful! Teacher will lend you a hand so that we can unify the world in one year, no, three months!"


    Fang Yuan waved his hand as if he were dealing with a small matter.


    "What?" Lin Shoucheng widened his eyes like a toad. Jiang Wang asked while kneeling, "Teacher, in three months, I don''t even know if I can assemble sufficient troops. Furthermore, digesting our efforts from today takes time too."


    "Do I look like someone out of touch with mundane affairs?" Fang Yuan shot back with a question. "What I need now is merely a name and a reason. As for the actual war, I have troops from different immortal sects to do the job."


    "Troops?"


    "That''s right. With True Cultivators as the foundation, we can make huge progress at once. We''ll have immense power that will allow us to wreak havoc on the path we tread and create huge arrays. We can even have Earth Immortals and Heaven Immortals fight! They form the foundations in their sects. However, as long as I want to use them, they will have no choice but to give themselves up to me!"


    Fang Yuan was not concerned with the rules of the sects. His gaze seemed to penetrate the roof, all the way to the Heavenly Court.


    He had already guessed most of Demon Supremacy Wish Fulfillment''s plan. If he managed to succeed, there was a high chance that he could reach the top at once, turning into a Netherheaven Realm Demon God!


    Because of that, he had to ruin his plans no matter what!


    For now, the Heavenly Court and the Mental Demon Battlefield has been sealed. Forcing it open isn''t currently the best course of action. I''ll have to rely on the power of the human realm¡­


    Fang Yuan''s eyes gleamed.


    The Lord of the Void was dead. There was not a single existence in the human realm that could go against him anymore, much less his desire to unify the world.


    As for Lin Shoucheng, he was nothing more than a figurehead. It was just fate that had drawn him to his side.


    If he did not understand that, Fang Yuan could easily replace him.


    Lin Shoucheng understood this perfectly as well. That was why he treated him with utmost respect and courtesy, obeying his every command.


    "You''re not bad! Very good!"


    Fang Yuan was somewhat satisfied with his attitude. After all, they still shared a teacher-student relationship, so he did not mind delivering him some good fortune. "Originally, you didn''t have the fate of an emperor, and you were in a situation where you would fall into darkness. However, in a twist of fate, you managed to start anew! Even if you can''t change your fate at once, you are always growing. Your achievements to date are akin to breaking free from the shackles of your own strength!


    "In the past, I killed a dragon centipede and took away what it absorbed of the country of Ye''s fate to give to you, which is why you can be considered fated with the country of Ye. That''s the reason why you were able to achieve success so quickly."


    "So that''s the reason!" Lin Shoucheng gasped in shock and reveled in Fang Yuan''s ability to twist someone''s fate. "My greatest thanks goes out to Teacher."


    "The Dragon Qi enabled you to rule the country of Ye. That''s also why I''ve ordered the other countries to greet you here. It is so that you can change your fate! As long as you do not yield, you can build your haven here. However, the revolution of a new emperor requires the fate of more countries. When that happens, you can finally unify the world and call yourself the ruler of the world. That is when you can call yourself the Son of Heaven!"


    In reality, a matter like this would not be as simple. Fang Yuan had simplified it to a horrifying extent. The explanation was far too superficial for the arrival of a Son of Heaven.


    Without generals putting their lives on the line in each war and traversing through bloody battlefields, there was no way to unify the world so easily. Without that, the result of such an outcome would mean that one''s luck was greater than fate. In that case, an emperor would only be able to reign for a moment before suffering harsh karma.


    However, using a mortal''s lifespan, Fang Yuan naturally had his methods of making it work.


    Furthermore, when Lin Shoucheng could call himself the emperor of the world, he needed descendants to continue his bloodline. In that case, even if the emperor were overthrown, the dynasty could continue.


    "Teacher, thank you for your guidance!"


    Lin Shoucheng felt a gush of warmth run through his heart.


    The True Dragon and Son of Heaven who unified the world!


    Every king in the human realm wished to become that person.


    Lin Shoucheng asked straightforwardly, "Teacher, what are your plans for your student to become the ruler of all under heaven? Please tell me. I swear my allegiance to you!"


    "Not bad! What I want you to do is very simple. That is¡­"


    Fang Yuan explained casually in a few sentences. However, Jiang Wang''s and Lin Shoucheng''s expressions changed instantly.


    ¡­


    The country of Ye had changed its name to the country of Lin. When the king ascended the throne, many countries came to celebrate the occasion. As such, the country was prospering.


    The country of Lin was rumored to have an almighty teacher with numerous Heaven Immortals and Earth Immortals under his command. But without waiting for the situation to stabilize, it sent out its soldiers immediately, announcing that it would unify the world and produce a genuine True Dragon and Son of Heaven!


    At the time, every country''s ruler thought of them as a laughingstock. However, they were hit by reality soon after.


    With the immortal sects'' Dao soldiers being sent out, how could the armies of the secular world resist at all?


    Even the strongest cavalries from the influential countries were utterly destroyed. In the first year, their capitals were overrun, their kings killed, and their crown princes surrendered.


    The countries of the world fell under the rule of an unknown king and were now serving the country of Lin.


    The one who instigated everything quietly remained hidden behind the scenes.


    On the outskirts of the country of Lin, a three-hundred-meter wide and thirty-meter tall Heaven Ritual Altar was constructed as per Fang Yuan''s orders.


    "Teacher!"


    Lin Shoucheng and Jiang Wang wore their ceremonial robes with dignified expressions.


    "We''re ready. We just have to follow the plan!"


    Fang Yuan waved his hands, and Heaven Immortals landed one by one. Next to them, numerous pale-faced rulers followed.


    The Spiritual Realm was vast. Even though the country of Lin conquered the countries with the Dao soldiers, it could not find enough soldiers and officials to handle the takeovers. It could only defeat them in name and continue using the previous government officials. It was truly a tragic story.


    The mobilized Heaven Immortals brought each country''s ruler forward as proof of their surrender. This was Fang Yuan''s idea.


    No matter what, they had to make Lin Shoucheng''s name as the ruler of the world a reality. That would fully establish his position and authority after he ascended the throne.


    "I can''t believe¡­ that promise that I made when I was young would be realized in such an amazing way!"


    Lin Shoucheng stepped onto the altar slowly. Staring at Jiang Wang, who was by his side, he looked a little out of sorts.


    At the start, he was nothing more than an officer in the country of Ye. He spent day and night thinking of ways to deal with Yang Xiu.


    However, in the span of a few months, not only had he managed to fulfill his greatest wish of becoming a king, he had managed to unify the world and become the True Dragon and Son of Heaven.


    Lin Shoucheng could not help but feel like this was all a dream.


    "That''s right!"


    Jiang Wang went to the side with other officials and knelt. "We invite the Son of Heaven to ascend the throne!"


    "Son of Heaven, please ascend the throne!"


    Numerous Immortals were watching. The kings of the other countries bowed, while his soldiers cheered.


    Seeing this scene before him, Lin Shoucheng was dazed for a moment.


    Fang Yuan squinted.


    Multi-colored clouds gathered in the sky, and a five-clawed black dragon soared through it majestically. This was what a True Dragon looked like.


    No matter how many other dragons rose, there was only ever one True Dragon of this level. It carried the energy of heaven and earth. Unless one defeated it, the dragon would continue to soar freely in the skies. That was something nobody could change.


    The Son of Heaven''s True Dragon Qi formed. Even the Heaven Immortals felt the suppression of their powers.


    It''s a pity it''s still a bit lacking. Otherwise, within the range of the Dragon Qi, even someone born as an emperor would feel the Five Elements blocked. It overpowers everything in a region. Even Golden Immortals have to be wary¡­


    Seeing this, Fang Yuan shook his head quietly.


    There were many mortals in the Spiritual Realm. After he fully unified the human realm, the Son of Heaven''s Dragon Qi would naturally increase as well.

 930 Heaven Devouring

    "I am the ruler of the mountains, the rivers, and forests, Lin Shoucheng¡­"


    Lin Shoucheng was standing on top of the altar, his True Dragon Qi growing rapidly.


    As he spoke, it seemed like the heavens and the earth understood him, releasing a huge amount of energy at once.


    This was the exclusive privilege that the True Dragon and Son of Heaven enjoyed.


    The five-colored cloud turned into a magic domain that was nearly enough to change complexions of the Golden Immortals.


    Of course, this was only during the time of his worship.


    Lin Shoucheng''s True Dragon Qi can only suppress Heaven Immortals. However, a human emperor''s Dao is gathering people. The unique power of a Son of Heaven reaches the peak during his ascension. With the agglomeration of the power of heaven, earth, and man, the Heavenly Dao will draw its curtains, while Golden Immortals have to stand down. From a certain perspective, at the pinnacle of his power, he could even make a Zenith Heaven look sideways!


    A Zenith Heaven, like a Demon God, possessed the power of a Great Dao.


    However, how could the power of a Great Dao compare to the Heavenly Dao?


    The Son of Heaven was Celestial Thearch''s son, and the Celestial Thearch was the incarnation of the Heavenly Dao. No matter how much weaker he was, he was still as strong as a tenth of the Heavenly Dao.


    This was more than enough to make a Demon God look sideways.


    Of course, this power was something only the founder of the unified realm, the Son of Heaven, possessed during his first worship to the heavens. This power was also something that the Lord of the Void had been coveting.


    Since it was the Heavenly Dao''s power, it was even more useful for breaking through the seals and restrictions.


    Lin Shoucheng was wearing his imperial attire. All of a sudden, he took a deep breath, and many thoughts came to mind.


    He was in the heat of the moment now. The pain and confusion from his youth suddenly resurfaced. He could not help shouting, "In the past, the Celestial Thearch was tyrannical, killing the young and the weak. This was an atrocity! The old rule must end! A new dynasty must be established! Today, I ascend the throne and worship the Heavens so that the Heavens will abolish the Celestial Thearch and turn to Excellency Mount Mang. The Heavens know all. I beseech Your decree!"


    Kaboom!


    Heaven and earth suddenly changed. Clouds covered the sky, and purple lightning danced.


    The human realm''s sovereign worshipped the heavens to change people''s belief in the Celestial Thearch. This was an important matter that changed his foundations and was a huge blow to the Heavenly Court.


    Of course, the Heavenly Court had fallen long ago. However, the Celestial Thearch was still around!


    In fact, this worship was specially done to target the former Celestial Thearch!


    Seeing this, Fang Yuan rubbed his chin and smiled. The Celestial Thearch went crazy and betrayed the Spiritual Realm. He is destined to be abandoned by the Heavenly Dao. Once this emperor goes, the only one left is Excellency Mount Mang. Other than him, there isn''t any other anyone else who can take on the responsibility of being the Celestial Thearch! I saw this when I was on the Mental Demon Battlefield.


    Since the Celestial Thearch had lost favor, his decline would come sooner or later. Lin Shoucheng was merely speeding the process up. It was not very dangerous.


    Even though the worship done for the ascension of the human realm''s emperor was a minor matter, it was the final piece that broke the balance of the power struggle in the Mental Demon Battlefield!


    "Pass down my commands!" Lin Shoucheng stood up and ordered his officials. "From now on, all rituals to the fallen Heavenly Court will stop, and Excellency Mount Mang''s title will change to Celestial Thearch Mount Mang!"


    "At Your Imperial Majesty''s command!"


    With a thousand Heaven Immortals behind their backs, and three hundred imperial guards ready at any time. Other than those stubborn officials that had died long ago, the remaining civil and military officials knelt.


    The heavens and the earth trembled as though a considerable change had taken place.


    ¡­


    Outside the Heavenly Court, Mental Demon Battlefield.


    Metal chains hung loose in the air. It reflected the remnants of a fierce battle while sealing the entire Mental Demon Battlefield.


    Inside, numerous bundles of light with the power of a Great Dao collided, whittling and consuming one another.


    Kaboom!


    A strong vibration arrived, causing most metal chains to shatter.


    In the middle of the chains, there was a large black bundle of light. Suddenly, there was a loud grunt.


    Most of the black Dao Marks shattered. It caused the other three Great Dao light bundles to expand as their magical powers strengthened instantaneously.


    "Damn! The Celestial Thearch''s authority and power have suddenly been stripped. Even the foundations of the Divine Dao has weakened!"


    Supremacy Carefree and Supremacy Numinous Treasure''s voices rang out. "Fellow Daoist Mount Mang is appointed the new Celestial Thearch!"


    "I can''t believe that a Son of Heaven has emerged in the human realm. He even worshiped me¡­"


    Excellency Mount Mang was also shocked.


    Even though the former Celestial Thearch had lost favor¡ªand he had taken the opportunity to seize the blessing of heaven and earth¡ªto take his position, it required the agglomeration of heaven, earth, and man before it would be truly successful.


    Currently, Excellency Mount Mang had yet to obtain all the pieces he required.


    Otherwise, he would not be fighting over the position of top combat strength in the Spiritual Realm. The Dark Thearch and Demon Supremacy Wish Fulfillment would not have been able to seal him for such a long time either. On top of that, his Great Dao was weakening.


    In the stalemate between the seven bundles of light, the strongest one was the demonic energy that pulled three bundles of light. "As I expected, the human realm''s situation has changed. Doing this will only force the Celestial Thearch to descend further into the darkness. My plan is falling into place!"


    "Demon Supremacy Wish Fulfillment!" Excellency Mount Mang retorted fearlessly, "The human realm has already begun to acknowledge us. I am now in favor with the Heavenly Dao. Your plans will not succeed."


    "Keke¡­" Demon Supremacy Wish Fulfillment cackled. "You''re nothing more than a small Celestial Thearch now. Just how I like it! The Divine Dao''s Celestial Thearch originates from the realm. You must have obtained a pseudo Heavenly Dao by now, right? As long as I devour you, I will be one step closer to the Netherheaven realm!"


    "Have your demonic techniques reached this far?"


    The two Zenith Heavens were astonished.


    Demon Supremacy Wish Fulfillment possessed a technique that allowed him to devour Great Daos. They already knew this and were suffering from it.


    However, they could never have imagined that his cultivation had already reached this stage. He could even devour the Heavenly Dao!


    "Even though the Heavenly Dao contains all Great Daos, it is also a type of Dao. Why can''t I devour it? My Great Dao is the Dao of Heaven Devouring!" Demon Supremacy Wish Fulfillment said slowly. "Even though you, Celestial Thearch Mount Mang, alone might not be enough, if I devour the fallen Celestial Thearch, it should be sufficient. If that isn''t enough, aren''t there four more as well?"


    "I see!" Excellency Mount Mang responded. "You were born from the fusion of Spirit and Demon. However, you haven''t obtained the Yin-Yang Great Dao, so it''ll be difficult to balance your power. Unless you plan on abandoning your sanity, you can''t just devour anything. If you want to devour me, you''d have to devour the fallen Celestial Thearch at the same time. Even with that, you might not be able to maintain the balance. To devour Carefree and Numinous Treasure, you''d have to swallow the Infinite Devourer and Demon God Myriad Thunder together¡­"


    "Is my Great Dao something you can understand?" Demon Supremacy Wish Fulfillment sneered. "Since my Great Dao is named Heaven Devouring, its purpose is obviously to devour the Heavenly Dao and advance past Netherheaven Demon God. Therefore, both you and the Dark Thearch will fall to me¡­"


    "Heaven Devouring Great Dao? Not technique?" Suddenly, a shocking message came from the sealed Demon God Myriad Thunder in a chained bundle of light. "We only had the Heaven Devouring Mystic Technique at the start! While consuming other Demon Gods'' Great Daos, you sublimated the technique into your own Great Dao?"


    At the start, the Demon Gods infiltrated the Spiritual Realm with a grand plan in mind.


    Of which, obtaining the reward from the Mental Demon Realm was just part of it. A high-level world with minimal restrictions that melded well with the Mental Demon Realm was not easy to find.


    Furthermore, all of this was in preparation for devouring the Heavenly Dao.


    Of course, they were not arrogant enough to devour the entire Heavenly Dao. They merely wanted to absorb a small part of it. This would strengthen their foundations and even pave the way to becoming a Netherheaven Demon God. They would be satisfied with that.


    However, even though the Spiritual Realm had weak Demon Gods, they did not expect the Celestial Thearch to be so terrifyingly overwhelming. The Celestial Thearch''s strength was not inferior to Netherheaven. In an instant, he defeated and killed them, sealing them within the Mental Demon Battlefield.


    The Demon Gods that died struggled as True Spirits. With their foundations in the Heaven Devouring Mystic Technique, they began to absorb Great Daos and turned into a new Demon God.


    However, the Heaven Devouring Great Dao was still far too undeveloped.


    Subsequently, after merging with Supremacy Wish Fulfillment, the Heaven Devouring Great Dao became complete. This was why Demon Supremacy Wish Fulfillment dared to challenge the Celestial Thearch.


    It was merely the Celestial Thearch.


    He understood clearly that his Great Dao was still very weak.


    If he had risked devouring the Spiritual Realm''s Heavenly Dao, he would only have one outcome¡ªbeing assimilated into the Heavenly Dao and turning into the same type of puppet as the Celestial Thearch.


    "Heaven Devouring Mystic Technique? Devouring Great Daos?" Excellency Mount Mang and the two Zenith Heavens finally understood. "So that''s it¡­ No wonder you became so wary of one another after being sealed. It''s because you were afraid of the other Demon Gods employing that technique and devouring your Dao path."


    Even they desired such a technique.


    Of course, if they thought about it a little, they knew that these Demon Gods would not reveal anything about the Heaven Devouring Mystic Technique to them.


    Not to mention them, even Fang Yuan did not know anything about it. He had only learned a little about it after he defeated the Lord of the Void.


    It was just that the Lord of the Void and the Infinite Devourer came as outside help after the Mental Demon Battlefield opened the second time, so they were not very clear about the matters of the Demon Gods who had come before.


    "As I thought, all Demon Gods must be eliminated!"


    Excellency Mount Mang''s expression was solemn.


    All of a sudden, a heavenly voice descended. The voice of Lin Shoucheng''s worship resounded. "The old rule must end, and a new dynasty must be established!"


    The old rule ending referred to the Celestial Thearch.


    A new dynasty represented Excellency Mount Mang.


    The old rule must end! A new dynasty must be established! Together, it was a declaration of changing heaven by rising up against the old heaven.


    "Heaven Insurrection!"


    "Heaven Insurrection!"


    ¡­


    Upon hearing the declaration, Excellency Mount Mang''s expression changed. He exclaimed, "Approved!"


    With the Celestial Thearch''s approval, it was now the principle of the heavens and earth!


    Roar! Roar!


    On the altar in the human realm, a black True Dragon, which even mortals could see it, appeared.


    The sky split open. "Approved!"


    The black True Dragon roared and soared into the sky!


    Kaboom!


    Behind it, the barrier between heaven and mankind broke. A path leading toward the heavens emerged.


    This was the Dao of Heaven Insurrection!


    With both the new heaven''s command and the human realm''s wish, the Celestial Thearch and the Son of Heaven simultaneously ascended. This was the interactions between heaven and mankind.


    The Heavenly Dao responded, and an impressive power descended.


    Roar! Roar!


    The black True Dragon soared to the Heavenly Court and swung its tail.


    Crack!


    The black Dao Marks in the sky shattered, instantly breaking the seal on Mental Demon Battlefield!

 931 Heaven Insurrection

    "The restrictions on the Mental Demon Battlefield were created by the Dark Thearch''s Dao Marks. As they were derived from the Heavenly Dao, the power of the heaven worshipping ritual naturally restrained it."


    The Dark Thearch was the former Celestial Thearch. Most of his Dao Marks originated from the Heavenly Dao, and his combat power was terrifying like no other.


    Even if the former Celestial Thearch had fallen to the darkness, they were still the sealing Dao Marks of a pseudo Heavenly Dao. Even a Myriad Transformations Demon God would have to sacrifice a lot of time and energy to break through them.


    Of course, Fang Yuan would not charge straight into it thoughtlessly. He had gathered the Human Dao, caused the human emperor to rebel against heaven, and obtained the support of Excellency Mount Mang. He did not spend a single ounce of energy before he managed to break the seal on the Mental Demon Battlefield.


    "Demon Supremacy Wish Fulfillment, Dark Thearch, Excellency Mount Mang¡­ it''s been a while!"


    Fang Yuan''s true body arrived. The current Mental Demon Battlefield was empty, and numerous black chains covered the battlefield, looking like a huge spiderweb.


    The Dark Thearch was the core of the spiderweb. Demon Supremacy Wish Fulfillment was nearby.


    Excellency Mount Mang, Supremacy Numinous Treasure, and Supremacy Carefree were in a corner together, clearly united.


    Both the Infinite Devourer and Demon God Myriad Thunder God were originally sealed in the Mental Demon Battlefield from the start, but their conditions were now even worse. Even their Great Daos were badly damaged.


    "You''re¡­ that Mental Demon Demon God?" Excellency Mount Mang immediately recognized Fang Yuan. However, he did not make a fuss. "Demon Supremacy Wish Fulfillment has the Dao of Heaving Devouring. Once he is successful, there''s no way you can escape from him. Fellow Daoist, your only hope of survival is to save us!"


    "Of course, I understand this. In the outside world, I am known as Supremacy Creation!"


    Fang Yuan laughed heartily.


    The two Immortal Supremacies immediately used their spiritual will. "Fellow Daoist, if you are willing to abandon the darkness, we are willing to swear upon our Dao Hearts to offer you a position as a Zenith Heaven in the Spiritual Realm."


    A person in a hopeless situation would desperately grasp on to anything they could get their hands on.


    To avoid destruction, this was a small price to pay.


    Even the Spiritual Realm would not reject the help of a Demon God.


    Since Fang Yuan had never been to the Mental Demon Realm, he obviously did not have any roots there. Someone like him was a perfect target.


    "It''s you again. You were nothing more than a Demon Master before, but now, you''re at the Myriad Transformations realm. That''s way too fast. You must be hiding some sort of secret!" Demon Supremacy Wish Fulfillment exclaimed in shock. "I originally thought the Lord of the Void would be the one to come!"


    "He''s dead. You''ll join him soon!"


    In an instant, Fang Yuan made a decision.


    There were no eternal enemies, only eternal interests.


    The best strategy now would be to join forces with the Spiritual Realm''s Emperor and Zenith Heavens to fight Demon Supremacy Wish Fulfillment.


    As for betraying the Mental Demon Realm?


    Haha, he was born in Da Qian. He was nothing more than an enemy to most of the Mental Demon Realm. He did not even have a single friend there. There was nothing to betray.


    "Wonderful. Supremacy Creation, you will realize that you''ve made a wise choice." Excellency Mount Mang rejoiced. "Now, you should save us quickly. Be careful. Demon Supremacy Wish Fulfillment has the Heaven Devouring Great Dao and the Heaven Devouring Mystic Technique. He can devour a Demon God''s Great Dao!"


    "I naturally know this."


    Fang Yuan stepped forward like he was taking a stroll through his backyard. Five-colored streaks of light gathered in his hand, forming the shape of a sword.


    Roar! Roar!


    A black battle dragon attached itself to the sword as a coiling dragon.


    Sword light radiated. In the midst of it, he saw the emperor leading his numerous officials in worship.


    The five-colored rays converged, turning into images of human farmers, weavers, merchants, and so on, reflecting the different states of humanity.


    "I''ve received it, True Dragon and Son of Heaven¡ªthe Heaven Insurrection Blade!"


    Even though Fang Yuan had helped Lin Shoucheng with his worship, and Lin Shoucheng had shouted to rebel against the Celestial Thearch, Fang Yuan was not planning to bring them.


    After all, they would merely be a bunch cannon fodder. If he brought them to the Mental Demon Battlefield, they would die from the aftermath of a single attack here.


    If they faced Demon Supremacy Wish Fulfillment, none of them would survive.


    The power that Lin Shoucheng obtained from his worship, the Malignant Qi from the battlefield, and the grievances from the human realm gathered and formed the Heaven Insurrection Blade!


    "As someone who betrayed the Spiritual Realm, how can you call yourself the Celestial Thearch?


    "The emperor loves humanity. All you''ve done is destroy everything in your path. Have you ever regretted that?


    "Is there any wrong in leading the human realm''s greatest heroes in rising against heaven?


    ¡­


    Fang Yuan slashed out his sword while questioning his morals.


    The sword light converged and charged at the Dark Thearch.


    The frightening sword light was like a torrent, and every slash contained images of the human realm. One could not help keep their eyes peeled.


    If it were the past Celestial Thearch, relying on the Divine Dao''s foundations, he could suppress this attack and slowly dissolve it.


    Unfortunately, the current Celestial Thearch had fallen deep into the darkness, reaching the point where both humans and Gods were angry. On top of that, he had even lost the Divine Dao''s foundation in the human realm. As such, he could only take this slash head-on!


    Kaboom!


    The sword light fell like a waterfall! It swept through him and broke apart the numerous Dao Mark chains.


    The Heaven Insurrection Blade brought the power of heaven, earth, and man. In an instant, it stripped the Dark Thearch''s final authority and power!


    With one slash, the Mental Demon Battlefield''s restrictions were destroyed!


    All the web-like chains disintegrated, leaving behind the ferocious, black-robed Dark Thearch.


    Crash!


    With the chains breaking, the three bundles of light regained their freedom and flew out, transforming into Excellency Mount Mang and the two Zenith Heavens.


    "Well done!"


    After Excellency Mount Mang regained his freedom, a deluge of heavenly flowers and golden lotuses burst forth in his surroundings, and his robes turned into that of a Celestial Thearch''s.


    Furthermore, even his face seemed to turn celestial.


    He already held most of the qualifications to become the Celestial Thearch. Now that he had obtained the human emperor''s worship, the power from heaven, earth, and man gathered, and he ascended to the position of Celestial Thearch!


    The Celestial Thearch was the incarnation of the Spiritual Realm''s Heavenly Dao.


    The Heavenly Dao was high above. Even if the realm fell apart, it was not likely that it would manifest.


    However, the Celestial Thearch could borrow some of the Heavenly Dao''s power in the form of a pseudo Heavenly Dao. As the Celestial Thearch, his strength was almost equivalent to a Netherheaven Demon God!


    "Damn it!" Demon Supremacy Wish Fulfillment roared. "How dare you interfere with my plans, Dream Demon?! I will kill you and devour your Great Dao!"


    "I''ve heard threats like these hundreds of times! If each of them came true, I''m sure the power of the curses alone would be more than enough to kill me by now¡­"


    Fang Yuan spread his hands out. Nine rays of heaven-reaching sword light shot out, burrowing into the void.


    "Dark Thearch!" Demon Supremacy Wish Fulfillment dodged while the black-robed Dark Thearch stepped forward boldly. His eyes were bloodshot and stared straight at Excellency Mount Mang, revealing his animosity. "Mine¡­"


    The newly-appointed Celestial Thearch before him seemed to rekindle his memories.


    Of course, he carried hate for ''usurper''!


    The Dark Thearch lifted both hands and declared in a blank voice, "Sky¡­ Net¡­ Array¡­"


    Chichi!


    Instantly, lines of black Dao Marks appeared in the void, as though he had cast a large net. It fell ominously from above and below, sealing off the sky and the ground. There was nowhere to run.


    "This is¡­ the previous Celestial Thearch''s divine powers?" Excellency Mount Mang was slightly shocked. "Leave this to me!"


    Even if the Dark Thearch had fallen entirely to the darkness, his combat power was still at the pinnacle of Myriad Transformations and likely comparable to Netherheaven.


    Inside the battlefield, other than Excellency Mount Mang, not a single person dared to fight the Dark Thearch.


    "I am the Celestial Thearch!"


    Excellency Mount Mang stepped forward. His words became law, like a heavenly statute.


    Buzz!


    With his words, an illusory magic domain surfaced and immediately spread. Splendid pavilions appeared everywhere, while white cranes flew around fountains. It resembled the past Heavenly Court.


    Excellency Mount Mang sat high atop his throne, looking down at the Dark Thearch.


    "That position¡­ is mine¡­"


    The Dark Thearch roared. The Sky Net Array immediately contracted.


    Rumble!


    The new and old Celestial Thearch clashed. The dark Heavenly Dao and the quasi Heavenly Dao collided violently.


    ¡­


    "Let''s go!"


    Even though Fang Yuan and the two Zenith Heavens had the power of Great Daos to protect themselves, they still felt oppressed and withdrew into the distance.


    "Excellency Mount Mang is the new Celestial Thearch. Him dealing with the old Celestial Thearch is optimal, especially in this world!" Supremacy Carefree said. "This is a battle of authority. If the Dark Thearch hadn''t fallen into the darkness, Celestial Thearch Mount Mang would have restrained him immediately!"


    The Divine Dao in this world was like a heaven and earth office. Those with abilities went up, while those without went down.


    Those Gods who lost their worshippers, and did not have a Deity Position, could even be described as very miserable.


    However, the Dark Thearch was not the same.


    He had turned into a Demon from a God. Now he was a Demon God!


    As such, Celestial Thearch Mount Mang still needed to put in some effort to take care of him.


    "Demon Supremacy Wish Fulfillment, you killed one of our Zenith Heavens. You''re an enemy of my Immortal Dao!" Supremacy Numinous Treasure shouted. His treasured seal appeared and launched itself through the void at Demon Supremacy Wish Fulfillment.


    "Don''t underestimate the enemy!


    Supremacy Carefree executed his technique, and his hossu appeared behind the seal.


    "You''re too overconfident!" Demon Supremacy Wish Fulfillment sneered and extended both hands. His hands transformed into demonic claws to entangle with the seal.


    With one move, he stirred the winds and clouds, and Dao Marks fluctuated. Fang Yuan realized that he was at a very high realm, having already reached Myriad Transformations.


    In fact, his Myriad Transformations'' Dao path exceeded his!


    "Dream Demon, help me!"


    At this time, Fang Yuan received a cry of help from Myriad Thunder through his spiritual will.


    This existence was truly unlucky. At the start, his group had come to the Spiritual Realm to attain the Heavenly Dao. However, he was defeated and sealed in this battlefield.


    After the Infinite Devourer and the Lord of the Void came, he had struggled to break free. But before he left the Mental Demon Battlefield, the Celestial Thearch had forced him back with a slap.


    Up until this point, he had been repeatedly refined by the Celestial Thearch and Demon Supremacy Wish Fulfillment. His natural source was severely damaged.


    Of course, this was not a big deal. However, the root of his power, his fundamental Great Dao, was also damaged. For a Demon God, this was worse than suffering injuries that could cause death.


    "As long as you save me¡­ I''ll promise you anything!"


    Even though the Mental Demon Battlefield was unsealed, Demon God Myriad Thunder still carried a seal on his body. Together with Infinite Devourer, they looked like two huge bundles of light that were bound together by chains.


    Furthermore, they were at a decisive point in the battle. It was highly likely that they would turn into ashes and die.


    "What good would it do me to save you?"


    Fang Yuan blinked nonchalantly. However, the flames in his heart burned brightly.


    As expected, Myriad Thunder brought out the most attractive bargaining chip he had. "Heaven Devouring Mystic Technique! I''ll give you the Heaven Devouring Mystic Technique!

 932 Grand Battle

    Demon God Myriad Thunder was not the same as the Infinite Devourer and the Lord of the Void. He was one of the first to invade the Spiritual Realm, and he was a sealed Demon God that held the Heaven Devouring Mystic Technique.


    Seemingly afraid Fang Yuan was unclear, He explained anxiously, "The Heaven Devouring Mystic Technique can devour Great Daos¡­ Its power is unimaginable. Demon Supremacy Wish Fulfillment''s Heaven Devouring Great Dao sublimated from this technique. If you obtain it, the benefits are endless, allowing you to advance your realm quickly. You could even devour the Heavenly Dao and break through the Netherheaven bottleneck!"


    "Break through Netherheaven?!"


    Fang Yuan''s interest was piqued.


    "Of course. The Heavenly Dao is the convergence of thousands of Daos. We Demon Gods bitterly cultivate our Dao paths to finally create a perfect Dao like the Heavenly Dao. When you reach Netherheaven, you can absorb the Heavenly Dao''s power!"


    In fact, the Heavenly Dao was effectively equivalent to the power of countless Great Daos combined.


    This was the true foundation of high-level worlds.


    Even if the Spiritual Realm perished, the Heavenly Dao would not manifest. But after innumerable years, maybe at the same place, a small world might appear. With time, it would grow to be a place like the Spiritual Realm. That was the Heavenly Dao''s power and nomological rules!


    Between sparks of lightning and flames, Fang Yuan contemplated this carefully before replying with his spiritual will, "Sure. However, you have to hand over the technique first¡­ I swear that, as a Mental Demon, I will keep my promise!"


    "What?" Myriad Thunder nearly flipped out.


    The Heaven Devouring Mystic Technique was a precious secret. Within the entire Mental Demon Realm, maybe only the few Demon Gods who invaded the Spiritual Realm knew it. And this wicked Dream Demon dared to have a condition?


    However, he was now like a fish on a cutting board, waiting to be slaughtered.


    "All right¡­ I promise you!"


    Myriad Thunder grit his teeth and transferred almost ten thousand Mental Demon Ancient Language characters into Fang Yuan''s sea of consciousness.


    "It is indeed profound¡­"


    Even though the technique was less than ten thousand characters, how much could the Mental Demon Ancient Language contain? In an instant, Fang Yuan was able to distinguish the truth.


    "A Demon God''s Great Dao is very difficult to seize¡­ at least at the Void Amalgamation and Myriad Transformations realms. But a Demon God that reaches the Netherheaven realm will obtain the power to devour other Demon Gods'' Great Daos and complement their foundations!


    "The Heaven Devouring Mystic Technique was inspired by that power, derived from it!


    "Unfortunately, the technique has its limits. If someone attempts to use this technique on a person that is too strong, it will create a backlash. It''d be like a snake trying to swallow an elephant.


    "Furthermore, if one intends to devour the Heavenly Dao, it would be best to promote this technique into a Great Dao first!"


    ¡­


    Fang Yuan''s spiritual will read through it in a flash. He immediately directed his attention to Demon Supremacy Wish Fulfillment.


    "One will be punished for every act of injustice one performs. Demons, begone!"


    The Creation Great Dao shot out and turned into a terrifying sword array. The power of the Impermanence Great Dao and the Omnidirectional Divine Demonic Armament Dao concentrated into the sword array.


    "Dream Demon, you broke your promise!" Demon God Myriad Thunder was enraged.


    "Haha. I only promised to save you, but I didn''t say when. Endure it a little longer!"


    Fang Yuan held on to the Impermanence Blade and entered the battlefield while sneering coldly in his heart.


    To the other Demon Gods, the Mental Demon Realm was their home ground, and they would not turn back on a promise they made on it.


    However, what did the Mental Demon Realm mean to Fang Yuan?


    If he was prepared to pay a small price for his actions, a promise like this did not mean anything to him.


    "Demon Supremacy Wish Fulfillment!"


    Supremacy Carefree and Supremacy Numinous Treasure roared simultaneously. Colorful clouds rushed across them as their Great Dao surfaced.


    With Fang Yuan''s help, three Demon Gods surrounded one. Naturally, they held the advantage.


    Even if Demon Supremacy Wish Fulfillment was at peak Myriad Transformations, Fang Yuan had also entered the Myriad Transformations realm. While they fought viciously, he did not fall behind at all.


    "Creation Sword Array, Nine Swords merge!"


    With the swing of his sword, heaven and earth trembled. The Creation Sword Array responded accordingly, releasing nine terrifying Sword Qis. As they merged into one, it turned into a nine-colored sword with the aura of Impermanence and incredible sharpness. It pierced through Demon Supremacy Wish Fulfillment.


    "Dream Demon! Supremacy Creation! Good! Well done!"


    Demon Supremacy Wish Fulfillment glared at Fang Yuan, vengeance dripping from his gaze. All of a sudden, the Heaven Devouring Great Dao shot out from the top of his head, engulfing the surroundings.


    Chichi!


    Amid white smoke, the nine-colored sword, the hossu, and the seal began to melt. The Heaven Devouring Great Dao began absorbing them.


    "Not good!"


    Supremacy Carefree and Supremacy Numinous Treasure''s faces were as white as a sheet. They immediately spat out large mouthfuls of blood.


    Fang Yuan''s spiritual will was in great turmoil. His expression did not look good either.


    Suddenly, he lost connection with the nine-colored sword. The Heaven Devouring Great Dao was devouring the nomological power embedded within.


    "What a strong Great Dao! It''s as if it can restrain all the Dao paths! Even the Infinite Devourer isn''t as terrifying!"


    He looked at Demon Supremacy Wish Fulfillment.


    His flesh began regenerating on the wound on his chest. In an instant, he healed all his injuries.


    "Even an injury caused by a Great Dao can recover so quickly. As expected of a monster!" Supremacy Carefree shook his head. "To deal with Demons like these, we need the help of Celestial Thearch Mount Mang. Using the power of the Heavenly Dao and Sky Net Array, we have to seal him!"


    Once the Heaven Devouring Great Dao appeared, Demon Supremacy Wish Fulfillment became even harder to deal with. The overwhelming strength of peak Myriad Transformations was in plain sight!


    Crack!


    At a different place on the battlefield, another battle had come to its conclusion.


    Purple lightning hung in the sky as it split open.


    Inside the illusory celestial palace, the past and present Celestial Thearchs suddenly separated. The Dark Thearch fell like a black meteor, creating a massive crater on the ground.


    "I see¡­ I am the Celestial Thearch!"


    In his last moment, the blood in the Dark Thearch''s eyes faded. At long last, he regained a hint of clarity and laughed bitterly.


    Soon after, those pair of eyes that had once shaken the Three Realms slowly shut. The Dark Thearch stopped breathing.


    The past Celestial Thearch of the Spiritual Realm that fell to the darkness had fallen!


    Kaboom!


    Heaven and earth seemed to sense this change, and Celestial Thearch Mount Mang shut his eyes in response.


    A mysterious power circled him. At this moment, he turned into the rightful ruler of the Spiritual Realm, the Celestial Thearch!


    He wore the Heavenly Crown and said in a solemn voice, "The Mental Demons created chaos, while the Dark Thearch was muddle-headed. The Spiritual Realm is in a terrible state!"


    Buzz buzz!


    The Three Realms trembled!


    The Heavenly Dao was high above. Even if the Spiritual Realm perished, it did not mean that the Heavenly Dao would manifest.


    The only one who could interfere with this reality was the Celestial Thearch!


    At this moment, Excellency Mount Mang finally took over all the authority and power from his predecessor. He was now the Spiritual Realm''s only Celestial Thearch! At the same time, he obtained the Heavenly Dao''s unconditional support.


    "Demon Supremacy Wish Fulfillment¡­" Excellency Mount Mang''s eyes were angry. "You think the Heaven Devouring Great Dao is undefeatable? I would like to see whether your Great Dao can truly devour heaven¡­"


    Kaboom!


    He looked at Demon Supremacy Wish Fulfillment calmly and suddenly lifted his hand.


    Fang Yuan narrowed his eyes. Using the Heavenly Eye Seer Spell, he immediately spotted a powerful current.


    That was not something that was within reality or the void. However, this colorful river pierced through the past, present, and future, vast and all-encompassing. It reminded him of that river when he reincarnated the last time.


    "Is this the manifestation of the Heavenly Dao? No! Even if Excellency Mount Mang had obtained the authority and power of a Celestial Thearch, he only has a pseudo Heavenly Dao!"


    Of course, even a pseudo Heavenly Dao gave Celestial Thearch Mount Mang power that was equivalent to Netherheaven!


    "If I devour this pseudo Heavenly Dao while it is at its full-form, I will be able to ascend to Netherheaven!"


    Demon Supremacy Wish Fulfillment struggled fiercely. With a roar, the Heaven Devouring Great Dao spiraled aggressively, moving like an ominous wave.


    He did not escape, but instead chose to face the Celestial Thearch''s ''Dao''!


    "Let''s go!"


    Fang Yuan exchanged glances with the two Zenith Heavens before he turned and flew away.


    Kaboom!


    The multi-colored river and transparent grey wave clashed violently.


    Splash!


    It was intense!


    Under the impact of the Heaven Devouring Great Dao, the Celestial Thearch''s pseudo Heavenly Dao crumpled. Soon after, it exploded, exposing multiple illusory Great Daos and nomological rules.


    "Really¡­"


    Fang Yuan licked his lips. The greed was evident in Fang Yuan''s and the two Zenith Heavens'' eyes.


    Countless Great Daos constituted the Heavenly Dao. The Celestial Thearch''s pseudo Heavenly Dao had many nomological rules from other Dao paths as well.


    If he could devour it, he would move one step further on his path as a Demon God.


    Unfortunately, even if Fang Yuan were at his peak, he would not want to interfere in a battle at this level.


    "The Five Elements Great Dao, Light-and-Dark Great Dao, Samsara Great Dao, the Life-and-Death Great Dao¡­"


    In the blink of an eye, as the energy traveled outward, Fang Yuan understood the truth behind the Heavenly Dao. His eyes turned red. "If a Demon God could devour this Heavenly Dao, how much would he obtain? It would likely make up for the deficiencies in his Myriad Transformations realm. He could even advance straight to Netherheaven!"


    While the pseudo Heavenly Dao had exploded, Celestial Thearch Mount Mang remained calm. His expression remained cold like multi-layered ice. Suddenly, he roared, "Sky Net Array!"


    The many scattered Great Daos linked together to form the Sky Net Array, and a terrifying divine power accumulated.


    Using Great Daos as net, this was the true Sky Net Array!


    "Celestial Thearch!!" Even as they surrounded Demon Supremacy Wish Fulfillment, he roared angrily, "You¡­ can''t kill me. As long as I continue to exist in this world, I will continue to terrorize the world. A day will come when my Heaven Devouring Great Dao will devour the Heavenly Dao!"


    "Seal!" Celestial Thearch Mount Mang did not respond. Streaks of Dao Marks appeared and coordinated with the Sky Net Array to tightly seal Demon Supremacy Wish Fulfillment.


    Even Celestial Thearch Mount Mang did not have the confidence to completely kill a Myriad Transformations Demon God. He could only settle the matter with a seal.


    "Now''s the time!"


    Suddenly, Fang Yuan shouted and made his move.


    "Creation, what are you planning?"


    Supremacy Carefree and Supremacy Numinous Treasure were shocked, and they summoned their hossu and seal respectively.


    "Watch out for that Demon God. He''s going to save¡­"


    Excellency Mount Mang turned around and spread his spiritual will.


    However, Fang Yuan had already taken the first step, transforming into the Pangu Giant and grabbing at Demon God Myriad Thunder''s seal.


    "Never!"


    The two immortal sect old patriarchs moved simultaneously. Under a blinding light, they sliced the giant''s palms off.


    Roar! Roar!


    The giant roared and changed his target. Nine sword lights stabbed into the ground and dug up the Infinite Devourer''s seal. Then he immediately disappeared.


    "What? His target was a different Demon God?"


    Supremacy Carefree and Supremacy Numinous Treasure were astonished while they stared at Fang Yuan''s back.


    Too cunning!


    All of a sudden, the hand that fell onto the ground morphed into a blood-red flame, releasing a terrifying aura.


    "Earth, Fire, Wind, Water, Creation Divine Fist!"


    The huge shadow of a fist appeared, directly landing on top of Demon God Myriad Thunder''s seal!

 933 Aftermath

    Fang Yuan''s cultivation had already reached a point where he could resurrect using a drop of blood. He could also split his spiritual will.


    Earlier, he intentionally allowed his palm to be cut off so that he could seize an opportunity to punch the seal!


    He grasped the perfect time to unleash his attack! Using a Pangu Giant''s flesh as a sacrifice, he released his full power. Celestial Thearch Mount Mang had used all his strength to seal Demon Supremacy Wish Fulfillment off. Meanwhile, the two Zenith Heavens had concentrated their attacks on Fang Yuan!


    Earth, Fire, Wind, and Water trembled. An opening appeared on Demon God Myriad Thunder''s enormous seal!


    This was Fang Yuan''s plan. A single fist to end it all!


    "Hahaha¡­ I can finally see the light again!"


    Demon God Myriad Thunder knew how to make good use of this once-in-a-lifetime chance. In an instant, he exploded most of his body, turning it into wildly dancing lightning.


    Meanwhile, his main body turned into a streak of lightning and disappeared into the void.


    ¡­


    "While Celestial Thearch Mount Mang''s attention was diverted, and the two Zenith Heavens chased after me, if he couldn''t escape even after I created an opportunity like that, he deserves to die!"


    Fang Yuan arrived at the human realm and looked at the stars in the sky, his pupils not moving at all.


    That fist he had left behind was enough to fulfill his promise with Myriad Thunder.


    As for the Infinite Devourer, that was an unexpected joy.


    "Within the human realm, the fates of the countries are aligning and gathering together. Lin Shoucheng is doing a good job as the founding monarch. He''ll sit securely on this position for a hundred years. After all, he shouted for the previous rule to end and for a new dynasty to be established. With Celestial Thearch Mount Mang backing him, there''s nothing left for me to worry about!"


    Even though the Celestial Thearch could choose to change the Son of Heaven, this would undoubtedly cause turmoil.


    Furthermore, Lin Shoucheng and the country of Lin did not do anything wrong. If the Celestial Thearch forcibly did so, he would suffer a backlash.


    In any case, he was now an emperor in the secular world. Even if he knew that Lin Shoucheng was associated with Fang Yuan, Celestial Thearch Mount Mang would still choose to let it go.


    "But it seems like there are some major changes in the immortal sects¡­"


    There was no doubt that the returning two Zenith Heavens would reorganize the Immortal Dao''s forces. There was no way Fang Yuan could continue to dominate them.


    Fortunately, he had taken the opportunity to squeeze as much as he could out of the Immortal Dao. He had even sent them out to help unify the human realm.


    Now that his plan had taken root, even if Supremacy Carefree and Supremacy Numinous Treasure wanted to replace the human emperor, the Celestial Thearch would not agree.


    Of course, the reshuffling of authority in the Immortal Dao was unavoidable. However, this did not matter to Fang Yuan.


    Since his pawns had completed their task, he let the situation unfold on its own.


    Furthermore, the vast majority of the Spiritual Realm''s Golden Immortals and Heaven Immortals were under his control die after his second lecture. Even if they returned to the Zenith Heavens temporarily, their future was still uncertain.


    After all, they were under the influence of his Great Dao and the Derivatives. It was double-layered insurance that Zenith Heavens could not overcome.


    "The matters in the secular world and the Immortal Dao have come to a close. The next step is to enter seclusion and increase my strength!"


    Although this battle over the Spiritual Realm was short, it gave Fang Yuan a brand new perspective on heaven and earth.


    After Excellency Mount Mang succeeded the position of Celestial Thearch, he was almost like a Netherheaven Demon God, greatly shocking Fang Yuan.


    If he had not directed all his attention to sealing Demon Supremacy Wish Fulfillment, Fang Yuan would not have had anything to do. No matter what plan he had in mind, it would not have worked. The best outcome would be escaping.


    "After Myriad Transformations is Netherheaven. But since I''ve just broken through to Myriad Transformations after accommodating two Great Daos into the Dao of Creation, wanting to advance to Netherheaven immediately is wishful thinking!"


    Of the three Demon God realms, Void Amalgamation and Myriad Transformations required continuous accumulations. The amount of accumulations needed during Myriad Transformations was even more horrifying. A Demon God at this stage had to comprehend as many Great Daos as possible to perfect their Dao path. Once they completed that, they''d be able to ascend to Netherheaven.


    "Without the Heaven Devouring Mystic Technique, it would take ages to accumulate that much¡­"


    Even as a Dream Master with the Dream-Traversing Technique, Fang Yuan was not confident he could accumulate enough to progress during Myriad Transformations.


    If this was the case for him, ordinary Demon Gods were in an even worse situation.


    In fact, most Mental Demon Demon Gods were at Void Amalgamation and only had one Great Dao.


    Anyone in the Myriad Transformations realm was a rarity, but anyone resembling Fang Yuan was an absolute freak.


    "Since I can''t go to the Mental Demon Realm, I might as well stay in the Spiritual Realm. This realm doesn''t have many restrictions, there aren''t many at the Demon God level, and the Celestial Thearch takes up less than half of the Qi in the Spiritual Realm."


    Deep in thought, Fang Yuan transformed into a ray of light and arrived at the edge of an ocean.


    Celestial Thearch Mount Mang and the two Zenith Heavens were finally out of trouble. Their next move was obviously to clean up the Spiritual Realm.


    Since Fang Yuan had released Demon God Myriad Thunder, he could share the pressure.


    "Become a sect patriarch? Hehe, how could the trivial position as one of the Zenith Heavens entice me?"


    As long as Fang Yuan wanted, he could go to any world. He was Supremacy Creation, beloved in any world.


    However, all of this was merely floating clouds. Only his improvement was permanent.


    "The Spiritual Realm is vast and boundless. The human realm is only a small part of it!"


    He arrived at a particular part of the ocean. Diving deep into the ocean, Fang Yuan used his will to push the waters apart. He created a one-hundred-acre space in the middle of the ocrea.


    "Ha!"


    With a thought, the power of his Creation Dao flowed out.


    The mud and coral reefs turned into flat, solid ground. Large bricks rapidly piled onto the ground to create a luxurious palace.


    Pearls, gems, and various precious deep-sea specialties were put on full display.


    All of a sudden, a cave appeared underwater where nobody else was around.


    To mortals, it looked exactly like an underwater dragon palace.


    "If Demon Gods like me choose to hide, even Celestial Thearch Mount Mang wouldn''t be able to find us. On top of that, he''s far from the human realm."


    Fang Yuan stepped into the golden jade palace, sat on the throne, and shut his eyes.


    Kaboom!


    Above his head, a colorful cloud emerged, and a Great Dao materialized. It was the Creation Great Dao!


    The Creation Great Dao had grown two times larger compared to when he had first condensed it.


    Following the swirling Great Dao, a black dot surfaced from the Great Dao river and gradually approached him.


    "Seal!"


    Fang Yuan waved his hands.


    Eight pillars erected themselves within the palace, and a sword attached itself to each one.


    "Creation Sword Array¡­ I''ve already expanded its ability to seal to the greatest extent."


    He sighed and released the black spot from the Great Dao. It went to the center of the pillars.


    Buzz buzz!


    The void trembled, sending out strong waves. However, it was sealed by the sword pillars, and not a single wave could reach the outside.


    The black dot gradually grew larger and larger. Finally, it revealed its true body. It was a large, round ball that was bound by multiple chains. A terrifying cry came from it. "I''ll devour you! I''ll devour you!"


    "Infinite Devourer, stop wasting your energy!" Fang Yuan said calmly. "Since I dared to rescue you, there''s no way I''d be afraid of losing control."


    The Infinite Devourer was nothing more than an ordinary Void Amalgamation Demon God. Fang Yuan was already at the Myriad Transformations realm and grasped three Great Dao!


    At that level, suppressing the Infinite Devourer was simple.


    Ding ding!


    Multiple chains wrapped around the sword pillars. They winded round and round, reinforcing the seal.


    "Devour¡­"


    The Infinite Devourer''s volume lowered by half, sounding muffled.


    "Dream Demon¡­ I swear¡­ I will devour you!"


    His broken voice traveled choppily.


    "Haha, I''ve never responded to the cry of a defeated dog!" Fang Yuan crossed his arms and looked at the massive seal before him. "Do you know why I chose to bring you out here?"


    "¡­ W-why?"


    The Infinite Devourer''s choppy voice was like a broken recorder.


    "Naturally, it''s because I''m interested in your Great Dao! The Devour Great Dao can consume both tangibles and intangibles. Even concepts!"


    Fang Yuan said somewhat regretfully, "You''re only one step away from the Dao of Heaven Devouring. It''s a shame! Truly a shame!"


    He had a strong premonition that if the Infinite Devourer obtained the Heaven Devouring Mystic Technique, perhaps Demon Supremacy Wish Fulfillment would no longer be around.


    Even though there was nothing the Infinite Devourer could not devour, there was nothing he could do in the face of an illusory Great Dao because this was the specialty of the Heaven Devouring Mystic Technique.


    Fang Yuan had brought him because he wanted a glimpse of the Devour Great Dao''s secrets.


    Since Demon Supremacy Wish Fulfillment had condensed a Heaven Devouring Great Dao, Fang Yuan was confident he could create a true Heaven Devouring Great Dao by using the Devour Great Dao as the foundation, the Heaven Devouring Mystic Technique as the channel, and other techniques as the framework.


    "Since we''re all Demon Gods here, I won''t hide anything from you. I need your Devour Great Dao!"


    Once Fang Yuan said this, the palace fell silent.


    "Myriad Thunder!" the Infinite Devourer roared. He was so angry that he wanted to bite that guy''s head off.


    If it weren''t for Demon God Myriad Thunder handing over the Heaven Devouring Mystic Technique, how would Fang Yuan have come up with this idea?


    What made the Infinite Devourer even angrier was that Myriad Thunder had this technique all along, but he had never revealed it to him.


    The Heaven Devouring Mystic Technique had a compatibility of at least sixty percent with his Devour Great Dao. It would have been more than enough for him to enhance it to an unbelievable stage.


    However, an opportunity like this was lost for no reason.


    On top of that, Myriad Thunder was an accomplice to this outsider devouring him. Why wouldn''t the Infinite Devourer be angry?


    Fang Yuan had obtained the Heaven Devouring Mystic Technique. Without a doubt, he was very dangerous. There was a possibility he could completely die here.


    In a life-and-death situation, the Infinite Devourer seemed to have finally regained his sanity. He advised solemnly, "Dream Demon you can''t do this! If the Demon Gods in the Mental Demon Realm found out that you devoured another Demon God''s Dao path, they''d chase you down till the day you die¡­"


    "For existences like me, nothing can change my mind once I''ve decided!" Fang Yuan''s expression was firm. "Of course, the Heaven Devouring Mystic Technique is profound. If I want to cultivate, I''ll need time. You should treasure it¡­"

 934 Mystic Technique

    "Heaven Devouring Mystic Technique!"


    Inside the palace''s main hall, Fang Yuan''s fingers extended gently, as though he were playing the harp. Rays of light shot out.


    The Creation Sword Array revolved, evolving into Earth, Fire, Wind, and Water. Furthermore, the Pangu Giant was suppressing him together with the Impermanence Great Dao and the Omnidirectional Divine Demonic Armament Dao.


    Various restrictions silenced the Infinite Devourer.


    "Heaven Devourer¡­ means devouring the Heavenly Dao. It seems like the Demon God who created this technique was quite ambitious. Furthermore, he wasn''t at the Netherheaven realm either!"


    If he had reached the Netherheaven realm, he could directly hunt and devour the Great Daos of other Void Amalgamation and Myriad Transformations Demon Gods. Why would he need to research other techniques?


    Only a Demon God below Netherheaven would require such a technique.


    "However, if you think about it, the Mental Demon Realm is a harsh environment. It''s a dog-eat-dog world¡­"


    By harsh environment, he did not merely mean that the vitality of heaven and earth was scarce. Even worse was facing the threat of death every day!


    Those Netherheaven Demon Gods were like top-grade predators. If ordinary Demon Gods did not huddle together to protect one another, find a strong patron, or obtain some reliable treasures or unusual techniques, it would be difficult for them to survive, unsure if they would survive to see the next light of day.


    It was no surprise that those Demon Masters and Demon Gods enjoyed exploring other worlds instead.


    Other than increasing their strength quickly, doing so was also a form of escape for them!


    Away from the Mental Demon Realm, they escaped the terrifying Netherheaven Demon Gods!


    "It seems like choosing not to go to the Mental Demon Realm back then was the right call!"


    Fang Yuan collected his thoughts and directed his attention to the Heaven Devouring Mystic Technique again.


    This technique was best for suppressing others. It used a Demon God''s Great Dao to infiltrate another Demon God and refine their Dao paths.


    As such, it carried a certain level of danger.


    "However, after sealing the target, the effect is much better. I''ve captured the Infinite Devourer for a while now, obtaining quite a lot of vitality from him, and even his Dao path''s nomological rules¡­"


    Fang Yuan closed his eyes and pulled up his stats window.


    "Name: Fang Yuan


    Profession: Dream Master


    Cultivation: Demon God (Myriad Transformations)


    Pathway: Creation Great Dao, Omnidirectional Divine Demonic Armament Dao, Impermanence Great Dao


    Technique: Pangu Eagle Body [Strengthen Witch Bloodline (1st Tier)], Creation Sword Array [Ninth Sword (100%)]


    Specialization: Botany [Level 6] (Maximum), Heavenly Eye Seer Spell, Body of Origin Power, Heaven Devouring Mystic Technique (Level 1)"


    "Heaven Devouring Mystic Technique Level 1: Demon God-level mystic technique. With a total of three levels, it uses a Demon God''s own Dao path to devour the nomological rules of another Demon God''s Great Dao. Can not be used on existences of the same level! Unable to devour a Great Dao''s core!"


    With the help of his stats window, several symbols representing the Heaven Devouring Mystic Technique appeared.


    "So the complete Heaven Devouring Mystic Technique has three levels!" Fang Yuan said.


    "The first level refines nomological rules. The second level refines the power of a Great Dao. Only the completed third level allows one to refine the core of a Great Dao, thoroughly seizing a Demon God''s Great Dao. As for Demon Supremacy Wish Fulfillment''s Heaven Devouring Great Dao, that''s probably the fourth level? It might even be the fifth level. In any case, he broke through the limit. It''s probably impossible to teach it to others. One can only obtain it by deducing it.


    "However, since it''s on the stats window, it''s still a top-class specialization. I can use proficiency to upgrade it quickly!"


    He began cultivating immediately.


    In an instant, a month passed. The stats window blurred, and the description for the Heaven Devouring Mystic Technique and its symbol changed, becoming even more mysterious.


    "Heaven Devouring Mystic Technique Level 2: Demon God-level mystic technique. Uses a Demon God''s own Dao path to devour the power of another Demon God''s Dao path. Can be used on existences of the same level. Unable to devour a Great Dao''s core!"


    Nomological rules evolved into a Great Dao. Nomological power was below the power of a Great Dao.


    The core was the most crucial part of a Great Dao.


    As long as the core remained, one could recover any amount of a Great Dao''s power. However, once the core was gone, such as the Great Dao being seized, it could never recover.


    "I''ll take this opportunity to go all out and get it to level three. Then I''ll devour the Infinite Devourer once and for all!"


    Fang Yuan revealed a ferocious smile before launching himself into cultivation once again.


    One year passed.


    When he opened his eyes again, he opened the status window for the Heaven Devouring Mystic Technique. He frowned.


    "Heaven Devouring Mystic Technique, Level 2 progress: 99.9%?"


    Fang Yuan thought carefully. He could not help but bitterly laugh. "Have I hit a bottleneck?"


    He could only increase the efficiency with proficiency, but a bottleneck was not something it could overcome. It was like the time Fang Yuan was in Da Qian. He had to plant a high-level spiritual plant before he could overcome Botany''s bottleneck.


    At this time, the progress of the technique was stuck here. He had to fulfill a unique condition or devour a particularly rare item before he could truly complete it and start seizing the Dao paths of Demon Gods.


    "The Heaven Devouring Mystic Technique has a special characteristic. Every Demon God needs to fulfill a different condition¡­"


    Fang Yuan stood up and frowned. "This is bad¡­ my senses are telling me that the Spiritual Realm doesn''t have the material I need."


    Materials for the Heaven Devouring Mystic Technique were precious and rare, not easily obtained.


    "I wonder how Demon Supremacy Wish Fulfillment cultivated¡­ Perhaps he was lucky. Maybe he happened to find the item in the Spiritual Realm or on another Demon God?"


    Fang Yuan fell into deep thought. Then he opened the Creation Sword Array.


    "Dream Demon! I''ll devour you! I''ll devour you!"


    The Infinite Devourer''s hatred accumulated into dark energy that dissipated midair. Gathering and separating periodically, it turned into ferocious monsters.


    "Quit wasting your time."


    Seeing this, he did not even blink. He waved his hands casually.


    Chichi!


    Currents of Sword Qi burst out, immediately sweeping away the monsters.


    "Dream Demon, your plan will never succeed! I will break free. In the name of the Devourer, I swear to devour your every single piece of flesh!" the Infinite Devourer protested angrily.


    "Other than eat, isn''t there anything else in your brain?" Fang Yuan shrugged nonchalantly. "But I''ll tell you a piece of good and bad news. Which one do you want to hear first? Hmm, forget it. I''ll pick for you. The bad news is that my Heaven Devouring Mystic Technique has reached a bottleneck. I can''t devour a complete Great Dao!"


    "Haha, I knew it¡­" The Infinite Devourer''s voice carried a hint of mockery. "How much work does it take to cultivate a Demon God-level mystic technique? It requires an immense amount of effort. For someone unqualified, they''d never make it even after a million years!"


    Even Myriad Thunder and the other Demon Gods invested a lot of effort into going through various worlds before they found enough materials to practice the Heaven Devouring Mystic Technique.


    Even with that, Myriad Thunder and the others did not see much progress. They were only at level one or two. On the other hand, some Demon Gods that had fallen managed to cultivate the Heaven Devouring Mystic Technique to the highest level. But in the end, their achievements ended up in the hands of Demon Supremacy Wish Fulfillment.


    However, Demon Supremacy Wish Fulfillment''s ability to use the Heaven Devouring Great Dao resulted from a different cause. It was not only because he had obtained all the fallen Demon Gods'' legacies, but also his fusion with Supremacy Wish Fulfillment.


    The fusion of Spirit and Demon, along with a unique Dao path, complemented each other, allowing the Heaven Devouring Mystic Technique to reach the next level and condense into a Great Dao.


    "That''s all for the bad news. Now, we''ll talk about the good news!" Fang Yuan continued expressionlessly. "I''m at level two in the Heaven Devouring Mystic Technique. I can test it on you now!"


    "What?" the Infinite Devourer yelled as if he were violated. "Impossible. How long have you been gone? Have you cultivated the Heaven Devouring Mystic Technique before? Or did you happen to have enough materials on you?"


    "Heaven Devouring!"


    Unfortunately, Fang Yuan could not be bothered to spare another word for him. He extended his right hand.


    Rumble!


    The Creation Great Dao emerged. The Impermanence Great Dao and the Omnidirectional Divine Demonic Armament Dao turned into two individual currents launching toward the seal.


    Streams of the Great Daos'' powers interlaced, forming an inescapable net and dissolving into the seal.


    "Ah! Ah!"


    The Infinite Devourer''s screams rang out. The pain of a Great Dao''s power being extracted was like a thousand knives scraping at him.


    Furthermore, it did not just scrape the surface of the skin. It began from his True Spirit and soul, and it slowly dug deeper into the deeper parts of his core.


    Crash!


    Like a fishnet, the net formed from the power of Great Daos extracted a shimmering light.


    "Is this the Devour Great Dao''s power?"


    Fang Yuan''s eyes lit up. Without hesitation, he used the Heaven Devouring Mystic Technique to refine the Great Dao''s power, devouring it for his cultivation.


    "Oh!"


    In an instant, his True Spirit cheered excitedly, as though he had drunk a large bowl of iced water after a drought.


    On top of that, the Creation Great Dao glowed brightly, seeming to have become even deeper.


    "This was worth my effort of cultivating hard for ten and a half months!"


    With this outcome, Fang Yuan nodded quietly and recorded various details.


    "Another time!"


    "No!"


    "One more time!"


    "You greedy devil!"


    ¡­


    The Infinite Devourer screamed continuously. Finally, he became so weak that he could not say another word.


    Fang Yuan used his will to sense the core of the Devour Great Dao.


    Unfortunately, no matter how he used the technique, it was futile.


    "After absorbing a Great Dao to a certain extent, the second level of the Heaven Devouring Mystic Technique can''t go any further¡­" Fang Yuan rubbed his chin. "Furthermore, as long as the core remains, the Infinite Devourer can recover quickly given time. As expected, I have to reach level three to truly devour a Demon God''s Great Dao!


    "Hmm. From now on, I''ll come here for a ''refresher'' once in a while and take the opportunity to weaken the Infinite Devourer while at I''m it!"


    In Fang Yuan''s eyes, the Infinite Devourer was an orange that could produce unlimited juice. He could raise him like a pig, cutting flesh and harvesting blood.


    "Unfortunately, even though absorbing a Great Dao''s power is good, it''s nothing compared to obtaining a complete Great Dao!"


    After he closed the seal, Fang Yuan fell silent, losing all traces of laughter, feeling like this was not enough.


    The Devour Great Dao was his original goal. Now that he had made it this far, there was no way he would miss out on it.


    "I don''t know how long the Spiritual Realm can remain peaceful. I have to advance the Heaven Devouring Mystic Technique to completion as soon as possible and devour Infinite Devourer''s Dao path¡­"


    Fang Yuan set down his resolve. "I have the help of the stats window. As long as I can obtain the material I need, I''ll break through the bottleneck. If the Spiritual Realm doesn''t have them, I''ll look for them in other worlds!"

 935 A New World

    Within the underwater palace.


    "I''ll search in my dreams¡­"


    Fang Yuan lay down and fell into a deep sleep.


    All around him, there were numerous arrays, seeming like secret paths leading to strange worlds. Thousands of varieties of flavors arrived, impossible to distinguish.


    "My dream world¡­"


    Within his dream world, Fang Yuan''s true self agglomerated and stood above chaos.


    Countless voids sparkled brightly around him, carrying a strange aura.


    "This is a high-dimension universe. Similar to the lower realm, there are many different types. The Spiritual Realm and the Mental Demon Realm are simply stronger and more well-known. As for the rest, they''re a mystery. In terms of exploring new worlds, Dream Master techniques are far more useful¡­"


    Using his will, he spread it across the star-like light spots and began absorbing information from each of them.


    When he was at Void Amalgamation Demon God, he was unable to do this. However, after he ascended to Myriad Transformations, he was finally able to fully integrate the Mental Demon realm traversing technique into his Dream Master techniques.


    "Exploring new worlds isn''t easy at all. This high-dimension universe is like outer space. Even though there are lots of planets, there are only a few that are suitable for life. Being able to find a world where actual lifeforms can survive is like panning for gold in the ocean.


    "However, using my Dream Master techniques, I can split my will into many parts to investigate faster. Furthermore, I can use divination techniques too!"


    If he wanted to increase his strength, Fang Yuan could have gone to any world.


    After all, he had not been to all of the coordinates that he had obtained.


    However, Fang Yuan''s main objective was to find a suitable material to break through to the third level of the Heaven Devouring Mystic Technique.


    As such, he had no choice but to exclude some good worlds.


    "I hope the Dream Divination Technique is more reliable!"


    Fang Yuan was in the heat of the moment. Within the dream, he extended his hands and grabbed on to a silver river.


    Rumble!


    The beautiful galaxy burst open, and millions of light spots appeared.


    His will moved quickly, entering the light spots to investigate them one-by-one.


    "Isn''t this¡­


    "This world isn''t bad¡­ I can record it. Unfortunately, it doesn''t have what I need!


    "Hmm, this¡­"


    After a moment, Fang Yuan captured a particular light spot. His eyes sparkled. "The Dream Divination Technique tells me that I will be able to find the material I need in this world! Hmm, time passes quickly here. If I can''t find it, I can make use of this to cultivate and strive to break through to the next level of the Heaven Devouring Mystic Technique!"


    In fact, if he were willing to spend hundreds or thousands of years cultivating, maybe he would be able to break through the third level of the Heaven Devouring Mystic Technique with time.


    After all, the material would only allow him to instantly break through his bottleneck.


    However, time was the most crucial thing for Fang Yuan!


    If he could refine the Devour Great Dao even a moment sooner, he would be able to occupy an advantage in the following changes in the Spiritual Realm a moment sooner.


    Even though Demon Supremacy Wish Fulfillment was sealed, Myriad Thunder was on the loose. It would be strange if the Celestial Thearch and the Zenith Heavens could sleep peacefully.


    "Life is like a dream!"


    Fang Yuan stretched lazily and got up. He spread his palm open, and a point was shining brightly.


    Rumble!


    Near him, an array gate rumbled loudly. A ray of light flew out, landing lightly on his palm.


    "I''ve already obtained the coordinates of this world. Looking back, it''s still shining so brightly."


    Looking at the coordinates in his hands, Fang Yuan revealed a hint of a smile. "Dream Master techniques are amazing. After reaching the Myriad Transformations realm, it has reached a new level!"


    Without waiting any longer, he went to an array and activated it.


    Many halos circled with a mystical rhythm.


    A gaping hole opened in the middle of the array, revealing complete chaos inside.


    "Go!"


    He raised his hand gently, and the coordinates turned into a meteor. It dived into the chaos like a guiding light, illuminating the path ahead.


    "Let''s go!"


    Seeing this, Fang Yuan sat down cross-legged. A small True Spirit flew out, diving straight into the chaotic void.


    ¡­


    "What a magnificent world¡­ In terms of the area, it seems bigger than the Spiritual Realm. On top of that, this aura¡­"


    Time and space shifted. Fang Yuan arrived on the outskirts of the world. His spiritual will had a touch of excitement. "Not bad¡­ the material for the Heaven Devouring Mystic Technique is definitely in this world! It was a good idea to use the Dream Divination Technique and the Dream-Traversing Technique!"


    While these two techniques were fundamental for a Dream Master, they were also necessary for exploring new worlds.


    Previously, Da Qian''s Dream Masters relied on these calculations and incarnations to explore new worlds. That was how the golden era of Da Qian''s Dream Masters began.


    If he had sufficient time, Fang Yuan was sure that he could recreate that golden era in this high-level dimension!


    "When I get into the world, I''ll recover my abilities first. Then I''ll use the Dream Divination Technique. I''ll probably find that material soon¡­"


    With his plans laid out, Fang Yuan''s True Spirit began to approach the world membrane.


    Just like in the previous world, there was an ownerless Great Dao on the outside. Back then, it was a one-in-a-million chance. He did not dare to wish for the same level of luck.


    "No matter how strict this world''s restrictions are, I have the stats window. I''ll break through it easily. I just have to make it through the weakest phase at the start¡­"


    Fang Yuan''s True Spirit flew through it quickly. All of a sudden, a terrifying premonition overcame him.


    Danger!


    Terrifying!


    Untouchable! Indescribable!


    Amid the chaos, a large shadow appeared like a manta ray. It spread open its body, engulfing the entire region.


    This forced Fang Yuan to recall the meaning of terror!


    This was the existence that had deprived Da Qian''s Dream Masters of their Dao path!


    After such a long time, it finally found the problem in the Dao path and realized Fang Yuan''s existence!


    ¡­


    "This feeling¡­"


    Of course, compared to the past, Fang Yuan was no longer that same bug as he was in Da Qian.


    A Myriad Transformations Demon God''s cultivation gave him enough power to face this destiny!


    "Abominable Lord!!!"


    From the enemy''s power fluctuations that created Dao Marks, Fang Yuan received the other''s name.


    The Abominable Lord had stolen the Da Qian Dream Masters'' Dao path. He was the one who nearly forced Da Qian onto the road of extinction!


    Using his spiritual will, Fang Yuan felt like he found the root of evil. Any mortal being who dared to make eye contact with this existence would be reduced to ashes in an instant. Even if they managed to salvage their lives, they would be influenced by the source of evil, turning into a terrifying beast.


    "I''m not strong enough to fight him yet!" Fang Yuan analyzed calmly. "This existence is at least at Netherheaven. Even now, it might be too late for me to escape."


    As he thought about this, he used his will to summon the Creation Great Dao. Multiple streaks of light pushed the chaos aside, and he accelerated his entrance into the world.


    Escaping was not possible now. Fang Yuan''s only option was to enter this world and hide first.


    With the Great Dao''s power, his enemy finally slowed.


    As he watched Fang Yuan enter the world membrane, the dark shadow roared angrily. Without an ounce of hesitation, it dived in as well.


    Rumble!


    Once Fang Yuan''s True Spirit entered this world, he entered a current, involuntarily swimming along.


    "This is¡­ this world''s Heavenly Dao? It seems a little strange!"


    Just as he was surprised by that, a loud noise traveled over. It felt like a giant rock had entered the stream. Fang Yuan was on full alert. He knew that existence was chasing after him!


    "Since you''re so determined, I don''t care if this world turns into my deathbed! Come to think of it, he''s devoured the Da Qian Dream Master''s Dao path, so of course he knows the Dream-Traversing Technique. Similarly, he knows that I can use it!"


    Fang Yuan thought about this seriously. "In this world, he''ll probably do everything in his power to capture me and extract information from me!"


    In fact, Fang Yuan felt that this was too much of a coincidence.


    When he was in the Spiritual Realm, the Abominable Lord could not find any information on him at all.


    However, to find a suitable world, Fang Yuan had used his techniques, leaving behind his trail.


    Of course, the biggest surprise was that the Abominable Lord''s Dream Master incarnation had been traversing near the borders of the world. After he discovered Fang Yuan, he started chasing after him immediately.


    Splash!


    The Heavenly Dao river was long and wide. The raging noises behind him drifted farther and farther away. Fang Yuan let out a sigh of relief.


    "However, this world''s Heavenly Dao''s power seems to be easier to resist. Is this because of the Abominable Lord''s presence?"


    In the distance, a reincarnation black hole appeared. Fang Yuan pulled together the remaining energy from his Great Dao and made a spurt!


    Splash!


    He was like a carp that hopped out of the water, escaping the Heavenly Dao''s current.


    Poof!


    Instantly, he appeared in the middle of the sky. He turned into a blood-red meteor diving into the atmospheric layer of a sky-blue planet.


    "That blackhole from before was the reincarnation spot for this world. If I start from scratch, it''ll allow me to integrate into this world better. However, I don''t have time anymore!"


    Fang Yuan found a random continent and selected the best candidate to take over.


    If he reincarnated into a new body, he could integrate his True Spirit into it. Naturally, there would be many benefits.


    Unfortunately, he did not know where the Abominable Lord was. Fang Yuan was not going to bet on the possibility that he would not find him in a short time.


    Knowing that the Abominable Lord was in this world, Fang Yuan had to make every second count!


    Even though the enemy did not have a stats window, he was at least at Netherheaven. His Great Dao could almost compete with a Heavenly Dao. No matter what world he went to, he could recover in no time.


    "Hmm, the humans in this world have strong auras¡­"


    Fang Yuan transformed into a red meteor, passing by the sky above a city. He was suddenly startled.


    The city below looked futuristic, and the scientific advancements were obviously very high.


    However, there were many powerful individuals within that possessed a terrifying aura. Clearly, they were extraordinary.


    "My True Spirit is very weak now. I''m also under complete suppression of the Heavenly Dao. Picking a fight outside of my home ground is impossible. It''ll be difficult to take over a strong body. If I''m not careful, they might even turn the tables on me. That would be no laughing matter."


    Fang Yuan let go of the idea of taking over a cultivator''s body, and his options for the future narrowed significantly.


    "There are many lifeforms there. They''re young too. It should be something like a sect or a university¡­"


    After he passed through the atmospheric layer, his True Spirit only carried a small amount of energy. He was like a firefly, barely visible.


    Since they were all ordinary young people, their foundations were about the same. Fang Yuan delved straight into one who had just lost his soul and then began his spiritual possession.

 936 Interstellar

    "Ugh¡­ my head hurts!"


    Fang Yuan sensed some information from the outside world. This body seemed to be in a comatose state. Instead of forcibly awakening the body immediately, he spent his energy digesting the body''s memories.


    "Lin Meng¡­ cultivation¡­ exam¡­ confession¡­"


    A series of fragmented memories emerged piece-by-piece, consisting of all the body''s memories.


    Soon, his True Spirit stabilized, and he began to take over every part of this body.


    "This world is relatively large, and it uses the concept of galaxies. Humans don''t live on just one planet. Instead, they colonized different planets to create the ''Human Alliance''. In fact, this was because of an immense pressure from the outside world. Against the alliance, there''s an equally strong enemy¡­


    "It''s the year 20099 here, and there is a society with extraordinary powers here. However, the technology is also very advanced. After twenty thousand years of development, were there so many amazing fruits born?"


    Fang Yuan had a premonition. If this world possessed condensed Great Daos, they had to be very exotic types like ''Extraordinary Technological Great Daos''.


    "How is it? How''s his recovery?" A majestic voice trailed from the outside.


    "He''s recovering well, but he''s received some brain damage. The development has been falling non-stop¡­" a sweet voice responded. "The likelihood of salvaging this situation is low. If we want to perform surgery, we''ll have to transfer the boy to one of the top institutions."


    "What a pity. He''s only eighteen. He hasn''t even taken his college entrance exam yet!"


    "With this amount of brain damage, he can only be a normal person in the future. His future is ruined¡­"


    "I hear that his confession failed, so he went drinking at a bar and got into an accident¡­"


    ¡­


    Many voices followed; some carried pity while others were joyful.


    It seems like there''s some trouble. That''s normal. If there weren''t any problems, this body''s owner wouldn''t have died.


    Fang Yuan thought about it carefully and immediately understood all kinds of the previous owner''s experiences.


    The owner''s name was Lin Meng. He was a high school senior studying on Planet Blue Ray, Flying Rainbow High in Flying Rainbow City.


    Since he was an orphan, he was raised by the city''s charity organizations. He studied diligently and had good grades. If he had not gotten into an accident, he would have received early admission into a top university, allowing him to enter a cultivation university!


    Fang Yuan was left speechless that this world had college entrance exams as part of their system.


    Furthermore, he realized that this world''s college entrance exams were even harder than those in his memories. They were utterly brutal and truly decided people''s fates!


    Students that scored well could enter cultivation schools. By studying hard, they could become Extraordinaries and enter the upper-class society.


    On the other hand, those who did not make it could only fall out of the race and enter a regular university. In the future, they would become low-class workers.


    Lin Meng was a strong candidate as a ''seeded student'' for cultivators. Within Flying Rainbow High, he had a small reputation. However, he was low-profile, so he did not have much presence either.


    A few days ago, as the college entrance exam was approaching, Lin Meng gathered his courage to confess to his crush, Flying Rainbow High''s top beauty¡ªLing Fei''er. Unfortunately, he had failed miserably.


    Meeting the greatest pain in his life, he took out his savings and stepped into a bar for the first time. There, he started drinking to drown his sorrows. However, he unexpectedly suffered from an accident, causing brain damage. This was how Fang Yuan entered his body.


    The previous owner¡­ seems like he had a crush on her for three years. Thinking that he''d never see her again after his college entrance exam, he put all his eggs in a basket and gave it his all. However¡­ he was unfortunate. Reality isn''t a fairytale!


    Fang Yuan mocked him silently. He doesn''t know his worth. On top of that, his heart is weak. Even if she agreed and fell into his arms, and he made it to college, he wouldn''t amount to anything in the future. This accident is bizarre. I don''t have memories of it. Was the damage was too great?


    Feeling like his body had already recovered, he opened his eyes slowly.


    When he opened his eyes, he saw a pure-white hospital room. Various types of equipment were next to the hospital bed.


    A nurse dressed in a pink uniform ran out of the room immediately and called for the doctor. "Doctor, the patient is awake!"


    "Hello, Lin Meng!" Soon after a quick examination, a bespectacled doctor gave his diagnosis. "Other than the brain, the rest of your body is working well. You can leave the hospital now."


    "Thank you!"


    Naturally, Fang Yuan understood that the irregularity in his brain arose because he had taken over. He was sure there would not be any side effects due to it.


    However, the doctor''s eyes were full of pity. "¡­ This means that your brain development might be affected. You''re a senior in high school, right? Your college entrance exam is coming up soon. I advise you to take the exam for a regular school!"


    Brain development, huh? A new term. Let me think about it¡­


    Fang Yuan''s expression remained stoic. He pretended to look like he had received important news, but in reality, he was recalling his memories with all his might.


    The so-called brain development referred to a concept that acted in alignment with cultivation. To a large extent, it was akin to the ''spiritual roots'' in the past. It represented extraordinary aptitude and was universal for humans in both the East and the West.


    If I think about it from my current perspective, every person uses their brain entirely. The reason there''s a difference between intelligence arises from the issue of efficiency. The so-called brain development here refers to the manifestation of efficiency. A normal person can only use 10-20% of the brain efficiently! Every 1% increase requires a massive price to pay and lots of effort. According to research, if someone possesses 30% brain development, regardless of whether they study the Eastern spiritual techniques or Western arcane spells, it will be a great help in the future¡­


    In the past few years, the East''s spiritual roots and the West''s scholarly aptitude have aligned as concepts of brain development. This is one of the conditions for being admitted into an extraordinary university. Without this condition, there''s no use, no matter how well you study.


    The past Lin Meng had a 30% brain development and had already hit the minimum threshold. This was why he was selected as a seeded candidate.


    Furthermore, the most important thing was that he was naturally born with this aptitude. He was not like the children from wealthy families that had been through all sorts of training and ingested drugs to push their brain development to the maximum levels.


    "What¡­ is my development now?" Fang Yuan asked carefully.


    "It''s 15%! Before this, it was falling continuously. However, it stabilized three days ago!"


    Three days ago was the day he took over this body!


    Fang Yuan thought about this quietly. After he fully released the limits of his True Spirit, and under a Dream Master''s control, how far would his brain development have increased?


    At the very least, it would be 80%!


    However, he would be an idiot if he requested another examination.


    "Then, that''s enough¡­ Also, about my medical expenses¡­" Fang Yuan asked about another detail.


    The doctor stared at the window in his hands. He said with certainty, "Under society''s welfare programs, ninety percent of your expenses have been subsidized. Someone else paid the other ten percent. You can leave after you sign out!"


    "Someone? Who?"


    Fang Yuan felt suspicious. Lin Meng was an orphan and a loner without any close friends or buddies. In school, he did not know many people, so he spent the rest of his extra time working. To put it simply, even when he graduates, he probably would not be able to name some of his classmates.


    "Your teacher, Miss Xiao Hongyue!"


    Before Fang Yuan''s eyes, the image of a knowledgeable twenty-plus-year-old woman appeared. His heart filled with gratitude.


    Was this the remnants of the owner?


    His gaze turned cold. He completed the documents and left the hospital.


    ¡­


    Within a sealed, narrow dormitory.


    Fang Yuan let out a long sigh. He flipped his single bed over, took out a crystal chip, and stuck it into his watch.


    In an instant, a robotic female voice emerged.


    ''Ding! With all due respect, Mr. Lin Meng, please select the service you would like to use!''


    "Check my remaining balance!" Fang Yuan said in a deep voice.


    ''Ding! Current balance: 3,990 star dollars!" the robotic female voice replied instantly.


    Star dollars was the currency in the Human Alliance. It could be used on many planets and had a lot of worth.


    "However, the expenses on this planet are horrifying. For example, to recover this body completely, it cost nearly one hundred thousand star dollars. Without Teacher Xiao Hongyue''s help, I probably wouldn''t have been able to afford it even if I gave up all my assets.."


    Fang Yuan committed this to his memory.


    For a Demon God, this was a part of the body''s karma. He had to resolve it in the future.


    After he settled down, he crossed his legs and sighed deeply. "I''ve finally found a place to rest. Now, what should I do next?"


    His original plan was to break the seal quickly to overcome the world''s restrictions. Then he would use the Dream Master techniques to figure out where he could obtain the material he needed for the Heaven Devouring Mystic Technique.


    However, knowing that a terrifying enemy was lurking behind his back, he had no choice but to hide. How could Fang Yuan expose himself so easily?


    "I can''t use the Dream Master techniques for now. Since he''s a Netherheaven Demon God, he can probably sense the Dream Dao. In terms of breaking through the world''s restrictions, I wonder if he''s faster than my stats window. Of course, he doesn''t know about my secret yet. He''s probably hiding in a corner, recovering his cultivation now. It''s my chance.


    "Since I can''t use the Dream Master techniques, I can only use this body to walk the local power system. Once my stats window is unlocked, my cultivation speed will be pretty fast.


    "This world''s power system¡­ Cultivation? The Arcane? Mechas? Interstellar Warships?"


    With the massive advancement in technology, the speed and scale of transmitting information had expanded to an unbelievable level.


    Just by running through Lin Meng''s memories, Fang Yuan learned quite a lot.


    "Within the Human Alliance, the extraordinary paths that many follow is split into the Western and Eastern paths. The East prioritizes cultivation, while the West prioritizes the Arcane. With these two paths, there are countless branches. For instance, mechanics could work as support from the back. Meanwhile, mecha pilots work in the frontlines. There are even agents for infiltrating the enemy''s backlines¡­


    "The traditional path of cultivation has melded perfectly with modern technology to create a brilliant civilization¡­ Interesting!"

 937 Olympiad Math

    "Extraordinary powers¡­ is such a perfect fit with science! Professor Lin Zhengyang from the East started the concept of ''Scientific Cultivation''. The Eastern Mystic has always been guided by science to rationalize cultivation and mass-produce magical weapons. This would spell the beginning of Eastern prosperity!


    "The West is one step further. The Alban Royal Academy has put forward the concept of ''Olympiad Math and the Arcane''. The transformation of power and knowledge has never been faster. As long as someone''s brain development is up to standard, and they''ve passed the adult Olympiad math test, they can condense rational thinking and arcane spell models to become a respected Arcanist. Moreover, an Arcanist''s theses and research results will have a direct impact on their inner spiritual world and increase the level of their arcane spells¡­ There was a Grand Arcanist who wrote mind-blowing dissertations every month. He was a legend before the age of thirty¡­"


    Therefore, it was unwise to look down on the scientists and researchers of this world.


    To put it bluntly, they were all walking bombs who could continuously increase their power!


    "Pity¡­ That this has nothing to do with me!"


    Fang Yuan stopped reminiscing and sighed regrettably.


    There were also differences between the Eastern and Western parts of the Human Alliance. However, cooperation was the mainstay at this time, and mixed-bloods were the most plentiful.


    Even in Flying Rainbow City, mixed-bloods and Westerners with huge builds were everywhere.


    Lin Meng was not a surprising sight. He had yellow skin, black hair, and black eyes. According to some gossip magazines, these were the characteristics of pure-blooded Easterners. He might be invisibly favored when taking the exam with some cultivation universities due to that, but these were, of course, just rumors.


    "Unfortunately, Planet Blue Ray belongs to the Eastern camp. Only the cultivation universities are recruiting students!"


    In Fang Yuan''s opinion, the so-called ''Human Alliance'' was a United Nations. The member states might be cooperating, but they were also in competition.


    It was the same as his previous life. It was not impossible for a normal high school student to aim for a famous overseas university, but it was definitely difficult.


    "According to Eastern customs, all students undergo normal studies before entering university. This was also the foundation of traditional cultivation¡ªusing a hundred days to build the foundation. Only after being admitted to university would they be able to come into contact with the Scientific Cultivation Method and absorb spiritual energy. The West is more enlightened in comparison. Materials for Olympiad math are found anywhere, and anyone can self-study¡­ However, it''s a pity that not many talents emerged this way. You still have to go to school if you want to cultivate rational thinking¡­"


    Fang Yuan rubbed his chin, and his eyes lit up suddenly. "Even if I can''t make it into a cultivation university, I can study Olympiad math first! I''ll condense my rational thinking directly and become an Arcanist!"


    He would be extraordinary once he became an Arcanist.


    There might not be many opportunities on Planet Blue Ray, but there would be chances to go out and see the world.


    Moreover, as long as Fang Yuan could cross the threshold, his path would be smooth sailing before he met any high-level bottleneck.


    "Comparatively, the West''s Arcane might be widespread, but it''s extremely difficult to cross the threshold. The college entrance exam for Eastern cultivation universities might be difficult, but they select students from the beginning. Every one of them who enters is a genius. Both approaches have their advantages¡­"


    Fang Yuan turned the matter in his head. "There''s only one week left until the college entrance exam. I can''t miss it. As for Olympiad math, I''ll prepare it as backup!"


    He got up, grabbed a crystal card, and went to a bookstore.


    "Boss!"


    He stepped forward and greeted a middle-aged man with black-rimmed glasses.


    "Oh, it''s Lin Meng!"


    The boss was over forty and sloppily dressed. He was the image of a bad man cheating little girls with lollipops.


    Seeing Fang Yuan, he was now all smiles.


    Because Lin Meng often came to his place to obtain second-hand textbooks, he was a regular customer.


    The boss started promoting his item. "I heard you were in the hospital. Are you all right? You''re here to get prep books for the sprint to the college entrance exam, right? I have a compilation of college entrance exams from over the years, edited by Venerable Tian Feng, the vice-principal of Nine Mystic University¡­ I usually sell it at thirty star dollars, but I''ll sell it to you for twenty star dollars, just for you! I guarantee your score will increase by ten if you finish it!"


    "No need¡­" Fang Yuan lowered his voice. "I want something more advanced¡­ above higher math!"


    There was also mathematics in Eastern high schools, simplified from Western math, commonly known as ''higher math''. It was also known as math from hell, killing many over the years. Anyone who could pass it would absolutely obtain top grades.


    "Oh!" The boss exclaimed and mirrored his voice with a wry smile. "Why? Are you interested in the Arcane too?"


    "I just want to prepare another route!" Fang Yuan shrugged.


    "Great!"


    The previous transactions must have made the boss relax. After all, he knew Lin Meng''s background, which was why he happily brought him to a small compartment behind the bookstore and pulled out a huge book. "As the title says, ''Elementary Olympiad Math'' covers most elementary Olympiad math. As long as you read it, and your brain development is sufficient, you can become an Arcanist¡­"


    "The 98th edition? Just one year ago? Not bad¡­" Fang Yuan was astonished at this bookstore owner''s ability. "How much?"


    "One thousand star dollars. Knowledge is power, and power is priceless!" the boss said with a straight face. "This is also considered a banned item. I''m bearing some risk as well."


    "Deal!"


    Fang Yuan swiped his card happily. The boss removed the cover of a dictionary and put it on the Olympiad math book per Fang Yuan''s request.


    "¡­ Why didn''t I think of this earlier?" The boss expressed obvious regret.


    "The punishment for it isn''t that severe, which is probably why you weren''t so strict about it¡­ " Recalling that small bookshelf, Fang Yuan was a little dumbfounded. This book of power had been placed with some books not suitable for children. "I feel like things have gone too smoothly."


    "That''s because you''re taking things too lightly¡­" The boss lit a cigarette. "There aren''t many on this planet who can meet the requirements for both brain development and elementary Olympiad math. Most of them enter a cultivation university directly! Arcanists are not easy to become after all!"


    "Not easy?!" Fang Yuan gazed at the boss with questioning eyes.


    "I''ve already sold it, and I don''t accept returns!"


    The boss spit out a ring of smoke from the cigarette leisurely. "Don''t you find it weird seeing so many books on becoming an Arcanist everywhere? This was done intentionally by the Westerners."


    "Meaning¡­ spreading their nets to catch more fish?" Fang Yuan frowned.


    "You described it very well!" The boss nodded. "But, other than this Elementary Olympiad Math, there isn''t a single arcane spell model on the market, neither are there any subsequent research papers¡­ The West protects the property rights of this knowledge to the greatest extent. Even black market merchants dare not violate this taboo!


    "You have to follow up with research to progress after becoming an Arcanist, and you''ll need at least an arcane spell model or two even if you don''t want to progress. Otherwise, how different would you be from an ordinary human? However, only the West has the power to these things. Moreover, you need jurisdiction and to exchange credits. Even money won''t get you anywhere!"


    "This means¡­ once an Easterner became an Arcanist, they would need to join the Western camp unless they want to do their own research?" Fang Yuan concluded.


    "That''s right. Why not become a cultivator if it''s so troublesome!" The boss puffed his chest out in pride. "Our Scientific Cultivation Method isn''t any worse than the West''s Arcane!"


    "So¡­ you cheated me after our years of friendship?" Fang Yuan glared.


    "Ahem ahem¡­" The boss''s expression did not change. "Relationships and business are two separate matters!"


    "¡­"


    Fang Yuan had nothing to say to that. He hugged the Elementary Olympiad Math and left the bookstore.


    The dormitory he lived in was a welfare house in Flying Rainbow City. The rent was unusually cheap, but the living conditions were quite bad.


    "Lin Meng, wait!"


    Fang Yuan was about to insert his key when he saw a few people from the corner of his eye.


    They were high school students clothed in Flying Rainbow High''s uniform, appearing to be his schoolmates.


    "Brat¡­ you have some nerve. How dare you court Ling Fei''er. Don''t you know she is our boss''s woman?"


    A blond walked haughtily toward him.


    No way! Fang Yuan''s eyes twitched. How could such a stupid plot happen to him? He was speechless. The more beautiful a woman, the greater the trouble. Even more so if she has other value. This principle is the same in any world¡­


    He shook his head calmly with a silent sigh in his heart. "Ling Fei''er rejected me. I have seen through everything, and I''m preparing to apply to Meditation University. I''ll become a monk and stop thinking about all matters of love!"


    "Mmm?!"


    They blanked for a moment. This answer seemed to be outside of their expectations.


    "Are you for real?" the blond asked suspiciously.


    "Of course!" Fang Yuan lied through his teeth. He was just dragging for time and avoiding risks anyway.


    He was currently at his weakest and had no thoughts to fight with the school bullies.


    He could only remember it and settle this score when he became stronger in the future. Of course, he also had to give the original owner an answer about Ling Fei''er.


    "What are you doing?"


    Obviously, Fang Yuan''s delay tactic showed some effect.


    The majestic voice caused the blond and his gang to run off immediately.


    Fang Yuan turned around with a smile. "Teacher Xiao Hongyue, you''re finally here!"

 938 Concurrent Cultivation

    Xiao Hongyue was wearing a red tracksuit and seemed to be jogging.


    At twenty-odd years old and with a simple ponytail, she exuded a refreshing aura and gave off the feeling of an older sister next door.


    His pupils shrank a little when he saw this teacher. "Cultivator?"


    He could feel that this older sister teacher Lin Meng had always adored was a cultivator!


    A Mystic, and yet she''s here as a high school teacher? Interesting!


    Fang Yuan shook his head discreetly.


    "Lin Meng¡­ I heard you were out of the hospital, so I''m here to see you!" Xiao Hongyue seemed to have trouble getting her words out. "Your brain¡­"


    "The doctor might have said that about my¡­ brain, but I''ve never felt better!" Fang Yuan replied blankly.


    The research on the brain contained mysteries yet to be broken, especially when it came to brain development.


    Fang Yuan only needed an opportunity to showcase a development of 30% and announce that he had suddenly recovered. Who would doubt him?


    Of course, this was because Lin Meng was originally a genius as well.


    No school could protect him if he dared to reveal anything more. He would definitely disappear, captured to be a research subject.


    "All right¡­ Remember to start preparations for the sprint when you return to school tomorrow!"


    Xiao Hongyue nodded with a trace of sympathy for Fang Yuan when she suddenly saw the dictionary in Fang Yuan''s hand. "This is¡­"


    She was a cultivator and could use her spiritual will to scan this strange, large dictionary that Lin Meng was hugging. Her face changed. "You¡­ come with me!"


    She grabbed Fang Yuan''s hand without thinking, pulled him into the dormitory, and slammed the door behind her.


    There were some inevitable brushes between their bodies as they moved along. Fang Yuan''s nose tingled as a fragrance got to his nose, causing his heart to thump. Damn¡­ Remnant thoughts from the dead are still messing with me!


    "You want to study Olympiad math?"


    Xiao Hongyue lowered her voice as much as possible. "Do you know that while higher math evolved from Olympiad math, the difficulty was reduced many times? Moreover, we have higher math courses on this planet only in preparation for future scientific research. You don''t need to delve into Olympiad math if you aren''t planning on becoming an Arcanist or a specialized scholar."


    It feels awful to be caught with stolen goods!


    Fang Yuan frowned inwardly but showed an expression of shock. "Teacher¡­ H-how do you know?"


    "Of course, I know¡­ My dear Lin Meng, did you give up on yourself because you damaged your brain?" Xiao Hongyue could not help guessing. "But¡­ Western Arcanists have the same requirement for brain development!"


    "Teacher, I just told you, my brain development is normal¡­ At least, I feel better than ever before!"


    Fang Yuan could only bite his lip and show himself as a stubborn young man.


    "You¡­"


    Xiao Hongyue glanced at him with sorrow, unhappiness, and annoyance.


    Fortunately, there were many citizens on Planet Blue Ray who purchased Olympiad math to research on their own. Xiao Hongyue could only remind Fang Yuan. "Don''t be distracted. The college entrance exam is near. The other schools aren''t bad even if you can''t make it into a cultivation university. For example, Academician Shang Ming didn''t reach the brain development level and went to Qingbei University. He went on to become a well-respected researcher afterward, and the Alliance even awarded him the Lifetime Achievement Award¡­"


    "I know! I know!"


    Fang Yuan raised his hands in surrender after seeing Xiao Hongyue enter her nagging mode.


    "All right. There''s also¡­" Xiao Hongyue seemed to have had some difficulty continuing. "Do you know that Ling Fei''er''s family, the Ling Corporation, is the pride of Flying Rainbow City? They are famous on Planet Blue Ray as well. Their family property is worth billions. She has been the pearl of her family ever since she was a fetus. Special care was taken then, and she''s been exposed to meditation and advanced medications from a young age. Her brain development has reached 40%! She''s the type of genius who would definitely make it into a cultivation university!"


    "I understand, Teacher. A precious genius''s future partner has to be of the same standing. She has no lack of suitors. Even if I continue pestering her, there won''t be a good ending for us. I might even invite trouble and danger¡­" Fang Yuan nodded.


    "Eh?" Xiao Hongyue surveyed Fang Yuan with utter disbelief.


    "I know¡­" Fang Yuan activated his Oscar-level acting skills and held his head with both hands. "I like her¡­ but I can only keep this feeling deep within my heart¡­ However, since the college entrance exam will be upon us soon, I was afraid¡­ I was afraid that I wouldn''t be able to see her again after that.


    "Rest assured, Teacher. I might not be able to stop feeling this way, but I''ll bury it deep within me and walk my own path!"


    These were also Lin Meng''s initial feelings.


    "Teacher understands. Lin Meng, be brave!" Xiao Hongyue turned to leave after giving him a word of comfort.


    She did not mention the medical bill throughout.


    After she left the welfare dormitory, Xiao Hongyue''s footsteps sped up. When she arrived at an alley, her wristband projected a screen with the face of a handsome man.


    The young man had thick eyebrows, dark brown hair, and slightly blue eyes. He was full of the atmosphere of a mixed-blood.


    "Jarvis¡­ I saw your guy finding trouble with Lin Meng. Don''t let me see that again!" Xiao Hongyue''s voice was ice cold.


    "Understood, Miss Hongyue. I won''t bother with an ant if he stops harassing Ling Fei''er!" Jarvis gave a gentleman''s courtesy, seemingly slightly afraid of Xiao Hongyue. "It''s only¡­ I didn''t think that an ordinary student would be worthy of your protection."


    "He''s my student. This is my responsibility as a teacher!" Xiao Hongyue replied matter-of-factly.


    "As you wish!"


    Jarvis cut the connection, but Xiao Hongyue''s rosy lips showed a smirk. "Jarvis, your background doesn''t match up to the Ling Family, yet you can catch up to Ling Fei''er''s progress. There must be certain forces at work¡­ Perhaps even relating to Western forces¡­"


    She leaped and turned into a red shadow, instantly disappearing.


    In the distance, Fang Yuan was in casual clothes with a hat and his hands in his pockets, as though he were an irrelevant passerby.


    However, he did hear some information. "Jarvis¡­ that blond''s boss? So he has some connections to external forces. Xiao Hongyue''s background is even more mysterious, but she doesn''t appear to be a special agent¡­ Is this the legendary master from games?"


    He had too little information to figure out anything at this point.


    He returned to his narrow dorm room after strolling outside for awhile.


    "''Elementary Olympiad Math''¡­"


    He shut the windows and turned on the lights. Fang Yuan started reading the first page after suppressing his excitement.


    "Knowledge is power!"


    "This book is especially for those who wish to tread on the path of the Arcane!"


    The title page only had two lines and a faint fragrance, refreshing the reader and making them clear-headed.


    "Hmm?" Fang Yuan narrowed his eyes slightly. "The material of this book is a little different. There are special aromas on every page, equivalent to half a meditator assisting by the side¡­ No wonder they aren''t selling an electronic version of it!"


    He thumbed the title page and felt the uneven pattern with his fingertips. He was more relaxed with the aroma.


    Hidden patterns revealed the contents of a third sentence on the title page.


    "To those who found this sentence¡­ Calm analysis and caution. These are the tools that will help an Arcanist!"


    "Hidden messages, somewhat like a sorcerer''s style¡­"


    Fang Yuan curled his lips and continued reading.


    His flipping became slower as time passed. Sweat was visible on his forehead.


    He closed the book and exhaled after some time. "I see¡­ Olympiad math is very different from my previous life and what I imagined it to be."


    Olympiad math in his previous life, just like Flying Rainbow High''s higher math, consisted of more difficult math problems. It was solvable if your logic and methods were right.


    However, elementary Olympiad math required mental power! Or the computing power of the brain!


    This was why there were scents and textures hidden in the textbooks to help learners enter a better state of mind.


    "Olympiad math agglomerates rational thinking. In fact, it should be cultivating a structure in the mind to load various magic models for subsequent research¡­"


    Fang Yuan was taken aback but also excited. "Could these Grand Arcanists be comparable to photon computers? I really want to open one to take a look¡­


    "Of course, elementary Olympiad math wouldn''t be that difficult. Progress can be made with a basic understanding¡­ However, rational thinking and forming an adjunct smart-brain require brain development¡­ Is that why cultivation and the Arcane can''t coexist?"


    There were no arcane spells and spiritual techniques in this world previously.


    People could only research the Arcane or cultivate their entire life after making a decision. There was no third path.


    "This is troublesome¡­ But limitations might not be actual limitations to me¡­"


    Fang Yuan''s True Spirit was a Demon God from outside after all. The maximum brain development for normal people of this world was 100%, which was why it was difficult to cultivate both concurrently.


    However, Fang Yuan might be able to increase it to 200%!


    There were thus no shackles.


    For brain development to reach 200%, it wasn''t as easy as transplanting a brain. It was a million times more difficult!


    Otherwise, the scientists of this world would have long solved the problem facing concurrent cultivation.

 939 Simulation

    Flying Rainbow High.


    This was the key high school in Flying Rainbow City, and it also ranked high on Planet Blue Ray. It had a strong faculty and complete teaching facilities. Floods of students tried to get into the school in a bid to obtain higher results. Of course, those who were successful contributed a lot of money as well.


    The past Lin Meng had entered the school without any issues because he lived in the city anyway and had a very good brain. He did not need to pay any of the exorbitant fees either, not that he could afford it anyway.


    Any school was more than happy to accept true top talents.


    Since its fame largely came from these top talents, there were restrictions on the number of students it could have each year. Otherwise, its reputation would suffer.


    "High school, huh¡­"


    Fang Yuan wore his high school uniform, carried his school bag, and walked to third-year Class 15.


    His results were among the top in Class 15. However, he had not chosen to enter the key class that Ling Fei''er was in because it required extra fees.


    "There won''t be any problem for the college entrance exam if I absorb everything relating to studies from Lin Meng''s memory. The next step is brain development!"


    Fang Yuan thought silently.


    As a Demon God, his True Spirit could perfectly control any part of this body, even the brain. He found that he could deliberately make his brain development soar to 100% after a few attempts! He could even enter an overclock mode!


    Although 200% was still difficult, it was not impossible.


    "My learning efficiency is a thousand times faster than Lin Meng in the overclock state. I can finish learning high school materials in one day in this state. No! Perhaps even university-level materials!"


    Fang Yuan was not prepared to leak this information in the slightest.


    Brain development to 100% and beyond! This was too shocking for a high school kid.


    Fang Yuan walked up the stairs and immediately found the atmosphere at the entrance of his classroom strange. Guys were squeezing together with excitement in their faces.


    "This kind of situation¡­"


    This scene was very familiar. Such expressions were plentiful when the most beautiful girl in school appeared.


    Of course, it would be females screaming instead if it was the most handsome boy in school.


    "Lin Meng!"


    "He''s here!"


    Someone shouted in the crowd, and they created a path.


    I have a bad premonition!


    Fang Yuan sighed in his heart and continued walking. He saw a girl in a white one-piece immediately, being held in awe by the others.


    Long black hair cascaded like a waterfall to her waist. She had a porcelain face and a pair of eyes that spoke.


    She was the one who Lin Meng had confessed to, the beauty of Flying Rainbow High, the daughter of a wealthy family, and the reason why Lin Meng had died¡ªLing Fei''er!


    "Lin Meng¡­ Ling Fei''er is personally here to see you!"


    "She''s been waiting for you for half an hour!" a classmate called out with a sour tone in his voice.


    "I''m sorry!"


    Fang Yuan looked toward Ling Fei''er.


    Thousands of scenes appeared in his mind all of a sudden. Most were of Lin Meng gazing secretly at Ling Fei''er''s back. Of course, the confession left a deep impression as well.


    Ah¡­ Meaningless emotions!


    He sneered in his heart and activated his True Spirit, suppressing these emotions.


    He had a perturbed expression on the surface.


    "I heard you were in the hospital? It''s great that you''re all right!"


    Ling Fei''er sized Lin Meng up and turned to leave abruptly.


    Fang Yuan was confused. It seemed to him that this little girl had an uneasy conscience and wanted to confirm his safety.


    From an outsider''s perspective, however, a student from a normal class actually obtained the attention of the school goddess? He deserved to be burned!


    Could a rich kid who grew up sheltered do something so stupidly sweet? Or could she just care about the comfort of her heart, not about the feelings of others? Fang Yuan sneered. Another score to settle.


    Ling Fei''er''s visit would undoubtedly bring him some trouble.


    For example, he saw the blond from earlier snickering at him and making the throat-slitting gesture.


    "What are you lot doing?"


    Just then, Xiao Hongyue appeared in a female suit and adjusted her black-rimmed spectacles.


    The students dispersed when they saw the teacher. Fang Yuan grabbed the chance to enter the classroom.


    Xiao Hongyue went up to the podium and said in a calm, undulating voice, "Students! The college entrance exam is soon upon us. We''ll do a mock exam today!"


    "Exam? Sure, let me test my abilities!" Fang Yuan smiled.


    He did not obtain anything from meeting Ling Fei''er just now. It only showed him how a student with 40% brain development should be.


    He had the confidence to simulate 30% brain development using her and some of the top students as a comparison.


    "All right, exam start!"


    Xiao Hongyue issued a certain order.


    Buzz!


    At that moment, rays of light separated each student.


    Fang Yuan looked around at what appeared to be a holographic projection. He had arrived at a vast green plain. A breeze was blowing on him, and the smile of nature penetrated him. It seemed so real.


    "Every student is placed in a different environment. There isn''t any chance of cheating¡­"


    Fang Yuan shook his head and looked at the exam papers that appeared gradually on the desk in front of him. He started working on it.


    "Higher math? Simple! I can even figure out some Olympiad math. Higher math is simply child''s play. Of course¡­ I can''t make it too obvious. I have to make a few errors on purpose¡­"


    He used Lin Meng''s results as a benchmark to control his results.


    He was done in no time. The surroundings changed, and it was as though he had come to a burning hell with lava. Orange-red, shimmering magma flowed freely.


    In front of Fang Yuan, a bunch of parts appeared along with some assembly tools and drawings.


    "This is a type-two high-temperature protective gear, as well as gas mask¡­ Testing me on my assembly ability!"


    Fang Yuan picked up a wrench and got to work quickly.


    The college entrance exam of the Human Alliance was conducted to differentiate the true elites. All kinds of abilities were extremely important and extremely practical.


    Lin Meng''s previous results would allow him to live well in Flying Rainbow City even if he could not get into university.


    A life counter was counting down quickly in the dark-red environment.


    Fang Yuan put the gas mask on just when the countdown was about to hit zero.


    Ding!


    The volcanic lava disappeared and became the interior of a small alley.


    Two men in black trench coats with strange, distorted bodies spurted mucus and became half-human, half-insect monsters. They lunged forward.


    The gale cut his face. It was hard to tell that all this was fantasy if he had not known in advance.


    "This technology is enough to create a virtual world and live in it."


    Fang Yuan sighed and scurried away.


    Average high school students would not be able to handle any of these Zerg parasites.


    The only way was to use the complex terrain to drag for time.


    Of course, there were more difficult options.


    Bang!


    Fang Yuan smashed a window and rushed into a house. He quickly searched for supplies and started to assemble weapons.


    It would be the most irrational decision to fight these parasites directly during the exam. Few students would retaliate with such a gap of strength.


    "If I''m caught by the parasite during the exam, I''ll fail. I will get a maximum of sixty to seventy points if I escape safely during the required time. I''ll only obtain higher marks if I start to fight back!"


    Fang Yuan gripped the high-energy battleax in his hand.


    He was only an ordinary person currently.


    Crash!


    The door broke open, and a dark shadow rushed in, accompanied by a pungent smell.


    This monster was a combination of human and insect. Its skin was now wrinkly and dark brown, looking disgusting.


    "Kill!"


    Fang Yuan avoided the spikes from the parasite''s forelegs and chopped violently at it with the high-energy battleax.


    Poof!


    The ax went directly into the parasite''s neck. Green pus oozed out.


    Chichi!


    White mist mingled with the sound of corrosion.


    The parasite''s body fluid would become a highly corrosive acid once exposed to air. Fang Yuan did not forget such an important factor and avoided it immediately.


    The ax in his hand was utterly destroyed though.


    Rumble! Rumble!


    A huge fly came in from the door. Its many eyes fixed on Fang Yuan at the same time.


    "Run!"


    Fang Yuan threw his ax and started to run again.


    Actually¡­ at my level, I wouldn''t make low-level mistakes like damaging my weapon. However, Lin Meng''s best performance previously was just killing a parasite¡­


    The scenery changed again when the time was up, and they returned to the real world.


    "Students!" Xiao Hongyue looked at the screen on her hand, appearing satisfied. "Please wait a minute. The system will generate your latest results. And of course¡­ gauge your brain development!"


    The brain was the most mysterious part of the human body, and it still could not be fully deciphered by technology.


    Flying Rainbow High''s device could only produce an aggregated result based on the examinee''s data and emotions during the exam and the final result.


    Ding!


    Fang Yuan stared at his screen. Data appeared:


    "Name: Lin Meng


    Student ID: FH1997


    Results¡ªAcademics: 91, Crafting: 88, Practical Combat: 85!


    Brain Development: 30%"

 940 Tutoring

    "Very good!"


    Fang Yuan clenched his fist in joy, knowing that he had managed to cheat the instrument to give the result of a 30% brain development.


    "Everyone can see their own achievements. The smart-brain will formulate a more reasonable plan based on where you are lacking for your last sprint! Lin Meng, come with me!"


    Fang Yuan shrugged and followed Xiao Hongyue out of the classroom.


    "Total score: 264, Brain Development: 30%?" Xiao Hongyue could not hide the surprise in her tone. "All right, Lin Meng! Your score will allow you to enter a cultivation university¡­ Their cut-off point is usually around 250. The cut-off for top cultivation universities such as Six Extremes Imperial Dragon University and Fengwu Nine Heavens Academy is around 270. You have to keep it up! And¡­ your brain development?"


    "I said before, I feel fine!" Fang Yuan shrugged again. "Perhaps the instrument in the hospital was faulty, or perhaps I''m slowly recovering after being discharged. Who knows?"


    "Is that so?" Xiao Hongyue asked suspiciously, but she found nothing suspicious with her spiritual will and shook her head. "Forget it. It is indeed something good. Go back and study! I''ll have some might speaking to the principal now that you''ve produced such results!"


    "Thank you, Teacher!"


    Fang Yuan knew that a top student with the possibility of entering a cultivation university received very different treatment from normal students.


    The principal of Flying Rainbow High would pay great attention to him and protect him, at least before the college entrance exam.


    The standing of the principal of such a top school was certainly no laughing matter. Jarvis would definitely not dare to mess with him.


    This was also why he chose to show part of his strength.


    How else would he attract others to invest in him?


    It was not shameful to seek external help when you were weak. It did not mean that those who would not accept help would never excel, but the price and hard work that had to be put in was not something that normal people could handle.


    "Wait¡­ Have you decided on a target? Meditation University is the one with the lowest cut-off. Fill that in as your last choice for insurance. Your first choice must be the top universities. I recommend Fengwu Nine Heavens Academy for you! There are many beautiful women there, comparable to Ling Fei''er!"


    Xiao Hongyue''s eyes had a mischievous glint to them.


    "Sorry¡­ Teacher, my first choice is East Dragon University!" Fang Yuan replied determinately after some thought.


    East Dragon University was the top university in the entire Human Alliance, and it gathered countless geniuses. The professors and mentors there were true masters. Neither aging nor dying, they were known as the ''Undead Immortals''! They were human-shaped nuclear bombs, the top combat power of the Alliance!


    "East Dragon University?" Xiao Hongyue''s eyes widened. "You really dare to dream¡­ Do you know that the cut-off for East Dragon University has never fallen below 290?"


    "I''m confident I can score that much!"


    A single exam would determine it. There was nothing to doubt since normal and abnormal performances were all probabilistic events.


    A shade of uncertainty appeared on Fang Yuan''s face. "East Dragon University doesn''t seem to accept students with 30% brain development though¡­"


    "Almost none. The worst they accepted over the past three years had 35%!"


    Xiao Hongyue eyed Fang Yuan doubtfully. "Lin Meng¡­ you seemed to have changed after this incident! You''ve become more diligent and ambitious! It would have been enough for the old Lin Meng to be able to get into the cultivation university with the lowest cut-off point."


    "There will always be inspirations after life-and-death situations," Fang Yuan replied nonchalantly.


    "Okay¡­" Xiao Hongyue seemed to have thought of something interesting. "Brain development can only be enhanced through meditation and brain development drugs before you cultivate. Would you like Teacher to tutor you one-on-one? You probably haven''t used these things before. The effect the first time should be pretty good. You might even be able to increase it by 5%!"


    "Tutoring? But I don''t have any more star dollars¡­"


    The tuition fee for a teacher from a top school had to be astronomical. Xiao Hongyue seemed to be suggesting that she would help him with meditation and provide him with drugs. These were not things an ordinary student could afford.


    "Rest assured. I''ll count it as a loan to you, as long as you return it to me with interest in the future! There''s no need for any burden nor pressure. A cultivator is worth investing in!" Xiao Hongyue dropped a mysterious smile.


    This woman¡­ does possess a game-like character!


    Fang Yuan seemed to be struggling inwardly, but he already had an answer in his heart. He gazed at Xiao Hongyue''s expectant yet suspicious eyes and felt as though he were lightning struck. Yes¡­ funding students on a whim is just one side aspect. She has another purpose¡ªobserving me up close. She might even use various instruments to determine the truth behind my recovery! I really mustn''t underestimate any cultivator!


    "Then¡­ Thank you, Teacher!"


    Fang Yuan bowed gratefully and agreed to it even though he knew Xiao Hongyue had an ulterior motive.


    It would be irrational not to agree after all.


    Not to mention, he did not believe that an insignificant cultivator could discover the secret of his True Spirit.


    On the contrary, Xiao Hongyue''s help would be a more viable explanation as a cover story when he obtained superb results in the college entrance exam. Why would he not go along with it?


    ¡­


    In the top class.


    "Sister Fei''er, you attained 277 points in the mock exam. You are top in class again!"


    A few young girls surrounded Ling Fei''er like a group of skylarks. "So amazing! The school has already decided to send you to Fengwu Nine Heavens Academy, right?"


    "I heard you went to a normal class in the morning to look for Lin Meng?"


    "A toad that wants to eat swan meat. There''s no need to be bothered about him. Sister Fei''er only went to find him because she has a kind heart¡­"


    ¡­


    Ling Fei''er held her chin with her right hand and gazed out the window with a smile.


    She had had no impression of that Lin Meng before. His sudden confession shocked her, and then he got into an accident.


    There was no need to take it to heart since she had determined that he was all right.


    In all honesty, his face was now a blur to her.


    "I''m using the Red Dust Meditation method. According to the teacher, it first started in Meditation University. Eliminate the troubles of the secular world, and you could advance your brain development to 90%!"


    Only anomalies like the Eastern Undead Immortals and the Western Arcanists had been able to increase their brain development to 100%.


    Mythics would stimulate their spiritual roots after coming in touch with the Scientific Cultivation Method, and their brain development level would have a skyrocketing. There was a real possibility of attaining 100%. It would be the ticket to becoming an Undead Immortal.


    This was the path her family had prepared for her at a heavy cost.


    These families from high society had prepared the most correct path for their children. There were not only very few thorns in their paths, but there was a possibility of reaching all the way to the top if they continued all the way.


    In comparison, ordinary people had to put in who knew how much more effort to get there.


    Inequality and social classes still existed even though technology had reached where it was today.


    The college entrance exams were fair to all. It was the last hope for those underprivileged!


    ¡­


    "Brother!" At this moment, a blond entered to look for Jarvis. "That Lin Meng¡­"


    "I know. Teach him a lesson after school today¡­" Jarvis was trimming his nails with great care. "I might have promised Xiao Hongyue, but I had a precondition¡­"


    ¡­


    The sun set in no time, and the bell signifying the end of classes rang.


    "Fei''er, Cultivator Hong Tian has a lecture tonight dedicated to the sprint for the college entrance exam. Let''s go and listen together!" Jarvis followed behind Ling Fei''er. "I have two tickets."


    "No¡­" Ling Fei''er walked toward the school gate without turning back. "I want to calm down alone!"


    Damn¡­ If it wasn''t for¡­


    Jarvis''s twisted face quickly calmed down as he decided to meet with his brothers to vent it all out on Lin Meng later.


    At that moment, the blond and a few classmates came over with stunned expressions. "Boss¡­"


    "Why can''t you do something so simple. He escaped?" Jarvis felt his anger grow.


    "No¡­ But Lin Meng is with a teacher. We don''t dare do anything!" The blond turned around and pointed in a direction. "Look!"


    "Hmm?" Jarvis turned and saw Xiao Hongyue getting on the newest model of a Red Comet Flying motorbike and throwing a helmet to Lin Meng behind her.


    Lin Meng put on the helmet, got onto the motorbike behind Xiao Hongyue, and hugged her thin waist.


    Rumble!


    The engine roared, and a large amount of colorful light debris flew out from the exhaust pipe like a rainbow.


    "Sit tight!"


    Xiao Hongyue roared with laughter, and the motorcycle flew into the sky like a red comet, dragging colorful tail flames. A strong gust of wind passed over everyone''s head.


    Whoosh whoosh!


    The blond and the rest had no choice but to watch them go.


    "Woah! It''s Lin Meng!"


    "When did he get together with Teacher Xiao Hongyue?"


    "Ah¡­ My goddess¡­ No! Heavens, please kill him with lightning!"


    The male students felt it was unbelievable at first before becoming sorrowful.


    A platonic first love could never rival a sexy big sister like Xiao Hongyue for many teenagers.


    The number of boys who were secretly in love with Xiao Hongyue might even be more than those in love with Ling Fei''er.


    Fang Yuan felt the fiery glares from behind. If looks could kill, he would have died many times over.


    "It''s him?"


    Ling Fei''er looked up into the sky as she was about to get into a car. There was a complicated expression in her eyes¡­

 941 Drug and Meditation

    The Red Comet crossed half of Flying Rainbow City and stopped in front of a detached villa surrounded by mountains and rivers. It was like a scene out of a fairytale.


    "This is¡­ Tulip Gardens? The most expensive villa district in Flying Rainbow City. Only the super rich can afford it¡­" Fang Yuan took off his helmet. "Teacher, you are really rich!"


    "You''ll also be rich after you become a Mystic! Come in!"


    The door opened after it scanned Xiao Hongyue''s iris.


    The internal structure of the villa was simple. A huge training ground appeared after a short walk in, allowing Fang Yuan to peer into Xiao Hongyue''s madness for cultivation.


    "Go and bathe on the second floor, change into training gear, and then enter the nutrition chamber. I''ll do a comprehensive check for you!"


    Xiao Hongyue turned solemn, making her more alluring.


    "All right!"


    He was playing a good student at this time, so Fang Yuan obeyed obediently and took the most luxurious bath in Lin Meng''s memory. He then laid in a nutrition chamber akin to a transparent coffin.


    It was a device from a top hospital. Not only did it possess a scanning function, but it could also cure most ailments, such as broken limbs. It cost millions of star dollars to manufacture, and only people like Xiao Hongyue could afford it.


    Ding!


    Xiao Hongyue''s upper half appeared on the screen. "Lie down and don''t move. I''ll do a check on you and see how you''ve recovered or if there are any injuries left. Don''t be nervous¡­ By the way, you have a good figure!"


    Fang Yuan rolled his eyes and let the scanner go to work.


    This instrument might be more sophisticated than the one at school, but it was impossible for it to discover the secret of his True Spirit.


    ¡­


    "Strange. His body is recovering well, and his brain development is also at 30%, totally different from the report previously¡­" Xiao Hongyue frowned suspiciously


    "However, the brain has always been the most mysterious place of all¡­ I have to send him to East Dragon University and ask for the help of an Undead Immortal if I want to understand his situation. Ah, I must be crazy!"


    Fang Yuan opened his eyes after his body woke from the slumber. He clambered out from the nutrition chamber, feeling even better than ever.


    Xiao Hongyue''s voice came. "Wear your training gear and come see me!"


    A neat set of black and white training clothes was in a corner. It seemed similar to karate uniforms from his previous life.


    Fang Yuan wore it and went to the training room barefooted.


    "Your body is very healthy, and there are no hidden injuries. Your brain development is at 30%, and there is no damage to your life potential¡­" Xiao Hongyue said calmly like a tireless teacher. "However, this isn''t enough for East Dragon University! Far from it!"


    Fang Yuan sat cross-legged in front of Xiao Hongyue and asked quietly, "I already have plans for the other subjects. Teacher, what methods do you have to increase my brain development?"


    This was one of the reasons he came!


    He could only overclock his brain when he used a Mental Demon True Spirit technique, but it was unable to bring him to his desired 200%!


    This was why he wanted to delve into the way the brains developed in this world. It could be complementary and produce unexpected results.


    "There are only two ways for a normal person to develop their brains, relying on brain development drugs and meditation! There''s also another chance to improve after being exposed to the Scientific Cultivation Method¡­ But there is one very important point¡ªthe higher your brain development, the brighter your future. Only a 100% brain development can solve the bottleneck for Undead Immortal!" Xiao Hongyue said calmly.


    "This should be¡­ a secret of the cultivation world? Teacher, why are you exposing it to me?"


    Fang Yuan pointed at his nose.


    "Because you are very good, and I don''t want you to take the wrong path! Your starting point is too low after all. Your future brain development will not exceed 50% if you continue like this. It will be difficult for you to cross over the threshold of a high-level cultivator!" Xiao Hongyue was also barefooted and cross-legged in her training gear. "Time is too short at this point. Meditation would be of little help to you, so you can only use brain development drugs!"


    Xiao Hongyue switched her projection screen on. Three funnel-shaped medicine bottles appeared, containing red, yellow, and purple medications.


    "Brain development drug!" Fang Yuan''s eyes glittered.


    "Yes¡­ After countless experiments and hundreds of millions of people proving it personally, brain development drugs are the only things that can increase the development of your brain with minimal side effects!" Xiao Hongyue nodded. "There are three versions. Even the lowest-tier brain development drug is worth hundreds of thousands of star dollars, and¡­ there''s a market!"


    "I know¡­" Lin Meng had looked up quite a bit of information about this previously because he was interested. "Also, your body will develop resistance toward this drug immediately after you ingest it. There will be no effect the second time. That means you only have three chances in your lifetime!"


    "That''s right!" Xiao Hongyue stretched her hand into the screen and grabbed the funnel with the red medicine. "This is the low-tier stage brain development drug. It''ll improve your development by 0.3% to 3%! Some studies have shown that the effect will be better when you inject it during meditation."


    "What about the mid-tier and high-tier versions?" Fang Yuan looked at the screen, his voice a little hoarse.


    "The mid-tier brain development drug''s effect is about 1% to 5%, and the high-tier one is 3% to 9%!" Xiao Hongyue replied.


    "In that case, if I''m lucky, I''ll be able to increase by more than 5% by using the low-tier one first and then the mid-tier and high-tier one subsequently? I''ll then be able to reach East Dragon University''s cut-off point?" Fang Yuan asked with feigned excitement.


    "Dream on!" Xiao Hongyue rolled his eyes. "I only have this low-tier one. I swallowed the mid-tier drug long ago, and I don''t have the high-tier drug!"


    She said in a dignified voice after a pause, "There are only a few of these high-tier brain development drugs, so the price is terrifying. The entire Flying Rainbow City may not be worth that much!"


    Brain development would represent the ultimate achievement after the spiritual roots formed.


    Many methods, such as meditation and low-tier and mid-tier drugs, would become useless in the cultivator phase.


    Therefore, the high-level cultivators who felt their foundation lacking were eager for anything that could help brain development.


    The high-tier brain development drug was, without a doubt, the truest representation of this!


    Fang Yuan would not be surprised if there were cultivators who would kill for it even in the current lawful society.


    "Hu¡­" Fang Yuan took the funnel and looked at Xiao Hongyue seriously. "I will definitely repay your kindness and the medical bills!"


    Do not underestimate the promise of a Demon God. Fang Yuan had secretly decided that he would need at least a high-tier brain development drug in the future to repay her.


    "Okay, I''ll wait!"


    Xiao Hongyue continued, "I''ll teach you a meditation technique now¡­ This is the foundation of a cultivator. Different meditation techniques have different features, but the more advanced the meditation method, the greater the range of improvement for your development. ''Six Point Mental Demon'' and ''Red Dust Meditation'' for example. Many Undead Immortals relied on them to form their spiritual roots and set their foundation before they became cultivators!"


    Brain development would become more difficult when they became cultivators. It was prudent to start as early as possible and minimize the cost.


    Fang Yuan''s eyes sparked. "Teacher, can you teach me a top-tier meditation technique?"


    "No!


    "I signed many non-disclosure agreements when I obtained the technique. I can''t teach it¡­ Moreover, you won''t be able to improve that much even with meditation techniques over the next few days¡­ I''m imparting a meditation technique to you to give you an elementary glimpse into them and to increase the efficacy of the drug. Don''t waste it."


    "All right!"


    Fang Yuan knew he was asking too much, so he listened carefully.


    "The meditation technique I''m about to impart to you is called ''Forget!'' This is something I found during an expedition! Its effect is comparable to that of a mid-tier meditation technique!"


    Xiao Hongyue snapped her fingers. Picture and text explanations appeared on the walls of the room.


    There was also plenty of research data below it.


    This was using scientific methods to guide cultivation, allowing Mystics to take fewer detours.


    "According to my understanding, ''Forget'' is to try and forget all kinds of trivial matters, calm the brain, and stimulate the pineal gland to improve development. If this meditation technique were complete, it would at least be a high-tier technique!" Xiao Hongyue sighed.


    "Of course¡­ there''s a huge risk in cultivating it. You have to be careful not to forget too much and become an idiot.


    "Speaking of which¡­ this technique is similar to Red Dust Meditation. Perhaps it came from Zen as well, but Red Dust requires you to cut three thousand troubles and forget emotions. The ''Forget'' meditation technique, however, is to get rid of miscellaneous thoughts and keep the original intentions. You''ll finally come face-to-face with Buddha¡­"


    Xiao Hongyue was a teacher after all. This meditation technique was explained in great detail and was easy to understand.


    Fang Yuan''s eyes widened, but he had long filtered her words. This meditation technique isn''t the style of Zen at all¡­ In fact, it seems to have traces of a foreign world. Could this be something another higher existence left behind? Also¡­ it can complement the incompleteness of the meditation techniques!


    Xiao Hongyue thought that this meditation technique might have originated from Zen, so she used the essence of Buddhism to complement it and brought it to a mid-tier technique.


    On the other hand, Fang Yuan''s experience was a few planets greater than hers and thus had higher comprehension.


    For this meditation technique, the thing that complements it the most for mortals is the Meditative Tea Ceremony!


    Of course, this was not the best method, but only this method was suitable for mortals.


    Fang Yuan''s eyes shone and started calculating with his True Spirit. Meditate and become one with Dao. Forget all worries and become one with Mother Earth¡­

 942 Compel

    Mind of Tranquility!


    Fang Yuan seemed to have a moment of enlightenment. His hands clasped while he sat cross-legged. Shutting his eyes gently, he entered a complete state of meditation.


    "Hmm?" Xiao Hongyue''s eyes widened while looking at Fang Yuan, who had slipped into a deep sleep. "He''s entered this state so quickly? No¡­ this only happens in deep meditation!"


    The human brain was full of mysteries. If one could enter deep sleep, they could fulfill a day''s worth of rest in two to three hours.


    On top of that, obtaining a deep state of meditation was something one could discover but not seek.


    In this state, people could gain a lot of benefits. Furthermore, it was his first time meditating, and he even managed to enter this state. It was Xiao Hongyue''s first time witnessing something like this.


    "Could Lin Meng be a genius at meditation?" she mumbled while looking at Fang Yuan. She steeled her heart. "It''s your first time meditating, and you managed to enter such a premium state. It''ll be a waste not to use any drugs."


    Xiao Hongyue''s long and white slender fingers were swift. She injected the low-tier brain development drug into Fang Yuan''s neck.


    The red fluid drained instantly, entering his veins and circulating throughout his entire body.


    In an instant, Fang Yuan''s veins popped up, as if a red worm were traveling through his body. It was truly a gruesome sight.


    Xiao Hongyue did not even bat an eye. Instead, she monitored every change in his body.


    Without realizing, an entire night passed.


    "Ah¡­" Fang Yuan opened his eyes, stretched lazily, and yawned. He was full of energy. "Huh? Teacher, didn''t you sleep?"


    "Sleep? What are you talking about? Do you know what you did yesterday? You entered deep meditation during your first time, and it even lasted the entire night!"


    Xiao Hongyue''s face looked haggard. However, her enthusiasm overpowered that. "So? How did it feel? When you entered meditation, what happened?"


    "It felt¡­ amazing!"


    Fang Yuan allowed Xiao Hongyue to check him. She let out a scream. "Brain development of¡­ 35%! You exceeded the limits of the low-tier brain development drug! This means that you fully utilized the effects of the drug, increasing your development by 3%! This also means that you managed to get one year''s worth of meditation within a single session! You raised the development by 2%!"


    "Tell me now!" She grasped Fang Yuan''s collar like a fierce mother lion. "What happened during your meditation?!"


    "Last night, I followed your instructions and meditated! I believe Teacher injected the drug into me, right?"


    Fang Yuan did not know much.


    Meditation relied entirely on a person''s heart and spirit. It was more mysterious than memories.


    The Human Alliance had still not completed their research on the human mind. As long as Fang Yuan insisted that he did not know anything, even Xiao Hongyue could not do anything.


    After a series of explanations, Fang Yuan said happily, "So, my brain development is at 35%? Doesn''t that mean I can enter East Dragon University?"


    In reality, his gains from yesterday were far beyond Xiao Hongyue''s imagination. His current advancements were just an act.


    "That''s right. Your brain development has reached the minimum requirement¡­"


    Xiao Hongyue''s expression turned dark. "However, you still need to work harder in your other subjects. After you reach 270 points, it''ll become challenging to earn even a single point after that. Right, didn''t you want to repay me? Why don''t you head to Fengwu Nine Heavens Academy? With your current grades, you can definitely make it. Even if you can''t, I''ll contact the school to help you out!"


    I can tell you''re a graduate of Feng Wu Nine Heavens. Why would I head there just to be a guinea pig? Fang Yuan rolled his eyes. "I apologize¡­ Teacher, going to East Dragon University is my dream. However, I''ll put Fengwu Nine Heavens Academy as my second choice."


    "Hmph!" Xiao Hongyue snorted and pulled up a screen. "Your tutoring session is complete. You don''t have to come over these days. Sign the bill!"


    "No problem!"


    Fang Yuan looked at the projected screen, and his eyes twitched.


    The low-tier brain development drug costs five hundred thousand star dollars on the market. However, teaching the meditation technique, a night of practice, and the materials actually cost the same.


    However, he did not condemn Xiao Hongyue''s money-grubbing nature. Since she chose to invest in him, what else could he say?


    As such, he used an electronic pen to sign and left his virtual fingerprint.


    "Great¡­ you may leave!"


    Xiao Hongyue waved her hand.


    "Teacher¡­ aren''t you going to send me off?" Fang Yuan felt wronged. After spending a night like that, her attitude turned so cold. It was as if he had taken advantage of her.


    However, this did seem to be the case. Fang Yuan had indeed taken massive advantage of her.


    But not a single one of Xiao Hongyue''s plans had succeeded.


    "Send you off?! I''m still single. How can I let anyone know that a man slept in my house overnight?"


    "¡­"


    That made a lot of sense, so Fang Yuan had no rebuttals. Thus, he took public transport and left by himself.


    At the entrance of Flying Rainbow High.


    Since it was a long way, Fang Yuan had changed buses several times, and he was almost late.


    After some time, he finally rushed into the school''s main gate on the dot.


    Several students formed a human wall before him. Of which, there was the blond from before. He glared coldly at Fang Yuan. "Brat¡­ you''re good at running!"


    "What? Are you picking a fight in school?" Fang Yuan asked fearlessly.


    As an elite student, he would suffer a little if others ganged up on him. However, the school would not let the perpetrators off easily and might even expel them.


    This was the special treatment that top students had over school bullies. Even if they fought, teachers would still be biased and offer protection.


    "We''re not that dumb. We just want to get to know our schoolmates better!"


    The blond wrapped his arm around Fang Yuan''s shoulder. He pointed at the shade under a tree. "Brat¡­ you got home fine yesterday, right? However, let''s not talk about this now. You see that place there? Boss Jarvis wants to have a few words with you!"


    "A few words? Sure!"


    Fang Yuan shrugged his shoulders and pushed the blond aside. He walked to the tree shade on his own, and he saw the mixed-blood Jarvis.


    "Lin Meng, Flying Rainbow City citizen. Eighteen years old, graduated from Southern Hill Kindergarten. Your teacher then was¡­"


    Jarvis had his arms crossed while reciting the profile, wanting to create immense pressure on Fang Yuan.


    Honestly speaking, this method was indeed effective on inexperienced youths. However, in front of Fang Yuan, it was nothing more than a colossal joke.


    "All right, you don''t have to investigate me. I''m just a poor student without any background. The only thing I have is my grades¡­" Fang Yuan shrugged. "I''ve told your lackeys¡­ I''m not interested in Ling Fei''er at all!"


    "What about Xiao Hongyue? You stayed in her villa last night!" Jarvis laughed, revealing his white teeth.


    "You followed me?" Fang Yuan feigned shocked. "No¡­ you followed a teacher. How audacious! Aren''t you afraid I''ll tell Xiao Hongyue?"


    "You don''t have to use her to scare me¡­" Jarvis replied leisurely. "As a teacher, allowing a student to stay overnight is a complete scandal! Even if nothing happened, there''s no way she would expose this to the public! It''s impossible to clear up!"


    That was true. Fang Yuan felt that if that meditation ''accident'' had not happened, Xiao Hongyue would have kicked him out of her villa immediately.


    However, he managed to get away because of that. Otherwise, these hooligans would have captured him for a beating.


    "Then, what do you want? I have to head to class!"


    Fang Yuan pretended to look like he was in tremendous turmoil.


    "Haha, relax. I''m not concerned about your relationship with Xiao Hongyue. However, I''ve heard that you recovered your brain development level. Since you''re so talented, why don''t you become one of my subordinates?"


    Jarvis extended his right hand. "You just have to report Xiao Hongyue''s movements to me and execute my orders. Then I''ll sponsor a portion of your university expenses. You''ve been working part-time to supplement your expenses, right? But once you enter a cultivation university, the expenses aren''t something a small household can undertake."


    "No way!"


    Fang Yuan stepped back, causing Jarvis''s expression to darken. "You dare reject me? Reject my good intentions?"


    "We''re all going to be adults soon. After the college entrance exam, we''ll be going our separate ways. Why are you doing this? At most, I''ll promise to keep your secret¡­"


    Fang Yuan walked out of the shade and looked at the school''s security camera. His smile was bright like the sun.


    "It''s pointless. Do you think I can''t make a move on you in school?"


    Jarvis''s back was against the camera. He smiled. "All right¡­ even if you''re relying on this, are you planning to stay in school every single day? Don''t you know how terrifying it is to offend someone like me? For example, you might run into a small accident and suffer from some injuries. It might even hold you back from taking your college entrance exam. When the time comes, who''s going to protect you? Your entire life will be in my hands!"


    "Is it?" Fang Yuan''s voice turned ice-cold.


    Jarvis was not a simple person. He had been stirring up some problems and setting up his net to capture his prey.


    If the past Lin Meng were still around, what could he have done against a threat like this?


    The most he could have done was to succumb. Even if he made it to a cultivation university, he would have been controlled by various methods. He would be nothing more than a puppet.


    Furthermore, the fact that Jarvis dared to say something like this meant that he was doing the same to others!


    As he thought about this, Jarvis did seem terrifying.


    If I were him, I would sign an agreement once my victim agrees. But I''d set down some harsh conditions. Even though I''d provide support, it''d be nothing more than a formality. However, I''d obtain a cultivator that serves me for life in return!


    Since it was an official contract, even if the conditions were ruthless, it was legally binding. The entire Human Alliance would turn into Jarvis''s backing. Even if someone wanted to leave, it was nearly impossible.


    "I reject!" Fang Yuan''s voice was steady after thinking it through. "I don''t have any plans to sell my future!"

 943 Exam

    "Great¡­ I guess I''ve thoroughly offended Jarvis today. Maybe I''ll run into an accident the moment I step out of the school gates!"


    Looking at Jarvis and his lackeys leave, Fang Yuan shrugged and returned to the classroom.


    Within the school grounds, Jarvis would not make obvious moves. At the very least, he would not do it personally and leave himself vulnerable.


    In this world, there was also a dark side. Injuring a high school student so that he would not be able to take his college entrance exam was not a big deal.


    "Only¡­ they target people like me¡­"


    Fang Yuan was helpless regarding this.


    Just like how bullies chose their victims, Jarvis''s victims were people like Fang Yuan. They had no family but were outstanding students.


    Even if they died, nobody would be concerned, giving him control over them.


    If they were students with families, he would be warier. After all, communication was high-speed now, and he could be exposed anytime. That was not something to joke about.


    "Unfortunately¡­ the past Lin Meng was the type of person to be forgotten if he died in a ditch! Hmm¡­ but that''s not the case now. I still owe Xiao Hongyue one million star dollars. If she doesn''t want to lose this sum of money, she can''t just leave me to die, nor can she watch my ability to pay her back be lost!"


    Fang Yuan walked into the classroom. He decided to make a deal with Xiao Hongyue after class.


    As for a woman''s innocence and purity? Haha, Fang Yuan did not care at all.


    The longer one lived, the more they would know that in the face of life, that tiny bit of pride was meaningless.


    The classroom was very quiet. Many students started putting on their goggles, doing simulation exams and studying.


    Fang Yuan went to his seat but did not start studying. After all, he had an overclocked brain, and this bit of high school content was nothing more than child''s play for him.


    As for crafting and practical combat ability, it would be a massive joke if he lost to any of these high school students.


    "Stats window!"


    He leaned on the chair and pulled up his stats window.


    As he watched the familiar screen appear, Fang Yuan could not help but feel a surge of warmth in his heart.


    This cheat that accompanied him was the only reason he had managed to climb so far. Even up until this point, it had never disappointed him.


    A screen only he could see surfaced before him.


    "Name: Fang Yuan (Lin Meng)


    Profession: Student


    Cultivation: None


    Brain Development: 170%


    World Seal Breaking: 23.77%"


    ¡­


    "Have I unlocked this much? I can finally see my stats. This speed is far beyond my imagination¡­"


    Fang Yuan took a deep breath. His eyes were tranquil. "I wonder how the Abominable Lord is progressing?"


    He had a massive conflict with the Abominable Lord. If he used his Dream Dao as he liked, both parties would be able to sense each other''s presence.


    Of course, Fang Yuan had not been prepared for him at all. He would be at a disadvantage. However, in this world, they had the same starting point. And that changed everything.


    The Abominable Lord was sly and cunning, so he would not expose himself easily. He had to be recovering his power quietly while exploring this world.


    He might even be planning to reach the peak of his power.


    If he were to do that, he would be able to mobilize many resources in this world, making it much easier to find Fang Yuan.


    "I''ll use the Dream Master techniques as little as I can. He''s a Netherheaven Demon God, and I don''t know what he has planned¡­"


    Fang Yuan blinked. "Since I can''t use the Dream Dao or the Dream Divination Technique¡­ the material for the Heaven Devouring Mystic Technique must be very close before I can sense it."


    This was the main reason why he wanted to enter a cultivation university no matter what.


    Remaining on Planet Blue Ray was pointless. Furthermore, cultivation universities were the epitome of human intelligence. They had the best technologies and resources from the entire galaxy.


    These universities probably had items related to the Heaven Devouring Mystic Technique.


    On top of that, Fang Yuan was very interested in this world''s extraordinary techniques.


    "If I want to cultivate the Scientific Cultivation Method and the Arcane concurrently, I must be able to overclock my brain to 200%! It isn''t as simple as one plus one. Rather, it''s a qualitative change¡­ 170% isn''t enough!"


    That''s right! Fang Yuan''s brain development had reached 170% after using the Mind of Tranquility and injecting the low-tier brain development drug last night!


    It was a number that would have scared Xiao Hongyue into a heart attack.


    Even the Undead Immortals might not know that the human brain could overclock to this extent!


    "By using this world''s meditation techniques and drugs, you can rapidly increase your brain development. If I coordinate them with my True Spirit technique as well, I can attempt concurrent cultivation!"


    "Using meditation, I can push my brain development to 190%! If Xiao Hongyue''s words are true, this world has another opportunity to increase brain development at extraordinary advancement. Since I''m planning to dual advance, I should be able to push overclocking to 200%!"


    Fang Yuan started calculating rapidly. "Hmm, what''s left is to score well in the college entrance exam, enter East Dragon University, and obtain information on the Scientific Cultivation Method¡­"


    As for Jarvis?


    He was nothing more than a pebble on the road that Fang Yuan was not much concerned with at all.


    ¡­


    Of course, he had to despise the enemy strategically, but take him seriously tactically.


    When class ended, Fang Yuan went to look for Xiao Hongyue and reported Jarvis''s behavior.


    "He''s enslaving students by using contracts?" Xiao Hongyue remained silent for a while. "All right, Student Lin, you''ve provided me with a good piece of evidence¡­ Unfortunately, as long as both parties have agreed, even if the conditions are unfavorable, there''s nothing we can do¡­"


    "It''s just something I''m mentioning¡­" Fang Yuan scratched his head. "The main point is¡­ after I rejected his offer, Jarvis was enraged. I''m scared that he''ll find someone to come after me¡­"


    "Oh?" Xiao Hongyue hmphed as if it were none of her concern.


    "So, I would like to request some tutoring from you for a few nights¡­" Fang Yuan smiled. "If I die or lose a limb, I don''t think I can pay back that one million¡­"


    "Quit dreaming!" Xiao Hongyue rolled her eyes. Soon after, her expression turned serious. "An important guest will be coming to my villa tonight. I can''t take any more guests!"


    Hmm? Who could it be to make her have such an expression? Is it her boyfriend or her father?


    Fang Yuan''s eyes lit up. However, he tactfully chose not to ask.


    Otherwise, with the quality of his current body, he would be beaten into a pig.


    "Then, what about Jarvis?"


    Fang Yuan gave a distressed look.


    Currently, his stats window was not completely unlocked. It was indeed his weakest moment as a Demon God.


    "Relax. I''ll give him a sound warning¡­ He won''t dare make a move at this time!"


    Xiao Hongyue seemed a little distracted and in a different state of mind than earlier.


    "All right!" Fang Yuan agreed even though he was still perplexed.


    However, he had already decided not to return to that dorm. He would not leave his fate in the hands of someone else. That was not a smart move at all.


    ¡­


    Time passed quickly.


    Soon, it was time for his college entrance exam.


    Fang Yuan had put on a new school uniform and walked into school energetically.


    "Brat¡­ good job!"


    Jarvis blocked Fang Yuan''s path with a vicious expression. This brat was really good at hiding! Once school was out, he disappeared immediately. He was very sly and did not return to his dorm, nor did he leave any information about his whereabouts. This had rendered many of his tactics useless.


    "Do you think this is over?" He laughed coldly. "You better pray you get a good score¡­ But I''m afraid that even if you enter a cultivation university, you won''t live long enough to get there!"


    For matters to have extended this far, this was also far beyond Jarvis''s expectations.


    An accident involving a high school student and one involving an enrolling student of a cultivation university were two completely different concepts.


    "I¡­" Fang Yuan was exasperated. "There isn''t any feud between the two of us, right? Why do you insist on coming after me like this?"


    "I don''t have a choice¡­" Jarvis shrugged. "I thought you were just a small figure at first. But it seems like you have the potential to rise to the top. Sadly, I''ve offended a person like you. If you make it into a cultivation university and become successful, will you choose not to take revenge? To eliminate this possibility, I can only do this!"


    "That''s some logic¡­" Fang Yuan''s lips curled up. "I understand¡­"


    He turned to leave. However, the look in his eyes turned icier with each passing moment.


    Jarvis''s stubbornness had exceeded his expectations. Perhaps he considered Lin Meng as one of his mental demons.


    It began with a small dispute. However, the two turned into enemies that had to fight to the death. The way matters escalated was simply laughable.


    Jarvis probably intends to kill me even if he has to pay a huge price¡­ Fang Yuan was equally determined. In that case, I have no choice but to take care of him. Also, I want to obtain a protective talisman during the college entrance exam!


    A student admitted to a top university was treated differently from a top scholar of the college entrance exam.


    Fang Yuan believed that if he emerged as the top scholar in Flying Rainbow City, there was no way Jarvis could make a move on him no matter how much he hated him.


    For the old Lin Meng, he might have prioritized maintaining a neutral position, but Fang Yuan enjoyed going for the top. Their preferences were completely different.


    "All students, please proceed to the exam hall! Keep quiet!"


    Suddenly, many men dressed in black stood around the circumference of the school. They carried a dangerous air.


    "The college entrance exam is a big matter for the Alliance. Planet Blue Ray''s headquarters has sent machines and the military to oversee the event¡­"


    Fang Yuan stepped forward casually, accepting the examination as he walked into the exam hall.


    The inspection was rigorous. Fang Yuan sensed three different types of energy waves interacting. There was a cultivator''s spiritual will, an Arcanist''s arcane investigation, and the scan from the machine.


    There were small disturbances at the other entrances. They consisted of students who wished to cheat by some method but got exposed anyway.


    When the final student entered the exam hall, the entire school was in lock-down. A vast protection array sealed the whole school.


    Flying Rainbow City''s Year 20099 college entrance exam began!

 944 Revenge

    Planet Blue Ray''s college entrance exam ended quickly in one morning.


    On top of that, the AI graded the exams, which meant that the scores came out instantly. After that, what was left was organizing and reviewing the results. The students could see their ranking in the afternoon.


    After the exam finished, none of the students left. Instead, they had their lunch quietly while waiting for their results.


    A person''s entire life depended on this moment.


    ''Ding! Planet Blue Ray''s Year 20099 college entrance exam review is complete. Announcing the rankings now!''


    At 1 pm, a robotic female voice circulated within the campus grounds.


    In an instant, all the students stirred to life. They gathered on the school field, staring at the largest electronic screen.


    On the first row, in bold letters: "Lin Meng, Student ID: FH1997, Results¡ªAcademics: 100, Crafting: 100, Practical Combat: 100! Total Score: 300, Brain Development: 35%! Flying Rainbow City: Rank 1! Planet Blue Ray: Rank 3!"


    ¡­


    The crowd immediately fell silent. Soon after, it erupted in discussion.


    "I can''t believe it¡­ It''s a full score! Heavens! How did this Lin Meng suddenly do it?"


    Many students were in disbelief. "Cheating? Impossible. The exam uses the best technology in the entire alliance. There is simply no way he could have cheated. Did he simply perform beyond his abilities? Isn''t this way too lucky?"


    "College entrance exams rank students by their scores. Brain development is nothing more than an additional factor. There are two people in front of him who scored full marks as well. In reality, their grades are the same. Lin Meng lost to them in his brain development score! That''s why he''s third!"


    "If he lowly, then what are people like us? Brain development of 35%! He can even apply for East Dragon University, right?"


    Their discussions continued endlessly. Jealous gazes shot at Fang Yuan, their fiery glares nearly lighting him into flames.


    "Brat, were you faking your scores in the previous exams?"


    Seeing this result, Xiao Hongyue glared viciously at Fang Yuan. She was so angry, she was grinding her teeth.


    "Top scholar! Flying Rainbow City''s top scholar, Planet Blue Ray''s third is from our Flying Rainbow High. Wonderful. Make arrangements to take a picture with this Lin Meng and preparations for him to give a speech to the students. We need to publicize this to the media!"


    Flying Rainbow High''s principal could not stop smiling after seeing this result.


    Flying Rainbow City''s top scholar was from Flying Rainbow High. This was within reason. However, being able to make it to the top three on Planet Blue Ray was shocking.


    Furthermore, he knew that Lin Meng''s results were not any worse than the first and second place scores. Instead, it was because of his family background. He did not have the appropriate meditation and training. Otherwise, his brain development would have been at a higher level.


    "However, I remember that his brain development was only at 30%. He even suffered from a small accident. It looks like Hongyue has her eye on this kid. Did she give him a mid-tier brain development drug?"


    The principal was glowing with joy. He rubbed his bald head as he tossed this question to the back of his mind.


    "Lin Meng¡­"


    Ling Fei''er looked at the electronic screen, her expression turning complex.


    Even though she could have entered by early admission, she still decided to take part in the college entrance exam. Furthermore, she had done her very best. Her total score was 283, ranked second in the entire city!


    Unfortunately, she was seventeen points away from Lin Meng. The difference was vast.


    "Lin Meng?" Ling Fei''er mumbled his name as a memory from the past surfaced.


    At a particular lake, a red-faced boy had confessed to her.


    His blurry face immediately became clear to her.


    If she had a vague impression of Lin Meng and Xiao Hongyue leaving together, the release of the results truly solidified her impression of him. This planted a seed deep within her heart while its roots grasped tightly on to it, growing steadily.


    Not good¡­ the backlash from Red Dust Meditation!


    Ling Fei''er''s complexion changed.


    Red Dust Meditation required one to be free from complex thoughts. If the user had impure thoughts, it would lead to complications. The price to pay might even lead to a deterioration in brain development!


    This was the terrifying truth of a top-tier meditation technique!


    Even if one obtained it, if they could not maintain and keep up with the technique, their spirit and brain would regress accordingly!


    ¡­


    "Son of a bitch!" Jarvis glared at the electronic screen. He gritted his teeth so hard, he was about to bleed. "How did that brat become so amazing? Was he just pretending before?"


    Even if he had designed many schemes, his target was no longer a student preparing to enter college. Instead, his target was actually a top scholar. These were two very different types of targets.


    Jarvis understood this clearly. With Fang Yuan''s current fame, the media would be monitoring him closely. If anything happened to him, the police would also pull out all the stops to investigate the matter. There was no way he could escape.


    If that happened, all of Planet Blue Ray and society would find justice for him. Even his backer would not be able to save him.


    "Damn it! Damn!" He cursed angrily, his eyes revealing frustration. "My scores barely made the mark. I can only enter the lowest-ranking cultivation universities. But Lin Meng can attend East Dragon University. If the higher-ups find out my relationship with him, they''ll give up on me!!!"


    Cultivators that graduated from East Dragon University were absolute elites, the cream of the crop.


    Even if they graduated with average results, the connections they made at East Dragon University and the knowledge they gained would be completely different. They could suffer fifty years less!


    Jarvis was terrified of the consequences. His eyes glazed in fear. Suddenly, they turned to animosity again. "No! I can''t just sit here and let this happen!"


    ¡­


    "Teacher Hongyue!"


    Fang Yuan was utterly indifferent to his score. Instead, he was more concerned that two other students managed to score full marks like him. This left him feeling a little shocked.


    However, being able to attain the status of the top scholar in Flying Rainbow City was sufficient. Numerous reporters were waiting outside the school.


    From Fang Yuan''s perspective, they were his protective talismans.


    As he watched Xiao Hongyue walk toward him, he could not help but smile and greet her.


    "Good job, brat¡­" Xiao Hongyue pinched Fang Yuan''s cheeks brutally. "So you''ve been holding back all along. I was wondering why you were so confident of getting into East Dragon University!"


    No matter how much he explained, he would never be able to clarify the issue. Fang Yuan could only respond awkwardly, "Sorry¡­"


    "Forget it¡­" Xiao Hongyue stretched her hands out. "You''d better prepare yourself. The media will be waiting for you outside. After that, you have to make a speech for the school and take part in some promotional activities. After that, you''ll fill in your application, and you can continue with your life. East Dragon University is on Planet East Dragon. It''s a long journey there!"


    "Understood!"


    This world''s college entrance exams were a little different from Fang Yuan''s memories.


    For example, summer break was practically non-existent. High school sophomores or first-year students could relax a little. However, for the Human Alliance, students who intended to enter cultivation universities would be shamed if they wasted even a single day. As such, once they put down their application, they would be admitted on the spot and had to report to school within ten days.


    Putting it this way, I don''t have much time left. I need to settle my grievances now! Fang Yuan thought quietly.


    ¡­


    Late at night.


    The day passed by in a flash. The entire Flying Rainbow City indulged in celebrations.


    Fang Yuan put on a black coat. With some make-up, he looked more mature. Most importantly, his build and aura had changed. Even people who knew him well would not be able to recognize him.


    Even though I''ve put on make-up, if Xiao Hongyue uses her spiritual will, there''s a decent chance she might recognize me. But I have no choice¡­ I''m just an ordinary person. No matter what techniques I use, I don''t have the power. There are still limits!


    Fang Yuan pulled his cap down. Even so¡­ Jarvis is also just an ordinary person. He stays in Starry Village. The security there isn''t tight¡­


    For the past few days, he did not merely spend his time hiding. He was looking up information on Jarvis. This time, he was going to take care of him once and for all.


    After all, it was irritating to have a fly buzzing around your ear.


    Soon, the car stopped in front of a small district. Fang Yuan got off the car as he assimilated with the darkness.


    Since my stats window isn''t fully unlocked, my power isn''t any stronger than the peak of an ordinary person¡­


    His True Spirit allowed him to control every muscle and skin fiber within his body. In his previous life, he would be like a super soldier king.


    Of course, most important was how he had developed a technique to hypnotize ordinary people!


    Playing with someone''s psyche was child''s play for a Dream Master''s Dream Dao.


    Although there was no way Fang Yuan could use Dream Master techniques, it was still possible to use used some gestures and words to hypnotize an ordinary person.


    "Who are you?"


    He chose not to climb the walls to infiltrate the district. After all, this was a high-end district with astonishing defensive measures such as a surveillance system using infrared scanners and so on.


    "I''m a buyer. I just bought a new house here, so I''m here to see it!" Fang Yuan''s muffled voice said slowly, and he pulled out something that looked like identification.


    "Hmm, all right. Please enter!"


    The security guard''s mind was blurry. For an instant, he felt like the face before him seemed familiar while moving aside.


    ¡­


    In a bedroom, on the bed.


    Jarvis was in a deep sleep. His forehead was covered with sweat, as if he had had a nightmare.


    "Ahh!" he yelled loudly. He woke up and sighed. "As expected¡­ I have to take care of Lin Meng. Otherwise, he''ll destroy me in the future!"


    "You''re right!"


    A dark shadow flashed by, and Fang Yuan walked out from the curtains.


    "Who are you?"


    Jarvis narrowed his eyes into slits. He thought he was still dreaming.


    However, in the next instant, he grabbed on to the bed frame, terrified.


    "Stop struggling. I''ve already taken care of your hidden card. Also, I''ve turned off your wristband. Inside this house, there''s no way you can send a single message!"


    "Impossible¡­ to turn these things off, you need the password!" Jarvis exclaimed in shock.


    "You told me, in your sleep¡­" Fang Yuan laughed. "Thank you for telling me everything. You can go ahead and die now!"


    "Wait, which organization are you from? Dark Python? Did the upper brass send you to eliminate me?"


    Jarvis laughed in despair.


    "None of that is important¡­"


    Fang Yuan scattered a handful of powder. At the same time, he began chanting a strange spell.


    Jarvis''s face froze. All of a sudden, he clasped his chest, his face warping in pain before he fell over.


    He had scared himself to death!

 945 Ambition and Mental Demon

    Dark Python and Red Tarantula. Interesting!


    After taking care of the loose ends, Fang Yuan left the room and re-entered the darkness.


    Earlier, he had used a mixture of powders, hypnosis, and spells to induce a heart attack on Jarvis. With the police''s current power, there was no way they could find any clues. They could only conclude that it was an unexpected death.


    Besides, even if someone suspected that it was a homicide, they would never trace it back to him.


    After all, he was nothing more than an ordinary student. Furthermore, his future was bright. Why would he disappear in the middle of the night to murder someone?


    Even if they found any evidence, it would point to a person in a black coat. Furthermore, it was highly likely they would think that an Extraordinary had done it. They would not suspect an ordinary person at all.


    However, he did manage to obtain a lot of information from Jarvis''s sleep talking.


    For instance, within the Human Alliance, there was also the dark side, and its power spanned across many planets.


    Jarvis was an informant of Red Tarantula. On top of that, there was also Dark Python, Red Tarantula''s most significant enemy.


    Within Red Tarantula, Jarvis was nothing more than a lackey, equivalent to an expendable pawn in Flying Rainbow City. His only job seemed to be chasing Ling Fei''er and finding a way to enter the Ling Corporation.


    A person like this was easily replaceable, which explained why Jarvis had many insecurities. He desperately wanted to achieve something to establish his presence. Eventually, Fang Yuan entered his life and ended it all.


    My stats window hasn''t unlocked yet. I have to become an Arcanist and cultivator as soon as possible to become a true Extraordinary¡­


    Fang Yuan felt a certain pressure in his heart.


    No matter how perfect his methods were, those high-level Arcanists and cultivators might be able to trace it to him.


    Of course, he was merely being cautious. In the short-term, this was impossible.


    However, he still wanted to make preparations for the worst-case scenario.


    Hmm¡­ if Red Tarantula decides to deploy a high-level cultivator to investigate this, it would be a complete waste of resources. They''d be insane to do that. However, they''d still send someone to look into it. Maybe if my luck is good, I can just get away with it¡­


    Fang Yuan thought carefully, When I get to university, I can learn the Scientific Cultivation Method and come into contact with all sorts of precious and strange things. After researching all of this, I won''t have anything left to do here¡­


    He was a Demon God from the outside world after all. He did not plan to stay in this world for the rest of his life. Those people''s goals meant nothing to him.


    ¡­


    The next day, Fang Yuan opened his browser. After searching the web, he found a piece of news. "Flying Rainbow City student found dead at home. The cause of death was a heart attack. The mayor calls for students to take care of their physical and mental health¡­"


    "The news only tells a cover story, but the general tone is set!"


    Fang Yuan nodded. He knew that a case like this would result in the conclusion of an unexpected death. Otherwise, it would stir public opinion. The death of an enrolling university student in their home was not a simple matter.


    As for whether there would be an ongoing investigation on the matter, he could not tell.


    "However, I didn''t leave a single trace when I killed him. I even used normal powders. Even if they perform an autopsy, they won''t find a thing. Unless they send a high-level cultivator, there''s no way they''ll figure it out¡­"


    As he ran through these thoughts, Fang Yuan put on his school uniform and went to school to fill in the application form.


    Naturally, he put down East Dragon University as his first choice. On top of that, he did not choose a major. According to what he knew, cultivation universities taught introductory courses to the Scientific Cultivation Method at the start. After reaching the later stages, they''d start to draw distinctions.


    Fang Yuan liked the way they organized the curriculum. After all, high school seniors used meditation techniques most and had not learned much about cultivation. How would they know what they wanted to major in?


    Nearby, Xiao Hongyue looked at him strangely. Finally, she could not help asking, "Do you know that Jarvis is dead?"


    "What?" Fang Yuan responded. "What happened?"


    "A forensic specialist concluded that it was a heart attack¡­" Xiao Hongyue looked at Fang Yuan suspiciously, then used her spiritual will. Finally, she mocked herself, What am I thinking?


    "I see¡­"


    Fang Yuan looked a little shocked, as if a tremendous burden had left his shoulders.


    "You should take care too¡­"


    Xiao Hongyue said a few words of little substance and then sent Fang Yuan on his way. She returned to her office and turned on a screen. "Father! I''ve verified that Lin Meng is still an ordinary person!"


    "An ordinary person?" Within the screen, a middle-aged man with bright eyes replied, "It seems like we can rule out school grievances. It was probably Dark Python or Red Tarantula who made a move to silence the boy."


    "Dark Python? Red Tarantula?" Xiao Hongyue''s eyes revealed her disbelief. She seemed wary.


    "I''ve seen Jarvis''s body. There was nothing unusual about it. This is the most unusual thing about it! The forensic specialist couldn''t find a single trace even after performing an autopsy. A top-class assassin must have done it!" the middle-aged man replied gruffly.


    "However, Jarvis is just one of their pawns. It''s unlikely that Dark Python would have done this¡­ I presume Red Tarantula must have sent someone to finish him off because Jarvis''s actions have crossed the line recently. Hmph, to think that he wanted to enslave cultivators. Does he think university is a playground? Even if this didn''t happen, he wouldn''t have had a good end!" he said coldly in the tone of someone used to commanding others. Evidently, he was in a high position of power.


    "Jarvis is just an insignificant pawn. These two organizations are my real goal!"


    ¡­


    "High school, huh¡­"


    After filling in his application, Fang Yuan walked around the school grounds leisurely.


    If it were the past Lin Meng, he would have felt emotional while he reminisced over every item in the school.


    But for Fang Yuan, these students'' attitudes were the most interesting.


    After taking the college entrance exam, they wrote down their aspirations in their applications. It was indeed a place where they felt that their lives would change, their intentions laid bare. It gave Fang Yuan a different type of revelation.


    "I wonder what that Abominable Lord is up to now? Is he walking the paths of this world?"


    Fang Yuan came to a lakeside. He gazed at the surface of the water, looking contemplative.


    "Did you¡­ come here on purpose?"


    All of a sudden, a spring-like voice came from the side. Fang Yuan turned and saw Ling Fei''er.


    Flying Rainbow High''s top beauty wore a simple white dress. She looked fresh and beautiful, like an unreachable exotic beauty.


    "On purpose?"


    Fang Yuan tilted his head in silence. Suddenly, he remembered something.


    Damn! Isn''t this the place where Lin Meng confessed to Ling Fei''er? Does she think that I still like her?


    Hold on. There''s something not right about her!


    He felt perplexed as he scanned Ling Fei''er again. Suddenly, he realized that something was different.


    "No¡­ I''m just reminiscing about my high school life. Anyway, I won''t be coming back for a long time!"


    Fang Yuan turned to leave, ignoring the hesitant Ling Fei''er, who appeared to want to say something.


    "W-why did it turn out like this?"


    Ling Fei''er froze on the spot.


    Suddenly, she understood that Lin Meng was the cause of the flaw in her meditation. He was one of her mental demons.


    To get rid of this obstacle was simple. The first method was for Ling Fei''er to raise her spiritual cultivation and cut it off. Unfortunately, she was unable to do this.


    The second method was to make some move in reality. For instance, Ling Fei''er could offer Lin Meng an ounce of hope so that he would fall for her again. Then, by rejecting him harshly, she could destroy these fleeting thoughts in her mind and reveal his true nature.


    She felt that Lin Meng was mysterious and powerful. As such, it moved her feelings. If he started to fall for her again, she would have the impression that he was nothing more than any other man. That would strengthen her spirit, allowing her to cut off this feeling.


    However, before her plan could begin, it was destroyed!


    "What do I do? The backlash from the Red Dust Meditation is terrifying. If this doesn''t work, do I have to do that? No! No way! He''s a person admitted into East Dragon University. No matter what, that''d be the worst¡­"


    Ling Fei''er bit her red lip, her heart in complete turmoil.


    ¡­


    "It seems like Ling Fei''er has run into problems in her meditation. After all, she is practicing spiritual cultivation!"


    Fang Yuan walked out of the school grounds while recalling Ling Fei''er''s state. He chuckled. "Anyway¡­ a person who used to ignore Lin Meng is talking to him now? Is it related to me? Red Dust. To practice this technique, you have to remove all impure thoughts. Have I become a worry for her? Interesting."


    He was not running a charity, nor did he have any intention of helping another person remove their mental demons. Instead, he enjoyed watching her suffer a bit.


    Anyway, this person was the perpetrator of Lin Meng''s death. The fact that he did not try to throw her into a ditch was a good deed on its own.


    "That meditation technique uses an ordinary person''s mind to control their spirit. Problems occur all the time. Anyway, if I''m her mental demon¡­ Hehe¡­ if I recover a portion of my techniques, I''d be fully capable of making her wish that she were better off dead!"


    Fang Yuan snickered. He felt the remaining feelings from this body trickle out. Then he brought it under control and closed his eyes. "Soon¡­ soon, I will absorb this body fully."


    He had stolen this body by force. Even though the owner was dead, there were still some lingering thoughts and emotions.


    For instance, a particular first love that he refused to forget.


    Fang Yuan had capitalized on this to stimulate the body, and then he brought his emotions under control again.


    After doing this three times, he had more or less removed it.


    "However, this Lin Meng is an idiot. Now that things have progressed to this point, he still wants to protect her. Unfortunately, it will end with me. Naturally, I will settle this my own way."


    Fang Yuan returned to his dormitory. He sat down cross-legged and used the Mind of Tranquility.


    After he supplemented this meditation technique, its effectiveness was not any weaker than top-tier meditation techniques. He could push his brain development to a higher level before he went to East Dragon University.


    "When that time comes, my foundations will be better than any other person. I''ll break through the barrier that nobody in this world can overcome!"


    A bright flame seemed to light up in his eyes.

 946 Journey

    "Fellow passengers, welcome to Eastern Star. I am your captain, Zhao Jingyu. I am delighted to be serving you today. Our flight uses the newest technology in the Alliance. Along the way, we will be passing through two wormholes. The entire journey will take three days, and our destination is Planet East Dragon¡­"


    Fang Yuan sat on a padded seat inside the interstellar ship.


    After he had registered and received the notification from East Dragon University, he left for his destination immediately.


    He looked around his surroundings with interest.


    The humans in this era were blessed, as they could enjoy intergalactic travel. Currently, he was sitting in a budget cabin. There was no personal space other than a seat, but he could extend it, spreading it into a bed. Furthermore, there were curtains for privacy. The various delicate designs were very elaborate.


    "Ah¡­ what a shame. Lin Meng''s savings were only enough to purchase the cheapest ticket. After buying one, I don''t have a single cent left. If it weren''t for my university admission, I wouldn''t have even obtained a discount¡­"


    Fang Yuan shook his head. "It looks like I need to start earning some cash."


    No matter what a world''s cultivation path was, money was still an important concept. Fang Yuan would not neglect this at all.


    Since the ship had not taken off, the atmosphere inside remained lively. His surroundings drew his attention, and he saw many students like him.


    "Planet East Dragon is the technological capital of the Human Alliance. Not only is East Dragon University there, but there are also several other well-known institutions and research institutes. The students traveling here must be the top students of Planet Blue Ray¡­"


    Fang Yuan scanned his surroundings but failed to spot a single familiar face.


    "Hi! Are you heading to Planet East Dragon, too?" To his right, a girl with a ponytail smiled at him. "My name is Marianne. I''m from Tianhuang City!"


    "Hello! My name is Lin Meng!" Fang Yuan responded as he examined the technology around him. He was a little excited. "The Human Alliance''s technology has a ship like this. Too interesting. I wonder if the wormholes are artificially-created or natural. If it''s the former, that''d be amazing!"


    This world suppressed Demon Gods as well. However, he speculated that when he broke the seal and recovered his strength completely, he could survive in space or even perform interstellar travel.


    As for whether or not he could destroy a star to attain the achievement of ''Star Destroyer'', he needed to test it out.


    Suddenly, the entire Eastern Star began to vibrate. Every student experienced a sudden increase in gravity.


    An exuberant robotic female voice reminded the passengers, "Our ship is taking off! Entering the acceleration state. Passengers, please put on your seatbelts!"


    Next to Fang Yuan and Marianne, a fatty grumbled, "Damn¡­ I knew there would be a problem with this budget cabin! Even the anti-gravity magnets are so old¡­ If I hadn''t booked the tickets too late and the VIP seats were sold out, I wouldn''t be sitting in a seat like this!"


    "Huang Tianba, why don''t you keep quiet?" Marianne''s face revealed irritation.


    "Huang Tianba?!"


    Fang Yuan looked at this little fatty. His body was well-rounded, and his cheeks had a red glow. However, his tiny eyes were sharp. He looked fat but was cunning, not a simple person at all.


    His Heavenly Eye Seer Spell allowed him to observe the three states of man. Upon meeting a person, he did not have to use his magical powers at all, and he could tell their status with one look. A person''s experiences will ultimately leave behind a trace. This Huang Tianba must have come from a wealthy family. He has guts of steel but is as cunning as a fox. The only child of the family, but he knows kindness. Hmm, he''s even interested in Marianne. He said that intentionally to attract her attention.


    "Hey! Brother, which school were you from?"


    Huang Tianba laughed loudly while unfastening his seatbelt casually. Leaning forward, he greeted Fang Yuan. "I barely made it through the exam, so I can only be a monk at Vajra Meditation University. Thankfully, monk cultivators don''t have to shave their heads anymore, and they can also get married in the future. My family''s three generations can''t end with me! Hold on, doesn''t the name Lin Meng ring a bell?"


    "Of course, he''s the top scholar from the neighboring city, third on the planet!" Marianne rolled her eyes.


    "So, you''re that Lin Meng. You''re my idol!" Huang Tianba slapped his thigh. "Damn¡­ you''re amazing. A perfect score. To think that I struggled so hard, selling my soul to my studies, but only scored a mere 270. Big Bro, what''s your secret?"


    Even though he looked rough, he did not arouse hatred at all.


    Fang Yuan smiled a little. He was about to speak when he suddenly felt gravity disappear. In an instant, he became ''weightless''.


    He gazed at the view outside the window. "This is¡­ outer space!"


    "Fang Yuan, is this your first time traveling through space?" Huang Tianba looked in a different direction. "When I was seven, my father took me to Planet Rainbow for fun. You probably don''t know how fun that place is. The entire planet is like a huge playground! You can spend your entire life exploring the place!"


    "Stop it!" Marianne exposed him immediately. "All you did was to buy the cheapest tickets and take a few pictures there before you returned. You didn''t even spend a single night there. Planet Rainbow is also known as the Gold-Spending Heaven. Staying there overnight would cost you billions of star dollars."


    "Hehe. Marianne, why do you expose me all the time?" Huang Tianba rubbed his head, embarrassed. Then he looked at Fang Yuan. "Big Bro Lin, you''re the best. You were admitted into East Dragon University, right? You must be the first one who made it from our side."


    The reputation of East Dragon University was no small matter.


    Fang Yuan furrowed his brow, feeling numerous curious and searching gazes landing on him at once.


    "It''s just luck!" he replied modestly. "That''s right, do you know anything about Planet East Dragon? Also, is the wormhole we''re passing through artificial or natural?"


    Lin Meng was just a high school student. He had not traveled through the galaxy in his life, so he did not pay attention to these matters.


    "The wormhole is natural¡­ However, I heard that a Grand Arcanist and an Undead Immortal from an elite research institute managed to create a temporary wormhole¡­" Marianne seemed very knowledgeable about this. "My goal is to become a research-type cultivator. I will enter one of those top laboratories and work there!"


    "That''s right! Leave the fighting to others!" Huang Tianba added shamelessly. Then he boasted a little. "My father wants me to join combat department. It seems Vajra Meditation University''s expertise is in this! However, what I want to do is construct research!"


    Construct research referred to mechas in this world! Of course, it included cultivation''s puppetry and the Arcane''s spiritual awakening. It was high-end technology with terrifying combat power.


    A top-tier mecha pilot was equivalent to a small squad of space battleships. Furthermore, they had exceptional mobility and concealment. They were often mobilized to infiltrate behind enemy lines.


    "I''m sorry, but Vajra Meditation University doesn''t offer those courses!" Marianne attacked him mercilessly. "On the other hand, East Dragon University is the top in this area of research¡­"


    With that, she looked at Fang Yuan.


    "Me?" Fang Yuan rubbed his nose. "I haven''t thought about what my major will be. I want to become a cultivator before I think about it¡­"


    "That''s right!" Huang Tianba nodded continuously, his expression containing excited. "Planet East Dragon, huh¡­ I haven''t been there before. But since it''s a gathering spot for cultivation universities, it''s probably full of heaven and earth spiritual energy, singing bird and flagrant flowers everywhere. It''s a blessed paradise¡­"


    "Since it''s a place where lots of cultivation universities have gathered, there''s something special!" Fang Yuan nodded. He glanced at the tablet on his palm. "But¡­ it seems like I can''t find any information on it."


    "That''s obvious. It''s the place with the best technology in the Alliance! Of course, it''d be top secret!" Marianne seemed used to this. "On top of that, we have our enemy as well!"


    "That''s right. The Human Alliance''s opponent, the Cosmic Lifeform Alliance! Of course, it''d be more accurate to call them the Monster Alliance!"


    Huang Tianba sighed.


    The humans in this world had entered the stars to plunder planets and resources. Naturally, they would meet resistance.


    Within that entire process, they met all sorts of human races. Even though they had slight variations, most were human-like. Thus, they allied and became the Human Alliance.


    Their greatest enemy was all types of space lifeforms and alien civilizations. In terms of life, forms, or societal structures, they were inherently different from humans. In the past, they would be known as demons and monsters, so it would not be wrong to call them the Monster Alliance.


    Of which, one symbolic life form was the Zerg. Many of these parasites manifested as opponents in the college entrance exams.


    "No matter how big the universe is, there is always a limit to its resources. Just like our ancestral planet, they searched the entire galaxy but failed to find another planet that could sustain life¡­" Fang Yuan responded.


    "So, all of this is because of the pressure of survival and expansion¡­ In reality, the Human Alliance and the Cosmic Lifeform Alliance are nothing more than a part of the universe''s whims. Compared to fighting each other here, they should split their territory and focus on expansion. However, if even we can think of something like this, the people in power must have considered this before. Is the reason they''re not doing this is because of feasibility, technological limits, or another reason they can''t give up?"


    "Lin Meng, that''s deep¡­"


    Marianne and Huang Tianba exchanged glances.


    "I''m just voicing my thoughts!"


    Fang Yuan smiled gently before shutting his eyes. He began to meditate deeply again.


    Even though he was only going to travel for a few days, he could not afford to waste any time.


    When he opened his eyes again, Planet East Dragon was within sight!

 947 Planet East Dragon

    "Fellow passengers, we are about to arrive at our final destination, Planet East Dragon. Please remember to take all your belongings with you and disembark in an orderly manner. We hope to see you again!"


    ¡­


    The captain''s voice reverberated continuously during the broadcast.


    "This is Planet East Dragon, humanity''s number one blessed paradise?"


    Huang Tianba leaned against the window, staring wide-eyed as if he had received a substantial psychological shock. "How can this be? Heavens, my dream¡­"


    "This is Planet East Dragon?"


    Fang Yuan looked out. Within the vast darkness of space, a dark-red planet emerged.


    Not only did it not have a single ounce of greenery, but the landscape was full of the distinct feeling of desolation and suffering. It looked like a terrible place, filled with emptiness and despair.


    "Heavens¡­ is the place where cultivation universities gathered like this? Shouldn''t it be full of heaven and earth spiritual energy, and blessed paradises?" Huang Tianba mourned.


    On the walkway, a bearded middle-aged man heard what he said and laughed aloud. "Haha, brat. Do you know what heaven and earth spiritual energy is? No matter how much a planet can absorb, how can it compare to the vastness of space?


    "According to the research done with the Scientific Cultivation Method, ancient cultivation''s spiritual energy is actually radiation from the universe! Of course, it doesn''t consist purely of that. It interacts with the atmosphere and the planet itself. In sum, cosmic rays go through the atmosphere and undergo a mysterious change that interacts with the planet, forming the core structure of spiritual energy!


    "Now, the alliance has spent lots of resources and finally found a planet like this. It has a thin atmosphere, but its gravity is ten times that of our planet. After some calculations, the spiritual energy here, or rather, the cultivation potential here is a hundred times more than our planet!"


    "Atmosphere, gravity?" Huang Tianba and Marianne exclaimed in shock.


    Since they were able to make it to a cultivation university, they were top students as well. However, they realized something was not right. "Then how did we survive at first? Wear protective suits every day?"


    "You''re knowledgeable. I can see you''ve thought about this, so I''ll give you a warning. If you''re a new student, don''t leave the safe zone!"


    The bearded man picked up his suitcase. He seemed to be a researcher.


    As the ship landed gradually, everything on the planet fell within their sights.


    On the surface of the brown and dark red planet, there were glowing golden spots. Many places were bare and empty. If not, there were weirdly-shaped black plants that looked like demon arms.


    Only at the places where ships landed were there signs of civilization. A large protective barrier covered the entire city, ensuring that not a single dangerous organism passed through.


    "Heavens¡­ this can''t be real¡­" Huang Tianba nearly fell to the ground in shock. "This isn''t university. It''s hell!"


    "Of course. Did you think that this place was like a regular university? Since you''re going to be a cultivator or Arcanist, you have to carry on the responsibility of humanity!"


    The middle-aged researcher left these words before picking up his bags and heading to the exit.


    Suddenly, the ship stopped at its landing spot and put down the walkway. He waved his hands while walking out of the door.


    "Responsibility?!"


    Huang Tianba and Marianne clenched their fists, a little shocked.


    "Then I''ll be leaving too!"


    Fang Yuan picked up his luggage and walked out of the ship. In an instant, he sensed that something was different.


    The sky was a multi-colored brightness, and he could even see huge stars. Bright, hot lights shined down like burning fire.


    On top of that, his body felt more oppressed, as if he had put on a weight vest.


    "Gravity? And cosmic radiation! Even with protection, they intentionally chose not to adjust these things to a level suitable for ordinary people. Or rather, living on Planet East Dragon is a form of training too."


    Fang Yuan had a realization.


    After he walked out of the platform, he saw a huge landing before him. Lots of people were swarming this area, with many young men and women raising boards to pick up people.


    This scene left him with a warm and familiar feeling.


    He walked to East Dragon University''s gathering spot.


    "You are¡­" A girl who looked like a student did a scan with the tablet in her hand. "Planet Blue Ray, Lin Meng? Welcome, first-year. The two people before you have just arrived as well. With you, we have everyone. Let''s head to the school now."


    "Thank you!"


    Fang Yuan bowed modestly. He sensed the aura of cultivation from this girl.


    This senior of his had begun cultivation. She was a Mystic.


    He stepped into a gravitating pod. He immediately spotted other young men and women in their seats. They were people like him who had a brain development of 35% and above¡ªgeniuses with practically perfect scores.


    "All right, first-years. We''re heading to East Dragon University now!"


    The gravitating pod was sturdy with some scars on it. Evidently, Planet East Dragon was not very peaceful.


    When it sped forth, that senior began to speak. "My name is Sun Mengmeng. I''m a second-year student. First, I would like to welcome you to the East Dragon University family. As the top cultivation university of the alliance, we have the best resources on our hands, and the responsibilities we take on are heavy. I hope that you will be able to live up to this investment. All right, now I''ll talk about the most important thing. No matter what you do, do not leave the safe zone. With your current state, you will die immediately!"


    A bespectacled young man raised his hand and asked, "Senior, there are dangerous places within East Dragon University too?"


    "Of course¡­ the school has a total of ten districts. For students like you, you can only stay in district one. Once you begin cultivation, you can move within the first five districts. You need to know that the gravity and cosmic radiation in each district increases each time. Once you reach district five, you will be under Planet East Dragon''s original atmosphere and conditions! Of course, that goes the same for spiritual energy."


    "What about the other districts?" another student asked this immediately.


    "Those are the research grounds for instructors, graduate students, and professors. If you have yet to reach a certain level of cultivation, I advise you not to head there," Sun Mengmeng responded accordingly.


    "¡­ what exactly is the Scientific Cultivation Method?"


    Fang Yuan gazed at the warped, uneven ground outside. The environment looked desolate. Occasionally, a lifeform would flash past the landscape.


    Sun Mengmeng replied, "The so-called Scientific Cultivation Method is the use of science to direct cultivation! The ancient cultivators'' understanding of heaven and earth was not as in-depth as ours. They didn''t know that above the high heavens, there was the vast concept of space. Furthermore, they didn''t know the origins of spiritual energy. The earth constrained them. As such, they knew the nature of life but did not understand it! The Scientific Cultivation Method utilizes the power of logic to guide cultivation and the current cultivation system. The speed of cultivation is definitely ten times faster than ancient cultivation! Even a hundred times faster!"


    That means that it prioritizes speed and efficiency¡­ Fang Yuan''s eyes lit up. It seems lacking compared to the Western Arcane system!


    The Eastern cultivation system did not change much. However, its efficiency and techniques improved.


    On the other hand, the Western Arcane system had undergone earth-changing development. As long as rational thinking is condensed, the brain would transform and obtain various abilities, and they could install arcane spell models into their minds. Furthermore, each discovery and thesis could give an Arcanist a terrifying increase in combat ability and progress.


    Of course, it''s possible that science has perfectly shaped Eastern cultivation, so it doesn''t need any changes. On the other hand, the Western arcane spell model had flaws and had to change. Anyway, once I''ve obtained both, I can find the differences between the two.


    Fang Yuan was deep in thought.


    After numerous experiments, the Eastern cultivation system was established. Fundamentally, there was not much change. Instead, it was guided by science, which increased the efficiency of absorbing spiritual energy or improved battle techniques.


    On the other hand, because the Western system had flaws, it went through multiple revamps. The new Arcanist system seemed to be a level higher than cultivation.


    Blindly cherishing the old isn''t the way to go! However, the Eastern cultivation system did see some improvements. For instance, those Undead Immortals neither age nor die. They are real immortals, and they give me the feeling of being perfect liches!


    Phylacteries limited liches, and their bodies originated from dead spirits. As long as their phylacteries were not destroyed, their bodies would never die, and they would have long lives.


    On the other hand, Undead Immortals took it another step further. Not only did they have ordinary people''s sensations and desires, but they also did not have the limitation of a phylactery, which was obviously a huge improvement.


    However, this was nothing more than some information that Fang Yuan had found and his conjectures.


    As for the truth, he still had to experiment before he would know.


    "Senior, Senior!" While Fang Yuan was deep in thought, several girls lifted their hands excitedly. "When can we come into contact with the Scientific Cultivation Method?"


    "If you are willing to, you can start now. However, I need to inform you of one thing!"


    Sun Mengmeng''s voice was solemn. "Brain development is critical to your future. After you start cultivation, you have another chance to increase it, and it might be the last! The higher your brain development, the greater your future achievements. Therefore, I advise those of you from ordinary family backgrounds and have not meditated much, or those who haven''t used brain development drugs before, to hold off and wait! You should head to your public lectures and learn high-level meditation techniques first, then get the drug with a loan from the school. After you''ve established your foundations well, you can start your cultivation. Even if it is a 1% increase, you will thank me in the future!"


    Fang Yuan nodded silently. That was the power of the top institution. These secrets that were hidden by families were taught clearly to you. On top of that, you could buy these drugs with a loan.


    However, how many people could hold themselves back? How could they watch others start cultivating while they continued meditating and expanding their brain development?


    As he thought about this, he suddenly asked, "Is it possible to obtain mid-tier drugs from the school?"


    "No, you can only obtain low-tier development drugs!" Sun Mengmeng shook her head. "However, the school loan is interest-free as long as you pay it off before you graduate!"

 948 Promotion

    After finishing the admission procedures, Fang Yuan returned to his dormitory.


    Although it was very small, Fang Yuan felt relieved to have his own room.


    Lin Meng had stayed at a welfare dormitory previously. The quality of this place was similar.


    He sat in silence for a while, then activated his wristband and entered Planet East Dragon''s network.


    A screen appeared and started scanning.


    ''Ding! Identity confirmed!''


    ''Welcome to the school intranet, Lin Meng!''


    ''Ding! You have received the first-year rules, your timetable, and other documents in your mailbox. Please check them as soon as possible!''


    ¡­


    Fang Yuan did not care about any of that. Instead, he started browsing other categories. "Not bad¡­ not bad at all. The East Dragon University''s school intranet is rich with all kinds of information."


    He glanced at his wristband. This was the newest model. It even had a strange emblem of a dragon coiling around a planet, which was East Dragon University''s logo.


    "As long as you are a student of East Dragon University, you can receive this piece of equipment and enter the school intranet¡­ There''s a lot of good stuff inside."


    Fang Yuan browsed casually and found the low-tier brain development drug. He could even buy it with a loan.


    "Although the intranet here also accepts star dollars, the prices are slightly higher. The real universal equivalent is still credits! You can obtain large amounts of credits through completing courses, improving your cultivation, as rewards from teachers, and various other methods, and then use the credits to purchase a plethora of rare ingredients, even specialized services¡­ It''s even possible to request personal teaching from the Undead Immortal, but the cost is astronomical."


    He looked through the database and felt that it was so massive that not even a couple of libraries could store all that information.


    There were even some online courses. Some were free, while others required payment.


    "Hmm¡­ rewards await those who labor for it. This is the truth of the world. Charging for information is understandable¡­ However, some courses, including those that provide videos and even 3D projections, lack a certain kind of atmosphere. As such, you still need to go to class for those advanced cultivation courses!"


    Fang Yuan browsed the school rules and his timetable briefly. He immediately realized that East Dragon University''s education system was very lax. At the very least, there were almost no graded exams in the first year.


    As long as they attended their required courses, they could do anything they wanted.


    They could meditate, develop their brain, or choose other courses to study. They could even go to the wilderness to hunt star beasts if they sought thrills.


    Of course, they could not blame anyone if they met their end doing so.


    There was only a single year-end exam at the end of the first year. Those that failed would be expelled.


    "All in all, strict in admission and graduation, huh?"


    Fang Yuan changed into his school uniform and left the dormitory. He was ready to attend the first public class.


    "The Scientific Cultivation Method! Taught by L¨¹ Songyang, level eight Mystic!"


    He looked at his wristband and contemplated. "The spiritual energy of this world''s cultivation is actually the energy of the universe. It has completely different nomological rules compared to that of the Spiritual Realm. Naturally, the system is completely different as well. Neither is there a distinction between Essence Soul and Stellar Malignance. It is a simple system of numbers. The higher the number, the deeper the cultivation?"


    After entering the classroom, he found that the lecture hall, which had a sitting capacity of a thousand, was almost full. The majority were first years.


    It appeared that many students were very interested in the Scientific Cultivation Method even if they did not plan on advancing in the near future.


    "Welcome students! I am L¨¹ Songyang!" A voice came from the podium as soon as the lesson began.


    L¨¹ Songyang appeared to be in his thirties. He was wearing red clothes and had heavy facial features. However, not a single student saw how he had entered the room.


    "I shall explain the Scientific Cultivation Method to you today¡­ In ancient times, if you wanted to cultivate, you had to possess ''spiritual roots''. These so-called ''spiritual roots'' in today''s terms would be brain development. A high development means high-quality spiritual roots, while a low development means just an idiot, or even a mortal. Therefore, spiritual roots are extremely important before you begin cultivation! I advise those whose development levels are below 40% to not break through for now¡­"


    L¨¹ Songyang went on to explain in great length the relationship between the ancient times'' spiritual roots and today''s brain development. His key message was that one should not attempt to advance recklessly and had to establish a solid foundation.


    Naturally, after seeing all kinds of expressions from the students below, he sighed in his mind. "The Scientific Cultivation Method uses science as a guide for cultivation. The cultivators of ancient times absorbed the auspicious Qi in the morning and weathered the hardships of nature. Their progress was so slow that it took them a year or more for a tiny amount of progress. And from the perspective of the Scientific Cultivation Method, they had wasted a great deal of things!"


    At this point, he projected a screen that displayed a semi-transparent human body with meridians visible on the body. "We all know that the acupoints and meridians of ancient legends can''t be observed in the human body. Their existence was unable to be unconfirmed. As a result, they could only use various clumsy methods to guide themselves slowly. It was extremely inefficient. For us, we start with condensing brain development into spiritual roots and then constructing acupoints and meridians with the Eight Trigrams Technique. Watch¡­"


    Next, he talked about converging spiritual roots at the start, absorbing the energy of the universe, and then constructing a special structure within the body.


    "Brilliant!" Fang Yuan was excited. "Adding an entire circulatory system inside the human circulatory system. The ancient cultivation concept of meridians pales in comparison!"


    In order words, if the ancient cultivation method was a public transport network, then the modern Scientific Cultivation Method was high-speed trains, airplanes, and even rockets!


    The immense difference in fundamentals naturally resulted in a thousand-fold difference in efficiency.


    "In summary¡­ the Scientific Cultivation Method is vastly superior to ancient cultivation in terms of efficiency. According to records, the ancient cultivation geniuses cultivated to the thirteenth level of Qi Refinement. The fastest was Dong Hezi of the Heaven Mystic Sect at eight years and six months. It was unprecedented at the time. However, we can reach level five Mystic using an average of two years! The fastest was Wu Wudi, who used a mere twenty-seven days!"


    L¨¹ Songyang saw a female student raise her hand and asked, "Yes, what questions do you have?"


    A round-faced girl stood up. "Teacher, I am still unclear about the divisions in the ancient cultivation realms and their counterparts in the modern world! Could you please explain?"


    "Sure. The realm distinctions of ancient cultivation begin with Qi Refinement. Then comes Foundation Establishment, forming the Golden Core, cracking the core to achieve the Nascent Soul, transforming the soul, and transcending the tribulations to immortality!"


    "However, you must be aware that the so-called ''transcending the tribulations to immortality'' has been proven false by science. Those Soul Transformation old monsters did not ascend to the Immortal Realm. Instead, they assimilated into the universe! This was another drawback of ancient cultivation¡ªyou eventually ended up in a dead-end. Of course, some cultivators believe that they advanced into another form of life that is merely very hard to observe¡­ If you''re interested in the exact research, you can search for the papers in that field!"


    L¨¹ Songyang continued smoothly, "In modern times, regardless of whether we choose cultivation or the Arcane, the levels are standardized! Starting at level one, it is equivalent to the first to second levels of Qi Refinement. Level five is equivalent to the final level of Qi Refinement! Level ten is equivalent to the Golden Core stage, level fifteen the Nascent Soul stage, and level twenty the Soul Transformation stage! Of course, it''s a rough equivalence at best¡­ In terms of true combat strength, modern cultivation beats ancient cultivation senseless. The times are always advancing.


    "Beyond level twenty, it is known as Grand Arcanist in the West and Undead Immortal in the East. This is a realm that even I can not understand. Also¡­ they can continue to advance without limit!" L¨¹ Songyang''s eyes were full of longing.


    "All right. Class dismissed!"


    ¡­


    "The Scientific Cultivation Method¡­ and the Arcane? How interesting!"


    In the dormitory, Fang Yuan sat cross-legged, ready to start his breakthrough.


    Although a senior and a teacher had reminded him over and over not to do it, his brain development was not 35%. After this period of training, he could reach a terrifying 180%!


    "It is my limit to raise it to this level. I suspect that even the mid-tier brain development drug would fail to have any effect¡­ The only possibility is during the breakthrough of the two paths!"


    Fang Yuan''s eyes flashed, and his brain started churning swiftly. He reached 100% in an instant!


    Brain development of 100%! The ability to use every part of the brain was already extraordinary and divine! He now had the foundation to become an Undead Immortal!


    His eyes flashed red, and the True Spirit technique activated immediately. "Overclock 150%!"


    Buzz buzz!


    In the sealed-off dormitory, there seemed to be a light breeze.


    "This is the disruption of matter caused by the psyche! The human psyche alone can do such things without even cultivating any techniques!"


    Fang Yuan''s eyes were suddenly full of blood vessels. "180%!"


    At this stage, he could feel this body overloading. It was obvious that if he did not seal the overclock mode under normal circumstances, he could very well die from cell failure!


    However, his brain was spinning wildly, and everything was crystal clear. Anything and everything in his past appeared. He passed ten million thoughts in a mere half a second. Like a supercomputer, he could predict the future based on all kinds of clues with an accuracy of 60%!


    "The ability to see the past and the future with the mere thought of a mortal. This was the horror of an overclocked brain!"


    Fang Yuan opened Elementary Olympiad Math.


    The tough questions were child''s play to him, and he solved them incredibly quickly.


    At the same time, he multi-tasked. Using the method taught by L¨¹ Songyang, he formed the spiritual roots and started constructing an entire new circulatory system in his body.


    "The Scientific Cultivation Method does not have a messy collection of cultivation techniques, but it is a set! Rumor has it that it is the fusion of ten thousand ancient cultivation techniques compiled by supercomputers. Afterward, Grand Arcanists and Undead Immortals revised it. You simply need to follow it step-by-step¡­ at least until level five Mystic. At the later stages, different majors have different cultivation techniques. But their fundamentals are the same!"


    Rumble!


    Fang Yuan''s body shook, and the internal circulatory system formed.


    Imperceptibly but inexorably, he could feel his spiritual roots absorb the energy of the universe greedily.


    At the first cultivation, his brain development spiked again!


    At the same time, with the unraveling of the last Olympiad math question, the many rational thoughts in his brain converged and formed a core!


    Cultivation spiritual roots; Arcane Smart-Brain!


    The two powers converged at the same time. Immediately, they were agitated. It was as though they could not tolerate each other!

 949 Immortal Technique

    "Despite solving the age-old problem of concurrently practicing the Arcane and cultivation, they are still in conflict with each other after occupying the brain!"


    Fang Yuan''s expression was solemn. By overclocking his brain to 200%, coupled with the Arcane Smart-Brain, he immediately took out the plan that he had considered earlier. "Ha! Life and death co-exist. Everything is impermanent!"


    In his sea of consciousness, there was a converged core. It was the amalgamation of arcane rational thoughts, similar to a smart-brain. It greatly boosted the rational reasoning and calculating powers of Arcanists.


    Outside the adjunct smart-brain, root-like spiritual roots converged, gathering around the brain. A few of the roots entered the core of the smart-brain.


    The intertwining of the two powers managed to preserve a delicate balance.


    "Arcanists focus on inner thoughts, whereas cultivators focus on techniques. They are like the two sides of the same coin and can complement each other!"


    As he was at East Dragon University, he was destined to use many cultivator techniques in the future.


    Fang Yuan was now using the Arcane Smart-Brain as the essence to utilize cultivation techniques. He also had his Demon God True Spirit to make sure that the two did not run into any problems.


    "Concentrated psyche, is this the feeling of an Arcanist? As well as cultivators controlling spiritual power¡­"


    Fang Yuan closed his eyes and started checking his data:


    "Name: Fang Yuan (Lin Meng)


    Profession: Student


    Cultivation: Mystic (Level 1), Arcanist (Level 1)


    Brain Development: 200%


    World Seal Breaking: 43.99%


    ¡­


    "The progress of breaking the seal had exploded. It must be because of becoming extraordinary?"


    Fang Yuan was quite happy with the situation. "The first goal has been roughly completed. Now, I must think of ways to observe and study the rare materials of this universe¡­ It''s a pity that I can''t use the Dream Dao to sense them. I''ll have to rely on myself and at least see them to obtain accurate feedback¡­Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting.


    "The place where I can find top materials and curious objects must be the various new materials research labs¡­"


    This work was extremely important now. After all, be it battleships, constructs, or mechas, or even the magical weapons of cultivators, their quality relied on the materials used to make them.


    "Okay. Now to check if there''s a job similar to a research assistant in the school¡­"


    Fang Yuan opened the wristband screen.


    ''Ding!''


    Immediately after his spiritual will entered the screen, an anomaly happened.


    ''Detected that Student Lin Meng has become a cultivator. The system will upgrade automatically. Please wait for three seconds!''


    Three seconds later, the blue screen dimmed before immediately returning to normal, much like restarting a computer.


    "Welcome, Mystic Lin Meng! After becoming an Extraordinary, you are now a human elite. You must shoulder the responsibility of protecting human civilization¡­"


    A message appeared. Fang Yuan realized that the alliance had sent it.


    Of course, with the smart-brain, anyone who became an Arcanist or cultivator would probably receive this message.


    ''Update complete. New cultivation and combat areas added! East Dragon Leaderboard!''


    With the robotic female voice, Fang Yuan saw additional modules.


    "After becoming a cultivator, I can control the screen by spiritual will alone. It''s even more convenient now." Fang Yuan browsed through swiftly. "Before level five, there''s no need to exchange cultivation techniques. Even Undead Immortals cultivated this before. I need to check out the spiritual techniques and magic artifacts¡­"


    He searched, and a few videos immediately popped up. It was a university mentor explaining magic artifacts. "The magic artifacts and magical weapons of ancient times wasted a lot of materials. In addition, only those in the Foundation Establishment stage could make magic artifacts, and only those in the Golden Core stage could make magical weapons. It was inefficient, too inefficient¡­ The magic artifacts that are in use today is a standardized memory metal. Every person has one piece and will put it in their dantian to nourish. Although the makeup of the memory metal is simple, it can evolve into anything in the future. Its potential is limitless. If we start to nourish the magic artifact from the equivalent of the Qi Refinement stage, after reaching the higher stages, it''s power will be astounding. It will be like an extension of your body¡­"


    "Memory metal?"


    Fang Yuan understood now. Memory metal was a seed that could continuously grow. As the cultivator progressed, they could add things to the magical weapon at will, eventually forming their own unique personal weapon.


    "Standardization, standardized magical weapon seed. Interesting!"


    A smile broke out across his face. "I suspect that they borrowed this idea from the Western Arcanist. Their adjunct rational brain''s connection with the arcane spell model is akin to hardware and software, able to be installed or uninstalled at will, and extremely convenient!"


    Driven by curiosity, Fang Yuan checked out the price of the memory metal, the seed of magical weapons. To his surprise, it was very cheap. Furthermore, after advancement, the school would issue them to everyone. He immediately felt that he understood the wealthy ways of East Dragon University a bit more.


    "I can''t use my Demon God techniques. To obtain combat strength as soon as possible, I must follow the extraordinary path of this world. On top of that, I can''t use the Arcanist techniques. The most I can do is to use the adjunct brain to assist Scientific Cultivation!"


    Discounting the protection on arcane spell model copyrights, even if East Dragon University had the relevant information regarding Arcanists, Fang Yuan did not dare to read about them now.


    Otherwise, he would not be able to explain himself.


    "I need to endure for the time being. After accumulating enough credits, I''ll start practicing Eastern spiritual techniques. Then, I''ll have justification to search for relevant information and understand them!"


    Fang Yuan stretched leisurely. He felt that he needed to change his mindset as well.


    Back on Planet Blue Ray, everyone knew each other thoroughly. He could only choose to endure.


    However, no one knew of his past in East Dragon University. Besides, the higher-ups had to worry about the fate of the Human Alliance. On the lowest level, they still needed to think about the direction of East Dragon University. Furthermore, everyone here was a genius. As such, it was well within reason to have a secret.


    If they tried to find out all the students'' secrets, then the Human alliance should be almost decimated by the Cosmic Lifeform Alliance by the time they were done.


    "I hope that Mystic techniques don''t cost anything. I can''t even afford to shell out a hundred star dollars now! Wait¡­ after becoming a cultivator, it seems that there''s a credit reward¡­"


    Fang Yuan stroked his chin and searched for Eastern spiritual techniques.


    Gloomily, he immediately discovered that all the techniques had a price. Every single one had to be purchased.


    However, there were some public classes on an overview of spiritual techniques. Although they did not explain spiritual techniques in detail, they gave a general introduction to the spiritual techniques of this world.


    "Ancient cultivation was a mess. Either it came with its own cultivation techniques, was passed down from master to disciple, or you had to research techniques on your own. Truly a mess¡­"


    In the video, a young female teacher wearing spectacles appeared. She looked to be from a wealthy family and was explaining in detail. "After the Scientific Cultivation Method was raised, Myriad Technique University''s first principal, previously the Myriad Technique Sect Master, spearheaded the initiative to collect all the cultivation techniques in the cultivation world. The collection was then passed to a photon computer for processing and compiling. It managed to sort out a complete system that included 33 immortal techniques, 289 magical powers, 2927 dao arts, and 6751 spiritual techniques. It is known as the ''Myriad Scroll Dao Scripture''!"


    "Immortal techniques, magical powers, dao arts, spiritual techniques¡­"


    Fang Yuan''s eyes glowed.


    "Only immortals are able to use immortal techniques. Their powers are earthshaking. Look. This is a painting of Immortal Red Leaf using the Nine Flaming Heavenly Dragons Immortal Technique! Its power matches the West''s legendary arcane spell Eternal Blazing Sun!"


    The female teacher started playing a video. The background was a planet, and an Undead Immortal was riding the wind. With a wave of his hand, nine flaming dragons crashed down and destroyed everything.


    Another video showed a Western Arcanist using the Eternal Blazing Sun. From afar, it looked exactly like a hydrogen bomb explosion.


    "By the same principle, magical powers are exclusive to Soul Transformation and Nascent Soul cultivators. Don''t even think about using them if you are not above level fifteen!


    "Dao arts are the mainstream techniques. All those above level five Mystic can train in them. They are the most common techniques. Also¡­ true Mystics can use the least amount of energy to create the biggest effect, and they do not limit themselves to dao arts or spiritual techniques!"


    The female teacher continued steadily, "What I mean to say is that with the inheritance of immortal techniques¡­ students should pay attention to which techniques they train in. It is best to choose spiritual techniques that have clearly outlined steps to train in all the way to the end. For instance, the Nine Flaming Heavenly Dragons Immortal Technique''s former version consists of the Six Flame Dragons and the Heavenly Flame Meteor magical powers. The Six Flame Dragons Magical Power can further separate into the Flame Dragon Dao Art and the Soul Division Secret Technique. As for the Flame Dragon Dao Art, it is derived from the likes of the Flame Serpent Spiritual Technique, Dragon Claw Spiritual Technique, and so on¡­ If you choose the correct spiritual technique, it is half the work with twice the effect. Otherwise, you would need to change the spiritual techniques that you cultivate once you reach a higher level, which is extremely exhausting!"


    Some students were still rather confused, whereas Fang Yuan understood instantly.


    "The structure of this world''s Eastern spiritual techniques is root-shaped! Only a portion of magical powers and dao arts can eventually combine to form immortal techniques. As for the other spiritual techniques, the most they can achieve is being on the same level as magical powers, or even just dao arts. While it feels no different when cultivating as low-level Mystics, once at a higher level, things will be totally different. Of course, among these spiritual techniques and magical powers, some stand-alone techniques exist. They are pure secret techniques!"


    The cultivators in ancient times did not have the luxury of choice. They could only train in what they could get their hands on.


    However, now all kinds of spiritual techniques had systematically turned into something like a skill tree.


    "Of course, for normal students, focusing on one or two immortal technique systems is enough! However, the fundamental spiritual techniques for immortal techniques are rather difficult to cultivate, so I suggest picking those for the top magical power systems. Although they aren''t immortal techniques, it''s enough."


    The female teacher concluded with that final sentence. It was apparent that she did not think that anyone in her class would be capable of reaching the Undead Immortal level.


    ¡­


    "The spiritual techniques and the magical weapon seed is the most basic standard of the modern Mystic!"


    Fang Yuan finished the video and heaved a long sigh. "I must get things ready immediately!"

 950 Guide

    ''Ding! Student Lin Meng, you have become a cultivator and have received one hundred credits!''


    "The cultivation of a Mystic is a whole new world. The school will send you a guide to assist you in getting familiar as soon as possible."


    ¡­


    Fang Yuan checked his mailbox and grinned. "Only a hundred. That''s really too little. The cheapest spiritual techniques cost thirty credits in the spiritual technique exchange area. The slightly more advanced ones are sixty, seventy¡­ Dao arts start at a couple hundred. I couldn''t even find magical powers. They must require higher jurisdiction."


    Even without the power of his Demon God True Spirit, his cultivation speed would be outstanding with the aid of the Arcane Smart-Brain.


    If possible, he would like to cultivate all the spiritual techniques, especially the ones for the thirty-three immortal techniques. As the underlying foundation of the Scientific Cultivation Method was the fusion of the merits of various techniques, comprehensive development would not cause conflict between any technique, and he could cultivate as many as he pleased.


    If he had time, he could even go through old techniques and comprehend his own magical power or even immortal technique.


    It was a pity that nothing came free in this school.


    "I heard Arcanists frequently update their arcane spell models and then sell them. Those that want to study the updated models have to pay¡­ I can do that too!"


    Fang Yuan browsed the spiritual techniques area and saw many newly-updated spiritual techniques. Each was full of things to take note of, as well as experiences.


    Sadly, not many bought them.


    After all, Mystics did not have the brain of Arcanists. Besides, even Arcanists might not be comparable to a photon computer''s simulations. The Myriad Scroll Dao Scripture was almost perfect.


    "In other words, it''s the most balanced. Improvements come by adding pros in certain areas, but cons in other areas will surface. In this way, spiritual techniques will become more focused¡­ There''s still something to do here, but the target group will become narrower¡­"


    Fang Yuan sat cross-legged while pondering over his money-making scheme and continuing to cultivate.


    In Planet East Dragon''s special environment, he felt his body turn into a black hole, greedily devouring the energy around him.


    His spiritual roots captured large quantities of particles, brought them into his body, and rapidly circulated them through his channels. The progress was going very smoothly.


    Shoulder structure is slightly tired, need to rest!


    Focusing your will on the dantian will increase your efficiency by one percent!


    ¡­


    Large amounts of information passed to him from the Arcane Smart-Brain. Through Fang Yuan''s supreme intellect and experience, coupled with the calculating power of the smart-brain, his cultivation progress was absurd.


    A while after, Fang Yuan had to stop. "The particle density in this area has dropped noticeably¡­ Is the safe zone the most unsuitable for cultivation?"


    Planet East Dragon''s gravity and radiation were different from other planets. Strictly speaking, it was downright unfit for human survival. However, it was like heaven to cultivators.


    For instance, East Dragon University had ten districts of different levels. The lower the level, the safer the district. However, the energy particle density would be lower as well.


    "I''ve become a Mystic now. At the least, I can cultivate in the first three districts. Or perhaps I should challenge the fifth?"


    District five was exactly like the surface of the planet.


    After becoming a Mystic, Fang Yuan now had the protection of spiritual power. He was eager to try.


    "Junior Lin Meng, are you there?" Knocking came from the door. "I am the guide assigned to you by the school, Sun Mengmeng! "


    Fang Yuan opened his door and greeted her with a smile. "Senior! You came fast!"


    "I just happened to see this mission, so I accepted it. After all, there''s a lot of credits rewarded¡­" Sun Mengmeng sized up Fang Yuan. "Among the first-years, you must be the fastest one to break through."


    She did not ask anything about the situation of his brain development. After all, it was a very personal matter.


    "So it''s a mission! Can I undertake them in the future as well?"


    Fang Yuan now knew of a method to gain credits.


    "Of course. However, given your current cultivation, there aren''t many missions suitable¡­" Sun Mengmeng shook her head. "I will now show you around the school and familiarize you with the special districts that ordinary students are unable to enter. But since you''re a Mystic now, there shouldn''t be any problems¡­


    "I will then explain in detail how the mission module operates and upgrade the functionality of your wristband. After that, I will try to find you a mentor. I want to settle it all of this in a day. Junior, remember to give your senior a good review!"


    ¡­


    Settle it in a day? Okay¡­ a cultivator''s time is valuable and can''t be wasted!


    Fang Yuan nodded. "All right. Let''s start now!"


    He followed Sun Mengmeng and left the district where the first-years stayed. He passed through a certain film of light amid astonished looks and arrived at district two.


    Once he set foot inside, the gravity doubled. At the same time, a rich wave of energy particles hit him. Fang Yuan breathed in deeply with satisfaction.


    "Eh?" Sun Mengmeng was planning to see Fang Yuan make a fool of himself and laugh at him, but now she was stunned. "Junior, your body is very strong. Have you specially trained your body before?"


    Ordinary people would definitely not adapt to this district''s double gravity.


    "Hmm, I did train for a couple of years!"


    Fang Yuan asked calmly, "If I want to cultivate in the higher-level districts, can I apply to change dormitories?"


    "Of course¡­" Sun Mengmeng was slightly stunned. "As long as you have credits, you can do almost anything in East Dragon University! In district five, there''s even a specialized cultivation chamber. However, since you just broke through, the safe zone should be able to fulfill your needs. It''s best to consider moving after you break through to the second level!"


    So the first five levels of the safe zone correspond to the first five levels of Mystic?


    Fang Yuan contemplated and made his decision.


    After all, he was a special case. Not only were his spiritual roots at one hundred percent, but he also had the help of his True Spirit and the smart-brain. His cultivation speed was incredibly fast. Even Wu Wudi was an amateur in comparison.


    The energy particle density in the safe zone would not meet his needs at all.


    "Right. After district five, do the districts have even higher gravity?" Fang Yuan asked.


    "Not necessarily!" Sun Mengmeng shook her head. "The environments are adjusted according to research needs. Some of them have normal gravity, while others have their gravity turned up to several tens of times, even several hundreds of times! It''s best not to wander. Otherwise, you might meet a gruesome death!"


    "I understand!" Fang Yuan nodded. Those that could conduct research in the districts with a hundred times gravity could not possibly be scientists. They had to be high-level Mystics at the peak of their strength!


    "Actually, the most practical thing for us students is the mission board. You can accept and publish missions on it as long as credits are involved. Welcoming first-years was one of the missions I took!" Sun Mengmeng said. "There''s also the East Dragon Leaderboard, which is the overall ranking of all the students in the university. Sigh¡­ If only I could squeeze into the list before I graduate. Even if I were at the bottom, I would be overcome with joy."


    "Leaderboard?" Fang Yuan immediately searched for the ranking and saw number one. "Wu Wudi? The genius that took twenty-seven days to advance to level five Mystic? He''s a student too?"


    "Yes, Wu Wudi is the greatest genius in East Dragon University history. He''s already been recommended to continue for his Ph.D. Of course, he is still in school. However, he rarely accepts missions. On the contrary, he spends his credits employing juniors to help him with research!"


    Sun Mengmeng looked smitten. "Also¡­ he is extremely handsome!"


    "What about his cultivation level? It must be over ten?"


    No matter the age, cultivation became more difficult the further one advanced. Even geniuses were no exception to this rule.


    "Level fourteen. He is on the verge of breaking through to level fifteen, also known as the Nascent Soul stage in ancient cultivation. However, Senior Wu can defeat Nascent Soul ancient cultivators as he is now!" Sun Mengmeng said with confidence.


    "Mmmm!" Fang Yuan was expressionless, but he was thinking to himself. For Masters studies, according to the rules of East Dragon University, perhaps it''s possible to start at year two or three. In other words, Wu Wudi has only cultivated for four to five years¡­ Four to five years to Nascent Soul? Ancient cultivators wouldn''t take that well in the slightest!


    "All right. We''ll head to the academic affairs office and collect your magical weapon seed. It''s valuable and won''t be replaced if lost. You must nourish it carefully, and it would be best to let it devour various rare ingredients frequently. Only then will you be able to cultivate it to the way you want!


    "Lastly, you need a mentor!" Sun Mengmeng was leading the way. "High-level Mystics come to teach as well, and those with credits can attend the lessons. However, it''s still different than being a disciple to someone. The most obvious difference is that the mentor can give private lessons on various spiritual techniques and knowledge to his students, free of charge! They could even teach their disciples high-level cultivation techniques beyond level five! This is closely tied to your choice of major in the future and even more important¡­"


    "I understand!" Fang Yuan nodded. "It''s like the difference between ordinary disciples and those that are taught personally in the ancient sects!"


    "Exactly. Although the majority of the cultivation sects have become universities, some traditions are still preserved¡­"


    The two soon arrived at the academic affairs office.


    It was a colossal building situated in district three. The energy particle concentration was even greater here. Of course, the gravity was stronger as well. Green plants disappeared, and only black and red vines that could survive covered the building.


    Noticing that Fang Yuan was still behaving as though nothing had happened, Sun Mengmeng''s eyes were full of shock for a moment.


    Ding!


    "Welcome, two students. What matters do you need to settle?"


    After entering the main door, they heard a robotic voice.


    Fang Yuan was not the least bit surprised and answered directly, "Lin Meng, here to collect the magical weapon seed!"


    "Ding! Identity confirmed. Mystic confirmed. Proceed to window twenty-two!"


    ¡­


    They went through the procedure, and Fang Yuan acquired a silvery-white piece of metal.


    This was the memory metal, which was also living. It could be considered half alive, and it was the best material to agglomerate magical weapons.


    According to the research of modern scientists, it was easy to produce Weapon Spirits using this kind of memory metal once the magical weapon formed. The success rate was as high as sixty percent! Ancient cultivators would be incredibly envious.


    ¡­


    "All right!" After leaving the academic affairs office, Fang Yuan looked at the sky. "There''s just one thing left. Are there any mentors that you would recommend?"


    "Dream on!" Sun Mengmeng rolled her eyes. "You''re on the begging end when it comes to choosing a master. It is up to the mentors to decide if they want to take you in. Only Teacher L¨¹ Songyang and Teacher Lei Lisi are currently willing to take in first-years, but Teacher Lei Lisi only accepts female students. I''ll take you to Teacher L¨¹ Songyang. Let''s try your luck!"

 951 Mission

    East Dragon University, teachers housing.


    There were rows of villas in various styles such as Western castles and Eastern courtyard houses, looking quite distinct from each other.


    Sun Mengmeng led Fang Yuan while walking carefully on the road. "Every teacher has their own villa. Without permission, don''t barge in as you please! Not only do the villas possess the school''s seals, but each teacher has their own way of dealing with trespassers. The unreasonable ones could even beat you half dead without anyone batting an eye!"


    "I know, they''re like the cave abodes of cultivators. Of course, I won''t just barge in!"


    Fang Yuan nodded and followed Sun Mengmeng toward the periphery. They arrived at an ancient rural courtyard that had red bricks, green roof tiles, and stepped gables.


    Sun Mengmeng went to the main entrance and knocked.


    "I am Sun Mengmeng. I would like to see Teacher L¨¹ Songyang! I brought a student who has just broken through!"


    There was no response from within even after waiting a while.


    Sun Mengmeng was slightly puzzled. "That''s strange. Shouldn''t the teachers be around at this time?"


    Bang!


    Out of the blue, there was a violent vibration. The door opened immediately, and a disgruntled-looking L¨¹ Songyang appeared.


    Fang Yuan noticed that his clothes were in a mess, and there were some charred spots. It was possible that there was a lab accident, resulting in an explosion.


    "What?"


    Under his gaze, Sun Mengmeng trembled. "A-according to the school rules, once a first-year has become a cultivator, the first time they visit a teacher, the teacher needs to meet them."


    "You mean him?" L¨¹ Songyang opened the screen and fished out some information. "Lin Meng, a mere 35% brain development? Breaking through immediately after entering school. Yet another who seeks quick success. I won''t accept him! No way!"


    "What? Only 35%?"


    Sun Mengmeng''s eyes were wide with surprise.


    Of course, she did not have detailed information on Fang Yuan. All along, she had thought that he was a nurtured genius from a renowned family with at least a 50% brain development, which would explain why he broke through immediately upon entering university. Her expression froze.


    "Your fundamentals are too weak. Even if you had purchased drugs on loan, coupled with meditation techniques, the most you would have been able to raise it to was 40%. You are among the worst in East Dragon University!" L¨¹ Songyang was full of disdain.


    "You must have heard in my public class? Despite that, you forcibly broke through. You seek quick successes, which is a character flaw. Your future achievements will be limited!"


    "Junior, what other specialties do you have? Hurry up and show them!"


    Sun Mengmeng was flustered and kept gesturing with her eyes.


    "None!"


    Fang Yuan shook his head. His heart settled. So it''s true. After forming spiritual roots and becoming a cultivator, the Mystic''s brain development is hidden. The only way to check would be to open the sea of consciousness. This is absolutely taboo to any cultivator!


    After knowing this, he would no longer need to worry about others discovering that his brain development was at 100%.


    "Hmph, don''t bring these kinds of students here in the future!" L¨¹ Songyang stared angrily at Sun Mengmeng and shut the door. "I don''t accept any kind of trash!"


    ¡­


    Inside the dormitory.


    Fang Yuan sat crossed-legged and absorbed all the surrounding energy particles in an instant. Resignedly, he opened his eyes and waited for the energy particles to recover.


    After being rejected this afternoon, he and Sun Mengmeng went their separate ways on an unhappy note.


    It was obvious that Sun Mengmeng felt that Fang Yuan''s potential was limited and not worth her further investment.


    However, Fang Yuan was unbothered.


    He had more or less known what would happen. The only reason why he had followed Sun Mengmeng to choose a mentor was simply to test his hypothesis.


    "Still, I can''t stay in this dormitory any longer. It''ll severely hamper my progress!" Fang Yuan''s face was full of dissatisfaction. "I have to raise my cultivation level and accept missions. Then I will move to the higher-level districts. Oh yeah¡­ I still need to prepare credits to exchange for a spiritual technique that lets me hide my cultivation!"


    ¡­


    Although he absorbed all the surrounding energy particles, including those in the nearby rooms every time he cultivated, those around him were all ordinary first-year who had yet to break through. He did not have to worry about being discovered for the time being.


    Morning the next day.


    After suppressing his urges for an entire night, Fang Yuan cultivated again once the concentration of energy particles had recovered.


    Crack!


    A crack sounded from his body. He knew then that he had broken through to level two Mystic.


    "In fact, this is normal. Wu Wudi used twenty-seven days to finish Qi Refinement. But compared to me, he''s trash. If there were ample energy particles around, I could reach level five in a mere three days!"


    Fang Yuan sighed regretfully. He opened his screen and selected the spiritual techniques category. After browsing through each technique at an incredible pace, he soon found what he was looking for.


    "Breath Holding Technique (Spiritual Technique): Able to hide the aura of low-level Mystics. Able to deceive cultivators at the same level! Price: 50 credits!"


    "Exchange!"


    Fang Yuan immediately deducted fifty credits from his account and got his hands on the Breath Holding Technique.


    "One''s aura in this world is energy radiation. Using spiritual roots to affect the operation of a few spiritual power structures, one can affect the body''s external radiation, thereby deceiving¡­"


    This technique used a modern train of thought to explain the ancient breath-holding techniques in an easy to understand manner.


    "Arcane Smart-Brain!"


    Fang Yuan used the Arcane Smart-Brain to crystallize his psyche and form the model for the Breath Holding Technique, imprinting it into the smart-brain.


    "This Breath Holding Technique is about the level of a first-class arcane spell. It''s just right!"


    With the assistance of the smart-brain, as well as being a Demon God, it was a piece of cake for him to learn spiritual techniques.


    Fang Yuan rubbed his forehead, and the aura bursting out from his body immediately weakened. It was now at the strength of someone who had just begun cultivating.


    "However, this Breath Holding Technique is only a spiritual technique. The most it can do is deceive those at or below level five Mystic. If the teachers observe closely, they can see through this technique unless I cultivate the Breath Holding Dao Art!" Fang Yuan groaned. "Unless¡­ I modify this Breath Holding Technique!"


    Although he had just begun cultivation, his experience was nothing to be scoffed at. Coupled with the calculation of the Arcane Smart-Brain, it would be quite easy for him to improve a spiritual technique.


    Soon, a brand new model formed.


    "Breath Holding Technique (Modified): Able to hide one''s cultivation level. One can choose to increase the depletion rate and activate the strengthened form to escape detection from those under level ten Mystic. Duration five minutes!"


    "Photon computers are seriously amazing!"


    After the modification, Fang Yuan sighed. He was shocked.


    Even the simplest Breath Holding Technique had reached a perfectly balanced state after the photon computer''s optimization.


    Even he found it hard to surpass, and he could only sacrifice parts of the technique to bolster other parts of its ability.


    "However, there should still be people willing to purchase it if I put it on the school website. Unfortunately¡­ unless I want to be seen as a monster, I couldn''t have finished the modification immediately after purchasing it. Hehe¡­"


    Fang Yuan shook his head and began browsing missions.


    He did not have any mentors that would impart knowledge on spiritual techniques directly to him. Even if he wanted to attend classes by himself, he needed to pay with credits.


    Surprisingly, East Dragon University''s credit expenditure was terrifying!


    The hundred credit reward for advancing to Mystic was instantly cut in half after purchasing a spiritual technique. Soon, he would have nothing left.


    Looking at the Eastern Dragon Leaderboard now, Fang Yuan felt extremely envious. He almost wanted to rob them.


    "According to Sun Mengmeng, the missions with the most credits are published by the school. Missions published by the teachers may reward spiritual techniques or other items. As for missions published by students, the rewards may be great, but they may also be scams. Of course, the latter is more common¡­"


    Fang Yuan considered methods to obtain credits carefully.


    "Honestly, first-years should study hard and obtain their first credits through cultivation breakthroughs and passing courses. But for me, that just gives way too little!"


    Even if Fang Yuan wanted to be a straight-A student, he was limited by the number of classes he could take on as a first-year.


    Although it might be a significant number to ordinary first-years, it was really too little to him.


    "At least, if I want to change dormitories, I need to spend a lot of credits. But I don''t want things to become troublesome, so I should settle everything at once¡­ and go straight to district five!"


    Fang Yuan frowned. He truly had had enough of the safe zone''s environment.


    To his cultivation, it was as though a person dying of thirst was only given a drop of water. It was downright cruel!


    "I still need to cultivate for those classes. With the efficiency of the Arcane Smart-Brain, I should pass them with full marks after a few days¡­"


    He started looking for missions that were suitable for him. It would be best if the mission allowed him to come in touch with rare materials and curious objects, allowing him to confirm the material required to advance the Heaven Devouring Mystic Technique.


    "School mission¡ªHunt star beasts! Long-term mission. Mystics can accept. The credits are rewarded according to the star beast materials submitted!"


    Fang Yuan found a mission, and his eyes lit up. "This isn''t bad¡­ Aside from credits, the star beast materials can sell for a good price¡­ After I reach level five, I''ll give it a try!"


    Planet East Dragon was unfit for human survival.


    Instead, certain plants and star beasts were thriving on the planet.


    In addition, due to the harsh environment, they had evolved special abilities and were not much weaker than cultivators.


    Even now, humans only occupied less than half of Planet East Dragon. There were still many places that were heavens for star beasts.


    According to certain legends, star beast races could give birth to kings. They were beings capable of fighting with high-level Mystics.


    As such, the school made hunting star beasts a long-term mission. Perhaps there was the intention of letting the students experience the world as well.


    "With this weak body¡­ if I don''t use my Demon God power, I''d be able to deal with a single star beast at best. And I''d die if I were surrounded¡­ I should forget it!"


    Although this mission had good rewards, it had always been the monopoly of the seniors. Fang Yuan guessed that it was difficult for even Sun Mengmeng.


    Furthermore, it really was very dangerous.


    Otherwise, why would she rather settle various administrative missions than hunt and break through?


    "I''ll exclude it for now. Let''s keep looking!" Fang Yuan continued scrolling down. Suddenly, his gaze shifted. "Research assistant mission?"

 952 Pharmacis

    "Research assistant mission, published by Mentor Han Yunfeng. Long-term recruiting low-level Mystic assistants. Requirements: read ''Mineral and Plants Glossary, Edition 20077'', proficient with Flame Control Technique! Those willing can come for an interview. The reward will be discussed in person!"


    ''Mineral and Plants Glossary''? Fang Yuan searched and found that it was an introductory book. Furthermore, there were thousands of them!


    As the galaxy was vast and boundless, new species were being discovered all the time.


    Unfortunately¡­ there are only pictorial descriptions. Without seeing it in person, there''s no way to trigger resonance and determine the needs of the Heaven Devouring Mystic Technique, Fang Yuan thought regretfully. He then checked out the comments below the mission.


    ¡­


    "Scam! The most that we learn now is the flora and fauna edition for Planet East Dragon. Who would try to remember those of the entire galaxy? Even seniors must find it impossible, right? There are no credits either!"


    "Although the Flame Control Technique isn''t expensive, it''s standalone. There are no continuations. Who would waste their energy on learning that?"


    "The poster above me is a fool! The Flame Control Technique was a must for low-level ancient alchemists. I am from the pharmacy department and have trained in the technique. I remembered the glossary and went for the interview with Mentor Han Yunfeng, but his requirements for the Flame Control Technique are too high. The mentor only accepts masters of the technique¡­ I didn''t make the cut."


    "What a big revelation!"


    "Mysterious senior passing by, just smiling¡­"


    "That Mentor Han Yunfeng is known to be stingy. The credits awarded are extremely few. He didn''t impart any dao arts or spiritual techniques either."


    "Wow! The poster above me is really brave. You''re not afraid of a teacher giving you trouble!"


    "It''s all right. I''m anonymous¡­"


    ¡­


    "It looks like the requirements are high, but the rewards aren''t much. He''s received a lot of negative feedback."


    Fang Yuan browsed again and found that the price of the Flame Control Technique was at a low thirty credits. As for the ''Mineral and Plants Glossary, Edition 20077'', it was a public resource that he could read without paying. He made his decision immediately.


    "Almost all the other missions have a cultivation level requirement, and there aren''t many that are suitable for beginners. This one didn''t mention a specific cultivation level requirement, so let''s give it a try!"


    He searched and found out that although the Flame Control Technique was a standalone technique incapable of further progression, its reviews among the low-level pharmacy students were very solid. He nodded and made the exchange.


    "So pharmacy is the ancient alchemy equivalent? I''ve seen some drugs and tools on sale on the school website¡­ If I learn this, I could make some money¡­"


    Fang Yuan received the information, and the Arcane Smart-Brain immediately formed the psyche model, mastering the spiritual technique.


    The interaction between his smart-brain and his True Spirit produced a fundamental change, the fusion of terrifying calculative power and supreme intellect. He absorbed the information in the Mineral and Plant Glossary at an incredible pace while walking along the road.


    By the time he arrived at Han Yunfeng''s door in the teachers'' housing area, he had memorized thousands of books.


    This mentor stayed near the core of the zone, and it was visibly different from L¨¹ Songyang''s corner house near the periphery. It was a three-story courtyard house with a garden.


    Fang Yuan walked up to a lion carving on the main door and talked into it, "Teacher Han Yunfeng? I am Student Lin Meng, here for the research assistant mission!"


    The lion''s eyes flashed red. Fang Yuan was prepared and immediately strengthened his Breath Holding Technique. A man''s gentle voice emerged, and the main door opened.


    "Come in yourself. I''m in the living room!"


    Fang Yuan entered with large strides. Walking through the pebble walkway in the colorful garden, he arrived in the living room.


    "Please take a seat!"


    The traditionally decorated living room was full of dark wood furniture that gave off a thick and extremely refreshing herbal scent.


    A young man wearing traditional clothes with hair reaching his waist was sitting cross-legged on an almond-yellow cattail hassock in the center of the living room and looking at a pill furnace in front of him.


    It was a real pill furnace! It was bronze with three legs and two handles. Patterns of ancient beasts covered its surface, and flames were burning underneath.


    Fang Yuan found it hard to take his eyes off of it. This kind of pill furnace must be an antique? It should really be given to a cultivation museum. The pharmacy students now synthesize all their drugs in the lab directly. With a smart-brain monitoring, they can calibrate proportions with extreme precision!


    "Your name is Lin Meng? And you''re a first-year?"


    Han Yunfeng used his spiritual will to look up Lin Meng''s information and frowned.


    Of course, he did not see through Fang Yuan''s disguise.


    In fact, Fang Yuan''s Breath Holding Technique (Modified) was only capable of dealing with this kind of initial inspection.


    After all, the teachers did not have mental disorders. Scanning someone with their spiritual will on the first meaning was the norm, but constantly monitoring someone with it would be psychotic.


    As long as he made it through the initial inspection, he could use the normal Breath Holding Technique in the future without any problem.


    I''m also lucky¡­ This Han Yunfeng seems to be at a similar cultivation level as L¨¹ Songyang, both below ten!


    Level ten was equivalent to ancient cultivation''s Golden Core stage. By then, the Breath Holding Technique''s grade would be too low, and it would be easy to spot something amiss.


    Fang Yuan soon labeled Han Yunfeng. A researcher ill-versed in external affairs, but his status is higher than L¨¹ Songyang¡­


    "Although I''m a first-year, you didn''t specify any cultivation level requirements on your mission. It appears that this mission doesn''t put too much emphasis on cultivation level either. I''ve also memorized the Mineral and Plant Glossary, and I have some experience with the Flame Control Technique."


    "Oh? Is that so."


    Han Yunfeng was a bit skeptical. He hit the pill furnace with a Dharmic formulation.


    Rumble!


    The pill furnace rumbled, and an opening appeared. Vapor that looked like rosy clouds rose from the opening, carrying a strong medicinal scent.


    Three different colored pills flew out and landed in his hands. "Then tell me¡­ what were the ingredients used in these pills?"


    His expression showed that he was waiting for Fang Yuan to make a fool of himself.


    Fang Yuan''s eyes flashed, and he answered straightforwardly, "The pills'' vapor looks like clouds. This is formed after Fire Cloud Sand has risen, so Fire Cloud Sand is one of the ingredients. The medicinal scent has the smell of roses mixed with musk. This is caused by the Whirling Flower Powder¡­ I don''t know about the other materials!"


    He had intentionally not revealed everything.


    "Good! Very good!" Han Yunfeng was slightly excited. "To think that you know even these kinds of transformations in nature. It looks like you weren''t boasting about memorizing the glossary. To be able to determine two ingredients, you have very solid fundamentals. The remaining ingredients are Golden Bodhi, Yellow Cloud Beast''s blood, and Black Water Mystic Crystal!"


    "Understood, Teacher!"


    "You have no problems with recognizing materials, so let''s check your practical skills now¡­"


    Han Yunfeng stood up from his cattail hassock. "Come and try this bronze cauldron. I''ve spent a great deal to make this cauldron according to ancient methods!"


    "Okay!" Fang Yuan sat down on the cattail hassock cross-legged and skillfully activated a technique.


    "Flame Control Technique? Your execution is extremely smooth. Good! Very good!" Han Yunfeng''s eyes glowed upon seeing just that.


    As expected, the ancient cultivation cauldron is too rigid. Controlling it is ten times harder than executing the technique alone!


    Fang Yuan silently made a move, and his hand seals moved at lightning speed. "Rise!"


    Whoosh!


    The flame that was about to die out suddenly grew tall, as though it had devoured some sort of fuel.


    Strands of smoke licked the bottom of the cauldron before dividing and dancing around the cauldron like little flame snakes.


    Suddenly, all the flame snakes amalgamated into a single body and turned green. The flame that was originally red suddenly turned green.


    "Pure green cauldron fire? Good! Great!"


    Han Yunfeng stopped Fang Yuan. "To be able to control the Flame Control Technique to the extent of producing pure green flames, not even many third-year and fourth-year pharmacy students could accomplish that. Hard work won''t get you there, but talent will! Have you self-studied this information? How about choosing the pharmacy department?"


    "Teacher!" Fang Yuan rolled his eyes in his mind. "Can we discuss the reward for this mission?"


    "Oh! Right, right¡­" Han Yunfeng patted his forehead. "As you can see, I am researching the ancient ways of alchemy. I hope to compare it with the modern methods of making drugs and write a paper¡­ As such, I need an assistant to watch over the cauldron fire!"


    "I see!"


    Fang Yuan nodded. He understood that the other party required someone to play the role of an ancient alchemy boy.


    Of course, he would need to know how to deal with small accidents by himself.


    "However, hasn''t ancient alchemy died out already?" Fang Yuan voiced his thoughts.


    "Yes, many ancient cultivation techniques have been proven to have low efficiency. A long time has passed¡­ Modern pharmacy leaves the handling of the cauldron entirely to the smart-brain, and it can determine the exact effects. The success rate of making pills is at ninety percent. All we have to do is to infuse spiritual power and use spiritual will to harmonize the drug according to the smart-brain."


    The Scientific Cultivation Method had proved that a cultivator''s spiritual power and spiritual will were the catalysts necessary to synthesize pills. They were irreplaceable and indispensable.


    Without this step, the smart-brain would have long industrialized making drugs and pills.


    As such, for pharmacy students, the most amount of practice went into controlling their spiritual power and spiritual will, and cooperating with the smart-brain to produce high-quality pills.


    "The pharmaceutical industry is far beyond being comparable to the ancient ways. As long as there is enough spiritual energy and spiritual will, cultivators in the Qi Refinement stage can produce Foundation Building and Nascent Soul level pills. People can even jointly concoct pills. In theory, with smart-brain''s assistance, as long as there are enough low-level cultivators, they could achieve Essence Soul or even Soul Transformation level alchemy techniques¡­ Of course, this hasn''t been realized!"


    Han Yunfeng said frankly, "But the way I see it, there must be some merits to the ancient alchemy methods. For example, some top-tier drugs can only be produced by high-level pharmacist cultivators because they must be infused with Aural Dao! To put it another way, natural methods¡­ are like¡­ high-tier brain development drugs!"


    "I see!"


    Fang Yuan nodded. It appears that top-tier drugs are precious not only because of the ingredients, but also the difficulty in making them. Even the smart-brain can''t do it. Only top-grade pharmacists can, but with a low success rate.

 953 Cultivation

    Aural Dao? That''s a great way to describe it. With the Alliance''s current technology, it seems like they''ve yet to discover the power of Great Daos¡­


    Fang Yuan nodded. When they do, this world will turn into a terrifying place that is comparable to the Mental Demon Realm!


    Evidently, refining certain top-notch pills required an alchemist''s natural methods. Integrating with heaven and earth, they had to extract active Aural Dao and infuse it into the pill. This was something smart-brain could not replicate.


    This was also the constant research of modern pharmacy masters, and Han Yunfeng''s interests lay here.


    "What about the reward?" Fang Yuan asked calmly.


    These high-end research fields, and ancient and modern disputes, were not very attractive to ordinary students because their only concern was their credits.


    "I can offer you fifty credits a day! On top of that, I won''t stop you from watching when I''m concocting pills, but I won''t explain the process either. You''ll have to depend on yourself to learn what you can!"


    Han Yunfeng played with the ends of his hair. "What do you think?"


    "Deal. Let''s sign the contract now and verify it on the school website!"


    Fang Yuan was delighted with this reward. He asked curiously, "Why do other students give you such a low rating?"


    "They¡­ I wasn''t satisfied with the previous students I had, but I couldn''t find anyone better. I could only take them in and give them a few credits a day¡­"


    Han Yunfeng added, "Even so, they were a bunch of idiots. Not only could they not learn my alchemy, but they also destroyed a lot of this old man''s resources. I didn''t even request an ounce of compensation from them."


    "Old man?"


    Fang Yuan was speechless while looking at Han Yunfeng, who only looked a few years older.


    "Haha¡­ In the past, cultivators lived until two hundred. Today, their lifespan is even longer. This old man is already over seventy. When I was young, I consumed a Youthful Pill, which is why I don''t look old," Han Yunfeng explained briefly.


    ¡­


    Seven days later.


    In the basement of the courtyard house.


    Fang Yuan pressed both hands into the metal palm prints while looking at the reactor furnace in front of him.


    "Now beginning refinement of the Qi Enhancement Pill. We need: 3.5 grams of Heaven Reaching Herb, 10 grams of purple mulberry, 100 grams of pure water¡­" a robotic voice recited.


    Through the glass, different materials were burning and fusing into one in the enclosed environment.


    "Pharmacist, please input spiritual power. Counting down: 3, 2, 1!" sounded the smart-brain''s voice.


    Without hesitation, Fang Yuan injected his spiritual energy.


    Suddenly, as though he had added a catalyst, the various liquids within the furnace immediately contracted and became semi-solid.


    "Pharmacist, please input your spiritual will and integrate it with the spiritual power to shape the pill!" the smart-brain recited the next step.


    Fang Yuan injected a trace of his spiritual will into the furnace together with his spiritual power, experiencing the process of making pills. "Yeah¡­ even though cultivators can make pills with less effort now, it still requires technical skills! Of course, this isn''t hard for me at all!"


    Splash!


    After three minutes, dozens of luminescent pills rolled out from the machine, filling up an entire bottle.


    "As expected, Lin Meng. You''re a medicinal genius! When you become a big figure, be sure to return the favor!"


    Han Yunfeng picked up a Qi Enhancement Pill with two fingers. He was delighted with the quality. "The quality of the pill is perfect. The completion rate is very high too. How does it feel to use modern cultivation methods to concoct pills?"


    "It does seem much more convenient. But there''s still a problem with time lag when inputting spiritual will and spiritual energy. This is a physical limitation, which is a problem that even the best cultivators can''t resolve!"


    Fang Yuan frowned. "If the day comes when a technology that can supply spiritual will and spiritual energy can combine with a smart-brain controlled furnace, we can probably mass-produce low-tier pills. Many pharmacists would lose their jobs then¡­"


    "Lin Meng, you''re truly a visionary. I can tell you this. In the Western institutes, there''s a school of thought called Spiritual Research. They''re about to complete a breakthrough in this field. Once they have a conclusive result, they''ll break into the pharmaceutical market, and our Eastern pharmacists and related companies will suffer¡­"


    Han Yunfeng sighed.


    Of course, I know that you''re worried about this. You might even hold some shares in those pharmaceutical companies!


    Fang Yuan rolled his eyes.


    Han Yunfeng continued, "For the problem you mentioned, that''s something we can''t help. By the time our sea of consciousness receives the data, it takes time for our body to react. That''s a delay we can''t help. We can only reduce this time lag. Oh, there''s a ''Hundred Spiritual Will Control'' spiritual technique within the school''s spiritual technique exchange. You can get it to practice!"


    "Hundred Spiritual Will Control?"


    Fang Yuan looked it up and realized that it was an explanation of how to cultivate and control one''s spiritual will.


    "Only pharmacists who enjoy ancient alchemy or those without a fusion reactor furnace would choose to learn the Flame Control Technique. The pills produced are of very low value as well. To compare with the pills made from the fusion reactor furnace, pharmacists have to strengthen their spiritual will!


    "The Hundred Spiritual Will Control is only the start. After that, there''s the dao art ''Thousand Spiritual Will Control'' and the magical power ''Absolute Spiritual Will Control''! These are necessary for a pharmacist''s cultivation!"


    The benefit of having a teacher was that you could obtain all sorts of useful information. According to your situation, the teacher could provide suggestions for your cultivation.


    "I understand!"


    On the surface, Fang Yuan pretended to accept, but he treated those words like air.


    It was said that at high realms of the Hundred Spiritual Will Control, one could perform ten, a hundred different tasks at once. Unfortunately, compared to a Demon God''s True Spirit, even the Absolute Spiritual Will Control was mere child''s play.


    "I''ll remember the fusion reactor furnace!"


    Fang Yuan took a deep look at the silver furnace in front of him that was brimming with various scents.


    At his spiritual will level, the only thing he lacked was his cultivation. Otherwise, he could refine higher-tier pills.


    As he thought about this, he glanced at his stats window:


    "Name: Fang Yuan (Lin Meng)


    Profession: Student


    Cultivation: Mystic (Level 3), Arcanist (Level 1)


    Brain Development: 200%


    World Seal Breaking: 77.28%"


    "I''ve only increased my level by one over the past few days. Even though it''s because I''ve been indulging in refining pills, the main reason is the cultivation environment here¡­"


    ¡­


    They went up the stairs and stood before the bronze furnace again.


    "After comparing the old and new concoction methods, what do you think of the new one?" Han Yunfeng asked.


    "Of course, the new one is superior. In terms of low to mid-tier refining, the ancient cultivation method suffers a complete loss. Even refining high-tier pills and drugs using the new method is much better. In terms of the handling of the materials, the new method is already at a whole other level. It greatly increases the success rate!" Fang Yuan answered without even thinking.


    The material cost required for high-tier drugs was astonishing. Increasing the success rate by even 1% was impressive.


    Moreover, technology was steadily improving. Of course, Fang Yuan was supportive of this. "Although many high-tier pills and drugs need to follow the ancient process, a number of methods used today are essential in the process! In this day and age, it''s not impossible to see greater improvements!"


    "That''s right!" Han Yunfeng sat cross-legged before the furnace. "The focus of my experiment is to integrate the old and new methods perfectly! Now that you''re familiar with the composition of the furnace, why don''t you help me refine a drug!"


    "All right!" Fang Yuan agreed readily.


    Speaking of which, even though Han Yunfeng had rewarded him with credits, he focused on refining low to medium tier pills, which was not challenging at all.


    However, he sensed that something was different this time.


    "Heaven Crystal Powder!"


    "Fallen Mist Liquid!"


    ¡­


    "And the most valuable, the Zerg King brain nucleus!"


    Fang Yuan stared at the dozens of materials that Han Yunfeng pulled out. He could not help asking, "Teacher, are you going to refine a mid-tier brain development drug?"


    There were only three types of brain development drugs. Fang Yuan had used the low-tier one, but the school network did not provide the mid-tier one.


    Of course, it was possible that Fang Yuan did not have sufficient jurisdiction to obtain access to that information. He estimated that if he put up an astronomical amount of credits on the school network, he would obtain as much access as he liked.


    The highest level, the high-tier brain development drug, could make up for a cultivator''s shortcomings in their spiritual roots. This was a highly valuable drug that one might not even see in their lifetime.


    "That''s right, the mid-tier brain development drug!" Han Yunfeng nodded. "According to ancient standards, this drug is at the pinnacle of mid-tier pills. It''s almost at the level of high-tier pills. Even for me, it''s not easy!"


    Han Yunfeng was a pharmacist whose cultivation was not impressive, equivalent to the Foundation Establishment stage. He was not even at level ten Mystic yet.


    Refining a high-tier drug was a little forceful for him, but he could refine mid-tier drugs easily. At this level of alchemy, one could easily call him a master.


    "I''m prepared to use ancient refining techniques to make a mid-tier brain development drug¡­ Actually, my ultimate goal is a high-tier one!!!"


    Han Yunfeng''s eyes seemed a little bloodshot.


    "The brain development drug was created by modern cultivators. In ancient times, a drug that could benefit spiritual roots was extremely rare¡­"


    Fang Yuan recalled the information he had read. "If you can use ancient refinement methods to make a mid-tier brain development drug, it''s equally possible to make a high-tier one as well."


    The difficulty of high-tier pills laid in the necessity to infuse Aural Dao during the refinement process.


    In this regard, the natural methods of ancient cultivators were very advantageous.


    What Han Yunfeng wanted to do was perform multiple experiments to test the use of ancient refinement methods. He intended to break through the barrier of creating certain high-tier pills.


    For instance, modern pharmacists used high-tech reactor furnaces to refine brain development drugs.


    Han Yunfeng wanted to experiment with ancient refinement methods. He had already succeeded several times in refining low-tier brain development drugs.


    Now, he was going to try mid-tier ones.


    "I''ll do my best to help!"


    Fang Yuan sat at the side and widened his eyes. He was ecstatic, as he was going to have the chance to steal some refining techniques. He thought of an excellent way to strike it rich.

 954 Breaking The Seal

    "Help me control the flame!"


    Inside the courtyard house, Han Yunfeng was sitting cross-legged, performing the hand signs to execute a Dharmic formulation while streaks of the lively flame licked the pill furnace.


    "Flame Control Technique!"


    Fang Yuan assisted him perfectly while absorbing Han Yunfeng''s alchemy techniques at the same time.


    "The mid-tier brain development drug is almost at the difficulty of high-tier pills. On top of that, it uses costly ingredients! A Zerg King is a Zerg Empress''s general, a leader of the Zerg army. Its brain nucleus is naturally very valuable!"


    The Zerg was one of the largest powers within the Cosmic Lifeform Alliance. They were also humanity''s greatest enemy.


    Their organizational structure was compact. The Zerg Empress sat at the top of the hierarchy, and it could use mind control to manipulate all of its subordinates. It also gave birth to an entire Zerg tribe. The mother nest even had the ability of interstellar travel.


    Whenever they reached a planet with abundant resources, they would light the flames of war, consume everything like locusts, and then continue to wander the universe.


    The most terrifying thing was the Zerg''s reproductive ability. Furthermore, the Zerg Empress could strengthen and modify a Zerg''s skills in accordance to the situation. It was said that the Zerg Empress''s intelligence was not inferior to an Arcanist!


    "The brain development drug was inspired by research into the Zerg''s brainwave. The low-tier brain development drug only requires an elite Zerg brain nucleus. Meanwhile, the mid-tier brain development drug requires the use of a Zerg King brain nucleus. Finally, the legendary high-tier brain development drug requires a Zerg Empress brain nucleus!"


    An Empress was a Zerg tribe''s leader. You could only obtain its brain nucleus by eliminating an entire Zerg tribe. Even the Human Alliance found this difficult to accomplish.


    "Even though a Zerg Empress brain nucleus can be split into many parts to be used as materials, if the refinement fails, the cost you''d pay would be worth dying for¡­"


    Combined with the knowledge that he had learned recently, Fang Yuan finally understood why refining the high-tier brain development drug was so suffocating.


    "And, compared to this, there are even rarer materials required for supplementing a cultivator''s spiritual roots. Most of these are highly sought-after and difficult to get your hands on¡­"


    Fang Yuan''s Demon God True Spirit meant he was overqualified for this.


    While helping Han Yunfeng with concocting the pill, he continued to absorb his techniques. Finally, he even had the extra attention to surf the web and search for more information to enrich his knowledge.


    "A low-tier brain development drug is probably worth a hundred credits! And each low-tier brain development drug costs about fifty credits to make. This is still profitable!"


    Fang Yuan thought about the high-tech fusion reactor furnace in the basement.


    The level of his spiritual will was at a completely different level compared to other pharmacy university students.


    Most of these students'' spiritual will was not sufficient to meet the criteria for refining the low-tier brain development drug. It was also challenging for them to coordinate with a smart-brain. However, this task was as simple as sipping water to Fang Yuan.


    "If I think about it this way, there''s definitely a market if I sell these pills at a lower price!"


    Even though the students admitted to East Dragon University might not care about the low-tier brain development drug, Fang Yuan thought about the students on Planet Blue Ray. Even the students in Flying Rainbow High''s key classes might not have consumed it before.


    It was not that they did not have the money, but that the students had no access.


    For this type of drug, the supply did not meet the demand.


    "I''m sure all these students have siblings and family that need this too¡­ Furthermore, it''s not very hard to obtain the materials to make the low-tier drug. If all else fails, I can use my credits to purchase them¡­"


    "Hmm?"


    Suddenly, Fang Yuan sensed something amiss with Han Yunfeng''s current state.


    The entire pill furnace vibrated violently, and the flame suddenly flickered. Something happened while the drugs were fusing.


    "Ah! Flame Regulation Technique!"


    With his technique, the flame turned green and stabilized once again. "Teacher, focus on your drug fusion. Leave the flame to me!"


    "All right!" Han Yunfeng grit his teeth. "Thousand Spiritual Will Control!"


    His spiritual will spiraled and seeped into the pill furnace.


    Rumble!


    The pill furnace vibrated violently. Soon, a ball of yellow liquid surrounded by wisps of spiritual will floated out of the furnace.


    "Haha, the mid-tier brain development drug is complete!"


    Han Yunfeng filled a test tube with the liquid. He turned to Fang Yuan. "My dear student, Lin Meng, you have amazing flame control¡­ As your reward, I''ll give you an additional hundred credits!"


    "Thank you, Teacher!" Fang Yuan replied calmly. "After studying under you, I''ve become much more interested in concocting pills. If it''s possible, I would like to use the fusion reactor furnace in the basement too. Of course, I''ll use it when Teacher isn''t using it."


    "Sure¡­ Even though the school has reactor furnaces for rent, it costs a lot of credits¡­" Han Yunfeng did not seem too surprised. "You want to refine some low-tier drugs to put up for credits, right? As a new student, you''re probably in need of credits!


    "However, I have to warn you. Even for low-tier drugs, an apprentice like you has a high chance of failing. When the time comes, you might not see many returns!"


    "I understand¡­" Fang Yuan displayed a humble attitude.


    On the other hand, Han Yunfeng''s eyes sparkled. "I''m planning to write a paper on ancient alchemy techniques. Go ahead and practice what you need to. Also, if you can maintain this progress until your second year, I might take you in as my student!"


    As an alchemy master, countless students wanted to be his student. However, Han Yunfeng had high expectations, so he rarely accepted any.


    The reason he decided to do so was purely because of Fang Yuan''s talent in this area.


    "Thank you, Teacher!"


    Fang Yuan bowed before leaving the courtyard house.


    ¡­


    Night.


    Within his dorm, Fang Yuan sat cross-legged and controlled the cultivation progress within his entire body using the smart-brain. Channeling the spiritual energy, he made more progress.


    He was like a black hole, greedily devouring the energy particles around him.


    Crack!


    Soon after, a loud sound resounded within his body.


    "Have I reached level four Mystic?"


    After getting to the next level, Fang Yuan muttered to himself. At the same time, he sensed a mysterious change within him.


    It was a feeling akin to breaking through a membrane, feeling as though Fang Yuan fit in with this world entirely. Wisps of warm energy began circulating within this body.


    "The stats window has unlocked!" Fang Yuan had a revelation. "Within this world, I can fully utilize ninety percent of my main body''s power! Even though I''m just a normal cultivator now, I can recover my power to that extent with time!"


    As usual, the East Dragon University''s night was peaceful. Not a single teacher or student knew that a terrifying existence had completely arrived in this world!


    "Name: Fang Yuan (Lin Meng)


    Profession: Dream Master, East Dragon University Student


    Cultivation: Mystic (Level 4), Arcanist (Level 1)


    Techniques: Flame Control Technique, Breath Holding Technique (Modified)


    Skills: Alchemy (Elementary)


    Power Recovered: 0.01%!"


    ¡­


    "Once I recover to my main body''s power, will the stats window show a mix of the two bodies'' abilities?"


    Fang Yuan analyzed the stats window carefully. When he saw that Alchemy had become one of his skills, he was a little surprised. "With this, I can use proficiency to improve Alchemy quickly.


    "Furthermore, I need to start my search for the material that the Heaven Devouring Mystic Technique needs soon."


    If he was just a little Mystic before, the current Fang Yuan now held terrifying combat power as a recovering Demon God!


    With every moment, his strength continued to grow until the limit of ninety percent. Once he recovered his combat power, even though he had not seen the top combat power of this world¡ª the Undead Immortals and Grand Arcanists¡ªand had some reservations, there were absolutely no restrictions in other aspects.


    "However, since I''ve broken the seal, that Abominable Lord should be almost there too¡­"


    No matter how confident he was with his stats window, Fang Yuan would never look down on a Netherheaven Demon God.


    His Dao path was complete, which was enough for him to recover his combat power quickly in this world.


    His Dao path itself might be enough to face a high-level world''s Heavenly Dao!


    "I wonder if I can destroy East Dragon University on my own once I''ve recovered my full power¡­"


    Looking at the outside restrictions, Fang Yuan suddenly had an idea and smiled shortly after.


    ¡­


    Even though the stats window had broken the seal, power had to be earned.


    Fang Yuan still needed some time before he could recover to ninety percent of his main body''s power.


    Other than that, there was a huge benefit. Fang Yuan could use proficiency to raise the level of Alchemy.


    Even if this world''s alchemy was guided by science and fused with the merits of ancient cultivation, he felt that it was not a big deal.


    He could refine some drugs at will and improve it with proficiency.


    ¡­


    Courtyard house, basement.


    "Ding! Task set: Refine low-tier brain development drug. The main ingredient is an elite Zerg brain nucleus. The other ingredients are 3-in-1 Flowing Water, Sky Green Twigs, Bodhi Beads¡­"


    As the robotic voice listed the ingredients, Fang Yuan used the materials he had exchanged for using his credits and inserted them into the reactor furnace. "Since its a modern drug, it''ll probably be much more successful using a modern reactor furnace¡­"


    Han Yunfeng wanted to use the bronze cauldron to refine the mid-tier brain development drug. This was not because he was going crazy. Instead, he wanted a taste of what it was like to use ancient methods in their shoes. He wanted to increase his chances of success at refining the high-tier brain development drug.


    But to Fang Yuan, his credits were far more critical.


    "Commence fusion reaction!"


    The smart-brain''s response came. Within the reactor furnace, a flame started to form.


    "This refinement has thirty-three points that require the input of spiritual power and seventeen points that require the spiritual will''s coordination. There can not be more than a 0.5-second delay!"


    The difference in difficulty between the low-tier brain development drug and the Qi Enhancement Pill was quite significant. If Fang Yuan had not reached level four Mystic, the requirements for spiritual power would not have been easy to fulfill.


    As for the spiritual will control, it was a piece of cake for him.


    "Let''s begin!"


    Fang Yuan extended both hands and pressed them into the metal palm prints. He channeled his spiritual power gently while his eyes remained glued on the reactor furnace.

 955 For Sale

    Within the reactor furnace, numerous materials were purifying and fusing at high temperatures.


    "Hundred Spiritual Will Control! Go!"


    Fang Yuan''s hundred spiritual will fluttered out, drifting into the reactor furnace. It accurately grasped the nature of the drug and inputted spiritual power precisely. Not a single bit was out of place.


    If Han Yunfeng could see this unfold, his eyes would have fallen out.


    Unfortunately, he was feeling inspired after refining the mid-tier brain development drug using ancient techniques, so he had shut himself in to write his paper.


    Fang Yuan speculated that Han Yunfeng wanted to obtain fame. When that time came, he would propose a plan to East Dragon University to use ancient refining techniques for the high-tier brain development drug!


    With a few words, he would start by setting the goal high. Then, in the name of science, he would obtain the funds from East Dragon University before deciding his next move.


    With a grand plan like that, Han Yunfeng did not have the time to monitor Fang Yuan at all. Naturally, Fang Yuan would make good use of his resources.


    "It''s done!"


    At the mouth of the furnace, a ball of red liquid flew out. Fang Yuan caught it with a test tube he had prepared beforehand. Everything flowed smoothly, familiar and natural.


    Fang Yuan was expressionless as he picked up the test tube carefully and stored it inside his backpack.


    Within his bag, a flash of red sparkled. There were more than ten low-tier brain development drugs and a bunch of other drugs.


    "I exchanged all those credits into these, but the low-tier brain development drug has an untapped market, so it shouldn''t be an issue to sell them!"


    He looked at the stats window. The original Alchemy (Elementary) had turned into Alchemy (Intermediate)!


    "This type of low-level skill is great. Once I use proficiency, I can increase the skill level. On the other hand, higher-level skills have bottlenecks that leave the progress at 99.9%¡­"


    Fang Yuan returned to his dorm. He put up a post on the goods exchange market. "I have some low-tier brain development drugs for sale at a bargain. I''ll sell them at 90 credits each. First come, first serve!"


    Numerous replies immediately appeared.


    "God! You''re taking over the board!"


    "Damn! The guy above me is dumb! OP, do you really have the goods?"


    "Name a location. I''ll take them all!"


    ¡­


    Replies flooded the post.


    Seeing this, Fang Yuan was a little shocked. Soon after, he facepalmed. "That''s right! Even though each set of materials costs fifty credits, other pharmacists aren''t like me. The success rate of the scientific alchemy method is very high, but the low-tier brain development drug is almost at the difficulty of making ancient mid-tier pills. Originally, I thought that they failed once every five tries. However, it seems like they fail once every two to three tries. This is why East Dragon University''s low-tier brain development drug is charged at cost price!"


    On the other hand, his drugs had a near one hundred percent success rate. The cost of creating one was fifty credits. Even if he sold it at ninety credits, he would still make a good profit.


    "Science and technology are top in productivity¡­ Of course, in my case, my Demon God True Spirit tops my productivity!"


    With this understanding, Fang Yuan continued to fish for more customers. Soon after, he spotted a reply. "I''m in urgent need of the drugs. If you''re interested, please contact Beatrice at this number!"


    "Beatrice, huh? Interesting!"


    Fang Yuan laughed. He put up an anonymous post, but this Beatrice had exposed her personal information. It seemed like she was very sincere.


    As he thought about this, he used his wristband to send a message. "Hello!"


    "Are you the seller? I really need the low-tier brain development drugs! How many do you have?"


    A soft, sweet voice arrived at his ears. It carried a hint of desperation.


    "I have ten. If you want them, we can make the trade in the safe zone''s Southern Garden!" Fang Yuan replied.


    "That''s wonderful. Hold on. I''ll be there immediately!" the female voice replied emotionally.


    "Perfect. I can clear my stock at once!"


    Fang Yuan picked up his bag and went to the safe zone''s garden.


    The safe zone was swarming with new students from East Dragon University. However, they were all busy.


    Other than attending class, they had to think of all sorts of methods to increase their brain development so that they could create a better foundation for their future.


    For people like Fang Yuan who had already broken through, they were even busier.


    They had to run errands for their credits all day. There were barely any lovebirds that had the time to flirt and date.


    A voice from the wristband appeared. "Hi, fellow student! I''ve arrived at the gate!"


    Fang Yuan looked in that direction and spotted two girls standing there. One of them had curly green hair and was looking around frantically. The girl by her side looked a little familiar.


    "Why is she here?"


    Fang Yuan frowned and walked forward. He looked at the curly green-haired woman. "Are you Beatrice? I''m the seller. Also, hello, Senior Sun Mengmeng!"


    Sun Mengmeng was surfing the web leisurely. Hearing his greeting, she looked up. Her eyes immediately widened. "It''s you! Junior Lin Meng! Are you the seller? How is this possible?"


    Her impression of this junior remained on that day when L¨¹ Songyang called him trash.


    However, she did not expect this ordinary junior of hers to be able to produce ten valuable low-tier brain development drugs at such a low price.


    "Haha, maybe it''s because I''m talented at pharmacy!" Fang Yuan said lightly.


    Now that Fang Yuan''s stats window was unlocked, his abilities were increasing every day. He was no longer concerned about minor problems.


    "Beatrice, right? Take a look!"


    He tossed a parcel over casually, as if it were nothing more than a bag of trash.


    Beatrice grabbed on to Sun Mengmeng''s arm. "Mengmeng, help me verify it! You''re a top student in the pharmacy department. You can tell if it''s inferior or low quality!"


    So, Sun Mengmeng is from the pharmacy department. No wonder she brought her here! Fang Yuan rolled his eyes quietly. He began to doubt his luck. Is my Demon God aura leaking? Has the world decided to target me now?


    "Let me see¡­"


    Sun Mengmeng picked up a deep red test tube and began to examine it.


    She scrutinized them without letting a single test tube go. After using various equipment, her expression looked perplexed after finally completing her examination.


    "How is it? What do you think?" Beatrice asked anxiously.


    "There''s no problem. The drugs are of top quality. On top of that, they''ve just been refined¡­" Sun Mengmeng stared at Fang Yuan wide-eyed. "You made these?"


    "Sorry, commercial secret!" Fang Yuan smiled. "However, I''m now helping Teacher Han Yunfeng with his experiments! He has plans to take me as his student!"


    "Mentor Han Yunfeng?!" Sun Mengmeng sighed, and her expression changed to one of understanding. "No wonder¡­"


    A first-year that made low-tier brain development drugs would be shocking. However, if it came from Han Yunfeng, that alchemy master, it would not be surprising at all.


    "Mentor Han Yunfeng has been a hot figure in our school lately. I heard that he''s overcome the bottleneck of ancient alchemy and managed to refine mid-tier brain development drugs using ancient techniques. The pharmaceutical companies that he''s a shareholder of are seeing their stock prices rising because of this. However, this is all just the tip of the iceberg. I heard that he''s been moving around lately, hoping that the school will support his experiment to make high-tier brain development drugs. Once he succeeds, it''ll be real chaos!"


    Beatrice transferred nine hundred credits to Fang Yuan readily. At the same time, she said suggestively, "Junior, I still need more low-tier brain development drugs. I''ll take as many as you have. I can even pay more for them. Of course, if you can get me mid-tier brain development drugs, that''ll be even better!"


    "There''s no problem with low-tier ones. As for mid-tier ones, I''ll give it a try! Keep in touch!"


    Fang Yuan did not give a definite answer. With that, he turned and left.


    "Mengmeng, do you know him?"


    Beatrice looked at the parcel in her hands, her expression looking a little curious.


    "Yeah. Remember that guy with a brain development of 35% but wanted to advance quickly? He ended up being rejected by Teacher L¨¹ Songyang back then. That''s him!"


    Sun Mengmeng laughed bitterly. "But I can''t believe he managed to produce so many drugs like this."


    "This isn''t a big deal¡­ Han Yunfeng is an alchemy master. Low-tier brain development drugs are a piece of cake for him. However, this Lin Meng managed to obtain Han Yunfeng''s approval. I wonder what kind of experiment he completed with him to receive so many rewards¡­"


    As for the possibility that Lin Meng had stolen these, Sun Mengmeng and Beatrice did not think in that direction at all.


    Would a novice Mystic be able to steal something from a mentor''s lab? Unless East Dragon University''s security had turned to rubbish, there was no way! On top of that, Lin Meng was not dumb either.


    "I should try to stay on close terms with this boy!" Beatrice began to calculate. "If I sell this drug to the outside after obtaining it at the cost of ninety credits, I''ll be a huge profit! The most important thing is that I can even get close to Han Yunfeng through this student!"


    "Hm? Senior, is there something you know?"


    Sun Mengmeng blinked innocently. She knew that her senior looked easygoing and straightforward, but she always seemed to have some kind of strong, hidden connections behind her.


    "That''s right. According to my sources, the school''s higher-ups have already approved of Han Yunfeng''s preliminary proposal. They intend to purchase a bulk amount of precious materials, including a Zerg Empress brain! This means that his experiment has not had a major breakthrough, but that it''s very likely to succeed!"


    "The high-tier brain development drug, huh¡­" Sun Mengmeng sighed. "However, this isn''t related to us!"


    "No! You don''t get it!" Beatrice''s eyes shone brightly. "If Han Yunfeng''s experiment is successful, the cost of producing high-tier pills will fall exponentially¡­ The impact of this will spread from high-level cultivators to all Mystics! It''ll affect all of society! Of course, it''ll take time. Furthermore, he''s only researching the brain development drug! However, once it succeeds, it means that his theory works!"


    ¡­


    "So it''s like that!"


    The two girls continued discussing quietly, not noticing that their words had also traveled to Fang Yuan''s ears.


    Even though he had only recovered a small portion of his Demon God abilities, his hearing and vision were the most fundamental things he had recovered. As long as he perked his ears after walking a little distance away, he could overhear lots of valuable information.


    "They think that my drugs came from Han Yunfeng? Great, that''s what I want them to think!"


    Raising Han Yunfeng''s flag would reduce a lot of trouble. Fang Yuan was certainly glad to see that happen.

 956 Invitation

    East Dragon University, district five, dormitories.


    Fang Yuan sat cross-legged. Circulating his cultivation technique, he swallowed the dense energy particles and moved them quickly throughout his body. Soon, he broke through to another level.


    "I''m finally at level five Mystic¡­" He sighed.


    Since he had divided his attention and the environment was unfavorable, he had spent twenty days to reach ancient cultivation''s Qi Refinement perfection. He almost lost to Wu Wudi. He would have turned into a laughing stock among Demon Gods.


    "But I''m merely a cheater. Wu Wudi is a true cultivation genius. He only spent twenty-seven days to advance to level five. Within the span of a few years, he made it to level fourteen. He''s almost at the point where he can form his Nascent Soul. The modern era is truly the golden age of cultivation. If it weren''t for the war with the Cosmic Lifeform Alliance, the Human Alliance would have soared even further!


    "After level five Mystic, I''ll prepare to break through to level six immediately. That''s ancient cultivation''s Foundation Establishment stage, which is imperative¡­ Also, once I reach this step, I''ll have to choose different high-level cultivation techniques according to my future direction!"


    Fang Yuan''s current foundational cultivation technique was used by all cultivation universities. It was all-inclusive, highly versatile, and extremely compatible. It could be developed in any way.


    After reaching higher levels, he could start cultivating advanced techniques from this foundation.


    For instance, in pharmacy, one could cultivate the Infinite Spring Technique or Thousand Light Separation. Those who wished to focus on battle could cultivate the Thousand Blade Technique or Absolute Domination Technique.


    "The Foundation Establishment stage was a huge barrier in ancient cultivation. But with the help of the Foundation Pill, it was a lot easier. However, since there were a limited number of pills, people often had to participate in deadly trials. In fact, this was internal friction, which has been criticized by modern cultivators."


    Fang Yuan looked it up. If university students today wanted to break through to level six, it was rather simple. They could even break through on their own using their current cultivation technique.


    Of course, the school still recommended that students choose their department and change their cultivation techniques accordingly before advancing.


    "The key is¡­ my cultivation can''t be shown to others. Fame means trouble!"


    In reality, Fang Yuan was not too concerned with reputation because he was recovering his Demon God abilities. Instead, he was worried about becoming overly famous. This would draw attention to him, leading to the Abominable Lord appearing. This would be the worst scenario.


    "For advanced cultivation techniques, the mentors from each department can help with that. Even though Han Yunfeng has the intention of accepting me as his student, it doesn''t mean that I want that¡­


    "There''s only one thing I can do¡ªexchange it directly with a large amount of credits. But even though I''ve been doing business with Beatrice recently, I''m still strapped for cash!"


    ¡­


    Fang Yuan thought carefully and summoned something from his dantian.


    It was a silvery evolving metal, the seed of his magical weapon.


    Typically, schools issued this to allow students to nourish it in their dantian. After reaching level six, they could summon it as a magic artifact. When used with a Golden Core, it would turn into a magical weapon.


    However, Fang Yuan was different from normal people, so he had been refining it long ago. After summoning it, the size of his magical weapon seed changed once more. Now, it was no larger than a grain of rice.


    "No matter how good the metal is, it only represents future potential. It''s still just a small seed. If I want to use it in the future, I''ll have to feed it some high-quality minerals and precious materials¡­"


    Fang Yuan opened some information that he had spent ten credits on.


    "When feeding it at the start, it''s best to use the Tyra Mineral. Later on, you can change to some alloys too. If you develop it this way, its durability and sturdiness will be better. Of course, the way the magical weapon materializes later on depends entirely on the owner. It requires a different ''recipe'' for each path¡­"


    In the video, a mentor explained the features of magical weapon seeds in detail. He explained how to maintain the temperature and even recommended several future advancements. Finally, he concluded, "All students, please proceed with caution. Since a magical weapon seed''s potential is unlimited, if you want to develop it by investing lots of resources, it''ll consume as much as you can feed it!"


    His voice carried a hint of pain. He had probably paid a considerable price for his mistakes in cultivating the seed in the past.


    Regarding this consumption, Fang Yuan already had a sense of it.


    "Apart from the move, you are the main investment for all my credits¡­"


    Even though he grumbled, he still pulled out several minerals. He watched as the tiny memory metal turned into a thin membrane, envelope the minerals, and slowly digest them.


    After a moment, the metal expanded a little. Fang Yuan then used his will to shape it into a needle.


    "For a magical artifact to travel through the air, it requires the cultivator''s spiritual will and spiritual power as the driving force. Ancient cultivation''s flying sword isn''t suitable for this. Rather, a flying needle is the most appropriate! This is the best option for beginners!"


    Of course, this world still had sword cultivators.


    Even though air resistance affected flying swords, you could use micro-engraving technology to inscribe some arrays onto it.


    However, for Mystics below level six, a flying needle was a good and cheap choice.


    After estimating the composition of the smallest flying sword, Fang Yuan knew that he would not be able to create one even if he fed it with all of his resources.


    "Its current state is enough to count as a magical artifact!"


    Fang Yuan manipulated the flying needle to fly about the room. It did not reflect any light at all, making it a great hidden weapon.


    Smack!


    He pointed his finger casually, and the needle suddenly shot out. It made a small hole in a vase, pierced through it, and exited from the other side. However, the vase did not even move an inch. Even if someone scrutinized it, it would be challenging to find the two tiny holes.


    "Its control and power aren''t bad. Even if star beasts surround and attack me, I''ll have a way to deal with them!"


    Fang Yuan nodded in satisfaction.


    Over this period, he was planning to go out and hunt a star beast. Most importantly, he wanted to explore the primitive areas of Planet East Dragon. Through his Demon God techniques, he wanted to investigate some precious resources and promote his cultivation.


    During the course of refining pills and developing his magical weapon seed, he had obtained some opportunities to come into contact with some materials. Unfortunately, he still had not found what he needed.


    Therefore, he wanted to take the initiative and improve his strength on the way.


    "If I use my Demon God power, I''m sure I can increase my level by one every day. As for my cultivation technique, if I can''t make it work, I won''t change it."


    This world''s fundamental cultivation technique could be used to cultivate to higher realms.


    However, regarding modern cultivators, comprehensive meant mediocrity. This was why they taught first-years a little bit of every type of cultivation. Once students found a direction they excelled in, they would start to specialize in it in their second year.


    But Fang Yuan did not think much of those specializations.


    You should not bite off more than you could chew. This saying applied to regular people, but this was not the case for Fang Yuan.


    With a Demon God''s solid foundations, it would be a massive joke if Fang Yuan could not become a master of all trades.


    Those ancient itinerant cultivators cultivated a bit of everything. Unfortunately, it was difficult to survive and hard to produce talents.


    However, it was different for Fang Yuan.


    Since he was planning to explore the outside, he had to take care of some matters first.


    As far as the school was concerned, as long as he took on assignments, he was free to enter and exit as he pleased.


    As for Han Yunfeng, he had obtained a large number of materials recently. He was devoting himself to research, so he did not have time to be concerned with Fang Yuan.


    After all, it was the high-tier brain development drug, and the Zerg Empress brain was a scarce material. Even Han Yunfeng did not dare to use it carelessly. He spent all his time researching materials and did not need an alchemy boy to watch his cauldron fire.


    On the other hand, once Beatrice heard that Fang Yuan was going to stop selling his goods to hunt star beasts, she sent him a message immediately.


    "Hi, Lin Meng!"


    This time, Beatrice started the holographic projection mode, and her realistic figure appeared before Fang Yuan. She walked around his room curiously, then sat on his bed, and crossed her snow-white legs. Her black lace stockings looked especially seductive.


    "What''s up?" Fang Yuan raised an eyebrow.


    "Hunting star beasts is dangerous. Furthermore, you''re a level two Mystic Level, aren''t you?"


    He had obtained lots of credits by trading and had moved into district five. This was why Fang Yuan had adjusted his Breath Holding Technique, making it seem like he was at level two Mystic.


    Beatrice looked up at Fang Yuan with her large eyes. "Lin Meng, I''m really worried about you! If you''re having any difficulties, you can talk to me about them!"


    "It''s nothing. It''s just that I''ve been making good progress on my cultivation, so I wanted to have some actual combat to test my limits¡­"


    Fang Yuan was suspicious of Beatrice''s intentions.


    This woman had to have strong backing. Over the past few days, she had bought more than fifty low-tier brain development drugs from him. However, she continued to buy them nonchalantly, insisting that she needed them desperately. She gave Fang Yuan the impression that a specific power was training an army of the younger generation.


    "Actual combat?" Beatrice bit her bright red lip. "Since that''s what you want, are you interested in joining our squad? We''re planning to head out to the Wasteland!"


    The Wasteland was the area on Planet East Dragon outside of human activity.


    Star beasts were not the only existences there. There were many hidden dangers as well.


    "I''m in the ''Green Leaf'' Squad. Two of our members were listed on the East Dragon Leaderboard, even though they were removed soon after¡­" Beatrice blinked. "However, we''ve invited someone to help us out, so it''s a lot safer!"


    "Someone? Is it a senior?"


    "Have you heard of Wu Wudi?"


    "What? Did you guys find him? That''s impossible!" Fang Yuan shook his head.


    "Of course, it''s not him. His cultivation has surpassed many mentors!" Beatrice shook her head. "It''s Wu Wudi''s cousin, Wu Sanhuai. He''s a cultivation genius as well. He''s ranked on the East Dragon Leaderboard!"


    Fang Yuan looked it up and realized that Wu Wudi was not only a cultivation genius, but he was highly intelligent too. He had created a ''Wu Family Group'' in East Dragon University. The Wu family was also full of geniuses. He had seven or eight family members who had entered East Dragon University. Of which, Wu Sanhuai was one of them.


    "Amazing. I can''t believe you''re acquainted with someone like Wu Sanhuai¡­"


    Fang Yuan sensed Beatrice''s intentions. However, he flashed a bright smile. "In that case, I won''t hesitate."

 957 Green Leaf

    Fang Yuan''s original plan was to enter the Wasteland on his own to level up.


    However, since Beatrice made the offer with hidden intentions, Fang Yuan did not mind playing along.


    They thought that once they brought him to a place without civilization, he would be nothing more than a harmless chicken. However, they did not know that it was the other way around. At school, Fang Yuan was constantly holding back and could not use his full power!


    "That''s great!" Beatrice exclaimed happily. Then she laughed bitterly. "Wu Sanhuai has some matters that he wants to handle, so he decided to join our Green Leaf Squad. It''s beneficial to both parties.


    "We''ve already agreed to assemble at the school''s main gate at 6 am tomorrow!"


    "No problem!"


    ¡­


    After setting the time and date, Beatrice turned off her communication device. After a moment, she pulled out an encrypted communication device. "Commander!"


    "Beatrice, you''ve performed well over the past few days. The low-tier brain development drugs you''ve delivered have been very beneficial for developing our organization!"


    The commander was a man dressed in black robes. The darkness hid his face, and only his sharp, eagle-like eyes glowed brightly.


    "Everything is for the organization!" Beatrice bowed politely. "And¡­ didn''t you order me to recruit Lin Meng? I''ve created an opportunity now. He wants to go out and obtain some actual combat experience, so I got him to go with the Green Leaf Squad."


    "Wonderful. Proceed with your plan!"


    The commander nodded slowly. "Even though our main objective is Wu Sanhuai, or rather the Wu Wudi behind him, taking care of a first-year isn''t a big deal. I''ve arrived on Planet East Dragon. When the time comes, let''s meet in the Wasteland!"


    From his perspective, gathering his resources to deal with Wu Wudi was his top priority.


    As for Lin Meng? He was nothing more than a rabbit in the bushes. There was no need to be wary of him.


    "Commander, what is it this time? Why are we mobilizing the entire top brass?" Beatrice asked worriedly. "Your subordinate wishes to understand the plan to coordinate better!"


    "Since you''re heading out tomorrow, it''s probably time to tell you!" The black-robed man paused. "Wu Sanhuai was dispatched this time under Wu Wudi''s orders. In fact, our sources have reported that most of the Wu family has been deployed to the Wasteland. They''re searching for a star beast king!"


    "Star beast king?!" Beatrice took a deep breath. "This is a star beast that''s as powerful as a high-level cultivator! And it has intelligence equal to us! Is Wu Wudi searching for it to find some secret that will allow him to break through his bottleneck?"


    The current level fourteen to fifteen was equivalent to cracking the core to achieve the Nascent Soul in ancient cultivation. It was of extreme importance.


    After he broke through to the Nascent Soul stage, that would place him at the top of the cultivator pyramid.


    Of course, it was not easy either. This was what held Wu Wudi back for nearly an entire year.


    "But given Wu Wudi''s current level, he''ll be struggling against the star beast king, right?" Beatrice asked uncertainty.


    "That man is a true genius. We can''t use regular logic to define him!" The black-robed commander''s voice carried a distinct hint of fear. "Furthermore, the star beast king has a secret that attracted Wu Wudi to go after it, so we have to verify it with Wu Sanhuai! This is the main reason we have to capture him."


    "Understood!"


    Beatrice bowed as she turned off the communicator. Her bright face revealed a smirk. "These old foxes must have figured something out. Otherwise, why would they show themselves now?!"


    Her organization had always been growing steadily in the dark. If the members became exposed, it would immediately take measures to isolate and destroy them.


    However, the top brass was making their appearance this time. She could guess the importance of this mission!


    "The mission this time will be perilous!"


    Even if Beatrice knew something was happening in the organization, she did not have the power to change anything. She could only sigh deeply.


    ¡­


    "Name: Fang Yuan (Lin Meng)


    Profession: Dream Master, East Dragon University Student


    Cultivation: Mystic (Level 5), Arcanist (Level 1)


    Techniques: Flame Control Technique, Breath Holding Technique (Modified)


    Skills: Alchemy (Advanced)


    Power Recovered: 10.73%!"


    ¡­


    On another side, Fang Yuan stared at his stats window and sighed heavily.


    "I still can''t increase my Arcanist level. Since I''m studying at East Dragon University, how can it provide any research materials on the West''s Arcane?


    "However, I''m heading to the Wasteland tomorrow, and I still have to prepare some measures for my cover. It''s time to learn some spiritual techniques!"


    Because he was embarrassingly short on money and focused on accumulating credits, he did not pay too much attention to cultivating his spiritual techniques.


    However, since he decided to head out, he wanted to spend all his credits before leaving, intending to convert them into combat power.


    "For spiritual techniques, it''s best if they have an inheritance system that reaches all the way to the end. My magic artifact is a flying needle, so let''s start with flying sword techniques!"


    Fang Yuan browsed through the spiritual techniques exchange and selected an option without hesitation.


    "Hundred Flying Swords Proficiency (Spiritual Technique)¡ªRecords many skills about ancient cultivation''s flying swords and ways to manipulate sharp magical artifacts. Introduction to sword cultivation! Price: 50 Credits!"


    "Hundred Flying Swords Proficiency Spiritual Technique, Golden Blade Technique, Featherweight Body Spell, and other various spiritual techniques combine into the Flying Sword Dao Art! The Flying Sword Dao Art combines with the Merging Sword Spell and the Wind Control Dao Art to become the Returning Thousand Swords Magical Power! The Returning Thousand Swords is the standard magical power for sword cultivation. If you combine it with several types of sword cultivation magical powers, you get the Immortal Sword Tactics! That is an immortal technique that can only be used after becoming an Undead Immortal!"


    The modern cultivation system was clearly laid out. At a certain level, cultivators would learn specific spiritual techniques. As long as they had the potential, they could follow the prescribed order to cultivate up to the corresponding immortal techniques successfully!


    "Other than Hundred Flying Swords Proficiency, I still need Featherweight Body Spell in case I have to flee¡­ Finally, I need the Breath Holding Dao Art!"


    The Breath Holding Dao Art was the upgraded version of the Breath Holding Technique. In reality, it was not suitable for low-level cultivators.


    However, Fang Yuan was ready to break through once he went into the Wasteland. He sensed that he would meet many people and troubles along the way, so he naturally needed to prepare for emergencies.


    As for cultivating spiritual techniques? For him, it was non-existent.


    By directly crystallizing his psyche strength, he could create arcane spell models. With that, he could store it within his Arcane Smart-Brain. This was equivalent to hammering these techniques into his brain a thousand times.


    ¡­


    The next day at 6 am.


    Fang Yuan changed into his sportswear. Carrying a hiking backpack, he arrived at East Dragon University''s main entrance.


    "Hi, Lin Meng! Over here!" Beatrice greeted him loudly.


    "Good morning, Senior!"


    Fang Yuan glanced over the party. Other than Sun Mengmeng and her, there were two other people. One was taller, with yellow skin and a cold gaze. The other was a Westerner with a bright smile.


    "This is Lin Meng. He''ll be joining our squad!" Beatrice smiled beautifully like a blooming flower. "I''ll introduce you. You already know Sun Mengmeng. These two are Lu Qiming and Paine. They''re both third-years and level five Mystics!"


    "Hello."


    Seeing that they were not happy to see him, Fang Yuan was disinclined to talk to them further. After a bland greeting, he turned to Sun Mengmeng. "Senior, you¡­"


    He recalled that this woman had always played it safe and only took on missions in school, not easily putting herself in danger without reason.


    Even though it seemed to be a cowardly way of life, people like that lived longer.


    "Even though the school missions are safer, they don''t give enough credits¡­" Sun Mengmeng laughed bitterly. "As a student in pharmacy, I have to continuously learn to improve. This requires a lot of resources. I need way more!"


    Fang Yuan nodded, understanding what she meant.


    Unlike him, she could not coordinate with the fusion reactor furnace perfectly. On top of that, she could not refine drugs like the low-tier brain development drug. Naturally, it would be difficult for her to accumulate credits.


    Unfortunately, pharmacists relied heavily on experience, needing to spend lots of time and resources to practice. As such, it created a vicious cycle.


    ¡­


    "Wu Sanhuai is here!"


    Suddenly, Beatrice looked at a figure, and her face lit up expectantly.


    In the mist, a figure approached gradually.


    Wu Sanhuai walked out of the mist slowly. With confident steps, his aura was overwhelming. He reminded Fang Yuan of L¨¹ Songyang.


    He was a level eight Mystic, ancient cultivation''s Foundation Establishment stage.


    "Sir!" Beatrice welcomed him warmly. Her eyes lit up as she greeted him sweetly.


    On the other hand, Sun Mengmeng''s expression looked bitter.


    "Haha. Have you been waiting for a long time, Beatrice?"


    Wu Sanhuai wrapped Beatrice into his arms without hesitation. His large hands began groping places they should not be, as if there were nobody around. Even Lu Qiming and Paine''s expressions turned dark.


    "No, we just got here. Anyway, isn''t it expected for us to wait for you?"


    Beatrice was indeed a social butterfly and highly adept. With a flash of movement, she gently untangled herself from his embrace.


    "Haha. Mengmeng is here too! Great! Wonderful!" Wu Sanhuai laughed loudly. However, he gave the impression of a vicious snake. "Relax, I''ll make sure that you''ll gain a lot by following me!"


    His cultivation was already equivalent to a regular teacher''s. With him around, it was like having a teacher take them out on an expedition. The danger was low, while the benefits were immense. It was no wonder that the conservative Sun Mengmeng came.


    "And this must be Lin Meng, the one you highly recommended, right?" Wu Sanhuai looked at Fang Yuan with a warm smile.


    With his usual disposition of pride, this act of his was utterly shocking. Lu Qiming and Paine were wide-eyed.


    "It''s me!" Fang Yuan stepped forward and shook hands with Wu Sanhuai.


    "I''ve heard that Han Yunfeng regards you very highly and has praised you as a pharmacy genius! I love geniuses!"


    Wu Sanhuai''s mood changed quickly, leaving others feeling unsettled. "This time, you want some actual combat experience! Leave it to me! Furthermore, if you become one of Han Yunfeng''s students, I''ll take you to meet my cousin Wudi! He can support all of your expenses!"


    "That''d be wonderful! Thank you!" Fang Yuan replied with a smile. He knew that this person was not as simple as he looked. Even though he followed his desires, he understood the rules.


    No one admitted to East Dragon University was trash.

 958 Construc

    In East Dragon Planet''s Wasteland, a steel tank sped forth.


    This was a military tank designed by East Dragon University. It traveled across rocky roads as if it were smooth ground. This constituted the savings of Green Leaf Squad over the years.


    Sun Mengmeng gazed at the dark-red land through the glass. There was vegetation that looked like ferocious and demonic arms. While starting to feel slightly uneasy, she recited the knowledge from class. "Other than the places where humans gather, Planet East Dragon is full of abandoned wastelands and territories. Star beasts are the most common threats!"


    "Senior, this tank isn''t cheap, right?" Fang Yuan asked curiously while examining the interior of the vehicle.


    "It''s not that expensive, just a few thousand credits. Everyone in the squad contributed a little, so we could buy it! But I have to say, its defense and speed are pretty good, perfect for an expedition. This investment is the reason why our Green Leaf Squad is able to explore deeper into the Wasteland, kill star beasts, explore many dangerous regions, and reap great rewards!"


    Beatrice sighed. "Actually, I hoped to buy those battle constructs, but there are only a limited number of them sold to the public¡­ Even so, it''s still possible to buy them using credits in university. Furthermore, the construct mentors will give us a discount!"


    With Fang Yuan''s understanding, constructs referred to robots that could perform multiple functions.


    On the school website, he had spotted the stats listed for a construct. It was equivalent to a level five Mystic. Obtaining it for exploration would be well worth the price.


    In fact, construct engineering was a subject with many mentors, professors, and even Undead Immortals performing research on. However, the school could only provide this construct to students.


    "Constructs¡­ haha¡­" Wu Sanhuai propped his leg up and lifted a wine glass. "Even the best construct is only equivalent to a level nine Mystic. For higher levels, its smart-brain configurations are insufficient. There are many places in space where it can''t be controlled either. No matter how good it is, you''re better off saving up to buy a mecha. Even the lowest grade can contest a level ten Mystic! That''s what I''d call powerful!"


    Level ten Mystic. This was equivalent to ancient cultivation''s Golden Core stage. No matter what, it would fall safely into the middle class of cultivators.


    In ancient cultivation, Golden Core cultivators were strong enough to become the head of a sect, changing their status completely.


    "Mecha¡­" Beatrice laughed bitterly. "Sir Sanhuai must be joking¡­ even the lowest-grade ''Gundam'' series costs tens of thousands of credits and only those with top-tier jurisdictions can get them!"


    Even though East Dragon University had lots of useful resources on its intranet, there were limits.


    Fang Yuan looked it up. However, he did not find any columns that allowed him to exchange credits for mechas.


    "That depends on the person. When piloted by a cultivator, even the original Gundam series has the power of a level ten Mystic. Once your strength increases, you can take on more missions and expand your horizons. In return, you obtain greater rewards!"


    "However¡­ if we really did manage to get enough credits for a mecha, who''d pilot it?"


    Perhaps Sun Mengmeng had lost her sense of logic after sleeping for too long because she had asked something pretty dumb.


    "Of course, nobody can!" Lu Qiming scratched his head. "Theoretically, even though a level one Mystic can pilot a mecha, it is generally accepted that those with higher cultivations are better candidates. On top of that, there''s still a technical skill. In our university, there''s a special ''Department of Mecha Piloting''. The students there become mecha pilots and are recruited directly by the military. They''re the vanguards of the Human Alliance!"


    "The Gundam series can allow a level one Mystic to match up against a level ten Mystic?"


    Fang Yuan was interested and checked this information.


    The universe was not very peaceful. The conflagration between the Human Alliance and the Cosmic Lifeform Alliance had never stopped for a moment.


    In the Cosmic Lifeform Alliance, all kinds of special races had their own characteristics. For instance, the Zerg had terrifying reproductive and evolution speeds.


    Even if humanity began to mass-produce cultivators and Arcanists, in front of cosmic lifeforms, they still had certain disadvantages.


    Until Grand Arcanists joined hands with Undead Immortals, and they developed a special magical weapon! This was when constructs upgraded into mechas, and the situation began to change.


    Regardless of whether it was cultivation or the Arcane, the majority were low-level Extraordinaries. Within the military, discipline was key. This caused a paradox regarding the freedom of high-level cultivators.


    In fact, even if the Human Alliance increased its population, it was difficult to produce a lot of high-level cultivators. As such, the alliance was reluctant to send them to the battlefield.


    The emergence of mechas resolved this problem quite well!


    Even the most basic Gundam series only required a level one Mystic to pilot. With it, they could have destructive power equal to a level ten Mystic!


    Training mecha pilots from low-level cultivators was much less costly than sending their Undead Immortals and Grand Arcanists to the battlefield.


    Therefore, mecha technology was very popular, and there were constant innovations.


    The Human Alliance''s best science and technology resources were the Undead Immortals and Grand Arcanists. And the strongest military force in the alliance was its large interstellar warship fleet and the vanguard mechas!


    After searching several times, Fang Yuan found some information on East Dragon University''s intranet.


    "At present, the military''s standard equipment is the Gundam-K9999, known for its stable performance and strong compatibility with auxiliary weapons! Its general combat power is at level fourteen!"


    "Special mechas have combat power at level fifteen and above. Recently, Professor Fu Hongxue of East Dragon University has announced the latest mecha model developed by him, the Blood Dragon. Its all-around performance has increased by 33.5%, and the military has plans to place an order. With this piece of good news, some military stocks have risen¡­"


    ¡­


    "The K9999 has strength equivalent to Golden Core perfection. Furthermore, the mecha pilots are only level five Mystic. Truly terrifying¡­"


    Thinking about the number of low-level cultivators, Fang Yuan was slightly shocked.


    As for why the Gundam series was so prevalent, it was simply because it was cheap!


    Equipment for the military could not be overly expensive. It could only prioritize a balance between performance and price. Without question, the K9999 was currently one of the best on the market at this.


    Of course, within the cutting-edge mecha research labs, there were stronger mechas around, such as the Blood Dragon.


    Even though there was no specific data on it, Fang Yuan estimated that it should have combat power comparable to or even exceeding Undead Immortals and Grand Arcanists.


    "This isn''t the most terrifying! The most terrifying is that in a real crisis, those Grand Arcanists and Undead Immortals will be the ones to pilot the mechas on the battlefield. Their combined power will absolutely be more than enough to cause shocking changes!"


    As he thought about many white-robed mentors performing research in their labs being suddenly deployed to pilot mechas on the battlefield, he did not know why, but Fang Yuan felt somewhat affected.


    As expected, scientists who excelled in both research and battle were the most terrifying existences.


    I wonder how this world''s peak individual combat strength compares to me, a Demon God?


    Fang Yuan closed his eyes as a cold glint flashed by them.


    ¡­


    The tank sped forth before finally stopping in front of a forest.


    "All right. There aren''t many large tribes nearby. It''s just right for newcomers like you to practice!"


    Beatrice and her squad wore their battle suits and stepped out. She smiled at Fang Yuan. "So? Nervous?"


    Lu Qiming and Paine looked like they were prepared to watch a good show. Even Wu Sanhuai looked amused.


    The gravity and cosmic radiation here were incomparable to the safe zone. They were currently watching Fang Yuan, hoping he''d make a fool of himself.


    "It''s not bad!" Fang Yuan stretched a little and took a deep breath. "The environment''s not bad, perfect for cultivation!"


    In East Dragon University, he still had to use credits to move to district five, but that could not compare to the outside. Moreover, he did not need to worry about others being attracted when he used his Demon God abilities to help consume the energy of the universe.


    "Not bad. I didn''t expect you to be a cultivation genius! You''ve adjusted to the environment so quickly!" Wu Sanhuai nodded.


    On the other hand, Sun Mengmeng''s cheeks looked a little red. However, there was nothing to be done. With a cultivator''s physique, she would adjust quickly.


    "Well, let''s look for a star beast for the juniors to have a shot!"


    Paine looked like he was walking in the air while moving forward. "How is it? Can you keep up?"


    "No problem!"


    Fang Yuan used the Featherweight Body Spell. In an instant, he felt that his body was as light as a feather, as if gravity had disappeared. With a light tap, he immediately moved a huge distance.


    "Good!"


    Paine slapped the ground. A loud noise rumbled, and a dirt-colored armored beast suddenly emerged from the ground.


    "Hundred Flying Swords Proficiency!"


    Fang Yuan extended his fingers. Instead of summoning his magical artifact, he stabbed forward with two fingers.


    Poof!


    Sword Qi landed, and blood splattered everywhere.


    The armored beast roared in pain. It became more aggressive and pounced at Fang Yuan.


    "Triple Flower Sword Qi!"


    With a leap, Fang Yuan moved back a huge distance and pierced several spots.


    Chichi!


    The Sword Qi split in a floral shape that soared straight into the armored beast''s unprotected stomach. It exploded to pieces.


    Bang!


    Its flesh splattered about. The armored beast writhed in pain, turned over, and exposed its snow-white flesh. There was a huge open wound with organs and fresh blood gushing out.


    Smack!


    Sun Mengmeng stepped forward and applauded vigorously. "Junior, you''re truly amazing. This beast is almost at level two Mystic!"


    In terms of cultivation, any student from a cultivation university would not be afraid of a star beast.


    However, when it came to killing, the killing intent would often terrify low-level Mystics, rendering them powerless.


    The fact that Lin Meng could overcome this immediately meant that he was a battle genius!


    "You''re flattering me!" Fang Yuan laughed dryly. "It''s just too weak. I wasn''t really satisfied with that. I have yet to taste the blood of battle¡­"


    "Haha¡­ you want a bloody fight? Well, as we head further in, there''s more prey ahead!" Wu Sanhuai laughed loudly.


    "Sir Wu Sanhuai, why did you follow us here today?" Beatrice asked curiously.


    "Actually, there''s nothing to hide from you guys. My cousin Wu Wudi has discovered the traces of a heavily injured star beast king. He wants me to track down its whereabouts¡­"


    Wu Sanhuai gestured his hands casually.

 959 Beast Tide

    "Star beast king? No way!" Paine exclaimed loudly. "Do you know that a star beast king is as powerful as a high-level cultivator? Even a heavily injured one can wipe us all out with a lift of its finger!"


    "It is heavily injured¡­ It''s nothing more than a sitting duck now!" Wu Sanhuai rubbed his brow. "Anyway, we''re just investigating its whereabouts. Once we''ve confirmed it, we''ll contact Sir Wu Wudi immediately. With him around, nothing will go wrong!


    "Anyway, I''m not afraid of telling you guys. This time, our Wu family has put everything into this operation to track the beast down. The region I''m in charge of is Moon Jaw Lake!"


    "Moon Jaw Lake?" Lu Qiming frowned. "That''s really deep into the Wasteland, and we haven''t been there before!"


    The deeper they went into the Wasteland, the more dangerous it was!


    "With Green Leaf Squad''s abilities, reaching Moon Jaw Lake won''t be a problem. Moreover¡­ I''m here with you." Wu Sanhuai sounded quite proud.


    Beatrice pretended to pause for a moment, but she agreed quickly. "No problem. Let''s head out immediately!"


    "We''re heading to Moon Jaw Lake!"


    However, Sun Mengmeng was very worried. After all, this was her first time in the Wasteland, and she was going to travel deep into it, leaving her terrified.


    "Relax, I''m here!" Wu Sanhuai laughed heartily. "I''ll escort you, and you can kill some star beasts on the way to gain extra credits and experience!"


    ¡­


    After they reached the forest region, they could not use the tank anymore and could only travel on foot.


    "Junior, there''s something strange!"


    Fang Yuan was using the Featherweight Body Spell and trailing behind the squad. Sun Mengmeng approached him and said quietly, "A star beast king is a terrifying monster that''s equivalent to a level fifteen Mystic or above, and it has the intelligence of a human. Why is Wu Wudi obsessed with it?


    "There''s only one possibility. This star beast king has something immensely beneficial to others!"


    ¡­


    "Your analysis is very logical. But now that we''re here, there''s nothing we can do other than follow them," Fang Yuan replied somewhat nonchalantly, leaving Sun Mengmeng absolutely speechless.


    Soon, it turned dark, and the entire party set up their military tents. After eating some canned food, they retired to rest.


    Lu Qiming and Paine saw Wu Sanhuai enter Beatrice''s tent and ground their teeth silently.


    Fang Yuan could not be bothered with their relationships. When it was late at night, he used his Breath Holding Technique and left the campgrounds alone deeper into the forest.


    "Sure enough, the freedom between the vast heaven and earth is the best!"


    A jet-black, giant shadow appeared behind him. It opened both arms wide and grabbed at the sky.


    Rumble!


    A terrifying amount of energy particles accumulated, extending for over a hundred kilometers at once. It turned the surroundings into a vacuum as the spiritual energy turned into a long lake that flowed straight into the black shadow.


    On the stats window, his power recovered began to accelerate rapidly.


    "Absolutely¡­ thrilling!"


    In the school, even the smallest commotion would attract the Undead Immortals'' attention, leaving Fang Yuan quite irritated.


    Now that he could absorb as much as he liked, he felt liberated. He was not going to pass up this opportunity!


    He channeled Scientific Cultivation''s most basic technique at full power, greedily absorbing the universe''s dense energy.


    Crack!


    Within his dantian, a crisp sound resounded. The concentration of energy particles increased rapidly, turning into mist and then condensing again before turning into flowing liquid.


    Spiritual power liquefying! This was the trademark of ancient cultivation''s Foundation Establishment stage!


    With only one session, he used the most basic technique to break through the bottleneck of level five Mystic, entering level six!


    Moreover, Fang Yuan did not stop using the technique at all, indulging in this feeling for a long time.


    Soon, a light rumble resounded again, and his cultivation broke through to level seven Mystic!


    In one night, he raised his level by two! Compared to Fang Yuan, Wu Wudi was nothing more than dirt in the mud.


    "Breath Holding Dao Art!"


    The energy particles within hundreds of kilometers were enough to form an energy tide and create a huge commotion. Without hesitation, Fang Yuan used his newly-obtained Breath Holding Dao Art, restored his state as a level two Mystic, and quickly returned to the campsite.


    "What''s happening?"


    The campsite was stirring.


    Sun Mengmeng and the others ran out of their tents. Looking ruffled, they gazed at the sky.


    "This is¡­ an energy tide?" Wu Sanhuai stepped out of his tent and looked at the sky. "Did you realize that the spiritual energy around us has suddenly dipped? This means that either a special treasure or a great beast has emerged!"


    "Treasure? Great beast?"


    Beatrice''s eyes flashed with greed and fear.


    "Cough cough¡­" Fang Yuan suddenly coughed as if it were not his fault. Instead, he reminded them. "For a tide of this level, will it attract the star beasts in the forest?"


    "Damn it! We have to go now!" Wu Sanhuai''s expression changed. "This level of change will attract the star beasts!"


    Kaboom!


    As if he had sounded the alarm, loud rumbling noises started echoing as though the sky were falling.


    Dark shadows rustled in the distance like a mirage, seemingly charging straight toward them.


    "That''s¡­ the star beast, snow-shadow leopard. It''s equivalent to a level five Mystic, and there are actually five of them!"


    "There''s also the raging bear. It has tough skin and thick flesh, giving it very high defense. I can''t believe there''s such a large group!"


    ¡­


    As Lu Qiming and Paine identified the star beasts in the beast tide, they felt their scalp go numb.


    "Dragon lizard?"


    However, Wu Sanhuai stared at a huge, lizard-like figure in the center. Suddenly, he turned and began dashing away.


    "Dragon lizard? A star beast at Foundation Establishment?"


    Beatrice was not concerned with Sun Mengmeng and the others as she followed close behind.


    "Run!"


    Lu Qiming and Paine did not have the intention to save anyone. Instead, they used their techniques and quickly disappeared.


    Thankfully, it was just a small star beast tide. As long as they ran in a different direction, it would not be a huge issue once the star beasts calmed down.


    Sun Mengmeng ran hastily while asking breathlessly, "Why¡­ aren''t you flying away?"


    "If you fly, it''ll be easy for you to turn into the star beasts'' target. In any case, the sky in the Wasteland is much more dangerous than land!" Fang Yuan replied casually, looking unfazed.


    Luckily, they escaped in time, leaving the beast tide without any problems.


    After running a certain distance, Fang Yuan regrouped with Beatrice and the others. However, they suddenly heard a series of fighting noises and immediately exchanged worried looks.


    "They''re probably university students who came to practice!" Beatrice affirmed.


    Within Planet East Dragon''s Wasteland, if someone was not a Mystic, it would be impossible to survive.


    "It seems like they''re in trouble. It sounds like they''re up against some star beasts."


    Sun Mengmeng looked around the surroundings.


    "According to the rescue guidelines, we should take a look at the situation regardless¡­" Beatrice sighed.


    This was expected of the human elites. If it were the ancient demon sects, they would encourage battle and killing one another.


    Within the cultivation universities, there were compulsory ethics classes that explained various regulations. For instance, a cultivator could not interfere with ordinary people''s lives and have personal battles. When they met someone in danger in the wild, they had to do everything within their power to save the other¡­


    "Hmm!"


    Fang Yuan traveled through some cover and stood on a large tree. Glancing about, he spotted the situation.


    There was indeed a small squad on the ground. They were fighting with two snow-shadow leopards.


    "Judging from their uniforms, they are a mixed university squad. There are people from Vajra Meditation and Fengwu Nine Heavens Academy!" Beatrice explained. "However, they look like newbies. There''s only a level five Mystic leading them. I can''t believe they dared to explore the Wasteland like this. Of course¡­ they''re pretty unlucky to have met a beast tide!"


    Hearing this, Fang Yuan could not help but rub his nose.


    In reality, he was the culprit behind it.


    In particular, he got people he knew caught up in it, making it a little awkward.


    "Marianne, you go first! I''ll fight them!"


    Huang Tianba''s upper body shone with a metallic glow, making him look like a copper statue. The snow-shadow leopard slashed at his body with its claws. However, only several streaks of blood appeared, while his vitals remained intact. He held a snow-shadow leopard down securely.


    "Are you dumb? With my cultivation, running away and encountering any star beast is death!"


    Marianne waved the green vine in her hands and quickly healed Huang Tianba''s wounds. "We''ll only survive if we work together!"


    Poof! Poof!


    Suddenly, a soft rustling noise came from the air.


    A moment ago, it was still blustering. But the snow-shadow leopard suddenly fell to the ground, and a pool of blood gathered under its body.


    "We''re saved!"


    Seeing the human figures before them, Huang Tianba cheered. He stepped forward and saluted respectfully. "I am Huang Tianba. Many thanks for your help, benefactor¡­"


    All of a sudden, he glowed with surprise, staring wide-eyed at Fang Yuan "Boss Lin Meng, you''re here too?"


    "Yep!" Fang Yuan laughed. "Congratulations on becoming a Mystic. However, your levels are too low to be out here¡­"


    "Er¡­ since I needed credits, I had no choice but to come! Anyway, we only intended to hunt on the outskirts, and we brought a lot of people. Theoretically, nothing should have gone wrong, but we were unlucky enough to have met a beast tide¡­" Huang Tianba complained.


    While he was complaining, on another battlefield¡­


    Wu Sanhuai retracted his palm and looked at the mountain of corpses on the ground. He sneered. "At least I could let off some steam!"


    "I am Li He. Thank you all for helping us. After we return, I will definitely report this matter to the school!" said the level five Mystic solemnly.


    Lending a hand in the wilderness like this would yield great benefits. This was also a part of the regulations.


    "It''s great as long as you guys are all right!"


    At this time, Beatrice was sent out to socialize. With a smile, she charmed the little fatso, Huang Tianba.


    Li He paused for a long time before asking abashedly, "However, we''ve lost one of our juniors from Fengwu Nine Heavens Academy, Ling Fei''er. I wonder if you could help us search for her."

 960 Commander

    "That''s right. We''re all from Planet Blue Ray and should help each other out!" Huang Tianba looked straightforwardly at Fang Yuan.


    Marianne and the others had the same expression, as if they had silently agreed with one another. He shook his head. He knew that they had never heard about the incident in Flying Rainbow High.


    Obviously, Ling Fei''er would not share this story with them either.


    "Junior?" Beatrice looked contemplatively at Fang Yuan.


    "According to the rescue guidelines, we''ve already done everything we had to. Also, we have other matters to attend to!" Fang Yuan spread both hands. "I''m sorry, there''s nothing I can help you with!"


    "Ah¡­ that''s understandable. We''ve already lost two people even though we''re all from Planet Blue Ray. Now, Ling Fei''er is gone too. We can only accept it¡­"


    Li He''s eyes seemed a little blood-shot.


    He could tell that this group from East Dragon University squad was led by Wu Sanhuai and Beatrice. Lin Meng was nothing more than a first-year, so he did not have much say in this.


    "That''s right, Junior. Let''s get going. We have to go to Moon Jaw Lake!" Wu Sanhuai laughed.


    "Moon Jaw Lake?" Huang Tianba gasped. "Hold on¡­ you''re heading in deeper? But a star beast tide is running loose!"


    Beatrice interrupted cheerfully, "I''m sorry, we have our own plans!"


    Li He thought for a while before suggesting, "Sorry, but could we tag along?"


    "Wha-?"


    Before the fatso Huang Tianba could finish his words, Marianne muffled him with her hand. She said softly, "Are you dumb? The forest is so dangerous now. If we meet any star beasts, we''d be in deep trouble. Our only hope is to follow this high-level squad! Also, the star beast tide traveled from the inside to the outside. After the first wave, heading inside would be safer!"


    "Haha, we don''t take deadweight!" Wu Sanhuai smirked coldly and immediately turned to leave, moving like the wind.


    Beatrice, Sun Mengmeng, and the others followed.


    "Follow them!"


    Li He seemed to understand the gravity of the matter. Even if it was shameless, it was better than dying, so he shamelessly followed them.


    ¡­


    Moon Jaw Lake was a deep landmark within the Wasteland.


    Using a satellite cloud map, he saw that it was a huge lake that extended for hundreds of kilometers. With several curves along the way, it looked like a crescent moon.


    Once they reached it, they would be deep in the Wasteland, where it was much more dangerous than before.


    However, there were fewer star beasts along the way after avoiding the first wave of star beasts.


    Wu Sanhuai and Beatrice did not let Fang Yuan and the others kill the star beasts along the way either, in case they alerted other groups nearby.


    "We''re here. Moon Jaw Lake is right ahead!" Wu Sanhuai was slightly emotional.


    "We''re¡­ finally here¡­" Beatrice''s voice made it sound like she was finally at ease, surprising Fang Yuan a little.


    "Is this Moon Jaw Lake?" Huang Tianba widened his eyes, staring at the pristine surface of the lake. For a long time, he could not say anything. "If it weren''t for Sir Wu Sanhuai leading the way, there''s no way we could have made it here!"


    "Set up the campsite. We''ll explore the area tomorrow!"


    Wu Sanhuai pulled out a ball. It floated into the sky and exploded.


    A layer of light spread out and covered the entire campsite. Looking in from the outside, all traces of human activity had disappeared without a trace.


    "Mechanical talisman, Mirage Magical Power?"


    Seeing this, Li He''s eyes widened. "I can''t believe you used such a precious talisman! Looks like your mission must be important. If there''s anything you need, go ahead and tell us!"


    "A mechanical talisman¡­ In the past, they used paper or jade to create talismans. However, modern cultivation methods use integrated electronic modules as the foundation. This allowed the mass production of talismans, surmounting ancient cultivation''s restraints. As long as low-level cultivators input sufficient spiritual power, they can complete the final step. It''s stronger than ancient cultivation''s talismans too. This magical power isn''t any weaker than a high-level cultivator at the Nascent Soul stage!"


    Fang Yuan''s eyes lit up seeing this. He knew that Wu Sanhuai had an important mission. And now, he pulled out the good stuff.


    "What kind of secrets is that star beast king hiding?"


    When it was late at night, after they had their meal, he rejected Huang Tianba and Marianne''s invitation and returned to his tent.


    However, he snuck out in the middle of the night.


    "It seems like both Wu Sanhuai and Beatrice are hiding some secrets¡­"


    Fang Yuan floated into the sky and went to Moon Jaw Lake. He glanced at his stats window.


    "Name: Fang Yuan (Lin Meng)


    Profession: Dream Master, East Dragon University Student


    Cultivation: Mystic (Level 9), Arcanist (Level 1)


    Techniques: Flame Control Technique, Breath Holding Dao Art, Featherweight Body Spell, Hundred Flying Swords Proficiency


    Skills: Alchemy (Advanced)


    Power Recovered: 49.33%!"


    ¡­


    "Within this period of time, I haven''t absorbed too much spiritual energy and avoided causing an energy tide, but my cultivation speed has still increased far beyond that of in school, gaining at least a level every day. Now that I''m close to spiritual power solidifying, I''m only one step away from forming my Golden Core!"


    Fang Yuan let out a long sigh. "I''ve recovered nearly half of my Demon God strength. That''s enough to do many things!


    "Of course, before this¡­"


    He breathed gently, and the surrounding energy particles poured into his body.


    The magnetic field within a hundred kilometers began to fluctuate. However, after the first lesson, Fang Yuan had slowed down his absorption. After all, he did not want to trigger another energy tide, but the spiritual energy nearby still became a lot thinner.


    Within his dantian, the half-solid spiritual power was turbulent. He compressed it continuously until it turned into a translucent Golden Core.


    "Level six Mystic, spiritual power liquefying, is Foundation Establishment. Level ten Mystic, spiritual power solidifying, is condensing a Golden Core¡­"


    At this moment, Fang Yuan walked out. He was undoubtedly a genuine Golden Core Mystic. In terms of ancient and current cultivation, he held a lofty status.


    "Of course¡­ I don''t have a magical weapon nor dao arts to use with this level. My foundation is so weak that I have nearly nothing. This was almost entirely thanks to my Demon God power¡­"


    After completing his cultivation, Fang Yuan used his spiritual will, extending it continuously.


    Fifty kilometers, one hundred kilometers¡­


    Finally, a few ripples caught his attention. "There are several high-level cultivators closing in rapidly. Their target is our campsite? Is it Wu Sanhuai''s back-up? No¡­ they''re cultivators at level ten and above. Even if Wu Sanhuai could bring them here, there''s no way they''re under Wu Sanhuai''s command. This means¡­ it''s the power behind Beatrice? Interesting!"


    All of a sudden, in the middle of the sky, he sensed a stronger aura. "So strong! It''s definitely at level fifteen and above. But it does seem a little weak, and it seems like a wild beast. It must be that star beast king¡­ I can''t believe it''s really near Moon Jaw Lake. Wu Sanhuai has some good luck!"


    Fang Yuan thought about it a little. Instead of alarming the star beast king, he traced the path to the lake and ascertained its hideout. With that, he leisurely returned to the campsite, pretending that nothing had happened.


    After an hour, Beatrice snuck out from her tent, diving into the darkness.


    She walked in the direction of Moon Jaw Lake and arrived at a glowing spot by the lake. "Commander! Sirs!"


    "Beatrice, you''ve done well to lure Wu Sanhuai and the others here!"


    The commander turned around. He had an overwhelming presence. He was an expert that was not any weaker than Wu Wudi, a level fourteen Mystic, and one step away from cracking the core to achieve the Nascent Soul!


    "It is part of my duty, Sir!"


    Other than the commander, the other two were also at the Golden Core stage. Beatrice did not even dare to breathe.


    "How is it? Do you know Wu Wudi''s objective?"


    "No, he''s tight-lipped, constantly on his guard. He only mentioned that he was going to find the whereabouts of the star beast king¡­" Beatrice replied hesitantly.


    A Golden Core cultivator responded immediately. "Looks like we have to make our move. We''ll take all of them to interrogate!"


    "Okay. We''ll execute this at once!"


    The commander walked to the campsite and extended his right hand gently. His long sleeve flapped in the wind, enlarging to envelope everything in the area like a pocket.


    Rumble!


    The Mirage Magical Array broke instantly. Lu Qiming, Paine, Li He, Huang Tianba, and the others passed out even before they could escape their tents.


    "How dare you!"


    Only Wu Sanhuai emerged from his tent with a flash. He dashed out while dodging the area the large sleeve was covering. "Grand Sleeve Space-Void Magical Power? Impossible, you can''t be a Nascent Soul cultivator! If you were, my cousin''s talisman would be useless. With only cultivation at Golden Core perfection, you can use a magical power. You''re obviously not someone unknown. Who are you?"


    "I am Red Tarantula''s great commander! You don''t have to use Wu Wudi to threaten me! I''ve exchanged blows with him before. We''re evenly matched!"


    The great commander spoke easily unafraid of exposure. Evidently, he knew that everything was under control. "You can''t escape. If you know what''s good for you, tell me why Wu Wudi is after the star beast king! Maybe, I''ll let you live then!"


    "Dream on!" Wu Sanhuai gritted his teeth. He glared at Beatrice angrily before activating a talisman.


    Whoosh!


    A blaze emerged. It bound him and flew off to escape.


    He was not stupid. As a level eight Mystic, he would not fight a level fourteen enemy.


    "Stay!" The great commander closed his fists. "Capturing Qi Technique!"


    Poof!


    A translucent palm emerged, charged straight for flames, and destroyed every layer of Wu Sanhuai''s restrictions before finally capturing him.


    "Capturing Qi Technique? This is a dao art. After promotion, it becomes the Xiantian Capturing Qi Magical Power!"


    Fang Yuan lay on the ground, pretending to be unconscious, and carefully observed the great commander. "Unexpectedly, this commander has a slight connection with me. His technique route should be from the Grand Sleeve Space-Void Magical Power. With Xiantian Capturing Qi Technique and the Five Elements Restriction Magical Power, it''ll turn into the Xiantian Qi Five Elements Restriction Void Immortal Technique!

 961 Wudi

    Red Tarantula!


    Red Tarantula was a powerful underworld organization with its roots running through many planets.


    In the past, Fang Yuan''s high school classmate, Jarvis, was one of their soldiers. At the time, he even wanted to recruit Fang Yuan as one of his underlings. Eventually, he was toyed to his death due to his ignorance.


    Now, Fang Yuan finally understood something. Red Tarantula''s great commander was a Mystic at Golden Core perfection. He could even use a magical power above his realm, the Grand Sleeve Space-Void. He was around the same level as Wu Wudi, which explained why his secret organization was so powerful.


    "Ah¡­ you dare? My cousin will never let you go!"


    Wu Sanhuai was like a dead dog as he lay on the ground and moaned in pain.


    "Haha¡­ I''m waiting for Wu Wudi to come!" Red Tarantula''s great commander sneered.


    "Really?"


    Just as he finished his words, a calm voice sounded nearby.


    A young man walked in from the darkness. He was wearing white clothes and jeans that could you could find anywhere on the streets. His appearance was ordinary, the type of person you would not be able to find once you tossed him into the crowd.


    He looked like the incarnation of tens of thousands of people, simple and common.


    Next to him, there was a girl with beautiful features. Her expression was calm, but her eyes betrayed her thoughts.


    "Wu Wudi!!" Beatrice screamed and hid behind the great commander.


    This ordinary man, who seemed to overawe all of East Dragon University, was known as the strongest genius in history, Wu Wudi!


    "Cousin!" Wu Sanhuai shouted excitedly.


    "Just now¡­ you said that even if I came, I wouldn''t be able to protect him, right?"


    Wu Wudi raised an eyebrow, and his aura suddenly changed drastically.


    He was originally nothing merely an ordinary person. But an ordinary person like him suddenly summoned his power. He was like a peasant from the past who overthrew the emperor to claim the throne!


    Like a fish suddenly turning into a dragon and aggressively soaring into the sky!


    Like a quiet child suddenly turning into a tyrannical giant.


    Wu Wudi was overwhelming!


    "I recognize you. You''re Red Tarantula''s commander. At the time, I chased you through three planets. How dare you appear before me again?" he said leisurely before he suddenly stepped forward.


    Rumble!


    With this step, the clouds and winds stirred, fire and water clashed, dark clouds covered the moon. It seemed like within heaven and earth, he was the true lead!


    "Ahh!"


    Influenced by this, both the Golden Core cultivators backed off immediately, not daring to contest Wu Wudi!


    "Wu Wudi!" Red Tarantula''s great commander spat out every syllable viciously. It was obvious to all that he hated Wu Wudi to the core. "I''m not the same person I was back then! Ever since that day, I''ve put all my effort into cultivating and finally learned the Grand Sleeve Space-Void Magical Power as a Golden Core cultivator. I''m here to wipe away that past shame!"


    "You''ve cultivated a magical power! That is indeed a cause for celebration!" Wu Wudi did not even blink. "Among ordinary people, you''re considered a genius. But in front of me, every genius is a joke!"


    Rumble!


    The next instant, his aura that was at the pinnacle of Golden Core suddenly rose!


    His spiritual power surged, completely incomparable to Golden Core. A feeling of great terror loomed over everyone!


    "This is¡­ the Nascent Soul phenomenon!" The great commander nearly crushed his teeth. "You''ve already broken through level fifteen, advancing to Nascent Soul?"


    "That''s right!" Wu Wudi laughed dryly. "Did you think I would be unaware of the people who are watching my every move? I sent out all the people in the Wu family just to attract everyone''s attention so that I could ascend to the next level safely! Once I achieved the Nascent Soul, I''d be a high-level cultivator, and the previous troubles would be naturally solved."


    "Then, the matter of the star beast king is false too."


    The great commander''s gaze faltered, and he was incomparably shocked.


    "Of course, the matter of the star beast king is real. However, you''ll never guess what I want from it¡­" Wu Wudi said.


    "After explaining all of this to you, do you finally understand the difference between us? Since you''re the one holding Red Tarantula together, I''ll consider you a genius. As long as you kneel and surrender to me, I will spare your life. With my support, Red Tarantula will continue to expand from now on!"


    "Dream on!" The Great Commander screamed, and his large sleeve fluttered. "Grand Sleeve Space-Void!"


    "Magical power, only those at Nascent Soul and Soul Transformation can use these techniques. Do you know why? WIthout the heaven and earth energy that a Nascent Soul attracts, this technique is an inferior version!"


    Wu Wudi lifted his hand and used the Grand Sleeve Space-Void Magical Power!


    Furthermore, with his spiritual power that could topple mountains and overturn seas, the great commander almost collapsed on the first move. He spat out blood and flew backward.


    "Surrender now. From the moment I defeat you, I won''t consider you an opponent¡­" Wu Wudi stepped forward. However, his voice remained calm and indifferent. "So? Are you going to give up or die? Even if you choose to resist until the end, I can still force your subordinates to bow down to me and obtain your forces eventually, right?"


    He turned around and looked at Beatrice and the others.


    "Right¡­" Beatrice nodded non-stop. "Sir Wu Wudi, I can hand over all of Red Tarantula''s arrangements on East Dragon and the list of members!"


    The two Golden Core Stage cultivators exchanged looks for a moment before nodding as well. "We surrender!"


    In the blink of an eye, the forces he had worked hard for over the years fell apart. The great commander''s eyes dimmed, and he said aggrievedly, "Wu Wudi, you win!"


    "Haha¡­" Wu Wudi laughed cheerfully. "Relax. Once you follow me, I will never mistreat you. I can also help you to break through the bottleneck of the Nascent Soul stage! This stage is also known as the dragon''s gate. Once a mid-level cultivator overcomes it, they''ll enter the upper-ranks of the pyramid and receive amnesty from the Alliance."


    He had fought, combined threats with inducements, and finally conquered a former enemy into following him. He curled his lips into a smile. "All right¡­ wake the others up. After I defeat the star beast king, we can leave!"


    "Sir..!" A Golden Core cultivator had a shocked expression. "The star beast king is here?"


    "What¡­ does it have on it?" Even the great commander was equally curious.


    "Forget it. I''ll explain everything. Do you still remember the year 20090? The time when Planet East Dragon faced a ultra-large star beast tide?" Wu Wudi asked.


    "Of course, I remember. I heard that the star beast kings at the time had crowned a new emperor. It led a large number of star beasts to attack major cities and schools, and humanity had suffered heavy losses. Finally, Undead Immortal Nine Dragons and the West''s Grand Arcanist Neisser took command of a small, elite mecha squad and infiltrated deep into enemy lair to kill that star beast emperor, causing the beast tide to recede!" Beatrice replied immediately.


    "Back then, all of humanity''s heroes went to control the situation. The price we paid was heavy. Even the Undead Immortal Nine Dragons fell¡­" Wu Wudi said. "They were the most powerful human beings. And the mechas they used were also the most advanced. None of them were inferior to the current Blood Dragon!"


    Wu Wudi continued, "That same year, I entered deep into the Wasteland to hunt star beasts. I met a star beast king there. In its nest, I discovered a mecha¡­"


    "What? One of the most advanced mechas?" Even the great commander''s pupils contracted. "The materials used in those mechas are nearly indestructible. If its repaired and used by a mecha pilot¡­"


    They looked at Wu Wudi.


    Obviously, this greatest genius in the history of mankind, this Nascent Soul Mystic, was ready to reach the sky with one step!


    He had laid low all this time to accumulate power for today''s breakthrough and to obtain the mecha. Their combination would be enough for his combat strength to rival an Undead Immortal. He would step onto the peak of the pyramid of Extraordinaries!


    "At the time, I hadn''t completed my cultivation and could only heavily injure the star beast king. In the end, I could only let it escape. But now that I''ve broken through to level fifteen while it remains heavily injured, there''s no chance of it slipping through my hands now this time!" Wu Wudi said confidently.


    "Ugh¡­ what''s going on?"


    Suddenly, Sun Mengmeng, Lu Qiming, Huang Tianba, and the rest woke up. They looked baffled.


    Fang Yuan mixed in with the crowd inconspicuously.


    "Eh?" Lu Qiming and the others stared at Wu Wudi in disbelief. They rubbed their eyes. "It''s Sir Wudi! I''ve seen clips of his battles on the intranet!"


    "Is it truly Wu Wudi?!" Sun Mengmeng''s eyes sparkled like stars.


    Huang Tianba and Marianne cheered. "Ling Fei''er, you''re alive! Thank goodness!"


    "That''s right, I''m fine. It''s my luck to have met Sir Wudi by chance¡­"


    The girl by Wu Wudi''s side smiled gently. She glanced at Fang Yuan with a confused look. "Lin Meng, we meet again!"


    "Hi!" Fang Yuan greeted her casually.


    "Cousin¡­" Wu Sanhuai crawled up from the ground while starting at the great commander with utter hatred.


    Wu Wudi frowned. "Trash, ake them and leave!"


    "Sir Wudi, please wait!" Ling Fei''er suddenly spoke up.


    "How dare you order my cousin?" Wu Sanhuai was furious. Ling Fei''er was only an insignificant level one Mystic. The way she cut in made him unhappy.


    "Apologize, and let her speak! Miss Ling Fei''er is one of the better seeds that I''ve discovered. I will be training her from now on!"


    Wu Wudi rubbed the spot between his brows.


    Wu Sanhuai''s complexion changed. He bowed to Ling Fei''er and apologized, "Ah¡­ sorry!"


    "It''s fine!"


    Ling Fei''er pointed at Fang Yuan. "Sir Wudi, I''ve told you that my meditation has a flaw that caused my advancement to cultivator to be imperfect. This flaw is none other than this person!"


    Fang Yuan instantly felt everyone''s gaze landing on him. He rubbed his nose. "Uh¡­ Ling Fei''er, I don''t think I''ve done anything to you, have I?"


    "Ling Fei''er cultivates the Red Dust Meditation. I believe you''ve left a large impression in her heart after doing something. It''s not particularly easy nor difficult to resolve¡­" Wu Wudi said indifferently.


    At this moment, Wu Sanhuai whispered Fang Yuan''s situation to Wu Wudi.


    "Han Yunfeng is nothing. I''m already at Nascent Soul. When we return to East Dragon University, the school will promote me to a professor. Besides, they don''t have a real student-mentor relationship¡­"


    Wu Wudi waved his hands, apparently already having made his decision.

 962 Attack

    "So it''s Red Dust¡­" Sun Mengmeng stuttered while looking at Fang Yuan.


    "A person''s spirit is the beginning of all thoughts and creativity. Once it is entangled, it''s difficult to get rid of it. Wu Wudi, to help Ling Fei''er get rid of her mental demon, are you going to eliminate me or destroy my cultivation?"


    Fang Yuan lowered his eyelids and sneered.


    "Since you''ve become dust in her heart, I can only help her remove it¡­" Wu Wudi said indifferently, as if the person before him was not human but just an ant.


    If Ling Fei''er were still an ordinary person, she might have room to turn things around. But now that she had become a cultivator and still had a flaw in her heart, she had to take more extreme measures.


    Furthermore, since this was a fact, and she could not increase her brain development any further, she could only remove this mental demon for her future cultivation.


    Fang Yuan stepped back and asked loudly, "Haha. Do you think the Human Alliance''s laws mean nothing?"


    "If my cousin tells you to live, you''ll live! If he tells you to die, die!" Wu Sanhuai was indeed a villain, ruthlessly becoming hostile at once. "Furthermore, my cousin is a level fifteen Mystic. He has special privileges in the Alliance. What are you compared to him? Ling Fei''er, kill him!"


    He wanted Ling Fei''er to commit the act.


    Even if word got out, it would Ling Fei''er killing him and have little to do with anyone else. This method changed the expressions of the Red Tarantula leaders.


    "How can you do this?" Huang Tianba stepped forward angrily. "I''ve recorded everything. As long as you dare to do it, I''ll¡ªAh!"


    Marianne covered his face. "In the depths of the Wasteland, it''s difficult to transmit any signal! Besides, they have special equipment on them to disrupt signals!"


    "Ah¡­ haha¡­" Huang Tianba backed off a bit before laughing awkwardly. "Respected leaders, please con-continue¡­ just ignore me¡­"


    "Brat, I''ll take care of you later!"


    Wu Sanhuai looked at Wu Wudi, who looked like he was resting with his eyes closed, and knew that he was not interested in dealing with these trivial matters. He said to Ling Fei''er, "With me around, why are you afraid? Go!"


    "Lin Meng, I''m sorry!" Ling Fei''er gritted her teeth and stepped forward.


    "Run!" Fang Yuan turned around and ran, diving straight into the dense forest.


    "Haha, a dying struggle!"


    Wu Sanhuai followed slowly. He did not believe that a low-level Mystic could escape from him, a Foundation Establishment Mystic!


    "Your three, go!" Suddenly, Wu Wudi opened his eyes. "This brat gives me a strange feeling! There''s something not right about him."


    "Understood!" The great commander''s group of three exchanged looks. Sending all three Golden Core cultivators to chase after a single low-level Mystic was humiliating!


    However, the situation was beyond their control, so they could only bow and transform into streaks of light to chase after him.


    Wu Wudi did not take a second look into the forest. Instead, he gazed at the lake as his lips curled into a smile. "Has it detected my aura and begun moving? You won''t be able to run away!"


    Bloop! Bloop!


    In the deep end of Moon Jaw Lake, a particular towering figure began stirring. The surface of the lake rippled as if a ferocious beast were about to emerge.


    "Don''t think you can get away!"


    Wu Wudi transformed into a ray of five-colored light and immediately chased after it.


    ¡­


    "Hehe, brat, keep running!"


    Fang Yuan moved through a dark patch in the forest and spotted Wu Sanhuai blocking his path.


    Soon after, the three other Golden Core cultivators blocked his path in all directions, looking cold and detached.


    As high-level cultivators, their pride did not allow them to besiege a junior. They were only going to block his path because Wu Wudi had ordered them.


    "Lin Meng¡­ are you regretting this? I didn''t want to do this either. If you had agreed to reconcile with me when we were still in high school, this wouldn''t have happened."


    Ling Fei''er walked over slowly, her gaze carrying a hint of sympathy.


    "Crocodile tears¡­ your feigned kindness is truly disgusting!"


    Fang Yuan shook his head. He spotted Li He, Huang Tianba, and the others who had come after him.


    However, under the pressure of one Foundation Establishment and three Golden Core cultivators, there was nothing they could do. They could only watch him worriedly from the side.


    "Haha, you''re really obstinate!" Wu Sanhuai grinned evilly. "Ling Fei''er, do you want me to help you break his limbs first?"


    Without waiting for Ling Fei''er to answer, he threw a dagger. It transformed it into a streak of light and then split into four, wanting to cut the tendons on Fang Yuan''s arms and legs!


    "Idiot!"


    Just as the dagger was about to land, Fang Yuan moved!


    His Golden Core roared, and his spiritual power soared into the sky. Red Tarantula''s three Golden Core Cultivators were shocked. "This¡­"


    Smack!


    Fang Yuan grabbed the flying dagger. It was like a small fish that could not escape from his hand despite its struggling.


    His figured flashed. He appeared in front of Wu Sanhuai and punched.


    Bang!


    Amid a mist of blood, Wu Sanhuai''s brain exploded while his headless corpse fell to the ground.


    The sudden turn of events shocked all of them! Even the great commander was dumbfounded. "How is this possible? H-he''s formed his Golden Core?"


    No Mystic would mistake that energy fluctuation.


    "What?"


    Huang Tianba and Marianne were stunned.


    They came together with Fang Yuan to report to Planet East Dragon. Of course, they knew that the Lin Meng at the time was merely an ordinary person.


    Within a short amount of time, the most they had done was condense their spiritual roots and become a cultivator.


    However, Fang Yuan was already at the Golden Core stage?


    Was this something a first-year student could accomplish?


    "It seems¡­ even Wu Wudi only made it to Golden Core in his second year." Li He gasped in shock. "Genius! Heavenly genius!"


    "What?"


    Ling Fei''er''s eyes spun, her face turned pale, and she suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood!


    This was the backlash of her meditation technique!


    Initially, she had found strong backing and hoped to suppress the shadow.


    However, she discovered that Fang Yuan had suddenly transformed into a monster that was even more talented than Wu Wudi. Naturally, nothing good would come of it.


    Ling Fei''er was a decisive person. She resolutely stepped back, activated her talisman, and disappeared into a streak of light.


    The great commander and the other two Golden Core cultivators looked grave. "Is your name Lin Meng? You''re a peerless genius that surpasses Wu Wudil! Join us. With you around, Wu Wudi isn''t terrifying at all!"


    "Haha. You''re Wu Wudi''s dogs but want to join hands with me? Even if you kneel down and beg to become my dog, I''d never take you in!" Fang Yuan sneered.


    "Dog?!" The great commander''s eye twitched. "Brat! Don''t think that you can look down on the universe''s heroes just because you''re a peerless talent! No matter how talented you are, you''re still only level ten!"


    "Kill everyone here!"


    The two Golden Core cultivators roared and threw out a dagger and a sword respectively. The intense spiritual aura caused Li He''s complexion to change. "Golden Core magical weapons?"


    "Grand Sleeve Space-Void!"


    The great commander''s sleeve was the magical weapon he had cultivated. The sleeve expanded to cover the entire sky before a void descended.


    Facing this, Fang Yuan merely stretched out his right hand to summon a thin needle.


    "Magic artifact?!" Watching the battle, Marianne was dumbfounded. "Oh no! It seems like Lin Meng has just advanced and doesn''t have a magical weapon yet¡­"


    "This battle isn''t a fight to the death. As long as he escapes, he''ll be the winner!" Li He grabbed Huang Tianba and Marianne. "What are you two doing? Escape while you can! Do you want to die here?"


    "Go!" The next moment, Fang Yuan lightly pointed, and the flying needle shot forward.


    Puff, puff, puff!


    With a flash, he broke the Grand Sleeve Space-Void technique.


    The sword and the dagger magical weapons let out a cry as they split in two and fell to the ground.


    "No¡­ Impossible!"


    A red dot appeared on the great commander''s and both Golden Core cultivators'' foreheads. They muttered something before falling to the ground.


    "Ah?"


    Li He was on the verge of flying away to escape, but he suddenly froze.


    "Three Golden Core cultivators¡­ impossible¡­"


    "What just happened?"


    "Those three Golden Core cultivators were taken out by a flying needle magic artifact? They didn''t even last a second!"


    ¡­


    Huang Tianba and Marianne rubbed their eyes furiously. "Is that flying needle not a magic artifact, but a terrifying magical weapon?"


    "The three of them should be interstellar wanted criminals. Earlier, Wu Wudi protected wanted criminals and even ordered a murder¡­ The three of you are witnesses. You have to testify against him with me!" Fang Yuan said to Li He.


    "All¡­ All right!"


    Li He and the other two were stunned and could only nod.


    Seeing this, Fang Yuan could not help laughing.


    In fact, if he was indeed only a level ten Golden Core, there would have been nothing he could do other than to run away.


    Fortunately, his cultivation strength was merely superficial.


    His true strength was approaching half of his Demon God strength!


    Even if he could not use his Dream Master techniques, with the Omnidirectional Divine Demonic Armament Dao''s amplification, he could easily use the flying needle to kill three Golden Core cultivators instantly. It was simpler than killing chicken.


    "Y-you''re a Golden Core cultivator?" Li He asked shakily. "And that magical weapon!"


    "What? Can''t I keep some secrets?" Fang Yuan laughed mischievously.


    The previous low-level Mystic was just a cover for him. And his current image as a Golden Core genius was merely another cover.


    The Human Alliance''s stance on cultivators was that as long as they were not suspected spies, it would protect them.


    The more advanced a society was, the higher the emphasis on an individual''s privacy.


    Exposing this would cause a certain amount of trouble, but there were also huge benefits. For instance, Fang Yuan would not have to continue pretending to be a low-level student.


    As for situations that came along with that, Fang Yuan had nothing to fear. He did not have to use fair and upright methods to settle them.


    "Right! We''re all victims!" Marianne and Huang Tianba nodded. "It''s all because of Wu Wudi. He''s gone too far! I can''t believe he ordered someone to kill you, and he even took in criminals!"


    "Very good!"


    Fang Yuan nodded in satisfaction. With this advantage, he would not be afraid of fighting a court battle with Wu Wudi even after returning to East Dragon University.


    "I''ll send you back, and then we''ll head to the police!"


    As soon as he said that, he sensed an aura that made him turn around. He looked in the direction of Moon Jaw Lake.


    Splash!


    A several-thousand-meter water pillar surged into the sky. There was a dark shadow inside it. Its mid-section was a little damaged, and it gave off a vibrant blue glow!

 963 Wings of the Sky

    The several-thousand-meter water pillar surged into the sky, and the spectacle looked magnificent!


    Fang Yuan spotted the blue radiance and became excited. "What¡­ is that?"


    "Blue light? It should be the psionic crystal in the mecha''s core reactor," Huang Tianba said uncertainty. "I''ve watched the senior''s mecha piloting class¡­ it should be this!"


    "Wu Wudi said earlier that the star beast king had hidden a top-class mecha. It should be true¡­" Li He sighed. "He''s already a Nascent Soul cultivator. If he obtains that mecha too, he''ll be even more powerful!"


    "Psionic crystal?" Fang Yuan ignored everything else completely as he felt every cell in his body come alive at once. "So, that''s it!"


    His goal for dream-traversing this time was to find the material needed for the Heaven Devouring Mystic Technique to break through its bottleneck.


    Now, he was reasonably sure that what he needed was the psionic crystal!


    "You guys wait here. I''ll be back!"


    After saying that, he flew into the sky and rushed toward the water pillar.


    In front of the material that could help him break through, the star beast and Wu Wudi meant absolutely nothing! He could kill them with a slap.


    "On the surface, I may be at the Golden Core stage, but if I use the full extent of my Demon God power, even half is enough to kill Wu Wudi. After I get what I need, I''ll leave this world. It''ll be worth it if I can do that!"


    His eyes sparkled. The closer he got, the more suspicious he was. "There''s something wrong. This aura is far too weak¡­"


    After obtaining the stats window, it had already become one with him over the years. Naturally, his sensitivity with it was very high.


    As he approached it, he could see a human-shaped mecha inside the water pillar.


    This mecha was about a hundred meters tall. Even after all this time, its armor remained bright. It had a pair of giant wings on its back, and its chest was ripped open, revealing a reactor within. The blue radiance that caught Fang Yuan''s attention emanated from this spot.


    "I''ve found the right thing, but the quantity isn''t right. It seems like it''s a thousandth of what I need!"


    The stats window''s response left Fang Yuan feeling slightly perplexed.


    The psionic crystal within the mecha was only enough for him to increase his progress by 0.0001%!


    "This means¡­ I have to obtain a thousand mechas like this one before I can make it to the third level of the Heaven Devouring Mystic Technique?


    "In a short amount of time, I don''t think that''s possible! It seems like I''ll have to continue using this identity!"


    He gradually retracted his thoughts and began surveying the battlefield.


    The current battlefield had split into two sides.


    On one side, there was a completely blue star beast with wings and a dragon-like neck. On its back, there was a deep, long wound.


    The other side was obviously Wu Wudi.


    He stood high in the sky, free and unconstrained. His magical powers and techniques were so astonishing that he was easily suppressing the star beast king.


    The star beast king roared ferociously. There was a mysterious white thread that connected it to the wings of the mecha, increasing its strength further.


    Without this, Wu Wudi would have taken it down long ago.


    "Actually, you''re pretty good. With your star beast body, you managed to obtain some power from the mecha. But that''s all¡­" Wu Wudi said confidently before suddenly extending his right hand. "Xiantian Qi Capturing Technique!"


    A large palm emerged and covered the sky. It grabbed the flying dragon''s neck and twisted it viciously.


    Crack! Crack!


    Numerous threads broke, and the star beast king''s aura weakened further. The wound on its back ripped open, causing a large amount of blood to flow out.


    The two of them did not seem to notice the slowly approaching Fang Yuan.


    "Since I''m using Lin Meng''s identity, I have to turn things around reasonably! If I expose my Demon God power and kill everyone, I''ll have a bunch of Undead Immortals coming after me tomorrow. And the day after, the Abominable Lord will receive the news¡­ I should try to avoid this!"


    In fact, Fang Yuan had some doubts. He had secretly taken note of the news within the entire Human Alliance, particularly that of on Planet East Dragon, but he had not found any trace of the Abominable Lord.


    "From his personality¡­ this is impossible!"


    A Demon God''s personality was always ruthless and overbearing, and the Abominable Lord was someone who stole Dao paths and destroyed worlds on a whim.


    Furthermore, Fang Yuan guessed that the Abominable Lord had already recovered most of his strength. Even so, he had not made a move yet, which was simply unfathomable.


    "However¡­ since he''s not in humanity''s territory, did he arrive at another place in the universe?"


    Fang Yuan thought about it and felt that this was a high possibility.


    After all, this universe was far too vast.


    While deep in thought, he arrived at the bottom of the lake and followed the water pillar''s current up.


    "Elemental Magnetism Divine Lightblade!"


    All of a sudden, Wu Wudi used yet another magical power. Channeling the power of elemental magnetism, he created a large saber and slashed!


    "Roar!" The star beast king cried out loudly, and the remaining threads broke.


    The wings on the mecha dimmed, and the faint blue radiance began to fade. A hatch opened.


    "Is this¡­ the cockpit?" Fang Yuan''s eyes glowed. "Did this star beast king form a neural connection with the cockpit to obtain a part of its power? Chance!"


    He lunged forward without hesitation, turning into a streak of light and bursting into the cockpit.


    "Hmm?" Wu Wudi was dumbfounded. "Golden Core cultivator¡­ is it the great commander¡­ No, he''s¡­ Lin Meng!!!"


    "Wu Wudi, you couldn''t have imagined this at all, could you? You''re not a true genius!" Fang Yuan''s voice came from the mecha. "Furthermore, I''ve dealt with your subordinates, and the rest will testify against you!"


    "In this world¡­ there''s a cultivator who''s more talented than me?"


    Wu Wudi''s expression turned serious for the first time. "Lin Meng! Very good. I''ll remember you! Unfortunately, no matter how gifted you are, you''re only at the Golden Core stage. I admit that I misjudged you. You''re much more valuable than Ling Fei''er. How about it? What do you think about joining me? You''ll obtain things you''ve never imagined!"


    "Haha, you''re insane! You sent someone to kill me earlier!" Fang Yuan transmitted while starting the mecha.


    ''Ding! Pilot detected!''


    ''Activating neural connection synchronization!''


    ''Beginning self-diagnosis!''


    ¡­


    After sitting on the reclining chair, Fang Yuan detected a spiritual will connecting with his sea of consciousness, and a mechanical voice appeared.


    "As expected of a top-class mecha. It''s operated using a cultivator''s spiritual will, and it''s not complicated at all since the mecha is like another body. Fortunately, it''s like this. Otherwise, if it was like the low-level Gundam series, I wouldn''t be able to operate it!"


    "You want to buy time? It''s useless!"


    Wu Wudi flicked out Sword Qi, which penetrated the star beast king. "This mecha is almost half-destroyed. Without repairs, how much power do you think you can utilize? That''s why I''m giving you an opportunity. For cultivators at my level, a misunderstanding like this means nothing. As long as you surrender, even this Wings of the Sky can be yours in the future!"


    Wu Wudi seemed confident as he maintained his assured tone.


    ''Beep, self-diagnosis complete. Primary weapon missing. Secondary weapon damaged: 66%. Armor damaged in twenty-seven places!''


    ''Warning! Warning! Core reactor is damaged! Unable to operate normally!''


    ¡­


    As expected, this mecha was already close to being scrapped. Without a pilot in the mecha, it would be in a horrible state.


    However, if its reactor was working and the psionic crystal''s energy had not leaked, there was no way Fang Yuan would have found it.


    Furthermore, the star beast king would not have had such a hard time against Wu Wudi.


    It was precisely because of this reason that Wu Wudi was so confident.


    Fang Yuan commanded directly, "Activate backup energy mode. Main source of energy is me!"


    Generally, a mecha pilot was a cultivator. When the situation was urgent, they could use their own spiritual power as energy.


    Of course, for a top-class mecha like this, even an Undead Immortal would only be able to hold on for a few minutes. As for Nascent Soul or Soul Transformation cultivators, it could only be used as a last resort.


    However, this was entirely effortless for Fang Yuan!


    Even if he had only recovered twenty to thirty percent of his Demon God power, it would be enough for the Wings of the Sky for a long time.


    ''Ding! Beginning energy absorption!''


    ''Wings of the Sky! Activating!!''


    The mecha''s feedback came. It vibrated within the water pillar, and its eyes lit up with the blue glow. Its hands extended forth!


    Splash!


    The water pillar burst open as the Wings of the Sky extended its wings. The moonlight illuminated its body.


    "Impossible!" Wu Wudi was thoroughly shocked. "How can it fully activate? Was there a backup energy source?"


    After losing his calm, he felt extreme humiliation.


    Under the Wings of the Sky''s glow, his display made him look like a clown!


    ''Activating holographic environment!''


    ''Environmental data feedback¡­ detectors damaged. Feedback rate: 66%!''


    ''Expanding psychic shield. Activating energy defense!''


    ¡­


    All kinds of information constantly came, enough to collapse the sea of consciousness of ordinary low-level cultivators.


    Fang Yuan was finally experiencing a top-class mecha, the crystallization of this world''s science and technology, a power comparable to an Undead Immortal!


    "With the physical armor and the psychic defense, it can resist immortal techniques and legendary arcane spells, completely protecting the safety of the pilot. Moreover, its weapons can greatly enhance its power further. The Wings of the Sky itself has the power of an Undead Immortal!"


    Fang Yuan extended his arm.


    Splash!


    The giant flying mecha mirrored his movement and grabbed at Wu Wudi.


    "Ah! Elemental Magnetism Divine Lightblade!"


    Wu Wudi roared, and a magical power flew out, landing on the mecha''s arm. However, it did not even leave a scratch.


    "Activate energy cannon!"


    Within the mecha''s palm, a cannon appeared and emitted terrifying red energy. It went straight for Wu Wudi at high speed.


    Even though the mecha was a hundred meters tall, it was more agile than a cultivator. Every movement gave off an inexplicable thrill.


    "Ah! Magical powers accumulate!"


    Wu Wudi quickly retreated and used various magical powers together.


    He was indeed a peerless genius. In an instant, numerous magical powers unleashed and turned into a magical power beam to intercept the red energy.


    Kaboom!

 964 Qi Yunshan

    Under the dark sky, an immense explosion suddenly erupted. It seemed like there was another small sun.


    After the commotion, every star beast fell to the ground, trembling in fear.


    The remaining shockwaves passed, and a scene of devastation remained.


    "He escaped? This kid is good at surviving!"


    Fang Yuan controlled the Wings of the Sky to land on the ground slowly.


    In fact, using his Demon God power to operate this mecha was a complete waste.


    If he had used his Demon God abilities alone, there was a very high chance that he would have killed Wu Wudi, but there was still a slim chance that he could have gotten away. If he escaped and news about him got out, it would have been bad for Fang Yuan.


    Therefore, he could only choose this method to hide his cards.


    "If this mecha was at its peak condition, I could have used the dimension anchor, and there would have been no way Wu Wudi could have escaped!"


    But since this mecha was damaged, many functions could not be used.


    Of course, it was still a hundred times better than the military''s standard mecha!


    At least, if it had a repaired core energy source and a suitable mecha pilot, it would have destructive power comparable to an Undead Immortal.


    Clang!


    The hatch opened. Fang Yuan jumped out and spotted Huang Tianba, Sun Mengmeng, and the others.


    They all looked at Fang Yuan as if they were looking at a god.


    "Y-you actually defeated Wu Wudi and took the mecha away from him!" Lu Qiming''s eyes widened. "Unbelievable! Truly unbelievable! Wu Wudi has his name precisely because he hasn''t suffered defeat! Now that you''ve defeated him, you''re one of his mental demons. You should watch out for his revenge in the future!"


    "Revenge? We haven''t taken our revenge yet!" Fang Yuan sneered.


    "Even if we testify, it''ll be difficult. After all, Wu Wudi is already a Nascent Soul cultivator and has special privileges within the Alliance. After he returns, he can become a professor directly¡­" Li He said in a troubled manner.


    "Yeah, you have your troubles too!" Fang Yuan thought about it. "In that case, leave a statement with me instead!"


    In fact, he secretly had a piece of evidence as well. He had recorded everything that just happened.


    Even though there was signal interference and he could not send messages out, he could still record them.


    Fang Yuan continued, "Also, regarding my strength and this mecha, I hope you can keep it a secret for me!"


    "Of course¡­" Li He and the others nodded. "According to the wilderness exploration rules, we should split the rewards, but the harvest is far too great this time. It''s a top-class mecha! Wings of the Sky was Sky University''s greatest creation that year. If you hand it to East Dragon University, you can discover lots of secrets regarding Sky University''s advanced research secrets! Be careful though. Once this gets exposed, we don''t know what they''ll do to protect their research secrets."


    "I understand¡­" Fang Yuan nodded. "However, in the worst-case scenario, I only have to give up this mecha. This isn''t much¡­"


    "Indeed¡­" Li He immediately understood. "You''re a genius who surpasses Wu Wudi. East Dragon University will definitely protect you!"


    "The truth is that I''m not ready to expose myself!" Fang Yuan shook his head, having other thoughts in mind.


    "Boss, relax. Marianne and I will keep our mouths shut!" Huang Tianba patted his chest, showing his sincerity.


    Sun Mengmeng, Lu Qiming, and the others directed complicated looks at Fang Yuan.


    ¡­


    ''Ding! You have a new call!''


    After sending Huang Tianba and his group out of the Wasteland, he received a call.


    Fang Yuan casually tapped it open, and Wu Wudi''s figure appeared on the screen.


    "Lin Meng¡­ good! Really good!"


    Although he looked calm, his eyes revealed his turmoil.


    "Naturally, and it''ll get even better in the future!" Fang Yuan shrugged. "That''s right¡­ I''ve submitted evidence of your crimes. You''d better watch out from now on!"


    "Haha¡­ you''ve forgotten that I''m a Nascent Soul Mystic. I''m a high-level battle power within the Alliance, and all I did this time was to order a murder. The school won''t punish me severely!" Wu Wudi laughed coldly.


    In reality, he would need to pay a considerable price, but he would never tell Fang Yuan that.


    "Instead, it''s you who''s in deep trouble! Don''t you think it''s troublesome to hold on to that mecha?" His voice was low.


    "It is quite troublesome since it''s a hundred meters tall. That''s why I''m preparing to take it apart and donate parts of it to the school. I''ll donate the other parts to Sky University. What do you think?" Fang Yuan replied earnestly. Wu Wudi was so angry that he nearly spat blood.


    With combat power that was comparable to an Undead Immortal, how could he just give it up like that?


    He did not know that the current Wings of the Sky was nothing more than an empty shell, and its core reactor was mostly destroyed.


    However, Fang Yuan was not prepared to sell this component. Otherwise, he''d expose his secret.


    Fortunately, even though the reactor was broken, the psionic crystal was still around. He swallowed it directly, consuming it for his progress. He was another step forward in breaking through to the next level of the Heaven Devouring Mystic Technique.


    "Very good! Just you wait!" Wu Wudi hung up immediately.


    Outside the Wasteland, there was human civilization and surveillance everywhere. Even a Nascent Soul Mystic would have all their actions recorded.


    "Sir!" With a pale face, Beatrice walked over nervously.


    In the past, she was part of Red Tarantula. Later on, she changed sides to Wu Wudi, but who knew he was so useless and would be taken down by Fang Yuan so easily. He escaped without even thinking about her.


    Now, she could only shamelessly walk toward Fang Yuan.


    "What? You want to work for me and become a slave of three masters?"


    Fang Yuan looked at her with a playful expression.


    "Sir¡­ I had no choice!" Even though she did not understand Fang Yuan''s expression, his intention was clear. Beatrice hurriedly said, "After this incident, I finally know who I should serve!"


    "Hehe¡­" Fang Yuan laughed coldly without saying another word. However, this woman had connections inside and outside of school. In terms of her information network, she was pretty impressive. "Fine¡­ I''ll give you a chance! Wu Wudi has a private force inside East Dragon University, and he must have offended many people, right? Pull them together and tell them what happened today!"


    "You want to¡­" Beatrice was a little shaken.


    "Although the Wings of the Sky is good, it''s not something I can use right now. Of course, I have to give it away, or it''ll be trouble!" Fang Yuan shrugged.


    In reality, a mecha with a broken core was much less valuable, but he would never divulge this secret.


    Fang Yuan continued, "Also, to prevent them from having any ill intentions, you can accidentally tell them about my battle prowess and talent! This is just for deterrence. I don''t want to be too well-known. You can decide how much to tell them! If you do well, I''ll take you in!"


    "Sir, please rest assured!"


    To survive, Beatrice put in all her effort. "Wu Wudi is arrogant and despotic, and he''s offended many mentors and students in the past. Of which, the student council president, Qi Yunshan, has the most power! He''s pulled many people together to go against the Wu family. He even has the support of several teachers. I''m sure the school''s higher-ups would be happy to see them fight each other as equals!"


    "Being able to become the student council president under Wu Wudi''s watch, he must be pretty capable. However, this is the main reason why Wu Wudi hasn''t fought him head-on!"


    Fang Yuan looked through the material. "All right¡­ go ahead!"


    "Yes, Sir!" Beatrice bowed and returned to the tank.


    Meanwhile, Fang Yuan returned to the thick forest. He looked at the huge Wings of the Sky as a cold glint flashed through his eyes.


    ¡­


    Qi Yunshan had received the news and quickly came.


    After half an hour, a triangular black aircraft landed slowly from the sky.


    "This is¡­ the school''s latest stealth fighter. It''s coated with a material that can effectively hide from the detection of star beasts, and it''s quite safe for flying in the wilderness!"


    Seeing this, Beatrice was slightly surprised. "Since the material is expensive, it can''t be mass-produced. We can''t exchange for it either. I didn''t expect that Qi Yunshan could get one!"


    Clang!


    The aircraft stabilized, and the bridge lowered. Several people flew out.


    Qi Yunshan, who looked around twenty years old, took the lead. He was handsome and had an indescribable charisma like an inborn leader.


    Furthermore, his cultivation was outstanding, and he was at least a level thirteen Mystic. Although he was not as strong as Wu Wudi, Qi Yunshan was still a one-of-a-kind genius.


    When he spotted Fang Yuan, he smiled and extended his hand in a warm handshake. "Junior Lin Meng, you were unknown before, but this time, you''ve soared to the top! It''s great to meet someone who can make Wu Wudi suffer such huge losses!"


    "He''s really at Golden Core!"


    "Breaking through to the Golden Core stage even though you''re a first-year, you''re much more talented than Wu Wudi!"


    There were two teachers behind Qi Yunshan, and they were both cultivators at Golden Core perfection. One was male, while the other was female. Their scorching gazes nearly burned Fang Yuan.


    "Calling you a genius is an understatement. You''re practically a demon!" The female teacher extended her hand. "I am Zhao Feiyan, from the sword cultivation department. Lin Meng, if you''re interested in sword cultivation, please consider our department!"


    "What about Wings of the Sky? Where is it?" The male teacher looked very old. He grabbed on to Fang Yuan''s clothes anxiously while looking around.


    "Of course, I have it. However, how would the two of you suggest I handle it?" Fang Yuan asked.


    "If we follow the regulations, all of it belongs to you of course. However, the Wings of the Sky is the result of Sky University''s years of research. The intellectual property rights on it are vital too¡­" Qi Yunshan was a little embarrassed. "The other side will find out the situation from Wu Wudi. It''ll be troublesome!"


    "What''s there to be afraid of? Is East Dragon University afraid of Sky University?"


    The old man blew on his beard, opened his eyes wide, and looked at Fang Yuan enthusiastically. "Student Lin Meng, why don''t you hand the mecha over to our research institute? Tell me if you need anything!"

 965 Alchemy

    The old man that stepped forth was Qi Hetao, and he was simply a research maniac.


    Once he saw Fang Yuan, he refused to let him go, wanting to obtain the right to research the Wings of the Sky.


    "This¡­ it''s not a problem!" Fang Yuan waved his hands heroically. "I''ve taken the Wings of the Sky apart. I''ll deliver a few parts to each research institute. If Sky University wants it, I''ll give them a portion!"


    "What? You''ve dismantled it?"


    Qi Hetao was in disbelief. But after seeing the pile of parts, he collapsed to the ground, crying out loud without care for his image. "What a complete waste. I can''t believe this!"


    "Actually, I have a feeling that this mecha had hit its limit long ago. After going through the battle, it started to fall apart¡­"


    Fang Yuan was talking nonsense. Anyway, nobody knew how damaged the mecha was previously, and everything was based on what he wanted to say.


    "I still need your help, Qi Yunshan. I''m going to donate half of it to the school. As for the rest, I''ll donate portions to the other mecha research institutes!"


    "O-Okay¡­" Qi Yunshan answered in a daze. "In that case, you''ll offend Sky University though!"


    "I''m not a student from there¡­" Fang Yuan shrugged indifferently. "Also, our university should reward me for this, right?"


    "That''s right. In terms of credits, it''ll be an astronomical figure! You can even request an Undead Immortal to be your teacher!" Qi Yunshan replied enviously.


    Fang Yuan looked at the aircraft and suddenly said, "Hm, also¡­ I''ll have to trouble you to give me a lift!"


    "My pleasure!"


    Qi Yunshan agreed immediately without giving it much thought.


    ¡­


    Fang Yuan crossed his legs inside the aircraft''s cabin while going through everything that happened earlier.


    "Hm, after what happened, even if I want to remain low-profile, the school''s higher-ups must have noticed me by now¡­"


    There had to be a fortuitous encounter for an ordinary student to suddenly change this much!


    However, Fang Yuan was very assured about the alliance''s laws. At least, nobody would blatantly take away his secrets.


    And all he needed was time!


    After all, he could obtain more information with increased jurisdiction!


    By the time he found out the source of the psionic crystal, would he be afraid of anyone? Even if the Abominable Lord came along, he would just leave and wait for a better time to enter this world again.


    With this in mind, he was naturally carefree.


    "I wonder if I''m stronger than him now?"


    Fang Yuan felt a little eager to try.


    As for why he did not silence them or change their memories?


    As long as Fang Yuan did something, he''d leave a trace. Before he figured out the details of the Undead Immortals and Grand Arcanists in this world, there was no way he would do that.


    "There are still many mysteries in this world. A broken top-class mecha has battle power of that level. What would happen if it were complete?"


    Fang Yuan silently looked outside the window. He watched the clouds fade away quickly before the outline of East Dragon University appeared and smirked.


    ¡­


    "Student Lin Meng, please allow us to perform an inspection!"


    Once Fang Yuan got off the aircraft, he spotted several mentors with serious expressions.


    "All right!"


    He nodded, allowing them to scan him with their various instruments and take some blood samples.


    Although the Human Alliance respected privacy, there were some safety precautions it had to take. For instance, against spies of the Cosmic Lifeform Alliance!


    There was a type of Brain Zerg that could invade a human''s brain and control the human to do whatever it wanted like a puppet.


    Fang Yuan knew that if he resisted, the Undead Immortals who were secretly watching would dash out immediately.


    As long as he passed this test, there would be no problems, and nothing would hold him back.


    ¡­


    "Great¡­ it seems like the school also hopes to keep secrets and won''t announce this to the outside!"


    After walking around the campus, he realized that he had not become famous. Fang Yuan was very pleased with this.


    He thought about it and did not return to his dorm. Instead, he went to a courtyard house. "Teacher Han Yunfeng, are you here?"


    "¡­ Lin Meng! Come in!"


    The main door opened automatically, and Fang Yuan stepped in. He went to the large hall, but he found that Han Yunfeng seemed to be in a bad state.


    He wore a scruffy outfit, his hair was as messy as a bird''s nest, his eyes were bloodshot, and he had a foul stench all over his body.


    "What happened?" he asked curiously.


    "I''ve failed¡­ I tried a few times, but creating the high-tier brain development drug with ancient refinement methods has a bottleneck that I can''t break through!" Han Yunfeng murmured with a dazed look.


    Bang!


    After saying that, it seemed like he could not bear it. He fainted and collapsed onto the ground.


    "Looks like¡­ he''s failed a lot!"


    Fang Yuan shook his head and went to the bronze furnace.


    After wasting so many top materials, this created a mountain of pressure on Han Yunfeng.


    "Eh?" He looked for a moment and was quite happy to find that there were just enough materials for one last attempt.


    "Just right¡­ you''ve helped me a few times before, so I''ll help you become famous. This was my intention in coming here today," Fang Yuan said to the unconscious Han Yunfeng. Then he started the pill furnace.


    "For high-tier pills and medicines, you need to mix in Aural Dao at the end. This is the hardest step, and it seems like Han Yunfeng also failed at this step. What does Aural Dao refer to? Of course, it''s the rhythm of a Great Dao!"


    For an alchemist, capturing Aural Dao and refining it into pills and medicines was extremely difficult.


    However, this was not difficult for Fang Yuan at all.


    "The Zerg¡­ Empress brain nucleus!"


    He picked up a sparkling white crystal that had a white tissue sealed within.


    Without hesitating, he tossed it into the furnace.


    Demon God-level True Spirit power seeped out to directly control the furnace fire.


    Soon after, he tossed in other high-end materials.


    Every material was highly valuable, and there was no market. Fang Yuan had only seen them in textbooks before, but even so, his hands did not shake at all.


    After a while, the numerous medicinal fluids started to fuse, and the pill furnace began rumbling.


    "This is the most important step. I''ll refine in Aural Dao now!"


    Fang Yuan smiled lightly as he channeled the power of his Great Dao. A heavenly flower appeared and entered the pill furnace.


    Clang!


    After a loud explosion, the pill furnace opened up and emitted a five-colored light.


    The scent of medicine began spreading, and the colors suddenly began changing before finally turning purple.


    "Come out!"


    With a wave of his hand, a ball of purple liquid flew out from the pill furnace and into a test tube. Soon after, he stepped forward and kicked Han Yunfeng awake without any trace of politeness.


    "Hey! Teacher Han, wake up!"


    Han Yunfeng grumbled and turned over.


    After all, he was still a Mystic. Even if he had overdrawn his energy, causing him to pass out, he would mostly recover after resting a while.


    "Ah¡­ Lin Meng, you''re back. I couldn''t find you before, so I experimented on my own. The result was, ah¡­ I wasted most of my materials. Fortunately, I have the last batch¡­ sigh¡­"


    He widened his eyes, looked at the pill furnace, and then the empty box at the side. "Where is my Empress brain nucleus?"


    "Here!"


    Fang Yuan waved the purple test tube in his hands. "Refinement of the high-tier brain development drug using the ancient method has succeeded! If you don''t mind it, I hope that you''ll put my name down as the second author!"


    "Succeeded?"


    Han Yunfeng rubbed his eyes, thinking he was dreaming.


    ¡­


    The core of East Dragon University, in a conference room.


    A projector turned on and displayed several life-like 3d images while a group sat around a round table.


    In front of them, the screen shone brightly, displaying several fragmented scenes from Moon Jaw Lake.


    If Fang Yuan were here, he would be very surprised.


    This was because these Undead Immortals had methods to monitor the entire planet!


    After a long time, an Undead Immortal began to speak. "These are the images that the Heavenly Eye captured¡­


    "I have to say Wu Wudi is getting out of hand. I think he needs to undergo a psychological evaluation. Otherwise, the greater his ability, the greater the harm! I can''t believe he instigated the murder of a fellow student. Does he have any human nature or respect for the law?"


    "And this Lin Meng''s admission data was very ordinary. To reach Golden Core in such a short time, he must be hiding a secret. Especially that magical weapon which instantly killed three Golden Core cultivators at the same time. Interesting, very interesting. I would like to research him," said a red-haired Undead Immortal.


    "Unfortunately¡­ the Heavenly Eye is the result of our latest research, and its performance isn''t stable yet. There aren''t any records of what happened from the start. But with the other students'' testimonies, we know most of it. We know that Wu Wudi was at fault, but he has already advanced to Nascent Soul. We''ll give him a warning and remove his professor status!" said the old man sitting at the head of the table said.


    "As for the Wings of the Sky, haha¡­ the exploration regulations state that it belongs to Lin Meng. If he donates it, it''ll belong to our university. If Sky University dares to send someone over, tell them to look for me!"


    Even though the old man looked kind, his words had a domineering edge to it.


    "About Lin Meng, is the report out yet?"


    On the right, a white-robed Undead Immortal who looked like a researcher said, "We''ve investigated his DNA and psyche waves. There are no abnormalities. It''s not a method of the cosmic lifeforms¡­ However, we haven''t discovered this child''s secret yet. As for his spiritual roots development¡­ he''s already at Golden Core. Without looking at the sea of consciousness, I can''t figure it out!"


    "It seems like he''s had a fortuitous encounter!" said the old man on the head seat. "In any case¡­ as long as he''s human, he''s one of our allies. Let''s broaden our outlook. A person''s ability has its limits after all. Later on, he might even actively choose to join our research!"


    "Principal, there''s a new situation!" All of a sudden, an Undead Immortal''s expression changed. He whispered something to the principal.


    "What?" The principal''s eyes widened into large circles, and he suddenly swung his hand. "Send out my orders to set this student''s file as top secret. All those involved in this matter are to remain silent!"

 966 Negotiations

    "What happened this time?" asked the group of Undead Immortals in surprise.


    "It''s that Lin Meng again¡­ he unexpectedly broke the shackles of ancient refinement methods to concoct the high-tier brain development drug!"


    The principal smiled bitterly.


    Hiss hiss!


    Gasps erupted around the table.


    Even though Undead Immortals did not need the drug, they understood what it meant. It was something that could potentially change the structure of the world.


    "In order to prevent leaks, I can only do this. Wait here. I will meet him personally!"


    ¡­


    "This experiment has proven that in the aspect of inputting Aural Dao, ancient alchemy has a clear advantage. It can increase the success rate by more than 15%!"


    Fang Yuan''s fingers were flying as the lines of a paper formed under his hand. Han Yunfeng read the data analysis, and his eyes twitched. "I have to say, the experiment only succeeded once. We haven''t even performed comparative analysis. How can we write such a conclusion?"


    According to his intentions, this success would be a great reason to request more resources from the school.


    "Not necessary¡­ the data from simulation experiments is all in my head!" Fang Yuan said nonchalantly in the style of a genius.


    "All right¡­ But how did you cultivate to this level in such a short amount of time?"


    Han Yunfeng felt that he had received too many blows today, and his brain was feeling numb.


    "Haha¡­ Student Lin Meng!"


    All of a sudden, a white-haired old man entered the hall, scaring Han Yunfeng. "How''s it going?"


    A person who could infiltrate a cultivator''s cave abode was not ordinary. Not to mention, East Dragon University''s restrictions were also protecting this place.


    "Ah, it''s you, Principal?"


    After seeing who it was, Han Yunfeng immediately felt at ease.


    After all, this Venerable Three Star had the highest authority in the entirety of East Dragon University. Being able to do this was not surprising at all.


    "Principal?"


    This was the first time that Fang Yuan met an Undead Immortal, and he felt slightly agitated at that moment.


    However, he knew the severity of his actions, which was why he did not do anything. He wanted to see how things were going to pan out.


    "Student Lin Meng, on top of your exceptional talent in cultivation, I didn''t expect you to have an equal amount of talent in alchemy¡­" Undead Immortal Three Star laughed gently. "If we hadn''t examined your psyche waves and verified that there were no abnormalities, I would have thought that you were an ancient cultivator who took over this body!"


    "Principal, you must be joking."


    Fang Yuan smiled wordlessly. Lin Meng was indeed taken over. Unfortunately, although the school''s detection system was powerful, it could not identify a Demon God True Spirit.


    "This¡­ is the paper on refining the high-tier brain development drug¡­"


    Venerable Three Star stepped forward and took a look. His expression changed immediately. "Do you know what it means to be able to raise the success rate by 15 to 25%?"


    "Of course I do. It means a major disruption for the entire pharmaceutical industry. On top of that, it provides opportunities for high-level Mystics to make up for the gaps in their foundation. It''ll become the core military power in our battle against the cosmic lifeforms!"


    Fang Yuan thought about this long ago, which was also why he had proposed this refining experiment and paper.


    No matter how talented a student was, it only suggested their potential as an Undead Immortal.


    However, talents like him who could cause the revolution of an entire industry were rare.


    Given the overall situation, the school would seal all information related to him. This was also a form of protection. After all, if the Cosmic Lifeform Alliance found out about this, Fang Yuan would be added to their assassination list.


    With East Dragon University undertaking this task, he did not need to worry about his information leaking, thereby attracting the Abominable Lord.


    At the moment, he and this existence were in a strange contest.


    Even though he would not be a match for him outside this world, it was not the same here.


    As Fang Yuan recovered his strength, it sparked his competitiveness. He wanted to slug it out with the other party.


    After revealing this, the entire East Dragon University, or rather the entire Human Alliance will be on my side. Even if the Abominable Lord receives the news and attacks me, I won''t have to make a single move. I''ll witness the power of the best educational institution in the Human Alliance, East Dragon University!


    This world was vast. Inevitably, someone on the level of a Demon God must exist somewhere.


    For instance, Undead Immortals could increase their levels infinitely. It would not be impossible for them to reach level thirty or even forty! Even if they were all Undead Immortals, the difference between their combat power was like heaven and earth!


    Fang Yuan instinctively sensed that the Venerable Three Star before him was just an incarnation. Even so, he could not underestimate his strength.


    If East Dragon University could not match a Demon God even after activating their top combat power, it would be a complete joke!


    "Yes, it''s good that you know. I approve of this paper. However, we need to add a top-secret tag to it! The same goes for your information. What do you think?" Venerable Three Star turned to Fang Yuan. "Of course, the school has been monitoring your contributions and the matter from before. We''ll give you a favorable reward for your work!"


    Right after he finished speaking, Fang Yuan received a notification on his wristband. He received a large number of credits on his account, and the number of zeros was terrifying.


    "No problem!" Fang Yuan nodded.


    "On top of that, you''re a genius that surpasses Wu Wudi. I hope that no matter what happens in the future, you''ll prioritize humanity! Don''t be like Wu Wudi. If you have any doubts in your studies or anything else, you''re welcome to call my private number!"


    Venerable Three Star was obviously extending his goodwill, and it almost seemed like he had intentions to take him in as his disciple.


    "Hold on, Principal. What are you talking about? Why can''t I understand this?" Han Yunfeng was confused.


    "All you have to know is that this student''s information is top-secret. I don''t think you want me to send out a purger, do you?" Venerable Three Star smiled.


    "No! Of course not!" Han Yunfeng suddenly felt a chill and did not dare not ask more. "I''ll go out for a while!"


    He also realized that Fang Yuan''s gift in alchemy alone would be sufficient to warrant East Dragon University''s protection, not to mention his other secrets.


    "Mentor Han Yunfeng, I am a contract lawyer directly under the school. I need you to verify this confidentiality agreement here!"


    At this moment, an expressionless cultivator in blood-red clothes came to him.


    "No problem!"


    This was a cultivator trained by the school who specialized in curses. Contracts that were notarized by him were legally binding and bound by his curse. Anyone who broke the contract would face a horrifying fate.


    Han Yunfeng smiled bitterly for a moment before leaving his spiritual will signature on it.


    ¡­


    Inside the courtyard house, Fang Yuan thought of something and took out an item. "This is a strange object that I obtained in a special encounter. I can lend it to the school for research!"


    Everything he did was to be protected. Even him dismantling the Wings of the Sky was to erase traces. His only flaw was killing the three Golden Core cultivators instantly.


    Since Fang Yuan planned to continue studying at East Dragon University, he wanted to make up for this flaw.


    "This is¡­" Venerable Three Star stared at that thin needle and suddenly recalled the image from the Heavenly Eye when Fang Yuan killed three Golden Core cultivators at once.


    "When I first got it, I thought that it was just a regular needle. However, it seems like it can penetrate any object. To date, I haven''t found a material that can defend against it! Even Golden Core Mystics'' true elemental shields and magical weapons are like paper in front of it. I merely relied on it to kill Red Tarantula''s great commander!"


    Of course, this was not his magical weapon seed. It was not even a weapon that was enhanced by the Omnidirectional Divine Demonic Armament Dao.


    It looked simple and unassuming. Costing 0.01 star dollars, it was a standard sewing needle that anyone could find in a shop.


    However, Fang Yuan had used the Impermanence Great Dao to turn it into a Derivative. On top of that, he gave it with the ''sharp'' peculiarity.


    "That''s definitely not an ordinary needle!"


    Venerable Three Star was well-learned, but after examining it, he nearly burst out cursing. "How can something like this exist in the universe? Is there such a huge gap in our science?"


    If one were to say that this world''s science and technology was an Orthodox Dao, the Impermanence Great Dao was thoroughly the antithesis of it!


    Its existence would cause scientists to collapse in disbelief and begin doubting the world.


    Fang Yuan was really looking forward to it. He wondered how deep this world would go into the research of peculiarities.


    "Sorry¡­ I forgot myself!" Venerable Three Star apologized. "Its existence is unreasonable. Student Lin Meng, thank you for your generosity. Perhaps, it may point out a brand new direction in our scientific knowledge!"


    He had valued Fang Yuan before, but now the principal felt that this needle was more important than anything else!


    This was the common failing of a researcher.


    "The researchers from tool refinement and materials departments will also be grateful to you!"


    Venerable Three Star was excited. He could not wait to leave and take the needle to a laboratory for research.


    As he was leaving, it seemed like he remembered something. He patted his head. "Oh! Also, regarding Wu Sanhuai, even Wu Wudi hasn''t mentioned anything about the police. Furthermore, in the Wasteland, fighting back in self-defense isn''t an offense! As for Red Tarantula''s leaders, those three people had bounties on them. We''ll transfer the reward to your account in a while!"


    He was very satisfied with this first meeting. Not only did they reach a consensus, but he had also obtained a precious research subject!


    He immediately forgot about all the trivial matters.


    ¡­


    "You¡­"


    After Venerable Three Star left, Han Yunfeng returned to the house. He looked at Fang Yuan with a complex expression. "Forget it¡­ I won''t ask you anything. You can tell me what you want!"


    "Uh¡­" Fang Yuan released his Breath Holding Dao Art, and the fluctuations of his Golden Core emerged. "I''ve reached the Golden Core stage!"


    "¡­"


    ¡­


    "Genius! You''re a true genius!"


    After a while, Han Yunfeng finally calmed down. He stared at Fang Yuan like he was a monster. "This must be why the principal came to see you!"


    As for Wu Wudi and the mecha, Fang Yuan mentioned none of it. He was afraid that Han Yunfeng would faint from the shock.


    "With your cultivation and level of alchemy, you should just skip a year! Why continue with your first year?"


    After a series of shocks, Han Yunfeng was left with excitement. "Even though your alchemy and cultivation have surpassed many graduates, I still recommend you start as a second-year and study the contents of the pharmacy department completely¡­"


    "Sorry¡­" Fang Yuan shrugged. "I''ve thought about it, and my true dream is to enter the mecha department!"


    "Huh???"

 967 Gif

    "The psionic crystal is also known as the ''anti-matter crystal'' or ''God''s crystal''. It was first discovered in the Tarenma Galaxy on Planet A-23. It contains powerful and stable energy¡­


    "In the Year 19087, the Father of Gundam, the creator of mecha, Undead Immortal Construct¡ªXuan Jinzi¡ªand the West''s Grand Arcanist Ovo joined hands to create the first psionic reactor to extract energy from the psionic crystal. In the same year, they created the first Gundam mecha!


    "As of now, the psionic crystal has turned into a mandatory energy center for mechas. Its price continues to increase as time passes. However, the most disappointing part is that the Human Alliance has been unable to find any other way to form it. All of the psionic crystals have to be extracted from mines!


    "Research has also shown that psionic crystals can help cosmic behemoths grow and develop. There are rumors that psionic crystals can stimulate the birth of Zerg Empresses as well¡­


    "In the past, scholars suggested that we shouldn''t entangle with the cosmic lifeforms, but instead turn toward the exploration of more unknown galaxies. However, when we discovered the Devil Galaxy, we found many large psionic mines. Scientists predicted that if the Cosmic Lifeform Alliance obtained this place, they would be able to take over every corner of the universe, and humanity would become extinct!


    "As the matters around the Devil Galaxy continued to evolve, the conflict between the Human Alliance and the Cosmic Lifeform Alliance escalated! The Cosmic Lifeform Alliance gave birth to several kings using the psionic crystals. Meanwhile, humanity developed many newer generations of mecha. Before the psionic crystals are completely mined out, this bitter war of attrition must continue!"


    ¡­


    Fang Yuan was currently browsing through all the top-secret information.


    Not only did these cost a lot of credits, but they also required a certain level of jurisdiction as well.


    However, after meeting the principal, his jurisdiction was elevated, and it was sufficient for him to browse these materials.


    Recalling the day he declared his wish to enter the mecha department and Han Yunfeng''s shock, disbelief, and confusion, a smile appeared on his face.


    For him, the pharmacy department did not have many secrets to unravel.


    His objective for coming to this world was for psionic crystals!


    Considering the situation and his objective, entering the mecha department was logical!


    "I''ve already consumed the psionic crystal from the Wings of the Sky. I still need to consume at least nine hundred more from mechas of that level before I can break through the bottleneck of the Heaven Devouring Mystic Technique. I wonder if I consume those from the standard K9999 Gundams, how many more do I need? Ten thousand? One hundred thousand?"


    Fang Yuan thought regretfully, "Unfortunately, psionic crystals are a top-grade military resource. I can''t obtain them at all! I can''t buy them even if I have credits!"


    As he thought about this, he pulled out another piece of information that he had bought casually. It contained information about this world''s highest combat power, an introduction to Undead Immortals:


    "When you reach level twenty Mystic, it is known as Soul Transformation! At level twenty-one, you turn into an Undead Immortal! This isn''t an arbitrary distinction. It''s a difference in concepts between ancient and modern cultivation! Ancient cultivators believed that after achieving Soul Transformation, they had to transcend their tribulation at once. However, this has been scientifically proven false. Current cultivators believe that after Soul Transformation, the three energies within their bodies would fuse. With the power of Soul Transformation, it''ll bring you to the pinnacle of cultivators. If you wish to improve any further, the only way is to change your lifeform!


    "The so-called Undead Immortal, in essence, is only a foundation¡­ The main benefit is the ability to hold unlimited energy! With this foundation, you can continue to increase your level endlessly in the future! Whether Undead Immortals that have surpassed level fifty can break through the universe remains a myth!


    "A few days ago, Undead Immortal Honest Ghost published a study claiming that he managed to make a breakthrough in the transformation of an Undead Immortal. If this result is true, it will become possible to perform a transformation surgery at the Nascent Soul stage to become an Undead Immortal. However, on the same day he announced his results, the West''s Grand Arcanist Walker declared that it was academic fraud. The various experimental data from Honest Ghost came from Walker''s research on Western lich transformations, and he reserves to right to take legal action!"


    ¡­


    "Undead Immortals¡­ it should be related to lich transformations! But they''re not the same!"


    Fang Yuan rubbed his chin.


    The most significant difference was that Undead Immortal began after Soul Transformation. On the other hand, the Western lich transformation only required certain conditions to be fulfilled, and even a low-level necromancer could do it.


    Of course, the resulting liches from such a transformation were weaklings.


    Furthermore, due to the various flaws of a lich, there were few Arcanists that were willing to do this. Even if they wanted to transform, they would wait until they ascended to Grand Arcanist before undergoing the perfect lich transformation ritual. Following this, they would transition to live an ordinary person''s lifestyle and completely abandon their past bodies.


    "With my cultivation speed, I''ll probably form my Nascent Soul after a month. It''s a little slow, but after all, I''m in East Dragon University right now. I can''t use my Demon God power as I like to absorb the energy of the universe."


    Fang Yuan looked around.


    He was currently in the best cultivation room. It was not cheap, but the concentration of the energy particles left him very satisfied.


    After spending so many credits, this was finally worth his money.


    "There''s Wu Wudi too. After his previous failure, he''ll come for revenge after recovering from his wounds!" Fang Yuan rubbed his eyebrows. "Well, he can come if he wants. I''ll play with him and consider it a form of relaxation."


    ''Ding! Student Lin Meng, you have a visitor!'' a robotic voice sounded. Fang Yuan looked at the screen, slightly surprised. "It''s him? Let him in!"


    After a moment, the student council president, Qi Yunshan, walked in with a face full of smiles "Haha, Junior Lin Meng. I''m here to see you. I wonder if you''ll welcome an uninvited guest like me?"


    "Of course, you''re welcome!"


    Even though Fang Yuan felt that something was off, he showed a sincere smile anyway and stepped forward to greet him. "Senior, please have a seat. May I ask why you''re here today?"


    "There are some matters I want to discuss. After all, I''ve been harassed by that family for a long time!" He smiled bitterly.


    "About that, I''ve already donated the parts of the mecha. I don''t have any rights over them anymore!"


    Fang Yuan shrugged. However, he knew that Qi Yunshan did not come all the way here just to talk about that. It was probably an excuse.


    "Mmm¡­" Qi Yunshan took a sip of tea and suddenly lowered his voice. "The school''s contract lawyer came to me. He told me that Wu Wudi was instructed to remain silent. The same goes for the other university students. The school sent the purgers to tie up loose ends as well. This is the treatment for the highest level of confidentiality. Even Wu Wudi hasn''t experienced it before!"


    "If it were him, he wouldn''t like it, right?" Fang Yuan smiled dryly. "But I don''t like crowds, so this is just right for me!"


    "Don''t you understand? This is the school''s efforts in nurturing you as a top seed of humanity!" Qi Yunshan explained. "The Cosmic Lifeform Alliance has always planted spies among humanity. Other than steal secrets, they''ve also sent assassins to kill the top geniuses and researchers. Of the two, they prefer killing. Unfortunately, even Wu Wudi has encountered this before¡­"


    The research abilities and combat effectiveness of the best scholars in this world were linked. To be on the hit list, they were at least level fifteen and above. Naturally, they paid no heed to those assassins.


    On the other hand, people like Fang Yuan who had low cultivation but great research results were their favorite targets.


    It was no wonder that East Dragon University''s principal, Venerable Three Star, started protecting Lin Meng after receiving news about him.


    "So¡­" Fang Yuan turned to Qi Yunshan.


    "I''m not sure what your contributions are for the school to treat you like this, but the biggest threat to you might have turned into cosmic lifeforms¡­"


    Qi Yunshan continued solemnly, "Also, someone might leak that information!"


    Even though the school had signed confidentiality agreements, it was not impossible to get around it. For instance, if they were to leak the information before they signed it, it would not be a problem.


    "I understand. Thank you for the advice. I''ll take note!" Fang Yuan nodded.


    "By the way, are you going to skip a grade?" Qi Yunshan changed the topic. "For you, studying first-year content is a waste of time."


    "That''s right. I''ll be transferring to the mecha department!" Fang Yuan said.


    "The mecha department, huh¡­ I''m a student there!" Qi Yunshan''s enthusiasm sparked. "Do you want me to introduce a mentor to you? Even if you''re looking for a position in Professor Fu Hongxue''s research group, I can get one. Considering the matter on the Wings of the Sky, he won''t reject!"


    "Then, thanks in advance!"


    Regarding his goodwill, Fang Yuan did not reject it.


    Furthermore, he suspected that Qi Yunshan came because he had heard his intentions.


    With his talents, even after excluding his talent in alchemy, he would have been scouted anyway.


    "Oh, right!" Before leaving, Qi Yunshan smiled mischievously. "I''ve prepared a gift for you. I''ll send her in later. For things that we couldn''t get as youths, when you get them after growing older, you''ll realize that it was nothing much!"


    His statement was inexplicable. But when Fang Yuan saw the ''gift'', he was really surprised.


    "Mas-Master!"


    Ling Fei''er was wearing a maid outfit. She bit her red lip as she walked forward slowly and bowed to Fang Yuan.


    "What''s going on?" Fang Yuan furrowed his brows.


    Ling Fei''er bowed. "I''ve withdrawn from school. I am now employed by the Yunshan Group as Mr. Meng''s maid! Everything has legal effect!"


    "Oh?" Fang Yuan nodded, knowing that for her to end up like was already pretty lucky.


    Furthermore, he did not have the slightest bit of sympathy for her at all. Instead, he was speechless.


    Obviously, Qi Yunshan had investigated everything about Lin Meng. He knew about Lin Meng''s relationship with Ling Fei''er and that Lin Meng had confessed to her in the past, which was why he had put in the effort to bring her here.


    However¡­


    What does this have to do with me?


    Fang Yuan spotted Ling Fei''er''s miserable expression and rolled his eyes. "Why are you giving me such a wronged look? Do you think it''s embarrassing to be my maid because you''re rich?"


    "The Ling Group has fallen into bankruptcy and been acquired. I''m not rich anymore!" Ling Fei''er answered miserably.

 968 Mecha

    "Oh? Really?"


    Fang Yuan looked at Ling Fei''er, but he was indifferent. He said right in front of her, "Qi Yunshan, what''s the meaning of this?"


    "It''s not much. Just a small gift!" Qi Yunshan winked suggestively on the screen.


    "Thank you, but I don''t really like this gift. The most appropriate place for her is behind bars! Attempted murder, isn''t that enough to put her in jail?" Fang Yuan said impassively while watching Ling Fei''er tremble.


    "Brat¡­ you''re ruthless!" Qi Yunshan''s expression darkened. "However, to tell you the truth, this isn''t just my idea. Do you think I have that much power?"


    Yeah, without East Dragon University, Ling Fei''er would likely be in a worse situation¡­


    Fang Yuan thought for a moment, but he did not need a maid by his side. It was not convenient for him.


    "You''d better take her back. I''ll stick to my earlier thoughts!" he added before turning off the communicator.


    "Lin Meng¡­" Ling Fei''er''s face was pale. It seemed like flames were spurting out of her eyes. She stared at Fang Yuan and said fiercely, "I''ll hate you forever!"


    "Go ahead! You''re welcome to it!"


    Fang Yuan stood with his hands behind his back without a shred of emotion in his eyes.


    He already extinguished the remaining instincts in this body. Even as he watched Qi Yunshan take Ling Fei''er away, he felt nothing.


    "Hm, after dealing with Ling Fei''er, it seems like Xiao Hongyue is next!" Fang Yuan thought about it. "Later on, I''ll refine a high-tier brain development drug and send it to her. I''ll end things with her like this¡­"


    His focus was his own karma. As for the past Lin Meng, it was merely incidental.


    Otherwise, with that idiot around, there was no way Ling Fei''er would have ended up like this.


    ¡­


    Fang Yuan''s application was quickly approved.


    Before long, he became an honorable second-year mecha department student.


    Of course, when he saw the tuition, miscellaneous school fees, daily fees, and material costs, he was speechless.


    Soon after, an email appeared on his device.


    ''Beep! Greetings, Student Lin Meng! The Department of Mecha Piloting is the most expensive in all schools. If you are unable to pay the tuition and other expenses, you can sign an agreement with the military to obtain an interest-free loan!''


    "It turns out that mecha pilots might not have to enter the battlefield after they graduate. That''s just a decision for poor students who have no other choice. After all, being in the mecha department consumes a lot of resources!"


    To become a skilled mecha pilot, the amount of operation time one got was very important. Even the original Gundam model used for training was costly.


    "Compared to mecha pilots, the cost of failing to concoct pills in the pharmacy department is nothing!"


    Fang Yuan finally understood that a mecha pilot was an esteemed profession. Without the appropriate family background, it was best not to try. Otherwise, they would have to sell themselves to repay their debts.


    Fortunately, Fang Yuan was quite rich. He directly waved his hand, paid the credits, and immediately received a timetable.


    "Mecha Basics, Basic Maintenance, and Combat Piloting? Not bad!"


    In fact, the first-year classes had just started. His transfer to the second year was just in time.


    "I''ll attend a few classes first. If there isn''t much to learn, I''ll look for Qi Yunshan and enter Fu Hongxue''s research group."


    Fang Yuan put on his school uniform with the second-year badge. He walked through the campus while new students stared at him in disbelief.


    "Is that¡­ Lin Meng?"


    "Why is he a second-year now?"


    "He skipped a year? Didn''t L¨¹ Songyang say that he was trash?"


    "That''s not right. He has a terrifying aura. Even the seniors might not compare to him!"


    ¡­


    Various discussions continued.


    Since he skipped a grade, Fang Yuan used his Breath Holding Dao Art and adjusted his cultivation to level six Foundation Establishment.


    At this cultivation level, he could be regarded as a genius, so it was reasonable for him to skip a year.


    Furthermore, second-year students might not compare to him.


    "There''s a Mecha Basics class in the afternoon. It''s in district three, room A-985!"


    As Fang Yuan passed through the barrier, someone with thick eyebrows and glasses walked up to him. It was Mentor L¨¹ Songyang!


    "Student Lin Meng, I apologize! I was wrong about you!" L¨¹ Songyang had a good attitude this time, taking the initiative to greet him and apologize. "You''ve already reached the Foundation Establishment stage? You''re a genius!"


    "Uh, it''s all right. I was also hiding it at that time!" Fang Yuan said frankly, but he felt dumbfounded. At first, he thought he would have a bloody fight with the mentor and was thinking about how to retaliate, but the mentor gave in first.


    "Haha. Everyone has their secrets. It''s normal! Understandable!" L¨¹ Songyang said with a smile, looking joyful. The other first-year students would have been shocked.


    In reality, he was actually thinking, Lin Meng is already at Foundation Establishment. He''s definitely a genius, and I''m sure he''ll reach Golden Core and Nascent Soul soon. With the school attaching importance to him, I''d be courting death if I chose to go against him! I might as well reconcile quickly. At worst, it''ll be a little shameful for me!


    Every mentor was intelligent. L¨¹ Songyang did not even need a reminder from his superiors before he acted on it immediately. "Have you chosen your department?"


    "Yeah, the mecha department!" Fang Yuan nodded.


    "That department has a lot of expenditures. Are you okay with your credits?" L¨¹ Songyang asked.


    "That''s okay! It''s settled. Teacher, if there isn''t anything else, I''ll be leaving first!"


    Fang Yuan turned to one side and walked past Lu Songyang, leaving Old Lu alone. "Wh-what? It''s settled? Without obtaining sponsorship from the military, he paid for it on his own?!"


    A mecha department student who could self-fund meant that they were rich, and not just normal rich!


    ¡­


    "A-985? This is it."


    Fang Yuan looked up at the sign, walked into the large lecture hall, and sat down in a corner.


    "Hello, classmate? Excuse me, you are¡­"


    Even if he did not want to be high-profile, an unfamiliar face that was at Foundation Establishment still drew a lot of attention.


    Before long, a female student could not hold back her curiosity.


    She did not suspect that someone would sit-in for the class. With the face-detector at the entrance, anyone who did not pay could never make it in.


    "I''m Lin Meng. I''ve just skipped a year!" Fang Yuan replied with a slight smile and looked at this senior.


    She had white skin like a Westerner, but looked very delicate. She was a mixed-blood beauty.


    "Skipped a year? Didn''t the first-years just start class? You must be a genius! My name is Sunny!" Sunny gasped in surprise for a moment before extending her right hand. "Nice to meet you!"


    "Nice to meet you too!"


    Fang Yuan started making small talk. "Do you know Qi Yunshan?"


    "Of course, he is a senior in the fourth year and also the student council president!" Sunny''s eyes glittered. "Do you know him?"


    "No, I''m just asking!"


    Fang Yuan quickly changed the topic. Soon, he saw a female teacher enter the room.


    She had a lean, slender figure and wore a military uniform, looking rather valiant and formidable.


    Most importantly, her cultivation had already reached level ten!


    She was Mecha Basics'' teacher, Monalisa.


    "Students, we''ll begin class now!"


    Monalisa stood on the lecture platform, swept the classroom with her spiritual will, and said with satisfaction, "That''s right! A student has skipped a year and joined us today. His name is Lin Meng! Why don''t you stand up and introduce yourself?"


    Fang Yuan rolled his eyes as he stood up. "Nice to meet you. My name is Lin Meng. Let''s get along!"


    His cultivation evoked a wave of surprise from the crowd.


    At this cultivation level, he was a top-class genius. All the students felt that it was natural for him to skip a grade.


    But after he sat down, he thought to himself, However¡­ the second year is indeed the second year. Any random mentor is already at Golden Core, which is much better than the first year. Of course, it might be because this is the mecha department. After spending so much, they have to make their expenditures worth it!


    "All right, I won''t slow down just for you. If you want to review the past content, you can purchase my lecture videos online!"


    Monalisa smiled. "Now, let''s continue to learn about the development and performance of the Gundam-K series!"


    She tapped on her screen, and a holographic image of a mecha that was dozens of meters tall appeared. It had thick armor and a rough paint job, giving Fang Yuan the impression that it was a dumb, dark-skinned slab of meat.


    "The Gundam series is the ancestor of mechas. Many of its design ideas are still in use now¡­ The model I''m showing here is the K9998, codenamed ''Defender''. As long as the psionic reactor doesn''t exceed 50% damage, it can continue operating. It is suitable for all types of environments. In the past, there was a mecha pilot using the Defender who managed to survive in a harsh planetary environment for an entire month. When it was found, its damage percentage was at 49.99%! However, it was still able to operate like normal and walked on to the deck on its own!"


    On the stage, Monalisa''s voice was rich and vibrant. It seemed like she had a lot of affection for the Gundam series.


    Fang Yuan''s comprehension was amazing. He looked at the students nearby taking down notes and felt a little bored, so he opened up the lesson material he had purchased online and began to learn the content on his own.


    "Mechas are humanity''s vanguard against the cosmic behemoths! Starting from the most basic Gundam series, there are five grades¡ªSoldier, General, King, Emperor, and God!


    "Soldier-grade mechas are regularly manufactured mechas. The representative model is the Gundam K9999. Their general combat power is equivalent to level fourteen Mystic!


    "General-grade mechas are also known as the Elite-grade. Within the military, they are equivalent to squadron leaders. Their combat power is at level fifteen or more!


    "Every King-grade mecha is customized and can''t be mass-produced. They are equivalent to level twenty Soul Transformation Mystic!


    "Emperor-grade mechas are the emperors of mechas! It is the crystallization of cutting-edge research institutes. When an Undead Immortal pilots one, it is humanity''s top combat power!


    "Lastly, Thearch-grade mechas have another name, Dominator! With only one, you can dominate the entire battlefield!"


    ¡­


    "In that case, the Wings of the Sky I picked up must be Emperor-grade. Of course, after all the damage, it most likely fell to King-grade!"


    Fang Yuan understood now.

 969 Combat Skills and Spiritual Techniques

    On the spacious training grounds was a majestic row of steel mechas, each standing at over dozens of meters tall.


    "You need to experience real battle and accumulate operating hours in order to become an excellent mecha pilot!"


    A single-eyed instructor was giving a lecture to the students with a solemn expression. "Other schools use outdated models for training. Some even use ancient first-generation machines. But here, all of you will use the K9999 model! You''re lucky to have this! It''ll be a seamless transition when you get into the military, and you will not require familiarization! You¡­" He pointed at a student at random. "Recite the specifications of K9999!"


    "Yes, Sir!" A young man crossed his hands behind his back and yelled, "Gundam K9999, height, 24.5 meters! Weight, 177 tons! Its armor is made from Norman alloy, it uses a third-generation psionic reactor, and its main weapon is a shoulder-mounted laser cannon. It can carry additional weapons such as a photon clutch blade, nuclear sledgehammer, alloy battle saber¡­"


    "Excellent! Return to your position!" One-eyed Ya Ge was rather satisfied with the answer. His gaze shifted, landing on Fang Yuan. "Discipline and obedience are the core values of my lessons. All my orders, no matter how unreasonable, must be completed at all costs. Understood?"


    "Yes, Sir!" the students yelled.


    "Now, enter your mecha. Be careful not to step on the wrong valve. If anyone makes this kind of amateur mistake, I will make him clean the training grounds and toilets for a month!" Ya Ge shouted and entered his instructor mecha.


    His mecha was a different Gundam model. It was around a dozen meters tall and black from head to toe, presenting an elegant and smooth yet slightly ferocious beauty of brutality.


    It was obvious that it was an Elite-grade mecha that cost an arm and a leg.


    The K9999 series that students piloted was the best option that balanced price and performance. Their cost had been reduced to around a hundred million star dollars. On the other hand, Elite-grade mechas could easily cost a few hundred million!


    The even higher King-grades could not be mass-produced and had to be custom made. The materials were very precious, and it might not even be possible to gather them all.


    Mecha pilots that could order custom-made mechas were surely loaded.


    Emperor-grade ones required the effort of the entire Human Alliance to produce.


    After knowing this, Fang Yuan''s heart sank. "Damn¡­ it''s hard to say if there are even a thousand Emperor-grade mechas in the entire Human Alliance¡­ Looks like I''ll have to dig deep into the mines. However, the Devil Galaxy is on the frontlines and not open for traveling. Is joining the military the only option?"


    With these thoughts in mind, he entered the cockpit of a K9999 from the back and felt a sensation entirely different from when he was in the Wings of the Sky.


    Emperor-grade mechas were completely operated with spiritual will, even creating the illusion that the mecha was your own body.


    However, Soldier-grade mechas were obviously not that sophisticated, and he had to put on a helmet to establish the neural connection. There was also a slight latency to the connection.


    There were even groups of levers and valves to assist in operating, making it much harder to pilot than the Emperor-grade mechas.


    "Activate!" Fang Yuan followed the textbook and activated the psionic reactor. The mecha''s eyes lit up immediately.


    The monitors around him showed the view outside, providing an immersive experience. A large stream of data appeared in the air and displayed all kinds of information.


    "The efficiency of the psionic reactor is too bad! Negative review! There''s delay in the neural connection! Negative review! Even the seat is so hard! Even worse negative review!"


    Fang Yuan''s face was brimming with disgust. He slightly regretted handing over the Wings of the Sky.


    If the Wings of the Sky was a five-star hotel, the K9999 was not even a road-side motel. It was at most a lousy cardboard box, making him very aggrieved.


    It is easy to go from frugality to extravagance, but difficult to go from extravagance to frugality. After piloting a top-grade mecha, he was immediately disgusted beyond measure by this type of basic mecha.


    "Also, how big is the psionic crystal in this reactor? Is it merely the size of a grain of rice? It doesn''t even pique my interest in the slightest¡­"


    There was an entire practice field of training mechas, but Fang Yuan did not feel the slightest desire to devour them at all. Even Ya Ge''s Elite-grade was no different.


    It was clear that the psionic crystals in these mechas were too small. All of them combined was negligible in comparison to that of the Wings of the Sky.


    "Damn¡­ psionic crystals might be more valuable than I thought!"


    Fang Yuan piloted the Gundam gloomily, moving it around.


    With his talent and foundation, even piloting Emperor-grade mechas was easy. Piloting the military''s Gundam required only some familiarity.


    It did not take long before he made the mecha bolt around while executing smooth battle techniques.


    "Hmm?" Ya Ge, who was piloting the black Elite-grade mecha, saw Fang Yuan''s actions upon turning his head. "This student who skipped a grade really does have talent. He has the potential to become an ace!"


    Ace mecha pilots had taken the lives of hundreds of high-ranking star beasts at the very least. They were the pride of the Human Alliance!


    There was something to be said about a student that made Ya Ge feel that he had that potential!


    "His name was¡­ Lin Meng? He''s even self-funded¡­"


    After looking through Fang Yuan''s information, Ya Ge was even more surprised. "Is he the second generation of some plutocrat? Otherwise, how would he build his own mecha after graduation?"


    Dealing with mechas consumed a huge amount of resources. The consumption of resources for regular training was, in fact, the smallest portion.


    After graduation, those that signed agreements with the military would join them and pilot the Gundam K9999 without any problem.


    However, self-funded students would be at a total loss. The school would naturally not rent Gundams to them, so their only option was to purchase or even build their own mecha. The cost was astronomical.


    To Ya Ge, it was apparent that Fang Yuan was the son of a wealthy family, ambitious and ready to make his own mecha.


    "Which organization is it? New Fokkers? Aladdin? Doesn''t look like it¡­"


    With some doubt, Ya Ge shouted, "Now¡­ In twos, begin combat training!"


    Bang! Bang!


    With his order, the steel monsters instantly began fighting.


    Of course, the Gundams that the students piloted had had their most powerful main weapon removed.


    The destructive force would be too great otherwise. Most importantly, it will accelerate the scrapping of Gundams to a level that even East Dragon University would find hard to sustain!


    Despite that, the battles between the steel giants were still very exciting.


    All around the training grounds, students and even instructors stopped to spectate.


    Fang Yuan''s opponent controlled his mecha to rush at him with strange footwork. The curved blade in its hands flashed with intense electric sparks.


    "Spin Dance Step! Arc Blade!"


    Fang Yuan''s eyes flashed, recognizing the two mecha combat skills.


    Evidently, this opponent would give it his all no matter who he faced and would not rely on luck.


    "But¡­ I haven''t studied specialized mecha combat skills!" A light glinted in Fang Yuan''s eyes as he shifted the mecha a few meters to the side to dodge the Arc Blade by a hair''s breadth. He then pulled a valve, and the metal giant took a step forward to deliver a kick.


    Smack!


    The next moment, the hostile mecha that had rushed to Fang Yuan''s front received a kick in the knee joint, as though it had purposefully delivered its knee for the blow.


    With a loud crash, the opposing mecha''s knee broke, losing its balance and falling to the ground.


    "Hmm? What precise judgment!"


    Ya Ge almost wanted to applaud. Such precise judgment was rarely found in even experienced mecha pilots.


    The student did not understand why he had lost, but he was well aware of the difficulty.


    Ya Ge thought for a bit and called another student. "Jonas, you go next!"


    A Gundam felled its opponent with a single punch and approached slowly. There was even a slight momentum gathering around him that made him appear skilled.


    However, he was still fodder before Fang Yuan.


    Fang Yuan had given it thorough thought. Compared to the talent that he showed earlier, there was absolutely no need to hide at this point.


    Furthermore, the school''s higher-ups all knew that he had piloted the Wings of the Sky and defeated Wu Wudi. There was no need to cover things up anymore.


    Therefore, despite Jonas''s strong boxing skills, Fang Yuan kicked his mecha''s knee after three rounds and caused the humongous mecha to fall to the ground with black smoke spilling out.


    "Stand up!" Ya Ge''s face twitched. Jonas was his prized student, yet he was defeated by a rookie. It was quite disgraceful.


    Being competitive, as well as curious how long Fang Yuan could last, the one-on-one warmup turned into Fang Yuan''s round-robin fight.


    Fang Yuan wanted to raise his mecha control proficiency as well, so he took everyone on.


    "Who is piloting that mecha?"


    "H-he looks like he doesn''t know any combat skills at all! He just uses that kick no matter what!"


    "That kick alone is scary enough. He defeated Jonas and a few other top students with his kick. It isn''t a senior playing a prank on us, right?"


    ¡­


    More and more mechas fell on the ground. They were all dumbfounded, looking at their mechas that were all damaged in the same manner.


    On the other hand, Fang Yuan started to yearn for a challenge. No matter who the opponent was, he had broken their knee with a single kick. The logistics department would be in despair tonight.


    "Good lad!"


    After some time, the only mechas remaining standing were Fang Yuan''s and Ya Ge''s.


    Ya Ge advanced slowly. "Show me your true strength!"


    As soon as he finished speaking, the black mecha exploded with unparalleled speed. Only an afterimage appeared as it vanished into the sky.


    Fang Yuan raised his head and saw the black mecha aggressively crash down from midair.


    A layer of radiance was shining on the mecha. "Dao art¡ªImmovable Mountain!"


    The power of a dao art when used by a mecha had its power amplified tens of times!


    "Heavens, it''s a dao art!"


    "To use a dao art through the mecha, the instructor is serious!"


    "Standard mechas can only use combat skills. Only Elite-grade mechas and above are able to use magical powers and spiritual techniques¡­ And their strength will increase dramatically!"


    The surrounding students all exclaimed in amazement as they watched Ya Ge''s mecha, which had seemingly turned into a mountain, crash down while running to safety.


    Fang Yuan''s eyes lit up. "I see. A high-grade mecha can form a combination with a cultivator to increase the power of spiritual techniques¡­ What kind of power would immortal techniques have when combined with an Emperor-grade mecha? Would it be able to destroy planets?"

 970 Conjecture

    Kaboom!


    Instructor Ya Ge used his mecha to display a dao art. The steel giant looked like a black mountain as it crashed down with a horrifying force.


    The ground shook, and dust filled the air. The entire training grounds was in shambles.


    Bang! Bang!


    What astonished the students was that there were still intense crashing sounds coming from inside the cloud of dust.


    Obviously, that student was still trading blows with the instructor after the dao art attack.


    As the dust cleared, two giant steel figures appeared before them.


    "Alloy Drill!"


    Ya Ge''s Elite-grade mecha advanced in the blink of an eye. It closed its right hand''s fingers together and formed a giant alloy drill.


    The mecha was so fast that it almost turned into a black line.


    Sizzle!


    The drill penetrated the Gundam''s defenses and landed on its chest armor, causing sparks to sputter.


    "He won!"


    The other students heaved a sigh of relief.


    But immediately afterward, Jonas''s eyes widened.


    The Gundam''s right leg had Ya Ge''s mecha''s knee.


    Crack!


    Sparks exploded, and the black mecha knelt down.


    "Heavens, who is this expert? Even the instructor knelt!"


    A busybody had captured the scene and published it on the school forums. A huge wave of replies immediately followed.


    "Shock! A mysterious expert has appeared in the mecha department! He won fifty rounds in a row!"


    "I stand witness! I''m a student from the mecha department. I just knelt before the expert!"


    "I knelt too!"


    "Eighteen consecutive kneels!"


    "Expert! I kneel before you!"


    "I used to be a formidable mecha pilot. Then I took a kick in the knee¡­"


    ¡­


    One had to admit that there were many people good at wordplay in East Dragon University. They started playing word solitaire, and the audience did not know whether to laugh or cry.


    "It''s reach!" Jonas suddenly started shouting after staring at the scene. "Since the Gundam is taller than the instructor''s Mecha, its legs are also longer. As a result, before the instructor''s attack could cause damage, his mecha was attacked instead!


    "But this precise judgment and computing power, is his brain a photon computer?"


    Having precise judgment and the ability to calculate continuously was a feat that was out of reach for the vast majority of mecha pilots.


    Except¡­ true aces!


    "I misjudged you. You have more than the potential to become an ace. You''re more of a monster!"


    Ya Ge crawled out from his mecha wincing. "My Black Moon¡­ It''ll cost a huge sum of star dollars to repair it in the factory. Luckily, the damage was a result of lessons, and the school will reimburse me!"


    After a cry of agony, he looked at the surrounding students. "What are you waiting for? Hurry up and clear the place!"


    "Ah! Yes!"


    The other students finally broke out of their astonishment and began shooing away onlooking students and teachers. Then they looked at the still-standing Gundam in earnest, wanting to know who exactly this expert was.


    "Sorry¡­ Instructor, I didn''t manage to stop myself in time!"


    Fang Yuan walked out from the cockpit with a slightly apologetic expression.


    He would never tell these students and the instructor that they were so weak that he unwittingly accomplished this feat.


    "It''s him¡­ Lin Meng!" Sunny recognized him and was immediately dumbfounded. "The student who skipped a grade?"


    "Nooo!" The other students almost wanted to throw a tantrum in depression. "We knelt before a rookie?"


    "Not only us, but the instructor too!"


    "Cough cough!" Ya Ge''s face darkened. He said loudly, "Lin Meng, you need to know that despite your performance today, the situation was a bit peculiar¡­ The main weapons on all the students'' mechas were removed. Otherwise, you couldn''t have done what you did with the long lock-on range of a laser cannon!"


    "You''re right, Instructor!" Fang Yuan nodded. If the entire class''s mechas opened fire on him from all angles, it would indeed be a little troublesome.


    "As for the rest of you!" Ya Ge looked at the other students and roared, "You lost to a newcomer! After cleaning the mechas and returning them, run a hundred laps with weights on!"


    "Please no!"


    The students cried out in agony. Jonas grumbled, "You lost too, Instructor!"


    "Jonas, double for you!!"


    Ya Ge''s face was pitch black.


    ¡­


    At night, Fang Yuan was browsing the school web while checking his stats window.


    "Name: Fang Yuan (Lin Meng)


    Profession: Dream Master, East Dragon University Student


    Cultivation: Mystic (Level 11), Arcanist (Level 1)


    Techniques: Flame Control Technique, Breathing Holding Dao Art, Flying Sword Dao Art


    Skills: Alchemy (Grandmaster), Mecha Control (Advanced)


    Power Recovered: 66.2%!"


    ¡­


    "Mecha Control has already reached advanced? All thanks to the students and instructor giving free proficiency¡­"


    Fang Yuan felt very satisfied looking at his stats. "This skill seems to be similar to Alchemy, in the sense that there are no bottlenecks. After pushing through to grandmaster by accumulating enough proficiency, I should be on the same level as those ace mecha pilots, right?"


    He contemplated for a while and began searching for information regarding mecha spiritual techniques.


    "Mechas require at least Elite-grade before they can use spiritual techniques. They are specially made to be able to resonate with the mecha pilot! And special construction is imperative. Due to the prohibitive price, standard soldiers have never had them. There are also some issues with the Dao of Array¡­ Of course, in modern times, that would be the research into the talismans of integrated circuits!"


    Fang Yuan then looked up large amounts of information to get a grasp on the fundamental concepts of mecha spiritual techniques.


    "By using the Dao of Talismans to inscribe the Dao Patterns of the corresponding spiritual techniques onto the mecha beforehand, when the mecha pilot uses the spiritual techniques, the mecha would then use the technique through synchronization!


    "This type of technology has very high requirements for the inscriber. It even gave birth to an entire profession called mecha inscriber! Each job is expensive!


    "The better the inscriber, the more Dao Patterns they can inscribe onto the mecha''s limited space! These types of mechas would then be able to use many spiritual techniques. Their prices will multiply for each additional spiritual technique!"


    There was also an issue with load. For example, Instructor Ya Ge''s Black Moon model had the Immovable Mountain Dao Art inscribed by an ordinary inscriber. If more techniques were added, then it would affect the power of the already present dao art.


    However, if a true master had been able to add a speed or attack-type dao art on top of the Immovable Mountain, the outcome of today''s fight might have been different.


    Unfortunately, these types of experts would never work on General-grade mechas. The least they would settle for would be King-grade.


    "For King-grade mechas, it is best to inscribe magical powers! Their patterns are more complicated, but their power is greater as well¡­"


    Fang Yuan nodded and looked at some additional secret knowledge.


    "Resonance is the research topic of high-grade mecha!


    "According to refiners, mechas¡­ are, in essence, large magical weapons! You can train their spirits to connect with the mecha pilot''s will and unleash great power! A few mecha pilots had followed the examples of ancient cultivation and mixed their own flesh and blood into their mechas. These types of mechas often perform well, but research data to back up their actual efficiency is lacking¡­


    "Renowned mecha engineer Fu Hongxue has stated that the perfect mecha is built by its pilot¡­ However, this theory remains in the conjecture phase. There has never been a mecha pilot who was simultaneously proficient in the study of piloting, propulsion, materials science, energy, and Dao Pattern inscriptions¡­


    "Professor Lan He of Sky University has expressed the opinion that Fu Hongxue''s method is the reverse of progress, incorporating all the drawbacks of ancient cultivation! The Scientific Cultivation Method has already proven that specialization is mainstream in today''s cultivation world¡­"


    ¡­


    "Refining your own Mecha. Interesting¡­"


    Fang Yuan''s eyes gleamed.


    Perhaps there was a limit on the people of this world. No matter how smart they were, they were unable to master so many fields to become an interdisciplinary grandmaster.


    But for him, it was only a matter of putting in slightly more effort.


    "Resonance, Dao Patterns¡­ the things that Soldier-grade mechas are barely in touch with are instead the essentials of high-grade mechas¡­"


    He contemplated in silence and decided to use his connection with Qi Yunshan to enter Fu Hongxue''s research team for deeper studies.


    There had been no news about the Abominable Lord so far. He had to prepare a trump card for himself.


    "Speaking of trump cards¡­ it''s time I improve my levels in the Arcane."


    Fang Yuan had been engrossed with cultivation, and Arcanist was at a pitiful level one. It was embarrassing to even talk about.


    Despite not putting any emphasis on his Arcanist level, the presence of the Arcane Smart-Brain did provide him many conveniences.


    Although his school was a cultivation university, low-level students could not even get their hands on the academic content of western universities. But after his jurisdiction increased, he could purchase the relevant information.


    After all, both cultivation and the Arcane required knowledge from other fields at higher levels. Buying each other''s information and analyzing it was normal.


    "The improvement of Arcanist! I can improve my rational thinking through all kinds of detailed research, publishing papers, and so on¡­ I have not delved into the Arcane at all. There''s still a brute force method to raise my Arcanist level, which is to forcibly analyze arcane spell models that are one level higher!"


    This was the path of ancient Arcanists. Today, people recognized it as an arduous yet fruitless method. After all, forcibly analyzing high-level arcane spells was not only strenuous and time-consuming, but there was also the possibility of getting nothing in return, or even sustaining injuries.


    In contrast, the modern method was to improve rational thinking and raise the Arcanist level automatically. Only then would the Arcanist naturally form the corresponding arcane spell model. As a result, the ancient method was gradually abandoned.


    However, Fang Yuan was a marvel!


    Although his Arcanist level was at a mere one, with the support of a level ten Mystic''s spiritual will, his willpower was on par with level six and seven Arcanists. Analyzing the models was a piece of cake.


    Not to mention, he had not even utilized his Demon God intrinsic quality.


    No one in this world had concurrently practiced both cultivation and the Arcane. The terrifying potential of this path that he had chosen had only begun to rear its head.

 971 Assistan

    "Level two arcane spell¡ªVector Hand!"


    Fang Yuan looked at the arcane spell model that he had just bought.


    The entire model was intricate and sophisticated. And there was a delicate charm to it, like a piece of art.


    "For normal level one Arcanists, although their Arcane Smart-Brain can analyze it, their psyche strength is lacking¡­ Of course, they could accumulate it through a lengthy period of time and try to break through all at once, which was the method that ancient Arcanists used to advance!"


    However, Fang Yuan could converge his Golden Core''s spiritual will and convert it into pure psyche strength. It swiftly solidified in his sea of consciousness, directly forming the arcane spell model for Vector Hand and imprinting it onto the Arcane Smart-Brain. It was practically effortless for him.


    Immediately afterward, Fang Yuan opened his eyes and extended his right hand.


    A translucent hand appeared and picked up the glass of water on the table.


    "The ability to use a level two arcane spell proves that I''m already an official level two Arcanist! Let''s continue. Next is the level three arcane spell Fireball!"


    ¡­


    In contrast to ancient arcane spells, the modern arcane spells had twenty levels. Beyond the twentieth level were legendary arcane spells!


    With an immense psyche strength reserve, as well as the assistance of fearsome calculative power, Fang Yuan took just a single night to form the model of the level nine arcane spell Blizzard and become a level nine Arcanist.


    He did not advance further. Not due to lack of ability, but that there were not any corresponding models for sale.


    After all, this was high-level Western knowledge. With his current jurisdiction level, he could not establish direct trades with those Arcanists.


    "Any more would arouse suspicion!"


    Fang Yuan had prepared a reason for the wanton purchase of arcane spell models, which was enrolling in Mecha Dao Patterns!


    In the video, the teacher had asked the students to familiarize themselves with all kinds of Eastern dao arts, even Western arcane spells, to widen their understanding!


    However, asking for level ten and above arcane spells would be over-ambitious.


    ¡­


    The next day, Fang Yuan found Qi Yunshan.


    The student council president was on the training grounds, piloting a mecha to fire round after round at targets.


    "Lin Meng!"


    When the break came, Qi Yunshan went to Fang Yuan and gave him a punch. "You''re quite something to defeat an instructor and the students in the first combat class!"


    He had signed the confidentiality agreement and was aware of Fang Yuan''s actual strength. He also knew that Fang Yuan had piloted the Wings of the Sky and defeated Wu Wudi. Therefore, he was not that surprised.


    "Accident¡­" Fang Yuan smiled wryly.


    "It''s fine! Ya Ge is different from Wu Wudi. The most he''ll do is try to recover his dignity in the next lesson. He wouldn''t do anything to purposely spite you!" Qi Yunshan said calmly. "If he dares to do something secretly, then he''d be courting his own death. After all, you''re on the school''s protection list."


    "I haven''t given the Ya Ge matter any thought. How''s Wu Wudi?" Fang Yuan asked.


    Wu Wudi was talented and had a great destiny, so he should keep an eye on him.


    "After the last incident, the school has withdrawn many of his privileges. Wu Sanhuai''s death also caused the morale of the Wu family to collapse. I''m joining forces with others to hinder them in multiple ways!"


    Qi Yunshan''s eyes gleamed.


    Wu Wudi of the past was like a sailboat that tore through the sea, and nothing could stand in his way.


    But after running into Fang Yuan, he had run into a reef, experiencing deceleration and damage.


    From the study of destiny, this was the crucial turning point.


    Qi Yunshan was also an illustrious man, so he would never pass up this opportunity to strike down his competition.


    Wu Wudi had been extremely quiet recently. It probably had something to do with these obstructions.


    "How about it? Would you like to join?" Qi Yunshan extended the invitation with an air that words failed to describe.


    "No thanks! Wu Wudi isn''t my target!" Fang Yuan''s tone was quite arrogant. "I came to you because I want to enter Professor Fu Hongxue''s research team!"


    Top research professors rarely held classes for students. They mostly conducted research with their direct disciples and were the true foundation of East Dragon University.


    "No problem!" Qi Yunshan nodded. "They''re currently recruiting an assistant. Although they set the bar at fourth-years and graduate students, you''re an exception! Oh right, are you joining this research team to continue learning? Or to accumulate experience for creating mecha in the future?"


    "Something like that¡­" Fang Yuan replied. "Looks like that''s your line of thought too?"


    "It''s the same for all us self-funded students! However, the creation of mechas is truly an abyss."


    Qi Yunshan smiled wryly. "I founded the Yunshan Organisation in year one. After many mergers and acquisitions, it is recognized as an interstellar financial group, but it''s still unable to purchase any mecha manufacturing factories¡­ Luckily, the collection of King-grade materials is more or less complete¡­ In fact, I want to ask Professor Fu Hongxue to design and build a mecha for me. I''d be willing to pay anything!"


    As a mecha pilot, the majority of their power was with the mecha. Once separated, they would be helpless.


    "You''re quite something¡­ to finish collecting even King-grade mecha materials¡­"


    Fang Yuan was speechless. He wanted to build a mecha by himself and complete each part alone to try achieving the highest resonance level. The difficulty of doing so was miles ahead of what Qi Yunshan was trying to do.


    "I''ll help you make an appointment. You can go to the lab and meet Professor Fu Hongxue in person when the time comes. Can''t guarantee your success though."


    "No problem!"


    Fang Yuan left politely and received another message.


    "Haha¡­ Lin Meng, hurry over. I''ve succeeded! I''ve succeeded too!" He could see an ecstatic Han Yunfeng on the screen. "I''ve successfully replicated your process using your data and managed to refine a high-tier brain development drug using ancient methods!"


    "Is that so? I''ll be there soon!"


    Fang Yuan rushed to the courtyard house and shouted for the door to open. He was greeted by Han Yunfeng, who was sporting a bird''s nest hairstyle and a face covered in soot.


    "Haha¡­ I''ve succeeded!"


    Han Yunfeng was still very excited. Fang Yuan immediately threw a wet blanket on him. "How many experiments did you do? How many were successful?"


    "Five, one. But that''s because I didn''t manage to establish things properly in the beginning. After I get a grasp of it, the success rate will increase!" Han Yunfeng''s eyes seemed to burn with passion.


    Seemingly struck by inspiration, he started alchemy without paying attention to Fang Yuan.


    He used even more exquisite techniques in certain processes, ones that made even Fang Yuan awestruck.


    Finally, a five-color cloud thundered and turned into purple. It was a successful refinement once again.


    As expected¡­ the Extraordinaries in both the East and the West have begun getting in touch with and researching Great Daos. However, they''ve chosen different Dao paths and do not yet fully understand the power of a Demon God''s Great Dao. But given enough time, they might actually succeed.


    Fang Yuan became more expectant about the thin needle that he had used as bait.


    In all seriousness, this world''s high-level research is all related to the power of Great Daos¡­ Alchemy requires Aural Dao, and mechas require Dao Patterns¡­ Dao Patterns are the patterns of spiritual techniques and so on. With my accumulation in the power of Great Daos, I''m sure I can get a grasp of things faster than others. Maybe I can even surpass the masters!


    After looking at a few lessons worth of inscription videos, this Demon God was absolutely confident of his abilities.


    ¡­


    District nine, Blood Dragon Research Institute.


    Fang Yuan stood beside a fourth-year senior and a graduate student, appearing harmless.


    The two beside him kept looking at him with a mix of scorn and fear, thinking that he had gotten in through the back door.


    This was indeed the case. However, only people at Fu Hongxue''s level were high enough to know some bits and pieces. The other researchers were all astonished.


    Not long had passed before a red-haired middle-aged man entered.


    He was handsome, and his dark-red hair churned and flowed like blood.


    "Undead Immortal?"


    Fang Yuan''s eyes gleamed.


    To be able to become the assistant of an Undead Immortal meant researching by the other party''s side. The situation would be unspeakably good for him.


    Furthermore, this Fu Hongxue was not as scary as Undead Immortal Three Star. His level should be under level twenty-five, and he was a much better observation object.


    "Hello, I am the director here, Fu Hongxue. You can address me as Venerable Blood Dragon or Professor!"


    Fu Hongxue glanced at Fang Yuan surreptitiously.


    All he knew was that this student had donated parts of the Wings of the Sky to the university. His institute had even landed a few research tasks.


    By this alone, even if he did not make the cut, Fu Hongxue would find a way to take him in.


    He did not feel that this student was talented at all, and he was only doing so to return a favor.


    "Hello, Professor!" The three students greeted obediently.


    "We are conducting a number of researches right now and are a bit shorthanded. As such, perhaps we''ll recruit more than one this time. Of course¡­ ability matters!"


    After saying a few words, Fu Hongxue waved, handing the matter over to a deputy and ran off for his research lab.


    "Cough cough¡­ Students, there are three components to this test: a written test, Dao Pattern inscriptions, and biochemical technology exam¡­"


    The deputy mentor said solemnly, "The written test is the easiest. For the inscription, you are required to inscribe as many spiritual technique patterns as you can on a plate. Biochemical technology is the most important!"


    To be honest, the last requirement was an absolute curveball.


    Students from the mecha department mostly studied piloting, and maybe maintenance and about constructs. Those who could learn Dao Pattern inscriptions were all geniuses.


    Biochemical technology, on the other hand, was completely different from mechas. To say that it was the most important thing was really confusing.


    ¡­


    In the research lab.


    Fu Hongxue looked at a huge ball of flesh through thick glass.


    "The Blood Dragon series is a bionic and biochemical mecha series. Recruiting research assistants has been extremely difficult because most scored poorly on the third test. As for the first two tests, I suppose the winner will be Hess? "


    He continued focusing on his research. After an unknown amount of time, the shocked deputy entered and reported, "The results are out. Lin Meng has the highest score! His attainment in biochemistry is simply amazing!"


    "What?!"

 972 Source

    "We refuse to accept this!" After the results came out, the two other applicants were dumbfounded. "How is this possible¡­"


    "I spent years studying inscriptions especially, yet I''m outmatched by a new student?" Hess''s face was full of disbelief.


    "I knew that you two would be suspicious¡­ Putting aside the written test and biochemistry test for now, take a look at this!"


    The deputy mentor took out three plates. "Hess, you did well. To be able to inscribe a Dao Pattern on mechas already makes you an entry-level mecha inscriber. However, take a look at Lin Meng''s."


    "This is¡­ the Breeze Spiritual Technique?" Hess took the plate and sensed it with his finger. "Impossible. How is it possible to inscribe an entire spiritual technique on such a small plate?"


    He tried out the spiritual technique in disbelief.


    Buzz buzz!


    The plate immediately started resonating, and a breeze blew.


    Hess''s knees buckled, and he sat down on the ground at the scene.


    He had thought himself a genius, but it was now apparent that this so-called genius was nothing!


    "It''s not just this. Student Lin Meng is extremely knowledgeable, especially his research in biochemistry¡­ It must have reached the level of mentors!"


    The deputy was not shy with compliments at all.


    He now no longer believed that Fang Yuan had entered through the back door. With his abilities, he would be hired no matter which top research institute he applied to.


    "You''re Lin Meng, a second-year student of the mecha department? Truly a genius¡­"


    The deputy sent the other two away and lightly tapped Fang Yuan''s student badge. "I''ve already enabled your jurisdiction. From today onward, you will be a research assistant in this institute. The access control will no longer block you. Also, part of the research facilities will be open to you!"


    Fu Hongxue walked out and said happily, "Okay, you can leave now. I''ll give this assistant a tour!"


    "Okay!" The deputy did not dare to object and retreated respectfully.


    "Come. I''ll let you see the Blood Dragon!" Fu Hongxue walked to a mechanical bridge, and Fang Yuan followed behind.


    Rumble!


    From the moment he stepped on it, the giant bridge rose and arrived at another level.


    Crack!


    Numerous floodlights lit up, and all the beams hit a mecha at the center.


    "This is¡­ Blood Dragon?"


    Fang Yuan looked at the red mecha in front of him. It was large, standing at a full twenty meters. The mecha reflected a special blood-red luster, and it was decorated with dragon-shaped patterns, looking like a warrior that was about to enter the battlefield.


    "Eh?!" Fang Yuan looked at it again and exclaimed in shock. "It¡­ how can it¡­ look like it has a life of its own?"


    "Haha! Lin Meng, you''re truly the most talented junior that I''ve ever met!" Fu Hongxue praised with a hearty laugh. "Even most top researchers might not have this kind of sharp observation!


    "That''s right. My Blood Dragon series has always walked the path of fusion between biochemistry and mechas in the hopes of reducing cost¡­ The self-recovery ability of biological organisms leaves much for us to learn¡­ For now, my Blood Dragon''s performance can rank in the top three among the King-grade mechas, yet its resource consumption is the least of all. The secret lies with flesh armor!"


    "Bionics," Fang Yuan guessed.


    "That''s right!" Fu Hongxue nodded. "Mechas are, in fact, large magical weapons. There are some mecha pilots who intentionally mixed in their own flesh and blood in the forging furnace in the hopes of increasing the resonance¡­ Do you know what happens eventually?"


    "The refinement of life? Mechas that possess true life and wisdom?" Fang Yuan was impressed.


    "I have a dream!" Fu Hongxue said emotionally. "I hope that all of our high-level cultivators will no longer need to risk their lives on terrifying cosmic battlefields. I hope that they will be able to do research in the main base and leave such missions all up to the Blood Dragon mechas!


    "As you know, remote operation suffers interference by the complex universe environment and the various cosmic lifeforms. Therefore, to truly realize unmanned mechas, the only option is to bestow life and intelligence to them!"


    "However, freedom of life is the most difficult to control. How would you guarantee that the mechas won''t betray us?" Fang Yuan asked.


    "It''s too early to think about this problem¡­ However, I have an idea. We can use prohibitions and preset programs to plant self-destruct measures in them to control them¡­" Fu Hongxue shook his head. "Besides¡­ our research is still stuck in the initial phase of providing a few biological characteristics to the mechas. We''re still far from our goal¡­"


    "This is already impressive enough! If you could produce them in bulk, they would be sure to change the tide of battle!"


    The cost of building mechas had always been a significant issue.


    Fu Hongxue''s research had circumvented this restriction incredibly, greatly reducing the cost since they no longer required rare materials.


    Furthermore, the mechas had a certain degree of self-recovery, decreasing the cost of maintenance dramatically as well.


    "The key to success is also stuck in this step!"


    Fu Hongxue shook his head and tapped the floor. The mechanical bridge rose again and brought them to another level.


    Through a thick layer of glass, a sea of blood presented itself before Fang Yuan.


    In the center, what looked like a nest was wriggling gently. It spat out pieces of flesh one after another, which were then collected by a mechanical arm.


    "This the Blood Sea! This flesh medium is the basis of my entire Blood Dragon series¡­" Fu Hongxue explained. "Its core is a ball of flesh made by refining the various genes of strong lifeforms that I''ve scoured the universe for. It possesses endless reproductive ability. After fusing with various metals, the metals will have biological characteristics. Unfortunately¡­ its fission speed is still too slow, and it''s hard to accumulate enough materials for mass production¡­"


    Fu Hongxue was somewhat regretful.


    On the other hand, Fang Yuan found the situation increasingly familiar. What was this sense of d¨¦j¨¤ vu?


    He immediately asked, "Pardon my question, but does the Blood Dragon series have an uncontrollable state known as ''Berserk?''"


    "How is that possible?" Fu Hongxue frowned disgruntledly. "How could a mecha go berserk? This won''t happen unless the pilot suddenly goes crazy! Don''t slander my work!"


    "Sorry!" Fang Yuan apologized quickly. "So, my task is¡­"


    "Your task is simple. Follow the materials group and determine the components in the Wings of the Sky!" Fu Hongxue replied. "However, after seeing your test results today, I feel you have the potential to do something more. I hope you can keep up your performance!"


    In fact, he was thinking of promoting Lin Meng and making him stay.


    However, he did not need to divulge that right now. Everything was dependent on his actual research ability.


    Besides, suddenly promoting someone to a high position was easy to shake up the system and cause dissatisfaction among the other research members. Although Fu Hongxue''s mind was preoccupied with his research, he was not a fool, so naturally he would not do something foolish like this.


    ¡­


    After becoming an honorable research assistant, Fang Yuan spent most of his time in the research institute when he was not attending lessons. He would read everything he had access to and absorb the knowledge hungrily.


    "Momon armor alloy¡ªthis is the main material of the Blood Dragon mechas. It is an alloy made from Momon flesh, which is a derivative of the flesh medium, and refined metal. It has low production cost, high ductility, metal memory, self-recovery, and a host of other advantages¡­ I think the majority of the flesh medium must have been obtained from cosmic behemoths, right?"


    Fang Yuan gave it some thought and shook his head slowly.


    The main races of the Cosmic Lifeform Alliance were sure to comprise the majority of the strong lifeforms of this universe.


    Of course, there were individual lifeforms who were an entire race by themselves that possessed unimaginable power, forming a polarity with the crowd society of humanity.


    "But if I want to build my own mecha, the traditional workflow isn''t suitable for my needs¡­ Instead, the flesh mecha concept is more compatible¡­"


    Fang Yuan was focused on increasing his foundation so that he would have a higher chance of winning when he finally faced the Abominable Lord.


    "What should a mecha that can accommodate a Demon God and unleash their full potential look like?"


    He started doodling on a piece of paper, trying to find some direction in the mixture of clues he had.


    After a few hours, Fang Yuan changed into a white lab coat and went to a research institute.


    "Morning everyone!"


    He looked at the two who were conducting research. They were Ross and Ye Piaoling, both on the level of university mentors.


    "Hey! Lin Meng! You''re here!!" Ross looked at the time. "You''re just on time. Help us test the new material¡­"


    "Is there any progress?" Fang Yuan put on his safety glasses and looked at a piece of blue metal undergoing laser forging in a transparent furnace.


    "I have to admit, Emperor-grade is something else. The metal''s performance is outstanding¡­" Ye Piaoling sighed.


    "But this type of alloy is too precious. The material is hard to find in all parts of the universe. It can''t be man-made either!" Ross retorted. "If we could make the Momon alloy perform at just half its level, the entire Emperor-grade mecha market would be sent into a frenzy¡­"


    "Impossible!" Ye Piaoling dropped his voice. "There are already a large number of genes from the top star behemoths in the flesh medium. The flesh mechas that it can produce are able to reach at best King-grade¡­ Of course, if we dismantle the medium and use the materials directly, we could produce an Emperor-grade mecha. But that would be killing the goose that laid the golden eggs."


    "Actually¡­ there is something we can do about it. We need only to add in the flesh of stronger star behemoths!" Ross blinked. "I''ve received news that I don''t know what to make of it. You guys can take a look!"


    Fang Yuan opened the screen, and his pupils constricted.


    He saw the debris of many starships with the universe''s starry sky as the background.


    "Unknown star behemoth attack! Three fleets in the Devil Galaxy were destroyed. The Alliance has suffered heavy losses!"

 973 War

    "Heavens!" Ye Piaoling exclaimed. "Is that true? Three fleets!"


    Fang Yuan looked solemn as well.


    Space fleets were the division-level units of the Human Alliance. They comprised of over a hundred battleships and ten thousand mechas, including a few King-grade and Emperor-grade mechas.


    This amount of firepower could fight even a migrating Zerg tribe, yet they were utterly annihilated. This was the Human Alliance''s worst defeat in the last ten years!


    Ye Piaoling flipped through the article and found no continuation. He asked impatiently, "Is there any more information?"


    "I have an aunt working in the military. She told me that these fleets'' defeat was caused by a horrifying cosmic behemoth!" Ross replied in a low voice.


    "One? Are you joking?" Ye Piaoling''s eyes were wide open. "Even the elites of the cosmic behemoths, Planet Destroyers, can''t do this. After all, even if the fleets couldn''t defeat it, they could have escaped."


    "She couldn''t give me details¡­ I only know that the cosmic behemoth has a very special ability¡­" Ross shrugged. "Besides, any kind of existence can exist among the cosmic behemoths. It''s not impossible!"


    "So, what you mean to say is¡­" Fang Yuan looked at Ross and had a premonition.


    "That cosmic behemoth has power far above the Planet Destroyers. If we could obtain its flesh and add it into the medium, it would surely produce even more powerful Momon flesh. Perhaps reaching the requirements for Emperor-grade!" Ross''s eyes were full of excitement.


    "After the battle report came out, the nearby top mecha pilots are already rushing to the Devil Galaxy to attack the beast. The Crimson Knights and the Wuhou Star are on their way as well. There''s no escape for it!"


    "I hope so!" Fang Yuan looked it up and found that the so-called Crimson Knights was the alliance of a group of Grand Arcanist-level mecha pilots. As for the Wuhou Star, it was a renowned mecha in the East. Its pilot was Undead Immortal Dark Star, a level forty Mystic who ranked in the top five of all humans in terms of strength!


    This kind of power was enough to hunt down any cosmic behemoth.


    However, Fang Yuan had an ill premonition that made him unable to relax.


    Is it¡­ He started researching, but was thinking at the same time. The Abominable Lord? Did he reincarnate as a cosmic behemoth? But given the vastness of this universe, the sudden appearance of a strong existence isn''t impossible. It might not necessarily be him, although the possibility does indeed exist¡­


    ¡­


    In the following period of time, Fang Yuan kept an eye on the war in the Devil Galaxy while doing all kinds of research.


    After seven days, he entered the research institute and found the atmosphere incredibly serious.


    The research members were all elites and had a vast connection web, so they received news much faster than normal students.


    Noticing that even Fu Hongxue was not doing research but instead looking at his wristband in a daze, Fang Yuan grabbed Ye Piaoling and asked, "What happened?"


    "They failed!" Ye Piaoling''s eyes were lifeless. "The Grand Arcanists of the Crimson Knights were completely wiped out! The Wuhou Star has also suffered heavy damage¡­ The cosmic behemoth is extremely cunning and lured them into an ambush. It was concealing its strength before!"


    Ross walked up to them. "Although its physique doesn''t compare to the Planet Destroyers, its ability is extremely strange. It''s also proficient with mutating and controlling its subordinates. We suspect that it''s the mutant of a certain Zerg. We''ve named it ''Seven Emotions Overmind!''"


    "Seven Emotions Overmind?" Fang Yuan was slightly dumbfounded. "Why such a weird name?"


    "These are some pictures of its body!"


    Ross took out a photo that showed the figure of a Zerg flying through a starry sky.


    It looked like a giant longhorn beetle with a swollen abdomen, which appeared to be a hive. On its shell, there were raised patterns of human faces displaying all kinds of emotions.


    "What abilities does it have?" Fang Yuan asked hurriedly.


    "The ones that it has displayed so far include creating subordinates and immortality!" Ross''s expression was very unpleasant.


    "The subordinates that it creates are similar to Zerg drones. However, they are extremely destructive. These are the Rage Zerg from the Seven Emotions Zerg! They infiltrated the fleets, and upon self-detonation, all the soldiers started killing each other due to anger. Everything was lost!"


    In a picture, there was a strange Zerg that looked like a black cicada, and it had a striking angry human face on its head.


    Fang Yuan voiced his doubts. "Wait¡­ Shouldn''t there be psychic shields on the mechas and ships?"


    "This is the special ability of the Rage Zerg. They''re able to circumvent the defenses of the psychic shield to trigger people''s inner emotions. Cultivators can only resist its effects with their psychic resistance alone¡­" Ross shook his head bitterly.


    Ye Piaoling looked at the picture and felt a chill down his spine. "Did this type of Zerg grow naturally? They''re too creepy¡­"


    "No¡­ they were created later. But that''s why they''re so terrifying!"


    Ross zoomed in the picture and pointed on the back of the Seven Emotions Overmind. "These faces, after comparison and analysis, correspond one-to-one with the soldiers in the previous three fleets. It appears that the cosmic behemoth has trapped their souls within its body after killing them!


    "We even suspect that after devouring them, the Seven Emotions Overmind managed to evolve further! Its growth potential seems limitless. Given time, it will surely be the doom of the entire Human Alliance!"


    "All right!" Fu Hongxue''s voice suddenly filled the entire research institute. "Everyone, calm down! Believe in the Human Alliance! Didn''t we emerge victorious in the previous catastrophes, including the cosmic radiation explosion and the star beast invasion of our inner galaxy ring? I believe that this time will be no different!"


    His voice had a soothing power, and the numerous mentors and researchers present suddenly calmed down. "That''s right¡­ Although a very powerful cosmic behemoth has appeared, it pales in comparison to the previous catastrophes!"


    "Professor, have you thought about extracting materials from the Seven Emotions Overmind to perfect our armor project?"


    "Of course. I sent the application to the military at the first opportunity¡­ However, this Seven Emotions Overmind seems to have a strong sense of secrecy regarding its genes. All of the flesh that separates from its body will decay very rapidly. Even the Seven Emotions Zerg that it produces doesn''t leave any remains after self-detonation¡­ It''s hard to believe that it a flesh and blood lifeform!"


    Fu Hongxue''s eyes were shining. "The more this is the case, the more I believe that its flesh is worth researching. Perhaps the takeoff of our Blood Dragon series will depend on it¡­ Now, everyone, return to your posts and continue today''s research work!"


    Fang Yuan went to his laboratory and started measuring a certain material. Next to him, Ye Piaoling and Ross were complaining. "This is bad¡­ East Dragon Airlines is closed. If it attacks, this place will probably become a battlefield!"


    Fang Yuan was clear about this matter. Planet East Dragon lied exactly on the frontlines of the war with the Cosmic Lifeform Alliance.


    In normal worlds, the various research institutes and scholars, as well as universities, were the seeds for the future, and they would surely be well-protected in the backlines.


    But in this world, knowledge was power! The top researchers themselves were the group with the strongest fighting power!


    To put it bluntly, a casual formation of the forces of Planet East Dragon''s universities would be on par with ten interstellar fleets!


    Naturally, one should make the most of this power instead of letting it rot in the backlines.


    ¡­


    A few days later, with the news of the defeat in the Devil Galaxy spreading, the entire university was brimming with an air of seriousness.


    Mecha training grounds.


    "You have all seen the incident in the Devil Galaxy¡­ If the war is tight on manpower, it''s possible that the military will directly pull fourth-year students of the mecha department into their ranks, followed by third-years, second-years¡­ Those that have signed a training agreement can''t run away!" Ya Ge roared. "More sweat on the training grounds means less blood on the battlefield. Understood?"


    "Understood!" the students responded loudly in unison. Many looked at Fang Yuan and other self-funded students enviously.


    According to the law of the alliance, self-funded students like them could choose not to enter the battlefield from the start¡­ unless the entire Planet East Dragon was at stake, when everyone would have to fight for their lives!


    The direness of the situation had surpassed everyone''s expectations.


    After the training lesson was over, Fang Yuan and other students saw a ship of fully-equipped Gundam K9999s take off.


    "The military has issued orders. All third-year and fourth-year students are to graduate early¡­"


    Ya Ge fished for more information. With a worried face, he asked, "Is the war already at such a tight spot? To have unqualified rookies enter the battlefield? Even it''s only as reserves! "


    The next day, an even more astonishing event occurred.


    A soldier stepped out of a mecha and brought the newest order.


    "Ya Ge! You are now appointed as a reserve major and responsible for organizing the commissioned second-year students of East Dragon University''s Department of Mecha Piloting!"


    "I vow to fulfill my mission!"


    After looking at the appointment, Ya Ge saluted without any hesitation. He then immediately led a group of second-year rookies in East Dragon University''s training mechas directly onto the battlefield.


    ¡­


    "What happened?"


    Suddenly, Fang Yuan found himself all alone. Unable to get over the situation, he found Qi Yunshan, who was without company as well.


    Yup, this tycoon was also a self-funded student and not included in the draft.


    "The Human Alliance has experienced many defeats on the battlefield, especially in the sector where Planet East Dragon is. Somehow, a few wormholes appeared and became the targets of focused cosmic behemoth attacks!"


    Qi Yunshun shrugged. "They pulled the mecha department students due to the tense situation, but it shouldn''t be too critical!"

 974 Setback

    According to Qi Yunshan, the Human Alliance and the Cosmic Lifeform Alliance had several borders. These borders were now battlefields, and the Devil Galaxy was the most representative of all.


    However, in the sector where East Dragon University was, new wormholes had somehow suddenly burst open, causing cosmic lifeforms to emerge from them and attack the rear.


    Mobilizing starships on the sneak attacks of these low-level cosmic lifeforms was akin to using cannons to battle mosquitoes. It was not even worth the trouble of transferring the mecha units.


    Therefore, they activated the reserve service students from Planet East Dragon and mixed them in with some elites to encircle them.


    "Actually¡­ this is similar to a military exercise¡­" Qi Yunshan was holding a glass of wine inside a large villa. "There isn''t much danger, yet it''s possible to obtain merits. I don''t need it, but you can apply for it!"


    "I don''t want to either!" Fang Yuan had no interest in becoming a digit in someone else''s army.


    Orders from a senior officer were everything on a battlefield. Would Fang Yuan obediently die if he was ordered to do so? What about becoming an enemy to all of human society? Both choices did not seem particularly wonderful.


    The possibility was rather low, but that did not mean it was zero, especially when there were still enemies.


    "What about Wu Wudi? What is he up to now?" Fang Yuan asked all of a sudden.


    "He participated in a certain military department''s special recruitment and became a member of a secret unit. He isn''t on Planet East Dragon currently¡­"


    Qi Yunshan sighed. "This person is absolutely an outstanding talent. He stops at nothing and is quite terrifying! Do you know that even though you stopped him from obtaining the Wings of the Sky, he was already prepared and had collected materials in secret to manufacture an Emperor-grade mecha! It''s even under construction now¡­"


    "Oh?" That piqued Fang Yuan''s interest.


    In fact, he knew that this Wu Wudi was certainly the main character in this universe. His luck was superb since he was young, the kind that never stopped.


    He would definitely be able to obtain quite a bit of benefits if he were to follow behind him.


    Of course, Fang Yuan scorned such petty things. He would start directly and snatch the lucky chances of the Son of the World!


    The mecha materials that Wu Wudi has obtained must be rare given his great destiny¡­ Fang Yuan thought. If I can get my hands on them, my mecha would have a general framework and not just stay a concept on paper¡­


    He did not know why, but he suddenly felt a lot of pity for Wu Wudi, collecting all these treasures only to deliver them to him.


    "President Qi!" As sympathetic as he was, Fang Yuan did not hesitate one bit. "Do you know¡­ what materials Wu Wudi has prepared and where he''s making the mecha?"


    ¡­


    With the vast universe as the backdrop, countless mechas soared and confronted the Zerg.


    Ya Ge piloted the Black Moon and landed on an earthy yellow planet.


    Poof!


    The ground split, and a huge Zerg wiggled out.


    "Arc Blade!"


    The black mecha swung its right hand, and a blade exuding an electric light appeared, slashing horizontally.


    The huge Zerg split in the middle, and acid spilled onto the ground, eroding a large hole. The two halves wiggled continuously until they finally became two independent entities.


    "Target locked. Laser cannon, fire!"


    Ya Ge''s expression was grave as the shoulder-mounted laser cannon fired two shots.


    Rumble! Rumble!


    After two spherical explosions, dust fell, and the Zerg immediately dissipated in smoke.


    "This elite Zerg should be the last we missed!" He raised his head and looked around at the students. "What are you still waiting for? Clean the battlefield!"


    "Yes, Sir!"


    The many Gundam series saluted as though they were whipped and started moving at lightning speed.


    "A wormhole appeared in East Dragon''s star sector¡­ And it was actually used by the Zerg to go behind us. Fortunately, only a few of them broke through, and their energy level is very low¡­"


    Ya Ge looked on with a rare sense of loss.


    "These temporarily-opened wormholes are very unstable, which is why only some low-level cosmic lifeforms could pass through¡­ equivalent to cannon fodder. But even so, this is a very bad sign! The Cosmic Lifeform Alliance might have mastered wormhole technology earlier than us. It might not be mature yet, but it''ll make our future defense very difficult."


    He looked at the students beside him, and he had to admit that even Jonas was too immature. They could even lose their footing when facing Zerg drones.


    That elite Zerg would have caused some casualties if he were not here.


    "Well¡­ I hope these rookies will grow up quickly after experiencing battle!" Ya Ge sighed and suddenly thought of Lin Meng.


    That monster''s growth was incredibly fast. It was not necessary for him to accumulate actual combat experience given his judgment and calculation power.


    "Sir!" Jonas brought his K9999 in front of Ya Ge. "I feel like I''ve improved a lot through actual battle¡­"


    "Improved? Haha¡­" Ya Ge sneered. "None of you would survive if this was an actual battlefield!"


    "What about Lin Meng?" Jonas could not help himself.


    "You''re no match for him!"


    Ya Ge was about to continue when a red warning sign floated on his screen. "High energy activity detected. Coordinate¡­"


    "What''s happening? Didn''t we clean them all up?"


    Ya Ge shuddered all over as he piloted the Black Moon to soar into the air and toward said coordinates.


    He immediately saw a large area of space collapsing and twisting inwards. Then a translucent circle emerged.


    Buzz buzz!


    A dense pack of black dots appeared and descended onto this planet.


    "Wormhole? And so many elite Zerg?"


    Ya Ge shouted, "Ninth formation. And call for backup immediately!"


    Kaboom!


    Laser cannon blasts shot out immediately, and the Zerg also started their retaliation¡­


    ¡­


    East Dragon University, dormitory.


    Fang Yuan was cultivating when he opened his eyes suddenly and looked outside.


    "Emergency notice! All students, please get online!"


    A low, somber voice echoed throughout the campus. It was Venerable Three Star!


    "Seems like¡­ something big happened!"


    Fang Yuan did not seem too surprised as he switched on his wristband.


    "I''m saddened to announce that our second-year reserve mecha unit met with an attack from a temporary wormhole. Everyone perished. The list of those who died¡­" Venerable Three Star''s face was solemn as he spit out each and every name.


    "The cosmic lifeforms have mastered wormhole technology. They are now a great threat to humanity. However, we will never compromise nor yield!


    "Victory will definitely be ours as long as we persevere!


    "I hereby announce that East Dragon University is now under martial law. No student is allowed to leave the school, and a curfew is being imposed at night!"


    ¡­


    "Seems like the wormhole issue is getting serious!"


    Fang Yuan listened thoughtfully.


    There was no doubt that this wormhole technology was extremely terrifying. It made a joke of the Human Alliance''s heavy defense lines. As long as the opposite side wanted to, it could send its forces to a specific area.


    However, some shortcomings were still present. The amount of time the wormhole could be maintained was very short, and only low-level existences could pass through, which was a blessing in this misfortune.


    "The war situation has changed abruptly. The Human Alliance suffered a great defeat in the Devil Galaxy, and humanity''s frontlines are scorching everywhere. Everything came too fast and too sudden¡­"


    Fang Yuan associated it with that Seven Emotions Overmind instinctively.


    The Cosmic Lifeform Alliance launched one offensive after another ever since it appeared. It even broke through the previous bottlenecks and successfully developed wormhole technology. It was impossible for it not to be linked.


    If his suspicion that it was the Abominable Lord was at twenty percent previously, it had now increased to at least seventy percent!


    "Even if the Seven Emotions Overmind isn''t the Abominable Lord, this existence must be hiding within the Cosmic Lifeform Alliance¡­ If not, he should have been here on Planet East Dragon long ago¡­


    "Is the current situation forcing me to choose sides? Help the Human Alliance destroy the Cosmic Lifeform Alliance?"


    Since the Abominable Lord was hiding in the Cosmic Lifeform Alliance and seemed to grasp a certain amount of authority, he was stirring up the situation.


    Of course, Fang Yuan would not stupidly fight head-on with such a strength. He would borrow the power of the Human Alliance.


    "It seems like¡­ I need to activate many of my plans prematurely!"


    Fang Yuan thought about it and immediately contacted Han Yunfeng. "Teacher!"


    "What''s the matter, Lin Meng?" Han Yunfeng''s reply came swiftly. "I taught two new students. It proved that the ancient refinement method for high-tier medicine really does have certain advantages regarding the condensing of Aural Dao!"


    "Although I''m only the second author of the paper, as part of the Human Alliance, I feel we can make our patent public and let more pharmacists see it!" Fang Yuan said calmly.


    "What did you say?" Han Yunfeng widened his eyes before breaking into a smile. "Sure, Student Lin Meng! I feel a little ashamed by your noble conduct! Indeed¡­ we shouldn''t care too much now. It will certainly help the war effort if more high-level cultivators could make up for their shortcomings and advance to Undead Immortal!"


    "Does that mean you agree?"


    "Naturally. How can my awareness be lower than yours?" Han Yunfeng replied. "I enjoy the process of research, and I don''t necessarily need it to earn star dollars. However, I would suggest finding the school to collaborate with on this lest you mess up in the end!"


    The intentions might be good, but the results might be completely different.


    Fang Yuan nodded, knowing that that Han Yunfeng''s words were wise. "Teacher, please do it then. I won''t take it up personally in this case!"


    Medicine was a trivial matter. His real intentions still lay in mechas!

 975 Improvemen

    There might be a curfew, but it was not much different from being unguarded to Fang Yuan.


    He crossed the campus, went to a high altitude, and looked up at the brilliant galaxy. "If that Seven Emotions Overmind is indeed the Abominable Lord, he should have recovered most of his strength. He wouldn''t dare to take this risk otherwise! I should improve my strength as fast as possible!"


    His Demon God power was slowly recovering, but he had to improve on was his cultivation and Arcane.


    Obviously, it was a piece of cake to absorb the vast cosmic energy with his Demon God intrinsic quality.


    Nonetheless, he had to stay hidden.


    "So¡­ I should change my appearance!"


    Fang Yuan snapped his fingers.


    Suddenly, a layer of black material spread over on his body like a huge windbreaker, and a white mask covered his face.


    Swoosh!


    His Demon God intrinsic quality was now fully awakened. He teleported and arrived in the wilderness.


    "Let''s begin!"


    Fang Yuan took a deep breath.


    Whoosh whoosh!


    If you looked down from the sky of Planet East Dragon, you would find a black spot getting more and more noticeable in the Wasteland. It formed a huge funnel and¡­ was expanding continuously!


    Fang Yuan captured the endless energy of the universe and absorbed it to break through his cultivation levels.


    Tick! Tick!


    A shrill, red warning sounded from a monitoring room in East Dragon University. "The Heavenly Eye system found a high-energy response at coordinate¡­ It has destructive forces, and it''s recommended to activate the Gemini Star immediately!"


    "All Undead Immortal and Grand Arcanists, follow me!"


    Venerable Three Star''s voice echoed throughout the campus, and a meteor-like light burst into the air.


    It was a silvery-white mecha with a sleek and elegant body, appearing as though it had its own life.


    "Principal, you''re dispatching even your real body?" Fu Hongxue piloted a scarlet mecha and appeared beside the Gemini Star. "Your body¡­"


    East Dragon University''s principal was perhaps the strongest on Planet East Dragon, and Undead Immortal Three Star''s real body was actually a mecha!


    This was a secret that only a select few Undead Immortals and Arcanists knew!


    Fu Hongxue knew that their principal''s body had fused with mecha in an Undead Immortal experiment and became a mecha lifeform.


    This was why he hid his real body and used a clone in normal circumstances.


    It was such a strange phenomenon that it had inspired Fu Hongxue''s research on the Blood Dragon series.


    Today, even Venerable Three Star''s real body activated. It only went to show how horrifying this threat was!


    "What exactly is going on?"


    Mechas from all over Planet East Dragon flew out, flying toward Fang Yuan.


    "Tsk tsk¡­ More than fifty Undead Immortal and Grand Arcanists, and most of them are piloting mechas!"


    Fang Yuan stretched his right hand out. "That''s all right as well¡­ Let me see if the Human Alliance has the foundation for me to invest into!"


    "Omnidirectional Divine¡­ Demonic Armament Dao!"


    Rumble!


    A long weapon appeared with a stroke of his hand. It was vast and boundless¡ªas though it transcended time and space, and summoned war¡ªand it swept toward the Undead Immortals.


    "Ha! Six Flame Dragons and Heavenly Flame Meteor magical powers combine¡ªNine Flaming Heavenly Dragons Immortal Technique!"


    A crimson mecha lunged forward with both hands outstretched, combining his magical powers into a terrible attack.


    Dao Patterns surfaced on the Undead Immortal''s fiery red mecha to increase the potency of his immortal technique, which contained a taste of heaven and earth ending.


    Roar! Roar!


    The flame dragons roared and rushed into the light of the Great Dao.


    Ding! Ding! Dang! Dang!


    Numerous weapons attacked, causing nicks on the dragons'' bodies.


    Finally, the Omnidirectional Divine Demonic Armament Dao and the Nine Flaming Heavenly Dragons Immortal Technique vanished. Nothing was left.


    "Eh? Is the opponent him?!"


    Venerable Three Star could clearly see Fang Yuan''s black clothes and masked figure at this distance.


    "This¡­ is it the Gaias People from the cosmic lifeforms?"


    "No¡­ This isn''t right. The data from this scan is simply frightening!"


    "He has broken through the boundary of a biological lifeform. No reactor can compare to the energy in his body¡­"


    "Are you sure? Why isn''t my mecha picking up anything?!"


    ¡­


    The Undead Immortals'' faces changed drastically from the feedback.


    They operated their mechas and obtained quite a lot of information even with such a long-distance scan.


    Unfortunately, most of the information was conflicting.


    Because during the scans, the black figure that Fang Yuan had transformed into would sometimes show a burst of energy from his body. This energy more powerful than any psionic reactor, but at times, it would show no energy leakage at all.


    Such strange data was unprecedented on humans, which was why they thought that he was a never-before-seen cosmic lifeform.


    The Gaias People was an important part of the Cosmic Lifeform Alliance. They were even more important than the Zerg.


    This was because they were the cosmic lifeform that imitated humanity''s system and had established a complete scientific and industrial system.


    They even had a mecha division in their military and had piloted mechas to fight with the humans for the universe.


    The participating races of the Human Alliance had even had a heated debate about whether to accept the Gaias People as part of the alliance.


    However, the Gaias People soon exposed their ferocious nature and massacred several planets belonging to the Human Alliance.


    According to the research of the biologists at that time, the Gaias People might have similar appearances to humans, but their physiological structure was quite different and closer to cosmic lifeforms.


    This was why the Gaias People were completely expelled from humanity''s textbooks.


    The Gaias People did not hesitate a bit in turning to the Cosmic Lifeform Alliance and becoming their backbone.


    To be honest, some of the cosmic lifeforms were powerful, but they were few in number and could not form a majority.


    Only the Gaias People and Zerg could truly hold power.


    Especially the Gaias People. Their level of science and technology was similar to that of humanity. Not only could they imitate mechas, the wormhole this time was likely developed by them.


    "Who are you ?" The Gemini Star came forward slowly.


    "Hehe¡­" Fang Yuan laughed without saying a word. "Omnidirectional Divine Demonic Armament Dao!"


    "Xiantian Qi Five Elements Restriction Void Immortal Technique!"


    "Yin-Yang Five Elements Separation Great Universal Blade!"


    The Gemini Star opened its arms, flashing different Dao Patterns from each side of its body.


    Rumble!


    A colorful hand emerged, penetrated everything in its way, and went toward Fang Yuan.


    At the same time, a blade light loomed. Energy condensed to its maximum, killing everything in its way!


    "The Gemini Star is a special model among the Emperor-grade mechas. It is inscribed with two immortal technique Dao Patterns¡­ Its power is among humanity''s top ten mechas!"


    The Five Elements broke through, tearing apart all defenses.


    The blade light slithered through a gap in the defense and went straight for Fang Yuan''s body.


    Whoosh!


    The figure in black instantly disappeared and was replaced by chaos.


    "Earth, Fire, Wind, Water, Creation Divine Fist!"


    The turbulent air dissipated and broke through the void. A huge fist appeared.


    "This form of energy¡­" Venerable Three Star''s alliance backed off, but his words were already out of his mouth. "You are not a cosmic lifeform nor human!"


    The next moment, the fist arrived, and several mechas joined hands to withstand it.


    All of Planet East Dragon trembled before peace returned once again.


    "Principal¡­" Fu Hongxue went to the front where Fang Yuan had been, but there was not even a shadow left.


    "The enemy this time is very strange. I have a feeling there could be some expected discoveries if we were to research him alongside the Seven Emotions Overmind!" Venerable Three Star muttered under his breath. All the Undead Immortals on the scene exchanged glances, and the atmosphere became delicate all of a sudden.


    ¡­


    Slightly afterward.


    Devil Galaxy.


    In this universe, this was a dark star sector with very little light.


    Constant cosmic storms and all sorts of dangers swept through this space all the time.


    The few sporadic planets here were the only shelters from these dangers.


    The two major alliances fought bitterly over the psionic crystals, which was also something Fang Yuan thought about day and night. The psionic crystal mines were located on these planets.


    Of course, no matter how rich the mines were, regarding a planet, they were still too insignificant.


    Because of the harsh environment, the humans and cosmic lifeforms could only explore a small part.


    The battles between both sides revolved around these mines.


    With the Human Alliance suffering two defeats in the Devil Galaxy this time, the minerals under its control were under immediate threat.


    Buzz buzz! Buzz buzz!


    An overwhelming swarm of Zerg suddenly appeared above orbit and shot down as many defense satellites as possible.


    A large amount of satellite debris pierced the sky like a brilliant meteor shower.


    "Warning! Warning!"


    "Attack from the Zerg. Please evacuate as many people as possible!"


    The radios broadcasted loudly above the mines, contrasting with the quiet scene in the camp.


    At this time, while many alliance regions used construct miners, the Devil Galaxy was susceptible to environmental issues. Machines malfunctioned easily, so humans still used the ancient mining methods.


    This quiet region seemed particularly secretive.


    Upon closer inspection, several Seven Emotions Zerg landed without warning.


    In the mines, the miners were startled, but they soon recovered and continued with their work¡ªrefining and polishing the original ore to obtain the psionic crystals.


    The Seven Emotions Zerg clung on to these crystals and delivered them to the Seven Emotions Overmind.


    Through continuously devouring them, its aura became more terrifying, and the faces on its back became more vivid¡­

 976 Shocking News

    "Master Dark Star, Planet D-7025 is in front!"


    A starship was sailing quietly through space when someone who looked like a liaison officer stepped forward to report respectfully.


    There was a cultivator other than this liaison officer on the bridge.


    He was wearing a wide-sleeved robe over a very vintage shirt. This was a top player in the Human Alliance, Venerable Dark Star.


    Venerable Dark Star waved the liaison officer away and opened a communication channel. "How is the Wuhou Star?"


    "Very bad. The Wuhou Star''s armor is 40% damaged!"


    On the screen, a giant mecha was in the background. An engineer in a white coat spread his hands. "Sorry¡­ Doctor, we''ve done our best, but we are still only at 66.7% of the restoration plan!"


    "That''s enough!" Venerable Dark Star''s eyebrows lifted. "Insert the psionic crystal and get ready to start! I''ll take the responsibility if anything happens!"


    "Understood!" The engineer agreed helplessly.


    After some time, a few mechas dragged long tails of flame away from the ship and gazed at the planet below them.


    "Doctor Dark Star, I didn''t expect you and the Crimson Knights to end up like this¡­" A voice came from one of the other two mechas.


    They seemed to have means to monitor the chaos in the planet''s mines.


    All the personnel were being manipulated and made subservient to the Seven Emotions Overmind.


    Some Seven Emotions Zerg had even drilled themselves directly into the miner''s bodies and became parasitic.


    "Target locked. There''s no doubt it''s the Seven Emotions Overmind!"


    Dark Star gazed at this scene with a calm expression, though his eyes were burning with fury.


    "Our sacrifice of a planet''s resources was not wasted. We have finally lured it out!"


    A dry and hoarse voice came from another mecha. "This time, I brought the ''Zero Lock'' device. It won''t be able to run away!"


    "Be careful. This Seven Emotions Overmind is extremely strong, and its ability to escape is equally strong!"


    The past might be unbearable, but Doctor Dark Star still reminded him seriously. "It''s rather cunning. I even suspect that it''s intelligence has surpassed its mother for it to be able to entrap us previously!"


    To be able to outwit Undead Immortals and Grand Arcanists, it was naturally not easy.


    "Fortunately, it seems to really need psionic crystals, so we could lure it out this time¡­" said another mecha with blue lightning surrounding it. "According to the calculations of our photon computer, the potential of this Seven Emotions Overmind surpasses its mother''s limit. It could even¡­ even bring disaster to the universe! We must eliminate it now!"


    "That''s why it was all right to sacrifice a planet with plenty of resources!" A dark mecha growled, and a ball of light appeared from its hand. "Zero Lock!"


    Swoosh!


    The ball of light divided into two instantly before splitting into four, then into eight, forming a huge plane in space and blocking the planet below.


    This was the ''Zero Lock'' created by Western Grand Arcanists. This locking array would even restrict a wormhole.


    "We''ve already made arrangements on this planet. The core will explode once it receives a specific external stimulus!"


    Dark Star raised his palm and swiftly set the plan in motion. "Activate the planet destruction plan!"


    Several high-level Undead Immortals and Grand Arcanists controlled their top mechas and performed legendary arcane spells and immortal techniques. There was enough power to annihilate the planet!


    But at this moment, three mechas did not do the same. They were carefully observing the surroundings and sending out signals.


    Rumble!


    From the starship at the rare, a huge cannon aimed at the planet. The robotic voice echoed continuously. "The star cannon is ready! Locked on to the target!


    "Countdown to attack: 5, 4, 3, 2, 1!"


    The next instant¡­


    Flash!


    A dazzling ray of light bombarded the planet with unparalleled speed.


    An astonishing explosion happened without any leakage of power.


    This scene looked very strange.


    The planet instantly flared into a huge fireball. The explosion spread within the boundaries of the Zero Lock, making it look like a fiery red cube.


    The Zero Lock was even shrinking to converge the explosion''s might.


    For a moment, the planet was compressed to ten-thousandth of its original size, but the light in the middle became even more dazzling.


    "The power of the Zero Lock is always so admirable, no matter how many times I see it!" Dark Star sighed.


    The mecha by his side stayed silent, its eyes fixated in the direction of the explosion.


    "Even a Planet Destroyer can''t withstand such an attack. The survival rate of the Seven Emotions Overmind won''t be greater than 2%!"


    Laughter roared from the black mecha.


    But he suddenly stopped, as though someone grabbed his neck.


    "Black Death God, Thunder God, look!"


    Venerable Dark Star turned toward the Zero Lock. The mecha immediately captured a picture and zoomed in.


    A black shadow appeared in the fiery flames.


    It was the Seven Emotions Overmind!


    Its ferocious-looking carapace had a large number of barbs sprouting out of nowhere, and they were frantically fighting against the Zero Lock light film.


    "Go!"


    The three ace mechas were here in case something like this happened. They turned into meteors and advanced near it.


    "Immortal Sword Tactics!"


    The Wuhou Star mecha looked like an ancient general with the many weapons on its body. It drew a long sword and triggered a storm.


    "Thunder!"


    The blue mecha howled, and large amounts of lightning appeared from the mecha''s body, as though it were a lightning dragon.


    "Seven Emotions Overmind¡­"


    Black Death God looked at the dark shadow with a cunning smile. His mecha flew right above the light film.


    Swoosh!


    The Zero Lock compressed again, reaching the smallest point possible.


    And right at this moment, the other two ace mechas roared and pounded their most powerful attacks right on the point!


    ¡­


    Planet East Dragon.


    Fang Yuan returned to his room and exclaimed, "Not bad¡­ These Undead Immortals and Grand Arcanist do have some skills to be able to exchange blows with me."


    Fang Yuan took a look at his stats window:


    "Name: Fang Yuan (Lin Meng)


    Profession: Dream Master, East Dragon University Student


    Cultivation: Demon God (Myriad Transformations), Mystic (Level 15), Arcanist (Level 9)


    Dao Path: Creation Great Dao, Omnidirectional Divine Demonic Armament Dao, Impermanence Great Dao


    Techniques: Flame Control Technique, Breath Holding Dao Art, Flying Sword Dao Art


    Skills: Alchemy (Grandmaster), Mecha Control (Advanced)


    Specialization: Botany [Level 6] (Maximum), Heavenly Eye Seer Spell, Body of Origin Power, Heaven Devouring Mystic Technique (Level 2)


    Power Recovered: 80%!"


    "Such huge trouble was worth it at least. My strength is greatly restored¡­" Fang Yuan was very satisfied. "It''s just¡­ I didn''t think¡­ Venerable Three Star''s body would fuse with a mecha¡­"


    He had gained a deeper understanding of the Undead Immortals and Grand Arcanists of this world from the battle today.


    Those below level thirty were no match for him.


    However, once they were in their mechas and using immortal techniques, they had the ability to match the power of his Great Daos. This was not nomological rules but simply pure power, which was incredible.


    "Especially Venerable Three Star. He''s almost comparable to a Demon God. He was like me when I first obtained the Omnidirectional Divine Demonic Armament Dao and had the combat strength of a quasi Demon God¡­"


    Fang Yuan stretched his right hand out. "In addition to gathering information about the Undead Immortals, I have to start creating my own mecha!"


    It was extremely important to create the mecha now.


    The Undead Immortals were merely transferring lifeforms to channel more energy after all.


    But Fang Yuan''s Demon God intrinsic quality was even more perverse than any Undead Immortal.


    His body was the strongest vessel. There should not be any problems even if he were to reach level fifty Mystic.


    Therefore, a strange phenomenon would appear if his Nascent Soul reached Soul Transformation perfection and broke through. Even though he would clearly break through, he would not become an Undead Immortal.


    "At that time, if I shield it with my Demon God abilities, I shouldn''t be discovered as long as no one carefully scrutinizes me¡­"


    Only then did Fang Yuan have the mood to examine the changes brought about by level fifteen Mystic. "Cracking the core to achieve the Nascent Soul? In essence, it is the completion of spiritual will! By the time you''re ready for Soul Transformation, all the vitality within your body has unified. The fusion of spiritual will and vitality becomes Soul Transformation!


    "It''s interesting, but it doesn''t matter¡­ Becoming an Undead Immortal or not is of no help to me at all now!"


    He stood up and looked at his wrist.


    As expected, he had received several notifications.


    He opened the link with Qi Yunshan and asked, "What''s wrong, Senior?"


    "Something big happened. A very powerful individual appeared on Planet East Dragon. It is suspected to be a new cosmic lifeform. Venerable Three Star activated his real body and fought alongside the Undead Immortals and Grand Arcanists from other universities, but they failed to capture it¡­"


    Qi Yunshan turned pale. "If such a terrifying guy attacked our school, most of us will probably perish!"


    "¡­" Fang Yuan was speechless.


    He actually did not want to cause such a huge stir, but he had no choice.


    Planet East Dragon''s conditions were too unique. He would not be able to break through to the Nascent Soul stage in a short time anywhere else.


    "Lin Meng! Good news!" Ross''s connection came after Qi Yunshan''s cut. "Our research institute will be rich soon. Professor Fu Hongxue wants us to start work immediately tomorrow!"


    "What happened?" Fang Yuan frowned. This should have nothing to do with the trouble he caused on Planet East Dragon.


    "That cosmic behemoth, the Seven Emotions Overmind, has been destroyed by Venerable Dark Star and the West''s Black Death God and Thunder God. Its remains will arrive at the institute first thing tomorrow morning!"


    "What?"

 977 Meeting Again

    "The military conducted a successful attack with the help of Doctor Dark Star, the Black Death God, and the Thunder God!


    "Although we paid a heavy price, I would like to announce with great delight that we have destroyed the Seven Emotions Overmind!"


    ¡­


    Fang Yuan looked at a familiar face giving an impassioned speech on the news channel. "Other than that, cosmic lifeforms are now receding on all fronts. We have now proven that our alliance has the confidence and capability of protecting life and property!"


    "The Seven Emotions Overmind¡­ destroyed¡­" Fang Yuan turned the television off, still feeling it incredible. "Probably fake?"


    "This plan was designed by the best photon computer. We secretly sent out the most advanced spacecrafts, three ace mecha pilots, and many treasures!" Ross was in a state of excitement. "The Seven Emotions Overmind fell into a trap, so how could it not die?"


    "This is great for us!" Ye Piaoling said breathlessly. "As long as we have the biological gene of that strongest cosmic lifeform, our Momon armor will definitely enhance!"


    "Yes. That''s why all of you have to put aside whatever you''re doing now and wait for the materials to arrive. After that, you will assist me in my research and the upgrade of the Blood Sea Medium."


    Fu Hongxue was wearing a dirty lab coat as he walked into the research institute. His expression was not good.


    "Professor¡­"


    "There''s no need to worry about me. I''ve just been up all night¡­ Also, remember that the evolution speed of these cosmic lifeforms is far beyond our estimates!" Fu Hongxue warned. "Besides the Seven Emotions Overmind, another terrifying entity was discovered on Planet East Dragon last night!"


    According to the Human Alliance, anything not part of the Human Alliance was considered a cosmic lifeform.


    In addition, the other party did not hesitate to attack last night, showing their hostility. Fu Hongxue and the Undead Immortals were quite worried about it.


    They did not have any clues about this elusive party.


    Even Venerable Three Star''s Heavenly Eye did not manage to capture any useful information. This entity might still be hiding on Planet East Dragon!


    This mere possibility caused the prestigious schools to jump at shadows.


    Of course, Fu Hongxue would not divulge too many details about this. There was not any use after all.


    "Now, let''s focus on the cells that are coming!" Fu Hongxue''s eyes had a rare shine. "Our Blood Dragon mecha will definitely take off with the Seven Emotions Overmind''s genes!"


    Fang Yuan raised his hand and asked, "Professor, was it really destroyed?"


    "There was a strong attack when the Zero Lock returned to zero, resulting in the annihilation of time and space. No living thing could survive in that environment¡­ Actually, I''m confident we discovered the Seven Emotions Overmind''s gene because of this!" Fu Hongxue said with certainty. "This is a monster that can control its own genes. It wouldn''t let us obtain any information if it wasn''t dead!


    "Of course, this kind of information was pretty dangerous as well, so I announce¡­ only the more senior researchers can join in this genetic research. Also, we won''t increase the ability of the culture medium before we crack all of its secrets!"


    Everyone nodded. It was what it should be.


    Not being directly involved in the research did not mean that they could not participate in auxiliary research. In fact, there were not enough researchers. When the time came, there would be several powerful teams coming to East Dragon University to join in.


    Many forces were interested in the Seven Emotions Overmind.


    Speaking of which, Fang Yuan was grateful that he was not involved in the core team.


    His current disguise might fool the Undead Immortals, but if the Seven Emotions Overmind was truly the Abominable Lord like he thought, he would not die just like that. At worst, he probably escaped heavily wounded.


    Moreover, there might be some conspiracy within this.


    It was obviously better to be as far away from any part of its corpse as possible.


    "Perhaps¡­ there''s some trick on the remaining gene¡­"


    ¡­


    The military arrived at the research institute in a black triangular aircraft.


    "Good, there should be an Undead Immortal escorting it!"


    Fang Yuan saw an emotionless person carrying a suitcase, and his eyes narrowed.


    To be honest, he would also like to be near the Seven Emotions Overmind to confirm its identity.


    However, owing to the nature of Demon Gods, the Abominable Lord would also know about him if he truly was the Seven Emotions Overmind.


    This was why he decided against this unrealistic thought.


    Behind the Undead Immortal, a man in a black uniform piqued Fang Yuan''s attention.


    "Junior Lin Meng, long time no see!" An ordinary-looking youth stepped forward and greeted him calmly, restraining all his sharp edges.


    "It''s him! Wu Wudi!" Ross exclaimed immediately, stars almost emerging from his eyes. "When did you join the military?"


    "Hehe¡­ I assisted the military this time and clocked in some merits. The military rewarded me with a request, so I asked East Dragon University to make an Emperor-grade mecha¡­ This is what I originally deserved!"


    Wu Wudi looked at Fang Yuan, hatred clear in his eyes.


    After he had reached Nascent Soul, the school had not only wanted to promote him to professor, but they would have also provided him many privileges.


    However, all of this was destroyed by Fang Yuan. It would be strange not to hate him.


    "Really? Congratulations then," Fang Yuan said indifferently. "However, Senior, I have to remind you that your mind is too narrow. How can you want something for yourself? As a thoughtful, cultured, and conscientious young man, you should give it to the Alliance!"


    "You¡­" Wu Wudi''s face turned red, but he calmed down immediately. "That''s right¡­ I might be confident, but I''m not as good as you. However, this world isn''t just about talent. I''ve been leading for so many years, so how can you fight with me!"


    This world was inherently unfair. Even the same kind of genius would have everything determined based on their years of cultivation.


    Take Fang Yuan, for example. Even if they had the same cultivation talents, Wu Wudi would suppress him from beginning to end due to being older.


    "But it''s a pity, Senior¡­" Fang Yuan smiled broadly. "My talent is more than ten folds greater than yours. Therefore, I can catch up within a short period!"


    "All right! I''ll wait!"


    Wu Wudi walked away.


    "Lin Meng, what happened? You''re not friends with Wu Wudi?"


    Ross and Ye Piaoling walked over with worried expressions.


    Fang Yuan and Wu Wudi''s last few sentences were communicated through sound transmission, but anyone who with could see that something was wrong.


    "Just some friction previously!" Fang Yuan waved his hand dismissively. "It''s nothing!"


    "All right!" Ross was relieved, obviously not optimistic about Fang Yuan at all.


    However, Ye Piaoling was indignant. "Be careful of that Wu Wudi and his subordinates! He has had his way in school and isn''t anyone decent!"


    It seemed like his friend or he himself had been on the wrong side of the Wu family.


    "I understand!" Fang Yuan nodded.


    "No! You don''t understand anything at all!" Ye Piaoling became solemn. "All of Planet East Dragon might be under the control of the military because of what happened last night. Do you know what this means?


    "It means he could use military law to arrest you at any time! You''d have no say then!"


    "Th-that''s impossible!" Ross covered his little mouth, obviously very shocked.


    "Don''t worry. He wouldn''t dare do this in East Dragon University!" Fang Yuan blinked, seeming as though he had backing.


    He actually did have backing!


    The entire East Dragon University was his backing.


    Not to mention his cultivation talent, just donating the Wings of the Sky and the sharp needle were enough to have the university''s protection.


    Fu Hongxue would probably be the first to jump out if Wu Wudi were to take Fang Yuan away without any evidence.


    "That''s great!" Ye Piaoling heaved a sigh of relief. "I knew that you being here as an assistant researcher when you''re just a second-year was not for nothing!"


    "I''m more curious about Wu Wudi''s mecha!" Fang Yuan''s eyes shone. "Don''t you think its all very coincidental? They sent the gene to our research institute after he joined the military? What''s next?


    "Obviously, he will be the first to benefit when Professor Fu Hongxue develops the new generation of the Momon armor!"


    Ye Piaoling nodded. "And¡­ the professor is also a famous mecha designer. Looks like Wu Wudi has great ambitions. He wants an Emperor-grade mecha that''s good enough for him to use even as an Undead Immortal!"


    "Emperor-grade? Haha¡­" Fang Yuan laughed and shook his head.


    Ye Piaoling and the others underestimated Wu Wudi''s ambition.


    The Wings of the Sky he had wanted was an Emperor-grade mecha. Now that he was going to make a mecha, Emperor-grade would be a basic requirement!


    However, the higher Wu Wudi''s sights were, the happier Fang Yuan was.


    All the materials he gathered would be his in the end.


    If he could really build a mecha with Thearch-grade potential, Fang Yuan would simply expose his true identity and snatch it.


    Although Thearch-grade potential is at the level of the Gemini Star and Wuhou Star, Wu Wudi has a great destiny. Perhaps he can find some precious materials¡­


    It seems like his idea of creating a flesh mecha is the same as mine. Are flesh mechas the future of mecha development?

 978 Outpu

    "Flying Sword Dao Art, Merging Sword Spell, Wind Control Dao Art, combine¡ªReturning Thousand Swords Magical Power!"


    On the training grounds, Fang Yuan fiercely displayed his sword arts. Numerous fine Sword Qi gathered with their devastating power but did not explode.


    "Being a Nascent Soul or Soul Transformation cultivator, having mastery of spiritual will, and using the power of heaven and earth will allow me to cultivate magical powers! After combining several magical powers, it becomes the trump card of Undead Immortals¡ªimmortal techniques!


    "It''s a pity that there are issues with exchanging for magical powers in my current state. I can''t even think about immortal techniques for now!"


    Some talented cultivators could completely break through their shackles at the Golden Core stage and master incomplete magical powers in advance. The Red Tarantula''s great commander was one such example.


    Therefore, it was entirely justifiable for Fang Yuan to exchange a magical power or two.


    As for the fluctuations during practice, it was more than enough to use his Demon God abilities to cast illusions that covered the entire training grounds.


    "Even though getting immortal techniques is difficult, there are fortunately ways to do it. But there aren''t any normal ways to obtain arcane spells¡­"


    Fang Yuan was currently following the route of ancient Arcanists, advancing by continuously analyzing high-level arcane spell models. Unfortunately, such knowledge was very scarce in East Dragon University. Especially the legendary arcane spells, which were heavily guarded just like immortal techniques.


    He would alert Venerable Three Star once he exchanged for an immortal technique. But there was no place to exchange for legendary arcane spells even if he wanted to.


    However, Fang Yuan managed to find a shortcut to this.


    "There''s an Undead Immortal and two Grand Arcanists from the military stationed in the Blood Dragon Research Institute currently. Perhaps¡­ I can try controlling one of the Arcanists to obtain all of his spell models when the opportunity arises!"


    It was simple for a Demon God to enter someone''s memory to obtain information.


    The researchers who came were naturally not the East and West''s best such as Dark Star, the Black Death God, or the Thunder God. According to Fang Yuan''s observations, not one of them was higher than level thirty, even level twenty-five. This was his chance!


    "Speaking of which¡­ there''s also the breakthrough in the research of the Seven Emotions Overmind''s corpse. At least, Fu Hongxue thinks there are no problems with it, and he can use it to improve the medium."


    Fang Yuan walked out of the training grounds, changed, and went to the research institute with a tinge of worry. "The uneasiness in my heart is growing stronger¡­ Looks like something is going to happen!"


    However, unless he revealed his identity, no one would give a damn about his words. He did not want to suffer undue humiliation.


    "Lin Meng, quickly come and see!" Ross and Ye Piaoling pulled him along, their eyes brimming with excitement. "It''s about to begin!"


    "Okay!"


    They switched on the screen in their room and saw the Blood Sea.


    Normal researchers and other miscellaneous people like them did not have the privilege of on-site viewing, and they could only witness it through broadcast.


    In fact, within the Blood Sea, there were only three Undead Immortals and two Grand Arcanists.


    "I''ve waited so long for this. Finally¡­"


    With excitement in his eyes, Fu Hongxue dropped a blood-red test tube into it.


    Crack!


    The test tube exploded in the meat nest at the center of the Blood Sea, and a trace of red liquid oozed out.


    The flesh medium started moving. After thirty seconds, it expanded, occupying quite a bit of the Blood Sea.


    "Quick! Give it the nutrient solutions and metal preparations!" Fu Hongxue shouted. "Open the valves!"


    Several channels opened in the laboratory, and a large amount of blood-red liquid flowed into the Blood Sea, growing the medium to eventually occupy the entire laboratory, like a palace of flesh and blood.


    A red-purple mass of flesh was ''spat'' out by it.


    "Quick, test the strength of Momon flesh!" Fu Hongxue said nervously.


    A huge robotic arm grabbed that red-purple mass of meat and started scanning. "Hardness: 10014, flexibility: 6007, rune adaptability is excellent! Evaluation: fully meets the standard of Emperor-grade mecha!"


    "Success!"


    Everyone cheered, and the whole institute suddenly plunged into a sea of joy.


    Only Fang Yuan had an ugly look on his face. It seems like¡­ it''s exactly the same as I predicted. I have to be prepared to take drastic measures! More importantly, I''ll inevitably have to be in contact with the Momon armor after they''re produced, so I can''t stay here long if I want to remain hidden for the eventual victory!


    Clang!


    At this time, the laboratory door was kicked open. Wu Wudi, clothed in a lab coat, walked in. "Good day, everyone!"


    "What are you doing here?" Ye Piaoling frowned.


    "I''m here to make an announcement¡­ In view of assistant Lin Meng''s laziness over the recent period, you are dismissed! I will replace you as the research assistant!" Wu Wudi smirked at Lin Meng. "Apologies¡­"


    "Impossible!" Ye Piaoling''s pupil shrank. "Why would Venerable Blood Dragon agree to it?!"


    "Why not?" Wu Wudi chuckled. "Isn''t it better for the project if I take his place? Moreover¡­ Grand Arcanist Oris has persuaded Professor Fu Hongxue to design and build a mecha for me. The raw material will be the latest Momon armor¡­"


    The research institute had to accept some researchers with military backgrounds in order to obtain the Seven Emotions Overmind''s flesh. Grand Arcanist Oris was one of them, and his words naturally had some weight.


    To Fu Hongxue, Fang Yuan was just a talented young man who had donated a mecha. He would certainly stop Wu Wudi if he were to cause Fang Yuan any harm.


    However, he was merely asking to replace him as an assistant, and it was not good to go against a Grand Arcanist over it.


    Besides, a genius assistant at the Nascent Soul Stage was obviously better than the unknown Fang Yuan, and he had also graduated from East Dragon University!


    Fang Yuan''s wristband sounded an alarm. "Beep! Warning! Warning! Your researcher permissions have been revoked. Please leave the laboratory within three minutes. Bring no material with you lest you be punished!"


    "Good! Very good!" Fang Yuan laughed coldly, took off his lab coat, and left. The heavens really favor me. I was having trouble finding an excuse to leave!


    "Lin Meng!" Ye Piaoling wanted to help him but could say nothing.


    ¡­


    "Going by his character, this is only Wu Wudi''s first step in his plan!"


    Fang Yuan returned to his dormitory and immediately decided to avoid trouble and wait for an opportune time.


    "Just nice¡­ I can take this opportunity to increase my cultivation to the peak!"


    In any case, he had Principal Three Star''s protection in East Dragon University. Wu Wudi could do nothing to him as long as he stood firm.


    Wu Wudi''s thoughts were probably on his mecha anyway.


    Time flew, and another three months passed.


    "Bro¡­ you don''t know just how arrogant the Wu family has been recently¡­" Qi Yunshan confided in Fang Yuan bitterly. "Wu Wudi truly has wild ambitions. The school trained him to Nascent Soul before he turned around and joined the military, the West''s military. He''s been showing off his power in school recently, and I heard that his mecha is about to be completed. He''s really going all the way!"


    "No rush! No rush!" Fang Yuan took a sip of his drink leisurely. "Oh, right¡­ Has the Cosmic Lifeform Alliance made any moves?"


    "Nothing!" Qi Yunshan scratched his head in doubt. "After the last ambush proved successful, the Alliance had planned several attacks to bring the situation in the Devil Galaxy back to the past!


    "And there have been no new wormholes in the East Dragon star sector. Perhaps the previous time was just an immature experiment from the other party¡­"


    ¡­


    "Senior Qi, heed my advice!" Fang Yuan did not lift his head from browsing the internet. "You better stay away from Planet East Dragon during this period of time!"


    "Why? You want me to stay away from Wu Wudi?" Qi Yunshan obviously took it wrongly. "What can he do to me in East Dragon University?"


    He got up to leave after a few more sentences of miscommunication.


    Fang Yuan laid there lazily, without any intention to see his guest off.


    His attention was on a few pieces of news.


    "Professor Han Yunfeng of East Dragon University has released a patent for ancient drug refinement methods. Some studies have shown that this patent can increase the success rate for the high-tier brain development drug by about 20%. The medical community applauds Professor Han Yunfeng''s selfless contribution and has decided to set up an award in his name for those who have made outstanding contributions to medicine!"


    "Haha¡­ Han Yunfeng became a professor?" Fang Yuan nodded and turned to the next news.


    "There has been a stunning breakthrough in Professor Fu Hongxue''s research. Momon armor has begun to impact the high-end mecha armor market, and the stocks of several major mecha manufacturing giants have plummeted. It''s reported that the military has invested heavily to create mass-production factories. In the future, Emperor-grade mechas will no longer be a dream. The author is honored to predict that it will spell the end of the cosmic lifeforms once these Emperor-grade mechas are in mass production!"


    "Mass-production factories? That''s interesting. Looks like the output increased sharply after the medium was enhanced!"


    Fang Yuan sneered, confirming his suspicions even more.


    Of course, something produced off a production line could not actually be regarded as an Emperor-grade mecha. Although there was now a solution to the most important armor materials, the other raw materials were still rare after all. They were at best ''pseudo Emperor-grade''. It was still terrifying nonetheless since it had caused a huge shuffle in the mecha industry.


    Those mecha manufacturing companies might have even assassinated Fu Hongxue if he did not stay within East Dragon University.


    "However, Wu Wudi''s mecha has yet to be completed even though the other ones are being mass-produced. It seems like he''s sparing no effort, adamant in creating a state-of-the-art mecha!"

 979 Raid

    In the Blood Dragon Research Institute.


    A blood-red, ferocious mecha forty meters tall was clear behind a huge scaffold.


    "It''s finally almost done!"


    Wu Wudi stood on the scaffold and looked at the mecha with a smile.


    "Yes! It''s just about complete, while the other Blood Dragon mechas are already being mass-produced. However, this is definitely the strongest Blood Dragon mecha I have ever built! I''m going to name it¡­ Blood Dragon Emperor!"


    Fu Hongxue walked over, his face full of emotion. "I can''t believe¡­ you obtained a rare material like the Broken Star Gold Ring. It''d damage my reputation if I were to make it crudely. Therefore, the Momon armor used on this Blood Dragon Emperor was purified nine times. Its performance is the best among all Emperor-grade armors. It even has the potential for improvement! After the Blood Dragon Emperor is complete, I believe it won''t be far behind top mechas such as the Wuhou Star, if not the same!"


    "Thank you, Professor!" Wu Wudi bowed deeply, but there was a flash of coldness in his eyes.


    "Don''t stand on ceremony. After all, you are a student of our school, and this is the military''s order. I will naturally do my best!"


    Fu Hongxue turned to walk away slowly with his hands behind his back. "I still have to check the various assembly lines¡­ In fact, the Blood Dragon series aren''t top mechas, but no company can compare to them in terms of volume and price. My dream is to make it the Gundam of high-end mechas!"


    "Of course I know¡­"


    After he was certain that the professor had left, Wu Wudi raised his head, looking a little hesitant. "The quality of the armor determines 50% of the mecha''s performance! Although the evolved Momon mecha is good, and I may not have a better choice¡­"


    The laboratory bridge activated even though it was late at night.


    Wu Wudi arrived at the Blood Sea and stared at the blood palace. "The fusion of mecha and flesh will be the mainstay of the future¡­ What''s better than the Momon flesh is the original tissues here! As long as I can obtain some, my Blood Dragon Emperor will immediately become on par the Wuhou Star, and even break through the Emperor-grade!


    "It''s impossible for the military to let such strategic technologies fall into the hands of East Dragon University¡­ I''ll have a chance after the Blood Dragon Emperor is complete!"


    His plan was clear at this point in it. He was actually assisting the military so that it could obtain the strategic technologies of the Blood Dragon Research Institute, and he would take advantage of this opportunity to gain some benefits at the same time. If he could obtain some of the original tissues, it would be his profit.


    As for directly snatching them, Wu Wudi was not that bold!


    Bloop! Bloop!


    Right at that moment, a large amount of meat started squirming in the flesh nest. The middle muscles tossed and turned, and a purple eye suddenly appeared!


    "Wh-what''s happening?"


    Wu Wudi stepped back, feeling his Nascent Soul curl up in fear.


    Swoosh!


    Fu Hongxue appeared after a flash of light. "Wu Wudi, what did you do?"


    "I¡­ I didn''t do anything!"


    Wu Wudi felt wronged. Although he might have harbored evil thoughts, he had had no time to carry it out.


    "How is this possible?" The next moment, Fu Hongxue was drawn to the huge eye, and shock covered his face. "H-how did it evolve to have self-consciousness?"


    Buzz!


    The huge eye seemed to sneer at them and immediately turned red.


    Kaboom!


    After an explosion, a deep red fist broke through the wall and violently slammed on the isolation glass. A large number of spiderweb-like cracks appeared.


    "Blood¡­ Blood Dragon Emperor!!" Wu Wudi''s eyeball nearly popped out of its sockets. "H-h-how is it moving on its own?"


    The wall broke at that moment. The Blood Dragon Emperor''s enormous body squeezed in, and two blood-red rays shot out from its eyes like flying arrows.


    "It was¡­ a trap! How could such a powerful consciousness hide at the genetic level? It''s even spread onto every piece of Momon flesh!"


    Fu Hongxue appeared to age upon immediately realizing the mistake he had made. "I-I am the sinner of all of humanity!"


    ¡­


    Outside Planet East Dragon.


    Giant wormholes were forming one after another.


    The first things that appeared were large numbers of Zerg, coming in waves like an ocean.


    They had wings and flew freely through space toward the satellites in orbit.


    Of course, the lower-level Zerg turned into ashes in the face of the orbital railguns.


    But special existences began to reveal themselves among them.


    They were black Zergs with a strange human form but a Zerg head and wings. They swung their arm blades at will, slicing the alloy-made satellites in two.


    This was a Zerg King! The high ranks of the Zerg and also the direct guards of a Zerg Empress!


    After clearing the field, several wormholes fused, and the passage became gargantuan. Bloated worms spilled out.


    On top of their heads, beautiful young girls, seeming like flower fairies, were exuding amazing charm.


    These were the absolute rulers of the Zerg¡ªthe empresses!


    There was only one empress in every Zerg tribe!


    The current situation could only mean that numerous Zerg tribes had allied together to fight against humans in human territory!


    Bang! Bang!


    After crossing through the wormhole, the large, bloated worms exploded into flesh nests, and the Zerg Empresses flew into them.


    The massive nests squirmed after a short while, and Zerg drones flew out one-by-one, forming an army in an instant.


    The Zerg were displaying their amazing reproductive power at this exact moment.


    The wormhole was continuously spewing out large armies.


    The first thing that came into sight were seas of silvery-white mechas.


    This was the Gaias People''s mecha army that could even compete with human mechas.


    Alarms went off in succession on Planet East Dragon.


    What was more difficult to control were the Blood Dragon mechas coming from various production lines.


    The cosmic lifeforms'' target was very obvious now!


    This sudden attack was to behead Planet East Dragon, the Human Alliance''s technological capital!


    ¡­


    "Hehe¡­"


    Chaos ensued in East Dragon University.


    A great number of students raised their heads and gazed at the fight happening in space. The meteor showers added on to the feeling that it was the end of the world.


    Fang Yuan nodded his head in secret as he felt what was happening. "Was the previous wormhole just an attempt at locating? They only sent out low-level Zerg to confuse us and give us the illusion that their wormhole technology was still immature and that they could only send low-level Zerg through!


    "The destruction of the Seven Emotions Overmind was also bait. It buried its consciousness in its gene, and it spread to every one of the Blood Dragon mechas¡­ All the Blood Dragon mechas have now become the enemy''s vanguard!


    "The military chose to place the production lines in various universities since they were the ones with the most abundant resources. There should be more than a hundred Blood Dragon mechas manufactured now. Hehe¡­ It''s equivalent to having hundreds of special forces at about Soul Transformation! Any other planet would face destruction with just this!"


    This was not entirely Fu Hongxue''s fault.


    The military had given its orders too fast, too hurried. It invested heavily and could not wait to build as many production lines as possible.


    But now, these pseudo Emperor-grade Blood Dragons were going to be the biggest nightmare of this planet.


    Rumble!


    Out of nowhere, an energy shell struck the training room beside him.


    The surrounding villas turned into ashes in an instant!


    Suddenly, the cruelty of blood and fire enveloped the entire campus.


    "Now!" Fang Yuan turned his focus onto his wristband and began exchanging for magical powers and immortal techniques.


    Obviously, the rest of his credits would have no use if East Dragon University were destroyed.


    The storehouse might have been destroyed at this point anyway.


    Therefore, the most cost-effective way was to exchange for immortal techniques.


    Which professor could control him even if any trace was left?


    "Yin-Yang Fusion Magical Power! Nine Heavens Flying Sword Magical Power! Immortal Sword Tactics! Exchange!


    "Grand Sleeve Space-Void, Xiantian Capturing Qi, Five Elements Restriction magical powers, Xiantian Qi Five Elements Restriction Void Immortal Technique! Exchange!"


    ¡­


    His consciousness was moving fast, exhausting the mountains of credit he had accumulated.


    At this time, the battleground extended to him.


    Blood-red mechas, which had red rays from their eyes and blood vessel-like things surfacing, were destroying the campus as though they had a life of their own.


    "Damn! There''s also a production line in East Dragon University!"


    Fang Yuan shook his head as his body slowly disappeared.


    Swoosh!


    A blade appeared and instantly split a Blood Dragon mecha in half. "All students, go to emergency shelters immediately. Mentors, maintain order!


    "All professors who own mechas, gather!


    "You few, go to the Blood Dragon Research Institute. The rest of you follow me!"


    The ground split open. The Gemini Star flew out, gathered numerous Undead Immortals, delegated their missions, and then immediately flew into the sky. "We can''t let the Zerg multiply smoothly. Otherwise, it will spell disaster for our star sector!"


    Fang Yuan did not concern himself with this but went to the Blood Dragon Research Institute.


    It was now a ruin, and many researchers were either hurt or dead.


    A few mechas were besieging the Blood Dragon Emperor in midair.


    This mecha also had blood vessels squirming, and it showcased shocking combat power.


    Most importantly, there was a round ball of meat attached to its right shoulder, spreading out numerous ever-moving tentacles.


    The meat cracked open, and a purple eye appeared in the middle. "Foolish humans!"


    "That''s¡­ Seven Emotions Overmind?"


    Fu Hongxue had a look of horror on his face as the mechas retreated.

 980 Blood Dragon Thearch

    Obviously, the Seven Emotions Overmind had played all the Undead Immortals and Grand Arcanists present.


    The other party had not perished at all. It even concealed its consciousness in its genes and avoided detection, causing the disaster this time.


    "So, all the newly-constructed Blood Dragons have turned on us. However, the Blood Dragons made with old Momon flesh are all right!"


    Grand Arcanist Oris shouted, "Fu Hongxue, you are a sinner of all humanity!"


    Fu Hongxue''s red mecha said nothing and rushed toward the Blood Dragon Emperor.


    "Blood Dissolving Magical Power! Ultimate Astral Saber Magical Power! Shield Heavens Magical Power!"


    Many Dao patterns lit up on his mecha and connected together, forming an immortal technique. "Ultimate Blood Dissolving Saber Chop!"


    In an instant, a blood-colored saber radiance loomed in the sky. As though a giant mountain fell, it sealed the heavens and locked the earth. The Blood Dragon Emperor had nowhere to run.


    Some of the blood mist around it vaporized, like spring snow meeting the sun.


    "Ultimate Blood Dissolving Saber Chop¡­ It''s ranked thirtieth among the immortal techniques! Previously a demonic skill, it is said that once anything with flesh and blood encounters this technique, it is unable to avoid its eventual demise and will dissolve into a pool of pus and blood!"


    Fang Yuan watched the battle from the side, hidden from sight, and recognized the origin of Fu Hongxue''s immortal technique. "Unexpectedly, Fu Hongxue''s immortal technique is something like this! Could he have thought that there was a possibility for the Blood Dragon series to go berserk from the start?"


    Dang!


    Dust and smoke rose with a dull echo.


    The Blood Dragon Emperor stretched its hands out, grabbed the giant red saber radiance, and continuously stepped backward, destroying countless school buildings, leaving a long mark on the ground.


    When all the dust settled, it had a terrible wound on its chest.


    But soon, numerous blood vessels spread, closing the wounds in an instant, as though there was an infinite monster under the metal surface.


    "This recovery power¡­" Fu Hongxue was shocked. "It didn''t show this trait before!"


    "What''s the point of saying this now? Let''s go!"


    At this point, the remaining mechas immediately joined the attack.


    Even more terrifying immortal techniques and legendary arcane spells formed a terrible storm of energy that surrounded the Blood Dragon Emperor.


    "I said before, you fools have no hope!" The Blood Dragon Emperor roared, and the sound directly passed through the blockade of energy. "Only so few people are here to besiege me. Do you think the main attackers are the Zerg and the Gaias People? No! I was the real main force from the beginning!"


    The next moment, a terrifying aura rose in the middle of the battlefield.


    The amazing energy level caused many detectors to explode immediately.


    "This is¡­ Dominator-grade?"


    Fu Hongxue and the other Grand Arcanists felt their heart collapse.


    ¡­


    In the space battlefield.


    The Gemini Star was just about to take down a Zerg Empress when it suddenly turned its head.


    Kaboom!


    A straight beam of light rose from Planet East Dragon and grew horizontally, turning into a giant cross visible even in space.


    "That direction¡­ East Dragon University!"


    "It''s over!" the other professors lamented.


    Even the campus would probably be gone with such a huge explosion.


    They could only hope that the shelters built with the highest standards could play their role.


    "This feeling¡­ Thearch-grade mecha? Impossible!"


    The Gemini Star stalled before turning immediately toward the beam of light.


    ¡­


    Blood Dragon Research Institute.


    The situation on the ground was chaotic, seeming as though there was burning magma flowing all over.


    There was a mess all around, and East Dragon University was no more.


    This alone was enough to devastate the Human Alliance for a long time. Even if the personnel were all right, the loss of various information and materials was definitely a heavy blow for the development of science and technology.


    The Blood Dragon Emperor stood there proudly, overlooking everything. The purple eye on its right shoulder seemed to have a life of its own, looking around and exuding a devilish aura.


    It did not take long before several Emperor-grade mechas came out and knelt in front of it.


    It broke through the psychic shield of the mechas using the explosion. Its supreme psyche strength then enslaved the Undead Immortals and Grand Arcanists!


    Fang Yuan observed in the dark, and his eyes flashed coldly. This Seven Emotions Overmind is definitely the Abominable Lord! Even if this isn''t his main body, it''s a very important incarnation!


    "Go and wipe out the shelters! Spare no one!" ordered the purple eye.


    Right at that moment, a star appeared in the distant sky.


    It was a mecha flying toward them at a high speed; it was Venerable Three Star''s Gemini Star!


    "Xiantian Qi Five Elements Restriction Void Immortal Technique!"


    "Yin-Yang Five Elements Separation Great Universal Blade!"


    Two immortal techniques suddenly appeared. After the mecha''s amplification, the power fluctuations surpassed the attacks by the professors earlier.


    After all, Venerable Three Star was one of humanity''s high-level Undead Immortals. His sole combat strength surpassed the combined might of Fu Hongxue and the others!


    A massive rainbow-colored hand came down, tearing through all defenses.


    The blade light was caught by the Blood Dragon Emperor.


    At that instant, a cannon appeared on the Gemini Star''s shoulder and shot.


    "Eh? This is¡­" Fang Yuan could not help wondering. "The sharp nail''s peculiarity? I didn''t expect that Venerable Three Star could really develop something from it!"


    The laser was extremely thin, but it had the peculiarity of extreme sharpness. And it passed through the giant eye immediately.


    "Roar!"


    The giant eye exploded, and a large mass of pus spattered. The Blood Dragon Emperor roared in pain.


    But the next moment, a mass of flesh moved and patched the wound. "Speak! Where did you obtain that attack peculiarity from!"


    The horrifying psyche waves almost formed a real interference without the need for a medium.


    A great amount of black gas formed a vague, gigantic figure.


    "An opening¡­ I should attack now!"


    Fang Yuan transformed into the man in black, lifted his camouflage, and rushed out to join the two mechas.


    "The Blood Dragon Emperor was an Emperor-Grade Mecha from the start. The Seven Emotions Overmind used its own genes to upgrade the flesh medium so that it could control all of the Blood Dragons. Then it injected the original tissues into the Blood Dragon Emperor, making it comparable to a Thearch-grade mecha!


    "In fact, Professor Fu Hongxue''s earlier Momon armor was the limit. Only Demon God flesh that does not belong to this world could break the limit!


    "It''s my turn now!"


    He turned into a ray of light, came between the two entangled mechas, onto the Blood Dragon Emperor''s shoulder, and severed its wrist.


    Whoosh!


    A clump of blood splattered directly onto the giant purple eye.


    Rumble!


    Time seemed to stand still in that instant.


    Fang Yuan''s consciousness spread infinitely through the purple eye, seemingly into the depths of the universe before coming into contact with the figure who had hunted him!


    Abominable Lord!


    "Found you!"


    Given the characteristics of Demon Gods and Dream Masters, the Abominable Lord found Fang Yuan the moment Fang Yuan found him.


    "I was right. The purple eye here is just an incarnation. I''ll refine it!"


    Fang Yuan did not hesitate to pour his vast Demon God power into the Blood Dragon Emperor.


    "Ughhhh!"


    The blood-red mecha snarled, yelling more painfully than earlier.


    "If I can''t refine this incarnation with my full power, I''d better find a piece of tofu and knock myself to death!"


    Fang Yuan originally had plans to use his own Demon God flesh to enhance the medium base and then use the tissues as a material to create his mecha.


    However, his plans were foiled by the Seven Emotions Overmind, so he followed where things took him before finally coming here to snatch the results.


    "With the intrinsic quality of two Demon Gods, the enhanced tissues, and the foundation of the Blood Dragon Emperor, the mecha born should be enough for me to use!"


    At that moment, the blood vessels on the Blood Dragon Emperor started to shrink, and the light in the mecha''s eyes also started to change.


    "It''s you!" Venerable Three Star recognized Fang Yuan as the mysterious person who had caused trouble on Planet East Dragon earlier. Although he saw him fighting with the mecha, he did not hesitate. "Immortal technique¡­"


    "Get lost!" Fang Yuan raised his right hand, and the mecha below him did the same. Blood-red lines spread and automatically became Dao Patterns. "Yin-Yang Fusion Magical Power! Nine Heavens Flying Sword Magical Power! Returning Thousand Swords Magical Power! Combine¡­! Immortal Sword Tactics!"


    Crack!


    The palm of the mecha cracked open, and a red, bone-like long sword emerged!


    Zap!


    The blood-red sword radiance dazzled. Yin and Yang met, creating a strange explosion.


    The horrible power made even Venerable Three Star repeatedly step back.


    "Omnidirectional Divine Demonic! Creation Impermanence! Suppress!"


    Fang Yuan took the opportunity to go all out. Three Great Daos appeared, surrounding the Blood Dragon Emperor.


    The original giant purple eye suddenly disappeared, leaving only a bunch of pure flesh being refined into the mecha''s body.


    The Blood Dragon Emperor''s appearance changed in the blink of an eye. The ugly blood vessels and lumps of flesh vanished, becoming armor with blood-red lines.


    A scarlet long sword appeared on its back. It looked like a sword immortal, and the entire mecha exuded a sort of elegance.


    Fang Yuan floated in midair and caressed the mecha.


    His whole being instantly melted into the cockpit.


    "Hm? This is¡­"


    Fang Yuan had an immediate discovery after establishing the neural connection.


    Hundreds of connections appeared in his sea of consciousness with pure allegiance, as though he could manipulate them to do anything!


    "These are¡­ the Blood Dragons infected by the Momon flesh!


    "Yeah. The Seven Emotions Overmind manipulated them earlier, and since I seized the original medium, their control is now transferred to me!"


    Fang Yuan had the Blood Dragon Emperor fly up. "All Blood Dragons, come to me!"


    Swoosh!


    Numerous blood-red meteors rushed over from everywhere, as though they were coming to honor their emperor!


    "Haha¡­ Great! This mecha can manipulate the mechas of the same series. I shall name it¡ªBlood Dragon Thearch!"

 981 Sun God

    "Th-this is¡­"


    With the giant purple eye''s destruction, Oris and the rest, who were originally under its control, regained their freedom.


    Fu Hongxue could not hide the excitement in his eyes when he saw the Blood Dragon Thearch, almost crying. "The greatest masterpiece I envisioned for the Blood Dragon series¡­ comparable to Thearch-grade mechas, could actually be realized!"


    "It''s not the time to talk about this!" The Gemini Star landed dejectedly. "We don''t know if it''s a friend or a foe! Pay attention to defense!"


    Seeing the Blood Dragon Thearch surrounded by hundreds of Blood Dragons, Oris yelled, "It''s all your fault, Fu Hongxue! You not only created a mecha for the enemy but also gave it so many subordinates!"


    "At least there''s a silver lining to this, right? The other universities are safe!"


    Venerable Three Star opened a communication channel while looking at the crowd of Blood Dragons in front of him. "Who¡­ exactly are you?"


    "That''s not important!" Fang Yuan stepped forward slowly. "How about¡­ we discuss a deal?"


    "What deal?" Venerable Three Star asked vigilantly.


    "I''ll immediately leave if you hand him over to me!" Fang Yuan pointed at Oris.


    "Why me?" Grand Arcanist Oris felt it was very strange. "The culprit is obviously Fu Hongxue!"


    "I''m sorry!" Venerable Three Star''s voice changed. "We can''t hand over any comrades!"


    "Is that right? That''s¡­ regrettable!" Fang Yuan drew the mecha''s long sword. "Immortal Sword Tactics!"


    Rumble!


    The collision of two Sword Qi produced a terrible explosion.


    Space shrunk, the void broke, and the turbulent flow of energy engulfed them.


    The power of this immortal technique increased by more than a thousand times through the use of the Thearch-grade mecha. This force could easily destroy the planet.


    Planet East Dragon would have become a page in history if Fang Yuan had not intentionally held back.


    "Stay behind me!" The Gemini Star stood in front of the many professors, spreading the armor on its arms, turning it into a strong wall.


    Chichi!


    The turbulent flow of energy hit the strong wall and immediately made terrifying sounds.


    Rumble!


    After the huge explosion, the Gemini Star fell to the side. Fang Yuan''s Blood Dragon Thearch strode forward and grabbed Oris''s black mecha like it was a small kid. "Wouldn''t it have been better if you handed him over earlier? Why force me!"


    He had gained a lot this time, especially since he had managed to refine an incarnation of the Abominable Lord, obtaining a massive amount of information on the enemy. He was eager to head back to consolidate his findings and did not want to fight.


    "No¡­ Let him go!"


    The cannon on the Gemini Star''s shoulder appeared.


    Swoosh!


    The next moment, Fang Yuan appeared by his side with a flash of blood light, grasped the cannon with one hand, and bent it sharply. "Don''t test my patience. I might be enemies with the cosmic lifeforms, but that doesn''t necessarily make me a friend of the Human Alliance!"


    "What¡­ You''re not from the Cosmic Lifeform Alliance?"


    Venerable Three Star felt all the surprises he could possibly experience in his lifetime being used up today.


    "Okay¡­ Your reinforcements are here. It''s time for me to go!"


    Fang Yuan raised his head and gazed into space. He turned into a blood-red meteor and flew into the sky surrounded by the Blood Dragons.


    ¡­


    "Reinforcements?" Venerable Three Star was perplexed until he received a message. "I''m Dark Star. We''ll be there soon! The Wings of the Sun God is here to help. Hold on!"


    "Great!" Fu Hongxue cheered.


    Wings of the Sun God!


    This was a Thearch-grade mecha piloted by the best among humanity¡ªGrand Arcanist Augustus!


    He had reached level forty-nine Arcanist, and coupled with his Thearch-grade mecha, the combination was definitely a dominator of the battlefield.


    He was an existence that could even be said to stabilize humanity''s destiny, not easily dispatched in normal circumstances.


    The situation was certainly critical since he made a move now.


    "But¡­" Venerable Three Star gazed in the direction of the blood-red meteor, not able to hide his worry. "The appearance of another Thearch-grade mecha is a terrible change for both humans and cosmic lifeforms!"


    ¡­


    Outer space.


    The Zerg Empresses and the Gaias People opened numerous wormholes, appearing to retreat after obtaining the news.


    However, it was obviously a little late.


    A little dot of light emerged not far away, becoming larger by the second, before turning into a huge sun!


    Chichi!


    Before arriving on Planet East Dragon, the fiery sun spread its enormous wings of flame to cover the space and then folded them in.


    Flash!


    After a dazzling glare of light, both the Zerg Empresses and the Gaias mechas disappeared.


    "Sir Augustus!"


    The surrounding mechas saluted as they watched the sun converge into a golden mecha.


    Such an overwhelming attack, yet no harm was done to Planet East Dragon and the Human Alliance''s forces¡­ Sir Augustus is really unfathomable!


    Venerable Three Star felt a sudden relief when he saw this.


    ¡­


    "Cosmic lifeforms attacked Planet East Dragon and razed East Dragon University to the ground. According to sources, East Dragon University suffered heavy losses, with Professor Fu Hongxue''s research institute undergoing the most damage¡­ The military has requested this Undead Immortal be tried in court for the Blood Dragon Incident¡­ This reporter is reporting from the frontlines!"


    On the streets of Planet Blue Ray.


    Numerous screens were constantly broadcasting the latest news on Planet East Dragon. Pedestrians stopped to watch, their faces full of anxiety.


    The occasional images, be it the destroyed Blood Dragons or the terrifying Zerg, shocked their hearts.


    Flying Rainbow High.


    The bell rang, signaling the end of the school day. Xiao Hongyue was about to ride off on her motorbike when someone standing behind a shed caught her eye. She rubbed her eyes in disbelief. "You are¡­ Lin Meng!"


    "Long time no see, Teacher Xiao Hongyue!"


    Fang Yuan greeted her casually while carrying a suitcase.


    "You''re all right! That''s great!" Xiao Hongyue went up and sized Fang Yuan up carefully. "You''re not missing any arms or legs since East Dragon University was razed to the ground?"


    "My sea of consciousness has suffered a terrible injury, and I''ve become an ordinary person. I could only come and find you for food!" Fang Yuan joked. "Okay¡­ Actually, I was lucky enough to leave Planet East Dragon before the attack, so I''m fine!"


    "Your luck is superb then! I heard that Planet East Dragon suffered great losses this time, and many professors and mentors perished, even students. Most of the casualties came from East Dragon University!" Xiao Hongyue sighed. "Let''s go¡­ I''ll treat you to a meal!"


    "No need. I''m here today to give something to you!" Fang Yuan tossed over the metal suitcase. "I brought it here personally! Are you touched?"


    "What is it? So mysterious!" Xiao Hongyue opened a gap, and purple light reflected on her face. "What the f-!"


    Smack!


    She slammed the suitcase shut, pulled Fang Yuan onto her bike, and headed for her villa.


    "Activate signal jammer. Enter the highest state of alert!"


    Xiao Hongyue immediately activated the highest level of defense and looked at Fang Yuan as though he were a monster. She took a deep breath and opened the suitcase.


    It contained a row of purple test tubes. The high-tier brain development drug radiated a charming light.


    "Damn it¡­ Are you trying to harm me?! Both of us would never see the light of day again if this was seen in public!" Xiao Hongyue chided.


    It was not because Planet Blue Ray was not safe, but that the benefits were too alluring.


    "Wait, how did you get so many high-tier brain development drugs? This is a supreme drug that makes up for the foundation of high-level cultivators!"


    Xiao Hongyue was suspicious. "Am I wrong? No, this is the high-tier drug all right! How did you get them?"


    "Teacher Hongyue, didn''t you see the latest scientific news? East Dragon University has found a way to increase refinement success rate!" Fang Yuan smiled. "It gives me great honor to tell you that my name is on the patent as well!"


    "Eh!?" Xiao Hongyue searched for the publication, clearly not believing him. "I never thought¡­ never thought¡­ that an ordinary student could come so far! However, this is too much. I can''t accept!"


    "Teacher, I wouldn''t have been able to enter East Dragon University if you didn''t lend me the drug then. These wouldn''t be here now either. Therefore, this is totally acceptable!" Fang Yuan smiled. "I have to go!"


    "What? You''re leaving just like that?" A complicated look flashed through Xiao Hongyue''s eyes. "How long do you plan to stay on Planet Blue Ray?"


    "About a day. I''ll just stroll around!" Fang Yuan replied. He had settled his karma.


    "Let me know when you''re leaving!" Xiao Hongyue said solemnly.


    ¡­


    After Fang Yuan left, Xiao Hongyue had an expression of internal conflict, but she opened a communication channel nonetheless. "Father!"


    A bright-eyed middle-aged man appeared on the screen. He had an aura of power. "What is it?"


    "A student from East Dragon University returned and gave me three high-tier brain development drugs!"


    "What?" The middle-aged man was surprised. "Let me check!"


    He answered immediately, "Is it Lin Meng? He''s very mysterious and has an important position in East Dragon University. He''s on the priority list of missing people. East Dragon University is going all out to look for him!"


    "What?" Xiao Hongyue was momentarily stunned. "But he told me he left Planet East Dragon before the attack!"


    "Don''t let him leave!" The middle-aged man''s eyes shone even brighter now. "There must be some secret on him. I''m contacting East Dragon University now¡­ Haha, my daughter, you did well. Perhaps we can advance after this!


    "As for those brain development drugs, keep them well. They''re yours. Our family will soar because of this!"


    ¡­


    Snap!


    Xiao Hongyue''s expression was complex after the communication cut. Her instincts told her that she had done something terribly wrong.

 982 Showdown

    On the dark side of a giant floating meteorite near Planet Blue Ray.


    Numerous Blood Dragons surrounded the Blood Dragon Thearch.


    Fang Yuan''s body had a layer of light, walking freely in the universe.


    High-grade mechas had the ability of interstellar travel, let alone him at this time.


    There was a dismembered black mecha below him. The Grand Arcanist in the cockpit was unconscious and pale.


    "The Grand Arcanist sent by the military to assist the Blood Dragon research! Oris!" Fang Yuan said softly, and Oris opened his eyes, looking dazed.


    He shot light from his eyes into Oris''s without hesitation.


    The power of a Demon God was not something that a mere low-level Grand Arcanist could resist. Fang Yuan immediately acquired a large portion of his memories.


    He was about to lay his hands on the secrets of the arcane spell models and specialized knowledge when a layer of security appeared.


    "Major Chiliocosm Illusion Art, cast illusions!"


    Fang Yuan did not even need to think, directly using this illusion technique and exerting a power that the original owner could never have imagined.


    He transformed into Oris himself the moment his sea of consciousness invaded Oris''s spiritual will.


    Obviously, these defenses and restrictions could not possibly go against Oris himself. Fang Yuan went in with ease and obtained a lot of knowledge.


    "Level ten arcane spell, Dead Soul Appendage! So Oris is an Arcanist whose focus is in necromancy¡­ Not that it matters. I can master all Arcane attributes!"


    How abundant would the arcane spells of a Grand Arcanist be?


    In that instant, Fang Yuan acquired a large amount of high-level arcane spells, including some of the most advanced research in the necromancy field.


    All of which were the results of the combined efforts from geniuses and forces. Oris redeemed them for who knows how much, but in the end, Fang Yuan got them all for cheap.


    "Level eleven arcane spell, Summon Zombies!"


    "Level twelve arcane spell, Corpse Explosion!"


    ¡­


    "And finally, legendary arcane spells, Undead Calamity! Summon Monarch of Death!"


    Fang Yuan sat cross-legged. With the aid from the intrinsic quality of a Demon God, the psyche of a cultivator, and the Arcane Smart-Brain, he increased his Arcanist levels at an astonishing speed.


    It did not take long before there were only two last legendary arcane spells.


    "As long as I can analyze the models, I can almost be considered a Grand Arcanist¡­ Although I didn''t go through the perfect lich ritual¡­"


    The Western liches were vessels of energy, similar to the Eastern Undead Immortals.


    However, Fang Yuan''s Demon God body was the strongest vessel of all, so how could he possibly give it up?


    "The difficulty of the arcane spell models naturally increases after entering the legendary level. To me, however, it''s just a matter of a dozen days!"


    Fang Yuan got up and brushed his shirt.


    At this point, he was already a level twenty Arcanist and only one step away from Legend, yet he had used less than half a day!


    The intrinsic quality of a Demon God and concurrently practicing the Arcane and cultivation was just that terrifying!


    "It''s time to return to Planet Blue Ray. Xiao Hongyue should have sent news about me out by now, right?"


    Fang Yuan could not help but smile as he toyed with that thought.


    Regarding the study of human nature, almost no Demon God could surpass him. He had already guessed Xiao Hongyue''s reaction when he met her.


    He wanted this to happen.


    Now that the Abominable Lord had joined the Cosmic Lifeform Alliance, and they had found each other, what was left was a battle to the death.


    It was necessary to draw the support of the Human Alliance.


    At least, they could start the conversation¡­ with his original identity!


    Even if his identity was exposed, it was not a matter of concern to him now.


    ¡­


    "Where were you, Lin Meng? Why couldn''t I contact you?"


    A bunch of communication requests glared at him when he reached Planet Blue Ray. After connecting, Xiao Hongyue''s anxious voice came through.


    "It''s all right. I just took a rest!" Fang Yuan replied casually, which further strengthened Xiao Hongyue''s speculation.


    She took a deep breath and asked tentatively, "Have you¡­ prepared to leave? I want to meet you before you leave. There''s something I have to tell you!"


    "No problem. Let''s meet at Cat Eye Cafe on Moon Street!"


    Xiao Hongyue replied immediately, "Sure, I''ll get going now!"


    After she hung up, she looked toward her side, at her father. "Dad, promise me you won''t do anything to him. Besides¡­ there''s no evidence that Lin Meng did something bad!"


    "I know. We''re going there to protect him. Rest assured!"


    Her father''s eyes flashed. "Good daughter, now set out and try to make him stay. Take the initiative to persuade him to cooperate with the government¡­"


    It was a secret that Lin Meng had played a decisive role in the improvement of the high-tier brain development drug. However, even the most advanced security measures were not foolproof.


    East Dragon University had suffered heavy losses and was on the verge of annihilation, causing the hearts of many to itch.


    Here, Xiao Hongyue''s father represented a force in the government, ready to compete with the military and East Dragon University for talents.


    ¡­


    "Sir, your coffee!"


    At the Cat Eye Cafe, the waitress in a maid uniform smiled sweetly as she poured a cup of coffee for Fang Yuan. She peeped at Fang Yuan unconsciously when she took the tray away.


    Lin Meng was not handsome, but he had a unique temperament, fresh and refined, making him unforgettable.


    "Teacher Hongyue, here!"


    The glass revolving door opened, and Xiao Hongyue entered. Fang Yuan beckoned to her.


    "Lin Meng!" Xiao Hongyue sat opposite him with a complicated look. "Sorry¡­"


    "No need. I can guess some of it!" Fang Yuan''s gaze swept the place. "This doesn''t concern you. Let''s get someone who can explain it well to come forward instead!"


    "Good! Mr. Lin is a straightforward person!" Father Xiao stood up from the adjacent seat. "Let me introduce my humble self. I''m Xiao Yuanfeng, director of the second division of the Alliance''s secret service!"


    The surrounding waiters, laid-back lovers, and single clients stood up as he spoke, all having serious expressions.


    Fang Yuan took a sip and said with a smile, "Hmm, I didn''t expect the secret service to be able to make such good coffee!"


    "You can taste it every day if you like it, Mr. Lin!" Xiao Yuanfeng stepped forward and gave a ninety-degree bow. "Mr. Lin, your ability is obvious to all. On behalf of the Alliance, I would now like to sincerely invite you to join the Materia Medica Laboratory. Please tell us any conditions you may have, and we''ll be sure to meet them!"


    "I originally thought you''d be here representing East Dragon University, but now¡­ faction struggles? You''re still doing this at this time. I''m feeling even more pessimistic about the war to come!" Fang Yuan sighed.


    "Righteous people don''t speak with hidden meanings!" Xiao Yuanfeng straightened up. "You must have caused some trouble since you fled from Planet East Dragon. Also, do you know that the military is already aware that you''re here and has sent people over. Wu Wudi is leading them!"


    He smiled confidently, as though everything was in his grasp. "You''ve already offended two of the three biggest camps in the Human Alliance. Who else can you join but us?"


    "Wu Wudi? That kid is still alive? He really has the life of a cockroach!" Fang Yuan shook his head nonetheless. "I still have to reject!"


    "What?" The veins on Xiao Yuanfeng''s forehead popped up. "I hope you can seriously reconsider!"


    "Father!" Xiao Hongyue shouted by the side. Xiao Yuanfeng waved his hand, and someone immediately came to take her away.


    "I''ve considered it. I can only say that you aren''t qualified. No! Even East Dragon University and the military outside are not qualified!" Fang Yuan shook his head. "Only the entire Human Alliance is fit to cooperate with me!"


    "Such arrogance!" Xiao Yuanfeng frowned and doubled back suddenly. "What did you say? The military outside?"


    Rumble!


    The tightly shut door boomed open, and shards of glass flew in the air.


    "It''s you, Wu Wudi!" Xiao Yuanfeng and his group quickly drew their guns. "How dare you violate the laws of the Alliance and use spiritual techniques to destroy public property!"


    "I''m a special envoy from the military now. I have immunity!"


    Wu Wudi did not even look at them, as though they were a bunch of ants. His eyes only had Fang Yuan. "Lin Meng, I seemed to have belittled you! But now, you are suspected of stealing classified military information, and the military court has approved of your arrest. This is the arrest warrant!"


    He smirked as he took out the warrant.


    Xiao Yuanfeng''s face was now ashen. He knew he could not supersede with his authority.


    "If you resist, I can kill you immediately!" Wu Wudi stepped forward with the glee of revenge. "So? Desperate? You are nothing more an ant in front of me!"


    "I thought you''d be more subdued after losing the Blood Dragon Emperor¡­" Fang Yuan shook his head and sighed.


    Rumble!


    Rumble!


    The ground trembled violently, as if an earthquake had struck.


    Huge potholes started appearing around the cafe.


    Blood Dragons started climbing out of them and then lifted the cafe''s ceiling!


    Crash!


    Dust flew, and light poured in.


    "This¡­"


    Wu Wudi stopped in his tracks, and Xiao Yuanfeng was dumbfounded.


    Xiao Hongyue and the rest were so shocked that they could not even get a single word out.


    Like ancient giants, a dozen mechas surrounded the cafe.


    The fierce dragon patterns and the blood-red armor seemed very familiar.


    "The Blood Dragons!"


    Wu Wudi spit the words out one-by-one. He did not run, knowing that he could not escape under such a siege. This was a power that could destroy a planet!


    "So¡­ the one who stole the Blood Dragon Emperor was you!!!"


    He looked at Fang Yuan''s unchanging expression with a sinking heart.

 983 Alliance

    The most eye-catching incident of Planet East Dragon''s battle was not the cosmic lifeforms'' huge army nor the giant purple eye, but the mysterious man who appeared at the end!


    As soon as he appeared, he took control of the Blood Dragon Emperor and led all the Blood Dragons to leave with him. His ability was no less than Augustus.


    Many military analysts believed that the entire Planet East Dragon would have collapsed if he had harbored ill intentions.


    Also, there were many speculations about the identity of this mysterious person.


    However, Wu Wudi would have never thought that the truth would be unveiled so dramatically in front of him.


    That mysterious person was actually Lin Meng!


    The first-year who had disrupted him on many occasions!


    How was this possible?


    The severe shock made his mind go blank, and his face showed signs of defeat.


    He understood that the gap between them was like a mountain and that there was no possibility of recovery.


    "You said¡­ the person controlling these mechas is Lin Meng?" Xiao Hongyue''s brain finally resumed slightly functioning. "Lin¡­ Lin Meng, what is the meaning of this?"


    She felt that this world was too fantastic. He was a student who had just graduated from high school. How did he suddenly create such a big situation?


    Whoo! Whoo!


    Piercing sirens sounded throughout Flying Rainbow City.


    The appearance of a dozen Blood Dragons was more horrifying news than hearing about nuclear bomb explosions.


    The government did their best to open up shelters and mobilize the army even though they knew it was futile.


    Unfortunately, these low-grade mechas felt inadequate merely standing in front of the Blood Dragons, not daring to make any movement unless the other party started attacking.


    Fang Yuan had no interest in tearing down this paper-thin defense. Instead, he broadcasted through the Blood Dragons. "Get those who can make decisions to come here!"


    Swoosh!


    Ten minutes later, a star flickered and descended as a sky-blue mecha. "I''m the local guardian of this planet, Undead Immortal Mu Yan!"


    "I demand to talk to the highest in command!" Fang Yuan waved his hand, and the red mechas descended. One of them nearly made Wu Wudi''s eyes pop out.


    This mecha used to be the crystallization of his blood, the Blood Dragon Emperor. Of course, it was now utterly changed.


    More than a hundred mechas surrounded Venerable Mu Yan, causing even him to sweat.


    Fang Yuan flew up and landed on the head of the Blood Dragon Thearch. "I''m not from the Human Alliance, nor am I from the Cosmic Lifeform Alliance, but because of an accident, I need to destroy a certain existence in the Cosmic Lifeform Alliance¡­ Of course, you can also see my power! Creation Impermanence!"


    He waved his hand lightly.


    The entire atmosphere of Planet Blue Ray Planet suddenly surged, as though it had a life of its own. It started to gather and ripple with terrible power.


    "Warning! Warning!"


    "The atmosphere is moving unusually. Cosmic radiation is increasing rapidly¡­ Planet Blue Ray Planet will face destruction in twenty-four hours according to the simulation!"


    Venerable Mu Yan looked at the energy meter going off the charts and was slightly dumbfounded. He believed Fang Yuan''s claims.


    The other party was not human but merely a lifeform in human skin, similar to the Gaias People.


    Otherwise, it was impossible to have such terrifying energy!


    "Stop. I promise you!" he yelled. This action confused the people who did not understand. How could a guardian, an Undead Immortal piloting an Emperor-grade mecha, admit defeat just like that?


    "Hello, guest from afar!"


    Mu Yan was very fast. His mecha projected a screen that divided into many small windows. Each window contained the important people who could decide the fate of the Human Alliance.


    Dark Star, Three Star, the Black Death God, the Thunder God, and even Augustus were on them.


    Venerable Three Star held Fang Yuan in the strangest of stares. "Heavens¡­ I couldn''t have even imagined that the talented new student was an alien!"


    "Sorry!" Fang Yuan smiled and shrugged. "Let''s cut the chase. I assume you''ve realized that the Cosmic Lifeform Alliance was abnormal recently, right? One of my enemies has joined the other side, and the enemy of the enemy is a friend. That''s why I''m choosing to help you!"


    "The help you are referring to¡­" Venerable Dark Star said, "was to snatch the Blood Dragons?"


    "Can you not distort the truth? Planet East Dragon Planet would have been destroyed if I hadn''t stepped in and stopped the Seven Emotions Overmind!"


    Fang Yuan had a thick skin and would not return the Blood Dragon Thearch no matter what.


    "Cooperation? Alliance? This is certainly possible, but how do you explain the fact that you abducted one of our Grand Arcanists?" asked the Thunder God, the West''s representative.


    "Erm¡­ sorry. I was just full of curiosity about the Arcane, so I wanted to study it!" Fang Yuan said without blushing. "The Grand Arcanist is all right. I''ll return him to you immediately if we reach an agreement!"


    In any case, that Grand Arcanist was not of much value after the soul search. It was possible that no one would even realize that he was soul searched after he went back.


    "Then¡­ I have no problems. How should I address Your Excellency?" The Thunder God smiled.


    "Just call me Lin Meng!" Fang Yuan gazed at the crowd below and had a wicked idea. "Of course¡­ I demand an explanation for the unfair treatment that I''ve received!"


    "No problem. They will all be tried in the military court!" The higher echelons of the Human Alliance were negotiating with Fang Yuan as though he was an interstellar force. "We''ll treat them strictly and punish them as they deserve!"


    When he saw Xiao Hongyue''s begging gaze on him, Fang Yuan added, "Hmm¡­ Those from the secret service can receive lighter sentences, but this Wu Wudi¡­ Hehe¡­"


    "Understood!"


    Obviously, they had to sideline all personal interests in the face of national affairs.


    Even if Wu Wudi was a genius, he would only become an Undead Immortal in the future and would not make much difference to the current overall picture.


    These higher echelons could naturally make a quick decision on this when comparing him to Fang Yuan.


    "Ahh!" Wu Wudi evidently realized this as well and tried to escape.


    He transformed into a stream of light and buried himself into the ground.


    Bang!


    Venerable Mu Yan''s mecha moved and grabbed a bunch of vines protruding from the soil with Wu Wudi trapped within.


    Wu Wudi gave up his last struggle and said in a low voice, "Lin Meng¡­ You''re good! I admit defeat!"


    "Wu Wudi, you are a member of the military, yet you were trying to flee. I sentence you with¡­ the death penalty for the crime of desertion!"


    After soliciting the opinions of the higher echelons, Venerable Mu Yan gripped tightly.


    Crack!


    The vines tightened, and Wu Wudi instantly exploded into a mist of blood. Even his divine spirit could not escape.


    He was merely at the Nascent Soul stage after all, nothing in the face of these Undead Immortals, let alone Venerable Mu Yan in his mecha.


    "Don''t kill us. We admit to our crimes! We admit to our crimes!" Xiao Yuanfeng and his people peed their pants. They quickly pleaded guilty and expressed their willingness to accept all judgment.


    Fang Yuan did not even bat an eye.


    These people, even Wu Wudi, were undoubtedly abandoned for the future of the entire human race.


    What good was a genius in front of them? If they were not significant enough, they could give up as many of them as needed.


    "Very well. I see the sincerity of the alliance!"


    Fang Yuan nodded, and a Blood Dragon came forward to stretch out its hand with an unconscious Oris on it.


    In times of war, this Grand Arcanist was worth much more than someone like Wu Wudi, a genius who had yet to mature.


    Venerable Three Star finally understood everything and asked with all seriousness, "So, how do you intend to cooperate with us?"


    "First, we will cooperate on the research and development of war technology, and I will choose the research institute¡­ My research ability is beyond doubt. For example, in pharmaceutical development!"


    Fang Yuan added, "I''ll also pilot the Blood Dragon Thearch to join in battle when necessary!"


    "No problem!"


    "Seconded!"


    "Seconded!"


    After some discussion, they came to a decision. "We can accept your conditions. Welcome to the Human Alliance!"


    "Hope our collaboration can completely destroy the Cosmic Lifeform Alliance!" Fang Yuan smiled and immediately entered the Blood Dragon Thearch.


    Roar! Roar!


    The huge mecha soared into the sky with its subordinates. They turned into bloody meteors and disappeared into the horizon.


    "How¡­ cunning!" Augustus could not help sighing when he saw this. "I would have reached Planet Blue Ray in another minute!"


    "His vigilance is high, but that''s normal!"


    "I hope our future collaboration will be smooth!"


    The higher echelons discussed as the screen turned dark.


    ¡­


    "Staying put. I''m not that stupid!


    "I may not be the same race, but I still understand the hearts of others!"


    Fang Yuan led the Blood Dragons in space, rushing to hide in dark territory.


    He was an outsider to the Human Alliance, and there was a chance that they might be able to capture him.


    What would happen if the Abominable Lord brought the goodwill of the Cosmic Lifeform Alliance and promised that there would be a ceasefire if they handed him over?


    Fang Yuan did not want to bet his safety on it.


    If the Abominable Lord really obtained power within the Cosmic Lifeform, this scene would be quite likely. Today''s Wu Wudi would be him then.


    Fang Yuan did not want to be besieged by the Cosmic Lifeform Alliance and the Human Alliance jointly led by the Abominable Lord.


    "The only thing I can do is wait a while longer. First, make the Human Alliance recognize my worth! Second, they will have no choice but to rely on my strength once war breaks out completely!"

 984 Suffering Defea

    A barren planet, inside a crater.


    Surrounded by many Blood Dragons, Fang Yuan strolled on the Blood Dragon Thearch and inscribed Dao Patterns.


    "The so-called Dao Patterns and Aural Dao might be evolutions of immortal techniques and arcane spells, but to put it simply, they are also an agglomeration of nomological power, similar to the power of a Great Dao¡­"


    In this regard, although the science and technology of this world could not study it, he had great advantages as a Demon God.


    Fang Yuan was currently preparing to inscribe as many patterns of his Great Daos as possible on the Blood Dragon Thearch.


    "The Undead Immortals of the East inscribe immortal technique Dao Patterns on their mechas. The Arcanists of the West use legendary arcane spell arrays¡­ My Blood Dragon Thearch will use both!"


    In fact, from Fang Yuan''s perspective, the Blood Dragon Thearch had just reached the minimum level to be considered a Thearch-grade mecha, even though it had absorbed the flesh of two Demon Gods. He would need something more if he wanted to truly dominate the battlefield.


    "The Dao Pattern I showed on East Dragon campus was but temporary. I have to have the Immortal Sword Tactics in a permanent form on the mecha, and then do some refinement¡­"


    After deciding the immortal technique, there was still the legendary arcane spell. Fang Yuan was not planning to inscribe necromancy on the Blood Dragon Thearch.


    "In this aspect, maybe I can ask the Human Alliance for help¡­"


    Fang Yuan looked thoughtfully at his stats window.


    "Name: Fang Yuan (Lin Meng)


    Profession: Dream Master


    Cultivation: Demon God (Myriad Transformations), Mystic (Level 21), Arcanist (Level 21)


    Dao Path: Creation Great Dao, Omnidirectional Divine Demonic Armament Dao, Impermanence Great Dao


    Techniques: Immortal Sword Tactics, Undead Calamity, Summon Monarch of Death


    Skills: Alchemy (Grandmaster), Mecha Control (Grandmaster)


    Specialization: Botany [Level 6] (Maximum), Heavenly Eye Seer Spell, Body of Origin Power, Heaven Devouring Mystic Technique (Level 2)


    Power Recovered: 90%!"


    "Ninety percent is the limit in this world. Foreign Demon Gods can only exert at most ninety percent of their power¡­" Fang Yuan shook his head. "My levels in the Arcane and cultivation have completely crossed the threshold¡­ The true horror of concurrent cultivation can only be fully demonstrated after level twenty-one!"


    However, his lifeform had not changed at all even though he had broken through. Any Undead Immortal would be confused by it.


    After inscribing the Immortal Sword Tactics, Fang Yuan dialed a number. "Venerable Three Star, how''s the information I gave you?"


    "Unbelievable!" On the other side of the screen, Venerable Three Star had a surprised face. "Using your method, the success rate of inscribing has increased by thirty-five percent! It''s very effective for the growth of our armaments!"


    "These are things I developed during my time in the Blood Dragon Research Institute. There may be more results if you give me a high-end laboratory!"


    Fang Yuan smiled and added immediately, "However, I want the research on a legendary arcane spell model."


    "Legendary arcane spell¡­ No problem if it''s just one!"


    Venerable Three Star was dumbfounded but nodded anyway, recalling Lin Meng''s interest in legendary arcane spells. "Which one do you want?"


    "The legendary arcane spell¡ªStill Time!" Fang Yuan blinked.


    "Oh! This arcane spell¡­ not many Grand Arcanists can handle it. Moreover, it only works on a limited area for a very short amount of time¡­ Of course, in today''s perspective, this Still Time doesn''t mean that time becomes still. On the contrary, it is accelerating! In that instant, the caster will accelerate to an unbelievable speed. In their view, everything they see will become static¡­"


    "Makes sense. That''s why I want to study this arcane spell model!" Fang Yuan said without blinking. "Also¡­ how''s the recent war situation?"


    "Not good!" Venerable Three Star shook his head. "The Cosmic Lifeform Alliance started their retaliation after the battle on Planet East Dragon. We''re in fierce battles on all fronts. There''s also bad news¡­ The Seven Emotions Overmind has appeared on the battlefield once again!"


    "That''s expected. Do you need my help?" Fang Yuan rubbed his chin.


    "What? You''re willing to appear on the battlefield?" Venerable Three Star was quite surprised. After all, in his impression, this alien called Lin Meng was rather cunning.


    "Of course not¡­ But don''t you think I have something on hand that can quickly turn things around?" The towering figure of the Blood Dragon Thearch appeared behind Fang Yuan. "I can provide you the Momon armor for free. What do you think?"


    "You mean manufacture another huge batch of your subordinates?" Venerable Three Star asked in return.


    "Well, I can''t relinquish the innate control over them. It''s like the Zerg¡­" Fang Yuan spread his hands. "But¡­ the war has already started. Can you really support the consumption of high-grade mechas? Where else can you find such a batch of high-quality cannon fodder outside of the Blood Dragon series?"


    "Let me think about it!" Venerable Three Star was struggling.


    The Blood Dragon series that Fu Hongxue developed was a complete overture of the mechas of the past. Rather, his technology and the unintentional collaboration with the Seven Emotions Overmind broke through a certain bottleneck, achieving unmanned mechas.


    In the past, any random cosmic ray could cause signal interference, which was why every mecha required a pilot.


    But now, the Blood Dragon series had completely broken through this obstacle. The status of the Blood Dragon Thearch was akin to that of a Zerg tribe''s empress.


    Of course, the real top mechas required the mecha and the pilot to collaborate to display immortal techniques.


    The Blood Dragons did not have this ability, which was why they could only be considered pseudo Emperor-grade. Nonetheless, they could achieve remote operation without interference from outside.


    "Actually, you can send mecha pilots to control the Blood Dragons if you want!" Fang Yuan said sincerely. "This way, you can completely dispel your doubts! And the mechas would then be able to reach their full potential!"


    "Really?" Venerable Three Star shook his head. "Apologies¡­ we won''t send so many outstanding young lads to you as hostages!"


    "That''s a shame!"


    After understanding their worry, Fang Yuan said no more on the matter.


    They would come to him if they suffered enough defeats anyway.


    "A top laboratory has been prepared for you. Our greatest hope is to unravel the wormhole technology¡­" Venerable Three Star came to the issue at hand.


    "Wormhole? I might have some leads¡­" Fang Yuan laughed.


    The Gaias People''s level of technology was not far behind that of the Human Alliance. However, they had a revolutionary breakthrough once the Seven Emotions Overmind sided with them. They had obviously applied external technology.


    Fang Yuan was confident in this area as well.


    "Is that so? That''s great¡­"


    Venerable Three Star was happy from the bottom of his heart¡­ until Fang Yuan dropped a bomb of unpredictability the very next moment.


    "But I want to carry out the research by myself for the time being. You only need to send me information!"


    "What?"


    ¡­


    Fang Yuan found Venerable Three Star''s perplexed face funny as he smashed the communicator in his hands. "I have to change places soon. Can''t stay here any longer."


    Their collaboration could never be straightforward until humanity faced the real possibility of extinction.


    ¡­


    A few months passed by in the blink of an eye.


    Devil Galaxy.


    The giant Seven Emotions Overmind soared through space, spewing out ugly Seven


    Emotions Zerg.


    Below, numerous explosions and screams rang out from inside a heavily-armed planetary fortress.


    Rumble!


    A huge hole opened in the defense.


    Countless Zerg swarmed through the gap.


    In space, the Gaias People piloted their mechas, actively searching for and killing any survivors.


    "Detestable!"


    A wave of reinforcements from the Human Alliance arrived outside of the planetary ring. "This is our last stronghold in the Devil Galaxy. We can''t give up!"


    "We will face extinction if the cosmic lifeforms take control of all the psionic crystal mines!"


    ¡­


    A golden-yellow mecha glowed like the sun behind them.


    "Sir Augustus!" Venerable Dark Star, the Black Death God, and the Thunder God surrounded the Wings of the Sun God. "What should we do? Attack immediately?"


    Augustus''s reaction was a little strange, gazing at the darkness of the universe silently.


    "There¡­"


    Venerable Dark Star was shocked when he saw a black mecha.


    It had integrated with the darkness of the universe. At this time, the pure black mecha revealed itself, reflecting a sparkling radiance. Merely being there brought a huge amount of pressure and suffocation.


    "The Cosmic Thearch! Even the King of Gaias is here!" Dark Star and the rest exclaimed.


    "Let''s¡­ retreat!"


    The Wings of the Sun God spread his right hand, and golden flames formed a pathway to receive the survivors.


    "Sir?!"


    Dark Star and the rest bit their lips, their eyes turning blood-red.


    "They don''t only have one King of Gaias!" Augustus stood at the rear of the team. "You retreat first!"


    "Understood!"


    At this time, they could only retreat even if they did not understand.


    Augustus was looking at the Cosmic Thearch without a word.


    "Augustus, you truly are my eternal rival!" The voice of the King of Gaias came from the Cosmic Thearch.


    Darkness withdrew. The Seven Emotions Overmind was now beside the Cosmic Thearch and confronting Augustus.


    The Seven Emotions Overmind shook its wings, and a mysterious voice loomed. "Looks like you''re not accepting my good intentions. The Human Alliance can only perish then!"


    "There''s no need to talk so much with him. We''ll certainly help you find the person you want after we destroy the Human Alliance!" the King of Gaias said. "The Devil Galaxy is already ours. As long as we mine enough psionic crystals, the Cosmic Lifeform Alliance will become the only overlord of the universe!"

 985 Dao Frui

    If Fang Yuan were here, he would have been very grateful for his own decision.


    The Cosmic Lifeform Alliance really did negotiate with the Human Alliance!


    Fortunately, his location was not fixed, and he had great combat power. The Human Alliance had not found an opportunity to start.


    Moreover, the Gaias People were against it. They wanted to annihilate the Human Alliance since they had been battling for long. It was not easy to erase the hatred.


    It was anybody''s guess what the higher echelons of the Human Alliance would do to obtain a temporary ceasefire in the war otherwise.


    "Devil Galaxy, we''ll be back!"


    Augustus caught up with the team after a while. "Send a message to Venerable Three Star. We need to have a deeper collaboration with that Lin Meng!"


    Now that negotiations had broken down, it was natural to fight with whatever they could.


    ¡­


    Fang Yuan was now in a very favorable position.


    He had completely memorized the legendary arcane spell model he had extorted from Venerable Three Star and had entered a state of rapid analysis.


    "As expected¡­ the legendary arcane spell Still Time is a joke!"


    Time and space were the most profound Great Dao powers. How could they possibly grasp them easily?


    Halfway through his analysis, Fang Yuan confirmed what Venerable Three Star had said. This legendary arcane spell did not stop time but accelerated oneself, creating the illusion that everything else was stagnant!


    "But even so, this arcane spell is still extraordinary!"


    It was enough for Fang Yuan to kill his opponent hundreds of times even if he could only increase his speed by one second.


    Especially when this arcane spell combined with the Immortal Sword Tactics!


    "I have to inscribe it on the mecha once I complete my analysis of this arcane spell¡­ It could very well become my trump card when amplified by the mecha!"


    Fang Yuan went to the Blood Dragon Thearch''s head and sat cross-legged.


    This mecha was extremely tall, and there was a red dragon horn on the top of its head, making it even more majestic.


    "I''ve determined the arcane spell and immortal technique inscriptions. Next is to test my skills as an inscriber¡­ Dao Patterns have similarities with arrays. Since I have experience with the Eight Gates Sword Array, and I''m proficient in the Dao of Array, I don''t have to be too worried¡­"


    The only ones who could inscribe two immortal techniques on a mecha were Inscription Grandmasters.


    Venerable Three Star''s Gemini Star was one. Fang Yuan had yet to meet a second.


    However, he had the confidence he could bring the Blood Dragon Thearch to that level.


    "In fact, this mecha is a huge treasure!"


    Fang Yuan caressed the cold mecha and shut his eyes.


    There were still some remnants of the Seven Emotions Overmind''s flesh and genes in the Blood Dragon Thearch. Of course, he had thoroughly refined them by now, and even the Abominable Lord would not be able to do anything funny.


    However, the information in this flesh could give him more knowledge about the enemy.


    During this period of time, besides waiting for the Human Alliance to suffer a great defeat, as well as analyzing the arcane spell and the Dao Pattern inscription, most of his time was spent on cracking the secrets in the Abominable Lord''s genes.


    The opponent was proficient in the Dao of Dream Master and had cast protections early. Nonetheless, there was still something to be gained from the things left behind.


    "The Demon God realm can be divided into three stages: Void Amalgamation, Myriad Transformations, and Netherheaven! This Abominable Lord is only a Netherheaven Demon God¡­ Of course, he''s already at the pinnacle. The power of his Great Dao itself is enough to protect him from and even contend against a Heavenly Dao. And he''s merely a little way from reaching perfection!"


    Speaking of which, this Abominable Lord was also quite unlucky.


    He was only lacking the Creation Great Dao in Fang Yuan''s hands!


    This was the remnant of the Dream Master Dao path left all those years ago, which had now sublimated in his hands.


    The Abominable Lord was undermined just like that. Otherwise, he might have already broken through to the realm after Demon God.


    "Of course¡­ this is also a test for me!" Fang Yuan''s expression turned solemn. "The other party possesses part of the Dream Master Dao path, and we''re fighting each other over our Great Daos. We won''t rest until the other is dead! He can''t breakthrough if he doesn''t devour me, and similarly, I won''t be able to ascend to the realm after Netherheaven if I don''t devour him!


    "After Netherheaven Demon God, the power of a Great Dao matures and bears fruit. The result is the Dao Fruit realm!"


    This was also information from the Abominable Lord.


    Fang Yuan thought it over and felt there were no falsehoods.


    "The Dao Fruit realm is mysterious. Even the Abominable Lord might only know the name¡­ but nothing about its powers."


    His eyes lit up again as he thought about this.


    After Demon God was the Dao Fruit realm!


    This was equivalent to pointing out a clear path for him to move forward on, even though there was a huge roadblock on this path.


    He would never be able to advance to the Dao Fruit realm if he did not regain that part of the Dao of Dream Master that the Abominable Lord had seized.


    "My most urgent task now is to break through to the third level of Heaven Devouring Mystic Technique and then fight the Abominable Lord¡­ Destiny lies in effort, then weakening him, and then finally absolutely devitalizing him!"


    Fang Yuan had his own profound understanding of destiny now.


    Before, the Abominable Lord could be considered ferocious and was able to crush him more easily than killing an ant.


    However, his incarnation had fallen into this world at the same time as that of Fang Yuan. They had both begun at the same starting line, so there was now a possibility of surpassing him.


    Even if it was only destroying his Magical Clone, not causing much damage to his main body, it was enough to obtain a victory.


    He would take the chance to bite and bleed his opponent whenever he had the opportunity. This was the way to win from a position of weakness.


    "The Abominable Lord is at the pinnacle of Netherheaven Demon God. How many external Daos has he integrated into his Great Dao?"


    Fang Yuan looked solemn with this thought.


    Obviously, the Abominable Lord''s strength far exceeded his currently.


    Fortunately, they had begun at the same starting line in this world. He could feel that the other party''s strength was not too far from his during their last battle.


    This was the best opportunity!


    ¡­


    "Newsflash! The Human Alliance has completely withdrawn from the Devil Galaxy after the fall of Opher''s planetary fortress! The head of state has made a series of speeches announcing that the Alliance is entering a state of war!


    "We must counterattack immediately, back to the Devil Galaxy! Otherwise, not only will the population of the cosmic lifeforms increase drastically, but our mechas will also become scrap metal due to lack of energy!"


    ¡­


    Fang Yuan turned on a random channel and was pleased to see the Human Alliance had suffered a defeat.


    He immediately picked up a new communicator and contacted Venerable Three Star. "I think¡­ we can now deepen our cooperation!"


    "All right!" Venerable Three Star was naturally dispirited. "You truly know when to choose the time. Tell me, what requests do you have?"


    "No requests. I can reach Planet East Dragon in a day!"


    Fang Yuan continued, "Place the research institute there as well."


    The resentment between the Cosmic Lifeform Alliance and the Human Alliance meant that once one of them had an advantage, they would chase after the other party until they destroyed them.


    It was useless even if the Abominable Lord occupied a high position among them.


    At this time, he no longer needed to worry about whether he would become a sacrificial lamb.


    "There is more than a ninety percent chance of winning. It''s worth the bet. At the very worst, I''ll just abandon this body and leave this world!"


    He moved quickly after he made his decision.


    Fang Yuan entered the Blood Dragon Thearch, brought hundreds of his subordinates, and reached Planet East Dragon in less than a day.


    ¡­


    Planet East Dragon, East Dragon University.


    Buildings were rising from the ground. All of Planet East Dragon had emerged from the previous battle. Even East Dragon University was rebuilding at an incredible speed.


    Swoosh!


    The landing of hundreds of mechas brought shock and terror to the school.


    The scene of the Blood Dragons going berserk was still fresh in their minds after all.


    "Haha. You''re here!" The Gemini Star flew out from the campus and greeted him in person. "Sir Augustus is waiting for you below!"


    "Let''s go!"


    Fang Yuan brought the Blood Dragon Thearch to the landing spot and saw the golden mecha not far away.


    "Thearch-grade mecha¡ªWings of the Sun God!"


    The cockpit opened. A middle-aged man with silver-blond hair came out from the mecha and extended his right hand. "Welcome, our ally!


    "We must work together to fight these cosmic lifeforms!"


    Fang Yuan walked out of the Blood Dragon Thearch and shook hands with Augustus. "I hope my arrival will be of use to you!"


    "Of course. We''ve decided to carry out Professor Fu Hongxue''s plan and restarted the manufacturing of the Blood Dragon series!" Augustus said.


    He had no choice but to do so.


    The Human Alliance might actually perish if it did not recapture the Devil Galaxy.


    After hearing the sincerity in the other party''s voice, Fang Yuan asked, "Very well. How do we guarantee our interests?"


    "We will sign a sacred and unbreakable contract. The binding parties will be you, me, Dark Star, Three Star, Thunder God, Black Death God, and the others in the higher echelons¡­ Any violators will be severely punished without exception!" Augustus said in a deep voice.


    "No problem!" Fang Yuan smiled in agreement but rolled his eyes inwardly.


    They obviously had such a contract but did not take it out earlier. These higher echelons really had other designs.


    Nevertheless, they had to collaborate when faced with the crisis of extinction.


    "Other than that¡­ I am inviting you to join in the next mission against the Devil Galaxy!"


    "That''s no problem. I''ll be there piloting the Blood Dragon Thearch!" Fang Yuan nodded, turned toward Professor Fu Hongxue by the side, gave a small smile. "Sorry¡­"


    "It''s all right. The Zerg would have taken it away if it weren''t for you. This is still acceptable in comparison¡­" Fu Hongxue replied. "However, can you entrust this mecha to me for maintenance and research?"


    He stared obsessively at the Blood Dragon Thearch, as though seeing the god he believed in in the flesh.

 987 Commencemen

    To the Zerg, an empress was equivalent to the commander of an army.


    Moreover, this ability was far above a commander-in-chief. If humans were to send out equal forces to carry out army-level operations, the Zerg Empress would definitely win.


    This was because its micro-manipulation ability was extremely precise, and the Zerg coordinated extremely well, better than any strictly-trained army.


    Therefore, the best strategy against them was to ''behead'' this brain!


    An army would become a bunch of lost bugs once they lost their brilliant commander-in-chief. The consequences were even more severe with the Zerg.


    Therefore, the Human Alliance dealt with the Zerg by seeking out the empresses at all costs and sending their elite mechas to behead them!


    What Fang Yuan did was more excessive.


    The Undead Immortals and Grand Arcanists had to attack the flesh nests forcibly once they found the entrance.


    Fang Yuan, on the other hand, managed to sneak past the guards all the way to the empress!


    At this point, she could only bow to her fate.


    A few Zerg King guards were desperately trying to fend off the invader.


    But the next moment, they retreated and bowed respectfully to the Zerg Empress.


    The flower fairy smiled the innocent smile of a young girl and bowed toward Fang Yuan. "Master!"


    "Hmm, do you have a name?"


    Of course, Fang Yuan would not kill the Zerg Empress in one strike, causing chaos among the Zerg and announcing his uninvited arrival on this planet.


    His approach was to use his Demon God power to forcibly break through the psyche of the Zerg Empress, thereby controlling her.


    Controlling the Zerg Empress meant controlling all of the Zerg on this planet.


    "It should be Wendy if I translate it from the cosmic lifeform language!" the Zerg Empress replied sweetly, carrying a natural charm with every move she made.


    However, any desire evaporated once her huge squirming body came into view.


    "Okay, I''ll call you Wendy too!" Fang Yuan smiled.


    Controlling Wendy was an impromptu move. Of course, the model was the Spiritual Will Steel Seal left by Da Qian''s Shang Hou.


    This method had its limits and flaws, but he had already advanced to Myriad Transformations Demon God. It was nothing to change the externals of a building, and he now had another ability for enslaving others.


    After seizing command, Fang Yuan ordered impolitely, "Go and bring all the psionic crystals you''ve mined on this planet to me!"


    "Yes¡­ Master¡­"


    Wendy reluctantly handed over the psionic crystal in her hand with a pitiful look on her face.


    Crunch!


    Fang Yuan took it and unrestrainedly swallowed it. He saw her eyes filled to the brim with tears, and his face turned red, feeling the guilt of snatching away a little girl''s candy.


    "Okay, okay, you can have the rest after I have my fill!"


    Wendy and her Zerg were now part of his forces, so he naturally had to take care of them.


    "Okay!"


    Wendy smiled happily and commanded a Zerg King to bring psionic crystals of high purity.


    Fang Yuan ate one after another. Wendy stuck out her little tongue. "Master has such a good appetite! Don''t you need to digest it? Your appetite is bigger than Wendy''s. Are you also a Zerg Empress?"


    Fang Yuan ignored her and continued his meal.


    Finally, Wendy said pitifully, "The ores in the store are all gone!"


    "Mmmm!"


    He glanced subconsciously at his stats window. He saw a few more symbols after his Heaven Devouring Mystic Technique and understood what it meant at first glance.


    "Breaking through the bottleneck: 10%? I need another nine more servings then!"


    "What? Nine more servings? These were the ores we accumulated after a few months on this planet!" Wendy exclaimed immediately. "Even I can''t digest so much, which was why I stored them in the nest. There will be none left for the Cosmic Lifeform Alliance when they come since Master will have finished everything!"


    The psionic crystals from this planet naturally could not just be enjoyed by the Zerg Empress. After all, there were so many other cosmic lifeforms and the Gaias People.


    In fact, a Zerg Empress of her size could not digest that much either.


    Fang Yuan exhausted the reserves on this planet for just ten percent of the requirement for his breakthrough.


    "When are they coming?" he asked.


    "Ten cycles of the planet!" Wendy replied confidently.


    "I see!" Fang Yuan nodded and started asking about the Seven Emotions Overmind.


    The Human Alliance had also made inquiries into the Seven Emotions Overmind. Unfortunately, they had obtained very little information, and it was ambiguous and inconclusive.


    "Seven Emotions Overmind?!" Wendy''s little face was apprehended by horror. "It''s a mutation of the Zerg. It was originally a normal Zerg drone, but it continuously evolved until it finally devoured its empress!"


    Zerg Empresses had absolute control over their tribes.


    Whether slaves killed their slave owners or ancient peasants rebelled and killed their emperors, society did not tolerate it.


    The Seven Emotions Overmind was naturally held in hostility by the other Zerg Empresses.


    But it was too powerful, so none of them dared to make any noise.


    "Also, that Seven Emotions Overmind looks down on us Zerg. It is now very close to the Gaias People and helps them make breakthroughs in their technology¡­" Wendy said angrily, clearly resentful about that Overmind.


    Fang Yuan expressed his understanding.


    The Seven Emotions Overmind itself was a master of the Zerg. It could produce Seven Emotions Zerg and create a large tribe by itself.


    It represented the majority of the Zerg''s combat power, giving rise to its disdain for the Zerg Empresses.


    On the contrary, with the Gaias People, it would make rapid progress in strength as long as there were technological breakthroughs. Of course, it preferred to join forces with them to make full use of its Demon God experience.


    "Very good. You continue to mine here and wait for my order!"


    With a Zerg Empress on his side, the battle ahead seemed more positive. When necessary, it was possible to open the defense line directly. Of course, it should be well-protected and not leaked out immediately.


    Fang Yuan piloted his Blood Dragon Thearch toward his next target.


    With Wendy as his insider, he knew quite well which planets had Zerg Empresses.


    He could repeat his previous steps and conquer them one-by-one. He would even obtain an immense amount of psionic crystals, so why would he not do it?


    On a black planet, a dozen hours later.


    "I''ve enslaved four empresses and devoured only about half of what''s necessary. I have to work harder¡­"


    Fang Yuan entered a Zerg nest with familiarity and saw the huge Zerg Empress body and the flower fairy.


    But the moment he was about to lay his hands on her, a creepy feeling came over him, spreading all over his body.


    "This is¡­"


    He stared at the exquisite face of the flower fairy with a faint expression in his eyes.


    Finally, he found an illusionary Zerg on her head.


    This Zerg had a human face and a weird smile. It grabbed the head of the Zerg Empress and burrowed itself into her.


    "Shit! The Seven Emotions Overmind got to it first!"


    Fang Yuan left quietly and analyzed the situation.


    As a great Demon God who had traveled through many worlds, it would be strange for the Abominable Lord not to have a few abilities in enslavement.


    Moreover, the reason why he did not care about the Zerg was that he had controlled a portion of the Zerg Empresses!


    If he continued to grow, it would not be long before all the Zerg Empresses were under his control.


    "Fortunately¡­ he''s doing it slowly for some reason, perhaps for covert purposes? However, I''ll be able to find out immediately if he touches those Zerg Empresses under my control."


    Fang Yuan returned to the Blood Dragon Thearch and signaled without hesitation. "It''s time to start!"


    The accident he encountered this time also served as a warning to him.


    Any cheap trick held the possibility of being discovered.


    True strength would still do the talking on the battlefield!


    ¡­


    In a faraway space¡­


    A large number of human fleets assembled.


    Numerous mechas were in the fleet, most of which were the Blood Dragon series.


    Beep! Beep!


    "We''ve received Lin Meng''s signal and the defense map of the Devil Galaxy!"


    Venerable Three Star sent the map to the fleet commander.


    "The Gaias People are monitoring the surroundings of the Devil Galaxy. Surprise attacks are impossible. The only thing that we can do is to attack aggressively straight into them!"


    Augustus had a solemn face as he waved the hand of his Wings of the Sun God. "Attack! Humanity must win!"


    "Victory!"


    "Victory!!!"


    ¡­


    Swoosh!


    The giant star cannon that straddled the star sector fell into the periphery of the Devil Galaxy.


    Kaboom!


    In space, many surveillance satellites instantly exploded. The signal tower behind them issued a dazzling red alert.


    Buzz buzz!


    Numerous wormholes opened. Zerg Empresses, cosmic lifeforms, and the fleets and mechas of Gaias People emerged, quickly assembling a huge front.


    Starships confronted each other; mechas were crossing into enemy territory.


    In that instant¡­


    Countless cannons opened fire, spreading explosions all over space. Several nearby planets exploded into dust.


    In this intense interstellar war, the lower-grade mechas turned into scrap metal almost immediately. Only the high-grade mechas could soar into space to fight the Gaias People and all kinds of cosmic behemoths.


    "Augustus!" The Cosmic Thearch appeared in the Gaias People''s army. "The Human Alliance will perish because of your stupidity!"


    "You''re wrong. Victory will be ours!"


    The Wings of the Sun God moved forward, emitting terrifying light and heat, as though it were a tiny sun itself.

 988 Decisive Battle

    Explosions continued throughout space.


    In particular, the area where the Wings of the Sun God and the Cosmic Thearch collided was avoided by both cosmic lifeforms and humans alike, for fear of getting caught in the crossfire.


    Although the Human Alliance might have gathered in immense numbers this time, the Gaias People had the wormhole technology, allowing them to mobilize the Cosmic Lifeform Alliance quickly. The war situation immediately fell into a stalemate, and the scale was even faintly tilting more toward the Cosmic Lifeform Alliance.


    "Zerg! Assault!"


    Twenty-odd Zerg Empresses emerged and summoned a massive number of elite Zerg from their flesh nests.


    These Zerg were huge and had wings that could allow them to travel through space. Their mouthparts had energy clusters that acted as cannons, with destructive power not inferior to that of ordinary warship cannons.


    The source of Zerg was endless, and the situation was slowly changing.


    "It''s time, Wendy!


    "Blood Dragons, mobilize!"


    Fang Yuan was keeping watch on the battlefield, and he gave his order immediately when he saw this scene.


    Suddenly, thousands of Blood Dragons appeared like a sharp knife on the battlefield, rushing toward the Zerg Empresses'' defense line.


    "Attack!"


    The psyche of many Zerg Empresses fluctuated, and they roared loudly.


    A sudden turn of events!


    Four of the Zerg Empresses under Fang Yuan''s control manipulated their tribes to attack the other Zerg!


    Terrible cannon energy immediately fell onto its own defense lines, and the originally tight Zerg defense immediately became chaotic.


    "Now! Kill!" Fu Hongxue yelled excitedly. He turned into a meteor, broke through a gap, and rushed to a Zerg Empress nest. "Ultimate Blood Dissolving Saber Chop!"


    The blood-colored saber light flashed.


    The giant Zerg nest became a blotch of pus and blood and fell apart.


    "Kill!"


    The other Blood Dragon mechas had a tacit understanding to kill the Zerg Empresses other than the four under Fang Yuan''s control.


    Due to Wendy and the other Zerg Empresses turning on them, the Zerg suffered heavy losses.


    "Impossible!" Seeing this, the King of Gaias, who was entangled with Augustus, wanted to go back and help.


    "Your opponent¡­ is me!"''


    Augustus transformed into a sun with two coronas outstretched, becoming two enormous wings that enveloped the Cosmic Thearch within.


    "Augustus, I said before¡­ You can''t defeat me!"


    The Cosmic Thearch flashed a mysterious light and resisted the flames. "The power of a star is powerful, but what is it in the face of the dark matter than occupies most of the universe?"


    "Blood Dragons, resonate!"


    Thousands of Blood Dragons glowed blood-red, and they connected together into an incomparable gigantic blood dragon.


    A massive amount of energy converged to become an unparalleled force, sweeping away the remaining Zerg.


    There had never been a precedent of thousands of high-grade mechas working so well together.


    However, Fang Yuan commanded the core and had control over all the Blood Dragons. These Blood Dragons were all from the same origin, and the power exerted through the formation was incredible, equivalent to the Dominator-grade!


    "How dare you!"


    The Seven Emotions Overmind had to show up now that the Zerg had suffered heavy casualties.


    Countless ripples flickered in space, and the figure of the Seven Emotions Overmind appeared. It seemed smaller than it originally was, but it was still extremely powerful.


    A horrifying light flew past in an instant.


    This light beam was extremely thin, but Blood Dragons immediately split in half and exploded wherever it went.


    "The Seven Emotions Overmind¡­ also possesses Thearch-grade combat power now?"


    Fu Hongxue''s eyes twitched at this scene. "Defense formation!"


    The remaining Blood Dragons banded together, and the gigantic blood dragon coiled up, displaying the ultimate defense.


    "It''s useless!"


    The Seven Emotions Overmind roared, and giant faces with all sorts of expressions such as happiness, anger, sorrow, and so on emerged from its body.


    These mask-like human faces smashed into the Blood Dragon and exploded continuously, shaking even space.


    The gigantic blood dragon crumbled after merely one round of attacks.


    The force of one thousand Blood Dragons could exert destructive power comparable to that of a Thearch-grade mecha, but it was not a true Thearch-grade mecha after all!


    "Where is that lowly, shameless thief! Come out now!"


    The Seven Emotions Overmind sent out an amazing psyche fluctuation, and under the horrified eyes of numerous humans and cosmic lifeforms, he shrank and turned into a human figure in a black robe.


    He had a weird face, blond hair, and silver eyebrows, and his black robe had a lifelike face imprinted on it.


    The intense aura of a Great Dao exuded directly.


    "Ahh!"


    "My eyes!"


    "Warning! The target has strong radiation and suggestive powers! Do not look directly!"


    ¡­


    With only one exchange of glances, numerous ordinary cultivators below level twenty-one vomited blood, and their eyes exploded, causing two black-red holes on their faces.


    These were the lucky ones.


    Those with even lower levels started howling madly and rushing to kill their colleagues around them. Strange changes took place in their bodies, as though they had become wild beasts.


    "Yet another lifeform that we know nothing about¡­ It seems to surpass Undead Immortal and perfect lich, and its mastery of energy is even more amazing¡­"


    Venerable Three Star started in astonishment. "This Seven Emotions Overmind is definitely similar to Lin Meng, a higher lifeform!"


    "Should I¡­ address you as the Abominable Lord or the Seven Emotions Overmind?"


    A blood rainbow appeared and arrived at the head of the gigantic blood dragon. The Blood Dragon Thearch looked akin to a sword immortal.


    Fang Yuan''s voice boomed in the Mental Demon language.


    "Unexpectedly¡­ the small fly I missed at that time when I deprived a Dao path in the lower realms has grown to this extent today!" The Abominable Lord sighed.


    In fact, if Fang Yuan were still in the lower realms, it would have meant nothing even if he were a Demon Master.


    With the Abominable Lord''s current strength, as long as he forcibly broke through to the Dao Fruit realm, the attraction of his Great Dao would allow him to directly absorb the missing portion in the lower realms and make his Great Dao reach perfection.


    But at this time, Fang Yuan had embarked on an entirely new Dream Master route and had even elevated that missing portion to the Creation Great Dao!


    This made seizing it difficult.


    Moreover, this had also caused a dispute between the two Great Daos. Without completely devouring the other, neither could break through into the Dao Fruit realm!


    The Abominable Lord was now regarding Fang Yuan as his archenemy!


    "Obviously, neither of us can give up the Dao of Dream Master¡­"


    The fundamental Great Dao that Fang Yuan had chosen was the Dao of Creation, and the Dao of Dream Master clearly occupied an important part of the Abominable Lord''s Dao path.


    Since neither party could abandon it, the only possibility left was to destroy the other party.


    ¡­


    Various evil lights flashed through the Abominable Lord''s eyes. "You have not advanced to Netherheaven Demon God, but your recovery speed is not much less than mine. Moreover, you were able to ascend from a lower realms ant to this place within such a short time. There must be a huge secret on you!"


    "So what if there is?" This was a logical deduction and irrefutable, and there was no reason for Fang Yuan to quibble over it.


    "This secret is as good as mine!" The Abominable Lord sneered. "You built a Thearch-grade mecha and have all these vassals. Is this what you''re depending on? I will let you know that everything is in vain in front of a true Netherheaven!"


    The next moment, a layer of mysterious light emitted from his body and illuminated half the battlefield.


    Every mecha pilot''s face changed. "What happened? Why did our equipment malfunction?"


    "Not good! The cosmological constant has changed!"


    "How could the rules of physics change?"


    ¡­


    Screams came. The same faults happened for the Gaias People''s mechas, and all kinds of accidents started appearing.


    "This phenomenon¡­ sharp needle?"


    Venerable Three Star barely managed to prevent his mecha from failing. A lot was going through his mind.


    This was a Netherheaven Demon God ability! It could affect a certain range of a Heavenly Dao and change a world!


    If he were to reach the Dao Fruit realm, he could control the nomological rules of an entire universe in an instant, having the same authority and power as a Creator God!


    Of course, the current effects on this battlefield were terrible enough.


    "A Netherheaven Demon God''s Great Dao is nearly equivalent to a Heavenly Dao. It can be thought of as the dark side¡­ And it can modify a world within a certain range¡­"


    Fang Yuan watched this scene with great interest.


    Evidently, the Abominable Lord had modified the rules of physics in this area.


    Originally, gravity was a law, but the Abominable Lord could make water flow backward and flames freeze if he wanted to!


    This was why the mechas based on the laws of physics suddenly plunged into a series of failures.


    "Initiate adaptive modification now!"


    However, these high-grade mechas were prepared for unpredictable environments in the universe. Therefore, they were merely at a loss at first before gradually restoring partial control.


    What was worth mentioning was that a Netherheaven''s modification was an indiscriminate attack. The mechas of the Gaias People suffered similar problems and had no opportunity to attack the humans.


    This area had now become a more advantageous domain to the Abominable Lord, similar to him being in his home field.


    "Not a bad power of Netherheaven¡­ Unfortunately, these aren''t our main bodies!"


    Around Fang Yuan''s Blood Dragon Thearch, three Great Daos emerged to resist this mediocre influence. "If we met with our true bodies, I''d definitely not be your opponent. However, we broke the seal at about the same time, and our strengths are similar. I want to have a go at your strength!"


    "Really?" The Abominable Lord gazed at Fang Yuan''s Great Daos, especially pausing on the Creation Great Dao, and a vast Dao path rushed out over his head.


    This was a mighty river with a sense of rushed time, even giving Fang Yuan the illusion that he was facing a Heavenly Dao.


    "Dark side of the Heavenly Dao!"


    He murmured, and the Blood Dragon Thearch stepped forward with red lights flashing in its eyes.


    Demon God power and Thearch-grade mecha merged perfectly at this very instant!

 989 All-Out War

    The Blood Dragon Thearch stood atop the gigantic blood dragon, like a sword immortal riding a dragon. On the mecha, Dao Patterns began to light up.


    A terrifying atmosphere burst out instantly.


    It was the first time Fang Yuan used his intrinsic quality as a Demon God to fully power this Thearch-grade mecha, immediately causing a horrifying effect.


    "Immortal Sword Tactics!"


    Two unmatched Sword Qi emerged, a Yin and a Yang crossing space. Suddenly, they converged, and a frightening explosion followed.


    "The Big Bang?!"


    The Undead Immortals could not help but look sideways at this development.


    All present were scientists and fully aware of the Big Bang theory. They had even simulated it on a photon computer.


    Seeing the Thearch-grade mecha amplifying the Immortal Sword Tactics, they immediately made this association.


    Kaboom!


    The violent explosion affected everything. No trace of any cosmic lifeforms nor human mechas could survive it.


    "Roar!"


    The chaos continued expanding until it eventually spread to a Planet Destroyer.


    This was the largest creature among the cosmic lifeforms. Its size was even comparable to that of some small planets, but its movements were extremely slow. Like a space fortress, coupled with an astonishing recovery ability, even Undead Immortals could not do much to it.


    This Planet Destroyer was hit by the tail end of the explosion and screamed in agony. Unfortunately, it was too slow and was firmly swallowed up by the explosion, becoming nothing in the next second.


    "What a strong attack!"


    This combat intensity surpassed even that of the King of Gaias and Augustus.


    The two separated and ordered their troops to withdraw and regroup while staring at the battlefield in unison.


    After some time, the dust of space dissipated. The Abominable Lord in his blond, middle-aged appearance still stood proudly in the void, though his black robe had two holes in it.


    "To have such power¡­ It seems like I was wrong not to eliminate you all those years ago. That was the worst decision of my life!" A moment later, the Abominable Lord continued slowly, "Today, I will correct this error!"


    "I''m afraid¡­ you currently don''t even have this ability!"


    Even though he said this, Fang Yuan had never been more focused.


    This Abominable Lord had crossed so many worlds and likely had more means than him, so he could not take this lightly.


    "Really?" The Abominable Lord had a surprised expression.


    At this moment, the complexion of the King of Gaias, who was confronting Augustus, suddenly changed.


    An originally invisible Seven Emotions Zerg appeared on top of his head. Unlike the other Seven Emotions Zerg, its body was golden, and it had the Abominable Lord''s face.


    It then proceeded to bury itself deep into the King of Gaias''s head!


    "Ughhhh!" The Cosmic Thearch roared and directly entered the battlefield.


    Augustus followed closely behind but was always a distance away due to losing the initiative and his apprehensions.


    "Even the King of Gaias¡­" Fang Yuan''s pupils shrank.


    No wonder the Seven Emotions Overmind controlled only a portion of the Zerg Empresses. It seems like most of his psyche was concentrated on the King of Gaias!


    "Seven Emotions Zerg!"


    "Your Highness!"


    It was obvious that even the Gaias People did not expect this to happen, and they fell into confusion.


    "Dark Heavenly Dao! Refine!"


    The Abominable Lord attacked arrogantly with a Great Dao power comparable to the Heavenly Dao, sweeping through space.


    Behind Fang Yuan, the King of Gaias controlled the Cosmic Thearch to launch a startling attack! "Universe Destroying Bomb!"


    Most of the universe was dark matter!


    The Cosmic Thearch was now absorbing this dark energy and turning it into a horrifying shot!


    Even Augustus had to retreat from its power in fear!


    "¡­ The Gaias People have already made such progress in the study of dark matter?"


    The Wings of the Sun God stopped in its tracks, not daring to step into the battlefield!


    Fang Yuan was only an ally to the Human Alliance, not a pillar! There was definitely hesitation at this critical moment!


    Shit! I got tricked!


    Even though there was an enemy at his back, Fang Yuan''s first reaction to connect more quickly with the thousands of Blood Dragons below him!


    Bang! Bang!


    A large number of reactors shattered, and psionic crystals flew out to be devoured by him.


    "Even if I lose this time, I have to gain something!"


    He had devoured numerous mineral veins in this galaxy earlier, satisfying fifty percent of the requirement for the breakthrough of the Heaven Devouring Mystic Technique. Coupled with him devouring the reactors of these high-grade mechas, he broke through the bottleneck and entered the third level without hindrance!


    "Heaven Devouring Mystic Technique Level 3: Demon God-level mystic technique. Uses one own''s Dao path to devour another Demon God''s Great Dao. Can be used on existences of the same level or even higher level!"


    The Heaven Devouring Mystic Technique on his stats window changed, displaying new information.


    "All right. The Heaven Devouring Mystic Technique is finally complete, and I can now finally devour the Great Daos of other Demon Gods!"


    It was cumbersome to write, but in fact, everything had happened in the blink of an eye.


    This was because Fang Yuan had long activated another legendary arcane spell of his¡ªStill Time!


    In that very second, his thinking and mecha''s speed increased to the limit!


    To him, everything in this world seemed to stagnant.


    Of course, it was still moving but merely extremely slowly for him.


    "Heaven Devouring Mystic Technique, devour!"


    The next moment, Fang Yuan held his hands out flat as he activated the third level of the Heaven Devouring Mystic Technique against the other party''s Dark Heavenly Dao.


    Crack!


    It seemed as if there was a huge mouth in the void, taking a bite out of the Dark Heavenly Dao. A semicircular flaw was clearly visible.


    "Ah¡­ This is¡­" The Abominable Lord made a terrifying cry and slowed down his offensive.


    The third level of the Heaven Devouring Mystic Technique might not be the Heaven Devouring Great Dao, but it was able to devour a Demon God''s Dao path.


    Fang Yuan''s eyes brightened. His sea of consciousness was suddenly full of insights about the dark side of the Heavenly Dao. "Good¡­ if I can devour that Abominable Lord opposite me, I''ll be able to advance to Netherheaven Demon God without any bottlenecks!"


    Unfortunately for him, the dark matter destruction energy behind him was getting closer.


    Fang Yuan sighed and retreated quickly.


    The next moment, the feeling of a stagnant world stopped, and the world resumed its normal speed.


    The Universe Destroying Bomb hit the location where Fang Yuan had been, but it did not explode; instead, it began to annihilate.


    Everything, from meteorites to the mechas below, turned into the most fundamental particles in this universe and disappeared without a trace.


    This shot alone annihilated the entire Blood Dragon series!!!


    "Augustus!" Fang Yuan howled.


    Augustus might argue that it was too late for him to stop it previously, but if he continued not to act, there would be a real breach of contract, and all the higher-echelon humans would be cursed!


    "King of Gaias!"


    Augustus piloted the Wings of the Sun God, turned into a star, and enveloped the Cosmic Thearch within.


    Obviously, after that attack earlier, it would take some time for the mecha to recharge even if it was a Thearch-grade mecha.


    It was the safest time for Augustus to attack.


    Fang Yuan could not be bothered to care.


    After getting out of the explosion zone at maximum speed, the Blood Dragon Thearch intercepted the Abominable Lord with a beautiful maneuver.


    "You were using the Heaven Devouring Mystic Technique just now?!"


    The Abominable Lord was knowledgeable, and a faint smile appeared on his lips. "This technique is taboo for Demon Gods, and it is only spread among Myriad Thunder''s small group. These Demon Gods should be trapped in the Spiritual Realm now¡­ No wonder I couldn''t sense you in the Mental Demon Realm. You''re hiding in the Spiritual Realm!"


    "I was weaker than you before, so I naturally had to avoid you. It''s different now!" Fang Yuan replied frankly. "I''ll first destroy your incarnation here, and then I''ll break through to Netherheaven with my main body and go to the Mental Demon Realm!"


    "Destroy me?" The blond, middle-aged man smiled and opened his sleeves. "You had the element of surprise previously, which was how you managed to produce such a result. But now¡­"


    Buzz buzz!


    Countless Seven Emotions Zerg flew out. In addition to them, a group of more exotic silver Zerg appeared, looking like longhorn beetles.


    "Seven Emotions Zerg and Six Desires Zerg were evolved from my Dao of Dream Master. They specialize in the manipulation of people''s hearts and emotions!"


    Many flying Zerg disappeared into the void.


    The entire battlefield changed immediately.


    Innumerable high-grade Gaias mechas and cosmic behemoths, even some of the Undead Immortals and Grand Arcanists from the Human Alliance, had their eyes turn red, and they charged at Fang Yuan.


    Even Fang Yuan was a little surprised by the number of hidden moves the Seven Emotions Overmind had!


    But it was merely surprise.


    "Creation Great Dao, Body of Chaos, Pangu Eagle Body!"


    Fang Yuan shouted, and the illusion of a giant holding Earth, Fire, Wind, and Water appeared and merged with the Blood Dragon Thearch.


    The next moment, an arcane spell array and a Dao Pattern immediately emerged.


    "Still Time! Immortal Sword Tactics! Immortal technique, arcane spell! Two become one!"


    He spread his arms, the power of the legendary arcane spell in one hand and the immortal technique in the other, and suddenly merged them into one.


    Venerable Three Star looked on at this scene, dumbfounded. "He actually¡­ actually concurrently practiced both cultivation and the Arcane and reached above the twenty-first level in both?"


    Although he had had a vague speculation, he was truly convinced now that he saw it with his own eyes.


    The intrinsic quality of a Demon God! Empowerment from a Thearch-grade mecha! Simultaneously using a legendary arcane spell and immortal technique!


    At this moment, Fang Yuan showed all his trump cards without holding back!


    "Win or die trying!"


    Buzz!


    Time seemed to stand still at this moment, and a vast and inexplicable amount of energy suddenly formed in his palm.


    The Blood Dragon Thearch flickered and arrived at the Abominable Lord''s head in the blink of an eye. The frightening power exploded and was again bound by an invisible power. The might concentrated onto a single point. "Zero Lock!"


    The terrifying amount of energy erupted in one spot.


    The Seven Emotions Overmind turned into ash in an instant.


    This was the greatest energy in the universe!


    The fluctuations from it were still spreading afar.


    However, the original place where the Seven Emotions Overmind was suddenly cracked open, and an illusionary Dark Heavenly Dao appeared.


    The Seven Emotions Overmind was merely an incarnation using Dream Master techniques. His True Spirit could evacuate at any time!

 990 Victory

    "Heaven Devouring Mystic Technique, devour!"


    The opponent''s True Spirit might have escaped extremely fast, but he was still affected by the Heaven Devouring Mystic Technique. His Dark Heavenly Dao now had gaps in it.


    "Seven Emotions Great Dao? Six Desires Great Dao? And¡­ the Dao of the Void?"


    Fang Yuan thought it was a huge pity as he felt the fragmentary power of the surrounding Great Daos.


    Time had run out, and he had only managed to keep behind part of the Abominable Lord''s nomological power. Otherwise, if Fang Yuan could have devoured his True Spirit''s incarnation and the Great Daos he had, he might have perfected his Dream Master Dao path and would not need to fight to the death with this Abominable Lord anymore.


    "And¡­ the Abominable Lord was defeated so easily?"


    Fang Yuan stayed in the Blood Dragon Thearch, still finding it unbelievable. He looked at his stats window immediately.


    This stats window that had accompanied him allowed him to have a recovery speed more terrifying than that of a Netherheaven Demon God, as well as a higher upper limit on his strength. As a result, he had strength far beyond that of what the Seven Emotions Overmind thought he had. Along with a Thearch-grade mecha, the astonishing combination of legendary arcane spell and immortal technique, and finally the Zero Lock seal, these powers had all concentrated onto one point.


    The combination of these factors would cause a huge loss for even the opponent''s main body. A mere True Spirit incarnation would naturally not fare any better.


    Moreover, after the battle today, destiny changed, representing a crucial turning point!


    "The Seven Emotions Overmind¡­ annihilated?"


    "Great!"


    ¡­


    The originally controlled cosmic lifeforms and humans stopped to look at the scene in relief.


    They had immediately regained control once the Abominable Lord''s True Spirit left.


    "Ah! Augustus¡­ the war between us will endure for long!"


    A dark glimmer of light flew out from the flames of the stars and away from the battlefield quickly. Wormholes opened one after another. "Cosmic Lifeform Alliance¡­ retreat!"


    The King of Gaias knew what he had to do right now¡ªgo back and stabilize the situation, not continue to struggle.


    Furthermore, if the battle were to continue, Fang Yuan''s frightening existence was more than enough to topple the situation.


    Therefore, he left without any hesitation.


    "We¡­ are victorious!" The Wings of the Sun God raised his arms once the golden flames disappeared. Augustus''s voice came forth. "Hooray!"


    "Victory!"


    Many mechas and Undead Immortals began cheering together.


    When this news passed to the rear, those who were waiting in front of communication equipment were elated and spontaneously held grand celebrations.


    More good news started streaming in.


    With the Seven Emotions Overmind defeat, the Zerg fell into great confusion. However, the King of Gaias was witty, and he hoped to delay the offensive of the human army through the defense system of the Devil Galaxy.


    If Fang Yuan did not attack, the losses on both sides would make them reach a tacit agreement to restore the front to the state prior to the war.


    Because there was a more horrifying threat in front of them!


    ¡­


    Planet East Dragon.


    Fang Yuan sat cross-legged in a villa while the Blood Dragon Thearch knelt outside.


    "I didn''t expect this¡­" Han Yunfeng sized up Fang Yuan, and his eyes sparkled. "Since you are a higher lifeform, can you¡­"


    "Sorry¡­ I don''t have any interest in cutting my flesh and bleeding my blood for others to conduct research on!" Fang Yuan took a sip of his drink and smiled lightly.


    "Okay¡­" Han Yunfeng was clearly disappointed. "What a pity¡­ Given your talent in alchemy, if you were really just a student, you''d definitely be a treasure of my pharmacy department¡­"


    "There''s no need to mention such matters!" Fang Yuan waved dismissively and looked thoughtfully at the door.


    "Hehe¡­ Mr. Lin Meng, I came uninvited. Hope you don''t mind!"


    Venerable Three Star''s clone came in with a smile and gave a sidelong glance at Han Yunfeng.


    "Good day, Principal! Goodbye, Principal!"


    Han Yunfeng immediately chose to retreat with a wink.


    "What brought you here, Principal? Doesn''t the frontline need to be guarded?" Fang Yuan asked in surprise.


    "The Gaias People and the Zerg are not without intelligence. The war will definitely be unable to go on, and both sides need enough time to rest¡­ Don''t tell me you don''t know this!" Venerable Three Star smiled bitterly. "I''m here now to give you a gift!"


    He took out a wristband.


    Fang Yuan took it and used his will to probe it. He found a cubic space filled with psionic crystals.


    Just by the sheer volume, he knew that the Human Alliance had reoccupied the Devil Galaxy and restarted their mining operations. Some of the Human Alliance''s reserves were probably here as well.


    "What do you mean by this?" Fang Yuan''s eyebrows twitched.


    "This is the result of discussions between the higher echelons. Our apology to you for what happened before!" Venerable Three Star laughed bitterly.


    Augustus had deliberately not helped out when Fang Yuan was under siege in the battlefield. There could be a thousand and one reasons to explain that scenario, but it was meaningless to people like them.


    As long as he believed in something, there was a mountain of evidence! Nothing could change that!


    The horrifying part was that Fang Yuan actually lived through it. Not only did he live through it, but he also revealed an unparalleled power!


    This was why they had to appease him so that he would not be lured to the other side.


    "I''ll accept them then! They''ll prove useful!"


    After this battle, Fang Yuan''s thirst for psionic crystals was apparent through the video playbacks.


    In any case, the other party would be suspicious if he did not accept them, so he would not be polite.


    His Heaven Devouring Mystic Technique might have reached the perfection of the third level, but Fang Yuan knew that this was not its limit.


    After all, there was Demon Supremacy Wish Fulfillment, who had advanced the Heaven Devouring Mystic Technique into a Great Dao!


    He did not know if this was the fourth or fifth level, but at least he could still use the psionic crystals to break through quickly.


    "Also¡­ I''ll be leaving soon. You don''t need to be worried!"


    After receiving the gift, Fang Yuan and Venerable Three Star spoke at length, and he told him about his plans when seeing him out.


    "Leave? Where will you be heading?"


    Venerable Three Star was a little shocked, a little surprised, and a little delighted.


    Although he concealed these emotions as much as possible, Fang Yuan still detected them.


    Fang Yuan smiled and said in an inexplicable tone, "The place where Seven Emotions Overmind went¡­ Perhaps it''s also where immortals transcend to after their tribulations!"


    "What?" Even with Venerable Three Star''s cultivation, he almost jumped up with shock when he heard the last sentence. "Is there really another universe? Is that speculation true? Ascension is not death, but merely going to another world?"


    "Maybe¡­" Fang Yuan did not reply definitively.


    It was not like he had nothing to do and wanted to find trouble with the Human Alliance. He had to give them a goal. Otherwise, all their energy would be put to use on how to contain him.


    Even the alliance contract they had signed had a validity period.


    Not to mention, the existence of a superpower like him would not only have the Gaias People not being able to sleep at night, but the humans would also have the same problem.


    "Immortal Realm? A second universe? No¡­ I have to conduct related experiments immediately!"


    For example, Venerable Three Star had completely forgotten about the true purpose of his visit, and his eyes were shining.


    "I do have some experience in this area that I can share with you!" Fang Yuan''s eyes flashed mysteriously.


    In fact, if he were to overstay his welcome, he might be under the joint attack of humanity, the Zerg, and the Gaias People!


    These two alliances might be fighting at this time, but they might cooperate instead in a life-and-death situation.


    At that point, Fang Yuan''s threat would be overly magnified, and he would become a target that both humans and cosmic lifeforms would want to get rid of.


    However, at this moment, another route of immortality might be available, which would attract most of the attention away.


    "This¡­ This is simply too huge. We have to talk!"


    Venerable Three Star wiped his non-existent perspiration. "Do you have any requests?"


    Knowledge had a price, and you had to pay for what you wanted. This was the motto of this world''s Undead Immortals and Grand Arcanists.


    "Since I may open the door to a new world for you, I should naturally obtain a corresponding compensation¡­" Fang Yuan rubbed his fingers. "I want the authority to use the alliance''s most advanced photon computer for a month and more psionic crystals¡­ Rest assured, I''ll leave this place after a month at most!"


    Fang Yuan might have gotten the better results in the last battle, but he had also exposed a lot of information about himself.


    Especially since the Abominable Lord had actually guessed where his true body was through the Heaven Devouring Mystic Technique. He was seriously formidable.


    The Mental Demon Realm was extremely vast, and the time flow was different in different worlds. He had a maximum of one month left for himself.


    "After I digest everything, it won''t be him coming to the Spiritual Realm to search for me, but me going to the Mental Demon Realm to search for him!"


    Fang Yuan lowered his eyelids, his eyes dim.


    There would definitely be one more battle between him and the Abominable Lord.


    Before that, it was important to improve his own strength as much as possible. "Also¡­ I need all your immortal techniques and legendary arcane spell models. The Blood Dragon Thearch also has to undergo the best transformation¡­"


    "All these¡­"


    Venerable Three Star contacted the relevant people, and they came to a decision immediately. "No problem. We can give you all of this. I hope we''ll have a happy collaboration!"


    "Happy collaboration!"


    Fang Yuan laughed, knowing that the higher echelons had temporarily given up the idea of ''cleaning him up'' under the temptation. Switching to collaboration saved him a lot of effort.


    With his strength, it was not impossible for him to manipulate the Zerg, then the Cosmic Lifeform Alliance, and then the Human Alliance, but it would be too time-consuming.


    Now, with the full cooperation of the Human Alliance, it would be enough to accomplish the many matters on his plate.

 991 Fallou

    Half a month passed.


    Fang Yuan sat cross-legged with a light in his eyes. "Sure enough¡­ there should be a fourth and fifth level to the Heaven Devouring Mystic Technique!


    "And¡­ I''ll only be able to condense the Heaven Devouring Great Dao when I reach the fifth level!"


    He had utilized the photon computer with the highest computing power in the alliance, as well as the assistance of his Arcane Smart-Brain, to deduce not only the fourth level of the Heaven Devouring Mystic Technique but the later level as well.


    "The fourth level of the Heaven Devouring Mystic Technique should be the agglomeration of Heaven Devouring nomological rules. It will only become the core of the Great Dao at the fifth level!"


    The original Heaven Devouring Mystic Technique''s properties changed in the stats window, and a progress bar appeared.


    "33.4%? This is probably due to the alliance''s support and them providing the psionic crystals!"


    Fang Yuan had also discovered that the special product of this universe, the psionic crystal, could not only help in the breakthrough of the third level''s bottleneck but would also be of great benefit to the agglomeration of the Heaven Devouring nomological rules.


    Previously, he had exploited half of them from the Zerg Empresses and the other half from the reactors of the thousand Blood Dragons to break through the bottleneck and enter the third level.


    The remaining energy and the portion given by Venerable Three Star had helped him make progress into the fourth level of the Heaven Devouring Mystic Technique.


    "As for the fifth level, forming the Great Dao, it''s a little troublesome. Fortunately, there''s a Demon Supremacy Wish Fulfillment¡­"


    Fang Yuan stood up and walked out of the laboratory.


    In the huge factory, the Blood Dragon Thearch stood proudly with its armor now a more vivid crimson brilliance.


    The Blood Dragon Thearch had returned to its peak state after the modifications he had personally presided over.


    Fang Yuan stared at the tall blood-red mecha for some time before suddenly smiling and touching the mecha with his right hand.


    Poof!


    That very moment, his whole being seemed to become like water and poured into the mecha.


    Buzz buzz!


    The Blood Dragon Thearch''s eyes lit up as it struggled free of the scaffolding, broke through the roof, and overlooked the surroundings.


    A few stars emerged and eventually landed in front of it as mechas that were headed by Augustus''s Wings of the Sun God!


    "I feel that it''s about time too!" Fang Yuan sighed quietly. "Put away the bow once the birds are gone; boil the hound after the cunning hare is killed!"


    "Lin Meng, that''s where you are wrong!" Augustus stepped forward. "How many pilots did you kill when you devoured so many Blood Dragons?"


    "It makes no sense to argue about this now!" Fang Yuan shook his head. "I''m just curious, why do you have this confidence to find fault with me now? And aren''t you afraid of the backlash from the contract?"


    Even after giving them important information and promising to leave in a month, the reactions of these higher echelons were still the same.


    "Leaving in a month was just something you said yourself. As for ascending to the second universe, it''s difficult to prove as well¡­ In addition, the contract was to fight hand-in-hand, and we have already done that. After the conclusion of the contract, it will naturally no longer have any effect¡­"


    Augustus sighed. "Your information was just to delay for time, right? What do you really want to do?"


    "Congratulations for guessing right, but it''s a pity that I can''t tell you!"


    Fang Yuan smiled, and the Blood Dragon Thearch stepped forward.


    A number of mechas stepped back unconsciously. "We can only solve this via force then!"


    Clang! Clang!


    Right at that moment, the Blood Dragon Thearch roared as though there was something living hidden in it. It squirmed and spat out four black nails.


    "Did you think that I, the creator of this mecha, wouldn''t find out when you did something to the mecha?" Fang Yuan smiled faintly.


    "Indeed¡­" Augustus looked on at this scene without much surprise, as though he had already guessed it, and clapped.


    A black mecha with a terrifying aura appeared.


    The Cosmic Thearch! King of Gaias!


    "Augustus! Don''t forget our promise!"


    Even though he was called upon to assist, the King of Gaias was still carefully discussing conditions.


    "Rest assured. Nothing will be missing from our promise. However, your low asking price was out of my expectations!" Augustus replied lightly.


    "I have no choice. It''s for my people. He will conquer this entire universe if we allow him to continue like this!"


    The King of Gaias roared, "Let''s attack together!"


    A mysterious look appeared on Augustus''s face at that moment. "Wait!"


    "Ding! Warning! Warning!"


    "Insufficient energy! Please recharge!"


    ¡­


    A blood-red screen appeared in front of Fang Yuan.


    All mechas used psionic crystals as energy sources.


    Augustus had had another card up his sleeve, and he was waiting for the one buried in the reactor!


    The psionic crystal was almost exhausted, and the reactor would soon shut down.


    Moreover, different mechas required different types of psionic crystals that needed to be preprocessed and segmented.


    Even if Fang Yuan could take out a psionic crystal now, he would not be able to insert it into the reactor to get the Blood Dragon Thearch to operate normally.


    "We''ve carefully studied your battle videos and found that you are too dependent on the mecha. If you lose the Blood Dragons, I believe that the King of Gaias and I will be able to take you down with minimal injuries!" Augustus blustered, trying to attack Fang Yuan''s confidence with all means.


    "Your plan isn''t bad! Unfortunately¡­" Fang Yuan shook his head. "Activate backup energy mode, target¡­ me!"


    Rumble!


    The Blood Dragon Thearch started up again and howled!


    A giant shadow emerged and merged with the mecha.


    "Blood Dragon Thearch?"


    "It suddenly started again?"


    ¡­


    Augustus and the King of Gaias were both shocked and immediately ordered, "Go all out!"


    "Eternal Sun!"


    "Universe Destroying Bomb!"


    "Still Time!"


    "Xiantian Qi Five Elements Restriction Void Immortal Technique!"


    ¡­


    Numerous techniques converged, and the planet immediately shook. It seemed as though only destruction was in sight.


    "Prepare Zero Lock!"


    In the periphery, the Thunder God, Black Death God, Gemini Star, and Wuhou Star jointly opened an energy barrier. "Zero Lock!"


    From their actions, it was evident that they had envisioned how this battle would go. A photon computer might have simulated every move countless times, and their coordination was impeccable.


    The light curtain of energy unfolded instantly, wrapping the Blood Dragon Thearch within and forming a small battlefield.


    The light from many immortal techniques and arcane spells concentrated on the Blood Dragon Thearch.


    "Still Time, Immortal Sword Tactics!"


    Fang Yuan also performed his immortal technique-arcane spell combination. The light between his hands blended into one point toward the attack.


    All was silent when the two lights collided.


    After a few moments, it seemed as though countless invisible lines started going mad. The Zero Lock exploded. The Black Death God and the other mechas exploded one after another.


    A black hole formed where the two light spots had touched.


    This was not a star, but a true black hole, like a leaking point of the universe. Without exceptions, everything was quickly sucked in and disappeared.


    Mechas, the sky, the earth, the planet¡­ even void and time!


    "Haha!!!" Fang Yuan laughed upon seeing this. "Augustus, King of Gaias, I have you to thank¡­ I couldn''t have ended this universe without your cooperation!"


    This black hole might only be devouring a tiny portion of the universe''s mass, but the universe was diminishing with every moment and disappearing completely.


    As a result, all of humanity and the cosmic lifeforms would become extinct because of this black hole.


    The end of the universe was just that horrifying!


    Only such a thorough destruction would completely disturb this world and make its Heavenly Dao manifest!


    "This is¡­ a wound of the universe?"


    "The legendary zero point? Where everything returns to nothing?"


    Some Undead Immortals were enriching their knowledge; others escaped in a panic; even more were agonized. "Heavens¡­ what have we done?"


    "It''s too late to regret now! Earth, Fire, Wind, Water, Creation Divine Fist!"


    Fang Yuan manipulated the Blood Dragon Thearch to punch out, invoking Earth, Fire, Wind, and Water to envelope the Cosmic Thearch.


    A red long sword swung sharply.


    "Still Time! Immortal Sword Tactics!"


    He went beyond the limit of speed and caught up with the fleeing Wings of the Sun God in an instant, leaving deep marks in its fuselage.


    The energy of Yin and Yang flowed together, causing a large explosion, catching the golden mecha in it.


    In merely an instant, the original siege became Fang Yuan''s victory.


    "Why bother when you know what will happen?"


    He sighed, unable to define the mood in his heart. He went to the side of the black hole and watched as half the planet was distorted and disappeared into it.


    The astonishing suction was still there, but it would not cause him any harm.


    He could feel the movement of the black hole even at this distance.


    "As expected¡­ This universe might be vast, but as long as you can master the method, you will be able to create a flaw¡­ And this flaw will affect the operation of this world. Only the Heavenly Dao can make up for it!"


    At this point, Fang Yuan realized that even though the devouring power of the black hole was still present, it was slowing down.


    This was the universe healing its own wound. Of course, it could also be regarded as the operation of the Heavenly Dao.


    Fang Yuan''s lips twitched upward in a cunning smile when he saw this. He appeared above the mecha with his hands raised. "Heaven Devouring Mystic Technique!"


    Roar! Roar!


    Suddenly, a huge mouth appeared in the void, as if it was the manifestation of Taotie, tearing around violently.


    Countless fine and dense nomological rules, even enlightenment on the Heavenly Dao, appeared in his heart.


    "Wh-what is he doing?"


    The other mecha pilots did not understand, but they were trembling in fright.


    Their telegnosis allowed them to know that whatever Fang Yuan was doing was very unfavorable to them.


    Augustus and the King of Gaias could not get close to the black hole even if they tried.


    "The Heaven Devouring Mystic Technique¡­ can truly devour a Heavenly Dao!"


    Fang Yuan was delighted. "A Heavenly Dao is the convergence of many Great Daos. If I can devour it completely, I can break through to the Netherheaven realm immediately!"

 992 Devour

    Spiritual Realm, underwater palace.


    Fang Yuan shuddered and opened his eyes. "Is this backlash from the Heavenly Dao?"


    His True Spirit had returned from the Scientific Cultivation Universe with rich rewards.


    Unfortunately, before he could devour more of the Heavenly Dao, he had suffered from backlash.


    Even so, he had devoured a large amount of nomological power. He had also used the power of the Human Alliance and Cosmic Lifeform Alliance to ruthlessly plunder psionic crystals, pushing his Heaven Devouring Mystic Technique to the peak of level four, returning with many benefits.


    At this moment, he could not help looking at his stats window.


    "Name: Fang Yuan


    Profession: Dream Master


    Cultivation: Demon God (Myriad Transformations)


    Dao Path: Creation Great Dao, Omnidirectional Divine Demonic Armament Dao, Impermanence Great Dao


    Technique: Pangu Dragon Body [Blood Dragon Thearch Mecha Enhancement], Creation Sword Array [Ninth Sword (100%)]


    Specialization: Botany [Level 6] (Maximum), Heavenly Eye Seer Spell, Body of Origin Power, Heaven Devouring Mystic Technique (Level 4)"


    "After plundering that world''s Heavenly Dao, I obtained a little bit of authority in it and managed to take that thing out from the universe!"


    When he had understood that, Fang Yuan naturally did not hesitate to use all it on the Blood Dragon Thearch.


    However, after taking the mecha into the Spiritual Realm, its power was suppressed, and it turned into something similar to a bloodline power that was absorbed by the Pangu Eagle Body.


    When Fang Yuan shut his eyes, he saw red armor covering the Pangu True Body. It was a ferocious dragon-like shape with two dragon horns protruding from the helmet.


    "Since the Pangu Eagle Body has absorbed the Blood Dragon Thearch, it is truly at large success!" Fang Yuan rejoiced. "There''s still the Heaven Devouring Mystic Technique. With the power of the psionic crystals, I finally reached level four¡­"


    However, after the destructive mining, whether the mineral veins in the Devil Galaxy changed from prosperity to decline was not something for Fang Yuan to consider.


    "On top of that, the greatest gain was defeating the Abominable Lord, causing destiny to fluctuate¡­"


    Fang Yuan''s expression turned serious. "He''s already figured that I''m in the Spiritual Realm. I don''t have much time!"


    While thinking about this, he walked to the main hall with the sealed Infinite Devourer and greeted him cheerfully.


    "Hello!"


    "Dream Demon, I''ll never let you off!"


    Even though Fang Yuan had thrashed him several times, it was clear that the Infinite Devourer had recovered some of his vitality as he roared angrily.


    "Is that so? Unfortunately¡­ you won''t have the chance!"


    Fang Yuan''s expression was calm as he extended his right arm. "Heaven Devouring Mystic Technique!!!"


    Translucent threads entered the array, stretching into the Infinite Devourer, causing him to scream in agony. "This is¡­ nomological threads? Level three of the Heaven Devouring Mystic Technique? No! This is level four. That''s impossible! How did you advance so quickly in such a short amount of time?"


    The second level of the Heaven Devouring Mystic Technique could only devour a portion of a Great Dao''s power but not completely digest a Great Dao, which was why the Infinite Devourer had been fearless earlier.


    But now, the Infinite Devourer''s confidence shattered as he begged, "No¡­ please spare me! I spent a lot of effort condensing my Great Dao. If you spare me, I swear by the Mental Demon that I''ll serve you and call you my master. You''ll get a Demon God servant!"


    "Sorry¡­ but Demon Gods are volatile. I''m not going to keep a ticking bomb by my side!" Fang Yuan rejected the idea instantly.


    As he got to know more Demon Gods, he deeply understood their personalities.


    Furthermore, the Infinite Devourer''s Great Dao was very valuable to him, and he could not let it go.


    "Ah¡­ I''ll never forgive you!


    "I curse you! Even if you devour my Dao path, you''ll be devoured by other Demon Gods in the future!


    "You will end up being more miserable than me!"


    ¡­


    The Infinite Devourer screamed. His resentment seeped out, turning into black Qi that morphed into strange evil beasts. But in the next instant, Fang Yuan eliminated them with Sword Qi.


    "Such foolish last words!"


    Fang Yuan did not bother to continue talking. He operated the Creation Sword Array with his full power and immediately muted the Infinite Devourer''s voice.


    Soon, a Great Dao surfaced.


    This Great Dao was gloomy and transparent, and it carried an insatiable desire like a gluttonous giant beast.


    That was the Devour Great Dao, the foundation of the Infinite Devourer.


    Once he seized the Great Dao''s core, this Demon God immediately vanished, without any chance of coming back to life.


    "Devour the Great Dao!"


    Fang Yuan''s eyes glowed. The nomological threads wrapped the Great Dao''s core into a cocoon and started to digest it slowly.


    "With the Devour Great Dao and Heaven Devouring Mystic Technique in my hands, I don''t think it''s any weaker than the Heaven Devouring Great Dao.


    "In particular, the Infinite Devourer had rich accumulations. Coupled with my gains from devouring the Heavenly Dao, it should be enough to push my cultivation to peak Myriad Transformations, one step away from reaching Netherheaven!"


    He closed his eyes, and the Creation Great Dao emerged above his head. It had two tributaries, the Omnidirectional Divine Demonic Armament Dao and Impermanence Great Dao.


    The three Great Dao surged at full power. The Devour Great Dao''s core submerged into his body, and he began refining it.


    Rumble!


    Time seemed to fly, feeling like an entire century had passed when Fang Yuan opened his eyes again. His aura rose rapidly.


    "Finally¡­ peak Myriad Transformations. I''m one step away from a Netherheaven Demon God''s Dark Heavenly Dao!"


    The Netherheaven realm meant a comprehensive sublimation in one''s fundamental Great Dao. They would devour various Great Daos to perfect their own until it was comparable to a Heavenly Dao.


    After completing it, he would be like the Abominable Lord. No matter which world he went to, he would quickly break through its seal and recover most of his strength.


    With one thought, he could change heaven and earth, becoming a Creator of a part of a world! He would then be able to use the authority of a Creator God!


    "If I ascend to Netherheaven, I''ll be on the same level as the Abominable Lord and able to fight him on equal ground¡­"


    Fang Yuan was a little nervous as he walked to the sea.


    All of a sudden, the underwater palace collapsed, as though it had lost its core.


    ¡­


    The Heavenly Court.


    The original Excellency Mount Mang, current Celestial Thearch, was sitting on his throne and accepting the obeisance from the Gods.


    The Celestial Thearch looked at the sparse Gods below and sighed in his heart. His voice was like jade clashing as it spread through the room. "A new era begins. We shall start over with a clean slate. All of you Gods present today¡­ if you have great virtues, We shall be generous with promotions!"


    The former Celestial Thearch had fallen out of favor, the Mental Demons had wreaked havoc, and the human realm had been in turmoil. The common people and the Gods had suffered terrible casualties, and at least fifty percent of the vitality was lost.


    As of today, his position as the Celestial Thearch might have stabilized, but in terms of providence, he was severely lacking compared to his predecessor''s golden age.


    Right now, the most urgent task was to consolidate his foundation and slowly recover.


    "We abide by the heavenly decree!"


    Hearing this, the Gods rejoiced.


    Now that the above positions were vacant, it meant that they had an opportunity for promotion. In the Divine Dao, there was only one God for each position. This was a golden opportunity.


    Buzz buzz!


    At this moment, a green cauldron in the middle of the Heavenly Court suddenly rumbled. Its thunderous sound spread in all directions, being audible as far as the heavenly throne room.


    The Gods'' expressions changed, and they knelt.


    "The Heavenly Cauldron''s sudden cry is a reflection of a forthcoming calamity. This happened the first time the Mental Demon Realm invaded!"


    The Celestial Thearch stood up and said calmly, "In such troubled times, it is even more imperative that you perform your duties diligently. Otherwise, We will sentence you to the heavenly peaks!"


    "We do not dare!"


    After the Gods withdrew, the Celestial Thearch finally revealed a trace of anxiety. "Is the Heavenly Cauldron''s warning a sign that the upcoming disaster is more dangerous than what happened with the former Celestial Thearch? Hmm? Who is it?"


    His purple eyes suddenly turned toward the sky.


    "Haha¡­ congratulations, Celestial Thearch!"


    Fang Yuan appeared, hovering in midair. He had an elusive atmosphere about him.


    "So, it''s Supremacy Creation!" Excellency Mount Mang was expressionless as he asked in a low voice, "Why are you here?"


    "To save the day!" Fang Yuan said candidly. "Celestial Thearch, do you sense a great disaster approaching? That''s because a peak Netherheaven Demon God is on his way to the Spiritual Realm¡­"


    In the past, when the Mental Demon Realm had invaded, several Void Amalgamation and Myriad Transformations Demon Gods had caused great damage to the vitality of this world. To date, it had not recovered.


    Furthermore, a peak Netherheaven Demon God was a top-class power in the Mental Demon Realm. He would not make a move so casually.


    This news immediately made the Celestial Thearch''s expression darken. "Is this true?"


    "Didn''t you realize?"


    Fang Yuan smiled without affirming or denying. But the Celestial Thearch questioned again, "How are you planning to eliminate this disaster?"


    "Simple. Give me Demon Supremacy Wish Fulfillment!" Fang Yuan emphasized each word. "You lack the means to annihilate him for good, and keeping him in the Heavenly Court restricts your power, so you might as well hand this matter over to me. To be honest, that Netherheaven Demon God is here because of me. If you give me Demon Supremacy Wish Fulfillment, I''ll leave the Spiritual Realm and ensure that the flames of battle won''t spread to here. If not¡­"


    "You want Demon Supremacy Wish Fulfillment?" Celestial Thearch''s expression changed.


    Demon Supremacy Wish Fulfillment was not of any value to him.


    Although he wanted to devour him, the former Celestial Thearch''s example was still fresh in his mind. He might fall into a scheme and be contaminated.


    On the other hand, there was no way he could simply release him. He could only seal him tightly, allowing the Heavenly Dao to whittle his power slowly.


    Now, Supremacy Creation wanted to take him away, and it was not impossible to negotiate.


    "Just¡­ don''t you think it''s too much to take away a Demon God with only a few simple words?" The Celestial Thearch smiled.


    "We can go to the world channel to handle it. After receiving this Demon God, I''ll leave the Spiritual Realm at once. I can swear to this world''s Heavenly Dao!"


    Fang Yuan blinked. "If not, I''ll wait for my enemy here. When our battle begins, we''ll destroy everything in our path, forcing instability in this world. Your Majesty the Celestial Thearch, I hope you take kindly to this and tolerate us!"


    "How dare you!"


    Celestial Thearch''s eyebrow twitched, and an immense pressure slammed down.


    With the help of a pseudo Heavenly Dao, it raised his combat power to the equivalent of a Netherheaven Demon God!


    At this moment, Fang Yuan''s aura surged. The current Creation Great Dao was infinitely close to perfection. He was only one step away from reaching Netherheaven and was nearly on-par with the Celestial Thearch.


    "Unexpectedly¡­ you''ve already reached this level!"


    With his strength displayed, Celestial Thearch knew what Fang Yuan was implying. If they could not reach an agreement, he would directly make a move!

 993 Final Momen

    The heavenly net formed by Heavenly Dao Marks peeled layer by layer, revealing a mysterious seal.


    After breaking through the first layer, various vicious auras seeped out, carrying deep, evil thoughts. "I''ve said before, Celestial Thearch, you can''t kill me. I''ll devour the entire Heavenly Dao!" Demon Supremacy Wish Fulfillment''s will roared.


    Fang Yuan stepped forward and said calmly, "Sorry, Demon Supremacy, you''re talking to the wrong person!"


    The Creation Sword Array''s sword pillar pierced through the heavens, causing chaos to surge violently.


    "You are¡­ Dream Demon?" Demon Supremacy Wish Fulfillment gasped. "What about the Celestial Thearch? Did you defeat him? Impossible!"


    "Congratulations, you''ve guessed my identity. But the Celestial Thearch hasn''t fallen. We''ve just reached an agreement!"


    Fang Yuan continued moving forward and stretched both hands into the seal. "Heaven Devouring Mystic Technique!"


    "This is¡­ the fourth level of the Heaven Devouring Mystic Technique. Impossible! How did you reach this realm?" Demon Supremacy Wish Fulfillment first reacted in shock, but then he responded fearlessly, "But¡­ if you think you can devour me based solely on this, take care not end up for the worse!"


    "Demon Supremacy Wish Fulfillment, you are a fusion of Spirit and Demon, an outstanding existence that appears once every ten thousand years. How could I neglect this?"


    Fang Yuan smiled as the Creation Great Dao surfaced above his head. One of its tributaries extended out. It was the Devour Great Dao.


    This Great Dao combined with the Heaven Devouring Mystic Technique. All of a sudden, a stronger suction emerged.


    "It''s the Infinite Devourer¡­ that damned useless thing. I can''t believe he lost everything¡­"


    Demon Supremacy Wish Fulfillment''s hoarse voice came. "Stop quickly. Let''s have a proper conversation instead. Don''t you want to know about the Mental Demon Realm''s secrets? I am the accumulation of numerous remnant Demon Gods, and I know many secrets. No¡­ Stop!"


    But while he was talking, he suddenly let out a horrific cry. Nomological threads were slowly extracting his Great Dao''s power mixed with his Demon God intrinsic quality.


    "I''ll be taking your Heaven Devouring Great Dao now!"


    Fang Yuan''s expression was firm. The best way to deal with these Demon Gods was to suck them dry and then annihilate them. There was no point in listening to a word.


    Otherwise, it was likely that he would be dragged into a scheme and become unable to free himself.


    With the help from the Celestial Thearch''s seals, Demon Supremacy Wish Fulfillment could not move at all. It was equivalent to forming a temporary alliance with the Celestial Thearch to devour this Demon God.


    Soon, all of the seals fell apart, and a marvelous Great Dao emerged.


    It resembled the Devour Great Dao. Both had insatiable desires, but this one had two colors that were like Yin and Yang, entirely different.


    "What an amazing Demon Supremacy Wish Fulfillment!" Fang Yuan exclaimed when he saw this. The Creation Great Dao surged forward, submerging the Heaven Devouring Great Dao completely.


    "Dream Demon! Supremacy Creation!"


    At the moment of devouring, a demon shadow surfaced in his sea of consciousness. It was Demon Supremacy Wish Fulfillment. "I went through countless changes before being reborn in another body, so how could I fall so easily? Soon, your body will become my new body!"


    "Haha!" Fang Yuan''s True Spirit was as immovable as a mountain.


    Immediately after, an indomitable giant wearing Blood Dragon Armor appeared and unleashed a punch.


    "Still Time! Immortal Sword Tactics! Earth, Fire, Wind, Water! Creation Divine Fist!"


    Regarding Demon Supremacy Wish Fulfillment''s move, he saw this coming long ago and pushed the boat along.


    He possessed the Dao of Dream Master and had a significant advantage in the battle within his sea of consciousness.


    The reason he took this risk was that he was interested in the information and secrets of the Mental Demon Realm he had to offer.


    After some time, Fang Yuan''s expression stiffened as he withdrew his sword array.


    The view before him was chaos. Not far away, a massive world was shining radiantly.


    This was the radiance from the Spiritual Realm. Unfortunately, with Fang Yuan''s promise and the Celestial Thearch''s resistance, it made it difficult to enter again.


    However, none of this mattered.


    Fang Yuan took a deep breath. A cloud surfaced above his head, and the Creation Great Dao rushed out.


    All of a sudden, multiple tributaries flowed out.


    Impermanence, Omnidirectional Divine Demonic Armament, Heaven Devouring, Devour¡­ and other nomological powers that had yet to become Great Daos.


    At this point, these Great Daos transformed.


    Myriad Transformations Demon God was using a fundamental Great Dao to evolve thousands of Daos.


    Netherheaven Demon God was fusing multiple Dao paths to move toward perfection, forming a Great Dao comparable to a Heavenly Dao!


    "Combine!" Fang Yuan shouted. The power of numerous Great Daos combined into one. With the Creation Great Dao as the foundation, the Impermanence Great Dao and the Devour Great Dao as the skeleton, and the power of numerous illusory Great Daos reinforcing, all of a sudden, a new and profound Great Dao formed.


    "Finally, Netherheaven¡­"


    He sighed and looked at his stats window:


    "Name: Fang Yuan


    Profession: Dream Master


    Cultivation: Demon God (Netherheaven)


    Dao Path: Creation Great Dao (Omnidirectional Divine Demonic Armament Enhancement, Impermanence Enhancement, Heaven Devouring Enhancement, Devour Enhancement)


    Technique: Pangu Dragon Body [Blood Dragon Thearch Mecha Enhancement], Creation Sword Array [Ninth Sword (100%)]


    Specialization: Botany [Level 6] (Maximum), Heavenly Eye Seer Spell, Body of Origin Power, Heaven Devouring Mystic Technique (Level 4)"


    "Although I was only a step away from Netherheaven, I made great progress after devouring Demon Supremacy Wish Fulfillment and pushed through the bottleneck. It seems like the stats window also rose in ability. Can this cheat help me break through the Demon God bottleneck?"


    Fang Yuan rubbed his brow.


    As his cultivation increased, he felt that the mystery of the stats window was constantly unraveling.


    He was now only one step away from the final secret!


    "Dao Fruit, huh?" he muttered. He quickly sorted the gains he had obtained from Demon Supremacy Wish Fulfillment.


    Naturally, the Heaven Devouring Great Dao was a part of it.


    He had also obtained a ton of information and secrets of the Mental Demon Realm!


    After all, Demon Supremacy Wish Fulfillment was the summation of many Demon Gods'' remnant thoughts, with a vast range of insights.


    Fang Yuan had taken a risk and reaped the rewards.


    "The Mental Demon Realm is vast. Even if Demon Gods fly with all their strength, they might not see the end even after decades¡­"


    He stood transformed into a meteor and rushed through the chaos.


    He was not dream-traversing with his True Spirit. Instead, his true body had left the Spiritual Realm and began heading for the Mental Demon Realm.


    "As a Demon God, I have to make a trip to the Mental Demon Realm to settle some matters. Come to think of it, I''ve already reached the Netherheaven realm, but I''ve never been to the Mental Demon Realm. It''s quite astonishing¡­"


    ¡­


    A dark sun shone brightly.


    The sun with dark flames hung high in the sky, exuding a demonic glow.


    The ground was dark red, the light was dim, and amid the glow, Fang Yuan spotted many Demon Spirits appearing from a gorge.


    The ground was dry and cracked, and other than these Demon Spirits, only the animals and plants with the most tenacious vitality could barely survive.


    These Demon Spirits wandered among rocks and stones, forests, and dark crevices, hoping to become a Demon General one day, or even a Demon Master! A Demon God!


    Inside a quiet gorge.


    The void distorted, turning into a portal.


    Lightning flashed as a human figure came out from the portal. It was Fang Yuan!


    "This should be¡­ the Black Flame Territory? So, I''ve arrived here!"


    He took a deep breath, and a large amount of Mental Demon elemental force surged over. He let out a satisfied sigh.


    When a Demon God returned to the Mental Demon Realm, he was like a fish in water, receiving a considerable strengthening.


    Furthermore, he was at the Netherheaven realm and exceptional.


    He rubbed his brow, and Demon Supremacy Wish Fulfillment''s information emerged. "The Mental Demon Realm is split into different territories, with Demon Gods acting as overlords. To obtain more territories, they often fight and challenge one another. Of course, some are not fond of authority and shun the world, investing their efforts into bitter cultivation. Furthermore, Netherheaven Demon Gods are at the top of the food chain. The Demon Gods below them will do everything in their power to avoid them!


    "This should be the Black Flame Territory under the control of Demon God Black Flame¡­ The trademark is the black sun!"


    For a Demon God, hundreds and thousands of years passed by in a moment. Such a short amount of time was unable to cause many changes.


    "The Abominable Lord should also be in the Mental Demon Realm, but he''s far away from me!"


    The power of his Great Dao fluctuated slightly, as though he had received an induction.


    Before he was at Netherheaven, he might have been hunted down by the Abominable Lord once he entered the Mental Demon Realm, and it was unlikely that he would have survived.


    However, they were both in the same realm now, and Fang Yuan could shield and or even sever the induction, which was a massive advantage.


    "The Abominable Lord controls the Original Sin Demon Territory, and his prestige within the Mental Demon Realm spreads far. Other Demon Gods have widely acknowledged that he''ll be able to ascend to the Dao Fruit realm! Unfortunately¡­"


    Fang Yuan rustled his hair and transformed into an ordinary Demon.


    Speaking of which, the Mental Demon Realm was similar to the Abyss in his memories. Although it did not have extensive layering, there were overlords, and the place was chaotic.


    Every territory had its own rules set by the local overlord, containing various lifeforms and oddities of every description.


    For instance, in this Black Flame Territory, Demon God Black Flame had made the black sun hanging in the sky. This was not present in other territories.


    Of course, if any Demon God Overlord was willing to, they were completely capable of creating ten suns in the sky or freezing the land.


    "Demon God Overlord is not merely a title. There is even a blessing of authority and power. That''s similar to an Abyss Lord¡­"


    Fang Yuan summoned a mirror and looked at his image.


    There were blue tattoos on his black torso and several horns on his head. His aura was not particularly strong or weak, being at the Demon General level.


    Even so, Demon Spirits retreated when he walked outside, afraid of being devoured like snacks.


    "I still have to go to a Mental Demon city to find a more convenient way to travel¡­"


    Even if a Demon God could fly to the Original Sin Demon Territory from the Black Flame Territory in dozens of years, Fang Yuan did not have the patience.


    Fortunately, there were cities in the Mental Demon Realm. And within each city, there were teleportation arrays, which saved him trouble.


    "But where is the nearest city?"


    Fang Yuan extended his spiritual will to search far and wide. Finally, he raised a brow and found a group with a relatively strong aura.


    "Merchant caravan? Bodyguards? Perhaps hunters?"


    Interested, he flew toward the group.

 994 Teleportation

    The source of the aura stemmed from a group of black-armored cavalry. They were fully equipped in black armor and sitting on large horses with blood-red eyes.


    The horsemen had a grave manner. It was clear that they were beyond ordinary Demon Spirits, but they were still far from becoming Demon Generals.


    They whistled as they began their hunt in the wilderness.


    Their targets were Demon Spirits that had become stronger after devouring others!


    \"Because they came from the same origin, they''re so eager to kill each other?\"


    Fang Yuan flew into the sky, watched this unfold, and sighed.


    Within the Mental Demon Realm, those from the same origin killed each other to obtain opportunities to ascend.


    \"Release the arrows!\"


    \"Prepare the spirit net!\"


    ¡­


    These black horsemen looked dignified and well-trained. Furthermore, they used strange tools to kill or capture stronger Demon Spirits.


    \"Are they from the military?\"


    Fang Yuan stared at them and identified signs of strict obedience, ones similar to the military.


    He thought about it for a moment before he appeared in midair and emitted the aura of a Demon General.


    \"Greetings, Lord!\"


    In front of a Demon General, the horses and horsemens immediately knelt to pay their respects.


    Fang Yuan landed and asked calmly, \"Hmm, where''s the nearest city?\"


    \"It''s to the east, not far from here. Here''s a map!\"


    The leader of the horsemen was startled, but such a powerful existence could exterminate them with a wave of his hand. As such, he did not dare to have any resistance and presented a map.


    Fang Yuan casually took it and saw a simple map on the rough animal skin.


    Even though it was in the Mental Demon language, he did not have any trouble. \"So this place is called the Myriad Spirit Pool, where Demon Spirits are born in the Black Flame Territory, and the closest city is Black Mountain City 250 kilometers away!\"


    While he was thinking about it, the horsemen looked at him in incomprehension and reverence.


    This Demon had a strong aura that they had only seen on generals, which was dreadfully terrifying.


    However, why would someone this great appear in the Myriad Spirit Pool? This place was equivalent to a novice village!


    \"Good!\" Fang Yuan rolled the map up in satisfaction and prepared to leave.


    However, the black-armored captain asked, \"Lord, are you going to attend the event there?\"


    Fang Yuan halted and asked slightly curiously, \"What event?\"


    \"What?\" The black-armored horseman was shocked. \"Lord, did you not come to observe the overlord battle?\"


    \"I spent most of my days cultivating in seclusion and haven''t been outside in a while. I came here by chance, and you''re the first ones I''ve met!\" Fang Yuan said.


    \"So that''s how it is¡­\" The black-armored horseman understood.


    After asking a few more questions, he found out that Demon God Black Flame had controlled the Black Flame Territory for tens of thousands of years. However, he was still in Void Amalgamation and had not made any progress into Myriad Transformations for a long time. Naturally, many people coveted his position.


    This time, Demon God Messiah had appeared out of nowhere and wanted to contest the position of overlord.


    Between Demon Gods, fighting over territories was not a battle but a life-and-death experience.


    However, a life-and-death battle between two Demon Gods was rare in the entire Mental Demon Realm, and it had attracted many Demons to observe the fight.


    \"I just want to hurry along my journey. Do you know if there is a large teleportation array in Black Mountain City?\" Fang Yuan asked.


    A teleportation array was a specialized array between cities within the Mental Demon Realm. It gave the ability to travel countless light-years in an instant, avoiding the pain of long-distance travel for Demons.


    The black cavalry leader was clearly knowledgeable and explained immediately, \"Black Mountain City is a small city, so it only has a small teleportation array. You can''t leave the Black Flame Territory using it. Only Black Flame Capital has a large teleportation array that allows you to cross several territories!\"


    \"In that case¡­\" Fang Yuan released dark Qi and infused it between the leader''s brows. \"You may leave!\"


    \"Thank you, Lord! Thank you!\"


    This dark Qi was Fang Yuan''s purified Mental Demon elemental force. It was extremely pure, sufficient for his cultivation to progress to the next stage.


    As for origin power? Hehe, the cavalry leader was thinking too hard. Even if he obtained origin power, he would have a miserable outcome.


    \"I''ll head to Black Mountain City, take a small array to Black Flame Capital, and then use a large teleportation array!\"


    Fang Yuan made a firm resolution and started flying in the specified direction.


    After a moment, a black city entered his view.


    This black city gave Fang Yuan a huge shock. The path was broad enough to accommodate ten carriages traveling side-by-side!


    Although it was just a small city, the city walls extended far and tall. Furthermore, soldiers were patrolling on it, not looking any worse than human cities in the Spiritual Realm.


    \"These Mental Demon soldiers don''t look particularly useful, but if they come across Mental Demons invading another world, they would prove useful!\"


    With his experience, as well as Demon Supremacy Wish Fulfillment''s experience, Fang Yuan had a quick look before he got a complete understanding of this city.


    \"Among them, it seems like there''s a Demon Master guard!\"


    When he reached the city gates, an invisible pressure directly pushed inferior Demons aside. He entered quickly.


    Those who lived inside the city were naturally high-ranking Demons. At the very least, they were past Demon Spirits'' half-illusory state and had real bodies.


    Within Black Flame Territory, Demons burning with black flames all over were very popular.


    Occasionally, he could see octopus-heads and other strange Demons.


    On the other hand, the female Demons looked human with their milky-white skin, hot bodies, and seductive eyes. They wore thin, revealing, three-point armor that left little to the imagination.


    But when Fang Yuan saw this, he recalled a race from his memory¡ªthe Asura clan.


    According to legend, this race''s genders were also different in shape and size. Men were malevolent and ugly, while women were delicate and charming.


    \"Fifty Black Flame stones for a good nightmare horse!\"


    \"Have a fresh taste of life! The best Demon Spirit Worms cost one Black Flame stone each¡­\"


    \"A beautiful female slave proficient in all kinds of pleasing techniques, one hundred Black Flame stones each!\"


    This place was like a market. Numerous Demons set up stalls to sell various items and even slaves.


    The so-called nightmare horse was the horse that Fang Yuan saw the horsemen ride. It had high endurance and explosive power, as well as some spirituality.


    The Demon Spirit Worm was the creation of thousands of captured Demon Spirit souls. They were displayed on the stone shelves and looked like large blood-thirsty loaches. The food of these Demons was Demon Spirits sharing the same origin!


    \"The black-armored cavalry from before were really hunting for food¡­\"


    This thought left one feeling nauseous.


    Fang Yuan confirmed that the Mental Demon Realm was essentially a larger, more desolate, and more rotten Abyss!


    \"Black Flame stone?\"


    He looked at the currency in use. It was a small stone that was around the size of a finger with some Mental Demon elemental force and, of course, the power of flames condensed into it.


    It seemed like it was because they were in Black Flame Territory that everything inclined toward fire-type Demons, and this currency was very popular.


    \"The Demon Gods in countless territories are like warlords, and they even have different currencies. Of course, some of them are universal, such as elemental stones, which only have pure Mental Demon elemental force!\"


    Black Flame stones contained a little elemental force essence, and they were very useful, whether for cultivating, refining weapons, or treating injuries.


    \"Without question, I need to pay to take the small teleportation array. I''m sure I''ll need some Black Flame stones for that!\"


    Fang Yuan arrived at the center of the city, in front of a tall mansion with elite Demon Soldiers and Generals surrounding it.


    He went to ask. As expected, the small teleportation array was located in the center of the city, under the jurisdiction of the city lord, and it cost ten thousand Black Flame stones to use it!


    \"It seems like I can''t get through by force!\"


    Fang Yuan looked at the guards. At that level, a single breath was sufficient to kill them.


    Even the Demon Masters in this city were nothing more than ants to him.


    However, there was still a Demon God in the back, so it was slightly troublesome.


    Fang Yuan did not want to offend a Demon God he did not know right after entering the Mental Demon Realm.


    As such, he had to utilize some methods.


    He found a random place to rest and narrowed his eyes.


    A slightly vigilant, high-level Demon stepped forward and smiled. \"Dear guest, please. We''ve prepared the best room for you!\"


    The infrastructure of the Demons was rudimentary, and there were few good rooms in the lodging. They were hive-like caves formed from hollowing out a mountain.


    Only the Mental Demon elemental force became denser, finally worthy of its reputation as a high-class room.


    \"Leave the Black Flame stones you have behind. After you leave, continue your daily routine. After three days, you''ll completely forget everything that happened here!\"


    He snapped his fingers, and the Demon''s eyes became lost. He left a small bag behind before leaving.


    When Fang Yuan opened it, he could not help muttering ''beggar''. There were only a few hundred Black Flame stones.


    \"Forget it. It''s just some Mental Demon elemental force anyway¡­\"


    He held the stone currency in his hand and inhaled slightly.


    Suddenly, the demons in the entire city furrowed their brows, sensing that the concentration of Mental Demon elemental force had fallen drastically.


    Fang Yuan looked at a pure-white stone in satisfaction.


    \"You can call such a large piece an elemental stone mine, right? Add in fire and dark attributes¡­\"


    Suddenly, the stone transformed into the same material as Black Flame stones. Then it expanded in size.


    A large piece like this was sufficient to cut into tens of thousands of Black Flame stones.


    Seeing this, Fang Yuan nodded slightly and walked to the teleportation array. He tossed them to the guard while releasing a trace of Demon General aura.


    \"Hurry up. I have something urgent! To Black Flame Capital!\"


    \"No problem, sir!\"


    The guard quickly activated the teleportation array, and Fang Yuan took the opportunity to observe the patterns on the ground.


    Rumble!


    The array shone, and he disappeared.

 995 Information

    One of Black Flame Capital''s small teleportation arrays flashed brightly, and Fang Yuan''s figure emerged.


    He looked around and spotted dozens of small teleportation arrays with Demons walking out sporadically. In the center, a large seal restricted a gigantic teleportation array. Looking at it, he realized that a Demon God had placed the seal.


    He nodded and walked away.


    \"Even though I''ve understood a bit about small teleportation arrays, arranging one would be difficult. It is best for a Demon God who cultivates space-related Great Daos to arrange them personally¡­\"


    From this point, he knew that top array masters in the Mental Demon Realm were more accomplished than him in arrays.


    \"The large teleportation array''s seal will only open during specific times. Furthermore, if someone forces their way through, it''ll immediately alert Demon God Black Flame¡­\"


    Fang Yuan shook his head.


    His True Spirit and Great Dao''s power were immersed deep into his body at this time, and he looked no different from any ordinary Demon General.


    It even cost the same amount of energy to use teleportation arrays!


    Otherwise, he would have drained the energy of the small teleportation array, attracting unwanted attention.


    This was a unique ability that Demon Gods enjoyed. After retracting his Great Dao, Fang Yuan was no different from an ordinary Demon, and he could even reduce his consumption. Although it seemed to violate common sense, this was one of the wonderful uses of a Great Dao.


    \"Black Flame Capital is truly worthy of being a place of gathering. A Demon General walking on the streets doesn''t draw any attention¡­\"


    Fang Yuan walked on a broad street in Black Flame Capital. As far as he could see, it was all high-level Demons, and Demon Generals were everywhere. At times, he met Demon Masters too.


    The real bodies of these Demon Masters were of odd shapes and sizes. But at this time, they had transformed into the most convenient human appearance and looked around arrogantly while the surrounding Demons backed away.


    Fang Yuan walked for a while before entering a den for Demons, which seemed like a bar.


    Noisy, joyful, sinful¡­


    Once he entered the bar, all sorts of complex emotions rushed forward.


    At the center of the bar, there was a translucent white jellyfish with eyes all over. Its many tentacles were sweeping around, and its body glowed like a neon light.


    Demons squeezed out questionable yellowish-green liquids from tentacles into their large stone cups and gulped down excitedly, looking as though they were drinking the best wine.


    There were seductive dancers on the rock platforms, performing sexily.


    If someone from a different world were to see this scene, they would have thought¡ªdemons dancing like mad!


    In fact, this was exactly what it was.


    After he entered, Fang Yuan''s aura changed. It was more dissolute, fitting perfectly with the environment. He went to a stone table, picked up the Demon sitting there, and tossed him aside without hesitation.


    Bang!


    The Demon landed on the ground and was just about to make a move when he saw the fierce glint in Fang Yuan''s eyes. Furthermore, he had not hidden his Demon General aura. His expression turned to fear as he escaped quickly.


    What is this thing?


    When he saw the liquor and various Demon Spirit Worms on the table, Fang Yuan was speechless.


    \"Sir¡­ just now, you were really mighty!\"


    Seeing the scene earlier, the female demon hostess was not scared. Instead, her eyes sparkled as she leaned over. \"Sir, what would you like?\"


    \"Some intel. Relax, it''s within the normal range!\" Fang Yuan tossed a bag of Black Flame stones onto the table. \"Tell me, and this will be yours!\"


    \"No problem!\" The hostess picked up the bag and felt its weight. She stuffed it into her large chest in satisfaction. \"What do you want to know?\"


    \"When will the large teleportation array open, and how much does it cost?\"


    \"Only Demon God Black Flame can start the array. Usually, it costs at least one million Black Flame stones, and it increases according to the transmission distance. Sir, do you want to leave the Black Flame Territory?\" The hostess looked astonished.


    The vast Black Flame Territory had more than enough room for Demon Generals and Demon Masters to run wild. Ordinary low-level Demons might have never even left the surrounding area before.


    \"You''re asking too many questions!\" Fang Yuan''s eyes had a cold glint.


    \"I apologize, Sir¡­ I was just a little curious!\" The hostess apologized immediately.


    Even in the capitals of the Demons, murdering and being killed were common. Even if the violent high-level Demons knew that they would be exiled and hunted down, this culture did not change.


    \"Don''t probe into something you shouldn''t¡­\" Fang Yuan warned. \"The second thing is, when is the overlord battle taking place?\"


    \"Fifteen days later!\" This hostess became more honest.


    \"Tell me about Demon God Messiah!\"


    \"I apologize¡­ Sir, this Demon God is very secretive. Nobody knows who she is or where she came from!\" the hostess answered with a bitter smile.


    The Mental Demon Realm was too vast. There were many old monsters cultivating in seclusion and adventuring geniuses. When a great individual appeared occasionally, nobody was surprised.


    \"Fifteen days later?\" Fang Yuan stood up and waved. \"You can leave now!\"


    As for the ''good wine and fine food'' on the table, he was not interested at all.


    \"Hehe, customer, are you dissatisfied with my daughter?\"


    All of a sudden, one of the jellyfish''s tentacles extended as it released a cheeky vibe.


    When it talked, it rubbed its tentacles sensually against the hostess''s body, causing her to make all kinds of obscene sounds. \"I have many other daughters. If you don''t like any of them, I can personally¡­\"


    \"Uh¡­ forget it!\" Fang Yuan turned and left.


    Although among high-level Demons, the concept of male and female was blurry, and even race did not matter, it was not his cup of tea.


    \"The overlord battle is in fifteen days, huh?\"


    According to this news, it was likely that Demon God Black Flame would not open the large teleportation array anytime soon.


    Here, the rise and fall of the black sun counted as a single day.


    \"Even though I don''t have much time, I''ll observe this overlord battle. I want to see how strong this Messiah is!\"


    However, after walking a short distance, he sneered and turned into a dark corner.


    Behind him, suspicious figures immediately surrounded him.


    \"Couldn''t hold back anymore?\"


    He shook his head and turned toward these reckless fools.


    They had three Demon Generals, and one of the other Demons looked familiar. He should be the same one that he scared out of the bar.


    His eyes burning with hatred, that unlucky Demon pointed at Fang Yuan. \"Boss, it''s him!\"


    \"Cough cough¡­\" Fang Yuan felt a little strange and did not know where to begin. It had been a long time since he had anything to do with this type of street beating. \"Aren''t you afraid of the overlord''s guards?\"


    \"Heh¡­ because of the overlord battle, many high-level Demons came to watch. As long as we don''t get caught, nobody will care!\"


    With a big grin, the Demon that had been thrown out by Fang Yuan pointed at him. \"I want one of your arms. After I devour it, I''ll definitely go further!\"


    \"Idiot!\" Fang Yuan stepped forward and pressed down nonchalantly.


    Crack!


    After a loud noise, the Demon''s head collapsed into his body.


    \"Huh? A body refining Demon?\"


    Seeing this, the three Demon Generals backed off instantly, their eyes revealing intense fear.


    After thoroughly and repeatedly tempering their bodies, body refining Demons were resistant to many techniques.


    On the other hand, most of their combat strength was in their magical powers. If the three of them worked together, they would naturally not fear a Demon General.


    But if they did that, it would cause a huge commotion. The guards would show up, and all of them would be in trouble.


    During their moment of hesitation, Fang Yuan made his move.


    Whoosh whoosh!


    The wind whistled violently as Fang Yuan moved.


    He appeared before the three Demon Generals and unleashed three blows.


    Bang! Bang! Bang!


    With three soft thuds, the Demon Generals'' bodies disintegrated gradually, turning into three blood-red crystals.


    Fang Yuan bent down, picked up three crystals, and asked in a regretful tone, \"If I gather the vitality of three Demon Generals, I wonder if it''ll be worth one million Black Flame stones?\"


    The other Demons underlings were so scared that their eyes blanked, not daring to move a muscle.


    \"A little lacking, but good enough!\"


    A black shadow flickered, and a Demon appeared in the spot Fang Yuan was looking at.


    This old man did not have a beard nor eyebrows. Layers and layers of wrinkles covered him, looking as if he were on the brink of death.


    However, none of the Demons dared to breathe.


    This was because the person who came was a Demon Master!


    \"My name is Li Gou, the city''s guard captain. May I ask who you are?\"


    Demon Master Li Gou stared at Fang Yuan with a tinge of nervousness and astonishment.


    Someone who could instantly kill three Demon Generals and discover him while he was hiding was exceptional.


    \"Me? Call me Mister Dream!\"


    Fang Yuan adjusted his aura to release fluctuations similar to a Demon Master. The Demons were so scared that they wet themselves.


    The one they attempted to beat was actually a Demon Master!


    The three leaders truly deserved to die.


    \"Oh, so it''s Mister Dream. A pleasure to meet you!\"


    Several thoughts raced through Demon Master Li Gou''s mind, but he could not recall any information about this Demon Master. He could only laugh past it. \"Mister Dream, did you come for the overlord battle in fifteen days?


    \"That''s right. Besides that, I want to use the large teleportation array!\" Fang Yuan nodded.


    \"No problem. After the overlord''s battle, he will open the large teleportation array¡­\"


    Demon Master Li Gou chuckled. The Demon Master-level was already considerably powerful. He was worth Demon God Overlords winning him over. \"Mr. Dream, have you found a place to stay? I consider myself familiar with Black Flame Capital, and the overlord has ordered us to treat our guests warmly. Shall I prepare accommodations for you?\"


    This was his way of extending goodwill and establishing good relations.


    When Fang Yuan did not respond, Demon Master Li Gou added, \"Additionally, I can make arrangements to provide you with a good seat during the overlord battle.\"


    \"In that case, I''ll look forward to it!\" Fang Yuan agreed readily.

 996 Battle

    Demon Master Li Gou was a trusted aide of the Demon God. His influence within Black Flame Capital was apparent.


    Soon after, he found a peaceful location as per Fang Yuan''s request.


    Furthermore, two pretty, well-dressed Demon maids brought drinks and snacks to him.


    \"Haha¡­ Mister Dream, let''s have a drink!\" Demon Master Li Gou raised his cup. \"This is Nine Nether Cold Spring, and this is the Frozen Flame Demon Fruit. Hehe, how could those wretched, ignorant ones understand our interests?\"


    His information network was so extensive that he even knew about Fang Yuan''s preferences from when he was in the bar.


    As Demon Masters, devouring Demon Spirits could not bring them many benefits anymore.


    Demon Master Li Gou felt that Fang Yuan, this Mister Dream, was the type with strange interests.


    Fortunately, there were not many Demon Masters like this. Naturally, he welcomed those with special interests accordingly.


    \"Not bad!\" Fang Yuan drank the Nine Nether Cold Spring. \"It''s refreshing!\"


    \"As a member of the Black Flame Demons, I''ve cultivated fire-attribute techniques for a long time, so I need to have this Cold Spring to neutralize it from time-to-time. I only eat the Demon Fruit on special occasions!\" Demon Master Li Gou said as if he were introducing a treasure.


    \"Thank you!\"


    The so-called Frozen Flame Demon Fruit was a strange fruit. It was as large as a red date, ice cracks covered its surface, and it was split into two colors.


    There were two opposing energies inside the fruit, like fire and water. If an ordinary Demon consumed it, their stomach might explode. But when the Demon Master ate it, he indulged in the sensation of various energies circulating within his mouth. It was a special flavor.


    After eating two fruits, Fang Yuan gazed at Demon Master Li Gou and asked with a slight smile, \"Well¡­ since you''ve been so courteous, I wonder what you''d like from me?\"


    \"I wonder¡­ Mister Dream, where did you cultivate?\" Demon Master Li Gou paused for a moment before continuing, \"Are you interested in joining my Black Flame Army?\"


    The Black Flame Army was naturally the soldiers of Demon God Black Flame. Of course, they were more like the overlord''s army, working for whoever was the overlord of the Black Flame Territory.


    \"Are you¡­ recruiting me?\" Fang Yuan was slightly dumbfounded. \"As far as I know, Demon God Black Flame is about to take on Demon God Messiah''s challenge, right? Are you that confident?\"


    If Demon God Black Flame fell in battle, Messiah would become the overlord. If he continued to recruit soldiers, he would merely be recruiting them for someone else.


    \"Haha¡­ there''s no way my master will lose!\" Demon Master Li Gou said confidently.


    However, no matter what Fang Yuan asked afterward, he remained silent.


    From the looks of it, this Demon God Black Flame either has a trump card up his sleeve, or he''s just playing a pig to eat a tiger. He''s someone who doesn''t stand out, but when he does, it is shocking.


    Seeing this reaction, Fang Yuan had an idea of what was going on. But even so, he refused. \"Sorry¡­ I have important matters to settle. When the large teleportation array opens, I have to get moving.\"


    \"That''s a pity¡­\" Demon Master Li Gou sighed and stood up. \"If you change your mind, you can see me anytime. I have maids serving on these premises. If you need anything, feel free to tell them.\"


    Looking at the back of the Demon Master leaving, Fang Yuan''s eyes flashed.


    A hazy phantom submerged into the Demon Master''s shadow.


    ¡­


    Demon Master Li Gou did not notice at all and went to the city lord''s mansion.


    From the side, two Demon Masters came forward and asked, \"How did it go? I heard you were dealing with another Demon Master from outside?\"


    \"That''s right. The public order in the capital is getting worse lately¡­\" Demon Master Li Gou sighed. \"For example, even though this Mister Dream seems weak, when he acts, he doesn''t hesitate at all, cold-blooded and ruthless!\"


    \"The overlord battle is like hurling a stone into water. There''s bound to be many waves. Demon Masters are merely a little bigger. It wouldn''t be surprising even if Demon Gods came!\"


    Another elderly Demon Master sighed. He had bones growing all over, and his horns looked vicious.


    \"As long as he doesn''t cause trouble, we''ll stay polite. Even though Mister Dream is ruthless, he''s reasonable.\" Demon Master Li Gou shook his head. \"Unfortunately¡­ since he wants to leave, I couldn''t recruit him into the army.\"


    \"Speaking of which, Li Gou, you''re awfully confident in our overlord! Even though Demon God Messiah is secretive, I hear that she''s entered the Myriad Transformations realm!\" a female Demon Master said.


    \"Even if she''s at Myriad Transformations, she''s no match for our overlord! Just wait!\" Demon Master Li Gou was very confident.


    The three Demon Masters were invested in their conversation and did not realize that an illusionary presence was recording and reporting everything to Fang Yuan.


    \"It seems like Demon God Black Flame isn''t simple at all¡­\"


    Fang Yuan stared at a firefly-like bug on his hand with a thoughtful expression. \"This Messiah is also very mysterious. In another fifteen days, I can watch a good show!\"


    ¡­


    The Black Flame sun rose and fell as usual. Before long, fifteen days passed.


    Outside Black Flame Capital, on Black Flame Peak.


    Numerous high-level Demons filled the entrances.


    Even though they knew that once the Demon Gods began their battle, they might lose their lives with a small miscalculation. In order to attain higher realms, these Demons still came.


    Fang Yuan still maintained his image as a Demon General. He ascended Black Flame Peak without Demon Master Li Gou, mixed into a crowd of Demon Generals, and remained inconspicuous.


    On the other hand, Demon Master Li Gou, Demon Master Bai Gu, and other Demon Masters stood at the front, occupying the best view.


    \"Prepare the Demon God Battle Platform!\"


    He recited an incantation.


    A massive stone stage emerged on Black Flame Peak.


    The platform seemed like it had many runes engraved on the black granite, and it carried the scent of blood and battle.


    This was the Demon God Battle Platform. It was also known as the Platform of Blood, specially designed for Demon duels.


    The one on Black Flame Peak could withstand the full extent of a Demon God''s power.


    Even so, Demon Master Li Gou was not satisfied. He recited another spell together with his companions, and a thick barrier appeared around the platform.


    \"It turns out there are defense mechanisms in place. No wonder these Demon Generals dared to come and watch!\" Fang Yuan nodded. Suddenly, he looked eastward. \"They''re here!\"


    Swoosh!


    A black flame shot over and landed in the middle of the platform.


    Rumble!


    A cloud of dust flew up from the big hole where he landed. It regenerated immediately.


    \"We pay respects to the overlord!\"


    \"Greetings, Demon God Black Flame!\"


    ¡­


    The surrounding Demons knelt.


    This Demon God''s body was qualified for Fang Yuan to take another look.


    Using the Heavenly Eye Seer Spell, he spotted many things that others could not notice. \"Yep, this Great Dao is indeed black flames. But unlike the rumors, his cultivation isn''t at Void Amalgamation. Instead, he''s reached the Myriad Transformations realm. No wonder Demon Master Li Gou is so confident in him! Hm? Wait!\"


    Other than the black flames, Fang Yuan saw a strange light in Demon God Black Flame!


    This strange streak of light was black and restrained. He would not be able to see it without using the Heavenly Eye Seer Spell.


    Furthermore, the Omnidirectional Divine Demonic Armament Dao inside his body began reacting restlessly.


    \"Oh? It seems like other than his secret advancement to Myriad Transformations, he has another hidden weapon up his sleeve. No wonder he''s fearless!\"


    Demon God Black Flame evidently had many hidden secrets.


    Of course, those who could cultivate to the level of Demon God meant that they had had fortuitous encounters and lucky chances. Fang Yuan was unconcerned.


    \"Rise!\" A deep voice came, ordering the Demons to get up.


    Flames fanned out to present the Demon God that ruled the Black Flame Territory. He was barefoot, wearing a large black robe, and exposing his pale skin.


    He was bald without a single strand of hair, and his chiseled face had a cold expression.


    He gave off a piercing, intense energy when he spoke.


    \"Unexpectedly, he''s cultivated his flames to such a terrifying degree of coldness! Truly reversing Yang back into Yin!\"


    Fang Yuan sighed.


    At this time, another Demon God walked onto the platform.


    It was a female Demon God wearing a silver mask.


    From Fang Yuan''s perspective, she was like moonlight approaching the ground. She was also a Myriad Transformations Demon God!


    \"Demon God Messiah!\"


    Fang Yuan could not help calling out her name.


    This Demon God had mysterious origins, and it felt like she had appeared out of nowhere. But her first appearance was competing for the title of an overlord, so her ambition and strength were inevitably great.


    \"The battle over who becomes the Black Flame Overlord begins now!


    \"This battle is a display of your abilities. Even if it is a fight to the death, there''ll be no resentment!\"


    A trembling Demon Master walked forward and swung his right hand to signal the start.


    Rumble!


    The next instant, the two large auras began their battle like two vicious beasts defending their territory.


    Buzz buzz!


    The defensive barrier vibrated as though it would break in the next moment.


    The Demons observing lost all strength in their legs. They nearly knelt on the ground once again.


    \"Messiah, I want you to know that challenging me was a huge mistake!\"


    Shortly after standing opposite each other, Demon God Black Flame made the first move.


    A Great Dao rushed out above his head, shooting black flames toward the sky.


    \"Black Flame Great Dao!\" A narrow tributary flowed out from the Black Flame Great Dao. \"Hurricane Great Dao! Wind assists fire, attack!\"


    \"That is the Hurricane Great Dao branching out from Black Flame Great Dao!\"


    \"Being able to use one Dao to display myriad Daos, Overlord Black Flame must be at Myriad Transformations!\"


    \"All hail the Demon God! All hail the Demon God!\"


    Watching this, the low-level Demons began cheering.


    \"Is that so?\" Messiah backed off continuously. In an instant, she stood at the edge of the platform. \"I want you to know everything you''ve done has been a joke! Moonlight!\"


    Swoosh!


    Suddenly, the dark sun faded away, and a bright moon descended.


    A silver river seemed to fall from the heavens, and a moon had fallen from it.


    \"So, Messiah''s fundamental Great Dao is the Moon Great Dao!\"

 997 Heaven Extermination

    Dark clouds appeared, and the moon hung high in the sky.


    While the phenomenon continued, moonlight condensed, and three Great Dao emerged.


    \"The Cloud Great Dao, the Mist Great Dao¡­ and the Light Great Dao?\"


    Fang Yuan watched this scene unfold before him, feeling astonished.


    Even though they were both at the Myriad Transformations realm, Demon God Messiah was evidently much stronger than Demon God Black Flame. She had cultivated two more Great Dao than him, which was at the advanced Myriad Transformations stage.


    In contrast, Demon God Black Flame was just at the initial stage.


    \"Moon Amalgamation!\"


    The strength of multiple Great Daos merged, and moonlight spread in all directions, immediately freezing the surroundings.


    Black Flame''s flames instantly extinguished.


    Crack!


    Crack!


    White frost condensed on the barrier and overwhelmed it.


    \"Not good! Escape!\"


    Seeing this, Demon Master Li Gou was the first to react and quickly fell back.


    The next instant, accompanied by loud cracking sounds, the barrier collapsed. Astonishing cold air spilled out, enveloping the entire mountain.


    Ice condensed, carrying the chilling energy of the Great Dao. The souls of Demon Generals froze as soon as it touched them, and they immediately lost their lives.


    Even Demon Masters could not escape from the ice.


    \"Even the special platform and the barrier couldn''t withstand it¡­ This overlord battle is intense¡­\"


    The other Demon Masters that managed to escape hid far in the sky. They looked at the frozen Black Flame Peak, reeling in shock.


    Since it was already like this outside the battle platform, as Messiah''s opponent, Demon God Black Flame felt the full extent of her power even more keenly.


    A colossal ice pillar enveloped him, as if it were a white dragon soaring into the sky.


    Bang!


    Even so, Black Flame exerted his strength, and the ice pillar shattered. Demon God Black Flame slowly walked out of the ice pillar. \"With your strength, you can target better territories. Why did you choose me?\"


    \"There''s no need for you to know¡­ Aren''t you going to surrender?\"


    The silver-masked Demon God Messiah continued her attacks. Four Great Daos snaked out like dancing dragons, and their massive power completely suppressed Demon God Black Flame.


    \"Moon Amalgamation! Light Blade!\"


    The ice danced wildly as blades of light containing terrifying power commanded the platform.


    The waves of ice gathered all around, besieging Demon God Black Flame in the center. This battle went far beyond a challenge. The ice had a terrifying killing intent!


    If Demon God Black Flame could not handle these blows, Messiah would not hold back either!


    \"Move back!\"


    Seeing the chilling air, the Demon Masters retreated once again, far enough away that they could barely see the battlefield.


    Fang Yuan moved with the flow, but he had several thoughts come to mind. \"So is Messiah trying to force Demon God Black Flame to use his trump card? But how did she find out?\"


    The reason he discovered Demon God Black Flame''s trump card was his profound ability, the Heavenly Eye Seer Spell; the Omnidirectional Divine Demonic Armament Dao reinforcing it; and his cultivation being higher Black Flame.


    And Messiah was a Myriad Transformations Demon God, so Fang Yuan did not think she had magical powers that rivaled his.


    \"If she didn''t figure it out on her own, it must be someone else. She''s just a pawn! This is a bit alarming. Someone who can control a Myriad Transformations Demon God must be at Netherheaven.\"


    Fang Yuan played his role as a background character well and transitioned to watching from the crowd.


    In the snowy terrain, light blades flew throughout the area, causing numerous wounds on Demon God Black Flame in a short time.


    Even though they were not substantial injuries, it was a blow to his pride.


    Messiah shouted and continued her barrage. The Moon Great Dao rushed out, clashing against the Black Flame Great Dao mercilessly.


    She did not have the Heaven Devouring Mystic Technique, she was not a Netherheaven Demon God, and she could not devour a Great Dao.


    Therefore, as the battle continued, the power of their Great Daos whittled down. It was a battle where both advanced toward their demise.


    Since her accumulation was greater than Demon God Black Flame, the final result was Demon God Black Flame suffering heavy injuries while she only sustained light injuries.


    After being forced to his limits, Demon God Black Flame roared loudly, \"Ah¡­ You forced me to do this!\"


    Fang Yuan''s Heavenly Eye Seer Spell detected the dark light within his body moving.


    Schwing!


    Like unsheathing a sharp sword, the faint cry of a dragon ensued.


    A strange energy wave spread out.


    The entire world seemed to stop in that instant.


    The next moment¡­!


    The blizzard disappeared, and the moon vanished.


    \"This is¡­\" Fang Yuan''s pupils narrowed.


    Messiah backed away quickly, but her eyes revealed excitement. \"It really was you!\"


    \"Hmph! You actually forced me to use the ''Dark Light-Disc''!\" Demon God Black Flame responded coldly while holding a strange, round plate with both hands.


    The round disc was a dark black, and purple patterns covered its surface. There were also several unassuming dents on its edge.


    But at this time, it was releasing incredible power in Demon God Black Flame''s hands.


    \"Dark Light-Disc? Is it a divine armament? I''ve never heard of it¡­\" Fang Yuan''s eyes lit up. \"But with a single move from this disc, it repelled the attacks from the four Great Daos. Its ability seems to be obliteration!\"


    The possibilities a vast world presented were terrific!


    Whether it was a universe or a world, they were under the operation of a Heavenly Dao.


    Although it was an established theory, all life and death could be considered under a Heavenly Dao''s control.


    A Demon God''s ascension depended on continuously comprehending Great Daos before finally pushing their Great Dao to the level of a Heavenly Dao.


    However, another possibility presented itself before Fang Yuan!


    \"I wasn''t wrong! When he used the Dark Light-Disc, it created a vortex that obliterated the power of all the Great Daos in a certain range!\"


    Fang Yuan was astonished. \"Of course, it only affects external abilities and has very little impact on Demon Gods. The core of Messiah''s Great Dao remains untouched. But it''s terrifying enough!\"


    Even though this Dark Light-Disc was a treasure to Void Amalgamation and Myriad Transformations Demon Gods, it was not anything special to a Netherheaven Demon God. However, this ability was fascinating, sparking Fang Yuan''s desire to research it.


    \"What do you mean?\"


    When Demon God Black Flame saw Messiah''s expression, a creepy feeling filled his entire body.


    \"So you''re the thief that stole the ''Heaven Extermination Plate''!\"


    Demon God Messiah evidently knew more about the black disc. She suddenly roared and stepped forward.


    A layer of ice armor instantly covered her body, turning her into an ancient ice battle beast.


    \"Heaven Extermination Plate?\"


    Demon God Black Flame was shocked. In a chance encounter, he had obtained the black disc in his hands. When he figured out its fantastic ability, he had always believed it was a treasure. He had searched through ancient books but could not find it, so he had given it a name himself.


    Only today did he finally learn the true name of the treasure in his hands.


    But after knowing that Messiah was an enemy, he roared, and his Demon God true body appeared.


    \"Roar!\"


    An evil demon with black flames all over its body stood up, clawing at the incoming giant ice beast.


    \"Roar!\"


    The ice armor continued to extend. Finally, it turned into a giant white dragon that collided with the Black Flame Evil Demon.


    Kaboom!


    The earth quaked, the mountains shook, and the peak collapsed.


    The giant white dragon flapped its wings and flew, but the Black Flame Evil Demon crashed into the ground, forming a giant crater.


    \"Would I not know the ability of the Heaven Extermination Plate? However, the power of my Great Dao is condensed around my body, not leaking it at all. What can you do?\"


    The giant ice dragon landed, transforming into the human Messiah. She reached out for the Heaven Extermination Plate on Demon God Black Flame.


    \"Heaven Extermination Plate? Truly good!\"


    But in the next moment, her hand grasped air.


    Fang Yuan was standing on Demon God Black Flame''s chest, holding the black disc and revealing a curious expression. \"Although it seems like there are many restrictions, and it''s not very useful to me, there''s some research value to it. Hmm? Oh¡­ is this an imitation?\"


    \"Who¡­ is this?\"


    His sudden appearance stunned the Demon Masters. \"Daring to break into the Demon Gods'' battlefield¡­ No, he''s not a Demon Master¡­ he''s also¡­ a Demon God!\"


    \"It''s him!\" Demon Master Li Gou stared at Fang Yuan, feeling trembling in every part of his body.


    This Mister Dream was really deeply hidden!


    After pretending to be a Demon General at first and then meeting him as Demon Master, it turns out that he was actually a Demon God!


    This poor taste of playing a pig to eat a tiger was simply¡­ At this moment, his resentment nearly took physical form.


    Next to him, Demon God Bai Gu asked curiously, \"Demon Master Li Gou, you recognize that Demon God?\"


    \"This is the person I told you about, Mister Dream¡­\" Demon Master Li Gou laughed bitterly. The Demon Masters by his side felt chills run down their spine. They looked at each other in distrust, as if fearing that another one was hiding among them.


    \"Where did you come from?\" Messiah''s expression turned cold. \"You dare to interfere?\"


    Swoosh!


    The enormous Black Flame Evil Demon exploded, and a black shadow quickly retreated, leaving the battlefield in an instant. \"You two¡­ wait for me!\"


    \"To be honest, I didn''t want to do this either!\" Fang Yuan sighed, showing a helpless expression.


    His original plan was to watch a great show and then leave using the large teleportation array. He did not want to become hostile with local Demon Gods.


    Unfortunately, the appearance of the Heaven Extermination Plate disrupted his plans.


    In particular, after Fang Yuan discovered that the Heaven Extermination Plate was merely an imitation, he was even more emotionally affected.


    The one in his hands had some research value, but the original one was a terrifying threat to Netherheaven Demon Gods. It was definitely enough as a hidden card for dealing with the Abominable Lord!


    \"Leave the Heaven Extermination Plate behind, and I''ll let you go. Otherwise¡­\"


    Messiah waved her hands. The blizzard around her came to a stand-still, seeming to crystallize midair.


    \"Otherwise, what? Are you going to fight me?\" Fang Yuan patted his head. \"Oh, right. You just defeated Demon God Black Flame, so you''re the new Black Flame Overlord now. If I defeat you, will I become the master of this territory?\"

 998 Overlord

    \"You despicable, shameless thief! Put the Heaven Extermination Plate down now!\" Demon God Messiah''s voice was ice-cold, and it seemed to freeze the soul.


    Frost spread to the surroundings, causing the Demon Masters to begin fleeing.


    As for the Demon Generals, those with poor judgment and standing too close were already dead.


    \"Well¡­ that''s impossible!\" Fang Yuan''s eyes narrowed. \"Let me ask you, is this an overlord battle now? If not, I''ll be leaving first!\"


    Messiah''s footsteps halted.


    She sensed Fang Yuan''s unfathomable depths. He had a strength that was not inferior to hers. If he truly wanted to run away, she would not be able to obtain anything.


    \"Even though an overlord battle is complicated, the most important thing is for the overlord to agree to it!\"


    Therefore, she stopped. However, the words that came from under her mask were as cold as ice. \"I''ll bet my position as the Black Flame Overlord for the Heaven Extermination Plate in your hands!\"


    In the past, she had used irresistible treasures and resources to entice Demon God Black Flame into accepting the overlord battle.


    And now, this was the only thing she could do.


    \"The position of overlord? That''s not enough¡­\" Fang Yuan tossed the disc in his hand. \"I''m also very interested in its origin. If you tell me, I''ll fight!\"


    \"You wouldn''t want to know¡­\" Messiah''s expression seemed strange. \"That used to belong to a powerful Demon God, far stronger than me!\"


    \"What?\" Demon Master Li Gou was shocked, his expression complicated as he looked at the Heaven Extermination Plate.


    \"Stronger than Myriad Transformations¡­ means a Netherheaven Demon God. Any one of them could ruin Black Flame Territory just by showing up!\"


    The Demon Masters gasped repeatedly. At the same time, they could not hold back their greed.


    Unfortunately, they also understood that this strange item was not something they could covet.


    \"So¡­ just Netherheaven?\" Fang Yuan nodded. \"It turns out you only know this much. What a pity¡­\"


    \"Just¡­ Netherheaven?\" Messiah stepped back, feeling a sudden ominous premonition. \"No¡­ impossible. He can''t be!\"


    However, she was still a Demon God after all, and her heart was as cold as thousand-year ice. Matters that she had decided on would not change so easily.


    \"Moon Great Dao! Moon Amalgamation!\"


    Light sprinkled down continuously, and an extreme chill spread, freezing everything in its path.


    Whoosh!


    A layer of ice condensed on Fang Yuan.


    \"Now, hand the Heaven Extermination Plate over! It''s not too late!\"


    The ice dragon roared. Messiah advanced slowly and extended her palm.


    Below his neck, Fang Yuan looked like an ice sculpture. But he did not care and asked curiously, \"Speaking of which, what''s the name of the Demon God behind you?\"


    \"You''re not worthy of knowing!\" Messiah''s gaze turned cold as she slammed her palm down.


    Roar Roar!


    The ice dragon roared and reached out with its claw!


    \"Truly regretful!\"


    Fang Yuan sighed. All of a sudden, the ice on his body started to melt.


    Crack!


    A loud, crunching sound echoed.


    Soon after, the ice dragon, moonlight, and snow disappeared, as if everything that had happened earlier was merely an illusion.


    \"This is¡­ the power of the Heaven Extermination Plate!\"


    During her exclamation, Messiah backed away quickly. But she realized something was different. \"No! This isn''t obliteration but¡­ devouring?\"


    \"That''s right! I''ll accept the power of your Great Dao for myself now!\"


    Fang Yuan held out his left hand.


    In his palm, a shard of ice appeared. There was a full moon floating inside.


    He opened his mouth wide and directly swallowed it.


    \"What?\" Seeing this, the Demon Masters gasped in shock.


    \"Directly¡­ he directly devoured the power of a Great Dao¡­\" Demon Master Li Gou''s body slumped, as if he were a doll. \"H-he''s not just a Demon God. He''s a Netherheaven Demon God!\"


    Netherheaven Demon God!


    In the Mental Demon Realm, he was a bigshot, the top of the food chain, and could even hunt other Demon Gods!


    Although they were both Demon Gods, he was on a completely different level!


    \"I can''t believe he''s at Netherheaven!\" Messiah felt despair.


    She clearly understood the difference between them. Even if she perfected her Moon Great Dao further, she still would not be a match for a Dark Heavenly Dao.


    Furthermore, even if they continued to fight, she would very likely become nourishment for him.


    \"I¡­ I admit defeat!\" With that, she turned into snowflakes and disappeared immediately.


    \"All hail the overlord!\"


    \"All hail the Demon God!\"


    ¡­


    Demon Master Li Gou was stunned for a moment before taking the lead to kneel.


    Seeing his action, the other Demon Masters suddenly understood and knelt as well. \"All hail the Black Flame Overlord!\"


    \"All right. Get up!\"


    Fang Yuan waved his hands. He did not chase after her.


    It would be pointless for him to chase down a high-level Demon God that was running for her life. With his current strength, it would be meaningless unless he forced her into a corner.


    With all the Demons present, his name was bound to spread far and wide after the battle!


    After all, he was at Netherheaven! A top hegemon!


    If a Dao Fruit Demon God did not appear, within the Mental Demon Realm, they were the ones stirring up commotions!


    \"Luckily, I didn''t reveal anything in particular, and I''m using a different appearance. As for the power of the Devour Great Dao, any Netherheaven Demon God could do it!\"


    Fang Yuan stared in the direction the Demon God escaped in, feeling regret.


    If he could have captured and devoured these two Demon Gods, it would have helped his advancement.


    The Infinite Devourer and Demon Supremacy Wish Fulfillment had fallen into his lap in the past. Unfortunately, he could not enjoy such luck forever.


    He could not find a third sealed Demon God to be sent to his mouth anymore.


    \"Overlord!\" At this time, Demon Master Li Gou brought Bai Gu and the other Demon Masters to kneel respectfully. \"Our greatest respects to Master!\"


    They were part of the territory''s military forces, and they naturally obeyed the orders of the Black Flame Overlord.


    Seeing them, Fang Yuan laughed.


    This time, Demon God Black Flame did indeed go for wool and come back shorn, throwing in all his assets and losing.


    \"Okay¡­ let''s go back!\" Seeing their hesitant expressions, he turned around and added, \"Follow me!\"


    ¡­


    Within Demon God Black Flame''s original residence.


    Various demon elemental stones gave off a vibrant glow, enhancing the elemental force in the overlord''s mansion by more than ten times stronger than the outside.


    Now, Fang Yuan occupied this place. \"Li Gou¡­ tell me, what are my responsibilities as the overlord?\"


    \"The overlord is the master of this land. All the rules and regulations here are up to you!\"


    Demon Master Li Gou knelt on the ground and said respectfully, \"The Black Flame Army only serves Master! As for what you have to do, perhaps just communicating with other places on behalf of the locals from time-to-time. But it''s rare for this to happen. Even Demon God Black Flame spent most of his time cultivating in seclusion and exploring outside.\"


    \"I see!\" Fang Yuan nodded. \"With so few restrictions, I don''t have to let go of this position immediately!\"


    \"L-let go?\"


    Li Gou and the Demon Masters were astonished.


    Indeed, for a Netherheaven Demon God, the Black Flame Territory was of little value. If he wanted to, he could obtain a better and larger place. Naturally, he did not care about this place.


    \"All right, you guys know that I prefer being free and won''t sit on the overlord position for long. When I''m not around, Li Gou and you will manage this place together!\"


    He pointed at the three strongest Demon Masters.


    \"Your subordinates will do our best!\"


    Demon Master Li Gou and the others were excited as they knelt and pledged their loyalty.


    \"Okay, who among you knows where Demon God Black Flame is?\" Fang Yuan asked with some hope. Unfortunately, no one knew.


    He was not too concerned and ordered the opening of the overlord''s treasury.


    Rumble!


    After breaking several seals and opening the huge doors of Black Flame''s treasury, a dazzling sight greeted them.


    Precious Black Flame stones lay scattered on the ground like it was a flea market. It was as vast as an ocean.


    Other than that, precious materials were everywhere.


    \"Unfortunately, Demon God Black Flame carried the best stuff on him.\"


    Fang Yuan sighed and rubbed the treasure ring on his finger.


    A vortex opened and swallowed a large amount of money and materials. Demon Master Li Gou and the others'' eyes twitched furiously, but there was nothing they could do.


    In this territory, the public and private treasuries technically belonged to the overlord. He could control it any way he liked.


    \"I''ll take away half. What''s left should be enough to fund you¡­\"


    Luckily, Fang Yuan understood discretion. He did not leave an empty treasury for the three Demon Masters.


    However, even after taking these treasures away, he was still dissatisfied. \"What a pity I didn''t find anything he missed¡­\"


    However, he knew that he was thinking too much.


    With a Demon God''s discernment, how could Demon God Black Flame miss any treasures?


    In fact, obtaining the Heaven Extermination Plate was worth much more than the sum of this treasury and Demon God Black Flame''s possessions.


    \"All of you may withdraw!\"


    After sending the Demon Masters away, and even rejecting their request to send Demon girls to serve him, Fang Yuan finally had time to examine his gains today.


    \"Heaven Extermination Plate!\"


    He extended his right hand, and the disc floated above his palm.


    This disc was black. On the uneven surface, there were purple patterns and many dents.


    After taking it out, a strange energy began circulating, repelling the power of the Heavenly Dao.


    \"It''s truly a great treasure! Amazing!\" Fang Yuan''s eyes lit up. \"If I had obtained it earlier, I wouldn''t have been struck by lightning so many times!\"


    The lower realms'' lightning tribulation was based on the operation of a Heavenly Dao.


    Therefore, if the Heavenly Dao was cleared away, the blank area would naturally not have heavenly tribulations arrive.


    \"Even though this is nothing much for a Demon God, it''s absolutely an amazing treasure for transcending the tribulation in the lower realms!\"

 999 A Series of Unexpected Circumstances

    \"Hmm, the power of this treasure¡­ can even reduce a world''s resistance!\"


    A world itself had no consciousness. Only through the operation of a Heavenly Dao could it manifest preferences and repulsion.


    For other worlds, Mental Demons were like a virus or even tumor, so naturally they were suppressed.


    But with this Heaven Extermination Plate, they could expand their possibilities.


    \"Unfortunately¡­ it''s not useful to me!\" Fang Yuan sighed.


    A Netherheaven Demon God''s Dark Heavenly Dao was enough to confront a world''s Heavenly Dao within a certain range, changing heaven and the earth and gaining the authority of a Creator.


    This was akin to a robber who could already loot unscrupulously. What was the point in learning thieving skills?


    At this moment, the purple patterns on the Heaven Extermination Plate seemed to come to life with his continuous input of elemental force. Bright light circulated as it pulsed slowly.


    \"Eh?\" When Fang Yuan used the Heavenly Eye Seer Spell to examine the Heaven Extermination Plate, he got a shock. \"The most important thing about the Heaven Extermination Plate isn''t the black disc. Instead, it is the purple runes. Even if it is incomplete, it has the effect of eliminating the nomological rules of a Heavenly Dao?\"


    Despite his astonishment, he concentrated his spiritual will and gathered it above the runes.


    However, a scene that surprised Fang Yuan appeared.


    The more he gathered his spiritual will, the more he felt the purple runes fluctuating. They were harder to understand than the Mental Demon Ancient Language.


    \"Looks like it was worth it!\"


    Seeing this, Fang Yuan decided to take out a cinnabar and talisman paper to try copying it.


    Buzz buzz!


    After putting a lot of thought into it, he finally began writing, copying the runes onto the talisman paper.


    But the next moment, the Heavenly Dao roared.


    Space distorted, and the talisman seemed to receive an attack, immediately shredding into pieces.


    \"Only one Dao rule?\" Fang Yuan frowned. \"I''ve heard that there are some natural runes with unimaginable power, and they have a unique characteristic where only one can exist.


    \"No¡­ that''s not right. This Heaven Extermination Plate is also an imitation, and these runes are damaged¡­\"


    As he thought about this, he could not help exclaiming, \"A damaged imitation has this much power, so how powerful is the original? Can a Netherheaven Demon God create this?\"


    After thinking about it for a moment, he denied this possibility. \"Is this a Dao Fruit treasure?!\"


    At this point, even Fang Yuan felt his heart quiver.


    The Dao Fruit realm was above Demon God and incomparably terrifying.


    So far, there were only two items he had come across that might be related to the Dao Fruit realm.


    The first was his own stats window. Even in the Netherheaven realm, he could not replicate it.


    The second was this mysterious Heaven Extermination Plate.


    Of course, this imitation did not mean anything. To Fang Yuan, it was merely an interesting gadget.


    However, the original item was extraordinary. It was definitely worth taking a risk.


    With this thought in mind, Fang Yuan felt calmer and began waiting for the Netherheaven Demon God behind Messiah to appear.


    Time went by in a flash. Three years passed.


    Within the overlord''s mansion.


    Fang Yuan wore a light white robe. He was holding a brush and writing furiously.


    The dragon-snake transformed into a blade, and a rune appeared vividly on the paper. As though it were alive, it was continuously swimming.


    Buzz buzz!


    The air surged as an enormous force approached.


    It was as if this rune''s existence was a violation to this world and had to be destroyed.


    Even so, this talisman radiated with light, resisting countless waves of attacks. After one-and-a-half hours, the paper slowly and reluctantly reduced to ashes.


    \"Did it automatically eliminate the power of the Heavenly Dao? Unbelievable. I didn''t even input any energy into it!\"


    Fang Yuan was shocked.


    This situation was bizarre. This meant that even if a mortal drew these runes on the most ordinary piece of paper, it would still have power. It was simply baffling!


    \"It was able to last one-and-a-half hours. More than enough in an actual battle!\"


    Fang Yuan named this set of runes the ''Heaven Extermination Truth'' and used talisman paper. Even though it was only practice, at this level, he could easily use it in battle¡­


    \"It''s just¡­ using it to temporarily obliterate the power of a Heavenly Dao in the vicinity¡­ Honestly, Netherheaven Demon Gods can do the same thing. My Devour and Heaven Devouring Great Daos have better effects. At best, I can use it to catch someone off guard and scare them off¡­


    \"Of course, since what I''ve been learning are incomplete runes, the power is weaker. I wonder how much power the actual Heaven Extermination Plate possesses?


    \"Unfortunately¡­ I deliberately stayed and waited, but the other party didn''t come. I don''t have that much time for this¡­\"


    The Abominable Lord must have already realized that he had already left the Spiritual Realm and was now in the Mental Demon Realm. And the Abominable Lord would pull out all the stops to hunt him down.


    If he stayed somewhere too long, he risked being found.


    Even though Fang Yuan was confident in his isolation and concealment skills, the Abominable Lord was not a simple character and might have mastered a unique ability or power.


    When he came to the Mental Demon Realm, he wanted to take the initiative and firmly grasp opportunities, so he naturally could not be found.


    \"I set a three-year limit for myself. Unfortunately¡­\"


    Fang Yuan shook his head and went to the teleportation arrays.


    \"Greetings, Overlord!\"


    The Demon Soldiers and Demon Masters guarding the teleportation arrays appeared and immediately bowed.


    \"Paying respects to Lord Demon God!\"


    Seeing this, the other Demons knew that they had met the mysterious Netherheaven Demon God. They followed suit and bowed.


    A Netherheaven had appeared in the Black Flame Territory. Of course, this news spread like wildfire.


    Unfortunately, the Mental Demon Realm was far too vast. Even if the Demon Gods that were really interested in Fang Yuan rushed over, it would take several years.


    Furthermore, Void Amalgamation and Myriad Transformations Demon Gods were embarrassed to request a meeting.


    For the past three years, Fang Yuan had truly enjoyed his peace and quiet, and he had not been disturbed.


    Fang Yuan waved his hand and ordered, \"Start the large teleportation array!\"


    After becoming the overlord, there was another advantage¡ªhe could use the large teleportation array as much as he liked and did not have to pay either!


    \"Understood!\"


    Even though the Demon Master guarding this place was somewhat stunned, he dared not say a word and obediently started the array.


    The seals opened layer-by-layer, and a giant emerald formation altar appeared. There were eight pillars erected around it, with various incantations inscribed on them.


    At this moment, lightning shot out from the pillars and gathered at the center of the array, opening a strange portal.


    \"If I were a Demon God who had mastered a Space Great Dao, I could move through the void myself. Too bad¡­\"


    Fang Yuan sighed while entering the lightning portal.


    Rumble!


    Lightning flashed, and his figure disappeared instantly.


    ¡­


    However, Fang Yuan did not know that soon after he left, Demon God Messiah brought a black-robed man to the Black Flame Territory.


    \"Master, this is the place!\" Messiah pointed at Black Flame Capital. But the next moment, the alarm in her voice came through even from behind the mask. \"No¡­ that Demon God¡­ he left!\"


    At this moment, Messiah felt like stabbing Fang Yuan hundreds of times.


    Earlier, he had tried every possible means to obtain the secrets and origin of the Heaven Extermination Plate, but now, he had not hesitated to leave just like that! Too shameless! Shameless to the extreme!


    \"Haha. Interesting!\"


    The black-robed man had a hoarse voice. When he stepped out, space seemed to warp, and they immediately arrived at the capital.


    Outside the large array, the seals shattered one after another to reveal the array.


    \"Judging from the space fluctuations remaining, it seems like he just left¡­\"


    The black-robed man stretched out his shriveled black palm and placed it on the array, sensing many things. \"He headed¡­ east. Around¡­\"


    When she heard this, Messiah''s eyes lit up. \"Master, should we follow him immediately?\"


    \"Of course! We can''t let the Heaven Extermination Plate go. Furthermore, this imitation is the best out of the nine¡­\"


    The black-robed man smiled lightly. He stood before the array, extended both hands, and tore outward.


    Whoosh!


    The large teleportation array shattered immediately, and a transparent opening appeared.


    Even after seeing him wreaking havoc, the soldiers and Demon Master were like sculptures, not moving a muscle.


    \"Hehe¡­\" Messiah laughed and snapped her fingers. The sculptures shattered, turning into snow that scattered onto the ground.


    \"If we go through this portal, we should be able to get to that Demon God. But he''s very sly, so we might have to go through several places first!\" the black-robed Demon God said that in a low voice. Just as he was about to step forward, he suddenly halted. \"This aura¡­\"


    Rumble!


    A black shadow covered the entire capital.


    A terrifying aura projected down, turning into many evil emotions.


    Demons with lower cultivation would have descended into shock after seeing the source of these emotions. After that, they would fall mad and die!


    One should not directly view or talk about the depths of evil!


    \"Abominable Lord?\" the black-robed man said in a low voice.


    \"Are you that brat?\" A loud voice resounded. Soon after, a large black palm slammed down from the clouds.


    Even the Abominable Lord felt exasperated.


    After all, Fang Yuan was too slippery. Furthermore, he had the Dao of Dream Master, and pretending to be another Demon God was simple.


    \"Abominable Lord, you''re going too far!\" the black-robed man shouted coldly. Several black lotuses bloomed behind him.


    The petals floated out, creating a vortex that swallowed the giant palm.


    From the dark shadows above, the Abominable Lord''s rough voice came. \"So it''s you¡­\"

 1000 Counterattack

    Poof!


    Light flashed.


    Fang Yuan descended from the large teleportation array and turned a corner without a change in expression, causing no doubt among the Demon Soldiers.


    This was also because there were more than ten large teleportations arrays spitting out new people all the time.


    \"After changing places a few times and completely removing my traces, I can be on my way!\"


    Fang Yuan was rather clear about the general structure of the Mental Demon Realm owing to Demon Supremacy Wish Fulfillment''s memories.


    \"This place¡­ should be the Holy City of Fresh Flowers, a place ruled by a Netherheaven Demon God-level Sacred Lord¡­ The Black Flame Territory seems like a backcountry in comparison.


    \"After leaving the city and crossing a desert, I''ll reach the Original Sin Demon Territory.


    \"It is very strange in the Original Sin Demon Territory. There aren''t any large teleportation arrays, so you have to move on your own.\"


    ¡­


    Fang Yuan changed his face again and walked on the streets, looking around curiously.


    The Demons here seemed to be slightly different from the Demons of the Black Flame Territory.


    Even though Demon Gods might just be small Demon Spirits at the source, the direction of advancement was ever-changing.


    Aside from the Black Flame Territory''s Demons, the Holy City of Fresh Flowers had males and females in human form. At first glance, it would seem as though this city was mainly human.


    \"However, this is also the reason for the city¡­ In the wilderness, Demon Spirits run wild and devour each other, even more terrifying than hell¡­\"


    Fang Yuan came to a restaurant and sat down but thought of even more questions. \"It seems like the Mental Demon Realm itself can''t supply so many Demon Spirits, so they must be plundered¡­\"


    Low-level Demon Spirits had to devour each other to advance to Demon General or even Demon Master.


    They were still essential food for high-level Demons even now.


    This was true everywhere in the Mental Demon Realm, and the consumption was naturally terrifying!


    \"The Demon Spirits are also a type of soul, a type of resource¡­ I''m afraid even simple reincarnation can''t be done in the Mental Demon Realm and must be plundered¡­\"


    Any overlord''s first reaction if they discovered a new world would be to lead an insidious army to invade, kill, and plunder souls.


    In the end, even that world might be devoured.


    This was also why the Mental Demon Realm was so vast. It was the result of devouring many large worlds.


    \"It''s just¡­ I feel this method isn''t that safe. What if they completely plunder all the souls?\"


    Devouring the Demon Supremacy Wish Fulfillment had brought Fang Yuan insights from many Demon Gods, which was naturally no simple matter.


    It had also made him aware that the recent Mental Demon Realm was in a major cycle of decline.


    The number of Demon Spirits would decline once the supply of souls ran out. And once the needs of the high-level Demons could not be met, they would set their sights on one another.


    The calamity of war formed in this way, and even Demon Gods could not escape!


    The intensity of war in the Mental Demon Realm had increased a lot in recent years.


    The evidence was in Demon God Myriad Thunder''s small group''s desire to forcibly go to the Spiritual Realm and everything that happened afterward!


    \"The decline of a world is something rare¡­\"


    Fang Yuan took a deep breath.


    He originally thought that the Mental Demon Realm was comparable to the Spiritual Realm. But now, it would not be excessive to say that the Mental Demon Realm was the most powerful world in this universe.


    Once it fell to a certain level, it might cause an avalanche effect that affected the entire universe.


    Of course, the decline of a world was a very slow process. Even though it was almost irreversible, it would take a long time, perhaps requiring tens of thousands of years.


    Fang Yuan sighed, tossed it out of his mind, and looked at the dishes that the waiter served.


    In front of him were blooming buds, flowers, and petals.


    After lightly touching the buds, a big bowl-shaped flower larger than that of peony bloomed flamboyantly, revealing crystal nectar that seemed as though he could pick it out with chopsticks.


    Fang Yuan finished it and praised, \"Hmm¡­ Quite tasty!\"


    This nectar wine was similar to the Frozen Flame Demon Fruit that Demon Master Li Gou had brought out for him. They provided elemental force, the effect of which was more than a few dozen Demon Spirit Worms combined.


    The method of making it was slightly cruel. One of the essential steps was using Demon Spirits as fertilizers.


    \"It''s quite a bit of a hassle to get through the desert and reach the Original Sin Demon Territory. After all, this desert is famous for being dangerous in the Mental Demon Realm.\"


    Yes, Fang Yuan''s destination in the Mental Demon Realm was the lair of the Abominable Lord, the Original Sin Demon Territory!


    It might be a little dangerous, but nothing came without risk.


    He had to go there if he wanted to fight the Abominable Lord.


    Moreover, there might be other unexpected effects.


    \"It''s better to buy some tools to get through that perilous land to preserve energy¡­ I heard there''s a three-hump demon camel¡­\"


    Fang Yuan gazed out of the window, lost in thought.


    Kaboom!


    The sky changed. The beautiful day clouded as silver snakes danced around.


    A huge vortex emerged, forming a funnel, and an innumerable amount of lightning poured into it.


    A powerful and expansive aura emerged, changing the expressions of those watching it.


    \"What''s¡­ happening?\"


    Fang Yuan activated his Heavenly Eye Seer Spell. He could see the funnel and traces of the Dao Marks cracking open to show scenes of fish and insects in rivers and mountains, farmers plowing their land, scholars studying¡­ Things that were not in sync with this world.


    \"Realm breaking¡­ did something happen?\"


    The Mental Demon Demon Gods loved to plunder other worlds. Of course, they were unlikely to join forces because of various reasons, and there was nothing like coordination or a unified statement.


    It was already something unimaginable for Demon God Myriad Thunder''s group to force their way into the Spiritual Realm together.


    \"Almost no world would be able to resist if all of the Demon Gods united. But a single Demon God could suffer a reversal and possibly even die¡­\" Fang Yuan muttered. \"Sacred Lord Fresh Flowers is already at Netherheaven. If she suffered a defeat¡­\"


    Of course, it was rare for Demons to think about consequences.


    All the low-level Demons fled into shelters as soon as the sky changed.


    \"Demons!


    \"Demon Realm!


    \"You attacked my world and killed my people! I swear to avenge this hatred!\"


    ¡­


    A moment later, the black vortex expanded, and a world came into sight.


    A figure walked out from that world.


    He had a neat appearance, wore a blue shirt and a scarf, and held a scroll in hand, possessing a great Confucian temperament.


    \"In the world there is the spirit of righteousness, taking many forms¡­ Please grant me the world''s help!\"


    At that moment, a white light suddenly fell through.


    \"Righteousness blessed by a world?\"


    Fang Yuan''s expression changed.


    The next moment, this white light engulfed the entire Holy City of Fresh Flowers.


    \"Ah! Ah!\"


    \"Save us!\"


    Those Demons with insufficient cultivation screamed and turned into ashes under this vast righteousness.


    Even Demon Masters were in a poor state. They knelt on the ground with black smoke emitting from their bodies from time to time.


    \"How dare you!\"


    A furious voice came from the overlord''s mansion. The white light dissipated, but the Holy City had already suffered heavy damage.


    \"It''s impossible for anyone below Demon Master to survive this white light. Even Demon Masters must be seriously injured¡­\"


    Fang Yuan shook his head as he sighed.


    Obviously, an accident had happened in the world invaded by the Netherheaven Scared Lord. Not only that, but it even made the other party angry and follow the way back, ready to launch a counterattack against the Mental Demon Realm!


    However, this was the other party poking a hornet''s nest!


    Attacking the other world was only Scared Lord Fresh Flowers''s matter. However, there was more than one Demon God like Fang Yuan in this city!


    \"What audacity!\"


    \"You actually want to attack the Mental Demon Realm?\"


    \"Hehe¡­ Here for your death!\"


    The next moment, many powerful auras rose. Every one of them was a Demon God!


    An overwhelming number of black palms rushed at the sky and grabbed at that illusionary thundercloud.


    Even Fang Yuan went.


    This was not joining forces against a common enemy, but fishing for benefits!


    At least, the coordinates of that world would not be able to run.


    \"Why¡­ are there so many?\"


    That great Confucian was also dumbfounded.


    They had spent tremendous effort to finally expel Scared Lord Fresh Flowers and were preparing to annihilate the enemy thoroughly. But expectedly, there were so many Demon Gods in this world!


    Moreover, once he was in the Mental Demon Realm, the world''s terrible suppression immediately came.


    Mental Demon elemental force everywhere surged, ready to pollute the intrinsic quality of the other world.


    \"Be still, demons!\"


    That Confucian scholar used his finger as a pen and wrote golden words in the air.


    These were nomological characters. Anyone seeing it knew what it meant¡ªFixate!


    Buzz buzz!


    Suddenly, the Void Amalgamation and Myriad Transformation Demon Gods stopped in midair.


    \"You''re bullying the people of my Mental Demon Realm!\"


    But in this stagnation, a huge purple hand with black runes broke through the restriction and attempted to enter the other party''s world.


    Kaboom!


    The thunder spread and danced. The huge hand weaved its way through, occasionally striking the other world like the wrath of heaven, bringing deep suffering.


    \"So there was a hidden Netherheaven Demon God!\"


    Seeing this, Fang Yuan gave up the idea of attacking and chose to keep a low profile. A trace of black lines appeared in the illusionary world and picked a plum blossom.


    \"I can visit it in the future with the world coordinates¡­ The strongest person in that world is comparable to Netherheaven and could even make Sacred Lord Fresh Flowers drawback without any success. They must be pretty powerful!\"


    Fang Yuan sighed, and his eyes glowed.


    \"The demons are powerful. I have the mind to kill evil, but I lack the strength!\"


    The Confucian scholar sighed and frowned as he got ready to return.


    But something happened in the next moment!

 1001 Invitation

    \"You''ll pay for destroying my Holy City and killing my people!\" Sacred Lord Fresh Flowers''s magnificent voice boomed toward the sky.


    At the same time, golden flowers bloomed in the sky, gorgeous and bright.


    Under the shine of these golden flowers, the dark clouds dispersed, and the vortex disappeared. The illusionary world was quickly dissipating as well.


    \"Realm channel, seal!\"


    Heavenly flowers filled that world''s gate of light, thoroughly sealing it.


    \"Sun Shengru! You will die here today!\" Sacred Lord Fresh Flowers shouted.


    From the center of the city, giant vines broke out of the ground and shot into the sky like pillars. A huge flower bloomed on top of each.


    It was as though a celestial fairy was scattering flowers. Every pink petal had amazing powers that sealed the sky and blocked the earth.


    Finally, Sun Shengru could not hold on any longer, and a petal fell onto his back.


    Poof!


    Drops of purple-gold blood floated in the air.


    \"Ha! Righteousness endures forever!\"


    Sun Shengru''s mouth sprayed blood, but his entire being turned into a rainbow and disappeared.


    \"Pass my order. Lockdown the Holy City and disable all teleportation arrays. I want to see where he can hide¡­ Demon Masters, he has already been severely wounded by me, so why aren''t you giving chase?\" Sacred Lord Fresh Flowers roared.


    \"Understood!\"


    The Demon Masters who were lucky to be still alive could only grit their teeth and give chase in the direction of the rainbow.


    \"That Sun Shengru is done for!\"


    Seeing this, Fang Yuan closed his eyes.


    The other party had amazing powers, and under the blessing of his world, he does not lose to Netherheaven. However, the suppression in the Mental Demon Realm was simply too horrible.


    Otherwise, it was unlikely that he would not have been a match for only Sacred Lord Fresh Flowers.


    Moreover, Mental Demon elemental force was different from the elemental forces of other worlds. There was no chance of recovery.


    Coupled with other dangers, that Sun Shengru would probably fall in the Mental Demon Realm!


    After the Demon Masters gave chase, Sacred Lord Fresh Flowers came over to appease the Demon Gods. \"Once we capture Sun Shengru, the teleportation arrays and the Holy City will reopen. Please rest assured!\"


    \"Haha¡­ No need to stand on ceremony, Sacred Lord.\"


    \"Since outsiders invaded, we should face the common enemy¡­\"


    The other Demon Gods responded one after another. Some of the more impatient ones even chased after the light, wanting to see if there was anything they could gain.


    \"This gentleman¡­ may I know your name?\"


    A spiritual will swept through and found the expressionless Fang Yuan.


    There was no way around it. Those surviving in the Holy City after the righteous cleansing either had special protection or cultivation above Demon Master.


    The strong ones were all exposed.


    Fang Yuan''s unfamiliar face immediately attracted attention, not to mention that he had taken the world coordinates earlier. Although his method was covert, Sacred Lord Fresh Flowers was the master of the land and could still feel it.


    \"My name is Li Hun! I''m just passing by¡­\" He gave an alias without any change in expression. \"Greetings to Sacred Lord Fresh Flowers!\"


    \"I was negligent as a host. I''ll be hosting a banquet in my mansion now, and I hope you will attend.\" Sacred Lord Fresh Flowers''s voice became gentler than before.


    \"It would be my pleasure!\" Fang Yuan smiled, walked out of the empty restaurant, and came onto the streets.


    A thick layer of ash had accumulated on the ground, sending creeps down anyone''s spine.


    After all, the streets were full of Demons not long ago.


    Such was the cruelty of the Mental Demon Realm!


    But since they plundered other worlds, they had to be prepared for retaliation at any time!


    Fang Yuan was silent as he followed the spiritual will''s guidance and arrived at a mansion in the middle of the city


    There, a few Demon Gods had already gathered. They frowned when they saw Fang Yuan, casting questions with their eyes.


    \"Hmph!\" Fang Yuan snorted and secretly uttered the Heaven Extermination Truth.


    The spiritual will around him dissipated, and the other Demon Gods were taken back in surprise, evidently receiving a small loss. \"Netherheaven? No¡­ it seems to be some secret technique!\"


    A purple-haired old man stared at Fang Yuan, his dark eyes containing a bit of interest.


    Fang Yuan knew that he was the only Netherheaven Demon God here other than Sacred Lord Fresh Flowers.


    \"Thank you all for coming from afar. I can only meet in person after I stop my power, so I apologize for my rudeness. Everyone, please come in and enjoy the banquet!\" Sacred Lord Fresh Flowers''s voice came.


    \"Hehe¡­ We were just helping out. Moreover, we all have some gains¡­\"


    The purple-haired old man smiled and took the lead with his hands behind his back. The other Demon Gods followed behind.


    This mansion was structured exquisitely, as though weaved with huge vines, and numerous small flowers bloomed on the sides of the path.


    Fang Yuan raised his head and saw that enormous plant from before slowly retracting and shrinking into the building.


    Not long after, a gorgeous woman in a sacred flower robe walked out, swaying with an unspeakable charm. \"Thank you all for your help!\"


    \"It''s not worth mentioning!\"


    Sacred Lord Fresh Flowers was a Netherheaven Demon God, so how could those in the Void Amalgamation and Myriad Transformations realms dare to be arrogant?


    \"It was fate for us to fight against a strong enemy today. We must have a drink together!\"


    Sacred Lord Fresh Flowers came to the main seat of the banquet and waved her hand slightly. Vines started spreading, forming tables and chairs.


    After everyone was seated, flowers bloomed fully, fruits produced automatically, and glasses of nectar wines emerged, dazzling everyone.


    It was a full-fledged flower feast as far as anyone was concerned. Everything was self-sufficient.


    \"Hmm? Not bad!\"


    Fang Yuan took a sip of the nectar wine. It was worlds apart from ordinary stores. As expected of a Demon God.


    \"Good stuff. These fruits and fine wine seem to have an enhancing effect on the divine spirit. It might be weak to Demon Gods, but the accumulation over time is no small matter.\"


    The eyes of the other Demon Gods lit up as well.


    \"This wine is known as Thousand Flower Brew. Please have more. You''ll be able to increase your chances of success when you form Great Daos relating to water and wood in the future!\"


    Sacred Lord Fresh Flowers smiled. The actions of the other Demon Gods accelerated upon hearing this piece of information.


    Fang Yuan snickered in his heart.


    It seemed that even Demon Gods could not escape from emotions and desires.


    With this thought, his heart turned solemn.


    Emotions and desires could not escape the range of the Dao of Dream Master. The Abominable Lord dared to call his territory the Original Sin Demon Territory, which meant that his control over the power of emotions exceeded his own.


    \"The beginnings might be the Dao of Dream Master Dao, but I use the power of creation, while the Abominable Lord uses the power of emotions. Just like the different fruits on a vine, we need each other to reach the peak!\"


    ¡­


    \"Thank you, Sacred Lord Fresh Flowers!\"


    While Fang Yuan was lost in thought, the rest of the Demon Gods were not polite and gobbled up everything before finally thanking Sacred Lord Fresh Flowers together. \"Sacred Lord, don''t worry. We''re part of the Mental Demon Realm and will naturally work together. That Sun Shengru won''t be able to run away!\"


    \"This person might be powerful, but since he''s entered the Mental Demon Realm, he''s as good as dead!\" Sacred Lord Fresh Flowers looked indifferent. \"I invited all of you here today for a banquet and also to discuss something! It isn''t about Sun Shengru, but it is of great benefit to you!\"


    \"Oh? What benefit?\" the purple-haired old man asked playfully.


    \"This must be Sacred Lord Purple Crow? I''ve long heard about you¡­\" Sacred Lord Fresh Flowers smiled. \"How does Your Excellency feel about the world just now?\"


    \"It has rich energy, and the nomological rules are strange¡­ It is actually based on the cultivation of righteousness!\"


    Sacred Lord Purple Crow stroked his beard. \"Hmm¡­ The soul power in those people is rather high as well¡­ Sacred Lord Fresh Flowers, did you open a realm channel there so that you could occupy it and harvest the power of the souls?\"


    It was natural for people of their level to know that the most common and inconspicuous Demon Spirits were the true foundation of the Mental Demon Realm.


    Whenever they encountered new worlds, these Demon Gods were not willing to let them go, and they would almost always harvest them.


    Implanting the plundered soul power in the nearby area would greatly increase the number of Demon Spirits, which was of great benefit to the Mental Demon Realm.


    They might even obtain a reward from the Mental Demon Realm if it could devour the new world they encountered.


    \"That''s right!\" Sacred Lord Fresh Flowers nodded. \"I named this world the World of Confucian. This world is very powerful, and its nomological rules are strange. To be honest, two of my subordinate Demon Gods died there. It was my mistake to let that Sun Shengru into our Mental Demon Realm!


    \"However, it''s impossible for another such guardian to be born within such a short period of time, and I also damaged the Heavenly Dao of that world last time¡­ Therefore, I would like to ask everyone here to cross over to that world and plunder as much as you can. It would be best to ruin that world so that the Mental Demon Realm can devour that world!\"


    \"What?\" Even Fang Yuan was surprised. Sacred Lord Fresh Flowers was really going all out. \"But¡­ it''s not without risk, right?\"


    \"With so many Demon Gods, it''s enough even if that world suppresses us to more than fifty percent of our usual strength.\"


    The Sacred Lord Fresh Flowers did not hide anything.


    In fact, even without her invitation, these shameless Demon Gods would have gone on their own with their secretly obtained coordinates.


    Why not cooperate since that was the case.


    \"Good!\" Sacred Lord Purple Crow smiled. \"Give me the details. I''ll do it if there isn''t too much risk!\"


    \"Me too!\"


    \"Me too!\"


    ¡­


    The reactions of the other Demon Gods were more enthusiastic.


    After all, why not rejoice when someone was down on their luck?


    \"What about you, Mister Li Hun?\" Sacred Lord Fresh Flowers nodded with a smile and put her focus on Fang Yuan.

 1002 Invasion

    \"I will naturally advance with everyone!\"


    After seeing the gazes of Sacred Lord Purple Crow and Sacred Lord Fresh Flowers, Fang Yuan shuddered in his heart.


    He knew that he did not manage to deceive the eyes of these two Netherheavens.


    Moreover, he would attract too much attention if his opinion was from the others.


    \"Great! We shouldn''t delay further. Let''s start now!\"


    Sacred Lord Fresh Flowers was a decisive person and would not suffer a loss easily. She was going to take revenge immediately.


    Even Fang Yuan could not help praising her in his heart. Her timing was rather good.


    First of all, Sun Shengru escaped with serious injuries, and it would be impossible for that world to have a second guardian in such a short period of time.


    Moreover, the vitality of the World of Confucian was greatly damaged now. It was absolutely the best time to go!


    Since Sacred Lord Fresh Flowers is willing to give up most of the power of souls in that world, it seems like she''s truly determined to have it devoured!


    \"Wait!\" A Demon God suddenly shouted as the Demon Gods reached the gate. \"After opening the seal, is Sacred Lord not afraid that Sun Shengru will take this opportunity to escape back to the World of Confucian?\"


    \"Hehe¡­ If Sun Shengru can escape under the watchful eyes of so many Demon Gods, then that is his ability!\"


    Sacred Lord Fresh Flowers said arrogantly, \"I''ll personally guard this gate!\"


    \"In that case, I have nothing else to say!\"


    The other Demon Gods exchanged gleeful glances, exploded into various energies, and rushed through the gate.


    This is the standard way for a Demon God to descend. Open a channel and enter with their true body. Much more dangerous than Dream Master techniques! Fang Yuan thought in his heart as he chuckled and followed.


    ¡­


    Poof!


    A strange space passage appeared after crossing the gate.


    This was a secret method that twisted the endless distance in the chaos like a wormhole to connect directly to the World of Confucian.


    After walking through the passage, a strange world appeared before Fang Yuan''s eyes.


    The entire world seemed to be enveloped by a layer of white light that exuded a weak feeling at this time.


    \"It was first plundered fiercely before losing its guardian. There was also the destruction the Sacred Lord Fresh Flowers caused. Now, it finally has to face the attacks of many Demon Gods¡­ This world is as good as dead!


    \"Keke¡­\" Sacred Lord Purple Crow laughed. Taking the lead, he transformed into a weird purple bird and utterly destroyed the membrane of the World of Confucian with a flutter.


    The other Demon Gods followed closely behind with all kinds of powerful auras!


    ¡­


    Outside a town.


    The original beautiful scenery was no longer what it was.


    Fires were everywhere, the ground cracked open, and even the well water became muddy.


    This was the result of a series of natural and man-made disasters.


    \"Quick! Stop it!\"


    \"It''s the last demon! It can''t run!\"


    A few determined guards cooperated with tacit understanding and forced a Demon Spirit to a dead end. \"Hurry up and invite the Confucian scholar!\"


    Martial arts could only be considered ordinary in this world, but there was a magical power known as Righteousness, which could also be called the Righteous Qi of Heaven and Earth. It was a direct manifestation of the power of heaven and earth.


    Humans were the supreme beings. If they could open the light of wisdom in their heart, they could cultivate Righteousness and use it for their own purposes.


    These types of people were known as Confucian scholars, and they were the top class of people in this world.


    Confucian scholars were divided into Confucian Students, Confucians, Confucian Teachers, Grandmasters, and Confucian Saints.


    Even the lowest-ranking Confucian Students could activate their Righteousness and perform all kinds of incredible feats. The legendary Confucian Saints even had the power to change the world!


    This time, when the Mental Demons had invaded the World of Confucian, all of the Confucian scholars had united together under the leadership of Sun Shengru. Finally, they took advantage of a certain opportunity to hold the Grand Festival of Heaven and Earth to destroy two great demons, ending the disaster.


    At this point, it was nothing more than cleanup.


    Even so, each team had a Confucian student at the very least.


    \"Roar!\"


    The demon looked like a black dog larger than a calf, and it had a mouthful of sharp fangs.


    It lunged forward in an aggressive attack as soon as the guards spoke.


    Swoosh!


    Light flashed, and three black moon arcs glided across.


    Pupu!


    Even with their armor, the first few guards split into pieces. Blood and organs sprayed out.


    \"Don''t risk it!\" a guard shouted. \"Flying Geese Formation!\"


    Although they might not be Confucian scholars, they had trained their martial arts to the highest level. Their armor was also enhanced with the Qi of Righteousness, attracting the greatest amount of the Demon Spirit''s firepower, and could hold out for a period of time.


    Even so, it was still dangerous.


    Bang!


    After another collision, their weapons shattered, and desperation appeared in their eyes.


    \"It really¡­ is a demon!\" At that moment, a young voice came. \"There is righteousness in heaven and earth, and it is awe-inspiring!\"


    Buzz!


    Suddenly, a layer of white light appeared on the armor of the guards. The light was almost substantial.


    \"Ha! Seven Slaughter Array!\"


    He burst out, drew a long blade, and flew forward with six other armored guards. \"Kill!\"


    \"Roar!\"


    The demon dog pounced as well, but this time, the white light blocked its sharp claws and teeth. Several steel blades slid into its body without hesitation.


    \"Back!\"


    The team moved back but still guarded against the giant hound lying in front of them.


    The fresh wound on the demon dog had no blood oozing out. Instead, it had a trace of black gas with a weird smell floating out.


    \"The vitality of the demons is extremely strong, and it is difficult to destroy them completely. They also often have the ability to possess things¡­ They will attach themselves to the people around them if we kill them directly. This was the painful lessons we learned previously!\"


    A seemingly talented young man in a blue shirt came forward. \"Only Righteousness can completely destroy it!\"


    He held an ancient scroll in hand and flicked his sleeve up gently. A white light containing impressive Righteousness appeared.


    The black demon dog screamed under the white light. Its body was shrinking while the black gas dissipated.


    In the end, there was no trace left except for a dark shadow on the ground.


    \"All right. After this demon dog, all the Demon Spirits in this area should have been wiped out!\"


    The leader sighed and bowed toward the Confucian scholar. \"Thank you for saving us!\"


    \"No problem. We have the duty to help too!\" The young Confucian scholar smiled with the temperament of a gentleman.


    In this world, Confucian scholars were the noblest professions. They were truly the best. They were widely respected as long as they were scholars. Once they passed the exams to become formal Confucian scholars, their status would be extraordinary, and they would have many privileges.


    Those Confucian scholars upheld the Sage''s words and deeds. They were noble gentlemen, and their morality was widely praised.


    \"The demons won''t be able to lay a finger on my world as long as righteousness persists!\"


    The Confucian scholar looked firm.


    However, a terrible shock came before the guards showed any expressions.


    Everyone swayed unsteadily in the severe earthquake. The sky dimmed as though the end of the world was coming.


    \"This is¡­\" The young Confucian scholar raised his head and looked up at the sky. \"The Tengu eats the sun. A great ominous sign! Hasn''t my world suffered enough, Heavens?\"


    Unfortunately, the will of all the Demon Gods would not change because of him.


    All the Grandmasters of the World of Confucian looked up in that instant. Some even vomited blood.


    \"The Heavens want us to perish!\"


    \"The Confucian Saint has yet to return from his battle, but there''s another wave of demons invading!\"


    \"Hold on! We have to hold on until the Confucian Saint returns!\"


    ¡­


    In a certain academy, a few old men with white hair and child-like faces gathered, looking dignified. \"Even if we exhaust our cultivation, we can not let a second wave of demons appear!\"


    Rumble!


    White pillars of light rose straight to the sky and actually raised the black cloud covering the city by a meter!


    No ordinary Grandmaster could do this. It had to take a half-Saint!


    Whoosh!


    Countless lightning emerged, forming a portal in the black cloud.


    Numerous bulges appeared, as though various beings were striking from behind.


    With each impact, the black cloud lowered, causing the Confucian Teachers'' and Grandmasters'' faces to lose color.


    \"Impossible¡­ This seal was personally strengthened by the Confucian Saint himself before he left, and it has our support¡­ Our Righteousness can draw upon the power of heaven and earth. This is a seal on the world, so how can it crumble this way?\"


    The Grandmasters and half-Saints could not believe it.


    The invasion last time was totally unexpected. Countless Demons had poured in once the channel opened, and it was too late when the Confucian scholars had reacted.


    This time, however, the opponent rushed in along the channel to break the seal forcibly. The difficulty was incomparable.


    \"Let''s do it! Emerald Blood Heart Pill!\"


    A half-Saint thumped his own chest and spat out aquamarine blood. He then submerged into white pillars.


    \"Everyone must die, but let me leave a loyal heart shining in the pages of history!\"


    The other half-Saints followed suit. At that moment, the Righteous Qi of Heaven and Earth slowly pushed the black cloud back a bit.


    Chirp chirp!


    A strange cry came just then.


    The sealed realm gate seemed to have encountered a terrifying impact, and the white chains above it disintegrated.


    The next moment, a huge, strange bird rushed out with a hint of excitement in its eyes while flapping its wings.


    Whoosh whoosh!


    Black wind howled, and countless saber light fell.


    The entire academy died out instantly. Several Grandmasters turned into minced meat at the same time.

 1003 Black-Hearted Demon

    Kaboom!


    The seal shattered, and the world trembled.


    With a might capable of extinguishing the world, numerous meteor smashed all over the continent.


    Sacred Lord Purple Crow did not hesitate at all to choose the direction of several academies with half-Saints.


    In merely a few moments, everything within hundreds of kilometers pulverized.


    \"The power of suppression in this world is a little strong.\" Sacred Lord Purple Crow fell onto the ground that was flushed with red magma and frowned slightly. \"Fortunately, it was already severely damaged. Ha! Dark Heavenly Dao!\"


    In that instant, the Heavenly Dao''s nomological rules within tens of thousands of kilometers changed.


    Weird purple birds emerged from the bushes, fishes, insects, birds, and even from the corpses on the ground, instantly becoming a troop of thousands that began spreading.


    \"Hehe¡­ This old man isn''t a Demon God that specializes in group destruction after all. These derived demons don''t have strong combat power either¡­ I wonder what that Li Hun can do?\" Sacred Lord Purple Crow had his hands behind his back and pondered with a smile. \"He might have concealed his aura, but it''s impossible not to see that he was a Netherheaven nonetheless!


    \"This time, we two Netherheavens came to wipe out this world. There''s also another Netherheaven outside. It won''t escape its fate!\"


    ¡­


    \"The power of the natural source in some strange worlds should be rather powerful¡­\"


    Fang Yuan, who Sacred Lord Purple Crow was thinking about, had also turned into a meteor and landed somewhere.


    His body slowly rose out of the crater, and his magical energy seeped out. \"As expected, the suppression is strong. Even if I immediately release my Great Dao and obtain the jurisdiction of a Creator in the surroundings, I can only restore to around fifty to sixty percent of my peak!\"


    This was the initial number. If he were to stay in this world for a longer period of time, he might be able to recover to ninety percent.


    This was the horror of a Netherheaven Demon God!


    They could adapt to any world given enough time.


    Fang Yuan pursed his lips and thought casually. \"The other Demon Gods should be worse off than me. However, they should be able to do quite a few things with their true body!\"


    The cultivation of Dao by this world''s Confucian scholars could not be regarded as strong. The Grandmasters earlier were about the level of Demon Generals.


    With the Righteous Qi of Heaven and Earth, their strength was comparable to that of Demon Masters.


    That Sun Shengru was the convergence of this world''s Qi of Righteousness. He could only temporarily resist a Netherheaven Demon God because of this blessing.


    \"Strictly speaking, a Demon God can easily destroy this world with its current foundation.\"


    Fang Yuan had no use for the power of this world''s souls. It was hard to say if he was even interested in this world''s natural source.


    Sacred Lord Fresh Flowers wanted the power of its souls only to increase the birth of Demon Spirits.


    At best, having the Mental Demon Realm devour the World of Confucian and become more powerful.


    \"Of course¡­ if the devouring is successful, the Mental Demon Realm will reward Sacred Lord Fresh Flowers, which is much better than simply devouring the World of Confucian''s natural source. In any case, it isn''t easy even for a Netherheaven Demon God to refine a high-dimension world!


    \"However¡­ the direction this world moved in is a little particular, as though¡­ it has been influenced by that civilization!\"


    Fang Yuan had been in hot pursuit of the advanced Huaxia civilization world, hoping to obtain some information about Earth, where he originally lived.


    He found some clues in this World of Confucian.


    Be it the unique Righteousness nomological power or the local customs, it was clear there were traces of that Huaxia civilization affecting this place.


    \"It can actually affect such a high-level world. That Huaxia civilization world should at least be at the same level as the Mental Demon Realm¡­ Is this possible? Is there a large world comparable to the Mental Demon Realm in this universe?\"


    ¡­


    Just as Fang Yuan was pondering¡­


    Numerous figures with the Righteous Qi of Heaven and Earth arrived in front of him.


    \"Demon¡­ we will seal you even if it means we die!\"


    The one in charge was a middle-aged man with an elegant bearing. He must have swept away thousands of girls when he was younger. He was full of grief and indignation as he glared at Fang Yuan.


    Obviously, even the most optimistic Grandmasters did not think that they could eliminate Fang Yuan and the other demons without Sun Shengru presiding over the Grand Festival of Heaven and Earth. They only wanted to seal them.


    \"Oh? Really?\" Fang Yuan stood tall with his hands behind his back. \"So¡­ how are you going to seal me?\"


    \"I, Wang Qiankun, the president of the Qiankun Academy, would like to seek the help of the academy-guarding magic artifact!\" Wang Qiankun said softly.


    A white jade-like city emerged behind him with determined Confucian scholars on it. Some of them were just teenagers.


    \"The White Jade Capital in the sky, the fifth city on the twelfth floor!\"


    \"Thousand Worship Array!\"


    Two loud voices sounded.


    The city flew up, landed above Fang Yuan''s head, and started expanding continuously.


    \"Don''t be fooled by his appearance. He''s just a demon!\"


    \"Seal!\"


    The White Jade Capital was evidently a flying and space magic artifact to better protect the Confucian students inside.


    They were all sitting cross-legged, silently reciting sage verses.


    Some disciples were curious and impatient, but they were immediately suppressed by the teachers.


    Righteousness shot up into the sky, arousing the Qi of heaven and earth and turning it into a powerful force.


    Swoosh!


    Pure white chains appeared, entangling Fang Yuan''s whole body.


    Upon close inspection, the chains were made of extremely subtle Chinese characters, and the sound of constant chanting resounded.


    \"So easy?\"


    The ease astonished Wang Qiankun.


    \"Not a bad move¡­\" Fang Yuan praised. For the Demon Gods who had just descended, even if they broke free of the chains, it would inevitably consume a lot of energy.


    \"Hmph, the demon sure can talk big!\" Beside Wang Qiankun, several Grandmasters snorted. \"President, let''s destroy this demon to let the world know that our Qiankun Academy isn''t worse than Sage Confucian Academy!\"


    \"No¡­ Retreat quickly!\" Wang Qiankun cried out as his expression changed abruptly.


    \"Unfortunately, it''s too late!\" Fang Yuan shook his head. Below his body, something seemed to extend.


    Crack! Crack!


    The chains around him shattered.


    Roar! Roar!


    Behind him, an indomitable giant wearing dragon armor appeared, with Earth, Fire, Wind, and Water surrounding it. It roared and grabbed at the White Jade Capitalt in the air.


    Bang!


    With merely a swipe, the academy-guarding treasure of Qiankun Academy sent out overwhelming sorrow and began to disintegrate.


    Countless Confucian students screamed and fell from the air.


    \"Terrible. Is this the power of a demon? I thought they would be the safest in the academy-guarding treasure and called upon it to display the array¡­\"


    The eyes of Wang Qiankun and several great Confucians were red.


    After all, they were most of the elites of Qiankun Academy.


    The explosion of this magic artifact and the fall would kill at least half of them!


    \"Their bodies are unexpectedly this frail?\" Fang Yuan''s eyes flashed and grabbed one of them. \"Hmm¡­ the power of your blood isn''t strong¡­ It seems like even after cultivating Righteousness to higher levels, it is still difficult to strengthen their bodies¡­


    \"Your name¡­ is Huo Qingtian?\"


    He looked at the Confucian scholar in his palm, and after doing a soul search on him, he asked wickedly, \"Do you want to die or live?\"


    Many Righteousness attacks had fallen on him as he questioned.


    Unfortunately, the illusionary giant expanded and enveloped Fang Yuan within, negating all kinds of powers, even Wang Qiankun''s Qi of Righteousness.


    \"I''m a scholar who would rather die than surrender!\" Huo Qingtian squeezed a few words out of his lips.


    \"Really?\" The corner of Fang Yuan''s mouth slightly arched as though he thought of something amusing. \"I hope you''ll be able to say this later!\"


    \"What do you want to do? Release him!\"


    Wang Qiankun and the other scholars became more urgent and even activated their secret method: \"Green Sky Green Blood!\"


    Poof!


    They spat out blood mists, dipped their brushes in it, and wrote large characters in the air. Dragons and phoenixes danced with anger, burning mountains and rivers.


    \"Hehe¡­ I have to say you people are worthy of admiration, but unfortunately, this is hitting a rock with an egg!\"


    Fang Yuan pressed his left hand on Huo Qingtian''s head. \"Who dreams of big dreams, past through life in the world of dreams, activate reincarnation!\"


    He looked at Wang Qiankun and wrote a singular rune in the air with his right hand. \"Heaven Extermination Truth!\"


    Bang! Bang!


    Strange words emerged, ruthless and overbearing. Any heaven and earth Qi of Righteousness instantly disappeared.


    Several characters combined and smashed toward the floating words of the Sage.


    Poof!


    The expected horror did not arrive.


    Every last one of the blood-red words dissipated under the Heaven Extermination Truth.


    \"The Confucian Righteousness is just to draw upon this world''s power, which is the Righteous Qi of Heaven and Earth¡­ However¡­ my Heaven Extermination Truth can even destroy the nomological rules of a Heavenly Dao. What is a mere Righteous Qi of Heaven and Earth?\"


    Fang Yuan was not the least bit surprised.


    \"Ah! Ah!\"


    At this moment, the Huo Qingtian who had endured thousands of simulated reincarnations through the Dream Master technique came to his senses. Although his appearance might not have changed, his temperament contained extreme vicissitudes.


    \"What is good? What is evil?


    \"I''ve read all of the Sage''s books. Why does the Heavens still treat me so?


    \"What am I seeking¡­\"


    ¡­


    His eyes turned red, and like knives, his hands dug his chest open.


    Thump! Thump!


    There was originally a red heart with a righteous aura, but the next moment, a dark ink-like color spread. This atmosphere changed even Wang Qiankun''s expression.


    \"Turning from good to evil. Henceforth, you are the first black-hearted demon of this world!\"

 1004 Sweep

    \"Ah¡­ What have you done to my student?\"


    Wang Qiankun and the others were so enraged their eyes seemed to pop out.


    The feeling from this black-hearted demon was very different from the previous Demon Spirits they had encountered.


    It seemed like it could even use the power of the Righteous Qi of Heaven and Earth, which was terrifying!


    \"Nothing much. It was only a test. It''s a pity that he didn''t pass!\" Fang Yuan said regretfully.


    Just now, he had used Dream Master techniques to make Huo Qingtian experience thousands of reincarnations and taste the pain of life and death, love, hatred, hunger, and so on. It could also be considered an alternative refinement of the heart.


    He could have become a Bodhi, and nothing would have been able to deter him. In the future, he would have definitely become a great Confucian in the future, perhaps even a Confucian Saint.


    Obviously, Huo Qingtian''s mentality was not strong enough to overcome it, and he was tortured into madness by those dreams.


    But this insane black-hearted demon was of value as well.


    Fang Yuan released Huo Qingtian, whose eyes were sparkling weirdly. \"Sure enough¡­ power is power¡­ There is no good or evil!\"


    According to the nomological rules of this world, only the scholars could condense their Qi of Righteousness and use the Righteous Qi of Heaven and Earth as their own power.


    However, after research, he realized that there were Yin and Yang in everything. Since Confucian scholars could use the Righteous Qi of Heaven and Earth, what if these scholars with a broken heart took the initiative to turn toward darkness? Then they would be drawing upon the Demonic Qi of Heaven and Earth!


    The Demonic Qi of Heaven and Earth was just the other side of the coin of the Righteous Qi of Heaven and Earth. They were both manifestations of the power of the world!


    \"Haha¡­ Kill! Kill! Let everything turn to nothingness! Let the world return to its former purity!\"


    The black-hearted demon''s appearance was no different from other scholars except that his chest was open, revealing a pitch-black heart.


    At this time, he was roaring with laughter and vomiting words of the Sage.


    Black characters emerged in the midair, condensing terror onto his former classmates and teachers.


    \"What¡­ is this power?\"


    \"Huo Qingtian! Wake up!\"


    \"He is no longer our classmate but a contaminated demon. Kill him!\"


    ¡­


    Those lucky enough to be still alive made a commotion.


    Immediately, a few Qi of Righteousness transformed into weapons and fell on Huo Qingtian.


    The long swords condensed from the Qi of Righteousness would have been powerful against demons, but there was no effect on Huo Qingtian. Instead, they bounced off a layer of black light without causing any damage.


    \"This is¡­ protection from the Qi of Righteousness?\" The other Confucian scholars were dumbfounded. \"Why can a fallen demon still draw upon the power of heaven and earth?\"


    Compared to the others, Wang Qiankun and some of the more enlightened ones had some clues, but they would rather not have guessed it. \"Evil thing¡­ He wants to dig the seed of our foundation!\"


    Demons and Confucian scholars were originally incompatible.


    However, Fang Yuan had artificially created a differentiation in a Confucian student and spawned the black-hearted demon!


    This demon did not belong to the Mental Demon Realm, but transformed from a Confucian scholar!


    This provoked the beginning of a crack between the Confucian scholars. This method of causing internal fighting was simply vicious.


    Even without the demon invasion, the appearance of a black-hearted demon would inevitably become a cancer of this world that was difficult to eliminate.


    Fang Yuan casually dropped a trick and brought Wang Qiankun into a dilemma. This was the wisdom and bearing of the Demon God.


    \"Seal it at all cost!\"


    After a moment, the red-eyed Wang Qiankun went mad and ordered, \"Qiankun Academy, destroy the black-hearted demon immediately!\"


    \"Why bother?\"


    Fang Yuan sighed as a black and red mist emanated from his body.


    He might have specialized in the power of Dream Master Creation, but he also had similar foundations in the power of emotions. Not to mention, he had devoured the nomological rules of the Abominable Lord''s Seven Emotions and Six Desires Great Daos previously.


    Whoo! Whoo!


    A dense mist spread out and enveloped dozens of kilometers in an instant.


    Confucian scholars were shouting out at the beginning, but it soon became cries of suppressed pain.


    Poof!


    Fang Yuan snapped his fingers after some time. The black and red mist dissipated.


    Black-hearted demons stood in the field, yelling toward the sky.


    Wang Qiankun and a few of the more accomplished scholars were seriously injured and could hardly stand. Their hearts bled at this scene. \"Demon! We''ll fight you to the end!\"


    \"What can you fight me with? Your lives?\" Fang Yuan shook his head, teleported to Wang Qiankun, and pressed his right hand on top of his head. \"Bring me to your academy now!\"


    Wang Qiankun''s eyes were dull as he muttered, \"Understood!\"


    Just when Fang Yuan was about to move, the cloudy sky finally roared and thundered.


    \"The wrath of heaven?!\" A taunting smile played on his lips. \"Heaven Extermination Truth!\"


    Mysterious characters flew out, forming a composition facing the sky.


    A shocking scene happened.


    The lightning that contained the power of destruction disappeared without a trace once they were within ten meters of the words.


    \"I might need to worry about this world''s backlash if it was still in its heyday, but the World of Confucian has lost its guardian and was hit hard by Sacred Lord Fresh Flowers. It''d be a wonder if I dreaded it!\"


    Fang Yuan shook his head, flicked his sleeve, and immediately brought Wang Qiankun away to the academy.


    ¡­


    Qiankun Academy.


    It was also a well-known institution in the eastern part of the continent. Although it was not as good as Sage Confucian Academy, it was equally well-known.


    At this time, it seemed a bit deserted.


    During the first wave of demon attacks, all Confucian scholars who had completed studies were sent to battle and suffered heavy casualties.


    In the second wave, Wang Qiankun took away the White Jade Capital and all the teachers and students with cultivation.


    Now, it was almost empty in the academy.


    \"I''d dirty my hands if I were to kill the pathetic few that remain!\"


    Fang Yuan clapped. \"You, go and clean out this academy. Bring all the ancient books regarding foreign worlds out! Also, bring out any treasures!\"


    \"Understood!\"


    Wang Qiankun''s face was wooden, as though he had turned into a puppet, and he strode into the academy.


    A few cries came not long after.


    Wang Qiankun stepped out with a blood-stained wooden box in hand.


    Fang Yuan took it unceremoniously, looked at the bones, wood slips, and the like in it, and nodded slightly. \"As expected of a place that imparts extraordinary strength. It stored up quite a number of good things over the thousands of years.\"


    Most of them were methods to cultivate the Qi of Righteousness. Fang Yuan threw these away at once.


    The rest were strange records, which was the knowledge he was after.


    \"In ancient times, the appearance of an auspicious and mysterious bird brought six hundred years of¡­\"


    Suddenly, Fang Yuan found a record, causing his hand to shake. \"It''s true¡­ This world was also affected by that Huaxia civilization! What a pity¡­ there are no world coordinates!\"


    While he was feeling sorry, his stats window shook slightly, and Fang Yuan''s eyes entered into a strange comprehension.


    \"Haha¡­ Li Hun, you are really slow!\"


    Thump! Thump!


    Thump! Thump!


    Earthquake-like footsteps came, and a shadow-like mountain drew near.


    It was a black ape with a third eye between its brows and a bizarre pattern on its back.


    The ape lowered its head and looked at the Fang Yuan deep in thought. An ugly smile appeared on its ugly face as it suddenly lifted its foot.


    Rumble!


    It stomped down hard, and all of Qiankun Academy instantly turned into ruins.


    \"Hey¡­ Are you courting death?\"


    The sudden shock made Fang Yuan break away from his enlightenment, and he stared at it with his eyes narrowed.


    \"We are both Demon Gods. I''ve already wiped out my area, so I came here especially to help you¡­\" The great ape growled. Its eyes were silver now, perhaps because it had devoured too many souls.


    Fang Yuan sighed softly. A horrible aura suddenly exploded. \"Scram!\"


    The surrounding area trembled, and the sky changed.


    The aura of a Dark Heavenly Dao descended. \"A small Myriad Transformations dares to make noise in front of me!\"


    Splash!


    In the sky above, lightning converged into a dragon that pounced at the great ape.


    \"Ah¡­ You are Netherheaven realm Sacred Lord! Forgive me! Forgive me!\"


    The great ape screamed as it tried to flee.


    After all, this was Netherheaven!


    Once a Demon God entered Netherheaven, it was almost two completely different levels compared to Void Amalgamation and Myriad Transformations, thus the title of Sacred Lord.


    They were at the top of the food chain. A small Myriad Transformations Demon God was nothing to them.


    As such, this Demon God did not dare to clamor but chose to run away immediately.


    \"So¡­ I''ve obtained the coordinates to the Huaxia civilization?\"


    Fang Yuan caressed his chest, looking pensive.


    Chirp chirp!


    A strange purple bird flew past, and Sacred Lord Purple Crow''s voice came. \"Li Hun, your actions are really slower than mine¡­ Sacred Lord Fresh Flowers has notified us to destroy a few pillars of this world. Then she''ll coordinate with us from the outside to let the Mental Demon Realm devour this entire world. This''ll turn that Sun Shengru into a dog without a home. Hehe¡­\"


    There were definitely dependencies whenever a world was made.


    In other words, these were existences equivalent to pillars.


    The world would suffer a huge blow to its vitality if they were destroyed.


    Of course, it would make things even worse for the World of Confucian at this time.


    As long as they accomplished this, there would be no difficulty for the Mental Demon Realm to devour this world, and all the participating Demon Gods would inevitably obtain joy and rewards from the Mental Demon Realm.


    \"What pillars?\"


    \"This world runs on the Righteous Qi of Heaven and Earth. Its vitality stems from those scholars and the academies. Once we destroy this network, and the suppression disappears, the earth dragon will appear!\"


    Sacred Lord Purple Crow obviously understood this well. \"The end will be near once we destroy the earth dragon veins! However, only the two of us can do it!\"


    Netherheavens could change heaven and earth and had superb combat power. It was difficult for the other Demon Gods to recover to this point in such a short time.

 1005 Grand Festival of Heaven and Earth

    The World of Confucian was ablaze.


    A strange three-headed bird flapped its wings and spewed out flames, cold currents, and venomous poison, turning an army into corpses.


    Black smoke shrouded the city, hiding the sky and covering the earth.


    One-by-one, skeletons climbed out from the earth and killed everything within range.


    These corpses would stand up again after a while, becoming new zombies and joining the slaughter.


    The entire city transformed into a ghost city before long, containing no trace of the living.


    ¡­


    If you were to look at it from the sky, you would see that with the release of energy from that giant monster, many academies were destroyed all at once. The power of the human Confucian scholars was so fragile and vulnerable when the end came.


    A wisp of yellow Qi rose from the earth and slowly condensed. In accordance with the mountains and rivers, it flowed toward the earth veins to form a dragon vein!


    This dragon vein was very thick, with the mountains as its ridge, two claws out at sea, and two large lakes as its eyes. The dragon head was facing the country that was now a dead land.


    \"Good¡­ This is the aggregation of all the smaller dragon veins. Perhaps it should be called the¡­ Ancestor Dragon? Once it breaks, the land will really sink¡­\"


    Fang Yuan followed the weird purple bird to a spot.


    The terrain was shattered here, with deep criss-crossing ditches and trickling streams converging. It was obviously the starting point of a great river that ran east-to-west.


    It would be where the dragon tail was going by the structure of the dragon vein!


    \"Great¡­ I didn''t think this Dragon Searching Acupuncture Technique of yours was this good, Li Hun. You actually found the node in such a short time¡­\" The weird purple bird groomed its feather. \"Listen to my command later. We''ll do it together. I''ll lock down the dragon head while you nail down for the dragon tail. It''s as good as done once we suppress the dragon vein!\"


    \"¡­\" Fang Yuan did not reply and found a cave.


    Unlike other caves that were damp, the surrounding stone walls had a dry feeling to them.


    He went deep into it and saw a spring with water pouring forth.


    \"The dragon is where water is. The tail of the so-called Ancestor Dragon must be here!\"


    Fang Yuan''s smile broadened.


    \"All right. My true body has found the dragon head and the dragon eye, and it''s starting. Li Hun¡­ hurry¡­\" urged the weird purple bird.


    But the next moment, it was grabbed out of the air.


    \"What are you? Daring to order me around?\"


    Smack!


    Fang Yuan smiled, and his hand squeezed hard.


    That weird purple bird shattered into pieces after a soft noise.


    \"Much easier on my ears now¡­\"


    He let out a deep breath and stared at the spring in front of him.


    Kaboom!


    A huge earthquake suddenly rumbled, spreading far and wide.


    \"That purple bird must have started attacking the Ancestor Dragon!\" Fang Yuan showed a strange smile. \"Well¡­ I''ll help you. Water from the dragon vein!\"


    He used a Dharmic formulation to make the water undulate.


    Lighting struck, and the dragon roared.


    It was as though a giant dragon was struggling in the void.


    \"I can only do so much. The rest is up to you¡­\"


    Fang Yuan did feel a bit of affinity toward this world due to the familiarity, but he was not going to go against all the Demon Gods just for that.


    Therefore, he did not nail down the dragon tail but instead helped it to fly.


    This was enough to annoy Sacred Lord Purple Crow.


    Of course, something of this level was merely small trouble for a Netherheaven Demon God.


    However, this world might just escape the fate of being annihilated if it grabbed the chance.


    \"The key to this battle is Sun Shengru!\"


    Fang Yuan soared up into the sky and watched the earth dragon vein.


    Rumble!


    A constant vibration plagued the earth, like a dragon turning over.


    He could vaguely see the dragon veins of the world converging at the dragon head, ready to make a desperate blow.


    In that position, a beam of purple-black light carrying a strong grudge soared into the sky. \"Li Hun, you played me! Forget it¡­ I''ll first chop this Ancestor Dragon into pieces before settling the score with you!\"


    \"Hehe¡­\" Fang Yuan laughed coldly and did nothing.


    A turquoise dragon head emerged and started battling the purple bird.


    Their battle was turbulent, and the rest of the Demon Gods did not dare to get close.


    After all, the other Demon Gods were not at the Netherheaven realm, and they were all only relying on the might of their true body.


    Under the suppression, they could still die if there was real danger, so naturally no one dared to be careless.


    Besides, Demon Gods were a cunning lot. It was good enough for them not to pull each other''s legs. Why would they help out selflessly?


    Petals formed a human figure in the sky where the gate was. Sacred Lord Fresh Flowers chided in a strong tone, \"Li Hun, you better explain this to me!\"


    \"What''s there to explain? That purple crow is a pain in the ass, so what''s the big deal about creating some trouble for him!\" Fang Yuan admitted without hesitation.


    \"Damn it!\" Sacred Lord Fresh Flowers was speechless.


    The Demon Gods were an unruly and unrestrained bunch. Fang Yuan''s reason might be nonsense, but it was not unthinkable!


    She would have never thought that Fang Yuan might have some feelings toward this World of Confucian.


    She became even angrier. \"I don''t care what grudges you have with him, but you must give it up and help the Mental Demon Realm devour this world. Otherwise, I will immediately expel you from my Holy City of Fresh Flowers!\"


    \"Do you think I''m afraid of you, bitch!\" Fang Yuan was elated. He was hoping for an excuse to fight.


    \"N-not good, Sun Shengru!\" But at this moment, the expression on Sacred Lord Fresh Flowers''s incarnation changed. \"Help me seal the gate quickly. I don''t know what happened, but Sun Shengru broke through my seal and used a spell to trap my body. He''s about to return to the World of Confucian!\"


    \"What?!\"


    This was something unexpected.


    At that moment, a fierce Qi of Righteousness pierced through the gate like a sharp arrow.


    Rumble!


    Feeling this breakthrough, the world jumped for joy.


    Sun Shengru, the guardian of this world, actually occupied thirty percent of this world''s natural source and providence.


    And he was even more mighty in the World of Confucian.


    In the past, he had defeated Sacred Lord Fresh Flowers and her two Demon God subordinates.


    \"Sacred Lord Fresh Flowers, what are you doing! Why can''t you even guard a door!\"


    Fang Yuan''s eyes flashed, and he broadcasted his spiritual will. \"All Demon Gods, gather quickly and solve this trouble first!\"


    \"I''m at fault for the land being in this sorry state!\"


    Sun Shengru''s gaze was on the fragmented and fiery continent as he half-knelt in the void with a painful look on his face.


    His eyes turned red. \"Demons! I might not be able to match you in your world, but this place¡­ is my home field!\"


    \"Sinner Sun Shengru begs the world for help!\" Sun Shengru shouted, his voice seeming to travel all over the world.


    Hope once again lit ablaze in the eyes of those still struggling. \"It''s the Confucian Saint! He''s back!\"


    \"Great. We will definitely be able to defeat the demons with him!\"


    \"Long live!\"


    ¡­


    Golden fireflies of faith flew out from their hearts and submerged into Sun Shengru''s body.


    \"This is incense forging a god?\"


    Seeing this, Fang Yuan smiled.


    It was the easiest to inspire faith in times of crisis.


    In another Divine Dao world, Sun Shengru would certainly have become a god by converging the faith of the people.


    The World of Confucian was not a Divine Dao world, but the damage caused by the Demon Gods was rapidly healing. They emitted a pale golden color, somewhat resembling the Golden Body of a God, but the power went far beyond it.


    Not only that, but the Righteous Qi of Heaven and Earth appeared from all over the world and entered Sun Shengru''s body.


    \"In the world there is the spirit of righteousness, taking many forms!\" he shouted. A white light burst.


    ''\"Ahh!\"


    Sacred Lod Fresh Flowers screamed, unable to withstand this attack. She turned into ashes directly.


    This was the might of that blow!


    \"Hmm?\"


    \"This isn''t good!\"


    \"The guardian is back, and the world is blessing him!\"


    The other Demon Gods were terrified.


    Sun Shengru might be only a Confucian Saint, but he was equivalent to Netherheaven in this world!


    A Netherheaven Demon God with a world''s enhancement!


    They were only a hastily put together group with no cooperation at all. When there were benefits, they exuded a shark-like attitude, but none of them dared to take the lead to fight against Sun Shengru at this time.


    \"Ha! Grand Festival of Heaven and Earth!\"


    Sun Shengru seemed to have recovered to his peak state with his Golden Body and Righteousness. His giant hand summoned a terrifying sacrificial altar, as though he were offering sacrifice to some incomprehensible existence.


    \"We are the heirs of Huaxia. How can we suffer disgrace in the hands of evil demons? I hope for the gods above to help me!\"


    Suddenly, the light from the altar filled the world.


    Flash!


    Surging light!


    It contained unparalleled power from who knows where and spread everywhere in an instant.


    \"Ah! This¡­ what level of power¡­ Why¡­ do I feel like I''m melting?\"


    The three-headed bird gave a blood-curdling screech as it became bound by chains of light. Its Demon God body actually began to melt.


    \"How terrifying. The Grand Festival of Heaven and Earth? It doesn''t seem to have obtained power from this world, but¡­ an even greater existence!\"


    Fang Yuan''s Heavenly Eye Seer Spell flashed with faint excitement.


    He did not push his luck. He summoned his Netherheaven Demon God Great Dao, burst into light, and went through the gate.

 1006 Deser

    Rumble!


    The next moment, a strong Righteousness bombarded the gate, cracking it inch by inch.


    Fang Yuan escaped like a bolt of lightning before the passage collapsed and began gloating, \"Hehe¡­ Those Demon Gods still in the World of Confucian are going to be unlucky!\"


    The gate was just a wormhole between the two worlds, not the only passage.


    Even if the gate was destroyed, it did not mean that the Demon Gods could not return.


    However, if they wanted to return, they could only do so by either breaking through the world''s membrane and going through the endless chaos or finding another node in space and opening another channel. There was no other way!


    \"Sun Shengru''s last attack, the Grand Festival of Heaven and Earth, could actually move the entire world. Plus that power from an incomprehensible existence¡­ It was incredible¡­\"


    Fang Yuan''s pupils glimmered radiantly as he thought back to that scene. \"But¡­ this has also proven my guess¡­ The World of Confucian really does have a relationship with the Huaxia civilization!\"


    ¡­


    The other side of the gate was naturally the Holy City.


    After Sun Shengru''s attack, ninety-nine percent of the Demons had perished. It looked cold and depressing at the moment.


    \"In theory, the Confucian Grandmasters of that world aren''t too powerful, but why do they become so powerful once they become Confucian Saints?\" Fang Yuan rubbed his chin. \"Is it really because of the natural source and providence of the world converging on one person? This was also forced by the Mental Demons'' invasion.\"


    He looked around and found that the most noticeable thing now was not the gate, but a large array next to it.


    The array looked like an altar with black and white Qis circulating around it, similar to Yin and Yang, growing without end. There was a Netherheaven Demon God trapped within¡ªSacred Lord Fresh Flowers!


    Fang Yuan went up to it and knocked on the light on the altar. The black and white Qis flashed and leaked some information.


    \"Hehe¡­ Good move. Is this a combination of Righteousness and Demonism?


    \"Not only did Sun Shengru survive the Mental Demon Realm, he unexpectedly comprehended the extremity of Righteousness, the principle of Demonism, and combined the two to complement each other. This was how he broke the seal, and he unexpectedly borrowed that power to trap Sacred Lord Fresh Flowers here?\"


    He felt a slight pity.


    If he could have refined Sun Shengru, he might have obtained a complete Confucian Great Dao, even a Yin-Yang Great Dao or Black-White Great Dao. It would have been invaluable.


    \"Demon God Li Hun!\"


    Just then, Sacred Lord Fresh Flowers, who was surrounded by flowers and sitting cross-legged on the altar, opened her eyes. \"Where are the other Demon Gods?\"


    \"They are all trapped in the World of Confucian¡­ This channel has been destroyed. If you want to bring them back, you''ll have to find another node!\"


    Fang Yuan shook his head and punched the altar.


    Rumble!


    The altar flashed during the rumble while the black and white Qis kept flowing.


    Although he had not used his full power, it had still blocked the external attack from a Netherheaven Demon God.


    Nonetheless, Fang Yuan was not the only one attacking the altar!


    \"Ha! Hundred Flowers Bloom Kill!\"


    The trapped Sacred Lord Fresh Flowers immediately exerted her magical power when she saw Fang Yuan''s attack. Petals were dancing around, and a strange flower emerged in front of her, with a bud waiting to bloom.


    Petals spread continuously, displaying a formidable power.


    Bang!


    The altar finally shattered. The black and white Qis tried to escape, but Fang Yuan captured them and placed them directly into his sleeve.


    Sacred Lord Fresh Flowers came out and thanked coldly, \"Thank you for your help!\"


    In fact, even if Fang Yuan had not done anything, she could have broken out of this altar by herself before long.


    \"The invasion of the World of Confucian this time can be considered a failure. Many Demon Gods are trapped there. In particular, Sacred Lord Purple Crow¡­\" Sacred Lord Fresh Flowers''s face was as cold as ice. \"This Scared Purple Crow has a vicious reputation. He has two partners, and together they are known as the ''Three Furies of Netherheaven''. I''m afraid there will be a lot of trouble in the future!\"


    She said so much, but she actually meant one thing. \"Sacred Lord Li Hun, please help me save the trapped Demon Gods!\"


    \"It''s probably too late for the rest of the Demon Gods!\"


    Fang Yuan had personally experienced the all-engulfing power of the Grand Festival of Heaven and Earth. It was difficult for even the true body of a Demon God to withstand it. Most had probably become nourishment for that world.


    Only Sacred Lord Purple Crow had a chance of escaping.


    However, this Netherheaven might not be Sun Shengru''s opponent in the World of Confucian.


    Therefore, the only opinion was to break open the world''s membrane and hide in the chaos before slowly moving toward the Mental Demon Realm.


    The time and effort spent on this would be incomparable to that of a wormhole.


    Moreover, it would be difficult for him to determine where he would end up in the Mental Demon Realm. The slightest error could mean thousands of kilometers.


    In short, Fang Yuan had given Scared Lord Purple Crow quite a lot of trouble this time.


    \"Is that so?\" Sacred Fresh Flowers was also smart. She became more perceptive of the situation just through a few words from Fang Yuan. \"Damn¡­ what happened?\"


    Fang Yuan lowered his head and said nothing.


    The most important reason for this failure was because Sacred Lord Fresh Flowers had made a mistake and allowed Sun Shenru to overturn the situation.


    Otherwise, they would not have lost so horribly.


    Fang Yuan not joining forces with Sacred Lord Purple Crow to suppress the Ancestor Dragon from rising was a relatively trivial matter.


    He was not going to admit that instead of nailing down the dragon tail, he had actually helped it escape. The natural source of the World of Confucian had not been crippled, which fueled Sun Shengru''s performance.


    After a pause, Fang Yuan said, \"I''ll be leaving first if there''s nothing else!\"


    Fang Yuan directly proposed leaving without minding Sacred Lord Fresh Flowers, leaving her this big mess.


    He had only received an invitation to help out this time after all.


    Sacred Lord Fresh Flowers could not do anything to him no matter how big the mess was.


    \"You!\" Sacred Lord of Fresh Flowers''s brows arched. \"Only you alone escaped even though the rest of the Demon Gods are trapped. Don''t you think you owe me and the remaining Two Furies of Netherheaven an explanation!\"


    In fact, she wanted Fang Yuan to stay because of the two Netherheaven Demon Gods that were coming.


    \"Haha!\" Why would Fang Yuan follow her wishes?


    \"Stay!\"


    Red flower petals emerged from Sacred Lord Fresh Flowers''s forehead.


    Whoosh whoosh!


    Countless petals fell from the sky and turned into a tornado, layer upon layer. The sea of flowers expanded, trapping Fang Yuan within.


    A wonderful aroma spread all kinds of wonderful feelings.


    \"Flower Great Dao, Heavenly Aroma Great Dao?\"


    Fang Yuan''s eyes flickered, having understood Sacred Lord Fresh Flowers''s details.


    \"Unfortunately¡­ your Great Daos might be different, but you are definitely not my opponent!\"


    He sighed and clenched his right hand into a fist.


    Rumble!


    Chaos surged, refining the Earth, Fire, Wind, and Water all around.


    \"Creation Divine Fist!\"


    A huge fist rose into the sky and broke through the sea of flowers.


    ''\"Ahh!\" Sacred Lord of Fresh Flowers changed expressions as she slowly stepped back. \"Who the hell are you exactly? Why is there a deviant like you among the Netherheaven Demon Gods?\"


    Although the Mental Demon Realm might have many hidden old monsters cultivating in seclusion, they occasionally came out to spread their name.


    However, it was extremely rare to see someone reach the Netherheaven realm in one shot and have such powerful combat strength.


    \"So? Does Sacred Lord still want to keep me here?\" Fang Yuan sneered.


    \"I dare not!\" Sacred Lord Fresh Flowers smiled bitterly. If she had known that Fang Yuan was so powerful, she would not have acted like that earlier. \"I hope Sacred Lord Li Hun will forgive this ignorant girl for being too anxious earlier!\"


    \"Forget it!\" Fang Yuan waved his hand dismissively, not giving it much thought.


    Sacred Lord Fresh Flowers would probably push all the blame on him when the Two Furies of Netherheaven arrived, but so what?


    How many in the Mental Demon Realm knew him?


    Instead, he would be increasing the risk if he were to stay and deal with more of these Demon Gods.


    Therefore, Fang Yuan left without any hesitation.


    Sacred Lord Fresh Flowers gazed at the direction Fang Yuan left in, looking thoughtful.


    ¡­


    The scorching sun burned in the sky.


    Empty desert.


    A three-hump demon camel was walking in the desert.


    The sand here was corrosive with an innate poison. There was a natural restriction in the sky, making it difficult for even Demon Gods to continue flying.


    As a result, the entire desert was a famous perilous land in the Mental Demon Realm.


    However, three-hump demons camels lived around the desert and were a very convenient means of transportation.


    Its shape was similar to a small mountain with three humps, and each of them stored a lot of water and food.


    It had a furry sole, like that of a small boat, allowing it to walk on the corrosive sand as though it were flat land.


    Many Demons relied on such camels to form caravans in the desert, thereby earning rich profits.


    However, even though three-hump demon camels evolved from Demon Spirits, the probability was extremely low. They had limited numbers and were inherently eternal.


    Only when there was one less camel would a fortunate Demon Spirit evolve into one.


    As such, most of these demons camels were monopolized by powerful Demons, Sacred Lord Fresh Flowers among them.


    The one Fang Yuan was riding belonged to a caravan originally, but they gave the camel to him after seeing him.


    After he released his Demon God aura and dropped some compensation, none of the Demons dared to make noise.


    The camel''s humps were very soft, as though sitting on a sofa, so comfortable that you might just fall asleep.


    \"The biggest gain from the World of Confucian this time is probably¡­ those world coordinates!\"


    Fang Yuan laid on the camel as he thought back to those scenes earlier.


    \"The coordinates of the Huaxia world¡­ was actually hidden on me because I myself have an imprint of that civilization on me¡­


    \"And¡­ the Grand Festival of Heaven and Earth that Sun Shengru used is inextricably linked to the Huaxia civilization. Or perhaps it was simply a sacrifice to that high-level world?


    \"It seems like the intrinsic quality of the world I''m pursuing is comparable to the Mental Demon Realm or even beyond it? If that''s the case¡­\"


    Fang Yuan pondered carefully as a flash of light passed through his eyes.

 1007 Demon Territory

    The scorching sun emanated golden waves.


    Even ordinary Demon Spirits would be burnt alive under the searing temperatures.


    However, the three-hump demon camel had adapted to this. Its humps were constantly exuding water vapor, forming a kind of cooling protection.


    \"Qi of Yin and Yang, Qi of Righteousness and Demonism?\"


    Fang Yuan looked at the black and white Qis in his hands.


    Sun Shengru was worthy of having a world''s providence. He was extremely talented and equally tenacious. Even after a defeat, he could quickly recover and immediately prepare his counterattack.


    The special environment of the Mental Demon Realm seemed to have given him quite a lot of inspiration, making him progress further and break through.


    \"The extremity of Righteousness is Demonism, and the extremity of Demonism is Righteousness¡­ They give rise to each other, and the two combined is the ultimate truth. This realm can already be called the Yin-Yang Great Dao!\"


    Even Great Daos had differences in their power.


    Among them, the Samsara Great Dao, Space Great Dao, and Time Great Dao were the top ones.


    Following them were Yin-Yang and the Five Elements.


    Fang Yuan''s Creation Great Dao could perhaps place into the second class.


    \"However, the Dream Great Dao is all-encompassing. Samsara, Space-Time, and the Five Elements can all be assimilated into it. It is absolutely first class¡­ Unfortunately, I have to devour the Abominable Lord to advance it!\"


    Manipulating time, space, creation, the five elements, and samsara were all but the matter of a mere thought in dreams.


    Therefore, the Dream Great Dao had the highest capacity.


    Fang Yuan was now sure that he had to devour the Abominable Lord to promote his Creation Great Dao to the next level, proving his Dao Fruit of Dream.


    \"From these two black and white Qis, I can estimate Sun Shengru''s cultivation. Even if he hasn''t mastered the Yin-Yang Great Dao yet, he must be close¡­ What a pity¡­\"


    The Yin-Yang Great Dao was very compatible with the Creation Great Dao as well. If he could have devoured it, it would have surely increased the power of his Creation Great Dao to the next level.


    Fang Yuan sighed regretfully. In the World of Confucian, even Netherheaven Demon Gods were no match for Sun Shengru, including him! Devouring his Great Dao was just wishful thinking.


    After all, when pressed against a corner, Sun Shengru would hold the Grand Festival of Heaven and Earth and receive an incomprehensible power.


    The black and white Qis in his hands gradually separated, differentiated¡­ and eventually turned into strands of silver thread-like nomological power.


    \"Even if I refine it many times, this is the most that I can do out of such a small amount of Yin-Yang nomological power!\"


    Fang Yuan paused briefly before devouring the nomological power in one mouthful.


    Although he had only condensed a few Great Daos, as a result of having devoured part of a Heavenly Dao, he had the nomological power of numerous Great Daos and an extremely strong foundation.


    Otherwise, he would not have been able to break through the bottleneck to Netherheaven so quickly.


    The camel suddenly stopped.


    \"Hmm? Arrived at Black Demon Gorge?\"


    Fang Yuan looked at a giant valley in front of him. \"So I''ll reach the Original Sin Demon Territory after I pass through here? It seems somewhat troublesome!\"


    The three-hump demon camel clearly sensed the danger and stopped walking forward.


    \"Rumour has it that many ferocious beasts dwell within this Black Demon Gorge. They are exceptionally cunning and savage, and even Demon Masters find it difficult to resist them¡­\"


    Under Fang Yuan''s urging, the camel made a few sounds before finally stepping inside Black Demon Gorge.


    The gorge was incomparably enormous and towered up to the heavens. The small mountain-sized three-hump demon camel appeared no different from ordinary camels inside the gorge.


    Buzz buzz!


    After entering the gorge, numerous strange echoes poured forth, sounding like the buzzing wings of some bug.


    Shortly afterward, a dark cloud full of bugs appeared.


    \"This is¡­ Seven Emotions Zerg?! No, they look similar, but this is different¡­ a subspecies?\"


    Fang Yuan''s eyes gleamed. Those bugs looked like giant black cicadas, similar to the Seven Emotions Zerg that he had seen in the Mecha Cultivation World.


    \"So the Abominable Lord wasn''t altered by the Zerg genes, but he had those powers to start with? His aura isn''t present on these Demon Bugs, so they must have evolved from ordinary Demon Spirits. However, they were influenced by his nomological rules to some degree!\"


    The influence of a Demon God, especially a Netherheaven Demon God Overlord, had over their territory was terrifying.


    For example, after Demon God Black Flame had transformed his territory, most of the Demon Spirits in his territory had evolved to become Black Flame Evil Demons.


    And these Demon Bugs were the evolution of Demon Spirits that were influenced by the Abominable Lord.


    Even so, it should have been unintentional.


    One was intentional, while the other was unintentional. This was the huge disparity between Demon God Black Flame and the Abominable Lord.


    Upon seeing the bug cloud, the three-hump demon camel immediately stopped and let out cries of fear.


    \"Scram!\"


    Fang Yuan''s eyes gleamed, and he unleashed his Demon God aura.


    The bug cloud immediately dispersed. Countless bugs could not bear the terrifying aura and fell unconscious, forming a thick layer on the ground.


    But immediately after the bug cloud dispersed, a large group of ferocious beasts quickly closed in.


    \"Eh? That''s¡­\"


    Before long, Fang Yuan saw giant green beasts surrounding him.


    They all had four legs and a tail hanging down, looking like big green dogs. Saliva dripped continuously from their white teeth.


    \"Heaven Devouring Beasts?!\"


    This was a special kind of advanced evolution path for Demon Spirits. They were said to be able to devour everything. If they reached the peak of their power, they could even devour nomological rules and the power of Great Daos.


    Legend had it that the Infinite Devourer had evolved from these beasts.


    However, Fang Yuan scoffed at these Heaven Devouring Beasts and instead thought about his Heaven Devouring Mystic Technique.


    \"These beasts are all adults. And this scale¡­ Once they attack, even Demon Gods would find it difficult to fend them off. They must be the masters of Black Demon Gorge!\"


    Fang Yuan released a hint of the aura of the Heaven Devouring Great Dao.


    \"Woowoo!\"


    Immediately, the beasts clipped their tail between their legs and knelt with their forelimbs.


    \"As expected¡­ this restrains them!\"


    Fang Yuan could not help smiling.


    The Heaven Devouring Great Dao could be regarded as the lifelong pursuit of the Heaven Devouring Beasts. Their king and even emperor were far from this level.


    Someone able to do so was their god!


    If Fang Yuan wished to, he could even control them.


    If other Demons were to see this, they would be utterly astonished.


    After all, the best way to deal with the Heaven Devouring Beasts of Black Demon Gorge was to satisfy them by abandoning goods or even fellow clansmen!


    As long as they were not unlucky enough to encounter a large beast tide, they could feed them to avoid being attacked.


    However, Fang Yuan alone controlled a giant group of beasts!


    If it had been other Demon Gods, they might not have been able to do it this well. However, Fang Yuan was an oddity among oddities and could be considered the natural nemesis of these beasts.


    \"Did Demon God Myriad Thunder and the others obtain the Heaven Devouring Mystic Technique from these Heaven Devouring Beasts? But if so, then these beasts would already have Demon God-level cultivation¡­\" Fang Yuan pondered curiously.


    He waved his hand casually, and dozens of Heaven Devouring Beasts guarded the three-hump demon camel, surrounding it like loyal guards.


    The Black Demon Gorge feared by other Demons was thus easily traversed through.


    Three days later, he exited the gorge and was met with a scarlet land.


    \"Finally, the Original Sin Demon Territory! The Abominable Lord must be searching all over the Mental Demon Realm for me, but he doesn''t know that I''ve already arrived at his lair!\"


    Fang Yuan waved, making the three-hump demon camel and Heaven Devouring Beasts return to the Black Demon Gorge, and stepped into the territory alone.


    \"Major Chiliocosm Illusion Art, cast Illusions!\"


    He had undoubtedly cultivated the illusion technique that the Heavenly Consort had taught him to its peak. He easily transformed into a Seven Emotions Bug and suppressed all other fluctuations.


    \"This Original Sin Demon Territory is not simple¡­ There are characteristics of God Nation!\"


    This was Fang Yuan''s first thought after stepping onto this blood land.


    The soil here was very unusual, showing a scarlet color. It was as though you could squeeze a large amount of blood out of it with a simple pinch.


    Moreover, the nomological power in the air was very strange, feeling as if the full force of a Netherheaven Demon God''s Dark Heavenly Dao had taken over.


    \"But¡­ the Abominable Lord shouldn''t be here. Even if he was, Netherheaven Demon Gods can''t maintain this state constantly.\"


    The feeling this Original Sin Demon Territory gave Fang Yuan was that it had separated from the Mental Demon Realm and became the personal territory of the Abominable Lord.


    In other words, a God Nation on land. However, it was definitely more terrifying than a God Nation!


    \"To open another realm within the Mental Demon Realm¡­ It''s no wonder that it can''t connect with the large teleportation arrays of the outside world¡­\"


    Fang Yuan blocked off his entire body with his Great Dao''s power, not allowing a hint of his aura to leak.


    The Original Sin Demon Territory was the world of the Abominable Lord. With a mere thought, he could easily count the number of lifeforms within.


    He could not reveal any hint that he was here if he wanted to remain hidden.


    There was no doubt that the Abominable Lord was the strongest Netherheaven Demon God that Fang Yuan had ever met!


    The likes of Sacred Lord Purple Crow and Sacred Lord Fresh Flowers could not even hold a candle to him.


    \"He has transformed even the Mental Demon Realm¡­\"


    Fang Yuan realized that despite trying to overestimate the Abominable Lord as much as possible, he had still underestimated him.


    The Abominable Lord had already reached the point where he was only one step away from the Dao Fruit realm. Without the impediment of the Dao of Dream Master, he could have broken through long ago!


    \"I still have a long way to go if I want to deal with him¡­ It''s just nice that he''s transformed the nomological rules of this Original Sin Demon Territory. I will delve deep into it and try to analyze his nomological rules and Great Dao¡­\"


    With the basis of the previous world, Fang Yuan was among the top few regarding familiarity with the Abominable Lord.


    Once he arrived at this thought, the Seven Emotions Bug that he had transformed into immediately flapped its wings and flew deep into the blood grounds.


    \"Every place belonging to the Mental Demon Realm should have Demons living in it¡­ The Abominable Lord''s territory should have more Demon Spirits than that of Sacred Lord Fresh Flowers¡­\"


    Fang Yuan flew leisurely, and it was not long before he detected some energy fluctuations. Feeling pleased, he slowly approached.

 1008 Sacrifice

    A bonfire burning.


    A group of humans were singing and dancing around the fire, as though they were carrying out a mysterious ritual.


    That''s right. Humans! Actual humans!


    \"How the hell are there humans in the Mental Demon Realm? Did the Abominable Lord plunder a world and then bring them here?\"


    Fang Yuan was high in the air, marveling at the scene.


    Below him, at the end of the blood lands, were more than just humans. There were ridges and furrows, towns and cities.


    It looked like an entire human civilization had migrated here, full of a sense of wonder.


    \"In the Mental Demon Realm''s environment, ordinary humans wouldn''t be able to survive unless they''ve mutated¡­ But the Original Sin Demon Territory belongs to the Abominable Lord, so he can forcibly change the nomological rules and vitality here, making it habitable for humans¡­\"


    Fang Yuan looked at the surroundings, feeling puzzled. \"But why did he go through all that trouble?\"


    As he was thinking, the ritual below him continued.


    \"The omnipresent Abominable Lord!


    \"Allow us to leave the endless City of Pain far behind through you!


    \"Allow us to leave the eternal Pit of Misery far behind through you!


    \"Allow us to offer you a sacrifice of three men consigned to eternal damnation!


    \"Revered Creator, Eternal Creator, please protect your people. Expel the demons from our cities and villages, and bless us with a good harvest this year!\"


    ¡­


    A group of people pushed the three sacrifices to the stakes while chanting hymns.


    Of the three people, one had their eyes stitched shut, while another had their mouth stitched shut with something squirming in his stomach. The last one had their body covered in sulfur. Immediately after being pushed into the flames, they started howling in agony.


    Whoosh!


    The fierce flames devoured the three sacrifices.


    A few Demon Spirits flew into the flames, and suddenly, a strange transformation occurred.


    Three Seven Emotions Bugs flew out from the flames, and the faces on their heads belonged to that of the sacrifices. There was even a symbol on each of their foreheads.


    \"Envy? Gluttony? And lust?\"


    \"So¡­ is the origin of the Seven Emotions Zerg in the Mental Demon Realm?\"


    Fang Yuan had a sudden revelation. \"The Abominable Lord is raising these humans in captivity merely to provide nutrients¡­ But this breed of Seven Emotions Bugs is different compared to that of the previous world. This isn''t too strange considering one is the fusion with Zerg genes, while this one is an original species. In fact, it would be strange if they were the same!


    \"Aside from these, would the following be wrath, greed, sloth, and pride? As expected of the Original Sin Demon Territory!\"


    He had to admit the migration of large amounts of humans by the Abominable Lord was a stroke of genius.


    After all, while there were noble humans, when it came to degeneration, they were absolutely the fastest. They could be called the best nourishment for the Seven Sins.


    As a result, this Demon God had spared no expense to transplant an entire human civilization here.


    Chi! Chi!


    The three Seven Emotions Bugs flew onto the ridges, opened their mouths, and inhaled.


    A swarm of insects instantly flew out before being devoured. The harvest of wheat would be good this year.


    \"We thank the Lord''s messengers for your blessing!\"


    The mortals started cheering excitedly, feeling that nothing was wrong at all.


    \"A regular ritual involving prayer for Demons and creating Demons, huh?\"


    Fang Yuan shook his head. The Abominable Lord had arranged all the natural disasters and insect plagues long beforehand.


    He remained hidden behind the scene. A slight alleviation of the conditions through using a few Demons had garnered him large amounts of favor and faith. It was sad and lamentable.


    \"Don''t these humans know that they''re drinking poison to quench their thirst? But even if they knew, there wouldn''t be anything they could do. This is the sad plight of the weak¡­\"


    Fang Yuan sighed and ignored them, focusing his attention on the ritual sacrifice''s wording.


    \"City of Pain? Pit of Misery?


    \"Being included in the ritual magic as part of the important incantation means that it must really exist and is rather important¡­ even if they don''t sound like pleasant places¡­\"


    He landed, transformed into an ordinary human, and approached the nearest village.


    \"Who are you?\" A patrolling militia found him immediately.


    These militiamen were well-built, armored, and equipped with sharp spears.


    \"I''m just a passing traveler wanting to rest in this village!\" Fang Yuan answered casually, but his voice carried a powerful influence.


    \"Okay, then follow me!\"


    This type of emotional influence immediately dazed the militia leader, who had wanted to give a stringent inspection. \"Outsider, remember not to cause trouble in Ample Favor Village. You wouldn''t want to bear the consequences. Also, we don''t have any more rooms. There''s only a small wood shack available.\"


    He was in his forties, sported a full beard, and had scars covering his body, clearly an experienced soldier. He led Fang Yuan into the village.


    Hmm, the patrol is strong. Is it a precaution against some sort of invasion?


    Fang Yuan headed straight for the center of the village.


    Normally, the core of the village would be where the home of the chief and the public office were.


    However, Fang Yuan only saw a small black sacrificial altar.


    The sacrificial altar stood in the center of the public square and appeared to be carved entirely from obsidian.


    All kinds of strange and twisted bodies were on it, invoking an evil and demonic charm.


    The stone surface was incredibly smooth and covered with a layer of grease. Many people must have rubbed against it over time.


    \"Actually worshiping an evil god in broad daylight¡­\"


    Looking at it, Fang Yuan could not help but be dumbfounded.


    This type of sacrificial altar and its blood sacrifice requirements were explicitly prohibited and severely cracked down against in any normal Divine Dao world.


    However, in the Original Sin Demon Territory, it was magnificent and presentable.


    \"Link, why did you carelessly bring an outsider into the village?\"


    An old man with a head full of white hair was hurrying toward them. He looked like a kind neighborhood grandfather, but he had been the one leading the ritual previously.


    \"I¡­\" Link froze, finding it difficult to answer.


    \"Allow me to explain. I''m a traveler from faraway lands and want to go to the legendary Pit of Misery and City of Pain!\"


    \"What?\"


    \"Are you out of your mind? You want to go to that kind of place?\"


    Link and the village chief were utterly astonished. \"The Pit of Misery is a place that only the souls of the dead can go to. If a living person wants to go there, they''d have to pass through the Toxic Marsh, Infernal Grounds, and then eventually lose their life in the Death Undergrounds¡­ As for the City of Pain, it is even harder to get to. Although it lies in the depths of the Pit of Misery, it will never appear in this world unless the Pit of Misery is full of the souls of the dead! \"


    \"Oh? Really?\"


    Fang Yuan''s eyes brightened. He asked a few more questions and then snapped his fingers.


    Link and the village chief were briefly dazed before life filled their eyes once again. \"Are you Lin Meng? You wish to go to Vast Sea City?\"


    \"Yes. I didn''t think I would chance upon the village''s sacrifice!\" Fang Yuan''s face appeared to be full of fear.


    \"It was their utmost honor to become sacrifices!\" the village head said matter-of-factly with a regretful tone. \"Our village is weak. Legend has it that the powerful cities sacrifice tens of thousands of prisoners after capturing cities. They could even draw an incarnation of the Lord into the world¡­\"


    Fang Yuan could see that the village chief was full of admiration when he said those words. There was not a hint of pain, regret, or empathy that a normal person would have.


    Even the onlookers were accustomed to it.


    It was like their morals had been completely distorted.


    No¡­ not distorted. It is because of the influence of custom¡­


    The situation was akin to a newborn child being told that the color white was black. After the child grew up, they would naturally take white as black.


    From Fang Yuan''s perspective, this was the situation with the people in these cities.


    \"I wonder if the legend of the Pit of Misery came about this way?\"


    Fang Yuan suddenly found his direction.


    However, in the Abominable Lord''s territory, he stuck with his role and set off as a traveler the next day.


    ¡­


    \"Toxic Marsh, Infernal Grounds, Death Undergrounds¡­\"


    He hurried toward the center of the Original Sin Demon Territory, passing through one human settlement after another, before eventually arriving at a barren land.


    At the end of the barren land, he could feel the intense aura of toxins and flames.


    \"These three isolated areas and the many monsters within are only obstacles to ordinary humans!\"


    The Toxic Marsh was brimming with poisonous gas, the Infernal Grounds had fires reaching up to the sky, and the most terrifying Death Underground was full of an omnipresent nomological rules of death.


    These three layers of protection were claimed to be impenetrable.


    However, they were not much to Fang Yuan. Not long afterward, he arrived at the edge of the Pit of Misery.


    No!


    This was no longer a pit, but an abyss! An abyss that reached beyond sight! Full of the air of pain and desolation.


    At the bottom of the abyss was a layer of light blue fluorescence. It was a sea of souls, yet it only occupied a barely noticeable point.


    \"The City of Pain is the lair of the Abominable Lord¡­ He must have set special nomological rules for his lair, which echoed throughout the entire God Nation. Besides him, these rules can''t be broken unless the entire God Nation is demolished¡­\"


    This was obviously impossible. Fang Yuan had sensed the size of the Pit of Misery, and making the City of Pain appear naturally by filling the Pit of Misery was almost impossible as well.


    It was just as described in the legends.


    The Abominable Lord had set a restriction on his lair, the City of Pain. Besides him and forcibly breaking through, the last option was to fill the Pit of Misery with souls!


    \"Is a massacre due? But it seems like the number of humans in the Original Sin Demon Territory isn''t enough!\"


    Fang Yuan laughed coldly and jumped down suddenly.


    Since he could not infiltrate through normal means, he was planning to unravel the nomological rules of this place.


    This was not a forceful attack, nor did he fulfill the requirements. Instead, he was trying to solve the restriction from the ground up. Although it would be incredibly tough, with his familiarity with the Abominable Lord''s Great Dao, it was possible!

 1009 Line of Defense

    In the Mecha Cultivation World, Fang Yuan had once defeated the Abominable Lord and used the Heaven Devouring Mystic Technique to devour the nomological rules of the Abominable Lord''s Great Dao.


    In fact, this was the ebb and flow of destiny.


    Through researching the Seven Emotions and Six Desires Great Daos and other nomological rules that the Abominable Lord had left behind, he had gained a deep understanding of his ways.


    He immediately began unraveling the nomological rules of the Pit of Misery.


    \"The Abominable Lord is most proficient with the power of emotions¡­ To satisfy the Pit of Misery, I actually only need the most intense power of emotions. My Dao of Dream Master can provide considerable assistance in this area¡­\"


    His Creation Great Dao had developed from the initial Dream Master seed and could be considered to share a common origin with the Abominable Lord''s Dao path, so it was a great tool for unraveling the rules.


    \"If there is a Demon God that can circumvent the restriction set by the Abominable Lord among the Mental Demons, it must be me¡­ He must have never considered this.\"


    Fang Yuan dived into the sea of souls and saw a restriction that looked like a purple electric net.


    \"Dao of Creation, power of emotions, open for me!\" he shouted. The Creation Great Dao appeared and agglomerated the ultimate power of emotions. He cleverly guided this power and silently opened a gap in the net.


    Fang Yuan licked his lips and stepped in.


    Rumble!


    Everything around him suddenly changed!


    This place seemed to be a small plane. The sky and earth were grey except for a small city in the center.


    Multicolored balls of light filled most of the space.


    \"As expected, the Abominable Lord went out to hunt me!\" His eyes brightened. \"But¡­ this lair has some tough defense!\"


    The multicolored lights outside the City of Pain were obviously a defensive measure.


    However, the more that this was the case, the more excited Fang Yuan became because the Abominable Lord must have hidden many good things in his lair.


    \"Multicolored lights?\"


    Fang Yuan stepped forward and poked the light gently. Immediately, thoughtfulness filled his eyes. \"Dream Projection? Not even Netherheaven Demon Gods could break this silently because none of them are proficient with deciphering dreams.\"


    This dream barrier was clearly designed to resist other Demon Gods.


    However, Fang Yuan was its nemesis.


    He roared in a low voice and extended his left hand.


    Rumble!


    The multicolored lights expanded at an incredible pace and then devoured Fang Yuan''s figure in an instant.


    ¡­


    \"The tables will turn! Don''t underestimate poor youths!\"


    A youth covered in blood stood tall despite the wounds all over his body and blood flowing from his face. \"You robbed my fianc¨¦e and damaged my reputation. Do you dare bet that I, Wang Tianming, will surpass you in three years?!\"


    \"Psycho. Go beat him to death!\"


    Opposite the youth was a rich young master in brocade clothes. He dug his ears. \"I don''t know why, but that line is rather familiar¡­ You''re not the first one to say it to me.\"


    \"Understood!\"


    Two middle-aged lackeys in black lunged at the youth.


    While the defiant youth cried out in agony, the young master was lost in thought. \"Don''t underestimate poor youths¡­ Don''t underestimate¡­ Hold on, I-I remember!\"


    After clearing his thoughts, Fang Yuan broke the mystery of the dream and recovered his memory.


    I am Netherheaven Demon God Fang Yuan. In the process of unraveling the Abominable Lord''s dream protection¡­ I''m already in the dream now!!!


    Upon careful recollection, he remembered his identity in the dream. He was the son of the Noble Mountain Sect Master, Fang Xu! Not only did he have Pugilistic World tycoon parents that doted him, but he was also extremely talented. At the age of eighteen, he had cultivated to the Connate realm and was known by the alias ''Drizzle Sword'', having a small reputation.


    On top of that, he was born handsome and dashing, indistinctly holding the title of the most handsome man in the Pugilistic World, sweeping countless girls off their feet. Who knew how many fantasized about being with him.


    As for the fianc¨¦e of the Wang Tianming in front of him, she had come to him on her own initiative. Fang Xu naturally did not reject and cuckolded him.


    The youth was so furious that he came to challenge him. However, he ended up beaten like a dead dog.


    The standard but overused, melodramatic, face-slapping, engagement-breaking plot¡­ Will this kid suddenly become strong? Or maybe he has a cheat?


    Fang Yuan was slightly shocked and then chucked. This dream realm protection is really¡­


    In fact, those lost in dreams often immersed themselves in beautiful things. Even if they knew it was not real, they would not want to escape.


    For example, the experience this time for Fang Yuan was a winner in life, the template of a tall, handsome, and rich man.


    If his True Spirit had not managed to wake up, then his life would be smooth sailing without a bit of hardship or any setbacks. It would be a joyous ride throughout life.


    Only this kind of dream would make people lose themselves within it.


    Otherwise, physical and emotional suffering would make it easy for someone to realize that they were in a dream.


    But now that I''ve woken up, the dream will change! Fang Yuan shook his head. This Fang Xu had a smooth-sailing life, but now that my True Spirit has awakened, the entire world will make me its enemy.


    In other words, his fate as a heaven''s chosen would change.


    On the other hand, those who opposed him would be able to benefit everywhere and progress swiftly.


    Such as¡­ this lucky bastard in front of me!


    Fang Yuan''s voice raised slightly at the thought. \"Zhang Long, Zhao Hu¡­ beat him with all your strength! Beat him until he dies!\"


    At the same time, he surveyed his surroundings and checked out his new body. \"It looks real yet isn''t, like a dream¡­ This world is unexpectedly no different from the real world. It has the same strict nomological rules!


    \"To unravel this dream world, the first method is by force. This obviously won''t work in the Abominable Lord''s setup. In that case, the only way out is the second method¡ªadapt to the situation and try to find flaws!\"


    This kind of situation was even more difficult than the crossing over of Netherheaven Demon Gods.


    After all, Netherheaven Demon Gods could still use their Dark Side Heavenly Dao to counteract the power of a Heavenly Dao and regain a portion of their strength.


    However, there was no such good thing in the Abominable Lord''s dream world.


    Unless the degree of unraveling the dream world increases, you had to play by the dream''s rules.


    \"But still, this world is way too realistic. I can''t detect any false spots even with my abilities!\"


    Once he found a false spot, he could use that flaw in the dream world to break through directly.


    This situation he was in was the most troublesome.


    Fang Yuan could only helplessly play the role of Fang Xu and continue with being the son of a powerful family.


    \"Fang Xu, I''ll remember this!\" Wang Tianming''s voice was brimming with hatred as he rolled on the ground.


    \"Sorry, I''m always quick to forget the wails of ants. Hurry up and kill him!\"


    Fang Yuan''s expression turned cold and, at the same time, slightly curious.


    \"Understood!\" Zhang Long grinned as he pulled out a steel dagger.


    \"What are you doing?\" Just then, a delightful voice that was as clear as water sounded.


    Whoosh whoosh!


    A green figure flashed past, and the two lackeys flew backward. \"You dare kill in broad daylight?\"


    With a fragrant breeze, an exquisite and delicate face appeared.


    \"It''s you! Ling Xian''er?\" Fang Yuan frowned. Playing his role perfectly, he smiled. \"Sister Lin is here! A rare guest! A distinguished guest!\"


    \"I don''t dare to accept!\"


    Ling Xian''er helped Wang Tianming to his feet, her face full of anger. \"Daddy always told me that the Noble Mountain Sect is a righteous sect. Who would have thought that their young sect master was such a bully!\"


    Fang Yuan knocked his brain and recalled a lot of information. Ling Xian''er''s father, the leader of the Great River Alliance, a top expert at Connate perfection?


    There were no magical powers nor spiritual techniques in this world, only martial arts, and the various sects had a strong influence over the world.


    This Fang Xu was a genius, but he had only just entered the Connate realm. He was naturally lacking compared to the experts at the perfection stage.


    Unfortunately¡­ I can''t use much of my true strength yet¡­


    Fang Yuan carefully examined Fang Xu''s body. There was a pure energy in the body, which should be the inner force of this world.


    However, even if it was enough to deal with the young man and woman before him, he would definitely not stand a chance against her father, the leader of the Great River Alliance.


    If you are killed in a dream world, even if it isn''t real, dying will make you immerse yourself deeper into the dream and become unable to extricate yourself. After all, this is someone else''s dream world!


    Fang Yuan pursed his lips. I''m riding a tiger and unable to get off now. If this girl runs away with Wang Tianming, it will certainly become trouble later.


    Fang Yuan''s expression grew cold at the thought, and he started to think about the possibility of murder.


    But the next moment, a barely noticeable aura revealed itself, and Fang Yuan had to suppress his killing intent. There''s someone hidden nearby, and he''s an expert. Is it Ling Xian''er''s father?


    Dream worlds were the home field of Dream Masters, and they were practically omnipotent in them.


    However, Fang Yuan''s situation was different because this was no ordinary dream world. Even worse, the Abominable Lord had personally set it up.


    Before finding any flaws or loopholes, he could use none of his abilities, and he could only fight the enemy using Fang Xu''s cultivation.


    Although I can kill these two, I''ll definitely die in the counterattack¡­


    Fang Yuan looked at Ling Xian''er and cupped his hands. \"You two can leave. I wonder why Miss Xian''er has come here?\"


    She was a renowned Pugilistic World heroine with the backing of the Great River Alliance and rarely interacted with the Noble Mountain Sect.

 1010 Sheer Cold

    "Hmph, you don''t need to know!"


    Ling Xian''er snorted. But with her looks, even her slightly angry face was overwhelmingly beautiful. If the former handsome dandy saw it, his eyes would have certainly lit up, and he would have been unable to control himself.


    "Okay¡­ let''s go back!"


    Fang Yuan''s eyes narrowed and glanced toward the nearby bushes before leaving the scene with his two subordinates.


    With eyes full of hatred, Wang Tianming looked at the direction that Fang Yuan had left in. He then cupped his hands toward Ling Xian''er. "My name is Wang Tianming. Thank you for saving me, miss. I will surely repay your kindness in the future!"


    "You are also a fellow Pugilistic World member, so there''s no need for thanks. However, do you really plan on seeking revenge against this Fang Xu three years from now? He is not only the young sect master of the Noble Mountain Sect but a famous genius in the Pugilistic World as well!"


    Ling Xian''er sized up Wang Tianming curiously. "With all due respect¡­ with your potential and cultivation, that will be extremely difficult!"


    Wang Tianming trembled.


    The Noble Mountain Sect was a first-class sect with countless experts. The sect master, ''Fang Tianhan,'' was at Connate perfection and rank forty-nine on the Martial Roll!


    Fang Xu reached where he was today with his father''s personal teaching, the martial arts of the Noble Mountain Sect, countless magical pills, and his own outstanding talent.


    Wang Tianming was behind in every respect, and it would be incredibly difficult for him to catch up.


    "Although it is extremely difficult, I must do it!" Wang Tianming clenched his fist. "I will definitely catch up to his cultivation within three years!"


    Although he had learned some martial arts, they were basic techniques taught to him by a traveling Daoist. Nevertheless, he made this declaration in a confident tone that was full of conviction and charisma.


    "Hehe¡­ this kind of reckless youngster is becoming rare these days!"


    A silhouette flashed, and a middle-aged man in green robes appeared on the scene.


    Three fluttering strands of beard decorated his elegant features. He had a scholarly temperament, looking like a village teacher.


    "Daddy!" Ling Xian''er exclaimed and affectionately attached herself to his arm.


    This man was none other than the Great River Alliance Leader, Ling Xian''er''s father, Xuan Tianzi.


    "Why didn''t you come out earlier and teach that dandy a lesson?" Ling Xian''er pouted.


    "His father and I are both experts on the Martial Roll, and it wouldn''t be wise to start a conflict¡­" Xuan Tianzi smiled. However, he was still a little puzzled. "That Fang Xu seemed to have sensed my presence before he left. How is that possible for someone on the Hidden Dragon Roll?"


    The Martial Dao was popular in this world, and the ''Martial Roll'' served to distinguish between the experts.


    On the other hand, the Hidden Dragon Roll was for the new generation of young experts. Those on the roll could not exceed thirty years old, and the ones at the top of the roll were at most at the initial Connate realm.


    With such a huge difference in power, it should not have been possible for him to sense anything!


    "Greetings Alliance Leader!" Wang Tianming greeted respectfully.


    "Good! Wang Tianming, is it?" Xuan Tianzi sized up Wang Tianming carefully. For some reason, he felt a sense of joy. "Although you''re a bit reckless, that''s adorable as well. Would you like to join the Great River Alliance and become my in-name disciple?"


    "Disciple is willing. Disciple pays respect to Master!" Wang Tianming knelt without any hesitation and gave Xuan Tianzi eight kowtows.


    "Hmm¡­ All right, you will return with us to the Great River Alliance¡­ There''s no need to visit this Noble Mountain Sect now!" Xuan Tianzi stroked his beard while feeling slightly shocked.


    Even the Ling Xian''er at his side looked at him in astonishment. The stringency that Xuan Tianzi chose his disciples with was well-known.


    However, she agreed with not going to the Noble Mountain Sect. "That Fang Xu is so annoying. I don''t want to have anything to do with him at all!"


    "Not bad¡­"


    With doting eyes, Xuan Tianzi looked at his daughter. "That Fang Xu is truly not a good match. My Xian''er''s ideal husband must excel in both martial arts and academics, and be a person of character¡­ Of course, the most important thing is to catch Xian''er''s eyes. Haha¡­"


    ¡­


    Noble Mountain Sect.


    "This world¡­ is too real¡­ Too real to find any flaws!"


    Fang Yuan narrowed his eyes, observed everything carefully on the way back, and could not help feeling shocked. "As expected of the Abominable Lord''s arrangements¡­ It almost made me think that he had obtained a world fragment from somewhere and merged it with the dream world¡­ Wait! That''s not out of the question!"


    "Young Master!"


    "Greetings, Eldest Senior Brother!"


    He held an extraordinary position within the Noble Mountain Sect, and the disciples and deacons greeted him along the way.


    "Mmmm!"


    Following the dandy''s memory, Fang Yuan walked with an arrogant swagger.


    "I must have the power to protect myself if I want to explore this world!"


    After returning to his room, he shut the door and ordered that no one was to disturb his seclusion training. He sat cross-legged on a meditation mat and began contemplating. "The rules of this world are strict, and it only has the power of Martial Dao True Qi¡­ Even I can''t break through them. How strange."


    He became even more suspicious that the Abominable Lord had used a hybrid method to arrange this dream world protection. He had either used a True Spirit Exile Array or had merged a fragment of a Martial Dao world with it, making it feel very realistic.


    "Although Netherheaven Demon Gods can break the limitations of worlds¡­ this world is half real and half false, having the qualities of both the real world and a dream world at the same time, making it tough for me to even start doing anything."


    Fang Yuan sighed. "Looks like I''ll have to play by the rules."


    Using this dandy''s memory, he knew immediately that the Martial Dao was flourishing in this world, and martial artists were at the top of the world.


    However, despite the many sects, true teachings were few. Most in the Pugilistic World were martial artists at the Acquired realm.


    Connate experts could easily reign supreme over a region.


    "Connate means to return True Qi to its origin. Fang Xu has already passed this level! Within my body is Connate True Primordial Qi¡­ But in the Connate realm, there are the initial, intermediate, peak, and perfection stages. The difference between each stage is even greater than the difference between Acquired and Connate!"


    According to his memory, an intermediate Connate expert could easily defeat two or three Fang Xus. The higher the level, the more apparent the difference. After reaching the perfection stage, group attacks were useless, and only those at the same level stood any chance.


    "The reason is that all the perfection experts are bound to have mastered intent¡­ be it Sword Intent or Saber Intent. In fact¡­ this is a kind of spiritual pressure or domain¡­ Experts using this would naturally steamroll ordinary people¡­"


    At Connate perfection, the spirit underwent a qualitative change.


    And this was the secret to why they did not fear group attacks from lower-level martial artists!


    The release of intent would intimate those with evil intentions!


    Although this was supposed to be a secret, Fang Tianhan, Fang Xu''s father, had told him a long time ago.


    "The presence that I sensed hiding¡­ was it Ling Xian''er''s father, the Great River Alliance Lleader, Xuan Tianzi?


    "Looks like I have to increase my strength as soon as possible. Otherwise, others could casually crush me like a fly, which would be quite unfortunate!"


    Although death in this world was not true death, increased immersion of the True Spirit and even damage to the true body were inevitable.


    He closed his eyes, and the Connate True Primordial Qi in his body started circulating according to a certain path. He was practicing the Noble Mountain Sect''s number one cultivation technique¡ª ''Sheer Cold Divine Formula!''


    "How strange¡­" After one cycle, Fang Yuan was even more surprised. "Although this cultivation technique is crude, I can''t find any flaws even with my experience. In other words, I could even cultivate it in the real world¡­"


    Low-level cultivation techniques also had their own merits.


    Because the level was low, it was not much different from the nomological rules of Great Daos, and they were very adaptable.


    It was like the common combat techniques of ordinary people. As long as the physiological structure was similar, the techniques were usable even in different worlds.


    This was the same for the ''Sheer Cold Divine Formula''. According to Fang Yuan''s estimations, it was directly usable in other similar martial art worlds. The adaptability was frightening.


    "As expected¡­ a fragment of a martial arts world has merged with this dream world."


    Fang Yuan was also an expert of the Dao of Dream Master and confirmed his earlier speculation. "The Abominable Lord is sure something!"


    He could use his Dream Master methods to unravel simple dream worlds, and the fragments of small worlds were no match for the power of the Netherheaven Demon God.


    However, the combination of the two presented a new form, and deciphering it tested Fang Yuan''s abilities.


    "''Sheer Cold Divine Formula'' consists of three chapters, setting Connate perfection as the goal. They are Winter Snow, Endure Frost, and Sheer Cold! Fang Xu had cultivated a dozen or so years before finally finishing the Winter Snow chapter and advancing to the Connate realm!"


    In Fang Yuan''s mind, a chapter on an inner force core cultivation technique and the corresponding moves and movement techniques suddenly emerged.


    "Cultivation power isn''t something that happens overnight unless you use heavenly materials and earthly treasures, such as a hundred-year vermilion fruit. As for the situation now? Impossible."


    The original Fang Xu was a heaven''s chosen and destined to succeed.


    However, after his True Spirit awoke and wanted to break through the dream world, the entire world would stop him by making things as difficult for him as possible.


    "The former Fang Xu would be able to obtain any heavenly materials and earthly treasures. However, now it was his enemy''s turn to enjoy providence. Discovering secret martial arts manuals by jumping off a cliff, having old men pass them down personally, and so on were all possible! For instance, that Wang Tianming¡­"


    Fang Yuan shook his head in his mind. "My providence has suffered great damage, and I will face obstacles at every turn. How could I forcefully provoke karma?"


    Fortunately, the nomological rules of this world were strict. Even if it was heaven''s will, he would not die from a sudden lightning strike. After all, this was just a mortal world.


    "But under heaven''s will, the circumstances will eventually end up unfavorable for me. The only way is to resolve matters by force!" Fang Yuan made up his mind. "I''ll put aside cultivation power for now and focus on trying to master intent!"


    ''Sheer Cold Divine Formula'' aimed toward Connate perfection, so it would naturally teach intent as well.


    There was an incredible mysterious snowflake pattern on the last page of the martial arts manual. According to Fang Tianhan, if someone could make sense of the pattern, they would have comprehended intent.


    It was a shame that only Fang Tianhan could understand the pattern out of all the Connate experts in the Noble Mountain Sect.


    Fang Tianhan had also used this to advance directly to Connate perfection and enter the Martial Roll.


    "Regarding comprehension¡­ hehe¡­"


    Fang Yuan laughed coldly. He directly skipped the many cultivation techniques and started focusing on the snowflake pattern.

 1011 Crisis

    "There are no magical powers or spiritual techniques in this world. Only martial arts reigns supreme!


    "And in all of martial arts, the strongest are Martial Dao True Intents!"


    In theory, this was a strength that only Connate perfection martial artists could master. Once mastered, they would no longer fear lower-level attacks.


    After all, after mastering the power of intent, it was equivalent to using magical powers and spiritual techniques against ordinary people. The difference in strength was just too immense.


    However, because comprehending intent was difficult, even the spirit could undergo damage if you were not careful. ''Sheer Cold Dive Formula'' had countless reminders to not even try to comprehend the snowflake pattern without being at peak Connate.


    "According to the secret history of the Pugilistic World, there were a few geniuses that successfully comprehended intent when they were still at the intermediate Connate realm. They were peerless afterward."


    Fang Yuan looked at the snowflake pattern, and his eyes grew brighter and brighter. "This snowflake pattern has a portion of the nomological rules of cold! Is this intent?"


    The so-called intent was actually a minor Great Dao, an external representation of nomological power.


    This world had been difficult to deal with because it was a mix of reality and fantasy, merging a dream world with another world. All the Great Daos had changed correspondingly, and he did not know where to start.


    However, Fang Yuan discovered that Martial Dao True Intents were the extension of nomological power!


    "Once I comprehend more intents, I will be able to touch the Heavenly Dao of this world¡­ and thus break through the seal!"


    His eyes grew even brighter as he found the way to break through the dream world.


    While pondering, the snowflake pattern became even clearer in his eyes.


    The temperature in the room plummeted, and even a layer of frost appeared on the surrounding vases.


    "Sheer Cold Intent!"


    Fang Yuan opened his eyes, and a glimmer of white frost seemed to flash in his eyes. He raised his hand. "After comprehending intent, it serves as a complement to martial arts. Although my strength has not increased, the effectiveness in dealing with enemies has more than doubled¡­ Of course, the most important thing is that I''ll have no bottlenecks when cultivating the Sheer Cold Divine Formula to the perfection stage. Once my cultivation power reaches the required amount, I can increase my level!


    "Of course, the comprehension of intent has different levels as well. This is the difference between martial artists at the perfection stage."


    Fang Yuan roughly estimated his strength. "With my current strength, Acquired and initial Connate martial artists would be courting death if they fought me. Even those at intermediate Connate would be no match for me. As for those at peak Connate, although they have much more cultivation power than me, I''d be able to protect myself."


    This kind of strength was enough to enter the ''Martial Roll''.


    However, Fang Yuan did not look the least bit delighted.


    This bit of achievement was nothing to a Demon God who had dominated numerous worlds.


    "Furthermore, the attack of the world should be coming soon!"


    This kind of attack was similar to the backlash of providence. It would not be a direct attack like a bolt of lightning, but it would instead be more like a guidance of everything toward the worst possible outcome.


    To ordinary people in this world, this was a terrifying matter. It would be like having death staring at you all the time.


    Furthermore, this misfortune would spread!


    "Young Master! Young Master!"


    Urgent knocking came from outside.


    Fang Yuan frowned slightly and ended his training.


    If ordinary experts encountered interruptions during training, it would range from having their mind disturbed to cultivation deviation!


    He opened the door and saw Zhang Long with a face full of anxiety. "What happened? Didn''t I order that no one was to disturb me when I''m training?"


    "Reporting to Young Master!" Zhang Long swallowed, feeling that the young master was more majestic than usual. "Something terrible happened. Madam is seriously injured!"


    "Oh, take me to her!"


    Fang Yuan''s expression was calm. He knew that the backlash of the world had come.


    Naturally, madam did not refer to his wife but to Fang Tianhan''s wife, Fang Xu''s mother, Jiang Lanxin.


    Speaking of which, this madam had the title of Fire Phoenix Fairy when she was young and had been a famous heroine of the Pugilistic World.


    After arriving in a courtyard, Fang Yuan saw the personal maid of Jiang Lanxin. He immediately asked, "What happened?"


    "Reporting to Young Master!" A man who looked like an old servant knelt on the floor. "Master and Madam were sightseeing on Mount Sky Pillar and found a thousand-year Cold Heart Vine that was about to mature. It is very precious, and they wanted to obtain it for Young Master. However, Demon Sect experts attacked them. Master is trapped, while Madam managed to escape. But she was poisoned, and her breath is shallow. I am useless¡­"


    Sure enough¡­ is this the backlash? Fang Yuan sneered in his heart. "Take me to her!"


    Inside the bedroom, a beautiful middle-aged woman was lying on the bed. Her forehead was black, obviously poisoned by an extremely formidable poison.


    He sat at the bedside and asked, "Which Demon Sect expert is besieging my father?"


    "The one in conflict with Master is the Demon Sect''s grand guardian, Poison Fire Demon Lord Sun Yan!"


    The most powerful in the Demon Sect was the Unparalleled Demon Emperor, who dominated the Pugilistic World. He seemed to hold the title of the world''s first expert.


    Immediately below the Unparalleled Demon Emperor was the vice sect master and the grand guardian. The Poison Fire Demon Lord ranked twenty-seventh on the Martial Roll, above Fang Tianhan.


    "Reporting!" Zhao Hu, Zhang Long''s sworn brother, came in running and knelt on one knee. "Young Master¡­ bad news, I heard the elders convened a meeting and relieved Master of his position as sect master!"


    Everyone''s expression changed upon hearing the news.


    "When it rains, it pours!" Fang Yuan sneered.


    Naturally, there were power struggles within the Noble Mountain Sect, as well as different factions.


    Of course, Fang Tianhan had used his perfection-stage cultivation to dominate over everyone, and no one dared to rebel against him.


    As a result, those in the sect master''s faction behaved arrogantly, causing a lot of resentment. Fang Xu had been the worst offender.


    Now that Fang Tianhan was trapped and would likely die, and the Fire Phoenix Fairy was poisoned, they started their attack immediately.


    "Grand Elder Zhang Hanzhen! Great, awesome!"


    A cold light flashed in Fang Yuan''s eyes.


    If it had been the original Fang Xu, there was no question that this was a critical situation, a fatal situation!


    The only way to stay alive would have been to escape immediately. And even then, there was no guarantee that he would survive!


    With my current cultivation, I could certainly escape. But I can''t do that! Fang Yuan sighed in his heart.


    His predecessor, Fang Xu, owed a lot of karma here, so how could he just leave?


    Perhaps everything in this dream world was illusory, but at times it was hard to differentiate between reality and fantasy. Who knew if this was not a trap to prevent Fang Yuan from unraveling the dream world by putting kinship and regret in the way?


    Therefore, he had to resolve this.


    Fang Yuan stepped forward, held Jiang Xinlan''s wrist, and slowly channeled a stream of inner force into her.


    "Fire poison? So the culprit really is the Poison Fire Demon Lord."


    His eyes flashed with a layer of frost, and the power of cold True Primordial Qi started circulating quickly along his meridians.


    The power of cold ice was the natural nemesis of poison fire.


    "Oh!" Before long, Jiang Xinlan groaned on the bed and woke up.


    "Madam!" Everyone, including the maid Xiao Mei, the old servant, and even the Long-Hu brothers, was overjoyed. "You''re finally awake?"


    "Tianhan?" Jiang Xinlan mumbled. She was well aware that she had been poisoned by the poison palm of the Poison Fire Demon Lord, and in the entire Noble Mountain Sect, only Fang Tianhan had the ability to suppress the poison using the inner force of supreme cold.


    "No¡­ the sect master is still trapped. It was Young Master who saved you!"


    "Xu''er? Impossible!" Jiang Xinlan''s eyes became clear, but she was still extremely weak. "Tianhan¡­ i-is at Eagle End Peak. He should be able to endure for a period of time using the geographical advantage. Hurry up and seek help from the experts on the Martial Roll!"


    After saying a few sentences, she immediately lost consciousness.


    "No need to be alarmed. Madam has expended much of her vitality and needs to rest¡­"


    The old servant checked her pulse and looked at Fang Yuan full of disbelief. "Young Master¡­ your inner force?"


    "Stay here. I will be back soon!" Fang Yuan did not say much and immediately left.


    ¡­


    Noble Mountain Sect, main discussion hall.


    "Grand Elder¡­ How could you do this, giving no way out for the sect master?" said a voice filled with grief and anger. "The sect master is only under siege. He might still be alive."


    "He''s facing the grand guardian of the Demon Sect. The Poison Fire Demon Lord is a perfection-stage expert. Most of us are only at the intermediate stage. How could we fight him? As for asking outsiders for help, is there anyone on the Martial Roll who would be willing to make enemies of the Demon Sect for our sake?"


    The aged voice said confidently, "Fang Tianhan is definitely dead. There is no use thinking about it any further. Moreover, when he was the sect master, his behavior was atrocious, and we have suffered for a long time. We should elect a new sect master!"


    "So¡­ who do you have in mind?" Fang Yuan arrived outside the hall and sneered when he heard the grand elder''s words. He strode inside.


    "Young Master!" An elder in his thirties immediately greeted. "Th-they¡­"


    He was already choking on his words.


    Fang Yuan looked at these elders and sighed in his heart. Rats leaving a sinking ship!


    When Fang Tianhan was around, they treated him with respect and courtesy, but now there was only enmity and indifference!


    Only Xu Yu, who had been raised by Fang Tianhan, had a shred of loyalty.


    "Fang Xu, why are you here?" One of the elders frowned when he saw Fang Yuan.


    He was the grand elder of the Noble Mountain Sect, ''Zhang Zhenhan''. He was the most senior in the Noble Mountain Sect and had already reached intermediate Connate, only one step away from reaching the peak stage.


    "I''m also at the Connate realm, so why can''t I come here?" Fang Yuan smiled as he took a step forward. "The sect master isn''t dead yet. Are you trying to revolt?"


    Many elders turned pale upon hearing the question.


    "Hmph. Revolt? That''s right, we''re revolting!" The grand elder was hostile. "You father and son have done countless ill deeds in the Noble Mountain Sect. Today, this is karma and appropriate retribution!"


    "Is that so?" Fang Yuan shook his head. "How forgetful of you, Grand Elder. Just three months ago, your grandson killed the beloved son of the head of the Smooth-Sailing Express on the streets. It was the sect master who shouldered the consequences on your behalf. As for you, Elder Sun, you are responsible for the procurement of goods for the sect. I believe you''ve embezzled no less than fifty thousand tales of silver in total, right?


    "And you¡­ you¡­"


    After he casually mentioned the misdeeds of a few elders, whose faces were all flushed with embarrassment, they shouted angrily, "What a bunch of nonsense!"

 1012 Suppress

    All the Noble Mountain Sect''s elders held high positions and put on a sanctimonious act.


    They would go through hell before admitting anything.


    Of those that Fang Yuan accused, some flushed red with embarrassment, while others shouted in desperation. "Enough! Fang Xu, you have always acted arrogant and disrespectful. Now, you''ve gone even further and slandered the elders. I fear¡­ there is no longer a place for you in the Noble Mountain Sect."


    "Oh? Are you going to expel me?"


    Fang Yuan disregarded the anxious Xu Yu nearby. He said leisurely, "According to the sect regulations, concrete evidence and the approval of over half of the elders are required for the expulsion of someone at the Connate realm, right?"


    "You are notorious for your misdeeds. We are all witnesses!" Zhang Hanzhen was the first to stand out. "I propose expelling this treacherous disciple from the sect."


    "I agree with the grand elder!" Elder Sun, who had been accused by Fang Yuan of embezzlement, was the second to jump out. "Slandering your seniors. You have another crime to your name. I think we should cripple your martial arts."


    "That''s right. Cripple his martial arts!"


    "Everything he learned was from the Noble Mountain Sect. Since he is being expelled, he should naturally return them!"


    ¡­


    More elders soon joined them, and the headcount exceeded half.


    Fang Yuan looked at them carefully and found that Elder Zhang, who had sided with the Fang Tianhan faction before, was the most eager of them. Traitors were truly detestable.


    As for Xu Yu and a few other neutral Elders, they remained silent and unable to overturn the situation.


    "Very good. That''s over half of the elders. What else do you have to say, Fang Xu?" Zhang Hanzhen stepped forward triumphantly. "Hurry up and kneel down. Sincerely accept your punishment."


    "Ha!"


    Suddenly, a white sword appeared before Fang Yuan.


    It was Xu Yu!


    He held his sword and stood between Fang Xu and the elders, looking determined. "Fang Xu, hurry and leave. Don''t ever return!"


    "Xu Yu, how dare you go against the elders'' decision and cover for the traitor. Looks like there''s no place for you here either!"


    Zhang Hanzhen''s expression grew pale as he suddenly unleashed a wave of astonishing chill from his hands.


    This was the Noble Mountain Sect''s most powerful secret technique after the Sheer Cold Divine Formula, Black Ice Palm!


    Without Fang Tianhan here, Zhang Hanzhen was the Noble Mountain Sect''s strongest with his intermediate Connate cultivation and the Black Ice Palm!


    There was absolutely no way for Xu Yu to win with his initial Connate cultivation, not to mention that there were so many other Connate elders ready to help Zhang Hanzhen.


    "This is enough, Xu Yu. Step back for now!" Fang Yuan placed his right hand on Xu Yu''s shoulder. The terrifying power instantly made Xu Yu step aside, shocking him. "You¡­ your inner force!"


    "Bastard, how dare you pit yourself against me!" Zhang Hanzhen narrowed his eyes slightly before sneering. "Where''s your Drizzle Sword?"


    "There is no need for the sword to deal with you!"


    Fang Yuan stepped forward and shot out his right palm.


    "Ha! Black Ice Palm!" Zhang Hanzhen yelled. Ice covered his hands. Clearly, he was using his peak power, wanting to kill Fang Yuan with one attack.


    Smack!


    The two palms collided, and a figure flew out, knocking into a red pillar and shaking the entire hall.


    "Pft¡­ Impossible!" Zhang Hanzhen coughed out a blood mist that turned into ice midair, his face filled with disbelief. "Sheer¡­ Sheer Cold Intent?!"


    "What?" The expressions of the elders immediately changed.


    "Fang Xu has comprehended the ultimate intent of the Sheer Cold Divine Formula? How is this possible? He is only at initial Connate!"


    "Although there have been devilish geniuses in history who mastered intent before the perfection stage, they were at least at the intermediate stage!"


    "This brat is horrifying. He''s basically already reserved a seat at the perfection stage in the future! There won''t be any bottlenecks on his way to Connate perfection!"


    ¡­


    After comprehending an intent, one''s inner force would undergo qualitative change. Although it was still at an initial Connate amount, its power was dramatically superior to the past.


    Fang Yuan withdrew his palm and stood proudly. "You treacherous bunch. I suspect that Zhang Hanzhen is the Demon Sect''s spy! Otherwise, why would he so urgently want to cut off my father''s way out?"


    "Fang Xu, you slanderer!"


    Of course, they could never admit such accusations. A lapdog of the grand elder faction jumped out. "Everyone, attack!"


    "Haha¡­ Sheer Cold!"


    The color of white frost flashed in Fang Yuan''s eyes, and the surrounding temperature plummeted. It was as though they had arrived in a world of ice and snow in an instant.


    Swoosh!


    His body shifted, creating many illusionary images across the entire hall.


    Bang!


    Bang!


    Elders were struck down by palm attacks, collapsing onto the floor with pale faces.


    Although the Sheer Cold Divine Formula was already powerful, Fang Yuan''s Marital Dao experience offset its weaknesses, pushing the technique to a whole new level.


    At least, the execution of the moves had already reached a point where there was nothing to improve.


    Coupled with the Sheer Cold Intent pressure, there was no chance of retaliating for anyone below peak Connate.


    By the time Fang Yuan stopped, a layer of white mist had shrouded the entire hall. With the exception of Xu Yu and a few other neutral elders, everyone had collapsed.


    He had suppressed an entire sect alone!


    Fang Tianhan had done the same before, which was why he did not take these elders seriously.


    Fang Yuan had the same mentality.


    In this world, strength still dominated! Upon reaching Connate, one would be fearless in the face of group attacks to a certain extent.


    After comprehending intent, the strength of one person could suppress an entire sect! Just as Fang Yuan had done.


    "Genius! As expected of the top genius on the Hidden Dragon Roll¡­ Your strength is enough for the Martial Roll now, right?"


    Zhang Hanzhen leaned against a pillar and said aggrievedly, "You hid your strength really deeply!"


    "Why would I want to enter the Martial Roll just to place last?" Fang Yuan naturally needed to find an excuse for hiding his strength. "I will only enter the Martial Roll if I can place in the top ten!"


    The top ten of the Martial Roll had all surpassed the Connate realm, stepping into another god-like realm.


    "All right. Since you''ve colluded with the Demon Sect, I will carry out the sect regulations and send you to the afterlife!"


    Fang Yuan moved in front of Zhang Hanzhen.


    Regardless of if he really did collude with the Demon Sect, his fate was already sealed.


    The victors wrote history, and they could paint the losers in any shade of black they pleased. At least, as long as the Fang faction was in power, the grand elder faction would forever be nailed on the wall of shame.


    "You¡­ so vicious!"


    Zhang Hanzhen was clear about this too. His eyes were suddenly bloodshot before they dimmed. "The winner is king. What else can I say? I just can''t get over how heaven''s will favors you and your father!"


    "Heaven''s will?"


    Fang Yuan''s lips curled. He stepped forward and delivered a fatal palm blow.


    "Young Sect Master, please spare us!"


    "We will sincerely follow you and pledge ourselves to your service!"


    ¡­


    The other elders all began pleading for their lives, but it was to no avail.


    Even Xu Yu could not bear looking at the scene. He tried asking Fang Yuan to stop, but Fang Yuan resolutely refused.


    Heaven''s will? Haha¡­ Heaven''s will is now fully against me, so I can''t leave any hidden dangers in the sect¡­


    Fang Yuan had his own comprehension of heaven''s will.


    There were natural and man-made disasters. Natural disasters were uncontrollable, but according to the rules of this world, it could not use natural disasters against him either.


    As for man-made disasters, no matter how strong heaven''s will was, a catalyst was required for it to trigger.


    What he needed to do was to eradicate all possibilities.


    After finishing this, even if there is any unrest in the lower levels of the Noble Mountain Sect, Xu Yu should be able to deal with it. Next, I need to find a place to hide Jiang Xinlan¡­ Then I will head to Mount Sky Pillar''s Eagle End Peak to save Fang Tianhan!


    ¡­


    Two hours later, a few swift horses bolted out of the Noble Mountain Sect''s gate.


    "Young Sect Master, we did as you ordered. We brought three hundred-year Cold Fruits and a bottle of Primordial Enhancement Pills. We found them in the personal warehouse of the grand elder," reported Zhang Long.


    "Very good!"


    Horseback was no different from smooth roads to Fang Yuan. After receiving the parcel, he opened it to find a cold jade box and a small black bottle.


    "Primordial Enhancement Pills are extremely precious Connate-level pills that can greatly increase cultivation power. The old git was indeed in touch with others. Did he want to rely on these pills to advance to peak Connate?


    "As for the hundred-year Cold Fruits, they are a treasure of the Noble Mountain Sect. They can''t be used without permission from the sect master and over half the elders."


    However, Fang Yuan now called the shots for the entire Noble Mountain Sect. Naturally, he could take anything he wanted.


    The cold jade box contained the hundred-year Cold Fruits. They looked like green apples and were equivalent to a hundred years of the Noble Mountain Sect''s accumulations. They were one of the most valuable treasures of the sect.


    Fang Yuan ate each one in a single mouthful as he continued riding on horseback.


    Even Zhang Long''s eyes were twitching at the scene.


    Ordinary Connates had to eat them slowly to absorb the cold essence in the fruits.


    However, Fang Yuan''s realm was already comparable to the perfection stage, only lacking in Connate True Force. In addition, he had confidence in regulating all kinds of True Primordial Qi, so he was naturally unafraid.


    After finishing the fruits, he opened the black bottle and poured all the pills into his mouth, chewing on them as though they were beans.


    "Not bad, not bad¡­ The Primordial Enhancement Pills are very potent for initial Connate martial artists¡­"


    Fang Yuan looked inside his dantian and saw his Connate True Primordial Qi increase explosively under the effects of the pills. They mixed with the Cold Intent of the hundred-year Cold Fruits and refined continuously.


    In the blink of an eye, the Connate True Primordial Qi became more concentrated, looking like rays of brilliant radiance.


    "I''ve reached intermediate Connate!"


    Fang Yuan calculated in his mind. "If I can devour the thousand-year Cold Heart Vine on Mount Sky Pillar as well, I could probably advance to peak Connate or even Connate perfection! After all, the difference between peak and perfection is only the comprehension of Intent¡­"


    ¡­


    Eagle End Peak.


    An eagle landed with a bamboo container in its talons.


    "Grand Guardian!"


    A Demon Sect disciple retrieved the news and immediately presented it to Poison Fire Demon Lord Sun Yan. "The Noble Mountain Sect''s situation has changed. Zhang Hanzhen failed!"


    "Useless piece of trash!"


    Sun Yan was tall, with a high nose bridge and sunken eyes. His eyes were blue, and his flame-like curly hair looked as though it was ready to burst into flames at any moment.


    He was furious. "Hasten the surround. I must get my hands on the thousand-year Cold Heart Vine!"

 1013 Rescue

    Sun Yan cultivated a Demon Sect technique called the Poison Fire Demon Art.


    The technique was extremely powerful and imbued with a potent fire poison that was astonishingly lethal.


    However, it suffered from a hidden danger, the fire poison backlash, which would cause psychological damage.


    With Sun Yan''s perfection-stage cultivation, it was already evident that the higher one cultivated the Poison Fire Demon Art, the higher the chance of the backlash.


    With his mental cultivation, he could vaguely sense that he absolutely should not break through to the next level. But even if his cultivation remained stagnant, he would still gradually suffer the demon art''s backlash!


    The only ways to help him were either finding a rare treasure or having someone at his cultivation level fill him with cold attribute cultivation power to suppress the demon art.


    The thousand-year Cold Heart Vine was one such treasure.


    "However, this Fang Tianhan is also within my consideration. The thousand-year Cold Heart Vine can only suppress the backlash. But if I capture him and use the Primordial Devouring Secret Art to devour his cold attribute True Primordial Qi, my Poison Fire Demon Art will surely advance to the next level. I might even reach the sect master''s realm!"


    This was also why he had repeatedly held back, allowing Fang Tianhan to survive until now.


    The difficulty of capturing someone alive was much greater than simply killing them.


    ¡­


    "Poison Fire Demon Lord Sun Yan is ranked number twenty-seven on the Martial Roll. Fang Tianhan isn''t a match for him in a fair fight!"


    Fang Yuan was not reckless. While he raced on horseback, he was also making plans in his mind.


    His opponent was someone at Connate perfection who had also comprehended intent and definitely had inner force far above his own as well.


    "To deal with him, I should first increase my inner force as much as possible. Second, I should strengthen my intent."


    Martial Dao True Intents were not something that remained static.


    Looking at the snowflake pattern of the Sheer Cold Divine Formula and comprehending the Sheer Cold Intent were only the first steps to mastering intent.


    "Although I can bully intermediate Connate martial artists and below after comprehending the Sheer Cold Intent, it is only the most shallow utilization of intent. There are still three more levels¡ªmicro integration, physical integration, and psychological integration!"


    Micro integration involved mastering the finest details of intent, thereby achieving smooth control over intent.


    Generally speaking, after comprehending intent, ordinary perfection-stage martial artists required only time to achieve this level.


    As for the next level, physical integration, it was more difficult. It was using True Intent to protect one''s body at all times to achieve a flawless defense.


    Those at this level could potentially place in the top twenty on the Martial Roll.


    As for the final psychological integration, it involved manifesting True Intent as tangible and unlocking all kinds of superhuman abilities.


    The martial artists who attained True Intent psychological integration were God-tier, and the top ten on the Martial Roll were at this strength.


    "True Intent psychological integration is the most basic requirement for the realm after Connate¡­ The top ten on the Martial Roll must have surpassed Connate¡­"


    Fang Yuan took a deep breath. "I already achieved micro integration when I attained True Intent, but physical and psychological integration require more than just comprehension."


    In Fang Yuan''s opinion, physical integration was a state where intent covered the entire body automatically while consuming very little energy.


    These kinds of martial artists were naturally more terrifying.


    As for psychological integration, there were some requirements for psyche strength.


    "Physical integration! Done!"


    Coldness flashed in Fang Yuan''s eyes. The Sheer Cold Intent appeared, but he did not release it and instead stored it in various parts of his body. "Unfortunately¡­ I lack enough inner force to reach psychological integration. I''ll have to wait until my inner force is at least at peak Connate before automatically breaking through."


    Comprehension and realm were closely related to strength, inner qualities, and so on.


    Otherwise, everything would merely be an illusion.


    For example, even if a mortal were to suddenly possess the mental realm of a Demon Master, they would still die if they ran into a Demon General.


    Although intent was good, corresponding strength was needed to unleash its power!


    With Fang Yuan''s potential and comprehension, psychological integration was easily attainable, but without sufficient psyche strength, he would still be unable to fully materialize intent.


    "The humans of this world have limitations on their Connate psyche strength. Unless their cultivation power reaches the peak, they are absolutely unable to meet the requirements for psychological integration!"


    Fang Yuan''s eyes flashed coldly. "Realm and strength should not differ too much. Is this a hidden rule of this world?"


    "Young Master, we''re here!"


    They arrived at a mountain range.


    Zhang Long and the others abandoned their horses and entered the thick woods using their lightness skill. "Mount Sky Pillar covers a wide area, and Demon Sect disciples are unable to seal it off completely. We can enter from another direction, but there''s only one path to Eagle End Peak. The Poison Fire Demon Lord will inevitably be there in person, and we won''t be able to bluff our way in!


    "Let''s head to Eagle End Peak first!"


    Fang Yuan did not tell them his plan and only issued his order.


    Eagle End Peak!


    It was Mount Sky Pillar''s highest peak. Three sides were extremely steep and smooth like walls. There was even something called the Thousand Strands Hanging Rock Snake, which was very venomous and aggressive. Even Connate perfection martial artists would find it arduous to fend off large amounts of snakes when climbing.


    The only way to reach the summit was a single narrow passageway on the east side.


    Fang Tianhan, the Noble Mountain Sect Master, was currently trapped on this peak. He was relying on this dangerous narrow passageway to strenuously support himself.


    Fang Yuan looked at the steep peak and exclaimed, "Is this Eagle End Peak? It''s indeed perilous!"


    "Young Master, please give us your instructions!"


    Zhang Long and the others were already loyal, but after the Noble Mountain Sect incident, they now had a fantastic trust in Fang Yuan.


    "You won''t do anything. With your martial arts, you''ll only be burdens!" Fang Yuan said bluntly. "So¡­ you just have to leave the way out open for me. I''ll go alone!"


    "Young Master¡­" Zhang Long said anxiously, "you''re our hope for the future. Please don''t do anything rash!"


    Evidently, in his opinion, Fang Yuan''s breakthrough and mastery of a Martial Dao True Intent still left a significant gap between Fang Yuan and someone on the Martial Roll like Poison Fire Demon Lord Sun Yan.


    "Rest assured!"


    Fang Yuan waved his hand, disappeared into the shadows of the woods, and approached Eagle End Peak at blinding speed.


    As he neared the peak, the Demon Sect disciples'' patrols quickly became more frequent and strict.


    However, it was basically impossible for the disciples to discover Fang Yuan hidden in the thick woods with their Acquired cultivation.


    He climbed Eagle End Peak agilely and arrived near the summit.


    After getting a clear look, Fang Yuan immediately groaned. "Is that the narrow passageway? It''s clearly a narrow bridge!"


    He saw a large group of Demon Sect disciples huddled at a spot, blocking the way to the summit of the peak.


    In other words, the only way to reach the summit was a narrow ridge that was just wide enough to fit a single foot. There were only cliffs on the sides of the ridge. It was truly a dangerous path.


    At the end of the path, there was a vaguely visible middle-aged man. He was wearing Noble Mountain Sect clothes that were rich and magnificent. He stood there proudly with an imposing demeanor.


    He was Fang Xu''s father, the Noble Mountain Sect Master, Fang Tianhan.


    Under these circumstances, even Sun Yan is unlikely to dare to fight Fang Tianhan. No wonder he managed to hold on until now.


    Fang Yuan understood everything with a single glance.


    Regretfully, while it was easy to defend at that spot, he had pushed himself into a corner as well.


    His only path out was blocked.


    The Poison Fire Demon Lord tried to persuade Fang Tianhan to surrender in a loud and clear voice. "Fang Tianhan, are you still unwilling to surrender? Your wife and son have already fallen into my hands!"


    "I won''t believe anything unless I see it for myself!" Fang Tianhan struck an imposing pose with a resolute expression. "Not to mention¡­ I''m afraid my family''s disaster would truly start the moment I surrender, right?"


    "Stubborn!" Poison Fire Demon Lord Sun Yan shouted angrily, feeling rather helpless.


    At Connate perfection, a martial artist had also thoroughly trained their willpower, and they would not waver once they made a decision.


    The only solution was to erode his will slowly.


    Compared to Fang Tianhan, he had food and water. Even Connate perfection martial artists would eventually lose their energy. After all, this was a Martial Dao world, and there were no cultivators that could live on just wind and dew.


    The only thing he was afraid of was the possibility of Fang Tianhan jumping off the cliff to commit suicide when he was exhausted. In that case, there would really be nothing left for him to gain.


    "That Zhang Hanzhen was so useless. Getting him to seize Fang Tianhan''s wife and son was a big mistake!"


    Only the surviving elders knew of Fang Yuan''s mastery of Intent and his massacre of the elders in the discussion hall.


    After the massacre, the surviving elders did not breathe a word of it to anyone. Although ordinary disciples knew that there had been a coup, they were not aware that Fang Yuan had dealt with it all by himself.


    According to Zhang Hanzhen''s plan, he would have first justifiably expelled Fang Xu and Jiang Xinlan out of the sect and then secretly send kidnappers after them.


    Unfortunately, he had hesitated for the sake of a righteous image and was finally defeated by Fang Yuan in a single blow.


    All schemes and plots became jokes in the face of absolute power.


    "The situation now is a game of endurance. Fang Tianhan can''t come out, but the Demon Sect disciples can''t get in either!"


    Fang Yuan looked on coldly. "Sun Yan must be the one with Caucasian features. He is the only one at Connate perfection. But to maintain his physical and mental strength while wearing Fang Tianhan down, he must take a rest to eat and drink from time to time. That will be my chance."


    Of course, there was plenty of manpower in Demon Sect. Even if Sun Yan took a rest, there were the peak Connate left and right guardians guarding the narrow path.


    Although they were slightly weaker than perfection-stage martial artists, it would not be easy for Fang Tianhan to break through them.


    It would only take a small delay before Sun Yan could hurry back. As such, it was absolutely safe.


    "However, this arrangement targets Fang Tianhan alone!"


    Fang Yuan approached quietly, knocked a disciple unconscious, changed into the disciple''s clothes, and sneaked into the inner layer.


    Sun Yan frowned. "Damn it. His endurance is really high. Left and Right Guardians! Keep watch over the path, and don''t let Fang Tianhan break through here! I''m going to take a rest."


    "Rest assured, Grand Guardian!"


    The two peak Connate experts nodded and kept watch over the path, while Sun Yan started resting in a temporary pergola.


    "Chance!"


    Fang Yuan''s eyes gleamed.

 1014 Peak

    "Be careful. The opponent is a perfection-stage Martial Roll member!"


    The left and right guardians of the Demon Sect watched Fang Tianhan''s every moment with an eagle eye.


    "Don''t worry. Even if our combined strength isn''t a match for a perfection-stage opponent, we can use the terrain to our advantage and hold him back for a while. This''ll be enough time for the grand guardian to come over!"


    The left guardian said confidently, "I can guarantee that there is no way out for Fang Tianhan by himself! Moreover, we are the Demon Sect! Which perfection-stage martial artist would dare court death against the Demon Emperor? Wait for the Divine Monk and the Heavenly Sword Sect Master? Hehe¡­ they are too far away and possibly even training in seclusion. Who knows what year it''ll be by the time they make it here¡­"


    The Unparalleled Demon Emperor was at the top of the Martial Roll, and his might was known throughout the world.


    The Divine Monk and the Heavenly Sword Sect Master were second and third respectively. Although they were slightly weaker than the Demon Emperor in a one-on-one fight, they could match or even defeat the Demon Emperor if they joined forces. The fate of the righteous side of the Pugilistic World resided with them.


    However, the left and right guardians were clear about the circumstances.


    Fang Tianhan''s connections with the top experts were only average, and ordinary perfection-stage martial artists would not dare come since most of them would only be courting death.


    Those God-tier experts who could save him were either indifferent or too far away.


    In other words, the chance of him surviving was nonexistent.


    "As for the Noble Mountain Sect, excluding Fang Tianhan, there are only a few that can hold their own. I heard that the grand guardian had even gifted the grand elder a bottle of Primordial Enhancement Pills, but he still failed to control the situation. He''s also a useless piece of trash. After finishing this matter at Eagle End Peak, we should rush over there and destroy the sect!"


    The left guardian grinned nastily. "I haven''t destroyed a top sect before."


    Swoosh!


    While they were exchanging voice transmissions, they suddenly heard the sound of cloth flapping in the wind.


    "Hmm? Who is it?"


    They were battle-hardened and experienced and immediately put their backs against each other. One faced the pathway, and the other the rear.


    "Guardians?" A group of Demon Sect disciples gathered around them.


    "Die!" A figure hiding among the disciples burst out and attacked with his palms.


    Whoosh whoosh!


    A cold wind began blowing, as though the surroundings had transformed into a world of ice and snow.


    "Sheer Cold Divine Formula! Intent of Cold? A hidden perfection-stage expert from the Noble Mountain Sect?" The right guardian thought quickly before shouting angrily, "Go all out!"


    They did not have the slightest leeway to think of other things when facing a perfection-stage opponent.


    "Okay!" the left guardian answered, and they connected their cultivation power through their backs.


    The left and right guardians achieved their high position in the Demon Sect not only through reaching peak Connate but also with a combination battle technique called Brothers Together. Using this technique, they were able to connect their inner force and hold up even against someone at the perfection stage for a while.


    Bang!


    Four palms connected. The right guardian felt a chilling intent penetrating his body, but the inner force was not too strong. He was ecstatic. "We have a chance!"


    Unfortunately, taking advantage of the moment when his body froze from receiving the Cold Intent, the figure sent out another four palm attacks in a split second.


    "Hold on! The grand guardian is on his way!"


    The right guardian repeatedly fell back while taking on continuous strikes.


    But the next moment, his back felt empty, and a scream came. He trembled. "Not good. Behind me is¡­"


    Smack!


    While distracted, he received a palm attack on his chest, sending him flying backward into the gorge behind.


    Even for perfection-stage martial artists, falling from this height was fatal.


    "They had greater cultivation power than me, but my intent was more powerful. The fight was indeed time-consuming, but behind them was a cliff, which was advantageous for me!"


    After succeeding in his attack, Fang Yuan blitzed past the path in a few steps without stopping.


    Behind him, an aura full of rage and flames seemed to be close at hand.


    "Who?"


    The commotion had naturally alerted Fang Tianhan.


    He stood guard at the end of the bridge and sensed Fang Yuan rushing over. He was about to attack, but after clearly seeing the face, he was incomparably astonished. He sent a palm attack behind Fang Yuan. "Poison Fire Demon Lord!"


    "Hmph!" A cold snort came, and the clash of fire and ice True Qi exploded in midair. A black figure quickly retreated, taking a few steps to return to the Demon Sect disciples. "Fang Tianhan! Good! Let''s see how long you can last!"


    After all, Sun Yan did not want to die. If he were to fight Fang Tianhan on the narrow path with a sheer cliff on either side, the other party could possibly end the fight in mutual destruction.


    "The left and right guardians were really useless¡­ Being forced off the cliff after just a few rounds! Who is it exactly? Is it the Great River Alliance Leader, Xuan Tianzi?"


    He stared at the other side and was suddenly shocked.


    Because there was a young man not even in his thirties.


    "Xu''er¡­ how come it''s you and your martial arts?" Fang Tianhan was surprised and happy.


    "I comprehended intent and luckily broke through. Where''s the thousand-year Cold Heart Vine?" Fang Yuan asked directly.


    "Here!" Fang Tianhan took out a green vine from his sleeve. There was a naturally-formed pattern on its surface. "A thousand-year spiritual treasure indeed. Its Cold Intent is restrained and instead gives people a feeling of warmth!"


    Even hundred-year-old spiritual treasures were extremely rare in this world. For example, the hundred-year Cold Fruits that Fang Yuan had consumed earlier was the sect treasure of the Noble Mountain Sect.


    As for thousand-year ones, they were even more valuable.


    Due to the nomological rules of this world, even ginseng, tuber fleeceflower, and so on would gradually petrify and lose their medicinal properties if they reached a thousand years.


    It was only under chance coincidences that treasures could obtain a bit of heaven and earth energy to grow into thousand-year spiritual medicines. They were tempting to even God-tier experts.


    This was because consuming thousand-year medicines had a thirty to forty percent chance of increasing the comprehension of intent!


    Although the descriptions of its effects were vague, they were tempting enough to drive ordinary Connate martial artists crazy.


    Of course, consuming the thousand-year Cold Heart Vine also protected the soul from the influence of mental demons, prevented backlashes, and greatly increased inner force. These effects had all been proven.


    "Your mother and I accidentally found this on our travels. We were overjoyed and harvested it immediately, intending to give it to you. Unfortunately¡­" Fang Tianhan shook his head and sighed.


    Although his son had become extremely strong, he did not suspect his identity in the slightest.


    This was because perfection-stage martial artists were able to extend their intent to the external world and sense many things, including souls and auras. Even the best disguise could not change the soul.


    "Great. Let me eat it, and then we''ll fight our way together!"


    Fang Yuan received the Cold Heart Vine and immediately chomped it as though he were chewing a sugar cane.


    "Ah¡­ you little bastard, how dare you?" Poison Fire Demon Lord Sun Yan''s eyes turned red. "Get the archers!"


    "Grand Guardian, do you want to kill them?" a Demon Sect disciple asked.


    "Idiot!!" Sun Yan smacked him down to the ground. "At this distance, even ordinary Connates can dodge arrows. Only those shot by archers specially trained in the Archery Dao in our sect would have any effect. Bring a bunch of fire-repeating crossbows as well!"


    Of course, to muster such a large force would not only be time-consuming, but the righteous side would certainly respond as well.


    "Block the path. If they try to come over, fire! Aim at the path. At close range, they won''t be able to dodge the arrows no matter how nimble they are!"


    Sun Yan stared at Fang Yuan, who began meditating cross-legged. His eyes flashed fiercely. "So that''s the dandy son of Fang Tianhan, Fang Xu? Something seems off. He should be at the perfection stage if he was able to overpower the left and right guardians in a head-on fight¡­ Well, since you swallowed my Cold Heart Vine, I will swallow your inner force. The Cold Ice True Primordial Qi of both father and son will be able to suppress my backlash and increase my strength as well."


    "A thousand-year spiritual treasure is indeed miraculous!"


    Fang Yuan felt the change of the True Primordial Qi in his body while meditating cross-legged.


    If the essence of the hundred-year Cold Fruit was like a gently flowing stream, then the boost of this thousand-year spiritual treasure was like a raging river.


    However, with his mental control, he could digest even ten-thousand-year spiritual treasures without a problem.


    Suddenly, his True Primordial Qi surged and condensed under the Cold Intent, eventually taking a solid pill-shaped form with dark-blue frost patterns on top.


    "Connate inner core? The formation of the core signifies peak Connate!"


    Fang Yuan nodded. "Comprehending a Martial Dao True Intent after reaching peak Connate is Connate perfection¡­ But since I have already taken this step, I am a Connate perfection martial artist now."


    Even under the seal, his insight and comprehension were unparalleled.


    It had taken mere days after awakening his true self to achieve strength near the pinnacle of this world! This was the terror of Demon Gods.


    By now, Fang Yuan had absolute confidence in himself. Even if he were to lose everything, including the stats window cheat, he would be able to rise quickly in any mortal world.


    After breaking through, he walked toward the narrow path. "Poison Fire Demon Lord, I want to fight you one-on-one. Do you dare take me on?"


    "Hold your fire and let him come." Sun Yan''s expression was cold. "You want to fight me one-on-one? How brave!"


    He was secretly ecstatic. He doesn''t know what true power is, so he believes that the perfection stage is impressive? Even his father is no match for me. Very well. I''ll take him down first and then use him as a hostage.


    "Xu''er!" Fang Tianhan shouted anxiously. However, Fang Yuan gestured with his eye to make him drawback.


    "Tsk Tsk¡­ Sun Yan, what a sorry sight. You were unable to take down a mere Fang Tianhan after so much time." A creepy voice emerged, but there was no trace, making Sun Yan''s expression change.


    "Vice Sect Master?"


    "Hurry up and take down that brat. I''ll make sure that Fang Tianhan can''t come over!" the creepy voice transmitted.


    "Okay!" Sun Yan was immediately overjoyed. He had been a little worried that the brat would risk his life to pin him down while Fang Tianhan charged across.


    However, reinforcements from the Demon Sect had finally arrived.


    While this vice sect master ranked even lower than him on the Martial Roll, his assassination abilities were the best in the world. Even the top ten feared him.


    As things stood, there was no chance for failure.

 1015 Ranking

    "It will be a joy to kill a young peerless genius like you!" Sun Yan licked his lips, a hint of madness in his eyes. "Brat, blame your own bitter fate!"


    A brand-new, perfection-stage martial artist, and one so young, was about to be defeated, even killed by him. How was his fate not bitter?


    "You speak too much nonsense!"


    Fang Yuan glanced at the surroundings before he suddenly advanced and lightly sent out a palm attack.


    Once the palm reached midair, it suddenly changed into two, then into four, then into eight¡­ Hands eclipsed the sky, each carrying incredible cold force, causing the surroundings to turn into a world of ice and snow in an instant.


    "The Floating Flower Flying Catkin Palm of the Noble Mountain Sect? It has such incredible power?"


    Sun Yan was shocked and kept falling back. "Poison Fire Demon Art!"


    Whoosh!


    His hands turned red, and heat waves emanated continuously from them. The insides of his palms were pitch-black, clearly extremely poisonous.


    The two figures turned illusory and exchanged hundreds of blows in an instant.


    The vice sect master observing in the dark grew more and more astonished as the fight went on. "Fang Xu of the Noble Mountain Sect? He''s just broken through to perfection and hasn''t had time to consolidate, yet he''s an even match with Sun Yan? Incredible¡­ No! Taking his age into account, he must be one of the top three most talented martial artists in the last thousand years. Truly amazing. Even the young Demon Emperor wasn''t at this level!


    "Such a talented young man of the righteous path must be eradicated early!"


    Swoosh!


    Fang Yuan reached out to his belt. A silver light jumped out and flew around like a dragon before sinking into the ground like a meteor.


    Drizzle Sword!


    This was Fang Xu''s hidden weapon, forged from hundred-times-refined soft steel and normally wrapped around his waist. Suddenly unleashing it at this time, it was truly unexpected, like a poison dragon out of water. Even Sun Yan retreated swiftly.


    He was somewhat baffled when the Sword Qi vanished into the ground.


    But the next moment, a volley of blood burst out!


    "Boy¡­ you dare injure me!" a creepy voice resounded, seemingly distancing itself a few kilometers away in an instant.


    "He¡­ even found the vice sect master. Even I didn''t know where he was!"


    Sun Yan was incredibly shocked.


    The vice sect master, the Blood-Snake Sword Master, was the renowned top assassin in the world.


    Although he was at the bottom of the Martial Roll, when it came to stealth, even Sun Yan could not have detected him if he had not sent a voice transmission! How did Fang Xu find him?


    "As expected, there was a rat¡­"


    Fang Yuan gently blew the blood on his sword off, and the sword blade shone. "I was just playing with you earlier. How could I defeat you in peace before finding that guy?"


    In fact, even he had not discovered where the Blood-Snake Sword Master was at the start.


    However, with his incredible amount of experience, he had keenly sensed danger.


    Therefore, he pretended to fight with Sun Yan while secretly checking the surroundings. Eventually, he found the Blood-Snake Sword Master and severely injured him with a surprise attack.


    "However¡­ that rat''s vitality is rather strong! He managed to escape, but he''s suffered internal injuries from my Cold Frost Sword Qi and won''t be able to return to the battlefield for a while!"


    Fang Yuan looked at the Poison Fire Demon Lord. "So, how do you want to die?"


    "Attack!" Sun Yan''s expression changed, and he retreated in a flash. "Archers, fire!"


    Immediately, all of the Demon Sect disciples rushed over.


    Fang Yuan was not the least bit afraid. The soft sword turned into silver light and protected him. No hidden weapon, arrow, or any other attacks were able to reach within even one meter of him. It was like an absolute territory.


    "Sun Yan, are you going to run?" Fang Yuan quickly caught up to Sun Yan. "Unfortunately¡­ you''re not as skilled as the Blood-Snake Sword Master and won''t be able to escape!"


    "Damn¡­ you really think that I can''t deal with you?" Veins popped up on Sun Yan''s forehead, and he waved his hands. "Poison Flame, Incinerate All!"


    Rumble!


    A layer of red True Primordial Qi appeared, its surface burning with poison fire, and covered everything.


    "World of Snow!"


    Fang Yuan split the True Primordial Qi in two with his sword, and a thin line of blood appeared on Sun Yan''s forehead.


    "Second level of intent, physical integration?" The amazing vitality of a perfection-stage martial artist allowed him to keep talking. "You can already be among the top twenty on the Martial Roll. I didn''t lose unjustly!"


    There were three levels to intent. Ordinary perfection-stages experts were at the first level, micro integration. After mastering physical integration, they could more or less rank in the top twenty of the Martial Roll.


    In some generations, the weaker ones in the top ten were at this level as well.


    As for the third level, psychological integration, one could break through the Connate realm and compete for first place on the Martial Roll!


    "¡­ Cough cough¡­ I''m so bitter. I almost succeeded. Ah, my Poison Fire Demon Art¡­" Sun Yan groaned, breathed his last, and slowly collapsed.


    "Grand Guardian¡­ the grand guardian is dead!"


    After seeing what happened, the Demon Sect disciples immediately dispersed.


    "This grand guardian should have something good on him, right?"


    Fang Yuan grabbed Sun Yan, searched him, and found a bundle of banknotes, as well as various sundries like tinder, a Demon Sect jade pendant, etc. He could not help shaking his head.


    "Eh?" After sensing with his intent, he grabbed Sun Yan''s robe again. "Something''s strange!"


    Whoosh!


    After tearing the robe open, a piece of golden silk flew out. "Hmm, something hidden so carefully in the robes must be valuable. Perhaps it''s his cultivation technique?"


    Fang Yuan did not give it much thought and put the golden silk in his clothes.


    "Xu''er, I didn''t expect you to have reached such a level already!"


    Fang Tianhan walked over, his face full of surprise. He had watched Fang Yuan break through to the perfection stage before his very eyes, but Fang Yuan was unexpectedly so powerful that he defeated and killed Sun Yan.


    "It''s nothing. Let''s return!"


    Fang Yuan shook his head, not thinking that he had done anything remarkable.


    ¡­


    A month later, the Noble Mountain Sect.


    "The latest issue of the Martial Roll is out!" Zhang Long handed a report to Fang Yuan respectfully. "Young Master, you''re now ranked thirteenth!"


    "Oh?" Fang Yuan took the report.


    "Martial Roll thirteenth: The Noble Mountain Sect''s Young Sect Master Fang Xu. Defeated and killed Poison Fire Demon Lord Sun Yan while simultaneously forcing the Demon Sect''s Blood-Snake Sword Master to retreat. Skilled in palm and sword techniques. His Cold Intent is even stronger than his father''s. Alias ''Drizzle Sword''!"


    "It''s just a small matter. I have already told you, don''t bother me unless something earthshaking happens!"


    Fang Yuan sent Zhang Long away and took out the piece of golden silk. "I wanted to obtain the Poison Fire Demon Lord''s cultivation technique, but unfortunately, it''s this secret technique, Primordial Devouring Secret Art. Haha¡­ what use do I have for swallowing so much heterogeneous inner force?"


    He had hoped to obtain Sun Yan''s secret manual, not for cultivating but for learning the intent within.


    In this peculiar world, the more intents he learned, the higher the chance he had of comprehending its nomological rules and finding its flaws.


    Other than that, everything else was merely an illusion.


    "Although I can try comprehending them by myself, it''d definitely be much slower than studying secret manuals¡­ Too bad the secret manuals that come with Martial Dao True Intents are all sect treasures of the top sects and extremely difficult to obtain!"


    Fang Yuan sighed. Suddenly, his eyes became absent-minded.


    In his sea of consciousness, a hexagonal snowflake fell. Its points extended and suddenly turned real.


    ¡­


    Great River Alliance.


    "What? That Fang Xu is at Connate perfection, and he even killed Sun Yan?"


    Ling Xian''er''s mouth opened into a circle, her face full of disbelief.


    "What''s the matter? Daughter, are you regretting now?"


    Xuan Tianzi looked at this situation with great interest.


    "No¡­ his character is bad. No matter how skilled he is, he is nothing but trouble!" Ling Xian''er gazed into the distance.


    Below, Wang Tianming was training hard.


    This person was gifted as well. After being taken in by Xuan Tianzi, he had broken through to the Connate realm in a matter of days and had unlimited potential.


    However, compared to Fang Xu, he paled in comparison.


    "What should we do? Big Brother Tianming arranged to fight that bad guy in three years." Ling Xian''er''s eyes were full of anxiety. "Daddy, hurry up and think of something¡­"


    "I-I can''t even defeat Sun Yan, so what could I possibly come up with¡­" Xuan Tianzi stroked his beard, and his expression turned somewhat mysterious. "However, this reckless disciple of mine has a chance. Although his previous martial arts were rather basic, they had strong fundamentals and secrets hidden within. It''s obvious that an expert had taught him¡­ I''ve investigated many sources and confirmed that the traveling Daoist that taught him is the Drunken Daoist!"


    "The Drunken Daoist, the one with the motto, carefree journey without looking back, everything is in meat and wine?"


    Ling Xian''er''s eyes brightened. "This senior is ranked fourth on the Martial Roll. Moreover, unlike the top three, he''s the only one who''s an itinerant martial artist. If he had had a better background, he could have possibly competed with the Heavenly Sword Sect Master, the Demon Emperor, and the Divine Monk."


    The Drunken Daoist was the idol of all itinerant martial artists.


    "That''s right!" Xuan Tianzi obviously understood more than Ling Xian''er. "It''s a pity that Tianming''s luck wasn''t quite enough and didn''t establish a master-disciple relationship with the Drunken Daoist. Otherwise, with his backing, what could a mere Noble Mountain Sect do?"


    Although all of them were Martial Roll experts, the God-tier top ten were on a totally different level compared to those below them.


    "But¡­ Daddy, you''ve already taken him as an in-name disciple¡­"


    Ling Xian''er''s eyes gleamed, then she suddenly clapped her hands while smiling. "It seems like there isn''t any rule that says you can''t have more than one master!"


    "My daughter, you''re helping an outsider at my expense¡­"


    Xuan Tianzi wanted to continue joking, but his expression suddenly changed. He looked at the ceiling. "Since you''ve come here, don''t hide. Show yourself!"


    Almost as soon as he finished speaking, a giant hole opened in the ceiling. A man in black clothes slowly floated down like a catkin.


    "Xuan Tianzi? Hand over the ''Xuan Tian Secret Manual'', and I''ll spare you!"


    The voice was strange, sounding old yet young. Ling Xian''er felt her chest tighten, wanting to vomit blood upon merely hearing it.


    "You want the Great River Alliance''s treasured manual?" Xuan Tianzi was shocked and furious. "Dream on! Eighteen Cloud Pushing Hand!"


    As he shouted angrily, his hands extended, churning winds and stirring clouds, elegant and unrestrained.


    At the same time, a gentle force enveloped Ling Xian''er and retreated from the battlefield.


    "Too bad¡­ it''s useless!"


    The black-clothed man simply raised his right hand, clenched it into a fist, and punched downward.


    Rumble!


    The loft exploded, and Xuan Tianzi''s expression turned pale. "God¡­"

 1016 Demon Lord

    "Escape!"


    A violent thunderstorm rumbled.


    Wang Tianming held Ling Xian''er as he used his lightness skill and quickly escaped.


    "What¡­ How could this happen?"


    Ling Xian''er looked dazed, her tears mixing with the rain, indistinguishable from each other.


    Things had unfolded too suddenly.


    A black-clothed man had surprise attacked the Great River Alliance Leader! Furthermore, Xuan Tianzi had said that he was absolutely not in the Connate realm but had God-tier combat power!


    After a great battle, the elders of the Great River Alliance had suffered heavy casualties, and even Xuan Tianzi had been captured.


    With Xuan Tianzi and the elders'' desperate struggle, the two of them escaped by a hair''s breadth.


    "Phew¡­ nobody is coming after us!"


    Wang Tianming looked up at the sky. "If we continue to stay in the rain, we''ll fall sick!"


    He turned and spotted a mountain god temple by the road. He dashed in immediately.


    This temple had had no incense for a long time. With a ''bang'', the door fell. The temple was leaking, but there were still a few dry spots inside.


    Wang Tianming put Ling Xian''er down and then started a fire using some thatched wood chips.


    The temperature continued to rise, finally removing the chill from the air.


    "What¡­ How could this happen? A God-tier martial artist suddenly attacked the Great River Alliance?" Ling Xian''er''s was soaked, revealing her beautiful figure, but she paid no attention to it. "Revenge! I must take revenge. Who was that black-clothed man? Was it the Unparalleled Demon Emperor?"


    "Demon Sect?" Wang Tianming shivered and clenched his fists. "Xian''er, don''t worry. Your enemies are my enemies. We''ll take revenge for Master!"


    He was a meticulous person. He roasted dried meat, steamed buns, and so on over the fire. Soon, the fragrance of food spread.


    "Xian''er, it''s done. You eat first!"


    However, when Wang Tianming handed the roast meat to her, a large dirty hand came out from nowhere. It snatched the branches away and stuffed the buns and meat into his bearded mouth.


    "Ooh¡­ so fragrant! It''s delicious!"


    ''"Ahh!" Ling Xian''er screamed when she saw a sloppy Daoist priest appear out of nowhere. A red wine gourd hung by his waist, and he reeked of alcohol.


    "You are¡­ Teacher?!" When Wang Tianming saw this sloppy Daoist priest, his eyes glowed, recognizing him as the expert who had guided him on to the path of the Martial Dao at the beginning, and knelt immediately.


    "Drunken Daoist?!" Ling Xian''er''s eyes brightened as she knelt and was about to cry. "Senior, please save my father¡­"


    "I remember you. You''re that kid I taught before. I only taught you the Hundred Flowers Fist, so don''t call me your teacher¡­" The drunken man gobbled the food up in three bites before removing the cork on his gourd and taking a satisfying swig. "Anyway, you''ve already entered the Great River Alliance. Is this girl the daughter of the Great River Alliance Leader? What happened?"


    "This is what happened¡­" Wang Tianming began explaining at once.


    "What? Someone defeated Xuan Tianzi in three strikes? He must be a God-tier martial artist!"


    The drunken man''s expression turned serious as he released an imposing aura. "Wait here. I''ll be back soon!"


    Swoosh!


    As soon as the words fell, he immediately disappeared.


    "Xian''er, don''t worry. Even the Unparalleled Demon Emperor can''t easily defeat the Drunken Daoist!" Wang Tianming quickly comforted Ling Xian''er.


    "Okay!" Ling Xian''er nodded and wiped her tears away, her gaze looking hopeful. Martial Roll fourth, the Drunken Daoist! He can certainly save Daddy! Definitely!


    ¡­


    But the next instant, a voice they would remember for the rest of their lives rang out not far away. "Haha. Truly traveling far and wide to look for someone only to find them easily. Drunken Daoist, hand over your martial arts intent, and I''ll spare your life!"


    "Your Excellency, you aren''t the Unparalleled Demon Emperor or one of the God-tier martial artists I know. Daring to move so boldly, aren''t you afraid of being attacked by the Pugilistic World?" Drunken Daoist''s voice resounded without the leisure and satisfaction from earlier.


    "I only seek happiness in my life!" The black-clothed man''s voice was loud and clear. The next instant, muffled thunder resounded, suppressing everything in its path.


    Boom!


    A terrifying Qi explosion resounded from all directions and instantly spread to the mountain god temple.


    Rumble!


    The entire mountain god temple collapsed as a waterfall of rain rushed down.


    However, Wang Tianming and Ling Xian''er ignored this and instead stared at the two fighting in the sky.


    The black-clothed man and the Drunken Daoist''s afterimages remained midair, looking as though countless versions of them were battling.


    Furthermore, all the techniques they used were exquisite killing techniques, enough for common martial artists to comprehend all their life.


    "That black-clothed man can unexpectedly stand up to the Drunken Daoist. His strength is at least within the top five on the Martial Roll! Who is he?"


    Wang Tianming and Ling Xian''er exchanged glances, seeing the shock in each other''s eyes.


    "Drunken Daoist? Not bad. Unfortunately¡­ you''re not good enough!"


    The next moment.


    The black-clothed man grunted coldly, and the torrential rain crystallized into icicles.


    Chichi!


    Above the icicles, small flames lit up. They looked just like fiery trees and silver flowers, as beautiful as a dream. "Ice-Fire Killing Technique!"


    "Ice and fire intents? And they work harmoniously? How is this possible?" the Drunken Daoist exclaimed.


    But the next moment, numerous fiery trees and silver flowers pierced through the Primordial Qi protecting his body, opening countless blood holes in him.


    He landed on the ground and tossed something over. "This is what you wanted!"


    Several burning scrolls flew all around.


    At the same time, the Drunken Daoist''s figure flashed before Wang Tianming and Ling Xian''er and grabbed them. "It''s the Burning Blood Evil Arts. Let''s go!"


    Swoosh!


    In an instant, he seemed to recover his peak condition as he accelerated and disappeared into the forest.


    "Tsk¡­ as expected of fourth on the Martial Roll. He reacts quickly and is willing to make minor sacrifices to protect what''s important. Not bad!"


    The black-clothed man returned to his original position. The scattered scrolls were already in his hands, with the flames on them also extinguished.


    He slowly took off his mask. It was Fang Yuan!


    "After my martial arts broke through to God-tier, I began snatching various secret manuals to comprehend more intents¡­ Unfortunately, strong fighters who had secret manuals with something like the snowflake pattern were few and far between. Even Xuan Tianzi only had a flame pattern in his martial arts manual, which let me comprehend the Intent of Fire!


    "To escape, this Drunken Daoist threw out something good. A catalog with two intent patterns?"


    Fang Yuan opened the catalog and looked at the two unscorched patterns. He smiled. "So what if he escaped? With those injuries, he''s dead. This isn''t an extraordinary world where you can resurrect. But he took Wang Tianming away. He is indeed a Son of the World. The heavens sent someone to deal with me, and perhaps this is another fortuitous encounter for him."


    In fact, he had looked for the Great River Alliance because of Wang Tianming.


    However, he did not expect that the Son of the World would be able to turn misfortune into fortune. Not only did he have the Great River Alliance''s elders and leader desperately protect him with their lives, even when he was running away, he could run into someone as strong as the Drunken Daoist.


    In the end, he even used his secret manual as a distraction to create an opening to escape.


    "He''s nothing more than a small salted fish. I''ll let him run for now. Even if he''s destined to turn things around, in front of absolute power, it''ll mean nothing."


    Fang Yuan turned around and disappeared into the rain. "Time to go¡­ to the Three Mountains Sect!"


    Robbing the Pugilistic World and comprehending intents was the path he chose.


    By treading this path, his strength would grow continuously.


    As for finally becoming the Pugilistic World''s public enemy?


    Haha, with his current condition, even if he did not move, there would still be a lot of trouble coming to find him. As such, it was better to make the first move!


    ¡­


    "Cough cough¡­"


    Within a cave, the Drunken Daoist leaned against the rock face and spat out a mouthful of blood.


    "Teacher¡­" Wang Tianming''s eyes blurred with tears.


    He never imagined that his master, Xuan Tianzi, and the Drunken Daoist that he highly respected were going to die.


    "That black-clothed man isn''t the Unparalleled Demon Emperor. He''s even stronger. The Pugilistic World will face a new tribulation soon!"


    Drunken Daoist muttered, "I was already heavily injured, and after using my secret technique, even gods and immortals won''t be able to save me!"


    "No! Teacher, I will save you!" Wang Tianming clenched his fists, his voice hoarse.


    "Forget it! You''ll fail. I''d rather have some warm wine!"


    Drunken Daoist''s eyes became brighter. "Child¡­ come here!"


    "Okay!" Wang Tianming walked forward, and the Drunken Daoist grabbed his wrist. Soon after, an enormous amount of True Primordial Qi flowed his meridians like a river. "Teacher, what are you doing?"


    "I''ve already reached the end of my road. It''s useless to keep my True Primordial Qi, so I''ll give it to you!"


    The Drunken Daoist''s energy seemed drained. "With my remaining cultivation power, you should be able to advance to peak Connate. Afterward, head to Po Lao Mountain and find Abbess Elimination and beg her to teach you my intent. Cough¡­ the future of the Pugilistic World depends on you young people!"


    Even if he was a God-tier expert, there was no way he could make someone reach Connate perfection. He lacked the intent!


    However, the Drunken Daoist was on the verge of death. Since he had a good impression of Wang Tianming, he decided to give him a chance.


    "Teacher¡­ Master!" Wang Tianming howled as two trails of tears ran down his cheeks.


    Outside the cave, the thunderstorm showed its first signs of stopping. The sky was clearing up, and a rainbow emerged.


    "Master, don''t worry. I will definitely learn so that I can avenge you!"


    Wang Tianming and Ling Xian''er buried the Drunken Daoist and erected a small tombstone. "Let''s immediately go and find Abbess Elimination¡­ Also, we''ll spread the news about the black-clothed man!"


    "Okay!"


    The two young people descended the mountain hand-in-hand. However, they did not know that a bloody storm had already set off in the Pugilistic World.


    ¡­


    March 3rd, the Great River Alliance perished.


    March 19th, the black-clothed man went to the Three Mountains Sect and demanded all the secret manuals. The sect master refused and was killed with a single palm. On that day, the Three Mountains Sect ceased to exist.


    April 1st, the itinerant martial artist ''Ling Tian'' met the black-clothed man. He surrendered his secret manual in exchange for his life.


    ¡­


    Soon, rumors of a God-tier black-clothed martial artist began circulating in the Pugilistic World. It was said that he was hunting for secret manuals.


    Many top sects began panicking at his slightest move.


    Since this black-clothed man''s methods had countless changes and his intents were endless, he obtained the nickname ''Everchanging Demon Lord''.


    The Pugilistic World plunged into darkness, a demonic color tainting it.

 1017 Defeating the Demon

    The Demon Sect.


    Fang Yuan was fully clothed in black, in the Everchanging Demon Lord''s attire, and stood before the sect''s gate. "Unparalleled Demon Emperor, come out!"


    "Is he¡­ the Everchanging Demon Lord?"


    "Report to the sect master immediately!"


    "Inform all the elders and guardians!"


    A person''s reputation cast a large shadow! The Everchanging Demon Lord was the fastest rising and most ruthless devil currently. Furthermore, he did not belong to the Demon Sect either, frightening most of the disciples.


    Soon after, a row of Demon Sect executives walked out. The person leading the way was wearing a black robe. He looked handsome, and his complexion was pale. He was the Unparalleled Demon Emperor, Nie Wuji.


    Behind Nie Wuji was a row of Connate realm elders. Most of them were at peak Connate.


    Of course, the Blood-Snake Sword Master was not among them. Instead, he hid underground nearby, concealing his aura. Unfortunately, he could not escape from Fang Yuan''s discerning eye.


    "Everchanging Demon Lord, why are you here today?" Unparalleled Demon Emperor Nie Wuji spoke first. "I hear you enjoy collecting secret manuals. As long as you join my Demon Sect, everything is up for discussion!"


    They had obtained information about the Everchanging Demon Lord''s hobby of collecting secret manuals. Even so, they were confused. How could he not have an inheritance if he had cultivated to God-tier? At this point, what was the use of collecting all these intents?


    "Haha¡­ it''s great that you know. Quickly hand over the ''Thirteen Breeze Swords'' and the ''Unparalleled Demon Body''. However, I have no interest in joining the Demon Sect!" Fang Yuan''s gloomy voice sounded.


    "Good, very good¡­ Everchanging Demon Lord, are you planning on robbing my Demon Sect? You''re truly bold. You''re asking to become the enemy of the entire world!"


    Nie Wuji and the other Elders were surprised.


    If he joined their Demon Sect, he could obtain what he wanted, but he unexpectedly chose to take the hard route!


    Furthermore, the Everchanging Demon Lord no longer belonged to the righteous path. At this moment, he was about to cut himself off from the demon path as well. He was truly a reckless maniac.


    "What a shame¡­ I was planning to treat you well!"


    The Unparalleled Demon Emperor took off his robes and walked to the center of the venue. "Perfect. I''ve completed my cultivation of the ''Unparalleled Demon Body''. After I deal with you, I''ll kill the Divine Monk and the Heavenly Sword Sect Master! My Demon Sect will unify the Pugilistic World!"


    Rumble!


    How terrifying was the Demon Emperor when he made his move?


    The Demon Sect disciples nearby were unable to breathe as they shuffled backward continuously.


    Nie Wuji rubbed his hands together and released a thick metallic scent. All of a sudden, he flew forward at a shocking speed that was hard to see with the naked eye.


    "Waterfall Essence!"


    Fang Yuan spread out both hands as a bubbling water screen rose, creating an impenetrable defense.


    Frost-type intents are too extreme. With my evolution, the Sheer Cold Intent has evolved into the Intent of Water! The resilience has increased many folds!


    At this point, even if he used the Sheer Cold Divine Formula, Fang Tianhan might not recognize it.


    Bang! Bang!


    Just as the water screen rose, two fist prints appeared on it, sinking deeply into it before it soon recovered its original form.


    Swoosh!


    The shadow flickered, and the Unparalleled Demon Emperor appeared behind Fang Yuan. With a vicious kick, he created ripples on the water screen.


    Regardless of how the Demon Emperor attacked, even if this water screen sunk to its limits, it remained the same, unbreakable.


    The Unparalleled Demon Emperor Nie Wuji appeared in front of Fang Yuan and complimented, "Good! Of all the God-tier martial artists, you have the best defense! You managed to withstand fifty percent of my power. It''s comparable to the Autumn Leaf Divine Monk''s Impenetrable Vajra Arhat Technique!"


    "Demon Emperor, fight at your full power!" Fang Yuan replied with a smile, wanting to test his defense.


    In reality, he felt somewhat dissatisfied. This world''s martial artists are blindly obsessed with powerful skills and exquisite moves. Regarding the nomological rules of heaven and earth, their understanding is far too simple and crude. In eight secret manuals I obtained, most of them were minor intents like poison, snow, alcohol, and so on. The ones that deserved my attention were the Intent of Water and the Intent of Fire!


    For Fang Yuan, each intent he learned was a key to comprehending the nomological rules of heaven and earth.


    Even though he did not have to rely on secret manuals to comprehend them, it was bound to require more time and effort otherwise.


    "To break through this world, I have to comprehend the nomological rules of earth, fire, wind, and water¡­"


    The nomological rules of earth, fire, wind, and water were known as the cornerstones of some worlds, and they could upgrade and merge to form chaos.


    Fang Yuan was prepared to gather these four intents and upgrade them to the ''Chaos True Intent'', thereby breaking this world''s cage in one go. Since his true body was here, he had deep mastery in this aspect.


    "I obtained the Intent of Fire from the Great River Alliance and derived the Intent of Water from the Sheer Cold Divine Formula, Flying Blizzard Divine Gun, and other snow-type intents. Now, only earth and wind are left!"


    The Intent of Earth and the Intent of Wind rarely appeared among Connate martial artists.


    Fang Yuan thought hard about it and realized that the secret manuals for these two intents could be hidden within the Demon Sect.


    "Even if this isn''t the case, as long as there are manuals that touch on them a bit, it''ll be convenient for me to derive the intents. Otherwise, I can only comprehend them myself. Even though I can do that, I don''t know how long it''ll take¡­"


    Fang Yuan was a little anxious.


    After all, he was still trying to break through the Abominable Lord''s dream world restriction.


    He could return at anytime, and it was extremely dangerous.


    ¡­


    "Full power? Sure!"


    Nie Wuji''s eyes glowed red. "You''re the first one who''ll experience my Unparallelled Demon Body at full force! Ha!"


    With a roar, his clothes ripped apart, unexpectedly increasing his height by two heads, and his veins bulged. He faintly gave off a black Qi, as though a killing god had arrived, exuding ominousness.


    Be it this world or reality, his strength was extraordinary. The Unparalleled Demon Emperor was the representation of a mortal''s pinnacle.


    Bang!


    He did not use weapons. Instead, he only moved forward and punched!


    One after another, a force pounded Fang Yuan''s chest, shoulders, elbows, and fists, exploding and smashing onto the Waterfall Essence.


    Fang Yuan was like a ball as he was ferociously smashed into the air before landing next to a rock face and making a large pit in the ground.


    "Good!" Instead of panicking, he was excited. "Merge fire and water. Come again!"


    Whoosh!


    All of a sudden, bundles of flame appeared inside his water shield.


    "Flames¡­ burning inside the water?"


    This scene left many Demon Sect elders staring so hard that their eyeballs nearly fell out.


    "Demagogy!" The Unparalleled Demon Emperor snorted before he stepped forward. "Demon Extinction Fist!"


    Bang! Bang! Bang!


    Terrifying blow after blow landed on the water shield. The flames continued to burn brightly.


    After nine blows, Fang Yuan stepped back nine steps and released his fire and water shield.


    "He won?"


    The Demon Sect elders began to cheer, but they abruptly stopped in the next instant.


    Because they saw the Unparalleled Demon Emperor''s hands had turned bright red, as if a furnace had burned them.


    "My defense method merges Fire and Water Intents to work as both offense and defense. Every time you attacked, you actually received the full counter-impact of your blows, as well as burn damage!"


    Fang Yuan stood straight and said without hesitation, "You should use a thousand-year Snow Lotus to remove the poison as soon as possible. You can still save your hands!"


    As a fellow God-tier expert, how could his understanding and application of intent be any weaker than a regular person?


    "Amazing, Everchanging Demon Lord!" The Unparalleled Demon Emperor waved his hands. "I''ll deliver the ''Unparalleled Demon Body'' and the ''Thirteen Breeze Swords'' to you soon!"


    Hearing this, the Demon Sect elders protested. However, the Demon Emperor suppressed them instantly, and they did not dare to speak another word.


    The Unparalleled Demon Emperor thought bitterly, I''m not the Demon Lord''s opponent. If you force him into a rampage, the Demon Sect will cease to exist. Compared to that, giving up two secret manuals means nothing.


    "Thank you!"


    Fang Yuan cupped his hands. After a while, he took the ancient books and directly flipped to the intent patterns at the back without looking at the techniques at all.


    Great, the Thirteen Breeze Swords is truly the Breeze Intent. Using it as the foundation, it won''t be a problem to comprehend the complete Intent of Wind.


    As for the Unparalleled Demon Body, it tends toward destruction. However, it seems like the defensive technique has a bit of the Intent of Earth mixed into it. Maybe I can comprehend something from it¡­


    Of the four Intents of Earth, Fire, Wind, and Water, it was hardest to find the Intent of Earth.


    Only those extreme defensive martial arts were relevant.


    For instance, the Unparalleled Demon Body was the fusion of mostly Destruction Intent and some Intent of Earth.


    As for the Autumn Leaf Temple''s Impenetrable Vajra Arhat Technique, according to Fang Yuan''s estimation, it was more likely to have the Vajra Intent. For the Intent of Earth, even if it was there, it would not be much. Since he had the Unparalleled Demon Body ancient book, it would be of little use.


    It seems like the Intent of Earth will be my bottleneck! Also, after I comprehend the Intents of Earth, Fire, Wind, and Water, I''ll have to deduce how to move to the next level and evolve them into chaos.


    By merging the Fire and Water Intents, Fang Yuan defeated the Unparalleled Demon Emperor and became the strongest in the world. However, if God-tier martial artists gathered to besiege him, he would have to avoid them.


    If a day came when he could merge the four great intents, sublimating them into the Chaos True intent, he would be absolutely unbeatable. Even if the top ten from the Martial Roll joined forces, they would not be a match for him.


    If I comprehend the Chaos True Intent, my martial arts would rise to an unfathomable level, right? For instance, the realm above God-tier?


    Fang Yuan decided he would begin training in seclusion after returning to cultivate the Intent of Earth.


    Even though this world''s particularity made many of his methods useless, with his aptitude and comprehension, it would take no longer than ten years for him to comprehend the chaos nomological rules and break through the world.


    With the help of numerous ancient books, he expected to shorten this time to about three years.


    Great¡­ I''ve gotten a lot of ancient books. It''s enough for now. When I''m finished digesting them, I''ll go snatch more!


    Fang Yuan cupped his hands at the Unparalleled Demon Emperor. "So, thank you for this gift, Demon Emperor. I''ll be leaving now!"


    His movement technique was fast. After finishing his words, there was only an afterimage left.


    "This Everchanging Demon Lord¡­"


    Seeing this, the Demon Sect disciples were dumbfounded. "Where did he come from? His techniques are top-tier, but his movement technique is even more terrifying!"


    Lightness skill was fundamental in the Pugilistic World. If someone could not defeat an opponent, they could at least flee.


    When they saw Fang Yuan''s dream-like movement technique, they had the same thought. "I must not make an enemy out of him!"

 1018 Face-off

    Three years passed by in a flash.


    Heavenly Mountain City, Taibai Restaurant.


    A pair of well-dressed young martial artists sat down inside the restaurant.


    Most of the diners carried weapons by their side. Obviously, they were members of the Pugilistic World as well.


    "The Heavenly Sword Sect Master''s birthday is a grand event. He''s third on the Martial Roll. Nearly everyone in the Pugilistic World, including sect masters, will be there! It''s like a Pugilistic World Meet."


    "I''ve heard that the Heavenly Sword Sect Master will take out three thousand-year Heavenly Mountain Snow Lotuses as rewards. He''s planning to organize a Hidden Dragon Meeting. It''s a perfect opportunity for young martial artists to make their names known!"


    "With you? Forget it¡­ Three years ago, Young Sect Master Fang Xu emerged from the Noble Mountain Sect. He is outstanding and has already reached Connate perfection. At this time, he is already at the upper ranks of the Martial Roll."


    "Speaking of which, I can''t believe a young man under the age of twenty-five can have such strength."


    "The Martial Roll is evidence. He is rank thirteen because he did everything he could to save his father. He killed the Poison Fire Demon Lord and forced the Blood-Snake Sword Master to retreat. What''s there not to believe?"


    ¡­


    Several voices traveled over. The hottest topic was the Heavenly Sword Sect Master''s birthday celebration.


    With all the Pugilistic World sects gathering, even if it was not a real Pugilistic World Meet, it was not far behind.


    However, a young man''s hand halted once he heard Fang Xu''s name, and a slight cracking sound ensued.


    "Tianming?!" Seeing this, the female martial artist clasped his hands. "You still can''t forget¡­"


    "How can I forget the three-year agreement?"


    The young man lifted his head and revealed a handsome and resolute face. It was Wang Tianming!


    However, his aura was as deep as the sea, profound and immeasurable. Clearly, his martial arts had made great progress, and he could enter the peak of the Pugilistic World.


    Ling Xian''er''s eyes lit up. "Tianming, you''ve obtained both the Drunken Daoist''s power and Abbess Elimination''s teachings. You''ll have absolutely no problem. How could a young talent, the number one Hidden Dragon, compare to you?"


    She understood how much this young man had struggled over the past three years.


    With everything that had happened, not only had he attained Connate perfection two years ago, but he seemed to be still improving all the time.


    "Drizzle Sword Fang Xu is nothing more than a small goal of mine. My true wish is to avenge Teacher and your father!"


    Wang Tianming unclenched his fist, and his wine glass had turned into a pile of powder.


    "The Everchanging Demon Lord is pretty smart. Three years ago, he appeared in the Pugilistic World and stirred up a bloody storm within a month. However, after the battle at the Demon Sect, he disappeared without a trace¡­


    "I heard that the Autumn Leaf Temple''s Divine Monk and the Heavenly Sword Sect have been tracking him down the entire time, but it was to no avail¡­ There are rumors that he''s an expert of the demon path. After his battle with the Unparalleled Demon Emperor, the Demon Emperor subdued him, and then he joined the Demon Sect!" Ling Xian''er said in a low voice.


    Nobody in the Pugilistic World believed that the Everchanging Demon Lord had suddenly stopped.


    All the clues pointed to the Demon Sect.


    Unfortunately, the Unparalleled Demon Emperor''s defeat was the Demon Sect''s shame, and they naturally blocked the news at all costs.


    In the end, them trying to hide it made it turn into evidence. Everyone thought that after the battle, the Demon Emperor had forced the Everchanging Demon Lord to submit. From then on, he entered the Demon Sect, finding a refuge that allowed him to cultivate his demon arts. The Unparalleled Demon Emperor and the elders did not know whether to laugh or cry.


    "I won''t let Fang Xu or the Everchanging Demon Lord go. Xian''er, don''t worry!"


    Wang Tianming patted his chest and comforted her with a strange confidence.


    "Look, it''s the people of the Noble Mountain Sect!"


    At this moment, a clamor outside caused Wang Tianming''s body to shake. He looked outside the window.


    He saw a white-clothed young man who looked confident and handsome, and appeared to carry a profound chill. He was riding a beautiful horse with a large crowd following him.


    "Tsk¡­ the Noble Mountain Sect has two Connate perfection martial artists. It''s already the epitome of a top sect. Both father and son being at Connate perfection is also rare in the Pugilistic World!"


    "Particularly Young Master Fang Xu, who is also known as the most beautiful man in the Pugilistic World. He''s even come to celebrate Heavenly Sword Sect Master''s birthday. It''s a huge honor!"


    "At his age, there''s a fifty percent chance for him to break through to God-tier. The Noble Mountain Sect can be considered a Pugilistic World''s holy ground as well!"


    ¡­


    Various words of praise and envy came.


    Wang Tianming stared at Fang Yuan angrily. "It really is him! Fang Xu!"


    ¡­


    "After training in seclusion for three years, I have comprehended the complete Intent of Wind and Intent of Earth. The four intents have started to merge, and there''s only one last bit left before I perfect the Chaos Intent!"


    On horseback, Fang Yuan was lost in thought, leisurely and carefree. "It seems¡­ it''s necessary to bring out the Everchanging Demon Lord again and look for more martial arts manuals. They''ll have an effect in helping my comprehension."


    After three years of bitter cultivation, he was one step away from breaking through this world!


    Since he had already made appropriate plans for everything that would happen next, the following would be going all out to seek a breakthrough.


    "Hmm? Killing intent!"


    As a God-tier martial artist, he sensed that he drew attention from the crowd.


    Fang Yuan looked up and spotted a window shutting hurriedly. Furthermore, he had sensed a resentful gaze on him.


    "What a familiar gaze. No matter how a person changes, their temperament and spirit are difficult to change!"


    He shook his head. "Is it Wang Tianming? That''s right¡­ As the Son of the World, three years could take him a step further than Connate perfection. Otherwise, knowing that I am at Connate perfection and have been cultivating for longer, there''s no way he''d keep the three-year agreement."


    He sneered in his heart. "Too bad¡­"


    ¡­


    Heavenly Sword Sect, within a secret room.


    The Heavenly Sword Sect Master concealed himself and secretly met with an old monk. He looked excited. "Is this true?"


    "Amitabha. After investigating for three years, I''ve finally found traces of him!"


    "If so, we''ll do as you say!"


    ¡­


    The day of the celebration.


    Within the Heavenly Sword Sect, guests gathered in a hall as gongs and drums resounded. The noise shook the sky.


    "The family head of the Blue Mountain royal family arrives. He presents a gift of two thousand gold and a pair of jade scepters!"


    "The Mystical Lady Sect Master arrives. She presents nine multi-colored brocades and a set of boundless longevity robes!"


    "The Thousand Leaf Sect Master arrives. He presents six night luminescent pearls, Agate Red Coral Tree¡­"


    "The Mad Scholar has arrived. He presents a congratulatory landscape painting¡­"


    ¡­


    Numerous guests arrived one after another. They presented birthday gifts and were led to seats according to their status.


    "The Noble Mountain Sect''s young sect master arrives. He presents three pairs of congratulatory jade artifacts!"


    Fang Yuan walked in with Zhang Long and Zhao Hu, and the entire venue fell silent.


    To outsiders, he was thirteenth on the Martial Roll after all. The Connate perfection expert was led into the center of the hall, and the Heavenly Sword Sect Master stood up to greet him.


    "So, it''s Young Master Fang. You''ve come a long way. It was rude of me not to have greeted you earlier. Pardon me¡­"


    "My father had other matters to attend to, so he was unable to come. Congratulations, Sect Master. May you live a long and happy life!"


    Fang Yuan was wearing a crown with an ivory fan in his hand. He looked like an exceptional young master. The eyes of numerous beautiful women were shining as they stared at him.


    "Thank you. Please have a seat!"


    The Heavenly Sword Sect Master led Fang Yuan to the most core table. None of the martial artists present complained.


    "So, the Divine Monk is also here!"


    Fang Yuan saw an old monk with white brows and a benevolent look.


    Soon after, he scanned his surroundings, and his eye twitched.


    "Seventh on the Martial Roll, Demon Blade Wu Shuangzi. Eighth on the Martial Roll, Tyrant Saber Xiang Wang. Tenth on the Martial Roll, the Inferno Slayer! Fourteenth and fifteenth, the Xue family brothers?"


    There was not anyone ranked above twentieth on the Martial Roll at this table.


    Even if the Heavenly Sword Sect Master is celebrating his birthday, why are there so many big shots? Fang Yuan sneered. It''s grand enough to start a Pugilistic World Meet!


    He did not say much either. Instead, he raised his wine glass and saluted everyone.


    After half an hour, the guests had all gathered, and the venue was completely full.


    The Heavenly Sword Sect Master was full of joy. He stood up, and his gentle voice spread. "Thank you all for coming to celebrate my birthday today. I am truly grateful!"


    "Today, all the famous martial artists have gathered. It is my joy to present three thousand-year Snow Lotuses as prizes today. Why don''t we have a small competition? As long as you are under thirty, feel free to join. In the meantime, we will enjoy ourselves and take pleasure in commenting on various talents and martial abilities."


    The Heavenly Sword Sect had already released the news. Furthermore, the prize was indeed of sufficient value.


    Of course, there were more young martial artists thinking about making a name for themselves. There was no way they would miss such a rare opportunity. Among the guests today, countless young ones had come.


    However, being invited to the Heavenly Sword Sect''s celebration was also a difficult hurdle.


    "Great!"


    "As Sect Master says!"


    The people of the Pugilistic World bustled excitedly and cheered when they heard this.


    The Heavenly Sword Sect Master clapped. They immediately constructed a huge arena on the square outside the Heavenly Sword Sect''s main hall.


    "All of you, as long as you are confident, you can get on the arena and challenge others! If you obtain ten consecutive wins, you may rest for half an hour. Finally, those with ten wins may compete for the top prize."


    This was not a grand competition, but rather a stage for displaying their abilities. Therefore, the rules were not too complicated or fair. The Heavenly Sword Sect Master explained this clearly.


    "All right!"


    All members of the Pugilistic World nodded.


    The next instant, a blue figure stood at the center of the arena. "I am Zhu Geqing. I would like to ask for advice from the world''s heroes!"


    "Zhu Geqing, the Lightning Sword? Eighth on the Hidden Dragon Roll?"


    "He''s already entered the Connate realm? He might be able to increase his rank slightly, but there''s no way he can defeat the Hidden Dragon Roll''s First!"


    ¡­


    The crowd erupted into discussion.


    After listening to a few words, Zhu Geqing raised his head stubbornly, staring at Fang Yuan with fighting intent in his eyes.


    Even though he understood the gap between him and Fang Yuan, Zhu Geqing wanted to be evaluated by all his seniors. However, Fang Yuan remained seated, choosing to evaluate others.


    This difference was like heaven and earth.


    "Zhu Geqing, I, Han Yiye, will challenge you!"


    Soon, a spear-wielding young man jumped onto the arena. A spectacular fight began. Unfortunately, all Fang Yuan saw were flaws, and he nearly fell asleep.


    ¡­


    After a while, amid loud cheers, Wang Tianming kicked someone who was on a five-win streak down from the arena. He shouted at Fang Yuan, "Noble Mountain Sect''s Fang Xu. You have a three-year agreement with me. Shall we fight?"

 1019 Exposed

    "Who is this?"


    The surroundings went quiet for a moment before erupting into noise again.


    Numerous martial artists looked at Wang Tianming as though he was an idiot.


    After all, Fang Xu was well-known for being a Connate perfection expert and thirteenth on the Martial Roll! He was definitely first on the Hidden Dragon Roll!


    How ignorant would one have to be to issue a challenge like that?


    Even though his kick that shoved his opponent off the arena was quite stunning, he was still quite a distance away from the heaven''s chosen.


    The Heavenly Sword Sect Master and the Autumn Leaf Divine Monk exchanged anxious glances and slowly shook their heads.


    After a moment, many gazes landed on Fang Yuan.


    Would he, thirteenth on the Martial Roll, accept the challenge?


    A white shadow flashed, and Fang Yuan arrived on the arena, his expression indifferent. "If that''s what you want, come die!"


    "A life-and-death battle?"


    The Divine Monk''s expression turned compassionate as he pressed his palms together. "Two benefactors, please do not injure life!"


    "Good! A life-and-death battle!"


    Wang Tianming clasped both hands behind his back, feeling the sparks of battle light up within him.


    "Amitabha. If one thinks of taking revenge, it''ll cause backlash!" The Divine Monk shook his head and sighed. Helpless, he looked at the Heavenly Sword Sect Master, seeming to have other thoughts in mind.


    On the arena.


    "I, Wang Tianming, have waited for this day for three entire years!"


    Even though Wang Tianming sounded agitated, his martial arts stance was impressive and as immovable as a mountain. This was his instinct after years of constant hard training.


    "Is that so¡­"


    This three-year agreement with the Son of the World is also amusing, Fang Yuan thought. "Let''s see how you''ll surprise me! Infinity Ice Palm!"


    He swung his palm out, and icicles formed. The temperature around him abruptly dropped.


    "Ha, Seven Slaughter Tiger Fist!"


    Wang Tianming swung his fist, and the wind howled, sounding like a tiger was truly roaring.


    Bang!


    Fist and palm intersected, and both their bodies swayed a little.


    Fang Yuan stood still and slowly said, "Oh? Seven Slaughter Fist Intent? The Drunken Daoist?"


    "This is¡­"


    Above the arena, the Heavenly Sword Sect Master''s eyes brightened. "Is that the Drunken Daoist''s Seven Slaughter Tiger Fist?"


    "Being able to fight against Young Master Fang Xu''s Infinity Ice Palm means that he must have comprehended the Fist Intent. Is this boy called Wang Tianming? Actually comprehending the intent and being equally matched with Fang Xu, he''s also at the Connate perfection realm!" The Inferno Slayer stroked his beard thoughtfully. "I owed Drunken Daoist a favor once. I can''t see his successor die here."


    "Perfection stage!"


    "He''s so young, but he''s not any weaker than Fang Xu!"


    ¡­


    After the first exchange, the martial artists began cheering.


    If someone trained in seclusion, nobody would care. But once they made a move, the entire world would know!


    Regardless of the outcome of this battle, Wang Tianming''s name would surely spread!


    Even so, his face did not reveal the slightest joy. Instead, he focused on his enemy. "So? Fang Xu, are you regretting giving me three years? In a mere three years, I''ve caught up to you, and soon, I will leave you far behind!"


    He currently was full of the thrill of revenge.


    After his thoughts aligned, even his martial arts seemed to go a step further!


    "You''re overconfident!"


    Fang Yuan restrained his strength, maintaining it at the perfection stage and reducing his intent to micro integration, and attacked. "Sheer Cold Divine Palm!"


    "Ha! Seven Slaughter Fist Intent, Drunken Fist Fist Intent, Seven Slaughter Drunken Fist!"


    Wang Tianming instantly hypnotized himself. His face flushed, and he seemed drunk yet not drunk. When he punched, his power increased by more than two times.


    "Drunken Fist?"


    This world also had martial arts like the Drunken Fist. Not only did it completely lack set moves, but the key lay in its ability to increase strength through drugs or hypnosis, comparable to people with innate divine strength.


    With his foundations and exquisite martial arts, his attack power increased exponentially.


    "This is¡­"


    Above the arena, the Heavenly Sword Sect Master''s and the others'' eyes sparkled. "He''s so young, but he has comprehended two intents. Furthermore, he''s managed to combine them into a single attack. Genius! He''s an unparalleled genius!"


    Bang!


    Fist and palm intersected again, but this time, Wang Tianming remained motionless while Fang Yuan moved back a single step.


    "Haha!" Wang Tianming raised his head and laughed at the sky. "Fang Xu, today, I will return all the shame that you have given me, ten times, a hundred times more!"


    He seemed like a drunk tiger as he dashed about fiercely. Each and every move carried boundless force, forcing Fang Yuan to dodge continuously.


    The onlookers remained silent watching this.


    "Drizzle Sword Fang Xu is going to lose? To an unknown newcomer?"


    "This newcomer is quite fierce. Didn''t you hear the Heavenly Sword Sect Master? He''s at Connate perfection and has combined two intents. He''s a genius!"


    "Oh no. Fang Xu is going to lose!"


    ¡­


    On the arena, Fang Yuan continued to dodge. No matter how Wang Tianming attacked, after fifteen minutes, Fang Yuan was still standing tall as before. In fact, he did not even touch a corner of his clothes.


    "Eh?" Above the arena, the Divine Monk held the prayer beads on his wrist. "Something seems wrong!"


    "Huff¡­" Wang Tianming abruptly halted, recovering from his drunken state.


    "What? He''s over-consumed his strength?"


    Fang Yuan''s figure turned into a breeze, drifting constantly and gliding with the wind.


    Wang Tianming was gasping for air as he asked, "W-what movement technique is this?"


    "An item that is highly sought after but not easily found. This is my Illusionary Movement!" Fang Yuan randomly made up a name. "Did you think you were the only one making progress?"


    With that said, his figure was like an illusion or a dream as he dashed forward.


    "Seven Slaughter Drunken Tiger!"


    Wang Tianming punched out, but Fang Yuan''s figure drifted like a piece of paper, not suffering a scratch. Instead, he slammed straight into him, pushing his palm against his chest.


    Poof!


    Wang Tianming immediately stumbled backward and knelt at the edge of the arena. His face was blue, and his lips were purple. A layer of ice was covering his face, causing him to shiver continuously, and he could not say another word.


    "Tianming!!!"


    Below the arena, Ling Xian''er''s eyes were about to pop out, her voice hoarse from crying.


    Fang Yuan''s expression was indifferent. He stepped forward and lifted his palm.


    "Wait!"


    "Amitabha!"


    The Heavenly Sword Sect Master and the Divine Monk spoke simultaneously. "Have mercy!"


    "Haha¡­" Fang Yuan stood with his hands behind his back and glanced coldly. "Where were you when I was in the same situation? You are being far too biased!"


    Swoosh!


    With a flash, the Heavenly Sword Sect Master and the Divine Monk appeared on the arena. They both had solemn looks and appeared faintly vigilant.


    "Oh? It seems like you are very prejudiced against me. Did you prepare this arena for me? If this foolish boy hadn''t come up, would you have sent someone else to probe me?" Fang Yuan asked with a sneer.


    "Amitabha. This humble monk has a matter he wishes to ask!" The Divine Monk pressed his palms together, his eyes glaring like a Varja. "Three years ago, on March 3rd, 19th, and April 1st, where were you? And are there witnesses?"


    "What?" When they heard this, Wang Tianming and Ling Xian''er cried out in alarm, their expressions changing.


    Because their memories of those days remained fresh. "Master, do you mean¡­ the Everchanging Demon Lord?!"


    "That''s right. After rigorous investigation, the Everchanging Demon Lord''s true identity is most likely this Noble Mountain Sect''s Young Master, Drizzle Sword Fang Xu!" The Divine Monk pressed his palms together. "And when you revealed your movement technique just now, someone recognized it!"


    "Someone recognized it? The Unparalleled Demon Emperor?" Fang Yuan smiled. "I can''t believe I''m so lucky. In order to deal with me, the righteous and demon paths actually joined hands!"


    Saying this was tantamount to acknowledging it. The Pugilistic World''s crowd broke into discussion. "What? Fang Xu is the Everchanging Demon Lord?"


    "This man is vicious and dangerous!"


    "I want revenge for my father!"


    "It turns out my enemy is here!"


    Thousands of people pointed at him incriminatingly.


    An immense amount of pressure landed on Fang Yuan. But to him, this was nothing more than a tiny breeze.


    "Amitabha. I was only thirty percent sure, so I had asked the Heavenly Sword Sect Master to test you. I never thought that you would admit it yourself!" The Divine Monk was surprised.


    "Haha¡­ because I have nothing to worry about!"


    Before his departure, Fang Yuan had arranged for Fang Tianhan and Jiang Xinlan to head far away. Furthermore, with his help, Fang Tianhan had cultivated his intent to psychological integration within these three years. He was already a God-tier martial artist and could go anywhere in the world.


    In this way, he was worry-free and could go all out.


    "Unparalleled Demon Emperor, aren''t you going to appear?" Fang Yuan looked in a direction.


    Rumble!


    A hidden door exploded opened, and the Unparalleled Demon Emperor led an entourage of Demon Sect experts forward. His charm was the same as before. "Everchanging Demon Lord¡­ when you defeated me, it has always been a shame in my heart. Today, we will fight again!"


    "Great. With you here, all the God-tier martial artists in the Pugilistic World are here!" Fang Yuan nodded. "Nice plan!"


    Wang Tianming looked at this scene in shock, not knowing what to feel.


    Fang Xu, your talent exceeds mine¡­


    A sense of unwillingness and resentment devoured his heart like a poisonous snake. But at the same time, he felt a sense of pleasure. But it''s over for you! You''re the Everchanging Demon Lord, an existence that neither the righteous nor the demon path can tolerate! You will die today!''


    With this thought, his lips curled into a smile.


    "Heavenly Sword Sect Master, Divine Monk, guard the surroundings!"


    The Unparalleled Demon Emperor strode forward boldly. With every step, his aura soared. His voice thundered, "Everchanging Demon Lord Fang Xu, let me ask for advice from you again!"


    "Hmph!" Fang Yuan snorted coldly. He stepped forward unyieldingly, and the fire and water shield appeared again.


    The Unparalleled Demon Emperor unleashed a punch onto the shield but was still unable to break the defense.


    "Ha! There''s no need to talk about justice and morals with an evil demon. Everyone, attack!"


    In an instant, two more figures appeared by his side. One held a saber while the other held a sword. Their weapons gave off a terrifying aura, both at the same level as divine armaments!


    Seventh on the Martial Roll, Demon Sword Wu Shuangzi! Eighth on the Martial Roll, Tyrant Saber Xiang Wang!


    "Die!"


    In this world, even Fang Yuan did not dare to use his body to fight with divine armaments. With a swipe at his waist, the Drizzle Sword appeared in his hand. "Breeze Sword!"


    Swoosh!


    A flash of light plunged into the sword light and the saber light.


    Two grunts sounded as the light disappeared.


    Wu Shuangzi and Xiang Wang were covering their throat, showing expressions of disbelief. "No¡­ Impossible!"

 1020 Breakthrough

    "Unexpectedly, you''ve combined the Thirteen Breeze Swords into one move, and the power has increased so much!"


    The Unparalleled Demon Emperor''s eyes twitched.


    He originally thought that joining with the righteous path and launching a surprise attack on the Everchanging Demon Lord was a flawless plan.


    However, he did not expect the Everchanging Demon Lord to be so fierce. With a sword move, he had killed two God-tier martial artists!


    At this level, he was almost not even in the same realm. An ominous feeling overcame him.


    "Good swordplay!"


    When the Heavenly Sword Sect Master saw this, he immediately grasped his sword and attacked.


    His sword was like an otherworldly immortal. It could be sought but not seen, just like a new moon. When his sword collided with the demon''s sword, it immediately caused a shower of sparks.


    "Amitabha!"


    A figure shouted and entered the battle, looking like a golden arhat.


    The Autumn Leaf Divine Monk! The Impenetrable Vajra Arhat Technique!


    Today, the top three on the Martial Roll were besieging the Everchanging Demon Lord!


    This scene left numerous people from the Pugilistic World shocked, but soon after, their expressions turned to excitement as they stared without blinking.


    "Being able to withstand the siege of the top three on the Martial Roll, the Everchanging Demon Lord is the true number one in this world!"


    "He''s cultivated for less than twenty years, but he''s already the top martial artist in the world!"


    "He''s not merely talented, he''s a demon! A Demon!!!"


    ¡­


    "Fang Xu¡­" Wang Tianming''s fingernails dug into his skin. "I may not be as strong as you, but you will definitely die here today!"


    "A little troublesome!"


    Fang Yuan''s fire and water shield turned into an illusionary lotus, protecting his vital points.


    Even though he had comprehended the four intents and was only a step away from fusing them, he was still only a God-tier martial artist. The Divine Monk and the others had greater experience and deeper cultivation power.


    The top three on the Martial Roll were attacking him while the others closed off his escape path, immediately giving him a little pressure.


    "Demon Extinction Fist!" Unparalleled Demon Emperor Nie Wuji roared. His fists were covered with black Qi as he unleashed his flexible sword.


    "Great Compassionate Hand!" The Autumn Leaf Divine Monk looked benevolent. His hand had a golden glow, and he slowly pushed out. Fang Yuan''s expression changed as he blocked with his left hand.


    There was a rumor in the Pugilistic World that in terms of cultivation power and martial arts, the Autumn Leaf Divine Monk was the true number one. Only, the monk did not have the heart to compete, so the Demon Emperor took the position.


    The Divine Monk and the Demon Emperor, these two former opponents, worked together with impeccable coordination, suppressing Fang Yuan from both sides.


    "Good! Heavenly Sword!"


    The Heavenly Sword Sect Master united with his sword into a streak of light, seizing this golden opportunity to immediately attack.


    Poof!


    The rotating fire and water lotus withered under the sword light.


    Poof!


    Blood splattered.


    Even though the Qi shield broke, it bought Fang Yuan some time. He managed to slant his head and only suffered a wound on his shoulder.


    "I poured all my power into that attack. Even the Unparalleled Demon Body couldn''t take it head-on, but unexpectedly, I merely injured your shoulder!"


    The sword light transformed into the Heavenly Sword Sect Master. "What an amazing body-refining technique!"


    Fang Yuan looked at his wound and said nonchalantly, "Damn old man, you''re also the first in the world to truly injure my spirit!"


    If the Heavenly Sword Sword Intent had invaded the body of an ordinary Connate or even a God-tier martial artist, even if they did not receive a fatal injury, their meridians would break, causing their death.


    However, his body-refining technique was directly obtained from the Intent of Earth, most likely the best in this world. Any Sword Qi that entered his body would immediately whittle away. His wound was merely superficial.


    "However, if a single sword pierces a vital point, it''ll be a little troublesome¡­ There''s truly a bit of pressure!"


    Fang Yuan licked his lips and started running his cultivation technique at full force.


    He continued to merge the four intents and began to peep into the highest level of Martial Intent.


    "Again. As long as we hit his vitals, he''ll die!"


    The Unparalleled Demon Emperor roared, clearly identifying the key to victory.


    In a one-on-one fight, none of them were Fang Yuan''s opponent. But if they worked together, there was a chance of killing him!


    "Everchanging Demon Lord¡­ forgive us. We can''t do this according to the Pugilistic World''s rules. But if we let you run loose, you will certainly be a calamity to the Pugilistic World!" The Autumn Leaf Divine Monk sighed.


    On the other hand, Ling Xian''er''s and Wang Tianming''s eyes glowed. "Will this demon fall?"


    "Come!" Fang Yuan''s robes were soaked in blood, but his eyes grew brighter. "Do you know why I let the three of you live even though you are the biggest threats to me? I want to rely on you to give me life-and-death pressure so that I can make a breakthrough!"


    The Unparalleled Demon Emperor was keen. With eagerness in his eyes, he asked, "Breakthrough? Is there a realm beyond God-tier?"


    "That''s right. Although this world cultivates the Martial Dao, starting from the Acquired realm, then the Connate realm, and finally the God-tier realm, above it¡­"


    Fang Yuan stood with his hands behind his back and yearning in his eyes. "Using my own strength, I will break through the world''s limits. I''ve named it ''Shattering Vortex''!"


    "Above God-tier, Shattering Vortex?"


    These God-tier martial artists suddenly became aware. "I see¡­ you collected so many secret manuals to break through¡­ What a shame!"


    "To be able to battle today, I will have no regrets no matter how it ends!" The Heavenly Sword Sect Master grasped his long sword and laughed heartily.


    "Good! Come!" Fang Yuan''s eyes glowed brighter. "After hearing about the Shattering Vortex realm, do you feel enlightenment and excitement in your martial heart? This was my intention, to make you reach your optimal state!"


    He was undoubtedly walking on a tightrope.


    He intentionally left the strongest martial artists and allowed them to join hands to threaten his life.


    At the same time, he constantly stimulated them with his words, pushing their mental state to higher realms.


    "Great!"


    The auras of the Unparalleled Demon Emperor, the Autumn Leaf Divine Monk, and the Heavenly Sword Sect Master rose dramatically. Clearly, they had gained a lot. They exchanged glances and immediately shot forward together.


    Three earth-shattering True Primordial Qi surrounded Fang Yuan in an instant.


    "Good!" Fang Yuan''s eyes were bright. Under the immense pressure, he began combining the four intents and broke through his final bottleneck.


    "It''s done!"


    "Although I''ve long comprehended the Intent of Earth, Fire, Wind, Water, I needed a bit more to merge them into the Intent of Chaos¡­ Even if I could have done it in a few years, who knows how much time would pass in the outside world and what would happen. Therefore, the sooner, the better. These three were the whetstones I selected!"


    At this moment, under the pressure of life and death, he finally managed to break through.


    Fang Yuan made his move and punched.


    This punch was simple, but it had the four Intents of Earth, Fire, Wind, and Water merging into one.


    Rumble!


    The sky trembled, cutting open a huge hole, and the surrounding space shattered.


    "Shattering Vortex?"


    The Unparalleled Demon Emperor and the others were in shock as they watched the black hole expand and devour all their attacks.


    "That''s right. Shattering Vortex is the pinnacle of the Martial Dao!"


    Fang Yuan took a step, teleported to in front of the three, and extended both palms. Under the chaos, the Autumn Leaf Divine Monk and the Heavenly Sword Sect Master turned into dust.


    "What an amazing Shattering Vortex. I''ve witnessed the epitome of martial arts today and can die without regrets!"


    When he saw this, the Unparalleled Demon Emperor sat cross-legged with a touch of release and a trace of longing on his face. "If there is a next life, I will definitely practice martial arts again!"


    Trails of blood poured out from his seven apertures. He had decided to end his life with his own hands.


    "What happened?"


    Outside the arena, Wang Tianming, Ling Xian''er, the Inferno Slayer, the Xue Family Brothers, and the Demon Sect experts saw this scene, and their eyes immediately widened.


    At first, the Divine Monk and the other two had the advantage.


    However, the Everchanging Demon Lord had summoned a black hole and reversed the situation in an instant.


    "There are also the other God-tier martial artists. They''re all trouble, so I can''t leave a single one alive!"


    Fang Yuan turned his head, spotted the Inferno Slayer, and sent a palm from afar.


    Rumble!


    The air trembled, and the shockwaves reached the man ranked tenth on the Martial Roll.


    He did not even let out a cry as he dissolved into dust.


    "In this world, after you''ve attained the Shattering Vortex realm, you are basically invincible. Everyone else is an ant!"


    Fang Yuan sighed. The Shattering Vortex realm was something that should not have existed in this world, but he had forcibly made it happen.


    However, after he completed it, he sensed the world''s repulsion.


    "It''s repelling, not shattering! It seems like this isn''t a dream world, but a fusion of world fragments! In that case¡­"


    He teleported before the Xue family brothers and extended two fingers.


    Poof!


    Their heads exploded instantly.


    Soon after, Fang Yuan spotted the group of Demon Sect elders. There were some God-tier martial artists hidden among them. They seemed to want to beg for mercy, but without waiting for them to say a sword, his sleeve flapped and reduced them to dust.


    "I''ve already killed the top ten on the Martial Roll and numerous Connate perfection martial artists along the way. The entire Pugilistic World can be considered a weak generation now. With Fang Tianhan''s God-tier strength, if he''s ambitious enough, he might be able to unify the Pugilistic World and become the overlord!"


    Fang Yuan took a look at himself. Void ripples gathered around him, making his figure look like a dream.


    "It''s time to go, but¡­"


    He stepped into the void and appeared before two people, Wang Tianming and Ling Xian''er.


    "This Son of the World has already reached Connate perfection, and he''ll likely break through to the God-tier realm. I can''t let him live!"


    Fang Yuan understood the principle of cutting the grass and eliminating the roots.


    If he remained in this world, he naturally did mind leaving him around for fun. But if Fang Tianhan met Wang Tianming, it really would not be fun.


    After all, he had providence on his side. Maybe after being hunted down a few times, he would break through to God-tier and begin fighting back.


    Therefore, it was better to eliminate the problem before it sprouted.


    "If you want to kill Big Brother Wang, you''ll have to kill me first!"


    On the verge of life and death, Ling Xian''er stepped forward bravely.


    "No! I''ll put my life on the line!"


    Wang Tianming''s eyes were red as he yelled, "No! I''ll put my life on the line!"


    "A dying struggle!"


    Fang Yuan punched, and a terrifying power opened a hole in the air. This black hole devoured the two, turning them into powder. Not even their souls remained.


    After completing all this, he smiled. His figure was finally devoured by the numerous void ripples. He turned into a beam of light and broke through the void.

 1021 Confrontation

    The City of Pain.


    In the small gray world, the multicolored lights disappeared and reappeared in the center of the city.


    "It''ll take some effort to break that line of defense!"


    Fang Yuan''s figure appeared, his expression a little heavy.


    If it were any other Demon God, they would probably not know where to begin when faced with the restriction of the multicolored lights.


    Even if they barely managed to break it, the result would inevitably be to sink into that strange world.


    Only another Dream Master could solve the methods of another Dream Master so quickly and appropriately.


    "City of Pain¡­ I don''t know what''s in it either," Fang Yuan murmured as he stepped into the gray city. "In fact¡­ even if I don''t gain anything, as long as I can destroy this place, it will certainly affect the Abominable Lord. But¡­ I still prefer to think that he left some treasures here. Why else would there be such heavy protection?"


    The gray city was not large. Rather, this entire city was actually one person''s palace.


    The houses linked together, and the halls and buildings were full of the strange styles of the Mental Demon Realm.


    Fang Yuan walked in deeper, into the center.


    There, a sacrificial altar that seemed to be made of bones came into view.


    "Wh-what array is that?"


    Fang Yuan was shocked.


    That huge array used at least tens of millions of bones. Moreover, it seemed as though all of them came from humans.


    There were various complex blood patterns on the bones. The more central it was, the more dense it was. They finally converged on a strange blade inserted in the center of the array.


    This blade was somewhat similar to a katana¡ªthin, sharp, and exuding radiance.


    Fang Yuan possessed the Omnidirectional Divine Demonic Armament Dao and obtained a bunch of information with just one glance.


    "Seven Deadly Sin Demon Blade! With the metal of the Mental Demon as the carrier, it has gathered the evil aura in this area for countless years. With one stroke, neither demons nor gods will remain!"


    "Wow. It seems like the Abominable Lord built this world not only to cultivate the Seven Emotions Bugs but also to form this demon blade!"


    If this blade succeeded, it would definitely be a Demon God-level weapon, and its power would be more terrifying than a Great Dao!


    "As for now?"


    Fang Yuan stretched out his right hand.


    Rumble!


    Behind him, the Chaos Giant wearing dragon armor emerged. It roared and grabbed it, evoking Earth, Fire, Wind, and Water.


    Bang!


    The terrible impact directly cracked the layers of restrictions around the sacrificial altar. A layer of transparent light film in the void opened, allowing its hand to touch the altar directly.


    Compared to the earlier ingenious unraveling, it was sheer brute force this time.


    Although it would alert the Abominable Lord immediately, it had its advantage¡ªspeed!


    "Break!"


    Fang Yuan growled and destroyed the defense with one punch. The second claw turned into a giant hand and grabbed at the Seven Deadly Sin Demon Blade in the center of the altar.


    Ding!


    The moment his hand was about to touch the demon blade, a thin black shadow suddenly appeared.


    It was in the form of an old human man with a small horn on his forehead, red eyes, and bulging blood vessels on the sides.


    With a smirk, he pulled the demon blade out and swung it at the giant hand!


    Dang!


    The demon blade was incomparably sharp. The Chaos Giant wailed as the Blood Dragon armor on its hand cracked, and the blade landed on the Chaos Giant''s body completely unhindered.


    Pride, jealousy, anger, gluttony¡­


    The emotions of the seven deadly sins instantly wrapped Fang Yuan''s heart and transformed into thousands of calamities.


    "Good blade! A really good demon blade!"


    Fang Yuan sighed, and a colorful cloud appeared above his head. The Dark Heavenly Dao flew out and spread numerous branches.


    "I am the master of this area!"


    He instantly grabbed control of the area as thunder rolled and lingered around him. "Abominable Lord¡­ you actually have a true clone ability!"


    This was not a Dream Master''s True Spirit dream-traversing or creating an incarnation of power at will but a true clone technique!


    This clone possessed most of the combat power of the main body, and it could survive independently even if the main body died. It was a rare ability!


    That''s right!


    Even if its appearance was different from before, Fang Yuan was certain that this old man with a black horn was the Abominable Lord''s clone!


    "Good things come to those who wait. You finally appeared!"


    The light in the old man''s eyes glittered. "Dao of Netherheaven?"


    The main body will immediately receive the news since the clone is here. I have to be quick!


    Fang Yuan''s eyebrows arched, and the endless pressure of a Heavenly Dao fell on them.


    However, a sneer crept up on the old man''s face. He raised the demon blade high.


    Black text appeared on both sides of the blade, slightly emitting a golden light and seeming ominous.


    Fang Yuan immediately discovered that the power of his Dark Heavenly Dao had collapsed. His face changed. "This is¡­ Heaven Extermination Plate?"


    "The so-called Heaven Extermination Plate is but a poor imitation¡­"


    Holding the blade with both hands, the black-horned old man transformed into a stream of light. "Heaven Extermination¡­ cut!"


    This blade light contained the enhancement from the Heaven Extermination Truth, and the power of the Heavenly Dao immediately withdrew.


    A Heavenly Dao was the fusion of tens of thousands of Daos. When the Heavenly Dao withdrew, the power of the other Great Daos also dissipated!


    The power of this blade was simply beyond Fang Yuan''s imagination!


    "Sure enough, the Heaven Extermination Plate isn''t the original after all¡­ Unexpectedly, the complete version of the Heaven Extermination Truth has such prowess!"


    Fang Yuan recalled the Chaos Giant and condensed the Omnidirectional Divine Demonic Armament Dao to the limit into a weapon that seemed like both a saber and a sword at the same time but was not quite either. He charged.


    Clang!


    The weapons clashed against each other with a crisp sound.


    A small crack appeared on the Omnidirectional Divine Demonic Armament Dao, which was instantly filled by vast Great Dao power.


    "Seems like you can''t cut much of this highly concentrated Great Dao power!"


    Fang Yuan''s expression turned firm. "Heaven Devouring! Devour!"


    The two terrible powers enhanced the Divine Demonic Armament.


    Both he and the Abominable Lord''s clone turned into two streams of light in an instant, and they exchanged more than ten thousand blows in the sky above the City of Pain.


    Ding!!!


    Fang Yuan sneered after another clash.


    Text appeared on the Divine Demonic Armament. It was the Heaven Extermination Truth, but the shape was a little incomplete.


    "This is¡­"


    The black-horned old man looked at the Seven Deadly Sin Demon Blade in his hand and saw the Heaven Extermination Truth on his blade dim. His expression changed.


    "I staked it all on consuming a massive amount of the natural source of the Devour Great Dao and the Heaven Devouring Great Dao, and was able to absorb part of the Heaven Extermination Truth through the clashes!"


    Fang Yuan calmed down with this development.


    The Heaven Extermination Truth might be able to restrain a Heavenly Dao, but it was actually also in a relationship similar to fire and water.


    How could a drop of water extinguish a sea of flames?


    How could a single spark dry up a whole river?


    By damaging the power of his Great Daos, it allowed him to devour part of the Heaven Extermination Truth.


    However, a clone is on par with me with just that demon blade. His main body¡­ is simply too powerful¡­ Fortunately, he was lured away¡­ Fang Yuan felt slightly thankful. "The attack this time has to be swift. I have to retreat after ten more breaths even if I obtain nothing!"


    As long as this attack was successful and he managed to retreat, it would be an enormous blow to the Abominable Lord even if he did not destroy the City of Pain.


    "It would be best if¡­ I can destroy this clone in front of me!!!"


    Netherheaven was a completely different level compared to Myriad Transformations and Void Amalgamation.


    However, this black-horned old man was obviously also a great Netherheaven Demon God! He might not be as strong as the main body, but when coupled with the demon blade, he was still strong enough to deal with Fang Yuan.


    "Creation Sword Array, kill!"


    Fang Yuan''s eyes flashed coldly, and he beckoned. Nine heaven-reaching sword pillars sieged the City of Pain at its core.


    Numerous Sword Qi emerged and killed with unmatched power.


    He hid himself within the Sword Qi and approached the Abominable Clone.


    Ding! Ding! Dang! Dang!


    The boundless Sword Qi bombarded the old man constantly, forcing him to dodge and even raise his sword to block.


    After the third breath, his face turned into one with delight. "Boy¡­ you are dead!"


    "What?" Fang Yuan was startled and immediately felt the appearance of an immense shadow outside the sword array.


    It looked like a massive deep-sea manta ray, and its shadow covered the sky. The darkness cast from the sky could neither be described nor looked at directly!


    This was the main body of the Abominable Lord, a peak Netherheaven with half a foot into the Dao Fruit realm!


    "He returned so fast!" Fang Yuan''s eyes flashed coldly. "Even so¡­ the sword array is enough to stop you for three breaths. I''ll use this chance to destroy your clone!"


    It was not easy to form a clone with Netherheaven combat power. He was absolutely sure that the Abominable Lord would suffer an enormous blow to his vitality if he destroyed this clone.


    "Die!"


    The next moment, he appeared beside the black-horned old man, and nine flying swords stabbed him along with the Divine Demonic Armament in his hand.


    ''"Ahh!"


    The black-horned old man had a determined look on his face as well. "Seven Sins! Kill!"


    Seven rays of light shot out, breaking seven flying swords.


    The Seven Deadly Sin Demon Blade itself held up against the Divine Demonic Armament.


    Two flying swords buried themselves into the old man''s eyes at the speed of light.


    "Done! Heaven Devouring Great Dao! Devour Great Dao!"


    Fang Yuan seized the Seven Deadly Sin Demon Blade as a horrifying black hole swallowed the old man.


    Rumble!


    Right at that moment, a giant explosion occurred, and a frightening pressure came down on him. The Heavenly Dao power under Fang Yuan''s control was eliminated in an instant.


    A huge darkness completely covered him!


    "How was he so fast? He broke the array in just one breath!"


    Fang Yuan turned grave. "The Abominable Lord''s strength¡­ seems to have surpassed my expectations. Is this the strength of a peak Netherheaven Demon God?"


    "You destroyed my clone, die!!!"


    Terrifying thoughts mixed with darkness and transformed into a mighty force that raged toward him.


    Not only that, but the high heavens and deep earth, even the void and chaos, seemed to turn into impenetrable walls that squeezed in on Fang Yuan from all sides.


    There were differences between Netherheaven Demon Gods even if they both had the authority and power of a Creator.


    Obviously, the Abominable Lord had an advantage over Fang Yuan, no matter whether it was his true body''s cultivation or the geographical location.


    "Run!"


    Fang Yuan understood this, so a layer of blood light surrounded him as he turned into a blood rainbow and started to escape!

 1022 Desperation

    Swoosh!


    The blood rainbow broke through the air like it was teleporting and instantly crossed a large distance.


    This was the accumulation of all of Fang Yuan''s escape techniques, which could be said to have first-rate escape speed.


    The next moment, heaven and earth shifted, and he was moved back into the darkness again.


    "This is¡­ the Universe Great Dao?"


    Fang Yuan was solemn.


    The four corners of heaven and earth was known as the universe. Since time immemorial, it was the universe. The Universe Great Dao was the Space Great Dao! And the Universe Great Dao was also the Time Great Dao!


    These two Great Daos were the very best Great Daos under a Heavenly Dao. Their power was no small matter.


    In that instant, he understood how the Abominable Lord had returned so quickly. He actually had such a method up his sleeve.


    "Amazing¡­ I devoured your True Spirit incarnation yet didn''t realize a thing about the Universe Great Dao. You probably destroyed memories relating to this beforehand¡­ Did you immediately choose to turn it into bait when you failed?"


    Fang Yuan calmed down.


    He was already in a precarious situation. It would be a quick road to death if he were to lose his cool and take unnecessary risks.


    This dark space is clearly the manifestation of the Abominable Lord''s Universe Great Dao. Once this darkness envelops me, I will enter his realm and won''t be unable to escape, immediately being teleported back once I reach its boundaries! There is a danger of dying for even a Netherheaven Demon God if they''re caught!


    Too bad¡­ No matter how well you planned, you didn''t plan for my increased strength. So much so that I could directly kill your clone and seize the Seven Deadly Sin Demon Blade!


    Fang Yuan transformed into a rainbow once again and went to the edge of the dark realm.


    The teleportation force suddenly fell upon him at the same time.


    However, he did not avoid it, and the Seven Deadly Sin Demon Blade appeared in his hand. "Heaven Extermination Truth!"


    Buzz!


    An invisible power spread out, destroying the surrounding Heavenly Dao power.


    The Universe Great Dao was within a Heavenly Dao, so it naturally suffered the same effect.


    Good! As expected, the Heaven Extermination Truth itself is much stronger than the Heaven Extermination Plate!


    The effect would not have been as good if he had used the Heaven Extermination Plate.


    After breaking through the dark realm, Fang Yuan''s figure flashed and turned into a blood rainbow.


    After all, the Abominable Lord was a peak Netherheaven Demon God. He would have to be mad to fight him.


    He had crashed into his lair, killed his clone, and seized his treasure. He would consider it a victory as long as he managed to escape!


    "Return!"


    Unfortunately, at this moment, a mighty figure suddenly appeared with eight Heaven Extermination Plates circling him, forming a strange array.


    "This is¡­"


    The corner of Fang Yuan''s eye jumped. He had no choice but to draw the blade to cut it. Two forces of annihilation gathered in midair, sweeping away other Great Daos.


    The terrible counter-force shook him back into the dark realm.


    "You¡­" Fang Yuan cooled down. "Another Netherheaven Demon God? He also has Heaven Extermination Plates?"


    "You took something of mine, so you naturally have to pay for it. Not to mention¡­ you harbor unfathomable motives and instigated my relationship with the Abominable Lord!"


    Evidently, this Netherheaven Demon God was the previous owner of the Heaven Extermination Plate.


    He did not know what their relationship was, but it seemed as if they had made up and were now joining forces against Fang Yuan.


    Not good! Fang Yuan looked around and felt a headache. This Netherheaven Demon God possesses the Heaven Extermination Plates, and the Abominable Lord had the Seven Deadly Sin Demon Blade. They are both related to the Heaven Extermination Truth, so perhaps they already knew each other!


    To break through the blockade of one Netherheaven Demon Gods was completely different from two.


    "Go!" He blinked and looked at the remaining three directions.


    At that moment, he halted again.


    "Hehe¡­ Sacred Lord Li Hun, continue trying to escape!"


    Flowers scattered, and golden lotuses appeared out of the ground. A vine grew out from the ground, and a huge flower appeared. Among them was the face of Sacred Lord Fresh Flowers. "Two sirs, this is the culprit who caused Sacred Lord Purple Crow to be stuck in the World of Confucian!"


    "You''re the one who harmed Purple Crow?"


    "How dare you touch the Three Furies of Netherheaven! You must be tired of living!"


    Two Netherheaven Demon Gods appeared in each of the remaining directions, both in their true body!


    "What bad luck. Running into ghosts after walking too many roads at night¡­"


    Fang Yuan sighed and looked at the immense black shadow in the sky. "Abominable Lord, are you behind this?!"


    Originally, he thought that he could avoid these Demon Gods with his plan and speed.


    Obviously, it was out of his expectations that the Abominable Lord had the Universe Great Dao.


    The Abominable Lord must have brought the other Demon Gods with him. Otherwise, they could never have come so quickly to besiege him.


    Fang Yuan found himself in an impasse. If he was not careful, it could become a life-and-death crisis!


    This was definitely the biggest obstacle he had encountered since he started cultivating!


    "Be careful. This kid is cunning. Don''t let him get away!"


    The Demon God who came from the Black Flame Territory sneered. "Array Formation!"


    Suddenly, a huge array appeared in the darkness. Four Demon Gods locked down the four corners of the void with the Abominable Lord in control.


    Each Demon God here was at the Netherheaven realm and could deal with Fang Yuan for quite some time.


    They used this formation because they hated Fang Yuan to the core and wanted to force him into despair and death!


    "Five Netherheaven Lock Array!"


    Four pillars of light connected completely to the darkness above and became a strong blockade.


    Fang Yuan could feel that it was impossible even if he were to break into the void and flee this world to hide in the chaos.


    There was even the familiar power of the Dream Dao in the blockade, making it impossible for his True Spirit to give up his body and escape into small worlds!


    This Abominable Lord was quiet previously, but once he made his move, he had completely cut off all of Fang Yuan''s escape routes!


    "Today¡­ I might just die here if I''m not careful!"


    A warning sounded in Fang Yuan''s heart.


    For a warning to appear in a Netherheaven Demon God''s heart, they had to be in a most precarious situation!


    It was Five Netherheavens with an array blockade after all!


    "Even so, I have to go all out and fight at the risk of my life! Even if I lose, I will not regret it if its to seek the Dao!"


    Fang Yuan''s pupils glowed.


    "Everyone, there''s no hurry. Let''s slowly shrink the array so that he has nowhere to run!" The voice of the Abominable Lord boomed from his massive body suspended in the sky.


    "Of course!"


    "We will heed Abominable Lord''s every order!"


    ¡­


    The other four Netherheaven Demon Gods obeyed the command and started shrinking the array.


    "Blocking the void, excluding the Dream Dao¡­ There''s even a hint of the power of Heaven Devouring¡­" Fang Yuan looked at the array, and his sea of consciousness started operating at lightning speed. "Damn¡­ they''re countering me exactly according to my abilities!


    "Creation Sword Array, activate!


    "Earth, Fire, Wind, Water, Creation Divine Fist!"


    His Creation Great Dao appeared and evolved into the sword array. In the middle of the sword array, the Chaos Giant appeared in its dragon armor and waved its fist.


    "Block an array with an array!"


    Bang!


    Countless attacks landed on the edge of the Five Netherheaven Lock Array, shaking the darkness for a moment before turning into nothingness.


    Crack! Crack!


    The outside attack array and the Creation Sword Array exchanged blows and began to grind with a sound that made one''s teeth itch.


    The entire sword array began to retreat, and even the Chaos Giant was being suppressed by the black shadow as it continued to shrink.


    However, the progress of the Five Netherheaven Lock Array was finally slowing down due to these attacks.


    "The moment the array shrinks to the core is the moment I am completely refined!"


    Fang Yuan gritted his teeth.


    He had done all he could, but his enemies were too cunning and strong.


    "The failure this time lies totally with me. I was too arrogant after I reached the Mental Demon Realm and completely ignored the means of Netherheaven Demon Gods¡­ I also didn''t expect the Abominable Lord to be in control of the Universe Great Dao!"


    Fang Yuan thought hard for a way to break through this situation. "Yes¡­ I''m not a being from the Mental Demon Realm, and I''m not even a Demon God that broke through in the Mental Demon Realm¡­ Perhaps I''ve been plotted against by the will of the Mental Demon Realm?"


    This was extremely likely.


    The will of such a big world was naturally more powerful than a Netherheaven Demon God.


    Furthermore, its means were more abundant, and it had subtly guided Fang Yuan into a state of utter danger.


    "But¡­ even if the Mental Demon Realm wants to eliminate me, so what?"


    Fang Yuan stood up rapidly. "I have to fight for my life even in desperation!"


    Since he had managed to cultivate to this level, his soul was already tempered. Even in this dire situation, he was totally calm, and he would calculate every opportunity and never waver.


    "Reconciliation? It''s impossible with the Abominable Lord. He wants to devour me as soon as he can!


    "As for the other abilities, I only have a small part of the Heaven Extermination Truth. Most of it is controlled by the Abominable Lord and that Demon God, and it''s most likely a trap!


    "The Creation Sword Array and Pangu Dragon Body can only be chips to buy me time!


    "The Body of Origin Power and Botany? Useless¡­ The Heavenly Eye Seer Spell¡­ Damn, the other party appeared all of a sudden, and I couldn''t react in time!"


    ¡­


    Fang Yuan took a deep breath, and there was a decisive light in his eyes. "It seems¡­ my only chance at living is that!"


    He sat cross-legged and started to recall his memories of a certain ritual.


    "Hmm?" Seeing this, Sacred Lord Fresh Flowers was slightly surprised. "A dying struggle, or did he give up?"


    "A Netherheaven Demon God will never give up. We have to defend against his desperate counterattack!"


    "We have to fight steadily and mind each others'' weaknesses. As long as we maintain the Five Netherheaven Lock Array, how can he escape?"


    The Netherheaven Demon Gods exchanged quickly and agreed immediately. "Continue suppressing him!"


    Kaboom!


    The Five Netherheaven Lock Array continued to shrink steadily but firmly.


    Ding Ding Dang Dang!


    The Creation Sword Array was the first to go. It burst into pieces, and nine rays of lights flew out, becoming a broken sword that entered Fang Yuan''s body.


    The Pangu Dragon Giant behind him continued roaring, but it continued to shrink under the pressure of the Abominable Lord. From standing as tall as a mountain, it finally shrank to the size of an ordinary person and entered Fang Yuan.


    The Five Netherheaven Lock Array had shrunk to the point where Fang Yuan only had a foothold. One more step and they would succeed in crushing Fang Yuan into dust!


    "Finally¡­ done!"


    Fang Yuan suddenly moved and opened his eyes!

 1023 Defying Death

    "I finally succeeded at the very last moment, but this is also one of the last trump cards I have prepared!"


    Fang Yuan stood tall with a luminosity in hand, showing a dim light outside.


    "He''s bluffing!" the Abominable Lord roared. "Mere world coordinates? Hmm? This world¡­"


    That light was certainly the coordinates of a certain world, but the aura exuded scared the Abominable Lord. "Is there a world stronger than the Mental Demon Realm? No¡­ Impossible!"


    "Let''s begin!"


    Fang Yuan shut his eyes and started communicating with the world coordinates.


    The next moment!


    Flash!


    Endless white light fell from the void.


    Infinite light! Infinite life! Unending! Reaching eternity!


    "This is¡­" Sacred Lord Fresh Flowers shouted, "The World of Confucian, the Grand Festival of Heaven and Earth?!"


    That''s right! Fang Yuan was currently using the Grand Festival of Heaven and Earth that Sun Shengru had used to seek power from a certain world.


    However, what he did was millions of times more powerful than Sun Shengru.


    There were two conditions to achieve this.


    First was the coordinates of the advanced Huaxia civilization world. Fang Yuan originally thought that he did not have it but later discovered that it was imprinted in his True Spirit. Furthermore, his first world had a deep connection to that advanced civilization. He himself was the coordinates!


    Second was the corresponding array ritual. Sun Shengru had shown it to him previously.


    Of course, there was a need to adjust it since it was a different world and a different user.


    What Fang Yuan had realized before was precisely about this aspect.


    "Your wandering child in another world calls upon you with a sincere heart. Let your infinite luminosity come forth!"


    How terrifying would the Grand Festival of Heaven and Earth be now that he displayed it with his Netherheaven body?


    In the blink of an eye, a vast gap opened, and unlimited light burst out.


    Rumble!


    The Five Netherheaven Lock Array broke in that short five moments.


    "No!" A voice full of resentment came. The infinite light enveloped Sacred Lord Fresh Flowers, and her body melted. Only the pure power of her Great Dao appeared and merged into the world, becoming nourishment for it.


    It was the same for the other three Netherheaven Demon Gods.


    "How¡­ powerful. It''s likely an attack at the Dao Fruit realm."


    Fang Yuan was full of praise.


    Of course, he also knew the reason for it.


    The first point was because he was at the Netherheaven realm and had obtained it through his own hardship. With him personally presiding over the ritual, it had easily attracted attention.


    The second was because with original Huaxia coordinates he had on him, it spared no effort in supporting him.


    "Of course, this could be one of the reasons why the Mental Demon Realm didn''t accept me and even abandoned me¡­"


    Fang Yuan felt slightly disappointed.


    Soon after, the endless white light completely broke the dark realm and wrapped the Abominable Lord within it.


    "Ahh! I hate!" the Abominable Lord roared. His body turned illusory, and Great Daos flew out.


    Seven Emotions Great Dao, Six Desires Great Dao, Universe Great Dao, Sin Great Dao¡­ Great Daos that Fang Yuan understood and Great Dao that he did not converged. There was a total of eighty-one Great Daos, and only the last one was slightly illusory.


    These Great Daos folded into each other and formed a certain Dao Fruit!


    "Dao Fruit realm? A breakthrough before death? Impossible!"


    Fang Yuan''s eyes widened. "Without me, the core of the Abominable Lord''s Great Dao will never reach perfection, let alone ascending to the Dao Fruit realm¡­ Is he burning away his natural source to create an illusionary Dao Fruit for a last fight?"


    Nonetheless, even a half-step Dao Fruit was terrifying.


    This Dao Fruit was round on the top and square at the bottom. Its edges were irregular, which made Fang Yuan think of chaos, and it had many small faces with a number of emotions.


    With merely one look, it represented a heaven and earth ultimate truth, primordial chaos, and sent out all sorts of information.


    "Original Sin Dao Fruit?! Trouble!"


    Fang Yuan bit his lips.


    At this moment, his attack was only at the level of the Dao Fruit realm thanks to borrowing the power of the high-level Huaxia civilization world''s ability to tear through worlds and quantizing it.


    However, the Abominable Lord burning his natural source could actually manifest a Dao Fruit. Even though it was not very stable and would dissipate after a short while, there was no doubt that he had fifty percent of the power of the Dao Fruit realm!


    That infinite light that was everywhere was pushed aside by the Original Sin Dao Fruit for the first time.


    "Ah! The mighty Mental Demon Realm, I am your people, and I hope to get your support!" Instead of leaving, the Abominable Lord started communicating with the Mental Demon Realm''s will. "There is a Demon God here who has betrayed your will and attracted the invasion of a more powerful world!


    "I hope you will bestow upon me the power to destroy them!"


    ¡­


    Obviously, with the Abominable Lord''s strength, he would definitely be in contact with heaven''s will of the Mental Demon Realm.


    A few simple words immediately obtained a response from heaven and earth.


    "The higher the strength, the easier it is to be in contact with a world''s will. However, the Abominable Lord actually rejected the Heavenly Dao and created a God Nation previously. He''ll have to pay a lot now that he is bowing down to the world''s will¡­ He just had the chance to escape but didn''t, so it''s obvious that he wants to kill me even if it costs him dearly!"


    Fang Yuan looked solemn.


    Kaboom!


    The Mental Demon Realm roared.


    They were within this world after all. Regardless of whether it was getting a response or enhancement, it would be much faster than Fang Yuan. There was no need for an array to assist either.


    The sky was dark, and clouds with fish scales appeared.


    In Fang Yuan''s opinion, these clouds were transformed from Mental Demon origin power.


    This was true origin power. One drop of it could make a Demon Master. But at this time, it was like an ocean!


    All kinds of mysterious auras submerged into the Abominable Lord in an instant, allowing his Dao Fruit to stabilize temporarily.


    Fang Yuan''s face changed. He felt as though the origin power in his body that he originally had perfect command of wanted to rebel.


    Fortunately, he had been cultivating by himself all this time and had not received any help from the Mental Demon Realm''s will. Therefore, he managed to suppress it with just a thought.


    "Haha¡­ This is within the Mental Demon Realm. Die!" the Abominable Lord shouted, elated with the results.


    "Run!" Fang Yuan''s eyes narrowed and entered chaos following the response of the infinite light.


    "You won''t be able to escape!" The Abominable Lord did not even think before entering the same chaos.


    Regardless of whether it was a low or high dimension, chaos was the mainstay of all things. Every world in the chaos was like the stars in the universe, just a drop in the ocean.


    Two forces constantly clashed against each other in the turbulent and chaotic currents. The terrible energy directly rejected the chaos currents, forming a vacuum that spanned millions of kilometers. It even spread to several small worlds, bringing disaster to them.


    Of the two forces, one was infinite light, and the other was eternal darkness. They were like two sides of Taiji, constantly rotating and wearing down each other.


    "Abominable Lord, you can''t kill me!" Fang Yuan basked in the infinite light. "I might not be your opponent in the Mental Demon Realm, but here, without a world''s suppression, you are not my opponent!"


    "The world you are relying on might be powerful, but the distance of transmission consumes the power¡­ I am very assured of the outcome!" The voice of the Abominable Lord transmitted from the Dao Fruit, driving endless Mental Demon power. "You will die here today and fulfill my Dao Fruit!"


    "Damn it¡­" Fang Yuan saw this scene, and his eyes narrowed slightly. "That Huaxia World might seem like its half a level higher than the Mental Demon Realm, but the distance is indeed too far away, and the loss is large. Most importantly, my realm is not as high as that of the Abominable Lord!"


    He was at initial Netherheaven, while the other party was at half-step Dao Fruit. The gap was wide.


    "It seems like¡­ I had become anxious once I entered the Mental Demon Realm. Was it the influence of the Mental Demon''s will? Am I only an external Demon in its eyes after all? In that case¡­"


    Fang Yuan made up his mind and started rushing upward toward that world of infinite light.


    This was both a delay and a way of losing his strength before increasing it again.


    The Abominable Lord might have obtained the help of the Mental Demon''s heaven''s will to stabilize at half-step Dao Fruit, but there had to be a time limit.


    In addition, the power provided by a world was naturally consumed based on the distance.


    Previously, he was battling in the Mental Demon Realm, which was very unfavorable for him. After reaching the chaos, he recovered a little. As he approached the coordinates, the consumption of the infinite light got lesser and lesser, while the consumption of the Mental Demon Realm continued to increase.


    "Die!" The Abominable Lord decided to give chase.


    He knew that he still had an advantage at least at this distance.


    "Go go go!!!"


    Fang Yuan fused into the infinite light, and his speed in the chaos was simply shocking. "Where is that high-level Huaxia civilization world? I''ll be dead if it suddenly withdraws! But¡­ I am¡­ rising?"


    He was shocked to find that as he approached the coordinates, he was heading up, similar to soaring!


    "All right! My guess was right. That Huaxia civilization world is one dimension higher than the Mental Demon Realm¡­ No, it might not be a whole dimension but half a dimension, which is why it''s still in this cosmic dimension?


    "Abominable Lord, keep chasing after me!


    "After this trillion kilometers, we''ll be halfway through. This is a turning point. The consumption from both the Mental Demon Realm and the Huaxia projection will be the same!"


    Fang Yuan''s eyes flashed coldly. "It won''t be you hunting me, but me hunting you then!"


    Rumble!


    The two rays of light, one black and one white, sped through the chaos, passing by countless worlds, making the souls in them tremble.


    Finally, Fang Yuan reached the critical point.


    He flew across the midline without hesitation.


    "Ahh!!!" the Abominable Lord roared. He knew that he would be at a disadvantage if this were to carry on.


    "You can''t run. Dao Fruit disintegrate! Offer sacrifice! I will struggle to the death!" he bellowed. The Original Sin Dao Fruit actually began melting.


    A strange red power connected him and Fang Yuan in that instant, and a crazy voice came forth. "Either you perish, or I perish!"

 1024 Ancien

    "Come on. Give everything you''ve got!


    "The victor will take all!


    "The loser will be gone forever and completely annihilated!"


    ¡­


    A mad voice raved.


    ''"Ahh!" A youth screamed and woke up. He touched his face that was dripping with cold sweat. "That same strange dream again! I haven''t been able to avoid it since birth!


    "Nevermind. I have to rest and restore my energy. The coming of age ceremony is tomorrow!"


    The youth''s name was ''Ancient''. He was born in a small tribe in the Hundred Thousand Mountains of the southern barbarians.


    There was a rule in the Hundred Thousand Mountains of the southern barbarians¡ªnewborn babies had to be tested. Those who qualified would be immediately sent to the Holy Land. There, they would be trained to become the strongest fighters of the tribe.


    The social outlook here was very different from the outside world. Family and friendship were considered complete hindrances.


    Only if they cultivated with all their hearts could they become the strongest warriors of the tribe!


    Therefore, since early childhood, Ancient and the other children had undergone the most stringent training. Here, crying was punishable by caning, and only the strong ones could obtain the respect of their peers.


    "Fortunately, my innate ability isn''t bad. The elders said that there is an eighty percent chance that I will successfully activate my spirit property and awaken the bloodline power!"


    Ancient clenched his fists tightly.


    Without bloodline power, it was impossible to become extraordinary. A rank one mortal could not live more than a hundred years.


    "My ability is among the top five in this group. I will definitely succeed!"


    For some reason, there was always a voice in his heart that was urging him to continuously improve, making him train extremely hard. He was not the slightest bit lazy.


    The nickname ''Lunatic Ancient'' was resounding among these young people.


    ¡­


    Ancient took a deep breath and continued sleeping.


    The next day, together with a hundred-odd youths between fifteen and sixteen years of age, he was brought to a cave.


    "You¡­ are the elites of our Flybarb tribe, and today is your coming of age ceremony!"


    At the front a stone platform, the high priest, ''Brutal Bones'', exuded an aura that brought a strong sense of oppression. "You must go all out to complete the spirit property activation ritual and awaken your bloodline power to become the strongest warriors of the tribe!


    "You will be the elites of the tribe as long as you become bloodline warriors. Wine, food, an endless supply of women, the best of everything will be within your grasp!"


    ¡­


    He said a few words casually and immediately made the young men breathe hard.


    However, the faces of a few young women started to look displeased.


    "Hehe¡­ Of course, if any woman were to awaken their bloodline power, she will also be able to control her own destiny and not be forcibly assigned to the strong. You can even have as many male pets as you want!"


    The high priest smiled. "Come forward when you hear me call your name. First up¡­ Peck!"


    "High Priest!"


    The young man named Peck stepped forward anxiously and sat cross-legged in the center of the platform.


    There were four stone pillars inscribed with complex runes around him. They were filled with dark red colors and seemed to have some kind of wild beast''s fresh blood splashed on them.


    "Coming of age ceremony, begin!" the high priest announced loudly, and the surrounding priests immediately started beating drums.


    The dull thumps echoed throughout the cave continuously.


    The young man Peck swallowed a few herbs and closed his eyes.


    Runes lit up one by one on the surrounding four stone pillars, starting from the ones at the bottom before moving to the middle ones.


    This speed! The high priest frowned. After the time it took for one incense stick to burn, large beads of sweat appeared on Peck''s forehead. His entire body was wobbling, and his blood vessels were expanding, looking very terrible.


    ''"Ahh!" Finally, he screamed and fell unconscious.


    "Failure!" the high priest said emotionlessly. He motioned slightly, and a warrior came up to bring Peck back.


    The first one failed? Below, Ancient''s chest tightened. You can only become a normal warrior if you don''t succeed in the awakening of the bloodline power to become a bloodline warrior. There''s a world of difference!


    "Next¡­ Nuo¡­ Failure!


    "Next¡­ Wei¡­ Failure!"


    ¡­


    After seven consecutive failures, the stone pillars finally sounded, and the runes lit up all the way to the top!


    ''"Ahh!" A young man opened his eyes and roared. Blood-red illusions appeared on his body, and a totem that looked like both a lion and a dog formed above his head.


    "Hmm¡­ Mutated beast ''mastiff'', seventh-grade totem. Not bad!" Delight appeared on the priest''s face. "Next!"


    A young boy with a frosty face went up. It was one of the four that Ancient felt was stronger than him¡­ Dark!


    "Ughhhh!"


    From the start, it seemed as though the stone pillar was dying to light up. The phantom of a black dragon emerged on the young man''s body.


    "Good! ''Horned dragon'', third-grade totem!" the high priest exclaimed. "Dark¡­ come and stand behind me!"


    "Third-grade totem!"


    The rest were all envious.


    The south barbarian cultivation world believed that man was the spirit of all things, and the body contained the bloodlines of millions of species. As long as the bloodline could awaken, it was possible to obtain all kinds of magical powers.


    There were also differences in the totems that awakened.


    The lowest eighth and ninth-grade ones were only ordinary wild beasts that had limited potential. Anything above was defined as a mutated beast, so there was value in training them.


    And Dark''s ''horned dragon'' was a legendary fierce beast, one level higher than mutated beasts.


    Even the high priest was likely moved by it and would take him in as a disciple.


    Unfortunately, everyone after him failed, except for a young girl who awakened the ''jade rabbit'', a fourth-grade totem, making the high priest very happy.


    "Next, Ancient!"


    Ancient took a deep breath when he heard his name, went to the center of the stone pillars, and sat down cross-legged.


    "Begin!"


    He grabbed the herb in front of him and chomped it down.


    A heat current converged in his body and injected into the stone pillar beside him.


    Runes lit up, but very slowly.


    "Hmm?" The high priest frowned. "This Ancient¡­ is the top five among this group, isn''t he? This speed¡­ seems like he''s going to fail. Ah, what a pity. No matter how good he trained his martial arts, he will be an ordinary warrior if he can''t awaken his bloodline power. This is life!"


    "Am I going to fail?" Ancient could feel the heat current rolling around in his body. Unfortunately, no matter how hard he tried, it started to stagnate halfway up the stone pillar.


    "Is that Lunatic Ancient?"


    "He is in the top five and has always been arrogant¡­"


    "Seems he''s about to fail¡­"


    Many gloating voices came, causing Ancient to become even more anxious. "No, I have to succeed!"


    A kind of obsession made his eyes flash red. He bit the tip of his tongue, and the violent pain immediately simulated the heat current in his body to accelerate.


    Bang!


    Finally, numerous heat currents converged and seemed to break through a certain barrier.


    The four stone pillars lit up, and a totem appeared.


    "Hmm¡­ it seems a bit weak judging from the momentum!" The high priest frowned. The totem that appeared in front of him was still foggy. "How is there fog in the bloodline totem?"


    He gently pushed his palm out, and Ancient''s bloodline power could not hold up against it. The fog dispersed and¡­ a large shell appeared?


    "Ancient, shell, ninth-grade totem!" the high priest announced immediately.


    The eighth and ninth-grade bloodlines were only ordinary wild beasts.


    Shells and the like were weaker than ordinary lions and tigers. He was merely a little stronger than those who could not awaken their bloodline power.


    "Haha¡­ That gave me a shock!"


    "So what if he could awaken a totem? It''s still of the lowest grade. He probably can''t even make it to the next realm!"


    "I heard that the big tribes don''t even bother with trash like eighth and ninth-grade totems."


    Most of the other youngsters started to gloat mercilessly.


    After all, Ancient had stepped all over them, making them quite unhappy.


    Ancient returned to his place with his fists clenched and lowered his head, seemingly unreconciled.


    However, no one knew that he was reborn the very instant he awakened his bloodline. He was merely pretending at this time to cover up his true emotions.


    "I-I am Ancient, and I am also¡­ Fang Yuan!


    "My True Spirit finally awakened after such a long time!"


    Fang Yuan tightened his fist. "Abominable Lord, you sure are something¡­ You are ruthless to others but even more ruthless to yourself!"


    He combined his deductions with his previous memory and fully understood what had happened.


    "It was a huge decision for the Abominable Lord to burn his Dao Fruit!"


    Existences that had cultivated for such a long time had their own understanding of the ebb and flow of destiny. The Abominable Lord knew that if he did not do anything to Fang Yuan at that time, it would be Fang Yuan''s turn to fight back.


    Therefore, he took advantage of the last chance to fight desperately.


    This really hit Fang Yuan where it hurt. The Abominable Lord had the advantage in his years of cultivation and foundation after all.


    Fortunately, he had the help of the light from the Huaxia civilization world!


    He had not died immediately but rather entered a stalemate with the Abominable Lord.


    The two Netherheaven Demon Gods staked everything they had and started a bet under special circumstances.


    Reincarnate into this world to determine the final winner!


    The winner would obtain everything, and the loser would perish with no second chance!


    "If not for the help of the light from Huaxia, I wouldn''t have even had the chance to bet!"


    Fang Yuan gritted his teeth and sensed himself. "My chips were¡­ my Dream Master Great Dao, my Body of Origin Power, my everything. The same is true for the Abominable Lord. These are not ours until the winner is decided!"


    The bet this time had instantly made both of them mortals!


    There was nothing like a Netherheaven Great Dao that would allow their strength to recover immediately.


    Because their Great Daos were used as chips and had offset each other.


    The only thing left was to rely on themselves!


    "Abominable Lord, I can feel your determination¡­ But the final winner will be me!"


    Fang Yuan''s eyes gleamed bright.

 1025 Clam

    Frosty moon.


    Fang Yuan was lying on a bed and staring blankly at the moonlight.


    "My only purpose in this world is to destroy the Abominable Lord¡­ It would be easy if he were here in this Hundred Thousand Mountains, but unfortunately, that''s unlikely!"


    This world was vast, very much so!


    According to Ancient''s memories, a bloodline warrior might not ever leave the Hundred Thousand Mountains within their lifetime, and beyond this Hundred Thousand Mountains, there were even bigger tribes and ''kingdoms''.


    "And¡­ my Dao¡­ really disappeared!"


    He gazed at himself. At this moment, he was truly an ordinary mortal. He did not even have the stats window anymore.


    "Stats window¡­"


    He would be lying if he were to say that he was not disappointed about losing this great cheat.


    However, Fang Yuan''s state of mind had long been tempered, and he was not going to immerse himself in these anxieties.


    "Yes¡­ the Abominable Lord had the Mental Demon Realm''s help even if I had the help of that light from Huaxia¡­ He bet half a Dao Fruit¡­ The value was far beyond what I bet, so it was impossible for this to be fair with the stakes being so different. This is why my stats window is gone! Is it worth half a Dao Fruit?"


    Fang Yuan took a deep breath.


    To be honest, he found this bet rather weird.


    The Abominable Lord was obviously demonstrating his desperate attack. He should not have been able to resist the power from the burning Dao Fruit, and it was very likely that he would have died.


    The reason for this form of betting might be due to the marvelousness of that light from Huaxia, or it could also be a final eruption from the stats window.


    After all, this cheat had a lot of secrets that he did not fully understand yet.


    "Ah¡­ Yesterday is already gone!" Fang Yuan sighed and regained his spirit. "The next most important thing is this world¡­"


    However, he was shocked again just as he settled down to meditate. "This isn''t right¡­ This world¡­ is not right!"


    Even if he had nothing, his experience of crossing over to many worlds as a top Demon God was still there.


    Fang Yuan realized that this world had a fundamentally different intrinsic quality from the previous worlds!


    "This is¡­ a difference in the universe''s natural source. Perhaps I''m no longer in the universe where the Mental Demon Realm is?"


    His eyes widened, and he calmed down immediately. "It''s quite possible. Even the Great Daos are different¡­ I really have to restart everything again!"


    The universe''s natural source was different, so the ''Dao paths'' produced were naturally different as well.


    This meant that most of Fang Yuan''s insights and knowledge were instantly rendered useless.


    "Only a Dao Fruit could maintain itself under the different natural sources of different universes¡­ It seems like this is truly a different universe!"


    Fang Yuan took a deep breath and suddenly understood.


    The Abominable Lord had burnt half a Dao Fruit, while his stats window and his Netherheaven Great Dao were also considered half a Dao Fruit.


    In this way, they formed the value of a complete Dao Fruit.


    This sort of power could even break the boundaries of a universe!


    "The strong pass of the enemy is like a wall of iron, yet with firm strides, we are conquering its summit¡­"


    Fang Yuan smiled. "Abominable Lord¡­ we are on fair starting points!"


    ¡­


    "In this world, everything under Dao Fruit is different from the previous universe¡­ Troublesome!"


    After careful consideration, Fang Yuan felt it was very troublesome.


    The Da Qian World he was born into might be a different dimension from the Mental Demon Realm, but at least they had an upper-lower relationship, and some rules still applied.


    Moreover, perhaps the low-dimension Da Qian World and all the surrounding worlds were actually subordinate to the high-dimension Mental Demon Realm!


    However, this universe seemed to have nothing to do with the Mental Demon Realm. It might even be a higher dimension than the Mental Demon Realm.


    Therefore, under Dao Fruit, all the Great Dao and nomological laws were useless.


    "Starting everything afresh. Even as a mortal, what do I have to be afraid of as long as I can cultivate?"


    Fang Yuan settled down and started pondering over his capital.


    "The outside world might have better cultivation methods, but if I want to survive in the Hundred Thousand Mountains, I can only take the path of a bloodline warrior!


    "Bloodline warrior, the first Awakening realm is to cultivate the flesh and strengthen the bloodline before finally awakening a totem! I''ve already done that, but¡­"


    He conjured his totem¡ªa clam shell that continuously spat out fog.


    "The higher the totem grade, the greater the potential. Ordinary wild beasts have difficulty breaking through to the next realm¡­ But this isn''t some shell but a clam!


    "The clam is a mutated beast in the sea. It is shaped like a shell and can spit out fog to create illusions. It is rumored that they create the mirages at sea!"


    This was not knowledge from the tribe, but a memory from his first life.


    "It seems like¡­ the light from Huaxia gave me a hand in the end? This world¡­ leans in my favor?"


    The corner of Fang Yuan''s mouth turned upward.


    This minute difference at the start would become an immense gap in the end.


    "To have such an ability means that it is a mutated beast, so it should at least be seventh grade¡­ Of course, this high priest is from an ordinary small tribe without much knowledge. For him to mistake it as a shell is reasonable!"


    Fang Yuan''s spirit revived after thinking through it.


    It felt awesome for trash to make a comeback, but it was not the time for that. For those people without knowledge that thought that his aptitude was not good enough, he had no time to think about getting back at them.


    ¡­


    The next day, on a field.


    "It''s one in ten thousand to be able to awaken a bloodline and form a totem. Next, I am going to impart a cultivation method to you!"


    A ruddy man in beast hides began to teach Fang Yuan and the rest.


    "Yesterday¡­ less than ten of you succeeded in the ceremony out of hundreds. Of course, we had already done a round of selection when you were infants. It really is one in ten thousand!"


    Fang Yuan looked around. There were only two worthy of attention¡ªDark with the horned dragon totem and Moon with the jade rabbit totem! The rest were sixth and seventh grade. There was even one with an eighth-grade tiger totem!


    "Okay, so my aptitude is the lowest on the surface! Our Flybarb tribe is just a small tribe after all. It''s already good enough to have so many youngsters who can awaken totems. They don''t have the luxury of nitpicking like the bigger tribes, so¡­ even those at the eighth and ninth-grade would receive training!"


    Fang Yuan rejoined.


    If he was born in a big tribe, it might have discarded him as trash after yesterday.


    But now? He might still be considered trash, but he still had some value to the elders.


    "For Totem Cultivation, awakening the bloodline power is the Awakening realm. You have all done that!"


    The voice of the huge man in beast hides rang like thunder. "After the Awakening realm, you are at the ''Elemental Energy realm'', which is also known as the ''Foundation Establishment realm''. That''s what people outside call it. We call it the ''Predatory realm''. Why predatory? We want you to go out to kill wild beasts, mutated beast, and even fierce beasts, and seize their bloodline and spirit essence to cultivate your totem!


    "The more you kill, the more you accumulate and the stronger your totem becomes. You will eventually be able to form a true ''materialization''. This is the third realm of cultivation, the ''Materialization realm''! You will become famous in the Hundred Thousand Mountains if you can achieve this realm!"


    Whoosh!


    Thunder exploded, and lightning danced wildly.


    Roar Roar!


    Endless thunder materialized behind the huge man in beast hides.


    However, unlike simple totems, it had substance and felt real. It had a lion head, the eyes of a panther, blue scales, and a snake''s tail. Lightning flashes accompanied every roar.


    "This is¡­ fourth-grade totem¡­ lightning beast! It is at the Materialization realm and akin to a living creature!" Dark said quietly. "Instructor Brutal Thunder is the strongest in our Flybarb tribe!"


    "Your basic martial arts should already be good enough. I''ll now teach you some basic ways to use your bloodline power¡­ and totem secrets!


    "After being proficient in it, you will leave the tribe to kill in the Endless Mountains! If you die, you can''t blame others! Don''t dream about returning if you can''t bring your totem to the second stage!"


    Brutal Thunder''s teachings were indeed brutal.


    "Those with high-grade totems probably receive preferential treatment. Either this Brutal Thunder or the high priest will be secretly protecting them¡­ They''ll probably leave people like me for dead, and I''ll only get more attention if I come back alive!"


    Fang Yuan''s heart shook. "I have to increase my ability to protect myself as soon as possible!"


    He gave up disclosing the true nature of his totem after some thought.


    First, he would not be able to explain how he could recognize it.


    Second, totems could not display their abilities before reaching a certain level. The high priest would probably not believe him.


    "I have to enter at least the second stage or the mid Predatory realm to be more convincing! I still have to rely on myself at the start!"


    Fang Yuan quickly recognized reality and started to practice hard.


    "You were all practicing basic martial arts before. Now, I''m going to impart to you the more advanced techniques!"


    Brutal Thunder was holding a giant saber. It was black, had a white bone as its handle, and cast poorly. "Saber techniques are easy to learn and extremely suitable for us. I''ll be teaching you the Splashing Wind Saber Technique. There are only three stances. Look closely. The first stance¡ªChopping Wood!"


    He slammed his blade and split a stake in two. "The Chopping Wood stance requires you to pour strength from the waist into the bones¡­"


    This stroke was rough, but it was already rather sophisticated for the Flybarb tribe.


    Even the highest aptitude Dark was unlikely to understand it fully.


    But Fang Yuan''s eyes lit up. "It might just be a method of exerting strength, but it seems like there''s still something else to it!"


    "The second stance¡ªCutting Wind!


    "Third stance¡ªSplashing Wind!"


    Brutal Thunder demonstrated it again. "Practice these three stances well. One stance can stimulate most of your body''s strength. It is a very clever technique. You can rely on it to save your life when you meet ordinary wild beasts in the mountains!"


    He sighed before speaking again, "It''s rumored that beyond the Hundred Thousand Mountains, there are some humans whose bloodline power is too weak to awaken, but they can rely on all sorts of cultivation techniques to embark on the path of cultivation. However, their techniques are too complicated. Perhaps no one among a million barbarians can understand them¡­ These three stances were brought back by the tribe''s ancestors from the outside world. It''s said to be the simplified version of a saber technique. Even so, there are only a handful of people in the tribe who could master them!"

 1026 Tes

    The Endless Mountains was an area in the Hundred Thousand Mountains within the Flybarb tribe''s sphere of influence.


    "It''s unlikely they''ll leave us for dead since it''s just a test for those at the early Predatory realm. We are all future elites and the vitality of the tribe!"


    Fang Yuan wore beast skin clothes, carried a bamboo basket, and held a saber in his hand as he walked through the jungle.


    "After awakening the totem, our physical fitness improved, and we no longer need to fear ordinary wild beasts¡­ We will develop our own totems through constantly killing beasts and seizing their bloodlines and spirit essences in the Endless Mountains! This is the Predatory realm!"


    He recalled the previous lessons. "I will be able to enter the mid Predatory realm once I accumulate to a certain extent, and I can then display some of the abilities of the totem¡­ This is also the tribe''s requirement¡ªreturning only when we reach the mid-stage!


    "But I feel that this method is a bit stupid. We don''t even have a technique to cultivate the power of the totem¡­ It''s all based on external forces!"


    Fang Yuan felt some regret.


    If his realm were still there, it would be very easy to create some techniques based on his totem.


    Unfortunately, this was a totally different universe with different nomological rules. He did not dare to do anything out of the ordinary in fear that he might damage his body''s natural source. If that happened, then he would have no one to blame but himself.


    Unless¡­ he managed to find hundreds of experimental subjects to test whatever he wanted on!


    Sha Sha!


    Just then, the nearby trees rustled.


    "Hmm?" Fang Yuan narrowed his eyes and saw a black shadow. "An ordinary wolf? No, it seems to be a banished wolf king!"


    There were also hierarchies within wolf packs. The fate awaiting a defeated wolf king was either death or banishment.


    This old wolf with emerald eyes might be wounded at the moment, but it was still gritting its teeth and very tough.


    "Kill!" He struck an attack posture.


    "Ahwhoooo!" The old lone wolf stepped aside and leaped violently in reflex.


    "This wolf has an iron head and a tofu waist!"


    Fang Yuan''s eyes flashed coldly. The result was set when this old wolf was confused by his killing intent and lost the first move.


    He raised his saber. "Chopping Wood!"


    Bang!


    A cold light flashed. A huge wound appeared on the old wolf''s waist, and blood poured out.


    Fang Yuan hopped a few steps away and watched the old wolf fall to the ground, bleeding out.


    "Bloodline? And spirit essence?"


    Through his totem, he could feel something different in this old wolf whose life was quickly slipping away.


    "Now, if I use the technique that Brutal Thunder taught, I can let my totem absorb the spirit essence¡­"


    He shook his head without doing anything.


    "Regardless of whether its bloodline or spirit essence, the most taboo is to absorb indiscriminately and conflicting attributes¡­ My clam totem is the water element and illusion oriented. It isn''t compatible with this old wolf at all. Although I can still absorb it, it will inevitably cause some issues later!"


    This reasoning was something he comprehended himself.


    After all, Flybarb was only a small tribe without any great inheritance. Perhaps even the high priest did not know about this.


    But just how powerful was Fang Yuan''s knowledge? He instantly found out about this little secret of the Predatory realm. "Since it''s the cultivation of spirit essence and bloodline, it''s best to kill beasts more suitable for my totem. For me, it would be water beasts or mutated beasts inclined toward psyche and illusions. Only then can my totem be more perfect!


    "Even though neither the high priest nor Brutal Thunder mentioned it, I am confident that my theory is right. It''s not much of a loss for me even if it isn''t!"


    He left the wolf corpse and started toward a river.


    "The beasts of this world are powerful¡­ and the variety and density are amazing!"


    Before long, Fang Yuan arrived at the river and started fishing.


    He took out a piece of wolf meat, tied it to a branch, and suspended it over the river.


    Blood dripped, immediately attracting a large creature.


    Splash!


    Water splashed, and a black shadow leaped out, exposing sharp fangs that latched onto the wolf meat.


    "Great!"


    Fang Yuan''s eyes lit up, and he swung fiercely.


    A huge resistance came, but it still lost to Fang Yuan and was thrown ashore.


    Smack!


    It was a giant fish half the size of a human. It had black scales, and its mouth was full of sharp teeth, convincing Fang Yuan that it could definitely bite off an adult''s fist in one go.


    "Sawtooth fish! One of the fiercer species!"


    He took a deep breath and slowly stepped forward while looking at the fish flopping on the ground and trying to return to the river.


    "Cutting Wind!"


    The saber turned into a stream of light, chopping at the fish''s head.


    Smack!


    The sawtooth fish went taut and stopped moving.


    "Clam totem! Absorb!"


    Fang Yuan''s right hand formed a strange hand seal, and a totem light pattern appeared from his body and pressed onto the sawtooth fish.


    A heat current was drawn from the fish and went into the totem.


    His body seemed to improve, giving him a fluttering feeling.


    "My clam totem seems to be brighter now that I''ve absorbed the bloodline and spirit essence!"


    Fang Yuan stared at his big shell totem that swallowed clouds and spat fog.


    In the Awakening and Predatory realms, a bloodline warrior''s totem looked like a two-dimensional picture, akin to a rune.


    It would only become three-dimensional and come alive when it reached the Materialization realm.


    "Not enough! I have to kill at least another hundred sawtooth fish to make the totem improve a little and advance to the mid Predatory realm¡­ I can''t materialize it at that stage, but the totem would be able to exert some abilities!"


    Brutal Thunder did teach them in regards to this.


    Fang Yuan set up a campfire and grilled the sawtooth fish. He ate the fish slowly and placed the saber beside him. "Before the mid-stage, we can only rely on our own martial arts to survive. Of course, we can easily deal with ordinary wild beasts under the nourishment of the totem! I can only really rely on the Splashing Wind Saber Technique for now!"


    It would seem as though the barbarians in the Hundred Thousand Mountains were a bit stupid and had problems understanding things like techniques.


    Among this group of youngsters, only Dark, Moon, and that young boy with the tiger totem had learned the first stance.


    However, Fang Yuan was proficient in all three stances!


    "The three stances are actually just one stance. The core is the strength-exerting technique! An ordinary warrior uses their arms to exert strength, while these stances use the whole body. Especially the last stance, Splashing Wind. It uses almost ninety percent of the whole body''s power!"


    This was rather frightening.


    For example, Fang Yuan''s physical fitness was currently about on par with those youths, maybe even slightly inferior to Dark. However, he was confident that he was now superior to them with the Splashing Wind Saber Technique!


    "Even if the clam totem improves, it would be in the aspect of illusions. It might be in line with me, but I still have to depend on the saber in my hand when talking about lethality!"


    Fang Yuan gazed at the saber in his hand with understanding.


    In this world, he had to rely on the saber in hand to cut all obstacles!


    "Hmm? Who''s there?"


    His eyes moved to the side halfway through his meal.


    "Smells good! There is indeed someone here!" Several young men emerged from the thicket. "Lunatic Ancient, you''re pretty brave to light a fire in the Endless Mountains!"


    Although many wild beasts might be afraid of fire, there were several powerful mutated beasts that would be attracted by the flames.


    "So it''s you, Dark, Strain, and Tiger!" Fang Yuan looked coldly at these people. "What do you want?"


    Strain was the young man with the mastiff totem. However, it was obvious that Dark was the leader here. "We found a mutated beast and need help!"


    "Mutated beast?" Fang Yuan sneered. "With us? Wouldn''t we just be delivering it free food?"


    "Of course not. We''ve already found everyone but you. Also, that mutated beast is injured¡­" Dark said slowly. "Ancient, come and help me. We''ll split it fairly afterward!"


    He spoke impressively, with the air of a young leader. He had obviously become the core of these youths.


    The Flybarb tribe had long cleaned up the truly dangerous mutated beasts in the Endless Mountains, and only some ordinary ones were left.


    Fang Yuan''s heart moved, and he asked suddenly. "What mutated beast is it?"


    "Brute bull!"


    This was the most common mutated beast. It merely had more strength and thick skin.


    "I''m not going!" It was an earth element mutated beast and had no ability in the psyche aspect either, not attractive to Fang Yuan at all.


    "What?" Strain started angrily "How dare you¡­"


    "What can you do to me?" Fang Yuan glanced obliquely. "Also, stop calling me Lunatic Ancient. I''ve given myself a new name. It''s Fang Yuan!"


    There were no surnames in the Flybarb tribe, and everyone just had a casual word as a name.


    They could give themselves a new name after the coming of age ceremony.


    Of course, there were also special cases. After becoming part of the higher echelons of the tribe, they would be given a ''Brutal'' word to their name, like Brutal Thunder and Brutal Bones.


    "Fang Yuan!" Dark took a step forward. "Why don''t you come with us? Even Moon has joined my camp. We have to work together to survive better in the Endless Mountains. I am confident that I can lead everyone to the mid Predatory realm and return alive!"


    "Thank you! But I don''t need it!" Fang Yuan got up and left.


    "Boss¡­" His face full of anger, Strain stared at Fang Yuan''s back. "This kid¡­ really doesn''t know what''s good for him. Why do you need to¡­"


    "Shut up!" Dark suddenly slapped him, and his face was gloomy. "What do you know? Before the mid Predatory realm, no one can use the power of their totem to attack. We all have to rely on our physical fitness and martial arts. Do you think you can compare to Lunatic Ancient?"


    Strain finally understood.


    Lunatic Ancient, who was currently Fang Yuan, was among the top five in a hundred-odd youngsters.


    Furthermore, even Brutal Thunder had praised Fang Yuan. In terms of martial arts, he was simply the best in this cohort.


    "Are you going to block the brute bull without Fang Yuan?" Dark gnashed his teeth. "We have to kill this mutated beast no matter what!"


    A mutated beast contained bloodline power and spirit essence rich enough to meet most of the needs for the improvement of his horned dragon totem.

 1027 Three-Tailed

    The temptation of a mutated beast could not sway Fang Yuan since he had determined his own path.


    He walked along the river, found a few suitable places, and started his fishing plan.


    "Although sea beasts would be better, there really aren''t any suitable conditions here, so I have to make do with water beasts!"


    Fang Yuan stayed by the riverside, fished sawtooth fish, and absorbed their bloodline and spirit essences.


    Of course, such actions had occasional dangers.


    For example, the bloody smell of the sawtooth fish had attracted the mutated beast ''eight-legged crocodile'', the overlord in shallow waters, scaring Fang Yuan into fleeing.


    Some stronger water beasts forced Fang Yuan to do everything possible before finally relying on Splashing Wind to kill it.


    Finally, that night.


    The moon hung brightly overhead.


    Fang Yuan was sitting cross-legged in a cave, with his totem looming behind him.


    A blood aura overflowed and finally made the clam totem more solid.


    "Mid Predatory realm, done!"


    He opened his eyes in excitement.


    At this stage, Totem Cultivation was finally no longer just nourishing his body, but it could mobilize some strength.


    "Totem Possession!"


    Fang Yuan shouted, and the totem entered his body, leaving a black pattern around his eyes and a shell mark in between the eyebrows.


    "The clam totem causes no improvement in speed and strength, and the only ability is ''Illusion''. Of course, resistance toward other illusions and psyche attacks have improved as well."


    He raised his hand and released blobs of fog.


    Like mirages, illusions emerged and continued to solidify with the movement of his fingers.


    In the end, Dark, Moon, Strain, Tiger, and so on appeared as though they were real.


    "It''s more difficult to simulate the strong pressure that Brutal Thunder and Brutal Bones have!"


    Fang Yuan rubbed his brows and deactivated the totem''s power.


    He was definitely at the grandmaster-level in the manipulation of illusions, and he was even more powerful now that he had obtained the totem''s Illusion ability.


    "I can return to the tribe since I''m at the mid stage. Speaking of which, it''s all thanks to that blood fish!"


    The blood fish had forced Fang Yuan to go all out against it. It ranked the top among the wild beasts and was not far from becoming a mutated beast.


    It had been very dangerous, but there were many benefits after killing it. Therefore, Fang Yuan had taken a shorter time than expected to complete his breakthrough.


    "When I use only water element spirit essences and bloodlines to breakthrough, the clam totem seems more solid and consumes less energy?"


    Fang Yuan rubbed his chin. He did not have a suitable comparison, so he could only roughly deduce relying on his impression.


    Fang Yuan met a few unexpected people on the way back to the tribe the next day.


    "You are¡­ Moon?" He smiled and greeted the girl in front of him. "I changed my name. Call me Fang Yuan!"


    "Hehe¡­ I heard about it from Strain!" Moon stepped forward.


    She had the jade rabbit totem and had potential second only to Dark within the group.


    Not only that, but she was first in beauty as well. Her eyes were large, and her leather clothes showcased her white thighs, giving her an air of wild seduction.


    "What happened?"


    Looking at the two young men behind her, Fang Yuan immediately realized something.


    "I''ve separated from Dark!" Moon said. "Everyone pooled their all and finally managed to kill the brute bull, but he turned on the spot and refined the brute bull all for himself, leaving not even a single drop for us!"


    "After all, It is a mutated beast and a huge attraction to him. A third-grade totem requires a lot more bloodline power and spirit essences!" Fang Yuan shrugged but was laughing inwardly. Dark was a young man after all. He was shrewd but not much since he had made such a mistake.


    He would deduct points for this if he were a secret observer.


    How could he gather the hearts of people as part of the higher echelon if he could not deal with others fairly, even on the surface?


    Everything was a pretense under huge benefits, but for the sake of merely a brute bull¡­ Fang Yuan could only say that his vision was too shallow!


    "Hmph! Don''t we need it as well? Everyone spent half a month doing it, and Big Sis Moon didn''t even get anything!"


    "And that Dark brought a few subordinates and started to hunt everything rapidly. They even stole our prey! I heard they''re going to advance soon!" said the two young men behind Moon indignantly.


    The more advanced a totem was, the more it required to advance.


    If Fang Yuan were to absorb the brute bull, he could have immediately advanced to the mid-stage.


    However, it had only satisfied half the requirement for Dark, so he needed to continue hunting.


    Fang Yuan could deduce from this information that while his clam totem was not trash, it was at best a fifth or sixth-grade totem. He was still some distance away from those geniuses.


    "So, why did you look for me?" Fang Yuan scratched his head.


    "I''m here to ask you for help¡­ I heard you harvested a lot from fishing!" Moon was slightly embarrassed.


    Actually, some among them had wanted to imitate Fang Yuan''s fishing.


    However, they soon found out that it was not easy at all. To pull the fish onto shore the moment it bit the bait, the timing and strength needed were very demanding.


    Even Fang Yuan needed to use the power from Splashing Wind to be able to do it.


    As for going into the river and directly catching them?


    Haha! They would become white skeletons in no time.


    "Want me to help? What''s in it for me?" Fang Yuan did not reject immediately.


    Moon looked to her sides and lowered her voice. "I found traces of a three-tailed spiritual fox!"


    "Three-tailed spiritual fox?" Fang Yuan''s eyes glittered.


    This was a mutated beast. Most importantly, it was a mutated beast with illusion and psyche attributes. It was very compatible with him.


    "Foxes are good at bewitching, and the three-tailed spiritual fox is at the mutated beast level. This seventh-grade beast is rumored to grow one tail every one hundred years. Once it has six tails, it is at third-grade. If it manages to cross its tribulation, it becomes a Nine-Tailed Celestial Fox, a first-grade divine beast!"


    "Not bad. A three-tailed spiritual fox''s attacks aren''t strong, and it''s only strong with illusions. We can bring it down if we do it together!"


    Moon bit her lips. "I have a fourth-grade totem, and I need more bloodline power and spirit essences. Killing a hundred wild beasts won''t match up to a mutated beast! Afterward, it''s remaining meat and fur will go to you. The fur of a three-tailed spiritual fox will fetch a high price in the tribe!"


    "I think¡­ we''d be courting death if we challenged a healthy mutated beast!" Fang Yuan shook his head. "You''re underestimating the three-tailed spiritual fox''s illusion ability!"


    "But¡­ what else can we do? The three-tailed spiritual fox is already the best mutated beast I can think of. We''d only die if we met other ones," Moon said anxiously.


    "Given your strength, as long as you don''t overestimate yourself and slowly kill ordinary wild beasts, you''ll be able to meet the requirement!" Fang Yuan asked curiously, "Why take the risk?"


    "Because the reward is better the earlier you get back. I want revenge on Dark!" Moon clenched her fists. "I have a good friend who was sent to distract the brute bull by Dark and died!"


    Fang Yuan fell silent. The test of these barbarians was indeed barbaric, causing people to die.


    Probably only Moon and Dark had protection from death.


    Taking into account the strength of the hidden protector, we can try dealing with the three-tailed spiritual fox. There isn''t much risk anyway!


    Fang Yuan calculated swiftly in his head. "Okay! I promise to help you! But I want to change the terms. I want the spirit essence and the bloodline of the three-tailed spiritual fox!"


    He looked behind Moon. "Don''t reject me before listening to my condition. I guarantee to help Qi and Youjie reach the mid-stage within three days. Then the four of us will hunt the three-tailed spiritual fox, and the fur will be yours! Moreover, I promise to help you reach the mid-stage after that!"


    Who could he blame if he were to help Moon first and then she left right after succeeding?


    "Okay, deal. But¡­ are you really that confident?" Moon was baffled. Capturing a wild beast was not easy.


    "Don''t worry!" Fang Yuan laughed and showed his pearly white teeth. He had good knowledge of the rivers nearby, and with three helpers, the efficiency naturally increased greatly.


    He showcased his totem to persuade them. "Totem Possession!"


    "What? You''ve reached the mid-stage?"


    Moon covered her mouth, her eyes widened, and her face filled with astonishment.


    ¡­


    Three days later.


    Moon, Youjie, Qi, and Fang Yuan walked through a certain mountain range.


    Youjie and Qi were full of joy. Only Moon had signs of dissatisfaction on her face. "Fang Yuan, why are we taking a risk if your fishing skills are so good?"


    Even Moon was jealous of their progress over the past two days.


    If Fang Yuan went all out fishing, they would have finished their test in no time.


    "Of course, it''s because¡­ I really want that three-tailed spiritual fox!" Fang Yuan replied matter-of-factly. "My totem has advanced over the past three days, and I might be able to reach the late Predatory realm if I can absorb the bloodline and spirit essence of a mutated beast!"


    He had already prepared this reason, which was reasonable at this time.


    Moon gave it some thought and took a deep breath. "Fang Yuan, I''ll give my all to help you. You have to succeed!"


    For her revenge, she had no qualms about creating a powerful enemy for Dark.


    "We''ve arrived. The three-tailed spiritual fox is in that cave in front!"


    The four of them arrived at the foot of a three-peak mountain. Moon pointed to the cave. "Many caves are connected in this mountain. It''s a maze that not only does extends in all directions, but there are also some places where it''s very narrow. Only a fox can go through it. We''d be dreaming if we wanted to enter and catch the three-tailed spiritual fox. Therefore, we have to make a trap and draw it out!"


    "How?" Fang Yuan frowned slightly.


    "Don''t worry. I found a Vermilion Fruit. Spiritual foxes love these!"


    Moon smiled and seemingly dug a fiery red fruit out of thin air. It emitted an alluring aroma.

 1028 Conflic

    Bang!


    A tigon fell to the ground.


    Dark stepped forward and gave the final strike with an ice-cold expression.


    "Bloodline seal! Absorb spirit essence!"


    He devoured all the traces of bloodline power and spirit essence, leaving nothing for the others.


    Roar!


    His horned dragon totem emerged behind him, perfecting itself before submerging into his body.


    "Mid-stage!" The youths cheered and applauded. "After this, with Boss''s help, we''ll definitely reach his level in no time!"


    This was Dark''s condition in exchange for being able to order them. They would focus their strength to help him evolve his totem first, and then he would help his subordinates in return.


    "Boss!" At this moment, the underbrush was pushed aside, and Strain quickly ran over. "I''ve discovered Moon and the rest''s trail. They''re with Fang Yuan and preparing to hunt a three-tailed spiritual fox."


    "All right. Let''s head over there now!" Dark''s eyes lit up. "With another mutated beast, maybe I can directly enter the late Predatory realm during the test!"


    These youths exchanged glances with each other in silence before Tiger stepped and stammered, "But¡­ Boss, we agreed that the next prey would be ours¡­"


    Bang!


    The moment he said that, a fist sent him flying to the ground.


    "I meant ordinary wild beasts! Any mutated beast is mine!" Dark had a dangerous glow in his eyes. "I have a horned dragon totem, and all of you are my underlings in the future. How dare you not listen to my commands?"


    "I don''t dare!"


    All the other youths kept quiet, evidently slightly regretful.


    "So what are you waiting for? Don''t worry. The fur of the three-tailed spiritual fox will be yours!"


    Dark quickly turned around and entered the jungle.


    ¡­


    "This Dark¡­" On a treetop, Brutal Thunder was hiding in the dark and shaking his head silently. "His temperament isn''t good, and he seems incapable of being tolerant toward others. Additionally, he lacks the impartialness and prestige that is essential for a leader, so he can''t become the tribal leader in the future. However¡­ he can work toward becoming the strongest bloodline warrior!"


    In the Flybarb tribe, strength truly did determine most issues.


    Therefore, no matter how unbearable someone was, as long as they possessed a superior totem, there was value in training them. "These youngsters are about to converge soon? Great! With Brutal Arrow, there''s less pressure on me as well!"


    There were traces of indifference in Brutal Thunder''s eyes.


    In fact, even if these youths, excluding Moon and Dark, died in front of him, he would not intervene because this was the rule set by High Priest Brutal Bones!


    Only under the stimulation of death would the strongest bloodline warriors emerge.


    However, if Fang Yuan were here, he would be able to guess part of the reason.


    As a result of their totem''s heterogeneous absorption, it was incredibly difficult for ordinary bloodline warriors to advance further, and they had to undergo trials of life and death to polish and strengthen themselves.


    ¡­


    Under the three-peak mountain.


    A bright red fruit lay on the grass, exuding an astonishing fragrance.


    Gulp!


    Even Youjie and Qi could not help swallowing their saliva. "Fragrant! This fruit is simply too fragrant! Just smelling it makes me hungry¡­"


    "Be careful! I don''t have a second one!" Moon grumbled as she pressed on the heads of the two youths. "Don''t make any noise! The three-tailed spiritual fox is extremely vigilant!"


    The trap was a very ordinary one. It was merely a large pit with a thin layer of grass on it where the three-tailed spiritual fox often walked.


    "And that Fang Yuan actually found a spot to ambush from by himself. He''s making it clear that he doesn''t trust us¡­" Moon clenched her white teeth. "Just wait! I will definitely catch the three-tailed spiritual fox before him! Eh? It''s coming out! I knew that the Vermillion Fruit''s aroma was irresistible to it!"


    A white shadow suddenly flashed at the entrance of the cave.


    Seeing this, Moon and the two others immediately held their breath.


    Not long later, a white fox ran out. This fox was smaller than a normal fox, and it was almost like a tiny sable. It had glowing snow-white fur and three long tails it dragged along.


    After sniffing about, it looked at the Vermilion Fruit.


    "Good! We''ll make our move when it steps into range!" Moon clenched her fists tightly, but she suddenly realized that something was amiss with Youjie and Qi. "What are you guys doing?"


    "Hehe¡­"


    "Caw! Caw!"


    She shockingly found that the two companions beside her had become incredibly strange.


    They extended their arms toward her with their eyes glowing green as though they were¡­ foxes?


    "This is¡­ an illusion? Have I fallen into the three-tailed spiritual fox''s illusion? Not good! Wake up! Hurry up and wake up!"


    At this point, Moon finally understood how terrifying the three-tailed spiritual fox''s illusion ability was.


    The fox''s shadow she at first saw was likely fake. Moreover, just like a nightmare, even if she knew she was having a nightmare, she could not break free from it.


    "You¡­ No!!!" The girl''s cry instantly cut through the entire jungle.


    ¡­


    "Really¡­" Fang Yuan, who was hiding on a treetop, shook his head when he saw this.


    In his eyes, the three people hiding on the ground were already completely defeated. Even Youjie and Qi, who were at the mid Predatory realm, were standing there dazedly with a smile on their face. Who knew what kind of illusions they were in?


    "However¡­ they were merely my bait. The three-tailed spiritual fox would never fall for a crude trap like this."


    A cold light flashed in Fang Yuan''s eyes as he continued waiting.


    After some time, a white shadow appeared from the underbrush and charged toward the Vermilion Fruit at lightning speed.


    "Little guy, you lost the moment you couldn''t resist with the Vermilion Fruit!"


    Crash!


    The turf caved in, revealing a large hole.


    However, this three-tailed spiritual fox was so unbelievably fast that it actually managed to dart toward the edge of the trap. Both its claws clung to the edge of the hole.


    Swoosh!


    Fang Yuan, who had been paying close attention from the start, threw a rock and accurately struck the three-tailed spiritual fox''s forehead.


    It let out an agonizing cry as it fell into the pit.


    "Success!" Fang Yuan clenched his fist tightly. He slid down the tree and casually kicked Moon and the other two. "Wake up!"


    "W-we are in an illusion!" Moon cried out. She looked at Fang Yuan cautiously. "What about you? Are you real or fake?"


    "Really¡­" Fang Yuan rolled his eyes and ignored her. He arrived at the edge of the hole while holding his saber.


    "Wait!"


    Right at this moment, the thickets parted, and Dark led a bunch of youths over. "That three-tailed spiritual fox is mine!"


    "Dark, how shameless can you get?" Moon''s face immediately frosted over.


    "Haha¡­ In the Endless Mountains, might makes right!" Dark sneered.


    "Good! Very good!" Moon looked behind herself as Youjie and Qi roared and released their totem.


    Their totems were a black snake and a bull respectively. Presently, totem patterns, which were also called battle tattoos, emerged on their bodies, and their strength increased tremendously.


    "Two at the mid Predatory realm?"


    The young men behind Dark were slightly astonished, fearful, and envious.


    "Hmph!" Dark snorted, and the horned dragon totem behind him appeared. A formidable aura spread out, making Youjie''s and Qi''s expressions change drastically. "You broke through?!"


    "To think that such inferior totems dare to challenge me! Horned Dragon Possession!"


    Roar Roar!


    The horned dragon totem suddenly turned into a green radiance that landed on Dark''s body. A layer of green armor covered with complicated battle tattoos emerged.


    "I have a third-grade totem, while the two of you have a sixth and seventh-grade one. Even if you come at me together, you aren''t my match!" Dark shouted. "Hand over the three-tailed spiritual fox. Otherwise¡­ in the Endless Mountains, I can bury you anywhere!"


    "Really¡­ ignorant!" Fang Yuan''s expression was cold as battle tattoos appeared on his face. "Dark, your opponent is me! Moon, you think you can handle the rest of them?"


    Moon clenched her teeth and nodded. "Don''t worry!"


    Even though she had fewer people, two of them were in the mid Predatory realm while no one on the opposite side was. They had a big advantage.


    "Yet another one! But a ninth-grade totem is basically trash!" Dark restrained his fury. "For the last time, are you guys unwilling to serve me?"


    "You sure are arrogant given your age. Who do you think you are?"


    Fang Yuan''s face turned cold as he suddenly lunged forward. "Kill!"


    He charged at Dark like a ferocious tiger pouncing on its prey.


    If these youths had not experienced the test in the Endless Mountains, they would have stood rooted to the ground from pure shock alone, waiting to be slaughtered.


    "Chopping Wood Stance!" Dark swung forward with his saber.


    However, Fang Yuan''s saber instantly swept his aside and cut directly into the horned dragon armor, sending him flying to the ground and looking pathetic.


    "It indeed lives up to its name as a third-grade totem. Not only does it boost speed and strength, but the defense of the horned dragon armor is even more astonishing!" Fang Yuan narrowed his eyes. "Looks like I have to go all out to break it!"


    "You¡­" With his confidence taking the greatest hit, Dark quickly got up. "No way¡­ I''m already at the mid Predatory realm and can use the power of my totem. How can you beat me? I don''t believe it! I don''t believe it!!"


    He roared as he rushed forward and slashed three times. "Die!"


    Although he''s merely a small character, the protectors are definitely watching in secret. I can''t kill him!


    Before the fight started, Fang Yuan already had an ominous feeling, realizing that there were people monitoring them. He immediately thought of something. "Cutting Wind!"


    His body flashed as he detoured toward Dark''s back and sent out two saber light toward his legs.


    "Ahh!" Even through the horned dragon armor, the immense pain caused him to cry out miserably as he fell to the ground.


    "Haha! Simple!"


    "Who''s next?!"


    Nearby, Youjie and Qi swept everyone before them away while in great spirits.


    "Well, it seems like the rankings for this trial are already set!" Brutal Thunder met up with a hunter carrying a bow. "Brutal Arrow, what do you think of Moon?"


    Brutal Arrow had a scar on his face. "Without talking about the potential of her totem, she has the ability to take stock of the situation! And she is better at uniting people!"


    "At this point, we can''t just watch them kill each other. Go out there and stop them!" Brutal Thunder ordered. But his expression suddenly changed as he looked toward another side. "No way! That¡­"

 1029 Solo Kill

    "Hehe¡­ who would have thought that a trip would have such a harvest!"


    Outside the youth''s battlefield, a pair of long and narrow eyes glowing in green blinked delightfully. "Three-tailed spiritual fox, that horned dragon totem, jade rabbit¡­ are all pretty decent. Since the king wants to refine a ''Ten Thousand Beast Banner'', bringing these back will make the perfect materials!"


    At the thought of this, he immediately acted. A dark green fog surged toward the battlefield.


    "Hmm?" Fang Yuan caught this with the corner of his eye, so he turned and ran.


    "Bold!" A thunderous voice resounded!


    The lightning beast roared, and lightning danced, breaking through the fog.


    Brutal Arrow and Brutal Thunder finally came out to help when they saw these youths were about to be obliterated. "Fey, why are you here? How dare you act against our Flybarb tribe?"


    "Keke¡­" A human figure gradually appeared from the fog.


    Although most of his body was human, he had a weasel''s head, looking pretty horrifying. "I serve His Majesty King Pengze, and my king wants to refine the Ten Thousand Beast Banner. The people from your tribe seem decent, so quickly offer me some, and I''ll forgive you for your offense just now!"


    "No way!" Brutal Thunder and Brutal Arrow looked ice-cold.


    "King Pengze?" Fang Yuan ran a bit before turning around to listen to their conversation. "That Great Fey in Pengze?"


    Within the Hundred Thousand Mountains, there were not only barbarian tribes but also a variety of dangerous places and even Fey!


    Pengze was a massive swamp lake, and rumor had it that ''Great Fey Pengze'', who loved eating the hearts of young children, lived there. He was always used by parents to scare their children.


    Additionally, Great Fey Pengze had many Fey under him. Together, they were definitely formidable and sufficient to match up to the biggest tribes within the Hundred Thousand Mountains.


    "We are under the protection of the Beichen tribe and have already offered this year''s tribute. Are you trying to stir up conflicts between the two sides?" Brutal Arrow shouted.


    "Do you really think I care¡­"


    The weasel roared as he charged forward.


    A half-human Fey like him was strong even in this form, comparable to the barbarian''s Materialization realm.


    "Damn it!" Brutal Thunder wielded his saber and charged forward as battle tattoos covered his body. "Splashing Wind!"


    Swoosh!


    Saber light flashed, and the lightning beast in the air roared even more ferociously. A thunderbolt landed on the blade. "Kill!"


    This Fey cried out as he revealed his actual body, and a cattle-sized weasel extended his sharp claws.


    Clang!


    The saber and claws clashed, and both parties took a few steps back.


    "How dare you¡­" The weasel raged when he saw a small cut on his paw.


    Poof!


    Suddenly, a sharp arrow arrived in a flash, striking the ground right in front of him.


    "Get out of our sights, or we''ll join forces to kill you right here!" Brutal Arrow threatened while holding a bone longbow.


    "Good! Very good! I''ll remember this!"


    The weasel was smart and knew that he might really die against these two if he continued. He instantly turned into dark green fog and disappeared into the jungle.


    "Phew¡­ So risky!" Brutal Arrow put down the bow and arrow in his hands and looked at Brutal Thunder with a smile. "If it wasn''t for Instructor, I fear we might have suffered severe consequences today!"


    If not for the appearance of a third-grade totem, Brutal Thunder would not have revealed himself as a nanny.


    Without him, Brutal Arrow was not a match for that weasel at all.


    "All right. Come here!" Brutal Thunder called.


    "Instructor!" Dark, Moon, Fang Yuan, and the others walked over.


    "Although that Fey left, we can''t be sure that he won''t come back. It''s very dangerous here. Dark, Youjie, Qi, and Fang Yuan, follow me back to the tribe since you''ve completed the test."


    Brutal Thunder looked around. "As for the others, continue the test. You can only return once you''ve reached the mid-stage!"


    "Teacher, that three-tailed spiritual fox!" Dark was reluctant to give it up.


    "Tsk! Didn''t you say something about might makes right? Since you lost to Fang Yuan, the three-tailed spiritual fox belongs to him!" Brutal Thunder snorted, thinking that giving Dark a setback now might be greatly beneficial to his future growth.


    "Uh¡­ that three-tailed spiritual fox escaped long ago!"


    Fang Yuan walked up to the trap and shrugged his shoulders helplessly. "Instructor Brutal Thunder, I want to stay here for a while longer!"


    "Oh? Why?" Brutal Thunder narrowed his eyes.


    Fang Yuan smiled and said, "I promised Moon that I would help her reach the mid-stage."


    In reality, he could not bear to let this mutated beast go.


    The most dangerous place was the safest place. Even that weasel would not think that he would stay in this place, right?


    Moreover, the other party''s target was clearly a genius like Dark and would not be interested in an ordinary totem.


    "Up to you!" Brutal Thunder nodded and then disappeared with Dark and the rest into the jungle.


    In his eyes, Fang Yuan merely had a ninth-grade totem and was just slightly more skillful at martial arts. He was not of too much value.


    If he could be of help to Moon, that would be even better.


    "Spread out and continue hunting!" Brutal Arrow carried his bow and disappeared into the darkness. A voice echoed in their ears. "According to the tribe rules, I won''t step in even if you die!"


    After the other youths left, Fang Yuan turned to Moon. "Moon, wait for me by the river!"


    "What are you going to do?" Moon shivered.


    "Of course¡­ try again!" Fang Yuan''s eyes flashed with cold light. "So? Do you want to accompany me into the cave?"


    "Hmm, forget it! I''ll only be a burden!"


    At the thought of the illusion earlier, Moon shook her head with a lingering fear.


    ¡­


    "Peace at last!"


    Fang Yuan was very satisfied when he saw Moon''s disappearing figure.


    After all, Brutal Arrow was certainly going to watch over Moon and would not stay around to watch over a ninth-grade trash like him.


    Now, he was by himself.


    After some thought, he held his saber and entered the cave.


    "The three-tailed spiritual fox is merely adept at illusions. Its physical attacks aren''t much better than ordinary wild beasts. It just so happens that I restrain it!


    "And¡­ regardless of how timid it is, it''d be surprising if it didn''t attack me when it sees that I''ve entered alone!"


    ¡­


    Fang Yuan sneered as he walked through the cave while holding a torch. He wanted to use himself as bait to lure and kill the three-tailed spiritual fox.


    After all, how knew how long he would have to wait to find another mutated beast that matched his totem and that he restrained.


    "According to my inference, it''s best for a totem to absorb bloodlines and spirit essences with a common origin. Previously, the fish I absorbed were all of the water element, so the three-tailed spiritual fox''s illusion and psyche attributes are exactly what I need to form a complementary balance!"


    Fang Yuan thought silently, and after a while, he arrived at a cave.


    "Eh? Why is there such a giant cave inside this mountain?"


    He rubbed the rock wall and was slightly surprised. "Seeing how smooth it is, it seems like it isn''t natural?"


    Not only that, but there was also a stone above the rock wall emitting fluorescence that lit up the entire place.


    There was a slight foul smell in the air, and Fang Yuan realized that the three-tailed spiritual fox must have stayed here for quite some time.


    "Fang Yuan, die!"


    Suddenly, Dark emerged from the darkness, and the horned dragon materialized, baring fangs and brandishing claws.


    "You''re finally here!" A sneer appeared on Fang Yuan''s face as his battle tattoos appeared, and fog spread.


    "You¡­" Dark was shocked as his body blurred and transformed into Moon. "S-save me please!"


    Poof!


    The next moment, Fang Yuan swung his saber and beheaded Moon.


    "Not a single drop of blood! What a poor illusion." Fang Yuan shook his head. "Illusion, break!"


    Behind him, the clam totem spat out fog as though it were breaking a barrier.


    A sharp voice sounded, and the three-tailed spiritual fox appeared in front of him.


    However, this mutated beast moved forward instead of retreating, and its claws were already almost touching Fang Yuan''s eyes.


    Fang Yuan retreated violently and chopped with his blade. "Splashing Wind!"


    He used nearly all of his strength on this single strike, making it incredibly fast as it landed right on the three-tailed spiritual fox''s head.


    Poof!


    Blood splattered everywhere as the fox''s corpse fell to the ground.


    "Ha!"


    He sat cross-legged and immediately began absorbing the spirit essence.


    The cave regained its original tranquility, and only the light emitted from the stone continued flickering.


    After some time, Fang Yuan opened his eyes. "I''m only one step away from the late stage? Moreover¡­"


    As soon as his thoughts moved, clouds and fog converged into the figures of Brutal Thunder, Brutal Arrow, and that weasel.


    Presently, their appearance, expressions, and even the pressure they emitted were remarkably lifelike, and it was difficult to tell whether they were genuine or fake.


    "After absorbing the three-tailed spiritual fox''s bloodline and spirit essence, there is indeed a huge increase in the illusion ability of the clam totem!"


    Fang Yuan wielded his saber and started skinning the three-tailed spiritual fox. After all, its fur was worth a lot back at the tribe.


    "Huh? What is this?


    Moments later, he dug out a grey, blood-stained item from the fox.


    "This looks like¡­ a stone talisman?"


    After cleaning it and looking at the runes on it, Fang Yuan''s eyes lit up. "Great! The person who carved the inscription on this talisman is definitely not weak. This can serve as a guide for me!


    "But it seems as though there are other meanings within these runes!"


    His fingers gently stroked the runes. "Why was this inside the fox? And what do these runes represent?"


    After a slight analysis of this, he suddenly had a realization. "This should be something like a magic artifact? According to the customs of the barbarians, blood is required to see the effects!


    "I have no idea where the Abominable Lord is in this world and what kind of opportunities he''s managed to grasp. I have to try harder to catch up, and I can''t afford to waste any time!"


    At the thought of this, he no longer hesitated and bit his finger. A drop of blood fell onto the stone talisman.


    Bloop!


    It was weird to say that the drop of blood fell onto the stone talisman since the talisman absorbed it like a sponge, and it disappeared without a trace.


    "This is¡­"


    A message transmitted to him, causing a change in Fang Yuan''s expression.


    The next second, a radiance flashed, and his figure disappeared.

 1030 Trial

    "The future generation who passes three stages will become the disciple of Hong Chen!"


    ¡­


    Everything around was white and misty, and there was only a small path ahead.


    The voice he heard when he was refining the stone talisman earlier was still lingering in his ears.


    "This is actually an inheritance! And the person passing down the inheritance can even shift voids! He''s absolutely someone almighty!"


    Fang Yuan''s eyes widened. He was slightly delighted, knowing that he had come across a great opportunity.


    In this world, a true expert always loved leaving their inheritance behind.


    The main reason was due to the influence of the rumors about samsara. They hoped to teach an impressive disciple that would lead them back onto the cultivation path in the future.


    Of course, some genuinely wished that their skills and abilities would not be lost, or hoped that their disciple could avenge them or fulfill their other wishes and so on.


    Even people in the Flybarb tribe would often hear ancient stories about lucky people who received an inheritance pass downed from predecessors and soared. These stories were very enviable.


    "Unexpectedly, I was this lucky too!"


    However, Fang Yuan did not immediately celebrate how this sudden meat pie came to him. Instead, he quickly began to consider it.


    "Hmm, the stone talisman is pivotal and the key to entering and leaving this place. I can sense that it can send me out with just a single thought. This is extremely important because not only is there a way out but also because it shows that Hong Chen, who built this place, is a kind person and that this isn''t some kind of Demon Dao trap!"


    There were many types of inheritance. For example, after you entered some dangerous inheritances, you would not be able to leave unless you satisfied a certain condition.


    Furthermore, some Demon Dao cultivators liked to harm others even after they died. These so-called lands of inheritance were basically dead ends.


    Meanwhile, this inheritance that Fang Yuan obtained allowed him to leave at any time, making it pretty good.


    He walked forward and sized up the surroundings. "About thirty meters is the limit for movement. In addition, I have to embark on this path to accept the trial. Huh? The Qi of Heaven and Earth here?"


    Since it was a world and there was an energy within, Fang Yuan directly named it the Qi of Heaven and Earth.


    As a mid Predatory realm cultivator, his senses toward the Qi of Heaven and Earth naturally exceeded that of an ordinary person.


    "A place like this is considered a blessed land. Given the high density of the energy here, any ordinary person who stays here would be able to prolong their life. Any cultivator here will be able to dedicate themselves to progressing vigorously and boldly!"


    Fang Yuan arrived before the path.


    On one side was a black stele.


    "Stage One: Questioning Heart Path. Tests the temperament of the inheritor. Those who pass this stage will receive some cultivation techniques and treasures as rewards. If you pass all three stages, you will become my disciple! Take note! Even if you don''t pass the first stage, you can retreat safely. However, there are dangers in the second and third stages! Be cautious! Be cautious!"


    "This Hong Chen seems like a pretty good guy." Fang Yuan touched his nose. "There are rewards after the first stage, and he even reminded others of the later dangers¡­


    "Hmm¡­ that three-tailed spiritual fox must have gotten lucky and dripped its blood onto the stone talisman and arrived here. Unfortunately, it probably couldn''t even get past the first stage. However, relying on the Qi of Heaven and Earth here to nourish it, it slowly cultivated to become a mutated beast.


    "It seems this Hong Chen''s criterion for a disciple is irrespective of their background. Whether they are human, beast, or Fey, as long as they are a living being in this world, they have a chance!"


    He sat cross-legged and sensed the immense density of the Qi here. He felt slightly regretful. "If I could stay here for a year or two, I could advance my totem to the late stage solely with this nourishment. And this is without a cultivation technique¡­ However, it would take far too much time!"


    This inheritance might have more than one stone talisman.


    Moreover, the nourishment of the Qi here was still slower compared to killing beasts and absorbing their spirit essence.


    Fang Yuan took a deep breath as he stepped onto the Questioning Heart Path.


    "Fang Yuan!"


    The weasel''s strange head appeared, opened its massive mouth, revealed incredibly sharp teeth, and bit into his arm.


    Pain!


    Immense pain!


    Excruciating pain!


    Even though it was also an illusion, the Questioning Heart Path was much more frightening than the three-tailed spiritual fox''s illusion. This pain was unbearable even if you knew that it was an illusion!


    However, Fang Yuan did not even flinch as he continued moving forward past the weasel''s figure.


    Poof!


    The next moment, the weasel disappeared, and his arm was undamaged. The surroundings changed, and he arrived in the Flybarb tribe.


    "Fang Yuan, hand over the inheritance!" Brutal Bones and Brutal Thunder stood together with stern expressions. "You should know that with your strength, you definitely can''t protect a treasure like this!"


    At the same time, a mysterious power started acting on Fang Yuan''s heart, making him gradually forget that he was in a trial and convinced that this was the real world.


    ¡­


    After an unknown amount of time, nine flights of steps appeared in front of Fang Yuan.


    "The second half of the temperament trial?" Fang Yuan shook his head. "It seems like¡­ even the illusion that Hong Chen arranged can''t pry into my true inner heart!"


    He took a step forward onto the flights of steps.


    Rumble!


    A pressure came down on him, seeming as though he were confronting a fierce tiger or a giant dragon. The aura alone was enough to force ordinary people to jump off the steps.


    "It seems like this temperament trial is split into two parts. The earlier half tests the Dao Heart, while the following nine flights of steps directly tests willpower!"


    Fang Yuan nodded as he stepped onto the second step.


    After his True Spirit had reincarnated across countless worlds, the accumulation of his mental state was incomparably deep. Even though the physical quality of this body might not be the best, its psyche strength was quite impressive.


    He crossed seven levels before finally coming to a halt and breathing somewhat heavily. "I''m almost unable to take it anymore¡­"


    If this were a Dao Heart trial, even an Immortal would not be able to match Fang Yuan. But regarding the overall amount of psyche strength, those in ancient times did not have techniques in this respect, so theirs would merely be slightly stronger than that of ordinary youths.


    "There''s still a chance!" Fang Yuan took a deep breath. "Splashing Wind!"


    He executed Splashing Wind and charged forward onto the eighth level.


    Rumble!


    He felt a terrifying pressure, but he had expected it and held on.


    "My limit is probably the eighth level, but I can still push further!"


    He held nothing back as he stepped onto the ninth level.


    An immense force acted on him, and he rolled forward onto a stone platform.


    Instantly, all pressure disappeared, and Fang Yuan lay on the platform catching his breath.


    "The first stage is already this difficult, so the next two stages might not be possible for me¡­


    "Fortunately, there are rewards after completing the first stage!"


    After a short rest, Fang Yuan stood up and looked around.


    In addition to the stone platform that he was on, the surroundings were the same white and misty as before, and another path appeared not too far away.


    Before the next path, there was a stele with a few items on it.


    Fang Yuan did not look at the rewards and chose to look at the second stage. "The second stage tests combat talent. You will have to defeat all the combat puppets on the way to the third stage!" He shook his head. "There probably isn''t much hope for me in this one. Moreover, there are dangers¡­"


    After deciding to give it up, he looked at the rewards.


    On the stele were three items. A silver manual made of timber, a beast skin, and a¡­ saber?


    Fang Yuan picked up the manual. "Chaotic Cloak Saber Technique? Fierce and domineering, every strike is stronger than the previous one. After cultivating to the end, it can overlay nine layers of dark bursts! Eh?"


    Looking at the introduction, he found it slightly familiar. "Isn''t this the Splashing Wind Saber Technique? Was the Flybarb tribe''s Splashing Wind Saber Technique simplified from this?


    "And this saber¡­"


    He picked up the saber from the stele.


    The saber was pitch-black and had a rough shape. The handle and the blade were blended together well, as though carved from the same piece of pure iron. However, it was extremely heavy when he tried holding it.


    "Magic artifact?" Fang Yuan was delighted. "In the Flybarb tribe, only High Priest Brutal Bones possesses a magic artifact. Above magic artifacts are spirit artifacts, and above spirit artifacts are dao artifacts. However, these aren''t within my reach at this moment."


    He did not hesitate and immediately dripped his blood on it to refine it. He received a message. "Black Profound Saber, low-grade magic artifact! Using force to pressure others and conquer every obstacle!"


    "Well, if it were a flying sword magic artifact and so on, it would naturally be exceedingly sharp. However, the saber technique that I''m practicing is to be bold and unconstrained, sturdy and fierce. Heavy weapons are best for me!"


    He nodded and looked at the last beast skin.


    The material of this beast skin was extraordinary, likely the skin of some mutated beast. There were even runes on it, and it had its power ready for use at any time.


    On the back, there was a description. "Earth Escape Talisman, activate with blood refinement. Escape through the earth for over five kilometers to avoid calamity!"


    "This is a life-saving talisman!" Fang Yuan quickly put it away.


    "The inheritance and treasures mentioned are all superficial because the premise is to stay alive. The owner of this land of inheritance knew this very well."


    He bowed respectfully at the land of inheritance. "Junior Fang Yuan thanks Senior for the treasures. If I have the fate of completing the trial, it could be considered as fulfilling Senior''s wish!"


    With a thought, he was immediately sent out of the land of inheritance.


    At this moment, he muttered to himself doubtfully while tracing the stone talisman. "The treasures I received are all suited for me. How can there be such a coincidence in this world? There is definitely someone watching over the inheritance. No! It should be some contracted spirit beast or some magic treasure''s spirit. Either way, there isn''t anything wrong with showing respect and gratitude."


    Besides this, he was beaming from ear to ear. "I was just getting worried about not having top techniques. This came at the right time. If I can somehow attain the complete inheritance of the owner of this cave abode, I should be able to cultivate beyond the Materialization realm, right? After that, I might just be able to walk out of the Hundred Thousand Mountains."


    To him, a mere barbarian tribe was simply too insignificant.


    He had to walk the entire world to compete for more resources in order to progress quickly and trace the location of his nemesis.


    "In the future, I will cultivate secretly and give priority to further exploring this cave abode!"


    Fang Yuan tossed his saber and replaced it with the Black Profound Saber. He inserted it by his waist as he walked out of the cave.


    After this magic artifact acknowledged its master, it became even more plain and simple. Unless he directly took it out to fight with other magic artifacts, it would be incredibly hard to see its roots.


    "I was delayed for quite some time here. It''s time to meet up with Moon!"

 1031 Small Competition

    At a riverbank.


    "Get up!"


    Fang Yuan swung a sawtooth fish viciously onto the shore.


    The sawtooth fish had bright scales and sharp teeth, releasing a ferocious aura. Most importantly, its tail was the length of a human, definitely worthy of being called a sawtooth fish king.


    It flopped on the ground and swung its tail viciously toward Moon and Fang Yuan.


    "Courting death!"


    Fang Yuan slashed violently with the Black Profound Saber.


    The sawtooth fish''s head fell off as a number of mysterious powers invaded its brain and innards, thoroughly destroying its life force.


    Chaotic Cloak, three-layered dark burst!


    Seeing this, Fang Yuan nodded in approval.


    Chaotic Cloak Saber Technique has a total of nine dark bursts. When you reach that point, your cultivation is at large success. But there should be another realm after that. That is, merging the nine dark bursts into one and exponentially increasing its power. This is the pinnacle of ordinariness!


    Since there was ordinary, there was naturally becoming extraordinary!


    How great was his experience? In an instant, he saw the Chaotic Cloak''s further evolution. If I want to become extraordinary, I have to start from the psyche. The saber technique seems to vaguely suggest that I have to grasp ''Saber Will'' first!


    According to the will, one would overcome all obstacles, and there was nothing one could not do!


    The so-called ''Saber Will'' referred to uniting human and saber!


    There would be no distinction between human and saber. The saber in your hand was like your own hands or feet. This symbolized your entrance into a higher realm!


    "The second stage of this land of inheritance tests combat ability. Since the inheritance''s spirit gave me them, I have to cultivate the Chaotic Cloak to the limit and use the Black Profound Saber to pass this stage! And I can rely on the Earth Escape Magic Talisman to save my life!"


    This world''s nomological rules were completely different from before.


    Now that he had a secret manual, Fang Yuan could only make use of this to forge ahead even if it was not meant for cultivating his totem.


    Sadly, I used a sword before, but now I''ll have to change to a saber¡­


    "Devour!"


    Nearby, Moon sat cross-legged as the jade rabbit totem emerged. After absorbing the fish king''s bloodline and spirit essence, she stood and said happily, "I''ve finally reached the mid Predatory realm."


    "Mid-stage? A fourth-grade totem really requires a lot more." Fang Yuan stared at the battle tattoos on Moon''s body. "So? What ability did you get?"


    "Even though I can''t manifest armor over my entire body like Dark''s horned dragon armor, I can form ice armor to protect my vitals!" Moon closed her eyes, and a layer of ice armor covered her arm.


    "The jade rabbit is indeed a water and ice-type totem!" Fang Yuan nodded. "We can leave now!"


    Over the past few days, he had absorbed a lot of bloodlines and spirit essences while helping Moon kill water beasts. In addition to the three-tailed spiritual fox, he had already silently advanced to the late Predatory realm.


    However, he kept this strength secret.


    Speaking of which, if Moon is willing to work with me, I''m confident I can challenge that eight-legged crocodile! Fang Yuan still remembered the shame of being chased by that mutated beast. Too bad¡­ Moon wouldn''t agree. Besides, Brutal Arrow is still watching from the shadows.


    After increasing his cultivation, the feeling of being monitored intensified.


    Even when Fang Yuan was hunting, he held back most of his strength.


    "All right, let''s return!"


    Moon suddenly thought of something and clenched her fists. "I want revenge on Dark!"


    ¡­


    Brutal Bones stood on a platform while holding a bone staff and said gratified, "Wonderful. During this test, everyone except for one person returned alive and promoted your totem! You are all the hope of the tribe! Dark, you''re the first to return, so I''ll give you this bottle of ''Bloodline Pills''!"


    "Thank you, High Priest!" Dark eagerly received the reward.


    "Furthermore, I will bestow a Brutal name upon you. From now on, you are a bloodline warrior of my Flybarb tribe! Your name is Brutal Dark!" Strong Bones laughed heartily.


    "It''s actually pills!"


    The other youths watching were green with envy.


    Many barbarians enjoyed fierce battles and were ruthless people, but there were very few with technical talents. As such, spirit pills and magic artifacts were more precious here than the outside world.


    Moon stood next to Fang Yuan and whispered, "Since they''re Bloodline Pills, this bottle is probably worth a mutated beast. The high priest is really biased¡­ After all, Youjie and Qi returned together with Dark."


    "Well, that''s because he has a third-grade totem, a true genius!"


    Fang Yuan shrugged, but he understood the higher echelon''s bias toward matters like these.


    "High Priest!" Suddenly, Dark turned around and stared at Fang Yuan. "With my Brutal tribal name on the line, I challenge you, Fang Yuan!"


    Fang Yuan raised his hand and immediately shouted, "I admit defeat!"


    Why are you even betting your Brutal tribal name? If I win, would I have to change my name to Brutal Fang Yuan?


    He was dumbfounded.


    Fang Yuan was not particularly interested in that bottle of Bloodline Pills either. After all, he did not know what types of wild beast bloodlines and spirit essences were in it. If they were too heterogeneous, it would become a huge burden if he absorbed it.


    Seeing this, the high priest frowned immediately. "In the name of brave warriors, you must accept this challenge, Fang Yuan!"


    High Priest¡­ are you trying to help Brutal Dark to establish his prestige? Brutal Thunder frowned. After Dark returned, you took him as one of your personal disciples. But Brutal Dark''s temperament really won''t do!


    "Okay!"


    Fang Yuan dug his ear and stepped forward in exasperation.


    The other youths shuffled back, staring excitedly at the two on the field.


    The others had seen Fang Yuan defeat Brutal Dark before. Now that Brutal Dark challenged him again, they were especially looking forward to it.


    "I''ve been waiting for this day for a long time!" Brutal Dark stared at Fang Yuan and broke out into laughter. "I want you to grovel beneath my feet! Ha!"


    His horned dragon armor emerged and covered his body as he charged forward.


    At the same time, a large force of earth appeared behind Fang Yuan, moving to pierce him like spears.


    "Horned dragon armor, earth spikes! Very skilled coordination. He must have put in a lot of effort!" The high priest nodded happily.


    "Hmph. Chaotic Cloak, one-layered dark burst!"


    Fang Yuan twisted his body to dodge Brutal Dark''s attack. The back of his saber plunged down, chopping him on the back of his neck.


    Clang!


    Even with the horned dragon armor, Brutal Dark collapsed heavily onto the ground, falling flat on his face.


    "Hmm?"


    The next instant, a one-layered dark burst exploded, passing directly through the armor and forcing him to pass out.


    Brutal Thunder clenched his fists tightly and could not help but cry out, "Good!"


    "Brutal Dark lost again." High Priest Brutal Bones frowned, looking at Fang Yuan. "Come here¡­ Tell me, how did your attack penetrate the dragon armor?"


    "Reporting to High Priest!" Fang Yuan revealed his battle tattoos confidently. "After I advanced to the mid Predatory realm, I realized my shell wasn''t an ordinary shell. It has the power of water fog and illusions. Just now, I hit Dark with my psyche shock before he passed out."


    "Hmm?" Brutal Bones felt the psyche strength in the mist. His eyes twitched. "It truly is a strange strength. To be able to use the power of the totem, it must be at least seventh grade or above! A shell like this is very rare¡­"


    At first, he intended to let Brutal Dark establish his prestige and regain his confidence even if it meant sacrificing a ninth-grade totem.


    However, Fang Yuan''s totem was not ninth grade but seventh grade or above. All of a sudden, he had a change of heart.


    A seventh-grade totem has the possibility of cultivating to the Materialization realm. Even if he can''t reach it, he''ll definitely become a pillar of the tribe¡­


    After all, Brutal Bones was the high priest, and he had to take the tribe''s interests into consideration. He coughed. "Fang Yuan, you have put immeasurable effort into your cultivation, raising your strength significantly. I will bestow you with a bottle of Bloodline Pills, and the name ''Brutal''¡­"


    "Wait, High Priest!" Fang Yuan rubbed his nose. "With my strength, I believe that I''m not fit to take on the name ''Brutal''. Please call me Fang Yuan!"


    "As you wish!" Brutal Bones handed a bottle of pills to Fang Yuan and waved.


    Fang Yuan immediately bowed and returned to the crowd.


    "Fang Yuan!" Brutal Thunder leaned on his saber with his eyes glowing. "How many stances can you display with your Splashing Wind Saber Technique?"


    "Three stances. Furthermore, I believe there are some aspects in its power that can still evolve¡­" Fang Yuan used the description of the Chaotic Cloak Saber Technique to disguise his understanding.


    "Great! Wonderful!"


    With a few words, Brutal Thunder''s eyes sparkled brightly. "Among the barbarians, there are far too few people with comprehension like yours. Splashing Wind''s three stances were simplified from the Chaotic Cloak Saber Technique. Come look for me later. I have some incomplete writings related to the saber technique''s dark burst."


    In the Predatory realm, the totem''s power was incomplete, and ordinary people''s fighting techniques were still more effective, especially for bloodline warriors in the tribe, where a large number were still in the Predatory realm.


    It was rare to find someone with such high comprehension. Brutal Thunder felt his hand twitch.


    "Okay. All of you rest up and prepare for our expedition in a month. We''ll participate in the Beichen tribe''s ceremony!"


    Brutal Bones''s enthusiasm was waning. After complimenting Moon and awarding her with the ''Brutal'' name, he released the others.


    "The Beichen tribe is the strongest tribe in the area. The Flybarb tribe can only submit and be protected by them. The Beichen tribe organizes a large ceremony every three years. Not only is it an opportunity to interact and trade with the surrounding tribes, but there is a selection for outstanding youths as well¡­"


    Fang Yuan left the square while thinking quietly. "This bottle of Bloodline Pills is useless to me, but I can bring it to the market to see if I can obtain something else!"


    ¡­


    "High Priest, Teacher¡­" After waking up, Brutal Dark saw Brutal Bones by his side and immediately lowered his head. "I lost."


    "Do you know why you lost? First, you underestimated your opponent. Fang Yuan''s totem isn''t ninth grade but seventh grade, and it can use illusions. Without you realizing what happened, he defeated you!"


    Brutal Bones''s tone was warm as he analyzed. "Second, your martial arts is lacking compared to his. But this doesn''t matter. As long as your horned dragon totem enters the Materialization realm, he won''t be your opponent. In the future, if you want to become part of the higher echelon in the tribe, you must learn to have tolerance. After you defeat Fang Yuan, you should convince him to work for you. He would become your most capable assistant!"

 1032 Beichen

    "Other than the Holy Land, the ''Barbarian Ancestral Court'', all of the Hundred Thousand Mountains is under the control of the three strongest tribes¡ªBeichen, Moonview, and Rising Sun¡­"


    A month later, the Flybarb tribe''s party rode on large camels through the forest.


    Brutal Thunder took the opportunity to impart knowledge to the youths.


    "We''re heading to the Beichen tribe this time. It''s the strongest tribe around, with experts at the Primordial Core realm and the Apotheosis realm!"


    "Primordial Core? Apotheosis?" Fang Yuan took the chance to ask. "What realm is that?"


    "As barbarians, awakening the totem is the Awakening realm, and after that is the Predatory realm. Once the preying is complete, the totem will materialize and possess various magical powers!


    "After the Materialization realm, you enter the Primordial Core realm. I don''t know much about it, but it seems that in this realm, you form a mysterious ''Primordial Core'' in your body that can even extend your lifespan! After that, it is the Apotheosis realm! Of course, most of the old patriarchs in this realm have entered the Ancestral Court!" Brutal Thunder explained.


    "Awakening, Predatory, Materialization, Primordial Core, and then Apotheosis?"


    Fang Yuan nodded, getting a rough picture of his cultivation path.


    "Then, what is the Beichen Ceremony?" Brutal Moon asked.


    After she advanced, her body had developed further, adding a charm to her that made others unable to peel their eyes off her.


    "The Beichen Ceremony comes every three years, and it''s a sacred ceremony that gathers all the tribes within five thousand kilometers! When the time comes, there''ll be Ancestral Court observers. You will battle on stage and fight for the tribe''s glory. Should you perform well, you will earn great rewards!"


    Brutal Bones''s hoarse voice continued, "If you are chosen by the special envoy to enter the Ancestral Court, it''ll be a great glory!"


    In reality, it''s just a youth genius selection that happens once every three years, which simultaneously functions as a market!


    Fang Yuan nodded quietly, fully understanding. It''s obvious that the Ancestral Court is the core of the barbarians, and the treatment there will definitely be much better than small tribes. Moreover, the high priest seems optimistic about the selection. In this case, I''ll have to perform slightly and fight to enter the top.


    Now that he had lost the stats window, if he wanted to advance quickly, resources, cultivation techniques, and mentors were all indispensable.


    And the barbarian''s Ancestral Court clearly had the best conditions!


    Based on that, it was worth Fang Yuan striving for this!


    To lay low and wait for an opportunity, the first thing I must have is potential. Currently, I only have the inheritance. What''s in it is still unknown, and I can''t place all my eggs in one basket!


    Fang Yuan immediately made his decision.


    "Ancestral Court and Beichen tribe¡­ What about Great Fey Pengze?" Brutal Dark asked hesitantly.


    "Great Fey Pengze¡­" Brutal Thunder''s expression was difficult to read. "Obviously, he can''t compare to our Ancestral Court. But Great Fey Pengze is treacherous and cunning, and he''s at the Primordial Core realm. If he meets someone stronger, he''ll immediately escape into his lake, making it very hard to kill him. This is what makes him a disaster!"


    A Great Fey at the Primordial Core realm? This is enough to exterminate the Flybarb tribe several times over¡­ Even if the Beichen tribe''s Apotheosis experts make a move, they might necessarily be able to take him down¡­


    Fang Yuan more or less understood.


    He sat cross-legged on a camel with the greenery spread below his feet. He felt a sense of peace and began to comprehend the saber technique.


    "In fact, saber and sword techniques have similar characteristics. Previously, I comprehended the Creation Sword Array and mastered the Omnidirectional Divine Demonic Armament Dao, allowing me to become immediately proficient in any armament. Of course, different universes have different nomological rules! Previously, I could only experiment on my own. But now that I have the Chaotic Cloak Saber Technique manual, I can use it as a guide to improve rapidly. Half of the manual that Brutal Thunder gave me earlier provides a great cover!"


    When Brutal Thunder saw Fang Yuan''s talent with saber techniques, he had happily taught Fang Yuan the ''Chaotic Cloak remnant manual''.


    However, he did not know that his student had not only already learned everything in the manual, but he could also use it all the way to the nine-layered dark burst!


    Now, he was studying how to make the complex simple and merging the nine dark bursts into one to increase its might multiple times!


    "The best I''ve done is merging the nine-layered dark burst into two-layered, doubling the power!"


    After some time, Fang Yuan''s body shook, and he opened his eyes. "The next step is to merge two-layered into one. At that time, I will reach the mortal peak, then become extraordinary and comprehend Saber will!"


    Even if this was just a youth genius tournament, many talents were likely to show up.


    Fang Yuan''s clam totem was only fifth or sixth grade. It did not have many advantages, so he could only invest his efforts elsewhere.


    ¡­


    "Is that the Beichen tribe? It''s huge!"


    After a difficult half-month journey, the Flybarb tribe''s party finally reached the Beichen tribe. Brutal Moon looked at the continuous city walls and let out a cry of surprise.


    Surrounding the Beichen tribe was an earthen wall that had Beichen warriors patrolling on it, looking organized and structured.


    The city gates were broad and could even accommodate a hill-sized camel.


    It felt as though they had entered a giant''s country.


    Brutal Bones led Fang Yuan and the others to the city gates.


    "Be careful. The rules within Beichen City are very strict, and you can''t fight at will!" Brutal Thunder warned.


    "So lively!"


    Fang Yuan looked around, and streams of people were moving all around.


    "After all, it''s the Beichen Ceremony that comes once every three years. Furthermore, the Ancestral Court''s special envoy will be here soon!"


    Brutal Thunder sighed, and his eyes narrowed. "Huh? That is?"


    Not far away, a camel walked over, and a group of people got off it.


    The leader was a thin old man wearing black robes. His hawk-like eyes stared at them, full of vengeance.


    He walked over, glanced at Fang Yuan and the others, and said in a strange voice, "Brutal Bones, you still aren''t dead!"


    "Black Tu, you aren''t dead yet, so how could I be willing to leave first?" Brutal Bones replied coldly.


    "So, are they your warriors this time? You should take good care of them and make sure not to lose any this time¡­" Black Tu snorted as he led his group of young barbarians into the city.


    One of the youths had face paint on and looked like a black bear. He turned around, revealed a ferocious smile, and made a strangling motion.


    "Brutal Dark, Brutal Moon, Fang Yuan!" High Priest Brutal Bones turned around and looked solemn. "This time, you can lose to anyone but the Black Tomb tribe. Got it?"


    "Yeah! Teacher, watch how I take care of them!" Brutal Dark replied loudly, his eyes brimming with fighting intent as he glanced at Fang Yuan.


    "You have to be careful. I heard that the Black Tomb tribe has a few experts in their new generation. For instance, that guy just now, Black Fury, awakened the earth burly bear totem, which is third grade," Brutal Thunder warned.


    The earth burly bear was a mutated beast with earth element powers. It had tremendous strength and ferocity. If the horned dragon did not carry a trace of dragon bloodline, it would be impossible for it to place on par.


    "The Beichen Ceremony this time has many geniuses. Within the small tribes, third-grade totems are endless. As the largest tribe, the Beichen tribe has more than a hundred times more people than us, so the chances of the highest quality totems being born are much greater!" Brutal Thunder smiled. "Maybe you''ll meet opponents with second or even first-grade totems."


    "First-grade totem?" Brutal Dark gulped. If even he showed signs of unease, Brutal Moon was so nervous that she could hardly breathe.


    "All right. Don''t scare them anymore." Brutal Bones furrowed his brow. "Let''s find a place to stay, and then the rest of you can walk around the city and explore. With Beichen tribe warriors patrolling, this is the safest place within five thousand kilometers."


    After all, Brutal Bones was the high priest of a tribe. After identifying himself to the guards, he was immediately brought to reside within an area of the city.


    The Black Tomb tribe was there as well, but they were taken to a further place. Obviously, the organizers had put some thought into this and knew that they could not let enemies stay in the same place. Otherwise, with the temperament of barbarians, they would cause chaos before the ceremony began.


    "Finally some free time!"


    Fang Yuan walked out of the common residence and found the market.


    He still had a bottle of Bloodline Pills. It was a valuable item that he could exchange.


    "Quality dyed cloth!"


    "Weapons! Hundred-refined saber!"


    "Fragrant dolphin meat!"


    ¡­


    The market was full of stalls. There even was an extravagant beast skin tent.


    "In general, main characters usually find rare treasures in a market¡­"


    With some excitement and anticipation, Fang Yuan strolled around. After a while, he had to admit that he had expected too much. Reality was not a novel, and he did not have the luck of a main character.


    "There isn''t even a single rare treasure here. On top of that, there were some fakes passed off as genuine. That hundred-refined saber isn''t even as good as the standard saber I used before."


    Fang Yuan walked back in exasperation. "It seems like I''d better exchange this with those tribes'' warriors! Strong warriors usually have good items. I''m sure someone needs this bottle of Bloodline Pills."


    Even though he was not interested in the power of mixed bloodlines and spirit essence, Bloodline Pills were the best totem supplements for these barbarians.


    Even the high priest had been reluctant to give them away.


    "Big Sis Moon, look at this cloth. The pattern is so beautiful!"


    At this moment, Fang Yuan caught sight of Brutal Moon. She was looking at some floral cloth with another girl from the tribe.


    When she turned around and saw Fang Yuan, she smiled.


    "Haha¡­ what a beautiful woman!"


    A barbarian youth with two guards following saw her, and his desire immediately ignited. "I am the Beichen tribe''s Young Master Kunming. Woman, from now on, you are mine!"


    Among the barbarians, women had very low standing, especially if they had not awakened their totem.


    Furthermore, there was a custom of snatching women to marry. If a man met a beautiful woman on the streets, they would directly snatch her and go back to get married.


    Smack!


    After speaking, Young Master Kunming fell to the ground from a single slap.


    The jade rabbit transformed into a totem.


    "Hmph. My man has to be someone who can defeat me. You won''t do!"


    Brutal Moon lifted her head proudly and glanced at the two guards. "What? Are you going to stand on his side? I''m a bloodline genius from a tribe nearby. Are you going to challenge the Beichen tribe''s rules?"


    "No, we wouldn''t dare."


    The two guards exchanged looks, directly picked up Young Master Kunming, and left with their tail between their legs.


    Some brave warriors who intended to save the damsel in distress felt distraught. "That''s not how the script goes!"

 1033 Misunderstanding

    "She''s actually such a strong female warrior."


    "She must be one of the geniuses participating in the Beichen Ceremony, a guest of the Beichen tribe. Young Master Kunming kicked an iron plate this time¡­"


    ¡­


    The barbarians nearby opened up a path and began discussing in a low voice.


    "Fang Yuan!"


    Brutal Moon''s face was a little red as she put a cloth against her body. "What do you think about this?"


    "Uh, not bad¡­" Fang Yuan responded casually. "Kunming had guards by his side. Seems like he has some background. Aren''t you afraid?"


    "What''s there to be afraid of? He''s not a totem warrior. The two guards with him are ordinary people too. Even if he''s the Beichen Tribal Leader''s son, he won''t amount to anything. He''s merely a tool to carry on the bloodline¡­" Brutal Moon sneered.


    "On the other hand, we are noble bloodline warriors and may even be chosen to enter the Ancestral Court. At a time like this, the Beichen tribe won''t do anything to me. As long as I don''t kill him, he''ll have to treat this beating like it didn''t happen."


    "That''s right. I didn''t expect you to be so far-sighted¡­"


    Fang Yuan was slightly surprised. He thought about Brutal Moon''s performance during the test and felt relieved.


    Anyone who could survive the elite selection was worthy of respect.


    Soon after, a squad of patrolling guards came to disperse the crowd, as if nothing had happened.


    Brutal Moon bought the cloth and asked curiously, "Fang Yuan, did you buy anything?"


    "No, this market doesn''t have anything I''m interested in. I''m going to go back and barter with others¡­" Fang Yuan shook his head. "You can help inquire for me too."


    "Huh? What are you looking for?" Brutal Moon bit her lip, curious.


    "I don''t want things like sabers or armor. I''m interested in mystic techniques and combat skills¡­" Fang Yuan smiled. "I''m exchanging with a bottle of Bloodline Pills."


    "Bloodline Pills? You''re generous." Brutal Moon sucked in a breath of cold air. "But at this time, you can definitely exchange it for something good!"


    The Beichen Ceremony was about to begin. Many tribes would collect sabers, swords, armor, and talismans to increase their combat power.


    After swallowing Bloodline Pills, the totem would strengthen, so they were also sought after and raised in value.


    As for cultivation techniques, combat skills, and so on, they required a lot of time to cultivate. Without a fast way to cultivate, their value would fall.


    This was indeed the best time to exchange.


    "If I were you, I''d use the Bloodlines Pills myself¡­" Brutal Moon muttered. She suddenly looked up. "Fang Yuan, will you exchange them with me?"


    "Hmm? What do you have?" Fang Yuan asked in surprise.


    Brutal Moon leaned over and whispered into Fang Yuan''s ear, "A magical power manual!"


    "What?" Fang Yuan''s eyes sparkled in excitement.


    Magical powers!


    This was something only cultivators at the Materialization realm would use. According to Brutal Thunder, after advancing your totem to the Materialization realm, the next step was to choose a suitable magical power to cultivate in order to advance to the Primordial Core realm.


    Of course, magical powers had strengths and weaknesses, and there were compatibility issues with totems as well. If there was too much difference, a cultivator would have no hope of forming their core in their lifetime.


    "According to the distinction between grades, magical powers can be split into ordinary magical powers, great magical powers, and peerless magical powers! You can tell how powerful a force is by looking at the number of magical powers it has."


    The Barbarian Ancestral Court had the greatest number of magical powers, allowing cultivators to find one that was most suitable for their totem.


    The Beichen tribe was also in a good position. As for the Flybarb tribe, looking at how Brutal Thunder was still at the Materialization realm, this said a lot about the tribe.


    "The reason third-grade totems and above are so sought after is that after entering the Materialization realm, the most suitable magical power will naturally surface¡­"


    Fang Yuan silently gritted his teeth.


    One could say that most of the magical power manuals circulating among the barbarians were created and inscribed from these third-grade and above Materialization magical powers.


    Unfortunately, these inscribed magical powers were much weaker than the original.


    He looked around before replying in an equally soft voice, "This is important, so we''ll talk after we return!"


    "All right!" Brutal Moon said cutely while flicking her hair. A faint fragrance drifted by.


    The young girl by the side tilted her head as she looked at Fang Yuan, then at Brutal Moon. Suddenly, she giggled slyly and rolled her eyes like a fox.


    ¡­


    "The value of an ordinary magical power manual far surpasses Bloodline Pills¡­"


    Fang Yuan and Brutal Moon went to a room in their residence, closed the door, and began discussing seriously. "Are you really going to exchange it?"


    "Of course!" Brutal Moon lowered her head and fiddled with her braid. "But¡­ I''m only lending it to you. Return it to me after you''re done with it."


    The value of a manual lay in the ability to make copies of it. Even if it was a copy, it had roughly the same value.


    "The original copy?" Fang Yuan''s eyes lit up. "In that case, I''ll be taking advantage of you, so of course!"


    "Then¡­ shall we exchange?" Brutal Moon''s cheeks turned red. "Turn around!"


    "Oh!" Fang Yuan blinked as if he understood something and turned around.


    After a series of clicking noises, Brutal Moon''s voice came. "All right! Here!"


    "Beast skin?"


    The magical power ancient book was written on a special type of resilient beast skin, and it was densely covered with many small characters.


    In the middle of it, there was a four-winged mutated beast.


    "Magical power¡ªModest Wind Technique!"


    Fang Yuan rubbed the skin that still carried some warmth and fragrance.


    Seeing this, Brutal Moon''s face turned bright red.


    "Here are the Bloodline Pills!"


    He smiled and placed the pills on the table before he directly sat cross-legged and started comprehending it.


    "Y-you''re going to do it here?" Brutal Moon widened her eyes.


    "I''d better memorize this and return it to you as soon as I can. I wouldn''t be able to afford it if I lost it!" Fang Yuan smiled lightly before shutting his eyes.


    With his comprehension, he could firmly memorize this magical power after reading it a few times.


    Unfortunately, my clam totem is the water element and psyche attribute. It''s completely incompatible with the Modest Wind Technique¡­


    There was a trace of regret in his heart.


    There was no way he would inscribe this kind of magical power on his materialization unless he was planning on giving up advancing to the Primordial Core realm.


    However, a complete magical power book has research value. I sensed that this magical power has overlapping aspects with the Chaotic Cloak''s Will realm. If I can coordinate these two, I''ll cultivate faster! Even¡­


    He spent four hours on this comprehension.


    When the sky finally turned dark, he returned the beast skin under the resentful eyes of Brutal Moon. "Thank you, Brutal Moon!"


    "Fang Yuan, you''re really something! An entire afternoon!"


    "Cough cough!"


    After they finished speaking, she pushed him outside. "Get out and start cultivating!"


    When he walked out, he saw Youjie and Qi with looks of admiration on their faces.


    Brutal Thunder rubbed his nose, looked at Fang Yuan, and laughed awkwardly. "I was just passing by. But Fang Yuan, the Beichen Ceremony is starting soon. You''d better conserve your stamina."


    "You guys¡­" Fang Yuan turned a little red. He knew that a strange misunderstanding was brewing.


    "Relax, we barbarian warriors are free to do as we like. We have no rules!" Brutal Thunder seemed to misunderstand what happened. Instead, he comforted Fang Yuan. "As long as you can handle it, you can even marry ten women!"


    Bloodline warriors were the core of a barbarian tribe. Naturally, the tribe encouraged them to procreate and spread their bloodline.


    Especially when both parties were totem warriors, it was way more likely for their descendants to be strong.


    "I¡­" Fang Yuan rolled his eyes, too lazy to explain.


    Anyway, the more he explained, the worse the rumors would get.


    "I''m going back!"


    When this news got out, Dark broke several vases and then no longer mentioned it.


    ¡­


    On the third day the Flybarb tribe had arrived in Beichen.


    Hundreds of thousands of barbarians gathered to watch the dozens of fighting arenas built in the middle of the city.


    "The Beichen Ceremony commences!"


    From tribes such as Flybarb and Black Mound, the high priests and leaders, followed behind by patriarchs and elders, began their worship.


    "That''s the Beichen Tribal Leader, Beichen Luo. He''s a Primordial Core cultivator."


    Fang Yuan stared at a middle-aged barbarian with a deep aura. Then he glanced at the elders behind him. "I wonder if there are any Apotheosis old monsters here? Hmm? What about the Ancestral Court''s special envoy? Why haven''t I seen him?"


    "Worship heaven and earth! Pay respect to the barbarian ancestors!"


    ¡­


    After a series of ceremonies, most of the elders returned to their seats. The tribal leaders were also puzzled. "Excuse me, Beichen Tribal Leader, where is the special envoy?"


    "His Excellency doesn''t like crowds. He has allowed us to do as we wish while he observes in secret!" Beichen Luo''s face twitched, but he still answered calmly. He waved. "Begin!"


    "The Beichen Tournament begins. The bloodline warriors of all tribes, come forward to draw lots!"


    Young geniuses like Fang Yuan stepped forward to begin drawing lots and sorting themselves into groups.


    The atmosphere warmed.


    Tribal leaders devoured meat and drank wine heartily as they engaged in lively discussions and commented on the geniuses enthusiastically.


    "Haha. Who wants to bet on this tournament?" a Beichen tribe elder asked cheerfully.


    "I hear the Beichen tribe has a peerless genius this year. He awakened the second-grade Vermilion Bird totem! He''s definitely going to be first. No one else can compare!"


    The other tribal leaders shook their heads.


    A second-grade totem was more than enough to sweep away these youths. There was almost no suspense.


    "We can''t bet on the top position, but what about the rest?" Black Tu''s eyes glinted coldly as he stared at Brutal Bones. "Old Bones, I''ll bet no one in your Flybarb tribe can defeat Black Fury. How about it? Will you bet on it?"

 1034 Ceremony

    "Since you''re so confident, why not?" Brutal Bones''s heart shuddered, but he still smiled as usual. "What''s the bet?"


    "Three Blood Dragon Fruits against the original copy of your tribe''s White Bone Magical Power!" Black Tu laughed.


    "Playing with such high stakes? I''ll add a bet then, on the Black Tomb tribe. A pound of Tianhe White Sand. Who will bet against me?"


    "Haha, I''ll take it. I''m putting ten bottles of Bloodline Pills on the Flybarb tribe!"


    Brutal Bones was still considering it, but some tribal leaders were beginning to fan the flames.


    "All right. I''ll take the bet!" Brutal Bones gnashed his teeth.


    The White Bone Magical Power was much more advanced than the Modest Wind Technique. It could even be called a great magical power and was one of the pillars of the Flybarb tribe.


    "Very good!" Black Tu sneered. "Everyone present is a witness!"


    He immediately closed his eyes, showing a calm manner.


    Brutal Bones began to suspect something was up seeing his strange appearance.


    ¡­


    "Hehe, Black Tu and Brutal Bones, that pair of old enemies!" Beichen Luo chuckled, looking upon everything from his host seat.


    It would be better for him if these tribes fought as fiercely as they could since it was advantageous to the rule of the Beichen tribe. However, he still had to try to reconcile them on the surface. "Leaders, please keep the harmony!


    "But if everyone wants to bet, I can be the intermediary!"


    Beichen Luo had a face full of smiles as he encouraged everyone. It unconsciously caused several tribes to take outside bets, and the stakes quietly raised.


    ¡­


    "I''m afraid none of the leaders of these tribes are simple. Since they could survive in such an environment where only the strongest survive, they must have strength, methods, and ingenuity. Therefore, I can''t be too outstanding. Otherwise¡­ I might be eliminated in advance if they feel threatened. Wouldn''t that be terrible?"


    Fang Yuan stood on the arena, still thinking wildly. "Luckily, I have an advantage. That is, the grade of my totem is too low. Since it''s below the third grade, this means that my potential is limited. Yes, that''s it. I''ll try to showcase my talent with my saber technique and average it out for my totem."


    "Fang Yuan from the Flybarb tribe versus Gu San from the Broken Bone tribe!"


    At that moment, his opponent was already standing opposite him. The young man with scars all over his body roared and released his totem.


    "Too slow! Too slow!"


    Fang Yuan rushed forward and chopped at him with the back of the Black Profound Saber.


    ''"Ahh!" The young man was still slowly releasing his totem, which turned into a giant tiger.


    Bang!


    The Black Profound Saber landed on the back of his neck. Even though the totem blocked some of the power, the remaining force still caused Gu San to pass out.


    "Victor, Fang Yuan!" The host looked at Fang Yuan with his bright eyes. "What good saber skills! Your timing was also very good!"


    Fang Yuan bowed slightly and jumped off the arena.


    He was one of the faster ones, so he had the time to look at the other battlefields.


    "Rookie!"


    "Rookie!"


    "Rookie!"


    After watching three battles in a row, Fang Yuan immediately shook his head. "In the end, it''s just a bunch of fifteen and sixteen-year-olds. They are too immature. Most of them are at the mid Predatory realm, and a rare few are at the late stage! Their martial arts are also average. I could beat ten of them without any problem!"


    How experienced was he? For now, it seemed like all of them were just rookies, and he had no interest in them.


    "Hmm, Brutal Moon''s opponent only has a fifth-grade totem. At the mid Predatory realm, she should be able to win!"


    "And Brutal Dark, why is he so brutal and irritated all of a sudden? Did someone provoke him?"


    Although they were just rookies pecking at one another, there was still a division between the strong and the weak.


    Fang Yuan estimated that only the three of them could advance from the first round within the Flybarb tribe.


    This result was already good for a small tribe. Those at the bottom of the rankings would probably be the first to be eliminated.


    Ahhh! Ahh!


    Fang Yuan''s gaze shifted to an arena.


    There, Black Fury from the Black Tomb tribe snarled, and the earth burly bear behind him did the same action, smashing a heavy tortoise totem in front of him into pieces.


    "Hmm, the strength in his arms is probably thousands of kilograms, huh?" Fang Yuan nodded. "The earth burly bear is indeed a totem known for its strength and increasing the power of its host. Incredible!"


    The body would receive nourishment from the totem once it awakened.


    Of course, anything below seventh grade had almost no difference at all.


    For people at fifth or sixth grade like Fang Yuan, they experienced different levels of nourishment depending on their totem.


    For example, his clam totem focused on illusions and psyche. Brutal Dark''s horned dragon totem strengthened the skin''s defense. As for Black Fury, his was a pure increment in strength, which was quite terrifying.


    With thousands of kilograms of strength in his arms, waving a heavy hammer that was hundreds of kilograms was nothing to him.


    "This Black Fury must also practice a heavy weapon, which can sweep away most of the contestants."


    Fang Yuan quickly contrasted in his heart. "Brutal Dark would only be taking a beating if they fought, let alone Brutal Moon¡­"


    "Hmm? Leader Black Tu, Black Fury from your tribe is very strong!" Beichen Luo''s eyes brightened. "The earth burly bear totem is quite good!"


    "Hehe¡­" Black Tu could not stop laughing. The faces of the tribal leaders that placed their bets on the Flybarb tribe turned ugly.


    They could see that this Black Fury had the power to be first. That genius from the Flybarb tribe, Brutal Dark, might be pretty good, but there was truly no comparison.


    ¡­


    "Sigh¡­The Beichen Ceremony this year has nothing special!"


    While the leaders were sighing, a seemingly ordinary young barbarian was wandering between the many arenas.


    "Too weak, too weak, realm is too low, basic martial arts are not up to par either!"


    As the special envoy of the Ancestral Court with the best resources, he had seen many geniuses and naturally had a discerning eye.


    His eyes finally lit up when he saw the Black Fury''s battle. "The earth burly bear is definitely the best among the third-grade totems! His natural power is almost invincible in the lower realms!"


    "Ahh!"


    The results were out for Brutal Dark''s match as well.


    However, there was a bloodthirsty smile on his lips after he won. He stepped forward and broke all four of his opponent''s limbs.


    The bloody scene made many spectators turn their heads and shiver.


    "His battle was frenzied, but nothing much. Looking at him, he is obviously caught up in his desire to kill and can''t extricate himself. His temperament is really¡­" The young man shook his head. "Addiction to killing is nothing, but if his temperament isn''t good, he''s not a talent that we can train!"


    If Brutal Dark heard this evaluation about him, he would have felt so wronged.


    Although he was usually arrogant and despotic, he was not as bad as this. He was totally provoked by Fang Yuan today.


    Chirp chirp!


    The crisp sound from a bird rang.


    All the youths who had their totems out were stunned, and fear came from their totems.


    "Beichen Yan, second-grade totem Vermilion Bird!"


    The young man''s eyes lit up toward a certain arena.


    "Your strength isn''t bad. You''re qualified to see my totem!"


    This young master of the Beichen tribe was wearing white, but his hair and eyebrows were fiery red. He crossed his arms and looked at his opponent.


    Opposite him was an honest and good-natured young man holding an iron shield. He released the third-grade totem revolving turtle!


    "Rock Forest, you are able to be the first in a small tribe. The defense of a revolving turtle, even as a third-grade totem, is almost impossible to break. It''s a pit that you met me!" Beichen Yan said lightly and pushed out his palm.


    Swoosh!


    A line of fire emerged and rushed forward.


    "Block!" Rock Forest shouted and raised his shield.


    But the next moment, that line of fire actually turned in the air and landed on the revolving turtle totem.


    Poof!


    The flames devoured the totem, and since their minds were linked, the revolving turtle young man spat blood and collapsed.


    "He''s cultivated the fire of the Vermilion Bird and is able to control it at will?" The eyes of the Ancestral Court''s special envoy gleamed. "This is a true genius! Beichen Yan is definitely assured a spot for the trip to the Ancestral Court!"


    The Ancestral Court was the origin of all barbarians, their Holy Land.


    Those who could go there were naturally the geniuses among geniuses.


    Generally speaking, a third-grade totem was the minimum. However, first and second-grade totems would inevitably be accepted as long as they showcased their talent.


    "Next, Fang Yuan from the Flybarb tribe versus Black Earth from the Black Tomb tribe!"


    Fang Yuan immediately got on the arena when he heard the shout. He looked at his opponent.


    "Flybarb tribe''s Fang Yuan, I won''t make the same mistake as the previous person!"


    Black Earth showed his totem early. It was a fourth-grade diamond bear totem with astonishing defense.


    A metallic color appeared on their skin.


    "Oh!" Fang Yuan nodded, and his figure flickered. His Black Profound Saber appeared.


    "Huh? I can''t see clearly!" Black Earth opened his eyes wide but still could not see his opponent.


    Dang!


    Just when he was at a loss, the back of the saber landed on his head.


    "I have the diamond bear totem. You can''t break it¡­" Black Earth shouted. Suddenly, his eyes rolled back, and he collapsed.


    "He can''t even take my two-layered dark burst¡­" Fang Yuan shook his head and got off the arena.


    "Dark burst?" The young envoy''s eyes lit up once again.


    ¡­


    After a day, all of the battles were over, and the top eight emerged.


    Fang Yuan obtained a few basic information from Brutal Thunder in the evening.


    "First place, Beichen Yan, Vermilion Bird totem, unknown strength. A worthy first!"


    "Second place, Black Fury, earth burly bear totem, relies on that brute strength to conquer all obstacles!"


    "Most of the following ones are third-grade totems. Brutal Dark is also among them. I''m last, but outsiders assessed that I''m the most mysterious because I didn''t even show my totem!"


    Fang Yuan could not help but laugh bitterly.


    He would not have caused such a stir if he had released his totem.


    The clam totem was at most a fifth or sixth grade after all. It was really nothing much.


    To the Ancestral Court, it had to take the first and second-grade totems while it would only take the most outstanding among the third-grade totems.


    Anyone lower than that had to have some kind of special ability to even catch its eye.

 1035 Top Eigh

    Second day, top eight.


    "You''re my opponent? I, Bei Tangman, will let you know my power!"


    Opposite Fang Yuan, a green-eyed youth snarled and released his totem. It was a turquoise praying mantis with slightly curved arm blades that matched the dual sabers he used.


    "Third-grade totem flying saber mantis?"


    Fang Yuan nodded and drew his Black Profound Saber.


    "How dare you not release your totem. I''ll let you know your foolishness!" Bei Tangman roared and disappeared into the wind.


    Dang!


    Fang Yuan slashed from the back, blocking the attack of the dual sabers.


    His figure flashed, and Bei Tangman retreated far away.


    The audience was in an uproar after they crossed blades. "So fast! Bei Tangman seems a lot faster than Fang Yuan!"


    "Fang Yuan has met his match this battle!"


    However, Bei Tangman''s expression was more grave. "Such strong counter-force, and it even explodes. If I didn''t have the flying saber mantis totem strengthening my arm, I probably wouldn''t be able to continue holding the two sabers!"


    The flying sword mantis totem''s power lay in speed and the strengthening of both arms.


    After all, it was a flying totem, and the main attack was the arm blade.


    "The two-layered dark burst didn''t make your weapon fly away. Are you at the late stage?" Fang Yuan asked lightly with his saber in hand.


    "That''s right!" Bei Tangman roared and released the aura he had been suppressing. The brutal aura that belonged to the late Predatory realm swept the audience.


    "As expected!" The young envoy nodded. "His arm can only be so strong with his totem in the late Predatory realm!"


    "I''ll definitely win!" Bei Tangman shouted, and a green halo emerged from his body.


    A dark-green pattern emerged above his flying sword mantis totem as well.


    "This is¡­ a magical power rune?" Brutal Bones was startled. "It might only be a bit, but it''s enough to enhance him!"


    "Wind¡­ Chop!" Bei Tangman shouted and increased his speed again, leaving only an afterimage in the air. Both sabers merged into the wind and launched a frenzied attack.


    "Good. This Bei Tangman just barely passes the threshold for the Ancestral Court''s selection!" The young envoy nodded, remembering this name.


    "Chaotic Cloak Saber Technique, Nine-in-One!"


    Seeing this, Fang Yuan merely let out a soft sound, and dark bursts emerged from all parts of his body, stimulating speed and converging on the Black Profound Saber, entering the wind.


    Chaotic Cloak''s dark burst had a total of nine layers, and he was combining the nine-layered dark burst into one. He had now reached the pinnacle of ordinary martial arts!


    Clang!


    The blades intersected, and the dual sabers immediately broke.


    A bloody injury appeared on Bei Tangman''s chest, and he was thrown off the arena.


    "Victor! Fang Yuan from the Flybarb tribe!" the host announced loudly.


    The youths watching this scene were amazed. "The Flybarb tribe''s Fang Yuan is so powerful!"


    "He hasn''t even shown his totem yet. Is it a first-grade totem?"


    "That is definitely his trump card. He might just want to hide it until the final battle!"


    ¡­


    "Good! Such comprehension¡­" The young envoy''s eyes brightened, but he immediately showed signs of regret. "Unfortunately¡­ the power of his totem seems to be lacking!"


    Just how experienced was he? He could see that Fang Yuan''s physical qualities were not too strong, at the nourishment level of a fifth or sixth-grade totem at best. This was enough to explain a lot.


    "The better the starting point, the more likely it is to be successful. I would still choose Bei Tangman over Fang Yuan. However, I would choose him over Brutal Dark!" The young man shook his head.


    "There are still two matches!"


    Fang Yuan took a moment to look at the other arenas and happened to see Black Fury stepping on his opponent as the earth burly bear snarled wildly behind him.


    Unfortunately, Brutal Dark met Beichen Yan as his opponent and was quickly eliminated.


    "Next, I will be fighting Black Fury. If there aren''t any accidents, I should be meeting Beichen Yan in the final round!"


    He walked under the arena, and Brutal Thunder immediately squeezed through to his side. "Quick! This is the special recovery herb that the high priest prepared for you, and¡­ he asked me to tell you that he''ll grant you anything you want if you can defeat Black Fury in the next battle!"


    "Looks like it''s because of that gamble?" Fang Yuan nodded. "I''ll do my best."


    In his heart, he thought, The Flybarb tribe had the kindness of nurturing Ancient, so let''s treat the victory in the next battle as his repayment. I heard the leaders gambled quite a lot.


    "Haha. We''ll be able to see the result of our gamble in the next battle." On the high platform, Black Tu suddenly roared with laughter. "Old Bones, did you prepare the original version of the magical power?"


    "Hmph. We don''t know who will win yet. Maybe you''ll be the one giving me Blood Dragon Fruits!" Brutal Bones replied coldly, but he knew in his heart that this hope was not much.


    The spectators below had lower strength and thought that Fang Yuan was hiding his strength, but these leaders could see otherwise. The speed, power, and saber skills that Fang Yuan had displayed might be powerful, but his totem was probably average.


    ¡­


    "Next, Fang Yuan from the Flybarb tribe versus Black Fury from the Black Tomb tribe!"


    "Coming!"


    Fang Yuan and Black Fury responded to the host''s shout and headed onto the arena.


    "I promised Master Black Tu that I wouldn''t go easy on anyone from the Flybarb tribe!" Black Fury, who had a painted face, suddenly ripped open his leather clothes. "Earth burly bear!"


    "Roar!" The totem with the greatest strength within third-grade totems emerged.


    "As expected, he is also at the late Predatory realm!" Fang Yuan''s Black Profound Saber crossed in front of him. "But this strength isn''t enough!"


    "Is that so?" Black Fury sneered. An incomplete symbol appeared on the earth burly bear''s chest.


    A horrifying gravitational power suddenly unleashed.


    "What? It''s actually the Deep Weight Magical Power of the earth burly bear!" Brutal Bones was gobsmacked. "Even if there is still a part missing, it''s enough to cause a terrifying effect on Fang Yuan!"


    Fang Yuan''s totem was not powerful, so he could only rely on combat skills.


    Under this Deep Weight Magical Power, speed-type warriors would instantly lose most of their strength.


    It had to be noted that since the earth burly bear had such a disadvantage in its movement, there had to be something that propelled it to the top among third-grade totems! It was this Deep Weight Magical Power!


    "Fang Yuan! Fang Yuan!"


    Black Fury wielded his heavy hammer and charged. It was as if there was an invincible force on the battlefield.


    "All right, Let''s fight head-on once!" Fang Yuan felt a greater consumption than usual as he swung the Black Profound Saber. "Chaotic Cloak! Nine-In-One!"


    Dang!


    Saber and hammer collided. He fluttered backward like a butterfly before stopping at the edge of the arena.


    Bang!


    Black Fury stood still. Suddenly, a muffled sound escaped from his body, and traces of blood leaked from the corners of his mouth. "Actually attacking directly inside my body and injuring me? I''m going to kill you!"


    "What a good burly bear. The power of the totem even strengthens both vital points and inner organs!"


    Battle tattoos appeared on Fang Yuan''s face as the clam totem appeared behind his back.


    "That Fang Yuan is finally using his totem!"


    "A huge shell? Haha! No wonder he didn''t use it before!"


    ¡­


    The audience watching below were disappointed. "The pressure is weak. Seems like it''s below third grade!"


    "So it''s a clam!" The young envoy nodded.


    "Clam totem!" Beichen Luo recognized it as well. "This is a fifth-grade totem that is good in psyche and illusions!"


    "You have a good eye. I only recognized it as a mutated beast!" Brutal Bones echoed, making no mention of the mistake he had made previously.


    "The clam totem doesn''t do too much for the body, but it''s very good in the aspects of psyche and willpower¡­" The special envoy looked at Fang Yuan and nodded. "No wonder his comprehension of saber techniques is so fast. Was the totem aiding him?"


    The clam totem''s strong point was psyche. Even though it did not improve the body by much, it was a good aid in comprehending martial arts and the like.


    "This psyche-type totem might be fifth grade, but according to the Ancestral Court''s standards, one grade can be added, and it can be treated as a fourth-grade totem." The young man nodded again. "The only regret is that too few clam totems appeared previously. There are only so many magical powers inscriptions for it¡­"


    There were too few magical powers suitable for the clam totem to choose from.


    "A shell? Haha. I even defeated a revolving turtle!" Black Fury sneered and continued forward.


    "Illusion¡ªConfuse!"


    Fang Yuan waved his left hand, and fog shrouded the arena.


    Suddenly, three Fang Yuans emerged and charged at Black Fury.


    "Roar!"


    Black Fury''s eyes stagnated, but he immediately sobered from the earth burly bear''s roar and swung his hammer.


    Pop Pop!


    All three figures turned into nothingness.


    A black saber silently crept up behind him.


    "Ah¡­ Totem Protection!" Black Fury thundered, and the earth burly bear turned substantial to block the Black Profound Saber.


    "What? He''s not far from the Materialization Realm if he can do this," Beichen Luo exclaimed from the high platform.


    "This attack is Fang Yuan using all his strength. The result will be clear once he is blocked and falls under Black Fury''s magical power!"


    Brutal Bones was astonished and in despair.


    It was definitely possible for a substantive earth burly bear totem to resist a blow from someone in the Predatory realm.


    But the next moment, their mouths fell wide open, and their eyes popped, as though they were toads. "How is this possible?"


    They could not be blamed because what happened was simply too strange.


    The earth burly bear totem emerged to resist Fang Yuan''s saber.


    However, the black saber suddenly jumped like a flexible fish and pierced into the totem, making the earth burly bear dissipate.


    Since their minds were linked, Black Fury spat out blood and knelt on one knee. "Impossible¡­ How did you find my totem''s flaw?"


    Fang Yuan stood proud and replied calmly, "Not me. My saber found it!"


    "Human and saber unification. The saber seems to have a life of its own and automatically searches for the opponent''s weak points. This is¡­ transcending the ordinary, the Saber Will realm!"


    The special envoy laughed merrily within the audience. "I didn''t expect to have such a good harvest. Good! Very good!"

 1036 Barbarian Palace

    Chirp Chirp!


    A four-winged griffin beast flapped its wings and left the Beichen tribe.


    On the back of the griffin, the Ancestral Court''s special envoy looked at Fang Yuan and the others, all smiles. "I am Yan Luo, the special envoy from the ''Barbarian Ancestral Court''. You have passed my assessment and can enter the Ancestral Court to study for three years!"


    Several youths looked at each other before saluting. "Greetings Master Yan Luo!"


    Fang Yuan mingled within, watching the ever-smaller scenery below and recalling what had happened.


    After defeating Black Fury, he naturally did not want to make Beichen Yan lose face in front of the Beichen tribe. After a little performance in the final battle, he pretended to lose to Beichen Yan and obtained second place.


    After the event, a celebration was in order, and then this youngster immediately came out and took five of them away.


    "Besides me, there''s Beichen Yan, Black Fury, Bei Tangman, and Ivy¡­"


    He specially glanced at the last one¡ªa silent girl with tattoos all over her face. She had a third-grade wood element totem and had reached the semi-finals. Unfortunately, she was defeated by Beichen Yan.


    "The Ancestral Court is the Holy Land of the barbarians. The most complete set of magical power manuals, the best resources, and the best masters are there¡­ You are the best warriors in the Beichen area and will receive the best training¡­"


    Yan Luo sat cross-legged and started sharing some common knowledge about the Ancestral Court.


    "Our Ancestral Court is the true ruler of the Hundred Thousand Mountains and the core of the barbarians. We have amassed a large number of Primordial Core and Apotheosis cultivators. Even Immortal Patriarchs who have transcended their tribulation are still alive."


    "Tribulation? Immortal?" Black Fury rubbed his head. "What realm is that?"


    "When an Apotheosis cultivator reaches perfection and comprehends a complete set of nomological laws, they will attract the lightning tribulation. You become an Immortal after transcending the tribulation!" Beichen Yan replied matter-of-factly.


    Due to his family''s teachings, he naturally knew more than those from the smaller tribes. However, he was not showing off at this time.


    "What if you don''t pass the tribulation?"


    "You''ll turn into ashes and have no recourse!"


    Yan Luo said solemnly, "You don''t understand the horror of the lightning tribulation. It is using your tiny body to withstand the might of heaven and earth. Even if you use magic artifacts or borrow the power of others, the lightning tribulation will adjust accordingly! Many of the Apotheosis experts of the Ancestral Court have long since reached the perfection stage, but they have no confidence in transcending the tribulation¡­"


    He shook his head, seemingly trying to shake off his fears, and immediately started to comment on each of them. "Beichen Yan, your Vermilion Bird is indeed great. A second-grade totem is worthy of praise, but there is no lack of first-grade totems in the Ancestral Court. You must not be complacent.


    "Black Fury, your earth burly bear is pretty strong and has a physical body like that of iron, but you need to improve your psyche¡­"


    ¡­


    "As for you, Fang Yuan!" Yan Luo finally looked at Fang Yuan. "Do you know why I chose you?"


    "Perhaps it''s because of my saber skills?" Fang Yuan pretended to be baffled.


    "It''s comprehension!" Yan Luo sighed. "We barbarians generally don''t have strong comprehension and can only rely on our perception for intents and nomological laws¡­


    "When Beichen Yan and the rest reach the Materialization realm, their totems will automatically produce the most suitable magical power for them. When they reach the Primordial Core realm, they will be able to condense their true ''Destiny Magical Power''. Through continuous practice, they gain insights and improve their nomological laws and intents¡­


    "Your comprehension is better than most, so there are some minute possibilities that you can master other intents and nomological laws not only through your totem but also through your own comprehension!


    "There are 108,000 nomological laws in the world. The more you comprehend, the higher your chances of transcending the tribulation¡­ Of course, it''s too early to talk about this now!"


    "I see. Thank you for your guidance!" Fang Yuan felt hope. This world might be slightly higher-level than the Mental Demon Realm. Exposure to the content of nomological laws is so early on¡­


    Above nomological laws were Great Daos!


    Perhaps there are people in the Ancestral Court who comprehended a complete Great Dao and are comparable in strength to Demon Gods!


    Barbarians can only rely on their Destiny Magical Powers because their comprehension isn''t high!


    For example, if the Destiny Magical Power of a warrior was the Modest Wind Technique, after forming the magical power and constantly using it, they would perceive the Modest Wind''s nomological laws before finally comprehending it completely.


    Yan Luo favored Fang Yuan for his possibility of directly comprehending nomological laws from secret manuals.


    Moreover, the more complete nomological laws he could comprehend during the Apotheosis realm, the higher his chances of transcending the tribulation.


    "However, you also have a weakness. Your totem grade is too low!" Yan Luo reminded solemnly. "You have to be cautious when inscribing magical powers at the Materialization realm. Also, you will experience a period of adjustment after choosing your Destiny Magical Power in the Primordial Core realm."


    Third-grade totems and above had Innate Magical Powers, and these magical powers would naturally become Destiny Magical Powers in the Primordial Core realm.


    However, those below third grade did not have such a good thing.


    Destiny Magical Powers were definitely the most suitable for bloodline warriors and were also the easiest to comprehend nomological laws from.


    This was why the barbarians put so much attention on anyone with third-grade totems and above.


    "I understand¡­" Fang Yuan blinked.


    He had been a Netherheaven Demon God who had comprehended several complete Great Daos. What was there to be afraid of even if he was in a different universe with different nomological laws and Great Dao powers?


    "Fang Yuan, I will definitely surpass you in the Ancestral Court!" Black Fury regained a lot of confidence after hearing all this.


    "Hehe¡­" Yan Luo sneered. "Black Fury, you''ll have a lot of catching up to do then. You should know that Fang Yuan is already at the threshold of comprehending nomological laws."


    "What?" Not only was Black Fury shocked, but even Beichen Yan and Ivy turned to Fang Yuan doubtfully.


    "The nomological laws are in everything in our world, in every place we live!" Yan Luo sighed. "Fang Yuan''s saber skills are already extraordinary, and he has comprehended Saber Will! After that is Saber Intent! As long as he can comprehend a bit of Saber Intent, he will have basic mastery of the Nomological Laws of Saber! It has one of the strongest attack powers among the numerous nomological laws and can''t be underestimated!


    "If I comprehend Sword Intent, would I also have basic mastery of the Nomological Laws of Sword?" Beichen Yan''s eyes shone.


    "You can. But I don''t recommend it because the difficulty level¡­ is very high! Out of ten third-grade individuals at the Materialization realm, if only five can comprehend from their own magical power and reach basic mastery of nomological laws, then not one barbarian among millions can comprehend the intent from ordinary weapons!" Yan Luo warned solemnly.


    "You know why your father, Beichen Yan, didn''t tell you about this? He''s afraid you''d get distracted and tread on the wrong path!


    "Remember, it is best to cultivate your Destiny Magical Power for all third-great totems and above!"


    "Understood, Sir!" they replied in unison.


    Fang Yuan''s lips curled up slightly. Saber Intent?


    In fact, he had already broken through to reach basic mastery of Saber Intent when he had cultivated the Chaotic Cloak Saber Technique to the peak and obtained his research results from Brutal Moon''s magical power manual.


    It would not have been difficult to defeat Beichen Yan in the finals if he had used it in conjunction with his totem.


    However, that would bring too much attention to him and would make him a target of the Beichen tribe. The gains would not have been worth the losses.


    It seemed exactly the case now.


    "And you, Fang Yuan! Comprehending Saber Intent is not something that can be done overnight. You can''t rush, but you can''t stagnate either!"


    "Understood!"


    ¡­


    Seven days later.


    The four-winged Griffin swooshed down in front of a building.


    "We''ve arrived at the Barbarian Ancestral Court!"


    Fang Yuan looked over and saw a vast number of roughly-built buildings. At the end of the many buildings, there was an earth-colored giant mountain.


    "The Ancestral Court is the core of us barbarians. As new members, you can only live and cultivate at the bottom of this mountain in this Barbarian Palace. You will only be permitted on the Holy Mountain after reaching the Primordial Core realm!"


    Yan Luo''s voice carried a trace of admiration. "Your status will be higher as you progress through the realms. Your residence on the Holy Mountain will continue to rise as well. Several Immortal Patriarchs inhabit the peak! Unfortunately, I have never seen them¡­"


    Black Fury glanced at Beichen Yan and asked loudly, "Master Yan Luo, do you live on the Holy Mountain?"


    "Haha¡­ I luckily condensed my Primordial Core a few months ago!" Yan Luo laughed with satisfaction.


    "Within the Barbarian Palace, there''s a Combat Skills Hall and Magical Powers Hall, but I feel the most important place is the Dao Comprehension Cliff!"


    He brought the five of them to a place below the Holy Mountain.


    Many were already there, staring attentively at the cliff.


    "This is¡­"


    As soon as Fang Yuan laid eyes on the numerous wall carvings on it, his eyes lit up.


    "This Dao Comprehension Cliff was left behind by the experts of various barbarian generations. The lowest among them was at the perfection of the Primordial Core realm. There are also some from Immortal Patriarchs¡­" Yan Luo introduced proudly.


    "They left their realizations about the nomological laws on the cliff in all shapes and forms. After forming your magical power, come here if you meet bottlenecks in the process of comprehending nomological laws. Find the most comfortable mural to you. You will gain something!


    "Lastly, I''ll bring you to register and receive an identification token. You will become part of the Ancestral Court!


    "You have three years in the Ancestral Court. Cultivate well or go out and hunt fierce beasts to perceive nomological laws through battle¡­ You will be expelled if you can''t advance onto the Holy Mountain within three years!"


    ¡­


    "Barbarian Hall?"


    Fang Yuan looked at the hall and followed Yan Luo.


    "This token is proof that you are a disciple of the Ancestral Court. You have to be careful. There are no restrictions on battling within the Ancestral Court!" The barbarian responsible for the registration ''Nine Leave'' explained thoroughly. "You can choose one technique from the Magical Powers Hall and one from Combat Skills Hall for free with this token. You''ll need to exchange for more."


    "Hmm? Fang Yuan from the Flybarb tribe. Only a fifth-grade totem?" He looked at Yan Luo. "How is he counted as a genius?"


    "The clam totem is comparable to a fourth-grade totem, and he has comprehended Saber Will. Good enough?" Yan Luo smiled calmly.


    "Up to you. He might have comprehended Saber Will, but comprehending Saber Intent is far more difficult, and it is very hard to train a clam totem¡­"


    Nine Leave shook his head and tossed a token to Fang Yuan.

 1037 Saber Inten

    Magical Powers Hall, Barbarian Palace.


    "The clam totem is a totem of psyche and illusions. It is extremely rare and possesses three suitable magical powers. They are located on Row A of the seventh shelf¡­"


    Fang Yuan found the introduction and magical powers of clam totems according to the guidelines and instantly realized why Nine Leave said that it was difficult to train him.


    "The clam totem is too rare, so it has a limited choice of magical powers¡­"


    He looked briefly at the introduction and found that these magical powers were from those clam totems that had cultivated to the Materialization realm and then inscribed from what they had managed to search for by themselves.


    Even so, there were only three types.


    "It seems like because the clam totem is too rare, so the Ancestral Court''s research on it isn''t deep¡­"


    Fang Yuan played with some fog in his hand and smiled. "The clam totem might only enhance the body to fifth or sixth grade, but the auxiliary abilities of psyche and illusions aren''t any worse than third grade¡­ But no one knows this little secret since there are so few clam totem experts."


    He calmed down and looked at the three magical powers. "Magical powers are divided into ordinary magical powers, great magical powers, and peerless magical powers. Those arising naturally from third-grade totems are at least great magical powers! But here¡­


    "Dense Fog, Phantasm, Mirage? These are all ordinary magical powers¡­"


    Totems under the third grade could not generate magical powers by themselves and could only rely on cultivators to inscribe them.


    Some of them were imitated from third-grade totems, while some were created by the cultivators themselves.


    "For example, Dense Fog and Phantasm were inscribed from water element third-grade totems¡­ As for Mirage¡­"


    Fang Yuan picked up the piece of blue beast skin and looked at it from the beginning.


    "I, Chihun, possess the clam totem. It might only be fifth grade, but I believe I can be a strong warrior. Mirage is a magical power that I comprehended myself, which is just a little bit shy of a great magical power. I have a hunch that I will be able to perfect it after a few more years¡­"


    There was an introduction to the magical power below.


    "Large-scale illusion technique¡­ Not bad¡­" Fang Yuan nodded and continued onto what was obviously another person''s writing. "Chihun, the strongest warrior of the clam totem, disappeared ten years after reaching the Primordial Core realm. He is determined to be dead¡­"


    "What a pity¡­ He would have definitely become a powerful illusionist if he managed to complete it!" Fang Yuan sighed. "I''ll take this Mirage Magical Power then!"


    The other two magical powers were much weaker, and he did not have the slightest interest in them.


    He was not going to inscribe Mirage either. He was going to comprehend it himself and improve on it.


    If Chihun could comprehend a magical power, so could he.


    ¡­


    "We can choose a magical power and a combat skill for free in the Barbarian Palace. Anything else requires a price¡­"


    A third-grade totem would generate only a single most suitable magical power, but on the materialization, you could inscribe more than one magical power! It was a rare chance for the barbarians to comprehend nomological laws, so they cherished it a lot.


    However, Fang Yuan was different from them and wanted to use up this chance as soon as possible. "I''m done choosing my magical power. Next is the combat skill. I hope there''s something higher level than the Chaotic Cloak here¡­"


    He walked through the palace when a flame suddenly came flying at him.


    "Vermilion Bird flame? Who was so unethical to throw flames around?" Fang Yuan''s face sank, and he walked toward the origin of the fire.


    Rumble!


    There, many youths gathered around two young men confronting each other.


    "Hmm? Beichen Yan? His opponent has moon marks on his beast hide. Is he from the Moonview tribe?"


    Hiss hiss!


    The young man from the Moonview tribe hissed and showcased his totem. It was a huge black snake with a pair of wings and manipulated black water.


    "Second-grade totem black water snake?"


    "Fang Yuan, you''re here!" Bei Tangman and Ivy angrily sprouted everything to Fang Yuan before he could utter a word. "These seniors are bullies!"


    "Haha. Newcomers, don''t you know that giving some hardship to the new geniuses is a tradition of the Barbarian Palace!" A few youngsters opposite them laughed merrily. "You''ve lost. This Beichen Yan might be powerful, but he won''t last long. Big Bro Xuan Mo will defeat him!"


    "No! I haven''t lost yet! Vermilion Bird Flame!" Beichen Yan roared in the field, and a fiery red but incomplete rune appeared on the Vermilion Bird.


    The orange-yellow Vermilion Bird flame seemed to bloom in midair like a flower.


    "Black Water Magical Power!"


    The black water snake flapped its wings, and black water came forth to extinguish the flames and drown the Vermilion Bird.


    Beichen Yan retreated backward with blood flowing from both sides of his nose.


    "Junior Brother, your Vermilion Bird isn''t bad. Unfortunately, your control is still too rough!" Xuan Mo shook his head and returned to his group.


    "Oh! You are the last of the batch, Fang Yuan, right? I heard your totem is trash, and you are only good at saber skills. Who wants to come?"


    A group of barbarian youths laughed and discussed. Finally, a youth with a long spear came out. "Xu Chen of the Sunrise tribe. I won''t use my totem fighting you!"


    "I won''t either then," Fang Yuan answered with a smile.


    "This Fang Yuan!" Ivy and Beichen Yan were angry. "Fool!"


    However, they did not know what was on Fang Yuan''s mind. I can showcase my talents since I''m now in the Ancestral Court¡­


    If he had shown that he was too much of a genius and made Beichen Luo feel threatened, he might have encountered an ''accident'' before Yan Luo noticed him!


    However, the Ancestral Court treated all tribes the same! The Beichen tribe could do nothing to him.


    Here, naturally, the better he performed, the more attention he would receive and the more resources he would get.


    Someone from the higher echelons might even like what they saw and take him in as a disciple.


    Fang Yuan''s mentality naturally changed with the world. He was in this world now and had to abide by its rules. He would not resist following a master and so on.


    Everything was for the purpose of becoming stronger! So that he could win that bet!


    "Fire Tree Silver Flower!" Xu Chen said softly, and spear shadows spread all around.


    "Chaotic Cloak Saber Technique, Nine-In-One!"


    Fang Yuan chopped out the nine saber shadows and merged them into one.


    Clang!


    The saber and the spearhead touched lightly, and both of them separated.


    "Great! Come again!"


    Xu Chen''s eyes brightened, and his spear suddenly turned into a black dragon, seemingly with a life of its own. It extended a claw and broke the Chaotic Cloak Saber Technique''s dark burst.


    "Spear Will, and he''s only one step away from comprehending Spear Intent? There are indeed many geniuses in this Barbarian Palace¡­"


    Fang Yuan wielded his saber and left the range of the long spear.


    "Great!"


    Xu Chen withdrew his spear, and it suddenly lashed out again as though it were a venomous dragon rising out of a hole.


    "Saber Will!" Fang Yuan shouted. The Black Profund Saber turned into a flexible fish and clashed with the black dragon.


    Clang!


    A crisp sound rang out.


    Xu Chen retreated, his complexion ugly.


    "What?" The other young men were shocked when they saw this. "Xu Chen is the best when it comes to weapons in the Barbarian Palace, and he lost?"


    "I lost this round, but I''ll continue challenging you. This time, I''ll use my totem!"


    Xu Chen hollered, and a green flying dragon totem appeared behind him. It roared and merged with his spear. "Take my Thirteen Flying Dragon Spears!"


    "Shameless!" Beichen Yan shouted. "Using the strength at the peak of the Predatory realm is completely trying to overpower him!"


    "Oh? Using the flying dragon totem to enhance his spear technique?" Fang Yuan''s eyes glistened. "He''s truly infatuated with the Spear Dao. Too bad¡­"


    Any ordinary youth would admit defeat when they saw this.


    But not Fang Yuan!


    "Break!"


    Fang Yuan raised his saber and slammed it down right in the middle.


    Bang!


    The spear appeared along with a stunned Xu Chen.


    It seemed as though he had deliberately sent his long spear under Fang Yuan''s saber.


    "Even so, how can your saber match my spear under the enhancement of my third-grade totem¡­"


    Xu Chen roared in his heart, but the next moment, his eyes saw a sharp edge.


    It was saber light condensed to the limit and impossible to block.


    Poof! Poof!


    The third-grade flying dragon totem split in two. The Black Profound Saber also cut the spear and landed at Xu Chen''s throat.


    "I admit defeat!" He managed to squeeze these three words out before fainting.


    "Even Xu Chen lost¡­"


    "He is among the top ten in the Barbarian Palace, especially with the unpredictability of his spear attacks. He is even more powerful when he uses it together with his totem. He unexpectedly just lost like this!"


    The youths looked at Fang Yuan in fear. "And¡­ he has yet to use his totem."


    "Who else?" Fang Yuan stood tall holding his weapon, looking a bit heroic.


    "Me, Xuan Mo!"


    His black water snake shot out again, and its wings covered the sky. "No matter how good your saber skills are, I''ll defeat you with my totem. Surging Black Water!"


    Chop!!


    A ray of light flashed on Fang Yuan''s saber, and he directly chopped.


    Poof!


    The black water snake totem suddenly collapsed, and Xuan Mo spat out blood and likewise collapsed.


    "I, Wu Song¡­"


    "I am Bei Qing!"


    ¡­


    Fang Yuan continued to chop down the challengers'' totem one after another and made them pass out.


    "Just one saber chop¡­" At the side, Nine Leave''s eyes slowly widened. "This is¡­ the Saber Intent realm? Ordinary totems will collapse just coming into contact with Saber Intent unless they condense a substantive materialization.


    "This young man¡­ I said he couldn''t be trained before, but now, he has comprehended Saber Intent at the Predatory realm and reached basic mastery of the Nomological Laws of Saber?"


    Yan Luo appeared beside Nine Leave and asked with a smile, "So, how is my recommendation?"


    "Very right. I''m convinced!" Nine Leave replied. "I''ll report to my old patriarch. We can''t bury such a genius!"


    "Quickly now!" Yan Luo waited for Nine Leave to leave before looking at the scene with awe. "How could he¡­"


    In fact, even he could not have imagined that Fang Yuan could improve in such a short span of time!

 1038 Saber King

    "After using Saber Intent, I can completely sweep away anyone at the Predatory realm!"


    Fang Yuan put away his Black Profound Saber, looked at the terrified youths, and left the ring.


    Before reaching the Materialization realm, even a first-grade totem was just the manifestation of the essence of an illusionary spirit.


    And this form was obviously nothing in front of Saber Intent!


    When Saber Intent appeared, it would sweep away all totems!


    The totem and the bloodline warrior were linked. If their totem was chopped, they would also suffer mental wounds, and falling into a comatose state for a few days was getting off lightly.


    "Even if they don''t use their totem and fight me using purely martial arts, even Xu Chen would lose¡­ But it''s only good this time. Next time, the ones challenging me will definitely be in the Materialization realm!"


    The proud barbarians would never start with Materialization cultivators bullying others.


    However, the Predatory realm seniors were all swept away, and those in the Materialization realm would certainly come for him.


    Once the totem materialized, Saber Intent would still hurt them, but the result was unlikely to be like what had happened today.


    "Fang Yuan¡­ You¡­"


    Beichen Yan, Ivy, and the other few stared blankly, feeling as though they no longer recognized Fang Yuan.


    "Haha. I had some gains listening to Yan Luo''s lecture!" Fang Yuan explained and immediately left for the Combat Skills Hall.


    ¡­


    "Saber techniques¡­ I only have basic mastery of nomological laws, so I''ll decide after I reach large success with them¡­"


    He found several bookshelves on saber techniques.


    "Hmm? Explanation of Saber Techniques, what arrogance!"


    He found this book after a quick glance.


    "Saber techniques are easy to learn but difficult to master. Only one out of ten thousand people will become outstanding, and only those who can master Saber Intent can be considered extraordinary!"


    "Above Saber Will is Saber Intent, and above Saber Intent is Saber Realm!"


    ¡­


    "Saber Realm?" Fang Yuan digested it. "Saber Intent will continue to strengthen, and in the end, it will form something similar to a domain in which Saber Intent is everywhere? That''s appropriate!


    "If I can advance to Saber Realm, it is the sign of large success in the Nomological Laws of Saber, and then I will only be one step away from perfection!


    "The Nomological Laws of Saber will reach perfection through searching within myself and exploring the heavens outside!"


    He flipped to the end and could not help nodding. "These are some quintessence¡­ signature is Saber King? Quite an aggressive nickname."


    In fact, after reaching the Saber Intent realm, it was to pursue the meaning and forget the shape. The ordinary saber moves were basically useless, and you could only rely on your hard work to progress.


    This book explained the higher realms that he would encounter later, so Fang Yuan understood that the Saber King who wrote this book must have reached the perfection stage in Saber Nomological Laws.


    "Generally speaking, the Materialization realm might use magical powers as a springboard to perceive nomological laws, but only a handful can reach basic mastery. Even within the Barbarian Palance, most won''t reach this stage!


    "Only after they reach the Primordial Core realm and form their Destiny Magical Power will their speed of comprehension increase and will they reach basic mastery of nomological laws. This is also the sorrow of barbarians. Their comprehension ability is too weak!


    "Basically, anyone who can reach the perfection stage in nomological laws should be an expert at the Apotheosis realm! Occasionally, there are some in the Primordial Core realm, but those people are monsters¡­ Perhaps Chihun was one such person. Unfortunately, he fell too early¡­"


    Fang Yuan left the Combat Skills Hall with the Explanation of Saber Techniques, returned to his room, and sat cross-legged.


    "I''ve redeemed all my benefits. Anything more will require me to exchange with something. The Barbarian Palace only takes materials and mission contributions from the surrounding fierce beasts. This is to encourage us to hunt and fight¡­"


    He suddenly felt a tinge of dissatisfaction. "There is no method to cultivate the totem in the Predatory realm even in the Barbarian Palace. It seems like you can only do so in the Materialization realm¡­ Really, so crude!"


    He was also someone in awe at the same time.


    Just by devouring bloodlines and spirit essence, the barbarians of this world could advance to the Materialization realm and come into contact with the power of nomological laws. This was absolutely unthinkable in other worlds.


    "This represents the absolute power of Connates, like ancient humans. All humans were born as Connate Godfiends¡­"


    "Hmm? This feeling!"


    Fang Yuan released his clam totem, and a throbbing instantly grappled his heart. "Am I going to advance to the Materialization realm?"


    Even Beichen Yan would not be able to catch up to this speed.


    But he understood the reason after some thought.


    First, the requirement for his clam totem to advance was not high. The higher the grade the totem was, the more difficult it was to advance. Second, he cultivated his totem well in the Predatory realm. Both the water beasts and the three-tailed spiritual fox were very suitable for the clam totem. The power of Blood Qi in his body was pure, which was greatly beneficial to his cultivation.


    "Well, let''s start breaking through then."


    It was something good anyway. Fang Yuan sat cross-legged and started anticipating the breakthrough of the clam totem.


    ¡­


    The Holy Mountain of the Ancestral Court.


    "Nine Leave requests an audience with Old Patriarch!" Nine Leave told the maid and stood respectfully in front of a palace at the waist of the mountain.


    This palace was built with black stones and had a coarse atmosphere to it. The most important thing was that it was closer to the mountain top.


    The status of a person on the Holy Mountain was determined by the altitude of their residence.


    Before long, the maid returned and said, "Old Patriarch invites you in!"


    "Thank you!"


    Nine Leave took a deep breath, stepped into the main hall, and knelt down, not daring to even lift his head. "Greeting to Old Patriarch!"


    This old patriarch might not be an Immortal Patriarch, but he had achieved the perfection of the Apotheosis realm and could welcome the lightning tribulation at any time. He had even lived for more than three hundred years and was ''old'' in the truest sense of the word.


    Barbarians could increase their lifespan by three hundred years in the Primordial Core realm and a thousand years in the Apotheosis realm.


    Of course, immortality would still require them to transcend the lightning tribulation and become an Immortal!


    It was a pity that the heavens were ruthless. Under the lightning tribulation, the survival rate was so low that it was almost insignificant. Nothing but death awaited them if they failed the tribulation. If they were lucky, they might be able to reincarnate, but unlucky would truly be dead.


    "Oh, it''s Nine Leave. What''s the matter?" A voice floated down to him from above.


    "Reporting to Old Patriarch, this disciple is in charge of the Barbarian Hall and has found a genius today!" Nine Leave took a deep breath. "He comprehended Saber Intent at the Predatory realm!"


    "Us barbarians¡­ our comprehension is too poor! Anyone able to reach basic mastery of nomological laws in the Materialization Realm is a genius. It''s truly rare to reach this stage in the Predatory realm!"


    The misty voice asked, "Who is he, and what is his totem?"


    "Fang Yuan from the Flybarb tribe, clam totem!"


    "Clam? That''s troublesome¡­ Almost none of the cultivation techniques in the Materialization realm are suitable for him. He''ll only be able to cultivate with a few water element cultivation techniques!"


    Hearing this, Nine Leave immediately knew that this Fang Yuan had yet to hold any weight in the eyes of the old patriarch.


    "Even so, it''s quite a feat. Tell Mo He!"


    "Understood!" Nine Leave bowed and backed out of the main hall. He only gave a long sigh and shook his head regrettably. "What a pity¡­"


    He started toward a palace below.


    ¡­


    The sky was clear.


    Fang Yuan stretched lazily, and the clam materialization flew out with a thought.


    If the totem before was just a two-dimensional painting, then the materialization was now full of substance and life.


    "Using that little trick in the Predatory realm to breakthrough to the Materialization realm was almost natural!"


    Fang Yuan sighed contentedly. "The Materialization realm is the true beginning of the cultivation. I can ask the Barbarian Palace for a cultivation technique¡­ Unfortunately, I already discovered yesterday that there wasn''t a fundamental cultivation technique for illusions here. It would be a waste of the clam''s gift if I were to go with the water element!"


    "Let''s go!" His mind moved, and his body changed instantly, leaving only a residual image in the room.


    This was the power of the wind!


    "After obtaining the Modest Wind Magical Power and the Chaotic Cloak Saber Technique, I not only have basic mastery of Saber Intent but have also grasped a bit of the Nomological Laws of Wind¡­"


    This was Fang Yuan''s trump card. He obviously would not show it and had kept it secret until now.


    He arrived at the Dao Comprehension Cliff.


    "Wind¡­ and saber?"


    He looked at the many carvings on the cliff, and his eyes brightened after pacing around. "Saber carvings?"


    It had to be said that the comprehension of the barbarians was too low, and the Holy Mountain must have spent a great deal of effort to build this Dao Comprehension Cliff. It was a treasure to Fang Yuan.


    He gazed at the saber carvings and suddenly fell into a kind of enlightenment.


    "Saber¡­ The line between life-and-death, firm, brave, tyrannical, fierce!"


    "Fighting with the saber and fighting with heaven and earth is the true meaning of cultivation!"


    ¡­


    After some time, Fang Yuan sobered and smiled. "Some things were left unexplained in the Explanation of Saber Techniques, so it was here, the path from Saber Intent to Saber Realm! Continuous comprehension of the Nomological Laws of Saber and the strengthening of Saber Intent will finally turn into an ''External Saber Qi'', which can match magical powers! Cultivation to Saber Qi being everywhere is when I reach Saber Realm!"


    "External Saber Qi? Doesn''t seem to be too difficult!"


    Fang Yuan pulled out the Black Profund Saber and swung it at will. "The power required to stimulate Saber Qi wasn''t so easy during the Predatory realm, but it''s easy now that I''m using nomological power!"


    He cultivated for a while before he went to the Barbarian Hall.


    The carvings on the Dao Comprehension Cliff might be treasures, but he also needed a key.


    Fang Yuan had cultivated the Chaotic Cloak Saber Technique and understood the Modest Wind Magical Power, so he was able to comprehend more when he looked at the carvings relating to wind and saber.


    The other murals were difficult to get started with because he did not have the foundation in this universe.


    "Moreover, it''s better to specialize. I should still reach large success with one Dao path first before looking at the rest."


    "Haha. Fang Yuan, you''re here!" Nine Leave said excitedly when he saw Fang Yuan. He handed a beast skin to him. "This is for you!"


    "This is?" Fang Yuan took it and read the message on it. The strokes were like sabers. "You can be my disciple if you can comprehend Saber Qi before you reach the Primordial Core realm¡ªSaber King Mo He!"


    "Congratulations, Saber King Mo He is rather famous on the Holy Mountain," Nine Leave said happily.


    "Thank you!" Fang Yuan put away the Explanation of Saber Techniques with some pity in his heart. Seems like I''ve yet to really move them. Otherwise, he would have immediately accepted me as a disciple without having to go through a trial.


    This way, I''ll only obtain limited benefits in the Barbarian Palace. I''ll have to get more resources from outside¡­ the land of inheritance!

 1039 Greenwood Dragon

    There aren''t any carvings on the Dao Comprehension Cliff about illusions¡­ After all, illusion experts among the barbarians¡­ haha¡­ are no different from a joke. There was only one Chihun before, but unfortunately, he didn''t live long!


    There naturally aren''t any cultivation techniques without experts. I''ll only be able to cultivate water element techniques if I stay in the Barbarian Palace¡­


    Not to mention, I have to exchange materials or complete missions if I want to obtain more since I''ve used up my benefits.


    Therefore, I should accept some missions first, and it would be best if they''re near the Beichen tribe. That way, I can explore the land of inheritance in passing.


    Fang Yuan held more speculations about that place currently. Even Apotheosis cultivators could not move in the void or arrange various energies. That must have been the inheritance of an Immortal.


    The inheritance of an Immortal would be enough to make all lower-level cultivators go crazy!


    "Master Nine Leave, I would like to take on a few missions to train outside," Fang Yuan said immediately.


    "Hmm, barbarians truly need to grow through battles. You will become the Saber King''s disciple if you can comprehend Saber Qi¡­ Unfortunately¡­" Nine Leave sighed. "I actually recommended you to the old patriarch, but your totem¡­"


    The one who gets me is lucky, while the one who loses me is his fate. It''s nothing much¡­ Fang Yuan smiled but was secretly grumbling. It seems like this Saber King doesn''t have too high a position on the Holy Mountain. I wouldn''t be able to enter the core even if I became his disciple.


    "All right. The missions are all here. Take a look!" Nine Leave took out a stack of beast skins, and Fang Yuan glanced over them carefully.


    "Hunting mission¡ªCan exchange three mutated beasts for one combat skill. Five mutated beasts for a magical power!"


    "Patrol mission¡ªPatrol the borders of East Li for a year. Can choose any two magical powers afterward."


    "Hunting mission¡ªkill any subordinate at the Materialization realm of Great Fey Pengze. Can choose any three magical powers and three combat skills!"


    ¡­


    "Hunting the subordinates of Great Fey Pengze?" Fang Yuan''s eyebrows arched. "This is it!"


    "Hunting mission? This mission is rather dangerous. Even though the compensation is good¡­ it''s extremely difficult!" Nine Leave shook his head. "This Pengze is extremely cunning. Even those at the Primordial Core realm will face a period of being hunted down after they complete this mission."


    It was easy for those at the Primordial Core realm to kill Fey at the Materialization realm. The difficult part was Great Fey Pengze''s retaliation.


    This Great Fey was quite cunning. He would hide in his lake when he met an Apotheosis expert, but his strength was among the best in the Primordial Core realm. He was rather difficult to deal with.


    Of course, he also knew his place and did not anger the Immortal Patriarchs. Otherwise, he would not have survived until now.


    "This is it." Fang Yuan pursued adamantly.


    Pengze was within range of the Beichen tribe, and this mission had a term of one year, enough for him to explore the land of inheritance.


    "All right. But I recommend you try after you break through to the Materialization realm. Don''t hesitate to ask for help from the Beichen tribe if you meet any danger!"


    Nine Leave sighed, but he did not have the power to restrict missions. His job was merely to help register.


    Fang Yuan frowned after leaving the Barbarian Hall.


    A group of youths cornered him. "You are the Fang Yuan who comprehended Saber Intent? You also defeated many seniors yesterday. So prestigious?"


    "Yes¡­" Fang Yuan sighed. "Who is here to challenge?"


    "Me¡­ The top in the Barbarian Palace, Dongmu Cai!" A young girl in green walked out with a sweet smile. "Nobody else in the Barbarian Palace will find trouble with you as long as you defeat me."


    "Well then, please!" Fang Yuan agreed.


    Dongmu Cai released her materialization, a green dragon entwined with vines.


    Second-grade totem greenwood dragon!


    Not only that, but the horror of a third-grade and above totem would only appear when it reached the Materialization realm.


    The greenwood dragon''s eye shone, and a complete magical power symbol emerged on its body.


    "Magical power¡ªGreenwood Realm!"


    Bang! Bang!


    The ground cracked, and numerous vines poured forth, forming a huge cage.


    "Dongmu Cai is going all out. This Greenwood Realm is a great magical power. Not only is it powerful, but it also brings it the power of a domain. She''ll reach large success in the Nomological Laws of Wood if she can comprehend a little bit more."


    Nine Leave stood at the door of the hall with admiration in his eyes. "These seniors couldn''t take it after losing, so they sent out their strongest. Unfortunately, Fang Yuan is going to lose!"


    Smack!


    Many vines flew, and each one was not inferior to a steel whip.


    The vines went straight for Fang Yuan but instead stirred up layers of water, turning them into nothingness.


    "Illusion body? Useless," Dongmu Cai said lightly. "Even if I haven''t comprehended the nomological laws of the Greenwood Realm, I still have the power of the domain. Everything is clear in the domain! Moreover, my defense and vine armor are also top-notch. Let''s see how you crack it!"


    Swoosh!


    The vines rolled around on the ground like poisonous snakes, wrapping two Fang Yuans and bursting them like soap bubbles.


    "Fake again?" Dongmu Cai frowned prettily and suddenly raised her head.


    A huge clam appeared in the air, spitting out fog that engulfed the entire battlefield. Nothing was visible.


    "This is¡­" Nine Leave''s eyes grew wide. "Materialization? Good lad. It hasn''t been long, yet he''s succeeded in ascending to the Materialization realm! No wonder he dared to take on that mission!"


    Pupu!


    The crisp sound of a saber echoed within the fog.


    A shadow burst out of the fog. It was Dongmu Cai!


    Her vine armor had suffered a large cut, and she could barely stand. "Thank you for showing mercy. I lost."


    The whole place fell silent before bursting into life.


    Dongmu Cai, number one in the Barbarian Palace¡­ actually lost?


    "What happened exactly?"


    "How did Senior Sister lose?"


    The dense fog had blocked everyone''s view. Even Nine Leave was at a loss. He could not help but extend an ear when he heard someone ask.


    "I don''t¡­ know either¡­" Dongmu Cai seemed puzzled. "Anyway, he''s strong! Very much so!"


    Smack!


    Just then, some applause came. "Junior Brother, such a great illusion technique is pretty rare!"


    A young man in red drifted over. "Junior Sister Dongmu, are you all right?"


    Everyone went silent again before someone recognized him and said with obvious admiration, "He is a core disciple of the Holy Mountain, Xu Lie!"


    Dongmu Cai was just number one in the Barbarian Palace at the bottom of the mountain. She would also be expelled if she could not reach the Primordial Core realm within three years.


    The disciples on the Holy Mountain were at the Primordial Core realm at the very least! There was no comparison!


    This Xu Lie was not only a disciple of the Holy Mountain, but he was also the top disciple for the past decade. This was because his totem was a rare first-grade one that had not appeared for ten thousand years¡ªPhoenix!


    Unlike the horned dragon and the greenwood dragon totems, which had a dragon bloodline, Xu Lie''s Phoenix had the pure bloodline of a divine beast. His Materialization realm''s peerless magical power had unlimited prospects. He was even directly taken in as a disciple by an Immortal Patriarch.


    "Thank you for the concern, Senior Brother. I''m all right!" Dongmu Cai replied stubbornly.


    "This boy''s illusion wasn''t bad, but how dare he hurt you. Do you want me to teach him a lesson for you?" Xu Lie pointed at Fang Yuan with a slight smile and a hint of frivolousness between his eyebrows.


    "No need!" Dongmu Cai''s face was suddenly as cold as ice.


    Xu Lie''s eyes flashed when he was rejected, but he still asked kindly, "I''m going down the mountain for a great opportunity. Do you want to go with me? You might obtain quite a bit of benefits."


    "How would I dare take away Senior Brother''s opportunity?" Dongmu Cai bowed slightly. "I still have something to do and will take my leave."


    "Ah¡­" Xu Lie sighed. "Seems like Junior Sister is still very resistant to my previous proposal. But no matter. I''ll ask Master when I''m back¡­"


    "You¡­" Dongmu Cai''s body stiffened. She turned back with her eyes as sharp as a knife. "I won''t agree, never!"


    "Haha¡­ That''s what I like about you, your stubborn eyes!" Xu Lie laughed loudly. A pair of splendid golden flame wings sprouted from his back, and he soared into the sky.


    "It''s a flying magical power!" The others looked on enviously. "These magical powers are very demanding. Ordinary disciples don''t even have a chance to see them, let alone learn to inscribe them."


    Only when they cultivated to the Apotheosis realm would they possess the ability to fly.


    Before this, ordinary cultivators like Yan Luo could only take flying mutated beasts.


    However, there was an exception, the flying magical powers.


    ¡­


    "Xu Lie?" Fang Yuan looked at the disappearing flame in the sky and sneered. "Borrowing wood to burn fire. He must fancy the greenwood dragon totem from the way he is so persistent about Dongmu Cai. If it were ordinary Dao Companions, she probably wouldn''t be so resistant. He''d probably use her as a furnace¡­


    "But what does this have to do with me?"


    He shook his head and walked toward the jungle outside the Barbarian Palace. "I have to pay with a mutated beast if I want to use a four-winged griffin, so I''ll go hunting first."


    Outside the Barbarian Palace was a primitive jungle with more mutated beasts than the Endless Mountains.


    It was also the intention of the Holy Mountain to leave a training ground for the juniors in the Barbarian Palace.


    ¡­


    Nine days later, Endless Mountains.


    "Finally back!"


    Fang Yuan arrived at the cave in the land of inheritance and stroked the stone talisman in his hand.


    He did not want to notify the Flybarb tribe so that it would not alarm the Beichen tribe that he was back.


    "The land of inheritance where Immortal Hong Chen selects his disciple!"


    He walked into the cave, activated the stone talisman, and was teleported to a stone platform, exactly where he left before on the second level.


    "The Barbarian Palace might have Immortal Patriarchs, but those patriarchs are still alive, and there were many geniuses as well, so they must exchange materials, complete missions, and make contributions.


    On the other hand, this Immortal Hong Chen has probably died, and a dead Immortal is very generous. How much stronger have I grown since the last time? I can make a fortune! Fang Yuan thought excitedly but was not foolish enough to voice his thoughts.


    After all, he had guessed that there might be a spirit beast with intellect or a magic treasure''s spirit guarding here.


    Wouldn''t he be on the short end of the stick if he happened to be heard and hated?

 1040 Mystic Technique

    "After I passed the first stage, the Questioning Heart Path, I received three rewards¡ªthe Chaotic Cloak Saber Technique, the Black Profound Saber, and the Earth Escape Magic Talisman!


    "Perhaps from the perspective of the spirit of this cave abode, if I can cultivate the Chaotic Cloak Saber Technique to large success, coupled with the Black Profound Saber, I might be able to pass this stage. If I really can''t pass it, I can at least use the Earth Escape Magic Talisman to save my life? Does this mean that the second stage passageway won''t exceed five kilometers?


    "Of course, this is just my guess. Moreover, it''s not certain I''ll be able to use the talisman in the passage. Otherwise, I could easily pass the second stage. Nothing comes cheap. That''s probably the power of the magic talisman, only allowing me to retreat but not advance?"


    After pondering for a bit, Fang Yuan was mostly clear about the second stage.


    "But¡­ I am no longer the same as I was before!"


    He chuckled and stepped into the second passage.


    This passage became broader as he continued, and there were emerald rocks on both sides. When he reached the end, it was several meters wide, extremely spacious and empty.


    Bang Bang!


    Heavy footsteps came. Three green terracotta warriors suddenly appeared.


    "Combat puppets?"


    Fang Yuan swung his saber.


    Poof!


    External Saber Qi mixed with Saber Intent sliced through the air and instantly broke the heads of these three combat puppets.


    "Awesome!" He gripped the handle of the saber. "On the outside, I have to worry about exposing my strength and keeping a trump card or two. But here, the better I perform, the more likely it is I obtain favor! Moreover, there''s no possibility of leaking anything!


    "These three puppets only have strength at the late Predatory realm. Their bodies are just a little more sturdy. They actually want to stop me with this?"


    Fang Yuan turned a corner and was instantly surrounded by five puppets that were all giving off fluctuations at the Materialization realm. Two of them were even archers.


    "The difficulty has increased!" He grinned, even more certain of his deduction now. "Too bad¡­ they''re still trash. Be gone!"


    Swoosh!


    Saber light flashed, sweeping across. The five puppets immediately lost their heads.


    Fast! Fast! Fast!


    Everything was unexpectedly so fast!


    Fang Yuan''s Saber Qi divided the puppets into pieces before they could even do anything!


    "It''d be a hassle if they arranged a formation. Nine out of ten ordinary Materialization realm barbarians would likely fail. A little interesting."


    Fang Yuan walked past the puppets and arrived at a plaza.


    "You''re really good to be able to break into here. Unfortunately, I am the one guarding this place!"


    A mist spread, and seven green puppets appeared along with dozens of beast-shaped puppets.


    In front of this army was a puppet in golden armor with red light emitting from its eyes.


    "It even has a soul?"


    Fang Yuan held the saber with his head held high, slightly raising his spirits.


    "Arrange the formation!" the golden-armored general shouted. Many wolf beasts immediately surrounded it, and the seven puppets bent their bows and readied their arrows.


    It drew a saber, and a threatening cold air escaped. It was a magic artifact!


    "Cut off the head of the snake. Kill!"


    Fang Yuan''s figure flickered as he sprinted to the front with his Saber Qi lashing out.


    "Hidden Saber Form!"


    The golden-armored general swung its saber and unleashed its Saber Qi. It was motionless as he offset all attacks.


    Swoosh!


    Two cold arrows broke through the air from the surroundings.


    "If the likes of Dongmu Cai were to come, they would all perish under this difficulty!"


    Fang Yuan''s eyes narrowed slightly. "Wind!"


    His body seemed to merge into the wind, and his speed increased sharply as he appeared within the beast group. "External Saber Qi, die!"


    Pupu!


    Seven saber lights flashed, and these puppets immediately tore apart.


    "You even comprehended the power of another set of nomological laws?" the golden-armored puppet said in astonishment. "I hope you can pass. Kill! Killing Form!"


    It raised its saber with both hands, rushed forward, and chopped ferociously.


    Many of the wolf beasts were desperately trying to restrain Fang Yuan and forced him into a corner.


    "Not bad¡­ You''re qualified to see my move¡­ Wound of Wind!"


    With the Black Profound Saber in hand, Fang Yuan suddenly made a subtle arc in the air.


    Poof!


    External Saber Qi collided with the fierce Killing Form''s Saber Qi, cutting through it and landing on the golden-armored puppet.


    "This is¡­ the fusion of nomological laws?" The upper half of the golden-armored puppet fell to the floor with light still flashing in its eyes. "Demon¡­"


    "Did I pass the second stage? The difficulty increased so much that even someone at the Primordial Core realm might not get through!"


    Fang Yuan put away the Black Profound Saber and walked past the golden-armored puppet.


    "You¡­ passed. I hope you can pass the third stage¡­" Its voice was breaking apart before it finally disappeared.


    Fang Yuan walked through the plaza and came to a stone platform.


    "The third stage?"


    There was a stone monument before the passageway.


    "There were 108 stone talismans scattered, and only 3, including you, managed to get to the third stage!"


    This stone monument seemed to be alive, and more text appeared. "One of them died in the third stage, and one of them is still trying to pass the third stage. Between you and him, only one can become the disciple!"


    ¡­


    "It''s the spirit of the cave abode! Did it assess my strength and deliberately increase the level of difficulty for the second stage?"


    Fang Yuan nodded with a solemn expression. "And¡­. as I expected, there''s more than one stone talisman. There should only be one land of inheritance, but there are many entrances."


    The other places were probably like the cave, where there were hidden arrays.


    Once a stone talisman met the necessary conditions, it would activate teleportation to this place.


    However, Fang Yuan had not seen the trace of a second person along the way.


    Therefore, even though there is only one core land of inheritance, there should be entrances from many other places.


    And there was now another candidate undergoing the third stage trial.


    "Is there someone even more talented than me within this Hundred Thousand Mountains?"


    Fang Yuan concentrated on the rewards.


    "The Water Moon Secret Manual, a cultivation technique of both water element and illusions, and it can be cultivated all the way to the Apotheosis realm. Great, just what I needed!


    "Rhino Inner Armor, top-quality magic artifact, amazing defense!"


    There were only two rewards, but they were undoubtedly much better than the first stage''s rewards and well worth the difficulty.


    At the same time, it proved that the rewards from this land of inheritance were completely tailored to the inheritor.


    "I won''t happen to run into the Abominable Lord in the third stage, right? Even if I were to, we could have a proper ending. We started at the same starting line¡­ Could he actually surpass me?"


    This world was vast, and the Hundred Thousand Mountains was merely a drop in the ocean.


    The probability of running into him was negligible.


    Therefore, he boldly used Fang Yuan as his name.


    In the future, when he left the Hundred Thousand Mountains and became famous in the outside world, Fang Yuan would use a cover.


    Otherwise, if his fame were too great, he would lose the initiative if word of him passed to the ears of the Abominable Lord.


    "There''s a ninety percent chance that the one here isn''t him!"


    Fang Yuan entered the third stage.


    A bloody warning came. "You will not be able to retreat once the third stage starts. You either pass it or die in it!"


    "Cultivation is a struggle against heaven for life anyway. Why would I be afraid of this?"


    Fang Yuan''s heart remained unmoved. He stepped right into it.


    Buzz!


    The world around him spun, and he was teleported to a maze.


    A loud voice directly rang in Fang Yuan''s mind. "This is the greatest mystic technique I possess, the Nine Star Pearl! In this maze, there are water resources and mutated beasts everywhere that you can use for cultivation. At the core of the maze, there is a final puppet waiting there for you. It will adjust its strength according to the challenger. The one who can break through the puppet using the Nine Star Pearl technique will attain all of my inheritance!"


    Following that was a mystic technique manual.


    This mystic technique was like a pitch-black human nebula. The first star lit up, then the second, and the third¡­


    "No wonder death or passing are the only options at the third stage. This is where people touch the contents of the inheritance¡­"


    Fang Yuan frowned. "This Nine Star Pearl, there are only three stars here. It looks like I have to pass the third stage and become the true disciple before I can obtain them."


    Beasts roared faintly in the maze.


    He did not head out immediately. Instead, he sat cross-legged and began to fully comprehend this mystic technique.


    "Amazing¡­" His heart shook immediately. "An Immortal can create a technique of this level?"


    A mystic technique was different from fundamental cultivation techniques and magical powers. They were techniques of all types, and this Nine Star Pearl Mystic Technique increased the power of Blood Qi!


    Besides comprehending nomological laws, this was the most important aspect in cultivation for barbarians.


    "The power of Blood Qi, simply put, is physical strength, depth of cultivation power, and so on. It is the most important part of a cultivator''s ''body'' while comprehending nomological laws enhances it. Combining both is the ultimate combat power of a cultivator!"


    Of course, it was better to have both as high as possible.


    "The Nine Star Pearl Mystic Technique is a peerless technique that stimulates the potential of the human body. Activating the first star increases the power of Blood Qi by twofold. The second star, fourfold! The third star, eightfold!"


    Fang Yuan mumbled, "This means the creatures born in this world have innately strong bodies? In the previous worlds, after reaching the first star, an ordinary cultivator''s blood vessels would explode, and they would die!


    "My body can barely cultivate the first three stars. But for the fourth star and above, I must use various body refining techniques to improve the strength of my body¡­"


    "Good technique. I''ll immediately start comprehending it! The first star regards the human body as a nebula and searches for the hidden stars, which are acupoints, to supplement them with patterns and stimulate the power of Blood Qi."


    "These patterns are somewhat similar to magical powers. However, magical powers are inscribed on a materialization, while these patterns are inscribed on the cultivator''s body itself¡­"


    Once one technique was successful, all techniques were successful.


    With Fang Yuan''s knowledge and the mystic technique''s guidance, he managed to understand everything in no time. "Let''s start!"


    He sat cross-legged and circulated the power of Blood Qi in his body. Under his skin, a trace of golden veins formed.


    The golden veins condensed. It did not take long for them to form a huge network that covered his entire body.


    "Spread a net and search for the hidden!"


    He found faint starlight hidden in his body with this net.


    "Sensing the first star, successful!"

 1041 Nirvana

    "The Nine Star Pearl Mystic Technique!"


    Fang Yuan stood up, and a blood-red rune appeared on his forehead.


    At the same time, a hidden star acupoint opened, stimulating his whole body and increasing his Blood Qi power by twofold!


    "My Materialization strength is probably at mid-stage now?"


    Fang Yuan sighed and walked out of the passage. "I''ll go to the core to take a look¡­ But that Hong Chen actually prepared water resources and fierce beasts here. He obviously felt that this third stage would be a long one."


    He turned around the corner and suddenly saw a green brute bull. It was panting as its front hoof slammed onto the ground and charged at him.


    Bang!


    Fang Yuan did not shy away. This brute bull took a wrong step and fiercely hit the wall. Its horns broke in half, but it slammed into the wall again and again as though it saw its most hated foe.


    "Too dumb¡­"


    He shook his head and walked through the passage. In front of him was a spring with a red fish inside.


    "Hmm, the water is very sweet, and this fish seems to be a mutated beast. I can replenish my Blood Qi power if I consume it! A normal cultivator could probably live here for a long time¡­"


    Fang Yuan''s thought turned to the first person who perished, and his expression hardened.


    He wondered if he was trapped here until he died or if the last puppet killed him.


    "There''s always a way to walk out of a maze!"


    Fang Yuan used the most foolish method¡ªwalk along a wall until the end.


    In any case, there were no fierce beasts that could threaten him other than the final puppet at the core.


    Three days later.


    "Have I finally reached it?"


    Fang Yuan walked out of the passage and found a giant golden palace ahead.


    He could not read the words on the signboard above with the fog. However, the bricks and jade tiles were extremely detailed and luxurious, clearly not something from the barbarians.


    There was a tall golden-armored puppet in the plaza before the door of the palace.


    This puppet had a horned helmet and was fighting a young man.


    The young man was handsome. He had a pair of flame wings on his back, and his body had a layer of flame armor, as though he were possessed by an ancient fire god.


    "You¡­ can''t get past me!" the golden-armored puppet said directly. "You are at the Primordial Core realm, while I am at the Apotheosis realm. Under such a difference in strength, you will only have a slight chance if you cultivate to the third star of the Nine Star Pearl coupled with your Phoenix totem!"


    "It''s him!" Fang Yuan was familiar with both of them!


    The young man was Xue Lie, the disciple of the Holy Mountain from before!


    And this golden-armored puppet''s voice was the same as the gatekeeper puppet from the second stage!


    "It seems like these gatekeepers are all controlled by one existence! However, this golden armored-puppet is much stronger than the one in the second stage!"


    Chirp chirp!


    Xu Lie did not say a word. The Phoenix behind him suddenly let out a cry, transformed into a ball of flames, and then lunged at the opponent. "Take my Eternal Flame!"


    Whoosh!


    A black flame enveloped the golden-armored puppet in an instant. As though it were alive, it continued to extend.


    This Phoenix''s magical power¡ªEternal Flame! It had infinite uses!


    "Eternal Flame?" the golden-armored puppet was still calm in the face of the flames. "How nostalgic. Unfortunately, my body is comparable to a dao artifact. Your Eternal Flame could melt me if you were an Immortal, but¡­ you aren''t. Extinguish!"


    It roared and punched.


    Bang!


    The flame dissipated, and Xu Lie spat out blood as he retreated from the plaza of the palace.


    "Another inheritor is here." The golden-armored puppet stopped its attacks and turned toward Fang Yuan. "Hmm, you defeated my clone previously. Your strength is pretty good¡­ You are at the Materialization realm, so I will only use the Primordial Core realm to fight you. You have a chance to defeat me if you are well versed with the Nine Star Pearl Mystic Technique!"


    "It''s you!" Xu Lie stood up with unruly hair and saw Fang Yuan. "That clam totem kid? Even you obtained a stone talisman?"


    "So the great opportunity you mentioned before was this!" Fang Yuan nodded.


    "This trial obviously has advantages for people with lower strength¡­" Xu Lie edged close. "It said I only had a slight chance while you had a chance. Your assurance is greater than mine!"


    Swoosh!


    A flame flew out and landed on an illusionary image, burning it.


    "So¡­ you decided to kill me to monopolize the inheritance?" Fang Yuan''s voice came from all around.


    "Damn! Illusion totems are troublesome! This maze as well¡­" Xu Lie snarled, "That''s right. The final inheritor can only be me! Run! I''ll kill you if you step into the plaza!"


    ¡­


    "I''d definitely make the same decision!"


    Fang Yuan did not find it strange. He ran for a while until he found a water source, killed the mutated beast guarding it, and began to cultivate. "He doesn''t know that my speed of improvement is a lot faster than he can imagine!


    "The power of the gatekeeper puppet is unfathomable. It might only use strength at the Primordial Core realm against me, but its consciousness can certainly display everything within the realm, almost like another Xu Lie¡­ I can only take him on when I grasp the third star of the Nine Star Pearl. If I want to be sure, my Saber Qi must improve as well!


    "But even so, Xu Lie will be guarding the palace plaza day and night, so he won''t leave too far from there for food. I''ll be safe if I stay further away!"


    Xu Lie was afraid that Fang Yuan might just pass the core trial if he were to leave too far. He would be empty-handed then!


    ¡­


    A month passed.


    "This mystic technique is truly difficult!"


    Xu Lie gazed at the golden-armored puppet on the plaza as though it were a towering mountain. "Luckily, it will stop attacking once I leave a certain range. However, I can''t even break through its defense at all!"


    He was not resigned!


    His aptitude and perception were rare for the past thousand years, sufficient for an Immortal to take him in as a disciple.


    Even so, he could not even attain the first star after cultivating for so long.


    "Moreover, that guy with the clam totem is also troublesome! If he spreads this information and attracts more people here, it will be very disadvantageous to me. I have to obtain the inheritance as soon as possible and stop it here!"


    Xu Lie was selfish. He had obtained the stone talisman in a fortuitous encounter and did not even report it to his master.


    When he came out this time, he had also tried to entice Dongmu Cai.


    His expression darkened when he thought of this. "Unfortunately, Dongmu Cai didn''t come with me. Otherwise¡­ my Phoenix totem would have been able to go one step further with ''that'' and might have just been able to defeat this golden-armored puppet!"


    Xu Lie saw someone at the corner of his eyes. "Hmm? You still dare to come here?"


    "Why not?" Fang Yuan trotted over and drew the Black Profound Saber. "Only one person can inherit it, so you must die!"


    "Such arrogance! You can''t escape this time!"


    The Phoenix totem appeared behind Xu Lie. He had decided that he would hunt down Fang Yuan this time and not let him escape.


    "Primordial Core realm? Not bad!" Fang Yuan smirked and suddenly shouted, "The Nine Star Pearl, first star, second star! Activate!"


    Suddenly, a terrifying bloodline power burst from his body.


    "What?" Xu Lie''s eye jumped. "How¡­ No¡­ Impossible. How can a monster like you exist?"


    Fang Yuan did not bother replying and chopped with his Black Profound Saber.


    Whoosh!


    Saber Qi several meters long emerged and cut through the air.


    "Eternal Flame!"


    Xu Lie waved his right hand, and a black flame appeared, burning the Saber Qi into nothingness.


    "My strength is equivalent to the late Materialization realm after a fourfold increase?" Fang Yuan nodded, roughly understanding his own strength.


    "A mere Materialization realm low-tier clam materialization dares to be so arrogant?"


    Fire flashed in Xu Lie''s eyes, and the Phoenix totem roared. "Magical power¡ªThousand Burning Flame!"


    Swoosh!


    Fire meteors flew toward Fang Yuan, each of them carrying great power.


    "External Saber Qi, cut!"


    Fang Yuan swung his saber again and again, and Saber Qi sliced the meteors.


    Suddenly, he merged into the wind, and his speed increased. "Kill!"


    "Die!"


    Xu Lie smirked and threw out a jade talisman.


    Poof!


    A beautiful and unmatched Sword Qi more than thirty meters long emerged and pierced through Fang Yuan, yet there was strangely no trace of blood.


    "Another illusion body? Why is he so troublesome?"


    Xu Lie frowned. This spirit talisman had sealed a sharp Sword Qi. Even someone at the Primordial Core realm would be seriously injured, if not die. This was one of his trump cards.


    His heart ached that he had used it up on an illusion body.


    "So it''s a spirit talisman, one grade higher than a magic talisman. Such genius disciples really do have many life-saving items¡­"


    Behind Xu Lue, fog flashed, and Fang Yuan appeared. "Wound of Wind!"


    Bang!


    Saber Qi slammed onto Xu Lie''s back, but a golden shield blocked it.


    "Another spirit talisman!" Xu Lie turned around, his eyes red. "Ah¡­ I''ll make you pay!"


    "Idiot!" Fang Yuan was expressionless and was nearly face to face with Xu Lie. "Third star! Activate!"


    "What?" A momentum comparable to that of the Primordial Core realm suddenly rose in Fang Yuan''s body.


    Not only was Xu Lie dumbfounded, but even the golden-armored puppet turned around to stare.


    "Even a spirit armor talisman has its limits!"


    Fang Yuan slashed like the wind and smashed nine strokes onto a single point of the shield.


    Crack!


    Finally, the shield shattered, and the Black Profound Saber pierced right through Xu Lie''s heart.


    Fang Yuan did not show the slightest joy. Instead, he quickly stepped back. "You haven''t used your Primordial Core''s Destiny Magical Power, right? A first-grade Phoenix''s Destiny Magical Power should be Nirvana!"


    "Good, you saw through it!" Xu Lie shouted. "Too bad!"


    The next moment, he was wrapped in the black Eternal Flame and became a huge black fireball.


    The surrounding temperature rose dramatically.


    A naked Xu Lie walked out after the flame went out, and there was no trace of the injury on his chest!


    "Peerless magical power Phoenix Nirvana! Unique to the Phoenix totem. Even at the brink of death, you can instantly recover," Fang Yuan said softly as he looked at Xu Lie.

 1042 Pantheon

    "That''s right. I have an immortal body. How are you going to deal with me?!" Xu Lie roared. "You don''t have a chance with your cultivation, totem, and treasures!"


    "Haha. Still acting strong!" Fang Yuan laughed. "Every time you use Nirvana, it consumes the Eternal Flame. How many times can you do it with your cultivation?"


    "Go!" Xu Lie''s expression changed as flame wings spread out behind him.


    "Do you know why I''m saying so much? Because you are already a dead man in my eyes," Fang Yuan said lightly.


    The next second, Saber Qi appeared out of nowhere and punctured the back of his skull.


    Whoosh!


    The Eternal Flame appeared and engulfed Xu Lie once again, but it seemed slightly weaker.


    "Saber Realm?" Xu Lie''s exclaimed uncertainly, even with a sense of despair in the flame.


    "That''s right. Saber Realm!"


    Overwhelming Sword Qi formed a killing net and entered the flame.


    ''"Ahh!" Xu Lie screamed miserably.


    Continuously being cutting, continuously dying, and continuously resurrecting¡ªthis kind of pain was more intense than a thousand swords piercing him at the same time.


    "Forgive me¡­ I''ll give you the inheritance!


    "No, you can''t kill me¡­ My master is¡­ a barbarian Immortal!"


    ¡­


    Words of begging and threats kept coming out from the flame, but Fang Yuan was unmoved.


    Eventually, the black flame extinguished, leaving a trail of marks in place.


    "Phoenix Nirvana is indeed a powerful peerless magical power. It actually lasted nine times!"


    The blood-red rune vanished from Fang Yuan''s forehead, and the third star closed. His lower arm was shaking. "This body has reached its limit at the third star. Moreover, I can''t maintain it for long¡­"


    The third star of the Nine Star Pearl increased his strength eightfold. This meant his Materialization strength was comparable to the early Primordial Core realm!


    His comprehension of the Nomological Laws of Saber had also reached the Saber Realm! The so-called ''Saber Realm'' was a saber domain that had Saber Qi everywhere and anywhere inside!


    These two aspects together propelled Fang Yuan''s combat power to the peak of the Primordial Core realm.


    Xu Lie was unfortunate to have met him, especially in a maze where he could not have escaped even if he wanted to.


    "In fact, my body wouldn''t be able to take it if he could endure another seven or eight times¡­"


    Fang Yuan took two steps forward and dabbled in the ashes.


    "This Xu Lie is an Immortal''s disciple, so there''ll be some trouble in the future. But in a battle over lucky chances, I have to kill him¡­ He should have a lot of treasures on him, right?"


    Even if the barbarians might not be proficient in alchemy and refinement, who was Xu Lie? He certainly had some good stuff on him!


    "This is¡­ some jade bottles, pill residue? Fragments of magic artifacts? Unfortunately, they are all damaged¡­"


    Fang Yuan was feeling sorry for himself when he suddenly dug out something with the tip of his saber.


    "If this can remain even after all the magic artifacts were damaged, it is absolutely something extraordinary!"


    He picked up a page and found that it was made of an unknown golden material with a huge amount of information recorded in silver runes.


    "It seems like a remnant page of some secret manual? The material is so special¡­ Pantheon Enhancement Technique?" Fang Yuan''s eyes brightened as he continued reading it. "Incredible, whoever compiled this manual must be a terrifying existence who cultivated their totem to the pinnacle!"


    "Totem! The ''innate aptitude'' of the barbarians can hardly be changed, yet this existence actually developed something that can enhance the totem!"


    Right! This Pantheon Enhancement Technique was actually a mystic technique to enhance the totem!


    This mystic technique enhanced your own totem through plundering other totems!


    Fang Yuan had not heard of such a mysterious method since he came to this world.


    "Such a heaven-defying mystic technique is probably on par with the Nine Star Pearl."


    Fang Yuan thought about it. "This Xu Lie is also someone with great providence. He managed to obtain such a mystic technique¡­ Is it possible that he wasn''t born with the Phoenix totem but obtained it through continuous plundering? It''s very likely!"


    Perhaps this was why Xu Lie''s Phoenix totem was not at large success and why he wanted Dongmu Cai''s greenwood dragon so badly.


    "According to the ''Pantheon Enhancement Technique'', even when plundering, it has to be compatible with your own totem. Xu Lie definitely wanted the wood element of the greenwood dragon to grow fire and make the flame of his Phoenix reach large success!


    "So my opponent this time was not an actual peerless first-grade totem, but a fake totem¡­"


    He smiled at a loss and sieved through the ashes again.


    "There''s no need to search any longer. His storage bracelet exploded, and everything inside was destroyed by your Saber Qi and the Eternal Flame. This page from the ''Pantheon Catalog'' was the most heaven-defying and could be preserved," an icy-cold voice explained.


    "Oh?" Fang Yuan turned around to look at the golden-armored puppet. "You finally spoke."


    Earlier, this puppet had looked on coldly at the battle between him and Xu Lie like a sculpture.


    "This person''s totem was all right, but his comprehension was too weak. He had no hope of becoming Master''s disciple. However, you are a different story!"


    The golden-armored puppet said in astonishment, "You are only at the Materialization realm but seemed to have comprehended the Nomological Laws of Saber to large success, and you managed to cultivate to the third star of the Nine Star Pearl within a month. Such a combination is an absolute rarity even outside of the Hundred Thousand Mountains! I''m afraid I wouldn''t be your opponent if I used strength at the Primordial Core realm!"


    "Oh?" Fang Yuan was a little surprised. "Does that mean we don''t need to battle anymore?"


    "There''s no need. I announce that you''ve passed the trial and can become the disciple of my master, Immortal Hong Chen!"


    The golden-armored puppet gave way, and the fog covering the palace dissipated. The words ''Pantheon Palace'' appeared on the signboard.


    "Pantheon Palace? Pantheon Catalog?" Fang Yuan linked them together. "Are you saying the mystic technique page in my hand is part of the Pantheon Catalog?"


    "That''s right. Follow me!" The golden-armored puppet stepped into the palace.


    Fang Yuan shrugged and followed.


    There was not one speck of dust in the huge palace. Many night luminescent pearls and precious stones radiated light, illuminating the space inside.


    The main hall was very spacious, and there were ninety-nine gold pillars holding it up.


    At the center was a mahogany table. The figure of an Immortal wearing white clothes and holding a sword was on it.


    "This is my master, Immortal Hong Chen! You, go up and kneel to him!"


    The golden-armored puppet stood on one side.


    It''ll probably beat me to death if I don''t agree? Fang Yuan thought in his heart as he carried out the motion.


    "Very good!" the golden-armored puppet said. "From now on, you are the only disciple of Immortal Hong Chen. This Pantheon Palace and all the treasures inside are yours."


    "Okay, do you have a name? Tell me everything!" Fang Yuan sat cross-legged and waited.


    "Of course. My name is ''Gold Ingot'', the artifact spirit of this immortal artifact¡ªthe Pantheon Palace!" Gold Ingot said in a deep voice.


    "Immortal artifact?"


    "Above the magic artifacts are spirit artifacts, and above spirit artifacts are dao artifacts. Immortal artifacts are treasures that surpass dao artifacts¡­ Even Immortals fight bloody wars over them, and many fell¡­


    "My master, Immortal Hong Chen, had the great fortune to obtain a remnant page of the Pantheon Catalog when he was young. He cultivated to the Immortal realm and was one of the more powerful ones. He explored the endless continent, gathered the treasures he had found, and finally made me, the Pantheon Palace! Unfortunately¡­ Master eventually fell as well!"


    Gold Ingot might only be a puppet, but it expressed its anger clearly. "You must avenge Master when you are powerful enough!"


    "Of course. I will bear his fruits if I inherit his works! Do you need me to swear?" Fang Yuan nodded.


    "There''s no need to anymore! Since you''ve cultivated the Nine Star Pearl Mystic Technique, Master''s enemy won''t let you off if they find out. Even if you can escape them successfully or even cultivate to the realm above Immortal, you will realize that this karma will become the greatest obstacle to your cultivation. You will never be able to progress if you can''t remove it," Gold Ingot said with certainty.


    Looks like Immortal Hong Chen really wants revenge. Fang Yuan rolled his eyes inwardly. "Who is his enemy?"


    "I''ll naturally tell you when you cultivate to Immortal!" Gold Ingot shook his head. "I''ll tell you now that there''s only one dao artifact in the entire Pantheon Palace, which is this puppet. There are many other spirit artifacts, magic artifacts, and countless cultivation techniques. All of this is yours."


    "There aren''t any dao artifacts because they were used to build this Pantheon Palace, right?" Fang Yuan nodded.


    "Yes. However, Master collected numerous mystic techniques, combat skills, and even his cultivation comprehensions. These are all treasures," Gold Ingot said assuredly.


    "After Master arranged the inheritance, he ordered me to be the supervisor. I had always kept an eye on the inheritance channel and would reward suitable cultivation techniques and magic artifacts to the people who passed the stages¡­"


    "As expected, you specifically arranged the rewards for clearing the stages." Fang Yuan smiled. "What do you think I have to do now?"


    "Change your cultivation technique of course!" Gold Ingot said without hesitation.


    "The Water Moon Secret Manual is barely a good enough cultivation technique. I couldn''t give you anything better since it was the second stage. However, all the secret manuals in this entire Pantheon are open to you! You can discard the Water Moon Secret Manual. There is a ''Water Moon Heavenly Cave Secret Manual'' here that you can use to cultivate all the way to the Immortal realm. The Water Moon Secret Manual was simplified from it. This is the most suitable for you.


    "Besides this, you have to cultivate the Nine Star Pearl Mystic Technique. Everything else is up to you.


    "Originally, I was worried that your totem wasn''t up to standard, but it must be heaven''s will that this page of the ''Pantheon Catalog'' landed in your hands!" Gold Ingot concluded eagerly.


    "Right! What is the origin of the Pantheon Catalog? Did Immortal Hong Chen ever obtain other remnant pages?" Fang Yuan asked.

 1043 Bai

    "The ''Pantheon Catalog'' was written to an incredibly strong barbarian!"


    Gold Ingot said slowly, "Master was at the peak of the Immortal realm, and the one who killed Master was an existence even above the Immortal realm¡­ But the author of the ''Pantheon Catalog'' was far beyond them. It''s simply unimaginable!


    "There are many incredible mystic techniques in this ''Pantheon Catalog''. It seemed like it incurred the jealousy of the heavens when it was born, and the heavens scattered it into countless pages. Master obtained one of the pages when he was young. That was how he obtained the Nine Star Pearl Mystic Technique and became an Immortal in no time!"


    "So the Nine Star Pearl Mystic Technique was actually recorded in the Pantheon Catalog!" Fang Yuan nodded. "Bring me that page!"


    He was now the master of the Pantheon Palace, so Gold Ingot naturally obeyed. It took out a white jade box from the void, and inside the box contained another golden page.


    "Nine Star Pearl Mystic Technique¡­ fourth star, fifth star¡­ Everything until the ninth star!"


    Gold Ingot said, "There were a few sentences at the end, referring to a certain divine armament¡ªthe method of refining a Ten Thousand Beast Banner. Unfortunately, it cut off here. The real method of refinement should be on the next page."


    "Ten Thousand Beast Banner, this name¡­ sounds familiar!" Fang Yuan was startled and suddenly remembered. "Didn''t that weasel under Great Fey Pengze say he wanted to bring Brutal Dark and the others to Great Fey Pengze to refine the Ten Thousand Beast Banner? Is it so coincidental?!"


    "What? You even know the whereabouts of the next page?" Gold Ingot shouted, "Snatch it! You must snatch it! Even Immortals die for the pages of the Pantheon Catalog!"


    "Don''t worry. That Great Fey Pengze is merely a Fey at the Primordial Core realm. He can''t escape me!" Fang Yuan said confidently.


    ¡­


    After a few months.


    Inside the cave of the Endless Mountains.


    Fang Yuan appeared and gazed at the white ring on his hand with a smile. "I really gained a lot by coming to the land of inheritance this time!"


    This white ring was actually the immortal artifact ''Pantheon Palace''. After wearing it, it was just like a portable cave abode and could also store things and so on. It was endlessly useful.


    According to Gold Ingot, he could hide in the Pantheon Palace if he met with danger. Anyone below the Immortal realm could do nothing against it, and even Immortals would have to spend a lot of effort to break it.


    Of course, this was based on the premise that Fang Yuan could not yet break through all restrictions in the Pantheon Palace.


    Otherwise, if he were an Immortal, he could completely rely on the Pantheon Palace to run rampant among Immortals.


    "There''s only one dao artifact in the Pantheon Palace, which is the puppet that Gold Ingot possesses. Luckily, there are many spirit artifacts¡­"


    Fang Yuan looked at his Daoist robe and long saber.


    These two items were top-grade spirit artifacts. Even ordinary cultivators at the Primordial Core realm and Apotheosis realm would not have them.


    "Strong Beast Magic Robes and Nine Profound Spirit Saber! I''m moving up now?"


    Fang Yuan held the Nine Profound Spirit Saber and gave it a casual swing.


    Whoosh!


    An astonishing Saber Qi emerged and left a long thin line on the ground. "Physical strength has also more than doubled."


    His true trump card was still the Nine Star Pearl Mystic Technique!


    In the past few months, not only did he strengthen himself through cultivating the Water Moon Heavenly Cave Secret Manual, but his greatest efforts were on various body refining cultivation techniques.


    The strength of his body was now comparable to a mid-grade magic artifact!


    Therefore, he could barely manage to open the fourth star!


    "Hundred Physical Forging Technique was Immortal Hong Chen''s secret art for body refining. The strongest it can go is to make the body comparable to a dao artifact. Unfortunately, I only managed the most basic level. The following levels aren''t impossible, but I need the aid of some valuable materials! However, my current strength should be enough to kill Great Fey Pengze?"


    This Fey at the Primordial Core realm was good at escaping, and once the situation was not to his advantage, he would directly enter his lake.


    However, how could he bear it if a cultivator at the Materialization realm were to provoke him?


    "Looking at it broadly, this Great Fey Pengze''s luck and strength must be pretty good to have obtained a page of the Pantheon Catalog. He will be scarier if he has refined the Ten Thousand Beast Banner!"


    The techniques in the Pantheon Catalog were terrifying. It was obvious from the Nine Star Pearl Mystic Technique and the Pantheon Enhancement Technique.


    "I happen to have taken on the task of hunting and killing Fey at the Materialization realm, so I''ll use this to lure the snake out of its hole."


    Fang Yuan made his plan and strode away with his magic robe transforming into the appearance of beast skin.


    ¡­


    Pengze.


    It was a massive swampy land spanning thousands of kilometers. Five-colored miasma rose from the water surface, and you could see blood eroded bones. It fluctuated and expanded often.


    In the swamp, bones without a trace of flesh were a common sight.


    "I''ll pretend to be Materialization realm cultivator here on a mission and kill an important subordinate of Great Fey Pengze. I don''t believe he won''t appear then."


    Great Fey Pengze was a Fey at Primordial Core realm after all. Why would he be afraid of going after a cultivator at the Materialization realm?


    The ending would be set once he appeared in front of Fang Yuan.


    Fang Yuan walked by the edge of the swamp and deliberately released a bit of his aura. "According to the records, the Fey in Pengze are very arrogant and will actively attack once they see a weak human cultivator. Huh?"


    He released his Materialization power but did not find any Fey. Instead, he found a small barbarian team.


    "Who are you?"


    Loud were sounds coming from another side of the swamp. Two strong rays of lights came at him like sharp swords.


    "This is¡­ a detection-type magical power?"


    Fang Yuan stopped and waited with interest.


    A barbarian team appeared before him moments later.


    They were three youths in the Beichen tribe''s clothes, and they were shocked when they saw Fang Yuan. "It''s you! Fang Yuan! You''re at the Materialization realm!"


    "Sorry, you should know me from the Beichen Ceremony, but I don''t know you!" Fang Yuan touched his nose.


    "We are bloodline warriors of the Beichen tribe, Beichen Feng, Beichen Kuang, and Beichen Hong! Why are you here? Shouldn''t you be at the Barbarian Ancestral Court with Young Master?" Beichen Feng asked.


    Fang Yuan smiled. "I took on a mission from the Holy Land to kill Fey!"


    "That mission where you have to hunt and kill Fey at the Materialization realm?" Beichen Kuang sneered. "You? You''ll die here even if you manage to kill any!"


    The three of them were at the Barbarian Palace before, but they could not reach the Primordial Core realm after three years and were sent back. They naturally knew about that seemingly impossible mission in the Barbarian Hall.


    "That''s right. Besides, you''re still at the early Materialization realm!" Beichen Hong''s laughter rang merrily. "Little boy, go back!"


    There were obvious battle tattoos around her eyes. Clearly, she was the one who had used the detection-type magical power.


    "Sorry¡­ I don''t want to give up the mission!" Fang Yuan shook his head. "What about you three? You''re here to practice by killing Fey?"


    "That''s right!" Beichen Kuang nodded. "But we won''t bring along a burden!"


    All of them were at the late Materialization realm. A warrior at the early Materialization realm with a mediocre totem was indeed a burden.


    "In that case, I won''t bother you!" Fang Yuan''s eyes flashed, touched his ring, and turned to another direction.


    "Fang Yuan, you have to be careful. There are six hidden old guys at the Primordial Core realm behind these three!" Gold Ingot''s voice transmitted to his mind directly.


    "Six at the Primordial Core realm? That should be a considerable portion of the Beichen tribe''s combat power. Are they preparing to¡­ hunt Great Fey Pengze?"


    "Not necessarily. Perhaps some treasure was born in the swamp!"


    ¡­


    "You''re just letting that kid leave?" a low voice questioned in the dark bush behind Beichen Feng.


    "He''s just a little boy. He''s nothing even at the Materialization realm. Our mission is still Great Fey Pengze!"


    An elder with red hair in the center said lightly, "This Fey is getting even more out of control lately. How dare he enter our tribe and abduct our warriors with good totems!"


    "You''re right, Grand Elder. Since that Fang Yuan didn''t heed our advice and continued on into the swamp, it''s his own fault. This saves us the trouble of dirtying our hands!" Another bald elder from the Beichen tribe smiled. "That Great Fey Pengze is crazy for the bloodline warriors of the barbarians¡­ He''ll definitely come out if he sees one at the Materialization realm!"


    "In my opinion, why don''t we just use that Fang Yuan as a bait? This way, our elites won''t have to be in any danger!" another Elder suggested.


    Beichen Feng and the other two might have been eliminated by the Barbarian Palace, but they were still rare talents to the Beichen tribe and could become elders with some training!


    They came out together as bait for Great Fey Pengze. Although they might have some life-saving treasures ready, it would still be best to avoid danger as much as possible.


    "Yes, I think that''s a good idea!"


    "Let''s decide it this way then!"


    "Even if Fang Yuan survives, we have to manufacture an accident for him. Who asked him not to be from our Beichen tribe!"


    The other elders agreed, and the grand elder''s eyes sparkled. "Beichen Feng, Beichen Hong, Beichen Kuang, come back!"


    ¡­


    "Be careful, the six Primordial Core cultivators are following you!" Gold Ingot''s voice rang right in Fang Yuan''s sea of consciousness.


    "As I expected. They''re preparing to use me as bait. They wouldn''t feel any pain for another tribe''s person anyway!"


    Fang Yuan laughed without putting it to heart. In fact, he was slightly pleased.


    What was there not to be happy about with six more helpers?


    ¡­


    Bloop! Bloop!


    A weasel''s head broke the surface of the swamp. "The king''s recent demand for the totems of barbarian geniuses is really growing!"


    Fang Yuan would have recognized this weasel if he were here. It was the same one who had tried to abduct Brutal Dark!


    "Sigh¡­ Even leaders like us have missions. We can only take risks to attack those smaller tribes¡­"


    The weasel sped away from the swarm. "However, we won''t be afraid of the Beichen tribe once the king refines the Ten Thousand Beast Banner! It would at least be a dao artifact and can constantly evolve! Eh? It''s¡­ a human!"


    His narrow eyes flashed all of a sudden, releasing an excited aquamarine light.

 1044 Joint Formation

    "Not only is it a human but also a Materialization realm cultivator!"


    The weasel was overjoyed. He whipped up a dark-green poisonous cloud toward that human. "Be obedient and surrender!"


    "I was waiting for you!" The young barbarian boy looked up, a pleasant smile on his face. "Kill!"


    Zap!


    External Saber Qi flew out and pierced the gaseous poison.


    "Eh?! External Saber Qi?"


    The weasel and even the six elders of the Beichen tribe were shocked.


    "This kid¡­ is only so old, yet he has already comprehended the Nomological Laws of Saber to this realm?" The grand elder stared with an icy glare.


    The comprehension of the barbarians was too poor. They could generally only obtain basic mastery of nomological laws after reaching the Primordial Core realm and using their Destiny Magical Power as a guide to comprehend intent. External Saber Qi was the level above Saber Intent.


    In other words, Fang Yuan''s comprehension of nomological laws was much deeper than that of many Primordial Core realm elders!


    In fact, if they knew that Fang Yuan had reached Saber Realm, they would be scared sh*tless.


    Usually, only those at the Apotheosis realm could reach this degree of comprehending nomological laws. Even in the Barbarian Ancestral Court, they would be considered peerless geniuses if they could achieve this at the Primordial Core realm!


    But at the Materialization realm? No one had heard of such a monster!


    "This Fang Yuan is from the Flybarb tribe? He''s quite amazing to be able to comprehend External Saber Qi at just the Materialization realm!" The Grand Elder''s words were icy cold. "He''ll definitely become someone given time! He might even be able to lead the Flybarb tribe to greatness and take over our Beichen tribe!"


    Among the barbarians, the Ancestral Court was the highest. Next were the three large tribes and other small and medium-sized tribes.


    The old patriarchs on the Holy Mountain had an equal attitude toward the tribes¡ªthe able went up, while the unable went down!


    Even the Beichen tribe was only a small tribe before. It only obtained its status today because an Apotheosis tribal leader emerged and defeated one of the three big tribes back then.


    The larger the territory, the more the tribe members, the higher the chances of giving birth to geniuses. This was the basis for the strong being strong!


    "That''s right. There''s only a small chance, but we have to nip it in the bud!"


    "In comparison, Great Fey Pengze only attacks the tribe occasionally. It''s a small matter."


    "No! We have to kill Great Fey Pengze, but we can''t let this Fang Yuan go either!"


    ¡­


    The elders reached a consensus immediately and secretly paid attention to the battlefield.


    "Clam totem, Triple Illusion Body!"


    Fang Yuan''s figure flickered, and three identical ones appeared, each holding a long saber and charging at the weasel.


    This sort of illusion technique was not a magical power but a simple use of the powers of the clam totem. Even so, ordinary Materialization realm cultivators would find it difficult to see through, let alone this Fey.


    "Damn barbarian!"


    The weasel''s hands became giant claws and attacked two of the figures.


    At the same time, a fierce light flashed in his long and narrow eyes. His head enlarged, his mouth cracked open wide like a crocodile, and he devoured the last illusion body.


    "No, all of them are fake!"


    A dark-green poison mist suddenly condensed into a human holding a long saber behind the weasel.


    Poof!


    The Nine Profound Spirit Blade was a top-grade spirit artifact with unparalleled sharpness. It pierced right through the weasel''s fur, which was comparable to a magic artifact, and exited his chest, dripping fresh blood.


    Not only that, the Saber Qi on the blade raged within his body, destroying everything.


    "King¡­ Avenge me!!!" The weasel howled and died on the spot, revealing his original form.


    Until his death, he still did not recognize that his killer was one of the test-taking youngsters that he nearly killed months ago!


    ¡­


    Sharp eyes from the swamp locked onto Fang Yuan as the weasel died.


    "Hmm¡­ Materialization realm, External Saber Qi? Clam totem? He should be a disciple of the Barbarian Ancestral Court¡­. Did he take on that mission?"


    Great Fey Pengze had completely shed its Fey body and now looked like a thin young man with some green scales on his face. His pupils were also that of a snake.


    "How dare you kill my subordinate even if you are a disciple of the Barbarian Palace?"


    Great Fey Pengze was smart and cunning.


    If Fang Yuan was a disciple of the Holy Mountain, he might need to think twice, knowing that only such disciples were the core of the Ancestral Court.


    However, the disciples of the Barbarian Palace were nothing much. Some would die every year when out training, and he had not seen any elders leaving the Holy Mountain to take revenge for them.


    "Moreover¡­ I don''t need to be afraid of the Holy Mountain elders with my current combat strength!"


    He flipped his hand, and a small black banner appeared on his palm.


    "I have more or less refined this treasure. Its power will continue to improve in the future with the absorption of totems and the spirit essences of mutated beasts¡­"


    Great Fey Pengze stared obsessively at the small black banner and hissed softly. "Ten Thousand Beast Banner is a low-grade dao artifact that can become more powerful, and it can become an immortal artifact if there are enough spirit essences and totems! Haha¡­ Why would I be afraid of even Apotheosis cultivators with this treasure in hand?"


    Humans hunted mutated beasts to absorb their spirit essences. In the eyes of the Fey, the totems of the barbarians were no different from mutated beasts!


    Such was the samsara of the Heavenly Dao!


    Rumble!


    A water column suddenly burst into the sky from the swamp!


    "Junior! Prepare to die!"


    A dark green ray of light flew out at lightning speed onto Fang Yuan.


    "Ahh!" Fang Yuan screamed and flew back like a meteorite while spraying blood all over the place.


    "Hmm? He seems to have a protective treasure?" Great Fey Pengze breezed out from the water column with disdain on his face. "But it''s still just another blow!"


    It was normal for an outstanding junior to have a protective treasure!


    He had merely attacked casually just now, not even using the Ten Thousand Beast Banner!


    "Great! That Fang Yuan is actually escaping toward us! Get the formation ready!"


    The grand elder was excited, feeling as though the heavens were helping him, and gave quick orders. "Beichen Feng, Hong, Kuang, you three stay further away. Don''t be affected."


    "Understood!"


    They were already far behind the grand elder''s team but hurried even further away now. "The six Primordial Core elders are joining in their formation. Their power must be extraordinary. We''ll really have an eye-opener today."


    "Hehe¡­ That Fang Yuan is dead! Who asked him not to listen to Big Sis here." Beichen Hong thumped her chest, face full of gloating.


    ¡­


    Poof!


    Great Fey Pengze sent another blow.


    The dark green rays hit Fang Yuan onto the ground, causing him pain beyond words.


    "Hmm? Something''s strange!" Great Fey Pengze stopped and hesitated slightly.


    "He''s entered the range of our formation. Activate it now!" the grand elder ordered immediately.


    "Beichen Six Primordial Battle Formation, activate!"


    Six columns of light rose into the sky in an instant. Faint images of guardians materialized in each light beam.


    The formation appeared and trapped Great Fey Pengze within it.


    "So it''s the grand elder of the Beichen tribe!" Great Fey Pengze placed his hands behind his back and looked at the elders surrounding him. "Isn''t it just capturing a few youngsters? Is there a need to be so uptight about it?"


    "How dare you take it so lightly. Where did you bring them?" The grand elder exploded, feeling intense pain in his heart.


    Those captured were geniuses just shy of Beichen Yan! How could any good come to them after being captured?


    "Where?" Great Fey Pengze sneered. "Here! Ten Thousand Beast Banner!"


    The small black banner shone as it dropped to the ground to become a huge pillar!


    Above the Ten Thousand Beast Banner, lions and tigers roared, fished and dragons danced, beasts appeared one after another.


    It was as though ancient, savage giant beasts suddenly awakened and spread their auras.


    "Impossible¡­ a¡­ dao artifact?" The six elders'' astonishment immediately turned into greed. "Kill him and snatch it!"


    This was a dao artifact!


    In theory, only experts at the peak of the Apotheosis realm who had comprehended a complete set of nomological laws could refine one.


    And during the refinement, there was some inevitable damage to their vitality! Even Immortal Patriarchs only used dao artifacts.


    They were certain that Great Fey Pengze had not refined this Ten Thousand Beast Banner himself. Rather, they treated it as him obtaining it by luck.


    This was the horror of the Pantheon Catalog! So-called common sense was meant to be broken!


    Although Great Fey Pengze had not comprehended a set of complete nomological laws, he had simply followed the steps on the page and fulfilled the requirements of the Ten Thousand Beast Banner through the blood sacrifices of numerous totems and the spirit essences of mutated beasts!


    "Six Primordial In One!"


    The might from the fusion of the six was at the Apotheosis realm!


    "Hehe. I would have had some trouble if this trapped me here previously, but what about now?" Great Fey Pengze sneered. "Ten Thousand Beast Black Tortoise¡­ activate!"


    A third-grade revolving turtle totem appeared from the Ten Thousand Beast Banner.


    The spirit essences of mutated beasts merged into it, and the revolving turtle suddenly transformed into the divine beast Black Tortoise.


    It had the head of a dragon! Claws like a tiger! A black snake on its back. Its huge shadow completely protected Great Fey Pengze.


    Bang!


    The Six Primordial In One attack landed on the Black Tortoise, causing it to shake slightly. It did not affect the Great Fey nor the Ten Thousand Beast Banner one bit.


    "The first-grade totem with the best defense, the Black Tortoise?" The grand elder frowned. "Trouble¡­"


    "Not only that!" Great Fey Pengze shook his head. "Come forth! Phoenix!"


    The shadow of the Black Tortoise quickly faded away and turned back into the revolving turtle and many other mutated beasts. Next, it immediately used the Vermilion Bird as the main body and merged them to become the brilliant divine bird with the Eternal Flame.


    "Another first-grade totem?" The grand elder turned pale. "And it''s the Phoenix with the best fire element magical powers?"


    "I understand now. This dao artifact has the ability to increase the power of a totem''s materialization, enough to enhance a third-grade totem to first-grade totem!"


    An elder lost his composure. "How can there be such a heaven-defying dao artifact?"

 1045 Slaying the Fey

    "Haha. This is just one of the weaker magical powers of my Ten Thousand Beast Banner¡­" Great Fey Pengze pointed at the Phoenix. "Go!"


    Chirp! Chirp!


    The Phoenix gave an ear-piercing cry. With its body surrounded by the black Eternal Flame, it flew toward the formation.


    "Withstand it!"


    The grand elder bit this tongue and spat out blood essence.


    A Primordial Core appeared in each of the materializations within the beams of light, and their might soared.


    The six Primordial Core elders were clearly going all out now!


    Buzz buzz!


    A layer of blood suddenly appeared within the Beichen Six Primordial Battle Formation, and the black Eternal Flame slammed into it, making a terrible eroding sound.


    The six elders turned pale. They poured the origin power from within their primordial core into the formation, clearly trying to maintain it even if it caused losses to their cultivation.


    Finally, the blood-red light slowly extinguished the black Eternal Flame. The light membrane of the formation was left with a thin layer, but it remained unbroken.


    "Good! Six Primordial Into One, kill!" The grand elder roared, and the lights from the six Primordial Cores converged and turned into an attack.


    "Damn it!" Great Fey Pengze gnashed his teeth and hid behind the Ten Thousand Beast Banner.


    Bang!


    With a flash of light, a small hole appeared on the surface of the Ten Thousand Beast Banner. It mended in no time, but the images of mutated beasts originally there disappeared.


    "You have destroyed dozens of my totems. Pay me with your own!" Great Fey Pengze''s eyes turned red.


    He was raging resentfully within. I was short of a dozen totems for the Ten Thousand Beast Banner. I can use it, but the spirit essences inside haven''t reached the state of multiplying without end. Otherwise, how could I allow these old bones to act so wild?


    If the Ten Thousand Beast Banner were complete, he would have been able to release an army of the spirit essences of mutated beasts with a wave of his hand.


    Moreover, even if any were destroyed, they would have been able to recover quickly within the banner.


    But now, it was obviously still one step away and did not have this ability. There was one less totem for any destroyed. How could he not be angry that the six elders had destroyed dozens at once?


    "Ten Thousand Beast Banner, combine!" Great Fey Pengze formed hand seals, and light entered the Ten Thousand Beast Banner.


    The spirit essences of numerous totems blended together, transforming into the Azure Dragon, the White Tiger, the Phoenix, and the Black Tortoise before finally condensing into a human head.


    This head was the size of a house. It had rough eyebrows and a single horn on its forehead.


    It roared, and a ripple of fear fell on the Six Primordial Battle Formation.


    "The combination of the Four Divine Beasts actually becomes a human head with a horn?"


    The grand elder found it incredible but had no time to continue thinking. He yelled and led the power of the formation against the ripple.


    "Roar!"


    The human head screamed, and a thick ray of black light flew from its mouth.


    Bang!


    This black light soared into the sky and broke the formation instantly. The Primordial Cores of the six elders returned, and they vomited blood.


    "Now¡­ die!"


    The image of the black human head with a horn changed into the White Tiger with wings, and it struck with its claw.


    Poof!


    One of the elders could not dodge in time and split into three parts instantly.


    "Elder Beichen Ye!"


    In the distance, Beichen Feng suddenly turned around. "Beichen Kuang and Beichen Hong, let''s leave immediately! We can''t help in this situation, so its better to go back and get help!"


    Just as they turned around, the White Tiger killed another two elders.


    With the formation in disarray, it was nothing for Great Fey Pengze to kill the rest of the Primordial Core realm cultivators.


    "All right. Let''s go back immediately!"


    Beichen Kuang turned to run. He might be arrogant, but he was not one to send himself to death.


    But at this moment, Beichen Hong saw something strange.


    The legs of Beichen Kuang and Beichen Feng, who were running away, suddenly separated from their bodies. Their bodies were still in motion for a few more moments before they collapsed onto the ground and screamed, their blood flowing all over the place.


    "What happened?"


    Beichen Hong''s totem, the multi-eyed qiongming, appeared behind her, exuding rays from its many eyes. "Under the ground!"


    "You guessed right!"


    The soil burst, and a black shadow with a huge fist landed on her chin.


    Beichen Hong suffered a concussion and fell over. She saw a figure that made her pupils dilate before she fainted. "Impossible!"


    "These three have rather good totems that I can use for the Pantheon Enhancement Technique."


    The one who attacked them was naturally Fang Yuan.


    He waved his right hand, the jade ring sparkled, and the three of them disappeared.


    "The Pantheon Enhancement Technique is a mystic technique of the Pantheon Catalog. The difficulty of cultivating it is not less than that of the Nine Star Pearl. Do you really have confidence?" Gold Ingot''s voice traveled out from the Pantheon Palace.


    "I''m prepared for it! I''m still rather confident when it comes to cultivation techniques, mystic techniques, and the like." Fang Yuan smiled. "It would be all the better if I could swallow Great Fey Pengze as well!"


    Not only was the Pantheon Palace an immortal artifact that could store things, but it could also accommodate living humans.


    However, this would only work if the other party did not resist or had no strength to resist.


    Otherwise, would it not be an easy win for Fang Yuan if he were to use the Pantheon Palace to swallow the elders and the Great Fey while they were knee-deep in their battle?


    At this point, the result was also out on the battlefield.


    The gigantic Azure Dragon flew across the sky with its claw outstretched. It pinched, and a Beichen elder exploded into blood in midair.


    At the same time, it swung its tail, violently flinging the grand elder of the Beichen tribe into a cliff, causing him to fall unconscious.


    Pilipala!


    After these attacks, the Azure Dragon could no longer be maintained. It scattered and dissolved into many smaller totems that submerged into the Ten Thousand Beast Banner.


    "Come back!" His face full of pain, Great Fey Pengze held the Ten Thousand Beast Banner in his hand. "Who knows how long it''ll take me to repair this treasure¡­ It''s all your fault!"


    He stepped forward and bared his sharp fangs, staring at the grand elder.


    Suddenly, a white flash appeared.


    The grand elder and the other five instantly disappeared.


    "Hmm?" Great Fey Pengze lifted his head and saw Fang Yuan walking over casually. "Boy, you''re really brave¡­"


    "Great Fey Pengze, say¡­ how many rewards would the Barbarian Palace give me if I were to kill you?" Fang Yuan stepped out with the Nine Profound Spirit Saber in hand. "Also¡­ is your Ten Thousand Beast Banner still usable?"


    This was not only his guess, but Gold Ingot had also confirmed it.


    "That Ten Thousand Beast Banner is just a low-grade dao artifact. Furthermore, it was used in a series of great battles after it formed not long ago. The totems within it also require rest. Great Fey Pengze can''t overload it if he still wants to use it in the future. Great opportunity! Fang Yuan, what a great opportunity!"


    The spirit of the Pantheon Palace shouted excitedly, "Kill him and snatch the page of the Pantheon Catalog and the Ten Thousand Beast Banner! He thinks you''re only at the Materialization realm and isn''t on guard!"


    "Is this what you''re thinking? Idiot!" Great Fey Pengze''s face turned cold. "You had the chance to escape, but you didn''t treasure it, and it''s too late now even if you regret it! I don''t even need to use the Ten Thousand Beast Banner just to deal with you!"


    A layer of green scales appeared on his body, turning him into a scaled monster.


    Obviously, this Great Fey Pengze was not letting down his full guard even when facing Fang Yuan. A magic artifact appeared in his hand. "Die!"


    He slashed, and a thicker dark green ray of light than before appeared and penetrated Fang Yuan''s figure.


    "Hmm?" Great Fey Pengze frowned. Suddenly, a black figure with a blood-red rune on his forehead appeared in front of him.


    "Nine Star Pearl, fourth star, activate!"


    Each star of the Nine Star Pearl doubled the wielder''s strength. The fourth star meant a sixteenfold increase in strength!


    Fang Yuan''s current strength might be at the early Materialization realm, but under the sixteenfold increase, he was comparable to Great Fey Pengze!


    "Saber Realm," he said softly. Numerous Saber Qi appeared like a tornado and engulfed Great Fey Pengze in the center.


    "There''s no need to probe him. I''ll kill him with one chop using my greatest strength!"


    Numerous Saber Qi punctured him full of holes.


    "Ahh!" Great Fey Pengze did not even have time for regret. "Ten Thousand Beast¡­"


    Poof!


    Saber light penetrated the tornado and hit right where his Fey core was like a thunderbolt.


    The dark-colored Fey core cracked, and a green snake figure tried to escape.


    "Die!" Fang Yuan''s spiritual will moved, and a translucent image emerged from the Nine Profound Spirit Saber. It slipped around the small green snake and chopped it.


    The Great Fey Pengze that had plagued the world for many years, who even Apotheosis realm experts could not eliminate, died!!!


    The Saber Qi dissipated, and Great Fey Pengze''s corpse exploded, revealing a green snake that was more than thirty meters long.


    "Why did you kill him just like that?" Gold Ingot''s voice came from within the Pantheon Palace. "That Ten Thousand Beast Banner requires a massive number of totems and the spirit essences of mutated beasts. The spirit essence of a Primordial Core realm green snake¡­ what a waste."


    "This was a Great Fey King that lived for hundreds of years. He was cunning and might have even been able to reverse the situation, so it was better to kill him."


    Fang Yuan rummaged through the snake''s corpse. "Also¡­ those people from earlier have totems."


    "That''s true¡­" Gold Ingot fell silent before immediately urging. "So? Did you find the page from the Pantheon Catalog?"


    "No rush! No rush!"


    Fang Yuan picked up the Ten Thousand Beast Banner first. Now that it lost its owner, it was a small black banner that was dim. He put it in the Pantheon Palace right away.


    "This green snake doesn''t have much on him but could bring out things like the magic artifact long sword earlier. He clearly has some sort of storage treasure!"


    Rumor had it that only Immortals could succeed in refining these kinds of storage spaces.


    Moreover, most of them did not have a big space.


    Something as enormous as the Pantheon Palace and able to store living things was definitely an immortal artifact, unreachable for most.


    However, the ability to store things was just one of the most insignificant abilities of the Pantheon Palace.

 1046 Evolution

    "Found it!"


    Fang Yuan finally found a small black bag after careful searching of the insides of the corpse.


    This bag was like a sachet, but it was hidden by Great Fey Pengze inside his own body and obviously something important.


    He tried to inject a bit of his power into it and immediately broke into a smile. "It really is a storage bag, but it has a very small space. It''s not even three meters in length, width, and height. Also, it can''t store anything alive!"


    Even so, he had never heard of anyone in the Beichen tribe having a storage magic artifact.


    The one Xu Lie had was destroyed.


    "Hmm. The storage space might be small, but these are the treasures that Great Fey Pengze collected throughout the years¡­"


    Fang Yuan swept around with his spiritual will and found some spiritual flowers, fruits, rare minerals, and a few magic artifacts.


    Not long after, a golden page appeared in his hand. "It truly is a page from the Pantheon Catalog. The method of refinement and usage of the Ten Thousand Beast Banner are on it¡­"


    To be honest, although Great Fey Pengze had many treasures, they were nothing to Fang Yuan, who had inherited an immortal abode.


    However, his face finally broke into a surprised grin. "This is¡­ a Myriad Poison Snake Flower?"


    A bowl-sized, colorful exotic flower appeared in his hand.


    "Good stuff!" Gold Ingot also exclaimed in admiration. "You can only use up to the fourth star of the Nine Star Pearl with your current body strength¡­ Your body wouldn''t be able to take it even if you comprehended the fifth star! Unless you manage to cultivate the Hundred Physical Forging Technique to the next realm, which requires the aid of heavenly materials and earthly treasures. The Myriad Poison Snake Flower is one of them! You truly do have some luck!"


    "There should still be some treasures in Great Fey Pengze''s cave abode for me to grab. But I''m only at the Materialization realm, so it''s disadvantageous for me to go into the water to fight. And there could be more variables the longer I stay here. Let''s go!"


    Fang Yuan scanned the battlefield before disappearing like the wind.


    ¡­


    In a mountain cave.


    Fang Yuan threw the jade ring causally. It flashed and turned into a gray stone.


    A white light immediately engulfed his body and directly brought him into the immortal abode.


    According to Gold Ingot, even if an Immortal were to arrive, they would not be able to discover the secret of this stone unless they searched inch by inch. It was very safe.


    "However¡­ this world is indeed quite high level¡­" Fang Yuan sighed faintly as he walked and glanced around at the brilliant surroundings.


    There had never been something like a portable cave abode in all the worlds he had gone to, not even the Mental Demon Realm. The storage bag was handy as well. However, it should be more common since both Great Fey Pengze and Xu Lie each had one.


    "Is comprehending the Nomological Laws of Space easier in high-level worlds?"


    His eyes shone.


    The Dao of Space was a first-class Dao path that even the greatest Demon Gods had difficulties reaching.


    "Perhaps¡­ this is a chance for me!"


    While pondering, he went to a side hall.


    "Thief!"


    Beichen Feng, Beichen Kuang, Beichen Hong, and the surviving elders were tied to golden pillars. Beichen Kuang shouted angrily when he saw Fang Yuan.


    However, the grand elder had a look of awe on his face. "This is¡­ a legendary immortal abode?"


    "That''s right, but there''s no reward!"


    Fang Yuan went to the rude Beichen Kuang.


    "What do you want to do?" Fear surfaced on Beichen Kuang''s face, but he was still stubborn. "We are from the Beichen tribe!"


    Gold Ingot had restrained them once they were in the immortal abode. Now, they were not much different from lambs waiting to be slaughtered from Fang Yuan''s perspective.


    "Survival of the fittest is the law of nature¡­ You used me as bait before, but now I''m a knife while you are meat!"


    Fang Yuan smiled, and a golden page appeared in his hand. It was the Pantheon Enhancement Technique he had obtained from Xu Lie!


    This mystic technique might be difficult, but he had still successfully cultivated it. His previous cultivation might have been lost, but his Demon God vision and mental state were still there, giving him an absolute advantage in comprehending and cultivating.


    "Putting aside the difficulty of mastering the Pantheon Enhancement Technique, there are a few conditions to satisfy if I want to use it. First, both the wielder and the subject must have totems. Moreover, everything must center around the wielder''s totem! There are two methods. The first is improvement, and the second is evolution!"


    The so-called improvement was to absorb totems that were water element or had the power of illusions such as the Nine-Tailed Celestial Fox, black water snake, etc. to increase the intrinsic quality of the totem.


    In the end, the clam totem would still be the clam totem, but its various abilities would definitely increase rapidly. It might even advance in grade. This was what Xu Lie wanted to do to Dongmu Cai previously¡ªplunder her wood element to improve his Phoenix flame.


    The second type was evolution. This was quite dangerous because it was directly devouring other totems and thoroughly digesting them to obtain their advantage, causing the clam totem to transform. This transformation might be good, but it could also turn for the worse.


    The only advantage was that if it turned for the better, there would be a large increase in the totem''s grade. It might even become a first-grade totem!


    "Although the clam totem is suitable for me, its grade is too low. I might not be able to reach third grade if I use the first method. The second method gives me the highest possibility of rising to first grade. If I want to progress quickly, I have to use the second method."


    Those with third-grade totems were considered geniuses among the barbarians, but Fang Yuan''s sights had never been restricted to the Hundred Thousand Mountains.


    He would inevitably walk out of the mountains and compete with the geniuses of all races on the endless continent. A third-grade totem was not enough, and he had to lay an exceptional foundation with a first-grade totem!


    "If not, how am I going to fight the Abominable Lord in the future?"


    Fang Yuan closed his eyes and sat cross-legged in front of his captives.


    "The clam totem has to evolve¡­"


    He sat there like that for several days, comprehending his totem and pursuing that flickering aura.


    "Did this kid¡­ go mad?"


    While Gold Ingot might have prevented the injuries of Beichen Kuang and the others from deteriorating, he was not kind-hearted enough to continue treating them. They felt hopeless as they watched Fang Yuan sitting there, writing and drawing, lost in his own world.


    "Yes, this is it. Haha¡­" Fang Yuan suddenly stood up and threw back his head in laughter. "As expected¡­ My previous idea was the most perfect. It is a dragon!"


    Dragon! The divine beast of Huaxia.


    In the memory of his previous life, there was a morphological record of ''horns like a deer, head like a camel, eyes like a rabbit, neck like a snake, belly like a clam, scales like a fish, claws like a hawk, paws like a tiger, and ears like a cow''.


    The belly like a clam was referring to the clam totem!


    As long as he had this fulcrum, he could use it as a foundation to start the evolution process!


    "I had this hunch for the clam totem before. This direction can''t be wrong! The Yanhuang ancestors, a former tribe, also depended on plundering the totems of other tribes to be able to create the Divine Dragon. I never thought I would do this in another world!"


    After deciding on his plan, Fang Yuan called Gold Ingot. "Let''s start!"


    "All right!" Gold Ingot activated a Dharmic formulation, and golden rays suddenly emitted from the pillars bounding the captives.


    Roar Roar!


    Roaring totems emerged one-by-one.


    "Multi-eyed qiongming? Mountain tiger? Seven-colored horn deer? And green python?" Fang Yuan nodded. "Not bad. Other than the multi-eyed qiongming, the rest are useful to me!"


    He went to Beichen Feng. He formed a hand seal, and strange light spots appeared on his fingers.


    "Ah¡­ What are you doing?" Beichen Feng''s scalp was tingling.


    "Pantheon Enhancement Technique!"


    Fang Yuan concentrated. Thin threads flew out from his fingers and buried themselves deep into Beichen Feng''s body. Beichen Feng''s eyes went dull, and he could say nothing else.


    "The Dao of Heaven takes from what has abundance and supplies what is wanting. The Dao of Man takes from what is wanting in order to supply what has abundance.


    "Go, clam totem!"


    The clam totem appeared behind Fang Yuan. A trace of black fog wrapped around the seven-colored horn deer like a tentacle.


    The seven-colored horn deer, like its owner, was lifeless and did not struggle at all.


    The black fog increased, enveloping the seven-colored horn deer and integrating it into the clam totem.


    Rumble.


    The fog spread and formed a huge cocoon, encasing the clam totem within.


    Beichen Feng''s head crooked to one side, utterly dead.


    "He actually¡­ devoured the totem?" The grand elder was shocked. "Demon Dao¡­ Definitely the Demon Dao. Not good. Did he capture me to¡­"


    Unfortunately, even suicide was now a luxury.


    Fang Yuan did not stop and devoured Beichen Kuang''s mountain tiger and the grand elder''s green python.


    The clam''s black cocoon doubled in size after swallowing three totems. Its surface was uneven, wriggling slowly, as though it was pregnant with a whole new life.


    "Demon!"


    "I won''t let you go even if I die!"


    Beichen Hong smiled sadly as she watched on.


    "I have no interest in your totem!"


    Fang Yuan''s hand flickered, and the Ten Thousand Beast Banner appeared.


    The golden page he had obtained from Great Fey Pengze contained the control method. Moreover, Fang Yuan had easily refined it since its owner was dead, and it was now his.


    The light went out of Beichen Hong''s face with a small shake as her multi-eyed qiongming totem was devoured.


    "Totem evolution has to be done right in one go. You''ve only devoured three. Do you have confidence? Or are you going to go out and abduct genius disciples? That is Demon Dao conduct," Gold Ingot asked with suspicion.


    In its opinion, Beichen Hong and the rest had it coming since they plotted against Fang Yuan first. However, Fang Yuan would fall into the Demon Dao if he were to initiate the plundering and hurt innocents.


    "Totem evolution is akin to a ten-month pregnancy. The worst thing to do would be to fight. I won''t do something so stupid."


    Fang Yuan raised the Ten Thousand Beast Banner. "Aren''t there many totem spirit essences here?"


    Great Fey Pengze had accumulated spirit essences in the Ten Thousand Beast Banner for many years. It would be a piece of cake to find suitable spirit essences for the clam''s evolution!

 1047 Illusion Realm

    "Ten Thousand Beast Banner? Yes, the totems in it should be enough!" Gold Ingot replied happily before worrying again immediately. "However, if you consume the totems this way, I fear the Ten Thousand Beast Banner''s power will plummet!"


    "The banner wasn''t at large success anyway. What''s the problem if it loses a few more dozens of totems? I''ll just make it up in the future." Fang Yuan smiled. "Not to mention, it''s worth it even if I have to destroy this banner to enhance my totem!"


    His expression turned serious. "Next, I will cultivate in seclusion for a while to put all my power into birthing this new totem. I''ll leave everything outside to you."


    "Young Master, please be assured. As long as it isn''t an Immortal, the Pantheon Palace''s restriction is absolutely foolproof!" Gold Ingot guaranteed.


    Looking at Fang Yuan entering the quiet room, it muttered, "Young Master''s comprehension is exceptional. If he obtains a high-grade totem, his future achievements will certainly be limitless¡­ There is hope for Master''s revenge!"


    ¡­


    Months flew past quietly.


    Fang Yuan activated his Dharmic formulation in the quiet room. The spirit essences of mutated beasts appeared from the Ten Thousand Beast Banner.


    A gold thread connected them to the black cocoon behind him, as though transporting something.


    "It''s been three months!" His eyes flashed. "In the past three months, not only did I find suitable totems from the Ten Thousand Beast Banner to devour and supplement the evolution of my clam totem, but I also used the enhancement method from the Pantheon Enhancement Technique to devour a huge amount of the natural sources of the spirit essences to help the evolution of my totem. It will be a peerless totem if I succeed!"


    It was a very luxurious approach even for the Pantheon Enhancement Technique.


    However, Fang Yuan had the Ten Thousand Beast Banner, which was equivalent to Great Fey Pengze''s hundreds of years of accumulation and why he was confident.


    Even the core disciples of the Holy Mountain might not be able to carry out this feat.


    Roar Roar!


    At that moment, a crisp sound came from the black cocoon, and a large number of golden threads disconnected.


    "Oh? Has it absorbed to the limit?"


    Fang Yuan put away the Ten Thousand Beast Banner and started to support the final stages of the incubation period of the totem.


    Another dozen days passed.


    Crack!


    A crack suddenly appeared on the black cocoon, and fissures spread throughout it.


    Rumble!


    The sound of thunder seemed to be coming from outside.


    The black cocoon exploded, and a blue dragon appeared from the fog.


    It could suddenly be big or small, changing unpredictable, and had an extremely mysterious aura.


    "A dragon can change size and is able to soar or hide; when it is big, it is able to swallow clouds and blow out fog; when it is small, it is able to stay hidden; it is able to soar among the cosmos and hide within the great waves¡­" Fang Yuan could not help reciting. "However, this isn''t the Azure Dragon. Compared to the grandeur of the Azure Dragon, it has a more ethereal feel. This is the Clam Dragon!"


    A true dragon was definitely a first-grade totem.


    Fang Yuan had the feeling that his Clam Dragon was also a first-grade totem!


    It might even be higher than first grade by half a grade! After all, it had absorbed the natural source of many totems and had a very good foundation.


    "First-grade totem, Clam Dragon!"


    Fang Yuan clenched his fist, and a ray of excitement appeared in his eyes. "Above the third grade, a totem would produce the most suitable magical power for itself! What is my Clam Dragon''s magical power?"


    He immersed his mind within the totem and sensed the message. "Innate Magical Power¡ªIllusion Realm?!"


    "The Illusion Realm can be big or small. A big one is like an enhanced version of Mirage. A small one can become like a line and directly kill the soul."


    In summary, it was the strongest single-target attack on a soul and a large-scale illusion domain!


    "Not only that, the nomological laws of the Illusion Realm are actually¡­ the Illusion Realm''s Nomological Laws of Space!"


    The Space Great Dao was something that even countless Demon Gods could not hope to attain.


    Although nomological laws were a tier lower than Great Daos, Fang Yuan, who had crossed through many different worlds, had yet to hear of any Demon God who comprehended the Illusion Realm''s Nomological Laws of Space other than the Abominable Lord.


    Yet this was his Clam Dragon''s Innate Magical Power. He was beside himself with joy!


    "The complete Nomological Laws of Space is probably comparable to the might of a Great Dao. If I can sublimate it into the Void Great Dao[1] , it will definitely be helpful even in the Dao Fruit realm!"


    Fang Yuan laughed merrily. "This was truly a lucky chance. The cultivation methods of the barbarians aren''t bad!"


    Barbarians did not have good comprehension, but they could perceive nomological laws through constant use of magical powers.


    The Illusion Realm''s nomological laws were related to space. Other barbarians would not know how to use it even if they had obtained it.


    Even with Fang Yuan''s aptitude and comprehension, he did not have full confidence.


    Barbarians, however, had long experienced this.


    Difficulty comprehending nomological laws? Use magical powers more often! If they still could not comprehend them? Then condense the Destiny Primordial Core! Fusing the magical power and Primordial Core into one!


    "Continuously using magical powers is like a teacher that constantly demonstrates the nomological laws. The Primordial Core''s Destiny Magical Power is like putting yourself in the shoes of the teacher and personally experiencing the mysteries of the nomological laws. There would be no more hope at all if you still couldn''t comprehend the complete nomological laws after combining these two methods."


    Fang Yuan''s eyes sparkled. "If I cultivate this way, I''ll certainly be able to comprehend the full nomological laws of the Illusion Realm and finally the Void Great Dao!"


    He was a genius at comprehension, which was why comprehending Saber Realm in the Materialization realm was not even a challenge to him.


    However, the nomological laws of space and time were some of the most abstruse and profound nomological laws of all.


    Fang Yuan estimated that his own comprehension in this regard would probably be similar to that of ordinary barbarians.


    The comprehension route of ordinary barbarians was basic mastery of nomological laws at the Materialization realm, small success in nomological laws at the Primordial Core realm, and complete comprehension in a set of nomological laws at the peak of the Apotheosis realm!


    "It will be my complete victory if I can comprehend the entire nomological laws of the Illusion Realm at the Apotheosis realm!


    "And this is me. Any other barbarian probably wouldn''t even be able to reach basic mastery when they''re at the Apotheosis realm¡­"


    ¡­


    A slight smile played on Fang Yuan''s lips as he opened the door to a secret room with some pity.


    "The rules of this universe determined that it''s relatively easy to comprehend the Nomological Laws of Space-Time. It''s really a great place for a Demon God to cultivate their Dao path¡­ If I were Xu Lie, I would have definitely been able to thoroughly comprehend the Nomological Laws of Life-and-Death through the Nirvana magical power. These are also the nomological laws of a Great Dao! It could have elevated to the Life-and-Death Great Dao! It would''ve basically made me immortal! Too bad, I have no chance in that."


    There might be a totem with the Nirvana magical power the Barbarian Ancestral Court, and the Clam Dragon totem was also powerful enough to carry such peerless magical powers.


    Unfortunately¡­ the attributes clashed! The success rate of inscribing was almost negligible. Moreover, even if he were to succeed, it would be very difficult for Fang Yuan to make progress in the future.


    The most suitable for the Nirvana magical power was only the Phoenix!


    "I can probably find one or two magical powers relating to time to inscribe onto my Clam Dragon that can bring me to basic mastery of the Nomological Laws of Time?" Fang Yuan rubbed his chin, pondering. "However, there is only one slot for the Primordial Core''s Destiny Magical Power! The Nomological Laws of Time and Space are both very difficult. I don''t have the confidence to be able to completely comprehend them without the aid of Primordial Core''s Destiny Magical Power."


    "Unless¡­ clone?" His eyes lit up. "If my clone uses another totem, he will be able to inscribe time-type peerless magical powers and then condense the Primordial Core''s Destiny Magical Power¡­"


    "Congratulations to Young Master for reaching large success with your great power!" Gold Ingot greeted him with the puppet.


    For some reason, Fang Yuan felt that it had humbled down significantly.


    "Hmm, Gold Ingot, do you know where I can find clone-type magical powers?" Fang Yuan asked directly.


    "Clone magical powers?"


    "That is to divide into two independent bodies and cultivate separately!"


    "This is¡­ a supreme divine power to preserve life!" Gold Ingot exclaimed. "I have never seen one before even after following Master for so many years!"


    Having two independent bodies meant you had one more life!


    This was absolutely more valuable to cultivators than any treasure.


    However, Fang Yuan had not thought that even the peak Immortal Hong Chen had never seen it even once!


    "However¡­ I heard Master say before that cultivation with clones is difficult. Both bodies must reach peak Apotheosis to be able to transcend the tribulation together. The power of the lightning tribulation they face will double as well. Of course, there is no need to iterate the benefits¡­"


    Gold Ingot asked doubtfully. "Does Master want to cultivate a clone technique?"


    "Of course I want to, but it''s not like I''ll be able to get one just because I want it. Do you have any solutions? There should be a source if Immortal Hong Chen heard about it before." Fang Yuan did not want to let the chance slip by.


    The temptation was too huge. It was not just an extra life but also a supreme Great Dao!


    "Hmm. I gave it some thought, and I think there are a few ways to go about it¡­" Gold Ingot tilted its head. "First is an existence beyond the Immortal realm. Perhaps they have such a great divine power!"


    "I can''t even meet Immortals, let alone an existence beyond Immortals. Moreover, even if I did meet them, what do I have to exchange with? Aren''t you afraid of them finding out the secret of the Pantheon Palace and killing me? No way!" Fang Yuan shook his head.


    "The second way is the one with the greatest possibility!" Gold Ingot said. "I heard from Master that there are countless mortals and cultivation sects beyond the Hundred Thousand Mountains, and within these sects, there are Holy Lands. There might be a clone mystic technique in those places!"


    "This is a possible route. I wonder if they accept barbarian disciples?" Fang Yuan''s eyes glimmered.


    "Impossible!" Gold Ingot shook its head. "Those sects believe that those who are not of the same race have different intentions. Their cultivation method is also different from the barbarians. It seems like the Primordial Core realm isn''t the Primordial Core but called the Golden Core! They converge to the same path after transcending the tribulation. The method I''m referring to is to catch the true disciples cultivating this technique and grill them through torture."


    "Disciples cultivating clone mystic techniques must be the most talented core disciples. Let''s put aside whether or not I can take them down. Even if I could, wouldn''t I be making deadly enemies with a cultivation Holy Land?" Fang Yuan shook his head. "Anything else?"


    "The last is to leave it to fate. You might get lucky and encounter it!" Gold Ingot swayed its head. "Young Master obviously has great providence to be able to obtain three pages from the Pantheon Catalog. Your fortune is strong, so there still might be hope!"


    [1] The void Ðé¿Õ here is different from the one used with Lord of the Void ÐéÎÞ

 1048 Return

    "Innate Magical Power¡ªIllusion Realm!" Fang Yuan shouted, and the surrounding air within five kilometers shifted, as though something had changed.


    Nearby, a wild hare blinked before a python suddenly gobbled it up. A split second later, the python disappeared, but the wild hare was scared to death!


    "If the soul is weak, it''s possible for the psyche to be disrupted in the Illusion Realm and result in death?"


    He closed his eyes and sensed his surroundings. "Now, although the Illusion Realm is limited to five kilometers, as my cultivation increases, its range will continue to expand. Within the Illusion Realm, I am in control of reality and illusion!"


    Of course, this was not done only for the sake of magical power experimentation.


    As he used the magical power, Fang Yuan was also finally able to feel a trace of void fluctuations within the world.


    "Although the Illusion Realm is an illusion, this kind of interchange between reality and illusion is the most fundamental representation of the Nomological Laws of Void!"


    Fang Yuan closed his eyes and comprehended carefully.


    After some time, he collapsed the Illusion Realm, drew his Nine Profound Spirit Saber, and waved it casually.


    The sharp saber light now produced a phantasmal feel.


    "So, these are the nomological laws of the Illusion Realm!"


    At last, he slashed with the saber, and the light on the edge twisted. Amazingly, it looked like there were two saber edges simultaneously.


    Crack!


    A branch fell, and there were two saber marks on it!


    "Basic mastery of the Illusion Realm''s nomological laws¡ªVoid Refraction!"


    Fang Yuan opened his eyes and had a clear understanding. "Through the refraction of the Illusion Realm, every saber strike has the effect of two strikes!"


    This alone doubled the power of his saber techniques.


    "This is the ultimate folding technique in the Illusion Realm''s nomological laws. As for other aspects, there should be the most fundamental¡­ space compression!"


    He looked at the branch before him. With a single thought, the entire branch crumbled into a ball, as though being pressed in from all sides.


    "The Illusion Realm''s nomological laws are indeed vast and profound. Even the most fundamental variations have such incredible power!"


    Fang Yuan heaved a long sigh. "My effort was well spent in comprehending to basic mastery!"


    Though using the Illusion Realm constantly, his comprehension of the Illusion Realm''s nomological laws continued to deepen.


    He knew roughly the path he wanted to take. "The Double Blade Technique is clearly unfinished. The cultivation that follows will be deepening my comprehension of the Illusion Realm''s nomological laws and unleashing the effects of Triple Blades or even Quadruple Blades! The more spatial refractions, the deeper my comprehension of the Illusion Realm''s nomological laws. Eventually, I will reach large success and even completely comprehend it."


    His level of mastery with the Nomological Laws of Saber was at large success, Saber Realm, and there was only the final step left before he completely comprehended it.


    Obviously, the Illusion Realm''s nomological laws were thousands of times harder to comprehend than the Nomological Laws of Saber! Tens of thousands of times!


    Fang Yuan returned to the Pantheon Palace and changed into something loose and comfortable. "Gold Ingot, do you think¡­ I should return to the Barbarian Ancestral Court?"


    "I''ve checked thoroughly. There are no marks of Immortals on Young Master!" Jin Yuan nodded. "If Young Master wishes to obtain a clone technique, there is indeed some hope in the Barbarian Ancestral Court¡­ However, your totem still needs to be concealed."


    The Barbarian Ancestral Court was the Holy Land of the barbarians in the Hundred Thousand Mountains. Its status was on par with the big sects outside, and there were even some Immortals. There was a chance that they had a clone technique.


    "As for the totem materialization, it''s no big deal¡­ After all, my materialization is the Clam Dragon!"


    Fang Yuan smiled, and the Clam Dragon appeared behind him. A cloud of fog enveloped it before it returned to its former clam materialization appearance.


    When it came to the illusions Fang Yuan used, he could even fool Immortals if they did not check carefully.


    "Instead, Xu Lie''s master is what worries me most. After all, you''re not a true cultivator, and your spiritual will is lacking. Maybe you missed something¡­" Fang Yuan''s expression turned solemn. "However, since you''ve checked thoroughly, then the possibilities of being discovered are low. The risk is worth taking."


    "What are the possibilities?"


    "First, since Xu Lie died in the Pantheon Palace that is isolated from the outside world, no image or sound would have leaked. This is certain." Fang Yuan deduced.


    "That''s natural. The Pantheon Palace is a peerless immortal artifact!" Gold Ingot''s voice carried a hint of pride.


    "Then the last possibility is that Xu Lie used some mystic technique that attaches to the one who killed him, and the Immortals can detect it within a certain range! We''ll test this out. I''ll sneak outside the Holy Mountain and see if the Immortals have any reactions."


    "If there is a reaction, then I will immediately hide inside the Pantheon Palace, isolating me from the world and avoiding detection. Sound good?


    "I can repeat the process a few times. If there''s no danger in any of the attempts, then I can saunter back to the Ancestral Court!"


    ¡­


    Fang Yuan explained his entire plan. "What do you think?"


    "This way, we can indeed avoid being tracked by life-and-death mystic techniques¡­ What''s left is normal searching¡­ All the cultivators within that region will probably be suspects," said Jin Yuan.


    Fang Yuan laughed. "Haha¡­ Do you think I, an early Materialization cultivator with the clam totem, would be able to kill a Primordial Core cultivator with the Phoenix totem?"


    "Then it''s truly foolproof!" Jin Yuan nodded. "After all, I''m not a true cultivator and can''t offer you much advice regarding cultivation¡­ Moreover, you need to gather the precious materials required for the Hundred Physical Forging Technique yourself as well. It will indeed make things easier relying on a strong force!" Jin Yuan said. "As long as you remember one thing¡ªbefore the lightning tribulation, the more nomological laws you comprehend, the better. When you transcend the tribulation, you can only rely on your cultivation and not on magic artifacts and treasures!"


    "Oh? Why is that?"


    This was the experience of Immortal Hong Chen, and Fang Yuan naturally had to find out more.


    "When transcending the tribulation, the tribulation will change according to the individual''s strength!" Jin Yuan seemed scared. "For example, if you hide in the Pantheon Palace, then the power of the lightning tribulation would be able to break the Pantheon Palace apart and then use your life and death as the standard again! The more magic artifacts you carry, the more powerful the lightning tribulation. There would be practically zero chance of survival!


    "You must use your cultivation to resist the lightning tribulation! As such, the more nomological laws you comprehend, the better. Additionally, if you can completely comprehend a few nomological laws, there will be unexpected surprises! The lightning tribulation is both a danger and an opportunity. During the tribulation, it will present Great Dao inspirations according to the nomological laws that you''ve completely comprehended!"


    "What? There''s such a good deal?" Fang Yuan''s eyes opened wide.


    "That''s what Master said. Of course, this applies only to the nomological laws that you''ve completely comprehended¡­ However, it appears that the more powerful the nomological laws you comprehend are, the more powerful the lightning tribulation becomes as well. It''s a double-edged sword!"


    "I see. I''ll bear that in mind!" Fang Yuan said solemnly.


    Gold Ingot probably only intended for him to build a strong foundation.


    However, he did not know how significant this secret was to Fang Yuan!


    Before transcending the tribulation, I must fully master the Illusion Realm''s nomological laws! I have to master as many other powerful nomological laws as possible as well!


    This world gifting this opportunity for Great Dao inspirations was not something found everywhere. Fang Yuan estimated that it would save him at least tens of thousands of years in comprehending the Void Great Dao!


    Other Demon Gods would all go crazy if they knew about this.


    "Clone mystic technique! Clone mystic technique! I''ll return after cultivating for a while longer!"


    Fang Yuan was suddenly determined.


    ¡­


    A month passed.


    Barbarian Palace.


    "Finally¡­ I''ve returned!" Fang Yuan exclaimed while looking at the Holy Mountain on the edge of the Barbarian Palace.


    After using many methods to test and confirm that Xu Lie had not left anything that would let the Immortals sense him, he naturally returned to the Barbarian Palace with a saunter.


    It had been almost a year since he had taken the mission.


    Inside the Barbarian Hall.


    The current deacon was no longer Nine Leave, but a stone-faced old man named Wu He.


    "To think that someone at the mid Materialization realm could finish the Fey killing mission!"


    In disbelief, he looked at the weasel head that Fang Yuan submitted.


    Even if Fang Yuan had been comprehending nomological laws all this time, the Water Moon Heavenly Cave Secret Manual lived up to its name of being able to cultivate to the Immortal level and had advanced his strength slightly.


    "I was lucky I didn''t run into Great Fey Pengze!" Fang Yuan replied with a smile.


    "Great Fey Pengze. Haha. Pengze is a mess now¡­" Wu He gloated. "Six elders from Beichen and Great Fey Pengze vanished together at Pengze. Even an Apotheosis Patriarch from the Holy Mountain mobilized!"


    "Oh? What happened?" Fang Yuan feigned surprise.


    "That''s why you were lucky. Since Great Fey Pengze isn''t around, you would naturally be fine killing one of his Materialization subordinates!"


    Wu He must have misunderstood something. Or rather, he did not associate Fang Yuan with the missing Primordial Core experts at all. "Old Patriarch Beichen was from Beichen as well, which was why he was so helpful¡­"


    Fang Yuan could tell from his expression that he was surely not from Beichen.


    "All right. According to the regulations, you''ve finished the Fey killing mission and can now exchange for three magical powers from the Magical Powers Hall and three combat skills from the Combat Skills Hall!" Wu He tossed over a token. "Keep this safe. It won''t be replaced if lost."


    "Thank you, Sir!" Fang Yuan bowed slightly. After leaving the Barbarian Hall, he ran into Bei Tangman.


    "Fang Yuan! Where were you all this time?" Bei Tangman''s eyes brightened upon seeing Fang Yuan. "Eh? You''ve advanced to mid Materialization already?"


    "Didn''t you as well?" Fang Yuan smiled. "I went out on a mission. How are the others?"


    "Beichen Yan and Black Fury have broken through to the Materialization realm as well. They also had a fierce fight with the seniors! The strongest senior, Dongmu Cai, has already formed her Primordial Core and went up the Holy Mountain to become one of the core disciples." There was a hint of envy in Bei Tangman''s voice.


    "I see. Looks like that''s all the changes among the disciples." Fang Yuan sighed intentionally.


    "That''s not all. Listen¡­ one of the core disciples of the Holy Mountain died!"


    Bei Tangman lowered his voice mysteriously. "It''s the one named Xu Lie. The destiny blood jade he left on the Holy Mountain shattered¡­ He died even though he was an Immortal''s disciple. And since he couldn''t even send back any information, word has it that he died in a secret realm!"

 1049 Defea

    "Blood jade¡­ Only Immortals can produce them. The core disciples attach a strand of their spiritual will to it, and it displays their life-and-death status. It''s even possible for some of the sounds and images they experienced before death to transmit back. However, in some hopeless situations, secret manual storehouses, or even immortal abodes, there is no such effect!"


    Within the Magical Powers Hall, Fang Yuan was reading an introduction of mystic techniques with great interest. "Xu Lie was unfortunate. The Pantheon Palace is one of the best ways to isolate him from the blood jade. "


    He placed another book down and contemplated. "Within the Magical Powers Hall, even though there are first-grade peerless magical powers, unfortunately¡­ there are no time ones, and the rest aren''t really compatible with my Clam Dragon materialization."


    Illusion-type totems were scarce to begin with, and it was even more so for illusion magical powers.


    Especially with Fang Yuan''s standards, he had very little interest in ordinary magical powers, and they had to be at least great magical powers.


    "For example, Xu Lie''s Flame Wings Magical Power allows flight and is pretty decent. Too bad the element isn''t suitable for me¡­ Eh?"


    After Fang Yuan flipped through a few pages, his eyes gleamed as he found one. "Magical power¡ªRide on Clouds! Allows flight through manipulating water fog!"


    Flying was a privilege reserved for those at the Apotheosis realm and above. However, some magical powers were able to do this in advance.


    This was naturally very beneficial for Fang Yuan. "It''s compatible too. Let''s make the exchange!"


    On the materialization, in addition to the Destiny Magical Power, you could also add other magical powers. However, at Primordial Core, you could only choose one Destiny Magical Power.


    And Fang Yuan would absolutely not waste such a valuable Destiny Magical Power slot on low-grade magical powers.


    "Although the Ride on Clouds Magical Power isn''t as fast as the Flame Wings Magical Power, it excels in concealment¡­ Before the Apotheosis realm, it can increase my mobility. As for the other magical powers¡­ they don''t even hold a candle to my Saber Qi. Let''s ignore them!"


    Fang Yuan shook his head in disappointment and arrived at the Combat Skills Hall.


    Obviously, the martial arts here were even more unsightly to him. Even Saber King Mo He''s saber technique manual was just average to Fang Yuan.


    "I haven''t even seen a trace of the clone mystic techniques that I''m looking for¡­ Of course, even if there were such high-level manuals, they wouldn''t be in the Barbarian Palace."


    With a tinge of regret, Fang Yuan went to the Dao Comprehension Cliff once again.


    "It''s him, Fang Yuan!"


    "The first to defeat Dongmu Cai?"


    "Senior Sister Dongmu Cai has already ascended the Holy Mountain and become a core disciple. She is incomparable to before!"


    "There are plenty of freaks this time. Beichen Yan isn''t half bad either. After advancing to the Materialization realm, his Vermilion Bird Flame is at small success, and he is quite amazing when challenging the seniors."


    ¡­


    Many curious eyes focused on Fang Yuan.


    Fang Yuan ignored them and began walking around the Dao Comprehension Cliff.


    "After large success in the Nomological Laws of Saber, forming the Saber Realm, the next step is to explore the heavens and the earth and search within myself to obtain Saber Heart! "


    The so-called Saber Heart did not mean to only have saber in mind and nothing else, but rather, a fusing of soul and saber. Once in this state, sabers could unleash their maximum potential.


    "On the Holy Mountain, at least Mo He has reached large success in the Nomological Laws of Saber, so it''s not surprising that there are saber marks on the Dao Comprehension Cliff¡­"


    After one round, Fang Yuan had to admit that the Illusion Realm''s Nomological Laws of Space were indeed extremely rare, and comprehending them was very difficult too. There were no relevant marks on the Dao Comprehension Cliff.


    "Looks like¡­ this at least shows that none of the cultivators on the Holy Mountain took the Dao path of the Illusion Realm''s nomological laws? Or is someone trying to hide their shortcomings?"


    "Since no one has comprehended the Illusion Realm''s nomological laws, then the same would obviously be true for the Nomological Laws of Time. However, there is a cliff carving of the Nomological Laws of Life-and-Death. Unfortunately, they''re very difficult to understand without a Phoenix totem¡­"


    Fang Yuan looked around, slightly disappointed. "Forget it. This place is probably just the outer door and not part of the core!"


    The main reason why he came back was to search for a clone mystic technique.


    Evidently, nothing could satisfy him anymore in the Barbarian Palace.


    The only place left was the Holy Mountain!


    Fang Yuan looked toward the mountain and appeared hesitant.


    The true Ancestral Court only existed on the Holy Mountain. There was a strict rule that Barbarian Palace disciples were unable to ascend if they had not reached the Primordial Core realm.


    Even if they had cultivation techniques, wanting to advance to the Primordial Core realm immediately was nothing more than dreaming.


    Fortunately, Fang Yuan had a second method.


    "Didn''t Saber King Mo He say that he would take me in as a disciple if I comprehended Saber Qi?"


    In fact, back when he raised the condition, Fang Yuan had already done it, but he merely thought that it was below him.


    However, things had changed, and now he had to find a way to infiltrate the Holy Mountain.


    "I just need to wait for the right time to show my strength!"


    Feeling eyes on him, Fang Yuan snickered in his mind. "It won''t be long¡­"


    "Fang Yuan!" Two young men approached him. One was handsome, while the other''s face was as black as coal. They were Beichen Yan and Black Fury. "You''ve finally returned."


    "I haven''t congratulated you two on your advancement to the Materialization realm!" Fang Yuan greeted them with a smile.


    "Ever since you defeated the seniors that challenged you, I''ve wondered¡­" Beichen Yan said nonchalantly, "which one of us is the real genius!"


    He was proud and had always been first throughout his life.


    But he had suffered his first defeat in the Barbarian Palace.


    And Fang Yuan''s sudden rise cast a shadow over his heart, making him fear that everything he had won in the past had been intentionally given to him.


    This kind of torture was unbearable for a proud man like him.


    "Looks like you''re definitely going to fight me today!" Fang Yuan sighed.


    "That''s right!" Beichen Yan shouted. His Vermilion Bird totem had already appeared behind him with its flames overflowing.


    Arrogant, dominating, venting, deeply hidden fear¡­ Fang Yuan closed his eyes, feeling a multitude of things from the slightly-altered Vermilion Bird flame. With his sophistication, Beichen Yan shouldn''t be in this kind of emotional state. Did the news from the Beichen tribe trigger him?


    The disappearance of the six Primordial Core elders was a heavy blow to the Beichen tribe.


    The other two big tribes, and even low-ranking tribes like the Flybarb tribe, were eager to take advantage of this.


    As the young master, Beichen Yan was under great pressure.


    Everything he did, no matter how crazy, was understandable.


    "Go!" Beichen Yan pointed. The Vermilion Bird uttered a long cry and spewed out a thin fire thread from its mouth, penetrating Fang Yuan''s illusion.


    Poof!


    The entire illusion turned into a fireball in an instant.


    However, the fire thread continued moving and pierced toward an empty space.


    "Eh?"


    Fang Yuan twirled the Nine Profound Spirit Saber and made the fire thread start hovering above his saber while burning fiercely.


    "Even the fire has such high spirituality. You''ve improved a lot, Beichen Yan!"


    He flicked the handle lightly, and the flames fell onto the ground, revealing the blade that did not even have a scratch.


    "Great saber skills. It even severed the connection between me and the Vermilion Bird flame!" Beichen Yan exclaimed. "Now¡­ I will use my full power. Be careful!


    Chirp! Chirp!


    Behind him, a pair of orange flame wings appeared, and with a gentle flap, he soared into the sky.


    "Flame Wings Magical Power? He''s already inscribed it?"


    Fang Yuan looked up at the huge Vermilion Bird materialization.


    "I have the positional advantage. No matter how great your saber skills are, it''s useless if you can''t reach me. However, I can attack you at will. Concede!" Beichen Yan shouted.


    From his perspective, no matter how powerful Fang Yuan''s Saber Intent was, as long as he could not hit the materialization, there would be no effect.


    On the other hand, he could attack however he wanted from the air and naturally had the advantage.


    "It''s actually the Flame Wings Magical Power?"


    "Other than the Innate Magical Power, he inscribed another magical power, and a flying type at that, so quickly?"


    "His cultivation talent is truly outstanding!"


    "Looks like Beichen Yan is the top expert in the Barbarian Palace after Senior Sister Dongmu Cai left!"


    ¡­


    Many Barbarian Palace disciples had gathered below the Dao Comprehension Cliff, and some of their comments spread to Beichen Yan.


    That''s right! I will defeat one formidable foe after another and let those covetous people know that the Beichen tribe¡­ has not declined!


    Beichen Yan clenched his fists tightly. "Concede, Fang Yuan. Otherwise, I will use my Innate Magical Power!"


    "Come!" Fang Yuan laughed heartily with his saber in hand.


    "Innate Magical Power¡ªDivine Flame Bell!" Beichen Yan shouted, and large amounts of Vermilion Bird flame fell, forming an ancient bell that directly covered Fang Yuan.


    "The Divine Flame Bell uses Vermilion Bird flame as a barrier and limits an area absolutely. Once you''re inside the bell, you will undergo attacks from all sides by the Vermilion Bird flame¡­ Fang Yuan, are you still not conceding?"


    Clang!


    The clear sound of the saber answered him.


    Crack!


    A ray of saber light appeared on top of the Divine Flame Bell and cut downward, turning the bell into fragments.


    "How is this possible?" Beichen Yan was dumbfounded. He immediately flew even higher with the flame wings. "No matter how strong your attacks are, it''s useless if you can''t hit me!"


    "Is that so?" Fang Yuan chuckled and waved his saber.


    Poof!


    A ray of Saber Qi rushed through the sky, leaving no time for Beichen Yan to respond and slashing the flame wings on his back.


    "Ah¡­" After losing his wings, Beichen Yan fell straight down and let out a shriek.


    "So? Do you still want to continue?" Fang Yuan''s eyes were indifferent as he approached with his saber in hand.


    "I admit defeat¡­" Beichen Yan replied hurriedly. If this continued, Fang Yuan might even kill his materialization outright. The Vermilion Bird had absolutely no chance against the threat of Saber Qi.


    If the materialization were killed, he would have to spend a long time recovering. It was not worth it, so he simply admitted defeat.


    However, he was still slightly upset. "Why was your saber light able to leave your body?"


    "External Saber Qi!" Fang Yuan smiled and did not hide it.


    "External Saber Qi?" The spectating youngsters of the Barbarian Palace exclaimed in astonishment. "The Nomological Laws of Saber are already very difficult, and even basic mastery of Saber Intent at the Materialization realm is already very good. External Saber Qi is something only those at least at the Primordial Core realm are able to comprehend! "


    "The Saber Qi separates from the body and can attack at range. It embodies Saber Intent, and its power is not much different from Materialization magical powers!"


    "Fang Yuan is truly overflowing with talent. He is the undisputed most powerful person in the Barbarian Palace!"

 1050 Disciple

    "Haha¡­ Fang Yuan, you truly are the top genius of the barbarians in the last hundred years! I''ll take care of your request!"


    In a residence of the Barbarian Palace, a mature-looking young man with a mustache laughed as he walked out, with Fang Yuan behind him to see him off.


    "That''s the eighth one, right?"


    After the young man''s figure disappeared, Fang Yuan returned inside with a smile on his lips.


    Ever since he defeated Beichen Yan and displayed his External Saber Qi, a continuous stream of Barbarian Palace disciples visited him.


    After all, he was the most powerful person in the Barbarian Palace by far, and people naturally flattered him.


    He did not arrogantly turn them away. Instead, he met each of them and incidentally requested a few items he wanted.


    "I require three materials for the second level of the Hundred Physical Forging Technique: Myriad Poison Snake Flower, thousand-year Blue Heart Fruit, and the blood of nine mutated beasts!


    "Although it''s tedious to gather the blood of nine kinds of mutated beasts, there is strength in numbers. I currently have six and have confidence in gathering the rest¡­ But the thousand-year Blue Heart Fruit, a heavenly material and earthly treasure, is slightly troublesome to get¡­"


    Fang Yuan sat cross-legged and waited for his most important guest.


    A clear voice came a moment later. "Junior Brother Fang Yuan, you are really awesome to have comprehended External Saber Qi at just the Materialization realm. You haven''t let me down!"


    "Yan Luo, sir, please come in!" Fang Yuan hurriedly stood up and greeted him.


    "With your talent, condensing the Primordial Core and ascending the Holy Mountain will be a piece of cake. Simply address me as senior brother!" Yan Luo entered with a smile. "Have you guessed why I''ve come?"


    "Is it because of Senior Saber King Mo He?" Fang Yuan''s eyes brightened.


    "That''s right, Saber King Mo He. He has promised that as long as you comprehended Saber Qi at the Materialization realm, he would take you a disciple. Come with me to the Holy Mountain!"


    Yan Luo led the way.


    They walked quickly, and it did not take long before they arrived at the foot of the Holy Mountain.


    When passing through the Dao Comprehension Cliff, they attracted the gaze of many envious disciples.


    "Haha¡­ they''re all envious of you, Junior Brother!" Yan Luo laughed jokingly. "It''s incredibly difficult to achieve Primordial Core within three years. Most of them have no hope and will only be able to return to their tribe. Only true geniuses can enter the Holy Mountain while at the Materialization realm!"


    This was akin to an Immortal Patriarch taking in Xu Lie as a disciple when he was still in the Awakening realm and training him personally.


    The aptitude of those in the Barbarian Palace was roughly equivalent, and only through brutal elimination were the true geniuses selected.


    "In the Holy Mount, there are very strict rules and many forbidden places. Make sure you don''t barge in!" Yan Luo warned carefully.


    He then brought Fang Yuan to the middle of the Holy Mountain. "The lower level of the Holy Mountain are the residences of a thousand Primordial Core disciples, and each has an individual loft. The middle is for the Apotheosis Realm powerhouses, and each possesses a considerable amount of space for a house with multiple courtyards. Some of the more ornately decorated ones are practically palaces. As for the top of the mountain, that''s where the palaces of the Immortals are."


    "Saber King Mo He, who you''re about to meet, is an Apotheosis realm powerhouse. He has completely comprehended the Nomological Laws of Saber, but it seems he hasn''t reached peak Apotheosis yet!"


    Two conditions were needed to sense the lightning tribulation. The first was to completely comprehend a set of nomological laws, and the second was to cultivate to the peak of the Apotheosis realm.


    For example, Nine Leave''s old patriarch had fulfilled the two conditions but did not dare to cross the tribulation.


    In contrast, Saber King Mo He had managed to completely comprehend the Nomological Laws of Saber, but his cultivation was lacking.


    This situation immediately shocked Fang Yuan.


    Something''s wrong! Cultivation is easy to raise, but nomological laws are hard to comprehend. Everyone that has their comprehension surpassing their cultivation realm is a genius¡­ Then why did Nine Leave''s tone suggest that Saber King Mo He has a lower status than his old patriarch? Is his old patriarch someone incredible that comprehended nomological laws that are more powerful than the Nomological Laws of Saber?


    The Nomological Laws of Saber had extreme offensive power. Among the common nomological laws, they were considered one of the best.


    Of course, it was nothing compared to the Illusion Realm''s nomological laws.


    Maybe there are secret reasons?


    ¡­


    "Martial Uncle Mo He! I''ve brought Fang Yuan!"


    While Fang Yuan was pondering, Yan Luo had already led him to the front of a big courtyard.


    "Come in," said a deep voice.


    Fang Yuan and Yan Luo entered, and the first thing they saw was a huge training field.


    At the center of the training field was a middle-aged man wearing white beast skin. His eyebrows looked like sabers, and his temples were slightly gray. He held a curved saber in one hand and kept gesturing something.


    Hmm? Comprehension of the Nomological Laws of Saber should provide someone with the vibe of a heavenly saber¡­ but why does he feel like he''s well into his twilight years?


    Fang Yuan furrowed his brows.


    According to his senses, this Saber King was merely a ''broken saber'' that seemed to lack even vitality and was about to die soon.


    "You''re Fang Yuan?" Mo He looked over, and his eyes suddenly lit up.


    Swoosh!


    A cluster of Saber Qi appeared before Fang Yuan.


    The Saber Qi permeated everywhere. The Saber King had naturally reached Saber Realm long ago.


    The slow emergence of Saber Qi was obviously just a test.


    Chop!


    Fang Yuan feigned surprise and instantly chopped with his saber, sending External Sword Qi flying at Mo He.


    Poof!


    The air shook slightly as the two Saber Qi vanished.


    "Good! Very good!" Saber King Mo He''s eyes lit up. "Not only have you comprehended External Saber Qi, but you have also chosen the most correct path. As long as you continue in this direction, you will surely comprehend Saber Realm and have a very high chance of completely comprehending the Nomological Laws of Saber!"


    "Congratulations, Junior Brother Fang Yuan!" Yan Luo was slightly shocked. Martial Uncle Mo He rarely handed out such praise.


    "I''m alone and only have a few in-name disciples. Would you like to be my disciple?"


    Mo He tried hard to squeeze out a smile on his stiff face, making a very unnatural expression.


    When true masters ran into excellent disciples, they were always eager to teach and accept them.


    "I do!" Fang Yuan bowed seriously but actually rolled his eyes in his mind. If Gold Ingot knew about this, he would surely laugh at me.


    For cultivators, it was quite commonplace to have different masters when they reach different realms.


    However, it was really quite funny for him to first have an Immortal master followed by an Apotheosis master.


    If not for the sake of probing information and searching for a clone mystic technique, Fang Yuan would not have done this.


    However, he had to endure it for now.


    "Good, very good!" Mo He helped Fang Yuan up. "I will try my best to teach you everything I know!"


    "Congratulations to Martial Uncle for receiving a great disciple! I will take my leave!" Yan Luo bowed and left the courtyard.


    When it was just the two of them, Mo He gave a long sigh that was full of a sense of desolation. "I don''t know if it''s a blessing or a curse for you to have me as a master."


    Why wait until now to say it! Fang Yuan rolled his eyes in his mind. "Please explain, Master!"


    "I came from a small tribe, but I was extremely talented. Although my totem was lackluster, I had a deep perception of saber skills. In the Materialization realm, I comprehended Saber Qi and became peerless. Eventually, I condensed the Primordial Core and entered the Holy Mountain!" Mo He said proudly but calmly.


    "In the Primordial Core realm, I comprehended Saber Realm and was just shy of completely comprehending the Nomological Laws of Saber. Thus, I traveled around¡­" His voice gradually aged. "But I didn''t know how to restrain myself and landed in trouble¡­ I have a fierce temper and offended many people. When they besieged me, although I luckily managed to completely comprehend the Nomological Laws of Saber, advance to the Apotheosis realm, and kill everyone, I was severely wounded. On top of that, due to extensive use of mystic techniques, my natural source was damaged. Not only can I no longer increase my cultivation, but my lifespan has also greatly shortened!"


    Primordial Core cultivators could extend their lifespan to three hundred years, and Apotheosis cultivators could live beyond a thousand years.


    However, this Mo He had an air of an old man despite being rather young. Fang Yuan finally understood why.


    "Moreover¡­ even on this Holy Mountain, I have offended many!" Mo He sighed. "Before¡­ their cultivation was lower than mine, and I had nothing to fear. But they have now caught up to me one after another."


    "So now that you know this, do you regret it?" He stared at Fang Yuan with a faint smile.


    "Since I''ve agreed to become your disciple, I will never regret it!"


    What else could Fang Yuan say? He could only put out an unyielding look.


    "Good! Good! Good! We practitioners of the saber need this kind of fearless demeanor!" Mo He''s eyes gleamed brightly. "In fact, I''m the only one who has comprehended the Nomological Laws of Saber in the entire Holy Mountain. Therefore, even if you went through the conventional procedure of ascending the Holy Mountain after condensing your Primordial Core, you would still only have me as your master.


    "I still have some time. I will teach you everything I know!


    "After becoming my direct disciple, you will have the status of a core disciple of the Holy Mountain. You can either choose to stay in a loft at the foot of the mountain, or you can choose to stay here with me. I will try my best to direct your cultivation. It''s a pity that your totem is a clam!" Mo He shook his head.


    "The first thing that I want to tell you is to ascend to the Primordial Core realm as fast as you can. Using the Destiny Magical Power as the foundation, the speed that you comprehend nomological laws at will be ten times as fast! A hundred times as fast! Unfortunately, your clam totem isn''t related to the Nomological Laws of Saber, no matter what magical power you use! But it doesn''t matter. My totem is very ordinary as well, and I was still able to reach this point with my comprehension ability alone!"


    "Understood!" Fang Yuan answered solemnly.


    In fact, he already had a thorough plan for his path and had absolutely no need for Mo He to guide him.


    He asked directly, "If I want to inscribe magical powers and learn mystic techniques, do I still need to go to the Barbarian Palace?"


    "Naturally, you don''t need to. It can be said that the Holy Mountain has everything the Barbarian Palace has, but that''s not the case the other way round!" Mo He said confidently. "Do you want to learn magical powers? Mystic techniques? Then head for the Holy Mountain''s Myriad Symbols Palace!"


    "Thank you, Master!" Fang Yuan was elated.


    He was finally in touch with the core of the Barbarian Ancestral Court. He wondered if a clone mystic technique, or any clues that led to one, was in this Myriad Symbols Palace.


    "If I can''t find it on the Holy Mountain, I can only utilize the resources here to practice the Hundred Physical Forging Technique and cultivate to the Primordial Core realm, and then travel the world to find it."

 1051 Making Things Difficul

    "It''s true that most things don''t go according to plan in life!" Fang Yuan sighed as he left the Myriad Symbols Palace.


    Although there was a staggeringly vast amount of magical powers and mystic techniques in the palace, it did not have what he wanted the most.


    "I didn''t even find anything that was remotely related to a clone mystic technique. But there were three time-type magical powers. Unfortunately, not only are they prohibitively expensive, but they''re even more unsuitable for inscribing on the Clam Dragon¡­


    "But I still need to exchange for these magical powers as a reserve! I can''t let space-type magical powers slip by either."


    Fang Yuan was determined.


    However, you still needed to have contribution points to exchange for magical powers in the Myriad Symbols Palace.


    These contributions naturally referred to contributions to the barbarians and the Holy Mountain, and you could only obtain them by doing missions.


    Of course, he could also turn in some magical powers, magic artifacts, information, and so on to exchange for them. However, he could only do it a few times. If he tried to turn in all the magical powers and cultivation techniques from the Pantheon Palace, the Holy Mountain would inevitably become suspicious.


    "Robbing them won''t work either. Looks like I will have to do missions."


    Fang Yuan''s eyes were still burning with determination. "After all, there are Immortal Patriarchs on Holy Mountain, so I can''t be too presumptuous. At least, I''ll have to wait until I have some certainty of success!"


    This did not mean fighting the Immortals. As long as they could not do anything about it, it would be a success!


    In this regard, even the Pantheon Palace was somewhat powerless.


    After all, even if an Immortal''s spiritual will did not detect it, as long as they saw Fang Yuan hiding in the immortal abode, they could quickly conclude what Fang Yuan was up to. By then, they could just scan the place inch by inch to find the Pantheon Pantheon, and then Fang Yuan would only be able to passively withstand attacks.


    "I''ll at least have to wait until the Illusion Realm''s nomological laws reach large success if I want to do as I please in the Hundred Thousand Mountains."


    The large success in the Illusion Realm''s nomological laws was just one step shy of complete comprehension.


    When the Nomological Laws of Saber achieved large success, it would produce Saber Realm.


    And the Illusion Realm''s nomological laws reaching large success had to be even more terrifying!


    After all, the harder the nomological laws were to comprehend, the more powerful they were! If he could completely comprehend the Illusion Realm''s nomological laws, then its power might rival some lesser Great Daos!


    "The Dao of Space is the best for mobility and saving myself. By that time, even Immortals can''t do anything to me, and then I''ll be able to do many things. "


    This was the bar Fang Yuan set for himself before he would venture outside the Hundred Thousand Mountain.


    "Master!" He returned to the residence and saw Saber King Mo He.


    "Hmm, how''s your saber practice coming along?"


    "I drew my saber ten thousand times and seemed to have gained something!" Fang Yuan waved his hand and unleashed Saber Qi that was stronger than yesterday.


    "Nice, really nice!" Mo He was dumbfounded for a moment and then became speechless.


    Such a strong disciple learns anything incredibly quickly. It''s quite a blow to the master¡­ he thought resignedly.


    However, he put on a smile on his face. "There''s indeed quite some improvement. Oh right, I heard that you were gathering the blood of nine types of mutated beasts and a thousand-year Blue Heart Fruit?"


    He tossed over a few gourds.


    "Blood of the lava-heart snake, infinite-strength heaven azure bull, and flying heaven thunder beast?" Fang Yuan checked the contents and was slightly shocked. "Thank you, Master!"


    "There are plenty of mutated beasts in the Hundred Thousand Mountains, and obtaining some blood is easy. But that isn''t the case for the thousand-year Blue Heart Fruit. It''s at the level of heavenly materials and earthly treasures and is a little troublesome¡­"


    Mo He was slightly puzzled. "What do you need them for?"


    "I had a fateful encounter and obtained a body refining technique. I need these things for that," Fang Yuan answered half truthfully.


    "I see. Indeed, a powerful body is very compatible with the Nomological Laws of Saber!" Mo He exclaimed. "As for this thousand-year Blue Heart Fruit, there''s an elder on the Holy Mountain, but¡­ I have a grudge with him."


    Fang Yuan rolled his eyes inside his mind when he heard this.


    It seemed all of the Apotheosis realm elders on the Holy Mountain had some sort of enmity with Saber King Mo He. This kind of enemy-making ability was also remarkable.


    He wondered if Mo He''s other in-name disciple had the feeling that they had been conned.


    "Oh well. I''ll put down my pride and go see Wu Qi!" Mo He gritted his teeth, and Fang Yuan began feeling hopeful.


    It seemed like it was just a small grudge.


    He eagerly wanted the thousand-year Blue Heart Fruit. If he managed to gather all the materials, he would be able to immediately reach the second level of the Hundred Physical Forging Technique, which also meant the fifth star of the Nine Star Pearl Mystic Technique!


    He had already unlocked four stars and was comparable to the peak of the Primordial Core realm. If he could unlock the fifth star, even if his advantage in comprehending nomological laws would be overtaken by Apotheosis realm powerhouses, he would at least be able to use his own strength to stay alive in front of them.


    ¡­


    Wu Qi''s residence was higher up the Holy Mountain, letting Fang Yuan know that his power and status were obviously a level higher than Mo He.


    "Wu Qi!" Mo He entered the door directly after reaching the place.


    There were singing and dancing in the great hall, and a fat and bald barbarian sat on the main seat enjoying himself. His eyes suddenly widened when he saw Mo He. "Mo He!? Why are you here?"


    "I heard you have a thousand-year Blue Heart Fruit. I am willing to trade for it with five dao talismans. What do you think?" Mo He tried his best to sound humble.


    "Thousand-year Blue Heart Fruit? Mo He¡­ are you¡­ are you pleading with me?"


    Wu Qi was taken aback and immediately touched the scar on his bald head.


    "That''s right!" Mo He said through gritted teeth.


    "Haha¡­ Who would have thought that the proud Saber King Mo He would one day have to plead with others? But¡­ no!" Wu Qi squinted his small eyes. "I won''t let you have your way!"


    "I''m not doing this for myself. It''s for my disciple." Mo He frowned.


    "This doesn''t change anything. He can only blame himself for choosing the wrong master!" Wu Qi looked at Fang Yuan and shifted his eyes. "Little fellow, you''re rather unlucky, but that''s not a problem. I will put this thousand-year Blue Heart Fruit up as a mission reward. If you want it, go do my mission. Haha¡­"


    "In that case, we''re leaving!" Mo He turned around and left with Fang Yuan.


    "I keep feeling¡­ he still hates you¡­" On the way, Fang Yuan asked doubtfully, "What grudge does he have with you?"


    "Oh!" Mo He turned around and answered nonchalantly, "That scar on his head¡­ I made it!"


    Fang Yuan had nothing to say.


    ¡­


    He knew long beforehand that Saber King Mo He had offended many people on the Holy Mountain and had bad relationships.


    However, only after a detailed investigation did he know exactly how ''bad'' it was.


    According to Mo He himself, the grudge between him and the fatso Wu Qi was on the more trivial side. After all, it was only a single strike in a duel.


    "The Mission Hall refreshed the list today. That Wu Qi has indeed published a mission to investigate the borders, and the thousand-year Blue Heart Fruit is part of the reward."


    Fang Yuan put the cards on the table with Mo He. "Master seems to have had some profound intentions with your actions yesterday."


    "You found out?" Mo He smiled slightly. "Of course, it would have been best if Wu Qi agreed, but since he didn''t, I used the moral high ground of training a new disciple to pressure him. I offered something that far exceeded the value of the thousand-year Blue Heart Fruit. As a result, he had to do something. Otherwise, I wouldn''t have minded debating with him over it at the patriarch''s place."


    Fang Yuan was a new disciple, and for his first time asking, he needed a thousand-year Blue Heart Fruit. If Wu Qi kept it at all costs, he would damage his reputation. It also would not be in line with some of the unspoken rules of the Holy Mountain.


    As such, Wu Qi put it up as a mission reward, a way making things difficult that was allowed within the unspoken rules.


    "However, the Mission Hall likely won''t publish missions that will certainly kill you. As long as it''s published, the rewards will scale proportionally with the difficulty. Just go and accept the mission!" Mo He said. "This is also some training for you. Although the journey will surely be arduous, you won''t be qualified to obtain the thousand-year Blue Heart Fruit if you can''t overcome the hardships and obstacles on the way!"


    "Yes!"


    Fang Yuan had a rough understanding of Mo He''s character now.


    Although he taught his disciples diligently, he did not mind putting them in dangers that were not guaranteed to kill them.


    According to him, the moment when life-and-death hung in the balance was the best opportunity for sudden enlightenment.


    Sigh¡­ He''s truly a saber maniac that loves to take risks. Although rewards are great, he would lose everything with one wrong step¡­ He was lucky to have returned to the Holy Mountain alive and live out his last years in peace.


    Fang Yuan rolled his eyes. "In that case, I''ll go and accept the mission."


    "Okay, go!" Mo He smiled. "Don''t forget to cultivate on the road and reach the Primordial Core realm as soon as you can!"


    This seems¡­ rather interesting.


    Fang Yuan''s lips immediately curled up as he stepped out of the courtyard.


    As a Demon God, even if he was still in the dormant phase, he had many tricks up his sleeve. It was good enough that he was not giving anyone trouble. But others wanted to give him trouble?


    Mo He wants to temper me, and his enemy wants to kill me. But at the beginning, the most he would send are some people at Primordial Core. What do I have to be scared of?


    Even if Apotheosis realm powerhouses came after him, as long as Fang Yuan hid in the Pantheon Palace, he would not have to worry about a thing.


    With this trump card, he naturally had nothing to fear.


    "Anyway, I''ll finish this mission as soon as possible and obtain the thousand-year Blue Heart Fruit!"


    ¡­


    Inside a palace''s secret room.


    Wu Qi caressed the saber scar on his head with a gloomy expression.


    He would never forget the man that made him suffer a horrible defeat, let alone forget that saber strike that nearly took his life.


    "Mo He, oh Mo He¡­ I can''t do anything to you if you hide on the Holy Mountain, but plenty of Apotheosis realm experts on the Holy Mountain wish for your death. And there are even more outside the Holy Mountain¡­


    "Since you want to help your disciple, I won''t let you have your way!


    "Not only that, I will kill him and end your line of succession!"


    For some masters, their disciples were even closer to them than their own children.


    Seeing how Saber King Mo He was even willing to act humble before him for Fang Yuan''s sake, this disciple had to be extremely important to him. Killing him would certainly make Mo He miserable.


    Wu Qi rubbed his thick chin, and his small eyes glowed with viscousness. "The Mission Hall won''t publish missions that will definitely kill the mission-taker, and the corresponding difficulty for the thousand-year Blue Heart Fruit isn''t too high either. However, I don''t need to do this myself. As long as I let the word out, haha¡­"


    The Holy Mountain forbade internecine strife, and Wu Qi did not have the courage to do it either.


    However, he did have the courage to spread the word and let others deal with Fang Yuan!


    "Boy who made Mo He your master, you''re out of luck this time!"

 1052 Discovery

    "Although the Hundred Thousand Mountain is dangerous, it still connects to the outside world at the Agonizing Eagle Gorge, Golden River, and Death Plains¡­


    "These three borders are all very dangerous, but there exist merchants who are willing to risk their lives to traverse them in order to earn ten times more or even a hundred times more profit!


    "At the same time, some outside sects want to infiltrate the Hundred Thousand Mountains! Traces of cultivators were found near the Agonizing Eagle Gorge, and I need to go there to investigate!"


    Riding a four-winged griffin, Fang Yuan opened the mission scroll and immediately knew more about the outside world.


    In fact, most of the missions on the Holy Mountain were tailored for the Primordial Core realm disciples.


    At their cultivation level, they were strong enough to obtain this high-level information.


    "Outside cultivators? I want to see what this is about!"


    ¡­


    The Eagle tribe was a small tribe near the Agonizing Eagle Gorge. Although the living conditions were harsh, ''merchants'' came here occasionally. They would trade materials such as beast skins, ores, herbs, and so on for steel weapons, white salt, and beautiful fabric and continue to survive.


    Therefore, this small tribe endured the living conditions through gritted teeth and did not choose to migrate.


    In a small woods nearby, two groups of youngsters were confronting each other.


    Although one group was few in number, they appeared triumphant. On the other hand, the larger group looked like they were merely putting on a fierce front but were actually weak.


    "Hei Tu, you''ve gone too far. Lan Yue is my woman!"


    A youth with large hands and feet and carrying a hunting bow on his back walked forward red-faced.


    "Hmph. We are bloodline warriors and should eat the most succulent meat, drink the finest wine, and sleep the most beautiful women!"


    A few youngsters showed their totem and were insufferably arrogantly. Their leader even curled his finger tauntingly. "Or¡­ you can challenge me. If you win, I will return Lan Yue to you!"


    "Argh!!" The young hunter yelled toward the sky, on the verge of tears.


    The barbarians had a tradition of robbing others'' brides. He and Lan Yue both loved each other, but who would have thought that Lan Yue would be snatched by the leader of these young totem warriors, Hei Tu, on their wedding day!


    Indeed, the only way to take Lan Yue back was to defeat Hei Tu.


    The young hunter finally shouted, "I-I challenge you!"


    "Good. You''re courting your own death!" Hei Tu was delighted. "You all heard it. He''s the one who issued the warrior challenge to me, so he can''t blame me if he dies!"


    Roar Roar!


    Behind him, a black tiger totem emerged and pounced.


    Although the young hunter tried hard to swing his knife, the tiger managed to swipe his arm, causing blood to gush out.


    Even without being at the Materialization realm, a totem''s physical enhancement made fighting ordinary people a piece of cake.


    "Die!" Hei Tu kicked the young man over with one foot and stepped on his face with the other.


    "Stop!" The shout came with a pebble cutting through the air.


    "Hmm?" Hei Tu used his hand to block the pebble, and his entire body felt like a heavy hammer had hit him. He took a few steps back. "It''s you¡­ Hei Jue?"


    "Big Bro Hei Jue, you''re finally here!"


    The other youngsters quickly made way for him. Hei Jue was clearly highly regarded among them.


    "Hei Tu, don''t take things too far!"


    Hei Jue was a thin, black young man with ordinary looks, and he was frowning.


    "Everything I''ve done is in accordance with the tribe''s rules!" Hei Tu said proudly. "We are bloodline warriors, and you''re just mortals! Good things should belong to us!"


    Only one in ten thousand could awaken totems. Moreover, they could master all kinds of amazing magical powers later on.


    Compared to them, ordinary barbarians were indeed mere mortals.


    "Really? Then I''ll show you the strength of mortals today!"


    Hei Jue raised his iron sword with a solemn expression.


    "Sword? Fancy but useless stuff from the outside world!"


    Hei Tu obviously did not dare to be careless against Hei Jue and drew his saber. "Kill!"


    He pounced forward fiercely and slashed with his saber.


    Ding!


    The clear sound of metal clashing rang out. The iron sword narrowly pierced Hei Tu''s arm, making him drop the saber and bleed.


    "What? How could I lose to someone without a totem?" Hei Tu''s eyes were wide, his face full of disbelief.


    "Get lost!" Hei Jue''s expression was cold while thinking to himself, According to Master''s instructions, I am just an ordinary person in the eyes of the barbarian higher-ups. Defeating totem warriors using combat skills alone is still within reason, but I would have to admit defeat immediately if I run into Materialization realm experts. Otherwise, I''d be in big trouble!


    "Hei Jue, you just wait!" Hei Tu cursed angrily before turning to leave. After I advance to the Materialization realm, I will kill him!


    Materialization cultivators were almost the strongest within small tribes, comparable to Brutal Thunder of the Flybarb tribe.


    No one would dare question him casually killing someone ordinary if he had this status.


    "Thank you, Big Bro Hei Jue!" The youngster wearing animal skin said sincerely, "My life is yours from now on!"


    "We''re brothers. No need to be polite!" Hei Jue patted his chest and put on a righteous front. "Let''s go have some wine and meat!"


    By nighttime, a figure sneaked out of the tribe and into the woods.


    "Greetings, Master!"


    The figure was none other than Hei Jue. He entered a cave and saw a middle-aged man wearing robes in front of him. He kowtowed. "Today, I¡­"


    "Hmm, according to what you said, using martial arts to defeat a Predatory realm warrior is no big deal¡­" The middle-aged man nodded slowly after listening. "However¡­ although I told you to gather men and raise your reputation, you must take care not to reveal too much of your martial power. Understood?"


    "Understood!" Hei Jue nodded solemnly. "The totem warriors are above us. We mortals must accumulate enough strength to topple them completely before taking action!"


    "It''s good that you understand this. How''s your progress with the ''Three Sun Diagram'' that I passed to you?


    "Master, I have some questions¡­" Hei Jue was pleased to hear the question.


    What his master taught him was an extremely ingenious cultivation technique that even ordinary people without totems could cultivate.


    This was the hope of becoming strong!


    "All right¡­ what I''ve taught you today is enough to last until mid Foundation Establishment. Find me again after you break through!"


    The middle-aged man nodded and sent Hei Jue away. "Unexpectedly, this barbarian has decent comprehension regarding cultivation. It''s a pity his talent isn''t top tier!"


    The outside world had an entirely different cultivation system compared to totems.


    As a result, even ordinary barbarians could produce extremely talented geniuses!


    Moreover, even if the comprehension of barbarians was mostly mediocre, exceptions happened occasionally.


    Once discovered, the sect that the middle-aged cultivator belonged to would abduct them and turn them into direct disciples.


    These recruiters, including the middle-aged man himself, were actually just cannon fodder!


    "It can''t be helped. The Hundred Thousand Mountains is just too attractive. Mutated beasts, heavenly materials and earthly treasures, and precious ores are all very important for cultivation¡­ In addition, with these many barbarians, it''s possible that someone with peerless cultivation talent will emerge!"


    The middle-aged man sighed. "It''s infuriating that the Barbarian Ancestral Court is too barbaric and foolish and won''t allow the cultivation forces to infiltrate. If it weren''t for those few Immortal Patriarchs, we would have leveled the barbarian mountains long ago."


    "Level the barbarian mountains, that''s impressive!" A youth in beast skin appeared with a smile on his face. "I wonder which sect you''re from?"


    "Hmm? Barbarian Materialization cultivator?" The middle-aged cultivator paused for a second and then thought to himself resentfully, He must have followed Hei Jue here. What a fool, being careless and ruining my plan!


    "My dao name is Venerable Illusion Realm. You are¡­" Fang Yuan casually made up a name.


    "Venerable? You''re merely a Materialization cultivator, equivalent to our Foundation Establishment stage and below Golden Core, but you have the face to call yourself a venerable?" The middle-aged man sneered. "My name is Liu He, and my dao name is Venerable Willow!"


    His eyes darted around. I wonder if this Venerable Illusion Realm followed Hei Jue here alone, or did he already report to the powerful barbarians?


    If it was the first case, he could kill Fang Yuan and continue hiding.


    If it was the second case, he would have to completely abandon this place.


    "Rest assured. I just happened to meet that youth in the Eagle tribe and followed him here out of curiosity¡­ You haven''t answered my question, sir," said Fang Yuan with a smile, seeming as though he could read Liu He''s thoughts.


    "Haha¡­ people like me are already doomed the moment we''re sent out from the sect. Why would I tell others my sect''s name?" Liu He said calmly.


    His spiritual will was expanding rapidly. This Venerable Illusion Realm dared to come here despite being at the Materialization realm. He must have backup!


    "Go ahead. I haven''t met any Golden Core cultivators from the outside world. I hope you don''t¡­ disappoint!"


    Fang Yuan drew his Nine Profound Spirit Saber and swung casually.


    Zap!


    External Saber Qi that was a few meters long appeared and crashed toward Liu He like a furious dragon.


    "Phantom Shield!"


    In front of Liu He, a small black shield appeared to block the Saber Qi. It produced a loud noise that shook the cave, and rocks started raining down.


    "Go!"


    The two powerful men exchanged glances, and both flew out of the cave as rays of light.


    "You actually have a spirit artifact!" Looking at the saber in Fang Yuan''s hands and the shallow mark on the Phantom Shield, a pained expression appeared on Venerable Liu He''s face.


    "There''s actually no ambush?" His expression turned joyful, and a small sword that was just a foot long flew out from his body. The sword enlarged in an instant, and then he stood on it.


    Flying on a sword!


    This was a specialty of outside cultivators. On the other hand, barbarians were unable to fly using their bodies before the Apotheosis realm unless they used a flying magical power.


    "Another one who wants to take the positional advantage!"


    Fang Yuan shook his head, and a cloud of mist appeared below his feet, carrying him into the air.


    "Ride on Clouds Magical Power!"


    Venerable Liu He nodded. "Your talent can be considered excellent. Unfortunately, you are going to die today!"

 1053 Comrades

    Liu He was a Golden Core Venerable, equivalent to the Primordial Core realm of the barbarians!


    Dealing with someone at the Materialization realm was like using a sledgehammer to kill a fly.


    With a flick of his sleeve, dense and numerous Sword Qi appeared in the air.


    "It seems¡­ the cultivators from outside might not have the assistance of a totem, but they''re well versed in the use of magic artifacts and the comprehension of nomological laws!"


    Fang Yuan nodded. "Come!"


    "Ten Thousand Swords, go!" Liu He stretched out a finger, and Sword Qi fell like raindrops.


    "Attack!" Fang Yuan drew his saber and chopped. White radiance flooded the world like the sun, melting the overwhelming Sword Qi.


    "Hmm?" Liu He was startled. "You¡­ comprehended Saber Realm?"


    Even among these outside cultivators, being able to comprehend Saber Realm at the Foundation Establishment stage was an incredible feat.


    "How is it?" Fang Yuan confronted Liu He while holding his saber.


    "I underestimated you, but¡­" Liu He''s face flashed red, and a sword domain appeared and expanded.


    "About time!" Fang Yuan laughed loudly, letting Saber Realm and Sword Realm clash, numerous Saber Qi and Sword Qi dissipate. They were actually on par.


    "This Venerable Illusion Realm!" Liu He was incomparably shocked. "His cultivation is lower than mine, but he can fight evenly with me. Obviously, his compression of the Nomological Laws of Saber has surpassed mine of the sword!"


    "It seems like¡­ there''s no way to kill someone at Golden Core with my most basic strength!" Fang Yuan tried a few times but still shook his head. "Take this!"


    He rode on the cloud and rushed forward.


    "Die!" Liu He immediately mobilized many flying swords to poke numerous holes into this figure, yet no blood flowed out.


    "Hmm? Illusion?"


    He, of course, did not know that it was all too easy for Fang Yuan''s Clam Dragon totem to fool Golden Core spiritual will.


    At this moment, Fang Yuan appeared by his side and chopped out!


    "Go!" In his shock, Liu He spat out another sword light onto the saber.


    "Double Blade!" Fang Yuan''s eyes shone. Beside the original saber, a second one appeared. It cut through Liu He''s body and split his Golden Core.


    Ping!


    The Golden Core immediately exploded, and the small human figure within instantly disappeared.


    "Good!" Fang Yuan landed on the ground and savored that blow just now.


    "This is indeed the Illusion Realm''s nomological laws. I''ve only comprehended basic mastery, and it has helped me defeat a powerful enemy!


    "If I couple my current strength with the Nine Star Pearl, killing ordinary Primordial Core cultivators would be as easy as killing chicken!"


    The Double Blade technique used the principle of spatial refraction.


    Like just now, Liu He had clearly avoided the fatal blow from the visible saber, but how was he going to dodge the same saber with the same force appearing right beside it? He had not been ready for it!


    "I wonder if he has anything good on him¡­" Fang Yuan went to the side of Liu He''s corpse and turned it over slightly. "Three spirit artifacts¡ªa phantom shield and two flying swords¡ªsome pills and clothing¡­ No cultivation manuals nor identity tokens¡­ If I were to return like this, it wouldn''t count as fulfilling my task."


    His task was to investigate, and it would have been best to capture Liu He alive and have some solid proof.


    Unfortunately, he did not think too much when killing Liu He. Furthermore, there was no token on him.


    "But¡­ he obviously belongs to a sect. There should be someone behind him. Well, I can always bring that Hei Jue back as a witness!"


    The path of cultivation was free, and everything had the chance to be successful. To be honest, Fang Yuan appreciated that Hei Jue, but he would not show any mercy if there was a conflict of interest.


    "I''m a barbarian and have a totem after all! Would the outside cultivation world really accept me if I were to rely on them?" Fang Yuan sneered.


    The world outside was wary of people outside their race, and the same went for the barbarians.


    It was simply foolish to abandon his roots before amassing decisive power.


    ¡­


    "Wu Cheng, leader of the Eagle tribe, humbly greets the envoy from the Holy Mountain!" A middle-aged man in beast hides bowed to Fang Yuan.


    "Okay, bring a few of your men and follow me!" Fang Yuan said lightly.


    "Understood!" Wu Cheng immediately ordered, "Hei Yong, bring Hei Tu and some others. Follow me!"


    The group found Hei Jue and his friends still eating meat.


    "Haha¡­ Hei Jue, you better surrender!" Hei Tu shouted


    "Hmm?" Hei Jue turned, saw Fang Yuan and the rest, and his pupils shrank. He sprung up immediately. "Leader and this master here. I have a grudge with Hei Tu, so please don''t just listen to his side of the story!"


    "You are one of the rare smart ones among the barbarians. You correctly guessed that my status isn''t lower than your leader and suspected that Hei Tu accused you. Such a pity¡­


    "Why did you seek the cultivation methods of the outside world and betray us barbarians?" Fang Yuan asked suddenly.


    "What?" Many youngsters were astonished.


    The biggest crime among the barbarians was betraying the Holy Mountain, defecting to the outside world, and learning their cultivation methods.


    The so-called ''cultivation methods'' were naturally the fundamental cultivation techniques of the cultivation world.


    As for martial arts like the Chaotic Cloak, they were common, and most importantly, they could not pose any threat to the higher echelons and were therefore not banned.


    I can''t admit this! Hei Jue bit his lips. "Sir, do you have evidence?"


    "Evidence? My words themselves constitute evidence!" Fang Yuan glared and waved his saber casually.


    Zap!


    A thread of Saber Qi fell from above Hei Jue, threatening to cut him in half.


    "Ahh!"


    Feeling Fang Yuan''s killing intent, Hei Jue exploded. A green leaf magic artifact appeared above his head and blocked the attack.


    "See?" Fang Yuan smiled. "Even the strongest warrior in your tribe probably wouldn''t be able to take him down. He didn''t awaken his totem, so isn''t this learning the cultivation methods of the outside world?"


    "You have a great eye, Sir! Hei Jue, what else do you have to say!" Hei Tu exclaimed excitedly. This is the end for Hei Jue!


    "Go!" Hei Jue gritted his teeth and stepped onto the green leaf magic artifact in an attempt to fly away.


    But just at that moment, two External Saber Qi appeared and penetrated his legs, making him scream and roll down.


    "Seal his dantian, pluck his teeth, and bound his limbs. Be careful. You absolutely can''t let him die!"


    He was important evidence for Fang Yuan to complete his mission, and he was not going to let go of it.


    "Eh?" He looked up and saw a black dot not far away.


    That black dot became bigger until it finally became a majestic four-winged griffin.


    Chirp chirp!


    The huge griffin landed on the ground, flapping its wings and moving sand about.


    A few Primordial Core realm cultivators jumped down, two males and one female. The female with a red dot between her eyebrows asked happily, "Are you Junior Brother Fang Yuan?"


    "It''s me. You are¡­" Fang Yuan stepped forward.


    "We are also disciples of the Holy Mountain that took on the investigative mission. We happened to see Junior Brother''s registration. How about we do the mission together?" The girl with the red mole smiled with a touch of intimacy.


    "Senior Brothers and Senior Sister are¡­"


    "I''m Hong Ling. These two are Qing Meng and Yuan Wu!" Hong Ling smiled as she introduced the other two young men.


    Qing Meng was on the thin side, while Yuan Wu was rather big with a murderous glint in his eyes.


    "Every disciple from the Holy Mountain should unite and help each other out. Junior Brother, your cultivation is lower, so we should complete the mission together!" Qing Meng said, showing concern.


    Hmph, one who is unaccountably solicitous is hiding evil intentions. Moreover¡­ Mo He has few good friends on the Holy Mountain¡­ Fang Yuan sneered in his heart. "Thank you, Seniors, but I''ve already completed the mission!"


    "What?" This startled Hong Ling, and she quickly exchanged glances with the other two.


    "I was lucky to find the trace of a cultivator when I came to the Eagle tribe. I''ve killed him and have taken down this dark seed, Hei Jue! He cultivated the methods from the outside world and was in contact with the cultivators! The patriarchs will know once they interrogate him."


    There was no shortage of hallucination and soul-searching methods in the Holy Mountain. Even Fang Yuan could use an illusion to make Hei Jue spit out the truth.


    "Good! Junior Brother is amazing!" Hong Ling said merrily. "However, one Hei Jue is a bit inadequate since he''s just cannon fodder. Would he know the names of the sects behind this?"


    "This¡­" Fang Yuan feigned hesitation.


    "Come, we''ve been busy all the way. Let''s have a good meal first before discussing this," Hong Ling suggested with a smile.


    "That''s it!" Qing Meng seemed to think of something as his eyes brightened. He secretly transmitted, "This guy is just at the Materialization realm. The elder of the mission hall won''t nitpick since he could complete his mission to this stage. We should¡­ kill Hei Jue secretly so that he has no choice but to continue the mission with us!


    "Hong Ling and I will keep Fang Yuan busy. Yuan Wu, you kill him secretly. Be careful to make it seem like he died of heavy internal injuries¡­"


    ¡­


    In a cave, some distance away from the Eagle tribe.


    Fog surrounded it, obviously an array, and there was a simple building in the center.


    "Liu He is dead!" An old man in purple-gold robe suddenly opened his eyes and touched the storage bag around his waist. A broken jade emerged from it. "He went to the Eagle tribe, right? Did he meet with a strong enemy? Send the order down to the agents nearby to see what happened."


    Liu He''s life-and-death jade was not a blood jade. It had a simple notification function to tell this leader that he was dead.


    An Immortal Patriarch had to be willing to make a real blood jade with a few rare and precious materials. Only the core disciples of the outside world had them.


    Originally, Liu He was not even fit to have a life-and-death jade. However, he had received one since he was undercover in the Hundred Thousand Mountains.

 1054 Mysterious Realm

    A few days later.


    Fang Yuan followed Hong Ling and the rest into the Agonizing Eagle Gorge.


    Hong Ling exchanged glances with Yuan Wu and Qing Meng and then turned her head to comfort him. "Sigh¡­ Junior Brother, you are really unlucky. You caught a spy, but he died of his injuries¡­"


    "I never thought that a cultivator would have such a weak constitution that he would die after bleeding a little¡­" Fang Yuan sighed as well but was on his guard in his heart. Hei Jue''s death must be because of these three! Looks like they don''t want me to complete the mission! But I''m sure they won''t dare to go against the rules of the Holy Mountain to kill me. So¡­ do they want to send me into some dangerous place for others to finish me off?


    After becoming Mo He''s disciple, he had naturally left a blood jade on the Holy Mountain.


    If he died and the image sent back was of his seniors killing him, it might just alarm the Immortal Patriarchs!


    Therefore, these three either had to plot something that seemed like there was no foul play, resort to external forces, or send him somewhere that could isolate the blood jade!


    "Danger is aplenty in the Agonizing Eagle Gorge, but it''s also where cultivators are most likely to hide!" Qing Meng was like a real senior brother now, explaining everything in detail to Fang Yuan. "There are many mysterious realms in this gorge!"


    "Mysterious realms? I haven''t heard about it before!" Fang Yuan replied with glee.


    "How do you think this Agonizing Eagle Gorge formed?" Qing Meng asked with a small smile. "I read in an ancient book that it was created through a battle between two unfathomably strong existences. One of them used his saber and split open the Agonizing Eagle Gorge! This is why the void here isn''t stable and is affected by nomological power, creating many mysterious realms¡­ Businessmen who go through here dare not go too close."


    "Is it very dangerous in these mysterious realms?"


    "Not necessarily. There might be some inheritance and treasures, but there are definitely more dangers than anything else, especially since some of the mysterious realms aren''t stable and could explode at any time¡­ That power, perhaps even the Immortal Patriarchs might¡­" Yuan Wu interjected.


    "So¡­ you think that cultivation sect might be hiding within a mysterious realm?" Fang Yuan guessed.


    "That''s right. That''s why we need to search one by one!" Hong Ling replied with a smile.


    Yet she was thinking silently in her heart. The people we notified should be arriving soon. Anyway, we can''t be involved in this matter! It''s not a bad idea to start in the Agonizing Eagle Gorge!


    At this point, she said, "It''s getting late. Let''s rest here first and continue tomorrow."


    "All right!" Fang Yuan looked around at the surroundings. The mountains were beautiful, and the river was clean, a great place to bury bones. He nodded.


    "I''ll set up a defense array. I recently obtained a set of array flags!" Qing Meng immediately jumped out and took the initiative to stick the small red flags all around them.


    A misty array formed, isolating the inside from the outside.


    "This is¡­ Small Restriction Origin Banner?" Gold Ingot''s surprised voice came from the white jade ring.


    "Do you recognize this array?" Fang Yuan asked secretly without betraying his emotions.


    "Hmm, the defense of this banner is common, but it''s most famous for being able to block some information transmissions. Some immortal cave abodes like to use this!"


    "What about the blood jade''s transmission?"


    "It can be blocked. They don''t have good intentions. Be careful!"


    "Looks like they really can''t wait."


    ¡­


    Fang Yuan sneered in his heart and sat cross-legged to rest.


    In his view, the mysterious realms in the Agonizing Eagle Gorge were just spatial distortions. They could help in his enlightenment and comprehension of the Illusion Realm''s nomological laws.


    Since the three of them mentioned it, he started sensing the Saber Qi within this Agonizing Eagle Gorge.


    The might of a saber could actually make permanent changes to the terrain. The person who did this clearly surpassed Immortal!


    "If my senses are right, the one who created this Agonizing Eagle Gorge must have comprehended the Saber Great Dao and transcended Immortal! Does¡­ an Immortal have to comprehend a complete Great Dao if they want to break through?!"


    He felt as though he gained some enlightenment.


    "Look, that Fang Yuan is actually starting to cultivate. He isn''t worried about us at all¡­"


    The three of them hid in a corner and started to converse quietly. "Naive!"


    "Well¡­ as someone from the Holy Mountain, I really don''t want to hurt him. Unfortunately, we can''t go against Master''s orders!" Qing Meng sighed. "Send the signal!"


    Yuan Wu went out of the array silently and came back a moment later. "They''ll be here in the middle of the night and have five Primordial Core Fey beasts attack!"


    "We might have the Small Restriction Origin Banner, but we have to be on our guard in case fragments were to travel back. We can''t be suspected¡­"


    ¡­


    They were naturally more enthusiastic toward Fang Yuan after they were done discussing their foul plan.


    Fang Yuan accepted it.


    He was afraid of no one as long as they were not an Immortal and did not mind playing along with these three.


    "Junior Brother, rest assured. A Golden Pill Venerable is the highest among these cultivators¡­"


    Hong Ling had no idea that Fang Yuan had already dealt with a Golden Pill Venerable. She continued in a relaxed manner, "Also¡­ they rarely dare to fight with us since the Hundred Thousand Mountains is our territory!"


    "That''s true¡­" Fang Yuan''s smile was a little awkward as he thought of Venerable Liu He.


    This cultivator''s performance was obviously weird. He probably still had a huge network behind him.


    Is my luck so good that I hit the jackpot in my first investigative mission? Fang Yuan looked strangely at the three in the Primordial Core realm next to him. In that case, are they here to kill me or here to help to prevent disaster from befalling me?


    ¡­


    "I followed it all the way to this place. This must be it!"


    An elder in purple-gold robes appeared above the Small Restriction Origin Banner Array just as Fang Yuan and the rest were having dinner.


    He did not rely on the power of a magic artifact as he stood in the sky, possessing the aura of an expert.


    Flying with his physical body, he was an expert at the Apotheosis realm!


    At this realm, he would be the envy of many, even in the Holy Mountain! A life-long target for many barbarians.


    The survival rate of the lightning tribulation was insignificant to say the least!


    Cultivating to the Apotheosis realm meant having a lifespan of a thousand years, which was more than ten times that of ordinary mortals and enough to satisfy many cultivators.


    They might yearn for immortality, but that terrifying lightning tribulation was enough to stop most of them at the peak of the Apotheosis realm.


    "According to the spies, four Holy Mountain envoys appeared in the Eagle tribe¡­ Three of them are at the Primordial Core realm. They should be the ones who attacked Liu He for him to die!"


    This Apotheosis realm powerhouse would never have thought that Liu He perished in the hands of someone at the Materialization realm, thus the conclusion. "A mere Small Restriction Origin Banner Array wants to stop me?"


    He grinned and struck out his palm.


    The Qi of Heaven and Earth surged and transformed into an angry dragon that slammed on the array.


    Rumble!


    The array burst. The three of them merrily eating were shocked. "Apo-apotheosis realm cultivator!?"


    "Dare to kill my disciple, die!"


    The elder in the purple-gold robes sneered and flipped his hand.


    Nine golden dragons growled and snarled as they attacked.


    Roar Roar!


    The ground was raging as the golden dragon danced in the air.


    Fang Yuan, Qing Meng, and Yuan Wu flickered and rushed out of the attack range.


    "So strong. Junior Sister Hong Ling died in just one move¡­" Qing Meng''s eyes were nearly bulging out. "This person must be a Nascent Soul cultivator, comparable to our Apotheosis realm!"


    "All because of you¡­" Yuan Wu''s red eyes stared at Fang Yuan, as though he would attack him the next moment.


    "Oh?" Fang Yuan asked innocently, "Why are you blaming me?"


    "Let''s not talk about this now. Escape!" Qing Meng saw the Nascent Soul old man''s gaze sweep toward them and shouted in fear, "Split up!"


    He felt very aggrieved inside.


    A Nascent Soul stage cultivator was absolutely someone high-level in the sects of the outside world.


    Why would such a person do something that involved life and death?


    "Go!"


    A cloud appeared around Fang Yuan, bringing him away from this place. He controlled his speed to be similar to the two Primordial Core cultivators.


    "Someone at Foundation Establishment can unexpectedly achieve such speed while escaping. Not bad!" The Nascent Soul cultivator was surprised. He chased after Yuan Wu.


    He patted the spirit beast bag around his waist as he chased. Two winged Fey beasts appeared, howling and chasing after Fang Yuan and Qing Meng.


    "A Primordial Core realm Fey beast!" Qing Meng''s face showed a hint of despair. "I must not be distracted by it. If not, that old man will come after me once he''s done with Yuan Wu!"


    He would kill in the same order if it were him, from strong to weak.


    His eyes widened the next moment.


    A fog cloud was actually flying quickly toward him with a winged Fey wolf behind it.


    "Fang Yuan, are you trying to kill me?"


    Qing Meng turned, but Fang Yuan also followed.


    "Senior Brother, I thought of a good place to escape to. Right in front!"


    Qing Meng looked up. A colorful brilliance appeared across the surface of a lake.


    "Mysterious realm? It''s a good place to avoid the Nascent Soul cultivator''s spiritual will, provided we deal with the two Fey wolves first!"


    He hesitated no longer and entered into the brilliance.


    Fang Yuan followed suit.


    Suddenly, space warped, showing a place more than sixteen acres large with overgrown weeds and without much Qi of Heaven and Earth.


    "It''s a barren mysterious realm! What luck!"


    Qing Meng nodded and looked at the two Fey wolves that rushed in. "Just nice. Let''s kill them first, and then we should be able to hide for some time."


    They had called for help when they met with the attack earlier, but the reinforcements would not arrive so quickly.


    However, there was a secret in Qing Meng''s heart. In a short while, the five Primordial Core Fey beast would arrive. They should be able to attract attention away from him, maybe even scare the enemy away. He would be a chance of survival then!

 1055 Slaughter

    "Ahwhoooo!"


    Two winged wolves circled around, baring ferocious teeth and claws, exuding savageness.


    "There''s no need to growl. The isolation power of this mysterious realm is greater than the Small Restriction Origin Banner. Even the Nascent Soul can''t sense you¡­"


    Qing Meng''s face was icy cold as a Fey wolf growled behind him.


    It might be one against two at the Primordial Core realm, but he was a core disciple of the Holy Mountain. He had superb magical powers and had no problem fending for himself for the time being.


    Now, he would just open a path for the Fey wolves to kill Fang Yuan.


    Fang Yuan stepped back and asked calmly, "Senior Brother, what are you doing?"


    "It''s all your fault!" Qing Meng turned around with bloodshot eyes. "If it wasn''t for you, how would it have come to this?"


    "What are you saying? I don''t understand!"


    "Blame your master, Mo He¡­ He offended too many people. If not, we wouldn''t have come out to monitor you specifically¡­" Qing Meng was obviously very assured about the mysterious realm. "Do you know why I stopped pretending? Because I don''t want to wait for anyone to come or anything else to happen! I''ll let the Fey wolves kill you now! The blood jade won''t be able to transmit anything back. Even if it does, it''ll just show that my ''assistance'' was weak!"


    "You actually want to kill me?" Fang Yuan smiled mysteriously. "Senior Brother, do you know that I have an ace up my sleeve?"


    "Oh? What?"


    Qing Meng crossed his arms proudly, still firm in his thinking that someone merely at the Materialization realm could do nothing to him.


    "One of the things I''m best at is killing those at the Primordial Core realm while at the Materialization realm!" Fang Yuan smiled at Qing Meng while an imprint appeared on his forehead. "Nine Star Pearl Mystic Technique¡­ fourth star, activate!"


    Poof!


    A thread of Saber Qi appeared directly behind Qing Meng''s head, beheading him in one strike.


    "I don''t need to be worried since blood jade transmissions aren''t likely in the mysterious realm."


    Fang Yuan sneered and turned his attention toward the two Fey wolves.


    They sensed that something was wrong and wanted to escape, but it was in vain because Fang Yuan slaughtered them with ease.


    ¡­


    Outside the mysterious realm, thunder was rumbling in the sky. Five huge Fey beasts were faintly visible and surrounding the purple-robed Nascent Soul old man in the center.


    "Outside cultivator? How dare you come to the Hundred Thousand Mountains? Aren''t you afraid of being entangled by us before eventually being killed by the patriarchs of the Holy Mountain?" A winged snake hissed.


    "Hmph. Fey and barbarians are enemies. How dare you use the Immortal barbarians to talk me down!" The purple-robed Nascent Soul Stage old man''s eyes seemed to contain lightning. "Moreover¡­ the Barbarian Ancestral Court, haha¡­ might not be able to continue existing!"


    He made a small move, and a huge purple cauldron appeared.


    Thunder and fire emerged, and the cauldron immediately sucked the five Primordial Core Fey in.


    "So strong!" As he walked out of the mysterious realm, Fang Yuan''s pupils shrank upon seeing this. "The Nascent Soul and Apotheosis realms are indeed far more powerful than the Primordial Core realm! Moreover¡­ this old man is just at the early stage. This purple cauldron is probably a dao artifact. He probably cultivates terrifying nomological laws!"


    The Primordial Core Fey collided and struggled against the purple cauldron, but none managed to escape. Every last one of them was refined.


    "Ah!!! Humans!"


    Towards the end, a white wolf Fey with a single horn on its forehead gave its last cry and vomited out its Fey core.


    Bang!


    The purple cauldron shook, and cracks appeared on its surface, but it did not break and continued to turn the Fey wolf into ashes.


    "I heard that the toughest magic weapons to refine for those outside cultivators are cauldrons, seals, and banners. However, once the refining is successful, they will often have incredible power. I see that it''s true today!"


    Fang Yuan nodded. "That white Fey wolf has a special bloodline and was the strongest among the five Great Fey, but it couldn''t struggle free of the purple cauldron. Is a Nascent Soul cultivator really that strong?"


    The purple-robed old man turned toward Fang Yuan all of a sudden, with both eyes like lightning. "My two spirit beasts have lost contact, and your Primordial Core realm companion has disappeared as well. They should be in a nearby mysterious realm. Tell me honestly, and I can spare your life!"


    He appeared beside Fang Yuan the next instant.


    "Yes¡­ Senior Brother Qing Meng lured the two wolf Fey into that mysterious realm in the lake¡­"


    Fang Yuan pretended to be afraid and brought the old man to the entrance of the mysterious realm.


    This old man''s aura¡­ hasn''t changed the slightest, but there must be a drain on him since the purple cauldron has cracks, and he killed so many Primordial Core realm experts at once!


    His thoughts were spinning fast, not resisting as the old man grabbed him and entered the mysterious realm.


    "Kill!"


    Once they entered, Fang Yuan was expressionless as he activated the fourth star and chopped with all his might.


    The Nine Star Pearl was fully active. He was now at mid Materialization and enhancing his strength by sixteenfold, meaning that he was almost equivalent to the early Apotheosis realm. Coupled with his comprehension of the Nomological Laws of Saber at great success, Saber Realm, this attack made the old man change countenance immediately. "You¡­"


    This Nascent Soul cultivator was also down on his luck. He had never imagined that a Materialization realm cultivator could launch an attack at the level of the Apotheosis realm!


    Clang!


    At the critical moment, the jade pendant around his waist flashed and turned into a black shield.


    At the same time, his right hand attacked without hesitation. "Purple Fire Cauldron!"


    "Pfft!" Purple Qi in the shape of a cauldron landed on Fang Yuan, making him fly backward and spit blood all over.


    At the same time, his Saber Qi fell on the shield, and the sound of shattering rang out.


    The purple-robed old was not happy at all as he looked at his jade pendant. There was an obvious crack on it.


    "Damn it, you little¡­"


    He waved his hand, gathered the Qi of Heaven and Earth into a light dragon, and was about to release it.


    However, he was stunned the next moment.


    Fang Yuan, who was still flying through the air, suddenly disappeared.


    "As expected of the invisibility restriction of the Pantheon Palace. Even an Immortal would miss it if they didn''t examine closely, let alone merely someone at Nascent Soul!"


    Fang Yuan gazed through a light screen at the purple-robed cultivator. Coldness spread across his face. "Ready¡­"


    "Impossible. Why did he suddenly disappear? Did he trigger some invisible restriction?"


    The cultivator went to where Fang Yuan had disappeared and started to examine carefully.


    "Die, old fool!" An arm wielding a saber suddenly appeared from the void. "Double Blade!"


    "Purple Cauldron Protection!" shouted the purple-robed cultivator. The purple cauldron appeared and enveloped him in it. The jade protection on his body also activated.


    Pfft!


    Two saber lights successively cut through the purple cauldron and the jade protection. The power dissipated.


    "Haha¡­ Boy, you can''t kill me!"


    The cultivator revealed a smile, but his expression changed when he saw yet another saber light. "This is¡­"


    "Triple Blade!!!"


    Fang Yuan appeared from the void and landed the blow directly on the cultivator''s body.


    A small, human-sized figure appeared with the same facial features as the cultivator. It hugged a small cauldron, glared at Fang Yuan venomously, and started to fly away.


    Saber Qi emerged from the void and landed squarely on the Nascent Soul''s forehead.


    It shrieked, fell, and dissipated in midair.


    "I wonder what I can do with the Nascent Soul of a cultivator."


    Fang Yuan quickly formed some hand seals, and silky lights shot out, enveloping the Nascent Soul and sealing it inside a jade box.


    A Nascent Soul stage cultivator, akin to a barbarian Apotheosis realm powerhouse, fell to his saber! Utterly destroyed!


    "That move just now!"


    Fang Yuan was in a daze as he stood holding his saber in the mysterious realm.


    The spatial refraction of the Triple Blade was the improvement he had obtained in the Illusion Realm''s nomological laws through comprehending the mysterious realm.


    But what made him overjoyed was something else¡ªthe other space mystery contained in that last move.


    "The Illusion Realm''s nomological laws are the Nomological Laws of Space. How can there only be a refraction effect? I accidentally just used another kind¡­ Ignore defense and attack the opponent''s vital points directly!"


    Space was void. If the saber could fold, it could also penetrate.


    For example, directly generating Saber Qi within the opponent''s defense and killing them in one strike!


    Such a saber technique would be terrifying!


    The Triple Blade that Fang Yuan comprehended was nearing such a trend.


    "The Illusion Realm''s nomological laws indeed have limitless uses. It''s worthy of being similar to a Great Dao after complete comprehension!"


    Fang Yuan turned over the cultivator''s corpse excitedly and found a storage bag. "There should be a lot of good things inside, but they''re probably not comparable to that purple cauldron dao artifact!"


    His eyes lit up suddenly as he took out a token and two jade slips.


    The body of the token was made of green jade and had the words ''Kun Yun'' on it. There were two sets of cultivation techniques within the jade slips.


    The ''Bi Yuan Technique'' was the cultivation technique that the old man practiced. The other turned out to be some methods for capturing and raising spirit beasts.


    "Ordinary cultivation techniques are burdens to me¡­ This token, however, is enough to prove his identity. I''ve completed my mission."


    Fang Yuan knew his background immediately. He was from the Kun Yun Sect.


    Gold Ingot provided him some common knowledge. This Kun Yun Sect might not be a Holy Land, but it was a top sect.


    Crucially, it had good relationships with the Holy Lands.


    "The Kun Yun Sect''s sphere of influence should be in the Kun Yun Mountains and some distance away from the Hundred Thousand Mountains. Why would they send a Nascent Soul Patriarch undercover?"


    Fang Yuan fiddled with the token, slightly confused.


    Gold Ingot''s voice came. "What are you going to do? Report everything upward?"


    "Of course¡­ not!" Fang Yuan sneered. "What am I supposed to say? I killed a Nascent Soul cultivator and obtained his token?


    "I''ll only say that I found this token on Liu He¡­ A Materialization disciple used cunning tricks to desperately kill a Golden Pill Venerable could be attributed to talent. But that wouldn''t work for someone at the Apotheosis realm."


    He sighed. "However, the Hundred Thousand Mountains¡­ will become chaotic."


    Judging from what this old man said, the outside world must have been watching the Hundred Thousand Mountains for quite some time.


    This time, they were definitely going to war.


    After all, it was not the first time in history that the barbarians and the outside cultivators went to war.

 1056 Beginning of War

    It was natural to clean up the battlefield after killing the enemy.


    Fang Yuan himself was an expert in this aspect. Gold Ingot also gave some pointers, ensuring that all traces pointing to him were gone.


    After that, he hid in a corner and concentrated on his cultivation.


    Not long after, a white light flickered from the sky and appeared midair. It looked like a small boat approaching at a very fast speed. Some people jumped down from it. The first person had a youthful face, white hair, the figure of a boy, and was wearing colorful feather clothes, but his aura was terrifying.


    "An Immortal who transcended the lightning tribulation?"


    Fang Yuan rubbed his finger and hid the white jade ring elsewhere.


    When he saw Mo He and Wu Qi beside the Immortal, his eyes shone, and he ran out. "Greetings to Master, Immortal!"


    "Un, I''m Immortal Brutal Child. What happened to Qing Meng?" the boy in the colorful feather clothes asked lightly, not even mentioning Hong Ling and Yuan Wu.


    Obviously, their blood jades already explained everything.


    "Replying to Immortal, I don''t know!" Fang Yuan raised his head, showing his innocent eyes. "There was a Primordial Core Fey chasing after me at that time. I fled into a mysterious realm and hid until now¡­"


    "Looks like there isn''t much hope then!"


    Immortal Brutal Child shook his head and glanced around. "There''s a very strong aura, at least five Primordial Core Fey with the Silver Moon Fey Wolf among them. Could the Nascent Soul stage cultivator have withdrawn after being besieged by the Fey?"


    Five Primordial Core Fey together could not defeat someone at the Apotheosis realm, but they could definitely hold out until an Immortal came.


    Therefore, it was completely understandable for the Nascent Soul stage cultivator to withdraw early.


    "You''re lying!" Wu Qi''s face reddened, knowing that his disciples were probably dead. "How could a mere Materialization disciple like you escape from a Primordial Core Fey chasing you?"


    "Is Master Wu Qi doubting me?" Fang Yuan turned his head. "You must be joking¡­ Moreover, we''re facing a powerful enemy currently. As an elder, why are you staring so hard at an insignificant low-ranking disciple? What are you up to?"


    "You¡­" Wu Qi''s veins popped. "What a sharp tongue, kid! I will teach you what respect for elders means today¡­"


    "Wu Qi¡­ it''s not your business to teach my disciple!" Mo He coughed, pulled out the curved saber at his waist, and stepped forward.


    "You two¡­ enough!" Immortal Brutal Child frowned and pointed at Fang Yuan. "How did you escape from the Primordial Core Fey wolf?"


    "Replying to Immortal, this disciple had a sudden breakthrough in law comprehension in that life-and-death situation!"


    Fang Yuan bowed, and a lot of Saber Qi appeared around him.


    "Comprehending Saber Realm at the Materialization realm and only one step away from completion of the Nomological Laws of Saber? Truly a genius. No wonder you entered the Holy Mountain so early!" Immortal Brutal Child nodded. "You can fight with a Primordial Core Fey beast given your Saber Realm and your spirit artifact!"


    No matter how high his realm was, he still required a cultivation base to support it.


    In fact, Fang Yuan would not have had such an easy time killing those at the Primordial Core realm if he did not have the Nine Star Pearl.


    However, even if he could face someone at the Primordial Core realm with his Materialization realm cultivation and Saber Realm, it did not mean that he could kill a Primordial Core Great Fey nor do anything to a genius disciple of the Holy Mountain.


    "Materialization realm, Saber Realm?" Wu Qi gritted his teeth secretly and gave Mo He a surprised sidelong glance. Damn¡­ not only did they not kill this kid, they actually helped him improve! Qing Meng and the others were trash as well!


    "Also, this disciple has something to report!" Fang Yuan dug out the Kun Yun Token. "This is the evidence that I''ve completed the investigative mission this time!"


    "It''s unexpectedly the Kun Yun Sect?" Immortal Brutal Child took the token, clearly surprised. "Can those outside cultivators finally no longer endure it? This is of utmost importance. I have to go back immediately and discuss this with the other Immortals. You''ve done well in this matter!"


    He waved his hand. Wu Qi and the rest got onto the flying boat and flew away without a trace.


    Obviously, nothing was more important to the Immortals than the Kun Yun Sect''s intention to invade! Not the fate of three core disciples nor an undercover cultivator at the Apotheosis realm!


    There were already signs about the outside world, and this evidence was just one more piece that made Immortal Brutal Child feel the impending crisis.


    "So, Master Wu Qi, where is the reward for this mission?" Fang Yuan smiled and rubbed his hands gleefully at Wu Qi.


    "You¡­" Wu Qi was furious, but he could not do anything since even the Immortal had recognized Fang Yuan''s contribution. He threw out a jade box coldly.


    "Hmm, it''s indeed the thousand-year Blue Heart Fruit!"


    Fang Yuan opened it, handed it to Mo He, and waited until he determined that it had no problems before putting it away. "Thank you, Master Wu Qi!"


    "Hmph!" After suffering a double loss, Wu Qi turned around, not wanting to talk to Fang Yuan.


    The speed of the flying boat far surpassed that of a four-winged griffin, and the Holy Mountain was in sight in no time.


    "You can get off. I have to discuss something with the other patriarchs!"


    Immortal Brutal Child flicked his sleeve, sending Wu Qi and the rest to a spot halfway up the mountain.


    After watching Wu Qi leave, Mo He turned to Fang Yuan and said solemnly, "Disciple, immediately start cultivating in seclusion when you get back! I was right. The once-in-ten-thousand-year war between the barbarians and the cultivators is about to begin!"


    "Understood!"


    Fang Yuan did kill many people this time, but he only managed to complete the minimum of what he had set out to do. Fang Yuan had no other thoughts in mind.


    At this point, he had to unlock the fifth star and improve his cultivation as soon as possible.


    ¡­


    The clouds of war were casting their shadow, but there was still some time before the real war began.


    Time flew, and half a year passed.


    Barbarian Holy Mountain, inside a secret room.


    A huge iron barrel was boiling greening-black liquid with charcoal burning below.


    Fang Yuan was lying inside, watching his body absorb the greenish-black stuff and the liquid gradually becoming clear. He nodded. "The second level of the Hundred Physical Forging Technique is finally complete!"


    Over the past six months, he had spent most of his time on refining his body and comprehending the fifth star.


    These two techniques were both extremely profound. Until today, he had not even reached small success.


    As for his cultivation? He had reached the peak of the Materialization realm and was one step away from condensing the Primordial Core.


    Even so, he felt that he might be able to fight an Apotheosis realm powerhouse head-on with his current foundation and the Nine Star Pearl!


    "Other than that, I''ve made progress in comprehending nomological laws. My Nomological Laws of Saber is a short distance away from complete comprehension, and the Illusion Realm''s nomological laws have reached the realm of the Septuple Space-Penetrating Blade!


    "My focus next will be on forming my Primordial Core!"


    The Primordial Core realm! It was a watershed for most barbarians.


    As long as students in the Barbarian Palace successfully cultivated to this level within three years, they would be allowed to ascend the Holy Mountain and become part of the core!


    "The greatest benefit of advancing to the Primordial Core realm is sealing a magical power obtained in the Materialization realm into the Primordial Core to become the Destiny Magical Power! I would then be able to comprehend the heaven and earth nomological laws represented by this magical power ten times, no, even a hundred times faster!"


    The optimal choice of the Destiny Magical Power was naturally the Innate Magical Power. No one would make any mistakes on it.


    "If I set my Illusion Realm Magical Power as my Destiny Magical Power, my sensing of spatial fluctuations will increase by tenfold at least¡­ meaning that my comprehension speed will increase by tenfold! There''s hope in thoroughly comprehending the Illusion Realm''s nomological laws!"


    Fang Yuan''s eyes were burning. "I''m now at peak Materialization. I only need an opportunity to condense the Primordial Core."


    The breakthrough in a realm required not only a strong foundation but also the occasional flash of enlightenment.


    In this regard, since it was a whole new universe and he had to start all over again, Fang Yuan still needed to adapt slowly.


    ¡­


    On the Death Plains.


    As one of the three passages connecting the Hundred Thousand Mountains and the outside world, the area here was the most extensive, stretching for more than five thousand kilometers.


    Swoosh!


    Human figures suddenly appeared all over the sky.


    They were cultivators flying on magic artifacts, and they were as dense as locusts. Behind them were ships similar to flying war fortresses.


    "The Hundred Thousand Mountains will be ours in the end!"


    The first Immortal cultivator had red lips and white teeth. His face was jade-like, and his jet-black eyes were passionate. With a jade sword in hand, he flew above a tribe and swung.


    Zap!


    A sword light dozens of meters long swept across like a galaxy with unparalleled momentum and fell.


    "How dare you!"


    A figure appeared from the tribe and punched hard, hitting the center of the sword edge.


    Clang!


    The Sword Qi collapsed and dissipated into thin strands.


    "Outside cultivator, I am an inspector from the Barbarian Ancestral Court¡ªYing Hong! Who exactly are you?"


    This person named Ying Hong was at the level of an elder of the Holy Mountain. He hovered in the air with a huge Golden Winged Great Peng behind him.


    "I''m Kun Lunzi, the sect master of the Kun Yun Sect. I am on orders from several Holy Lands and brought sects from the Three Mountains and Four Seas here together."


    Kun Lunzi said solemnly, "A Demonic Tribulation is about to occur, bringing harm to all. If the Immortals from the barbarians are willing to join the Combat Heavenly Palace, then everything can be discussed. Otherwise, we will destroy the Hundred Thousand Mountains this time!"


    "Demonic Tribulation?!" Ying Hong''s expression changed. "You want to provoke a war? This Hundred Thousand Mountains is the land given to us barbarians by the heavens! You couldn''t occupy it before, and it''ll be the same this time."


    "Hehe¡­ As expected, anyone not of our race will definitely have different intentions. Sect Master, there''s no need to say so much!"


    A youngster with white eyebrows and seven flying swords on his back appeared beside Kun Lunzi. "Seven Stars Sword, unsheath!"


    Swoosh!


    Starlight exploded, and seven sword lights rained onto the earth. Aided by the power of the stars, they formed an array surrounding Ying Hong. "Today¡­ I''ll give you a lesson!"


    ¡­


    The cultivators in the rear watched this scene quietly.


    Chirp chirp!


    It did not take long for the array and golden light to burst.


    A Golden Winged Great Peng flapped its wings and disappeared.


    "Remember what we said. Tell the Immortals, peace or war will depend on their decision!" Kun Lunzi showed compassion as his voice spread far and wide.

 1057 Military Division

    Thump! Thump!


    Solemn drumbeats resounded throughout the Holy Mountain.


    "It''s the war drum! Ninety-nine strikes!"


    Mo He, who was training on the military drill ground, gently caressed his curved saber. "Other than starting a war with the outside cultivators, there''s no other reason to use the ''Brutal Blood Drum''."


    "Why are we starting a war with the outside cultivators? Just for ownership of the Hundred Thousand Mountains?" Fang Yuan was slightly puzzled.


    Cultivators were not like secular dynasties, so they did not value things like territory.


    As for precious mineral resources, rare medicinal herbs, and other items like Fey beast materials, obtaining them through traveling merchants or spies would be more cost-effective.


    So why start a war? In his eyes, it was a business that was bound to lose money.


    "Regarding the specific reasons, Master only has his guesses. But you must know that our Hundred Thousand Mountains is extremely extraordinary!" Mo He replied solemnly.


    "That''s true¡­ After all, it''s the land that nurtured us barbarians." Fang Yuan nodded.


    At least, he knew that there was nothing like totems among the outside cultivators.


    Evidently, the lineage of the barbarians of the Hundred Thousand Mountains was very special.


    "Not this¡­" Mo He lowered his voice. "In the outside world, spiritual energy is much denser, and the heavenly materials and earthly treasures from treasured lands are countless. In fact, even the comprehension of those humans surpasses us barbarians. But after transcending tribulation and becoming Immortal, the combat power between the two sides isn''t too different."


    Before crossing the tribulation, barbarians would hold the advantage in solo fights with the help of their totem materializations. But after the tribulation, the human Immortals would faintly have the upper hand.


    "In that case, it is indeed extraordinary!" Fang Yuan nodded. "What is Master''s guess?"


    "Master believes that perhaps the changes here are related to the Demonic Tribulations¡­" Mo He said. "I''ve interacted with some outside cultivators in the past, so I know that their cultivation does not only include their mental demons and heavenly tribulations but the attacks of foreign demons as well!"


    "Foreign demons?" Fang Yuan was startled.


    "That''s right! Otherworldly demons!" Mo He continued. "They are innately evil demons whose nature is to slaughter. Their growth is extremely rapid. In the outside world, it appears that there''s always a possibility of otherworldly demons arriving during their tribulations. A demon like this is easy to kill when it''s alone, but it seems that after every thousand or ten thousand years, there will always be a time when a large influx of otherworldly demons comes at the same time. To the cultivation world, it is a terrifying calamity!"


    "Why are there no records of this?" Fang Yuan was quite doubtful.


    "Because¡­ in the history of our Hundred Thousand Mountains, there have never been otherworldly demons arriving. Even if there''s a demon calamity in the outside world, it rarely affects us!" Mo He took a deep breath.


    "That extraordinary?" Fang Yuan''s eyes widened. "The entire world is affected by the otherworldly demons except for the Hundred Thousand Mountains?"


    "That''s right! Even though our Barbarian Ancestral Court is powerful, being able to preserve the Hundred Thousand Mountains is truly rare." Mo He sighed.


    ¡­


    "To all barbarian disciples¡­ today, there are Immortals from the outside world who want to kill our compatriots and snatch our territory. We shall never allow this to happen!


    "In our Barbarian Ancestral Court, the Immortal Patriarchs have come to a consensus and hereby order: First, all tribes shall cease wars with each other and unanimously fight the foreign invaders! Second, all Apotheosis realm cultivators shall head to the peak of the Holy Mountain for an important meeting! Third, we shall establish nine major military divisions in preparation for war!"


    ¡­


    A resounding voice spread across the entire Holy Mountain and the Barbarian Palace.


    When Fang Yuan heard it, he immediately knew that it was Immortal Brutal Child.


    "Master will go there now. Take care of yourself!"


    Mo He looked meaningfully into Fang Yuan''s eyes before turning into a saber light and rushing toward the top of the Holy Mountain.


    "Looks like the Apotheosis realm cultivators are merely heading there to accept and fulfill tasks given to them. The true leaders of the barbarians are still those few Immortal Patriarchs!"


    Fang Yuan furrowed his brows. "Is the Hundred Thousand Mountains actually that extraordinary? A hidden land of peace and prosperity despite the attacks from the otherworldly demons? It appears that I''ve severely underestimated the strength of the barbarian Immortals."


    To be able to guard the Hundred Thousand Mountains under such tremendous pressure, there was undoubtedly an unknown hidden trump card within the Barbarian Ancestral Court.


    At the very least, their strength would certainly be very powerful.


    "I wonder where these otherworldly demons come from¡­ Outside this world? From the midst of chaos?"


    This series of matters made Fang Yuan rub his chin as his eyes lit up.


    ¡­


    The orders from the Barbarian Ancestral Court were no different from an oracle, especially within the Hundred Thousand Mountains.


    The orders were above everything else. Even the greatest of life-and-death enemies stopped fighting temporarily to serve the envoys of the Holy Mountain.


    Soon, nine military divisions with over ten thousand people each were successfully established and grandiosely set off for the battlefield.


    Within the Star Spear tribe, one of the nine military divisions.


    Fang Yuan rode on a war beast, looked at the majestic army, and nodded silently. "Everyone in the armies is a cultivator, with the lowest being at the Predatory realm and having a totem!


    "Here, those at the Predatory realm are only the most basic warriors. Materialization cultivators are ten-man squad leaders, Primordial Core experts are the hundred and thousand-man commanders, and Apotheosis powerhouses are the highest army commanders! Who knows if there are any Immortals hidden within them!"


    Fang Yuan hated a war between cultivators like this one.


    Wouldn''t it be good if they could simply allow him to cultivate to the point where he could protect himself?


    How did a single disagreement result in a war between both sides?


    In a war of such a scale between cultivators, even Apotheosis cultivators could perish!


    Even Immortals could not guarantee their own safety!


    It would be reasonable if it were for a peerless treasure or some dao foundation, but for any other reason, he truly felt too innocent to be dragged into it.


    But at this time, there was nothing he could do unless he chose to betray the Holy Mountain and become hunted down as an army deserter.


    "If I desert now, the cost would be simply too great. Not only would I become a sworn enemy of the barbarians, but the outside cultivators definitely wouldn''t accept me either. If that really happened, I would truly be going against the entire world. Currently, my cultivation level is too low¡­ Fortunately, there''s still hope for me in this war if I just want to protect myself."


    Fang Yuan''s greatest advantage was that he appeared to be only at the Materialization realm! His actual strength had already reached the Apotheosis realm, but nobody knew yet.


    As such, unless those above ordered him to die, ordinary military missions should not pose much trouble to him at all.


    If he were really sent on missions that he knew he would die on, Fang Yuan would certainly not be reluctant to leave, and he would immediately make use of the Pantheon Palace to depart.


    Even if this meant that his future path would be tougher, it was still better than throwing his life away.


    A bloodline warrior ran over and shouted, "Hundred-man Commander, we are about to reach the Death Plains! We have orders from above saying that the enemies in the plains will be the responsibility of three major military divisions, Star Spear, Star Scar, and Star Splendor! Military divisions Bright Moon and Scorching Sun will support them!"


    "All right!"


    These three major military divisions with the word ''Star'' in their names were assembled from the tribes subordinate to the Beichen tribe, and they were specifically responsible for fighting on the Death Plains.


    As for the four major military divisions from the other two major tribes, they were stationed at the Agonizing Eagle Gorge and the Golden River.


    "It seems¡­ the Death Plains will be the main battlefield this time! To think that five armies have been mobilized here!"


    Fang Yuan shook his head.


    This was no ordinary mortal army but fifty thousand cultivators! The essence of the barbarians was basically all in one place.


    ¡­


    "Greetings, Commander!"


    When the army arrived at the plains, they set up camp. Fang Yuan followed a hundred-man commander and a thousand-man commander to meet his army commander at the main tent.


    On the main seat, a barbarian wearing a horned helmet shouted, "The outside cultivators are invading our Hundred Thousand Mountains once again! This act of bullying is intolerable! However, we have the geographical advantage and the Immortal Patriarchs. Brothers, we must work even harder to retain the majority of them here."


    "Understood!" Fang Yuan followed the crowd and shouted.


    The corner of his eye kept sizing this Apotheosis realm army commander up.


    Hmm¡­ this person should be Brutal Witch, with the second-grade totem golden lion king! He was famous a long time ago for leading many successful campaigns. He is a rare and talented army commander!


    The barbarian Immortals were not fools and would naturally not select army commanders based solely on cultivation levels.


    They would definitely select those truly outstanding army commanders with a minimum cultivation at the Apotheosis realm.


    As for those who only knew how to cultivate? They were instead more suitable as personal guards.


    "Now, I will begin arranging patrols. Each of you will have your respective areas to patrol, and my guards will kill any undisciplined people! No exception!" Brutal Witch said solemnly. He waved his hand, and a few Apotheosis realm powerhouses stepped out from all four corners.


    "We wouldn''t dare!"


    Fang Yuan and the other Primordial Core small fries would naturally not dare to disobey Brutal Witch''s orders.


    I have to admit, the way Brutal Witch sets up his army is indeed pretty decent. He can be considered a pretty good army commander¡­


    After walking out of the main tent, Fang Yuan walked back to his camp.


    As an honorable hundred-man commander, he had a hundred cultivators under his command.


    Of course, ten-man squad leaders were generally at the Materialization realm. However, he was a core disciple of the Holy Mountain and received treatment like someone at the Primordial Core realm.


    "Those at the Materialization realm from the small tribes can only be ten-man squad leaders, while the powerful core disciples of the Holy Mountain can be thousand-man commanders¡­"


    Fang Yuan walked into the camp and said, "I am your hundred-man commander! Quickly come out to greet me."


    Earlier, when Brutal Witch was deploying the army, he also assigned troops to the various hundred-man and thousand-man commanders. Fang Yuan was assigned the people of this camp.


    Swoosh!


    Numerous barbarians appeared. Each one of them was tall and mighty, with a saber or hammer in their hands, looking extremely ferocious.


    In particular, some of the ten-man squad leaders looked at Fang Yuan with a slightly peculiar expression.


    "Eh?" Fang Yuan looked across the crowd and saw an acquaintance. "Brutal Thunder?"


    "Fang Yuan, I didn''t expect you to become a core disciple of the Holy Mountain!" The Flybarb tribe''s Brutal Thunder walked out with a shocked expression. "And you''re actually a hundred-man commander!"


    "I wonder if everyone else in the tribe is doing well?" Fang Yuan could not help but smile at the situation.


    "They''re fine! Most of the bloodline warriors have come out because of the Holy Mountain''s conscription!" Brutal Thunder sighed. "But I don''t know how many can make it back alive¡­"

 1058 Battlefield

    "Looks like¡­ you ten-man squad leaders aren''t convinced about me?"


    After a short conversation with Brutal Thunder, Fang Yuan sneered coldly as he watched the few ten-man squad leaders surround him. "Fine¡­ All of you can come at me together. As long as one of you can make me take a step backward, I will give up my position as the hundred-man commander."


    Among barbarians, strength was equivalent to respect, and most of them were brainless muscular men. They immediately agreed. "Good!"


    While some were releasing their materializations, some had already charged at him directly.


    Chichi!


    Fang Yuan stood still, smiling faintly.


    An immense amount of Saber Qi suddenly erupted from his body, leaving bloody wounds all over these people.


    "This is¡­ Saber Realm?" Brutal Thunder muttered in shock. "No wonder he was accepted into the Holy Mountain in advance and became a core disciple¡­ Fang Yuan was merely average in the tribe, but I never thought that he would improve so drastically after going to the Barbarian Palace!"


    After unleashing his Saber Qi, Fang Yuan stood there proudly, overlooking the bloody people in front of him. With the same faint smile, he asked, "So? Convinced?"


    He had shown mercy. Even though their injuries looked terrifying, they were nothing more than superficial wounds.


    Even though barbarians were foolish, they were not people who could not accept a loss. All of them knelt. "Greetings, Hundred-man Commander!"


    "All right! I appoint Brutal Thunder as my deputy. Besides me, you have to listen to everything he says. Understood?" Fang Yuan practiced nepotism without restraint.


    The ten-man squad leaders immediately replied, "Understood!"


    ¡­


    In the blink of an eye, one month passed.


    On the plains, Fang Yuan brought a small team out of the camp gates.


    "So a war between cultivators in this world looks like this," Fang Yuan muttered with a grass straw in his mouth while looking into the distance.


    First, the main force of the opposition was clearly the Kun Yun Sect. Moreover, it was only considered a small influence in the cultivation world.


    After all, the outside world was boundless and had plenty of cultivation sects. The enmity between these sects might be even more than their hatred toward the barbarians!


    "Next is this form of battle. Because both parties have Immortals overseeing everything, as well as terrifying arrays arranged in the camps, launching a direct attack on a camp is definitely asking for trouble!"


    "The most we can do now is to wander around the area divided between both parties in our hundred or even ten-man units to entice enemies before fighting them in close quarters, engaging them in a bitter war of attrition!


    "Once a party can''t support the consumption any longer, a direct and open war will naturally start, unless they take the initiative to escape."


    ¡­


    Fortunately, this kind of small-scale fighting between tens or hundreds of people would rarely involve the Apotheosis realm, let alone Immortals.


    With the strength of his men and some luck, the unit that Fang Yuan led did not encounter many dangers.


    His unit had had only one or two casualties, while the nearby unit had losses of nearly twenty to thirty percent, mostly due to bad luck.


    Fang Yuan''s reputation was gradually spreading. The other hundred-man commanders knew of a Materialization realm core disciple of the Holy Mountain who might not have high cultivation but was extremely lucky. The unit he led not only won every battle, but it also had the lowest casualty rate.


    At a time like this, being able to protect subordinates was naturally going to gain the support of others.


    Fang Yuan''s prestige started growing unknowingly from this small unit.


    Even barbarians from other units were starting to be envious of such outstanding military achievements and incredibly low casualties. They were so envious that they even wanted to join his unit.


    Fang Yuan was not one to forget his roots, so he got Brutal Thunder to look for the people from the Flybarb tribe and had them join his unit. He even took extra care of them once they joined him.


    ¡­


    "If the Immortals and Apotheosis realm powerhouses are not taking action, it is up to us soldiers to exhaust each other to death!"


    This time, Fang Yuan brought some ten-man squad leaders out to fight.


    Although this kind of messy war environment was a hindrance to his cultivation, it was not without benefits. At least, he could make use of his military merits to exchange for all the magical powers that he wanted.


    As for the heavenly materials and earthly treasures that the Hundred Physical Forging Technique needed? They were extremely valuable to the Immortals. Fang Yuan rolled his eyes after hearing Gold Ingot talk about it and no longer harbored any hopes for the sixth star of the Nine Star Pearl.


    "Let''s go!"


    He led his ten ten-man squad leaders and disappeared into the plains.


    The surroundings of the two big camps of the barbarians and the cultivators were the battlefields for many small units.


    "We''ve already entered the danger zone. Pay attention to those hiding!" Fang Yuan warned as his spiritual will spread out to cover five kilometers around him.


    This greatly surpassed the range of Materialization spiritual will and was also why he was confident in ensuring the safety of his small unit.


    After all, his current spiritual will was definitely at the Primordial Core level. Once he came across any danger, he could activate his mystic technique to raise it to the Apotheosis level. With such abilities, it was naturally easy for him to escape the pursuit of mere Primordial Core cultivators.


    In this war of attrition, the competing factors are using spiritual will to detect others and your concealment abilities¡­ Fang Yuan had a sort of realization in his heart. This is the same as radar and stealth fighters in my previous life. Just like spears and shields, both parties need to constantly improve to eliminate each other¡­


    Of course, a war between cultivators was much more terrifying.


    "We''ve passed the middle¡­"


    After walking some distance, Fang Yuan smiled lightly and activated the Nine Star Pearl Mystic Technique.


    In a split second, his spiritual will expanded infinitely, going beyond dozens of kilometers.


    During his scan, plenty of Qi fields appeared one after another.


    "Southeast, twenty-five kilometers! A small team of Primordial Core cultivators. They should be elite troops led by a barbarian thousand-man commander!


    "Eighteen kilometers north! Traces of cultivators! The opposition has already started to escape in the opposite direction!


    "Battle fluctuations in the west¡­ about twenty-two kilometers away!"


    ¡­


    Vast amounts of information converged for him to summarize. "Let''s head west! Two units encountered each other there!"


    "Understood¡­ Haha, I bet they would have never imagined that our leader''s innate spiritual will was so formidable¡­" Brutal Thunder and the other ten-man squad leaders laughed.


    With Fang Yuan exploring for them, the entire battle process¡­ was like cheating.


    "How strong are the enemies?" Brutal Thunder asked cautiously after they crossed several kilometers.


    "Four at Primordial Core and about a dozen at Materialization. A similar composition to ours¡­"


    Ordinary Predatory realm soldiers were not even considered cannon fodder on an elite battlefield like this. They did not need to head out onto the battlefield, and their only job was to reinforce the arrays back at the camp.


    Fang Yuan sensed and smiled slightly. "Seems¡­ like there are a few familiar auras! Let''s go!"


    His small team sped up, and not long later, even Brutal Thunder sensed the violent fluctuations in the Qi of Heaven and Earth ahead.


    "Yan Luo! You won''t be able to escape this time! We three brothers came out personally to kill you. You should feel honored!"


    Three Golden Core cultivators were on flying swords and looking down, incredibly arrogant.


    Below them, Yan Luo had blood flowing from his chest but still continued to shout ferociously, "Outsiders¡­ Die!!!"


    On his back, a flame materialization emerged, and it started spitting flames in all four directions.


    "Ice Seal!"


    The big brother of the three reacted quickly with hand seals.


    Ice appeared out of thin air and consumed the power of the flames.


    "What are the military merits for killing a core disciple of the Holy Mountain?"


    The eyes of the three Golden Core brothers turned red, and they sent out their flying swords. "Three Talents Immortal Trap Array, kill!"


    "Damn it!" Seeing this, Yan Luo could not help feeling slightly desperate.


    Overwhelming Sword Qi descended, and his subordinates suffered disastrous casualties.


    Among them, a female warrior in leather armor shouted, "Hundred-man Commander, don''t worry!"


    Her jade rabbit totem started emitting astonishing cold air, and it jumped forward with its mouth wide open to gobble up the entire ice wall.


    "Tsk! A mere Foundation Establishment cultivator dares to intervene between the affairs of Golden Core cultivators? Courting death!"


    One of the cultivators sent a sword light at her.


    In the outside world, it was not difficult for a Golden Core cultivator to kill a Foundation Establishment cultivator. But among the barbarians, the gap between the Primordial Core realm and the Materialization realm was like heaven and earth.


    A casual attack from one was undoubtedly not something a lower-level cultivator could withstand.


    The female warrior struggled desperately against the sword light before her saber flew out of her hand. Her entire body was shaking fearfully, as though she were about to vomit blood.


    "Our small team¡­ is probably doomed!" Yan Luo smiled bitterly. "Ten-man squad leaders, escape immediately! Don''t worry about me! Try as hard as possible to get away! The more, the better!"


    "Hundred-man Commander?!"


    The female warrior trembled, while the other ten-man squad leaders had already started escaping without looking back.


    Even though they were honorable barbarians, they would not deliberately throw their lives away in this completely hopeless situation.


    "Cough cough¡­" Yan Luo had merely entered the Holy Mountain slightly earlier than Fang Yuan, so he was among the weakest of the Primordial Core cultivators there. Being surrounded by three Golden Core Venerables, he was in a desperate situation. A sword suddenly pierced through his chest, causing him to vomit blood.


    "Am I¡­ really going to die here?"


    Just when Yan Luo lost all hopes, he heard a voice. "Senior Brother Yan Luo, don''t worry!"


    "Junior Brother Fang Yuan?!" Yan Luo was hopeful again but then smiled bitterly.


    If it were any other hundred-man commander, they would be at the Primordial Core realm. Together with him and the advantage of their totems, they might actually cause some trouble for these three Golden Core cultivators.


    But this little junior brother? He might be overflowing with talent, but he was still not at the Primordial Core realm!


    "Arrange the formation!"


    Two waves of troops arrived under Brutal Thunder''s shout. Several ten-man squad leaders abruptly appeared with connected Qi, and the fluctuations were astonishing.


    "Kill!" At the same time, Fang Yuan wielded his saber.


    Swoosh!


    A twenty-meter long saber light extended across space.


    His peak Materialization realm cultivation combined with his peak comprehension of the Saber Realm nomological laws was enough to release Saber Qi that could frighten the Golden Core Venerables. He did not even need to use the Nine Star Pearl Mystic Technique.


    "A ten-man formation comparable to a Golden Core, and this barbarian at Materialization¡­" One of the Golden Core Venerables withstood the Saber Qi but was forced back over ten steps. His face turned red as he shouted, "Let''s go!"


    "Brutal Moon, how are you?" Fang Yuan descended and smiled at the female warrior.


    Brutal Moon raised her head, but her expression was quite complex.

 1059 News

    This female warrior was the Flybarb tribe''s Brutal Moon!


    The way she looked at Fang Yuan was indescribable.


    With her talent, she had worked extremely hard to get to where she was. Back when they were still training at the tribe, she even surpassed Fang Yuan.


    But unexpectedly, after the Beichen Ceremony, he was selected to enter the Barbarian Palace. And despite being only at the Materialization realm, he could fight a Primordial Core cultivator, while she had to rely on him to rescue her.


    "Junior Brother Fang Yuan!" Yan Luo walked over with an equally shocked expression. "You''re actually capable of fighting against Golden Core cultivators? Even though the outside Golden Core is slightly inferior to our Primordial Core, you''re only at Materialization¡­"


    "Haha¡­ It''s only because my comprehension of the nomological laws is slightly better¡­ Moreover, Brutal Thunder and the rest contributed too!" Fang Yuan laughed it off.


    "Yes, that ten-man formation is indeed comparable to Primordial Core and quite impressive!" Yan Luo acknowledged. "How many military merits do I need for you to teach me this?"


    "Since Senior Brother wants to learn it, I''ll gift it to you." Fang Yuan waved his hands, not minding at all.


    As long as it was a powerful force, it would always have one or two types of combined assault formations.


    Fang Yuan had dug this one out from the Pantheon Palace. In Immortal Hong Chen''s collection, it merely counted as ordinary.


    The truly amazing formation was the one back at the barbarian camp that the ordinary soldiers were practicing. That was a true ten-thousand-man combined formation! Incomparable and formidable!


    "Without having experience on the battlefield, any previous rankings or talents are all for nothing¡­ True experts are born from the most vicious of wars!"


    At the thought of something, Yan Luo said emotionally, "On this battlefield, Junior Brother isn''t the only one at the Materialization realm who is this outstanding. Someone killed a Primordial Core cultivator while being at the Materialization realm. He could even escape from the clutches of an Apotheosis expert!"


    "What?" Fang Yuan was surprised. "Why haven''t I heard of him?"


    "Haha¡­" Yan Luo chuckled. "Because of how talented he is, he has been cultivating in secret. When people saw how brilliant he was on the battlefield, an Immortal Patriarch accepted him as a disciple, and he has been living in seclusion ever since! Only I and a few others have witnessed his squad personally and can verify his talent¡­ He truly has the potential to become an Immortal in the future!"


    "There''s actually such a monster?" Fang Yuan''s eyes widened. "But we better leave this place quickly. We can talk more on the way back!"


    "Right!" Staying at one place on the battlefield for a long time was indeed dangerous. Those three Golden Core Venerables were likely to bring other smaller squads over, so Yan Luo nodded swiftly. "Let''s talk after we return!"


    Because of how big the Hundred Thousand Mountains was, it was not too surprising for one or two exceptional talents to emerge every now and then. However, Fang Yuan was quite interested, so he continued asking.


    "That youth calls himself ''Bamboo'' and was originally only a ten-man squad leader, but I personally witnessed it¡­ During one of the battles, his totem materialized, and he easily slaughtered an enemy Golden Core cultivator!" Yan Luo replied honestly.


    "I wonder what his materialization is?" Fang Yuan asked.


    "I didn''t see it properly. Its body was like a snake, and its head was like a human with only one eye. A prominent light shone, and that Primordial Core cultivator died¡­ After that, an Apotheosis realm powerhouse was furious and wanted to kill him, but his body released waves of water that allowed the youth to hold on until the arrival of a patriarch¡­" Yan Luo''s eyes were slightly distant.


    Is it the¡­ Torch Dragon? Fang Yuan guessed.


    In his previous life, he had heard records of that materialization. "The Torch Dragon has a human''s face and a snake''s body, created day and night by opening and closing its eye, and created seasonal winds by breathing."


    "This materialization is definitely first grade! But nobody knows what it actually is¡­" Beside him, Yan Luo exclaimed in admiration. "He was accepted as a disciple by Immortal Brutal Child and is a future Immortal, not someone we can compare to¡­"


    Fang Yuan knew clearly that some terrifyingly strong materializations were so rare that there were no records among the barbarians.


    For example, his own Clam Dragon might have appeared for the first time in history as well.


    This Torch Dragon was also a deduction from his previous life''s memories.


    Regardless, this was undoubtedly a first-grade totem. In addition to that terrifying Innate Magical Power, the Immortals were certainly going to notice him. Otherwise, why would there be expectations of him becoming an Immortal?


    If that Bamboo really possesses the Torch Dragon materialization and that Innate Magical Power, there''s a high chance it''s related to the Nomological Laws of Time!


    At the thought, Fang Yuan''s eyes lit up.


    However, a Torch Dragon with its Innate Magical Power awakened was not to be trifled with. Moreover, he had an Immortal backing him.


    At this moment, he was merely digesting and remembering this news.


    Before he reached the Primordial Core realm and large success in the Illusion Realm''s nomological laws, he did not have the capital to poke his nose everywhere.


    ¡­


    Elsewhere, the three Golden Core Venerables gathered together.


    "We were going to finish them off, but things went off track because of a bunch of Foundation Establishment cultivators¡­ Big Bro, we can''t let them off like this!" shouted the youngest, Venerable Wang Qiao.


    "Big Bro, what do you think?" The slightly calmer Wang He looked at their big brother.


    "That barbarian youth is merely at the Foundation Establishment stage, which is also their Materialization realm, yet he could comprehend Saber Realm. His comprehension ability is no small matter. He could even match my attacks and hurt Third Brother. He truly is a genius!" Wang Tong analyzed. "And we can''t underestimate that formation either! Just the three of us might not be enough to take them down, so we should get the elders to help us!"


    Both sides agreed that there was no need for Immortals to intervene in such confrontations.


    However, powerhouses at the Apotheosis realm, also known as the Nascent Soul stage, could step in every now and then.


    To these Golden Core and Foundation Establishment cultivators, a Nascent Soul elder on the battlefield was an existence that they did not want to offend.


    As long as Immortals did not show up, they would be the overlords of the battlefield!


    At this thought, Wang Tong and the other two took out a jade pendant communications magic artifact. "Elder Yellow Scorpion! We came across a talented barbarian at the Materialization realm with incredible Saber Qi that could match Golden Core!"


    "Another one?" From the magic artifact, a flabbergasted voice came. "These barbarians are truly blessed by the heavens. Only a few days ago, an exceptional totem suspected to possess the Nomological Laws of Time appeared, and today, yet another genius with exceptional comprehension appeared! What a pity¡­ what a pity¡­"


    Wang Tong and the two others remained silent, naturally knowing what this elder was feeling regretful about.


    Regarding barbarians with talent in comprehension, the outside sects were quite interested in them. In the past, when they found such a genius, they would directly abduct them to train as disciples of their sect.


    But now, on this battlefield, they had irreconcilable differences.


    "In that case, report your position and the direction the enemies escaped in. I''ll head there to take a look. Killing a genius like this will be beneficial to us!"


    Hearing what Elder Yellow Scorpion said, Wang Tong and the other two were pleased. "Many thanks, Elder¡­ We are at¡­"


    ¡­


    "Gold Ingot¡­ what do you think?" On the way back, Fang Yuan touched the white jade ring hanging around his neck.


    Ever since Fang Yuan knew that he was participating in this war, he hung the white jade ring around his neck. With his clothes covering, even Immortals would not casually use their spiritual will to scan him, significantly reducing the possibility of exposure.


    "You''re talking about that peerless genius? Extraordinary aptitude, but his comprehension ability is far from yours!" Gold Ingot dared not casually reveal his spiritual will and could only communicate with Fang Yuan secretly.


    "What if I want to capture him to become my alternative?" Fang Yuan''s eyes flashed.


    Gold Ingot remained silent, as he also knew about Fang Yuan''s clone plan.


    "To be honest¡­ I don''t recommend it. Based on the previous descriptions, that Immortal Brutal Child treasures that disciple a lot, meaning he''s even more important than Xu Lie¡­ If not for this war, you''d basically have no chance!"


    Moments later, Gold Ingot''s voice came. "You would be taking a great risk and offending an Immortal. Would it be worth it? More importantly, you don''t even have the slightest clue about a clone mystic technique. Even if that peerless genius appeared tied up in front of you, you wouldn''t be able to do anything with him."


    In his opinion, Fang Yuan''s actions of endangering himself in search of a clone technique were simply stressing the incidental over the fundamental.


    "You don''t understand!" Fang Yuan looked solemn.


    The Illusion Realm''s nomological laws had benefited him a lot just from his current level of comprehension. And the Nomological Laws of Time were the same level as the Illusion Realm''s nomological laws, so he could not let it go even more.


    If both sets of nomological laws finally sublimated and then combined to become the Universe Space-Time Great Dao, this power would be beyond the wildest imaginations of even a Demon God!


    Obviously, he did not want to let an opportunity like this slip away!


    "However, I have to say that given your current cultivation base, hidden cards¡­ if you want to abduct someone under the eyes of an Immortal, it will be extremely difficult!" Gold Ingot warned at the end.


    "I know. Before I''m absolutely confident, I won''t act! As for a clone technique, I''ll continue working hard to look for one!"


    Fang Yuan heaved a long sigh.


    He was quite confident that the youth named Bamboo''s totem was the Torch Dragon!


    If he missed out on this opportunity, he might not find a better one even if he obtained a clone technique in the future.


    Even with his Pantheon Enhancement Technique, he needed a fulcrum to transform into a dragon!


    "For that, I have to prepare ahead of time!" Fang Yuan was determined. "Ultimately, the key is to look for clone techniques. If I need to create a body out of nothing or use some treasures, it would be problematic. I just want it to have a barbarian totem so that I can use the Pantheon Enhancement Technique to raise its aptitude. But the best method would still be those that can directly split the Essence Soul and seize a body¡­"


    ¡­


    While he was deep in thought, he merged his team with Yan Luo''s team and retreated swiftly.


    Throughout the journey, they were incredibly jittery.


    "Hmm?" After spreading his spiritual will, Fang Yuan detected another team. "Another small team of ten led by a Primordial Core cultivator. They''re barbarian troops. Beichen Yan and Bei Tangman are also among them! Looks like they just came out?"


    One group just came out while they returned, so they coincidentally met.


    Yan Luo and Fang Yuan saw a core disciple of the Holy Mountain bringing Beichen Yan and the rest out. He looked at them in a slightly provocative manner. "Isn''t this Yan Luo and Fang Yuan? Why are you in such a sorry state?"

 1060 Decisive Battle

    "A disciple of the Holy Mountain, Luo You?"


    Fang Yuan exchanged glances with Yan Luo, and his expression turned cold.


    Mo He had offended many people from the Holy Mountain, and Luo You''s master was one of them.


    "I''ve heard all about Mo He''s amazing new disciple, but why is he only at the Materialization realm? The Predatory realm and Materialization realm are only equivalent to the outside world''s Foundation Establishment stage. Did a few Foundation Establishment cultivators surround you?" Luo You asked in astonishment with a clear tone of mockery.


    "Fang Yuan!" All of a sudden, Beichen Yan stepped out. "I want to challenge you. We are both at the Materialization realm. This time, I won''t lose!"


    "I don''t have time!"


    Fang Yuan exchanged glances with Yan Luo as they passed through the crowd.


    "Haha¡­ are you scared?" Beichen Yan obtained Luo You''s signal and blocked their path. "Fang Yuan, I challenge you to a bloodline warrior''s battle. If you refuse to accept, you''re a coward!"


    Among the barbarians, dying was better than being called a coward.


    "Scram!" Fang Yuan glared viciously while releasing his killing intent.


    Beichen Yan''s expression turned pale as he backed off. Then his face turned red. "What? I-I won''t."


    Beichen Yan felt ashamed.


    "Luo You, if you want to challenge me, I''ll take you on. You don''t have to sow dissension like this!" Fang Yuan turned around and said slowly, "But if we battle, it must be a battle to the death. Do you dare?"


    "I¡­" Luo You gritted his teeth. He was about to accept when his expression suddenly changed.


    A strong, ice-cold spiritual will crashed down on him.


    "Not good! A Nascent Soul stage enemy!"


    "Why is a cultivator at this level finding trouble with us instead of looking for an Apotheosis realm patriarch?!"


    "Split up!"


    ¡­


    Beichen Yan''s team plunged into chaos, while Fang Yuan and Yan Luo exchanged glances and escaped toward the main camp.


    "I''ve sent a distress signal that a Nascent Soul cultivator is here. Our Apotheosis cultivators won''t sit by," Yan Luo transmitted while escaping. "It''ll be fine as long as we get through this!"


    How fast was a Nascent Soul cultivator? He clearly had the upper hand.


    Furthermore, three familiar Golden Core spiritual wills appeared as the distance shortened.


    "Haha! Barbarian boy, you can''t escape!" Wang Tong''s laughter resounded.


    "Damn it¡­" Luo You''s face turned pale. "Yan Luo, Fang Yuan, what did you do? You''ve brought the wrath of a Nascent Soul cultivator!"


    "You guys deal with the soldiers. Leave the Primordial Core cultivators and the young man to me!"


    A golden glow flickered, and a bald man in golden robes appeared in midair.


    "Understood!" Wang Tong and his brothers responded loudly. They began controlling their spirit artifacts as they chased after the Materialization cultivators.


    "Sure enough. He''s coming after me!"


    Fang Yuan felt a strong Nascent Soul''s spiritual will lock onto him, and chills ran down his spine.


    Chichi!


    The next moment, resounding booms echoed, and two golden lights arrived.


    In the direction of the camp, several streaks of light were also approaching. They were barbarian Apotheosis Patriarchs.


    "I can''t expose myself!"


    He gritted his teeth and activated the third star of the Nine Star Pearl Mystic Technique. Then he swung the Nine Profound Spirit Saber backward.


    Bang!


    A powerful wave rushed forth, flinging him onto the ground.


    At the same time, Yan Luo cried out desperately. A golden light pierced through his chest, and blood spurted out.


    "This is war!"


    Fang Yuan burrowed underground and withdrew his aura completely, shaking off the spiritual will detection.


    "Eh?" In the air, Yellow Scorpion was slightly stunned. He extended his right hand, and two golden-jade daggers emerged. One was pristine, while the other was bloodstained.


    "With a blow from a patriarch, the Primordial Core cultivator died, while the one at the Materialization realm survived? He must have a protective treasure¡­ However, how many times can you block?"


    Yellow Scorpion laughed coldly and was about to send out his daggers again when streaks of light rushed over. "Stop!"


    Two Apotheosis realm barbarians flew over, floated in midair, and questioned, "Yellow Scorpion! Do you want to start a massive battle now?"


    "Haha¡­ so be it! Do you think I''d be afraid?" Yellow Scorpion laughed heartily.


    Below, Wang Tong and his two brothers worked together to launch an attack. Luo You screamed as swords lodged into his body.


    "Die!" An Apotheosis realm elder was enraged. A yellow bird totem appeared, and green wind blades converged into a tornado that surged downward.


    Clang!


    Wang Tong and the other two were obviously not a match for the green wind blades. However, just as they were about to die, an enormous and amazingly sturdy yellow bell descended from the sky to block the green wind blades.


    Although human cultivators did not have materialization magical powers, they specialized in comprehending nomological laws and refinement.


    "Thank you, Elder Yellow Bell!"


    Wang Tong and the other Golden Core cultivators bowed to a yellow-bearded elder at once.


    "Hmph! Another one!"


    An Apotheosis realm barbarian snorted as he swung his sleeve.


    Numerous vines shot out, carrying the remaining barbarians toward the camp.


    "It''s a bit regrettable that we couldn''t kill that genius this time, but we still killed two Primordial Core cultivators. This isn''t bad. Let''s return!"


    They were already quite close to the barbarian camp. Even Nascent Soul cultivators did not want to stay here for too long.


    Otherwise, even if the Immortal Patriarchs did not make a move, a group of Apotheosis realm cultivators would be sufficient to encircle and kill them.


    ¡­


    "Hmm, you''re Mo He''s disciple, Fang Yuan?"


    After flying back, an Apotheosis realm barbarian landed in the camp and stared at the surviving Fang Yuan. "It''s actually a top-grade spirit artifact robe. No wonder you survived¡­"


    His expression was faint, his current state of mind unreadable.


    "Thank you, Senior. May I ask for your name?" Fang Yuan put on a bold face and bowed.


    "Hmph. I am Wood Vine! Relax, I have a personal vendetta with Mo He, but I won''t do anything to you!" Elder Wood Vine snorted coldly before disappearing.


    "Okay, return to your camps. Those of you who have lost comrades, I believe the army commander will have orders soon!"


    Fang Yuan shook his head. He ignored Beichen Yan''s complicated expression and led his subordinates back to his camp.


    "Sir!" A soldier stepped forward. "Commander Brutal Witch''s orders! After the hundred and thousand-man commanders return, they are to practice the formation and withdraw from battle! You are to remain on standby and wait for further orders!"


    "I understand!" Fang Yuan waved his hands, sending the messenger away. His expression turned serious. "¡­ Is the decisive battle finally about to begin? Unexpectedly, the barbarians were the first to be unable to hold on!"


    Even though the attackers were only a small part of the forces from the outside cultivation world, the barbarians were still unable to withstand it.


    If this war of attrition had not put them in a disadvantageous position, Brutal Witch would presumably not start the decisive battle now.


    It seemed like things were not looking optimistic for the barbarians in this great cultivation war.


    ¡­


    Seven days later.


    Two armies faced off on the Death Plains.


    Large numbers of Predatory and Materialization realm barbarians stood on the grassy plains. Apotheosis realm cultivators flew in the sky, while Immortal Patriarchs remained hidden to observe the cultivator army before them.


    Compared to them, the cultivator army looked more like immortals. Most of them were flying on their weapons, looking majestic. Flying ships and a palace hung in the sky with Nascent Soul and Immortal Patriarchs inside them.


    "At first, the barbarians had five military divisions with fifty thousand troops total, exceeding the number of the cultivators. But after the war of attrition, we barbarians suffered greater losses. The numbers are nearly the same on both sides now."


    Seeing this scene, Fang Yuan was in disbelief.


    Logically, barbarians had the help of totem materializations and inherently enjoyed the thrill of battle, so cultivators at the same realm should not be a threat to them.


    However, this was obviously not the case.


    Fang Yuan blinked and guessed. "It looks¡­ like the enemy army commander''s ability surpasses ours. Is this why we lost our advantage?"


    All of a sudden, streaks of light shot out from both armies.


    Rumble!


    Grand auras erupted, seeming to suppress thousands of cultivators. They must have crossed the lightning tribulation and were powerhouses at the Immortal Realm!


    "Brutal Child, Brutal Extinction, and Brutal Emperor greet Fellow Daoists!" Three barbarian Immortals spoke first.


    Among them, Brutal Child looked like a child, while Brutal Extinction and Brutal Emperor were eight feet tall, looking as if gods of war had descended.


    "Haha, no need to be polite!" Three streaks of light shot out from the cultivators'' palace in the sky and transformed into three old men with the demeanor of immortals. "Xuan Yuanzi, Kun Lunzi, and Shan Shuizi greet Fellow Daoists! The three of you are pursuing the Immortal Dao as well. Is it necessary to kill each other like this?"


    "Hmph. If it weren''t for you, why would we fight?" Immortal Brutal Extinction grunted.


    Xuan Yuanzi sighed. "This matter isn''t up to us. We''re acting according to the divination of our elders. In twenty years, a Demonic Tribulation will descend upon us! In preparation for that, we''ve reconstructed the Combat Heavenly Palace. The entire cultivation world must unite against the enemy!"


    "I think you have hidden motives and want to seize his last land of peace and prosperity!" Immortal Brutal Child said bluntly.


    "If you''re willing to accept cultivators from the outside world, we can call off this war."


    "Since we can''t agree, we can only settle it on the battlefield!"


    ¡­


    Immortals were all steadfast. Once they made up their mind, they would not change it easily.


    He sighed before giving orders.


    "Brutal Army, onward!" Brutal Witch''s harsh voice mobilized the army.


    "Kill!"


    Numerous barbarians roared as they emitted black Qi that condensed into a giant spirit midair.


    Dark clouds covered the giant spirit''s lower body while its upper body was a barbarian with sturdy muscles. Its vicious fangs stuck out ferociously as it roared into the sky.


    "Ten Thousand Immortal Formation, flying sword attack!"


    Across them, Immortals transmitted their penetrating voices. Streaks of light shot out, and flying swords lined up closely like fine needles to create an enormous heavenly sword.


    "Attack!"


    "Kill!"


    The black giant spirit roared and swung its fist to collide with the tip of the heavenly sword.


    Heaven and earth ruptured!


    The two large formations collapsed simultaneously, and countless barbarians and cultivators vomited blood.


    "Change formation, materializations go!" Brutal Witch issued another order. The five great military divisions split into ten-thousand-man armies.


    Roar Roar!


    Totem materializations flew upward. Finally, they converged at one spot and turned into an Azure Dragon, Phoenix, White Tiger, Black Tortoise, and Taotie!

 1061 Massive Defea

    The five first-grade totems roared in succession. In terms of momentum and power fluctuations, they were comparable to an Immortal!


    "Hmm¡­ why does this formation have similarities to the Ten Thousand Beast Banner? Is it an inheritance left behind by the Pantheon Catalog''s master?"


    Fang Yuan mixed into the Azure Dragon Formation, and his clam totem seemed to go all out.


    In reality, he only exerted a tenth of his strength. The rest of his energy was on observing the battlefield.


    He even had the leisure to let his thoughts drift.


    "The Ten Thousand Beast Banner''s Ten Thousand Beast Fusion Technique is the refinement version, and this is a battle formation technique¡­ After comparing them, the refinement technique is a bit more exquisite."


    After looking it over several times, Fang Yuan had a speculation. "Perhaps some barbarian Immortal obtained the Ten Thousand Beast Banner''s refinement technique golden page, and after experimenting with it, they came up with this battle formation!"


    No matter how good the Ten Thousand Beast Banner was, it was just a dao artifact. Perhaps it could advance to an immortal artifact in the future. However, compared to this ten-thousand-man formation, its power was lacking.


    "Ten Thousand Beast Banner excels at single-target offense. And while this great formation is a bit too rudimentary, its power is amazing!"


    Fang Yuan listened to the army commander''s orders while the enormous Azure Dragon transformation advanced.


    "Front formation gather, Nine-Stream Yellow River!"


    Over ten thousand cultivators pulled out their array flags. Yellow streams emerged, forming a heavenly river array that enveloped the Azure Dragon.


    "Destroy!" the army commander roared angrily above the dragon''s horns.


    The Azure Dragon roared and swung its claws into the river.


    The Nine-Stream Yellow River Formation turned stagnant, but it continued to operate unhindered.


    The same formations appeared in different directions to trap the other giant beast totems.


    Brutal Child and the other Immortals felt their heart tremble when they saw this.


    Opposite them, Xuan Yuanzi and the others'' voice transmission asked, "So? Brutal Child, aren''t you going to surrender?"


    At the Immortal level, the three of them were enough to fight against Brutal Child''s group of three great barbarian patriarchs. They might even be slightly stronger.


    At this time, the five fierce beasts transformed by the barbarian army were also blocked. It was clear that the cultivators had the upper hand.


    "We''ll only know if it''s a victory or a defeat after we fight!" Patriarch Brutal Extinction shouted.


    At the same time, the hazy illusory image of a broken river emerged from him.


    Within the formation, Fang Yuan gasped. "Is this¡­ the power of an incomplete Great Dao? As expected. If an Immortal wants to go further, they must grasp a true Great Dao?"


    Only by comprehending a complete set of nomological laws could you become qualified to face the lightning tribulation and become an Immortal.


    If an Immortal wanted to advance, they had to sublimate their nomological laws into a Great Dao!


    At this point, Fang Yuan only wanted to laugh aloud. He was no longer confused about his future cultivation path.


    "Brutal Extinction, how could we brothers let you down?"


    Brutal Child and Brutal Emperor laughed heartily, and Great Dao illusory images appeared.


    "Sigh¡­ why bother?"


    Kun Lunzi and the two Immortals looked regretful as they simultaneously formed hand seals.


    Behind them, a bright heavenly gate surfaced. It was purple, and auspicious clouds surrounded it, full of propitious Qi.


    "An Immortal joint formation technique?"


    Brutal Child''s expression turned serious.


    The outside cultivators did not have the magical powers of a materialization. They could only use their skills to their limits, and they exceeded Barbarians in all kinds of technical aspects.


    Especially after their lightning tribulation, they were reborn. In the Immortal realm, there was very little difference between them.


    On the other hand, barbarians relied on their innate skills. It became apparent at this time that their techniques were below the outside Immortals.


    These three Immortals used a mystic technique to combine the comprehension of their nomological laws and the power of their incomplete Great Daos to create a terrifying heavenly gate that increased their powers significantly.


    "Detestable!" The terrifying pressure changed the three barbarian patriarchs'' expressions. "After the techniques from the outside world reach the Immortal level, they basically won''t lose to peerless magical powers!"


    ¡­


    Just as the two armies began their fight on the Death Plains¡­


    Agonizing Eagle Gorge.


    Within the Moonview tribe''s two military divisions.


    An Apotheosis realm elder arrived at the military camp with a complicated expression. "It''s been three hundred years since the patriarch displayed his great magical power and seized a body for me. After being undercover for three hundred years, I have a lingering affection. But¡­"


    He gritted his teeth before leaving the camp.


    There were a few people like him in the Agonizing Eagle Gorge and the Golden River.


    Not long after they left, several streaks of light bombarded the military camp from the sky. All kinds of battle patterns appeared on the defensive arrays.


    Splash!


    These attacks seemed to be alive as they sought the weaknesses and flaws in the defenses.


    Soon, several defenses fell apart.


    At the same time, skyships cruised through the sky. An overwhelming Demon Dao army in black robes descended.


    "The camp''s arrays were arranged by Immortal Patriarchs. How could they fall so easily?"


    With a flash of saber light, hundreds of cultivators lost their heads with looks of disbelief on their faces.


    Mo He sheathed his saber while watching this unfold. His expression turned serious. "Our camp has been breached, and they targeted our weaknesses. Furthermore, the tribe''s morale has plummeted. This attack by the Demon Dao cultivators will undoubtedly be successful. But the crucial point is that there''s a spy among us!"


    With his cultivation base, his thoughts surpassed ordinary men, and he immediately understood what had happened. "These demon cultivators are really sly. They must''ve prepared a long time for this day. We have to leave!"


    While watching the skyships land, Mo He transformed into a saber light and disappeared, leaving the camp in the blink of an eye.


    Behind him, loud explosions and the screams of barbarian soldiers ensued. Mo He gripped his saber.


    He knew that the opponents had invested heavy thought and effort into this plan and had more arrangements in other places. The Golden River and the Agonizing Eagle Gorge were lost. The remaining barbarian army on the Death Plains had to retreat, even if they could still support it.


    "A great loss. An unprecedented defeat!" Mo He''s expression was cold. "Most importantly, there are spies among the top ranks¡­ How is this possible?"


    If someone from the outside world kidnapped a barbarian, they would not obtain an important position even if they returned to the Hundred Thousand Mountains.


    Although barbarians were simple-minded, they were not stupid. They understood the importance of clean backgrounds.


    The real secret had to lay in the selection of barbarians into the Barbarian Palace from a young age. Only these people who grew up in the Holy Mountain could come into contact with the upper echelons.


    This was hard for Mo He to believe.


    What method did they use to convince the upper echelons to betray the barbarians?


    ¡­


    "Tsk Tsk¡­ We have finally entered the Hundred Thousand Mountains!"


    Matters continued to escalate. The barbarian patriarchs who guarded the Agonizing Eagle Gorge issued a retreat. The cultivators chased them down for 150 kilometers before finally stopping.


    On a skyship, a black-robed, green-haired, middle-aged man breathed in excitedly. "What a lively aura¡­ Send out orders to bring the Soul-Searching Scrolls and Myriad Soul Gourds. Fill them up!"


    "How could we give such a good place up to the Kun Yun Sect? Hehe. According to our agreement, we''ll conquer the Agonizing Eagle Gorge and occupy as much land as we can!"


    The middle-aged man''s eyes seemed to have a green glow. The skyship shook before coming to a halt above a tribe.


    "Five Ghosts of the Five Directions, listen to my command. Souls, gather!"


    His expression was indifferent as he waved gently.


    Below, the barbarians were suddenly stunned before falling lifelessly to the ground.


    Illusory souls surfaced from their bodies. As though a terrifying vortex was sucking them up, the souls flew into the sky and landed in the middle-aged man''s hands.


    "Haha¡­ as expected of the barbarians. Their spirit essences are much stronger than that of ordinary people. One is equivalent to ten from the outside world. If it is a cultivator''s, it''s equivalent to a hundred spirit essences!"


    The middle-aged man laughed heartily. "With this treasured land, my Dao will succeed!"


    ¡­


    The Death Plains.


    The battlefield was getting ever more critical.


    Under the attacks of the five fierce beasts, even if they had formations protecting them, the cultivators suffered heavy casualties. Of course, the illusory totem phantoms were gradually getting fainter. Once they collapsed, the barbarians caught inside the formations would immediately fall into desperate straits!


    In the sky, the purple heavenly gate''s radiance shone, overwhelming the area.


    Brutal Child and the other barbarian patriarchs activated their techniques simultaneously. Their materializations appeared, but they were not a match for the gate.


    "Not good!" Brutal Child was standing atop a three-thousand-meter long centipede when his expression suddenly changed. He pulled out a piece of blood jade. "The Agonizing Eagle Gorge was breached by the Revenant Soul Sect. The Golden River is in imminent danger!"


    "What?" Brutal Emperor and Brutal Extinction immediately became sad and indignant. "Those damned cultivators!"


    The barbarians had always been at odds with the cultivators and demon cultivators.


    In the outside world, the resentment between the cultivators and the demon cultivators ran even deeper.


    Therefore, the three barbarian patriarchs were caught in this mindset. They could not believe that the cultivators would join hands with the Demon Dao to conquer the Hundred Thousand Mountains.


    A single misstep would cause them to lose it all. Time was of the essence.


    The cultivators already had the upper-hand. Now, their advantage increased significantly, almost setting their victory in stone.


    "Withdraw quickly!"


    Brutal Child gritted his teeth and sent out the retreat signal.


    "Big Bro?!" Patriarchs Brutal Extinction and Brutal Emperor were anxious, furious, and extremely unwilling.


    "The Hundred Thousand Mountains is ours after all. They won''t be able to hold their ground for long!"


    Even though Brutal Child had a small body, he was the leader of the three. With one command, the other two followed his order no matter how unwilling they were.


    "Withdraw!"


    Brutal Emperor and Brutal Extinction exchanged glances before mystical lights fell on the formations below them.


    Roar Roar!


    Amid ferocious roars, the five fierce beasts broke out of the formations with their bodies looking tattered. With one look, it was clear that they had reached their limits.


    They just made it outside before they shattered, exposing tens of thousands of barbarians inside.


    "Haha¡­ Three barbarian patriarchs, victory has yet to be decided. Where are you going?" Xuan Yuanzi and the other two immediately chased after them, entangling the three barbarian Immortals firmly, and ordered, "Kill all the barbarians. Do not leave a single one alive!"


    Swoosh!


    Below, flying swords and materializations flew. Talismans, Gu worms, arrays¡­ all kinds of cultivation techniques rushed at the barbarians.


    "Tsk Tsk!" Seeing this, Fang Yuan shook his head. "The barbarians lost!"


    He let out a long sigh as the light in front of his chest glowed.


    Swoosh!


    He transformed into a streak of light and burrowed into the ground. In an instant, he traveled dozens of kilometers away.


    "Earth Escape Spirit Talisman, the upgraded version of Earth Escape Magic Talisman and also a treasure of the Pantheon Palace. I used five at once, taking me hundreds of kilometers away!"


    Without these as insurance, Fang Yuan would not have come to this battlefield!

 1062 Mountain Siege

    Barbarian Ancestral Court, Holy Mountain.


    The solemness felt different from before. Now, an air of desolation and despair filled the place.


    "Within just a few days, we''ve had three divisions crumble in battle and lost over fifty percent of their army and forty percent of their territory. Furthermore, they exterminated the Moonview tribe of the three main tribes!"


    Fang Yuan sat cross-legged, thinking about the situation. "The cooperation between the cultivators and the demon cultivators is no trivial matter. They''ve already begun targeting the barbarian''s Holy Mountain!"


    This was not good news to him either.


    If the barbarians were destroyed, even if he escaped, he would lose the support of a large race. How would he survive in the cultivation world in the future? It would simply be a joke!


    No matter where they went, the survivors of a fallen nation would suffer.


    "If the barbarians are truly defeated, I can only change my appearance and pretend to be an outside cultivator. Fortunately, after the lightning tribulation, there''s not much difference."


    Under the lightning tribulation, all life was equal. After transcending the tribulation, even their magical powers were extremely similar.


    Even the Fey could assume a genuine human appearance after their heavenly tribulation!


    He looked around and saw the dense army at the foot of the Holy Mountain. The battle patterns and arrays were directly visible in the air, and the Holy Mountain had become a massive military camp.


    "The next battle will be here."


    Fang Yuan took a deep breath.


    The Barbarian Ancestral Court was the Holy Land to all barbarians. If this place also fell, the blow to the barbarians would be unimaginable.


    "Even if they''re only second or third-rate forces, the joint forces of the cultivators and the demon cultivators are much stronger than the barbarians. How could they resist?"


    Fang Yuan looked at the peak of the Holy Mountain, where the palaces of several barbarian patriarchs were.


    After some time, Mo He appeared beside Fang Yuan and asked casually, "So? Are you scared?"


    The deteriorating aura on him had thickened, as though he was approaching death''s door.


    "You¡­" Fang Yuan narrowed his eyes.


    "The Agonizing Eagle Gorge fell. I had no choice but to go all out. Cough¡­ Considering our race''s fate, this is nothing!" Mo He had a carefree attitude about his life and death. "But I need to tell you something. The patriarchs aren''t optimistic about this war, and they''ve made plans for the ''core seeds'' to escape."


    "Looks like I''m not a part of this!" Fang Yuan answered thoughtfully.


    "That''s right. The true core seeds of a great race are far beyond your imagination. A first-grade totem and superior comprehension ability¡­ are the most basic requirements. The resources placed on them are the last hopes of the barbarians," Mo He said with a sigh.


    Fang Yuan was certain that these core seeds probably had a few immortal artifacts on them!


    After all, they were the hope and future of the barbarians.


    As long as one peerless genius could rise to prominence, they could rebuild the race in the future!


    This was the Heavenly Dao of this world and universe. The strong decided everything!


    Wait, that Bamboo must be one of them¡­ Fang Yuan''s heart trembled. At first, it was just a materialization similar to the Torch Dragon. But if there are treasures that a race has accumulated, these resources are probably the best for survival and cultivation. I also need them badly¡­


    If the barbarian patriarchs knew that giving these resources to these core seeds would bring them disaster instead, he wondered what expression they would make.


    However, in front of outsiders, Fang Yuan would not expose himself. He said calmly. "My talent isn''t exceptional, nor can I bring hope to the race. It''s natural for the higher-ups to think this way."


    "Oh? Is that what you truly think?" Mo He''s eyes glowed.


    "After a hundred years or so, I''ll come back and see what''s changed!" Fang Yuan declared heroically.


    "Great! That''s my disciple!" Mo He nodded happily. "Don''t worry. Master has already made arrangements for you. Even though you''re not a core seed, you still have a mission to carry out. You don''t need to participate in the final battle at the Holy Mountain."


    The final battle at the Holy Mountain was bound to be incomparably cruel and have a staggering number of deaths.


    Many wished they did not have to participate in this battle.


    "Oh? What is it?"


    However, Fang Yuan was not particularly excited. There was no such thing as a free lunch in this world. Being able to avoid this did not mean that he could avoid the following.


    "The barbarian patriarchs arranged for the core seeds'' escape. Those at my level aren''t qualified to participate¡­" Mo He said solemnly. "But besides these core seeds, there are a few important troops for misleading the enemy. Since you have the right cultivation base at the Materialization realm, you can be one of them!"


    "A decoy, huh? This danger isn''t that much different from being at the Holy Mountain. It''s even higher!" Fang Yuan smiled bitterly.


    "If you remain on the Holy Mountain, you''ll face near-certain death. But you might be able to survive on this mission. What''s your choice? It''s your call!" Mo He waved his sleeve.


    "In that case, I''ll be a decoy!" Fang Yuan nodded as his gaze turned introspective.


    A peerless genius at the Materialization realm, huh. The likelihood of both shouldn''t be high, so it might be that young man named ''Bamboo''!


    If so, I must join the mission and at least inquire about some information!


    ¡­


    The peak of the Holy Mountain.


    The five barbarian patriarchs gathered together, all with gloomy expressions.


    Other than Brutal Emperor, Brutal Child, and Brutal Extinction, Patriarch Dark Essence and Patriarch Rising Sun were present as well.


    The black-robed Patriarch Dark Essence said, "The Revenant Soul Sect''s Immortals are really powerful, and they are refining a treasure. It''s a shame Patriarch Rhino fell to them¡­"


    The other patriarchs felt equally sorrowful. "Seems like the outside cultivators are planning to thoroughly eliminate us!"


    Immortals that transcended the lightning tribulation shared lifespans as eternal as the heavens. Could you fathom what kind of carefree existences they were?


    And those who presided over an entire clan or became a sect''s grand elder, how prestigious and honored were their statuses?


    But at this time, they were about to suffer defeat. The cultivators were clearly determined to eliminate the barbarians!


    "The Hundred Thousand Mountain is our root. These damned outsiders want to take it all¡­" Patriarch Brutal Extinction gritted his teeth. "I will defend the Holy Mountain to my last breath!"


    "No, no! At this time, we must preserve our vitality!" Patriarch Rising Sun said. "Each of us has selected two ''core seeds'', and we''re ready to send them out. By using several diversion teams, we should be able to retain some of our vitality. But a race''s rise depends solely on the strongest!"


    "Rising Sun, your words indeed ring true!" Patriarch Brutal Child continued, "Before considering victory, we must consider defeat first. At the very least, we can''t suffer a fatal blow and must have the possibility of turning the tables. But our barbarian spirit is here. We will defend the Holy Mountain!"


    If these Immortals wanted to escape, not many could stop them. They could even take their disciples with them.


    However, give up the Holy Mountain without a battle? The barbarian spirit would inevitably fall to an unimaginable level. If that happened, they would not be able to recover no matter what.


    Furthermore, the barbarians had some hidden cards as well. They might end up in a stalemate with the cultivators.


    As such, no matter how many preparations they had made for their defeat, the barbarian patriarchs were unwilling to leave. They did not wish to leave their native land and roam the world.


    "Good! We''ll let go and kill for once!" Brutal Extinction laughed heartily.


    "In that case, we''ll do as you say, Brutal Child!"


    Rising Sun and Dark Essence did not object. In any case, they were confident in their life-saving abilities. If things turned south, they were certain they could escape.


    "So, why don''t we open that seal?" Brutal Child looked around with a hint of mystery on his face. "The outside cultivators think that this is a blessed land where they can escape the Demonic Tribulation. Haha, they don''t know how wrong they are!"


    "Sss¡­" The patriarchs sucked in a cold breath at the same time. To elicit a reaction like this, it had to be a horrifying secret. "If we do that¡­ the barbarians'' Hundred Thousand Mountains will turn into a paradise for otherworldly demons!"


    "If the Hundred Thousand Mountains is still going to be where the barbarians live, then whoever does this would be a sinner!" Patriarch Brutal Child stepped forward. "But if the Hundred Thousand Mountains is going to change hands, why should we think for the people afterward?"


    He seemed to understand the importance of the matter and was not obstinate about it. "But¡­ it all depends on how the battle unfolds. If we can enter a deadlock or attain a small victory, I naturally won''t do it. But we won''t have any other considerations the day we''re close to extermination."


    "It''s feasible. But before that, we should threaten the outside cultivators with it. We might be able to turn the situation around!" Brutal Emperor said.


    The true threat was not in the future, but the present!


    The Immortal Patriarchs understood this truth.


    ¡­


    Seven days passed by in a flash, and the nightmares continued.


    Both the cultivator army and the demon cultivator army advanced like a hot knife through butter. Finally, they met at the foot of Holy Mountain. Cultivators filled the battlefield like locusts. There was no less than two hundred thousand.


    When the barbarians on the Holy Mountain saw this scene, their expressions darkened, and their hearts seemed to accept their deathly fate.


    "Tsk¡­ With a two-hundred-thousand-cultivator army surrounding tens of thousands of barbarians, rivers of blood will flow on the Holy Mountain!"


    In the distance, Fang Yuan could not even see Holy Mountain, but he could sense the terrifying aura surrounding it and could not help sighing.


    "That''s not certain¡­" Gold Ingot''s voice came from the white jade ring. "You can cut off the food and water of mortal soldiers, but cultivators don''t have such worries. Unlike the previous camp, the Holy Mountain has been the barbarian''s ancestral ground for thousands of years. Its defensive arrays are well fortified and without a single flaw. Even if cultivators want to invade, it''s troublesome¡­ Furthermore, do you think the barbarians have ruled the Hundred Thousand Mountains for so long with only five or six Immortals?"


    "That''s right. There must be something else. We just don''t know if it''s enough to stop the cultivators outside!" Fang Yuan smiled. "The final defense on the Holy Mountain is a chance for survival. And for us, it will also be a narrow escape! But I prefer to take the initiative and at least be in control of my life and death!"

 1063 Killing Spree

    Fang Yuan was inside an ancient forest full of cold air.


    After communicating with Gold Ingot through voice transmission, he looked around before sighing.


    "Why are you sighing? I''m the one who should be sighing over our misfortune!"


    Wu Qi crossed his arms and sat on an emerald rock with two Primordial Core disciples by his side, forming this complete squad of ''decoys''.


    I wonder what the Holy Mountain is thinking, arranging for me to be in a squad with Wu Qi. Do they want us to give us the opportunity to kill each other? Fang Yuan was somewhat exasperated.


    "Boy, try to live a little longer!" Wu Qi''s voice transmission entered his ears. "Even if you die, you should contribute sufficient value to the race!"


    Even though this old man has a vendetta against Mo He, he still prioritizes the race! Fang Yuan nodded silently.


    Furthermore, he knew that if they could escape, they would also be seeds of the barbarian''s revival because they also carried some barbarian resources on them.


    Even though they were incomparable to the core seeds, providing cultivation resources for a few more people was not a problem.


    This was reality. Even though they were decoys, they could spread their seeds if they survived.


    The selection for the decoy teams involved the young and talented. If they managed to escape by chance, they might be able to achieve great things after bitterly cultivating.


    As for those like Mo He, their future was bleak. All that remained for them was to fight for their lives on the Holy Mountain.


    ¡­


    "Haha! Barbarian animals, you''re here!"


    While Fang Yuan''s group of four were resting, a Nascent Soul spiritual will suddenly swept down, carrying joy.


    "What? They''ve found us?" Wu Qi''s expression changed as he summoned a small boat. "Get on!"


    Even though the boat was small, it was large enough to accommodate four people. Its flight path left no traces behind, and the speed was faster than the Nascent Soul cultivator''s flying sword.


    "Strange, why was our position exposed?" On the flying boat, Wu Qi rubbed his bald head in confusion.


    "Seems like there are spies among our Apotheosis higher-ups!" Finally, he sighed somewhat helplessly.


    In fact, there''s another possibility. The barbarian executives intentionally leaked our position to the cultivators so that we would draw their attention and help the real seeds escape! Fang Yuan''s expression turned cold. He knew Wu Qi likely also thought of this.


    However, thinking of it and saying it were two entirely different matters.


    "You won''t be able to escape!"


    Dozens of sword lights appeared, blocking their escape path, instantly forcing the small barbarian team into a desperate situation with nowhere to go!


    "There are actually three Nascent Soul cultivators!"


    Wu Qi put away the flying boat, summoned a monstrous bird materialization, and sped up. "Everyone, run for your lives!"


    Fang Yuan got off and retreated into the forest without a word. In this desperate situation, Wu Qi had truly done his best.


    "Not a single one of you can escape!"


    The two groups instantly made a decision. Two Nascent Soul cultivators went after Wu Qi while the other Nascent Soul cultivator and Golden Core cultivators chased after Fang Yuan and the other two.


    "Not right¡­ these Golden Core cultivators are completely different from the ones in the three-sect alliance on the Death Plains!"


    Looking at these Golden Core cultivators'' black robes and their cruel auras, Fang Yuan instantly understood. "Demon Dao cultivators? The outside world''s demon cultivators?"


    The demon cultivators here were naturally not otherworldly demons, but native demon cultivators.


    After all, the heavens had Yin and Yang, good and evil. Since there was Qi of Heaven and Earth vitality, there was naturally Demonic Qi of Heaven and Earth.


    Even in the face of a trap, he remained expressionless. Suddenly, he unleashed a slash.


    "Saber Realm! Nine Star Pearl Mystic Technique! Third Star!"


    Kiang!


    The two Golden Core cultivators before him only saw saber light bloom in the air before it cut them into pieces.


    Fang Yuan retracted his technique, and two storage bags landed in his palm. Then he continued to escape without turning back.


    "Good lad!" This sudden outburst shocked the Nascent Soul cultivator. "They used a peerless like this as a decoy?"


    Someone able to kill a Golden Core cultivator while at Foundation Establishment was definitely a monster-level talent!


    "Not good¡­ He really knows about the decoy teams!"


    Fang Yuan sharply increased his speed, but the Nascent Soul cultivator chased after him relentlessly.


    "Boy, I can''t believe the barbarians are willing to send you to your death like this. Did they not know of your potential at all?"


    The Nascent Soul cultivator continued his chase while transmitting his voice to Fang Yuan. "What a pity¡­ With your innate talent and comprehension, our Revenant Soul Sect''s Immortal elder would have been overjoyed to take you in as a disciple. Your actions now are nothing more than a meaningless struggle. In other words, decoys like you are nothing more than a joke. To be honest, our sect''s Immortals have personally made their move. Not only will they annihilate your entire army, but the core seeds you''re trying to protect won''t escape either!"


    In fact, he had some doubts if this small team was the true objective.


    However, judging from how that Apotheosis realm elder had not hesitated to abandon this Materialization realm genius and flee by himself, that did not seem to be the case.


    Finally, the distance between the two drew close. Fang Yuan managed to make out this Nascent Soul cultivator''s appearance. He was thin with yellow skin and green eyes!


    "Killing a genius like this and extracting his soul is a waste¡­"


    The old man revealed a ferocious smile as he flipped his sleeve!


    A large amount of black fog emerged and surged toward Fang Yuan violently.


    "Want to capture me alive?" Fang Yuan''s lips curled into a mysterious smile. "Old man¡­ did you think that was my full strength?"


    "Not good!" This Nascent Soul cultivator was someone battle-hardened. Currently, his Nascent Soul instincts were ringing, so he immediately crushed a jade talisman.


    Rumble!


    A jet-black defensive shield enveloped him instantly.


    The next moment, a saber light sharper than before burst before the black shield!


    "Fifth star! Activate!"


    "Septuple Space-Penetrating Blade! Kill!"


    Fang Yuan looked ruthless and full of killing intent.


    In fact, with his current cultivation at peak Materialization, activating the fifth star of the Nine Star Pearl Mystic Technique was enough for him to fight with an Apotheosis realm powerhouse head-on.


    However, he chose to show weakness and got the Revenant Soul Sect''s Nascent Soul cultivator to approach closer.


    But even if it were a direct confrontation, with the opponent''s Nascent Soul cultivation base and various techniques, he still would not be a match for Fang Yuan''s fifth star.


    However, the fact that he was able to put up a defense instantly this close was impressive.


    "Seems like a¡­ defensive dao talisman? It''s quite sturdy!"


    Seeing the jet-black shield, Fang Yuan''s smile grew wider.


    Pfft!


    The dazzling saber light bloomed like a lotus, but as it came into contact with the black shield, it suddenly disappeared.


    Within the shield, a horrifying scream resounded!


    Fang Yuan had cultivated the Illusion Realm''s nomological laws to the point where he could disregard some defenses easily.


    Unless it''s a magic treasure containing the Illusion Realm''s nomological laws, there''s no way it can defend against my space-penetrating blade!


    Fang Yuan was very confident about this.


    As expected, the black shield split open and revealed the remnants of human flesh.


    A small Nascent Soul holding an aquamarine magical sword emerged and seemed about to escape.


    Poof!


    Seven streaks of Saber Qi instantly appeared midair, sealing the space all around. Even with a Nascent Soul''s mystical power, he would not be able to escape.


    With the Saber Qi approaching, the Nascent Soul''s face was full of resentment and unwillingness. "Master will avenge me!"


    All of a sudden, a dragon-like voice came from the sky. "Stop!!!"


    "Immortal Patriarch? How could he come so quickly?"


    Fang Yuan''s expression was indifferent, and his Saber Qi continued to shred the Nascent Soul into pieces.


    "How dare you!"


    Black Qi flashed in the sky as a black-robed, middle-aged man appeared with a pale young man in his hand. When Fang Yuan saw this, his pupils shrank.


    Since he had plans for the Torch Dragon materialization, he had naturally paid attention to Bamboo''s appearance and characteristics.


    The captive in the Revenant Soul Sect Immortal''s hands was a barbarian genius and one of the core seeds¡ªBamboo!


    "So, an Immortal made his move. No wonder he was caught!"


    Fang Yuan used an Earth Escape Spirit Talisman, directly turning into a stream of light and burrowing into the ground.


    "After killing someone from the Revenant Soul Sect, you want to leave?!"


    The Immortal in the sky was clearly furious and reached out to grab.


    Rumble!


    A large, black vortex appeared, carrying immense power. Within the forest, countless small creatures, anything with life, had their eyes turn blank, their souls flying away and scattering.


    "No aura?" After a moment, the black-robed Immortal landed, feeling slightly doubtful. "There''s no corpse! Even with his Earth Escape Spirit Talisman, he couldn''t have escaped the range of my spiritual will. There''s only one last possibility. Did he conceal himself within a mysterious realm or an immortal abode? This kid is hiding many secrets!"


    He could not help but recall the other party''s stunning move that killed the Nascent Soul instantly and had to admit that even he felt slightly threatened.


    Not only did he have such a saber technique, but he even possibly had an immortal abode. He was only at the Materialization realm but was already this outstanding. What about in the future?


    "Looks like our spies didn''t discover the core secrets. These barbarians actually managed to fool us. If I hadn''t happened to pass by, they would have succeeded!"


    The black-robed man glanced at Bamboo. "In order to protect this team, they put in their greatest efforts and treated a peerless totem of this level as cannon fodder? No¡­ perhaps they''re both real?"


    How fast could an Immortal think?


    With a few breaths, the Revenant Soul Sect''s black-robed Immortal made a decision. "You guard the area. Don''t let a single one go!"


    He sat down cross-legged and shut his eyes. He spread his strong spiritual will, instantly covering the surrounding tens of kilometers. He left no stone unturned, scanning the area inch by inch. "Even if you have an immortal abode, you won''t be able to hide!"


    As for the final battle on the Barbarian Ancestral Court''s Holy Mountain? It meant nothing compared to these gains.

 1064 Compromise

    Barbarian Ancestral Court, Holy Mountain.


    "Die!" Mo He bellowed as his saber flashed.


    A waterfall made entirely of Saber Qi appeared in midair.


    "Ahh!" A Nascent Soul cultivator could not flee in time and split into two. Even the Nascent Soul did not escape.


    "Ha¡­" Mo He gasped as he looked around.


    Even this mighty blow could not stop the wolf-like gazes from the surrounding cultivators.


    "I can''t¡­ believe this¡­" He smiled bitterly. Even if he had expected that the Holy Mountain would suffer defeat, he could not have imagined that they would lose so quickly and so badly!


    "At first, I thought that the defensive arrays, five Immortals, and tens of thousands of soldiers would be able to hold on for several months and even inflict substantial damage on the cultivator forces. But the cultivators unexpectedly set up the ''Ten Deadly Heavenly Gates Array'' around the Holy Mountain!"


    The array had two characteristics. First, it covered a large area, including the Holy Mountain and the Barbarian Palace! Second, it isolated heaven and earth!


    Within the array, the Qi of Heaven and Earth could no longer obtain replenishment from the outside.


    Regarding viciousness to soldiers, nothing could surpass running out of food!


    For cultivators, the Qi of Heaven and Earth was food! Their lifeline!


    Without this supplement, even with the spirit stones, pills, and so on in the Holy Mountain, their defeat was set in stone!


    The barbarian patriarchs led elite soldiers to break the array, but with ten Immortals keeping watch, they returned without success. Instead, the enemy took advantage of the situation and conquered the foot of the Holy Mountain!


    "He''s almost out of energy!"


    Nearby, several Golden Core cultivators exchanged glances and activated their spirit artifacts to prepare a long-range attack.


    Poof!


    Mo He was staggering, nearly falling to the ground.


    Seeing this, the Golden Core cultivators revealed a hint of joy and approached him slowly.


    Zap!


    Several streaks of saber light emerged. With one sweep, they all lost their heads under the formidable power.


    "I''m afraid¡­ I really will die here today!"


    Mo He had countless wounds all over. Even though he knew he was about to die, he remained calm.


    "There are endless heads to cut and endless blood to drink. I have no regrets in this life, but it''s a pity that my race¡­" Mo He murmured with a hint of disappointment.


    He used to be the brightest star on the Holy Mountain. Immortals respected him, looking forward to the development of his Great Dao. However, one misstep and then nothing¡­


    ¡­


    "Five barbarian patriarchs, victory and defeat have been decided. Why are you still pointlessly struggling and wasting lives?"


    Kun Lunzi appeared above the Ten Deadly Heavenly Gates Array in the air, and his sonorous voice resounded throughout the Holy Mountain. "As long as you issue life oaths to join the Combat Heavenly Palace, we will give the barbarians a place in the Hundred Thousand Mountains."


    "Bullsh*t!" On the peak of the Holy Mountain, Brutal Child''s group of five patriarchs appeared. "Every single barbarian is an indomitable warrior. We will only live as humans, not dogs!"


    "Haha¡­ I said it before!" Another black-robed Immortal laughed aloud. "These barbarians are even more stubborn than the people from my Holy Dao. We should directly exterminate them! Tsk tsk¡­ These barbarian cultivators have powerful souls, and their Blood Qi is outstanding. They''re all top-grade resources!"


    "In that case¡­" Kun Lunzi looked around. "Let''s do it together!"


    "Kun Lunzi! Immortal Myriad Soul!" Patriarch Brutal Child''s disheveled hair made him look frenzied. "You really want to wipe out us barbarians? Fine! Then we''ll all die together!"


    He took out a simple bronze ring, bit the tip of his tongue, and spat out a mouthful of blood essence.


    The other barbarian patriarchs'' expressions hardened as they did the same.


    After gathering the blood essence of five great barbarian Immortals, the bronze ring changed mystically. Over a million densely-packed battle patterns appeared above it.


    "Immortal artifact? No, it looks like an array key?" Kun Lunzi''s pupil shrank.


    Kaboom!


    The entire Holy Mountain began trembling violently.


    The ground split open as sand and rock flew all around.


    "What''s happening?"


    "It''s the Holy Mountain! The Holy Mountain is about to collapse!"


    ¡­


    Many astonished voices came. Not only from the barbarians but also from the attacking cultivators!


    Roar!


    Suddenly, a horrifying roar came from the bottom of the Holy Mountain.


    It seemed like the angry roar of an ancient fierce beast that had awakened.


    With this roar, the barbarians'' and cultivators'' expressions turned to shock as they fell to the ground.


    Poof!


    A black pillar of light soared into the sky, overwhelming everything in its path and carrying a thick air of pure destruction.


    "This is¡­ the Qi of an otherworldly demon?!"


    Kun Lunzi and Immortal Myriad Soul were incomparably frightened.


    The otherworldly demon aura was completely different from the native demon cultivators. They would never mistake this.


    Furthermore, this demon was much more terrifying than any other otherworldly demon they had ever seen. By merely releasing a little of its aura, all the Immortals started shuddering!


    "Haha!" Brutal Child''s hair was in a frenzy as he looked up and laughed cheerfully. "Did you think the Hundred Thousand Mountains were a paradise devoid of otherworldly demons? Otherworldly demons only know of destruction, so how could they ignore this place? The reason the Hundred Thousand Mountains has enjoyed peace is that we sealed an unparalleled otherworldly demon here!"


    There were also ranks among otherworldly demons!


    The otherworldly demon sealed in the Holy Mountain was undoubtedly a high-ranking overlord.


    The other demons had sensed its aura and naturally did not dare to offend it.


    "So that''s why!" Kun Lunzi and Immortal Myriad Soul exchanged glances. This was obviously the barbarian patriarchs'' greatest secret. Even if they had planted many spies, they would have never figured this out. They yelled angrily, "How could you release this demon? Aren''t you afraid of becoming sinners of heaven and earth?"


    "You forced us!" Brutal Child suddenly stopped moving. "If the heavens want to blame, half of the responsibility is on you. So? Are you going to continue?"


    "You¡­" Kun Lunzi looked uncertain, but Immortal Myriad Soul''s eyes flashed excitedly.


    Rumble!


    The peak of the Holy Mountain began crumbling. The immortal palace grounds began sinking, revealing a horrifying sinkhole that seemed to extend to the foot of the mountain.


    Using an Immortal''s spiritual will, one could see an otherworldly demon head the size of a house, with a dagger inserted in its forehead. It opened its eyes slowly and attempted to break out of the seal.


    Whenever this happened, a golden lightning net emerged from the void to block the demon.


    "It''s just¡­ a head!" Even Immortal Myriad Soul was intimidated. "I''m afraid that at its peak, this otherworldly demon far surpassed the Immortal level!"


    In the face of such a variable, even he felt the situation was very troublesome.


    "So? Do you still want to have a life-and-death struggle?" Immortal Brutal Child looked up at the sky and raised the bronze ring. The other four patriarchs surveyed the surroundings, anticipation deep within their eyes.


    Kun Lunzi and Immortal Myriad Soul exchanged glances before sending a signal. "Tell the soldiers to retreat!"


    The attacking cultivators backed off like a tide.


    "It''s impossible for us to withdraw from the Hundred Thousand Mountains and leave the barbarians now!"


    Kun Lunzi, Immortal Myriad Soul, and other Immortals discussed through voice transmission before Immortal Myriad Soul stepped forward. "We can take this as the extent of the war, but you have to swear that three Immortals will enter the Combat Heavenly Palace! Otherwise, what do we have to fear about a life-and-death struggle?"


    These words were more credible coming from him since he was a Demon Immortal.


    "Three Immortals? Too many. We can send twenty thousand barbarian soldiers and two Immortals!" Brutal Child frowned.


    Brutal Extinction, Dark Essence, and the others revealed a hint of joy.


    In any event, the fact that the high-end combat power did not enter a large-scale battle was cause for celebration. The threat of their genocide had disappeared, and the next step was negotiations.


    "We can discuss the details!" Kun Lunzi said. "But if this demon escapes, the entire world will suffer a disaster!"


    "Relax. I only opened the outermost barrier. The core seal is still in place!" Brutal Child was smiling proudly as he formed hand seals. "Seal!"


    Whoosh!


    The golden lightning net glowed brightly. The demon roared again and again as it was suppressed.


    Golden lightning gathered and formed a somewhat damaged ancient character¡ªPantheon!


    ¡­


    "Pfft!"


    Within the Pantheon Palace.


    Fang Yuan appeared with his nose and mouth bleeding, looking aghast.


    "Is this the power of an Immortal? We merely crossed paths for an instant, but I suffered such heavy injuries?!"


    Fortunately, the palace had a lot of spirit pills and medicines. Fang Yuan consumed several bottles, and his aura finally stabilized.


    "We''re in trouble!" Gold Ingot walked over inside the puppet. "That Immortal has covered the entire surrounding fifty kilometers with his spiritual will. Once you appear, you''ll become his target!"


    "I know!" Fang Yuan smiled bitterly. "We can''t just continue hiding here, right? Since he''s scanning the area inch-by-inch, no matter how good the immortal abode''s concealment methods are, he''ll still find it!"


    "Right!" Gold Ingot''s voice was serious. "Once he discovers us, you won''t be able to control the immortal abode''s restrictions with your cultivation. He''ll break through in no time! By then, we''ll be as good as dead."


    In his eyes, they were now in dire straits!


    "Come to think of it, didn''t Immortal Hong Chen leave you any life-saving methods?" Fang Yuan asked curiously.


    "You are the Pantheon Palace''s master. Don''t you know what''s in here?" Gold Ingot shook his head. "We''re facing an Immortal! According to his inspection speed, he''ll find us in two hours at the latest!"


    "It really is dire!" Fang Yuan shook his head and sat cross-legged. "Protect me while I cultivate. No matter what happens, don''t call me!"


    "Hmm? Are you going to break through now?" Gold Ingot was puzzled. "So what if you''re at Primordial Core? The power of an Immortal is unfathomable, and even relying on the Nine Star Pearl Mystic Technique to control the immortal abode might not save you."


    Controlling the immortal abode depended heavily on the cultivation realm!


    If Fang Yuan cultivated to the Apotheosis realm and hid in the immortal abode, even three Immortals would not be able to do anything to him.


    But now, this was obviously impossible.


    "Eh?" The next moment, Gold Ingot was bewildered. "Isn''t he merely breaking through to Primordial Core? Why does he have such a powerful imposing manner?"

 1065 Telepor

    "The Primordial Core realm is very important during a barbarian''s cultivation!


    "Likely because the barbarians have rather poor comprehension abilities. Moreover, the cultivation of this world requires the comprehension of nomological laws and Great Daos. Thus, they have to use materialization magical powers to aid in the comprehension of the corresponding nomological laws!


    "In the Primordial Core realm, you can seal a magical power in the Primordial Core and form the Destiny Magical Power. Since it is connected with the heart and mind, it is more than ten times easier to comprehend!


    "I can do the same for my Illusion Realm''s nomological laws as well!"


    In fact, Fang Yuan''s comprehension of nomological laws was definitely at a monstrous level.


    However, the Illusion Realm''s nomological laws were the most difficult Nomological Laws of Space and extremely hard to comprehend.


    Even he was currently experiencing some difficulty.


    However, with a sudden inspiration, the Primordial Core formed.


    "Magical power¡ªIllusion Realm!"


    Without any hesitation, the Clam Dragon appeared behind Fang Yuan and spat out its magical power into the Primordial Core.


    An immense amount of Qi of Heaven and Earth rushed in, inscribing onto and solidifying the Primordial Core.


    "The Primordial Core is formed!"


    Fang Yuan opened both eyes, and joy flashed in them. "As expected!"


    The originally difficult and obscure spatial fluctuations became more than ten times clearer to him, making Fang Yuan almost like a blind man who could finally see again. He nearly burst into tears. "Great!"


    He closed his eyes. The bottleneck that he had faced instantly disappeared, and his comprehension of the Illusion Realm''s nomological laws was increasing at an astonishing pace.


    "You broke through?" Gold Ingot turned around, his eyes glowing with wonder. "I have bad news! That Immortal has narrowed it down to this area because you moved the Qi of Heaven and Earth. He''ll be able to find this immortal abode in no time!"


    "Really? Why does that matter?"


    Fang Yuan stood up, and Gold Ingot keenly felt his changes.


    He seemed to be separated by thousands of mountains and rivers just standing there. Many spaces overlapped around him, forming the ultimate defense.


    "You broke through¡­ in your comprehension of nomological laws?" Gold Ingot asked in astonishment.


    "Hmm. At last, I am at large success in the Illusion Realm''s nomological laws! Just like the Nomological Laws of Saber!


    "However, the ability I obtained is much stronger than the Saber Realm¡­ At least, there won''t be a problem escaping from that Immortal," Fang Yuan replied confidently.


    Gold Ingot''s eyes sparkled as his voice grew calm. "I''ll wait and see then!"


    Someone at the Primordial Core realm saying that he could escape from an Immortal was simply dreaming.


    However, seeing Fang Yuan''s current state made Gold Ingot choose to believe him without any logic nor reason.


    "Let''s go!" Fang Yuan smiled and exited the immortal abode.


    Outside!


    "There!"


    The middle-aged Immortal in black robes focused his spiritual will on a seemingly ordinary piece of rock dozens of kilometers away.


    The next moment, Fang Yuan appeared, and with a flick of his hand, the rock turned into a white jade ring and landed in his hand.


    "Haha¡­ I''ve got you. You can''t run. The immortal abode and everything inside is all mine, Annihilating Soul''s!" Immortal Annihilating Soul snickered and made a grab.


    Whoosh!


    Black Qi locked the surroundings, vaguely forming an array.


    He had gone all out without a doubt, locking down all possible escape routes. He would never let someone at Primordial Core slip away.


    But the next moment, Fang Yuan raised his head, grinned at him, and instantly disappeared.


    "Hmm? Did he hide in the immortal abode again?"


    Immortal Annihilating Soul rolled his fingers into a fist, and a piece of land burst into pieces. "Something''s not right!"


    His spiritual will spread out and detected Fang Yuan''s aura twenty-five kilometers away. "What kind of trick is this that it can break through my restrictions?"


    Immortal Annihilating Soul was flabbergasted.


    However, that aura vanished again and reappeared more than fifty kilometers away before he could give chase.


    A few moments after that, it was out of his spiritual will''s range.


    "Damn it¡­ Why?!" Immortal Annihilating Soul roared. The Golden Core cultivators nearby shivered with fear.


    ¡­


    "What''s¡­ happening?" Gold Ingot was also confused within the immortal abode. "You can''t break out of an Immortal''s blockade even with dao talismans!"


    "This isn''t an escape method, but a void shifting technique, or perhaps¡­ teleportation!"


    Fang Yuan could no longer hide his smile.


    "Teleportation? Void shifting?"


    "The sign of large success of the Nomological Laws of Saber is Saber Realm, while the sign of large success of my Illusion Realm''s nomological laws is the comprehension of teleportation!" Fang Yuan laughed. "From now on, I can go anywhere I want!"


    Immortals would not be able to restrict Fang Yuan''s abilities to shift voids and teleport.


    However, through groping around, he knew his own affairs and realized it still had two shortcomings.


    First, it was necessary to sense spatial fluctuations to be able to teleport, meaning there was a limit to the distance. Currently, his range was about twenty-five kilometers. Otherwise, he would have been able to teleport to the ends of the world and outside of that Immortal''s spiritual will.


    Second, if the void had restrictions, it could limit his teleportation. For example, some places that isolated the Illusion Realm''s nomological laws or magic treasures that were refined by someone who comprehended the same nomological laws of the Illusion Realm.


    Fang Yuan understood this clearly, but he did not take it too seriously. "For the first shortcoming, my range will continuously improve along with my cultivation! For the second shortcoming, if even I found it so difficult to achieve so after many lucky chances, how many others could comprehend the Illusion Realm''s nomological laws?"


    The difficulty of the Space-Time Great Dao was evident by the fact that among all the people he had met in the many worlds he had gone to, probably only the Abominable Lord had comprehended it.


    "I can teleport with a thought. Starting today, I have the confidence to escape from Immortals. Also¡­ this is the beginning of my confrontation with the Abominable Lord! How could I even do that without comprehending the Space-Time Great Dao?"


    Fang Yuan''s mood surged.


    From the day he had arrived in this world with nothing to what he had today, it had been a path full of thorns, and he had nearly lost his life more than once.


    He finally obtained a bit of power to protect himself in this dangerous world after much difficulty.


    "With my current cultivation base, as long as I don''t deliberately enter certain arrays or terribly dangerous places¡­ I can go anywhere in the world!"


    How fast was a thought? Once he sensed danger, he could instantly teleport away.


    Perhaps when his Illusion Realm''s nomological laws improved, the world would be just a stone''s throw away.


    With this move, he was on the same standing as Immortals.


    Fang Yuan might be at the Primordial Core realm, but his status definitely surpassed that of many Apotheosis elders!


    Only equality of strength could bring true equality of status. Making Immortals helpless was naturally a kind of strength as well.


    "What amazing Illusion Realm''s nomological laws!" Seeing this, Gold Ingot could hardly speak. "If Master could have comprehended this teleportation technique all those years ago, how could his enemy have killed him?"


    "That''s right¡­ The Illusion Realm''s nomological laws are very difficult to restrain. Perhaps only a few can restrain it within this entire world and universe!"


    Even though he was confident, Fang Yuan did not lower his guard.


    The world was vast, and anything was possible. Although the Nomological Laws of Space were rare, there was no guarantee that something else could not restrain them.


    Therefore, he would not deliberately make a scene and court his own death.


    He looked in the direction of the Holy Mountain. "I wonder how the situation is on the Holy Mountain?"


    Swoosh!


    Fang Yuan disappeared and instantly reappeared twenty-five kilometers away.


    He continued to teleport in this manner.


    He arrived at the Holy Mountain in the blink of an eye through this sort of continuous teleportation relay.


    "As expected, teleportation is the fastest. The whole process required only a thought. I was 150 kilometers away from the Holy Mountain and reached here with six teleports, which were six thoughts superimposed onto each other!"


    According to the cultivation world, twenty thoughts was an instant, twenty instances was a flick of a finger, twenty flicks of the fingers was a moment, twenty moments was a quarter of an hour, and eight quarters of an hour was an ancient hour.


    One ancient hour was roughly equivalent to two hours in Fang Yuan''s previous life. Thoughts and instances were all smaller units than milliseconds, difficult for even Immortals to grasp.


    Therefore, there was almost no disadvantage in being able to teleport.


    "Hmm? Seems like they have a ceasefire!"


    The void folded around him, completely hiding his body. His body was neither outside nor was it inside, forming a tiny realm within itself.


    No one could find him, even if he was hovering above the immortal array right now.


    "After reaching large success in the Illusion Realm''s nomological laws, further comprehension will be extremely terrifying mystic techniques¡­"


    He could use the Illusion Realm''s nomological laws to attack and could naturally use them for defense.


    At this time, Fang Yuan had the feeling that even if an Immortal were to attack him, he might be able to shift the attack, or even¡­ reflect it!


    "What an immortal array, the Ten Deadly Heavenly Gates! Unfortunately, its defense against space isn''t much!"


    He went to the side of the array and gently touched it. His whole being entered the array.


    "The foot of the Holy Mountain is still dripping with blood, so the fighting must have gone on for a long time! Looks like the barbarians were on the losing end, so did they do something to scare the Immortals into retreating?"


    Fang Yuan smiled slightly and spread his spiritual will.


    His spiritual will enveloped the entire Holy Mountain with assistance from spatial fluctuations.


    "Hmm! Mo He is still here, even though his life force is very weak¡­ He''s not dead, but he''s dying soon!"


    "Are there treasures hidden within those barbarian palaces? The technique is simply¡­ too rough!"


    Storage bags, immortal abodes, and so on were the best storage methods for Immortals.


    All these space containers were refined using heavenly materials and earthly treasures, as well as the knowledge of the predecessors, but the refiners only knew the results without knowing why.


    In the eyes of Fang Yuan, who had almost completely comprehended the Illusion Realm''s nomological laws, this was crude, extremely crude!


    "I can use the most ordinary materials to create a storage bag that can store an entire mountain if I want to¡­ Moreover, they ransacked immortal abodes for their treasures! How befitting of robbers!"


    The Holy Mountain had transferred as much of their resources as possible, but the accumulation of the barbarians for thousands of years was not that easy to shift.


    Fang Yuan could sense some hidden nodes above the Holy Mountain with a lot of good stuff in them.


    His spiritual will moved, and a bumpy earthy yellow fruit fell onto his hand. "Thousand Earthworm Fruit? I''ll give it to Mo He, and then my karma with him will become settled."


    This was a treasure he randomly picked up from a node in the void, as easily as bringing something out from his own bag.


    "Eh?" Suddenly, Fang Yuan seemed to find something extremely shocking and immediately disappeared.

 1066 Gap

    A mysterious space below the Holy Mountain.


    Golden lightning danced wildly and formed an electric net. The word ''Pantheon'' seemed to be in the middle of it all.


    Fang Yuan appeared in the void with a flash. He gazed at the giant head within the golden lightning net and exclaimed in admiration, "What a demon head!"


    Although flying with their body was a special privilege of those in the Apotheosis realm, it was completely possible to break through common sense for him since he had comprehended the Illusion Realm''s nomological laws.


    His expression was serious as he gazed at the demon head within the golden net. "This is an otherworldly demon? It truly isn''t something of this world! It''s from this universe!"


    The Yin-Yang Great Dao was an ultimate truth. Everything had both Yin and Yang. If there was Righteous Qi of Heaven and Earth, then there had to be Demonic Qi of Heaven and Earth.


    This demon head was absolutely not something that could arise from the Demonic Qi of this world.


    "Great annihilation! Destroy everything!"


    Fang Yuan seemed to see the ultimate Destruction Great Dao as he stared at the demon head. "This is the convergence of the dark side of countless worlds in this universe. It was born to bring destruction!"


    A world was vast, but a universe was even more so!


    Fang Yuan had yet to meet a universe-level calamity before.


    But he had finally seen one now!


    "Where do these demons come from? Are they born directly from chaos?"


    Although a Mental Demon Demon God might be able to ignore chaos and walk through it, they could not utilize the universe''s Chaos Qi.


    Chaos Qi was the beginning of all worlds, from which all possibilities were born.


    Fang Yuan was very clear that if they were to let this chaos demon head continue to grow, many worlds would start being destroyed, even the whole universe!


    "Apocalypse? No, this has already surpassed that level¡­"


    Roar Roar!


    At that moment, the head in the lightning net seemed to feel something and suddenly opened its eyes.


    Two dark edges stabbed out like swords!


    Whoosh!


    The lightning net trembled and shattered the dark edges, but there were still sporadic ripples.


    "An ordinary Primordial Core cultivator would have died¡­" Fang Yuan stared at the sealed head. "Hmm¡­ seems like it doesn''t have any rational thought and only knows how to destroy everything!"


    "That Pantheon on the other hand¡­"


    He gazed at the golden lightning net and that ancient word. He beckoned secretly, "Gold Ingot, come out and see!"


    "Heavens, truly divine work!" Gold Ingot was full of astonishment when he saw it. "What a horrifying demon head! I''m afraid even Immortals wouldn''t be able to stop it! And this seal!"


    "How is it?" Fang Yuan had his own guesses but still asked.


    "Master and even Master''s murderer aren''t a match for this demon, let alone sealing it¡­ I''m very confident that the one who sealed this demon head was none other than the higher existence who compiled the Pantheon Catalog!"


    "Indeed!" Fang Yuan nodded as well.


    He might have only obtained a few pages of the Pantheon Catalog, but the information recorded in them were all powerful and unfathomable mystic techniques.


    Even the methods of Immortals seemed to pale in comparison.


    "Unfortunately, my cultivation is too low, and I can''t obtain any benefits here¡­"


    Fang Yuan sighed and turned around to leave without any hesitation.


    Even if he could teleport into the seal, the demon head would smash him into smithereens the next moment.


    As for breaking the seal, what did he stand to gain from releasing the demon head?


    ¡­


    Seven days later, the cultivator army retreated, and the Ten Deadly Heavenly Gates was no more.


    "We barbarians lost a lot this time!"


    In that same residence, Mo He''s hair was now all white, and his face was full of deep wrinkles, seeming like an old man about to die at any time.


    He laid on a soft chair and looked at Fang Yuan with a touch of satisfaction on his face. "From now on, two patriarchs and ten thousand warriors are going to join the Combat Heavenly Palace, but we have at least obtained peace for another few hundred years¡­"


    Even with the threat of the demon head, the barbarians would not be able to obtain their previous status.


    This was already a luxury.


    "It''s good to see past that¡­ Only, can you really let it go?" Fang Yuan smiled slightly at the ashen Mo He.


    "What can I do if I can''t let go?" Mo He ridiculed. "I''m half crippled now¡­ Eh? This is¡­ Thousand Earthworm Fruit?"


    He stared at that earthy yellow fruit in Fang Yuan''s hand, unable to tear his eyes off of it. "Is this the rumored sacred item that can make up for one''s innate natural source?"


    "With this, not only will you be able to extend your life, but you can even recover from all the injuries you''ve sustained. How about it?" Fang Yuan asked.


    In any case, he was able to go up the Holy Mountain because Mo He had accepted him as his disciple. He had to settle this karma.


    Was this not merely a fruit to him?


    "This, naturally¡­ I never thought I would actually see the real thing!" Mo He''s voice was trembling slightly. This was not only his chance of recovery but also the key to his future Saber Great Dao!


    As long as he could restore his original talent, he might really become an Immortal!


    The previous ordeal was a precious grinding experience for him, making his saber sharper.


    "In that case, I''ll give it to you!"


    Fang Yuan threw the Thousand Earthworm Fruit to Mo He casually.


    "You¡­ Why are you giving it up so willingly? This is akin to an extra life¡­" Mo He asked, puzzled. "Even Immortals have a hard time obtaining such a sacred item!"


    "Oh?" Fang Yuan''s eyebrows arched.


    "Your master was once a dazzling genius as well. Back when I lost my chance at becoming an Immortal all those years ago, I had audiences with Immortals¡­ They told me of this method, but Thousand Earthworm Fruits are extremely rare. The last time one appeared was five hundred years ago¡­" Mo He started to reminisce.


    "I see!" Fang Yuan nodded, knowing that Mo He must have been viewed as a monstrous genius all those years ago with regards to his comprehension of nomological laws.


    To the extent that he could even trash peerless first-grade totems. Otherwise, how could he have attracted so much importance?!


    If such a potential Immortal would die prematurely, an Immortal would probably give up a Thousand Earthworm Fruit to heal him.


    A thought popped into Fang Yuan''s mind. So¡­ the place where I found these treasures belongs to no one? Even Immortals didn''t find it?


    The Barbarian Ancestral Court did not only have five Immortals. Some of them fell, while some were out exploring the world and had never returned.


    It could even be somehow vaguely related to that almighty Pantheon.


    Any existence could have buried those treasures on the Holy Mountain, leaving them for those fated to find them.


    Treasures to Immortals, of course, were not just going to be buried in any pit. They had to be hidden within some void nodes and would only open after meeting certain conditions.


    But to me, even Immortals have truly lacking comprehension of space¡­ Fang Yuan shook his head. I''d be able to make a fortune just by roaming the world in search of treasures within void nodes.


    "Are you really¡­ willing to give it up?" Mo He asked a second time, his eyes glistening.


    "It''s only a fruit, so of course!" Fang Yuan smiled.


    "Haha¡­ I was right. You really have great providence! My life is yours in the future¡­" Mo He swallowed the Thousand Earthworm Fruit in one mouthful and started cultivating.


    Someone like him was a man of his words. He would not owe anyone any favors. He would give up his life without a complaint if Fang Yuan said he wanted it back.


    Saber Hearts and Sword Hearts needed to be unstained and unobstructed.


    Given Mo He''s potential, I might have an Immortal goon in the future?


    Fang Yuan could not help having some expectations.


    Mo He''s talent in comprehending nomological laws did not need mentioning. Fang Yuan suspected that after Mo He''s injuries healed, he would be able to attract the lightning tribulation if he were not dragged down by his cultivation base.


    ¡­


    "Gold Ingot, what do you think the result would be if I were to meet head-on with an Immortal now?" While protecting Mo He by the side, he was secretly transmitting his voice to Gold Ingot.


    "Given your teleportation technique, there are very few Immortals who could stop you if you wanted to leave. But fighting one head-on¡­" Gold Ingot''s voice came. "Don''t even think about it. The terrifying strength of someone who has transcended the lightning tribulation is not something you can imagine!"


    "That''s true¡­" Fang Yuan nodded, thinking back to the methods of that Immortal Annihilating Soul. "But I also have the Nine Star Pearl Mystic Technique!"


    "Given your current strength at the Primordial Core realm, unless you reach at least the seventh star, it''s impossible for you to fight against an Immortal directly!" Gold Ingot said decisively.


    "The seventh star, that means more than a hundredfold gap?" Fang Yuan was slightly shocked. "Such an enormous gap?"


    "Given your current strength, you can kill those at the Apotheosis realm easily, but the Immortal realm is different. The lightning tribulation is a terrifying threshold. A step past it is a world of difference!"


    Gold Ingot said solemnly, "My old master, Immortal Hong Chen, was also a peerless genius. He fully comprehended a set of nomological laws at the Primordial Core realm, and it jumped to three complete sets at the peak of the Apotheosis realm. He had mystic techniques, numerous dao artifacts, and an incomparably strong foundation, yet he narrowly survived the lightning tribulation and nearly reincarnated¡­ He luckily became an Immortal, but he needed almost a thousand years of recuperation¡­ This was the result of insufficient preparation and rushing the lightning tribulation! You also know how powerful Immortals are, right?"


    "Immortal Hong Chen told you all of this to warn the people who came after? What good intentions!"


    This experience with the lightning tribulation was obviously not something he went through after he became an Immortal and refined the Pantheon Palace. It must have been something that Immortal Hong Chen had deliberately told Gold Ingot.


    Fang Yuan nodded after hearing it. "Looks like¡­ the difference between someone at the Apotheosis realm and the Immortal realm is indeed a world apart!"


    "However, you don''t have to look down on yourself. Your Illusion Realm''s nomological laws are truly something. You are absolutely invisible under Immortal¡­ And you will look down upon the world when you become an Immortal!" Gold Ingot added hurriedly.

 1067 Sneaking In

    "Not here!"


    "Not here!"


    "Not here!"


    ¡­


    Fang Yuan was dressed white and lying on a bed, throwing a jade slip into the void.


    These were treasures he had secretly obtained from the Holy Mountain, just like how he stole magical powers and mystic techniques from the Myriad Symbols Palace and the Hidden Scripture Pavilion.


    With his knowledge and experience, coupled with the aid of the Illusion Realm''s nomological laws, he definitely had the makings of the greatest thief in the world.


    However, even though there were quite a lot of peerless magical powers and mystic techniques, he still did not obtain the clone technique that he had desired.


    Still, the barbarians had some research in this area, and some notes had opened his eyes.


    "A true clone technique isn''t just two separate clones but creating two true individual entities. Even if one dies, the other one can still survive, which is why they''re famous for granting another life. There aren''t any among the barbarians¡­ but I did obtain some information! There are three ways!


    "The first is the Second Essence Soul Method. You cultivate a second essence soul and attach it on a peerless treasure to form a connate dao body!"


    Fang Yuan sat cross-legged, gritting his teeth. "But the disadvantage of this Second Essence Soul Method is that an outside cultivation sect created it. Not to mention how difficult it is to find a peerless treasure, but most importantly, it''s a connate dao body and not a barbarian body. It quite possibly wouldn''t even have a totem!"


    The barbarians were indeed the race with the most potential he had ever seen.


    Although their comprehension ability might be weak, the Heavenly Dao was fair. They had bloodline magical powers with corresponding nomological laws. This was invaluable!


    "The second method would be the Soul Splitting Method¡­ By directly splitting yourself into many bodies, each would have their own magical powers. If one dies, it''s possible to cultivate another one. But the disadvantage is that this method wasn''t passed down. Moreover, it''s easy for the mind to become confused¡­ Of course, the greatest disadvantage to me is the materialization. What''s the point of having the exact same Clam Dragon materialization?"


    Fang Yuan sighed. "In this case¡­ I can only choose the last method, the Soul Possession Method!"


    This method was similar to a combination of the Second Essence Soul Method and the Soul Splitting Method¡ªsplit the essence soul into two and use the new essence soul to possess someone!


    "This method might be extremely dangerous, but it''s undoubtedly the most suitable for me. Even if I lose that Bamboo, I''ll still be able to find a suitable person with a totem with aptitude in the Nomological Laws of Time¡­ Even if it''s slightly inferior to the Torch Dragon, I''ll be able to make up for it with the Pantheon Enhancement Technique¡­"


    Fang Yuan was a little shocked thinking about it this way.


    This possession method coupled with the Pantheon Enhancement Technique could turn into an unmatched method for mass-producing genius barbarians!


    This was something that could affect the entire world.


    "Of course¡­ all of the cloning methods have a common weakness¡ªthe Heavenly Dao!"


    Fang Yuan got up, walked to the window, and gazed at the full moon and the clouds in the sky.


    "Having a clone is equivalent to having two lives and will certainly incur the jealousy of the heavens! The power of lightning tribulation would be twice the usual!"


    Fang Yuan looked solemn as he recalled some secrets he had seen.


    These experiences the Barbarian Ancestral Court had accumulated after thousands of years would naturally not be false.


    "Lightning tribulation!"


    Without a doubt, this was a test of this entire world, and it was completely impossible to use foreign knowledge to speculate.


    The stronger and more perfect an individual was, the greater the tribulation they would attract.


    Fang Yuan had no doubt that, given his magical powers and ease of comprehending nomological laws, the lightning tribulation he would attract when he reached the peak of the Apotheosis realm would be surely terrifying!


    "According to the past barbarian experts, it is foolish to rely on foreign objects during the tribulation, not even talismans and pills!


    "Moreover, the more genius the cultivator is, the greater the tribulation will be!


    "In summary, it will be a slim chance of survival to transcend the tribulation, even more so if you have comprehended heaven-defying nomological laws¡­"


    ¡­


    Fang Yuan''s mouth turned upward slightly.


    Would he be afraid knowing this?


    "I will never give up the strength of the Illusion Realm''s nomological laws! Not to mention, the greater the risk, the greater the rewards¡­"


    It was not all bad during the lightning tribulation. There were corresponding Great Dao inspirations.


    Even Immortals would envy such an opportunity. Unfortunately, each cultivator could only go through it once.


    "Throughout history, there was no lack of geniuses who comprehended many nomological laws and wanted to benefit from the lightning tribulation. However, such geniuses are now mostly ash¡­ Your greatest enemy to transcending the lightning tribulation is you yourself, and the greatest taboo is greed¡­ But¡­ I''m not an ordinary person nor an ordinary genius!"


    Fang Yuan gritted his teeth. "Not only do I have to completely comprehend the Illusion Realm''s nomological laws, but I also have to comprehend the Nomological Laws of Saber, and even the Nomological Laws of Time¡­ I would be a real joke if I deliberately choose those lesser nomological laws because I was afraid of the power of the lightning tribulation!"


    As soon as he thought about this, an indomitable energy emerged from him.


    At the same time, a faint feeling seemed to have coincided with a certain Great Dao. In his heart, the Nomological Laws of Saber reached perfection.


    "Have I finally comprehended a full set of nomological laws? The Nomological Laws of Saber?"


    Fang Yuan took out the Nine Profound Spirit Blade and waved it around a few times, feeling that he was wielding something heavy as though it were light, and everything was going according to his wishes.


    "Saber Heart¡­ is Dao Heart! I was just a bit away from completely comprehending the Nomological Laws of Saber, and I''ve finally broken through that last layer!"


    Of course, this last step had caused many to stumble from time immemorial.


    Fang Yuan was elated, almost laughing out loud.


    The completion of the Nomological Laws of Saber meant that he could understand all saber manuals with a single glance and create saber techniques at will. He could even use the saber to enter the Dao.


    "The Nomological Laws of Saber is one of the stronger sets of nomological laws for attacking, specialized in killing¡­ I have a hunch that this is enough to escape from ordinary Apotheosis realm cultivators with just these nomological laws and my Primordial Core cultivation. If our cultivations are equal, I can definitely kill my opponent if they don''t have any special nomological laws protecting them!"


    A cold light flashed through his eyes.


    Nomological laws could be divided into various levels.


    The Nomological Laws of Saber, for example, was somewhere in the middle.


    The simple Nomological Laws of Earth and Water were comparable to each other. The Nomological Laws of the Five Elements belonged to the top level, just a little bit lower than nomological laws such as the Illusion Realm and time.


    Moreover, different nomological laws had different usages, and there might be some mysteries hidden within.


    Of course, even for the cultivators from the outside world, they would be considered geniuses if they could comprehend a set of mid-level nomological laws.


    As for those who comprended nomological laws on the level of the Five Elements, even Immortal Patriarchs would fight each other over them to get them to join their cultivation Holy Lands, and they would become a core disciple at the very least.


    And the final class with the Illusion Realm and time? Those only existed in legends!


    "The dangers facing the barbarians have been resolved. I''ve also seen enough of the secrets of magical powers. Next, I should continue with my original plan¡ªroaming the world after I have the power to defend myself and searching for a clone technique!"


    After some thought, Fang Yuan changed into a blue robe with a scholar''s hat, the clothes of an outside cultivator. He looked at the mirror and saw an elegant and handsome young man overflowing with the air of an immortal, without the trace of a barbarian.


    "As long as I don''t reveal my totem, who would know that I''m a barbarian?" Fang Yuan felt very satisfied. "From now on¡­ I am Venerable Illusion Realm¡ªSitu Zhaixing!"


    Immediately afterward, his body disappeared into the void, impressively teleporting.


    ¡­


    Moonview City.


    Originally one of the three major core tribes of the barbarians, it had now become a base camp of the cultivators.


    Huge restriction arrays rose into the sky. The cultivators and the demon cultivators occupied a corner each. There was some hostility in their cooperation.


    "It''s not too late to go out to the world after seeing what''s in this camp!"


    Fang Yuan was bold. His body ran into the boundaries of the arrays while hidden in the void.


    Poof!


    A crack appeared in the void, and he squeezed out like a fish.


    "Are things ending just like this?"


    Within the center palace, several Immortals gathered.


    Immortal Myriad Soul frowned with obvious reluctance.


    "What else can we do? The demon head that is suppressed by the Barbarian Ancestral Court is definitely a first-class ''Grand Unity''. Only the Grand Supreme elders from a few Holy Lands can suppress it," Kun Lunzi said without hesitation. "Anyway, the barbarians are willing to cut half of their land, and their Immortals and army are joining the Combat Heavenly Palace. They will be an additional force in our war against the otherworldly demons!"


    "Hmph! Your Orthodox Dao is obviously happy. Our Revenant Soul Sect only agreed to the invasion to gather soul refining treasures. It''s neither here nor there now, so who''s going to pay for our loss?" Venerable Myriad Soul frowned.


    "Myriad Soul, you can ask the barbarians if you''re unhappy¡­" Kun Lunzi said with a chuckle.


    "Do you think I''m an idiot?" Immortal Myriad Soul sneered and took his seat.


    "Hehe¡­ Your Revenant Soul Sect only captured the Agonizing Eagle Gorge in this three-line attack and slaughtered blindly. More than a hundred thousand barbarians died under your hands," said an Orthodox Dao Immortal with pity on his face.


    "How could your attacks have succeeded without my sect''s possession method and us sending a large number of disciples into their midst? They worked hard and alone for so many years to find the vulnerabilities of the arrays in the barbarian camps."


    Immortal Myriad Soul rolled his eyes. "Isn''t this contribution?"


    ¡­


    A group of Immortals who were usually above all was now flushed with agitation for their personal benefits. It was a sight to behold.


    "No wonder they had to clear the place in advance. They couldn''t let those Primordial Core realm and Apotheosis realm disciples see this, afraid of showing that Immortal Patriarchs were also human with the seven emotions and six desires!"


    Fang Yuan stood in midair, covered by a void barrier in front of him. None of these Immortals actually discovered him!


    "Hmm, looks like my space concealment technique can also hide me from ordinary Immortals!" He was very satisfied with this. He looked into the eyes of Immortal Myriad Soul with a glare. "How dare he launched that massacre? No matter what I do, I will be enforcing justice on behalf of the heavens!"

 1068 Godly Thief

    Although he really wanted to show these Immortals the might of the greatest godly thief in the world right then and there, Fang Yuan swallowed his impulsiveness and slipped out of the camp because of Immortal Annihilating Soul and the Bamboo that he had kidnapped.


    "Hmm, my spiritual will is hidden within the ripples of the void and difficult to detect¡­"


    Fang Yuan released his spiritual will and suddenly found some familiar auras.


    He smiled and went to an immortal cave abode.


    "Immortal Annihilating Soul should be staying here! There are restrictions here¡­ but¡­"


    Looking at the immortal cave abode in front of him, Fang Yuan flew forward and merged into the void.


    "If it were another intruder, even someone with an Immortal cultivation base, it would be impossible for Immortal Annihilating Soul not to detect them!"


    Fang Yuan paced with his hands behind his back as though he were inspecting his own territory. "But this is almost effortless for me!"


    He could not fight head-on with an Immortal yet. His strongest attack might not even be able to kill one.


    Therefore, he had already thought of the best way to bring down Immortals¡ªthe route of a godly thief!


    He would use his unique abilities to bankrupt whichever Immortal was not pleasing to the eye!


    Just like now.


    "I can obtain your treasures no matter whether you hide them in your cave abode, storage bags, or carry them on your body!"


    With a smile, Fang Yuan spread his spiritual will and found two dao artifacts and two insidious beads with terrifying soul power. He was somewhat moved by them.


    "There are at least ten thousand souls in them, and the totems of many cultivators are also among them!" He glanced at the beads. "The souls of normal people are useless to me, but I can use the totems to repair the Ten Thousand Beast Banner!"


    Not many would refine dao artifacts knowing that it was detrimental to themselves, even though they could at the peak of the Apotheosis realm.


    Therefore, even most Immortals still used dao artifacts!


    Only a few top Immortals could own one or two immortal treasures to show off to their peers.


    Fang Yuan secretly placed space seals on the insidious beads without taking them immediately.


    He went to another place.


    It was a spooky room sealed from all sides, not letting any light in.


    In the middle of the room, seven quaint bronze oil lamps arranged in a strange array flashed dimly.


    A pale young man laid unconscious in the center of the array. It was the genius with the Torch Dragon materialization, Bamboo!


    Seeing this, Fang Yuan sighed.


    The barbarian patriarchs had tried to send the core seeds away in advance, but they had not thought that this youth had such bad luck and went directly into a pit.


    His small decoy team had also almost perished.


    The barbarian Immortals might try to redeem him during the negotiations, but it was apparent that this Immortal Annihilating Soul was not going to agree.


    "All right!" After some time, Immortal Annihilating Soul opened his eyes. "The soul of this body is almost completely worn away, leaving only the purest materialization and physical body! It''s the best time to possess it. It was worth my preparation work, haha¡­"


    Soul? Possess? Fang Yuan''s eyes twinkled. It should be the Soul Possession Method! That''s right. According to the records in the Holy Mountain, this method is still being passed down in the Revenant Soul Sect!


    This was the most suitable clone technique for him. Fang Yuan suddenly stepped forward and grabbed.


    Poof!


    Jade slips appeared in the Pantheon Palace.


    These are what Immortal Annihilating Soul had in his storage bag¡­ It should have what I want?


    Fang Yuan started searching, racing against time.


    Immortal Annihilating Soul would know he had many jade slips missing if he looked into his storage bag after all.


    None of these¡­ After a short while, Fang Yuan gritted his teeth. I''ll steal again!


    Swoosh!


    Instantly, a few dozen jade boxes and loose sheets of paper appeared in the immortal abode.


    Thousand Soul Cultivation Ghostly Method¡­ No!


    Revenant Soul Dossier¡­ No!


    This jade box is difficult to deal with. It even has a restriction. No matter. As long as it doesn''t counter the Illusion Realm, I can take it out, directly bypassing the box.


    Fang Yuan''s eyes focused, and a large amount of magic power appeared. In that instant, a black jade slip flew out, and he scanned it with his spiritual will. It was the ''Soul Possession Method''!


    Did I just obtain the technique? Eh? There''s still a restriction on it!


    Fang Yuan erased the small restriction with an ugly look.


    The power of this restriction was so weak that he had not noticed it. Precisely because it was so weak, it could not self-destruct, but it could send warnings!


    "What happened?" In the outside world, Immortal Annihilating Soul''s expression changed. "Something happened to the restriction on the jade slip of the possession method. Isn''t it in my storage bag?"


    He instinctively knew something was wrong. He patted his storage bag, and his face turned green. "It''s¡­ gone?"


    "Not only the jade slip with the possession method but even my foundational cultivation technique? Where have they gone?"


    Immortal Annihilating Soul stood up frantically, activated all the restrictions within the cave abode, and shouted loud and clear, "There''s a thief!!!"


    His figure flashed and appeared on the roof of the cave abode with an ugly look. "Which expert¡­ is playing this joke on me!"


    He might be boiling with anger, but fear struck him even more.


    To be able to take away his jade slip without him knowing, this person had to be either at the same level or higher. What if they did not want his stuff but his life instead?


    The power and horror of the Illusion Realm''s nomological laws manifested at this very moment.


    ¡­


    "Discovered!" After sensing Annihilating Soul''s wrath and position, he smiled.


    Light flashed.


    He instantly appeared in the secret room and grabbed Bamboo and the Seven Star Lamp Array beneath him. He also brought the insidious beads and the other dao artifacts that he had placed seals on together with him.


    "Hmm? It''s him?" Venerable Annihilating Soul scanned with his spiritual will and found Fang Yuan. His face broke into one of disbelief. "H-how is this possible?"


    The next moment.


    Fang Yuan grinned at him and instantly disappeared.


    "So it''s you, little thief!" Immortal Annihilating Soul''s fear disappeared once he knew the thief was merely at Primordial Core. Only anger remained. His thunderous voice rang. "You! I will turn you into dust!"


    However, he could not find Fang Yuan with his spiritual will at all.


    "Immortal Annihilating Soul, what are you so angry about?"


    "What happened?"


    "Junior Brother!"


    The Immortals that were originally in discussion flew into the air, and Immortal Myriad Soul asked in astonishment, "What happened?"


    "T-thief!" Venerable Annihilating Soul turned red before finally being able to squeeze a sentence out. "A thief snuck into my cave abode and stole my spirit beads and my dao artifacts!"


    "Thief? Stole?"


    Many Immortals looked at each other, stupefied. "Didn''t you place a restriction on your cave abode? Besides¡­ don''t all of us carry our important things on us? Unless it was the power of the Grand Unity realm! But this kind of existence could just obtain it openly, so why¡­ steal?"


    "Damn it! I don''t know what''s going on either!" Immortal Annihilating Soul felt like he was going to go crazy. "It wasn''t a Grand Unity Almighty but¡­ a Golden Core stage thief!"


    "Golden Core?" Even Immortal Myriad Soul seemed baffled and stepped forward with concern. "Junior Brother¡­ are you suffering from cultivation deviation and starting to have hallucinations?"


    "I''m not crazy. It was really a barbarian Golden Core thief!" Looking at the expressions of the other Immortals, Immortal Annihilating Soul felt even more aggrieved.


    "Haha. This is truly the greatest joke!"


    "Cultivating until now, I''ve never heard of something like this¡­ A Golden Core cultivator stealing from an Immortal?"


    ¡­


    The Orthodox Dao Immortals were having a field day at this joke.


    Only Kun Lunzi exchanged glances with a few others. "This Immortal Annihilating Soul doesn''t seem to be suffering from cultivation deviation, nor does he look like he is under some illusion."


    "Fellow Daoist Annihilating Soul, don''t worry. This humble Daoist will immediately order a lockdown of the entire camp and search one by one! I will definitely not allow that¡­ little thief to escape!" Kun Lunzi guaranteed and passed down his order. "Activate all arrays! Everyone, return to your camps and don''t make any big movements!"


    "Yes, we''ll catch that Golden Core thief and bring him to you!" the other Orthodox Dao Immortals said in jest, obviously still in disbelief.


    But the next moment, they could no longer laugh.


    "Hehe¡­ You want to find me, Situ Zhaixing, the best godly thief in the world? Dream on!" A teasing voice came from the void.


    "There!"


    The next instant, several attacks landed on the source of the voice, accompanied by the joint blockade of the surrounding Immortals.


    They were immediately disappointed.


    That voice still came from all around them. "Haha¡­ How would I dare to enter the Immortals'' camp if I didn''t have something up my sleeve?"


    "Situ Zhaixing?!" Kun Lunzi and Immortal Myriad Soul looked at each other and shook their heads slowly. They had never heard of this name.


    They turned livid the next moment. "Not good!"


    "My storage bag!"


    "Heavens, my thousand-year Blood Red Ginseng is gone!"


    "How dare you steal my Phoenix Blood Tear Stone, you little thief!"


    "My dao artifacts¡­"


    Immortals shouted in succession.


    "This Situ Zhaixing¡­" Kun Lunzi was overwhelmed with shock. "He can steal stuff from our storage bags directly?"


    Of course, just how fast was the thought process of an Immortal? They immediately thought of a solution. "Quickly send your spiritual will into your storage bag. Chop his hand off if he dares to enter!"


    Generally, Immortals would not have their eyes on their storage bag all the time, at most checking it sporadically, leaving Fang Yuan a gap to sneak in.


    But now, they were going all out, spreading their spiritual will on every item and waiting for Fang Yuan. Fang Yuan could still get in, but that moment would be enough to become his fatal flaw!

 1069 Harves

    "What''s happening? Why are there so many Immortal Patriarchs in the sky?"


    "Is an enemy attacking?"


    "I heard an arrogant voice just now, claiming that he is the best godly thief in the world, Situ Zhaixing?"


    Many cultivators looked up, their expressions solemn and envious.


    What kind of existence could make such a commotion with the Immortals?


    However, this was not their glory, and they could only obediently return to their camps and strengthen the camp''s arrays.


    "I can''t find him!"


    "Spiritual will isn''t useful either!"


    "The blood-seeking method has no effect!"


    "Damn. The imprints on my dao artifacts have been erased. How is he so fast?"


    ¡­


    In the air, the Immortals displayed their various methods, but nothing worked.


    They might have restrictions on their dao artifacts and treasures, but they could not withstand the suppression from Fang Yuan''s Pantheon Palace.


    With Gold Ingot making a move and his enhanced spiritual will through the Nine Star Pearl Mystic Technique, it was trivial for him to break the restrictions on the dao artifacts and treasures.


    This was also why he did not snatch the immortal artifacts. After all, they were connected to the Immortals through their hearts, and it was too troublesome for him to remove the imprints on them.


    Most importantly, the Pantheon Palace was an immortal artifact as well. It might not be able to completely suppress them and possibly leave behind future trouble.


    "The rewards might be great if I were to grab their storage bags, but what if they hid something inside, like some form of positioning or maybe just having them explode directly. I''d have a big problem then¡­"


    Fang Yuan was very cautious, and his life was his priority.


    He knew from the guarded reactions of the Immortals that he could play with them for quite some time.


    He sneered and teleported to a cave abode below.


    ¡­


    "Fellow Daoists, what are you missing?" Kun Lunzi asked after the group of Immortals hovered in the air for a while.


    "How dare that little thief behave so wildly with us around?"


    "Damn that little thief, how dare he just leave."


    They scolded and yelled while engraving the name Situ Zhaixing into their hearts.


    Although he was merely at Golden Core, the cultivation level of an ant, his stealing technique was truly startling.


    They would have to avoid him before they developed a counter.


    Otherwise, even if he could not kill them, having him stare at them all day or possibly stealing the secrets of their sects would be very troublesome.


    "Sh*t! My pill furnace!"


    "The dao artifacts I kept in my cave abode!"


    Suddenly, the faces of these Immortals changed. "Damn you, Situ Zhaixing. Do you still have human nature?!"


    They kept their most important possessions on themselves.


    But Fang Yuan was not satisfied with stealing their precious treasures. He even went to their cave abodes to sweep them clean, practically getting everything in one go!


    "Haha¡­ The world is vast. I, Situ Zhaixing, will go wherever I want and won''t be frightened by your threats!" Fang Yuan''s merry voice came.


    "Damn this thief!" Immortal Annihilating Soul was at his wits'' end. "What Situ Zhaixing, you''re clearly a barbarian! Aren''t you afraid we''ll destroy the barbarians?"


    "Up to you!" Fang Yuan answered honestly.


    His karma with the barbarians was mostly dealt with, so he truly did not care much. He said with a strange smile, "Go ahead if you''re not afraid of that demon head under the Holy Mountain!"


    Immortal Annihilating Soul froze.


    Kun Lunzi shook his head slowly. Now that the leaders of both sides had made life oaths when they signed the agreement, even if they were no longer wary of the threat of that demon head, they had to bear in mind the power of the oath.


    In addition, Fang Yuan''s clearly indifferent attitude made them have more guesses. "Situ Zhaixing could be his real name. Is he a spy that snuck in among the barbarians? Or is he a barbarian who chose a random outside name?"


    "Haha¡­ Thank you all for the treasures. I''ll be going now!"


    Fang Yuan''s voice grew more and more distant. He was really leaving this time.


    But these Immortals did not believe him. They flew into their cave abodes and shifted all their valuables into their storage bags. Their mood became better as they put their spiritual will constantly on guard. Nonetheless, it did not change the fact that their hearts were bleeding.


    Their losses were enormous.


    They had basically lost all of their gains from their invasion on the barbarians, even making a loss!


    "Everyone!" Kun Lunzi exchanged glances with Immortal Myriad Soul.


    It was unbecoming for Immortals to be afraid of a mere thief.


    They could only call all the Immortals to the main camp and have everyone reestablish the restrictions even though they knew it was of little use.


    The Immortals finally became slightly calmer. "Let''s discuss it. What exactly is going on? Immortal Annihilating Soul¡­ you go first!"


    "The first time I met this Situ Zhaixing was when I was hunting down the seed teams of the barbarians¡­" Immortal Annihilating Soul paused before deciding to share the remaining information. "He was only at the Materialization realm then!"


    "Perhaps Materialization or Golden Core is just a cover!" Kun Lunzi took the lead to express his opinion.


    "That''s right. He might have Immortal or even Grand Unity cultivation but deliberately hid it to make fun of us!"


    Immortals had their own pride. How could they easily concede defeat to someone at the Golden Core stage? The other Immortals agreed immediately.


    Their thoughts concurred as well.


    Only Venerable Annihilating Soul had had actual contact with Fang Yuan and vaguely knew something. Even so, it was difficult for him to believe.


    How many treasures and peerless magical powers must someone at Golden Core have to mess with a bunch of Immortal Patriarchs?


    Kun Lunzi glanced at Immortal Annihilating Soul and suggested, "Since Immortal Annihilating Soul says that he has seen him before, then this humble Daoist will personally write a letter to question the Barbarian Ancestral Court!"


    Fang Yuan''s plan was to go through the Death Plains and head to the outside world. Even if they were to ransack the entire Hundred Thousand Mountains, the Immortals would not be able to find him.


    "The most important point is still his magical power. It''s simply too strange!" Immortal Myriad Soul said slowly, "Being able to grab things directly from storage bags is truly difficult to defend against! Wouldn''t all the resources of the cultivation world go to him if we leave him be?"


    "This¡­ is definitely possible. I think we should report to the Holy Lands!" Shan Shuizi said. "My sect hasn''t been around for long, but the Holy Land sects have been around since time immemorial. They survived all the Demonic Tribulations without losing their strength. There is more than one Grand Unity Almighty, so perhaps someone has seen this magical power before?"


    "I think¡­ it might be a primordial treasure!" Another Immortal chipped in. "I don''t believe it''s possible to cultivate such magical powers¡­ It''s too heaven-defying!"


    They were all anxious.


    "Ahem¡­ Actually, it''s not entirely unimaginable!" Kun Lunzi coughed. "Why did Situ Zhaixing steal our treasures one by one without touching our immortal artifacts or storage bags? This humble Daoist believes we can think from this perspective!"


    "Your words are logical. His method might be strange, but there are limits to it!"


    The other Immortals were not fools, and their eyes sparkled with excitement after thinking about it.


    "The most important thing is not only can this Situ Zhaixing steal things from us, but he can also hide his body. We Immortals didn''t even notice him, and he could even enter the array without a care for the restrictions. This is the most worrying part¡­" Kun Lunzi frowned and smiled bitterly. "He claims to be the best godly thief in the world. I didn''t think much of it before, but now I think he really deserves the title!"


    "The arrays were arranged hurriedly and might have some flaws. I don''t believe he can do anything to our Mountain Guarding Array!" A demon Immortal stood out, his voice sharp.


    However, anyone could see that he was acting fierce but feeling weak inside.


    This meant that he was really frightened.


    "Let''s¡­ quickly retreat!"


    "After all, we''ve already established the agreement. Our sects are important¡­"


    Under the threat of Godly Thief Fang Yuan, these sects reached a consensus in no time. After leaving only some defending troops, most of them returned to their sects, in fear that this thief would come.


    This was the reality of this world. A single entity could turn tides in the world!


    Although Fang Yuan was not very powerful at this time, his outstanding means were able to make the coalition forces retreat early and change the regional situation.


    ¡­


    "Gold Ingot, how is the harvest this time?"


    Within the Pantheon Palace, Fang Yuan, self-proclaimed godly thief, started to go through his loot.


    "There are 19 dao artifacts, 47 jade slips, 305 bottles of pills and medicines, 9,000 high-grade spirit stones, 10 top-grade spirit stones, several precious ores and materials¡­ I''ve checked them thoroughly. There''s nothing hidden on them." Gold Ingot''s voice sounded excited as well. "Your loot this time is almost half of what Old Master had!"


    "No man is rich without a windfall, and no horse is fat without evening grass¡­." Fang Yuan nearly burst out laughing. "Unfortunately¡­ this is the only time!"


    The Illusion Realm''s nomological laws might seem invincible, but there might be some simple ways to defend against it if you were to study it carefully.


    Given the means of communications between Immortals, the name Situ Zhaixing might already be secretly circulating within the Immortal circles, and they would obviously be more guarded against it!


    "Also, the Holy Lands have a long history. There might be one or two geniuses who comprehended the Illusion Realm''s nomological laws and left records¡­"


    Fang Yuan reminded himself that this world was vast and had countless powerful people. It was too early to be arrogant just because he had comprehended a teleportation magical power.


    "Therefore, I have to increase my trump cards and life-saving means¡­"


    He went to a side hall and looked at Bamboo within the Seven Star Lamps with a complex look. "Another pitiful man!"


    "That Immortal obviously wanted to possess him. Not only did he spend all his efforts to make him lose his soul, but he even nourished his body and totem with some strange array and elixir¡­" Gold Ingot''s voice came. "This shell is optimal for possession now!"

 1070 Possession

    "This set of seven ancient bronze lamps is called the ''Seven Star Destiny Lamps''. It can maintain the vitality of the body even if the soul has left it. It''s also a set of treasures!"


    Fang Yuan sized up the surrounding ancient lamps and flipped through Immortal Annihilating Soul''s ancient books. "This Immortal is really a great person!"


    Possession was a very troublesome affair.


    The most feared problems were the host''s own soul being too strong and the physical resistance of the body.


    Immortal Annihilating Soul had already reduced these issues by a fair bit. He had thought about the remaining problems and even prepared the necessary elixir and auxiliary materials.


    This was equivalent to an old woman working hard to prepare a big meal but finally serving it to others!


    Fang Yuan estimated that Immortal Annihilating Soul''s heart had to be dripping blood now.


    Gold Ingot checked several times and said to Fang Yuan, "Not only does this body not have a soul, but it also received Blood Qi and natural source enhancements¡­ That Immortal put in a lot of effort and resources into this body. It was obviously for his own use."


    "A first-grade peerless totem is naturally worthy!" Fang Yuan smiled. Light radiated from his hand, and a jade slip appeared. It was the ''Soul Possession Method''!


    "You''ll be punished if you don''t take the chances given to you by the heavens¡­ There are no problems after repeated checks. That Immortal Annihilating Soul obviously didn''t think that I would steal Bamboo, so he probably didn''t arrange anything on him. All that''s left now is to just do it!"


    Fang Yuan brought Bamboo''s body into a secret room.


    "I''ll carry your karma since I''m going to use your body¡­ Don''t worry. I''ll definitely take revenge for you and kill Immortal Annihilating Soul if he''s still alive when I''m able to!" He offered a prayer and sealed the secret room.


    All was dark without a trace of light.


    Regardless of whether it was orthodox cultivators, demon cultivators, or barbarians, their essence souls would be very fragile until they reached the Immortal level. He could not see a shred of light when possessing.


    This was all recorded in the ancient book.


    The Kun Yun Sect of the Orthodox Dao and the Revenant Soul of the Demon Dao were the first to enter the barbarian lands.


    He had found this reminder in the storage bag of Immortal Myriad Soul.


    It seemed like this sect had researched a lot into souls and the like.


    "Begin!"


    Fang Yuan took a deep breath and operated the method.


    Qi from the Clam Dragon rose and shrouded everything in fog. A Destiny Primordial Core emerged, and a small figure walked out.


    "Essence Soul¡­ split!"


    He immediately felt pain like that of thousands of knives piercing him.


    This unimaginable pain could even cause an Essence Soul to become unstable and collapse.


    But who was Fang Yuan?


    Even if his Essence Soul was splitting in two, the corner of his mouth merely twitched slightly. "Gather!"


    At that moment, two Essence Souls revolved and condensed into two smaller figures. One of them was clearly thirty percent larger than the other.


    "Main Essence Soul, return!"


    The larger Essence Soul nodded and entered his Primordial Core.


    Fang Yuan exhaled, feeling exhaustion and weakness coming from the depths of his soul. Fang Yuan laughed bitterly. "What a great loss to my Essence Soul. Fortunately, I have pills!"


    Pills that nourished the soul were very rare among the barbarians, but those Immortals had high net worth, and he had obtained more luxurious items than from Annihilating Soul.


    He did not hesitate to swallow three bottles of pills in a row and felt better immediately.


    After a short rest, he formed hand seals and used various elixirs to nourish the split Essence Soul.


    When he felt that it could improve no further, Fang Yuan nodded and pointed at the body. "Go!"


    Poof!


    The small figure smiled and flung itself directly into Bamboo.


    Bamboo''s body trembled slightly and took a deep breath before long.


    "Success!"


    Fang Yuan could feel this body accepting his Essence Soul. He started sensing parts of the body to achieve the best effect.


    "The Essence Soul still requires seven days and nights to fully adapt!"


    He nodded, started meditating by the side, and swallowed pills while his clone slept.


    Deep sleep was one of the best methods for the Essence Soul and the body to merge. Forcibly rousing him would be counterproductive to this perfect process, so Fang Yuan was not the least bit anxious.


    ¡­


    Seven days and nights passed by in a flash.


    Fang Yuan got up, feeling refreshed. "Great, I should have recovered to ninety percent!"


    His Essence Soul could naturally grow through various means; otherwise, he would not have been stupid enough to split a second Essence Soul out.


    He was full of energy, standing silently beside Bamboo.


    After some time, Bamboo sat up. His eyes sparkled as he exchanged glances with Fang Yuan.


    "All right!"


    Fang Yuan had experience manipulating his incarnations, so there was nothing he needed to adapt to since it was his own Essence Soul.


    He walked out with his clone, stared at Bamboo''s face, and rubbed his own chin. "Hehe¡­ Yet another new face. I''m a little not used to it!"


    At the same time, the clone said, "But this is fine as well¡­ It saves me time changing my face. This is a brand new identity!"


    The convenient part about a clone was that he had two bodies, meaning he had an extra life.


    Fang Yuan decided that from now on, his main body would stay in the Pantheon Palace to cultivate.


    This clone, with its new face would, venture out into the world.


    "As expected of a clone technique!" Gold Ingot walked over and nodded. "It''s the best method to protect yourself. Good¡­ You have another level of safety!"


    He was the artifact spirit of the Pantheon Place and pinned his wishes on Fang Yuan to exact revenge for his old master, so he naturally hoped that Fang Yuan could become as strong as possible.


    "However, you risked so much just for him?" Gold Ingot gave the clone a sidelong glance. "He must have peak aptitude since he was a barbarian core seed, but¡­"


    "Haha¡­ You naturally don''t know. Even the patriarchs of the Holy Mountains only valued his totem, but they didn''t know about his true value!"


    Fang Yuan laughed.


    At the same time, his heart trembled.


    Bamboo had awakened a first-grade totem with an amazing magical power. He could even kill a Primordial Core realm cultivator when he was just at the Materialization realm. He was also taken in as a disciple by an Immortal. Bamboo had all the makings of a main character.


    But in an unfortunate moment, his providence reached its nadir, leading to the destruction of his soul. Even then, others were still using his body. It was a big warning to him.


    "True value?"


    "That''s right. My Clam Dragon''s Illusion Realm is one of the best, but his magical power isn''t inferior!"


    The clone roared with laughter and released his materialization.


    Rumble!


    The entire Pantheon Palace shook.


    Gold Ingot looked up at that horrifying figure.


    It had a red snake body and a human head with one eye. Its breath produced clouds and mist. When it opened and closed its eye, the world changed color! It was precisely the Torch Dragon!


    "What a weird shape¡­ But its aura is very strong, definitely a first-grade totem!" Gold Ingot said slowly.


    Fang Yuan was speechless.


    Then he remembered that the Torch Dragon totem was extremely rare, similar to his Clam Dragon totem.


    Others naturally did not know much about it because of its rarity, so he started to explain. "This Torch Dragon has the power of time!"


    "What?" Gold Ingot exclaimed, "The Nomological Laws of Time?! They are indeed apex nomological laws that aren''t part of the Illusion Realm''s nomological laws! Even so, they''re still faintly related."


    "Did you think I merely wanted a first-grade totem or an extra life?"


    Fang Yuan glanced to his side and stepped out.


    Rumble!


    The Qi of Heaven and Earth converged, and an illusory Primordial Core emerged.


    The Torch Dragon roared, and its Destiny Magical Power pattern condensed into a seed and submerged into the Primordial Core.


    The merger of Essence Soul, Primordial Core, and magical power seed formed another perfect Primordial Core!


    Bamboo had only been at the Materialization realm, but Fang Yuan''s clone had just broken through to the Primordial Core realm!


    "This is also my fate¡­ If Bamboo had reached Primordial Core before I possessed his body, the Primordial Core would be incompatible, and I would have had many hardships in the future¡­ But there''s no such problem now. He will be no different from my main body after going through the lightning tribulation and being reborn¡­"


    There were many restrictions and hidden dangers in possession.


    Even though he had condensed the Primordial Core, Fang Yuan could still feel the aura of the predecessor left in this body.


    However, it was already much lesser than others. After the lightning tribulation, he could definitely cultivate this clone to reach complete and flawless integration between body and soul.


    "You actually have such ambitions. What is his Destiny Magical Power?" Gold Ingot asked after keeping silent for some time.


    "The Destiny Magical Power of the Torch Dragon is bound to involve the Nomological Laws of Time!"


    Fang Yuan smiled and raised his hand. A ray of light turned back and forth between his fingers.


    This ray was green and contained a sense of the passage of time. It turned into a flying knife in the next instant.


    "Destiny Magical Power¡ªTime Flying Blade! Time will fly by and make the opponent age with every cut!"


    This Time Flying Blade Destiny Magical Power might not be as comprehensive as the Illusion Realm, but it specialized in killing and possessed incredible might.


    Not only did it possess sheer destructive power, but it also possessed the Nomological Laws of Time, which could cut short longevity!


    "With my current Primordial Core cultivation, everyone below Immortal would undoubtedly die once I launched this attack!"


    Fang Yuan was very confident about this. "In theory, even the endless life of Immortals might not necessarily be as eternal as heaven and earth¡­"


    Of course, he did not possess this body for the powerful attack.


    "Most important is still the Primordial Core''s Destiny Magical Power. I can finally sense the fluctuations of the Nomological Laws of Time¡­"


    The Nomological Laws of Time were related to the passage of time!


    Reaching basic mastery would be even more difficult for it than the Illusion Realm''s nomological laws.


    However, there was no doubt that the might of this magical power would be incredible if he were to succeed even a little.


    Especially after fusing with the Illusion Realm''s nomological laws, it would be Great Dao with unlimited prospects!

 1071 Qingfeng City

    The Wasteland World was endless, and the Hundred Thousand Mountains was merely a small part of it.


    Three big countries, Gu, Mang, and Bi, surrounded it. They all spanned thousands of kilometers and were vast.


    Gu and Mang were both of the Orthodox Dao, and Immortals had to agree before an emperor could sit there firmly.


    Bi, on the other hand, was a land purely run by a demon sect, the Revenant Soul Sect. It knew the principle of not killing the goose that laid the golden eggs, so it did not engage in wanton slaughter. However, its style was still extremely cruel, and many commoners fled.


    Dingbing Mountain, Qingfeng City


    This mountain straddled the borders of the three countries. Five thousand years ago, an Immortal by the name of ''Immortal Lingfeng'' built it, attracting a large number of cultivators and forming the ''Qingfeng Alliance''.


    The Orthodox Dao and the Demon Dao gave each other the cold shoulder. After three thousand years, Immortal Lingfeng disappeared, and the Qingfeng Alliance dissolved. Nonetheless, its headquarters in Qingfeng City remained and became a gathering place for itinerant cultivators of the three countries and the buffer zone between the Orthodox Dao and the Demon Dao, having abnormal prosperity.


    "Brother Situ, did you see that miserable refugee from Bi?" A fatty in brocade clothes was boasting in front of Fang Yuan. "The taxes in Bi are very heavy, and the commoners can''t endure the hardships and must flee¡­ However, according to a law of Bi, they are automatically degraded to slaves after they flee. The disciples of the Revenant Soul Sect are then free to kill and obtain materials from them. Many of them still try to flee to the Orthodox Dao territories, even with the risk of being captured by the Revenant Soul Sect disciples laying in wait for them!"


    "No wonder I saw so many demon sect disciples patrolling the borders!"


    Fang Yuan broke into an innocent smile.


    This body was his Torch Dragon clone.


    After possessing the body, he did not stay in the Hundred Thousand Mountains but crossed the Death Plains and came to the outside world.


    After coming out, he naturally did not call himself Fang Yuan but used ''Illusion Realm''. He had told this chubby guy that his surname was Situ when he met him.


    In any case, it was better to conceal his identity even if he was not worried about being attacked.


    As for this fat cultivator, he had met him purely by chance. He called himself ''Jin Buhuan'' and was at the Foundation Establishment stage, and he had come to Qingfeng City for some business.


    Fang Yuan was very interested in this first city of the itinerant cultivators of the three countries, so he traveled together with him.


    "Sigh¡­ It''s tough to be an itinerant cultivator!" Jin Buhuan said. "The Kun Yun Sect and the Revenant Soul Sect are not only top sects, but they also have the backing of Holy Lands. However, we can only rely on ourselves! It''s not that bad for someone with a family like me, but Brother Situ, you reached the Foundation Establishment stage even though you are alone. Truly admirable!"


    "I was lucky!"


    Fang Yuan had been using illusions on this fatty over the past few days to affect his mind and managed to obtain quite a lot of information, enabling Fang Yuan to adapt and act like an outside cultivator. However, Fang Yuan rarely spoke since it was easy to make mistakes this way.


    "Qingfeng City is where itinerant cultivators like me gather. It might be a little chaotic, but there are all kinds of treasure shops. Pills, elixirs, and magic artifacts are aplenty. It''s definitely a great place!"


    Jin Buhuan swelled with pride. "My family has three stores. Brother Situ, you can come and look for me if you have time!"


    "Certainly!"


    Fang Yuan also felt a small sense of excitement when he saw the blue city walls and the talisman arrays on it.


    Being born into the barbarians, even though it was not a completely savage lifestyle, it was not a wonderful experience.


    After seeing Qingfeng City, it was akin to someone from a primitive tribe suddenly entering a modern society.


    "The entrance fee for Qingfeng City is a low-grade spirit stone. You can''t loiter around at night. Otherwise, you will be dealt with immediately¡­" Jin Buhuan continued cautioning Fang Yuan about matters needing attention. "You feel like long lost family to me. But I have something to do and must leave¡­"


    "Of course¡­" Fang Yuan also felt slightly apologetic over obtaining a free laborer for so many days using some illusions and psychological suggestions.


    Fang Yuan walked on the streets and took a deep breath as he watched the various cultivators around him.


    "There were no Immortals the last time Old Master came to Qingfeng City. It was held together by a group of Nascent Soul itinerant cultivators!" Gold Ingot''s voice came from the white jade ring. "This place gathers a lot of heavenly materials and earthly treasures. The last crucial raw material you need for the Hundred Physical Forging Technique might be here!"


    As the largest itinerant cultivator city and the buffer zone between the Orthodox Dao and Demon Dao sects, Qingfeng City was very special and had great benefits.


    Due to the chaotic relationships, it became an exceptionally good choice to dispose of stolen goods, and treasures appeared from time to time.


    "Don''t worry. This is the prerequisite for the Nine Star Pearl Mystic Technique. I won''t take it lightly," Fang Yuan assured.


    The Nine Star Pearl Mystic Technique was one of the top techniques in the Pantheon Catalog, and it could multiply the strength of the user.


    Unfortunately, it had extremely high requirements for the physical quality of the cultivator.


    The Hundred Physical Forging Technique was a profound method whereby he could refine his body to the extent of a dao artifact.


    He had obtained most of the necessary materials when he stole from that group of Immortals earlier, and he was only lacking one rarer item. Fang Yuan was sure that he would be able to find it in Qingfeng City.


    "Speaking of which¡­ those Immortals are really rich. Stealing from one is better than stealing from an entire small sect¡­" Fang Yuan sighed with some regret.


    He had done a quick and dirty job. If he had concentrated his efforts and cleaned out one of them, he might have been able to reach the threshold of a middle-level sect.


    "My body is now comparable to a spirit artifact and can withstand activating the fifth star. The last stage of the Hundred Physical Forging Technique will refine my body to be comparable to a dao artifact and allow me to bear up to the seventh star at best?"


    He knew that if Immortal Hong Chen had only cultivated the Hundred Physical Forging Technique, it would have been very difficult to complete the Nine Star Pearl Mystic Technique.


    "Looks like¡­ searching for a new body refining technique has to be on the agenda!"


    There was nothing to say regarding magic artifacts and so on.


    What he had harvested was enough for him to use until the Apotheosis realm.


    However, after comparing, Fang Yuan still found the Ten Thousand Beast Banner to be better than the dao artifacts that he had stolen.


    Therefore, he had used the totems in the insidious beads to improve the Torch Dragon to its limit and the rest on the Ten Thousand Beast Banner. It counted as completely refined now, and the beast souls were endless and inextinguishable. And it vaguely felt like it was about to improve further.


    There was nothing simple in the Pantheon Catalog.


    The Ten Thousand Beast Banner was only a dao artifact after refinement, but it could continue to grow. It was very possible for it to reach the immortal artifact level!


    Of course, Fang Yuan could use his magical power to appear and disappear in front of ordinary Immortals, so magic artifacts, talismans, and the like were all useless to him.


    ¡­


    "Miscellaneous House?"


    He had plenty of experience in such places, and he walked straight to the liveliest place.


    This shop had the most cultivators patronizing it, so he went in.


    "Greetings. How may I help you?" A shop assistant came over with a smile across his face.


    "I need a map. The more detailed, the better, with explanations of the powerful forces in the vicinity and even the world¡­ Other than that, I want some materials¡­"


    "No problem. Please follow me!"


    The stop assistant immediately regarded Fang Yuan as someone who had just come out from secluded cultivation and was preparing for travel. His face betrayed no emotion as he brought Fang Yuan to a place full of books.


    "Fellow Daoist, you want a map?" The shopkeeper here was at Foundation Establishment. He laughed when he heard Fang Yuan''s request.


    "Yes. I want to travel!"


    "Truly precise maps are the secrets of every sect. We might be known to take everything, but we can''t violate that agreement. We only have a simple map with the surrounding dozen countries and several routes. It costs three thousand spirit stones. As for an explanation of the forces, well, let''s just take it as a gift from us!"


    "Okay!" Fang Yuan nodded and took out thirty high-grade spirit stones.


    "High-grade spirit stones?!" The shopkeeper had a face full of delight when he saw them.


    The official exchange rate was one hundred low-grade spirit stones to one high-grade spirit stone. However, the value of high-grade spirit stones naturally exceeded the exchange rate because of their rarity. He would be making a small profit.


    He did not know that Fang Yuan had no choice.


    He obviously had to go for the valuable items when he was stealing from the Immortals. Moreover, these Immortals did not have many low-grade and mid-grade spirit stones. He would not have been interested in them even if they did.


    At this moment, he really only had high-grade spirit stones on him.


    "I wonder what material you''re looking for? Madam Luo is the person in charge of the heavenly materials and earthly treasures one level above. She is my good friend. Shall I ask her to come directly?" The shopkeeper was in a great mood having done this business.


    "I''m missing a thousand-year Dragon Tendon!" Fang Yuan said directly.


    The Hundred Physical Forging Technique was an enormous resource consumer, and he needed heavenly materials and earthly treasures at the most critical last stage. Even an Immortal might become bankrupt due to it.


    He was lucky to have obtained most of the materials through those Immortals.


    At this point, he was only missing the last one.


    "Thousand-year Dragon Tendon!?" A lazy voice came from above. Fang Yuan saw a woman in a purple dress walking down the stairs. Her eyes moved fluidly up and down Fang Yuan. "This is absolutely a heavenly treasure!"


    "Every treasure has a price!" Fang Yuan said unceremoniously and released a hint of Golden Core aura.


    The Golden Core of the cultivators and the Primordial Core of the barbarians were very similar, and with the Clam Dragon''s illusion, he would not run the risk of being exposed.


    "Oh. Forgive our imprudence, Senior!" The lady in purple and the shopkeeper were shocked and quickly bowed.


    "It''s fine. What about the thousand-year Dragon Tendon?" Fang Yuan asked directly.


    To be honest, this was one of the most common items within those he required.


    "This¡­" A trace of hesitation appeared on the face of the lady in purple.

 1072 Tease

    "Truth be told, we did receive a thousand-year Dragon Tendon, but this item is extraordinarily precious. Even Nascent Soul and Immortal Patriarchs can make use of it. Therefore¡­" Madam Luo said after frowning a little.


    "I only want this. You can ask for any price!" Fang Yuan waved his hand generously.


    "Thousand-year Dragon Tendons can''t be measured with ordinary spirit stones, and most are bartered!" Madam Luo showed an embarrassed look. "However, since Senior wants it, I will try my best to negotiate for you. Please wait a day. Is that okay?"


    "Well¡­ All right!" Fang Yuan was slightly upset as he left.


    "What''s the matter?" The shopkeeper frowned. "I don''t recall there being any Nascent Soul seniors who want this Dragon Tendon. Wouldn''t using this to make him owe us a favor be a great idea?"


    "Hmph¡­ When it comes to figuring out how people think, you''re still a level lower than me!" Madam Luo giggled. "This item is obviously very important to that person. How could I give it away so easily? I must whet his appetite. Only then will he believe that we are capable. Maybe we''ll even obtain some gratitude from him."


    "But we''ll be in big trouble if he finds out!" Lao Shetou looked around nervously


    "What''s there to be afraid of? An Immortal arranged the restrictions here. If we don''t want it to happen, who could eavesdrop?" Madam Luo laughed charmingly. "Besides¡­ even if he knows, would he dare provoke the city masters?"


    "This¡­"


    The Miscellaneous House was the property of Qingfeng City, and behind it were a few Nascent Soul city masters.


    Furthermore, these five Nascent Soul city masters were skilled in a Five Elements Formation that had once withstood ten blows from an Immortal, making them famous.


    Fang Yuan had just arrived, evident from him buying a map, and was clearly not from a powerful influence.


    Madam Luo would naturally not think much of such an itinerant cultivator.


    "Although it makes sense, going through all that trouble merely to raise the price?" Lao Shetou was slightly hesitant.


    "Of course not¡­ Have you forgotten the orders of the city masters?" Madam Luo winked. "Didn''t the higher-ups want us to gather Golden Core cultivators? It''s just nice that his cultivation level is enough¡­ The thousand-year Dragon Tendon can be his reward¡­ When the time comes, we could even not take his spirit stones. He''ll still owe us a favor!"


    "Eh?" Lao Shetou''s eyes brightened. "That''s true! But the mission must be extremely dangerous for the city masters to recruit outside cultivators instead of local ones. If he manages to return alive, it would be best to waive the cost of the thousand-year Dragon Tendon!"


    "I''m well aware of that."


    Madam Luo''s slightly angry appearance was breathtaking, and even Lao Shetou felt slightly dazed. He immediately turned around, not daring to look anymore.


    ¡­


    "Hmph!" Unknownst to them, Fang Yuan was hiding in the void and coldly witnessing their discussion. "They''re playing me for a fool! Looks like¡­ I''ll have to show them the methods of the world''s best godly thief!"


    If these two had been sincere and honest, he would not have minded making a real purchase.


    However, now that they wanted to use the thousand-year Dragon Tendon as bait to trick him into doing something dangerous, he was truly angered.


    "If they had told me honestly, I wouldn''t have minded. After all, despite how vast the world is, there aren''t many places that can trap me¡­ But intentionally deceiving me?"


    Fang Yuan sneered coldly and used his spiritual will to probe the storage bags of Madam Luo and Lao Shetou.


    "Not here. Looks like it''s in the level above!"


    He waited a moment before following behind Madam Luo and reaching the treasure room one level above.


    Numerous treasures were neatly displayed on rows and rows of wooden shelves for customers to browse.


    "Each of these drawers actually has a powerful restriction. Only the token in Madam Luo''s storage bag can open the restrictions¡­ Even her token has a limitation on how many times she can use it each day!"


    Fang Yuan understood most of the array''s principles after slightly probing. "Too bad¡­ this array master''s accomplishments in space are still too shallow."


    Having reached large success in the Illusion Realm''s nomological laws, he was qualified to look down on ninety-nine percent of this world''s array masters.


    As long as the array did not reach his level, it would be no match for his Illusion Realm magical power.


    "Found it, the thousand-year Dragon Tendon!"


    Fang Yuan searched through many drawers, and his eyes lit up when a translucent yellow tendon appeared on his hand.


    This was the essence of a thousand-year earth dragon. Most importantly, its energy was incredibly gentle, and even an ordinary person could consume it. After consumption, one''s physique would immediately remold. Their skin would be able to withstand weapon strikes, and their strength would increase to fifty thousand kilograms.


    Of course, no cultivator would be so lavish. The true use of a thousand-year Dragon Tendon was in conjunction with other medicines for certain body refining techniques.


    "If I only steal this, it''d be as good as admitting that I was the thief!"


    Fang Yuan''s thoughts moved.


    Instantly, one treasure after another appeared in the Pantheon Palace.


    Gold Ingot was extremely familiar with the process. He checked each one carefully before classifying them and putting them away.


    "Hmm?" Madam Luo rubbed her eyes. There was a Green Jade Dragon Flower in front of her just a second ago.


    This exotic flower was the size of a bowl and the main ingredient in refining the Nascent Breakthrough Pill.


    However, it had vanished before her very eyes with a ''poof''!


    "Ahh!!!" Her scream spread throughout the Miscellaneous House.


    "What happened?" Lao Shetou was the first to arrive. His face drained of color after looking at the shelves. "Where are the treasures?"


    "G-gone!" Madam Luo was sitting on the floor with a pale face and disheveled hair.


    "There''s trouble in the treasure room!"


    "Hurry!"


    A few rays of light arrived shortly after, among which was even a Nascent Soul Patriarch.


    "House Master!"


    The patriarch had the appearance of an immortal. His long white eyebrows draped down, and his face was a healthy pink. He was one of the five Nascent Soul cultivators of Qingfeng City and the master of the Miscellaneous House.


    "What happened?" After looking around the treasure room, his expression changed.


    "H-House Master¡­ that flower was just in front of me¡­ and suddenly vanished!" Madam Luo stammered.


    "Hmm?" The Miscellaneous House Master stepped forward and checked the restrictions. "The restrictions are untouched. It must have been someone extremely familiar with the array¡­"


    "It wasn''t¡­ wasn''t me!" Madam Luo was dripping with cold sweat.


    "Your token can only take out a maximum of three items each day, so of course it wasn''t you!" The Miscellaneous House Master''s expression was grim. "However, you must bear the blame for the loss of so many treasures. From today onward, you are no longer the master of this room. Go to the Torture Hall and receive your punishment!"


    Madam Luo shivered at the mention of the Torture Hall and broke out into tears. "Mercy, Patriarch! Have mercy, Patriarch!"


    "How much is your life worth?" The Miscellaneous House Master waved his sleeve. Although he was distantly related to his woman, even he was in big trouble now that someone had stolen a huge fortune from the Miscellaneous House. He could no longer care about this descendant. "Would you rather have your soul disintegrate and become unable to reincarnate?"


    "I am willing to receive the punishment!" Madam Luo shivered, not daring to plead any further.


    After dealing with Madam Luo, the Miscellaneous House Master looked gloomily at the almost empty treasure room. "What happened? Even if an Immortal could forcibly break the restrictions, they couldn''t have done so without a trace¡­ If it was an Immortal proficient in the Array Dao, why would he play such a trick on us!"


    He could not help start worrying.


    Fang Yuan''s name and ability were only discussed discreetly among the Orthodox Dao and Demon Dao''s Immortal circles. Since the masters of Qingfeng City were only at Nascent Soul, and coupled with the short amount of time since Fang Yuan''s act, they were completely ignorant about him.


    Otherwise, he would have probably made the connection.


    ¡­


    "Not bad, not bad at all. The haul from this treasure room almost matches half an Immortal¡­"


    Fang Yuan''s Torch Dragon clone continued strolling through Qingfeng City while his main body was in the Pantheon Palace, going over his loot.


    "Everything is decent. Most importantly, I''ve finally managed to fill some of the holes in my low and mid-tier materials."


    Although he had taken a lot from many Immortals, he had the awkward problem of the materials being too high tier, and they were not really suitable for him since he had just advanced to the Primordial Core realm.


    The resources from the Miscellaneous House could help resolve this issue, and he would also no longer run into the trouble of having to buy everything using high-grade spirit stones.


    As for Qingfeng City? He was not concerned at all.


    A few mere Nascent Soul cultivators, which was the equivalent of the Apotheosis realm, would be courting death if they tried to fight him.


    "I can''t help feeling that¡­ if this continues, I will become corrupt!"


    Fang Yuan looked at the numerous materials and the spirit stone hill lying on the floor of the palace, feeling some worry. "If I get used to freebies, will I still make fair deals in the future?"


    Things like treasure vaults and restrictions were useless against him.


    No matter what he lacked, he could simply go and take it. It was indeed very convenient.


    If it were a novice cultivator, this kind of cycle would eventually break their psyche. They would think that they could take anything they wanted in the entire world. This would truly be digging their own grave, as they would eventually kick an iron plate.


    "Look like I''ll have to change this kind of behavior. At least¡­ I will place some spirit stones after taking the items! Then it wouldn''t be theft but a transaction, albeit against their wills. It''s an entirely separate concept from stealing and looting!"


    Fang Yuan made his own rules for his behavior and did not really care if the original owners wanted to sell. "This way, I will feel much better."


    Seeing that Gold Ingot was still busy, he looked at the map.


    Although the shopkeeper had said that it was a rather simple map, the main mountain ranges, rivers, and even national forces were detailed.


    "This map places Gu, Mang, and other countries at the center. South of them is the Hundred Thousand Mountains, and the rest is unknown. North of them are a dozen or so countries that are roughly equal in size to Gu and Mang. Further north of them is a giant country called the Great Sage Immortal World?"


    Fang Yuan checked some books. "Compared to the Great Sage Immortal World, even the Hundred Thousand Mountains is considered a small country. As for Gu, Mang, and a dozen or so other countries, they are nominally subordinate to the Great Sage Immortal World and obey one of the cultivator Holy Lands¡ªthe Heavenly Circuit Immortal Sect."

 1073 Time

    "Above Immortal is known as Grand Unity!


    "If a sect can continuously produce Grand Unity Almighties, that sect can be called a Holy Land!


    "By that standard, the sects in Gu, Mang, and the other dozen or so countries are only second-tier!"


    Fang Yuan knew that a so-called Grand Unity Immortal was likely someone who had completely comprehended a Great Dao and was on par with a Demon God!


    This world was certainly not lacking such existences.


    It might even have those at Dao Fruit around.


    "Good thing there aren''t any Grand Unity existences in the Sixteen Countries that include Gu and Mang. I can be carefree here."


    Fang Yuan was very clear about the power of Demon God powerhouses. He would not foolishly challenge them when he was still weak.


    "I should also take control of some forces to investigate the Abominable Lord!"


    He had not forgotten this enemy, nor had he forgotten the bloody bet that they had staked everything on!


    "With the help of so many treasures, advancing my cultivation will be a breeze, but the key is still comprehending nomological laws!"


    The Torch Dragon clone entered a tea shop and sat down, contemplating in silence.


    Regarding the Illusion Realm''s nomological laws, thanks to his previous comprehension and the condensing of the Primordial Core, he had jumped straight to large success and was merely one step shy of complete comprehension.


    However, the Nomological Laws of Time were somewhat troublesome. Despite having the assistance of a Primordial Core''s Destiny Magical Power, he had only reached basic mastery.


    "Even if my cultivation level reaches the Apotheosis realm, I must completely comprehend a set of nomological laws before I can transcend lightning tribulation and become Immortal¡­ My goal is to completely comprehend the nomological laws of the Illusion Realm and time¡­ As for the Nomological Laws of Saber, I''ll put them aside!"


    Fang Yuan was very ambitious, and he wanted to reach the top with the help of the lightning tribulation.


    In fact, with his current complete comprehension of the Nomological Laws of Saber, he could disregard nomological law comprehension, advance directly to the peak of the Apotheosis realm, and then transcend the tribulation.


    If he did this, with the Nomological Laws of Saber and a few tricks, his strength would not be bad among the Immortals.


    However, this undoubtedly eliminated future possibilities in exchange for a fleeting period of ease. If he really went ahead with this, he would definitely be killed by the Abominable Lord in the future.


    A tea shop in a cultivator city naturally sold spiritual tea.


    The amber-colored tea arrived, carrying a quaint fragrance that made worries melt away.


    Fang Yuan savored the lingering aftertaste and smiled. "I haven''t had such good tea in a long time¡­"


    He made his decision in his mind. Breaking through to the Immortal realm is definitely a no-go, but there aren''t any drawbacks to advancing to the Apotheosis realm.


    Although Gold Ingot was very assured that I needed to activate the seventh star before I could fight Immortals, I was merely at Primordial Core at the time. If I''m at peak Apotheosis, the Nine Star Pearl Mystic Technique will certainly have a greater effect.


    Besides, how could he know what I would become capable of back then?


    Although the Nomological Laws of Time were extremely difficult to reach basic mastery in due to its subtle and mysterious nature, its power at basic mastery could not be underestimated.


    Fang Yuan looked at the tea, and his spiritual will moved slightly.


    Suddenly, the tea leaves started expanding quicker, and they blossomed like flowers.


    Fortunately, he was the only one who saw this. Otherwise, even cultivators would be mind-blown and think it was a miracle.


    "Time ultimate technique¡ªAccelerate!"


    The Torch Dragon''s Destiny Magical Power, Time Flying Blade, could shave off people''s lifespan by having a special form of time acceleration.


    With that as a basis, Fang Yuan finally had basic mastery of time acceleration. However, he did not have any clues regarding time deceleration or other time techniques.


    "However, this kind of nomological law ultimate technique is quite useful when combined with other forms of attack!"


    This ultimate technique that he comprehended by himself had the merit of being versatile, flexible, and easy to use, even if it could not match up to a magical power currently. After all, his own creation did not have the unfamiliar feel of an Innate Magical Power.


    "Brother Situ?" Suddenly, he heard a surprised voice.


    A fatty that looked like he weighed a hundred kilograms sat down opposite Fang Yuan. "I''d never thought that we''d meet again."


    "So it''s Brother Jin Buhuan. How is your business?"


    Fang Yuan smiled, gestured politely, and handed him a cup of tea.


    "Haha¡­ Thanks to you, everything was smooth. I finally have a place in Qingfeng City now!" Jin Buhuan drank the drink with huge gulps, but even that did not conceal his happiness. "Oh right, I only know that your surname is Situ. What is your first name?"


    "Haha¡­ It''s Situ Zhaixing!" Fang Yuan used his previous false name.


    "Situ Zhaixing, good name!" Jin Buhuan sighed. "If only I¡­"


    "Okay! Okay!" Fang Yuan''s lips curled slightly. He knew that Jin Buhuan had been upset about his name his entire life, but it was already recorded in the family genealogy book and would be difficult to change.


    If Fang Yuan allowed him to continue, he would be sitting here for a very long time. "Where is Brother Jin headed next?"


    "I finally have a shop in Qingfeng City. I will use it to the fullest¡­" Jin Buhuan said gleefully. "If you don''t mind, you can go to my place and stay there for a while!"


    ¡­


    "Orders from the city masters!" Suddenly, a loud voice came from outside "Qingfeng City is under martial law with immediate effect!"


    "This¡­" Jin Buhuan looked outside and saw a huge restriction array rising. He gasped. "What a huge array. Is there going to be a war between the Orthodox Dao and the Demon Dao again?"


    Fang Yuan also looked out the window and saw group after group of cultivators flying on their artifacts. They appeared to be trying to lock down the city.


    "Looks like you can''t leave even if you want to, Brother¡­" Jin Buhuan sighed. "If you need a guarantor, I can¡­"


    "Thank you, but there''s no need!" Fang Yuan smiled, not taking the polite words to heart.


    Cultivators were cunning and deceitful. After only a few meetings, their relationship was not that deep yet.


    However, he was slightly puzzled.


    Are the rulers of Qingfeng City that dumb? Are they really locking down the entire city because of my earlier action? Do they even have brains?


    If they did not know about Situ Zhaixing, then it must have been at least an Immortal who could empty the treasure room. They had to be an array master as well.


    How could five mere Nascent Soul cultivators dare to offend such an existence?


    Perhaps I''m thinking too much. Maybe they''re not after me?


    Fang Yuan decided to wait and see how things unfolded.


    A group of people came down the stairs, and Jin Buhuan''s eyes brightened as he greeted them. "Uncle!"


    It seemed that he had not come here for leisure but specifically to wait for someone.


    "Hmm, Brother Zhou!" A fatty in the group smiled and introduced him to the others. "This is my unbecoming nephew I was talking about. I hope you can take care of him in the future!"


    "Haha. Certainly!" This cultivator surnamed Zhou was at Golden Core and had an imposing manner about him.


    Jin Buhuan''s uncle''s eyes flashed as he hurriedly instructed Jin Buhuan. "Your Uncle Zhou is the deputy head of the city guards. Hurry up and thank him!"


    "Thank you, Uncle Zhou!" Jin Buhuan was overjoyed and immediately bowed. He knew that he was now part of a group, and there would be very few who would dare to offend him in Qingfeng City in the future.


    He then introduced Fang Yuan to his uncle. "This is Brother Situ that I mentioned, Situ Zhaixing!"


    "Oh? Nice to meet you, little brother! I am Jin Fu. Thank you for looking after Buhuan!"


    Jin Fu sized Fang Yuan up. Seeing Fang Yuan continuing to drink his tea casually and remain seated, he was slightly displeased and frowned.


    He was someone respected in Qingfeng City, and he was already very polite to address Fang Yuan as little brother. However, this Situ Zhaixing was so calm. Looking at his clothes, it did not look like he was from a sect, and his aura was not particularly strong either.


    He did not know that Fang Yuan was used to playing the pig to prey on tigers. With the exception of showing a bit of his Primordial Core aura in the Miscellaneous House, he always appeared as a Foundation Establishment cultivator.


    Foundation Establishment stage cultivators might be regarded as powerful in some small places, but they were nothing much in Qingfeng City.


    "You''re welcome!" Fang Yuan barely gestured with his hands as he looked outside the window.


    "You¡­" Before Jin Fu did anything, Brother Zhou beside him already started frowning.


    He was above countless people and had grown used to others flattering him, so Fang Yuan''s actions made him rather disgruntled.


    Of course, he was not a fool either. He looked on coldly and planned to have people investigate him afterward.


    Suddenly, a spiritual will swept over, and a surprised voice sounded. "Here!"


    Numerous dao soldiers appeared and surrounded the floor. Shopkeeper Lao Shetou stepped forward and pointed at Fang Yuan. "It''s him!"


    "You went to the Miscellaneous House earlier? And you tried to get information about the treasures in the treasure room?" One of the Golden Core cultivators came over. "Arrest him!"


    "Guard Leader?" Brother Zhou went over and asked about the situation.


    "This person is a suspect of the theft at the Miscellaneous House. Be careful not to let him escape!" the city guard leader said with a serious expression.


    However, he was thinking something else in his mind. The one who stole from the Miscellaneous House is obviously someone that even the city masters don''t dare to offend. But we city guards are obligated to round up suspects and find some scapegoats.


    After all, someone had to be responsible for the theft at the Miscellaneous House.


    Madam Luo alone was not nearly enough!


    Itinerant cultivators with suspicious backgrounds and no backing became their targets.


    Not to mention, Fang Yuan was the most suspicious of them all.


    "Understood!" Brother Zhou turned around, and there was a hint of ferocity in his eyes. "Will you surrender, or will I have to shatter your dantian?"


    He had already found Fang Yuan displeasing, so he grabbed this opportunity to use his official authority for private ends.


    "Uncle!" While Jin Buhuan looked anxious, he was held down by Jin Fu and could not do anything.


    "Hehe¡­" Fang Yuan looked at Lao Shetou, then at the city guard leader. He immediately had a grasp of their mindset and found the situation slightly hilarious. What is this? A lucky hit?


    If these two knew that he was indeed the thief, they might not have dared to step up.


    "You¡­" The city guard frowned.


    According to Lao Shetou, this person was merely a Golden Core cultivator. However, if he truly was an average Golden Core cultivator, how could he be so calm in this situation?

 1074 City Masters

    "So, what you''re saying is¡­ I am a suspect for the theft at the Miscellaneous House?"


    Fang Yuan continued drinking his tea leisurely, without even standing up. He looked at the cultivators surrounding him, and his lips curled. "Congratulations, you''re right. You''ve found the culprit! City Guard Leader is truly a talented person. Haha¡­"


    "Wait!" The city guard leader suddenly started sweating bullets. "You just said¡­ that the theft at the Miscellaneous House was your doing?"


    Heavens!


    He knew that someone even the Miscellaneous House Master could do nothing about was likely an Immortal!


    He only wanted to get some scapegoats and did not want to die!


    Now that Fang Yuan had admitted to it, he was in a bind.


    What should I do? Should I take action against an Immortal array master? The city guard leader kept thinking. No! It''s possible that he''s just bluffing¡­ But if it''s true, I''ll definitely die if I lay my hands on him!


    He was bitter.


    Who would have thought that the real culprit did not leave after the deed but was instead sitting here and drinking tea casually?


    He was truly in a bind now.


    "Guard Leader? Since you don''t want to dirty your hands, how about I lend you a hand?"


    Deputy City Guard Leader Zhou looked around in doubt, not knowing why the city guard leader''s expression changed a few times, so he went along with the natural course of action and stepped forward.


    "Wait!" A thunderous roar resounded, and a light flashed.


    The deputy city guard leader cried out and flew backward, leaving a trail of blood in the air.


    "House Master!" Jin Fu exclaimed as he looked at the long-browed man who had arrived and proceeded to greet him.


    "Greetings, House Master!" The city guard leader also greeted the Miscellaneous House Master, heaving a sigh of relief.


    The Miscellaneous House Master looked at Fang Yuan and asked, "Are you Fellow Daoist Situ Zhaixing?"


    "That''s right!" Fang Yuan was slightly surprised. He had only just told Jin Buhuan this name. Of course, he would never leak it himself.


    Then there was only one possibility! This Nascent Soul old man had actually managed to find out his name in this short amount of time!


    "So it is you!" The Miscellaneous House Master bowed sincerely. "My dao name is Fu Liu! I am one of the five city masters and would like to invite Fellow Daoist to my place for a meeting. What do you say?"


    Despite him being at Nascent Soul, he could not help but be scared thinking about what he had just discovered. Isn''t he supposed to be at the barbarian battlefield? Why did he come here?"


    Of course, he did not know Fang Yuan''s identity at first.


    However, his method of bypassing the restrictions and directly taking away the treasures was too incredible, so he naturally had to investigate.


    What he discovered made him terrified!


    This self-proclaimed best godly thief in the world, Situ Zhaixing, is probably a barbarian. His cultivation level is unclear, and he likes to disguise himself as a Golden Core cultivator. His stealing technique is unparalleled, and he can take anything from a storage bag at will!


    His accomplishment was incredible. He was able to act recklessly in the face of Immortals and easily take away countless treasures!


    ¡­


    This accomplishment alone was enough to discourage him from having any crooked thoughts.


    After all, there were only five Nascent Soul cultivators in Qingfeng City. How could they compare to a group of Immortals?


    If this man were to go on a rampage, he could turn all of Qingfeng City upside down.


    Someone able to come and go as he pleased in front of a group of Immortals should also be an Immortal. But I would never have imagined that¡­ there was such a shameless Immortal in the world that likes to play jokes on us juniors!


    The Miscellaneous House Master was very bitter.


    "Have a talk at your place? Okay!" Fang Yuan rose and glanced at Lao Shetou and Deputy City Guard Leader Zhou.


    "These two offended Fellow Daoist, so they''ll naturally be dealt with strictly!" the Miscellaneous House Master said considerately. "If Fellow Daoist has any other requests, please tell me!"


    "It''s okay!" Fang Yuan waved his sleeves and led the way. The group quickly left. The dao soldiers dispersed, and the restriction in the air was removed.


    Only Jin Buhuan''s dazed group was left.


    "Situ Zhaixing¡­ can command such respect from a city master, so he must be a famous Nascent Soul Patriarch." Jin Fu was confused. "Why have I never heard of him?"


    "Unexpectedly, Brother Situ was so capable¡­" Jin Buhuan''s jaw was wide open, and he did not notice his uncle''s eyes were staring at him and glowing brighter and brighter.


    "Sigh¡­ Madam Luo, you''ve really harmed me!" Lao Shetou sighed regretfully.


    Who would have thought that an ordinary-looking Golden Core customer would be such a terrifying existence in secret?


    The city masters would surely deal with him strictly to avoid getting on his bad side. There was no need to think it over.


    However, he could do nothing to escape from the dao soldiers around him. He could only smile bitterly and accept the punishment.


    ¡­


    A cave abode in the center of Qingfeng City.


    Green jade paved the floor, and gold pillars lined the path. There were countless exotic flora, especially in a garden that emanated serenity.


    By the time Fang Yuan and the Miscellaneous House Master arrived, two men were already waiting.


    "Qian Xingzi and Madam Hua Rui greet Fellow Daoist!"


    These two were both at Nascent Soul and were also city masters of Qingfeng City. They did not dare to be impolite and went forward to greet Fang Yuan.


    "I am Situ Zhaixing. Greetings, everyone!" Fang Yuan smiled contemplatively. "I''m quite sorry about taking without asking earlier. Have the three of you invited me here to capture me through some sort of array that you''ve arranged?"


    "This is definitely not our intention!" The Miscellaneous House Master smiled bitterly. "I''ve thoroughly investigated that incident, and it was indeed our people that harbored bad intentions first. Take those materials as compensation!"


    This was not something that he could have decided by himself, but something all five Nascent Soul city masters decided together.


    "Oh? Thank you!" Fang Yuan grinned. "Since you''ve given me gifts, you must have something to ask of me. So what do you want? Also¡­ isn''t my identity a problem?"


    "Identity? Are you truly a barbarian? But the ones who invaded the Hundred Thousand Mountains were from the Orthodox Dao and the Demon Dao, and we itinerant cultivators are unrelated¡­ Moreover, even some barbarians are famous in the cultivation world. For instance, the Beast King has many friends on both the Orthodox and Demon sides!" Qian Xingzi said with a smile.


    It was natural for others to look down on barbarians. However, when their cultivation reached a certain level, and it did not involve people''s fundamental interests, it was another story.


    Of course, regardless of their friendship, the Orthodox Dao and the Demon Dao had still invaded the Hundred Thousand Mountains, and the Beast King had not been able to do anything about it.


    "Of course, I''m not talking about that. I''m talking about those Immortals. They probably hate me to the core. Aren''t you afraid of getting in trouble by befriending me?" Fang Yuan asked.


    "The war in the Hundred Thousand Mountains has spread your name across numerous countries. In fact, the Immortals should be the ones scared of you!" Madam Hua Rui smiled charmingly.


    Within their circles, they had already regarded Fang Yuan as an Immortal, one with all kinds of means up his sleeve and an atrocious character.


    Even the Revenant Soul Sect and the Kun Yun Sect might not want to fight Fang Yuan to the bitter end.


    After all, he was too tricky, and no sect would be able to endure his attacks if they were to form a feud with him.


    Of course, their silence could very well be them waiting for a chance to deliver a fatal blow.


    Fang Yuan was well aware that despite how obedient these Nascent Soul cultivators appeared, if they were certain they could catch him, they would make their move without hesitation. It was even more so for the Immortals, who wished they could feast on his flesh and drink his blood. However, they could only endure it for now until they came up with a foolproof plan.


    I''ve become someone who can''t be offended? Fang Yuan found the situation hilarious, knowing that his name had spread throughout the Sixteen Countries.


    Unfortunately, this situation was only temporary. After they found a way to deal with him, wouldn''t these people turn into a pack of wolves and swarm around him?


    "I see!" Fang Yuan sat down with a grin and cut to the chase. "In that case, befriending me doesn''t seem to benefit you at all. So, what are you after? I heard Madam Luo mention that you urgently need a group of Golden Core cultivators to do something dangerous?"


    "Great! Fellow Daoist Situ is truly straightforward!" A rough and loud voice came. Immediately afterward, a golden-haired cultivator strode into the garden.


    "Big Brother!" The Miscellaneous House Master, Qian Xingzi, and the others rose to greet him, all looking very respectful.


    "I am Venerable Lie Huo!" introduced the golden-haired man. "Fellow Daoist, we indeed invited you here to ask you to lend a hand regarding an important matter!"


    "Venerable Lie Huo?" Fang Yuan sized him up discreetly and noticed a thick fire aura around him at all times. He had undoubtedly completely comprehended the Nomological Laws of Fire.


    In addition, the auras of other nomological laws were on him as well. He was a genius who had comprehended many nomological laws.


    Furthermore, his cultivation had reached the peak of the Apotheosis realm a long time ago. He was clearly different from Wu Qi and others, and he had a certain ''drive''. This was the Dao Heart of cultivators who believed in their ability to change their destiny!


    Fang Yuan had also seen this kind of temperament on Mo He.


    For those without such determination and confidence, such as the likes of Wu Qi, the lightning tribulation was bound to be a path of no return.


    However, Fang Yuan was certain that Venerable Lie Huo was confident about transcending the lightning tribulation!


    He was not someone simple.


    However, the Dao he has comprehended is also a factor¡­ If he had comprehended the Dao of the Illusion Realm, his accumulations would absolutely not be enough for him to survive the lightning tribulation!


    If the heavens had feelings, the heavens too would grow old! The heaven''s will of this world was fair and selfless.


    The stronger you were, the greater the providence, the more severe the tribulation.


    For someone like me who is comprehending two sets of peerless nomological laws and possesses a clone on top of that, it''s hard to even imagine the power of the tribulation¡­


    Fang Yuan licked his lips, feeling a little excited.


    Fighting others was incredibly interesting. Fighting the heavens was even more interesting!


    "Truth be told¡­" Venerable said sincerely, "we hope that you can investigate a mysterious realm!"


    "Mysterious realm?!"


    "That''s right. This mysterious realm was discovered by Qingfeng City, and even Immortals haven''t received news about it. It has two entrances. Golden Core cultivators can enter one, and Immortals can enter the other." Venerable Lie Huo''s expression darkened.


    As Nascent Soul cultivators, the five of them could enter neither. It was a joke played on them by heaven''s will.

 1075 Dao Comprehension Stone

    "What''s in that mysterious realm?" Fang Yuan asked the important question at once.


    Although they could not enter, making some Golden Core cultivators do their bidding was no trouble at all.


    Moreover, they had surely found some extremely valuable treasures or clues in their previous explorations. Otherwise, they would not ask for his help so directly.


    After all, he was definitely unwelcome in both the Orthodox and Demon Dao communities. The five city masters had to be taking a huge risk doing this.


    It looked like the treasures were truly valuable.


    "Big Brother¡­" Qian Xingzi and the Miscellaneous House Master exchanged glances before looking at Venerable Lie Huo.


    "It''s fine¡­ If Brother Situ doesn''t help us, we can''t be sure we''ll obtain them. The Orthodox Dao and Demon Dao cultivators will certainly catch wind of this before long!"


    Venerable Lie Huo smiled wryly. "We couldn''t enter the mysterious realm, but after discovering the Golden Core entrance, we sent some of our Golden Core subordinates inside to investigate. It is indeed perilous, and the only one who managed to return alive brought back a ''Dao Comprehension Stone''. According to him, the mysterious realm consists of many levels, and the Dao Comprehension Stone was the reward for passing a certain level!"


    "From the sound of it, it looks like this mysterious realm was the place for a certain force to elect members of its group or test its disciples¡­" Fang Yuan nodded. "But if even Immortals have to undergo this test, it is truly incredible! That Dao Comprehension Stone, what is it?"


    "This¡­" Venerable Lie Huo and the others exchanged glances and decided to explain in detail through gritted teeth.


    Of course, a Dao Comprehension Stone was not the Dao Comprehension Cliff of the Barbarian Ancestral Court. However, there were some similarities.


    The carvings on the Dao Comprehension Cliff were the personal comprehensions of the nomological laws left behind by Apotheosis and Immortal Patriarchs. They were explained in the patriarchs'' words and were difficult to understand. However, a Dao Comprehension Stone was a true treasure of heaven and earth, and it contained unbelievable power.


    Its only function was to force the user into a state of comprehending nomological laws!


    As long as the user was not an idiot, the user''s comprehension of nomological laws would increase dramatically in this state of enlightenment.


    For example, Fang Yuan had entered this state briefly when he broke through to the Primordial Core realm. He had immediately broken through his bottleneck and achieved large success in the Illusion Realm''s nomological laws.


    "Direct comprehension?" Fang Yuan''s eyes almost popped out. "How is this possible? There are tens of thousands of nomological laws in the world, so how can this Dao Comprehension Stone let the user directly comprehend the Dao?"


    "It''s absolutely true!" said Venerable Lie Huo solemnly. "This object is also known as ''Heavenly Dao Stone''. Rumor has it that a trace of the world''s origin power is hidden within, giving it such power!"


    Or rather¡­ is it because it has traces of the nomological laws of this world''s Heavenly Dao hidden within? Fang Yuan had some vague speculations. It''s not the Heavenly Dao of this world. It must be the natural source of this entire universe''s Heavenly Dao, right?


    "It''s truly invaluable!" At this point, he no longer had any doubts.


    This kind of treasure was not only tempting to Golden Core cultivators, but even Immortals would covet them.


    After all, if they wanted to continue advancing, the next step was to elevate their nomological laws to a Great Dao.


    "These Dao Comprehension Stones might even have some effects on the breakthrough of Immortals!


    "Of course, according to secret records, the effects are slightly different¡­"


    This world was truly vast. Countless treasures, including Dao Comprehension Stones, had appeared many times, and detailed experiences were aplenty.


    The Miscellaneous House Master explained, "For ordinary nomological laws, a single Dao Comprehension Stone will allow the user to break through their bottleneck and reach large success! As for those slightly more advanced ones, such as the Nomological Laws of Sword and Nomological Laws of Fire, a Dao Comprehension Stone also has a good chance of helping the user break through their current bottleneck!


    "In the rumors, although Immortals use the stones as well, they don''t use them in ones or twos, but tens and hundreds. They must use them in combination with an array to boost the effect as well!"


    "I see!" Fang Yuan nodded.


    The effectiveness of the Dao Comprehension Stones was limited.


    For some of the lower-tier nomological laws, the effect was naturally amazing. However, if the user wanted to elevate a complete set of nomological laws to a Great Dao, they required a large investment of the stones.


    Furthermore, my Illusion Realm''s nomological laws and Nomological Laws of Time are comparable to Great Daos¡­ For the Dao Comprehension Stones to be effective, one or two won''t do at all. I must use tens, hundreds of them together like Immortals!


    "¡­ For this reason, the majority of the Dao Comprehension Stones are circulated only among the Immortals, and they will generally use them the second they get their hands on them¡­ Therefore, I''m afraid all of the Immortals in the Sixteen Countries will be attracted to this mysterious realm that can produce Dao Comprehension Stones!" Venerable Lie Huo said worriedly.


    "I see! So, I take it you want to obtain a big haul before that happens?" Fang Yuan smiled.


    These five city masters had large amounts of resources at their disposal and had all managed to reach the peak of the Apotheosis realm. However, their comprehension of nomological laws differed.


    The stronger ones like Venerable Lie Huo had completely comprehended more than one set of nomological laws, and the Miscellaneous House Master and Qian Xingzi had likely only completely comprehended one set. As for Madam Hua Rui, she had not even completely comprehended a single set and was merely one step away.


    For someone like Madam Hua Rui, she required only one Dao Comprehension Stone to almost guarantee breaking through her bottleneck.


    "Why do you need Dao Comprehension Stones?" Regardless, Fang Yuan wanted to clarify his doubts before deciding anything.


    "We all wish for long life. However, with the strength of our current nomological laws, we really don''t have much confidence in surviving the lightning tribulation. The only thing we can do is to strengthen our foundation!"


    The Miscellaneous House Master and Qian Xingzi exposed their shortcomings. They had only comprehended weak nomological laws.


    Now that they had to face the lightning tribulation, they had cold feet.


    Sigh¡­ Lightning tribulation! Fang Yuan exclaimed in his mind. If your foundation is insufficient, there''s no way to survive the lightning tribulation. But if your foundation is too strong, you will be subject to heaven''s jealousy, and the power of the lightning tribulation will increase dramatically. The balance between your foundation and the difficulty of the lightning tribulation is different for everyone, so it''s impossible to guide others in the tribulation.


    Naturally, he was of the type with a foundation that was too strong. If he were to undergo the lightning tribulation, he would definitely be subject to heaven''s jealousy!


    "Also¡­ Dao Comprehension Stones are things that every Immortal desires. Even if I don''t use them after obtaining them, I can trade them for other things in the future!" Venerable Lie Huo was very frank.


    In fact, besides him, the remaining four city masters might not even have the courage to undergo the lightning tribulation. Even among Nascent Soul cultivators, the strength of each cultivator varied. The more nomological laws they could comprehend, the more powerful they were. Not many would refuse this opportunity.


    "I see¡­ So you thought of me?" Fang Yuan pointed at his own nose.


    "That''s my idea!" Venerable Lie Huo said. "Brother Situ, your magical power is astounding. The theft at the Miscellaneous House was so bizarre that I only had to investigate slightly before getting information about you. I immediately felt that you were the best candidate for this!"


    From the perspective of the cultivation world, this Situ Zhaixing was either a Golden Core cultivator with an incredible technique or an Immortal Patriarch in disguise. Both met his requirements.


    "I see!" Fang Yuan stood up. "Let''s go. There''s no time to lose!"


    After being exposed here, word that he was in Qingfeng City would likely quickly spread and attract the attention of Immortals, making staying here potentially risky.


    However, what attracted him the most was the special characteristic of Dao Comprehension Stones.


    If a few dozen Dao Comprehension Stones are useful for the comprehension of Great Daos, they''re certainly capable of increasing my comprehension of the Illusion Realm''s nomological laws and the Nomological Laws of Time. It''s a shortcut!


    He had to admit that he was really tempted.


    "Great! Brother Situ is indeed straightforward. But¡­" Venerable Lie Huo smiled, a curious twinkle in his eye. "Should we not make a contract and bind ourselves with life oaths before heading out?"


    He would be a fool if he brought Fang Yuan to the mysterious realm without arranging some precautions.


    With Fang Yuan''s magical power, no array or restriction could stop him. He could definitely go on his own, and they would be powerless to stop him.


    "I think you''re after something else too, right?" Fang Yuan smiled when he saw the twinkle in Venerable Lie Huo''s eyes. "You also want to take this opportunity to know my true strength."


    When he arrived at the place, he would have to pick a passage, and of course, it had to be the Golden Core passage.


    Even Immortals could not break this ancient restriction. Even if he could break the seal, Fang Yuan was not interested in challenging hell-level difficulty.


    "So, what is Brother Situ''s decision?" The others all looked at Fang Yuan with serious expressions.


    "It''s a bit tough to decide¡­" Fang Yuan frowned. "However, seeing that you have given me this opportunity, I can swear that I will give you thirty percent of the Dao Comprehension Stones that I obtain!"


    "Only thirty percent?!" Madam Hua Rui exclaimed with a shrill voice, like a little girl who had just been teased.


    "Thank you, Brother Situ. Thirty it is!" However, Venerable Lie Huo agreed after a brief change in expression.


    "Good. You''re truly a smart man!" Fang Yuan smiled lightly.


    In fact, he had hoped that they would disagree and break off with him.


    After all, now that he knew this information, he could certainly find the place by camping here day and night.


    Even if the five city masters were determined to keep the location a secret, he could let the word out and make use of the Orthodox Dao and the Demon Dao to force Qingfeng City to hand over the information.


    The more people that knew about the place, the more the chances that information would leak!


    Once the location was known, he would go in even if there were Immortals guarding it!


    No! Maybe he would just stay outside, ready to steal from everyone!


    No matter how many stones the Golden Core geniuses and Immortals managed to obtain in the mysterious realm, he could use his ''take from the bag'' technique after they came out!


    Of course, he would surely incur the wrath of the masses this way. In addition, since Venerable Lie Huo had not fallen out with him, even if Fang Yuan disregarded the outside world, he would still have to pay attention to his own conscience. After all, he could not go back on his word.


    As a result, he decided to hand over thirty percent of the Dao Comprehension Stones.


    Venerable Lie Huo was also clearly aware of this and immediately agreed.


    "All right, let''s go!"


    After making the life oaths, Venerable was overjoyed. He, Fang Yuan, and the others turned into rays of light and flew out of Qingfeng City.

 1076 Tower

    "Hmm? A fishing village?"


    They arrived above a great river.


    The sun was setting, and fishing boats were returning home. It was a beautiful view.


    "The entrance to the mysterious realm is just below the reeds. We''ve set up an illusion array, and a city master always stands guard here!" Madam Hua Rui explained softly as she led Fang Yuan into the dense reeds.


    Poof!


    After they entered the water, the waters automatically parted, and they passed through an array.


    "Big Brother!" A cultivator in white carrying a sword welcomed them. "How are the preparations?"


    "Haha¡­ We only brought one helper this time, but he''s as good as hundreds or even thousands of others!" Venerable Lie Huo said confidently. "Brother Situ, please!"


    "Let''s go together!" Fang Yuan smiled. The cultivator in white was very confused.


    Qian Xingzi and the Miscellaneous House Master quickly brought him up to speed, and shock immediately emerged on his face.


    "This mysterious realm''s focus is testing¡­ It should be a place where some Holy Land that perished selected disciples and deacons¡­"


    Since they had made the oath, Venerable Lie Huo had nothing to worry about and divulged many secrets to Fang Yuan. "The inside is separated into many levels, and each level is extremely dangerous. But if you can pass through multiple levels, the rewards will be great as well! It looks like you have to pass through a minimum of three levels before you can obtain a Dao Comprehension Stone. It was the reward for passing the third level!"


    "I see!" Fang Yuan nodded and smiled, indicating his full understanding.


    Wasn''t this basically passing through game levels and getting corresponding rewards? What was difficult to understand?


    However, since the rewards were given on the spot, he would have to go too.


    After all, if he really stood guard at the entrance, the Immortal and Golden Core cultivators would probably use the Dao Comprehension Stones inside the mysterious realm, not giving him a chance to steal them.


    "Why are you so certain that this mysterious realm belonged to some Holy Land?" he asked curiously.


    "There are Dao Comprehension Stones as rewards. That is definitely the hallmark of a Holy Land, and not an ordinary one either¡­" Venerable Lie Huo said confidently. "But for some unknown reason, it was destroyed¡­"


    The Sixteen Countries were remote and far behind the Great Sage Immortal World. Even their inheritances were recent and had gaps in them.


    "Here we are!"


    While Fang Yuan was contemplating, they arrived at the core of the array, and he immediately saw two giant vortexes.


    The two vortexes looked like nebulas, similar to cloud-shaped funnels. One was large, while the other was small.


    "The smaller passage is for Golden Core cultivators. As for the larger one, it didn''t allow us Nascent Soul cultivators to enter, so it should be for Immortals!" said the cultivator with the sword confidently.


    "Hmm¡­" Fang Yuan did not say anything, but his spiritual will had already entered the mysterious realm through using the fluctuations of the Illusion Realm''s nomological laws.


    Immediately, he was startled. There''s a thin layer of resistance. The constructor of this mysterious realm clearly had some accomplishments in the Illusion Realm''s nomological laws¡­ Fortunately, it isn''t to the extent where it completely cuts off the fluctuations of the Illusion Realm.


    His spiritual will continued to expand, and he immediately saw a tower that formed a realm of its own in the air.


    The tower soared into the sky. It had a simple charm to it, and countless talismans and murals decorated its walls.


    At the top of the tower, an enormous pearl radiated infinite brilliance.


    So there''s only one place for the trial. The two different passages actually lead to different starting levels! This tower has thirty-three levels in total! However, Fang Yuan said nothing about what he saw.


    His vow was to give thirty percent of the Dao Comprehension Stones that he obtained to the city masters. However, there were no restrictions regarding other treasures, and they would all belong to him alone.


    I wonder what the name of the tower is¡­ Judging from its vibe, it''s at least at the immortal artifact level. No! It seems to have already surpassed the immortal artifact level! Even I feel slightly threatened¡­ The only good news is that its isolation of space isn''t impenetrable, so I''ll still be able to escape!


    Sensing this, Fang Yuan decided his course of action.


    Otherwise, no matter how tempting it was, he would never place himself in danger.


    However, as a precaution, he had left his immortal abode and his main body in a safe place before coming here.


    The Illusion Realm''s nomological laws were something that was completely his own.


    As such, this Torch Dragon clone could teleport as well, and using space folding techniques to toy with these Nascent Soul cultivators in the palm of his hand was a trivial matter.


    "How is it?" Venerable Lie Huo and others asked slightly nervously.


    It was truly painful for them to look at a mountain of treasures but be unable to obtain any of it. The five of them could enter neither the Immortal nor Golden Core entrances. If word got out, then Immortals would certainly divide the treasures among themselves, leaving nothing for them.


    As for the Golden Core entrance? After a few experiments, they already knew that it was a place for selecting disciples under the strict standards of ancient Holy Lands! It was a death trap for ordinary Golden Core cultivators, and they could not bear to risk geniuses losing their lives. Or rather, they simply could not make them do so.


    Fang Yuan was their greatest hope.


    "I won''t know before entering! I''ll have to give it a try first!" Fang Yuan said calmly as he took a step forward toward¡­ the Golden Core entrance!


    "What?" The Miscellaneous House Master, Madam Hua Rui, the cultivator with the sword, and even Qian Xingzi opened their eyes wide in surprise. "He could toy with so many Immortals¡­ His true cultivation¡­ is only at Golden Core? Impossible!"


    In particular, the Miscellaneous House Master almost broke out in cold sweat when he thought about the methods that Fang Yuan had shown in the treasure room.


    However, seeing Fang Yuan''s vanish in the vortex, he smiled bitterly. "Monster! An unprecedented monster!"


    "Haha!" Venerable Lie Huo was briefly stunned before immediately laughing heartily.


    "Big Brother, why are you laughing?" Madam Hua Rui asked in confusion.


    "I''m laughing because I''m happy!" Venerable Lie Huo said matter-of-factly. "We''ve never even heard of the possibility of a Golden Core cultivator doing what he did. That Situ Zhaixing''s abilities are first-class even among the Golden Core disciples of Holy Lands. He''ll be able to obtain more Dao Comprehension Stones, meaning more Dao Comprehension Stones for us as well."


    "That''s indeed true¡­ However, he''s so arrogant despite merely being at Golden Core¡­" Qian Xingzi shook his head before his eyes glowed. "There are many loopholes in the contract we made with him. After this deal is done, why don''t we¡­"


    "Absolutely not!" Lie Huo reprimanded solemnly. "You think that you''d fare better than a dozen Immortals joining hands? Don''t bring trouble to Qingfeng City! In fact, I don''t even plan to keep this mysterious realm to ourselves for long either! After exploring it a few times, I''ll still hand it over to the Orthodox Dao and the Demon Dao!"


    "We will listen to Big Brother!" The Miscellaneous House Master and the others nodded respectfully. This was not simply because of his authority, but the fact that he had already demonstrated his foresight many time before and had established his credibility.


    ¡­


    After he stepped into the passage, the surrounding space changed indistinctly.


    Fang Yuan placed his hands behind his back and commented casually, "Spatial transformation path? It''s not very mature¡­"


    After reaching the end of the passage, he could see nothing but a dazzling white light.


    However, his spiritual will clearly sensed that the moment he stepped into the light, he would be transported to the bottom level of the thirty-three-level tower.


    On the other hand, the passage for Immortals started on the twentieth level!


    "Nevermind. I''ll start with the easier ones and obtain more rewards," he mumbled as he stepped forward.


    Rumble!


    His surroundings changed, and he appeared on a plain.


    Many humanoid-like praying mantis monsters emerged in the sky. They pounced at him with their sharp arms and translucent wings that were vibrating at high speed.


    "Materialization realm Fey? There''s about a thousand of them!"


    After scanning with his spiritual will, Fang Yuan understood his predicament. "This would truly be fatal for an average Golden Core cultivator!"


    Even ants could kill an elephant. Not to mention that the gap between Golden Core and Foundation Establishment was not nearly as great as between Immortal and Apotheosis.


    Chi! Chi!


    The praying mantis Fey buzzed. Soon after, a storm of blades swept toward him, as though they had an intense hatred for Fang Yuan.


    In other words, killing Fang Yuan was their sole purpose in life!


    Fang Yuan shook his head and casually said, "Set!"


    In the blink of an eye, all the monsters halted in midair. They were pinned and unable to move under the intangible power of the Illusion Realm''s nomological laws.


    "Unfortunately¡­ I''m only using the power of space to suppress them but not actually freezing space. I can only bully those weaker than me this way, and even a Nascent Soul cultivator could escape it by force!"


    The Dao of Space was vast and profound.


    Even if he had reached large success in the Illusion Realm''s nomological laws, Fang Yuan did not dare claim that he had full control over space, unless¡­ he succeeded with the Dao of the Void!


    However, it was definitely enough to bully a bunch of Materialization realm Fey.


    "How do I pass this level? Do I have to kill them all?"


    Fang Yuan spread his spiritual will and immediately found a floating wooden staircase in the center of the plain. He smiled. "Looks like I don''t need to kill the monsters to pass. If I''m quick enough, would rushing to the entrance of the second level count as success?"


    He was not in a hurry to act and spread his spiritual will again to probe the flaws of the tower thoroughly.


    "Hmm, the almighty that constructed this mysterious realm''s tower didn''t have a deep comprehension of the Illusion Realm''s nomological laws. Makes sense¡­ After all, there are too few people that walk the path of the Illusion Realm. They must have comprehended by analogy after becoming an Immortal or even a Grand Unity?


    "However, it remains connected with the outside world''s space fluctuations. In other words, I can escape with a mere thought and will be able to enter forcibly from the outside in the future. But¡­"


    Fang Yuan smiled wryly. He teleported to the entrance of the second level and waved. Two rays of light landed on his palm and transformed into a top-grade spirit stone and a top-grade spirit artifact.


    "I''ve obtained the first level''s rewards, and although the rewards for the second level are within reach, I can''t take them by force. Otherwise, I will surely be attacked by the entire tower! The power of this magic treasure wouldn''t be inferior to that of an Immortal!"

 1077 Advancing Through The Tower

    Knowing that treasures were within reach, yet being unable to take them away was how painful an experience?


    Fang Yuan knew that this was the same logic as with those Immortals'' storage bags earlier.


    After they spread their spiritual will over every last item in their bags, they would strike like thunder if Fang Yuan touched them.


    Fang Yuan had high comprehension of nomological laws, but he did not possess the power of Immortals. He might be able to escape disaster with his keen sense of space, but in the event that he did not, it would spell the end for this body.


    The difficulty was undoubtedly equivalent to dancing on a blade.


    It was the same now.


    There might be no Immortals in the thirty-three-level tower, but there was definitely an artifact spirit!


    It would not care if he followed the normal procedure to win the treasures. But if he were to steal the treasures on the third level or higher when he was still on the first level? Hehe¡­


    The moment he made a move, the entire tower would inevitably suppress him. Most importantly, he would still be inside it and really did not have much confidence in escaping.


    "This is troublesome¡­ This artifact spirit Spirit isn''t an Immortal, and all thirty-three levels is its body. With its spiritual will spread over everything, it can keep tabs on the treasures at all times!"


    Fang Yuan sighed and walked up the stairs obediently instead of teleporting.


    He might look like he was showing weakness, but he was actually constantly looking around the tower closely, trying to find the artifact spirit. Unfortunately, he obtained nothing!


    After all, things in the world rarely go your way¡­ Although my mastery in the Illusion Realm''s nomological laws might be superb, having discovered the structure of the tower and the hidden spaces of the tower, I won''t be able to find the artifact spirit¡­ unless I''m also proficient in the Nomological Laws of Life or the Nomological Laws of Soul?


    Life and soul were also top nomological laws, not inferior to the Illusion Realm. Fang Yuan was cultivating both the nomological laws of the Illusion Realm and time, and he was already having a tough time dealing with them.


    With some regret, he went to the second floor. Howls came immediately.


    Roar!


    Ow! Ow!


    It was a forest. The ancient trees were strong, and vines spread far and wide, looking like green dragons.


    In the center of the forest, there was a group of overlords.


    They stood tall, with black hair and sharp white fangs. They were black bear Fey beasts with round white fluff on their chests.


    "Golden Core Fey beast round bear?" Fang Yuan nodded. "There are about a hundred, but they''re guarding the route intently. The difficulty level increased a lot! For an assessment, it''s simply too much!"


    The first twenty assessment levels were only for Golden Core cultivators after all!


    If the second level was against a hundred Primordial Core Fey, what about the ninetieth level?


    "The silver lining is that these round bears seem to only be at early Golden Core. Also¡­ their movements are a little slow. I should be able to trick them into leaving."


    However, Fang Yuan was too lazy to do so. He landed on the ground and walked toward the entrance of the third level.


    Roar!


    The round bears raged and besieged him under the bear king''s leadership.


    Chichi!


    Fang Yuan did not stop as sharp Saber Qi surrounded him.


    After the complete comprehension of the Nomological Laws of Saber, it was no longer just using Saber Realm with a single thought, but he himself had become a sharp ''Heavenly Saber''!


    Saber light flashed! Saber Qi splintered outward!


    The round bears'' cries filled the air wherever he passed. Severed limbs flew, and fresh blood sprayed like fountains.


    In just one round, more than a dozen bear corpses were lying on the ground in a terrible state.


    No matter how bloodthirsty the other bears were, they were shocked. They howled and retreated continuously, giving way to the entrance of the passage.


    "The rewards for passing the second level is a top-grade spirit stone and a top-grade defensive spirit artifact?"


    Fang Yuan curled his lips. He did not need these but kept them anyway. He then went to the third level with faint expectations. "There should be Dao Comprehension Stones as rewards from the third level onward?"


    The environment of the third level changed into a landscape of volcanoes and lava.


    In midair, there were ten flaming figures.


    Their spiritual will locked onto Fang Yuan after seeing him.


    "Fire spirits? Peak Golden Core? This environment is perfect for them!" Fang Yuan sighed. "The second level had a hundred Fey at early Golden Core, but the third level''s ten fire spirits is ten times more difficult!"


    Early Golden Core and peak Golden Core were two totally different concepts!


    "This level is already so difficult. The fourth level will probably have a cultivator at peak Golden Core with comprehension of nomological laws!" Fang Yuan rolled his eyes, guessing what it could be.


    Ordinary Fey did not have much perception of nomological laws, and it would be pretty shallow even if they did.


    Only those geniuses who comprehended nomological laws, possibly even to completion, could display the truly formidable combat power of the Golden Core stage.


    The danger would double if that set of nomological laws was not common.


    "Die human!"


    A few fire spirits flew over after exchanging glances. They were coordinated and could transmit their voices, clearly having some form of wisdom.


    "Too bad they''re still trash to me!"


    Fang Yuan slashed his palm like he would a saber!


    Whoosh!


    Saber Qi turned into a tornado that drew several flames into it.


    Afterward, the tornado dispersed, and the fire spirits disappeared.


    "Those who don''t want to die, scram!" He warned the fire spirits still guarding the passage.


    "We can''t retreat. We''ll die once we do!" The rest of the fire spirits shouted desperately, "Kill! Furnace Array!"


    Rumble!


    They turned into several flames, gathered together, and flung themselves at Fang Yuan.


    Fang Yuan frowned and sent out Saber Qi.


    Sizzle!


    Saber Qi and flames collided midair, turning into plumes of smoke, dissipating from the world.


    A white light wrapped around a black stone and a wooden token, and both dropped down from the air.


    "Dao Comprehension Stone?" Fang Yuan''s eyes lit up. He picked up the token. "Entrance token? I can be sent out with a thought? In other words, those who died on the first two levels died in vain? Truly overbearing and disregarding life."


    According to his estimates, Golden Core cultivators who could break through the third level had to at least comprehend nomological laws at large success to be able to find a way past those ten fire spirits.


    The cruelty of this trial was apparent using that as a standard.


    Golden Core cultivators who could not even comprehend nomological laws to large success were likely trash to that Holy Land. It would feel nothing even if they died.


    "Dao Comprehension Stone?"


    Fang Yuan abandoned the unnecessary thoughts and looked carefully at the reward in his hand.


    This Dao Comprehension Stone was completely black. It was the size of a quail egg, and there seemed to be a hole in the middle, attracting his attention.


    "Aura of the Heavenly Dao?"


    He was almost mesmerized with one look, nearly entering a state of enlightenment.


    "As expected, Dao Comprehension Stones are related to a Heavenly Dao!" Fang Yuan was very certain. "It''s not this world''s Heavenly Dao but the Heavenly Dao in the chaos of this universe!"


    A Heavenly Dao was nomological laws in itself!


    There were nomological laws for how a world worked, and the chaos of a universe naturally had greater nomological laws than a world!


    "A world-level Heavenly Dao wouldn''t mesmerize like this. Only a Heavenly Dao of chaos¡­"


    Fang Yuan gripped the Dao Comprehension Stone. "Really good stuff. I have to get more!"


    He burst into the fourth level.


    There were twenty puppets on the fourth level, and every one of them had comprehended the more ordinary nomological laws to basic mastery.


    Fang Yuan did not stand on the ceremony. Saber Qi swept forward, leaving wreckage on the ground. He obtained two Dao Comprehension Stones.


    The fifth level, fifty puppets¡­ three Dao Comprehension Stones!


    Sixth level, fifty puppets¡­ Their comprehension of nomological laws was already at large success!


    ¡­


    On the tenth level, in the middle of a blue ocean, Fang Yuan gazed at a huge shadow in the water and muttered, "This level''s design is rather difficult!"


    The passage to the eleventh level was in the ocean, but the ones guarding it were a group soul-devouring tiger sharks at peak Golden Core!


    Not only that, but every one of them had also completely comprehended a set of nomological laws. Their attacks were sharp and precise. Even Fang Yuan would suffer a loss if he were not careful.


    "What the hell¡­ This level, even half of those at Nascent Soul would probably die?"


    Fang Yuan took a deep breath. "Nine Star Pearl Mystic Technique! Fifth Star!"


    He had completed nine levels using only his Golden Core combat power, the Nomological Laws of Saber, and a little help from the Illusion Realm''s nomological laws. This was already the limit that an ordinary Golden Core cultivator could reach!


    As such, he did not hesitate to use the mystic technique nor everything he had comprehended from the Illusion Realm''s nomological laws.


    "My combat power is fully released now. I can use the Nine Star Pearl Mystic Technique until the fifth star, and with the complete Nomological Laws of Saber and large success in the Illusion Realm''s nomological Laws, no one below Immortal can defeat me! I really want to see if this thirty-three-level tower can stop me."


    Fang Yuan''s eyes were brimming with fighting intent. Countless Saber Qi fell from the sky and into the ocean, turning it bloody.


    After the massacre, he reached the entrance of the eleventh level and suddenly had some surprises. "There are actually ten Dao Comprehension Stones! As expected, the greater the risk, the greater the rewards. But¡­ I can see from the design of this building that whoever created this tower must have had some genius disciples who had comprehended top nomological laws!"


    According to him, it was absolutely impossible for anyone to reach the eleventh floor without comprehending top nomological laws!


    Of course, someone like him who had not only comprehended heaven-defying nomological laws but also an enhancement mystic technique was probably rare even in ancient Holy Lands!


    Nothing could stand in his way after he had activated the Nine Star Pearl Mystic Technique. He passed the eleventh and twelfth levels in an instant and cut his way through until he reached the nineteenth level!


    The twentieth level was where Immortals started. In other words, it was where the almighty of the ancient Holy Land had thought the limit of the Golden Core stage was!


    Immortals were different no matter the era!


    The lightning tribulation was a heavenly chasm, and even the weakest Immortal was inevitably stronger than anyone at the Nascent Soul stage! Such was the Heavenly Dao!


    "Does that mean anyone who isn''t an Immortal would fail on the nineteenth level? The eighteenth level was a siege by a thousand puppets at peak Nascent Soul. What is there here?"


    Fang Yuan stood with his saber, looking at the void.


    At the entrance to the twentieth level, there was a figure in green, standing indifferently with a mysterious, ethereal feel.


    "Immortal puppet?!"

 1078 Passing The Challenge

    The figure in green turned around and complimented, "I''m rather surprised you could make it here. Your aptitude, comprehension, combat strength, and experience is a rarity even within the ''Mount Mengyan'' Holy Land!"


    "Spirit of the tower, you''ve finally appeared!" Fang Yuan curled his lips.


    This immortal puppet was naturally more powerful than Gold Ingot and could exert power at the Immortal level!


    The artifact spirit of this tower was possessing this puppet.


    Someone at the Golden Pill stage managed to break through the eighteenth level. If the Holy Land still existed, even Grand Unity Immortals would be alarmed.


    It''s a pity it''s only an incarnation of the artifact spirit!


    Fang Yuan licked his lips and did not attack rashly.


    "This nineteenth level was created specifically to stop cultivators below the Immortal level. You have absolute talent to be able to reach here, and you can become a core disciple of a Grand Unity Immortal¡­" This artifact spirit had its limitations and explained according to the rules set in the beginning. "Unfortunately¡­ the powerful Mount Mengyan Holy Land was eventually destroyed in the chaos of the otherworld demons¡­"


    "Wait!" Fang Yuan waved his hand. "Don''t they say that a Holy Land has the protection of a Grand Unity Almighty and isn''t afraid of otherworldly demons?"


    "That''s for normal Demonic Tribulations. Can you imagine a Godfiend that was born out of chaos? Mount Mengyan ranked third among the Holy Lands all those years ago. It had even killed several Primordial Godfiends! Were it not for us being unlucky in a battle with a Chaos Godfiend, with both sides suffering heavy damage, how could Mount Mengyan have been destroyed?" The green-clothed puppet''s voice was a bit sad.


    "Chaos Godfiend?"


    "These Godfiends innately have very terrifying power. One breath can destroy Immortals¡­ Even the weaker Primordial Godfiends are comparable to Grand Unity Immortals!" the artifact spirit said slowly.


    "I see!" Fang Yuan nodded. "That''s quite terrifying!"


    He finally had some understanding of the levels of the otherworldly demons.


    An ordinary otherworldly demon was roughly equivalent to an Immortal; a Primordial Godfiend was comparable to a Grand Unity Immortal; a Chaos Godfiend was beyond the Grand Unity Immortal realm!


    "No wonder everyone is so afraid of otherworldly demons. After an ordinary otherworldly demon matures a bit, is it similar to an Immortal?"


    Fang Yuan completely understood now. "That demon suppressed underneath the Holy Mountain is most likely a Primordial Godfiend? It probably isn''t a Chaos Godfiend."


    "Holy Lands aren''t afraid of normal demon disasters, but that was a large disaster that occurs once every ten thousand years! The patriarch of my Mount Mengyan had exceedingly high cultivation and managed to kill the Chaos Godfiend. But unfortunately¡­ he was seriously injured and passed away soon after! If not, my Holy Land would have never declined!"


    The artifact spirit in green did not seem to mind that it was leaking some great secret. "Do you know why I''m telling you so much?"


    "No¡­" Fang Yuan shook his head honestly.


    "This Thirty-Three-Level Outer Heaven Tower was originally a primordial treasure refined by the Mount Mengyan Patriarch! It was a place specially used to select disciples. After passing the eighteenth level, you can become a core disciple of my Holy Land!


    "Since you''re part of my Holy Land, you can know some of these secrets¡­ Human, I know you''ve been searching for my main body, but it''s useless. How could a primordial treasure be so easily refined? I might have no master now, but you won''t be able to control me completely! You should be satisfied with becoming a core disciple!"


    "Really?" Fang Yuan was unmoved. "Cultivation is inherently heaven-defying. Why not continue trying?"


    "Haha¡­ That''s logical!" The artifact spirit laughed. "However, under my manipulation, this immortal puppet can exert ten percent of an Immortal''s might. You will definitely lose¡­ But I can tell you a secret. There are no rewards for the nineteenth level since the patriarch had never imagined that anyone below the Immortal realm could pass the level I guard. Disappointed?"


    So the nineteenth level was designed this way. In other words, this is where the loophole in the rules is! Fang Yuan''s eyes sparkled, and he went forward.


    "Stop!" The artifact spirit extended its left hand and pushed lightly.


    Rumble!


    The invisible air seemed to turn into a steel wall.


    Not only that, but an imposing manner belonging to Immortals alone surged forward.


    Ordinary Golden Core cultivators would have knelt under this aura.


    Transcending the tribulation to become Immortal!


    In this world, the gap between an Immortal and a mortal was a heavenly chasm. It was the sublimation of the intrinsic quality of life itself!


    Therefore, even the weakest Immortal could overpower anyone at the Nascent Soul stage, let alone Fang Yuan who was at Primordial Core.


    "This immortal puppet is so strong!" Fang Yuan had faced many Immortals before and suddenly realized something. "The feeling this immortal puppet gives me is much more dangerous than Kun Lunzi and Immortal Myriad Soul. It''s top class even within the Immortal level¡­ Kill!"


    He could only move without hesitation, even though this imposing oppression put him at an absolute disadvantage.


    He chopped with his saber, as if trying to split heaven and earth in half.


    Chichi!


    Hundreds of Saber Qi several meters long emerged and went for the target. Saber light appeared all around the green-clothed puppet. They penetrated its protection and violently went for the kill!


    The Nomological Laws of Saber! Void Refraction! Void Penetration! Of course, there was also the fifth star of the Nine Star Pearl Mystic Technique!


    This move was definitely Fang Yuan''s pinnacle!


    "Hmm?" The green-clothed puppet was a little surprised. Its hands drew a circle like a Taiji. "Mirror!"


    A huge mirror suddenly appeared, clearly reflecting the Saber Qi within.


    Nine saber lights immediately appeared and collided with the incoming saber light. Space trembled, and they slowly disappeared without a trace.


    "I still underestimated you. That attack was enough to rival some weaker Immortals! Impossible¡­ This is impossible¡­ The difference between mortal and Immortal is a Heavenly Dao! Even my master couldn''t have done this when he was at the Golden Core stage!"


    Although the puppet blocked the attack, it was in a weird state.


    "Haha¡­ To cultivate is to go against heaven! What Heavenly Dao?!"


    Fang Yuan laughed, but his heart was gloomy. This immortal puppet not only had Immortal-level combat power, but even the nomological laws it had comprehended were very strange.


    Otherwise, given his current strength, even if he were to go against Immortal Myriad Soul, he would not falter one bit.


    "Following heaven? Defying heaven?" The puppet had an extremely human-like expression of confusion.


    "Go!" Fang Yuan took this opportunity to plunge into the void, ready to enter the passage to the twentieth level.


    How fast was teleportation?


    He reached the entrance within merely a thought. Even the puppet could not react in time!


    Ping!


    But the next moment, white radiance appeared from within the passage, immediately ''bouncing'' him away. Not only that, but the Nomological Laws of Space in it were obviously one level higher, making it difficult for Fang Yuan''s teleportation to be effective.


    "Tsk!" Fang Yuan frowned and disappeared.


    The puppet arrived at the entrance of the passage in the next instant. "Is this the Illusion Realm''s nomological laws? They''re really mysterious! Unfortunately¡­ the entrance to the twentieth level has a special setting. Not only is the space strengthened within it, but it''s impossible to go through without defeating me."


    This is against the rules¡­ Fang Yuan was dumbfounded in the void.


    He was currently at a state where he had high attack power but low defense, so he did not dare to appear carelessly in front of the puppet.


    But without first defeating the opponent, he could not get into the passage.


    The puppet would not be able to hurt him given his achievements in the Illusion Realm''s nomological laws, and they were now in a stalemate.


    "What for? Why do you want to go to the twentieth level?" The puppet sighed. "The trial there is ten times stronger than mine. Only Immortal geniuses have the hope of overcoming it. You have no chance at all!"


    "Really?" Fang Yuan reappeared in the next moment.


    "That''s right. Admit defeat. I''ll give you generous rewards and the identity as a core disciple of Mount Mengyan¡­ What a pity that Master is no longer around. He would have certainly liked you and taken you in as a direct disciple." The puppet sighed.


    "Sorry, but I don''t have any thoughts about admitting defeat!"


    Fang Yuan looked at the saber in his hand.


    Roar Roar!


    The thousand-meter long shadow of a dragon appeared.


    It had a red snake body and a human head with only one eye. Light and darkness followed the blinking of its eye.


    The Torch Dragon!


    As soon as it appeared, even the void could feel it and started trembling slightly.


    "Have a taste of my saber!"


    Fang Yuan slashed, and white light shot out.


    This light flew to the front of the puppet. Its speed increased more than ten times!


    Time ultimate technique¡ªAccelerate!


    "Mirror¡¤Reflect!" The puppet smiled as a mirror appeared in front of it.


    The exact same white light was within it.


    Crack!


    But the moment the white light emerged, numerous spiderweb-like cracks started appearing on the originally smooth mirror surface.


    "The power of your nomological laws might be strange, but it can''t defeat my time and Illusion Realm nomological laws. How could you imitate them completely? It must have overloaded now!"


    Fang Yuan roared with laughter through his spiritual will.


    "You''re belittling the power of an Immortal!"


    The puppet''s expression remained unchanged as Immortal Qi surged. The mirror stopped cracking, and the white light flew out.


    Two white lights collided in the air and instantly became nothingness.


    "Now! Torch Dragon Magical Power¡ªTime Flying Blade!"


    Fang Yuan seized this opportunity to have a green ball of light turn into a flying blade and released it!


    Bang!


    The ray of light landed on the mirror. Its cracks expanded before it finally exploded into powder.


    The green Time Flying Blade lodged itself into the puppet''s throat and severed its head!


    "Impossible!" It still sounded perplexed as its head fell off.


    "Success!" Fang Yuan clenched his fists tightly. "Luckily, I''ve been keeping the power of time as my trump card! It really did the trick!"

 1079 Without Choice

    Great Sage Immortal World, Heavenly Circuit Immortal Sect.


    The Heavenly Circuit Immortal Sect was one of the famous Holy Lands, and it was located on a giant floating mountain.


    The turquoise floating mountain cast a huge shadow, bringing with it a sense of overlooking all living beings.


    In fact, this entire mountain was a primordial treasure that surpassed immortal artifact¡ªthe Mysterious Peak! Rumor had it that the foundation was laid by the founding patriarch, and a few Grand Unity Almighties had refined it in succession. It had once suppressed and killed a Primordial Godfiend!


    Streams of light flashed on the Mysterious Peak. The lowest level of them was at Golden Core.


    The Holy Land had its own standards. Ordinary Golden Core disciples were outer disciples, while Nascent Soul disciples were inner disciples. Immortals who wanted to join had to pass an assessment, but they would still become deacons at best.


    Only those who were at the Grand Unity realm were qualified to be in the direct consideration of the Holy Land.


    The Heavenly Circuit Immortal Sect was undoubtedly the overlord in the southern Great Sage Immortal World.


    On a certain mountain top of the Mysterious Peak.


    Above the sea of clouds, a life-like stone statue seemed as though it was overlooking a cliff.


    Crack! Crack!


    Suddenly, cracks appeared on the statue. It exploded to reveal an old man.


    "Seems like I came out of seclusion earlier than expected this time!"


    This old man was dressed shabbily and had dark eyes like the night sky. He wrinkled his brow as he calculated and took out a jade pendant from his storage bag. He smiled. "So it''s the Thirty-Three-Level Outer Heaven Tower¡­ Ah, Mount Mengyan''s prestige used to be far above my sect, but unfortunately, now only this assessment mysterious realm remains¡­"


    "Greetings to Elder Tai Xuan. Congratulations to Elder for coming out of your seclusion!"


    It was not long before streams of light descended and turned into Immortals, who were all very respectful.


    "Okay, rise everyone!" Elder Tai Xuan waved his hand casually. "Did anything important happen while I was asleep?"


    "Nothing serious, thanks to the might of the few elders!" replied the Heavenly Circuit Immortal Sect Master humbly. "On the front of the Sixteen Countries, we have already reached a compromise with the barbarians. We jointly created the Combat Heavenly Palace in order to cope with the Demonic Tribulation twenty years later. The beginning shouldn''t be too busy!"


    "So it''s at that time¡­" Elder Tai Xuan nodded. "It''s a little bit earlier than what I expected, but it''s also fate¡­ The Outer Heaven Tower of the Mount Mengyan Holy Land has come alive!"


    "Mount Mengyan Holy Land? Outer Heaven Tower?"


    The other Immortals looked blank. Only the Heavenly Circuit Immortal Sect Master''s eyes brightened. "Isn''t that the primordial treasure specially used to assess Golden Core and Immortal cultivators? Wasn''t it destroyed along with Mount Mengyan?"


    "It wasn''t destroyed. I saw the fall of Mount Mengyan. At the last moment, the Mount Mengyan Sect Master sent it out to wait for fate!"


    Elder Tai Xuan shook the jade pendant in his hand. "I took the opportunity to deploy some means. It will give me a sign as long as it opens. It seems like¡­ it''s in the direction of the Sixteen Countries! Send a few people out and bring it back!"


    A primordial treasure was worth far more than an immortal artifact!


    Even a cultivation Holy Land could not ignore it.


    "Understood!" The Heavenly Circuit Sect Master answered respectfully. "There''s one more thing that I should report to Patriarch. It''s also regarding the Sixteen Countries. A new monstrous talent has appeared recently, claiming to be the best godly thief in the world, Situ Zhaixing! He can ignore restrictions and obtain items through space! Even Immortals are helpless against him!"


    "Oh?" Elder Tai Xuan''s small eyes glowed immediately. "This description sounds familiar¡­ Do you have detailed information?"


    "Naturally!" The Heavenly Circuit Sect Master passed a jade slip, which recorded the information of when Fang Yuan went up against the Immortals.


    "This performance¡­ It can''t be wrong! It''s the Illusion Realm''s nomological laws!"


    The demeanor of Elder Tai Xuan changed. First, he started mumbling to himself before the sharp Qi from his body condensed, seeming to have become a sharp sword. "What Immortal disguise? Bullsh*t! He''s at Golden Core! Hehe¡­ A monster who comprehended peerless nomological laws. Even in the Holy Lands, how many thousands of years have passed since the last time?"


    "Elder?" The Heavenly Circuit Sect Master could not help asking in concern after seeing Elder Tai Xuan''s unstable mood.


    "It''s nothing! I''ll make a personal trip to the Sixteen Countries and resolve the matter of this lad and the Outer Heaven Tower together!" Elder Tai Xuan said before turning into an illusory image.


    "We see Elder off!"


    The Heavenly Circuit Sect Master saw a streak of light flash by and could not help exhaling.


    This world was enormous, very much so! There were many dangerous zones between the Sixteen Countries and the Great Sage Immortal World, and it would take over a year to cross even for Immortals.


    Otherwise, they were not affable people, so why would they not have conquered it?


    On the other hand, Grand Unity Almighties would only need a month to go back and forth.


    ¡­


    Thirty-Three-Level Outer Heaven Tower.


    Nineteenth level.


    The Time Flying Blade chopped the immortal puppet''s head right on target.


    Fang Yuan rushed to the entrance of the twentieth level in excitement and directly blasted the seal with Saber Qi.


    Bang!


    The white light surged and trembled slightly, but it was still very strong nonetheless.


    "How troublesome!"


    Fang Yuan''s face turned icy. He turned around and saw the headless puppet still hovering.


    "You really surprise me¡­ Other than the Illusion Realm''s nomological laws, you''ve actually comprehended the Nomological Laws of Time as well!" The head suspended in midair smiled slightly. "It''s just¡­ this doesn''t mean¡­ you can kill an Immortal!"


    Immediately afterward, its head turned into a silvery stream of water, melting into its headless body.


    From the puppet''s neck, a head slowly grew before finally becoming whole, not even leaving a scar on its neck.


    "¡­" Fang Yuan was speechless.


    "This is not the puppet''s ability but that of every Immortal¡­ It''s not easy to transcend the tribulation and become Immortal! The sublimation of life represents the disappearance of vital points¡­ Unless you completely wipe out my Immortal Qi, this immortal puppet will never die, and the seal on the passage will never open!"


    The puppet smiled. "That attack wasn''t bad! You''re about five percent closer!"


    Merely five percent.


    The same attack done twenty times would be able to kill this immortal puppet!


    But the question was¡­ even if Fang Yuan had the power to do so twenty times, would the artifact spirit just stand there like a lamb waiting for slaughter?


    "Really¡­ troublesome!" Fang Yuan sighed and disappeared into the void right before the immortal puppet''s attack hit him.


    "It''s useless. I might not be able to find you, but I won''t take your sneak attacks nineteen more times!" the green-clothed puppet said confidently. "Also¡­ I have some unfortunate news for you. You don''t need to think about dragging this out. Twelve hours after your first attack damaged me, I''ll manipulate the tower to supplement this puppet with Immortal Qi. You have no chance!"


    After all, it was an expert in battle and blocked Fang Yuan''s last hope.


    Originally, even if the damage of the Time Flying Blade was low, as long as Fang Yuan persisted and relied on the Illusion Realm''s nomological laws to remain elusive, he had a shard of hope in killing the puppet.


    But now, it was no longer possible.


    "You don''t need to complain about unfairness because this is the speed that ordinary Immortals can absorb the power of heaven and earth at! As long as their Immortal Qi doesn''t run out, the Immortal will never die!" said the green-clothed puppet.


    In the void.


    Looking at this scene, Fang Yuan shook his head and used the wooden token to leave the Outer Heaven Tower with a thought.


    "You''re out so soon?" Venerable Lie Huo asked in surprise outside the passage.


    Seems like¡­ that Golden Core trash that entered before only broke through the third level after a tough fight¡­ Fang Yuan thought, but he did not say anything. He waved and threw over fifteen Dao Comprehension Stones. "According to the contract, these are yours!"


    After that, he teleported again and disappeared.


    "Dao Comprehension Stones? A total of fifteen?" The Miscellaneous House Master''s eyes nearly popped out when he saw them. "This is just thirty percent of the harvest. Doesn''t this mean that he obtained fifty?"


    "Han Feng had only obtained a single Dao Comprehension Stone after passing the third level. And he nearly died¡­" Madam Hua Rui was shocked too. "He obtained fifty so easily?"


    "Big Brother¡­ I suddenly feel that we made a huge mistake in inviting him here!" Qian Xingzi said solemnly.


    "Compared to that, I''m even more afraid of this mysterious realm¡­ It produced fifty Dao Comprehension Stones!" Venerable Lie Huo smiled bitterly. "I''m afraid we can''t monopolize such rich resources. Even the Sixteen Countries might not be able to do so!"


    He looked at the Dao Comprehension Stones and suddenly felt his hands going hot.


    ¡­


    "It''s also good that I''ve completed the contract!" Fang Yuan''s Torch Dragon clone returned to the Pantheon Palace and sat down cross-legged. "Otherwise¡­ I really wouldn''t be able to give it up when my harvest is greater!"


    His temporary withdrawal was to complete the contract.


    The next time he snuck in would be the second time, which was not within the scope of the oath.


    "Also, that immortal puppet is truly difficult to defeat! Is this the combat strength of an Immortal? Not only are they powerful, most importantly, they almost can''t die!"


    An Immortal was pure Qi. The condensed form was a body and became Qi when scattered. It was a complete sublimation of the intrinsic quality of life, like how nothing had happened when Fang Yuan had loped its head off.


    "It''s very difficult to annihilate this intrinsic quality without being an Immortal as well¡­"


    Fang Yuan was speechless, thinking about the recovery speed that the puppet had told him about.


    "Looks like¡­ I have to use these immediately."


    He used the Dao Comprehension Stone in his hand without hesitation.


    Buzz!


    Heavenly Dao aura filled the surrounding, bringing him into a state of enlightenment.


    His main body also sat cross-legged and entered a deep state of cultivation.


    "So¡­ this is time!"


    Fang Yuan''s eyes opened after some time, feeling that his comprehension of the Nomological Laws of Time had finally improved a little.


    At the same time, the Dao Comprehension Stone in his hand could not bear the heavy load and shattered into powder.

 1080 Passing Through

    Fang Yuan felt helpless as he looked at the powder that was the Dao Comprehension Stone.


    "I heard that Immortals use dozens of Dao Comprehension Stones with an array each time¡­ Unfortunately, I know nothing about them at all!"


    In fact, top nomological laws such as the Nomological Laws of Time and the Illusion Realm''s nomological laws were as powerful as ordinary Great Daos!


    Therefore, the consumption of Dao Comprehension Stones was similar to that of an Immortal.


    Fang Yuan had yet to obtain such high-level arrays, so he could only do it the dumb way, little by little.


    Although it was wasteful, he had already given away fifteen Dao Comprehension Stones earlier, so it was not that big of a deal either.


    If Immortals were to see such a scene, their hearts would drip blood, and they would rain curses on this wastrel.


    "I can improve my nomological laws by using Dao Comprehension Stone, so what should I choose¡­ the Illusion Realm or time?"


    Fang Yuan rubbed his chin, stumped in deep thought.


    Both would consume a terrifying amount of Dao Comprehension Stones.


    Moreover, his Illusion Realm''s nomological laws were at large success and just shy of complete comprehension.


    This was the problem. If fate arrived, he might be able to comprehend it in an instant. However, it might not be effective even if he were to use all of the remaining thirty-four Dao Comprehension Stones.


    On the other hand, he was just at basic mastery of the Nomological Laws of Time. He would definitely reap benefits if he was willing to work hard.


    "The breakthrough of the Illusion Realm''s nomological laws is at the last step, and it will be very difficult to comprehend it forcibly. I''d better forget about it without a hundred Dao Comprehension Stones. I''ll improve the Nomological Laws of Time first¡­"


    Through this experiment, Fang Yuan realized that the benefit of the Dao Comprehension Stones was in forcing the cultivator to enter a state of enlightenment, which was great for breaking through bottlenecks.


    The best method was to cultivate and reach a bottleneck before using them.


    However, at this point, he did not care too much. He took one directly into his hand, and before long, they turned into powder piece by piece.


    Numerous insights about time appeared in his mind, deepening his understanding of the power of time.


    "The most fundamental mystery of the Nomological Laws of Time is in acceleration, but this isn''t all¡­ The sign of large success should be slowing down time! Not only can this mystery be of use in battle, but the most important thing is that it can also extend life!"


    The hallmark of large success in the Illusion Realm''s nomological laws was teleportation.


    The hallmark of large success in the Nomological Laws of Time was precisely slowing down time!


    For now, Fang Yuan did not want to think about time reversal. After he became an Immortal and sublimated the Nomological Laws of Time into the Time Great Dao, maybe he could explore it then.


    "Slowing time, as the name suggests, is to make the passage of time become slower. If I use it on myself, it is a method of extending life¡­ If I can make the ratio one hundred times slower, then I will have one hundred times the lifespan of the other cultivators!"


    Fang Yuan frowned when his thoughts reached this point. "A normal Primordial Core cultivator has a lifespan of four hundred years! One thousand years at the Apotheosis Realm! If I can increase the ratio by one hundred times, wouldn''t that mean I''ll live for forty thousand years?"


    Others lived a day like a year, but he could live a year like a day.


    "There are also flaws¡­ Extending lifespan and the like were small matters. The key is the breakthrough of cultivation realms!"


    Slowing down time might not necessarily be all good.


    For example, if he originally could have broken through to the mid Primordial Core realm from the early stage within a year, after slowing down time, he would need a hundred years instead! This was a devastating number.


    Even the recovery of injuries would slow down a hundred times!


    Of course, no matter what, the benefits of the ability to slow down time outweighed the disadvantages. Countless cultivators whose lifespans were running out dreamed of obtaining it.


    "Whether it is accelerating or slowing down time, both are the control of time flow. As the vast river of time advances forward, who could make it flow backward?"


    Fang Yuan opened his eyes.


    "Time¡­ slow down!"


    He stretched out his right hand. A stone flew up into the sky and ''fell'' ten times slower.


    "The Nomological Laws of Time¡­ large success!"


    Gold Ingot''s puppet watched on silently, speechless.


    Of course, he knew about the difficulty of the Nomological Laws of Time and the Illusion Realm''s nomological laws. However, this monster in front of him actually cultivated both to large success when he was only at the Primordial Core realm!


    It would astonish the entire cultivation world if word got out!


    "With the Nomological Laws of Time at large success, I can control the flow of time at will now! It might only be simple acceleration and deceleration, but it''s already very good!"


    Fang Yuan nodded. "The rest is to become completely familiar with the power of the Nomological Laws of Time and then complement them with the Illusion Realm''s nomological laws to try and combine them into an ultimate technique!"


    He already had plans to fuse the Void Great Dao and Time Great Dao to form the Space-Time Great Dao.


    He naturally would not miss the opportunity to start laying the foundation.


    The more basic, the simpler it would be to find points to integrate. Making preparations for it now would be a lot more convenient for the true fusion in the future after they sublimated into Great Daos.


    "In this regard, I can borrow the power of Dao Comprehension Stones¡­ After all, in the state of enlightenment, not only can I comprehend nomological laws but also trigger inspirations and deductions!"


    Looking at the pile of powder in front of him, Fang Yuan smiled bitterly. "I consumed thirty Dao Comprehension Stones just to push the Nomological Laws of Time to large success? The remaining four are definitely not enough!"


    ¡­


    Nineteenth level of the Thirty-Three-Level Outer Heaven Tower.


    "You again!!" The green-clothed puppet did not know whether to laugh or cry when he saw Fang Yuan. "Want to try again?"


    "That''s right. Last time I left without receiving the rewards and core disciple status¡­ I regarded it as my loss, so I''m back to challenge again!"


    Fang Yuan shrugged and found this loophole that was not a loophole.


    To be honest, an ordinary Golden Core cultivator would not want to come again because their life would have been hanging by a thread the first time.


    Only a monster-level genius like Fang Yuan could pass through without injury and return to challenge again.


    At least, he could gain another fifty-odd Dao Comprehension Stones and other materials, and he would not need to share them with others.


    "If you only have such little vision¡­" The puppet shook its head. "The identity and rewards of a core disciple of Mount Mengyan might be far inferior to when the Holy Land still existed, but it''s still a rare lucky chance for even Immortals. However, you only care about these Dao Comprehension Stones, how short-sighted and superficial¡­"


    "Really?" Fang Yuan smiled strangely. "No matter what, you still have to follow the procedures and need to accept my challenge?"


    "That''s right!" The green-clothed puppet laughed. "However, I have to remind you that each person only has three tries for this kind of test! You only have one more chance to obtain Dao Comprehension Stones."


    "No need. I''ll end you this time!" Fang Yuan pulled out his saber and stood proudly.


    "You haven''t given up? I am an Immortal!" The green-clothed puppet was slightly surprised.


    "Of course not!"


    Fang Yuan slashed! An aurora immediately lit up between heaven and earth!


    "Mirror¡¤Guard!"


    The puppet spread both hands, and the power of strange nomological laws surged around its body, turning into a crystal ball with many planes and reflecting the saber light.


    It dared not look down on Fang Yuan after witnessing his abilities and went all out!


    "Time!" Fang Yuan muttered softly, seeing the reflection of thousands of shards of saber light coming at him.


    An extra greenish-yellow color appeared on top of the white light, and the void surrounding it fluctuated faintly.


    "The Illusion Realm''s nomological laws and the Nomological Laws of Time¡­ actually¡­ merged?" The puppet was shocked.


    The white light immediately shattered the shards of saber light, and the crystal ball also broke.


    One saber breaking thousands of sabers!


    "Blade of Universe!"


    Fang Yuan said softly, "Your nomological laws might be strange, but at best, they imitate top nomological laws at large success¡­ Last time, they almost collapsed when I used both sets of my nomological laws at the same time, not to mention after I fused them."


    In fact, his seclusion this time did not completely combine the Illusion Realm''s nomological laws and the Nomological Laws of Time. He had only managed to find the most suitable integration point!


    Even so, he had used all his gains this time!


    Right! All fifty Dao Comprehension Stones that he had obtained from the completion of the eighteen levels last time were now gone. He had used the last four Dao Comprehension Stones to finally find the point of integration!


    This was also why he dared to challenge the nineteenth floor. That saber move contained both the Illusion Realm''s nomological laws and the Nomological Laws of Space-Time: Light of Universe!


    Poof!


    The saber light landed, undoubtedly a killing move.


    The puppet was cut open and turned into liquid form.


    "Die!" Fang Yuan shouted. The liquid vaporized under the vibrations of space-time.


    In the end, the liquid condensed into the puppet again. However, it now looked at Fang Yuan as though it were looking at a Chaos Godfiend. "This attack actually made me lose fifty percent of my immortal body?"


    "So? Do you want to admit defeat?" Fang Yuan smiled.


    The nomological laws of the Illusion Realm and of time had reached large success and found a point of integration at the same time. This degree of comprehension for such nomological laws made them not inferior to a complete Great Dao, meaning it had surpassed that of Immortals!


    His strength was comparable to the Apotheosis realm when he activated the fifth star of the Nine Star Pearl Mystic Technique.


    The addition of these two factors could even cause his Saber Qi to greatly damage an Immortal. It was even possible to kill Immortals as a mortal!


    It was incredible even if the scope extended to the entire world.


    The difference between Immortal and mortal was a Heavenly Dao.


    It was truly heaven-defying for a mortal to be able to reach this point!


    "This is all thanks to my comprehension of nomological laws¡­ I''m still far away from Immortals in terms of magic power and realm!"


    In fact, he would not have a chance against an Immortal without this Blade of Universe.


    "Yes, I admit defeat!" The Outer Heaven Tower''s artifact spirit sighed. "Go on to the twentieth level. But I want to remind you that the test facing Immortals is a real otherworldly demon!"

 1081 Refining

    "An Immortal-level otherworldly demon? It looks like there are many secrets hidden within this Thirty-Three-Level Outer Heaven Tower¡­"


    Fang Yuan nodded while watching the light that enveloped the tunnel start to crumble.


    "What a pity¡­ The patriarch had never thought that someone could pass the nineteenth level when he built this Outer Heaven Tower, so the nineteenth level has no rewards¡­" The green-clothed puppet sighed.


    Even if someone at peak Nascent Soul managed to transcend the tribulation on the eighteenth level and become Immortal, ordinary Immortals were definitely not a match for the green-clothed puppet.


    Moreover, even if such a thing were to happen, the artifact spirit would directly adjust the Outer Heaven Tower and move them to the twentieth level, not giving the Immortal any chance at all.


    Therefore, Fang Yuan really was the first person to pass the nineteenth level ever since the Outer Heaven Tower was built!


    Unfortunately, that patriarch of Mount Mengyan had never dreamed that this would happen and thus did not arrange any rewards at all.


    Of course, Fang Yuan''s performance would have caused a huge stir if Mount Mengyan were still around. He would have immediately taken him in as a disciple.


    "Reward? I have it already!" Fang Yuan''s mouth curled up. A long saber appeared out of nowhere. "Light of Universe!"


    This illusory saber that combined both the nomological laws of time and the Illusion Realm reappeared and cut the puppet into oblivion.


    "What are you doing?" The artifact spirit''s voice came, clearly baffled.


    Fang Yuan''s move merely seemed to be venting his anger. In its view, it had no other meaning.


    "Found you!" Fang Yuan''s eyes shone as he stepped into the passage!


    The next moment, space changed.


    He arrived at a narrow floor.


    Stone structures were on all four sides. The center, however, had a stone monument¡ªthe tower stele! This was where the artifact spirit''s main body was within the Outer Heaven Tower!


    "What''s going on? How did you get here directly?" The artifact spirit''s astonished voice came from the stele.


    "This is, of course, the arrangement by that patriarch of Mount Mengyan. You are the reward for passing the nineteenth floor!"


    Fang Yuan laughed happily and placed his hand on the stele to refine it forcibly.


    This was his real purpose!


    From the start, becoming a core disciple of Mount Mengyan or passing through the levels to obtain Dao Comprehension Stones and so on were not his true goal!


    Since discovering the Outer Heaven Tower, his thoughts had always been on how to conquer this treasure!


    It was very difficult since this heavenly treasure was a grade above immortal artifact. If it had a master, he would not have even needed to consider it.


    The key to refining the Outer Heaven Tower was to find the whereabouts of the artifact spirit''s main body! This was certainly not easy.


    Even with his Illusion Realm''s nomological laws at large success, he could only pass through freely within the first nineteen levels. It was impossible to teleport to anywhere above that.


    In fact, Fang Yuan knew that he had had wrong thoughts about the Outer Heaven Tower after he passed through the tenth floor. Although the constructor''s forte might not be in the Illusion Realm''s nomological laws, he must have comprehended them to a very high level. Perhaps¡­ not even inferior to him! This entire tower was a treasure of its own! Almost no one could break through its defenses.


    The structure of the space in the first few levels was relatively simple, but the defense against space was absolutely terrifying from the twentieth level and above!


    Of course, there were still gaps in his plan.


    First, he had saved a lot of effort as a challenger because he could enter without invading it. This was especially true when he reached the nineteenth level, which was almost close to the tower''s core.


    Then, through continuously attacking and even killing the immortal puppet, he had forced the artifact spirit to recall its incarnation, allowing him to find the spatial node where it hid its main body.


    But even if he could do all this, Fang Yuan would have still had to completely comprehend the Illusion Realm''s nomological laws or even advance it to the Void Great Dao to be able to break into this place.


    But coincidentally, there was a loophole that was not a loophole in the passage of the nineteenth level!


    The loophole was not having any rewards for passing the nineteenth level!


    With the help of this loophole, Fang Yuan had found the weakest point in the defenses of the entire tower.


    From there, he used the Illusion Realm''s nomological laws to sense and find the spatial node before finally arriving here! The core of the Thirty-Three-Level Outer Heaven Tower!


    He could not miss any of these conditions to be able to reach this point. Even Fang Yuan felt he was incredibly lucky.


    "I''m¡­ the reward?" The artifact spirit''s innate thought flaw still existed, and Fang Yuan''s words made it fall into self-doubt.


    In its understanding, no one could break into this place. Therefore, what Fang Yuan said might be true!


    The reward for passing the nineteenth level while at Golden Core was to be sent here!


    Fang Yuan seized the opportunity to send his psyche imprint into the stone stele while it was confused.


    "No¡­ not right! If the nineteenth level really had this reward, why didn''t the patriarch tell me?" The artifact spirit was sharp and immediately reacted. "You''re lying to me! Damn it!"


    How horrifying was the artifact spirit''s anger?


    The entire Outer Heaven Tower was roaring terribly.


    However, something awkward happened.


    This place was the most protected within the Outer Heaven Tower, but there were almost no restrictions for attacking in this space. The only thing the artifact spirit could do was use its power to shift Fang Yuan out of the tower.


    "This is the limitation of an artifact spirit. It''s not flexible enough. If you had a master, you could have done a lot of things, such as sending a few immortal puppets in, and I would have had to surrender obediently. Too bad¡­ you can only move according to the preset rules!"


    Fang Yuan laughed. The void around him did not stop fluctuating as he resisted the shifting power.


    "Impossible!" A shadow above the stone stele exclaimed. "Even with the Illusion Realm''s nomological laws at large success, it''s impossible for you to resist my great shifting power! No¡­ not right. The one resisting the shifting power is not only your Illusion Realm''s nomological laws, but there''s also¡­ me?"


    "That''s right! I already control half of the stone stele and have half the authority over the Outer Heaven Tower. I can naturally tweak its defenses!" Fang Yuan laughed. "Fool. It''s too late even if you can get the puppets here. See whose command they''ll adhere to!"


    What he had said earlier turned out to be a tactic to attract the attention of the artifact spirit.


    Under this diversion, he attained half the control of the stone stele, setting the situation in stone.


    "I won''t surrender. My master was a patriarch of Mount Mengyan, and I will never yield to an outsider!" roared the artifact spirit. However, instead of spending time on small tricks, it concentrated wholly on resisting the refinement.


    But after a while, it shouted, "Impossible¡­ Why is your soul so powerful?"


    It was confident that its spiritual will could easily knock over a Golden Core cultivator, but it was actually losing in the battle over the stele!


    The opponent''s remarkably powerful soul and strange use of spiritual will was truly an eye-opener.


    "You don''t need to know this. You only need to know that I''m your new master!"


    Fang Yuan smiled coldly. He might only have a trace of his Demon God True Spirit in this reincarnation, but after such a long period of transformation, his Essence Soul was comparable to that of an Immortal, even if it was merely a shadow of his former self. Coupled with his spiritual will techniques, he might even be able to content against a Grand Unity Immortal!


    A mere artifact spirit had a rigid spiritual will. Regardless of the quantity, he would break it with his better quality.


    The light representing him slowly but surely continued to expand on the stone stele, from half to sixty percent, seventy percent¡­ ninety percent!


    The more control he obtained, the more difficult the battle was.


    Finally, Fang Yuan seized control of ninety-nine percent of the stone stele. The last bit was the artifact spirit hiding in the core of the stone stele. "I won''t give in!"


    "Artifact spirit¡­ think about it. Aren''t all the inheritors of Mount Mengyan dead? No matter who subdues you, they are all outsiders!" Fang Yuan immediately put to work his silver tongue. "I passed the nineteenth level, and according to you, I can least obtain the status of a core disciple of Mount Mengyan. Therefore, I''m not an outsider but the last disciple of Mount Mengyan! Who else would you submit to if not me?"


    "¡­" The artifact spirit was silent.


    Fang Yuan was overjoyed when he felt a slight reduction in resistance. His eyes flashed, and all his spiritual will poured into the artifact like a tsunami to refine that last point.


    Buzz! The entire stele roared and then became as gentle as jade.


    "Master!" A shadow gathered into the appearance of the earlier green-clothed puppet and bowed toward Fang Yuan.


    "Haha! Haha!!!" Fang Yuan burst out laughing, seeing the previously proud artifact spirit humbling itself to him.


    Of course, he was not gloating. He was only excited to have finally refined the Outer Heaven Tower.


    "Venerable Lie Huo and the rest cracked their brains to send a few geniuses in and were elated after obtaining one or two Dao Comprehension Stones. What about me? I directly took the entire Outer Heaven Tower for myself!"


    Fang Yuan was immensely satisfied. He integrated his spiritual will into the stele and immediately received an immense amount of information from the Outer Heaven Tower.


    "This Thirty-Three-Level Outer Heaven Tower has numerous space structures. Every level from the twentieth has an otherworldly demon in it. A space that can contain an otherworldly demon, I''m afraid that even the power of my Illusion Realm isn''t enough to break through it?"


    After seeing this information, he felt fortunate that he had not rushed ahead to the higher levels.


    Otherwise, there could have been unforeseen circumstances if he had entered an Immortal-level battle space.


    "In fact, the defense outside of this space is also extremely strong. I wouldn''t have been able to enter if I hadn''t exploited this loophole¡­ Fortunately, I came in and defeated the artifact spirit!"


    Fang Yuan still felt very lucky. "Now, everything here is mine!"

 1082 Apotheosis

    "Artifact spirit, how many otherworldly demons are there from the twentieth level and above?!" Fang Yuan asked.


    He naturally realized that the first nineteen levels and the last fourteen levels were two entirely different concepts.


    The first nineteen levels were similar to a trial ground. The structure of the space was simple, and it even looked as though it was deliberately created to the advantage of those who comprehended the Illusion Realm''s nomological laws.


    The last fourteen levels, however, were densely covered by spatial barriers and even¡­ sealed otherworldly demons!


    To Fang Yuan, it seemed like a prison meant for suppression! Afterward, to make the best use of it, it was conveniently changed into a place to test Immortals.


    "Yes, Master!" The green-clothed artifact spirit replied honestly, "There is one otherworldly demon on the twentieth level, two on the twenty-first level¡­! There are also Primordial Godfiends above the thirtieth level!"


    "What?!" Fang Yuan was shocked when he heard that. "This trial ground can still suppress something on the level of a Grand Unity Immortal?"


    "These are the captives from demon disasters all those years ago. Because they are very difficult to completely destroy, Old Master trapped them in the levels above the thirtieth!"


    The artifact spirit said confidently, "With Old Master''s seal on them, they''ll never wake up nor be able to escape! Of course, as a safety measure, the Immortal trials only go up to the twenty-ninth level at best!"


    Fang Yuan was now well acquainted with the ways of the constructor of this treasure. This patriarch of Mount Mengyan had probably arranged another challenge that even an Immortal could not pass.


    In fact, these flaws were not loopholes. As long as Mount Mengyan was still a Holy Land, even if a monster like Fang Yuan appeared, it could have reacted in time. However, it found itself at a loss since it had no master.


    "Then¡­ the reward for passing the Immortal challenges¡­" Fang Yuan''s eyes glittered.


    "Mainly some Dao Comprehension Stones and immortal artifacts!" the artifact spirit answered honestly. "There aren''t many immortal artifacts left, but there''s a surplus of Dao Comprehension Stones!"


    "The entire Thirty-Three-Level Outer Heaven Tower produces one Dao Comprehension Stone every thousand years through the stele''s suppression of the Dao Comprehension Pond! Because the trial ground hasn''t been in use for hundreds of thousands of years, a lot has accumulated. It''s enough to maintain the trial mode for a long time as long as a genius like Master doesn''t appear!" the artifact spirit revealed.


    The format of the Outer Heaven Tower was definitely the higher the level passed, the better the rewards. Very few Golden Core cultivators could pass the fifth level, given its difficulty.


    In fact, it was normal to end on the first and second levels.


    Only a monster like Fang Yuan had managed to pass eighteen levels in one shot and obtained fifty Dao Comprehension Stones. Even Immortals would turn green with envy.


    "Dao Comprehension Pond?" Fang Yuan caressed the core stone stele. Sure enough, he sensed a strange pond.


    It was located in a pearl on the highest level of the Outer Heaven Tower. The pond was clear yet muddy, showing signs of a Taiji with lightning in the middle.


    A hint of mysterious aura continuously traveled out from the twentieth level and above. The pond absorbed and turned it into little stones. These were the Dao Comprehension Stones!


    "So this entire Outer Heaven Tower in itself is a treasure for creating Dao Comprehension Stones! The raw materials used are the otherworldly demons detained on the twentieth level and onward?"


    The corner of Fang Yuan''s eye twitched after he understood. "No wonder you have so many Godfiend captives!"


    A Dao Comprehension Stone was the essence of heaven and earth. Godfiends might only be one of the raw materials, and there could be many magic powers within that he did not understand yet.


    He immediately knew that as long as he could understand the mechanics of the Dao Comprehension Pond, then the Grand Unity realm or above were within reach.


    "No matter. Bring all of the Dao Comprehension Stones here and tabulate all the Godfiends, puppets, and so on for me!"


    This place within the Outer Heaven Tower was the safest of all. Even if a Grand Unity Almighty were to come, it would be impossible to replicate what Fang Yuan had done. He was absolutely confident in this aspect and thus gave his order.


    Suddenly, hundreds of Dao Comprehension Stones appeared like randomly discarded pebbles, becoming a small hill in front of him.


    "A total of 551 Dao Comprehension Stones, 13 immortal artifacts, 27 otherworldly demons, 3 Primordial Godfiends, and countless other materials¡­ This Outer Heaven Tower is truly a giant treasure!"


    Fang Yuan even suspected that other than that patriarch of Mount Mengyan, other Immortals might not even know how terrifying this primordial treasure was.


    "This treasure is fundamentally not a place for trials. It''s good enough to be a sect-stabilizing treasure of a Holy Land."


    He understood that riches would invite trouble, causing him to become wary immediately.


    "No matter what, it''s definitely correct to improve my strength first!"


    A scroll appeared in his hand with one thought.


    This was one of the rewards of the Outer Heaven Tower, an array for the efficient use of Dao Comprehension Stones.


    According to this array, the efficacy of Dao Comprehension Stones could increase a further ten percent. Of course, this was meant for Immortals.


    "But in my case, the Nomological Laws of Time and the Illusion Realm''s nomological laws should be not much different from Great Daos!"


    This time, Fang Yuan was determined to push his comprehension of nomological laws to the limit and completely comprehend the power of a set of top nomological laws!


    "If there are any left over, I''ll use them to completely comprehend the Nomological Laws of Time. To be able to completely comprehend three complete sets of nomological laws, two of which are top nomological laws, during the Primordial Core Realm, I wonder if anyone achieved something similar in the history of the Mount Mengyan Holy Land!"


    Fang Yuan took out fifty Dao Comprehension Stones and started arranging them in an array according to the description on the scroll.


    Such an array was only passed down secretly, and even an Immortal might not be able to unleash its full potential.


    After activating the Dao Comprehension Stones, a giant chaos Taiji appeared and enveloped him within.


    Fang Yuan closed his eyes and immediately entered a deep state of enlightenment.


    "Large success in the Illusion Realm''s nomological laws¡­ is being able to teleport¡­ Complete comprehension should be¡­ shattering the void? Of course¡­ it''s only the void of this world! The more advanced Void Great Dao should be able to be applied freely in the chaos outside this world!"


    The power of nomological laws had a flaw, which was being limited to this world.


    For example, Fang Yuan''s Illusion Realm''s nomological laws were of great use in this Wasteland World, but they would probably be useless if the venue were changed to the chaos outside this world.


    But the Void Great Dao was different!


    It could be used in the chaos as well!


    "If nomological laws are limited to this world, are Great Daos limited to this universe?" Fang Yuan opened his eyes as he muttered, having a certain comprehension toward the Dao Fruit realm after Demon God.


    "My teleportation range is now 250 kilometers, ten times the original!" He shut his eyes. "And this increase is without my spiritual will having made great improvement!


    "Unfortunately¡­ my Illusion Realm''s nomological laws are not yet at complete comprehension!"


    Obviously, it was not an easy take to completely comprehend an entire set of top nomological laws. The last lap was especially the toughest.


    "Again!" Luckily, he had enough Dao Comprehension Stones. Fang Yuan chose to activate the array again.


    Ping!


    His progress slowed on the second attempt, but a feeling of happiness was spreading throughout Fang Yuan.


    "This is it¡­ This is it¡­" he muttered, grabbing this hard-earned inspiration and trying a third time.


    After consuming an entire 150 Dao Comprehension Stones, he opened his eyes and made a grab!


    Whoosh!


    The void directly turned into powder and revealed the chaos behind it.


    "The space of this Wasteland World is much more stable than that of small worlds. The ability to shatter the void should be something that only Grand Unity Immortals who have a complete Great Dao can accomplish¡­"


    Fang Yuan was very confident about this.


    The power of the complete Illusion Realm''s nomological laws was equivalent to that of an ordinary Great Dao!


    The consumption of the Dao Comprehension Stones proved this point perfectly.


    An Immortal would have been able to comprehend a complete Great Dao with his consumption. He squandered them only because he had obtained the Outer Heaven Tower.


    "Why don''t I do the same for the Nomological Laws of Time¡­"


    He looked at the remaining Dao Comprehension Stones with sparkles in his eyes.


    The next moment, he arranged the Dao Comprehension Stone array, and the chaos Taiji reappeared.


    "Failure!


    "Failure!


    "Failure again!"


    ¡­


    Seeing all the Dao Comprehension Stones that had turned into ash, Fang Yuan''s expression became ugly. "Why does it feel like I''m falling just short of reaching perfection?


    "Is¡­ there some malpractice in using Dao Comprehension Stones in large quantities? I should have mastered the Nomological Laws of Time by now."


    Unfortunately, there had never been a Golden Core cultivator with such luxurious consumption in the history of the entire Wasteland World, and Fang Yuan would not be able to find any reference.


    "My current cultivation might be at mid Primordial Core, but my Nomological Laws of Saber and Illusion Realm''s nomological laws are at complete comprehension. The Nomological Laws of Time have also reached their limit. I''m almost there¡­"


    Fang Yuan took a deep breath and smiled. "My strength has surpassed my realm by too much!"


    He manipulated the Illusion Realm''s nomological laws and began to absorb the Qi of Heaven and Earth.


    Whoosh whoosh!


    A terrifying amount of Qi condensed, even forming a tide.


    "Not enough! Still not enough!"


    He shook his head and threw numerous high and top-grade spirit stones into the mass of Qi.


    The mass of Qi expended and formed a vortex.


    "Cultivation is just a matter of time as long as the resources are enough!"


    Fang Yuan took a deep breath and swallowed the vortex of spiritual energy.


    This spiritual energy had no chance of going berserk under the suppression of Illusion Realm''s nomological laws. It transformed into the gentlest force and spread into all four limbs, promoting the advancement of his Water Moon Heavenly Cave Secret Manual.


    From mid Primordial Core to peak Primordial Core and then to the Apotheosis bottleneck!


    "Break¡­ through!" Fang Yuan shouted. A strong power of space immediately broke through the bottleneck, and he advanced to Apotheosis!

 1083 Immortal Killing

    "The barbarian''s Apotheosis realm is equivalent to the cultivator''s Nascent Soul stage. Moreover, there''s transfiguration!"


    Transfiguration meant becoming one with the materialization to form a divine beast.


    Of course, the divine beast that the barbarians transformed into had less than one percent of the power of the original divine beast. It was basically a rough imitation.


    Most important was still the person themself. They might not be able to adapt after suddenly transforming into a beast, and their combat power might even be greatly reduced with the drag of the huge body.


    There would only be a positive effect if they were determined enough to train as a beast for decades.


    To Fang Yuan, that was a complete waste of time. The significance of this transfiguration was in being able to perceive the nomological laws of heaven and earth more acutely.


    "The Thirty-Three-Level Outer Heaven Tower has the ability to absorb the Qi of the world¡­ My realm is sufficient for me to cultivate both my main body and my clone to the peak of the Apotheosis realm! Of course¡­ before that, it''s also important to deal with the small troubles outside!"


    Fang Yuan stroked the stone stele.


    His magic power at the Primordial Core realm had meant that it was difficult for him to exercise any control over the Outer Heaven Tower even though he was its master.


    Now, at the Apotheosis realm, he could barely activate some functions, but it was impossible for him to take it away.


    "But I can still control the opening and closing of gates!"


    Fang Yuan''s thoughts moved, and he connected with the two vortex gates in the water underneath the reeds.


    "Eh?"


    The ones there were no longer Venerable Lie Huo and the city masters of Qingfeng City, but the Immortal forces of both the Orthodox Dao and the Demon Dao.


    "They handed it over so soon. It seems like my dozens of Dao Comprehension Stones scared them?" Fang Yuan guessed.


    In fact, even if an Immortal were to pass the twentieth level, they would only obtain three Dao Comprehension Stones. Fifteen Dao Comprehension Stones would absolutely make Immortals turn red with greed.


    After realizing this, Venerable Lie Huo withdrew decisively, indeed knowing when to advance and when to retreat.


    Currently, the two forces were guarding the trial entrances and about to send in a bunch of Golden Core geniuses.


    As for the Immortal entrance? Due to the dangers of the Outer Heaven Tower, none of the Immortals wanted to send themselves to an early grave.


    Of course, one or two itinerant Immortals were eager to try from time to time, but the two forces blocked them.


    "Not daring to try and also not letting others try? How overbearing!" Fang Yuan watched the play unfold silently.


    In the end, the Orthodox Dao and the Demon Dao finalized their discussion. They selected fifty Golden Core cultivators each and sent them into the trial passage.


    "One hundred Golden Core cultivators appeared on the first level. How are we going to deal with them?" asked the green-clothed artifact spirit dully.


    "Do you even need to ask? I''m not going to give them Dao Comprehension Stones!" Fang Yuan rolled his eyes. "Kill them all!"


    ¡­


    "What''s going on? Shouldn''t the first level be a bunch of Foundation Establishment Fey?" A Golden Core genius from the Kun Yun Sect looked at the sea of Nascent Soul Fey in despair. "Is this a joke?"


    Rumble!


    The next moment, the numerous Fey attacked together, crushing him into powder.


    Fang Yuan now had the overwhelming supremacy in the first nineteen levels. One thought turned these Golden Core cultivators into blood mists.


    After a short period, all were dead.


    Outside.


    Pilipala!


    The sound of numerous jade slips bursting rang out.


    "What happened?" Kun Lunzi and Immortal Myriad Soul looked at the broken jade slips in their hands in shock. "There were a hundred Golden Core cultivators, and many of them were genius disciples. How could they all be defeated on the first level?"


    "Impossible! Why did Nascent Soul Fey appear on the first level? Venerable Lie Huo and his group lied to us!"


    "Damn it. If the first level is already so difficult, we can''t possibly send in more Golden Core cultivators. That''s simply sending them to their deaths!"


    "If it''s like this for Golden Core disciples, what about the Immortal passage? Wouldn''t there be no chance of surviving?"


    ¡­


    Many Immortals shouted angrily.


    "Everyone, please stay calm!" Kun Lunzi frowned and waved his whisk. "I just contacted Venerable Lie Huo. The Thirty-Three-Level Outer Heaven Tower may be tough, but it''s definitely not at this level! This situation can only mean that something has happened!"


    "What happened?"


    "They had Situ Zhaixing go in previously!"


    "Situ Zhaixing? The world''s top godly thief?"


    The faces of the Immortals fell. "If it''s this person, he could definitely go behind Venerable Lie Huo''s back and enter a second time¡­"


    "Perhaps he was the one who caused the changes in the Outer Heaven Tower? Impossible¡­ How could someone merely at Golden Core cause such a stir in this primordial treasure?"


    If they had any doubts about Fang Yuan''s realm before, they were certain now that he was only at Golden Core since he had entered from the Golden Core entrance.


    Even if someone at Golden Core could cause a headache for Immortals, he had no hope of defeating Immortals, let alone killing them.


    Such power might be shocking, but it was a joke to say that he could actually cause the Outer Heaven Tower to stir.


    "Then why did the Outer Heaven Tower become so dangerous?"


    "Did that Situ Zhaixing accidentally touch some restrictions?"


    Kun Lunzi and Immortal Myriad Soul looked at each other, both feeling that this was the most reasonable explanation.


    Buzz buzz!


    Something strange happened at that very moment.


    The two cloud-shaped vortex entrances roared and approached each other, merging to become a light gate.


    Fang Yuan stepped out of the light gate.


    He was using his main body this time. His Torch Dragon clone was holding the fort in the core space of the stone stele.


    "Sure enough, it''s you! Situ Zhaixing!" Immortal Annihilating Soul jumped out impatiently. "I''ll make you perish without a grave today!"


    His hatred for Fang Yuan was deeply rooted and irresolvable. His eyes were especially red after seeing his enemy. "Don''t run away if you still have any pride!"


    "What''s shameful about me running away when I''m merely at the Golden Core stage and being besieged by so many Immortals?" Fang Yuan looked bemused. "If it''s you alone, I can finish you off with one move!"


    "One move?" Immortal Annihilating Soul roared with laughter. "Situ Zhaixing, it''s impossible for you to defeat an Immortal no matter what magical powers or protective treasures you possess! This is the Heavenly Dao! A heavenly law! Since you want to die, I''ll grant you your desire! Fellow Immortals, let me take him down alone! I''ll kill anyone who gets in my way!"


    Immortal Annihilating Soul was exuding an extremely dangerous aura.


    "All right!" Kun Lunzi and Immortal Myriad Soul agreed and backed away silently.


    However, they were secretly conversing with voice transmissions. "We can comply first to see what this person has up his sleeve before making a move¡­"


    They never had a doubt that Immortal Annihilating Soul would win.


    No mortal in the history of the Wasteland World had ever defeated an Immortal! This was a Heavenly Dao!


    "You''re not running away?" Immortal Annihilating Soul looked at the surrounding Immortals preparing and the still Fang Yuan, feeling very surprised. "How courageous! Do you think you can disregard Immortals just because you reached the Nascent Soul stage?"


    None of the Immortals present would be afraid of Fang Yuan as long as he did not run.


    Of course, he found some minute changes in Fang Yuan with his spiritual will.


    "You''re spouting a lot of rubbish for someone about to die!"


    Fang Yuan drew his long saber, teleported to above Immortal Annihilating Soul, and slashed.


    A saber with the brilliance of the river of time appeared!


    The saber that killed Immortals¡ªLight of Universe!


    Combining the nomological laws of the Illusion Realm and of time, and then using the fifth star of the Nine Star Pearl Mystic Technique with his Apotheosis cultivation base, Fang Yuan felt that his attack was at least ten times stronger than when he battled against the green-clothed puppet.


    Poof!


    The saber extinguished Immortal Annihilating Soul''s soul-eliminating technique with a single cut, breaking through his defensive dao artifact and beheading the Immortal.


    The next instant, blood and flesh flew, turning into a Qi stream in midair.


    "Worthy of being called the impermanence of immortality¡­ Unfortunately, I''ve seen it!"


    Fang Yuan stood with his saber and sighed slightly.


    Streams of light chased in the void, extinguishing the Qi stream immediately.


    He put away Immortal Annihilating Soul''s immortal artifact and storage bag with a wave of his hand. He glanced at his sides.


    Silence!


    The silence was deafening!


    The Immortals could not believe what they had just seen. "W-what did I just see? Someone at Nascent Soul defeating an Immortal with one move?"


    "That''s not all. Immortal Annihilating Soul can''t even condense his body! His natural source has probably diminished by more than half!"


    Immortal Myriad Soul was completely stupefied as he looked at the golden jade slip in his hand.


    This was Immortal Annihilating Soul''s life jade slip, which had already shattered.


    "Junior Brother Annihilating Soul¡­ died?" Immortal Myriad Soul mumbled.


    "What?" Kun Lunzi was suddenly afraid. "A mortal killed an Immortal?"


    To these Immortals, this was truly defying the Heavenly Dao!


    A truth that had prevailed since the history of the Wasteland World shattered.


    It turned out that these Immortals who were high above could be defeated and even killed by mortals!


    This time, the dignity and glory of the Immortals had been truly trampled all over.


    "How can there be such a monster?"


    The gazes of the Immortals became extremely complicated, containing anger mixed with fear.


    Being able to kill Immortal Annihilating Soul in one move meant that it would not take much effort to kill them either.


    "We can''t let him live!" Kun Lunzi shouted. "Fellow Daoists, quickly work together to suppress this demon!"


    "Rise!"


    The Immortals used their techniques in unison. A hazy black mist formed an array that enveloped the entire battlefield.


    "Hmm? This seems to be some form of void blocking. Looks like you checked a lot of ancient books¡­" Fang Yuan laughed heartily.


    If he had encountered this array before completely comprehending the Illusion Realm''s nomological laws, it could indeed have caused him some trouble.


    But now?


    Swoosh!


    He teleported to in front of an Immortal arranging the array and unleashed his saber.


    Light of Universe!


    Poof!


    Blood bloomed all over, and another immortal died!


    This array that had consumed a lot for both the Orthodox Dao and the Demon Dao had absolutely no effect on him!

 1084 Grand Unity

    "How is this possible?"


    Looking at Fang Yuan wantonly killing Immortals as though he were slaughtering chickens, Kun Lunzi and Immortal Myriad Soul could no longer sit still. "Did he not comprehend the Illusion Realm''s nomological laws?"


    Through their contact with the Heavenly Circuit Immortal Sect, they had discovered that Situ Zhaixing had impressively comprehended the Illusion Realm''s nomological laws. He was a monster that rarely appeared once every million years.


    While they might not have specialized arrays to block the void, the long inheritance of each sect contained a set of arrays that could restrict some of the power of the void.


    They had put everything together specifically to deal with Fang Yuan!


    However¡­ it was actually ineffective?


    Moreover, his saber technique was so ferocious that an Immortal without a defensive immortal artifact could not withstand a single blow!


    The figure flickered unceasingly, and before long, four Immortals fell under his saber.


    "Stop!" Kun Lunzi shouted, his voice trembling.


    Even during the war with the Hundred Thousand Mountains, the barbarians had only lost one Immortal. They were existences high above, and none of them had fallen.


    "Do you think I''ll stop just because you tell me to? Who do you think you are?"


    Fang Yuan smirked, suddenly teleported to right in front of Kun Lunzi, and swung his saber.


    "Immortal artifact¡ªImperial Spirit Shield!"


    Kun Lunzi gritted his teeth as a black tortoise shell shield emerged from his body to block the saber light.


    At the sight of this, Fang Yuan''s eyes flashed.


    Poof!


    With a refraction in the void, the saber light directly penetrated the tortoise shell shield and went straight toward Kun Lunzi.


    "Ah! Calamity Transformation Mystic Technique!"


    Kun Lunzi''s eyes bulged out as he instantly disappeared, leaving behind a blood-red puppet.


    This puppet looked quite similar to him, but it broke into pieces under the saber light.


    Not far away, Kun Lunzi reappeared, looking shocked and heartbroken.


    This calamity transformation puppet was an esoteric teaching of the Kun Yun Sect. Despite gathering resources from all over the Sixteen Countries, he had only managed to refine one due to a chanced opportunity, which allowed him to escape death once.


    And at this time, it was undoubtedly lost.


    "You''ve been pretending¡­" He stared at Fang Yuan, forcing each word out. "Your saber technique actually disregards defenses!"


    Hearing this, Immortal Myriad Soul was incomparably terrified.


    Never in his wildest dreams could he have imagined that Fang Yuan''s saber technique was so frightening that it could kill Immortals in one move and disregard defenses!


    "He''s merely at Nascent Soul and has already killed so many Immortals. Monster!"


    "Escape!"


    The other Immortals were not fools. After seeing what happened, their blood ran cold, and they escaped in all directions.


    "What a pity! What a pity!"


    Fang Yuan sighed and teleported once more. He appeared behind Immortal Myriad Soul and swung his saber.


    Poof!


    Under the saber light, the sect master of the Revenant Soul Sect scattered into ashes almost immediately.


    However, the storage bag and immortal artifact that he left behind seemed to have their own spirituality as they quickly turned into streams of light and disappeared.


    "Clone?!"


    Seeing this, Fang Yuan knew that Immortal Myriad Spirit''s clone had summoned these items, but he was unconcerned.


    The Soul Possession Technique was something passed down in the Revenant Soul Sect, so it was not surprising that Immortal Myriad Soul cultivated it.


    In fact, if Immortal Annihilating Soul had managed to possess the Torch Dragon clone successfully, he would have preserved his life today.


    "However, the Soul Possession Technique only allows for one clone¡­ This means that the Immortal Myriad Soul''s remaining clone is his only life left. He won''t be able to split and possess again!"


    All clone techniques were heaven-defying, so heaven''s will would naturally restrict them, and there were various flaws.


    However, this slight delay allowed the other Immortals to scatter like birds. Who knew how far they had run.


    "Everyone came in high spirits, so why are you leaving in such a hurry?" Fang Yuan smiled and caught up with the fastest one.


    "Why me of all people?" Kun Lunzi looked bitter as he quickly transmitted. "Situ Zhaixing, you''ve already killed one of my lives, so why can''t you let me go?"


    "Naturally because you ran the fastest! And you are their leader!" Fang Yuan said without the slightest hesitation. "Besides¡­ killing your substitute puppet means that I''ve formed enmity with you. Who would I kill if not you?"


    Although Kun Lunzi was an Immortal and the sect master of the Kun Yun Sect, his incredible flight speed after using his secret technique was still no match for teleportation.


    Within a few thoughts, Fang Yuan had caught up with the other party''s flying rainbow and was about to land the fatal blow.


    "Stop!!!" Suddenly, a world-shaking spiritual will came, causing even Fang Yuan to feel slightly absentminded.


    Through spatial fluctuations, he sensed a colossus rushing toward Kun Lunzi at an unbelievable speed.


    The feeling this person gives me is no less inferior to an ordinary Demon God from the Mental Demon Realm. Is this a Grand Unity Immortal who has completely comprehended a Great Dao?


    Fang Yuan''s expression turned solemn.


    The power of nomological laws was limited to this world. However, a Grand Unity Immortal controlled a Great Dao and could break through this restriction, eventually setting their sight on the endless chaos!


    Moreover, as long as a sect could continue to produce Grand Unity Almighties, it could be considered a ''Holy Land''!


    Of course, it was merely the most basic cultivation Holy Land and definitely incomparable to Holy Lands with existences above Grand Unity, such as Mount Mengyan.


    "Master Tai Xuan, please save me!"


    When Kun Lunzi saw the person arriving, his immense desire to live erupted, and his escape speed increased.


    "You won''t be able to escape!" Fang Yuan teleported in front of Kun Lunzi''s path and chopped.


    Blade of Universe!


    Poof!


    The saber light directly disregarded his defense and descended onto Kun Lunzi''s immortal body. An immense amount of Immortal Qi was about to condense into a human figure, but it was immediately annihilated.


    The Kun Yun Sect Master, Immortal Kun Lunzi, died!


    "Here comes the big one!"


    Looking at the infuriated Immortal Tai Xuan, Fang Yuan instantly disappeared without a trace.


    "You¡­ can''t escape! Heaven and Earth, Five Directional Capturing Magical Power!"


    The next instant, at where Kun Lunzi died, a radiance flashed. A sloppy Immortal appeared and reached out to grab.


    Rumble!


    His five fingers extended and turned into the Five Elements. The five-colored radiance exploded, producing a void freezing effect.


    At the peak of Nascent Soul, one had completely comprehended a set of nomological laws and could transcend the tribulation to become an Immortal! And after bitterly cultivating for thousands of years to promote their nomological laws to a Great Dao, an Immortal would become known as Grand Unity!


    Most Grand Unity Immortals started comprehending new things by analogy, especially nomological laws in other fields.


    This Elder Tai Xuan''s grab not only contained all Five Elements, but he also relied on the Five Elements to forcefully control the void!


    Five-colored radiance flashed, and Fang Yuan''s figure appeared in the sky.


    "Merely a young brat who has comprehended some superficial knowledge on the Illusion Realm''s nomological laws dares to be this impudent?!" Elder Tai Xuan was seething in anger.


    Of course, he did not care about a few Immortals dying. What truly infuriated him was that Fang Yuan had clearly heard his warning but had not stopped.


    At the same time, he was very startled. Someone at Nascent Soul could actually kill an Immortal! Unbelievable!


    Fang Yuan''s impressive feats were truly shocking, even to almighties who surpassed the Grand Unity Immortal realm.


    "Superficial knowledge?!" Fang Yuan smiled faintly. "I wonder where Immortal comes from? And what are you here for?"


    "I am Tai Xuan of the Heavenly Circuit Immortal Sect! The moment you killed an Immortal, you committed a heinous sin! I''ve come for a monster like you!" Elder Tai Xuan said righteously.


    If he was slightly thrilled when he heard about Fang Yuan''s talent, he was now undoubtedly frightened!


    Throughout history, geniuses who mastered the Illusion Realm''s nomological laws were at most equal to Immortals, and both parties would not be able to do anything to each other.


    But the current Fang Yuan? He killed Immortals like killing dogs! He was simply out of control!


    If he could continue to grow¡­ Even Elder Tai Xuan dared not to imagine.


    "Truly a shame. Starting from today, the Heavenly Circuit Immortal Sect is my enemy! In the future, I will definitely go to the Great Sage Immortal World and exterminate your sect!"


    Fang Yuan shook his head and disappeared.


    "A dying struggle!" Elder Tai Xuan had profound wisdom and could cope with anything. "Five Elemental Divine Light!"


    The five-colored radiance flashed, freezing the void again.


    "Break!" Fang Yuan''s voice came, and the frozen void instantly collapsed.


    Elder Tai Xuan''s expression changed abruptly!


    "Haha¡­ Old Man Tai Xuan, you''re merely average!" Fang Yuan''s voice echoed from afar and gradually disappeared.


    "He actually¡­ completely comprehended the Illusion Realm''s nomological laws!" Elder Tai Xuan said incredulously.


    He had controlled the Nomological Laws of the Five Elements through his own Great Dao before forcefully freezing space.


    At this level, if it were when Fang Yuan''s Illusion Realm''s nomological laws were at large success, even he would have found it difficult to escape the suppression of Elder Tai Xuan''s five-finger mountain.


    But after completely comprehending the Illusion Realm''s nomological laws, he could break these kinds of shackles!


    "Truly worthy of being one of the top sets of nomological laws¡­ The Illusion Realm''s nomological laws are comparable to the power of ordinary Great Daos¡­" Elder Tai Xuan sighed.


    Unfortunately, the comprehension of nomological laws existed directly in the spiritual will, and possession would not be of any use.


    When Fang Yuan had possessed the Torch Dragon, the Torch Dragon had merely reached Materialization and basic mastery. Ultimately, he still needed to rely on himself to comprehend the Nomological Laws of Time!


    Otherwise, who knew how many almighties would have been interested in him?


    "Immortal Tai Xuan of the Heavenly Circuit Immortal Sect!"


    Fang Yuan flew into the reeds and entered the light gate to arrive within the Thirty-Three-Level Outer Heaven Tower.


    Here, his clone was keeping watch to ensure that he had a way out.


    "A Grand Unity Immortal is indeed someone with complete comprehension of a Great Dao, comparable to a Demon God¡­ Moreover, there are strong and weak ones. Does comprehending more Dao paths mean greater strength?"


    After this time, he could already confirm that a Grand Unity Immortal was equivalent to a Mental Demon Demon God!


    "The Grand Unity realm should be equivalent to the otherworld demon''s Primordial Godfiend¡­ There are three trapped within the Outer Heaven Tower!


    "I wonder what realm Netherheaven Demon God is equivalent to in this place? Peak Primordial Godfiend or Chaos Godfiend?"


    Fang Yuan fell into deep thought.


    Earlier, he had intentionally revealed himself to test the strength of a Grand Unity Immortal.


    After all, he had completely comprehended the Illusion Realm''s nomological laws, which was equivalent to mastering an ordinary Great Dao, and was confident in going up against a Grand Unity Immortal.


    "In terms of Great Dao comprehension, I''m on par with that Tai Xuan. But unfortunately, my realm is far from his!"


    Tai Xuan was already at the second level of Immortal, while he had yet to undergo his lightning tribulation. Strictly speaking, he was still only a ''mortal''.


    "However, my lightning tribulation and my wish to upgrade my Illusion Realm''s nomological laws into a Void Great Dao are extremely frightening difficulties¡­"


    With this thought, Fang Yuan furrowed his brows, somewhat anxious.

 1085 Helpless

    "Senior Tai Xuan! You must seek justice for us!"


    "Senior Tai Xuan, that mortal Situ Zhaixing killed an Immortal, equivalent to defying heaven. You must punish him!"


    "He even snatched a mysterious realm. In order to monopolize the Dao Comprehension Stones, he killed over a hundred of my Golden Core disciples. He is so vicious that it raises one''s hackles¡­"


    ¡­


    The moment Tai Xuan arrived, the Immortals felt like their pillar had finally appeared, and they rushed over to complain.


    "What? Occupy a mysterious realm? With Dao Comprehension Stones?" Elder Tai Xuan dismissed the rest, but when he heard this, his face turned grave. "Take me there!"


    He followed the Immortals to the waters underneath the reeds.


    "Reporting to Senior Tai Xuan. This place originally had two passages that led to the mysterious realm. One was for Golden Core, while the other was for Immortal¡­" a young Immortal explained in detail.


    He was Immortal Myriad Soul''s clone. After Fang Yuan had killed him, he survived by relying on his clone. Presently, his status was the highest, so he naturally jumped out happily.


    It''s indeed the Thirty-Three-Level Outer Heaven Tower. I didn''t expect this Situ Zhaixing to have such dense providence, being able to gain so much in the tower!


    Elder Tai Xuan would never have imagined that Fang Yuan could control the entire Outer Heaven Tower, only thinking that Fang Yuan was familiar with the first few levels and capable of playing hide and seek with him.


    Presently, he was startled, looking at the single light gate.


    "According to our investigation, it no longer rejects Immortals after the two vortex passages combined. Situ Zhaixing is likely hiding inside¡­" Immortal Myriad Soul said.


    "I understand¡­" Elder Tai Xuan stood in front of the light gate, somewhat doubtful.


    Initially, he thought that a trivial Outer Heaven Tower and an additional Situ Zhaixing were going to be easy tasks for him.


    However, the bad feeling in his heart indicated the arrival of grave danger.


    He turned and pointed at Immortal Myriad Soul. "You¡­ go in!"


    "What?!" Immortal Myriad Soul never saw this coming, and his eyes widened. "Senior, please spare my life! I only have this clone left!"


    "Go in, and you might die! Disobey me, and you will definitely die! Your choice!" Elder Tai Xuan closed his eyes.


    After escaping the wolf''s kiss, I entered the tiger''s mouth. Too suffering! Immortal Myriad Soul cried out in his heart, but he had no other choice than to walk into the light gate.


    Rumble!


    Heaven and earth shook, and he was transported into another space.


    An enormous otherworldly demon with a dark purple scaly body and two horns roared excitedly at the sight of him.


    "Otherworldly demon!!!"


    Immortal Myriad Soul was scared out of his wits and could only try desperately to survive.


    ¡­


    "Tsk Tsk¡­ That Immortal Tai Xuan is truly cautious, or rather¡­ smart? If he had dared to come in, I would have definitely sent him above the thirtieth level and opened the seal!" Fang Yuan oversaw everything from the core of the tower indifferently. "But merely Myriad Soul''s clone is not worthy of me appearing."


    If otherworldly demons matured, they would certainly surpass Immortals. Moreover, they would directly comprehend the Nomological Laws of Destruction, making them extremely terrifying.


    In other words, they were much stronger than most ordinary Immortals. Even Immortal Myriad Soul at his pinnacle would find it hard to defeat them, let alone him now.


    "Although these otherworldly demons only know how to slaughter, their skins are inscribed with runes of the Nomological Laws of Destruction. As long as they grow up, they''re bound to comprehend the Nomological Laws of Destruction. The more they kill and destroy, the more they comprehend. Once their nomological laws sublimate into the Destruction Great Dao, they will be a Primordial Godfiend¡­"


    Looking at the real-time relay of the tower spirit, Fang Yuan looked thoughtful. "And what Great Daos and nomological laws do the higher-level Chaos Godfiends control?"


    Vaguely, he felt that Chaos Godfiends were not at Dao Fruit, but instead similar to Netherheaven Demon Gods, all flawless existences with their Great Daos advanced to an extreme extent.


    "It''s a pity¡­ I can''t see personally to analyze¡­" Fang Yuan shook his head.


    Immortal Myriad Soul was clearly no match for the otherworldly demon. While Fang Yuan was thinking, the otherworld demon had torn Myriad Soul apart with its claw and even swallowed his immortal body.


    "Woowoo!" After swallowing the Immortal, this otherworldly demon roared as its aura impressively became stronger.


    "What an incredible otherworldly demon! No wonder its the gatekeeper of the twentieth level!" Fang Yuan nodded. "Ordinary Immortals aren''t an opponent for it at all. Likely, only the most exceptional Immortals will be able to stand a chance against it."


    Outside.


    Elder Tai Xuan frowned and pointed at another Immortal. "You! Go in!"


    Elder Tai Xuan had arrangements on Immortal Myriad Soul''s body, so he naturally knew what had happened.


    On the surface, it truly seemed like an ordinary inheritance trial.


    But he continued sending Immortals in because of his uneasiness.


    "Senior Tai Xuan, please spare my lowly life!" The chosen Immortal started sweating profusely as he begged for mercy.


    Among the Immortals watching, a Sword Immortal suddenly turned into a sword light and attempted to leave.


    Smack!


    The very next moment, a massive hand dazzling with five-colored radiance descended from the sky and grabbed him. "Trying to escape from my five-finger mountain? Do you think you''re Situ Zhaixing?"


    Tai Xuan chuckled as he swung his hand.


    That Immortal was tossed helplessly into the light gate.


    Within the Outer Heaven Tower, a Sword Immortal appeared.


    He was not comparable to Immortal Myriad Soul''s clone, but he was incredibly fast. While fighting with the otherworldly demon, he noticed a passage and was about to barge through it happily.


    Poof!


    However, an incomparably resplendent saber light appeared from above.


    "An Immortal with the Nomological Laws of Sword?"


    The saber strike beheaded the Sword Immortal and continuously annihilated his body.


    "Seems like he''s not a match for my Nomological Laws of Saber!"


    Fang Yuan sighed as he looked at the otherworldly demon that had finally caught up. "Go back!"


    Buzz buzz!


    His clone manipulated the entire Outer Heaven Tower, and from the void, a formidable restriction and force emerged to restrain the otherworldly demon.


    According to the previous rules, an Immortal should receive three Dao Comprehension Stones as the reward for completing the first level.


    However, he had swallowed all of the Dao Comprehension Stones and could take nothing out. This was the biggest loophole.


    Therefore, Fang Yuan simply decided to end this game of forcing others in and personally appeared to kill this Immortal.


    "He''s still only a Grand Unity Immortal¡­ If he dares to come in, I won''t mind having one more prisoner above the thirtieth level!"


    Fang Yuan sighed. His spiritual will moved, and the vortex passage outside gradually shrank before finally closing.


    ¡­


    "What happened?"


    "Why did the passage disappear?"


    The Immortals rejoiced in their hearts, excited over not having to become pathfinders.


    However, Elder Tai Xuan had a gloomy expression. "Good kid¡­ I still underestimated you. Did you already make the Thirty-Three-Level Outer Heaven Tower recognize you as its master?"


    His gloomy expression quickly turned into a smile. "Too bad¡­ Since your strength is merely at Nascent Soul, you can forget about moving this Outer Heaven Tower! At most, you can only open and close this entrance. It''s still within this mysterious realm!"


    In terms of the Nomological Laws of Void, Elder Tai Xuan was far behind Fang Yuan.


    However, the Heavenly Circuit Immortal Sect was a cultivation Holy Land. A number of Immortals dabbled in the Illusion Realm''s nomological laws, and there were extremely powerful treasures and array flags containing these nomological laws as well.


    There was even a spatial immortal artifact left behind by a monstrous genius who had completely comprehended the Illusion Realm''s nomological laws!


    With this, it should be enough to break the seal and even break into the Outer Heaven Tower!


    Elder Tai Xuan thought for a moment and ordered the Immortals. "I will oversee this matter personally. Follow this diagram and set up the Ninety-Nine Heaven Connecting Seal Array!"


    In fact, these Immortals were merely serving as his supporters.


    The only thing he could genuinely rely on was the assistance from his sect.


    "It''s quite surprising that such a thorny existence could emerge from this remote corner!"


    Originally, the Outer Heaven Tower had no master, and Immortal Tai Xuan was confident he could have easily obtained it. But now that Situ Zhaixing was its master, even he was slightly afraid of the consequences.


    Since the opponent comprehended the Illusion Realm''s nomological laws and could kill an Immortal while being at Nascent Soul, he undoubtedly stood at the peak of Immortals. This alone was enough reason to treat him seriously.


    Unfortunately, he did not know just how frightening the Outer Heaven Tower really was!


    The actual strength it could utilize was enough to suppress three Primordial Godfiends. If a mere Grand Unity Immortal dared to barge in, he would certainly end up in a miserable state.


    ¡­


    "What a pity¡­" In the Thirty-Three Level Outer Heaven Tower, Fang Yuan did not have the slightest premonition that a catastrophe was imminent.


    With his Nascent Soul magic power, he might not be able to move this primordial treasure, but he was fully aware of its defensive capabilities.


    With someone managing it, even a few Grand Unity Immortals together would not be able to do anything.


    "This means¡­ my clone will be stuck here?" Looking at the Immortals setting up the array, Fang Yuan made a prompt decision. "My main body will bring the Pantheon Palace somewhere else to cultivate, while the Torch Dragon clone can stay behind to accompany them for some fun!"


    With this thought, his main body appeared in the waters before teleporting away.


    The Immortals could not react in time, and Elder Tai Xuan was not too concerned about it.


    With every thought, Fang Yuan teleported over 250 kilometers away, so there was no way they would be able to catch up with him.


    "He can leave, but the Outer Heaven Tower can''t! Without someone controlling it, it''s even easier to capture!"


    Elder Tai Xuan did not know that Fang Yuan still had his clone as a light flashed in his eyes.


    However, even if the light gate were still around, he would not be willing to take the risk.


    "He''s not chasing after me, so he probably gave up¡­ To make a Grand Unity Immortal helpless, it seems like my Situ Zhaixing name will probably resound throughout the cultivation world¡­"


    Fang Yuan''s eyes narrowed.


    After recovering this much, he was no longer afraid of ordinary Immortals or even Grand Unity Immortals.


    Even leaving his clone here might be useful as bait!


    If the Abominable Lord found his traces and could not hold back from attacking the Outer Heaven Tower along with the Heavenly Circuit Immortal Sect, that would be the most pleasant surprise!

 1086 Famous

    "It seems like Immortal Tai Xuan is planning to defend this position while waiting for reinforcements¡­ But he''s bound to be disappointed¡­"


    Fang Yuan''s main body kept flashing, and he was thousands of kilometers away before long.


    He was merely one step away from completely comprehending the Nomological Laws of Time, and the Torch Dragon clone only meant an additional life to him now.


    When Immortal Tai Xuan''s reinforcements arrived to attack the Thirty-Three-Level Outer Heaven Tower, that would be when he would feel the most desperate.


    Moreover, even if Fang Yuan''s Torch Dragon clone was forced into a corner, it could still abandon the treasure and escape alone.


    Presumably, with the support of the Illusion Realm''s nomological laws, no Grand Unity would be able to stop him.


    "The comprehension of nomological laws accompanies the Essence Soul. My main body and clone now both possess incredible combat strength and are capable of using the fused nomological laws¡­ Even if the Torch Dragon clone falls, it won''t affect my perception of the nomological laws.


    "The Sixteen Countries¡­ are no longer able to satisfy me. After raking in what I can, I''ll leave for the Great Sage Immortal World! Hmph! Heavenly Circuit Immortal Sect¡­ Immortal Tai Xuan, I will remember this enmity."


    With a flash, Fang Yuan arrived in Qingfeng City.


    "Who?" Within a cave, Venerable Lie Huo suddenly rose, and Qian Xingzi, the Miscellaneous House Master, Madam Hua Rui, and the cultivator carrying a sword rushed over.


    Seeing Fang Yuan, traces of astonishment and terror flashed in their eyes.


    "Situ Zhaixing¡­ I am the one responsible for everything, and they had nothing to do with it!" Venerable Lie Huo took in a deep breath as a light flashed in his palm, and over ten Dao Comprehension Stones appeared. "Regardless of whether you want to seize or kill, come at me alone!"


    "Big Brother¡­" Madam Hua Rui''s eyes turned red.


    "Cough cough¡­ City Master seems to have misunderstood!" Fang Yuan coughed.


    Strictly speaking, these people had only invited him to explore the Outer Heaven Tower once, and he had sneaked in the second time. It was entirely Venerable Lie Huo''s freedom to invite whichever Immortals here, so there was really no reason to blame Venerable Lie Huo.


    However, his reputation for being ruthless had frightened these Nascent Soul cultivators.


    "Then, I wonder why Brother Situ is visiting?" Venerable Lie Huo released a deep breath but did not dare to relax.


    "For information!" Fang Yuan smiled. "I want the locations of all the immortal sects, famous treasures, mystic techniques, and so on within the Sixteen Countries¡­ Of course, you should add valuable heavenly materials and earthly treasures as well!"


    "This¡­" Venerable Lie Huo''s forehead was dripping with sweat. This number one godly thief in the world obviously had bad intentions.


    However, the losses of the Orthodox Dao and the Demon Dao had nothing to do with him, so he did not hesitate. "Third Brother!"


    "Got it, Big Brother!" The Miscellaneous House Master''s expression changed, but he still took out a bright yellow jade scroll and handed it to Fang Yuan. "This ''Illustrated Treatise of the Sixteen Counties'' is the fruit of our Qingfeng City''s labor. It records everything in the Sixteen Countries, such as each country''s forces and cultivation scenes, cultivation techniques, and even places with valuable minerals!"


    "Not bad! Not bad at all!" Fang Yuan inspected it and found that each bamboo slip in the scroll was refined using yellow jade and turned into immortal jade slips that could store a massive amount of information. The descriptions inside were extremely detailed, and it seemed like a treasure meant for the sole use of Qingfeng City.


    And now, it was something for him to make use of.


    In Fang Yuan''s opinion, this encyclopedia of the Sixteen Countries was not any worse than an immortal artifact!


    "Thank you for the gift! I''ll be leaving now!"


    Fang Yuan cupped his hands lightly before teleporting away.


    After he left, the Miscellaneous House Master exclaimed, "Big Brother! That illustrated treatise was something we spent years on. How could we just give it to him like that?"


    "He''s merely at Golden Core. Even with his mysterious magical power, he shouldn''t be that hard to deal with." Madam Hua Rui was also indignant.


    "Speak cautiously! From today onward, no one is to say anything like that!" Venerable Lie Huo released a deep breath as he wiped his cold sweat and passed a jade talisman to them. "Take a good look! This is the latest news from the mysterious realm!"


    "What? This Situ Zhaixing¡­" The Miscellaneous House Master turned deathly pale, not knowing what to say.


    "Killing an Immortal as a mortal! Killing multiple Immortals¡­" Madam Hua Rui patted her chest in fear. "Fortunately, we didn''t offend Senior Situ earlier!"


    "No, given the strength of his spiritual will¡­ Even though he left, I have no doubt that he''d still be able to hear our conversation!" Venerable Lie Huo said solemnly.


    "What?!" Madam Hua Rui changed color and covered her delicate mouth.


    "Of course¡­ I doubt he''s bored enough to do that. His current target should be the Orthodox and Demon sects!" Venerable Lie Huo smiled.


    "What¡­ Big Brother is scaring me again!" Madam Hua Rui pouted coquettishly.


    "Haha¡­" The other city masters chuckled, and Venerable Lie Huo continued, "This time, the Immortals from the Orthodox Dao and the Demon Dao suffered tremendously, and it seems like Senior Situ is not prepared to let them off and is planning to kill his way to their sects¡­ This is a golden opportunity bestowed by heaven that we can''t miss!"


    "True, but we itinerant cultivators might not be able to gain much from it¡­" Qian Xingzi commented worryingly.


    Looking at the Dao Comprehension Stones in front of him, Venerable Lie Huo set his resolve. "That''s why I am going to transcend the tribulation and ascend to Immortal!"


    "Ascend?" The other four Nascent Soul city masters trembled, their expressions a mixture of yearning and fear.


    ¡­


    Three days later, Kun Yun Sect.


    As the leader of the Orthodox Dao, it had an incredible accumulation of resources. After losing its sect master, it became the perfect pushover, and since it was not far away, Fang Yuan went there first.


    The sect was located within the depths of a mountain range and surrounded by layers of mist, clearly some impressive protective arrays and restrictions.


    "Tsk tsk¡­ This Kun Yun Sect''s countless years of accumulation is definitely not a small number!"


    Fang Yuan teleported, directly disregarding the arrays, and infiltrated the Kun Yun Sect. He found the Hidden Scripture Pavilion, treasury, etc. and started sweeping them clean.


    "I have more than enough immortal artifacts and dao artifacts. The most important thing for me is to find a suitable and top-tier body refining technique¡­"


    In terms of body refining techniques, he had used the thousand-year Dragon Tendon, which was enough for him to reach the peak of the Hundred Physical Forging Technique. His body was comparable to a dao artifact, and he could execute the sixth star of the Nine Star Pearl.


    But toward the end, he needed the support of a higher-tier body refining technique.


    Speaking of which, when he had received the Pantheon Palace, he had formed karma with Immortal Hong Chen''s enemy.


    However, Gold Ingot was a stubborn artifact spirit. Before Fang Yuan reached the Immortal realm, he would not talk about it.


    "But¡­ according to the bits he did say, the person who killed Immortal Hong Chen should be a Grand Unity Immortal. Given my current strength, although killing Immortals is easy, I won''t be able to do anything against a Grand Unity Immortal. But after I transcend the tribulation and become Immortal, it shouldn''t be an issue!"


    The power of top nomological laws was equivalent to a Great Dao.


    Fang Yuan felt that as long as he could become an Immortal, with the help of the Nine Star Pearl Mystic Technique, he would be a match for Grand Unity Immortals or even defeat them!


    ¡­


    "Nothing to be surprised about!"


    After going around once, he had to admit that his standards were too high. Throughout the entire Kun Yun Sect, only a few items had caught his eye.


    "But¡­ I still have to greet some people!" Fang Yuan smiled faintly as he intentionally revealed his figure to trigger the restrictions.


    "Who are you?" An alarm sounded in the interior of the sect. Like poking a hornet''s nest, an old guard rushed to the scene, exuding the might of an Immortal.


    "What an efficient cleaner. But why did you run all the way here to die instead of obediently sweeping the floor?"


    Fang Yuan looked at him, and regardless of how senior this ancestor was in the Kun Yun Sect, he immediately swung his saber. "Light of Universe!"


    An extraordinarily bright starry river swept through.


    After this strike, the Immortal was left with no breath, directly perishing!


    "H-he killed the guard elder!" Numerous defending disciples exclaimed as they hurriedly retreated.


    What a joke! Even an Immortal died, so why would Golden Core and Nascent Soul disciples court death?


    "Ah¡­ you¡­ you are Situ Zhaixing! You''re the demon who killed the sect master!" Moments later, a sharp voice sounded.


    Upon hearing that, the other cultivators started running even faster.


    "Don''t be afraid. Everyone, come together to reinforce the array! If we activate the sect-protecting array, we''ll surely eliminate this demon and avenge the sect master and guard elder!"


    A young Immortal flew out to take charge of the situation.


    "All right. It''s indeed true that bad rumors spread faster than good news. Has my notoriety spread all the way here?"


    Fang Yuan covered his forehead, appearing to have a slight headache. A small banner appeared in his hand and unfurled.


    "Roar!"


    "Ahh! Ahh!"


    ¡­


    The Ten Thousand Beast Banner fluttered indomitably as the totems in it seemed to come alive. They flew out from the banner, landed on the mountains, and started slaughtering.


    Blood-thirsty wolf, violent tiger, hurricane lion king¡­


    Numerous totems flew out in an impressive manner, completely submerging the enemies.


    "After repairing the Ten Thousand Beast Banner, there is an endless source of totems, and they can all resurrect¡­ Moreover, they can combine into the Four Divine Beasts. It is truly suitable for me!"


    With his Nascent Soul cultivation base, controlling immortal artifacts was somewhat difficult, so the Ten Thousand Beast Banner was still the most suitable.


    After all, it was something from the Pantheon Catalog and had the potential for further growth. It would not be difficult to turn it into an immortal artifact in the future. In fact, it could even possibly become a primordial treasure.


    "Stop!"


    The young Immortal activated the array, but it could do nothing to stop Fang Yuan.


    After seeing the destroyed mountain gates and slaughtered disciples, he finally could not take it anymore. "Demon, stop quickly! What do you want?"


    "Haha¡­ This would have been much simpler if you had said this from the start!" Fang Yuan stopped. "I''m only here to ask for some compensation¡­ Kun Lunzi led others to besiege me, so I can''t let this matter go that easily."


    "¡­"


    A long moment of silence.


    The last Immortal of the Kun Yun Sect almost cursed¡­ This demon had already killed two of his sect''s Immortals and destroyed everything here, yet he still had the gall to ask for compensation?


    However, in order to prevent any more sacrifices, he could only swallow his anger. "What do you want?"


    "Haha¡­ An outstanding talent submits to the circumstances! I have high hopes for you!" Fang Yuan laughed.

 1087 The Fourth Page

    Country of Lan, Ku Xuan Sect.


    "So, are you done?"


    Fang Yuan stood proudly in midair, looking down at the sect gates and the dense crowd of cultivators.


    Even though the Ku Xuan Sect had Immortals and had activated their protective array early, the cultivators did not feel safe at all.


    "It''s the ''source of calamity'', Situ Zhaixing!"


    Many cultivators cried out in fear, treating Fang Yuan like a mobile natural disaster.


    "According to Senior''s instructions, we''ve gathered everything you asked for. But we really don''t have the missing page that you mentioned nor top body refining techniques that fit your requirements¡­" A peak Nascent Soul elder said nervously while handing over a storage bag.


    "Not even a single technique?"


    Fang Yuan furrowed his brows after scanning the bag with his spiritual will.


    The cultivators beneath him were frightened and on edge, fearing that he might start fighting because he did not like what he saw.


    "But the materials are quite abundant, so on that account, let''s conclude it like this!"


    Fang Yuan disappeared with a teleportation, and the cultivators all heaved a huge sigh of relief, looking as if they had just escaped death.


    "Finally¡­ the source of calamity is gone!"


    "This person is cruel and heinous. The Grand Unity Almighty working together with Immortal Patriarchs can''t do anything about him. He even exterminated two sects. He''s truly incomparably vicious, making one''s blood boil!"


    "Where are the Immortals of my Ku Xuan Sect? Why are they not here?"


    "I heard that the Grand Unity Immortal ordered them not to return. Otherwise, with an Immortal keeping watch, that Situ Zhaixing¡­"


    "If they had come back¡­ even Immortals might suffer from his vicious means."


    ¡­


    While rejoicing and feeling lingering fear, they discussed spiritedly, not knowing that the protagonist of their conversation, the source of calamity, was listening with interest beside them in the void.


    "The country of Lan''s Ku Xuan Sect should be the last one. I''m already at the extreme north of the Sixteen Countries¡­ Next, I''ll head for the Great Sage Immortal World!"


    Fang Yuan checked his harvest and was rather satisfied.


    His extortion of the Sixteen Countries was truly a frightening display of might, and even the Kun Yun Sect had to hand over their treasures and a large number of mystic techniques. The other sects mostly only had one Immortal, and Patriarch Tai Xuan had instructed them to guard the Thirty-Three-Level Outer Heaven Tower. Therefore, they could only succumb to his wishes.


    Of course, there were two insensible ones, or perhaps that thought that their sect-protecting arrays were formidable, so they had refused to compensate him. In the end, Fang Yuan ruthlessly punished them, destroying their sect and injuring countless disciples.


    "Even so¡­ those Immortals unexpectedly haven''t returned. Looks like Tai Xuan is determined to stay at the Outer Heaven Tower and subdue this treasure? Too bad¡­ they''ll soon realize it''s simply an impossible dream for a Grand Unity cultivator to think about subduing the Outer Heaven Tower!"


    Within the Pantheon Palace, Fang Yuan was enjoying fine wine while looking forward to the future.


    With the current defenses of the Outer Heaven Tower, especially with his Torch Dragon clone watching over it, only one outcome awaited a Grand Unity Immortal that entered¡ªsuppression.


    He even hoped that the Abominable Lord would come barging through the barrier. At that point, regardless of whether he worked with other cultivators or by himself in the Outer Heaven Tower, as long as he had not reached the Chaos Godfiend realm, death was the only outcome!


    "If it really can go smoothly, I can finish this bet. I might even break through the Grand Unity and Grand Supreme realms, going nonstop to the Dao Fruit''s Grand Primordium realm!"


    From the ancient books he had plundered from the various sects of the Sixteen Countries, Fang Yuan naturally knew what to place his focus on.


    After classifying everything, in addition to the accumulations of the Pantheon Palace and Outer Heaven Tower, he was extremely clear about the cultivation paths in this world.


    "In the boundless universes, there are millions of cultivation paths. For example, the difference between the barbarians and orthodox cultivators is nothing significant¡­ After the lightning tribulation, these different routes return to the same path!


    "After transcending the lightning tribulation, you become Immortal and have at least one complete set of nomological laws! After Immortal, you are at Grand Unity and have comprehended a Great Dao! After Grand Unity, you are at Grand Supreme and have a flawless Great Dao! Equivalent to a Netherheaven Demon God of the Mental Demon Realm!


    "As for Grand Primordium after Grand Supreme, the ancient books didn''t touch upon this, and it was only mentioned within the records of the Outer Heaven Tower¡­ I believe it should be equivalent to the Dao Fruit realm!"


    Immortal, Grand Unity, Grand Supreme, Grand Primordium! These were the realms of Immortals in this world!


    As for the otherworldly demons, they were divided into ordinary otherworldly demons, Primordial Godfiends, and Chaos Godfiends. A Chaos Godfiend was comparable to a Grand Supreme Immortal!


    Back then, the patriarch who established the Mount Mengyan Holy Land was at the Grand Supreme Immortal realm. He had perished together with a Chaos Godfiend, which resulted in the decline of Mount Mengyan.


    "But¡­ this is merely my guess. Grand Primordium might be a higher realm than Grand Supreme, but I can''t be certain if it''s on par with the Dao Fruit realm of the Mental Demon Realm¡­"


    This Wasteland World was evidently different from the Mental Demon Realm, and even the universe seemed vaguely half a level higher.


    Thus, the realm divisions were naturally different.


    For example, Immortal, Grand Unity, and Grand Supreme were all classified as Demon God in the Mental Demon Realm!


    "Actually, the division between the Grand Unity and Grand Supreme realms seems more reasonable. After all, Netherheaven Demon Gods have overwhelming superiority over Myriad Transformations or Void Amalgamation Demon Gods!"


    Fang Yuan nodded. "With less than fifty years after reincarnation, even if it''s the Abominable Lord, his progress should be roughly similar to mine¡­ If he overestimates himself and comes before transcending his lightning tribulation, it would be perfect."


    After coming to this world, condensing top nomological laws and peeking into the Space-Time Great Dao were all secondary matters.


    His ultimate objective was to win this bet and obtain everything the opponent had.


    Fang Yuan was certain that he had a great advantage in this aspect.


    "Perhaps it''s because of the stats window? Or is it because I gained the upper hand during the chaotic pursuit? I''ve always felt that by choosing this world, the potential superiority I possess is extremely significant."


    Although the starting point was low, a world closely related to the Huaxia civilization undoubtedly made it the easiest to bring out the best in Fang Yuan.


    On the other hand, the Abominable Lord would be severely restricted.


    Regarding this, Fang Yuan was very confident.


    He was certain of his victory in this bet and that he would attain the supreme resources to condense his Dao Fruit!


    "Anyway, the Outer Heaven Tower can be a probe! It''s time to set out for the Great Sage Immortal World!"


    With a teleport, he arrived above the boundless mountains.


    With a flick of his sleeve, a white chariot that was as big as a house suddenly emerged. As the wheels rolled on, it released white sacred flames, and the ones pulling the chariot were nine black flood dragons with the flood dragon bloodline. This impressive imposing manner was, in fact, a dao artifact!


    "Black Dragon Flying Carriage, I choose you! Constantly teleporting is really tiring¡­"


    Fang Yuan flew into the carriage. The front-most black flood dragon''s eyes lit up as it roared and started flying at lightning speed.


    Inside the carriage, Fang Yuan was lying on the soft cushion and enjoying the sweet fragrance. "The previous owner truly knew how to enjoy life¡­"


    His wanton looting of the Sixteen Countries not only spread his fame far and wide, but those Immortals tasked by Immortal Tai Xuan to guard the reeds were perhaps turning green in the face.


    After all, they were old sects with at least thousands of years of inheritance, and one should not underestimate their ability to rake in resources. There were some decent items.


    "However, the true harvest were these¡­" Fang Yuan muttered as he looked at the jade box in front of him.


    "The first item is this map of the Great Sage Immortal World. After I completed it by integrating the ancient books from over ten immortal sects, it should be the most detailed one!


    "The second item is this!"


    Fang Yuan opened the jade box, and a golden puppet appeared. It looked similar to a doll that ordinary children played with. However, there were dense lines of tiny words inscribed on it that were millions of times smaller than ants and contained a massive amount of information.


    "Nine Transference Undying Method! The first three transferences!"


    This was from the Golden Peak Sect, a medium-sized sect in the Sixteen Countries. They were well-known for their body refining techniques and had produced many cultivators with tyrannical bodies.


    This was not a top core cultivation technique, but there were rumors that the sect founder was enlightened by this technique to establish the fundamental cultivation technique of the Golden Peak Sect.


    "The reason is that the technique on this tiny golden man is excessively abstruse. Ordinary Immortals can''t even reach basic mastery¡­"


    Fang Yuan smiled while holding the tiny golden man. "But for me, this is just right!"


    He cultivated the Hundred Physical Forging Technique, which had made his body comparable to a dao artifact.


    And the first transference of the Nine Transference Undying Method was also to strengthen the body to the extent of resisting a dao artifact!


    "The second transference is for the body to endure the attacks of a top-grade dao artifact! The third transference can match an immortal artifact! Even the founder of the Golden Peak Sect had not reached this realm!


    "Unfortunately¡­ it''s incomplete. But the Golden Peak Sect Master mentioned that the source of the Nine Transference Undying Method is within one of the cultivation Holy Lands in the Great Sage Immortal World. Meaning that I can still search for it!"


    Given Fang Yuan''s vision and the information in the Outer Heaven Tower, it was difficult for ordinary items to catch his eye.


    But looking at the last jade box, his eyes revealed joy. "The fourth Pantheon Catalog page!"


    So far, he had obtained three Pantheon Catalog pages, and every one of them recorded an incredibly astonishing technique.


    There was no need to talk about the Nine Star Pearl Mystic Technique. The reason he could kill enemies a realm above him, besides his comprehension of nomological laws, was because he relied on it to complement any shortcomings that he had.


    The Pantheon Enhancement Skill made up for one''s innate natural source. It was a supreme technique that enhanced totem materializations, having the effect of turning something rotten into something magical.


    Lastly, the Ten Thousand Beast Banner might not seem eye-catching, but it was actually a very useful dao artifact and exceptionally compatible with barbarian totems. It could even continuously increase its grade, having the hope of becoming a primordial treasure!


    What kind of concept was a primordial treasure?


    Ordinary Immortals did not even own a single immortal artifact.


    Primordial treasures were one level higher than immortal artifacts, and they only existed within cultivation Holy Lands. Most were born directly from heaven and earth.


    And the Ten Thousand Beast Banner possessed the potential to become a primordial treasure! Even if it was only the slightest hope, it was enough to make Immortals go crazy over it!


    "The author of Pantheon Catalog must be a supreme expert of the barbarians, and he was at least at the Grand Supreme realm!" Fang Yuan was exceedingly sure of this. "And now, I''ve found the fourth page!"

 1088 Arrival

    The black dragons pulled the carriage and flew through the sky.


    Fang Yuan''s spiritual will focused on this remnant page of the Pantheon Catalog, and he started digesting the mystic technique recorded on it.


    "Five Extreme Origin Heavenly Escape Technique?!"


    This page of the Pantheon Catalog indeed recorded an escape technique!


    If this was released, who knew how many Immortals would fight over it?


    However, Fang Yuan could only sigh.


    There were millions of escape techniques, but which one could compare to the Illusion Realm''s void teleportation?


    "But this Five Extreme Origin Heavenly Escape Technique still has its merits. Because its foundation is rooted in the Five Elements yet surpasses the Five Elements, the escape light can''t be blocked by any array or immortal artifact. Unless you are unlucky enough to meet some extraordinary danger on the way, you can escape millions of kilometers away with a single thought. It is definitely a top escape technique!"


    Anything produced by the Pantheon Catalog was bound to be exceptional!


    If Fang Yuan did not already have the Illusion Realm''s nomological laws, he would certainly make this escape technique his core technique!


    After crossing through countless worlds, he had long realized that survival was the most important.


    "However, this escape technique requires a materialization to execute, so it''s only of use to barbarians. This confirms that the author of the Pantheon Catalog was an almighty of the barbarians!"


    Fang Yuan continued, "If an Immortal could learn this, they would have some hope of escaping from my saber. Unfortunately, I haven''t spotted any in those numerous encirclements!"


    Other than this limitation, all the other aspects were decent. Although this escape technique had demanding requirements and needed a few precious materials as assistance, Fang Yuan''s abundant loot from the Sixteen Countries ensured that he had enough resources on hand.


    "Even though I''m not planning to use it as my core, cultivating it won''t do me any harm! Anyway, I have spare time while traveling north!"


    The Great Sage Immortal World was thousands of times larger than the Hundred Thousand Mountains and the Sixteen Countries combined, and there were several cultivation Holy Lands there.


    Although there were very few monstrous geniuses who cultivated top nomological laws, one or two would always appear every ten thousand years.


    Who knew if there were arrays or immortal artifacts specialized in restraining the Illusion Realm''s nomological laws? As such, Fang Yuan had to prepare for a rainy day and prepare another escape technique.


    "Once both these great escape techniques cooperate and complement each other perfectly, it''ll be truly hard for me to die¡­"


    Fang Yuan thought about it and took out a pile of materials. "Besides, learning the Five Extreme Origin Heavenly Escape Technique will help with condensing the Ten Thousand Beast Banner!"


    ¡­


    Even though there were quite a few troubles from the Sixteen Countries to the Great Sage Immortal World, Fang Yuan made use of the intel he had gathered to avoid these danger zones. Given his strength, he easily dealt with the rest and faced no danger en route. Six months later, he reached the periphery of the Great Sage Immortal World.


    A white light descended from the sky and came to a stop gradually. Fang Yuan alighted from the carriage and looked at the massive peak not too far away.


    This massive peak was incomparably towering, standing perfectly straight into the sea of clouds. Clouds curled around the waist of the mountain, forming a ring-shaped dragon that looked very exotic.


    "Changpan Peak! A landmark of the Great Sage Immortal World!"


    Fang Yuan let out a deep breath when he saw the peak.


    Although he could teleport all the way at a much faster speed than that of a Grand Unity Immortal, one aspect was that he needed to cultivate on the way. Another was that he had to limit his burden and preserve strength to deal with any unexpected situations. Therefore, he had used the flying carriage, which got him here in a decent time, as it only took half a year.


    Compared to the thousands of years a cultivator lived, this was indeed nothing.


    "The Heavenly Circuit Immortal Sect''s reinforcements are perhaps still on the way!"


    With Fang Yuan''s understanding of Tai Xuan, this Grand Unity Immortal most likely recruited Immortals as reinforcements, having them bring array flags and magic treasures meant to restrain the Illusion Realm''s nomological laws.


    If it was not a Grand Unity Almighty, it was probably impossible to draw so many resources!


    Even a cultivation Holy Land would not have too many of these existences. If too many went to the Sixteen Countries, their defense would be stretched thin.


    If it were during peaceful times, there would not be many problems. However, a Demonic Tribulation was about to arrive, so the Heavenly Circuit Immortal Sect did not dare to be careless.


    "According to the information from the Sixteen Countries, the Great Sage Immortal World is immensely vast and can be divided into five regions. Among the five regions, the Heavenly Circuit Immortal Sect is fully worthy of being the overlord of the Southern Region! Unfortunately, I didn''t meet the reinforcements on the way¡­ Otherwise, I wouldn''t have hesitated to kill them all!"


    Even though Fang Yuan had decided to make the Heavenly Circuit Immortal Sect pay a price, Fang Yuan was merely at the peak of the Apotheosis realm. Killing Immortals might be easy, but he would be helpless against Grand Unity Immortals.


    As far as a Holy Land was concerned, the death of Immortals would not cause any commotion.


    "Since I didn''t encounter them, there''s no need to force it. It''s more urgent for me to raise my strength and at least first transcend the lightning tribulation!"


    On this thought, Fang Yuan could not help frowning.


    The lightning tribulation was difficult! Difficult! Difficult!!!


    The difference between mortals and Immortals in this world was most vivid.


    Before Fang Yuan, ordinary mortals, even those at peak Nascent Soul, could do nothing to an Immortal!


    Because of how precious Immortals were, you had to have a predestined fate to become one.


    "You can only resist this world''s lightning tribulation with your own cultivation. If you attempt to use magic treasures or external help, the might of the lightning tribulation will increase violently! The gains do not make up for the losses! And the more monstrous the cultivator, the greater the might of the lightning tribulation!" Fang Yuan mumbled, recalling the relevant information on the lightning tribulation.


    Presently, he could kill Immortals as if they were chicken and was extremely fierce. He could even be called the strongest monstrous genius in history, so his heavenly tribulation was inevitably going to be of a whole new level of terrifying.


    "Ah, the lightning tribulation¡­ truly puts me at a loss¡­ In the past six months, I''ve already reached the peak of the Apotheosis realm. Logically speaking, I''ve reached the minimum to attract the lightning tribulation. But I actually have a premonition in my heart that once I undergo the tribulation, death is inevitable!"


    This was one of the reasons why he did not force the lightning tribulation.


    "There are the rewards of the lightning tribulation as well. All nomological laws at perfection will obtain the upgrade of Great Dao inspirations, saving tens of thousands of years of cultivating for ordinary Immortals¡­ For me, this is an exceptionally rare opportunity to upgrade the Nomological Laws of Time and Nomological Laws of Void. Therefore, as long as the Nomological Laws of Time aren''t at perfection, I won''t transcend the tribulation!"


    While thinking about this, Fang Yuan sighed. "But¡­ with the nomological laws of the Illusion Realm and of time at perfection, as well as two bodies, just how strong will my lightning tribulation be?"


    This was the ultimate nightmare of every cultivator in this world.


    Master ordinary nomological laws, and you would likely die during the lightning tribulation.


    Master top nomological laws, and your chances of surviving the lightning tribulation were still exceptionally slim.


    "In my opinion, if you want to have a smooth and safe tribulation, you have to be honest and master mid-level nomological laws. After tempering yourself more, you''ll have more confidence. For example, Saber King Mo He and Venerable Lie Huo are in this range and are decently confident about surviving their tribulation. But after becoming Immortal, they will disappear among the others!


    "If you want to advance to Grand Unity and Grand Supreme¡­ your foundation is absolutely important. Immortals might have a long lifespan, but regarding comprehending Great Daos, they don''t really have any significant advantage. Perhaps tens of thousands of years, or even hundreds of thousands of years, of cultivation is inferior to a single lightning tribulation¡­"


    Despite his intentions of upgrading his nomological laws during the lightning tribulation, Fang Yuan did not dare to be slightly careless.


    The Great Dao inspirations from the heavens seemed like a gift, but in fact, it was a double-edged sword!


    Just how rare was this opportunity for heaven and earth to instill Great Dao inspirations directly? In particular, these were Great Daos corresponding to the nomological laws you had bitterly cultivated. Any cultivator would most likely be thoroughly engrossed in it, making it much more effective than any mental demon attack. After all, this was something a cultivator was actively seeking. This was their ''Dao''!


    And under this circumstance, you still had to deal with the terrifying lightning tribulation?


    The slightest mistake would turn you into fine powder!


    "If you are greedy but not strong enough, death is inevitable during the tribulation¡­ Even many peerless geniuses died during their tribulation. They could resist the lightning tribulation, but because they were too engrossed in the Great Dao inspirations, they couldn''t extricate themselves in time and eventually died from the bombardment!"


    After half a year of research, Fang Yuan was very familiar with the lightning tribulation. "The might of the lightning tribulation is secondary. The most important factor is the Great Dao inspirations, which are equivalent to highest-level mental attacks. Once a cultivator is immersed in it and forgets that they''re still going through the tribulation, death is inevitable! Even if you don''t become immersed, it''s still very dangerous if you''re distracted. After all, actively defending against the lightning is vastly different from being passive attacked by it. At this time, body refining techniques are especially important!"


    This was why Fang Yuan was so excited to obtain the Nine Transference Undying Method, and also why he wanted to look for the rest of it!


    "Too many geniuses have died during their tribulation because they were too engrossed in the Great Dao inspirations. But if your body can withstand the wrath of the lightning tribulation, there will be plenty of opportunities¡­ To me, however, the first three transferences of the Nine Transference Undying Method are only enough to strengthen my body to match a low-grade immortal artifact, which still isn''t enough!"


    If ordinary Immortals tempered their bodies to such an extent, they would easily survive the lightning tribulation.


    For example, people like Mo He or Venerable Lie Huo would be ninety percent confident of transcending their tribulation at this level.


    But Fang Yuan was not any ordinary person, and his lightning tribulation was destined to be the greatest and most frightening one in the history of the Wasteland World! Only the Abominable Lord stood a chance of matching or exceeding it!


    "The might of the lightning tribulation, based on the standard of me narrowly surviving, should be equivalent to being attacked by a Grand Unity or even a Grand Supreme Immortal?"


    Fang Yuan licked his lips. "If my body becomes comparable to a primordial treasure, I should be fifty percent more confident!"


    To him, even if the Thirty-Three-Level Outer Heaven Tower was invaded and his clone was in imminent peril, his priority would still be to find the remaining six transferences of the Nine Transference Undying Method.


    After all, nothing was more reliable than your own strength.


    With this thought, he spread open the map.


    This map was formed by collating the information from the ancient books of the Sixteen Countries. Among them, some information came from Immortals who had traveled to the Great Sage Immortal World, and it recorded many local conditions and customs.


    Of course, the Southern Region was the most detailed, and the other four regions were somewhat vague.


    "However, I''ve already interrogated the Golden Peak Sect. The Nine Transference Undying Method is from the Central Region¡­ And this technique is definitely from one of the cultivation Holy Lands!"


    Fang Yuan put away the scroll and returned to the Black Dragon Flying Carriage while whistling.


    The nine black flood dragons roared wind and fire as they sped up to bypass the Heavenly Circuit Immortal Sect''s core area and head toward the Central Region.

 1089 Witnessing Injustice

    "The Southern Region of the Great Sage Immortal World alone is already many times bigger than the Sixteen Countries¡­ Even an Immortal might take years to travel in this place¡­"


    The Black Dragon Flying Carriage turned into a white line as it sped forward rapidly.


    Fang Yuan opened the window and occasionally observed the scenery below.


    "The Qi of Heaven and Earth here is much denser than in the Sixteen Countries. The fire of life of the mortals in the cities is also much more vigorous, and the numbers are much higher¡­ Does this mean I''m more likely to find cultivators here?


    "And the so-called ''lands of spirit veins'' are much more frequent than in the Sixteen Countries¡­"


    It was very difficult to imagine what kind of external force could destroy such a formidable cultivation world.


    "Perhaps¡­ I might have other thoughts after seeing the Primordial Godfiends and Chaos Godfiends¡­"


    This kind of Godfiend was a completely different type of lifeform than the Mental Demon Demon God.


    For Mental Demon Demon Gods, they were still affected by the Mental Demon Realm, so their power system was also inclined toward the Mental Demon aspect.


    However, a Godfiend was like a pure chaos lifeform that could innately absorb Chaos Qi and grew within chaos.


    "To destroy a world, it''s beyond the reach of even Chaos Godfiends. In the depths of the chaos, there''s definitely a higher-level Godfiend existence¡­"


    This could also explain the difference between demon disasters.


    If it was merely an invasion by some otherworldly demons or Primordial Godfiends, it was a small-scale demon disaster, and Holy Lands were more than capable of dealing with it.


    However, the appearance of a Chaos Godfiend could threaten even the mightiest Holy Lands, such as Mount Mengyan, and this was a large-scale demon disaster!


    Fang Yuan guessed that if a Godfiend a higher-level than a Chaos Godfiend appeared¡­ it would truly be a world annihilation!


    Not only the world, but even the universe was at risk of being terminated!


    "According to the information I obtained, there''s less than twenty years before the next demon disaster¡­ This is why the Sixteen Countries established the Combat Heavenly Palace to gather the strength of all the Immortals across the sects and countries to resist the otherworldly demons¡­ However, great damage has been dealt to their vitality this time¡­"


    He had killed a number of Immortals from the Sixteen Countries and ruthlessly raided every sect once. They could be said to have suffered serious injuries.


    Under such circumstances, they still had to cope with a Demonic Tribulation. Even the smallest-scale demon disaster would be difficult for them to manage.


    Without mentioning anything else, the arrival of a Primordial Demon God was enough to exterminate all the sects in the Sixteen Countries if they did not receive external help.


    "In a world of extraordinary individuals, weakness is a sin¡­"


    Fang Yuan sighed and immediately retracted his thoughts to gaze at the small banner in his hand.


    The current Ten Thousand Beast Banner, especially after destroying two sects, had swallowed countless spirit essences and been refined with a large number of precious materials, vastly different from when it was with the snake Fey.


    The flagpole was blackish-red with dense and complicated imprints on it. As for the flag itself, it was pitch black, as though it led to an unknown space with countless savage soul beasts within.


    "The Ten Thousand Beast Banner is now undoubtedly a top-grade dao artifact. After I transcend my tribulation and become Immortal, I can definitely upgrade it into an immortal artifact! Its potential is truly limitless!"


    A magic treasure that could continuously upgrade¡­ Fang Yuan only knew this Ten Thousand Beast Banner that could do so.


    "The Ten Thousand Beast Banner at perfection has imprints of the natural source of all the beast souls on the banner itself. Usually, only a trace of the soul power gets sent out as illusory images. Therefore, regardless of the consumption, as long as there''s still magic power, the Ten Thousand Beast Banner itself will not become damaged.


    "Not only that, but after refining the Ten Thousand Beast Banner, it can also absorb and seize the souls of others, no matter whether they''re Fey beasts, barbarian totem materializations, or ordinary cultivators. The more it swallows, the more powerful it becomes!


    "On the way here, I encountered many dangerous Fey beasts, and I had the Ten Thousand Beast Banner absorb the Fey souls while matching it with many materials. Its current foundation is incomparable, more than enough to upgrade it to an immortal artifact. There''s even hope for it becoming a primordial treasure!"


    As the name ''primordial treasure'' suggested, most of them were treasures born from heaven and earth, and had undergone an endless period of nurturing.


    However, in this cultivation world, a few almighties could produce treasures of such caliber with unbelievable techniques and methods.


    "However¡­ rumor has it that primordial treasure is the endpoint for refining artifacts. Although there are true treasures beyond this grade, they are born from the universe, and no one can meddle with them¡­"


    ¡­


    While Fang Yuan was fostering the dao artifact and immersed in his cultivation¡­


    Rays of light flashed across the horizon, and a few brilliant lights caught up hurriedly.


    "We are the law enforcement disciples of the Heavenly Circuit Immortal Sect. The flying carriage in front, stop quickly!"


    These rays of light arrived menacingly before eventually turning into a few flying sword cultivators to block the carriage''s path. The one in the lead was actually an Immortal!


    "Why are you blocking my path?"


    Fang Yuan scanned these disciples. The Heavenly Circuit Immortal Sect was indeed a cultivation Holy Land. Most law enforcement disciples had Nascent Soul cultivation, with very few at Golden Core. Moreover, each of them had profound and obscure magic power. If a Primordial Core or Apotheosis realm cultivator from the Hundred Thousand Mountains were to fight them one-on-one, the one from Hundred Thousand Mountains would most likely be the loser.


    In comparison, when the barbarian cultivators fought against cultivators from the Sixteen Countries, they had a huge advantage against cultivators of the same level.


    But this is only possible for the Heavenly Circuit Immortal Sect since it''s a Holy Land, and the entire Southern Region is their territory. It can naturally pick the best for disciples!


    Different thoughts flashed through Fang Yuan''s mind as he looked at them calmly.


    This mere Nascent Soul cultivator is really arrogant! The leading Immortal frowned. After all, they were from the Heavenly Circuit Immortal Sect, and it was puzzling that this Nascent Soul cultivator dared to act this way.


    At this moment, regardless of who the other party was, he transmitted a message. "We are currently chasing a fugitive from our sect! Release the restrictions of your flying carriage so that we can inspect it!"


    "Martial Uncle, why waste so much time with him?" A male disciple looked at the Black Dragon Flying Carriage, clearly having set his heart on it. In the Southern Region, since when is there anyone that we, the Heavenly Circuit Immortal Sect, are afraid of? This person seems very wealthy¡­


    With this thought, traces of evil rays flashed across his eyes. "Where are you from? Have you not heard of the prestige of the Heavenly Circuit Immortal Sect? Why aren''t you quickly releasing the restrictions?"


    "Oh¡­ I''m only an itinerant cultivator!" Fang Yuan put away the flying carriage and appeared in midair. "So, am I the person you''re supposed to arrest?"


    "This¡­" The leading Immortal was suddenly slightly hesitant.


    The other''s Nascent Soul aura was genuine, but he seemed to have an exceptional confidence that made him not want to force the issue excessively.


    Martial Uncle, he''s only an itinerant cultivator, but he seems very wealthy. Why don''t we¡­ The male disciple who spoke earlier immediately transmitted a lot of crafty plots and then turned his head. "Hey¡­ you''re still suspicious unless you take out your storage magic artifact for us to check thoroughly."


    In his heart, he was pleasantly satisfied with himself. If the other person was not as wealthy as he first thought, they could let him leave, but if they spotted any valuable treasures, even his martial uncle might act before him.


    "Sigh¡­" Fang Yuan could not help but sigh. "There is a path to heaven that you chose not to take. There is no gate to hell, yet you choose to barge in. I originally didn''t intend to kill anyone¡­"


    "What?" While the male disciple was shocked, Saber Qi emerged right in front of him.


    "Ah! Martial Uncle, save me!"


    After all, he was a heaven''s chosen. As soon as his spiritual will moved, a life-saving talisman turned into a light canopy, and he retreated swiftly.


    But in that instant, the Saber Qi penetrated the defense as though it did not exist, and his head exploded.


    "Martial Nephew Yun Xiu?" The leading Immortal narrowed his eyes slightly. "I wonder which Fellow Daoist actually dares to kill a disciple of my sect?"


    At this point, he naturally did not think that Fang Yuan was merely at Nascent Soul!


    "Too much nonsense!" Fang Yuan teleported above the Immortal. "Blade of Universe!"


    Poof!


    Under the dazzling silver river of saber light, the Immortal''s immortal body disintegrated thoroughly, and the other disciples also died.


    Roar Roar!


    A small banner appeared in Fang Yuan''s hand as he formed hand seals. Numerous fierce beasts emerged to devour the souls of these Golden Core and Nascent Soul disciples.


    Shortly afterward, he looked at the small blood-red dot on his hand. "Tsk tsk¡­ Seems like a cursing power on the Immortal will attach itself onto the person who killed him? Too bad¡­"


    As a cultivation Holy Land, there were naturally techniques to determine the life and death of disciples, even mystic techniques to lock onto the enemy.


    This Heavenly Circuit Immortal Sect''s mystic technique was undoubtedly the cause of the downfalls of many demons, who did not even know how they died.


    Unfortunately, Fang Yuan was always extremely cautious, and the Illusion Realm''s nomological laws completely protected his body.


    His Illusion Realm armor was neither here nor in this world. His body appeared to be here, but he was actually multiple spaces away. Instead, he had sealed the curse.


    With the red dot in his hand, Fang Yuan landed on the ground and looked at a mound. "Come out!"


    Splash!


    The soil separated. A youth in luxurious clothing and a cultivator who looked like a housekeeper walked out and bowed respectfully. "Junior Sun Xun thanks Senior for your help!"


    "It''s fine! Where are you from, and why is the Heavenly Circuit Immortal Sect after you?" Fang Yuan asked casually.


    "I am a member of the Sun Family of the Southern Region''s Lingfeng City. Because I offended a disciple of the Heavenly Circuit Immortal Sect, I was framed for exterminating an entire family. I had no choice but to go far away!"


    Sun Xun secretly sized up Fang Yuan before bowing. "May I invite Senior to escort me to the Iron Mountain Gate? Junior will reward you generously!"


    "Haha¡­" Fang Yuan laughed. "Do I look like I need your rewards?"


    "Senior!" Sun Xun panicked as he hurriedly continued, "My family has a deep relationship with the Iron Mountain Gate, and the Iron Mountain Gate is a Holy Land of the Central Region, a branch of the Golden Soul Sect¡­"


    "Oh? And what does this have to do with me?" Fang Yuan''s glare seemed to penetrate their hearts. "Let me tell you something else. Since you''re lowly, you shouldn''t have excessive expectations!"


    He waved his hand, and the red dot entered Sun Xun''s body like a clay ox entering the sea.


    "Senior¡­ you¡­"


    Sun Xun''s eyes were about to pop out of their sockets, and the old servant behind him was ready to pounce forward.


    However, Fang Yuan brushed his sleeve, and the two of them collapsed before he disappeared without a trace.

 1090 Iron Mountain Gate

    "Iron Mountain Gate?"


    Inside the Pantheon Palace, Fang Yuan looked at the black iron token in his hand.


    This token had a simple shape with a special aura on it, and ''Iron Mountain'' was inscribed on its front face.


    He had obtained it from that master-servant pair, and it should be some form of credential.


    Since that boy wanted to use him, he had to pay a price.


    Adhering to the principle of giving and receiving, he had left something for him as well¡ªthe positioning bloodline curse from that Immortal.


    The cursed boy obviously could not go against an Immortal, so the Heavenly Circuit Immortal Sect would probably capture him in no time.


    "But what does this have to do with me?" Fang Yuan smiled indifferently and looked at the nearby Gold Ingot. "So, do you recognize this Iron Mountain Token?"


    "I''ve seen something similar!" Gold Ingot paused. "It should be a credential for the sect. They only recognize the token but not the person¡­"


    "Seems like Immortal Hong Chen even went to the Great Sage Immortal World before." Fang Yuan nodded. "A mere Iron Mountain Gate isn''t much, but the Immortals there are probably different from the ones in the Sixteen Countries. Do you know where the difference is?"


    Without waiting for Gold Ingot to reply, Fang Yuan muttered, "This relates to the strength of the physical body¡­ That group of disciples from the Heavenly Circuit Immortal Sect seemed to have cultivated body refining techniques¡­"


    Of course, his Blade of Universe could kill even the bodies of Immortals, so some body refining techniques were not much of a concern to him. The one feeling was that there was a slight resistance to his attacks, and they were slightly more difficult to kill. That was all.


    "However, this secret might be something only passed on in the Holy Lands. I checked Sun Xun and that old servant just now, but there were no such signs¡­


    "Nonetheless, many Immortals have gone through the tribulation in the Holy Lands, so they must know some secret¡­ The preciousness of the Nine Transference Undying Method is probably beyond my imagination!


    "I have to pay attention to the strategy this time. This iron token may be a good cover-up¡­ But how can everything go according to your will? This is nothing more than a whim, but I obtained it by chance, so why not¡­"


    Gold Ingot fell silent. "The Hundred Physical Forging Technique is something that Old Master obtained from the Central Region. Their body refining techniques are better. Master, if you want a higher-level body refining technique, it''s truly a good choice to sneak into the sect and wait for the opportunity to enter the Holy Land!"


    ¡­


    Three months later.


    Iron Mountain Range, Central Region, Great Sage Immortal World.


    This mountain range spanned tens of thousands of kilometers, and its depth was unknown. The soil was dark, and the climate was abnormal. Only one type of iron tree could grow smoothly, thereby creating a totally different ecology from the outside world.


    The famous Iron Mountain Gate was located deep within the Iron Mountain Range.


    On this day, Fang Yuan transformed into a stream of light and landed on top of a mountain. "I have to be more cautious from here on!"


    He had disguised himself to appear like an ordinary Nascent Soul cultivator.


    After all, he had mastered the Illusion Realm''s nomological laws. Anything that could easily expose his status, he had hidden in a small space in his dantian, like a drop in the ocean. Even if Immortals inspected him, they would not discover any flaws.


    "I''ll pretend to be an itinerant cultivator from the Southern Region and head to the Iron Mountain Gate!"


    This was Fang Yuan''s entire plan, simple and direct.


    However, even in the worst-case scenario, a mere Iron Mountain Gate could not possibly keep him from leaving, so it was naturally safe.


    "The quality of the iron ore is higher in the Iron Mountain Range, but there is also a risk¡ªthe iron beasts!"


    The iron beasts, to Fang Yuan, were a special type of Fey beast.


    Due to the influence of the environment, their skin became as tough as iron, comparable to some spirit artifacts or even dao artifacts. They were akin to cultivators who refined their body, which was quite scary.


    He was walking through the woods formed of many iron trees with childish innocence, occasionally glancing at the wild fruits surrounding him.


    The fruits of the iron trees were crystal clear, like big hard gems. Its branches and leaves were very tough as well, connecting to the fruits like iron wires, making it take quite some effort to pluck them.


    Crunch!


    Fang Yuan bit the fruit, giving off the crisp sound of metal on metal, and a crescent appeared on the fruit.


    "It tastes average. There isn''t enough moisture, and the texture is bad¡­ Normal humans might directly die after eating one¡­" Fang Yuan commented after eating one. "Of course, Fey beats have strong digestive powers and can absorb it to strengthen their skin. Over time, they evolved into iron beasts! With some special body refining techniques, perhaps cultivators can also do the same to strengthen their bodies!"


    He roughly understood why the Iron Mountain Gate had established its foundation here.


    His ears twitched, and a shadow suddenly intruded. It was an iron beast.


    This iron beast looked like a wolf. Its fur was like steel needles, having a beauty befitting a sci-fi machine.


    "Hmm? Its body should be comparable to a spirit artifact. An ordinary Golden Core cultivator would have no way to deal with it without a spirit artifact or even dao artifact¡­"


    Fang Yuan felt slightly surprised when he saw it. With a flick of his finger, a wind blade formed and landed on the wolf.


    "Ahwhoooo!" Sparks splattered everywhere as the iron wolf growled and quickly backed away.


    "There are chances of a Fey core forming inside iron beasts. If I were to use them to refine pills to help strengthen my Nascent Soul body¡­" Fang Yuan immediately refuted the idea. "Unfortunately, it doesn''t have much use for me."


    This kind of environment was only useful for low and mid-level body refining cultivators. He had mastered the Hundred Physical Forging Technique, and his body was now comparable to a dao artifact, so there would not be much effect.


    However, he still advanced and punched the wolf''s head. His fist penetrated its head and took out a rhombus-shaped crystal core.


    "The chances of a Fey core appearing should be between one to ten percent. My luck is quite good!"


    Fang Yuan played with the Fey core as he looked to the side.


    Before long, the sound of footsteps arrived. Two cultivators came, and their faces changed when they saw the corpse of the wolf on the ground. "Ah¡­ my iron beast!"


    The young man and woman had dark skin with the shine of iron and were at the Golden Core stage.


    "Are you from the Iron Mountain Gate?" Fang Yuan threw the Fey core to them. "I want to go to the Iron Mountain Gate. Could I trouble you to bring me there?"


    "I''m Tie Danshan. Senior, you are?" The man exchanged glances with his junior sister before bowing to Fang Yuan.


    In any case, this person had Nascent Soul fluctuations and seemed to bear no ill will.


    "I''m Li Hun from the Southern Region! I have a close relationship with the Iron Mountain Gate!" Fang Yuan said with a faint smile.


    Tie Dansha heaved a sigh of relief before replying politely, "In that case, I''ll guide Senior!"


    They would be safe as long as they reached their gate.


    The young girl, however, had bright eyes that swirled around Fang Yuan, full of curiosity.


    ¡­


    Iron Mountain Gate.


    This branch of the Golden Soul Sect was famous in the surrounding area. The sect master, Immortal Iron Mountain, was a powerful body-refining Immortal who had slaughtered an otherworldly demon before. Great prestige was synonymous with his name.


    Not only that, but there were also six Immortal elders. It could be said that one strike from the Iron Mountain Gate could obliterate the entire Kun Yun Sect. Such were the huge differences in strength even among the Immortals.


    At this point, all seven Immortals gathered, somewhat baffled.


    "Honorable Sect Master, why did you gather us here?"


    Unlike the Immortals of the Sixteen Countries, the Immortals of the Iron Mountain Gate tended to have dark skin, muscular bodies, and a special domineering aura.


    If Fang Yuan were here, he would have realized that all of them had bodies comparable to dao artifacts!


    An elder stood up. He had a fierce aura and faint black Qi around his body.


    "Elder Kuangtu, I summoned everyone here because I encountered something that I can''t decide on!" Immortal Iron Mountain frowned and said loudly, "In recent days, a Nascent Soul cultivator came and presented an Iron Mountain Token!"


    "Oh? Could his ancestors or seniors have done a favor for our Iron Mountain Gate?" An elder stroked his bread. "When we issued these Iron Mountain Tokens, we had a clear message that our Iron Mountain Gate would do whatever we could to fulfill their wishes, no matter who it was. I don''t know what this person''s request was, but it wouldn''t be too excessive to make him a core disciple if that is his request!"


    "I wouldn''t have needed to convene the elders if that were the case¡­" Immortal Iron Mountain smiled bitterly. "That person is arrogant and looks down on our Iron Mountain Gate. He wants to join the Golden Soul Sect!"


    "Hmph!"


    "Doesn''t know his place!"


    ¡­


    The air seemed to turn to ice as the elders felt disgruntled.


    The Golden Soul Sect was the cultivation Holy Land of the Central Region, while the Iron Mountain Gate was only a branch under them. How could they just send people upward!


    "This person knows no end to his greed. This is beyond our ability, so we can just reject him! Why is Sect Master hesitating?" an Elder asked.


    "This person is less than a hundred years old, yet his cultivation has reached Nascent Soul. He''s managed to condense his body to the dao artifact level, a true genius¡­" Immortal Iron Mountain continued. "Moreover, he didn''t say he wants us to get him directly into the Golden Soul Sect but only an evaluation opportunity from the Golden Soul Sect! We really do have one quota for this!"


    As a branch of the Golden Soul Sect, one of the Iron Mountain Gate''s duties was to select the best disciples and send them to the Golden Soul Sect for evaluation.


    It would only train the top disciples itself.


    There were no less than a dozen like the Iron Mountain Gate in the Central Region and even the other four regions!


    "He only wants an evaluation quota?"


    A few elders exchanged glances. This was indeed within their authority and responsibility, but there was a small problem.


    Elder Tie Kuangtu exploded. "What about my disciple if this quota is given to that boy?"

 1091 Golden Soul Sec

    "Don''t get so worked up, Elder Kuangtu!" Immortal Iron Mountain paused briefly before continuing, "I called this meeting because this matter is of grave importance!"


    Immortal Tie Kuangtu was extraordinary and second only to the sect master. His style was overbearing, making the others deeply fearful of him.


    Immortal Iron Mountain pretended to be impartial, but he actually had a hidden agenda.


    Sure enough, a neutral elder coughed and expressed his thoughts, "Since the Iron Mountain Token has arrived, we have to follow the rules of the sect! A mere evaluation quota, just give it to him!"


    "Elder Kuangtu, your disciple Tie Kunlun was born with copper skin and iron bones, and his foundation is extraordinary. He should enter our Iron Mountain Gate to strengthen our prestige!"


    "Elder, please calm down. We can only do it this way¡­"


    ¡­


    Most of the elders had the same opinion, whether or not they were close to Elder Tie Kuangtu.


    A few of the ones close to the sect master were laughing inwardly.


    Although Tie Kunlun was talented, Elder Kuangtu had selfish motives and had deliberately waited until he was near the age limit before planning to send him for the evaluation, thereby ensuring he would pass.


    However, he could only admit that he was unlucky when encountering this kind of thing. Because he had delayed it so much, his disciple would be over the age limit by the next evaluation.


    Immortal Iron Mountain was emotionless. "Since most of the elders have agreed, let''s go with this! We''ll send that Li Hun for the evaluation three days later!"


    "Hmph¡­" Tie Kuangtu was an Immortal after all, and his eyes were shifty. "What if that person gives up voluntarily?"


    "Ahem!" Immortal Iron Mountain coughed. "Junior Brother, we are Immortals who have sworn an oath. Do you want to force the matter?"


    "Intimidation and temptation. I know more than merely intimidation. I can also tempt!" Tie Kuangtu said confidently.


    ¡­


    However, they did not know that everything was out in the open because Fang Yuan was watching from the side.


    "Hehe¡­ Looks like I caught up just in time for the Immortal Iron Mountain Gate''s infighting? This is making it easier for me¡­" Immortal Iron Mountain was obviously hiding behind the veil of righteousness to win over the neutrals and suppress the interests of Tie Kuangtu.


    It seemed like this elder was either too arrogant or too strong because everyone was vigilant against him.


    "But there''s no need to silence them since everything is going so smoothly! I didn''t expect the Iron Mountain Token to have such use. That Junior Sister Tie Dansha really helped a lot¡­"


    When Fang Yuan had just arrived, he naturally did not know the intricacies of the matter.


    Fortunately, he met that pair of disciples from the Iron Mountain Gate. The girl, especially, was naive and curious, and she leaked everything after hanging some fruits in front of her.


    It was unknown if Tie Kuangtu would kill her if he were to know about this.


    "This is also good. At least I will avoid some troubles¡­" Faint sighed and disappeared.


    The Iron Mountain Sect Master continued discussing with the elders, not knowing just how close they were to having their sect destroyed.


    ¡­


    Seven days later, Golden Soul Sect.


    "This is the cultivation Holy Land of the Central Region, the main altar of the Golden Soul Sect¡ªGolden Mount Meru!"


    An Immortal of the Iron Mountain Gate brought Fang Yuan to a huge mountain.


    This mountain had a single peak, and it was entirely a blinding reddish-gold.


    Fang Yuan''s expression changed once they entered Golden Mount Meru.


    Suddenly, heaven and earth became infinitely broad. Golden Mount Meru seemed able to hold up the heavens and support the earth, like a world in itself!


    It''s space restriction! All of Golden Mount Meru is like an immortal abode comparable in size to a continent!


    Fang Yuan was startled as he suddenly felt a powerful force acting on him.


    Bang!


    At this time, he could not expose his cultivation, so he simply allowed this gravity to pull on him. He smashed into the ground, creating a small pit.


    "My body is akin to a dao artifact, yet I only created a small pit. How hard is this Golden Mount Meru? Also¡­ why can''t I move freely here?" Fang Yuan feigned ignorance.


    "Haha!" The Immortal beside him gloated at his misfortune. "This Golden Mount Meru contains the power of multiple nomological laws and Great Daos such as the Illusion Realm and gravity. It is a precious treasure of heaven and earth! At the beginning of the world, this golden mountain was the first to be born between heaven and earth. The patriarch of the Golden Soul Sect had obtained and added restrictions to it to make it the treasure of the Golden Soul Sect! Your body must be well trained enough not to break any bones!"


    The Iron Mountain Gate Immortal continued, "The disciples of the Golden Soul Sect live and cultivate in this environment. Can you imagine how strong their bodies are? You might have refined your body to the dao artifact level, but it''s truly not enough in the Golden Soul Sect. Do you still want to take the evaluation?"


    "Naturally. Immortal, please lead the way!" Fang Yuan cupped his hands.


    A few days ago, Tie Kuangtu had intimidated and tempted him with good terms, but Fang Yuan had not submitted to him. Tie Kuangtu became so furious that he threatened to make Fang Yuan pay.


    The Iron Mountain Gate might have arranged an evaluation opportunity for Fang Yuan, but the Immortals did not have a good impression of him.


    After all, no matter how mad he was, Tie Kuangtu was their own. Immortal Iron Mountain might be happy that he managed to block Tie Kuangtu''s disciple from attending the evaluation, but Fang Yuan''s resolute refusal gave him no face.


    If an ordinary cultivator failed to enter the Golden Soul Sect, only death would await them! Solely Tie Kuangtu''s revenge would be something they couldn''t deal with!


    Fang Yuan was well aware of this. He followed the Immortal into the Golden Soul Sect, arrived at the foot of Golden Mount Meru, and saw a palace.


    He surveyed the area and found most of the disciples of the Golden Soul Sect wearing golden clothes. There was next to no one at Golden Core, and most were at Nascent Soul. Their bodies were at least at the dao artifact level! This was astonishing.


    "Tie Ruyi of the Iron Mountain Gate is here with a disciple for the evaluation!" the Iron Mountain Gate Immortal announced loudly as he brought Fang Yuan to a hall with a plaque that had ''Golden Core Hall'' written on it.


    "So it''s a fellow Immortal from the Iron Mountain Gate!" An Immortal with pale golden skin flew down and glanced at Fang Yuan. "I''m the evaluator this time¡ªJin Huan! So this is the person with the Iron Mountain Token. Haha¡­ I''ve heard about you!"


    "Li Hun pays respect to Immortal!" Fang Yuan bowed respectfully. After knowing that the Immortal had heard about him, he knew that Tie Kuangtu must have used his connections in this matter.


    After all, the Iron Mountain Gate was a branch of the Golden Soul Sect, and it was not unusual for the Immortals to have connections with each other.


    This Jin Huan might not dare to drive him away directly, but it was inevitable that he would make things difficult for him within the scope of the rules!


    I wouldn''t have bothered to infiltrate if I hadn''t heard that the Golden Soul Sect has ninety-nine percent of the Great Sage Immortal World''s body refining techniques! Fang Yuan rolled his eyes secretly.


    This Golden Mount Meru, however, contained the Illusion Realm''s nomological laws, and with his current abilities, it would be difficult to sneak in.


    Therefore, he had to go about this in a roundabout way.


    "All right, come with me!"


    Jin Huan brought Fang Yuan to a golden gate. "Behind this gate is the Golden Soul Realm, a trial ground for disciples! We don''t care where you come from. You pass as long as you can survive for seven days!"


    After he heard this, Tie Ruyi''s expression changed.


    "Okay. I understand!"


    Fang Yuan bowed and opened the gate with both hands. A golden light flashed and swallowed him whole.


    Tie Ruyi sighed. "In the past evaluations, three days was enough. But seven days? Haha¡­"


    "Haha¡­ I''m the evaluator, and I have the authority¡­" Jin Huan roared with laughter. "How is Brother Kuangtu recently? I hope he didn''t go mad with anger."


    "He''s all right¡­" Tie Ruyi smiled bitterly, looking regretfully at the gates of the Golden Soul Realm. "What a pity¡­ He would have obtained the position of a core disciple in my Iron Mountain Gate if only he were flexible. We might not be as good as the Golden Soul Sect, but it isn''t impossible to become an Immortal!"


    "Haha¡­ This lad is dead. Seven days is the toughest challenge I can give within my jurisdiction. Even outer disciples of the Golden Soul Sect might not be able to pass!" Jin Huan laughed. "I''m helping Brother Kuangtu vent his anger. However, we still have to stay here for seven days because of our duties! Brother Ruyi, would you like to have a drink with me? I just obtained a few bottles of ''Seven Calamities Thunder Wine''¡­"


    "Something that will help refine my body?" Tie Ruyi licked his lips. "It would be disrespectful to refuse then!"


    ¡­


    "Golden Soul Realm? Another small world?"


    A gravitational force ten times stronger than that of Golden Mount Meru struck him as soon as he entered the Golden Soul Realm. Fang Yuan slammed into the ground, forming a huge pit.


    He climbed out and brushed the dirt off his body. "That''s right¡­ Mount Mengyan has the Thirty-Three-Level Outer Heaven Tower, so the Golden Soul Sect naturally has similar evaluation grounds! But the Nomological Laws of Gravity here are simply shocking. It''s a hundred times stronger than outside! It would be difficult for ordinary Golden Core and Nascent Soul cultivators to even stand up here!"


    Caw! Caw!


    In the iron tree next to him, several golden crows stared at him with their black gem-stone-like eyes, making unpleasant cries.


    Pfft!


    Three crows swooped down, bringing with them a harsh sound.


    Clang!


    Fang Yuan immediately flew out and slashed with his saber.


    Attacks comparable to peak Nascent Soul? Moreover, they can probably destroy dao artifacts¡­


    The move just now was an experiment. Even so, the dao artifact saber cracked. "This test¡­ is somewhat difficult."


    Fang Yuan changed to another saber and secretly attached the soul absorption and annihilation power of the Ten Thousand Beast Banner onto it. "Nomological Laws of Saber, kill!"


    He could not expose too many of his trump cards since he was in someone else''s territory.


    Poof!


    Saber light flashed, drew a graceful arc in the void, and immediately decapitated the three crows.


    No joy appeared on Fang Yuan''s face. Instead, his face changed as he looked in another direction.


    Thump! Thump!


    Thump! Thump!


    The ground shook, sounding dull and loud.


    A golden thread appeared in the sky, charging straight at him. It was a mighty army of mutated beasts.


    "Were the crows just scouts, and the cry a signal that they had found an enemy?"


    Fang Yuan turned around and escaped.


    What a joke!


    Even an Immortal would become mincemeat under such a large beast tide!


    Although he could fight back, he would have to reveal all his cards, which would definitely alarm the Grand Unity Immortals of the Golden Soul Sect!

 1092 Golden Soul Frui

    Kaboom!


    Numerous golden beasts stomped all around, leaving deep marks on the ground.


    After some time, a mound exploded, and Fang Yuan''s figure appeared. "How dangerous!"


    A cultivator''s flying speed was greatly impaired under the influence of the Nomological Laws of Gravity in this Golden Soul Realm. The beasts might be able to catch up with him, or even jump into the air to shoot him down.


    Moreover, the sky in this world was not safe either. Since there were golden crows, there could be other flying beasts.


    "Something''s not right¡­" Fang Yuan gave it some thought, and his eyes shone. "It''s impossible for Golden Core and Nascent Soul cultivators to encounter a beast tide so early. They wouldn''t have any chance to escape! Even if this evaluation was deliberately made more difficult, this is too much!"


    He spread his spiritual will.


    This world was vast and boundless, and it was apparent from his spiritual will that there were strong and weak golden beasts.


    "In summary, the layout should be concentric rings. The closer to the core, the denser the beasts, the more difficult it will get!


    "The place I was dropped in¡­ is actually in the deepest part of the first ring, close to the boundary of the second ring¡­ This is simply murder!"


    Fang Yuan was speechless.


    When merged with the Illusion Realm''s nomological laws, the scope of his spiritual will was far beyond that of an Immortal. It was hidden, and he discovered many things.


    Otherwise, he would definitely not survive if he continued on without a plan.


    "An ordinary trial would start at the outermost area, where there are fewer beasts. With luck and strength, you would survive¡­ But I offended Tie Kuangtu, so it became more difficult¡­"


    Fang Yuan shook his head and became engrossed in extending his spiritual will deep into the depths. "One, two, three¡­ six, seven! Are there at least seven levels?"


    The advancement of every level meant an increase in difficulty.


    The seventh level was not the end either, merely the limit of his spiritual will.


    "As expected, like the Thirty-Three-Level Outer Heaven Tower, there are differences in levels¡­ This type of environment was deliberately created only for Holy Lands to select disciples!"


    Fang Yuan found an iron tree, sat on one of its branches, and casually plucked a fruit with a slight golden sheen.


    "Of course¡­ opportunities coexist with risks. The effect of this fruit is much stronger than that of the iron fruit at the Iron Mountain Gate. It''s at least as good as a beast core. If you ate one every day, you would be able to strengthen your body to the dao artifact level even without cultivating much!


    "If the outer areas are already like this, there must be a lot of good stuff deeper inside!"


    Fang Yuan narrowed his eyes with a dangerous light, but he gave up after a short while.


    "This Golden Soul Realm isn''t the Outer Heaven Tower and has a master. Once someone is too outstanding, the artifact spirit will definitely notice, and it might even attract a Grand Unity Immortal!"


    He was here only to search for the Nine Transference Undying Method, not to be noticed.


    "I can''t be too careful!"


    Fang Yuan sighed and swung his saber casually.


    Poof!


    A small golden snake the width of a finger split into two pieces and continued twisting on the ground.


    "The fruits of such iron trees seem to be guarded by golden beasts?"


    He landed on the ground, frowning. "For example, the golden earthworm in the soil just now."


    There would naturally be nothing without a role in such a trial ground.


    There were flying mutated beasts in the sky and beast tides on the ground, even golden beasts within the ground! He suffered successive attacks from golden earthworms and centipedes the width of his arm.


    The survival rate for inferior cultivators who hid underground would be way worse than those who could utilize the complex terrain to escape.


    "In that case¡­"


    He thought about it while looking at the light source hanging in the center. He chose a direction at random and started moving.


    He would naturally not head straight toward the center, and anyone would feel that his route was strange.


    The route that Fang Yuan chose was slightly roundabout but much safer. Anyone who saw his route afterward would only deduce that he was lucky.


    "This Golden Soul Realm suppresses the soul as well, and it''s difficult to spread spiritual will. People like me with complete comprehension of the Illusion Realm''s nomological laws are rare¡­ It''s more realistic to become lost¡­"


    Fang Yuan''s understanding of the Golden Soul Realm was extremely deep after adapting to it for a short while.


    Unfortunately, he had not been able to pry for more information after seeing Golden Mount Meru''s Illusion Realm''s nomological laws or even look for this primordial treasure''s control hub.


    These Holy Lands were not the type of sects with only Immortals like before.


    Not only were there Grand Unity Immortals, but it was also possible for the birth of a Grand Supreme existence!


    At that point, they were completely capable of comprehending by analogy, like Elder Tai Xuan had, to touch top nomological laws such as the Illusion Realm and time, even reaching complete comprehension. The Golden Mount Meru outside was proof!


    Even if there were no terrifying almighty existences, with the history of a Holy Land, there must have been disciples who had comprehended top nomological laws. How could they not have any defenses against spatial penetration?


    A Holy Land had to have no weaknesses in their defenses. Otherwise, they were bound to decline even if otherworldly demons did not attack.


    "Keep a low profile! Low profile! My minimum target is to obtain the last six transferences of the Nine Transference Undying Method. Of course, it would be best if I could take advantage of the resources here to improve drastically!"


    Fang Yuan realized that this Golden Soul Sect was the best place for cultivating body refining techniques.


    Ten Iron Mountain Gate fruits could not even compare to one Golden Soul Fruit.


    He wanted the Nine Transference Undying Method to refine his body to become comparable to an immortal artifact or even a primordial treasure, and this required the support of specific heavenly materials and earthly treasures.


    Relying on this great force to collect them was much faster than on his own.


    After all, the Great Sage Immortal World was not the Sixteen Countries, and he could not obtain all of them by himself.


    ¡­


    Fang Yuan deliberately slowed down and avoided the golden beasts, especially the flying beasts that could give warnings, so his progress was very slow.


    After two days, he finally left the danger zone near the second level and arrived at the periphery of the first level.


    The density of the beasts dropped significantly here, and it was considerably safer.


    "Less than half of the seven days have passed. The remaining task is to collect as many of these golden fruits as possible¡­"


    Fang Yuan took a bite out of the fruit in his hand. "Obviously, this type of fruit has great effects on various types of body refining techniques. If not for this evaluation, I wouldn''t have been able to get my hands on them¡­"


    After eating them, he knew that this fruit was very beneficial for the first three transferences of the Nine Transference Undying Method!


    "Unfortunately¡­ with the scarcity of the golden beasts, the frequency of golden fruits appearing decreases. It''s a loss on one side and gain on the other side¡­ But this doesn''t mean there won''t be more chances in the future!"


    Fang Yuan''s eyes glistened.


    Suddenly, his spiritual will found something hundreds of kilometers away.


    "People?! Seems like disciples of the Golden Soul Sect¡­"


    He flew closer, and more information arrived.


    "Junior Brother Chu, I contributed my part to enter the Golden Soul Realm this time, so don''t forget what you promised me!"


    The two disciples in golden clothes did not realize Fang Yuan was spying on them. They continued talking while avoiding the golden beasts.


    "Please rest assured. I''ll return your contribution in Golden Soul Fruits!"


    The other disciple smiled fawningly. "Senior Brother Xiao, you should have cultivated your Thousand Wind Hundred Refinement Technique to a high level by now? Your body is only a bit away from being comparable to a top-grade dao artifact. You will become an inner disciple when you reach the second region!"


    "What is a mere inner disciple? My goal is the third region!" Senior Brother Xiao was clearly ambitious. "I hope the Golden Soul Fruits can help me break through this time¡­ Too bad the Golden Soul Fruits in the first two regions are low quality. Mid-quality ones will only appear in the third region! I heard that there are high-quality and even top-quality ones in deeper regions. If I had the help of such items, my body would advance to become comparable to an immortal artifact!


    "It will be easy to overcome the tribulation if I can refine my body to become comparable to an immortal artifact. At that time, I will become one of the core disciples and can compete for the position of sect master. Even if it doesn''t work out, I''ll still become an elder!"


    The two disciples in gold clothes grinned in anticipation.


    The difficulty of cultivating body refining techniques was different before and after the tribulation.


    Take the Immortals of the Golden Soul Sect for example. Most of their bodies were comparable to an immortal artifact, but many of them only succeeded after their tribulation.


    Anyone who could refine their body to the degree of an immortal artifact before their tribulation would definitely become a core disciple!


    Such a disciple would be able to survive the lightning tribulation. They were true geniuses and had the hope of becoming the sect master!


    Fang Yuan eavesdropped and learned all kinds of inside stories. He did not show himself and began his second round of harvesting.


    A few days later, Senior Brother Xiao and Junior Brother Chu reached the border of the second region. Their faces were ugly. "I''m not sure what happened, but there are a lot fewer Golden Soul Fruits. We can only take some risks!"


    "We''re merely roaming around the border. The golden beasts of the second region usually won''t chase after us like this¡­" Senior Brother Xiao was very sure of this. "If we want to become inner disciple, we have to go deep into the second region and survive for more than three days!"


    "We won''t be able to survive even one attack from a normal golden beast without bodies at the top-grade dao artifact level. Let''s forget it¡­" Junior Brother Chu had a cold sweat.


    Caw caw!


    The sudden ear-piercing cry from a crow made their expressions change. "Sh*t! It''s the alarm crow!"


    Kaboom!


    It did not take long for a beast tide to appear. Their eyes were red, seemingly provoked, and they came from all directions.


    "No¡­ Why are we so unlucky?!" Senior Brother Xiao roared in despair. Looking at the impending golden beasts, he finally tore a talisman, and their two figures immediately disappeared¡­


    "Great. I''ll go harvest while these two hold the attention of the golden beasts!"


    As the oriole behind, Fang Yuan''s eyes flashed with glee.

 1093 Sixth Transference

    Fang Yuan appeared in front of the gate with a golden flash.


    The vertigo of spatial shifting did not affect him at all. Instead, the information leaked during the spatial fluctuations in the transmission process allowed him to know that there was not only one entrance to the Golden Soul Realm.


    Moreover, from what he gleaned of their performance, it seemed like there would be opportunities to enter the realm and leave it instantly with a talisman after joining the Golden Soul Sect.


    Of course, they could not blame anyone if they were late to activate it and died as a result.


    During these seven days, his spiritual will had found such unlucky idiots.


    Thanks to the sacrifices of these disciples, he had gained quite a lot in the first and second regions.


    As for the third region? After looking at it from a distance, he did not dare to enter.


    The density of the golden beasts was so high that it would be impossible for him to stay hidden.


    In other words, he could only rely on strength to break through.


    "You actually¡­ came out alive! To be able to survive for seven days in the Golden Soul Realm¡­" Immortal Tie Ruyi goggled at Fang Yuan as if he was a monster.


    "Haha¡­ Congratulations on passing the evaluation and becoming a disciple of my Golden Soul Sect!" Jin Huan''s expression changed as he laughed and waved his hand. A golden scroll appeared. "I''ll register you. Then you''ll receive the outer disciple token, clothes, and resources for this year!"


    "Thank you very much, Sir!" Fang Yuan bowed calmly, knowing this was merely the style of a high-level bureaucrat. He would make things difficult for him within the rules, but he would turn friendly once Fang Yuan showed enough potential.


    Tie Ruyi had never learned this kind of shamelessness.


    "Li Hun?" Jin Huan saw Fang Yuan''s signature and tossed over a golden token. "This is your identity token. You can choose any house in the living area of the outer disciples, and you will also receive three Golden Soul Fruits every year! I noticed that your body is already comparable to a dao artifact. Which body refining technique did you cultivate?"


    "The Hundred Physical Forging Technique!" Fang Yuan saw no reason to hide this. According to Gold Ingot, this technique was common among the Immortals of the Central Region. There was no problem with its origins at all.


    "Only a hundred?" Jin Huan rubbed his chin. "I suppose the body refining techniques outside are at this level¡­ As an outer disciple, you can choose a cultivation technique when you first join. I recall there''s a ''Thousand Physical Forging Technique'' among those available for the outer disciples. It''s the upgraded version of the Hundred Physical Forging Technique, and it can refine your body to the extent of a mid-grade immortal artifact!"


    "Thank you for your pointers, Sir!" Fang Yuan seemed to thank him sincerely, knowing that the other party was showing him goodwill to mend their relationship.


    After all, he was an Immortal of the Golden Soul Sect, so there was no reason to become enemies if the other party was not targeting him.


    Seeing his attitude, Jin Huan laughed lightheartedly. "Great! My Golden Soul Sect has obtained yet another elite disciple!"


    Since he passed the highest difficulty, without mentioning becoming a future core disciple, he was definitely going to become an inner disciple. Regarding this status, it did not differ much from an elder of a branch.


    Jin Huan especially admired his flexible attitude.


    ¡­


    Cultivation Techniques Hall.


    Fang Yuan immediately went to where the cultivation techniques were imparted in the Golden Soul Sect.


    As long as he obtained the rest of the Nine Transference Undying Method, even if the Heavenly Circuit Immortal Sect appeared in the next moment, there was nothing to be afraid of.


    That master-servant pair is a clue, and the Heavenly Circuit Immortal Sect might be able to find its way here¡­ But so what if it could?


    Fang Yuan would not be afraid of any Holy Land as long as he had no misgivings about them.


    Of course, the premise was not to become trapped in some space.


    The outer Cultivation Techniques Hall of the Golden Soul Sect was a golden palace. From the outside, it looked like a mausoleum without a single window.


    There were only a few deacons guarding the entrance. They were obviously very relieved with the restrictions in place.


    "Greetings, everyone. I''m here to choose a cultivation technique!"


    Fang Yuan stepped forward and took out his identity token.


    "Hmm, Li Hun, recommended by the Iron Mountain Gate!" An old man with a white bread nodded. "Since you''re choosing your cultivation technique right after becoming an outer disciple, it seems like you were only an itinerant cultivator without a good inheritance before. Sigh¡­ You can rest assured now that you''ve entered our Golden Soul Sect!"


    He waved his hand, and the layer of golden light enveloping the passage disappeared. "Remember, you can only choose one. There are restrictions on all the ancient books, and you can only preview the first three pages. Go ahead!"


    Fang Yuan bowed again and entered the mausoleum.


    Giant bookshelves formed mountains of books. There were few disciples, making it very quiet and empty.


    That''s right. The other disciples chose their cultivation techniques long ago and rarely come here¡­


    Fang Yuan traveled through the mountains of books with his hands behind his back. He occasionally stopped when he saw ancient books that he wanted to read and flipped through one or two pages, not heading straight for the body refining area.


    "It''s a cultivation Holy Land after all. Their accumulation of ancient books is massive! There are all sorts of books¡­ even for outer disciples!"


    After some time, Fang Yuan came to a place with a huge collection of books.


    The collection here was all body refining techniques.


    He selected a book at random. "Mixed Element Technique? Qi and body dual refinement, it can be used as the main cultivation technique and can refine the body to the top-grade dao artifact level!"


    He immediately saw the Thousand Physical Forging Technique, and his heart moved slightly.


    Immortal Jin Huan had recommended this technique as very suitable for him. It could link up with the Hundred Physical Forging Technique, and he could smoothly transition to cultivating it.


    Unfortunately, the maximum it could reach was the immortal artifact level, making Fang Yuan give it up directly.


    An ordinary Nascent Soul cultivator could transcend their lightning tribulation with ease if they refined their body to the immortal artifact level.


    However, he was not an ordinary cultivator. He had comprehended two sets of top nomological laws and had a clone. His lightning tribulation would be beyond imagination. He had to reach the primordial treasure level before he had the confidence to take it on.


    Obviously, such ancient books were very rare, even in the Central Region.


    After wandering around for some more time, Fang Yuan set his sight on a golden ancient book. "I finally found the ''Nine Transference Undying Method''!"


    This ancient book was heavy, and each page seemed to be made of metal. He flipped to the introduction, and the information surprised Fang Yuan slightly.


    "The Nine Transference Undying Method! The mainstream cultivation technique of the Golden Soul Sect! There are nine transferences! Cultivate to the third transference, and your body will become comparable to a low-grade immortal artifact! Cultivate to the seventh transference, and your body will become comparable to a primordial treasure! Succeed in the cultivation of the ninth transference, and your body will become sacred!"


    "How could such a divine art be placed in the outer disciple area? Unless¡­"


    Fang Yuan felt a chill as he walked toward the door with the ancient book.


    "Hmm? You chose the Nine Transference Undying Method? How bold!" The old man smiled and registered it quickly. He took out a token, and the restriction on the ancient book disappeared. "Quickly memorize the ancient book and then return it. Remember not to spread it. Otherwise, your body and soul will be destroyed!"


    Fang Yuan nodded and sent his spiritual will into the ancient book.


    Then he shook his head inwardly. "Sure enough¡­ Only the first six transferences are available. It''s more than the first three I have, but the last three critical ones are missing!"


    His face, however, showed delight as he left.


    ¡­


    Night.


    In a cave abode of the Golden Soul Sect outer disciples¡­


    Fang Yuan sat cross-legged, and golden light flashed continuously from his body. He was cultivating the Nine Transference Undying Method.


    "It may not be as smooth for me to cultivate the Nine Transference Undying Method like it would the Thousand Physical Forging Technique, but I''ve already refined my body to the dao artifact level. Thus, I only need to convert my technique! I''ll have no problems with the first two transferences with the help of the Golden Soul Fruits!"


    The first two transferences of the Nine Transference Undying Method was to refine the body to become comparable to a top-grade dao artifact, which was not too difficult.


    Everything was smooth, especially since Fang Yuan used a huge amount of low-grade Golden Soul Fruits.


    When the sun rose, he seemed to have grown taller, and his skin became a healthy bronze.


    This was proof that he had completed the second transference of the Nine Transference Undying Method.


    "Golden Soul Fruits are indeed something good. Too bad outer disciples only get three a year!"


    He shook his head regrettably and walked out of the courtyard.


    "Are you the new junior brother, Li Hun?"


    Not long after he came out of the courtyard, a few disciples in golden clothes surrounded him. Two of them were familiar to Fang Yuan. They were Senior Brother Xiao and Junior Brother Chu.


    "Yes, that''s me. What can I help senior brothers with?" Fang Yuan smiled radiantly.


    "Haha¡­ Junior Brother''s innate talent and providence must be excellent to be able to enter our Golden Soul Sect. But the road ahead is full of thorns, so we should work together¡­" Junior Brother Chu persuaded strongly.


    "Does that mean I need to join you and turn in some contribution points to achieve this end¡­" Fang Yuan smiled. "You can just tell me directly that you want protection fees."


    "¡­" Senior Brother Xiao and the others were speechless. It was the first time they saw someone so direct.


    "I''d definitely give the protection fees if it could bring me peace¡­ But unfortunately¡­" Fang Yuan shook his head. "For the likes of you? I refuse!"


    "What?" Junior Brother Chu''s face twitched. He and Senior Brother Xiao had been unlucky this time. They had spent all their contribution points and entered the Golden Soul Realm, but they had obtained nothing in return and urgently needed some from elsewhere.


    Their tempers rose after seeing how uncooperative Fang Yuan was. "Junior Brother Li Hun, are you aware that our Golden Soul Sect doesn''t restrict battles? Especially among the outer disciples. No one cares as long as there are no deaths¡­"


    "I see. Thanks for letting me know!"


    Fang Yuan moved his neck and clenched his fist. His entire body made cracking sounds as he punched.


    Bang!


    The wind from the punch was violent. The air compressed into an air burst, causing the other disciples'' expressions to change.


    Senior Brother Xiao stepped up. Aquamarine scales appeared on his right arm, and he clawed.


    Clang!


    The sound of metal colliding rang out, and many broken scales flew.


    Senior Brother Xiao took a few steps backward, his face full of shock. His eyes darkened. "The second transference of the Nine Transference Undying Method?!"

 1094 Invasion

    "Are you¡­ really a new disciple?" Senior Brother Xiao looked at Fang Yuan. "Overnight, you completed the second transference of the Nine Transference Undying Method?"


    "My body was originally comparable to a dao artifact. What''s wrong with converting my technique in one night with the help of three Golden Soul Fruits?"


    Fang Yuan stepped forward and kneaded his knuckles, making continuous thunderous sounds.


    He had long expected something like this to happen. However, he could prove his innocence with his foundation and especially with the old man in Cultivation Techniques Hall yesterday testifying for him.


    Moreover, at this level, he was just a more talented body-refining cultivator.


    Even Grand Unity Immortals would be alarmed if he managed to cultivate the second transference from a total novice within one night.


    Even so, Fang Yuan was considered more prominent among the outer disciples because of his top-grade dao artifact body. Although it was difficult to cultivate the Nine Transference Undying Method, he would undoubtedly be one of the stronger ones among those at the same level after he mastered it.


    These disciples that were planning on picking on the weak were at a loss.


    "Don''t worry¡­ We have greater numbers¡­" Before Junior Brother Chu could finish, a figure flashed before him. Fang Yuan grabbed him as though he were a little chicken. "What did you say?"


    "No-nothing!" Even though he cultivated the Mixed Element Technique, Junior Brother Chu only felt severe pain in his neck as he begged for mercy continuously.


    "Hmm¡­ All right. I want you to do something. We''ll write off today once you''re finished. Otherwise¡­" Fang Yuan''s eyes had a cold glint.


    "What is it?" Senior Brother Xiao asked solemnly.


    The disciples that were originally surrounding them dispersed in silence, having decided that Fang Yuan was not someone to trifle with.


    "Don''t worry. It''s very simple!" Fang Yuan flashed a bright smile.


    ¡­


    After some questioning, he found out that the leader of this group was Xiao Jiuli. He led a small group among the outer disciples and could only bully newcomers.


    That Junior Brother Chu, named Chu Duo, had the role of a good-for-nothing advisor.


    "Is it worth it to play politics to such an extent in the outer sect?" Fang Yuan was left dumbfounded. "Right, how do I enter the Golden Soul Realm?!"


    "The Golden Soul Realm is a cultivation treasure land and also where the trial for inner and core disciples is. You can enter after paying one hundred contribution points!" Xiao Jiuli explained in detail. "As for the contribution points, other than the hundred you have in your token when you first join, you have to obtain them through various missions or exchanges."


    "No wonder you came to me for the contribution points."


    Fang Yuan rubbed his chin while Xiao Jiuli and Chu Duo smiled embarrassedly. "Big Brother Li Hun, you are so talented to have completed the second transference of the Nine Transference Undying Method so quickly. You can definitely become an inner disciple within a short time!"


    This was why Xiao Jiuli became obedient and truthful. They were not on the same level.


    "Inner disciple?"


    Fang Yuan was very clear that every outer disciple had a body comparable to a dao artifact.


    To become an inner disciple, you had to survive in the second region for a certain amount of time. Their bodies were comparable to a top-grade dao artifact.


    If he could refine his body to the immortal artifact level before the lightning tribulation, he could go to the third region and become a core disciple.


    Previously, Tie Kuangtu had made it so that the risk of Fang Yuan''s evaluation was akin to that of becoming an inner disciple.


    Therefore, Jin Huan''s attitude had changed immediately upon seeing him emerge unscathed.


    Since he was so outstanding this early on, it was entirely possible for him to become a core disciple in the future.


    But I''m not here to become a core disciple¡­ The reasonable thing to do would be to get the technique as soon as possible and leave. Of course, I have to grab as many Golden Soul Fruits as I can before that! Fang Yuan decided secretly. Perhaps¡­ I can put on a spectacular performance? But won''t it be too suspicious on the second day I''m here?


    "Hmm, in view of your cooperation today, I''ll let things go!" Fang Yuan waved his hand dismissively. Xiao Jiuli and Chu Duo immediately showed expressions of surprise.


    In fact, these outer disciples were the most inferior among all in the Golden Soul Sect.


    If they had some background or slightly better talent, they would have become inner disciples earlier.


    Seeing how great he was, they even had some thoughts of having Fang Yuan as their boss.


    Unfortunately, Fang Yuan did not give them the chance to do so. He shooed them away as though they were flies.


    He changed his plan and returned to the small courtyard. He sat cross-legged with a grave expression. "The Heavenly Circuit Immortal Sect has finally arrived."


    ¡­


    Thirty-Three-Level Outer Heaven Tower, Sixteen Countries.


    Fang Yuan''s Torch Dragon clone awakened from comprehending nomological laws, and his eyes focused. "Here comes the first wave!"


    Before, Immortal Tai Xuan could not do anything to him and did not dare to take risks himself. He could only form an array to lock down the entire void and mobilize personnel from the Heavenly Circuit Immortal Sect.


    Based on his speculation, it was impossible for another Grand Unity Immortal to come. It was most likely a team of Immortals with some treasures.


    Of course, the Immortals of cultivation Holy Lands were much stronger than Immortals elsewhere. This reinforcement team would have no problem destroying all the sects of the Sixteen Countries.


    "Greetings to Elder Tai Xuan!"


    Twelve streams of light flew down, transformed into Immortals, and paid their respects to Immortal Tai Xuan.


    "Hmm! It''s fine!" Elder Tai Xuan waved his hand and fixed his gaze on the leader. "So it''s little fellow Hui Ye. Did you bring them?"


    "According to Elder''s instructions, I''ve brought with me thirteen Realm Breaking Beads, a set of the Twelve Heavenly Scorching Array, and the ''Nine Void Banner''!" Immortal Hui Ye bowed respectfully and took out the items.


    Realm Breaking Beads were one-time-use items for breaking through space barriers without any disadvantages.


    The Twelve Heavenly Scorching Array required twelve Immortals to work together. The power was immense and enough to lock down the void. Even someone at perfection in the Illusion Realm''s nomological laws would find it hard to resist it.


    These items were created by the greatest genius disciple in the history of the Heavenly Circuit Immortal Sect.


    This disciple had originally comprehended six sets of nomological laws to perfection and had a body comparable to an immortal artifact. However, he was unsatisfied and tried to comprehend more paths when he was at Nascent Soul. Finally, he reached basic mastery in the Illusion Realm''s nomological laws before eventually cultivating them to perfection. He was ranked as the top person beneath Immortal.


    Unfortunately, he had not survived the lightning tribulation.


    The Nine Void Banner was a top-grade immortal artifact. A Grand Supreme Immortal had refined it personally and had even infused the soul of a Demon Immortal who cultivated the Illusion Realm''s nomological laws into it!


    This treasure''s value was not the slightly best under that of some primordial treasures.


    "Very good!" Immortal Tai Xuan stroked his beard. "Leave six people here to form the Twelve Heavenly Scorching Array with these Immortals. The rest of you prepare to charge into the Outer Heaven Tower with me!"


    "We obey your command!" Immortal Hui Ye bowed, but the other Immortals groaned in secret.


    After working so hard and so long, they had not even been allowed to leave when their sects were trashed. But unexpectedly, their suffering had yet to end.


    It did not take long before twelve black Qi rose into the air and enveloped the reeds in its entirety.


    Occasionally, a Godfiend with the head of a human and the body of a bird emerged in the void. It had four wings and six eyes. Fierce and mighty. Most importantly, it could travel through the void at will, seeming as though it had comprehended the Illusion Realm''s nomological laws.


    "Haha¡­ With this array, that kid will be courting death if he dares to come here again!" Elder Tai Xuan laughed heartily, and with six Immortals, they activated the Realm Breaking Beads. "Open!!!"


    ¡­


    "Has it started?" Fang Yuan stood in front of the stone stele, his voice calm. "Artifact spirit! Open the thirty-first level and send them straight in!"


    The Realm Breaking Beads were indeed powerful. In theory, they could pass through the first nineteen floors at will.


    However, Fang Yuan obviously would not let them go through his fortress level by level. He was going to give them hell from the beginning.


    The space after the twentieth level might be very difficult to open up with dead objects, but he initiated the opening himself. Even the Realm Breaking Beads would naturally search for the weakest point in the area, similar to a leaking pond automatically absorbing the surrounding water.


    Light flashed.


    Elder Tai Xuan brought Hui Ye''s group of six immortals and rushed into the space.


    The ground was dry and cracked. Lava surged all around, and toxic smoke filled the air, not looking like a good place at all.


    "This place¡­ should be the trial ground for Immortals!"


    Immortal Hui Ye sized up his surroundings. "We have six people and Elder Tai Xuan. What is a mere test for Immortals?"


    They were all prideful Immortals of the Heavenly Circuit Immortal Sect.


    In their opinion, the evaluation for Immortals of Mount Mengyan should be similar to that of the Heavenly Circuit Immortal Sect. It would be extremely difficult for ordinary Immortals, but it would be easy for them, especially since they were cheating.


    However, Immortal Hui Ye''s expression froze the very next moment.


    Because Elder Tai Xuan remained silent as he gazed at the surroundings, with a little¡­ fear?


    "Im-impossible. How can there be an otherworldly demon here?"


    As they neared him, they could hear him muttering to himself.


    "An evaluation with a chained otherworldly demon. We have something similar in our Heavenly Circuit Immortal Sect. It seems like we''re at the last level¡­" Immortal Hui Ye naturally felt the Demonic Qi of Heaven and Earth, but he did not take it seriously.


    The next moment¡­ Rumble!


    The sky cracked, a volcano erupted, and dark Qi burst into the sky.


    The biggest volcano suddenly disintegrated, shocking the Immortals, and an enormous Godfiend emerged!


    It had a human torso, twelve eerily bluish horns, and a layer of ice armor.


    Numerous thick chains were drilled directly in its body, holding it firmly to the ground.


    But at this moment, it seemed to receive some form of stimulation as its eyes suddenly sprang open.


    Whoosh whoosh!


    Cold winds howled, and snowflakes swept across.


    The volcano instantly froze, and the world transformed into one of ice and snow.


    Roar Roar!


    The Ice Godfiend focused its eyes at Tai Xuan and roared.


    The sound waves caused even the Immortals to lose their bearing.


    "Primordial¡­ Godfiend?" Immortal Hui Ye only felt bitterness in his mouth. "Why is there such a demon here?"

 1095 Nine Void

    "Primordial Godfiend!"


    The Immortals shriveled in fear.


    They were elites from a Holy Land, but they could only fight against the otherworldly demons at best.


    A Primordial Godfiend was comparable to a Grand Unity Immortal!


    "Immortals¡­ die!"


    This Ice Godfiend looked at Immortal Tai Xuan and the rest with undisguised hatred. With its roar, pale blue light spread throughout the entire space. The temperature plummeted, seeming as though it would even freeze the soul!


    "It''s definitely the power of a Great Dao!"


    Immortal Tai Xuan raised his hand, and a layer of colorful brilliance enveloped him and the Immortals behind him.


    Ordinary otherworldly demons were comparable to Immortals. With the runes of destruction on their bodies, they automatically controlled the Nomological Laws of Destruction. The Primordial Godfiends, however, controlled the Destruction Great Dao!


    This Primordial Godfiend grasped both the Destruction Great Dao and the Dao of Ice. It was an anomaly even among the Godfiends and extremely powerful.


    "What a demon. Unfortunately, you still have a seal on you, and your natural source is too depleted. Want to destroy me?" Elder Tai Xuan said angrily. A large multi-colored hand pressed down on it with immense force.


    A Primordial Godfiend that was trapped in the Thirty-Three-Level Outer Heaven Tower was naturally an exceptional Godfiends. However, any Godfiend that had been imprisoned for countless years and had its natural source extracted periodically to refine Dao Comprehension Stones would inevitably have its strength continuously decline.


    Not to mention, Fang Yuan had not completely released the seal on this Primordial Godfiend.


    Immortal Tai Xuan not only had his complete Grand Unity cultivation base, but he also had many immortal artifacts, as well as Immortal Hui Ye and the other Immortals with him!


    All of this caused the suppression of the Ice Godfiend, having it consume more energy to the point where its aura quickly weakened.


    "Haha¡­ Its bark is more than its bite!"


    The large multi-colored hand transformed into a huge mountain and pressed the Ice Godfiend to the ground. Immortal Hui Ye smiled when he saw this scene. "Elder is invincible!"


    "Luckily, it''s just a Primordial Godfiend under many restrictions. Even I would have trouble dealing with it if it were at full strength¡­" Immortal Tai Xuan was very clear about his own abilities. "Of course, if the one imprisoned was a Chaos Godfiend with its Connate Great Dao, we would have lost immediately, regardless of what state it was in!"


    Chaos Godfiend!


    Terrifying Godfiends that only appeared during the late stages of a large-scale demon disaster! Their combat strength was comparable to that of Grand Supreme Immortals!


    Tai Xuan was well aware of how horrifying these Godfiends were. They had already promoted their Dao of Destruction to the ultimate level! It was known as the ''Connate Destruction Great Dao'' or the ''Chaos Destruction Great Dao''. Given the chance, they could truly destroy an entire world!


    A Connate Great Dao was not inferior to the perfect Dao path of a Netherheaven Demon God. Even more extreme was its astonishing destructive power.


    Of course, the birth of a Chaos Godfiend had even destroyed Mount Mengyan, a Holy Land with a Grand Supreme Immortal. Imprisonment was a joke.


    "Connate Destruction Great Dao? A Great Dao sublimated to the pinnacle?"


    Elder Tai Xuan did not know that everything he said was benefiting Fang Yuan.


    He looked into the light mirror at the Ice Godfiend that had been driven to the end of its road and waved his hand. "Sever all the restrictions! In addition, move the two Godfiends from the thirty-second and thirty-third levels! Lift all their restrictions as well!"


    This decision was very tough to make.


    Releasing three Primordial Godfiends was similar to letting wild beasts loose. It would be nearly impossible to lock them up again.


    In this case, the greatest value of the Outer Heaven Tower, the ability to create Dao Comprehension Stones from the Dao Comprehension Pond, would lose its function due to the loss of raw materials.


    "But there''s no other way¡­ Judging from that Immortal Tai Xuan''s strength, I''ll likely need at least two weakened Primordial Godfiends to be able to defeat him. Three is necessary to make the rest fall¡­ Eh?"


    His eyes moved and saw Immortal Tai Xuan taking out the Nine Void Banner.


    "What an amazing top-grade immortal artifact. It''s actually space-type one, a rarity¡­ With this thing, it seems unrealistic to kill Tai Xuan¡­"


    He changed his strategy immediately. "Continue restricting the Godfiend on the thirty-third level. Move the Godfiend on the thirty-second level and release its restrictions along with that of the current Godfiend. Start!"


    ¡­


    "The materials on this Primordial Godfiend aren''t bad. They can enhance the Nine Void Banner¡­"


    Elder Tai Xuan looked at the Ice Godfiend under the suppression of the colorful mountain, and the Nine Void Banner appeared in his hand.


    But right at that moment¡­ Kacha! Kacha!


    The thick chains on the Ice Godfiend started shattering.


    Simultaneously, another immense figure suddenly loomed in front of the Immortals. It was another terrifying Godfiend!


    This new Primordial Godfiend was burning with raging flames and had a pair of black wings. It had a pair of horns on its human-like head with numerous white chains wrapped around it, which were constantly disintegrating.


    "Another Primordial Godfiend! And totally unleashed¡­" Elder Tai Xuan gazed at this scene, stunned, and suddenly shouted, "Situ Zhaixing, you''re still here?!"


    Transporting them to here could be a natural reaction from the artifact spirit.


    However, the complete release of the two Primordial Godfiends was something only the master could do.


    Therefore, Immortal Tai Xuan realized this immediately. "We''ve been tricked by that Situ Zhaixing! Prepare to¡­ retreat!"


    The arrogant Immortals of the Heavenly Circuit Immortal Sect could only run for their lives in this precarious situation.


    "Realm Breaking Beads!"


    Immortal Hui Ye and the rest obliged immediately. They were not idiots. With two Primordial Godfiends against a Grand Unity Immortal, even the shockwaves of their fight could cause them to die!


    Therefore, all of them took out the Realm Breaking Beads in preparation to leave.


    They might be one-time-use items, but they had prepared more than ten of them, more than enough for six Immortals to use.


    Poof! Poof!


    Six pitch-black passages emerged, connecting to the void.


    Immortal Hui Ye and the rest immediately entered.


    But the next moment, numerous ripples appeared in the void passages, instantly causing them to collapse.


    An Immortal who could not escape in time had his arm drawn into the void, and it disappeared without a trace.


    He was shocked still for a while before screaming out, "My immortal body, the arm is completely lost!"


    Each wisp of an Immortal''s Qi could instill them with life, so it was almost impossible for mortals to injure them. However, some perilous locations could even obliterate Grand Unity Immortals!


    A trivial immortal body was naturally useless within spatial vibrations.


    "The Realm Breaking Beads are no longer effective¡­" Venerable Hui Ye said anxiously. "Elder Tai Xuan¡­"


    "This must have been Situ Zhaixing''s arrangements. This place is likely in the depths of the Outer Heaven Tower¡­"


    Elder Tai Xuan looked solemn as he waved the banner in his hand. "Nine Void Banner!"


    Poof!


    He disappeared from the siege of the two Primordial Godfiends and reappeared behind the Ice Godfiend. "Five Elements Dharma!"


    Five-colored beams of light gathered and turned into a bolt of lightning, directly breaking the armor of ice and causing the Primordial Godfiend''s blood to splatter.


    "Teleportation is a great skill!"


    Elder Tai Xuan laughed, and the endless space around him seemed to transform into a solid barrier.


    This Nine Void Banner acted like an additional complete set of the Illusion Realm''s nomological laws, and it could exert numerous spatial abilities.


    "What a good immortal artifact! It can actually add the power of nomological laws!"


    Fang Yuan looked on quietly within the core hub.


    Of course, the nomological laws of the Illusion Realm were embedded in the immortal artifact, and there was no possibility of improvement.


    Furthermore, Immortal Tai Xuan would immediately revert back to his original state once he lost the immortal artifact. After all, the nomological laws were not his own but from a foreign object.


    Even so, its value was not inferior to that of a primordial treasure!


    "I wouldn''t be so lucky if I were to meet Immortal Tai Xuan outside." Fang Yuan sneered and pressed the stone stele. "Suppress!"


    Buzz buzz!


    On the thirty-first level, a terrifying force consumed Immortal Tai Xuan''s Illusion Realm''s nomological laws.


    "How can the Nomological Laws of Space on this floor be so powerful? They''re not worse than that of the Nine Void Banner?"


    Immortal Tai Xuan was shocked as he felt his Nomological Laws of Space being continuously negated.


    He had never imagined that the Outer Heaven Tower possessed such wondrous uses. It was absolutely at the highest level of primordial treasures!


    The strength of the Illusion Realm''s nomological laws alone was comparable to that of the Nine Void Banner, not to mention imprisoning Primordial Demon Gods.


    If he had known this earlier, he would certainly not have faced this danger by himself, and he would have asked at least two or three comrades with the same realm to be sure.


    However, he was now trapped in a quagmire.


    Roar Roar!


    "Immortals¡­ die!"


    The two Primordial Godfiends surrounded Immortal Tai Xuan.


    Fang Yuan manipulated the Outer Heaven Tower''s Illusion Realm restriction, and it competed with the Nine Void Banner to offset each other.


    The nomological laws contained in these two magic treasures might be at the same level, but Fang Yuan had comprehended them himself and naturally had an advantage over Elder Tai Xuan, who did not understand them as in-depth as him.


    "Ahh!" A scream came. The Fire Godfiend had caught the slowest Immortal and swallowed him. He did not make another sound.


    After swallowing the Immortal, the Fire Godfiend''s aura rose a little. It grinned evilly and continued to battle.


    Before long, Hui Ye and the other Immortals were swallowed by the waves of the battle and died.


    "Ah¡­ Situ Zhaixing, the Heavenly Circuit Immortal Sect will never let you off!"


    Immortal Tai Xuan''s hair was disheveled, and his heart was bleeding.


    After his outcry, he activated the Nine Void Banner and spat blood essence onto it, trying to open a passage.


    After all, this treasure was stronger than the Realm Breaking Beads, and with a Grand Unity not hesitating to sacrifice his vitality to activate it, a silver-white moon arc flashed.


    The void trembled, and a pitch-black passage was cut open.


    The sleeves of Immortal Tai Xuan''s robes exploded. It was also a top-grade immortal artifact and managed to entangle the two Godfiends for the time being. He stepped into the passage, turned back, and hissed, "I, Tai Xuan, will definitely take revenge for today!"


    "Stay here!"


    Fang Yuan activated the power of the primordial treasure, but instead of targeting Elder Tai Xuan, he concentrated all its power onto the Nine Void Banner!


    "Thief, how dare you try to steal my sect''s treasure!"


    Immortal Tai Xuan''s eyes flashed with indignance!

 1096 Star

    "We''re already enemies, so why wouldn''t I dare to steal your treasure? What you said is a joke, Tai Xuan!" Fang Yuan''s spiritual will transmitted. The entire Thirty-Three-Level Outer Heaven Tower rumbled.


    He was determined to obtain this Nine Void Banner.


    Otherwise, if a few Grand Unity Immortals were to barge in under its protection next time, he might really have problem resisting.


    Moreover, this immortal artifact contained the complete Illusion Realm''s nomological laws and was just as precious as a primordial treasure. This was likely the only one in the entire Heavenly Circuit Immortal Sect.


    "The passage appeared!"


    "Go!"


    The two Primordial Godfiends saw the passage, and their eyes flashed red for a split second.


    The pain of being imprisoned for millions of years, the suppression of their desire to destroy, and the extraction of their natural source was the cruelest torture to them.


    They gazed at the passage opened by Immortal Tai Xuan and immediately used up everything they had. Their scarred hands pulled at the edges of the space, expanding the passage.


    The formation of the space passage was entirely due to the Nine Void Banner.


    Them doing this naturally put considerable pressure on this top-grade immortal artifact.


    I better release these two Godfiends. I have no means to continue suppressing them, but they can cause immense destruction inside this tower! Fang Yuan decided in a split second.


    An enormous passage formed in space with the channeling of power from both the Grand Unity Immortal and Fang Yuan.


    Immortal Tai Xuan''s roar came from within it. "No!"


    It was a huge burden on the Nine Void Banner for the two giant Godfiends to enter it.


    Adding on to Fang Yuan''s continuous pull on it, finally¡­


    Crack!


    The very moment the passage contracted, the battered Nine Void Banner broke at its waist!


    Smack!


    Fang Yuan shut the passage entirely, leaving half of the Nine Void Banner within the Outer Heaven Tower.


    "Suppress!"


    A mere Nascent Soul cultivator could suppress any immortal artifact once it lost its master''s control, even if it was top grade and contained the Illusion Realm''s nomological laws. Fang Yuan simply used a tiny bit of power from the Outer Heaven Tower to completely suppress it.


    "However, there were heavy losses this time. I might even get hurt if everything were to happen again¡­" Fang Yuan''s Torch Dragon clone rubbed his lower chin. "After all, those from cultivation Holy Lands aren''t idiots and will gain experience from this wave. Their loss this time was a result of them not knowing the strength of the Outer Heaven Tower, but the next time will be extremely difficult¡­"


    He decided that he would have to abandon the tower if another siege were to happen.


    Putting his clone in danger for the sake of a primordial treasure was not worth the risk.


    "If my hunch serves me right, those two Primordial Godfiends will cause a stir in the world¡­ If this doesn''t occur, I''ll retreat immediately! My main body might seem stable in the Great Sage Immortal World, but it''s in a Holy Land after all. I would immediately become passive if something were to happen. With another life safe outside, I''ll have more freedom to act!"


    He sat cross-legged and opened a light screen to the outside world.


    ¡­


    Above the reeds.


    The void broke open, and Tai Xuan''s sorry figure appeared.


    "Nine Void Banner?" He was expressionless as he gazed at the empty pole in his hand, obviously having calmed down entirely. "Situ Zhaixing, good! Very good! You have become an eternal enemy of my Heavenly Circuit Immortal Sect! We''ll hunt you down to the ends of the world!"


    "Elder Tai Xuan?" Seeing this scene, the other Immortals had a bad premonition. "Where are the other Immortals?"


    "Start the Twelve Heavenly Scorching Array! You six, follow me quickly!"


    Elder Tai Xuan put away the banner and left with the six Immortals of Heavenly Circuit Immortal Sect, without looking back. "Spread the word. The demon disaster this time has erupted early because of Situ Zhaixing!"


    "How is it possible for a Demonic Tribulation to happen ahead of time?"


    The remaining Immortals stared with incredulous looks.


    But the next moment, two terrifying Godfiends appeared in the sky.


    "Finally¡­ out!"


    "I''m¡­ back!"


    The power of ice and fire spread, and the Immortals who could not escape fast enough turned into statues of the elements.


    These two Primordial Godfiends roared toward the sky. The fury in their spiritual will traveled far and wide.


    "Primordial Godfiends!" The Immortals of the Heavenly Circuit Immortal Sect quivered. "They appeared before the Demonic Tribulation arrived. It''s very likely for them to resonate with the otherworldly demons, bringing the disaster ahead of time!"


    "The loss of Hui Ye and the others was my fault. After returning, I will apologize to the elders!" Immortal Tai Xuan said lightly. "It''s imperative to notify the sect master immediately!"


    "Understood!" The rest of the Immortals bowed while thinking to themselves secretly.


    Seems like Situ Zhaixing caused the patriarch to suffer quite a big loss!


    In fact, the Twelve Heavenly Scorching Array also has the ability to restrict space. If we had cooperated fully with Martial Uncle resisting in the middle, it might not have been impossible for us to defeat those two Primordial Godfiends. At the very least, we would have formed a stalemate! But there are too many variables, especially in front of the Outer Heaven Tower. If we were to expose any weaknesses and that Situ Zhaixing came to find trouble with us, we would have been in danger of being completely annihilated!


    I''d rather betray the world than to have the world betray me! Even if the demon disaster is ahead of time, it doesn''t mean that our Holy Land can''t cope with it!


    The Holy Lands had seen countless demon disasters throughout history.


    To them, an ordinary demon disaster was not scary in the least. Even if Primordial Godfiends besieged them, they could defend themselves within their sect.


    As long as Chaos Godfiends were not born, they could enjoy eternal peace!


    ¡­


    "They really left!" Half a day later, Fang Yuan appeared.


    The two Primordial Godfiends had left quickly after having their fill of all the Immortals. He did not know where they went, but the Sixteen Countries were going to suffer from bad luck.


    What astonished him the most was Immortal Tai Xuan''s decision.


    He had left decisively without even trying.


    "If you had really wanted to eliminate those two evil creatures, why would I deliberately obstruct you ¡­" Fang Yuan hovered in the void and sighed. "You are half responsible for the early demon disaster."


    He gazed at the sky.


    A strange layer of dark red rose like flames, slowly covering the entire sky like a heavenly canopy.


    "Resistance from the world?"


    The next moment, the world dimmed, and numerous stars appeared!


    The numerous stars rained down like meteors, smashing onto the dark red heavenly canopy.


    A large number of otherworldly demons were burnt into ashes by the flames before they could enter this world.


    But a few lucky ones escaped that fate. They turned into meteors and landed all over the world.


    Some otherworldly demons started killing indiscriminately, while the others hid.


    Those that could restrain their desires to destroy were among the best of the otherworldly demons and had the potential to become Primordial Godfiends in the future.


    "Resonance of Demonic Qi? So the escape of those two Primordial Godfiends was equivalent to sending a signal to the otherworldly demons in the chaos?" Fang Yuan rubbed his chin. "Did the demon disaster start early because of this? This isn''t good news for the Sixteen Countries or even the Hundred Thousand Mountains!"


    The Immortals of the Sixteen Countries had experienced several calamities and were nearly completely annihilated.


    He had no doubt that if the barbarians of the Hundred Thousand Mountains wanted to occupy most of the Sixteen Countries now, they could do so without much effort.


    Of course, any expansion at this time meant spreading their forces, which was not much different from courting death.


    ¡­


    Hundred Thousand Mountains, Barbarians.


    "Blood staining the sky; stars visible in the day. The sign of a Demonic Tribulation?" At the peak of the Holy Mountain, Immortal Brutal Child looked up at the sky. "Shouldn''t it be in another ten years?"


    Five figures walked out from behind him. They were Brutal Emperor, Brutal Extinction, Rising Sun, Dark Essence, and Mo He!


    During this time, Mo He had successfully transcended the lightning tribulation and joined the ranks of the barbarian Immortals!


    Roar Roar!


    A fierce roar came from beneath the Holy Mountain. Black Qi was trying to burst out, responding to the situation of the outside world.


    "This demon always tries to escape during the Demonic Tribulations. Suppress it together!" Immortal Brutal Child had a cold expression.


    The six Immortals working together with Pantheon''s restriction easily suppressed the demon.


    "The subtle release of this demon''s might is also beneficial. At the very least, few otherworldly demons dare to come close to our Hundred Thousand Mountains!"


    Mo He had just joined their ranks and received advice from his predecessors. "This is also the foundation of our Hundred Thousand Mountains¡­. Of course, this can only deter some Immortal-level otherworldly demons. It''ll have no effect against Primordial Godfiends. Nonetheless, the Hundred Thousand Mountains is remote, and there have never been any Primordial Godfiends during the past Demonic Tribulations¡­"


    "However, we''ve already sworn to join the Combat Heavenly Palace and stand together with the Sixteen Countries for this demon disaster!" Immortal Brutal Emperor had a difficult look on his face. "Many preparations have yet to be completed since it happened so early!"


    "Never mind!" Immortal Brutal Child took out a jade talisman, which was an immortal token from the Combat Heavenly Palace for facilitating communications. "Are the Fellow Daoists of the Combat Heavenly there? We have to discuss our plans since the demon disaster has arrived!"


    This message seemed to sink into the depths of the ocean. After quite some time, a hoarse voice replied, "Is this Immortal Brutal Child of the Hundred Thousand Mountains?"


    "Whom might you be?" The barbarian Immortals were surprised.


    "I''m Lie Huo, an itinerant Immortal of Qingfeng City¡­ The Combat Heavenly Palace no longer exists!" Venerable Lie Huo''s helpless voice came from the jade talisman. "After experiencing many calamities, the Immortals of the Sixteen Countries suffered heavy casualties and are in complete disorder¡­ At this time, I want to form an alliance with the Hundred Thousand Mountains to protect ourselves!"


    "Wait!" Immortal Brutal Child and the other Immortals exchanged baffled looks. Only a few sects had easily overpowered and suppressed the Hundred Thousand Mountains, but that extremely powerful Sixteen Countries had fallen to this point?


    "What happened?" Immortal Brutal Child asked immediately.


    "It''s because of a crazy cultivator named Situ Zhaixing. He seems to have barbarian origins¡­" Venerable Lie Huo replied weakly.

 1097 Disaster

    In the dark chaos outside the Wasteland World.


    Countless otherworldly demons began waking up.


    "On that land is the aura of Primordial Godfiends!"


    "This is the best signal. No need to wait, we''ll break through immediately!"


    A few powerful Godfiends bellowed orders, while the other otherworldly demons had basically no awareness of danger. Their eyes only had bloodthirst, and like moths to a flame, they closed in on the Wasteland World.


    "Go, destroy everything! For the supreme chaos of the universe!" A spiritual will resounded and suddenly bombarded downward.


    The entire Wasteland World shook, and three claw marks appeared on the heavenly canopy, looking like a wound of heaven.


    Many Primordial Godfiends roared in excitement as they led legions of otherworldly demons to fly into the world from the wound.


    "A wound of heaven?!" At the same time, on the Wasteland World, numerous existences raised their heads to look at the wound in the sky with furrowed brows. "It''s a large-scale demon disaster!"


    Demon disasters varied in scale.


    In the past, small-scale demon disasters featured mainly otherworldly demons, with the occasional Primordial Godfiend. The cultivation Holy Lands could easily stop them.


    Large-scale demon disasters were much worse! Not only would the number of otherworldly demons explode, but Chaos Godfiends would appear as well!


    With only their Connate Destruction Great Dao, they could harm the nomological laws of the world and tear apart the heavenly canopy defense.


    If Fang Yuan were present, he would surely understand. Only Great Daos that were comparable to the perfect Dao paths of Netherheaven Demon Gods could truly fight against an entire world!


    The appearance of this wound of heaven was indisputable proof that Chaos Godfiends were involved!


    "It''s actually a large-scale demon disaster!"


    "A heavenly tribulation that hasn''t occurred for ten thousand years! To think our generation would actually encounter it!"


    "Hurry and gather all the Immortal disciples and awaken all the elders!"


    "Maintain the Mountain Guarding Array at its strongest at all times. Don''t be stingy with top-grade spirit stones!"


    ¡­


    At the same time, almost all Holy Land sects started taking defensive actions.


    Near the Central Region of the Great Sage Immortal World.


    A group of Immortals suddenly stopped. "It''s a large-scale demon disaster! Hurry and return!"


    "Deacon Qi, are we going to stop tracking down that murderer?" One Immortal was very reluctant. "That murderer killed the disciples of our Heavenly Circuit Immortal Sect and is wicked beyond redemption! According to the soul searches of that master-servant pair who were on the run, the murderer took an Iron Mountain Token from them, so the Iron Mountain Gate likely has a connection¡­"


    "I''m naturally aware of this. However, our Heavenly Circuit Immortal Sect and the Golden Soul Sect have always had a rocky relationship, so we can''t ask it for help. And the Iron Mountain Gate is a branch of the Golden Soul Sect. It will take a long time to track him down. We could take things slow in ordinary times, but there''s a demon disaster now, and it''s a large-scale one at that. If we''re even the slightest bit negligent, we will encounter a tribulation!" the leading Immortal Qi said calmly.


    He was clad in silver armor and looked extremely dashing. With a silver spear in hand, his murderous aura soared. Even among Immortals, he was the type that excelled in killing.


    "Okay¡­ understood!" After hearing this, no matter how unwilling the other Immortals were, they could only choose to return.


    After all, it was a large-scale demon disaster. Even cultivation Holy Lands could collapse! The previous Mount Mengyan was the best example!


    Roar Roar!


    Just as they were about to turn into streaks of light and return, pillars of black Qi that towered to the sky suddenly appeared.


    The figures of otherworldly demons started to appear slowly from them, and their demon claws directly grabbed at the Immortals.


    "Have a taste of my spear!" Immortal Qi shook his spear, and it suddenly turned into nine spears that seemed to have lightning coursing through them.


    Whoosh!


    A blue light appeared, and lightning danced wildly.


    Under this thunder god-like attack, nine otherworldly demons flew backward, howling. Their scales were broken, with black smoke rising.


    "Nice Thunderbolt Spear Dao!" the other Immortals exclaimed in admiration.


    Deacon Qi was one of the elite Immortals of the Heavenly Circuit Immortal Sect. He had comprehended the Nomological Laws of Spear and the Nomological Laws of Thunderbolt, and created his own ''Thunderbolt Spear Dao''. Even Grand Unity Immortals praised that once this Dao reached perfection, he could advance to the respected Grand Unity status!


    If it were not for the death of an Immortal, a genius like him would not be on the pursuit team.


    This man has both brawn and brain, knowing when to advance and when to retreat. Perhaps¡­ he can fight for the position of sect master one day!


    Upon arriving at this thought, the gazes of the other Immortals changed.


    Deacon Qi was clearly enjoying these gazes. It also appeared that he had been promised something by a voice transmission, and he proclaimed loudly, "Haha¡­ You guys don''t need to do anything. I can handle these otherworldly demons by myself!"


    Suddenly, there was a turn of events!


    An enormous demon palm descended from the sky like a mountain, casting a shadow that covered hundreds of kilometers.


    "It''s a Primordial Godfiend!" Deacon Qi immediately put away his spear. "Help me, everyone! Thunder Dragon Array! Quick!"


    The Immortals formed the array. Lightning sparkled before turning into a blue electric dragon that coiled itself around the spear.


    Roar Roar!


    The thunderbolt dragon roared and struck simultaneously with the spear at the demon claw.


    Ding!


    With a clear chime, the demon claw stopped before suddenly splitting open in the center.


    "Go!"


    Seeing this, Deacon Qi transformed into a ray of electric light and vanished into the horizon without looking back.


    Being able to exchange a blow with a Primordial Godfiend and escape with his life was enough to make him famous among Immortals.


    In addition, he knew that he could escape with his life-saving technique. It was already fortunate that he could escape, and he had no thoughts about saving his companions.


    The next moment, an enormous demon shadow appeared in the sky. It issued an earthshaking roar in rage due to Deacon Qi''s escape.


    "It''s¡­ the Primordial Godfiend?"


    The remaining Immortals had faces filled with despair as they desperately used their life-saving techniques and artifacts.


    Unfortunately, not everyone was as powerful and as talented as Immortal Qi. A few lights danced underneath the demon claw, but they were unable to find an opening. The Primordial Godfiend swallowed them one by one.


    "Indeed¡­ Immortals taste the best!"


    After devouring the Immortals, the body of the Primordial Godfiend increased dramatically. "Go forth¡­ Destroy everything you see!"


    Under its command, masses of otherworldly demons started sweeping out in all directions like locusts, bringing destruction to the world.


    ¡­


    Golden Soul Sect.


    A golden bell with dragon patterns rang. Fang Yuan joined a group of outer disciples and looked at the wound on the heavenly canopy.


    "It''s actually the Golden Dragon Bell!" Chu Duo muttered. "This is only sounded when the main sect has a crisis of annihilation!"


    "Seems like the demon disaster arrived earlier than expected!"


    As disciples of a cultivation Holy Land, their outlook and source of information were naturally incomparable to the low-level cultivators and mortals.


    Before the mortals and low-level cultivators were aware of anything, they had already formed a rather accurate speculation of the situation.


    "The demon disaster is ahead of time?"


    "This is bad! My family is still outside!"


    "Why is this happening?"


    ¡­


    Many sighs came, and Fang Yuan pretended to be shocked as well. Naturally, he would not admit that this had anything to do with him.


    "A Demonic Tribulation! Even small-scale demon disasters plunge the entire world into misery and suffering!"


    He blinked and recalled many descriptions. "Otherworldly demons know nothing but destruction. They can wipe out an ordinary human city in less than an hour. Every time there''s a demon disaster, anguished cries resound throughout the land, and places become barren for thousands of kilometers¡­ Of course, everything is equal under the demon disaster. Wild lifeforms, even Fey, ghosts, monsters, and evil beings will not escape its wrath!


    "However, in addition to guarding their own sects, some cultivation Holy Lands will send out troops to protect the main cities in order to preserve the last vitalities of the human race! The Golden Soul Sect has ten main cities under us, each of which can accommodate a million people under normal circumstances. Under urgent circumstances, a few million is no problem!


    "Besides having a Grand Unity and other Immortals protecting these cities, disciples are needed to patrol as well. Want to pass your days leisurely from today onward? Fat chance!"


    While Fang Yuan was contemplating, a booming voice echoed throughout the entire Golden Soul Sect. "Although demon disasters are fierce, the Golden Soul Sect has endured for millions of years. You can rest assured, for our sect is impregnable! Starting today, the outer and inner disciples will obey the commands of the Battle Hall. We will delegate missions after seven days. Violations of orders will result in death regardless of the reason. Both body and soul will be destroyed!"


    The faces of Xiao Jiuli and others immediately paled after hearing the notice. "This is bad. I knew the sect wouldn''t let us hide here forever!"


    Naturally, it was very safe inside the Golden Soul Sect.


    However, the defenses at the ten main cities failed occasionally, and even some Grand Unity Immortals had fallen. This was all recorded in the history books.


    Since even Grand Unity Immortals were dispatched, ordinary disciples naturally needed to contribute.


    The only exceptions were the core disciples!


    After all, they were true geniuses and highly likely to tackle the Grand Unity realm in the future. They were the last seeds and could not be expended needlessly.


    "Seven days left!" Xiao Jiuli and Chu Duo exchanged glances and then rushed toward the Mission Hall. "Let''s exchange all our contribution points. If it''s possible to become an inner disciple, do so immediately!"


    In this war, the outer disciples had the most dangerous missions, while things were slightly better for inner disciples.


    At this time, they naturally had to fight with everything they had.


    The seven-day grace period that the Golden Soul Sect announced, in addition to allowing the disciples to prepare for the upcoming war, was to give a final chance for the hidden geniuses to pass the challenge.


    Many disciples understood this, so when Fang Yuan arrived at the Mission Hall, he saw a bustling scene.


    Moreover, the sect had reduced the prices of many dao talismans, dao artifacts, and so on, clearly showing consideration for the numerous disciples.


    Of course, the liveliest place was the Golden Soul Realm.


    The gates to the realm were full of disciples who wanted to make a final effort.


    Fang Yuan reckoned that the situation in the inner sect would be even crazier.


    After all, their status would completely change after becoming a core disciple. Even the missions assigned to them would not pose any real danger. They could even choose to hide cowardly within the Golden Soul Sect until the demon disaster passed.


    "There will surely be many outstanding outer and inner disciples at this time, so I shouldn''t stand out too much among them¡­" Fang Yuan muttered to himself as he walked toward the realm gates. "Even if they detect that something is amiss, with how busy the Grand Unity Immortals are, there''s a high chance I will succeed!"

 1098 Trial

    In the Golden Soul Realm.


    The originally calm grounds suddenly became busy.


    Fang Yuan stood on top of an iron tree and casually grabbed a small golden snake that tried to ambush him. He tossed it aside, plucked a Golden Soul Fruit, and ate it happily.


    "Within the surrounding twenty-five kilometers, there are no other disciples¡­ This makes sense. No matter how small the Golden Soul Realm, it''s the size of a country. Combined with the artifact spirit''s intentional adjustments, the disciples are dispersed as much as possible. If they weren''t, they could form groups to enter the third region and make the test a joke!"


    Fang Yuan kept alert.


    Although this test of the Golden Soul Sect seemed crude, the artifact spirit and Immortals kept watch at all times. He would be courting death if he tried to abuse any loopholes.


    On the other hand, trials like that of the Thirty-Three-Level Outer Heaven Tower were exploitable once the master was no longer around, no matter how rigorous the settings were.


    "However, with my spiritual will, gathering a bunch of disciples is merely a matter of time!"


    His spiritual will could be attached to spatial vibrations and was unaffected by the Nomological Laws of Gravity. As such, he had a huge advantage in the Golden Soul Realm since he could detect golden beasts in advance and find routes that avoided them.


    "The requirement to become a core disciple of the Golden Soul Sect is to enter the third region and survive for more than three days!"


    Fang Yuan decided on a direction and started off while taking detours.


    Roar Roar!


    A golden cheetah spotted him and suddenly accelerated, turning into a sharp arrow that bit his shoulder.


    Crack!


    The cheetah''s teeth broke, and it rolled around on the ground, wailing in agony.


    "You''ve eaten a loss, huh?" Fang Yuan brushed his torn clothes and revealed his smooth shoulder that did not even have a mark. "The golden beasts in the first region can damage dao artifacts. Golden beasts in the second region can only be resisted with bodies at the top-grade dao artifact level. But without a body at the immortal artifact level, entering the third is courting death!"


    At this time, he had undoubtedly cultivated the Nine Transference Undying Method to the third transference, and his body was comparable to a low-grade immortal artifact!


    He had achieved this as a result of having the foundation of a dao artifact-level body and the assistance of a plethora of heavenly materials and earthly treasures.


    After all, he had fleeced Immortals and obtained many treasures from the Pantheon Palace and the Outer Heaven Tower, and quite a few of those treasures could be used for tempering bodies.


    Although the Golden Soul Fruits were incredibly effective, even outer disciples could get their hands on a few of them, so it was clear how much they were worth in comparison.


    Kaboom!


    After entering the second region, Fang Yuan''s arrogant demeanor immediately angered the golden beasts.


    A hundred or so golden beasts roared and formed a beast tide.


    Along with earthshaking sounds, a golden line appeared on the horizon.


    "Haha¡­ Come!"


    Fang Yuan laughed loudly as he tore off his scraps of clothing and rushed toward the golden beasts.


    Bang! Bang Bang!


    The sound of numerous collisions echoed. Fang Yuan was just too fast and too powerful. The slightly weaker golden beasts turned into piles of mud on the spot, while the others flew into the air and broke their bones upon landing.


    ¡­


    "We have to be cautious in the second region. As long as we can survive for three days, we will become inner disciples¡­"


    On another side, Xiao Jiuli and Chu Duo guarded each other''s back carefully. "There are golden beasts waiting in ambush underground too. We can''t remain in one place and have to be constantly on the move!"


    Since inner disciples enjoyed honor and more resources in normal times, they were undoubtedly going to enjoy easier missions and more attention now. It was worth risking their lives for!


    "The two of us working together can deal with at most five golden beasts, and we can''t afford to be discovered by those damn crows!"


    Xiao Jiuli held an iron hammer in his hand, while Chu Duo carried a heavy saber, both of which were dao artifacts.


    They could appear together because they had bribed the deacon that guarded the realm gates. Of course, it was allowed, but it was limited to two people.


    "What happened? The golden beasts are sparse!" Xiao Jiuli put his ear to the ground and listened. "There''s also this noise. A disciple must have encountered a beast tide! It''s not far from here¡­ What an unlucky guy. Let''s head over!"


    It was, of course, extremely dangerous to face a beast tide head-on. However, if they only brushed by, they could take advantage of the golden beast vacuum to obtain a precious chance to catch their breath.


    "Haha!" Chu Duo''s eyes gleamed, and he followed immediately.


    They crouched on a small hill and saw Fang Yuan charging at the beast tide.


    "Heavens, is he still human? Hang on, that person is¡­ Li Hun?!"


    Chu Duo became absent-minded and nearly fell on his butt.


    "The third transference of the Nine Transference Undying Method, body comparable to an immortal artifact?" Xiao Jiuli smiled bitterly. "He''s indeed a true genius. Having refined his body to this level before becoming an Immortal, he''s almost guaranteed to become a core disciple!"


    Cultivation Holy Lands attached great importance to these core disciples.


    Someone who had cultivated to the third transcendence before the lightning tribulation had a very high chance of surviving it, almost ensuring that they would become Immortal. They were peerless monsters, and they even had a glimmer of hope of reaching Grand Unity in the future!


    This type of seed would not be sent out to fight even during a demon disaster until the very last minute.


    "We-we even wanted to rob him before?"


    Chu Duo watched as Fang Yuan forcibly subdued the hundred golden beasts and suddenly felt the strength drain from his body.


    At the same time, Fang Yuan pierced the final golden lion with his fist and looked in their direction.


    "He''s discovered us!" Xiao Jiuli and Chu Duo both felt a chill in their heart, and their legs were shivering.


    Fortunately, Fang Yuan did not pay them much attention, as if he had merely seen two strangers, and headed deeper into the region.


    "He wants to tackle the third region and become a core disciple?" Xiao Jiuli muttered, feeling a great sense of failure and frustration.


    The goal he risked his life for was only the starting point for someone else. It truly was a bitter pill to swallow.


    ¡­


    There was a special space above the Golden Soul Realm.


    Amid colorful clouds was an absolutely gorgeous palace.


    An Immortal with golden brows and a hooked nose was sitting inside the palace. There were three hundred and sixty-five water mirrors in front of him, all of which were reflecting the situations of the disciples in the Golden Soul Realm.


    "Hmm, those that have reached their limit have all entered the Golden Soul Realm to fight. They''ve finally realized the sect master''s intention correctly!" The golden-browed Immortal looked at the scene and smiled. "However, most of those who can pass are outer disciples. It''s difficult for inner disciples to tackle the third region. Difficult! Difficult! Difficult!!!"


    He was once an inner disciple and was naturally well aware of the difficulty of the core disciple test.


    Even the golden-browed Immortal himself had only reached the third transcendence of the Nine Transference Undying Method by using the special qualities of the immortal body after transcending the lightning tribulation and becoming an Immortal.


    Even so, his immortal artifact-level body allowed him to reign supreme among ordinary Immortals!


    "However, some disciples always manage to rise above the crowd in this final squeeze of potential. I wonder how many core disciples will appear? Two? Or maybe three?" the golden-browed Immortal muttered as he sensed the third region.


    Although he was not the master of the artifact spirit of the Golden Soul Realm, because he was appointed as an administrator, he was granted the majority of the jurisdiction and could accomplish many things.


    With a thought, a number of water mirrors moved closer. "Hmm, he really is here! The top inner disciple, Tie Xinku! He was originally an Iron Mountain Gate disciple, and he has an extremely strong foundation!


    "And this one, the female inner disciple¡ªHuang Yue. Did she awaken some kind of bloodline? It''s truly surprising!"


    "And finally this group of three. They''re lucky to have run into each other and were able to form a small sword formation. Unfortunately¡­ the dangers of the third region are beyond your imagination. Choosing the easy way out will ultimately result in nothing!" The golden-browed Immortal shook his head. "The positions for the true disciples are probably among these five. However, the third group, haha¡­"


    The third region was different from the first two. There was no room for any luck. The golden beasts were dense, and no matter which direction you took, you would surely run into the beasts and find yourself in a hard fight.


    Additionally, as the functional operator of the Golden Soul Realm, he would naturally increase the difficulty for the three-man group and not allow them to pass without real skills.


    At this moment, his gaze shifted as a water mirror moved close. "Another one, huh? It''s actually an outer disciple?" The golden-browed Immortal''s expression changed.


    In the water mirror, he saw a young man with torn clothing, revealing bronze skin that had speckles of gold, defined but not bulging muscles. There was a beautiful golden ratio and a sense of smooth beauty to it. He rushed straight into the third region.


    Roar Roar!


    Ow Ow!


    Caw Caw!


    Many golden beasts immediately roared furiously and surrounded him.


    Bang!


    The golden beasts in this region were stronger than those in the previous two. In their first exchange, the young man was smashed into a rock wall, creating a deep hole.


    But in the blink of an eye, the young man dashed out and slammed his fist on a golden beast''s face, sending it flying away like a cannonball, plowing a long trail on the ground.


    "The third transference of the Nine Transference Undying Method?! He''s still an outer disciple. How is this possible?" The golden-browed Immortal''s eyes flashed.


    To survive in the third region, one had to refine their body to be comparable to an immortal artifact.


    Among the disciples that he had set his eyes on, Tie Xinku had cultivated the Myriad Poison Mixed Element Method and broke through by impressive willpower. He fulfilled the criterion completely.


    As for the female disciple, Huang Yue, although her body was only at the half immortal artifact level, she had managed to awaken a special bloodline that boosted her body refining technique, making her body comparable to an immortal artifact.


    As for the three using the sword formation, their bodies were only at the top-grade dao artifact level and were not even worth mentioning.


    Among the five inner disciples, only one had truly met the criterion, but a monster emerged from the outer disciples?


    Things were definitely amiss!


    The golden-browed Immortal took out a jade disc and found Fang Yuan''s details immediately. "Li Hun, also recommended by the Iron Mountain Gate¡­ Joined the sect for less than a month?"


    His eyes bulged out in disbelief as he watched Fang Yuan fight and run through the water mirror. A month to reach the third transcendence of the Nine Transference Undying Method? The difficulty of this technique was even higher than the Myriad Poison Mixed Element Method!"


    "This person has a huge secret and is worth investigating. Although the Golden Soul Sect doesn''t choose who to teach, you need a clean background to become a core disciple!"


    The golden-browed Immortal would not admit it, but he also had some secret thoughts.

 1099 Core Disciple

    Ahwoo Ahwoo!


    The beasts roared endlessly.


    Each of Fang Yuan''s blows carried boundless energy, bursting the skulls of numerous golden beasts and splattering their brains across the ground.


    After some time, a pool of blood had formed where he stood.


    Vast amounts of golden beast corpses piled up into a small mountain. He stood atop it, like a king among the dead.


    "This doesn''t feel that good¡­" Fang Yuan shook his head and prepared to collect some gold cores as loot. "Are the remaining golden beasts not coming in fear of being killed?"


    Before long, a huge shifting force acted on him.


    "Is it the power of the artifact spirit?"


    Although he could break free using his Illusion Realm''s nomological laws, Fang Yuan certainly did not want to be so high-profile, so he allowed the moving force to envelop him.


    Immediately afterward, everything tumbled before his eyes, and he found himself inside a golden palace.


    On the main seat sat an Immortal with golden eyebrows and a hooked nose. His gaze pierced Fang Yuan like a knife, scrutinizing him. "Li Hun? After less than a month of joining the sect, you managed to cultivate to the third transference?"


    "Greetings, Immortal!" Fang Yuan bowed respectfully. "Have three days already passed, and I''m a core disciple now?"


    "Naturally, you''ve passed the test. However, we still need to check¡­ Where did you come from? Who was your teacher?" the golden-browed Immortal asked calmly.


    Fang Yuan suddenly felt a force probing his soul, covering everywhere.


    A lie-detecting spiritual technique? He sneered inside his mind. If a Grand Unity Immortal or the true master of this Golden Soul Realm were the ones doing this, they might be able to discover something. But you''re merely an Immortal¡­ and you want to examine me?!


    "Reporting to Immortal, I came from Linluo City in the Southern Region. Luck had it that I received the inheritance of an itinerant Immortal and found my way into the Dao. After that¡­ I happened to meet this master-servant pair during my travels."


    Fang Yuan went into detail about the killings over treasures in the Southern Region and his resulting feud with the Heavenly Circuit Immortal Sect without holding back any information.


    After all, the Iron Mountain Gate only recognized the tokens and not the people. Furthermore, the Golden Soul Sect was at odds with the Heavenly Circuit Immortal Sect.


    "I see. Our Golden Soul Sect doesn''t show favoritism in choosing our disciples, and background doesn''t matter here. You can rest assured!" the golden-browed Immortal said with a hint of pride. "I asked Jin Huan and Old Wang from the Cultivation Techniques Hall. You had only cultivated the Hundred Physical Forging Technique before. Even with the conversion, it''s still within reason for you to cultivate to the second transcendence. But how did you progress so fast?"


    As one of the main cultivation techniques of the Golden Soul Sect, the cultivation of the Nine Transference Undying Method was the most difficult. The first two levels were not too bad, but it was almost impossible to break through to the third transference.


    Even those who had awakened a special bloodline like Huang Yue found doing so very difficult.


    "Reporting to Immortal, it''s because of this item!" Fang Yuan turned over his hand and revealed an exotic golden flower the size of a bowl, and the petals seemed to have golden flames flickering on them. Most of the petals had vanished, and there was only a single one left.


    "This is¡­ Golden Flame Flowing Wind Flower?" The golden-browed Immortal''s eyes widened in surprise. "This is a rare treasure for even Immortals, and it has miraculous effects when it comes to body refining!"


    "I happened to obtain it by chance. I used one petal before, and my Hundred Physical Forging Technique progressed dramatically. I used the rest on cultivating the Nine Transference Undying Method afterward¡­"


    Of course, he had not obtained this treasure by chance. It was from the Thirty-Three-Level Outer Heaven Tower.


    Naturally, after Fang Yuan became its master, he could take anything he wished.


    In addition, he was well aware of the uses of the Golden Flame Flowing Wind Flower. It was a bit of a waste to use it to cultivate to the third transference. It was so potent that it could even help with breaking through to the seventh transference.


    "A normal Golden Flame Flowing Wind Flower should have nine petals, but you''ve already used eight?" The golden-browed Immortal appeared to be in pain as his eyes kept turning.


    If he had a whole flower, he would be confident enough to tackle the fourth transference.


    He almost wanted to kill him for wasting this treasure.


    But the next moment, he narrowed his eyes, and a smile he could not hide appeared on his face.


    "¡­ I failed to recognize the value of this treasure, and it is a waste for me to keep it. I am willing to present it to you, Immortal!" Fang Yuan said calmly.


    "Oh? Do you really mean it?" The golden-browed Immortal''s eye twitched. He immediately hid his joy, stopping himself from showing any emotion.


    "Of course! Compared to the dangers of the demon disaster, an exotic flower is insignificant." Fang Yuan looked up calmly.


    "That won''t do! Since you''ve passed the test, you''re now a core disciple of our Golden Soul Sect. You don''t need to head to the ten main cities¡­" The golden-browed Immortal kept shaking his head.


    However, Fang Yuan was sneering in his mind. He knew that this person had already been moved yet was pretending to be reserved, worried about leaving a bad impression.


    "Since the item has already been exposed to the world, it''s dangerous for me to keep holding onto it. Please save me, Immortal!" He bowed respectfully again. "How about I leave this your care first?"


    Hmm, that''s one way to do things! The golden-browed Immortal was secretly overjoyed. He smiled while stroking his beard. "When you have a use for it in the future, you can come here to take it back!"


    "Thank you, Immortal! Thank you, Immortal!"


    Fang Yuan rolled his eyes in his mind while showing an extremely grateful expression and presenting the Golden Flame Flowing Wind Flower.


    "Haha¡­ Since you''re already a core disciple, you can address me as Martial Uncle! My dao name is Golden Roc, and I have a bit of a reputation in the Golden Soul Sect!"


    Immortal Golden Roc laughed heartily, and his expression became much softer. "After becoming a core disciple of the Golden Soul Sect, if you meet someone that''s not in your direct line of teaching, you can address Immortals as martial uncle and Grand Unities as grand martial uncle!"


    With that said, he took out a golden scroll and had Fang Yuan sign it. He then refined an Essence Soul lantern. Like the blood jade, it carried his aura and could reflect his life and death.


    "I''ve made you a new identity token as well. Martial Nephew, from now on, you are a core disciple of our Golden Soul Sect¡­ Originally, you would have had the opportunity to meet a Grand Unity Immortal and ask for some advice, but the martial uncles might not be in the mood to see you given the demon disaster¡­"


    Immortal Golden Roc shook his head. "But core disciples can stay in the main sect during the early phases of the demon disaster. It''s extremely safe, and you can even put some people under your protection as well. It''s not bad!"


    "Thank you for your advice, Martial Uncle Golden Roc¡­ I still have something to ask of you!"


    Fang Yuan politely gestured with his hand and handed over the remaining Golden Flame Flowing Wind Flower to make the most out of it rather than keeping it long term.


    "Hmn? What is it?" Immortal Golden Roc''s eyebrows twitched, seeming slightly surprised.


    "According to the rules, core disciples can obtain another ancient book. I want to exchange for the ''Nine Transference Undying Method''!" Fang Yuan said calmly.


    This kind of thing would have been handled by masters after a disciple chose their master.


    However, he did not want yet another master. And with the demon disaster imminent, it seemed like no Immortals were in the mood to accept disciples and teach them patiently.


    "Are the first six transferences that are passed on in the outer sect not enough? You are really greedy¡­" Immortal Golden Roc shook his head. "The Nine Transference Undying Method is the core cultivation technique of our sect. Despite its incredible power, it''s extremely difficult to learn. Even Immortals wander within the first six transferences!"


    From his perspective, Fang Yuan was too ambitious for his own good and did not know how long it would take him to reach the fourth transference without the aid of heavenly materials and earthly treasures.


    "I have no other intentions. It''s only, I heard rumors about how the seventh transference is able to refine your body to the level of a primordial treasure and would like to learn more about it. Perhaps seeing things from a higher vantage point will provide me with some ideas for reaching the fourth transference¡­" Fang Yuan replied with his rehearsed excuse.


    "Since you''re so determined, might as well!" Immortal Golden Roc nodded. "However, core disciples can only see the first seven transferences. Immortals will only receive the eighth, and only Grand Unity martial uncles can read the entire volume. I can''t break the rules for you! Here!"


    He waved his hand, and a golden jade slip flew out and landed on Fang Yuan''s palm. "This jade slip carries a life oath with it. You''re clear on the consequences of spreading it to the outside world, so I won''t say anything!"


    This was why Immortal Golden Roc did not suspect that Fang Yuan would try to steal the technique.


    The advanced techniques of true cultivation Holy Lands were all secured with life oaths, and you had to make an oath using your Dao Heart if you wanted to read them.


    No one had managed to circumvent this precaution for eons.


    "Thank you, Immortal!" Fang Yuan was secretly happy.


    He stole the technique for himself from the start and did not have any intention of spreading it.


    Therefore, he did not have the slightest hesitation in making the oath.


    Additionally, the seventh transference was already enough to temper his body to primordial treasure level, satisfying his minimum requirement.


    "Okay, you can leave now!"


    After Fang Yuan returned the jade slip, Immortal Golden Roc waved his hand impatiently.


    "I will take my leave!" Fang Yuan knew that his favor had been spent.


    His investment of the Golden Flame Flowing Wind Flower was now completely exhausted.


    This Immortal is indeed cold and unfeeling. Otherwise, he should have at least made me his disciple, as is the proper way of doing things¡­ He shook his head in his mind and walked out the gate.


    After experiencing a similar shifting force as before, he arrived outside the realm gates.


    Ring! Ring!


    The golden bells sounded, and a colorful light shone in the deacon hall, resonating with his new token.


    "It''s actually¡­ a core disciple?"


    "He came out from the outer sect realm gate. In other words, he advanced to a core disciple directly from an outer disciple? He reached the heavens in a single step!"


    ¡­


    Immediately, jealous and envious gazes focused on him.


    Fang Yuan looked around, saw Xiao Jiuli, and pointed at him. "You¡­ come here!"


    "What orders do you have, Sir?" Xiao Jiuli immediately came forward and smiled fawningly.


    "How much time has passed, and how many core disciples have come out?" Fang Yuan asked with a frown.


    "Sir Li Hun, you spent five days inside. There are two other core disciples, and they came from the inner sect. The first is the top disciple of the inner sect, Tie Xinku, and the other is Huang Yue!"


    This was not some secret information. They also had the colorful lights show, and it could not be hidden.


    On the other hand, Fang Yuan had reached the heavens with a single leap. His name was bound to spread throughout the Golden Soul Sect.


    "I see!" Fang Yuan put his hands behind his back and walked out. The other disciples all made way for him, showing extreme respect.


    After returning to his cave abode, he finally let out a sigh of relief. "I indeed made the right bet. The Grand Unity Immortals have no time for me, and I finally managed to get my hands on the technique!"

 1100 Core Disciple

    "However, it definitely won''t be easy to cultivate the Nine Transference Undying Method to the seventh transference!"


    Although the fourth transference made your body comparable to a low-grade immortal artifact, the peak of the sixth transference only took it to the level of a top-grade one.


    The real change started at the seventh transference.


    "Furthermore, in the Golden Soul Sect''s history, no one at Nascent Soul has managed to cultivate to the seventh transference."


    Fang Yuan shook his head.


    Just how valuable were primordial treasures? Even in cultivation Holy Lands, they were extremely rare sect-stabilizing treasures.


    In order to refine your body to that extent, the effect of items like the Golden Flame Flowing Wind Flower was less than 0.001 percent.


    Even if you threw every single treasure in the Thirty-Three-Level Outer Heaven Tower into it, it still would not fill this bottomless pit!


    This was Fang Yuan''s conclusion after reading the seventh transference.


    "Is Sir Li Hun here? Xiao Jiuli and Chu Duo wish to see you!" A voice came from outside.


    "It''s these two? Interesting!"


    Fang Yuan''s eyes gleamed as he let them in.


    "Why are you two looking for me?" He was sitting cross-legged and looking at them with an ambiguous expression.


    Xiao Jiuli clenched his teeth and knelt on the floor. "Sir, we are willing to be under your command! Starting today, we will serve you without any complaints!"


    "Oh? So, what you mean is¡­ you''re willing to become servants?" Fang Yuan''s lips curled slightly, as though he had been expecting this.


    "That''s right! Sir, you are a core disciple. You have a peak to yourself and will surely want some men to order around¡­" Xiao Jiuli was very direct. "Junior Brother Chu and I failed to become inner disciples in this test, but we don''t want to enter the battlefield. That''s why we''ve come here thick-skinned¡­"


    Core disciples of the Golden Soul Sect could put some people under their protection.


    In other words, they could bring ten servants to live with them inside the main sect of the Golden Soul Sect. While these spots might not seem like much in normal times, they were absolutely in high demand now.


    Even inner disciples might seriously consider it, much less the outer disciple Xiao Jiuli.


    "I see. I could take in two servants¡­ but what use do you have?" Fang Yuan asked ambiguously.


    "We are very familiar with the sect. And we''re willing to swear the life blood oaths to serve you for life!" Xiao Jiuli said through gritted teeth.


    In fact, this was not just running away from danger. It was also a bet.


    After all, he had jumped from an outer disciple to a core disciple in less than a month. No matter how you looked at it, he had boundless prospects.


    "Please take us in, Sir!" Chu Duo was much more straightforward than Xiao Jiuli. He simply knelt and pleaded.


    "You''re willing to make blood oaths? That''s sincere enough¡­ Is this the limit of an outer disciple?"


    Becoming a servant was merely a temporary compromise for inner disciples. However, these two were trading their lives.


    As such, Fang Yuan simply nodded. "All right, I agree. Make the oath!"


    ¡­


    Point Gold Peak.


    This was the mountain peak that was given to Fang Yuan after he became a core disciple.


    Although the Golden Soul Sect was located on Golden Mount Meru, the entire golden mountain was the size of a continent. There were many smaller worlds with vast areas such as the Golden Soul Realm. A mere mountain peak was truly nothing.


    This Point Gold Peak did not particularly stand out from the forty-nine core disciples peaks, and it was even remote. However, Fang Yuan had chosen it for its rich Nomological Laws of Gravity, which was ten times stronger than the areas for outer disciples, making it beneficial for refining his body.


    A cave abode was already there, so Fang Yuan moved in after Xiao Jiuli cleaned it with a bunch of men.


    Also, he received two guests as expected.


    "Senior Brother Tie, Senior Sister Huang, please pardon my humble dwelling and inadequate hospitality!" Fang Yuan smiled and welcomed the two core disciples who had come together.


    "Haha, you''re too polite. Junior Brother, we''re both from the Iron Mountain Gate and have a connection from the start. Now that we''re both core disciples, we should help each other when we can!" Tie Xinku looked at Fang Yuan kindly.


    Obviously, he was not from the Tie Kuangtu faction, and he might be the direct disciple of Immortal Iron Mountain.


    "That''s right. Junior Brother Li Hun, you reached the stars overnight. I was truly shocked when I first heard about it!" Huang Yue wore a yellow palace dress, and her smile was like a hundred flowers blooming.


    Tie Xinku cultivates the Myriad Poison Mixed Element Technique. Not only is his body comparable to a low-grade immortal artifact, but it''s resistant to poison as well. As for Huang Yue, her primordial bloodline is very powerful, and it seems like it can enhance her body refining techniques¡­


    Fang Yuan was naturally well aware of the backgrounds of these two senior disciples.


    The core disciples of the Golden Soul Sect were naturally outstanding.


    In fact, the Holy Land sects of the Great Sage Immortal World did not have anyone who was not.


    For example, the Immortals of the Golden Soul Sect had almost all cultivated their bodies to the low-grade immortal artifact level. The weak Immortals of Sixteen Countries did not even hold a candle to them.


    To put things more vividly, Fang Yuan needed only one swing to kill the weak Immortals, whereas he needed a few additional swings to kill the likes of Immortal Golden Roc!


    He could think about things in this manner all thanks to reaching the third transference. Not only had his strength exploded, but he could also now unlock the higher levels of the Nine Star Pearl Mystic Technique.


    Otherwise, it would take him some effort to kill an Immortal whose body was comparable to a low-grade immortal artifact.


    In this case, the Golden Soul Sect is much stronger than the Heavenly Circuit Immortal Sect? Makes sense. After all, it occupies the richest Central Region¡­


    Fang Yuan thought about it and felt at ease. "Haha, you''re overpraising me! Is there any other reason why you''ve come besides congratulating me?"


    "We are all newly-promoted core disciples, and we should look out for and help one another¡­"


    Tie Xinku and Huang Yue exchanged glances. Naturally, they did not know that Fang Yuan was contemplating how many swings it would take him to kill them. They said sincerely, "The core of the Golden Soul Sect lies with the core disciples, and the competition between them is cutthroat!"


    "Cutthroat?!" Fang Yuan was slightly astonished. He had not spent much time in the Golden Soul Sect and was unclear about many things, so he asked directly, "Aren''t core disciples preparing to become Immortals? Why is there still competition?"


    "It''s¡­ naturally for the rankings! Our Golden Soul Sect has forty-nine core disciple mountain peaks, but including us, this generation only has thirty-one core disciples!"


    Tie Xinku coughed. "Becoming a core disciple is merely the start. There''s a ranking every decade, and the resources are allocated accordingly¡­ The older disciples have already formed groups, and they use every means at their disposal in the fight for the rankings. We three are newcomers, and it''s a special time where no Immortals are taking in disciples. We must join forces in order to survive!"


    "Core disciples actually form groups to compete?" Fang Yuan nodded. "Is it for the position of sect master?"


    "Junior Brother Li Hun is indeed smart!" Huang Yue smiled. "We entered the fray too late, and we don''t have a chance at attaining that position, not that we yearn for it either. We''re only seeking to protect ourselves. We will join the forces of another senior disciple in the future!"


    The sect master of the Golden Soul Sect naturally had terms of office. Otherwise, given the longevity of Immortals, the system would become too rigid.


    According to the rules, the sect master position would not be succeeded by the Immortal deacons, but only selected from the core disciples of the current generation.


    This resulted in a situation where every generation of core disciples fought fiercely among themselves to determine the strongest.


    After hearing this, Fang Yuan said nothing. However, he was laughing scornfully in his mind. A trivial sect master position is almost the same as a bone¡­ The ones truly in charge in these Holy Lands are not the sect masters at all, but the Grand Unity elders!


    The so-called Golden Soul Sect Master was nothing more to a butler in his eyes. Even so, it attracted countless young geniuses.


    This was a difference in outlook and experience.


    "Junior Brother Li Hun, don''t underestimate these core disciples. Each and every one of them is a dragon among men and a phoenix among women. The first three have all fought evenly with Immortals!" Huang Yue said solemnly when she saw Fang Yuan''s dismissive expression.


    Core disciples were almost guaranteed to become Immortals in the future.


    Naturally, they chose to remain at the Nascent Soul stage and were unwilling to break through for the sake of accumulating more strength and obtaining more during the tribulation.


    Fighting evenly with Immortals was the measure of peak performance for monstrous Nascent Soul geniuses in this world. Before Fang Yuan appeared, mortals killing Immortals was basically a joke.


    That was why Immortal Tai Xuan had been so shocked and had even wanted to make Fang Yuan pay for his actions.


    Not only was it because his prestige had suffered damage, but most importantly, he was really frightened.


    "The first three core disciples have yet to break through to Immortal?" Fang Yuan''s eyes flashed.


    In fact, they would have been less scary if they had broken through.


    After all, the lightning tribulation was the only chance to obtain a lot of Great Dao inspirations.


    These genius core disciples were not fools. Of course, they would accumulate strength silently in preparation to soar.


    However, this was playing with fire as well. If they did not handle things well, they would destroy themselves. For example, for those monstrous geniuses who managed to comprehend top nomological laws, the power of the lightning tribulation would multiply. They would have zero chance of survival, as even immortal artifact-level bodies would not save them.


    I have the most say in this regard because I''m a prime example! Fang Yuan complained in his mind. Although he now had an immortal artifact-level body, the warnings in his heart had not weakened at all. Obviously, if he dared to undergo the lightning tribulation, he would be blasted into smithereens.


    "That''s right. In fact, many disciples that rank below the first three have already become Immortals. But the rating criteria for Immortals increase correspondingly. They actually suffer more when it comes to the ranking!"


    Tie Xinku clearly understood the rules of the system very well. "Fortunately, there''s a Demonic Tribulation now. As long as we keep our heads down, we''ll have at least a couple of decades to train! By that time, the difference between us and those at the front won''t be as great!"


    Those that were able to become core disciples were all heaven''s chosens, so they naturally had their own pride.


    "A couple of decades?" Fang Yuan was slightly astonished.


    "Demon disasters usually last a hundred years, and the first few decades are the most chaotic¡­ The special treatment given to core disciples is to avoid this time where it''s the most chaotic."

 1101 Attack and Defense

    "The previous demon disasters mostly lasted a hundred years?" Fang Yuan''s Torch Dragon clone mumbled to himself in the Thirty-Three-Level Outer Heaven Tower.


    This was one of the advantages of being a clone. As long as he was still within the bounds of this world, the main body and the clone were like the same being. There was almost no delay in relaying information, and if one of them had a breakthrough in nomological laws, both parties would break through.


    The clone naturally knew the contents of the discussion between Tie Xinku, Huang Yue, and his main body.


    "Unfortunately¡­ even if I''ve reached the realm, I still require resources to break through!"


    The Torch Dragon clone held a whole Golden Flame Flowing Wind Flower in his hand and swallowed it in one mouthful. He then started circulating the Nine Transference Undying Method.


    A series of crackling sounds came from his body, and he broke through to the third transference in the blink of an eye. His body was now comparable to a low-grade immortal artifact.


    "Previously, even I would have exploded and died if I did things forcibly like this¡­ But since my main body has broken through already, this isn''t a big deal."


    The Torch Dragon clone sighed with emotion. "With the toughness of my body, I''ll last longer than one move against a Grand Unity Immortal. It''s slightly safer now!"


    Even a full-force attack by a Grand Unity Immortal might not destroy an immortal artifact. Furthermore, except for Immortal Tai Xuan, no one would bother to deal with a trivial Nascent Soul cultivator so seriously.


    Therefore, as long as he had the slightest opening, the Torch Dragon clone would be able to execute teleportation or his escape technique, dramatically increasing his ability to preserve his life.


    With this assurance, he finally left the Outer Heaven Tower and went to the outside world.


    The reeds swayed, and the waters were rippling softly, just as they had done so before. However, the nearby fishing village was already in ruins.


    "Otherworldly demons disdain these kinds of poor places. But their slaughters in large cities give rise to soldiers and bandits, so the average citizen would have to suffer twice. Or perhaps they''ve evacuated somewhere?"


    Fang Yuan contemplated for a while before spreading his spiritual will and continuously teleporting.


    The Sixteen Countries were in a miserable state. The three big cities that he had passed by were utterly devoid of life, and entire cities were in ruins. This was absolutely the work of otherworldly demons.


    "Although things are this bad, this should have been caused by ordinary otherworldly demons, which is somewhat beyond my expectations! What about the two Primordial Godfiends? Did they ignore this place and go to the Great Sage Immortal World? Or perhaps¡­ the Hundred Thousand Mountains?"


    Fang Yuan was feeling slightly puzzled as he started moving forward again.


    This barren scenery finally took a turn for the better when he arrived at Qingfeng City.


    From afar, he could see a huge mist array rising to the sky. It was a few times bigger than Qingfeng City, and a large refugee camp had formed outside the tall city walls. Everyone in the camp was mortal.


    Obviously, they knew that only Immortals would be able to protect them.


    "Demon disasters last a hundred years. It''s an absolute catastrophe for mortals. A few generations of people will have to live under hardship and suffering, and even cultivators are unable to escape¡­" Fang Yuan sighed upon seeing this scene. "The strength of Qingfeng City has increased dramatically. There are actually three Immortals guarding here!"


    With Immortals standing guard and the array, single otherworldly demons would naturally not pose a threat.


    In addition, after a sweep with his spiritual will, Fang Yuan found a few familiar faces, and his lips curled up slightly.


    Although this array could block otherworldly demons, it naturally could do nothing to stop him. With a thought, he teleported to the center of Qingfeng City and laughed out loud. "It is a joyous occasion to meet familiar faces and yet another to have you two advance to Immortal. It is a double joyous occasion!"


    The two Immortals drinking tea both jumped.


    One of them was Venerable Lie Huo, and the other was Saber King Mo He. They both looked like they had just experienced a huge fright.


    "Situ Zhaixing!"


    Venerable Lie Huo, or rather, Immortal Lie Huo groaned bitterly in his mind, wondering why this source of calamity had come.


    On the other hand, Mo He was shocked and then relieved. "So it''s really you after all!"


    Fang Yuan explained the reason why he had changed his name with a voice transmission and then asked calmly, "Have the barbarians begun communicating with the outside world?"


    "Don''t forget. We signed a contract and made life oaths!" Mo He smiled wryly. "The main body of the contract was with the Immortals of Sixteen Countries. Even if the Combat Heavenly Palace no longer exists and the majority of the Immortals are either dead or injured, as long as the cultivation world of the Sixteen Countries still exists, we must fulfill our promise!"


    The barbarians had a natural inclination toward taking oaths seriously. It was not purely because of the restrictions that would cause the punishment of the Heavenly Dao for breaking the oath.


    "I have the least experience, and Immortal Lie Huo happened to be calling for help, so I went out on a journey¡­" Mo He seemed like he was talking about something trivial.


    In fact, even Immortals were not completely safe in this demon disaster.


    "I see. That''s good luck!" Fang Yuan smiled but did not comment. He was disinclined to care about the power struggles among the higher echelons of the barbarians. However, he did know one thing: although the Hundred Thousand Mountain would not be disturbed by ordinary otherworldly demons, the demon head would not be able to stop Primordial Godfiends!


    Perhaps the Ice and Fire Godfiends had disappeared to infiltrate the barbarian wastelands and wait for an opportunity to destroy the Holy Mountain!


    The fact that Saber King Mo He could escape from there meant that his destined fate was not yet over, and he still had a chance of surviving.


    "Good luck¡­ You mean¡­" Mo He was not stupid. His expression immediately changed after hearing Fang Yuan''s comment.


    "Haha¡­ Since Brother Situ is here, I will do my best as host!" Immortal Lie Huo knew his place and made space for the two as he left to prepare a feast.


    However, his eyes were gleaming. Looks like there''s no doubt that Situ Zhaixing came from the barbarian''s Hundred Thousand Mountains¡­


    "Don''t leave so fast, Immortal Lie Huo. Did you guys arrange this array in Qingfeng City?" Fang Yuan looked at Immortal Lie Huo with a faint smile.


    "It''s just a small trick. It can only detect otherworldly demons and slightly hinder their advance¡­ But with the help of this array and the other Immortals, we''ve repelled the otherworldly demons twice," Immortal Lie Huo said modestly.


    "It would have been enough for those small-scale demon disasters in the past, but the one this time is a large-scale demon disaster. Its destructive power is a serious matter¡­ Most important is the density of the otherworldly demons¡­" Fang Yuan shook his head.


    "You mean¡­" Immortal Lie Huo shivered.


    "If my senses are right, there''s already a group of seven otherworldly demons headed this way. Prepare for battle!" Fang Yuan said directly without leaving them hanging.


    "Seven otherworldly demons that rival Immortals? How is this possible?" As expected, Immortal Lie Huo''s eyes bulged upon hearing this. "In the past, usually only during the late stages of demon disasters would there be a Demonic Tribulation of this degree!"


    "Why else would they be called large-scale demon disasters?" Fang Yuan shook his head, not optimistic about whether Qingfeng City could survive this demon disaster.


    "I will immediately make preparations!" Venerable Lie Huo walked away hurriedly, his expression sinking.


    Fang Yuan certainly would not lie to him about such matters. Moments later, seven immense dark clouds floated above Qingfeng City. Demonic shadows were everywhere.


    "Big Brother!" Qian Xingzi, the Miscellaneous House Master, and others at Nascent Soul arrived atop the city wall and stood side by side with Immortal Lie Huo, all very worried. "We only have three Immortals. With the help of the array, we can block five otherworldly demons at best¡­ Why is this happening?"


    "Situ Zhaixing just came earlier and informed me that this is a large-scale demon disaster that hasn''t occurred in a hundred thousand years!" Immortal Lie Huo''s tone was full of fear. "I originally thought that with the help of Immortal Qing Shan and a barbarian Immortal, we could make it well into the late stages of the demon disaster. Now, it seems that that was just wishful thinking. If this disaster passes, we should split up, and perhaps we might be able to preserve some vitality!"


    In situations where the number of otherworldly demons was overwhelming, a big city like Qingfeng City was undoubtedly a large target. Immortal Lie Huo''s decision was a wise one.


    "Hang on, that''s¡­"


    As the otherworldly demons were closing in, a large number of light streams appeared on the horizon. It was a group of disheveled Immortals running for their lives.


    "Fellow Daoists of Qingfeng City, the Kun Yun Sect and the nearby immortal sects have been annihilated. Please save us!" The Nascent Soul cultivation leading the group called out for help through his spiritual will.


    "Damn it!" Madam Hua Rui''s face turned red. "They were the ones who led the otherworldly demons here. What a clever tactic of luring trouble to another''s place. Aren''t they scared of losing their lives?"


    "They must first survive before considering the issue of Qingfeng City''s revenge!" Immortal Lie Huo shook his head. "The otherworldly demons were quite intelligent this time. They were actually able to suppress their desires to destroy and had these people lead the way for them."


    Everyone trembled after hearing this.


    Otherworldly demons that could suppress their desires to destroy had extraordinary potential, and they might even advance to become Primordial Godfiends in the future!


    All of this combined to form a heavy pressure.


    Fortunately, Situ Zhaixing is here. Otherwise, I would have really had to abandon the city¡­ Immortal Lie Huo glanced at Fang Yuan surreptitiously and felt slightly calmer. "Second Brother, Third brother, you two preside over the array. Immortal Qing Shan, please join me in fighting the enemy!"


    "I will only hold back one otherworldly demon. If things take a turn for the worse, I will make retreat my priority, as agreed upon earlier," the female cultivator, Immortal Qing Shan, said coldly.


    "Of course!" Immortal Lie Huo was not offended at all, but instead actually grateful. If it had been someone more unfeeling, they would have run away already.


    Rumble!


    The moment that group entered the array, the otherworldly demons started their attack.


    Pillars of black light that carried the nomological power of destruction fell upon the mist array.


    Buzz buzz!


    The array rumbled and churned. There seemed to be seven vortexes that appeared and devoured the white mist.


    Roar Roar!


    Suddenly, three otherworldly demons could no longer hold themselves back and jumped into the array.


    "It''s our turn now!"


    Immortal Lie Huo took a deep breath and looked at Immortal Qing Shan by his side.


    "You two, would you mind letting me handle these seven otherworldly demons?!"


    At this moment, a light flashed on the city walls, and the figures of Fang Yuan and Mo He appeared.


    "Situ Zhaixing!!!"


    Immortal Qing Shan, Qian Xingzi, and the others all looked at Fang Yuan horrified, as though they had seen a ghost.

 1102 Seal Breaking

    "Since Brother Situ is willing to help us out, that''s truly fantastic!" Immortal Lie Huo was extremely polite. "But this is still a matter of our Qingfeng City after all, so we should still do our part¡­"


    "Haha¡­ That''s fine. Let''s just see who''s faster then!" Fang Yuan laughed out loud as his figure instantly disappeared.


    The next moment, he appeared high above in the air and swung his saber. A galaxy-like bright radiance descended. "Blade of Universe! Kill!!!"


    Within the array, the scales on an otherworldly demon''s chest shattered, and a large amount of purple blood sprayed out, severely contaminating the soil and air.


    Does every ordinary otherworldly demon have a body similar to an immortal artifact?


    A trace of cold flashed across Fang Yuan''s eyes. "Septuple Light of Universe!"


    In a split second, a lotus flower seemed to bloom in the void. Every petal was Saber Qi concentrated to the limit, and they enveloped the three otherworldly demons.


    The magnificence lasted only a short moment before everything turned into dust.


    After a countless amount of saber lights pass through them, the three otherworldly demons disappeared without a trace.


    Nobody noticed that before he ''destroyed'' the otherworldly demons, an immortal artifact ring on Fang Yuan''s finger flashed slightly.


    "Refine!"


    He had forgotten where he had obtained this immortal artifact, but it was capable of storing. Within it was a massive plaza, and while it was not comparable to the Pantheon Palace, white jade covered the entire ground, and array flags surrounded it. Impressively, it was a giant magic altar that was constantly absorbing the blood and flesh of the otherworldly demons that had been shifted here from the void, turning them into dark red pearls and suppressing them at the bottom of a thunder pond.


    The artifact spirit was constantly moving as it rapidly accepted the blood and flesh of the incoming otherworldly demons. "Master is truly a genius. This ''Ten Thousand Otherworldly Demon Refining Array'' was derived from the Thirty-Three-Level Outer Heaven Tower, and it has at least fifty percent of the original''s power. It''s more than enough to suppress the blood and flesh of ordinary otherworldly demons. When you put them into the Dao Comprehension Pond of the Outer Heaven Tower to refine, who knows how many Dao Comprehension Stones they''ll produce, as well as all the other precious materials¡­"


    The Outer Heaven Tower had been established to suppress the three Primordial Godfiends and the numerous other otherworldly demons and extract their natural source to refine Dao Comprehension Stones.


    What Fang Yuan was currently doing was gathering more materials for that factory.


    After all, the Outer Heaven Tower had suffered a lot of damage after passing through the commotion caused by Immortal Tai Xuan.


    Locking up the otherworldly demons to slowly extract their natural source was beneficial long term, while refining all the otherworldly demons in one go was obviously more beneficial short term.


    Evidently, Fang Yuan was not interested in the long-term benefits. As long as he could reach perfection in his Nomological Laws of Time in the shortest amount of time possible and temper his body to the primordial treasure level, it would be enough.


    Seeking instant benefits was not a bad thing.


    This demon disaster was the perfect opportunity!


    With the Outer Heaven Tower, regardless of how many otherworldly demons came, they would all turn into materials for Dao Comprehension Stones!


    When his clone gained enough Dao Comprehension Stones, it could push forward the improvement of his main body. This, in turn, would provide him with more opportunities to hunt otherworldly demons, thus complementing each other.


    Therefore, while these otherworldly demons were like a calamity for Immortal Lie Huo, in Fang Yuan''s view, they were essentially reserves for his Dao Comprehension Stones, and he was unwilling to let any one of them go.


    Standing on top of the city walls, Immortal Qing Shan merely saw a figure flash, and the three otherworldly demons disappeared without a trace, startling her. "Immortal Lie Huo, just who is this Mister Situ?"


    Seeing how he was merely at Nascent Soul yet could slaughter otherworldly demons as though he were slaughtering dogs, besides him, there should not be anyone else capable of doing so.


    "Blade of Universe?"


    On another side, Mo He was in a daze.


    He shockingly realized that while he was an Immortal, Fang Yuan''s immense knowledge and comprehension of the Saber Dao was enough for him to be his teacher.


    "Die!"


    While these three Immortals were conversing, Fang Yuan swung his saber and severely injured another two otherworldly demons. Shortly afterward, he suppressed them within his immortal artifact ring.


    Roar Roar!


    Seeing this scene, the remaining two otherworldly demons shrieked in fear and prepared to escape.


    "Trying to escape?"


    Fang Yuan waved his hand, and their movements instantly became tens of times slower.


    Their initially rapid movements now seemed full of flaws to the Immortals. With two saber beams, they instantly disappeared.


    Fang Yuan teleported back to the city walls and smiled slightly. "Looks like¡­ you were too slow!"


    We''re too slow?


    Immortal Lie Huo and the rest exchanged glances, left speechless and feeling apprehensive in their hearts.


    Clearly, if they were to go up against Fang Yuan, they would suffer much worse than these otherworldly demons. They would have probably died over ten times in the blink of an eye.


    "Brother Situ is indeed formidable. You''re the savior of our Qingfeng City! Please accept our respects!"


    Immortal Lie Huo expressed his gratitude respectfully and arranged a banquet.


    "As fellow cultivators, we should always look out for one another!" Fang Yuan''s face expressed righteousness. "Do you really want to stay in Qingfeng City to drag out an ignoble existence?"


    "So what is Mister Situ suggesting we do?" Immortal Qing Shan asked with her lips pursed.


    "Preserve your dignity as a nobody; promote social welfare as a somebody¡­ We naturally shouldn''t watch Sixteen Countries'' cultivation world suffer the otherworld demons'' massacres. We should take the initiative to attack and annihilate them!" Fang Yuan''s words were powerful and resonating.


    Immortal Lie Huo''s heart moved, feeling that this was truly possible with a supreme existence like Fang Yuan around to suppress the enemy.


    But he did not know what Situ Zhaixing''s wishes were. Did he want to unify the Sixteen Countries'' cultivation world?


    Immortal Lie Huo was frightened, but he had to admit that this Situ Zhaixing was indeed more than capable of doing so. And what kind of benefits could the itinerant cultivator group that he led gain from this?


    "Of course, my actions this time are entirely of my personal desires. As for everything else afterward, I have no interest at all¡­"


    Fang Yuan smiled at Immortal Lie Huo as though he had seen through his thoughts.


    "What?" Immortal Lie Huo was truly shocked.


    Was he actually this selfless? Recalling Situ Zhaixing''s earlier blood purge of the Sixteen Countries, he felt that this was impossible.


    "Haha¡­ Of course, I have conditions. All the otherworldly demon corpses will belong to me!" Fang Yuan did not stand on ceremony at all. "Moreover, you have to cooperate with me to gather information on the locations of the otherworldly demons¡­"


    "This naturally isn''t a problem¡­" Immortal Lie Huo no longer knew what to say, but one thing was certain¡ªif he really assisted Fang Yuan in pacifying the mess in the Sixteen Countries, maybe an itinerant cultivator sect would rise in the Sixteen Countries.


    This disciple¡­ Mo He raised his wine glass, feeling that he was increasingly unable to see through this disciple.


    ¡­


    After the banquet, Fang Yuan did not stay in Qingfeng City but instead rushed back to the Thirty-Three-Level Outer Heaven Tower.


    "The tower''s stone stele and also the Dao Comprehension Pond!"


    He arrived in front of the stele, and the immortal artifact ring on his finger flashed.


    Suddenly, many dark red otherworld demon pearls fell into the pond. The power of the Taiji lightning turned them into threads of natural source energy that started condensing into Dao Comprehension Stones.


    Plop! Plop!


    Following a full-force rotation of the Dao Comprehension Pond, Dao Comprehension Stones flew out, landing in front of Fang Yuan and piling up into a small hill.


    "Overall¡­ the complete transformation of a single otherworldly demon should produce five Dao Comprehension Stones."


    This efficiency was naturally much higher than before.


    After all, the Outer Heaven Tower''s extraction of natural source allowed the otherworld demons time to recover. In theory, it could last until the end of time, unlike Fang Yuan''s one-time transaction.


    However, one-time transactions like this had an advantage as well. The short-term benefits were immense!


    "As matters stand, I might as well refine all the otherworldly demons in the Outer Heaven Tower!" Excitement flashed across Fang Yuan''s eyes.


    Before long, bad luck fell on all the otherworldly demons trapped in the Outer Heaven Tower. Under their restrictions, they could not even escape as they turned into materials for his Dao Comprehension Pond.


    "Much fewer than what I expected. On average, each otherworldly demon only turned into two to three Dao Comprehension Stones. Was it because they were imprisoned for so long that they became weak?"


    Fang Yuan nodded. "If I have the opportunity in the future, I will replenish them with a batch of new otherworldly demons from the demon disaster¡­"


    As for the last Primordial Godfiend imprisoned in the thirty-third level? Fang Yuan did not even think about it.


    After all, Primordial Godfiends and otherworldly demons were two completely different concepts.


    Purely in terms of the number of Dao Comprehension Stones, Fang Yuan estimated that refining that Primordial Godfiend could produce at least a thousand Dao Comprehension Stones!


    "Unfortunately, even the Grand Unity Immortal who owned the Outer Heaven Tower couldn''t kill that Primordial Demon God, let alone the current me. Their bodies should be close to a primordial treasure, right?"


    Regarding a body at the primordial treasure level, even if it stood there for Fang Yuan to cut, he was not confident that he could break its defense!


    "I''ll ignore Primordial Godfiends for now. At least, the otherworldly demons in the Sixteen Countries are enough Dao Comprehension Stones for me a few times over¡­"


    With a look of excitement on his face, Fang Yuan immediately went into seclusion to comprehend the Nomological Laws of Time.


    While his Illusion Realm''s nomological laws were at perfection, his Nomological Laws of Time were still lacking.


    This time, he was prepared to rely on the help of the demon disaster to perfect his nomological laws before tempering his body to the primordial treasure level. Then he would undergo his tribulation!


    ¡­


    Concurrently, Barbarian Ancestral Court, Hundred Thousand Mountains.


    Raging flames and cold ice occupied the sky, and in just one exchange, the entire Holy Mountain started collapsing, and the barbarians suffered heavy casualties.


    "Above otherworldly demons¡­ Primordial Godfiends! And two of them!"


    Immortal Brutal Child looked at this scene in despair, with blood tears in his eyes.


    It was a pity that no matter what they did or transformed into, they were still grabbed by demon hands and swallowed.


    Roar Roar!


    As though it had sensed the same race, black Qi surged into the sky.


    "Who would have thought that¡­ the original Sethgu would have ended up in such a pathetic state?!"


    The Primordial Godfiend with flames encircling its body said, "Back then, you were regarded as the most promising prospect to advance to become a Chaos Godfiend¡­"


    "We will release your seal, and then we will head to the Great Sage Immortal World. You must catch up with us as soon as possible¡­ After all, we will only be able to gain true comprehension of ''destruction'' after destroying prosperous places¡­" the Ice Godfiend said, and the two Godfiends disappeared.


    Rumble!


    The bloodied Holy Mountain suddenly collapsed as a demon head emerged to swallow all the golden radiances formed from the electric net in the void. It roared in anger, "Pantheon!!!"

 1103 Demon Head

    In the sky.


    Fang Yuan''s Torch Dragon clone turned into an illusory image as he activated the Nine Star Pearl Mystic Technique, and the Blade of Universe bloomed again and again.


    Countless otherworldly demons turned into mincemeat under his saber for the immortal artifact ring to absorb.


    "Ordinary otherworldly demons are only small soldiers¡­ Only Primordial Godfiends can be considered to have the intelligence of a cultivator."


    After killing so many otherworldly demons, Fang Yuan gained a deeper understanding of these creatures.


    "They are indeed existences born from the natural source of the destruction of the universe¡­ Their skins have the Nomological Laws of Destruction on them, while Primordial Godfiends have comprehended the Great Dao¡­ In fact, their comprehension grows alongside the destruction of a world, eventually turning into the Connate Destruction Great Dao!"


    The Connate Destruction Great Dao, also called the Chaos Destruction Great Dao, could suppress the power of a world! Theoretically, this was on the same level as a Netherheaven Demon God''s perfect Dao path!


    "This is a large-scale demon disaster, and in the late stages, there will be Chaos Godfiends who control the Connate Destruction Great Dao!"


    Fang Yuan licked his lips. "The slightest carelessness could even cause the destruction of a Holy Land!"


    A disaster of this caliber was naturally extremely frightening.


    What surprised him was that even up until now, he was still unable to find any traces of the Abominable Lord.


    Given my current reputation, the Abominable Lord should have heard about me if he''s near the Great Sage Immortal World¡­ Is he in some other region? Fang Yuan pondered.


    Although the Great Sage Immortal World was the number one region of the Wasteland World, there were definitely other equivalent territories in this world.


    It seems like after pacifying the Sixteen Countries, my Torch Dragon clone can wander around freely to harvest otherworldly demons and inquire news about the Abominable Lord!


    While Fang Yuan was contemplating, a flattering voice sounded beside him. "Congratulations honored Sir Situ. You''ve dealt with the demon disaster in this area! Truly deserving of your title as a savior."


    "Savior? Haha¡­ I''m merely taking what I need!" Fang Yuan waved his hand. "Let''s hurry up and go to the next area!"


    Immortal Lie Huo and Immortal Qing Shan exchanged glances, somewhat in disbelief. Since when was there an Immortal as selfless as him?


    However, knowing how formidable he was, they followed him without complaint.


    Three streams of light pierced through the sky. Suddenly, Immortal Lie Huo took out a jade pendant. "The Hundred Thousand Mountains is asking for help! An Ice Godfiend and a Fire Godfiend are attacking them. The situation is dire!"


    "Oh?" Fang Yuan raised his brow slightly. "Ice and Fire¡­ Godfiends?"


    He immediately thought of the two Primordial Godfiends that he had released.


    At this level of Godfiend, the only thing he could do when he met them was to run.


    Initially, he thought that these two Godfiends were not interested in the poor Sixteen Countries and had gone to the Great Sage Immortal World. But they actually went to the Hundred Thousand Mountains?


    "In the previous small-scale demon disasters, the Holy Mountain could use the head of that Primordial Godfiend to protect themselves. After all, Primordial Godfiends seldomly appeared within the Sixteen Countries. However, things are completely different now¡­"


    Obviously, the head of that Primordial Godfiend had become a guiding light for the two Primordial Godfiends.


    How long could the Immortals of the Barbarian Ancestral Court last against the two Primordial Godfiends?


    Sure enough, after a few moments, Immortal Lie Huo announced with a lifeless expression, "We''ve lost contact with the Immortals of the Hundred Thousand Mountains¡­"


    "Unexpectedly, after clearing away the otherworldly demons in the Sixteen Countries, this happens¡­" Immortal Qing Shan looked at Fang Yuan meaningfully.


    After all, this Situ Zhaixing was certainly related to the barbarians.


    The Sixteen Countries is merely a remote and desolate place. Regardless of whether they''re going to rescue or devour their companion, they won''t stay there long¡­ This is an opportunity! In Fang Yuan''s heart, he was thinking something entirely different.


    If he hurried to the Hundred Thousand Mountains now, the chances of encountering the Primordial Godfiends was practically negligible.


    On the other hand, the otherworld demons still wreaking havoc there were decent treasures for him. There might even be a big prize there!


    Of course, the premise is that I don''t bump into those two Primordial Godfiends. Otherwise, they''ll definitely fight to the death with me!


    After being imprisoned in the Thirty-Three-Level Outer Heaven Tower for so many years, nobody would believe that they did not possess any hatred in their hearts.


    As the successor of Mount Mengyan, Fang Yuan was undoubtedly going to inherit this hatred. In any case, the two Primordial Godfiends were not going to be grateful that he had released him. Chasing after him endlessly for the rest of their lives seemed more probable.


    However, that sealed demon head will most likely stay in the barbarian wasteland for a while to recover its body¡­ Its head is worth at least five hundred Dao Comprehension Stones!


    Fang Yuan''s eyes instantly lit up.


    A complete Primordial Godfiend, even a weakened one, was not an existence he could provoke currently.


    But what about a Primordial Godfiend that was only one head?


    I can give it a try. Even if I''m not strong enough, I can still run away¡­


    With that thought, he made up his mind and continued to teleport. His figure disappeared immediately.


    "It seems like this honored sir truly has a considerable relationship with the Hundred Thousand Mountains!"


    Seeing this, Immortal Lie Huo was thoughtful and did not dare to follow rashly.


    After all, they understood the levels and strength of otherworldly demons.


    The Barbarian Ancestral Court was far stronger than Qingfeng City, and for them to not be able to hold on, their opponents were most likely Primordial Godfiends!


    Ordinary Immortals would be turned into dust within seconds in front of existences at this level.


    Even when they went up against ordinary otherworldly demons, they only dared to shout or cheer behind Fang Yuan. There was no need to talk about one at the Primordial level.


    Fang Yuan''s performance of continuously killing otherworldly demons had left a deep impression in their minds that he could not be defeated, and they directly addressed him as ''honored sir''.


    ¡­


    Agonizing Eagle Gorge, entrance to the Hundred Thousand Mountains.


    While Fang Yuan was teleporting, he spotted a saber light and immediately stopped. "Mo He¡­ are you seeking death?"


    As a new Immortal, ordinary otherworldly demons were already extremely difficult for him to deal with


    "My Saber Dao would rather break than bend! The Hundred Thousand Mountains is my root, and it is a responsibility that I must not shirk!" Mo He looked determined, as though he had come to the enlightenment of seeing through life and death.


    To an Immortal, this was exceedingly rare.


    "Good!" Even Fang Yuan could not help admiring him. "If you continue like this, you might really be able to enter a supreme Saber Dao one day!"


    However, there was a difference between combat strength and realm. Even if Mo He had gained some enlightenment at this time, a Primordial Godfiend could still kill him with a single finger.


    After thinking for a bit, Fang Yuan brought Mo He along with him. "Stay close to me! I will teleport with you!"


    A few flashes later, they arrived at where the Holy Mountain was supposed to be.


    The Barbarian Ancestral Court had already drowned in calamity, the Holy Mountain had been completely obliterated, and there was an additional massive pit that they could not see into the depths of.


    "Indeed, the demon head has escaped."


    Mo He''s legs turned weak when he saw this scene. "The head of the Primordial Godfiend that our Holy Mountain had sealed! It-it escaped!"


    After becoming an Immortal, Mo He had become one of the core higher echelons of the barbarians and had come into contact with this secret.


    He stared at the massive pit, his face full of despair. "It''s over¡­"


    Fang Yuan stood by his side and asked, "Who was the one who sealed this Primordial Godfiend''s head?"


    "¡­ The ancestor of our barbarians¡­ His name is Patriarch Pantheon!" Mo He answered blankly.


    "Patriarch Pantheon?! Pantheon!"


    Fang Yuan''s eyes brightened. He knew that the Pantheon Catalog that had helped him tremendously along the way was most likely written by this patriarch. But he did not understand why these remarkable techniques had not been passed down to the Barbarian Ancestral Court.


    Was it fate? The Pantheon Catalog incurred the jealousy of the heavens, then as the person who is slowly gathering it, what am I considered as? An exception between heaven and earth?


    Fang Yuan laughed involuntarily. Then he had a sudden thought.


    "The first thing the demon head will do after escaping must be to destroy the barbarians as revenge. At the same time, it will constantly recover its strength¡­ Fortunately, we returned fast enough!"


    Fang Yuan grabbed Mo He and began teleporting to look for it.


    He had teleported to here the moment he received the news. Just how fast was that?


    The bloodstains all over the Holy Mountain had yet to dry.


    "Found it! At the Beichen tribe!"


    After ten seconds, Fang Yuan''s eyes lit up as he brought Mo He to Beichen City.


    Looking at the familiar city, he fell into recollection. The memories of when he had attended the Beichen Ceremony were still vivid.


    But at this time, the Beichen tribe had already suffered a calamity. The city walls had collapsed, and a large number of barbarians were lying on the ground. A layer of black Qi was covering them as they quickly withered away.


    The streams of black Qi converged into a river that flowed toward the center of the city.


    "Ahh! Die, demon head!"


    This devastation in front of him made Mo He''s eyes turn red. He sent a bright saber beam flying toward the wall of black fog.


    Unexpectedly, it easily penetrated this black fog. But after the explosion, it turned into many struggling barbarian souls crying out for help, shocking Mo He.


    In contrast, Fang Yuan was looking at the core of the black fog.


    A house-sized demon head was there, looking incredibly malevolent. Its nose and mouth were constantly absorbing the black Qi, and beneath its neck, half its chest and right hand had already grown.


    "Is it recovering its demon body through destruction and absorption?" Fang Yuan looked at it and instantly made a decision. "I can''t let this go on!"


    He stepped out and teleported behind the demon head. A Saber Qi lotus flower wrapped around the demon head.


    "Nonuple Blade of Universe!"


    Whoosh!


    The next moment, the Saber Qi shattered as the demon''s half-body flew out. The head of the Primordial Godfiend roared, "I-I recognize you¡­ Sethgu will certainly swallow any existence that provokes Sethgu! No one will be spared!"


    Its body had numerous saber wounds. Blood bubbled out, and as though it had a life of its own life, the blood covered its wounds, which quickly recovered.


    "The head is comparable to a primordial treasure. Even the newly-formed body is comparable to an immortal artifact. This is slightly troublesome¡­" Fang Yuan said softly.

 1104 Universe Obliteration

    In just one exchange of blows, Fang Yuan was immediately able to see through the strength of this Primordial Godfiend named Sethgu!


    Its head was undoubtedly very close to or already at the primordial treasure level. Even his Nonuple Blade of Universe could not leave a mark on it.


    And the newly-formed body was already at the immortal artifact level. Once it received enough blood sacrifice and destruction to complete its entire body, it would not take long before it condensed its body to be like an iron plate and restored its original Godfiend body.


    At that point, it would be roughly as powerful as the two Ice and Fire Godfiends. Although it would not be comparable to its peak form and was still considerably weak, Fang Yuan would still have to retreat.


    "Nine Star Pearl! Time and Illusion Realm! Fusion of nomological laws, Blade of Universe¡­ kill!"


    Fang Yuan charged once again as saber light swept everything in the way.


    Roar Roar!


    From the resplendent river of saber light came Sethgu''s angry roars.


    After the saber light passed, its head remained undamaged, but the demon''s half-body created by the blood sacrifices of the barbarians disappeared.


    "Barbarian, die!"


    The remaining demon head bellowed as it transformed into a black wind that surged at Fang Yuan.


    Without the burden of the half-body, this demon head became even more ferocious. Its wide-open, malevolent mouth seemed to swallow the entire world.


    Poof!


    Fang Yuan teleported to the back of the demon head. His saber swung forward and turned into a silver river.


    Whoosh!


    Saber light swept through, but it failed to leave a trace on the demon head. However, Sethgu grew more irritable.


    A frightening aura suddenly rose from its body.


    "Go!"


    Fang Yuan grabbed Mo He and started teleporting away.


    The next moment, centered around the demon head, balls of black Qi began exploding. The city below became stained with them before instantly turning into flying ashes.


    It seemed as though everything in this world would decay under this black Qi.


    "It''s indeed the Destruction Great Dao! Such incredible destructive power!"


    Fifty kilometers away, Fang Yuan and Mo He appeared and sighed about the Beichan tribe that had become an empty land.


    Under the explosions of the Destruction Great Dao, everything within fifty kilometers had turned into fine powder!


    "Th-this power?" Mo He became dazed at this sight, evidently realizing that it would be difficult for him to take revenge with his current strength.


    "Destroy¡­ you!"


    The next instant, the house-sized demon head appeared behind them. It opened its mouth wide, and a black beam descended.


    Boom! The ground was instantly destroyed, and a hole of unfathomable depth appeared.


    Long before the beam of destruction descended, Fang Yuan had already teleported fifty kilometers away with Mo He.


    "Seems like it''s targeting me¡­ Let''s split up!"


    With this thought, Fang Yuan immediately started flying out of the Hundred Thousand Mountains.


    Behind him, Sethgu''s head did not hesitate to pursue Fang Yuan.


    Unfortunately, even if it had the speed of a Primordial Godfiend, it was still lacking if it wanted to catch up to Fang Yuan, who possessed the Five Extreme Origin Heavenly Escape Technique and teleportation.


    However, Fang Yuan had also intentionally slowed down. With a massive demon head behind him, it did not take long before he left the Hundred Thousand Mountains and arrived near the reeds.


    "You foolish head! Come kill me if you have the guts!" He chuckled and dived into the waters.


    Sethgu did not hesitate and roared, "You''re merely a rat that only knows how to run. Sethgu will devour you!"


    Instantly, the sky spun and the earth went round as it came to the thirtieth level of the Thirty-Three-Level Outer Heaven Tower!


    "My efforts to open the gate directly above the water were not in vain!"


    Fang Yuan looked faintly at the head. "The current Outer Heaven Tower is still unable to capture a complete Primordial Godfiend. But what about a Primordial Godfiend with only its head?"


    Roar Roar!


    After entering this place, the demon head immediately became restless. Black Qi gathered into balls that started bombarding the surroundings.


    "It seems like the other two Godfiends did not tell you everything. Otherwise, you wouldn''t have charged right into my turf so stupidly!"


    Fang Yuan teleported forward and swung his saber. "Power of the Outer Heaven Tower, enhance!"


    Rumble!


    The entire tower rumbled, and a layer of white, misty radiance strengthened his saber beam. Following that, a shallow mark appeared on Sethgu''s head.


    "Ahh!!!"


    Sethgu''s head growled as the black balls of light continued expanding outward, destroying everything they touched.


    Unfortunately, every level of the Outer Heaven Tower was an independent space. Even if it destroyed half of this space, Fang Yuan would not even frown.


    "Bind!"


    Presently, he was merely frowning because he had to use the power of the Outer Heaven Tower to suppress this demon head.


    Talismans and arrays started appearing one after another to form a multicolored cage to trap Sethgu''s head temporarily.


    "No! Sethgu would rather die than be imprisoned again!"


    Within the array, the demon head charged left and right, clearly unwilling to give up.


    Evidently, this Primordial Godfiend who had just regained its freedom was absolutely unwilling to fall back into that state again.


    "Patriarch Patheon had beheaded Sethgu and destroyed its body, so he clearly had the ability to destroy a Primordial Godfiend. But why did he leave the head behind?"


    After watching for half a day, Fang Yuan shook his head. "Given the tower''s current strength, it seems it''s impossible to suppress this demon head completely. Fortunately, it can''t escape either, so I don''t have to worry about it recovering!"


    The Outer Heaven Tower was merely a factory to manufacture Dao Comprehension Stones, with an additional prison.


    Locking up prisoners here still required the strength of the master controlling it.


    "Given my current strength, even with the increase of the Outer Heaven Tower''s power, I''m still unable to thoroughly stifle the bluster of this demon head!"


    After taking a deep look at the array once more, Fang Yuan teleported away and arrived by the Dao Comprehension Pond. With a wave of his hand, a large number of otherworldly demon pearls appeared and turned into Dao Comprehension Stones.


    "I will improve my strength first, and hopefully I can completely comprehend the Nomological Laws of Time!"


    Fang Yuan sat cross-legged and entered a deep state of cultivation.


    ¡­


    After some time, a peculiar light converged around his body before collapsing in the very next instant.


    "Failed again¡­" The Torch Dragon''s clone opened his eyes. "Why is it so difficult to reach perfection in the Nomological Laws of Time? Fortunately, after the third try, I put more energy into fusing the nomological laws and created the second saber move¡ªUniverse Obliteration!"


    Previously, Fang Yuan had reached perfection in the Nomological Laws of Saber and the Illusion Realm''s nomological laws while attaining large success in the Nomological Laws of Time. In addition, he had mastered a fusion between the Illusion Realm''s nomological laws and the Nomological Laws of Time¡ªBlade of Universe!


    With this technique, nomological law comprehension, and the amplification of the Nine Star Pearl Mystic Technique, he could kill Immortals like killing chicken.


    Although there was no improvement in the Nomological Laws of Time, the degree of fusion between the two nomological laws had improved significantly to create the second saber move, Universe Obliteration!


    "Sethgu!"


    He teleported, arrived within the array, and swung his saber.


    In contrast to the Blade of Universe''s resplendent silver river, the Universe Obliteration was extremely disordered.


    Time seemed to have become indefinite contours, partly accelerating, partly decelerating, and partly stagnant¡­ All of these characteristics ran through the Dao of Illusion Realm and converged on the edge of the saber. When it came into contact with Sethgu''s head, it exploded violently.


    The moment the saber swung, it appeared to cut off all possibilities of the future, thoroughly annihilating and disordering all space and time.


    The hard head flew up as demon blood splattered everywhere.


    Sethgu was at a loss, completely losing its ability to speak.


    Even as a Primordial Godfiend, it had never seen a monster like Fang Yuan!


    Obviously, he was merely a small worm of insignificant strength, but his Blade of Universe could actually destroy part of its immortal artifact-level body!


    Beyond that, even more shocking was that this Blade of Universe Obliteration even damaged its head!


    What kind of monster was he? What kind of freak?


    "What a pity¡­"


    After the attack, Fang Yuan stood straight, holding his saber and feeling slightly regretful.


    "Sethgu''s head can''t be considered a true primordial treasure. It merely exists between the top-grade immortal artifact and primordial treasure levels¡­ My Blade of Universe Obliteration still has a long way to go before destroying a primordial treasure, but it''s enough to threaten Grand Unity Immortals!"


    Grand Unity Immortals were incomparable to Primordial Godfiends, as most of them were far from having bodies at the primordial treasure level.


    With the Blade of Universe Obliteration, Fang Yuan would even dare to try annihilating a Grand Unity Immortal!


    "But being smooth and steady is still more important! My offense is still currently much greater than my defense. Once I get counterattacked, I''ll immediately die an ugly death¡­"


    Fang Yuan looked at Sethgu, who was within the array. "I should attain the benefits that I have at hand before anything else¡­ Universe Obliteration!"


    He slashed again, leaving a deep wound on the demon head, almost splitting the demon head in two.


    "No! Sethgu doesn''t want to perish!" The demon head raged continuously. "Barbarian, your talent catches up to Patriarch Pantheon. I have his treasure¡­ With it, you will become the strongest powerhouse in this world!"


    "I won''t believe the words of a Primordial Godfiend¡­" Fang Yuan''s voice was cold and resolute. "Moreover, do you really think I''ll let you off?"


    Without absolute strength to suppress this Primordial Godfiend, who knows what it might do if he let it off.


    Fang Yuan would rather kill a million by mistake than let this one off.


    "Outer Heaven Tower, refine!"


    With that shout, the Dao Comprehension Pond engulfed the fragments of Sethgu while producing sounds of being overloaded. Shortly afterward, it spat out a large amount of Dao Comprehension Stones.


    Before its consciousness sunk into darkness, Sethgu cursed, "Barbarian, the mighty master of chaos will never let you off!"


    Before long, saber light turned it into fine powder for the Dao Comprehension Pond to engulf.


    Crack! Crack!


    A shocking crack appeared by the edge of the pond. Fortunately, it did not collapse. Instead, it spat out a huge pile of Dao Comprehension Stones with a reddish-purple crystal mixed in the middle, containing an incomparable magnificence.


    "The natural source of a Primordial Godfiend is something even the Dao Comprehension Pond couldn''t digest?"


    Fang Yuan could not help but stare at it.


    Moments later, the array was removed, and a golden shine attracted his attention. It had fallen out of Sethgu''s head right before it disintegrated.


    "Another Pantheon remnant page!"

 1105 Undying

    "This is¡­ the Nine Refining Demon Physique?"


    Point Gold Peak, Golden Soul Sect, Great Sage Immortal World.


    Fang Yuan''s main body, which was in secluded cultivation, suddenly awakened and fixed his eyes on the content of the fifth page of Pantheon Catalog that had emerged in his spiritual will.


    "It''s actually a body refining technique! Seems like there are even traces of Godfiends included!"


    After the Torch Dragon clone had killed Sethgu, he obtained another page of the Pantheon Catalog!


    However, Sethgu was originally sealed by Patriarch Patheon, so leaving behind a page of the Pantheon Catalog as the array eye was completely reasonable.


    What truly moved Fang Yuan was this Nine Refining Demon Physique Technique!


    "This technique¡­ just getting started requires the origin crystal of a Primordial Godfiend. It can even strengthen your body by continuously refining the flesh and blood of otherworldly demons, speeding up your progress tremendously. At the seventh refinement, you could even temper your body to the primordial treasure level!" Fang Yuan murmured as the Nine Transference Undying Method suddenly appeared in his mind.


    "Looking at it again, this Nine Refining Demon Physique has quite a lot of similarities with the Golden Soul Sect''s Nine Transference Undying Method. In fact, they even complement each other in a truly frightening manner! Wait¡­"


    His mind flashed as he placed the two techniques together to derive even more. He chuckled. "I see¡­ Both the Nine Transference Undying Method and the Nine Refining Demon Physique were acquired from studying the body refining techniques of otherworldly demons. The differences lie in the different understandings of Patriarch Patheon and the Golden Soul Sect''s patriarch. The Nine Refining Demon Physique is superior in its simplicity and tyrannical nature, allowing you to cultivate it directly by making use of otherworldly demons. On the other hand, the Nine Transference Undying Method lays an incomparably solid foundation step by step¡­ Comparatively speaking, it seems like the Nine Refining Demon Physique is more suitable for me!"


    Fang Yuan urgently needed a primordial treasure-level body before he could undergo his tribulation.


    If he followed the slow and steady cultivation of the Nine Transference Undying Method, who knew how much time it would take. More importantly, he had limited resources, such as the Golden Flame Flowing Wind Flower. The Thirty-Three-Level Outer Heaven Tower only had a few of them, so if he wanted to cultivate to the seventh transference, it was simply and utterly inadequate.


    In contrast, the Nine Refining Demon Physique required much fewer resources, and the key lay in the bodies of otherworldly demons.


    "However, since when was I a stickler for a single technique? Using a real otherworldly demon as a model and these two body refining techniques as references, I can develop a new technique that is most suitable for me!"


    To create something from nothing, such as magical powers or cultivation techniques, was essentially an impossible dream for other cultivators.


    But Fang Yuan was different! Even though he had lost his previous cultivation, he still had his insights and knowledge.


    If Patriarch Patheon and the Golden Soul Sect''s patriarch could do it, why couldn''t he?


    Moreover, it was exactly creating something from nothing.


    After all, the two body refining techniques were created by great cultivators who had observed the bodies of otherworldly demons, and he could draw on their experience. Within the Outer Heaven Tower, there was still an entire Primordial Godfiend suppressed there!


    There was even a large quantity of Dao Comprehension Stones that could act as fuel to push forward greater progress.


    Finally, his clone would cultivate it first as an experiment. Afterward, he could modify the flaws to improve on any deficiencies in the technique.


    "If I do this¡­ I should probably apply early for an external mission from the sect!"


    Fang Yuan''s eyes flickered indefinitely as he entered deep cultivation.


    ¡­


    On the thirty-third level of the Thirty-Three-Level Outer Heaven Tower!


    Fang Yuan''s Torch Dragon clone arrived here, and with one thought, the ground split open and a black altar emerged.


    On the altar was an indomitable Primordial Godfiend exuding a ferocious aura. It was wearing black armor and had a horned helmet.


    Presently, both of its eyes were shut tight, clearly in a deep sleep.


    This was the normal state of this Primordial Godfiend. Fang Yuan had to take the initiative to wake it.


    Otherwise, the entire Outer Heaven Tower would be turned upside down.


    "Indeed¡­ This Godfiend is even more terrifying than the two Ice and Fire Godfiends¡­ This body is certainly at the primordial treasure level. No wonder even the Outer Heaven Tower can''t kill it!" Fang Yuan''s eyes twitched.


    With the help of the stele, his spiritual will entered the Primordial Godfiend''s body to observe the structure of its flesh, as well as those items hidden deep within it.


    "The Nomological Laws of Time are clearly not something that reaches perfection through comprehension alone. I''m still missing one last thing that I don''t understand¡­ I''ll be wasting the Dao Comprehension Stones if I continue with it, so I might as well use them to derive my new technique!"


    After seven days of observing the Primordial Godfiend, Fang Yuan immediately went into secluded cultivation again. By making use of a large amount of Dao Comprehension Stones, he forcefully sped up the technique''s progression.


    One hundred days passed by just like that.


    "¡­ From an otherworldly demon to carrying on with the Nine Transference Undying Method and then the Nine Refining Demon Physique, this technique can be named as the Undying Demon Body!"


    Fang Yuan smiled slightly as the hundreds of Dao Comprehension Stones in front of him turned into ashes.


    The reeds swayed, wind and rain suddenly appeared, and the sky changed drastically.


    "Who would have thought that¡­ deriving the Undying Demon Body actually introduced me to the Nomological Laws of Undying, even directly reaching large success! I even managed to peek into the details of otherworldly demons," Fang Yuan mumbled solemnly.


    He had failed in completely comprehending the Nomological Laws of Time, but he had managed to comprehend the Nomological Laws of Undying, which was an unexpected turn of events.


    And these nomological laws were also top nomological laws, not inferior to time or the Illusion Realm.


    "Like this¡­ my heavenly tribulation will be even more frightening¡­ But in exchange, obtaining the Nomological Laws of Undying and the future Undying Great Dao were more than worthwhile!"


    Fang Yuan''s lips curled up.


    His comprehension of the Nomological Laws of Undying improved concurrently with his Undying Demon Body. When he eventually cultivated his body to the primordial treasure level, his nomological laws would reach perfection. In fact, when his Undying Demon Body reached the pinnacle, his Nomological Laws of Undying would automatically rise to the Undying Great Dao. He would be everlasting among Mental Demon Demon Gods and extraordinarily tyrannical.


    "With the Undying Demon Body and the Nomological Laws of Undying, I should be able to survive heavenly tribulation brought by three sets of top nomological laws¡­ But I can''t push it any further¡­"


    Fang Yuan felt a tinge of regret.


    All the exceptional geniuses of the past had died because of excessive greed, and he certainly did not want to follow their footsteps.


    This time, he was fortunate enough to comprehend the Nomological Laws of Undying, which complemented the strengthening of his body and was beneficial to his lightning tribulation. But he might not be so lucky the next time.


    "Fortunately, as long as I don''t comprehend to perfection, heaven and earth won''t acknowledge it, and the Great Dao inspirations won''t descend during the heavenly tribulation¡­ But I really can''t give up on the Nomological Laws of Undying!


    "If I comprehend something else in the future, I can leave it aside as long as I don''t suddenly comprehend it to perfection in one go."


    Fang Yuan was rather confident in his self-control.


    "My Undying Demon Body balances the good aspects of both the Nine Transference Undying Method and the Nine Refining Demon Physique. It can plunder otherworldly demons to refine, and its foundation is still stable. But the most important point is the recovery ability of the body!"


    Ordinary body refining techniques might allow the body to become comparable to an immortal artifact, but once the body suffered damage, it would be extremely troublesome to restore. Not only did it take a long time, but you would also have to consume huge amounts of heavenly materials and earthly treasures.


    But the Undying Demon Body, because of the support of the Nomological Laws of Undying, could rebirth from a drop of blood, was everlasting, and had astonishing recovery speed.


    It was already very troublesome to fight with a body refining cultivator. But imagine if after finally destroying their demonic body, it instantly recovered. Just how desperate would the enemy become?


    Of course, to Fang Yuan, since they were enemies, the greater the despair, the better.


    "My Undying Demon Body has a total of ten levels! The seventh level makes your body comparable to a primordial treasure! At this point, I''m only left with attempting to cultivate the technique!"


    Although he was confident in the technique he had derived, he still needed to fine-tune some details.


    In this aspect, having a clone undoubtedly increased the fault tolerance. Furthermore, experimenting personally made it easier to perfect the technique.


    "My Undying Demon Body also requires a Primordial Godfiend''s origin crystal to get started!"


    Fang Yuan flipped his palm, and a red-purple crystal appeared. It was the remnant left by Sethgu.


    "This is the origin crystal of an otherworldly demon, and it can also be considered their basis¡­"


    Without hesitation, a flame appeared and enveloped the origin crystal.


    "Ordinary Immortals can''t deal with origin crystals, but the Nine Refining Demon Physique contains a specialized refining technique¡­ Blood Refining Force, transform into raging flames! Refine!"


    Fang Yuan bit the tip of his tongue and spat out a mouthful of blood essence that wrapped the origin crystal.


    A crimson flame rose.


    Under this flame, the Primordial Godfiend origin crystal began melting gradually. As though the liquid metal had a life of its own, it started slowly crawling over Fang Yuan''s entire body, leaving an exotic design.


    The flames expanded to envelop Fang Yuan within as well, constantly roasting his body.


    Under the light of the flames, Fang Yuan''s body became as transparent as glass, and his white-jade-like bones and golden meridians became visible.


    After some time, he stood up and exhaled.


    Crack! Crack!


    Sounds similar to countless beans being fried came from his body.


    "The remnant of a Primordial Godfiend is indeed generous. Merely half of the origin crystal was enough to help my Undying Demon Body break through to the fifth level! My body is now comparable to a mid-grade immortal artifact, and this recovery¡­"


    Fang Yuan felt that even if someone were to cut off his arm or dig out his heart, it would not matter in the slightest. He could simply grow it back again.


    In terms of recovery ability, he was shoulder to shoulder with Immortals.


    "And this!"


    He took in a deep breath, and a black-red pattern appeared on his body like a tattoo. Eventually, it turned into a simple and unadorned armor.


    "The Undying Demon Body''s demonic armor¡­ Its defense is comparable to a top-grade immortal artifact! This is also one of the benefits of refining otherworldly demons¡­"


    Fang Yuan''s pupils moved excitedly. "It''s as though¡­ it made me understand some of the details of otherworldly demons. Although they all seem to rely heavily on the Nomological Laws of Destruction, the truth is that their true foundation seems to be above the Nomological Laws of Undying! It is the Connate Undying Great Dao!"


    Regardless of whether it was the Undying Demon Body, Nine Transference Undying Method, or Nine Refining Demon Physique, they were all derived from otherworldly demons.


    Such indicators and clues were already very obvious.


    "If what I expect is right, the true experts among the otherworldly demons are incomparably terrifying¡­" Fang Yuan let out a deep breath. "A true Chaos Godfiend likely possesses two Connate Chaos Great Daos. Even a Netherheaven Demon God wouldn''t be a match!"

 1106 Plan

    "I should put the matter about Chaos Godfiends aside first. Now that my Undying Demon Body is ready, I should hunt otherworldly demons to plunder their natural source and further improve my body so that I can break through to the next realm!"


    The Torch Dragon clone stood up. "It''s time to go to the Great Sage Immortal World!"


    The first reason was that he had killed most of the otherworldly demons within the Sixteen Countries and turned them into Dao Comprehension Stones. This place could no longer provide him with much help.


    Second, he had to deliver the remaining half of the Primordial Godfiend origin crystal to his main body.


    This was one of the malpractices of the Undying Demon Body and the Nine Refining Demon Physique. After all, even Grand Unity Immortals found it hard to obtain a complete Primordial Godfiend origin crystal. Without one to get started, he was naturally unable to cultivate it.


    Even if his main body had attained the status of a core disciple of the Golden Soul Sect, it was a far-fetched dream to want a Primordial Godfiend origin crystal.


    Therefore, the Torch Dragon clone had intentionally left half for his main body.


    "Although we share all techniques, realms, and experiences, the harsh requirements are exactly the same¡­" Fang Yuan sighed. "Fortunately, only half a Primordial Godfiend origin crystal is needed to get started¡­ Staggering for a longer time will allow me to experiment more proficiently with the technique and avoid detours in the future!"


    With a thought, he left the Thirty-Three-Level Outer Heaven Tower and rushed toward the Great Sage Immortal World.


    Originally, he had his clone and main body stay in two different places for safety, leaving a second chance for himself.


    But now, he naturally could not care too much about this anymore. Additionally, given the vastness of the Great Sage Immortal World, there were plenty of places to do so again after meeting up.


    The only pity was that he could not bring the Outer Heaven Tower away. Fang Yuan estimated that he had to be at least an Immortal before he could perhaps attempt to move this treasure and bring it around on him as he wished like the Pantheon Palace.


    ¡­


    "Junior Brother Li Hun, you''re finally out!"


    Point Gold Peak, Golden Soul Sect. Not too long after Fang Yuan left seclusion, Tie Xinku and Huang Yue arrived in front of him.


    "Because of some slight gains, I lost track of time¡­" Fang Yuan smiled, as this secluded cultivation''s harvest was truly not small. "Why are you two looking for me? Did something important happen?"


    As a core disciple of the Golden Soul Sect, he could avoid the initial missions and successfully evade the early stages of the demon disaster.


    Although all the other Golden Soul Sect''s disciples would despise them for that, it was also a way.


    Moreover, core disciples would receive a Dao Comprehension Stone every year and have plenty of precious resources allocated to them. The fact that these two were not cultivating hard in their cave abodes but came to find him meant that something must have happened.


    "Indeed! If Junior Brother had continued to stay in secluded cultivation, we might have had to crash your seclusion!" Tie Xinku said. "It''s a huge matter!"


    "Oh? Please tell me¡­" Fang Yuan invited the two to have a seat and ordered the servants to serve tea. "I also want to know what was so important that the two of you were willing to give up the decades of peace in the sect¡­"


    Because of the demon disaster, the Sixteen Countries had almost become an empty land. If it were not for Fang Yuan''s intervention, a few strongholds such as Qingfeng City would not have survived. The frightening bloodthirst during a demon disaster turned everyone beneath Immortal into ants. And even the unlucky Immortals might meet a Primordial Godfiend or suffer a siege by numerous otherworldly demons, both of which were extremely dangerous.


    The Holy Land sects were rare lands of peace, and Tie Xinku and the others had earned this core disciple status after countless blood-soaked battles.


    However, since they wanted to move, it was highly likely that they were going to leave the mountain and face grave dangers! There certainly had to be matching benefits!


    However, this was perfect for Fang Yuan since he did not want to reveal his clone.


    It would be much easier if they could meet outside the sect.


    "Haha. As cultivators, we have to fight against the heavens and take some risks¡­" Tie Xinku smiled. "Of course, the danger that we''ll face this time isn''t high, but the rewards are very generous! Furthermore, we might even find genuine backing!"


    "Oh? Which core disciple extended this invitation?" Fang Yuan''s eyes twinkled.


    Tie Xinku had pulled him and Huang Yue together to create the image of a three-man team, construct an influence, and become a great force that others could rope in.


    Now, it seemed like he had finally found a client to his liking and wanted to sell himself.


    It had to be said that only these tail-end core disciples should do this. If they could rely on the future sect master, they would definitely be able to secure the position and title of an elder to ride roughshod over people.


    Fang Yuan naturally did not care about these things, but he knew that he should not be too independent and unconventional, so he had gone along with Tie Xinku and Huang Yue.


    But unexpectedly, they came to a conclusion so quickly.


    "Has Junior Brother heard of Senior Brother Qiu Tianfeng?" Indeed, Huang Yue could not wait to speak.


    "The number one core disciple? The disciple who once fought equally against an Immortal?" Fang Yuan raised his brows. "I''ve heard that this person has reached the sixth transference of the Nine Transference Undying Method¡­"


    The sixth transference of the Nine Transference Undying Method meant that his body was comparable to a top-grade immortal artifact. Even some Immortals would have difficulty destroying a body at this level. With this foundation, after becoming an Immortal, he would definitely be among the top Immortals!


    Qiu Tianfeng was naturally well-known within the Golden Soul Sect, and he was regarded as the most promising candidate to take over as sect master.


    With this thought, Fang Yuan''s gaze on Tie Xinku changed slightly. Even though they were all core disciples, they were the lowest-ranking ones. Their status compared to Qiu Tianfeng was like the difference between heaven and earth. It must have been tough for him to seek this connection.


    "We got lucky this time. We went to the sixteenth core disciple senior brother''s residence for a banquet, and Senior Brother Qiu was coincidentally there. He came across a matter and urgently needed manpower, so we boldly offered our help, and he actually agreed." Tie Xinku smiled.


    "What matter is so serious that this senior brother can''t handle by himself and needs our help? An otherworldly demon mission?" Fang Yuan narrowed his eyes.


    "If it''s going to be extremely dangerous, how could it have been good for us?" Huang Yue grinned. "I wonder if Junior Brother has heard about the Mount Mengyan Holy Land."


    "This¡­ I think I''ve read about it in some ancient books. Why?" Fang Yuan''s frame of mind was so extraordinary that he could maintain his expression even if the sky collapsed.


    "The descent of the otherworldly demons is a great tribulation. When facing such tribulations, heaven and earth will automatically drop a lot of opportunities, allowing us cultivators to improve our strength quickly¡­ There are even rumors that during a demon disaster, the danger of undergoing your lightning tribulation will be slightly less than usual!" Tie Xinku said. "This time, Senior Brother Qiu Tianfeng was fortunate enough to have found a fragment of Mount Mengyan!"


    "I see!" Fang Yuan nodded.


    The Thirty-Three-Level Outer Heaven Tower was only a part of Mount Mengyan, similar to the relationship between the Golden Soul Realm and Golden Mount Meru.


    A place specialized in testing disciples was naturally quite different from the residences of core disciples and elders.


    This Qiu Tianfeng was truly fortunate.


    However, if it were a complete relic of the sect, it should not have fallen into the hands of a junior who was not even an Immortal.


    Therefore, his discovery should only be a small part. Compared to the complete Outer Heaven Tower, it was hard to say which was more valuable.


    "Mount Mengyan was famous for producing Dao Comprehension Stones. As core disciples, we only receive one each year. Rumor has it that core disciples of Mount Mengyan had received ten each¡­"


    Tie Xinku''s envious look made Fang Yuan realize that the Dao Comprehension Pond within his Outer Heaven Tower was much more valuable than he had imagined.


    If Elder Tai Xuan knew about the existence of this pond, he probably would not have let it go so easily.


    "And then?" Fang Yuan was inwardly pleased and wanted to hear more.


    "That fragment is very huge and was certainly a core place of Mount Mengyan¡­ Senior Brother Qiu merely explored the periphery casually and found a few immortal artifacts and tens of Dao Comprehension Stones!" Tie Xinku said. "But that fragment has already turned into an extremely unstable mysterious realm, preventing Immortals from entering. Moreover, the restrictions within are incredibly strong, and any ordinary Nascent Soul cultivations would definitely die if they enter¡­"


    "Therefore, it is most suitable for core disciples like us to explore?" Fang Yuan understood.


    "That''s right! Senior Brother Qiu has agreed to bring us along and split thirty percent of the gains with us. Additionally, he agreed to accept us into his group!"


    Huang Yue''s eyes were full of excitement. "We leave three days later, and we''ve already agreed on your behalf. What do you think?"


    Her words sounded extremely confident, as though she had never thought that Fang Yuan would reject.


    "¡­" Regarding this young lady who felt so good about herself, Fang Yuan was speechless.


    However, he did need an excuse to go out. Besides, it would be truly odd if he rejected such a massive opportunity. "Thank you, you two¡­ But we''re in the middle of a demon disaster, what about the safety aspect?"


    "Junior Brother Li Hun, you don''t need to worry. We''ve already considered it! The emergency measures imposed by the sect means we can''t leave without a mission. But as core disciples, we can take the initiative to accept missions. The mysterious realm discovered is near one of the ten main cities, Yanyang City. There is a large protective array there, as well as a Grand Unity elder and a thousand Immortals. As long as we''re not too unlucky, we should be pretty safe." Tie Xinku seemed to have considered everything.


    "At that time, we can accept the mission to guard Yanyang City, which only lasts ten years. According to Senior Brother Qiu''s prediction, the next time the mysterious realm opens is in three to five years¡­"


    "In that case, I have no reason to reject! Of course, I''ll head there with you!" Fang Yuan directly agreed.


    Truthfully speaking, he was quite interested in this mysterious realm formed by a fragment of Mount Mengyan.


    After all, he had benefited from a remnant left behind by Mount Mengyan. In fact, after passing the trial of the Outer Heaven Tower, he could be considered the final disciple of Mount Mengyan.


    However, regardless of more treasures or techniques, they are all useless for me now. If I don''t transcend my lightning tribulation and become Immortal, everything is useless!


    Now, I''ll go to Yanyang City and meet up with my clone to make full use of this demon disaster to complete the cultivation of my Undying Demon Body!


    Thinking of this, Fang Yuan became slightly excited. After sending the two seniors off, he summoned Xiao Jiuli and Chu Duo to explain everything to them.


    Fortunately, he was not planning on harming them by bringing the two of them with him. Otherwise, given their cultivation level, a random otherworldly demon passing by could casually crush them.

 1107 Yanyang City

    Golden Soul Sect main sect.


    "Junior Brother Tie, Junior Sister Huang¡­ and this must be Junior Brother Li Hun?"


    Qiu Tianfeng stood among several core disciples with a pleasant smile.


    He appeared to be in his thirties, and his skin had a hint of gold to it. He had two pupils in each eye and a chiseled face. As though he was innately noble, he became the center of attention just standing there.


    He stepped forward to greet them, and Tie Xinku and Huang Yue immediately felt slightly overwhelmed by his favor. "Eldest Senior Brother!"


    "Greetings, Eldest Senior Brother!"


    Fang Yuan tried not to stand out and greeted him like the rest. However, he was secretly contemplating. I sense an extraordinary agglomeration of the power of heaven and earth. Is this another Son of Destiny? Or a semi-developed one?


    If there was a version of providence in this world, then Qiu Tianfeng was definitely someone captivating with a towering auspicious aura.


    In other words, he was someone with great providence.


    Of course, these kinds of Sons of Destiny could not be supported by small sects. They might even cause the entire sect to become annihilated! This was the truth of great providence suppressing destiny.


    However, the Golden Soul Sect was a Holy Land, and there were many Grand Unity Immortals and Golden Mount Meru stabilizing its destiny, complementing his great providence.


    "Every demon disaster is a test of heaven''s will to us cultivators. Disasters draw out elites. It is truly worthy of celebration for you three to have become core disciples of our sect¡­" Qiu Tianfeng smiled. "As the Grand Unity grand martial uncles are busy with important matters, they haven''t been able to provide you with guidance. However, I can introduce you in Yanyang City. As for whether you can become a disciple, it depends on your fortune!"


    Although he said it in a simple and plain manner, there was a quality of leadership and inspiration to it.


    Tie Xinku and Huang Yue were overjoyed and thanked him. "Thank you, Eldest Senior Brother!"


    Speaking of which, they were unlucky. The biggest benefit of becoming core disciples, the guidance by Grand Unity Immortals, had not been granted to them even once. They had not even managed to meet one, much less become their disciples.


    This Qiu Tianfeng¡­ isn''t simple! He''s even able to influence the decisions of those at the Grand Unity level.


    A trace of darkness flashed in Fang Yuan''s eyes.


    Even the sect master of the Golden Soul Sect was merely a butler for the Grand Unity Immortals. The fact that Qiu Tianfeng could do this put Fang Yuan on alert.


    "Since Junior Brother Li Hun has just come out from secluded cultivation, perhaps you don''t know these people. Let me introduce you. This is the fourth core disciple, Xie Wufeng; ninth core disciple, Lu Wen; thirteenth, Xia Qinghe¡­"


    Qiu Tianfeng continued introducing, and those who had their name called out all smiled amiably. "Greetings, fellow juniors¡­"


    The atmosphere was harmonious on the surface, without the slightest bit of oppression or disdain.


    Fang Yuan thought about it a bit and understood the reason.


    Those that could become core disciples had a very good chance of becoming Immortals. And if Qiu Tianfeng succeeded the sect master position, he would need people to help and support him.


    Would he not be cutting himself off from the masses if he behaved arrogantly now? Moreover, they had come to join his faction, so he really should welcome them.


    The other seniors were clever as well, and they put on a hospitable act without revealing their thoughts.


    However, only they would know what they were really thinking¡­


    Fang Yuan put on a polite show as well, and his acting skills were just as good.


    "All right, it''s getting late. We''ve all received the mission and must arrive there promptly!"


    Qiu Tianfeng took out a small boat and blew it in the wind, immediately turning it into a giant ship hovering in the air. "I obtained this trinket by chance in the past. It''s able to fly without leaving a trace, and its defense is decent as well. Even if we are surrounded by otherworldly demons, it should be able to buy us some time. Shall we use it to travel?"


    "Thank you, Eldest Senior Brother!" Tie Xinku and the others were delighted as they stepped onto the deck right away.


    Junior Brother Li Hun¡­ do you know why Eldest Senior Brother took out this immortal artifact? Huang Yue said through voice transmission from behind him. This isn''t only for caution against the otherworldly demons on the way. It''s more for caution against¡­ people!


    Fang Yuan raised his eyebrows, showing he was aware. Rest assured, I won''t let my guard down.


    However, he was actually sneering in his mind. The power struggle between the Golden Soul Sect''s core disciples had already reached this point.


    Clearly, although Qiu Tianfeng had great hopes of becoming the sect master, it was not set in stone.


    The second and third core disciples were evidently formidable as well.


    Most importantly, the fight among core disciples will soon come to a close. These first three core disciples are surely prepared to advance to Immortal in this demon disaster!


    A Demonic Tribulation was as much an opportunity as it was a disaster!


    Since the world was met with disaster and in dire need of increasing its combat capabilities, the noose around the necks of Nascent Soul cultivators, the lightning tribulation, loosened somewhat.


    Those whose chances rested on a coin flip had very good chances of becoming Immortals if they choose to undergo the tribulation and face the demon disaster now.


    Fang Yuan even suspected that Mo He and Immortal Lie Huo had transcended their tribulations only because of this kind of heavenly favor.


    As for the top three core disciples, including Qiu Tianfeng, all of them had accomplished fighting evenly with Immortals. Obviously, they had comprehended formidable nomological laws. Despite that, they continued suppressing and accumulating their strength. The longer they kept doing so, the more dangerous the lightning tribulation would become.


    It was only during a demon disaster, when the power of the heavenly tribulation weakened, did they have some confidence in transcending their tribulation.


    Therefore, at the latest, these three will certainly choose to transcend the tribulation during the last stages of the demon disaster¡­ They''ve already fought evenly against Immortals. After becoming Immortals themselves, they''ll likely become the best batch of Immortals beneath Grand Unity!


    Immortals had rankings as well. After comprehending how to fuse nomological laws, Fang Yuan could kill trash Immortals from the Sixteen Countries effortlessly. As for those that had bodies comparable to immortal artifacts, he would have to put some effort into it. If the likes of Qiu Tianfeng broke through to the Immortal realm, they would have power on the level of the greatly weakened Sethgu, which was infinitely close to Grand Unity Immortal. Without using the Universe Obliteration strike, he did not have much confidence in killing them!


    He wondered what this Golden Soul Sect eldest senior brother would think if he knew that even after he broke through, it would only take Fang Yuan one saber move to kill him.


    ¡­


    Although he kept his guard up, it was a relatively peaceful journey. Apart from encountering the odd otherworldly demon that had drifted away from its group, which they had sped past with the floating ship, nothing special happened. He did not talk the entire journey and arrived safely at Yanyang City.


    While it was called a city, it was actually a tiny country. A large array covered it like a sky barrier, protecting the millions within.


    Cultivators had to protect mortals. After all, mortals were their biggest source.


    Swoosh!


    The floating ship directly broke through the sky barrier, passing many fields, farms, and towns before a large city appeared.


    "This is¡­ the Yin-Yang Prime Chronogram Array?"


    Fang Yuan stood on the deck and nodded in approval at the array covering the city.


    The size of this array could vary, from covering a small country to just protecting a single city.


    However, when it expanded to the maximum, it would only be able to warn and hinder. On the other hand, when it converged into a small area, it would be at its most powerful.


    "In other words, if otherworldly demons come, the civilians outside the city walls will all be cannon fodder¡­ However, otherworldly demons prefer to target cultivators. With the city in front of them, they might not pay attention to the farmlands and puny mortals!"


    While Fang Yuan was contemplating, an opening appeared on the city''s restriction, allowing the ship to pass through and land on a city square.


    Two rows of disciples bowed in welcome. "Welcome fellow Senior Brothers and Senior Sisters!"


    The core disciples ranked above the inner and outer disciples. They were destined to become Immortals, so their status within the Golden Soul Sect was nothing to scoff at.


    The arrival of a group of core disciples immediately alarmed Yanyang City, and even a few Immortals came to welcome them.


    "It''s Eldest Senior Brother Qiu Tianfeng himself!"


    "I really don''t understand. Why would these core disciples come out?"


    ¡­


    The disciples discussed among themselves secretly, clearly baffled.


    "Martial Uncle Nong Feng and Martial Uncle Ming Yue!" Qiu Tianfeng walked forward to greet the two Immortals.


    "Haha¡­ It''s truly exemplary of you to come and face the disaster¡­" Immortal Ming Yue smiled. "We''ve already prepared a feast. Please!"


    From his actions, he seemed to treat Qiu Tianfeng as an equal, even having a slight sense that his status was lower, which was incredible.


    Before Fang Yuan appeared, even the weakest Immortal was higher in status than mortals. It had been a law of heaven and earth.


    For Qiu Tianfeng to be able to do this, clearly having earned the respect of an Immortal, it was somewhat heaven-defying.


    Along the way, the other disciples all looked at them incredulously.


    After all, it was truly rare to see core disciples abandon the safe environment in the main sect and accept missions voluntarily.


    However, a few clever ones suddenly thought of something. There must be something the core disciples are after since they''ve come here! Opportunity! A humongous opportunity! Unfortunately, my strength isn''t enough. I''m nothing more than free food for otherworldly demons!


    The eyes of those looking at Fang Yuan''s group burned with passion, showing that they were willing to sell themselves to the group and act as their cannon fodder.


    These were the smart ones that had enough courage. Regretfully, they could not even be cannon fodder.


    "This is precisely the helplessness of the times¡­" Fang Yuan sighed softly. He followed Qiu Tianfeng into the palace at the center of the city, went to a side hall, and enjoyed the feast.


    In his mind, he was thinking frantically.


    As expected, after some time, Qiu Tianfeng announced joyously, "Juniors, Martial Grand Uncle just sent me a message. He has agreed to meet us!"


    "Really?"


    Even in normal circumstances, Grand Unity Immortals were difficult to see. With this demon disaster at hand, even core disciples should not disturb him.


    After hearing this, both Tie Xinku and Huang Yue were thrilled.


    They were very grateful to Qiu Tianfeng. They had not imagined that this eldest senior brother would keep their matter in mind and would start working on it as soon as he arrived in Yanyang City.


    Only Fang Yuan''s heart sank.


    Still¡­ I would have had to pass this test eventually. On the bright side, at least we''re outside. Even if he sees through me, I can still escape!


    If he had been exposed on Golden Mount Meru, it would have been impossible for him to escape.


    But the array above Yanyang City and a single Grand Unity Immortal would not be able to stop him.


    Fang Yuan was certain of this since he had mastered the Five Extreme Origin Heavenly Escape Technique and could teleport.


    Together with Tie Xinku and Huang Yue, he followed Qiu Tianfeng toward the main hall.

 1108 Exploitation

    The Golden Soul Sect Grand Unity Immortal guarding Yanyang City had the honorable name of ''Wu Yuan''.


    Grand Unity Immortals were at the apex of the Holy Lands. They possessed real power, and even the sect masters had to be wary of them.


    Fang Yuan could feel the deep and unpredictable power of a Great Dao as he approached the main hall.


    A Grand Unity Immortal had definitely mastered a Great Dao of some sort. Their strength was comparable to that of a Mental Demon Demon God!


    "Greetings, Elder Wu Yuan. Qiu Tianfeng asks for an audience with three core disciples!"


    Here, even the eldest senior brother Qiu Tianfeng was very humble and respectful.


    "Come in!" The impressive voice seemed to resonate within their souls. The door opened without anyone moving it, and everyone walked it.


    The body of this Golden Soul Sect Grand Unity Immortal doesn''t seem to have reached the primordial treasure level¡­ But I can''t kill him! Fang Yuan determined through the aura.


    The strength of this Grand Unity Immortal was definitely above that of Sethgu. He was at least at the level of the two weakened Ice and Fire Godfiends.


    Of course, because of the superiority of the bodies of Primordial Godfiends, ordinary Grand Unity Immortals would not be their match if they were at their peak.


    "We greet Immortal!" The four core disciples bowed together.


    "Are these three the new core disciples? Not bad¡­"


    Fang Yuan felt a piercing gaze upon him, feeling as though it almost saw through his intrinsic quality.


    Fortunately, he had put the items that could arouse suspicion in the Pantheon Palace beforehand, which he had hid alongside his materialization in a space in his dantian.


    The ability of his Illusion Realm''s nomological laws to store items in the void had increased along with the improvement of his strength. This Grand Unity Immortal would not check his dantian bit by bit, so it was very hopeful that he would get past this.


    "Myriad Poison Mixed Element Body? You might be able to withstand the pain from thousands of poisons, but your body has residual toxicity. You must refine and get rid of these poisons before continuing¡­"


    "The Bloodline of the Arc is extremely precious and very helpful for refining the body. However, your foundation is unstable. Refine your body to become comparable to an immortal artifact before doing anything else¡­"


    "As for you¡­" Grand Unity Immortal Wu Yuan scanned Fang Yuan. "The Nine Transference Undying Method is the foundation of our sect. Results are slow, but your foundation is solid. Continue with what you''re doing¡­"


    "Thank you for your guidance, Elder!" Tie Xinku and the others thanked him quickly after receiving his guidance.


    "Tianfeng, I know why you''re here. I''m opening the door of convenience for you. Core disciples, you can explore the mysterious realm at will after completing your tasks. Just be careful!"


    Obviously, Grand Unity Immortal Wu Yuan treated Qiu Tianfeng quite differently from the rest.


    After a few words, he waved his hand dismissively. Fang Yuan and the rest immediately left.


    "What a pity¡­" Huang Yue sighed with regret after some distance away. "Seems like we''re inadequate for the elder!"


    "It''s not that easy for a Grand Unity to take in a disciple." Qiu Tianfeng shook his head. "I think Grand Martial Uncle Wu Yuan has the best opinion of Li Hun. You can''t be lazy while staying here. There might still be a glimmer of hope¡­ As for Junior Brother Tie and Junior Sister Huang, there''s no need to be discouraged. Our sect has more than a dozen Grand Unity Immortals. Perhaps you''re just not fated with him."


    "Thank you, Eldest Senior Brother!" Tie Xinku and Huang Yue thanked him sincerely, bid farewell, and departed for their cave abodes.


    Xie Wufeng, Lu Wen, and Xia Qinghe were already waiting in front of Qiu Tianfeng''s cave abode. They entered together and activated the restrictions.


    "How are these three core disciples?" Lu Wen asked impatiently.


    "They shouldn''t be spies or have any big secrets on them if they could get through Elder Wu Yuan¡­ We can absorb them!" Qiu Tianfeng was expressionless.


    "In that case, we can use them for exploring the mysterious realm! They are core disciples after all, much better than those inner disciples¡­" Xie Wufeng said coldly, completely different from his earlier cordiality. This seemed to be his true nature.


    "Of course¡­ If it becomes clear that they have the aptitude and the affinity to be able to survive, they can join us," Xia Qinghe added gleefully. "But we still have to be careful. Who knows whether they''re spies sent by those two!"


    "Hmph! I will subdue Ji Ruyu and Hua Tianba sooner or later!" Qiu Tianfeng snorted coldly with a domineering attitude. "I''m going to be the sect master of the Golden Soul Sect in the future. I''ll even break through Grand Unity. How could I not have any subordinates? The two of them are just right!"


    Xie Wufeng and Lu Wen exchanged glances without a word.


    Only veterans like them knew that such a Qiu Tianfeng was the norm.


    Humility and politeness were only for show.


    ¡­


    A few months later.


    "Omnidirectional Bronze Man, kill!"


    In the wilderness outside of Yanyang City, a hundred disciples answered Fang Yuan''s order. A formation rose into the air and turned into a huge bronze figure. Under Fang Yuan''s control, it punched.


    Rumble!


    The otherworldly demon opposite them howled, and a giant hole appeared in its body. Flesh and blood flew.


    "Die!"


    Saber light flashed, instantly turning the otherworldly demon into ashes.


    "Senior Brother Li Hun, we killed another otherworldly demon!"


    The bronze man dispersed and turned back into many excited inner disciples. "The Omnidirectional Bronze Man Formation will only be able to unleash such power when a core disciple presides over it!"


    The power of a hundred inner disciples was comparable to that of an Immortal. Their bodies were akin to a top-grade dao artifact, and combined with this formation of the Golden Soul Sect, they could deal with ordinary otherworldly demons.


    This was where the significance of the Golden Soul Sect''s missions was. Otherwise, these cultivators would just be here to die.


    If a core disciple presided over the formation and became the core, they could overcome the shortcoming of the Omnidirectional Bronze Man Formation. Depending on the strength of the core disciple, they could even hunt otherworldly demons!


    "No wonder it''s a cultivation Holy Land. This is its foundation!" Fang Yuan was greatly inspired.


    He had only done what he was supposed to do. He had revealed the third transference of the Nine Transference Undying Method and also his Nomological Laws of Saber at perfection to improve the Omnidirectional Bronze Man Formation.


    This formation was only the most basic version. There was also the Thousand Transformation Iron Body Formation and the strongest Ten Thousand Golden Soul Formation, which could even threaten Chaos Godfiends!


    "Hmm, we''ve shown enough results for our hunt this time! It''s time to go back!" Fang Yuan waved his hand, and the other disciples cheered.


    After all, it was possible to encounter otherworldly demons outside Yanyang City at any time.


    He took out a flying ship. It might only be a dao artifact, but it was more than enough to transport a hundred people.


    From the void, a shadow teleported into the main cabin of the ship without these inner disciples noticing.


    "My Torch Dragon clone is finally here!"


    Fang Yuan looked at his clone in front of him and swallowed the half Primordial Godfiend origin crystal. He refined it within, and the mysterious black-red pattern appeared on his body.


    "My clone has reached the fifth level of the Undying Demon Body. Even if I completely convert the Nine Transference Undying Method, I''ll only reach the third or fourth level and still be easily discoverable¡­"


    Fang Yuan decided after some thought. "My main body can lay a good foundation while I continue staying in Yanyang City. My clone will stay outside and kill otherworldly demons to improve his cultivation!"


    His main body shared the same memories with his clone, so he would quickly catch up in cultivation as long as he had the resources.


    It was naturally a great idea.


    After all, his main body had to use the Nine Transference Undying Method as a cover. When he no longer needed to stay hidden, he would directly absorb a lot of resources and rush straight to the seventh level!


    The clone has to reach the seventh level first for me to be able to achieve this. Who knows how many Godfiends he''ll have to kill!


    The resources required to refine his body to the primordial treasure realm could form mountains and fill seas.


    On the surface, Qiu Tianfeng might have comforted Fang Yuan, saying that he had the most attention placed on him, but he had secretly given up on Fang Yuan.


    Although cultivating the Nine Transference Undying Method gave him a solid foundation, the time and resources required were infamous.


    Qiu Tianfeng might have already become the sect master by the time he could use him.


    ¡­ Why else would I have so many dangerous and tiring tasks? Fang Yuan smiled coldly.


    However, this arrangement matched his intent, so he allowed it to continue. Still, it had raised his vigilance toward Qiu Tianfeng, knowing now that underneath this person''s honey words, he was definitely a huge villain.


    "Junior Brother, you''re back, and you''ve killed three otherworldly demons today. Great. As expected of a core disciple. Senior Brother will record your achievements!" In Yanyang City, Lu Wen smiled happily while looking at Fang Yuan''s achievements. "There''s still one more matter I hope Junior Brother can help me with! I hope you won''t reject me!"


    "Oh? What is it?" Fang Yuan''s expression remained unchanged.


    "I hope Junior Brother can replace me on my patrol task this year¡­ I received an order from Eldest Senior Brother to do something for him!" Lu Wen said, all smiles.


    "Hmm¡­ In that case, I''ll take it on!" Fang Yuan said no more as he took Lu Wen''s task scroll and left.


    "Senior Brother, isn''t this a bit much¡­" Xia Qinghe''s figure appeared with a flash. "You even used Eldest Senior Brother''s name¡­"


    "It''s dangerous outside the city nowadays. No one can guarantee that we won''t meet a Primordial Godfiend. Even though the probability is low, how can I put myself at risk? Since he finishes his tasks so quickly, he can take on more work!"


    Lu Wen said nonchalantly, "Someone cultivating the Nine Transference Undying Method can''t possibly surpass you and me."


    The contempt of the superiors usually became worse in the hands of the operators.


    Obviously, Fang Yuan seemed the weakest among the core disciples, so he naturally wanted to exploit him as much as possible.


    "Sorry¡­"


    Fang Yuan met Tie Xinku and Huang Yue once he was out of the courtyard. Their faces were full of guilt. "We''ll personally ask Eldest Senior Brother for you when you''re back!"


    "Okay, I''ll rely on you two then!" Fang Yuan left without any expression. A hint of ridicule flashed through his eyes.

 1109 Trouble

    "Great¡­ I obtained another map!"


    Inside his cave abode, Fang Yuan opened the scroll detailing the task and saw an area marked in red where otherworldly demons might appear.


    This was a task map. Those who did not accept the task would not be able to get it.


    After Fang Yuan''s crazy speed of completing tasks, he knew the distribution of the otherworldly demons within the surrounding five thousand kilometers of Yanyang City.


    It isn''t convenient for me to use my methods in front of those inner disciples, but I can get my clone to explore these places and kill the otherworldly demons in advance while cultivating¡­ After confirming that there''s no danger, I can use my main body to kill one or two otherworldly demons that were intentionally released to complete my tasks.


    Fang Yuan closed his eyes and sat cross-legged.


    The Torch Dragon clone appeared outside Yanyang City. He teleported a few times in succession and came to the place marked on the task scroll.


    Black Qi rose into the sky. Dozens of otherworldly demons had gathered in a small city.


    Roar Roar!


    They raised their heads after detecting Fang Yuan''s aura. The sound waves soared into the sky, scattering the clouds.


    This place was obviously a small demon nest where otherworldly demons gathered. Immortals would not dare to start a battle here without a good number of them.


    "Immortal? Food!"


    Bodies and bones laid everywhere within the nest, and black water nourished them, creating a terrifying scene.


    An otherworldly demon with a golden horn on its head roared angrily, and many otherworldly demons flew out.


    "About time!"


    Fang Yuan teleported behind this horned otherworldly demon and slashed. "Light of Universe!"


    Although this otherworldly demon''s body was comparable to a mid-grade immortal artifact, after his comprehension of fusing nomological laws had deepened and the Light of Universe''s power had increased sharply, he cut open the otherworldly demon''s chest with little effort. Dark purple blood splattered.


    This was otherworldly demon blood. A single drop was enough to contaminate the ground, turning the surrounding fifty kilometers barren for thousands of years and into a danger zone. It could even corrode an immortal artifact!


    But most of it actually landed on Fang Yuan, making loud sizzling sounds.


    Fang Yuan''s Undying Demon Body acted like a sponge and greedily devoured the otherworldly demon blood. A purplish-red pattern appeared on his body.


    "You should feel honored to have become food for my Undying Demon Body¡­" The purplish-red pattern flickered after absorbing the otherworldly demon.


    The next moment, the remaining otherworldly demons attacked. Black beams struck from all sides, completely enveloping Fang Yuan.


    Rumble!


    A huge explosion happened, generating dark clouds of smoke.


    After the dust settled, a human figure emerged. A simple armor appeared from within his body.


    "Good¡­ As expected of the Undying Demon Body!"


    Fang Yuan laughed happily. His saber went forth, killing all the otherworldly demons and turning them into nourishment in no time.


    "Not enough! Far from enough! The flesh and natural source of these otherworldly demons will only bring my fifth level one step further, but I''m still far from the sixth level. I need at least a thousand otherworldly demons!"


    Fang Yuan frowned and immediately pondered. "The seventh level is the primordial treasure realm. If I want to break through to it, I need to increase the absorption by ten times. This will require ten thousand otherworldly demons. Or perhaps one Primordial Godfiend?"


    With this thought, he smiled bitterly.


    The Undying Demon Body might be advancing, but the demand for otherworldly demons was truly shocking.


    "Fortunately, I won''t be lacking otherworldly demons during the demon disaster¡­"


    The Torch Dragon clone lifted his head and released his murderous intent. "I''ll kill whoever gets in my way!"


    He transformed into a stream of light and hurried to the next spot with otherworldly demons.


    ¡­


    Time flew.


    "Senior Brother Li Hun, you''ve succeeded in the task this time again!"


    "Not only that, but even the number of casualties of inner disciples for the past two otherworldly demon hunts has plummeted. Senior Brother Li Hun is really kind¡­"


    Fang Yuan had an easy time during the tasks with the Torch Dragon clone doing the dirty work.


    After all, he was already invincible below the Grand Unity realm. Once he made a move, as long as he did not encounter a Primordial Godfiend, he could sweep through everything.


    The Torch Dragon clone had been busy killing otherworldly demons these days. He had slain more than eight hundred otherworldly demons and was very close to breaking through to the sixth level.


    "Haha¡­ Back again? Not bad!"


    Lu Wen stood at the door of the main hall, exuding the aura of an Immortal.


    Obviously, he had taken advantage of the demon disaster to successfully transcend the tribulation and become Immortal!


    It was nothing to be surprised about with the success rate of core disciples.


    He dropped a scroll indifferently. "Help me with this investigation task!"


    He did not even mask his contempt now that he had become an Immortal.


    "The purple scrolls are tasks for immortals!" Fang Yuan''s steps stopped.


    "I just became an Immortal and received the simplest investigation task¡­ Kid, your luck is pretty good. An otherworldly demon hunter appeared around Yanyang City recently. It''s said that he kills otherworldly demons out of boredom. Your task is to get to the bottom of this matter!"


    Lu Wen said with a meaningful gaze, "This person is your benefactor. Otherwise, with your cultivation base, you would have been long dead after doing so many tasks outside the city."


    "I see. I understand¡­" Fang Yuan took the scroll without another word.


    "It''s rare to have such a fragile core disciple!" After he left, Xia Qinghe and Xie Wufeng walked out and frowned. "Lu Wen, why did you suddenly break through? Don''t you know that only people below Immortal can enter the mysterious realm?"


    "I had to break through. My Nomological Laws of Earth were nearing perfection¡­" A flash of fear appeared on Lu Wen''s face. "I''ve reached perfection in the other four sets of nomological laws. With the Nomological Laws of Earth, the Five Elements would reach perfection. The lightning tribulation then would have been unimaginable¡­"


    He had chosen to give up part of his future potential in exchange for his life and the chance to advance.


    However, Xia Qinghe and Xie Wufeng rolled their eyes in contempt.


    Nearing perfection in his comprehension of nomological laws? Who could verify that other than him?


    Perhaps he forced a breakthrough because he feared the dangers of the mysterious realm. What could Qiu Tianfeng say?


    "Also¡­ I''m an Immortal now. You have to call me Martial Uncle when we meet!" Coldness flashed through Lu Wen''s eyes as he strode away.


    "Eldest Senior Brother, you saw it!"


    Xie Wufeng and Xia Qinghe waited quietly. Qiu Tianfeng stepped out of the shadows after some time. "Lu Wen¡­ how bold. Did you think you would have bargaining power with me just because you''ve become an Immortal? He''ll soon realize his mistake!"


    He did not say anything about Fang Yuan''s matter, obviously disinclined to waste energy on it.


    ¡­


    Tens of thousands of kilometers outside of Yanyang City.


    A large group of otherworldly demons howled as they scattered in all directions.


    In the middle of it all was a dazzling saber light.


    Swoosh!


    Saber light came out of its sheath. A silver river seemed to sweep forward, causing the void to vibrate and catching up to the group of escaping otherworldly demons.


    The next moment, all the otherworldly demons split into pieces. A mysterious force pulled them back and turned them into dust for a young man to absorb, as though his body were a black hole.


    "Okay, I''m at a total of 938 otherworldly demons and about to break through in my Undying Demon Body! I''m in luck today, finding such a large group of otherworldly demons!"


    The Torch Dragon clone laughed, teleported, and harvested the rest of the otherworldly demons.


    One by one, he burned these otherworldly demons and turned them into nourishment, pushing his Undying Demon Body to greater heights.


    "The thousandth one!"


    Fang Yuan finally felt an obvious change happening in his body. His Undying Demon Body broke through to the sixth level, and his body became comparable to a top-grade immortal artifact.


    "But the next level will need ten thousand otherworldly demons. It''ll be troublesome¡­" Fang Yuan frowned.


    "Die!" Suddenly, a black beam fell, directly destroying his upper body.


    In the sky, dark clouds scattered to reveal a strange Godfiend covered in silver scales. It had six arms and two faces, and the black beam had come from the angry face. Two huge hands made a grab for Fang Yuan''s body.


    Swoosh!


    The other half of his body instantly disappeared and reappeared hundreds of kilometers away. Flesh and blood quickly gathered into Fang Yuan''s appearance. "The Dao of Destruction, Primordial Godfiend? Was it a trap? No wonder such a large group of otherworldly demons had gathered!"


    This Primordial Godfiend was obviously strange. It had disguised its aura so well that even Fang Yuan had not noticed it.


    Fortunately, he had the Nomological Laws of Undying, and it had only destroyed his upper body, so he had recovered in no time.


    "Better not bump head-on with it. Run!" Fang Yuan continued teleporting to escape. "I was too careless¡­ I''ve hunted too many otherworldly demons these days, so something was bound to happen! It turned out to be a Primordial Godfiend sneak attacking me!"


    Even Grand Unity Immortals could not compare to his speed of annihilating otherworldly demons since it was difficult to do so without teleportation.


    He had killed a thousand otherworldly demons in a short period of time. The surroundings of Yanyang City were nearly devoid of them.


    Such loss and emptiness easily attracted the attention of a Primordial Godfiend.


    "Don''t think about escaping!" the Primordial Godfiend roared. All six hands formed different seals, and it transformed into a lightning python that quickly flew after him.


    This Godfiend is not only good at hiding, but it''s also fast.


    Fang Yuan did not dare to be careless. Using both the Heavenly Escape Technique and teleportation with all his might, he fled toward Yanyang City.


    After all, he was also cleaning up the otherworldly demons for Yanyang City, so it could help him deal with this.


    Moreover, around here, perhaps only Grand Unity Immortal Wu Yuan could stop this Godfiend!


    ¡­


    Within Yanyang City.


    Grand Unity Immortal Wu Yuan was sitting cross-legged when his eyes suddenly opened. "Someone barged into the Yin-Yang Prime Chronogram Array?"


    Light flashed. He appeared thousands of meters above and stared at the figure dashing forward. "Who are you?"


    The Torch Dragon clone had prepared a disguise long before coming to Yanyang City. He smiled slightly and disappeared instantly.


    In fact, he teleported into the cave abode of his main body. They were going to merge into one, which was equivalent to destroying all evidence.


    Roar Roar!


    The next moment, a silver lightning python broke into the array, transformed into the six-armed Godfiend, and roared, "Humans?!?!"


    "Damn¡­ it''s a Primordial Godfiend!" Elder Wu Yuan took a deep breath. "Activate the array in its entirety and summon all the disciples. Get ready for battle!"


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 1110 Decapitation

    Elder Wu Yuan knew something was amiss, but he did not think that the Primordial Godfiend would reason with him.


    The two camps were inherently hostile, and they would have conflicts whenever they met.


    Such great fanfare was to draw out the earlier figure.


    To him, someone who could escape from a Primordial Godfiend had to be at the same level, and there was great hope if it was two against one.


    Unfortunately, while the Yin-Yang Prime Chronogram Array activated not long later, and the Immortals and other disciples flew out, there was no second Grand Unity Immortal aura.


    "He actually caused so much trouble. Which Grand Unity Immortal is so shameless?"


    Elder Wu Yuan was furious and nearly shouted abuse. He had never seen someone so shameless! He escaped right after causing trouble. Moreover, he disappeared so fast! He did not even leave him any time to react.


    Roar Roar!


    The six-armed Godfiend howled with anger over losing track of the Torch Dragon clone.


    Sound waves rumbled on as the Nomological Laws of Destruction radiated its might. The aura alone could scare away a large number of outer and inner disciples.


    "It''s a Primordial Godfiend!"


    Within the immortal array, Lu Wen was secretly anxious.


    Mortal disciples, even core disciples, could not do much on this battlefield. However, Immortals like them had to be at the front line.


    He never thought that after becoming an Immortal to avoid danger, he would now face this great catastrophe!


    No! I can''t die here! I am a core Immortal of the Golden Soul Sect. I can at least become an inner elder in the future! He roared wildly in his heart.


    Swoosh!


    With the sound waves, otherworldly demons appeared one after another, no less than a thousand of them.


    "A Primordial Godfiend leading over a thousand otherworldly demons to lay siege? In the past, such battles would only happen during the mid or late stages of a demon disaster¡­ It seems like this six-armed Godfiend is the leader of the otherworldly demons of this area. However, there seems to be fewer otherworldly demons¡­" Elder Wu Yuan said with some doubt.


    "Kill in the name of destruction!"


    Unfortunately, the six-armed Godfiend gave him no chance to explain. It immediately flew down, and all six hands made a grab at Yanyang City.


    "I''m the one guarding this city. I''m not about to let you destroy it!" Immortal Wu Yuan''s sleeves billowed in the wind. "Take my Wu Yuan Great Dao!"


    Behind him, the power of a Great Dao appeared and formed a black abyss, devouring the shadow of the Godfiend''s six hands.


    This Great Dao power is somewhat similar to devour, but it''s still a shade away!


    Fang Yuan stood among the disciples, gazing at the battlefield above.


    The aftershocks from the two Grand Unity almighties were tremendous, and the Immortals caught in them all died.


    Elder Wu Yuan naturally knew this, so he tried to shift the battlefield. "All Immortals, assist me by activating the Thousand Transformation Iron Body Formation! Core disciples, lead in supplementing the formation to confront the otherworldly demons!"


    "Yes!"


    Numerous Omnidirectional Bronze Men erected on the walls of Yanyang City in preparation for clash with the otherworldly demons.


    "Die!"


    The Omnidirectional Bronze Men led by the core disciples started their killing spree, and the otherworldly demons could not stop them.


    Nonetheless, there were only a few core disciples! The remaining Omnidirectional Bronze Men barely managed to cope with the otherworldly demons. Some of them were even directly torn apart, and the disciples were devoured whole.


    "Quick! Retreat to the center of the city and resist with the Yin-Yang Prime Chronogram Array!"


    Qiu Tianfeng''s voice rang throughout the area, commanding the disciples to surround the otherworldly demons using a divide and conquer tactic to have the weak defeat the strong.


    All of this was possible because of the protection from the array. Otherwise, the sheer number of otherworldly demons was far more than what the Golden Soul Sect could handle.


    Even with the many advantages, injuries and deaths accumulated among the disciples, making Qiu Tianfeng''s expression change.


    No matter how good Qiu Tianfeng''s tactics are, it''s impossible to make up for our disadvantage against the otherworldly demons. And this is the result after I killed a thousand otherworldly demons. Otherwise, they would have immediately crushed Yanyang City after this battle started¡­ Fang Yuan observed indifferently. On the other hand, since Immortal Wu Yuan actually dares to battle that Primordial Godfiend and even got the Immortals to assist in the array, he might have something up his sleeve!


    His spiritual will entered the void and watched the battle in the sky.


    "Thousand Transformation Iron Body Formation, activate!"


    Dozens of Immortals shouted in unison. Black Qi scattered and turned into a formation.


    This array looked like an iron man that was three thousand meters tall. Its body had myriad transformations, and its two enormous arms turned into various divine armaments as it impeded the Godfiend.


    This Thousand Transformation Iron Body Formation uses Immortals as its foundation. Its ideal state has a thousand Immortals with bodies comparable to immortal artifacts forming an array large enough to kill the Primordial Godfiends! Unfortunately, only if the entire Golden Soul Sect went all out could it maybe gather enough people¡­ It''s currently a simplified version at the level of Sethgu''s demon head, and it can only restrain this Primordial Demon God!


    Fang Yuan frowned. Such strength, even with Wu Yuan, won''t help¡­ Was I mistaken?


    Wu Yuan and the six-armed Godfiend exchanged blows again. The void shattered, and a figure landed on the forehead of the iron man, sinking in.


    Elder Wu Yuan was not a match for it, so he took the initiative to integrate into the array and become its core!


    "Wu Yuan Great Dao, Thousand Transformation Iron Body, Yin-Yang Prime Chronogram Array, behead the demon!"


    The Thousand Transformation giant solidified and emitted a dangerous aura. It beckoned with its hand at Yanyang City.


    Rumble!


    Qiu Tianfeng''s face changed. The sky barrier covering the battlefield instantly disappeared.


    White and black light flew out from the center of the city and into the hand of the Thousand Transformation Iron Body, turning into a sharp sword that stabbed at the Godfiend.


    ¡­


    "Ahh!"


    The Golden Soul Sect disciples were already struggling to hold on with the protection of the array. But the cause was now lost that they had lost the protection of the Yin-Yang Prime Chronogram Array. Not only was their strength disparity large, but their morale also hit rock bottom. They started to scatter like ants as the otherworldly demons slaughtered them.


    "What a good old dog!"


    Fang Yuan was also manipulating an Omnidirectional Bronze Man, looking for an opportunity to abandon Yanyang City and escape. "In order to deal with the Primordial Godfiend, he actually transferred the power protecting Yanyang City! Obviously, the lives of us disciples and the mortals are nothing to him!"


    Without the power of the array, staying in Yanyang City was the same as courting death.


    The next moment, large numbers of otherworldly demons charged in and massacred wantonly. Blood sprayed freely in the air.


    Those who were slow to run turned into mincemeat immediately.


    A few of the Omnidirectional Bronze Men controlled by the core disciples could move freely among the otherworldly demons and occasionally caused some damage to them.


    Chaos descended on Yanyang City in an instant.


    What a pity¡­ So many otherworldly demons!


    Fang Yuan''s spiritual will moved. The Torch Dragon clone with blackish-red armor teleported and appeared tens of kilometers away, emitting a hazy aura. He had changed his facial features and even disguised the aura of his divine spirit so that no suspicion would land on him.


    A saber beam swept across the otherworldly demons.


    "This is¡­" The saber decapitated dozens of otherworldly demons, and he devoured them all. This violent and tyrannical style even frightened Qiu Tianfeng.


    "This person¡­ should be the one who was hunting otherworldly demons outside of Yanyang City!" Fang Yuan''s main body appeared and pretended not to know his clone. "This senior is really impressive!"


    "Impressive?" Riddled with wounds, Tie Xinku and Huang Yue looked at each other and smiled bitterly.


    They had guessed that this was likely the person who had attracted the Primordial Godfiend here!


    But what could they say at this time?


    This person was like a natural disaster to the otherworldly demons. In the blink of an eye, hundreds of otherworldly demons lost their lives. Even if they were to become Immortals, they would probably still be far inferior to him.


    "Is he a Grand Unity Immortal? No¡­ it seems that way, but he''s not!" Qiu Tianfeng watched this scene, and his face was solemn, as though he had realized something. "A mere Immortal has such combat power?"


    ¡­


    Rumble!


    Following the loud noise, the battle in the sky neared its finale.


    The six-armed Godfiend had sustained sword wounds all over its body as it continued to exchange blows with the Thousand Transformation Iron Body.


    Sharp nails from its six arms appeared, penetrating the Thousand Transformation Iron Man''s chest and grabbing a few Immortals.


    "Kill!"


    Elder Wu Yuan attacked it by sustaining injuries on his end as well. The Yin-Yang Prime Chronogram Sword swept past the Primordial Godfiend''s head.


    Bang!


    The next moment, an earthshaking sound rumbled. The Thousand Transformation Iron Body Formation could no longer be maintained and disintegrated.


    At the same time, red clouds appeared in the sky, and blood splashed through the air. The six-armed Godfiend''s severed head slammed onto the ground.


    In the sky, two eyes popped out of the Godfiend''s chest, and its navel became a big mouth. It started moving again and slapped its six hands down.


    "No!" Their faces were full of despair as they looked at the giant hand coming down on them. "I''m going to become an elder. I can''t die."


    Smack!


    The next moment, the hand came down and turned him into muddy flesh. Even his divine spirit was destroyed by the Destruction Great Dao.


    "Suppress!" Elder Wu Yuan''s face turned an abnormal red. He had clearly suffered many injuries during the fierce battle before. Now, he had to gather all his power to seal this Godfiend!


    ¡­


    "Good chance!"


    The Torch Dragon clone''s eyes brightened as he went to where the Godfiend''s head had landed.


    A giant crater appeared, but that severed head had disappeared.


    "You won''t be able to escape!"


    He continuously teleported as he chased after it.


    Hundreds of kilometers away, the Godfiend''s head was flying away with all its might. It roared as blood and meat grew rapidly under its neck.


    The next moment, a figure appeared, and a saber beam fell from the sky. "Universe Obliteration!"


    Whoosh!


    Countless future possibilities for this otherworldly demon were severed in this instant.


    The saber beam ripped apart the Primordial Godfiend''s newly-grown body and poured in from the wound on its neck into its brain.


    Rumble!


    The light in the four eyes of the two-faced Godfiend went dim, and Fang Yuan took it into his immortal artifact ring.


    "It''s not dead yet? Seems like I''m still lacking when it comes to killing a Primordial Godfiend. However¡­ I can bring it back to refine slowly¡­"


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 1111 Mysterious Realm

    On the white jade plaza, numerous iron chains resembling sharp arrows pierced through the demon head.


    The array flashed. This array obtained from the Thirty-Three-Level Outer Heaven Tower was working at full strength in suppressing the two-faced demon.


    "As expected of a Primordial Godfiend! It''s still living after taking my Universe Obliteration¡­"


    Fang Yuan''s Torch Dragon clone looked at the demon head with a glint in his eyes.


    This head naturally did not possess the full strength of the six-armed Godfiend. Even so, it was much more difficult to deal with than Sethgu.


    "The head of a Primordial Godfiend is much better than many otherworldly demons combined. Moreover, the harvest this time in Yanyang City¡­ Perhaps it can raise my Undying Demon Body to the seventh level!"


    The purplish-red pattern appeared on Fang Yuan''s body as blood flames fell on the demon head.


    Although it might be very slight, the head was melting bit by bit.


    "Human¡­" Finally, the two-faced demon roared, but it was a spent force and could not even struggle free from the array.


    "Just become my food obediently!"


    Fang Yuan focused on circulating the Undying Demon Body to destroy this Primordial Godfiend. His cultivation technique was simply the bane of otherworldly demons.


    After some time, the demon head wrapped in blood flames slowly melted like a wax figure.


    "The terror in the chaos will awaken soon¡­ This world¡­ will be destroyed¡­ You¡­ can''t escape¡­" Its spiritual will transmitted this message intermittently before completely melting and being absorbed by Fang Yuan.


    "Good guy!"


    Fang Yuan felt as though a few wild beasts were forcing their way through his body. His blood vessels, muscles, and bones rumbled violently, and his body burned with blood flames.


    Even the otherworldly demon armor melted into a liquid and integrated into his body.


    "This armor is the essence of the otherworldly demons that can''t be refined¡­ So, the seventh level of the Undying Demon Body is to refine the body completely and integrate with it as one!"


    With the comprehension, the Torch Dragon clone entered a deep state of cultivation immediately.


    ¡­


    Yanyang City.


    The city had wreckage everywhere, and corpses sprawled all over as blood flowed out of them, looking like a purgatory in the world.


    Earlier, Elder Wu Yuan had sent all the Immortals to fight against the Primordial Godfiend and transferred the power of the array, leading to otherworldly demons entering the city, causing massive casualties to the citizens and disciples of the Golden Soul Sect.


    Of course, in his view, these losses were completely acceptable compared to the heavy losses of the Primordial Godfiend.


    Inside the main hall, they organized a banquet and rejoiced merrily.


    "Congratulations to Martial Uncle (Grand Martial Uncle) for suppressing the Primordial Godfiend!"


    Fang Yuan followed the flow and congratulated Immortal Wu Yuan along with other Immortals.


    "Haha¡­ Everyone also worked hard!" Elder Wu Yuan laughed merrily. It had taken him a lot of effort to finally suppress the headless six-armed Godfiend.


    The opponent was the leader of the otherworldly demons of this area, which was equivalent to their lord. After this, no more otherworldly demons would dare to come to this area for some time.


    It could be said that Yanyang City had passed half of the demon disaster this time.


    In his opinion, the losses were not worth mentioning in the face of this harvest.


    Looking at this scene, especially the seating positions that were different, Tie Xinku could not but sigh for those who had died. The many must labor for the one¡­


    Lu Wen had become arrogant after becoming an Immortal. Nonetheless, he was merely an ant under the might of the Primordial Godfiend.


    Regarding his death, the otherworldly demon was half responsible, Elder Wu Yuan was at least forty percent responsible, and even Qiu Tianfeng shared the rest of the responsibility.


    His heart shuddered at the end of this thought.


    Qiu Tianfeng''s smiling gaze came over, and he toasted him.


    Tie Xinku returned the courtesy with a bitter smile and downed the drink, but he was wondering inwardly if the decision he had made in the beginning was right.


    "Xinku, Huang Yue, Li Hun¡­ Let''s meet after the banquet!" Qiu Tianfeng transmitted his voice during the banquet. "It''s about the mysterious realm, and we have to prepare to leave for an extended period of time¡­"


    Is it finally time? Fang Yuan''s eyes glowed.


    He did some calculations. Indeed, the mysterious realm was reopening soon.


    Due to Qiu Tianfeng and the rest being so secretive about it, if it were not opening soon, it would have been impossible to find any clues, even if he had reached perfection in the Illusion Realm''s nomological laws.


    ¡­


    "The attack by the otherworldly demon on our city this time was unexpected. It has caused Junior Brother Lu''s death, making my heart deeply sorrowful¡­" Qiu Tianfeng acted as though he was in great pain in front of Fang Yuan and the rest. "Fortunately, we won a huge victory, and Yanyang City no longer needs our protection. The annihilation of the nearby otherworld demons has created an excellent opportunity for us to explore the mysterious realm. "


    "We are willing to die for Eldest Senior Brother!" Tie Xinku stepped up and expressed his loyalty.


    "Haha¡­ Everyone is from the same sect, so there''s no need to be so courteous." Qiu Tianfeng laughed and glanced at Fang Yuan.


    Li Hun''s actions had made him a well-known doormat. To him, Li Hun was more reliable than Tie Xinku.


    He kept this thought in his heart, not letting it show on his face. He took out his flying ship, and all six of them boarded.


    "Without further ado, let''s set off!"


    The six of them gathered on the deck and listened to the arrangements for this mysterious realm.


    "The gate to this mysterious realm is hidden within the void when it isn''t open, and there''s a strong seal on it. If a Grand Unity Immortal wants to venture into it forcibly, the entire mysterious realm will self-destruct! Once it opens, only cultivators below Immortals can enter¡­ It''s extremely dangerous inside, and it seems like the original Mount Mengyan''s restrictions have merged with a space storm to form strange protections¡­" Qiu Tianfeng said eloquently.


    "However, I explored its periphery previously and realized that as long as we, the core disciples, are careful, there won''t be many problems. This broken land should have been an important part of Mount Mengyan all those years ago. There are many benefits inside, and no matter what you find, you can obtain thirty percent of it! Come forward if you have any questions!"


    "Does this broken land have a name?" Fang Yuan asked.


    "I saw a plaque with ''Longyan Peak'' on it! Later, I realized that this used to be part of a place with great importance after searching through ancient books. It should have many Immortal cave abodes¡­" Qiu Tianfeng''s expression revealed a hint of satisfaction.


    Longyan Peak, huh? Fang Yuan nodded, his heart twitching with anticipation.


    The Mount Mengyan Holy Land had perished many years ago, and there was extremely little information available about it.


    But it was different for him! There was a map of Mount Mengyan in the Outer Heaven Tower, and he had brought it with him.


    Longyan Peak was indeed a place where inner elders gathered. I should be able to obtain some good stuff there¡­ However, behind this peak was a ''Heaven Connecting Mountain'', which was where a Grand Unity Elder had cultivated. I wonder if they''re still connected. If they are¡­


    Fang Yuan''s eyes flashed, and something told him that Qiu Tianfeng might be hiding something.


    Even Grand Unity Immortals would be interested in the things that someone of the same rank had left behind.


    ¡­


    The immortal artifact flying ship stopped about 3,500 kilometers east of Yanyang City.


    Fang Yuan had once passed by when he was chasing after otherworldly demons, but he had detected nothing.


    What a pity¡­ If only I had known it was around here, I might have found something if I used my spiritual will to search inch by inch¡­


    He followed Qiu Tianfeng to a waterfall.


    "We''re here¡­" Qiu Tianfeng looked up into the sky, pleased with himself. "The mysterious realm''s entrance will open when the full moon is out tonight¡­ When it''s closed, it shrinks to an almost imperceptibly small size and stays hidden in the void, which was why I didn''t add any unnecessary protections to it!"


    His strategy was right on the dot. Otherwise, Fang Yuan''s spiritual will would have noticed the fluctuations of the array and realized that something was amiss here.


    "Everyone, let''s wait here!"


    Qiu Tianfeng, Xia Qinghe, and Xie Wufeng found a spot each and began mediating.


    Tie Xinku exchanged glances with Huang Yue and came to Fang Yuan''s side.


    Junior Brother Li Hun¡­ it''s all my fault! Tie Xinku was expressionless as he sat cross-legged and swallowed a pill, but he was secretly sending voice transmissions with them. I thought that Eldest Senior Brother Qiu Tianfeng was noble and honorable, but now, haha¡­


    We have to be extra careful after entering the mysterious realm and prioritize our own safety! Huang Yue added, obviously having her own ideas as well.


    Play it by ear! Fang Yuan said nonchalantly. He knew that they were trying to pull him over to their side and found it funny.


    The sun soon set, and the moon took its place.


    White moonlight illuminated the pond and slowly climbed up.


    When it reached the center of the waterfall, space trembled and revealed a stone door.


    "It''s the entrance to the mysterious realm!"


    Fang Yuan and the others naturally noticed this commotion, and they gathered.


    "The mysterious realm is open when the moon is out, and it''s closed when the moon is gone¡­" Qiu Tianfeng said lightly.


    "What? It opens once every few years and only for such a short amount of time?" Tie Xinku was surprised. "What can we explore with just half a day?"


    "Hehe¡­" Xie Wufeng glanced scornfully at Tie Xinku. "This is a Holy Land that has been refined long ago. The Nomological Laws of Time are somewhat different. We''ll have dozens of days inside!"


    Careless words revealed much to an attentive listener.


    Fang Yuan''s eyes grew wide. The Nomological Laws of Time!


    Obviously, only someone who had reached perfection in the Nomological Laws of Time, even coming into contact with the Time Great Dao, could arrange such an array.


    Since the Heavenly Circuit Immortal Sect had one or two space-related treasures, it was not unthinkable for Mount Mengyan to have produced a genius who had reached perfection in the Nomological Laws of Time and refined the restrictions again to add the power of time.


    After all, the Wasteland World was huge, and Mount Mengyan was once famous. It would not be strange for it to have produced one or two monstrous geniuses in its history.


    However, Fang Yuan was still extremely excited.


    If there are any treasures pertaining to time or even some cultivation insights left behind, they might be useful in helping me break through!


    This might be his chance to achieve perfection in his Nomological Laws of Time!


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 1112 Life-and-Death Road

    Within the mysterious realm.


    The sky was gray and misty with light.


    Rubble lay scattered everywhere in a mess, and there was a large rock plaque that had broken into several pieces with the words ''Longyan Peak'' carved into it.


    "It really is a remnant of the Mount Mengyan Holy Land¡­" After entering the mysterious realm, Fang Yuan had this feeling.


    "The original restrictions of Mount Mengyan were very powerful. Although they might be damaged now, they''re even stranger since they''ve integrated with the power of nature¡­ We have to be even more careful!"


    Qiu Tianfeng looked around and nodded. "From my previous experience, we''ll reach the Immortal cave abodes after breaking through a few restrictions. There will be many benefits¡­"


    "Let me take a look!" Tie Xinku strode forward bravely. "This place has the Nomological Laws of Gravity, but they''re inferior to those of our Golden Soul Sect!"


    They were all core disciples of the Holy Land, and they had experienced Golden Mount Meru''s refined Nomological Laws of Gravity. The restraining power here was not as strong as the core disciple peaks, so they naturally did not fear it.


    They advanced again and came to a foggy place.


    "It looks like the Five Mystic Seal Spiritual Array. It reeks of a space restriction and appears to have blended with the shards of the mysterious realm''s laws to become something of its own!" He seemed to have some sort of secret detection method with his hand seals. However, he shook his head after sensing for a short moment. "It''s useless. I can''t think of a way to crack it!"


    "Haha¡­ The laws of nature and the Dao of Array. An array master had originally obtained this by observing the movement of heaven and earth. The power of a nature array is much stronger than you and me. Moreover, this is a variation of the original Five Mystic Seal Spiritual Array. There''s no other way than to break it forcefully!"


    Qiu Tianfeng stepped forward and punched.


    He also cultivated the Nine Transference Undying Method, but his level was much higher than Fang Yuan''s, having reached the peak of the sixth transference. His body was comparable to a top-grade immortal artifact, and his every move carried boundless force.


    Bang!


    His punch was simple and without any fluctuations of magic power. It was pure strength, yet it caused the white fog to move, and a giant tunnel appeared.


    But the next moment, everyone''s eyes narrowed.


    The white fog circulated and slowly repaired itself.


    "This tunnel is about a kilometer long, and no spiritual techniques can break the Five Mystic Seal Spiritual Array. We can only rely on our physical bodies to get through it!" Qiu Tianfeng explained. "However, this is the safest restriction since the array won''t attack us if we use pure physical force!"


    "No wonder Eldest Senior Brother didn''t bring any inner disciples!"


    Huang Yue immediately understood that only a body at the immortal artifact level could open the way through this mutated array. Inner disciples would just be burdens.


    Under the Immortal realm and with bodies at the immortal artifact level, how many of them were there in the Golden Soul Sect?


    "Everyone takes turns. Don''t waste time!"


    Xie Wufeng stepped up and stabbed fiercely with his sword.


    Poof!


    A channel appeared in the giant tunnel and advanced fifteen steps.


    Xia Qinghe followed, and the channel advanced another ten steps.


    Fang Yuan looked on coldly. This method of forcibly attacking and breaking through could measure the physical strength of each disciple.


    Qiu Tianfeng, for example, had advanced more than twenty steps with a casual blow, and he seemed to have energy remaining. However, Tie Xinku and Huang Yue had only managed to advance five or six steps.


    The gap between the first core disciple and the tail-end ones was evident.


    "My turn!" He stepped forward excitedly with golden light spots all over his body. "Break!"


    Rumble!


    The channel broke through another seven or eight steps forward.


    Li Hun¡­ you¡­


    Tie Xinku and Huang Yue were astonished. They could see that Fang Yuan had used all his might, unlike them.


    "Good job. Don''t stop!"


    Qiu Tianfeng was slightly happy after seeing this. He stepped up again and opened up another twenty steps.


    The fog gathered behind them, blocking the entrance completely.


    ¡­


    After three days.


    Six figures escaped haggardly from a sea of thunder.


    "Finally made it!" Tie Xinku and Huang Yue were frightened. "That sea of thunder is man-made. Even though it lacks the true mighty power of the lightning tribulation, it''s still terrible¡­"


    "Hehe¡­ You thought that was close to the lightning tribulation?"


    Qiu Tianfeng said casually, "As core disciples, we have strong foundations, and our lightning tribulations will also multiply by our strength. It is heaven''s will for the world to be in balance, but we cultivators are fighting against heaven for our lives, and we are most disdainful about this¡­ You have to be careful when you cross your lightning tribulations."


    "Thank you for your guidance, Eldest Senior Brother!" Tie Xinku and the others thanked him hurriedly.


    They looked at the jade white enormous mountain in front of them, their faces solemn. "We''ve finally reached the Immortal cave abodes!"


    "That''s right. There are at least a dozen Immortal cave abodes on this White Jade Mountain. Although every abode has the protection of a restriction, the Immortals had only arranged them casually. It shouldn''t be difficult for you to break them!"


    Qiu Tianfeng nodded. "We''ll split up here. Everyone, be careful!"


    After a pause, he looked at Fang Yuan. "Junior Brother Li Hun, follow me!"


    "Understood!" An enlivened Fang Yuan tagged along behind Qiu Tianfeng and flew toward the White Jade Mountain.


    This Li Hun! Tie Xinku and Huang Yue exchanged infuriated glances. Is he really going to follow Eldest Senior Brother? How should we choose?


    "Haha! We''ll have a lot to search for in this mountain full of cave abodes¡­" Xia Qinghe and Xie Wufeng looked at Tie Xinku and Huang Yue. "Do you want to come with us?"


    "No! No need!" They quickly shook their heads. "Senior Brother and Senior Sister, please help yourselves!"


    ¡­


    "Li Hun, do you know why I''m bringing you along?" Qiu Tianfeng asked with his hands behind his back, his expression proud.


    "Perhaps¡­ because I''m obedient?" Fang Yuan smiled, acting good-natured.


    "Haha¡­ There''s that too!" Qiu Tianfeng turned around, his eyes gleaming. "I don''t care if you''re really foolish or just acting. As long as you''re obedient and help me succeed in this treasure hunt, I can guarantee that you will become my trusted aide, and I''ll grant you the position of an elder with power in the future!"


    "I possess low ability and just want to find a big tree I can rely on. I don''t dare to compete with Eldest Senior Brother for the true treasures. I''ll be grateful as long as I can obtain some treasures to refine my body with!" Fang Yuan answered generously.


    "Very good. You know how to be flexible. Follow me!" Qiu Tianfeng appeared satisfied and went forward, ignoring the Immortal cave abodes.


    Fang Yuan followed closely behind, sneering in his heart. He probably brought me along because my cultivation is the lowest, and I''m the easiest to control. This Qiu Tianfeng obviously knows about the Heaven Connecting Mountain¡­ Moreover, there should be some danger that he needs a scapegoat to do.


    They hurried along. After reaching Longyan Peak, a huge multi-colored restriction blocked their way.


    "Go!"


    Qiu Tianfeng took out his immortal artifact flying ship, and it slammed into the restriction.


    Whoosh!


    A vast amount of lightning, flames, and icicles emerged to pelt the ship, like rain pattering unceasingly against a banana leaf. It might be an immortal artifact, but it gradually gave way as its surface became full of pits.


    Decisive. He''s giving up an immortal artifact to get past the restriction faster!


    Fang Yuan sat cross-legged, watching from the side.


    Qiu Tianfeng was the eldest senior brother of the Golden Soul Sect and a Son of Destiny. He had many treasures and secret skills, having an unfathomable depth.


    He defeated even more powerful restrictions with various items, and they soon arrived in front of a small mountain.


    Green hills laid on it back, and streams flowed. This scenery was everywhere here.


    Seeing this mountain seemed to make Qiu Tianfeng''s eyes glow incomparably bright. "Heaven Connecting Mountain? I''m finally here. Haha¡­"


    It''s really this place! Fang Yuan exclaimed inwardly.


    Currently, he only had a small portion of his psyche placed on the surroundings, and the rest focused on comprehending this mysterious realm''s Nomological Laws of Time.


    He deduced that an Immortal must have reached perfection in the Nomological Laws of Time, perhaps even cultivated the Dao of Time, and had revamped this place.


    According to the map, this Heaven Connecting Mountain wasn''t only the abode of a Grand Unity Elder, but it was also an important place with a hidden treasure!


    At this point, Fang Yuan concentrated all of his psyche here. Even Qiu Tianfeng lost his arrogance and walked forward orderly.


    They came to the foot of the mountain and saw two identical roads winding forward into the clouds.


    "We''re here. The Life-and-Death Road of the Heaven Connecting Mountain!"


    Qiu Tianfeng gazed at Fang Yuan and suddenly shot a restriction at him. "You¡­ choose one road. I''ll definitely treat you well after this!"


    "Eldest Senior Brother¡­ You!" Fang Yuan covered his dantian, his face full of surprise and anger.


    "Don''t blame me. This Life-and-Death road is exactly what it means. One road leads to death, while the other leads to life, and it''s hard to tell which is which. Moreover, there are dangers on both roads. It''s difficult to determine with normal puppets and Fey beasts. Otherwise, I truly don''t want to sacrifice you¡­" Qiu Tianfeng said indifferently. "Choose! Defy me and die. Choose one, and you have a fifty percent chance of making it out and enjoying a lifetime of happiness!"


    "Good!" Fang Yuan showed sorrow and chose a road. His figure disappeared in an instant.


    He¡­ accepted it and agreed so readily? Qiu Tianfeng frowned. But there''s nothing to worry about with this restriction in hand!


    ¡­


    Indeed, it happened! Unbeknown to Qiu Tianfeng, Fang Yuan was rushing forward at lightning speed. Restricting my dantian? Hehe¡­


    His cultivation on the surface was only superficial. His true strength was hidden in that space, and it would be easy to destroy the restriction once he unleashed it.


    Thanks to Qiu Tianfeng, I was able to reach the Heaven Connecting Mountain easily. As for the Life-and-Death Road¡­


    There was naturally a description of this perilous land in the Thirty-Three-Level Outer Heaven Tower.


    It was indeed hard to discern which road was which. It could kill Immortals and would even interchange.


    However, Fang Yuan had a huge advantage. He was the only successor of Mount Mengyan and had obtained the identity imprint of a core disciple through the Outer Heaven Tower. He would naturally receive preferential treatment from the Mount Mengyan Holy Land with this identity.


    His chosen road, even if it was the death road at first, would automatically become the life road!


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 1113 Transformation Into Godfiend

    After crossing the Life-and-Death Road, he reached the peak of the Heaven Connecting Mountain.


    The surroundings were bare. Only a few thatched houses were standing, and most of them had collapsed, containing a desolate aura.


    "Was¡­ it affected by the fragmentation of Mount Mengyan?"


    Fang Yuan paused, and the imprint of a core disciple of Mount Mengyan emerged from between his brows. He entered the first thatched house.


    All around was empty except for a person sitting cross-legged in front of him. He had a child-like face and white hair, having the air of an Immortal but without any sign of life.


    "This is¡­ the remains of a Grand Unity Immortal?" Fang Yuan looked around. "He''s even become the core suppressing this mysterious realm?"


    Immortals had endless lifespans, but even Grand Unity Immortals could die.


    Seeing this, Fang Yuan felt complicated.


    A voice suddenly boomed. "Disciple of Mount Mengyan, you will inherit my legacy if you can enter this house!"


    Fang Yuan''s expression did not change, knowing that this was arranged beforehand.


    "I am Meng Yi of Mount Mengyan, and I have three things that I was proud of in my life. The first was the cultivation technique I created, Thousand Weight Mountain! The second was killing my greatest enemy, Rong Kun! The third was killing two Primordial Godfiends! I originally had the potential to achieve the Grand Supreme realm, but there was a Chaos Godfiend during a Demonic Tribulation. Hate! Hate! Hate!" His voice was erratic and intense.


    Nevertheless, Fang Yuan heard a lot of information.


    Good fellow. This Grand Unity Immortal Meng Yi was definitely at the pinnacle of Grand Unity since he could defeat Primordial Godfiends and kill them!


    At the same level, Godfiends were generally stronger than Immortals. Primordial Godfiends had a body comparable to a primordial treasure!


    This Immortal Meng Yi might have even been able to break through to the Grand Supreme realm!


    The environment changed after the speech finished!


    Colorful rays fell on the ground and gathered in front of Fang Yuan to form three boxes.


    "You have affinity with these treasures!"


    Qiu Tiangfen''s restriction activated immediately, as though it had felt something. "That''s it, give it to me!"


    A sneer appeared at the corner of Fang Yuan''s lips. The vast amount of magic power lurking in the space hidden in his dantian burst out and immediately destroyed the restriction.


    "Ahh! How dare you!"


    An angry howl resounded from the foot of the Heaven Connecting Mountain. Qiu Tianfeng''s eyes turned red, and he immediately charged into the road that Fang Yuan had chosen.


    Fang Yuan ignored it and opened the first box. It was a jade slip that recorded the Thousand Weight Mountain cultivation technique.


    The second box contained two dim, darkish-red crystals. Fang Yuan was brimming with pleasant surprise. "Two Primordial Godfiend origin crystals!"


    When Immortal Meng Yi mentioned that he had slaughtered Primordial Godfiends, Fang Yuan guessed that he would leave behind these things, and it seemed like he was right.


    The third box contained a storage ring. The stored resources were as immense as an ocean, and they were all low and mid-grade ones, obviously prepared for the expansion of a power.


    "Good harvest!"


    Fang Yuan was all smiles as he felt fluctuations. He walked out of the house and met Qiu Tianfeng.


    "Li Hun! You''re quite bold!" Qiu Tianfeng glared. "Hand over the treasures immediately, and I might spare your life. Or else¡­"


    He harbored hatred in his heart, originally thinking that this Li Hun was genuinely loyal to him and had low cultivation. He had not thought that an ant would dare to bite him in the face of benefits.


    "Too much nonsense!" Fang Yuan frowned and teleported behind Qiu Tianfeng. "Light of Universe!"


    Swoosh!


    Saber light fell like a resplendent river and tore apart half of Qiu Tianfeng''s body.


    "Ahh!" he screamed. Suddenly, a multi-colored radiance burst out from his body, and his flesh connected into a complete body.


    "Undying Body? No! It should be some heavenly treasure. You have quite a lot of good things on you!"


    Fang Yuan watched with interest.


    Qiu Tianfeng cultivated the Nine Transference Undying Method, not the Undying Demon Body, so he naturally did not possess the undying power. However, the nomological laws of this world were obvious, and some spiritual fruits that were nurtured by the Nomological Laws of Undying possessed such magic powers as well. However, they were one-time-use life-saving cards!


    "You''re¡­ not Li Hun!" Qiu Tianfeng had a solemn look as he put up many defenses. "I remember now. This saber technique and the Illusion Realm''s nomological laws! You''re the mysterious person who attracted the Primordial Godfiend to attack the city!"


    "Congratulations, you''ve guessed it right. But so what?" Fang Yuan looked at him with a smile. "Do you think you can run away?"


    "It doesn''t matter if you''re Li Hun or if you''re a fake that killed him¡­" Qiu Tianfeng calmed down. He knew that the enemy in front of him was someone who had reached perfection in the Illusion Realm''s nomological laws, and it was impossible for him to outrun his teleportation.


    "Oh? Looks like you still have a trump card. Bring it out! A world''s Son of Destiny always has some good stuff¡­"


    Fang Yuan was fearless.


    "I, Qiu Tianfeng, have encountered no less than ten life-and-death crises. I escaped death each time, and it will be the same this time¡­" Qiu Tianfeng bit his index finger resolutely and drew a blood symbol in the air. "Pantheon Summoning Technique!"


    "Hmm?" Fang Yuan was shocked.


    He felt a chill going down his spine when the blood symbol appeared. "Looks like I have to swallow my words! This is a spiritual technique ritual?"


    He teleported past the defenses and came face to face with Qiu Tianfeng.


    "It''s useless. The summoning can''t be stopped once it begins! Everyone who has seen my trump card has died! Even a heavily injured Grand Unity Immortal!" Qiu Tianfeng looked savage.


    "Nine Star Pearl Mystic Technique! Blade of Universe Obliteration!"


    Fang Yuan''s expression did not change. The Blade of Universe Obliteration appeared once again with an explosion, destroying countless futures with one stroke!


    The blood curtain shattered, and Qiu Tianfeng started turning into powder from his feet.


    He roared and swallowed the blood-red symbol with his remaining head. His aura suddenly soared.


    He was originally at peak Nascent Soul, but now he had broken through to Immortal and was infinitely approaching Grand Unity. Even the appearance of his head transformed.


    A single horn emerged, scales grew, and his top-grade immortal artifact-level body evolved to become comparable to a primordial treasure!


    Kaboom!


    The head swelled, and a body full of scales grew out from under his neck. He had transformed from a human to a Godfiend that was dozens of meters tall!


    "He has such a mystic technique?" Fang Yuan was startled. "He directly transformed from a human to a Godfiend, and his cultivation broke through in succession without the lightning tribulation! Isn''t this totally against the rules?!"


    He had transformed into a Primordial Godfiend from peak Nascent Soul in an instant!


    He might not have reached the realm of a true Grand Unity, but with a primordial treasure-level body, it was enough to remain undefeated and possibly even be a match for a Grand Unity Immortal!


    Bang!


    The single-horned Godfiend that was Qiu Tianfeng stomped his foot, and the entire Heaven Connecting Mountain wailed as the thatched house collapsed. He grabbed the body of the Grand Unity Immortal and gobbled it down.


    "Is the newly-grown body at the Primordial Godfiend level as well? But¡­ he seems to have lost some rationality. This is normal since he has to manipulate such immense power¡­" Fang Yuan muttered.


    Crack!


    Just as the remains of Immortal Meng Yi was blasphemed, a dark crack appeared in the sky, continuously expanding and spreading to the entire mysterious realm.


    Mountains crumbled, the earth cracked, and fire and lightning danced wildly.


    The entire mysterious realm started to collapse from the crack.


    The remains of Immortal Meng Yi was the core suppressing this mysterious realm. Once it was destroyed, it immediately triggered a chain reaction.


    "This is¡­" Fang Yuan stared at the sky, his eyes wide open. "The Dao of Time? So nothing in this world is a match for the decay of time¡­"


    The Mount Mengyan Holy Land had been originally refined by an Immortal who had reached perfection in the Nomological Laws of Time. After breaking, the laws were now directly revealed, and Fang Yuan gained great insights from observing.


    At this moment, his Nomological Laws of Time finally reached perfection!


    Roar Roar!


    The single-horned, black-scaled Godfiend howled and made a grab.


    Fang Yuan spread both hands. "Time¡­ stop!"


    Buzz!


    With him as the center, the entire Heaven Connecting Mountain became both black and white.


    The claws of the Godfiend that Qiu Tianfeng had transformed into were already at his head. However, his whole body was now as still as a statue.


    "Perfection in Nomological Laws of Time allows me to master Still Time¡­ But it also consumes a lot of power. With my current strength, I can only cover the entire range of the Heaven Connecting Mountain. Moreover, I can only maintain it for a few moments!"


    He moved to the front of Qiu Tianfeng''s head and slashed. "Universe Obliteration!"


    Bang!


    Time started flowing again. The single-horned Godfiend screamed and flew backward, smashing a large pit on the ground.


    He howled and crawled out. "Die!"


    A thick black beam of light gushed out.


    "Pause!"


    Fang Yuan activated Still Time again and skillfully evaded the beam of light. He came to Qiu Tianfeng''s eyes and pierced his pupil.


    Roar Roar!


    The Godfiend snarled again and again. He gouged his bloody eyeball out and swallowed it, and an identical eyeball immediately grew back from the injured socket.


    "This is¡­ the true Nomological Laws of Undying¡­ After transforming into a Godfiend, he has even comprehended the Nomological Laws of Undying?"


    Fang Yuan shook his head, feeling this was very troublesome.


    Although this Godfiend might not be able to injure him, his Primordial Godfiend body and Nomological Laws of Undying made him impregnable.


    "There are two ways. The first is to drag it out! There must be a limit to this technique. When he becomes human again, I can kill him like killing a dog!


    "The second is for me to break through to the seventh level of the Undying Demon Body and fight head-on with him. I can destroy this Godfiend then! After all, he only has the body of a Primordial Godfiend¡­ and is not an actual Primordial Godfiend!"


    Fang Yuan''s eyes flashed, and he teleported out of the battlefield immediately.


    Behind him, the Godfiend roared and gave chase. The power of restrictions did not slow him down one bit.


    ¡­


    Where the Torch Dragon clone was.


    "Time¡­ Accelerate!"


    The clone felt the main body reaching perfection in the Nomological Laws of Time and increased the speed of his cultivation!


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 1114 Forced Killing

    "What''s happening?"


    "Is the mysterious realm collapsing?"


    Tie Xinku and Huang Yue emerged from an Immortal cave abode on White Jade Mountain and watched the terrifying changes in the sky with fear.


    They looked at Xia Qinghe and Xie Wufeng. "Senior Brother, Senior Sister, what''s going on?"


    "How would we know?" Xie Wufeng replied coldly but shared some suspicions with Xia Qinghe with a glance. "In any case, it''s best for us to leave this place first¡­ Otherwise, even a Grand Unity Immortal would suffer injuries in the storm of a mysterious realm''s collapse!"


    "Agreed!"


    The four disciples looked at the mountain of treasures and were a bit reluctant, but they had no choice but to escape the way they came.


    Luckily, the restrictions of the mysterious realm were also collapsing, and it was much easier to return.


    "What a pity¡­" Huang Yue''s heart was bleeding. "We might have been able to obtain another immortal artifact if we could have stayed longer!"


    With the restrictions collapsing, the difficulty of obtaining treasures greatly decreased.


    "Even if we obtained any, I''m afraid we wouldn''t have our lives to enjoy them!" In contrast, Tie Xinku gave them up easily. "However¡­ what about Eldest Senior Brother Qiu Tianfeng and Junior Brother Li Hun?"


    "Eldest Senior Brother is outstanding, so he''ll definitely have a way to survive. As for Junior Brother Li Hun¡­" Huang Yue shook her head, obviously not very optimistic about him.


    Suddenly, she was startled. Her eyes seemed to have seen a figure that looked exactly like Li Hun!


    But the next moment, the figure disappeared like an illusion.


    "What happened?" Huang Yun jumped in shock.


    "You saw it too?" Tie Xinku pursed his lips. "That¡­ was Li Hun, right?"


    He might have only lingered for a split second during his teleport, but everyone at the scene was a core disciple. They were physically strong, and their spiritual wills were exceptional, so it was absolutely impossible for them to see wrongly.


    Xie Wufeng said tartly, "It''s indeed him. There can only be two possibilities in this situation. The first is that he flew past at a very high speed and left an afterimage, but that speed is something that even an Immortal can''t reach¡­"


    "What''s the second possibility?" Huang Yue asked curiously.


    "The second is large success in the Illusion Realm''s nomological laws, the afterimage left by teleportation¡­ I''ve seen it in an ancient book¡­" Xia Qinghe said coldly. "In either case, this Junior Brother ''Li Hun'' hid it really well!"


    Tie Xinku and Huang Yue exchanged glances in astonishment.


    They had always thought that Li Hun was just hard working. Who could have imagined that he had so many secrets?


    The next moment, Xie Wufeng accelerated suddenly, with Xia Qinghe following closely behind.


    "Not good! Escape!" Tie Xinku reacted quickly and dragged Huang Yue with him. "Regardless of what Li Hun is hiding, what dangers could make him flee so anxiously?"


    Ow Ow!


    A sudden mountainous shadow appeared behind them.


    It howled, rushed into the array, clenched its fist, and destroyed the array of infinite lightning.


    "Primordial¡­ Godfiend?"


    Huang Yue and Tie Xinku ran for their lives through the mysterious realm and into the outside world.


    Roar Roar!


    The next moment, two black-scaled claws grabbed the door frame, seeming to want to enlarge it.


    "Universe Obliteration!" Fang Yuan was lying in wait. He reached the door of the mysterious realm in a few flashes, and saber light chopped the claws.


    Rumble!


    The claws retracted, and the door of the mysterious realm closed with a faint vibration.


    Xia Qinghe and Xie Wufeng exchanged glances, realizing that he was trying to trap the Primordial Godfiend within the mysterious realm to make it withstand the terrifying attacks from its destruction.


    "Erm¡­ Senior!" Huang Yue looked at the stunned people and suddenly said, "Why did that Godfiend appear?"


    "You''re calling me Senior?" Fang Yuan smiled. "Do you not recognize me, your Junior Brother Li Hun?"


    "Are you really Li Hun?" Huang Yue''s eyes widened, appearing dumbfounded.


    Xia Qinghe and Xie Wufeng, however, kept their distance. "¡­ May we ask where Qiu Tianfeng is?"


    "Qiu Tianfeng, didn''t you see him just now?" Fang Yuan pointed at the mysterious realm''s door. "Oh, it''s coming out soon!"


    "What?" Xie Wufeng trembled. "You mean¡­ Qiu Tianfeng is that Primordial Godfiend?"


    "I don''t know what happened either¡­" Fang Yuan sighed. "Moreover, the destruction of the mysterious realm can''t keep him in!"


    He had left these people alive so that they could report back to the Golden Soul Sect and give Qiu Tianfeng some trouble.


    Roar Roar!


    As they spoke, countless lines in the void twisted, and a towering figure slowly emerged.


    It had a single horn, red eyes, and black scales, and its injuries were healing rapidly.


    A primordial treasure-level body coupled with the Nomological Laws of Undying¡ªeven the destruction of the mysterious realm could do nothing to it.


    "Well? Qiu Tianfeng, say hello to your junior brothers and sisters!" Fang Yuan smiled happily.


    Even if they were brought back for trial, his punishment for concealing his strength would not be as great as Qiu Tianfeng''s. Qiu Tianfeng had betrayed the human race and turned into an otherworldly demon!


    "All of you¡­ have to die! No one can find out about my secret!" the Godfiend roared.


    "¡­" Silence filled the air. Cold sweat dripped down Xie Wufeng''s head.


    "Haha¡­" Only Fang Yuan found the situation funny. "Your brain must be almost fried after turning into a Godfiend and receiving the impact of the Destruction Great Dao. As long as you hadn''t spoken, who could have recognized you? You can''t run away now that you''ve admitted to it!"


    However, his heart turned cold, knowing that Qiu Tianfeng''s technique still had many flaws. He would have rather not have him be in this crazy state of mind.


    "It really is Eldest Senior Brother¡­ No wonder previously¡­" Comprehension flashed through Xia Qinghe''s eyes as she turned to run.


    Swoosh!


    Fang Yuan shot a saber beam, stopping the devil''s claw, not allowing Qiu Tianfeng to pursue them. "Leave quickly. Let me handle him!"


    "Junior Brother¡­ Li Hun?" Tie Xinku''s eyes reddened, unable to speak.


    "Go!"


    Xie Wufeng took a deep look at Fang Yuan before transforming into sword light, taking the two with him.


    "All right. It''s just you and me now!" Fang Yuan''s spiritual will swept past, and a smile appeared on his face. "Qiu Tianfeng, we have time to play around slowly! Still Time!"


    Black and white appeared. He chopped the otherworldly demon''s left eye.


    Poof!


    "Again!"


    "Again!"


    "Again!"


    ¡­


    After dozens of times, Fang Yuan put away his saber, looked at the quickly recovering Qiu Tianfeng, and frowned. "Something''s wrong!"


    Qiu Tianfeng''s transformation had lasted a long time already. Moreover, he felt that Qiu Tianfeng was in the process of completely turning into a Godfiend. While he was also becoming crazier, his comprehension of the Nomological Laws of Destruction was also growing rapidly. His strength was inching closer to that of a Primordial Godfiend.


    "So this mystic technique doesn''t have a time limit. Does this mean that its only downside is that you can''t turn back into a human once you stay in that form for too long?"


    Fang Yuan''s eyes narrowed slightly. "There''s actually such a heaven-defying mystic technique? Pantheon? Pantheon!"


    "Die!" The Godfiend punched. Black Qi gushed out, turning everything within a five-kilometer radius into dust.


    "The Nomological Laws of Destruction! Perfection¡­ I can''t let it continue like this. Otherwise, if he comprehends the Destruction Great Dao, I''ll have to run!" Fang Yuan became solemn. "However, Qiu Tianfeng will also be gone then, leaving behind a Primordial Godfiend who only knows destruction!"


    His eyes moved, as though he saw the Torch Dragon clone roaring within the immortal artifact.


    "The Undying Demon Body had reached the seventh level?"


    Fang Yuan roared with laughter. The two Primordial Godfiend origin crystals emerged, and he directly swallowed them to refine. "Break through!!!"


    His main body and clone shared their realms. Since the clone painstakingly broke through the seventh-level bottleneck of the Undying Demon Body, it would be a walk in the park for his main body.


    In addition, Fang Yuan''s main body had the two Primordial Godfiend origin crystals providing him with energy. His Undying Demon Body suddenly grew at a terrifying rate.


    The second, third, and fourth levels all broke through in the blink of an eye!


    The fifth and sixth levels also broke through with ease!


    "The seventh level of the Undying Demon Body, the primordial treasure realm!"


    Finally, Fang Yuan howled and burst through to even the seventh level. The demon armor on his body shattered and integrated into his body. His body began to swell, and he transformed into a small giant. Every muscle was impeccable, with a hazy dark yellow luster.


    "Die!" Qiu Tianfeng dashed out, and his punch contained the Nomological Laws of Destruction at perfection.


    Bang!


    Fang Yuan stretched his palm out and caught the punch firmly. The surrounding space started to burst continuously.


    "As expected. A primordial treasure-level body doesn''t only represent the enhancement of my physical body. Even my strength has increased!"


    Qiu Tianfeng was only relying on the body of a Primordial Godfiend.


    However, Fang Yuan''s Undying Demon Body had broken through, keeping pace with the other''s body, and the power of his nomological laws¡ªtime and the Illusion Realm¡ªfar exceeded his opponent''s!


    Not only that, but he also had the Nine Star Pearl Mystic Technique. The current strength of his body could allow him to activate the highest ninth level and increase his strength by 512-fold!


    "Light of Universe!" He slashed. The power of the Blade of Universe had skyrocketed, and it was as if the entire universe appeared.


    "Ahh!" Qiu Tianfeng shrieked as a large number of scales broke into pieces. Even his primordial treasure-level body was almost cut in two!


    Fang Yuan had undoubtedly undergone a qualitative change in strength.


    "No!" The single-horned Godfiend screamed. "I can''t die! You can''t kill me!"


    "I can kill you!" Fang Yuan stepped forward and slashed the Godfiend. "Have you not realized yet? My Undying Demon Body is the nemesis of Godfiends. I can completely absorb your flesh, blood, and your cultivation of the Nomological Laws of Undying! You will become nourishment for my progress! Blood Refining!"


    A horrifying blood flame rose and instantly engulfed the Godfiend.


    A red lotus bloomed slowly, and peace immediately returned to heaven and earth.


    "I''ve achieved the seventh level of the Undying Demon Body, and my strength has undergone a qualitative change. I''m reborn!" Fang Yuan laughed heartily. "It''s time to join the clone and then go through the lightning tribulation!"


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 1115 The Mystery of Pantheon.

    Inside the Pantheon Palace.


    Fang Yuan and his clone sat facing each other. Between them was the loot obtained from Qiu Tianfeng.


    He was worthy of being a Son of Destiny. He had many immortal artifacts and countless treasures on him.


    Of course, the most valuable had been the strange item that could create a one-time undying body. Unfortunately, it had already been expended.


    "In the end, Qiu Tianfeng died in my hands, and I can no longer use my previous arrangements¡­ I can''t return to the Golden Soul Sect now. Otherwise, I will become the suspect!"


    Fang Yuan did not feel the slightest bit of pity. He had already accomplished his goal of infiltrating the Golden Soul Sect, so it did not matter if he betrayed it now.


    "Among the things that Qiu Tianfeng left behind, there''s¡­ this!"


    In the pile of immortal artifacts, there was a golden page radiating a mysterious light.


    "A remnant page from the Pantheon Catalog. As expected, the Pantheon Summoning Technique that Qiu Tianfeng used earlier came from it!"


    Interest flashed through Fang Yuan''s eyes as he read it carefully. "Incredible¡­ This is a heaven-defying technique that surpasses the Pantheon Enhancement Skill!"


    He had the feeling that if the Nine Star Pearl Mystic Technique and the Ten Thousand Beast Banner were just average techniques in the Pantheon Catalog, or rather, if all the techniques were ranked, then this ''Pantheon Summoning Technique'' was undoubtedly very high up on the list. It could even be the essence of the Pantheon Catalog!


    "In conclusion, it''s a summoning technique! You offer sacrifices to an otherworldly demon in the dark chaos in exchange for power!"


    After reading it thoroughly once, Fang Yuan understood how it worked. "This summoning technique has two forms. The first is a temporary summon where you transform into an otherworldly demon and obtain power. However, if the transformation lasts too long, there''s a risk of losing control! Since Qiu Tianfeng could transform into a Primordial Godfiend, he must have trained this form to a very high level!


    "The second form is to construct an eternal otherworldly demon gate to summon an endless Godfiend army from the chaos. It seems you can control them via the gate as well. However, given the situation at the time, Qiu Tianfeng clearly didn''t have the chance to do so. Moreover, it expends a lot¡­"


    The otherworldly demon gate was eternal, and its construction was full of difficulties. Merely the first step alone required a million blood sacrifices.


    Furthermore, many of the construction materials were the souls and bones of Grand Unity Immortals, and so on. Without reaching the Grand Unity realm, it was just wishful thinking.


    "However¡­ this summoning sacrifice technique? I smell a conspiracy¡­"


    Fang Yuan sneered and thought for a while. He then started drawing the summoning blood symbol.


    The first temporary ability of the Pantheon Summoning Technique was to establish communication with a certain existence through sacrifice and then obtain power.


    In addition, from its manifestation, that existence had to be an otherworldly demon that surpassed Primordial Godfiend, possibly at the Chaos Godfiend level!


    "Even Qiu Tianfeng could borrow the powers of otherworldly demons. I''m merely at the beginning and investigating it a little, so there shouldn''t be any problems¡­"


    Fang Yuan licked his lips, and a strand of spiritual will entered the blood symbol.


    Rumble!


    Instantly, his consciousness seemed to elevate infinitely, arriving in the dark chaos.


    The aura of countless dark otherworldly demons enveloped him like a pack of wolves.


    "So many¡­ so many otherworldly demons¡­"


    Fang Yuan spread his spiritual will, and it seemed as though the Illusion Realm''s nomological laws and Nomological Laws of Time had vanished. The only thing protecting him was the power of the blood symbol, allowing him to keep moving forward.


    The deeper he went in the chaos, the more terrifying the otherworldly demons became. Merely from what he could see, there were over a dozen Primordial Godfiends resting.


    There was an even more horrifying Godfiend that was strongly repelling the surrounding chaos. Even Primordial Godfiends did not dare to approach it.


    "It''s a Chaos Godfiend!" Fang Yuan quivered.


    Chaos Godfiends had mastered the Connate Destruction Great Dao. This Dao path was already comparable to the perfect Dao path of a Netherheaven Demon God.


    Furthermore, they had also mastered the Connate Undying Great Dao. This increase was not as simple as one plus one, and their strength greatly surpassed Netherheaven Demon Gods!


    "Wait, the power of the blood symbol isn''t pointing toward this Chaos Godfiend, but deeper within¡­ This is¡­ an existence that surpasses the Chaos Godfiend level¡­ There''s no record of it in the history of the Wasteland World, this existence that hides in the depths of chaos!"


    The closer he got, the more intense that trace of aura that shocked Fang Yuan became.


    Finally, he saw a tract of darkness with what seemed to be an unspeakable horror sleeping in it.


    "I''ll risk it! In any case, it''s only a strand of spiritual will!"


    With this thought, his spiritual will fused with the blood symbol, broke through the darkness, and saw¡­ it!


    ¡­


    "Pfft!"


    In the Pantheon Palace, Fang Yuan opened his eyes and spat out a mouthful of blood mist. "Incredible¡­ However, Patriarch Pantheon, I''ve finally discovered your whereabouts!"


    Nomological laws were of no use in the place where his spiritual will had been. It was obviously real chaos.


    As for the Pantheon Summoning Technique, the existence at the other end of the contract was actually slumbering in the depths of chaos. Furthermore, it was an existence that surpassed Chaos Godfiend.


    "This shows that there''s a deep connection between Patriarch Pantheon and the otherworldly demons. There''s a high chance that he''s that Primordial Chaos Holy Fiend!"


    Although his thread of spiritual will had been completely destroyed the moment his eyes met that existence, Fang Yuan still managed to retrieve some information.


    The most important information was its name¡ªPrimordial Chaos Holy Fiend!


    "A demon that dares to call itself holy? Cleary, it has reached the realm where things revert to their opposite at the extreme¡­ I didn''t sense a single desire for destruction from it, but only a sense of holiness¡­"


    Fang Yuan completely sealed off his memory of the detailed form of the Primordial Chaos Holy Fiend.


    Obviously, that existence had reached the Dao Fruit realm and possessed all kinds of unimaginable abilities.


    Even only recording its image could lead to disaster, so it was best he forgot.


    "But this raises the question¡­ Patriarch Pantheon is the ancestor of the Hundred Thousand Mountains. If he truly is that Primordial Chaos Holy Fiend or its incarnation, then are we barbarians the blood descendants of otherworldly demons?


    "In that case, why did Patriarch Pantheon seal Sethgu in the Holy Mountain? Purely for fun? Is he addicted to role-playing? Or is my speculation wrong?"


    Of course, given the power of the Primordial Chaos Holy Fiend, what Sethgu encountered must not have been the true body. Perhaps it was just a trace of consciousness that even had to hide its identity. Even so, Sethgu had suffered a terrible defeat.


    "But the biggest question remains. Why did Patriarch Pantheon create the Pantheon Catalog? Especially the Pantheon Summoning Technique on the last page?"


    Fang Yuan stroked his chin and guessed. "Perhaps he''s calling for outside help? Is his true body gravely injured and in slumber? Or rather, is it only through this kind of ritual will he be able to formally invade the Wasteland World, thereby opening its chapter of world annihilation?"


    ¡­


    There were too few clues, and Fang Yuan could only hazard wild guesses. "Anyway¡­ the Pantheon Summoning Technique is too dangerous. In particular, the summoning gate will surely attract Chaos Godfiends in its later stages, and perhaps even awaken that Primordial Chaos Holy Fiend¡­"


    If it were another cultivator without his abilities and they had not seen the outcome of Qiu Tianfeng but enjoyed some pleasantness from the first few pages of the Pantheon Catalog, then they would undoubtedly work diligently on cultivating the Pantheon Summoning Technique. It would then alarm the Primordial Chaos Holy Fiend and result in their destruction.


    In fact, even Qiu Tianfeng, a Son of Destiny, had been tricked unwittingly. Given how he transformed directly to the Primordial Godfiend form, he had evidently cultivated the technique to a very high level. Even if he did not trip up this time, he would cross the point of no return after a few more transformations.


    "What does Patriarch Pantheon hope to obtain from the first transformation? A Primordial Godfiend transformed from a human?"


    Fang Yuan tapped his fingers and thought of two possibilities:


    "Is the first to somehow influence this Primordial Godfiend and make him complete the summoning gate? That seems unlikely. After all, the otherworldly demons have been invading for many years, and they would have built the gate long ago if they could. Unless they can''t construct this gate!


    "In that case, only the second possibility remains. The Primordial Godfiends transformed from humans are very special, and they can somehow become a temporary vessel for the Primordial Chaos Holy Fiend''s descent into this world?"


    The more he thought about it, the more sure he was of the second possibility. It was even possible that Patriarch Pantheon was this kind of existence.


    "Things are becoming more and more complicated!"


    Fang Yuan rubbed his forehead. "Nomological laws can only be used in this world. Primordial Godfiends have mastered a Great Dao, and Chaos Godfiends have mastered Connate Great Daos, and they can fight evenly with an entire world. And that Primordial Chaos Holy Fiend is at least at the Dao Fruit realm. Is it a threat to this entire universe?"


    Naturally, the scale of a universe was naturally larger than a world.


    If a single Chaos Godfiend could destroy worlds, then the threat of the Primordial Chaos Holy Fiend had to be at the universal level!


    "Unexpectedly, I discovered such an incredible secret with just a peek¡­" Fang Yuan laughed at himself. "However¡­ this has little relevance to me right now. The most important thing now is to return to my peak condition and then try to transcend the tribulation!"


    His nomological laws of the Illusion Realm, time, and saber were all at perfection. His Nomological Laws of Undying had also reached perfection when his Undying Demon Body broke through to the seventh level.


    Who knew how terrifying the lightning tribulation would be with three top-tier sets of nomological laws, one mid-tier set, and even a clone?


    He truly would not even dare to try to attempt it if he had not obtained a primordial treasure-level body.


    "In addition, my main body has devoured Qiu Tianfeng''s physical essence. After quietly cultivating for some time, perhaps I''ll be able to break through the seventh level of the Undying Demon Body¡­ Unfortunately, I sustained a small injury when investigating the Pantheon Summoning Technique."


    With the help of large amounts of heavenly materials and earthly treasures, the loss of a single strand of spiritual will was not a big deal.


    He recovered completely after a few days. After that, he cultivated in silence and sensed all the nomological laws at perfection. His cultivation base could not advance even a tiny bit further, and everything had reached its current peak.


    Immediately afterward, he meditated for seven days and then found a place in the wilderness to begin the tribulation!


    "The lightning tribulation is the biggest barrier for cultivators. Once the cultivator transcends the tribulation, they will transform from a mortal into an Immortal! In the past, those who had tempered their bodies to the immortal artifact level were certain of transcending the tribulation¡­ Although I''ve comprehended a number of heaven-defying nomological laws, my body is beyond the immortal artifact level and at the primordial treasure level, so there should be no problem¡­"


    Fang Yuan and his clone stood side by side and released their aura thoroughly, triggering the lightning tribulation.


    Kaboom!


    The sky was immediately full of dark clouds. A giant vortex appeared, and lightning rolled about inside, as though ready to crash down in the very next moment.


    As the lightning flashed, Fang Yuan''s expression changed completely. Cold sweat broke out on his forehead. "This is¡­ impossible!"


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 1116 Lightning Tribulation

    Whoo! Whoo!


    Dark winds howled, and lightning danced!


    The dark clouds seemed to form a vortex as streaks of purple lightning converged within.


    An enormous pressure suddenly appeared, falling heavily on Fang Yuan.


    This was the suppression of the world. It was as if all of heaven and earth was rejecting him, wanting to take his life with a strong, malevolent intent!


    Even if he were at the Demon God level and had mastery of Great Daos, he would have to be cautious when facing the suppression of heaven and earth. Not to mention, the Wasteland World was incredibly powerful, rivaling the Mental Demon Realm, perhaps even more powerful!


    To make matters worse, Fang Yuan had not even condensed a single Great Dao at this time, much less recover his Netherheaven strength.


    Crack!


    Copious amounts of purple lightning converged in the vortex, even turning slightly dark red at the end. Fang Yuan felt that it was enough to strike down primordial treasures and completely kill him.


    "An ordinary Nascent Soul cultivator''s tribulation has nine lightning strikes. With my clone, I should have eighteen strikes!"


    For those with clones, the tribulation was bound to strike twice. This fusion of two tribulations was a way to balance the world.


    Since he grasped heaven-defying abilities, he had to be prepared for the disaster that followed!


    In addition, Fang Yuan had mastered three sets of heaven-defying nomological laws, so the power of the lightning would definitely be extremely terrifying.


    "Anyway¡­ lightning strikes capable of striking down primordial treasures shouldn''t appear at the beginning. Even if this is the lightning tribulation to become Immortal, there must be a chance for survival. This is a fundamental rule of this world and can''t be changed!"


    Fang Yuan''s eyes almost bulged out as he looked at the lightning that was still accumulating power and continuously tearing space apart. "But this absolutely isn''t what''s happening now! This is deliberately trying to kill me!"


    While he did have a few miscalculations, he rarely placed himself in such dangerous circumstances.


    At this time, he realized that if he did not handle things correctly, he was truly at risk dying!


    Whoosh!


    The sky changed again.


    Above both sides of the dark cloud vortex brimming with lightning, lightning streaked, and two giant eyes emerged.


    They were composed entirely of white lightning, having a sense of apathy and ruthlessness, seeming as though the heavens had opened its eyes. The eyes combined with the dark cloud vortex to form a face.


    It looked as if heaven''s face had appeared, and lightning launched from its mouth.


    "Eye of Heavenly Punishment? Divine Lightning of Annihilation?"


    Fang Yuan''s mind raced as he recalled a description from an ancient book. "In the Wasteland World, there would occasionally be heinous people who are destined to be unable to become Immortal. When they undergo the tribulation, either the Eye of Heavenly Punishment or the Divine Lightning of Annihilation would appear to disintegrate them. None have survived¡­ But both have actually appeared now. I don''t even know why I''m this deserving of death!"


    There could be many reasons for this. The most likely was that his aura as a transmigrator had leaked, and heaven and earth had sensed it.


    Rumble!


    The purple lightning that had been brewing for a long time finally fell.


    It was entirely purple with traces of blood-red at its edges. This Divine Lightning of Annihilation could even kill Immortals!


    When it reached the top of Fang Yuan''s head, it split in two and targeted both his main body and clone. Even hiding in the corners of the world or inside immortal artifacts would have been in vain.


    "Block!"


    Both his main body and clone roared at the sky and punched upward. They did not use any immortal artifacts or magical weapons because it was pointless to do so. It would only increase the power of the lightning.


    Bang! Bang!


    With two booms, everything within a fifty-kilometer radius around Fang Yuan turned into dust. At the bottom of a large pit, Fang Yuan''s main body and clone spat out a mouthful of blood. Their fists were blackened, and the dead skin quickly shed to form new skin.


    "Abominable Lord!" Looking at the sky, he spat every syllable.


    Right! He had sensed something amiss when the tribulation started, and after the lightning struck, the aura could no longer remain hidden. It was indeed the Abominable Lord!


    He was the former Demon God who was at peak Netherheaven, half-step Dao Fruit, that had wagered everything against him, his mortal enemy!


    "No wonder I couldn''t find any information about you. It turns out that you didn''t reincarnate at all but had instead become a part of the Heavenly Dao. Are you preparing to take over the world?"


    Fang Yuan bared his teeth. "Why do I feel that you have the destiny of a main character, being able to reincarnate into heaven''s will directly¡­"


    Naturally, a Heavenly Dao was vast, particularly that of this tyrannical world. A mere Abominable Lord was unable to influence it much. Otherwise, Fang Yuan would have long choked to death from eating or drinking.


    According to his calculations, the Abominable Lord''s efforts up until now had only affected a portion of the Heavenly Dao, the aspect regarding tribulations in particular!


    "Looks like he intentionally set up this sure-death scenario for when I undergo the tribulation!"


    Fang Yuan thought quickly, trying to find a way to break this setup.


    Obviously, under the Abominable Lord''s influence, his lightning tribulation would be as powerful as the Abominable Lord could make it. He would stop at nothing to kill him!


    Kaboom!


    The face in the sky changed slightly, and a hint of emotion seemed to appear in the Eye of Heavenly Punishment. It was the Abominable Lord!


    "Die!!!"


    Fang Yuan vaguely heard the curse from the Netherheaven Demon God as the third and fourth lightning strikes fell.


    "Clam Dragon materialization! Illusion Realm Magical Power!


    "Torch Dragon materialization! Time Flying Blade!"


    Fang Yuan''s main body and clone attacked simultaneously, using his materialization magical powers to resist. "Abominable Lord¡­ it really is you. But something seems off about you¡­ You''ve become a lot more mechanical and apathetic. Is this a side effect of your main character treatment, that your thinking must become more similar to that of the Heavenly Dao? Rigidly abiding by some fundamental rules of heaven and earth?"


    The face in the sky did not answer and merely spewed out the fifth and sixth lightning strikes.


    Kaboom!


    With a loud rumble, the two materializations started crumbling, and traces of lightning landed on Fang Yuan, causing both his main body and clone to cough up a large amount of blood.


    "Frustrated?" Blood was seeping from the corner of his lips, but he was laughing since he found the opportunity for survival. "So I''m right? You''re only a part of the Heavenly Dao. Although you can affect the intensity of the lightning tribulation, you''re powerless against changing its fundamental rules. In other words, you can only take advantage of the circumstances to try and kill me, but can''t take the initiative to attack. Although this lightning tribulation is horrifying, you can''t do anything to me if I survive it, right?"


    The seventh and eighth lightning strikes came crashing down.


    Fang Yuan used his hands as sabers. "Illusion Realm Saber! Time Saber!"


    How terrifying were the nomological laws of the Illusion Realm and time? The strikes actually shattered the lightning in midair. The few traces of lightning that reached him only caused some minor injuries.


    "Something''s wrong!"


    Things were going too smooth, making Fang Yuan furrow his brow, and he put himself on high alert.


    The Abominable Lord was right there in the lightning tribulation, and he would certainly do everything in his power to kill him!


    The next moment, heavenly blossoms fell, transformed into pieces of Great Dao inspirations, and landed inside Fang Yuan''s mind.


    The Saber Great Dao, Void Great Dao, Time Great Dao, Undying Great Dao¡­


    Great Dao inspirations of the four sets of nomological laws that Fang Yuan had comprehended to perfection immediately began to appear, as though heaven and earth were deliberately showing them to him.


    If he had encountered this during normal cultivation, he would have surely been ecstatic and entered seclusion.


    However, as the Great Dao Inspirations fell, two bolts of lightning suddenly struck down with immense power!


    "Void Great Dao, Time Great Dao?"


    Fang Yuan''s eyes were dazed.


    This was more powerful than any kind of mental attack. After all, the Great Daos that corresponded to the nomological laws that he had bitterly cultivated were right in front of him. Which cultivator could resist this temptation?


    As his mind was slightly immersed, the two bolts of lightning struck.


    Pfft!


    Both his main body and clone spat blood, and their materializations collapsed completely. On top of that, an arm and a leg had turned into dust. Although the Nomological Laws of Undying were working full throttle to generate new limbs, the speed became slightly slower.


    "So the true Great Dao inspirations fall in the middle of the lightning tribulation¡­ Is this the deliberate manipulation of the Abominable Lord as well?" Fang Yuan mumbled as more heavenly blossoms immediately fell.


    If the previous heavenly blossoms were just superficial inspirations of the Great Daos, then what came now went deeper. Even the Saber Great Dao was almost completely exposed, as though it was free for picking.


    If at dawn you learn of and tread the Dao, you can face death at dusk!


    Even Demon Gods would find the temptation of an almost complete Great Dao right in front of them hard to resist!


    Rumble! Rumble!


    At this time, the eleventh and twelfth lightning strikes fell at multiplied power.


    "Ah! Nine Star Pearl Mystic Technique, ninth star! Activate! Blade of Universe!"


    Fang Yuan''s eyes were dazed, but he managed to recover right before the lightning reached him and unleashed two saber blows.


    The Nine Star Pearl Mystic Technique was a heaven-defying technique, and it was not an external object like immortal artifacts. It was something he had attained himself, and it was effective right away, cutting the lightning with two saber blows.


    But the next moment, the power of the lightning tribulation suddenly exploded, and the thirteenth and fourteenth lightning strikes crashed down with a vibrant crimson color.


    Bang Bang!


    Half of his main body and clone disintegrated, and the recovery was extremely slow.


    Heavenly blossoms fell, and golden lotuses sprouted on the ground. Great Dao inspirations fell from heaven, not giving him a chance to catch his breath.


    In addition, what appeared this time was the complete Saber Great Dao and half of the Void Great Dao, Time Great Dao, Undying Great Dao¡­


    This temptation was unparalleled to Fang Yuan.


    At the same time, the fifteenth and sixteenth lightning strikes came. The purple had faded away and become mostly dark red, carrying an ominous aura.


    "Universe Obliteration!"


    Fang Yuan''s main body and clone shouted as the Blade of Universe Obliteration chopped the lightning.


    Even so, traces of the dark red lightning exploded half of his body. They even attached themselves to his wounds, nullifying the effects of the Nomological Laws of Undying.


    Whoo! Whoo!


    The face in the sky seemed to be roaring as the fully dark red seventeenth and eighteenth lightning strikes suddenly crashed down.


    The face even turned illusory after the two lightning strikes. He had clearly expended a great deal of his energy.


    "I can''t stop it!" Just seeing the two bolts of lightning made Fang Yuan''s heart sink.


    At the same time, the inspirations of four complete Great Daos appeared before him, making him almost want to forget everything happening around him.


    "Ninth star, Blade of Universe Obliteration!"


    Fang Yuan made up his mind instantly. His main body sat down cross-legged while the Torch Dragon clone faced the lightning with his strongest attack.


    Bang!


    The Blade of Universe Obliteration shattered. The two bolts of lightning were hindered slightly, but they still broke through. However, the joint strikes were now staggered.


    Rumble!


    The seventeenth Divine Lightning of Annihilation landed on the Torch Dragon clone. Even the primordial treasure-level body could not withstand it and was annihilated unceasingly. The Nomological Laws of Undying had completely lost its effects.


    "Ahh!!!" The Torch Dragon clone screamed in agony, and only his head remained. But he had managed to obliterate the seventeenth lightning.


    The next instant, the final lightning strike struck, and the Torch Dragon clone disintegrated!


    On top of that, the eighteenth lightning strike hardly lost any power as it drowned Fang Yuan''s main body in it.


    Bang!


    Under the purplish-red light, Fang Yuan''s main body turned into dust as well!


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 1117 Immortal

    Crack! Kaboom!


    Although half of it had turned illusory, the face in the sky did not disperse and seemed to be roaring to vent its emotions, showing abominable emotions in the Eye of Heavenly Punishment.


    Whoosh whoosh!


    Gentle winds blew.


    At the bottom of the fifty-kilometer pit, traces of ash converged and agglomerated into a human form¡ªFang Yuan!


    Sizzle!


    The dark clouds churned, and the face appeared to be roaring in rage. Lightning flashed but was unable to fall.


    "Abominable Lord¡­ are you unwilling? Too bad, you''re only a Heavenly Dao. No! Only a parasite of the punishment aspect of the Heavenly Dao! Your influence has a limit. Even if you turned me into a heinous criminal, there''s nothing you can do now that I''ve survived the tribulation. Haha¡­" Fang Yuan was entirely naked, but he was laughing heartily.


    "You tried to kill me¡­ but instead saved me! When the lightning tribulation appeared, I knew that there was a chance I wouldn''t make it through. Not to mention, the Great Dao inspirations were there to disrupt my mind¡­ Therefore, I had made up my mind from the start. I wouldn''t care about the other Dao paths and would only focus on the Undying Great Dao!


    "Heaven and earth values balance in its operation. While the lightning tribulation is a punishment, with greater punishment comes greater rewards. The more the top-tier Great Dao inspirations fell, the more my comprehension of the Nomological Laws of Undying would skyrocket. In the end, I abandoned my clone, and my main body focused on comprehending the Undying Great Dao. Finally, I managed to succeed by a hair!"


    If he had tried to comprehend other Great Daos and split his attention, there would have been no way to reach perfection in any of them, and only death would have awaited him.


    Thus, Fang Yuan merely glossed over the Void Great Dao and Time Great Dao and focused on the Undying Great Dao.


    Nomological laws were limited to this world. While his Nomological Laws of Undying had been at perfection, his body was still heavily injured in the final Divine Lightning of Annihilation and was unable to restore.


    However, after attaining the Undying Great Dao, he was truly undying and inextinguishable. Even if he disintegrated, he would be reborn from the void.


    Unfortunately, I was a moment too late. The Torch Dragon clone has really died, and there''s no way I can revive him!


    Life and death had truly been hanging by a thread. Looking back, Fang Yuan still felt a cold sweat.


    Kaboom!


    Thunder rumbled, and the face in the sky looked utterly furious.


    "Unwilling? Furious?" Fang Yuan looked at the sky with cold eyes. "Although you''ve integrated with this world''s Heavenly Dao and caught me off guard, since this arrangement couldn''t kill me, it will be my turn the next time!


    "Perhaps this world is very strong, and it would have been a joke to talk about combating its Heavenly Dao in normal times. However, there''s a demon disaster now, and the world is much weaker than usual! A chance will present itself, so you won''t have to wait too long!"


    In fact, Fang Yuan reckoned that this was part of the reason why he was able to withstand the lightning strikes.


    The invasion of otherworldly demons had caused the power of the world to weaken, so the power of the lightning tribulation had naturally weakened a bit.


    However, it was precisely this bit that was the difference between life and death!


    Whoo! Whoo!


    Wild winds howled, and the dark clouds gradually dissipated. No matter how unwilling the face was, it could only disappear.


    "Unexpectedly, it turned out to be a death trap! I truly suffered heavy losses¡­"


    Fang Yuan sat cross-legged. Immortal Qi fell, and he started breaking through to Immortal.


    His original plan had been very good. With a primordial treasure-level body, even the eighteen lightning strikes would not have been truly threatening to him. He could have then comprehended three top Great Daos at once, and perhaps even further his progress in fusing the Space-Time Great Dao.


    However, in order to save his own life, he had had to give up his clone, the Void Great Dao, and Time Great Dao and focused completely on the Undying Great Dao, thus why he felt he had suffered heavy losses.


    Fortunately, he had managed to survive and had also discovered the Abominable Lord''s whereabouts!


    "Becoming a parasite of the world to seize the Heavenly Dao?" Fang Yuan raised his head and looked at the sky. "Somewhat¡­ troublesome!"


    Although the opponent was merely a parasite of Heavenly Dao, he was still a part of it. Even though he had lost a lot of his power, Fang Yuan would not be able to circumvent the Heavenly Dao if he wanted to attack him!


    "In addition, it''s best I end this sooner rather than later. After all, the Abominable Lord is growing continuously as well. Obviously, when I just crossed over, I was merely an infant, but his consciousness must have been chaotic as well. Otherwise, how long could a barbarian infant have survived against heaven''s will?" Fang Yuan surmised.


    Afterward, although his cultivation progressed every day, the Abominable Lord also had unique advantages, and he could already affect the punishment aspect of the Heavenly Dao now.


    This should also be why he had eroded the part concerned with the lightning tribulation. He had been waiting for him at this barrier to becoming Immortal.


    One misstep, and he would have really died for good.


    "I''m growing, but he''s growing rapidly as well. Especially now that I''ve seen him¡­"


    Fang Yuan looked at the sky and could not help feeling that there was a pair of eyes staring at him at all times.


    The Abominable Lord should be accelerating his erosion of the world now. Once he succeeded, he would obtain freedom and have power at least at the Chaos Godfiend level. With the power of the world in his hands, it would be a piece of cake to kill him.


    "However, before you succeed, it''ll be very difficult for you to break away from the restrictions of the Heavenly Dao. It both protects you and restricts you¡­" Fang Yuan continued to ponder as he watched strands of Immortal Qi converge on his body and completely transform it into an Immortal body.


    "Each wisp of an Immortal''s Qi can instill them with life, and their Immortal Qi can agglomerate and disperse, being impermanent. It''s very difficult for mortals to obliterate it. But it''s nothing compared to my Undying Great Dao¡­"


    He stood up and howled at the sky.


    The horrifying ripples spread for a hundred kilometers and shook everything.


    "The key for an Immortal to advance Grand Unity is to master a complete Great Dao. I''ve already mastered the Undying Great Dao and have a primordial treasure-level body, fully fulfilling the requirements. In other words, I''ve achieved the realm already. I only need enough resources now to advance to Grand Unity!"


    With a wave of his hand, numerous spirit pills and rare treasures appeared.


    Breathe in¡­ breathe out¡­


    He breathed in deeply, and it was as if there was a black hole in his mouth, devouring all these spiritual materials.


    If it had been a normal Immortal, even if they had reached the realm, their body would not be able to withstand it. However, Fang Yuan''s body was comparable to a primordial treasure, and he had nothing to fear.


    In an instant, he broke through again and again, and reached the peak of the Immortal realm.


    The wild winds died down.


    "It''s not that my realm isn''t enough, but rather that I don''t have enough materials¡­" Fang Yuan sighed. Suddenly, his eyes brightened. "Mediating and refining Qi is inefficient, so¡­ I''ll have to go to the Holy Lands!"


    The Holy Lands were rich with resources and could definitely fuel his advancement to Grand Unity!


    Of course, although he was only at peak Immortal, his combat prowess was enough to kill Grand Unity Immortals and Primordial Godfiends without much difficulty.


    After transcending the lightning tribulation, the difference in his strength was worlds apart. For him, it was a process of rebirth as well.


    Fang Yuan clenched his fist and sensed his strength, but he felt some slight regret. "I''m merely one step short of completing the Saber Great Dao. Unfortunately, I only have basic mastery in the Void Great Dao and Time Great Dao!"


    After thinking for a while, he caressed the Pantheon Ring and released Gold Ingot''s puppet. "Gold Ingot!"


    "Congratulations to Master for transcending the lightning tribulation and achieving great success in your remarkable abilities!" Gold Ingot bowed down with utmost respect.


    Fang Yuan had undoubtedly far surpassed his previous master, Hong Chen.


    At Nascent Soul, Fang Yuan had been killing Immortals as if he were slaughtering dogs. Who knew how powerful he had become now?


    "When I was still weak, the treasures left behind by Hong Chen helped me a lot. I owe him a favor¡­" Fang Yuan said calmly, but Gold Ingot became excited.


    "I have enough strength now, so it''s about time that I avenge him. Tell me, who is the enemy? Which Holy Land''s Grand Unity Immortal is it?"


    Hong Chen was once an extremely powerful Immortal, and the one who killed him naturally had to be a Grand Unity Immortal.


    "Wan Xing of the Heavenly Circuit Immortal Sect!" Gold Ingot said through gritted teeth. "Although he was a new Grand Unity Immortal at the time, he has an extraordinary bloodline¡ªhe''s a descendant of the Heavenly Circuit Immortal Sect Patriarch. He has always been arrogant and gotten his way. Old Master had only slightly offended him, yet it resulted in him being hunted down and eventually killed¡­"


    "The Heavenly Circuit Immortal Sect again?" Fang Yuan was startled before laughing aloud. "Just right. I''ll settle it together!"


    Within the Heavenly Circuit Immortal Sect, he still had an enemy, Tai Xuan, and Grand Unity Immortals were now existences that he could kill casually.


    "The cultivation level of various Holy Land patriarchs should be at Grand Supreme! Grand Supreme existences have mastered a Chaos Connate Great Dao, and Netherheaven Demon Gods might not be their match!"


    The reason was that Netherheaven Demon Gods only had one perfect Dao path, whereas Grand Supreme Immortals might have comprehended more than more Connate Great Dao!


    "When it comes to the cultivation of Dao paths, Grand Unity Immortals clearly take a different path than that of Mental Demons! The Mental Demon Dao path is to plunder myriad Great Daos to forge their own perfect Dao path. In contrast, Grand Supreme Immortals promote their ordinary Great Daos to Connate Great Daos. Both result in a state where they don''t fear a world!"


    Naturally, different universes had differences in the cultivation of Dao paths.


    However, at the peak, the differences became apparent. Grand Supremes were half a level higher than the Mental Demon Netherheaven Dao.


    "As for the Primordial Chaos Holy Fiend, it''s obviously at the Dao Fruit level¡­ And not a normal Dao Fruit either¡­ My cultivation aligns itself to the Mental Demon path, so perhaps I can absorb the essence of this world before the Dao Fruit realm¡­"


    His Dao of Dream Master was undoubtedly to accommodate the best of everything.


    Since this world''s Netherheaven Dao was more perfect, he naturally had to absorb its essence.


    "Everything else aside, if I can completely comprehend the Void Great Dao and the Time Great Dao and fuse them to become the Space-Time Great Dao, it won''t be much weaker than normal Connate Great Daos¡­ If I become a Grand Supreme Immortal in this world and kill the Abominable Lord, how terrifying would it be if I could fuse a plethora of Connate Great Daos into a Dao Fruit?"


    Fang Yuan let his imagination wander. "Maybe¡­ I would then be able to compete with the Primordial Chaos Holy Fiend in the depths of chaos?"


    ¡­


    Swoosh!


    After a short while, he sensed something and looked at the sky.


    A black dot was approaching swiftly and turned into a human. It was Grand Unity Immortal Wu Yuan!


    "Makes sense¡­ This place is very close to Yanyang City. My lightning tribulation was earthshaking and affected the surrounding thousands of kilometers. It would have been odd if he hadn''t realized anything¡­ There''s also the element of Xie Wufeng and the others reporting to him about me¡­"


    Fang Yuan flew up and looked at him calmly.


    "You are¡­ Li Hun? You transcended your lightning tribulation just now?" Wu Yuan''s eyes widened. "Why was it so powerful?"


    Originally, in his eyes, Li Hun was merely an average core disciple, but now that seemed that this was not the case at all.


    In the Wasteland World, the only thing that cultivators needed to get through was the lightning tribulation!


    In the records, even the lightning tribulations of the Holy Land patriarchs had not been this powerful!


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 1118 Godfiend

    "That''s right¡­" Fang Yuan answered honestly, wanting to see what cards Wu Yuan would play.


    "You''ve become an Immortal, and judging by the power of your lightning tribulation, it''s obvious that you''ve comprehended top nomological laws¡­ The top three core disciples of our Golden Soul Sect are inferior to you, and I''m afraid changes will happen regarding the sect master position. As long as you return to the sect with me, the sect master will surely be glad and will reward you greatly," Elder Wu Yuan said with profound meaning.


    "I have no intention of becoming the sect master¡­" Fang Yuan shook his head.


    Although he was no longer afraid of Grand Unity Immortals, it did not mean that he could kill as he pleased in the Holy Lands.


    The Golden Soul Sect was especially difficult to deal with, and a single Golden Mount Meru was trouble enough for him. It might even have existences at the Grand Supreme level.


    Even if not, among this group of body refining fanatics, there were bound to be a few Grand Unity Immortals with a primordial treasure-level body, making them somewhat troublesome to kill.


    "Looks like¡­ Li Hun isn''t your real name either." Wu Yuan felt slight pity. "Where is Qiu Tianfeng now?"


    "Shouldn''t Elder have guessed?" Fang Yuan said with a joking expression. "Naturally, his soul has returned to chaos and his body has become dust¡­"


    "¡­"


    In any event, Qiu Tianfeng had been the eldest senior brother of the core disciples and the strongest contender for the sect master position. The news of his death was absolutely earthshaking for the Golden Soul Sect, and even Wu Yuan fell silent.


    After a long pause, the Golden Soul Sect elder said, "This matter is too important. Anyway¡­ Li Hun, if you still have any trace of friendship left for the Golden Soul Sect, please return to the sect with me to clear things up!"


    "Apologies¡­ I can''t do that!" Fang Yuan shook his head and turned to leave.


    Elder Wu Yuan''s expression darkened. In the end, he chose to use force. "Stop!"


    Whoosh!


    His sleeves billowed, and an abyss-like Great Dao appeared in front of Fang Yuan, similar to a heavenly chasm.


    "Grand Unity Immortal?" Fang Yuan extended his right hand, and a long saber overflowing with Immortal Qi appeared. "Light of Universe!"


    His nomological laws of the Illusion Realm and of time had both reached perfection, and he had started comprehending their corresponding Great Daos, so the power of his fused nomological laws would naturally increase dramatically.


    Not to mention, it was executed by a primordial treasure-level body with Immortal Qi.


    Whoosh!


    A bright, silver river of saber light crashed down, directly splitting the abyss, making Elder Wu Yuan''s face drain of color. "Impossible!"


    He had never seen such a monstrous Immortal. With only basic mastery in the power of Great Daos, he could rival a Grand Unity Immortal!


    "The seventh transference of the Nine Transference Undying Method?!"


    He soon thought of the reason and looked at Fang Yuan with shock and fear.


    It was rare for even the Grand Unity Immortals of the Golden Soul Sect, which was famed for body refining, to reach this realm.


    "Li Hun¡­ return with me. If the Elder Congress knows about this, they''ll definitely make you the sect master. The likes of Qiu Tianfeng can''t compare with you!" Immortal Wu Yuan''s eyes were fiery.


    After witnessing Fang Yuan''s ''value'', he would have abandoned Qiu Tianfeng even if he had not had any problems.


    "Haha¡­" Fang Yuan laughed without replying and then suddenly charged at the Wu Yuan Great Dao.


    Kaboom!


    The power of the Great Dao fell on his primordial treasure-level body but only left shallow traces.


    Swoosh!


    A white mark streaked across the sky, shattering the condensed Great Dao power.


    At the same time, the Undying Great Dao appeared behind him, and the traces recovered swiftly, as though the earlier injuries were merely an illusion.


    "This is¡­" Elder Wu Yuan was shocked to the core, feeling that the combined shocks that he had experienced up until this point did not even compare to this one. "Undying Great Dao?! Didn''t he just transcend the Immortal tribulation?"


    At the same time, he was horrified beyond measure.


    A primordial treasure-level body had already made him helpless, being only able to suppress it but unable to destroy it. But with the Undying Great Dao as well, it would be almost impossible for him to die in this world.


    "Li Hun¡­ truly a terrifying existence¡­"


    Grand Unity Immortal Wu Yuan did not dare to give chase as he looked thoughtfully in the direction that Fang Yuan left in.


    ¡­


    Heavenly Circuit Immortal Sect, Southern Region of the Great Sage Immortal World.


    "Grand Unity Immortal Wan Xing is a blood descendant of the Heavenly Circuit Immortal Sect Patriarch¡­ This patriarch that founded the Heavenly Circuit Immortal Sect must be a Grand Supreme Immortal. I wonder if he''s already died? Or perhaps roaming the chaos? Or maybe overseeing the sect?"


    Fang Yuan arrived in the Southern Region and collected information related to the Heavenly Circuit Immortal Sect.


    Each of these Holy Lands was a behemoth. There was at least one primordial treasure stabilizing the destiny of these sects, and there would be no shortage of Grand Unity Immortals either.


    For example, the Golden Soul Sect. In addition to Golden Mount Meru, it had no less than fifteen Grand Unity Immortals inside the sect. The top ten cities each had a Grand Unity Immortal guarding it, and there would naturally be more within the sect.


    It was even possible that Immortal Patriarchs at the Grand Supreme realm existed. Otherwise, it would be unable to sit firmly in the first position of the Great Sage Immortal World.


    In comparison, the Heavenly Circuit Immortal Sect was considerably weaker, and there had been no news of the Founder Patriarch of the sect in a few millennia. Maybe he was traveling in the chaos and could not return.


    "In other words¡­ it most likely has nothing substantial inside?"


    With a ruminating expression, Fang Yuan looked in the direction of the Heavenly Circuit Immortal Sect.


    "A demon disaster lasts a full hundred years. I''m not in a hurry, so it''s best to wait for an opportunity."


    Even with his present strength, he was somewhat apprehensive about barging into a cultivation Holy Land, so he hid within the void and started monitoring the Heavenly Circuit Immortal Sect.


    "Hmm¡­ The Heavenly Circuit Immortal Sect uses the system of having elders patrol for ten years before rotating. Eventually, Tai Xuan''s or Wan Xing''s turn will come¡­"


    Fang Yuan sat cross-legged and waited silently.


    This kind of cultivation was also beneficial for him. After all, his peak Immortal strength had all come from devouring spiritual materials, and it was a good time to consolidate his foundation.


    Furthermore, with a primordial treasure-level body and a speck of the Void Great Dao, simply breathing Immortal Qi every day would allow him to obtain a significant amount of nourishment from the world and continue to increase his strength.


    Nascent Soul cultivators had a thousand-year lifespan, and to Immortals, a few decades was but a fleeting moment.


    In the blink of an eye, two decades passed.


    Inside a void crack, Fang Yuan suddenly stood up. "This is¡­"


    He looked not at the Heavenly Circuit Immortal Sect but at the sky!


    At this moment, almost all of the almighties of the Wasteland World were frowning as they looked at the sky.


    Chaos spread, and the world shivered.


    Vaguely, Fang Yuan seemed to sense the sky tearing apart and a humongous, inexplicable existence barging into this world!


    "It''s a Chaos Godfiend!" he said with a deep voice and sighed.


    Chaos Godfiends had mastered at least one Connate Great Dao, and even the weakest could rival Netherheaven Demon Gods!


    If such an existence was left to its own devices, the entire world might be destroyed!


    Historically, Chaos Godfiends had only appeared during large-scale demon disasters, and they were extremely few in number.


    "I wonder which Holy Land is so unlucky¡­ Mount Mengyan declined due to its Grand Supreme Immortal and a Chaos Godfiend dying together¡­" Fang Yuan thought with some schadenfreude.


    But the next moment, his smile froze.


    Roar Roar!


    Ow Ow!


    Two more behemoths appeared at the world''s wound and followed closely behind to enter the world.


    The Wasteland World quaked continuously, seemingly trying to put up a resistance, but it was ruthlessly suppressed.


    "Three! Three Chaos Godfiends!" Fang Yuan took a deep breath. "Unless all the Holy Lands join forces¡­ the world will be destroyed!"


    Of course, this was still beneficial for him.


    If the world perished, the Heavenly Dao would no longer exist, and he would then be able to hunt down the Abominable Lord.


    "Why is this happening? Even the previous large-scale demon disasters only had at most one Chaos Godfiend¡­" Fang Yuan was slightly puzzled. "Was it due to the changes brought about by me and the Abominable Lord?"


    The simultaneous invasion of three Chaos Godfiends was absolutely catastrophic!


    After a brief moment of surprise, Fang Yuan''s eyes started shining. "Opportunity! The best opportunity! I''ll be able to find out how powerful the various cultivation Holy Lands actually are!"


    The Holy Lands that could resist Chaos Godfiends were undoubtedly at the highest tier.


    Even Grand Supreme Immortals would not be able to escape!


    With the Chaos Godfiends'' level and standards, destroying Grand Unity Immortals would not give them any sense of accomplishment.


    Only the death of existences at the same level could bring them closer to the natural source of the universe''s destruction!


    Therefore, they would surely seek out the Holy Lands!


    And this was Fang Yuan''s chance!


    Whoosh!


    Three meteors tore across the sky like lightning and smashed down.


    The one in the middle crashed down directly where the Golden Soul Sect was.


    "What a beast!"


    Within the Golden Soul Sect, a powerful spiritual will flowed out.


    In an explosion of golden lights, countless cultivators could see a towering golden giant walk out from the Founder''s Hall. With a beckon of his right hand, Golden Mount Meru shook off a large number of Golden Soul Sect disciples and revealed its true form. It landed on the giant''s hand and flew toward the meteor. "Seal!"


    Bang!


    An ear-piercing sonic boom swept in all directions. Even Immortals found their ears bleeding, making them feel uncomfortable.


    "It''s Patriarch Golden Soul!" The Grand Unity Immortals were all very excited. "The old patriarch cultivated to the ninth transference of the Nine Transference Undying Method many years ago, and his body could be considered sacred. I''d never thought that we could catch him in action today!"


    "The ninth transference isn''t the end!" Patriarch Golden Soul recalled Golden Mount Meru and had the spare time to explain to the Grand Unity Immortals. "I cultivated hard in seclusion and finally obtained heavenly enlightenment¡­ Nine is the extreme number! However, there should be a tenth transference beyond the ninth, which is the truly heaven-defying level! If I manage to complete the tenth transference, then this Chaos Godfiend would be nothing."


    Bang!


    The immense Godfiend surfaced from the pit in the ground.


    Its scales were crimson, and its body appeared to be the embodiment of the Connate Destruction Great Dao. Disciples with low cultivation levels cried out in agony as their bodies burned with world-ending red flames at the mere sight of it!


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 1119 Powerfully Killing

    Outside the Profound Essence Realm, Western Region.


    Meteors flashed across the sky, and an Immortal had been standing on the ground for some time.


    This Immortal bore a sickly visage, looking like a sick ghost. He seemed to have a domain with countless ghosts surrounding him and was shrouded in shadows.


    "Cough cough¡­ It''s indeed a large-scale demon disaster with Chaos Godfiends descending in the late stages!"


    Some time later, a lady appeared and stood beside him. "Brother Gui Zhuang! You have to join forces with me for this!"


    "Thank you¡­ Cough cough¡­" The sickly Grand Supreme Immortal thanked her. "I can''t compare to Brother Golden Soul, who was able to fight a Chaos Godfiend head-on. Neither can I compare to Brother Yuan in the north, who was able to set up the Ten Thousand Fey Array by using the power of ten thousand Fey¡­ I can only request your help¡­"


    "The Holy Lands agreed to help each other a long time ago¡­ No need to thank me." The lady smiled charmingly.


    The three invading Chaos Godfiends were clearly after those at the Grand Supreme realm.


    Two of them were stopped by three human Grand Supreme Immortals, while another one fell in the Fey territory and became their problem.


    "Since Fellow Immortal Heavenly Cycle went to the chaos, no other human Grand Unity Immortal has broken through. It''s quite lamentable¡­" Immortal Gui Zhuang said with a pale face. "However, if we succumb to the tribulation as well, then only Brother Golden Soul will be left!"


    "Wait!" The female Grand Supreme Immortal rolled her eyes. "At our realm, every word and deed affects karma¡­ What you said was very inauspicious! In addition, you''ve hidden the deepest, you sick ghost. I''m afraid your strength isn''t under Golden Soul¡­"


    "You''re making fun of me, Luan Xuan. But if it''s just one Chaos Godfiend, I do have some confidence in my holding ground!" Immortal Gui Zhuang said and turned his gaze toward the sky.


    The meteor landed, and the Destruction Great Dao spread everywhere, turning everything in the surrounding five hundred kilometers into scorched land.


    "Fortunately¡­ I opened the Ghost Realm early. Otherwise, the people would have plunged into misery and suffering!" the Grand Supreme Immortal said calmly. His body suddenly turned phantasmal as he walked toward a deep pit.


    Wherever he passed, heaven and earth turned gray, as though only the colors black and white existed. It was very mysterious.


    "Your Great Dao was among the weakest at Grand Unity, but after it advanced to a Connate Great Dao, it had such a mystical change. Quite a rare sight¡­" Immortal Luan Xuan laughed softly and followed him into the Ghost Realm.


    In front of them, a Chaos Godfiend slowly climbed up from the deep pit. Each of its scales was the convergence of the supreme Destruction Great Dao.


    If a mortal were to lay eyes on it, they would likely fall into crazed self-destruction.


    As for cultivators, even if they survived, they might transform into an otherworldly demon.


    Such was the terror of a Chaos Godfiend!


    "It''s indeed a Connate Destruction Great Dao! However, I''m even more terrifying than you!"


    Immortal Gui Zhuang suddenly raised his head and shot a piercing blood-colored light from his eyes.


    The head of a malicious ghost immediately appeared behind the Chaos Godfiend.


    The ghost head was entirely green and appeared to be semi-rotten. The horn on its head seemed to exist between illusion and reality. Suddenly, it opened its mouth and bit the otherworldly demon.


    Crack!


    Blood splattered!


    Despite having a body that surpassed the primordial treasure level, a large chunk of it was instantly bitten off by the ghost head.


    The next moment, flesh started growing at the wound, and it soon returned to normal.


    "Undying Great Dao?" Immortal Gui Zhuang could not help sighing.


    Primordial Godfiends had bodies comparable to a primordial treasure and also the Nomological Laws of Undying at perfection. The bodies of Chaos Godfiends were obviously a level higher, and they even forcibly broke through to the Undying Great Dao!


    This realm was something even Fang Yuan had only achieved half of.


    After all, he had just comprehended the Undying Great Dao. Although his primordial treasure-level body would not have any bottlenecks when breaking through, he still required massive amounts of resources.


    "If this Great Dao didn''t exist, I alone could handle this Godfiend¡­" Immortal Gui Zhuang shook his head. "Immortal Luan Xuan, please help!"


    "Of course!"


    Above the high heavens, a jade hand appeared and descended gently. Suddenly, it flipped.


    Bang!


    The entire world turned upside-down!


    The terrifying power acted directly on the Godfiend, forcing it to kneel and roar in frustration.


    "Die!" Killing intent appeared in Immortal Gui Zhuang''s eyes upon seeing this.


    ¡­


    Heavenly Circuit Immortal Sect.


    Fang Yuan was staring at the sect and suddenly smiled. "There really isn''t one!"


    Chaos Godfiends had just descended into the world. If a Grand Supreme Immortal were inside, they would have used their spiritual will to investigate even if they were not under attack.


    However, he only saw an array rise and nothing else. What did this mean?


    "Regardless of whether your old patriarch has died or not, one thing is clear¡­ He can''t protect you!"


    With this thought, Fang Yuan slowly went to the sect gates and stepped in.


    Poof!


    Space transformed, and he was inside the Heavenly Circuit Immortal Sect in the next instant.


    Naturally, the Heavenly Circuit Immortal Sect was on highest alert. Arrays activated one after another, and the spiritual wills of Grand Unity Immortals scanned continuously.


    Of course, it was not because they had discovered Fang Yuan, but for precaution against the earlier Chaos Godfiends and the large amounts of Primordial Godfiend that would follow!


    "As expected, the Heavenly Circuit Immortal Sect has already started declining¡­ If a group of Primordial Godfiends were to attack it, the entire sect might perish¡­"


    Fang Yuan stood in the void and surveyed the surroundings. "This sect is set up rather nicely. Someone with the Illusion Realm''s nomological laws at perfection must have refined it again¡­"


    After all, the accumulation of a Holy Land for millions of years was going to be formidable regardless.


    If he had not broken through to Immortal and promoted his Illusion Realm''s nomological laws to basic mastery in the Void Great Dao, Fang Yuan speculated that he would have been immediately discovered if he had recklessly entered when he was still at Nascent Soul.


    However, the arrays could not detect him now, and the spiritual wills of the Grand Unity Immortals instead became beacons for him.


    "Unfortunately, I haven''t seen Wan Xing before and can''t recognize his aura. However, Tai Xuan''s alone is enough¡­"


    After catching hold of certain spiritual will, Fang Yuan smiled and headed for its source.


    ¡­


    "Eh¡­ Why do I suddenly feel uneasy?" Inside a cave abode, Tai Xuan frowned when he felt a sudden impulse, as if a crisis was imminent, but he did not have an inkling of what it was.


    This was a characteristic of demon disasters. Every moment was dangerous, and after so many of these thoughts occurring, he had already become desensitized to them.


    But he felt that something was unusual this time.


    "Are Primordial Godfiends preparing to attack? With the defenses of the Heavenly Circuit Immortal Sect, as long as a Chaos Godfiend isn''t involved, it should be fine¡­" Elder Tai Xuan said to himself. "Once this demon disaster is over, I''ll ask a few senior and junior brothers to go to the Sixteen Countries with me to kill Situ Zhaixing! I will destroy his body and soul for my revenge!"


    "Haha!"


    Suddenly, a cold laugh came from beside him, surprising Elder Tai Xuan so much that he almost fell from his lotus platform. "Who is it?"


    His cave abode was inside the Holy Land and had layers upon layers of restrictions. Even other Grand Unity Immortals of the Heavenly Circuit Immortal Sect could not have played such a prank on him.


    "Disaster is bound to happen once the thought occurs! For someone at your cultivation level to have a sudden impulse and then think about me, isn''t it obvious what''s about to happen?" Fang Yuan walked out slowly from the void. "I am your death!"


    "Situ Zhaixing?! You''ve already become an Immortal?!" Elder Tai Xuan was shocked and furious. "You dare to come to kill me!"


    "Die!" Fang Yuan did not feel like talking anymore and struck right away. "Light of Universe!"


    "Five Elements Chaos Great Annihilation Needle!"


    Tai Xuan waved his hand, and a large group of colorful stars appeared to face the galaxy-like saber light. At the same time, he retreated quickly, preparing to leave his cave abode to call for reinforcements.


    Since he was inside the sect, he would naturally use such a great convenience.


    "Where are you going, Tai Xuan?" But the next instant, a mocking voice sounded from in front of him, and with it came a saber beam.


    The saber beam was far-reaching, and the power was vast, feeling irresistible.


    "Impossible¡­ Even if your Illusion Realm''s nomological laws are at perfection, it''s impossible to break the restrictions of the Heavenly Circuit Immortal Sect¡­ Help!" Tai Xuan roared loudly. The next moment, a massive amount of Saber Qi engulfed him.


    Poof!


    A blood-colored lotus bloomed. His head flew and landed on Fang Yuan''s hand.


    "As expected¡­ Not all Grand Unity Immortals have primordial treasure-level bodies!" Fang Yuan said thoughtfully after seeing this.


    With his current strength, killing low-level Grand Unity Immortal was practically effortless.


    "You¡­ what are you¡­" Even with only the head remaining, Tai Xuan was still alive, but he was shocked beyond measure. "You can defeat Grand Unity as an Immortal?"


    Clang! Clang!


    Above Heavenly Circuit Immortal Sect, the power of many stars started converging and transformed into a big bell that continuously rang explosively.


    For them to have not discovered Fang Yuan earlier was understandable. However, the fight between the two had caused the disturbance to spread. They would have be blind to not realize that someone had infiltrated the sect.


    It did not take long before eight Grand Unity Immortals gathered, as well as a hundred or so Immortals. They all looked at Fang Yuan in shock.


    After a few breaths, the Heavenly Circuit Immortal Sect Master stepped forward and commanded righteously. "Insolent scoundrel! Quickly release Elder Tai Xuan''s head!"


    "Oh? Oh, him!" Fang Yuan glanced at the head in his hands and exerted some pressure with his fingers. A blood-colored flame appeared, and Elder Tai Xuan immediately experienced so much agony that he could not even scream before turning to dust.


    "He¡­ killed Elder Tai Xuan?"


    "You thief!"


    "The Heavenly Circuit Immortal Sect will fight you to the bitter end!"


    ¡­


    Regardless of if they were Grand Unity Immortals or Immortals, they all had their eyes bulging with rage.


    Since when had Heavenly Circuit Immortal Sect, a cultivation Holy Land, declined to the point where someone could waltz in and kill an elder?


    "The bitter end? Up to you!" Fang Yuan held his saber and asked calmly, "Who is Wan Xing?"


    "You''re looking for me?" A young man in Daoist clothes walked out from the group of Grand Unity Immortals. "Scoundrel! Kneel and beg for mercy! Otherwise, we will destroy both your body and soul, never allowing you to reincarnate¡­"


    Poof!


    Before he could finish speaking, Fang Yuan appeared in front of him and slashed. "Universe Obliteration!"


    The same instant, numerous attacks landed on him as well. This was the final eruption of Wan Xing''s Great Dao, and it even heavily damaged his primordial treasure-level body.


    However, Fang Yuan did not care at all. He traded injuries with his target, and his ferocity was unparalleled. Lightning seemed to flash between heaven and earth, completely eliminating any chance of survival for this Grand Unity Immortal.


    With one strike, a Grand Unity Immortal died!


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 1120 Grand Unity

    "No! No! You can''t kill me! My old patriarch is Patriarch Heavenly Circuit!


    "I am an elder of the Heavenly Circuit Immortal Sect. You can''t kill me!


    "My death was so miserable!"


    ¡­


    The scene was dead silent.


    Fang Yuan withdrew his saber and retreated, and his injuries miraculously recovered.


    At the same time, voices of pleading, anger, and resentment appeared in the void.


    These were the remnant thoughts of the two dead Grand Unities. Of course, they were unable to resurrect immediately, but they could still make use of the power of their Great Daos. Even as they were vanishing like smoke into thin air, they could still cause a terrifying influence to the surroundings.


    If nothing was done, a ghost domain would undoubtedly form, which could even threaten Immortals.


    "Y-y-you¡­"


    Many Grand Unity Immortals retreated as dense defensive immortal artifacts appeared in front of them.


    Evidently, they were terribly frightened.


    After all, Fang Yuan''s performance had been too terrifying. Merely one saber strike was enough to kill a usually high and mighty Grand Unity Immortal instantly.


    Moreover, his formidable body and tactic of trading injuries made them exceedingly fearful. Fang Yuan could recover rapidly, but they were incomparable to him.


    "Has the Heavenly Circuit Immortal Sect¡­ declined as well?"


    Fang Yuan sighed softly, but in this deathly stillness, they could hear him from afar.


    All of the Immortals exchanged glances with each other and were ashamed.


    After all, it isn''t the number one Golden Soul Sect. In addition to its Grand Supreme Patriarch, it still has a group of Grand Unity elders with primordial treasure-level bodies¡­


    With his current strength, he could not easily kill this kind of Grand Unity Immortal. If he were to fall into their encirclement, he would be in danger of being suppressed and sealed.


    Of course, it was merely the risk of being sealed. As long as the Grand Supreme Immortal did not show up, Fang Yuan could not see any possibility of him being defeated by a group of Grand Unity Immortals, especially with his primordial treasure-level body and Undying Great Dao.


    The Grand Unity Immortals were unable to respond, and eventually, the Immortal-level sect master stepped out and said with a strong sense of righteousness, "You demon, what do you want?"


    "Nothing much! I just want revenge!" Fang Yuan smiled. "And to extort your belongings in the process!"


    "¡­" The Grand Unity Immortals widened their eyes. It was their first time coming across someone so blatantly shameless.


    "Haha¡­ You came into our Heavenly Circuit Immortal Sect, killed our elders, and still dare to think about extorting us¡­" The Heavenly Circuit Immortal Sect Master raged. "Truly shameless!"


    "If you''re unwilling, then I''ll have no other choice!" Fang Yuan''s eyes turned cold. "I can only take them by force!"


    "Array, rise! Heavenly Circuit Stellar Array!"


    The sect master swiftly retreated as the Grand Unity Immortals fully concentrated on wielding their immortal artifacts to block him.


    "Strike!"


    Rumble!


    Hazy starlight descended, and it suddenly seemed to become night.


    The layers of shadows were incomparably hazy as they covered the figures of the many Immortals around.


    Above the sky, large quantities of bright, bowl-sized stars were released, causing the descent of dreadful fluctuations.


    "This is why¡­ I dislike entering the sects of others. They always have many hidden cards in place!"


    Fang Yuan looked at the array, but he was actually¡­ excited?!


    He also wanted to test his current strength through actual combat.


    Ordinary Grand Unities, even with primordial treasure-level bodies, were no match for him.


    But Grand Supreme Immortals were too much for him.


    Therefore, there was simply not much for him to test himself against. The sect-protecting array of a Holy Land could at least exert the strength of peak Grand Unity, possibly even half-step Grand Supreme. It was perfect for his needs.


    "Thief! Demon! Hand over your life!" Infuriated voices came from the starlight that surrounded him.


    Shortly after, the endless starlight converged to form a slightly illusory human figure.


    It only stood there calmly, as if it had a life of its own and was the master of this piece of heaven and earth, seeming as though it could grasp the stars with a simple wave of its hand.


    "Patriarch Heavenly Circuit? Did he leave behind some spiritual will? Or is it an incarnation?"


    Fang Yuan became solemn.


    The Heavenly Circuit Immortal Sect was indeed a cultivation Holy Land. To think that it still had such a method. Combining the spiritual will left behind by Patriarch Heavenly Circuit with the energy gathered from the array, it absolutely possessed the partial might of a Grand Supreme Immortal.


    This array could suppress ordinary Grand Unities as easily as flipping over a palm. Even if a Chaos Godfiend were to come, the array could delay it a bit.


    "Kill!" Fang Yuan looked at the illusory figure and launched an attack. "Light of Universe!"


    "Magical power¡­ Star Removal Hand!"


    The Heavenly Circuit Stellar Array''s illusory figure indifferently extended a hand.


    Rumble!


    A starlight palm abruptly appeared, covering the sky and the earth with an endlessly imposing manner. The index finger and thumb came together to form an odd hand seal that actually grasped the Saber Qi and split it into pieces.


    "Star Great Dao!"


    With an unparalleled manner, the massive hand descended from the sky as the stars all around brightened and turned into restrictive rays of light.


    Smack!


    Immediately after, the enormous hand mercilessly smashed Fang Yuan into the ground like a fly, leaving behind a deep hole.


    "He even left behind the power of his Great Dao?"


    A moment later, the ground exploded, and Fang Yuan looked up from the bottom of the hole.


    This formidable Great Dao power was clearly not from an ordinary Great Dao, but from the power of a Connate Great Dao!


    "Nomological laws are limited to this world, while Great Daos can barely become detached from the restrictions of the world. Connate Great Daos, on the other hand, can suppress a world and are entirely of themselves?"


    At that moment, his understanding of this world''s Connate Great Daos improved.


    "I would be more unfortunate than fortunate if I were to encounter a true Connate Great Dao as I am¡­ But¡­" He fixed his eyes on the figure of the Heavenly Circuit Stellar Array. "You''re merely an existence created from the combination of a trace of spiritual will and the energy of an array. Even with the imprints left behind by a Grand Supreme Immortal, how much could you really display?


    "Universe Obliteration!"


    Fang Yuan teleported. The space restrictions in the Holy Land were clearly unable to stop him as he appeared behind the figure and slashed.


    Whoosh!


    An abstruse saber beam flashed, extinguishing any hope of survival.


    Under the might of the saber, the illusory figure quickly disintegrated.


    "Hmm?" However, Fang Yuan did not celebrate as he furrowed his brows.


    "Brat!!!!" Within the star, the figure converged once again, and its voice contained a sense of indignance.


    If it were merely a puppet earlier, its current state felt more like that trace of spiritual will had awakened as it displayed the true power of a Grand Supreme Immortal! Even if it was only a small portion, it was definitely much more difficult to deal with than before.


    "Array spirit? It seems like it won''t die unless I destroy the array?" With his experience, he understood in a flash. "Slightly troublesome¡­"


    Not only did this stellar figure have the offensive capabilities of a half-step Grand Supreme Immortal, but it could also converge and disperse, and was closely related to the array.


    And the Heavenly Circuit Immortal Sect''s sect-protecting array was naturally vast. Additionally, its foundation was based on a primordial treasure.


    Even if he destroyed part of it, he would not damage its operation.


    "I can''t kill it. Leave!" Fang Yuan put away his saber and immediately teleported.


    "What''s going on? Shouldn''t the Holy Land restrict the Illusion Realm''s nomological laws? Is this brat''s attainment in them higher than that former elder''s?"


    "Where did he teleport to?"


    "Not good! The treasure pavilion! Quickly save it!"


    Within seconds, inside the array, the sect master and the elders became a chaotic mess.


    The array spirit in the void was slightly suspicious, but the very next moment, it appeared within the treasure pavilion.


    "Universe Obliteration!" Fang Yuan had been waiting for its as he split it in two. "You''re indeed a worthy array spirit, being able to appear anywhere in the array!"


    The next moment, the two illusory figures exploded and recondensed into azure starlight. "Myriad Star Flying Edge!"


    Chichi!


    Starlight flew out like fireflies that contained frightening murderous intent.


    In a split second, blood started flowing out of Fang Yuan''s body, as if he were a broken sack.


    But shortly after, the blood seemed to have its own consciousness as it flew back into his wounds, and his skin and flesh instantly recovered, without leaving a single mark.


    "Primordial treasure-level body? Undying Great Dao?" The illusory figure frowned as it prepared to test another method. "Starlight¡­ Seal!"


    "An intelligent array spirit? Trouble¡­"


    Fang Yuan teleported, instantly leaving the scene and arriving at the depths of the treasure pavilion.


    At this time, he was not afraid of being surrounded. His only concern was being sealed.


    Speaking of which, although the Abominable Lord crossed over to become a parasite of the Heavenly Dao, it isn''t much different from being sealed. It was only recently that he could come out for some fresh air and arrange a deathtrap for me¡­ However, he only had that one chance, while I have unlimited potential for development and plenty of opportunities to deal with him!


    Fang Yuan brandished his sleeves.


    Flap Flap!


    A few whirlpools appeared within the pavilion. Like whales swallowing water, they sucked up all the immortal pills and materials nearby.


    "You thief!" Seeing this, the Heavenly Circuit Immortal Sect Master''s face almost turned green.


    These astonishing riches were the accumulations of the Holy Land over millions of years.


    But in an instant, Fang Yuan looted this much, inflicting serious damage to the sect.


    "Again!"


    Fang Yuan was not satisfied and continued plundering more resources, determined to severely injure the Heavenly Circuit Immortal Sect.


    Concurrently, he was swallowing an immense amount of spiritual pills and elixirs, turning them into the most fundamental accumulation of Immortal Qi as he started charging toward the Grand Unity bottleneck.


    "To break through to Grand Unity Immortal, I must first master a Great Dao. I''ve satisfied this condition and also reached the required realm, so the rest is merely accumulating Qi!


    "In this regard, my previous foundation and the Qi I refined while meditating and waiting for an opportunity made me close. These immortal pills and materials are the perfect supplement for the final push!"


    Fang Yuan''s eyes shined as colorful auspicious clouds appeared around him. The Grand Unity Immortals watching started blankly. "The sign of breaking through to Grand Unity?"


    Cultivators in the Wasteland World only had one Immortal lightning tribulation. The rest would be smooth sailing, without the need to cross tribulations or anything else.


    Otherwise, Fang Yuan was not confident he would be able to overcome another one. After all, the Abominable Lord was around.


    All of this happened in the time it took a spark to fly off a piece of flint.


    From Fang Yuan''s plundering, to the recondensing of the array spirit, then to the incident in the treasure pavilion¡­ It all merely took the blink of an eye.


    "Have a taste of my saber!"


    Fang Yuan smiled as his saber''s edge shined brightly.


    Just as the array spirit was prepared to receive his attack, he smiled even brighter as his body disappeared.


    "Where is that demon?"


    "He''s already out of the array''s range!"


    "Damn it¡­"


    The Grand Unity Immortals and the sect master were left dejected and depressed, their hearts incomparably gloomy.


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 1121 Return

    "The array spirit can''t die, so I''d be a fool if I continued exhausting myself with it!"


    Outside the Heavenly Circuit Immortal Sect, the void flickered as Fang Yuan emerged, looking at the sky. "Moreover¡­ there''s him!"


    If he had spent too much energy on the array spirit, he would have faced the danger of being sealed by the many Grand Unities there.


    But the greatest threat came from the heavens.


    Although the Abominable Lord was currently in a state equivalent to being sealed, who knew what he would come up with next?


    "Heaven''s will likes to mess with people¡­ The key is still providence¡­ Fortunately, as a true powerhouse, my strength is enough to deal with it. Even if heaven''s will goes all out to mess with me, it will also be helpless!"


    Fang Yuan had crossed through many worlds and already had a deep understanding of the operation of a Heavenly Dao.


    If he were still a mortal like before and had to live in this world, the influence of heaven''s will on him would have truly been extremely significant. If it wanted him dead, he really would not have been able to do anything about it.


    But after the lightning tribulation and becoming an Immortal, his strength was reborn, and the possibility of heaven''s will affecting him plummeted.


    Once he reached the Grand Unity realm, even the Heavenly Dao would be helpless against him.


    After all, the arrival of a disaster required a catalyst, and in this world, who else could deal with a Grand Unity except top cultivators?


    After cultivating to the Grand Unity realm, his strength alone could suppress fate, and external influences could not easily affect him.


    Moreover, even if he could no longer stay in this world, he could enter the chaos. Although it might be much more exhausting for him than a Grand Supreme Immortal, it was still very simple for him to live within the chaos.


    "Haha¡­ Abominable Lord, you only had one chance during my lightning tribulation. Since I survived, victory is essentially within my grasp!" Fang Yuan looked at the sky, full of confidence.


    Ever since he advanced to Immortal, his cultivation had truly experienced rapid progress. At this moment, he had already broken through to Grand Unity.


    Given time, advancing to Grand Supreme would not be much of a problem.


    But for the Abominable Lord, he would have to erode the entire Heavenly Dao, or at least a majority of it, before being able to escape the restrictions of the Heavenly Dao.


    In comparison, he was already inferior to Fang Yuan.


    "His speed at eroding the Heavenly Dao is also far slower than the speed of my cultivation. After all, I am an individual, while he has to invade and occupy an entire world¡­ In terms of dimensions, it''s much too difficult¡­"


    Fang Yuan smiled faintly and unexpectedly even felt some pity for the Abominable Lord.


    If the Abominable Lord had had a choice, he would have definitely wished to have transmigrated into an ordinary cultivator.


    With his talent, he would have already been able to comprehend an incredible Great Dao and broken through to the Great Unity realm. If that had happened, Fang Yuan would be the one facing the most trouble.


    "If there are any unexpected changes, I still have a hidden card up my sleeve!"


    Fang Yuan pondered for a moment. He brushed his sleeves, and over ten red pearls appeared, each of them containing overflowing karma.


    "Who would have thought that the Heavenly Circuit Immortal Sect actually had such items that were the result of the convergence of the flesh and essence of wronged souls¡­ They seem pretty fresh, so I guess they should be from the demon disaster?"


    He sized up the pearls in his hand, and each one was equivalent to the convergence of the flesh of a hundred thousand wronged souls. Altogether, it was enough to make a blood sacrifice of a million.


    "With this, my killing of the two Grand Unities Immortals earlier, and some immortal materials¡­ The Pantheon Summoning Technique''s eternal summoning gate may not necessarily be impossible to construct! Of course, if I were to do this, I would become the sinner of this world. All the top cultivators would join hands in attacking me! This can only be a last resort¡­"


    If the Abominable Lord was finally about to break free and he had still not advanced to Grand Supreme, then there would be nothing to say. He would directly initiate a life-and-death struggle.


    "The Chaos Godfiends are all about to be suppressed, and the demon disaster will come to an end¡­"


    Fang Yuan was currently standing in the air and vaguely sensed the terrifying fluctuations coming from three directions.


    Every ripple contained a frightening force that could seriously injure Grand Unity Immortals. Undoubtedly, this was due to the fights between the Grand Supreme Immortals and Chaos Godfiends.


    And he could faintly sense that Wasteland World currently held the upper hand.


    "The most intense fight is clearly in the Central Region. Seems like the Golden Soul Sect''s Grand Supreme Immortal is truly powerful¡­ He can actually suppress a Chaos Godfiend by himself. Has he already reached the ninth transference of the Nine Transference Undying Method? And his fleshly body is already at the sacred realm?"


    Fang Yuan was slightly astonished, but he had no intention to head over and fish for benefits.


    Unless he recovered his former strength or reached Grand Supreme, heading to a battle of such caliber would not be any different from courting death.


    After all, they were both physically there, nothing like the array spirit that only had a trace of spiritual will.


    "Chaos Godfiend¡­ What a pity!" Fang Yuan licked his lips but felt helpless. "If I could obtain their origin crystals, perhaps my Undying Demon Body would advance by leaps and bounds, and the eighth and ninth levels wouldn''t be a dream!"


    As for the final tenth level, according to his imagination, it surpassed the level of a Chaos Godfiend, and it was even more incredible than having his body become sacred. However, this level only existed in his imagination.


    "No¡­ that Primordial Chaos Holy Fiend sleeping soundly in the depths of chaos might have a body at that level¡­" Fang Yuan looked at the sky, sighing with emotion.


    Suddenly, his expression changed drastically. "What''s happening?"


    Ow Ow!


    Roar Roar!


    Outside the world, numerous Primordial Godfiend gathered, and they all had slightly fanatical expressions.


    In front of them were six figures with incomparably frightening auras. "The patriarch is about to awaken completely¡­ The destruction of this world can be the start of everything!"


    Whoosh!


    Within the world, dark clouds covered the sky as violent winds and rain screamed.


    The very next moment, six massive bolts of lightning flashed in the void and spread across the world.


    The heavenly canopy split open as six gigantic cracks formed!


    Wounds of heaven!


    This frightful calamity was only possible when Chaos Godfiends were involved!


    Moments later, Primordial Godfiends swarmed out of these cracks like locusts. Behind them were six incomparably mighty existences also entering the world, bringing a sense of oppression to all beings.


    Thump! Thump!


    Sounds resembling war drums and footsteps echoed directly in the hearts of all living beings, giving birth to the feeling that things were horribly wrong.


    "Six Chaos Godfiends and so many Primordial Godfiends?" Fang Yuan''s eyes widened, and a sudden impulse hit him. "In addition to the previous ones, there are nine Chaos Godfiends! This war is far more terrifying than the one that caused Mount Mengyan''s destruction!"


    Although Mount Mengyan''s patriarch had perished together with a Chaos Godfiend, if the human Holy Lands had joined forces and other Grand Supreme Immortals came as reinforcements, how could it have ended up like that?


    In that demon disaster, it was also because there were too many Chaos Godfiends that the Grand Supreme Immortals were in straitened circumstances. In addition, the sea of Primordial Godfiends had greatly exhausted the war capabilities and vitality of the various Holy Lands. Ultimately, immense exhaustion led to the downfall of Mount Mengyan''s patriarch and eventually Mount Mengyan itself.


    "According to the records in the Thirty-Three-Level Outer Heaven Tower, only seven Chaos Godfiends came during that demon disaster¡­"


    Fang Yuan could not help mumbling to himself, "This is absolutely not because of me¡­"


    Although he had thought about constructing the Otherworldly Demon Summoning Gate to destroy the world just to kill the Abominable Lord, he had yet to actually act on it. It was merely his trump card.


    "This time, it looks like the world is truly in trouble!"


    With this thought, a trace of light flashed in his eyes as his figure disappeared into the void.


    ¡­


    "What? Six more Chaos Godfiends?"


    "In the previous large-scale demon disaster, weren''t there only around two or three?"


    "Why is this happening?"


    "The heavens want my sect gone¡­"


    At that moment, not only Fang Yuan, but also many other Grand Unity Immortals felt the arrival of the Chaos Godfiends, and they were all distressed.


    Central Region.


    Patriarch Golden Soul''s clothes were torn, and he was covered in blood. He held Golden Mount Meru, looked at the two falling meteors, and laughed. "You''re one step too late!"


    Under his right palm and the golden mountain, there was black fog with faint flames, and it seemed like a red-scaled Godfiend sealed was within it.


    Western Region.


    Grand Supreme Immortal Gui Zhuang and Luan Xuan glanced at each other in shock. "Nine Chaos Godfiends? Since the beginning of the world''s history, has there ever been a tribulation like this?"


    "Could the rumors be true? After four kalpas, the end of a world arrives?" Immortal Luan Xuan''s expression changed.


    Immortal Gui Zhuang calculated as he shook his head. "Impossible¡­ Our world is thriving and has only been around for eighteen thousand eras, while the lifespan of a great world is fifty thousand eras! We''re not even halfway there!


    "In any case, we definitely won''t be able to seal this evil creature now. Let''s leave!"


    He waved his hand and executed the great ability that separated the two realms. The Chaos Godfiend that was still wreaking havoc and roaring suddenly disappeared.


    Two Grand Supreme Immortals looked at each other, and their faces could not help but reveal anxiety as their figures slowly disappeared.


    ¡­


    In the face of a more terrifying Demonic Tribulation than any other before, even Holy Lands with Grand Supreme Immortals chose to evade temporality as the sects gradually disappeared from the world.


    The entire world plunged into a dark reign of terrorizing massacres.


    In comparison, Fang Yuan breaking into the Heavenly Circuit Immortal Sect and killing two Grand Unity Immortals no longer seemed significant. During peaceful times, it would have shocked the world.


    One day.


    Outside the Wasteland World, an old man wearing a black and white robe appeared.


    "The world is facing a tribulation. Tragic, tragic, tragic¡­"


    He let out a loud sigh. His gaze looked gentle yet seemed capable of penetrating the world as he looked at the number of otherworldly demons arriving. "Although it''s a good plan to evade temporarily, the otherworldly demons will rapidly consume the lifespan of the world, and it won''t matter how long the world''s lifespan is!"


    The appearance of Chaos Godfiends represented a world-ending tribulation, and it had nothing to do with what phase a world was at.


    "Not to mention¡­" The old man shook his head as his figure flashed into the world.


    He appeared nostalgic, like a traveler returning home after many years. "I''m finally back¡­ I wonder how the sect is? Sigh¡­ Facing such a great tribulation, I doubt my previous arrangements are of any use!"


    He flew hurriedly, and it did not take long before he reached the Heavenly Circuit Immortal Sect.


    Clang! Clang!


    The large bell of the stars sounded, and many Immortals stepped out. The one in the lead was a Grand Unity Immortal. When he saw the old man, he immediately knelt, his voice choked with emotions. "Old Patriarch¡­ you''re finally back¡­"


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 1122 Gathering

    "The aura of a Grand Supreme¡­ at the Heavenly Circuit Immortal Sect¡­"


    Somewhere within the void, Fang Yuan furrowed his brows.


    Shortly after, he sensed a fierce rumbling coming from the Heavenly Circuit Immortal Sect as clouds rose and mountains completely disappeared from this world.


    "Concealing the sect?"


    This was the most passive method for every Holy Land to deal with a demon disaster. However, without a Grand Supreme Immortal taking charge, this would be simply impossible.


    Therefore, even if the Heavenly Circuit Immortal Sect knew that the peak of the demon disaster had arrived with the invasion of the nine Chaos Godfiends, it could only stay put and fight for their lives.


    "Being able to operate the Heavenly Circuit Immortal Sect into hiding means that this person must be a Grand Supreme Immortal¡­ Is it Patriarch Heavenly Circuit? Or did one of the Grand Unity Immortals manage to break through?"


    Fang Yuan chuckled, certain that the latter was impossible.


    A Grand Unity wanting to sublimate a Connate Great Dao, how difficult was that?


    Not to mention, he had met every Grand Unity Immortal when he had gone up against the Heavenly Circuit Immortal Sect. They were all trash, like rotten wood. They were already extremely fortunate to have formed a Great Dao in their lives, let alone breaking through to Grand Supreme.


    "Furthermore, the amount of resources needed to break through to the Grand Supreme realm is exceedingly frightening. It seems like Patriarch Heavenly Circuit has finally returned from the chaos after sensing that something was amiss with this demon disaster?"


    The Heavenly Circuit Immortal Sect naturally had a Grand Supreme Immortal Patriarch. After rampaging through it, Fang Yuan also knew that this patriarch had left this world a long time ago to wander the chaos.


    But he unexpectedly returned at this time.


    "¡­ If he had returned slightly earlier, I might not have had the chance to act so rampant in the Heavenly Circuit Immortal Sect¡­ In fact, I might have even been captured by him."


    With this thought, Fang Yuan immediately left the Southern Region and went to the Central Region.


    After looking for a first-class sect with only a Grand Unity Immortal at the helm to make discreet inquiries, some news came flowing to him.


    "The Golden Soul Sect''s Patriarch Golden Soul took action and directly suppressed a Chaos Godfiend. He was even able to match up against two other Chaos Godfiends.


    "Chaos Godfiends appeared in all five regions of the Great Sage Immortal World, and the humans have suffered heavy casualties.


    "And¡­ the Heavenly Circuit Immortal Sect sent out invitations to all existences at Grand Unity and above to attend a conference because Patriarch Heavenly Circuit brought back some information from the chaos."


    ¡­


    Fang Yuan stared at the Grand Unity Immortal in front of him. "Are these three pieces of news true?"


    "Everything I''ve said is true! I don''t dare to lie to you!" the Grand Unity Immortal said hurriedly.


    The first-class sect that he found was named the Flower Separation Descending Sect. It had a Grand Unity Immortal overseeing it, which was much better than the Iron Mountain Gate.


    However, because it had only produced one Grand Unity Immortal, it ranked near the end of the first-class sects.


    This Grand Unity was Flower Separation Descending Sect''s grand elder¡ªYan Wuxu!


    Although he was also at Grand Unity, after Fang Yuan defeated him in one move, his attitude became quite good, and he said everything he knew without reserve.


    "Where are they gathering? Isn''t this a little too unrealistic? After all, all those Holy Land have turned into turtles¡­" Fang Yuan asked doubtfully.


    "It''s possible right in the sects! I have a ''Ghost Realm Token'' that Grand Supreme Immortal Gui Zhuang bestowed! It can bring me straight to the Ghost Realm!"


    The grand elder quickly continued, "The so-called Ghost Realm is essentially a vast illusory world that covers the entire Wasteland World. All Immortals can enter with a single strand of spiritual will¡­"


    Isn''t this a Da Qian Dream Master''s dream world technique?


    Fang Yuan thought about it and continued questioning. He realized that this Grand Supreme Immortal Gui Zhuang had yet to consider this aspect. Normally, the Ghost Realm was not open at all, or in other words, they were forced to do so because of the grave danger.


    "Immortal Gui Zhuang''s Great Dao is so exotic that it can form a world that covers the entire Wasteland World¡­ Unfortunately, in that world, there are inevitably some dangers as well!" the grand elder explained. "But a Ghost Realm Token can allow all Immortals within a certain range to arrive there using their spiritual wills¡­"


    "Is that so? Bring me to that Ghost Realm now!"


    Fang Yuan did not waste any time as he had this grand elder activate the Ghost Realm Token.


    Rumble!


    The so-called Ghost Realm Token was merely a greenish-black token with a ghost head carved on it.


    But when it snarled, something peculiar suddenly appeared in the surrounding environment.


    Fang Yuan, who was proficient in traversing techniques, instantly condensed a trace of spiritual will and threw it into it.


    Whoosh whoosh!


    Suddenly, heaven and earth transformed, and he seemed to have arrived in a strange world. The sky was overcast, and the entire world was only black and white.


    "This is the Ghost Realm?"


    Fang Yuan looked around curiously. It seems different from a Dream Master''s dream world, as there''s a certain eeriness here¡­ It should be called the Underworld instead¡­ It looks like this place is meant for battles.


    Unlike a dream world, the power of the rules in this Ghost Realm was naturally powerful and terrifying, and it seemed more self-contained.


    In other words, this place was the inner world of the entire Wasteland World, and it had all kinds of mysterious powers.


    "The spiritual wills of ordinary Immortals would definitely corrode here¡­ And the amplification of a particular Great Dao is also quite astonishing!"


    Poof!


    Fang Yuan extended a hand, and the black Qi in the void turned into golden lotuses. The lotuses bloomed one after another, with the power of a distinct Great Dao.


    "This Grand Supreme Immortal Gui Zhuang is indeed astonishing¡­ He''s likely comparable to Patriarch Golden Soul and equally capable of suppressing a Chaos Godfiend!"


    In terms of cultivation, Chaos Godfiends had the support of their incredibly formidable bodies, making them far superior to ordinary human Grand Supremes.


    Therefore, only the most outstanding Grand Supremes could surpass Chaos Godfiends.


    In terms of their might, it was obvious how terrifying they were.


    Or rather¡­ have all the weaker Grand Supremes died?


    With a glance, Fang Yuan spotted some shadows in a corner. After getting closer, he realized that they were white, translucent phantoms.


    From inside of them, fireflies flew out and started flying all over the sky while carrying a strange smell.


    "Sir, we have to be careful. This Ghost Realm is incomparably dangerous, and unless we have a Grand Supreme''s spiritual will, we might perish at any time!" Yan Wuxu reminded him from the side.


    He had no choice but to remind him. He and Fang Yuan were only a trace of spiritual will here, so even if they perished, it would not affect their body much.


    But once something happened, the other party would certainly not let him off.


    Given the strength disparity, killing him would not be a problem at all.


    "I know. This Ghost Realm should be a naturally existing world within the Wasteland World. Unexpectedly, Grand Supreme Immortal Gui Zhuang was able to connect¡­" Fang Yuan sighed.


    In this place, he clearly sensed the difference in heaven and earth.


    In other words, the expression of the various exotic rules here was just like that of a primitive dream world¡ªbizarre and fantastic yet containing dreadful opportunities and risks.


    "Please follow me, Sir!"


    At this moment, a dark glimmer of light automatically emerged from the Ghost Realm Token to guide them while simultaneously making all the strange phenomenons not dare to draw near.


    Fang Yuan silently followed Yan Wuxu for some time before they arrived at a black altar.


    This altar was incredibly ancient and took up an extremely large area. Who knew how many years it had been here.


    Currently, green rays of light were all around. These were Ghost Realm Tokens that were shielding groups of one or more figures.


    Fang Yuan''s entrance was nothing remarkable.


    He sat cross-legged and waited quietly.


    Before long, more and more Grand Unity Immortals came. In the end, over three hundred had arrived, shocking Fang Yuan. This should be the foundation of the entire Wasteland World, right? Even the human race isn''t the only race here¡­


    Through some of the dark glimmers, he sensed several strange Grand Unity auras that were unlikely to be human cultivators.


    Kaboom!


    Suddenly, several massive light clusters descended. Like suns, they exuded frightening auras.


    "The spiritual wills of Grand Supreme Immortals!"


    Fang Yuan looked over and saw the six light clusters had each occupied one side.


    "Patriarch Golden Soul, Immortal Gui Zhuang, Immortal Luan Xuan, Patriarch Heavenly Circuit, Yuan Potian, and lastly Patriarch Black Mist?"


    From the exclamations around him, Fang Yuan obtained the names of these Grand Supreme Immortals.


    Golden Soul, Gui Zhuang, Luan Xuan, and Heavenly Circuit were the human Grand Supremes, while Yuan Potian was a Fey cultivator and the sovereign of the Northern Region''s Myriad Fey Country.


    The last Patriarch Black Mist was the most mysterious. He was an itinerant cultivator, and little was known about his origins.


    "The demon disaster has arrived, plunging the world into despair. Everyone has worked hard. Looking at the cultivators here and comparing it to the previous time, more than ten people have fallen, and some new people have come¡­" Patriarch Golden Soul''s voice was heroic, and his eyes seemed to stop on Fang Yuan for a moment.


    The next instant, five sharp gazes fixed on him, practically wanting to penetrate him completely.


    "As everyone knows, the Chaos Godfiends can destroy our world. If we allow them to continue their destruction, even if our world has a lifespan of fifty thousand eras, they will eventually destroy it¡­" Patriarch Heavenly Circuit''s voice was clear and melodious, and he did not find trouble with Fang Yuan.


    Perhaps it was because of the general situation, but the largest possibility was that he knew that it would mean nothing even if he were to extinguish this trace of spiritual will here.


    "But the reason I''ve gathered everyone here is that I hope everyone no longer stops the demon disaster!" Patriarch Heavenly Circuit''s words were earth-shattering.


    "What?"


    "Patriarch Heavenly Circuit¡­ what do you mean?".


    Everyone was doubtful as their puzzled gazes gathered. However, Patriarch Heavenly Circuit was composed. "Does anyone know why this demon disaster is so terrifying? All of this is closely related to the chaotic universe above this world! Our universe is coming to an end! Once the universe is annihilated, even new worlds will go down with it!"


    Splash!


    One sentence truly roused waves of commotion.


    Almost all the Grand Unity Immortals turned pale. "The universe is ending?"


    Fang Yuan was also stunned. But because he had never been to the chaos, he really did not know about this.


    "Although the universe''s lifespan is much longer than that of a world, Heavenly Circuit''s words are not false. If the universe ends, all the worlds will definitely fall with it!!"


    Fang Yuan took in a deep breath, and for some reason, he suddenly thought of that Primordial Chaos Holy Fiend.


    For some reason, he just felt that this great tribulation was largely related to it.


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 1123 Big Plan

    Amid the uproar, a Grand Unity Immortal stood up and asked, "May I ask Grand Supreme Immortal¡­ You said earlier that you didn''t want us to fight against the otherworldly demons because a great tribulation to the universe is approaching. So even if our world makes it through the Demonic Tribulation, we won''t be able to survive independently?"


    "Indeed¡­ Even if our world manages to survive the demon disaster, the destruction of the universe will leave nothing behind at all," Patriarch Heavenly Circuit replied. "I''ve traveled around the chaos and met many similar existences. After noticing this problem, I''ve decided to gather the forces from across all the worlds and to resolve this problem."


    This was truly a grave matter of life and death, and many Grand Unity Immortals looked solemn.


    The destruction of a universe!


    Fang Yuan had crossed through countless worlds and had not encountered this terrifying catastrophe before.


    Great Daos were parallel to a world, and Connate Great Daos were the nomological powers at the level of a universe!


    Although these Grand Unity Immortals could barely roam the chaos, they would instantly turn into fine powder upon the destruction of the universe!


    Even Grand Supreme Immortals would find it difficult to escape death!


    To obtain a lifeline in this universe''s destruction, you must detach yourself from it¡­ Is this the Dao Fruit level? Fang Yuan looked solemn as well.


    To him, this was also a tribulation of death!


    However, he was still slightly better off than these Immortals because he had a second method¡ªtake back his Dream Master cultivation and directly traverse at the universe level!


    However, if I can recover my previous cultivation, it will mean that I''ve won the bet and will probably advance to Dao Fruit¡­ Fang Yuan shook his head discreetly.


    His bet with the Abominable Lord was bound with a life contract that was at the level of the Heavenly Dao of the universe''s chaos. As long as they were still within this universe, when one party died, the other party would instantly receive the benefits.


    "We also saw this problem, so we choose to pull back our strength¡­ and conceal our sects!" Patriarch Golden Soul said and then looked at Patriarch Heavenly Circuit. "You''ve mentioned a solution to this problem¡­ Tell us about it!"


    "It''s very simple¡­ The fate of the universe is determined by two concepts¡ªlife and death! A world produces life, and that represents ''life''; while the otherworldly demons from the depths of chaos only know how to destroy everything, so they represent ''death''! The reason why the universe is facing destruction is that its concept of ''death'' has increased tremendously¡­" Patriarch Heavenly Circuit Patriarch said frankly with assurance.


    "That''s true, and if we were to kill those nine Chaos Godfiend, we might be able to make the universe continue to linger on at death''s door. However, that''s merely trying to put out the fire of a burning cart of firewood with a cup of water because the natural source of destruction still exists¡­" Patriarch Heavenly Circuit said emotionally. "Even the Chaos Godfiends are merely heirs of the natural source of destruction. What we need to get rid of is the source itself!"


    "The source itself? Chaos Godfiends are merely heirs?" Immortal Gui Zhuang furrowed his brows. "According to your words, that source must be well protected. In fact, I can imagine the petrifying threat that it poses, so how can we destroy it?"


    "Our world alone is indeed far from strong enough, so we need to join forces with other worlds¡­" Patriarch Heavenly Circuit said. "Furthermore¡­ we will need the strength of those above Grand Supreme!"


    "Above Grand Supreme is Grand Primordium!" Patriarch Golden Soul''s spiritual will became excited. "Grand Primordium Immortal is the beginning of everything! Although our world produced an existence at this level before, no one knows where they''ve gone. In the last million years, there has been no news¡­"


    "We don''t have any, but we can still gather a few Grand Primordium existences from the other worlds!" Heavenly Circuit Patriarch said confidently. "Although a Grand Primordium Immortal won''t die even with the universe''s destruction, they will still suffer¡­"


    In fact, he omitted one more truth.


    That was, a Grand Primordium Immortal only had about a fifty percent chance of surviving the destruction of the universe!


    Therefore, even a Grand Primordium Immortal would not wish to see this happening.


    If they did not want to go head-on against the destruction of the universe, the only way was to leave the universe itself. Obviously, the Grand Primordium Immortals who took pleasure in exploring new places had already done so, and the remaining ones were those who could not bear to leave their homeland.


    Therefore, they would not be willing to give up on this opportunity!


    This was not merely for themselves, but also for their sects, relatives, and respective worlds!


    "A demon disaster isn''t the matter of any one world. Taking advantage of this time when the otherworldly demons near the natural source of destruction have come out and left it empty, we can surprise attack it. If we succeed, the remaining otherworldly demons won''t pose much of a threat!"


    Heavenly Circuit Patriarch scanned the surrounding. "This operation requires being able to move through the chaos at the very least, so Grand Unity is the baseline! Everyone has to play your part, all right?"


    "Of course!"


    The Grand Supreme Immortals discussed and came to an agreement immediately. "However, we first need to formalize an agreement regarding the alliance with the other worlds, and we can only make a decision after meeting the Grand Primordium Immortals. At that point, we''ll require them to inspect the various worlds to make sure that no fish escapes!"


    They were certainly not willing to be fighting for their lives at the front while having some turtles enjoy their success at the back.


    "That''s natural¡­ However, we can''t let the otherworldly demons destroy our world either. Not only will this strengthen the concept of death, but it will also strengthen the natural source of destruction, increasing the difficulty of our task!" Patriarch Heavenly Circuit said.


    "I have a technique that I obtained from another world. However, it requires the cooperation of several Grand Supremes and numerous Grand Unities to seal the heavens and lock the earth temporarily. No matter how ferocious the Chaos Godfiends are, we can hold on for a while."


    "All right!" Patriarch Golden Soul and the others nodded. Evidently, they did not want to save the universe and then end up as stray dogs.


    Even so, the world would become full of gaping wounds, and they would certainly have to pay a price.


    ¡­


    "The concept of life and death determines the fate of the universe?" Fang Yuan heard this and felt emotional. "This is indeed a rather bizarre universe¡­"


    In fact, the previous worlds that he had traversed to were all attached to the universe where the Mental Demon Realm was. Strictly speaking, coming here was his first time crossing over universes.


    "The natural source of destruction, does it refer to that Primordial Chaos Holy Fiend?"


    Upon hearing Immortal Heavenly Circuit''s words, he immediately connected the Primordial Chaos Holy Fiend with the natural source of destruction.


    "According to him, if the Primordial Chaos Holy Fiend wanted to destroy our world, it would merely take a blow from its main body. So why bother disseminating the Pantheon Catalog to prepare for the arrival of its incarnations? Does this mean that the Primordial Chaos Holy Fiend''s body is hard to move? Or did something happen back then with the Patriarch Pantheon incarnation?"


    It was a pity that he had too little information for him to seek an answer.


    At this point, he heard Patriarch Heavenly Circuit''s spiritual will. "The technique that I want to arrange is called¡ªNine Heavens and Ten Earths Seal! It''s an extremely formidable sealing technique and won''t have any problem sealing Chaos Godfiends. However, this array needs a few Grand Unities to stabilize the eye of the array, and it has to be those who have comprehended top nomological laws like space and time!"


    Fang Yuan''s scalp tingled upon hearing this.


    Shortly afterward, Patriarch Heavenly Circuit''s voice was in his ears. "Whether you''re Situ Zhaixing or little friend Li Hun, I have no malicious intentions. If you''re willing to help us with this, I can guarantee that the grievances between the Heavenly Circuit Immortal Sect and you will be written off!"


    For a Grand Supreme Immortal to say this, he was naturally extremely sincere.


    Afraid that Fang Yuan would not believe him, Patriarch Heavenly Circuit continued, "All the Immortals here can be witnesses! We can also make an oath independently¡­"


    This Heavenly Circuit¡­ Fang Yuan''s eyes glowed when he heard this. Is he actually such a person? A saint who only wants to save the world? Someone who no longer cares about his own honor and disgrace, the life and death of his descendants, and the rise and fall of his dao lineage?


    To be honest, Fang Yuan did not trust him at all. However, Heavenly Circuit talked about making an oath, he could only play dumb first. "I am also a part of this world, so I won''t hesitate to help when needed!"


    "Haha¡­ Great!" Patriarch Golden Soul took the lead to express his appreciation, as if he had the intention of pulling Fang Yuan back to the Golden Soul Sect.


    "Okay! After leaving this place, everyone is to gather in the Central Region¡­ With the strength of our Wasteland World, I don''t believe we can''t deal with a few Chaos Godfiends!" Heavenly Circuit remained vehement, but Fang Yuan was increasingly suspicious as a trace of worry flashed across his eyes.


    ¡­


    "Numerous Grand Unity and Grand Supreme Immortals heading out to take part in an alliance with other worlds, and with Grand Primordium Immortals as the commanders, they''re going to attack the natural source of destruction?"


    After separating with Yan Wuxu, Fang Yuan immediately entered the void. "This is truly a grand plan, but the bigger the plan, the easier it is for slip-ups!"


    Without mentioning anything else, a few Grand Unities and Grand Supremes might not be willing to send themselves to death as cannon fodder.


    Although they could invite Grand Primordium Immortals to scan the worlds, it was not surefire either.


    For example, Fang Yuan could hide within the chaos, and Grand Primordium Immortals might not be able to find him.


    "However, now that matters have come to this, why don''t I go to the Golden Soul Sect first?"


    At the thought of Patriarch Golden Soul Patriarch''s secret voice transmission before leaving earlier, Fang Yuan became thoughtful. "This Patriarch Golden Soul is outstanding among the Grand Supreme Immortals. Since he could seal a Chaos Godfiend by himself, why is he looking for me?"


    Although he had gained a technique from the other party, he had also gotten rid of a great danger for him. Weighing these matters in hand, nobody owed anyone anything.


    Of course, he still had to take necessary precautions. At least, he had to guard against the possibility that this Grand Supreme Immortal could suddenly turn on him.


    With this thought, his figure flashed as he produced an incarnation.


    This incarnation technique was an immortal ability that used a wisp of Qi to instill life and very different from a clone technique.


    The crucial part was that not only was it weak, but it acted like a puppet and could not be too far away from the main body. And if the main body died, it would perish immediately.


    The only advantage about it was that even if it died, the user would merely lose a bit of Qi, and it was often used in all kinds of dangerous situations.


    "Sure enough¡­ it can''t even use nomological laws efficiently!"


    The incarnation could not even teleport and could only fly slowly to where the Golden Soul Sect was originally located.

 1124 Evil Intentions

    "Li Hun, you''re here!"


    The Golden Mount Meru had long disappeared, but in its place was someone waiting. He was eight feet tall and seemed like a statue made of pure gold. He was dignified and solemn, and his eyes were shining.


    "Greetings, Sect Master. My humble name is Fang Yuan!"


    Since he had determined that the Abominable Lord was sealed in the Heavenly Dao, Fang Yuan naturally had no worries about using his real name.


    "So your real name is Fang Yuan. I thought you were called Situ Zhaixing!" Patriarch Golden Soul laughed heartily. "So you came to my Golden Soul Sect for the Nine Transference Undying Method? You planned this because your Illusion Realm''s nomological laws are too powerful, and you needed to refine your body to the primordial treasure level to overcome the tribulation! Also, Wu Yuan told me about Qiu Tianfeng¡­ Although you had your goal, you did not commit any evil after joining my sect. It''s pretty rare¡­"


    He might possess a rough appearance, but he was very meticulous and deduced most of the situation from merely a few clues.


    However, Patriarch Golden Soul probably did not expect that Fang Yuan had comprehended not one set of top nomological laws, but three!


    "Sect Master, you''re overpraising me¡­ I wonder why you called me here?"


    "You reached the seventh transference of the Nine Transference Undying Method in such a short time. Your talent is astounding, even beyond my imagination¡­ Why not return to the Golden Soul Sect?"


    Patriarch Golden Soul looked straight at Fang Yuan''s incarnation. "If you do, I''ll make you the sect master of the Golden Soul Sect immediately, and I''ll also take care of the troubles with Heavenly Circuit!"


    "Thank you for your kindness, Sect Master. However, I already have a legacy¡­" Fang Yuan declined after some thought.


    The Golden Soul Sect was of little use to him now.


    "Alas¡­ I thought so¡­" Patriarch Golden Soul sighed. "I knew your choice from the moment you left, but I couldn''t help trying¡­"


    "Sect Master called for me today, probably not for this matter?"


    "That''s right¡­ I do have something else that I need your strength for. This old man can make a life oath if you''re worried¡­" Patriarch Golden Soul looked at Fang Yuan''s incarnation with a faint smile.


    "Patriarch, please let me know directly. I''ll do whatever I can to help." Fang Yuan bowed hurriedly.


    Although Mental Demon Demon Gods and Netherheaven Demon Gods both counted as Demon Gods, the difference in their combat power was simply worlds apart.


    "It''s still about the Nine Heavens and Ten Earths Seal¡­ You have to help out for this array! This is also very important!"


    Fang Yuan finally understood after Patriarch Golden Soul gave him a detailed explanation.


    It was the same for the other Grand Supremes.


    Thus, Heavenly Circuit did not want the cultivators of the Wasteland World to fight with the otherworldly demons. He was afraid that the damage to their vitality would be too great, and they would not be able to exert themselves when they went to destroy the natural source of destruction.


    However, the Wasteland World was also the route of retreat for the Immortals. It would amount to nothing if they allowed the otherworldly demons to destroy it, so Patriarch Heavenly Circuit had suggested to seal them!


    Sealing a Godfiend consumed at least ninety percent less than destroying them, and most of the Immortals could accept this.


    "Only¡­ we''ve seen the Nine Heavens and Ten Earths Seal''s array diagram. In addition to expending a bit of our vitality, we also need an Immortal who has the Illusion Realm''s nomological laws at perfection to refine the void and stabilize the eye of the array¡­ I hope you can do it!"


    Patriarch Golden Soul continued solemnly, "This old man can guarantee that we won''t go into past faults after this!"


    He could obviously see through Fang Yuan''s insincere words and tried to persuade him again.


    "This¡­" Fang Yuan hesitated. He really did not want to agree.


    No matter how righteous Patriarch Golden Soul put it, he just could not believe him.


    Moreover, what would happen to his plans if he were to seal the otherworldly demons and stop the demon disaster?


    Fang Yuan did not forget the main purpose he was here for¡ªwinning the bet with the Abominable Lord and taking back everything that belonged to him and the other party.


    According to the accumulations of me and the Abominable Lord, I should be able to achieve Dao Fruit, even if it''s only a Mental Demon Dao Fruit. I would also be able to take the initiative in the following destruction of this world¡­ However, I can''t share this plan with outsiders!


    He could predict how Patriarch Golden Soul and the others would react if he were to tell them he had the opportunity to advance to Grand Primordium with the destruction of this world.


    The best outcome would be for them to not believe it. They could even directly threaten him if they wanted to obtain that opportunity.


    Or perhaps they would kill him if they realized they could not use it for themselves.


    It was not that he looked down on the bottom line of these Grand Supreme Immortals, but no one was immune to the temptation of becoming a Grand Primordium Immortal.


    Looks like¡­ I''ll have to kill the Abominable Lord and achieve Dao Fruit before the great tribulation of the universe arrives! Fang Yuan made up his mind in secret, even though he said that he would need time to consider and left.


    "How is this kid?"


    Immediately after he left, several figures emerged. It was Immortal Gui Zhuang and the other Grand Supreme Immortals.


    "He''s startlingly talented and very clever!" Patriarch Golden Soul hesitated and sighed. "I was speaking the truth just now. I really hoped that he would take over my Golden Soul Sect!"


    "He''s truly smart!" Heavenly Circuit''s voice was a little cold. They would have definitely done something if it had been Fang Yuan''s true body.


    A Grand Supreme Immortal could force a Grand Unity Immortal to bow his head just like that.


    "He''s still so slippery even during such a crisis. How irritating!" Patriarch Black Mist evaluated coldly.


    "That''s no wonder. He has the Illusion Realm''s nomological laws, and no one can do anything to him. Hehe¡­" Immortal Luan Xuan showed a smile that charmed all beings. "However, there were many Immortals in history who still fell even though they had attained perfection in the Illusion Realm''s nomological laws!"


    "However, he must go into a dead end himself¡­ Otherwise, he''d slip away even with my ability to connect with the Ghost Realm¡­" the silent Immortal Gui Zhuang said suddenly.


    "Even you can''t do anything to him?" The Grand Supreme Immortals were truly baffled now.


    Immortal Gui Zhuang''s Connate Great Dao could command the Ghost Realm. Nothing should go wrong if he were to make a move.


    "That kid is very vigilant. Moreover, he seems to have comprehended more than one set of top nomological laws¡­" Immortal Gui Zhuang had a bit of helplessness in his voice. "This kid¡­ might be an unprecedented genius!"


    "Other top nomological laws¡­" The other Grand Supreme Immortals were speechless upon hearing this.


    An Immortal with perfection in the Illusion Realm''s nomological laws was already hard to deal with. But if he had comprehended other top nomological laws, what now?


    "It seems like we can only use the second option. Luckily, we prepared for it!" Patriarch Golden Soul said. "It won''t be an issue to gather a few immortal artifacts that contain the Illusion Realm''s nomological laws from our Holy Lands¡­ But we must solve the problem of this kid!"


    They certainly could not allow Fang Yuan to remain free and at ease.


    "Perhaps¡­ that Grand Primordium Immortal can resolve this issue once he arrives!" Heavenly Circuit could not help smiling happily. "News from my clone¡­ The other great worlds have agreed to form an alliance with us. A Grand Primordium Immortal will represent them and come to our world!"


    ¡­


    "As expected¡­ Trying peaceful means before resorting to violence?" Fang Yuan sneered somewhere in the void while avoiding the detection of the Ghost Realm.


    He had negotiated with his incarnation just in case, but now it proved that he was far-sighted.


    When he left, he could clearly feel the tracing from a certain Grand Supreme Immortal, so he had destroyed the incarnation directly.


    His true body was worlds away. He naturally had a way to hide from the detection of the Ghost Realm since he had started coming into contact with the Void Great Dao.


    Not to mention, his spiritual will had even toured the Ghost Realm once, so he was very sensitive to its fluctuations.


    "Seems like it''s still best to depend on myself!" Fang Yuan took a deep breath. "I have to break through as soon as possible!"


    A Grand Primordium Immortal would come sooner or later because of the alliance. However, he was not ready to abandon this world and escape into the chaos just yet.


    Especially since there was still the Abominable Lord in the Heavenly Dao. He really could not leave it.


    "It''s absolutely impossible to fill the eye of the array. Once I enter it, I most likely won''t be in control of my life and death¡­ A Grand Supreme Immortal can make a life oath, but it doesn''t mean they can''t go against it if they''re willing to pay a certain price."


    The so-called oath was actually merely a self-restraint. Grand Supreme Immortals could suppress a world with their Connate Great Dao. At their level, ''swearing by the heavens'' was a joke!


    Furthermore, a universe-level oath would also be useless if they had the help of a Grand Primordium Immortal.


    As for the life oath, after violating it, it was mostly being unable to continue their Dao paths, and they would become susceptible to producing mental demons and so on. It was not much of a loss if they did not have much hope of reaching Grand Primordium in the first place.


    In conclusion, it was still pretty dangerous.


    "That Grand Primordium Immortal could arrive at any time. I won''t be safe in this world if he cooperates with Immortal Gui Zhuang¡­


    "Moreover, the Nine Heavens and Ten Earths Seal could activate at any time¡­ I don''t have much information about this seal, and I only know that it can greatly reduce the speed at which Chaos Godfiends erode the world¡­ I''ll be in grave danger if these Grand Supreme Immortals are free to deal with me!"


    Fang Yuan took a deep breath, and his eyes gave off a decisive light. "I have to break through to Dao Fruit given the current circumstances!"


    An ordinary Grand Unity Immortal talking about the Dao Fruit realm was simply a joke.


    The distance between Grand Supreme and Grand Primordium might only have Grand Supreme in the middle, but every step was more difficult than the last. It was definitely harder than all the other realms he had broken through to before!


    Nonetheless, it was different for Fang Yuan. He had been a Netherheaven Demon God, which was equivalent to the Grand Supreme realm, and he also had that bet. He could reach the heavens in one step as long as he destroyed the Abominable Lord!

 1125 Seal

    In order to achieve Dao Fruit, he had to eliminate the Abominable Lord!


    However, the Abominable Lord was a parasite of the world''s Heavenly Dao, and doing so would naturally be a bit tricky.


    Fang Yuan was very doubtful whether the Abominable Lord could erode the entire Heavenly Dao. It was basically impossible. In fact, the chances of him being assimilated were higher.


    As a former Netherheaven Demon God who had reached the peak, the Abominable Lord probably knew this as well. Otherwise, he would not have focused on the punishment aspect of the Heavenly Dao and arranged a deathtrap for him.


    "If the Abominable Lord had succeeded and I hadn''t survived the lightning tribulation but instead turned to ashes, he would have obtained both of our accumulations and succeeded in achieving the Otherworldly Demon Dao Fruit, gaining a dramatic increase in power. Perhaps he could have even refined this world¡­ But now, after his failure, he''s probably wrecking his brain over how to escape!"


    With his failure, he had exposed himself and became a target, making it very unbearable for him.


    With the suppression from the Heavenly Dao, his progress was bound to be far inferior to Fang Yuan''s, and he could only be a living target. Even with the Heavenly Dao protecting him, he could not guarantee that Fang Yuan would not devise some way to target him specifically.


    "The Heavenly Dao restricts as much as it protects¡­" Fang Yuan looked at the sky and smiled coldly.


    With the foundation of the Wasteland World, the Abominable Lord would have a very tough time freeing himself.


    Furthermore, there was currently a demon disaster, and the Connate Great Daos of the Chaos Godfiends was the most potent poison to this world.


    With the Heavenly Dao damaged, the parasitic Abominable Lord''s condition was not much better either.


    "But this is also his only chance!" Fang Yuan contemplated carefully and realized that this was the key to determining if the Abominable Lord could survive.


    Normally, the Abominable Lord would have to first erode the majority of the Heavenly Dao before being able to use his Chaos Godfiend power to escape its restrictions, but this was fundamentally impossible.


    The exception was when the Heavenly Dao was damaged, weakening its restrictive powers. With his accumulation and experience as a peak Netherheaven Demon God, he might be able to find a way to escape.


    However, it was hard to say how much of his strength he could retain if he used such a method to escape.


    "Maybe he would only have a strand of his True Spirit left and have to reincarnate again?" Fang Yuan sneered. "If he really chooses this way to escape, who knows how far behind me he''ll become. With the universe coming to an end soon, he might not have enough time to improve slowly!"


    "Looks like¡­ I''ll still have to cultivate the Pantheon Summoning Technique and construct the eternal Otherworldly Demon Summoning Gate!" He made up his mind. "Once I complete the gate, I could summon at least a few more Chaos Godfiends. Perhaps even a clone that contains a shred of the Primordial Chaos Holy Fiend would come! Then annihilating the Wasteland World would be a breeze!"


    The Heavenly Dao would be annihilated together with the world, and if he could not free himself before that, the Abominable Lord''s only outcome was death.


    Of course, unless absolutely essential, Fang Yuan did not want to use this last resort. After all, this method would make him become the enemy of the entire world!


    "In any case, I should first prepare the materials. I already have the million blood sacrifices for the initiation. The souls and bones of Grand Unity Immortals are easy to obtain¡­ I won''t mess with the Holy Lands for now, and I can obtain them from itinerant cultivators or demons!"


    After deciding his course of action, Fang Yuan immediately disappeared.


    ¡­


    Time flew.


    One day, in a city of the Wasteland World.


    Large amounts of otherworldly demons were killing and destroying all life, and a Primordial Godfiend was in the center of them.


    Roar Roar!


    Suddenly, something attracted the otherworldly demons, and their eyes turned blood-red. They abandoned the flesh in their hands and madly raced toward a certain place.


    The attraction was so strong that even the Primordial Godfiend could not help itself as it transformed into light to track down the source.


    If you looked from above, you would see countless otherworldly demons across the continent becoming attracted and rushing to somewhere in the Central Region.


    In the blink of an eye, millions of demons appeared, filling the area completely.


    "Seal!"


    Buzz buzz!


    Suddenly, a black heavenly canopy rose from the ground, completely isolating this area from the world.


    Countless Primordial Godfiends and otherworldly demons were roaring inside.


    "This Demon Attraction Technique is quite something to behold!" Immortal Gui Zhuang exclaimed while looking at Heavenly Circuit.


    "It also required all of your efforts¡­ Otherwise, how could the sentient Primordial Godfiends have been captured so easily?" Patriarch Heavenly Circuit was very modest.


    "This technique is really good. Although using the power of the Ghost Realm gave it an extra boost, it can attract all ordinary otherworldly demons to the same spot under normal circumstances as well. Without them as minions, Primordial Godfiends are only slightly more powerful demons that we can eradicate easily!" Patriarch Golden Soul highly praised this technique that came from another world.


    "It''s nothing. Are the other preparations ready?" Patriarch Heavenly Circuit did not dare to let his guard down. "With so many otherworldly demons captured, the big ones won''t just sit back and watch!"


    Roar Roar!


    Ow Ow!


    ¡­


    As soon as he finished speaking, eight dominating auras suddenly closed in.


    "The eight Chaos Godfiends?!" Immortal Luan Xuan''s expression changed. "Patriarch Heavenly Circuit!"


    These eight Chaos Godfiend were clearly attracted here by the aura or illusions. They must have detected the anomaly and joined forces in response, and they appeared very cautious.


    In fact, their decision could not be counted as a mistake. Previously, in this world, nothing could threaten the joint force of eight Chaos Godfiends.


    However, they had forgotten that Immortals would also become stronger, particularly those that had obtained powerful inheritances from the chaos!


    "Ha! Nine Heavens and Ten Earths Seal!" Patriarch Heavenly Circuit shouted.


    Around him, a hundred looming figures emerged, each with cultivation at least at Grand Unity.


    At the same time, the illusion of a few array flags appeared behind him. Lights flashed, and the void vibrated. With a glance, you could tell that they were rare treasures of the Illusion Realm''s nomological laws.


    They immediately affected the entire world''s void.


    "Nine Heavens and Ten Earths Seal was originally a terrifying array used to refine worlds¡­ Of course, with only a few immortal artifacts as the array eye, it can only refine the void in most areas. However, it''s enough!"


    Heavenly Circuit shouted, "All Immortals, heed my call. Give it your all and seal!"


    Roar Roar!


    He pointed at the sky, and an auspicious aura descended, turning into six big bright stars with a few hundred smaller stars following them. They melded into the void, and a tremendous force suddenly appeared, forcing the eight Chaos Godfiends into the area that sealed the otherworldly demons.


    "Humans!"


    The Chaos Godfiends growled again and again, furious at eating a loss due to carelessness. As they growled, destructive Great Daos spread to the surroundings.


    Rocks, soil, and even normal otherworldly demons turned to ash under the might of the Connate Great Daos.


    Kaboom!


    The jet-black ripples finally ran into the barrier, and the entire world shook.


    The six big stars dimmed temporarily, and a dozen or so of the small stars instantly died out.


    These were Grand Unity Immortals who could not withstand the impact of the aftershocks of the Connate Destruction Great Daos. They immediately died, turning into dust.


    "Heaven and earth aid us, together we will succeed!" Patriarch Heavenly Circuit shouted once again.


    Crack!


    Dark clouds churned, and bolts of lightning burst into the world, forming a forbidden zone around the area that contained the otherworldly demons.


    Heaven and earth sensed what was happening and greatly enhanced the array.


    "Strike!" Seeing this, Patriarch Golden Soul and other Grand Supreme Immortals bit their tongues and expended a bit of their vitality. Six blood pillars sprayed onto the barrier.


    "Demon power to combat demons. Nine Heavens Perilous Land, Grand Supreme Dao, Seal!"


    His words seemed to trigger the technique. Six Connate Great Daos appeared and immediately stabilized the blood-colored barrier, and six simple seal script characters appeared on the barrier.


    At the same, numerous otherworldly demons were roaring and growling within the barrier. An invisible force connected them together, forming a chain, landing on the eight Chaos Godfiends.


    Roar Roar!


    The eight Chaos Godfiends roared continuously, but they were unable to escape the seal. Eventually, they turned into statues and sunk into the ground.


    "Phew¡­ Success!" Patriarch Heavenly Circuit heaved a deep breath. "This seal can last at least a hundred years!"


    This was the most optimal choice they could have made. Otherwise, if they had fought with the eight Chaos Godfiends, they would have suffered heavy losses even if they succeeded. Then, they could forget about assisting the subsequent battle against the natural source of destruction.


    "We have to thank Patriarch Golden Soul for being so decisive. A third of the Central Region''s land, as well as the original Chaos Godfiend captive, he gave them up without hesitation!" Yuan Potian looked at Patriarch Golden Soul with admiration.


    "The demon disaster has already made the Central Region a living hell, so it wasn''t a tough decision!"


    Patriarch Golden Soul appeared dazed, as though he was seeing the complete sealed off area that stood in the Central Region like a giant inkblot.


    "It''s a pity that they aren''t gone for good!"


    "If the six of us refined them at the cost of our vitality, it would be possible to completely eradicate these Chaos Godfiends after a million years. However, if the universe were destroyed, even if we protected the world, what would be the use? As for asking a Grand Primordium to lend a hand. Haha¡­ These aloof existences are not from this world. The cost to ask for help might not be that much less than what we just paid." Patriarch Heavenly Circuit shook his head.


    A trace of worry appeared on his face. "It''s just I didn''t imagine that¡­ even after setting up the Nine Heavens and Ten Earths Seal Array, we couldn''t find traces of Fang Yuan. Could he have already left this world for the chaos?"


    "Impossible!" Patriarch Black Mist refuted immediately. "Whenever a Grand Unity Immortal leaves this world, we would detect the fluctuations. Moreover, their speed in the chaos is definitely slower than ours. Otherwise, why didn''t these Grand Unity Immortals escape?"


    Although Grand Unity Immortals could barely manage to move in the chaos, they certainly could not do so as well as Grand Supreme Immortals.


    In particular, those that wanted to avoid the war and escape into the chaos would surely be chased down and killed. Immortals would not choose this option if they could help it.


    "Speaking of which¡­" Immortal Luan Xuan was suddenly alarmed. "There seems to be fewer Grand Unity Immortals here than during that gathering in the Ghost Realm. They haven''t left this world either. Could all of them have died?"

 1126 Destruction

    "Have they started? That''s quick!" In a hidden void, Fang Yuan stared at a giant gate in front of him.


    He had naturally sensed it when the Grand Supreme Immortals activated the Nine Heavens and Ten Earths Seal. After all, this array refined the world''s void and was closely related to the Illusion Realm''s nomological laws.


    He had even seen a few top arrays similar to it when he was still in Da Qian, but this one was far more complex.


    "However, no matter how much arrays differ, all of them can be traced to the same origin. Still, the speed at which it managed to seal that large number of otherworldly demons and the Chaos Godfiends exceeded my expectations. The effectiveness of Patriarch Heavenly Circuit''s array is way too good. Are the methods that the other worlds use to deal with otherworldly demons this mature already?"


    Fang Yuan had to admit that the defeat of all eight Chaos Godfiends was quite a blow to him.


    After all, since he wished to destroy the Heavenly Dao, the more Chaos Godfiends there were, the better.


    "Although I was already quite fast, I still couldn''t compare to the joint forces of so many Grand Supreme Immortals!" Fang Yuan looked at the giant gate in front of him.


    This gate towered hundreds of meters and was extremely impressive. A layer of blood-red flames enveloped its entire surface. Most importantly, it was not constructed out of precious metals or gemstones, but instead out of bones!


    "If I could have just been slightly faster, I wouldn''t have to take risks. What a pity!" He grinned. Suddenly, the powerful Illusion Realm''s nomological laws enveloped the otherworldly demon gate.


    "With blood as sacrifice, I summon the otherworldly demons from the natural source of destruction above the supreme heavens¡­" Fang Yuan chanted loudly. A small gap appeared on the bone gate, and horrifying otherworldly demon auras seeped out from it.


    Buzz buzz!


    White light flashed.


    He and the Otherworldly Demon Summoning Gate teleported to the sky above the sealed lands of the Central Region.


    The Grand Supreme Immortals had just finished sealing the eight Chaos Godfiends. Immortal Luan Xuan sensed something that made her cautious, and she saw the giant bone gate astonishingly appear above the seal.


    Roar Roar!


    Two demon claws covered in bone armor suddenly pushed against the frame of the gate, and the head of a Chaos Godfiend popped out. Roar Roar!


    A mysterious black beam brimming with the power of destruction landed directly on the seal, and the six seal script characters started flashing.


    "Not good!" Patriarch Heavenly Circuit was shocked. "The seal¡­"


    The Nine Heavens and Ten Earths Seal only targeted the Godfiends contained within it. Its resistance against external attacks was not much to speak of.


    One strike from a Chaos Godfiend was enough to send ripples across its surface.


    "Demon heads!!!"


    Although all six Grand Supreme Immortals had slight damage to their vitality, they could not care about it at this time. With a flicker, they reached the white bone gate.


    "Fang Yuan! You actually dared to do such a thing! From this moment on, you are the archenemy of the entire Wasteland World!" Patriarch Golden Soul roared furiously.


    Regretfully, what kind of existence was Fang Yuan? Right after moving the white bone gate here, he had entered the void, vanishing without a trace.


    Pfft!


    The next instant, like an eye of a storm that had been accumulating energy, the white bone gate vibrated violently and ''vomited'' out a Chaos Godfiend.


    It had three heads and six arms. Each face respectively had joy, rage, and fear. And each of the dark-green arms was covered with runes and wielding a different magic artifact.


    The surroundings seemed to hum faintly with heavenly sounds after this Chaos Godfiend appeared.


    The sound seemed to come from the Nether and carried the scent of the end of the world. Within the surrounding hundreds of kilometers, the Grand Unity Immortals began rotting, and wrinkles started to appear on their foreheads, showing the five signs of decay.


    "A Lord of Destruction!"


    The three-headed Chaos Godfiend roared, and its six arms simultaneously smashed down with their magic artifacts.


    Bang Bang!


    The air vibrated, and two figures were sent flying. They were Patriarch Golden Soul and Yuan Potian!


    "What a powerful Chaos Godfiend!"


    They were knocked fifty kilometers away before barely managing to come to a stop. They immediately sent a voice transmission. "Be careful! This Chaos Godfiend is strange!"


    There were weak and strong Chaos Godfiends.


    The weaker ones largely only had the Connate Destruction Great Dao. However, their horrifying bodies still gave them a clear edge over Grand Supreme Immortals.


    However, those that mastered a few Connate Great Daos were terrifying, and they could even exchange a couple blows with Grand Primordium Immortals.


    Naturally, these kinds of Chaos Godfiends were rare. The nine earlier were all normal.


    "That Fang Yuan!" Immortal Luan Xuan almost crushed her teeth. "Truly¡­ outrageous!"


    Fang Yuan''s actions had completely surpassed all of the Immortals'' expectations.


    They simply could not imagine how the destruction of the world would benefit Fang Yuan.


    Roar Roar!


    "Hehe!"


    The next instant, numerous black dots poured out from the gate. Their bodies continued expanding into Primordial Godfiends with dominating auras.


    There were even a few Chaos Godfiend in the mix.


    The sky turned dark, and the many otherworldly demons fired a volley of beams of destruction.


    "So, can we perform the seal again?" Patriarch Black Mist was entirely shrouded in a black mist. He and Immortal Gui Zhuang both looked at Patriarch Heavenly Circuit.


    "Do you think it''s easy to arrange such a big array?" Patriarch Heavenly Circuit said in exasperation. "We consumed a large amount of our accumulated resources to prepare this seal. The most important part is the power of the world! It''s absolutely impossible to use it again within a short time! Damn it¡­"


    As they looked on resignedly, the three-headed Godfiend attacked once again. Its six arms loomed over heaven and earth as they ruthlessly smashed onto the seal.


    Rumble!


    Crack!


    The six seal script characters instantly shattered and dissipated.


    At the same time, the ground that sealed the demons cracked, and eight terrifying demon howls resounded.


    The Chaos Godfiends'' power of destruction converged together and set off a horrifying chain reaction. The entire world fell into darkness.


    ¡­


    "It''s starting!"


    Fang Yuan stood in the void along the edges of the world and watched everything unfold in silence.


    In fact, if he had other options, he did not want to do this either.


    But since he had made up his mind, he had no hesitation in carrying out his plan.


    As a former Netherheaven Demon God and a Dream Master who crossed through many worlds, the birth and death of a world were as mundane as the rising and setting of the sun.


    He seemed to hear the furious roars and sorrowful cries of many Immortals.


    Of course, most conspicuous was the devastation wrought by the Connate Destruction Great Daos.


    Under the combined forces of many Chaos Godfiends, a giant black beam tore a crack in the sky like a world-splitting divine ax.


    Seeing it from outside the world, you would see that the world membrane of the Wasteland World was riddled with holes, as though punctured by a black blade.


    "The Connate Destruction Great Dao is indeed the nemesis of a world¡­" Fang Yuan sighed softly, and his spiritual will dispersed.


    Perhaps the high-end combat power of this world could cope with nine Chaos Godfiends, but with the addition of the Godfiends that he had summoned, the Godfiends held an overwhelming advantage!


    Even to the extent that the Godfiends'' Destruction Great Daos had already caused irreversible damage to the world!


    Throughout the Wasteland World, hurricanes, volcano eruptions, earthquakes¡­ natural disasters became more and more severe, forming an apocalyptic scene.


    A shining light appeared from the heavens that were splitting apart. It looked like some sort of translucent crystalline material, and it began to split apart, turning into specks of light and disappearing.


    "The natural source of the Heavenly Dao¡­"


    Seeing this, Fang Yuan immediately started to pay utmost attention.


    As expected, as the Chaos Godfiends and the Grand Supreme Immortals roared, a large piece of the heavens crumbled, and a fifth of the world shattered.


    At the same time, a small portion of the crystal wall in the sky also shattered.


    A pitch-black shadow gradually emerged. It seemed to have fused with the crystal wall and was continuously losing parts of itself as the crystalline material fragmented.


    It was struggling violently.


    "Abominable Lord, as expected, you''ve appeared!" Fang Yuan''s eyes burned intensely.


    Under normal circumstances, the Abominable Lord had no chance of breaking free from the Heavenly Dao, and his only option would be to achieve the Otherworldly Demon Dao Fruit.


    However, the Heavenly Dao had shattered, and although it had also caused great damage to him, an opportunity for escape appeared as well.


    With his experience as a pinnacle Netherheaven, he would definitely seize this opportunity! Fang Yuan was absolutely sure of this!


    "Most importantly, you can''t choose to reincarnate with your True Spirit¡­"


    The Heavenly Dao''s reincarnation was limited to this world. Doing so now was tantamount to digging your own grave.


    If he had chosen to reincarnate, he would have had to survive the end of the world as an infant. Even Fang Yuan could not accomplish that!


    Therefore, the Abominable Lord only had one option left!


    Bang!


    With another explosion, large parts of the crystal wall shattered.


    The black shadow growled furiously and suddenly chose to cut off a large portion of himself to escape from the crystal wall.


    After escaping the Heavenly Dao, this broken shadow quickly agglomerated to form a tangible human figure.


    His entire body, including his skin, was pitch black, and only his eyes had a hint of life.


    As soon as he appeared, his aura rose tremendously.


    From mortal to cultivator, then to Golden Core, Nascent Soul, and finally Immortal!


    Unfortunately, his aura abruptly stopped rising.


    Without saying a word, the dark shadow directly flew toward the battlefield of the Grand Supreme Immortals and Chaos Godfiends.


    "Abominable Lord, you''ve only recovered this much? What a disappointment!"


    The next instant, Fang Yuan teleported, blocked his path, and completely solidified the surrounding air. "Still want to win and seek a way out? Dream on!"


    As he used his spiritual will to intimidate, he struck with his saber, not giving the black shadow any chance. "Nine Star Pearl! Universe Obliteration!!!"


    "I hate!!!" An intense grievance erupted from the black shadow. "If the Heavenly Dao hadn''t limited me, how could my accomplishments be lower than yours?"


    Unfortunately, as soon as he sent out his spiritual will, he was struck by the Blade of Universe Obliteration!


    Under one strike, all chances at life were severed!


    "Blood Refine!"


    Blood flames emerged from Fang Yuan, cutting off any chances for the Abominable Lord.


    Whoo! Whoo!


    The flames refined the black Qi that appeared, not leaving a single trace.


    As the last of the black Qi turned into nothingness, a mysterious change occurred!

 1127 Dao Frui

    Space and time suddenly came to a standstill.


    In front of Fang Yuan, a blood-colored scale seemed to appear.


    It spanned across the void and crossed through worlds. It shone with unparalleled brilliance and carried the binds of the supreme contract.


    "This is the accumulation of the Abominable Lord and me. Together, they form the binding power of the contract¡­ It''s surely at the Dao Fruit level!"


    Fang Yuan only had one look before he felt intense feedback.


    As the Abominable Lord perished, one end of the blood-colored scale suddenly began rising.


    On the other hand, the end that represented Fang Yuan lowered swiftly and continuously absorbed strands of blood-colored power with the tilting of the scale.


    "Ah!" Fang Yuan suddenly grunted, feeling pain that was enough to tear his soul apart.


    However, what came immediately afterward was a fulfilling and rich sense of power.


    "My Netherheaven-level Creation Great Dao has returned!" He clenched his fist. "Along with my abilities, strength, and the most important¡­ stats window!"


    Facts had proven that even if he lost this cheat, he could still rise to prominence in a completely strange world through his own efforts.


    However, the boost that the stats window gave him was absolutely not something that he could ignore.


    In an instant, he broke through the bottleneck that countless Grand Unities could not all their lives and advanced to the Grand Supreme realm.


    He even reached peak Grand Supreme in an instant.


    If other Immortals were to witness this, their eyes would definitely pop out.


    However, the changes of the scale did not stop.


    "In the beginning, I bet my own Dao path and everything else as the wager for everything that belonged to the Abominable Lord¡­ Now¡­"


    Fang Yuan spread his hands and looked at the blood-red scale tip toward his end. One Great Dao after another submerged into his body.


    Seven Emotions Great Dao, Six Desires Great Dao, Void Great Dao¡­ and of course, the most important Dream Master Dao path!


    The lifetime accumulations of the Abominable Lord was naturally extremely terrifying. Most importantly, the incomplete Dream Master Dao path and the piece of the Dao of Dream Master that Fang Yuan mastered fused together and immediately broke through its shackles, undergoing an astonishing qualitative transformation.


    "Previously, although the Abominable Lord had deprived all of Da Qian''s Dream Masters of their Dao paths, my stats window had managed to preserve a portion of it. With that portion as the foundation, I developed the Creation Great Dao. From then on, we began the fight over the Great Dao. Only through completely devouring the other would one of us be able to advance to the supreme Dao Fruit realm!"


    Each Dao path stretched out before shrinking again, seemingly returning to their source, returning to the origin ''point''!


    ¡­


    Wasteland World.


    Almost all the Grand Supreme Immortals and Chaos Godfiends stopped their movements and stared blankly at the sky.


    The destruction of the world had stopped some time ago. From its cracks, resplendent lights suddenly appeared in the damaged chaos of the universe. A plethora of Great Daos emerged, and they converged like rivers into the sea.


    However, they were flowing in a strange reverse direction.


    Patriarch Heavenly Circuit rubbed his eyes and said in disbelief, "Chaos Tide, myriad Daos return to one?! This is the sign of advancing to Grand Primordium! Who is it?"


    Grand Primordium Immortals represented the ''origin'' of all things. Their powers were unfathomable.


    Even the slightest bit of their auras made Chaos Godfiends shiver uncontrollably!


    "Too powerful¡­ Judging by the condition, this advancement isn''t encountering any bottlenecks or slowdowns at all. It must be a peak Grand Supreme Immortal that has a rich accumulation!"


    Golden Soul, Gui Zhuang, and the other Immortals looked on with envy and some doubts.


    After all, they knew all of the Grand Supreme Immortals in the world, and there was no one they could think of that could achieve this.


    "Like a dream, myriad creations¡­" Immortal Luan Xuan mumbled. "When someone becomes a Grand Primordium Immortal, their Great Dao is completely revealed and extremely beneficial to Grand Supreme Immortals¡­ Unfortunately, they have already occupied this Dao path, and we can''t use it to break through to Grand Primordium! "


    Each Dao Fruit was unique. Once taken, no second person could break through to achieve the same Dao Fruit.


    One could say that each Grand Primordium Immortal was a legend of the chaotic universes, an existence that was irreplicable.


    Kaboom!


    With a chaotic howl, the dream-like Great Dao completely condensed into a Primordial Chaos Dao Fruit that had a spherical top half and cubic bottom half. It constantly changed without a fixed form, yet it was brimming with indescribable majesty and power.


    This was a convergence of Great Daos into one, a Primordial Dao Fruit!


    A trace of information was released, and the entire universe instantly understood what this Dao Fruit represented.


    "Dream Dao Fruit?!"


    Many Grand Supreme Immortals were shaken, and some were disappointed.


    The appearance of another Grand Primordium Immortal signified that the Dream Dao path was thoroughly blocked!


    As soon as the Dream Dao Fruit appeared, it continuously devoured Chaos Qi. The chaos around the world emptied in an instant.


    Immediately afterward, the Dao Fruit condensed and transformed into a person. It was Fang Yuan, who had returned to his original appearance!


    "It''s him?" Immortals did not recognize each other by their appearances. The familiar aura of Fang Yuan''s True Spirit instantly shocked Heavenly Circuit, Golden Soul, and the other Grand Supreme Immortals.


    "Isn''t he merely at Grand Unity? How did he suddenly cross Grand Supreme and advance to Grand Primordium?" Immortal Luan Xuan''s eyes were wide open with incomprehension.


    "Mental Demon Dao Fruit, Grand Primordium realm?" Fang Yuan murmured. He suddenly waved his sleeve.


    Whoosh!


    The illusory Dream Dao Fruit appeared and entered the Wasteland World.


    Rumble!


    Heaven and earth shook, and the half-shattered Heavenly Dao completely retreated in defeat. The misty image of the Dream Dao Fruit appeared in the sky of the entire world.


    With a single thought, Fang Yuan completely took control of the shattered Wasteland World. This was the might of Dao Fruit!


    "Even a peak Netherheaven Demon God could only invade a portion of a world and become the creator inside that region¡­ However, at the Dao Fruit realm, you actually replace Heavenly Dao with your own Dao Fruit. This makes refining a world nothing special, for the entire world would be my personal territory!"


    Fang Yuan seemed to comprehend something and pressed down with a palm.


    Kaboom!


    In an instant, everyone in the world could see that the sky seemed to turn into an illusory hand. The five-finger mountain landed directly on the Chaos Godfiends!


    Roar Roar!


    Ow Ow!


    The three-headed Chaos Godfiend leading the pack growled. It spewed out the power of destruction from all three of its faces, and all six arms struck at the sky.


    Bang!


    The attacks landed on the large hand and vanished just like an illusion. The large hand descended unhindered and grabbed the Chaos Godfiend.


    The next instant, it evaporated without a trace.


    Even the joint force of a few Grand Supreme Immortals could not defeat this peak Chaos Godfiend, yet it was defeated just like that.


    The other Chaos Godfiends suffered similar fates as well.


    After wiping out all the otherworldly demons with a single move, Fang Yuan looked at the tattered world and made another move. "World¡­ recover!"


    The heavenly canopy resealed, the earth returned to peace, and the volcanos became dormant again¡­ The Creation Great Dao emerged and created things out of thin air as it repaired everything that was damaged.


    The apocalyptic scene just a moment ago returned to a peaceful and serene scene in an instant.


    Everything and anything was like a dream. This was the power of the Dao Fruit!


    "Destroying the world earlier was a desperate measure. Since I can save it without much trouble, then I''ll save it!"


    Fang Yuan could sense that doing this had not really cost him much.


    With a wave of his hand, he could change the fate of an entire world.


    Immediately, he refined many Godfiends and benefited slightly.


    "My Dao Fruit is a Mental Demon Dao Fruit composed purely of Mental Demon Great Daos¡­ If it were just Mental Demon Great Daos, they would be unusable across universes. But at the Dao Fruit realm, all of space-time exists eternally unrestrained, without the slightest bit of suppression, so there''s no such problem!"


    Fang Yuan carefully scrutinized his Dao Fruit.


    It was the pinnacle of his Dao path, the source of everything.


    Of course, its core was still the Dream Master Dao path. The layer outside the core was composed of the Great Daos that he and the Abominable Lord had obtained across many worlds.


    As for the outermost layer, it was the Great Daos that he had obtained from this world.


    "Although I have achieved Dao Fruit, this isn''t the end¡­"


    He could feel that his Dao Fruit had not reached complete perfection. There were some Dao paths that he had not thoroughly succeeded in.


    "Not to mention, different universes have different Great Dao powers. Although a Dao Fruit is unique, the branches are different¡­"


    The Abominable Lord had mastered the Void Great Dao as well. However, Fang Yuan found that his original Illusion Realm''s nomological laws were more effective in this universe.


    Of course, if he used his Dream Dao Fruit directly to move things along, there would be no problems at all.


    "Everything in the Mental Demon Universe has been fused into the Dream Dao Fruit. However, this universe''s Saber Great Dao, Void Great Dao, Time Great Dao, and Undying Great Dao still have room for improvement!"


    With a thought, the Void Great Dao from the Abominable Lord appeared. After the transformation by the Dream Dao Fruit, it immediately became the Void Great Dao of this universe.


    Instantly, he fused together all his knowledge of the Void Great Dao of this universe and attained perfection.


    His Undying Great Dao had obtained the sacrificial refinement of many Chaos Godfiends and directly advanced to become the Connate Undying Great Dao!


    "Hmm, in this universe, the Connate Undying Great Dao is equivalent to the combat strength of a Netherheaven Demon God¡­ If I merge this universe''s void and time into Space-Time Great Dao, it will be comparable to a Connate Great Dao, which is equivalent to another Netherheaven Demon God, and there''s hope of it becoming the Space-Time Dao Fruit in the future¡­"


    After advancing, Fang Yuan could fully sense that the Space-Time Dao Fruit had not yet condensed. Therefore, he still had a chance of attaining it.


    "It''s just¡­ I already have possession of the Dream Dao Fruit and can''t advance to the Dao Fruit realm again. However, I can use the Dream Dao Fruit to absorb the essence of space, time, and undying¡­ These three Dao paths all have endless potential. If I hone them to the peak and fuse them together, they could very well be on the level of another Dao Fruit. By then, would my Dream Dao Fruit have the power of two ordinary Dao Fruits?"


    Vaguely, Fang Yuan seemed to have found the method to improve his Dao Fruit.


    He looked at his stats window again with joy.

 1128 Secret News

    "Name: Fang Yuan


    Profession: Dream Master


    Cultivation: Grand Primordium


    Dao Fruit: Dream Dao Fruit (Creation, Impermanence, Devour, Seven Emotions, Six Desires, Void, Time, Undying¡­)


    Technique: Undying Pangu Body, Creation Sword Array


    Specialization: Heavenly Eye Seer Spell, Dream World, Super Dimensional Traversal"


    "Cultivation is actually Grand Primordium¡­ So is it really data based on my experience? And what are these two new specializations?"


    Fang Yuan turned his attention to Dream World and immediately received a notice: "You are the master of the Dream World! You are the only one who has achieved the Dream Dao Fruit in all universes. You are able to use Dream World to replace the original world in any world! The power of your Dao Fruit will not be weakened by any universe!


    "So it''s equivalent to having a Dream World with me at all times, mixing reality and illusion?"


    Immediately after was Super Dimensional Traversal. "After advancing to Dao Fruit, your Dream Master traversing ability has improved. You can now freely target different universes to traverse to!"


    Ordinary Dao Fruit could only wander about, and finding a suitable universe was not easy. You could even spend your entire life roaming the chaos.


    This Super Dimensional Traversal ability was an enhancement of the Dream Master''s dream-traversing technique.


    "But¡­"


    Fang Yuan''s eyes filled with the blurry colors of dreams, and the stats window changed again.


    At the Dao Fruit realm, he already had enough foundation to understand and investigate the stats window.


    The stats window twisted and transformed, and it actually turned into an incomplete Dao Fruit!


    Along with this change were coordinates and a message. "Traveler far from home¡­ if you can read this, please return and help us!"


    Fang Yuan pursed his lips. "No wonder the stats window was so powerful. It was part of a Dao Fruit¡­ And these universe coordinates, is it my former homeland? And there''s a disaster there?"


    Although his homeland was in a world without demons, it might not necessarily be the case for that universe!


    Perhaps it had encountered some disaster like the otherworldly demon disaster of this universe.


    Even after the death of a Dao Fruit, the inheritance had turned into the stats window and searched across many universes for a transmigrator like him to help grow, hoping they would return to fight for them after becoming powerful enough!


    "Everything is clear now¡­" Fang Yuan sighed. So this was the truth that he was searching so hard for.


    He took a deep breath, immediately devoured the incomplete Dao Fruit, and began thoroughly refining it.


    Fang Yuan thought about it and then used the Time Great Dao in the Dao Fruit. He propelled it with the power of his own Dao Fruit and forcefully reached perfection in this universe''s Time Great Dao.


    "This universe''s Void and Time Great Daos have reached perfection. Now, it will be very easy to either fuse them into the Space-Time Great Dao or advance each of them into Connate Great Daos!"


    With joy, he descended into the world and landed in front of Patriarch Golden Soul and the other Immortals.


    "Greetings, Grand Primordium Immortal!" Patriarch Golden Soul, Gui Zhuang, Luan Xuan, Black Mist, and Yuan Potian all greeted him apprehensively.


    Only Patriarch Heavenly Circuit did not say anything and kept retreating, wanting to turn into black light to escape.


    "With me here, where could you possibly escape to?"


    Fang Yuan extended his right hand. Patriarch Heavenly Circuit, who was swiftly escaping, somehow returned to Fang Yuan''s palm and became the size of an ant.


    This ridiculous scene made even Patriarch Golden Soul''s eyes pop out.


    "You harbored ill intentions and wanted to kill me¡­ Take my saber!"


    Fang Yuan did not waste time and directly declared his crimes. Saber light fell.


    The Blade of Universe Obliteration appeared. Although it was only a strand of Saber Qi, its power was unimaginably terrifying with two Great Daos supporting it, and it instantly severed Patriarch Heavenly Circuit in two.


    Not only that, but the surrounding void shifted, and a light curtain emerged. Inside it was another Patriarch Heavenly Circuit, only slightly younger.


    This was Patriarch Heavenly Circuit''s clone, who had been discussing alliance matters in the outside world.


    His face was now full of extreme fear.


    Poof!


    In front of him, the void shattered, and Saber Qi appeared to end his life.


    One strike each ended both the main body and clone, leaving no possibility of survival!


    The Blade of Universe Obliteration had had the power of space-time since the beginning!


    "This¡­ isn''t an illusion!" Immortal Luan Xuan''s face turned pale. "Patriarch Heavenly Circuit¡­ and even his clone died. Completely dead¡­"


    She remembered her former actions, and her Dao Heart quivered intensely.


    "Relax¡­ I don''t intend to kill you. Heavenly Circuit is enough!"


    Fang Yuan did not even say anything about the Heavenly Circuit Immortal Sect.


    From his perspective, it was inconsequential.


    In addition, without a Grand Supreme to rally behind, this cultivation Holy Land would undoubtedly decline sooner or later.


    "The Void Great Dao and Time Great Dao can combine to form the Space-Time Great Dao, which is the essence of the Space-Time Dao Fruit¡­ As for Connate Undying Great Dao, although it has already improved my body, there might still be room for improvement!"


    Fang Yuan looked at the five trembling Grand Supreme Immortals and sank into thought.


    His Dao Fruit was based entirely on his accumulation as a Mental Demon. In this universe, he only counted as a newly-advanced Dao Fruit, and his foundation was still very weak compared to other Grand Primordium Immortals.


    However, this was no longer the case with the addition of his accumulation in this world.


    If he could merge the Connate Undying Great Dao, Time Great Dao, and Void Great Dao, it would not be inferior to a normal Dao Fruit. If he added the stats window that he had refined on top of that, it would give Fang Yuan the advantage when he faced most Grand Primordium Immortals.


    "Coming!"


    He suddenly sensed something and looked beyond the world.


    A gray-robed Immortal had appeared and was looking at him silently.


    "Grand Primordium Immortal?!" Fang Yuan''s eyebrows twitched, and he approached him. "Who are you?"


    "A new Dao Fruit?" The gray-robed Immortal looked slightly surprised. As he moved forward, traces of gray lightning automatically refined the surrounding void, instantly spreading millions of kilometers.


    After reaching the Wasteland World, he was stopped by a layer of hazy energy and could not press forward in the slightest.


    "Impossible!" The gray-robed Immortal appeared surprised. "Such power, and it can block my lightning. Isn''t this close to the power of two Dao Fruits? Why does a newly-advanced Grand Primordium have this much power?"


    He had sensed Fang Yuan''s aura and was eager to test his power, so he had probed.


    However, he had not imagined that he would be weaker!


    Fang Yuan smiled and asked again, "May I know who you are?"


    "I am Lei Jin!" The gray-robed Patriarch Lei Jin remained in the chaos, not daring to enter the Wasteland World that was under Fang Yuan''s control. "I''ve come representing the other worlds to form an alliance. Unexpectedly, I encountered Fellow Daoist''s advancement. It''s truly a delight!"


    "My name is Fang Yuan. Greetings, Fellow Daoist!" Fang Yuan smiled. He knew that his name as the Dao Ancestor of Dreams would spread in the many worlds of this universe from this day onward.


    "Since Fellow Daoist is the master of this world, what is your view regarding our alliance to join forces against the Primordial Chaos Holy Fiend?" Patriarch Lei Jin asked the question he was most concerned about right away. He did not even bother paying attention to Golden Soul and the rest.


    After all, to Grand Primordium Immortals, only existences at the same level were worth conversing with. The likes of Grand Supreme and Grand Unity were all juniors. If they showed any disobedience, they could be eliminated with ease.


    Seeming to have sensed this contempt, the other Grand Supreme Immortals all lowered their heads respectfully, except for Patriarch Golden Soul, who clenched his fist discreetly. They had no objections about becoming Fang Yuan''s subordinates and had seemingly forgotten about trying to kill him earlier.


    This was the helplessness of reality.


    In fact, their joy currently outweighed their apprehension.


    In any case, with a Grand Primordium Immortal acting as their backbone, they no longer needed to fear being directly treated as cannon fodder when facing the Primordial Chaos Holy Fiend.


    "Attacking the Primordial Chaos Holy Fiend?"


    Fang Yuan was hesitant. With a wave of his hand, a blurry Illusion Realm separated the other Immortals.


    "Patriarch¡­"


    It was Patriarch Golden Soul and the other''s turn to fret now.


    If the universe were destroyed, Grand Primordium Immortals could still try to endure or simply leave. However, the Grand Supreme Immortals would definitely die.


    One group had ample wiggle room, and the other had no way out. No wonder they were so anxious.


    After finishing his arrangement, Fang Yuan looked at him with a contemplative smile. "Fellow Daoist Lei Jin, why do you have to attack the Primordial Chaos Holy Fiend? Do you mind telling me the reason?"


    As previously mentioned, it was understandable for Grand Unity and Grand Supreme Immortals to risk their lives when forced into a corner. However, he was slightly puzzled about why Grand Primordium Immortals would be so active when they had means of escape.


    Although there were surely some ''saints'' that did not want their worlds, relatives, and disciples to perish completely, they might not have been able to gather such a big force.


    "If a Grand Supreme had asked me, I wouldn''t utter a single word. However, since Fellow Daoist is asking, I will tell you everything!" Patriarch Lei Jin said. "If we Grand Primordium Immortals endure the destruction of the universe and survive until the source universe reactivates, there would naturally be great benefits¡­ We are attacking the Primordial Chaos Holy Fiend for the same reason!"


    "The destruction of the universe and the rebirth of the source universe?" Fang Yuan listened full of interest.


    "Worlds have a lifespan of fifty thousand eras. How long is the lifespan of a universe? Five trillion?" Patriarch Lei Jin had hopelessness in his voice. "We Grand Primordium Immortals have endless lifespans. If we are able to endure the destruction and rebirth of a universe, then our cultivations would greatly improve. It is equivalent to adding the power of another Dao Fruit! Of course, those who escape wouldn''t be able to enjoy this¡­ However, new Grand Primordium Immortals have a fifty percent chance of dying when the universe is destroyed. The choice is up to us!"


    "There''s actually such a benefit to surviving the destruction of a universe?!" Fang Yuan nodded.

 1129 Tribulation

    "The Primordial Chaos Holy Fiend is the true body of the natural source of destruction. If we can eliminate it, we will certainly receive the blessing of the universe, greatly improving our cultivation, and push back the destruction of this universe immensely¡­" Patriarch Lei Jin continued explaining.


    The benefits would double with this exchange, so it was no surprise that some Grand Primordium Immortals were tempted.


    However, Fang Yuan knew that only some of the patriarchs were the risk-taking type. The remaining ones were those that did not want their worlds, disciples, and relatives to perish.


    "How could I refuse such an attractive proposal?" Fang Yuan gave an affirmative reply thinking about it.


    He had to do so. Otherwise, he would be besieged by other Grand Primordium Immortals and forced to leave this universe.


    Speaking of which, even if he left now, he had already earned a fortune with the completion of his Dream Dao Fruit. However, Fang Yuan was still very interested in the Primordial Chaos Holy Fiend and wanted to stay to see how things would unfold.


    Only Grand Primordiums were qualified and had the confidence to do so. The likes of Grand Supremes could only struggle to survive.


    "May I know how many other Fellow Daoists are involved and who the leader is?" Fang Yuan actually wanted to ask about the detailed combat information of each Grand Primordium Immortal. However, Patriarch Lei Jin would obviously not tell him such information even if he knew.


    "With you, there are five! There is no leader!" Patriarch Lei Jin answered frankly.


    From this point, Fang Yuan knew that these Grand Primordium Immortals should have similar strengths.


    If someone had been clearly more powerful than the rest, they would have naturally become the leader.


    With that thought, he agreed to the alliance. "It''s settled then!"


    To Grand Primordium Immortals, having the universe''s Heavenly Dao be a witness was useless. Their word was enough.


    As for credibility issues? When the time came, all the Grand Primordium involved would be present, and they would naturally monitor each other.


    Even if someone did not show up, they would not be able to sabotage the others, or rather, could not be bothered to sabotage.


    After understanding this, Fang Yuan had to admit that the outlook of Grand Primordium Immortals was on a totally different level compared to that of Grand Supreme Immortals.


    ¡­


    The day of the expedition soon arrived.


    Fang Yuan led a force of Golden Soul and the other four Grand Supreme Immortals, as well as a few hundred Grand Unity Immortals. He opened the world and arrived at a certain location in the chaos.


    The chaos turbulence in the surroundings had already been emptied, replaced by a few majestic and imposing war machines. There were four forces.


    Another team gathered inside a large array. The array was extremely agile and had formed a chaos giant.


    The third rode on a chaos fierce beast named Mie Qi. Its body was like a giant island with four legs, the head of a dragon, the tail of a phoenix, and eight muscular arms protruding from its back.


    The last force was similar to Fang Yuan''s. They were not controlling any war machines in the chaos, but had great numbers, feeling somewhat like a ragtag army.


    "Of the four forces, only two have a Grand Primordium Immortal. Are the remaining two itinerant cultivators like me?"


    While Fang Yuan was thinking, he sensed Patriarch Lei Jin calling him and immediately went forward.


    Above the five forces, a few Grand Primordium emerged. Each of them had a boundless, dignified aura, containing mysticalness that was hard to describe.


    "Lei Jin, Tong Ming, Tian Hai, Xuan Qing¡­"


    The aura of four Dao Fruits seeped out with their respective information, and Fang Yuan immediately understood everything.


    At the same time, the misty Dream Dao Fruit also emerged from his body, letting the four Grand Primordium Immortals also know him. "Dream Dao Fruit, Grand Primordium Immortal Fang Yuan, welcome!" Grand Primordium Immortal Xuan Qing was the first to speak.


    He looked no different from an ordinary person. He wore a robe, looked thin and scholarly, and had three green scales that looked like petals on his forehead. Fang Yuan did not know what his race was.


    Tian Hai was a monster composed of countless bones, and gold flames burned in his hollow pupils.


    Tong Ming was a phantom. His body was hidden in a black mist and had the atmosphere of an unparalleled fierce beast. Even Fang Yuan could only vaguely see a pair of huge eyes full of ferocity.


    Comparatively, Patriarch Lei Jin, whom he had communicated with, was relatively normal.


    Those who had their own forces were naturally Patriarchs Lei Jin and Xuan Qing. As for the force that controlled the fierce beast ''Mie Qi'', it was a very united group of great world forces. Although they were not a match for Dao Fruit, they could do as they pleased among Grand Supreme Immortals.


    "All right, everyone has gathered. Is anyone sure of the location of the Primordial Chaos Holy Fiend?"


    Although he had the Pantheon Summoning Technique in his hands and could directly locate it, Fang Yuan was not planning to tell them.


    "It''s in the depths of chaos! Tong Ming has already determined its location!" Grand Primordium Immortal Xuan Qing said calmly. "Although most of the Chaos Godfiends have left, some still remain. The Grand Supreme and Grand Unity Immortals below might be able to clear a path! I happen to have an array here that they can operate!"


    The other Grand Primordium Patriarchs had no objections, and even Fang Yuan did not care much about the lives and deaths of a bunch of subordinates.


    In fact, if any one of the Grand Primordium Immortals were to do it, it would not even expend much of their Qi to clear the path.


    However, the lofty Grand Primordium Immortals had to be stingy about the tiniest bit of Qi. After all, they were going to face the most terrifying Primordial Chaos Holy Fiend afterward, and they could not allow their strength to weaken even slightly.


    From the looks of it, Patriarch Lei Jin and Patriarch Xuan Qing are the ones who don''t want the universe to be destroyed? While Tong Ming and Tian Hai want to kill the Primordial Chaos Holy Fiend and reap the rewards¡­


    Although he did not know how to further his progress at the Dao Fruit realm, Fang Yuan had some general speculations.


    At the very least, it would not be wrong to increase the power of his Dao Fruit.


    "Set off!"


    A moment later, under Patriarch Lei Jin''s command, the chaos ship led the charge and smashed into the chaos. Endless lightning exploded from the ship, refining the void.


    The array giant and fierce beast Mie Qi followed after.


    As for the remaining ragtag army, Grand Supreme Immortals acted as leaders and formed their own arrays.


    Judging by the aura, they were infinitely approaching the power of the three-headed Chaos Godfiend from earlier.


    "A universal-scale war¡­ and the fight between Dao Fruits."


    Fang Yuan swept around with his spiritual will, slightly excited.


    He had mostly remained to watch this show and wanted to familiarize himself with how Dao Fruits fought.


    As for the disaster in his homeland universe, he would naturally have to help if he had the power to do so.


    However, this had to be based on absolute strength.


    If his strength was insufficient, or if the circumstances were unclear, he would not rush back to die.


    "Fortunately, Super Dimensional Traversal isn''t simple and has to go through a transfer. I can use this opportunity to investigate things and have a short rest¡­"


    Although the Heaven Rise Dao Fruit contained the universe coordinates, it was obviously extremely far away.


    Traversing such a great distance in one go was somewhat beyond his power.


    Fang Yuan touched his forehead and thought of something else. "Since that universe is suffering a disaster, the subordinate world I lived in is also bound to face imminent catastrophe. Did that cause my transmigration?"


    This triggered another problem of scale. Originally, he was merely an ordinary person, and traversing universes back then would naturally cost very little.


    Moreover, it was not even his actual body that had crossed over, but only his True Spirit, or rather, spiritual information.


    However, for a Dao Fruit to return physically, it would naturally be much more complicated.


    You could say that if he had not advanced to Dao Fruit, he should not even think about returning even if he was still a Dream Master Netherheaven Demon God. Chance encounters would be the only possibilities.


    ¡­


    As he was contemplating, lightning danced wildly and cleaved an area of chaos. It seemed that they had arrived in the darkest part of the universe.


    The void around them wriggled, as though it had a life of its own, and devoured all surrounding light.


    "We''re here! Where the otherworldly demons are!"


    Every Immortals'' heart quivered.


    They could vaguely see large amounts of black dots crashing into the chaos ship and instantly disintegrating. These were otherworldly demons by the tens of thousands.


    As the group continued deeper into the chaos, more and more otherworldly demons converged, and Primordial Godfiends started appearing one after another.


    Eventually, with a terrifying howl, the first Chaos Godfiend appeared.


    It seemed to be a commander. With its howl, the hesitating otherworldly demon army immediately launched an attack.


    Countless black beams of destruction bombarded the chaos ship from all directions.


    Rumble!


    The movement of the ship stagnated for the first time, and it revealed a slightly battered hull.


    Behind it, the Mie Qi growled, and the giant roared. Many Grand Unity Immortals were soaked in cold sweat as they desperately struggled to maintain their arrays.


    Although there were no casualties yet, any opening in the arrays would inevitably cause disastrous losses.


    The core of the team, Grand Primordium Immortal Xuan Qing, said calmly but decisively, "We must kill the natural source of destruction, and we can''t let off these forces of destruction either!"


    This was indeed the case. However, the elimination of these underlings was bound to have many Grand Supreme and Grand Unity Immortal sacrificed.


    "Kill!"


    With this command, many Grand Supreme Immortals took the initiative to eliminate the Godfiends. The Chaos Godfiend did not even enjoy its moment for long before being surrounded and gravely injured. Finally, the Mie Qie devoured it.


    As they continued pushing forward, the resistance they faced gradually increased.


    When they reached the periphery of the core region, tens of Chaos Godfiends appeared simultaneously and attacked brutally.


    Connate Destruction Great Daos pelted down, and a few arrays immediately encountered difficulties, breaking with an explosion. All the Immortals inside, no matter if they were Grand Supreme or Grand Unity, turned into dust instantly.


    "Press on!" The Grand Primordium Immortals were indifferent to the casualties of the Immortal army.


    "In fact, this also lightens the burden on the universe. Grand Unity and Grand Supreme Immortals have occupied too many resources in their respective worlds¡­ In addition, the concept of life and death has to be balanced. Since so many otherworldly demons have been eliminated, the number of Immortals should decrease correspondingly. Is this the true intent of the tribulation?" Fang Yuan understood some things as he looked on at this scene.

 1130 Holy Fiend

    "Looking with my spiritual will through the Pantheon Summoning Technique is quite different from being here in person."


    At this time, the Immortal army had already entered the core area of the otherworldly demons. Primordial Godfiends were everywhere, and Chaos Godfiends were not uncommon.


    All kinds of confrontations did not stop for even a moment, and Grand Unity Immortals and Primordial Godfiends were dying at all times. Even Grand Supreme Immortals struggled to survive.


    For some reason, Fang Yuan felt calm as he watched on, similar to how the universe was unconscious and regarded everything as insignificant.


    "Destroy!"


    The Chaos Godfiends became stronger the nearer they got to the core.


    All of them looked strange, and they were at least at about the same level as the three-headed Chaos Godfiend with six arms, having mastered several Connate Great Daos.


    A three-headed, dog-like Chaos Godfiend dog growled. Its three mouths bit and space broke, directly destroying an array.


    "No!" At the heart of the array was Immortal Gui Zhuang. Screams rang out as the chaos three-headed dog swallowed him and dozens of Grand Unity Immortals.


    "Grand Supreme Immortal Gui Zhuang¡­" Patriarch Golden Soul sweat profusely.


    Although Gui Zhuang''s Connate Great Dao was strange, it could only showcase its unparalleled power in a world that connected to the Ghost Realm.


    It might be sharper than Great Daos in the chaos, but it paled in comparison to other Connate Great Daos, so he became the first Grand Supreme Immortal from the Wasteland World to die.


    "Gui Zhuang!!!" Immortal Luan Xuan looked on with pity and soon followed behind the footsteps of Immortal Gui Zhuang.


    Yuan Potian and Grand Supreme Black Mist shivered. Their situation was also precarious since they were close by and under the attacks of many Chaos Godfiends.


    "Die!" Patriarch Golden Soul transformed into a golden giant, and a single punch sent a Chaos Godfiend flying away. His body was also riddled with a large number of wounds.


    If his body had not already reached the sacred realm, he probably could not have survived the siege of the Chaos Godfiends.


    Suddenly, another tragedy happened.


    The chaos giant array finally shattered. After being subjected to countless attacks, it could no longer resist. As it shattered piece by piece, it revealed panicked Grand Supreme and Grand Unity Immortals.


    "Fated ordeal!" Patriarch Xuan Qing looked at this scene with pity and brought a few people away immediately.


    The remaining Immortals instantly turned into ashes in the battle with otherworldly demons.


    So this is the so-called caring for the younger generation! The corner of Fang Yuan''s eye twitched.


    Patriarch Xuan Qing was unmoved as he watched the casualties of the people that he had brought increase until practically no one was left.


    Several chaos monsters appeared. Their heads split open like flowers, and their sharp teeth gnawed at the extremities of the fierce beast Mie Qi.


    It struggled continuously, and the immortals poured their magic power into it, but finally, the Mie Qi died.


    A Chaos Godfiend attacked, and all the Immortals there were injured if not dead.


    Fang Yuan''s spiritual will spread and found that the damage to the Immortals had exceeded fifty percent.


    Undoubtedly, this nest of otherworldly demons was a tiger''s den. Most importantly, a demon disaster was currently happening, but they still had such strength even after many Chaos Godfiends had left for other worlds. They truly had the ability to annihilate the universe.


    "Now''s the time!" Patriarch Lei Jin nodded slightly. "Chaos ship, explode!"


    Rumble!


    Lightning exploded on the ship. Its entire hull swelled up as though it had absorbed all of it, and the Immortals above rushed to escape.


    The next moment, the chaos ship exploded into gray lightning. Shaped like a sharp sword, it pierced straight ahead.


    A Chaos Godfiend with its arm stretched out like a praying mantis bore the brunt of it. It turned into dust instantly, and even the Undying Great Dao was rendered useless.


    Seeing this, Fang Yuan linked it to Patriarch Lei Jin''s gray lightning.


    Obviously, this huge war magic artifact had been arranged personally by the Grand Primordium Immortal. The power of the explosion was almost not inferior to that of a Dao Fruit.


    After a long time, the lightning finally scattered.


    A wide passage had opened on the battlefield of the Immortals.


    In the passage, regardless if it was chaos turbulence or otherworldly demons, everything had turned into nothingness.


    The end of the passage was dark and gloomy, seemingly pregnant with great terror.


    "Finally arrived at the core of the domain of destruction!"


    Fang Yuan knew very well that the Primordial Chaos Holy Fiend inside was usually hibernating.


    He even suspected that it might not have ever awakened before. The occasional trace of spiritual will might have followed the Pantheon Summoning Technique and possessed a few incarnations to roam around.


    The end of the universe would commence once its true body awakened.


    "So, do we strike first? The Primordial Chaos Holy Fiend might wake up at any time."


    He looked at the other four Grand Primordium Immortals.


    "No need! We''ll attack if it really wakes up!" Immortal Xuan Qing shook his head. The five Grand Primordium Immortals floated in the chaos and stepped into the darkness.


    Buzz buzz!


    In an instant, Fang Yuan felt as though he had come to another domain.


    It was an endless stream of chaos as far as the eye could see. In the center of it all was a strange sleeping Godfiend that was exuding a holy aura!


    Right! Holy aura!


    This Primordial Chaos Holy Fiend had definitely reached the realm where things reverted to their opposites at the extreme, raising the Dao of Destruction to an incredible level.


    "My Dream Dao Fruit is giving off an alarm?" Fang Yuan seemed to tremble from pure instinct. "The combat power of this Primordial Chaos Holy Fiend is greater than two Dao Fruits!"


    "Life and destruction are interchanging¡­" Tian Hai watched quietly. "This milky white egg with the Primordial Chaos Holy Fiend sleeping within it¡­ will be the end of the universe, the end of everything¡­"


    The Primordial Chaos Holy Fiend was undoubtedly at the Dao Fruit realm. Moreover, the power it possessed was terrifying.


    Its form seemed to be quietly sending information about the Dao of Destruction and Dao of Annihilation.


    Talented Immortals might even directly comprehend the Destruction Great Dao from this information.


    On the other hand, 99.99% of mortals would die immediately. The rest would mutate into monsters that knew only destruction.


    "It¡­ seems to be waking up¡­" Immortal Tong Ming said lightly.


    At this time, the Primordial Chaos Holy Fiend still had a human shape. It was curled up like a baby, but its face was completely unlike that of a human, with its four terrible eyes.


    Due to the constant deaths and injuries of the otherworldly demons outside, it seemed to be slightly wriggling, as if it was about to wake up.


    "We have to attack together to destroy this origin of destruction!" Patriarch Lei Jin said decisively with cold murderous intent.


    "That''s right!"


    Seeing this, Fang Yuan and the rest did not hesitate to mobilize the power of their Dao Fruits.


    "Annihilation Thunder Dao Fruit!"


    "Phantom Dao Fruit!"


    "Tian Hai Dao Fruit!"


    "Xuan Qing Dao Fruit!"


    "Dream Dao Fruit!"


    Five extraordinary Dao Fruits appeared. With great force, they suppressed the chaos of the universe and smashed toward the center of the giant egg.


    This attack was beyond the universe, causing the void of the entire universe to tremble.


    The universe had yet to undergo such an extremity thus far.


    The complete prowess of the five Dao Fruits launched together, and even the Grand Primordium Immortals had to escape!


    At that moment, the Primordial Chaos Holy Fiend in the milky white egg seemed to sense danger, and its eyes sprang open!


    "Live! We have to live!" Outside, Patriarch Golden Soul''s eyes were bloodshot as he roared with anger.


    His cultivation might be profound and had even reached the peak of the Nine Transference Undying Method, making his body now sacred and comparable to that of a Chaos Godfiend.


    However, this was far from enough if he wanted to survive this dangerous battle.


    Like how Immortal Gui Zhuang and Immortal Luan Xuan had died without any warning earlier.


    He was still alive only because of luck.


    "The Grand Primordium Immortals have reached the core. Our mission is over!"


    Patriarch Golden Soul decided to retreat quickly upon seeing Fang Yuan and the rest of the Grand Primordiums make it to the core.


    The other Immortals were not fools either. They scattered as otherworldly demons chased after them.


    Just as Patriarch Golden Soul reached the edge of the core area, a horrific explosion occurred behind him.


    Even the universe seemed to be shattering under this might.


    "Have they started?"


    The thought was still lingering in his mind when Patriarch Golden Soul saw a bright wave sweeping toward him.


    "Ahh!" As he screamed, the flesh and blood from his body disappeared, leaving behind only his golden skeleton.


    Even this golden skeleton continued to disintegrate under the pressure and finally, only his skull remained.


    Fortunately, the shockwave finally passed. Flesh grew out from his skull and eventually transformed into human form.


    "What a close call¡­ I wouldn''t have survived if I were any closer!" Patriarch Golden Soul looked around after counting his lucky stars.


    Immortals and Chaos Godfiends alike had suffered disastrous casualties. He was the only Grand Supreme Immortal from the Wasteland World still alive! Yuan Potian and Black Mist had perished in that sudden blast!


    "Leave now!" He did not dare to stay and retreated at full speed.


    The aftershock from that attack had nearly killed him. How would he dare to continue fighting with this danger?


    "That Primordial Chaos Holy Fiend has awakened!"


    At the core, the five Grand Primordium Immortals looked on solemnly at the now awake fiend.


    It seemed to have flesh and blood armor with many symbols of destruction. A pair of eyes turned rapidly as it sized up the intruders.


    The aura of terror continued to expand.


    "It has strength equivalent to the joint forces of two newly-advanced Dao Fruits¡­ Is this the Primordial Chaos Holy Fiend? It seems weaker than I expected¡­"


    Fang Yuan took a closer look, and his attention was drawn immediately to two eyes that were still closed. "A total of¡­ four eyes?"

 1131 Obtaining Eyeballs

    The combined attack of the five Dao Fruits did not even cause a single dent in the Primordial Chaos Holy Fiend?


    "This body should be the strongest in the universe?" Fang Yuan could not help but sigh.


    "There''s something wrong with this demon!" Dao Ancestor Xuan Qing looked at the Primordial Chaos Holy Fiend. "Perhaps time isn''t up yet, or perhaps it''s only half awake?"


    "I want its eyes!" Dao Ancestor Tian Hai Ancient said directly.


    These Grand Primordium Immortals were not fools, and they knew immediately that the eyeballs of this Primordial Chaos Holy Fiend were extraordinary.


    "Tian Hai, you''re too greedy, wanting all of them¡­ Its eyes are wonders of this universe. They are connate treasures, and each one is equivalent to a Dao Fruit¡­" Patriarch Tong Ming objected immediately. "Moreover¡­ they would be wasted into your hands. Only I can unleash their true potential!"


    "This demon has four eyeballs. We can each get one, and the last one can get its body. How about that?" Patriarch Lei Jin suggested.


    "This demon could resist the joint attack of five Dao Fruits. Its body has absolutely surpassed that of a Chaos Godfiend and is in a class of its own, not much inferior to its eyeballs¡­"


    The four Grand Primordium Immortals faintly smiled and looked at Fang Yuan.


    "Okay¡­ I''ll give in and take its body!"


    Obviously, the four Dao Fruit Patriarchs already had a distribution plan in mind. He did not have the upper hand in the relationship, so he gave in silently.


    "All right!"


    The Dao Fruit Patriarchs quickly finished their negotiations and attacked again.


    If the attack before was testing the waters, they would go all out now that their interests were secured.


    "Dream Dao Fruit!" Fang Yuan shouted, and a long, dream-like saber appeared in his hand. Its sharpness and hardness surpassed that of a primordial treasure.


    "Blade of Universe, cut!"


    With power akin to two Dao Fruits, a magnificent saber beam emerged in the chaos of the universe and transformed into a galaxy!


    Ow!!!


    The Primordial Chaos Holy Fiend roared as a cut appeared on its chest.


    "So powerful¡­ Hehe¡­" Dao Ancestor Tian Hai laughed strangely, apparently somewhat afraid.


    Fang Yuan''s performance did not seem like a new Grand Primordium Immortal''s at all. His power even surpassed their''s, the older ones.


    Too weak! Too weak! He did not know that Fang Yuan was not very satisfied with his own performance. I''ve refined half of the Heaven Rise Dao Fruit, mastered the Connate Undying Great Dao, Void Great Dao, Time Great Dao, and have my original Dream Dao Fruit, so my power should have surpassed two Dao Fruits¡­ But the power I unleashed was less than that. It''s clearly a problem of coordination and consumption!


    Otherwise, his combat power would have surely surpassed two Dao Fruits.


    I have to fuse them as much as possible if I want to reduce my consumption¡­ If I could merge these Great Daos and transform them into the Connate Space-Time Undying Great Dao, it would definitely be equal to a Dao Fruit. I would then be able to put into play my full strength.


    The less cluttered the Dao paths were, the less the consumption. This was common sense.


    Unfortunately, there will only be one Dao Fruit in the end, and the rest will all be subordinate to it. They won''t be able to converge into a second Dao Fruit, and their consumption will only increase as time goes by¡­


    Fang Yuan could vaguely feel that the end of this road would be a dead end.


    However, there was no other choice but to continue walking it.


    ¡­


    After Fang Yuan launched the first attack in the darkness, the other Dao Ancestors would naturally not sit around and do nothing. If that really happened, Fang Yuan would certainly leave, and everyone would scatter. A chance like this would be difficult to meet a second time.


    The four patriarchs gave it their all with the power of their Dao Fruits aggregating to form a long river. Its vastness and mightiness suppressed the Primordial Chaos Holy Fiend in an instant.


    Hmm, these four Grand Primordium Immortals do have something up their sleeves since they dared to face the Primordial Chaos Holy Fiend¡­


    Fang Yuan observed secretly and gained a deeper understanding of the combat power of these Grand Primordium Immortals.


    Lei Jin has around the combat power of one-and-a-half Dao Fruits. Xuan Qing is better than him by a bit, roughly close to two Dao Fruits. Tian Hai possesses the complete combat power of two Dao Fruits. Lastly, Tong Ming seems to be on par with Xuan Qing, but he appears to be concealing something¡­


    Of course, this so-called one-and-a-half Dao Fruits and two Dao Fruits were all categorizations that Fang Yuan gave. He did not know how it was actually differentiated.


    In fact, a universe might not even have ten Grand Primordium Immortals, so there would not be any detailed division of the realms.


    And the next realm was completely invisible.


    Ow!!!


    The five Grand Primordium Immortals gave it their best, causing numerous wounds to the Primordial Chaos Holy Fiend and making it spit blood.


    Suddenly, it raised its head and opened the third eye. A strange pentagram symbol appeared in it.


    Rumble!


    The aura of the Primordial Chaos Holy Fiend suddenly rose to the power of three Dao Fruits!


    After Grand Primordium, each Dao Fruit increment was definitely more than just a simple addition.


    Power at three Dao Fruits surpassed all of the Grand Primordium Immortals. Fang Yuan seemed to see a black sun bursting violently.


    Everywhere the black sun passed through turned into nothingness.


    He retreated immediately.


    "Not good!" Patriarch Tong Ming''s voice came. "It''s about to open its fourth eye. You''ll regret it if you don''t go all out!"


    The illusory image of this patriarch disappeared and revealed his true body. He turned out to be a black dragon that was thousands of meters long, and every scale seemed to have an eye in the center.


    "What fierce beast is this?"


    Fang Yuan was a little surprised, but Patriarch Tian Hai cried out in alarm, "Million-Eyed Dragon! Tong Ming, are you trying to get yourself killed?"


    Roar Roar!


    The Million-Eyed Dragon growled and rushed toward the black sun. Many scales on his body instantly burst.


    A trace of black Qi overflowed from the ''eyes'' every time a scale burst. They turned into black cocoons and enveloped the Million-Eyed Dragon. He ripped apart the black sun and seized the body of the Primordial Chaos Holy Fiend.


    The Holy Fiend continued howling. Different patterns appeared in its three eyes as its fourth eye seemed to be opening as well.


    "Aren''t you going to attack?" Tong Ming''s voice resounded. "It''s weakness is its eyes! Not destroying them will bring destruction to our universe! The universe will certainly be destroyed once it opens its fourth eye!"


    "Go all out!" Patriarch Lei Jin yellowed and spat out a gray bolt of lightning.


    Patriarch Xuan Qing and Patriarch Tian Hai attacked, but their momentum was instead much smaller than before.


    "Are they all using their trump cards?" Fang Yuan''s eyes were profound as he slashed. "Universe Obliteration!!!"


    This was his strongest saber technique. It integrated both the Space Great Dao and Time Great Dao, and was driven by the Dream Dao Fruit. Its lethality was infinitely close to the power of two Dao Fruits!


    Poof!


    The saber beam expanded and went straight for its eyeballs. The Primordial Chaos Holy Fiend tried to resist at first, but the Million-Eyed Dragon bit its arm, exposing the eyes of the Holy Fiend to the saber beam.


    Time and space seemed to have lost their concepts.


    Everything seemed to enter a state of stillness.


    Crack! Crack!


    The next moment, many cracks crept all over the Primordial Chaos Holy Fiend''s face and spread to the surrounding void like a spider web.


    Bang!


    Space shattered, and everything returned to normal again.


    Ow Ow!


    The Primordial Chaos Holy Fiend screamed, its face full of blood.


    The attacks of the other three Grand Primordium Immortals landed on the three other eyeballs.


    Poof! Poof! Poof!


    The symbol on one of its eyeballs flickered and went out together with the gray lightning. It turned black and lost all luminosity.


    At the same time, the other two eyes became bloodshot and started to crack faintly. Suddenly, they burst out of the eye sockets.


    "These are mine! Mine!!!" Tong Ming''s Million-Eyed Dragon screamed and directly swallowed the two eyeballs.


    "Patriarch Tong Ming, what are you doing?!" Patriarchs Xuan Qing and Tian Hai asked angrily.


    "None of you understand their value at all. Only I can unleash their potential!" Patriarch Tong Ming laughed. "With these, I can leave this universe."


    "Not good!" Patriarch Lei Jin yelled. "Stop him! He''s going to exile himself!"


    "Too late!" The Million-Eyed Dragon roared happily. Countless torrents appeared around his body, and massive cosmic power repelled him.


    This was a Grand Primordium Immortal borrowing the power of the universe to enter self-exile.


    "Seems like the Million-Eyed Dragon''s goal was the Primordial Chaos Holy Fiend''s eyes! He hid his true strength and then went all out, not hesitating to harm himself to restrain the Primordial Chaos Holy Fiend and get as many eyeballs as possible!" Fang Yuan deduced.


    "Damn that Tong Ming¡­ I must kill you! Destroy you!" Patriarch Tian Hai growled.


    However, Tong Ming was originally a loner. There was probably only one Million-Eyed Dragon in this universe, and he had nothing to worry about nor miss here. If not, he would not have left just like that.


    "What are we going to do now that this has happened?" Patriarch Xuan Qing looked at the Primordial Chaos Holy Fiend, which was recovering. "We can definitely kill it if we four Grand Primordium Immortals join hands!"


    "Wait!" Patriarch Lei Jin said uneasily, "The initial plan, that the universe will survive if the Primordial Chaos Holy Fiend died, was all told to us by the Million-Eyed Dragon. What he said before he left bothers me¡­"


    "Everyone¡­" Fang Yuan looked helplessly at the Primordial Chaos Holy Fiend with its eye sockets still bleeding. "Now, it''s not about whether or not we''ll let it go, but whether or not it will let us go!"


    The next moment, the fourth eye of the Primordial Chaos Holy Fiend, which had been moving around, finally opened, and a rune flashed in the center of the pupil.


    This represented the ultimate Dao path of destruction!


    Kaboom!


    The entire universe seemed to feel it. It started to stir tides and erode all the worlds.


    Any world washed away by the currents of chaos vanished into nothingness.


    "What''s¡­ happening? Was the Million-Eyed Dragon telling the truth? Has the destruction of the world started in advance?"


    All color drained from the faces of the four Grand Primordium Immortals.

 1132 Traveling

    "Once the fourth eye of the Primordial Chaos Holy Fiend opens, it means the end of life!


    "The Primordial Chaos Holy Fiend is the convergence of the concept of death of the universe. Its demise represents the complete imbalance of life and death¡­


    "Therefore¡­ the universe has entered its destruction prematurely!"


    ¡­


    Each eye of the Primordial Chaos Holy Fiend seemed like a Dao Fruit on its own, transmitting information indefinitely.


    All the Grand Primordium Immortals obtained all the above information while looking at rune in its fourth eye. There was no doubt about it.


    "Damn¡­ Tong Ming lied to us!" Patriarchs Lei Jin and Xuan Qing roared.


    Now that the universe had started its destruction, what they did earlier held no more meaning.


    Even their inner disciples would not be able to accompany them in self-exile before reaching Grand Primordium.


    "Okay¡­ I slightly sensed it before. The so-called balance between life and death is deeply related to our Dao Fruits!"


    Fang Yuan shrugged helplessly while gazing at the Primordial Chaos Holy Fiend going berserk.


    The opening of its fourth eye represented its complete awakening, but it also meant that its life was ending. There was no doubt that it would not let these four Grand Primordium Immortals go.


    "It still has around the combat power of more than two Dao Fruits even after losing two eyes?" Fang Yuan muttered, feeling it directly from the Primordial Chaos Holy Fiend.


    The power from its last eye was indeed a little unexpected.


    "What now? Seal it?" Immortal Xuan Qing suggested while looking at the chaos waves and the many destroyed worlds.


    "The destruction is internal. Let alone it won''t cooperate with us!" Tian Hai laughed strangely. "This universe is about to be destroyed. That''s fine too. I''ve yet to experience the end of a universe!"


    "Perhaps¡­ nothing can stop it even if we seal this Primordial Chaos Holy Fiend!" Patriarch Lei Jin murmured. "We''ve all been deceived. This is incredible. I suspect that Million-Eyed Dragon used some innate skill¡­ A very special innate skill to mislead all of us!"


    "What should we do now?" Fang Yuan asked directly.


    "The balance between the concept of life and death of the universe has been completely broken¡­ What we need to do now is to kill this Primordial Chaos Holy Fiend to ensure that it doesn''t cause greater loss to this universe. And then we''ll have to self-exile¡­"


    Everyone present was a Dao Ancestor. They found a countermeasure immediately after eliminating the noise.


    "The universe will definitely be able to find a new balance if we Grand Primordium Immortals disappear, especially since so many Immortals and Godfiends have perished¡­ Everyone, let''s destroy this Godfiend together!"


    Patriarch Xuan Qing shouted, and a green Dao Fruit appeared.


    It was solid, not illusory!


    "Damn it!" Fang Yuan held his forehead after seeing Patriarch Lei Jin materialize his Dao Fruit as well. "I didn''t expect the first time I went out after reaching Dao Fruit to end in internal strife!"


    A black sun bigger than before appeared. It continued to expand and engulfed Fang Yuan and Tian Hai in the blink of an eye.


    Everything was silent in the chaos. Darkness burned out, and light shone through.


    "Where''s Fang Yuan?"


    Dao Ancesotors Xuan Qing and Lei Jin swept their gazes, their auras slightly unstable.


    "Such might!"


    Particles emerged, and Fang Yuan''s body directly condensed from the void. "It can even break the body of a Grand Primordium Immortal into pieces¡­"


    Of course, his Dream Dao Fruit laid between reality and illusion, scattered and impermanent. Moreover, he had the protection of the Connate Undying Great Dao. He had avoided most of the power of annihilation, and his aura did not seem compromised one bit.


    In comparison, Patriarch Tian Hai cut a slightly sorry figure.


    "Thank you, the power of two Dao Fruits!"


    Fang Yuan went forward with his saber and pricked the Primordial Chaos Holy Fiend where its fourth eye was.


    Roar Roar!


    The Holy Fiend howled angrily as Fang Yuan dug out the eyeball with the strange rune.


    "What a strange feeling. It isn''t a Dao Fruit, but it possesses a great amount of power¡­ As expected of a wonder of the universe!"


    Fang Yuan sighed as his body gradually turned illusory.


    "Self-exile?! No, his ability is weird!"


    Xuan Qing''s and Lei Jin''s eyes widened as they felt the aura of something they had yearned for in their dreams.


    It was the power of Super Dimensional Traversal!


    These Grand Primordium Immortals could intuitively feel that they would be able to traverse through many universes if they had such a power.


    However, it was all too late now.


    Crack!


    Instantly, the void where Fang Yuan was at cracked like glass.


    His figure slowly disappeared before finally vanishing into the darkness.


    ¡­


    "I wonder how those three Grand Primordium Immortals are going to clean up that mess¡­ Patriarch Tian Hai was clearly going to stay in the universe and resist the disaster. As for the other two Grand Primordium Immortals, they hope to self-exile together to save the universe? They have to take care of the Primordial Chaos Holy Fiend before that though¡­"


    Time flew, and light distorted all around him like a rainbow channel.


    Fang Yuan was currently using his Super Dimensional Traversal to head to another universe.


    He still had the coordinates of the Huaxia Universe from back then.


    "It might not be a universe¡­ It could be a level higher than a universe¡­"


    It was an arduous journey.


    In this rainbow channel, Fang Yuan seemed to have forgotten about time and could only rely on his keen perception to tell him that more than ten thousand years had passed.


    "The span between universes is truly terrifying. No wonder those Grand Primordiums were afraid of self-exile. The chances of finding a new universe are really slim¡­"


    Fang Yuan sent out his spiritual will without pause, trying to find a transit point.


    He knew from the half Heaven Rise Dao Fruit that the destination of this trip was not peaceful. Rather, it was pretty dangerous.


    It was the same even if he had achieved Dao Fruit.


    As evidenced by the half Dao Fruit, the suffering in the Huaxia Universe at this time was at a level that could definitely cause a Dao Fruit to fall.


    "Therefore, I better find a safe place to stop and check on the situation!"


    Fang Yuan''s torrents of dreams entwined around him as he looked out of the rainbow channel. "A universe envelops worlds, and it is full of Chaos Qi between worlds¡­ And between universes is ''void'', the ultimate nothingness!"


    His spiritual will suddenly realized this small secret.


    The Chaos Qi in a universe was good for the growth of worlds, and it could even birth many strange treasures and creatures.


    However, there was nothing outside of a universe!


    No energy, no life, just like a wasteland.


    Even a Dao Fruit would probably deteriorate with time.


    "Great Cosmological Abyss?" This term suddenly appeared in Fang Yuan''s sea of consciousness. "The Great Cosmological Abyss is the combination of endless nothingness¡­ It has an infinite range, and neither energy nor life can result from it, except for things that come from other universes¡­


    "It''s much more difficult to find a universe in the Great Cosmological Abyss than it is to find a world in a universe¡­ Its vast scope is by no means comparable to merely a few universes¡­"


    Whoosh whoosh!


    Fang Yuan suddenly felt a flow of current.


    This was almost impossible in the Great Cosmological Abyss.


    Curious, he sent out his spiritual will toward the current.


    He immediately saw a white light.


    In the white light, the auras of tens of millions of living beings appeared, forming a strange race.


    They spawned and reproduced in the white light, creating an unparalleled glorious civilization. Their use of spiritual power was near the peak, touching the natural source.


    Unfortunately, the average lifespan of this civilization was only thirteen moments, even shorter than most bugs. However, this did not affect the greatness of their civilization.


    "How¡­ interesting¡­"


    Fang Yuan gazed at that white light, and he could predict that it would completely vanish from the Great Cosmological Abyss ten thousand years later.


    No one knew that, within this white light, there was a huge world that was staging a deeply moving epic of a civilization.


    "Unless¡­ these lifeforms can break through to Grand Primordium! But within thirteen moments?" Fang Yuan shook his head. "Their spiritual power might be great, but they can''t extend their lifespan. How difficult would it be to create this miracle?"


    Roar Roar!


    Right at that moment, an ark appeared.


    It had a metallic beauty to its surface, squarish with a smooth luster. A ray of light emerged from its sharp corners, seemingly wanting to capture the white light.


    "The Arthur Civilization, a purely technological civilization¡­ Before the destruction of their universe, they had conquered all of it and used all the resources to build this ark. They uploaded their memories into it, turned it into an intelligent program, and survived in the virtual world built by the ark''s servers?"


    Fang Yuan had some understanding of it after exploring it with his Dream Dao Fruit. "Is this the first time you''ve found intelligent life after roaming in the Great Cosmological Abyss for fifty trillion years? Unfortunately, this doesn''t suffice as a reason for you to capture it at will."


    The races that could enter the Great Cosmological Abyss before their universes were destroyed were of great value.


    At least, in the last universe, neither the Chaos Godfiends nor the Grand Supreme Immortals could escape the shackles of the universe. However, these two civilizations had made it!


    Although they seemed to have paid a heavy price for it, at least they survived.


    "Let''s just treat it as doing a good deed!"


    Fang Yuan pushed gently.


    There was a jarring screech from the ark as it changed direction unexpectedly and brushed past the civilization in the white light.

 1133 Traveler

    Beep Beep!


    A piercing red light and siren came from the ark. It increased speed and disappeared from sight.


    The white light was still wobbling, not knowing that it had just had a brush with danger.


    "But truthfully speaking, I''m probably the disaster?"


    Fang Yuan was thinking about the influence of a Dao Fruit on a universe, though mostly on natural sources.


    For example, if he had had the intention, he could have destroyed that ark in an instant. Or even more miserable, perhaps his Dream Dao Fruit could have affected it to produce distortions similar to radiation and even mental pollution.


    "Perhaps this way, I''ll have a race of my own, the race of dreams?" He smirked slightly. "Dream Master is the profession while the race of dreams is the bloodline¡­ And the Dream Dao Fruit is the source of everything!


    "However, to have discovered two civilizations today, my luck is pretty decent. Perhaps a universe is nearby¡­"


    It was too risky to venture into the Huaxia Universe just like that. Fang Yuan had long made up his mind to find a transit point and consolidate his strength.


    "My foundation is the Dream Dao Fruit. The rest are half of the Heaven Rise Dao Fruit and the Connate Undying Great Dao, Void Great Dao, and Time Great Dao. Of external objects, the most important is that eyeball!"


    With this thought, Fang Yuan''s hand flashed, and a black bead appeared.


    The eyeball was not only about the external manifestation. There were some natural sources. For example, in order to meet his personal preference, it had reduced in size, though the mysterious aura had not diminished.


    "Destruction Dao Fruit? Annihilation Dao Fruit?" He felt the aura in this eyeball carefully, though it was still difficult to conclude. "It seems it''s not a Dao Fruit. It''s a strange object¡­ An object with natural sources¡­ related to the destruction of a universe."


    There was a boundless space like a miniature universe in the eyeball.


    The core of this universe was a strange rune.


    This symbol was similar to the letter ''Z'', like a meandering dragon or snake, multidimensional and complex, exuding an unparalleled mysterious force.


    "If I can absorb its essence, the benefits it will bring won''t be less than a Dao Fruit¡­"


    Fang Yuan hesitated.


    He decided to study it thoroughly before doing anything. He would not simply absorb an unknown object.


    Moreover, that Primordial Chaos Holy Fiend had started to self-destruct after opening this eye. It was not a joke, and he could not take it lightly.


    "The most crucial is my cultivation after Dao Fruit¡­"


    The road of cultivation had no end. He believed he could definitely continue to climb higher even if his current position was at the peak of his known knowledge.


    Even if there was no further road in front, he could be the pioneer of his own path.


    "So, is there another realm after Dao Fruit? If so, what is it?


    "And if not, how am I going to create it? From the Space-Time Great Dao? This is probably one of the most fundamental Great Daos¡­"


    ¡­


    All kinds of thoughts were born in his sea of consciousness and were accepted by the Heaven Rise Dao Fruit. It started its computation rapidly.


    "Every Dao Fruit is unique with its own splendor. The Heaven Rise Dao Fruit''s ability lies in the analysis and calculation of known information to derive the complete and subsequent information. Given enough time, it could derive the true Space-Time Great Dao based on my Void Great Dao and Time Great Dao. It could even analyze the secrets of the Eyeball of Destruction¡­"


    The power of this Dao Fruit was rather useful. Even if it was only half, it was enough to become a key element that Fang Yuan would use.


    "What kind of power would it have if it were whole? Dao Ancestor Heaven Rise was definitely a very powerful Dao Fruit existence. His combat power should have been at least at five Dao Fruits. Why did he fall?"


    Fang Yuan could not help being curious and vigilant about everything that was happening in the Huaxia Universe.


    "I need another three hundred years to derive the Space-Time Great Dao, and another ten thousand to decode the information in the Eyeball of Destruction. Is there no end to this?"


    After a short while, a lot of information flowed out from the half Heaven Rise Dao Fruit, causing Fang Yuan''s face to change.


    "The only possibility to accelerate this is to obtain the other half of the Dao Fruit¡­"


    He could not help but feel helpless. Who knew where the other half of the Dao Fruit was. It might have even been destroyed.


    "In fact, even if I manage to obtain the entire Heaven Rise Dao Fruit, it''ll just be another strange object similar to this Eyeball of Destruction¡­ Although I could refine it to increase my combat power, it doesn''t mean that I''ve achieved a second Dao Fruit! I''d simply be digesting its characteristics! In the Great Cosmological Abyss, the Heaven Rise Dao Fruit is vacant. I wonder if it''s possible to become a second Dao Ancestor Heaven Rise, or is this a blocked Dao path¡­"


    His instincts told him that the second possibility was closer to the truth.


    All Dao Fruits were unique throughout all the universes. They could not transfer even through death.


    With these thoughts, Fang Yuan returned to the rainbow channel and poured all of his energy into searching for other universes.


    Three hundred years passed by in the blink of an eye.


    Finally, he managed to merge the Void Great Dao and the Time Great Dao through the Heaven Rise Dao Fruit into the Space-Time Great Dao.


    He immediately began to comprehend the Connate Space-Time Undying Great Dao.


    "The Daoist needs to integrate, not dissipate. Dispersion will render me powerless!


    "My Connate Undying Space-Time Great Dao is progressing, but the pace of decoding the Eyeball of Destruction is still proceeding pretty slowly. Quite disappointing¡­ Also, the search for another universe is still posing a problem!"


    Fang Yuan shook his head darkly. His Dream Dao Fruit was the legacy of the Dream Master Dao path brought to greater heights, and the Super Dimensional Traversal power was one of the best among the many Dao Fruits.


    But even he had such trouble finding a new universe, not to mention other Dao Fruits.


    ¡­


    Another few millenniums passed by. Nothing seemed to have changed in the Great Cosmological Abyss. There was still no concept of time and space within it, and everything seemed to have stopped. It was enough to drive anyone crazy.


    "Seems like I was super lucky to have met those two civilizations previously¡­"


    Fang Yuan smiled suddenly. "Fortunately, I have the rainbow channel and the coordinates of the Huaxia Universe, so I have a general direction¡­ According to my senses, I should be roughly halfway there?"


    He slowed down and activated the power of the Heaven Rise Dao Fruit to search for other universes.


    "Hmm? There''s some form of energy in that direction. Only outsiders can achieve this in the Great Cosmological Abyss!"


    Fang Yuan''s spiritual will reached far and wide and finally found something. He changed the direction of the rainbow channel.


    "I can feel the aura of a Grand Primordium. The other party is definitely a Grand Primordium in exile!"


    He sped up excitedly and finally saw a patch of darkness looming in front of him.


    The Great Cosmological Abyss was devoid of things, so even this patch of darkness was valuable. It was surely man-made, similar to Fang Yuan''s rainbow channel.


    At the edge of this darkness were many thin, black tentacles, as though they were exploring everything in the Great Cosmological Abyss.


    Fang Yuan paused and gave it some thought before deliberately exposing himself and sending a friendly signal through his spiritual will.


    However, that black mist exploded immediately.


    A chaotic and insane spiritual will shot at him with absolute malice.


    Bloop! Bloop!


    From the black mist, a tentacle stretched out toward Fang Yuan. Every sucker had an eyeball on it with brownish-yellow pus.


    "What is this? A half-mad Dao Ancestor? Or is this its true nature?"


    Fang Yuan was slightly surprised as he stretched out his right hand. "Return!"


    Bang!


    A colorful hand emerged, grabbed the disgusting tentacle, and tore it apart ruthlessly.


    Buzz Buzz!


    The humming of insects hissed out. A massive number of flying insects appeared at the break and spread continuously.


    "The Master Living Above the Lonely Stars, the Astral World Traveler, the Ruler of the Resistors and the Planet of Demon Insects, the Lord of Chaos and Madness, the Darling of Darkness¡ªOmar Kyege Sars¡­"


    After this brief contact, Fang Yuan understood the other party''s foundation through purely the power of the Dao Fruit.


    In particular, its true name resembled a ritual, bringing attention once it was read.


    Of course, his own information leaked out in this exchange at the same time.


    The demon insects hissed and attacked Fang Yuan.


    "His strength is roughly at one-and-a-half Dao Fruits. However, it''s very weird, and his power of contamination is very strong as well¡­"


    Even Grand Primordium Immortal Xuan Qing and the others would have a tough time if they were to fight this Astral World Traveler head-on.


    However, Fang Yuan came from the Mental Demon Realm, that strange and polluted world, and was naturally resistant to this contamination.


    "Fire!"


    He snapped his fingers, and a green flame appeared in the Great Cosmological Abyss. It was very strange.


    The demon insects went crazy and rushed into it, sizzling and turning into pus.


    "I was treating you with respect, but it seems like it''s not working¡­" Fang Yuan sighed deeply and sent his saber into the black mist. "Light of Universe!"


    The black mist dissipated, revealing the true body of that ugly monster.


    "Hehe¡­ It really is a collection of warped chaos¡­ How ugly¡­"


    He pursed his lips and watched this monster growl. It broke off a few of its tentacles and retreated quickly.


    "It called itself the Astral World Traveler. Is this Great Cosmological Abyss the Astral World to it? In that case¡­ perhaps it holds the coordinates of a universe or even knows the secret of traversing freely through the universes?"


    Fang Yuan''s eyes brightened, and he gave chase.


    "Eh?"


    While leaving, he gazed thoughtfully at the things it had left behind.


    A few tentacles fused with the ashes of the demon insects and turned into a huge black ball of flesh. It seemed to be breeding some monster.


    "Omar Kyege Sars¡­" A shout seemed to come from it.


    "This thing¡­" Fang Yuan looked at the eyeball of destruction in his hand. He swiped his right hand, and a layer of rainbow light enveloped the ball of flesh. The crazed shrieking disappeared as it shrank and transformed into a big black book.

 1134 Resistor

    "The ball of flesh transformed into a book?" Fang Yuan picked up the book and ran his hand over it. The cover seemed to be made of good leather. The entire book was huge, almost half the height of an average human, and it was like a small table when opened.


    The paper used was also very strange. It was light red, thick, and stiff, and there was a subtle and indescribable pleasure to the touch.


    "It might look like a large book, but in essence, it''s something a Grand Primordium-level Evil God left behind. If I don''t seal it now, it''ll grow into the follower of an Evil God and have combat power at least at the Primordial Godfiend level¡­"


    Fang Yuan looked at the first page.


    What emerged were black hieroglyphs that seemed to be a combination of octopus tentacles and insect legs.


    "Omar Kyege Sars¡­"


    At Fang Yuan''s level, he could immediately understand the text with his spiritual will. The last page recorded the true name of the Evil God.


    "Hmm, if the Evil God just now was a body of chaotic information, then this book is only some superficial information¡­ In general, it can be taken as a taboo epic tale praising the Evil God. However, it also contains sacrificial rituals. Especially the last page with its true name on it, it has the potential to gain its attention¡­"


    Fang Yuan looked at the Eyeball of Destruction in his hand. "I don''t know why, but it seems like it can draw the mysterious power in the eyeball¡­"


    He continued his pursuit and caught up to that darkness in no time.


    "I don''t want to fight. I just want to obtain the coordinates of a universe¡­"


    "All right. You don''t want to share the coordinates. What about other information? Let''s exchange? You called this place the Astral World?"


    ¡­


    His spiritual will fired questions away, but the other party did not respond at all.


    In Fang Yuan''s view, this monster might spend most of its time in chaos and madness, but it was occasionally sober.


    However, its intelligence was no different from that of wild beasts, causing Fang Yuan a headache.


    "Okay¡­ So I cultivated so hard to reach a level that a mad beast could achieve¡­"


    However, even though it did not possess high intelligence, it knew how to avoid harm and seek advantages. This monster was resisting Fang Yuan instinctively as it fled through the void.


    A thousand years later, a huge universe loomed in front of Fang Yuan.


    "Finally feeling the aura of life and energy again!"


    Fang Yuan was unusually moved as he watched Omar cross over the boundary of the universe. "Thank you, big guy. You are a really good person!"


    They might not have exchanged many words during this long pursuit, but he fully understood Omar''s intrinsic quality. It was a collection of chaos, disturbed by madness even when it was sober.


    "Moreover, this Astral World Traveler really can travel freely between universes!"


    Ordinary Grand Primordium Dao Ancestors would be rejected once they left their universes, making it difficult for them to return.


    Or perhaps it would be better to say that they would cause huge damage to their entire universe if they forced their way back in.


    But the Astral World Traveler apparently had no such problem.


    "Is this universe special, or does it have some special ability?" His Dream Dao Fruit might be very magical, but Fang Yuan was not one to underestimate others. For example, the Heaven Rise Dao Fruit was not inferior to Fang Yuan''s Dream Dao Fruit. The same went for bizarre existences like the Primordial Chaos Holy Fiend and Million-Eyed Dragon.


    He came to the edge of this universe and basked in its aura.


    "Vast¡­ Boundless¡­ This universe is much more powerful than the previous one!" Fang Yuan instantly concluded and then entered this universe''s membrane. "Here I come!!!"


    He could feel the differences of this strange universe and the existences with great magical powers in an instant.


    This universe seemed to have more of something fundamental.


    It was the influence brought by an unfamiliar Dao Fruit.


    "I see¡­" While entering the universe, Fang Yuan was also enlightened. "A Dao Fruit can completely replace the Heavenly Dao of a world and force the universe to accept it¡­ When I arrived at this universe, I left my mark on it, and of course¡­ gifts!"


    This was an indescribable feeling.


    Fang Yuan felt as though his Dream Dao Fruit was communicating with the natural source of this universe, leaving his aura in the most fundamental place, just like a pass.


    At the same time, it also forcefully exchanged some natural source power, benefiting the universe.


    He entered the universe in his entirety.


    "What a strange environment¡­"


    The structure of this universe was similar to those he had been to previously. However, each planet was a complete world of its own.


    "Many worlds coexist and can even observe each other with the naked eye? They have a common connection?"


    Imagine the starry sky. Each star was a world of its own. This was the concept.


    "Worlds each akin to a grain of sand¡­ Hehe¡­"


    After thinking for a while, Fang Yuan directly landed on the green planet closest to him.


    ¡­


    Arita World.


    This world was located in a cantilever-like galaxy. The entire planet was covered in greenery, dense forests, swamps, and grasslands. There was very little wasteland.


    It was ruled by a civilization¡ªUyguklai.


    The Uyguklais looked like an ancient tree with green vines that walked. Their heads were similar to carnivorous flowers and had sharp tusks.


    Their spores would drift with the wind, and on a piece of land without the same species, they grew by absorbing the vitality of that area.


    They grew into adulthood after about a hundred years, and they would be able to reproduce again once they sprouted the eighteenth feeder root.


    This type of living organism seemed to possess extraordinary wisdom and could travel through the universe. It had once created an extremely glorious civilization and had traces everywhere on the Arita World¡­ until ''it'' appeared.


    About thirty-five hundred years ago, ''Tariq'', the equivalent of a wise man among the Uyguklais, encountered the Astral World Traveler, the Ruler of the Planet of Demon Insects, the Lord of Chaos and Madness, the Darling of Darkness¡ªOmar Kyege Sars¡­ This was the guy Fang Yuan had encountered.


    Tariq had fortunately survived. However, after suffering from its influence, he spared no effort in propagating the authority of the Lord of Chaos when he returned to Arita World.


    With the expansion of this faith, all sorts of rituals appeared and became stranger and more horrible. Omar sent a progeny when they finally obtained its attention.


    Darkness and war descended at that very moment, and it finally ended with the complete defeat of the Uyguklais.


    From then on, the Lord of Chaos and Madness became the master of this planet. The Uyguklais dedicated themselves to the great Omar and obtained new abilities. Under their carnivorous flower, two sarcomas grew, seeming like a honeycomb or ant nest. They contained many demon insects in them, and these demon insects had powerful abilities and could gather the life force of an entire area for them.


    The Uyguklais had a new name from then on¡ªthe Resistors!


    At this point, the Arita World''s technology completely degraded, and it returned to the era of ancient tribes and kingdoms.


    ¡­


    After he descended into this world, Fang Yuan had automatically obtained all of this information through the heart of the world or the Heavenly Dao.


    "The sorrow of a civilization¡­"


    Fang Yuan landed on a piece of grassland and could not help shaking his head and sighing.


    It was originally a formidable civilization that could travel through the universe, but because of the influence of an Evil God, they were warped and distorted to this point. This was absolutely miserable.


    "However¡­ I''ve finally encountered a new world¡­"


    Fang Yuan gazed at an insect not far away.


    It resembled a green aedine mosquito but was the size of a fist. Its abdomen was round and full of green juice.


    It oscillated immediately after seeing Fang Yuan.


    Buzz Buzz!


    A black cloud appeared in the distant sky in no time.


    "Demon insects?" Fang Yuan laughed. He was not afraid of the insects from Omar itself, let alone these.


    But the next moment, this black cloud did not attack but fell to the ground like a vortex.


    A black spot faintly loomed from the horizon.


    It looked like a collection of vines and also like an ancient tree stump. Dozens of its roots had gone deep into the ground, supporting it while it walked. Its head was a huge red bud with insect sacs on both sides, and the demon insects from just now had come from within them.


    Kaka¡­ Kaka¡­


    A burst of psyche waves flooded over.


    It sounded like the standard language of the world to Fang Yuan. "I¡­ Morigu Tata¡­ Are you an explorer from the Sagittarius Galaxy?"


    "Sagittarius Galaxy?" Fang Yuan''s heart thumped


    "Only the race there has such an appearance!"


    This plant lifeform sized up Fang Yuan, just like how modern people looked at giant pandas. He could feel its strong curiosity.


    Its spiritual will became distorted again in the next instant. "Alien¡­ Leave this place! This place belongs to the great Lord of Chaos and Madness!"


    "This is¡­" Fang Yuan''s spiritual will scanned it, and he was suddenly dumbfounded. "Did it become confused because of its belief in a crazy god?"


    "Leave¡­ immediately!"


    A few moments later, Morigu Tata''s spiritual will returned to normal. "The Arita World is under our surveillance. The great progeny, the ancient ruler, will surely find you. You will become a sacrifice to¡­"


    "Ahh!" It screamed, and many vines swept toward Fang Yuan. "I will dedicate you to the Lord of Chaos!"


    "As expected, you can''t communicate with lunatics. Although it''s kind when it''s not mad!"


    Fang Yuan''s body disappeared with a flash.


    A Dao Fruit could exert its full strength in any universe or world. He was not afraid of Omar, let alone a trivial progeny!

 1135 War and Defea

    Time moved backward slightly.


    It was just when Fang Yuan used his Dream Master''s Super Dimensional Traversal ability and entered this universe.


    A giant eye suddenly awakened in a massive marsh on the Arita World.


    It was completely different from the Uyguklais. Its body itself was a giant eyeball with countless blood vein-like tentacles growing around it.


    The marsh seemed to gain a life of its own after the eyeball awakened and began to expand outward.


    This was a Dark Young. In addition to its powerful mind control ability, its existence would constantly erode the surrounding environment, or rather, forcefully transform it into land suitable for it to live in.


    "War! War has arrived!"


    Its giant pupil looked at the sky and sent out a psyche storm. "¡­ Father told me that the Astral Serpent, the Rainbow Snake, is his archenemy! It is invading our world! All Resistors, gather¡­"


    "We obey your orders, Your Mighty Excellency Eye of Darkness!"


    Outside the marsh, several tall Uyguklais were standing by at all times.


    They were hundreds of meters tall and had their dense roots stuck into the ground. Through this form, it seemed as though they formed a network all over the planet.


    All the Uyguklais, no matter where they were, could communicate at the same time using this network.


    Of course, the Eye of Darkness also used this network. It became a wonderful tool in its control of this planet.


    "Found!" a tall Uyguklai replied almost immediately. "He''s at the R-14 Grassland. Morigu Tata is the nearest!"


    "Go! Surround him, attack him, offer your trivial lives to Father!" the Eye of Darkness roared as red blood flowed from its pupil.


    Chichi!


    An immense cloud of insects flew out from Uyguklais'' sacs and dragged their bodies. They were like moths flying toward the fire where Fang Yuan was.


    It was the same for the Eye of Darkness.


    As a progeny of Omar, it worshiped its father like a fanatic and could not refuse any request from the source, even if it knew that it was sending itself to the grave.


    Its sacrifice would be worthwhile if it could shave off even a little of this mighty Outer God''s power to give Omar a tiny advantage in the battle to come.


    ¡­


    "This is cheating. I just showed up, and the entire world found me¡­"


    High above in the sky, Fang Yuan could see everything that was happening in the Arita World, making him feel pretty helpless.


    "This is the technology of the Uyguklais? Direct communication through their bodies is much better than any internet¡­ Although it might only cover a planet, that''s more than enough!"


    His gaze seemed to look past the many Uyguklais and to the Eye of Darkness.


    "For the great Lord of Chaos and Madness!"


    Morigu Tata seemed like a fanatic while rushing at Fang Yuan with many demon insects.


    Although these demon insects might not be as powerful as Omar''s, they could also spit powerful acid. It could corrode steel and alloys and reproduce in all flesh and blood, sucking the life force from all living beings.


    In a weaker world, an insect would multiply and bring about a terrible disaster.


    "How¡­ irritating!" Fang Yuan''s eyes narrowed as he sighed and disappeared from sight. A ball of fire was immediately set ablaze with the escape of a wisp of his Dao Fruit''s power.


    It was Morigu Tata!


    After hearing Fang Yuan''s sigh, its wooden body turned into a ball of flames while it shrieked.


    Fang Yuan had completely suppressed his cultivation earlier. However, this small leak of the Dao Fruit''s power brought with it a terrifying amount of information. Any normal human would explode upon hearing it.


    Morigu Tata was certainly stronger than ordinary humans, but it was still set ablaze.


    This information was even spreading through the entire planet over the network.


    Ah Ah!


    "Praises to you, great Lord of the Dream World!"


    "Lord of Chaos, I worship you! Please expel the heresy!


    ¡­


    In the entire network of roots network, many psyches became confused. Those Uyguklais that could not withstand Fang Yuan''s sigh burst into flames.


    Some of them were even more miserable as they wavered between the Lord of Chaos and the Lord of the Dream World. Eventually, their carnivorous flower heads burst.


    Looking at it from space, the Arita World had sparks rising everywhere.


    "One sigh¡­ contaminated the entire world?"


    Fang Yuan looked at the Eye of Darkness.


    At this time, this giant eye had also heard his sigh, and its tentacles trembled but did not disintegrate.


    "I am the Eye of Darkness, progeny of the Lord of Chaos and Madness! Outer God, you can''t contaminate me!"


    The Eye of Darkness roared again and again, and the blood-red tentacles struggled constantly before it finally stabilized.


    It seemed to see a huge darkness in front of it and an indescribable body within it.


    "Oh mighty Father¡­"


    The Eye of Darkness rushed toward it in great delight.


    It was a progeny of Omar, and as it entered the darkness, it seemed to feel eternal peace.


    Shortly after, its giant eye closed as it entered dreamland¡­


    ¡­


    Smack!


    Fang Yuan closed Omar''s Book of Flesh. A vertical pupil was now a new addition to its cover.


    "The World of Dreams¡­" He pondered. "In front of my illusion, even this progeny of darkness with strength comparable to Netherheaven fell for it immediately?


    "Eye of Darkness, you will be the caretaker of Omar''s Book of Flesh!"


    The so-called Book of Flesh was naturally the information he had obtained from Omar earlier. It was now considered truly complete with the addition of a Dark Young.


    The moment it saw Fang Yuan, that Eye of Darkness fell into all kinds of illusions. It could not extricate itself and finally sealed itself within the cover of the Book of Flesh.


    "Arita World¡­"


    After unfolding the World of Dreams, Fang Yuan took over as the heart of the Arita World and became the master of this world.


    His heart softened as he looked at this green planet. "Such a beautiful planet and brilliant civilization, it''s too much of a pity to destroy it!"


    Whoosh!


    The fires finally died down in the grassland below. A whole new strain of Uyguklais emerged.


    Their form became much thinner, the two sacs of demon insects had disappeared, and all their roots were as smooth and moist as jade. They bowed with the deepest gratitude. "Oh great Lord of the Dream World, thank you for rescuing our Uyguklai race!"


    "Rescue? You can''t hide from the influence of an Outer God. All I did was bring you from one dark abyss into another dark abyss!"


    Fang Yuan sighed.


    He could feel that his sigh was cleansing the entire planet.


    The heads of all of those that were thoroughly brainwashed by the Lord of Chaos exploded and turned into ashes in their struggle.


    Only Morigu Tata and the like were fortunate enough to survive. They made up less than half of the original number. Moreover, their bodies had transformed to accommodate the addition of some illusion abilities.


    This was the price they had to pay to escape the claws of Omar¡ªbecoming the followers of another powerful Outer God.


    "Outer God! Did you come from the outside world? Or¡­ perhaps you are a god that is beyond imagination?"


    Fang Yuan chewed on this phrase. "Hmm, both Omar and I are Outer Gods to the Arita World. I''m also an Outer God to this universe!"


    "Chaos and madness are the most terrible things to us Uyguklais. There''s nothing more wonderful than regaining our rationality!"


    Another few reformed Uyguklais emerged from the soil beside Morigu Tata. "Oh Great Master, please accept our piety and let us become your humble followers¡­"


    "I''ll accept your loyalty and allow you to recite my true name in times of trouble¡ªJ?rmungandr Frein¡­" Fang Yuan''s mouth curled up with a twisted smile as he reminisced about the serpent J?rmungandr. He pushed this true name into the sea of consciousnesses of the Uyguklais.


    The true name of an Outer God was the greatest taboo of this universe.


    Therefore, the true names recorded in many cult records were not the actual true names, but something similar or reduced. Even so, chanting them would bring unknown terror or those Dark Young.


    Reciting the true name of an Outer God in full would alert the Outer God immediately and bring calamity.


    Omar''s Book of Flesh in Fang Yuan''s hand recorded the true name of an Outer God, and it could bring disaster to any world.


    "The great J?rmungandr¡­" the Uyguklais recited thankfully.


    Fang Yuan could feel the natural source of the universe tremble as it fully accepted his true name.


    From now on, in this universe, he would be able to sense it if this name was recited in full.


    "I don''t know what will happen¡­ But I have to get the Uyguklais to spread this true name¡­"


    Fang Yuan looked toward the endless void of the universe.


    He snatched away the authority over the Resistors from Omar and gave them his true name. This was definitely a major event in the universe.


    The Dark Young might not notice it, but it would definitely attract the attention of the powerful Outer Gods.


    Omar probably would not dare to come after his defeat. However, other existences equivalent to Dao Fruit would be the best parties to communicate with.


    As if it felt his desire, a white light appeared from the depths of the universe.


    "Seal!" Fang Yuan placed a protective seal on the entire Arita World.


    Contact with other Outer Gods was very dangerous, and he did not want the race he had just saved to be contaminated again.

 1136 Developmen

    "This white light!"


    In outer space, Fang Yuan suddenly received a lot of information while staring at the ray of white light.


    "Yurisige Tange¡­ He lives in the cracks of this universe and likes to collect all sorts of knowledge. You can call for him when you feel a strong desire and when you''ve exceeded your limit¡­


    "White Light Yurisige likes to travel around many worlds, appearing as a ''wise and virtuous man'' and acting as a mentor in the transformation of intelligent species. Of course, sometimes, he would also spread some information about Outer Gods and Dark Young¡­"


    ¡­


    "A strong desire for knowledge¡­ exceed the limit, perhaps also require a specific ritual?" Fang Yuan pondered. "But since I''m an Outer God, I have a touch of desire, and it''s enough for White Light Yurisige¡­"


    He did not hesitate in sharing his vast knowledge and information, and began exchanging with White Light Yurisige.


    In a short time, Fang Yuan received a lot of knowledge one after another.


    "Changes in the universe¡­


    "Many Outer Gods¡­


    "Knowledge of the galaxies¡­


    "The reproduction of Dark Young¡­


    "Cosmic star chart¡­"


    ¡­


    Of course, the knowledge he gave White Light also made it expand violently. After all, it came from outside of this universe and was a totally different system.


    After a while, White Light disappeared into the depths of the universe, as if everything just now were but an illusion.


    However, the large amount of information recorded in Fang Yuan''s sea of consciousness proved it actually happened.


    The half Heaven Rise Dao Fruit operated quickly, digesting all of it.


    "I see. What a dangerous universe¡­ Other than the many Outer Gods, there are also the powerful Elder Gods¡­"


    According to his understanding, both the Outer Gods and the Elder Gods were powerful existences at the Dao Fruit realm!


    However, the Outer Gods liked to invade and explore. They would give their attention immediately once they discovered an intelligent species until they conquered the world completely, transformed it, or contaminated it¡­ even if it did not bring them any benefit. Doing things at will was their biggest trait, and Omar was their representative.


    The Elder Gods, on the other hand, mostly liked to stay quietly on their respective planets, and they would not interfere easily with any intelligent species. In other words, they were stay-at-home gods.


    What about the long-term hostility between the Elder Gods and the Outer Gods? That was a complete joke!


    The Elder Gods mostly stayed where they were, and they would not move even if their neighboring planets were destroyed.


    They would only go to war if Outer Gods invaded the planet they were staying on.


    Fang Yuan sighed and continued to look.


    They might be rare, but in the long history of the universe, wars have occurred between the Elder Gods and the Outer Gods. Each side had their own wins and losses.


    The only critical point was that both the Elder Gods and the Outer Gods were difficult to destroy and even to seal.


    Even if they were sealed with difficulty, they could still be connected to as long as a ritual was held once the universe got to a certain point in time.


    To Fang Yuan, that was the loophole of the seal.


    "Even so¡­ it''s amazing to be able to seal a Dao Fruit!"


    He did not have the absolute confidence to destroy or seal an ordinary Dao Fruit even though his power was near two Dao Fruits.


    If not, he would not have left right after he snatched the eyeball of the Primordial Chaos Holy Fiend.


    Moreover, if that Primordial Chaos Holy Fiend were not self-destructive, they might not have been able to kill it and could have only sealed it even if the five Dao Fruits were to join forces.


    "White Light Yurisige even gave me the method of sealing the Outer Gods in this universe¡­ Using a so-called ''Astronomical Array'' and many planets as array eyes, you can seal a Dao Fruit on a certain planet for a long time¡­ There might occasionally be loopholes with the stars moving, but this is the best way to deal with them¡­"


    Essentially, it was using the particularity of this universe to combine the power of many planets to form an array and suppress one of them in the array eye.


    "Perhaps it can be called astral magic?" Fang Yuan contemplated.


    He had gained too much information in the exchange just now. With what he understood now, it was far from enough to arrange this array.


    "I need to seclude myself for a while to consolidate and digest the information¡­ Fortunately, according to the information, the Outer Gods are a group of chaotic fellows who do whatever they want. Even if Omar comes for revenge, I''ll only need to deal with it alone¡­"


    After releasing his seal, Fang Yuan returned to the Arita World.


    "Oh mighty Lord of the Dream World¡­" Morigu Tata bowed. "Welcome back."


    "Okay!" Fang Yuan responded casually and sank straight into the earth.


    Kaboom!


    The entire grassland underwent an upheaval. Earth and stones swelled into a huge palace.


    "I''m going into seclusion. Don''t disturb me!"


    Fang Yuan entered a state of deep cultivation.


    The Dao of Dream Master was to learn from others'' strengths and compensate for their weaknesses. He was going to use the knowledge of this universe to see if he could deduce the possibility of the next realm after Dao Fruit.


    A large number of Uyguklais gathered on the grasslands.


    A huge jade Uyguklai lifted Morigu Tata up into the sky. "Morigu Tata was the first to lay eyes upon the Great Master when he descended. The Great Master last spoke to Morigu Tata as well. Morigu Tata¡­ will become our new leader!"


    "Leader!"


    "Leader!"


    "Leader!"


    ¡­


    Many cheers and shouts surrounded Morigu Tata.


    "I shall announce my first decree as leader!" Morigu Tata''s feeder roots spread wide, ensuring that every Uyguklai could hear her voice. "I shall build the capital of our country here and restart all the scientific research projects from before the Age of Darkness!"


    "Great Morigu!"


    "Agreed!"


    "The fire of our research has been suppressed for far too long. I can''t wait!"


    "Civilization, we have to become civilized again. The light of knowledge of this universe is shining upon us¡­"


    ¡­


    Arita, a whole new age. Years flew by.


    In Toroya, capital of the Uyguklai Federation, the center where hope started in the Uyguklai language, the earth and stone palace finally opened.


    "How long have I been in seclusion¡­"


    Fang Yuan noticed the earth-shaking changes outside. A steel jungle had replaced the original grasslands.


    It was a real steel jungle, covered in a fusion of plants and machinery, full of a strange beauty.


    Morigu Tata was the first to arrive on a steel tentacle monster. She bowed to Fang Yuan respectfully. "Great Master, you''ve slept through more than a million lifetimes of our planet in our calendar!"


    "I slept for ten thousand years!" Fang Yuan was more used to his sense of time.


    "I understand. I will issue a decree tomorrow to revise the basis of time¡­" Morigu Tata answered passionately, as though she had just received an oracle.


    "Has this place¡­ become your capital?"


    Fang Yuan spread his spiritual will and appreciated the transformation. He had never seen plants and machinery so perfectly integrated.


    "Yes! All buildings are made of bio-iron. This substance was discovered by a university student named Azya Momo during an interstellar journey. We created a large enough city with common facilities through organic combination with plants. Of course, we also have spaceships for us to rest inside in space¡­"


    An adult Uyguklai might have the ability to survive in space, but they also needed the help of transportation.


    Just like how it was difficult for a person to tour a country on foot.


    "What level of technology have you achieved on the Arita World?" Fang Yuan asked with interest.


    "We can carry out long-distance travel between galaxies with transportation alone. In terms of energy, we can use the bioenergy obtained directly from the bio-iron¡­ I hope to be able to introduce them one by one in the Dream World!" Morigu Tata answered respectfully.


    "Dream World?" Fang Yuan smiled faintly.


    "This is the ability granted to us by Great Master. All the jade Uyguklais can dominate our Dream World¡­ In the later stages, we jointly built a common dream area for communication and high-risk experiments. This is the gift from Master¡­ It allows us to utilize our time fully even when we are resting!"


    Fang Yuan nodded. He condensed a wisp of spiritual will and entered the Dream World by the Uyguklais.


    This was the realization of virtual reality technology to him.


    "We have divided the Dream World into private and public areas, ensuring every citizen has their privacy. Once there is contamination, the private Dream World can be stripped off immediately. It replaces the previously vulnerable root network¡­"


    Many Uyguklais appeared and bowed toward the supreme existence. "Great Master¡­ thank you for your gift. The technology of the Dream World has an unparalleled advantage. Even instant messaging across galaxies has become possible¡­"


    "You''ve done well!"


    Fang Yuan listened to the reports with a smile, even though he was inwardly appreciative.


    The same ability had different uses in different hands.


    If a wild beast tribe were to obtain this ability of dreams, it would probably only use it as a special means to evolve into a dream race.


    On the other hand, the Uyguklais had researched the Dream World, maximized its use, and developed new Dream World technology.


    They had even accomplished the conversion between virtual and reality through instantaneously connecting across galaxies.


    It might seem like nothing to the Outer Gods and the Elder Gods, but it''s definitely high-tech to the other intelligent species in the universe.


    Fang Yuan thought silently to himself. The potential of the Uyguklais is undeniably huge¡­

 1137 Ritual

    "And Omar¡­ hasn''t been here for revenge even once over the past ten thousand years¡­ Is it afraid of me? Or has it forgotten?"


    It was absolutely possible since most of the Outer Gods were a fusion of chaos.


    In other words, they had no human personality and were completely incomprehensible.


    Of course, it was also possible that something else had attracted its attention.


    "Moreover¡­ Omar''s use of the Uyguklais was such a waste¡­"


    Fang Yuan could deduce from Morigu Tata''s reports that this race had expanded to many planets and had even started the exploration of the galaxies in a short period of ten thousand years.


    Obviously, in addition to their individual combat strength, their research ability was the true treasure.


    An Outer God of Chaos and Madness could not hope to unleash their fullest potential.


    "However, it seems like there are special existences among the Outer Gods that can grant the wise ones and scholars unpopular knowledge and techniques¡­ They form the so-called ''chaos technology'', though Omar is obviously not among them¡­"


    Fang Yuan let go of his perception slightly when he returned to the real world.


    He could immediately sense it when a person recited his Outer God''s true name.


    And right now, he had enhanced his senses to such calls. He could sense those sacrifices and rituals as long as they were vaguely directed to him.


    Suddenly, a ton of information flooded him.


    "Oh Great Master¡­"


    "The serpent from the Astral World, the Rainbow Snake¡­"


    "Unknown existence, please bestow power unto me¡­"


    ¡­


    "Most of them are Uyguklais, but there are a small number of aliens who are praying to a so-called Astral Serpent, Rainbow Snake¡­ Did Omar spread it? That was just a rainbow channel¡­"


    Fang Yuan was dumbfounded.


    Most of them wanted to obtain power and knowledge or to fight against forces of evil such as Omar.


    "I wonder who spread the information about my enmity with Omar. The Uyguklais? It could be that White Light as well¡­"


    A strong prayer arrived at that moment. "¡­ J?rmungandr Frein¡­ J?rmungandr Frein¡­ J?rmungandr Frein¡­"


    "Someone is reciting my true name. It might be lacking, but it''s the closest. It''s very far, not within the range that the Uyguklais could reach. Looks like White Light spread it¡­ However, the one praying is actually¡­"


    Fang Yuan''s spiritual will reached within moments to a blue planet in the Sagittarius Galaxy.


    In a secret room, a white young man with blond hair, a pale complexion, and about twenty years old was performing a ritual with six lit candles.


    A pentagon was depicted on the ground, and each sharp corner had a sacrificial offering on it¡ªfrom the eyes of a toad to vermouth, a few feathers, unknown blood, and a remnant page.


    "Eagle feathers, I command you to make my soul lighter¡­


    "I pray to you, J?rmungandr Frein¡­"


    ¡­


    Vincent Gun chanted the incantation repeatedly. He then soaked the toad''s eyes in the vermouth and swallowed them.


    All of this was in strict accordance with Sen Luo''s description on the remnant page.


    He was not a member of a cult, but he was undoubtedly very interested in everything. He had even participated in a secret society that worshiped ghouls during high school and dug graves.


    However, Vincent had left the society promptly when he realized that the leader''s ritual could not revive the dead.


    He chose to major in archaeology at university. After graduation, he became a professional, traveling around the world and conducting archaeological activities.


    Finally, all the hard work had paid off during an exploration of the Mandala.


    The Mandala were an ancient tribe dwelling in a tropical rainforest. It was said that they retained their custom of cannibalism. Vincent obtained a page after a near-death experience, and according to his investigations, it should be from the famous ''Sen Luo''s Book of Vientiane'' from the history of the Mandala!


    It was said that this book was co-authored by the most famous wizards in the tropical rainforest of that time, and it described many incredible spells and rituals. It even had the secrets of the Ancients who ruled the planet in ancient times.


    It was a pity that Sen Luo''s Book of Vientiane was long lost, and Vincent had only obtained one page from it.


    On it was this summoning ritual. It was said that the ancient wizards used this ritual to communicate with the legendary Gods of the Dream World.


    As someone passionate about the occult, Vincent enacted the ritual right after he deciphered it.


    As the ritual proceeded, he seemed to be a little dizzy and could barely stand up. "One last step!"


    This communication ritual required a secret room with a spiral staircase. Vincent descended slowly, still chanting the incantation.


    The vertigo in his brain grew stronger as he continued.


    Finally, Vincent lost his footing and fell with a scream.


    "Ahh!!!"


    He shrieked and sat up, as though he just emerged from a nightmare.


    His surroundings changed abruptly, and everything seemed to be covered by a gray mist.


    "You will be able to step into the Dream World once you walk down the spiral staircase after completing the ritual¡­" Vincent murmured with ecstasy on his face. "It''s true! The rumors were true! The Ancients who ruled the planet really existed!"


    He explored the Dream World like a curious newborn.


    "According to the legend of the Mandala, the Gods of the Dream World were the color of jade and had the body of a plant. They could give the wizards the magic techniques of manipulating plants, creating illusions, and revitalizing corpses¡­"


    Vincent was puzzled by the lack of jade-colored trees in the Dream World.


    The next moment, his pupils grew huge as he saw¡­


    "I responded to the nearly right true name. Are you looking for the followers that I''ve influenced?"


    Fang Yuan emerged from the Dream World and watched with interest this little guy who did not know if he was lucky or the reverse.


    His thoughts moved, and Vincent''s memories from birth to present flashed vividly in front of him.


    "Planet Stael, Carls Federation¡­ ships, cars, sailing¡­"


    Vincent hailed from Planet Stael, a normal planet within the Sagittarius Galaxy. Their level of technology was roughly between the first industrial revolution and the second energy revolution. Their steam technology had matured, and there were rudimentary power facilities. However, without the power of computers and the internet, it was naturally impossible to develop aerospace technology to discover other life forms.


    But overall, this level of technology was considered rather advanced among the planets populated with humans in the Sagittarius Galaxy.


    After all, some planets were still at the stage of cannibalism or ancient city-states.


    "Interesting! Interesting!" Fang Yuan had a smile in his eyes. "Vincent¡­ state your wish!"


    Vincent could not see, but he answered wholeheartedly, "I want to be ''extraordinary'' and have the power to explore the ancient secrets of this planet!"


    The reason he was alive even though he was a normal being facing an Outer God was all because of Fang Yuan.


    "You deserve this! As compensation for viewing your memories¡­" Fang Yuan nodded and snapped his fingers.


    Smack!


    The Dream World shattered in that instant.


    In fact, he did not give the other party any abilities proactively, but after seeing him, Vincent was automatically influenced by the Outer God, like spiritual radiation.


    From then on, his psyche would become more active, enabling him to easily come into contact with various extraordinary powers. Some extraordinary abilities might even awaken within him.


    Of course, there were risks for an ordinary human to master these powers all of a sudden.


    If Fang Yuan had not been deliberately restraining the contamination, Vincent would have already become a monster at this time.


    "Hopefully, he has a strong enough will to control the gradual increase in his strength¡­"


    In the Arita World, Fang Yuan sighed.


    It was but a trivial matter. He sighed and did not take it to heart after that.


    On the contrary, he was now very interested in Planet Stael.


    This universe had many strange races, but Fang Yuan''s aesthetic senses still preferred the Sagittarius Galaxy.


    "Morigu Tata!" Fang Yuan made a swift decision. "Prepare a spaceship. I''m going to the Sagittarius Galaxy!"


    He had the intention of sightseeing on the way. Otherwise, he could have just landed directly on Planet Stael.


    "I''m in this universe to recuperate anyway, and I only need to crack the secrets behind the Eyeball of Destruction and the realm after Dao Fruit. Time has no meaning to me¡­"


    Fang Yuan was lost in his thought as he took out the black eyeball and Omar''s Book of Flesh with the vertical pupil.


    "Seems like this eyeball isn''t only interested in the Book of Flesh, but also in the power of the Outer Gods of this entire universe¡­"


    "Your desire will be fulfilled. Furthermore, please allow me to go together with you!" Morigu Tata said in a respectful tone.


    "Hmm, of course¡­" Fang Yuan could not be bothered to operate the spaceship himself.


    Suddenly, he just could not help but smile after thinking of something.


    How strong would a Uyguklai be on Planet Stael?


    The man-eating wizards of the ancient Mandala worshiped the Uyguklais as the Gods of the Dream World!


    "Although their technology might be advancing and various weapons of mass destruction are emerging in an endless stream, they would probably need to activate their armies and bathe the entire place in artillery fire to defeat a Uyguklai?" Fang Yuan pondered.


    "Moreover, the Uyguklais know nothing but to work hard, over and above the limits of their technological strength¡­"

 1138 Influence and the Way

    Planet Stael.


    Vincent woke up and had a strange flash of emotions through his eyes.


    "What happened to me¡­ Right, I was performing the ritual yesterday!"


    He got up hurriedly and went to the loft.


    While walking, Vincent realized that something was wrong.


    Even in broad daylight, the light in the loft was very weak, and it was almost necessary to fumble to ensure that he would not fall.


    However, right now, he could see everything clearly, be it a speck of dust in a corner or some spider webs. There was even something else.


    "Who?!" It seemed as though he had returned to the hazy feeling he had yesterday and saw a white shadow flash in the corner of his eyes.


    "A girl? No¡­ There''s no path there!" Vincent muttered. His neck suddenly turned ninety degrees, and his whole body turned quickly.


    This time, he saw it very clearly. It was a little girl with gold-rimmed round glasses. She floated around in the air, between illusion and reality.


    After discovering him peeping, she slid into a wall.


    "What''s happening?" He returned to the secret room in the loft and started packing. "I only have memories of until I walked down the stairs¡­ What happened after that? Did I fall down the stairs and faint?"


    This was definitely possible.


    However, Vincent gave a small cry when he suddenly remembered Sen Luo''s page.


    His eyes were fiery as he read the small line of text that had appeared at the bottom of the page.


    "Do not peep into the inexplicable horrors!"


    This line of words was blood red and phantasmagoric, as if it were burning, and it was full of warning.


    Vincent screamed and covered his head.


    He remembered his adventure last night and the last figure he saw¡­


    "Ahh!!!" With the slight recollection, he held his head, feeling as though it had been slashed cruelly with an ax. However, he could not remember any specific details regarding that figure.


    Vincent endured the pain and searched for clues on the page. A second line of warning appeared.


    "You automatically master extraordinary power after coming into contact with the extraordinary!"


    "I obtained a special ability¡­ because I came into contact with the extraordinary?"


    He found a mirror and saw that his eyes had shockingly changed. Each eye had an extra pupil with a touch of purple.


    "My eyes became extraordinary, which is why I can see things that ordinary people can''t?"


    Vincent walked down the loft but did not see that girl in white this time.


    "Good day, Your Excellency Vincent. Did you have a good rest last night?"


    A lady wearing a black dress and a veil greeted him on the way.


    "Good day, Mrs. Margaret!" Vincent replied absent-mindedly. His eyes narrowed all of a sudden.


    After finding Vincent''s gaze, the man smiled, tipped his round woolen top hat, and slowly disappeared.


    That''s Mr. Gerry. I just attended his funeral¡­


    Vincent turned pale and bade goodbye immediately. He was preparing to get a drink and calm himself down.


    He had longed for the extraordinary, but he realized that he was not ready for it at all when the moment finally came.


    On the road, black sedan cars and carriages ran side by side, with well-dressed gentlemen and ladies in them.


    However, in Vincent''s eyes, all of them were pale and looked as though they were going to die from illness.


    He gritted his teeth and stumbled along before finally knocking on the door of a bar that was still open.


    "What would you like?" A bartender wiped a glass behind the bar. There was a rotten jellyfish suspended behind him, and its tentacles had reached into his head and squirmed away.


    "Oh! No¡­" Vincent sprinted back to his room and grabbed his hair. "It shouldn''t be like this! Not like this!"


    How he wished that everything could return back to yesterday. He would give anything for it!


    "The true extraordinary world isn''t something that normal humans can bear!"


    He was nearly in tears.


    "Perhaps¡­ I should perform the ritual again? No! No!"


    Blood veins appeared in Vincent''s eyeballs as he instinctively felt fear.


    He went to his desk, wanting to draw everything he had seen last night. However, all that he managed to draw was meaningless lines.


    In front of him, many colorful light clusters slowly merged, giving off neon-like colors.


    "No!!!" Vincent felt like he was about to break down. He shivered as he opened the brass lock of his drawer, took out a revolver, and pointed it at his forehead. "I''ll eventually go crazy. Death is the best option!"


    "Heehee!" A giggle rang out just as he was about to pull the trigger.


    "Who?" Vincent turned around and saw the ghost of the girl in glasses he had encountered in the loft. His scalp went numb.


    ¡­


    Fang Yuan did not know that the person who had contacted him had reached the point of seeking death.


    In fact, he would not care even if he knew.


    If he had relaxed the restriction even slightly last night, then Vincent would have died or become contaminated and turn into some sort of monster.


    However, he had generously given him the gift in view of the memories Vincent had given him. The extraordinary characteristics of Vincent would grow at a very slow rate, allowing him to adapt.


    Of course, this still required a great amount of perseverance and a little luck. Otherwise, going mad was only a matter of time.


    The later stages would require a terrifying amount of willpower.


    After all, the information of an Outer God was too powerful for an ordinary human.


    "Is this a Uyguklai spaceship? Not bad!" Fang Yuan looked around.


    The technology of the Uyguklais was the path of fusing plants and machinery. The spaceship also had a huge life of its own.


    Inside the spaceship, many metal vines wove into various kinds of appliances. There were also special ornamental flowers and transparent glass on all sides, allowing Fang Yuan to see the void of the universe.


    "Oh Great Master, we can reach Planet Stael in fifty years with the help of a few wormholes at this speed!" Morigu Tata had obviously revised the basis of her time.


    "Morigu Tata! What about the Arita World since you''re following me to Planet Stael?" Fang Yuan asked randomly.


    "With real-time communication through the Dream World, there are not many important decisions I have to make as the leader¡­ Moreover, I would be more than willing to die right now in order to serve Supreme Master¡­" Morigu Tata sounded like a fanatic.


    Was it because the capital is too close to me that I contaminated the nearby Uyguklais? Fang Yuan was silent for a while as he searched for the reason. Luckily, it didn''t lower their intelligence and their research ability. If not, this civilization would have become wasted¡­


    After sending Morigu Tata away, he opened Omar''s Book of Flesh.


    The pupil on the cover squirmed a little and calmed down.


    This Eye of Darkness had power that was nearly on par with Netherheaven Demon God. In front of Fang Yuan, however, it was but a small toy.


    "Omar is the Lord of Chaos, born in the deepest darkness in the universe. It¡­" Fang Yuan read slowly.


    He read this as a means to pass the time, to obtain the secrets of the Eyeball of Destruction, and also to gain a deeper understanding of the Outer Gods.


    Morigu Tata would hide far away every time he did this, and Fang Yuan would also completely lock down the entire spaceship.


    If not, this plant life form might be contaminated and turn into some sort of monster.


    "In a nutshell, the intelligent races rarely have the complete true name of an Outer God. To them, any Outer God is too dangerous. Therefore, they are more in contact with the followers and progeny of the Outer Gods!"


    This sort of relationship was like the one between the Mandala wizards and the Uyguklais.


    Some wizard on Planet Stael had come into contact with White Light Yurisige and obtained part of Fang Yuan''s true name. Thus, the wizard had come into contact with the Uyguklais through the ritual.


    These Uyguklais must have hoped to carry out experiments between the galaxies using the Dream World, so they accepted the worship of the wizards and gave them some technological support.


    As for those wizards who deviated and turned these technologies into witchcraft, it was another matter altogether.


    "There''s no doubt that everything directly related to the Outer Gods is full of evil¡­ If I were to read the Book of Flesh on another planet, it would immediately contaminate the surroundings and create countless monsters. Even though it mostly records Omar''s life and past events, this is high-level information that holds supreme evil¡­


    "Once someone reads the whole book, especially after reading the final true name, this person would undoubtedly directly communicate with Omar. For any life form below the level of an Outer God, it is very dangerous. The best outcome would be for them to become contaminated and become a follower¡­


    "However, there are still some useful rituals and spells¡­"


    Fang Yuan naturally would not be affected by Omar while reading the Book of Flesh. In fact, he was hoping for Omar to appear so that he could try out the astral magic that he had finally deciphered.


    "Specifically, they are divided into summoning the demon insects, coming into contact with the Eye of Darkness, traveling in the spirit realm, meeting with the servants of chaos, human domination, the seal of Omar, and so on. From being in contact with Omar''s followers, to meeting its progeny, and finally to Omar itself¡­ all these are techniques that court death without limit. Of course, the power isn''t small, especially the contamination¡­"


    Fang Yuan put down the Book of Flesh and turned to study the cosmic star chart that was necessary for the astral magic seal.


    "Well, in general, the Sagittarius Galaxy is quite suitable as a carrier of the astral magic¡­"

 1139 Exhibition

    Carls Federation, Planet Stael.


    Since the inception of the Black Iron Age, the steam era had been like a landslide and tsunami, bringing profound changes to this continent.


    The ancient empire collapsed, sending countless nobles and kings to the gallows. Since then, the largest countries in the White Continent were divided into three different countries.


    Among them, there was Holy Celbera, which had been criticized by historians over a large number of ancient remnants, and Arkham, the commercial center known for free trade and being completely liberal. The Carls Federation was a unique regime between the two. Its chief magistrate, who was elected by ballot, exercised great authority and even had the protection of civilian officials, judges, etc.


    Year 401 of the Black Iron Calendar. In an exhibition hall, Kimbert City, Carls Federation.


    "The next exhibition hall belongs to Vincent Gun. He was a great archaeologist, historian, and artist. He is famous for examining the origin of the Mandala on the Black Continent and had participated in many archaeological discoveries. In his later years, he turned his attention toward art. His paintings are known for their unrestrained colors and abstract artistic conception, and it has even devloped into an abstract painting style. Just last month, his work ''Dream'' sold for a high price of 3,600 gold punks at an auction!"


    The female guide stood in front of an oil painting and introduced clearly and concisely.


    "¡­ Mr. Vincent suffered from diseases and nightmares in his later years, which can be seen in his later paintings. In the end, he chose to end his life. This was the greatest loss to the art world and the archaeology world in years¡­"


    Fang Yuan was looking quietly at the oil painting among the flow of people.


    Vincent was about forty years old on it, with a reclining hairline and wrinkles on his forehead.


    Below the painting was a line of description. "Vincent Gun, Black Iron Calendar Year 332-385, archaeologist, artist¡­"


    "So, he eventually couldn''t bear the increasing extraordinary characteristics?" He could not help but sigh.


    Fang Yuan was wearing a suit and holding a cane, looking like a gentleman.


    He had finally arrived in the Sagittarius Galaxy and naturally chose the more familiar Planet Stael as his destination.


    Unfortunately, the follower he thought was still alive had eventually ended his life on the route of crazed self-destruction.


    But in fact, this was normal. It was almost impossible for an ordinary person to fully accept extraordinary characteristics. They would go mad sooner or later.


    "Miss Tour Guide! I have a question!" A boy of sixteen or seventeen raised his hand.


    He had curly blonde, brown eyes, and a few freckles.


    "What''s your question? I''d be glad to help!" The tour guide smiled kindly.


    "It was really unfortunate, but I''m more inclined to think that his luck was just bad!" The tour guide smiled. "Although there was also a saying that Vincent went mad after his third son died in an accident and every oil painting he created toward the later stages of his life was cursed, there weren''t many collectors who suffered from misfortune¡­"


    "Then, the legend about his identity is also fake, for example¡­ being a wizard?" the freckled boy continued to ask.


    "Young man, the ships of the federation could cross the ocean a hundred years ago to arrive at the Black Continent and Yellow Continent, almost exploring the entire world. However, none of those ancient legends such as wizards, werewolves, and witches who specialized in kidnapping children have ever been found!" The tour guide pushed her glasses higher up her nose. "Compared to that, you believe in those historical songs? For example, about the Ancients who ruled the planet?"


    "Haha¡­"


    The female tour guide''s playful reply caused jolly laughter.


    Amid the hustle, the freckled boy lowered his head, and his eyes flashed with a bit of unwillingness.


    Another lover of the occult! Fang Yuan secretly commented on the teenager and then looked at the tour guide.


    She was well-dressed, tall, and had a small nameplate pinned in front of her full chest. Angelina?! Another interesting person!


    After finishing with this exhibition hall, he walked into another hall.


    It was a fusion of historical and cultural exhibitions. There were different landscapes in each hall and even rare products from the Black and Yellow continents.


    Although Fang Yuan somewhat disapproved of this method of distinguishing continents based on their skin color, it had become custom in this country, so he let it be.


    It was just that all the citizens of the White continent felt as though they were superior and civilized. As for the Black and Yellow continents? That was where slaves and farmers were born. And of course, there were also some terrible spells and voodoo legends¡­


    After he finished browsing, he walked out of the exhibition hall and called for a carriage.


    This carriage was painted black and reflected the sun. The coachman sat in his position with a serious and respectful expression.


    "To 23 Parasol Street!"


    Fang Yuan got on the carriage and tossed a silver coin. The carriage started rumbling along.


    Although cars had existed for some time, horse-drawn carriages were still important short-distance transportation tools.


    Within the soft carriage, Fang Yuan was playing with a gold coin in his hand with great interest.


    This was the gold punk currency issued by the Carls Federation. It was the largest domination unit and had the federal emblem on the front and a steam locomotive engraved on the back, giving off a charming luster.


    "The federation issued paper gold punks this year, but there''s obviously still a long way to go before the public accepts it. Only some merchants are using it¡­"


    Two black horses marched happily and reached Parasol Street in no time.


    Fang Yuan came to his property with his cane in hand.


    This was a two-story loft with the sign ''Old Man Javier''s Convenience Store'' on the door!


    Old Man Javier was a small businessman who had made more than a hundred gold punks, a huge sum, through his business.


    This amount of money would have been enough for him to have a good life for the rest of his life. It was a pity that he had drunk too much rum, and while he was unable to think clearly, he heard the enticement of a captain and invested all of his savings in an ocean journey.


    Unfortunately, that merchant ship had sunk in a storm. Not only did the expected fifty percent gain not materialize, but the principle had not returned either. To make matters worse, Old Man Javier had even borrowed a huge sum of money from a financial company in order to make a fortune.


    The ending was obvious¡ªdivorce, bankruptcy, auctions¡­ After some formalities, Fang Yuan obtained this store and even bought the several houses behind it to stay in.


    "Welcome back, Master!"


    In the original store, all the goods had been cleared away and replaced with glass counters and tall wooden shelves. A tall, green-haired woman in a black and white maid uniform was wiping the glass when she saw Fang Yuan return. She nearly knelt in her welcome.


    "Morigu Tata, I said before, call me Mister in the future! There''s no need to maintain such formality¡­"


    Although this maid caused many neighbors to covet her¡ªFang Yuan even saw them staring at his balcony every day¡ªthey did not know how scary this maid they were yearning for was.


    "Also¡­ don''t dirty our floor and ceiling. I don''t want to scare our customers away or cause some bad transformations¡­"


    Fang Yuan''s current cultivation could fully conceal his Dao Fruit power. He was no different from ordinary people, and there was no problem with radiation escaping or worry about contamination.


    But Morigu Tata was different.


    Compared to the humans on this planet, she was a real high-energy life form, and she was transforming the surrounding environment every moment.


    If not for Fang Yuan restricting her, the whole street would have probably become an environment similar to the Arita World, completely occupied by plant life.


    "Sorry, Mister¡­" Morigu Tata immediately apologized fearfully. On the surface, she was still a cute girl worried about doing the wrong things.


    However, Fang Yuan''s gaze condensed, and he saw a jade Uyguklai shivering.


    "Forget it. Get ready, our first customer is coming. There''s no need to change our sign first. Is there anything else?" Fang Yuan asked casually as he took off his jacket and hung it on a rack.


    He did not use his Dao Fruit to obtain this information. Rather, he was completely enjoying role-playing as an ordinary human.


    "Mrs. Mary, the neighbor, visited with a lemon cake. She also invited you to a party three days later!"


    "Hmm, that''s quite exciting. What do you think?"


    "Mister¡­ In fact, it''s difficult for me to understand them. Their technology is so backward, yet they are so complacent and waste their lives on meaningless things¡­" Morigu Tata obviously did not like that lemon cake.


    "Also¡­ their scientific research mentality is a real mess. The wizards of Mandala received the technology we gave them a long time ago, but there has been no progress at all. They''re even actually regressing¡­


    "But they''re still of value as experimental subjects!"


    Fang Yuan sat behind the counter and opened a black leather book to read.


    Morigu Tata quickly served him with his habitual hot cocoa and a piece of cake.


    Fang Yuan''s prediction was right on point. A few minutes later, a young man entered the store. "Huh? Where''s Old Man Javier? The store has been renovated? Really cool!!!"


    "Welcome, dear sir!" Fang Yuan raised his head with a smile on his face. "The products in this store are one of a kind!"

 1140 Fishing

    Even though the sign had not changed, after Fang Yuan settled in, the store was naturally not selling any of those ordinary commodities like it did in the past.


    The current store, in the words of the young man, was indeed really cool! There was a massive goat head suspended in the center of the store, and the glass jars on the shelves were full of all sorts of unknown liquids and emitting colorful lusters.


    Within the glass counters, there were even more peculiar items.


    Fang Yuan stood up and introduced his products one by one.


    "Four-leaf Clover Charm! Said to bring good fortune!


    "Toad eyeballs, air-dried bat wings, and an unusual cursed silver knife¡­


    "What do you think?"


    "Too¡­ awesome!" The young man nodded fiercely. People at this age were the most rebellious. When they saw deviant styles and objects, they felt that these items were very tasteful.


    As for trouble?


    Haha¡­ The Carls Federation did not have any laws restricting this area. In fact, there even seemed to be a trend for these dark items recently. An increasing number of young people were into non-mainstream elements like skull necklaces, black eye sockets, and so on.


    In comparison, these were nothing significant.


    "What does this rope do?" The young man walked one round before stopping in front of a rope.


    "This is a knot braided using marsh marigold herb. I used a huge sum of money to exchange for it from one of the aboriginal tribes of the Black Continent. You should know how ignorant those aboriginal tribes are. They don''t even have their own language, so they record important matters using knots¡­ Do you want to purchase one? Who knows it has a mysterious ritual recorded within it? I will only charge you three silver sols." Fang Yuan''s voice gradually became softer.


    "No¡­ I just thought it was an ordinary knotted rope¡­" The young man stared at Fang Yuan suspiciously, like he was looking at a profiteer. "You actually want to sell this to me for three silver sols? With the Black Iron God as my witness, I can purchase a cart full of ropes like this with three silver sols!"


    "I''m merely suggesting!" Fang Yuan shrugged, regained his lazy expression, sat down, and continued reading a book.


    "A book? There are books here?"


    The young man walked to a bookshelf and looked at the sporadic books all over the place.


    Morigu stared fiercely at the boy before turning to another side to sweep.


    "Your maid is really pretty! Where did you hire her from?"


    The young man stared at Morigu''s outstanding butt as he swallowed his saliva.


    "I randomly found her¡­" Fang Yuan smiled. "So, young man, have you finished choosing?"


    "No hurry! Hold on!" the young man responded without sincerity. Suddenly, he grabbed a large book.


    "Voodoo Rituals¡­ Young man, you have great judgment!" Fang Yuan feigned amazement. "This is one of the few rare collections in my store! It only costs one gold punk!"


    "Why don''t you just rob someone?" When the young man heard this, he immediately threw the book back onto the shelf.


    "Would robbing earn me money as fast as this?" Fang Yuan shrugged, acting nonchalant.


    "Tsk tsk¡­ tsk tsk¡­"


    Just as the young man was leaving, he seemed to hear something coming from ''Voodoo Rituals''.


    He suddenly felt slightly dizzy, as if he had double vision. He shook his head.


    He inadvertently saw Morigu''s back, and it seemed she was overlapping with some plant, making him jump.


    He hurriedly rubbed his eyes and looked back again, but nothing was different from usual.


    Damn it! What the hell is going on?


    Although he immediately wanted to leave this unscrupulous store, this young man could not help it as he stepped forward, picked up Voodoo Rituals, and flipped to the first page:


    "When lightning surges and thunder erupts,


    grant me peace and protect my valor.


    When lightning erupts and thunder surges,


    light from the evening prayer set my mind at rest.


    Go away, evil spirit, leave along with thou¡­"


    "This is a protection incantation. Below are the required tools for the ritual: stewing pot, black snake, wasp, toad, bedbug¡­"


    ¡­


    Smack!


    The next moment, the book snapped shut.


    The young man felt irritated as he looked up and saw Fang Yuan with a golden watch, looking at the time. "My apologies¡­ The books are only free to read for five minutes!"


    "I''ll buy it, but one gold punk is seriously too expensive!" The young man tried to bargain.


    This feeling of blood connection made him reluctant to give it up.


    "No way! I''m a businessman, and a businessman must stand by the marked price!" Fang Yuan shook his head.


    "Then¡­ can you reserve it for me for a while?" the young man asked.


    "No problem!" Fang Yuan agreed happily this time. "Your name?"


    "Simon! My name is Simon!" the young man hurriedly replied, realizing he had yet to introduce himself.


    "All right, Mr. Simon, I will give you seven days to raise the money. If you come back within seven days, you can bring this away with one gold punk. But after seven days, I can''t guarantee anything¡­"


    Fang Yuan placed Voodoo Rituals back on the shelf and showed him to the door.


    "All right!" Simon left the store reluctantly, and his heart was brimming with a strange feeling. "That book¡­ just what was going on?"


    Suddenly, he was shocked to find that he could not forget the page that he read from the book. It seemed to be imprinted deeply into his brain.


    Morigu looked at Simon''s back and said to Fang Yuan, "Mister, I saw something bad in his eyes. I doubt he will fulfill his promise faithfully! If he comes back at night, can I dispose of him?"


    "Dispose of him? Why?" Fang Yuan revealed a mysterious smile. "Since his desire for the occult is so strong, it''s only right for me to fulfill his wish¡­"


    In reality, the so-called Voodoo Rituals was basically something he had fabricated.


    However, although the book was fake, the incantations and rituals in it were real and extremely effective.


    Simon was undoubtedly someone with a decent aptitude.


    At the thought of this, he felt even more delighted as he sat back in his chair and enjoyed his hot cocoa.


    Beside the cake, there was a shrunken version of the Book of Flesh. The large eye on the cover seemed to blink once.


    "Very good. Omar indeed has some followers in this world¡­" Fang Yuan smiled. "Because of the Book of Flesh''s attraction, they will draw closer to Kimbert City. The future is bound to be very interesting¡­"


    "I don''t understand! Mister, they''re merely some followers that I''m willing to dispose of for you!" Morigu was puzzled. To her, those bastards were definitely not worthy enough for her almighty master to act!


    An adult Uyguklai was considered extremely powerful among all the followers of the Outer Gods. As long as they did not meet a genuine progeny of an Outer God like that Eye of Darkness, they could easily run amuck on a planet.


    But for some reason, her master continued to watch more darkness invading Kimbert City and yet chose to do nothing.


    "Morigu, ah¡­ In the future, besides doing housework, you have to learn how to fish!" Fang Yuan said meaningfully, "You have to learn how to enjoy the fun of fishing!"


    ¡­


    In just an afternoon, Fang Yuan welcomed many more customers.


    The majority of them were either scared off by the strange items or the high prices, but a few cautiously purchased some items, all of which were casually made by Fang Yuan.


    Even though they were small items, they suited the customers'' individualistic natures, so they were incredibly appealing.


    At night, a blonde, freckled youngster entered the store.


    "Welcome, Little Mister!" Fang Yuan smiled in welcome. "This is our second meeting!"


    "Second?" the freckled youngster asked doubtfully.


    "The first time we met was during the morning exhibition. Are you very interested in Vincent?" Fang Yuan stared excitedly at this fellow that was reluctantly considered a big fish. Fang Yuan could clearly sense a trace of destiny on him. "You can call me Andy!"


    "I-I am Nietzsche!" The blonde boy bowed slightly awkwardly. "I''m very pleased to meet you again. I am quite interested in those legendary mysteries, and people around me have been saying that your store has some really¡­ eccentric items!"


    Nietzsche was not that shameless. When he said the last words, his face turned slightly red.


    "They are indeed eccentric to ordinary people!" Fang Yuan continued in a mysterious tone, "So¡­ are you ready to step into the extraordinary world?"


    "What? Extraordinaries really exist?" Nietzsche''s eyes lit up like when he saw Vincent earlier.


    "Of course¡­ Otherwise, where do you think my items came from?"


    Fang Yuan lifted a glass jar with a dried-up purple human hand. "Kappa Hand! Legend has it that it brings bad luck!


    "A mysterious amulet from the Yellow Continent! It is said that igniting it will produce a bizarre energy!


    "And this is a local product, the Sun Protective Talisman. I like the very unique design of the sun! Even if it doesn''t have any extraordinary power, it''s still a work of art¡­" At the end, he was holding a golden figure. "This only cost five gold punks! It can''t get any cheaper than this!"


    "Oh¡­ I can''t afford a single item here!" Nietzsche grinned as he emptied his pockets only to reveal a few pathetic coppers.


    "Okay¡­" Fang Yuan sighed disappointingly as he placed the items back. After pondering for a bit, he picked up a small bottle. "Kid, your sincerity has touched me. I believe this is most suitable for you¡­ Spirit Awakening Water! It''s a potion concocted by a wizard. Using it to wash your eyes gives you a certain probability of becoming able to see extraordinary things!"


    "Thank you, Mister!" Nietzsche gratefully reached into his pockets and handed everything he had over to Fang Yuan before leaving with the bottle.


    Fang Yuan tossed the coppers into the loose change cabinet. "Morigu, remember to add some more plain water¡­"

 1141 Protective Talisman

    As the silver moonlight fell, darkness covered the sky.


    "I must be crazy!"


    A black figure appeared at the corner of the street, with a cap covering half his face. It was Simon!


    He had no idea why, but because he was curious, after walking into that store and seeing that Voodoo Rituals, he seemed to have a recurring voice in his heart.


    "Hiss¡­ Obtain it! I must obtain it!"


    Even so, the cost of one gold punk was clearly too much for him.


    Nevertheless, Simon decided to do things his own way, a way that should not be done during the day.


    During his rebellious youth, he had done many things that made adults detest him¡ªheavy drinking, depraved parties, fighting¡­ In fact, he had even learned some quick money-making skills from an old swindler.


    "I noticed the store''s lock is very easy to pry open¡­ I can probably take some other items with me too¡­"


    While walking on the empty streets, Simon felt his reason gradually return. "But¡­ why do I believe there are occult powers in this world? Still, being able to buy the store from Old Man Javier means that the store owner must be pretty rich!"


    Even he did not realize that while his rational self had always refused to believe in the existence of extraordinary powers, many other unknown factors were still pushing him closer to the store.


    Crunch! Crunch!


    After walking past the street corner, Simon suddenly heard the sound of what appeared to be chewing.


    "It''s already so late at night, so who''s out here eating and making such loud noises?"


    With a trace of curiosity, he walked forward slowly and entered a dark alley.


    The end of this alley was a wall and even a few stinky garbage cans by the side.


    At this time, however, two black figures were lying on the ground and seemed to be devouring something.


    Bloop!


    Simon suddenly felt his limbs turn cold as he swallowed his saliva and backed away slowly.


    It seemed like his actions were still too loud as the two black figures turned around, showing blood-shot eyes.


    With the help of the moonlight, he could even see a corpse lying on the ground, with a ripped-opened stomach. The corpse had wide-opened eyes, and all kinds of internal organs were spilling out with fresh blood.


    "Ahh!!!" Simon screamed and started running away fearfully.


    In the dark night, this scene reminded him of the legendary ghouls.


    Ca Ca!


    Ca Ca!


    Behind him, the footsteps were getting closer and closer, bringing a burst of strong wind.


    Simon only felt a surging force hit him before he fell onto the ground shortly after.


    He hurriedly rolled forward and turned around to see the two ghouls approaching.


    "Ghouls! Ghouls are real!!!"


    Simon was sweating profusely in disbelief.


    The sharp claws and rotten mouths dripping with drool were constantly getting closer.


    "No! No! I don''t want to die!"


    He felt wetness between his legs as his hands supported his body to crawl backward. A deathly premonition flooded his heart.


    Seconds later, just as the ghouls extended their sharp claws and were about to touch his face, Simon suddenly thought of something and immediately recited out loud:


    "When lightning surges and thunder erupts,


    grant me peace and protect my valor.


    When lightning erupts and thunder surges,


    light from the evening prayer set my mind at rest.


    Go away, evil spirit, leave along with thou¡­"


    His eyes lost focus as he subconsciously recited it in his head as well.


    When the two ghouls heard this sound, they suddenly stopped moving forward and instead moved backward while making threatening gestures, full of unwillingness.


    "The protective talisman from Voodoo Rituals actually works?"


    Simon was slightly dazed, but when he saw that the ghouls were about to move forward again, he continued shouting with a trembling voice, "Go away, evil spirit, leave along with thou!"


    Under the incantation, the two ghouls slowly retreated into the darkness and disappeared without a trace.


    "Hu¡­" Simon let out a deep breath, feeling that his legs had gone so soft that he could no longer stand.


    Swish! Swish!


    Suddenly, an ear-piercing whistle rang out from not too far away.


    If it were a minute ago, Simon would have been more than happy to look for those inspectors for help.


    But now, he was hesitant.


    After all, there were records of the crimes that he had committed before. Furthermore, he was out here planning to do something bad tonight.


    If caught, he certainly had no explanation for this, especially with the corpse.


    At the thought of the corpse, Simon quickly stood up and fled the scene.


    Otherwise, how would he explain himself to the inspectors? Would he really tell them that ghouls had attacked him? He certainly did not want to be sent for psychological evaluation.


    "That Voodoo Rituals book¡­ I must obtain it!"


    At the thought of the ghouls and the magical incantation, Simon''s eyes lit up, feeling like a huge door had just opened in front of him.


    ¡­


    In the early morning, Fang Yuan opened his store and stretched lazily. "Good morning, Mr. Fred!"


    "Good morning, Mr. Andy!" The fat man opposite him was clearly slightly regretful. "What good weather¡­ Hey, isn''t it normally your maid who opens the door?"


    "You mean Morigu?" Fang Yuan smiled. "She was busy throughout the night, so I got her to make coffee."


    "Throughout¡­ the night?" Fred''s eyes widened as he suddenly felt an immense hit to his confidence. "I really admire you, Mr. Andy. What''s your secret?"


    "Secret? Very simple¡­" Fang Yuan stopped talking when he turned his head and saw a lady returning with a breadbasket.


    "Lucy, good morning!" Fred and Fang Yuan exchanged glances and ended their conversation sensibly. "You''ve finished purchasing bread so quickly?"


    "En¡­" The female neighbor, Lucy, looked slightly distracted. "Gentlemen, have you heard? Just two streets away from us, there was a homicide, and the entire scene has been sealed up."


    "Robbery? Or murder?" Fred was evidently interested.


    "Neither¡­ I''ve heard the scene is¡­ very horrifying!" Lucy looked terrified as she ran home.


    Fang Yuan shrugged, returned to the store, and picked up a newspaper.


    Half an hour later, the first customer entered the store and angrily slammed a small bottle on the counter. "I want a refund!"


    "It''s you, Nietzsche!" Fang Yuan yawned casually. "Once sold, no refunds!"


    "You''ve clearly said that this was Spirit Awakening Water, but after using it last night, I didn''t see or feel anything!" Nietzsche argued.


    "Young man, this is authentic Spirit Awakening Water. Didn''t you hear me say that there''s only a ''certain probability'' of it working?!" Fang Yuan shrugged.


    "You¡­" Nietzsche was speechless, his eyes revealing indignation at how unscrupulous Fang Yuan was.


    "Sorry to disturb you!" A female inspector in black uniform and carrying a gun walked into the store and presented her ID. "I am Probationary Inspector Vivienne, and I have something to ask the owner!"


    "That''s me! How may I help you, beautiful lady?" Fang Yuan smiled and stepped forward.


    This female inspector had well-proportioned muscles like a cheetah and a healthy and beautiful stature. The serious expression on her face made Nietzsche suddenly not dare to speak, but he glanced at her sneakily.


    "It''s about the homicide that happened last night. I need to carry out some routine inquiries. Do you know Mr. Capone?"


    "Capone? No, I don''t know him!" Fang Yuan shook his head.


    "A witness said that he was in this store yesterday afternoon!" The female inspector looked suspicious. "He was wearing a blue checkered shirt and black leather shoes¡­"


    "Oh, him!" Fang Yuan suddenly realized. "He was an unfamiliar customer, and it was his first visit. Ma''am, you should know it''s impossible for me to remember the name of every single customer. But he was indeed generous and wealthy, and he bought my ''Ghoul Claw Talisman''. I have to admit that he has fantastic judgment because that was a rare treasure of my store¡­"


    After hearing this, Nietzsche rolled his eyes.


    "Talisman?" The female inspector narrowed her eyes slightly.


    "Yes. Made of pure silver and inlaid with a fragment of a ghoul''s claw¡­ priced at five silver sol!" Fang Yuan explained honestly. "What happened to him?"


    "Attacked and confirmed dead¡­" Inspector Vivienne replied expressionlessly. "We didn''t find any talisman on his body¡­"


    Smack!


    Fang Yuan punched his fist against his palm. "I know! It must be robbery and murder! The thief must have great judgment to know the value of this talisman¡­"


    Even Vivienne rolled her eyes a little. "Mr. Andy! Please do not make unnecessary conjectures! Did Capone say or do anything unusual when he came here yesterday?"


    After a series of questions, she put away her notebook. "Thank you for your cooperation. Before the case comes to a close, I have the authority to subpoena you at any point in time!"


    After the female inspector left, Simon walked in with an extremely pale face and poured coins onto the counter. "One gold punk! Quickly give me that Voodoo Rituals!"


    Morigu collected the money, not looking pleased at all.


    She had waited all night for the thief, but nobody came.


    "Okay, it''s yours now!" Fang Yuan did not care about how Simon had collected the money and handed the red book over.


    This large transaction caused Nietzsche''s eyes to open wide.


    At this moment, Simon hesitated for a while before asking with a trembling voice, "Mister¡­ do you believe that this world has¡­ ghosts and monsters?"


    "Of course!" Fang Yuan replied with hesitation. "Otherwise, where do you think all these mysterious items in my store came from?"


    "Then, is there anything wandering around here? For example¡­ ghouls?!" Simon stared at Fang Yuan''s eyes.


    "Ghouls? I don''t know¡­" Fang Yuan shrugged. "But if you''re troubled by ghouls, I recommend you purchase a Ghoul Talisman! It''s only five silver sols!! However, a talisman like this is only for those with a firm heart and mind. Otherwise, it can easily attract the hostility of ghouls¡­"

 1142 Ghouls

    "Easily attract the hostility of ghouls?" Simon jumped in fright.


    By the side, Nietzsche covered his mouth with both hands.


    "You don''t have to make such a big fuss over it. Most extraordinary items will usually have some sort of side effect¡­ For example, the Spirit Awakening Water''s side effect is already considered one of the more insignificant ones¡­"


    Fang Yuan looked at Nietzsche with a smile. "So, do you want to try your luck with another bottle?"


    "No! I don''t want one!"


    Nietzsche ran out of the store as fast as he could and toward the end of the street where he saw the back of the female inspector. "Please wait!"


    "What matter do you have?" Vivienne turned around and scrutinized Nietzsche.


    "My name is Nietzsche, and I was in the store just now. I want to ask how Capone died. Was he attacked by a ghoul?"


    "Ghoul?" Vivienne sneered. "Brat! Don''t listen to those rumors! Even though Capone''s wounds look like they were caused by some kind of wild beast, I''m more inclined toward a lion, tiger, or even a few stray dogs!"


    After saying that, an annoyed expression appeared on her face. "Oh Black Iron God! I violated that cursed confidential regulation again. Brat, you have to promise me you won''t leak it!"


    It''s¡­ actually true! Nietzsche took a step back, and Fang Yuan''s description of the Ghoul Talisman appeared in his mind. If the heart or mind isn''t firm, the Ghoul Talisman will easily attract the hostility of ghouls¡­ Hostility! This is it!


    He took a deep breath. "There are ghouls wandering around Kimbert City!"


    Bang!


    In response, a car door shut.


    Clearly, the female inspector did not believe a single word of what he had said at all.


    Dejected, Nietzsche returned to the store and stared at Fang Yuan. "You are a murderer¡­"


    "Brat, don''t spout nonsense¡­" Fang Yuan blew on his cocoa. "When I sold it, I had already made it extremely clear¡­ Moreover, do you really believe there are ghouls around?"


    "I believe!" Nietzsche replied in a deep voice.


    "Seems like you''re a person with a story¡­ Mind sharing with me?" Fang Yuan smiled. His voice contained a certain energy that made Nietzsche subconsciously relax and sit on the sofa.


    "Story¡­ What story do I have?" Nietzsche was shocked.


    "For example, a certain imprint on your body. I don''t know when you got it, but I heard that anyone with one would eventually encounter misfortune¡­" Fang Yuan pointed at the back of Nietzsche''s neck.


    "You know¡­" Nietzsche''s eyes were suddenly full of terror. "¡­ the ''Sin Imprint'' incident?"


    "Sin Imprint?" Fang Yuan chuckled.


    "Yes¡­ The Sin Imprint is a sinner''s proof. Because this Sin Imprint runs through the bloodline of my family, our numbers have decreased significantly, and only a few of us are left¡­" Nietzsche bit his lips.


    "Symbol?" Nietzsche questioned.


    "As an offering for a certain ritual. It''s an imprint dedicated to a certain existence. Your ancestor should have been chosen as a sacrifice but fortunately managed to escape. But it''s a pity that despite escaping, it still continues to flow in your bloodline, attracting the attention of those from the darkness¡­"


    Fang Yuan continued, "But I will neither tell you the name nor write it down because it will be blasphemy once relevant information appears. This is the source of all evil!"


    "Yes, even the Church of the Black Iron God was unable to remove this curse¡­ But after I grow up, it will erupt completely¡­" Nietzsche''s voice was firm and persistent. "Mister, do you have any suggestions?"


    "What suggestion could I possibly have? I''m merely the boss of an ordinary convenience store¡­ Moreover, my knowledge is limited to this¡­" Fang Yuan passed the buck irresponsibly. "I know you''re seeking extraordinary powers and are desperate to fight this curse, but let''s talk about the ghouls now!"


    "You¡­" Nietzsche''s face turned red, and he wanted to throw the teacup at Fang Yuan''s face but did not dare to. His eyes seemed to be saying, How can you be this shameless?


    "Don''t be angry! I''m really not the murderer. Furthermore, even if my Ghoul Talisman can attract ghouls, they would have to be nearby too!" Fang Yuan said with an innocent look.


    "Have to be¡­ nearby?" Nietzsche was frightened by this conclusion. "Are you saying that Kimbert City already had ghouls?"


    "And there must be quite a few. Otherwise, how would it be so easy to encounter them? There might even be a ghoul lair!" Fang Yuan stared at Nietzsche. "After knowing this, what are you planning to do?"


    "Of course, I have to find the lair!" Nietzsche replied without giving it much thought.


    "Very good! Young man, you have the potential to open a detective society. Do you need my help?" Fang Yuan sipped his cocoa.


    "Detective society?" Nietzsche was utterly confused by how Fang Yuan could jump from one topic to another.


    "Archaeologist, artist, detective¡­ are the easiest professions to come into contact with the extraordinary¡­" Fang Yuan said meaningfully. "For example, Vincent! You''re very interested in him, right?!"


    "Yes, because he is indeed an Extraordinary, and my elder is sure of this. He once rescued my elder, who mentioned that his strength was much stronger than many long-lived species!" Nietzsche was full of admiration.


    "Indeed, if you were as strong as Vincent, you probably won''t need to worry about that Sin Imprint anymore¡­" Fang Yuan nodded. "But let''s continue talking about the ghouls! Finding their lair is relatively simple. You just have to look at where a large number of homeless have disappeared or places with a chain of tomb robberies¡­ But how do you plan on destroying them? Or rather, do you even know what ghouls are?"


    "No¡­" Nietzsche shook his head, puzzled.


    "They have blood-red eyes and dried-up skin, and they possess decent defense and extremely sharp claws¡­ Of course, to deal with their attacks, you merely have to be prepared beforehand and equipped with proper firepower¡­ However, this is definitely not the end of ghouls! Do you know what the essence of ghouls is?"


    Fang Yuan reclined leisurely. He did not think that Nietzsche could answer, so he answered directly, "It is desire! A desire to eat excessively! Since it''s incorporeal, there''s naturally no way to destroy it! Even if you burned all of a ghoul''s flesh, its spirit would continue to reverberate in the air and linger around their grave until it finds the next suitable host¡­"


    "So, does that mean there''s no way to get rid of them?" Nietzsche was dismayed.


    "Ghouls are far from being invincible. Any extraordinary power can damage this gluttonous desire. Of course, the Church of the Black Iron God can probably do it too¡­"


    After saying this, Fang Yuan waved his hand, gesturing for Morigu to send Nietzsche out.


    After Morigu came back, she said nervously, "Mas¡­ Mister! That imprint¡­ I saw it! It''s a sacrificial imprint belonging to Omar¡­ That human''s ancestor was once a sacrifice of Omar, and now the descendants of the family can''t escape the fate of being sacrifices¡­"


    The fate of being an Outer God''s sacrifice was not easy to escape.


    Once marked with an imprint, even if they could avoid it once, they would not be let off easily by the followers or worshippers in the future.


    In fact, it would pass down the bloodline, and the spread of this poison would be endless.


    "Why don''t you let me dispose of it?"


    The extraordinary Morigu had always viewed Omar as an enemy and was clearly disgusted after seeing the imprint.


    She knew that with this Sin Imprint, Nietzsche''s strength alone was definitely not enough to get rid of it. In the future, he would surely become a sacrifice and contribute to Omar''s happiness.


    "Don''t be anxious, Morigu¡­ My plan has yet to begin!"


    Fang Yuan had a cheeky smile as he gently caressed the cover of the Book of Flesh. "As long as I have this, an increasing number of Omar''s followers will gather¡­ And once they expand to a certain extent, they will naturally want to carry out some taboo rituals. For example, summoning an Eye of Darkness? And what if an Eye of Darkness was gotten rid of once more?"


    "Then Omar might come down in person¡­ Master, are you planning¡­"


    Morigu Tata felt the trembling of her soul. Just thinking about an existence of that level was enough to make her tremble.


    But her master actually dared to plot against this opponent. Just what realm was he at?


    "That monster has been avoiding me ever since it ate a loss in our earlier encounter¡­" Fang Yuan sighed. "Leaving an existence like this alone is a hidden danger. Naturally, I have to get rid of it for good! In order to accomplish this goal of baiting it, I can''t expose my strength before its true body arrives¡­"


    In fact, this was also a type of fishing and trapping.


    Of course, Fang Yuan did not mention some of the other important points.


    For example, settling the grudge was only one aspect. His true motive was still that Eyeball of Destruction. It seemed to be extremely interested in the intrinsic quality of the Outer Gods.


    Otherwise, it was just a badly-damaged seal and not going to be of much benefit. It was mainly for research.


    "I understand, Master¡­ But can that human truly complete Master''s plan?"


    Morigu Tata felt that she did not even need to do anything but simply reveal her true form, and that measly human would turn into a corpse in front of her.


    "The potential of a human''s will to live is endless. Moreover, he has a trace of destiny and a natural hatred toward Omar. He makes a perfect chess piece and bait¡­ Besides, an old swindler like me isn''t just going to watch¡­"


    Fang Yuan smiled meaningfully. "Furthermore¡­ we can have more than one piece of bait. Even if something unexpected were to happen to him, we could simply change to another one. We have plenty of time, and it''s normal for a war between Gods to last incomparable long, so what''s the rush?"


    He stared into the void, as though he had already seen everything in the future.

 1144 Dark Nigh

    "Resurrected Corpses possess tremendous strength, but their bodies are still living organisms, so they also require meals. But this isn''t a weakness¡­" Simon was very clear about this.


    "In today''s society, the appearance of a corpse or resurrection of any sort will immediately attract the attention of the police and lead to a strict investigation. But it''s different for Resurrected Corpses because if I release the restrictions, they''ll look like a group of mentally retarded people or idiots. Either way, they won''t reek of death at all¡­ I bet society won''t even notice a group of homeless people becoming retards. After all, what''s the difference between looking for food in the trash and being mentally retarded? It''s the most convenient cover¡­"


    In fact, some of the high-tier Resurrected Corpses that went through training would even look like imposing bodyguards of few words, which could save him a lot of trouble.


    "Moreover, according to Voodoo Rituals, Resurrected Corpses have an extremely effective defense against many spells and curses because those spells are only effective against the living! If I were to enslave corpses to resist for me, they would merely pass through the corpses and act on me! However, Resurrected Corpses can defend me effectively!" Simon said excitedly while taking out the materials for the spell: a piece of oat bread, a handful of white salt, and a few bottles.


    "I shall bestow power¡­ unto my servants!" Simon began chanting, and under the flashes of fire and moonlight, this scene seemed even more terrifying.


    He cut the oat bread and sprinkled the white salt all over it. "May the salt cleanse your soul. May the bread strengthen your body¡­"


    Shortly after, Simon dropped a few drops of Datura blood onto it before forcing it into the mouth of the homeless man while chanting the incantation. He pressed the homeless man''s throat to ensure he swallowed the bread.


    Moments later, the cursed homeless man started twitching violently and constantly rolled his eyes.


    "Darkness, I beg you to make my servant strong!


    "Darkness, I beg you to make my servant fear no pain!"


    ¡­


    In Nietzsche''s horrified eyes, that homeless man started releasing crackling explosive sounds before standing up. He tore his upper body clothes, and pale but ripped muscles appeared with many veins and muscles squirming intensely. It looked extremely frightening.


    The entire camp suddenly became silent.


    Only at this moment did he realize that everyone around him, regardless of gender, had already passed out a long time ago. He was the only one still conscious.


    Finally, that unbearable incantation stopped, and that homeless man had suddenly turned into a two-meter tall, expressionless giant.


    Seeing this, Simon laughed out loud. "Haha¡­ My servant, I shall bestow upon you the name¡­ Arank!"


    Presently, he could be regarded as a proper Voodoo Wizard. This speed was simply incredible!


    "I am indeed a genius in occult studies¡­" Simon thought smugly and did not even consider the possibility of someone else being behind the scenes. Suddenly, he turned around and stared at Nietzsche.


    "Not good!"


    Nietzsche subconsciously felt the gaze and quickly shut his eyes.


    Unfortunately, it was too late.


    "Bring him to me, Arank!"


    Following Simon''s shout, Nietzsche felt two iron pincers grabbing him hard on the shoulders and lifting him from the ground.


    He opened his eyes and looked right at Simon, trying his best to speak with his swollen tongue.


    "You merely woke up and haven''t recovered your ability to move yet? I overestimated you¡­"


    Simon pointed at Nietzsche''s neck, and he immediately regained his ability to speak. "W-we met once at Old Man Javier''s Convenience Store¡­"


    "Yes, I have a slight impression. But so what?" Simon sneered and crossed his arms.


    "¡­" Nietzsche was speechless. Indeed, they had only met once, but that was all. Simon really had no reason to let him off. It was not as though they were students of the same teacher.


    "What a pity¡­" Simon''s expression was slightly peculiar. "Being able to stay awake under my spell means that you''re someone with ''qualification''. Maybe you can even become a wizard like me, so turning you into a Resurrected Corpse seems a little wasteful¡­"


    Nietzsche''s eyes lit up, as though he saw hope.


    "If I were to turn you into a ''vengeful spirit'', it might suit a person with such high mental strength like you¡­ Unfortunately, I don''t have this ability yet¡­"


    The very next moment, Simon''s words sent Nietzsche into the deepest abyss.


    "So¡­" Simon picked up a piece of bread. "Eat it!"


    "Woo woo!" Nietzsche clenched his teeth hard and struggled with all his might.


    "Really¡­ Arank, force his mouth open for me!" Simon was utterly discomfited as ordered the Resurrected Corpse. A split second later, Nietzsche felt a violent strength forcing his mouth open and two fingers extending into his mouth. Nietzsche bit them hard, but he felt as though he were biting extremely tough rubber. The Resurrected Corpse showed no change in expression at all.


    "Haha¡­ This is fate!" Simon laughed pridefully. "When the opportunity came, I firmly grasped it, giving me this strength¡­ while you can only lay on the ground helplessly¡­"


    Nietzsche could not help having tears flowing from his eyes as he watched the bread inching closer.


    He had never thought that his life would end like this.


    He was not caught by the evil cultists and sacrificed as an offering. Instead, he was going to die in such a ridiculous way!


    Bang Bang!


    However, the next moment Simon suddenly turned his head and looked at the darkness of the camp. "Who''s there?"


    Nietzsche turned his head as well, and his eyes grew incredibly large.


    Over ten scarlet eyes flashed in the darkness and gradually walked out of the darkness.


    More than ten malevolent-looking ghouls were half-crawling on the ground like wild beasts ready to pounce on their prey.


    "Ghouls? The ghouls are attacking the homeless!" Nietzsche instantly understood that the recently disappearing homeless was because of them.


    Evidently, a homeless camp was a land of fresh meat to the ghouls.


    Tonight, they treated this place as their hunting ground but had unexpectedly delayed Nietzsche''s death.


    Creak! Creak!


    Some of them had hunchbacks, some were walking like humans, while others had all four limbs on the ground, like wild beasts. They entered the camp and started devouring their prey.


    The unconscious homeless people could not even put up a fight as they turned into food.


    Blood splattered everywhere; organs flew all over the place. The entire camp instantly became a slaughterhouse.


    "Damn it¡­ They were my prey¡­" Simon muttered furiously and instructed Arank to step back.


    A few ghouls lifted their heads, with bones and organs dripping with blood in their mouths, and slowly surrounded them.


    Simon took a deep breath and recited the incantation:


    "When lightning surges and thunder erupts,


    grant me peace and protect my valor.


    When lightning erupts and thunder surges,


    light from the evening prayer set my mind at rest.


    Go away, evil spirit, leave along with thou¡­"


    Some ghouls stopped moving forward and began slowly moving backward.


    However, more ghouls heard the commotion and started joining in.


    Nietzsche immediately saw cold sweat dripping down Simon''s forehead.


    Obviously, Simon''s accomplishment in protection spells was only useful against one or two ghouls but not effective against so many of them.


    Ten ghouls approached closer and closer, and Simon''s face turned even paler.


    Seeing this, Simon did not dare to stop his incantation, knowing that the moment he stopped, he would be torn into pieces immediately. Even his Resurrected Corpse would be unable to save him.


    But with such a stalemate, he would eventually lose due to his insufficient physical strength.


    He had fallen into a hopeless situation!


    Seeing how things were unfolding, Nietzsche was equally nervous.


    Being surrounded by ten ghouls was much more intense than being surrounded by ten tigers. However, he could see Simon was helpless in the face of this crisis.


    After some time, Simon''s voice became softer, and the ghouls were even closer. Nietzsche could even clearly see fresh blood dripping from the ghouls'' tongues.


    Bang!


    A gunshot rang out!


    A ghoul fell to the ground, its head bursting out with black and red blood.


    Bang Bang!


    The gunshots continued in succession. The ghouls seemed to suffer immense fright as they hurriedly fled in all directions and disappeared into the darkness.


    "Are you all right?" The figures of level two Investigator Clayon and Probationary Inspector Vivienne dashed out.


    "You protect them while I give chase!" Clayon darted into the darkness, and several gunshots followed.


    Vivienne looked suspiciously at Nietzsche. "You again?! And you, who are you? Don''t try to lie. I saw your standoff with those monsters!"


    Which means she only saw the last part? Nietzsche thought.


    Simon''s eyes revealed an ominous glint, glancing at Arank beside him.


    Not good! He wants to use the Resurrected Corpse to attack Miss Vivienne! Hurry up and run! Nietzsche was about to warn her.


    "An Extraordinary! A wild one!"


    Clayon had returned from his pursuit. He squatted in front of the ghoul and started his preliminary examination.


    Seeing this, Simon started weighing the pros and cons and chose not to risk it.


    "Extraordinary and this monster? What the hell are those?" Vivienne was pale and in disbelief.


    "Yes, this is the job of the Federal Investigation Agency!" Clayon used a pair of tweezers to pick out a silver bullet from the ghoul''s head. "The wild Extraordinary over there, I hereby declare that you have been commandeered! Prepare to pursue the ghouls with me!"


    "This¡­ really is a ghoul!" Vivienne said incoherently. "How is this possible? I mean¡­ how can they move around so brazenly in Kimbert City?"


    "Very simple! Through the sewers. I just chased them there¡­ Furthermore, I''ve planted a tracker on one of the ghouls'' legs¡­"


    Clayon raised his head and smiled brightly. "Next, we''re going to raid their lair and clear it in one fell swoop!"

 1145 Annihilate

    "Mister Investigator, is this ghoul really dead?" Nietzsche stared at the ghoul''s body on the ground warily. "According to Mr. Andy, ghouls are incredibly difficult to annihilate. Even if their physical bodies die, they will often leave behind a gluttonous desire¡­"


    "Brat! Don''t believe in rumors like that! For heterogeneities like ghouls, I''ve solved more than one large group before¡­" Clayon furrowed his brows in dissatisfaction. "And scientists have grabbed a few experimental bodies for scientific research and analysis. They aren''t that terrifying¡­ In comparison, those wizards are much more troublesome to deal with because they''re too similar to humans and are often hiding among us¡­"


    After saying that, he looked at Simon. "Of course, you''re not one¡­"


    "A ghoul, an extraordinary creature, actually died so easily¡­" Simon finally uttered after some time.


    "You shouldn''t think too highly of such heterogeneities. Moreover, ghouls are considered low-tier heterogeneities. In the past, they were easily killed by horsemen with swords, let alone I used a gun with enchanted bullets!"


    Clayon revealed the holster at his waist. "As an unclassified Extraordinary, tell me your choice!"


    He glanced at the Arank behind Simon and had clearly recognized his identity.


    "Do I have any other choice?" Simon shrugged. "But although I''ll follow your orders, I won''t send myself to the death unconditionally!"


    "Naturally! You don''t have to think of us at the Investigation Agency as too despicable. There are quite a few external members like you and peripheral informers¡­"


    Clayon looked at Vivienne and then Nietzsche. "The only reason why I revealed this to you is that I also have the intention of developing you as informers. There aren''t many dangers, and you can even receive an additional stipend¡­"


    "I-I need to think about it!" While Miss Vivienne was hesitant, Nietzsche was extremely excited.


    "All right. Neither of you are allowed to leave until tonight''s matter is over, so you''ll have some time to think about it!" Clayon smiled, seeming extremely confident.


    "Are you really planning to eliminate the ghoul lair?" Vivienne''s voice trembled slightly, feeling chills down her spine when she saw the monster on the ground.


    "Of course¡­ Do you think ghouls are wild beasts? They have intelligence too. After suffering tonight''s setback, they might shift immediately or even split up, making the following work much more difficult!"


    Clayon shrugged. "Of course, you don''t need to worry. I naturally won''t do something so dangerous alone. I''ve already called for reinforcements!"


    Wuwa! Wuwa!


    After he finished speaking, ear-piercing sirens grew increasingly louder.


    A group of men in black appeared in the surrounding, and Clayon''s attitude changed. He acted like a general as he issued orders calmly.


    "Get in!"


    Ten minutes later, the surrounding buildings became scarce as they arrived at a pier.


    "I initially thought that ghouls preferred dark and dirty environments and would definitely choose some sewer space as their lair, but it was unexpectedly Wesley Pier!" Clayon got out of the car, slightly surprised. "Although there are sewer connections here as well, their motive clearly isn''t this¡­"


    Vivienne was looking inquisitively at the men in black around them. There were at least a hundred of them, holding various types of weapons with strange shapes.


    I didn''t even know about such a great force hidden within Kimbert City¡­ Wait! Perhaps they were urgently transferred over from other cities. Have Mr. Clayon and the Federal Investigation Agency been dealing with monsters like these all this time?


    She suddenly felt her desire seem to deviate.


    "Occupy the high ground and surround them!"


    "Arrange the firepower net, prepare the explosives, and be ready to blow up the pipelines! We can''t give them a chance to escape¡­"


    These men in black were all well-trained and had a clear division of labor, reminding Vivienne of the military.


    Furthermore, no one knew how Clayon was communicating with them. At this time, the patrols and night watchmen on the pier all disappeared, and the entire place became eerily silent.


    Shortly after all the preparations were complete, they started surrounding an ordinary-looking warehouse.


    "This is¡­ the ghoul lair?" Simon was slightly trembling, let alone Nietzsche.


    "All right, Mr. Extraordinary, I need bait, so please have your ''toy'' enter¡­"


    Clayon smiled slightly as he waved his hand, and a few men in black put a black armored suit on Arank.


    Explosives? Simon''s eyes twitched, knowing that Clayon must have already discovered that Arank was a Flesh Puppet controlled by him. Too bad¡­ I have no other choice!


    He gave the order, and the emotionless Arank took big strides forward into the massive warehouse.


    Bang Bang!


    After opening the door, a burst of cold air came out of it. There was frozen pork and beef hung all over the place, appearing to be a massive meat freezer.


    However, there were also other items¡­ human limbs and bones!


    Creak! Creak!


    Chewing sounds echoed as over ten ghouls started encircling and launched an attack.


    Ow Ow!


    Arank roared furiously and sent a ghoul flying with a punch. However, this was not enough to change his fate as a few ghouls bit his four limbs and neck.


    Kaboom!


    The next moment, a terrifying explosion emerged, and half the warehouse blew up.


    Flames rocketed into the sky as flesh and blood flew.


    Nietzsche felt his ears buzzing as he was swept to the ground by the shockwave. While he was struggling to lift his head, he saw many men in black calmly firing their guns, forming a firepower net.


    The ghouls had their heads blown off and collapsed.


    "Be sure to clean up the battlefield properly!" Clayon calmly directed the follow-up cleaning.


    Nietzsche finally regained his senses and said in disbelief, "A huge ghoul lair annihilated just like that?"


    Simon, who was beside him, had a wide-opened mouth. This had obviously left a deep impression on him as well.


    "On this planet, we humans are the true masters!" Clayon said proudly. "You should be rejoicing in the fact that you met me first!"


    However, Nietzsche was thinking about something else. Ghouls aren''t terrifying at all¡­ Sure enough, Mr. Andy is a big liar¡­


    ¡­


    Two days later.


    The newspapers had already reported the explosion at Wesley Pier. The official explanation for this incident was a gas leak.


    Fang Yuan walked out of the police station and stretched his back. "Good morning, Mr. Nietzsche¡­ Congratulations on finding a new job!"


    "¡­" Nietzsche looked at Fang Yuan but was completely speechless. He was thinking about the conclusion of the investigation.


    After a search and professional appraisals, Old Man Javier''s Convienence Store had contained mostly counterfeit goods or items to deceive others, especially that gold-coated copper talisman with the sun insignia. Only Voodoo Rituals was a true extraordinary item, and it was only accidentally acquired.


    As for the so-called Ghoul Talismans, they were also all fake. The so-called ghoul claws inlaid in them were all dog claws!


    It was also concluded that the ghoul attack on the international fugitive Capone was merely bad luck and pure coincidence.


    This was the Investigation Agency''s assessment, and Nietzsche had no doubts about it. The reason he found Fang Yuan was only because he still had one last doubt. "That¡­ Sin Imprint¡­ how did you know about it?"


    "Sigh¡­ After coming into contact with so many extraordinary items, I''m bound to feel things differently!" Fang Yuan said with a certain sadness.


    On the road, Morigu had already hired a carriage and opened the door for him.


    "Don''t say anymore, you big liar!" Nietzsche yelled, deciding to no longer believe anything that this black-hearted, profiteering boss said.


    "Oh, Little Mister, your attitude makes me really sad¡­ Originally, I was planning to introduce you to a treasure I''m about to acquire¡ªa late painting of the great artist Master Vincent. For just ten gold punks, it''s an absolute steal!"


    Fang Yuan feigned a helpless sigh.


    Nietzsche''s heart moved, but he maintained his emotionless face. "I will no longer believe you or anything in your store! They''re all fake!"


    "Oh, that''s a shame¡­" Fang Yuan shrugged and said meaningfully, "The influence and contamination of ghouls aren''t easy to get rid of¡­ Young man, the guidance of destiny has started. You have to work hard!"


    Smack!


    He got into the carriage, shut the door, and told the coachman to return to his store.


    "He''s truly¡­ a foolish and pathetic being¡­" After sending the carriage away, Morigu sighed. "He''s clearly in danger yet knows nothing at all! How pathetic!"


    For an investigation of this level, even Morigu''s ability to manipulate dreams and illusions was enough to fool them. Fang Yuan had not needed to act at all.


    "But this is also what makes it interesting, right?" Fang Yuan laughed.


    ¡­


    On another side, Nietzsche found an apartment according to an address given to him.


    "This is one of the Investigation Agency bases in Kimbert City. Now that you''re one of our informers, you have to come back here once every week to report new information. You will receive a stipend of three silver sols every month, and your bonus will depend on the importance of the information you bring back. Any questions?"


    Clayon cut a piece of medium-rare steak and put it in his mouth, showing a look of delight. "You can only truly enjoy the natural flavor by not adding any additional seasoning!"


    "No questions!" Nietzsche took a deep breath. "I wish to join you! What do I have to do?"


    "We have to observe you for a period of time, and you will also have to pass tests!" Clayon replied with a smile. "Come, let me introduce you to your boss here¡­ Oh yes, I have to mention that the steak Mr. Hannibal makes is truly delectable!"

 1146 Painting

    "The exhibition is over for today. Please come again next time!"


    Angelina sent the last wave of tourists away with a stiff smile. She finally exhaled, patted her cheeks, and murmured, "Damn¡­ I''m so sick of this stupid job. And that damn rule. What do they mean by the standard smile requires you to show eight teeth? Go to hell. The questions the tourists ask were so stupid and ignorant, but I can only lie. If not for the one silver sol every seven days, I would have long¡­"


    She grumbled while changing out of her work uniform. After exiting the exhibition hall, she entered a familiar coffee shop and walked out with two long loaves of bread that exuded a creamy aroma.


    After returning to his apartment, Angelina lit her stove, began brewing coffee, and fried two pieces of bacon as well. Crispy golden bacon was really enjoyable with bread.


    She would be in heaven if she could also have a plate of vegetable salad.


    No! Angelina, you still have a mortgage of thirty gold punks to pay off. You can''t be so luxurious¡­


    Angelina suppressed the urge to make a plate of salad and extinguished her dinner in no time. She then brought the coffee into her bedroom.


    The decorations were really simple, and only one oil painting was hanging on the wall. Many colorful lines formed an abstract and distorted eye, and the dark colors surrounding it made the eye stand out even more.


    At the bottom right of the painting was a signature belonging to Vincent.


    An appraiser would have found it to be absolutely authentic!


    "If I could sell it¡­ although it wouldn''t compare to Dream, it would probably be worth at least a thousand gold punks? Then, I wouldn''t have to worry about any mortgage and could live in a villa¡­"


    Angelina stared at this huge eye and smiled bitterly.


    This oil painting is her nightmare! A nightmare that could not be gotten rid of! No matter how she destroyed or discarded it, it would appear by her bedside the next day.


    Even¡­


    Angelina stared at the hazy twisted eye.


    This eye seemed to see a unique change tonight. It seemed alive and blinked suddenly.


    Bloop! Bloop!


    A large amount of blood immediately flowed out from the pupil, and the overwhelming scarlet drowned Angelina.


    "¡­" Angelina gritted her teeth as her surroundings became hazy.


    She seemed to see a long queue of cars entering Kimbert City and stopping in front of a villa.


    A wealthy businessman with a big belly and a wig emerged from a car. A young girl with a parasol was by his side and ordering the housekeeper and servants to move the furniture.


    Finally, an oil painting was hung on the wall of the villa''s study.


    The oil painting seemed to depict a starry night sky, but it was full of distorted figures and shadows, looking extremely abstract with an indescribable charm.


    Bang!


    Angelina did not bother with the coffee spilling all over. Instead, she gazed at the hazy eye oil painting and murmured in a low voice. "That''s¡­ Dream! It''s been brought into Kimbert City!"


    ¡­


    At the same time, in the villa, a young girl in pajamas was tossing and turning in bed.


    If Angelina were here, she would find that this young girl was the daughter of the wealthy businessman that she saw in her hallucination.


    "Why did Dad want to come to Kimbert City all of a sudden? What a hasty decision!" The young girl pouted. "I miss my old bedroom and my friends¡­ Dad''s become so weird after he brought that painting¡­"


    Her father, Robert, was a well-known rubber merchant who had started from a workshop that was about to close. He had seized a few well-timed opportunities and developed his company into a large one with thousands of employees.


    After becoming rich, this rubber merchant was brimming with a strong desire to enter high society. So that he would not be seen as a parvenu, he invited extremely strict tutors to teach this young girl etiquette and collected various artworks.


    Moreover, he had collected several of the so-called ''unlucky paintings'' of Vincent after hearing about his legends. His obsession with the paintings grew, and he spent a lot of money to buy ''Dream''.


    "Despite the crazy pursuit of some nobles, these antiques also have some bad rumors circulating¡­" The young girl thought anxiously. "The previous paintings were all right, but something is definitely wrong with ''Dream''!"


    With this thought, she secretly got out of bed and tiptoed to the study.


    She knew from her small adventures previously that her father was crazy about Dream and would sometimes admire this painting well into the wee hours of the morning.


    This time, he had even moved to Kimbert City against the protest of others.


    "There must be some secret!"


    The emboldened young girl sneaked to the outside of the study.


    Sha Sha! Hiss Hiss!


    All sorts of weird sounds made their way into her ears, making her dizzy.


    Scarlet blood, like a carpet, expanded outward from the gap of the door.


    "Ahh!" The young girl screamed and pushed the door open hurriedly.


    Through the flickering of orange light from the fireplace, what suddenly appeared before her eyes was¡­


    ¡­


    "The sun is shining, and the breeze is warm!"


    Nietzsche scrunched his eyes comfortably, enjoying the warm breeze on his face.


    He felt as though his luck had somehow changed for the better ever since he joined the Kimbert City branch of the Federal Investigation Agency and became a peripheral informer.


    Not only was there a stipend of three silver sols every month, but Officer Hannibal had even found him a job as a newspaper boy.


    The pay was meager, but life was much better than before. The most important thing was the identity, which made things more convenient for him.


    He could now rent a room to stay in, and his living conditions were much better.


    Therefore, Nietzsche was full of gratitude for this job.


    "Good day, Mr. Hannibal! Are you going out?"


    When he entered the branch office, he saw Hannibal, his boss who liked to cook, putting on a coat and was seemingly ready to head out.


    "Nietzsche! You''re just in time. Come with me to investigate a case!" Hannibal said softly.


    "Oh, okay!" Nietzsche followed hastily into a black car.


    "Sir¡­ what happened?" Nietzsche was a little excited.


    "Relax. Certainly nothing like that ghoul lair last time¡­" Hannibal showed a masculine smile. "Otherwise, the level two investigator in charge of this district would not have come in person¡­ What we have to do is mostly to assess whether some things were affected by extraordinary factors and whether there''s a need for them to be ''handled''¡­ You might just be a peripheral member, but you have to do more cases like this to advance!"


    "Thank you, Mr. Hannibal!" Nietzsche almost burst into tears. No one had ever treated him so well, and he could not help but think of another person. "What about Miss Vivienne?"


    Vivienne had disappeared mysteriously after the ghoul case was broken, and even Nietzsche was called in for questioning on several occasions.


    He was very puzzled about this and even had a hint of sadness.


    In any case, that honest probationary inspector was worthy of respect, much more so than a certain wicked, black-hearted store owner.


    Nietzsche could not help thinking about Simon and Andy.


    Clayon had taken Simon away after he became an Extraordinary. It was said that he was going to undergo some ''training''. After graduating, there was a high chance that he would return to Kimbert City to work.


    And Mr. Andy, who operated that tepid convenience store, claimed to have a masterpiece of Vincent. At this point, Nietzsche strongly suspected that Andy had just looked for a fake to deceive whichever idiot would believe him. He would not be fooled again anyhow.


    "Haven''t found her yet¡­ What a pity, she has the qualifications to be an official member¡­" Hannibal sighed.


    "Strange¡­" Nietzsche noted in his heart and then thought of the mission today. "What do you need me to do today?"


    "Don''t worry. We''re just going to investigate¡­" Hannibal smiled. "¡­ a rich businessman''s missing daughter, and his servants seemed to have seen something terrible¡­"


    While they were speaking, the car parked in front of a grand villa. Hannibal adjusted his clothes and went to knock on the door.


    "You are¡­" A male servant opened a small gap, with panic and doubt.


    "We are investigators from Watson Insurance Company. We heard about a security issue in your house and came to investigate!" Hannibal smiled and handed over a business card.


    There were many such false identities through the Federal Investigation Agency, and they could fully withstand any inspection.


    Shortly afterward, the two of them were invited to the study.


    Robert was pale, and his eyes were bloodshot. "Oh! My Nikita! My baby¡­ She disappeared all of a sudden. What I need is a detective and the police, not the investigators of an insurance company!"


    "Apologies!" Hannibal took off his hat and saluted. "According to the information, a servant testified that a painting¡­ swallowed your daughter? As the company underwriting this villa, I need to check its security now, in case there''s a hidden door in the walls¡­"


    He did not wait for Robert to answer and went to the front of the oil painting. "Is this the great Master Vincent''s work ¡ª Dream? It is said that he depicted the starry sky in his dreams, but others have different interpretations¡­ I''m more inclined to think that it''s an expression of his inner world¡­"


    "Vincent''s painting¡­" Nietzsche was energetic as he stared at the painting without blinking.

 1147 Truth

    "Dream¡­" Nietzsche muttered unconsciously as he stared at the oil painting.


    Through it, he seemed to see a starry sky¡­ and a hazy phantom.


    "Nietzsche, what happened to you?" Hannibal shook Nietzsche''s shoulder, seemingly realizing that something was wrong.


    Nietzsche turned his head subconsciously, feeling as though a layer of white mist was covering his vision.


    In the white mist, Hannibal''s shape was completely different. His skin corroded and fell off, revealing the bright red muscles under them. His hands turned into claws, and his eyes were blood red!


    "Ahh!!!" The young man screamed. His face turned pale, and he almost fainted.


    When he finally lifted his head, he saw a displeased Mr. Robert and Hannibal, whose appearance had returned to normal.


    It seemed as though everything he saw just now was but an illusion.


    "Mr. Robert, we''ll take our leave now!" Hannibal politely said goodbye and pulled Nietzsche out of the villa. He asked in a low voice, "What the hell''s wrong with you?"


    "I-I¡­" Nietzsche trembled, almost unable to speak.


    Instinctively, he did not want to tell Hannibal, his optimistic boss, about what he saw just now and could only say ambiguously, "I feel there''s a huge secret in that painting!"


    All of a sudden, his eyes brightened when he saw Angelina by the roadside. "You are¡­ Miss Tour Guide from the exhibition hall?"


    "That''s me¡­" Angelina was wearing a black chiffon shirt, adding a bit of mystery to her. "You can see the ''abnormality'' of the painting?"


    She overheard their conversation without a doubt.


    Hannibal''s expression turned serious, and he pressed his hand against the holster at his waist.


    "Yes, I can see it!"


    Nietzsche was elated. From his resistance to Simon''s spell and his ability to see the abnormality of this oil painting, it all pointed toward the fact that he had the talent to become an Extraordinary!


    "Let me give you a piece of advice. Stay away from it, as far as you can! Its terror is beyond your imagination. Any probing you do will lead to great disaster and pain!" Angelina said seriously.


    "Madam, do you know something?" Hannibal said solemnly. "I want to invite you to assist in the investigation! I have some things I want to ask you!"


    "No problem!" Angelina smiled gently, like a blooming flower.


    Be careful. This woman isn''t normal. At the very least, her hearing is very sharp¡­ Hannibal quietly warned Nietzsche. "Bring her back to the branch!"


    "Actually, we just need somewhere quiet to talk¡­" Angelina appeared very cooperative.


    "No, I think we need a more official place."


    Finally, all three of them returned to the spacious branch office.


    "Mr. Walter, I''m back!"


    "Miss, would you like coffee or hot cocoa?" Hannibal picked up a white porcelain cup.


    "No need¡­ I know you''re part of a federal department specializing in extraordinary phenomena. In fact, I''ve been watching you for a long time, in a form you can''t detect!"


    Angelina sighed. "And at this point, I just want to give you a warning. Never try to understand Vincent''s cursed paintings! The more you try, the easier you are exposed to terror!"


    "What do you mean? Explain clearly!"


    Hannibal switched on a voice recorder.


    "Vincent was a powerful Extraordinary, and his power exceeded even his own limits, which made him anxious and mad in his later years¡­ These emotions are sometimes imbued into his paintings. But the most terrifying thing is that he had imprinted his own ''seed'' on several unique paintings. Once a qualified person approaches, they will be contaminated¡­" Angelina said in a low voice.


    "Thank you for your information, Miss Angelina. However, I have a question. Why do you know so much?" Hannibal posed his question, which was also Nietzsche''s doubt.


    "Because I have such an extraordinary painting myself. For you to believe me¡­" A smile played on Angelina''s lips suddenly. "¡­ do you want to see it?"


    "Very much so!" Hannibal replied with a smile.


    Not right. Shouldn''t we isolate her according to the safety protocols? Nietzsche was at a loss, unsure of what Hannibal was about to do. The uneasiness in his heart was growing stronger.


    "You need to choose the right path, to have a pair of eyes that can discern reality and illusion¡­" Angelina chanted with a low voice and suddenly unbuttoned her shirt and slipped her shawl off, revealing her smooth and fair back.


    At this time, there was a¡­ twisted eye on her back!


    Who knew when, but the hazy twisted eye from the painting had moved to her back, like a clear tattoo.


    Fresh blood constantly poured out from the vertical pupil. The eye seemed to have a life of its own as it stared intently at Hannibal.


    "Hehe¡­ So your true target is me?" Hannibal sneered. The skin on his face began to fall off, and a red glow appeared in his eyes.


    "Mr. Hannibal!" Nietzsche exclaimed.


    His appearance was almost the same as what he saw in the hallucination earlier, rather similar to a¡­ ghoul!


    "Was Mr. Hannibal¡­ killed?" Nietzsche''s tears splashed down unconsciously.


    "No! He was contaminated!" Angelina said with certainty.


    "That''s right. I''m the real me right now!" Hannibal''s voice became hoarse. "I¡­ am the true noble race. Those ghouls who can''t even disguise themselves are just servants! Nietzsche¡­ why are you sad? Isn''t it good to become one with me? Just like Vivienne!"


    "What? You said Miss Vivienne is already¡­" Nietzsche felt his heart sink.


    "Haha¡­ Weren''t we very happy when we had dinner with Clayon before?" Hannibal acted surprised.


    "You demon!" Nietzsche hurled a nearby chair at Hannibal without thinking.


    "No!" During Angelina''s exclamation, the chair smashed into Hannibal''s body. Hannibal recovered his mobility and escaped from the gaze of the hazy twisted eye. He slammed a glass window and jumped out.


    "Do you know¡­ how terrible a mistake you just made?" Angelina turned around and glared at Nietzsche with a grave look. "You let a leader of the ghouls go, and he will cause more horrible cases in Kimbert City!"


    "So-sorry! I only¡­" Nietzsche hugged his head to cry, unable to continue. "W-Why did things become this way?"


    "I have long been concerned about this Investigation Agency branch. Hannibal wasn''t contaminated at first, but his personality is dark. He hid his sadness and pain, making him susceptible to being directly contaminated when stimulated¡­" Angelina sighed.


    "I have to contact Mr. Clayon immediately¡­"


    Nietzsche ran out, and there was a sudden commotion outside.


    The truth came out while searching Hannibal''s house.


    "Ahh¡­"


    Looking at the pile of human bones, even a seasoned investigator could not help but look pale.


    In particular, Nietzsche and several other people who had had ''dinner'' with Hannibal vomited repeatedly.


    After seeing a pile of blood-stained uniforms, Nietzsche could not bear it anymore, and his whole person nearly collapsed.


    He remained silent for a long time before he finally stood up and walked into a dark alley.


    "So? Any findings?" Angelina''s figure appeared.


    "There were more than ten victims¡­ and traces of Hannibal''s sacrificial rituals¡­"


    Nietzsche''s eyes were dull as he watched the police cars rushing by and locking down the place.


    "Any new information?" Angelina was clearly unsatisfied with this.


    "I read Hannibal''s diary. It was rather¡­ dark. And he mentioned a ''Feast of Meat'' several times. What does it mean?"


    "It might be a dark ritual. I need more professional help on this¡­" Angelina sighed. "And there''s also that Dream painting. My suggestion is to lock down the entire villa immediately and don''t let anyone in or out, isolating that place! Once there''s contact, it will leave its mark on people and spread the contamination¡­"


    "This isn''t something that a peripheral member like me can decide¡­"


    Nietzsche squatted on the ground in pain. After this incident, the Investigation Agency branch of Kimbert City was nearly wiped out!


    The most terrifying truth was that the person behind it all was none other than Hannibal himself!


    The remains of most of the missing members were found in his house.


    Nietzsche could not help but shudder at the thought of this.


    "I didn''t expect that just going to look at the painting would let me encounter this sort of misfortune¡­" Angelina sighed before her expression froze.


    Through some sort of mirage, she seemed to be at Robert''s villa.


    In front of the Dream oil painting, in the study room.


    Robert stared at it until his eyes nearly popped out.


    But suddenly, an additional figure appeared in the starry sky of the oil painting!


    It walked out of the oil painting, stretched out its black hand, and grabbed Robert.


    Clang!


    All of a sudden, Robert was drawn into the oil painting. There seemed to be a vortex in the wall, swallowing a living person into it and disappearing.


    The oil painting had no change at all, save for the starry sky looking more splendid than ever.


    "What is that? A vengeful spirit? Or a malicious ghost?"


    Angelina shuddered as she watched the ghost of the painting wiping out all the living beings in the villa one by one.


    It gave her the feeling that it was an even more terrifying existence than Hannibal, a leader of the ghouls!


    The power she had obtained from the hazy twisted eye was definitely not enough to deal with something like that!

 1148 Abyss

    "You mustn''t go back to Robert''s villa. That painting has now completely transformed into a terrible disaster¡­" Angelina said solemnly. "I''m going to see someone. Perhaps only he can solve this!"


    "W-why do you want to help me?" Nietzsche asked.


    "Perhaps¡­ because we''re the same kind of people¡­" Angelina smiled bitterly, revealing a mark on her arm. "We are destined to be sacrificed to the Evil God!"


    "Sin Imprint? Yours seems a little different!" Nietzsche''s pupils shrank, but he believed it immediately. "I''m coming with you!"


    "Hmm, the police and the Investigation Agency will handle the issues here¡­ You, come with me!" Angelina pulled Nietzsche''s arm and then rented a carriage to head to the slums of Kimbert City.


    Nietzsche was very familiar with this place.


    The houses were short and dense, encroaching the roads, and the gutters emitted a foul smell. Most of the residents here were unclothed and had sallow skin, numb eyes, and sometimes a hint of madness.


    This place was the poorest area in Kimbert City and also where elites pretending to be from high society did not dare to step foot into at all. Otherwise, they might just become a corpse rotting in the gutter the next day.


    Angelina clearly knew her way around here. She tore through the streets and walked to a river, to a row of small shacks.


    The smell was even more unbearable here because of the many textiles and chemical factories upstream. The entire river was painted black, and many corpses were floating in it.


    Nietzsche frowned. "Who are we looking for?"


    "A wizard¡­ Have you heard of the term Mandala?" Angelina''s expression became extremely grave.


    "I know. Vincent''s most important archaeological discovery is related to the Mandala tribe on the Black Continent¡­" Nietzsche answered.


    "The Mandala is an extremely old tribe in the tropical rainforest. It''s rumored that they still retain the custom of cannibalism. Moreover, its the birthplace of wizardry!" Angelina stated in a calm voice. "Thousands of years ago, they had a brilliant civilization, and the wizards could even communicate with the Gods of the Dream World and obtain their blessings! The Mandala wizards are the best people to talk to about occult powers!"


    She ducked into a black tent while speaking.


    The space in the tent was huge, and it seemed connected to the other tents. Two expressionless black men with bulging muscles were guarding it.


    The feeling they gave Nietzsche was that they were stronger than the Resurrected Corpse made by Simon previously.


    "It''s me! I want to see Gegehu!"


    Angelina clearly knew the other party. After her little announcement, they were invited to the largest tent.


    The light was dim, and Nietzsche stepped backward subconsciously and hit a wooden stand.


    "Ahh!" Nietzsche covered his mouth hurriedly before it turned into a full-bodied scream.


    Whoosh!


    Right at that moment, aquamarine flames burned from the braziers around, reflecting a person sitting cross-legged in the center.


    He was simply too old, as though he was merely a skeleton with a layer of skin on him. He had no beard, no hair, and the light in his eyes looked like ghost fire.


    "Gegehu!" Angelina pulled Nietzsche down and knelt in front of the surreal figure.


    "We meet again, the girl who bears an imprint!" Gegehu turned his head and made a crunchy sound, as if it were an old piece of equipment that had gone without oiling for some time.


    "And you, the one who danced with ghouls! Looks like we have some common topics on cooking and ingredient selections¡­ Hehe¡­" Gegehu chortled.


    "You¡­ know everything?" Nietzsche''s face turned white, and he felt his stomach churn yet again.


    "True ghouls are generally indistinguishable from us. Moreover, they have a certain contamination on the psyche. When you are with them, you''ll think something out of the ordinary is normal. For example, your neighbors and colleagues reducing in numbers¡­" Gegehu laughed.


    "All right, he''s already feeling bad enough. Gegehu, I came to see you today about two things¡­" Angelina took a deep breath. "I''ll pay the price."


    "Okay, tell me about your difficulty!" Gegehu picked up a green teacup filled with a green paste that was emitting an inexplicable smell.


    "This ghoul escaped, but I found a phrase when I searched its living quarters¡ªFeast of Meat, what does it mean?"


    Smack!


    Gegehu''s hand shook, and the teacup fell to the ground.


    He did not bother about it, and his voice became low. "This is the beginning of a ritual! A very evil ritual involving the ancient legends of this planet¡ªthe Ancients and the Outer Gods!


    "In the ancient past, it was the Ancients with extraordinary powers that ruled this planet. They are all descendants of Outer Gods! We wizards learned our craft from them. Some of them turned toward crazy and bloody rituals and became Dark Sorcerers! However, there were also extreme lunatics among these Dark Sorcerers who researched the Outer Gods! Most of them destroyed themselves¡­


    "But contamination comes hand in hand with extraordinary power. The Outer Gods are the source of everything! They are unpredictable and extremely powerful, and they would bring about terrible changes even if we were to so much as see their true bodies¡­ Whenever we mention them, we must use different names to refer to them because any fragment of their true names mentioned would often carry contamination¡­"


    From his words¡­ Nietzsche frowned¡­ it seems as though this Gegehu is the crazy type who researched the Outer Gods like he mentioned¡­


    "What does all of this have to do with the Feast of Meat?" Angelina asked.


    "I said it already, this is the beginning of a ritual. Its full name is ''Sacrifice to the God of Darkness''. It uses sacrifices of flesh, blood, and soul as a start to pray for power from the God of Darkness. According to the legends, after the completion of this ritual, it would at least send a Son of Darkness, one of the Ancients that used to rule this planet!" Gegehu replied. "The Feast of Meat is the beginning of the Dark Ritual. It points toward the Master Living Above the Lonely Star, the Astral World Traveler, the Ruler of the Planet of Demon Insects, the Lord of Chaos and Madness, the Darling of Darkness!"


    With that said, Gegehu glanced at Nietzsche. "The mark on your body is the mark of this master''s sacrifice!"


    "So that''s it!" Nietzsche touched the back of his neck, his whole being shaking.


    The mystery hidden within his bloodline finally unveiled a little.


    "The Feast of Meat is only the beginning, right? They''ll need blood and soul next!" Angelina said. "Would we destroy the entire ritual if we were to stop the other two?"


    "The power of darkness is far more powerful than you imagine¡­ Once a Son of Darkness descends, it will truly be the disaster of this entire planet!" Gegehu''s eyes turned pure white all of a sudden. "The Ancients liked to rule their countries high-handedly, and their appearance represents slavery and disaster¡­ The dark minions will make sure the rituals succeed at all costs."


    Nietzsche felt like he could not breathe. I''m just a small peripheral member, so why am I suddenly related to a global-level disaster?


    After calming down, Nietzsche gritted his teeth and asked, "Is there no other way?"


    "Only the power of an Outer God can resist an Outer God!" Gegehu''s voice became unsteady. "The Master Living Above the Lonely Stars has an archenemy as well. It''s the serpent from the Astral World, the snake with rainbow scales shining all over it! The master of the Dream World!"


    Gegehu''s eyes were suddenly on Angelina. "You have Vincent''s power left in your body, and Vincent originally faced the Astral Serpent directly, which was why he became an Abyssor!"


    "Abyssor?"


    "Those that face the abyss are the Abyssors. They are extremely powerful, even among the wizards! A wizard just starting out can only be regarded as a Contaminator with extraordinary power! Then comes the Controller who can control their own extraordinary power. However, this is only an illusion. After advancing again, we will realize that we have always been staring at the abyss, and the abyss has been staring back at us at the same time¡­"


    "The second matter is that a painting that Vincent left behind has lost complete control¡­" Angelina said with a deep breath.


    "I can do nothing if the power of an Abyssor is out of control¡­" Gegehu waved his hand in a gesture that signaled he was seeing the guests off. He left them with a final note. "Boy, I just obtained a revelation from the Dream World. You have long met your hope¡­"


    ¡­


    Until he walked out of this slum, Nietzsche still looked as though he was in a trance. "Contaminator, Controller, Abyssor? The three levels of Extraordinaries? I''ve long met my hope? What does that mean?"


    "I didn''t think that there was such a secret behind the Feast of Meat¡­" Angelina bit her lip. "Let''s part ways here. I have to go home and think about it calmly!"


    She was also just a girl under the pressure of a mortgage and had nothing to do with Evil Gods and the fate of the world.


    "All right, Miss Angelina!" Nietzsche''s eyes were still hazy after they parted, and he wandered around on the streets aimlessly.


    When he finally stopped, he found himself standing in Parasol Street.


    "Is this a sign from destiny?" Nietzsche grimaced as he walked into the convenience store.


    He immediately saw that black-hearted, profiteering boss and his cute servant girl.


    "Yo, it''s been such a long time since we last met, Little Mister!" Fang Yuan put down his newspaper and raised his eyes. "Have you saved enough money?"


    "Money? What money?" Nietzsche was stunned.


    "Of course, the money to purchase Vincent''s painting! Please let me introduce to you¡­ the treasure we just received, the masterpiece of the late Vincent¡ªDream!"


    Fang Yuan pointed to the twisted starry sky above the wall, and Nietzsche looked as though he just saw a ghost.

 1149 Sun

    "W-w-w-w-what is it doing here?" Nietzsche stared hard at Dream.


    The queasy and dream-like feeling it gave him let him know that the painting in front of him was genuine!


    But should it not be in that merchant Robert''s villa?


    Everything that Angelina had said was coming true. It was slowly becoming a huge disaster, and the entire villa was becoming a perilous land.


    However, why did it suddenly appear in a small convenience store and become a piece of merchandise?


    "Who¡­ are you exactly?"


    No matter how stupid he was, Nietzsche knew this black-hearted, profiteering boss was not an ordinary human.


    "Me? I''m just the boss of an ordinary convenience store!" Fang Yuan smiled and spread his hands. "How about it? I only want ten gold punks for this authentic painting of Vincent''s. It''s an unbelievably low price!"


    "I¡­" The price had indeed fallen to an unbelievably low one compared to the previous auction that commanded thousands of gold punks. However, Nietzsche realized with much regret that he could not even take out five gold punks. "I don''t have money¡­"


    "That''s a shame¡­" Fang Yuan snapped his fingers, and Morigu immediately stepped forward to cover the painting with a cloth and bring it to the warehouse behind.


    "This painting contains Vincent''s extraordinary power. It might contaminate you and make you step through the extraordinary gate¡­"


    "Contaminator?" Nietzsche was startled and thought back to a certain word.


    "Oh? Looks like you''ve had some contact with and understanding of Extraordinaries¡­" Fang Yuan lifted a cup of hot cocoa. "Every Extraordinary starts with being ''contaminated''. Of course, the new Contaminators themselves won''t be normal and may cause harm to the people around them, unless they advance to another level. Getting started as an Extraordinary is very important, and the seed of extraordinary power from an Abyssor is something that many beginners dream of¡­"


    "There''s no use telling me so much. I still don''t have enough money¡­" Nietzsche said with a hint of sadness.


    Letting go of the chance to become an Extraordinary because you did not have enough money, what kind of sorrow would that be?


    "It''s okay if you don''t have enough money. I have something cheaper!" Fang Yuan smiled. "Do you know where Vincent''s extraordinary power originated from?"


    "According to the words of a Mandala wizard, it''s from the Astral Serpent, the Rainbow Snake¡­" Nietzsche replied subconsciously.


    "Then what did he use to connect to that great existence?" Fang Yuan deliberately pretended to be mysterious. "Have you heard of the Mandala wizards'' Sen Luo''s Book of Vientiane?"


    "So¡­ Vincent''s power also originated from the Mandala wizards?" Nietzsche''s eyes nearly popped out.


    "¡­ What do you really want?" Nietzsche was speechless after being toyed with by this black-hearted profiteer. "You must be an Extraordinary. The city has a ghoul on the loose who is starting the Feast of Meat to call upon an Ancient, yet you still have the heart to sit here and sell books¡­"


    "I''m but a simple boss of a convenience store and really can''t do much¡­" Fang Yuan shook his head as he looked at Nietzsche. "So? Do you want it or not?"


    "I do! Of course I do!" Nietzsche bit his lips.


    "Special price of one gold punk. I don''t accept credit nor installments!"


    ¡­


    Nietzsche''s hand trembled as he took the Book of Sen Luo and asked in doubt, "Why? This Book of Sen Luo might be only a manuscript, but its value should be far above that of Dream?"


    A single page from Sen Luo''s Book of Vientiane made Vincent an Extraordinary. The value of the Book of Sen Luo was absolutely unimaginable.


    At least, the Investigation Agency would definitely be willing to pay a hefty sum for it.


    Fang Yuan pondered in silence before replying suddenly, "Perhaps it''s because¡­ I''m happy! You have to know that every single Extraordinary has an abnormal psyche¡­"


    Are you saying that they''re a bunch of psychos? Nietzsche cursed in his heart before immediately asking, "Then, boss¡­ can you deal with Hannibal? I''m sure the Investigation Agency would be willing to pay you handsomely for it."


    "Not willing!" Fang Yuan refused nonchalantly. "Also, correct your thinking. I can feel you cursing at me!"


    "¡­" Nietzsche''s eyes widened, and he shut up immediately.


    At the same time, he caressed the Book of Sen Luo. "Can I read it?"


    "Of course, it''s already yours! However, the extraordinary path is full of danger. You have to be careful¡­" Fang Yuan shrugged and motioned for Morigu to bring another cup of cocoa.


    In any case, this black-hearted profiteer boss doesn''t seem to harbor malicious intentions toward me. The extraordinary is indeed very dangerous. Reading it here is probably safer¡­


    Nietzsche also had his own calculations and quickly said his thanks. He opened the first page of the Book of Sen Luo.


    Poof!


    A scorching smell suddenly assaulted his senses.


    What entered his sight was a pyramid. Looking at this pyramid, Nietzsche seemed to see the blazing sun in the desert.


    Bright and dazzling light fell all over the pyramid and converged into a line.


    At the peak of the pyramid, there were sacrifices spiked up one after another. Blood flowed through the stone cracks and into the desert sand.


    ¡­


    "Ahh!" Nietzsche woke up from the illusion after some time. He felt as though his entire being was empty, and his psyche was exhausted.


    His brain seemed to have entered a furnace. Pain and strange feelings spread all over his body.


    "Great Sun Meditation Technique?" He muttered the information that he had obtained.


    "A wizard condenses their psyche through meditation. The Great Sun Meditation Technique is to utilize the power of the sun and calcining your own spiritual power by directly visualizing the sun¡­ The extraordinary road is endless, and the source of contamination selected at the very beginning is very important, directly having an impact on your future achievements¡­" Fang Yuan followed up. "On this planet, what energy source can match the sun?"


    "Sun? Sun¡­" Nietzsche felt that ball of light in his psyche and said nothing.


    "This Great Sun Meditation Technique is definitely the top meditation technique on this planet¡­ If you can reach its peak, you might even become a sun!" Fang Yuan said in a sigh.


    "The Sun is clearly a star. How can a human become one?" Nietzsche protested.


    "Haha¡­ Aren''t Extraordinaries incredible to normal humans? What''s strange about becoming a future sun to an Extraordinary like you?" Fang Yuan said with a smile.


    "I¡­ will become a sun?" Nietzsche murmured, suddenly finding confidence.


    He discovered that the first page of the Book of Sen Luo became a blank piece of parchment when he tried to read it again.


    "The introduction to extraordinary power requires only a traction, a seed¡­ The first page gave you the Great Sun Meditation Technique, and that then transferred to you. It''s just like how Voodoo Rituals created Simon. The difference with that ritual is that it can only create a Voodoo Wizard, and it will completely lose its extraordinary power from then on. The Book of Sen Luo, however, has different seeds on each page, waiting for you to discover."


    Since there was a trace of destiny, there should always be preferential treatment.


    "Then¡­ I can impart it to others?" Nietzsche asked suddenly after keeping silent.


    "That''s right. You can do the same when you''re strong enough in the future. For example, sharing a part of the Great Sun Meditation Technique, writing a new book¡­ Just like what Vincent did!"


    "I understand¡­" Nietzsche was silent as he got up and left the store.


    "Truly¡­ making me look forward to it¡­" Fang Yuan''s eyes followed him silently, brimming with expectation.


    "Master?" Morigu stepped forward, slightly confused.


    To her, the best method to cultivate this kid was to show up in front of him directly, like he had done with Vincent so many years back.


    She could also do it in Fang Yuan''s stead if he was unwilling, and she would complete it in a short amount of time. Why did the master choose such a time-consuming and laborious way?


    "You can influence destiny or even interfere with it, but you can''t forcefully correct it. Otherwise, it will be easy to usher in an opposing force¡­"


    Fang Yuan smiled. "Moreover¡­ don''t you think Nietzsche is well suited for the Great Sun Meditation Technique? The rays of a sun are the nemesis of darkness!"


    ¡­


    The warm sunlight shined on him as he walked out of the convenience store.


    Nietzsche exhaled comfortably.


    All of a sudden, he felt the ball of fire in his brain seem to absorb the sunlight on his body and become bigger.


    "Can it become more powerful by absorbing sunlight? Equivalent to a furnace that is operating all the time?" Nietzsche muttered to himself. "This meditation technique must be very valuable. Why was Mr. Andy willing to give it to me¡­"


    The so-called cost of one gold punk was simply a joke.


    "Sigh¡­ Too many things happened today. I''m so tired¡­"


    Unfortunately, just as he reached his home, he was stopped by two members of the Investigation Agency in black suits. "Nietzsche¡­ Clayon wants to see you. Hope you can report everything in detail to him. Everything!"


    "No problem!"


    Nietzsche heaved a long sigh, finding peace of mind within an organization.


    The black sedan spewed tail flames and finally reached a base after a few hours of driving.


    He was in total shock when he saw Clayon again.


    The originally handsome level two investigator was all bones and seemed to be starving to death.


    "Hehe¡­ I''m sorry to scare you, but you have to undergo a test first¡­" Clayon smiled weakly. "After many verifications, we''ve realized that we truly made a huge mistake when we wiped out the ghoul lair. Some of the members present were met with very terrible things¡­"

 1150 Descend Again

    "Mistake¡­ and terrible things?" Nietzsche''s eyes were at a loss.


    "It''s the ghouls'' contamination¡­ After a few rounds of verification, we''ve finally found out that when the number of ghoul deaths reaches a certain extent, there will be an impact on those at the scene. It won''t necessarily occur, but undoubtedly, the greater the contact or the darker the person is, the greater the possibility of being affected¡­" Clayon rubbed his brows. "Hannibal was an ordinary person with a normal life and social relations, but it''s also a fact that he became a ghoul. There''s no doubt that it''s because of such contamination!"


    "Contaminator¡­" Nietzsche murmured, now more knowledgeable about Extraordinaries. At the same time, he realized that Mr. Andy from the convenience store truly had not joked with him.


    Even ghouls that looked like they were easy to deal with were too scary for normal humans.


    "I understand. What do you need to check?"


    "Give me a drop of your blood!" Clayon said.


    Nietzsche did as he was told, and a doctor soon walked out with a test tube.


    "It only takes about ten minutes for the verification¡­ Now, let''s talk about something else. I''m really sorry about Vivienne." Clayon sighed. "I originally wanted to bring her into the Investigation Agency¡­"


    "Let''s talk about the ghoul that got away, Hannibal. He seems different from other ghouls¡­" Nietzsche said without any expression.


    "Yes, he''s very different. After ghouls are killed, they will spread something around them, be it bacteria, viruses, or something we don''t know yet. The people affected by it will desire flesh and blood, having an insatiable appetite somewhat similar to binge-eating patients. Hannibal accepted the changes wholeheartedly and became even more powerful!"


    Clayon sighed. "Simon was the first to realize something wrong with me. Headquarters then started targeted treatment on me. And I became what you see now¡­"


    Nietzsche was silent for quite some time as he gazed at Clayon. "This¡­ really can''t be considered as fully healed¡­"


    "It''s just diet therapy. Much better than what I had to go through previously. You didn''t see the colleagues who failed the treatment. But my doctor told me that from now on, I must curb my desire to binge, and I especially can''t eat meat, better to become a vegetarian¡­"


    Clayon spread his palms in a gesture of resignation.


    "That''s¡­ really unfortunate!" Nietzsche thought about fried chicken, barbequed meat, and that delicious beef steak¡­ Wait, throw the thought about that damned beef aside. However, the punishment of not being able to eat meat for a lifetime was truly torture.


    "Sir!" Another person entered at this moment. It was Simon!


    Nietzsche could feel an uncomfortable aura surging toward him from Simon.


    Hiss Hiss!


    A trace of black gas converged, appearing to turn into a viper opening its jaw.


    Does he realize that I''m an Extraordinary?!


    He did not know why, but even though he had just recently become one, Nietzsche felt as though his perception and observation were extremely powerful, and he could even see the resentment in Simon''s eyes.


    Hiss Hiss!


    A large number of black snakes enveloped him entirely. Nietzsche went numb and was unable to move.


    Clayon could see nothing and asked curiously, "What''s wrong?"


    "Great Sun Meditation Technique!"


    In that instant, seemingly having a stress response to the danger around him, Nietzsche seemed to see that heatwave in the desert and the sun that hung in the sky.


    Sizzle!


    The black snakes wrapping around him immediately turned into smoke and quickly dissipated.


    Simon screamed and took a step back. Two lines of blood oozed down from his nose, as though someone had punched him.


    "Simon, what''s the matter?" Clayon asked with obvious irritation, his tone serious.


    "It''s as you''ve seen¡­ Our dear little Nietzsche has become an Extraordinary!" Simon licked his lips.


    "Really?" Clayon stared at Nietzsche. "What''s going on?"


    In the base, Clayon can mobilize dozens of people to destroy me with submachine guns at any time¡­ Nietzsche''s brain started working furiously, instinctively wanting to conceal the important parts of his secret. "It''s¡­ that painting!"


    "What painting?"


    "Vincent''s unlucky oil painting¡ªDream! I''ve felt something in my brain ever since I went with Hannibal to take a look at it. It''s like a ball of fire¡­"


    After obtaining a lot of information about extraordinary powers from Gegehu, Angelina, and Andy, Nietzsche could smoothly come up with a feasible lie.


    "Vincent''s unlucky oil painting? Did he leave behind a seed of power in some paintings?" Clayon rubbed his chin. "And these special seeds of power will only sprout when they meet a suitable person¡­ Perhaps this is why you weren''t contaminated by the ghouls."


    "The contamination of ghouls doesn''t affect Extraordinaries?" Nietzsche grasped the key point immediately.


    "No! It''s just the power of Extraordinaries can better resist it¡­" Clayon explained. "In that case¡­ Nietzsche, firstly, congratulations on joining the ranks of Extraordinaries. Next, are you willing to join our Federal Investigation Agency?"


    "Of course, it would be my honor!" Nietzsche bowed slightly.


    "Originally¡­ all the new Extraordinaries who joine have to attend training, but there have been too many things happening recently in Kimbert City¡­ We need to deal with them first!"


    Clayon rubbed the area between the eyebrows. "You, go and prepare yourself. Ask Simon if you don''t understand anything. I''ll return with you later to deal with Hannibal and other strange matters¡­"


    "Yes, Boss!" Nietzsche gave another bow as he went out. Following tightly behind was Simon.


    They reached a corner, and Simon snapped his fingers. A layer of mist that only Nietzsche could see suddenly wrapped around him.


    "You definitely didn''t obtain the power from that painting¡­ It''s from that convenience store, isn''t it?" Simon said with certainty.


    "No!" Nietzsche shook his head adamantly. "He''s just a profiteer. I''ve been cheated enough by him!"


    "Really?" Simon was still suspicious. He instinctively felt that something was wrong, but there was also no flaw in Nietzsche''s statement.


    "In any case, I have to congratulate you!" Simon threw him a look that was full of venom. The aura on Nietzsche was the type that he hated the most.


    "If there''s nothing else, I''ll get going first!" Nietzsche retreated with a smile, and his palm touched the mist.


    Whoosh!


    The mist seemed to meet fierce flames and burnt away.


    In his mind, Old Man Javier''s Convenience Store had become a mysterious supply store. He naturally would not want to share it with anyone else.


    ¡­


    "Should I say¡­ that the wheel of fate has begun to turn slowly?"


    Fang Yuan drank his hot cocoa leisurely in the convenience store. His eyes, however, seemed to have witnessed everything.


    "The Great Sun Meditation Technique isn''t as simple as it seems on the surface. It burns the enemy and everything else by burning you yourself and your psyche¡­ If not for this quick method, how could you obtain enough power to anger Omar before the completion of the Dark Ritual?" He smiled.


    Although the sun and luminosity were never in his system, with the ability of the Dream Dao Fruit to contain countless properties, developing this kind of luminosity ability was child''s play.


    However, the privilege of having an Outer God customize a technique for you was not something that even the Uyguklais had enjoyed.


    "I spent a bit of effort on it. You have to grow well and give me a surprise¡­"


    Fang Yuan smiled and looked far away.


    Through the void, he saw another few scenes.


    ¡­


    Somewhere in the sewers.


    Candlelight illuminated a dining table. Hannibal wrapped a napkin around his neck and held a knife and fork. It looked as though he was enjoying a candlelight dinner¡ªif you ignored the surroundings.


    Several incomplete corpses were by the edge of the dining table.


    After finishing his meal, Hannibal wiped his lips with the white napkin like a gentleman. He fell to his knees as if he had heard something.


    "More¡­ more fear, more meat¡­


    "Complete¡­ complete the Feast of Meat!


    "The Ancient¡­ will descend again. All the races of darkness will be able to walk the earth again!"


    ¡­


    On another side, a team was slowly driving into Kimbert City and stopped in front of an abandoned factory.


    "Quick, start unloading the goods!"


    Many bodyguards got off from the cars and carried numerous iron boxes into the factory under the command of a white-haired steward.


    "All right. All of you, out!"


    The white-haired old steward caressed the iron boxes after the others left.


    These boxes were all slender and heavy, and they seemed like¡­ coffins?


    Bang!


    He pried one open, and there was a young girl of about twenty years old. She had fair skin, and her eyes were tightly shut.


    Her brows moved slightly, as though she would awaken in the next moment.


    A trace of delight emerged on the old steward''s face. A dagger appeared in his hand, and he stabbed her!


    Poof!


    Blood splattered everywhere!


    A moment later, he opened another coffin that had a layer of dark soil in it. The old steward let the fresh blood from the dagger drip into it and murmured, "The evil spirit wandering in the darkness, the hunter that chases blood, awaken¡­ Start the Blood Sacrifice to the God of Darkness!"


    Along with the murmur, changes suddenly happened in the coffin, making a lot of noise.


    A withered palm seemed to be breaking free of its last shackles and broke out from the soil!

 1151 Vampires

    "I''m¡­ finally back!"


    Clayon could not help but sigh as he returned to the Investigation Agency branch in Kimbert City.


    "What an unpleasant memory¡­ I originally thought that wiping out that ghoul lair was one of my merits, but I didn''t think that it would be one of my greatest mistakes!"


    Clayon sighed and directed a large number of men in black to settle in.


    "In that case, shall we take care of that first, Sir?"


    Nietzsche looked at Simon, but he was wondering about how to disclose the information on the Dark Ritual to them.


    Perhaps I can use Robert''s haunted villa as an opportunity? Boss Andy has taken away Dream anyway, so there shouldn''t be much danger¡­ Wait a minute, he took that painting without paying a single copper but is selling it at ten gold punks. What a profiteer¡­


    "At present, the largest extraordinary case in Kimbert City is Hannibal! Robert''s mansion is lower priority. Just keep it sealed¡­"


    Clayon pondered over his plan. "The police have issued the arrest warrant for Hannibal. Publicly, he''s a criminal with powerful destructive capabilities. However, he''s very cunning, so I think it''s necessary to conduct a search within the sewer system¡­"


    As a symbol of a modern city, the huge and complete sewer system could not only free the city from the troubles of sewage and flood, but it could also sometimes become a hotbed of dangerous organisms.


    "Understood!"


    Nietzsche and Simon exchanged glances, feeling bitterness in their hearts.


    The main search force would undoubtedly be the two of them. They were the only Extraordinaries here.


    "Report!" Just then, a female member in black uniform walked in with a serious expression. "Boss, the police have just transferred a case to us!"


    "Ugh¡­" Clayon grabbed his hat. "Nietzsche, Simon, come with me. There''s a new mission¡­"


    After getting into the car, Simon asked with a low voice, "A new case?"


    "Yes, if it isn''t the ghouls changing their diet¡­" Clayon sighed and handed the case file over to them.


    Nietzsche leaned in for a look. A female corpse with a bloody wound on her neck was in the black and white photographs next to the file.


    "Nicole Rolisa! Textile worker, cause of death: massive blood loss?" Simon slowly read the information. "Suspected of being attacked by a beast? When did the ghouls stop eating meat and only drink blood?"


    "Therefore, this means the appearance of other evil creatures. According to the information gathered, they must be vampires!" Clayon said with a low voice. "Prepare silver bullets!"


    "Vampires?" Nietzsche repeated. "What abilities do they have?"


    "All in all, they are as troublesome as ghouls. Of course, we can''t afford to be careless anymore¡­" Clayon took a deep breath. "Something feels amiss. There are very few such cases in the cities under my jurisdiction, but they''re now happening one after another in Kimbert City¡­"


    The speaker had no intention, yet the first thing that Nietzsche and Simon thought of was Boss Andy and his store.


    It seemed like the waters in this city were indeed deep and muddy, and they could drown someone at a moment''s notice.


    The news that awaited them when they arrived at the police station surprised them yet again.


    "A new case?"


    ¡­


    "Truly a pity¡­ Such a nice girl and at the best age of her life¡­"


    The police had blocked off the entire crime scene by the time they arrived. Clayon showed his credentials and walked in with Nietzsche and Simon.


    "Lilian Marco, a third-rate model¡­ No connection with the victims of the previous cases, but their wounds are very similar¡­"


    Clayon squatted down in front of the body. He looked at Nietzsche and Simon. "Do you have any means of tracking it?"


    "No¡­" Nietzsche only knew the Great Sun Meditation Technique. He could burn it, but to trace the murderer, well, he would have to go back and read the Book of Sen Luo.


    However, Simon squatted down smugly and observed the wound on the woman''s neck.


    "This is fresh, and the time of death was rather recent. Perhaps I can use some summoning methods to guide us toward the murderer¡­"


    "Very good. Do it immediately!" Clayon decided right on the spot. "These monsters are even crazier than the ghouls. They''ve caused four or five cases within a few short hours, as though their hunger can never be satisfied¡­"


    "Got it¡­" Simon immediately knelt and began taking out some bottles to mix potions.


    There was no telling what Clayon had told the policemen in charge of this case, but they had all disappeared from sight.


    "In the name of darkness, I order you¡­ vengeful spirit, agglomerate! Guide us to the murder who killed you using the resentment of your blood!" Simon muttered as he poured the potion on the corpse''s wound.


    The wound that had turned white because of excessive blood loss actually started to heal and scab.


    Not only that, but Nietzsche could feel something bad attaching to the corpse.


    "This¡­ doesn''t seem to be the soul of the dead?" he finally blurted out.


    "Of course¡­ Do you think everyone who dies will turn into a soul? Wouldn''t there be too many souls wandering around the world in that case?" Simon smiled mockingly. "I called on the spirits from nearby. They must have seen what happened just now and are most likely affected by the resentment of the dead¡­"


    "Ah¡­" A long exhalation sounded just as Simon finished his explanation, and the female corpse on the floor suddenly opened her eyes.


    "Now¡­ you can tell me the murderer''s features¡­"


    "It was a son of the night with the body of a bat, the soul of a human, a long tongue¡­" the female corpse said calmly.


    "Sure enough, it''s a vampire. Can you trace it?" Clayon wiped his cold sweat. "I''ll immediately call for reinforcements!"


    "No problem. But I need to refine this corpse to become my servant first!" Simon said reservedly.


    "I grant you the authority to do things with ease!"


    Simon became excited with Clayon''s words. He drew all sorts of runes on the female body and poured quite a number of potions into her.


    After finishing everything, Simon chanted an incantation with a hot glint in his eyes. "Stand up, my servant of darkness!"


    Crack! Crack!


    The female corpse stood up, her movements stiff at first but soon returned to normal. Her eyes, however, held no emotions.


    "Is this a level-higher Flesh Puppet than the Resurrected Corpses?" Nietzsche gritted his teeth secretly.


    "Vengeful spirit, bring us to the one who killed you¡­" Under Simon''s incantation, the female corpse went over to the cover of a manhole and opened it to enter the sewers.


    "Go!" Although Clayon might look like a bag of bones, his strength had not declined much, and he was still rather agile.


    Simon and Nietzsche were both Extraordinaries. Their physiques were not their main attributes, but they had undoubtedly improved.


    The three of them followed the female corpse and flew through the underground sewers.


    The light was dim, the air was foul smelling, and moss covered everything, making it extremely slimy. It was easy to lose your footing if you were not careful.


    "They''ve evidently used the sewers¡­" Clayon sighed in front of an iron fence. "How long has it been since the city hall cleaned it¡­"


    There were naturally many restrictions in the sewers for places that a human body could pass through. For example, an iron fence set up at predetermined locations. It was also where the most waste gathered, making it easy to create blockages, and it was necessary to send cleaners to clear them up periodically.


    However, a huge hole had appeared on the iron fence, and the waste had piled up in the surroundings, causing the stench to be unbearable. There was no telling how long had it been since someone had cleaned it.


    "I hate this place¡­"


    Even the unusually cold Simon had his scalp go numb when he saw the sewage, various waste, and all kinds of dead bodies floating in it.


    Poof!


    That female corpse jumped directly into the water and went through the iron fence.


    "Follow her¡­" Clayon squeezed his nose and jumped down. He started convulsing and vomiting immediately.


    "Oh Black Iron God¡­"


    Nietzsche and Simon had no choice but to jump down and follow them. They too vomited all over.


    They could not help but want to throw their entire bodies into a washing machine after they passed through the iron fence and climbed up to shore.


    Keke! Suddenly, a sound came from in front of them.


    The female corpse let out a sharp shriek and immediately pounced at it.


    "Pay attention¡­ The targets have appeared!"


    Clayon grabbed his gun.


    Bang Bang!


    In the dark, several sounds of fighting came, causing Simon''s face to fall. "The servant of darkness I created is entangled with them. Be careful. There are a lot of them¡­"


    Whoosh!


    Halfway through his words, several snake-like things launched a surprise attack through the darkness.


    Bang!


    Clayon opened fire, but the next moment, his gun was knocked out of his hand, and a long purple-black snake tied his hand.


    "What is this¡­ damned thing?!"


    Nietzsche''s hands protected his own neck as he struggled hard. He could feel that the purple-black snake was full of slimy mucus that was extremely slippery.


    Smack!


    A flashlight rolled onto the ground, and the intermittent light shined on the figures of several monsters.


    They were similar to a combination of humans and bats. Their bodies were bare, without a trace of clothing nor hair, and those long purple-black snakes were actually their tongues!


    Vampires!!!

 1152 Haunted Villa

    "Damn it!"


    What did it feel like to have a long tongue coiling itself around your neck?


    Nietzsche could only sense a pungent rush to his nose and mouth. He could not breathe, and his hands were desperately pulling so that he could inhale precious air.


    In the face of suffocation, even the smelly air in the sewers felt extremely precious.


    Whoosh!


    That long tongue expanded again as it felt him struggling, and the back of it blossomed into a giant mouth with fangs.


    "How can I die here?" Nietzsche roared angrily, "Great Sun!"


    Whoosh!


    An invisible flame burnt from his body, making the tongue retreat like a frightened fish.


    "Want to run now? Too late!" Nietzsche used both hands to grab that tongue with all his might and yanked.


    A vampire became unsteady as Nietzche dragged it closer, and the hair on the vampire''s face became clearly visible.


    Bang!


    He bit his lips and pulled the trigger calmly.


    After the loud noise, the vampire''s head exploded as red and white bits splashed to the ground.


    When the vampire died, Nietzsche was suddenly stunned when he felt the ball of fire in his brain expand, as if the Great Sun Meditation Technique had absorbed a large tonic.


    "In the name of voodoo!!!" A roar came from Simon just when Nietzsche resolved the vampire.


    A weird voodoo doll was thrown on the ground, and blood oozed out from it.


    Tick! Tick!


    A small black patch soon gathered on the ground as the blood oozed out.


    An inexplicable strange aura spread out, cold and biting.


    The vampires screamed, as though they were frightened by something. They all retracted their tongues and fled the scene.


    "All right, let''s leave this place as fast as we can too!" Simon looked at the puppet on the floor, his face full of apprehension. "The power of this curse is too strong, and I can''t control it. We''ll die once it goes out of control¡­"


    "I can see that it''s a very dangerous spell¡­"


    Nietzsche moved his neck and followed Clayon and Simon back the same way.


    "I didn''t expect these vampires to be so powerful. We have no way of tracking them after losing that servant of darkness¡­" Clayon sighed. "We can only increase police patrols¡­"


    ¡­


    The following period of time was so busy and intense that there were very few holidays.


    Rumors about the vampires had begun to spread throughout Kimbert City. After all, they were more brutal and picky than the ghouls. They would not specifically target the homeless and preferred going after young maidens, directly taking people off the streets as more and more girls did not dare to go out at night.


    Five days later.


    Nietzsche looked up at the bright sun and yawned. "What beautiful sunlight!"


    "It''s rare to have a holiday¡­ It''s just that those vampires are obviously the blood part in the Dark Ritual Gegehu mentioned¡­"


    With this worry, he walked into a small convenience store on Parasol Street.


    "Welcome¡­" Fang Yuan still had that smile on his face. "Little Nietzsche, I knew you would come in time¡­"


    "Or perhaps¡­ you have no other customers at all?" Nietzsche rolled his eyes.


    "No, no, no¡­ I might have few customers, but sometimes I have real customers as well, very wealthy customers!" Fang Yuan smiled. "Just yesterday, an old customer came, and he was much more generous than you¡­"


    "Yesterday? Old customer? Yesterday seems to be Simon''s day off. Did he also come here?" Nietzsche asked, becoming alert all of a sudden.


    "How smart. You got it right immediately!" Fang Yuan''s expression did not change. "Then, customer, what do you need this time?"


    "Do you have something that can deal with vampires? Something really useful!" Nietzsche asked hastily.


    "Vampires are just servants of darkness, and it''s quite simple to kill them¡­ However, they have the ability to create progeny. Now that requires some means¡­"


    "Creating progeny, do you mean blood descendants?" Nietzsche exclaimed.


    "Blood descendants? There''s nothing wrong if you want to call it that, but the birth of a vampire doesn''t rely on blood at all¡­" Fang Yuan shrugged. "If you want to talk about specific products, I recommend the vampire talisman! I must tell you that this product is very popular, and it will only cost you five silver sols¡­"


    "I can''t think of anyone else who would buy this except for Simon¡­" Nietzsche grumbled. "In fact, why don''t you lower the price? For example, you can sell them for five coppers per piece to the public. I think¡­ you would definitely make a fortune given the current panic in Kimbert City."


    "Not a bad proposal¡­" Fang Yuan''s eyes lit up. "Unfortunately, if I were to do this, I would be invited to the police station before long. Perhaps they might even charge me with disturbing public security, spreading panic, and so on, and I would only be able to contact my lawyer then¡­"


    "I''ll buy it¡­" Nietzsche scooped out his pocket and found it was really shy. He could only start with the cheapest. "Spirit Awakening Water¡­ Hope I''ll have good luck this time!"


    He stared into the eyes of this profiteering boss and could roughly guess that the frequency of purchasing genuine goods from him was dependent on his mood!


    "No problem!" Fang Yuan passed him a small bottle with a grin and collected the copper coins with a swift movement.


    "¡­ I recently encountered some difficulties when practicing the Great Sun Meditation Technique. For example, I realized it could burn everything¡­" Nietzsche guessed the boss should be in a good mood right now since he had made a sale and posed some questions that were on his mind. "What should I do?"


    "The characteristic of the sun is to burn everything!" Fang Yuan said meaningfully. "Why fear it?"


    "But this kind of speed is simply too fast¡­ Too thrilling¡­" Nietzsche looked at his hands. "I never imagined that the rapid growth of power would one day be so frightening¡­"


    "This¡­ is the price to pay!" Fang Yuan nodded. "I have nothing more I can guide you on. However, you have to be careful. The Great Sun Meditation Technique will burn you first if it goes berserk¡­"


    Nietzsche''s heart sank. He forced himself to stop thinking about those problems and started to talk about other aspects. "One more thing, my boss has decided to resolve the problem of Robert''s haunted villa¡­ What''s your take on this?"


    "Be careful. Don''t die!" Fang Yuan gestured for the customer to leave.


    "Don''t¡­ die? Is the problem with the villa still not yet resolved? But isn''t the Dream painting with you?" Nietzsche asked incredulously.


    "Wait¡­" He reacted in the next moment. "Could you have created a fake painting to deceive people? You can even fake that strange feeling? You profiteer!"


    ¡­


    "All right, it''s a long and arduous project to capture the ghouls and vampires, so we''ll clean up Robert''s villa next¡­"


    The next day, in the office of the Investigation Agency, Clayon got his subordinates to submit a few documents.


    "Robert''s villa has become a dangerous place because of Dream. Robert and his daughter, as well as the servants and housekeepers, are all missing, and there''s not even a single thread of news. The danger might not have spread, but we can''t allow it to continue like this¡­"


    He gazed at Nietzsche. "What do you think? Does that Dream painting still have value?"


    Boss still thinks that my ability came from that painting¡­ Nietzsche''s face turned red when he saw the glint in Simon''s eyes. He gritted his teeth and replied, "I think¡­ it''s very unwise of us to use our manpower at this time to deal with Robert''s villa!"


    Clayon paused but replied thoughtfully, "Indeed. The most dangerous issue when facing extraordinary events is the unknown! Compared to those untouchable and unresearchable souls and curses, ghouls and vampires seem cute enough¡­ if not for the contamination after their deaths!"


    Clayon coughed and mentioned the order solemnly. "However¡­ we need to retrieve that painting. It''s an order from headquarters!"


    "Why?" Nietzsche asked before Simon could.


    "Perhaps¡­ because it''s something left behind by Vincent? Mr. Vincent has been proven to be the most powerful Extraordinary in the entire Carls Federation in the last fifty years! His power has an especially incredible effect when confronting certain evil cultists!" Clayon explained.


    "The experts in headquarters have investigated everything that happened here, and they''ve come to the conclusion that something very bad is about to happen. Moreover, it''s linked to some very ancient cults, so we need to gather more power¡­"


    Nietzsche nodded slowly, though lightning seemed to strike his brain. The people at headquarters have already guessed through the clues such as the Feast of Meat that the people who are stirring up the situation in Kimbert City are none other than the believers of the Lord of Chaos and Madness¡­ And to resist the power of this existence, even if they''re only its followers, it is necessary to introduce another force. And the best choice is the legendary Astral Serpent!


    There was not only one Gegehu alive in the world. With the tentacles of the Investigation Agency and its many years of dealing with the extraordinary, it would not be difficult to obtain such information.


    "In other words, this is a mandatory task that we can''t avoid, right?" Simon smiled. "In that case, we can only go. I''m also very interested in this painting left behind by Vincent. It did make Nietzsche who he is after all¡­"


    "I will obey orders!"


    Nietzsche remained silent, thinking about what Andy had said about inheritance and contamination. Did the Investigation Agency not know that some extraordinary powers could only create one Extraordinary? Or did it have other intentions?

 1153 Complete Annihilation

    "This group of vampires is really too crazy¡­"


    Within the store, Fang Yuan rubbed his forehead while looking at the light screen in front of him. "They don''t possess the caution the ghouls have and don''t know how to look for suitable targets. Now, the entire city is disturbed, successfully attracting the attention of the entire federation. It probably won''t be long before the army is stationed here to do a complete cleanup, and maybe some useless wastes from the Investigation Agency headquarters will come¡­"


    "Great Master, they''ve only inherited some characteristics of the Ancients after all¡­ And the vampires'' requirements for blood are extremely demanding!" Morigu stood respectfully by the side, still dressed in a black and white maid uniform.


    "Yes, I don''t care how many of these dirty and lowly hybrids die, but it would be a pity if the Dark Ritual were to fail because of them¡­" Fang Yuan shook his head.


    He had kept a low profile recently for this reason.


    After all, would Omar dare to descend to this planet if it knew its archenemy was here?


    "Although the movements of these vampires are fast, the federation isn''t stupid. The local Investigation Agency seems to have shifted its energy toward Robert''s haunted villa, but it has actually secretly mobilized forces from elsewhere¡­"


    Probably even Clayon was not let in on this secret, but it was as clear as day to Fang Yuan. "The Blood Sacrifice might just fail. How can a mere group of vampires go up against the forces of the federation?"


    "Great Master, do you need me to do something?" Morigu stepped up confidently.


    With her strength, she was definitely at the peak of this planet.


    "On this planet, there are some strong ones who can fight on par with you, and the most powerful country also has the strength to go up against you¡­" Fang Yuan seemed to see a lot more. "So¡­ it''s better for me to act!"


    "But, Great Master, what about your plan?" Morigu asked with uncertainty.


    "The Book of Flesh will naturally attract Omar''s followers here, but they don''t know what''s really attracting them. As for Omar, this planet has had traces of my power since the time of the Mandala wizards. However, it would be completely different with an extra progeny and follower, exceeding the limit!"


    Fang Yuan smiled. "Therefore, you wouldn''t be able to hide if you were to act. I don''t have this problem."


    Fang Yuan, the Astral Serpent, had already contaminated this planet. Therefore, there would be no problems as long as Omar did not feel his true power and the Book of Flesh during the Dark Ritual.


    "Master, how are you preparing to help those vampires?" Morigu asked with some doubt.


    "Naturally¡­ I''m going to create a huge case to attract the complete attention of the federation." Fang Yuan smiled. The clothes on his body suddenly changed as he slowly disappeared with the maid.


    ¡­


    In a hidden underground base, a large group of people was sitting in a circle, and there was an enlarged cross-section map of a sewer network suspended in the middle.


    If Nietzsche were here, he would immediately know that it was a map of Kimbert City.


    "Director Barton, is this why you mobilized half of the Federal Investigation Agency?"


    Everyone present was at least level five and above. They were the real leaders of major regions and had the corresponding authority.


    Director Barton was the head of the entire Federal Investigation Agency, and the only one with level nine authority. He knew everything about the dark side of the federation.


    "That''s right¡­" Barton''s voice was low and powerful, having something to do with his military experience. "After our repeated confirmations, all extraordinary creatures are converging in Kimbert City, especially that ancient cult¡ªthe Church of the Eye!"


    "¡­" The scene fell silent. As people with level five authority, they certainly knew the strangeness and horror of the Church of the Eye.


    "As everyone knows, ghouls and vampires have always been followers of the Church of the Eye. They''ve appeared in Kimbert City and started a large-scale attack. It''s definitely targeted. The newly-collected evidence explains everything¡ªthese cultists are preparing the Dark Ritual to call upon an Ancient to descend again!"


    Barton supported the table with both hands, his bright eyes looking around. "We can''t let them succeed!"


    "Of course!" The rest agreed.


    They vaguely knew that the legends of the Ancients who ruled this planet in ancient times were not merely legends, but indeed true!


    "We humans are already free. Nothing will enslave us again, not even Gods!" Barton looked solemn. "This time, I ordered the army to assist in the cleanup of Kimbert City. We''ll let no vampire nor ghoul live!"


    "Oh, hehe, really?" A voice rang in the conference room right at that moment.


    Dark mist appeared, and a figure emerged from the void.


    He was in black, with his hat low, the mist shrouding his face, and a cane in his hand.


    "Alert!"


    No matter who it was, being able to penetrate this guarded underground base was enough to shock those present.


    Instantly, countless guns, staves, and even cursed objects aimed at the trespasser. "State your intention!"


    "Me? I''m just lost?" the voice replied. "I apologize for accidentally intruding on your meeting!"


    "Do you think we''ll believe you?"


    Director Barton had his hands behind his back. A cylindrical glass landed, separating him and this space.


    "Why is everyone so nervous¡­" This lost person was naturally Fang Yuan. He smiled soundlessly. "Why don''t we both take a step back? How about you abandon your earlier plan and I leave?"


    "Are you from the Church of the Eye?" Barton guessed.


    "Perhaps!" The Church of the Eye was an organization that worshipped a certain Ancient, and that Ancient took the form of a huge eyeball, which was the reason for its name.


    The ground under Barton disappeared, and his whole person fell in. A faint voice traveled out from it. "Get him!"


    Bang Bang!


    Two gunshots resounded. Faint white smoke emitted from the two bullets on Fang Yuan''s body. They transformed into two flat silver pieces and landed on the ground.


    "In the name of ****!"


    "I cast you aside. I banish you!"


    "Curse!"


    The next moment, all sorts of extraordinary methods fell on Fang Yuan.


    Unfortunately, he managed to block everything just by gently lifting his cloak.


    "Who¡­ is this person?" Barton had urgently moved to another safe house and used all sorts of means to gain a picture of what was happening in the conference room. "The ability to shuttle through space¡­ What a dangerous Extraordinary. Is he a hidden force of the Church of the Eye?"


    "Sigh¡­ Why are you attacking?" Fang Yuan sighed and showed a mark that looked like an eye on his hand.


    This eye seemed as though it had gathered all the evil of this world and was brimming with maddening intensity.


    All the Extraordinaries took several steps back under the icy aura.


    "As expected¡­ He''s from the Church of the Eye!"


    "Pay attention to your concealment!"


    Seeing this mysterious Extraordinary was ready to attack, the other Extraordinaries wanted to stop him or immediately leave.


    However, Fang Yuan''s casting was simply too fast for them. "Summon Ghouls! Summon Vampires! Summon Abyssal Magic Vine!"


    Bang Bang!


    The ground shattered, and a huge, thick vine grew and spread. Countless roots seemed to occupy the entire underground base.


    Ghouls and vampires emerged from all around. They threw themselves at the targets in front of them to enjoy the feast of flesh and blood.


    After reading Omar''s Book of Flesh, it was not difficult to cast some dark spells in accordance with the style of Omar''s followers.


    It would even be a piece of cake for him to summon a Dark Young or cast the seal of Omar.


    However, no matter how much of a fool Omar was, it would know that Fang Yuan was on this planet if he were to do that.


    This offensive immediately revealed the weaknesses of these Extraordinaries¡ªthey were only good at some rituals which required specific arrangements. They instantly fell into a disadvantage once they were facing monsters with strong physical strength.


    It did not take long for a level-five investigator to fall and be bitten.


    "Let''s leave now¡­" Seeing this scene, Barton quickly turned around with a serious look. "Report immediately. A terrifyingly strong person has appeared within the Church of the Eye!"


    Bang Bang!


    But before he could reach the door, a black barbed vine crushed one of the walls, and Fang Yuan walked in slowly. "I can''t believe you''re so useless as the director of the Investigation Agency!"


    "You''ve stared into the abyss?" Barton''s sudden question took another direction.


    "You think I''m an Abyssor? Well, I''m one then!" Fang Yuan shrugged.


    A lady in a blood-red skirt appeared behind him, and she had nothing below her calf. A pair of pale palms clamped both sides of his neck.


    "Ahh!" The vengeful spirit shrieked and disappeared in the next moment.


    "Impossible!" Barton could no longer remain calm after seeing this.


    After all, the one who attacked the Abyssor was Miss Lisa, the true hidden ace of the Investigation Agency!


    Barton stopped in his tracks and turned to look at Fang Yuan. "Who exactly are you?"


    "Someone who''s lost¡­ Here specifically to share the teachings of darkness with you¡­"


    Fang Yuan snapped his fingers. Two ghouls appeared.


    Director Barton finally lost after some struggling, and his neck was bitten.


    The higher echelons of the Federal Investigation Agency were completely annihilated!


    "Now, to clean up the battlefield¡­"


    Fang Yuan sighed, and a black mist immediately enveloped the entire underground base.

 1154 Control

    On an island.


    In a certain jungle with a large number of defensive structures set up, a deafening sound suddenly rang out from a secret room at the core.


    Tut tut!


    The sound of hurried footsteps came as a dust-laden door opened.


    They saw a naked Barton crawling out of a giant eggshell.


    "Did I die again?" Barton took a towel expressionlessly and started to wipe the mucus covering his body. "What year is it? When was the last time I was here?"


    "Director, the last time you were here was Black Iron Year 400. Today is Black Iron Year 401, the month of Aries¡­" answered one of the Investigation Agency officers respectfully.


    "Seems like I died again¡­" Barton continued to be expressionless. "Where did the previous me go?"


    "According to the latest contact information, you were heading to Kimbert City to deal with the Dark Ritual¡­ But¡­"


    Just as these officers were explaining with a stutter, several urgent alarms sounded.


    "Has the Egg of Destiny awakened again?"


    The officers on duty opened their mouths. "Is the Investigation Agency headquarters under attack?"


    "Compared to that, I''m more curious about the Dark Ritual in Kimbert City¡­" Barton dressed and walked outside. He saw several other senior investigators. "Gentlemen, we have a problem. But before that, let''s undergo some examinations and treatments¡­"


    ¡­


    "What a strange ability!" Fang Yuan''s vision was far-reaching, and it reached this place in no time. He could not help being surprised. "It''s not a resurrection, but a method similar to cloning and memory copying, storage and transfer. Did they achieve this through extraordinary means? It''s a low-end version of being reborn¡­"


    In fact, the real Barton had died who knew how many times already.


    What survived afterward were his clones and the memories he had engraved upon them.


    Although it was just a copy, when the real thing disappeared, the one that was left was naturally the only genuine article.


    Of course, with Fang Yuan''s ability, it would be a piece of cake to make Barton disappear completely.


    For example, he could plant a certain horrible imprint in his memory. Then, no matter how many times he was reborn, he would immediately encounter doom and eventually perish!


    "However¡­ I have no interest in killing this small fry for the second time¡­"


    Fang Yuan shook his head and snapped his fingers.


    Tut tut!


    Along with the sound of footsteps, many zombie-like investigators appeared behind him.


    "Go!"


    The trouble he caused for the Investigation Agency previously was merely an appetizer.


    The real-life version of Resident Evil was the main course!


    "Maybe¡­ there will be a very minor Easter egg as well!"


    Fang Yuan gazed at Barton''s torn corpse on the ground and smiled. Vines pierced through it directly.


    A sound that made one cringe came. These vines were like vipers as they shattered Barton''s original bones, swallowed them up, and replaced themselves in their place. He stood up staggeringly and had become a half-human, half-plant monster.


    "I hope you''ll be more decisive when you have to kill your corpse before it becomes the next monstrous murderer¡­" Fang Yuan said with some anticipation and disappeared in the void.


    ¡­


    Kimbert City, outside the haunted villa.


    A group of men in black surrounded it quietly, successfully completing the blockade.


    "First group, break in!" Clayon finally issued his order after keeping silent for a long time.


    Smack!


    Equipped with extraordinary items such as enchanted bullets and voodoo dolls, a team in black climbed through a window.


    "Second group!


    "Third group!"


    ¡­


    Not long later, all sorts of reports came.


    "Backyard, no abnormalities!"


    "Corridor, no abnormalities!"


    "Living room, no abnormalities!"


    "No traces of enemies nor any signs of fighting!"


    "Lockdown the study! You two, follow me!" Clayon took a deep breath, took the two Extraordinaries with him, and waltzed through the main door of Robert''s haunted villa.


    "Haha¡­ relax!" Simon crossed his arms, appearing very relaxed, as two Resurrected Corpses in black cloaks followed behind him. "Nietzsche has already absorbed the extraordinary seed in Dream. Even if some of it remains, it wouldn''t be particularly powerful¡­"


    "Not necessarily. Moreover, that painting wiped out everyone originally in this villa¡­" Clayon was solemn. He took a deep breath before pushing open the doors of the study open with both his hands.


    Creak!


    The door opened, revealing everything behind it.


    The bookshelves were lined with light and shadow.


    Everything seemed to be not much different from before, and Nietzsche could not help but be in a trance.


    "There it is, Dream!" Simon''s voice came almost immediately.


    Nietzsche regained his focus, slapped his face, and saw the painting hanging on the wall.


    All right, so it seems that Boss Andy really faked the painting to deceive others. But why do both of them feel so real to me? He could not quite figure it out.All of a sudden, lightning seemed to strike his sea of consciousness. No, the one in the store felt even more terrifying!


    "Simon!" Clayon gave him a meaningful glance.


    Simon nodded. A Resurrected Corpse used a black cloth to cover the painting and took it down.


    "Everything went well!" Simon grinned. "I say¡­ it''s been auctioned so many times, but why didn''t it show any problems before?"


    "All right, get your servants to carry it out. Be careful. Let''s return to the base!" Clayon was not about to let his guard down.


    They walked out of the study and came to the main door.


    Everything¡­ seems to have gone too smoothly? Nietzsche thought silently. The ball of fire in his mind suddenly swelled when this idea popped into his head, exuding a hot force.


    "Ah!" He covered his eyes, feeling as though his hands were on two hot stoves!


    "Nietzsche, what''s going on?"


    Simon walked over and stretched out his hand in concern, wanting to pat his shoulder.


    However, through his bloodshot eyes, Nietzsche could only see the flesh on this hand falling off, leaving only white bone.


    "What''s wrong, Nietzsche?" Clayon came over in worry. The flesh on his face fell off, like a burning oil painting.


    "Ahh!!!" Nietzsche screamed. His hands were burning with flames as he suddenly seized Simon and Clayon.


    Whoosh!


    Golden flames spread from him and ignited these two monsters, turning them into torches.


    Instantly, the surrounding environment changed again.


    Nietzsche found himself back in the study, but there was no one in the surroundings.


    On the opposite wall, half of Clayon''s body had been sucked into the oil painting, while Simon was nowhere to be found.


    "Did we enter our own illusion worlds after we entered the study?"


    Nietzsche bit his lips tightly and stepped forward. He grabbed Clayon''s legs and pulled him out of the wall as though he were pulling a carrot.


    After he pulled Clayon out, he suddenly saw a hand!


    That hand was pale and illusory, slender and delicate, as though it belonged to a young girl, and it was currently holding onto Clayon''s collar.


    Clayon was still in a daze, allowing the hand to drag him into the painting.


    "Don''t you dare!" Nietzsche knocked the illusory hand away and saw it shrink back into the painting.


    "Simon! Simon!" He shouted a few times but received no response. His heart sank.


    The Simon who became an Extraordinary earlier than him, possessed many abilities, including voodoo, the person with an incredibly meticulously mind and excellent in all aspects, died so unclearly?


    Sometimes, even Extraordinaries were no different from normal people when it came to strange and extraordinary events!


    "Let''s leave quickly!"


    Nietzsche carried Clayon to the study doors but found that they had been tightly shut.


    The walls on all sides seemed to be screaming at them continuously.


    "Come back!"


    "Come back!"


    "Become one with us!"


    "Become one with the supreme one!"


    ¡­


    All sorts of ravings assaulted Nietzsche''s ears.


    He turned back in shock and saw that the starry sky in Dream was continuously twisting, enlarging before transforming into the figures of people¡­ There was a girl in a nightgown, several servants, and even Mr. Robert, whom he had met the other day.


    At the center was a young man, Simon!


    All kinds of whispers came from them.


    Numerous pale hands started to stretch toward Nietzsche.


    "No! Don''t even think about it!"


    Nietzsche''s eyes were firm as he activated the Great Sun Meditation Technique with all his might, and golden flames surrounded his body.


    The spirits were set ablaze by him and turned into torches.


    Finally, he placed his hands on the frame of the painting. "Go to hell!"


    The golden flames fell on Dream.


    Whoosh!


    Suddenly, as if boiling oil met cold water, a large amount of smoke rose from the oil painting.


    All sorts of blood-curdling screams accompanied it.


    Nietzsche felt as though his hands no longer belonged to him, and there was a biting-cold feeling on them.


    "Burn! Burn everything! The flames of the sun!" His expression was cold as he clutched the frame without a trace of relaxation.


    Finally, a spark appeared in the middle of the oil painting, and it burnt a small hole through it with much difficulty.


    Splash!


    A large amount of blood came out from the oil painting and landed on the ground, as though endless spring water were forming a small pond.


    Even Nietzsche could not have imagined that an oil painting could contain so much blood!


    Whoosh!


    The golden flames continued to expand, lighting up the entire oil painting.


    Nietzsche felt an incomparably boundless force traveling through his hands and pouring into his brain. His eyes rolled over, and he passed out¡­


    ¡­


    Scorching hot!


    It was as though he was thrown into the desert at noon. Heatwaves rolled on and swept through.


    A spring appeared out of nowhere nearby.


    Nietzsche ran toward it happily, only to find Simon''s image on the surface of the spring.


    Splash!


    Simon''s hands went through the water surface, grabbed Nietzsche''s neck, and dragged him forcefully into the water.


    "Ahh!" Nietzsche screamed and woke up, only to find that it was a dream, and he was lying on the hospital bed.


    "Nietzsche, you''ve finally awakened¡­" Clayon appeared in front of him before long. "We lost Simon in our investigation this time¡­"


    "So it wasn''t a dream¡­" Nietzsche was depressed for a moment before becoming shocked as he looked at his hands.


    He could still feel the hot power in him, but he could now keep it completely under control.


    This meant he had progressed and reached the Controller level!

 1155 Believer

    "¡­ That''s all. Simon is dead, headquarters was attacked, and Clayon''s authority has been elevated, but we no longer have any reinforcements¡­"


    Within the convenience store, Nietzsche held a cup of hot cocoa, recounting everything that happened with worry lining his forehead. "I''m too weak¡­"


    "I thought you would blame me." Fang Yuan put down his newspaper and smiled. "Because of someone''s irresponsibility¡­"


    "No, I''ve thought it over. It''s definitely not your fault. You''re unrelated to this, and no one requires you to do anything, but I have this responsibility!" Nietzsche took a deep breath. "I am ashamed of my narrow-mindedness and cowardice!"


    "Congratulations, young man, you''ve grown up!" Fang Yuan congratulated him without meaning it.


    "So¡­ I''ve leaked your information as well!" A hint of cunning flashed across Nietzsche''s eyes. "You won''t be rejecting more customers since you specialize in selling occult items, I presume?"


    "Of course, I welcome it very much!" Fang Yuan looked behind him and saw Angelina. "Hello, Miss Tour Guide!"


    "Good day, Your Excellency¡­" Angelina was vigilant because she could not discern the strength of the convenience store owner across from her.


    She could only see a normal person, but how was this possible?


    "Welcome to my humble store. Please let me know what you require!" Fang Yuan displayed a profiteer-like smile.


    "Hmm¡­" Angelina pondered before asking directly, "What do you think would suit me?"


    "At first glance, this beautiful lady has the temperament of an artist, and you''re most suited for choosing some artworks to display home¡­ Such as this!"


    Fang Yuan snapped his fingers, and Morigu emerged with an oil painting. It was Dream!


    "This¡­" Angelina''s and Nietzsche''s eyes fixated on it as they felt the extraordinary power from the oil painting.


    "Impossible¡­ Didn''t Nietzsche destroy it?" Angelina could not believe her eyes. She suddenly turned toward Morigu and felt a spring of fear overflowing in her soul.


    "This¡­ No one knows if the one he destroyed was real or not, but this is only selling for ten gold punks. I''m selling it at a loss. So, do you want it?" Fang Yuan asked with a tempting voice.


    "I really want it, but I still have a mortgage to pay. Can I pay for it in installments?" Angelina was slightly embarrassed.


    For her, it really was a huge sum of money.


    "Sorry, we don''t do installments!"


    Not long after he sent the disappointed Angelina away, Clayon entered with a serious face.


    "Welcome, what do you need?" Fang Yuan asked with a smile, appearing as though he did not have knowledge of the men in black outside.


    "Mr. Andy, don''t you think you should apologize for the deception you pulled earlier?" Clayon stared at Fang Yuan, trying to pressure him.


    "All right¡­" A smile broke out on Clayon''s thin face. "In that case, can I buy some stuff as a customer?"


    "Of course, I welcome all customers!" Fang Yuan opened his arms. "Please take your pick!"


    After ten minutes, Nietzsche and Clayon held a bunch of items, threw down all their money on the counter, and left the convenience store.


    At the end of the street, a few black cars immediately came over to pick them up.


    "How is it? Is your feeling accurate? I used public funds to purchase them¡­" Clayon eyed Nietzsche.


    "I believe they should all contain extraordinary powers? But I''m not quite sure¡­" Nietzsche was hesitant and lamented over the riches of the Investigation Agency. It was totally on a different level compared with a poor guy like him.


    "The assessment is out. The strength of the target is unknown. We suspect that he''s an Abyssor. He has no tendency toward violence. but has a weird personality¡­ Suggest conducting long-term surveillance!" Clayon said quickly as a man in black next to him wrote it down.


    "Send these items to the research center immediately. If the results are good, we''ll allocate funds to purchase such extraordinary items in the future¡­"


    Clayon sighed. "I hope to increase the strength of our division against the ever-growing power of darkness in Kimbert City¡­"


    ¡­


    In a dark underground space.


    White candles shined all around, reflecting many black, swaying figures.


    "Kimbert City¡­ I can feel the summon here!"


    In the middle of a stone room was a huge, strange eye sculpture. Many blood veins spread out from its vertical eye. It looked very evil.


    In fact, if Morigu were here, she would have recognized it with a glance. This was a Son of Omar, an Eye of Darkness, like the one that had ruled the Arita World!


    It was a progeny of Omar and had vast powers, enough to rule over a planet.


    Obviously, one of the Ancients on this planet had also been an Eye of Darkness!


    Moreover, there were many believers, which had given rise to the Church of the Eye.


    "The eye of the great existence watching over this place¡­"


    Someone who seemed to be a high priest and wearing a pendant that had the image of the vertical eye lifted a golden sacrificial knife and placed eyeballs that were dripping with blood on an altar. "The eye in the darkness, please guide us!"


    Whoosh!


    Eyeball after eyeball burst into flames and emitted a unique scent.


    After inhaling this scent, many cultists suddenly became groggy, their bodies swaying. They started letting out all sorts of growls and groans.


    A hood was knocked over, revealing the appearance of a cultist. One of his eyes was blind, looking very terrifying!


    This was the hallmark of the Church of the Eye. They had to dedicate one eye each to the Eye of Darkness through a ritual.


    Those present were undoubtedly the core members of the Church of the Eye.


    After the ritual, their faces flushed red, as though they had received supreme satisfaction and relief.


    "We''ve already completed flesh and blood¡­ The great Eye of Darkness requires us to offer the final Offering of Souls to summon it¡­" The high priest opened his arms wide with excitement. "The Ancient will definitely return and rule this planet again!"


    "All glory belongs to the Eye of Darkness!" All the cultists knelt and repeated respectfully.


    "Barbara! I''ll leave this matter in your hands, all right?"


    "No problem. I will definitely obtain enough sacrifices for the Eye of Darkness¡­ especially those bloodlines that got away. I can smell their aura¡­" a middle-aged woman answered.


    She had fiery red hair and a voluptuous body. She must have been quite a beauty when she was young. However, the three scars on her face had caused one of her eyes to go blind, completely ruining her beauty.


    She might only have one eye left, but her face was full of fanaticism.


    "The previous ritual? They are indeed the best offerings!" The high priest nodded. "I hope they won''t let down the gifts they received all these years and have become¡­ delicious enough!"


    ¡­


    At the same time, within the Investigation Agency branch.


    "Everything regarding the Feast of Meat and the subsequent information is all here. It just came from headquarters. Take a look¡­"


    Clayon gave out the stack of information, rendering the whole meeting room silent.


    Angelina was among them, looking intently at one of the pages.


    "Dark Ritual, Ancient¡­ Feast of Meat, Blood Sacrifice, Offering of Souls¡­"


    Nietzsche could not wait to read it.


    It had to be said that the Investigation Agency headquarters did have great strength and a massive network of relationships. The contents of the investigation were much clearer than the information from Gegehu.


    "The Feast of Meat requires the spread of ghouls. For the Blood Sacrifice, the main force is vampires. And for the final Offering of Souls, all sorts of vengeful spirits are just supplementary. The most important thing is a ritual¡ªthe Battle Royale. The people carrying out the ritual had branded certain imprints on these sacrifices tens or even hundreds of years ago. They would then let them escape and allow the sacrifices to spread their bloodlines, thereby letting the imprints spread before eventually producing the most perfect sacrifice¡­"


    Nietzsche felt his fingertips turn cold as he touched his nape subconsciously.


    He had long had his doubts. After all, his ancestor was merely an ordinary person. How could he have escaped from a powerful cult organization with a large number of Extraordinaries, get married, and have children?


    Now, however, it seemed as though it had gone exactly as they planned.


    Everything was part of the ritual from then until now!


    "Damn these pieces of shit!"


    Nietzsche clenched his teeth and saw Angelina''s expression change as well.


    Right, this lady has a similar imprint¡­


    "Do you understand?" Clayon spread his fingers, pressing his palm on the table with a serious expression. "Our next job will be very difficult. In addition to ghouls and vampires, we may face attacks from ghosts. Therefore, I''ve invited a consultant who has done considerable research on this matter, Miss Angelina!"


    "Ahem¡­" Angelina had a pair of round-rimmed glasses perched on her nose, seeming quite intellectual. She pushed the frame up. "I can make some enchanted bullets and talismans specifically against spirits, but that''s all I can do. Vengeful spirits, even in occultism, are very weird and dangerous. If you''re even a little careless, they can take the lives of Extraordinaries¡­ Just like what happened to Simon¡­"


    As soon as she said that, everyone''s expression became unnatural.


    However, Angelina acted as though she did not notice it and continued, "The ritual for the Offering of Souls requires elaborate layout and arrangements, and it''s not something the vampires nor ghouls can handle. Therefore, I believe there might be cultists involved. What we have to be careful about is the summoning ritual in case they gather the flesh, blood, and soul. If we don''t stop it, all of Kimbert City will be destroyed!"


    "What Miss Angelina said is exactly what I wanted to say!" Clayon looked grim. "We can''t let these cultists continue to run wild for the sake of us and our families!"

 Chapter 1156 - Poetry

    At the end of Black Iron Year 401, a large-scale plague broke out in Green Forest City in the Carls Federation.


    No one knew where this virus had come from, but it spread all over the city in an instant. It was extremely infectious, took less than three hours from infection to onset, and the death rate was one hundred percent.


    Moreover, the corpses would gain powerful strength and long for the flesh and blood of the living. They were given the name ''walking dead''.


    If not for some extraordinary factors that prevented this virus from spreading to the world, it might have already been completely destroyed.


    Even though this disaster affected only one city, it rapidly created hundreds of thousands of walking dead and also took away most of the energy of the federation. The Investigation Agency and the army had no choice but to rush to aid and isolate it from its surroundings. Even Holy Celbera and Arkham felt uneasy.


    In such an environment, the disturbances of the vampires and ghouls in Kimbert City seemed insignificant.


    Even if Clayon could produce evidence that cultists were planning to hold a summoning ritual for an Ancient, the so-called Ancients who had ruled the planet were but a myth to most.


    Moreover, even those who had a bit of knowledge about it would not believe that some remnants of the Church of the Eye were capable of completing such a grand ritual.


    And with the pressing matter of the walking dead, all sorts of actions were inevitably delayed.


    The people of Kimbert City were in utter despair. The killings of the vampires and ghouls might not have exceeded ten thousand, but the psychological pressure caused by them was utterly terrible. The roads outside were packed with all sorts of moving cars. After the rich fled, only the ordinary people were left and forced to survive. They added additional protective measures to their windows and doors, and the prices of daily necessities skyrocketed. The entire city seemed to become a dead city at night.


    "Master¡­" Morigu stood beside Fang Yuan in the convenience store. "The higher echelons of the Church of the Eye have settled in Kimbert City and created the conditions to capture the sacrifices for starting the Offering of Souls¡­ But I have to say, regardless of the quality of the sacrifices, their technology is really¡­ backward!"


    "Backward is an understatement. I seem to be looking at a bunch of primitive people dancing with stone tools¡­" Fang Yuan raised his cup of hot cocoa. "There are so many common sense errors in the ritual runes and all sorts of irregularities, even confusion on the ritual itself. They didn''t fail after so many years only because the Eye of Darkness really blessed them!"


    "The most suitable sacrifice for starting the Offering of Souls is Nietzsche! But this will obviously conflict with Master''s goal. Do you want me to do something about it?"


    Fang Yuan put down his porcelain cup. "However, we need to help those from the Church of the Eye. Otherwise, they won''t be able to summon the Ancient even if they finish collecting the flesh, blood, and soul¡­"


    ¡­


    Late at night.


    Since the emergence of ghouls and vampires, being a police officer had become a high-risk occupation, and they would be killed in monster attacks from time to time.


    Right now, all of Kimbert City was lacking in police force. Clayon could not do anything about it either.


    After all, they were ordinary people and were definitely afraid of such monsters. They could not just ignore life and death.


    The strength of the Investigation Agency and the elite forces of the military had been transferred to Green Forest City since it would be a disaster for humanity if the walking dead virus were to spread from there.


    "I have to work overtime at night, and there''s no overtime bonus! I hate this job!" Nietzsche complained in dissatisfaction while on patrol with a few men in black.


    Actually, he was just joking. As an Extraordinary, his compensation was naturally higher than that of ordinary people, and he could even apply for special funding for practical experiments and so on.


    Especially since the situation now was so critical. Although they might be understaffed, funding requirements would certainly be met.


    I have to look at a few more pages of the Book of Sen Luo!


    Nietzsche touched the revolver full of enchanted bullets at his waist.


    However, what he trusted the most was his extraordinary abilities.


    Boss Andy is absolutely plotting something¡­ In particularl, the Book of Sen Luo was truly all-encompassing. Even Nietzsche had broken out in cold sweat when he read some of the strange curses.


    After reading just a few pages, he was confident that he could cope with the other Extraordinaries, even suppress a veteran like Angelina.


    So far, there have been no cases of spirits attacking. Of course, perhaps they''re happening in secret. The most critical are still the ghouls and vampires¡­


    Nietzsche pondered slowly. All of a sudden, a sharp scream came from the dark streets, echoing in the empty night, making people shudder.


    "Go!" Nietzsche roared and hurried toward the source of the sound.


    It was not easy for the vampires and ghouls to find suitable targets when everyone was extremely vigilant and had fortified their homes as though they were fortresses.


    Forced intrusion became an inevitable choice, which was loud and easily attracted attention.


    "It''s coming from there! The Shamrock Pea Building! Call for reinforcements!"


    Nietzsche arrived under a building with a flash of golden flames in his eyes. Even in the dark, he could clearly see the window on the third floor. The wooden railings had shattered, and there was a large hole.


    He walked up the stairs and found the room corresponding to the window. He heard the sounds of fighting inside and kicked down the door directly.


    Bang!


    Wooden shards flew as the door broke into many pieces.


    Nietzsche immediately saw the scene within the room.


    A woman was lying in a pool of blood with a large hole in her stomach, her intestines and inner organs vaguely visible.


    A giant ghoul beside her on all fours was obviously the culprit.


    The male of this family had a double-barreled shotgun in hand and was ready to shoot at any time.


    "Die!" Nietzsche quickly drew his gun. Holes penetrated the ghoul''s body, and it fell to the floor.


    "Simple and easy. Looks like I was being too cautious¡­" Nietzsche sighed inwardly. "So, I''m already so different from normal humans¡­"


    "Who are you? Don''t come near me!"


    That male was panicking at the moment and pointed the muzzle of his shotgun at Nietzsche.


    "Hey! Brother, don''t worry, I''m not someone bad. I''m just a civil servant specialized in dealing with these monsters¡­ Hmm, I should count as a civil servant?"


    Nietzsche stepped forward with a smile, ready to take out his ID and call a few police officers over.


    Bang!!


    The male screamed and pulled the trigger.


    The steel balls from the shotgun seemed to flow out like sinking sand, covering the entire area instantly.


    Even an Extraordinary like Nietzsche only had time to inch slightly away. He immediately felt his right arm, waist, and face hurting as though wasps had stung him. The powerful force made him step backward. "Damn it¡­ what are you doing!"


    "I got you, my pretty little thing!"


    The male snickered and flew forward. His speed and power were definitely beyond the scope of an ordinary human.


    "Flame!" Nietzsche chanted the incantation quickly, and a golden flame fell onto the man.


    He screamed and rolled onto the floor quickly. A layer of skin fell off, revealing Hannibal''s face!


    "It''s you!" Nietzsche''s eyes narrowed. "I will avenge the hatred of Vivienne and so many colleagues! You won''t be able to escape this time¡­"


    "Escape? Why should I escape?" Like a gentleman about to attend a ball, Hannibal was calm as he ripped the rest of the human skin apart. His gaze especially made Nietzsche very uncomfortable, looking at him like he was food.


    And Nietzsche knew that he would definitely be able to do it!


    Whoosh!


    A ball of golden flames appeared in his right hand.


    "Extraordinary! And at the Controller level¡­" Hannibal''s eyes gleamed. "Very good!"


    "Good?" A tremble suddenly spread through Nietzsche''s body.


    He threw himself to the side without stopping to think.


    Swoosh!


    The next moment, black tentacles appeared where he was just at.


    "Hehe¡­ I know you. You''re the kid that got away¡­" A woman with only one eye walked out from the darkness. "Quick¡­ come to Mama!"


    "It''s you!" The one eye and this laughter roused some memories in Nietzsche, making him see red. "Go to hell!"


    The terrifying golden flames seemed to have sensed his anger and rose instantly, burning like a funnel toward the other party.


    This ability to control flames was something he had obtained after reading one of the pages from the Book of Sen Luo. It matched the Great Sun Meditation Technique, and they complemented each other.


    Whoosh!


    The flames rose, and the temperature skyrocketed.


    The dark tentacles burnt into ashes when they touched the flames. Covered with fire, Hannibal screamed and jumped out of the window.


    "How are you¡­" Barbara''s black robe had burned away for the most part, and half of her body and face showed signs of burns. She shouted, "I''m going to kill you!"


    However, Nietzsche looked at her as though he was looking at a dead person and chanted a poem:


    "Your end is coming; the endless shadow has enveloped you; the vengeful spirits of the dead surround you; the wagons of the underworld are ready to ferry you. The decaying vultures are ready to peck at your flesh; the greedy snakes are ready to zip at your toes; the burning flames are ready to turn your body into ashes¡­ Sinner! Your soul will carry your sins to your destruction¡­"


    This was recorded on one of the pages of the Book of Sen Luo, and it was full of negative energy and curses. It took Nietzsche a long time to escape from it, even with the help of the Great Sun Meditation.


    After Barbara heard the poem, her eyes glazed over. Expressionlessly, she took the wand from her waist and aimed the pointy end at her eye.


    Poof!

 Chapter 1157 - Last Sacrifice

    Translator: Atlas Studios  Editor: Atlas Studios


    ¡°Have you woken up?¡±


    Nietzsche struggled to open his eyes, feeling as though he had a piece of lead lodged in his brain. Waves of nausea continually hit his throat, making him grit his teeth, unable to speak.


    Around him, rows of wooden racks lined up neatly with merchandise. Clearly, he had returned to Andy¡¯s convenience store.


    Fang Yuan stood by the side, wiping a porcelain bottle, and commented, ¡°You actually cast that kind of curse with your current abilities. Do you want to die?¡±


    ¡°That woman¡­ tried to kill me before!¡± Nietzsche said with a low voice, the disgust in his chest finally settled.


    ¡°Even so, it can¡¯t be a reason for your reckless action¡­ You would have also died if I hadn¡¯t reached there in time¡­¡± Fang Yuan shook his head.


    ¡°How¡­ is the situation?¡± Nietzsche struggled to ask.


    ¡°Nothing much¡­ Although they didn¡¯t manage to capture you, the Church of the Eye definitely has a backup plan and has found a suitable sacrifice¡­¡± Fang Yuan shrugged. ¡°They¡¯re probably carrying out the Offering of Souls now? A frenzy of spirits will attack all of Kimbert City¡­¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Nietzsche exclaimed in alarm. ¡°I¡¯ve got to stop them!¡±


    ¡°Stop them? You?¡± Fang Yuan sneered sarcastically. ¡°With your current controller-level extraordinary power? You¡¯d just be delivering a delicious meal to them¡­ unless you accept my training.¡±


    ¡°You want to¡­ train me?¡± Nietzsche was not excited but infuriated. ¡°Why? You obviously have the power to do something about it, but you¡¯re unwilling to. You¡¯re sending thousands of people to their deaths¡­¡±


    Why? Should I tell you that I even secretly sent Morigu to help those cultists with the Offering of Souls?


    Fang Yuan glanced obliquely and suddenly showed a sad look. ¡°Young man¡­ there are many things you don¡¯t know, so don¡¯t jump to conclusions. So, do you want this chance?¡±


    ¡°Of course¡­ not!¡± Normally, Nietzsche would have jumped with joy if someone who was evidently an extremely powerful Extraordinary offered to train him. However, time was not on his side.


    ¡°Oh, I forgot to tell you. The training will be conducted in a very special place where time flows much much slower. That means that training for ten years inside will only be ten minutes outside¡­¡± Fang Yuan explained, seemingly seeing through Nietzsche¡¯s concerns.


    ¡°There¡¯s such a place? Is it the Kingdom of the Gods?¡± Nietzsche¡¯s eyes widened. ¡°I¡¯m going!!!¡±


    ¡°Very good!¡± Fang Yuan brought Nietzsche to an old door. ¡°Follow me!¡±


    It was naturally extremely easy for him to create a simple house of time with his mastery of the Space-Time Great Dao.


    Nietzsche took a deep breath and entered the door. Fang Yuan smiled and followed.


    The ancient door closed without a sound, and after ten minutes, it opened again.


    A ragged Nietzsche walked out, and he seemed to have matured quite a bit.


    ¡°Thank you. Although I don¡¯t know why you refuse to let me address you as teacher, in my mind, you¡¯ve been one to me for a long time!¡±


    He bowed solemnly and stepped out. His body turned into a flame and quickly disappeared into the night.


    ¡°The reason why I don¡¯t let you call me that is naturally because I want to avoid embarrassment!¡± Fang Yuan shrugged and looked at Morigu Tata, who emerged from behind him. ¡°How was it?¡±


    ¡°The Offering of Souls is already unavoidable!¡± Morigu replied respectfully. ¡°All we have to do now is to wait¡­¡±


    ¡°Very good!¡±


    Fang Yuan¡¯s eyes stared far away and immediately reached that underground space.


    ¡­


    The secret underground base of the Church of the Eye had already changed dramatically.


    A massive, dark sacrificial altar stood surrounded by blood-red flames.


    The Investigation Agency members had suffered heavy casualties in the tunnels, and only Clayon and Angelina were still struggling to fend them off.


    ¡°No! These cultists are powerful Extraordinaries! My spirituality can¡¯t break through them¡­¡±


    Angelina¡¯s closed eyes opened, and two streaks of blood tears actually flowed down.


    ¡°Damn it¡­¡± Clayon was bathed in blood as he looked at the surrounding vampires and ghouls. The battle had evidently reached its climax. ¡°If I had known, I would have contacted the army to bomb the daylights out of this place¡­¡±


    This was just the anger talking. He would not have been able to carry the notoriety of bombing a city. Moreover, this place was deep enough underground that it could weaken the power of most bombs.


    ¡°Lord of Darkness, please accept our final sacrifice!¡± the high priest howled fanatically at the center of the black sacrificial altar.


    Around him lay many corpses, their expressions satisfied and happy. They had obviously taken their own lives.


    Right in the front, there was a wooden cross with a young boy tied to it. He looked somewhat like Nietzsche and was clearly blood-related.


    ¡°At the end of the hunting ritual, the sacrifices that have escaped for many years will eventually fulfill the fate of being sacrificed¡­¡±


    The high priest stepped forward and smoothly plunged his knife into the young man¡¯s chest.


    Poof!


    Blood spewed everywhere.


    ¡°Damn it!!!¡± Nietzsche¡¯s angry howl came from a tunnel.


    Flash!


    A golden ray carrying flames burnt the entire tunnel.


    Many vampires and ghouls wailed as they turned into ashes.


    Angelina and Clayon stared at their bodies, and their wounds healed in no time. The golden flames and light brought warmth to them.


    ¡°Sorry I¡¯m late!¡± An aged Nietzsche looked at the sacrificial altar with pain and hatred on his face.


    ¡°You¡­ Abyss? Or even beyond the Abyss realm?¡± Angelina covered her mouth with her hands. Even though anything could happen in the extraordinary world, it was still too shocking.


    ¡°I might have stared into the abyss, but my heart is still with the light!¡± Nietzsche walked into the blood-red flame fearlessly. ¡°I¡­ am the sun!!!¡±


    1


    Whoosh!


    An even more dazzling light radiated from him, continuously expanding outward with his body as the center.


    As if¡­ Nietzsche had really become a small sun!


    The golden rays burnt everything, completely destroying the blood-red flames. Traces of black soot appeared on the ground, and thousands of faint screams transmitted from them.


    Clayon fainted after hearing it, and Angelina barely managed to stay awake.


    Obviously, she was unable to lend a hand in an extraordinary fight at this level.


    ¡°High priest of the Church of the Eye?¡±


    Nietzsche walked steadily to the center of the sacrificial altar, keeping his eyes on that one-eyed old man.


    ¡°You¡¯re too late!¡± The old man had already carved out a heart and two eyeballs from the sacrifice and arranged them into a triangle. ¡°The Offering of Souls is complete. Based on the guidance of that great existence, the following dark sacrifices will automatically activate themselves. This is the perfect array orbit! I was so wrong before¡­¡±


    ¡°Automatically activate? Great existence? What are you talking about?¡±


    Nietzsche was shocked. His powerful thoughts surged out and pressed the old man down onto the ground.


    ¡°Cough¡­ It¡¯s futile. My body might be rotting, but I obtained eternality for my soul!¡± The high priest spit out a large amount of blood that contained pieces of intestines. After chanting an incantation, he resolutely waved his knife and committed suicide on the sacrificial altar.


    Rumble!


    A terrifying aura spread from the sacrificial altar, and even the radiance of the sun could not stop it.


    Nietzsche¡¯s face turned very ugly.


    ¡­


    A carriage team readied itself by a black river.


    In the largest carriage, Gegehu gazed at the crystal ball on a goose down cushion and issued an urgent warning. ¡°Quickly leave this place! Something very bad is about to happen¡­¡±


    The next moment, he saw a blood-red eye in the center of the crystal ball staring back at him.


    ¡°Ahh!!¡±


    The guards outside rushed in upon hearing the scream only to find the carriage empty. They looked at each other in dismay.


    In the eastern district of Kimbert City, a well-dressed gentleman carrying a bloody ax appeared. He knocked down the door of a resident, and screams soon followed. He exited with fresh blood on his ax and went to the next one immediately.


    In the southern district, many girls in white dress emerged. They walked through walls without any qualms, taking away one life after another.


    ¡­


    The same situation was happening in the northern and western districts of the city.


    A tide of undead even more terrifying than the one in Green Forest City broke out in Kimbert City.


    If Director Barton had known things would evolve to this point, he would have definitely focused his efforts on preventing the cultists.


    Unfortunately, there were no ¡®ifs¡¯ in this world. The incomparably terrifying Offering of Souls had broken out completely right in Kimbert City.


    A horrifying number of more than a hundred thousand residents died in the blink of an eye!


    After exceeding a certain amount, a beam of light rose in three directions of Kimbert City.


    One of which was green, representing the energy of the flesh; one was red, representing the vitality of blood; the last one was white, absorbing the resentful souls of the entire city, the power of soul.


    The three pillars of light formed a triangle, shooting up into the sky.


    Right in the middle of the triangle, a vertical eye symbol appeared.


    The tribute to the God of Darkness, the offerings for Omar, finally arrived!


    Kaboom!


    The earth cracked, and a sun floated out.


    Nietzsche was in the center of the sun. He howled. ¡°Nooo!!!¡±


    ¡°Haha¡­.¡±


    A translucent, expressionless figure with bloody-eyes appeared in front of him. It was the high priest¡¯s spirit!


    Nietzsche felt his heart turn cold, as he could no longer sense Angelina and Clayon.


    Even Extraordinaries would have a lot of trouble dealing with the attacks of spirits, and they might even die in an instant. Clayon had no chance at all.


    ¡°Ahh!!¡±


    The fierce remorse and unwillingness made Nietzsche growl and rush toward the high priest.

 Chapter 1158 - Gigantic Waves

    Translator: Atlas Studios  Editor: Atlas Studios


    Flames rose as evil spirits roared.


    Dozens of the surrounding buildings instantly turned into powder.


    After the fierce battle, Nietzsche stood there expressionlessly with the high priest¡¯s neck in his hands.


    ¡°Ha¡­¡± The high priest¡¯s face was blank. As the cost of transforming into a spirit, he had lost his intelligence long ago.


    ¡°Burn!¡±


    Golden flames burnt him into practically nothing, but Nietzsche did not feel the satisfaction of revenge, only endless emptiness and fear.


    He looked up at the sky.


    Above the curtain of night, the vertical eye within the triangle grew increasingly vivid, containing the feeling of being unparalleled.


    Even in his current state, he still felt helpless against the entire sky.


    The next moment, Nietzsche sensed something and jumped into the sky.


    A massive symbol of the Dark Ritual suddenly concentrated into a black ball and descended like a meteor.


    Smack!


    The black ball landed in the center of Kimbert City. As it touched the ground slightly, it exploded open.


    A layer of black water spread across all of Kimbert City. From above, it looked like someone had knocked over a bottle of ink.


    Many buildings, plants, and life forms¡ªwhether humans, Extraordinaries, or even followers of darkness¡ªall corroded in that instant.


    With merely one blow, all of Kimbert City was extinguished!


    Kaboom!


    And in the core of this darkness, many blood vein-like tentacles suddenly broke through the black membrane and appeared in the world.


    The darkness split open, revealing a giant eyeball.


    ¡°I am a son of Omar, the Ancient Eye of Darkness! I have been appointed to rule this entire planet!¡±


    The moment it appeared, every organism on this planet felt an unprecedented trembling in their hearts. This was its unparalleled might and pressure!


    After completing the Dark Ritual, Omar truly sent one of its progeny here to rule this planet!


    ¡°Looks like¡­ the legends about the Ancients were actually true!¡± Nietzsche watched on quietly and sighed.


    While he was feeling that way, the sky and ground around the Eye of Darkness were instantly contaminated, transforming into a huge blackish-green swamp.


    Followers, one after the other, crawled out from the swamp and formed an army of darkness.


    An Eye of Darkness was a terrifying source of contamination. Not only could it contaminate the surroundings, but it could also create an unending army of followers!


    Not only that, but the Eye of Darkness also possessed a formidable psychic ability that could enslave any intelligent life form.


    This was also why just a single Eye of Darkness could rule an entire planet!


    ¡­


    Green Forest City.


    ¡°Quick! Don¡¯t bother about the walking dead here! Order all the troops and elites to head to Kimbert City immediately!¡±


    Barton roared while staring at an ancient map in his hands.


    The map seemed to be drawn on parchment, and its edges were already turning yellowish.


    On it were all the cities of the Carls Federation. Every other place had a small green dot, while the dot that represented Green Forest City was red.


    But just a few minutes ago, Kimbert City, which had only been slightly red, had suddenly turned completely red.


    Not only that, but the degree of redness continued to deepen before finally turning blood red and then pure black.


    Whoosh!


    A small flame appeared from the center of Kimbert City and turned the entire map into ashes.


    Smack!


    Barton¡¯s hand was trembling. He slapped himself on the face and finally came back to his senses. ¡°Ask for help! Ask for help from every country! And also the Church of Black Iron God! After so many years of working together, it¡¯s time for them to pay the price! Immediately contact the chief magistrate and let him know that this isn¡¯t one country¡¯s disaster but the threat of world annihilation!¡±


    ¡­


    As a planet once ruled by the Ancients and then regained its freedom, it naturally had some foundation.


    Although it was because it had received help from outsiders, some powers still remained on this planet.


    When an Ancient of darkness descended once more and wanted to rule this planet again, everything burst out immediately.


    Holy Celbera, headquarters of the Church of the Black Iron God.


    ¡°My Lord, please bestow strength upon us¡­¡± The pope knelt within the church and began praying silently. ¡°Darkness has descended once again¡­ We pray for your strength¡­¡±


    Outside, numerous church members were hurriedly launching a religious ritual, leading over a hundred thousand devout believers to start a grand ritual.


    Kaboom!


    An immense earthquake rumbled, and half of the church collapsed. A cellar appeared, and within it was a set of black full body armor.


    Buzz Buzz!


    The black armor roared and suddenly turned into a meteor, surging toward the sky.


    ¡°That is the¡­ body of the Black Iron God?¡± Seeing this, an archbishop wearing red was in disbelief.


    ¡°That¡¯s right! The so-called Black Iron God is actually a weapon bestowed upon us by aliens. The previous generation hero saint relied on this to defeat the Ancients who used to rule the planet!¡± The pope explained these secret details. ¡°At this time, we¡­ can only pray! Victory will once again belong to us!¡±


    ¡­


    Although there were the three Yellow, Black, and White continents, the ocean was still the largest on the planet.


    In that boundless expanse of deep ocean, there were countless secrets and areas that humans had yet to explore.


    Above a sea, fierce lightning danced and rumbling thunder boomed as a fearsome storm surged violently.


    Tsunami after tsunami came as an incomparably enormous figure surfaced.


    It looked like a massive octopus and was even larger than a small mountain. Huge waves suddenly rushed toward the White Continent.


    Kaboom!


    Completely immeasurable tsunamis drowned the entire White Continent in that instant.


    In front of a natural calamity like this, all modern civilization and technology were useless, unable to withstand even a single blow.


    The waves completely destroyed countless cities as the immense amount of seawater continued surging toward its target¡ªthe Eye of Darkness in Kimbert City!


    ¡­


    Nietzsche clenched his teeth as the flames of the sun around him grew dimmer. His mind also suffered continuous lashing.


    It felt as though he had an Eye of Darkness in his heart, constantly urging him to serve it.


    This was the psychic ability of the Eye of Darkness. The moment he could no longer support himself, he would completely lose himself and become its slave.


    ¡°So this is the strength of a Dark Young? It¡¯s truly too strong, so powerful it¡¯s beyond human¡­ If they¡¯re like this, what about the Outer Gods?¡± Nietzsche had this sudden thought while he was struggling desperately. He looked somewhat disappointed and frustrated, and seemed to have forgotten something important.


    What he had forgotten was naturally all the information about Fang Yuan.


    At this crucial moment of fishing, Fang Yuan naturally had to add a layer of insurance. With his paramount magic power, he hid everything about himself in this world, including all memories!


    Otherwise, Nietzsche would have definitely been baffled. How could the store owner Andy, who was much stronger than him, die under the Dark Ritual?


    ¡°Submit! Submit! Submit to me!¡±


    The Eye of Darkness danced as its tentacles fluttered, sending out a series of soul attacks.


    Nietzsche gritted his teeth as cold sweat dripped down his forehead while blood flowed from his lips.


    Swoosh!


    Right when he was about to collapse, a black meteor flew in from the sky and landed on his body.


    Crack!


    It was a suit of black armor that fit seamlessly onto his body, and it blocked all psychic abilities.


    The entire world suddenly fell silent, and Nietzsche received a message. ¡°Black Iron Armor¡­ created by the Lord of War who lives above the Jade Star¡­ The Lord of War is a benevolent Elder God who, for some reason, chose to bestow hope upon the humans of this planet¡­¡±


    Even though the Elder Gods were a bunch of stay-at-home Gods, they occasionally had wars with the Outer Gods.


    Evidently, the destruction of the Ancients of this planet should have been a peripheral battle in the war.


    Kaboom!


    The next moment, Nietzsche saw a white line.


    It was a wave with unsurpassed might and as massive as a mountain surging toward Kimbert City.


    Splash!


    The waves splashed against the shore, and a tremendous force swept through. The azure ocean seemed to contain an indescribable horror as it instantly swallowed all the dark followers who emerged from the ground.


    The waves receded, leaving behind only the humongous octopus. Its green skin reflected a diamond-like luster.


    ¡°Son of the Deep Sea!!!¡± the Eye of Darkness roared.


    The other party was also a progeny of an Outer God. This Outer God and Omar were in hostile camps, and the return of the Eye of Darkness had undoubtedly triggered the octopus, making it not hesitate to strike from the deep sea.


    Nietzsche had a complicated expression as he looked at this scene.


    Although this massive octopus could be considered a helping hand, its emergence had created tsunamis that caused tens of times more damage than the Eye of Darkness¡¯s sacrifices in Kimbert City had caused! A hundred times!


    After all, it was a descendant of an Outer God, so how could it care about the lives of ants?


    But at this time, Nietzsche suppressed the anger in his heart. Compared to this monster that lived in the remote deep sea, this Eye of Darkness that wanted to rule the planet was the greatest enemy.


    There was no need to say much when two descendants of enemy Outer God crossed paths. They fought ruthlessly at close quarters.


    One side was an eye with countless blood veins, while the other one was a mountain-sized. As the two monsters clashed, it was as though a comet struck the planet. In one exchange, the heavens rent asunder, and the earth cracked; flesh and blood flew everywhere.


    Seeing this, Nietzsche furrowed his brows even harder than before.


    Although this deep-sea octopus had emerged in an astonishing manner, its aura was gradually falling, and the Eye of Darkness was clearly ruthlessly suppressing it.


    ¡°Is its status lower than the Eye of Darkness¡¯s? Or is it seriously injured?¡±


    Nietzsche did not think any further as he extended his right hand.


    The black armor mobilized and created a strange-looking black saber with a hook on the blade.


    ¡°Die!¡±


    The golden sun reappeared, bigger than before, and black flames were burning around it.


    Following Nietzsche¡¯s shout was an incredibly huge sun descending from the sky toward the Eye of Darkness!


    Kaboom!


    The three strongest on the planet clashed.


    Or rather, Nietzsche and the Son of the Deep Sea were joining forces against the Eye of Darkness.


    This battle would determine the future of the planet!

 Chapter 1159 - Seal

    Translator: Atlas Studios  Editor: Atlas Studios


    Whoo! Whoo!


    A steam locomotive emitted thick and black mist as its massive machinery rotated, bursting forth with a powerful force to move the train forward.


    This steam train was different from usual, looking like a steel python monster. Besides having its carriage full of soldiers with loaded rifles and elites of the Investigation Agency, there were a number of railroad cars with enormous cannons on top.


    It looked like a machine specialized in war.


    In the frontmost car, Director Barton and a few generals sat together, all with stern expressions.


    ¡°Who would have thought something like that could happen? An onslaught of tsunamis? Arkham, the country of trade, is gone just like that. And you said that it was merely because of the awakening of an Ancient¡­ and that it¡¯s helping us?¡±


    General Hanson had experienced many military campaigns and was called the federation¡¯s God of War. When he heard what Director Barton said, he opened his mouth in shock.


    ¡°I know this is unbelievable, but it¡¯s indeed helping us¡­ What¡¯s more lamentable is that the war deciding the fate of the world is happening on our land, but we can only do some relatively minor work, such as disaster relief or getting rid of the remnant followers¡­¡±


    ¡°Son of a bitch! Why does such a thing exist in our world?!¡± General Hanson smashed his fist on the table, and blood dripped out from the crack.


    ¡°Since the world is wrong, we can only accept it¡­¡± Director Barton looked helpless. ¡°We¡¯re about to reach the border, so let¡¯s hope it isn¡¯t too bad¡­¡±


    ¡°Border? We¡¯re still at least a hundred kilometers away from Kimbert City, right?¡±


    Through the window, General Hanson looked at the evening sky and suddenly saw a huge sun. Although the dazzling light was blocked by the mountains, he could still feel it and sense the warmth in it.


    He was startled, and shortly afterward, he saw the illusory figure of the vertical eye.


    It stood silently in the darkness with countless blood tentacles extending from it, containing an evil energy!


    Just by looking at it, General Hanson grew increasingly infatuated, and his eyeballs gradually protruded.


    ¡°Ahh!¡± After some time, he cried out and covered the two blood holes on his face. Both his eyeballs actually fell out of his face!


    ¡°The contamination of extraordinary power? Can it actually spread this far?¡± Seeing this, Director Barton felt like he was falling into a bottomless abyss. ¡°Even if we include the Extraordinaries from the other countries, what can we even do?¡±


    As the director of the Federal Investigation Agency, he usually dealt with extraordinary matters.


    But the descent of this Ancient still surpassed his imagination. Humans were basically like ants in front of this kind of existence!


    Splash!


    At this moment, there was also the shadow of an octopus in the sky, together with a white line.


    Kaboom!


    After getting closer, they could clearly see that it was an enormous wave that was over a hundred meters tall.


    It whizzed toward them like a magnificent army with thousands of men and horses, containing an unstoppable force. Along with numerous roars and cries, the entire steel train was submerged.


    At this point, Carls¡¯ official reinforcement team¡ªcompletely obliterated!


    ¡­


    ¡°Damn it¡­ This Son of the Deep Sea doesn¡¯t care about the destiny of humanity at all¡­¡±


    1


    Nietzsche had certainly sensed this and felt extremely infuriated.


    However, the Son of the Deep Sea was the descendant of an Outer God, and it loved chaos and destruction, so even communication with it was a big problem.


    Although he was collaborating with it against the Eye of Darkness, he would still occasionally be attacked by it, making it extremely hard to predict.


    ¡°If this carries on, the entire federation might end up perishing because of me¡­¡±


    Nietzsche clenched his teeth and penetrated into the ground.


    Rumble!


    A large piece of land floated, lifting the Eye of Darkness into the sky.


    Bang Bang!


    The Son of the Deep Sea seemed to go crazy and no longer cared about anything. It charged forward, and its tentacles tangled fiercely with the veins of the eye.


    ¡°Good chance!¡±


    When Nietzsche saw this, he calmed down, and the radiance of the entire sun grew even more intense. ¡°I¡­ am the sun!!!¡±


    After this second announcement, his entire body turned transparent. Only the purest radiance was left, as even the Black Iron Armor seemed to be dissolving indistinctly.


    ¡°Even if I have to risk it all, I will destroy you!¡±


    As he shouted, a beam of gold and black shot out from the ground into space.


    Poof!


    The slab of land became scattered ashes in an instant as the beam of light enveloped both the Eye of Darkness and the Son of the Deep Sea before penetrating into the universe.


    Pilipala!


    Within the gigantic pit in the ground, Nietzsche struggled to stand up as the Black Iron Armor suddenly fell apart onto the ground, totally scrapped.


    ¡°Thank you¡­¡± He had a complex look, knowing that if he had not had the protection of the armor, he would not have been able to unleash an attack like that and could even be dead now.


    Currently, the majority of Nietzsche¡¯s attention was on the two Outer God descendants in the sky.


    ¡°Dead¡­?¡±


    With some expectation, he looked up and suddenly saw a huge black hole in the sky.


    At the center of the black hole, there was only half an eye left, and the Son of the Deep Sea was nowhere to be seen.


    ¡°It¡­ actually survived¡­¡± Nietzsche fell to his knees as blood shot out from his entire body. ¡°However, its injuries are definitely much more severe than those of the Son of the Deep Sea all those years ago¡­ Planet, take care!¡±


    With some gratification, both his eyes turned blurry, and he was about to pass out.


    However, a sudden change occurred in this instant!


    From the boundless outer space, nobody knew when but a large mass of darkness was floating over.


    One glance at it caused Nietzsche incomparable fear, as though¡­ he was staring into the abyss!


    So much so that his body started trembling, and he was completely unable to say a word.


    In his heart, there was a voice shouting, ¡°Outer God! Outer God!!!¡±


    After its progeny was heavily injured and almost annihilated, the Master Living Above the Lonely Star, the Astral World Traveler, the Ruler of the Planet of Demon Insects, the Lord of Chaos and Madness, the Darling of Darkness, Omar Kyege Sars finally decided to appear!


    The whole planet seemed to be trembling under this mass of darkness.


    A thick tentacle that looked like it had many eyeballs on it pulled the badly damaged Eye of Darkness into the darkness.


    Seconds later, a completely healed and seemingly even more powerful Eye of Darkness reappeared and entered the atmosphere.


    Rumble!


    After a loud explosion, another gigantic pit appeared in the ground.


    A shock wave ruthlessly sent Nietzsche flying. He did not have the least bit of strength to fight back at all.


    In the sky, the atmosphere fluctuated violently, and a vortex formed at the center of the hole in the atmosphere. It seemed as if there was an existence comparable to a planet wanting to force its way into Planet Stael!


    ¡°Anger! Crazy! Does it want to destroy this planet completely?¡±


    Fang Yuan looked on with nothing but delight on his face, like a hunter whose prey had finally appeared.


    After all, the Eye of Darkness was different from the other followers of the Outer Gods, and it was a direct progeny of Omar. Back when he had eliminated one in the Uyguklais¡¯ planet, Omar might have feared him and dared not to seek revenge.


    However, on this unprotected planet, the fact that another one almost died again definitely gave it enough reason to be angry!


    It grew so infuriated that its true body would descend to annihilate this world!


    ¡°Ahh!!!¡± Nietzsche felt the gaze in the darkness and screamed.


    His skin started tearing apart as black eyeballs appeared one after another, releasing ear-piercing hisses.


    Merely being glanced at, he was about to die or turn into a complete monster!


    ¡°It¡¯s over!¡±


    At that moment, countless high-level Extraordinaries felt immense desperation and wanted to commit suicide.


    This was an extremely courageous and wise act because they knew that once Omar completely arrived on this planet, whatever awaited them would be an even more brutal future.


    ¡°Ahhhhhh!!!¡± Nietzsche yelled devastatingly again and again, and he had already completely turned into a monster covered with eyes.


    Even his consciousness of being human was constantly collapsing.


    ¡°Am I¡­ going to die?¡±


    Just as his consciousness was about to disperse, he had a final dying flash of lucidity and remembered what he had forgotten.


    It was a convenience store and the boss named Andy¡­


    Hiss Hiss! All of a sudden, at the same time as he saw his memory, the mass of invading darkness sent out a shriek full of emotions.


    Nietzsche did not understand why an Outer God could shriek with such fear and anger.


    The Eye of Darkness was lying fearfully on the ground and instantly retracted all its tentacles, shivering like a rabbit frightened by a lion.


    ¡°Haha¡­ finally fell for my bait!¡± Fang Yuan appeared beside Nietzsche, staring at the massive darkness. ¡°The orbits of the Lonely Star and the Jade Star are just right¡­ Come on out, Omar!¡±


    Whoosh!


    Indescribable white lightning emerged and lacerated the darkness, revealing Omar¡¯s true body.


    It was a colossal ball of meat formed of countless tentacles. It was dark red and had many eyes on its surface.


    ¡°Do not look directly at the inexplicable horror!¡±


    Nietzsche hurriedly lowered his head in fear.


    But immediately afterward, he realized that despite seeing the true body of an Outer God, he did not feel any pain at all.


    Even the flesh on his body fell off as he recovered his human form.


    ¡°Phase¡­ stars activate!¡±


    Fang Yuan stood with his hands behind his back, his eyes glowing.


    Buzz Buzz!


    There was an unfathomable change in the universe as the stars started releasing a great amount of light.


    The tremendous pressure instantly turned the Eye of Darkness into ashes and forced Omar¡¯s true body to shrink into the small Planet Stael.


    In the depths of the ocean, the endless seawater drained away, causing the deaths of innumerable sea monsters, and a dried-up marine trench appeared.


    ¡°Astral magic¡­ seal!¡±


    A thick, blood-red tentacle was tossed into the marine trench.


    A vast indescribable force distorted Omar¡¯s body, turning it into an illusory figure that was sucked into a vortex.


    A large amount of seawater returned and smoothed the exposed land, making it as if everything that had just happened was but a mere illusion.


    But all the life forms on the planet were trembling. It was a trembling from the depths of their souls as they felt the danger that their world could perish at any time.

 Chapter 1160 - Planning

    Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios


    ¡°Astral magic, seal Outer God!¡±


    Above the ocean, Fang Yuan stood with his hands behind his back, looking at the universe.


    From his perspective, he could see countless planets rotating and revolving in orbit according to specific rules, forming a huge star chart and projecting a portion of its energy down.


    Planet Stael was at the core of the entire star chart, and its node landed on an array eye.


    ¡°Although there are many flaws, it can indeed seal a Dao Ancestor¡­ even if it¡¯s a half-crazed one¡­¡±


    After completing the seal, Fang Yuan was still quite shocked.


    Of course, the main reason why he could accomplish this was because of his outstanding strength, enough to suppress an ordinary Dao Ancestor.


    And Omar clearly only had the strength of an ordinary Dao Fruit, and it was unable to display its full strength. Naturally, it was ruthlessly suppressed without being able to do anything.


    ¡°Although I¡¯ve sealed it, it will still leak out every now and then, especially when the celestial bodies move to certain positions¡­¡±


    Fang Yuan calculated. ¡°Normally, it can still be connected to through summoning incantations or rituals. However, 128,000 years later, there will be flaws within the astral magic, allowing Omar to break through the seal. The very fundamental rules of this universe determine this and can¡¯t be changed¡­¡±


    As for Planet Stael, there were bound to be changes after sealing an Outer God here.


    If 128,000 years later, when Omar broke free from the seal, and there was no second Outer God to stop it, it would mean that it was this planet¡¯s destiny to be destroyed.


    Even during this time, it was hard to say that the entire planet, especially the ecology of the ocean, would not be affected somehow.


    ¡°Perhaps¡­ this is also an opportunity for the planet to become stronger!¡±


    Fang Yuan¡¯s figure flashed back to Kimbert City.


    The place had already turned into a massive pit with some remnant swamps and seawater in the surrounding. However, he could not find anything living except for Nietzsche.


    ¡°Boss Andy¡­ are you actually an Outer God as well?¡± Nietzsche stood up blankly. ¡°Dealing with that Outer God was your ultimate goal?¡±


    After all, he was no longer a youth, so he could think deeply about many things and see Fang Yuan¡¯s plan.


    ¡°That¡¯s right¡­ And I have to thank you for your help. Of course, the larger end of this is still from the Lord of War!¡±


    A battle between two Outer Gods was rare throughout the entire universe.


    Fang Yuan¡¯s spiritual will could currently detect the gazes of many Elder Gods and Outer Gods, among which two were the warmest.


    One was the Lord of War who lived above the Jade Star, while the second should be the source of the Son of the Deep Sea.


    However, with Fang Yuan keeping watch here, these Outer Gods wisely chose to retreat instead of coming here.


    ¡°So, everything on our planet, the destruction of half the White Continent, and the deaths and injuries of millions of people are all just a game to you?¡± Nietzsche clenched his teeth and stubbornly raised his head. ¡°What do you treat human lives as?¡±


    ¡°What do I treat them as?¡± Fang Yuan chuckled. ¡°Have you ever come across any Outer God or Elder God before? In their eyes, human lives are essentially no different from the dust of the universe. The truly powerful existences are all chaotic by nature and make no distinction between good and evil¡­ The more you look into this, the easier it is to touch the abyss and suffer terror! I am the same as well! As Omar¡¯s archenemy, is it not normal for me to plot against it?¡±


    ¡°Omar¡¯s archenemy¡­ So you¡¯re the serpent from the Astral World, the legendary Rainbow Snake? Haha. I am a complete idiot!¡±


    After several shocks, Nietzsche finally crumbled.


    He laughed frantically while tearing his clothes apart. Finally, his clothes turned ragged, and he fainted.


    ¡°Has the force sustaining your hasty growth mostly disappeared?¡± Fang Yuan contemplated. ¡°When you previously came into contact with Omar¡¯s gaze, you almost lost your consciousness. Although I pulled you back at the very last second, you still fell into a state of madness and chaos since your willpower wasn¡¯t strong enough¡­¡±


    Fang Yuan waved his hands lightly, and Nietzsche disappeared from the ground.


    On Planet Stael, there was no longer a Nietzsche above the abyss, but a lunatic who compared himself to the sun!


    ¡­


    ¡°After being so busy for such a long time, I¡¯ve finally caught Omar¡­¡±


    After completing this, Fang Yuan went far into the ocean and casually found a barren island to live in seclusion.


    The reason why he had planned this for such a long time was ultimately to deal with Omar. However, this was not a personal grievance. On the contrary, his main purpose was to study a living Dao Fruit and why the power of an Outer God was of interest to the Eyeball of Destruction.


    ¡°One is an Outer God of this universe, while the other is the Primordial Chaos Holy Fiend¡¯s strongest magical eye. Just what is the relationship between these two?¡± Fang Yuan pondered, and time passed by gradually.


    On the White Continent, all sorts of waves subsided. Arkham had been completely destroyed, and the Carls Federation had suffered severe losses. As a result, Holy Celbera launched an offensive to conquer the other countries, wanting to reproduce the glory of the former empire. The other forces naturally resisted with all their might.


    In this process, affected by wars and calamities, many of the residents of the White Continent migrated to the Black and Yellow continents. At the same time, they brought advanced technology and knowledge to these two continents. The flames of civilization began expanding and exchanging between these three continents.


    Bang!


    Who knew how long later, Fang Yuan shook, and the dust on his body fell off. ¡°Ran out of experimental materials?¡±


    He waved his hand lightly, and a faint roar came from the bottomless marine trench. Shortly afterward, yet another dark red tentacle was dragged out.


    During this process, a drop of blood landed on a shark.


    Its eyes turned red, and the spot where the drop of blood landed corroded a large hole. Its blood vessels suddenly burst, spreading throughout its entire body.


    Within seconds, this shark turned into a lump of flesh and died. A blood-red, muscular monster shark was reborn from the flesh and swam swiftly toward a whale.


    Hiss Hiss!


    Like a water cannon, it shot through the whale¡¯s body and started vigorously absorbing the blood.


    It did not take long before the mountain-sized whale turned into a dried-up corpse. Even so, this shark was not yet full and started looking for more prey¡­


    ¡°The blood of an Outer God, even a drop of the diluted remnant, is enough to create such a terrifying monster¡­¡± Fang Yuan said. ¡°From today onward, the deep sea will have one more horrifying life form. The original extraordinary creatures won¡¯t be able to compete with it at all. In fact, with that blood shark as the primogenitor, this ocean is bound to produce even more contaminated monsters as its guards¡­¡±


    As for how immoral it was to create so many terrifying monsters and what kind of earth-shaking impact these monsters would have on the nautical industries of the humans? Haha¡­ Fang Yuan truly did not care at all.


    After so much time in this universe, he felt like he had acquired a bit of the characteristics of the Elder Gods and Outer Gods¡ªnot distinguishing between good and evil but only following his heart.


    As for whether such behavior would bring suffering and pain to lower life forms, what did this have to do with a biased Outer God?


    Bloop! Bloop!


    Fang Yuan looked at his hand, and the Eyeball of Destruction appeared to have grown a sharp mouth as it started gobbling Omar¡¯s tentacle.


    It seemed like after feeding on this flesh, there was finally a qualitative change to it. The entire eyeball was continuously rumbling as it transformed into a somewhat incomplete Dao Fruit.


    ¡°Destruction Dao Fruit? This is a power greater than the Connate Destruction Great Dao, and it can even destroy the universe¡­¡± Fang Yuan obtained a lot of information at once. ¡°Of course¡­ this Dao Fruit isn¡¯t really incomplete but merely not mature yet. Is this because we took the initiative to assault the Primordial Chaos Holy Fiend?¡±


    This Destruction Dao Fruit had astonishing might, capable of harming others as well as itself. After the awakening of the Primordial Chaos Holy Fiend, it had even shown signs of destruction, so Fang Yuan had to be extremely cautious with it.


    ¡°However¡­ perhaps I can use this as a model to forge an impressive war weapon?¡± This marvelous thought suddenly appeared in Fang Yuan¡¯s heart. ¡°Also¡­ I can develop some techniques to explore my original home universe!¡±


    The universe that he had lived in had inevitably suffered a great calamity, as even Dao Ancestor Heaven Rise had perished and had to ask for help from the outside wanderers.


    However, without reconnaissance or proper planning, heading into a universe like this was obviously extremely dangerous.


    ¡°Should I find some cannon fodder to explore the way? I can also perfect my strength on the way¡­¡±


    Fang Yuan had planned this out long ago, and with the maturing of his various research, it was a good time to use them.


    ¡°Morigu!¡±


    ¡°Great Master!¡± A jade Uyguklai appeared behind Fang Yuan. When no one was around, Morigu Tata was used to using her true body.


    ¡°Gather all the technologies involving the Dream World, especially regarding intergalactic communications!¡±


    Fang Yuan smiled.


    Within this period of time, the Uyguklais, this group of technological fanatics, had finally made a breakthrough in this obstacle, making virtual reality technology across the entire universe possible.


    ¡°Of course, this technology still has limitations. The requirements are having to be a believer of the Astral Serpent and being capable of controlling their own Dream World¡­¡±


    He thought about it for a while, and the half Heaven Rise Dao Fruit appeared on his hand. ¡°But if I were to add this as a central processor, it would be different immediately¡­ Maybe I could start a virtual universe company? But among the galaxies, the degree of civilizations is uneven and can¡¯t possibly be all understood. In that case, let¡¯s just change it to a magical context instead, for example¡­ God of Realm Traversing?¡±


    The Heaven Rise Dao Fruit possessed frightening calculation power, and with the Dream World, it fully had the position of a Creator¡¯s light ball.


    Moreover, this was only the first step. Once the number of ¡®chosen ones¡¯ in the universe was sufficient, Fang Yuan could add some Dream Master cultivation techniques into the virtual world to strengthen these cannon fodder and have them explore many worlds.


    And after selecting the best of the best, the true elites could perhaps be thrown into the Huaxia Universe to explore it.


    ¡°Of course¡­ there¡¯s still the need to resolve the technique of traveling across the Great Cosmological Abyss. The easiest way to travel in the Great Cosmological Abyss is to achieve Dao Fruit. Otherwise, prominent achievements in science and technology are required. For example, that ark I saw before¡­¡±

 Chapter 1161 - Creator

    Translator: Atlas Studios  Editor: Atlas Studios


    Year 501 of the Black Iron Calendar.


    On the White Continent, Clement stared enviously at a recruitment poster in his hand.


    ¡°As long as you are one of the Creator¡¯s chosen ones, you will be able to serve the company, receive an ecological district villa, and enjoy preferential treatment¡­ Unfortunately, I¡¯m not a ¡®chosen one¡¯ but merely one of the ordinary scavengers!¡±


    He looked into the distance.


    The boundless continent was only black and white, with no signs of life or energy.


    Only in the ecological district behind was there a bit of greenery that was pleasant to the eye.


    Unfortunately, only the upper class could enjoy such beautiful scenery.


    A lowly scavenger like him could only wander the Ruined Continent like a mouse, searching for useful items in ruins to exchange for clean water and food.


    It had been a hundred years since the Outer God invasion.


    But for the White Continent, this was merely the start of the calamity.


    The saline soil soaked in a large amount of seawater had spread to the majority of the continent, causing agriculture to see a substantial drop in crop yield. And seaports were destroyed, so imports and exports became an extravagant hope.


    What followed was natural disasters, turmoil, wars, and death.


    More devastating was the fact that the tsunamis caused by the Son of the Deep Sea were not ordinary seawater, but they had contained extremely minute contamination.


    Even after years of reclamation, the saline soil still could not restore to its former state. On the contrary, it even produced many bizarre and demonic heterogeneities.


    The humans of the White Continent had completely retreated, and they could only build tall walls and massive fortresses within a few ecological districts, like sparks of civilization on the primitive continent.


    It was a truly lamentable story. After the disaster, the most civilized and technologically advanced White Continent fell so far that the Black and Yellow continents had overtaken it in every aspect. It even had the synonym ¡®Ruined Continent¡¯.


    The ecological districts were the last arks of civilization, like oil lamps in the darkness that could extinguish at any time.


    ¡°I¡¯ve heard that there is a vast continent brimming with vitality on the other side of the ocean¡­ Too bad I have no way of migrating. Besides, that place doesn¡¯t accept ordinary people from the Ruined Continent and treats us like demons!¡±


    In fact, even if they were more receptive, it was almost impossible for the people of the other two continents to reach the White Continent.


    This was not due to the regression of shipbuilding technology but mainly because of the increase in the number of demons in the ocean, turning all of the original ocean-going vessels into waste.


    Only a few maritime fortresses alongside a large number of Extraordinary guards could risk the enormous dangers of the ocean and possibly succeed in crossing it.


    However, the cost of doing so was much more than manufacturing an airship.


    Therefore, there was very little interaction between the continents, let alone trade.


    Clement mocked himself as he carried a broken sack and entered some ruins. ¡°If I want to change all of this, I must become¡­ one of the Creator¡¯s chosen ones! While the two continents on the opposite side don¡¯t welcome us ¡®mutants¡¯, they¡¯re more than willing to open the doors for the chosen ones!¡±


    Creator!


    This inexplicable existence had appeared after the great catastrophe, and rumor had it that it was a huge ball of light. Like a rigid intelligent computer program, its only job was to choose humans from Planet Stael and send them into the Endless World to experience adventures.


    Some people claimed that this was the gift of the gods, while others claimed that this was the temptation of the devils. Even so, nobody had the power to reject.


    Therefore, currently, the belief in the Creator had already surpassed that of the Black Iron God. In fact, it was the primary belief in the other continents, becoming the biggest faith on the planet.


    And the scope of the chosen ones was constantly expanding.


    It was a pity that little Clement had yet to be noticed so far.


    ¡°Although the mortality rate in the Endless World is high, I still hope to go there. At the very least, there would be hope¡­¡±


    Clement held a wooden stick and carefully rummaged for something that he could exchange for clean water and food. His stomach had been rumbling for a long time.


    The various resources within the ecological districts were in extremely short supply. For a wanderer like him, he was naturally not going to receive a fixed share. If he did not complete his work for the day, he would have to go hungry for the day.


    And now, Clement had been hungry for two days, and his eyes were growing slightly blurry.


    ¡°No¡­ I can¡¯t fall here. Otherwise, when the other scavengers see me, I will definitely¡­ be eaten!¡±


    Clement clenched his teeth and supported himself with the stick toward the other end of the ruins.


    It looked like a church, in which the majority of the religious insignias had fallen to the ground and been dusty for a long time.


    Clang!


    Suddenly, the wooden stick made a soft sound, and Clement hurriedly bent over to pick up a piece of metal. Delight flashed across his face as he tossed it into his bag.


    ¡°Who?¡±


    When he looked up, he saw a pair of feet and became startled.


    ¡°You¡­ What on earth are you? Monster? Heterogeneity?¡±


    Clement focused his eyes and clearly saw the person¡¯s figure.


    This man was tall and extremely filthy. An unknown rag covered over his body, and his hair was as messy as a chicken¡¯s nest.


    He looked just like a loner on the wasteland.


    ¡°Hi! Happy to meet you!¡± Clement patted his own cheek, trying to smile a little more and appear friendlier.


    ¡°Dead¡­ All dead¡­ All my fault¡­ Sun¡­¡±


    After coming closer, the tall figure constantly emitted a foul smell and seemed to be muttering something.


    ¡°Who are you?¡± Clement held the stick with both hands.


    ¡°I-I am the sun!!!¡± the tall figure screamed before holding his head in his hands and running out of sight. With that speed, Clement could do nothing but watch his dust.


    ¡°Awesome! He seems even faster than the chosen one I saw before! Is he a chosen envoy of the Creator?¡± While Clement was amazed, he was also very frustrated. ¡°Sigh¡­ Great Creator, why would you rather choose a lunatic over me?!¡±


    Just as he said that, the ground under him seemed to disappear.


    ¡°Ahh!!!¡±


    While screaming his lungs out, Clement found that he had landed in a magical space. Surrounding him were seven excited or perhaps terrified faces. Their outfits were unlike the scavengers nor the upper-class knights.


    ¡°Cool! Is this the Creator Space?¡± cried out a young boy with many braids. ¡°Everyone, look¡­¡±


    Clement followed his finger and immediately saw a huge ball of light floating in the air.


    ¡°Welcome! Congratulations on becoming the chosen ones of the Creator. Next, you will be sent into the Endless World for adventures. Countdown in 3¡­¡±


    Clement clenched his fists tightly, tears almost falling from his eyes.


    He knew that his fate was finally going to become different.


    ¡­


    On an island in the increasingly dangerous ocean.


    Fang Yuan awakened from his state of enlightenment. A ball of light appeared in his hand with a few lines of text flashing:


    ¡°Latest Number of Reincarnators: 1,752,081!¡±


    ¡°Abyssors: 498,000!¡±


    ¡°Above Abyss: 99!¡±


    ¡­


    ¡°A hundred years of nurturing and not even a hundred Demon Gods?¡±


    Fang Yuan pursed his lips.


    The so-called Above Abyss was roughly equivalent to Mental Demon Demon God. People like them were capable of sweeping through various worlds, but they were still under the control of his Creator system and were essentially dogs under him.


    And many people on this planet would do anything to become a dog like that.


    ¡°The Creator Space is still slightly lacking since there isn¡¯t even a Netherheaven¡­ However, the number of Demon Gods is almost enough¡­¡± he murmured.


    The range of the so-called Endless World was naturally this universe, which was also the limit of the current Creator.


    The reason he chose Planet Stael for this instead of following Morigu Tata¡¯s suggestion to let God¡¯s glory shine on more galaxies was that there was a large battery source here, save a lot on resources.


    ¡°Of course, that was in the past. The present Creator Space is basically self-sufficient and can be considered a success!¡±


    This was the pinnacle achievement using the half Heaven Rise Dao Fruit and the Dream World technology. The potential was limitless, and there were hopes of achieving the Dao!


    The so-called achieving the Dao naturally referred to achieving Dao Fruit!


    ¡°After the Dao Fruit realm, no predecessor can provide an overview anymore, and I have to slowly feel things out for myself¡­ Piling up strength is merely a minor Dao, so where is the true ultimate Dao?¡±


    Because he had no experiences for reference, Fang Yuan could only pave a way himself.


    ¡°The Creator developed to the peak could perhaps achieve the Myriad Worlds Dao Fruit? Or the Creator Dao Fruit?¡±


    The feeling of cultivating a Dao Ancestor was indeed unlike any other.


    Furthermore, this was not all to Fang Yuan¡¯s plan.


    After nurturing a Dao Fruit, he could get the other party to break through according to the direction he wished and evaluate the good and bad.


    The various practical data would naturally become a guide for his future Dao path.


    ¡°Once the Creator Dao Fruit is on the verge of completion¡­ there are bound to be attacks from the Outer Gods!¡±


    He looked into outer space with a serious expression.


    The chosen ones within the Creator Space had to go on expeditions, and the destination was naturally the other planets of this universe!


    And in order for Creator Space to grow, it had to plunder other planets!


    Among these planets, some were under the power of the Outer Gods, and some were even the nests of the Elder Gods. The danger was at least at the nightmare or hell level.


    Fang Yuan¡¯s unbridled acts would definitely offend many forces at the same level as him.


    In the past, perhaps because of the excellent Dream World method, some Outer Gods had not noticed him. But after a hundred years, everything on Planet Stael would still be revealed in the end.


    In addition to the Creator Space that would soon achieve the Dao, he would undoubtedly attract the attention of many of the Outer Gods and even the Elder Gods!


    ¡°Am I finally going to experience the peak Outer Gods of this universe?¡±


    Fang Yuan smiled, and his gaze seemed to cross over Planet Stael and arrive at the closest planet with life on it.


    At this moment, the planet had completely transformed into a fortress of war, like an interstellar insect nest, and spawned a large number of warriors.


    Light flashed!


    Over a million chosen ones were simultaneously transferred over, and a red notification appeared in front of them:


    ¡°Main Mission: Destroy the Insect Nest!


    Difficulty: Purgatory!


    Mission Explanation: ¡­¡±


    ¡­


    All kinds of fierce battles, including battles of wits and bravery, immediately occurred on the planet.


    And all of this was merely an experiment with his cannon fodder.


    Fang Yuan could sense that the tentacles of the Outer Gods would descend at the very moment the Creator Dao Fruit reached completion!

 Chapter 1162 - Defense War

    Translator: Atlas Studios  Editor: Atlas Studios


    ¡°Outside the universe is the Great Cosmological Abyss!¡±


    Fang Yuan sat cross-legged, quietly comprehending the mysteries of the Great Cosmological Abyss.


    In fact, the so-called Great Cosmological Abyss was a void with nothingness, no light, no energy, nothing at all.


    Without achieving Dao Fruit, or possessing an astonishing trump card, if you entered it, you would inevitably become gradually exhausted and fall into a hopeless situation.


    ¡°If I want to send these cannon fodder to explore the Huaxia Universe, they must have at least Mental Demon Demon God strength, and they also must rely on tools¡­¡± In this aspect, the accumulation of the Creator Space up until now was still insufficient.


    He was slightly regretting that he had not taken down that ark civilization to study it.


    ¡°However, Planet Stael can¡¯t research it purely due to technological issues. In contrast, the progress of Uyguklais has been constantly accelerating. It¡¯s just that with the resources of my current domain, it¡¯s totally impossible to construct an ark for the Great Cosmological Abyss. I need to expand my forces. Oh, Omar¡¯s original territory is very good!¡±


    Ever since he had sealed Omar, all the planets that it had influence or control over erupted in war or rebellion.


    Not only had the surrounding forces gotten involved, but the Uyguklais were also advancing by leaps and bounds, and they had occupied many resource-rich planets in strong support of Fang Yuan¡¯s wild plan.


    ¡°If I want to plunder more resources, I¡¯m bound to become enemies with the Elder Gods and the Outer Gods¡­ But this might not be necessarily certain either. Most Dao Ancestors have peculiar temperaments, and they might not care about their territory at all¡­¡±


    From White Light, Fang Yuan had obtained a lot of information about the Outer Gods.


    He discovered that there were many monomaniacs and lunatics among the Outer Gods who loved arousing the investigative desire of people. They took pleasure in allowing them to destroy themselves as they approached the truth. Even if a few planets perished, they had no qualms at all.


    Some planets only picked up their firm belief in some Outer Gods purely because of fear. If an Outer God occupied them, whether or not the corresponding Outer God would do anything solely depended on luck and fate.


    Generally speaking, the actions of the Outer Gods were similar to metaphysics and extremely difficult to predict.


    ¡°Therefore, even when the Creator Space achieves the Dao, it might not attract the attention of too many Dao Ancestors¡­ To me, this is good news!¡±


    Fang Yuan¡¯s eyes were deep.


    Although he currently had the strength of two Dao Fruits, dealing with so many of the Outer Gods and Elder Gods at once was definitely too much.


    ¡°Hope they won¡¯t go too far. Otherwise, I¡¯ll have no choice but to release my trump card!¡±


    Fang Yuan looked at the sea solemnly.


    ¡­


    Within the Creator Space.


    A white light appeared, and Clement¡¯s figure suddenly appeared at the bottom of the beam.


    Presently, he looked rather miserable, with his entire body practically soaked in blood.


    ¡°Haha¡­ Haha¡­¡± However, Clement only felt like laughing out loud. ¡°The initial mission world rumored to have the highest newbie death rate¡­ I¡¯ve gotten past it. From today onward, I am also a chosen one¡­¡±


    Because this Creator did not restrict the leakage of general knowledge, there was a lot of research done on the Creator Space on Planet Stael, and many youths dreamed about entering the space to become an Extraordinary.


    Some of the functions were already things that everybody knew.


    ¡°Creator, heal me immediately. Deduct the cost from my rewards!¡± Clement shouted, and almost instantly, a green beam of light descended.


    The injuries on his body recovered swiftly as his complexion regained its ruddiness. He did not have a single scar on his body, and his spirit was feeling better than ever.


    ¡°The Creator¡¯s work is indeed exceptional!¡± Clement complimented. He quickly looked at reward points with one hundred points missing, and his heart started aching incomparably.


    ¡°Mission Rewards: During this mission, Chosen One Clement 208 obtained a total of 400 reward points (after deducting the healing cost) and one E-grade medal!¡±


    In front of him was a light screen displaying his personal information:


    ¡°Name: Clement Onst


    Number: 208


    Life Value: 100 (100)


    Combat Force Value: 5


    ¡°Discovered hidden gift: Touch of Light!¡±


    1


    ¡­


    ¡°I¡­ actually have a hidden gift?¡±


    Clement felt as though the heavens had dropped a huge gift bag on him.


    During his scavenger days, he had heard some information at various public places, and he knew that after completing the first mission, the chosen ones would receive a digital scan.


    The number 208 did not mean that there were only 208 chosen ones, but that he was the 208th chosen one with the name Clement Onst, meaning that this name was way too common.


    Having a combat force value of five was also normal. The average adult on this planet would have such data before strengthening, and they were commonly referred to as the combat five dregs.


    But possessing a hidden gift was practically winning the lottery.


    According to the highest official authority, the chances of ordinary humans possessing a hidden gift was one in a hundred thousand. Even the number of chosen ones with hidden gifts was extremely few. In the later periods, after fully developing the hidden gift, it was definitely not any inferior to some powerful skills.


    Moreover, when choosing to strengthen, certain hidden gifts had special conveniences, or waived some reward points, or exempted some exchange permissions.


    ¡°Hope it¡¯s a high-level gift!¡±


    Clement focused on the Touch of Light and immediately obtained its information.


    ¡°Touch of Light: You have come into contact with the burning sun and have some remaining extraordinary characteristics. Effect¡ªUnder sunlight, Life Force +1!


    1


    Assessment: Low-level gift (After all, it was only caused by a coincidental occurrence. You really can¡¯t expect too much. In fact, if the low-level assessment was not already the lowest, it might be even lower.)¡±


    ¡°There it is¡­ the Creator¡¯s poisonous tongue of ridicule¡­¡±


    Clement¡¯s feeling resembled winning a lottery of five million dollars before seeing it go up in flames seconds later. ¡°A gift that is lower than low-level? Caused by coincidental occurrence? Since when did I come into contact with the sun?¡±


    For some reason, he suddenly thought of the lunatic that he saw before he entered the Creator Space. Didn¡¯t he claim to be the sun?


    ¡°Forget it¡­ It¡¯s still better than nothing!¡±


    Clement finally calmed down and looked at the exchange tab on the Creator.


    Shualala!


    Looking at the long list, Celent almost drooled over every item on it.


    Clean water and food, which were extremely rare outside, were commonly sold here using reward points. There were even very expensive luxury goods and enjoyment products that were not even accessible to ordinary residents of the ecological districts.


    Of course, using reward points to exchange for ordinary items was the least beneficial to the chosen ones.


    Clement looked at the extraordinary section, and his eyes lit up.


    ¡°Enchanted Pistol that comes with ten bullets. Cost: 100 reward points!¡±


    ¡°Type 2 Portable Ion Hand Cannon! Cost: 1000 reward points, one E-grade medal!¡±


    ¡°Enchanted Leather Armor! Cost: 500 reward points!¡±


    ¡­


    ¡°This¡­ is simply the largest arsenal. There are even interstellar spaceships, but the price is also astronomical¡­¡±


    Like a bumpkin, Clement read all sorts of descriptions before eventually looking away reluctantly.


    ¡°For a newbie, exchanging reward points for costly equipment is basically seeking death¡­ Regardless of in reality or during the missions, there are always those who specialize in looting such fat sheep. It¡¯s still the safest to be strong yourself because nobody can take that away!¡±


    He looked at the section for strengthening and found that he was also spoilt for choices.


    For example, Hetero-planet Bloodline Strengthening could allow someone to obtain tremendous strength by directly injecting the blood of species from other planets. However, maintaining human form was not guaranteed.


    Or a special Profession Changing Strengthening that allowed you to change to a different profession and obtain the corresponding special ability. For example, a warrior with expertise in melee, a sharpshooter with expertise in firearms, and so on.


    The last type was Extraordinary Enlightenment! It was essentially the way of the Extraordinaries that already existed on this planet.


    ¡°Too many! Too many!¡± Clement was dazzled by the many choices. In the end, he followed the experience of his predecessors. ¡°Creator, please choose the most suitable Extraordinary Strengthening for me!¡±


    ¡°Ding! 10 reward points deducted!¡±


    The Creator did not stand on ceremony and immediately deducted his reward points. The many interfaces cleared away, leaving behind a few choices:


    ¡°Blazing Warrior: A mighty warrior who possesses the power of flames. Proficient in using all types of cold weapons to fight and also possesses a few skills involving flames at the beginning. Requirements: 700 reward points, one E-grade medal!¡±


    ¡°Evil Eye Transplant: Transplant an evil eye with extraordinary power onto the chosen one¡¯s forehead. Attain extraordinary vision and some illusion skills. It is also the prerequisite for ten of the strongest eye techniques. Requirements: 1500 reward points, one E-grade medal!¡±


    ¡°Sun Priest: A profession that sings praises to the sun and possesses numerous buffing and exorcism skills! Requirements: 700 reward points, one E-grade medal (Detected that the chosen one possesses the hidden gift Touch of Light! Reward points requirement halved)¡±


    ¡­


    ¡°These are the three most suitable primary strengthening choices for me¡­¡±


    Clement was slightly hesitant. ¡°I really like Blazing Warrior, but I don¡¯t have enough reward points. As for the second choice¡­ I don¡¯t want to end up as some monster or freak, so that leaves me with only the third one, the Sun Priest!¡±


    He quickly decided, and shortly afterward, a golden radiance descended.


    Seconds later, the radiance disappeared. Clement¡¯s eyes blurred, and he suddenly pointed with his finger. ¡°I say¡­ there must be light!¡±


    A golden radiance blossomed from his finger.


    ¡°Haha¡­ I¡¯m finally an Extraordinary!¡±


    Clement smiled widely, and when he could no longer bear it, he started laughing heartily.


    ¡°After becoming an Extraordinary, I¡¯m now one of the higher-class people of the ecological districts. As long as I accumulate enough travel expenses, I might be able to migrate to the other two continents¡­ A lovely future is waving at me!¡±


    Just as he was fantasizing about his beautiful future, a red warning notice suddenly appeared:


    ¡°Chosen One Clement 208, your next mission will be nightmare level! Therefore, here is the advanced announcement of the mission¡¯s content: Planet Stael Defense War! This mission is a real-life mission with unlimited freedom. All rewards will be calculated and issued at the end of the mission!¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Clement felt like he had fallen into the bottomless abyss again.


    What he did not know was that all the chosen ones received the same mission, causing the entire planet to enter a state of uproar.

 Chapter 1163 - Invasion

    Translator: Atlas Studios  Editor: Atlas Studios


    ¡°Ding! Because this space is due for an upgrade, all chosen ones will be ejected temporarily!¡± A mechanical sound echoed in the ears of all the chosen ones.


    In a split second, those remaining in the Creator Space were sent back to the outside world and also received the compulsory planet defense mission, causing an uproar.


    ¡°De-defend our planet?¡±


    ¡°I knew it! All those different mysterious worlds that the Creator sent us to were all real planets in the universe!¡±


    ¡°Now, is it finally time for external enemies to challenge Planet Stael?¡±


    ¡°Compared to this, I¡¯m actually more interested in what the reason for this so-called Creator Space upgrade is.¡±


    ¡­


    Many of the chosen ones on this planet definitely had high and important statuses. With their support, all the forces of the planet started moving in preparation to deal with the external attack.


    But in reality, only those in prominent positions with knowledge of the Outer Gods knew that they were merely in the outermost battlefield. To the Evil Gods, they were like ants.


    Regardless of the outcome, it was impossible to determine the fate of this planet.


    The future of Planet Stael depended only on the final outcome between Fang Yuan and the Evil Gods.


    ¡­


    Within the empty Creator Space.


    The half Heaven Rise Dao Fruit appeared on Fang Yuan¡¯s hand, and he completely integrated it into the huge ball of light.


    ¡°Finally¡­ I can nurture a Dao Ancestor¡­¡±


    It was so easy because he consumed the Heaven Rise Dao Fruit. With such a firm foundation, breakthroughs naturally became relatively simple.


    ¡°Moreover¡­ there¡¯s nothing to begrudge¡­ I possess the Dream Dao Fruit, comprehended the Connate Space-Time Undying Great Dao, and have the strength of two Dao Fruits. Besides, with the half Heaven Rise Dao Fruit, there would have been mutual conflict, causing more consumption¡­


    ¡°Giving it up to create an Outer God is better!¡±


    Fang Yuan had a feeling that once the Creator Dao Fruit came into existence, it would definitely rank in front of many Dao Fruits and specialize in the realm-traversing aspect.


    Furthermore, giving up half a Dao Fruit in exchange for a completely obedient Dao Ancestor was a very cost-effective business.


    After all, the Creator Space that he created was equivalent to the other party¡¯s Father God, not to mention that he had already secretly arranged a means of manipulation.


    ¡°Would this count¡­ as my refinement of a magical treasure coming to a successful conclusion and having it achieve the Dao automatically?¡±


    Looking at the Creator light ball emitting limitless luminosity and also the repelling force from the void, Fang Yuan smiled slightly and left the Creator Space.


    Achieving Dao Fruit meant that the Creator Space was the Dao Fruit itself, and it naturally could not tolerate dishonor easily.


    Whoosh whoosh!


    Within the universe, all kinds of energy currents collided with one another, exploding all around Planet Stael like a circle of fireworks.


    This was the universe sensing the birth of an Outer God and reacting automatically.


    The ones most sensitive to this were the other Outer Gods and Elder Gods.


    In an instant, a few behemoths appeared in space and wantonly forced their way through. Their colossal bodies directly eliminated the universe¡¯s energy, and the residual fluctuations landing on them did not harm them in the slightest.


    ¡°The Lord of War who lives above the Jade Star?


    ¡°The Lord of the Deep Sea who controls the endless abyss?


    ¡°And also the indescribable Black Mist widely known for chaos and disorder?¡±


    Fang Yuan raised his brows and instantly knew the information about the invading Outer Gods.


    They were all Outer Gods who had been to many galaxies. Their incomplete true names were the taboo of some intelligent races, and some planets even worshipped them and their progeny as gods.


    This time, they were clearly attracted to the peculiarity happening on Planet Stael.


    Traces of mysterious black mist appeared above Planet Stael.


    They gathered together and started squirming like a massive flesh nest.


    Suddenly, giant black eggs started falling from the black mist vortex, spreading all over Planet Stael.


    Some of them directly germinated on the ground, and in a short period of time, they turned into gigantic eggs before monsters with goat horns started breaking out from them.


    Some became parasitic on large animals and began frantically splitting and reproducing.


    And the most cunning ones turned into black spirit eggs that entered the bodies of intelligent life, with their prime targets being the spirit world of humans, and started their terrifying contamination.


    ¡°Kill!¡±


    ¡°Defend Planet Stael!¡±


    ¡°Our enemies are these black eggs!¡±


    On the surface, many chosen ones made their move at the same time, wiping out the surroundings. Very soon, there were deaths and injuries.


    What they did not know was that this wave of attacks that caused them heavy casualties was not even deliberate by the enemy but merely some unconscious radiation contamination.


    The difference between Outer Gods and those beneath the abyss was indeed this terrifying!


    ¡°Black Mist?¡±


    Fang Yuan waved his hands, and an unkempt lunatic on the Ruined Continent suddenly screamed as he turned into a sun.


    Endless radiance landed on the cloud, instantly dissolving the black mist and revealing a cloudless sky.


    ¡°Lunatic¡­¡±


    Because it was on the ruins of the White Continent, the only one who saw Nietzsche¡¯s might was Clement.


    When he saw this, he finally understood that the lunatic he came across earlier was indeed an extremely powerful Extraordinary.


    When he approached closer, he heard the devastating cries of the other party. ¡°Why? Why are you still using me? Why did you prolong my life and not let me die?¡±


    ¡°Isn¡¯t it good to be alive? Why do you hate having a long life?¡± Clement was speechless, but it did not hinder him from adjusting his expression and going forward. ¡°Senior?!¡±


    ¡­


    For Fang Yuan, this was nothing more than making use of waste. After clearing the planet¡¯s poison, his gaze penetrated the universe and saw three behemoths.


    Black Mist¡¯s body was literally a massive black mist that seemed capable of containing even the entire universe.


    The bodies of the Lord of the Deep Sea and the Lord of War were like moons, but they were indescribable and inexplicable.


    The moment they were described vividly, contamination and spiritual shock would occur.


    ¡°Only three Outer Gods?¡± Fang Yuan laughed in surprise. ¡°Are they looking down on me? Or is this because of the Outer Gods¡¯ chaotic nature? Is three considered already attaching great importance to me?¡±


    He stared at Black Mist and said in a desolate tone, ¡°Black Mist from the depths of the universe, why are you here?¡±


    ¡°Sacrificial offering!¡± Black Mist responded quickly, and a mighty and highly contaminated spiritual will descended.


    ¡°Want to take away the Creator Dao Fruit as a sacrificial offering? To offer it to a great existence that appeared at the beginning of the universe?¡±


    Fang Yuan pursed his lips, slightly excited. ¡°Is it an old antique from the previous universe era?¡±


    Universes naturally had lifespans, and those who could survive the destruction of a universe were the truly powerful Dao Ancestors, and they could also greatly benefit from this opportunity.


    And according to Black Mist¡¯s message, that great existence was the Father God that produced Black Mist.


    In fact, there were some more Outer Gods in this universe who were its progeny as well.


    ¡°Is this great existence walking the same path as I am?¡± Fang Yuan immediately thought after hearing this. ¡°We¡¯re both creating Outer Gods, but its number is far more than mine! Still, the direction should be right¡­¡±


    Knowing this was extremely heartening news for him.


    Besides Black Mist, there was also the Lord of War, who had helped him once, and the Lord of the Deep Sea Lord, who had a conflict with Omar. These two were purely here to seek trouble after sensing the changes of Planet Stael.


    As for benefits? To the Outer Gods, it was enough to obtain a great amount of joy from simply doing this. There was no need for additional benefits.


    ¡°Seems like we can¡¯t settle this peacefully today¡­¡± Fang Yuan shook his head and sighed. A saber appeared in his hand, and he swung it at the void. ¡°Light of Universe!¡±


    The saber beam was far-reaching as it fell on Black Mist, causing a commotion in it but was slowly dissolved.


    After he attacked, the Lord of War and the Lord of the Deep Sea also launched their attacks at the same time.


    All of Planet Stael trembled under the power of the Dao Fruits. Half the land had weapons dancing violently, while half the ocean had huge waves overflowing.


    Although these two Outer Gods had protected Planet Stael from Omar¡¯s invasion, they did not show any mercy and had no hesitation at all, regardless of whether they would destroy this pitiful planet or not.


    ¡°Tsk tsk¡­ the casualties are severe!¡±


    Behind Fang Yuan, a rainbow beam of light beam shot into the sky and broke into space.


    The Astral Serpent, the Rainbow Snake, was merely the name that the intelligence races of this universe had given on him.


    But after accepting this name, Fang Yuan shockingly discovered that he actually did possess some of the Astral Serpent¡¯s abilities in this universe.


    Perhaps, this was closely related to the power of faith.


    Bang Bang!


    At the boundary of Planet Stael, the sound of immense collisions echoed. If not for the protection of the astral magic, just the aftershocks would have been enough to split this place apart.


    Under the astral magic, the entire Planet Stael was like a massive prison locking up Omar.


    Even if there were Outer Gods that wanted to act from outside to rescue Omar, quite a bit of effort was required. Otherwise, this astral magic would be too useless if it lost its effect because of a little outside force.


    Furthermore, Planet Stael had more than just one Outer God!


    While Fang Yuan kept the three Outer Gods busy¡­


    An illusory ball of light appeared above the planet. The blazing radiance was constantly distorting and shrinking¡­ before finally turning into a Dao Fruit.


    ¡°Creator Dao Fruit¡­ I am Creator!¡±


    The Dao Fruit then transformed into a youth in a moon-white robe, with an appearance extremely similar to Fang Yuan.


    ¡°Come! My warriors!¡±


    He waved his hands casually, and ninety-nine Demon Gods emerged from Planet Stael. Their auras were dramatically increasing as they formed an array that looked like moving stars.


    ¡°Suppress!¡±


    At that moment, the originally turbulent Planet Stael suddenly calmed down.


    ¡°Good¡­ Finally stalled until the birth of the Creator!¡± Fang Yuan felt extremely satisfied.


    The enemies were each at most one or two Dao Fruits strong. With the help of the Creator Dao Fruit, he would be evenly matched with them.


    At this moment, there was a sudden turn of events!


    At the center of Black Mist, a gate suddenly appeared!

 Chapter 1164 - Soldiers

    Translator: Atlas Studios  Editor: Atlas Studios


    What kind of gate was it?


    It stood silently in the center of Black Mist. It had been inconspicuous, but now streams of space-time torrents were exploding from it.


    A chaos aura that surpassed that of many Outer Gods suddenly filled the area.


    ¡°Although it contains space-time, it¡¯s not the Space-Time Dao Fruit! Are you the existence that produced Black Mist?¡±


    With a solemn expression, Fang Yuan attacked. ¡°Universe Obliteration!¡±


    The brilliantly shining saber beam carried the power of two Dao Fruits and the enhancement from the Creator Dao Fruit, and its power was infinitely close to three Dao Fruits!


    Not only was the strike astonishing, but it had the power to cut and destroy everything, and even the three Outer Gods did not dare to take it head-on and scattered hurriedly.


    The Blade of Universe Obliteration instantly struck the small black gate.


    A sound that was indescribable yet carried with it the sense of the universe¡¯s ultimate destruction shook the universe.


    ¡°Obscure Gate!?¡±


    Only at this moment did Fang Yuan finally come to know this powerful existence.


    Obscure Gate!


    It was a great existence that was born in the Great Cosmological Abyss. It had existed ever since this universe appeared and had experienced four eras of its births and deaths. Black Mist, Helix Key, and a host of other Outer Gods were born from it.


    According to legend, any living being could attain eternity if they entered the gate.


    What had appeared here was not the main body of Obscure Gate but only a clone.


    Even so, it absolutely had the power to seal an Outer God!


    When the saber beam touched the Obscure Gate clone, Fang Yuan immediately felt a torrent of space-time washing over him.


    ¡°Space-Time Undying. I am undying!¡±


    He stood in the river of time and endured the flow of time and the pressure of space, yet his body remained undamaged.


    He suddenly felt dizzy.


    Fang Yuan frowned, discovering that his palm was shrinking, and his skin was becoming fairer and more delicate.


    In the void of the universe behind him, a series of images suddenly emerged. They were scenes of him when he was young and living with Master Heartless in the lower realms.


    A young boy in Daoist robes with a bamboo container on his back was picking herbs on a mountain.


    ¡°Kill!¡±


    A black saber appeared out of nowhere. Although the faint lightning around it made it shrink continuously, it pierced resolutely toward the boy.


    It was going against the flow of time and trying to kill him when he was a child!


    The ability of this gate was indeed extremely strange. It actually fused the power of time and karma to travel back in time and kill the child Fang Yuan. Due to karma, even if Fang Yuan did not perish immediately, he would still sustain heavy injuries.


    ¡°Karma?¡± Fang Yuan frowned as he watched the saber kill the boy in the image.


    At the same time, his body shook, a terrifying wound appeared on his chest, and his aura weakened.


    ¡°Kill! Kill! Kill!¡±


    Three black beams of light appeared from the small black gate, and it instantly shattered.


    Behind Fang Yuan, another three scenes of his childhood appeared, and then the black saber killed them.


    ¡°What a strange ability¡­ It actually starts killing someone from their beginning. No matter how strong someone is, they would have a childhood. However, I have mastered the Connate Space-Time Undying Great Dao!¡±


    Fang Yuan wiped away the blood at the corner of his mouth. ¡°Even if you kill me in my past, as long as my body is still intact, there are infinite possibilities for the future. This is the true meaning of undying!¡±


    As soon as this thought formed, his wounds instantly healed, and his aura recovered quickly.


    ¡°True Space-Time Undying! So I have to kill my past? Thank you!¡±


    Suddenly, he comprehended something.


    A supreme existence should not have any weaknesses, and that naturally included the weaknesses in childhood.


    As long as the main body was present, even if all past selves perished, the present self would still exist. This single point of eternity created countless possibilities!


    ¡°Thank you¡­ Obscure Door. If not for you, my comprehension wouldn¡¯t have progressed so fast!¡±


    Fang Yuan howled, and saber light poured out like mercury spreading across the floor, completely eliminating the fragments of the Obscure Gate clone.


    After the small black gate disappeared, no more response came.


    Perhaps Obscure Gate only gave Black Mist one such clone, or perhaps the loss just now was tremendous for it, and it required time to recover.


    Besides, if it could arbitrarily obliterate a Dao Fruit existence¡¯s childhood, that would be too outrageous¡­


    Fang Yuan heaved a sigh of relief.


    He had to admit that Black Mist¡¯s trump card was quite something, and it had consumed a great deal of his energy and vitality.


    The Lord of War, the Lord of the Deep Sea, and Black Mist, who had all been expelled outside the battlefield, gathered again. All kinds of cruel intentions seeped out from them.


    ¡°It¡¯s just me, who has lost a great deal of vitality, and the Creator Dao Fruit. It¡¯s indeed somewhat troublesome¡­¡±


    Fang Yuan could not help sighing as a black eye appeared on his palm.


    ¡°However¡­ did you think that that was all the cards I had?¡±


    His right hand loosened, and the black Eyeball of Destruction fell into the deep sea, into a trench.


    Buzz Buzz!


    The celestial bodies in the sky changed as many planets shifted, forming an extremely intricate array.


    A gap opened in the array, automatically welcoming the entrance of the Eyeball of Destruction.


    Ow Ow!


    A roar full of rage and fear came from below the sea. It was very difficult to imagine exactly what kind of creature could convey so many complex emotions with a single roar.


    It was the cry of the Master Living Above the Lonely Star, Omar.


    ¡°Abandoning half a Dao Fruit and fusing it with the Creator Space had directly created a Dao Ancestor¡­ What will happen to the Eyeball of Destruction, which already has Dao Fruit power, after it devours an Outer God?¡±


    Fang Yuan had used the astral magic to seal Omar here primarily for research.


    Over the years, in addition to using it as an extra-large battery to power the Creator Space at the beginning, he had studied it in conjunction with the Eyeball of Destruction.


    Now, his research finally bore fruit.


    According to Fang Yuan¡¯s idea, he would cultivate a real war machine by extracting the Great Destruction Intent from the Eyeball of Destruction and using an Outer God as a flesh and blood sacrifice.


    And now, no matter how much the Eyeball of Destruction absorbed and consumed from Omar, this sealed god was powerless to resist.


    All of Planet Stael seemed to be trembling.


    Suddenly, a ray of light appeared from the ocean and split apart the sea.


    Almost all the indigenous beings felt quivering in their souls, and most of them immediately fainted, collapsing onto the ground.


    The universe felt this, and the energy currents that had yet to dissipate completely appeared once again, transforming into celebratory fireworks.


    As heaven and earth shook, a dark-green demonic body slowly rose into space.


    It had three heads, six arms, and stood as tall as a giant. Each face had a different expression, and each arm was wielding a strange magic artifact.


    ¡°Born to destroy. Once you use your full strength, you can destroy the universe¡­ You are the Great Destruction God!! Grasping the Great Destruction Dao Fruit!¡±


    Fang Yuan and the Creator flew up and landed on the Great Destruction God¡¯s head.


    Ow Ow!


    The war machine went into action at once. Each carrying the power of a Dao Fruit, all six arms struck fiercely at the three Outer Gods.


    Bang Bang!


    The arms smashed into the Lord of War and the Lord of the Deep Sea and sent them flying. As seawater and weapons flew, traces of their bodies broke up and continuously landed in space to form new sources of contamination for the land below.


    As for Black Mist, the shockwave of the raging face¡¯s roar hit it, causing it to disintegrate continuously and unexpectedly show signs of completely disappearing.


    ¡°What a Great Destruction God. Its body itself is a weapon of war. If the Creator and I give our full support, it can at least display the power of five Dao Fruits!¡±


    Fang Yuan¡¯s eyes glowed upon seeing what had transpired. ¡°Obscure Gate has experienced four births and deaths of this universe. It probably has strength at roughly five Dao Fruits and is likely the strongest existence in this universe. With the Great Destruction God at my side, I can do anything I wish in this universe¡­¡±


    In addition, with the Great Destruction God to rely on, he would at least have some confidence after entering the Huaxia Universe.


    Fang Yuan was extremely exhilarated. He looked up and howled as he watched the three Outer Gods fleeing in panic.


    ¡°Creator, go and maintain the Creator Space!¡±


    ¡°Great Destruction God, you protect me!¡±


    These two newly-born Dao Ancestors were akin to Fang Yuan¡¯s incarnations, and he truly had perfect command over them.


    With his order, the Creator instantly descended into Planet Stael and transformed into the Creator Space, once again allowing the chosen ones to enter.


    The Great Destruction God shrank and submerged into Fang Yuan¡¯s body. Ferocious spiked black armor appeared before disappearing.


    Outside the battlefield, many probing spiritual wills left, and some even intentionally expressed good intentions.


    After all, Fang Yuan had demonstrated unrivaled strength. He was absolutely among the top few Outer Gods in the universe.


    With such strength, naturally no one would cause him any trouble if he only wished to protect himself.


    Even if he expanded his forces slightly, it was nothing much.


    At least, these three Outer Gods today would no longer dare to fight against him.


    ¡­


    ¡°Is the disaster¡­ over?¡±


    On Planet Stael, many chosen ones looked at the slowly-closing atmosphere and the stabilized planet, all feeling lucky to be alive.


    Immediately, cheers broke out across the entire planet.


    Ordinary people, chosen ones, and other intelligent life forms were all celebrating their survival.


    Having the planet still safe and sound after a battle of that level was extremely lucky.


    However, the next moment, the faces of the chosen ones changed.


    ¡°Ding! Main mission over! Side mission starts!


    Side Mission: Remnants!


    Mission Explanation: Although Planet Stael has luckily survived the battle between the Outer Gods, many sources of contamination have spread across all parts of the world. They are the triggers for chaos, treasures that will lull men into madness. Eliminate them!¡±


    ¡­


    ¡°It was actually the Outer Gods? And there are remnants?¡±


    Seeing this information, many chosen ones went into a frenzy, and following the guidelines of the Creator¡¯s mission, they started to clean up the remnants of the Outer Gods.


    When it came to the Outer Gods, even a single piece of dandruff could stir up a disaster if it landed on a planet.


    What awaited the chosen ones was definitely not smooth sailing.


    However, if they did not clear them up now, the remnants would surely become more troublesome if allowed to grow. As such, it was imperative to clear them right away.

 Chapter 1165 - Awaken

    Translator: Atlas Studios  Editor: Atlas Studios


    ¡°In essence, the body of the Great Destruction God is a Dao Ancestor-level array!¡±


    1


    Above Planet Stael, Fang Yuan infused his psyche into his incarnations, deepening his understanding of them.


    The Great Destruction Dao Fruit not only had immense power, but most importantly, the Great Destruction God itself could accommodate the power of many Dao Fruits with minimal loss.


    When a single Dao Fruit contained many Dao Fruit powers, there were sure to be conflicts and loss.


    However, the Great Destruction God used the essence of arrays to form a united force.


    At its peak, it had the Creator Dao Fruit, two Dao Fruits belonging to its own body, and the Eyeball of Destruction¡¯s and Omar¡¯s Dao Fruit powers for a total of five!


    With this strength, it was enough to run wild in this universe.


    It should rank near the very top among all the Dao Fruits.


    ¡°But there¡¯s no room for further progress. It¡¯s only a crude power accumulation. Five Dao Fruits is already the limit of minimal loss, and it will be difficult to push it beyond the power of ten Dao Fruits!¡±


    Could you imagine how rich and powerful Dao Fruit powers were? How unique?


    It had already taken up all of Fang Yuan¡¯s skill to accommodate the power of five Dao Fruits in a single array. If he tried to increase the number of Dao Fruits to the maximum of ten, the dramatic loss in power would not outweigh the gains.


    Not to mention, forcibly integrating other powers would unbalance the original system, and even Dao Ancestors would have difficulty bearing this mighty force.


    ¡°I¡¯m afraid the path of power accumulation is over¡­ Where do we Dao Ancestors go on from here?¡± Fang Yuan mumbled as he recalled his extraordinary journey¡ªfrom the simplest Dream Master to coming into contact with the Mental Demon, then turning into a Demon God and his expeditions in a plethora of worlds.


    ¡°In fact, any system of cultivation is a branch under a certain Great Dao¡­ Even the humblest mortal can start from this kind of branch and climb their way up, eventually coming into touch with nomological laws and even a Great Dao!


    ¡°After finding your own Dao path, you can be regarded as a true powerhouse. You will then be able to use myriad Daos for yourself¡­ and eventually form a perfect Dao!


    ¡°This perfect Dao is like a tree, with its roots in all Great Daos. The brilliant fruit finally borne from it is a Dao Fruit!


    ¡°A Dao Fruit is unique and eternal!¡±


    ¡­


    Fang Yuan had a feeling that perhaps the Dao path beyond Dao Fruit lay in the Great Cosmological Abyss.


    However, the Great Cosmological Abyss contained true nothingness.


    Since there was nothing, where would he search for it?


    ¡°Could it be that there¡¯s no more room for progress at the end of a Dao path?¡±


    This thought immediately gave Fang Yuan a tremendous sense of fear.


    Despite him now possessing power not any less than Dao Ancestor Heaven Rise, even surpassing this existence that had given him the stats window, he still could not see the following Dao path.


    ¡°So the end of all Dao paths¡­ is nothingness? All returns to Primordial Chaos?¡±


    Fang Yuan gritted his teeth. ¡°No! There must be a realm beyond Dao Ancestor. Even if no one could ever hope to reach it, I will create it myself¡­¡±


    Since there was no further path, he would open up his own.


    This was how someone seeking the Dao that had taken each step one at a time should be!


    ¡°The nothingness of the Great Cosmological Abyss¡­ My thoughts should be correct. If a Dao Ancestor wishes to progress further, they have to be in the Great Cosmological Abyss¡­¡±


    The Great Cosmological Abyss was a concept that was greater than universes. It was comprised of many universes, and its biggest trait was nothingness.


    Almost every Dao Ancestor would have to face the question of how to obtain enlightenment from this nothingness. But unfortunately, no one had ever succeeded in answering this question.


    ¡°There are two things that I need to investigate. First, if the power of the Great Cosmological Abyss exists, how to borrow it¡­ Second, how to allow ordinary Demon Gods to traverse the Great Cosmological Abyss!¡±


    The first goal was for his own cultivation, and the second was to help the Huaxia Universe.


    Since the Huaxia Universe could produce an existence like Dao Ancestor Heaven Rise, then its level should be slightly higher than the Outer God Universe.


    In such a powerful universe, what kind of tribulation was it facing that it could cause Dao Ancestors to die?


    In such a high-level war, perhaps there was a chance of progressing beyond Dao Ancestor! Furthermore, as a person from the Huaxia Universe, Fang Yuan did not mind lending a hand.


    ¡°I can leave the research of the Great Cosmological Abyss traversing technique to the Creator. I still require resources though¡­ This can be handled by the Uyguklais and the chosen ones!¡±


    Once he had this thought, the many chosen ones on Planet Stael became laborers. Looking at the various missions asking them to conquer other planets and plunder their resources, they wanted to cry but had no tears left to shed.


    ¡­


    To Dao Ancestors, the existence of time was absolutely meaningless.


    Fang Yuan was immersed in the profound mysteries of the Great Cosmological Abyss, completely oblivious to the passage of time outside.


    Only the Creator was still mechanically carrying out his plan, recording the progress on the core mission window that only he could see.


    ¡°Black Iron Calendar Year 509: Conquered Planet Red Tower¡­¡±


    ¡°Black Iron Calendar Year 555: Chosen one Shaun 502 discovered a rare mineral vein¡ªBlack Hole Stone¡­¡±


    ¡°Black Iron Calendar Year 560: The Black Hole Stone vein was attacked. Casualties of three chosen ones Above Abyss. The Great Destruction God was dispatched to deter the Outer God Riug¡­¡±


    ¡­


    ¡°Black Iron Calendar Year 750: The Uyguklais conquered the Blue Rainbow Galaxy¡­¡±


    ¡°Black Iron Calendar Year 779: The Creator Space birthed its first Netherheaven Demon God¡ª Whitney Abbot 23! ¡±


    ¡­


    ¡°Black Iron Calendar Year 999: A new Netherheaven Demon God¡ªRaymond 208! To date, there are a total of 327 Demon Gods and 33 Netherheavens!¡±


    ¡­


    Black Iron Calendar Year 1000: A fully armed research vessel approached the shores of a certain island.


    ¡°After the cataclysm, we humans are finally able to continue our progress into the deep sea!¡±


    With a face filled with pride, a professor led his students. ¡°Thank the great Creator. With his blessings and the efforts of the chosen ones, the Ruined Continent has been completely cleaned up and returned to the embrace of humanity once again¡­¡±


    Although the Ruined Continent and deep sea housed all kinds of strange and mutated life forms, they did not amount to much before the chosen ones that were becoming increasingly stronger.


    Even though the majority of the powerhouses above Demon God were out conquering other planets, there were still some chosen ones who were willing to contribute locally.


    Most of the monsters remaining on Planet Stael originated from the contamination of the Outer God progeny.


    Although these monsters were very ferocious and powerful in the past, the strongest among the chosen ones were now Netherheaven Demon Gods. They were on the same level as the Outer God progeny and naturally did not fear these remnants.


    The only things hindering humanity from exploring the deep sea were the Outer God progeny entrenched in the deep sea that had formed from the contamination of the Outer Gods themselves in the last war.


    But recently, one of the thirteen heroes had eliminated the last of the Outer God progeny that dwelled in the deep sea, and all of Planet Stael had finally returned to the control of humanity¡ªif the true master did not say anything about it.


    ¡°So, is this the Island of Rebirth?¡± A few graduate students looked around curiously. ¡°It doesn¡¯t seem to be any different from other islands.¡±


    ¡°No! According to my research, this is the center of this sea area¡¯s magnetic field!¡± The professor shook his head and looked at a man with an unruly expression that was wearing an open shirt, boardshorts, and a straw hat and holding a toothpick in his mouth. ¡°We¡¯ll be counting on you for our safety.¡±


    ¡°Relax. As long as I¡¯m here, there won¡¯t be a problem!¡± the man replied confidently.


    As a chosen one who had advanced to the Demon God level, he was naturally confident.


    In fact, if he was not in a good mood due to narrowly passing the last nightmare mission and successfully advancing to Above Abyss, he would not deign to protect a research fleet, even if the country asked him to.


    The professor looked around with binoculars and made his decision. ¡°Prepare to lower the boats. We¡¯ll have a look around the island¡­¡±


    A few boats lowered, and the crowd rowed toward the shore.


    ¡°This kind of island might still have demonic remnants¡­ Truly bold!¡±


    The man with the toothpick twitched his lips in disdain. Red flames erupted in front of him and transformed into a hound whose entire body was aflame.


    ¡°You watch over them. Make sure nothing happens!¡±


    Afterward, he laid down on a sun lounger, his expression relaxed and peaceful. ¡°Blue sky, white clouds, and warm sunshine¡­ I really hope this moment will last forever. If there were no damned missions from the Creator, it would be even better¡­¡±


    ¡­


    ¡°Okay, let¡¯s continue!¡±


    The professor¡¯s expression relaxed when he saw the fire hound approach. He then led the students further inland.


    The island was not that big. After walking for a while, they arrived at the center of the island.


    There, tens of impressive stone pillars stood tall and imposing, seeming to reach into the heavens, leaving the group momentarily awestruck.


    ¡°This kind of formation is definitely not naturally formed. Is this a relic of a civilization?¡±


    The professor was very experienced, and instead of being intimidated by the pillars, he approached them.


    At the center of the stone array, he saw a statue that seemed to be a human figure sitting cross-legged.


    ¡°This statue should be the style of the White Continent during the middle-ages of the Black Iron Calendar¡­¡± the professor said to himself. When he tried to approach it, he suddenly heard a few cracks.


    In front of him, the statue started to crack from the top, and a figure emerged.


    ¡°Have about five hundred years passed?¡± Fang Yuan said to himself after waking up from his meditation, completely ignoring the ants around him.


    ¡°Extraordinary!¡± exclaimed one of the researchers.


    But the next moment, they watched in terror as the flaming guard hound whimpered and vanished.


    ¡°Leave!¡± A voice sounded in their minds. Eyes unfocused, researchers and laborers alike returned to the ship in a zombie-like manner.


    Even the Demon God-level man had the same vacant expression as he helped sail the ship away from the island.


    Only an entire day and night later did he suddenly awaken. As he looked at the ship full of zombie-like people, his face revealed horror. ¡°How is this possible?¡±


    After reaching the Above Abyss realm, he thought that he could flaunt his power on the planet, but only now did he realize that he was nothing more than a joke!

 Chapter 1166 - Explore

    Translator: Atlas Studios  Editor: Atlas Studios


    ¡°Unexpectedly, after a single session of meditation, the entire world has changed!¡±


    After Fang Yuan expelled the research fleet, his spiritual will spread far and wide, instantly covering the entire planet.


    At the same time, he contacted the Creator and caught up with the events in his absence.


    Planet Stael had already undergone the energy revolution. The Dream World technology developed from the Uyguklais¡¯ had replaced the original computers and became the main force of the third industrial revolution.


    On the Yellow Continent and Black Continent, due to the improvement in living conditions, many major cities had risen, and they had already entered the stage of population explosion. Recently, they were re-migrating back to the White Continent.


    Due to the existence of the Creator Space, experts on Planet Stael emerged one after another. The number of Demon Gods had reached into the hundreds, and there were thirty-three Netherheavens, enough to rule several galaxies.


    ¡°Of course, this is the limit of progress! If this continues, I¡¯ll have trouble controlling them with the reputation that I forged five centuries ago¡­¡±


    After all, this was a universe full of Outer Gods. For instance, Fang Yuan was uncertain that he would succeed if he were to face the true body of the Obscure Gate.


    Fortunately, although the Outer Gods were largely chaotic, they knew how to avoid trouble. Even the Lord of Black Mist seldom caused trouble for Fang Yuan.


    In contrast, there was a constant flow of conflicts between the followers. However, even if there were not any, the Creator would create conflicts. Otherwise, he would not have any missions for the chosen ones, and they might have internal discord.


    ¡°A few hundred Demon Gods is probably enough!¡±


    Fang Yuan stood up. The Creator appeared and flung his arms out.


    A large amount of precious materials appeared, and some were even processed, as evidenced by their mysterious luster.


    ¡°The Dao of the Great Cosmological Abyss¡­¡±


    Fang Yuan¡¯s fingers danced, as though he were performing a beautiful musical piece.


    In front of him, tons of Black Hole Stone melted and formed a basic cube shape.


    Immediately afterward, intricate runes were carved onto its surface before they vanished in an instant.


    ¡°Using Dao Ancestor power to inscribe a talisman!¡±


    Finally, a simple ark appeared before Fang Yuan. ¡°It¡¯s done! The first ark! It can only carry passengers above Demon God, but it will be able to traverse the Great Cosmological Abyss and break into universes.¡±


    This was one of his main tasks during the past five hundred years.


    Regretfully, the other main task, the deduction of the realm beyond Dao Ancestor, had almost no leads at all.


    The Great Cosmological Abyss was nothingness, without even the concept of time and space, nor even any energy fluctuations.


    Under such circumstances, how could it be easy to come in contact with the power of the Great Cosmological Abyss?


    In fact, the so-called ¡®power of the Great Cosmological Abyss¡¯ was merely a type of energy defined by Fang Yuan, and its intrinsic quality might actually be ¡®nothing¡¯!


    ¡°The nothingness of the Great Cosmological Abyss will transform into something! Creating something out of nothing! Perhaps this is the key to the realm beyond Dao Ancestor! It is my only bit of insight from the past five hundred years.¡±


    Fang Yuan pondered while his hands kept busy, creating one black ark spaceship after another.


    This kind of ark was completely incomparable to the one that he saw before. After all, the other carried the hope of an entire race, while his were more like solo exploration ships.


    ¡­


    At the same time, within the Creator Space.


    A Netherheaven Demon God was scrutinizing the mission window in front of him:


    ¡°Main Mission: Exploration!


    Mission Explanation: There are all kinds of universes in the unknown Great Cosmological Abyss. Leave this universe, head for the Huaxia Universe, and explore it. Mission rewards based on the degree of exploration!


    Penalty for failure: Death!¡±


    ¡­


    ¡°Interesting¡­ It only says that rewards are based on the degree of exploration, but no mention at all of how much is required to pass the mission. Is it an exploration degree of fifty percent? Or maybe five percent?¡± A chosen one with a scar between his eyebrows grinned.


    If his subordinates outside were to see this expression from him, they would definitely be terrified.


    Beast King Bachev!


    Within the Creator Space, he was synonymous with gore and slaughter, and he was also among the first batch to ascend to Netherheaven.


    ¡°With my current strength, I would even dare to fight against the progeny of the Outer Gods¡­ However, I still can¡¯t escape the Creator¡¯s control. And what is the true purpose of this strange exploration mission?¡±


    Beast King Bachev stroked his chin.


    The chosen ones were not fools. They had long communicated with each other and speculated on the purpose of the Creator Space.


    At this time, they at least knew that it was an existence at the Outer God level, and it was not joking when it said that the penalty for failure was death.


    Before becoming Outer Gods themselves, they had no chance of escaping from the Creator¡¯s control.


    ¡°Unfortunately¡­ there are so many Outer God progeny, yet how many have become Outer Gods?¡±


    Bachev knew that despite there being merely one step between Netherheaven Demon God and Dao Ancestor, the difference between them was astronomical.


    The elite chosen ones seemed to be worshiped by countless people and enjoyed many privileges, but in truth, they were nothing more than dogs raised by the Creator!


    For example, he was now ordered to carry out the exploration mission, and he would die if he refused. How outrageous was this? But there was nothing he could do.


    After all, from the moment that they chose to walk the path of an Extraordinary, the chosen ones were under the control of the Creator, and controlling them was far easier than controlling other Netherheaven Demon Gods.


    Now, the Creator had finally revealed his hidden hand!


    ¡°The Great Cosmological Abyss outside the universe?¡± Bachev looked at the explanation, and his eyes flashed with flames of madness. ¡°Good! Very good! Perhaps my hopes of breaking through to Outer God and freeing myself from Creator¡¯s control rests with this! Let¡¯s go!¡±


    After stepping inside the mission light beam, the surroundings changed immediately!


    He found that he seemed to be inside a spaceship. Pitch-black stone walls surrounded him on all sides, and only a window made of a crystalline-like glass allowed him to see outside.


    As a Netherheaven Demon God, a slight thought was all he needed to refine this ship and gain control of most of the ship.


    ¡°The destination has been locked, and it¡¯s headed for the Huaxia Universe. However, there are dangers in the Great Cosmological Abyss? What kind¡­¡±


    Bachev¡¯s spiritual will reached out into the Great Cosmological Abyss.


    Immediately, he groaned, his face turned pale, and his pupils were full of terror. ¡°What happened? My spiritual will was extinguished once it left the ship. And that last sensation¡­ There¡¯s no concept of time and space. If I were in such an environment, I don¡¯t think I could last very long. So is this the biggest protection that this ship gives me?¡±


    Admittedly, the operation and efficiency of these primitive model arks were rather poor.


    The only benefit was protecting the passengers in the Great Cosmological Abyss.


    Naturally, this protection had a prerequisite. The protected must have strength above Demon God. Otherwise, they would still be affected and die.


    After all, the Great Cosmological Abyss was not a place that could sustain life and was a forbidden zone for life.


    Bachev tried a few times and finally understood his predicament. ¡°Why do I look like a prisoner exiled to sea on a boat by myself?¡±


    In fact, his predicament was more or less exactly this.


    ¡°Nevermind¡­ Who knows how long this will take. I¡¯ll cultivate first¡­¡±


    He entered a state of cultivation, and the surroundings immediately fell silent.


    Rumble!


    After some time, a loud noise came.


    Bachev was startled and opened his eyes. ¡°Have I reached the Huaxia Universe?¡±


    The next moment, he saw through the crystal glass a torrent of red, black, and green.


    This was the last sight he saw.


    Poof!


    The image ended here and sank into darkness.


    ¡°Bachev is dead? He¡¯s a Netherheaven Demon God and had the protection of the ark, but he didn¡¯t even last three seconds!¡± Watching the live stream, Fang Yuan pursed his lips in dissatisfaction. ¡°The Great Cosmological Abyss isn¡¯t devoid of danger¡­ Did he come across a lone Dao Ancestor just now? Seems like I¡¯ll have to give them a chance to struggle a bit¡­¡±


    Afterward, he started a great deal of experimentation and improvements.


    This time, he was slightly more frugal. Rather than using Netherheaven Demon Gods, he used ordinary Demon Gods. He put them into the arks and sent them to explore the Great Cosmological Abyss.


    In the end, all of them died. The luckiest one had managed to survive for a few centuries before being caught by a vortex and subsequently dying.


    ¡°Hmm¡­ looks like I should give the Demon Gods agency and allow them to control the arks. Of course, the destination will still be the Huaxia Universe, but they¡¯ll have the power to control the spaceships agilely to obtain the greatest chance of survival¡­¡±


    Fang Yuan made another ark. ¡°This is the improved type 2 model. Let¡¯s grab another Demon God to test it¡­¡±


    ¡­


    Time passed in the blink of an eye, and an atmosphere of panic was spreading among the chosen ones of Planet Stael.


    Due to the number of truly powerful elites dwindling continuously, the legend of the ¡®Death Mission¡¯ caused a loud commotion, making all the chosen ones apprehensive.


    In fact, their guesses were not far from the truth.


    ¡°Experiment number 256. I¡¯m quite confident this time. I¡¯ll send twenty test subjects, including two Netherheaven Demon Gods!¡±


    Fang Yuan was expressionless as he started throwing the ships into the Great Cosmological Abyss via the Creator.


    ¡­


    ¡°Here it comes¡­ the legendary Death Mission!¡±


    Clement¡¯s lips tightened as he looked at the many control panels in front of him and the Great Cosmological Abyss outside.


    Fang Yuan had overhauled the interior of the ship, and some functions to control the ship had appeared. These had come at the cost of the lives of the pathfinders before¡­


    ¡°The exploration mission¡­ is actually so far away from our original universe¡­¡±


    Clement looked at the scenery outside the window and felt overwhelmed with emotions. ¡°This is¡­ grand! Now I¡¯ll learn how to control this ship. It¡¯s the only thing I can rely on to survive in the Great Cosmological Abyss.¡±


    ¡­


    Fang Yuan stared expressionlessly at the feedback from the Creator.


    A century later, all twenty small arks were safe.


    Two centuries¡­ three¡­ a millennium¡­


    Finally, three arks went silent in an incident.


    After that, seven arks were lost in the twenty-seven-hundredth year.


    By the fourth millennium, only three arks had survived.


    And the Huaxia Universe was finally within sight!


    ¡°Almost there!¡±


    Clement tensed up as he gazed at the edge of the universe that suddenly appeared in the Great Cosmological Abyss, and he almost shed tears.


    Although he was one of the elites of Planet Stael, being in the Great Cosmological Abyss was like being imprisoned for a few millennia, and he found it hard to control his excitement.


    ¡°I can surely make it. I will survive!¡±


    He prayed silently as he controlled the ark to smash into the universe membrane.

 Chapter 1167 - Three-Faced

    Translator: Atlas Studios  Editor: Atlas Studios


    ¡°Another two destroyed¡­¡±


    On Planet Stael, Fang Yuan¡¯s gaze had never been more solemn.


    Even he had never imagined that the Huaxia Universe would be so difficult to penetrate. Of the remaining three arks, two were lost when trying to enter the universe membrane.


    ¡°This isn¡¯t a problem with the ark itself. But because the arks weathered too much along the journey, the resistance of the Huaxia Universe was the final straw. Luckily, one survived. Is that the one with Clement?¡±


    His thoughts transferred entirely on Clement, and he could sense everything around him.


    If it had been other Netherheaven Demon Gods, it would have been almost impossible.


    However, these chosen ones were half-assed Netherheavens spawned by the Creator, or rather, they were Outer God progeny of the Creator Space, so he naturally found it easy to control them and sense their surroundings.


    However, after sensing carefully, Fang Yuan¡¯s expression changed. ¡°The truth is actually¡­¡±


    ¡­


    ¡°What happened? This universe¡­¡±


    Clement entered the Huaxia Universe but did not leave the ark, and instead, he looked around curiously. ¡°How is it so different from our universe? There¡¯s no energy from the universe. It actually feels more like¡­ the Great Cosmological Abyss?¡±


    He had assumed that the Huaxia Universe would be a universe with even more powerful existences than the Outer God Universe. However, from the looks of it, it appeared more like¡­ ruins?


    ¡°Also, where are the planets?¡±


    From what Clement knew, there should be countless planets in a universe, with some even breeding life and forming all kinds of civilizations.


    However, this knowledge was useless in the Huaxia Universe.


    As far as his eyes could see, the entire universe was chaos, without even one star or planet.


    ¡°Although it isn¡¯t the Great Cosmological Abyss, it¡¯s pretty close¡­¡± Clement took a deep breath and stepped into the universe. ¡°There are still energy fluctuations in the void, but they¡¯re extremely weak¡­ Where should I go?¡±


    He did not have a destination, so he chose a direction at random and started exploring.


    ¡­


    ¡°The Huaxia Universe is already basically nothingness?¡±


    In the Outer God Universe, Fang Yuan felt as though he was in the Huaxia Universe himself. ¡°Wasn¡¯t it urgently calling for reinforcements? But it¡¯s actually¡­ already finished? How ironic! However, something seems off¡­¡±


    Regretfully, no matter how much it felt like he was there, he was not, so Fang Yuan could not be certain.


    Perhaps, he could only obtain more information if he personally arrived in the Huaxia Universe.


    Fang Yuan calmed down and started deducing what happened.


    ¡°The Huaxia Universe I was in was at war with a certain powerful force, and the situation was extremely dire. Even Dao Ancestor Heaven Rise died. He split his Dao Fruit in two and placed them in other universes, one of which became my stats window. Everything was done in the hope that I, a traverser, would return and aid my home after my cultivation succeeded¡­¡±


    Originally, he had thought that he was just an ordinary person who dreamed of alternate worlds.


    However, after cultivating, Fang Yuan gradually started to realize that the world that he dreamed of was his past life, and he had begun his enlightenment all due to this.


    If he were not a traverser, then the half Heaven Rise Dao Fruit probably would not have landed in his lap and become his stats window.


    ¡°Who would have thought that by the time I achieved Dao Fruit and was powerful enough to return, the Huaxia Universe was already a bunch of ruins. Who won, and who lost? Or did they¡­ perish together?¡±


    Currently, the universe was in a state like it had been completely destroyed, and everything was regressing into void, without any possibility for rebirth.


    ¡°But it also feels like there¡¯s something different¡­¡± Fang Yuan pondered. ¡°Looks like¡­ I¡¯ll have to go there personally!¡±


    He had done so many things in preparation, but now that he looked at the results, he realized that he had been overcautious.


    The grand war that he had been yearning for yet secretly fearing seemed to be long over. Even the universe had been destroyed and was regressing into void.


    Of course, although he decided to go to the Huaxia Universe, he could not simply leave just like that.


    At least, he had to give Clement some benefits like increasing the exploration progress and so on. Then he would get him to continue exploring, and at the same time, he would send a few more over.


    He should also reap all the benefits of this universe first.


    ¡°Speaking of which, there are many Dao Ancestors in this universe, yet only a few are my enemies. However, the one that is truly beneficial to me is Obscure Gate!¡±


    It was impossible to increase your strength by one Dao Fruit by simply devouring a Dao Ancestor!


    If that were possible, then these Outer Gods would have started killing each other long ago, and there would never be peace.


    Fang Yuan had managed to create two Dao Fruit-level incarnations by not devouring Dao Ancestors, but by luck.


    It would also be difficult for him to create a third one.


    However, the Space-Time Great Dao that Obscure Gate had mastered was extremely beneficial to his Connate Space-Time Undying Great Dao, somewhat tempting him.


    Sadly, even him, a Dao Ancestor with the power of five Dao Fruits, did not have much confidence in dealing with it.


    ¡°Since Obscure Gate is somewhat difficult to deal with, I¡¯ll take a step back. And it would also be good to take out Black Mist¡­¡±


    While Fang Yuan was contemplating, a message shot out from the universe to the strongest existence on Planet Stael, Fang Yuan himself.


    A black beam of light crossed the universe in an instant, penetrated the atmosphere, landed in front of Fang Yuan, and then turned into a somewhat blurry figure.


    ¡°You are¡­ Three-Faced Key?!¡±


    Fang Yuan immediately knew about this existence from the Dao Fruit information that it was showing.


    It was also an outsider born in the Great Cosmological Abyss. It had experienced many births and deaths of the universe and was likewise one of the most peak existences in the Outer God Universe.


    However, unlike Obscure Gate, it did not have any Outer God progeny and had always kept a low profile.


    ¡°Existence that resides at the center of the universe, why did you look for me?¡± Fang Yuan asked using his spiritual will.


    ¡°Obscure Gate is my nemesis. I feel your strength and animosity¡­ Anyone in this universe that is an enemy of Obscure Gate will obtain my blessings!¡± Three-Faced Key replied with his psyche.


    Three-Faced Key and Obscure Gate are archenemies? Hmm, there was some mention of it in the previous reports.


    Fang Yuan nodded. ¡°However, being able to feel the animosity and killing intent that I¡¯m emanating now¡­ is no mean feat.¡±


    ¡°This is my unique power. You don¡¯t need to worry about Obscure Gate knowing!¡±


    Three-Faced Key said with a low voice, ¡°I can tell you the location of Obscure Gate¡¯s true body, and you help me destroy or seal it. What do you think?¡±


    ¡°This is also something I want!¡± Fang Yuan nodded in agreement.


    He was truly interested in researching Obscure Gate, and for more than just the Space-Time Great Dao. In other words, Great Daos like space-time were the most basic of what he thirsted after.


    What he truly wanted was still the understanding of what lay beyond Dao Fruit, even the intrinsic quality!


    Since the Great Cosmological Abyss is able to birth Dao Ancestor-level existences, then it must contain something! In other words, the power of the Great Cosmological Abyss must exist! As long as I can understand this, my theory will be correct¡­ Searching for the realm beyond Dao Ancestor in the Great Cosmological Abyss is definitely feasible!


    ¡°Very good. Let¡¯s go!¡± Three-Faced Key shimmered and opened a space-time channel.


    This ability made Fang Yuan raise his eyebrows. This Three-Faced Key is also quite remarkable. Whether it¡¯s the ability to traverse freely in the universe or the ability to sense my killing intent, they¡¯re both very incredible!


    This kind of ability is rather similar to White Light Yurisige¡¯s. The difference is that the latter appears after sensing a thirst for knowledge, whereas Three-Faced Key appears after sensing his killing intent toward an Outer God!


    ¡°Go!¡±


    Fang Yuan was slightly vigilant. He took the Creator and the Great Destruction God into his body before stepping into the space-time channel.


    Buzz!


    The surroundings changed immediately into turbulent chaos. Stars flickered, and a constant stream of stellar energy washed over them.


    ¡°Obscure Gate has connected itself tightly with the core of this universe after experiencing multiple births and deaths of the universe. Here is the center of the universe!¡± Three-Faced Key said.


    Kaboom!


    As soon as Three-Faced Key appeared, all kinds of energies at the center of the universe started surging violently. Suddenly, a black gate appeared.


    The black gate stood silently yet emanated an indescribable sense of grandeur and vastness. Looking at it, he seemed to see the entire universe!


    ¡°Is it trying to¡­ refine the entire universe and become the Lord of the Universe?¡± Seeing this, Fang Yuan sneered.


    For Dao Ancestors like him, refining worlds was a trifling matter, but the vastness of the universe made it different.


    Although they could leave a universe and escape the catastrophe of its destruction, they were still minuscule compared to it.


    If someone could refine a universe, it might be another way to ascend as well.


    However, Fang Yuan only sneered at the attempt.


    On the surface, a universe appeared to be without end. Even if one perished momentarily in the Great Cosmological Abyss, there would come a day when it revived. However, he had just sent people to explore the Huaxia Universe.


    The scene with destroyed worlds and no new universe being born was still etched in his mind, making him realize that the seemingly eternal universes in constant births and deaths could also perish without any hope for revival!


    The Huaxia Universe had proven that the path that Obscure Gate chose was a dead end!


    Three-Faced Key materialized its true body, which was three silver vortexes in a pyramid pattern, and stated its conditions. ¡°It¡¯s there¡­ Help me defeat it. I only want the Heart of the Universe, and the rest will be yours!¡±


    ¡°The Heart of the Universe? Sure!¡±


    Fang Yuan knew at a glance. The so-called Heart of the Universe was the spot where Obscure Gate was.


    Refining the universe in that spot was exceptionally advantageous.


    From the looks of it, Three-Faced Key wanted to refine the universe as well and wanted to get rid of Obscure Gate to replace it in accomplishing this feat.


    Although it was a dead end in Fang Yuan¡¯s eyes, it might not be the case to the other Outer Gods!

 Chapter 1168 - Heart

    Translator: Atlas Studios  Editor: Atlas Studios


    As soon as he saw Obscure Gate, Fang Yuan obtained a bunch of information from it. For example, speculations about the realm beyond Dao Ancestor!


    That was to refine the entire universe and become the Lord of the Universe!


    1


    After all, the lifespan of a universe was extremely long. Furthermore, after it perished, a new one would form in the same place, seeming to be a series of reincarnations that never ended.


    Refining a universe was extremely difficult, with Obscure Gate having not succeeded even after experiencing multiple births and deaths of this universe being a prime example. Fang Yuan had never met a Lord of the Universe in all his travels either.


    However, it was also a path, a possibility!


    ¡°It¡¯s only¡­ this kind of reincarnation will break eventually. The Huaxia Universe is the best example. Regressing into void isn¡¯t the same as the death of a universe but rather when it¡¯s impossible to give birth to a new universe.¡±


    Seeing how Obscure Gate and Three-Faced Key had become life-and-death enemies over the opportunity to refine the universe, Fang Yuan felt strange.


    But naturally, he would not tell them about the information he had obtained.


    ¡°Go!¡±


    Three-Faced Key continued approaching Obscure Gate without any energy fluctuations. The three vortexes fused into one and transformed into a giant key.


    Obscure Gate¡¯s response was incredibly imposing. Countless giant gate shadows appeared around it, acting as layers of barriers that seemed to contain the births and deaths of worlds within.


    Even a few auras that were unique to the Outer Gods were swiftly approaching.


    ¡°Those are¡­ the Outer God progeny of Obscure Gate. It¡¯s summoning its progeny to fight!¡±


    Fang Yuan sensed what was happening, and he naturally would not allow it to happen without interfering.


    ¡°Great Destruction God!¡±


    He waved with his right hand. The three-headed, six-armed war machine appeared in space, breathing chaos, forming tides.


    ¡°Light of Universe!¡± the Great Destruction God roared as it slashed in all directions.


    The power of five Dao Fruits even smashed the universe and chaos, and a few scenes emerged.


    The saber beam ground the large mass of Black Mist, and it screamed agonizingly as it oozed large volumes of blood.


    This was Black Mist. In addition, the Outer Gods in two other directions sustained heavy injuries. The aftermath of the attack wiped out every planet caught in it.


    In a fight between the Outer Gods, the pain was unbearably hard to endure even for a universe!


    Especially with the Great Destruction God!


    With the power of five Dao Fruits coupled with the Great Destruction Dao Fruit, if it used all of its power, it could cause this universe to enter the phase of death, just like the last universe.


    ¡°Ordinary Outer Gods can¡¯t even participate in this battle¡­¡±


    After cleaning up the periphery, Fang Yuan immediately turned his attention to the center of the battlefield.


    The silver key advanced forth and broke through many phantoms, but it could not reach the core of the universe where Obscure Gate was no matter how hard it tried.


    ¡°Makes sense¡­ If Three-Faced Key were a match for Obscure Gate, then it wouldn¡¯t have been repelled from the Heart of the Universe and allied with me!¡±


    Fang Yuan nodded. The Great Destruction God roared, all three faces showed the expressions of rage, and six arms smashed down ferociously.


    Rumble!


    With an explosion that seemed to shatter the universe, the black gate phantoms crumbled one after another. The silver key advanced further and touched the true body of Obscure Gate.


    The two most powerful Outer Gods of the universe started a battle of attrition.


    ¡°Looks like¡­ Three-Faced Key also has a trump card that can deal with Obscure Gate. Of course, the prerequisite is being able to touch it¡­¡±


    And now, with Fang Yuan¡¯s help, it had undoubtedly fulfilled that prerequisite.


    Before Fang Yuan¡¯s eyes, cracks started appearing on the surface of the black gate, and it was actually crumbling bit by bit.


    This incredible scene could only be explained by the fact that everything had a counter.


    ¡°However¡­ merely the clone of Obscure Gate had almost killed me last time. Why is it so weak now?¡±


    Fang Yuan¡¯s eyes gleamed. Suddenly, he saw that most of Obscure Gate had collapsed, revealing a black heart that was pulsing energetically, with blood vessels connecting it with the gate.


    Fang Yuan had an ominous feeling as soon as the heart appeared. The pulsing of the heart seemed to merge with the fluctuations of the universe.


    ¡°No¡­ Stop!¡±


    Fang Yuan¡¯s heart sank. A dream-like saber beam appeared, slashing at the silver key.


    Ping!


    The giant silver key split apart and reverted back to three silver vortexes once again. The furious psyche roar was like a wave. ¡°What are you doing?¡±


    ¡°I should be the one asking that. You¡¯re actually helping Obscure Gate refine the entire universe!¡± Fang Yuan returned the roar without restraint.


    He finally made sense of it all. Although Obscure Gate was at the core of the universe and had experienced several of its births and deaths, it was unable to completely refine it and become the Lord of the Universe because it was too strong!


    That unparalleled body was its biggest obstacle to refining the universe.


    Even Obscure Gate could not do anything about it. The attack of Three-Faced Key at full force likewise did nothing.


    Therefore, it had used the combined strength of Three-Faced Key and Fang Yuan to shatter its body. By implementing a ¡®martial liberation1¡® tactic and using their attacks to cast off its body to unleash its full potential, it was able to comprehend the fluctuations of the universe and completely refine this universe!


    ¡°Obscure Gate is too strong¡­ Strong to the extent that even it couldn¡¯t kill itself. It could only rely on the combined strength of me and Three-Faced Key! No wonder it reacted so sluggishly to our attack¡­¡±


    Thump! Thump!


    Thump! Thump!


    As Fang Yuan was enlightened, a powerful heartbeat suddenly sounded throughout the entire universe.


    It belonged to the black heart inside Obscure Gate.


    Most of it was exposed, and it was pulsing greedily and happily. Only a single blood vessel still connected it with the original gate.


    ¡°The core of Obscure Gate is the black heart. The outer gate is as much of a body as it is a restraint¡­¡±


    Fang Yuan¡¯s thoughts moved. Lights flashed in the void, and he obtained a lot of good things.


    There were fragments of Obscure Gate¡¯s body and Three-Faced Key¡¯s as well. After all, he had struck it fiercely to stop it, and many pieces had fallen off.


    These were all objects born in the Great Cosmological Abyss, and Fang Yuan was very interested in researching them.


    Smack!


    Before Three-Faced Key could react, the black heart suddenly jumped. The remaining blood vessel tore off, and what remained of the black gate instantly disintegrated.


    The black heart¡¯s aura also fell sharply, from the original five Dao Fruit power to three¡­ two.


    But at the same time, its pulsing became ever stronger. It seemed to be integrating with the universe and thoroughly grasping the fluctuations the universe produced!


    ¡°The birth and death of a universe all begin at the core point, and this point is here! It¡¯s the Heart of the Universe!¡±


    ¡°By accommodating the Heart of the Universe at the core itself, you would naturally be able to override the consciousness of the universe and refine it to become the Lord of the Universe!¡±


    How could Three-Faced Key just simply watch and allow the black heart to turn into nothingness and fuse with the Heart of the Universe?


    With intense psyche fluctuations, it transformed into a silver spear and lunged at the heart.


    Rumble!


    The universe shook!


    Many planets sent their world power that contained Chaos Qi. It transformed into an unrivaled force that smashed into the spear.


    Astral magic could barely seal an Outer God by converging the power of many worlds in a galaxy!


    But coinciding with the power of a universe, could you imagine how terrifying it was?


    Regarding quantity, the power of a universe far exceeded that of Dao Ancestors. It was just that no one owned it, so it was viewed as merely a source of steady power. But after the Lord of the Universe came into existence, it immediately turned into a powerful weapon!


    The silver spear burst apart in an instant and reformed into three silver vortexes that were half of as large.


    ¡°As expected¡­ The Lord of the Universe can wield the power of the entire universe. Unfortunately, you¡¯re still lacking one last bit!¡±


    Fang Yuan no longer hesitated and attacked at full force with the Great Destruction Dao Fruit.


    Galaxy-like saber light stretching across the starry sky suddenly cut into the Heart of the Universe.


    With his interruption, Obscure Gate¡¯s ¡®martial liberation¡¯ came a bit short, failing to fully succeed!


    It had used the power of the universe to repel Three-Faced Key more so as intimidation than anything.


    However, Fang Yuan¡¯s resolve was as hard as steel. He did not even hesitate for a microsecond before attacking directly!


    Poof!


    The void rumbled, and the black heart appeared. It now had a saber wound on its surface that was slowly leaking blood.


    As the blood flowed out, the entire universe seemed to cry out and lament, as though it was the blood of the universe!


    ¡°As expected. It¡¯s still in the process of fusing! But it¡¯s very close to becoming the Lord of the Universe!¡± Fang Yuan¡¯s spiritual will spread far and wide. ¡°If you don¡¯t want to become a slave or a subordinate, make your move!¡±


    Rumble!


    Many responses came. After all, this place was a universe of Outer Gods. While Obscure Gate and Three-Faced Key were the top two, there were a few slightly weaker ones as well.


    Previously, Obscure Gate had spent multiple universe eras refining and failing, so the other Outer Gods had naturally not taken it seriously.


    But this, there was a great chance of it succeeding, so they could not simply let it finish.


    Suddenly!


    Many projections appeared. Even the Elder Gods that keep to themselves started responding on one planet after another!


    Could you wrap your head around the concept of dozens of Dao Ancestors attacking simultaneously?


    Even the universe itself would quake under this union, much less a half-complete Lord of the Universe!


    ¡°Go!¡±


    Naturally, the Outer Gods would not try to spare Fang Yuan. Even as Fang Yuan escaped, he still felt a lingering fear. ¡°These Elder Gods and Outer Gods are all ruthless. They actually want to kill all three of us now that they felt threatened¡­¡±


    Fang Yuan had always had some speculations about what the war in the Huaxia Universe had been like.


    Now that he saw numerous Dao Ancestors joining forces, he knew.


    ¡°Obscure Gate is quite unlucky. Originally, its plan of ascending via martial liberation was a win or die scenario. But I interrupted it and attacked halfway during its ascension, causing it to become stuck at the level of half a Lord of the Universe. The Elder Gods and the Outer Gods then besieged it¡­¡±


    Fang Yuan spread his aura, and the Great Destruction God curled up to protect Fang Yuan.


    The next instant, terrifying rays of light exploded from the Heart of the Universe in every direction, destroying countless galaxies.


    By the time the aftershocks passed, even the Great Destruction God was in tatters.


    Fang Yuan also felt Obscure Gate¡¯s aura of the death and the chaotic fight that ensued!

 Chapter 1169 - The Same Kind

    Translator: Atlas Studios  Editor: Atlas Studios


    Chaos!


    The entire Outer God Universe was in a massive battle, and countless planets were destroyed!


    The Outer Gods and Elder Gods were different in the first place. Previously, they might have been fighting on the same side to stop Obscure Gate, but this alliance broke down once they overthrew this enemy.


    The fight for the Heart of the Universe was also intensifying.


    After all, the aura that Obscure Gate was about to become the Lord of the Universe had spread in all directions of the universe, making the Outer Gods see the hope of promotion!


    ¡°In this aspect, although Three-Faced Key has the most potential, it is also everyone¡¯s target. It likely won¡¯t be able to achieve its desire.


    ¡°However, none of this has anything to do with me anymore.¡±


    Fang Yuan came to the edge of the universe and gently raised his hand.


    A huge hole appeared in the Outer God Universe, revealing the Great Cosmological Abyss behind it.


    The next moment, all the Outer Gods in this universe sensed the Astral Serpent tearing open the boundary membrane and entering the Great Cosmological Abyss.


    They paused for a fraction of a second before once again descending into endless fighting.


    ¡­


    ¡°Great Cosmological Abyss! Great Cosmological Abyss!¡±


    Within the Great Cosmological Abyss, rainbow light converged to form a channel.


    Fang Yuan was inside it. The fragments of Obscure Gate and Three-Faced Key appeared in his hand.


    They were both born in the Great Cosmological Abyss and were infinitely mysterious Dao Ancestors by nature.


    ¡°The power of the Great Cosmological Abyss¡­ creating something out of nothing?¡±


    Fang Yuan smiled slightly, thinking of his Dream Master techniques.


    For ordinary Dream Masters to create something out of nothing, they had to pay a price and abide by some laws of conservation. He realized later that the Mental Demon Realm was paying the bigger end of it.


    However, the Great Cosmological Abyss had nothing in the first place. How did it come about?


    ¡°I might be able to touch the realm above Dao Ancestor if I can create something out of nothing in the Great Cosmological Abyss¡­¡±


    Fang Yuan closed his eyes and went into a state of deep cultivation.


    Thousands of years passed by in the blink of an eye.


    Although traveling in the Great Cosmological Abyss was a gamble with your life on the line for ordinary Demon Gods, there was no danger for an Outer God.


    From Fang Yuan¡¯s point of view, the dangers that had caused the Netherheaven Demon Gods to die were nothing but child¡¯s play.


    After all, he was not merely an Outer God but a powerhouse who grasped the power of five Dao Fruits!


    Finally, after he traversed one danger after another, the outline of a certain large universe slowly emerged.


    Excitement appeared on Fang Yuan¡¯s face.


    He had finally reached the Huaxia Universe that he had been longing for.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go in!¡±


    Fang Yuan tore open the boundary membrane and entered the Huaxia Universe.


    In that instant, an aura appeared, as if a loving mother was welcoming her wandering son home.


    This warmth and nostalgia touched Fang Yuan¡¯s Dao Heart.


    ¡°As expected¡­ This is where my roots lie!¡± He sighed as he gazed at the universe regressing into void.


    The regression of a universe into void was not a normal destruction but a complete annihilation without any possibility of rebirth!


    Currently, the interior of the Huaxia Universe was very similar to that of the Great Cosmological Abyss outside the boundary.


    Of course, because the universe was still in the process of regressing into void, there were residual energy fluctuations and the concept of time and space, but they were also constantly dissipating.


    ¡°The entire universe was destroyed just like that?¡±


    Fang Yuan let his spiritual will run free, unable to believe his eyes.


    It continued to roam throughout the universe, searching for clues.


    ¡°A universe in the process of regressing into void is rather rare material as well¡­¡±


    Fang Yuan had been comprehending in the Great Cosmological Abyss for the past thousands of years, and with the fragments of Three-Faced Key and Obscure Gate also as reference materials, he had made faint progress.


    Regardless of the cause and effect, it was rather good timing to have reached a universe in the process of regressing into void.


    After all, it was difficult to comprehend much out of the Great Cosmological Abyss that had nothing. A universe that was gradually becoming like the Great Cosmological Abyss gave him more information to work with.


    ¡°Great Cosmological Abyss¡­ An abyss¡­ A deep chasm of nothingness¡­ Could everything be empty and void? There¡¯s nothing at the end of cultivation, just like there¡¯s nothingness at the ends of worlds and universes?¡±


    Fang Yuan wandered in the universe, looking at the gradually thinning chaos, thinking slightly sadly.


    ¡°Eh?¡± At that moment, the corner of his eye seemed to catch familiar light.


    ¡°That¡¯s¡­ the light of the Huaxia civilization?!¡±


    The light was pure and vast, and it had even helped him before, so he could not be wrong about it.


    Seeing the light, he immediately chased after it.


    ¡°That¡¯s right¡­ This light helped me all those years ago when I was battling against the Abominable Lord. I might not have survived otherwise. Perhaps the entire Huaxia Universe collapsed after I achieved Dao Fruit?¡±


    With some doubt in mind, Fang Yuan suddenly found that he had arrived at a ruin.


    Tut Tut!


    He stepped on the only piece of land in this entire universe.


    It was not large, merely a hundred thousand square kilometers, suspended somewhere in this universe, following strange laws.


    Fang Yuan believed that if it were not for him following the guiding light of the Huaxia civilization, even if the chosen ones like Clement had this light, they would have never been able to find it.


    ¡°A fragment of a certain world? It must be unusual for it to still be intact!¡±


    Fang Yuan looked over it, and all he saw was a desolate piece of desert.


    Without a sun in its full glory, the temperature of this wasteland was extremely low, and it was almost impossible for any living being to survive here.


    ¡°Seems like¡­ that war all those years back was really fierce!¡±


    Fang Yuan searched for a long time before he dug out a piece of a white jade pillar from the yellow sand. He was speechless.


    ¡°Did they¡­ truly all die together? The Dao Ancestors of the Huaxia Universe and the intruders?¡±


    Unknowingly, he came to the center of the wasteland and leaned over.


    The faint light of the Huaxia civilization gathered here into a very, very small spark.


    The spark suddenly burst larger when he touched it.


    ¡°The heavens are in motion ceaselessly; the enlightened exert themselves constantly!¡±


    ¡°Civilization does not perish; the brilliance is everlasting!¡±


    ¡°I shall devote my life and blood to my motherland!¡±


    ¡­


    Traces of remnant spiritual wills hit Fang Yuan¡¯s heart.


    ¡°These are¡­ the remaining thoughts of the surviving Dao Ancestors? The final fire seed of the Huaxia civilization? Wait a minute!¡±


    Fang Yuan was shocked to find that a Dao Ancestor like him with roots in Huaxia seemed to be the condition necessary to ignite this fire seed. The fire seed had changed dramatically after he touched it.


    A heavy white light converged in his hand, then rushed into the sky continuously and scattered around the Great Cosmological Abyss.


    Many faint responses came from all over.


    The lights of civilization gathered from all over the Great Cosmological Abyss, making the fire seed in his hand continue to grow, almost turning it into a round sun.


    Fang Yuan was startled as he immediately recognized the origins of these lights of civilization. ¡°These are¡­ the worlds that have been influenced by the Huaxia civilization?¡±


    He had actually experienced several of these worlds that had been influenced by the Huaxia civilization.


    As long as this influence still existed, even if the Huaxia Universe was regressing into void, they would continuously send support.


    ¡°Is that what is meant by civilization does not perish, the brilliance is everlasting?¡± Fang Yuan was lost in thought.


    Obviously, the former Huaxia Universe must have been even more terrifying than the Outer God Universe.


    Moreover, it was constantly expanding, sending out the brilliance of civilization, influencing the worlds in other universes.


    At this time, when the Huaxia Universe was in great trouble, these worlds that had been helped immediately started to return the favor and sent their support.


    The power of a world might be small, but how amazing would the lights of civilization that gathered from these worlds and universes like grains of sand in a desert be?


    ¡°If it were to fill a universe in its infancy, it would immediately create a true Huaxia civilization universe¡­ What terrifying infection!¡± Fang Yuan could not help being amazed. ¡°This is¡­ the last hope of this universe! Civilization does not perish; the brilliance is everlasting!¡±


    He vaguely understood the Dao of this civilization.


    Radiate to as many universes as possible and not only be confined to a single universe alone.


    ¡°So¡­ perhaps the Huaxia Universe won against the foreign forces? Instead of dying together?¡± Fang Yuan rubbed his chin. ¡°It¡¯s just that the Dao Ancestors and the population have already transferred to other Huaxia worlds? But why did they leave behind this seed of civilization?¡±


    He seemed to sense the bad taste of a certain existence and shook his head. ¡°Is this to inspire junior traversers like me? Or to give me a guiding direction?¡±


    He did not know why, but he could feel a trace of teasing from the other party. Perhaps they wanted to see him devastated, thinking that the Huaxia Universe had perished?!


    ¡°No matter what, I have to keep this civilization fire seed and create a new universe¡­ The Founder of the Universe? Feels somewhat like the path of the Lord of the Universe¡­¡±


    ¡­


    ¡°This brilliance?¡±


    Somewhere in the universe, Netherheaven God Clement was exploring when he saw a ubiquitous, bright, and vast white light and seemed to feel the might of a civilization. He fell to his knees and shed tears.


    ¡°So powerful¡­ So brilliant¡­¡± he murmured, not knowing what to say, feeling as though he was thoroughly baptized from inside out.


    ¡°Little bug, uncivilized barbarian, how dare you receive the brilliance of my heavenly civilization?¡± A frivolous voice came. ¡°I originally left you alone to see if there was anything strange going on, but to think¡­ I actually missed the fire seed of the entire civilization!¡±


    ¡°Who¡¯s there?¡± Clement was shocked.


    He thought that this universe had no other life forms, but now, it seemed his every move had been under the surveillance of someone.


    ¡°Who am I?¡± With a contemptuous voice, a figure slowly emerged.


    His face was smooth like jade, his hair was tied up, and he was wearing traditional Han clothing.


    With his hands behind his back, he had a proud expression. ¡°Being a lone stranger in a foreign land, I didn¡¯t think that¡­ another traverser besides me could attain such achievements!¡±

 Chapter 1170 - Pagoda

    Translator: Atlas Studios  Editor: Atlas Studios


    Clement suddenly found himself unable to muster any form of resistance the moment he saw the young man.


    And the stark difference in power made him realize something immediately. ¡°Outer God?!¡±


    ¡°Outer God? God? Haha. What an arrogant title. The gods that I¡¯ve defeated are already uncountable¡­¡± The young man in Han clothing shook his head. ¡°And now I finally know that you¡¯re just another dog reared by a Dao Ancestor!¡±


    ¡°Hehe¡­ I might just be a dog of the Creator, but didn¡¯t I grab your attention?¡± Clement smiled calmly, seeming to realize something. ¡°Weren¡¯t all the benefits of this universe gained by the Creator behind me?¡±


    After all, he had experienced reincarnation missions on numerous occasions, so his thoughts were clear, and he understood everything immediately.


    ¡°How dare you!¡± The young man in Han clothing flicked his finger.


    A thunderbolt talisman formed, and clouds gathered, enveloping Clement within.


    Whoosh!


    The cyan thunderbolt broke through all of Clement¡¯s defenses and his flesh, making him scream.


    ¡°How¡¯s the taste of my Thunder Biting God? Rest assured. After I¡¯m done cooking you, I¡¯ll go and meet the master behind you. Anyone who dares to snatch my stuff is dead meat¡­¡±


    The young man in Han clothing waved his hand, and the cyan thunderbolt transformed into a flying dragon about to swallow Clement whole.


    ¡°Really?¡±


    But the next moment, the roar of the lightning dragon changed into a shriek as a saber beam cut it in two.


    Fang Yuan¡¯s figure emerged from the void. He looked at the heavily injured Clement and frowned slightly. He waved his hand, and this Netherheaven Demon God disappeared into the Creator Space.


    ¡°Dream Dao Fruit!¡±


    The young man in Han clothing was startled when he saw Fang Yuan, and then he burst out laughing immediately afterward. ¡°Friend, you¡¯re really creative to have made the Creator¡¯s light ball!¡±


    ¡°Better than you. You obtained a cheat transmigrating to another world, and now you think you¡¯re a Dragon Proud Sky1 and above all?¡± Fang Yuan stood tall and gazed at this young man in Han clothing.


    Since the other party did not express the least bit of goodwill, he would not act polite either.


    However, he did not think that he would actually run into another Dao Ancestor traverser who came to aid this universe. It was truly an unexpected surprise.


    ¡°In front of me, Wang She, what does a Dragon Proud Sky count as?¡± The young man in Han clothing waved without a care. ¡°I¡¯m not only a traverser, but I was also born with great providence. After obtaining my cheat, I killed all the immortals and destroyed all Buddhas along the way, and I finally achieved Dao Fruit. Several universes are reciting my achievements¡­ But I didn¡¯t expect your existence. Not only had you snatched away the other half of the Heaven Rise Dao Fruit, but you also found the fire seed of the Huaxia civilization before me¡­¡±


    As soon as they met, they could feel the aura of the Heaven Rise Dao Fruit on each other.


    It had to be said that they were both people with great providence.


    Even consuming a whole Dao Fruit could not create a new Dao Ancestor.


    However, the stats window that the Heaven Rise Dao Fruit had transformed into was undoubtedly the most suitable power for a traverser when they were young. Anyone could use it to improve rapidly as long as they were not a fool.


    Even cultivating all the way to Netherheaven would not have too many bottlenecks.


    However, whether or not they could successfully form a Dao Fruit depended on the potential of each individual.


    ¡°Since I was the one who found the fire seed, it means the Huaxia civilization chose me ¡­¡± Fang Yuan frowned and began contemplating some ways to kill him, but finally ruled all of them out.


    ¡°Chose you? No! Artifacts are only fit to be held by the most virtuous. Many arrogant heaven¡¯s chosens said the same thing in previous worlds, but I defeated them one by one, and their artifacts became mine.¡± Wang She had a very dangerous expression on his face. ¡°The Dream Dao Fruit is indeed powerful, but how can it compare to my Taiji Two Polarity Dao Fruit!¡±


    His thoughts moved. The chaos surrounding him roared, divided into two, and rotated diametrically with each other, containing a vast power.


    A huge Taiji diagram appeared in the universe, suppressing Earth, Fire, Wind, and Water.


    ¡°Taiji Dao Fruit¡­ Is this what you¡¯re depending on?¡± Fang Yuan was mildly surprised.


    He was too used to playing pig to eat the tiger. Without releasing the power of his two incarnations, he was not that much different from an ordinary Dao Ancestor.


    However, he was still rendered speechless by how arrogant this Wang She was. ¡°I thought I could have a collaborator, at least have a common language. Sigh¡­ I really thought too much!¡±


    He changed bodies at this point.


    The three-headed, six-armed Great Destruction God roared as its six arms tore through the sky, breaking the Taiji diagram into pieces.


    The power of five Dao Fruits was more than enough to suppress Wang She.


    ¡°What? Two Dao Ancestor clones? Power of five Dao Fruits? No! Impossible¡­ How could you have such a deep foundation?¡± Wang She lost his composure, screaming and shouting. ¡°I am the true main character of this universe. I was born with a cheat, and I comprehended the Taiji Dao Fruit. I myself am the incarnation of the Dao! Why are you stronger than me?¡±


    1


    ¡°What a joke!¡± Fang Yuan was expressionless as the Blade of Universe Obliteration smashed down on him.


    Even if they were both of Huaxia, there was no other way but to kill in the face of this fundamental conflict of interest.


    Ding!


    The Blade of Universe Obliteration extinguished all future possibilities, and even the Taiji diagram was nothing in front of it.


    Unfortunately, when it approached Wang She, it was blocked by a magical treasure.


    This magical treasure towered between heaven and earth, and it was an octagonal nine-story exquisite pagoda.


    ¡°You might be powerful, but you can¡¯t even imagine what type of fortuitous encounters I¡¯ve had¡­ This is a supreme treasure of the Great Cosmological Abyss, the Exquisite Pagoda! An existence at the Dao Ancestor level since birth, and I refined it to become my Dao-protecting magical treasure!¡±


    The power of three Dao Fruits burst out, opening cracks in the universe, and with a savage face, Wang She escaped into the Great Cosmological Abyss.


    ¡°Exquisite Pagoda? It¡¯s indeed something that was born out of the Great Cosmological Abyss¡­¡± Fang Yuan¡¯s pupils narrowed, but he did not hesitate to give chase.


    In fact, this pagoda was too unlucky to have met Wang She just after it was born.


    Otherwise, growing spiritual wisdom and becoming a Dao Ancestor was only a matter of time.


    ¡°No one can save you!¡± Fang Yuan split into three Dao Ancestors and smiled as he blocked Wang She in the Great Cosmological Abyss. ¡°You will definitely be destroyed today!¡±


    In fact, battles rarely occurred between Dao Ancestors, and even if they did, rarely did one die completely.


    The worst outcome was suffering mutual injuries or sealing the other away, which was already a great victory.


    However, Fang Yuan felt like Wang She was a pain in the ass.


    Therefore, even if he had to pay a price, he was determined to destroy him or, at the very least, seal him.


    Is this also my arrogance talking? A Heaven Rise Dao Fruit created two Dao Ancestor traversers¡­


    Fang Yuan was secretly surprised and analyzing his own emotions while the three Dao Ancestors surrounded Wang She.


    Of course, even if he knew his thoughts were a bit dark, he would not hesitate in the slightest when necessary. Otherwise, he might be the one to regret it!


    Wang She was trapped in a large array by the time he could react, and Fang Yuan¡¯s three Dao Ancestor bodies acted as the three array eyes.


    ¡°I hate!!!¡± Wang She was livid. ¡°If someone so excellent was already born, why is there someone even better¡­¡±


    He could not understand. They were both average traversers at the beginning, and he had had one fortuitous encounter after another. But despite everything, why could he still not compare to this foe?


    ¡°This is your fate!¡±


    Fang Yuan¡¯s true body was actually marveling in secret.


    If he had not stayed in the Outer God Universe for a while, digested his own power completely, and improved, it would have been really difficult for him to obtain any advantage against Wang She today.


    The situation might have even been reversed.


    ¡°Why¡­ We should have been comrades. But there¡¯s no choice! No choice!!!¡±


    Fang Yuan sighed. With a wave of his hand, many stars seemed to fall.


    The triangular array roared, in sharp contrast with the surrounding Great Cosmological Abyss, and collapsed inward.


    ¡°You¡­ can¡¯t kill me. Battles between Dao Ancestors are destined to be incomparably long¡­¡± Wang She snaked his way into the nine-story Exquisite Pagoda, looking calm. ¡°I have the protection of the Exquisite Pagoda and am in an invincible position!¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s just a Dao Ancestor embryo born in the Great Cosmological Abyss and refined into a pagoda by you. The name is just to invoke fear deliberately¡­¡±


    Fang Yuan swung his saber indifferently.


    Poof!


    A sharp saber beam surged and left a deep cut on the pagoda.


    ¡°How is this possible?¡±


    The cut might be repairing at lightning speed, but Wang She¡¯s face turned pale, as if he had just lost his greatest support.


    ¡°You thought that the Dao Ancestor realm was the end and stagnated. However, I have been improving!¡±


    Fang Yuan would not tell Wang She that Obscure Door and Three-Faced Key were much more powerful than his Exquisite Pagoda. But what about them? One was seriously injured, while the other fell anyway.


    He even had fragments of their bodies in his hand, using them to gain enlightenment day and night.


    Otherwise, even with the power of five Dao Fruits, it would have been difficult for him to damage the Exquisite Pagoda to this extent.


    1


    ¡°Still¡­ this pagoda¡¯s defense is truly amazing!¡±


    Fang Yuan looked at the fast-repairing pagoda, frowning. A large number of runes appeared in the array.


    Wang She was suddenly shocked, discovering that his Exquisite Pagoda was shrinking continuously.


    ¡°You want to¡­ seal me? No¡­ I am a Dao Ancestor, the last hope of the Huaxia civilization. How can I be sealed?! You¡¯re dead! You can¡¯t seal me because we are in the Great Cosmological Abyss!¡±


    There was no energy in the Great Cosmological Abyss, so it was not an ideal place for sealing.


    The seal itself also required energy to be maintained and had the purpose of isolation. If there was no external support, it most probably could not outlive the one trapped inside, unless Fang Yuan was willing to spend eternity here.


    ¡°Sealing in the Great Cosmological Abyss, dream on!¡± Fang Yuan smiled. ¡°I only need to create a cage to trap you temporarily and then banish you to another universe¡­ The astral seal in the Outer God Universe suits you well. Enjoy it!¡±

 Chapter 1171 - The Final Destination

    Translator: Atlas Studios  Editor: Atlas Studios


    ¡°No¡­ You can¡¯t do this!¡± Wang She struggled and roared after knowing that he would be sealed for countless years.


    ¡°Hehe¡­ Why can¡¯t I? We were originally going to be comrades, but you chose to view me as an enemy!¡± Fang Yuan¡¯s voice was cold. ¡°Since you chose to become enemies with me, you must naturally be prepared to suffer the consequences¡­¡±


    ¡°You are indeed powerful¡­ I lost this time, but I have great providence because this place isn¡¯t a universe but the Great Cosmological Abyss! I have a Great Cosmological Abyss treasure!¡±


    Wang She¡¯s eyes suddenly turned calm, making Fang Yuan feel danger.


    ¡°What are you doing? Seal!¡± Fang Yuan interlaced hand seals, producing runes and continuously suppressing the nine-story Exquisite Pagoda.


    ¡°My luck is better than yours. When I obtained this Great Cosmological Abyss treasure, I also obtained a secret. This treasure can only be used this way in the Great Cosmological Abyss¡­¡± Blood veins appeared in Wang She¡¯s eyes. ¡°Exquisite Pagoda¡­ explode!¡±


    Whoosh Whoosh!


    The nine-story Exquisite Pagoda pulsated like a human inhaling and exhaling, and a tassel fell from the top of the pagoda.


    All of a sudden, Fang Yuan felt something changing in the Great Cosmological Abyss.


    This perilous place barren of energy suddenly had a sign of life. Creating something from nothing!


    ¡°Great Cosmological Abyss¡­ This is the power of the Great Cosmological Abyss!¡±


    Fang Yuan had a strange light in his eyes as he looked on. ¡°So, if you use up a Great Cosmological Abyss treasure in the Great Cosmological Abyss, it will arouse the power of the Great Cosmological Abyss? This is a level of power higher than Dao Ancestor¡­¡±


    ¡°This is my last trump card and protection. Turns out I¡¯m using it here. Explode! Explode! Explode!¡± Wang She hissed and pointed.


    Rumble!


    The Exquisite Pagoda shrank into the size of a small mustard seed and retracted all the energy. The next moment, it turned into a terrifying explosion.


    A platinum light flashed, disintegrating the entire seal.


    A brand new aura appeared along with the platinum light, and Fang Yuan could not help but be intoxicated by it.


    This was creating something out of nothing, power beyond Dao Ancestor, the hope of breakthrough in the future!


    Wang She looked frantic as he pointed at Fang Yuan. ¡°Die!¡±


    At the same time, he was enveloped in this platinum light and quickly retreated.


    ¡°No¡­ this explosion definitely does more damage to him¡­ If Wang She hadn¡¯t refined the Exquisite Pagoda, he might have already died!¡±


    Fang Yuan kept the Creator and the Great Destruction God in front of him to block the attacks. A light flashed in his hand, and the civilization fire seed appeared.


    Poof!


    As though the end of a strong crossbow, the platinum power of the Great Cosmological Abyss successively penetrated the Creator and the Great Destruction God onto the civilization fire seed in Fang Yuan¡¯s hands.


    Then a shocking scene happened.


    The seemingly weak light of civilization entangled with the power of the Great Cosmological Abyss. The fire seed was consumed constantly, but the platinum spear also disappeared in the flames.


    ¡°Sure enough¡­ I was right! Other than Dao Fruits, the one thing that can probably consume the power of the Great Cosmological Abyss is the fire seed of the Huaxia civilization¡­¡±


    Fang Yuan¡¯s gaze landed on the distant Wang She.


    Currently, this arrogant traverser had turned into an aurora and was fleeing in disorder through the Great Cosmological Abyss.


    ¡°Obviously, the power of the Great Cosmological Abyss can only erupt once. This trump card, no, double-edged sword also dealt very severe damage to him, and he needs to escape¡­¡±


    Fang Yuan brushed his sleeves, putting away the Creator and the Great Destruction God.


    In the center of these two Dao Fruits was a hole with the aura of the Great Cosmological Abyss, making it difficult to heal and unable to exert their power any longer.


    This was the suppression of higher-level power over lower-level power.


    If Fang Yuan had not used the power of Dao Fruit itself to consume it and then used the civilization fire seed to withstand it, his Dream Dao Fruit would likely have suffered serious damage.


    ¡°Your attack wounded two of my incarnations, and you think you can escape?¡±


    Fang Yuan transformed into rainbow light and followed on the heels of the aurora.


    ¡°How can you still be alive?¡± Wang She shouted unbelievingly from the aurora.


    ¡°Although the power of the Great Cosmological Abyss is powerful, it was only one blow. It didn¡¯t hurt my main body, but what about you?¡±


    With a glance, Fang Yuan knew that Wang She was currently very miserable. Not only did he lose his Great Cosmological Abyss treasure, but his peak power of three Dao Fruits had also dropped to the level of ordinary Dao Ancestors. The Exquisite Pagoda had saved his life, but its detonation at close range had not spared him from heavy injuries, substantially reducing his combat power.


    This was also why Fang Yuan dared to continue chasing after him after losing the two incarnations¡ªthe opponent weakened more than him!


    ¡°If you continue getting any closer, be careful we don¡¯t perish together!¡± Wang She turned back and warned. He had a platinum brilliance on his right hand.


    ¡°Do you think I¡¯ll be afraid when you have so little Great Cosmological Abyss power remaining?¡± Fang Yuan sneered, not concerned at all.


    His eyes grew even more fanatical. ¡°Hand it over, and I might consider letting you live!¡±


    After all, this was the power of the Great Cosmological Abyss! He had finally confirmed the power that he had been searching high and low for, and Fang Yuan really did not want to let go of this chance to obtain it.


    ¡°Hand it over¡­ Haha¡­ I was wrong!¡±


    Wang She said with a venomous expression, ¡°I¡¯ve always thought Dao Fruit was the culmination of everything, and there was no future path. I thought that the power triggered by the explosion of a Great Cosmological Abyss treasure in this place was nothing more than the power of Dao Ancestor, but I was wrong. I¡¯ve finally realized what I¡¯ve been missing when it appeared right in front of me. Since that¡¯s the case, I¡¯ll never give it to you!¡±


    Fang Yuan pursed his lips and swung the saber in his hand. ¡°Universe Obliteration!¡±


    His determination to kill Wang She was more resolute than ever.


    After all, the other party was a Dao Ancestor. His cultivation was profound, and he had done well in other universes. He was clearly born with great providence and had the blessing of the Huaxia civilization, so he was destined to turn misfortune into blessing and become stronger, similar to Fang Yuan.


    If he were to survive, he would definitely become a terrifying enemy!


    ¡°I can¡¯t die¡­ If I can escape today, I¡¯ll absolutely become great and come back for revenge!¡± Wang She had a strong feeling that he would certainly have the advantage in the future battle if he could escape, even be victorious. ¡°The one who comprehends the secret of the Great Cosmological Abyss and breaks through the Dao Ancestor realm will definitely be me!¡±


    He evaded the Universe Obliteration with all his might, but Fang Yuan still caught up to him. He was desperate.


    The two Dao Ancestors fought once again in the Great Cosmological Abyss, both dealing damage to each other, creating horrifying aftershocks.


    Fortunately, the Great Cosmological Abyss was vast enough and had no living beings at all, so it did not cause much loss.


    ¡°Ah! You forced me!¡±


    Wang She was not Fang Yuan¡¯s opponent in the first place and was forced into a dead end, so he finally exhausted the last bit of his power of the Great Cosmological Abyss.


    ¡°Using this power on you is such a waste!¡± With a cold expression, Fang Yuan brought out the civilization fire seed.


    A trace of the entangled power of the Great Cosmological Abyss power was still being tamed within the fire seed. It escaped free.


    Poof!


    The two powers of the Great Cosmological Abyss fused in the Great Cosmological Abyss.


    A transformation that even Fang Yuan did not anticipate happened!


    Crack!


    The Great Cosmological Abyss, which had no concept of time and space and no energy fluctuations, actually¡­ broke into pieces?


    After it broke, the aura of a whole new world suddenly appeared, mixed with the power of Dao Fruit and the Great Cosmological Abyss.


    ¡°The Final Destination of the Great Cosmological Abyss?¡± Wang She could sense what this was telling him, and he roared with laughter. ¡°Haha¡­ I¡¯m meant to survive! Fate is awaiting me!¡±


    The next moment, he drilled into the broken Great Cosmological Abyss without any hesitation.


    Fang Yuan¡¯s brows twitched, and he followed closely behind.


    ¡­


    Innumerable colorful bubbles emerged and perished all around, bringing with them dazzling colors.


    The terrible pressure of space and time pressed onto him, and even Fang Yuan¡¯s body could not bear it.


    Pfft!


    The overwhelming pressure started to crush his flesh and bone. His skin broke, and beads of blood splashed out.


    Fang Yuan never knew his Dao Ancestor body could be so fragile.


    Just when he thought he was going to die, all the pressure suddenly disappeared, and a world appeared in front of him.


    There was a barren mountain not far from dark brown soil.


    The sky was gray without any sun, moon, or stars, but it had some colors and light.


    ¡°This is¡­ the cage of the Great Cosmological Abyss, the graves of many Dao Ancestors¡­ the Final Destination?¡± Fang Yuan murmured the name of this world as he received information through the void.


    The Final Destination!


    This was the core of the Great Cosmological Abyss, the apex of all universes!


    It might look like a continent, but in fact, everything was made up of the Great Cosmological Abyss. It was extremely strong, and even Dao Ancestors would find it hard to destroy.


    Anyone able to come here was either a supreme Dao Ancestor who grasped the power of five Dao Fruits or by chance coincidence from using the power of the Great Cosmological Abyss.


    This place was the end of everything but was also the beginning of hope!


    The reason for it being the end was that no Dao Ancestor could leave without completely comprehending the power of the Great Cosmological Abyss! Even those with the power of ten Dao Fruits could still be put to eternal rest here.


    However, hope was present because the probability of Dao Ancestors comprehending would be much higher here than in the ordinary Great Cosmological Abyss.


    Throughout history, there had been many Dao Ancestors as powerful as Fang Yuan that had entered this place through a series of fate and chance coincidences, and they cultivated hard here.


    However, there were also Dao Ancestors who had obtained nothing even after a long time, or exhausted their lifespans, or even died from various dangers.


    That was right! Dao Ancestors could survive in the Great Cosmological Abyss with an endless lifespan, but in this Final Destination, their lives would pass at a terrifying speed.


    Either master the power of the Great Cosmological Abyss or die here!


    ¡°The Final Destination, a place for cultivation¡­ Interesting!¡±


    Fang Yuan was in awe. ¡°Can you only enter this place with the power of five Dao Fruits and above? But it seems like some chance coincidence is required. Take Three-Faced Key and Obscure Door, for example. They devoted themselves to refining the Heart of the Universe to become the Lord of the Universe, but they still couldn¡¯t find this place. Or perhaps, the power they comprehended resembles my power of five Dao Fruits, which is somewhat superficial and unable to integrate into a single whole, so I could only break through the door to enter by using the power of the Great Cosmological Abyss?¡±

 Chapter 1172 - Void Beast

    Translator: Atlas Studios  Editor: Atlas Studios


    Fang Yuan also understood that his previous entry method was not quite standard.


    In other words, it was a chance coincidence.


    This Final Destination of the Great Cosmological Abyss, a place that an ordinary Dao Ancestor might not even know about, was definitely not somewhere anyone could just barge into.


    Even with his talent and strength, he would have needed to continue comprehending for tens of thousands of years before he could have a flash of enlightenment, touch the truth of this place, and then break in with great perseverance.


    This time, it was due to the clash between the two powers of the Great Cosmological Abyss during the fight with Wang She that a direct channel opened to here.


    ¡°However, this use of the power of the Great Cosmological Abyss is one of the most superficial¡­ It is far, far away from mastering the power of the Great Cosmological Abyss and even refining it into a Dao Fruit¡­¡±


    He looked around and did not see any traces of Wang She, much to his regret.


    ¡°Hmm¡­ my spiritual will is confined to within five kilometers. How troublesome¡­¡±


    Fang Yuan picked up a stone, and the power of Dao Fruit burst out completely before finally crushing the stone into pieces.


    In other universes, he could have easily turned even a planet into powder.


    ¡°The Final Destination, perhaps also the place of absolute beginning, a place that can not be known and is unspeakable¡­ is really too mysterious!¡± Fang Yuan sighed as he felt the rapid elapsing of his lifespan.


    At this rate, it would only take about tens of thousands of years for his life to be completely exhausted and for him to die here.


    ¡°It¡¯s rather ironic actually¡­ An ordinary Dao Fruit thinks that there is no road in front, yet such danger accompanies those that can truly see the path¡­¡±


    The Final Destination was easy to enter but difficult to leave.


    To enter required either the power of five Dao Fruits or borrowing some power of the Great Cosmological Abyss.


    But there was no possibility of getting out even if you had the power of ten Dao Fruits or exploded a Great Cosmological Abyss treasure.


    Therefore, this place was also the grave of all the genius Dao Ancestors!


    A thought rose in Fang Yuan¡¯s heart. ¡°Perhaps¡­ the Huaxia Universe or even that powerful opposing force entered his place?¡±


    Immediately, he focused on a barren mountain and started to hurry.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t think that¡­ I¡¯d feel like a mortal again after cultivating to Dao Ancestor¡­¡±


    His two Dao Fruit incarnations had suffered heavy damage and would not be able to recover. And even the power of his Dream Dao Fruit was suppressed beyond recognition in the Final Destination.


    Even though it was within sight, he walked for about an hour before he reached the foot of the barren mountain.


    ¡°We clearly went through the same channel, so why did Wang She disappear? And in this atmosphere, even I feel terrible danger¡­¡±


    Fang Yuan had a feeling that Wang She would not die so easily.


    But at this point in time, he realized that he first needed to face the problem of his survival!


    At the foot of the barren mountain.


    Some sliver-white shrubs stood feebly and shook faintly.


    Fang Yuan slowly approached.


    Roar Roar!


    All of a sudden, a roar penetrated the air, and two strange beasts jumped out from the shrubs.


    They resembled tigers and leopards at the same time. Their limbs were on the ground, their eyes were golden, their fangs and claws were sharp, and their fur was white like snow.


    Most importantly, their bodies had the faint aura of the power of the Great Cosmological Abyss!


    ¡°Void beasts?!¡± Fang Yuan¡¯s thoughts moved, and a very appropriate noun immediately came to mind.


    Whoosh!


    With a gust of wind, one of the void beasts pounced forward with a platinum light condensed on its right claw.


    Fang Yuan dodged to the side and punched.


    Smack!


    His fist landed on the soft fur of the void beast and met huge resistance and elasticity. Fang Yuan had no choice but to retract his fist.


    At the same time, there was tremendous wind behind him. It was the other void beast. It placed two paws on his shoulders, and its hot breath moistened the back of his neck.


    The light that contained the power of the Great Cosmological Abyss made Fang Yuan realize that he would be no different from meat if bitten.


    Therefore, he chose to roll forward and escape.


    In an unfamiliar environment, battling to the death with fierce beasts was very unwise.


    While escaping, Fang Yuan realized another problem.


    Although his Dao Ancestor body was still here, his various abilities had been surpassed to a heinous point in this Final Destination.


    As if overnight, a Dao Ancestor was knocked down into the mundane world and became an ordinary human with a bit of extraordinary power.


    ¡°If I want to take care of these two beasts, I first need a good saber!¡±


    Fang Yuan¡¯s eyes flickered with the wind below his feet.


    Although he was still able to create something out of nothing, the saber he would create would be simply too fragile, and perhaps it would even break when the wind blew.


    The hardness had to be at least at the Great Cosmological Abyss level for it to be of use.


    ¡°But in fact, regardless of Wang She or those two void beasts, the power carried on them isn¡¯t actually that of the Great Cosmological Abyss¡­ Or perhaps calling it the secondary power of the Great Cosmological Abyss is a bit more suitable?¡±


    If the true power of the Great Cosmological Abyss only had such might that it could be offset by the power of a large number of Dao Fruits, it would be a bit too useless and not worthy of Fang Yuan¡¯s hard pursuit.


    Therefore, Fang Yuan had doubts in his heart.


    The emergence of the Final Destination proved this point.


    Otherwise, how could those Dao Ancestors who were Great Cosmological Abyss treasures themselves or the few who had refined Great Cosmological Abyss treasures by chance be trapped here?


    ¡°The key to cultivating the power of the Great Cosmological Abyss¡­ seems to be on those void beasts since there is no power of the Great Cosmological Abyss in this world!¡±


    While he was contemplating, Fang Yuan was shocked to suddenly find a human figure!


    The person donning beast hides was huge and rugged, and he had a primitive, crude feel about him.


    He was also taken aback when he saw Fang Yuan and the void beasts chasing him. He immediately drew his bow.


    Swoosh!


    Two light arrows flashed by Fang Yuan and buried themselves in the void beasts behind him.


    One of them hit the void beast between the eyes, and it dropped dead, but the second arrow only pierced the surface into the other void beast, which only infuriated it further.


    ¡°Die!¡± The large man lunged forward with a black pitchfork in hand.


    Poof!


    A pillar of blood spurted as the black pitchfork stabbed right into the void beast.


    The void beast struggled and roared continuously. A layer of platinum light appeared on its fur and suddenly lifted!


    Smack!


    The pitchfork actually broke in the middle, and even the large man was sent flying to the ground.


    ¡°Lend me your saber!¡±


    Fang Yuan saw the long saber at the waist of the large man and reminded him of it. He then rushed forward and pulled out the long saber.


    Zap!


    A saber beam slashed along the void beast¡¯s wound and sent half of it flying.


    ¡°Great saber skills! Great strength!¡± the large man praised loudly. ¡°Where are you from? I¡¯m Yi Bo!¡±


    ¡°My name is Fang Yuan!¡± Fang Yuan gave it a thought and took out the civilization fire seed.


    Whoosh!


    The originally dying flame sensed Yi Bo¡¯s aura and suddenly burst, emitting infinite brightness.


    ¡°The fire seed in your hand feels very familiar¡­ Could it be the light of civilization from the Huaxia Universe outside?¡±


    Yi Bo exclaimed in delight, ¡°Turns out you¡¯re a Dao Ancestor with the same origin!¡±


    ¡°Yeah. I arrived at the Final Destination through a chance coincidence!¡± Fang Yuan nodded, slightly surprised by Yi Bo¡¯s identity, which turned out to be also a Dao Ancestor from the Huaxia Universe!


    ¡°Haha¡­ I thought you had obtained enlightenment from the Emperor Xi Stone Tablet and came here with the help of the power of the Great Cosmological Abyss from the outside¡­¡±


    Yi Bo seemed rather enthusiastic, like meeting someone from his hometown, unlike a certain arrogant Wang She.


    ¡°Emperor Xi Stone Tablet?¡± Fang Yuan asked in confusion.


    ¡°That is one of the treasures of our Huaxia Universe and records the existence of the Final Destination¡­¡± Yi Bo was slightly astonished. ¡°Didn¡¯t you see it when you returned to the Huaxia Universe after becoming a Dao Ancestor?¡±


    ¡°No¡­¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a pity that this Final Destination is a place that no one can know. Once you want to leave information about it in the outside world, it will be erased immediately. Only the Emperor Xi Stone Tablet can record such information down¡­¡± Yi Bo sighed and signaled Fang Yuan over. They cut off the legs of the two void beasts and started barbequing them.


    ¡°Throughout history, the Dao Ancestors who reached this place were all dedicated to breaking through or had reached their limits¡­ as well as some unlucky bastards who were caught in the power of the Great Cosmological Abyss! I¡¯ve been here for four thousand years, and it¡¯s the first time I¡¯ve seen someone from my homeland! Come, brother, have some meat!¡± he said with great emotion and handed him a barbequed thigh.


    Fang Yuan started to gobble it down unceremoniously.


    ¡°Eh?!¡± Delight flashed in his eyes immediately. He could feel a trace of the primary power of the Great Cosmological Abyss form in his body and course through his limbs and bones. Then it continued to exude before returning to nothingness.


    ¡°You feel it too, right?¡± Yi Bo smiled. ¡°This is how we cultivate here! Killing strong void beasts and obtaining the primary power of the Great Cosmological Abyss in their bodies, comprehending continuously, and then finally obtaining this power!¡±


    ¡°Natural selection, the strong preying on the weak¡­ is a matter of course.¡± Fang Yuan nodded. ¡°But how many¡­ successes have there been?¡±


    Yi Bo¡¯s expression stagnated, and he fell silent for quite some time before replying, ¡°I¡¯ve met more than a thousand Dao Ancestors, but I¡¯ve never heard of anyone succeeding¡­¡±


    ¡°In that case, this place isn¡¯t some place of hope but more like a cage?¡± Fang Yuan¡¯s eyes were apprehensive.


    If so many startling Dao Ancestors had not been able to find hope, then how much despair had this world brought?


    ¡°Zero in a thousand? Hasn¡¯t been a success yet?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right¡­¡± Yi Bo sighed. ¡°I¡¯ve seen a lot of Dao Ancestors in this place. Even in Dao Ancestor City, there are many peak Dao Ancestors who have the power of ten Dao Fruits, but no one can fully comprehend the power of the Great Cosmological Abyss¡­ Perhaps¡­ this world is a trap of the Great Cosmological Abyss against us Dao Ancestors!¡±


    Yi Bo¡¯s eyes turned red with a hint of resentment!

 Chapter 1173 - City

    Translator: Atlas Studios  Editor: Atlas Studios


    Fang Yuan understood Yi Bo¡¯s anger.


    Outside this place, Dao Ancestors were at the pinnacle in all universes. Their lifespans were endless, and they were figures admired by all immortals. How glorious was this scenery?


    However, in this unknown Final Destination, the Dao Ancestors were knocked down to become ordinary mortals! Even their lifespans were limited now!


    If they were unable to leave alive, they would only become a pile of bones!


    Any resolute Dao Heart was likely to collapse under such torture, not to mention those who arrived by chance coincidence.


    ¡°Brother, I think you are miserable as well. You¡¯re probably at the initial Dao Fruit realm, and you somehow peeped into the secret of this place and came here¡­¡± Yi Bo sighed.


    He was a Dao Ancestor who had the power of three Dao Fruits, and Fang Yuan seemed to be weaker than him.


    ¡°That¡¯s right. I met an enemy who exploded a Great Cosmological Abyss treasure¡­ Speaking of which, this saber?¡±


    Fang Yuan¡¯s gaze landed on the long saber in hand.


    ¡°Haha. This saber isn¡¯t a Great Cosmological Abyss treasure but made with local materials, Void Gold and the bone of void beasts, which are strong enough for us Dao Ancestors to use¡­¡±


    Yi Bo laughed, and the worry between his brows finally disappeared. ¡°In any case, I enjoyed the outside for billions of years and am satisfied. Even if I die here, I have no regrets¡­ I just want to know how the current Huaxia Universe is?¡±


    ¡°To be honest, the Huaxia Universe is currently regressing into void. The fire seed you saw just now is its last remnant¡­¡± Fang Yuan chose to tell the truth, yet he did not see any signs of grief and anger on Yi Bo¡¯s face.


    There was only acceptance and calm.


    ¡°Well, life still goes on. Even Dao Ancestors die, so what else can be eternal?¡± Yi Bo sighed. ¡°And our Huaxia civilization really isn¡¯t the universe but all the people who have immersed in its civilization. Aren¡¯t you the best example?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right! But do you know who the enemy we faced was?¡± Fang Yuan finally asked the question that had been in his mind.


    ¡°When I was outside this place, I had never seen any Dao Ancestor that could compete with those from the Huaxia Universe¡­¡± Yi Bo said with some confusion.


    And this point made Fang Yuan clearly understand that the flow of time in this place was very different from outside.


    Perhaps one day here meant that trillions of years had passed outside. Only then could Dao Ancestors age so cruelly.


    ¡°However¡­ I might be wrong!¡± Yi Bo seemed to think of something but immediately smiled wryly and shook his head.


    Seeing this, Fang Yuan thought of something.


    If the Huaxia Universe was truly the strongest, then the force that could defeat it might not have come from the outside, but from¡­ within!


    Internal strife? Or a fraction that split up long ago? Fang Yuan inwardly guessed and smiled suddenly. But this has nothing to do with me. The most important thing for me now is to recuperate!


    His strength was at its lowest now, and only his main body was intact. Both his Creator Dao Fruit and Great Destruction Dao Fruit were seriously damaged. The power of the Great Cosmological Abyss in them was difficult to remove, and it was difficult for him to use their powers as well.


    Fortunately, there was some secondary power of the Great Cosmological Abyss that he could use in this Final Destination.


    According to his estimates, Fang Yuan needed only to consume the meat of a few more void beasts and guide the power of the Great Cosmological Abyss to his injuries, which would roughly offset the original power and restore him to his peak strength of five Dao Fruits.


    According to Yi Bo, there are Dao Ancestors with the power of ten Dao Fruits in Dao Ancestor City. Those with five Dao Fruits are roughly at the level of a small expert¡­


    ¡°Brother Yi Bo, where is Dao Ancestor City?¡± Fang Yuan asked after making up his mind.


    ¡°You want to go to Dao Ancestor City? It¡¯s as dangerous as a dragon¡¯s pool or a tiger¡¯s den there¡­¡± Yi Bo was startled. ¡°Why not be like me and live in the peaceful wilderness?¡±


    This Dao Ancestor had obviously given up on any hope of improving and was simply living his time out.


    ¡°Sorry, but I don¡¯t want to keep staying here. Moreover, I have a grudge waiting for me to solve!¡± Fang Yuan looked far away, his eyes somewhat sharp.


    ¡°All right¡­¡± Yi Bo smiled helplessly. ¡°Since you want to go to Dao Ancestor City, I won¡¯t stop you. But please accept this saber, Brother.


    ¡°Void Gold and the bones of void beasts are common things. It just takes some time to refine them. We¡¯re from the same homeland, so there¡¯s no need to stand on the ceremony,¡± he explained quickly, seemingly afraid that Fang Yuan would reject.


    After a pause, he continued, ¡°There¡¯s also a place belonging to our Huaxia Universe in Dao Ancestor City. If you meet with some trouble there, you can announce your identity, and it might be of some help to you.¡±


    ¡°Thank you for your advice, Big Brother!¡± Fang Yuan solemnly cupped his hands and bowed. Then he took the long saber and barbecued meat with him and followed Yi Bo¡¯s directions to head to Dao Ancestor City.


    ¡­


    Many days later.


    ¡°Is that¡­ Dao Ancestor City?¡±


    Fang Yuan had also changed into beast hide clothes and was slightly amazed as he looked at the black city not far away.


    Although the city walls might only be ten meters tall and seemed no different from the most common broken cities in the human world, Fang Yuan knew what kind of strength was required to build a city in this Final Destination.


    In addition, there was a remarkable brilliance on the city walls, which were signs of protective arrays.


    Such a feat outside the Great Cosmological Abyss could only be accomplished by a supreme Array Dao grandmaster.


    ¡°But¡­ I¡¯ve finally recovered to my peak state as well..¡±


    Fang Yuan looked at the haul behind him with some emotion.


    During his time in the wilderness, he had first found a place to hide and consume the two void beasts to finally expel the wounds inflicted by the power of the Great Cosmological Abyss on his Dao Fruits, returning to peak state.


    The power of five Dao Fruits in this place would make him a small expert. With the aid of the saber, he finally rose above the fate of escaping when he encountered void beasts.


    On his way here, he had killed and consumed quite a number of lone void beasts.


    However, Fang Yuan could not find any way of retaining the secondary power of the Great Cosmological Abyss in his body no matter how hard he tried, let alone refining it.


    ¡°This road might be tough, but I have to continue on¡­¡±


    Fang Yuan clenched his fists, somewhat helpless.


    He also discovered a unique characteristic about this Final Destination. He could not materialize any power other than the power of the Great Cosmological Abyss.


    Therefore, the Dao Ancestors here became stronger mortals, and it was extremely difficult to use their magical powers.


    After recovering, he tried to use a couple of his magical powers, but it was immensely difficult and had huge consumption.


    ¡°Actually, it seems like using magical powers here requires the consumption of my lifespan¡­ I might be young and have a long way ahead of me, but I can¡¯t waste it.¡±


    While lost in thought, Fang Yuan reached the entrance of Dao Ancestor City.


    At the quiet city gate, there were two Dao Ancestors, seeming like gate gods. ¡°A void pill for entry into the city!¡±


    Unexpectedly, there¡¯s an entrance fee even in this place! Fang Yuan rolled his eyes. ¡°What is a void pill?¡±


    ¡°Seems like you¡¯ve never been to Dao Ancestor City since you don¡¯t know what it is¡­ A void pill is a pill created by an almighty among the Dao Ancestors. It retains the essence of a void beast¡¯s flesh. A void pill is equal to a pound of void beast meat and can be stored for a long time¡­¡±


    The black-faced Dao Ancestor on the left glanced at Fang Yuan¡¯s harvest. ¡°If you don¡¯t have a void pill, then you have to turn in the flesh of void beasts. Two pounds!¡±


    Fang Yuan frowned but did not object. He paid and entered the city.


    There was no one on the streets and no stores, but there were a lot of stone houses and cave abodes, looking like a dead city.


    ¡°That¡¯s right. There are very few Dao Ancestors in the first place and even fewer who can enter the Final Destination, perhaps less than ten thousand of us in total. Although Dao Ancestor City is the only city in the Final Destination, how many Dao Ancestors live here? A thousand?¡±


    A population of a thousand in the context of a mortal country was probably less than one percent of a city and could at most count as a small village.


    Therefore, it was within reason that it was so quiet.


    ¡°Fellow Daoist, are you new to the city?¡±


    While Fang Yuan was walking around, a fat and fair Dao Ancestor came over with a smile. ¡°Xu Junzi at your humble service and willing to guide Fellow Daoist!¡±


    ¡°Many thanks! It¡¯s my first time here, and there are many things I¡¯ve yet to understand. For example, where is the place of exchange in this city?¡±


    ¡°Haha¡­ At our realm, any method can be comprehended. There are so many of us gathered here, so what is there that we won¡¯t know? However, each of us will have things we¡¯re good at and bad at. You can know a thing or two by looking at the inscriptions in front of the cave abodes, and meetings are held from time to time in the city for us to make exchanges.¡±


    Xu Junzi smiled. ¡°In addition, the city organizes a hunt every now and then. It¡¯s safer than hunting by yourself, and you can exchange your haul for void pills, which are much more convenient no matter whether you store them or trade them¡­¡±


    ¡°I happen to need a place to exchange my haul!¡± Fang Yuan nodded slightly.


    ¡°If you¡¯re willing to exchange at the rate of two pounds to one void pill, I can exchange with you.¡± Xu Junzi¡¯s smile grew even bigger.


    ¡°All right, let¡¯s do it!¡± Fang Yuan knew the other party was going to profit, but he let it slip because he had hunted these catches on the way anyway.


    Xu Junzi quickly brought Fang Yuan to a cave abode at lightning speed, took out a green gourd, poured the pills into it, and gave it to Fang Yuan.


    ¡°Here. A total of 108 void pills. They¡¯re yours now!¡±


    Fang Yuan relaxed, finally ridding himself of his burden. He held a void pill to his eyes and took a close look.


    This void pill was crystal clear like glazed glass, with a hint of platinum light flickering in the middle.


    He gave it some thought before swallowing it. Sure enough, there was secondary power of the Great Cosmological Abyss rising and disappearing gradually. However, it was different from the effect produced by eating a pound of meat.


    ¡°Turning the secondary power of the Great Cosmological Abyss in the void beasts into void pills¡­ doesn¡¯t seem to be too difficult¡­¡±


    Fang Yuan¡¯s eyes sparkled as an idea popped into his mind.

 Chapter 1174 - Stele Forest

    Translator: Atlas Studios  Editor: Atlas Studios


    This method of extracting the power from the flesh of void beasts was impossible for someone without at least the power of five Dao Fruits.


    Of course, the method of those Dao Ancestors at seven Dao Fruits and above was even more incredible, as they could refine void pills as naturally as water flowing in a river.


    Compared to them, Fang Yuan felt like he should be able to work as a small craftsman and make some hard-earned money.


    ¡°Okay, one last important issue left!¡±


    Fang Yuan put the pills away and stared at Xu Junzi with bright eyes. ¡°What should I do if I want to continue cultivating and master the power of the Great Cosmological Abyss?¡±


    ¡°What should you do?¡± Xu Junzi smiled bitterly with desperation on his face. ¡°There are over a thousand Dao Ancestors in this city and more than ten thousand Dao Ancestors in the whole Final Destination¡­ If anyone could break through, I would have begged to be their disciple!¡±


    Fang Yuan could see from his expression that he meant every word.


    ¡°If Fellow Daoist wants to see what¡¯s in store for the future, why don¡¯t you visit the city center!¡± Xu Junzi said sincerely before they parted.


    ¡°Thank you!¡±


    Fang Yuan cupped his hands, and with a determined expression, he went to the city center.


    This place did not have the residences of the peak Dao Ancestors or the city lord. Instead, there was nothing except for¡­ steles?


    A large number of black steles formed a forest. Just wandering outside allowed him to sense a strong unwillingness.


    Fang Yuan walked into the stele forest and stopped in front of a stele.


    ¡°I am ¡®Dao Ancestor Chaos Flame¡¯. I was born in the North Frost Universe, and goddesses descended to congratulate me when I was born¡­¡±


    At the beginning of the stele was a short introduction about the things that this Dao Ancestor Chaos Flame had been proud of in his life. The happy note changed in the second half.


    ¡°¡­ I reached the Final Destination and cultivated for ten thousand years without the slightest bit of progress. My lifespan is approaching its end, and I am turning back into yellow dust¡­ Hate! Hate! Hate!!!¡±


    These three ¡®hates¡¯ condensed all the grievances of a Dao Ancestor, and it would have inevitably turned into a terrible evil if it were in the outside world.


    ¡°A Dao Ancestor was buried here¡­¡± Seeing this, Fang Yuan sighed, a little sad.


    He took a few steps forward and saw the second stele. ¡°I was a void spirit who achieved the Dao and was known as the ¡®Lord of Void Spirits¡¯. I was blessed by the heavens and was born a Dao Ancestor. I killed all of my enemies in my life and made rapid breakthroughs. Three Dao Ancestors were willing to be my subordinates¡­ I couldn¡¯t break through in the outside world, so I entered this Final Destination and searched hard. However, I couldn¡¯t achieve the Great Cosmological Abyss. It¡¯s all fate¡­¡±


    ¡°To have three Dao Ancestors as subordinates, this means that he had strength at least at five Dao Fruits¡­ That¡¯s almost invincible in the outside world, but he also silently fell here?¡±


    Fang Yuan pursed his lips. His footsteps were heavier as he continued to walk further in.


    ¡°I am Daoist Seven Slaughter from the Huaxia Universe¡­ I killed everything in the Great Cosmological Abyss and finally reached peak Dao Ancestor before killing myself. Alas! Alas!¡±


    This person¡¯s boundless killing intent carried in his writing even to this day.


    ¡°Peak Dao Ancestor? Someone with the power of ten Dao Fruits came from the Huaxia Universe. A true almighty even among Dao Ancestors perished here as well?¡±


    Fang Yuan exhaled and continued his tour.


    ¡°I am Three Wood Void¡­¡±


    ¡°I am Segmented Demon Insects¡­¡±


    ¡°I am Lord of the Nine-Level Maze¡­¡±


    Every stone stele represented the fall of a Dao Ancestor, and there were hundreds of stone steles here!


    Such a forest of stele graves gave Fang Yuan a very terrifying feeling. The terror was enough to destroy the Dao Heart of a Dao Ancestor!


    An ordinary Dao Ancestor would have probably been destroyed on the spot.


    However, Fang Yuan was not an ordinary Dao Ancestor, and his Dao Heart was stronger than that of ordinary Dao Ancestors. He surpassed this feeling and saw more information.


    ¡°They should have been residents of Dao Ancestor City. Among them, thirty percent came from the Huaxia Universe. How scary¡­¡±


    This point alone made him realize how strong a force the Huaxia Universe was.


    Even in this Dao Ancestor City, it could hold on firmly to power.


    ¡°However¡­ what really disturbs me is this other force¡ªthe Huxia Universe. It actually occupies twenty-five percent of the names and is practically rivals with the Huaxia Universe¡­¡±


    1


    Fang Yuan pondered. ¡°Huaxia? Huxia? Could this have been the beginning of the internal strife?¡±


    Of course, there was not much meaning in unraveling this information now. What really held Fang Yuan¡¯s interest were the summaries left behind by these Dao Ancestors about the power of the Great Cosmological Abyss.


    They might just be a few words, but it was enough for him to piece together their thoughts about mastering the power of the Great Cosmological Abyss.


    ¡°First¡­ is this Final Destination. It¡¯s similar to the Great Cosmological Abyss in that it has no energy at all. The only source of the power of the Great Cosmological Abyss is from the void beasts!


    ¡°The Dao Ancestors were able to refine the power of the Great Cosmological Abyss through continuous trial and error and divided it into three small realms. The first realm is ¡®Save¡¯! Saving the secondary power of the Great Cosmological Abyss from the void beasts in your body and drawing it out in times of need. The drawback is that it can only be supplemented with void pills This is also a level that Dao Ancestors can break through after some hard work.


    ¡°The second realm is ¡®Create¡¯, Creating something out of nothing. It¡¯s the power of the Great Cosmological Abyss extracted from this world, so there is an endless stream of it. You can make void pills without void beasts. This realm is pretty rare, and rumor has it that only a few almighties can do it¡­ However, even achieving this doesn¡¯t count as complete mastery of the power of the Great Cosmological Abyss, and you still won¡¯t be able to break through the Dao Fruit realm!


    ¡°The last realm exists only in imagination, and it¡¯s called ¡®Refine¡¯! It implies that you can completely refine the power of the Great Cosmological Abyss, integrate it into your Dao Fruit, and have it become your own natural source. As a result, the secondary power of the Great Cosmological Abyss will also evolve and become the true power of the Great Cosmological Abyss. The Dao Ancestor will then be able to break through the shackles and leave this Final Destination.


    ¡°Save, Create, Refine¡­ I only have some experience with Save in these three small realms. Create will depend on chance coincidence. As for the final Refine?¡±


    Fang Yuan pursed his lips and looked at the stone steles with regret. ¡°Perhaps it¡¯s already comforting to me that I can see a road ahead. But I wonder if there is someone who has reached the second realm among these Dao Ancestors.¡±


    ¡°Friend, that¡¯s where you¡¯re wrong!¡± a voice interjected, and a burly man in black approached.


    Fang Yuan narrowed his eyes. He seemed to see a strange tiger with two heads and six legs and immediately understood that this was a Dao Ancestor from another species. He nodded to show goodwill. ¡°Please do enlighten me!¡±


    ¡°Haha¡­ I am Shan Jun, and I love making friends. You don¡¯t look familiar, so I came over. I hope Fellow Daoist doesn¡¯t mind!¡± Shan Jun smiled heroically. ¡°However, I can tell you that there are powerful existences in Dao Ancestor City that have reached the Create realm. Otherwise, did that many void pills fall from the sky?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s true¡­¡± Fang Yuan smiled. ¡°To be able to create something out of nothing, to create void pills, I wonder which almighty¡­¡±


    ¡°They must have reached peak Dao Ancestor. We wouldn¡¯t be able to match them even with ten of us. Unfortunately, they can¡¯t break through the last realm and will die of old age here when their time is up¡­¡± Shan Jun sighed and then looked at Fang Yuan with bright eyes. ¡°Is Fellow Daoist new here? I have many things I want to ask you¡­¡±


    ¡°I might know a bit about the situation outside, but the Great Cosmological Abyss is endless, and I might not have visited Fellow Daoist¡¯s universe before¡­¡± Fang Yuan shrugged as he blocked the other party¡¯s words.


    ¡°Haha¡­ That¡¯s all right. It would be nice if Fellow Daoist could tell me a thing or two about your travel experiences¡­¡± Shan Jun was straightforward and good at chatting, and they soon started addressing each other as brothers.


    ¡°It¡¯s simple if you want to stay in Dao Ancestor City in the long term. You can just pay with void pills. To be honest, Brother, it¡¯s much safer and more convenient for people to stay together¡­¡±


    Shan Jun enthusiastically helped Fang Yuan to arrange matters of his residence before saying, ¡°Don¡¯t only look at the fact that there are only a few hundred tombstones here. More than ten thousand of us have fallen here. Especially outside Dao Ancestor City, there is nowhere safe, and you have to worry about everything you do. Brother, if you don¡¯t mind, how about forming a team with me? I just happened to have found a nest of void beasts a bit ago, and we can definitely take the whole nest out if we join forces.¡±


    ¡°In that case¡­ I¡¯ll take you up on your offer!¡± Fang Yuan agreed after giving it some thought.


    ¡­


    There was no light or darkness in the Final Destination. The sky was always lit with a layer of dusk.


    In Dao Ancestor City, there was a special hourglass that measured time, and each day was over when the last grain of sand dropped to the bottom. After three turns, Fang Yuan left Dao Ancestor City with Shan Jun.


    Shan Jun was carrying a big bone bow made of an unknown void beast on his back, and there were more than a dozen bone arrows in his quiver, shining brightly.


    ¡°Actually, I¡¯m curious¡­¡± Fang Yuan looked at the vast mountains in the distance. They looked like a monster with an open mouth.


    ¡°Oh? What is Brother curious about?¡± Shan Jun stopped in his tracks and gazed at the walls of Dao Ancestor City.


    ¡°Where did so many void beasts come from? Why can they produce secondary power of the Great Cosmological Abyss? Are they all also existences at the ¡®Create¡¯ realm?¡±


    ¡°In fact, most of them are at the Save realm¡­ The power of the Great Cosmological Abyss in their bodies can¡¯t be used for long.¡±


    Shan Jun rubbed his head. ¡°Dao Ancestor City sent people to observe them in secret before, and they realized that all of them have the same lifestyle. They have to head to dangerous places after a period of time. We¡¯d only perish if we went to those places as well¡­ All right, I answered your questions, so can you go with peace of mind now?¡±


    ¡°Go with peace of mind?¡± Fang Yuan was slightly surprised.


    ¡°Hehe¡­ I don¡¯t know when you started seeing through me, but you must have some trump card since you dared to exit the city with me. Let¡¯s show them together!¡± Shan Jun¡¯s face became savage. ¡°You aren¡¯t stupid, but neither am I. What are you waiting for? Let¡¯s end this with a joyful kill!¡±


    ¡°You might not be stupid, but you are half-mad¡­¡±


    Fang Yuan took a deep breath. He pretended to fall for Shan Jun¡¯s trick knowing that he had ill intentions, but he did not think that this person was so crazy!


    At the same time, a breeze beneath his feet sent him back a huge distance.


    The next instant¡­


    Rumble!

 Chapter 1175 - Mayhem

    Translator: Atlas Studios  Editor: Atlas Studios


    Dust and rubble flew everywhere.


    A small pit appeared in the ground with a purple sword in the middle of it.


    ¡°It really is you. I knew things couldn¡¯t be so coincidental¡­¡±


    Fang Yuan took a deep breath, brushed the dust off his body, and immediately saw the smiling face of Xu Junzi. ¡°Looks like¡­ both of you are in cahoots, and it isn¡¯t the first time you¡¯re committing robbery and murder, right? Aren¡¯t you afraid of Dao Ancestor City¡¯s sanctions?¡±


    ¡°Dao Ancestor City?¡± Xu Junzi smiled disdainfully. ¡°Let this humble person teach Fellow Daoist something. As long as it doesn¡¯t occur within the walls of Dao Ancestor City, the higher-ups won¡¯t care about any fights¡­¡±


    ¡°Today, either you die or I die!¡± Shan Jun shouted and aimed his arrow at Fang Yuan.


    ¡°Your actions are simply too¡­ crazy¡­¡±


    Given the intelligence of Dao Ancestors, this trap should not have been so shallow, but Fang Yuan suddenly thought of something.


    These two Dao Ancestors must have been driven crazy by the Final Destination, and only death could give them peace.


    Be it Fang Yuan¡¯s death or theirs!


    ¡°In that case¡­¡± Fang Yuan smiled, knowing that his ploy to lead the snake out of its hole was too casual. Fortunately, his enemies took the initiative.


    He drew his long saber. ¡°I can spare your lives if you stop now!¡±


    Poof!


    A sudden moon appeared in the sky as he struck.


    Shan Jun was staring blankly at the longbow in his hand when the moonlight fell upon him, and his longbow broke in half with a loud ¡®clack¡¯.


    ¡°The power of five Dao Fruits?!¡± Xu Junzi¡¯s eyes flashed, and he seemed to realize something. ¡°You hid your true strength earlier? Shan Jun, don¡¯t hold back!¡±


    A layer of platinum light appeared on his body. It was the secondary power of the Great Cosmological Abyss!


    After all, he had stayed in the Final Destination for quite some time and had accumulated a large number of void pills through robbing others and his own savings. He had ingested them day and night before finally reaching the Save realm.


    The so-called ¡®Save¡¯ was the ability to save the power of the Great Cosmological Abyss within your body and release it when needed. Some talented Dao Ancestors could reach this realm by exploring slowly and having an ample supply of void pills.


    However, the application of this power was different from Dao Ancestor power.


    For example, Xu Junzi, who had about the power of two or three Dao Fruits, dared to compete with Fang Yuan after releasing the power of the Great Cosmological Abyss!


    Awhoooo!


    On another side, Shan Jun roared, tore his shirt, and pounced forward with the appearance of a two-headed tiger.


    ¡°Sure enough. Those who dare to play tricks on other Dao Ancestors must have some tricks up their sleeve!¡±


    Fang Yuan¡¯s thought moved, and a cyan light enveloped his body.


    Whoosh Whoosh!


    The weight of his body seemed to disappear as he seemed to turn into a paper figure before the fierce tiger. He fluttered with the wind, becoming unreachable by the claws of the tiger, as he flew backward.


    Shan Jun could not reach him even though he pounced at him again and again.


    Swoosh!


    Fang Yuan dodged and avoided an arrow containing the power of the Great Cosmological Abyss.


    ¡°Shan Jun, we¡¯ll definitely be killed by him in the future if we don¡¯t kill him today!¡± Xu Junzi gnashed his teeth and glanced secretly at the city.


    ¡°You want to slip into the city to save yourself? Seems different from what you said!¡± Fang Yuan smiled and wiped his hand on the body of the saber.


    Whoo! Whoo!


    A platinum light enveloped the saber.


    ¡°You-you¡¯re also at the Save realm? Why? Why did you deliberately lie to me yesterday then?¡± Xu Junzi was shocked and angry at the same time.


    ¡°To be precise, I wasn¡¯t at the Save realm when I arrived. I comprehended it thanks to your hundred-odd void pills¡­¡±


    ¡°Hundred-odd pills?¡± Xu Junzi immediately recalled their trade yesterday, and he had a bitter taste in his mouth. ¡°An ordinary Dao Ancestor might not have any improvement even if they swallowed a thousand void pills!¡±


    ¡°Perhaps¡­ it¡¯s because I¡¯m different?¡± Fang Yuan smiled and slashed with his saber. White light flashed in the air.


    Shan Jun stopped in shock as his huge tiger heads fell off. Blood spattered wildly.


    In fact, Fang Yuan had not told the truth.


    He has been thinking about the power of the Great Cosmological Abyss since he was in the outside world, and the power of the Great Cosmological Abyss remained on his two Dao Fruits, so he understood it rather deeply.


    With this as a foundation, coupled with coming to the Final Destination, he had improved his insights and knowledge, especially with the baptism at the stele forest yesterday that was very rewarding.


    In addition, the hundred-odd void pills that Xu Junzi had generously provided him with springboarded him to a breakthrough.


    ¡°After all, void beast flesh can¡¯t be consumed in bulk like void pills, which is why it¡¯s more valuable than void beast flesh¡­¡±


    Fang Yuan nodded inwardly, only to see Xu Junzi running to the city gate without a word.


    Smack!


    His escape route was suddenly blocked by a stone wall. He could only turn around and look stiffly at Fang Yuan. ¡°What do I have to do for you to let me off?¡±


    ¡°How interesting¡­ You¡¯re still putting up a final struggle¡­¡±


    Fang Yuan stepped forward. His saber seemed to gain a life of its own as it drew an arc and hit a purple light flying.


    That purple light was wrapped up in white light and suspended above Xu Junzi¡¯s head, showing its flying sword body.


    ¡°Compared to Shan Jun, a Dao Ancestor who has reached the first realm has a lot of tricks!¡±


    Fang Yuan sneered. If he had been careless just now, he would have suffered from the flying sword. ¡°But now¡­ you have no more chances! Kill!¡±


    ¡°Die!¡± Xu Junzi made the flying sword land in his hand, expanded the power of the Great Cosmological Abyss, and transformed into an afterimage.


    Bang!


    Their figures passed by each other and then stopped in their tracks.


    Fang Yuan touched his cheek that had a streak of blood on it.


    Behind him, Xu Junzi¡¯s body split into five pieces, spraying blood all over.


    ¡°Ah¡­¡± Fang Yuan exhaled a long breath, feeling a strong sense of surreality.


    The Dao Ancestors that he had to unleash all of his power to seal in the outside world died so easily here?


    ¡°It seems that this is also a special part of the Final Destination. A Dao Ancestor is truly dead once they die and has no hope of resurrection? Is this a place of hope or a grave for Dao Ancestors?¡±


    Fang Yuan pursed his lip and looked at the corpses of the two Dao Ancestors.


    Suddenly, with a glance at the corner of his eye, he picked out a platinum crystal from the pool of blood.


    This crystal was octagonal and as clear as a diamond, but it had a platinum light source in the middle.


    ¡°This condensation of the power of the Great Cosmological Abyss in Xu Junzi¡¯s body¡­ is worth at least a thousand void pills¡­¡±


    Fang Yuan stored away the spoils of his battle and exhaled. ¡°This Final Destination¡­ is truly cruel¡­¡±


    Kaboom!


    An earthshaking sword light appeared just as he was about to pack up and return to the city.


    The sword light rose to the sky like a platinum mountain range, flipped over, and fell onto the city wall with tremendous force.


    Pilipala!


    The light of all sorts of arrays flashed, and a huge gap was cut out of the city walls.


    The figures of many flew out, looking alarmed like stray dogs.


    ¡°Dao Ancestor City¡­ was cut by a sword?¡± Fang Yuan found it incredible. ¡°This requires at least the power of ten Dao Fruits and being an almighty at the Create realm?¡±


    Those who could accomplish this feat had to be at peak Dao Ancestor and could continuously extract the power of the Great Cosmological Abyss from this place itself.


    A Dao Ancestor at the first realm would have to be stingy about every use of power. This was the instinct of every Dao Ancestor.


    ¡°Why would someone that powerful fight in Dao Ancestor City?¡±


    Fang Yuan retreated fast, puzzled by the turn of events.


    In between the cross-fire, his thoughts were on Wang She and the changes of the outside Huaxia Universe.


    ¡°Dao Ancestor City has existed for a long time. Moreover, conflicts won¡¯t break out suddenly. There has to be a reason, and it¡¯s most likely a Dao Ancestor that has just entered the Final Destination! I just don¡¯t know if it¡¯s Wang She or someone else¡­¡±


    The strengths of the original forces were in balance, and they would not easily fight.


    Something that could topple the fulcrum of all parties was definitely a contradiction between the Huaxia and the Huxia universes, and it was most likely triggered due to a foreign Dao Ancestor.


    ¡°After all, not all Dao Ancestors can be indifferent to everything like Yi Bo¡­¡±


    Fang Yuan stood still and watched the battlefield.


    ¡°Leave now!¡±


    ¡°Seriously, why are Dao Ancestor Hu Tian and Dao Ancestor Jun Tian fighting? Are the two forces going to war?¡±


    ¡°These two are at peak Dao Ancestor and the second Create realm. There is infinite power between them, and ordinary Dao Ancestors will die immediately. Not good, the others are fighting as well!¡±


    ¡°Horrifying!¡±


    ¡­


    Even more figures fled from Dao Ancestor City.


    Occasionally, some unlucky ones were swept into the battle and immediately vaporized.


    ¡°This brother!¡± Fang Yuan stopped a Dao Ancestor dressed in black Daoist robes. ¡°What¡¯s happening in Dao Ancestor City?¡±


    ¡°Sigh¡­ It¡¯s Huaxia and Huxia¡¯s strife¡­¡± The Daoist shook his head. ¡°Those events happened outside, so why bring it to the Final Destination?¡±


    The so-called external hatred is probably just a spark. The root cause must be a contradiction in this Final Destination. Otherwise, why would they fight so easily and put themselves in danger so lightly?


    Fang Yuan had no choice but to retreat with the other Dao Ancestors as the battlefield expanded.


    Chirp!


    A clear and crisp sound suddenly came from the sky.


    A multi-colored brilliance turned into a meteor and fell not far away, turning into the corpse of a Phoenix as large as a mountain. A trace of white light condensed outside its body.


    ¡°I recognize it¡­ It¡¯s one of the most powerful from the Huaxia Universe, Dao Ancestor Five Elements!¡± a Dao Ancestor murmured and then suddenly sprinted toward the corpse.


    1


    The other Dao Ancestors did the same, as though they just woke up from sleeping.


    ¡°All of them are vultures¡­¡± Fang Yuan could not hide his contempt at this scene.


    The condensation of Xu Junzi was akin to a thousand void pills, so just how valuable would this be?


    Not to mention, they might even be able to enter the second realm and reach heaven in one step!


    With such a massive profit lying in front of them, no reason nor logic could stop the madness of these Dao Ancestors!

 Chapter 1176 - Narrow Victory

    A key Huaxia member fell in the battle with Huxia.


    The enormous benefits made the eyes of the Dao Ancestors turn red.


    Regardless of whether they were a member of Dao Ancestor City, what kind of protection they had received, or how immense the Huaxia force was, all of them rushed to obtain the remains of Dao Ancestor Five Elements.


    ¡°This Dao Ancestor Five Elements¡¯s crystal of the power of the Great Cosmological Abyss is probably worth hundreds of thousands?¡±


    Fang Yuan, however, kept his cool and watched the scene quietly. ¡°And¡­ it seems like it¡¯s at the second realm!¡±


    The second Create realm allowed you to extract the power of the Great Cosmological Abyss from the Great Cosmological Abyss, and Dao Ancestors who could do this were rare in the Final Destination.


    Such an existence would not need to worry about exhausting their Dao Fruit and could use their full strength when fighting. Moving the mountains and reclaiming the seas were effortless to them.


    They could definitely deliver instant kills to the Dao Ancestors below them!


    If these Dao Ancestors could obtain something from Dao Ancestor Five Elements, it was worth risking their lives, no matter how small the possibility.


    ¡°However, is this possible?¡±


    Fang Yuan fled aside, keeping away from the battlefield, sneering at the bottom of his heart. ¡°Consuming a Dao Ancestor will not make another Dao Ancestor¡­ Similarly, do they really think that the body of a Dao Ancestor at the Create realm would bring them to that realm as well? What a joke!¡±


    Speaking of which, Dao Ancestor Five Element came from the same homeland as him.


    If he had the means to, he would have stopped these people from desecrating the corpse, but he was powerless at this time.


    But the next moment, a sudden change happened!


    A crisp sound came out from the mountain-like Phoenix corpse.


    Multi-colored light condensed and shot the nearby Dao Ancestors with thousands of arrows, penetrating them until they looked like honeycombs.


    Just this single move killed over ten Dao Ancestors.


    Chirp Chirp!


    Fang Yuan looked back and saw an imaginary multicolored Phoenix emerging from the corpse. Its tail feathers were burning with flames, and there was spirituality in its eyes. It flapped its wings and flew toward Fang Yuan.


    ¡°Eh?!¡± He was shocked beyond words but suddenly felt a burning in his chest floating out. It was the fire seed of the Huaxia civilization!


    ¡°Yes, I¡¯m from Huaxia and have the fire seed of the Huaxia civilization, so the soul of the Phoenix is naturally drawn to me¡­¡± Fang Yuan understood everything in a split second.


    He did stop the civilization fire seed but watched it shine brightly. A circle of white ripples spread without damaging any of its surroundings, and it guided the soul of the Dao Ancestor with warm light.


    Chirp!


    Finally, the soul of the Phoenix slowly shrank and plunged into the fire seed along with the white light.


    The milky white light and flames dissipated and returned to its original appearance. It landed in Fang Yuan¡¯s palm.


    ¡°This¡­ Dao Ancestor Five Elements Phoenix returned to the fire seed?¡±


    Looking at the slightly larger civilization fire seed, Fang Yuan understood. ¡°In the future, when I use this fire seed to establish a new Huaxia Universe, there will inevitably be a Phoenix. Is this the hope of life for Dao Ancestor Five Element?!¡±


    Compared to the other Dao Ancestors who died in the Final Destination and were unable to change it, Dao Ancestor Five Elements¡¯s action could be considered as gaining a chance at survival.


    But after catching the fire seed, Fang Yuan paused.


    A load of information came from the civilization fire seed.


    The Five Elements Great Dao, Connate Five Elements Great Dao, and the final Chaos Five Elements Dao Fruit¡­


    This was the Dao path taken by Dao Ancestor Five Elements.


    In addition, it also included its experience of fighting in the Dao Fruit realm and insights of breaking through to the Create realm!


    Even Dao Ancestors had to pay with their own lives to condense such a legacy!


    Only a trace of Dao Ancestor Five Elements¡¯s true spirit returned to the civilization fire seed. The rest were impurities discharged, which was a steal for Fang Yuan!


    ¡°Good! Many thanks to Dao Ancestor Five Elements for your legacy!¡±


    Fang Yuan was very excited. ¡°With this experience, I have fifty percent confidence of reaching the second realm!¡±


    Even if a Dao Ancestor swallowed one at the second realm, it was impossible to create a whole new one.


    The legacy he inherited only showed the road ahead.


    But its meaning was unparalleled to Fang Yuan.


    Roar Roar!


    Right at this moment, the sky seemed to crack, and a three-thousand-meter long Azure Dragon fell from the sky.


    Rumble!


    It hit the ground, seeming to form an azure mountain range.


    At the same time, the soul of the Azure Dragon shot toward Fang Yuan like an arrow.


    ¡°I¡­¡± Fang Yuan found it hard to speak, but he quickly took out the civilization fire seed and accepted the hope of the Azure Dragon. He inherited the legacy of Dao Ancestor Azure Dragon at the same time.


    ¡°Run!¡± The next moment, he fled the scene at full speed.


    ¡°Get him!¡±


    ¡°He obtained the legacies of two almighties!¡±


    ¡­


    All the Dao Ancestors chased after Fang Yuan like they were possessed.


    ¡°Run! Run! Run!¡±


    The power of the Great Cosmological Abyss in Fang Yuan¡¯s body dissipated and wrapped around his body, blocking the attacks of the pursuers behind him again and again.


    To be honest, he might have been able to deal with these ordinary Dao Ancestors if he wanted to.


    However, his most important reason for fleeing was because he was guarding against attacks from the almighties!


    He was someone from Huaxia and obtained the legacies of two Huaxia almighties, so the people from Huaxia might not say anything about him, but the force from Huxia might not let him live.


    Swoosh!


    He pulled open the distance between him and the pursuers farther and farther with a crazy speed until they disappeared from sight.


    Swoosh!


    All of a sudden, a grey sword shadow appeared in the sky. Although it was shattered by a giant hand in the next moment, a trace of Sword Qi still shot at Fang Yuan like raindrops.


    ¡°Go all out! Light of Universe!¡±


    Fang Yuan jumped into the air and waved many saber shadows to protect himself.


    Sword Qi and saber light collided in midair, consuming each other continuously before it finally broke his defense and created a few bloody holes on Fang Yuan.


    ¡°Pfft!¡± Fang Yuan half knelt on the ground and spat fresh blood. ¡°Dao Ancestor Hu Tian, I¡¯ll remember you!¡±


    ¡°You probably won¡¯t have any chance of taking revenge! You thought that the patriarch was dealing with you? No, he was just guiding me!¡±


    Wang She appeared from nowhere in front of Fang Yuan and had a smug look on his face.


    ¡°It¡¯s you who provoked the war, and you¡­ joined the Huxia side?¡± The doubts in his mind cleared, and he stood up.


    ¡°Huaxia and Huxia were originally two sides of the same coin and were both Grand Xia¡­ What¡¯s the big deal about joining either of them?¡± Wang She crossed his arms and stared down at Fang Yuan, his face full of hatred and resentment. ¡°You robbed me of everything, so why can¡¯t I do the same? The Heaven Rise Dao Fruit, the civilization fire seed, and the legacies of the almighties are all mine now¡­¡±


    ¡°You destroyed Dao Ancestor City and got both sides to kill each other just for this?¡± Dangerous colors flashed in Fang Yuan¡¯s eyes.


    ¡°Haha¡­ You think too highly of me. To the Dao Ancestors here, what does it matter even if everything outside the Great Cosmological Abyss perishes? What they¡¯re looking for is only to completely master the power of the Great Cosmological Abyss and break through the Dao Ancestor realm¡­¡± Wang She spread his hands. ¡°My arrival was just a spark. The contradiction has long been planted, and there is a huge secret contained within. Haha¡­ I¡¯m indeed blessed by the heavens. After surviving that calamity, I obtained great fortune, and I¡¯m also in on this secret. Do you want to know? I¡¯m not going to tell you, and I¡¯m going to let you die in agony!¡±


    ¡°To make the Dao Ancestors at the second realm forget about life and death is but a way to break through to the third realm¡­¡± Fang Yuan smiled disdainfully. ¡°Is it a limited quota or mutual restraint that requires them to have a life-and-death showdown?¡±


    ¡°You¡­¡± That startled Wang She. He would not have thought that Fang Yuan could guess the truth through so few clues.


    ¡°It seems like¡­ the third realm is real, and it¡¯s possible to master the power of the Great Cosmological Abyss. I have to thank you for letting me in on such a precious secret!¡± Fang Yuan roared with laughter.


    ¡°So what if you guessed it?¡± Wang She held two short blades in his hands. The dazzling power of the Great Cosmological Abyss almost overwhelmed his figure. ¡°We might both be at the first realm, but I have the power of fifty thousand void pills. I¡¯m invincible below the second realm. What do you have? A seriously injured body?¡±


    ¡°Fifty thousand void pills, was that your reward for your betrayal?¡± The injuries on Fang Yuan¡¯s chest slowly stopped bleeding, and the power of the Great Cosmological Abyss was rippling through his body. ¡°Speaking of which, I have to thank you again. If it wasn¡¯t because you paused, I wouldn¡¯t have had time to heal.¡±


    ¡°You¡­ Go to hell!¡± Wang She¡¯s double-edge blades encircled Fang Yuan like two halves of a moon.


    Such squandering of the power of the Great Cosmological Abyss completely relied on his strong capital to hurt the other.


    Clang! Clang!


    Fang Yuan¡¯s long saber slashed as he flew forward.


    His saber broke into two after a few attacks, leaving only half of the saber in his hand.


    ¡°Haha¡­ The weapon you have is only made of a lousy alloy, but what I have is a weapon personally gifted by Patriarch Hu Tian. You are bound to die today¡­¡±


    Wang She laughed happily, the ecstasy of exacting revenge filling him.


    His hands danced as though they were plucking on stringed instruments. The half-moons in the air came together and drowned Fang Yuan from all sides.


    Poof!


    Light glowed, and dust flew.


    When the dust settled, there was no trace of Fang Yuan.


    ¡°I¡¯ve broken your body into ashes to resolve the hatred in my heart!¡±


    Suddenly, suspicion jabbed at the elated Wang She. ¡°Isn¡¯t this too little blood?¡±


    Bang!


    With this thought, he retreated in horror.


    But the ground under his feet suddenly disappeared and turned into a giant pit.


    Wang She screamed as he fell into it. He immediately saw a bloody Fang Yuan staring at him with glowing eyes.


    Swoosh!


    A saber beam lit up, condensed the power of the Great Cosmological Abyss to an extreme, and cut through Wang She¡¯s defenses, striking him down with a single stroke.


    ¡°No matter how fat a pig is, it¡¯s still a pig!¡±


    Fang Yuan climbed out of the pit and shook his head.


    The opponent might have suppressed him with brute force that even ordinary Dao Ancestors would have to bow to, but he had obtained the legacies of two Dao Ancestors in succession. He only scrapped their surfaces, but he had grasped condensing the power of the Great Cosmological Abyss to an extreme. Moreover, he was good at fighting, leading him to a narrow victory over Wang She while injured.

 Chapter 1177 - Breaking Through the Realm

    Translator: Atlas Studios  Editor: Atlas Studios


    The power of the Great Cosmological Abyss condensed into a small sun after Wang She¡¯s death.


    ¡°A crystal that has gathered tens of thousands of void pills¡­ This Wang She is really good, but he was unfortunate to have met me!¡±


    Fang Yuan absorbed the crystal directly, and the power of the Great Cosmological Abyss condensed within his body, almost solidifying.


    ¡°Eight Dao Fruits! Adding on the Power of Great Cosmological Abyss, my combat power has definitely reached the level of eight Dao Fruits. I¡¯m also infinitely close to the second realm! Even in this Final Destination, I count as someone of high stature¡­¡±


    He felt a surge of emotions. His destiny changed so drastically within half a day.


    Of course, Wang She¡¯s contribution was a minor matter. The real benefits were from the legacies of the Phoenix and the Azure Dragon.


    These two almighties of the Huaxia Universe truly entrusted everything to him.


    ¡°Moreover¡­ even though one Dao Fruit might not be able to create another Dao Fruit, what about two or three?¡±


    The flames of ambition flashed through Fang Yuan¡¯s eyes.


    This was also related to his sharp increase in strength. Now, he was absolutely invincible under the second realm, and he could fully participate in the battle at this time. Even in the battle, he was not cannon fodder, but someone with weight.


    With this confidence, he could naturally set foot on the battlefield.


    He returned immediately with this thought in mind.


    The battle between Huaxia and Huxia forces had intensified, and all of Dao Ancestor City was destroyed.


    Clouds surged in the sky above, as though several giant beings were intertwining with each other back and forth.


    Extremely condensed power of the Great Cosmological Abyss fell from time to time, and ordinary Dao Ancestors immediately died once it touched them.


    Small suns fell from the sky one after another.


    These were the backbones of the forces of Huaxia and Huxia. Although they might not have comprehended the second realm, they at least had the power of five Dao Fruits and had accumulated tens of thousands of void pills, which was only slightly worse than Fang Yuan.


    ¡°Souls return with the civilization fire seed as your guide!¡±


    Seeing this scene, Fang Yuan took out the civilization fire seed and started summoning.


    Whoosh Whoosh!


    Traces of the True Spirits of the fallen Dao Ancestors followed the light from the civilization fire seed and fell into his embrace.


    At the same time, a large amount of information and experiences entered Fang Yuan¡¯s sea of consciousness, making his knowledge skyrocket.


    ¡°It¡¯s him!¡±


    ¡°How dare he come back?¡±


    ¡°Hand over the legacies now!¡±


    The various Dao Ancestors scattered outside saw Fang Yuan return and rushed toward him with dangerous glints flashing in their eyes.


    Fang Yuan¡¯s pupils turned the color of platinum when he saw this, and he shouted angrily, ¡°Scram!¡±


    Rumble!


    As though a small sun had burst, the Dao Ancestors in the lead melted instantly.


    The fierce storm overflowed, blasting the farther Dao Ancestors away!


    ¡°He¡¯s also an almighty?¡±


    ¡°Forget it. Let¡¯s see how those above will deal with him!¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s no need to rush to my death!¡±


    The surviving Dao Ancestors retreated and then started fighting for the remains of the Huxia forces.


    But at this moment, something strange happened!


    The civilization fire seed that was entrusted with the many True Spirits of Dao Ancestors fired up even more brightly!


    It was now shining to absorb the Huxia Dao Ancestors even though it only absorbed those from Huaxia originally.


    The Dao Ancestors of Huxia had the same realization and entrusted their True Spirits to it as well.


    ¡°That¡¯s it!¡± Fang Yuan had a realization upon looking at this. ¡°Huxia and Huaxia were originally one. They were both Grand Xia! It¡¯s not surprising at all that the civilization fire seed accepts the enemy Dao Ancestors¡­ The Dao Ancestors of the Huxia Universe are also clear that dying in the Final Destination means true death, so entrusting themselves to the civilization fire seed means they¡¯ll still have a ray of hope, which is why they didn¡¯t resist!¡±


    ¡°Great opportunity!¡± Fang Yuan became excited and took the initiative to head to the battlefield.


    All the fallen Dao Ancestors, regardless of if they were from Huaxia or Huxia, were absorbed into his civilization fire seed, and he obtained all of their legacies.


    ¡°The ultimate of death is none other than life!¡±


    ¡°So there is hope at the end of nothingness!¡±


    A Dao Fruit could naturally not create another Dao Fruit.


    But on the contrary, if he could devour thousands of Dao Ancestors, even a pig would become a Dao Ancestor pig!


    And Fang Yuan was certainly not a pig.


    In fact, his talent, comprehension, and even his luck were among the best of the Dao Ancestors¡¯. He was now only one step away from the second realm.


    His understanding of the Create realm deepened with the many legacies of the fallen Huaxia and Huxia Dao Ancestors that he absorbed, especially the ones from the almighties at the second realm.


    His spiritual will traveled far and seemed to have touched the essence of this world.


    This was the condensation of the Great Cosmological Abyss, which originally had no concept of time, space, and energy.


    However, when such things were piled up to an extreme, the reverse would come true, and that was the condensation of the power of the Great Cosmological Abyss!


    ¡°So¡­ this is the Create realm!¡±


    Fang Yuan¡¯s eyes lit as he felt the two incarnations in his bodies, the Creator and the Great Destruction God melting and slowly seeping into the Dream Dao Fruit.


    1


    At the same time, his Dream Dao Fruit was enveloped in white light, becoming brighter and brighter, as if coated with a layer of jade.


    The Dao Fruit breathed in and out, naturally extracting the secondary power of the Great Cosmological Abyss and condensing it perfectly with the power in his body.


    ¡°I¡¯ve broken through to the second realm, Create!¡± Fang Yuan shouted excitedly.


    He was now among the strongest within the Final Destination!


    ¡°However, this power of the Great Cosmological Abyss is only attached to the Dao Fruit and has yet to transform into natural source¡­ I still have a long way to go before reaching the third realm, and I still don¡¯t have complete control over the power of the Great Cosmological Abyss¡­¡±


    Even so, how rare was an almighty at the second realm in the Final Destination?


    Today, there would not have been so many deaths if Huaxia and Huxia, the two biggest forces, had not gone to war.


    Therefore, Fang Yuan attracted a lot of attention when he turned into a beam of light and shot into the clouds, suddenly forcing the two sides to split.


    ¡°Someone actually broke through to the second realm?¡±


    ¡°No way!¡±


    This was a huge variable for both sides. Even their leaders, Dao Ancestors Hu Tian and Jun Tian, did not expect it.


    ¡°Oh? It¡¯s the civilization fire seed of the destroyed Huaxia Universe!¡±


    The eyes of these two existences fell on Fang Yuan and seemed to see through Fang Yuan immediately. They nodded.


    A terrifying Sword Qi slashed down!


    ¡°Patriarch Hu Tian, how dare you!!!¡±


    This Sword Qi was totally different from the one that attacked Fang Yuan previously. That was only a small trial, but this time, it was all out at full force!


    Fang Yuan¡¯s heart shook just by looking at this Sword Qi that had an unparalleled feeling. Although he had just broken through, he knew that was still very far away from these peak powerhouses.


    If he was at the initial second realm, then Patriarchs Hu Tian and Jun Tian were truly at the peak of the second realm and only a thin layer away from the third realm!


    Even so, Fang Yuan did not show any fear at all because he knew that someone would definitely save him.


    Bang!


    As expected, in the next moment, a huge chaos hand flew in from another side and scattered the Sword Qi.


    1


    The scattered Sword Qi was a breeze for Fang Yuan, removing the need for active defense.


    He flew up to an elderly man. ¡°Thank you for saving me, Dao Ancestor Jun Tian!¡±


    ¡°No need to stand on the ceremony. We¡¯re from the same homeland.¡± Patriarch Jun Tian was dressed in a linen robe and had white hair, a beard, and a kindly smile. ¡°I never thought that our Huaxia civilization could have someone as young and talented as you! Good! Really good!¡±


    On the opposite side was Patriarch Hu Tian, an old man in black, angry and gloomy.


    Strangely, his appearance was rather similar to that of Patriarch Jun Tian.


    The Dao Ancestors from both camps stared at Fang Yuan with complicated feelings. While they were busy killing each other above, Fang Yuan was busy snatching all the benefits below. He even broke through to the second realm, exceeding most of them. They would be crazy to be in a good mood!


    ¡°Dao Ancestor Hu Tian!¡± Fang Yuan was unable to take care of all this at this time. He raised the civilization fire seed up high and questioned the opposite Dao Ancestor Hu Tian, ¡°There are True Spirits of Huxia entrusting themselves to this fire seed, and the fire seed has been completely refined into one with me. Are you trying to destroy the last hope of the fallen Dao Ancestors by killing me?


    The accusation was right on the mark. The Huxia Dao Ancestor might not show it on their faces, but their imposing manner suddenly stagnated.


    Patriarch Hu Tian¡¯s face blackened.


    Although he was the undisputed leader of the Huxia faction, betrayal would await him if he were to ignore the collective interests of his people.


    Fang Yuan had the fire seed in hand, and many of the Huxia Dao Ancestors in it were their friends, relatives, and teachers. It was almost as though he had hostages.


    ¡°We Huaxia and Huxia were one, so why do we want to risk our lives and abandon millions of years of cultivation? Shall we have a truce?¡±


    Fang Yuan looked at Patriarch Jun Tian, looking like a peacemaker.


    ¡°I don¡¯t have the intention of fighting. Hu Tian, what about you?¡± Dao Ancestor Jun Tian smiled slightly and looked at Dao Ancestor Jun Tian.


    Dao Ancestor Hu Tian remained silent. The fact that they dared to initiate the fight was because they had used all sorts of means to ensure they would have the advantage.


    However, Fang Yuan¡¯s appearance destroyed everything.


    A new Dao Ancestor at the second realm was to the advantage of Huaxia, an extraordinary variable!


    If they continued to struggle, both sides might suffer massive losses, and Huxia would probably get the worse end of it.


    Dao Ancestor Hu Tian¡¯s hoarse voice sneered after a moment of silence. ¡°Well said! However, you have the legacies of my Huxia Dao Ancestors, so you can also be regarded as part of Huxia. Why stick your hand into this battle?!¡±


    He was crafty and started to scheme according to facts.


    Everything he used was facts and evidence and could be regarded as conspiring openly!


    Some of the Huaxia Dao Ancestors started to look at Fang Yuan with hostility as they thought about how Fang Yuan had obtained so many benefits and legacies from both Huaxia and Huxia.


    ¡°Sorry¡­ I might have benefited from Huxia, but I can only stand on Huaxia¡¯s side if this continues!¡± Fang Yuan shook his head, standing firm on his ground.

 Chapter 1178 - Place of Grave Danger

    Translator: Atlas Studios  Editor: Atlas Studios


    ¡°Since Fellow Daoist Fang Yuan has the fire seed of the Huaxia civilization, he is one of us. There¡¯s no need to doubt him!¡± Patriarch Jun Tian stood and backed Fang Yuan immediately.


    ¡°All right, all right¡­¡± Seeing this, Patriarch Hu Tian sighed. ¡°This young man appearing and stirring things up also means that it¡¯s not your time to die yet¡­ Jun Tian, do you still want to fight me?¡±


    Patriarch Jun Tian took a deep breath and said aloud, ¡°We have to fight as long as there is Dao!¡±


    ¡°Then let¡¯s explore that place after ten turns of the hourglass. We¡¯ll fight to the death there. This was originally a matter between our two sides, but it seems like we¡¯ll involve the greatest existence in the Final Destination. Haha¡­¡±


    Patriarch Hu Tian laughed happily, then flicked his sleeve, and brought many Dao Ancestors away.


    ¡°Let¡¯s head back too!¡± Dao Ancestor Jun Tian returned to Dao Ancestor City with the remaining Huaxia Dao Ancestors. It was now in ruins, and even the steles were not spared, with most of them collapsed.


    Dao Ancestor Jun Tian invited Fang Yuan to a cave abode. The two of them sat opposite each other, with only another Dao Ancestor present.


    ¡°This is Dao Ancestor Qing Ji from the Shennong family¡­ He¡¯s also the only one from Huaxia at the second realm other than you and me!¡± Dao Ancestor Jun Tian sighed.


    ¡°Greetings to Dao Ancestor Qing Ji!¡± Fang Yuan bowed his head formally and waited quietly for what was to come next.


    ¡°Huaxia and Huxia were originally one. There might be some hatred in the outside world, but what does that matter in this Final Destination? I never thought that we would become enemies again because of some unexpected coincidences and the provocation of a villain.¡±


    ¡°I was going to ask Dao Ancestor why.¡± Fang Yuan was baffled. It was impossible for Wang She to cause so much damage.


    ¡°You¡¯ve probably guessed some of it already. It has to do with breaking through to the third realm!¡± Dao Ancestor Jun Tian did not have the intention to conceal anything and disclosed everything out honestly. ¡°Hu Tian and I were probably the first to break through to the second realm here, but we haven¡¯t been able to refine the power of the Great Cosmological Abyss into our natural sources even with all our painstaking efforts. This is no longer our problem, but because of an external factor. Therefore, we focused our attention on researching foreign objects¡­¡±


    ¡°Void beasts?¡± Fang Yuan immediately got to the right answer.


    ¡°Right, them!¡± Patriarch Jun Tian praised. ¡°Most of these void beasts are only storing the power of the Great Cosmological Abyss, and every once in a while, they must make a pilgrimage to a place of grave danger! Therefore, we suspect that there is a true natural source of the power of the Great Cosmological Abyss among these places of grave danger! Hu Tian and I joined forces and really found a place that fits. However, that place is too dangerous. We weren¡¯t fully prepared and could only retreat. Everything afterward is like what you know.¡±


    Fang Yuan frowned and asked his questions, ¡°All the contradictions naturally revolve around that natural source of the Great Cosmological Abyss¡­ Can it only be used by one person? And after refining it, can it really be integrated into the Dao Fruit to break through to the third realm?¡±


    ¡°No one knows these answers, but to Hu Tian and me, this is the most probable route since all other routes have failed¡­¡± Dao Ancestor Jun Tian shook his head. ¡°As for the amount of natural source, it¡¯s just speculation. But Hu Tian firmly believes that only one person can break through in the Great Cosmological Abyss, and he has to take advantage of all luck and chances. This is where the contradiction stems from, coupled with the instigation from a villain to take action first, and thus the changes today¡­¡±


    The forces of Huaxia and Huxia were roughly equal originally, with Huaxia slightly in the lead.


    However, today, they had clearly fallen for the plot and lost the initiative, causing the loss of the Phoenix and Azure Dragon, two almighties, suffering heavy losses.


    ¡°Is the place that Patriarch Hu Tian mentioned before he left referring to this place?¡± Fang Yuan asked immediately.


    ¡°Exactly¡­¡± Dao Ancestor Jun Tian stroked his beard. ¡°Huxia is actually disadvantaged now that you¡¯ve joined us, little friend¡­ Hu Tian is probably going to search for foreign aid. I can only reveal this information to some of my friends to counterbalance his act. However, this matches my original intention. With this many almighties working together, we will definitely defeat this place of grave danger and obtain the natural source of the Great Cosmological Abyss. And there should be more than one core of the Final Destination. Perhaps more people can break through¡­¡±


    ¡°This is the best scenario¡­ Presumably, even if everyone can work together until they reach the natural source of the Great Cosmological Abyss, another chaotic battle will ensue afterward¡­¡± Fang Yuan sighed as well. Then he stood up immediately and bowed solemnly to Dao Ancestor Jun Tian. ¡°I would like to join you in going to the place of grave danger.¡±


    ¡°Little friend is talented. If I were to unfortunately lose in this battle, I hope you can be the leader of Huaxia. Moreover, you are new to the second realm¡­¡± Patriarch Jun Tian tried to persuade.


    ¡°I will give my life for the Dao!¡± Fang Yuan, however, was very determined.


    Being able to break through to the second realm was already a great blessing from the Final Destination to him. He did not have the slightest confidence in breaking through to the third realm.


    Moreover, these two peak Dao Ancestors had confirmed that they reached their limits and would be unable to break through. He did not think he was above them.


    It looked like the only way for a Dao Ancestor to break through to the third realm was in the nest of these void beasts, in the place of grave danger.


    ¡°All right.¡± Dao Ancestor Jun Tian smiled. ¡°Whatever you want. You¡¯ll be another strength for us. Now go along with Qing Ji. I¡¯m going to let an old friend know!¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll take my leave!¡± Fang Yuan bowed again and exited the cave abode with Dao Ancestor Qing Ji.


    ¡°Fellow Daoist Fang Yuan, if you don¡¯t have accommodations in Dao Ancestor City, would you like to stay with me temporarily?¡±


    Dao Ancestor Qing Ji was a middle-aged man with the temperament of an old farmer. He dressed in green, calm and rustic.


    ¡°It would be disrespectful to reject your offer.¡± Fang Yuan might possess a residence in Dao Ancestor City, but it was only the worst kind. He naturally agreed to the invitation, went to Dao Ancestor Qing Ji¡¯s cave abode, and tasted the five-grain tea he brought out.


    ¡°Seeing that Fellow Daoist has the fire seed of the Huaxia civilization in hand, the universe¡­¡± Dao Ancestor Qing Ji started talking but became hesitant.


    Fang Yuan sighed. There was nothing to hide about it, so he said it directly, ¡°I went to the Huaxia Universe, but it was already regressing into void¡­¡±


    ¡°Is that so¡­¡± Dao Ancestor Qing Ji was startled for a fraction of a second before smiling again. ¡°It¡¯s okay. My homeland is where the civilization is. The radiance of our Huaxia civilization has spread throughout the entire Great Cosmological Abyss. I shouldn¡¯t be in this state of mind. Moreover, the Huaxia Universe has already evolved three times prior to this. Restarting with a fourth fire seed isn¡¯t something bad. In fact, the light of civilization can condense a second fire seed even if one were to die out. It¡¯s just that the Dao Ancestor True Spirits residing within would perish together¡­¡±


    ¡°I see!¡± Fang Yuan could not help listening with relish to the secrets from Dao Ancestor Qing Ji.


    ¡°It turns out that Dao Ancestor Jun Tian and Dao Ancestor Hu Tian look similar because they are blood brothers. Afterward, they angrily went separate ways because their ideals differed¡­ I have another question that I would like to ask Dao Ancestor!¡± Fang Yuan listened to more gossip for a while before putting forth his question. ¡°I wonder how many Dao Ancestors at the second realm are there in this Final Destination?¡±


    Ordinary Dao Ancestors might not know the answer to this, but the leaders of Dao Ancestor City had to know.


    ¡°The second realm is the Create realm. In the Final Destination, you can move mountains and reclaim seas with it. Someone with this great power can defeat thousands of Dao Ancestors with the flick of a finger, which is naturally no small matter. Unfortunately, three of them perished today, and there are currently less than ten left¡­¡±


    The ones who fell were the Phoenix, the Azure Dragon, and one from the Huxia Universe.


    Of course, all of them benefited Fang Yuan.


    ¡°In terms of strength, Dao Ancestor Hu Tian and Dao Ancestor Jun Tian are at the pinnacle, and the others can hardly match them¡­ The rest of us have similar cultivation levels. Fellow Daoist will be able to hold your own even if you encounter them¡­¡±


    According to Dao Ancestor Qing Ji, other than the ones that Fang Yuan knew, there was another Lord Savage in the Huxia camp.


    There were also Dao Ancestors Myriad Mountain, Thousand-Eye, and Feng Hua outside of Dao Ancestor City.


    1


    ¡°Among them, Dao Ancestor Myriad Mountain and Dao Ancestor Thousand-Eye are good friends of Dao Ancestor Hu Tian, while Dao Ancestor Feng Hua is on intimate terms with Dao Ancestor Jun Tian¡­ In addition, there may be one or two hidden ones as well¡­¡±


    After all, the Final Destination was neither big nor small. It was impossible to tell everyone¡¯s cultivations at a glance, so there could be some that had slipped through the net.


    ¡°In that case, the combination of ten almighties taking out a void beast lair shouldn¡¯t be much of a problem, right?¡± Fang Yuan calmed down and smiled.


    ¡°Void beast lairs are naturally very dangerous, so much so that the patriarch calls them places of grave danger. They must be places where even those at the second realm can fall easily¡­¡±


    Dao Ancestor Qing Ji smiled. ¡°One or two ordinary void beasts are nothing, but once there are more of them, it will become troublesome¡­ The key is that there could be a void beast king, which is completely comparable to a second-realm Dao Ancestor! And the place of grave danger has the Emperor Beast!¡±


    ¡°Emperor Beast?! You mean the emperor of the void beasts?¡± Fang Yuan took a deep breath.


    ¡°That¡¯s right. The Emperor Beast can be considered the greatest danger in the Final Destination. It¡¯s even more powerful than the patriarch. Of course, it has yet to break through to the final realm. Otherwise, all of the Dao Ancestors in the Final Destination would probably be unable to escape its grasp. As long as the patriarch and Dao Ancestor Hu Tian work together, I¡¯m sure they can kill it!¡± Dao Ancestor Qing Ji was very confident in Dao Ancestor Jun Tian.


    ¡°Such grave danger. No wonder it¡¯s called the place of grave danger¡­¡± Fang Yuan sighed, knowing that he would be courting death if he were to sneak in by himself.


    ¡°So, does Fellow Daoist want to give up on the idea?¡± Dao Ancestor Qing Ji¡¯s eyes burnt brightly, obviously wanting Fang Yuan to retreat from the difficulty.


    This was not malicious, but out of goodwill.


    After all, if they were to fail and everyone died, the Huaxia force outside would be lost without a leader, unless Fang Yuan could still lead them.


    ¡°Although it¡¯s dangerous, I still have to go!¡± Fang Yuan smiled and firmly refused. ¡°There might be only a one in a million chance, but I would also like to have a glimpse of the realm beyond Dao Ancestor¡­¡±


    ¡°In that case, I will say no further. I hope you get what you want!!¡± Dao Ancestor Qing Ji sighed quietly.

 Chapter 1179 - Ramming Through

    Translator: Atlas Studios  Editor: Atlas Studios


    Place of grave danger¡ªin front of a dark cave.


    This was one of the several core void beast lairs in this place, and almost one-third of all void beasts would make a pilgrimage here from time to time.


    It was precisely because of the large numbers of these fierce beasts gathered here that rarely any Dao Ancestors explored this place.


    Of course, this record was broken previously.


    Dao Ancestors Hu Tian and Jun Tian had joined forces to break in all the way to the depths of the caves and even felt the natural source of the Great Cosmological Abyss!


    And it was also because of this great potential benefit that the two sides had split, causing the great battle between Huaxia and Huxia, with both parties suffering losses and deaths.


    ¡°Is this the entrance to the caves?¡± Fang Yuan gazed at the canyon soaring into the clouds in front of him.


    ¡°That¡¯s right¡­ It can only be considered as the entrance to the caves, but there are also a large number of void beasts. An ordinary Dao Ancestor would die immediately upon entering. It will be troublesome even for us if we are entangled within!¡± Dao Ancestor Qing Ji explained by the side.


    Fang Yuan looked at their group. Their leader was naturally Dao Ancestor Jun Tian, and there was also a female Dao Ancestor named Feng Hua.


    ¡°Patriarch Jun Tian, you¡¯re here early!¡± Patriarch Hu Tian appeared, angry like a mad teacher, flying wildly.


    Behind him was a nine-foot man dressed in beast skin with bulging muscles and a savage aura. He was Lord Savage.


    ¡°Fellow Daoist Myriad Mountain and Fellow Daoist Thousand-Eye, why not show yourselves since you¡¯re here!¡± Dao Ancestor Jun Tian raised his head and stared at the void.


    ¡°Greetings, Fellow Daoist!¡± The other two Dao Ancestors returned the greeting and slowly emerged. One of them had the appearance of a middle-aged man in a Daoist robe with myriad mountains on it, and the other was a human-shaped dense fog that had countless open eyes in the middle.


    ¡°Most of the void beasts in this canyon are only chickens and dogs, but there are some commanders and kings among them. It¡¯ll be troublesome if we get entangled with them. Does anyone have a good plan?¡± Dao Ancestor Jun Tian asked with a smile, looking meaningfully at Dao Ancestor Myriad Mountain.


    ¡°All right. I know you¡¯re hinting about my Myriad Mountain Robe¡­¡± Dao Ancestor Myriad Mountain shook his head helplessly, but still flicked his sleeves.


    Buzz Buzz!


    The thousands of mountains and rivers embroidered onto his robe suddenly seemed to come alive like a dream. The mountains stacked together, wrapping the eight Dao Ancestors present into the robe.


    Such a magical power might be common in the outside world, but it was quite astonishing in the Final Destination.


    ¡°Within my magical power, void beasts, even the commanders, won¡¯t be able to find us¡­¡±


    Under the protection of Dao Ancestor Myriad Mountain, Fang Yuan followed the rest into the canyon. The void beasts viewed them as part of them. Fang Yuan nodded in appreciation since he knew that an ordinary void beast was roughly equivalent to a Dao Ancestor.


    A void beast commander was equivalent to the first realm, a king the second, and the Emperor Beast was at the peak of the second realm.


    Dao Ancestor Myriad Mountain could conceal them from ordinary void beasts and commanders, but he could definitely not conceal them from void beast kings.


    However, they were only at the entrance. They would not be so unlucky that they would bump into a void beast king straight away.


    The group quickly continued on in silence. Before long, they came to the depths of the canyon and saw a huge abyss.


    This abyss seemed to be opening its mouth wide open, vomiting out many void beasts.


    ¡°The real danger is below. Be careful. There are too many void beasts there, and more than half of them are commanders. There are occasionally kings as well¡­¡± Dao Ancestor Hu Tian reminded and then jumped in first. Fang Yuan, Dao Ancestor Jun Tian, and the rest naturally followed closely behind.


    ¡­


    Whoosh Whoosh!


    Wind on both sides filled the ears, and it took them a while before landing on firm ground.


    Fang Yuan could see everything in the darkness.


    This was a massive underground cave, and the walls were inlaid with many white crystals that vibrated with the power of the Great Cosmological Abyss.


    ¡°Is this the crystallization of the power of the Great Cosmological Abyss? Just a passage probably possesses tens of thousands of void pills?¡±


    They attracted Fang Yuan¡¯s gaze, but he also knew that it would be a dream for Dao Ancestors below the second realm to get past the terrifying defense above.


    Moreover, Dao Ancestors at the second realm could extract the power of the Great Cosmological Abyss themselves in the first place, so why would they care about this?


    ¡°We¡¯ll know that we¡¯re on the right path if these crystals become more densely concentrated¡­ This was also the method that we used to find the natural source of the power of the Great Cosmological Abyss last time. But we have to be cautious as well. The deeper we go, the higher the level of these void beasts!¡± Dao Ancestor Hu Tian reminded solemnly.


    The underground tunnels extended in all directions, and they seemed to head all the way down deep into the center of the world.


    They found the power of the Great Cosmological Abyss more concentrated the more they followed the crystals. In the end, all the caves were brimming with translucent platinum light.


    The entrances of the passages were enormous. Fang Yuan and the others walked through the tunnels like eight little ants.


    ¡°Be careful. There¡¯s a group of void beast commanders in front. Get around it!¡±


    Dao Ancestor Myriad Mountain¡¯s Myriad Mountain Robe was truly worthy of being the treasure of a Dao Ancestor. Not only did he manage to fool the eyes of many void beasts, but he also managed to fool their commanders.


    Fang Yuan and the rest leaned against the wall and slipped past many void beasts.


    These void beast commanders had giant bodies with a sword-like bulge on their backs and a huge thorn hammer at the end of their tails.


    Although their eyes were wide open, they could not detect the people passing by.


    Suddenly, a roar thundered.


    ¡°Not good!¡± Dao Ancestor Myriad Mountain was startled as he saw a smaller beast emerging from the back of a void beast commander.


    Its entire body seemed to be made of Great Cosmological Abyss crystal, and none of the Dao Ancestors could detect it hidden on the body of a leader.


    The sound waves from this roar rolled and even directly tore apart the Myriad Mountain Robe, revealing the eight Dao Ancestors!


    ¡°It¡¯s a void beast king! Kill it quickly!¡±


    Dao Ancestors Hu Tian and Jun Tian rushed forward immediately as they transmitted their voices. ¡°We¡¯ll deal with this king. You kill the commanders. We¡¯ll solve it in three breaths and meet at the end of this passage!¡±


    ¡°Were we discovered? So a void beast king looks like this!¡±


    Fang Yuan¡¯s Blade of Universe flashed, killing several void beast commanders.


    ¡°Not necessarily. Void beast kings have different appearances. Some are as gigantic as mountains, while some are even smaller than ordinary beasts, like that one over there¡­¡± Dao Ancestor Qing Ji explained as green vines flew out, strangling the void beast commanders to death.


    However, what truly amazed Fang Yuan was the power of the two leaders.


    When they finished dealing with the void beast commanders, they heard a low roar. The void beast king was torn apart and exploded into crystal powder.


    ¡°Why are you stopping? Run!¡±


    All of them quickly fled the scene under the lead of Dao Ancestors Hu Tian and Jun Tian.


    Angry howls came from behind right after.


    ¡°Bring them on a wild goose chase before we ditch them!¡±


    Dao Ancestor Hu Tian had a leisurely attitude. Obviously, it was not very difficult for him to kill a void beast king that was equivalent to a second-realm Dao Ancestor.


    Seeing this, Fang Yuan only kept silent.


    The peak of the second realm, an invincible existence among Dao Ancestors, truly exceeded his imagination.


    Is this the strength of the two leaders? Ordinary second-realm Dao Ancestors are just dogs to them. Their only rivals are only each other¡­ Fang Yuan sighed.


    Of course, somewhere in the depths of these caves, the Emperor Beast that guarded the core might be even stronger than these two.


    But that was only in the case of them fighting alone. Only death awaited it with all the Dao Ancestors working together.


    After some distance, Dao Ancestor Hu Tian stopped everyone with a serious expression. ¡°All right, we¡¯ve passed the safest route. There will only be danger from now on, with void beast kings guarding every level¡­¡±


    ¡°The last time, Jun Tian and I infiltrated several lines of defense before we finally found the core place and the natural source of the Great Cosmological Abyss¡­ But the last line of defense is made up of many void beast kings, so we couldn¡¯t infiltrate. We¡¯ll have to force our way through, and this will depend on you¡­¡±


    The two strongest leaders would naturally need to conserve their energy to deal with the Emperor Beast.


    The other Dao Ancestors exchanged glances and had no objections.


    ¡°In that case¡­ let¡¯s go!¡±


    Dao Ancestor Jun Tian nodded. Everyone immediately turned into eight rays of light and rushed into the passage overflowing with lights.


    Roar Roar!


    At the end of this passage was a colossal void beast king that looked like a giant turtle, lying on the ground with twelve huge crystal palms.


    Upon sensing the auras of enemies, it stood up and let out a roar that resembled one between a turtle and a dragon. Its huge arms swung back and forth, blocking all the passages.


    They would obviously need to ram their way through if they wanted to get past it.


    ¡°Die!¡±


    Fang Yuan and the rest did not hold back as many rays fell on this void beast king.


    ¡°Blade of Universe!¡±


    ¡°Qing Ji Slaughter!¡±


    ¡°Feng Hua Dao Fruit!¡±


    2


    ¡°Wild Battle Banner!¡±


    ¡°Thousand Eye Curse!¡±


    ¡°Weight of Myriad Mountains!¡±


    How terrifying was the force of six Dao Ancestors at the second realm attacking? Probably even Hu Tian and Jun Tian would have to avoid them.


    And right now, they were all concentrating their efforts on one point.


    After a loud noise, cracks appeared on the body of the void beast king, and it shattered like ice.


    Roar Roar!


    When this void beast king died, another roar came from even deeper in the caves.


    Every void beast that heard the roar had blood-red light appear on their bodies as they went berserk.


    Fang Yuan and the rest felt their chests tighten, as though they were stared at by some peerless fierce beast.


    ¡°It¡¯s the Emperor Beast! It¡¯s summoning other void beasts. Let¡¯s go!¡±


    Dao Ancestors Jun Tian and Hu Tian rushed to the next level without stopping.


    Fang Yuan and the rest quickly followed.


    They reached the deepest part of the caves after this passage.


    There was an enormous underground space with massive Great Cosmological Abyss crystals illuminating.


    Circling them were void beast kings with crystal-like translucent bodies, and they seemed to be playing with their prey.


    ¡°We¡¯ve reached the core of the place of grave danger!¡±


    Fang Yuan took a deep breath as he gazed at the center of these void beast kings, his expression burning.

 Chapter 1180 - Altar

    Translator: Atlas Studios  Editor: Atlas Studios


    The core of the place of grave danger was an enormous underground cave.


    Fang Yuan looked around and immediately realized why Dao Ancestors Hu Tian and Jun Tian had retreated without pursuing it.


    Hundreds of void beast kings encircled them, without any blind spots at all. The only way forward was to ram through with brute force.


    Even if Dao Ancestors Hu Tian and Jun Tian could do this, they would not be able to maintain the peak state to fight against the Emperor Beast!


    ¡°Where is the natural source of the Great Cosmological Abyss?¡±


    Fang Yuan gazed thoughtfully toward the center surrounded by void beast kings.


    There seemed to be a platinum altar condensed entirely of the power of the Great Cosmological Abyss.


    Below the altar, an indescribable aura of death congregated, holding all kinds of grievances and unwillingness fermented for hundreds of millions of years, enough to make them all lose color.


    Seeing this, Fang Yuan sucked in a breath of cold air and suddenly understood. ¡°These are¡­ the grievances of the Dao Ancestors who died here in this Final Destination. Does this mean¡­ a natural source of the power of the Great Cosmological Abyss will only be born when the deaths of Dao Ancestors accumulate to a certain amount?¡±


    It was their first time seeing this besides Hu Tian and Jun Tian. Horror and terror struck all of their hearts.


    ¡°If that¡¯s the case¡­ the Dao of Heaven takes from what has in excess in order to make good what is deficient. Could no Dao Ancestor attain the third realm because not enough Dao Ancestors have died in the Final Destination?¡± Dao Ancestor Qing Ji murmured in disbelief.


    ¡°Everything is in the transition between life and death. Haha¡­ It¡¯s worth it even if I only get to see this altar this time!¡± Lord Savage smiled in exultation.


    ¡°The natural source of the Great Cosmological Abyss¡­ is related to the deceased Dao Ancestors?¡± Thousand-Eye and Myriad Mountain exchanged glances, uneasy and wary.


    Everything happened in an instant.


    Some of the hundreds of void beast kings immediately abandoned their defense and pounced at the eight Dao Ancestors.


    ¡°All right. It¡¯s time for you to prove yourselves useful!¡± Both Dao Ancestors Hu Tian and Jun Tian were extremely ruthless at this moment. ¡°Cover both of us to the core for us to kill the Emperor Beast. We¡¯ll see how to distribute the natural source later!¡±


    ¡°Okay!¡± This was something that they had agreed on in advance, so they started the attack right after they responded.


    If the Dao Ancestors had used normal means to deal with the void beast king that blocked their way earlier, now every one of them was truly going all out.


    After all, facing dozens of void beast kings meant facing dozens of Dao Ancestors at the second realm. Even Dao Ancestors Hu Tian and Jun Tian would be flustered and use up their vitality.


    Roar Roar!


    Fang Yuan vomited blood violently from the first wave of attacks.


    Fortunately, these void beast kings were not able to cooperate like them. After the first wave of attacks, they separated and fought for themselves.


    The six Dao Ancestors defended a side each. The two patriarchs supported them in the middle, and they barely held the attacks off.


    ¡°The power of the Great Cosmological Abyss, creating something out of nothing!¡±


    Fang Yuan wiped the blood at the corner of his mouth. He condensed the power of the Great Cosmological Abyss in his hand into a long white saber and struck. ¡°Universe Obliteration!¡±


    One attack eliminated all future possibilities!


    The void beast king in front of him split into half and fell like a statue onto the ground.


    ¡°Only one attack?¡± The hearts of many Dao Ancestors trembled.


    They had not thought that someone who had just reached the second realm could improve so rapidly!


    In particular, the coldness in the eyes of Lord Savage almost materialized.


    However, any sabotage at this time was seeking death since they were all besieged by the void beast kings!


    It was the same for Fang Yuan as well. Immediately after the first one died, another void beast king launched itself at him.


    He did not dare to use the Blade of Universe Obliteration continuously, so he relied on the Blade of Universe.


    Otherwise, there would only be one possibility once he was exhausted.


    ¡°Fortunately, the void beast kings aren¡¯t as flexible as us!¡±


    Fang Yuan was up to his neck in battles before finding the scene before him clear and realized that they had reached the front line of defense.


    Within the line of defense was the army of void beast kings that had yet to move. Their gazes were as though they were looking at corpses.


    ¡°Less than half of these void beast kings rushed out. Those left are the true elites¡­¡±


    Even the most arrogant Lord Savage could feel his scalp go numb, looking at the large formation of void beast kings.


    At this distance, even Fang Yuan could feel the extremely condensed light above the altar.


    These Dao Ancestors and the so-called secondary power of the Great Cosmological Abyss in the void beast kings were nothing in front of the light. They immediately felt ashamed of themselves.


    ¡°It really is¡­ the natural source of the Great Cosmological Abyss!¡± Dao Ancestors Myriad Mountain, Feng Hua, and Thousand-Eye exclaimed in excitement.


    ¡°Where is the Emperor Beast?¡± Fang Yuan was on high alert.


    If he used the void beast kings just now as reference, then the Emperor Beast could undoubtedly crush him and even Dao Ancestors Jun Tian and Hu Tian.


    Yet there was no Emperor Beast even though they could see the natural source of the Great Cosmological Abyss.


    ¡°No, we heard the roar of the Emperor Beast, and¡­ from the expressions of the two patriarchs, we know the Emperor Beast must be here. Is it an invisibility that even the Dao Ancestors can¡¯t detect?¡±


    Fang Yuan was even more alert now.


    ¡°Anything blocking me will die!¡±


    ¡°Kill all the way!¡±


    The appearance of the natural source of the Great Cosmological Abyss was irresistible to the two patriarchs.


    The six Dao Ancestors protected them and moved forward in an unprecedented manner.


    Countless void beast kings pounced at them immediately.


    Rumble!


    The shadows of mountains on Myriad Mountain¡¯s body shattered instantly, and he was dragged out of their formation by his arm. Numerous void beast kings savagely tore him apart, flesh and blood splattering.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go. No need to bother about him!¡± The two Dao Ancestors were indifferent, not the least bit moved.


    Their eyes were fixated on the four corners of the void, waiting for the attack by the Emperor Beast. Everything else was of no importance to them.


    Fang Yuan was very surprised by how they were all about entrusting each other with their lives and were now extremely cruel about it.


    Right now, however, losing one Dao Ancestor meant dramatically increased pressure on the remaining five.


    ¡°We won¡¯t be able to make it to the center without the help of the two patriarchs!¡±


    Fang Yuan and the remaining four Dao Ancestors had the deepest understanding at that moment.


    ¡°Patriarch!¡± Qing Ji shouted, his body bathed in blood.


    ¡°Relax!¡± Patriarch Jun Tian replied indifferently.


    Bang!


    Fang Yuan was silently resisting a void beast king. His saber shattered into pieces and fluttered away like butterflies.


    He suddenly lowered his head and avoided the bite of a void beast king, but he also created a hole in the defense that they had just formed with difficulty.


    ¡°Hmph!¡± Patriarch Hu Tian snorted coldly and waved his sleeves.


    A black shadow appeared with a meter-long sword the thickness of a chopstick. It fluttered around and pierced through the heads of void beast kings, killing them.


    ¡°A second-realm Dao Ancestor that we know nothing about. He must be one that cultivated hidden from the world. Dao Ancestor Hu Tian actually found him¡­¡±


    With a new force joining, Qing Ji and the other Dao Ancestors heaved a small sigh of relief. They restored their defense and escorted the two Dao Ancestors all the way to the altar.


    The entire underground space was overflowing with blood, and the remaining Dao Ancestors were covered with wounds and had pale faces.


    Even the sword of the vital force that appeared last had broken, and their turban had fallen, revealing a translucent face.


    ¡°This is Dao Ancestor Black Thorn, who lives in seclusion in Nine Yin River¡­ We had the affinity to meet, but I didn¡¯t think you would already be at the second realm!¡± Dao Ancestor Feng Hua smiled.


    ¡°It¡¯s truly unbelievable¡­ that we few Dao Ancestors could actually accomplish this!¡± Dao Ancestor Thousand-Eye looked around.


    The corpses of the void beast kings were scattered all over the floor. The remaining dozens of void beast kings lingered at the back, obviously afraid of being killed.


    Even if they knew that if they continued, they could wipe out this entire group of Dao Ancestors!


    ¡°This is the shortcoming of gaining intelligence and a sense of self¡­ However, the Emperor Beast will not take this lying down. It will be a huge crisis once it shows itself!¡± Dao Ancestor Jun Tian reminded them with a sneer while attentively watching the surroundings.


    ¡°This altar, the natural source of the Great Cosmological Abyss, and the black river of resentment¡­¡± Fang Yuan was mesmerized by the sight in front of him.


    The patterns on the altar were visible at this point. A black river flowed through the altar, and it seemed to have the hands of countless unwilling Dao Ancestors inside, trying to grasp anything they could.


    The natural source of the Great Cosmological Abyss above the altar was even more alluring, making all of them fascinated by it.


    After all, as long as they could refine the natural source of the Great Cosmological Abyss into their Dao Fruits and break through to the third realm, they could break through the Dao Ancestor realm and leave this Final Destination.


    Nothing else could be more tempting to the Dao Ancestors who still harbored hope.


    ¡°We just don¡¯t know how many people can break through with the natural source of the Great Cosmological Abyss here¡­¡± Fang Yuan sighed.


    He had to agree with Patriarch Hu Tian¡¯s worry that there was not enough to share, and the idea of taking advantage was not wrong.


    Although this natural source of the Great Cosmological Abyss looked bountiful, it was a separate matter of whether or not it could support a Dao Ancestor in their breakthrough.


    They might have reached the altar, but they were now actually in a desperate situation.


    In front of them were the black river of resentment and the blockade of the Emperor Beast. Behind them were void beast kings that were staring at them and unwilling to move forward.


    ¡°This river of Dao Ancestor resentment looks terrifying, but that doesn¡¯t mean there¡¯s no solution!¡± Dao Ancestor Thousand-Eye stared at the black river, and his words were shocking.


    ¡°The resentment of the countless fallen Dao Ancestors gathered in this river is a serious matter, and we¡¯ll probably have to offer a few second-realm blood sacrifices to cross it¡­¡± Fang Yuan sighed, saying the fact that Dao Ancestor Thousand-Eye wanted to say but stopped.

 Chapter 1181 - Crossing the River

    Translator: Atlas Studios  Editor: Atlas Studios


    The final defense of the natural source of the Great Cosmological Abyss was the river of resentment, which had gathered the grievances of many fallen Dao Ancestors who could not break through.


    It would take the lives of second-realm Dao Ancestors to appease them for a moment?


    The scene became strange when this piece of information came out.


    ¡°How malicious for there to be such a restriction! We can¡¯t let this happen¡­¡± Dao Ancestor Feng Hua gnashed her teeth.


    Even so, six Dao Ancestors separated and vaguely isolated the other two figures.


    They isolated Dao Ancestors Jun Tian and Hu Tian!


    Seeing this, Dao Ancestor Jun Tian could not help smiling bitterly. ¡°Everyone¡­ this thought never crossed either of Hu Tian¡¯s or my mind. This river might be terrifying, but if Hu Tian and I join forces, we can make it stand still for a moment. The only issue is if that Emperor Beast attacks us while we¡¯re doing so¡­¡±


    ¡°Patriarchs, please rest assured. We¡¯ll take care of it!¡± Lord Savage made his stand immediately. He threw a glance at the approaching void beast kings. ¡°Long delays cause complications. Patriarchs, please do it quickly!¡±


    ¡°Hmph! We conserved our energy earlier for this last moment!¡± Patriarch Hu Tian snorted coldly and strode forward.


    Patriarch Jun Tian smiled lightly and waved his sleeves, which danced in the white light.


    Pure black light appeared on Dao Ancestor Hu Tian¡¯s body. The black and white converged like the two sides of the Taiji, constantly rotating before finally becoming chaos, giving birth to a pure light!


    ¡°This is¡­ the power of the Great Cosmological Abyss? The true power of the Great Cosmological Abyss?!¡± Fang Yuan¡¯s pupils shrank slightly.


    The power created by these two Dao Ancestors was by no means comparable to the secondary power of the Great Cosmological Abyss. It was almost the same as the true power of the Great Cosmological Abyss.


    Perhaps it¡¯s just a tad shy, but it¡¯s astonishing enough to be able to achieve this. No wonder they have the confidence to kill the Emperor Beast if they join forces!


    Fang Yuan watched as the ray of light descended upon the river of resentment, which reflected the light brightly.


    The hands of those fallen Dao Ancestors actually shrieked ghastly as they turned into smoke. Some of them shrank back into the river, not daring to reveal themselves.


    Even the entire river was calm and as smooth as a mirror. The aura making the Dao Ancestors uncomfortable shockingly disappeared altogether!


    Under the light, even the void beast kings backed away, not daring to cross the minefield!


    A ray of white light penetrated the Great Cosmological Abyss Universe, suppressing everything!


    ¡°Quickly cross the river!¡± Dao Ancestor Jun Tian¡¯s clear voice awakened the stunned Qing Ji and other Dao Ancestors.


    Seeing not a single ripple in the river, they finally calmed down and rushed across it.


    These two patriarchs have shown such overwhelming strength. If they really wanted to, I¡¯m sure they could have defeated the void beast kings, crossed this river, and probably even defeated the Emperor Beast. Why didn¡¯t they? Is it because they¡¯re wary of each other? How sad¡­


    Fang Yuan¡¯s thoughts moved, as though he grasped something.


    But a sudden turn of events happened at this moment!


    Splash!


    The water surface suddenly exploded when most of the Dao Ancestors were crossing the river.


    The river water, full of resentment and with a terrible corrosive power, started raining down.


    Chi Chi!


    The water fell onto the defenses of the Dao Ancestors, and white, curling smoke immediately rose, making the six Dao Ancestors turn blue.


    Roar Roar!


    Most importantly, a huge black shadow surfaced from the middle of the river, finally showing its true form!


    It had the head of a horse, the antlers of a deer, the body of a snake, and the tail of a fish. It looked like the mystical dragon from the legends of the East, yet it carried a pair of wings like that of Western dragons. Its body seemed to be made of incomparably firm diamond, and it could actually stay at the bottom of the river of resentment for a short time!


    Even though the Dao Ancestors were prepared to deal with a sneak attack from the Emperor Beast, how could they have expected it to be lurking at the bottom of the river?


    Fang Yuan had thought that it was only a magical power masking its aura and form. He did not expect that it was lurking beneath the river of resentment as a cover, leaving no traces of its aura.


    The roar of the Emperor Beast created sound waves that immobilized all the Dao Ancestors.


    This was a natural deterrence from the depths of the soul, resembling the kind that ordinary humans had when facing dragons!


    ¡°Hmm?¡±


    Fang Yuan was a Dream Master, and he was most resistant to such mental attacks. He woke up first, only to find himself in a strange state. Time and space had become chaotic, and he could not move for quite some time.


    The roar of this Emperor Beast actually attacked both their minds and reality, and the dual nature of this attack made it difficult to deal with!


    Even so, such a roar could only immobilize the Dao Ancestors for a moment.


    But this moment was exactly what the Emperor Beast needed.


    During the roar, it was already falling with a thunderous momentum!


    ¡°Not good!¡±


    Fang Yuan clearly could see that the Emperor Beast was ignoring Patriarchs Hu Tian and Jun Tian. Instead, it was going for the six Dao Ancestors currently above the river, trying to drag all six of them into the river of resentment.


    Even the patriarchs would be unable to save them if they were to fall into the river and were attacked by the Emperor Beast!


    Is this clipping the wings first? It¡¯s enough to see just how powerful and terrifying the two patriarchs are to this Emperor Beast. It seems to think that it wouldn¡¯t be able to kill them even in this place¡­


    However, Fang Yuan had awakened a split second faster than the other Dao Ancestors.


    Sometimes, this split second was enough to be the deciding factor!


    His body moved around quickly, like a fish swimming, utilizing a myriad of transformations to reach the edge of the river before the claws of the dragon caught him.


    But it was still useless!


    The claws of the dragon swelled in an instant and came crashing down on his head!


    ¡°Evil beast!¡±


    ¡°How dare you!¡±


    Fang Yuan had no more tricks up his sleeve, but he believed that these Dao Ancestors would go all out to save themselves!


    Sure enough, one of them used their hidden trump card and slightly delayed the Emperor Beast¡¯s killing blow!


    ¡°Now!¡±


    The pure white light in Fang Yuan flashed, and his eyes seemed to explode with flames. He shifted his body sideways, avoiding the claws and managing to reach the riverbank on the other side.


    This small shift was the difference between life and death!


    Rumble!


    Behind him, the dragon claw landed, the black river howled, and the vengeful souls of the Dao Ancestors appeared again.


    Blood-curdling cries came from the mist.


    Fang Yuan stood still, looking at Dao Ancestors Hu Tian and Jun Tian, who had already arrived at this side of the riverbank, and his heart turned cold.


    These two patriarchs had not helped the six Dao Ancestors while they were under attack. Instead, they had used the opportunity to cross the river and reach the altar without any damage!


    At such a critical juncture, these two Dao Ancestors showed their indifference!


    The path to supremacy was indeed paved with many bones beneath them.


    The black river suddenly stopped howling.


    Fang Yuan knew that was because it had obtained the blood sacrifice of a Dao Ancestor and was temporarily appeased. He wondered which one of them had fallen.


    Splash!


    Black water splashed, and two streams of light flew out of it with the dragon¡¯s shadow behind them.


    Splash!


    A black light was slightly slower and was dragged back into the river.


    A jade-green light appeared beside Fang Yuan. It was Dao Ancestor Feng Hua!


    However, this female Dao Ancestor now had an unkempt appearance. Her clothing was torn, and her breathing was extremely unstable. She was obviously seriously injured!


    ¡°Hehe¡­ I didn¡¯t think that you¡¯d still have the advantage in the end, Jun Tian!¡± Patriarch Hu Tian smiled falsely.


    ¡°Your helpers weren¡¯t wiped out either.¡± Patriarch Jun Tian was staring at the altar.


    A black snake swam out of the black river and turned into the figure of Dao Ancestor Black Thorn.


    Its robes were torn, showing a translucent, gender-neutral face and body, and was expressionless. Nonetheless, it seemed to be in much better shape than Dao Ancestor Feng Hua.


    ¡°This black river swallowed three Dao Ancestors at once?¡± Fang Yuan was very shocked. His thoughts turned to Qing Ji, saddening him a little.


    ¡°All right. Since we¡¯re here, we can now discuss the distribution of the natural source of the Great Cosmological Abyss!¡± Patriarch Jun Tian said gently while looking at the survivors.


    ¡°Naturally, the patriarchs will enjoy it first. We¡¯ll only distribute it if there¡¯s any left!¡± Dao Ancestor Feng Hua might be seriously injured, but she was still able to talk eloquently at this time, without affecting her previous state of mind.


    In fact, the Dao Ancestors who survived the upheaval just now were the best of the best.


    Even Dao Ancestors Jun Tian and Hu Tian were slightly surprised with the results!


    ¡°Hmm, we¡¯ll do it this way then!¡± The two patriarchs exchanged gazes and nodded. ¡°However, we still have to deal with the Emperor Beast first!¡±


    Not only was the Emperor Beast cunning, but its strength was even more astonishing. If Patriarchs Hu Tian and Jun Tian were to fight it alone, they would not be its opponent. As such, they had to join forces and display the light of the Great Cosmological Abyss to defeat it.


    This was also why they did not move even though the altar, and the hope of breakthrough, was within their grasp.


    No one knew what would happen while they were refining the natural source of the Great Cosmological Abyss. If the Emperor Beast were to attack during this time, they would probably not end up better than the other Dao Ancestors!


    Dao Ancestor Hu Tian¡¯s thoughts flashed, and his gaze fell on Dao Ancestor Black Thorn. ¡°Black Thorn, your Dao Fruit is indeed strange since you can waltz through the river of resentment. How about you head into the black river and lure the enemy? Jun Tian and I guarantee that you will refine this natural source after us.¡±


    Faced with this temptation, Dao Ancestor Black Thorn kept silent.


    It might be foreign aid that Dao Ancestor Hu Tian invited, but luring the Emperor Beast from the black river was no longer a matter of danger. It was a matter of life or death!


    And of course, it treasured its life.


    ¡°I know this is dangerous, but what if others help you?¡± Patriarch Jun Tian smiled as he turned his gaze to Fang Yuan and Dao Ancestor Feng Hua.


    ¡°Patriarch, we won¡¯t be able to do anything to the Emperor Beast even if the three of us were to do it together¡­¡± Dao Ancestor Feng Hua¡¯s expression was troubled.


    The situation on the field was very obvious. Being the one with the most serious injuries, she was the most likely to die if they were to lure the enemy!

 Chapter 1182 - Bloody Battle

    Translator: Atlas Studios  Editor: Atlas Studios


    They want the three of us to be bait again? Why didn¡¯t they do something when the Emperor Beast attacked the six of us? Fang Yuan said nothing, his thoughts turning rapidly in his mind.


    That¡¯s right. The two patriarchs were rushing to cross the river previously. After all, they did not have the confidence to kill the Emperor Beast with one blow, so they naturally had to protect their own interests first. Now that the natural source of the Great Cosmological Abyss is within reach, they¡¯re finally going to get rid of us.


    He sneered.


    To the two patriarchs, the Emperor Beast was a threat to them refining the natural source, but so were the Dao Ancestors!


    This way, I guess Dao Ancestor Jun Tian really had good intentions when he advised me not to come. However, it also shows his hypocrisy!


    He gazed at the natural source of the Great Cosmological Abyss above the altar and was about to say something when the fire seed of the Huaxia civilization in his chest suddenly vibrated slightly. Fang Yuan thought about it and kept silent.


    ¡°So?¡± Dao Ancestor Hu Tian immediately had a black face as he glanced around with an icy glare after seeing the three Dao Ancestors trying to push the task away from themselves.


    On the other hand, Patriarch Jun Tian smiled with his lips moving ever so slightly, evidently secretly transmitting his voice!


    ¡°All right¡­ I¡¯m willing to take the risk since you¡¯re giving such a condition! But you have to remember to keep your promise!¡± Dao Ancestor Black Thorn gritted his teeth and actually agreed to whatever it just heard.


    As soon as it agreed, Dao Ancestors Fang Yuan and Feng Hua were immediately in a precarious situation, and they had no choice but to nod reluctantly in the end.


    ¡°Haha¡­ Good, those who understand the times are wise!¡± Patriarch Hu Tian was very satisfied with the three. ¡°Go then!¡±


    The three of them took a deep breath and went to the river of resentment.


    The river was quiet, very different from how it was when it was being suppressed just now. Obviously, it was still savoring the blood sacrifices of the Dao Ancestors.


    It was still calm after a few breaths. The Dao Ancestors fell silent.


    Clearly, the Emperor Beast was not merely a wild beast. It was as cunning and as dangerous as a human, so how could it fall for such an obvious trap?


    Dao Ancestor Black Thorn¡¯s expression became ugly after seeing this scene.


    Because according to the agreement, it would have to transform into the black snake and actively lure the Emperor Beast if it did not take this bait.


    However, would the river of the grievences of Dao Ancestors be so cooperating?


    For a Dao Ancestor like Feng Hua, the moment her body touched the black river water, it would be severely injured.


    Even the two patriarchs could only withstand for as long as ten breaths. Of course, with this time, they could have suppressed the river and crossed it long ago if there were no Emperor Beast.


    The black snake incarnation of Dao Ancestor Black Thorn could swim around in the black river for more than ten breaths, which was its limit.


    The Emperor Beast is extremely proud. It will definitely fight back when it meets the provocation of the black snake! The two patriarchs will be able to give it a fatal blow once it can indicate the direction!


    Fang Yuan gazed at Dao Ancestors Hu Tian and Jun Tian.


    They might be standing with their hands behind their backs now, but they had obviously entered the state of full alert. Any sign and they would take the initiative to attack with the light of the Great Cosmological Abyss!


    ¡°Sigh¡­¡± Beside him, Dao Ancestor Black Thorn sighed quietly. It transformed into the black snake and plunged into the calm river.


    Whoosh!


    The scales of the black snake made a violent noise when it came into contact with the river water, and white smoke appeared.


    Evidently, being in contact with the black water was not a walk in the park for this Dao Ancestor either.


    Only the heaven-defying body of the Emperor Beast could stay hidden within the river of the grievences of Dao Ancestors for so long without harming its body.


    Bloop! Bloop!


    After the black snake entered the water, the originally calm water surface started making waves.


    Dao Ancestors Fang Yuan and Feng Hua looked at each other, and they retreated to the edge of the river. They looked on vigilantly with the attitude that screamed a fellow Daoist could die but not me.


    One breath!


    Two breaths!


    ¡­


    After thirteen breaths, the calm water suddenly exploded at the eastern side of the altar, and the black snake popped back out quickly.


    If you took a closer look, you would find that this black snake only had half of its body intact, seeming to be cut off at the waist.


    Splash!


    The waves soared into the sky and turned into countless black raindrops.


    The Emperor Beast suddenly jumped out with its tail twitching.


    ¡°Save me!¡± Dao Ancestor Black Thorn shouted out for help. The two patriarchs joined forces once again, and the light of the Great Cosmological Abyss in the chaos slammed down.


    However, they were a step late. The big mouth of the Emperor Beast opened, and Dao Ancestor Black Thorn disappeared without a trace.


    ¡°Evil beast!¡± Dao Ancestors Hu Tian and Jun Tian howled in anger. The light of the Great Cosmological Abyss transformed into a long sword and pierced straight at the Emperor Beast.


    Whoosh!


    After the deafening ring, two scales fell from the Emperor Beast¡¯s chest. It flew from the black river and landed among the group of void beast kings. It immediately got up again, as if nothing had happened.


    Both Fang Yuan and Feng Hua sucked in a breath of cold air after seeing this.


    The body of this Emperor Beast was just that powerful! Not only could it roam freely in the river of resentment, but it was only slightly injured after the combined attack of the two patriarchs!


    Seeing this, Dao Ancestors Jun Tian and Hu Tian became crestfallen, knowing that they would have to pay a terrible price to finish off this monster even if they worked together.


    Roar Roar!


    The Emperor Beast roared, and the remaining void beast kings could no longer procrastinate. A thin but dense layer of blood veins appeared on their bodies. They went berserk and charged to the altar behind the Emperor Beast.


    A very depressing situation happened right at that moment. It seemed as though the death of their three second-realm Dao Ancestors appeased the river of resentment so much that it maintained its calm. The translucent palms did not actively attack as long as they passed by from above without disturbing the black water.


    This path that originally blocked the Dao Ancestors became a smooth channel for them.


    ¡°Damn it!¡±


    Fang Yuan and Dao Ancestor Feng Hua glanced at each other. They could only bite the bullet and fall into the siege of void beast kings.


    Patriarchs Jun Tian and Hu Tian had no choice but to join forces against the Emperor Beast.


    Speaking of which, their treasure hunting this time was nearing a full-fledged defeat. So many of the Dao Ancestors had fallen, and even Dao Ancestor Feng Hua was beckoning Fang Yuan, almost begging with her eyes.


    Obviously, what she meant was that there was little chance of getting the natural source of the Great Cosmological Abyss, and they would likely become cannon fodder if they continued, so they might as well try their best to escape.


    To be honest, the Fang Yuan a moment ago would have been interested in this proposal.


    But right now, he remained silent. The changes of the fire seed in his chest enabled him to keenly grasp another hidden card!


    Combining the anomalies of the two patriarchs earlier and that resolve to save their energy, everything was becoming clear to him!


    There¡¯s another force coveting the natural source of the Great Cosmological Abyss!


    Fang Yuan¡¯s eyes brightened. Even though he was bathed in blood, he scanned the entire battlefield.


    And that force¡­ is the almighties from the Huaxia and Huxia universes on the outside!


    There had always been a doubt in his mind.


    Where had the almighties of the Huaxia Universe gone?


    Patriarch Hu Tian and Jun Tian were the former leaders of the two sides. They had entered the Final Destination a long time ago, and the leadership had long swapped hands.


    Furterhmore, their strengths were probably not lower than ordinary almighties!


    Otherwise, how could they occupy the top position of the two strongest forces in the Great Cosmological Abyss?


    However, they had a series of wars that turned the Huaxia Universe into a state of regressing into void for some unknown reason.


    Countless Dao Ancestors should have died in that war, but there had to be some strong ones who survived.


    Fang Yuan originally thought that they would be recuperating in other universes influenced by the radiance of the Huaxia civilization. However, the civilization fire seed had clearly sensed something just now.


    There¡¯s at least a second-realm almighty of Grand Xia who entered the Final Destination and is even here as well!! Fang Yuan clenched his fists tightly.


    There were only two ways to enter this place. The first was by chance coincidence and following the guidance of the secondary power of the Great Cosmological Abyss. Any Dao Ancestor could use this method.


    The second method was for a Dao Ancestor with at least the power of five Dao Fruits to discover this secret with their own spirituality.


    Obviously, it was very easy for any almighty to reach the Final Destination, not to mention the Emperor Xi Stone Tablet dedicated to this matter.


    Perhaps, there isn¡¯t just one party at work. There might be two groups from the top Dao Ancestors of Grand Xia in the Great Cosmological Abyss. Of course, they also want to obtain the natural source of the Great Cosmological Abyss and break through the Dao Ancestors realm.


    Although the probability of breaking through the Dao Ancestor realm in the Final Destination might be much higher, that did not mean that no experts existed in the Great Cosmological Abyss.


    At least, the emergence of a few almighties at the Create realm was not something unthinkable for both the Huaxia and Huxia universes!


    Everything else flowed naturally. After their fight, they might have been in pursuit, or maybe they took the initiative to enter the Final Destination. However, they have all lurked around silently, waiting for the chance to break through the Dao Ancestor realm.


    Fang Yuan gazed at the two patriarchs in battle.


    Clearly, Hu Tian and Jun Tian also felt something since they were unwilling to help previously.


    And right now, the situation is clear. This is the best time! Fang Yuan gritted his teeth secretly. The situation will be set once the patriarchs wipe out the Emperor Beast!


    Would the two patriarchs have negotiated any private dealings with the two parties?


    Hehe¡­ The natural source of the Great Cosmological Abyss might only be enough for one person to break through. In the face of this great temptation, even masters and disciples would turn against each other.


    Furthermore, with the relationship between the former and the current leaders, solely a conflict of authority and status was enough to provoke anything.


    This was also one of the reasons why the two forces had gone incognito after entering the Final Destination!


    Roar Roar!


    The Emperor Beast wailed as its wing was torn off by Patriarch Hu Tian.


    Of course, Patriarch Hu Tian was not better off. There was a fresh claw mark on his chest that was dripping with blood.


    The Emperor Beast roared, its sound vibrating all around, and the platinum blood that oozed out of the wound exuded a strong power of the Great Cosmological Abyss. It rushed forward.


    Rumble!

 Chapter 1183 (END) - Finale

    Translator: Atlas Studios  Editor: Atlas Studios


    Just how powerful was the full-force attack of the Emperor Beast?


    Fang Yuan could only feel a violent wave coming at him, nearly sweeping his whole being off the altar.


    The void beast kings were also crouching on the ground, stopping all movement in that split second.


    After the dust settled, there was a huge pit on the altar.


    This mysterious treasure that had stood for countless years was actually damaged to this extent by the blows of three almighties!


    Huff Huff¡­


    Dao Ancestors Hu Tian and Jun Tian were half kneeling at the center of the huge pit, bleeding from their noses.


    The Emperor Beast looked even more miserable. Its horns were broken, and half of its body had reduced to nothingness. However, the platinum flame of light in its remaining good eye was growing increasingly stronger.


    ¡°Both sides are severely injured?! But the patriarchs have the advantage¡­¡± Fang Yuan understood from looking at the two patriarchs crawling up compared to the Emperor Beast that seemed to have lost its fighting power.


    The void beast kings lost their motivation upon seeing the desolate state their emperor was in. Their frenzy and the mad red veins on their bodies retreated, and they shrank to a side while shaking.


    ¡°Let¡¯s kill this Emperor Beast first before splitting the natural source of the Great Cosmological Abyss!¡± Patriarchs Jun Tian and Hu Tian exchanged glances while speaking indifferently.


    The two of them came to the front of the Emperor Beast and merged their black and white lights into the chaotic light of the Great Cosmological Abyss.


    Right at the moment, Fang Yuan felt the civilization fire seed suddenly jump in his chest and could not help quietly muttering, ¡°Coming.¡±


    Swoosh!


    Two figures burst in through a crystal wall in an invincible manner and suddenly appeared in this dark cave!


    ¡°Pan Wang? Tian Xing?¡± Patriarchs Jun Tian and Hu Tian paused, as they recognized these leaders of the two outside universes. ¡°We felt something wrong previously, but it never occurred to us that it was you two little kids¡­¡±


    Their generation was much higher, so they could naturally address these newcomers as little kids.


    But to Fang Yuan and Dao Ancestor Feng Hua, the lights of the Great Cosmological Abyss from these two newcomers were not only at the second realm but were also very close to Dao Ancestors Jun Tian and Hu Tian!


    Facts had proven that these two leaders who had fought against each other to their deaths on the outside had now entered an alliance, albeit temporarily in this Final Destination.


    ¡°Haha¡­ Pan Wang, you actually joined hands with the enemy even though the Huaxia Universe was destroyed. How unfilial¡­¡± Dao Ancestor Jun Tian looked at Tian Xing before turning to Pan Wang and shaking his head.


    ¡°The Huaxia Universe has regressed into void many times before anyway. We just need to search for another natural source to reestablish it again¡­¡± Pan Wang was a middle-aged man with eyes like green jade. ¡°Why don¡¯t you allow the two of us to work together to eliminate evil since even you, Patriarch Jun Tian, and Patriarch Hu Tian can join hands?¡±


    ¡°Eliminate evil?¡± Dao Ancestor Hu Tian sneered. ¡°Immature wolves, you¡¯re actually plotting against the two of us!¡±


    ¡°Because we discovered some things during the great war. For example, how the previous Grand Xia civilization divided because of a pair of brothers, and these brothers became the leaders of the separate factions¡­¡±


    Dao Ancestor Tian Xing might look rough, but he managed to deduce what happened and revealed these ancient secrets. ¡°I knew we couldn¡¯t continue when I found out that all those Dao Ancestors who died and the sacrifices of the two sides for countless years were actually because of a conflict between brothers. We have to get rid of this cancerous tumor for the sake of all the Dao Ancestors who fell in the past!¡±


    ¡°Haha¡­ Jun Tian, I didn¡¯t think that there would be people still caught up about matters of the past!¡± Patriarch Hu Tian¡¯s eyes glinted with danger. ¡°Do you not understand? As long as there are Dao Ancestors, there will be disputes. It¡¯s not because of Jun Tian and me. Grand Xia was too powerful, so powerful that even external elements couldn¡¯t destroy it, and internal strife was sure to ensue with time. Jun Tian and I only brought it about earlier. You should thank us. How else would the power of the two universes be able to last until today?¡±


    ¡°Nonsense!¡± Dao Ancestors Pan Wang and Tian Xing were highly intelligent people, and they knew that Dao Ancestor Hu Tian¡¯s words were not false. However, they were not about to disclose that they had taken a fancy to the natural source of the Great Cosmological Abyss. They just wanted an excuse to exterminate their ancestors, so they stood firm and rebuked, ¡°Today, you two old things will pay the price!¡±


    1


    Their cultivation bases were at the peak of the second realm as well. They might not be able to match Jun Tian and Hu Tian when they were at their peak, but right now their opponents had less than fifty percent of their strength left, so they had nothing to fear.


    Dao Ancestor Feng Hua¡¯s face changed drastically. She did not expect things to develop to this point.


    However, Fang Yuan stayed silent and moved a few steps secretly.


    ¡°As expected, interest is what moves people. There are no two ways about it! I really don¡¯t want to¡­¡± Dao Ancestor Jun Tian¡¯s expression did not change much even as he was facing two strong opponents.


    ¡°Haha¡­ Unexpectedly, we¡¯re still forced to this step after all!¡± Dao Ancestor Hu Tian grinned. ¡°I don¡¯t want to either. Otherwise, we could have obtained the natural source the previous time!¡±


    ¡°How unfortunate¡­¡± Patriarch Jun Tian heaved a long sigh and suddenly joined hands with Patriarch Hu Tian.


    Light!


    Endless light!


    The black and white light fused like the two sides of the Taiji, generating chaos!


    1


    And from this chaos, another light was born!


    This light was everywhere and was infinitely close to the complete power of the Great Cosmological Abyss. It suddenly turned into a human form.


    The human youth looked neither male nor female. He was full of divine light, and he had one red and one black eye, very strange indeed.


    A terrifying imposing manner surpassing that of the Emperor Beast suddenly exploded out!


    Smack!


    Dao Ancestor Feng Hua and the remaining void beast kings felt like a thousand mountains weighed on their shoulders and knelt directly on the ground.


    ¡°Hu Tian¡­ You and Jun Tian are actually¡­ the same person?¡± Pan Wang¡¯s and Tian Xing¡¯s expressions drastically changed.


    Jun Tian and Hu Tian reunited into one person. His power was infinitely near to the third realm, and his injuries disappeared as well. He could now be considered the strongest in the Great Cosmological Abyss!


    ¡°I¡¯m neither Jun Tian nor Hu Tian, but the original¡­ Jun Hu!¡±


    Patriarch Jun Hu¡¯s voice changed as well, and his hands indifferently pushed out.


    An extremely condensed power of the Great Cosmological Abyss surged out like a giant wave.


    As it passed through, even the original altar and the crystalized power of the Great Cosmological Abyss broke into pieces. The black river evaporated, and the void beast kings roared again and again in agony but still slowly melted.


    ¡°Even after everything, I still didn¡¯t ever expect that Hu Tian and Jun Tian was one person!¡±


    ¡°Unless they were pushed to the edge, they would never have chosen to give themselves up and reunite into one to become a whole new life!¡±


    Pan Wang and Tian Xing glanced at each other and pushed back against the rich power of the Great Cosmological Abyss, struggling to stand still and withstand the wave.


    Roar Roar!


    Just then, an unexpected help entered the battlefield.


    The Emperor Beast that was dying on the ground had its entire body blazing with flames. It actually chose to completely ignite its life to give Patriarch Jun Hu a fatal blow from behind!


    What kind of existence was the Emperor Beast?


    It truly stood at the top of the Great Cosmological Abyss before Patriarch Jun Hu appeared! No one person could rival it!


    It might be seriously injured, but the power exuding from its tough body that could resist the water of the river of resentment was still fearsome.


    Patriarch Jun Hu¡¯s eyes were a little dazed. He subconsciously withdrew his left hand and pushed backward!


    A layer of light of the Great Cosmological Abyss emerged, resisting the final attack of the Emperor Beast!


    Resisting the might of three peak almighties alone was the true strength of Patriarch Jun Hu!


    In this deadlock of consumption, one person on the scene could still move. That was Fang Yuan!


    ¡°Patriarch Jun Hu might be unmatched, but he¡¯s a new life after all. His intelligence is currently like that of a child, and he will need quite a bit of time to digest the information and memories of the two patriarchs. His grasp of the battle situation isn¡¯t too precise yet. Now is my chance!¡±


    He was wrapped in the light of civilization and was struggling to move forward while being hit by all sorts of aftershocks. He came to the center of the altar and looked at the natural source of the Great Cosmological Abyss.


    After gazing at the natural source of the Great Cosmological Abyss, he directly jumped into it.


    What Fang Yuan was doing right now was to gambling!


    Although he might not know how long it would take to refine the natural source of the Great Cosmological Abyss, his future was bleak no matter who won. Therefore, his only hope was to refine the natural source and break through to the third realm so that he could gain the initiative.


    Seeing Fang Yuan jump into the natural source, even Patriarch Jun Hu was stunned for a second before screaming angrily.


    The patriarch had subconsciously believed that Fang Yuan would not have the spare power to do anything since even the void beast kings and Dao Ancestor Feng Hua were kneeling before him.


    Who could have thought that this small ant could achieve so much?


    Moreover, Jun Hu¡¯s consciousness was concentrated on merging two memories. His mind was like that of a child. Fang Yuan had not shown any hostility toward Jun Hu, so he had not received any attention. This was how he managed to seize this opportunity!


    ¡°How dare you?!¡± Patriarch Jun Hu was furious and about to deliver a blow when he was pulled back by Dao Ancestors Tian Xing and Pan Wang.


    They could see very clearly that they could only die in this battle since they had not taken into account the variable that was Patriarch Jun Hu!


    Then, their only variable was Fang Yuan! Even if they could escape now, they would eventually be caught by Patriarch Jun Hu if he could refine the natural source!


    Therefore, they gave it their all to pin down Patriarch Jun Hu to create the opportunity for Fang Yuan.


    As for the Emperor Beast, its only purpose was to destroy this great enemy before it!


    The situation went into a deadlock.


    ¡­


    At this time, Fang Yuan was enveloped by a white light.


    He felt as though a baby returned to its mother¡¯s body, very comfortable and at ease. His entire body was slowly melting, revealing the Dream Dao Fruit.


    His Dream Dao Fruit had a crystal-like surface, with the light of the secondary power of the Great Cosmological Abyss condensed on it, which was standard for those at the second realm.


    However, his Dream Dao Fruit was now melting slowly in the natural source of the Great Cosmological Abyss.


    It started from the surface before slowly eroding the core.


    At the critical moment, the faint white fire seed suddenly appeared, flickering.


    The aura immediately awakened Fang Yuan¡¯s True Spirit.


    ¡°Where is this?¡±


    ¡°Yes¡­ I am refining the natural source of the Great Cosmological Abyss. But how could I have known that the natural source of the Great Cosmological Abyss was so terrifying? I¡¯m not the one refining it, but it¡¯s the one refining me¡­¡±


    As the Dream Dao Fruit slowly melted, Fang Yuan¡¯s consciousness gradually disappeared.


    ¡°The only way to survive is to completely comprehend the third realm before my Dao Fruit completely disappears!¡±


    Fang Yuan could feel every fiber of his being burning and sublimating under the tremendous pressure of life and death, directing all of his energy at breaking through to the third realm that no one had ever attained.


    His own accumulation, his experiences of all the worlds, the many legacies, and all other sorts of experiences emerged at this moment, making his realm climb to the peak of the second realm and continue sprinting upward.


    ¡°If I want to refine the natural source of the Great Cosmological Abyss, I must first grasp the true meaning of nothing. What is true nothing?¡±


    1


    Unfortunately, he was just that one strand away from breaking through.


    Fang Yuan exhausted all his being and still obtained nothing. His aura rushed all the way to the limit before falling back helplessly.


    ¡°Forget it¡­ I¡¯m already much better than many mortals seeking the Dao, and I have no regrets in this life¡­¡±


    His Dao Fruit finally melted into nothingness.


    Fang Yuan died, and his Dao vanished!


    2


    ¡­


    ¡°Haha¡­ A small Dao Ancestor dares to snatch from me!¡±


    Pan Wang¡¯s and Tian Xing¡¯s hearts sank when they felt Fang Yuan¡¯s aura completely disappear. On the other hand, Patriarch Jun Hu was roaring with laughter. He clenched his left hand into a fist and pulverized the Emperor Beast. His right hand swung sideways and threw the two leaders flying.


    ¡°The natural source of the Great Cosmological Abyss is mine!¡± Patriarch Jun Hu stepped forward slowly and came to the natural source of the Great Cosmological Abyss. He gazed at it longingly.


    The next moment¡­!


    A sudden turn of events!


    A palm as smooth as jade suddenly protruded from the natural source of the Great Cosmological Abyss and stabbed right into Patriarch Jun Hu¡¯s chest.


    The natural source of the Great Cosmological Abyss transformed into a human figure. It was Fang Yuan!


    ¡°How is this¡­ possible?!¡± Patriarch Jun Hu looked at his chest and then at Fang Yuan. His defense was nothing in the face of the true power of the Great Cosmological Abyss. ¡°Didn¡¯t you die?¡±


    ¡°I did¡­ But after dying, I realized what true ¡®nothing¡¯ means. That is, not even thinking of anything and letting everything return to the silence of void!¡±


    1


    Fang Yuan smiled slightly. A white light flashed, and Patriarch Jun Hu turned into ashes.


    ¡°You¡­¡± The surviving Dao Ancestors all looked at Fang Yuan with longing eyes and disbelief. ¡°The third realm?!¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right. I¡¯ve broken through¡­¡±


    Fang Yuan nodded with thanks and stepped out. His entire being disappeared and came to the Great Cosmological Abyss!


    The Final Destination was easy to enter but difficult to leave. Being able to reach the Great Cosmological Abyss was absolute proof of breaking through!


    ¡°The fire seed of the Huaxia civilization!¡±


    He took out the fire seed that was in danger of extinguishing.


    It was nearly completely eroded in the Great Cosmological Abyss, but Fang Yuan blew on it, and it started shining brightly.


    Fang Yuan gazed at the void in front of him and said calmly, ¡°I say¡­ this place should have the natural source of a universe!¡±


    The power of the Great Cosmological Abyss surged, creating the natural source of a universe out of nothing.


    ¡°Go!¡±


    He pushed the fire seed forward to integrate with the natural source of the universe and reestablish the Huaxia Universe!


    Its aura was energetic as the universe continued to expand, giving birth to many lives and planets.


    On the land, birds chirps, barbarians howled, and a large number of the True Spirits of Dao Ancestors reincarnated and restarted on their path of cultivation.


    Among the stars, an inconspicuous blue planet revolved endlessly around the sun.


    2


    A sincere smile broke out on Fang Yuan¡¯s face upon seeing this. ¡°I¡­ am back!¡±